#anyway it'll be A Bit until you guys get new art but when you do expect this hdbsjdbfj

[its-shugo-chara-time]

Shugo Chara Jewel Joker Ch. 1 Review

I thought I'd go over my thoughts about the first chapter of the sequel.

So, can we first start off with how gorgeous this chapter cover is? Like I absolutely love how the same art style is still there but it seems more refined and...mature (I don't know how but it just does).

I'll be completely honest that I'm not super thrilled about them adding on another love interest to the sequel. It makes sense, but, not super excited about it. The fact that he already appears to just be a younger version of Ikuto feels a bit lazy on Peach-Pit's end. Sorry if that's offensive but those were just my initial thoughts.

I also really like that it's a sequel directly after the events of Shugo Chara Encore. I think exploring Amu's growth through middle school is such a great concept. The ~ cool and spicy ~ line still makes me smile every time.

It's so good to see Rima, Yaya, and Kairi!! AAAH THEY ARE ALL SO PRECIOUS, especially Rima. I always have adored her.

Also, Kairi and Yaya's dynamic is so cute. I think they balance each other out really well. I know some thought their "pairing", if you can even call it that, in Shugo Chara Encore random, but I think it actually works well. I'd love to see some of the chapters show how Kairi and Yaya are doing taking over the Seiyo Academy Elementary guardians, maybe even see who the new King, Queen, and Joker end up being.

And then there's the adorable prince. I spent so much of middle and high school years going back and forth between him and Ikuto as my favorite. I started off liking Ikuto then went to Tadase then back to Ikuto haha. Now that I am 26 years old, I can acknowledge that the age gap between Amu and Ikuto is definitely valid in people considering it problematic, which I would have adamantly disagreed with at 16. Now that I am a therapist and have seen a lot (to say the least), my opinion has changed. I can't deny the appeal of that relationship in a fictional setting but also can't deny that the age gap is not something that can be overlooked. It would never fly in real life. I'll just leave it at that.

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed when I first read this about her going to a new school. I was like NOOO I WANT TO SEE AMU WITH THE SAME CHARACTERS AND JUST SEE ALL THE RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOP MORE. Alas, though, I also can agree that the new school and new characters can be great for Amu's growth and journey. Plus, I mean, there's got to be an actual plot lol. So there's that.

I also love how Tsukasa is downplaying all of this. Like it'll actually only take a week or two. Or a semester haha. Also weird how he's just shipping them off with little regard for their actual education or wants. Did Amu's parents actually say yes to this? Haha. It's those little things that I think about that I wonder if anyone else does.

First appearance of the new mysterious cat boy. I wonder if they're making him (at least appearance wise) identical to Ikuto because Peach-Pit realized that Ikuto being with Amu is deemed problematic more so now or if it's just another distraction until Amu ends up with Ikuto ..or Tadase? I honestly have no clue what they'll end up doing. I also just wanted to say that if you all do ship Amuto or Amu with Ikuto, there is no judgment from me. I must acknowledge that it is inappropriate but at the same time, I also know the nostalgia and very cute story they have too. Their relationship is very sweet, but the age gap can't be overlooked. But anyway, still not thrilled about this new guy, sorry.

Oh my gosh look how cute they are!!! Amu's uniform suits her so well, I 100% support her wearing that the rest of the series. Tadase also looks super cute too with that coat. He looks more grown up, aw.

I don't know how all these children get to go to these academies that look more beautiful than some cathedrals. Also can't wait to see how this new cute villain guy contributes to this story. I wonder how he'll differ from the other villains like Nikaidou and Kairi's sister (why can't I remember her name?) or the Easter director guy. I think Nikaidou has been my favorite "villain" so far. I think he was the most developed one.

I like the concept of the X not disappearing and having this cultish academy where everyone already has guardian characters. Where did the X egg go though? Did it just disappear? Am I stupid because I seriously don't know why it's not mentioned after this haha like where did it go? And whose was it? Can't wait to see why all the students are desensitized to this haha.

Possible villain number 2. I like her character design. I kind of like how she's more passive aggressive toward Amu instead of how it was with Rima and Utau where it was full on aggression at the beginning. I don't think we've really seen Amu handle that dynamic and I'm curious how their relationship will develop. It's funny how Amu knows there's something off about her immediately. Amu definitely isn't naive like she can read that the girl doesn't have good intentions pretty quickly.

Okay, this conversation that Amu has with Rima is so cute though. Whether I can fully ship Amuto or not, I have to say Rima giving Amu relationship advice (albeit, not good advice haha) is hilarious and we need to see more of this please.

Gosh I love Amu's different faces. And that's she's a scaredy cat.

Can we just remember -

And many, many more amazing Amu reactions from the anime.

I'll close with, I still don't like new boy but I guess I can't say I permanently think that until he actually gets formally introduced. I hope he's distinctly different from Ikuto or else it just feels kind of pointless having him there.

Welp, that's my commentary! Sorry that was EXTREMELY long. It's also almost midnight where I live, like wow I sure can blab about this manga for a long time. Please comment or like if you at least somewhat enjoyed this little review. Or if you didn't like it. I'm open to suggestions haha, or light-hearted, respectful debates. I'm very new to being back on tumblr so if my formatting is horrendous I'm down for some advice. I also will be posting about the second chapter in the upcoming days so be looking out for that too! Excited to be back on here and see what you all think about the sequel :)

[thepixelelf]

this is definitely a stretch but a slightly off kilter dimension 20: mentopolis au where, consider Jeon Wonwoo, "junior researcher at Gobstopper Industries, a retro-futurist conglomerate, working on all sorts of amazing art deco technology in a gilded, non descript, past-like past..." ("gah, he paints a picture with his words!" 03:12) who works in the neuroscience department, kind of a loner, always focused on his research. Often closed off because he is led by his logic and ambition. Pushed down his sense of conscience years ago because of an incident involving an ice skate to the face but he doesn't like to talk about that or frankly even think about it so... work it is.

Anyway, one day Mr Big Boss Guy walks into Wonwoo's office/lab with you, and he introduces you to him as a specialist in projectiles. You two are going to be working on the new Psychometer project together. Wonwoo just nods, shakes your hand, and registers your sweet nice to meet you smile too late because he's already turned back to his calculations and now it would be too awkward to say nice to meet you too and damn it, why is he so damn awkward?

You don't pay it much mind— you've met plenty of awkward, shy nerds at Gobstopper Industries and while Wonwoo is maybe one of the nicer looking ones, you're no stranger to clipped greetings and noses buried in research. You yourself are quite the nerd, anyway, so it's no skin off your back.

[warning: fake science ahead! also cw for guns!]

For a while you two just work on your own things— him with his weird neuro something something tech, and you with your projectile prototypes. You're signed on as a temporary contract, so Mr Big Boss Guy never really told you what kind of thing you're making the projectiles for. But it does occur to you at some point... why would you put a projectiles guy and a neuro guy on the same project? What the heck are you even building?

So you ask him. "Hey, Jeon. Can I call you Jeon?"

He seems a bit jumpy at the sudden appearance of your voice, which is fair since you guys haven't really talked in the days since you started working together, but he turns to look at you and eventually nods.

"What is it exactly that you're researching?"

"Well... it's— it's... uh..." And it takes him a couple seconds to get his bearings, but then he goes on about brain waves and electrons and oxytocin and aromatherapy and a lot of other stuff that you honestly don't understand much of, but the more he speaks, the more you realize he's very much into all this research he's done. "It'll be a pioneer in mental health, this machine. If we can go into the mind and find exactly what's wrong— just imagine what that can do for the world."

You try to. You think about how the whole "mental health" thing is just starting to get on the public's radar, and what it would mean if doctors could just... look in there and then tweak the undesirable bits. Huh.

"That's fascinating," you tell him, not seeing the way his eyes practically light up at your, albeit monotone, interest. "And... why am I making it into a gun?"

At that, Wonwoo just blinks. "I... don't know. I think the decision came from marketing? Perhaps they think it will be more valuable if the machine is portable."

"Portable, huh," you mumble, but you don't say anything else. Wonwoo goes silent too because he literally cannot carry a conversation (esp with someone he finds smart and attractive) unless he is answering questions. So, you both just go on with your work.

Until another day, after you dropped off the latest prototype on the boss' desk, when you ask Wonwoo, "Hey, Jeon, with your mind reader thingy—"

"It's not a 'thingy'," he interrupts with an almost imperceptible pout, but you catch it and smile at how oddly cute your fellow researcher is.

"Okay, your Psychometer..."

(His eyes light up again. They keep doing that.)

"...is it only for looking?"

He frowns, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

You tilt your head to the side, tapping your sharpened pencil on your desk. "I mean... can you use it to do anything about the stuff it sees?"

"Tampering with the brain is an extremely dangerous endeavour. There's no telling what could happen if the Psychometer were used to manipulate emotions or desires—"

"Wait, so it can be used like that?"

Wonwoo's frown deepens, he scoots to the edge of his chair towards you, one hand on his knee. "No. The technology could potentially be altered to manipulate the brain, yes, but the result could be disastrous—"

You jolt up onto your feet. "It's a mind control device???"

"I don't think you understand—"

But you're not listening to him anymore. You lean over your workspace, eyes darting over all your blueprints and scrap metal prototypes. "Holy shit," you mutter to yourself. "And I designed it into a weapon..."

You didn't always know there was something off about Big Boss Guy, but after meeting and getting to know Wonwoo and his research, you thought it was a little strange. Big tech industries like Gobstopper don't care about the good of the people like Wonwoo does... they care about money. And Big Boss Guy always seemed so smug when you updated him on the Psychometer project... yeah, a patent for a brain scanner would probably make him millions... but a mind control device? He could move to fucking Mars if he sold it to the right people.

Or used it on the right people.

In a frenzied panic, you begin swiping your hands over your desk to try and collect all of your research into a pile, while Wonwoo watches you with his confusion mounting.

"What are you—"

"Wonwoo," you breathe out, heart beating much faster than healthy. "Can I call you Wonwoo?" You don't wait for his answer; you're not even looking at him. "You need to get all your shit on a hard drive, and then you need to delete it from every Gobstopper computer—"

"What? Why would I—"

You walk straight up to him and put both your hands on his arms. If he wasn't confused and defensive right now, he'd probably be flustered.

"We made a fucking mind control gun, Wonwoo. Do you know what that means?"

Who is he kidding? He's flustered. He shakes his head.

You close your eyes as you let out a sigh. "We made a weapon. A very dangerous weapon. And the only way to stop it from going to the wrong people is if—"

Wonwoo watches you stop, and it's not like when he can't continue speaking because he doesn't know the answer, or when you pause because you thought of something funny, like you often do, but you actually freeze. Your mouth stays slightly open, caught in whatever you were going to say next, and your arms go stiff. Wonwoo is about to speak when he hears his boss' voice from the entryway.

"The wrong people?" he says, calm as ever as he lowers the Psychometer prototype he'd just had pointed in your direction. "C'mon, Jeon. You know I'd never put this in the wrong hands." He admires the machine in his hand. "It's much better off with me, don't you think?"

It's not that Wonwoo has no idea what the fuck is going on. In fact, thanks to you and your recent revelation, he finally actually knows what the fuck is going on.

It's just that he has no idea what the fuck to do now.

"You can't— this—" He looks at you, who have never been so close to him for so long, and right now it's completely against your will. He hates that thought. "Whatever you did with the Psychometer, turn it off! Reverse it, just— let them go!"

His boss shows off a mocking pout. "But they were saying such mean lies, Jeon. I told you: this machine is going to change the world. Don't you want that?"

"Not like this!"

"Tell you what, Jeon," his boss says, unfazed. "How about you finish doing your job like you were asked, and I make your little projectile friend fall in love with you, eh? You'd like that, wouldn't you? I see the way you look at them when you think no one's watching."

Bile threatens to rise up Wonwoo's throat. To make you like him— no, he never wanted that.

"Don't," he growls.

"Alright, alright. Then I guess I'll just have to offer a slightly worse deal. You make me my fully functional Psychometer, and I don't go through all the steps up to making their death look like an accident." He pulls out a sleek, silver gun and points it straight at you.

"Fine— fine!" Wonwoo holds out a hand, the other one now holding onto your arm. "I'll build it, but..." He bites the inside of his lip. He hasn't taken anything close to risk in years. "...but I need their help."

His boss raises a brow. "I don't think they're gonna want to be helpful."

"I'll make sure the comply," Wonwoo assures him, although he's not that confident in his ability to convince you.

He just needs you back to normal.

His boss clicks his tongue and tucks away his gun. A long time ago, he told Wonwoo he liked him because he listens well to authority. "Alright, Jeon, but make sure they do, and fast. Otherwise, I'll have to find somebody else for the job."

Wonwoo doesn't miss the thinly veiled threat, but he pays no attention to it. His boss points the Psychometer at you once again, and with a gasping breath, you fall to your knees. Wonwoo immediately joins you at your side, not hugging you like he kind of wants to, but patting your back as you cough.

Faintly, he hears his boss ordering people to barricade both exits from the lab.

"Holy..." You gag, and cough, and almost throw up, but don't. "...shit."

"Are you alright?" Wonwoo asks.

You whip your head to glare at him. "Am I alri— Wonwoo, do you know what you just agreed to?!"

So you heard everything, huh.

(It's not what he should think about first, he knows that, but Wonwoo feels heat on his face knowing that you heard his boss talking about the way he looks at you.)

"It was the only way for him to unfreeze you..."

At that, your panic and anger soften. You sigh. "I... Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says automatically, then cringes at how the words sound.

"You know I'm not helping you make that thing, right?"

Wonwoo nods. "I don't want to make it either."

"Good, then..." You stand up, Wonwoo keeping his hands hovered only inches away in case you're unsteady on your feet, and you reach into one the the inner pockets of your labcoat.

From which you pull out a grappling hook.

Wonwoo's eyes widen, and he has half the mind to ask you if you keep one of those on you at all times (???), but you stride past him to look out the floor to ceiling windows of the lab— which is four floors off the ground.

You turn to him with a sickeningly sly grin. "You ever looked at a window and asked yourself if you could break it with a good ol' shove?"

Wonwoo shakes his head, incredulous. "No!"

"Well." You shrug, going to grab as much of his and your paperwork as you can and stuffing it into your bag. "It's either the window, or mister 'I'm gonna rule the world' out there."

Wonwoo weighs his options. On the one hand, you're...

Well, you're there.

And, okay, on the other is a guy with two different guns, so...

Wonwoo goes over to his computer, taps at a fews keys, and initiates a total manual reset.

Once he turns back around, you've already started tying rope around yourself. "Get over here," you grunt.

And so Wonwoo lets you literally tie him to you, and then he jumps out of a god damn fucking window.

and that's all for this episode of diMEN—

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (03/09/23)

there's a jump serialization round coming up soonish with 3 new series so there's gonna be a few ending in the next couple weeks, starting today with fabricant, and then tenmaku and do retry in back to back weeks. wish it was ichinose instead of tenmaku but oh well

blue - finale/completed

Anime

Pokemon Horizons Ep20

didn't like this episode at all. I was excited for horizons since ash FINALLY got retired and we were getting a female protagonist. when I saw roy I was worried riko would start getting pushed to the sidelines in favour of him, since he's just ash 2, and this episode was a lot of that. they had a contest between riko and roy and riko was winning easily, until plot armor had to come in and hand roy the victory, she could've won but hesitated seeing roy being so into it. and then they battle kabu and a gym trainer, only for riko to throw the match she coulda easily won, against the trainer since she needed to win it. and then we had all these lines from kabu telling her "hey maybe you could do something else you don't need to do battles just cause you're a trainer" it's just like I said months ago. it's just extremely lame and cowardly but I guess I expected too much from the pokemon anime

Atelier Ryza Ep10

last week I said they may have been deviating from the game but they're back on track in this one. tho the game still didn't have lila and empel going into the woods, unless I completely missed that when I was looking at the playthrough last week. anyway, lots of cute ryza faces in this ep so that was good. considering where we are, and where the anime is gonna end, I wouldn't be too surprised if they announced another season for like summer or fall next year, to cover the rest of the game, but we'll see

Zom 100 Ep6

nice ep, idk if it'll happen but I hope akira kills the boss guy next episode would be a nice point to stop before the recap on the following week

Manga

Fabricant 100 Ch36 (Finale)

it's finally over. tbh I kinda forgot it was gonna end this week but it did. honestly shoulda given it a 4 like alien's area but it got to run a bit longer and approach the topics it wanted to cover more so I gave it a lil bump. just like the score says it was just alright. it clumsily tried to ask the question of "what is an ideal human" or "what is it to be a human" in general and came to it's own answer

the art wasn't bad but also nothing to write home about, the characters weren't that likeable or interesting for the most part and when the threat of cancellation started looming the story felt very rushed, not like it was much better before that when it was just "monster of the week". anyway it wasn't bad overall, unlike ichinose I didn't mind reading this every week and wouldn't mind seeing the author come back again in the future

Blooming Love Ch12

cute chap, it's funny seeing the mcs' friends conspiring together to look out for them and ending up going on the same date as them (even if they haven't realized it yet), expecting them to become a slow burn b romance plot but also wouldn't be that surprised if they just stayed as comedic relief like this til the end

Dandadan Ch119

the big battle is finally over so we get the good ol big feast celebration to break up the tension. it was also cute seeing the romantic tension between okarun and momo from that note she left him back in the training arc. also my guess is that the cliffhanger is just gonna be to wrap up the storyline for that youkai and she's gonna leave momo alone so we can continue the story without any loose threads

Tenmaku Cinema Ch20

as expected, the movie's good but it has a lot of issues since it's an amateur production, but it's still nice to see hajime's (and the author's) love of movies recognized. it's a shame that it didn't last longer on the jump battlefield but oh well. looking forward to the finale next week

Akane-banashi Ch76

good chap, highlighting how much akane's grown over the series and her peer's opinions of her, it sucks for my man here to come to this realization but it had been a long time coming

[welcometogrouchland]

Uncontrollable urge to revamp tma character headcanons months after you've already established a way of drawing them

[thecontumacious]

Your writing is so good!! (*/ω＼*)

Can you maybe do a luxiem bois with a reader that's getting burnt out from work and the bois trying to help them? (*˙˘˙)♡

"Come, rest with me a while."

a/n: i told you guys i'd go a bit crazy with fics hehe ALSO ANON IM RLY SORRY I'M SO SO LATE IN DELIVERING THIS TO YOU

reminder that all my work and others in the fandom are purely fiction and intended to entertain, not to be projected irl. 

quick disclaimer: i based all these burnouts on my own personal experiences as burnouts are different for everyone!

