#at least in terms of how much i enjoy playing it (this does not include the dancing games)

[yannisdesk]

Caitlyn Kiramman - Name Symbolism

Looking at characters' names in anything is something I enjoy, and Arcane is no exception. Thought I would start with Caitlyn, because she has both the easiest and most complicated name depending on how you look at things.

I have no idea how League of Legends names their characters. I've only played a handful of times in the past, but I do know a fair bit of the lore. I'm looking at how they are in Arcane, and just gaging it from there because there wasn't much crossover until the recent season.

Caitlyn's first name comes the name Katherine which is derived from the Greek name Aikaterine; in modern Greek it's usually Romanized as Aikaterini or Ekterini. The roots and meaning of this name is actually a giant puzzle and it has several potential meanings, all of which can apply to Caitlyn.

1 - "Each of two."

Caitlyn is consistently a part of a duo throughout the series. Sibling duo with Jayce. Mentor and mentee with Grayson. Mystery solving duo + girlfriend of Vi. Mirrored with her enemy in Jinx, who's also her greatest foil. Master-apprentice with Ambessa. Combat duo with Mel.

2 - A reference to the Greek goddess Hecate.

Hecate was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, crossroads, ghosts, necromancy. She was also associated with night and the moon, as well as the Underworld. On the surface, Caitlyn has nothing to draw from here, she's one of the characters least-associated with Hextech and the arcane, but thinking for a moment, there's some things to connect.

For one, crossroads. Hecate was a triple-goddess, and was frequently depicted as having three different aspects of her body that were all attached to each other, meaning she could look down all different paths of a crossroad at once.

Caitlyn literally goes through three different stages throughout the show, from naive and compassionate, ruthless and violent, and then repentant and sober (in terms of bloodlust).

The next is ghosts. Not only is Caitlyn metaphorically haunted by the ghost of her mother, and of the phantom-like Jinx, butalso the legacy of House Kiramman looms over her. On the flip side, we see the memory of Caitlyn haunt Vi during her pit-fighter era to the point of appearing in hallucinations.

Lastly, the Underworld. What's the nickname for Zaun? The Undercity. Hecate was considered one of the Greek deities that was able to move between the Underworld (the land of the dead) and the land of the living with ease. Most people from Piltover never set foot in the Undercity, but Caitlyn does so several times, even going to deepest and most hopeless areas where no topsider had previously been.

Interestingly, she's guided through by Vi, who takes her through the milder areas like Jericho's and the main areas of the Lanes, the salacious ones like the brothel, and the pit of the tents where the completely forgotten live and - hold on, wait a minute... incoming tangent: call this a reach, but were the writers going for a Dante's Inferno type of reference, where Caitlyn is a stand-in for Dante and Vi is Virgil? Because now that has entered my head and I'm convinced it's true, I mean, I could see Vi writing the Aeneid. Caitlyn and Vi's excursions through the Undercity in S1 Act 2 now seem like such an obvious nod to Inferno that I find it kind of funny I didn't notice it on my first couple of watches.

This also means that come the end of season 2 act 2 Vi goes from being Caitlyn's Virgil, to being her Beatrice, which is kind of whimsically romantic.

Minor note, but Hecate's also associated with and sometimes depicted as a black dog. Caitlyn's girlfriend is Vi, daughter of a man nicknamed the Hound of the Underground, and her pit-fighter logo is two black hellhounds (Hecate's type of dogs). This was for several reasons, including dogs being considered protectors, a character trait both her and Vi have.

3 - "Torture"

...let's not forget...

...and the entirety of the "Paint the Town Blue" segment. Which, while is obviously about Jinx, also applies to Caitlyn. Her hair is dark blue, her eyes are sapphire. The Kiramman's in general are associated with the color blue. Zaun and Piltover are both being "painted blue" by two different people.

4 - "My consecration of your name"

Kind of reach-y but, I think Vi nicknaming her "Cupcake" and having specific times where she calls her "Caitlyn" or "Cait" (usually serious) and others where she calls her "Cupcake" (typically playful) applies here. She also calls Vi her full name at a very specific time, showing how close they've grown. This could also be to how she views her last name, Kiramman, as it and the legacy are treated as something sacred and of utmost importance.

5 - "Pure"

Season 1 Caitlyn was rather pure in that good-intentions way. She really never did anything with malicious intent until season 2, where we see her at her worst, and even then some of that previous "pure" Caitlyn is shown to be just bubbling underneath the surface, like in that scene where she asks Ambessa why violence is always justified in the name of peace.

Kiramman

Honestly, only Amanda Overton can answer for this. She gave Caitlyn a surname, but Kiramman as far as I was able to read, doesn't actually exist. "Kira" could mean several things including "young" or "humiliator of enemy" in Old Persian, or "lord" in Ancient Greek, or "black" in Old Irish, but I'm not sure if any of those were potential inspirations for the Kiramman name or not.

That's all I've got for Caitlyn. Either Vi or Jinx will be next.

[crest-of-gautier]

started playing persona q... i meant for it to be a brief thing to do until i stopped being tired but then i played it for five and a half hours... im having so much fun!!! so look at these "screenshots" (translation: pictures i took with my phone) + some of my thoughts!!

they the fucking aroace flag!! also this opening is stuck in my head its sooo good 😭

no one is surprised but im doing the p3 side… im not sure how much differences there are between the p3 and p4 side but. i'll look that up later and see if p4 side is worth playing (or if i should just watch it) 🤔

i take my naming VERY seriously (this is a joke). since ryoji isnt in this game i named minato after him (i already regret it tbh anytime they refer minat by name i have to live with the consequences of my actions. and i think it'll be worse when souji actually shows up bc its going to be yosuke and yosuke... 💦)

also i need to say that the note taking feature is the fucking funniest thing. i wanted to be like "oh yeah btw theres a shadow here" and like... i did not fucking expect what i wrote to show up in the top right corner and i feel like i have been given too much power.

very fun game so far im really excited to play more :) i'm around halfway through the 2nd floor in you in wonderland!, i think i will play this game in my downtime throughout this month it's soo cute and the map making is scratching a huge itch in my brain tbh :3

[rad-batson]

Here’s some more about the game :D for your reading pleasure @portal-to-oblivion (Based on this post)

Freestyle Checkers: A Tim and Damian Special OR “How can we make talking to people a competition?”

They are sneaky. They are underhanded. They will do anything to win.

Originally, this was a ploy to get Bruce to ban them from the galas. Over the coming months, however, they begin to enjoy attending. A little too much.

Tim starts a conga line and convinces everyone on his team to join before marching them to Damian’s side.

Damian subtly moves the tables just an inch or two to the right all night until the whole room has switched seating arrangements.

After a particularly eventful game, Bruce now requires them both to empty their pockets and walk through a metal detector before entering the ballroom.

Tim uses his role as company heir to befriend everyone on his team and then introduce them to one another. He accidentally started a coup once.

Damian uses his puppy eyes to woo the guests into doing his bidding and avoid punishment.

He also sets fire to the curtains.

They are repeatedly caught giving death glares to each other from across the ballroom…but that’s normal. What’s not normal is the two giving death glares to a seemingly random guest at the same time. (She was only going to say hello to Maxine. Why does she feel like she’s in mortal danger?)

Tim spikes the punch with a hint of laxatives so everybody sticks to the bathrooms on Damian’s side.

Several games in, Damian finds a loophole in the rules. Even if the pieces can’t know they’re in a game, that doesn’t mean others can’t. He pays several catering staff to form a physical barrier between certain guests and places. Tim is livid and demands the loophole be written out.

Damian, after stealing a woman’s expensive watch: “Oh, I think I saw it at table seven! Here, let me take you there :)”

Tim makes a kid cry at table 20 so everyone will avoid that side of the room.

Tim: “To the left now, y’all! Left again! Right foot two stomps! Keep going left!”

Every other batfamily member has joined the game at least once, both as a piece AND as a player. On a particularly boring night, it was Tim v. Damian v. Steph v. Jason v. Duke. Every attendee was an unwilling participant. Including Bruce.

Damian is the reason death threats are no longer allowed for the game.

Tim: “Oh, you don’t want to talk to Nicole. Did you hear what she said about Leandra last night? The drama!”

Damian, tugging a guest’s arm: “Hey, is your blue Mercedes parked outside?” Guest: “Oh, hi sweetie :) Yes, why do you ask?” Damian: “It exploded.”

Damian studies the attendance sheet, makes a mental list of who eats what kind of dessert according to previous galas, then chooses all the guests who he knows like chocolate. Suddenly, there’s a surprise chocolate fountain on Tim’s side!

Tim studies the attendance sheet then figures out their addresses, hacks into their Facebook, stalks their Friends list, makes a chart of who is on good and bad terms, then chooses his team based on that.

Both of the above methods listed fail spectacularly

Damian: “So…I win.” Tim: “Damian, this is a hostage situation.” Damian: “But they’re lined up on your side. I win.” Tim: You know, I’m starting to think you set this up.”

He did.

During one particular night, a Wayne benefactor figures out what’s going on and tries to expose them so they team up, completely ruin his public reputation, and get him banned from all future galas to preserve the game.

