#anyway. a lot to unpack here buddy

[daisywords]

Got some solid plot stuff in recently so I can get back to the important stuff: sprinkling in Trip's weird complexes

[magentagalaxies]

creation of adam but it's this photo of me handing scott the martini before his buddy cole set in the KITH toronto show

[lemonlover1110]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

Satoru Gojo

[Chapter 19] Late Night Shenanigans

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Pairing: Satoru Gojo x f!Reader

Discord +18 - Twitter - Ko-Fi

“Satoru…” You look at him, and he looks back at you with the same confusion. Sayo takes the seat that’s next to Ren’s, leaving Satoru to take a seat next to you on the plane. He could sit literally anywhere else, but he won’t. There’s a lot to talk about anyway.

“Who are you?” Ren asks, his blue eyes wide as he looks at the pretty woman that sits next to him. Sayo smiles at him, unsure of how to introduce herself. She puts out her hand for Ren to shake.

“I’m Sayo. What’s your name, buddy?” She introduces herself, and you’re extremely confused with everything. Her reaction, or rather, lack thereof. Satoru never told you that she knew, but based on his reaction, he didn’t know that she knew either.

“I’m Ren.” He responds with a big smile on his face. He still doesn’t have an idea who Sayo is and why she’s here, but you two seem fine with it, so he’s fine with it. Perhaps she’s like Shoko, a friend of his mom’s.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Ren. I’m your dad’s friend.” Sayo answers, making you even more disoriented. Perhaps she doesn’t want Ren to ask too many questions about who she is, making Satoru’s job easier. Sayo’s eyes then fall on you, “Your son is so cute. He looks just like Satoru.”

“Uhm… Thank you.” You respond. How are you supposed to answer that? That’s Satoru’s wife, a woman who just found out that her husband has a son. Well apparently she didn’t just find out but anyway. There’s a lot of questions that you have to ask, but not in front of Ren.

“You know this is a business trip, right? You can’t–” Satoru begins, making Sayo roll her eyes. She knows this isn’t a business trip, she isn’t a dumbass.

“I’ll stay away, just want to enjoy the beach and relax. Away from everyone.” She says. She gets comfortable in her seat since it’s going to be a long flight.

Ren’s first flight goes smoothly, so much so that he swears he wants to grow up and be a pilot. You wonder how long it’ll last though since last week he wanted to be a firefighter. You managed to nap on the plane so you’re thankfully not too tired when you get to your destination– Plus you avoid the awkward situation that you were put in thanks to Sayo joining your trip.

“Woah!” Ren looks around amazed at the beach house when he steps inside. He’s been inside his grandma’s home many times but for some reason, the much smaller beach house impresses him more. Of course, it’s still pretty big, but nothing compared to Satoru’s childhood home. Satoru chuckles, holding Ren’s hand as Ren begins to look around the place. 

“The bedroom is over there, if you want to unpack and whatnot.” Sayo points to the door. “It’s the master bedroom though. I’m not sure of the arrangement you have with Satoru, but I’m sure he wants you to have the master bedroom.”

“Thank you.” Your voice is weak when you speak, embarrassed and awkward because of this situation. She begins to walk to the stairs but you call out her name before she can get too far, making her stop in her tracks. “Did he tell you?”

“He didn’t. But I have my ways of knowing.” She answers, and you begin to chew on the inside of your cheek since another question lingers in your mind. 

“Aren’t you upset?” You ask her, and a laugh escapes her lips. 

“I don’t care for Satoru as much as you think, honey. I’m surprised he hasn’t talked to you about our arrangement.” She says, which leaves you dumbfounded. You’re speechless, and after standing awkwardly for a minute or so, she decides to go upstairs. 

“Arrangement? What arrangement?” You whisper, walking over to the bedroom that’s on the first floor to unpack. You come to a stop when Ren calls out to you.

“Mommy! Did you see the view!” He yells, and you chuckle as he runs up to you. He’s dragging his father along with him. Ren grabs your hand, and leads the two of you to the big windows that give you a view of the beautiful beach. “Can we go now?”

“The sun is beginning to set, Ren. We can go really early tomorrow.” You say, watching as the sky turns a pinkish color. Ren doesn’t just want to walk along the shoreline, he wants to swim in the water and play in the sand, and it’s too late for that now. It doesn’t help that you’re tired. You know that tonight he’ll be so excited that he won’t be able to sleep, but that’ll make your job all that easier because at the end of the day, he’ll be falling asleep in your arms.

You watch as Satoru pouts as well, but he isn’t going to argue with your decision. Ren looks up at his dad, hopeful that Satoru will do something. But Satoru just ruffles Ren’s hair. Satoru then proceeds to ask, “What do you want for dinner, bud? We can eat whatever you want.”

“Is Sayo going to join us?” You ask, and Satoru shakes his head. His next words just confirm to you that their dynamic is… Weird enough for a husband and wife. Perhaps it should’ve come to your mind when you saw the man making sex eyes to his old secretary, and after he kissed you.

“I don’t want her to.”

Ren was given his own room to sleep in, yet, he chooses to sleep in your bed. You never knew that someone so small could take up so much space, but Ren always has you on the edge of the bed, about to fall off. It’s something that makes Satoru cracks up when he walks into the bedroom to find you nearly on the floor because Ren takes up so much space. He wonders how you’ve managed to fall asleep. Satoru picks up Ren from the bed, carrying him out.

“Daddy?” Ren slowly opens his eyes, feeling how he’s being carried out of bed. Ren wonders what’s happening since he sees it’s still dark out. He feels Satoru kiss his temple, as they walk outside.

“We’re going to the beach, baby.” Satoru answers. It’s very late so they won’t be able to do much, but Satoru wants to let Ren at least play in the sand a bit. He’s been thinking about Ren’s pouty face, disappointed that he had to wait the whole entire day. He doesn’t know why he’s been just thinking about how disappointed Ren was, and it was keeping him awake. “Just for a bit, okay? We’re spending the whole entire day tomorrow here, so I don’t want you to get tired of the beach.”

“I won’t get tired.” Ren reassures his father, making Satoru chuckle. They’re still not staying for too long, he doesn’t want you to wake up and find out that Satoru has taken Ren out. Satoru realizes he forgot to grab a pair of shoes for Ren before walking out but he’s not too worried. It’s just sand, the only worry about it is that it gets everywhere. Satoru crouches down, rolling up Ren’s long pajama pants before the little boy runs to the shore. 

“How’s the water? Is it cold?” Satoru asks as he takes off his own shoes to join his son. 

“It’s warm.” Ren answers, and Satoru quickly verifies it as his feet touch the water. He grabs Ren’s hand before he goes in too deep into the water. Ren ends up taking a seat on the water, and Satoru bites down his lip, running a hand through his hair. He did not expect the child to take a seat in the water and ruin his pajamas. There’s absolutely no way that they won’t get caught now.

Ren begins to splash the water, and Satoru isn’t as stressed. It’s worth it to see Ren happy like this. Plus, he can do just about anything with Ren, after all, Satoru is his father. Satoru smiles, sitting down on the water as well, joining his son. His pajama pants gets completely soaked but he doesn’t mind. Satoru smiles, seeing how much fun Ren is having, “Are you having fun, Ren?”

“Yeah!” He exclaims. And for some reason, as Satoru stares at Ren, it dawns on him that this is something he has longed for– Sure, he’s thought about it, but reality really sets in. This is what he has really wanted for so long, and he finally has it. From you nonetheless. 

A sudden happiness consumes him. He has been happy, he was the happiest he could be when he found out about his son but it just hits him how lucky he is. His little baby boy from the woman he’s loved the most. Satoru picks up Ren from the water, kissing his son’s cheeks then proceeding to kiss all over his face, holding him high as Satoru lays down, completely getting wet.

“Daddy!” Ren squeals, followed by a giggle. It’s the best sound in the world. He’s missed so many years of this but he tries not to think about it, he has time to make it up. Ren is not even five yet, he has a whole life ahead of him. A whole life where Satoru gets to love him.

Satoru puts him down on his chest, hugging him tightly. Satoru appreciates the moment, lifting his head a bit to look at his son’s white hair, and laying back down to look at the stars in the sky. He has the biggest grin on his face. When was the last time he was this happy?

“I love you, Ren.” Satoru says.

“I love you too.” Ren answers. Satoru relaxes with the sound of the waves as they hit the shore, his eyes slowly getting heavier and heavier. He guesses he should let Ren go because he isn’t doing anything while in Satoru’s arms, but Satoru notices that Ren has fallen asleep. 

