#and who wants the silly little bunny to remind them about war anyway?

[batri-jopa]

Happy Easter 2024

[beevvy]

Guys

I was thinking up some dark world forms for the lu cast and came up with some good ones plus backstory and reasons supporting my choices

I wanted to keep them all as mammals for the continuity (legends bunny and twi's wolf are both mammals) and its just easier to create limitations for myself to be more creative!

((and i tried to pick animals that existed in their original games,

But some games ( zelda I & II, I'm looking at you ) didn't really have any passive animals to choose from, so i'm following this rule only for some/most of them))

here are the results: ( warning: very long)

Twilight:

Wolf

(kinda obvious, no explanation needed)

Legend:

Pink rabbit/hare (he seems more rabbit/hare then bunny in my mind?) but i thought, what if i had to choose a realistic animal?

I think he would still be a rabbit, but an albino rabbit, his eyes red and with white fur, at least thin enough that you can notice a little pink from his skin to have a slightly visible pink-ish hue.

Time:

(ghost?) Wolf; i think being a ghost wolf after death, he probably still have the same form when he was alive too?

he never uses it in any game he's in (like Oot or Mm) other then Twilight Princess (taking place after he died)

I couldn't find any better leads or clues suggesting any other form, so I'll stick with this, maybe for a realistic animal he would be some kind of like timber wolf ( just a big kind of wolf) that is a golden/ light brown colour with white underbelly.

Hyrule:

(the idea that created this list in the first place...)

Sheep!; the sheep would have brown wool like Rulies hair, (my hc is his hair is curly, or at least wavy, like a sheep, but anyway) he's innocent and quiet like a sheep, and the main selling point: the blood of a lamb. Lambs blood was often used in (very) olden times, on an altor as offerings to God.

(also link in these games was originally religious ( specifically Christian), and the lamb is a religious symbol( Christian at least))

Hyrules blood is sought after by Ganons underlings as a way to resurrect Ganon, using hyrules blood as an offering / way to resurrect ganon, the reincarnation of a god, in a ceremony on an altor.

Wind:

Winds animal was a harder one to choose because there arent much mammals in his games, other than the ones you dont see but are mentioned or hinted at existing still even after the great flood.

Cats, think about it, he makes those cat meowing noises when hes stalking that girl at night in Wind Waker., so they must exist for him to know what meowing is ( there might actually already be a cat in one of his games but i never played phantom hourglass (😭) and haven't seen any in my playthroughs of Wind Waker)

Supporting facts to back up my reasoning: He was taking a nap during the day, even if it was his birthday. Big black eyes that are vaguely cat-like, and just the generally goofy feeling i get from him in-game and especially LU. ( HES SO SILLY AND CUTE AND AAA-)

Wild:

Highland Fox; sometimes people chose a deer for his dark world animal form, while i think it fits, i wanted his form to have more resemblance to Wolfie (who is in Botw, as a companion) sort of a cool representation of his mentor/guide?

Foxes and distinct enough but also close enough to fit the bill of 'close enough' (and foxes are more on the dog/wolf side than cat side, apparently)

Also, highland foxes exist in Botw + Totk, and the bright orange of their fur is similar to Wilds blonde hair, in its bright, almost unnatural boldness, opposite the lush green of the landscape.

Warriors:

Lion; fights in groups, lion mane is like his blue scarf, golden fur is like his hair, you know that like personified stereotype that lions are egotistical and self centeredness? reminded me of him.

sorry for the short answer, i don't know much about Wars, never played *any* of his games (😭😭😭) so I'm just going of LU, and the majority of what people portray him as in the fandom ( I DON'T OWN ANY OF HIS GAMES NOOO-)

Sky:

Remlet; Sky seems to like them, their native to his home, Skyloft, and they nap all day. They are cute and cheerful, and when their angry, they can be vicious and frightening, like Sky.

Realistic animal: Siamese, they share lots of similarities with remlets, their light brown and dark chocolate fur match and the bright round eyes are identical to a remlets.

Four:

i would've chosen Picori, but thats not really an animal, thats a whole race of small centient beings! so I'll have to go with a chipmunk.

Small, lives in forestry, multiple different colours, has a tail like minish, dexterous small hands good for holding things, smart, agile, and similar in shape to Minish.

woah. just let my acoustic ahh ramble for a second there.

[passable-talent]

gn!reader teaching zukie boy how to dance and loosen up n have fun and stuff like the footloose aang episode? hm? perhaps? question mark?👁👁

“footloose episode” is quite possibly the funniest and most accurate way to describe that episode and I am LAUGHing

oh, look at this, the draft i started in july and never finished because i was experiencing ✨depression✨

Firelord Zuko had come a long way since he was banished in terms of ‘comfort’. ‘Confidence’. He hadn’t been this comfortable in his own skin since before his mother disappeared, even as his own country didn’t quite back him, not all the time. 

Still, though, there was evidence of his childhood trauma that weighed down his shoulders, his guard still kept high, even after all this time. He’d learned how to fix this, and his walls disguised themselves as ‘diplomacy’, instead of ‘anger’, as “maturity” instead of “rage”, as they’d been for so long. Every day, around every person, he was the perfect leader instead of being himself, and it was easy to recognize the toll it took on him. 

Even if he didn’t realize how exhausting it was on the day-to-day level, he definitely realized quickly that these walls wouldn’t help him when he was at dinners, parties, as much as they would during meetings and conferences. When he needed, or wanted, to be fun and sociable, he couldn’t be quite the same person he was when negotiating treaties and trades. 

Also, he didn’t know how to dance. That actually turned out to be a problem.

Having been removed from his throne during the years that would have served as his training for things of the like, the ‘proper’ things, he was nervous about the upcoming celebration for Liberation Day, a new holiday to celebrate the end of the Hundred Year War. It had been a year since he took the throne, and until this point had managed to avoid throwing such a celebration, but this party was more than that- it was a fancy soirée to appeal to some of the nobles of the nation and convince them that Zuko was in fact a good ruler. Dancing wasn’t really expected of him, sure, but among the discussion and the drinking it would probably end up happening, especially if he wanted to lead by example and convince his citizens that the days of censorship and suppression were over. 

He didn’t know any traditional noble dances. He’d come across dances in his banishment, but they were earth kingdom or peasant dances, and as elitist as his guests would be, he really wanted to impress with his understanding of Fire Nation nobility. 

That’s where you come in. 

You were a young dance instructor in the colonies, a firebender who was born on the mainland but left home to pursue a dance career with people who were more willing to learn. You were the best in the nation, and you taught ballroom dancing, dancing blended with bending, street styles, you had any skill that anyone could ask to learn. 

Your reputation around the colonies earned you a mention when the Fire Lord sent out a quiet call for a dance instructor. As quick as you could you traveled to the capital city, ready to meet the Fire Lord, but amazed that you had the opportunity to do so. 

You were more nervous than you’d ever been in your life. 

The Kyoshi Warriors checked you over, made sure you weren’t an assassin (apparently), and warned you what you were going to be dealing with. Zuko was always uncomfortable around new people, they said, as awkward as any teenage boy anywhere. Be nice. 

You met him for lunch.

Immediately you could see the reason for his call- he was so stiff. He bowed with precision like he expected his hands to be smacked, if they strayed out of proper position. He smiled, and it looked fairly genuine, but it was quite clearly a charming smile more than a friendly one. 

You discussed expectations, schedule, salary, all of the things one would at such a meeting, and all topics meant to be taken seriously. Still, you wished he’d take that tone out of his voice, that tone that said ‘I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know if I’m allowed to be comfortable.’ 

So you knew your first job. You’d get him to laugh. 

What got him, near the end of the meal, was some silly little joke, some anecdote you were reminded of from your home in the colonies. He hadn’t talked to a colonial in a while, so he was genuinely interested in everything you said about your home- which broke the ice.

There was a little villa in the palace city you were given while you tutored him, which you stayed at after lunch that day, until your first meeting with him, later that evening. When you returned, you wore a very simple outfit- loose pants, loose shirt. Workout clothes. Very casual. 

And he showed up in the entire Firelord Noble Gown Getup. 

“Yeah, that’s not going to work,” you said with a little bit of a chuckle, “You have to change.” Zuko made a little expression of confusion, and considered for a moment before responding. 

“This is what I’ll need to wear to the celebration. I thought I’d need to be prepared to dance in it.” You gave another laugh and approached him, looking over the outfit. 

“Yeah, no. We’ll work up to that, but we’re starting with different stuff today, stuff that you definitely can’t do in that.” You crossed your arms. “Besides. This isn’t that serious. We’re here to train, you don’t have to impress me.” He nodded, and after a moment just looking at you, turned away. 

“I’ll be right back.” When he returned, he was wearing something much better. It was still a little too formal. too firelord-y for your taste, but at least it was looser. 

“Right,” you said with a chuckle, cracking your fingers, “get ready to regret hiring me.” 

That was meant to be a joke, because you started him on a flexibility-oriented warm up. Every man you’ve ever trained moaned and whined when you made them try to touch their toes, or attempt a split, or lift their leg as high as they could. Zuko, though, could do them all- he could bring his foot way up and above his head, where under Agni had he learned that?

So the joke wasn’t so much that he was affected by the warm up, but more that you were astounded every time he successfully did what you asked. You had to resist the urge to throw something crazy at him, just to see if you could stump him. 

By the end of the warm-up he’d relaxed around you, but the stress that you could almost see boiling under his skin certainly hadn’t gone away. And it showed. 

Ballroom dances in the Fire Nation were very formal, very elegant. There were certain steps, certain postures. These, Zuko grasped with no problem. He had the perfect form, but somehow, it just didn’t come together for him. You couldn’t quite figure out what was going wrong, and every time you thought you’d figured it out, it wouldn’t work. It wasn’t until halfway until the celebration was planned that you came to a realization. 

“Again, so I can figure this out,” you said, and he took your hand again, and stepped with you, leading the dance, making that wide circle that this particular dance was known for. This time, you tracked his footfalls, and finally it clicked. 

“Oh!” you said, pulling from him, and he looked a bit more shocked than you expected.

“What?”

“No, uh- just that I figured out what feels wrong.” He lifted his chin, ready for any criticism you would give him. “I should’ve figured it out sooner. You’re just... stiff.” 

“Stiff?”

“Yeah, like you’re plotting out every moment, and doing them in a step-by-step process.” 