No matter how hard he tries, Bruce cannot stop them from playing.

[burningfairytales]

On Bokuto being Fukurodani’s captain

I promised myself I wouldn’t make another Bokuto defence post, but I’ve been reliably informed the Fukurodani tag is lacking posts and I’m here to contribute.

We’ve probably all seen it - the post that is like, “every captain acts like a father figure to their team, and then there’s Fukurodani”

And I mean, it’s funny. It got a good chuckle out of me, too, because that is how jokes work. Jokes have to be funny, they don’t necessarily have to be true.

Because yes. For Karasuno, whose line-up consists of three first-years, and the dynamic duo Tanaka-and-Noya, sure, Daichi is more of a father figure. So is Kuroo, I suppose, for Nekoma (though where Daichi is the tough-love kind of dad, I see Kuroo as the “hey x, i’m dad” kind of person.)

And it works for them, because that’s what those teams need.

They’re young. They’re chaotic. They need a voice of reason (Karasuno) or, failing that, at least someone who’s capable of mediating in a fight. Who’s willing to tell the children to suck it up and make up, even if they weren’t in the wrong (Nekoma).

A captain should be what the team needs, after all.

But that is not how Fukurodani works.

Fukurodani has a completely different dynamic than Nekoma and Karasuno. Sure, they bicker. They probably fight, too. But listen. Save Akaashi and Onaga, the entire team is made up of third years - and we all know that in terms of maturity, Akaashi is on their level if not higher.

(Sorry Onaga. I’m afraid I don’t know enough about him yet to include him in that statement. Doesn’t come across as particularly childish either, for what it’s worth!)

So you’ve got an elite team. A team of more-or-less adults. The millennial kind of of adults, maybe - the “i need an adultier adult” kind. But a team of people who know when it’s okay to fool around and when it’s time to call it quits.

In a team like that, what use is a father figure?

And then there’s Bokuto.

Bokuto who is very much not mature at all. Bokuto who doesn’t know when to stop, when to call it quits. Bokuto who goes out to play not for the sake of winning, but to enjoy playing. To have fun. Winning is just the result of that.

Bokuto who looks at his teammates and gives them permission to just fool around and have fun, just for the sake of it. Want to try a cool spike? Great! It worked? That’s awesome, teach me how to do it.

Didn’t work? Too bad, try again.

Bokuto who gently and sometimes not-so-gently pushes his team. Try harder. Do better. Not because it’s disappointing if they don’t, but because it’s more fun if they do - because Bokuto firmly believes that they can.

Fukurodani is a great team. An elite team. They know they’re good. Maybe sometimes, just “good” feels like enough to them - but never to Bokuto. If you run three laps today, you might make it to four tomorrow. Maybe five laps the day after.

Bokuto is the kind of person who reaches, who moves forward, who doesn’t want to stop improving.

He’s also the kind of person who motivates his teammates to try harder simply because that’s what he does. They don’t want to fall behind. If Bokuto can do it, then so can we.

I think it’s such in important scene, at the end of the match against Mujinazaka, when Bokuto shakes hands with Kiryuu - not just because, despite their loss, Kiryuu can honestly say that he’s glad he played his last match against Bokuto, though I’d say that says a lot about Bokuto in general. It’s not a bad thing, losing to him. It’s sad - of course it’s sad, but it’s not frustrating. They played a good game. Hell, they had fun. It’s an acceptable loss.

But the really important part, to me, is when Bokuto holds onto his hand and tells him, “you should tell your team to give you better tosses. Even if it’s asking too much. You should still do it.”

Because not only does that show that Bokuto isn’t an idiot - he’s very much aware of what goes on on the field. He noticed that most of those tosses sucked. Kiryuu is amazing for managing to hit those, and Bokuto isn’t afraid of telling him that.

And it’s not even that he’s telling his opponent, hey, you’re already pretty incredibly and you could spike better if the set-up worked in your favour. (Because contrary to what seems a popular opinion, Bokuto’s “I’m the best!” Doesn’t mean “everyone else sucks.” I don’t understand why people tend to make him egoistical. Bokuto stops at nothing to tell others when they’re doing well and compliment them.)

No, the really important part of that exchange is that Bokuto is also saying, you aren’t letting your team improve if you keep letting them keep get away with this.

And it’s true, isn’t it. You can help your classmate cheat or do your coworker’s work for them - it saved them in that moment, maybe, but they will not learn. You’re taking away their opportunity for improvement.

Kiryuu can tell his team, it’s okay if your tosses are shit, I will hit them anyway. But at the end of the day, those tosses are still going to be shit. It doesn’t make them better players, and if any of them want to keep playing after high school they’re going to be in a lot of trouble, because not everyone will be able to hit them - or be even willing to try.

So no, Bokuto is about the farthest thing from a father figure. But he pushed his team to do better. Forces them to pick up the pace one way of another, sometimes maybe through his bad moods, but also by motivating them to stop accepting “good” as “good enough.”

And look, I’m not completey oblivious. I’m fairly certain Bokuto is probably not great at handling the official side of being captain - club applications and funding requests and whatever needs handling. But he’s not doing it alone, is he?

And of course Akaashi is impressive, making vice-captain as a second year. And I’m willing to bet Bokuto was the first to insist he’d have to do it.

So you’ve got the captain who pushes and the vice-captain who keeps things level. I’d say that’s the kind of team Fukurodani needs as their captains, don’t you?

[axuanmii]

admit you ship incest dude. the cn/jp shippers say its incest. pick up a book and translate it, it says kaeya is adopted. .. and heres a long paragraph about how incest is only between biological families and more disrespect to people who are adopted...

no idea why my inbox didn't give me this notif until now, but now's a better time than any to talk more about this.

i'm chinese. i speak fluent mandarin chinese. i've consulted other native chinese speakers about this, both genshin players and unrelated. i play genshin with chinese audio and english subs specifically to catch and complain about inaccuracies. i'd reveal more information but then i think it'd be trivially easy to doxx me if one knew what they were looking for.

fundamentally, the issue of incest lies in physical reproduction, yet i find adoptive incestuous relationships discomforting all the same. it's why i didn't like or finish go ahead (以家人之名) because i felt that it laid too much into the siblings aspect for romantic relationships to be feasible, and it was super contradictory from the initial general message of the first bittersweet yet wholesome episode.

however, personally, i just don't think kaeya felt like a part of the family until crepus's death and he really reflected on crepus's actions towards him (hangout). and even after beginning to view crepus as a father figure, he wouldn't have so shallowly made the transition for diluc to be his brother by adoption and consequently changed his entire mind about the guy (which you can see with the way he chooses to refer to both men with different terms, one adoptive and familial, one very clearly 'sworn', very consistently throughout the whole game. if that ever changes in chinese, well, at least you can know that i'll make a post about it if i still care about genshin by then.)

the localization team does make plenty of serious mistakes, and it's of my opinion that as a result, it has very clearly skewed character relationships with those mistakes, (cynari and collei, eulamber, some npcs in liyue, sumeru) some from cultural differences, some just from lazy translation overall. there's layers of complexity in how chinese utilizes honorifics and affectionate terms, as well as contextual consideration between fiction and reality, and sometimes i feel like the english localization team just threw it all into google translate and called it a day.

i don't even ship kaeluc that much. i like to call it the secret third thing where they can't get off their asses to talk about anything ever so they exist in an undefined space and to have them return to any semblance of a healthy relationship, platonic, familial, or romantic, would require a novel's length worth of development that hoyoverse will probably never write, and so my brain has made up novels of all three kinds and more.

however, i also don't care about people who do ship kaeluc or treat any other fictional media in an incestuous or otherwise problematic manner, regardless of language or culture. this is because i operate on a "don't like, don't read, don't interact" mindset. it makes being in fandom more fun; you should try it.

my disappointment wasn't aimed at the fact that i think too little people ship kaeluc. it just sucks to see people claim that that's what's wrong with the fandom and spin this evil gross imagery around the ship over a misunderstanding, especially when that's not how i view it. it's also the only thing vehemently regularly repeated ('klcers dni') when there's so many other issues with the game and the fandom.

