#because they make him a better guy than he actually is and make it seem like he just became a fop one day??? when he always was one???

[phoenixyfriend]

Was chatting about good alternate Cody&Obi-Wan dynamics with @threebea, and one of them we just had a lot of fun with.

Bea:

Cody: We are doing a good job at war. Are you proud general. Obi-Wan: [grump in CW '03] Cody being in a lacky position is very funny to me, if that makes sense. Cody: The boss will surely promote me. Obi-Wan: You're diligent and thorough but we cannot save supplies by powering this with my lightsaber that is not happening. I have always considered that of the two of them, Cody is the reckless hot-blooded one and Rex is the level-headed one. (Obi-Wan's view skewed however having raised one Anakin Skywalker making Cody kicking droids seem very reasonable and thought out.)

Here were my options for Cody and Obi dynamics:

Obi-Wan treating Cody the way he treats Anakin, early on in their working relationship, tentative but working on that angle because those two are the same age and rank so like. Cody might really be as much of a Dumb Young Man as most young men are, yes?

Obi-Wan treating Cody with a hands-off approach because the guy can manage the army while Obi-Wan runs off to stab the Count, right?

Obi-Wan treating Cody kinda coldly because his instinct is to be very delicate and nice to these traumatized young men, but they don't like it when he does that, so he has to be standoffish because otherwise he'll start babying them because they're barely any older than Anakin was when he got his boy.

Obi-Wan treating Cody as a Research Assistant because he's a nerd and sometimes padawans would be assigned to him in the archives, and Cody hovers behind his shoulder the way those students did so he just got distracted and started giving Research Guy orders instead of High General orders.

Aaaaaanyway we got in on that last one.

Obi-Wan definitely had to call him Padawan at least once Cody: ... [Looks around nope just him]

Cody: I expected to be mistaken for my brothers due to our faces. I did not expect to be mistaken for... Anakin Skywalker? Did I get that right?

Rex: My general called me mom once. I think he was joking? but I'm not sure.

One day, Cody has to come into the Temple for some professional reason, is told that Obi-Wan is in the archives, and walks into the sight of Obi-Wan wandering the stacks with several teenagers following him like ducklings, giving instructions with just "Padawan, could you grab that one?"

When Cody asks how they know which one he means, they tell him they don't. They just go with whoever's nearest the given task.

Cody: But he doesn't do this to any other clone [he does] Rex: You stand just behind his shoulder handing him files all day.

You Are Doing The Padawan Thing

Cody initially worried because implied Obi-Wan thinks of him as a student/not fully ready for the responsibility of being a commander or whatever. Obi-Wan: ? No I just… You're Padawan shaped. I can't explain it any better than that Cody gets it the most because he happens to stand exactly where Anakin used to stand the most often. Ironically, Obi-Wan tries hard to call Anakin by his name as a respect to his no longer being a student thing. Cody is firm about military discipline calling Obi-Wan sir and General because if he called him Master Kenobi or Obi-Wan the 'mistaken for Padawan' thing would happen three times as often. Cody: [grumbles] Alpha-17 didn't have this problem. Rex: Alpha-17 drew a line between himself and the Padawan day one to avoid it I think.

Alpha also has been acting like a middle-aged man since he was five. The disdain. Dripping.

Which actually didn't save him he was just more openly insulted when it happened once so Obi-Wan made sure never to do it again. Alpha: I was trained by Jango Fett himself and have proven myself a full fledged captain. I am not a Padawan :/ Obi-Wan: [listening to the speech] noted Cody: [far too polite to ever correct Obi-Wan] What did you need, General? Probably reinforced Alpha acting like an old man. I think he even calls Anakin kid? Anakin: I'm older than you you're the kid 😦 Obi-Wan: Padawan don't argue with the captain. I need a five times Obi-Wan called Cody Padawan (and one time when it was Alpha-17) fic now lol

Anakin: Why does he get away with-- Obi-Wan: Because I feel that if I call him Padawan by accident again, he may break something. And we don't have the funds for that.

Anakin: [in the room once but realizes Obi-Wan was taking to Cody] Anakin: Am I jealous by rival son/Padawan or am I amused that Obi-Wan is going senile?

"my baby boy" vs "generic younger person whom I feel some fondness for"

It's like. Old southern men who refer to anyone younger than them as "son" or "miss."

Obi-Wan: It's even gender neutral I don't have to remember names at all. Obi-Wan also probably called Ahsoka 'Anakin' a number of times, but that's due more to the A name combined with her jumping off something a Padawan should not be jumping off of. He mostly defaults to Padawan but a scolding 'Anakin! No!' Comes out every now and then for her. Obi-Wan: Anakin! No! Anakin, beside him: What? Obi-Wan: ...Sorry, force of habit. Ahsoka! No!

[tgmsunmontue]

A picture is worth 1000 words - 2/?

Hangster post-TGM events, Jake and Bradley becoming friends on Instagram through increasingly competitive thirst traps.

ONE

                Jake leans back on the sofa and takes a sip from a bottle of water, looks out the window and lets out a contented sigh. He’s been home a few days now and it feels damn good. Relaxing in a way he knows he will be well over in a couple of weeks, but for right now it’s exactly what he needs.

                “Who’s cockadoodledo?” Kara asks and Jake turns to look at his sister, who’s on her phone while also doing coloring with her two kids. Quiet time.

                “Uh… what?”

                “It’s the sound a rooster makes!”

                “You’re right, it is the sound a rooster makes…” Jake says to his four-year-old nephew, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “And other than that I don’t know what your mom is talking about.��

                “One of your Instagram followers,” Kara says, waving her phone in the air as if to prove what she’s looking at and Jake clicks.

                “Oh. Huh. Funny. It’s probably one of the guys in my squad, his callsign is Rooster.”

                “Really? Rooster? Why’s that?”

                “Uh…”

                “Oh, is this a conversation we should be having over a glass of wine when young ears are asleep?”

                “No! I mean… I don’t have any firsthand… information or knowledge.”

                “Well, he might want to give it to you because he told you that you look good.”

                “What?”

                “On Instagram Jake. Keep up.”

                Jake sighs and reaches for his phone, because Kara clearly wants him to look, and he doesn’t spend a lot of time on it, uses it to keep in touch with people when he’s away from them. He opens up Instagram and sure enough there are notifications, new follower requests and comments and there it is, under the picture he posted a couple of days ago.

                Looking good Hangman.

                Jake sucks both his lips into his mouth, wonders if Bradshaw is trying to… say something.

                Anything.

                He then goes and has a look at Bradshaw’s profile and pictures and almost swallows his tongue. He hadn’t been expecting that. Bradshaw had never struck him as the kind of guy to post photos like… that. Not that he’s complaining.

                Fucking hell.

