#but also. at least they're getting along!!

[y0-yo-yo]

DCxDP: Amity Park aka uncanny Valley

Who ever thought that a family road trip across the country was ever a good idea? Especially when the family concerned is the Waynes!

...plus a Brown but you can't really talk Waynes without including Stephanie Brown

Bruce had a gala to attend in Chicago during the summer vacation Dick jumped at the opportunity to do a family road trip and try his newest car/van

was putting a Damian Wayne in an enclosed space with a Tim Drake a good idea? No. Was Dick going to argue with Bruce at least thrice a day? Maybe Will Jason be even remotely happy to be part of this trip? Probably not and will all the kids fight to choose who is in charge of the radio? Most definitely, but it'll be fun!

At first everything was awful,Bruce made them wake up terribly early, for once that Tim had slept that night! (albeit for only three hours which was plenty if you asked him) to leave even before the sun was up

Then it became alright, the eight seat car was spacy enough to not get into each other's personal space, everyone started to sing along to music and exchanging playlists

Dick had an awful amount of dico and 80's music, Bruce played his dad rock while Steph and Jason talked white girl music

They started their trip by going through Pennsylvania, taking pictures and joking on how Batman should be a local super hero there instead than in new Jersey,then they headed for Washington DC, it was fun visiting the hall of justice as tourist even tho they all knew the place better than the guides,then they went through Kentucky where Dick really wanted to visit the 'longest cave in the world' and comparing it to the bat cave (Bruce was unimpressed)

And finally they'll drive right through Illinois to get Bruce to Chicago and escape before he tries to get them to join the Gala

And then the car broke down in the middle of nowhere.

The sun would set soon but it was still really hot as we were in early August.

"the GPS say the closest city is a fourty five minutes walk" Annonce Duke while Dick,Tim and Bruce tried to find what's wrong with the car

"We could easily do the journey" Damian says placing a draw two making Steph, too invested in this game of uno with Cass and the demon brat frown

"in this heat!? Do you want us to die of a stroke?" The blond replied placing a plus two as well

"It looks like it's our only choice guys...the car won't start anytime soon better get to a town and buy some new parts" The eldest said from the front of the car

"can't we just call a cab or something?"

Asked Stephanie

"privileged behavior" Duke replied back to back "plus I don't think there's cabs in bumfuck nowhere...I ain't never even heard of 'Amity Park', plus, if they did they wouldn't have eight seat"

"wait Amity Park?" Asked Tim who was swiping grease on a now ruined travel towel "I have family who lives there..." He said thoughtfully

"maybe you can ask them if they have a place to stay for the night? There's only cheap motels in this town and I don't really wanna catch bed bugs" Duke says still on his phone

"oh wow now look who has privileged behavior!" Stephanie snort a smirk on her lips as she add a plus four to Cass's

"uhm can we go back to the part of Tim having living family members? That own a house? Why would you make up one if you had family in the state?" Dick ask "and why do you live with us?" Added Damian because, of course he would

"well... it's not like we talked a lot, I saw them...maybe two times in my life? And they were definitely my parents type of neglectful so going to them wouldn't have changed much"

"...do they also have a kid?" Bruce ask and before he got the chance to talk more he got shut down with a "no you can't adopt more kids!" From all his children

"but yes they do have a kid, we got along great from what I remember...but except sparkly pink dress I don't remember much..." Tim clarified

"I vote we still ask them for a place to stay or at least a ride, if they're Drake's family they should at least have a limousine or mansion no?" Steph asked eager to find a good bed once more

"I don't know...I haven't talked to them much... especially not after my mother's passing...I don't even know if I still have their number" Tim think his voice a little lower, he did think about his mother's sister and her family when he was still living alone in the Drake mansion but thinking back on the blurry memories of being forgotten for hours on end with his cousin didn't really make him want to reach out

"it's okay if you don't want to Timothy, we can find another way" Bruce says in his paternal voice placing a reassuring hand on Tim's shoulder

"no,no it's okay, a call won't hurt right?"

Tim looked through his phone and he, in fact, did have his cousin's number saved, he stepped away from the car to make the call. He was a bit nervous and a bit ashamed, he had a cousin his age that lived in similar conditions as him and he never thought to check up or call,and now that he did it was for a favour, they hadn't talked in over ten years and he couldn't really remember what they were like, hopefully they hadn't grown up like their parents as a stuck up asshole

----------------------------------------------------------

Samantha Manson wasn't a family person,

She didn't care for them,they didn't care for her.

She labeled all her extended family members under "family" as contact names and usually wouldn't pick up when they'd call, not that they did regularly

Yet,she was in a good mood today so when her phone light up and her ringtone rung she picked up

"uhm Hi Sam...antha?... it's Tim- Timothy drake?Wayne? I uhm- our moms are sisters?"

Was the anxious voice that waited for her on the other side of the phone

Huh...

Huh.... Timothy ? Oh fuck Timothy ! Was she a bad cousin to have forgotten one of the only kids her age that she got along with in her family?

Well got along is a big word they just stuck around each other the two times their families were attending the same galla but it was fun for once...if she remembered correctly

It was still a time where he mother was the one dressing her up in those awful sparkly or floral dresses with cutesy hairdo...a goth's nightmare Sam got shivers just thinking back on it

"Yes I remember you Tim Drake...what can I do to help?"

--------------------------------------------------------

"okay so, my cousin say she can come pick us up as long as we don't care for basic road safety?"

Tim said coming back to his family who had all migrated to sit at a picnic table near the car

Jason Dick and Damian who had left for a gas station a few minutes ago to grab some snacks and see if they had anything to fix the car came back at the same time dropping bags of chips, candy and other bar chocolate

The comment about road safety made Bruce frown (hypocrite) but all the other kids could not care less

"so...we're not getting picked up by a limousine? Or is it more of a bus bar type of thing?"

Stephanie ask resulting on her head being bonked by Dick

"no the real question is what's your cousin like?"

"I am not spending a car ride with a snobbyer version of Tim"

Jason added making Damian nod in agreement and Tim roll his eyes

"To be honest, I don't remember much? She didn't sound snobby on the phone?"

Tim guess trying to make a mental image of what Samantha may look now, she probably let her dark chocolate brown hair grow? Or maybe she cut them? Would she still wear floral prints and sparkles? Probably not she hated them as a kid

"and how are her parents?"

Bruce inquired not without warning glares from his kids

"I remember even less! But Sam said they weren't home so..."

"hn"

Bruce narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything

"really all I remember about them is the fakest laugh and sparkly pink dresses"

Tim sighed

"sparkly pink dress? Are you trying to kill my rep?"

A new voice joined in the conversation making everyone at the table jump save from cass who had noticed the presence long ago

All but turned to see this goth girl wearing an all black dress with at least three layers of clothes and even more in accessoires

She smiled at them with teeth a little too sharp for comfort

"hi I'm Samantha Manson, but please call me sam! I hope you won't mind but my car might me a little cramped"

She said in a friendly voice beeping her car key bringing her car, a hearse, back to life radio blasting the latest song she was listening to and making her headlights bath them in light really tieing the whole spooky vibes together

Yeah...the kids are gonna like this girl.

[avonsdrabbles]

Don't forget that you can do your part.

I'm directly working with kids each day, and my curriculum treats them like dumbasses. We're reading about fears and phobias right now, and (along with all of our lessons it seems like,) the big idea is that you can overcome your problems and get through things with courage and perseverance!!!!!! :) (stars and rainbows yay)

... Yeah these kids don't respond to that. They are traumatized. It feels like the equivalent of telling those who are depressed that they'll get over it with enough yoga.

So... I take what I read, and I ask them, "What is the author's purpose? What are they trying to convince you of."

Eye rolls. "That perseverance gets us through everything," mumbled replies.

"Okay. Why?"

Immediately, that gets them more engaged. The kids who are more dead inside -- often the ones abandoned by the education system already -- typically don't engage, but those who do perk up listen. And we talk.

Like, yesterday, we read about fight or flight. ":o Fight and flight are the instant reactions of your brain! Your fears try to protect you and tell you to run or fight dangerous things. But when fears are over things that aren't dangerous, that's when they're unhealthy. Wow :o"

I stopped.

"Of course, there's loads of other types of fear responses -- like freeze, or fawning." Immediate perk, because they know fight and flight. I mention fawning and those two kids that knew what an amygdala was already look up, shocked. I smile. "I'm a freeze responder, myself, when it's something that physically threatens me. But sometimes I also run away, or sometimes I try appealing to something -- that's fawning -- so that I can convince it not to hurt me."

"Oh, I'm like that," a student says. "At a haunted house, I begged a guy not to chase me."

"Were you scared?"

"Yeah."

"So that might have been your brains way of responding to the fear!"

Cue an entire class period where I explained to the kids various trauma responses and how we experience them due to chemical changes in the brain.

Today I talked with them about how those trauma responses are only negative if we find them negative, and while it's always a good idea to work on healing and growth, we don't need to devote our energy to it 24/7, and we're allowed to wait to fix our "problems" if they're not distressing. I tried my best not to look at a child who was staring me down, who had been glaring at the textbook while it called a fear of public speaking -- a phobia that has debilitated her at school -- "unhealthy" and recommended therapy for. I tried not to look at her directly as I said, "If you aren't distressed or dysfunctional by being unable to do something due to your phobia, then it doesn't need to be addressed yet. Just like my phobia of bees doesn't need to be addressed yet if I don't want to, you can wait to figure out your problems too."

"Even my phobia of clowns?" One kid asks.

"Are you planning on working at a circus?"

"No!"

"So, do you deal with clowns regularly in your life?"

"No."

"So you don't need to worry about it right now. What's more important -- dealing with your phobia of clowns, or studying for tomorrow's quiz?"

The kids aren't alright. They're scared. They're bored.