(off topic but what's the worst thing that'll happen if a kaeluc shipper likes your fan stuff. it's not like they come into your tumblr asks to bother you with an "oh btw you're wrong about how you enjoy this media and this is what's right"-- oh wait that's what's going on here right)

including the fact that people like you purposefully go around searching in the kaeluc tag (which you probably did, because nobody is scrolling that far back in my blog to find this one specific post to complain about) to police and pick fights with people over a stupid issue from 2020/2021. i guess tumblr isn't a safe place to talk about kaeluc either lmao.

and to think i left anon asks on in the hopes that it could be an inbox for anyone who wanted to ask me art questions or just leave something positive and not feel too awkward (where do i get the confidence in thinking anyone would ask my incompetent brain for help lol).

to be fair, it's going to be my fault for continuing to draw attention to this by responding to such an ask instead of just deleting it and moving on but fuck it we ball.

this ended up pretty long but i feel like it would've been too rude to just say "会说中文的干嘛要翻书 :P". probably would've been funnier though and saved me a lot of time. kudos to you if you actually read this and read through everything.

final note:

[m1ckeyb3rry]

HOW I WOULD’VE WRITTEN YUKIMIYA AND KUNIGAMI

i made a silly post last night about something i would’ve done differently in the neo egoist league and it inspired me to finally make a proper post explaining how i, personally, would’ve written yukimiya and kunigami specifically, given that the both of them are currently suffering from benched-character-syndrome (that’s not a real thing, i just made it up, but i’m sure you all can figure out what it means)

disclaimer before i start: this is MY OPINION and just one way that things could be done differently — i’m not saying that this way is better or worse (on the whole i actually have been enjoying kaneshiro’s decisions so this is definitely not hate), it’s just a different perspective!! i will be cutting many characters in the course of this explanation, including some fan-favorites ones, but don’t take that personally, because for the most part, it doesn’t mean i hate them 😩 in fact i typically like most of them, this is just from a writing perspective ☝🏻

disclaimer two: i am not a professional writer or mangaka or anything — i’m literally typing this while eating a rice bowl at my kitchen counter!! so don’t expect peak fiction and DO expect plenty of typos…i also don’t know how the manga is going to go and this could be rendered completely obsolete (writing this as of chapter 276) in like an arc or so 😓 please don’t come in my notes and call me stupid or say i have zero reading comprehension or whatever other insult you feel inspired to come up with (i know some of y’all like to tussle 😰), put that energy into making your own post or ignoring me or whatever brings you peace and joy 🥰

OKAY now that that’s over with we can finally get started!! LMAO sorry for the lengthy disclaimers i’m scared of some people in fandom tbh because some of the notes i’ve seen on my mutuals’ posts/some of the fandoms i’ve been in in the past…anyways…

@sharkissm here’s the post i promised you!!

YUKIMIYA KENYU

poor yuki…he went from number 5 in blue lock to a literal random in bastard münchen?? okay maybe not quite RANDOM but he’s approaching that status 😓 it feels as though the character he was set up to become in the third selection and u20 arcs is not the same as the character he became in the NEL arc both in terms of worldview and play-style!! so to begin with, i’d make some heavy adjustments to his backstory in order to explain away some of those discrepancies in a more consistent manner

as we know, yuki had a pretty good childhood, all things considered — much more in line with the isagis of the world than, say, bachira, and not to mention kaiser. well, the first thing i’m going to do is take that away from him completely!! instead of having an idyllic childhood where he’s incredibly perfect, i want him to be from a “bad” area of japan. of course, both in real life and in blue lock, japan does not have any crazily horrible terrible areas, but all countries have their sketchier parts, and i want yukimiya to be born in one of those. he lives his childhood as an absolute MENACE and is the kid that adults hate to see coming. his parents work a lot, so as much as they love him and try to raise him as best as they can, they’re not there to correct him 100% of the time, so he kinda just runs roughshod and does whatever the hell he wants. in his light novel, it’s mentioned that he learns to play soccer with this old man and his dog, and i’m actually not going to take that aspect away from him completely because it’s cute, but i will change the context a bit; instead of it being a chance encounter, the old man actually seeks yukimiya out and asks to teach him soccer. maybe his son went down a similar path that yukimiya has begun down and while he can no longer save his son, he at least wants to help yuki out and channel his energy into something more productive, hence soccer!!

after learning soccer from the old man and his dog, yukimiya begins to play it on the streets with some of the other local kids (who are just glad he’s not being a bully anymore and are happy to play along) which is the beginning of the development of his street-style dribbling (in reference to that majestic ass panel of him in the u20 game that was like hardly ever referenced again) as well as his dominance as the one-on-one king. he’s basically undefeatable, and this leads to something of a superiority complex in that he is firmly convinced that he is the protagonist, he is the one that the universe favors, and he absolutely cannot and will not lose and nothing bad can ever happen to him. he continues to be an asshole in general and is still the kind of guy that your parents would tell you to stay the hell away from, however!!

things change when his eyesight starts deteriorating. he goes to the doctor, and that’s when it’s revealed that he has this eye disease (is it even named in canon?? idk i’m just going to call it eye disease) and he might eventually go blind. that night when he leaves the doctor, it’s pretty much in despair, because soccer is the only thing that makes him happy given how miserable his surroundings are (again, there’s obviously many countries and places that have it way worse, but for young yukimiya who is comparing it to the rest of japan, it’s not that great) and he feels like he’ll now be stuck in the same cycle that his parents are caught in. on the way home, he sees one of those religious billboards that’s all like “god will always forgive you” and since he’s at one of the lowest points of his life thus far, he decides that he’s going to become religious because this blindness/disease must be a punishment from god for the things he’s done.

soon after, he’s walking home from school or something random (this is meant to be an extreme coincidence given the situation) and is scouted to be a model. this reaffirms his conviction that his conduct thus far is wrong and that if he ever wants to escape and live the good life that he dreams of, he has to abide by god’s rules and follow his ways. he gets into modeling and makes enough money that he and his family can move to a better part of the country, where he begins to play soccer for his new high school and is quickly recognized for his skill/talent. through this process, he learns how to be incredibly polite, kind, and altruistic, because he’s already been “punished” once and doesn’t want to face it again…he also wants to prove that he is better now and deserves this new life of his as much as if he had born to it + he doesn’t ever want to go back to where he used to be!!

what this backstory change accomplishes: it explains the street soccer panel in a more satisfying way, and it also gives a reason for why yuki is so kind in the 3rd selection/u-20 match and then suddenly becomes incredibly selfish in the NEL — instead of it just being explained away as ego, it shows how blue lock manages to draw out the worst aspects of one’s personality via competition, because yukimiya, who has worked so hard to be good and kind, reverts to his childhood personality almost instantly under isagi’s pressure!! it also explains why yuki’s so quick to just go back to being chill, as he probably feels guilty that he let himself slip like that and doubles down on being a “good person”

now as for the actual games this is where i think i will make the most people mad BUT i would’ve gotten rid of kurona and had yukimiya replace him!! to be honest as much as i do like kurona, he was very very randomly dropped in (i literally thought i had missed the manga panel introducing him because his actual first speaking appearance was so out of the blue) and there were already established characters that could’ve taken that role (ex. yukimiya). i would’ve sent kurona (and honestly probably kiyora) over to barcha because they likely would’ve gotten along well with bachira and otoya plus their passing skills could’ve made barcha a stronger team!! this also serves to isolate isagi more and gives him literally no one but hiori on his side — in this scenario, i want yukimiya to be SO altruistic (as per the backstory change) that he will pass to anyone, just as long as that’s what’s best for the team (the “greater good”). if yukimiya stays the 1v1 emperor, this also adds another dynamic to the kaisagi rivalry as well as possibly adding a ness vs hiori dynamic because that would mean that more often than not, yukimiya would have the ball, and he’s the one who they will rely on to break through the defense before passing to one of the other midfielders (ness, hiori) or going straight to one of the strikers (kaiser, isagi) (yes i know there’s only one striker on a team but YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN). this version of yukimiya could also have a very interesting dynamic with kaiser as both of them come from somewhat similar backgrounds (obviously kaiser is worse but there are similarities) however kaiser forsakes everyone in order to view himself as a god, or god’s chosen one, whereas yukimiya once believed himself to be that but has now forsaken that aspect of his ego in order to place his beliefs in others and in a higher being. this means kaiser could also be a method of awakening yukimiya (giving him interactions with more of the team than just isagi) where his selfishness makes yukimiya realize that if he wants to survive and continue dominating on the field as the 1v1 emperor, he also has to be a little more selfish (a leader instead of just a follower), allowing him to settle into a blend of his new personality and his childhood one, where he’s still kind and agreeable but also a little bossy and much more assertive/willing to score his own goals even if it’s not necessarily for the greater good 100% of the time

what this new role accomplishes: it allows yukimiya to have much MUCH more play time as he deserves given the hype built up for him during the third selection (he was ranked higher than NAGI, which yes it was in the second selection but second selection nagi was a beast so that says something about yuki for sure [as well as karasu and otoya but we’re not talking about them atm]), it gives us a smaller cast to work with on bm (because at the moment there are just too many blue lockers getting random backstories and doing one thing in a game before ghosting and honestly if all of their individual contributions were consolidated into one character, in this case yukimiya, it would make that one character much stronger as well as taking away the plotsagi accusations as now isagi isn’t the only one consistently doing things in games) and allows us to get much more attached/involved with the stakes of the games, and it gives kaiser dynamics with the rest of bastard münchen instead of just isagi, which fleshes him out a bit more as well

