#and on top of that I started developing a very bad cough

[daisyvisions]

okay bear with me y'all I know I got a few asks to go through and the hyunjae bday fic before the OctoberFest fics come out jhsdbfjhbsdf

[bamsara]

I'll ask, if it hasn't been already - regarding the tags on the fanfic poll:

What kinda things make you click out/give you the squick? I'm so curious 👀

rubs my hands together: could be a mix of things anywhere between character dynamics, personalities or even how the fic is formated

Btw for people who don't know what squicks are: 'Squicks' are just personal preferences that someone doesn't like. Nothing wrong with em it's just not your vibe. (Exp: Like how all my friends HATE tomatoes but I am tomato eater forever)

anyway long ramble list:

Can't read big blocks of text without breaks very well, and I dislike when characters (esp main characters that are talking in every chapter/scene) have bolded or italicized dialogue. I think it's fine for special reoccurring characters but it genuinely messes up with reading flow for me when it comes to taking in information if used too much

If I'm reading a fic specifically for a monogamous romantic paring, I don't care for the 'past lover interest reappears' trope or one of them currently has one, or the love triangle that results in one of them being like 'oh but i love them both i can't possibly choose!' *cough twilight cough* it just makes the relationship feel disgenuine and icky. zero stars. Any mention of a character's past relationship usually makes me just click out, just personally not here for that

-^^^ to go with this, big fan of the 'misunderstanding where someone thinks there's a love rivelry but the third person never had a chance.' Like to the main pairing there's only eyes for each other and that's all they care about, there's just some third person who's there and causing problems (either because someone in the pairing is jealous of the third person thinking they're gonna steal the other when it's not, or the third person thinks they're a love rival when in reality they're not even thought about) *cough Tyren cough*. I think there's a lotta comedy to have with this. Bonus points if it brings main pairing closer together

When characters have linear character development and recovery. I prefer my characters to realistically relapse and bit a little bit of a hypocrite as they develop from start of story to end. Failing and falling short and again makes the final result much more satisfying when they're healing

When characters use 'therapy speak' or otherwise react perfectly 'acceptable' to stressful situations. Again, I prefer realistic depictions of characters under stress, and work out becoming better under that stress rather than just One Big Thing Happen and suddenly they're never going to react negatively or lash out again because another character told them It Was Bad and To find Better Coping Mechanisms.

Unhappy endings. (Or open ended ones) Sorry for hurt/no comfort lovers but none of my fics will have unhappy endings. I like my stories to have people that go through absolute hell and still come out on the otherside

The ace in me doesn't care for fics where physical attraction is a large part of the ingredients that gets the pairing together. Not saying they can't admire each other when the sunlight hits them or wearing a nice outfit but just not a fan of reading about how 'sexy' a character is to another. Probably why I usually blast all my characters with the aspec beam

That's all I can think of off the top of my head but if someone had a more specific question I might be able to answer

[tropicalcryptid]

Ok so She-Ra pulled such a great hat trick with Hordak's characterization, and I LOVE it

One of my favorite things about 2018 She-Ra is Hordak's story and development (and Entrapdak cough but that's not the point of this particular post), and the cleverest thing is that so much of it is actually being set up and told to us in seasons 1 and 2 before we even realize that that's what's happening.

When we first see Hordak in the show, he's giving "generic evil overlord" vibes. Garden-variety baddie. Maybe a little more reasonable than some and clearly capable of long-term thinking, but that just serves to make him intimidating. Everything about him--the way he runs his empire, his armor, his color scheme, his minion, his Villainous Eye Makeup(TM), even his name--are all projecting to the audience "yup, Acme Bad Guy here. Move right along."

But then, backstory. And everything snaps into focus. Not only is it one of the first big oh SHIT moments of the show, where we suddenly zoom out and realize that there is SO much more going on than we realized--it's also the start of the audience seeing Hordak as a character rather than an archetype. Suddenly we realize that he's not conquering Etheria because he wants power, or hates happiness and sparkles, or whatever--he's doing it out of a desperate attempt to prove his worth to his brother/creator/god. This moment where Hordak lets Entrapta in is also the moment the show lets us in on what makes our favorite spacebat tick.

On top of that, we've also seen him bonding with Entrapta and opening up to this person that he respects and trusts...probably the only person he's ever respected or trusted apart from Prime. And she's Etherian--someone of a lower species, someone he's supposed to subjugate, someone who he has been raised and trained and programmed and mind-controlled into believing is below him in every way.

But instead she's brilliant and creative and mesmerizing. She's not afraid of him, and she's fascinated with his work. For the first time since being abandoned by Prime, Hordak finally has someone that he can talk to, who is on his level and both understands and cares about the science! (because he is a giant nerd). She's kind to him, a mere defect. And it just sends his whole worldview into a spin, and that's all before--

Bam, mans is a goner. Entrapta's "Imperfections are beautiful" comment punches right through all the toxic bs that Hordak has been steeped in his entire life. You can see on his face here--I think it's the moment Hordak fell in love with Entrapta, but this is also the face of a spacebat reevaluating his entire worldview. If Entrapta, who is amazing, believes something different from Prime...what does that mean? If Entrapta, who is brilliant, believes that he is worth something, and that she herself is a failure...

Well. We know what happens after that, and how Hordak begins to doubt, and eventually fights back against Prime (and remembers his love for Entrapta after TWO mind wipes help my heart ack). But we also get to see what life in the Galactic Horde looks like: the only life Hordak ever knew before coming to Etheria.

It's not nice.

It's really not nice.

Prime operates in a very specific way, and we learn a lot about it in season 5. Prime expects complete obedience, devotion and worship from his clones. He allows no individuality from his subjects, not even a name. Failure or deviations are punished, mind-wiped, or destroyed. We even learn from Wrong Hordak that facial expressions are considered a privilege reserved for Prime (apart from, presumably, expressions of rapture caused by being around Prime).

And once we learn all of this, suddenly thinking about season 1 Hordak becomes very interesting indeed. The time we spend with the Galactic Horde and Prime throws absolutely everything that we know about Hordak into a whole new context. Now all those traits that made him a generic villain are actually hugely effective characterization! And what that characterization is telling us is that Hordak had already moved much farther away from Prime than we (or, probably, he) had realized, even long before he met Entrapta.

Horde Prime does not allow his underlings to have names, personalities, or any differences of appearance. Not only does Hordak allow this among his own troops, he chose a name for himself as well! Season 5 tells us that his very name is an act of blasphemy against his god. And yet Hordak took one for himself, and that name is part of the core identity he is able to hold on to when rebelling against Prime.

Horde Prime cast Hordak out when he showed signs of physical imperfections. Hordak not only keeps Imp (who is by all appearances a failed clone or similar experiment) around, he treats Imp more gently than we see him treat anybody or anything before Entrapta. Imp is not simply "generic evil guy's minion," he is proof of Hordak's capacity for compassion, and evidence that Hordak cannot bring himself to cast aside "defects" as easily as Prime. Considering where Hordak came from, Imp's existence is a huge, flashing neon sign telling the audience this guy here is better than the hell that molded him, and we don't even realize it until 4 seasons after it's been shown to us!

Very cool, ND.

There's more, though. Hordak's red and black color scheme? His dark eye makeup and lipstick? Very Evil Overlord chic. But nope! Actually these are actually expressions of individuality on a level that Hordak knows would be abhorrent to Prime!

Reading between the lines, I see this as Hordak desperately trying to reconcile two diametrically opposed beliefs in his head: (1) devotion to Prime, whose approval he desperately craves, and (2) maintaining some degree of unique personhood, of Hordak, from which to draw strength. Because a failed, defective clone cannot survive on a hostile world, cut off from the hivemind and from Prime's light. A failed clone cannot create an empire to offer Prime as tribute, nor build a spacetime portal from scraps and memory to call Prime back. A failed clone cannot create cybernetic armor to keep his hurting, weakened body alive; to force himself to keep going no matter what, to fight through the pain and the doubt by sheer force of will.

But maybe Hordak can.

And so there it is. Hordak had plenty of time to gain and explore his individuality while separated from Prime, but I think the reason he did it so effectively (while still deluding himself that Prime would forgive him for these little sins, if only Hordak could prove his value) is because he had to.

Wrong Hordak gained his individuality surrounded by kind, quirky people who took care of him; Hordak was ripped from the hivemind by Prime himself and had to fight for his survival against all odds. And that produced a dangerous and damaging foe for Etheria. But it also produced the one clone with the strength of will to defy Prime himself.

This is long and rambling, but ultimately my point is that 1) I love Hordak, and 2) I love love love love that the show was so clever about his characterization. We learn so much about him and how much progress he's already made in breaking from his psycho abusive cult upbringing, and we don't even recognize it until the show wants us to. Hordak had come so far, all on his own, before he met Entrapta. She just helped push him over the edge and finally realize (at least consciously) that Prime's worldview might not be the correct one.

Idk, I just don't know if I've ever seen all the trappings of Basic 80's Villain(TM) so successfully subverted, where looking back 4 seasons later is actually a smack in the face with the "effective character building" stick. Amazing.

[okiroash]

Obsessed with post-mt. silver red... the champion you hailed as a legend, a concept of what strength is, right now- is having trouble finding where he put his wallet because he didn't need to use money for three years (the cashier watches as red rummages through his bag, the sounds of various items clanking can be heard through the room...) anyway,, some fun headcanons for him that I first wanted to tell along with illustrations but,, I don't have the energy to do that rn,, -> He knows how to mimic a pokemon's cry to such accuracy,, esp those of wild strong pokemon that lives in mountain silver, this is so that- with just himself he can terrify the weaker pokemon and make them scamper away.. it's important that his team stay at top condition and not make them waste necessary energy in case something bad would happen -> Though this doesn't mean he uses his voice more, having no one to talk to (or even the need to-) for an extended period of time, makes it easier to get into a coughing fit if he were to talk too much, leading to him talking slower, softer, and always in short chopped sentences after coming down (but still have that polite way of talking, judging from the dialogue in FRLG with the pokedoll girl compared to ethan's.... who even uses "pardon me" these days? red apparently) -> He learned how to run on all four.. when there's literally just you and your animal friends in some mountain you're bound to be a weirder guy, sorry man (and he actually moves faster this way.. but red's aware that this is something he could only do in the wild) -> Red moves like a ghost, it's good when you don't want to alarm the wild pokemon around you (and now it's people to avoid getting recognized), but this makes it hard for him to announce his presence which always end up surprising people.. -> Whenever he doesn't know how to react to a joke or what it means, he will tilt his head and stare at them with the biggest autism eyes ever.... -> Post-mt silver red gets put into a lot of socially awkward situations, it can't be helped 💔 -> Because he spent so long in a dangerous environment, red is very vigilant and cautious, though.. sometimes overly that it's not healthy, it took a while for him to start relaxing a bit more after going back to "normalcy" -> Red tried to keep track of time by writing in his diary.. one day he flipped the paper and found that he had run out of them.. he started writing on the cave's wall instead -> talking about diary, it's one of his few emotional outputs, on really bad days it's full of scribbles, messy writing, repeating words and rarely, tear stains -> being far from a talkative person, he can't just vent out his emotions through talking.. and because he has such an unexpressive face, people often think there's nothing wrong with him, simply a hero you can always depend on. red developed a slight anger issue from not being able to properly express his emotions, sometimes he would bent and smash things to let off some steam (dw.. nothing valuable, probably trashes or rocks..)

-> He finds a lot of comfort in his pokemon, rubbing circles on pikachu's fur, sleeping on top of snorlax, feeling charizard's warmth... (yeah you get what I mean,,) He also likes getting carried by them, it's a feeling of comfort that something is guiding him, just like the old days with his mom

[crazylittlejester]

Time for some happy/fluffy headcannons since I can :3

Sky sees all the Zeldas as his daughters since he and Sun created the royal lineage. No matter how distant, they are his and Sun's children no matter what. (Some of the Zeldas who didn't have good relationships with their dads *cough* Flora *cough* nearly sob in joy because of this). Also, the Zeldas get their prophetic dreams from him too.

Legend's nose does that cute twitching that rabbits do. It makes him so flustered whenever anybody points it out.