                Did he post this in response to Jake’s own picture? He was fully dressed. That wasn’t… it wasn’t suggestive at all. His sister took that photo.

                “What? What are you looking at? You’ve just gone bright red,” Kara says, and she’s scrambling up from the floor and making grabby hands for his phone and he lets her take it from him, knows better than to try and fight her off.

                “Whoooooo boy. This is Rooster? Damn…”

                “Kara!”

                “I have eyes Jake!”

                “What are you doing?” Jake asks, because she’s taking longer than needed to just look at a photo, wonders if she’s scrolling through the others.

                “Replying in kind… and done!”

                She hands it back and Jake actually has time to look at Bradshaw’s profile, and he seems to have a lot of pictures for a guy who hadn’t seemed to even know how to use Instagram a few days ago. Then he reads the replies to the post and his stomach starts to sink, because Bradshaw definitely didn’t post this in response to Jake. It was posted five days ago, the first day proper of their leave and the same day they’d all met up for dinner before departing in different directions for six weeks.

                Who the hell is Mahuika? He’s following them and they’re following him, and okay, it’s Phoenix. So she’s… what? Taking photos of Bradshaw and posting them? Does she have access to Bradshaw’s phone, or just his Instagram account? He’s pretty sure that Phoenix wouldn’t be commenting on any of his posts, but Bradshaw… might?

                Maybe?

                Has?

                Jake is so confused. Then he reads the comment Kara has typed in and pulls a face. Okay then. He'll have to see how this plays out.

[fadelion]

I keep thinking that Signal would fight crime differently than Batman. It's not because of the daytime patrol, but it's how Signal himself goes about patrolling. He's on the streets, not the rooftops, and that puts him in the middle of people. It might be easy to be a target in a crowd, but Signal has that way of not making people want to hurt him, not from fear alone, but a mix of fear, respect, and admiration, leaning more towards that second one.

He'd be the type to feel like he's gotta be a known and trusted face in the city, not myth or a force of nature like Batman. Is he brutal when it comes to it? Absolutely, and everybody knows it. Either by it being daylight or it being in some more populated areas, Signal's greatest hits make the rounds on social media at least once every other month or so. New villains and old keep trying the new hero, and the new hero keeps finding ways to win. (The Riddler doesn't know whether to be frustrated, frightened, or flattered that Signal's been studying his tricks for years.) But he'd take that whole "Batman keeps candy in the belt for the occasional kid he runs across on patrol" thing to the next level. It'd take a lot of work, but he'd start to be treated like one of those police officers who make themselves known and not just their presence.

I also think that this would eventually give him that kind of worst kept secret identity that Daredevil does (or like Black Lightning wben he was Secretary of Education under Lex Luthor's term as president), where a whole bunch of people know his face or maybe exactly who's under the helmet, but if you press them, it's "Man, I ain't know nothing about no bat. All I know is Signal is Signal, he wear bright ass yellow, and he the type of MF you can flag down if he ain't moving full speed, and instead of needing to know who he is, you NEED to start dapping him up instead of hating on his ass." People could probably pick him out of a lineup, but they'd intentionally not do it. He'd have a bunch if people willing to come to him with a problem or give him a tip or something.

It's rough at first, because everybody sees him like just another Bat, and everybody in the Narrows has a story of how somebody they know or love got done dirty by the big bad Bat. ("That MF powerbombed a guy off a second story balcony onto the roof of my car. Woulda lost my damn job if my auntie ain't give me a ride after her night shift. Almost died, cause she tired as fuck after that double. Bat done broke all my windows and shit. I just got that MF detailed and tinted too!) He's almost seen like a cop at first, and people in the Narrows are wary at best and downright hostile at worst, criminal or not. (Duke gets it. He's as much "Fuck the Police" as he is "Be the change you want to see in the world.") But they notice Signal seems to be a lot more careful than the other bats. Stick Robin is a coin flip on whether he actually cares or is just getting info or stopping crimes, and Sword Robin doesn't give a fuck how uneasy he makes you. The girls are fine, unless they after you, then you paying Ms. Rita or Mr. Raymond to set your bones back and maybe getting some crutches from Shawn that fell off the back of a truck or out the pawn shop or a neighbor or something.

("Red Hood, like, he a'ight. I mean, he killed Unc and them, but his rules really did make it a bit better out here tho. Just took a minute.")

But Signal? If he got you, you really did that shit. Like, you was talking to people you shouldn't have been talking to and making deals you shouldn't have been doing. Signal will give you the chance to turn yourself in, or just stop, or something. You'll be breaking in the trap house for the first cook, and Signal will just pop in like "Did you know Mama Shirley about to retire from her job at the post office?" And he'll just look at you like you're stupid until you turn off the stove, and then he'll pat you on the shoulder and leave. And when you finally get that job, within the first week, Signal calls you by name and asks how the job treating you. Signal will stop the robbery at the corner store and then drop the robber off at his granny's house because that punishment would feel way worse than jail time. Signal having people to call off drive-bys because he was spotted on the next block playing basketball or getting lunch at that one food truck or talking with the old heads or something.

(When the Flash, on a rare trip to Gotham, notices and compliments him on it, Duke grins responds "I'm just trying to get like you.")

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

aspect = base personality traits and class = character arc

So the Blood Thing is bonds, pacts, relationships, and interdependence (also literal blood probably, given every aspect seems to be able to deal with its literal counterpart). In contrast to Breath's callous youthful naïvety, Blood players tend to be neurotic and obsessive, shackled by a feeling of responsibility for others, which stems from a well of deep empathy. This sense of responsibility for others is the main trait Kankri and Karkat share, though it manifests in wildly different ways - also a hypercritical nature, and messy romantic feelings.

Though Karkat's personal fixation is on romantic relationships, Blood encompasses ALL relationships - platonic, familial, and even societal. Kankri is, after all, an SJW (if a viciously malignant one using it for his own selfish ends). This kind of makes Blood the Society Aspect. In contrast to Breath's focus on independence, freedom, and choices, Blood players are specialized in teamwork, binding people down, and promises and oaths.

Knights, meanwhile, are one of the most straightforward Classes in terms of powerset, but have one of the most frustrating arcs. Knights struggle with insecurity and façade. They find some aspect of themselves embarrassing or shameful, usually something to do with their Aspect, and seek to cover it up with a façade that deliberately distances them from said Aspect.

For example, Dave is usually the character paying the most attention (Time's attention to detail), but he fronts as a Disaffected Cool Guy Who Doesnt Give A Shit. there's multiple instances where he'll mock someone by going "Aint Nobody Have Time To Read Allat", only to reveal that he has, in fact, read allat. Latula, though it's more subtle, is also deeply insecure about how she comes across to others - Mind and its association with outward behavior - so she puts up a Rad Girl act that Porrim literally calls out as being dumber than Latula actually is. And Karkat, obviously, fucking loves and cherishes all his friends so so much, but pretends like he's a big bad angry leader who feels nothing for them but disdain.

