#anyway it's a really cute and heartfelt story

[uranium-city]

guys i really hate to say it but Abe's kind of been the highlight of the last two episodes for me & feels most in character to his S1 counterpart when compared to the other main characters 😭

ALSO him & Joan had more genuine chemistry in the one hospital scene than JFK & Joan have had all season & as a member of the JoanFK nation i am frustrated

[the-monkey-ruler]

Which translation/adaptation of JTTW is best for beginners? Besides maybe Dragon Ball (doubt it counts)

Heh yeah I mean it’s a great anime but I don’t think you would have a good Xiyouji experience per se. Usually, I see Dragon Ball used as a gateway for people to THEN read/watch Xiyouji content but like it doesn’t really have much Xiyouji plot wise even if the characters are homages.

I would say that if you want an ACCURATE Xiyouji experience then you can choose between three shows. That being the classic 1986 which is many people's first Xiyouji experience as the cast is so iconic you see these designs in dozens of movies and their influence in future performances. The second is more family-friendly but still one of the most charming and fairly accurate portrayals is the 1999 Xiyouji animation, I would say far more younger people's first piece of media and without a doubt the best Xiyouji animation series thus far personally. That last I would suggest is 2011 Xiyouji series which is one of the more newer shows and I would say I would that if you want more modern effects and humor than this might be a preferance to the 1986 version. They both have their own charm but just depends on what you are looking for!

Now while these are the most accurate there are some Xiyouji media I would still recommend even if they take far more liberties.

This without a doubt being the 1996 tv series. This is portrayed as more of a drama but between the characters and the pure HEART AND LOVE that is in this show that you will be falling in love with the characters. It vaguely follows the Xiyouji monster of the weak formula but taking far more time to humanize each enemy and having our main cast overcome not only physical obstacles but also their own emotional obstacles as well. Fantastic show. Another is Chinese Odessey (please note this is a two part movie)! This does NOT follow the journey at all instead more of an introspective of the character Wukong. This is more of comedy but this is a cult classic as one of the first romance films with Wukong to show him as more of a complex hero which was a deviation from how he was portrayed in media for years as this point. This movie is silly but it is actually very heartfelt and makes you feel for these characters's plights. If you don't know Xiyouji I would say you will be confused, but you can fall in love with these characters anyway! Whil I can't suggest Dragon Ball I can suggest another Son Goku from My Son Goku! This is a Japanese production but the animation is so fluid and the characters are not only charming but there are some heart reaching scenes in this very cute art style! I would say give this a watch if you enjoy anime but also can appreciate angst even in a cute style.

If you are looking for more just great Xiyouji movies that you can pop in and a fantastic one is the 2015 Hero is Back! This was the Wukong come back animation-wise since 1999 and a lot of people first Wukong in the big screens! Does take liberties story wise as we don't see Sha Wujing or any of the journey really, but the HEART and soul of Sun Wukong is there. Another great one is just watching the first and classic 1961 Havoc in Heaven! This was the staple of Wukong iconics for decades and even now you see this Wukong in commercials! This is just a beautiful art style and without a doubt charming and feel good vibes. This one is surprising but actually Nezha Reborn where Sun Wukong actually makes a cameo appearance, but I hear so many people got into Xiyouji just cause how much they love him. So while it's not Xiyouji I would say give it a watch if you are a die hard Sun Wukong fan.

There is also Monkey King Reborn which while less known I still think is wonderfully popular and shows both great animation and also how all three characters of Wukong, Bajie, and Wujing interact in a movie. There is also Monkey King 2 which I know that usually I would say which the first movie but honestly the second movie is my personal fav. You don't miss much without watching the first as the second starts right at the begging of the journey and we are introduced to some of the best designs for these characters in my opinion. This last one is kinda of a hit-or-miss but Conquering the Demon! This one follows Sanzang as a demon hunter in a loosely based story of him finding his disciples, each more monstrous than the last in a dark-comedy! If you enjoy Stephen Chow films then you know what kind of humor you are going to get but it is new take on Xiyouji films in a unique but still entertaining manner! They really make you feel for Sanzang as a character and one of the best humanizations of him really as a man still learning about the world himself.

There some other that are great but I would suggest more on a second watch or if you know the story more! Saiyuki / The Great Alakazam was the first eng dub saiyuki piece of media that came to the USA and still had a lasting influence with the beloved character Rinrin! There is also Monkey King 2009 that only looks at the story BEFORE the journey, adding so many elements to Wukong's childhood and his relationship with the Six Eared Macaque. I would also suggest the Monkey King Netflix Movie as while it is fast-paced it really makes you understand how dangerous but also how complex Sun Wukong is. I think it was a charming movie so give it a watch!. Last is Immortal Demon Slayer! This movie was based on a web novel that was extremely popular in the early 2000s which was based off Chinese Odessey funny enough! This is a movie I would suggest if you know Xiyouji already but it such a tragedy I have to share if you love angst.

If anyone wants to share their what was their first Xiyouji or their favorite Xioyuji please let me know!

[rwrbficrecs]

i’d take the bomb in your head and disarm it by @henrysfox (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Alex and Henry are students at NYU who randomly become dorm roommates. After a few short weeks of mutual dislike their friendship starts to grow - and could it actually be more ...?! At the end of the story, I was baffled that the two of them could be so completely clueless the whole time?! Then again, who am I to judge when someone settles for half-baked assumptions instead of just mustering up the courage and trying to have an honest conversation?! 😇 The story is so gentle, so angsty and Alex is just so vulnerable and soft - just beautiful and moving!

you are my mountain (you are my sea) by @alasse9 (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Five moments between Alex and Henry, starting with the visit to Alex's childhood home in Texas after Ellen's election victory, a vulnerable moment in the Brownstone, a vacation in Mexico City... This story isn't even close to 10,000 words, but it's so unbelievably powerful - I am still blown away! The author manages to hit on so many interpersonal aspects and delicate vibrations, to formulate soft, tender feelings and thoughts and describes Alex and Henry both so damn considerate and soulful - the author nailed it (imho), it's almost impossible to grasp!

Shatter Me by @historicallysam (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Henry and Alex are still Prince and First Son, some is canon, a lot slightly modified, but: Alex is out, Henry is not. He isn't even sure if he's gay or if he ever wants to acknowledge it - until he meets Alex and falls head over heels. The catch, on top of the homophobic Queen: Henry is engaged, his fiancée lovely, amazing even, and the wedding date is about to be set. How the author weaves together the familiar events and plotlines and their own ideas is brilliant! Not gonna lie: It was (to me) oppressive at times, really angsty - but also highly gripping!

The Consequences (of our Actions) (series) by @anchoredarchangel (book-verse)

@celeritas2997: Alex is just a Regular Guy who just happened to put Prince Henry on his 'No Consequences Sex List' and proceeds to tell him about this when they meet. Lots of sex (like, ridiculously hot sex) and feelings (SO MANY FEELINGS) ensue. I am convinced that Anchor is magic and will continue shouting about this series from the rooftops until the end of days; it is clever, sexy, funny, beautifully written and so, so, so heartfelt. ❤️

@heybuddy-drabbles: I started this when it first started and thought it was just some fun little pwp canon divergence. When I picked it up again, it was a hell of a series. I loved every last bit of it. It goes way into the whole "If cake gate didn't happen, Alex would have made himself a problem for Henry anyway" and he does in the most glorious way. I can't talk enough about HENRY in this though. It's mostly on Alex POV except the extra chapter but I'm OBSESSED WITH HENRY. How he's older. How he does things for himself like running the shelters with Pez even before he meets Alex. Anyway I could talk about Henry in this series for days but that's not why we are here for. Just, do yourself a favor and just read this.

5 Times Henry Hated New Year's + 1 Time He Didn't by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This fic is such an emotional rollercoaster, but it's worth every gut-wrenching twist! It delves into each of the six parts so well that you feel like you're experiencing each of Henry's life experiences with him.

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you by @gayrootvegetable (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This is the cutest combination of a high school AU and soulmate AU! This fic is short but so very sweet!

if you have a garden and a library... by @glasshouses-and-stones (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This fic is so cute! It's not technically a Cinderella AU, but it has those vibes, and the author does a great job with the setting. Another fic that's short but so sweet!