Four, if he were to ever met any of the Gerudo, would be highly respected by them despite his height. He is short, yes, but he is very strong, intelligent and can make his own weapons. He'd probably have to fight off suitors if he ever went to Wild's Gerudo Town, tbh.

Everybody from Ordon is blessed by Ordona, and they have square pupils like goats do because of this. Despite being Hylian, and not being born in Ordon like the others, Twilight was also blessed and later in life developed these same pupils. He loves them despite how creepy everybody else thinks they are.

Time actually gained a little weight after marrying Malon because he felt safe enough to do so. He always made himself stay at top shape in case he had to go on another quest, so when he didn't immediately get thrown into one he got a little meat on his bones. He didnt look like a skeleton anymore. Malon was happy he did, since he was always thin even as a child.

Warriors knits and sews and Proxy has a small hat he made with an itty-bitty pompom on top.

Wind is scared of lighting storms due to a bad sailing trip after his adventure, and Sky tries to comfort him despite also being terrified of lighting himself.

Wild's mother was a piece of Farore's spirit traveling Hyrule as a mortal, and fell deeply in love with his father. Both Wild and his sister are considered forest spirits, and his sister actually became a korok after her mortal body died. The first korok he ever finds is his sister :)

Hyrule really likes the non hostile Zora whenever they visit them, and he learned how to swim from them.

None of the Links can hold their alcohol. One drink and they are all tipsy beyond belief. Except Wind, he can take two drinks before he also is drunk off his rocker.

YAY FLUFFY HEADCANONS (god knows i need more of these after the obnoxiously sad headcanons i have)

- This is so cute actually, I can totally see Sky and Flora becoming close

- Legend 100% does that, I also headcanon he hops when he gets really excited

- OKAY THE ORDONA GOAT EYE THING IS ACTUALLY SO COOL??? THATS AN EPIC HEADCANON

- My favorite thing ever in fiction is when characters start to look physically happy and healthy as they recover from trauma, and I write a lot of this happening to Wars (because I gave him horrible food anxiety and write about how he’s been able to work over that and become a lot healthier and happier) and I can see this happening to Time too

- WARRIORS KNITS IS REAL. REAL AND TRUE. YOURE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY SO!! I can see him making sweaters for everyone

- Wind and Sky and Legend all being unnerved by storms 🤝

- I think it’d be hilarious if they couldn’t hold their alcohol and Wind could out drink them, but whenever I write these guys I always give them at least a couple instances where Twi gets a good few beers and Wars gets his wine. I don’t think Time would drink, not because he wants to be the responsible adult, but because he just doesn’t drink

[gachawolfiebloom]

SMG4 Tale

Chapter 1: Falling Down

What was supposed to be a nice day for a hike in the forest had turned into a constant headache thanks to Mario's whining and complaining. Five minutes in and the Italian was throwing out the common excuses of

"Mario's feet hurt!"

"Mario is-a too tired! Someone carry him!"

"Mario's hungry! Can we go back to the castle?"

"Go on...without...Mario...*cough*"

This was all just because Mario hated getting his exercise and would rather watch TV or eat a plate of spaghetti than go outside. Smg4 was absolutely fed up already as he groaned and told his best friend "Mario, we've only been walking for five minutes." Meggy sighed and tried to convince him "Come on Mario. It's not that bad. It's good to get the fresh air in your lungs and look at nature."

"Pffff what is Mario? A caveman?"

To be honest, Smg4 wasn't sure about this either. It was nice to spend time with his friends, but he could be working on his latest video right now. Those memories of being chased around in the woods at night, only to find out the watermelon man was Melony's dad. And all those horror games Mario forced him to play where they would throw the classic situation of walking around in a spooky forest with nothing, but a flashlight.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Meggy suddenly stopped and said "Uh Smg4...has this mountain always been here?" The other two came up to see what she was looking at. There stood a giant mountain that looked oddly familiar, but Four couldn't remember from where. "I don't think so. It seems a little tall to be from around here." Mario approached the mountain and began kicking the base, screaming "Move you stupid rock!" You're blocking the way!" Meggy looked around and said "It's too wide to go around so I guess we'll have to climb it."

"Uggggg Mario doesn't want to!" Smg4 motioned "I second that. This thing could take hours to climb." Meggy didn't listen and started up. "Come on guys. Let's just check it out for a second. If it's too tall we can just head back." The boys watched her, still unsure as Four sighed. It wouldn't hurt to take a quick peek...right? He carefully followed Meggy behind with Mario's brain still stuck on a loading screen.

"Hey! Wait for Mario!" Both had already taken off. Didn't this seem a little weird? Climbing a strange mountain that didn't belong. Maybe they should have just booked it out of there, but these intrusive thoughts of Four were telling him to make his way up there. Mario tried to catch up with his friends, refusing to be left out. He then noticed a sign that was poking out of the ground on one of the cliffs and Mario stopped.

Mario's face began to melt into panic as he studied the message. The walls felt like they were closing in, until everything went back to normal and Mario shrugged. "Sorry Mr sign, but Mario doesn't like to read. Oh well." He continued on his merry way while the sign said "WARNING: Do not go into the cave at the top of Mt Ebott. Those who climb this mountain have never returned. I repeat, DO NOT GO INTO THE CAVE AT ALL COSTS!" Meggy and Four were almost to the top at a steady pace while Mario was racing to beat them.

He used the umping abilities he developed over the course of many games to quickly get to the top. "Hey! Don't leave Mario-" All of them were looking down a giant opening in the ground. "Ooooo look! A strange hole in the ground!" Meggy was curious, wondering "How far down do you think it goes?" It seemed foolish to test it. I mean there was some vines and small cliffs you could use to climb down a little. You'd have to be someone really stupid or gullible to even try to go down there. Then Mario got an idea. An awful idea. Mario got a wonderfully, awful idea.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out." Four then noticed that Mario was looking at him with a conniving grinch face. "Mario dares Smg4 to climb down that hole."

"WHAT!? NO! WHAT HAPPENS IF I FALL!?" Meggy nodded and said "He's right Red. That's not very safe." Mario didn't listen and began teasing Four to get him to go down. "You're being a whiny baby Smg4. Just climb down to that platform...unless you're too scared." Now this was Four's weakness. That and a million other things. But every time someone challenged or pressured him to do something, he never missed an opportunity to prove them wrong. "I'm not scared!"

Mario was not thinking of the dangers at all and continued with the banter. "Oh lookie Meggy! Smg4 is scared! He's too chicken to climb down!" Mario began mocking him by making chicken noises and laughing at him. "You're afraid of the dark! You're afraid of heights! You're afraid to go alone!"

"No..."

"Stop it Mario!"

Neither of them were paying attention to her as Four wasn't sure what to do. It was made pretty clear you would be stuck if you fell, but all Mario was asking him to do was jump down to a platform that was a few meters away. The teasing and laughter got the better of him as he told them "Fine! I'll prove it! Watch me!"

"What are you doing Smg4!?" Meggy questioned as he reasoned "I'm not going to let him call me chicken! Let me just get it over with and then we'll leave." Four grabbed a nearby vine and started climbing down. His friends watched him, Mario in excitement and Meggy in concern. Carefully he swung over to the ledge that was pointed out to him and he leaned his back up against the wall. A few minutes later, he called out "Alright! I did it! I'm coming up now!" Meggy breathed a sigh of relief as Four started heading back up.

All was going well until he felt a tug on his foot. "Huh?" He looked down and saw his foot caught in a vine on the ledge. He struggled, but it was really tangled and the plant had a strong grip. "Uh...timeout guys. I've got a problem here." Meggy bended over and saw the issue. She facepalmed and said "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Wut?" She pointed a finger in the Italian's face and said "Because of your stupid dare, Four is stuck!" Mario looked down, noticing Four tussling to pull the vine off. "Uh oh..." Meggy wanted to slap herself again, but consoled Four's nerves by telling him "Hang on Four! We'll find something to pull you up." They began tying vines together to make a rope. Four kept struggling when he thought he heard a snap. His eyes widened and he looked down to see the vine he was caught in was starting to break. "Hurry guys! I don't know how long this vine will last!"

"And...done!" The two of them thew the rope of vines down and called out "Grab this!" Four reached his hand out to grab the rope, but it was too late. The vine had snapped into pieces and Four lost his balance, sending him falling down the hole. "SMG4! NOOOOOOO!" Mario cried out, extending his arm. Meggy held her hands over her mouth in horror. They were speechless, tears fighting to get out.

Meggy's trembling hands clenched into fists as she swung around and yelled "MARIO YOU IDIOT! THIS IS ALL YOU FAULT! IF YOU HADN'T MADE THAT STUPID BET WITH HIM, THEN FOUR WOULD BE OKAY! BUT HE'S GONE NOW! HE'S GONE AND-"  Mario took back the dumb things he said in great regret and said "Mario's so so sorry! He just meant it as a funny joke! He didn't mean to make Smg4 fall! Pinky swear!" Forcing Four to do something so stupid and reckless. How could he have done that to his best friend?

"Smg4 will be okie dokie right?" She sniffed and said "I don't know Mario." She carefully got up and said with a croaking voice "But maybe we can still save him. Let's go home right now and get out friends to form a rescue party." Mario definitely agreed to that plan, ready to fix this mess, but he still found himself just staring down the hole. Who knows what could be happening to Smg4 right now. Whatever it was, Four was going to be incredibly pissed once he got out. Meggy could sense Mario's deep worry and placed a hand on his shoulder. They started to head down the mountain as Meggy called out "Don't worry Smg4! We'll get you help! Just stay right there!"

...

"Ugh...what happened?"

Four opened his eyes as he felt a slim ray of light on his face. It took him a while to gain back his memories, but then it all came flooding back to him. Mario had dared him to jump down and he had stupidly agreed. God, what was he thinking? Why didn't he think this through? Sitting up, he felt something underneath him. A bed of beautiful golden flowers on a patch of grass. Is this why he didn't die? I mean, the fall was pretty far down. Four observed more of his surroundings and saw a hallway past the flowers. The added darkness made it a little creepy.

"Oh absolutely not! I'll take my chances climbing out of here instead!" Four instantly sprung out of the bed that had saved his life. Not even one bit of gratefulness. He was probably too blinded by sheer panic. Desperately, he tried grabbing onto the wall and scrambling his way up in hopes of escaping, but he kept slipping off. It wouldn't work anyway. The opening was way too far away for someone to climb their way to escape. His next option...screaming!

Hey began yelling as loud as he could "MARIO!? MEGGY!? ARE YOU THERE!?" No response. Maybe someone else nearby would hear him. He began calling out the names of his other friends, wishing anyone would answer and help him. "SMG3!? TARI!? SAIKO!? BOOPKINS!? BOB!? SOMEONE!? ANYONE!?" He kept screaming to the point that his voice became quite hoarse. Slowly he rested his head against the cold, cavernous wall and whimpered. He slid down to the ground and buried himself in his knees, whispering "Please...someone...help me..."

Suddenly...he heard...a voice?

Smg4 tilted his head up and glanced down the hallway, hearing someone mumbling. He couldn't quite make out who it was, but at least it could be someone who would help him. He stood up and forced himself to go through the dark hallway. As he got closer, the mumbling got louder.

"Finally...someone has finally fell down..."

"The final pure soul I need...."

At the end of the hall was a huge doorway that held a room with nothing, but a small patch of grass in the middle. Four peeked his head around to see an ominous figure standing on that little spot and worked up the courage to investigate. "Uh...hello?" He reached his hand out shakily to the person while he thought "Is this a bad idea?"

The guy looked behind him as he jumped back in surprise. Four pulled his arm back, but he still couldn't see the stranger clearly because of the lighting. "Who are you?" Finally, the person sighed and stepped out into the light, offering a warm smile. Four was suddenly taken aback as he instantly knew who this was.

"NILES!?"

Niles waved and said "Howdy new friend! I'm Niles! Niles the Meme Guardian! Well, actually an artificial one, but it's fine!" His smile looked a little fake when he said that last part. Smg4 was at a lost for words as he stuttered "B-But w-we defeated you! I thought you died!" Niles looked at him confused and said "You must be new here to the underground. Aren't you?"