A sheepish smile comes to his lips, kissing the top of Ren’s head before muttering, “My baby boy.”

Satoru stands up, and just as he turns to walk back to the house, he hears your voice. You’re still in your pajamas, a hand on your hip, shaking your head in disappointment. Satoru feels his face get hot as he walks over to you.

“Sorry, I–” He begins, but you cut him off. 

“There’s no need to apologize, Satoru. He’s your son too, you’ve allowed to do stuff with him.” You say, taking a seat on the sand. Satoru doesn’t know exactly what you’re doing, but he follows your lead. “I would’ve appreciated if you would’ve told me. I woke up a little scared when Ren wasn’t next to me.”

“I’m sorry.” Satoru chuckles. You look over at Ren, who sleeps soundly in his fathers arms. You see he’s wet, and you know he had the time of life. Satoru bites down on his lip before asking, “So… What are we doing now?”

“The sun is going to rise soon. It’s late– Or really early. Depends on how you look at it.” You answer. Satoru didn’t really look at the time when he got Ren, and he certainly lost track of time with Ren. “You can go back inside.”

“No, it’s fine. I want to watch the sunrise with you.” Satoru responds. You both sit in silence, watching the horizon for the first bit of sunlight to appear, but time seems to slow down. Both of your hearts beat fast, as if they were going to beat out of your chest.

“So… Sayo told me that you have an arrangement. Do you want to talk about it?” You speak up, the question bugging your mind. You’re not sure when you’ll have a moment where you’re semi-alone again.

“Not right now, really.” Satoru says, not wanting to ruin the moment now. He misses when the first bit of light graces the sky, his eyes focused on you. He knows he shouldn’t… But he leans in to press a kiss on your cheek, which catches you off guard since your eyes are elsewhere.

“What was that for?” You ask. You’re a little too happy about it, but you shouldn’t let it happen

“For our son.” 

“You have a wife, and even if you didn’t, our relationship has been long gone, Satoru.” You remind him.

“Just a thank you kiss, nothing else.”

[the-impulse-to-love]

this bit from the creative process interview stuck out to me too:

"Set in a garden, Emergence animation depict[s] the protagonist, Vessel, undergoing a transformative rebirth and a new existence with Sleep. The background structure is a hidden monolithic palace."

in addition, this is how the glitches are explained:

"A hidden detail appears briefly in each single: the glitch. An instant revealing the ongoing battle between the factions. While most symbols were decoded by the Sleep Token community, the glitch remains a subtle visual code for those who look closer."

anyways. short thoughts

we only see one HV knight fighting a FH creature (and the knight ends up winning so. hm. knight vessel real?

i do wonder what sleep's role is in all this. not too sure if it's 100% just "HV is vessel, FH is sleep"

the two houses do directly "collide" in each visualizer as well

the knight gets more buddies in later visualizers -- going off of the idea that yes, the HV knight is vessel, i feel like it's a metaphor for found support and community

"transformative rebirth" + "new existence" can mean a lot of things... it's a new era For Sure. in the words of euclid, "i must be someone new"

given the meaning/themes of "even in arcadia" i'm inclined to believe that yes, the cycle is broken, but sleep still manages to be present in vessel's life, directly or indirectly. (the idea of sleep being a personification of personal demons/pains).

idk. there's a good amount to unpack here

(original deleted post here, referenced from 1, 2)

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

To Catch A Falling Star (Idia Shroud x Reader)

Inspired by a scene from Criminal Minds

Masterlist

Reader is intended to be female

If Idia had to describe you in one word it was unexpected.

He still remembers the day he met the magicless prefect who appeared out of nowhere in a fiery blaze of glory like some leveled up shounen protagonist about to fight the final boss, how Ortho had directed you into his room before he could stop him. And instead of being repulsed by the many, many posters, figurines and merch he had scattered around his room, you were in fact…elated?

“You’re an otaku as well?” you beamed at him, your starry-eyed gaze of awe rendering him speechless before he flinches as you yell, pumping your fists in the air, “Finally! A worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!”

Yeah, he does not have the energy to unpack that.

Anyway, he never expected you to appear in his world, and he never expected to find himself comfortable with you, his new gaming buddy and fellow animanga enthusiast. You never judge him for his tastes or his behaviour or less than ideal personality. You were someone he could genuinely call a friend andabsolutelynothingmoreOrthoIloveyoubutpleasebequiet.

And having you around a lot, both because of you just barging into his room or by Ortho’s multitude of invites, just felt natural, your chatter being something that he could call soothing. Which is how he found himself absolutely dominating his current multiplayer playthrough with you doing your own thing by his side.

After his team had won the game, he turned to you, ready to receive your subsequent praise, only to find that your attention was diverted towards a wooden toy thing, your face scrunched up in concentration as your fingers fiddled with its many vertices.

“What are you doing?” he asked and you paused your twiddling, looking up at him. 

“Oh I got this star puzzle in Sam’s shop earlier. It reminded me a lot of this thing we have back in my world so I thought that I’d try it out,” you look back down and resume playing with it, “it’s practically impossible to figure out. You’ve got to put all of these pieces together to form a perfect star. It’s a bit of a headache really but it’s got a really sweet backstory.”

“So that thing’s got lore?” Idia raised his eyebrows and held out his hand. You gently toss it into his open palm.

“Well, you see it’s this romantic story where a young prince wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land, so he climbed up to the top of the tallest tower in the kingdom and caught a falling star for her. But, since he was so excited to give it to her, he dropped it and it smashed into all of these small pieces. So he frantically put it back together again to prove his undying love to her and he succeeded and they lived happily ever after.”

“What a load of normie nonsense,” Idia scoffed.

“Excuse me?!”

“You can’t catch a falling star,” he deadpanned, “it would burn up in the atmosphere.”

“Really?” you ask, unimpressed, “you live in a world that has flying broomsticks and magic mirrors and plants that can yell loud enough to kill someone - I really don’t think you can argue about the concept of reality when there are children here who are capable of breaking the laws of physics on the regular.”

“But still, it’s stupid,” he grumbles, “why does catching a star make you a shoujo manga male lead.”

“It’s romantic,” you argue, “he loves her so much that he would do the impossible for her. Besides, the point is that it’s impossible to do because you have to take all of these pieces and fit them exactly into the shape of a -”

You trail off, dumbfounded, when Idia smugly presents to you the completed puzzle, a small brown star sitting idly in his hand. 

“You were saying,” he smirked at your flabbergasted expression, preening slightly when it shifted to annoyed, “it doesn’t seem all that hard to me.”

“Why do you have to be like this,” you lamented, pouting as you grumbled about ‘high and mighty otakus who think they’re so cool just because they’ve beaten you in every one-v-one you’ve played’.

“Just take the L,” he said, not without a hint of condescension, as he turned back to his screen. Thankfully you were too busy wallowing to notice the magenta glowing along the edges of his hair. Why do you have to be so cute? You’re dangerous, you know.

Yeah, you’re a pretty unpredictable person. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t pull any epic gamer moves of his own.

[cardboardclownery]

CRASHES THROUGH A BRICK WALL

HI HI IM ALIVE!!!! sorry for the relative radio silence on here ;v;

on the topic of that actually!!!! finally have a proper folie a deux au update for you!! though its slightly different than expected?

me and professional buddy and fellow au creator @cookiecaker decided to share a summary of the story we're making for the au beforehand since we'll be taking a whileeee to finish it,,, got a lot of life to live and horrors to create "-v-

after this though you mayyyy or may notttt see some out of order chapter drafts posted for the story as well,,, or atleast one? eh youll see ;Pc

ANYWAYS!!!! this is gonna take a while so lets get on with...