KUNIGAMI RENSUKE

i’m sure this is what most of you are reading for (although i hope you went through the yukimiya part and enjoyed it as well!!) and trust i have come to deliver because i have many thoughts about kunigami…my biggest gripe is that his return from the wildcard was so built up and then the narrative treated it as so utterly unimportant (why do literally none of the characters gaf??? like there were a couple of panels touching on it but nowhere near the significance it shoudl’ve been given) that the readers themselves have zero stakes in it!! like if isagi, who considered kunigami a fairly good friend as far as blue lock goes, barely questions why his friend is so different now, then why should we as readers care either?? now, if/when the wildcard reveals are done, they will MOST LIKELY not have the same impact that they could’ve if kunigami as a character was treated differently in the narrative (again, maybe this will change and there will be something that makes the punch of it still hit just as hard, but as of the moment i’m writing this post, i don’t feel that that will happen)

there’s two routes that i could see kunigami taking, and both of them involve kicking out some fan favorite characters (again) but in the first case it’s only temporary!! i’ll go through the first one and then the second one and cover my ears as the bm fans yell at me for axing kaiser and ness

that’s right, route one involves getting rid of kaiser and (most likely) ness entirely!! i am actually of the firm belief that the ng11s (specifically kaiser and lorenzo) were introduced too early. people legitimately think lorenzo is a bad player just because ubers lost vs bm even though kaiser himself had difficulties when lorenzo was covering him…in my opinion the ng11s should’ve been kept as a mysterious entity whose only representative we see is sae itoshi (for narrative reasons) until the u-20 world cup, where ng11s randomly show up in some of the matches to raise the stakes and allow individual blue lockers to confront their demons/weakness and develop further (for example, in a game against, say, the italian u-20 team, maybe shidou learns how to break through a defensive set up with lorenzo at the center?? and that particular match is the ‘shidou match’ random example because idek if shidou’s built like that but you get the gist). i honestly don’t even mind kaiser being there as much because at least he’s doing stuff and still feels like he’s on another level but lorenzo shouldn’t have been shown until later — anything he does, aiku could’ve accomplished and that also would’ve built the rivalry between him and barou that was hinted at in barou’s ln…but anyways my thoughts on aiku can be a separate post because i have digressed!! back to kunigami

in this version, i want him to be isagi’s main rival instead of kaiser, who’s not here at all. make his new ego so obsessed with scoring goals that he cannot fathom anyone else doing it. whatever wildcard did fucked him up so badly that he is absolutely TERRIFIED of returning, so even if it makes the team lose, even if it makes him an asshole, he will do anything to score and prove himself as “useful” to the team so that, even in the worst-case scenario, he’s the one being chosen instead of anyone else (the way reo was chosen over him). this also creates a much deeper rivalry than just “who gets to be the star of the team” as it’s rooted in kunigami’s insecurity and fear of wtvr the fuck was going on in wildcard. this also builds wildcard up as something much more terrifying than it has been so far in canon, because when you think about it it MUST have been horrible and that’s gone somewhat unacknowledged except for brief hints and glimpses, and it also adds a legal/moral/ethical dilemma — because obviously wildcard WORKS, kunigami is the proof of it (as isagi’s main rival, he’s scoring all of the goals that kaiser did, so he’s obviously eating it up), but is it sustainable?? is it something that they can do en masse?? because there’s no question that it’s destroyed kunigami completely, so is it even worth it?? or is it one of those things that you think is worth it when you start (the way kunigami must’ve) but afterwards you regret entirely??

however, given the importance that kaiser has to the NEL (he’s kind of the face of it to be honest), as well as how many fans he has, i can totally understand leaving him in, so i have another option, which i also really like. in this route, i want to use kunigami to replace ness — which doesn’t make sense at first i know but hear me out!! ness hasn’t contributed enough to the plot (besides his dynamic w kaiser ig) for me to feel bad about kicking him out honestly and that’s one less character on the main cast that we have to care about, allowing for more depth to the characters that DO exist. in this scenario, kaiser’s in a loki-esque situation, where all he needs to get that coveted re al offer is someone with the crazy strength to push through players like lorenzo (we’ve seen kaiser struggling with defense before, and as barou says in second selection, kunigami has the build to hold the ball up at the top of the field)…enter kunigami, who’s very obviously a prime candidate for this, and kaiser POUNCES!! he thinks he’s going to have to convince kuni to take his side instead of isagi’s, but surprisingly, kunigami very readily agrees to it. this is because in this route, kunigami resents the blue lockers, including isagi, because while he was effectively being tortured, they were being lauded with praise and shown on live tv as celebrities and whatnot. they never suffered in the way he did, and although he does believe that wildcard was necessary for him to evolve (not a healthy mindset but the one drilled into him), he still wishes the rest had endured what he did, because it scarred him so much that he almost cannot handle knowing that he went through it alone while the others were enjoying themselves (comparatively)?? so he teams up with kaiser and is actively working against his old friends (for maximum effect add in reminders/callbacks to the team z days to give extra angst to the “betrayal”)…it would also be very fun to juxtapose kunigami’s and kaiser’s backstories here, as kunigami had a good life that was ruined by soccer, whereas kaiser had a shitty life that was saved by soccer, and this could definitely come through in their particular brands of desperation while playing!!

now, there’s plenty of theories floating around that ness will assist isagi in scoring the final point against pxg (now that IGAGURI is in for some reason idk if that’s still a likely outcome but i can def see it happening) however my counter-point is don’t have kunigami assist isagi with the two-gun volley…give that to yukimiya (given he’s a character like i outlined previously) or even hiori, and instead have kunigami pay isagi back for the half of the steak (therefore acknowledging their past and old friendship for the first time since his return) by passing him the ball instead of kaiser, the way everyone expected/was covering for. this allows isagi to still score the final goal against pxg while giving it more of an emotional meaning than just “oh isagi has to win because he’s the main character”

alternatively, if pxg is meant to win, then i would leave the two-gun volley as it is, but i would just make it so that the setup is still kunigami choosing isagi over kaiser and acknowledging their old friendship, and i would make a bigger deal out of the pass since the build up is different!! i also wouldn’t have noa tell kunigami to manmark shidou the entire time…instead i would make kunigami obsessed with shidou in the BEGINNING of the game, but i would have kaiser/isagi/noel noa yell at him for this obsession and remind him that the objective is winning, not revenge, so he’s still active in the game instead of just being stuck on babysitting shidou duty (this role could be given to yukimiya actually, again given that he’s written as i stated previously, as he’s the 1v1 emperor so he has enough of the physicality to accomplish that and keep the ball away from shidou if it gets near him, and he’s already done enough in the previous games that it’s alright for him to take a bit more of a backseat especially after two-gun volley)

as a footnote, EITHER route you like, there’s one thing that was absolutely a missed opportunity which i’d like to focus on, and that’s kunigami’s dynamic with noel noa. it’s not a secret that kunigami’s supposed to be a copy of noel noa, but what does noa think of this?? i need their dynamic to be weird and fucked up…like he’s noa’s protege, as he’s meant to be a copy of the man, but noa is simultaneously absolutely disgusted by ego, becuase what do you mean his old rival who faded into obscurity has suddenly returned with this child whose body and life and future he completely ruined, whose mental state is absolutely destroyed, just so that he could finally “beat” noa?? just so that he could make a copy of the man that he could never actually be himself?? and this disgust with ego transfers to noa also almost shunning kuni and avoiding him when possibly/treating him way more strictly than he does the others…which only makes kunigami try to work ten times as hard to prove himself…but this only freaks noa out more and it’s just a vicious cycle LSKDFJHSLK

ANYWAYS so this was a crazy long post but it’s really not meant to be taken all too seriously!! like i said these are just musings about how two characters that i personally like could’ve been used differently 🤩 if you read all of this then you’re a goat fr and feel free to talk to me about blue lock/anything else at any time!!

what was that youtube ass outro

[dudefromwormhole]

Hazbin Hotel Headcanons:D

That I collected through the internet and now have and absolutely adore. Feel free to add yours:)

Warning for cannibalism and possible spoilers. Enjoy:)

Alastor

1) Alastor rather eats meat of his possible victims than organs. He finds them edible, but just doesn’t like it.

2) Alastor never shares his food. And even when/if he is cooking something for others, he will cook the same food in the separate bowl just for himself.

3) Even if Alastor fell in love he would never(or really unlikely) realise that. Possibly because his own ego and beliefs.

4) Alastor sometimes fantasises about him being executed rather than his own original death. His favourites so far: hanging and electric chair.

5) Alastor would have a love/hate relationship with Will Wood’s music(yes.) just because he despises and underastimates all modern music.

6) Alastor has literal piles of old(and sometimes broken)radios.

7) Alastor hates discussing love and relationships, if they’re not about breaks up, while Rosie adores talking about them.

8) Sometimes Alastor cannot control his shadow. In terms of where it goes and what it does. So yeah, sometimes he walks around without shadow.

Rosie

1) The stuff Rosie proposed to Charlie when they met was prepared by herself.

Also I think Rosie can cook anything(aside from bones perhaps). She knows a lot of recipes about how to cook organs, different types of seasonings, etc.

2) Rosie has Belgic roots. Or French. I feel like she speaks French and maybe Italian or something. I haven’t decided.

3) Rosie only likes to drink dry semi-sweet wine among the alcohol beverages.

4) If Rosie would ever open a fashion business, all her clothes would be with embroidery. She loves embroidery and is pretty good at making it.

The Vees

1) Vox has a love/hate relationship with an electro swing. He likes it, but also “hates” it just because Alastor also likes it. He also likes dubstep and techno genres.

2) Valentino’s afraid of tickling.