But we can help. We can at least give them the information they need to thrive.

watching gen z and millennials make fun of gen alpha has been torturous. "But they're actually stupid" 1. theyre middle schoolers 2. isn't that what older gens said about us? don't you remember being 11?

it truly is just "impulse reaction to cringe <- has not yet unlearned shame"

the cycle continues let me out of here

guys. guys I think we should kill cringe culture

[nicolewritesthings]

Don't press your luck

Steve Harrington x Hopper!Reader

Summary: After the team wins their basketball game, Hopper!reader and Steve go to a party just as friends. But do you leave that way?

Warnings: a little bit of steamy time

Note: it's been a minute, and then I thought I got locked out of this account but I found my password!! This can be read alone, but also is an installment for my hopper x harrington series because I love that idea so much.

Read another part of that series here: What would Madonna do?

Enjoy :)

Spring 1985

Hawkins High School's gym is filled to the brim during a much anticipated match up this basketball season. The crowd cheers on their Tigers as the clock dwindles down to under a minute left of the fourth quarter.

Steve is having a particularly good game, leading the team in points. Boy, did he need the win. After everything that happened a few months ago with Nancy and another brush with death, he really needed some good energy. Dare he think, to get back a bit of the King Steve glory again.

He weaves down the court, faking out a player, and SWISH. Another basket. The crowd ROARS. Steve looks up at the scoreboard: 35 seconds, they're up by 4. Let's keep it that way.

From the crowd, little miss Hopper watches intently. Quite literally on the edge of her seat. She doesn't normally go to basketball games. Maybe she went to a couple with Nancy her freshman year, but basketball really wasn't her preferred sport. So, when she and Nancy naturally drifted apart and made new friends, she had no one forcing her to these games. That is, until now.

Her newly formed friendship with Steve started last Halloween when she was stuck babysitting a bunch of kids, fighting monsters, and getting beaten up by Hargrove. Trauma really bonds the least likely of friends.

Now the two really couldn't get enough of each other. And that is meant in the most platonic way possible. Well, sort of. The two are both major flirts, so it's not her fault when the banter crosses that line and there's a little too friendly of touching. It would also explain why she was at a basketball game for the first time in two years. Yeah, to support her new friend. But, she can't lie to herself, she really wanted to see him sweaty and aggressive and thankfully - winning.

So, Miss Hopper watched as Steve ran down the court again, bidding his teammate for the ball. It's passed to him and she stands up along with the rest of the crowd. They all watch in anticipation as Steve shoots and - SWISH, sinks it into the basket.

The buzzer sounds and the crowd erupts. Hawkins won! Against their rivals no less! She CHEERS, high-fiving the students around her.

Her eyes are on Steve as he celebrates with his team. She smiles, damn he needed this.

Steve breaks apart from his teammates and looks up to the crowd, easily finding her already staring back at him. He gives her an arrogant shrug, making her roll her eyes so hard, but that smirk doesn't leave either one of their faces. He nods his head toward the locker room, silently communicating to her in the very loud, packed gym.

------------

Hopper waits outside the gym in the parking lot, where some other students are waiting for their friends and most likely - boyfriends. Some of the girls look over at her and eye her "GO STEVE" sign. She know how this looks, but making the sign gave her a really good laugh. With all its glitter and pep. She knew Steve would crack up too.

But here, now faced with presumably other girlfriends, she feels just a slight bit of insecurity. Then Marissa Adams is striding over to her, and Marissa's other friend, Ashley something, follows. Marissa nods over at the closed locker room doors.

"You're Steve's girl now?" Marissa asks casually.

Hopper shake her head, "just friends."

Marissa nods, her hands in her pockets, and shares a look with Ashley. She eyes the sign then looks back at Hopper and says, "no girl's just friends with Steve Harrington."

Marissa's a senior like Steve, and it's safe to assume there's some history there. Hopper thinks back, trying to recall any rumor about the two of them together but comes up short. He's been with a lot of girls, she knew that much. But, she'll have to ask Steve about her later.

"Well, there's a first for everything," she says, smiling.

Marissa smiles, taken back by her casual demeanor. She's cool, Hopper thinks, and not your typical townie. Her parents are rich, like work in the city and vacation in Europe rich.

"My boyfriend's throwing a party after this if you want to come," Marissa says cooly, "bring the MVP with you."

Hopper nods as Marissa and Ashley turn toward the opening doors. A blonde boy, Mark, envelopes Marissa into a hug. Hopper shifts her attention to a certain dark head of hair racing towards her.

Steve smiles, pointing at the sign, "that is the best fucking thing I've ever seen." He quickly pulls her into a hug. She wraps her arms around him, face nuzzled into his chest, taking in the fresh soap smell and clean clothes.

She pulls back and he takes the sign into his hands, continuing to gawk, "is that blue glitter? So cheesy."

"You love it," she smirk, walking in tandem toward his car.

Steve throws his things and the sign into the back. She eyes Marissa and turn back to Steve, "I got invited to Mark's party tonight."

He laughs at this as the two get into his car, "wait, who told you? I was just going to bring it up."

"Marissa Adams. She thinks we're dating," she flips through the radio.

Steve starts the car, "oh yeah? What made her say that."

She points to the sign and settles on some rock song.

He nods his head, "yeah that is a bit deceiving. You know, I had a thing with her back in the day."

"I gathered that," she eyes him, "she said you're not friends with girls."

"What the hell does that even mean," Steve scoffs, "you and I are friends."

She throws her hands up, "that's what I said! There's a first for everything."

Steve sneaks a glance over at her, taking in her features. Her cute nose, big eyes, perfect lips. He always does this, sneaking a look here and there when he thinks she's not paying attention. But he's oblivious to her knowing smirk and her own stolen glances.

He lets the song sit comfortably in the car, lost in his thoughts of her. Marissa is right, he wasn't close friends with girls. But, that was his former self, his previous persona. Now he had Hopper and her witty humor and their study sessions and their movie nights and late drives to pick up the kids. Not to mention they ate lunch together almost every day, save for basketball practice or her english club meetings.

They were friends. His first close girl friend who he hasn't ended up romantically, or physically, involved with in some capacity. Which is a miracle because god, have you seen her?

Her perfect hair and soft skin that he gets to feel sometimes when she's a little too close or they're a little too touchy. Oh, he's in for it come summer. She'll probably lifeguard again and come by his pool in a tiny bikini and-

"Steve!" she practically yells for his attention. His bicep burns at the touch of her hand enclosed around his arm.

He scoffs, "sorry, what?"

"Let's park at yours and walk. I'll call my dad and tell him I'm crashing at your place again," she shrugs, retracting her hand from his arm.

He breathes out, "good idea. We can sneak some of my dad's booze."

"Fuck yes," she practically moans. Steve sucks in a breath. She continues, "your dad has excellent taste in tequila."

-------

After a night of dancing and drinking and an abundance of school spirit, Steve and Little Miss Hopper make their way up the Harrington's driveway.

"Really? Rob Lowe over Han Solo?" Steve whispers as he unlocks the door. Their game of who'd you rather has gotten very heated.

She follows him inside, slipping off her shoes, "have you seen him in the Outsiders?!"

Steve shushes her, "but does he fight intergalactic space battles?"

“Now you’re suddenly a star wars fan?” she asks in disbelief, “you fell asleep last time we watched.”

“Whatever, I still think he’s a cool dude,” he shrugs.

They head upstairs and into his bedroom. Steve flicks the light on and she immediately beelines for the bed, plopping down onto it.

"But Rob Lowe's eyes are to die for," she doubles down.

Steve fumbles around his drawers, pulling out extra clothes for her to sleep in. He sets them on the bed and sits down beside her. She sits up on her elbows.

Steve shakes his head, "they have the same eyes, don't they?"

She shrugs, "I prefer brunettes anyways."

"You do?" he smirks.

She rolls her eyes and smacks his arm, "get your mind out of the gutter, Harrington."

"Oh, I could go way deeper into the gutter if I wanted to, Hopper," he laughs, looking down at her.

She sits up now, giggling, "deeper, yeah?"

Now he rolls his eyes, and can't help but join her in laughing at their mutually childish sense of humor.

See, friends can laugh like this together, he thinks. He also thinks about how she's staying the night. In the guest room, of course, but still. They can go to the diner tomorrow for breakfast, sit in their favorite booth, and order their usuals. He'll feign disgust at her purely black coffee and she'll pick at his pancakes even when she insists on never getting the sweet option.

"I'm still surprised your dad let's you stay the night here," Steve ponders this every time it happens, "isn't one of his rules, 'no boys overnight.'"

She shrugs off her jacket, "I guess he doesn't see you as a threat. And actually his rule is don't get pregnant, but they go hand in hand."

Is that disappointment she catches in Steve's eyes? Is he seriously offended that her dad, the big scary Sheriff, believes they're just friends too. I mean, hell, he's grown fond of Steve over the past few months with how much he's been there for both of his girls. Also, the Sheriff knows his daughter and he knows when she's hiding something. She's not hiding Steve.

"Don't look all sad, Steve," she moves on the bed to face him, "it's a good thing you're flying under his radar."

"Yeah, but it's like your dad doesn't think I have a shot with you," he slips out, wincing as soon as the words leave his mouth.

Hopper's eyes glimmer. A mischievous look on her face as she debates her next move. She could do nothing and look past this falter in Steve's usual smooth confidence. Or, she could give in a little and entertain this whole conversation.

So, with the help of the few drinks in her system, Hopper eyes Steve, taking in all his glorious features. His long eyelashes and great hair. What would it feel like to run your fingers through it? To tug a little?

She smirks, "do you think you have a shot with me?"

Steve looks up, taken aback by her question. He nearly melts as her big eyes stare up at him. Fuck, what is she doing? Is she doing what he thinks she's doing?

Wait, Steve knows what this is. He's done this a bunch of times with girls. He's egged them on, gotten them to be the ones to make the first move. He's never the first one to lay all his cards out there on the table. He's definitely never felt shy about being attracted to someone before and yet, here he is with the most beautiful girl he's met, in his bedroom about to change into his clothes, batting her eyelashes at him like it's some game.

No way is he going to lose at his own fucking game.

So he does what he does best and reverts back to King Steve. Just this once is fine, he thinks.

He stands up and walks over to his dresser. With his back faced to her, he shrugs, "you tell me."