Vox Akuma 👹🌹

man is hands on dropping everything upon noticing the tiniest of signs (´･ᴗ･ ` )

without much being said, vox is obviously no stranger to this and after centuries, he's pretty much already mastered the art of preventing the dreaded burn out

so when he sees you staring head on at your work, your fingers set on the side doing nothing, your gaze just a bit emptier than usual, he knows

"what's wrong, love? exhausted from work?" he coos, wrapping his arms around you from behind. vox immediately feels the strain on your shoulders, further indicating you were definitely close to your limit

if anything you already were

vox is one to just sit down and calm you down with words, coaxing you to take a mental break for yourself

it almost didn't matter if you were hungry or not

he's straight to the kitchen to cook something up for you

it could be a comfort food of yours, something of his or something completely new he's been wanting to try in a while

either way, you're eating all of his delicious foods

"but vox, i already ate though..."

"you don't want this food to go to waste now, do you?"

if you're the type to sit quiet during burnouts and rather not talk about the daunting mental block, vox is absolutely fine with it and would probably just stuff your mouth with his food

oh and his lips ;D

ah yes the sussy jokes and pickup lines

god pls have mercy(″ロ゛)

"my, my, if your lips are going to stay frowning like that, mind if i give it a smile with my own?"

"or would it better if i put them to better use?"

KAJHSJKSHASHSGJH?????

SUSSY SUSSY SUSSY

anyway 💀

if the day had been extremely cruel to you, your work piling over, the expectations ever so towering but your mind at a fucking dead end all until your sanity results to tears

"oh dear, shhh, shhh, sweet thing. come here," vox whispers, sitting next to you and bringing you immediately against his chest. "it's alright to let it out, my dear. cry as much as you want. but i'll stay here with you."

if this were me i'd be crying even harder yall 😭

slight mother instincts kicking in, he'll literally just baby you as you weep away your woes. it won't be super obvious but know that deep down, he cares so much about you

he'll just rock you back and forth wherever you are, stroking your hair gently while whispering things your heart needed right now

"all will pass, love. i promise it'll be alright."

"n-no it won't, vox..."

"really? what makes you think that?"

"j-just everything! look at me, i'm failing everything..."

"i'll be honest with you," he smiles, wiping a fallen tear. "i don't see that happening. to me, all i see is your body asking you to rest. it's telling you to take some time off."

"b-but--"

"trust me, dear," he leans down, bringing you closer against him as he placed a chaste kiss at the top of your head. "i believe you to be strong. but there will be times you need to take a break to make yourself even stronger next time. do you understand?"

once you've settled down, he's stuffing your face with more food (´ ω `♡)

no matter how long you're healing yourself, vox will always be there every step of the way. he's holding your hand, he's hugging you, he's kissing your tears away

and by the time you're back on your feet again, the light in your eyes a bright glow and your fire of passion burning through, vox will just proudly smile as you recount today's achievements

"vox, vox, look! i finally got it done! and the results for that other thing i'm doing came back positive!"

when he promised he will do anything to protect that beautiful smile of yours, he meant it with every fiber of his body.

he laughs, pulling you in to place a kiss on your lips, "well done, sweet thing. i knew you could do it."

other boys utc!

Mysta Rias 🦊🔶

i think it'd take a while for mysta to rly notice what was going on (despite being a detective yes)

initially, he thought you were just in a bad spot today. bad day? bad mood? one of those short term emotional breaks is all

but when he catches sight of you continuing to sigh in front of your work, groaning even more often and the many times your face lost its color from constant hopelessness

yes he notices

but he's actually hesitant to rly take action upon it

mysta is very used to seeing you be so positive and happy about things, telling him about your day, even if it was a terrible one

in short, he was used to seeing you smile

but even as one tiny joke didn't manage to bring that back on your face, mysta was extremely worried

was his joke funny? did it offend you more than it should've healed you?

he was nervous to talk you about it, afraid he'd take the wrong step

sooo i will have to ask you to be one opening up to him. at least tell him what's going on and what's been bother your mind to affect your moods like this(>_<)

mysta will appreciate you so much for doing that and once he understands what it is you're going through exactly, he'll definitely offer you all sorts of help

"burnout huh? they suck a lot," he sighs, taking your hand in his and rubbing your knuckles with his thumb. he smiles, kissing it, "it's okay, babe. that means you just gotta take a break, right?"

"as simple as that sounds, mysta, i don't know if i can right now... work is piling all over me."

"huh, what assholes to be overworking you right?"

you snort a bit, shaking your head.

phase one: get them to smile at least a bit. complete.( ◡‿◡ *)

"okay, okay, listen," mysta scoots closer, squeezing your fingers on the way. "i just saw this new (anime/show) come out and a few episodes have been posted. so many people have been saying it's good. up to binge?"

that is his go to way of cheering you up

mysta will immediately try to make you forget what it is that is troubling you, preferably through some entertainment like games or movies.

if it goes back to bother you again, he's quick to make a joke about it in hopes you won't feel as intimidated by it

oh and he's more than glad to take you to the grocery store to pick up a whole new stash of snacks <3

tbh mysta is a big snackie so it's also an excuse to be munching on some lmao

"wait why are we getting ice cream again, mysta? don't we already have some at home?"

"uhhhitgrewlegsandranaway"

"to your stomach?"

"nooooooooo?"

phase two: get snacks and movie plans. complete.(ง ื▿ ื)ว

he will not care how many snacks and or movies it will take to bring you back again mentally. he's there to handle the remote on what you're watching for the rest of the night and he's the one getting up on his feet to grab more snacks

but as soon as mysta sees the tears fall out and you're breathing a lot heavier then before, he can't help but want to cry too

honestly he becomes a mess with you at this point

"hey, hey.. d-don't cry, i-i'm gonna cry too now.." he tries coaxing you, his eyes pricking. he held your shaky hands in hopes to find stability within himself

but yeah it doesn't rly work

"goddammit," he mumbles to himself, sniffling

serious time: he feels rly useless when he can only sit there and watch you cry, especially when he finds himself crying too

"babe, babe, look, it's gonna be okay, right?" he tries but it makes you cry even worse

you don't mean to make him feel even worse, honest!

so what's the solution now?

well... cry together until one of you calms down┐(~ー~;)┌

most times, you're the one calming down first so when you cease your weeping and see that mysta was upset as well, you're the one comforting him.

you know what they say: to cheer yourself up, cheer someone else up.

mysta will just look into your swollen red eyes with the biggest pout in the world, "i-i'm fine, i promise, babe."

you giggle, leaning in to kiss his cheeks. "why are we such a mess, mysta?"

"we're destined to be together is all."(//ω//)

and then it's back to movies and snacks until dawn

once you're back on your feet, laughing, smiling and scolding mysta for something he's done, he knows you're okay again

when you show him an achievement you've gotten, sparkles in your eyes, he'll just grin at you while patting your head, "good job, baby. you're so, so strong. i love you."

Luca Kaneshiro 🦮🔆

not immediately but the moment he starts talking to you and your responses are not like usual, he knows something is up

although not necessarily assuming it was burnout

you're always putting on a smile for him or at the very least giving him more extensive responses to his questions and comments

instead of those, he's only getting 'hm's

his metaphorical puppy ears and tails droop down

"honey? is everything okay?" luca asks you gently while frowning

if you're the type to push people away during these rather dark times, i'm gonna have to apologize on luca's behalf bcs he's the type to push you until he knows you're okay

of course it's not so forceful it's toxic

but just know that luca is genuinely worried about you and if he doesn't know what's up, he's afraid he'll step on a landmine

"honey please? just tell me how you're feeling. was it a bad day?"

to be honest though, with luca's natural adorable charm, it's sorta hard to look away without giving in to him (biased asf lmao)

however if you still aren't in the right place to be speaking, luca will just sigh and give you a kiss to the temple, smiling gently, "alright then. just find me if you're ready to talk okay? i'll always be here to listen."

BABYYYYY

˚‧º·(′̥̥̥ o ‵̥̥̥)‧º·˚

ahem

he'll be so happy once he sees you approach him, tugging on his sleeve although still a bit sad(╯_��)

"yes, honey?" luca smiles, putting away his work

i mean bro come on doesn't his smile alone just give you relief?

your heart feels a bit lighter and then you start to spill everything, informing him that it was probably burnout from all the work you've been doing

"oh, honey, come here, come here," luca is the one coming to you tho

you happily receive him in your arms, wrapping yourself in the comforting scent of luca kaneshiro

he starts stroking your hair, rocking you back and forth while humming a soft tune

"how about we hang out for the rest of the day? i'll clear up my schedule, no problem!"

and as much as you insisted that you just wanted a sliver of his time, he's not listening to you anyway and requesting his secretary to clear up any meetings today

he also even went as far as tweeting that he'll be cancelling the stream if he hasn't already

dw, us lucubs are nice! >:3

luca is the type to try and make you forget about your burnout like mysta although a little bit more active

games, movies, a night out, cooking together if you haven't eaten

i think the one thing luca won't ever forget to mention to cheer you up (especially in these dire times) is skin care!! ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭

he's not afraid to be seen with cute bunny hair band to put his long hair away and have cucumbers on his eyes 🥒

i mean why would he? he always feel so nice afterwards

can't a mafia boss clean himself up too(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

always ready with a stash of skincare, from face masks, hair masks, lip scrubs, undereye masks, waxing, nail care--i could go on tbh and luca would prob still have more

or if you'd like, luca is more than glad to be bring you to a spa to get yourself done but honestly, he likes doing it at home with you because he think it's more intimate ;)

"careful babe you're gonna get it all over my eyes!!"

"i heard smoothies from these ingredients make your skin feel good from the inside."

"i feel like painting my nails today... i still can't get the hang of painting my right hand tho... "

"ooohhh this one smells so nice, honey! come on come on let's do this one."

at the end of the night, luca will have you snuggled up against him watching a gentle movie

he'll also just brush away at your face, deciding to bring up your case of burnout now that your heart is in a much better place

"hey, about your burnout. i know it sucks being in this phase of your life right now but listen to me," then he'll cup your cheeks and squish them. "i know you well enough that something like this is just another obstacle. and even if you have trouble going through it, i'll kick its ass down with you. you hear me?"

you don't even remember about your burnout, knowing your (yellow) knight in shining armor is good on kicking some ass down with you

you clasp your hands onto luca's, leaning up to kiss his nose

he frowns, "but honey you missed..."

laughing, you try again. this time, properly.

luca giggles, "i love you."

and once you're back on your feet again, luca has never been more proud of you. he'll hug you tightly, spin you around in the air and probably invite you for a night out at your favorite restaurant

"I'M SOO PROUD OF YOU, BABYYYY! POGGGGGG!"（〜^∇^ )〜

Ike Eveland 🖋💙

notices immediately and already knows what to do

although not as experienced as vox, ike tends to keep himself busy a lot so he has no shortage of burnouts

he's tried different ways of healing himself, from the internet from asking people

it can be super hard going through these things alone, so when he sees you in this state, with symptoms he himself is so familiar with, his heart aches and he reaches out to you so that you don't have to go through the same thing he did often

safe to say that he'll be very serious about this⊂(▀¯▀⊂ )

sure, jokes can help from time to time but i think ike is the type to rly take things head on

ike knows you super well so he knows if you'd like some space right now, or if you need some company

if you feel more reserved and "to avoid" him, he knows to back off for the time being. but he doesn't just go back to his work until you've cooled off

ike wants you to know (although indirectly) that he's there for you still

so what he does is step out of the room and place a drink of your choice near you

"remember to hydrate yourself, okay?" he gently tells you

and when you thank him, giving him a small smile, ike touches your hand like he's asking for permission

if you don't react much, ike will just lean down and place kisses all over your face

to rly rly rly rly remind him that you're not alone, despite all your problems and flaws(˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )

when the day is very bad, your heart just wanting to break and your mind shattering to pieces from the emotional distress, ike would prefer to be with you rather than give you space

seems disrespectful of what you rly wanted at the time, but pls bear in mind that ike wants to make sure you're okay

it's not that he doesn't trust you either

he just... doesn't like it when you're hurting, alone especially

"please let me stay with you," ike will tell you when you push him away

don't tell me you have the heart to rly refuse this soft king :<

he'll just hold you without saying much, stroking your hair, wiping your tears, kissing them away at the right times

if you want to ramble and rant about everything, telling him how work rly sucks, how you've been failing everything and just being in a terrible mental state, ike doesn't mind either

he's definitely the listener type, absorbing in all of your words like a sponge

so it seems as though he always had the perfect words to say at times like these

i mean.

he's a novelist, he writes songs--

his philosophy is bound to be different from others. or at the very least, word the most common phrases in a way it seemed so original????

ಠ_ಠ

you can't tell me otherwise that he'll be singing to you to make you feel better :D

he's slightly shy about it (this cute bby istg) but once he comes to terms that he was doing this for you and to hopefully make you smile again, he'll start humming a song

something he liked, something you liked, something he was working on

it never fails to put your heart and mind at ease

ike eveland will sit, sing, hold you etc etc for hours on end if it meant seeing you stand back up again

seeing as he's super used to burnouts, i think he actual has some concrete ways of slowly getting you back up there

he totally understands if you're not ready yet, but the way he persuades you--

yeah, sometimes you wonder if it's a blessing or not to be dating ike eveland

i'm just kidding it's always a blessing†_(ﾟｰﾟ*)β

he'll even set aside his own work to help you do yours, even as simple as organizing your papers, cleaning up your soft files and all the mundane things your work has you do

you'd be lying if you said that wasn't such a big big help

and before you knew it, you're back to being productive in a lesser time than usual

when you show ike that you've cleared up your work list and or the results of your hard work, he feels more fulfilling knowing that you were saved from the spiraling misery of burnout

he pats your head, brings you onto his lap and presses a very passionate kiss to your lips

then you pull away to see his slightly teary eyes, "i'm so, so proud of you älskling."

Shu Yamino 🔮✨

would notice you acting differently, say like staring off into your laptop but doing nothing or sighing just a bit more than usual

shu would def start speculating something is going on and he tests his own theory out by talking to you

"hey there baby," he coos, his eyes sparkling

"mhm," and although you were smiling, shu could tell it was half hearted

yep, something's going on

unlike luca though, he'll be a lot gentler when coaxing you to tell him

he would like to use his spells to spill out of you but he knows super well that's not rly nice so he'll just keep on asking you without using any underhanded tricks

after the third time asking, he'll just sigh and cuddle you silently, holding your hand

"it's alright if you don't wanna tell me. just let me stay with you okay?"

his soothing voice and the way he pleaded a little bit was hard to refuse :<

but just know that shu doesn't want to leave you alone like this, even if he doesn't know for sure what it is you're going through

shu kinda already had a hunch that it might've been burnout but he wants to you tell him himself

after a while, you finally tell him what's going on and he's more than glad to open his arms for you if comfort is what you need

shu is also super calm and smiling throughout the entire thing

it's a trick he learned somewhere

when you're handling something (especially if it's stressful), if one person is smiling, other people just tend to calm down a lot more

you'd be lying if you said it hasn't worked out with him :3

anyway

i think is all about reassuring you mentally

he wants to rebuild you back again before he can move onto other things

so he wouldn't immediately try to distract you from the stress

to him, it's important you recognize what you're feeling and learn how to face it head on instead of running away from it first (ofc this doesn't apply to everyone, you do you readers^^)

"take a deep breath for me."