It takes a lot to know a man by dazedandconfused (book/movie-verse)

@inexplicablymine: when I tell you to mind the trigger warnings that is true, but I can also say my GOD is this fic fantastic the writing is superb and the pacing is right on and the plot is so intricately woven I am elated to recommend it everywhere I can. Talk about an in depth suspense thriller mixed with that sex club dom/sub trope mixed with a law case ~ truly there are no words to describe how much this work gripped me as I read through it

@dot524: The subject matter is heavy at times and so are the smut scenes, but also I was fascinated with the story. I didn’t expect it to end up in the intense culminating scene that it did.

Something borrowed, Something blue by @anincompletelist (book-verse)

@heybuddy-drabbles: Yes, I know I recommended this during our Wip Wednesdays but now I'm going to recommend it here for the peeps who only read complete works. Read this. I beg of you. It's so excellent. Henry's relationship with June is something so special to me in this. June and her little family, her daughter means the world to me as well. Alex and his complicated feelings for Henry, their "enemies" to lovers road is just. God I loved it so much. Henry. HENRY IN THIS. Just. Please read this.

hold on (get ready for the ride) by wilmonflicker (book-verse)

@wilmonsfolklore: a professional soccer/football AU that I binged and completely fell in love with. Alex transfers to the team where Henry is the star player, and they get together. it's beautifully written, smutty at times and perfect for sport lovers and non-sport lovers alike

check out our past Monthly Faves here ❤️

[zexapher]

Weiss: You know… I’ve been thinking back to when you asked me to the dance.

Jaune: You – ah, you have? I’m sorry if I was a bit… much, back then.

Weiss: Don’t worry, you weren’t so bad. It certainly frustrated me to no end back then, but now it seems cute. Something personal, and heartfelt. I had all these ideas in my head and, well…

Jaune: I shouldn’t have kept at it like that.

Weiss: No, but now things are different. Things have changed – we have changed. And I wouldn’t mind you trying your hand at another serenade.

Jaune: Really?

Weiss: You know I like music. And I have a collection of instruments back home. Perhaps we could put on our own little duet. You can… you can grab one of the guitars, finger a few of my strings.

Thought I'd share a little excerpt from the fanfic I published today, titled "Pastry Pandemonium." I threw a chunk of innuendo in, but that last line is about the most risqué it's gonna get. But I know what the people want, so I added a little arm in arm hand-holding action. You animals!

It's really all fluff and humor for a White Knight date night set in Mantle. 2k+ words, so it's a quick read. I figured it rates K+ on FF.net, so PG if you want to be careful. Originally planned to just make it as another edit, but then I got rather taken with the idea and turned it into a nice little story. I'll come back around to make that edit eventually.

Anyway, here are the links if you're interested in reading:

FF.Net

AO3

[bonesofapoet]

Heyy could u maybe do a frank castle x cook!reader who's like a female (or not what u want) carmen berzatto from The Bear

bittersweet author's note: god this was actually really fun to do?! i loved this request?!?!? the one where you wonder why you came home to save a dying pipe dream, but frank is your anchor when all you want to do is torch the place and be a menace to society. word count: 1600

On Tuesday evening, Frank Castle found you trying not to scream.

The alley was quiet, as night began to cloak the city in adamantine bands. Glittering light swept across the sky in familiar arcs of glowing stardust and heartfelt stories. A breeze, cool and gentle, flew across your skin in waves, a most welcome contrast to the warmth of the kitchen you’d been cooped up in since early afternoon.

The sudden stillness wanted to make you fucking cry. But you couldn’t cry, sure as all holy hell not here, not now. Screaming would be a better route to take - you’d get less shit from that - and you were positive most of the sound would be covered anyway, or, unfortunately, ignored - yet it felt like you’d been louder than usual all afternoon, which, funny enough, did nothing to ease the ebb and flow of a building storm just waiting for an excuse to break free from this fucking shit show called a restaurant -

“Hey,” says a voice. The crunch of footsteps catches you on your fall back down to Earth. They guide you back to a body so fraught with tension that you are, quite honestly, curious how the hell you’re still alive and kicking. “This a bad time?”

The laugh spilling through the alleyway is more than a little aggressive. More than a little sarcastic. It tumbles through your lips without thought, but then again, most things do when you're around Frank Castle. He's someone you can let go around, even on the days you'd rather burn down your inheritance than drag it kicking and screaming from the burial shroud it's been swathed in since you came back home.

The word home almost gets stuck in your throat.

“Well,” you say, a tired sigh hissing through your teeth, threatening to catch on the bones like barbed wire. The palms that flutter up dig into your eyes for a moment. Then two. They fall back to your sides, though your gaze stays locked on the few constellations unhidden by the godawful pollution filling the city. You supposed you would be a little more grateful for that,  seeing the cosmos in any capacity, had you taken a. . .more gracious path of life. A more selfish one. One that didn't involve feeling guilt tripped into coming home to save a dead relative’s pipe dream from its own invariably slow and horrifically painful death. “That depends. You up for hire?”

Frank Castle steps under a stray glimmer of moonlight, starlight - it all looks the same, these days - and laughs, soundless, at your barb. At least, he thinks, he’s pretty sure you're joking. The closer he watches you - sees how your eyes aren't gleaming in their teasing tell, how your lips don't tilt at their corners when you're trying to hide the sin.

He watches you inhale. Exhale. Repeat. Watches your eyes fall down from the velvet sky to rest on him, hardly a worthy companion in comparison to the natural beauty surrounding you, even here, among this corner of your life that seems to be literally anything other than shiny.

You, on the other hand, would beg to differ.

“I really hope you don't mean that,” Frank starts, “because I would really hate to hike up your overhead. You know. Make your life worse, instead of doing you a favor.”

“Oh please,” you say, a smile clawing its way from the shadows after all. “That would be a favor, believe it or not.”

Frank chances a few steps closer, toes a loose pile of gravel by his boots. Looks up at you with brows drawn together just a little. It's cute, you think. More so than the full on scowl that intimidates a few of your nightmare colleagues inside. Your smile grows wider, feels genuine at the recollections.

“That bad, huh?”

The back door flies open, as if your own words would be an inadequate injustice to his question. He'd just have to settle for a little example then, something to really hammer home the reality of your headache personified. The hinges screamed at the quickness, the roughness, and any sense of peace you had begun to gather was about to evaporate into a flurry of nothing. You meet Frank’s eyes, and your expression conveys the very haughtiness of someone about to give him the proof of a lifetime.

He simply steps into a shadow, and watches.

Your name is falling through the doorway loud enough for the whole godforsaken block to hear, twisting and catching gracelessly around the latest woe that literally any entry level Sioux chef could solve in their sleep.

(Moments like this one made you question why, exactly, it was that you left - willingly left - the first, and only job that did not have you scrambling for sanity. Not counting, y'know, the constant anxiety of never being good enough to cook at a Michelin restaurant in New York fucking City. That was neither here nor there, these days.)

Silence follows, punctuated by the white noise of banter and the familiar, oh-so-beloved chaos spilling into the night from the threshold beyond. A lot of the unsavory arguing is carried off by the wind, yet you heard the gist, all the same.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

“I'll be back in a minute.” You say, not even turning to the door, to your chef.

“Are you -”

The voice cuts off, dead in the breeze as Frank Castle is finally noticed lurking in the shadows. You turn around then, fully facing the silhouette, illuminated ominously against a backdrop of aggressive industrial lighting.

“Did you hear what I just said, or do you need to be pulled from the line and re-enrolled in fucking preschool?”

“I - sorry. I'll - I'll go relay the message.” The silhouette moves backwards into the light, hand pulling the door so it follows. Almost closed - it stops, along with your chef, slinking around the edge to tack on what was forgotten in the hasty, unpolished departure. “- Chef. I'll relay the message, Chef.”

At least an attempt was made. That was progress. And maybe, one day in the far, far, far, far future - you wouldn't have to hide in an alley trying not to think about arson. Frank Castle wouldn't carve out time to hide with you - even if it is of his own accord - playing bodyguard in case anyone felt bold enough to try backing you into a corner.

“Same shit, different day.” your hands find their way to closed eyes once more, a groan spilling into the alley to dance in the breeze.

Frank stepped out of the darkness, tendrils of velvety smoke clinging to him like a long lost lover, the remnants of a dream fraying at the edges. He stops a mere step away, hands buried deep in  pockets instead of reaching for you, instead of pulling you all safe and sound to his chest. God, he thought, what he would give to hold you in his arms. Especially on a beautiful night like this one, when you were too frazzled to see it.

“Coulda been worse. No one said anything offensive this time.”