3) Val’s also absolutely cannot sleep with the lights turn on, because he’s a moth.

4) Vox was absolutely horrified when he got to Hell and realised that he’s a fucking TV. If there wasn’t a constant danger of getting killed, he would probably sit in the corner of some building in shock.

5) Velvete uses Vox as powerbank.

6) Valentino’s eyesight got worse especially after he realised that he can use Vox’s head when he’s asleep, so now he kinda watches whatever he wants on his head when he’s bored.

7) And also Val and Velvete play the console using Vox(ye, the comic:))

8) In earlier days Vox was absolutely disgusted by someone touching his screen(in first days(look up #4) himself included), but as the time went and also the upgrade, change in themes, he kinda suppressed this disgust.

9) Velvete likes strawberry in chocolate.

10) Vox can draw decently, he just usually doesn’t have time and much imagination to do so.

11) Also Vox has a bad habit of tearing paper to keep his hands busy. By that I mean any paper. So yeah. There were some accidents.

Residents of the Hotel

1) Residents of the Hotel bump into Nifty at least two time per day.

2) Sir Pentious hates stairs.

3) One of the reasons why Husk hates his form is because he cant stop throwing off hairballs.

4) Angel can keep important secrets.

5) Nifty and Charlie both likes those bright and colourful plasters.

6) Vaggie is allergic to citruses(lightly but still).

7) Cherri makes her coffee with energy drinks. Tastes awful, but at least she’s full of energy to kick someone’s ass.

8) Husk knows a lot of card games and also taught the Eggbois how to play couple of them so they’d stop bothering him so much.

9) When he was alive, Husk used to travel and move from one country to another quite often.

10) Sir Pentious when he has a shower, always takes his Eggbois with himself.

11) The reason why Sir Pentious’ ship was covered with plasters was because his Eggbois thought they would actually heal it.

12) Lucifer will never admit that process of making ducks stopped bringing him as much happiness as it used to. But after seven years of just making them, trying to keep his mind off his problems, it just became a routine.

13) One of the reasons why Lilith decided to “disappear” was because at night Lucifer constantly stepped on his ducks and then screamed and cried and apologised to them, making it harder to sleep.

14) Charlie used to make little theatre shows with her toys when she was younger.

15) When Vaggie and Charlie’s relationship got a little more established, they had a whole trip through rings of Hell.

16) Lucifer has a handmade duck copy of every person that he met. He made the most absurd one for Alastor, of course

17) Angel is scared of swallowing bubblegum, because he genuinely believes that his gut will glue together if he does so.

18) Vaggie can’t stand sleeping covered.

Other Overlords

1) Zestial is a tea nerd. I think he would actually do those Chinese ceremonies and stuff. It’s like… the more he appreciates you, the more effort he would put into tea x)

2) Carmilla was(and maybe is?) a big fan of ballet and took classes when she was alive.

Other

1) Adam would love Beetlejuice. In any form, cartoon one, film, musical… He would be a fan.

2) Adam hates waking up at the morning and tells to “fuck off I’m a Gods fucking son” to anyone who tries to wake him up.

3) Adam hates tomatoes and will absolutely roast anyone who eats them when he’s near. Except for Lute.

4) When Heavens court plans to set up a party they usually don’t plan to invite Sera and St Peter.

5) Mimzy is the one who talks about her previous life more than anyone else, each time adding almost unrealistic details.

6) Adam calls his Exterminators group "tits" for because they are woman and there's a bird like that.

6)(this one is to Hell in general) I like to think that you don't die in Hell in a way that when you recieve a deadly wound your body just kinda... gets more regeneration, so you still feel pain untill the wound is healed, but you don't die. So when Exterminators stab sinners with angelic weapons, process of regeneration stops, which gives them opportunity to die.

7) Though Vox created his own special kind of dying for himself. When his screen gets badly damaged, he changes it, so same goes with his body. I think he has a folder somewhere with his personality.

[ut-acttoflirt]

I was playing ATF (game I loved, by the way) from the beginning to the new content and I was wondering: does Sans love the player? If so, at what point in the game does he start to feel that way?

Well, I intentionally left it up to player interpretation, the same as I did every other, if you refer to anything beyond general care love like how one could say they love their friends and family. I wanted it to be sort of to the level of the player's comfort.

To describe this in NOT an essay format... because I did in fact type out like way too much and this is actually my second, shorter draft dgdjdvs but BASICALLY, I like writing dating sims that aren't bluntly romantic or sexual, in terms of the characters' feelings. It's really interesting to me to dive into the complexities of a relationship, and how social norms tend to dictate that certain actions equate certain feelings but for a lot of people this simply isn't true. So when I'm writing about feelings and the nature of communication, especially for a fanfic, I spend a lot of time doing research. Notably, for this, I spend what is probably asinine amounts noting literally every single line in Undertale I could find of every single player, including Sans. Doing research for this game is part of what made me grow to be more attached to him than my actual favorite (Mettaton) lmao

But to answer your question!

Sans does love the player, but again, to what extent and by what definition is up to you. But he *does,* otherwise your betrayal, either from his memories of past genocide routes, your AtF choices, or even simply choosing to fall to the Underground again and start a new timeloop; would not hurt him so much. It's a lot easier to not give a shit if you never cared at all, but because he does excessive amounts and just can't trust the feeling anymore, that's even part of why he pushes the player away from the very beginning. He's the only one who recognizes that you, even as Willo, are the same person that fell as Frisk. And he cared for that person, too.

Which is also part of why he gets so beat up if you choose a different ending after spending all that time getting close to him specifically. From our end it looks kind of like he's being a whiny jealous bitch who can't handle you being with another friend for 2 seconds because on this side of the screen, the player can only choose to be with a specific character once: at the very end. But from his perspective, you've gone through all this trouble for his sake, breaking the existing narrative, making a mess of the timeline, all to tell him you love him in your own way... only to then turn down his date offer again and instead use your one other choice on someone else.

This is not to make you feel guilty, or at least, this isn't my intentions. I don't really think his reaction is the best course of action, but Sans has pretty solidly established himself as the guy who never fuckin says anything, even as he's actively about to die and his species is being killed he holds back *so much* information it's crazy. Which is why he then just decides to be very vague and cryptic about dropping a phone call and then promptly becomes cold without explanation upon next reset in AtF when you choose a different ending. For the record, again, shitty thing to do 🤣 but people are messy and I like to write them as messy.

... This is in fact the "shorter" version and yet it's still so long but YES, Sans does love the player, but again to what extent, whether it be platonic, romantic, sexual, or otherwise; I leave entirely up to your discretion because you all, as individual, different players, would each have different comfort zones for your individual selves. He's a broken man with a fragile heart he keeps in a very closed off wall but is willing to open it when given a chance, he just also slams the door back up very aggressively if he fears it might break.

And also thank you for your kind words!! I'm glad you enjoyed the game ✨️

[lowcountry-gothic]

Thoughts on Star Wars: Outlaws after finishing the main storyline (no major story spoilers, though some minor game spoilers).

Kay Vess is an amazing character. Her backstory and motivations are compelling, and her choices in the main story make perfect sense as a result of her experiences and history. She’s every bit as interesting as Cal Kestis, though obviously they’re vastly different people. I hope this game gets a sequel, or at least that Kay gets more story in some form (although her arc here definitely ends on a satisfying note). I’ve read that her voice actress, Humberly Gonzalez, has said she’d love to play Kay in a live action show or movie, and personally I’d love to see it. I don't know how likely that is, due to toxic incels boycotting and review-bombing the game just because it has a female protagonist, but I can certainly dream.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed ND-5; he’s like K-2SO from Rogue One in some ways, but a bit more ruthless, though just as loyal, and with much less sarcasm. It’s nice to see a droid with a rich and nuanced backstory of his own: his service in the Clone Wars, his complicated relationship to Jaylen, and the experiences he goes through in the main story as a result of all that. This is probably the most character development we’ve ever seen for a droid character.

Nix is a pure delight and, far from being just a cute sidekick, is actually a core gameplay element that you really miss in the few rare occasions when he’s gone. The rest of the characters who join Kay’s crew are really satisfyingly diverse in terms of alien species, personalities, and motivations of their own.

Outlaws is a great story on its own, with amazing characters and relationships and lore development, but it’s all the more richer if if you’ve read the Star Wars comics (specifically the 2020-2024 run that’s set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi—the same period that Outlaws is set in—and the Crimson Dawn offshoot series: War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Reign, and Hidden Empire) and know the story of what Q’ira is trying to do and how it fits into the larger story of the Empire’s fall. It’s nice to see Q’ira get more screentime and story development, as she was an enjoyable part of the Solo movie—although, really, what wasn’t memorable about that film? The game also does a good job at making the story significant in the larger Star Wars galaxy. It definitely has stakes that probably affected the outcome of the Galactic Civil War, but in completely different ways from the characters and their stories in the classic trilogy films, and that that don’t undermine any of their importance.

The story also doesn’t rely on gratuitous cameos, although there are certainly familiar faces. They tend to be more incidental to the story, though, which is how cameos should work.