"clear your head first and focus on my voice, okay? close your eyes if you need to."

he has the habit of pressing between your eyebrows if it furrows so it's just a super cute way to remind you that you should relax

٩꒰ ˘ ³˘꒱۶~♡

after you're calm, shu will simply smile at you and start telling you about your past achievements, about all the good things about you, about how strong you are and basically the wonderful being you were born as ٩(◕‿◕)۶

but if you're feel more broken apart this time and you can't help but tear up, shu will admittedly freeze up first

this was the one thing shu was so afraid of happening, exactly why he wanted to reassure you mentally first

he'll be at a loss of words on what to do next, he himself not knowing what to do

seeing you cry breaks his heart okay

but shu yamino is a keeper of his words so if he said that he's gonna protect your smile, he will do exactly that even if it daunted him

he'll cup your cheeks so that you're focused on him and you can see he's trying to maintain a strong smile for you despite the tears

shu will just kiss away your tears, each one getting longer every time

BRO THIS AGAIN WOULD MAKE ME CRY EVEN MORE ;-;;;;

after you've calmed down, shu will finally kiss you on the lips and say, "there you are. hi."

he'll then bring you into his embrace, so tightly against him as if he was afraid that you'd actually disappear from him, that something would take you away from him

something not even his jujutsu magic could do

"it's all gonna be okay. i'm right here to go through it with you," he whispers, rubbing your back.

"b-but--"

"when have i ever gone back on my word, babe?"

that he was correct about

you just sigh and melt into him, snuggling into his chest

and for the rest of the day, it really is healing time for both you and him

you're not allowed to be touching anymore work by shu (not directly but by unwilling to let you go hsakjshk) so you have the time to rly just relax and save yourself from further destruction

and as for shu?

it becomes a reminder for him that he should take care of you more often

not in a way that you can't handle yourself

but the fact that he couldn't prevent you from getting these burnouts in the first place, maybe he should've stopped you from working too much

then you suddenly touch his face

shu looks up at you

you're smiling now

"there you are. hi, shu."

he can't help but tear up and cry at the same time, leaning into your hands

it's definitely the little things with you and shu

and once you've picked yourself up again with the sorcerer's help, you're back to laughing and making corny jokes with him, you're in a way reminding shu that he's saved you all over again

"shu, shu, look! i got rly good feedbacks on these!"

ah, that glimmer in your eyes...

he leans in and places a kiss on your temple, "good job, cutie."

Masterlist!

[cheelduh]

How to get Hit-listed by a Stonehide Lawachurl (High School AU!)

Part 6 of the highschool au

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Synopsis: Childe’s a menace to everyone when playing dodgeball. Even as his new girlfriend, you’re no exception to his affinity for raising hell during the most tranquil of circumstances.

Warnings: Swearing, bad humor, and absolutely horrid spelling mistakes.

Words: 5.3k

Note: Longest chapter yet sheeeesh 🗿

Negotiation is an art.

Childe, or "Tartaglia" has utilized the art of negotiations in his daily life. Whether that be scamming the ninth graders with fake weed, or convincing the teachers why he doesn't deserve detention for injecting random fluids from the chem department into the school's resident pet frog.

All in all, by becoming an expert in the field of negotiations, Childe is nothing if not a master, tongue silver and smooth as he takes on a new opponent.

Which is why he dutifully negotiates with you on this Monday morning in front of the History classroom, getting down on one knee and pulling out a—

"I hope to Barbatos you aren't proposing Childe," You hiss, panicked eyes landing on the velvet box he's pulling out. "Considering that we're sixteen and still in highschool."

As if remembering those meagre details, Childe gulps and shoves the box back into his pocket. "Uhhh yeah, I was just, tying my shoelaces?" It comes out as a question.

You let out a sigh of relief, overlooking how he undoes his shoe laces just to do them all over again.

The ring burns in his pocket as he gets back up.

"Why did you call me here?" You ask, hand on your hip, foot impatiently tapping. The tap tap tap isn't because of impatience though, it's because you need something to cover the nervous palpitations of your heart.

He gives you a vicious smile, sinister enough to shake the bones of anyone who's observing, opens his daring mouth to show the imaginary sharpness of his teeth. Then with the confidence of about a hundred shirtless tiktok boys, he finally demands:

"If you don't become my girlfriend, I will kill—"

"Yeah sure thing." You answer before he can finish, soft smile growing.

Childe chuckles evilly, "I knew you'd say that, but I've come prep—wait a minute." He snaps out of his villain origin phase, stumbles back a bit, then his eyebrows are furrowing in confusion. "Did you just say yes?"

You nod, cheeks flaring up. "Don't make me repeat it." Then you look away, too embarrassed to see his reaction.

For a second, Childe's internal conflict following the chain of this event causes him to temporarily malfunction, and all he can do it stare at you in amazement.

It's only when you tell him to stop staring and jump off the school roof is when he snaps out of his daze, a grin festering on his face.

He lunges straight at you, giving you no time to deflect him as he wraps his bone crushing arms around you, then lands a soft smooch on your forehead.

"Let go of me you idiot!" You barely wheeze out, light headed not only because of your lungs being squeezed like oranges, but also because of the sloppy kiss he's delivered so ungracefully.

He does so reluctantly, and you're unamused, wiping the stickiness off your forehead with a sleeve as he steps back.

"Ew what the fuck?" You say, glaring at him. "What's wrong with you?"

He completely ignores you, giddy with excitement. "Ah girly, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. I can't wait to introduce you to my parents and eat lunch together and kiss each other during break—"

"Slow down." You tell him, as red as a tomato towards all his suggestions. "We've barely started dating."

"Oh," Childe stops momentarily, then nods in agreement. "You're right. We should start small. How about I walk you to class?"

"We're already in front of class." You nudge your head towards the classroom, and catch Zhongli and Venti peeking from the side of the door, trying not to be obvious.

You narrow your eyes at them threateningly.

Childe tugs your arm, lovingly looking you up and down. "Let's walk to class together anyways. In a circle."

A complete waste of time, yet it's impossible to say no to the face he's making.

Before you guys depart he suddenly stops, gasping loudly, remembers something important. "I have to make a quick phone call."

Childe speed dials Scaramouche, and the latter picks up annoyed, answers the phone with muffled sounds in the back. Something that sounds a bit like pleading and whimpering.

He then mutters something that forces dread into your system. "You can release the hostages."

You hear Scaramouche groan on the other end, muttering a "such a pain in my ass", but choose not to question it immediately.

As soon as the phone call is done and you're back by his side, you point at his phone questioningly. "What hostages Childe?"

He gives you a close eyed smile, taking the fifth.

"What hostages Childe?" You repeat again weakly.

—

First period goes by smoothly for the most part. Lisa, your so called best friend, once again is bought off like a corrupted politician by your new boyfriend. She sits far away from you, leaving you without any defences against the menace that dotes on you a bit too much.

Throughout class, all Childe does is score Venti's colourful pens, and then writes you annoying little love notes, using the expert origami skills he's learnt from Anthon to deliver them to you.

Despite the threat of distraction these notes pose, the corners of your lips can't help but tug upwards at his enthusiasm and attempt at poetry.

Zhongli makes sure not to ask you two any questions the entire class, leaving you to your own accord.

Lunch comes around soon enough, and your usual table of Diluc, Jean, Kazuha, and Lisa is disturbed by the torpedo that is Childe, and he brings collateral with him.

Kaeya whole-heartedly ceases the opportunity to sit near his stoic statue of a brother purely with the intention to annoy the premature crap out of him, but one look from the redhead sends the chicken-shit right back where he came from.

When Childe forcefu—lovingly feeds you the smiley fries and dinosaur nuggets his stunning mom packed him, Diluc looks just about ready to hurl.

Lisa winks at you two, Kazuha doesn't even bother looking, and Jean tries with upmost effort to keep Diluc from launching himself at the whipped fatui boy basking in your attention.

"Quit embarrassing me." You whisper-exclaim sharply, noticing how Jean passes Diluc—all green in the face, a puke bag discreetly. "Shouldn't you be doing something illegal right now? Or vaping in the stalls?"

"I quit vaping for you girlie." Childe boops your nose with his finger. "Well, at least full time. I still need a puff when I'm around Signora, to like, get rid of her awful vibes."

While it is endearing how he quit vaping for you, it doesn't lessen the need for you to bury yourself alive right here and now.

Then you sigh, pick up a Dino nuggie, and shove it in his mouth, the tip of his tongue flicking your finger. You die inside.

"There, you happy?" The action of feeding him is so...intimate, it sets your heart aflame.

Childe's a lovesick puppy when he chews, imaginary tail wagging a hundred times a second. "Can I have a kiss too?"

Diluc slams his hands on the table and stands up, hurriedly picks up his grape juice and makes a break for it. You don't blame him.

"I'll kill you." You smack him with a napkin, blazing red. "I'll end your pathetic little life right here and now."

By the end of lunch, Lisa and Jean have to restrain you so you don't break the world record for the maximum amount of mutilations that can be done on a single body.

Fourth period is a break. A break from Childe you mean. It's expected of the school's resident bad boy aka menace to skip classes in order to skip over the bodies of his victims.

You bask in the momentary peace, until it's disrupted by a tap on the window. Reckon it's nothing, maybe a bird flew into it, because intentional taps are impossible from the third floor. Except your conviction is hindered yet again by another tap.

What a nuisance.

You finally turn to look outside the window, face down, and spot Childe waving incessantly, rocks in hand, oozing with excitement that can't be concealed and a grin that nearly takes you into cardiac arrest. Without meaning to, you send him a small smile, waving back as Baal drones on about quantum superposition.

Successful in gaining your attention, he moves aside to reveal the hefty corpse of a stonehide lawachurl with a destructive path in its wake. The ridges and bumps of its hide are enough to do a number on the road, ruining the school's playing field.

Your smile drops down into a horrified frown in the span of a few seconds.

"Wow." Albedo, your lab partner whispers from next to you, for the first time distracted in class.

"Yeah," Kaeya whistles from behind you two, one hand supporting his head. "What a gesture."

"Y/N, I'd be grateful if you could possibly obtain a black crystal horn for me from the specimen." The blonde asks, entranced by the corpse that your boyfriend is flaunting off to you with pride.

"Aren't those things endangered cutie?" Lisa makes sure to butt in, as per usual.

Yes. Your boyfriend with several issues and an affinity for chaos brought you the corpse of an endangered geo-infused creature that's five times the size of him. During school hours too, the fiend. Like a cat dragging the corpse of a dead mouse to its owner.

You groan into your hands, heart racing while the fire is coursing through your veins.

That idiot.

—

Childe is exceptional at a lot of things, like the switch and making weapons out of seemingly harmless things (e.g shiv out of a toothbrush), but what he prides in the most is physical education. With washboard abs, uber tall height, and a dickish smile to top it all, he has everything it takes to showcase his top tier athletic abilities.

He pounces at the opportunity to show off in front of you, wanting nothing more than to have you fawn over his strength. He's sure it'll be enough to have you all over him, wrapping your cute little arms around his muscled ones, passing him his water bottle and dabbing away at the sweat on his forehead. Most of all, he daydreams you planting your soft lips on his to congratulate him after a big game.

Physical education, for you, is a pain. You may be good with your brain, but games exert more energy than necessary, and coordination that lacks logic entirely. You're just here for the credit. The over-achiever part of you walks the extra mile to ensure a grade in the high nineties.

Although witnessing Childe clad in the school shorts and matching polo shirt is enough to make this worth your while, you'll die before admitting it. Especially when he gawks at you as if it's the first time you're wearing the sports uniform yourself. It has you fidgeting with your fingers and tugging your shorts down nervously.

You try not to flip him off like you usually do, especially since it's not even been twenty four hours since he's asked you out.

Mr.Zhongli blows a whistle, calling all the students over to surround him. It's odd that he teaches most of the subjects at this school, seemingly the only adult present, but no one questions it in fear of genshin logic. Moving on, he explains that you have a dodge ball game today.

Lisa groans beside you. She hates anything that requires the exertion of energy, oftentimes bringing a book to read while everyone else screams in the background.

You're relieved, mainly because Childe and Tohma are usually captains, and Childe always picks you to be on his team as a means to flex his skills. For you, it means sitting back and watching him carry your team towards a straight A.

However, all your dreams are crushed when Zhongli announces the team leaders.

"Y/N, I trust that you'll lead the blue team to the upmost of your ability. Childe, prepare to lead the opposing red team."

Your knees shake as you stare at him in disbelief. "But Sir—"

"No buts Y/N." He scolds you lightly, checking off your names on the clip board. "I'd like to witness your exceptional leadership skills."

In reality, Zhongli just wants to reenact a lovers-on-opposing sides trope, wanting to see how the two of you crack under the pressure. In a way, it is an exercise of leadership.

Instead of picking teams, Zhongli assigns teams for the both of you according to his own judgement, trying to make it as fair as possible.

Lisa pats your back after your teammates are assigned, trying to cheer you up. "It's going to be okay. You guys are dating now, so he'll go easy on you."

You look up to meet Childe's eyes from across the court. He gives you a charming smile, which turns downright barbaric as he lifts up a thumb and motions to slash his neck with it. Then he wickedly mouths "I'm going to destroy you."

You blink and turn away as fast as you can in fear. "We're fucked."

Lisa, witnessing the entire ordeal nods alongside you, doing nothing to reassure you because she herself has given up.

Suddenly a hand lands on your shoulder gripping you tightly. "Let's wipe the floor with that g*nger." The voice is ice cold, threatening enough to send a shiver down your bones.

You turn to meet Rosaria, who frowns at you. Most of the time she doesn't really put an effort in dodgeball, but she must've seen your crestfallen expression, trying to comfort you in her own detached way.

Rosaria is the other school nurse in training, alongside Barbara, but somehow her patients end up more injured, sick, or mentally defiled than before they entered the room. She also spends after hours beating up Chads in the school parking lot. Also runs a blog with her booby co-author Kaeya that emphasizes mostly on the dark knight hero.

Spotting the rest of your team behind her, you begin to criticize them one by one.

Standing against the wall is Kaeya, pushing both his biddies up with his crossed arms like an absolute whore. He's breaking about several dress code rules right now. Venti is next to him, drunk off his butt as he beat boxes with Tohma.

Eula mutters under her breath, on and on about seeking revenge on Zhongli for putting her beloved Amber on the opposing team, promising him an unfortunate fate. Xiao is miserably squatting on the floor, sharp eyes observing everyone in the gym, scowl not ready to dissipate anytime soon.

Then you look over at Childe's team in the distance. Jean with a determined look on her face as she listens to Childe's game plan, and Diluc crossing his arms with his brows furrowed in concentration. Even Amber, the best baller in the school, is stretching out her arms, assisted by the gifted princess of the school, Ayaka.

Not only that, but Childe has the king of dodging on his team—Kaedehara goddamn Kazuha. Beidou shoots you a wicked smirk, winking at you until she's disrupted by Ningguang's shove.

"Oh my god." You cry out when the realization hits you, falling to your knees in despair. "We're completely fucked!"

"No we aren't." Rosaria mutters lowly. "You're only fucked if you want to be. Don't you dare throw in the towel before the fight has even begun."

"But I—"

"Stop it." She grumbles again, rolling her eyes. "You're being annoying now. If you lose the game, that makes him the dom. Don't you want to be the dom?"

She's right. You do want to be the dom.

Her words of encouragement, and not at all veiled insults somehow allow you to find motivation deep within yourself. You get up and stomp towards the rest of your team, calling their attention with your newfound confidence.

"Listen here soldiers!" You shout out, determination clear as day. "I know I am not capable of leading. I know that I barely have the physical capabilities needed to defeat the opposite team."

You take a deep breath, pointing at your cutie patootie boyfriend across the gym as you seethe. "But that man, that harbinger of chaos, that instrument of war, is nothing but a tyrant. And I cannot let such a tyrant be a victor in this battle. Not when innocent lives are at stake."

Tohma speaks up, sending you a bewildered look. "What lives—"

"Shut the fuck up soldier!"

"Yessir!" He immediately stiffens, saluting you.

"Are you ready soldiers?" Your voice booms, and everyone reinforces their priorities, except for Kaeya though. He just lazily smirks.

After Zhongli places the balls in the middle, everyone prepares for the battle of the century.

'Gods, please let us win this war' you pray to the archons above, closing your eyes in concentration.

'Give me the strength to flex my superior skills' Childe wishes, then adds on quickly 'also I want to dominate this world.'

'Give me the strength to make it to Friday.' Rosaria prays for nobody but herself, rolls her eyes at all the unnecessary dramatics of this dodgeball game.

"3..." "2..." "1..."

Zhongli ends the countdown by blowing hard into a whistle, signaling the beginning of the game.

Not even two seconds later a ball whooshes past a few of you at the speed of light, followed by a tail of fire. The ball of death kisses Kaeya square in the nose, sending him reeling back into a wall with enough sheer force to cause an indent.

Everyone winces.

Before you all can reel in from the initial shock and make sense out of wherever the hell that asteroid came from, Zhongli's voice booms throughout the gymnasium.