“Isn’t that what you told me to do?” You let out a frustrated breath, and tried to find the words.

“Yeah, but-” You lifted your hands, throwing them about in the air as though it would help you find your meaning. “Okay, yeah, but no matter what, this is a dance. A dance isn’t a fight, you can’t think through every single move. You’ve got to flow with it, feel it. I mean, I guess you should do that in a fight, too, but you- do you know what I mean?” Zuko brought a finger to his chin for a moment, before agreeing. 

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Okay, then let’s try it again.” 

Absolutely nothing changed. 

“Okay, drastic measures,” you said, grabbing him by the shoulders and making him stand straight in front of you. “We’re going to play Bunny.” 

“What’s Bunny?” You took a step back, bringing your feet together. 

“It’s the stupidest game you’ll ever play. First, you gotta jump- but the smallest jump ever. Barely leave the ground.” You gave him an example, and no matter how many times you’ve played this time, the motion never gets any less jarring. “It’ll feel stupid, do it anyway.” 

He knocked some of his hair from his topknot when he did it, but he was laughing.

“Good, that was Small Bunny. Now, we’re going to do Big Bunny. Jump as high as you can in the air.” Since this one hardly needed a demonstration, you did it together- and he was taller, so he got just a bit higher. 

Bunny was as much an icebreaker as it was a game. You’d gotten him to smile- not an instant smile, a flash of one before it disappeared, but a real, long-lasting smile. 

“Okay, good.” You brought one hand up, palm to the sky, and laid the other under its elbow, offering him a dance very popular in the colonies, one you were sure he’d recognize. He did, and lifted his hand, touching his wrist to yours. 

“All we do is circle, right?” He asked, and you gave him a smile.

“Yeah. Just like in a fight.” You lead, guiding him into a rhythm, the steps, the cross steps, a slow motion that he grew used to, and finally he was moving with some grace. 

“You’re friends with a waterbender, right?” You asked him, and he nodded, his eyes jumping between yours and the floor, at your feet. 

“Yeah, Katara.” 

“Then you’ll definitely understand this. Dancing is water, but it’s not waterbending- a waterbender is in ultimate control, and the water does what she wants.” Catching him off guard, you switched hands, and the dance rotated the other way. “A dance is like a river. All of the water is moving in the same direction..” You let the thought hang, slowing him with the indicative press against his wrist, then guiding him from the rotation to a different step. “But it doesn’t all move the same. Your feet don’t move together, and they don’t move the same way your hips do, and your hips don’t move like your shoulders. There’s one river, but a thousand little currents. Take the lead.” You slipped the command in just after the lesson, and waited to see how he’d take it. 

With a bit of a swirl, he guided you toward the center of the room, where he then began a slow circle. He telegraphed his movements to you, just like you’d taught him, but more you were amazed by how his motion was rounded, graceful, more than polygonal and rigid. Something had clicked in him, and he got it.

So you let him go. He lead the dance, and it stopped being a lesson. Just two friends, dancing in the empty ballroom. He changed from the colonial dance you’d started with into the more formal dance you’d prepared him with, so you came closer, fingers interlocked in the lamplight. Now that he was used to the moment, his steps aligned with yours, making it feel as though you were two of the same one mind. He’d stopped looking at your feet- he just looked at you. 

Slow dancing in the middle of the room, you gave him a fond smile. 

“Dare I say, dancing like this, you’ll impress every noble there. You might even impress a future spouse.” He gave back a smile, just the lightest hint of pink coloring his cheeks. 

“Yeah, I think I will.” He pulled from the dance, giving you a bow as you separated, just like you’d taught him. “I want you to come to the dance. I’ll see you get an invite.” 

“No, I couldn’t possibly-” 

“I insist. I wouldn’t be nearly as impressive if it weren’t for you, and besides, it’s fitting that you’re there to watch your hard work pay off.” Unable to force back the smile on your face, you let out a breath. 

“Fine, fine. I’ll be there.” 

-🦌 Roe

want y’all to know that bunny is a thing that me and my friend nick made up in 2010 and I do use it to get people to loosen up in real life. it actually helps 

tag list: @lammello @kittyddandnyla @aangsupremacy @qquell @caitff @coldlilheart @sleeping-with-the-fishes @duh-dobrik @dxcter @babyybesson 

[opiomancy]

cumulonimbus ix

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Harry Potter, Sirius Black x Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger x Ron Weasley

Summary: When asked about how Harry's life got turned upside down he's going to blame a Farrah Fawcett poster, a second magical diary, and Draco Malfoy in that order.

Word Count: 1873

[Part One: Mid Day] Part Two: July 2nd, 1998: Early Morning

It’s well past midnight and Harry is still loitering in Sirius’ old bedroom; the dinner Kreacher placed on the nightstand has been left cold and untouched. Instead of eating like a normal functioning adult, Harry decided to stare at the ceiling. The face of Farrah Fawcett and her red swimsuit still beaming down at him as dusk fell into night. He’s not quite sure why he’s just sitting here… staring at the pearly white smile of the blonde bombshell above him. Maybe if he stares long enough he’ll find some divine intervention on what the hell he’s supposed to be doing. It’s only been a few months since the battle of Hogwarts, and Harry feels as if he’s running out of time. He always feels like he’s running out of time. As if he’s late for something important, or there's a deadline that’s just a few days away, but for once in Harry's life he doesn’t. He has absolutely nothing to do.

“Except clean this bloody house” he says to two dimensional Farah, as if she’ll respond to his complaints. Harry groans, running his calloused hands over his sticky face, dried sweat clogging his pores. The result of hours of grueling labor stains him. It’s something he should be used to by now but isn’t, and probably never will. After staring at the American actress some more he’s come to the conclusion that he’s completely mad. It’s the only explanation really. Why else would he decide cleaning up this mansion, alone, was a good idea? Why did he think breaking up with Ginny was a good idea? Why did he think that when the moonlight hit Farrah’s hair in just the right way it reminded him of...

Yep. Definitely madness. A one way ticket to the Janus Thickey ward if it pleases the court. Harry flipped over on the bed to bury his face in the dusty satin pillow, anything to not stare at the Hollywood starlet again. When Harry thought about it, it makes sense that madness would take him in the end. You don’t survive the killing curse twice without it screwing something up inside. He could see The Daily Prophet headline now: “THE CHOSEN CRAZY ONE!”  

No, Rita would definitely come up with something more clever. “THE BOY WHO WENT OFF HIS ROCKER: THE TELLING TALE OF HARRY POTTER’S QUICK DESCENT TO INSANITY!” That sounds better, more Rita.

Harry supposes he’s had a good run of it all. Nearly eighteen years old, a war hero, wealthy beyond his needs, half a virgin. It’s been a life. Better to be done in by an army of dust bunnies and outdated aristocratic decor than Voldemort. At least now it’s quiet, he can let his mind slowly slip away into the unknown without the stress of his friends and loved ones getting hurt. Maybe he should eat the dinner Kreacher left, at least it’ll be something else to do.

Harry accios his wand that fell to the floor at some point in the evening and heats up his kidney pie. He eats it slowly, trying to forgive its mushy texture and cold bits. He’s never been that good at cooking spells. Harry begins to take inventory of the room as he eats. Sirius’ style in decor was much better than the rest of his family, especially considering it was decades out of fashion. One solid wooden king size sleigh bed that Harry was currently sitting on, with Gryffindor red sheets gently stretched across it. A bookshelf to his left filled to the brim with old Hogwarts textbooks and muggle literature with the covers removed. A large wooden nightstand to his right with a few girlie magazines stuffed inside the drawer, something Harry refused to touch in fear of them being much more solid than magazines ought to be. In front of him was a window that was charmed to display a dense forest at all times, with large thick black curtains that shrouded the room in darkness when closed. On the other side of the room laid a desk with an antique stationary set resting on top, and a yellow record player beside it. The walls were covered with pictures and posters like the marvelous Miss. Fawcett, splattered around with no rhyme or reason, and shelves to display a fantastic classic rock record collection. It looked like a muggle teenage boy’s room, and that’s just how Sirius liked it.

Every part of this room screamed Sirius Orion Black, and that just made Harry miss him that much more. He wished his godfather was here to help him renovate the house, but he knew that would never happen. One thing Harry knew for sure was that he was going to keep this room exactly as it was, a time capsule of Sirius’ youth. Deep down he knew that his godfather would appreciate it, even if he’d never admit it if he was here.

Harry sighed as he placed the half eaten kidney pie on the nightstand, too exhausted to finish it. He laid back down to stare at Farrah some more, he understood why she was so popular in her day. Her smile was bright and beautiful, and people tend to like bright and beautiful things. Harry didn’t see a lot of that in his life, and now he can say he finally has. A bright and beautiful... poster. Yes, undeniably mad.

Harry slammed his fist on the wall behind him with a groan. Stupid Farrah, stupid Hermione, stupid Sirius. He could be doing so much with his life but he’s just sitting here! Harry got up and began to pace around the room. Shouldn’t he be thinking about his future? Shouldn’t he begin thinking about a career? Dating? Getting a life? And why does all of that sound so much more monumental than fighting a facist overlord? He wants to do nothing, but needs to do something. The contradictions of his life were wearing on his psyche and he just... needs. He has this major need deep within himself and he doesn’t know what to do with it all.

Harry could feel his magic begin to overwhelm him, a feeling he hasn’t had since he was eleven and could barely control his magic. Before he knew it books were flying off the shelves and Farrah had fallen off her post. When Harry opened his eyes to see the mess he created he slumped with exhaustion.

“Great more bloody mess” Harry said to himself. He began to levitate the books to their rightful place, making sure they weren’t out of order. He noticed Farrah was lying limply against the wall as if she was as tired as Harry was. Madness . When he went to pick her up Harry saw a loose floorboard at his feet.

“Think there’s something underneath it Farrah?” as per usual, Farrah didn’t respond. Harry levitated her back to the ceiling where she belonged with a sticking charm, and went to work on the floorboard. The corner of the dark wood lifted up at the edge, and squeaked when Harry put pressure on it. After some finagling the board finally gave way. Inside was a large cigar box, an old crown royal bag, and small metal tin. Harry decided to check out the tin first, he blew off the dust and pried the rusty hinges apart. Inside were a pack of matches from a place called The Beaver Dam and some joints. Harry went to smell one of them and it nearly disintegrated in his hands.