Hopper sits back, shaking her head in disbelief. She thought she had him for a second there, but now he's acting all aloof and-

She looks up to find him tugging his shirt off his body, leaving the perfect view of his bare back. Oh you got to be kidding me. Now he's playing with her.

The tension in the room is palpable as Steve turns around and leans against his dresser. He doesn't break eye contact as he slips on a loose white t-shirt to sleep in. She stares back, not looking down as he covers his bare chest.

What she says next will change the trajectory of their friendship, she thinks. So she debates her next move, thinking back to how well they know each other now and how if they move into this physical territory, they risk their friendship. Is it worth it?

But the pounding in her heart is distracting and she can't help but focus on the feeling of desire in the pit of her stomach and the way her skin buzzes by the mere thought of him touching her. This isn't the first time she's felt this way with Steve.

She thinks back to the first time she felt this spark with him. When they were walking down those train tracks with Dustin slightly ahead of them. How Steve grabbed her wrist to stop her from tripping over a broken track. The electricity shot through her in an instant. Something she's never felt before.

Then the memory of desire floods her system. When she and Steve sat on his couch watching Nightmare on Elm Street and he pulled her into his chest because he was anxious and spooked. She felt his warmth and could smell his fresh linen scent. God, she could have taken him then and there if she really acted on how she felt.

But now she's in his bed, on the precipice of changing their friendship forever and instead of making the logical decision, she lets the need for his touch consume her.

His statement echoes in her mind - 'you tell me.'

"Yeah, you do," she states cooly, eyes still locked with his.

Steve breaks momentarily, sucking in a breath. He did not expect that answer, but fuck it. He can't help but eye her pouting lips and big eyes looking back at him. Don't do it, don't do it, don't-

and then she looks down at his lips, briefly, but he still catches it and now all he sees is red.

Steve strides across the room and lunges down to her level, cupping her face in his hands. He crashes his lips to hers and oh wow, is it better than he's ever imagined.

She grips his wrists, pulling him into her as he stumbles onto the bed. Her skin buzzes as they kiss, she needs him to touch her - anywhere.

He sits beside her and puts a hand on her waist. She leans towards him, sitting up on her knees and lowering onto his lap. She deepens the kiss as Steve's hands wander over her body.

The pit in her stomach grows more and more as she pushes further into him, grinding onto his lap. He groans and grabs the side of her head and neck, gripping her to look back at him. They eye each other, waiting for the other to break.

Steve bites his lip, "don't do that."

"You sure?" she smirks, going to lean in. He grips her head gently, making her look at him still.

With hooded eyes, he drawls out, "don't start something you can't finish."

Oof.

King Steve strikes again.

It's subtle. This implication that she's going to put out, and that brings her right back to any other hook up with any other guy. Maybe he didn't mean it like that, but it rubs her the wrong way. It sobers her up completely.

She stares back at him and Steve feels the mood shift.

"Don't push your luck, Harrington," she scoffs, nudging his hands off of her and rising from his lap.

Oh god, he fucked up, didn't he?

He goes to stand and go after her, but his hard-on decides otherwise. Steve stays glued on the bed as she grabs her clothes and retreats to the door.

"Wait, I'm so confused right now," Steve says quickly.

Hopper pauses, turning to him, "I'm tired, okay? Let's just talk about this tomorrow."

Before he can respond, she's already shutting the door and crossing the hall to the guest room, leaving Steve very confused and still very turned on by his best friend.

[anomaliex]

Pretty privilege is real because if Riz started handing out business cards again it'd be well (or at least less badly) received because he's hot now. This is extremely funny to me. Honestly anything relating to Riz having stumbled ass backwards into being hot (He's not even trying. Fabian is furious slash lighthearted abt that one.) and not really caring about it all is peak comedy. To me.

Like think about it. If you're his age or younger and this Goblin kills someone really well because that's what he does, and he adjusts his tie and pulls a business card out of his vest and he's covered in tattoos (and if it's after combat I guess there's a decent chance he's a little bloody too) and his hair is dishevelled but looks good now and he hands it over casually because he learned how to social interaction at some point and has +9 to persuasion and just goes "Riz Gukgak, private eye." What the fuck. That's not "kid that's gonna get bullied" anymore this is cool now. Only hot people are allowed to do insane shit like give out business cards without being in an appropriate setting. I think it helps that he's actually licensed now lmao but you get the point. Also somewhere here I have to acknowledge that if you're not a small creature it might be less cool. But it probably works on some medium folk still. My point still stands it's like, the vibes aren't cringe failure anymore.

Fig or honestly Gorgug randomly brings this up while they're chilling and then they have to test it out and force Riz to do it several times and he plays along at least for a bit because he loves his friends and Fabian swoons as dramatically as possible and they don't let it rest (and hey that might have honestly flustered him a little bit and The Ball is not supposed to be able to do that. What the fuck happened.) Riz does not understand what the big deal is but apparently the cringey thing he did in middle school is suddenly cool now and he could "get some" (ew) if he wanted (he absolutely does not). He can't decide if his friends are just crazy (not unlikely) (Adaine isn't being weird about it but she's also not saying the others are insane so that's a bad sign. Gorgug isn't being weird about it but he agrees. Oh no.) or if he can never hand out a business card to anyone under the age of twenty again (not that he was planning to I think he had a bit of a career shift. But. Y'know.)

Honestly I think Riz in general had a little trouble after the whole vibe change because now people's perception of him is different, and therefore he has to interact with them differently to get the same reactions. There is a point to which he can't get the same reactions. Like, adults he doesn't know seem to think he's a little less trustworthy now (it's hard not to believe some obvious nerd loser is being earnest. It's harder to believe that the tatted up cool guy has the same attitude) and he has to deliberately proof he's a good boy (mostly). People his age are less inclined to brush him off but also take his bluntness as either a challenge or weird flirting or maybe both when it was just him being blunt and awkward before.

He clocks it after a few times and adjusts, and all it really takes is a slight tone adjustment because it's not like, a huge difference, but it's weird that there's a difference at all. He didn't really think rolling up his sleeves and wearing his tie a little looser and bedazzling himself with rings and bracers would make him seem that much less like a social loser but apparently it does. It helps that he has expertise in persuasion but at first he doesn't realise his "I need to learn how to be palatable" self-training screwed him over in a weird backwards way.

Riz is a weird guy. Social cues are more like, clues to him. That he has to rigorously watch out for and piece together like a puzzle. He can absolutely do it, and he excels at it nowadays, but it didn't come to him naturally and took him. A while. In middle school he definitely didn't get it. What's instinct to others has to be a conscious thought process for him, idk, have i mentioned that he's autistic. I know this, trust. I kinda lost the point idk man.

Being autistic and aroace and falling into some weird niche of attractiveness and also being weird and awkward as shit but "cool now" is hard. Suddenly people approach him in different ways than before and sometimes he doesn't even get it until his friends tell him because it was something completely new and then he has to learn new clues for those specific settings because apparently it's different at a party than at school. All in all weird experience socially. But Riz enjoys puzzles so maybe this can be enrichment or something, who knows.

[arciam]

Underrated JayVik moments/lines (13/∞)

"You should come up with me. We're partners!"

...This well-meaning, painfully oblivious himbo is2g.

Don't get me wrong; it's great that Jayce wants Viktor to be included. But that scene as a whole, to me, has always been one of the most brutal when it comes to the developing disconnect between Jayce and Viktor.

It's the most unguarded with Jayce Viktor will ever be about his anxiety regarding the precarious spot he inhabits in Piltover and society as a whole, his damaged self-image... and yet there is not a shred of recognition on Jayce's face as to why Viktor would decline to make a public appearance in front of "all of them".

After all, they're partners, equals (and in Jayce's eyes, Viktor was never broken), so where's the issue?

This right here is a running theme throughout season 1 - time and time again, Jayce fully fails to assume Viktor's perspective and see what the world looks like through his eyes. Jayce knows he thinks the world of Viktor, but sadly, this blinds him to how differently they are treated, how broken Viktor views himself in anticipation of people's disdain, and above that, just how lonely Viktor feels.

How fully and truly forsaken he feels whenever Jayce fails to support him.

Jayce doesn't understand that Viktor needs him at all.

Once you recognise this, you see it in almost all of their scenes throughout acts 2 and 3. Even in some they don't share, such as, infamously, the sex scene.

(Even the one time Jayce appears somewhat close to this realisation, he says "now he needs me and there's nothing I can do" ...Jayce please. Even Mel understood that the only thing he would have had to do for Viktor was to not leave him alone, yet this pure-of-heart, dumb-of-ass boyfailure keeps wanting to do the most and thereby accomplishing the least. I love my man dearly but Christ alive...)

Thankfully though, it doesn't stay that way.

Because not only does Jayce eventually learn – in a very hands-on way – what the world looked like from Viktor's perspective by losing the function of his leg, clawing his way from the depths of the Fissures to the top of Piltover in maddening solitude (save for the gawking of unsympathetic entities). And not only does he learn that the „impossible dream“ as his mother put it, the beauty and the salvation he was chasing his entire life was Viktor all along.

He also learns that this same dream literally bent time and space solely to set Jayce on his path to Viktor. To save him from himself, to save him from loneliness –

because Viktor needs him.

"Only you can show me this" - Without you, I am lost.

And I believe the moment Jayce realised this, understood the depth and scale to which Viktor actually needed him, that's all there was. In the end, when given the choice, of course he was going to stay with Viktor over abandoning him ever again.

(Disclaimer: When I refer to Jayce as a himbo or a dumbass, I am not downplaying his intellect, only questioning why he's not using it sometimes.)