"Mr. Ragnvindr, headshots are strictly forbidden. You are out!"

With a scoff, Diluc, satisfied with his work, leaves the court with no apparent qualms. He accepts his defeat with the upturned corners of his lips.

Rosaria pokes Kaeya's body with the tip of her heels, then cringes when he shakes awake, up from his short lived knockout and sends a wink her way.

"Getting handsy when I'm unconscious? I didn't think you'd be one to partake in such vulgar activities." His eye twinkles in mischief, and if his momentary defeat at the hands of brother has him fuming, he doesn't show it one bit.

The only thing that keeps Rosaria from knocking him out for real is the blood that trails down onto his lip. She doesn't want to clean blood off her shoes, especially since it's a pain in the ass to get off.

You're about to tell them to get up and take this seriously, but a softball does your job for you when it darts straight at Rosaria. With pristine accuracy, the girl manages to pitch herself away last minute.

You swivel in Childe's direction, who wears a remorseless grin, which only grows wider once you pick up a blue softball next to your feet.

The glare that he receives has him shaking in exhilaration. More so than the elation he'd felt when he took down that Stonehide Lawachurl for you, as a gift of promise.

You begin to bark out orders. "Eula, Xiao, and Rosaria cover the front and act as decoys."

They nod immediately, but Xiao still clicks his tongue in distaste as he starts following orders.

Then you offer Kaeya a hand. "Get up princess. You're on sniper duty."

With Diluc out of commission, the battle is fair and square now considering both sides have the same amount of people. Ergo, no one's at a disadvantage.

That is—until Lisa fake trips over pure air, landing on the floor in a dramatic slow motion.

You roll your eyes.

"Oh dear! I think I've twisted something." She cries out, crawling away from the battle field, acting as if she's paralyzed completely. "Don't worry about me. I'll cheer you on from afar. The battle has begun, and it seems as if I've become the first casualty."

You don't let the countless amount of Lisa's betrayals get to you, even this one. It's just her personality to flake out on anything and everything that requires her to do more than below the bare minimum.

Focusing on the match, your eyes are only on Childe, just as his are on you.

You aim the ball straight at his ribs, step back a bit, then propel the ball in the air with as much energy as you can, using your entire body as a power outlet. The ball spins in the air, reaching the awaiting victim.

Childe, unbothered, dodges the ball with perfect precision, the ball not even grazing his clothes at the least.

Your jaw drops open, and you're about to move for another ball until he grabs the same ball you threw at him. With the sharpness of a predator locking in on its pray, he focuses on you like a missile locks on its target, launching the ball in the air for power that has you trembling, second to the powerful ball that was thrown by Diluc.

With your pupils dilated at your impeding doom, it's Xiao that grabs you and thrusts away.

The ball lands on the floor, smoke rising.

"Holy shit!" You shriek over everyone else's grunts and shuffles. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Isn't it poetic?" Childe shouts back while he slides away from the balls being thrown. "Lover against lover. Either you're by my side, or in my way. And right now, you're in my way." He narrows his eyes dangerously. "Albeit reluctantly, I will take the victory babe. Even if we are on opposing sides."

"There was zero reluctance in that throw asshole!"

You thank Xiao, who wipes his hands on his pants in disgust. "Filthy humans. So pathetic and weak."

Mildly offended, you roll your sleeves up and begin to fight with everything you've got as soon as he walks away.

The dodgeball game goes as expected for the most part, Eula carrying for most of it with the flow of her skills.

Tohma actually tries like the presumptuous asshole he is, aims straight for his girlfriend Ayaka, and takes her out completely. His only justification for that is "I ain't no simp!"

He shelves his cocky attitude when facing Childe with a sense of dignity and prestige you didn't think he had in him.

The two one of a kind fuckbois puff out their chests so that they look more hefty than they are, having some kind of an Alpha match. The 'me stronger than you. me dominant. me get all the women' type beat.

Unfortunately, Childe manages to fence him with his throws, and lo and behold, the square off ends with a dejected Tohma dragging his feet to the nearest bench.

Eula oversees that Ningguang and Beidou meet a quick end, taking their slower dodging to her advantage. You're actually rooting for her, tasting a sliver of victory that you haven't reached yet. So close, yet so far.

Amber trips on herself in the middle of throwing a what should've been coordinated ball, and it loses most of its momentum. Xiao is directly in front of it, and will probably be able to catch it with ease.

Ah, another short victory.

If Childe loses his expert baller, he's only left with Kazuha and Jean, whom's lack in the art of throwing is made up by their ability to dodge most of the fastballs.

However, all your plans and hopes are crushed when Eula slides in front of Xiao last minute, sticks out her foot, and let's the pathetic product of Amber's would-be downfall hit her on the leg with the total force of about 0.0000001 newtons.

Your chances of winning have just went down by a staggering 60%.

"Eula!" You cry out, collapsing on the ground. "How could you?"

Tohma cups his mouth and bellows obnoxiously from the bench. "SIMP!"

"I cannot avenge my clan if I win a false victory." Eula crosses her arms, casting her gaze down in visible uncomfortableness. "Amber will pay her dues in two business days. Mark my words."

It all a load of cap. She's sleeping with the enemy and you know it.

You grit your teeth. Fuming with an abundance of rage, you pick up three balls and throw them all back to back, taking out Amber and Kazuha simultaneously.

Childe's heart flutters in another kind of delight when you pluck out his team members one by one with no hints of remorse.

In retaliation, Jean and Childe work in sync to swiftly take care of a distracted Rosaria.

"Shit." You hiss underneath your breath.

It's Venti, Kaeya, Xiao, and you who are the only remainders of your short-lived team. It's still two more people than Childe and Jean, giving you the upper hand briefly.

It's a mystery to everyone how Venti is still standing. You reckoned you would've lost him as collateral during the beginning of the match, but it seems he's able to hold his own.

When you squint hard enough, you realize that Xiao has been t-posing in front of the nonchalant SoundCloud rapper that's about as high as a kite. He must've been defending him throughout the entire round.

His defenses are all in vain once Childe correlates another attack with Jean, sharp-shooting four rapid balls that are secured on their targets.

Xiao swerves to the side, avoiding most of them, until one is about to reach a nonchalant as shit Venti.

You scream at him, eyes widening as you run towards them in slow motion. "NOoOoOOOo-"

The yaksha doesn't waste a moment, shifting so that he's covering Venti's body with his own, which to be honest is a pretty heartwarming sight.

The ball hits his lean back, a sharp thud following when it hits the floor.

Xiao is out. But his sacrifice is so inspiring that it brings tears to Zhongli's eyes, makes everyone in the gym go silent in awe.

Even the sadistic Childe melts, cerulean eyes gaining back their light, halting his fire.

When Xiao finally uncovers Venti's body, he speaks from the bottom of his dead heart. "I'd do anything for you..."

Venti shakes out of his baked state, blinking at him stupidly with a nervous chuckle. "Ehe~? I don't even know who you are."

The entire class sweat drops. Whatever slip of compassion on Childe's face earlier has become nothing but a memory. Even your eyes dim.

The next time Childe aims and locks at Venti, it's not with malicious intent. It's a favour, for you. In a way it adds dimension to who he is and the lengths he's willing to go for you, even at war.

Venti steps away with a bounce in his gait, hands behind his head.

Kaeya and you are the only ones left standing now, and the game becomes too tight knit to tell which side's going to win. It becomes utter chaos, balls being launched every second, stamina slowly decreasing as everyone lurches away from their demise.

As laid-back  and charming as the boy presents himself to be in front of the ladies, he's not very patient when it comes to facing circumstances like these. He's side lined for most of the match, finding it boring. And when Kaeya gets bored, the intensity of the tide changes, and everyone knows they're going to get a run for their money.

Kaeya coasts a hand around your hips, pulls you real close, purposefully leaning his bust into the side your innocent arm.

When Childe's smile drops, and the glint in his eyes reads 'DANGER' in full caps, you know it's time to be properly scared.

Your blood runs cold, mouth opening briefly and then clamping shut immediately.

"I'm so glad to be on your team Y/N. Maybe this'll give us the chance to become...closer." His hot breath fans against your ear, voice loud enough to be heard by onlookers.

Suddenly everything stops, falling into an unsettling silence.

You attempt glance at Childe, being met with a glare that's directed at the Captain of the Skating team. The ball in the orange-haired boy's hand deflates from the sheer intensity of the squeeze.

The tension becomes unreadable. Even Zhongli is caught mid-sip with his tea.

Quickly, you shrug off Kaeya's arm. "Childe, he's just fucking with you—"

Childe cuts you off by hurling a ball with nothing but the objective of cold blooded murder.

Kaeya whizzes past you, successfully ducking to avoid the hit, and his amused laugh rings through your ears. He rolls away from the following attacks, chucking his own series of colourful balls.

The events that unfold are blood-curdling enough to make even Satan boil his pants with diarrhea.

You take the clear opportunity presented by their concurrent dumbassery to take out Jean, the ace of the other team.

Childe's rage blows over when Kaeya eventually loses interest and takes the L, playfully winking at you while walking backwards to the rest of your team.

Now that all the distractions are dealt with, Childe's eyes flicker to you, and you share a murderous glance.

"Finally," He slaps the softball with a free hand, lips thinning into a homicidal smile. "I've been waiting for this. You better not disappoint me."

While Childe may be a violent anarchist who's only aspiration in life is to become a government contracted killer, he's also supposed to be your sweet boyfriend.

Slowly, you inch towards the front. "We don't have to do this Childe. We can coexist peacefully."

"Peace was never an option Y/N." He sighs, cracking his neck. "Besides—how else can I prove myself in your eyes? You may be my greatest weakness, but you are also my greatest adversary."

"I don't know, maybe start with not trying to obliterate me?"

"I'm obliterating you out of respect." He counters with a playful pout.

"Well I'll be paying my respects to your grave!" You lurch ahead into a sudden assault, yeeting as many balls as you can his way.

"That's my girl!" Childe whistles, grin widening psychotically when he goes all out, leaving you with an absence in favorable openings.

Out of nowhere, the fire alarms start going haywire, along with a beep in the PA system, which stops you two in your tracks.

A panicked voice of who you assume to be Yanfei shrieks through the comms. "CODE ORANGE! CODE ORANGE! EVACUATE THE BUILDING, THERE'S A STONEHIDE LAWACHURL ON THE PREMISES."

As if on cue, the ground starts rumbling and a Stonehide Lawachurl bursts through the halls and into the gym, looking around for something. Or rather, someone. It's sharp bumps and ridges make an indent on the floor, cracking it in.

Everyone falls into a state of panic, Zhongli trying his best to evacuate the class from the emergency back door as quickly as possible. "Settle down class, we have to follow protocol."

You, devoid of any emotion or sense of fear, turn to your boyfriend in such a calm manner it strikes an ominous dread in his stomach.

You stare.

Childe stares harder.

“I thought you killed it."

"I did." He retorts slowly, switching to gaze at the raging beast in amazement.

"Then why is it in the school!" You seethe, glaring daggers at his side profile.

Childe chuckles sheepishly, scratches the back of his neck. "I may or may not have stuffed the body in the boys washroom. Y'know, for safe keeping?"

The Lawachurl locks it's gaze on you, the prey, and then roars furiously. Turning into its geo-enhanced state, it begins charging at you with all its might, the target being solely Childe.

Leave it to your boyfriend to get on the hit list of an endangered beast.

"Fear not my vibrant girlfriend. Our first date can be surviving this." Childe cheekily kisses the top of your trembling hand before grasping it tightly and making a run for it.

[chiegaming]

An intro to something completely different;

Sorry about the 3 month delay between this and the last post. You'll find out soon that this isn't strictly a write-up about video games but I have been working on another one about an actual game which should be done a couple days from this. Anyway,

Video game movies have always been pretty interesting to me from the perspective of someone that really likes both mediums, more notably the way games are portrayed in an art form that's far more established and with a longer line of prestige and cultural importance. I've always subconsciously thought of it as a kind of older and younger brother dynamic but regardless, the ones that fall more into the younger camp have mostly known about this for years and it definitely results in a lot of complicated feelings about how worthwhile the medium actually is.

But despite Roger Ebert famously being an old coot about the whole thing alongside several others, movies have kinda not been able to help revolve every occasional decently budgeted story about the New Thing that's evidently causing a lot of commotion and as will become definitely more obvious down the road, very profitable for better or worse.

I've had this project in the back of my mind for 4 months and I figured now was as good a time as any to get it actually in full gear so without further ado;

Sorted by release date, these are all the video game movies Wikipedia cites as "centered on video games", a couple of more were added since I compiled this but I figured letting Free Guy be the "final boss" of this project would be fitting. It'll almost certainly be the toughest on me mentally but we'll get there.

I'll go through all of these alongside my typical game coverage, but these aren't going to just be film reviews, my goal is to primarily examine how filmmakers interpret and use video games in their own work, which is why I'm not doing movies based on video games (way too many to count and most are just their own kind of film as opposed to anything about video games). I've only seen 7/46 of these so far, you'll figure out which when we get to them.

With all that out of the way, let's kick things off with...

Tron (1982)

I was honestly pretty surprised to find out this was what's apparently the catalyst of video game movies but by all accounts, it's far better than what I had expected. Double surprising too seeing how mixed everyone else seems on it despite being so famous.

The premise is actually relatively typical for an 80s adventure movie but it's layered underneath a lot of jargon that doesn't seem to even make much internal sense. It's all stuff that'll generally sound like it makes enough sense on its own until you think about it for even a minute but it's bold as hell to put this much trust in the audience to know that it all ultimately doesn't matter and it's just in service to the story and aesthetic.

And the aesthetic is like, wew. It is a genuine marvel to look at and absolutely not even cuz of the CG. All the actors seem to have been greenscreened and then have their frames waterpainted over and it makes for a super interesting effect. It's obviously not flawless and there are clear artifacts from this process but it does also result in everyone having this slight sort of shakiness which made the whole world feel a lot more unstable which is cool cuz everyone is literally just a program.

The visuals in general feel so much more ahead of the curve than they have any right to, everything's illuminated and highlighted with LEDs. Even obvious tricks like reflective water have so much bloom that you forget it's literally just water, straight up I don't know why Razer doesn't adapt to this kind of aesthetic wholesale instead of the sometimes ugly bloomy lights they tend to go for.

All that alongside the slightly bit-crushed and reverbed audio design makes for a data-driven universe that's as dreamy as it is alien, which considering the kind of cultures and interests the internet cultivated, which this also kinda predicted in its own way. The downtimes really showcase The Grid's cold vastness, even the action scenes don't get that bombastic all things considered.

The video game stuff itself is a lot closer to something tangibly real than I expected too, the motorcycle races are contextualized as competitive multiplayer Snake and the other games are also, kinda silly but it's not impossible to picture them as their own VR esports, in this case being algorithmically perfected by various AI vessels, as you do.

Anyway, this project's off to a shockingly stellar start. Things will definitely vary in terms of quality from here on out but this far exceeded expectations. A good kick-off to what is definitely gonna get worse down the road, but hey, we're pretty far from that still. We can bask in the goodness of genuinely enthusiastic video game movies before formulas had become perfected and took genuine risks. Still, Tron happened a year before the game crash so things are probably gonna look fairly different from this point on, but that's alright. We're still in the experimental era, anything's possible.

[lunarsaga]

EPISODE 5: The Band of Seven, Resurrected

WELCOME TO EPISODE 5! So far, episode 6 is up on my Patreon already, and episode 7 is in progress. Support me on Patreon to see stuff first!

IMPORTANT: I am starting to integrate the art into the story a little differently! Instead of just visualizing a moment in the scene, the image will replace the lines it's depicting. It'll work more like a hybrid graphic novel, that way it'll flow better. (So don't skip over the art, read it like you would a western comic!)

Reminder: [Dialogue like this is English!]

EPISODE 5, LESSGO! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆

It was a bit of a long flight between the bone-eater’s well and the spot where Luna last left her sister and her friends.

They were still headed northeast, still trying to find Naraku. But Luna’s supply of ammunition only lasted so long, and she decided she probably needed more medical supplies if they were all gonna make it past this war with Naraku. So she’d gone back to the modern era for a few days, and called Alice to get her connections with other Hunters in Japan—so Luna could make more Sacred Salt rounds without having to explain to international customs why she was getting a bunch of empty shotgun shells, non-native herbs, and a few other assorted (weird) things she needed.

So she’d gone home for a few days. Thankfully, she didn’t have to walk; Airisu (who still objected to Luna calling her ‘Alice’, but agreed to the simple nickname ‘Ai’) in full demon form could fly pretty fast, but she ran out of steam after about an hour. It took them a full day (including rest time) to get back to the village, and the same on the way back.

But before they joined back up with their friends, Luna had a stop to make.

It ain’t hard to miss, she thought snarkily, he’s like a damn homing beacon.

Finally, among all the green of the forests, she spotted a speck of white. Easy. “There they are!”