THE FOLIE À DEUX DOAI AU

a summary!!

or story pitch? idk-

(cookie please lemme know if i miss or improperly describe anything here feel free to correct me-)

PART 1

the first three chapters follow alex just after the end of volume 1 as theyre abducted by lankmann and confined to his asylum as a "patient." eventually they get sent to winfrey as food, but winfrey refuses to eat them. theyre left to die in room 66 by lankmann for a Long While, until eventually he gives up and just puts alex back in their room

while alone in confinement, alex starts noticing strange things happening... dark patches start appearing on their skin, they get random pains as if someone were kicking them, and they hear a voice... a much clearer voice than the ones they used to hear while working in the asylum, and it seemed to be able to read their thoughts. though they originally just assumed it was due to being part of their thoughts as well, they find that they start knowing things they had no way of knowing and never learned prior to being confined. when lankmann typically entered room 66, how long hes inside, certain areas of the asylum patients found that theyd never heard of before...

this "voice" managed to help alex find a way to escape, leading to them running away and moving to another, smaller town in eastridge than the one they originally lived in to avoid lankmann's pursuit

PART 2

[ ! tw for cannibalism. yes you heard me- ! ]

so after getting far away from the asylum, alex assumes that their hallucinations and weird symptoms of... Something would wear off, since subject 02 was no where near close enough to affect them

well uh. nope! theyre still there!!

so eventually alex figures out "oh shit that thing is in my head somehow" and is obviously quite concerned!!! to say the least!!!! but theyre also oddly comforted by the idea of having The Voice in their head, since now theyre not entirely alone while on the run and i mean it helped them escape so it cant be that bad?? either way theyre not exactly excited about the whole ordeal and theyre starting to look different and theyre really hungry all the time and its not fun

so! at some point (with winfreys suggestion) alex decides to run off to another town a bit farther away just to be safe. but Uh Oh theyre all out of food!! so theyre extremely hungry, forcing themself through it so they can get food when they arrive but. they see someone in the woods while walking

and for some reason that makes them even hungrier

they try to ignore it and keep walking but they cant

and the next thing they know

theyre looking down at a person

chewing off the flesh on their leg

covered in blood

even after regaining their senses they cant stop themself from eating. it tasted... so good... they were so hungry... they felt awful but it really did taste so s o g o o d .

in a haze, they discard the body, clean themself off and reach the next town. just after unpacking in an apartment, they collapse, flooded with the emotions they fought off on the way there

the next day, alex finally confronts winfrey (or winfreys voice rather-) about all their grievances and they eventually reach an understanding, as winfrey opens up about fearing the outside of the asylum despite longing to escape through alex, so they eventually agree to let winfrey pilot their body for a few days to get a feel for how the world has changed since the time winfrey had been free

in doing so, winfrey realizes how small and helpless humans are in comparison to them and how terrified the patients they devoured mustve been. this allows them to appreciate human life (specifically alex's) much more and want to escaped in their own body to join alex outside and introduce clyde to what they learned after finding it again

while piloting alexs body, winfrey is suddenly forced back into their own after lankmann inflicts enough pain to wake them from the dissociative state that piloting alex left them in. soon after this, winfrey overcomes the fear that was originally keeping them from escaping the facility and breaks out

PART 3

this section is a lot less figured out than the rest so uhh bear with me please ;v;

essentially this couple of chapters just follows alex and winfrey as they get used to life on the run, figuring out where to go from there and how they could potentially find clyde, along with just talking face to face and getting used to that. its a weird feeling talking to someone that you share thoughts with yknow? like talking to yourself but its... not... yourself...

around the start of this section winfrey also expresses that they feel drawn to feminity as a human concept, thus being referred to with they/she from this point on in the story!! transfem winfrey yippee!!! it just makes sense in our head idk-

PART 4

alex and winfrey start noticing news broadcasts and posters asking around for a "dark figure" lurking around, as well as warnings about alex being missing from lankmanns asylum. this fuels alex's paranoia, leading them to seeing lankmanns caretakers everywhere, feeling as if theyre being watched wherever they go... until eventually their home is ambushed and theyre taken back into lankmanns custody

alex is essentially used as bait to get winfrey to come save them from the asylum, since lankmann couldnt find a solid lead on where winfrey could be. alex tries to convince her not to fall for it, since they can both tell this is what lankmanns trying to do, but winfrey eventually caves and breaks back in to help alex, getting trapped inside once again

PART 5

depsite the circumstances, winfrey and alex do their best to stay determined and keep looking for a way out, but they dont make much progress. to make matters worse, lankmann tries "live feeding" patients to alex in the same way he did with winfrey due to realizing that alex has veldigun traits and assuming that theyd have the same appetite as her. this isnt the case, and eventually lankmann switches to dead patients as food for alex, which theyre forced to accept due to lacking any other options

both winfrey and alex are miserable in the situation, the helplessness sinking in fairly quickly as alexs body begins rejecting the growing veldigun portions of itself, decaying under the immense stress

during their final moments, winfrey pilots alexs body to allow an atleast somewhat peaceful death as their consciousness fades away, leaving winfrey alone to reflect on all that had happened...

...and thats the official end of the story!! i had like,, a hypothetical epilogue/alternate ending where lankmann forces a Mind Merge with winfrey somehow and then gets killed and she breaks out again but like. idk the logistics of that are iffy and i kinda prefer the more melancholy end for something like this ":]c

ANYHOW!!!! hope that was!!! something!!!! please feel free to ask questions or provide feedback or anything else im always happy to engage with my fellow freaks (affectionate) :]

ALSO IF YOU MAKE CONTENT BASED ON THIS AU LET ME KNOW I WILL DIE FOREVER alright thats it for real this time- stay safe broskissss BP

[petruchio]

Caroline I’m moving too!! and also returning to the hunger games to procrastinate unpacking!!

Since we’re both here, can we talk about Madge? She’s sticking out to me on this read through.

Like it’s so charming that two very opposite people are such sweet quiet buddies. Like Katniss doesn’t think in terms of friends but that’s clearly what they are. And it’s so interesting that we don’t hear much of her after the games. She gives Katniss the pin, but is estranged from the Mockingjay she becomes.

Maybe I’m just forgetting her place in later books, but like? Is that anything? Like Madge is real, and the pin as a gift is real. It’s anchoring to Katniss in the Capitol to have her token.

But when it stops being her token from Madge, when she starts wearing it because she has to, it’s less real. It’s a symbol, not an anchor. And we don’t hear about Madge anymore.

Something something real or not real.

i think madge is SO interesting, and i think her presence adds a lot of layers to the commentary the book is making! i think it's annoying that she was written out of the movies, because while i get it, i think her character actually does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of what sc is trying to portray.

like, yes -- they are friends!!!! and it's super important that they're friends, even if katniss doesn't realize it, because it's one of the ways early on that we see katniss making genuine bonds that transcend her "assigned" social class. (this is a good time to return to my extended gale analysis, in which i always like to point out that one of the very first things that happens in the book is that he "takes a dig at madge" and katniss doesn't like it. she doesn't disagree with his IDEOLOGICAL opinion, but she does disagree with the way he directs it at individuals. and well... that will continue to be relevant!)

and the symbolism of the pin has been written about time and time again by everyone who loves thg, but i do actually think it's significant that it comes from madge -- someone for who the hunger games (and the other living d12 victor) are so deeply woven into her family history (re: maysilee, also omg i cant believe we're getting a new book soon but we can talk about that later) and the mockingjay being representative of these kinds of bonds that the capitol can't control. that is to say, katniss and madge's friendship is a "mockingjay" in its own way, the same way her and peeta's love story is -- it's a bond that transcends social class and goes against the divisions and divides that the capitol and the society thrives off claiming are innate. it's the same seam/town bond that we see with katniss and peeta, with mr. and mrs. everdeen, with haymitch and maysilee, and so here, even so early on, it's threaded into katniss and madge. so i DO think it's deeply significant that the pin comes from her -- that it represents this bond both as a symbol but also in the relationship itself.

also, on the topic of mockingjays and music, one of my favorite sort of throwaway lines that we get in catching fire is that madge tries to teach katniss piano after the first games. katniss says something like "mostly i just like listening to her play" but i think it's SO interesting that music plays a part in their bond as well, especially in context of the mockinjay pin, especially in context of the role of music throughout the series and the way it transcends social division. (hello mr. and mrs. everdeen! hi peeta! and ... oh wait... lucy gray??? is that you too??)

anyway, all that is to say i think madge is deeply woven into the mockingjay even as a symbol! her part in it is in symbolism of bonds that go beyond our assigned social classes! (though to your point, it is interesting that she dies when the mockingjay symbol ceases to be a sign of resistance by the oppressed and is co-opted by another authoritarian regime... but i don't have anything super insightful to say on that quite yet.)

[bitchinbarzal]

I hate Boston | Mini Minten

The new house is too quiet.

Back in Toronto, there was always something happening—Flynn and Dallas playing in the yard, Felix and Miro running laps around the living room, Fallon babbling in her high chair while the chaos swirled around her.

Now, there’s nothing.