Part 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13

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[cheol-e-kat]

Hiii, I just wanted to start by saying that I recently found your blog and am in love! <3 <3 For your special 3-3-3 bingo I wanted to ask for bodyguard with drunk confession and brave x Scaredy cat, NSFW is praise kink with Seungcheol? Like maybe her dad hired him, they're at a gathering and something goes wrong or she's scared so he has to take her back at her parents place, where she drunk confession? But if you have any better ideas, which I think you may have seeing from your writing, then just change it, I don't mind at all! <3

I hope you have a great day and keep writing, you're so amazing at it!

first, omggg anon you're too sweet & i'm so glad you like my writing ㅤ♡ㅤ♡ㅤ♡ weirdly i have had this banner hanging around and idk it seems like it fits your ask, soooo anyway let's see if i can come up with something you like - oh but i think i failed a little on 'scaredy cat', oops

♡ kat

bingo squares: bodyguard + drunk confession + brave x scardey cat + praise kink

Pairing: choi seungcheol / f!reader

summary:  y/n has had a bodyguard for some time - and she’s had feelings for him for almost just as long, even if he thinks she’s a brat. But what happens when he goes to a party with her and there’s gunshots?

word count:  1.4 k

genre: fake dating, bodyguard!seungcheol, forced proximity, 

Rating: 18+, MDNI, explicit

Warnings: mentions of guns and shooting, drinking, penetrative sex, explicit language

“so how much is my dad paying you to babysit me?” y/n asked, sipping her drink.

he shrugged, “enough to put up with you,” he sipped his mineral water. 

she arched a brow, “‘put up with me’?” she asked, incredulous, “me? i’m the problem in this equation?”

he pursed his lips, as though he were giving consideration to what she had asked, “you’re…” he trailed off. 

she was ready to punch him in the arm.

he smiled, “you’re more complicated than the kinds of jobs i usually have,” he swigged his mineral water like it would give him some reprieve from the conversation.

she gave a heavy sigh, “complicated how exactly?”

he glanced at her, “you’re kidding, right? where are we right now?” he waved his hand around to demonstrate the location, “you’ve brought me along as your ‘date’ to some friend’s engagement party - never have i ever had that happen before,” he whispered, with a small smile, knowing he had gotten under your skin by pointing out the situation.

“look, if i can’t leave the house without you, why not put you to good use?” she pouted. 

“my ‘good use’ is making sure you don’t get hurt, y/n.”

he had at least stopped calling her by her family name, which had been acutely obnoxious - to her anyway. he’d been virtually living with her for eight months. to her, living with anyone for eight months, meant dispensing with formalities. 

not to mention she had seen him in his underwear. she had been up late grabbing some water and staring into her fridge, thinking about a snack, but she had been eating healthy at the time, which meant she was light on snacks. so she had gone scrounging - and she screamed when she thought she saw a mouse. 

and her screaming meant seungcheol came out of his room to check on her, wearing boxerbriefs and carrying a handgun, which was oddly sexy. 

also, she had pegged him as a ‘boxers-only’ guy. but no, she had definitely gotten a very good idea of what equipment he was packing and the mental picture of his very perky ass seared into her brain. 

she glanced at him, knowing he looked painfully good in the suit he had picked - it went along with her outfit well. 

“you could have just stayed home then, or you could have outed me to everyone here - you certainly know enough about me to make them all at least call me ‘eccentric’,” she leaned on the railing, looking out over the massive party. 

everyone was ‘someone’ or related to ‘someone’. and she was mostly just bored. if seungcheol weren’t there, she would have probably been a nuisance just for fun, reminding the groom that he had slept with half the bridesmaids. something like that anyway. 

but no, for some reason she felt like if she caused even just a tiny scene while he was there, then maybe he would get blamed, or he would go back to thinking she was childish. 

that’s what he had called her initially, a “bored, childish, rich girl” with no clue about the real world. he said it so vehemently that she had slammed her door in his face, and told him to fuck off when he tried to apologize. 

she hadn’t talked to him for a week - she would only communicate via text, even if they were in the same room and alone. which may have proved his point, but he had hurt her feelings. and maybe she had been feeling petty. 

she stole a glance at him - she liked his profile more than she should. she probably liked him more than she should, not just his profile. she liked everything about him. but she was fairly certain he still considered her a tolerable idiot, at best.

which depressed her. and required that she grab another drink from the waiter who came around. maybe several more. and when she was a bit more lubricated and still considering making some trouble, the thin thread of seungcheol approving of her maybe wasn’t quite enough to tether her to reality. 

if anything, it was almost better if she just settled for his disapproval, she reasoned, then she wasn’t chasing some fragile illusion. 

she must have been on the verge of something great though because he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her towards a door. she had no idea where they were headed - they went through offices until they hit a stairwell. she couldn’t have been doing anything so offensive that they were taking the stairs. but when she pulled out of his grip, he was quick to grab her back. 

“for once, just do what i’m asking without arguing,” he said, voice low and sharp. 

she tried to pull away, but he had her in a vice-like grip. and then she heard the sounds - gun shots. and she was frozen for a moment, but she felt the tug on her wrist. seungcheol pulling her, trying to keep her safe. she stopped to pull off her heels and then she was running with him. 

her head swam violently as they exited out into the underground car park. until he grabbed her waist and pulled her close, kissing her, backing her into a wall. she felt the rough cement against her naked shoulders, as his hands rushed to touch her and his mouth rushed equally to kiss her. she wound her fingers in his hair, pulling him close, not caring how needy and desperate she seemed. 

it took several, long minutes for him to break their kiss. he pulled away so slowly, his fingers still gingerly resting on her skin. she watched him for a moment, and she could see it - if she didn’t pull him back, he would talk himself out of it and make an even higher wall between them. 

“don’t stop, seungcheol, you don’t know how much i want you,” she whispered, voice tender and urgent. 

he stayed close, but glanced at the door they had just come through, “we need to go,” he whispered, his fingers still played gently across her skin. 

she didn’t budge. 

“y/n,” he stared, “this - we have to leave,” he stepped closer to her, pressing his body flush against hers, “let’s go home?” he asked softly.

she finally nodded, following him out to the street, walking down a few blocks before grabbing a cab. he didn’t give the driver her exact address. they took a winding way back to her house, going through the back gate and the side door. he didn’t let go of her hand, not even when they were inside, the doors locked and the alarms set. 

he kept her close. when she started to turn on the lights, he stopped her - his hand grasping hers gently and pulling it away from the light switches. 

and suddenly he was near again, pulling her close, kissing her softly, “come put me to bed?” she asked in a hurried whisper. 

he nodded, “anything you want, princess.”

she loved that they both rushed to undress one another, all just to feel skin on skin. he pushed her back gently onto the bed - his fingertips grazed gently against her thigh, as he looked at her. 

“so perfect for me,” he murmured, “so beautiful.”

she flushed brightly, reaching for him, “need you,” she pouted.

he nodded, with a smirk, “i know.”

she bit her lip softly, “we were having a moment,” she caught his hand and pulled him down roughly to join her on the bed. she moved so she straddled his hips - she pressed her hands flat on his stomach, loving his smooth skin. 

she stared at him before leaning down, she kissed him gently, “you’re perfect too, gorgeous, even,” she breathed against his lips, “you’re all i want, all i think about.”

she kissed him again, leaning forward, and reaching down between them, pumping his already hard cock, she lined it up with her dripping pussy and pressed herself back, taking him all the way in.

she moaned against his lips. she sat up slowly, adjusting to the stretch and the feeling of being so full. she rolled her hips slowly before she started riding him the way she had imagined a thousand times. 

she could hear him, the way he breathed hard and urged her own. his hands tracing over her stomach and hips, reaching up for her breasts. 

she didn’t care when they changed positions - when he was behind her, fucking into her, pulling her back towards him, she knew she was arching back towards him. and she came undone, falling back against him - his orgasm following hers - his cum filling her, dripping down her thighs. she gasped softly as they came apart. he pulled her close, falling back onto the bed. 

“please don’t leave,” she whispered into the soft darkness. 

soooo, dearest anon, i hope this is as good as you wanted it to be...it maybe got a little more serious than i meant, but oh well - here we are

♡ kat

if you want to submit a bingo request:

bingo v. 1 ⋆.˚ bingo v. 2 ⋆.˚ bingo v. 3 ⋆.˚ bingo v. 4 ⋆.˚ 333 followers bingo ⋆.˚ monster themed bingo ⋆.˚

♡ bingo reqs master list

♡ seungcheol: knotting + marking || professor (prof. choi, pt. 1) || monster || spanking (neighbor seungcheol) || big dick + hate sex || forced masturbastion (prof. choi, pt ii) || voyeurism + punishment || coffee shop au + forbidden relationship (untitled alpha!!cheol pt. 1) ||

♡ mingyu: lingerie + praise kink || bed sharing + big dick || praise + worship kink || vehicle sex + oral fixation || drunk pda + no underwear || enemies to lovers + tentacles ||

♡ seungcheol & mingyu threesome: oral ||

⋆.˚ my [master list] if you want to read more

⋆.˚ if you want to be tagged in my posts, go [here]

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[lonely-moons]

♡୭something good | sam winchester x reader

title: something good

pairing: stanford!sam winchester x socially anxious!reader

warnings: lotssss of overthinking, reader is awkward and a nerd but also lowkey a little cool, social anxiety, sam winchester being a cutie patootie, references to fandoms i'm not in rip lotr fans and dnd players my bad

summary: when you're forced to tackle a group project, you briefly debate throwing yourself in a pit of fire - you're not much one for working with other people. but maybe this is something you needed after all

wc: 2,412

when your professor first mentions the words 'group project,' you have to physically bite down on your tongue to avoid groaning. they're the bane of your existence, and you allow yourself a moment of wondering whether education is really worth all of this. but you force it down as your class ends and make your way to where the list of names has been tacked to the wall, a sigh crawling its way up from deep in your chest.

you find your name next to one you can't place a face to. it's not surprising - you don't really have any friends in college, something that's followed you through from school even after you'd tried so hard to evade it. the college emails of each student are in a column beside the names, so you take note of it and hope to god that whoever sam winchester is, he's at least going to pull his weight.

you get the email from him before you're done with classes for the day, a simple one asking you when you'll be free to discuss the work. you both decide on tomorrow evening in the library, you moreso hoping to just get this over with rather than being particularly eager.

the time rolls around quickly, and at 7 p.m. the next day, you're heading to the library with a dread roiling in your gut. it's not that you hate meeting new people - you're just bad at it. you never quite know what to say, and even if you think you do, it always seems to come out wrong. like the words somehow scrape along the sides of your throat as they crawl their way up, get tossed about on your tongue until they're coming out completely unrecognisable from how they started. it's something you've always dealt with, but it seems to get worse as you get older, while everyone else prances ahead and you're left behind in the dust.

you don't have much hope as you're greeted with the musty smell of the library, your eyes scanning around for someone who looks like they could be there for a group project. you spot three candidates, three guys on their own, but two of them you vaguely recognise from classes.

it's a brief moment, but the panic sets in so entirely that the seconds seem to stretch on for minutes. you're so desperate to escape the embarrassment of going up to the wrong one that you consider leaving, sending sam some message about an emergency coming up and hoping that this goes better next time. but then one of them turns around, his eyes catching on you, and he smiles in your direction.

he shifts in his seat to face you a little more, his hand raising into small wave. your panic flushes out entirely, and you mentally chide yourself for being so dramatic. you're okay, you tell yourself as you head for the seat at table. you don't need the adrenaline levels of someone being hunted for sport.