Ai set them down just behind the little group of travelers—Rin, the little imp Jaken, the big horse-dragon (Ah-Un, Luna believed?), and heading the line was, of course, Lord Fussy Britches himself. Rin spotted them before they touched down, and greeted delightfully:

“Miss Luna!”

The Hunter’s arrival brought the others to a halt, and for some reason, Luna found a very smug satisfaction in the incredibly irritated, over-the-shoulder side eye she got from Sesshomaru. But she paid him no mind; she was here for Rin.

Luna held out her hand, unfolding her fingers to reveal three beautiful pearls, strung on a little leather cord. Each of them glinted with an odd pink sheen and were warm to the touch; anyone with any sort of spiritual senses might’ve picked up on the soft energy radiating from them.

Luna tied the cord tightly at the ends and moved to slip it over the little girl’s head.

“As if she would ever need such a ridiculous thing!”

Luna swore one of these days, she was gonna drop kick that little frog. “Look, dude—”

“It’s Jaken, insolent human!”

“—I’m just looking out for her. No need to burst a blood vessel.”

“What is she to you?”

Luna was actually shocked to be addressed by Sesshomaru himself. He was still giving her the side eye, but there was less irritation and more of… something Luna couldn’t place. Maybe she was flirting with death, but she couldn’t resist.

She stood tall, chin high, and responded: “What is she to you?”

There was the anger: contained, but frigid and harsh as the Arctic behind those amber eyes. Sesshomaru did not answer her, but Jaken sure did.

“How dare you, human! Your nerve is surpassed only by your stupidity to speak to Lord Sesshomaru that way! Surely you wish for death!”

Only sometimes. “Can it, Kermit!” She snapped at him, “I ask because he’s always leaving her alone, with nothing but you to protect her! You, who are half her size and don’t have much in the way of defense!” She moved her challenging gaze to Sesshomaru again, steadfast. “So I ask again, what is she to you, if you leave her with barely any protection so often? Because to me, she’s a friend and I care about her, so I brought her these as a last resort option, in case you’re not around and she needs help.”

There it was, that unreadable expression again. Sesshomaru was definitely incomparable at hiding his true emotions—something Luna could absolutely not stand. Tense silence hung in the air for a moment, before Luna shrugged, holding her hands up.

“Hey, think of it this way,” She said, trying a sly little smile, “You’re a busy guy. It’s one less thing you have to worry about. And if she never needs them, at least it’s a pretty necklace.”

Man, this guy was good at keeping quiet. But now, the icy glare was gone. Luna swore she could see just the tiniest arc of a silver eyebrow before the demon turned back around on the path they’d all been heading.

“Jaken, let’s go.”

Flabbergasted, Jaken tripped over himself trying to follow. “Y-yes milord!”

Grinning, Luna got back down to Rin’s level. “You take care, okay kid?”

“I will! And thank you so much for these— I don’t think I’ll need them because Lord Sesshomaru always comes to save me, but I’ll wear them anyway!”

“That’s all I ask,” This little angel was definitely gonna need it at some point. “But if you do need me, I’ll always be there for you, okay? I promise.”

The smile on Rin’s face could’ve melted the ice caps. “Thank you.”

Luna stopped her as she started to leave. “Hold on, one more thing. Each one only works once before it shatters, so you gotta save them for when you’re really in trouble, okay?”

“Okay, I will! Bye, Miss Luna!” Rin grinned, waving at her friend before hurrying after the demons.

Luna chuckled, turning back to Ai for a second before something occurred to her. “Hey, Sesshomaru!”

He didn’t turn to look at her this time, but he did pause in his walking.

Good enough. “I heard there was something going down in the Northeast—direction of the Ox and Tiger. Something to do with Naraku. Thought you might like to know.” She didn’t wait to see if he heard or registered what she said; she just hopped back on Ai’s back, and the two of them took off.

“I hope you know conflating bravery with stupid pride is more than likely to get you killed one of these days.” Ai said as she lifted into the sky.

“Oh most definitely,” Luna laughed. “But as much of a pompous man-child as he is, you can tell he cares for that girl more than he’s willing to admit.”

“That may be, but he’ll definitely kill you if you keep disrespecting him.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take, for Rin’s sake.” Luna’s voice was soft, carried off by the wind. “That little angel’s been through enough, she deserves someone in her corner.”

~    ~    ~

Finally catching sight of their friends again was a bit of a relief for both Luna and Ai. It had been a long couple of days, going all the way home and coming back. Part of Luna hoped they’d get just a little bit of rest before whatever shit hit the fan next, but another part knew the odds on that were pretty low. Still, it was nice to be back.

Kagome was the first to spot them as they flew in. “It’s Luna!”

“Luna’s back!” Shippo proclaimed joyfully.

“Hey, y’all,” Luna greeted as Ai touched down. She hopped off the demon’s back as her friends offered their greetings. “What’d I miss?” She asked.

Miroku was the one to answer. “Quite a lot. It seems that we may encounter a new enemy: the local villagers recently informed us of a group of mercenaries called the Band of Seven. The villagers believe these ruthless killers may have been brought back from the dead.”

With a grin on her face, Luna shrugged at the idea. “Undead mercs, huh? Nothin’ we can’t handle.” She held up her fist for her sister to bump it, and as Ai changed back to her human form, Luna noticed their little group was smaller than it should’ve been. “Where’s Sango?”

Kagome bumped fists with her sister, smiling at Luna’s nonchalant comment. “She went off with Kilala. I sensed a Jewel Shard nearby earlier… so I think she may have gone to look for Kohaku.”

Luna didn’t have time to respond. Off in the distance, she heard the distinctive echo of a sound she was all too familiar with.

Inuyasha hopped up onto a tree limb, hoping to get a look at what was happening. He couldn’t see it, but he sure as hell could smell it. “And it ain’t from just a handful of people, either.”

So much for a second to rest, Luna chuckled to herself as she tightened the straps on her backpack and immediately kicked into gear. “What’re we waiting for, then?”

And off they were, charging headlong into danger as always. Luna could sense something was up; more so than usual. The stench of blood was never a good sign in the first place, but there was something else setting off warning bells. Something she couldn’t put a finger on.

The smell got stronger and stronger, until… they reached its source. Despite the amount of nasty shit she’d seen in her ten years of hunting supernatural monsters, there were some things that still turned her stomach, and seeing a single human being standing in a veritable ring of blood and gore was definitely one of them. His black hair was pulled into a twist; his lips were painted red, he had blue tattoos like tear tracks under each eye, and one side of his kimono was tucked up under his belt. The dude was just squatting in the middle of the carnage, eyeballing the barrel of a matchlock gun like it was his first time seeing one (which, hell, it might be, she thought to herself; in this time, they would’ve only recently been invented). He seemed completely unbothered by the dozen and a half bodies of freshly murdered warriors and their horses surrounding him.

Inuyasha was the one to get to the scene just ahead of the others, calling back over his shoulder: “Stay back! Don’t come over here!”

Instinctively, Luna remained in front of her sister, her arm out to try and block her view. Her stomach was churning, and her hand was poised to pull her gun if needed. No way this guy could be human… right?

“Did… that one person do all this?” Kagome’s voice was a shocked whisper.

It was then that the guy in the middle noticed them. He stood, his sword over his shoulder and his head cocked slightly to the side.

“Are you the one I’ve been looking for?” He asked, a grin on his face as he shielded his eyes from the sun. “Are you Inuyasha?!”

“Got a bad feeling about this.” Luna mumbled, “That guy isn't a demon, is he?”

“I don’t think so,” Kagome uttered back to her, “I don’t sense a demonic aura….”

“How’d you know my name?!” Inuyasha demanded.

He got no answer out of the guy with the sword. Instead, the guy squealed: “You’re adorable!”

A dumbfounded silence fell over the group. Luna glanced around at the others to make sure she didn’t just lose her mind—but no, the general consensus among her friends was along the lines of ‘what the actual fuck?’

“I especially love those fuzzy ears of yours!” The guy continued, licking his lips. “I want them~”

Alright, so this guy was nuts. Luna had had enough of ignoring the bad vibe she was picking up from him. She dropped her bag next to Kagome’s bike and readied herself for a fight: detached the ammo bag and shotgun holster from her pack and slung them over her shoulder, slipped her short sword through one of the belt loops on her jeans, and pulled her shotgun to make sure it was in hand and loaded. She kept her eyes moving back and forth between Inuyasha and the dude with the sword during the next exchange:

“Who are you?” Inuyasha demanded, “What are you after? You don’t smell like a living person, you reek like corpses and graveyard soil!”

No answer.

“Inuyasha,” Miroku said in realization: “Could he be—?”

“Yep,” Inuyasha confirmed, before calling out to the guy with the sword again: “Some villagers were talking! They said some disgusting specter rose up from the grave. That’d be you, I presume!”

Right, zombies, Luna thought to herself; if he really is undead, the Sacred Salt won’t do as much as it would a demon… It’d sting, but what I really need is-… She smirked and holstered her gun again, grabbing a different weapon from the bottom of her bag.

“Are you one of the Band of Seven?!” Miroku asked of the specter as Luna was tuning back in. “Answer me!”

After a long pause as the specter seemed to size the monk up, his response was even worse than before. “Inuyasha really is good looking, but you’re pretty sexy yourself~”

Luna snorted so hard she thought she was gonna eject her brain through her nose. Ai whacked her in the arm as a warning.

“No one minds if I suck him up, do they?” Miroku grumbled.

“No.” Inuyasha said, flatly.

“Hold on!” Kagome said, “He’s got a Sacred Jewel Shard! He must’ve been revived with the power of the Shard!”

“So that was what I was sensing,” Luna mumbled, “but why does it feel off...?”

“Where’d you get the Jewel Shard?!” Inuyasha once again attempted to pose a question to their opponent, only to once again receive a weird, adoring response:

“You know, you’re cute when you’re angry~!”

“Shut up!” Inuyasha shouted, jumping forward and drawing his sword. “Alright, dead man, you’d better start talking to me, and I want real answers!”

The expression on the specter’s face shifted from one of reverence to one more sadistic as he regarded Tetsusaiga. “That’s an interesting sword you have there… let’s see whose is stronger.” He lifted his own sword, making an odd motion around his head and shoulders with it as if he were gearing up for something. “Yours or mine?!”

When he brought his arm down, something that looked almost like a bolt of silver lightning shot from his blade. Inuyasha barely had the chance to block it as it cut an arc through the air toward him.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome called out in surprise.

“Stay back!” Miroku threw his arm out in an attempt to shield the others. “It’s some kind of trick sword!”

“That’s my cue!” Ai shifted into full demon form, jerking her head at the sisters and the little fox. “All aboard!”

Kagome climbed on no issue, but Luna glanced at Miroku, who made no move to follow them. “You coming?”

“I’ll be alright, you keep them safe.” Miroku said, resolute. Not about to argue, Luna climbed on the demon’s back and Ai leapt into the air above the fight.

“You gonna be okay holding all of us after that long flight?” Luna asked her friend.

“I’m fine, it’s the same weight as you with your pack on.” Ai sassed back.

“Yeah well, fuck me for being prepared,” Luna laughed, starting to prep the other weapon she’d brought.

Kagome managed to tear her eyes from the confrontation below to try and see what her sister was doing. “What did you bring, Luna?”

Luna grinned as she clicked the last accessory into place, then turned back to show her sister. “This? This is my baby.” She held up her favorite weapon: it was a fully-customized folding compound crossbow as long as Luna’s arm. She pressed a release on the side, and the arms shot into place, making both Shippo and Kagome jump.

“Whoa!” The fox demon exclaimed, “What kind of a weapon is that?!”

“It’s a crossbow, Shippo,” Kagome explained, “It’s kind of like my bow, but the arrows are smaller and it’s easier to fire.”

“Self-loading, too,” Luna smirked as she strung it up, “The ‘arrows’ are called bolts or darts. This thing can shoot way faster than a longbow, and since we’re dealing with Zombie Harley Quinn down there—” She grabbed a bolt from her ammo bag to show it to them, “—we’re gonna need these. They’re tipped with pure silver. Great for dealing with Vampires, Werewolves, The Undead, and The Unholy.”

Shippo reached out to touch it, but Kagome stopped him, shaking her head rapidly. “It’s safe to assume you shouldn’t touch anything Luna has in her bag, Shippo.”

The kid swallowed nervously. “G-got it...”

Below them, the fight continued. Inuyasha could barely avoid each strike of the snakelike sword, and his opponent only seemed to be having more and more fun.

“What do you think of Jakotsu of the Band of Seven, huh?!” He shouted as he swung the sword once more.

“Not too much!” Inuyasha came back at him with Tetsusaiga, but to no avail.

Kagome gasped. “He needs help!”

“That’s what this baby’s for,” Luna grinned, patting her crossbow. “Ai, can you stay out of reach of the sword but get me close enough to shoot?!”

“It’ll take a miracle!”

“Better start praying, then,” Luna lined up the shot, finger still as stone on the trigger. There was a familiar voice in the back of her head; she could hear her father saying: “Aim for where they’re gonna be, not where they are.”

I know, dad. She tried not to sigh audibly as she managed to get Jakotsu’s head in her crosshairs and pulled the trigger, quick as a viper.

And… almost missed him.

The consecrated silver bolt seemed to burn through the air as it shot just centimeters shy of the specter’s nose and grazed his arm, burning a hole in his kimono. He whipped his attention to the woman who shot it.

“How dare you interfere?!” He snarled, rearing his arm back and whipping his blade toward them.

Luna felt her stomach drop.

“You idiot!” Ai snapped at her, trying to fly out of range of the sword as Kagome and Shippo both clung, screaming, to Luna’s back. Just as the sword arched toward them, there was a familiar cry of:

“HIRAIKOTSU!”

And Jakotsu’s blade was then tangled around the aforementioned boomerang. All three riding on Ai’s back sighed in relief when they saw Sango swoop in on Kilala. Ai touched down just as Kilala did, transforming into her human form and unceremoniously dumping the sisters on their asses.

“Are you all okay?” Sango called over to them.

“We’re fine!” Shippo answered.

“Perfect timing, Sango!” Kagome said.

“Some weapon, Luna!” Ai huffed in the Hunter’s direction. Luna just stuck her tongue at her.

Jakotsu was practically red in the face, shrieking in frustration: “What is with all you vile women?! Can’t you see I’m trying to battle Inuyasha?!” In the same breath, he whipped his sword again, toward Sango this time. The movement freed Hiraikotsu, and ended up leaving a small slice on Sango’s arm as Jakotsu pulled it back.

“Stay out of this!” He continued, “None of you will interfere!”

But their “interference” had served Inuyasha well enough: it gave him just the opportunity he needed to rear back and punch the specter in the face.

“Shut up! I’m tired of listening to your pointless babble!” Inuyasha growled.

Jakotsu grunted as he tumbled back, then rubbed his cheek and pouted like a kicked puppy. “That was cruel…”

“Oh, get over it!” Inuyasha snapped, “Now tell me who gave you the Sacred Jewel Shard before I have to seriously hurt you!”

Kagome and Miroku rushed to see if Sango was okay, but she assured them that it was just a graze; she was fine. Her attention was more on the subject at hand.

“I have a feeling that the shard came from Naraku,” She said, somberly. She looked at Kagome. “When you sensed a Jewel Shard earlier… it was Kohaku. I saw the Saimiyosho around him as well.”

“That means that your brother is still under Naraku’s control…” Miroku said. Sango nodded.

Luna had set her weapon down next to her backpack, and came back with a bandage for Sango’s arm. Her mind was going at a million miles an hour, trying to figure out how the hell they were gonna handle this—first an undead band of Ronin, now they have something to do with Naraku. What was Naraku playing at...?

“Gotta wonder what the hell is next…” Luna mumbled sarcastically.

Seconds later, she would regret asking. A cloud of black smoke poured over the cliffside, drifting right toward them.

Like he knew what was happening, Jakotsu got up and collected his sword. “Inuyasha! You should get out of here while you can! Bye!” And with that, he was just… gone.

“What the hell—” Inuyasha broke off with a startled yell when the cloud reached him. “Its poison!”

“But where’s it coming from?!” Miroku wondered.

“We need to move.” Luna reassembled her bag in less than thirty seconds—side effect of doing it so often. “We can figure out what the hell is going on when we’re safely away from here!”

Why do I feel like we stepped into something huge here? Luna thought to herself as the group of friends moved away from the cloud of gas.

[4aloysius-porteu]

i really wish i hated you || tsukishima kei

masterlist | 1 | 2 | chapter 3

pairing: tsukishima kei x f! reader

sypnosis: It was an accident that (Y/N) met a certain tall, blonde male; a memory she isn't fond of remembering, but it is where it all started. And ever since, she magically makes her to his path. The image of the bespectacled man dwelled in her mind more than she thought. Tsukishima pushed away his softer emotions and denied their existence, or at least that's what he told himself. But then, he couldn't believe that this girl he labeled as a clumsy, unlucky creature who smashed his glasses is slowly bringing these strange emotions back to him. She might be irritating and dumb sometimes, but he couldn't get himself to completely hate her. Either that destiny was stupid, or he was blessed or cursed.

genre: fanfiction, fluff

wc: 2.6k

She has met the tall, blonde, and bespectacled male yet again.