“That's because you scare them, Frank.” hands flutter back down. Frank is close when eyes blink open, slow and involuntary and grateful, even, maybe a little - if only so you can have him close enough to touch. You even smile a bit, something real this time, even if it is a little sardonic. Even if it is a little saccharine sweet.

Something flares in his eyes as he looks at you, burns hot and bright and fast before fizzling down to an ember, a spark, then nothing out of the ordinary at all. He doesn't kill the way his lips slope upward though, mirroring the infection your smile imbues into his own. Your fingers twitch, longing to close the distance, to reach over and feather a soft touch along his jaw.

“Maybe that's why I check in. Make sure they're treatin’ ya right.”

You huff a laugh, head tipping up and up and up to revel one last glimpse of the moon before heading back in to deal with the latest crisis you could, no doubt, avoid in your fucking sleep -

Then, a hand, slow and warm and steady slips to the small of your back, an anchor to your swaying body while you savor one last moment of blissful fucking silence. You feel Frank's hand countering you - acutely aware of every flex and point of pressure while you sway ever so slightly. It's - well. It's the first time your brain has, quite literally, shut the fuck up in days. Weeks, maybe. Months, possibly.

Your eyes drift shut, trusting him to catch you if you fall.

“And would you? Treat me right?”

A horn blares on the next block. Sirens scream in the distance. Voices shout from just inside the door. The laugh Frank adds to the muffled symphony of your world is just as quiet, yet it's the only thing that's crystal clear. The only thing that's sweet and honest, something you'd like to bottle up and craft a dish inspired by the thrill it invokes as it washes over your skin.

“You really askin’ me if I’d do right by you? Shit, sugar - I think we both know the answer to that.”

You sway a little, at his words.

His grip on you tightens, another hand resting on your waist. Your smile grows, glowing in the moonlight, starlight, all of the above. The voices inside fade into nothing as your hands rise to find his shoulders, another anchor to keep you from drowning.

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Sword gays showdown preliminaries

Propaganda:

For Kazuma Asogi:

ok so he’s not CANONICALLY queer but it’s ace attorney. so… he does, however, canonically have a katana! a sword so integral to the plot it gives me shivers just thinking about it. the sword also has a name, it’s karuma (translates roughly to karma) and it gets passed onto the main character, ryunosuke naruhodo (who he calls partner), after kazuma (spoiler alert) dies in case 1-2. except (SUPER spoiler alert!) he isn’t dead! he comes back in case 2-3 and would you look at that he has ANOTHER SWORD, a more european sword (cause he ended up in england after his amnesia brain said he REALLY had to go to england). once he gets his memories back, ryunosuke gives karuma back to him and proceeds to use it to destroy the wax figure of his dead presumed serial killer dad (long story), and now he has, you guessed it, TWO SWORDS! for the next two cases he wears both swords at his sides, and also he broke the tip off of karuma attempting to murder someone (he didn’t actually murder anyone but still) and then turns out karuma’s hilt has the REAL serial killer’s will in it. very VERY important sword. in the end, kazuma gives karuma back to ryunosuke which is really symbolic but that’s besides the point, and they cross swords and it’s a whole big thing. 10/10 gay sword guy.

For Raiden:

Man catches knives with his heels and uses a sword to cut through robots 20 times his size

He's such a tragic character! Raised to be a super soldier from birth and is constantly being exploited by the government. As for the lgbt part him and his rival in the latest game he's in have so much tension it's unreal (gay). I headcanon him as trans too because he has a feminine figure, his voice gets more masculine as the series goes on (testosterone) and his entire body gets replaced with cybernetics (trans allegory...)

For Claudine Saijou:

Fights with a longsword! Should be number 1 for this line alone: “For heroes, there are trials. For saints, there are temptations. For me, there is you”, said to def not her girl crush but rival btw (stream Revue of Soul) Vote for my disaster theatre kid its what she deserves!

Her gay levels are off the charts. She has a homoerotic rivalry with another classmate (Maya Tendo/Tendou Maya) that is integral to her character, as she was always first until she met Maya. She’s also half-French, but that’ll be important later. When she’s looking at pictures of Maya stretching (to study her form of course) and another character asks her what she’s looking at, she panics, blushes, and says none of your business. Her and Maya have a heartfelt conversation while stretching with Claudine’s face pressed into Maya’s chest (between her stomach and breasts). Some art from a magazine has Maya pushing Claudine into a deep stretch, but it looks like something a lot different (Claudine blushing doesn’t help. Also I realized that there’s a lot of gay stuff related to stretching with these two).

During a two on two duel (I know it’s not a duel), they fight together. Not only that, but at one point they hold hands and take a pose typical of romantic partners in dancing. For no reason. They just pause and do it to show off. They aren’t even fighting. Anyways, when they lose, Claudine starts crying, not because she lost, but because Maya lost. So, of course, Maya starts speaking to her in French, with one of the things she says being “You’re cute even when you cry, my Claudine.” All of this is stuff that’s happened in the series (except the magazine thing).

Now for the gay stuff in the movie. Their duel with each other is so dense with sapphic undertones they can hardly be called undertones. For starters, the song that accompanies this revue is called “A Beautiful Person, or Perhaps it is.” While this title is incomplete, the director states that he wanted the watcher to fill it in and this removed the end of the original title. That title is “A Beautiful Person, or Perhaps it is a Love Song.” The duel is framed as a fight between a hero (Maya) and a devil (Claudine). Maya is in an outfit reminiscent of Renaissance Italy and Claudine is in a suit. Thus, Maya signs a contract giving her soul over to Claudine, as is the case with marriage. With her own blood, in the shape of Position Zero (an important symbol in the show), which happens to look like a T, for Tendou. After a few minutes of fighting, Maya disappears and monologues, appearing in a white dress. This means that Maya has signed her soul over to Claudine, and they are now both wearing a white dress and suit. Not beating the gay marriage allegations. Maya finished her monologue with “For heroes, there are trials. For saints, there are temptations. For me, there is a devil.” They continue to fight, Maya proclaiming herself emotionless and empty. Maya then cuts the medallion from Claudine’s chest (they wear medallions and you lose the duel if it gets cut off).

Claudine falls. Maya attempts to claim victory by stabbing her sword into Position Zero, which is then covered by steel doors. Claudine sits up and reveals she has another medallion in her mouth, which she does by sticking out her tongue in a uhhhh. Anyways, after a bit of back and forth, Claudine tells Maya that she’s full of arrogance and pride and envy and longing. She then says that “No matter how many times I die, I will revive! Tendou Maya! To beat you, my rival, into submission!” She then makes her stage entrance, taking Maya’s usual entrance speech and mocking it. She also says “I fill myself with exploding passion, now, and bash it into your heart!” After some talking, Maya makes her stage entrance, taking Claudine’s usual entrance speech and mocking it. Up until now, they have been playing characters, but still letting their own emotions shine through. Now, they are entirely themselves.

They begin to fight again, running downs white aisle before clashing swords, with Maya saying “Such an ugly, emotion drenched appearance-“ and is cut off by Claudine, who says “Show me more, Tendou Maya! Right now, you’re the cutest you’ve ever been!” To which Maya responds “I’m always cute!”  The song starts up again (duels are accompanied by songs), with Maya singing “With a grin of deception I’ll tear this piece of cloth.” Deception in Japanese is mayakashi, a reference to Maya’s name. Maya then sings “I want to show you my feelings becoming dyed in black.” Black is Kuro in Japanese. Claudine, in Katakana, is Kurodine, with her nickname being Kuro, so that line could also be interpreted “I want to show you my feelings becoming dyed in you.” Claudine then sings “Only me, always, forever,” before they sing in unison “You only need to look at me,” as they lock blades. Some fighting happens and they’re falling through the sky, holding onto each others clothes and Claudine says “Only I can make you lay everything bare!” To which Maya responds “I’ll expose my everything, on the stage!” Claudine shoots back with “There’s a partner you can expose everything to, on the stage!” At this point, there’s a short time with independent vocals for Maya and Claudine in addition to their talking. Maya has been singing “If I’m on the stage, if I’m in front of you,” for the last two lines of dialogue. Claudine sings “Be it ugly or beautiful,” as Maya sings “I will expose, anything and everything, all of me, all of me.” As this happens, Maya is saying “We love the stage,” which is continued by Claudine saying “And we can’t part from the stage!” Maya calls them both “Pathetic clowns!” To which Claudine corrects “No, rivals!” Maya says “If you’re there, I have to strive higher!” Claudine says “You make me even more beautiful! Maya!” Maya then yells “Claudine!” Claudine yells “For heroes, there are trials!” Maya continues “For saints, there are temptations!” Then, as one, their swords crossed, faces inches from each other, yell “For me, there is you!” Over top of this, their voices sing a line in unison: “Forever and ever, I’d like to cross swords with you.”