Knights are usually outright given some grand, karmic task, often in the form of prophecy (moreso than other classes). Dave notes constantly that he's been picking up hints that he's destined to defeat LE, whereas Karkat is literally the second coming of troll jesus, said to bring "equality and forgiveness to all bloodlines", something he's confirmed to know about because he rants at Jade at one point about his blood color marking him as good for nothing but execution in the exact method as the signless. This reflects how they're also usually a rallying point for the party - its leader, strategist, or just its beating heart. Knights are the most classical "hero" out of the Classes in this way.

Their problem is never in actually using their Aspect - Aradia says at one point that Dave wields Time like a tool or weapon. Using the Aspect comes fairly easily and naturally to them - on his better days, karkat is constantly offering and providing solid relationship advice, or otherwise getting people to reconcile or form friendships. The problem is that, as they struggle with their own selves and their own insecurities, it's very likely for them to decide to lay their weapon down.

Dave, at the nadir of his arc, not only refuses to time travel, but opines that "LE never directly did anything bad to any of us," despite literally being haunted directly by LE as a child via lil cal - refuting not just his time powers, but his nature as a time player to notice details (it's especially stark when contrasted against the fact that he makes mention multiple times about picking up on the tiny details suggesting he's meant to kill LE). Latula, a failed Knight, has picked up on Aranea's shittier tendencies (outright mentions not liking her and saying their contentious relationship as ancestors "makes sense" as a karma/mind thing), but refuses to do anything about it (and one has to assume, given Mind's associations with karma and justice, that she also picked up on the hideous injustices happening in the rest of the team, and similarly chose not to do anything about them). Karkat's failures are more cumulative, but they are almost all centered around neglecting his team: he leaves Equius with Nepeta, which prevents Nepeta from reaching her full potential; he doesn't intervene in Vriska and Tavros' situationship; he doesn't help Vriska and Terezi make up; he leaves Eridan all alone to stew in his frustration for the entire game; so on and so on and so on. He's so caught up in being the Big Bad Leader, doing the frog breeding job that wasn't his to do (frog breeding requires time paradoxes, and the last frog is in the space player's past, meaning a time player is best suited to help the space player with it), that he fails to notice or deal with the decay rotting his team from within, and by the time he reflects on this and expresses that he could've stepped in on the meteor relationships sooner and prevented his friends from suffering so much, it's already too late for him - half his friends are dead, his romances are in shambles, and Blood is nothing without bonds.

But that also helps to clarify what Karkat looks like when he IS able to deal with his insecurities and IS able to get his shit together. Even while screwing up constantly, he's able to keep his team of 12 working toward the same goal successfully enough that they beat the black king. he's ultimately the one who bridges the gap between the humans and the trolls, and nobody can ever truly hate him because they can all tell how deeply he actually cares about them, which is why everyone listens to him in the first place. Karkat himself will probably never be a particularly good fighter, especially because Blood is about binding (people famously point to how, in the final fight, karkat wins against clover with rope and bondage, not his sickle), but if he can get his shit together, he'll be an incomparable leader.

Not necessarily the one barking commands, but the one who gets people to act in the best interest of the whole, rather than themselves. Knights wield their aspect like a tool or weapon, right? Karkat would be able to wield relationships like a tool or weapon. His entire fighting style should revolve around throwing his allies at the problem, in the ways in which they're best suited. If Karkat can get his SHIT together, it means his whole team has their shit together, everyone working with what, and with whom, they're best suited for completing their tasks. Conversely, Karkat can't really be at his best unless EVERYONE IS THERE - but I think part of his personal plotline is *getting everyone there*. Blood is the force that binds, that ties together, that makes things become more than the sum of their parts. while his active powerset might never be truly impressive (though the image of him summoning shackles and chains to hold enemies down for his team comes to mind), the fact that he'd be able to keep all these idiots in line would be the real miracle karkat alone is capable of pulling. power of friendship baybee

im really craving classpect discussion... please indulge me ... ill classpect your ocs/blorbos (i will not classpect irl people) or talk about powersets... pls

[alittlebitofloveliness]

Sandy May Not Have Cheated on Soda

Y'all ready for another hot take?

I'm not saying it's likely, but it IS feasible that Sandy didn't cheat on Soda. I'm not saying she wasn't pregnant when she left- that's textual- but no where in the text does it explicitly say that Sandy cheated. It's implied, heavily, by Steve 1. and Darry 2., but never once is it explicitly said out loud. Additionally, Ponyboy remarks multiple times, that to his knowledge (and Soda's) Sandy really seemed to love Soda. Her blue eyes 'glowed' when she looked at him. Now, I know Ponyboy's narration is biased, and this could be read as part of his innocence and naïveté, but it could also be the truth. Sandy being shipped off to Florida to live with a relative was not uncommon for a teenager pregnant out of wedlock during the time period, but it was still a pretty swift and abrupt exit, especially since Sandy (presumably) wouldn't start showing for a while. It seems a little suspect to me. There's also the fact that Sandy wouldn't marry Soda. Now, I know the book says her parents took issue with it, but we know Sodapop is definitely the type of impulsive and romantic that he would be more than willing to steal her away and marry her anyway; but Sandy left and she sent his letter back unopened, so she clearly wasn't on board with that plan. The explanation of cheating is one that fits here to explain this away, but I'm not so sure. If I'd been sixteen and pregnant in the southern US in the sixties I'd probably have jumped on the chance to marry my handsome and devoted boyfriend, a guy so loyal he was willing to marry me even if I was (allegedly) pregnant with someone elses kid. yeah, Soda is poor but Sandy grew up poor and Soda had a full time job and a desire to make it work. Maybe Sandy is just a better person than me, or maybe there's a deeper- and darker- explanation at play here. Sandy was a lower class woman in the 1960s, and canonically doesn't come from a 'great home'. Knowing that the majority of teenage pregnancies involve a father who is an adult man, it stands to reason that there is a possibility that Sandy was raped or coerced into sex, and that the shame and trauma associated with that experience and the subsequent pregnancy were what led to her dumping Soda without a sufficient explanation and letting him draw his own conclusions, or lying about cheating either because she may have felt like she did after the assault or because it was easier than confessing what actually happened. She also can't have been the only east side girl to have gotten pregnant out of wedlock, and for all it would have damaged her reputation it may not have been irreperable in Tulsa. But rape victims are still stigmatized even in today's society, and it would have been a thousand times worse back then. If word got out, Sandy would have been a pariah. Maybe a fresh start in Florida and a chance to reinvent herself seemed better than any possible future in Tulsa.

Again, I'm not saying it's likely but it is POSSIBLE and definitely food for thought for a fandom that consistently demonizes Sandy without ever attempting to look deeper into her character.