"hey," he says when you're close enough, slinking your bag off of your shoulder. "y/n, right?"

"yeah, hey." you send him a smile that you hope looks okay. in your head it's still tinged with the remnants of some of your previous panic. "sam, i hope?" you wince; who the hell else would he be at this point?

but his smile remains intact. "yeah. it's nice to finally meet you. i mean, i've seen you around in classes and just on campus, but you usually look pretty busy."

you've slid into your seat, the uncomfortable wood making you want to shift around, but you remain still. if you were on your own, you'd probably have your feet up on it by now, shimmying around to find some kind of position that works. but you are not alone. "busy time of year." you shrug, knowing that he probably hasn't seen you around and is just being polite - maybe he has, but you're positive he wouldn't remember. you've never been one to make much of an impact.

"hey, i get it," he says. "sometimes it feels like they expect us to just give up on sleep entirely."

you think of the dark circles under your eyes that you'd half-heartedly tried to cover with make up. "tell me about it."

he perks up a little, remembering something. "by the way, speaking of, i got us some fuel." with the pen in his hand, he gestures to the share bag of m&ms that's beside his water bottle. "apparently chocolate helps with concentration levels."

you look at the bag, and somehow your simple comment of thanks turns into - "isn't it dark chocolate that does that?"

sam doesn't miss a beat. "yeah, well dark chocolate would make this even more miserable."

your lips twitch slightly. "fair."

"so, anyway, you wanna get started on this?"

you begin to look at the project guidelines, silently reading over the instructions even though you've done it about ten times today alone. but you appreciate the minute to gather your thoughts, trying to keep your eyes on the paper and not glancing at sam.

he's sweet, is the first thing to come to mind. you've witnessed plenty of college boys who act as though they run the place, who treat anyone different than them as lesser creatures. you thought people were meant to grow out of all that crap after high school, but evidently they had missed the memo.

you think that sam would be a nice friend to have, if only you knew how to go about doing that. the entire future of your interactions play out in your mind: you'll meet up a couple more times to do this project, maybe say something to one another in the class where you submit it. at most, any passing greetings will last a week before he manages to shake you off, and then you'll be back to another face in his class once again. even if you did ask for his number under the guise of project work, you know you'd never be able to text him after it was submitted. he wouldn't text you either. not only would you be a forgotten name, but also a random set of digits in his phone. the thought feels heavy in your head, refusing to budge.

"hey, are you okay?"

you blink, startled slightly, and find sam looking at you. there's a small crease between his eyebrows that makes it look like he genuinely wants to know.

"yeah." you clear your throat, wondering how you'd managed to zone out for so long. not for the first time, you wish the ground would swallow you whole. "yeah, i'm good. sorry, just got lost in thought."

"no, don't worry about. have you thought about which sections you want to cover?"

you spend the next few minutes dividing up which of you will cover the different topics of the paper. he's sweet about that too, always letting you have the first choice and triple-checking that you're okay with what you've landed with. by the time you're getting ready to move onto the next step, he's opened the packet of m&ms.

you worry that he's noticed your glance in their direction, because he takes a few for himself and then nudges the bag in your direction.

"concentration myth might be a bust, but they do taste pretty good."

you let a reluctant smile crawl up your face and grab one to pop into your mouth. turning it down would feel mean and, besides, you do really want some.

"so what classes are you taking?"

you glance at sam, not that surprised. the typical round of polite questioning has happened before, mostly during the first weeks, but they still pop up occasionally. especially when you don't have your crowd and every exchange is with someone new.

you list off your modules like second nature. "and for extra credit this semester i'm doing occult studies."

his eyebrows raise, like he's a little surprised at the fact. "occult studies, huh? like supernatural stuff?"

your polite smile turns a little sheepish now. "yeah. i've always kinda been into that kinda thing and they had space, so..."

he nods a little, like he finds it interesting, like it answers something he's been wondering. "oh, i get it."

"get what?" you ask, taking another m&m if mostly just to give yourself something to do.

"you're a nerd."

you crunch down on the shell in your surprise at his words. but they're not laced with mockery or any kind of insult. if anything, they're just a little teasing, interested, and the grin on his face makes you believe he doesn't mean any harm.

you look down at your outfit on impulse. "was it the spider-man shirt or occult studies that gave you that impression?"

you hadn't noticed that his grin was a little tight, but now it loosens completely. he seems glad that you're leaning into this. "actually," his eyes flicker down to your backpack, "it was more the 12-sided dice key chain."

"technically it's a die because it's only one -" you cut yourself off at the amused look on his face, wondering why you were becoming so free with trusting your mouth to open. it's all his fault, stupid sam winchester and his stupid smile. "never mind."

"no, tell me about it. you play, uh..." he thinks for a moment, "dungeons and dragons?"

it's the first time you've given in to shifting in your seat. you know how people view the game, how often people make fun of it. your small group in high school hadn't even lasted two years before disbanding. you'd kept it up as a solo hobby ever since, even if it'd been way more fun with the extra three people.

"... a little." you hate that it comes out almost defensive, like you've been conditioned into having to explain yourself. you wait for a follow-up comment, something you'll dissect late into the night as you look from every angle at how it's further ruined his perception of you.

"what's it like?"

your pre-prepared wince isn't needed. "the game?"

he nods.

you wonder if he is genuinely curious or just that good at acting. "oh, um... it's fun, i guess. kinda like an interactive book or something, you know?" now you get to use that wince.

"you like to read?"

"you've already called me a nerd, i think you know the answer to that."

his laugh comes out as a huff of air. "i'll join the club, then, i like to read too."

"what kind of stuff?"

"oh, you know, just the classics. i don't really go near anything written after the nineteenth century."

"oh." you clear your throat, any hope of relating vanishing. "that's, um... cool."

"i'm kidding," he says lightly, eyes flickering to your hand that's still clutching the pen you haven't even used in fifteen minutes. "i like lord of the rings."

your hand clenches, the ring on your finger suddenly feeling heavy. for your last birthday your parents had gotten you a replica of the one ring. you wore it almost every day. you're surprised sam had noticed.

"you like fantasy?" it comes out more bewildered than you'd like, but you really wouldn't have guessed it to even be in his top three genres.

"yeah, i've read a lot of it."

"huh."

"what?" he raises an eyebrow, amused.

"didn't take you for a fantasy guy."

"why not?"

you know your real answer, the one that remains firmly locked inside your head: he's attractive. annoyingly so. and, yeah, you know that looks don't dictate what's inside and all that crap, but from your experience, people who look like him don't go for that kind of stuff. then again, lots of people who look like him aren't generally so nice either.

you shrug. "you're a law guy. that usually means pretentious."

"we take the same classes, you know."

"which means i've witnessed all that pretentiousness first hand."

he releases a small laugh and something about it warms your chest. it hits you then that you're really just having a normal conversation. maybe it's sad, but it's been a while since it's come this easy. you blink and go for another m&m so that you can tear your eyes away from his face.

"you're something else," he says.

your hand pauses for just a second in the bag and you ask, as though the answer doesn't even matter to you, "is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"good," he answers, like he hadn't even considered the alternative. "it's definitely good."

you grow a little uncomfortable under how genuine he sounds, and it certainly doesn't help that his stupid smile is still there, still directed right at you.

"you'll take that back once i've eaten all your m&ms." you steal another for good measure.

"well, what chocolate do you not like? i'll bring that next time."

the dig is what registers first, which you're glad for as your body automatically releases a mock gasp. it's a much better reaction than being surprised he wants to meet up again, which is what sinks in now. this project doesn't focus too much on the group aspect; you easily could've gone your separate ways and just emailed one another if you needed to check anything. one more meetup, max, if any problems came up, but nothing long enough for a study snack. you half assume he just said it for the joke - you usually would - but there's something that tells you he means it.

"and here i was thinking you're not half bad."

his smile is more of a smirk now. "is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"bad." your expression half matches his. "definitely bad."

the conversation keeps up until before you know it, the librarian is ushering you out for closing time. you don't even know how it happened, but somehow underneath those fluorescent lights and across from sam, you actually enjoyed meeting someone.

sam asks for your number before you head your separate ways. you try not to act surprised, but something about the way his own smile widens at the light in your eyes makes you think that he knows you'd been hoping for it.

you go to bed that night the lightest you've felt in weeks, with sam winchester's number in your phone and his stupid smile ingrained in your mind's eye.