Claudine’s sword stabs through the contract, through the Position Zero in blood, which may be Maya’s family name, and Maya says as an aside “Saijou Claudine… You are beautiful.” Claudine cuts the medallion from Maya’s chest, finally beating her rival.

[vilevenom]

I know it's not an ideal time to post, but I won't be home to post on Halloween proper, so you get this now. Just a cute little somethin' somethin', playing around with the movie!verse boys on Halloween 😊

Little Ghost

Fandom: Sonic the Hedgehog (movie universe)

Pairing: Gen, Sonic/Shadow if you squint

Summary: The boys learn about pumpkin carving and go trick-or-treating

Sonic grinned to himself as he zipped through the forest back to the Wachowski's house. Or, rather, his home, as Maddie insisted he call it. And he supposed it really was home now, with how the Wachowski's had truly opened their home to him, his adoptive little brother and rowdy best friend. He sighed happily as he skidded to a halt in the driveway, orange and red leaves swirling around his feet as he looked up at the house, warmth bubbling up in his chest at seeing the Halloween decorations he, Tails and Knuckles had helped put up only the day before. Today they would be carving up the pumpkins Tom had picked up from the market, to join the one Maddie had brought home from the clinic (gifted to her by one of her patients 'parents'). He was more than elated to get to experience such a simple tradition; one he'd watched countless families partake in over the years that he finally got to join in on, himself.

He was about to trot into the house to see if he could help Maddie set up the pumpkin carving station (she'd noted that it would take up a fair bit of space, and that it would be best to do outdoors or the garage) when he spotted Shadow standing just before the front steps of the house, staring down at the pumpkin Maddie had brought home from the clinic. Curiosity piqued, Sonic strode over to his self-proclaimed rival instead, an easy going grin on his face as he came to a stop next to the dark hedgehog.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Shadow jerked slightly at Sonic's words, turning a sharp glare on the other. "My thoughts are worth more then a mere cent."

"It's a figure of speech," Sonic snorted, hands on his hips as he casually rocked on the balls of his feet, "it means 'what are you thinking about', without being so boring."

"Hmm," Shadow eyed Sonic, a doubtful look on his face, before turning his gaze back on the pumpkin, "I was just wondering…why the gourd has a face cut into it."

"Oh, that? Maddie brought it home from the clinic. It's a decoration," Sonic said with a shrug, "Y'know, like the ones we helped put up yesterday?"

"I was not here yesterday," Shadow stated bluntly, folding his arms over his chest, "I was with Commander Tower."

"Right, GUN stuff," Sonic nodded idly, mirroring Shadow's stance absently. "Well, long story short, we helped put decorations up for Halloween yesterday, since it's in just a couple days." He paused, scrunching his nose up a little, "You do know what Halloween is, right?"

"Enlighten me."

Sonic made an incredulous noise at Shadow's blasé response, tossing his arms into the air. "Why, only the greatest holiday, next to Christmas, of course!"

"I am familiar with Christmas," Shadow offered, turning bodily towards Sonic to give the other his full attention.

"Okay, well, replace Santa with skeletons, presents with candy, and having a heartfelt family dinner with dressing up in costumes, and you've pretty much got Halloween."

"…That explained nothing," Shadow snorted, glaring at Sonic.

"Hey, I'm better at showing, not telling," Sonic said with a shrug, easy grin settling back on his face. "Anyway, are you sticking around today? We're gonna carve up some more pumpkins in a bit, to fill out the rest of the steps."

"I suppose I could stay a while longer," Shadow said with a small nod, flicking his gaze back to the pumpkin in question, "I am still curious as to why the gourd needs a face."

"...We'll ask Tails to google it."

~

Pumpkin carving was an adventure in and of itself.

First, it turned out that the reason the pumpkin needed a face was an old human tradition, which involved using the fruit as a ward against an evil spirit entering your home on All Hallows Eve. Finding that out resulted in Tails spiraling down a rather interesting rabbit hole of fun facts about Halloween that Shadow was more interested in than Sonic honestly thought he would be.

Second, once Knuckles found out that pumpkins were edible, it took both Tom and Maddie to keep him from scarfing down one of the smaller pumpkins in the pile whole. As it turned out, the pumpkins were very similar to a fruit the echidna had eaten with his tribe as a child. He only stopped trying to steal the rest of pumpkins when Maddie promised to buy him a pumpkin pie that he could have all to himself.

Thirdly, it turned out that Shadow was not a fan of the slimy innards of the pumpkins, and immediately peaced out from helping to hollow them out as soon as he touched a stringy glob of pumpkin guts and seeds. Sonic was worried for a moment that the dark hedgehog would disappear back to wherever he went when he wasn't at the Wachowski's (Sonic had a funny feeling he'd starting living in Sonic's old cave), however he simply scooted away from the pumpkin Sonic was digging into with a spoon, a frown on his face and arms crossed over his chest.

"The best part is carving the face, anyway," Maddie offered when she noticed Shadow's sullen look, the dark hedgehog's ears perking at her comment. He arched an eyebrow at her, earning a light laugh from the vet. "You can make any design you want. It doesn't even have to be a face, if you don't want."

"Oh, he wants," Sonic interrupted, leaning in to block Maddie's view of Shadow, "We're going to make the scariest pumpkin of them all. Aren't we, Shadow?" Sonic turned an expectant grin on the darker hedgehog, fully expecting some sort of snarky quip from the other, but was pleasantly surprised by the sudden determined expression and nod he got, instead.

In the end, the Wachowski porch was adorned with a traditional squared toothed, grinning pumpkin (Tails), a pumpkin with a cat carved into it (Tom and Maddie), a round eyed, lopsided smiling pumpkin (Knuckles), and a jagged toothed, angry looking pumpkin with it's carved out innards spewing from between it's teeth (Sonic and Shadow). Sonic bounced on his toes as he stepped back from positioning his and Shadow's pumpkin on the stairs, a proud little smile on his face as he planted his hands on his hips and turned to the perpetually frowning hedgehog.

"Well? What did you think?"

"Of what?"

"Of what," Sonic echoed with a snort, rolling his eyes, "Pumpkin carving! Even if Tails' research said the tradition goes back to, like, the 1800's or something, I'm sure you didn't get much pumpkin action on the ARK."

"No. We didn't," Shadow admitted with a small shrug, arms folding over his chest. "This was…entertaining. Our pumpkin is the best one."

"Of course it is," Sonic scoffed, waving a hand through the air, "We carved it. It had to turn out awesome."

Shadow gave a small nod, beginning to turn as he dropped his arms to his sides. "I should be going…"

"Wait!"

With an arched brow Shadow paused, clearly unimpressed with Sonic delaying his departure.

"Uh…Will you be back for trick-or-treating?" Sonic didn't mean to sound hopeful. He knew going door to door and collecting candy was probably the farthest thing from an activity Shadow would willingly participate in, but he couldn't help himself but to ask.

"Trick-or-treating?"

"Yeah, man. You dress up in cool costumes, go around to peoples houses and collect candy. Y'know, like that tradition Tails read to you, about appeasing spirits and disguising yourself and stuff? This will be the first year for all of us," Sonic offered, rubbing the palm of his hand absently against his hip, "I think Tails said he's gonna do some sort of android thing, and Knuckles is gonna be a 'plucky street walker'. Don't ask me what that is, I think he watched a movie or something with Wade's mom."

"…And you?"

"Me?"

"What are you planning for your costume?"

Sonic let out a short laugh, shrugging his shoulders a little, pleased that Shadow hadn't scoffed at him and disappeared in a flash of light over something as 'childish' as collecting candy. "There's so much to choose from! I think, maybe a werewolf? Maddie showed me a couple of neat ideas I thought were kinda cool. Plus, it's kinda a traditional costume, and I wanted to do this right my first time 'round."

Shadow let out a little humming sound, before nodding slightly at Sonic. "I will think about it," he stated, before disappearing.

Sonic sighed, staring off into the tree line, his shoulders and ears drooping. The last time Shadow had told him he'd 'think about' something the dark hedgehog had totally ghosted him over a sleepover. So much for his hopes of having everyone together for one of their first big family holidays.