"Look," Steve said, surprisingly angry, "does he have to draw you a picture? It was either that or get married, and her parents almost hit the roof at the idea of her marryin' a sixteen-year-old kid." (The Outsider, 1967).

2. "When Sandy went to Florida… it wasn't Soda, Ponyboy. He told me he loved her, but I guess she didn't love him like he thought she did, because it wasn't him."

[nothoughtsjustfic]

Wild Goose Chase - W.JH

🛸Who: Wen Junhui (Seventeen) x reader 🛸What: Sci-fi. Humour/low-key crack. Established relationship. Alien Junhui! 🛸Wordcount: 2k 🛸Warnings: One mention of intentionally hurting someone, but it doesn’t happen. I think that’s it! 🛸Summary: “ During an overnight campout with your friends, Soonyoung admits to his true reason for gathering you all tonight; to hunt down the alien spaceship he somehow just knows is in the woods.  

All you can do is follow along and hope that your boyfriend succeeds in his plan to mislead your friends so they don’t find out that it’s his ship they’re looking for. ”

Masterlist

It seemed like a good idea at first, but you should’ve known better than to trust an idea suggested by Kwon Soonyoung and backed by Lee Seokmin.

You adore the pair, you truly do, but they have about two braincells to rub together between them and frequently forget to put them to use, resulting in all sorts of chaos; which, unfortunately, you often find yourself a part of.

And tonight is no different.

You truly thought it was just an overnight sleep out in the woods with your friend group, and it definitely did start that way. Setting up tents, building a firepit and cooking dinner over the flames to share with a few drinks and lots of laughter.

Until, when the sun was truly down and moon was high in the sky, Soonyoung got up and declared he had gathered you all to search for an alien spaceship.

Which, in of itself wasn’t surprising; Soonyoung is a huge alien conspiracy theorist and consumes any and all media portraying aliens, insisting that they have to be at least a little accurate in their depictions. Though you only need to look at your boyfriend of the past year to know that the movies are utter bullshit.

Sure, Wen Junhui looks otherworldly, but that’s just because he’s endlessly beautiful, gorgeous, a piece of natural artwork you could spend forever and a day admiring and never grow tired of his pretty lips and cute moles and silly expressions and…well you get it.

Your boyfriend is utterly divine, a real treat for the eyes, but he looks like any other unfairly attractive human man. Except he’s not, because he’s an alien from a planet you can’t even pronounce the name of, who crash landed over a year ago in the very same woods you’re in tonight with your friends.

Which is where the problem comes in.

For the first time in perhaps his entire life, Kwon Soonyoung is actually in the right place to get the proof he so desperately wants and somehow, you and Junhui have to stop him.

“Do you think some really big branches will do the trick?” Junhui suggests to you in a whisper as the pair of you trail at the back of the group with your hands swinging between you contently as you walk.

“Like cover your ship in branches?” You question, giving your boyfriend a look as if perhaps he’s the idiot here and not Soonyoung. Oh how the tables turn.

“Yeah, like in movies where they need to hide their car from bad guys in the jungle and they use pieces of trees and plants to do it!”

“Oh, my sweet, innocent, darling,” you coo and lift his hand connected with yours up to press a kiss to his smooth, warm skin. “Even Soonyoung wouldn’t fall for that; he’s not that absent to miss a spaceship because of some leaves, baby.”

“He hasn’t noticed me for a year and he’s literally seen me almost skinshift,” he points out, reminding you of the first time Junhui went drinking with you all.

It was before Junhui was used to human alcohol; his skin had shimmered and wobbled at his first taste of vodka. Luckily, only Soonyoung had seen it, other than you, and he was too drunk to think it anything but his eyes playing tricks on him.

You never thought you’d say it, and it’s the only instance you have so far, but thank fuck for Soonyoung’s low alcohol tolerance.

“He was drunk,” you remind, and Junhui makes a noise to show his acceptance of your words.

“Okay, no to trying to camouflage the ship,” Junhui agrees. “What do I do then? It’s not like I can move it; someone will definitely notice that.”

“I have no idea,” you admit, pulling a face at your own uncertain words.

“Trip Soonyoung so he hurts his leg and can’t walk around all night? If he’s out, then the hunt is over; he’s the one making us all do this.”

Although you should probably not encourage your boyfriend to hurt your childhood friend, you don’t dismiss the idea. It could definitely work.

“Okay,” Junhui takes your silence as approval and uses his free hand to rummage around in his pockets until he pulls out a bundle of knotted yarn. “I just need to get these knots out then I can titty trap him.”

“Booby trap.”

“That’s what I said.”

You think you should probably say more, explain to Junhui that this is not a time when you can interchange terms for breasts, but honestly, you think “titty trap” is too funny and you really want him to keep using it, so you move on.

“Why do you have knotted yarn in your pocket?” You wonder, curious as ever about how the alien’s mind works. You’re not sure he even knows, which is very understandable.

“So I’m always prepared!”

“For what?”

“Anything! This is so versatile, you know, as I will prove when I trip Soonie and end this hunt, just as soon as I get these knots out.”

You leave Junhui alone for a few moments as he focuses hard on trying to remove the endless amount of stubborn knots in the yarn, but when he almost trips for the fourth time, you reach out to grab the bundle and put it in your own pocket.

“Hey, I almost had that one,” he pouts at you, far too cutely for a grown man/alien/beautiful bastard of a boyfriend.

“It was more danger to you than him, baby.”

“Oh…yeah, you’re right. Maybe I should give it to him and ask him to unknot it for me.”

“That…could actually maybe work, but later; he’s too focused on looking right now to care about anything else. He’s not even begging for snacks.” You motion to the front of the group where you can just about make out Soonyoung leading the way with Seokmin and Chan just behind him and sharing a bag of giant marshmallows.

For the pair’s sake, you hope Mingyu doesn’t notice because you’re positive those are the fancy marshmallows the tall man bought specifically to cook over the fire and you all know how sensitive and pouty the man gets about his food being used “incorrectly”.

“Oh,” Junhui exhales with widened eyes as he takes in the way Soonyoung isn’t hovering around the snacks and silently asking for some with rounded eyes. “He really is focused.” You hum in agreement. “So, next idea; diversions.”

“Diversions?”

“Yep. Whenever we start getting close to my ship, I’ll run off and create something to block the way.”

You truly have no idea what exactly Junhui intends to do, but you don’t have a better idea yourself so you just nod and hope that things will go to plan, whatever that plan is.

For hours, you trudge along with your friends through the woods, guided by Soonyoung with your boyfriend intermittently rushing off when no-one is looking to take up his apparent new job as a cartoon specialist, based on the increasingly ridiculous ways he diverts Soonyoung and your group away from where his spaceship his hidden in the woods.