[thequeenofthewinter]

Work-in-Progress Wednesday

Last week I had a bad case of the "mehs", so I didn't have anything to share. However, I am back and plugging away at my Veilguard fic. <3

Tagging: @dirty-bosmer @sylvienerevarine @firefly-factory @the-bear-and-his-sunbird @skyrim-forever @theyearningghoul @caughtnyact @pocket-vvardvark @moriche @draco-illius-noctis @redheadsramblings @inkysqueed @throughtrialbyfire

Also tagging @starfleetteddybear and @holdingontojupiter (who have also seen most of this already but I want to tag anyway because they're such a dear and I WANT TO SEE WHAT YOU HAVE) <3

The rest of the week passes quickly for Iris. Dinner, studying, lesson plans—lather, rinse, repeat. There is a comfort she finds soon in the routine not unlike what she had previously at the Lighthouse. Wake up early, see Emmrich for morning classes, spend the afternoons in the library. The distraction is exactly what she needed even if she hates to admit it. Even the nightmares have seemingly ceased, leaving her nights blissfully silent. Perhaps, too quiet for her personal liking if she is entirely honest, but she’ll take anything at this point in time. At least she is sleeping. Everything has its balance, and maybe it is that she has finally found hers.

Emmrich was right all along in more ways than he could know. Ever since their talk on the lifts, she hasn’t been able to get him off her mind. While they have fallen back into some semblance of their prior friendship, things are still strained between them—a thread pulled taut and waiting for the last fiber to break. What it is that will come apart between them, she has no idea.

At least once this week he has looked at her differently, a flicker of something in his eyes she can’t identify which warms her insides and causes her to push the budding feelings she has from him even lower. Banish them far away, Iris. Certainly, it is just the candlelight. Dispel it from you mind, Iris. It is wishful thinking, and he has never shown an iota of interest in you before. Why would he start now? 

It becomes increasingly difficult over the days as most afternoons he invites her to help him plan his lessons and even has the audacity to praise her for her new, innovative ideas. Brilliant, a fresh breath of air, he tells her as she brings life to the dusted, yellowed tomes of past scholars far out of touch with their current understanding of what it means to be a mortalitasi. 

But how can she breathe life into anything when Iris finds she can barely draw air into her own lungs as she works beside him? Eleanore is right. It is only a matter of time before the wisps find her.

[mortish-writes]

some reassurances!!! i'm honestly glad you wrote in the zealot route alongside the heretic. i'd argue, from what i've seen, the zealot is pretty popular and she's a breath of fresh air in the genre. as someone personally religious (not christian), its nice to see someone navigate their fate and believe in it, but also come to terms with how it's been abused, revised, etcetera. also, opens the possibility zealot would be into other religions outside the confines of her own, which i find interesting. her also getting an option to hold out until marriage because of her own trauma as a bastard is also juicy and to be fair reflects how some people irl are. it's realistic for people to have misgivings about new arrangements that challenge their beliefs and to still hold onto them, despite revelations, because they decide this aspect at least is still worth keeping,,, zealot mc also has a point bastards won't be treated well and society won't be kind (and she's not hurting someone in choosing not to fornicate until marriage is involved besides the plot). gives her more control of the situation too, as you mentioned, and honestly makes her more proactive. heretic is sweet and deserves a hug, and i do like her, but the biggest reason I find zealot more fun and interesting is because she's punching the plot than just reacting to it like heretic, who's getting the plot's punches (i usually love angst, but imo zealot shapes the plot a bit more than heretic and it works better as an if for me),,, also, her character development will outwardly be more prominent. i can't wait to make her love being a mom and admit she loves these brutes! and that's the other thing too: i prefer her relationship to the guys vs. the heretic's because of taste, especially with valdricht.

so while you probably could've be further along if you just stuck to the heretic, imo it was the zealot who we were first introduced to and made us interested in the game! she still has her fans and i'm really grateful we have more than one way to play the MCs, especially with cult route coming up! sorry, this was long, i just wanted to come and bat for my girl a little bit because she's a big reason i got into the game and i find her more relatable and dynamic.

Wow, I was just about to head to bed and I'm so glad I checked Tumblr first. This is so thoughtful and I really needed to hear this. There's been this invisible gremlin on my shoulder all week grumbling "you could already be on night 10 if you hadn't added another route."

Even though the Heretic route is canon I actually love the Zealot route. I think a lot of times religious characters are written derisively (unless they're like nature worshipers or something) as if they're just mindless sheep. One of the things I really like about the Zealot is that she approaches everything from the framework of her faith, but she's also intelligent and open to learning new things. Far from being mindless, she simply lacks an alternate framework of understanding, and part of her character arc will involve developing that.

At the risk of getting a little too personal, I was raised by a pagan mom in a deeply Christian multi-generational household. Most of my childhood was my mom and my aunt battling for my soul. Weekends were a mix of Bible school and learning to channel energy into crystals. While other kids were playing tag, I'd be sitting in a tree contemplating whether my aunt was crazy or my mom was going to Hell. As an adult, I look back more favorably on my upbringing because it gave me an appreciation for both people of faith and the irreverent folks who give the finger to organized religion.

One of the things I particularly love about the Zealot MC is that her faith gives her the willpower to be more assertive with Valdricht and Serax. She has a better sense of her personal boundaries and she's snarkier even as her former faith is being eroded and replaced with The Weaver's cause. There are also other nuances to her character which I won't spoil, but will reveal how her dedication to her faith made her stronger and more resilient.

At the same time, I love how when the Heretic MC reflects on the same memory as the Zealot, hers is colored with skepticism and a degree of nuance that the Zealot simply isn't capable of. It's clear that she has this deep urge for self-expression and exploration that have been stifled within the confines of the Elodari faith. There's so much potential waiting to burst free when she finally breaks out of that shell.

Anyway, pretty long but it was a really thoughtful message and I'm grateful <3

[urautismdiagnosis]

•°○ let the fireflies play ○°•

✨she couldn't sing for nothing and he couldn't dance for nothing can I make it any more obvious✨

Kwaziis parents (in my au, Misty Memories), Anira and Kenneth. They're in their party clothes lol Yes they have full character arcs and lore and no im not going to share their whole lives right now.

HOWEVER,I shall BRIEFLY describe them and how they met under the tag!!! <3 u don't have to read but yeh :> 😊

If yall have any questions about them or their personalities tho let me know in comments or ask box :>

Their story takes place from late 80s to early 90s btw,

Kenneth is clearly the second son of the Calicoed Jack and younger brother of Kingsley by about 2 or 3 years. Kenneth (also nicknamed "Kenny boy"or "Kenny kit" as a child) is... Well to be honest hes not very good at being a pirate, especially not like his parents. An anxious and overly cautious one.

He couldn't properly swing a sword without closing his eyes for fear of injuring himself, he was clumsy (even by non feline standards-), and was afraid of spiders. (And heights... and loud noises... and that one Pelican that tried to eat him when he was a kitten- and also-)

However, he was still raised a pirate and had the soul of one, shanty songs and tales spread through the ocean about its depths and tragic battles- He was also very good at cooking-

As a result of his mothers... tragically lost battle with illness, (and witness of his fathers struggles with infection after losing his eye and leg)hes also extremely paranoid about disease and injury...

(his father loved him dearly but hadn't realized that kenneth had low self esteem for... not living up to him, his mother, and his brother... CJ was a young and inexperienced father and also tried his best to teach kenneth- you know like fun survival challenges between him and his brother and how to fight- he uh.. he was good at surviving on an island at least? It was very safe of course, they weren't actually stranded, but it was "just in case" and also "the pirate way" and whatnot.

CJ (calico jack) did tease him a bit about "still feeling like a wee kit" in regards to his pirate failures, it wasn't ever in mean spirit, more fondness over his sons excitement in sharing the shanties he wrote himself! (Shanties cj would later use to stay sane in the amazon...) but kenneth still felt hurt by those comments though he never showed it... laughing along🥺 <:< )

anyways since kenneth didn't want to be a self proclaimed dead weight and was so concerned about injury and disease (bot as easy to get hospital treatment as a pirate yk?) Kingsley advised him to get real schooling- schooling that would give him credibility for a fake identity so he could become their crews official medic someday. Something incredibly valueable and needed.

Thats how he ended up spending half the year at a "flexibility school" in Japan meant to accommodate children who couldn't stay at school for the full year. Whether it was due to international travel, long term illness, apprenticeships (the salty spirit was usually undercover as a "transportation vessel" for the "Sarah Sails" company which was just a fake company made by their clan the Split Tail), and ofc children hopping between foster families- because of the flexible needs yk?

Like Anira.

Anira Kucing (name inspired by the kucing Malaysia cat breed) is, who would've guessed it, originally from Malaysia. Anira doesn't know this but her mother had fled from her home country due to the unfortunate circumstance of being a prime suspect for the death of her sister. Unfortunately, while her mother did manage to take a new identity in a new country, she became very ill from cancer when anira was very young and died <:( thus she was legally an orphan, and ended up attending the same school

Anira is ah, ahem, a... unique individual- grew up assuming her father had abandoned her and her mother- only to lose her mom while young and still be seen as a foreign stranger of Japan despite being raised there her whole life. She also had an interesting tendency to pickpocket everyone in sight :) because if she didn't have anyone to dote on her she might as well dote on herself! Yk with like.. stolen cash that the rude rich kids that whispered about her didn't even need anyways >:)

Anira thus became Very Talented at getting people to talk about themselves, and while that was a great way to distract people from their wallets,it was also a GREAT WAY to get fresh juicy gossip ✨ then she hears about this FOREIGN ENGLISH SPEAKING CAT GUY???

Needless to say lil wee kenneth was uh.. a very new lil guy and ofc she just hadddd to help him cuz she's so kind and great! Esp since he looked so lost and like a total dumdum. well what happened was she ran up to him after school, dragged him away to a random street as she rambled in broken English, and then said "watch this!!"

And proceeded to pickpocket three very mean looking older teens. Kenneth, who, understandably, was very freaked out by this tried to drag HER away from them- and then well... hes got broken japanese and well things escalated 😔

He got into a fight with the three older teens, or rather a "run way swat at with claws and TRY TO RUN AWAY SOME MORE because oh great im corned in an alley :) , he also tried to find anira so they could both run away but uh... she was gone...