“Better off. ‘ Mione would kill me anyway,” he thought to himself. He could almost hear her commanding voice now: “Do you know what drugs could do to your brain Harry? It can affect your memory, your lungs, your libido! Marijuana just makes you okay with being bored and that’s not good for your mental health either!” A walking D.A.R.E program that one. Harry could remember back in sixth year when she caught a couple of Hufflepuffs hotboxing the greenhouse. Hermione went on and on about how it could damage school property, or damage their bodies, or worse get them expelled. Harry himself was too obsessed with watching Malfoy’s name on The Marauder’s Map to listen to her speech. His mates gave him endless flack for it, but he turned out to be right in the end.10 points to Gryffindor.

Harry opened up the crown royal bag next. Inside was an array of seemingly meaningless knick knacks: a mood ring, an old coke bottle cap, an empty carton of clove cigarettes, and a plain brown tie. Harry was curious about why Sirius decided to put in the effort to hide this pile of junk. It all seemed harmless enough, but knowing Sirius each item probably had their unique own story to tell; the sentimental oaf.

The cigar box was the last item hidden away under the floorboard. The box itself wasn’t that magnificent, it was a faded yellow wood with the King Edward Tobacco logo imprinted on the top with the royal crest repeatedly stamped along the borders. When Harry opened the box his stomach plummeted to the floor. Inside this innocuous box was an old leather diary, reminiscent of the one that made his life hell in second year. Harry immediately shut the box and tossed it across the room, begging his heart to stop hammering in his chest.

“It’s just a diary. Not every diary is a trojan horse attempting to kill you. Sirius would never keep a cursed item in his bedroom. Just breathe.” Harry repeated to himself. He found himself staring at Farrah once again, breathing slowly as his heart rate returned to normal. Her once brilliant smile appeared to be mocking him, panicking over a silly little diary,  such a childish thing to do. Harry steeled himself once again, he wasn’t going to let some dusty book get the best of him. He defeated the darkest wizard of the century at seventeen. Dust bunnies were one thing, but a dumb diary? Harry refused to be bested by this nonsense. He stood up from his fetal position on the floor, puffed up his chest, and stalked towards the worn tobacco box.

“Nothing to worry about, just an old diary” Harry said as he opened up the box, pretending that his hands weren’t shaking as he did. As he held the well loved leather diary in his hands, Harry questioned whether or not he should open it. This could easily be Sirius’ diary, and that would be a major invasion of privacy. Downright disrespectful. What kind of godson would he be if he just nosied his way through all of Sirius’ belongings? Nothing cowardly about respecting boundaries.

“Scared Potter?”

Harry flinched as a certain blonde haired git’s voice buzzed in his head. He was not scared. He could read this diary if he chose to. No problem with it all. In fact he was going to sit down and read the entirety of this diary… tomorrow.

Harry hastily placed the diary on the nightstand and fled out of the bedroom towards his own. He was in desperate need of sleep if he was hearing that voice in his head.

[medea10]

Medea’s Worst Year of All-Time Anime/Game Superlative

Nobody saw this year coming…except for maybe Barbara Walters! Who could have predicted that this year would bless us with Australia burning, the entire west coast of the U.S. set on fire, stupid people setting fires because they wanted to reveal a baby’s gender, murder hornets, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying, an almost war with Iran, serial killer mascots arrested, policemen killing unarmed black folks for having a counterfit $20, policemen killing unarmed black folks for breaking up a fight, policemen killing black folks for holding sandwiches, policemen killing unarmed black folks for fucking sleeping, a wide variety of “Karens” coming out of the woodworks, the end of Bojack, the end of Steven Universe, the end of Empire, and a pandemic so huge it’s killed the economy, canceled fun, and given the U.S. president the dumb-fuck idea of injecting bleach to kill the virus!?

SERIOUSLY, WHO COULD HAVE PREDICTED ALL OF THIS WAS GOING TO FALL IN OUR LAPS LIKE HOT COFFEE ON THE CROTCH?!

At least there was anime this year.

…

At least there was SOME anime this year.

…

Biden won the election and Vickeblanca came out with Black Catcher this year.

Hey internet, it’s Medea here to give you her trashy opinion on this years anime and games that she’s watched or played. Because for some reason, my loser-ass loves to do out-dated as fuck memes! I shouldn’t complain, this shit brings a lot of attention to my page every year when I do this. Yes, 2020 was a complete dumpster fire so large that Domestic Girlfriend is crying foul. Many of us had to go on lockdown and ended up binge-watching the entire 957+ episodes of One Piece. I did no such thing. I am one of those “essential workers” so I didn’t hunker down for 9 months straight. But when I was home, I was watching anime. Actually, I would have done that even without the pandemic. I’m an introvert and find the human race to be deplorable.

You all know how this goes. I go over the best this year had to offer me. I had to search really hard to find the good in this year, especially in the anime world. Many things had to be put on hiatus or were delayed to a later date. Just a reminder, I don’t discriminate in what year the anime or game came out. If something came out in the happier times of 2007, that anime or game counts! Let’s get at it!

First Fandom of 2020: Interspecies Reviewers

Did anyone expect a fan-favorite of 2020 was going to be a hentai? Did anyone have on their batshit 2020 bingo card that a hentai was going to grab everybody’s attention? At the beginning of the year, my mind was set on the Railgun sequel and Eizoken. It wasn’t until licensors, streaming sites, and TV stations in Japan dropped this series that I started to pay attention. And got immediately hooked! It’s about three men going to different brothels and reviewing their time with the ladies. And these ladies are of different species! So with every bang comes possible enlightenment, new kinks, or a night of having your dick sucked off more than humanly possible. This anime blew away all of my skepticism and first impressions right out the window. Maybe it’s because I’m a degenerate and am often curious about sexual content, but this was a guilty pleasure of mine this year.

Favorite Main Character of 2020: Moroha from Yashahime

I know the majority of this story is going to revolve around Towa and Setsuna, but can we please focus a little more energy on the spunky, quarter-demon girl?! I know they’re pitting Moroha as the comic relief, but I’m hopeful that she’s going to surprise us one day. We fans of InuYasha would spend the past decade and some change wondering what InuYasha and Kagome’s daughter would be like. This year, we got our answer with Moroha. She’s got this wild side to her, probably due to the fact that she’s spent her entire life on her own. And while she’s silly at times, she can get down to business in a pinch. She has her father’s sense of smell. She has a sword. She’s able to shoot sacred arrows much like her mother. And to top it all off, she has this special rouge that if she puts it on, she’s able to unleash that ¼ demon power inside her and become Beniyasha! Yeah, I know the power only lasts a minute, she’s only 14, give her a break! I will gladly go through another week scratching my head at the confusion this story gives me if I get to see one more second of Moroha and her crazy antics or her bad-ass slaying.

Favorite Villain of 2020: The Devil Believers from Black Clover

This was one hell of a year for Black Clover. It would have been an easy choice to pick the devil and possible super devil that appeared during the elf fight. But I’d like to give a nod to the filler arc villains. And you can’t blame this group for wanting the power of the devil. They’re literally the bottom-rung of the Clover Kingdom and ones with little to no power or mana. So I can agree with why they would want the power of the devil. For one thing, they’d have more power. And for another thing, they’d be able to exact revenge on those who have wronged them. On some occasions I agree with exacting revenge and when it comes to the nobles and some characters in Black Clover, some folks do deserve death. I mean, have you met the king of the Clover Kingdom? Plus, this town and many other poorer towns get looked over by the kingdom. Peasant uprise! Anyways, I thought these people were really crafty in their crimes. I mean, they were able to knock Asta out on his ass with specially made poisons. I was actually hooked to this story of Black Clover (despite it being a filler arc). I know we’ll never see them again as they have been exiled, but it did have me semi-rooting for them.

Favorite Video Game Character of 2020: Honey from Pokemon – Sword & Shield (Expansion Pass)

Sorry Raymond from Animal Crossing!

Honey is the saucy wife of Mustard…I did not expect that to come out the way it did, but here we are! She has one hell of a team you can fight once a day. She looks out for her husband, the dojo, and the students of the dojo like they were her own children by providing food, drinks, and others. However that does come at a price as you do have to give up a sizable chunk of your watts that you collect in raid dens. I’m sure a bunch of MILF chasers were more than happy enough to give her all their hard-earned watts just so they can have their one-on-one moment on the beach with Honey.

What won me over was when that one guy from a rival dojo bad-mouthed her husband’s dojo and she…I think she kicked this guy’s ass herself. I don’t think she used any of her pokemon. Game Freak won’t show it, but we all know she kicked this guy’s ass to a point where he’s begging for mercy.

Honey, for the win!

Favorite Game of 2020: Animal Crossing New Horizons

This game was just Zen for me. I know the release of this game came with some controversy like Gamestop saying it’s an essential business and will remain open for people to get their copies of the game. Hell, I was one of those assholes in line waiting to get a copy on March 20th. Did I predict that a pandemic was going to rage out of control when I got a prepay copy of this for Christmas 2019? NO! I only predict political things, not deadly pandemics! The good news, we social distanced, didn’t catch the covid and got the game.

Anyways, this game has been a non-stop calming and fun ride. I can even forgive their botch-up of Bunny Day. They even have events for holidays I never thought they would ever touch. I mean, does anybody know when Museum Day is? Probably not until Animal Crossing had an event for it! I’ve been able to let my freak-flag fly with designing my island. And this goes way beyond New Leaf for the 3DS. I can make a sign post with the words “Fuck Trump” on it and post it in my yard. I can dig up trees and plant them elsewhere. I can poop in a toilet. I can craft furniture and put my own design on it. My furniture can have Tracey Sketchit’s beautiful mug on it. I can sit on Tracey Sketchit’s face. I am a sick fuck and I don’t care. I can give Raymond and Bob maid outfits. Magical time in my game! My hopes for next year…I don’t know, get the Festivale furniture, get Papi and Olivia to join my island, maybe visit Danny Trejo’s island, who knows, sky’s da limit!