From hiding behind trees where he makes menacing sounds like a wild beast, to creepy little figurines made of twigs and random items he has in his pockets placed ominously in paths, which thoroughly freaks out enough of the group when they realise that the little voodoo doll looking items appear eerily like some of them.

Honestly, you’re very impressed that your boyfriend manages to do such a good job with the figures considering his limited time and items and tell him as much when he slides back into place at your side while the others are convincing Soonyoung that you all need to leave before you collectively get cursed by whatever, or whoever, prowls these woods.

“I think you should take up making stick figures,” you comment in a whisper to your boyfriend while leaning into his side comfortably and wrapping your arms around his waist as his arms go around your shoulders.

“What?” He looks at you bewildered, sweat dappling his hairline from all of his running around tonight. “What are you talking about, babe?”

“Those voodoo doll looking things you set up to scare the guys.”

“I didn’t do that,” he declares seriously, though the second your eyes widen a little, he breaks and starts to laugh. “I’m joking! I definitely did.” You swat at him and try to move away but he laughs harder and reaches out to pull you back to encircle you in his arms. “Noo, come back my favourite being to have ever existed in the known universe.”

“What about the unknown universe?” You hum, glancing at him from the corner of your eye, where he’s now pressed against your back and swaying you both from side to side.

“That’s a real big ask, babe. I don’t know what kind of hot piece of ass is in the unknown universe.”

“Okay, good point,” you concede and nod in understanding while turning to look over at the group standing a little away with a few talking heatedly, still trying to convince Soonyoung to give up on his search and let them go home where there isn’t someone stalking them through the woods and making creepy dolls of them.

“I’m going to make them all life sized ones for their birthdays and leave them in their homes for them to wake up to,” Junhui decides, plopping his chin on your shoulder.

You cackle at the thought. “I’ll help you break in and leave them.”

“Forget the hot piece of ass in the unknown universe, you are the best being I could ever be blessed with the attention and affection of.”

“I am. I’m glad you’re aware of that.”

“I definitely am very aware.” He plants a kiss on your jaw. “Now tell me how great I am too.”

Just as you’re about to comply and start waxing poetic about your boyfriend in a way that you know will lead to him taking you off somewhere to do wildly inappropriate things in between a couple of trees, there’s a cheer.

“What’s going on?” You call, speaking up loud enough that your friends can hear you, which draws their attention.

“He’s agreed to give up the alien hunt!” Seungkwan enthuses, clapping happily and already trying to urge the group to turn and head back in the direction you came to get here.

“For tonight,” Soonyoung reiterates, pouting in disappointment as he reluctantly trudges across the dirt when Jeonghan takes his hand to pull him along with you all. “We’ll come back another day; when you’ve all forgotten about the creepy dolls.”

“Another night of pointlessly walking around in the woods?” Seungkwan complains. “No way!”

“There is an alien spaceship here, I just know it!” Soonyoung replies. “And I’ll prove it.”

“At least pick one area to look, not the whole woods; this place is huge!”

“I don’t know which area the ship is in though; I just know it’s here.”

“Why don’t we just ask Jun?” Hansol pipes in casually, making everyone stop to look at him puzzled. “What?”

“Why would we ask Jun?” Jeonghan questions while you and Junhui exchange a quick, panicked look.

“Because he’s an alien?” Hansol replies, while looking around the group as if they’re all idiots. “You seriously never noticed? The dude’s way too weird to be human.”

All at once, the group turn to look at you and Junhui where you stand hand in hand with matching wide eyes, too dumbstruck by the knowledge that it seems that Hansol has known your secret for some time yet never said a word because he assumed everyone knew already. Funny how things work out.

“Well?” Seungkwan prompts when the pair of you just stare dumbly in shock.

Once again, you and Junhui exchange a look, silently communicating before turning to look back at the group as Junhui grins sheepishly. “Surprise?” He offers with a cute shrug.

There’s a moment of stunned silence before Soonyoung’s betrayed yell fills the night air. “What the fuck?!”

Don’t forget to reblog if you liked to help spread the story and let others read it too! And don't be shy to leave comments or send an ask so I can see your thoughts 🥺 💖

Permanent taglist: @okiedokrie, @tusswrites, @svtiddiess

[redlobsterri]

Satoru Gojo, what could I say about that white-haired idiot in my class?

-He's a self-absorbed virgin- I muttered to myself as I pressed the small "send" button with the tip of my cold thumb.

A few hours ago, still sitting on our respective desks in class, I told him to strictly follow the schedule I set to meet up at my apartment.

As expected, this guy hasn't even bothered to read my messages, where I asked if he was actually going to come over.

He's supposed to make his unwelcomed appearance at 5:30. The reason? A stupid group project that, unfortunately, was worth a significant percentage of our final grade, and I really needed to finish college with at least some dignity.

I had to admit that Satoru could be arrogant, childish, self-absorbed, etc., but not an idiot. He knew exactly where he was standing, making him seem more annoying than he actually was. But, of course, my annoyance about that was pure envy that even someone like him could understand math better than me.

Sometimes I really hated that guy, I couldn't stand him. But there were exceptions. Just seeing him sitting at his desk with his long legs spread wide open made me feel a familiar warm pool forming down in my lower abdomen.

Satoru was so damn hot, and he knew it. He had every right to be conceited when he knew he was the one who girls talked about in groupchats with ridiculous names. They shamelessly sent any sexual fantasy with him as a protagonist that popped into their heads in a moment of heat.

Having him in my apartment was going to be fun if I thought about it that way, I guess.

I turned off my phone as soon as I finished sending another message, hoping he would hurry and reply.

Along with a long sigh, I put it in the pocket of my jacket, feeling the cool breeze hit my face and dishevel my hair. The winter cold was killing me and my toes. It was already 5:00, and it seemed like the sun was slowly hiding behind the horizon. I felt like my day was ending faster, which meant less time to finish my tasks and more stress.

Huh, 5:00 already? I hadn't noticed the time at first. I should get going.

And that's exactly what I did. I stood up from the bench and immediately started walking quickly towards my apartment (which wasn't very far from the desolate park where I was sitting). After about fifteen minutes, I arrived at the apartment.

I had planned to clean my room because I was too embarrassed for someone to see my room in disarray, with yesterday's clothes on the floor that I had been too lazy to pick up.

But, apparently, my project partner had arrived a bit earlier than expected.

The sound of his heartbeat pounding rapidly in his ears seemed to have deafened him enough not to notice that I was standing behind the door with a surprised expression, which slowly turned into an embarrassed one, as if I was witnessing something I shouldn't.

The white-haired guy was lying on my messy bed, emitting small moans of clear pleasure. It wasn't hard to figure out what he was doing, since seeing him jerking off with fervor, desperately chasing his orgasm to the limit while inhaling the intoxicating smell of my used underwear wasn't exactly an innocent thing.