"Um...I guess so?"

Niles made a playful shrug and said "You must be so confused." This time Four shot back in a more stern tone "Actually, I have no idea what the heck is going on here!" Niles thought to himself for a moment and told Four "Someone must teach you how things work around down here!" He looked around as if he was checking to see if anyone was there when he knew he was the only one. "I guess you're stuck with me! Ready?"

"NO!"

"Here we go!"

He snapped his fingers and Four suddenly felt a strange feeling inside him. He looked down and saw a heart that was glowing bright red in his body. "What the hell!? What did you do to me!?" Niles ignored his anger and pointed at it. "See that heart? That is your soul. The very culmination of your being!" Four looked at him in displeasure and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. No kidding Sherlock, but why is it glowing?"

Niles ignored him again and continued on. "Your soul starts off weak, but you can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV." Four started to ask him "What does L-" but Niles already knew what he was going to say and told him "What does LV stand for you ask? Why LOVE of course!" Four gave him a deer in headlights look when Niles inched closer to him, making things really awkward. "You want some LOVE don't you?" Four began to tense up. Was Niles seriously hitting on him or was he just having a weird dream because of the fall?

"Don't worry! I'll share some with you!" Niles gave him a playful wink and made a stance like a video game character posing. Okay...things were getting really freaky now. He then created a bunch of glowing balls that was most certainly meme energy. "Down here, LOVE is shared through these little round orbs." Was Niles playing him like a fool? Smg4 was a meme guardian too y'know.

Niles directed the spheres around him and instructed the blue eyed man "Move around! Get as many as you can!" Smg4 was beyond confused on why Niles would try to get him to interact with his meme energy, but he shrugged it off. Eh...why not? Hopefully it would transport him out of this hellhole. He reached out and touched one, but was immediately shocked by a course of pain. "OW!"

Niles started laughing and said "YOU IDIOT! In this world, it's kill or be killed!" Four became incredibly panicked when he saw Niles' eyes turn to red and he flashed an evil smile. Four tried to run back out the door, but multiple orbs blocked his path. "Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this!?" The balls of evil energy closed in on Four, surrounding him until he was trapped with no way out. "DIE."

He laughed manically as the orbs drew closer and closer. Four couldn't bear to watch this and shut his eyes tight, screaming out "SOMEONE HELP!" The spheres were about to attack him when out of nowhere they just...disappeared? Niles tilted his head in confusion while Four opened one eye to see what happened.

Just then, another seeping ball of light came from behind Niles and knocked him into the wall. Four kept staring at the unconscious man before a girl emerged from the shadows. "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent boy..." Smg4 whipped his eyes around when he recognized that voice. "Ah, do not be afraid sir. I am Melony, the caretaker of the Ruins." Four was instantly overjoyed that one of his friends had finally come to save him. He rushed up and threw his arms around her, crying "Melony! I'm so glad to see you!"

She warmly smiled at him and said "Of course. I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down." He slowly let go as she told him "You are the first one to come here in a long time." Four's smile soon faded when he realized something. "How did you get down here?"

"What do you mean? I've lived her for ages! But that's besides the point. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs." Melony turned around and signaled him to follow her with a wavering hand. "This way." She went through another doorway in front of her as Four ran after her. "Wait!"

Little did Four know, this was the beginning of a long journey...

[mtkay13]

hi! I have a question, i dont quite understand why zhou zishu is drawn to wen kexing, would you be able to help me? Esp in the earlier chapters, i just get the vibe that he's annoyed with him and doesn't want the guy's company. Do you know when he starts having feelings for wkx or how it progressed? I know zzs is very composed and in pain due to the seven nails so maybe i missed it while being focused on the plot, or maybe the translation is confusing me

Hello there!!! I'm sorry for the time I took to reply, I've been quite busy lately and I am currently taking sort of a break from this fandom (I'm not done or anything haha, just focusing on other things atm.) Anyway! Since you sent two asks, I'm going to quote the other one as well here and reply to both at once! :) Here's your second ask:

i think i answered my own question, i saw the ask where you recommended a certain translation, and the translation is completely different from the one i read. In one, zhou zishu comes off as annoyed w wen kexing and i had a hard time figuring out why tf he was even bothering to meddle. In the other, he comes off as an inquisitive person who suspects more to the situation and to wen kexing, and he's drawn in. Not to sound like an idiot but i understand why there's so many translations of greek classics now. The word choice make the interpretation completely different. I wish i could learn mandarin and learn what the original work says. Random but do you know if it'll ever get an official translation? It has a TV show and all, wouldn't it be marketable to western audiences? Question by the same Anyonymous person

As you put it yourself, yeah, the translation and tone does a lot to indicate what ZZS sees in WKX. I feel like there has been a widely shared sentiment that ZZS is pretty much fed up with him for the better part of the book's first half, and while I think it's a front that he puts up indeed, I feel like the original version and some of the translations do a good job of showing how ZZS finds WKX very intriguing, likely very strong and quite handsome (haha). I like to feel like he started developing a crush quite early on in the book, already seduced by WKX's deep and suave voice in chapter 2. From then on, more and more details about him catch ZZS' interest--WKX's appearance, mystery, his strength and martial arts expertise, and of course the way they seem to profoundly understand each other. It seems to me like there's a big shift during the campfire scene where ZZS recognises WKX's sword technique as being Wen Ruyu, the two of them thus discussing WKX's ancestry and, following that, what it means to be a good or bad person. The connection feels so strong during that conversation that it seems very likely to me that they both started falling in love from then on. Overall, where the translation may play a big role in perceiving ZZS' attraction is how "human and lively" he may seem in some versions. His quirks and "humanness" come out stronger in the ones I have recommended (IMO at least) and thus comes off as much warmer and fun. Through that characterisation, the nuance of him expressing one thing (annoyance) but feeling another (interest) is easier to understand. So yeah, indeed, translation sure is something! Haha, and there are many stories of disagreements and re-interpretations of classics even within professional translators (because for how much I can sometime criticise some versions of TYK, it's important to reiterate that these are all fan translations provided by people kindly dedicating their time and ressources to translate for free--most of the time (cough)--and share for free as well.) Well, I can only wish for you to get to read it in mandarin one day, because it's really, really great (and mandarin is just a fascinating language altogether!!) As for the official translation... I'm not very optimistic. It seems like getting publishing rights is rather complicated to begin with, and on top of that, TYK is currently locked on jjwxc (the website where it was initially published) due to censorship, which I feel makes it even more difficult. Priest has expressed in a rather recent socmed post that she didn't want to edit TYK (whether to censor it or for publication) because it was too old, so it's quite possible that she just isn't interested in putting in the work for TYK to be officially published and translated. That being said, it's just my opinion/analysis of the situation, and I may very well be wrong! Anyway, many thanks for coming to me and trusting my opinion, and I wish you a wonderful day!! 💗💗💗

[stuffnonsenseandotherthings]

Crackpot Predictions - Only Friends Episode 1

Welcome to a new thing I do where I try to predict (*cough* wildly guess *cough*) what's going to happen in a show based solely on my read of the first episode. I'll try to cover all of what I think are the main story beats, record them here for posterity (and so I can either say "ha I told you so" or you can all point and laugh at me later), and hopefully by the end of the series we'll all be able to see if I'm a clairvoyant with a magic orb or, alternatively, a numpty with a glass paperweight. Some of these predictions are completely serious, others are complete crack, and some are just random thoughts that had the misfortune of wandering into my head.

With that, let's get started shall we?

The Hostel

Setting up a hostel for your graduation project? How cute!And with your best friends too? How adorable!

Too bad that hostel is absolutely Not Going To Happen. And not only is the hostel Not Going To Happen, its also going to be the site of some of the worst moments of your entire lives!

Prediction: is this is where it's all going to go down, this is where they're going to have the final argument, this is where the climax is going to happen, this is where shit hits the fan and then explodes. I mean why else would you introduce a building site if not to have all your characters have mental breakdowns symbolically in the middle of it? Scaffolding and painter's tarp is for screaming matches and for saying things you never meant to say.

Mew

Oh Mew. Soft, virginal, innocent Mew. Mew who lives in a completely different world to his friends where he wears cute pastels, gets a teen movie montage when he wakes up in the morning, gets a public confession like something out of a romance movie... Surrounded by people with impure thoughts and even worse intentions. What on earth is going to become of our sweet pastel boy?

Who am I kidding, he's going to be fine.

In fact he's probably going to be one of the few people who is fine by the end of this series, and will probably be at least partially responsible for quite a lot of other people being very fucked up (especially Top, sorry my man but you are doomed by the narrative). He's definitely doing to be hurt and he's definitely going to lose his honour student title and he's definitely going to have less friends by the end of this but he'll be fine, he's literally the only one in the friend group other than Chueam with the emotional maturity to cope with and process what's about to happen.

Prediction: He's going to lose friends (but not Chueam, she'll stick with him), his academic record is going to be messed up (but not irreparably so, he'll just have to put in extra work to repair it), and he won't have a boyfriend by the end of the series but he'll be okay, he'll be able to walk it off when it's all said and done. He may even start to get his man back (if he wants him, that is).

Ray

Poor Ray, he's a rich brat who clearly has some self-esteem issues and is whipped for his best friend. He's in for a rough ride I fear, especially seeing as he currently deals with his emotions by getting very drunk and/or lashing out.

Sand will probably be good for him (perhaps a little too good for him) in both bringing him down a peg and hopefully giving him the kind of ego boost he actually needs (no Ray you are not a burden but please stop ruining your liver) and I'm really looking forward to the development of their enemies to fwb relationship and all entails.

Unfortunately for Ray he looks like he might be a bit of a bleeding heart romantic on the inside so he's probably going to get his heart broken twice in a very short space of time; once by Mew and his new relationship and then once again by Sand and his refusal to play second fiddle and Ray is only going to realise this when it's a bit too late. Needless to say Ray will probably not be having a fun time for most of this series and of all the character he is tied as most likely to end up in hospital at some point.

Prediction: He's going to lose friends, he's going to fail his degree, he's going to get his heart broken twice and he's probably not going to be okay about it (but hopefully he'll be on the mend by the end of it all). Ray is going to start shit he can't finish and he, more than anyone else, is going to be a victim of his own actions but hopefully he's also going to be the character with the most growth. Sand might be around to scrape him off the floor at the end, but Ray is going to have to work himself out first.

Boston

Boston, what to say about Boston other than currently he seems to be trying to break the record of most men slept with in a single episode (his competition is Brian Kinney from Queer As Folk btw).

There's definitely a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to him and I look forward to unpacking all of his messy laundry when the time comes. He seems to be both incredibly confident with his life choices (good for him) and incredibly insecure about them at the same time which is fascinating and I definitely get the feeling that he has issues with Mew (to the point where I wouldn't really say they're actually friends) because of that insecurity. I genuinely wouldn't be surprised is at some point we get a lot of pent resentment spilling out from Boston about Mew because no one casually mocks someone they're genuinely okay with that many times behind their back.

Prediction: Boston wants but he doesn't quite know what. He is definitely blowing up every single friendship he has in the process of working it out and he's probably going to find himself on his own for a while too, which might actually be what he needs. That being said, if anyone decides to put forward a laurel at the end of the show though, I also think it's going to be him. I also predict no romance, but I also don't think that's what he wants or needs.

Top

Top the Top Tier player who's never not got his object of interest before. He likes casual sex, comes off as a bit of a sleaze (but at least a sleaze who respects boundaries), and is apparently looking for a new challenge now sleeping around has got boring (but not boring enough to not sleep with Boston again).

The problem for Top is that he thinks he's approaching Mew in his world and on his terms where in reality he's already dancing to the tune of Mew's fiddle and it's only going get worse. Mew's world has rules and regulations and things you just don't do (like sleeping with your boyfriend's best friend) and Top is going to find himself caught up in them. What's worse is he's probably going to find out (much too late) that he wants to be caught up in them. Top might be the big man now but he is well and truly fucked.