Favorite Het Couple of 2020: Nasa and Tsukasa Yuzaki from Tonikawa

This is one of the most unorthodox marriages I’ve ever seen. But in this 90 Day Fiance world we’re living in, I shouldn’t pass judgement on these two getting married in episode one and not knowing much about each other. Nasa meets Tsukasa as he was about to be plowed by a truck. Tsukasa saves his life. Nasa says she’s beautiful. Tsukasa says she’ll be his girlfriend if they get married. He agrees. She disappears. Four years later, Tsukasa appears in front of Nasa’s front door with a marriage registration form. Congratulations buddy, you’ve got yourself a waifu! In some way, this felt like watching Yamato and Takeo from My Love Story. I was fascinated with them progressing through their relationship. The only difference is that Yamato and Takeo took the old-fashioned route. This couple did everything ass-backwards in terms of having a relationship. But I couldn’t take my eyes off Nasa and Tsukasa’s relationship during each episode. I find them cute.

Favorite Yuri Couple of 2020: Karin Asaka x Emma Verde from Love Live Nijigasaki High School Idol Club

AAAAAAAAAH! I’M IN IDOL HELL AGAIN! Yeah, no kidding! I came this close to putting Miu x Nicole from that abomination 22/7. But thank God for Love Live! There’s no telling if any of the girls from the Love Live franchise are confirmed to be lesbians. But fuck it, all of them attend all-girl schools, no males exist anywhere, and Sunshine gave us Kanan x Mari! Yeah, you know Kanan and Mari is canon as fuck, don’t at me. So naturally, I found more third-years to ship in the new Love Live series. Now I know I should have put up Ai x Rina or Ayumu x Yuu. Especially the latter due to recent events! But Emma x Karin is my OTP.

Now Emma is an exchange student from Switzerland and in coming to Nijigasaki, she first meets Karin and they became instant friends. When Emma said she wants to become an idol, Karin helped her quite a bit. Even though Karin had no interest in being an idol as her modeling career is starting up, Karin would occasionally help Emma out. And surprise, surprise, Karin ends up fascinated with the idol world and Emma helps her come to the light to be herself there. Okay, I’m totally reading this in some fragmented way, but I’m currently playing Love Live School Idol Festival All Stars and the app game has a lot more stuff involving stuff the anime has yet to talk about. Confirmed or not, Karin x Emma for the win!

Favorite Yaoi Couple of 2020: Eiji Okumura x Ash Lynx from Banana Fish

It took me a while to get here, but I finally made it to 2018’s overlooked gem. Forgive me for not being fully caught up, but from what I’m watching at the moment, I’m sticking to my guns and supporting the hell out of this. I mean, I could have mentioned The Titan’s Bride here…but fuck no, I ain’t goin’ down that mess! Ash has gone through a lot, I mean a helluva lot in his past. His cute boy looks have made him a target on the streets of New York, with mafia dons, and with prison inmates. But dude can kill if you mess with him. Then you have Eiji, who is just a literal example of a “pure cinnamon roll (until episode 8)”. These two are as opposite as you can possibly get. Ash is from New York and Eiji is from Japan. Ash likes hot dogs with everything on it. Eiji likes grilled fish and natto. Ash spent the majority of his life killing on the streets. Eiji was a track superstar. You get my meaning. But when we got these two together it’s quite adorable. Ash is really able to change when he’s around Eiji. Ash isn’t some heartless killer on the street about to kill a thug with prosthetic fingers. When he’s with Eiji, he’s a joker that can easily get scared of pumpkins. And even in later episodes, you got these two acting like a husband and wife.

Fandom That You Didn’t Expect to Get Into: Les Miserables – A Girl Named Cosette

Let me explain a little something. Les Mis! I have never seen the play, watched the movie, or read the novel prior to picking up this anime. Not a single one of those! And that’s a bit of a head-scratcher when you realize I was a bit of a musical theater nut in my teenage years. But one thing I do like is when Japan does an anime based on plays or historical events (like Romeo x Juliet or Rose of Versailles). The second I popped in Les Miserables the anime, I wanted to binge watch the whole 52 episode series. It is by no means a perfect adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel. Several key players end up surviving all the way up to the end of the story! But because this was my very first viewing of anything Les Mis, I took to the story of Cosette and was eager to see what was going to happen next in her tale. Unlike the movies and play, Cosette was the main focus of the story besides Jean Valjean and Javert. And thanks to watching the unfortunate stories of Cosette, Jean Valjean, the Thenadiers, Javert, Marius, and the rest, I thought it was time to watch the OTHER adaptations to Les Mis.

…

Russell Crowe sucks.

Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

Higurashi or When They Cry is one of my favorite fandoms of all time! So naturally when we heard that it was making a comeback, I was excited. It was also very odd that Higurashi was given this sequel or reboot. Ahem! There’s another franchise that needs a face-lift. Umineko still deserves a better treatment. Plus, now that this series was out of the faulty hands of Studio Deen, Higurashi will get the special care it deserves. Believe it or not, it wasn’t just the anime that made a comeback for me, but the manga as well. Since 2009, I’ve read several volumes (out of order) and would every now and then come back to read the story. Back to the anime, this reboot or sequel…you know what, I’m gonna call it a “rebooqual”! This rebooqual sucked me back to the town of Hinamizawa and all the murders. Every week, I find myself comparing the current episode to one from the 2006 version. But then the fourth episode of each arc seems to catch me off guard.

Where are they going with this story and these twist endings to our favorite arcs? I did not expect Rena to turn a simple attempted murder into the end of School Days! I didn’t expect Rika to die in the most disgusting fashion they could think of. Could someone kill Teppei fucking Hojo? I will pay ¥5000 for someone to do that job. So yeah, because I know how much of this plays out and who does what, I’m usually watching and reading while making wise-ass remarks. But I still have fun with it.

Fandom That Inspired the Most Crack: Konosuba

In a year where I caught up with the popular Isekais like Shield Hero and Re:Zero, I found the wacky misadventures of Kazuma Satou to be amusing as all get-out. From the first 5 minutes, I found myself laughing at Kazuma’s misfortune. Seriously, how the fuck do you mistake a tractor for a car, have a heart attack, piss yourself, and fucking die in the first couple minutes to the series? You can only get away with this shit in gag animes! But it’s not just Kazuma’s dumbass, there’s a mage who only does explosions, but loses all her energy after one blow-up. Then there’s a busty, blonde who gets turned on by getting hurt and can’t strike anything with her sword. Anime’s biggest masochist or Cheryl Tunt incarnate, I haven’t decided which one to believe! Then you have this loud, crazy goddess chick named Aqua. She’s also useless about 86% of the time! Watching their unfortunate missions is all the crack that I need to get through this year. Seriously, Darkness is just all kinds of fucked up, but we love her.

Last Fandom of 2020: Yashahime

That’s right, the InuYasha sequel gets top spot here! Even though week after week I find myself asking more questions than when the episode started, I’m still hooked. If you’re like me, you watched and fell in love with the series InuYasha. So if they’re doing a sequel, you’re expecting to see all of your favorite characters from the prequel like InuYasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Sesshomaru, Koga, Rin, and the rest. Actually, no! Quite the opposite! We’ve got Sesshomaru’s daughters, but no Sesshomaru. Rin is sleeping in a tree we think! We’ve got InuYasha and Kagome’s daughter, but they’re M.I.A. None of the girls even know a thing about their birth parents.

Now are these new characters a catch like the ones from the previous series? Some are! The three main girls, yes! Especially Moroha! I’ve already praised her name earlier in the superlative. Towa and Setsuna do take on some personality traits from their parents. Setsuna is definitely serious like Sesshomaru and Towa sometimes has a carefree yet loyal aura to her like Rin. I know I’m always skeptical when a series gives us a sequel featuring the offspring of the main characters. Especially when you’ve got some lame examples like Boruto and Eureka Seven AO (I might retract my diss on Boruto later)! As each week gives us a new episode, we’re unraveling new clues into a lot of things involving our old favorite characters, as well as the new ones. So I have high hopes for Yashahime for the time being!

[lucarioisinthevoid]

Heyooo! Does the gang ever have sleepovers or something! I imagine they play those creepy games, like ‘Light As Feathers Stiff As Board’ or ‘Bloody Mary! Oh! And they could do each other’s nails and makeup!

Hah, reminds me of a thing a friend told me, where they dreamed that they were Mike and having a sleepover with all the guards. Good times. Mike doesn’t get to put on nail polish. He’ll lick it off to attempt suicide. Jeremy doesn’t want any either, because he will gnaw it off. But he wants little bows and other fun hair stuff, he thinks that is fun! Polish Phone Guy’s head. It’ll last longer on there anyways and more space for cool patterns. They’ll have a lot of fun, except it will be incredibly stressful, because it’s like keeping five cats in a bag for a whole night. Mike never really sleeps, not with so many people around. The sleepover happens inside of the pizzeria, because Dave said either at HIS home or in the pizzeria and everyone agreed the pizzeria was safer- I mean, more spacious. They kept only the party lights on, and the animatronics locked up. At least until they managed to break out and a wild-goose chase started, including multiple last stands, declarations of wars and salt circles. At the end, the animatronic won the final battle of tic-tac-toe (incredibly work by Chica the mastermind) and now they were allowed inside of the sleepover too- Which meant no further swearing for everyone except Mike, who had the bitch-pass, like he always did. Ah, the benefit of being a virgin. You get to swear in front of ghosts! And capture unicorns, but we don’t let Mike near unicorns anymore after the last time resulted in the evacuation of the entire city. Back to the topic, you can rest assured that everyone WILL play the dumbest games, solely to keep Dave and Old Sport appeased. They do great things!