-Ah-! The pretty blue-eyed guy whimpered as his muscles tensed and his back arched slightly upwards.

Saying I wasn't turned on would be the most blatant lie I could have come up with.

-Do you need help?- I laughed, catching him off guard. Satoru quickly sat up on the bed, zipping up his pants, but it was too late. I felt a little bad; he was clearly about to come.

He cleared his throat, trying to miserably change the subject from how much he was enjoying himself smelling my clothes while jerking off.

-Uh- I thought you'd arrive later. D-did you bring coffee? You know, like I asked.- It wasn't like him to get nervous and stutter, but he still felt quite sensitive and embarrassed about being caught in such a compromising position.

-Stop playing dumb, Satoru. Answer my question.

The blue-eyed guy swallowed before responding in a shamefaced and quiet tone

-Y-yes, please... I need you.

first one idk

wrote this in my wattpad drafts

no actual smut scene bc im not creative haha

[thenexusofsouls]

"Mr. Brightside? Wow. Hardly. Hardly," Wade said with a chuckle. "I guess? If you wanna call it badassery? I guess I would've called it that before a few months ago. I feel like now I'm more like Mr. Darkside. Bad luck seems to follow me everywhere. Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies. Except they're like... the worse cookies ever, overbaked, hard as hockey pucks, and those are raisins, not chocolate chips, by the way," he said, chuckling harder, but... in a way, it wasn't anything to laugh about. He really did feel cursed lately, but it was easier to joke and laugh about it than it was to talk about the real pain behind the sentiment. After a second, though, he shrugged. "Nah, I mean, I shouldn't do raisins that dirty, raisins are okay, they're good. Chocolate chips are just better."

"Oh my god..." he groaned again. "I'm never gonna hear the end of this, am I?" he said, this time laughing out loud. The kitten looked up at him when he did, suddenly thinking the rhythmic jostling of his lap was for its benefit. It purred even more, half-meowed in a trill-like fashion, and stretched to rub against his arm. "Yeah, shoulder length. Leather jacket, the whole deal. I still wear a leather jacket, actually, I just don't have it on today because of the rain. Most of the time, though, that's what I wear. I guess I'm old school. Or just old."

The kitten was flat out spoiled by the food, the warmth, the pats and scritches, and the attention. It was all purrs and tail curls and contentedly narrowed eyes. It continued to make happy noises as it ate and basked in the glow of its new human foster parents' company.

"There is still coffee, yeah. That's true," Wade said, looking down at his cup before taking a sip. "But I can also make coffee at home. Why come out and bother people if I shouldn't really be eatin' anything? I guess for this guy right here," he said, looking down at the kitten, who finished up the fish and finally seemed full. After all, it didn't have that big of a stomach. With tiny, sharp nails, it climbs his arm and got up onto his shoulder, already curling up into a little ball to sleep.

"Nah, bro, you can't be doin' that," Wade said, picking up the kitten who mewed in sleepy protest. He had to unhook tiny claws from his coat before he could extract the animal. "I don't mind, really I don't, but you gotta stay outta sight." He looked to Sadie. "You wanna hold him for a while? Maybe he wants to sleep on your lap or somethin'?"

The soldier bunched herself up under the desk, palms pressed to her ears with enough pressure that she could hear the squeak of her joints. She was trying to block out the noise. The angry shouts as she disobeyed direct orders. When had she entered the office? One minute she'd been searching the aisles...

well,

Shallow breaths

A tap on her shoulder, sending her jolting alongside her racing heart, wide eyes searching for the source- an elderly woman with a light laugh, and an apology for startling her. She was only reaching for the milk

Bright, fluorescent lights

Constant chatter and clanging and beeping that was not, in fact, a heart rate monitor, and was instead the tills as the cashiers scanned various items

Too many options

kind of.

At some point she'd passed the bakery, and a small child in a cart had wheeled by, holding a...

And then she'd found herself in the office. The door was locked from the inside. The desk had the indent of fingers on the edge of it's surface, as though imprinted in wet cement. One of it's legs wiggled like a snake. Both still gleaned with the sweat of her hands.

The manager kept slamming on the door, shouting and raving about calling the police, and company files and trespassing. And yet she was frozen in place. - For Wade, sadiebrin

@sadiebrin

"Donuts or muffins?" Wade muttered to himself as he looked around the bakery section. His head tilted to one side, then the other. "Eh, they each have their good points..."

It was supposed to rain today. Not just rain, thunderstorm. So far, though, the sky had gone dark for a couple hours and it had gotten rather windy, but so far... no rain or thunder. Perfect weather for Wade to do a little shopping during normal human hours without fear of getting too impaired by the sun. He'd felt a mild tingling on his skin when he stepped outside, but... not too bad. And really, he just had to go from his apartment building to his SUV, and then from there into the store. He could do that standing on his head, so... time to shop.

Being a vampire sucked, pun intended. Needing blood all the time was not only unappealing to Wade, but it was massively inconvenient with his schedule and lifestyle. And he refused to give up the foods he loved, even if they did nothing for him nowadays. At least he could eat whatever he wanted without fear of getting fat or developing heart disease, since whatever made him a vampire seemed to regulate his body to keep it in tip-top shape without him having to do much of anything.

His deliberations on exactly what kind of indulgent human food to buy were interrupted by a very distressed woman staggering from near where he was toward the back of the store. Confections could wait. Wade followed her, sensing that something was very wrong. When she went inside an office and slammed the door, Wade stopped and watched as the manager began pounding on the door like a child throwing a tantrum. "Really?" Wade mumbled to himself.

Making his way to the door, Wade laid his hand on the manager's shoulder. "Take a breath, okay? I think she's havin' some kinda problem." The manager was taking too many breaths, as it were, and spouting more boisterous nonsense about how she wasn't allowed in there, and if she didn't come out right this instant he was going to called the cops!

With an irritated smirk, Wade reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Dude, relax, I am the cops," he said, flashing his badge just fast enough for the manager to see something that looked official but not long enough for him to actually read that it only said government licensed bounty hunter on it. It worked, and the manager took a step back from the door. Only one. Wade looked at him like, you gotta be kiddin' me with this bullshit. "Yeah, you wanna gimme some time here, man? I'll handle it, don't worry." With that, the manager huffed and left to deal with an irate woman who couldn't find the type of cheese she wanted and was making it everyone else's problem.

"Hey... miss?" he called through the door. "You okay in there? Need some help?" He was trying to get through to the woman but also sound as non-threatening as he could manage.

[souenkun]

I can't get over how this is the first time that seiji sounds so defeated (while also revealing a different, unfortunate side of being a matoba heir)... the animators and suwajun really came in to whack me in the head one by one when I'm still reeling from reading this scene in the manga 😭

[seyaryminamoto]

Fic-to-Art #44: Zuko and Katara meet Hotaru

This time around, my Patrons chose these two scenes from the prompt I offered them... and that prompt was "Hotaru", our tiny firefly herself <3 drawing her continues to be a challenge pertaining how to ever make babies look cute, but I hope she looks alright this time!