It’s too still.

Too unfamiliar.

Too not home.

Flynn refuses to unpack.

His boxes sit untouched in the corner of his new room, sealed with tape, like maybe—maybe—if he doesn’t open them, he won’t really have to stay.

He lays on his bed, clutching his tablet, staring at the last FaceTime call from Dallas. She was crying. He wasn’t. He had been too angry to cry then. But now?

Now, the lump in his throat won’t go away.

His mom knocks gently on his door. “Hey, lovebug.”

Flynn doesn’t look up.

She comes in anyway, sitting beside him, rubbing a hand over his back. “Do you want to call Dallas?”

He shakes his head. “She’s at school.”

His mom presses her lips together, then smooths his hair back. “She misses you.”

Flynn clenches his jaw. “I miss her more.”

Mama Mints sighs, brushing her fingers through his curls. “I know, baby.”

Flynn sniffles. “It’s not fair.”

She doesn’t have an answer to that.

Because it isn’t.

Felix is mad at the new playground.

It’s fine, he guesses. There’s a slide, and monkey bars, and a big climbing structure, but it’s missing the most important thing—Miro.

Back home, Miro would race him to the top of the slide. He would push him too high on the swings, and they would laugh until they fell in the wood chips.

Here, Felix just sits on the bottom step, kicking at the dirt.

“Not playing, buddy?” Fraser asks, crouching next to him.

Felix frowns. “No.”

Fraser tugs gently on one of his curls. “How come?”

Felix shrugs. “‘Cause Miro’s not here.”

Fraser’s face softens. “I know, bud.”

Felix looks at the kids running around. “I don’t wanna play with them.”

Fraser nods, pulling him into a hug. “That’s okay, bub. You don’t have to.”

Felix sighs against his dad’s shoulder. “I just want Miro.”

Fraser holds him tighter. “I know.”

Fallon had been excited about Boston. She liked the word Boston. It sounded fun.

But now?

Now, everything sucks.

Flynn is grumpy. Felix is grumpy. And she is grumpy.

She wails when her mom tries to put her in her car seat.

She wails when she drops her stuffed bunny.

She wails when her pancakes have the wrong syrup.

Nothing is right.

She wants her old house.

She wants her old room.

She wants her brothers to stop being sad because it makes her sad, too.

Mama Mints and Fraser try everything.

Ice cream? No one wants it.

A movie night? Flynn just stares at his tablet.

A trip to the zoo? Fallon screams when they leave because she thinks they’re going back to the new house.

It’s a disaster.

Fraser sits on the couch, rubbing his face. “I feel like we broke them.”

Mama Mints sighs, running a hand through her hair. “It’s just a lot of change at once.”

Fraser tilts his head toward the kids, sprawled on the floor, looking absolutely miserable. “What do we do?”

Mama Mints sighs. “We keep showing up.”

So they do.

They don’t push too hard.

They don’t force smiles.

They just show up—for every tantrum, every bad day, every tearful bedtime.

And, little by little, the weight starts to lift.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Do you think AyS was a soft launch of sorts? I’m left with so many questions as to why did it, taking away the need to spend time together?

I'm not in the mood for a long answer to this because sometimes it feels like so much discussion surrounding jikook is recycled discourse.

No, it's not a soft launch. It's a bromance show which wouldn't raise eyebrows for an average domestic audience used to the format (why? too much to unpack here in terms of culture and SK masculinity). Also, soft launch as a couple before enlisting in the military through a buddy system? No way. And third? It implies that being more out and open as a couple in front of an audience/fanbase is somehow necessary, when it isn't. Gay or straight couple, you would find that there isn't a lot of openness about private life from celebs in SK. The divide between private and public life is more prominent.

Jikook in AYS?! don't need a label, nor the show. For those of us who have our own theories, the episodes were more of a reinforcement of what we like about them and together. And for casual viewers or who aren't interested in the romantic angle, it also looked like a show made by two guys who have an amazing friendship. Other factions of the audience are not worth mentioning anyway.

[gravedwe11er]

Co-existence

Another rarepair prompt, a bit late but better than never. Thanks to my betas @jayden-writes and @showstopper35, your help means a lot!

Pairing: Starscream/Wheeljack

Cw: a bit of injury, but nothing serious

Wordcount: 2.5k

Continuity: IDW

Summary: Five times living together was a bit of a hassle, and the one time that made it all worth it.

“Wheeljack.”

Lifting his helm up and away from the microscope before turning his head towards the sound of Starscream’s voice, Wheeljack finds his lover standing behind him with a scowl on his faceplates and his arms crossed, claws tapping out an irritated rhythm on his own plating.

“Oh hey, you’re back early. Something happen?”

Starscream snorts. “You really should check your chrono more often, it’s evening.”

Ah. “Suppose I should!” he chuckles. Losing track of time has always been a common issue for him, and he doubts that’s gonna be changing anytime soon. “So, what’s got you making that face? The council stepping on your toes again?”

“Stepping on my what-? Nevermind, don’t tell me,” Starscream mutters, shaking his helm at the earth word before carrying on. “But no, they’ve actually managed to be marginally more tolerable than usual today.”

“So?”

“So,” the seeker huffs, gesturing towards the completely cluttered table Wheeljack is sitting at, “you do know this isn’t a lab table, right?”

Ah. Well, Wheeljack did sort of forget about that, actually. Back in his old apartment, he hadn’t really kept a distinction between refueling table and lab table – his equipment took up nearly every horizontal surface aside from his berth, not to mention he usually ate in his lab anyway and had no need to keep it tidied away.

Though it made sense that Starscream, being…well, Starscream, might not see things the same way.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he shrugs sheepishly. “I’ll clean it up soon, yeah? Just lemme finish this up real quick, it shouldn’t be moved at this stage-“

“You can have one half,” interjects Starscream. “One half of the table exactly. And keep anything caustic in your actual lab, this thing wasn’t cheap.”

Wheeljack stares at him, optics wide. Avoiding his gaze, the seeker crosses his arms again. “We talked about compromising, didn’t we?” he mutters.

“So we did,” says the engineer, pleasantly surprised. “Still, thanks.”

Humming in response, Starscream sidles up next to him before throwing him an expectant look.

With a grin hidden under his blast mask, Wheeljack pushes the microscope closer to his partner. “So, what I’ve got here are ore samples from the Helex area…”

Now, Starscream understands the value of personal possessions, of course, and understands that Wheeljack would want to bring them over from his apartment when moving into his own penthouse. But why must they all look like…that?!

“I had this place professionally decorated,” he complains, with a completely justified whine to his voice, as the engineer shoves a battered, stained monstrosity of a desk into a corner of their berthroom.

In the living room already sits an eyesore of an armchair, completely clashing with the rest of his carefully chosen furniture. Little holo displays with photos of Wheeljack and his various autobot buddies haphazardly litter the shelves, scattered around Starscream’s nicely arranged models and knick-knacks. By the entrance, a few boxes hastily labeled as various lab equipment still wait to be unpacked.

“Uh. Sorry?” says Wheeljack, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess the table does look a bit grimy. I could give it a wipe down if you want?”

Scrubbing a servo down his faceplates, Starscream abruptly turns on a thruster and marches away from the unfolding disaster before he ends up saying something he regrets.

Primus, the things he puts up with for this mech.

Wheeljack wakes slowly, his systems taking their time to boot up in the face of just how utterly comfortable he is. As ridiculously huge and ostentatious Starscream’s berth is, he’s absolutely beginning to see its appeal.

And speaking of the mech- he lazily throws an arm out to the opposite side, finding it empty but still faintly warm - must have gotten up just a bit before him.

When he eventually drags himself out, his frame’s demands for fuel overpowering the wonderful softness of his lover’s fancy sheets, he finds Starscream on the couch, sipping his own morning cube in stormy silence. The room is dark, unusually so for this time of day, and Wheeljack spends a few confused moments thinking about unexpected dust storms before noticing the blinds drawn across all windows and the glass balcony door. Making his way over to the nearest one, wanting to see natural light at least once per day, he’s quickly halted by his partner’s voice.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” says Starscream, tone acidic, “not unless you want to see your faceplates on the front page tomorrow.”

Stopping in his tracks, he turns to look incredulously at his seeker. “Say what?”

“It would seem that there’s nothing more interesting happening these days than my ‘scandalous paramour’ moving in with me and making things official. The camera drones have been lurking outside all morning.”