… LIKE REALIZING EVERYONE IS WEARING VERY STUPID SLEEPING WEAR! “Where’s ya sleepin’ stuff, Mikey?! Come on, me ‘n Sportsy brought our matching bear-bunny onesies, and you have NOTHIN’?!” “Usually I sleep fucking naked.” Old Sport grinned. “… well then, we’re waiting-“ “I can fucking break you.” The verdict of both the psychopaths was in. “Sexy!” Jeremy was way too distracted to listen to them though. “THERE ARE FREDBEAR ONESIES!? CAN I HAVE ONE!? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE-“ Simon laid on the ground, staring at the ceiling, charging. He wouldn’t close his dial all night. “… they uh- were discontinued because the dye they used was tox-“ “WE’LL GET YA ONE, JERRY! DON’T ‘CHA WORRY!” … LIKE PLAYING SILLY PRANKS! “Phoney, help us bake! WE WANT A PIZZA!” “Uh- what do you need ME for?” “HOW NICE OF YA TO OFFER! First, please open that can of melt-cheese!” “… it’s warm.” “DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT.” “I’m, uh- I’m not touching it. You probably have already molten the cheese inside, d-do you know how HARD it is to get that out of a phone?!” “WELP, TOO BAD, WE CARBONATED THE CHEESE BEFORE RESEALING WITH GLUE!” At that the thing exploded, coating everyone in cheese. “Worst night of my life…” Distraught Jeremy looked at them, while the other two were laughing. “O-oh man- sir, should I get I some water-“ Mike hissed. “No worries, I fucking got it.” “MIKE NO-“ With that he proceeded to touch the stove, putting it on fire and setting off the sprinklers, drenching everyone. … LIKE PLAYING STUPID GAMES! “Okay, everyfuckingone, listen up. I prepared a scavenger hunt. The reward is a fucking nifty thing, so you better work hard. It may or may not be a gun.” Excited Alice, who was gaining power with every miserable hour the guards spend, jumped around. Joining had been a good idea. Jeremy was concerned. “A- a gun…? Mike, you- you know that would be pretty dangerous-“ “DID I SAY “MAY OR MAY NOT” OR NOT?” “Geez, sorry.” “Great. So, everyone, the hints are hidden all around the restaurant and EVERYTHING could be a hint. If you tell me the right code- whatever that will be- I’ll give you a hint where the next one is. The first to find the X wins. First hint: Party hats. FUCKING READY, FUCKING SET, FUCKING GO!” Everyone rushed off, even the animatronics, leaving only Mike and Simon behind. “Did you, uh- did you really set that all up…?” “Nope.” Together they observed everyone rushing about. … AND WINNING STUPID PRICES! Everyone was cowering together in a corner, as the little Minireena pointed the dangerously dull plastic knife at them. In front of them Mike, looking like a feral animal. “YOU FUCKING CHEATED. THERE NEVER WAS AN X. THERE IS NO PRICE!” Alice tapped her chin, then giggled. Tired and confused Simon sighed. “What… what did she say…?” “That her price will be that we all design her a new dress, each of us one- or she will cut us into pieces.” “But that’s- that’s a plastic knife.” Slowly Alice’s head turned, creaking unnaturally loud for such a small machine. “… she says that’s the reason should make you way, WAY more afraid.” … LIKE WINNING THE DARWIN AWARD! Phone Guy had only left for ten minutes at most to get some ice and some non-descript carbon drink that you can’t prove is a brand name, so don’t even try to get me sued- He walked back into the main area, carefully watching his tablet so nothing would accidentally spill over, but when he looked up for a moment he almost dropped it all. Mike, Old Sport and Dave were standing together, roughly 500 rubberbands tied together, leading to two chairs that where weighted down by endo scraps. On the other side where all the animatronics, Freddy in front, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy right behind him in a line, with determined expressions on the faces. “WHAT THE EVERLOVING H-H-H-HECK IS GOING ON HERE!?” “SLINGSHOT BOWLING!” Old Sport screamed back, clearly excited. “MIKEY IS GOING TO CRUSH THESE ANIMATRONICS WITH HIS HEAD ALONE!” “ONE OF US IS GOING TO FUCKING DIE TONIGHT.” “M-MIKE! WHY DID YOU AGREE TO THIS- TO THIS- TO THIS- MADNESS!?!” “Madness…?” Old Sport started, but Mike shook his head and interrupted him. “FUCK YOU. IF I WANT TO GET SLINGSHOTTED AT MACH SPEED THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT I’LL DO IT. YOU’RE NOT MY FUCKING DAD!” “Don’t worry chief.” Freddy responded calmly, his eyes firmly on the other guard. “That hollow-headed guard won’t even put one scratch on us.” Frustrated that his meme had been interrupted, the Orange Man groaned. “… this is Sparta. Great. You guys ruined it.” Letting go of the slingshot, they propelled Mike forward with a speed that could kill multiple men. Depending on where they stood. … like learning how cruel and heartless war is and how nobody wins a war truly, the words of glory and bravery were lies that THEY used to capture young, innocent minds, to chew them up and spit them out without any pity for the lost and traumatized- Mike pressed his back against the wall, sweat running down his brow and his body breathing for oxygen- but he wouldn’t allow himself to pant, he couldn’t, they were listening- There were muffled sounds of pillows and flip-flops being thrown and the guard winced as he heard a cry. All he could do was pray, pray that their fort hadn’t been broken- No, he couldn’t hesitate any longer. Rushing back in, he dodged the projectiles instantly hurdled at him, before diving behind the protective walls of his pillow fort. “Status?” Hoarse he asked Phone Guy who was lying beside him, looking out of a little gap. “They’re getting more and more aggressive. Our walls will not long stand like this. Did you get the secret weapon?” Dropping a few bottles of carbonated juice and mentos, he grinned, manically. Yet still, part of Phoney’s heart hesitated. “… does it really have to come to this? Is that what is left of our humanity? We will never be able to forget this night, Mike. Neither you nor me. We will lay awake at night, thinking about this, thinking about the cries… do you want to add this to-“ With that he forcefully was grabbed by the collar and pulled closer, almost touching Mike’s nose. “You better fucking listen to me, Si. Out there-“ He pointed out. “You’ve been my boss. My chef. You told me what to do and what to say. You had some authority. But now? Now you’re a NOBODY. Now everything that matters is if you can DO what is necessary or NOT. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT DECIDES THIS WAR, DO YOU HEAR ME?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US? HOW MUCH LONGER DO YOU WANT THIS HELL TO GO ON!? UNTIL EVERYTHING OUT THERE IS A WASTELAND?! UNTIL NOTHING IS LEFT ASIDE FROM DISPLACED PILLOWS AND THE STENCH OF DEATH!? IF YOU WON’T GIVE YOUR FUCKING GO-AHEAD, FINE. I WILL DO IT ANWAYS, I WILL SAFE US- AT WHATEVER COST THAT MAY BE!” For a second it was silent, then Phone Guy finally slowly nodded. “… okay Mike. If we-“ Interrupted by a call from another ford both of them snapped up. Orange Guy’s evil tone was already bad enough, but his words were unbearable. “GIVE UP, YOU ALL HAVE LOST! WE WARLORDS HAVE AQUIRED THE ULTIMATE WEAPON- WE HAVE SODA AND WE HAVE MENTOS. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GIVE UP… OR THIS WILL BE YOUR END.” Instantly Mike’s eyes widened and he sat up, hatefully hissing. “NOT SO FUCKING FAST! WE TOO HAVE MENTOS AND SODA AND WE WILL RETALIATE WITH IT ALL! IF YOU USE THIS WEAPON, NOBODY WILL BE LEFT, I SWEAR TO GOD!” Dave cried out in hatred and anguish. “MIKE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US! YOU WERE THE LAST PERSON I EXPECTED TO BE A FUCKING COMMIE, HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME-“ “WHAT THE EVERLOVING FUCK DO YOU EVEN MEAN, I’M FUCKING SERIOUS, WHO DROPPED YOU AS A BABY AND WHY DIDN’T YOU STAY DEAD-“ The war was eventually won… but at what cost? Changed my mind, them having a sleepover is a terrible idea and is illegal from now on. Never again.

[hi-i-love-u-bitch]

Excuse me! But where is my Sanders Sides Gamer AU???

Voices in my head: Gee Bunny, it seems you have no problem writing a lot of other fics and stuff yet you still haven’t even finished the next chapter of your Spiderverse fic???

Me: SHUT THE FUCK UP DISEMBODIED VOICES IN MY HEAD!!! IF YOU WANT THAT FIC DONE SO BADLY TELL MY LOGIC AND CREATIVITY TO GET THEIR ASSES IN GEAR AND GIVE ME SOME GOD DAMN INSPIRATION!!!!

Voices in my head:.....

Me: Yeah, that’s what I thought! Anyways, idk if I just missed a memo or something but I haven’t seen any Gamer AU of my boys and that is a crime in and of itself! Like, how dare! But fret not, I am here to provide content (Read: headcannons) that you did not ask for! Let us begin! Or should I say start!

(please note that I am not a gaming expert so feel free to add or correct stuff)

NOW WITH A PART 2!!!!

MAIN SQUAD

Roman Rosewood

Obviously loves RPGs! Anything with a good story line really! Or has medieval fantasy aesthetic!

Skyrim, Diablo, Undertale, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Undertales, Dragon Age, God of War Dark Souls, Assassins Creed, Earthbound, etc.

Played West of Loathing just so he could rip on it but actually ended up loving it and spending way to many hours playing. Then he found out there was a game called Kingdom of Loathing by the same creators and went down that rabbit hole as well.

He was iffy about getting into JRPGs but then Virgil convinced him to play Persona 5 and he absolutely fell in love with the music!

All the music in his phone is either from musicals or Video games!

Also really likes choose your own adventure games like Detroit: Become Human, Life is Strange, and Telltale Games

So much video game merch! Usually figurines because he likes to make little shelves and display cases for them.

He also really likes multiplayer games because he’s a social butterfly and likes to play with his squad.

Sucks at first person shooter games but still willingly plays Fortnight or Call of Duty or Left for Dead with his friends because he doesn’t want to be a drag and complain. But also they sometimes die in game in the most hilarious ways and it just leaves everybody wheezing.

Virgil Dante

Horror games, obvs!

All about that dark aesthetic!

Devil May Cry, Silent Hill, Fran Bow, Sally Face, Resident Evil, The Witch’s House, Amnesia, Little Nightmares, Bendy and The Ink Machine, Alice: Madness Returns, SCP-Containment, Pony Island, etc.

Yes, he’s played all the Five Nights At Freddy’s games. It’s a good series and it isn’t his fault the fandom is bat shit crazy and full of ten year olds! Fuck you Roman!

Every time the Walking Dead comes out he knows he’ll end up crying by the end of it. He and the squad make and event out of it.

Japanese horror games are usually his favorite because they deal more with the psychological aspects of horror instead of the jump scares

So, yes, he’s also a fan of Corps Party and Fatal Frame

Also really good at first person shooters because he has a really steady hand (you usually have to when playing horror games least you want to restart the level) and it pisses Roman off to no end every time Virgil randomly headshots him.

Usually likes to by merch in the form of posters, t-shirts, or beanies. He only buys figurines if it’s a game he really, really likes.

At first didn’t know why people kept bugging him to play Doki Doki Literature Club but then he finally caved and...oh...that’s why.

Logan Mill

My boy loves puzzle and strategy games yo!