These two moments take place not too far from the other, but it's worth noting that Katara and Zuko don't get to see Hotaru at the exact same time. Thus, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity... and draw Sokka and Azula introducing their little one to their respective siblings. This will be an emotional chapter (lots of those coming up), but I do hope that these moments of happiness will be a good way to soothe the pains caused by our very intense angst from the current chapters... to be specific, this is chapter 378, so we're not that far away!! Just gotta wait a bit longer!

A part of me took joy in this specific prompt... the fandom has an abundance of "uncle Sokka" and "aunt Azula" content, be it with them together or not, while Zuko and Katara (also while together or not) happen to be the ones who become parents first. This often relegates their siblings to a secondary role, and too often there's either implications or outright accusations that these two just aren't fit for parenting. I don't really remember seeing much, if any, content where Zuko and Katara are the uncle and aunt instead... thus, I figured this would be a fun switch-up that, ultimately, doesn't mean any of these four aren't fit for parenting (Zuko's already a dad, Katara will be a mother someday in the future!)! It just means that Zuko and Katara get to bond with little Hotaru and be supportive siblings! And everyone's happy and wholesome in the process!

At any rate! I hope you guys like it, and as ever, if you'd like to be part of the creative process behind these pieces, a $1 pledge makes you eligible for suggesting art prompts and voting for the winner, as well as reading Gladiator snippets 6 days before the next chapter releases!

[sysig]

Dr. “Has to get a good grade in therapy” Doran (Patreon)

[edwinisms]

I know how it sounds at first, but I really gotta feel bad for the boys that sacrificed edwin; I mean even the term “sacrificed edwin” paints them in a more sinister light than they really deserve– considering that wasn’t really, actually their intention.

they were bullies, they were homophobic (and/or were self loathing gay boys themselves taking it out on edwin, or were equally likely peer pressured into acting a certain way), they planned something stupid and mean to do to an innocent, anxious boy with the goal of scaring the shit out of him, all because he was effeminate and an easy target. but they didn’t know or expect any of the ritual stuff to be real. they were all laughing and joking during the ritual because it was just that to them– a joke. a cruel joke, but a joke.

teenagers can be mean and stupid and they usually regret it as adults and grow out of it / grow from it. they were stifled the chance to grow out of it, at least while alive. none of those boys deserved to be instakilled and sent to hell; they’re really not that much less deserving than edwin himself. they were all just kids, after all.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

this is a tiny pet peeve but i think its kinda odd that people seem to like. forget, or maybe just neglect to take into account, that yellow, for whatever reason (whether he's an alt universe john or a fresh piece of this universe's KIY that kayne went and ripped off) has ALSO been trapped in the dark world prior to being with arthur and has exactly as many Feelings about it. this is a very load bearing character trait imo

[ruvviks]

HIIIIIIII BONES what faction(s) does tiberius join? and which companions is he closest with? :]

HIII EZRA THANK YOU SO MUCH :] this got insanely long because i have. so much to say about this game it's unreal i'm very sorry in advance. but hope you enjoy ^_^

so in my canon of fallout 4, there's a couple of things different from the game because i personally don't think of tiberius as a leader in any sort of way, mainly because he's like. 23 years old. that's a literal baby. he was only born yesterday fresh out of the freezer

so!! that means that the minutemen are already very much established in the commonwealth again when he emerges from the vault, and there's a lot of sprawling settlements to be found in places where you'd otherwise have to build them yourself in game; so sanctuary isn't abandoned at all, and tiberius returns to his sister's home with a special surprise waiting for him (every other house in the neighborhood is now home to a bunch of strangers centuries into the future! welcome home boy!)

that said, tiberius DOES end up sort of joining the minutemen?? but not officially. he meets preston in sanctuary who helps him get settled in in this new and strange world and in return to show his gratitude tiberius helps out wherever and whenever he can, but considering the path of revenge he's about to go on he doesn't really consider himself good enough of a person to like. fully be part of it if that makes sense?? especially since the minutemen aim for as much peaceful resolution of things as possible, and he is not like that :(

tiberius massively dislikes diamond city, and feels a lot more at home in goodneighbor. he does some mercenary work there for a while and that's also how he ends up with the railroad, which he Does officially join :] a bunch of my other fallout ocs are also railroad agents; max, who's also general of the minutemen (don't ask how she finds the time to juggle all these different jobs she doesn't know it herself either); magnus, who's a goodneighbor guard; and nikolai, an ex-raider who now does a bunch of stealth operations for the railroad. tiberius takes his job as agent very seriously and through his new connections becomes more involved with the minutemen as well, now that he knows the two work together to give escaped synths a new and safe home and such :]

he does NOT join the brotherhood of steel. he hates them so fucking much it's unreal. to him they're literally just invading the commonwealth with the way they're terrorizing settlements and forcibly establishing their own outposts and whatnot and it causes a lot of chaos everywhere which is NOT ideal at all. max is handling most of the situation but she's clearly under a lot of pressure and it makes tiberius want to blow some shit up. which he eventually does when everything has escalated so far that there's not really another way to deal with it anymore

he only joins the institute to infiltrate them for the railroad, and he is NOT having a good time during it. he dislikes shaun (his nephew, not his son!) so fucking much but there's nothing he can do about it. i'm trying to make the institute a bit more interesting but it's still a work in progress because well the game leaves a lot to be desired on that front to me personally but either way, the whole place makes him super paranoid and he quickly realizes that it's a LOT bigger than what it's making itself out to be. the area he's allowed to be in seems just a little bit too well-organized and streamlined as if it's all pre-programmed and he constantly feels like he's being watched. which he is! because he ends up finding proof of a lot more levels that go much deeper into the ground and while a lot of them seem to be abandoned, he does end up finding evidence that there's more people holed up Somewhere. and they're watching everything that's happening in the area of the institute he's allowed to be in. it's all part of something bigger and he does NOT like that shit

lastly, tiberius ends up with the children of atom :] kind of against his will?? but also he's not really being forced to stay so it's kind of a gray area really. basically what happened is that he went to the glowing sea, ended up passing out because he went by himself like the stubborn mf he is and the children of atom take them to their crater to nurse him back to health but also give him like. some sort of special radiation cocktail of some sort which ends up making him a bit of a freak. much more resilient, much more absent as well, a bit faster than he used to be. he's basically their chosen one because i feel like out of all factions it'd make most sense for the children of atom to be weirdly obsessed with him like he's a perfectly preserved human from before the war. that IS kinda fascinating