Wheeljack sputters. “Wh- that can’t be legal! Isn’t this private property?”

“Well, it’s not illegal, unfortunately,” scowls Starscream, taking another sip of his fuel. “They’re technically not on my property, and there’s nothing preventing them from hovering just outside of it. I’d shoot them down, but,” he shrugs, “that would be bad for my image.”

“Primus,” sighs Wheeljack, ambling over to the dispensary and getting himself a cube before sitting down next to the seeker. “This happen a lot?”

“More than I’d like,” grunts Starscream, before giving him a sideways glance. “I’m afraid it’s something you’ll have to deal with as well, now that you’re here. I hope it’s not too much of a deal-breaker.”

Sensing the thread of anxiety in his partner’s field, Wheeljack throws an arm over the seeker’s shoulders with an easy grin. “Eh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ll manage. And besides,” he says in a fake-conspiratory mumble, “I don’t think I could bear recharging anymore without these blankets of yours, they’re really something special.”

Sure, he’s not exactly a fan of being examined by the masses like a specimen under a microscope, but seeing Starscream laugh like that, at something he said, makes it all seem pretty bearable.

As Starscream flies home, zig-zagging between Metroplex’s towers in his altmode, he can’t help but miss the war, just a tiny bit. Primus, what he wouldn’t give for a chance to simply hold the council of worlds at gunpoint, to make them actually listen to him for once. But no, in this new, civilized age, he has to hear them squabble over everything for hours on end, wasting everyone’s time and still getting nowhere.

Doing a few loops in the air to properly stretch his wings, his thoughts begin to stray towards the recent addition to his penthouse. It’s been a few chords since the move, and while living with Wheeljack has certainly had its difficulties, so far it’s been surprisingly… pleasant. He’d almost forgotten how nice it was, being greeted by a mech who was actually happy to see him after a long day of work, work, and more work.

Buoyed by the thought, he transforms once he reaches his tower’s balcony and makes his way inside with a small spring in his step, only to bump into the engineer standing right behind the door. Steadying himself on Wheeljack’s chestplate, he barely manages to note the anxiety in his lover’s field before he’s hit with a verbal barrage.

“Right, so, first, I wanna say that it was an accident and I’ll clean it all up. Most of it should scrub out I think, but some of it got on the sheets and the wall above my desk’s a little burned and-“

“Wheeljack!” shouts Starscream, smacking a servo over the engineer’s mouth to try and parse out what he’s just heard. “Slow down! You said something about an accident- are you alright?”

“What, me?” says Wheeljack, stepping a bit further away. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine, just a bit dirty,“ he reassures, waving his concerns off.

Now that Starscream can properly take him in, he sees the soot and odd colored stains littering his entire upper half, though, to his relief, he can’t see any signs of injury. With that out of the way, his processor manages to register the rest of that frenzied rant, and he quickly shoulders past the contrite looking engineer, marching his way into their berthroom.

It’s a disaster. Wheeljack’s already beaten looking desk is currently covered in soot and chunks of unknown origin, as are the nearby walls, the floor, and their berth. The explosion, as that’s surely what it was, also seems to have broken various other vials that were on said desk, whose contents are currently spilling all over the floor and making it look like an abstract artist’s canvas.

“I swear it was an accident, really,” calls out Wheeljack from somewhere behind him.

Starscream suppresses the urge to scream, field flaring out in frustration. For a moment, he wants to yell at Wheeljack, to complain about his ruined furniture and make him repeat the house rules for explosives ten times over until they stick. He’s already had a bad cycle and he feels close to snapping as he turns to the engineer, but then he just- falters.

Wheeljack looks anxious, wringing his servos together, a genuine, openly apologetic expression on his faceplates, and Starscream feels all the fight going out of him. He should have expected it, really, when he brought this brilliant disaster of a mech into his home. Everyone knows that ‘explosions’ and ‘Wheeljack’ are a package deal, and while that joke was certainly funnier when it wasn’t his home being wrecked, he can’t seem to get properly mad at him for it. Anyone else, he’d happily screech their audials off, but… not Wheeljack, it would seem.

“It’s alright,” he sighs, watching his lover relax a bit. “I suppose accidents happen, especially around you.”

“Yeahh, I know. Sorry again, I’ll go clean it up.”

“Hmpf. You better.”

Wheeljack wakes in the middle of the night, the last vestiges of a fading nightmare leaving him feeling bleary and cold. Somewhere next to him, he can hear the near-silent hum of Starscream’s systems as he recharges, a faint heat emanating from his plating. Wanting nothing more than to return to his already too few hours of rest, he’s in the slow process of turning towards his lover when a sharp object meets his optical glass with a resounding crack.

He rears back with a yelp, one servo covering his stinging optic while he onlines the other, just in time to see Starscream jump up onto his knees, gun in hand and aimed at the door.

“What happened?” the seeker shouts, shattering the last vestiges of the night’s peace as he frantically looks around for an unseen danger.

Doing his own sweep of the place and really wishing he’d kept a weapon in his subspace, Wheeljack fires back, “My optic’s busted, but I don’t know- oh, wait,“ he cuts himself off, quieter now, and points at one of the seeker’s flared out wings. “Star, look.”

In the near-complete darkness of the room, the tiny glowing smudge of processed energon on the pointy tip of Starscream’s wing easily stands out. As the seeker turns his helm and freezes at the sight, Wheeljack’s recharge-addled processor manages to put the pieces together and he slumps, feeling exhausted now that the fear has passed.

“Looks like I’ve just had a little accident,” he chuckles, running proper diagnostics on the optic to see how far the damage goes, “no assassins here or nothing. Still, what kind of luck is that, huh?”

No reply is forthcoming. When Wheeljack looks over at Starscream, he finds his partner’s gaze flicking between his stained wing and his own busted optic with a guilty expression.

“You okay, Star?

“I hurt you,” rasps the seeker, an unexpected amount of self-reproach coloring every glyph.

“What? No, if anything I hurt myself, and it’s not like you poked my eye out on purpose,” he laughs quietly, trying to lighten the mood. “Besides, it’s just a crack in the glass, the actual optic under is fine. I’ll pop over to the clinic in the morning, get it replaced, no problem. You don’t gotta worry about me.”

Starscream nods, shoulders relaxing a little, though his field still remains drawn close to his frame. “That’s good. Still, you’re hurt because of me, and that’s-“

“I know, I know. Seriously though, it’s fine,” says Wheeljack, scooting across the berth to put an arm around his seeker’s shoulders, lightly petting down the edge of one wing. “Wasn’t your fault. No hard feelings.”

“No hard feelings,” repeats Starscream, the tension finally leaving his frame as his field unfurls, gently meshing with Wheeljack’s. “Though perhaps you might benefit from inventing some sort of harder optical glass,” jokes the seeker dryly, “sounds like a nice potential side project for you.”

“Hah. I’ll see what I can do.”

As much as Starscream generally loathes the colonists and all the problems that come with them, he has to give them one thing: their entertainment programs are excellent. Not in terms of actual quality, Primus no, but they’re so over-the-top dramatic he can’t help but enjoy them.

It’s been a quiet evening so far, screaming protagonists in the show notwithstanding. Metroplex is stable, he’s caught up on his datawork and Wheeljack is a warm weight on his side, their fields comfortably intertwined.

“Wasn’t the red one over there conjunxed to that backstabbing emissary?” asks the engineer idly, looking up only for a moment before returning his attention to the tablet in his servos.

Starscream snorts. “That was two episodes ago. Besides, the whole thing was a sham in order to spy on the grand chancellor.”

“Seriously?” laughs Wheeljack, nudging him playfully. “And they call our relationship weird.”

“I think you should lay off the tabloids, dearest,” he says dryly, rolling his optics. “Just yesterday, they were accusing me of having a sordid affair with the mistress of flame, so I wouldn’t really put much stock in their opinion on anything.”

Wheeljack puts the tablet down, looking at him incredulously. “They said what now? Really?”

“Yes, really,” hums Starscream, before leaning over his lover with a teasing grin. “Ridiculous, isn’t it? Why would I want some preachy old crone when I have you?”

Smiling up at him, Wheeljack throws both arms over his shoulders. “Y’know, sometimes I’m not sure why you’d want me either. Really glad you do, though,” he says, before retracting his mask and leaning in.

As their lips meet, the show’s characters start up their third shouting match of the episode, but no one’s really paying attention anymore.

[rainbow-nerdss]

I mustache you a question

Buddie 4.8k Rated T, No archive warnings apply.