Prediction: Top isn't going to take his relationship with Mew 100% seriously until he realises he's already completely invested in it and at that point it's going to be too late. He's definitely going to break Mew's heart but Mew is going to break his ten times over and he's not going to recover easily from that. He might have a chance at redemption, but only once he's completely wrecked himself first.

Sand

Sand was just trying to live his life and then he threatened to pee on someone's head and it all went down hill from there.

At the moment he seems like the audience stand in: watching all the chaos and wondering what on earth is wrong with all these privileged brats (semi-affectionate). Like Mew he definitely seems to have himself together in a way that makes me think he'll come away from this pretty okay emotionally (it'll hurt but he's not allergic to emotions, he'll heal). Unlike Mew he definitely doesn't seem to completely together life-wise (i.e monetarily) though, which does make me wonder if our 3 friends (I'm not including Chueam in this, she's not a guilty party) are going to mess that up for him instead.

Prediction: Emotionally he's going to be okay (although he probably has heartbreak in the cards), in every other aspect I think he'll sustain the most damage (and therefore will be entitled to compensation). He feels the most like an innocent bystander and, as such, is definitely going to regret the day he lay eyes on the back of Ray's head. Out of all the characters, he's probably going to be the one due the most apologies all while having done very little to anyone else.

Nick

Wow well Twison changed when he went to uni, wasn't expecting that trajectory at all 😋

In all honesty I feel like I have the least to go on for Nick in terms of predictions (not that I have much to go on for anything else I've been saying). He seems to be completely gone for Boston already (oh Babe he is not a good target to fall head over tits for) and I like the idea that's floating around that Nick is already familiar with Boston somehow based off his reaction to their first meeting.

That being said, I am getting a little bit of a creep vibe from him (maybe it was the invasion of his client's privacy and subsequent masturbation scene that pinged the alarm idk) but I can't help but feel like everything Mew said he'd do if he slept with Top? Yeah Nick would actually do all those things and more. So yeah, while Boston is going to mess him up with their ambiguous relationship, it's only because Nick was pretty messed up in the first place and he'll end up messing Boston up right back with his clingy/obsessive tendencies.

Prediction: Looks like a marshmallow, is actually on fire. Things are going to go wrong for him but only because things were not right in the first place. Possibly the most likely to actually need therapy. I also wouldn't be at all surprised if he's the one to swing the bat that brings it all crashing down, in fact in this crack-pot prediction, I'm expecting him to.

The Friendship Group

Is going to be in tatters by the end of this series, I'm so sorry Chueam. (I mean is this even a prediction or am I just stating the obvious?)

Prediction: Mew and Chueam are probably still going to be friends (they seems like the closest to each other) but no one else is going to be talking. Ray might have Sand (and Chueam if he doesn't fuck up too much) but Boston going to be on his lonesome and so is Top unless they want to throw a pity party together. At the end of the show there will be a tentative reconciliation, but with the knowledge they're never going to be the same, never going to be as close as before.

TLDR + Extra Predictions

Mew: About to have the worst time of his life but he'll make it through, his pain is going to end up being other people's problem.

Ray: Poor, unfortunate soul checking in at heart-break hotel twice in the space of a few months. Most likely to get his man though.

Boston: Needs to figure out what he wants. Probably going to end up completely cut off from everyone but also most likely to extend the peace offering at the end.

Top: Fucked. (Might get a chance at redemption at the end if he's lucky)

Sand: Emotionally fine, financially screwed. Out of everyone he has to most to complain about and he doesn't even go here.

Nick: Most likely to need actual therapy.

Climax: A big argument at the hotel surrounded by the ruins of their hard work

Likely scene: All of them at Yo's bar they used to go to as friends but this time ignoring each others existence.

Likely scene 2: Boston unleashing a load of suppressed resentment towards Mew, possibly to do with their different lifestyles/world views.

Best chance at romance: Chueam

Best chance at staying friends: Chueam and Mew

Key theme: The importance of friendship

Me: happy to be proven right or wrong with these predictions and here for the wild ride regardless.

And that's it! As I said, these predictions are completely pulled from the air around a single watch of episode 1 so they're not at all serious. If I'm right yay, if I'm wrong also yay, I'm just happy to be watching, I just thought it would be fun to test how well I can predict a narrative based on very little information indeed. If anyone wants to share their own crackpot predictions I am more than happy to hear them, let's clown together.

[cambria-writes]

good day! been a little while since i updated this one too. honestly it's just because i forgot; the chapter was written and everything lol. the one after this is still in the work though, so that... might take a little bit. it starts to get spicy so i'm trying by best to not be a cowardly little ace and just get in there.

word count: 2,722 rating: M warning: people are shirtless and pantless/trouserless, mention of a panic attack, age gap but left up to interpretation, getting cockblocked by a phone call, swearing, so scarcely proofread it might as well be whiteclaw, let me know if there's anything else!

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𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓: 𝔏𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫 𝔚𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯

Waking up is a slow process.

The first thing you notice is that the pillow is softer than what you normally have at home. Your face is half engulfed in it in the best of ways. Like your head is cradled by a temperature controlled cloud.

The second thing that you notice is that, though the air should still be cool from early morning, half of you is warm. Almost too hot to bear; you can feel sweat beading on your collarbone.

The third thing that registers is that you’re very much not wearing your own clothes. It feels different, and definitely isn’t a dress, or whatever oversized shirt you’d otherwise be wearing to bed. And everything smells different. In a pleasant way your brain is still trying to make sense of.

You crack open an eye to look at what you think is the nearest window and take a second. Patrick Jane’s face is mockingly close. And you’re well on your way to being half on top of him; one arm holding onto his left shoulder and your right leg thrown over his left thigh. It wouldn’t even have been that bad, really, if his hand wasn’t also on your thigh.

Not entirely the development you expected after getting entirely too-violent flashes of someone else’s traumatic experiences. But also, unfortunately, not the strangest thing that’s happened to you in recent history.

You’re halfway back to sleep–there’s no way you’re going to stay awake to chance a conversation about all of this when you still have a raging headache–when you feel the hand on your thigh give the slightest of squeezes. Well fuck.

“There’s Tylenol and water on the chair,” Jane says quietly. His eyes stay closed. For all anyone could tell he still looks like he’s asleep.

You make a sound between a grunt and scoff. Pull your arm and leg away and turn around in bed like it’s no big deal. There is, in fact, a metal water bottle and two Tylenol on the chair Jane had pulled up the night before. You pop the pills in your mouth, unscrew the bottle and–

“Oh my fucking god,” you say, approximately, around a mouthful of lemon water and pain killers. Swallowing is almost painful and you can’t help but gag as the pills go down entirely wrong. Immediately try to flush them down further with more water and sputter and cough once you swallow. “Lemon? God, do you hate me?”

“You mixed your drinks last night. You’re dehydrated.” Jane takes a deep breath, almost a yawn, and runs a hand through his hair. His eyes are still closed. “You’re dehydrated,” he repeats patiently. “You might hate it but it’ll help. Drink.”

Throw your legs over the side of the bed and eye the bottle in your hands with utmost contempt. There’s no sugar in there, it’s just straight lemon juice in water. Maybe some salt. You’re pretty sure you felt pulp in there too. You swallow your pride and personal preference with another gulp of citrus water.

“Good gi–”

“No, nuh uh,” you cough and turn around, point a very tired finger at the man next to you. “You don’t get to call me that. Stop that.”

Jane finally opens his eyes, one arm thrown casually over his head and the other resting across his chest. The look on his face could only be described as a shit eating grin.

“Funny, I got the impression you liked that.” You scoff and take another drag from the bottle. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

It takes a second for you to bring the bottle back down from your lips. Yes, actually, despite how apparently very drunk you were, you remember everything very clearly. A little bit too clearly.

“You’re going to have to be a lot more specific than that,” you reply slowly, bringing your legs back up to sit cross-legged on the bed. You stare at the wall in front of you; get the feeling that looking Jane in the face is going to make you lose whatever little nerve you still have left.

“The panic attack,” Jane says simply. “Can you tell me what caused it?”

“You wouldn’t believe me,” you mutter, fidgeting with the near-empty bottle before screwing the cap back on. “It’s not the kind of thing you’d take seriously.”

This is when Jane slides himself up the bed to rest against the headboard. Reaches out to brush hair behind your ear to see your face.

“You wouldn’t lie to me. And with what you’ve been seeing and doing lately...”

It’s rare that he trails off like that, but you still resist the urge to turn and look at him. Take a deep, measured breath, and lean over the side of the bed to put the water bottle down on the floor.

“When I touched your hand when I was on the couch, I... It’s like I saw what you did. Back then. When you came home to...” It’s your turn to trail off. Wring your hands in your lap and screw your eyes shut. “I remember what the note said–the one on the door. I remember the lamp, how they were–how he displayed them. I panicked cause I thought, I mean, it’s crazy, right? Like, I have to have heard about this in the news, right? Or something? I’ve never experienced that before. So I just kind of...”

“Panicked,” Jane finishes, and you don’t like his tone. You can’t pinpoint what, exactly, it carries, but none of the options available sound good. Pain? Anger? Disbelief? Offense? Christ, this is so messed up.

“Yeah. I panicked. And then I tried to see if I could, like. See more? And I saw you driving up here. Jane, I saw the fucking mail in your hands. I could tell you which bills had come in.” When your breathing starts to speed up again, you feel a warm hand at the back of your neck. Makes you flinch, at first, but you lean your head back into it.

“Okay,” Jane says after a while, digging his fingers into the muscles around your spine to try and loosen them up. “Alright. What was in the mail?”

You scoff and open your eyes to blink away tears.

“One of them was the license renewal for your car. There was a phone bill in there too, and a notice from one of the private schools you’d looked into. And something from a relative, I think,” you list, trying to remember the return addresses you saw. “And a letter from Europe. I remember there were like, twenty stamps on it.”

Jane releases a rushed exhale. Like he genuinely can’t believe what you’ve said. Neither can you, honestly; it feels like it’s all just a big, surreal joke. Like someone’s going to bust through the guest bedroom door–which was left blessedly open–and say that you were actually hypnotized and that everything you think you saw was just a production of suggestion.

No one runs into the room. Jane scoot closer to you. The hand at the back of the neck moves to your shoulder.

“Skye. Look at me, please.” You keep your head tilted towards the ceiling and refuse to look down. “I’m not mad, I promise. Please just look at me.”

Though you don’t bring your head back down, you do tilt it to the side just enough to see his face. The calm smile on Jane’s face makes you want to scream. Turn the other way and wrap your arms around yourself.

“This is so fucked, I’m so sorry. Can we forget any of this happened? God, this is so fucked, this is so fucked.” You bite your lip and rock back and forth. This is absolutely another panic attack, god dammit. Try your best to keep your breathing steady.

When Jane tries to pry the arm closest to him away from your body, you put up a very cursory fight against it. Eventually, he just firmly takes a hold of your arm, puts a hand to the back of your neck again, and pulls you into him. It takes a few laboured breaths before you completely lose it. Grossly sobbing was not how you planned on spending your morning.

None of this is, actually, how you planned on spending any morning. But here you are.

Jane pets the back of your head and whispers things in your ear; you can’t hear much beyond the sound of your own sobbing and the blood flow roaring in your head. You vaguely, distantly realize that he’s not wearing a shirt when you ball your fists against his chest.

“That’s it, just keep breathing,” he says, eventually, a little bit louder, once you’ve been able to stop crying and at least try to breathe right. Feels like there are starbursts in your eyes. “You’ve been through a lot. This doesn’t help.” Puts his hands on your shoulders to pull you away just enough to look at you. “Have you talked to anyone at all?”

Shake your head and clear your throat. “N-no I–who would I have–no one would’ve understood. Who the fuck would I have talked to about any of it?” You try your best at a derisive laugh, but it sounds more like a sob. Before you can, Jane brings his hands up to your face to swipe at your tears with his thumbs.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve asked you how you were doing,” he apologizes, frowning and pulling you back into his chest. “I should have checked in.”

Shake your head against him and sigh. “Not like anyone knew what was going to happen to me.”

“No, you’re right, which is exactly why someone should’ve stuck around to make sure you were alright.”