Legend of Zelda, Portal, Tetris, Unravel, World of Goo, Inside, Limbo, Pokemon, Shadow of the Colossus, StarCraft, Command and Conquer, Age of Empire, Heart of Iron, World of Warcraft, etc.

He likes Overwatch but doesn’t like playing with people online so he usual solos or asks the others to play. But that too usually ends in chaos.

Hates rage games because he gets frustrated easily and has broken at least four keyboards and two controllers

He still plays them anyways because he can beat it damn it! Just give him a minute!

Enjoys the God of War series despite all the mythological inaccuracies

He plays a lot of Minecraft to relax or destress and has build beautiful works of architecture and sometimes entire cities.

He thought it was stupid and childish and was embarrassed about it for a long time until the squad came over to his house one day uninvited and caught him playing. He was getting ready for them to make fun of him but they instead gushed about how AMAZING everything looked and how TALENTED he was for building all himself.

Logan ends up showing them how to play afterwards and they work together to make weird sculptures and complex tunnels underground.

He likes practical merch like backpacks, coffee mugs, pencil holders, notebooks, ect. as well as a few t-shirts and novelty ties.

Yes, he does collect Pokemon cards!

Patton Adley

Silly dating sims, farming games, and any cute game really! Plus a few side scroller games!

Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Slime Rancher, The Sims, Dream Daddy, Animal Crossing, Kirby, Monster Prom, Hatoful Boyfriend, Scribblenauts, Night In The Woods, Ni Nu Kuni, etc.

Big Nintendo fan!

He made the mistake of playing Doki Doki Literature Club without reading the warning tags and regrets it immensely...still a good game though.

He did the same thing with Huni Pop but that one made him laugh more then anything and he kind of got addicted to it. Then he found out there was a sequel called HuniCam so he went down that rabbit hole too.

He likes a lot of phone app games too like Cut the Rope, Neko Atsume, and Candy Crush.

Loves trashy dating app games, he thinks they’re so funny and cheesy

He was addicted to Mystic Messenger for a long while

Just because he has his preference doesn’t mean he won’t try other games too, Logan got him hooked on World of Warcraft (though really he did that to everyone), Virgil showed him Hollow Knight, and Roman suggested he play Undertales.

Prefers merch in the form of plushies and key chains!

He likes to bake and decorate cookies, cakes and pastries in the form of his favorite video game characters.

RED SQUAD

Duncan [Deceit] Adley (Patton’s twin)

A lot of first person shooter and combat games!

Doom Series, Super Smash Bros, Mortal Combat, Halo, Fortnight, Grand Theft Auto, Street Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Half-Life, Team Fortress, Destiny, Wolfenstein, Bio Shock, Splatoon, PUBg etc.

Patton was the one that introduced him to Splatoon and he won’t admit that it’s actually super fun.

Doesn’t mind story driven games and RPGs but he really just wants something he can zone out to and relax

He likes to troll people online, mainly assholes picking on little kids who just want to play.

He once teamed up with a group of kids on Call of Duty solely for the purpose of collectively kicking the asses of this groups of so called “real gamers” that were being jerks.

Has memorized all the combos! He doesn’t have time to sit and look up a cool finishing move, he needs it now!

Always mains the weakest/most useless character in fighting games and still manages to kick everyone’s ass.

Doesn’t have a preference in merch and usually grabs whatever he likes be it figurines, t-shirts, posters, plushies, or whatever, so long as he likes the game it comes from.

Has several tattoos from his favorite games

Emile Picani

Classic retro games, cartoonish games, and Nintendo are his jam broham!

Mario, Classic Sonic, Paper Boy, Transylvania, Spyro, Pac Man, All the Saga Disney games, Duck Hunt, Mario Kart, Galaga, Mega Man, Donkey Kong, Secret of Mana, Banjo-Kazooie, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, etc.

Absolutely fell in love with Shovel Knight when it came out!

Remy got him into all the indie pixel games: Towerfall, Terraria, Owlboy, Hotline Miami, Papers Please, Celeste, One Shot, etc.

Duncan was the one that introduced him to Cuphead and the usually play it together and see how far each of them can go without dying.

The game is difficult but the art is still so breathtaking!

Likes the occasional psychological thriller game

Bet Virgil showed him Alice: Madness Returns and Doki Doki Literature Club (after he’s played it of course)

Likes plushies and figurine merch with the occasional poster and coffee mug.

Likes to doodle a lot of his fav video game characters and cartoons and is actually really good at it. He helped design most of Duncan’s tattoos.

Remy Knightly

Likes a lot of indie games and old online flash games!

The Stanley Parables, Oxenfree, Inside, Firewatch, Super MeatBoy, The Binding of Issac, Donut County, Henry Stickman series, Impossible Quiz, Crush the Castle series, Hyper Light Drifter, etc.

He always gets everybody hooked on one game or another

He convinced everyone to play Undertales so for like a month they all went through a HUGE Undertales faze.

Was the actual, ACTUAL one that showed Duncan Cuphead because he knew the dork would be reminded of Emile because of the animation and would want to show it to him and play multiplayer (*cough* subtle matchmaker *cough*)

(Do not be fooled, he is a pinning boy himself)

Is up to date in all the gossip of the latest games and consuls, indie or mainstream! He’s in the know, know and if you need to know something chances are Remy probably knows it.

Weeds out through all the indie horror games for Virgil and recommends what he thinks are the best ones.

Same thing with Logan and his puzzle games, he’s usually is able to find very strange ones and Logan seems to likes those best.

Obviously has a lot of merch in coffee mug and thermal form as well as a few key chains.

Occasionally streams on Twitch with Duncan and Emile (sometimes inviting the main squad too), they’re commentary is usual hilarious.

[one-more-for-the-sky]

[01/12/18, Friday]

its day 11 it started out rocky again due alarm problems. what the hell! it's been ringing at 850! im supposed to be out the door by 850 or sooner but 850 is definitely the latest i can leave the house that i could speed into work. but mom needed me to come home anyway (yeah i work for my mom. its good work and i take it seriously and anyone who wants to look down on me for it can suck it; i'm doing the best i can right now with all the coliding mental stuff. i'll talk about later on in this entry) John left some of his notes on a certain issue one of our clients is having at the house and i picked them up. kind of lucky there. we loligagged a little. i took out our new pet bunny. she's surprisingly very cuddly for a bunny. i have no prior bunny experiences mind you but still. not what i expected from a large rodent. or any rodent or smaller than a cat like animal. my gliders are certainly not that well behaved though i don't expect it either, energetic and lithe creatures that they are. still she is more endearing than i anticipated. i still am not very fond of rabbits but this one is okay. we chatted for a minute about my baby sister's room. and i was off with the notes and to grab john some water and get gas (not in that order). fridays are my favorite because its a slow day and people generally dont bother me much.

the last bits of yesterday where kind of exhausting and i find myself really challenged by the excuitive function disorder i have. i kept thinking about where i want to put this or that and thought to myself, just do it! but ultimately didn't. i rewarded myself too early. to my credit, i was exhausted. but still. today i will try to work first THEN reward myself. it is a habit of mine and it enables my EFD (excuitive function disorder). so basicly i just played a lot of video games yesterday.

i just feel jittery and unfocused for right now. hopefully it will change.

the house is a mess of laundry. i am sensing a much needed "20 minutes of cleaning" (read: 120 minutes of cleaning) from mom which is a chance for attitude from everyone. not excited. so when i get home, i'll definitly clean first. i think i'll start with tiding up the dinning room because that's really how you can tell if the house is in dire straits. If the dinning room is messy then it is time for a family cleaning session. i didn't even make the mess. i would agree to cleaning the kitchen or do the laundry but nothing else, but that's not going to fly, really. i should either start in the music room or the dinning room... Probably the dinning because you see it when you walk in and its the most visible eye sore, and then the dinning and move to the kitcheny part the den, the den i'll leave to vannah and mom. savannah's stuff is littered across the floor and even for me, its agrovating to look at. but i have to remind myself that my baby sister is probably worse of than me when it comes to EFD and adhd. there is definitly going to be a fight about that, i can feel it. i hope im wrong though.

mom suggested i log what i end up eating. at the time, i was offended by the suggestion. sounds silly but you have to keep in mind the historical obsession about my weight and food intake my mother has expressed over the years, sense i was small and still very impressionable. i still don't really know what to make of it, all the dietary routine changes i was mad to go though and shamed for. i was 13! 14! 15! I was young and still growing. i was in an important part of my developing as a person and myself worth, and what did i learn? that im too thick. i didn't really think i was at the time, but how can i say no to the person driving me around and im not in charge of my destination? it was wholy unfair... im not really saying that this is the root of all my self-esteam issues but it didn't help. not only did my peers see me as imperfect and flawed, so did my family. its hard to think about. i try to forget. so therefore the suggestion of working out, of listing what i eat or anything else by mom is offensive initially. in hindsight, yeah it a good idea. i just hate to admit it because of the implications.

speaking of my peers, my social/educational/school experience in childhood? fucking. awful. about the time i was in 3rd grade i really started to notice people didn't like me much. i can't remember much else than that. i know i wasn't a popular person in 1st or 2nd grade and i'm not even going to count kindergarden, but 3rd grade is where most of my memory begins. my teacher didn't even like me then. said i was a trouble maker and a bad person. not to me, but she made the mistake of saying that to my mother. why did she say that? because i decided i was going to clean up the class room. she said i was a manipulitive little trouble maker for cleaning her class room. this is were my earliest descriminations against me and my adhd and learning disablities really begins and i remember it. forget about my peers for a moment; my teacher hated me for reasons i didn't even know or understand. i wasn't even that hyperactive like some with adhd, but i did have an issue with attention and being a little disruptive with my best friend. at the time, pokemon was the new wild thing and i was utterly obsessed my friend was too, but that was my doing. instead of paying attention, we were playing. i was just a kid being a kid. when it came to start doing the standardized state testing, no one explicitly stated how important these tests were. i seem to remember someone saying that they were just practice and didn't count towards a grade and i thought oh okay, so its okay to mess up. so much so, i chrismas treed the whole thing. the whole goddamn thing, i just put in random bubbles just because i wanted it done and out of the way of whatever. well. that was the catalyst to a lot of issues i had from then on. without the consent of my mother or any discussion to anyone, they placed me and my friend in a "special ed" class, where you basically just colored stuff and glued stuff together and what not. i was in this class for half of a year before our parents found out and were enraged. upon finding out, they rained hot fiery war upon the school, they tried to cover it by saying how worried they were, that weren't sure i could even read. they didn't do any testing. they didn't ask me or my mother anything. long story short, that's a lot of school i missed. it put me behind in reading for years until i was in 7th grade. from there i struggled because of the things i missed out on because a teacher didn't like the disabled child they were responcible for. i think about that a lot. i think about all the late nights being screamed at because i wasn't doing well and struggled in elementry school things. i remember certain things my mom did that i dont really wish to describe, but while school was a battle sometimes going home was worse. it wasn't always like that, but if mom was in a mood, it went there.