"Oh, the midget stalker is here."

"You again?! Seriously, I think it's you who's following me!"

"Hah, what do I get from following an extremely short person like you?" He said, borrowing her words from yesterday.

(Y/N)'s eyebrows creased further in irritation. "Why do you keep mentioning my height?!"

"It was you who started it. Anyways, can you shut up? Do you know that you're in a library?"

She didn't retort back and simply sat on the chair with her arms crossed. It was a fine day then —BOOM— this giant decided to appear out of nowhere. She was trying to forget this person who's associated with some of her embarrassing moments but those just got smashed back to her mind. (Y/N) sighed and pulled a book at the bottom of the stack to start reading, but noticed that the blondie is still standing near the edge of the table, hesitating to sit down while glancing somewhere and back to her.

"What?" (Y/N) frowned.

"Why am I unnecessarily stuck with you on this table?" He sighed, pulling out the chair.

"Because all of the tables here are taken? If you're worried about your glasses being knocked off, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless anymore."

"That's a nice reassurance," He settled down and brought out his studying materials.

Both of them shared the table in the crowded library. Ignoring the people, between them was a silent atmosphere. No one was talking as they both minded their own studies; he was reading quietly and turning pages of a huge book while (Y/N) wrote key points from the printed work and highlighting her notes. Sometimes, the other would leave to return books to their shelves and came back with new stacks. This went on for a few hours until her pen ran out of ink. She scribbled at the back of her notebook in hopes that the ink just got stuck, to no avail. She sighed, resting her head on the notebook. But she really needed to take down notes for her upcoming entrance exam.

"Hey." (Y/N) reluctantly said.

The blonde male looked at her, confirming if he's being called, "What?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your business but... do you have a spare pen?"

He stared at her with a straight face and placed his chin on the top of his knuckles, implying his refusal to lend one.

(Y/N)'s mentally gritted her teeth. I'm just going to borrow a pen and he's making it hard for me?!

Swallowing her pride, she said, "Look, I need to finish my notes. I'll return it to you right away when I'm done. I promise. Please?"

He scoffed as brought out a pen, "An inkless pen is all it takes for you to become a less lively puppy? You better keep your promise."

A puppy?! "You didn't need to compare me to a puppy but, thanks."

She continued her work but her focus was a bit shaken. This happens whenever she's interrupted or took a break away from writing. Soon, her focus vanished and boredom took over. She tried to read a book to review ideas but her brain won't cooperate. She groaned, her head and arms fell to the table again. The blonde saw but chose to ignore her.

She closed her eyes for a second, however, her gaze fell to the blank paper in front of her face. Her hands are itching to do something other than reviewing and writing, so she put down the pen she borrowed and took a pencil out of her pocket. She placed a pile of books near her notebook so that the male won't notice what she's doing. There, she started to sketch the base of the figure.

She would observe the four-eyed guy who's busy reading some sort of article while taking notes. He has a calm expression on his face rather than an irritated scowl or a mocking grin he usually has. He wears a long blazer and probably a long-sleeved shirt inside. His blonde hair is short yet the edges are a bit curly and his upper eyelashes are prominently long. This was the first time she stared at the jerk's face who she kept bumping into random places that irked the hell out of her, but for some reason, she felt that she had seen this person before the accident in the park, albeit she doesn't know where. (Y/N) came to a conclusion; he was a little good-looking.

The girl looked back to her drawing and shook her head at her own ideas. I can't believe I actually thought that this guy is handsome. How can such a mean creature be blessed with such looks?! Ugh, don't mind, (Y/N). I'm only drawing him because he seems like a great canvas subject, it's not like I haven't done this to other people before...

She went on drawing and drew details to the sketch similar to the boy in front of her. To make the drawing more accurate, she stole small glances at him. She kept things low key because it'll be another embarrassing event if he found out what she's doing. She made the lines smoother in one swift move. The hair and clothes' folds are already well-drawn while she focuses on the detail of his eyes and glasses. She was about to shade when the male finally caught her.

"What is it?" He questioned, closing his book with a low voice and creased eyebrows.

(Y/N) froze on the spot. As much as she doesn't like it, she maintained eye contact with him, thinking of the best alibi that he couldn't argue with. Then, she remembered that she doesn't know his name.

"Uhm... nothing. I was just wondering if you have a name." While talking, her finger subtly moved to grab the nearest object it could get to cover her drawing.

"I have, but why would I mention it to you?" He cooly replied.

"It's alright. I'm not asking you to. Unless you want to be referred to as he/him or the tall, blonde glasses guy all the time?" (Y/N) countered.

He silently turned a page before answering, "Well, it's not like we'll meet every day."

"Oh," was her only reply. Looks like he will stay a nameless guy in her head for a long time. She was about to get back to her business when he spoke.

"Tsukishima Kei."

(Y/N) looked at him in surprise. "I'm not going to repeat it." He added.

She smiled, having clearly heard it right away. "Can you tell me how it is written?"

He looked at her to check for ill intentions but found nothing in her eyes. He hesitantly wrote the characters of his name on a piece of paper.

"I'm (L/N) (Y/N), nice to meet you again, Tsukishima-san." She'd like to initiate a handshake for peacemaking, but she knows how he'd only decline it. She wrote her name for him to see as well.

Tsukishima Kei. She repeated in her mind. What a nice name.

With a notebook covering the upper portion of the paper where she had drawn his portrait, she wrote his name at the bottom. She proceeded to the shading and background features. Backgrounds are one of the things she hates in art because it takes too long to draw one compared to the subject itself. Luckily it's only a sketch so she won't have to suffer. Although she doesn't know if Tsukishima had seen whatever she's doing so she's still cautious. She peered at him for the nth time so she could distract his peripheral vision. Maybe to test the social initiative skills she hasn't used for a long time too.

"Uhh, can I ask something?" She started.

"Hm?" He responded without taking his eyes off the page.

"What school are you from?"

"Amemaru Middle School."

(Y/N) hummed, thinking of another question, "Then, what school are you enrolling to? It must be an upper class one since you had to read those large books and all."

"Not really," Tsukishima closed the book, "I plan to go to Karasuno High School. They may not have a difficult entrance exam, but these readings are for decent grades and some stock knowledge."

"Decent grades, huh... you look like you could achieve more though. I'm pretty sure you'll ace it." She answered, "I was from Kitagawa Dai Ichi. I'm taking an exam in Shiratorizawa soon."

"You're going to that high-class academy? I see, I failed to notice that because you don't look like one. Have fun clashing with other elites there."

"Elites? What are you talking about, you still believe there's such a hierarchy?" (Y/N) chuckled.

"There is though. A gap between them and mere humans in terms of skills and power."

"In the end, they're still humans though. Be it numbers, hard work, or some unique strategy, those 'mere humans' you say will always struggle to step on equal levels with those on the highest rank."

Tsukishima only hummed and stared down at her, "Perhaps I was wrong on assuming you're an elite. You're clearly not."

"Are you underestimating me?" She challenged.

"No, I was just saying. Can I ask something though?"

"What?"

"Why are you suddenly talkative?"

She was caught off guard but tried not to stutter, "Me? Talkative? I'm always like this."

"Really?" He raised his brows, totally not buying it.

"Ugh, fine! I'm tired of studying!" She sighed, "I was scribbling some doodles on my notebook because I'm bored so I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Mr. Beanpole in front of me. Forgive me and my awkward social skills."

"Your social skills are not bad. I'm just thankful you aren't using the precious ink of my pen for drawing." He said, stacking the books he used.

She gasped, panicked inside, "You aren't looking at my drawing, are you?"

He got up to return the books,"Don't worry, it's none of my business."

She exhaled in relief, spared from another memory of embarrassment. Her eyes followed his walking figure and watched his movements. She looked at her drawing to compare and used her fingers to define lighting. When Tsukishima got back and placed new reviewers on the table, (Y/N) asked him once more.

"Do you ever get tired of studying?"

"Sometimes I take a break, but I can only do that if I have finished everything."

"What a diligent student you are."

"I hardly see any benefit in being dumb and slacking off all the time."

"Eh, I hardly see any benefit in studying Algebra and Calculus. I have a lot of questions. Do you use derivatives in counting money or salary? Do you use trigonometry in dividing pizzas or corn chips? Why do I need to find the limit of a function if numbers are infinite? Why do I need to get the formula of a certain point in each line or curve I draw on the graphing paper? What is the correct answer for?" (Y/N) complained.

Tsukishima looked at her blankly, doubting her chances of passing the Shiratorizawa's board exam. "I couldn't argue with that, I'd rather read a book composed of words than formulas, but you don't have a choice. Although, if you plan to be an engineer or something, that'll be a different perspective."

"No, thanks, I won't eat math books for breakfast. Other subjects are interesting enough to keep me awake in class, but numbers don't really entertain me."

"Then, what do you do?" He asked, writing on his notes.

"Not much. I just draw, paint, listen to music, and watch anime."

He let out an amused hum, "How about you? What do you do other than to study?" (Y/N) asked.

"I play volleyball, listen to music, and read narrative books."

"Volleyball? So that's what your height is for! I thought it's just for cleaning and reaching high places."

"That's rude."

"If I am, what do you call yourself? Besides, I don't want to make wrong assumptions."

"You just did."

"...right. I'm sorry."

The sense of familiarity took over (Y/N)'s brain, telling her that she definitely had met this Tsukishima guy before. Her face scrunched a little, trying to search her memories and connect the dots. Her eyes found his face again.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" His eyes narrowed, his annoyance towards the girl slowly rising.

"I HAD met you somewhere... before that accident, where did I see you?"

He was about to say something when (Y/N) stopped him, "Shh, I'm thinking."

He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Volleyball, Amemaru MS... She was about to say it but Tsukishima spoke first.

"Were you one of the audience who watched the middle school volleyball inter-high a year ago?"

"I was! Wait, you remember?"

"That was the only place where I could find someone from Kitagawa Dai Ichi." He confirmed.

"Correct. I was a part of the school paper where I was assigned in the sports category. I took a picture of you when my senior was interviewing you! You were the tallest middle blocker in the games! How could I forget that! So that's why whenever you irk me, it was familiar!"

"How am I annoying you? Aren't you the one who kept on talking right now?"

"I've figured out that there's no kind bone in you. And the way you keep on stuffing the spikes from the opposite team. It was never-ending that they didn't have a chance to score properly." She pouted.

"What do you expect from a middle blocker? It was my job to block spikes."

"You could've gone easy on them."

"The game would lose it's sense if that's the case."

"Fine. You're not wrong." Their conversation was cut short after she ceased talking. At least she found out where she first met Tsukishima. She finished the portrait sketch. Grinning, she believed that she captured his features accurately in her drawing. She'd like to hold it near him and compare to make sure though. Satisfied with her work, she went back on turning pages.

"So, you've finally decided to continue to study?" Tsukishima prodded.

She smiled, "I guess. Thank you for talking to me. That was a great stop."

Both of them worked quietly, but now, the irritation they felt towards each other lessened. After some time, a person in the speaker announced that the library will be closing before 6 pm. Tsukishima returned all the books he borrowed and packed his things.

"You're going home?"

"I don't want to come home late. You aren't finished with your notes yet?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll leave five minutes before six."

"Alright. I'll get going now." He swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, wait! Your pen!" (Y/N) abruptly remembered seconds after.

"I don't need it anymore. It was useful, apart from its close on running out of ink."

"But it's yours and you told me to keep my promise!"

"Whatever. Keep it or throw it." He walked out and wore his headphones, having no intention to listen to anyone.

She sighed and checked the ink. More than half of it is gone, but she can use it again if she wishes. (Y/N) placed her fist to her cheek while writing.

Random Tsukishima Kei facts:

In the second prototype chapter (unserialized, one shot, the first idea of the author on how haikyuu will go) Tsukishima was a second-year, which was changed in the serialized version where he's a first-year. His initial height in the prototype chapter is 184cm, a little shorter than his official height (190.1cm). In an extra sketch, Furudate commented, "Tsukki and Tanaka being in the same year would spell chaos!

©4aloysius.porteu.2021. please do not repost, copy, or edit. plagiarism is punishable by law. 

[myarmsaretoolong]

December 2020 Fic Recs!

first off i hope you’ll join me in wishing a not so fond farewell to 2020 and a cautious howdy to 2021. and now for the recs! (all links go to ao3 :D)

right now i’m still reading If They Knew All About You by @mshermia​ and it’s still awesome! i’m just an embarrassingly slow reader

The Night Before Christmas by @sdottkrames​

Summary

Tony had not signed up for this.

He hadn’t meant to kill the guy in the Santa suit. He’d gotten startled, he’d yelled, then the other guy got startled and slipped and then just disappeared.

Now he was wearing the guy’s suit, driving the guy’s sleigh (driven by actual freaking reindeer), with his 8-year-old son in the passenger seat, delivering Christmas presents like he really was Santa.

He really needed to to learn how to say no to Peter’s puppy dog eyes.

(Or the Irondad Santa Claus AU nobody asked for that I’m giving anyway)

Review

yall this is awesome! it’s so fluffy and cute and has some amazing irondad bonding going on. believe me when i say i laughed when i read the part about gerald, it’s gold XD

Secret Sugarplum Spiderling by @yes-i-am-happyaspie​

Summary

Peter has been taking ballet for nearly as long as he can remember and all of his hard work has finally paid off. He's been cast as the Cavelier to the Sugarplum Fairy in his Performing Arts School's production of The Nutcracker. It's a big deal and it's going to take up a good bit of time but... he's just not sure he's ready for his mentor to know about that particular hobby just yet.

🎄🩰❄️He's sure it'll be fine ... ❄️🩰🎄

All he has to do is show up at the studio on time, keep his grades up, make sure to see Tony on a regular enough basis that he doesn't worry and try to squeeze in some patrolling in between. It's that simple. Right?

Review

pete’s a ballet dancer and if you’re not already sold than i don’t know what will. again, the fluff and irondad bonding is so cute plus may there too which is always a huge bonus! the last chapter especially is pure fluff and i love it so so much!

The Subjectiveness of Protectiveness also by @yes-i-am-happyaspie​

Summary

When Peter is injured outside of his suit by a woman who has a grudge against Iron Man and has come to the conclusion that he's Tony Stark's son, he decides that his best course of action is to not tell anyone. He doesn't want May to worry but more than anything he doesn't want his mentor to feel guilty about it. Especially when the threat has already been taken care of and he has a healing factor. However, when things don't go as planned he ends up finding himself in a situation that leaves him with no choice but to reveal what he's been hiding. Tony is not impressed.

Review

while their other fic brings the fluff, this one brings the ANGST. it’s basically what is says on the tin, pete gets badly hurt and doesn’t want to bother anyone with it... until things go downhill. it’s a great read, super angsty, super fun, i highly reccommend!

A Christmas Carol by @i-am-irondad​

Summary

On Christmas Eve night, Tony is lost in his own head, still struggling to deal with Peter’s death.

A message is sent to him through his father, Howard Stark, and their ex-business partner, Obadiah Stane - they warn him that three spirits will visit him before sunrise.

The ghosts take Tony on a journey through the past, present, and future.

Review

yall it’s so gooood! i’m sure you’re all familiar with a christmas carol, and if not this is a great way to get to know it! it was so exciting to see who the ghosts turned out to be, and also to see what they showed tony. there were plenty of tears reading this, and just as many smiles! the ending is just awesome!

so that rounds out this month, if you check out any of these fics please be sure to leave a comment or kudos to let the authors know you’re enjoying their work! also spread this around to show the love! have a great new year yall!

[jacscorner]

Pokemon All-Stars: A Fan Region/Game/Alternate Universe Idea

I like watching and rewatching Original Pokemon Game/Region videos. Like Mr. Buddy's "What if X was a Pokemon Region" and stuff like that. I wanna make-or, I guess, write-my own. Since Regions are kind of a character all their own and I'm a Wannabe Character Artist, I wanted to try and make one my own.

I've got no skills in coding, pixel arts, or anything, so this will forever be just some kind of dumb fanfic that sometimes incorporates Game Mechanics to justify things if it were able, for some Godforsaken reason, 'stolen' for a game. Cause, in 2021, no idea feels too big or too dumb. And, uh, trust me, this'll be a dumb fanfic of an idea. So be aware for the subpar writing talents of some wannabe writer who doesn't know shit.

Small disclaimer though:

>This region is being made with the intention that every extra feature will be available in it. Z-Moves, Regional Variants, Gygantamax, Mega Evolutions, and maybe some things I've forgotten. This probably won't matter cause it's just a dumb fanfic plot bible with mechanics peppered in. Competitive balancing be damn! Pokemon Fans can create their own balance! That's what the Battle Simulator is for! In fact, if this was a real game, then it'd have a Battle Simulator like Showdown built into it.

>This is an open source Fanfic Bible. You can take this idea and run with it if you want. You can omit all my bad ideas even!

>I won't be making my own Fakemon. I don't like a lot of Fakemon that exists out there and, trust me when I say this: I am no better than them. In fact, I'm fucking worse.