~

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Tails called from the doorway, his namesake swaying behind him impatiently, "We're burning precious candy collecting time!"

"I thought you said your map would, and I quote, 'optimize the amount of candy we could get in the shortest amount of time;?" Sonic teased, flicking one of the little pieces of metal Tails had meticulously attached to his fur to give the illusion that he was part robot.

"It will," the fox kit reassured, puffing up his chest.

"Then chill out, little bro," Sonic said with a bright laugh, "There's loads of time."

"Picture time!' Maddie called as she lead Knuckles from the bathroom, where she'd helped the echidna meticulously apply make-up and style his quills into a bun. He was wobbling a bit in a pair of high heels, but Sonic was overall impressed with how steady he was. He'd tried on a pair of Maddie's shoes once before, and it had not gone so well.

"Everyone gather in front of the holiday ghoul," Tom directed, gesturing for the boys to huddle in front of the zombie figure that was stood next to the front door and held a bowl of candy.

Sonic bounced into his spot between Tails and Knuckles, shoving a pair of plastic fangs into his mouth and striking a hunched pose with a growl, his quills bristled and teeth barred while the others posed according to their own costumes. Maddie giggled as she snapped pictures on her phone, the boys laughing along as they struck different poses for her.

"All right, all right," Tom finally called, waving for Maddie to stop with a smile of his own, "If we hold them up much longer, it really will eat into their candy time."

"Okay," Maddie sighed. "Well, you boys have fun! And no tricks! Just treats. Be safe."

"Yes, Maddie," all three boys chimed as Tom leaned in to give his wife a kiss.

"We'll be back around nine," Tom hummed as he opened the door, ignoring the chorus of groans from the boys.

"That's so early," Sonic grumbled the loudest, freezing as Tom opened the door, spying a certain black and red hedgehog stood at the bottom of the stairs, a dark cape draped around his shoulders. "Shadow! You came!"

Shadow jerked back slightly as Sonic zoomed down the stairs and enveloped him in the briefest of hugs, a quiet grunt leaving him as Sonic quickly backed off. "Hm. I wanted to see what the fuss was about."

"Oh! You look so cute! Are you a vampire?" Maddie called from the top of the stairs, her phone already out and snapping pictures.

"It is a traditional costume," Shadow said with a short nod, gesturing vaguely at Sonic's werewolf outfit, "I thought it would work well, given my color scheme."

"It does. You look great," Maddie said, frowning slightly at Shadow's empty hands, "Do you not have anything to collect candy in?"

Shadow blinked, glancing down at Sonics hands, where he was clutching an old pillow case. Likewise, Tails and Knuckles were also holding old pillowcases, while Tom had a backpack, where they were obviously planning to dump their bags when they got too heavy or full. "I…" Shadow began, muzzle flushing, only to pause as Sonic shoved his pillowcase into Shadow's hands.

"Give me two seconds," the blue hedgehog said, zipping away in a blur, only to reappear with another old pillowcase in hand a moment later. "There! Now we're all set."

"Have fun, boys!" Maddie called from the doorstep as a handful of kids began to filter into their yard, her attention diverting to handing out candy.

"Thank you, Sonic," Shadow murmured as their little band began to meander down the driveway, his face ducked slightly.

"Hey, it's no problem, Shads," Sonic hummed, reaching out to tug Shadow into his side, "I'm just glad you showed up."

Shadow lifted his head, offering Sonic a rare, fleeting smile. It left a warm feeling swirling in Sonic's gut, and a flush on his own muzzle.

"I appreciate the invitation."

"Yeah, 'course. Anytime."

[tropes-and-tales-archives]

More Precious Than Rubies: Part 2

This is an alternate timeline story that has a Rafael Barba track and a Sonny Carisi track. The two paths split off in part 3.

WC: 1696

TW: Angst; end of relationship drama; SVU-typical case about alleged rape.

AN: The prompt was "You Know Who to Call"

Sonny spent a long while getting over you.  Deep down, he worried that he would never really get over you.  He had messed everything up so badly, and he never realized how much you had brightened his life until you were suddenly gone.  He practically experienced auditory hallucinations, swearing he’d heard his phone chime with a new message – but there was never anything there.  No short, cute messages from you telling him that you missed him and couldn’t wait to see him again.  No forwarded emails about interesting legal cases.  No slightly risqué pictures, like the one you’d sent him the night before your anniversary…which he had ended up missing anyway.

And you were gone.  He guessed that you blocked his number because none of his texts or calls went through.  He sent you a few long, heartfelt emails that he was certain you deleted without reading.  But that was the thing about you:  no matter how badly you were probably hurting, you weren’t going to let it slow you down or derail your life.  As Sonny had remarked once, you had your life together in ways that Amanda never would.

He heard through his Fordham friends that you’d gotten a coveted internship with a firm that specialized in overturning wrongful convictions.  Sonny had always pictured the two of you as two sides of the same righteous coin:  him, punishing evil-doers and you, righting wrongs. 

He only saw you once in the months that followed.  You were standing on the other side of West 62nd street, so bundled against the cold that he almost missed that it was you.  But it was you – the same blue pea coat with the frayed cuffs, the same plaid scarf wound around your neck.  It made Sonny’s stomach drop, and he wanted nothing more than to dash across the street after you.  He wanted to fall onto his knees in front of you, bury his head against your stomach, and beg you to listen to the apologies that had choked him since he’d screwed up and lost you.  But a long line of traffic divided you, and when it was time to cross, he completely lost you in the crowd.

And then it was a solid year before he saw you again.

********

Rafael Barba stood on the other side of the glass with Olivia and Carisi, watching as Fin and Rollins interviewed their suspect.  A jittery young man, one Jeremy Michaels.  Freshman at Hudson University on a full academic scholarship, apparent hope of his family…and accused of raping a seventeen-year old classmate.

The evidence so far was nothing more than the girl’s word, but Barba knew it was in the early stages and SVU would probably find more for him.  His mind wandered to the other cases sitting on his desk, but his reverie was broken by the sound of heels clicking across the floor.  He looked up and saw some anonymous junior detective leading a young woman towards them.

“This is his public defender,” he said with a jerk of the thumb to the sweating young man on the other side of the glass.  Barba perked up and looked you over, and he while he didn’t miss Carisi’s sharp intake of breath beside him, the older man just ignored it. 

For a public defender, you were in a nicer suit than he’d expect, a well-cut jacket over a pencil skirt that hugged your curves nicely.  But you were young – so young that you looked like a child playing dress up.  Even with your hair swept up into a classic chignon and your perfectly manicured hand that you extended to him in greeting, you looked like you should be settling into your own dorm room for college instead of defending human trash.

“ADA Rafael Barba,” he said, wrapping your slim hand in his larger one.  “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.”

You introduced yourself.  “Newly minted public defender.”  You glanced over his shoulder at Liv and Carisi, and Barba saw you narrow your eyes a fraction before you nodded at them.  Then you pulled your hand away from his and looked through the one-way mirror.  “Is that my client?”

“It is,” Liv said after clearing her throat.  “It’s good to see you again.”

Barba’s ears pricked up at that – Liv knew you? – but you ignored the niceties. 

“I was hoping it wasn’t Mr. Michaels,” you said.  “Because it’d be a violation of his constitutional rights if you were still interrogating him after he asked for counsel.”

“Not an interrogation,” Liv started, but you cut her off.

“This ends now.  I need a moment with my client, please.”  And then Barba watched as you swept past them and barged into the interrogation room like you owned the place, hustling Fin and Rollins out with a look that he swore was nearly vengeful.  The Liv switched off the speaker, and Barba half-watched you, half-listened to the squad talk around him.

“How do you know her?” he asked conversationally, watching as you talked in earnest to the scared young man and then clasped a reassuring hand to his shoulder.

“She used to date Carisi,” Rollins finally said. 

“Huh,” Barba said.  It made sense.  You were a young public defender.  You couldn’t be that bright:  first of all, you dated Carisi.  Secondly, no one at the top of their class ever became a public defender, no matter how much of a do-gooder they were. 

After a moment, you left the conference room with your client, your chin tilted at the squad in near defiance.  “Charge him or cut him loose,” you said.  “In the meantime, if you need to bring him back in for questioning, you know who to call.” 

Then you marched out of the precinct with Michaels, your head high and your heels a steady staccato, leaving little in your wake other than a hint of some sunny perfume and a room thick with tension.