either way tiberius doesn't really mind being part of them all that much because it puts him in like a negotiator position if that makes sense?? the other factions all have their other touching points where he isn't all that needed to create connections and stuff but having this extra connection with the children of atom who are mostly feared by the rest of the commonwealth helps a LOT with keeping peace and all that, so it's beneficial for all parties involved because it also means that tiberius can just freely enter any of their outposts and he can rely on them if he needs them for anything :] the children of atom are a lot more willing to assist him with something that may be a bit shady than the minutemen or railroad would basically so it's a good backup to have LMAO

as for companions, tiberius is closest with preston 100% :] when he emerged from the vault, preston was the first person who talked to him and didn't treat him as a possible threat, and he helped him get settled in which tiberius will always be grateful for because he was so so scared. and preston made everything a little bit easier. he's very caring and patient and matches tiberius' funnyman energy surprisingly well when they're joking around, which would all remind tiberius a lot of his sister stella. preston Would in fact be like a brother to him :]

he enjoys hanging out with piper and nick, but only sparingly so since those two just love to investigate stuff and a lot of their time hanging out ends up turning into business of some sort and tiberius does NOT have the detective's spirit! he likes being clueless. he does not always need to know everything. he does like tagging along but sometimes he just wants to SIT and have a beer or something

which, naturally so, makes hancock better company for him. tiberius did a couple of gigs for him personally (and got to know him much more intimately during a wild night with both him and magnus but we don't talk about that) and he likes to stop by goodneighbor regularly for a drink and to talk about shit that's been going on lately. since magnus and hancock are together, magnus is there a lot as well but tiberius sees him a lot more regularly at the railroad too :]

that being said, the railroad is definitely tiberius' main hub for hanging out with people he loves the gang SO much. his best friends there would be nikolai, glory (she's alive yes obviously), deacon, and tinker tom :] and also max but tiberius sees her a LOT more at the castle since that's by the end of the in-game events also a place he can be found at a lot. he doesn't take a lot of minutemen jobs but he does help out on location with whatever they need, plus the castle is a huge and busy marketplace which would be super fun to visit (especially at night) so he just likes hanging out there in general! that's also where he hangs out with cait and roxy (max' wife) whenever he gets the opportunity

tiberius' relationship with x6-88 is. strained. on a surface level he likes the guy, but his loyalty to the institute definitely gets in the way of their friendship a lot at first. i haven't entirely figured out yet how to like, get x6-88 on tiberius' side in a satisfying way that doesn't feel out of character for him?? but that's basically what i'm aiming for, because the two DO spend a lot of time together away from the institute itself which would give tiberius a lot of opportunities to show x6 what the commonwealth is really like. and what the institute's reputation is and all that. and with x6 getting attached to tiberius during all of that he WILL be forced to pick a side at the end of it all. and i personally don't think he would side against tiberius after spending all that time building up an actual friendship for the first time in his life

surprisingly enough, tiberius and maccready did NOT!!! get along well at first AT ALL. when tiberius was taking gigs in goodneighbor he was unbeknownst to him stealing away a lot of mac's clientele so naturally mac has very one-sided beef with him. especially because both of them are like. babies. i can't remember maccready's exact age but that's a baby. and tiberius is one too. and they're both competitive and kinda stupid so when they first "officially" meet there's this insane tension between the two of them and every conversation they have is just a pissing contest. they've been kicked out of goodneighbor together on at least one occasion because of their near screaming competitions

(at some point after the battle of bunker hill and tiberius has temporarily broken ties with the institute because shaun's attitude pissed him the fuck off he goes to goodneighbor with his friends and after a drink or two too many he agrees to a bet maccready makes with him about killing elder maxson. tiberius succeeds by knocking out a brotherhood pilot and pretending to be the pilot instead, sort of successfully flying a vertibird up to the prydwen, somehow knocking out a guy in full power armor to then steal said guy's power armor, killing elder maxson (who by then has committed enough war crimes including but not limited to laughing max in the face when she tried to talk to him about a possible collaboration in hopes to keep the peace in the commonwealth) with a pipe pistol, and then jumping down(!!!!!!!!!) in the power armor to make his escape by walking over the bottom of the ocean on the shoreline in the power armor. he brought the guy's coat and dogtags with him as proof. maccready was turned on and angry about it)

but after traveling together for a while, tiberius and maccready learn they have a lot more in common than they initially thought and they grow closer over time :] i adjusted mac's story as well by making lucy his older sister rather than his wife (HE'S A BABY. HE DOESN'T NEED A WIFE AND A CHILD IN THIS ECONOMY) and duncan his nephew, so it's still a direct parallel to tiberius' story except lucy is still alive but missing, whereas stella is in fact very much dead. at first it makes tiberius feel frustrated and upset in a very selfish way, but it helps him with like, allowing himself to grieve for the first time since he exited the vault which by then is a LONG time ago, and then it also helps him with moving on from it rather than staying stuck in the past. helping mac with curing duncan and finding lucy helps the both of them and after all that they end up getting together :]

SO YEAH. very bumpy road for tiberius all in all and he makes connections in a bunch of different places, but he's always just a gear in the machine rather than the one operating the machine if that makes sense :] he feels a lot more at ease when he can actually make a difference at his own pace rather than having everyone look up to him constantly, the closest he got to that was when he was the one to infiltrate the institute and he has NEVER been that stressed before in his life. he makes it out alive and relatively unharmed but good lord. he's never doing that shit ever again

[kathybluecaller]

Finally got around drawing Aioros :D

[margueritestjusts]

tbh the musical does one of the worst jobs adapting marguerite's character and i think that's because wildhorn and knighton misunderstood the purpose of marguerite's character and her motivations. there's a lot of internal emotional angst that she has (which gets neglected when the focus is shifted on percy imo lmao) but there are ways to balance them out, as seen in tsp '34.

i think this fault with the musical is shown the most is in the fact st. cyr barely gets any coverage? besides like. the opening number, the wedding, and the one off mention in the garden scene, when that is basically one of the most important aspects of her character in the novel. it's the source of her guilt and the cause of the estrangement, and also taking away armand's part in the st. cyr thing. him being beaten almost to death is the whole reason why margot denounces st. cyr and he ends up getting executed. in the musical it seems like she's done it for no reason (which, i mean... understandable from percy's pov) but then in the footbridge scene she doesn't give ANY explanation besides "chauvelin made me do it" and instead the main conflict is "will my husband slutshame me because i slept with another guy before i married him?" ??????????!?!?!?!?!?!?

i know that it would be a valid worry in this time period, but frank wildhorn HIMSELF said he doesn't want to write a 1905 story. so WHY would you make the fear of being slutshamed a main component of marguerite's character—and have chauvelin slutshame her in the process ("what would your husband think if he knew what sort of woman you are?")—when that wasn't in the novel????? it's just extremely distasteful and gross imo.