my peers were really no better. a throughout, i was very much picked on because i really liked certain things, and they were my hyperfixations. and i was weird and my teeth were wrong. some of my favorite things ive been called when in elementry school: a cockroach, r-slur, someone said they humped me (they didn't but it was still humiliating), called me useless, made fun of my teeth, made fun of me because i made eye contact with people by saying i had a crush on anyone i looked in the eye (it mortified me as a kid because i definitely did not like any of those assholes, i still struggle with this), i was told that 9/11 was my fault, people tried to cut my hair, people stole from me, spat on me.... it was rough. i'm going to stop talking about it for now.

mom, if you're reading this, then you're probably thinking wow, is this really all i think about? or wow i guess im just a terrible awful mom (or some reverse guilt trippin thing you tend to do to try and make me feel bad for validating myself and addressing what you do that hurts me, even though you're the adult and primarily in control of our relationship) or also wondering why i never talk like this about my father. my father doesn't know me. i am my dad's only child and all he knows about me is that im gay, what i went to college for, and basic likes and dislikes. beyond that, my dad doesn't know me. maybe its the same for my sisters and everyone else but im my dad's only child. i have no competition with him for attention.

i've also have been thinking about myself growing up and my relationship with my sisters. full disclosure: i was not as nice to my sister sabrina as i am today. i was mean. i acknowledge it and think about it all the time. i mean, i was no more a kid myself, but i wasn't nice at all. i didn't even think nicely of her. and worse, i was nicer to savannah than i was her, and im sure that killed her a bit. mom would talk, beg, for me to be nicer. i wasn't like her abusive sister, but it felt like i was taking notes. in part, i blame society and media for what learned about being a sibling. most media i saw and consumed growing up, siblings hated each other, were mean to each other and competed against one another for attention, even in cartoons, that's what i picked up on, and internalized, obviously. my parents obviously didn't do anything to reassure me of that not happening, but i can shoulder some of the responsibility. i have to keep reminding myself, and others that i was just only 8 or 9 or 10 when my sister was born and i already had all these thoughts in my head but by the time i was 13-14-15, it starts to  be a combined effort of me and my parents and upon 16-17-18, i made little to no move to change my ways. i sincerely regret it now. after college and being apart from my family for so long and learning powerful lessons on what stands against the grains of time the strongest, family - particularly my sisters - became the centerpiece of my life. in college i met some interesting people, but the most notable thing i remember hearing from some of them, was how much they hated their siblings, younger or older or otherwise. just hated them for whatever reason. im not sure what exactly i thought, except that i was tired of listening to people act like this and that i had sounded like this too. and after failing some classes and being abandoned by friends, i realized the most important connection i could make was to my siblings. from the moment i decided to stop bad-mouthing them, i embraced them, their quirks, and loved them with everything i had. i still get aggravated with them ofc bc yaknow, nothings perfect, but they were perfect as they were. all i wanted and still want to do is spend time with them. i constantly think on how i was when i was growing up, especially for my little sister sabrina. i wasn't kind, as if the i didn't even know the word. i apologize a lot for it. every so often, i take her aside to talk to her about it. im still afraid to full acknowledge just how much damage i might've caused, but its still my responsibility to make it right and to mend it. sabrina, bless her, tells me not to worry, that she understands, that she doesn't remember a lot, except for a few things that make me cringe at myself. i apologize a lot. even now i am still sorry. i hope i am making up for it. i hope she doesn't grow to resent me, as i likely deserve. i love her so much i just want her to be happy and fulfilled and safe. i hate myself for how i was.

and i worry. a lot. its not exactly the same, theres a lot of different aspects to their dynamics, but i sometimes see myself in how sabrina acts towards savannah and it worries me. savannah is a lot less forgiving. a lot closer to bina's age and therefore harder to impress later on should sabrina change her tune. they both go at it though. savannah gives as much sabrina does, and especially so that she's 13 and moody as 13 year old typically are. all the same, i feel like the example i led has won out to the example i try to lead now and it frightens me. i want all 3 of us to be close. for all we've suffered together, to be alone in the world once our parents are gone frightens the shit out of me. more than anything, i want us to remain close. all three of us. i worry a lot about our relationship with each other...

anyway, so yeah i'm currently living with and working for my parents. i do take the work seriously even if doesn't look it and im proud of my (few) acomplishments. and living with them has its ups and downs. it feels good on hand to start from the ground up on how to like. live. how to be a person. or something. sorry i know i was going to go into this, but the previous topic got me down a little. i'm changing the subject.

my desk came in early, and im excited to put it together. can't wait really.

eh. i'm bumbed. will consider the listing of foods i eat.

peace.

[endless-vall]

What if? - part four - Val & Claudius fanfic

Summery: What if we got closure not only for Kenna, but for the other characters too? Kenna appoints her master of arms, Val, to a joint training mission in Abanthus, with Fydoria. Val meets old friends and reconnects with them, and finds out a few interesting details.  Author’s note: It took me way too long to continue this series, but inspiration just hit me out of nowhere. This piece is Val centeric, but also tells the story of her and Claudius. If you don’t know who Claudius is, I recommend reading my other fanfic of them here, and checking out my fanart here 😄 ANYWAY, this piece also explores other characters from The Crown and The Flame, and what happened with them (Diavolos, Adder, Eda & Annelyse), and also features a new oc! 😊 Part One, Part Two, Part Three.

“Val, a moment?” Kenna was walking towards her with her son Adrian in her arms. The little brat was Val’s own favorite little angel, even though she would never admit that. Val never liked kids too much, they were always too loud and caused way too much trouble, but the little guy won her over from the first moment she saw him. Val stopped the training session with a few of her new recruits, all of them falling to the ground, hitting it hard, and thanking the lord for a little break, finally. Kenna couldn’t help but chuckle, as Val approached her.  “You should go easier on them.” She suggested, while handing her little prince to Val, who seemed very excited to have a few moments with him. “Huh! y’think? They’ll think i’m turning into a softie!” Val protested, while playing and amusing Adrian. “Right.” Kenna noted, making Val stop at her tracks, and look up at her. “Because right now they think you’re vicious.” Kenna motioned to the hand shadow bunny Val was showing to Adrian. Val snored at her, but nodded. “They might get the wrong idea.” She agreed. Kenna grinned, and ruffled Adrian’s hair. Adrian didn’t seem too happy with that, and made an adorable pout. “Can you blame me?” Val asked, as she kissed Adrian on his cheek, making the pout-y face fade away, and a huge smile spread instead of it. “Not at all.” Kenna agreed. “Well, as much as I adore this little guy over here, i’m sure this isn’t why you wanted to talk to me.” Val focused on Kenna now, while putting Adrian down. The little curious prince wondered out loud in awe, pointing at the stables and calling “Hoses!! hor... horses!!!” excitedly. “You’re right. And you’re also right, my little sunshine, there are horses in there. Do you want to go check that out with me later?” Kenna asked Adrian, who nodded enthusiastically and waited eagerly. “I wanted to have a word because king Diavolos sent this out.” Kenna now turned back to Val. She gave Val a piece of paper, looking like a royal letter. “What does it say? Is he declaring war again? Because I swear--” Val got heated for a moment, before Kenna shook her head and waved her hands in protest “No... No.” She giggled a little. “It’s alright. It’s just an invitation.” She said, showing Val the details on the letter.  “Oh.” Val nodded. “So... why are you showing this to me? I mean, with all due respect, shouldn’t you be showing this to Raydan? Or your advisers? Or even Jackson, for that matter?” Val wondered out loud. “No, silly, this is an invitation for a joint training session.” Kenna explained. “Ohhh...” now it made sense. “Between Abanthus, Stormholt, and... Fydoria.” Kenna explained further, winking at the end. “Uh, why would you say it like that?” Val was getting suspicious. Kenna could’ve decided to send anyone else from her army. While Val was appointed master of arms, she certainly wasn’t the best candidate to represent Stormholt at official matters. And also, pointing out Fydoria like this, made her suspect Kenna had something else on her mind, too. “Oh, no reason. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just... You know. Interesting people might be there.” And with that, Kenna left, not giving away any more details, and walking hand in hand with Adrian towards the stables. “I hate it when she does it!” Val ranted out loud, to herself. She looked back at the group of soldiers she was trying to teach some basic moves to, realizing they were too beated to continue, and decided to call it a day.