“That was awkward,” Fin said, and Barba glanced over at Carisi, noting how pale he was, how quiet.  Carisi was never quiet. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Rollins scoffed.  “We have this guy cold.  We’ll arrest him before the week is out and have him found guilty within a month.”

There was something appealing about you, the way you’d strode into that interview room, the way you’d marched back out with your head high and a fire in your eyes.  And, obviously, there were a million questions about a woman who had dated Carisi, of all people on earth. 

Barba was going to almost regret annihilating you in court.

********

You annihilated Barba in court.  You only knew about the swaggering ADA tangentially, but you knew that he relied on style points when SVU couldn’t give him solid cases. 

You always knew you wanted to be a public defender – you knew it since you were a kid who shouldn’t have to know what a public defender even was.  Let people make assumptions about your ability or tenacity.  They’d learn, eventually.

Like ADA Barba.  You saw him look you over, and you saw him make an immediate judgement about your skill.  The SVU squad knew you a bit, but they only knew you as Sonny’s sad-sack ex-girlfriend who used to linger around the precinct for a chance to see your absentee boyfriend.

Sonny knew you best of all of them, but you knew he didn’t know much.  You’d dated for over a year, and he likely couldn’t name half the things a dedicated lover should.  Did he know your favorite flower, or your favorite ice cream flavor?  Unlikely.

Did he know your family history and the preternatural zeal for competent – no, excellent – counsel for the poorest and most desperate citizens?  Even more unlikely.

You knew you’d have to defend the guilty.  You already had a full caseload, with at least three clients who not only committed the crime they were accused of, but freely admitted how much they enjoyed committing it. 

Jeremy Michaels wasn’t one of those cases.  He was innocent and never wavered from his story.  You hunkered down and built him a strong defense, and well – if revealing SVU’s slipshod practices was an outcome of the case, then it was just a happy accident.

In court, you parried every one of Barba’s thrusts, and then watched you eviscerated the state’s case.  You called in witnesses of your own.  In a move that felt so good it felt like a narcotic, you called Amanda to the stand and got her twisted in her own testimony.  Then, when she got upset, she came across as openly hostile, even when Barba tried to cross her and salvage it.  You watched at least three jury members turn on the state’s case, just like that.

And then, the coup de grace:  you exposed SVU as sloppy.  You turned in evidence after evidence of the alleged victim’s social media while the victim was on the stand.  Posts from Facebook that SVU should have found and vetted during their investigation – but didn’t.  It had taken you all of twenty minutes of idle scrolling through the young woman’s social media feed.  You had no idea how NYPD missed it.

And then you made the alleged victim read her own words for the court.  Back-and-forth threads with friends about how she, a honey-blonde white girl from the Upper East Side, was hooking up with a black scholarship kid from Biloxi, Mississippi.  And when one friend opined that the alleged victim’s father would go nuclear when he found out about his only daughter’s hook up?

“Miss Prince, can you read this last comment for the jury?” you asked, and your voice sounded so sweet and accommodating that the woman smiled before she realized what you were asking.

She stuttered, turned bright red, and then read the damning bit in a voice that was so low that you cut her off and made her repeat it. 

“What does it say, Miss Prince?”

The young woman glared at you, then read it in a steadier voice.  “It says, ‘if my dad finds out, I’ll just say he raped me.’”

And everything after that was just a formality, really.

[duckiemimi]

Omg you so right like i cant JiJi and aria is literally super modern girlfriend with supportive goofy outgoing boyfriends

OMG I NOT DONE TALKING ABOUT THESE TOO( i havent read the mang fully but just seen the pic of them two together and it so cute 🥰 im literally waiting for the anime version of the manga 😭 because lowkey i dont want to finish the manga so early and catch up! LIKE UGH GOT ME ON A BIG CLIFFHANGER ON BOTH ENDS! and the voice acting are so freaking good that just hearing the voice is literally a spoiler😭 like there doing me dirty)

like i just know when aria get hurt JiJi would stop the goofy act and actually act serious or worried about her (and his friends) and aria be like “im fine idoit im the chosen one after all!” Jiji will always be there even for her dumb little ‘ jokes’ sighing at her words “yea i definitely know that! but your still hurt! Aria chan” 😣 like ugh i live this pair i really hope that there get together and developed more within the story and doesn’t make it seem forced.

and the alien girl and JiJi is literally sibling coded like ugh i seen the pic of them and i just can’t WAIT TO SEE THEM BOTH. but also i dont want to reaaddd it as well, like the surprise feeling its the best feeling ever. (Also can i be this 👾 anonymous?)

hi, 👾 anon!

I'VE BEEN THINKING OF THEM A LOT, TOO. i, too, am pacing myself to avoid waiting long, long weeks of being idle...i'm a little more than halfway through to catching up in the manga, but i also have a bad habit of purposefully spoiling myself, heh. i'm stuck on chapter 93 because seiko's just so fucking cool.

aira's been progressively maturing throughout the story (word is she's dropped the main character syndrome in the recent chapters, but i couldn't tell you) and i think if she develops romantic feelings for jiji, it would look a lot different than her crush for okarun. aira is comically bold with okarun, but considering jiji's class clown demeanor and their earlier clashes in choices, i think aira would have a tough time admitting her feelings to herself. which makes for a good time for readers, yes.

jiji's crush on momo, on the other hand, while heartfelt and less played for laughs than aira's on okarun, is probably something he could shake off and later make completely platonic. he's emotionally mature like that! if he develops romantic feelings for aira, he would likely treat her the same as usual, maybe with extra attention (think lingering touches, oddly affectionate glances), very subtle, something someone who doesn't know him could brush off as classic friendly jiji. i think he'd learn from his crush on momo, too, shedding some of his unserious tendencies to become braver and more sincere for a new love interest. (lord knows he would need that considering aira's way touchier than momo.)

now if aira got hurt and they have mutual feelings for each other...well. we'll get to see a lot more of assertive and protective jiji, and flustered, faux-aloof aira. in front of jiji, aira would brush off her injuries as scratches and he'd sit her back down, maybe even with a lecture. aira gets overwhelmed, flicks cold water from a nearby cup to shut jiji up by bringing evil eye out. evil eye, perhaps having matured more and having a deeper bond with jiji, would only relay the rest of jiji's lecture in verbatim to aira. big mess. big, fun mess. they'd drive each other crazy, oh my god.

anyway, if this is the direction the mangaka has in mind, then it'll probably be well-written, or at least it would make sense. he's done everything well so far! tatsu, you could literally write anything and i'd agree wholeheartedly. my trust is in your hands...

VAMOLA, OH MY GOD. i could definitely see her and jiji as sibling-coded! in my eyes, she's practically momo's little sister! i don't ship her with anyone for now, not even kinta. she's just a big ol' sweetheart to everybody :') yea!

[leifygreeens]

hello!! your writings are so fun to read!!

if its alright with you, could i please request maru x penny x gn! farmer !! it could be general headcanons or anything. maybe it could be like how they would prepare for and celebrate bdays? i think thatd be cute and maybe chaotic xD up to you >:3

Hey!! Sorry this is so overdue (I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot about the ask atp, my bad).

I really hope you like this, I'm sorry it's taken me so damn long to get this out to you, and as always, thank you for your request. I hope you have a lovely day, Anne! <3

Warnings: Fluffy as hell. That's it. Enjoy!