Summary:

Eddie's life is in shambles. He grows a mustache. It, somehow, fixes everything.

Eddie’s been feeling pretty low lately. Down in the dumps. He’s melancholic, glum, downhearted, morose, demoralized, sorrowful.

He’s depressed.

That’s what Frank tells him, anyway. He’s going twice a week, which felt excessive at first, but they haven’t run out of things to talk about yet. Mostly, they talk about Chris. 

He’s been gone for three weeks now, and he’s barely responding to Eddie’s texts. He’s beginning to wonder if things will ever improve. 

Buck’s been great. Whenever they aren’t on shift, he’s at Eddie’s. He doesn’t pander or talk down to him, just acts like himself. He cooks a lot, even teaches Eddie a few recipes, and they eat while watching TV. Eddie’s been feeling nostalgic lately, so he’s making Buck watch some of the 80s shows he remembers watching reruns of when he was a kid.

He’d rather not read too far into why he’s choosing to remember the nicer things from his childhood, but it wouldn’t take a genius to figure it out.

They start with Miami Vice, to work out once and for all which of them was Crockett and which was Tubbs. Once they’re tired of that, they go onto Golden Girls—which Eddie is surprised to realize how much he loves. They don’t watch every episode of every season, just a handful of episodes here and there, the way Eddie remembers them.

They’re starting Magnum P.I. this afternoon, once Eddie masters Buck’s blueberry waffle recipe. He got out of therapy feeling worse than he has in a while, having spent most of the hour unpacking his unresolved feelings about Shannon and how they’ve colored every relationship he’s had since.

Buck knocks on the door about five minutes after Eddie gets home, holding a grocery bag, arms out for a hug. Eddie deflates when he sees him, walking into Buck’s arms, letting the comfort envelop him.

“How was today?” Buck asks.

“Bad.”

One of the first things Frank told Eddie they would work on was to stop lying about how he’s doing. Stop holding every negative feeling locked in a box until it explodes, taking his life down with it. It’s not easy. He’s still working on it, but this is good practice—just being honest about how he’s feeling after each therapy session.

Buck squeezes him tighter, and that’s the last they say on the topic. 

They talk shit about Gerrard, a subject that causes them both strife, and Buck updates him on Bobby’s efforts to get other captains on board with his petition to have him removed from the position, and from the LAFD.

It’s not that Eddie forgets everything else that’s happening, but it does become a little easier to handle it when Buck is here. He just makes it more bearable, gives Eddie a little hope that things might work out if he just keeps going.

Continue on ao3

[yuukei-yikes]

OK OK DIFFERENT ANON but i hadn't seen that other post before (where you talk about shipping the 4 of them) and i absolutely love being delusional about these guys (however i have pretty low knowledge about the recent canon stuff and novels. it's mostly osmosis at this point but that's ok i think) so im here to . humbly place my two cents in your mailbox and scurry away

putting harutaka and shinaya aside for a moment because those are pretty well established already i think— that leaves:

shintaro & takane: i like to think they have like the Strongest platonic relationship on earth (in the long run. i imagine there's quite a bit to unpack and process and work on in order to get there that requires quite a bit of emotional vulnerability that neither of them are good at. but IF THEY GOT THERE like. i can very easily see them ending up in a position where they are definitely one of each other's most important people). like just quintessential Bros. neither of them talk a lot to each other but they both know that the other would drop everything to come help them if they got in any trouble. bordering on qpp with the levels of devotion but it's strictly platonic still. this is probably one of my favorite ships and there's a lot of posts of yours with this dynamic that i think about regularly bc i love them so much.

ayano & takane: completely agree that this requires quite a bit of delusion & extrapolation since there's very little in canon, BUT i think they Could be good friends . in my mind takane's internal register of Information About Ayano has like maybe 3 bullet points and mostly she just sees her as like That Guy That Shintaro Likes. i think ayano's cadence is kind of foreign to her and as a result takane only really feels like she knows her on a very surface level at first. but i think with haruka and shintaro slowly explaining how they feel about her and letting takane build up a "translator"/"model" to understand her behavior over time, she could come to respect her. my ideal endgame for this relationship is ayano helping takane feel more comfortable confronting and processing her feelings and sensory overwhelm because she's just a very emotionally supportive and caring kind of person, meanwhile takane helps encourage ayano to stand up for herself more. and cuss more. ayano texts shintaro something completely OBSCENE one day right after hanging out with takane and shintaro IMMEDIATELY knows it was her. anyway i like this a lot and i think it could be really good in a casual queerplatonic way, but it requires so much work and circumstance to set up. like this is an outline for a hypothetical 50k slow burn fic in my head

shintaro & haruka: tbh i don't really.... know what to do for this one. i think shintaro kind of sees haruka as mostly his brother-in-law or something. i think he doesn't really Get him though he does respect him and doesn't dislike him or anything. i personally just can't think of an interface to click them together 😞 i think they could be casual friends pretty well though.

ayano & haruka: i think they are mall buddies. self identified girlfriends. they get along SO well and are so bubbly and noisy together but they're not particularly intimate with one another, they're just like. bffs with 12 friendship necklaces and bracelets and matching shirts. they do each other's nails i think. i think they really love hanging out and gossiping. send each other memes and uquizzes constantly. 50 cat photos in their chat history in the past 12 hours. i don't know what you would call this relationship but i think casual queerplatonic might be a good tentative label for it??

sorry to dump an entire post in your inbox . i just got excited about the quartet. i hope you have a great day!!

sorry so old i feel so guilty i prommy i read my asks sob sob sob.

anyway im guessing this was in reference to this ask i answered about my thoughts on other yuukei quartet ships. opinion in the link still stands and i have to say i totally agree with u hehe. since u didnt read the novels u probably dont know haruka and shintaro are actually good friends, but it is true pre over the dimension the consensus on haruka and shintaro was pretty much what u described. like they didnt partícularly care about each other and shintaro especially didnt give a fuck LMAO

but shintaro and haruka's friendship is kind of everything to me even if i dont care for the ship. idk if it's because of the harutaka in my heart because i do smile with other takane ships but other haruka ships to me are like... eugh he would not fucking say that. LMAO IDK WHY. but i think shintaro would be a little gay with it and haruka's like totally uninterested. this one comic i made...

BUT like yeah even though haruka and shintaro best friends forever.... shintaro and takane BEST BEST friends forever. like u know damn well im obsessed with their friendship. they're THE best friends ever. and to me ayano is so jealous she so wants to have an hegemonic cuteful girly friendship with takane. she'd try so so hard to win her over but takane's scratching her ass staying over at shintaro's place for like the third day in a row. im obsessed with the quartet fighting over her basically because takane is the best character in kagerou project this is a real unbiased fact

i think a good layer of messy friendship group shenanigans post str is shintaro sort of... being closer to haruka and takane than ayano is. ayano feeling left out of the quartet. i love this drama especially considering a shinaya breakup situation because like. shintaro gets harutaka in the divorce🫤💔

[thecluelessdoctor]

It's rambling time

*CRAWLS OUTTA WELL WITH A COMEDICALLY LARGE BACKPACK FULL OF NOTES*

I love totk. Don't get me wrong. I love it. But HOLY HELL TO I WANNA STRANGLE WHO EVER THOUGHT 'HEY MAN LETS GET RID OF ALL THE SHEIKAH TECH OTHER THAN LIKE- TWO GUARDIANS' LIKE EXSQUEEZE ME?? MY BABIESSSS/HJ

But on a serious note, I hate the fact how not only Zelda's character development go backwards, it forced a very black and white view on Hyrule. Rauru and kingdom of Hyrule good, Ganondorf bad. Like. What??? EXSQUEEZE ME.

Okz sure, Ganondorf did murder Sonia and steal a secret stone, and attack Hyrule, but like. Let's just- also note this. If the gerudo have a similar story to the sheikah, the kingdom of Hyrule, aka Rauru forced their hand into surrender.

Though I do like the 'keep your loved ones close and your enemies closer' trope (waiting for the ship art/j)

Let me note here, I am rather young, and Botw is what introduced me into LOZ. So. I still have a lot to learn. Anyway! On ward! (Also warning spoilers for TOTK jsndhdbdbdbd)

*sits down on a grassy patch, unpacking bag*

So!! Oh brother where to I start. Let's start with Zelda first because oh my hylia does it hurt.

Ok.