You don’t have anything to say to that. He’s not wrong. But, christ, how were you supposed to afford therapy in the first place? And even if you could, how were you supposed to explain to anyone what happened to you without having them wholesale minimize everything at best, and dismiss your experiences at worst? Even Jane probably only sideways believes you just because he was there for like, most of it. You honestly don’t think you could get some PhD having suit-and-tie asshole believe your wild fucking tales.

“You’re thinking too much,” Jane says, and the low tone he uses makes his chest rumble. You swallow thickly and try very desperately not to think about the states of undress you’re both in. Now is a very bad time to– “You’re still doing it.”

“Sorry.” It comes out almost as a whine. Your hands flatten against Jane’s chest. The feeling of his heart beating under his ribs is oddly... soothing.

He pets the back of your head one more time before disentangling himself and standing up. You feel too cold and a bit too untethered without someone next to you. Jane nudges his head at you and asks you to turn around. You sniffle and give your face one last pass–wipe your eyes on your forearm and your nose on your hand.

Once you’ve turned around, still cross-legged with your hands in front of you, Jane takes his place behind you. And it’s all you can do not to moan when you feel his fingers wrap around your shoulders and his thumbs gently dig into the tension in your neck.

“Holy fuck, how did you know?” You sigh, wincing as your muscles are forced to let go of each other and relax. Jane huffs in laughter and slowly moves up your neck.

“I don’t think anyone would’ve missed the way you carry everything in your shoulders,” he explains, slowing once he gets back down to the collar of your–his–shirt. “Do you mind if I...”

He pulls his hands away when you move, reaching over your head to pull at the shirt. Your heart is thrumming in your chest like a whole swarm of hummingbirds, but it’s whatever. It’s fine. This is fine. Honestly the only thing even remotely making you feel like you’re preserving your modesty is the fact that your bra is still blessedly on.

Jane whispers a quiet “thank you” before his hands return to your back. This time, his fingers maneuver around your shoulder blades and the feeling makes the breath stutter in your throat. It’s absolutely, definitely extremely nice to have someone work on your back after the weeks you’ve had.

“You’re tensing your shoulders. Relax,” Jane asks over your shoulder. The sly bastard has to know that it’s not at all funny to be speaking directly next to your ear like that. And there’s no way he can miss the gooseflesh that covers your entire torso when he does.

But, obediently, you close your eyes and take a deep breath. Your shoulders come down when you exhale, and you try to keep them as loose as possible.

It takes a second, but eventually you hear his say, “Good girl.”

You let out something akin to a frustrated growl and spin around, mouth open to say something. The words die on your tongue when you see the grin on Jane’s face, his hands still raised in front of him. Anyone else would’ve thought he was backing off.

“You kissed me last night,” is what you end up saying instead. “Wait, no, shit, that’s not what I–”

“I did.” Lowers his hands. Back to the calm and impassive face and voice again, god that’s frustrating. This time, though, you can see him clench his jaw.

Okay, that’s new.

“Why?” You can feel your ribs shaking and it’s taking everything you can muster to try and keep your voice steady.

“Because I wanted to.”

“Why?” you ask again, slowly sliding off the bed to stand next to Jane. He’s got one leg on the ground; you bump your knee into it.

For once, Jane is the one who has to look up at you, even if it’s not by much. Bite your lip nervously, and you can’t not notice the way his eyes follow the movement, just for a fraction of a second.

“Because you’re fascinating,” he replies, and the way he looks straight into your eyes makes it feel like you’re suffocating. You can see in your peripheral that he reaches a hand out. You expect to feel his hand in yours, but instead you feel the suggestion of a touch on your left thigh. Right over the graze.

“You’re at least a decade and a half older than me.”

This gives Jane pause. It’s not like it wasn’t obvious there wasn’t a sizeable age gap between you. He’d probably seen your date of birth back at the CBI when you were first there, and you’d definitely done your research on him weeks ago. The hand at your thigh retreats and Jane puts his other leg down, sits a bit straighter.

“If you feel like there’s a power imbalance and like I’m taking advantage of you, we don’t have to–”

“Ohmygod, no! No,” you rush to say, taking a step forward. “God, no, I don’t feel like that at all, Jesus. I’d be in a cab halfway home by now if I did.” Reach across yourself to grab your arm. “I just...”

Jane slowly grabs your arm and pulls it back down. You don’t miss the way his fingers stay at your wrist, over your pulse.

“Do you want me to take you home?” He’s speaking so quietly it’s he’s worried he’ll scare you if he speaks any louder.

“No.”

He waits for a second and hums.

“Tell me what you want, then.” The hand at your wrists pulls you forward. You’re standing between Jane’s legs. Can’t take another step forward.

“I–what I...”

Somewhere, a shrill ringtone goes off. Neither of you move until it rings for the third time, when it’s obvious it isn’t your phone ringing. Jane sighs and it looks almost painful. You step back to let him get up and grab his phone. It stops ringing when he flips it open, but as he’s going through his missed calls, the phone rings again.

“I’ll be right back. Sit,” he instructs, and his tone makes you sit down on the bed immediately.

You can’t hear what Jane says as he walks out of the room.

𝓣𝓪𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽

@fucklife-or-me @newavenger @yearningforsappho @mamacakeishereforfun @nastukee

[dragonbugsuperior]

MLB Ship Tier

Marigami

ranks at the top because of the their interesting dynamic though they were off to a rocky start due to them being rivals for Adriens affection. I find their moments in the show to be funny, cute, and amusing. (They both enjoy drawing which would be a cute date) I also feel like Kagami would make a great candidate for Ladybugs partner. Shes smart, articulate, efficient, and determined to succeed. Marinette teaching Kagami how to be open with other people and herself, and Kagami teaching Marinette how to be more comfortable in her skin. One of my headcanons and theory is that while everyone may assume Kagami is the top in the relationship its actually marinette, another theory of mine is that Kagami is the top and Marinettes a bratty bottom but canonically they give me switch energy. However like other things and relationshis in the show its a shame how their interactions aren't explored more or touched upon beyond their liking to the same bland white guy (who doesn't deserve either)

Lukanette

This ship is a very sweet ship to me and one that I shipped awhile ago (when it was first introduced) I believe on of the many reasons Adrien stans and love square shippers hated Luka so much was because he did what Adrien couldn't. He's able to give Marinette actual good advice (*cough cough* Adrien take notes) Marinette is comfortable around him so we dokt get embarassing cringey 24/7 and......say it with me everyone

Respects.

Her.

Boundaries.

Awe what's wrong? Adrichat can't do this? What's that?

Ur favorite white catboy is unable to respect his love interests boundaries? But Luka can? Awwww...too bad.

He doesn't push Marinette further than what she's comfortable with and many Adrien stans argue that this makes Luka "bland" (since when is respecting someone bland???) Other than that I like their interactions in Canon, I'm glad he's one of the very few people marinette can actually talk to and doesn't get embarassed around. It feels good to know she liked a guy and was actually able to talk to him. One of my most unpopular and controversial theories is that Luka would make a pretty decent deuteragonist. Seeing how the writers pretty much wrote Luka & Kagami off so they wouldn't tear the love square (they really weren't going to anyway) and broke up the only actual healthy romantic relationship Marinette had, (because Marinette can't have nice things, am I right?) I know for sure there's no reviving Lukanette despite this, it still makes the top of the list. RIP to a really good healthy relationship✊🏾😔

Chloedrien (fanon)

This ship surprisingly ranks high. I can see them together especially in fanon. But because the writers are incompetent in the progression department and development their Canon relationship is definitely lackluster. Chloe invades Adriens space, he's visibly uncomfortable (feel familiar?) Chloe complains about her "Adrikins" Yada Yada. However if the show were written differently and Chloe actually talked to Adrien in attempts to strengthen their friendship I can see a good relationship.

Fela

Not you....

You.

This ship only interests me friendship wise. I can't see Lila and Felix together as a couple in spite of the similar personalities manipulative, cunning, discreet, calucating, and sly. I see power imbalance, trying to outsmart and manipulate each other and both of them being unable to think of anyone but themselves. Which is why a friendly alliance between both anatognists suits better because I can see them easily challenging Marinette and Adrien.

*signs*

Green eyed monsters

Nialya

This Canon couple is pretty decent, the feelings are mutual and we see many episodes with both being concerned about the other one (which is cute) and the consistent normal interactions they have are okay I can definitely see Alya being the dominant one in the relationship.

Lukagami / fanon /

It fanonically works better due to reasons (I'll list for Canon version) but in fanon they work pretty okay. I can see like Marinette & Adrien they're supposed to be opposites despite them having few interactions in the show. It'd be nice see their different personalities communicate. I cant say too much abt them.

Fecloe

This pairing is a easy hit or miss. I can understand them relating to each other as far as their dysfunctional families but I see Chloé annoying Felix with ease. She'd be a childish distraction (i argue the same with her relationship with Lila) and Felix would break up her instantly Felix is the type to basically desensitize himself from any emotions and rationalizes everything. And Chloe already an insecure brat with a touch of entitlement and narcissism is the cherry on top of it all. And with the direction the writers are attempting to go with Felix (being a antihero and having a moral gray compass) I don't see him supporting Chloes unexplained Bullying (which is rlly annoying bc why exactly do we sill not know Chloes reason behind Bullying people especially Marinette for so long?) But yeah this is one of those pairs they could be alright acquaintances at best but....romantically no. And working together? Hell no.

Alyanette

It's already bad enough their friendship isn't healthy with alya not respecting marinettes feelings or boundaries actively going against marinettes wishes and attempting to get her and Adrien together (physically holding her hands in place likes thats totally ok) thinking she knows what's best for marinette than marinette herself and not even trusting Marinette enough to believe she wouldn't do certain things (but a girl u just met can be trusted?) The OOC writing these past seasons is so painful to watch it makes my ass itch. I can already see her being overbearing and domineering in the dynamic. In Canon their personalities complement well however I don't see the connection romantically

Chlila

This dynamic is better as close acquaintances who help each other sometimes. (Keep in mind sometimes) Like Chloes relationship with Felix the one with Lila is no different as she would clash with her constantly. I also feel like Lila's the more rational one with the plan and Chloe is more impulsive and dives into things for the fun of it. Automantucally making their motives contrast and their characters. Their relationship reminds me alot of Cleo and Torelai's relationship (Monster high) I believe seeing more interactions between the two would be fun.

Lukagami / Canon/

Ah yes, the love rivals who could've served as good development and plot progression but like everything else with this garbage dump of entertainment, they never met their full potential. I don't ship this ship because it feels more like a way to bring them further away from the Love Square and just a way for people to say "hey on the bright side everyone wins!" But luka and kagami deserve better than to be casted as plot devices , which it feels like than it does a actual genuine ship and the only time we really seem them interact directly is in Determination which was centered around Marinette & Adriens relationship (its almost like they said "Hey! Fuck any progress we almost made, let's write the characters completely OOC and inconsistent moving forward. Either way the ship could work....but with how the show is already written I wouldn't pair them as a couple canonically.

Lukzoe

This ship isn't bad it's cute however I wouldn't pair them together canonically or in fanon I like how the writers already have Zoe liking Marinette and I honestly like Luka and alot of other characters without a relationship because I feel like it isnt needed. Though I feel like their friendship would be amazing.

Feligami

A controversial Canon ship that I had to recheck to see if it was actually Canon before saying

What the hell.

This ship is another hit or miss and to be honest I feel like the writers knew that they'd have to write Kagami and Felix OOC for this pairing to work in the first place. The pairing feels like a cop out for Kagamis unresolved feelings for Adrien and the writers went "Oh yea! Let's pair her with Felix, Adrien's "evil" twin" who happens to look just like Adrien just is less "Nice" having the ability to stand up for what he actually believes in and for Felix....I cant see him in a relationship. He's one of those characters that I feel does really well solo (like Lila) when u add people in the bunch it mushes his characterization up. They decide to pair them up in Representation and the two get into a secret relationship. They pair Kagami with Felix guys. The same guy who SH Ladybug, wiped all of Paris out (except for 3 people), as if that wasn't bad enough they have them both conspire a plan to deceive Marinette (so much for being marinettes friend). Kagami defends her newfound boyfriend to Ladybug and Chat Noir in Pretension. I liked Kagami better single, it's almost as if she had "more" braincells that way.