When Val laid in her bed at night, she finally had some time to think about what Kenna could mean. “Pick your best group, you’ll leave tomorrow, first thing in the morning!” Kenna noted to her, somewhere along the day, after their talk. What could Kenna mean? Fydoria... Interesting people... Who was she kidding? Val knew what Kenna meant. She knew alright. The last time Val saw him, was at Tevan and Zenobia’s wedding. Kenna caught her looking too longingly at the man officiating the wedding. Then, Val told her about the bond and friendship they formed, and about a certain night at a tavern that still gave her butterflies in her stomach. But other then sharing a drink, and congratulating him on his promotion, they didn’t exchange much words that evening.  Ugh. This was stupid. And now Kenna was sending her, of all people, when she knew he’d be there? It’s not like she was thinking about him, all the time. She had flings with both man and woman in the past few years. But nothing of those things lasted, and she was fine with it that way. But when she did think of him... when they met... her heart fluttered. Val decided to gather her best group, just in case, but to also have a talk, with Kenna, in the following morning. To her luck, she didn’t need to look for Kenna, or even worse, wake her up. Kenna came out, along with Raydan, to wave them goodbye before their journey. “Kenna!” Val leaped to the front, when she saw them getting out of the castle. She was busy handling last preparations before heading out, but once she saw Kenna, she knew she had to ‘confront’ her about this matter. “Oops, that might’ve came out too excitedly.” Val blushed, when she remembered they were in front of many subject of Kenna. While she and Kenna were still friends, and Kenna never made her feel like she was less of anything, for being a former mercenary, or for not a from a noble family line, but Val had to remind herself sometimes that they weren’t on their journeys anymore, and Kenna wasn’t a queen without a kingdom anymore. Kenna just chuckled, and motioned her to get closer, like this wasn’t a big deal. “What, did you want a real hug before saying goodbye?” Kenna teased her, while Raydan found the situation really amusing, from her other side. “What? This is ridiculous. You know exactly what this is about.” Val eyed Kenna, who shrugged innocently. “I have no idea what are you talking about.” She played her role, but Raydan’s chuckle gave her away. “Kenna!” Val grumbled, not too loudly. “Fine! fine!” Kenna admitted defeat, bursting into laughter with her husband. “I’m happy you find torturing me amusing, you guys.” Val looked at both of them, staring them down. “C’mon Val. Don’t you think you’re exaggerating? I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is torturing you.” Raydan was the first to compose himself, and reply to her. Kenna followed closely after, nodding and agreeing with him. “You’re making fun of me, now ya?” Val sighed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re just sending you on a training mission.” Kenna nudged Val in her shoulder. “Now come on, you should be going.” She smiled, pulled Val into a quick hug, and then turned her around and pushed her towards her soldiers. “Fine.” Val muttered under her breath, and then got on her horse. “Let’s head out!” She called out, all of her soldiers riding behind her. “You’ll meet the Fydorian troops on the way. Then you’ll head together to Abanthus. You should find them by nightfall, but if not - here’s a communication orb.” Val remembered Kenna’s words, as she watched the beautiful purple orb in her side pocket. She wondered who would be on the other side of it. Or maybe, she waited to finally meet him again. Just like he was reading her mind, the purple orb lighted up and a familiar voice came out of it. “Val? Lady Valentina? Is that really you?” Claudius voice rang in her ears. Her heart beat fast in her chest, but she wouldn’t have it that way. “I though I told you to not call me that way, a long time ago. And I warned you about using my full name. I knew it was a mistake telling you about it.” She took the orb out of her pocket and answered him. “I deeply and sincerely apologize. I know I should’ve waited to meet you by nightfall, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to hear your voice. Even if you’re just scolding me.” He teased, and Val rolled her eyes, defiantly satisfied. “Oh. I’m not just scolding. You know i’m not just all talk. You’ll be punished when we bump into each other again.” Val warned him again. She heard Claudius chuckle huskily. She could imagine him smirking right now. “I’m counting on that.” He finally whispered. Val blushed at first, then bite her lip. Finally, she composed herself, all in a matter of a few seconds. She was glad she was leading the group, since no one saw her flushing right now. “I’m going to beat you ass, you know.” She said back. “Are you kidding? I was waiting for this re-match for years!” Claudius called excitedly, and Val bursted into laughter. “See ya later when i’ll be kicking your ass, dummy.” Val rolled her eyes, and put the purple orb in her pocket again. By nightfall, as promised, Stormholt troops met the Fydorian troops. They all set camp and started bonfires. Claudius embraced Val in a bear-hug, and she hugged tightly back. After boosting their soldiers moral, the two leaders went a little further from the group. They got to the edge of a low cliff, watching the starry night before them.  They both sat down, and their hands accidentally brushed against each other. It caught them both by surprise, and they both shot their eyes from their hands to each other’s eyes. In the darkness, it was hard to tell, but both were blushing. While they’ve shared a kiss before, this was entirely different. They weren’t drunk right now, and weren’t on the verge of possibly dying tomorrow by a lightning monster. Val opened her mouth. She didn’t know what to say, but she had to say something, right? “Uh...” Was all that came out of Val’s mouth. “So how about that re-match?” Claudius asked, suddenly. “Good idea.” Val swallowed, jumping back on her legs, letting go of his hand. He got up as well, and prepared himself, getting into a fighting position. “I can’t believe it! You beat me with my own move!! UGH!” Val complained, as Claudius sat on her back, holding both of her hands behind her. “What can I say? You’re a good teacher. Or do you want to call it cheating and demand another re-match?” Claudius teased. “Oh, don’t get too cocky. I’ll defiantly defeat you if you’ll give me another chance.” She said, as he released her. “You sure? I got pretty good at thi-” Before he could finish his line, Val leaped towards his, tackling him down and holding his arms under her legs. That way, he was completely immobilized. Under her mercy. “Hey! this was un-fair. We didn’t say we started. I was totally off-guard.” Claudius protested. “A warrior should always be on-guard.” Val simply noted. “I guess I still have a lot to learn.” Claudius agreed. Val freed her hold of his hands, but still stayed on top of him, straddling him. “I guess you do.” She said, and finally got off him. They went back into camp, and each went into their tent. Their journey continued, and they finally made it to Lykos. A messenger announced their arrival, and King Diavolos quickly came out, greeting them. “Hello, Val. Claudius. It’s nice to see you again.” Diavolos approached them, shaking their hands.  “Diavolos,” Val had to give credit to the man. He had proven himself and trust-worthy ally, and a honorably man. Something Val couldn’t ever possibly imagine happening. But a few good years had passed since the end of the war, and Diavolos haven’t disappointed them even once. Claudius bowed slightly, showing his respect too. “You must be tired. The staff will show you to your rooms. We’ll assemble later again, for the training session details.” Diavolos said, and none of them had any complaints. When they gathered again, after re-freshening, Val looked around the courtyard. “Where’s Adder?” she wondered out loud, searching around Diavolos. “Oh, we don’t see her that much these days. After my sister got out of the way, me and Adder got to agreements a lot easier, and she left the ruling part for me. She can run the Black Asps from wherever she wants, and she spends most of her time in Aurelia now.” Diavolos told her. “But you probably shouldn’t mention it near Eda.” He advised, eyeing one of his captains. “Oh. They broke up?” Val asked. While she didn’t remember if Adder and Eda were ever really official, she did remember seeing them dancing together at a few celebrations, as well as in Tevan and Zenobia’s wedding. “They did.” Diavolos confirmed. “Why Aurelia, of all?” Claudius joined in the conversation. “Well, let’s just say, Adder loves gold. Or, more specifically, a certain woman in gold.” Diavolos had a sly smile, while Val realized what he was saying. “No way! Adder and Annelyse got together?” She asked, making sure no to be too loud and upset that captain. “Well, i’m not sure about how Annelyse feels about it, and frankly, i’m not really updated on this subject, regularly. But Adder made it very clear how she feels about her. And, since she does spend a lot of time there, I guess it’s possible.” Diavolos shrugged. It was clear he didn’t know anymore about those two. Diavolos appointed Eda as the head of the training mission on Abanthus side, and left for his businesses. Along with Val and Claudius, the three agreed on a training technique, and started to practice. After a long day of practicing, even Val was ready to call it a day. She was known for being hard on her soldiers, but with good intentions. She was always pushing them to their limits, to be their best-selves. But handling all three groups was getting... exhausting. “Val!” Claudius called, as he and a few other soldiers were heading out, last but not least, from the training arena. “would you like to join us in the tavern?” he asked. A knowing smile spread on his lips. “Oh, I don’t think I could handle it.” Val admitted. “Oh no, are you feeling well?” He checked her for fever, jokingly. “Does the mighty Val refuse a drink just to head to bed early?” He continued. “Hey!” She scoffed. “I’m not saying i’m heading to bed early! i’m just saying I might need to cut on the booze for tonight to stay focused for tomorrow.” She added. “Alright. Boys, you should head without me.” Claudius called back to the group of soldiers, who disappeared so fast Val couldn’t even question it. “Who said I invited you to stay in with me?” She raised an eyebrow, teasingly. “I just thought you’d appreciate the company.” Caludius tried. “Maybe you’re right.” Val punched his arm lightly, and then he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She enjoyed the touch, and leaned into it. “Where to?” A long moment had passed, until Claudius broke the silence and asked. “I think I saw a cozy spot in the garden, by the fountain, but it might be occupied.” Val suggested. “We could check it out.” Claudius nodded, and they started walking in that direction. They arrived at the fountain, to find Diavolos talking to a stranger. She was a beautiful woman with light hair, golden locks turned into a gentle hairbun, wearing a fancy blue dress. They were too far away to figure out what they were talking about, but it seemed like she said something snarky, and Diavolos chuckled, putting a hand on the back of his neck. The unknown woman raised her eyebrow at him, and then shrugged and took off. Diavolos immediately followed her, calling after her. “Lady Felicia, wait up!” They didn’t seem to notice Val or Claudius, and both caught their places near the fountain. “Lady Felicia, huh?” Val noted, before scooting closer to Claudius. “She looks familiar. If i’m not mistaken, she’s from Fydoria’s noble families. She’s known for being cunning and hard working, don’t let that gentle angelic appearance fool you.” Claudius told her. She sent a questioning look his way, but he just chuckled and shrugged. “I know everything King Tevan needs to know. This includes insight about the noble families.” Val nodded. “Interesting. And do you find Lady gentle angelic appearance attractive?” Val asked, not sure where she was going with this. It’s not like she was jealous, she had nothing to be jealous of, and even if she did, she didn’t have any right to be. “Hm... Pretty? sure. Attractive? Nah.” Claudius simply answered. Val was a little shocked, but it wasn’t showing on her. “Personally, the woman I find attractive, is a little more... rough.” He said, looking directly into her eyes. Well... now, her shock was defiantly showing. Along with a slight blush, she had to quickly shake away. “Oh... Interesting...” Val dared to look back at him. “But none the less beautiful.” Claudius added, his eyes drifted from her eyes to her lips, and to her eyes again. “C'mere. Dammit.” Val pulled at Claudius’s top, making their mouths meet in a clash. “Ouch!” They both burst into laughter, the nervousness faded away, and while the moment “was ruined”, both felt relieved. After they finished laughing it off, Claudius lifted her chin with his hand, and pulled her lightly towards him. She leaned in gladly, and their lips met in a soft and sweet kiss. This time it went smoothly, and quickly enough the kiss developed into a much hungrier one. As if it was making up for every time their glasses clinked and met each other instead of their lips, for every drink they shared instead of a night. They both were so into the kiss they forgot they were sitting on a wall without a backrest, and when none of them seemed to notice and stabilize themselves, they slipped and fell into the fountain. Although that didn’t stop them from kissing, there was some giggling and then they got back into planting kisses and soft bites at each other’s lips, Claudius laying on top of Val, both soaked wet, and completely content.