So, Zelda finds out about Zonai and the thing under Hyrule castle, it's understandable that she would be curious! It was established that she was a curious person.

Anyway, she gets yeeted into the past with a TIME power?!? WHAT. I mean it would explain why it took so long for her light power to wake the fuck up, but still?? It feels so random and forced.

Also in BOTW she spends one HUNDRED years keeping a calamity from destroying hyrule, and now suddenly she can't do jack in TOTK?!? EXSQUEEZE ME. WHAT. SHE MAKES A DAGGER GO BACK IN TIME. wOw- link mastered the power in a day- (I'm sorry but I have so many link rambles)

I just MY BRAIN HURTS. also I just- what the fuck happened to the sheikah?!

Yeah we are talking about this now. Like- fuckers are forgotten by EVERYONE- what happened to the shrines?! OR THE GIANT ASS DIVINE BEASTS LIKE WHERE ARE YOU RUDANA- *SOBS* Oh yeah and let's not forget the fact the champions have been forgotten basically. And Sidon moved the statue of his dead sister to make a statue of link riding him. Don't take that out of context. Also how the fuck did they get rid of the lynel up the mountain like?! Even if link killed it for them it would come back every time- endless building there made it so it couldn't come back there-??? Didn't know monsters had manners. I just- UGH.

Ah yes back to the sheikah tech. Everyone, even the sheikah have forgotten it like bruh. Even if it was like- 8 years since BOTW still- they couldn't have suddenly found everything and got rid of the shrines???

Like- the yiga clan (yes fucks I am talking about them) the yiga clan giving up learning about the sheikah for the Zonai makes sense- because the yiga clan has the depth now- and, they didn't have as much *known* access to sheikah tech. But like- PURAH FOR EXAMPLE- WHY WOULD SHE FORGET ABOUT THE TECH SKDNDJHR- IDC HOW HOT YOU ARE IM MAD AT YOU FOR THAT!

Oh and *SIGHS* lemme talk about the sages. No no, not the ones WE know now, I mean the ones of past. I hate them. The only one I like is the one of the gorons because of that one line he says

Me too buddy, me too/j

Anyway.

I wanna fucking murder these sages. Do they all share the same brain cell??? Other than you Mineru I like you.

Wait hold on that's meme potential. SOMEONE DRAW THE SAGES HAVING THE SAME BRAINCELL/HJ

But I just

I hate them.

So much.

Now let me talk about the best characters in TOTK. Besides kogha.

Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra.

Dear golly I love these dragons. I vibe with them.

Now it's time for my personal favorite topic

THE YIGA CLAN

I love them. And. Yeah

Though I'm very sad about the missed potential for them. Also is it just me or is almost every yiga a dude..

Idk what to say. Just. I love them. And. Kogha better come back or I will cry/J he always comes back-(I'm sorry)

And the last topic of the evening

Link.

I have

Thoughts

Uhm

Ok less about link I love him but like the fact he's so chill about the fact he doesn't have a arm and now has the arm of a furry might say smt.

But at least in BOTW impa is like 'hey you sure your ready to take on what's next and save hyrule' but now it's like 'fucker go do this this and this and go look at the funny ass paintings on the ground' like. Damn ok. ;-;

I can't tell you how much I stalled playing totk. I had such a hard time finishing regional phenomenon. It just- wasn't fun. I knew what to expect, and what was going to happen. So. Yeah.

But I did really like Rito Village. And gorons town. They basically got addicted to drugs and I am ALL FOR IT (not drugs. Don't do drugs) but the Zora's felt... Boring. I mean they felt boring in botw but it got worse. Personally I thought the gerudo were the most boring in botw which is saying something because I got to sneak through the yiga hide out and Rob Kogha. But the zora felt- basic like. Yeah. At least everything else caused you damage or made things harder- the shroud made navigation hard, snow caused damage, the meat roast made conversion harder

But the zora? The sludge just- made you slower??? Idk man.

And omg. Do Sidon and yona make me mad. YEAH, HATE ME FOR IT SIDON FANS!! like people hate yona bc she's engaged to sidon. Personally I dislike them both. Like- Sidon lost the spark that made him- him! And yona- yona is just annoying. Like fuck off mipha copy.

And oh my hylia the MUCKDROCK- I hate it. No. No I loath it. Like what the fuck are you your fucking shrimp.

And it's fight wasn't even that hard. It was just annoying. Like- colagara in my opinion was the easiest, but it was super fun. But the muchdrock? He sucked.

Also btw- before the wrap up, has anyone found the smoldering coliseum and got zants helm??? Just me? Ok :') apparently it's the ice verison of the thunder helm. Now I think there is a fire one.. hmMmmm

Anyway! That wraps up the ramble!

[jackabbot]

This has been on my mind (obviously with everything that's been happening) and I'm curious if I'm alone in it. Do you sometimes think maybe they missed the window with buddie? That it should have happened in season 4 and maybe now they're trying to tell us it's too late? They keep digging the hole deeper for eddie, with shannon being the "the love of his life" he'll never get over and I just wonder if it'll ever make sense again in a way that's not a "consolation" because that would be unfair

so much to unpack here and I doubt you'll like my answer but I'm behind on asks anyway so why the hell not.

so here's the thing.

I am so SO happy that they didn't do buddie in season 4. a rushed season affected by covid with literally one episode lead-up? if we lean into the idea that the shooting/will arc was supposed to be that, that is.

(but mind you that has never been said or confirmed, they floated a bi Buck storyline that got shut down, at which stage we don't even know, could possibly have been before even having a script written for it and way before they even came up with the shooting arc itself.)

but if we lean into that then I would've found it lackluster, personally. I know not everyone holds the same opinions and that's totally fine.

but having two characters who have previously only ever dated and talked about women* suddenly kiss and start dating, without coming out, self-realisation, any other preamble aside from "you almost died/I almost died" which isn't exactly a new predicament for either of these characters...

(*in Buck's case the bi crumbs were huge and I always felt that it could've been a pretty natural progression if they just let us know that actually, Buck was out this whole time it just didn't come up on screen lmao but in all seriousness from a general audience standpoint? having both of them suddenly be together? even though, we had a lot of subtext, I just doubt it would've worked as well as it could work now.)

I mean sure, it might've been just the start and then they could've done a bit more background work for it in season 5, but even if Fox didn't shut it down (again, just a simple bi Buck storyline, not even two main characters on the show suddenly being in a queer relationship or leading up to it at the very least) the risk of not getting renewed for season 5 would've been higher than ever, so for them to leave it hanging at the end of the season would've been unlikely imo.

just to reiterate before moving on: all of the above is based on speculation and what ifs.

and about buddie in this current climate, well... I talked about this extensively so just to keep it short; though I'm more than content if not, I still believe that buddie will become canon eventually.

and ngl I find it kinda frustrating how little faith some of you have in the writing of the show when this season proved more than anything that they are finally back on focusing on the characters and actually have ideas about where to take them instead of having every single one of them running around in circles.

sure, some of the storylines are more than bonkers, but this is 911 and that trend started in season 1, so if you don't like that, then maybe this isn't the show for you. because this season with all the insanity and heartbreak was and is so far, quintessential 911.

both Buck and Eddie are well established, complex characters and they deserve to be taken on a narrative journey separately and together if buddie should happen. yeah, clearly neither character is in a place right now, but what's the rush?

we have at least one more full season ahead of us, that could be more than enough time to take them there.

and I know that anytime I say this there are at least ten people in the notes saying that we had 6 years of lead-up, so it wouldn't be rushed, but I can't help but disagree.

Eddie still has no idea how to be in a relationship and actually be in it. yeah, sure, he and Buck have been playing house for years, but the fact that neither of them seem to recognise that is a big issue on its own. and Buck, for the first time since Abby, is in a good place romantically. like the ship or not, it's canon that he's more content and happy than ever and everyone around him thinks so too.

now, we don't know how long this relationship will last and if/when it'll end and why. but if Buck got the chance to discover this part of himself without trauma and significant pain, with the people around him being supportive and patient, then I don't want Eddie thrown in there with a halfhearted realisation-to-kiss-or-confession within one episode either.

I have trust that if buddie is about to happen, it'll be handled well and in no way, shape or form would it be a consolation prize — especially because Tim is no longer bending over for the bullying of the fans and just goes by his own rules and only gives as much as he wants to. as he should.

honestly, this whole "gimme and gimme now" attitude is so stupid. and frankly, the notion that a popular queer ship would actually have a real chance to go canon has just relatively recently became a thing and now so many people almost feel entitled to it, which then spoils their experience with what's actually going on as a whole.

if your enjoyment of the show is solely dependent on a ship becoming canon? then maybe watch something else, because you're just setting yourself up for heartache, one way or another.