Lilanette

Aside from the pair being abusive and toxic, their interactions as enemies canonically are interesting. I'm interested in knowing just how far Lila's willing to go with Marinette with her lies and deceit, thus shipping doesn't work as a couple undoubtedly because of how abusive it is and I can't see Lila caring abt Marinette as much as Marinette would Lila (if she werent a villain) Feels more like a cat and mouse dynamic.

Lilalya

Lila and Alya feel lackluster to me and Canon makes my feelings on them no better. Their relationship in the show doesnt even make the slightest bit of sense. Firstly I'll say in the beginning when we first meet Lila her lies are believable but as time goes by and seasons go on the lies get less and less convincing and Lila isn't seen as this smart evil genius (she wasnt even before just a manipulative insecure teenage girl who wants attention wherever she can get it because her caregiver(s) neglect her ) the class including Alya shouldn't even be this dense still after 5 seasons in, just shows u how bad the writers of this show are at writing a believable consistent storyline and characters. I feel like Lila would love bomb Alya until she squeezes all the juicy information and benefits she can get from her then hang Alya out to dry.

Adrigami

I wouldn't have much of a problem with this ship if it weren't for.......the one and only notorious bland...blonde....the Adrien Agreste (the main reason I also don't support the love square) While I see them understanding where they both come from, I honestly can't see a what Kagami seen in Adrien. He's blander than oatmeal, and is described as not just by the Fandom but the shows creator himself "this perfect, innocent, catboy whos sheltered from the world and needs protecting and sympathy all. the. time. boo hoo. Not only did he lie to Kagami, which led to the breakup, but he technically cheated on her. by harassing his partner Ladybug (who clearly tells him she doesn't like it almost.every. episode.) while in a relationship with Kagami. Them being together doesn't feel rewarding seeing how he has treated her and how he treats other female characters in the show in general, especially Ladybug/Marinette. She deserves a lot better than what Adrien has to offer, and so does Marinette.

The Love Square

Ah yes, saved the best for last, this quadrupled pair ranks lowest of all for many reasons, if u didn't know by now, now u know I hate the Love Square and the message it sends the audience. If it isn't Marinettes forced embarrassment and humiliation to cover for the writers blatant misogyny and racism because Marinettes character persecution is set up as the shows comedy go to and her struggles are made out for a "good laugh" because thats really funny Thomas.....haha. Then theres Adriens problematic creepy predatory harassment towards Ladybug that's seen as generally "ok!" And cute and romantic *kiss kiss* he does as Chat Noir bc no one knows whos under the mask leaving him to get away scots free the general message it sends is its okay to keep harassing the target of your affections with enough determination and charisma added with a sob story you'll get them in the end. Doesn't matter if they're visibly uncomfortable or disgusted doesn't matter if they vocally say they don't reciprocate ur feelings all u gotta do is Try try try again!

Let's not even get started with how bad Adrien's jealousy gets....

Right.

He gets antsy whenever he sees a new Temp helping LB out as if he actually helps her in a major way anyway. He refuses to help her when she declines his romantic offers and grows really petty, snarky & sarcastic when things generally don't go his way with her. He doesn't take his job serious enough to even have his spot as a permanent miraculous holder and not to mention one of the most powerful miraculous there is "misusing the miraculous many and multiple times, making corny embarrassing puns and failed flirtations during battle essentially distracting Ladybug making her job harder. I honestly don't think it'd be much of a difference if he weren't chat noir.

Not to mention the double standard that exists between Marinette and Adrien in general

Marinettes' actions while problematic are checked in the show like her exaggerated obsessiveness, jealousy tendency, impulsive issues, and awkwardness around Adrien (and by many fans, sometimes to the point of bashing and purposely highlighting what has already been established) Adriens are all glossed over and we're expected to feel sorry for him. His dad abuses him and his mommy is nowhere to be found so now the writers use our female protagonist as emotional support when she herself needs emotional support. The writers are so bad at writing they can't even make the main couple communicate clearly and simply ever. Thomas himself goes out of his way to say to the world "Adrien is not flawed, the world is" yet his stans have the audacity to say mArinEtTes mOre Of a MarY sUe thAn He iS!. Her jealousy is called out but Chat Noirs is swept under the rug and is seen as her responsibility. Let's not mention how literally every female character that has had interest in Adrien has been pitted against Marinette but Luka, Nathaniel, and Adrien coexist just fine in kumbaya because remember kids

"Girls are spiteful petty backstabbing and catty while boys are practically angels who see each other as /bros/"

While also saying in the same breath this show is all about "girl empowerment " but has the white male deuteragonist harass, abuse, and manipulate our biracial female protagonist for 5 seasons straight, right?

Just making sure.

[snicketstrange]

Untie My Silence Knot - Chapter 5 - L, you are so forgetful!

My next stop was the banking district. This time I used a taxi to get there. I went straight to Mulctuary Money Management. I needed to deliver something to Mr. Poe. I had prepared that document more than 2 years ago. That was my new testament, along with B.'s new testament. B didn’t know anything about that. I had forged all the signatures myself, including those of the witnesses. That was one of the skills that VFD taught me, which was tragic irony in a way.

I only fully understood the meaning of inheriting a fortune as a member of VFD after my parents died.

The money is not really yours … - My tutor said - not even the mansion is really yours. You are a volunteer. The money and the mansion belong to the organization. You just need to take care of them.

I understand … - I said.

You cannot have many servants to take care of the mansion, because otherwise it would be misuse of the organization's resources. I’m not forcing you, but the organization suggests you have three children.

I'm only 14 … I want to get married and have children with a certain person, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet.

I'm not telling you to get married now … But you will need to choose well who you are going to marry, B. In any case, you will only receive the money when you turn 18.

Yes…

In addition, you will need to think about your future children. They will be responsible for saving the organization's money when you and your husband die.

What if they don't want to join the organization?

You have to convince them B.

But what if they still don't want to?

In that case, you will need to make a will, and in this will you will have to exclude them as heirs and choose someone from the organization to be heir to your fortune.

That rule was repeated to me a few times, and B knew it very well, and agreed with it. When K was born, we decided not to allow any of our children to join VFD. I even stopped singing that song for V. Me and B decided that we would train our children to be successful even without the money I inherited. I also wouldn’t force them to do too much housework. B and I took care of that, while K and V developed their skills as a researcher and inventor.

But I didn't expect to stop being with them anytime soon. I'm sure B will continue to take care of them, but what if something bad happens to B while they’re still children?

After coughing a lot, Mr. Poe started talking to me in his office.

Glad you changed that, Mrs. B. I never understood why you were giving all your fortune to Mrs. A.

I added some details, I mean, Mr B and I added some details involving the safety of children.

Don't worry, Mrs. B, if something happened to you two, I would be the person who would be most concerned about the safety of your children. I've already met them, and I know how adorable they are.

He then coughed again. It is strange how lately I felt more comfortable with people who are not VFD than with people who are VFD.

I will keep this new will in a very safe place, inside my top hat.

I am very grateful.

I returned home by taxi. B was in the mansion's maintenance tasks. V came to me with a drawing of a project that seemed to be magnificent. But my mind was so full, I couldn't concentrate. I went straight to the kitchen to prepare lunch. S just watched me while I cooked, and occasionally asked her to open one of the cans.

Gezi?

I went to the banking district, S.

swim?

I smiled at her.

Yes, I passed Fountain of Victorious Finance. The fountain looked almost inviting.

The hours passed and soon we were already at the table. I looked at B, who was wearing his favorite maintenance outfit. He was especially handsome that day. He grinned at the kids … Every meal with him was really fun for the kids. And for me too. There’s no better person to care for the children than B—he’s the best father in the world. And I’ll be the worst mother.

The afternoon came. My next task was at home, specifically in the library. I found K there, and as usual he was reading.

Will you read with me, mom?

I will need to read some things by myself, K. Did you see the library catalog?

It's in my room. I'll get it for you, mom.

I quickly found the book I needed, 'Botanical Poisons and Their Applications. I had used this book more than 4 years ago, but I couldn't easily forget about its location in the library.

I left a note for K: "Thank you, my son. I found the book I was looking for, I will read it in my room".

Instead of going to the bedroom, I grabbed a flashlight and headed to the secret tunnel beneath the house.

Drawing up a plan in that tunnel was something that brings back bitter memories. About 13 years ago, L and I sat here devising a plan to steal E.’s sugar bowl. The organization was a mess. B was on an overseas assignment, and I needed to stay at home looking after V, who was still a small baby.

As soon as we sat down on the tunnel floor, L said:

I forgot my flashlight.

You are supposedly dead, L. You need to be careful with your equipment. You can't just walk into a store and buy tools.

Well, we could have met in the living room … That table seems to be appropriate.

I think not. I don't know what the neighbors would say if they saw a dead man talking to me as they looked through the window. And even more so without my husband being at home.

Does this have anything to do with the incomplete puzzle on the table? You love puzzles, B.

No more than you, L … So, what's the plan?

You will need to meet her at a certain restaurant during afternoon tea. I will be there.

It looks simple.

If E finds out, we'll be dead.

Simple things can be dangerous…like us, here in the dark.

Now I realize L really should have brought his flashlight. I'm still not sure why I didn't let him meet V that day.

I found the information I needed in that book. Now, I just needed to arrange a nighttime visit to the Royal Gardens.

[iamvegorott]

Meeting A Magical Man Pt. 20

Part 1: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

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Marvin finished making his tea and some tea for Chase and Henrik as well before sitting at the table with them. He took a deep inhale of the tea’s steam and then sighed.

“If we’re doing this, I want to set up a system.” 

“A system?” Chase asked. 

“Let me guess, one question at a time?” Henrik didn’t sound surprised by this at all. 

“Yep. We take turns asking one person one question, and follow-up questions are done by the next person or until your turn again.” Marvin wanted just a little control of this. He was still willing to let any question be asked, but having that little hold of something helped keep him from feeling like the world was spinning. He didn’t like to talk about serious things. He was never scared of questions, always more than happy to explain something to others. Jackie knew about magic users before Phantom because of him, because Jackie would ask how something worked, and he was happy to answer. 

But this was different.

This was so different. 

“Do we want to like, draw sticks for who goes when?” Chase suggested. 

“I’ll go first. Why did you make out with Wilford?” Marvin said, looking right at Chase. Henrik was unprepared for that and started choking on his tea a bit, coughing into the crook of his elbow. 

“I don’t feel like that’s top priority right now.” Chase’s protest had a bit of red on his face. 

“We all have plenty of questions, and I’m asking my first one,” Marvin said. “Why did you make out with Wilford and yes, it’s the same Wilford you’re thinking of.” He added the last part toward Henrik. 

“We met after me and Stacy split, and I was figuring out my sexuality, and he offered to…give me a hand in that. Just a friend helping me out, that’s all.” Chase’s face got redder and redder the more he spoke. He was clearly very flustered and not expecting to be discussing this. “My turn for a question.” Chase turned himself to Marvin. “How did you end up working for Dark? Phantom said he got involved to help Jackie. What about you?” 

“I knew this would come up.” Marvin sighed. He removed his mask and set it down on the table. “When my powers came to be, they quite literally blew up in my face. I had no control, it was too much, and I was a danger to myself and those around me. Thankfully, I had already moved into my own place by then, so It only got to me and some belongings.”

“Didn’t you say that-”

“One question at a time.” Marvin cut off Chase’s comment with his reminder. 

“Sorry.” Chase deflated a little.

“Oh, darling.” Marvin placed a hand on Chase’s leg under the table. “I promise it’s just a me thing. You’re fine.” 

“Okay.” Chase softly smiled.

“And how I got involved with Dark was that he heard about the mess, knew what caused it, found me, and offered to help from something bad like that from happening again. I was his first contract hire.” 

“My turn to question,” Henrik said. “What did Dark want?”

“He wants me to do one more job for him.” Marvin gestured to the folder. “He says if I find and bring him this ‘new apprentice’ I’m officially freed from my contract.” He could tell that Henrik had more questions by his eyes alone, so he quickly asked one. “How much does Robbie know? He went from five to fifteen in a night. I don’t know if he’d be caught up on what all a teen knows.” 