For birthdays and anniversaries, Maru and Penny will ask that you get home early, and get ready to go into town

You’ll shower, dress up a little more than usual, and walk to the Saloon

Maru and Penny reserve the private dining space, because the volume of the saloon is a little much when you’re looking for something intimate and personal

Gus is always happy to have you, and goes out of his way to make sure your dinner goes smoothly

He gives free desserts and drinks, as well, and will bring them to you with a grin

When dinner is finished, and you’ve all gone home, Penny and Maru will sit you down in the living room, and bring you their gifts

Penny typically goes for sentimental pieces, like annotated books and trinkets that hint at an inside joke or two, paired with heartfelt letters

Maru is less sappy, but just as sincere with her gifts

She’ll commonly gift you with machines she’s built to make your lives easier, or the occasional items she caught you staring at a little too long during your trips to the city

After presents, you’ll watch movies for a portion of the night, and when the light of day finally fades away, Maru and Penny will drag you up to the loft

“The loft” used to be the attic of the farmhouse, until Robin deconstructed the walls and the ceiling into an open air space, and cut out some bits of the roof to account for the windows to make some skylights

Cushioned with plenty of blankets and pillows that Penny thrifted or made herself, it’s a pretty cozy space

But you’ll climb up the ladder steps as a trio, and make yourselves comfortable

You always take the middle, with Maru and Penny on either side of you

There's several personalized things up there, like the mini bookshelf Penny and Maru use for their books (Maru loves her academic books, and Penny fills her shelves with classic and modern literature of all genres)

There's also a spot up there for your pets, and plenty of potted plants for extra greenery

Maru and Penny's favorite part of the loft is the bedded space, however

But anyway

Maru has her telescope up there, and (weather allowing) Maru will open one of the windows and you’ll stargaze

Sometimes Penny makes up stories for constellations, or tells you the stories she does know

You’ll point out stars or clouds of color in the night sky, and Maru will tell you exactly what they are, how they form, and she can tell you what they’re named, as well

But on the days where the weather isn’t so perfect, and the stars are obscured, the windows will stay closed, and you’ll watch the rain pitter against the glass or the lightning arc across the sky

On those days, you’ll talk about anything, everything

Or, if you prefer the quiet, Maru and Penny are content to just lay back and enjoy the sky with you

If your birthday or anniversary is in the winter, and the window has frosted over, then Penny will read to you

She always lets you pick the book you want her to read, and if you're feeling cheeky, you'll make her read one of those really sappy romance books she loves so much

Penny can never get through a reading without blushing like a madwoman, even later on in your marriage

It gives you and Maru more ammo to tease her, later ;)

You'll stay up there for the rest of the night, in a giant cuddle pile, sleeping comfortably in each other's arms

It’s safe, and cozy, and you wouldn't have it any other way

[starsunderwaterr]

Comfort with the Idols + Agents! (pt. 1)

Hey guys! I really do apologize for the late posts. Trying to manage my time better. Not even gonna hold you all, my week's been pretty ass, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we could all use a little bit of comfort from our favorite cephalopods. Enjoy guys, love you ♡

I'll just be doing Squid Sisters for this part bc I am currently on a plane traveling home and I am off the extremely desired two hours bro

All characters are 18+

Minors DNI

Callie!

Welp

Girlie knows exactly when you’re upset

She can just read you that good because she’s the same way way herself

She can tell when you’re upset based on your body language, and she’ll do her best to be there for you

She’ll start by sending a few texts, but of course, it depends on the situation

‘Heyyy!! I noticed you were really off today and I just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay!!! (≧◡≦) ♡ let me know if there’s anything I can do to help!! ♡ ♡’

She doesn’t always want to press, but if you let her in, she’ll be all over you (in a good way)

Anything you need, she’ll get, and she means it

Water, candy, your favorite takeout place, a gun

In all seriousness, if you ask her to come over, she will bring a whole bunch of your favorite comfort things, go on a whole spending spree just for you so that you can feel better

She's definitely gonna make you something hot and warm, grab a blanket, and sit down with you on the couch to talk

Will take your hands and hold them with such gentle care omg>>>

Her hands are also super soft???? Like, girlie takes such good care of her skin

So she's holding your hands and she's just looking at you in your lil sad burrito

The softest voice, "Hey, it's gonna be alright. Tell me what's going on..."

You can't help but tell her, she's just so comfortable to be around

Halfway through telling her, you burst into a sob, and instantly her arms are around you

Will hold you gently but securely so that you feel safe

Will rub your back and kiss your head

Is like,,,, scarily calm but genuinely worried about you, especially because it's not every day that you break down in her arms

“It’s okay to cry, (Y/N). Just let it out. I’m here.”

Her voice is always so gentle and calming, and she’s surprisingly a good listener when things get serious

Holds you until you tire yourself out, and even then, she’s not going to let go unless you make the move or say so

And she’s really going out of her comfort zone for you, since she gets extremely antsy after sitting for long periods of time, so she really does care for you

Will stay with you for however long you need, grabs you anything you ask for

Will try to sympathize with you through her own stories and whatnot

“You don’t ever have to hide it from me because eventually I will figure it out anyways!”

Okay nah but like why is it actually cute when she threatens you like that

Causes your chest to swell just a tad

Will literally stare at you before saying like the sweetest/most adorable thing ever

"You know I'm really happy I met you. I know I don't say it enough but thank you for being my friend and so much more."

Will literally bring you to tears like-

You had a bad day but your girlfriend just swoops in and brings you a care package, cuddles, AND A HEARTFELT MESSAGE LIKE HUH??????

We fr love Callie, she a real one <3

Marie!

So, Marie is observant, but maybe not in the way you'd think

She will notice changes in your behavior, but she doesn't say anything until it concerns her (AKA when she can get enough evidence to tell that you are not normal HDSHHHD)

Will notice you get either really quiet or way too bubbly (even if you are naturally)

Eyes you suspiciously and will stare into your soul before then having her aha moment

“So there is something wrong, you just didn’t want to tell me.”

You can’t really keep a poker face after that, I’m afraid

She’ll stare into your soul and glare at you (lovingly, of course) with her arms crossed over her chest

“Come on, (Y/N). Can’t fool me with that crap.”

Will soften up though once you respond, especially if you try to push her away or get snappy

“You don’t have to tell me, of course, but… I am worried about you.”

If you want your space, she’ll leave you be, but she’ll check up on you after a few hours

She knows the importance of and loves her alone time, so if you want it, she will, by all means, give it to you

After a few hours, she stands in the doorway, knocking softly on the doorframe, “Hey (Y/N)?”

Marie is usually very dry and nonchalant, but she has some care in her voice

Will look at you with soft, saddened eyes as you’re in your little sad burrito, trying to remain as gentle as she can be

Walks over and just scoops you up, even if you're heavier than her, SHE'LL MAKE IT WORK OKAY-

Holds you in her lap and will cradle you close

and yes her face is bright red and she's embarrassed but she's doing this for you bro

Will gently stroke your head and kind of hum gently as she does

I see Marie as a sort of grandma type (I mean, Callie calls her one all the time-) so I can see her literally holding you and crotcheting or something while you just relax against her

Will occasionally mumble something about a stitch pattern and kiss your head, or she'll talk quietly with you as she does it and holds you

Might crack the occasional joke to try and cheer you up

Will be stitching you a little cat/bunny hat, will look back at it, then at you, then back at it again, then back at you and just-

"Yeah, you'll look reallll ugly in this.-"

LIKE MS. GOWRL-

Will give you a look like YOU DID SOMETHING LIKE WHAT-

It works tho bc girlie gets you giggling out of pure confusion and caught-off-guardness (yes, that's a word bc i said so)

She doesn't actually mean it tho, I mean, come on, you're her partner of course she thinks you're gorgeous

Obvi if you're really upset she won't say that, but her dry and emotionless humor is a love language she uses to try and cheer you up

She loves you fr fr <3

[zoobus]

I'm not normally a victim of FOMO tactics, nor do I usually let being late to the party stop me from chatting about a piece of media but I'm genuinely sad I didn't get into Obey Me/Nightbringer earlier. It makes me want to write a million essays but the disposable and decentralized nature of gacha kind of makes it feel like you missed your chance to talk about it. I keep coming across years old, unrepliable comments that I want to jump on sooo bad but I can't because the moment is gone and most of these people have likely moved on to less overtly money-hungry games.

Which sucks! because one essay I want to write in particular is how this game is extremely skilled in arousing your desire to create, to actively engage with the characters and worldbuilding, to do fandom shit, and I find this enormously fascinating in itself. The story isn't good but to a certain extent, it's not supposed to be; it functions as an elaborate set of writing/art/rp prompts for its audience to expand on and tailor to their needs.

And I think Obey Me does this well! Amazingly well. I find discussion of narrative structure fascinating, the study of how we define writing as effective, good, or as failures, so I'm drawn to this story full of contradicting lore, one-note characters, and half-finished plots. The story isn't good but that hardly matters because it's not here to be a good story; it's here to throw you into imagination boot camp. It compels you to speculate what it could be, what this character could be, what a slightly different tone would look like, what other people think about it. It feels distinct from the average popular show fandoms where, to an extent, creators congregate simply because that's where the people are. Creating for your own sake is nice and all but validation is usually a stronger force. Usually.

I keep coming across old high effort researched posts about abrahamic religions and occultism from fans setting themselves up for inevitable disappointment. I keep coming across creators leaving notes on their work like "I haven't written a thing in ten years, but,". I keep losing it over heartfelt posts defending x and y canon story decisions with their whole chest, oblivious to the fact that they're misremembering their personal tweaks/headcanons as what happened in the game, like it's seriously so cute when they're so passionate and completely wrong.