He tried to escape by scrambling over the wall of the alley only when a small paw reached out to help- and thus they escaped together-

Later on when they caught their breaths on a rooftop, he tried his best to ask her *HEY WHAT THE HELL* as politely as he could. This tiny little menace grinned as wife as possible and showed him FIVE WHOLE WALLETS full of coins she stole! She thanked him and told him SHE was going to treat HIM to some icecream 🥰🥰🥰 and anyways kenneth immediatly fell in love. And you just know she ate up his cringey (cute) middleschool love poems too

Of course when he went to "do his sailing apprenticeship" well- of course our girlie mightve sorta followed him and stowed away and well mightve forcefully wormed her way into his entire family 🥰🥰🥰 honestly tho she had like two crack headcanons that kenneth was actually an alien spy since he was so bad at being a cat or a secret pirate because he just agreed with crime very casually and didn't realize how strict laws actually were. She DIDNT THINM HE WAS ACTUALLY PART OF A PIRATE CREW THOUGH-

Anira very much fell in love with the freedom of being a pirate, the culture and the family, and also the beliefs of the polynesian cultures they visited and adopted many of the beliefs as an honorary sister of sorts ig? Yeh :>

If you're wondering yes she did join their crew and became a navigator of the salty spirit! Very good at it too lol, and CJ loved her and doted on her like his own daughter,often sneaking her candies- Kingsley and she became ah, how shall we say- the siblings who have heinous prank wars either with eachother or on literally everyone else and can't be left alone together under any circumstances.

anira always loved kenneth for who he was entirely and kenneths entire bloodline is just a wee man who falls for a woman who commits crimes and he's no different. I'll have to post about calico jackand his wife maddie sometime

Anyways thats it lol, more details about them and their relationship and story will be shared later on hope you enjoyed lol

Enjoy this icecream as a reward for reading all of that ✨🍨✨

[yoroshiu]

Sora: "That Dull, Ordinary Boy"

3 AM thoughts led me down to thinking about the ongoing and consistent mention of Sora being an ordinary person. In the couple of years I've been invested in KH, I think I've seen every possible opinion on this and have developed my own thoughts on it.

For me, Sora is ordinary. From a perspective of typical narrative roles characters can be, he's a supporting character turned protagonist. But the way the series goes about this aspect of him is fascinating and I haven't really seen it done in other media, at least not in this very specific way.

If you're interested in this post then know it'll be another long one, thank you in advance ^o^

(WARNING: This might be the most incoherent essay I've written yet since I'm not sure if I'm getting my thoughts across clearly. I'm just saying the obvious ngl...)

As said, Sora's a support character turned protagonist, which is something that can be agreed on by most of the community.

Within the Destiny Trio, he's the most normal one. Riku was the original chosen one, a figure that had Keyblade wielders like Terra notice his strong light and was actively chosen to go through the Bequeathing ceremony. He's also the one with the ambition and determination to leave Destiny Islands and as a young Sora mentions, Riku apparently says all sorts of weird stuff (difficult things in JPN). By KH1, he's the boy that's not like the other kids *hair flip* with the way he's able to beat the others on his own while they try to team up on him. Overall, as he goes through his arc, we see how main character he is. The way he devotes himself to protecting those he holds dear. The way he struggles with his darkness (his trauma). The protagonist energy Riku radiates is immense and he'd fit right in with Final Fantasy's lineup.

Kairi is a Princess of Heart. She came from another world, has a mysterious past that hasn't been dealt with fully, powers that are exclusive to her Princess of Heart attribute. Though a supporting character, her background alone scream special. She was led (fated in a way) to end up on Destiny Islands where a strong light was so she could be kept safe (Aqua's little spell + Terra-Nort's work). She's on an arc to become stronger and more confident in herself.

Then there's Sora. He's an outgoing and friendly boy-next-door. He's like a typical shounen anime protagonist on the most basic level but also has that comedic supportive side character energy to him. It's interesting how he notably doesn't have Riku's fascination with leaving their world and exploring. He's going along with it since Riku is (he was always following after Riku's step), and while he is curious, it's more from a childish wonder rather than the profound obsession Riku has. One of the earliest things we see of Sora's character is with the way he shirks his duties in helping build the raft. You can even see parts of it with the way he's indecisive about where to go and what to do in KH3.

(Funny trivia, Sora and Riku's JPN voice actor, Miyu Irino and Mamoru Miyano respectively, said that if the Destiny Trio were able to go on an adventure together, Riku would be the one making the decisions while Sora would just go along with him (KH3 Ultimania Interview))

If you look at the traits that make Sora the "Child of Destiny", they aren't exclusive to him (I also have a note on the whole way the Book of Prophesy works in the KH universe later). And if you look at the events that happen to him, more often than not, they're in tandem with the "special ones". Him saving Ventus back as a newborn heart is arguably not an exclusive ability. We see it in different ways and forms throughout the series, though not done with the to fix another's heart (Xehanort and Hoder, Eraqus and Terra), it's just that Sora's circumstances are a really weird exception. It's not an average Tuesday for someone's heart shattering and needing to connect with another to heal. I'd imagine that other characters have the capability of doing so.

What I'm trying to get at is that, Sora's not special by means of some exclusive ability. It's beacause of who he is, and more, who he chooses to be.

Now that isn't some big revelation. I'm pretty sure many people of are that opinion so it's like, "duh, you're writing this to say something that obvious?" and no, not entirely LOL

Sora has the Empathy but that's something that's shared with Xehanort and Baldr (and look at where that got them). Sora got the ability to wield a keyblade because it passed from Riku to Sora in a "going down the list" way, but Sora, by his strength of character (which also isn't exclusive by any means), proved himself worthy. Sora came back from becoming a heartless because of Kairi. Roxas is a special Nobody because of the manipulations of the Organization and Ventus being there (dual-wielding becomes a skill because of Ventus). He managed to escape being overtaken by Darkness because of his friends, especially Riku.

(I'll probably make a post about this later but funny of KH to present a narrative of "empathy" being a trait that brings the downfall of multiple characters. And funny that Sora also has this trait.)

The "exceptions" (in the case of KH's universe's laws) that he's involved with are due to his connections or his personality being in the "right place at the right time".

And that's where the interesting part comes in.

Sora, despite becoming the protagonist, has those shadows of "not being The One" follow him throughout the series. He's the easier one to control between him and Riku. He's the one that's the second or even third one down the list (The idea that Organization XIII needs Sora, but the power he's managed to acquire through scuffed means). Despite arguably being one of the most worthy of being a Keyblade wielder with the way he proved himself, Sora (doesn't seem to think of himself that way.

And if you take his conversation with Xigbar at the beginning of KH3 (especially in the Japanese context, you can see my translation post for that scene), he's considered to be one of those "ordinary people" compared to someone like Hercules who is a "special existence".

Sora is not "special" enough to escape from breaking nature taboos without consequence. He had to go through a timed and tedious process to do this. He can't get away with "saving everyone" and "getting a pure happy ending for himself" when he bends and breaks the universe's rules. The universe will simply erase him.

And the consequence of having those connections, the thing that he says is his power, is that they will suffer from losing him and trying to get him back. Xigbar argues that ordinary people, aka Sora, cannot self-sacrifice without cost. Those "special" connections can maybe get him out of it, but what does that really mean in the end. I think KH4 and onward will explore that.

On the topic of the Book of Prophecies, I always see points being made about Sora and how he's affected by it in a narrative role sense. I've seen people make arguments about Sora's specialness with this. But when you think about the circumstances in which it was written, MoM wrote the book while picking and choosing the events that would help him. His whole thing is about manipulating events and people to work in his favor for his greater good. I think it was his intent for future wielders (Scala ad Caelum especially) to grap those words tightly and push his plans along. Whether they tried to defy or go along with it, it would work in MoM's favor in the end. From what we know as of now, prophecies in this case aren't some "divine intervention" it's a guy actively writing things to get what he wants.

I must say that I'm aware of the wider span of the meaning of a "protagonist". There's no single way an archetype for a protagonist is written. I wrote this post with the typical heroic protagonist from a fairytale in mind. There's a lot of different interpretations of his moments and interactions (Like, why was he the one having those weird dreams in KH1's beginning). Sora was placed in very specific circumstances and just so happened to have the right heart and mentality to make the most of it. I mean, if he didn't, we wouldn't have much of a story to follow with him otherwise.

It's the way that Sora always has to work with what he has to press forward, not knowing everything, and oftentimes not getting happy endings devoid of some kind of tragedy or angst in the background (sometimes not even in the background). Not that stories are limited to "oh, the real protagonist gets a perfect happy ending" but in terms of the most typical standard fairytale story (which stands out more with the Disney connection).

It's the way that Sora being an ordinary boy is emphasized despite arguments otherwise. Nomura and other characters in the story itself insist that he is despite the special things he's done, and I think that's a fascinating part of KH's identity.

Sora's story is one of a normal boy being put in extreme circumstances. Not really by his own choice, but he moves forward out of the love he has for other people. However, while resilient, he isn't impervious and often bends and sometimes breaks. He is Kingdom Hearts's main character but he became one at a cost. There's an irony of sorts with having your actual protagonist be treated as a side character-turned-protagonist by the narrative. I find this interesting because we're actively exploring trauma this way.

Sora is special as people, as individuals, are inherently special.

Considering that he was made for players to be able to put themselves in his big ol' shoes, we are special because we are who we are. No superpowers, no connections to anyone "higher up", no book to dictate destiny.

Being the protagonist in our own lives is, obviously, no fairytale, but we can still do amazing things just by being ourselves.

Kinda cheesy, but I think that's neat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making Kingdom Hearts Stuff Until KH4 Comes Out (Day 65)

"Yoro, you just said the most obvious things, haven't people already talked about this before?!"

I know...I just have a lot of thoughts about having characters be impacted by narrative roles in quite a literal way ToT

He is, but isn't, but is the protagonist is a fun thing to explore. Actual protagonist but treated as if he wasn't meant to be one but he is one in his own story, type beat. Some of us tend to think of life as a story, and it's interesting hear people talk about "roles". No one's ever truly set in a narrative role, and that's also one of KH's notable themes. People breaking away from what they're told, expected, to be.