The set of planets the game is set in are really interesting. Toshara, the only completely new planet, is well developed and probably gets the most attention, fittingly. It has a landscape and ecosystem that feels very recognizable when you see it in screencaps or video clips. The most similar planet we’ve seen to it would probably be Koboh from Jedi: Survivor, but there are plenty of differences between the two. Toshara has grasslands, lots of comets in the sky at night, and seems more populated, favoring outlaws, gamblers, and wind farmers rather than prospectors. The other three planets are ones we’ve seen before in at least some aspect: Tatooine, of course, everyone will recognize. You can explore much of the city of Mos Eisley, including lots of recognizable places from the films, and there’s further developemnt of Tusken culture as well as the fully explorable Jundland Wastes and several new settlements (no Tosche Station, sadly) (edit: I did find Tosche Station! And the Lars homestead! Now I'd just love to find Obi-Wan's house...). Kijimi and Cantonica are the next most recognizable, as they were both featured in the sequel trilogy. My personal favorite planet in the game, not just for the lush and beautiful landscape and climate, but also for its much more obscure connections to Star Wars lore, is Akiva: a torrid tropical jungle planet you’d only know if you’ve read the Aftermath trilogy of books by Chuck Wendig. Akiva, significantly, is the home planet of Temmin Wexley, who we meet as a teen in the books and as an adult (played by Greg Grunberg) in the sequel trilogy. The player even gets to meet Temmin as a teenager in Outlaws, although not, sadly, his droid Mister Bones.

The soundtrack by Wilbert Roget, II is iconic and very Star Wars. The most memorable tracks are “Kay Vess, The Outlaw,” “Toshara, the Amberine Savannah,” “The Empire vs the Outlaw,” “Leaving Jaunta’s Hope,” “Tatooine, the Desert Frontier,” “Mos Eisley,” “Nix,” “Akiva, the Jungle,” “The Broken Hoof,” “Finale - Kay’s Last Bet,” and “The Dawn Rises.” I tend to favor more atmospheric and more emotional/thematic music as opposed to tense, actiony music, but this game definitely has its fair share of the latter, too.

There are lots of minigames in Outlaws, the most significant of which is Sabaac, the infamous card game in which Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian. Lando does appear in the game, and you can play Sabaac against him. The rules aren’t super complicated, although it definitely took me a few rounds to figure everything out, and the game has a nice and easily accessible set of rules and tips if you forget what you’re doing. Also, appropriately for Sabaac’s nature as a game favored by rogues and scoundrels, there are several cheats you can learn/unlock as the game progresses. These are really helpful for winning against the high rollers, although to an extent you’re still relying at least partially on luck. The other minigames are less significant, though they’re fine for what they are: you can do (one on one) speeder races, bet on fathier races, and play arcade games. There are also a ton of collectibles, much more than in the Jedi games—anything from outfits for Kay and Nix, to ship, speeder, and blaster upgrades, ship and speeder cosmetics, as well as old Clone Wars transmissions, snippets of in-universe holodramas, local cuisine from each planet, and souvenirs for Nix.

I took so many screenshots in this game, which I’ll post the best of as soon as I have a chance to transfer and go through all of them.

[sleepingdeath-sapphic]

could you do black raisin cookie dating headcanons please? I really got into her during the golden cheese update!

dating hcs ; cookie run kingdom

thank you for requesting anon <3

this includes black raisin cookie <3

reader is assumed as gender neutral <3

my account is 16+, please interact accordingly <3

though it takes a long time and a lot of patience for her to trust you enough to start dating you, once you’re in a relationship with her you’ll find black raisin cookie to be a partner whose loyalty, dedication, and protectiveness are without equal — of course her protectiveness shouldn’t come as much of a shock given her relationships with the people of her village, but it’s endearing and admirable nonetheless

she does everything in her power to ensure you’re safe and comfortable each day before she even considers turning her attention to her own needs — and this can be anything from ensuring you have the right clothes for the weather and that your tent is properly set up, to refusing to take her serving of food until after she knows you’ve eaten your fill

black raisin cookie isn’t really one for terms of endearment herself and will generally just call you your name, but she finds herself growing increasingly fond of the ‘softer’ and ‘cutesier’ pet names you call her the longer you’re together — even if she does get so flustered that she’s unable to form a full sentence or meet your eyes the first few times you call her ‘honey’, ‘sweetie’, or ‘baby’

it takes her some time to get used to engaging in physical affection with you (and she’ll never be fully comfortable with extreme pda), but eventually she’ll find herself melting into and anticipating your touch — all but running into your arms when she returns to the village after being away for a while, kissing your cheeks and your fingertips, leaning her body against yours when she’s tired after a long night of work, letting her eyes flutter close when you place a reassuring hand on her cheek, etc.

this almost goes without saying, but of course her crows adore you and even seem to enjoy your company more than hers — in fact it’s rare that the two of you actually get to spend any time alone as a couple without at least one or two of her crows lingering around and trying to get your attention for one reason or another (… usually so that you’ll pet or feed them)

the quickest way to her heart is by having a genuine love and desire to help her village because it’s important to her that anyone she courts want to protect and aid her home and the people she cares about — and even after the two of you are together, her heart is always warmed when she catches a glimpse of you helping someone cook, offering a hand to a villager who is unable to walk on their own, volunteering to help gather food, or (especially) playing with the village children

sometimes you’ll be able to catch her staring at you with a small almost soft smile on her face — this usually happens during quiet moments in your shared tent or when you’re sat with others in front of a campfire, when everyone else’s attention is on something else as you’re talking or laughing or smiling, and she gets to quietly admire you and think about how lucky she feels to have found you — and if you ever dare to bring it up to her then she’ll turn her head and vehemently deny any knowledge of what you’re talking about

[altschmerzes]

drive the wedge question/snippet request!! how does lamb handle river confusing him and frank - and is that a reason for river to take a break from service (or is this a similiar situation to louisa working after min's death?) anyway LOVE the au idea...so much fun stuff to play around with frank harkness is insane. like evil but such a fun addiction

THANK YOUUUU i'm so glad you're enjoying this project so far :D yeah frank is um. he is A Piece Of Work in a way that is very fun for me especially in this fic. there's basically nothing that feels out of bounds for him so to speak so there's a lot of room to just be. creative and horrible lmfao.

some extensive discussion of The Whole Situation and the lamb and river of it all, including how lamb navigates that particular trauma response. also a clip :)

river doesn't take a break! at least not insofar as like... he's off for a while at first because he needs to literally physically recover to the point of being well enough to handle even like. basic filing. and then for a while he just kinda... exists at the office. not really doing much. not very productive. he's just There because he needs to be around people very badly and his grandfather's gone to assisted living and he's just. otherwise very much profoundly alone. so even though it may not be the ideal place for recovery, it's the best he's got.

as for how lamb handles river confusing him and frank... it unsettles him. river doesn't seem quite consciously aware of what he's doing and why but lamb is acutely aware of the first and he would be lying if he said he didn't understand the second. and if there's one thing more powerful than his desire not to get involved or invested or have to worry about anyone or care for anyone, it's his sense of loyalty, and he does at this point care far too much for river to turn his back on him when he's suffering this badly.

there's also a conversation lamb has with catherine when river is in hospital after he's first been rescued, and she tells him in no uncertain terms something approximating "i know how you are but you cannot be that way with him. you have to find it in yourself to be kind to him because he needs you and if you fail him in that so help you god jackson lamb. you’re one of the bravest people ive ever known. dig deep and find some of that bravery and use it to risk being vulnerable enough to bloody take care of river."

so lamb is... trying. he's still lamb about it he doesn't undergo a personality transplant but they all thought they'd lost river and when they got him back he was in terrible condition and he just. he needs them. he needs lamb, unfortunately for them both. and so, with all this, he does the best that he can, and that includes catching that river is conflating him and frank in his mind, and is sometimes afraid of lamb as a result. expects lamb to be violent with him when no such thing is remotely forthcoming. and when he realizes this, the best he can do with that is make it extremely, bluntly clear that this is not going to happen.

which means two related conversations, the first of which is a misunderstanding wherein lamb promises that he is not going to beat river with anything including an extension cord (which is what river offers him, not sure if the question of what he suggests lamb use is sarcastic or not. it was. bad timing, man.). the one following happens when lamb realizes that river is still expecting violence from him, and that he needs to be more... general in his promises. which is that he is not ever going to hit river with anything, including his bare hand, and 'beat him' included any degree of physical abuse no matter what level of violence surpasses river's standards of a beating.

and, what's more, lamb informs river in no uncertain terms that if he is ever afraid that lamb is going to strike him, he is to leave. if lamb scares him, he is supposed to go. not irritates him, not gets on his nerves, not is an asshole - if lamb scares him, then river is to remove himself from the situation and go somewhere safe. he's not exactly... this is not a particularly gentle conversation. lamb isn't coddling him. it is very straightforward. i am not going to hit you. if you start to think that i will, you leave.

(which - we also get a scene then where he does. where river starts to get unsteady and anxious and... yeah, and scared. and he just. he leaves. he makes a quick, unsteady exit from the room and everyone is looking at lamb like oh god he's done it now but lamb waves them off. says to give him a moment then go check on him. he's done exactly what he's supposed to do. it... helps. having that workaround, the knowledge that he's supposed to leave if he feels unsafe and that he won't be in any trouble, that helps river a lot.)