I have no idea if fandom actually plays a role in the lucrativeness of a franchise (though as a personal anecdote, I 100% started Obey Me after a single piece of horny Mammon fanart crossed my dash), but it makes more sense to me now, less a projection of wishful/haterful thinking from those with strong opinions about Fandom. Maybe it really does matter.

---

Other essays I missed the boat on:

A Casino Right in Your Home: goddamn is the pre/sequel's gacha obscene

Satan: how to put a mid character into S-tier with one simple trick (make him insane)

Sorry Belphie defenders but you're imagining a better psycho than you were given

Solmare added a shiny new rhythm game but didn't fix the now four year old coloring error on Levi's hands lmfaooo the disrespect is crazy

Remember when you saw the Nightbringer trailer of them glaring in bdsm gear with freshly blackened wings, and you thought "ah, so this takes place right after they fought god and lost. After they went to war to protect their sister only for her to die anyway. After one brother in particular saves someone, but not her, the focal point of the war. They will finally take these to their logical, guilt despair rage pain and grudge filled ends." And you were correct until that very last sentence? lol

Remember when the Ruri-chan event gave you the option to tell Levi you're not cheating on him and then the rest of the event was just making out with his brothers? Then it ends with you kissing him in front of them? Bring that energy back!!!

[juniperhillpatient]

Okay I have to say aside from simply finding a haunted B&B setting starring my best friend underrated treasure Rose McIver to be a charming & fun setting for a sit com —

things I love about Ghosts

- the unexpected & unique dynamics!!! the Viking warrior is best friends with the American revolution soldier & they watch ‘90s tv together. the dorky Boy Scout troop leader with an arrow through his neck has a huge crush on the diva Harlem jazz singer who died in the 20s. the hippie free spirit teaches the repressed Victorian lady of the house about female sexual pleasure. It’s all endlessly iconic & surprisingly heartfelt for how bizarre some of it gets like the ghost who haunted one of his now adult ghost friends as a child & sang her lullabies but now they’re peers.

- the relationship between Jay & Sam! I ADORE me a good malewife x somewhat off her rocker chick dynamic. not since Joel & Sheila of the cancelled too soon genius Santa Clarita Diet have I this much adored a sit com married couple. the way Jay is endlessly supportive of Sam & her ghosts & their adorable dynamic because they are husband & wife but also they are best friends - is just so cute.

-it’s funny but it never punches down. all of the characters are (so far I’m on season 2) pretty wild & they each get some episodes focusing on their backstory. from the Native American storyteller to the quirky cholera ghost who faked a relationship with the Boy Scout troop leader (long story) to the girl who was murder with a chainsaw on prom night. It’s goofy as hell but each of these hilarious characters still feels very much like a three dimensional person in a way you just don’t get with every show. I also enjoy that so far there’s not a butt of the joke character in an over the top way. This is something that turns me off shows & it happens a lot in sit coms: the Meg Griffin effect. That doesn’t happen on this show! Sure, Trevor is the butt of a lot of jokes because he’s kind of a douche & he has no pants but the episode where you learn his backstory is actually so good & shows what good friends the ghosts really all are.

Anyway!!! I’m only on season 2 but I love this show so far that is all 🫶

[fraeuleintaka]

Investigations 1 Official Anthology Manga - Volume 2

This is the 73rd post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 8 days left until release!

Today's topic: the Investigations 1 Official Anthology Manga (Volume 2)!

The "second" anthology manga for Investigations 1 doesn't sort its short stories according to the cases they take place during like the "first" one did, they're more or less all over the place. They also (mostly) don't work off the same principle of taking a specific moment or line to start the narrative from but form their narratives around the cases and characters in a somewhat looser way. Most of the stories in this one are several pages long with only a few really short ones. Same as before, the art was drawn by several people so it changes between stories. The overall writing style is also comedic, as to be expected, but there are some wonderfully heartfelt interactions and some more serious moments as well. Even though they're not canon to the games, as far as the interactions are in-character and don't contradict anything I will treat them as canon anyway since they add some nice details to the personalities and the relationships between the characters.

Sadly, there's no coloured art this time around that I could show off but I'm still going to highlight some of my favourite (out of context) panels and pages! I love how many more interactions we get of the core cast here! Did I mention that I love the Investigations cast (including both 1 and 2)? Especially when they're together like this, they're so precious! Best cast of all AA "eras", no contest!

Gumshoe & Kay have some thoughts about the team (Miles is not convinced)

Amusement park shenanigans! (Poor Gumshoe...)

This is so cute! (The badger headpiece!)

Miles & Franziska still feel Manfred's influence even now

Maggey in a wedding dress!

A new style! (I love that Shi-Long's deep neckline is preserved, anything else would've been a crime.)

Rhoda seems to remember that case a little... differently (I love her)

How it started VS how it's going - so cute!

Everyone giving their best wolf (or Shi-Long) impression

Kay discovers what's actually on Shi-Long's scrolls (or some of them at least)

I don't know why but I love this panel especially! Just Miles & Shi-Long thinking about the case together. They work so incredibly well as a team once they get past their differences!

[songofsaraneth]

@onionjuggler submitted:

3 and 14!

From this books ask game!

3: What were your top five books of the year?

I'll be honest most of what i read this year was either rereads of treasured books (finishing up my RotE reread I did mostly in 2023), and then a lot of books i thought were just Fine. They were good enough to keep me entertained and then pretty instantly forget what happened in them specifically. So the ones that stand out from those that weren't just rereads are:

Exordia by Seth Dickinson: This book is a bit frustrating actually because it's SO CLOSE to being exactly what I want, and it drives me mad that it's not quite there. It also is a better read if you go in with the understanding that it's actually 5 novellas in a trenchcoat (publisher changed the plan, from what I understand). But it's the kind of frustrating that wouldn't leave my head for weeks after because what was there was so compelling. I will be reading book 2 the instant it drops.

Dungeon Meshi by Ryoko Kui: It was so cute and fun. I couldn't watch the anime when it started out so found the manga instead, which isn't a format i read much of otherwise. Great balance of silly, heartfelt, and using speculative bio to introduce a usually untouched element of realism to fantasy aka cooking/food.

The Paper Menagerie And Other Stories by Ken Liu: I mean I knew I was gonna like this anthology and just never got around to it to now for some reason. I like reading translated sci fi in anthlogies becuase you also get a window into what tropes are being used in other cultures/languages which is half the fun of it to me.

Monstress vol. 7 by Marjori Liu & Sana Takeda: honestly I love all of the Monstress graphic novels but this one had some fun stuff I apprreciated in particular. I also read 8 and it was good but not as suited to my tastes, and have 9 (this year's release) but left it in New Mexico so will read it once I'm back.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries: this book was just a fun fantasy romp but what I really appreciated about it was that the protagonist was ACTIVE rather than passive despite being a more stuffy/bookish sort of personality. She just went outside and dealt with things anyway. I'm pretty tired of stories where the protagonist is just being unwillingly dragged along by the narrative rather than directing their own fate so I always notice & appreciate when books break that particular mold.

14: What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

I started rereading the How To Train Your Dragon books because they're very short and I am so close to my book goal for the year (95/100...). I won't finish all of them but I will get through a couple more probably. And I've also gone through some of the Hugo nominated novellas as well since I do usually read those most years.

Actually you know what. Gonna go back and plug HTTYD books more emphatically, because if anyone reading this comment imprinted on Animorphs you should give these a try next. They're not the same level of trauma, and the first couple books are WAY sillier, then the greater story arc comes into play and I am so invested by book 5, and books 8-12 just get me so good emotionally. Never thought I'd be heartbroken over a character named Snotlout but here we are! Also, if you're an audiobook, David Tennant does the narration and you get to hear him sing a bunch of funny little songs. Though the print versions have the authors cute scribbly drawings that go along with the story so can't go wrong really.

[sapchats]

a thing i think is really sweet and dare i say endearing is how sapnap is usually always awkward or with no expression in photos even ones with his friends but sometimes he does smile and even when it is this awkward little thing it still transforms his whole face and Also on stream he can look kinda blank at times too and then he laughs while telling a story and makes overexaggerated faces and is so expressive and behind that stone faced expression is really such a sweet and heartfelt guy who's scared of flying but does it anyway and loves his friends so so much and finds a lot of joy and humor in things like idk i find it so fucking cute