>If this WERE a game, it probably WOULD still have to cut some Pokemon. I doubt that kinda, and I won't get into why I think dexit was dumb personally, cause it doesn't really matter. But, like, my fan game/fanfic will have a lot of shit going on in it. So, like, realistically, there would probably need to be a cut, if not for data, than just cause there's a lot of work to do as is. But, like, again, under the context of a fic, this wouldn't be an issue.

>With THAT said, I'd want this game to have a Gen 2 Sprite aesthetic. My fangame, don't care if ya'll don't like that.

>I'm probably gonna copy a LOT of stuff from other Fangames I've played. My shit memory probably won't allow me to remember what I'm biting from what, so be free to call me out whenever. Cause if I stole the mechanic, I probably liked it the game. And if not, well, I'd like the recommendation.

Fuck, this was long already. The rest is under the cut, so, like, if you're already turned off, you can stop reading. I understand. I'm kind of a windbag.

Okay, so how many of you guys have seen this picture on the internet? It's a picture of a ton of Pokemon regions all...basically stitched together, since not only could this never be canon, but this goes beyond the size of even most open world games today. But this was the inspiration for this project. The map probably wouldn't, and probably couldn't, look like this, but it perfectly sums up what I'd want out of this game. Thus, it'll be our placeholder.

Our hometown of Capricorn Town is home to Professor Chestnut, and you, her faithful assistant, are about to set off on a Pokemon adventure of your own! The Professor is encouraging you to see the region of Sidus for yourself and is even willing to give you a Starting Pokemon!

Starting Pokemon

Now, if I'm not making new Pokemon, which Starter will it be? Well, the game will have the data for all the starters and will randomly select a Grass, Fire, and Water Type for you to choose from. Those will be your starters, with the option of also choosing Pikachu, Eevee, and Riolu, the two mascot mons...and Riolu, who is kind of a mascot mon, but a lesser one.

Let's say for this example, your options are Torchic, Piplup, Rowlet, Pikachu, Eevee, and Riolu. And, uh, get used to the words 'random' and 'generator', those are our keywords.

Anyway, once you get your pick, there'll be some kind of tutorial mission the Professor will send you on. This will introduce you to two very important things;

1. One of your Rival.

2. An Evil Team Grunt.

Rivals?!

Now to start getting into why this game might still be pretty big still be big despite the sprites on modern consoles.

Each of your Rivals would be one kid from each region of the 8 Mainline Games from Kanto to Kalos. How this'll be decided is that each pair of kids will be plugging into a generator and will pick between either the boy or girl version.

Ex. Brendan and May both cannot be in the game. Instead, they'll be plugged into this generator. Let's say the generator fell onto May. She'll be one of your Rival. Repeat this process 7 more times until you have 8 Rivals sprinkled throughout the world, each one given a defined personality and better AI to make them harder trainers to fight.

May will have one of the Hoenn Starters, sans Torchic. Regardless of whether or not Protagonist-San picked Torchic, May will either have a Treecko or Mudkip, again, chosen at random per kid. Whichever Starter you picked, your first rival will have a starter that beats yours. So, let's say moving forward, May has a Mudkip and you a Torchic. The other kids will have random starters of the various regions they originally hail from.

Anyway, your rivals will wander the overworld. If they see you, they'll battle you on sight. If they lose, they'll be gone after the next time you turn the game off. They won't battle you again until they respawn, but you can hang out with them. In fact, you can even recruit them to be in your party for a few days and they'll follow you around and just generally be your friend. It'll make every battle a double battle, but they'll battle you again before their timer runs out, so be prepared!

BANG! BANG! ENTER! Team Wild!

The two of you will have to face off against Team Wild! They have a Cowboy theme to them, using a mix of Ground and Steel-Types, with a few Pokemon being added in for good measure like the Ponyta Lines, Cacnea Line, and Remoraid. Cause...it's a gun.

They're an outlaw gang, they're rough and tough (or, at least, a mild threat) and will always throw down when they spot ya. Something I'm just sniping from JelloApocalypse is that they'll appear sporadically and act as Timed Events across the map.

You and your new Rival beat them and send you packing. I'd imagine May and the other Rivals would mostly be friendly, but I'm sure there's one or two that'll just be jerks to you. Regardless of personality, they'll be pretty tough and programmed to skill with you. Your strongest mon you have on hand when you fight them will be the level their entire team.

With your tutorial done, the world is opened up! Your mom gives you your running shoes, some Pokeballs, and your...I don't know, PokeCelular or something, just the regional gadget that does a bunch of stuff. From holding your map to holding your VS Seeker.

The PokeCelular will also give you notifications on where Team Wild are! You can choose to ignore the events, but if you do, then they'll start to appear in the overworld know and will get progressively stronger.

A Balancing Act

This game will be an open world, 8-Bit Sprite Game for you to explore after you leave Capricorn!

So how do we balance that?

Well, we got our Rival out of the way already, so let's move on. Gym Leaders will have a pretty linear progression. However, regardless of which Gym you tackle first, they'll all be at the same level.

It doesn't matter if you decide to go across the map and battle the Bug Gym, he'll stay at Level 10, just like the Normal Gym. Whe you get the second badge, they'll all jump to Level 15. NPC Trainers will follow the same progression; the higher your badge number, the stronger the number of Pokemon they'll be.

Wild Pokemon will also get stronger. The more badges you get, it'll attract stronger wild Pokemon because they'll see you're stronger and will come out more.

The overworld will also have various dungeons in them that'll be Level Locked. Say, you go through a forest and you're just trying to reach the end of a maze. The Trainers and Pokemon will function the same as I've mentioned before. But, you can decide to go deeper into the dungeon. These Pokemon will be level locked, usually something of a high level, because this is a more dangerous part of the dungeon. But, there'll be some goodies down there, like rarer Pokemon and some kind of really rare and good item like a TM or something.

How will you traverse? Well, first of all, HMs? They're semi-back. BUT, instead of having to deal with teaching Cut to a Pokemon, you just need the move Cut and a Pokemon that can use the move and you'll be able to use Cut. A few other Pokemon that are reasonable candidates, but don't get cut, will be allowed to do this too. Like, Gallade can use Cut. It can't learn the move, but just holding the HM will get the job done.

Controversial opinion, but I think I've always liked the idea of HMs. On paper, they give you a reason to explore the world and go back to areas you couldn't before for goodies and make for a good way to get off dungeons until you get the needed item. Even something like Cut can be used to open up new areas for exploration for your squad of mons.

BUT, well, HMs suck. As moves, they suck save for, like, 2...MAYBE and they're only for, like, a handful of areas. You either hand them out as evenly as possible, forcing mons to take moves you don't wanna use, or you just get an HM Slave or two to use 'em all. But like they, they serve their function and all you need is the Pokemon in question and NOT teach them the move. If you need a Move Deleter just so people aren't stuck having to use Rock Smash for three towns, then there's a problem with your RPG. Imagine playing Final Fantasy and you had to give your Fighter the Bronze Axe to get through a forest and still had to fight with it, even though you got a +12 Silver Sword! It's no wonder people hated these things! But I don't think getting rid of them and introducing Rental Pokemon was a good solution either and adds a different, albeit less intrusive problem.

Gym Leaders

So, how do Gym Leaders work?

Much like your rivals, they'll be randomly generated. Let's say, hypothetically, there's a pool of 60 Gym Leaders and Elite Four members. The game will randomly generate 16 to be Gym Leaders. The generator will have some kind of complicated math (at least, too complicated for me) so that you don't have more than 2 gyms of the same type. (Example: Misty and Nessa might be Active Gyms, Siebold can't be selected for a Gym cause the Water Slots are taken).

As a trade off, some Gyms might have special conditions before you can challenge them. Like, if you got stuck with Koga as a Gym Leader, than he'll only let you in if you complete a nearby dungeon and help his daughter out cause he doesn't trust her to make it back on her own. Or, like, Claire's a Gym Leader, but she won't battle you unless you've collected 7 Gym Badges prior at least.

The Gym Leaders, as mentioned before, will get progressively stronger with each badge obtained. After the 8th badge, you can go and climb Victory Road, face the E4 and confront the Champion! You can keep hunting Gym Leaders, but just remember that the E4 will always be 10 Levels above the strongest gym you beat. And they'll just get stronger with every one you beat until all 16 are slain.

Another handful, let's say 8, Gym Leaders/E4 Members will be wondering around as NPC Trainers. The justification is that this big super region is in some Alternate Universe Pokemon Game that has all the Pokemon and other important trainers in it, hence why we can have a game where Roxanne and Lenora are hanging out at a coffee shop. They're not Rivals, more like stronger NPCs you can rematch and wonder the map. They're not here to be the very best like no one ever was.

I mean, I'd like, like, 10-20 instead of 8 extras, but let's not get TOO greedy...yet...

Elite Four

And now, it's time to flip the script. Cause if E4 members can be Gym Leaders, then who are the Elite Four?

Easy. The Rivals.

All the Rival characters will be put in a random generator as well. The four that are chosen. You can have an Elite Four made up of Wally, Marnie, Hau, and Barry and you gotta deal with it.

This is excluding Brendan and May, Blue, and Calem and Serena. Anyone else is fair game.

Champion

So, the Champion. Who would it be in this? There was a funny idea I had, but this is a Pokemon Game. So there would be two versions. We'll call them Pokemon Dawn & Dusk. The difference between these games is the game Champion!

Benga would be the Champion of Pokemon Dusk, the grandson of Alder! His final Team will include Volcarona, Garchomp, and Dragonite, Pokemon he used in Black and White. I'd also include Scrafty, Rampardos, and Golurk, Pokemon used against you in White Treehollow and Black Tower areas.

Meanwhile, the Champion of Pokemon Dusk will be Zinnia, the Lorekeeper! Her team would include the Goodra, Tyrantrum, Altaria, Noivern, and Salamence she used in her original team, with her plucky Whismur sidekick becoming an Exploud and her ace.

You would've met them in the beginning of the game and would've showed off a bit by helping you with Team Wild before. They'll pop in and out throughout the game, at first amused by your tenacity, but not wanting a rookie like you to get hurt. But if you keep bonking Team Wild, they'll be impressed with how strong you are.

The show up to chat again when you beat 8 Gym Leaders, and will pop in if you White Out to give you some advice. White Out three times and they'll feel bad for you and give you an egg. Benga will give you a Larvesta Egg and Zinnia a Bagon Egg.

EXTRAS

So I don't got a lot of ideas for the Post Game, but there is one idea I thought would be cool if, if after you defeat the champion, they give you a call. They'll tell you that there are strong trainers wondering the Overworld and to be careful.

Because dotting the overworld will be Champions passed and proper! Cynthia, Blue, Lance; all of them are rocking Lv 100 Teams and are out for blood. They won't challenge you, but if you talk to them, there will be no backing out of the battle! You come with your A-Game!

sI'm not exactly in love with the idea of Team Wild. Maybe the Evil Team should go full fanservice and just be Team Rainbow Rocket. Or maybe go half-and-half; having past Evil Team members and leaders walk around in cowboy gear and acting as Team Wild executives.

I'd also would love Tournaments. Like, maybe that could be a weekly event in some town, they'll how tournaments and the characters that aren't designated as Gym Leaders and such will attend. Maybe there's a cash prize, maybe you'll win Pokemon Eggs of rare, guaranteed shines, or maybe you'll get some kind of important quest items.

Yeah, I want quests! All sorts of side quests! And can't forget what I'd do with Legendairs;

If you know Bengal's team, you'll know he's got the Lati Twins. I don't like that personally and would prefer Legendaries to be Super Bosses. Like, you gotta do a lot to find them. And when you do, their stats are boosted and they become an Uber Boss! You catch them in a cutscene after you beat them!

There's also just a ton of characters I didn't get around to or really have a place for. Emma, Looker, N, and the Stat Trainers all come to mind. Overall, I'd want them to pepper the world as well, but don't have anything to say except this: Pokemon has made a lot of memorable characters. Both good and bad. And this is probably my dream Pokemon Game; one where you can hang out with your favorites

[kenmasgameboy]

PIPSQUEAK

a kuroo x gangmember!reader

summary;

" you like to cause a bit of trouble, pipsqueak?"

" pipsqueak? seriously?"

Life for you got turned upside down after your first year at Nekoma high. Realizing it was too dangerous, your parents sent you back to live in Miyagi and attend Karasuno with your old friends. Kuroo Tetsuro, the Police Chiefs son, comes into contact with you in the most unexpected way possible, bringing trouble wherever you both go.

—————————-

Prologue.

      High school was never that interesting to you. Though, you'll admit that it was a good way to help the days pass. You always found different games to help.

At first, games to you meant sneaking out of the house, slashing tires, almost getting arrested, going to parties. You had a bad reputation. You had been mixed up with all the wrong people before at your old school. But now you were going to turn your life around. Even if that means that now games to you would mean studying. Kind of.

         The closest you'd probably get to your new life would be getting in trouble for minor things at school. For example, falling asleep in class was a specialty of yours. Truly, an art form. Waking up to that sweet slap of a ruler against your desk was better than any alarm clock you'd ever hear. The rush in your chest, the heat to your cheeks, the sweaty palms. Incredible. But that is it. You promised your mother that this year you would be making her proud at Karasuno. You wouldn't be hanging out with those "thugs" as she liked to call them. You would keep up, maybe pay attention, and maybe make some more real friends.

       The truth was that school never felt like a real challenge to you. Sure there were plenty of difficult subjects that made you feel stupid but you always kept out of the drama, minded your business, and kept your head down. It was fine. There really was a target on your back now that you were the new girl at school though, and you had adjusted week by week meeting new people and reuniting with some old ones, too. But ultimately you decided the social system just wasn't made for you. There wasn't really a good place for you to fit in, or maybe it just wasn't comparing to the kind of family you made before.

      Today was one of those days where your motivation was at its peak, you were taking good notes. Studied for a quiz, been overly diligent. Then that sweet beautiful sound of the lunch bell rang, you pulled out your food, grabbed your skateboard, and left the classroom in a bit of a hurry. As you were leaving you started to hear a conversation:

      Dude, don't worry, I have it completely handled. Watch...

      "(Y/N)!" Narita, your classmate called for you once you exited the room and into the hallway. He stood next to Ennoshita who looked like he would explode any second. You knew Narita, him and Ennoshita were in Class 4 with you and you really didn't have that many real friends at school but you wouldn't mind calling them that. They were some of the friends you were reunited with from middle school, they were a big comfort to you when you transferred in.

      "Hey, how's it going?" You slowly walked over, trying to find your excuse to leave and take a nap without seeming impolite.

      "Great, good. Thanks, yourself?" Narita answered for him and Ennoshita. He also seemed in a hurry for some reason but was much worse at covering it up.

      "Pretty tired, but uh, for the most part—" You started but your sentence didn't last long.

      "You should come to my party! Uh— Our party. We're having a party it would probably wake you up. It's in Tokyo! I mean—" Narita came in strong.

       "Nice, buddy. You really do got this handled." Was all Ennoshita followed it up with, "Gotta go, see you guys in class."

       "A party?" You laughed a little, just because these guys were anything but the partying type. You started walking and Narita was following you like a hawk, "Don't you guys have volleyball practice or something?"

        "Yeah, of course. But not this Friday night! I mean technically we do but we'll be done at 6:30. Party can start at 7:30." Narita followed up, "All the volleyball guys will be there, too. We have a summer training camp in Tokyo starting on Monday so this is kind of the only day we can get everyone together. We already had our friends from Nekoma invite pretty much everyone they knew."

       "N-Nekoma, huh?" Your smile wavered, "That sounds like it'll be really fun for you guys. Thanks for the invite, but I don't really know anyone on your team. Plus, I can't get to Tokyo by 7:30." You said, declining as well as you could without making your answer too suspicious.

       "Well, yeah about that. Um, by 'it's in Tokyo' what I meant to say was Tokyo guys will be there. They're volleyball players, too, actually." He explained, rubbing the back of his neck and adjusting his satchel, trying his best to act cool and lean against the vending machine you were using.

       "So, it's a Volleyball mixer with you guys and a bunch of guys from Tokyo but it's not in Tokyo? Where is it, then?" You asked for the elaboration, kind of liking this dancing way to get to the point.

        "Yes, well and other schools in Miyagi, too. It's a lot of schools, I mean I'm talking Nekoma, Fukorodani, Aoba Johsai, Johzenji, Date Tech, Shiratorizawa.. maybe.. Inarizaki.. and more.. again maybe. But it's at Kinoshita's house. Which is still kinda far, but it has a pool! His family is loaded and they'll all be gone this weekend." Narita finally got to the point.

        "Sounds like it'll be a good time for you guys. I'm happy for you, sounds like you've made a lot of friends from other schools." You cheers'd your milk to him and started walking again to find a place to eat.

        "No, no. Girls will be there, too. It's kinda the whole point."

        "You really have to work on your pitch." You said plainly.