[belles1011]

CALLLLLUM!!!!!! woo! he and marcus should like maybe kiss, i think. (if you want them to, of course.)

lot to say about that lastest installment... where do i even begin? marcus not telling the full story? dario's all-knowing capabilities? lexi being a dom (which we knew, but hm. you know me and my david/callum agenda. maybe throw in marcus and you've got a trainwreck waiting to happen. the possibilities are endless, but of course its always up to you and @dystini to come up with new and devious ideas that i will always be willing to read.) but anyway, putting callum in a skirt is a great idea. dario should be given a medal for that idea. but marcus' confusion and how he finally says what he wants at the end? mwah. love a man who is overcoming bad experiences through kissing the homies (and also dario. (and watching his buddy get spanked.))

absolutely terrified at what you both have been cooking up to warrant 😈😈. i cannot wait.

(but grad school is good, i've been fighting with my thesis, but i'm enjoying it! also been working on my own fics on the side but it sort of got shoved away in favor of schoolwork 😔)

anyway, sorry for the long ask, but there was just so much to unpack. maybe i'll get into sending longer asks if it's not too annoying. truly a lot to consider with these guys though...

-jack 💞💞

ahahaha, Callum and Marcus should do many things if we were to play them like puppets 😈

I am so glad you've been enjoying it - @dystini and I are rather proud of our little smut series baby 😉 and much as I enjoy your David/callum agenda, we're playing with Doms and subs here and... well. David and Callum are subs, but that doesn't mean they can't have some fun together later 🥰 there's even more of a redemption arc for Marcus in some upcoming stuff (I'm just teasing, dw) but I also cannot wait for you to read it!

Sorry you're fighting your thesis! I finished mine in July and... yeah. It's a lot. Excited to see what you come up with too! Community (if you want it) is just around the corner - it would be remiss of me to not plug the new discord we've set up 😉 but if not - see you on Tumblr.

[waitmyturtles]

This is VERY UNLIKE ME, but here's some incredibly fast, EXTREMELY late-night meta on two dramas (Dangerous Romance and I Feel You Linger in the Air) from this TIRED mama, all before Only Friends later today!

(Y'all. I've missed being around this week! Moving and unpacking... I'll tell ya. It gets harder as I get older. Mostly because I/we have more stuff, and the BRAINS I need to figure out where this stuff should go is like, as mentally draining as it is physically draining to open boxes, unpack 'em, go up and down stairs -- damn. I have been COLLAPSING at night. Friends have been sending me meta to read -- @ranchthoughts, I see you, boo! <3 <3 The little peeks and breaks I've been getting have been giving me energy. I'm a little back on my bullshit now, and I can't wait to give Only Friends the full treatment tomorrow. But for now, quick notes!)

1) Dangerous Romance, episode 4: Listen, the friends covered a lot (here, here, and here -- @neuroticbookworm, @lurkingshan, @wen-kexing-apologist, all clowning correctly). WKA also notes that this show was written by Pratchaya Thavornthummarut and Bee Pongsate, two of the three writers of some of the best BLs ever -- Bad Buddy, My School President, Dark Blue Kiss, etc. When Bee and Pratchaya write WITHOUT Au Kornprom, as they did in BBS, MSP, and DBK -- things go a touch awry (cc @chickenstrangers, as we've talked about this before). Bee and Pratchaya, for instance, wrote Vice Versa, which I haven't watched, but I know the fam is mid on. (Remember when Aof Noppharnach had to come in to save 2gether by making Still 2gether? 2gether was written by Bee and Pratchaya -- Aof and Au joined in on the Still 2gether correction.)

ANYWAY, ALL OF THIS IS TO SAY that I should have been smarter about this show when I started in on it. It's directed in part by Lit Phadung, formerly of SOTUS, which is a fine show by nostalgia's standards! But like, not the height of drahmah.

So there's a lot of mid kinda swirling around here, and god, honestly, I'm kicking myself, because I should have been more sus. I should have been more sus!

Perth and Chimon are too good for this show. Not that I hate it! I don't hate the show, per se. It's just -- the first episode was so intense, so very issues-based, as all the dear friends noted, that to swerve towards a SUCH a gloopy romance plot was just... man, even SOTUS was WAY more clear in its plot than DR. (Dudes, I was chatting with @neuroticbookworm while I was watching this, and I was like, LOVE SICK HAD A MORE CONVINCING ROMANCE PACE THAN THIS. LOVE SICK!!!) DR is moving WAY too quickly towards the cheesiest of tropes, without the beef to back it up.

Anyway, from the energy vibes that Perth and Chimon are giving off, they should either 1) be making out by now, and/or 2) doing it by now, because like, WHOA, lots of staring, boys! LOTS of staring. And lemme tell ya, someone's staring at me like that, like in the clurb or something, and I'm like, yep, make-out time, right?! RIGHT?!

I am now officially watching this show, as I noted to @neuroticbookworm, literally to watch all the dear GMMTV celebs in here try to avoid a dumpster fire. (Where the hell is June?!) (At least Marc and Pawin are funny for like, the 10 seconds we see them.)

OH, ALSO?! What's the difference in Sailom becoming a sex worker vs. being bought out as a live-in tutor? Were we supposed to judge Sailom becoming an escort? Are we intentionally ignoring bias in socioeconomic gaps, writers? TOO MUCH TO ASK, TEAM! Too. much. to. ask.

I luv you, Perth and Chimon, I LUV YOU, BUT WHY. ANYWAY. MOVING ON.

2) I haven't written anything about I Feel You Linger in the Air yet because of LIFE (see above), and I was very wibbly about it when I started it, because you, your mother, MY mother, and MY MOTHER'S MOTHER all know about how sus I am on Tee Bundit (but I finally watched Lovely Writer and LOVED IT, so I am a touch less sus).

ANYWAY, thanks to the convincing of @lurkingshan and @neuroticbookworm to look past the slow pace of the first episode as accurate for a historical drama, I kept at it with IFYLITA. And I'm glad I did.

Now this? THIS IS A BL, BABY!

We got sexy typewriter scenes! Drawings of cutie widdle pigwets! Drunk falls! Red cheeks! Reading out loud! POETRY! FLOWERS! ENEMIES AND INTRIGUE! (I'm not happy about the marital rape, but unfortunately, I am thinking that is accurate for the time being portrayed.)

Admittedly -- god, Tee, the episodes are still a little long, my homey. A little long. BUT.

This show, as so many have noted, is just beyond gorgeous. The plumerias. I LOVE Ming and Maey. I LOVE THAT WE MAY HAVE A SAPPHIC SUB-PLOT.

But I also appreciate that only four episodes in, we haven't forgotten that this is a time travel show, in the midst of the budding romance. My thinking on that out-of-body experience on Jom's part was Jom flirting with consciousness after the present-day car crash. But who knows.

I like that Jom is making the connections with those drawings he found in that chest -- and that, lol, he was asking Prik questions about the architecture. Even though Yai's dad seems like a bad dude, I have faith that Tee Bundit is going to keep Nu Surasak going as a good BL dad/dude -- fingers crossed.

I am just -- I am loving where this show is going to go. The house is worried about Yai. I like the way the scent about Yai's preferences is a lot more muted in 1920s Thailand than it would be as set in the present-day. I just think that's totally accurate for what I would call an "old-fashioned" Asian perspective now. I'm very intrigued to see how a historical drama like this will wrestle with homophobia, as this is my first period BL, and -- I'm just excited to see where it'll go.

The acting is GREAT, the pace of the romance is GREAT, the pace of the filming is still slow, but I can't believe I'm saying this -- I'll continue to forgive it for now. Tee, please, PLEASE don't fail us, because you have something GREAT going on here. Yai, head over HEEEELLLLSSS for Jom, is just -- it's a wonder to see, and I am fully on this roller coaster palanquin ride.

(Also, hey, TWO DRAMAS where dudes were PAID to live with their crushes. K!)

(Oh, also, definitely, next time I'm at a clurb, in like, 20 years, I am definitely ordering an URN of liquor with a ladle. Like a baijiu urn. Fuck yeah. What a LOOK.)

(Okay, that's it, good night, see you for Only Friends!)