“From what little I have gathered, he seems to be as fully developed as anyone his age would be. He understands culture, he has knowledge, I still have to test how much knowledge he has to see if he is advanced in anything or not. To be honest, his personality reminds me a lot of how we were back then. Again, I will need more time to see how true that is. Most teenagers have some form of sass.” 

“Do you think the magic stuff you used has to do with it?” Chase asked. “Ah shit, that was my question, and I wanted to ask something else. Fuck it. I’ll ask it next time.” 

“The magic stuff…” Henrik didn’t pay attention to the latter half of Chase’s talking as his brain started turning. “I gathered magic from my home and office to bring Robbie back to life. Myself, both of you and Edward are the most common in those places. Well, Edward in my office.” 

“Could be your bed if you-”

“Do not.” Henrik stopped Marvin short. “As I was saying. From what you have explained to me before, magic is personal, it attaches to the person uniquely and can even affect those without magic if they are around it for so long. Perhaps we added to the influence of the magic as well and gave our knowledge, or at least a chunk of it, to Robbie, so he is already knowledgeable on things despite never being taught it.” He hummed to himself. “That is something I will be looking more into.” After a pause, he nodded and looked at Marvin. “You said a new apprentice. Whose apprentice is it? Is it…you know?” 

“Nope, don’t you do any ‘he who shall not be named’,” Chase said. 

“Is it Actor?” Henrik changed his question. 

“I haven’t read anything yet, but with how Dark was talking. I wouldn’t be shocked if it was Actor.” Marvin peeked over and could see Chase literally biting his tongue. “Would you like help shopping for Robbie's clothes tomorrow?” 

“Oh…sure?” Henrik said with a shrug. 

“Who the fuck is Actor?” Chase slapped both hands down on the table, speaking his words quickly. 

“He was Dark’s mentor,” Marvin said. “Taught him almost everything he knows, and because of some…drama behind the scenes, they fucking hate each other. He has his own little group like Dark does. I’ve only met one of them before, and for the life of me, I can’t remember his name.” 

“This does not sound safe in any form,” Henrik said. “Actor is not one you should mess with on your own, but I do not want to know what would happen if he finds someone who could be potentially more powerful than you. I may not know much about that man, but from what I have been told…I do not like any of this.” 

“I don’t think I have a choice, Hen. Regardless of anything, I want to find this person. Who knows what Actor is doing or what Dark would do?” 

“I want to help in any way that I can.” Henrik sighed. “Chase, did you have any other questions? I believe there was one you wanted to ask earlier, but it got skipped over.” 

“Go for it,” Marvin said when Chase hesitated since it wasn’t technically his turn. “We’re done with the one-question-at-a-time thing.” 

“You said you were doing magic since you were a kid, but your powers kicked in when you were an adult?” Chase asked. 

“The magic I did when I was a child were those tricks you can learn online, and I was seventeen when I first discovered my real powers. I was on my own because my father kicked me out, and my mother couldn’t convince either of us to have me stay. And I would like to end that conversation there.” Marvin stood up, picking up his now cold tea. 

“Remember when this was about making a potion for me to sleep?” Chase asked with a weak chuckle. 

“Right, I do finally have everything for that. I’ll work on putting that together so you can give it the first test run tonight.” Marvin put his mug into the microwave. He didn’t like warming up his drinks like this, but he wasn’t in the mood for cold tea or to do anything else to warm it up. What little energy and will to do things for the day he had left he was going to save for making the potion. 

“Are you going to read the folder?” Henrik asked. 

“In the morning. I need a break from that.” Marvin watched the mug spin, eyes half-closed as he could hear the soft humming of the machine. 

“We can do Robbie's clothes shopping in the afternoon tomorrow?” Chase suggested. “Not a whole wardrobe, but a few shirts and pants, so he’s comfortable until the next growth spurt.” 

“You think there will be another?” Henrik sipped on his tea, not minding that it was cold. 

“I wouldn’t be shocked.” 

“Maybe he’ll get as old as us since you mentioned us influencing your place and my magic. Maybe he’ll get as old as I was when I first started putting magic in this place. Wasn’t I twenty-one or something when you got this house?” Marvin glanced over at Henrik. 

“Twenty-one. I only recall because we had my housewarming and your birthday party on the same night, and it was…interesting.” Henrik clicked his tongue at the memory.

“The word you’re looking for is ‘fun’. That night was amazing.” 

“I am shocked you can remember it.” 

“I didn’t get that…you know what, fair.” Marvin laughed. “Maybe when we get all this shit done, we can have another rager like that. Chase can be one of the strippers~” 

“You had strippers?” Chase snorted a little, the comment not hitting him the way Marvin had wanted it to. “I can’t imagine Henrik and strippers in the same place.”

“He had a blast with them, baby. Oh! We can invite Edward to be one, too.” 

“Do not dare!” 

“Now, I have to.” 

“Do not!” 

“You’re blushing, Hen.” Chase poked his own nose with his chuckle. 

“You are both terrible!” 

----------

Tags: @brokentimewatch @bookwormscififan @d-structive @rainymae523 @ashtonisvibing

[tvccreator]

Cookie Run Kingdom - My Top 10 Favorite Cookies (Based on Personal Preference, Not Necessarily How Good They Are)

Did I ever mention I play Cookie Run: Kingdom? No?

Too bad, I'm gonna talk about it now.

(You know the deal: it's gonna be a long thread, so continued under the cut. If you wanna be my friend on CRK, you'll have to be in the Hollyberry server and look for the name BlueElysiumFalls. My icon is Linzer Cookie, the title is "Agatha Crispie" - I had to - and I'm in a guild titled "DiscordPals". Let me know if you friend me!)

In Cookie Run Kingdom, I'm currently... eh, decently through the game? I'm on 14-7 for the Story Mode, 9-21 on Dark Mode, and apparently I have 64 of the Tropic Soda Islands unlocked. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. :)

For this post, I'm just going to gush about my favorite cookies and the ones I typically use in my battles. The ones towards the top are the cookies I've used in battle before and enjoy using, while the ones near the bottom are just cookies I really enjoy and might not even use.

As a note, I don't buy anything from Free to Play games, so all of this is with gacha luck and assorted in-game currency. Sounds good?

Okay, my top 10 favorite cookies!

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

Number 10: White Lily Cookie (NPC - Ancient; Unknown Type)

I'm sort of cheating with this one since she's not even playable yet, but by God, I really love White Lily. She's very quiet, her background with Pure Vanilla Cookie is adorably sad, and I just really enjoy her as a character. She goes through some shit - no spoilers, just in case - but I love her as a character and hope one day I'll be able to have her as a part of my team. I'm guessing that she's either going to be a Support hero to compliment Pure Vanilla's Healing type, or she's going to be a Magic hero because she relies heavily on magic to attack. I don't know for sure, though.

Number 9: Linzer Cookie (Epic; Support Type)

I absolutely love Linzer Cookie (despite her only having just been released not even a month ago) and it's mostly due to the Mystery on the Orient Express-esque event that went on over the holiday. My family has quite a few Agatha Christie fans, and having a cookie that was basically Agatha Christie combined with Hercule Poirot was an amazing choice on the developers' part. I also really like her interactions with Crème Brûlée Cookie. They're very cute together.

Number 8: Caramel Arrow Cookie (Epic; Ranged Type)

As mentioned above, I'm only a few levels into Chapter 14 of the main story, but Caramel Arrow quickly became one of my favorite cookies. Her story is rather sad, but she clearly only wants what's best for her kingdom and is truly loyal to Dark Cacao. I really enjoy that about her character, and I hope she gets a happy ending when Chapter 14 ends.

Number 7: Red Velvet Cookie (Epic; Charge Type)

I mostly love Red Velvet for his role in the Tower of Sweet Chaos storyline. I love how devoted he is to the Cake Hounds, and he is honestly a very caring individual despite his alliances. I just recently bought the decor "Forgotten Piece of Cake," and when Red Velvet interacts with it, you get to see him feeding his Cake Hounds and having some pretty adorable interactions with them. I really enjoy watching his softer side come out with the Cake Hounds.

Number 6: Frost Queen Cookie (Legendary; Magic Type)

Now we're getting into the cookies I use a lot on my teams, starting with the ice queen herself! Frost Queen is extremely tanky, especially with her Crystal Jam active, and it's honestly nice to have her fight on my team if the game allows it (*cough cough* Tower of Sweet Chaos *cough*). With Frosted Toppings, she gets some pretty nice boosts to anything (I recommend either the chocolate toppings or the raspberries - I have a combo of both and they make her quick to attack and a heavy hitter) and she can wipe out individual waves pretty easily in the earlier levels. Also, Cristina Vee just nails the voice acting for her. She's also my second-strongest fighter, so I have a bit of bias.

Number 5: Golden Cheese Cookie (Ancient; Ranged Type)

I don't know how I have gotten four copies of this cookie just with cookie cutters and crystals, but here I am. Golden Cheese is extremely tanky, as well, and hits like a truck if you can keep her alive long enough. She's at 2 stars right now (I actually got my fourth copy of her right as I was typing this list) and has her Ever-Radiant Goddess skin equipped (which I also somehow managed to snag pretty early on from the costume gacha), so she looks like a queen and acts it, too.

Number 4: Pitaya Dragon Cookie (Dragon; Charge Type)

My heaviest hitter, and for good reason! When I was going through the winter gacha trying to get Sherbet Cookie, I ended up getting this guy, and he's been on my team ever since! With five maxed-out Draconic Raspberries, he's really good at taking damage while also returning the favor. I just got him to 1-star and leveled him up to level 60 today (January 13), and I'm glad I did because boy howdy, Chapter 14 is a tough chapter if you're not prepared (which I am very much not). I love his voice, as well - Andrew Morgado did a wonderful job with the voice acting for Pitaya Dragon!

Number 3: Fettuccini Cookie (Epic; Defense Type)

I had taken a long break from Cookie Run: Kingdom, but when I came back, it was right in the middle of the Lost Golden City event, and Fettuccini almost immediately joined my team. She's a very adorable little mummy cookie but hits really hard and takes damage like a champ. I'm not using her on my team at the moment - she was swapped out for Dark Cacao - but if I can get her up to a high-enough level, I'm definitely bringing her back.

Number 2: Cotton Cookie (Epic; Support Type)

My first-ever 5-star cookie! When I first played Cookie Run Kingdom, I worked extremely hard to get Cotton Cookie up to 5 stars, and now she's back for my most recent playthrough! While she's not as strong as Pitaya Dragon or Frost Queen, I really enjoy her healing ability and her little sheep minions. Her backstory is really sad, especially when combined with the winter event that introduced Icicle Yeti Cookie, but I love her all the same.

And my number 1 favorite cookie is... Licorice Cookie (Epic; Magic Type)!!!

Yeah, that's probably not a surprise for people who know me, but I just really enjoy Licorice Cookie. I love everything about Licorice Cookie - his patchwork robes, his scythe, his little licorice minions, his voice (Cameron Bowen is amazing), his personality - he's just a great character overall to me! His friendships with Poison Mushroom, Choco Werehound Brute, and BatCat are also really adorable, too, and his disdain for Pomegranate Cookie is all too relatable for me (massive props to the voice actress Victoria Grace for making me despise Pomegranate Cookie and for giving her really "good" chemistry with Dark Choco, Licorice, Poison 'Shroom, Red Velvet, and Dark Enchantress Cookie.)

Hope you guys enjoyed my little countdown!

[patchun]

I know I'm a very harsh critic of post-Gen 5 Pokemon, but as far as 3D games go, Sun and Moon are undoubtedly the best the series has to offer - despite their evident flaws. I think there were a few key events that permanently negatively altered my perception of Gen 7, and I want to point those out here.

USUM released. I think it's pretty agreed upon nowadays that USUM is a downgrade from SM in almost every way, but the notable things were a) how the story was altered to be 10x worse, character developments (especially Lillie's) were removed entirely, motivations were altered, etc. And b) the Rainbow Rocket thing was hyped to hell from the Pokemon Co and then turned out to be atrociously lame, starting a pattern of underbaked content.