(when he goes up to give lamb an update about the assignment they were talking about when he bolted, river is beyond anxious. he doesn't get yelled at or called names or lectured for leaving like some scared kid. in fact, the only thing lamb says about it is "well done.")

so, here's a clip from that second conversation:

And Lamb just doesn’t have it in himself to be angry at River for the stubborn refusal to participate in the conversation. He waits for a sharp annoyance to rise in his chest at the continued refusal to answer his questions and, when none arrives, he looks away to the window for a long moment. Thoughts muddle around his head, shouldering against one another and vying for prominence. They’re difficult to sort through, not being the type of thoughts Lamb is used to dealing with. This isn’t a mystery to solve or a puzzle to put together, not a job or an assignment. This is a young man in his office, a young man who had experienced so much terrible violence over the course of nearly five months that it had worn its way into his body like a second skin. This was River bloody Cartwright, who Lamb had dedicated months of his life to bringing home, to saving from that endless violence, only for him to continue expecting it even when he was back where he belonged — expecting it from Lamb. Expecting it from Lamb and evidently being all too ready to submit himself to it without a fight. Lamb thinks. He takes a drink from his own glass, letting the familiar warmth burning down his throat soothe his sharp, uncomfortable nerves, and thinks.

[fushiglow]

Hiii !! I came across Over The Threshold here on tumblr a few days ago and started reading it and oh my god it’s one of the most beautiful satosugu fanfics I’ve ever read. I’ve never taken a special interest in music as a whole but the way you describe each piece they play makes me wanna cry so bad holy shit. I ALSO HAD A QUESTION. There’s a lot of references about Geto’s music career as an artist, especially with Blue Spring getting brought up by Gojo a lot, I was wondering what your inspiration behind that was? Like, how does it actually sound like? I’ve tried imagining it but I can’t so I’m very curious as if you had an actual song in mind when you wrote its description.

AGAIN, I LOVE YOUR WORK ITS SO GOOD. !!!

Ahh, thank you so much ♥️ This is so meaningful, I really appreciate you reaching out to me to let me know you're enjoying it, and it's extra special knowing that you're connecting to the musical aspects of the fic!

If it's alright, I'm going to take part of my reply to a comment I received to answer your question:

I didn't want to be too prescriptive about the genre or feel of the music in this fic because I want people to imagine whatever is immersive for them. However, 'Where Our Blue Is' was what I was personally thinking of when I chose the title of Suguru's album. I feel like Tatsuya Kitani has that effortlessly cool vibe I imagine for Suguru and he borrows from jazz a lot to create music that straddles the line between complex and commercially viable — that's Suguru in my head!

So yeah, Blue Spring is mostly a reference to "their" song from the anime, but there's a musical element to it, too. In my mind, at least, Suguru was never an "idol" in the strict sense of the word. He was more of a ~serious musical artiste~ (sarcasm but also not) and he worked very independently in terms of the songwriting and production.

We'll explore his career in more detail at a later point in the fic, so I won't say anything else for now, but I hope that gives you a feeling for what I personally intended for Suguru. However, like I said, I'm happy for people to imagine whatever works for them!

My reader-turned-friend @ayahoes created a playlist for the fic with an accompanying guide which includes some incredible musical headcanons about Suguru, Satoru, and even Resonance – and I love every single one! This song in particular is uncannily suitable for Suguru:

So check that out if you want! Thank you for the question, I really enjoy answering this stuff and I'm so happy you're enjoying the fic!

[bluegekk0]

what kinda food does each family member need in terms of calories and nutrients? like does Vyrm need more fats in his diet to assist with the blubber?

I won't go into a lot of detail cause admittedly I'm no expert on nutrients. So I'll just talk more about what they eat, I suppose. Particularly in regards to Holly and Grimm since they're both a bit unique here.

I'm not sure about which nutrients it would be specifically for Vyrm to maintain the extra fat under his skin, but he would definitely need to eat quite a lot in comparison to an average bug. I don't think he overeats, and I don't think he's at much risk of health issues related to his weight either. Wyrms naturally are supposed to have noticeable blubber-like fat, and I think it makes sense that in a reduced form he would end up looking a lot chubbier while still being healthy. In regards to what he eats, I mentioned before that he's an omnivore, which is the case for everyone in the family with the exception of Zote. So he needs to include fruits and vegetables in his diet as well, to at least some extent.

Lewk, Asta and Milo are basically the same case as him, in their case they need all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals needed for a pup to grow up healthily. Milo in particular, since he was born quite weak, would need a more carefully planned diet in order to ensure he doesn't suffer from significant health issues.

Hornet wouldn't differ much from Vyrm aside from needing less calories than him. She generally doesn't eat very much, she's quite skinny but that's mostly because she moves around a lot. She may also have fast metabolism inherited from Herrah, which would be another way to explain it.

Zote, like I said, is a herbivore, so he can't digest meat and thus he gets all of his nutrients and calories from plant-based foods.

Holly and Grimm are two unique examples, I'll start with Holly. They don't have an actual stomach in the same way the others do, and because their body is made from void, their nutritional requirements are also difficult to pinpoint. The void in their body does need to consume things in order to stay active, and it does so by absorbing food rather than digesting it. It primarily consumes meat, which implies that protein might play a big part, but I think it's capable of making use of any nutrients. It's very adaptable so it makes sense that it would adjust to Holly consuming a variety of foods.

Grimm, on the other hand, does not technically need to consume food to survive. It's only really needed to allow his body to perform certain functions such as producing fluids, I would say. He's definitely a strange case, but that's because his body is not fully organic. That's not to say he doesn't eat food at all, quite the opposite, he did create a stomach for himself as well as all the taste buds that would let him enjoy the taste and sensation of food. But aside from absorbing whatever is needed for those certain body functions, the food simply gets incinerated or dissolved within his stomach. Blood is part of what he consumes, and it serves the most function in his body as it gets absorbed into it, allowing it to run for a longer time (I imagine it would also play a big role in the production of fluids that I mentioned). I try not to get into too much detail about just how exactly his whole body works since a lot of it runs through supernatural means that would get insanely convoluted if I tried to make sense of all of it. It just works, I guess. The only other thing I'll mention is that nutrients and calories play a big part when he's carrying eggs, since in that case they all go directly into the development of the offspring. As for Grimm himself, since blood provides him with an energy boost, he would have to drink a lot of it during his pregnancy in order to not become severely weakened during and especially afterwards.

I'm not sure if this is the answer you expected, like I said, I'm not an expert on nutrients and a lot of this is likely not too realistic, especially in regards to Grimm. But I hope it was still worth reading.

[revserrayyu]

2.6 Penacony thoughts [part 3]

**Spoiler warning** for the very last bit of the story, starting with the party setup and everything that follows after. Of course don’t read further you haven’t finished the story for yourself because I wouldn’t like the ruin the experience for you.

I always love how self aware the game is. I personally can’t remember why he would be here right now but his tendency of using movie terms so passionately at every chance he gets is endearing to me for some reason, so I’ll let his sudden appearance slide just because I enjoy having him around.

Boothil calling Robin “singing queen” is something I didn’t know I needed until it was said and done, like shut up that’s adorable.

Him opening up about his past in an attempt to calm her down before the performance.. y’all, this pair was cute to me before but this whole patch has sold me on them.

Reca literally calling people npcs but at least he says they can still hold value and the power to influence others. I think life can be thought of this way too, like other people obviously can’t be you, they may not even be part of your supporting cast of characters, but they’re still human and should at least be treated with kindness because who knows how they may or may not affect your life.

Robin mentions Sunday once and all I can imagine is him still chained up to that chair Jade found him in. Really looking forward to seeing how our holy man manages to return in 2.7. I’m still placing my own hopes on him accepting Jade’s deal but we shall see. If so, I’m curious to learn what the consequence will be and how people’s opinions of Jade might change. I wonder, if she saves your beloved Sunday, would y’all still dislike her? I’m already so fond of her so naturally I’d love to give her more praise if such a scenario does happen.

But Robin has seemed so downcast ever since that final battle. Poor girl. She really has been doing so much on her own since Sunday got locked up. You don’t have to do everything by yourself sweetie! So many people are willing to help!

Ma’am you're so pretty. DJ queen is truly a bright and beautiful sight to behold! I’m glad she’s able to smile so big after all the chaos Penacony experienced recently.

And then we have our lovable cowboy sitting off to the side enjoying the show.. until some random npcs come over and drag him to the dance floor so he can really sway to the beat.

As much as I love seeing the Trailblazer wield different weapons in cutscenes, I really wish we pulled out the bat or lance for this one. Seeing us hold out the hat while Dan Heng wields Cloud-piercer and Rappa with her giant shuriken just makes us look a bit silly.

I did like how Reol’s song from Rappa’s trailer played in game during that whole section where all we did was spam Rappa’s technique and chase down Profnana. I hope Hoyo continues to include trailer songs more in the actual story in the future, like how they included a calmer version of Monodrama during the 2.3 Sparkle bomb hunt scene.