        "Please, I need your help (Y/N). I was put in charge of getting girls to come to this party." Narita begged, you couldn't help but let out a laugh at his desperation. In all your years of knowing him and being in the same classes you had never seen him talk to a single girl who wasn't in a group project or something related to it.

        "Why you?"

        "It was either me or Tanaka."

        "Oh, then definitely you are the better choice." You agreed, having known just from the previous stories he's told you. "Interesting proposition. I'll think about it."

       "You'll think about it and say yes?" He tried, "Every time I talk to a pretty girl I feel like I'm going to throw up, I can't talk to groups of girls and invite them to a party. But you're likable, more well known now since you're the new girl."

       "First of all, rude that I don't make you want to throw up. I'm pretty, sometimes."

       "Fair."

        "How about, I'll say yes if you tell me who it is you have a crush on, which girl you most want at this party then I'll help out." You offered. Narita thought for a minute as you started eating your lunch.

       "Fine." He nodded, "This is my duty to my boys." Then he leaned into your ear and whispered the name of the prettiest and smartest girl in your class: Ichika Yua. Ichika was going to be a tough sell.

       "Alright. A deals a deal. You've given me a secret and I will do what I can do. How many girls do you need, anyway? Are we going for a 1:1 ratio or..?"

       "No, these guys need a much higher chance I think. Let's try a 4:1 ratio."

       "Yeah, actually you're gonna take what you can get."

       "Yes, ma'am."

        "Now give me the rundown on your team. I don't really know any of them and I need to know for my pitches I have to do this week. And don't think because I'm doing some work means that you can slack off okay. I really only know 2nd-year girls, if you want 3rd year or 1st you have to go to them. You need to try too. Also, will there be alcohol?" You listed off your demands and were straight forward. Narita made a slow nod,

        "Oh, I almost forgot. Do you know any girls from Nekoma who could come?" He asked you the dreaded question.

        Yup, you were originally supposed to spend your high school years at Nekoma High School. When you were entering high school your dad got a job offer in Tokyo, forcing you to move out there after middle school. Then after everything happened, your Mom knew it was too risky to let you live out in Tokyo still and she shipped you back here to go to Karasuno and live in a small apartment by yourself. You have family friends who come to check on you and your parents visit when they can. It's not horrible, at least now you get to come back to streets more familiar.

      "Um, I think the girls I knew from Nekoma aren't exactly the girls you want at a party. Besides, you should just ask your volleyball brethren to ask some girls and pull their weight. Or are they too pretty for you to talk to?" You teased Narita and knocked his head.

      "Hey, girls are girls." Narita held his head from where you knocked it.

      "Sure, if thats the case then the next time you see me I better be seeing some chunks."

     You and Narita continued to eat lunch together that day. Until you realized you only had a limited amount of time left and had to use the bathroom before class so you excused yourself. You skated away around the outside of the courtyard with a bun in your mouth and around some of your other classmates, waving.

        "Dude, uh. Who was that?" A guy with an aggressive appearance walked up to Narita, having walked past a few minutes before but stayed just to gawk.

        "Huh? (Y/N)?" Narita clarified, innocently.

        "(Y/N)... wow. What a beautiful name." Tanaka sighed in simp, "Is she our year?"

        "Yeah, man. She's in my class. You never noticed her before? I'm surprised she was the talk of Karasuno guys for like the whole first week of this year." He laughed. "She is technically new to Karasuno this year. But she's from Miyagi, I've known her since grade school."

        "My babe sensor has been reserved for Kiyoko only recently. Trying to be loyal." He humphed, "You guys a thing?"

       "What? No, no." Narita laughed, "No, we've just been friends for a while. She's helping me get girls to come to the party on Friday."

       Tanaka jumped up with optimism, "Yes! This is going to be the best party of our high school lives!"

       "I hope so." Narita rubbed his neck to try and tame his nerves again.

       "(Y/N).." Tanaka sighed again, "You know who's gonna go nuts when they get a look at her, right?"

       "I know."

———————————-

next

Thank you so much for reading!! Please let me know what you think and keep reading!!

[pbandjesse]

It is my dad's birthday and my parents wedding anniversary and it's a full moon and it's Friday the 13th and it's the anniversary of Scooby-Doo. There's so much good and powerful energy today. Specifically I want to say happy birthday to my dad though because I love him so much and he's gone through so much in the last couple years but he is always attacked the day with kindness just like I tell everyone else to do. I hope you have a very good birthday and I love you and thank you for being my dad.

But on my end for the most part today was not my day. I just felt really sad. Frustrated. I just wanted to come home. And it wasn't even like a real reason just everything was wrong.

I woke up this morning and I felt fine. James had to leave early because he had to go to the dentist. But he made me a sandwich before he left because he's the best. And then I got ready and left it at the bus. But even though the ride was nice I was really early. Which is normally fine but I got to the building and it was locked and the lights were off. And my anxiety just absolutely peaked.

I was convinced that I wasn't supposed to be there and that we weren't supposed to come in or they were a different site and I was so upset and distressed and convinced I did something wrong. I stood outside for about 10 minutes and finally Sarah and the other Jessie came But anxiety was still pretty bad for most of the day because of that.

We spent the first hour just kind of brainstorming by ourselves. Coming up with ideas and figuring stuff out for our lesson plans. I had a lot of ideas already written down so I just did a bunch of research and started flushing things out a little bit more concretely.

For the most part it was a good guy. But then I realized I accidentally sent all of me and James's new gardening stuff to the old apartment and I was so bummed. I just felt so stupid and I just kind of sank into myself because I was so upset. James is an amazing boyfriend though and when I told him how upset I was he took the extra time between the dentist and having to go to work to go to the old apartment and get everything to bring back so I wouldn't be sad. He's so good.

But then my new phone was attempted to be delivered to the apartment and because it needed a signature they didn't leave it. I'm glad they didn't leave it but I thought they would take it to a pickup point. But they didn't. They're just going to wait till Monday and try again and I was so bummed out. I really wanted that to come today and when it didn't I was just like super sad. And I kind of just put a damper on the rest of the day for me. I was able to figure out how to make all of my UPS packages go to the pickup point from now on and so my phone will go there on Monday so I won't have to worry about not being here. But it's still a huge bummer and I feel very dumb. Thankfully it's not like my phone is broken. I was just excited about a new thing. I wanted to get it set up tomorrow while I was at the BMI since it will probably be slow. It's all right. I'll be fine.

We had a good afternoon at work though. We went through and talked about all of the artists that we were considering for research for testing our kids. And we went through a lot of really awesome artists and it was funny that me and fitsum or actually thinking about two artists that were very off the beaten path so that was cool. And I'm really pleased with the final list that we came up with. I am sad that one of the other side of Hope for got knocked off the list that doesn't mean I'm not going to teach you about her just that she's not going to be on the test. And I got my way on the layout of the semester's so that was cool.

We finished up a little bit early and I went to grab the bus but then miss Helene drove past me and stopped and she ended up giving me a ride to Dick Blick. I knew I wouldn't see James until much later because after he's done work he's going to go to his parents house to get the car and then he's going to go to the grocery store to get ready for our cookout tomorrow.

So I went in and I gave him a hug. His other manager made a joke that a customer wanted to see him very specifically. Made me laugh. And then I walked back here.

On my walk I ran into a co-worker from the BMI and that was cool. I posted in the group today about the job openings at access art and apparently everyone was talking about how great I am over there today and have felt really good. It's not the first time someone's told me that they talk about me over there and how they say a lot of positive things so that feels really cool I'm loved. I don't always feel that way. So it's nice to be reminded.

I had to make a stop at the hardware store to look for something for James but they didn't have it so I came back here. I did a whole bunch today actually. When I got back here I kind of snack and then I started working on some drawings. Our gardening stuff was here because of James so I made little tags for the all the herbs were going to put in there and the tomatoes. And then I set up the garden itself. I probably could have bought more rocks but I still think it'll be okay and I'm going to put all of the herbs in small Planters to start with anyway. And it was pretty excellent. It was fun playing in the dirt. I also dyed my hair so that I would look all nice tomorrow. And I worked on one of my Furby tarot cards. I'm actually going to go make something to eat and then do another one. My Hope Is that in the next week we'll get everything photograph so I want to have at least a couple cards finished. Start selling them as a small set.

James should be finishing work now and then he'll go start shopping for stuff. And I'm just going to hang out here. Hopefully he'll be home soon though because I miss him. I hope you guys all have a great night. Tomorrow I have work at the BMI and then we have our little get-together. I hope people come. Seems like it might be kind of small but I don't mind that. It'll be fun to show off our new place to everyone.

Be safe out there guys. Take care of each other. Good night.

[silvertsundere]

Silver Talks AniManga (26/11/23)

new serialization round starting baby let's go!!!! well "round" it's just 2 series but still always nice, tho I'm not expecting much from either

green - new series/new to me

Anime

Frieren Ep12

good ep like usual, fern and stark interacting is fun so it was good to get a buncha that in the 2nd half of the ep. it was also cool to learn a bit more about him, I've been wondering who the hell the redhead guy in the op was, only to find out it's stark's brother

Undead Unluck 8

I was all ready for some sakuga cause I thought this ep would be the fight between vic and union, in the 2nd half of the episode, but there was still some stuff before that weh. anyway from the preview it looks like the action will be quite good next ep so p excited for that

Manga

Green Green Greens Ch1

new serialization round baby let's go. when the new series got announced and I learned this one was gonna be about golf I said it'd have big shoes to fill, for me, with me having read and liked robo x laserbeam some years ago despite it ending up canceled. this author was on the magazine previously, with beast children, and tho I didn't read it, I heard about it and saw some of it and let's just say it wasn't great. the author's polished his art a lot more now but their paneling is pretty basic and they have waaaaaay too much white space as you can see under here, but it's present throughout the whole chapter. as for the story there's not much to say about it. our mc is good at sports, and other stuff, naturally but his thought process is "there's always gonna be someone better than me so why should I bother trying?" so he's just coasting along life without putting too much effort into stuff. that is until by a buncha coincidences he gets ripped apart by the heroine (black haired girl in the colour page under here [that also got introduced with a fanservice panel]) and starts reconsidering how he's living. not sure how it'll go, it wasn't that interesting a first chapter, but showing that the mc will go pro in the first page is something I guess. happening sooner than later. I guess the fate of this series rests on how the golf matches go but I'm not expecting much tbh

Two on Ice Ch 10

the title of the chap was "prologue final chapter" and it ended as you'd expect. as much as they teased him possibly going into singles it was clear this was always gonna happen. it's been doing really bad in ratings so it's probably on the chopping block, so good luck to the author to get out everything they want to in the next dozen chaps

Nue Exorcist's Ch28

not only is this new squad member gakuro's sister that was never mentioned before, now he's dad that was only talked about as just some guy was suddenly a captain. this is just like naruto's dad being the hokage and no one knowing somehow but a lot worse

MamaYuyu Ch12

hey, actually a pretty good chap, one of the best so far imo. I haven't talked about this in a while but basically what I predicted happened, with more heroes and demon lords showing up from other worlds. we also got an explanation of the power system and an introduction of the main villain (supposedly) behind everything. anyway minerva is a really fun chara and this chap was basically all about her so that was fun too. I was very worried cause of the chap title but seems like she'll be fine for a bit longer (she better be)

[povertytaurus]

Astrology Lessons🌌

Alrighty guys. So I've noticed there are not too many astrology resources on this website, but the pagan and witchcraft community is huge, and hungry for information. This is by far the happiest and most thriving community I've had the pleasure to be a part of. However I noticed the astrology community is a tiny bit lacking. Nothing against the people on here trying to put the information out there, you guys are amazing for that and I love you to bits. But I want to help!

So I've decided to make a series of posts to teach about astrology. I've been studying it forever, and have found it to be a major passion of mine. As I was trying to learn it alone I ran into a lot of dead ends which made me stop my practicing. Like wtf aspects. But I was lucky, and quickly fell into an astrology community where I found myself a mentor. Working along with someone is a huge benefit to your learning. Those places you'd get stopped up on normally, have some structure and guidance (get you some saturn and jupiter in there). What I'm saying now is, I would like to help you personally. Anyone out there who would like to learn astrology, I got you. If you have any questions about any of it, I will explain in detail, just ask. You can even just private message me. Literally just reach out about any of it.

So what I'll be doing here:

Every few days or so, I'll post up a new lesson in astrology. I'll number them and everything. I'm going to give you some information, put up some links and resources, and I'm going to give you some homework. Don't worry, it sounds super cereal guys, but I'm sure it'll be fun. I want you to learn that material, and do the practice. You don't have to turn the assignment into me, but you can if you want to, I'll give you feedback! If you want you can reblog the lesson with your findings attached. I'll reblog it on here, and give you feedback. And of course, if you have questions about any of the lessons just hit me up. I already said it, I got you!

So wtf is a natal chart anyway?

A natal chart is a map of the sky in the instant you were born. It is symbolic of all of the energies within you. It can tell you all sorts of things about yourself, from the obvious to the obscure. A natal chart goes into the fine details of your personality, from conflicts to talents, things you will have to learn yourself, and through others. Even the direction you will end up going through your life.

A natal chart is made up of various layers, ogres are like onions. Yas bitch I just pulled that shrek quote out of my back pocket. And people, like ogres, like onions, also have layers. So a natal chart is an interpretation of the little moving parts of our personalities. First there is the wheel of the zodiac, the constellations in the sky, Then the house system, which depends on the time of birth, which tells us what areas of life we're looking at. Then there are the planets which show us a pull of influence, and the planets are in conversation! The planets interact with each other in aspects.

In short, what you know about astrology is quite possibly just the tip of the iceberg. Many go off of only their sun sign, but this is not right. I want to teach you how to truly read charts, in all their fine detail. Worry not if you're not yet convinced of astrology's validity. I was not, until I learned it complete! What is there to lose? It's quite an experiment! It can only teach you about the human condition, and I'd argue that knowing yourself is a great advantage! Here you will start a dialogue with yourself, about yourself.

This is an example of a natal chart, yours will look similar, but still quite different.

And what will you need to start?

A handy dandy notebook of course, to take notes and to write out your assignment (Evernote notebook or Google Docs folder is fine, just have a place to keep your work.

A quill pen, or, you know, a pencil if that's how you roll.

Your own natal chart! This is the best thing to practice on, as well as the natal charts of others you know. You will be able to see these traits as you learn them, and believe me, that helps!

And that's it my friend. That's all you need. Easy right?

How do you get your natal chart?

Make sure you go to astro dienst instead of astrology cafe, astrology cafe is not reliable with their birth charts. Sometimes their tables are off, and you most definitely want an accurate chart. This is a precise art. If the chart is wrong I can tell, but it won't be so easy if you're only just learning.

You will need the following information:

Your full birthday: month, day, and year

Your birth city

Your birth time. This is important, you can generate a chart without it, but you will not know your rising sign, and the chart will have no orientation, no house system.

Game Plan:

You're on it! Basically just read through this, get yourself set up with all the materials. Doing good so far!

Lesson One: The Zodiac

Lesson Two: Ascendants and Descendants

Lesson Four: Midheaven and Imum Coeli

Lesson Five: House Systems

Lesson Three: Chart Rulers

Lesson Six: Sun Signs! (You probably thought we'd never get here)

Lesson Seven: Moon Placements

Lesson Eight: Mercury Placements

Lesson Nine: Venus Placements

Lesson Ten: Mars Placements

Lesson Eleven: Jupiter Placements

Lesson Twelve: Saturn Placements

Lesson Thirteen: Uranus Placements

Lesson Fourteen: Neptune Placements

Lesson Fifteen: Pluto Placements

Review: Summing it all up!

Midterm! Surprise! Look how much you can do now.

Lesson Sixteen: Major Aspects

Lesson Seventeen: Minor Aspects

Lesson Eighteen: Sun in Aspect

Lesson Nineteen: Moon in Aspect

Lesson Twenty: Mercury in Aspect

Lesson Twenty One: Venus in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Two: Mars in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Three: Jupiter in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Four: Saturn in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Five: Uranus in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Six: Neptune in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Seven: Pluto in Aspect

Lesson Twenty Eight: Whole Chart Interpretations

Review: Summing it all up!

FINALS WEEK!

Good job, when you've got all of this down, you'll be fully able to read a natal chart! Go wild! Psychoanalyze all your friends!

I will make this a master list, and link each post to the lesson listed above.

Wooooooh Party! ~

What Next?

After I am finished writing for this course, the party doesn't end there. I have plans to continue writing courses for all facets of astrology. So courses to come will be:

Synastry Charts

Composite Charts

Draconic Charts

If you have ideas for more, hit me up and I'll add it to the list. How's that sound?

My Saturnian Boundaries:

Please don't ask me to read your chart for you. I will answer any of your questions, but I charge for chart readings. You can inquire about that though.

Don't be rude. If you're rude I will simply ignore you. Ruthless I know.

Enjoy yourself! And ask if you need help!

There is no fourth rule

See? That wasn't so bad!

Now let's get started! Don't forget to follow and opt for notifications so you can be kept up to date with all your lessons!

~Poverty Taurus