Incineroar was put into Smash. Back then I cared about the unfolding Smash roster and also hated Incineroar. I still hate Incineroar, but like, it's one offensive Pokemon among a generation where the other two starters are, in my opinion, awesome.

Recently @clickntreat and I reviewed every generation's designs, and I was shocked at how agreeable I found most of Gens 6 and 7, making me realize that it truly was not until Gen 8 when everything went COMPLETELY south.

Now, that said, I do believe that there are specific designs we can look at from these eras that show the beginnings of the bad design habits we have seen almost exclusively since.

I believe Passimian is one such example - in fact, I would be surprised if the designer of Passimian is not the designer who has overseen most Pokemon since Gen 7 - and even then, Passimian is probably one of their BETTER designs (ech). There are three defining problems traits of this design that will become the standard for almost all Pokemon going forward.

It is wearing clothes. Namely, the melon hat, which covers the top half of it's head. The specifics of how this melon hat looks are also bad.

It has random markings on its arms. These "leaf shapes" serve no purpose other than to fill negative space to distract from the fact that this design is, in fact, boring. Due to their shape, these also look very unnatural, unlike something like the markings on Ivysaur, for example.

It is based on something from our modern society, a quarterback.

Whether these things are bad or good is... well, frankly, objective. They are bad, and if you don't think that, you're wrong, thank you. Starting with the next generation, all three starters also have all of these traits!

Yes, indeed! Clothes! Random markings! And, being based on something very modern, often sports. I could also posit a fourth design trait in object usage - Passimian has his melons, Rillaboom his drumsticks, and Cinderace his soccer ball. Suddenly, Pokemon need objects to be interesting (cough to distract from the fact that they are bland designs cough).

But Passimian is not the only Pokemon that functions as a precursor to design direction. The next big contender is

Araquanid. Now, I want to be clear, I actually really like Araquanid! I think this thing is cool as hell - however, Araquanid consists almost entirely of simple shapes. Circles, triangles, and tubes, as I like to refer to these kinds of designs. Going forward, many Pokemon designs will rely almost entirely on this simple geometry, rather than actual anatomy - and my theory is that that's because they've started designing Pokemon from the ground up in modeling software, specifically so that they will be easy to make, animate, and merchandise.

The thing is, I feel that Araquanid, as a single Pokemon using these design principles among MANY Pokemon that do not, is a very strong design! With many of these design traits that I've pointed out, it is not that you can't make a good design with those traits, but that when almost every single design does it, it is bland and stale and frankly creatively bankrupt.

Of course, even with all of these design traits in mind, just how bad most Gen 8 and 9 Pokemon are is STILL surprising. There are surely other factors at play. But I highly recommend going through this visual list of Pokemon and paying special attention as you go from Gen 7 to Gen 8 - you may notice the quality downgrade, as well.

Well, this post started out as me saying, I'm going to be replaying Sun and Moon now. Hopefully I'll enjoy it as much as I did the first time, and I can look back on the games as the true last good Pokemon games, rather than BW. Gonna use Oricorio-Sensu because I just realized how much I love that thing. Wish me luck.

[kasunex]

I have to say, I have noticed a major shift in Love is War between Season 1 & 2. Of course, one of the reasons I like Love is War when I normally hate this genre is that the show builds on itself rather than remaining stagnant. But one shift in particular is bugging me: Shirogane.

Shirogane was my favorite character in Season 1 and for a pretty simple reason: he was born into poverty and worked his way to the top of the social ladder at a prestigious school through sheer grit and hard work, yet still struggles with feelings of inadequacy and imposter syndrome. His character isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's a very compelling, relatable, and even motivating portrayal.

Here's the issue, though. By Season 2, the all important imposter syndrome that kept his character balanced is just kinda...shoved to the background, if it's still there at all. Shirogane at this point is just a chad, and for the most part, he knows it. In Season 1, Kaguya was always planning twenty steps ahead, but both Kaguya and Shirogane were clearly invested in their little war game. At that time, the two of them couldn't even ask each other for a pity ride home without making it a cat-and-mouse game. In Season 2, Kaguya is still like that, but Shirogane...just kinda isn't. Take the moon episode, he just casually starts throwing his arms around Kaguya and cuddling her like it's nothing. He's embarrassed about it a bit after the fact, but how this sudden confidence fits in with his imposter syndrome seems unclear at best.

Hell, take the intros. The Season 1 intro was always clear to mirror the two, if Shirogane blushed so did Kaguya and vice versa. The Season 2 intro on the other hand is just Kaguya simping over Shirogane while he stands just shy of telling her to "begone, thot." It might not be so bad if Kaguya was upping her game as well, but she's about at the same level as she was in Season 1. There's no war anymore, Shirogane wins, regardless of who confesses, Kaguya is a blushing mess and Shirogane is smooth as can be.

Ok, character development is always good, but it feels so off. If Shirogane is suddenly so confident around Kaguya, why is he still holding off on a confession? The explanation for why he's waiting for her to confess is supposedly that he's self-conscious about their status gap, reasonably so perhaps, but at this point that self-consciousness doesn't seem to manifest in any other way.

To be honest, I entertained the thought Shirogane was just supposed to be on a total ego trip for a while and was maybe just toying with Kaguya. But then his rejection of Ai (best girl cough) Hayasaka made clear he's still loyal enough to Kaguya to turn down a hot as hell girl directly coming onto him. He still has his morals and isn't lost to ego, and if the temptation is even there it's not apparent.

At this point, Shirogane's character just feels confused. The plot is trying to hold onto the last semblance of Shirogane's former inferiority complex to keep the central conflict unresolved, but the rest of his personality has just ascended to demi-god. He comes off as borderline flawless, but the story is desperately trying to ignore this conclusion and insist that no, Shirogane is still self-conscious.

Take the election arc. Shirogane, who has nothing but his academics and student council work fitting him into such an elite academy, practically throws half his lead out of pity and kindness towards his opponent. How do they reconcile this with his supposed lingering imposter syndrome? They make it abundantly clear that Miko is a clown who doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. It all but completely dodges the potential character dilemma.

Even when Shirogane is occasionally revealed to have something he isn't perfect at, like with the singing episode, he's one Chika montage away from being the best like no one ever was.

Honestly it's all pretty ironic. Shirogane's goals and actions are the central driving point of most of the story at this point, yet his character motivations have for some reason completely fallen by the wayside. I feel like someone reading this is gonna "laugh in read the manga", but whatever the case, it's really jarring how much Shirogane shifted between seasons, especially when the rest of the characters feel more or less the same.

The writing wants to have its cake and eat it too, to keep the character built up in Season 1 without actually reinforcing Shirogane's character flaws. What we're left with is a character who comes off one step shy of Jesus, yet is still supposedly too self-conscious to confess to his crush. Perhaps this could make for a somewhat fascinating character, but as stands it feels totally disconnected.

[1800duckhotline]

Uncommon OC questions

Part one with all Salice-related answers here!

Part three with all Rina answers here!

Part four with all creator answers here!

Part two: Adona

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

Adona loves a good book to entertain herself before having her beauty sleep. But sometimes she will also watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch... her "routine" isn't consistent by any means... as she works a night shift as a barista, sleeping only at night is a luxury beyond her reach (being also an insomniac, it's hard to do it for her even when she is on vacation).

6. Do they consider laws flexible, or immovable?

Depends on what kind of laws. For her, to avoid trouble, she tends to stick to laws as if they are immovable, but she's well aware people can and will be flexible with them regardless of what she thinks... In terms of magic, it is a different topic... building on top of the fact she is terrified of it as it currently stands, Adona thinks whoever tries to bend the laws of it are genuinely doomed.

7. What triggers nostalgia for them, most often? Do they enjoy that feeling?

Temperatures, smells, and sounds. Cold temps and clinical, repetitive beeping noises bring back bad memories of hospitals - alcoholic and disinfectant smells make them all the worse.

Meanwhile libraries with their quiet chatter and soft coughing and the sounds of pages being flipped bring back warm, fuzzy memories of her childhood home... the latter would be more nostalgia than the previous, obviously.

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child

Not much, to be fair... the most basic of things was to stop touching dangerous things (like knives or chemical strumentations her guardian used to work with) and to start trying to chat with other children more. While the former was easier to adhere to, the latter was much harder - for many reasons.

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first?

Adona, similarly to Salice, has a big mouth and hardly ever shuts up. Unlike Salice, however, she's able to spin tales in her favor very often - she is very charismatic - and even when she's making fun of others, people tend to not get offended since she's just that good at shrugging off any ounce of responsibility for being mean because "she's very funny and humorous". Not to say she doesn't get in trouble for speaking without thinking, but more often than not she's got a retort and always manages to be in the right even though she isn't. She only ever worries about saying the right things when in clinical or beaurocratic contexts.

20. If they were asked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic or familial love, how would they do so?

This is a big question that's hard even for her to answer because she... doesn't really know. She has slept with people she thinks of as friends, without having much more attachments to them - though it happened more than once that they'd developed romantic feelings for her without her having understood it - which as you may expect, upon rejection from her, ended either amicably or bitterly... but between romantic and platonic love, she really struggles to draw a line because Adona herself doesn't actually have the biggest self-esteem.

To be more articulate, Adona doesn't exactly struggle with an absymal sense of self - she does think she's worthy of a good partner - but she doesn't think she's at a point yet where she would be able to be romantic with someone without bringing unnecessary baggage in the relationship. Basically, "I would love to have a partner but I do not think I am yet ready to unpack with another person my personal history and traumas, as I have not done it with myself at all as of today due to life circumstances". Though it is unrealistic to expect yourself to be "perfectly healthy" when you fall in love with someone - this is the expectation she has set for herself, that she at least should have had the time to really sit down and process her past. Thing is, it is something she both wants to do and avoids all the time. It's going to be hard to crack this one...

Because of this, distinguishing those two types of love specifically is really hard for her as it is connected to that specific feeling. She'll maybe love a friend a lot, even share intimate moments with them, but then she'll think "am I ready to burden them? am I ready to face my inner fears and my damning past?" and instantly recoil just imagining the hypothetical situation play out. Unfortunately she is not good at explaining feelings unless she coats everything with a thick layer of deflective humor and sardonism, which... well... people have not appreciated in the past when they intended to get serious with her.

This is a long answer and not exactly on topic either, but I hope it makes sense. I'll try to answer in a sort of bullet list:

Romantic love means opening up, letting your true self in the open with one another, which also means the bad, the ugly, the scars. Adona imagines wanting to be romantic with someone else will make her feel like the thought of sharing her traumas with them won't make her feel sick just thinking of it.

Platonic love means being at ease with someone, or more people; being able to not have to put up a front, necessarily, though it happens anyway naturally (for better or for worse). It's easier for her to feel attracted sexually to friends because it means if something happens, nothing will necessarily be ruined (...most of the times). It also means being able to share a little bit of that inner self - not too much - but enough to show that she trusts them.

Familial is like a fuzzy feeling... like being hugged by a warm embrace, even if a bit rough. Like she looks up to the person and feels like even if she doesn't feel safe letting them see everything, that they understand and will still offer their company and be willing to teach her things. Familial love is like seeking a mentor, of sorts. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened in a very long time.

36. Do they actively seek romance, or do they wait for it to fall into their lap?

Based on the previous answer, at this point in time she's kind of tip-toeing around it... she's curious, but also scared. More often than not, it's like someone throws their heart into her hands and she's genuinely scared to do anything with it. So she doesn't seek it, nor does she wait for it to fall in her lap - but sometimes, when it does, it's fucking terrifying!

39. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people?

She works as a barista, so Adona finds it easy to ignore flaws as long as she's paid well. Outside of work, she's similarly forgiving, but she does have her hard limits when it gets to someone or herself being hurt by another person's flaws. She's not afraid to become argumentative, too, which has resulted in her spelling it out to people she thought of as friends before showing that they didn't care about how they hurt others (purposefully or not) and the discussion turning into bad arguments. Adona learnt not to let people walk all over her after having let it happen enough times as a child - not by any fault of her own other than being a kid.