All that nonsense with the monkeys is happening and March is over here just living her best life at the concert. I suppose that’s fair. She was hard at work during our recent trip back to the Xianzhou with her training arc, fight against Hoolay and calming down a raging Feixiao, so now it’s our turn to endure all the craziness.

Never in my life would I have imagined seeing Boothill in the spotlight during one of Robin’s shows and yet here we are.

He’s such a fun, entertaining character.. I guess if he can moonwalk during his own trailer, he’s perfectly capable of tap dancing and busting out some silly moves like this.

Behold! A literal definition of crashing into a party.

At least we provided Dan Heng with a soft landing? Seems we’re totally fine with it too if the rock n roll hand signs are anything to go by.

Rappa naturally makes a much calmer landing, until one of her spray can bonks her on the head again. Still a fine ending to a successful mission.

Damn dude, what else has the IPC done to you?

I’m actually not too surprised to see Rappa act this way? like she doesn’t seem the type of person to be completely hung up on getting revenger over someone else who wronged her. She’ll still feel hatred towards them, sure, but she’s able to put all those emotions aside and focus on other things if she wants to, like that whole band side quest that recently started.

I dunno, I still think attending university in a dream is such a wild concept. Penacony is truly a bizarre place.

Oohh boy. Safe to say we’ll be seeing these two again in the future, yeah?

Well, that’s all for now. I did finish the whole band side quest that had all the rhythm games last night and it was fine. Far less Serval than I had originally expected with how the 2.6 livestream introduced the event though, but at least she was there for a fleeting moment.

[omnomnomdomcaps]

What are your top 5 fetishes and associated kinks?

This is a great question, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to answer. I had to really think about how I wanted to divvy things up, and decided to go with some broader fetish categories, including a #1 pick that you'll never guess! Let's dive in:

#5. Desperation / holding - I don't talk about it a ton here, but I do enjoy me a good old fashioned bit of desperation in my smut from time to time. It's a wonderful way to get the heart pounding, the blood flowing, and the intensity rising, all as our heroine (or hero) teeters on the edge of ego-crushing humiliation. And depending how the episode ends, it's also a lovely way to tie into a number of other kinks on this list! #4. Ageplay - There's a joy to playing pretend, and it never really goes away, does it? Scenarios involving ageplay give us an opportunity to explore fantasies by playing them out together, and the results can be wondrous.

Some people may actually be surprised to see this relatively low on the list, as it is quite closely tied to my #1 kink - which again, you will never guess. But the entries ahead (as well as the one below) occupy hold particular interest because they require no pretending and no voluntary regression to have our dom dominating and our sub reduced to whimpering mush. So let's get into those, shall we? #3. Language play - this one holds an obvious soft spot for me because I've been championing it for a long time in the community. Admittedly, it's not something every couple can try without a fair bit of prep work, but if you do get the opportunity it's a wonderful way to instill a feeling of littleness in your little and a unique sense of control for your big.

Like everything else on this list, it's also a lovely compliment to other fun things! The speaker / non-speaker dynamic could be because the latter is too little to talk, sure, but it could also be because they're a pet (who needs to learn commands in the target language, of course), or because they're a kidnappee in a strange land. The sky's the limit, and the uncharted territory of this kink makes it uniquely fun to explore.

#2. Hypnosis - The true hero of so much of my forced regression fiction and the stuff of many a fantasy, hypnosis wouldn't be this high on the list if it weren't at least a little real. And yes, while irl hypnosis doesn't quite instill the same magical transformations that its literary counterpart does, it can genuinely affect behaviors over time, and can do quite a number on an entranced individual in the short term.

Is it a little bit scary when it works? Oh, heck yeah, but that's what makes it just so much fun. Just don't go too deep alone - stay safe, kiddos.

#1. Asphyxiation - Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming! Okay, okay, fine, it's not actually on my list (no disrespect to the choking aficionados out there - you do you)

My real top pick is...

#1. AB/DL - Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming!

Okay, okay, fine, maybe you did. But AB/DL is the tapes that fasten this crinkly world of kinks here together. Diapers, incontinence, pacifiers, baby toys, or some sort of regressed state offer a symbol of submission that clicks hard with so many of us. It allows for the assertion of power without pain, for a total release of responsibility and worry and an incredible ego-boost of control for the respective players, and for the ultimate trust fall between two loving partners (or more - again, I don't judge).

Where you go with that, and what else we incorporate, is up to you. Just be sure to share all the juicy details after.

Keep it kinky, y'all

[fantasiacafecat]

I noticed I didn't post any LGBTQ+ stuff or any Skyrim modded Follower content in more than a week. So why not make both right now?

Lgbtq+ headcanons with the Dovahkrew

These are Sexuality and romantic orientations not gender orientation headcanons. Sorry. These are also MY headcanons so if they don't match up with your headcanons it's not personal so please don't get mad at me. I am curious to see your headcanons as well though.

Inigo- Heteroflexible. He is most definitely interested in women and I always head canon that after the events of Skyrim he does settle down with the woman of his dreams who just happens to own a sweet roll shop. But I also feel like he would definitely point out a man's beauty. He seems like a very comfortable in his Sexuality kind of guy.

Lucien- Questioning Asexual Biromantic. He seems more interested in knowledge and learning other things than a relationship. And if someone did ask about his orientations then I feel like he wouldn't be able to answer that because he doesn't really try to experiment with romance of any kind.

Kaidan- Bisexual with maybe a fem preference (including feminine or men). I also see him as Pansexual because honestly I don't think he really cares about what gender his lover is.

Auri- Sapphic or Lesbian. I mean her creator basically made it Canon that she Prefers women.

Rumarin- Panflux 100%. Gender doesn't get in the way when it comes to any type of attraction to one another.

Vilja- I really only know her from a video of Inigo dialogue they have together. If I had to make a guess I would say she's straight or Pan, but I'm leading more into Straight.

Sofia- Bi with a big male preference.

Hoth- I really wish there were more videos and content on his commentary in Skyrim because I don't have him, but I'm interested him so much that I'd love to know more about his character. I feel like he doesn't use labels and gender isn't that much of an issue when it comes to love.

Taliesin- Pansexual. I mean come on its THE Talisman.

Gore (aka bby girl)- Questioning Omnisexual. It just feels right to me

Caryalind- I can't remember if rabbit said his sexuality was Demiromantic Asexual. I know he is Ace (or at least on the Ace spectrum) but I can't remember is they anything about being demi. I think he's Demiromantic.

Lucifer- Polysexual but I feel like he does have a male preference though I could be very very wrong. It's so funny because I play with him a lot on Skyrim but barely know anything about him. He holds grudges, he's very secretive (good on him because i would be too if i was in his situation), and he loves argonians. He seems to look up to Xelzaz and Inigo (and in some sense he does seem to be very enthusiastic when first meeting Nebarra until he realizes he doesnt like his personality) a lot which is what fueled my belief that he's maybe Achillean (Sapphic but for masculine terms instead of feminine).

Nebarra- I 100% believe that he refuses to use any labels. I think he might lean toward women a bit more, but that would only be because of how altmer are only raised to make the perfect child, so opposite sex relationships are probably the most common in the Summerset Isles. His fixation with Niranye and past relationship with Camia shows that. He doesn't seem Asexual because he doesn't hide the fact that he does enjoy the idea of doing the naughty naughty. His commentary on Dibella, Dibella Sybil quest, in the Night to Remember he says how he hopes we got to experience the Dibellan arts, and how he jokes about being Lucifer's father just prove that.

Xelzaz- Don't get mad at me, but I think he's straight. He says when hes ready he's like to marry a female argonian, and the only other time he's fallen I love was with another girl. I don't think he's asexual, but I think he definitely isn't very interested in it though we wouldn't really know because he seems very adamant on wanting to keep that part of his life private (as he should I love a king that doesn't feel like he has to tell us his sexual life).

Remiel- Asexual Panromantic. It was already proved Canon that she's Asexual. I had the conversation with her where she tells is she doesn't feel sexual feelings towards someone as she does with romantic feelings (also good on her. Not every relationship needs to have sexual desire in them). She's fallen in love with boys before and didn't seem too mad about being arranged to another man so I don't want to label her as Sapphic. And she does fall in love with you regardless of gender and I haven't seen anything that says she has a preference from the creator so I believe she's panromantic.

Secunda- I really don't know her that much yet as I'm still playing with her. First impressions is telling me panflux though I could be wrong though.

Extra!

Serana- Without the SDA. She always gave me Asexual Biromantic vibes.

Teldryn Sero- Haven't started A serious Teldryn mod yet so I don't know too too much about his personal preferences, but he seems like the type who doesn't really use labels. Though I'm positive he is Bisexual.

Karina- Panromantic Demisexual. It was confirmed by the one who made her @jewelthejaguar742

Arstul- Asexual Omniromantic with a male preference. Talked with @joonjii about it and it's confirmed. However, they also said he could be panromantic with a male preference too but they said my opinion was valid and technically right.

I might post sexuality headcanons for all my dragonborn and follower ocs