I'm sorry if none of this essay made sense or was connected well enough TvT

That's enough yapping from me LOL

[chukisser]

"how do i get "the friends in my head" type of did'

you don't. or at least, it takes VERY long.

i feel like many of you are forgetting not everyone says everything about their life online.

me personally, i am a very open person. i am very open with the fact my alters rarely get along, that my parts are frequently doing things to hurt us collectively and each other. it is something i have discussed multiple times on different accounts.

but, there's also shorter and lacey, who have been together for a month or two. there's aven and ash, who have a parental and sibling relationship. there's aven and ratio, who have been together for a long time. there's grian and sam, who have been together since before our original host even knew about our DID. there's gentleness between parts, during those moments when things feel okay. there are bonds that are stronger than our instability.

i am a person who is open and posts mostly about the negatives of my life, because my life is incredibly negative and there is very little things that make me joyful. but, that doesn't mean there isn't any joy at all, i just don't post about it. usually because during those moments of calmness from the constant state of fight or flight i live in, i am basking in the feeling of being alive and not just surviving and not thinking about posting it.

and there are people that AREN'T like me. that do not post about the negatives; that prefer to keep their page happy and uplifting. and that is okay. not everyone is comfortable to share negative parts of their life, or they simply just don't see a reason too.

the people you guys are talking about, that "have friends in their head type of DID", are strangers. you do not know them. you do not know what their parts do. they may have parts that ruin their life every single day, they might have the same exact feelings you have but just don't talk about it. it's very likely that they DON'T actually have "friends in their head"

and the truth is, no matter how hard it is to accept, the people with the "friends in their head type of DID", that are open about how their parts get along and they're happy, most likely worked for it. that is something i still struggle to accept, the idea that i have to do MORE work just to recover from things that weren't even my fault; that not only did i have to survive the events, i now have to pick up the pieces and heal. it's a horrible feeling but unfortunately it is reality. if you want to get better, you have to hold yourself up just a little more.

if you want your parts to get along, for everyone to be friends, healing is necessary. you cannot get rid of pain by continuing to stay in a state of pain. and even with healing and recovery and proper help, things still might not work out. some parts might always be a little wonky, and that's okay.

if you truly want the "friends in your head type of DID", you have to pick yourself up, just a few more times, and put the work in. go to therapy, take the medications if needed, uncover parts of your life you didn't remember, go through the stages of grief and let yourself feel everything. it'll be horrible, truly, recovering from any sort of trauma caused disorder is horrible in the beginning, but it's not forever.

[thebroccolination]

THE EX-MORNING Q15: OHM! CAT! BEACH! BOAT!

This was an exciting and mysterious day for The Ex-Morning production! First of all, it was the longest filming day yet! They started in the morning as usual, but they didn't wrap until nearly midnight, and they had a ton of stuff going on throughout the day.

Let's dive in, shall we? (Get it? It's 'cos they were at the beach again.)

First and most importantly of all, we had our little SOTUS kitty Sosay back!

Tamtawan's beautiful cat Sosay (named after a SOTUS-era song) joined our heroes on the beach in Pattaya! Which has me asking all kinds of questions. How many scenes is Sosay going to appear in? Where did Sosay come from? Does Sosay have journalism training? Does Tamtawan have a social media account for Sosay? Can I join it? How many T-shirts of Sosay can I buy?

I continue to be ever more convinced that Sosay was the inspiration for at least one (1) impending piece of merch. Likely more. People love cats. (Me. I love them. I want Sosay everything. Sell me Sosay elephant pants, GMMTV.)

Oh, also, before we continue:

I just saw this shot of them on a rooftop today, but I thiiink this was from the other day, so let's just consider this a delayed crumb from a previous Q.

Anyway!

We also saw evidence of the long-awaited presence of physical human perfection and embodiment of sweetness itself: Ohm Thitiwat!

Granted, his IG story was the only indication he was there, but I'm pretty sure the scenery matches, and I don't think he's filming anything else yet. So, let's assume he was there. For fun. Yay!

We had Jamie and Earn back again, but no indication of what they were filming, sadly. :')

I believe the bridge in the background of Lit's story on the left was also filmed, shown in Koei's story on the right. It's a pretty striking location, and with the lighting there, I think it could be either romantic or suspenseful. Or both! Isn't it fun knowing nothing? :D

I've compiled the videos shared by cast and crew as usual! Ohm, Jamie, and Earn's are at the beginning, with locations in the middle, a birthday message from Krist to one of the crew, and some birthday stuff toward the end.

The scenery was absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to see how it translates on film. There's so much we don't know about the story yet, so we're still largely guessing.

When it got dark, filming moved out onto the water to this boat:

Mysterious indeed, yes? No indication of what's going on out there at all.

One of the fun things about following the crew accounts is that they're all consummate professionals about keeping just enough secret that it's enticing and spoils pretty much nothing. And part of the reward of keeping track of the production process will be looking back as the series airs and matching scenes with these little crumbs we got along the way.

Filming wrapped around 11:30pm, and we even got a date for Q16!

It seems Q16 is scheduled for March 25th, likely to give KristSingto time to prepare for their upcoming PeBaCa concert on March 22nd. During that time, I'm sure the editing team will be working on postproduction for the footage already shot.

Our most recent update from Krist on his last TikTok live was that The Ex-Morning is meant to air in mid-late April, and I still think it'll be taking over the Saturday slot once Us the Series ends.

So, April 19th. (Probably.)

In the meantime, remember all the times in this post I said we don't know anything about the story so we can only guess? WELL SOON WE WON'T HAVE TO.

At the International Book Fair on March 29th, they'll be selling the novel adaptation of The Ex-Morning! (Since the story is completely original, the novel is based on the series, not the other way around.)

And we also had another li'l surprise shortly after filming wrapped for the day:

Singto opened a Broadcast channel! Be sure to follow him if you enjoy sarcasm, self-deprecating humor, and selfies so beautiful you'll ascend to a higher plane of existence simply by beholding them.

See you on March 25th for Q16, y'all! :)

[marzipanilla]

welp lemme know when you've seen the finale lol

Like I def think ppl talking about the real story starting are missing the point of the set up in S1, but I almost get their point this past season in that it felt like things were dragging/just waiting for something else to come along. bleh. definitely need to do a rewatch. god I was watching a scene from S1 the other day to remember something and it really is such a wildly different time lol

FR ! you know Rex would have been exploding some of the crazy shit Eve could make. plus they were kids you know they'd be doing some stupid shit lol also at least one of kate's corpses has to have been exploded at one point. like. there's no way it wasn't.

I know Levy needed something bc he will never be a physical match for Mark but they coulda done something interesting w the damn bots, like you said. instead of a jet stream just have those fucks popping in and out of diff portals picking up radiation from other worlds and weird shit!! let one of his few 'tactical' villains actually think things through !

Debbie really could have been such a great way to expand the make up of the world. way more than Mark she honestly rides that line between hero and normal so much more. getting that weird gray area of reality from her would have been so awesome. I mean, the show genuinely already does a lot more 'civilian' world building than the comic (the entire support group thing being new) but they coulda done more! but no. ppl aren't ppl unless they're dating someone in Invincible, so... we get Paul.

Mark 'infiltrating' the alt!Marks would have been super fun. him saying some weird dumb 'evil' shit to convince them he is like them and them just nodding like 'yeah I kick puppies too, who hasn't' and Mark just having to be like 'that worked??' Moments where bundles of them joke about their favorite issues of seance dog, getting into a debate with himself about things he loves! cracking a joke and suddenly realizing how paper thin the differences are! like yes they kill ppl, but they also still like burgers and cartoons and their gfs. they still have so much more in common than not. him having to really face how much of what he does is a choice. him getting to struggle w what that choice means

it's so weird to say bc the character says it so much- but it honestly doesn't feel like they actually pushed Mark's no-kill policy hard enough? he can yell about ppl going to prison all he wants, but if they don't show him genuinely being unreasonable about not killing then every time he makes the choice to split hairs and get away w it, its like, there is so much less of an impact when the time comes for him to make the choice to be deliberately lethal. have him say he wont kill seismic's beasts bc they're like dogs just standing in front of their master! have that be part of why that fight failed ! have him try and humanely managing a hoard of multi-pauls! bc if hes trying to kill the animals, if he's slaughtering copies of that dude, if he's driving himself through the head of a dragon and assuming that will kill them, then sir, you dont have a no kill policy.

Mark not putting a lot of forethought into things is a bit of a character trait for him, but the fact it is almost stretching into inaction and just an absolute lack of even a lack of thought- like- he isnt even not thinking about something and performing an action- there's literally just nothing going on and its like ??? you've had time surely to even maybe repress or avoid this rather than somehow just completely avoid it even existing somehow??

Mark agreeing to go hang out on a beach w Debbie instead of refusing and the beach is Beach City (am now officially thinking too much about this crossover lol)

The way I got caught up on our back and forth I almost forgot this, lol! AND OH MY GOODNESS, IMAGINE? I forget exactly what which point Debbie makes the beach offer, but I’d love when exactly in SU/SUF-timeline they’d go? There’s something so fucking funny to me about them going during the SUF-timeline and always narrowly missing the strange, Steven-shaped mental breakdowns in the back. I know those don’t occur in a single day, but it’s tickling me. How could they miss anything? I don’t know I just think it’s funny.

Though, post-SUF is interesting if Gems can see the similar “world on your shoulders”, Mark has going on! Steven can shunt the narrative in the Gems’ minds, which I think is neat, if I’m not misusing the phrase since the guy’s on the road far away. Or maybe it’s just before Steven goes and they stumble into each other. I’d kinda love Pearl and Debbie interacting, honestly, if they could talk about loving someone who hurt you, hide things from you, even when you thought you knew them so deeply, and they left you to raise a child. Pearl being in a well adjusted space, and Debbie still grieving.

Honestly, the gems could help train Mark, they’re got experience and similar-ish powers in strength, sturdiness, and they can jump/run fast enough for flying to be vaguely similar enough to lecture about, I think. Or Lapis Lazulis, haha! Peridot with her trash can lid! Garnet, I’d love to see if she told Mark anything about his future in vague, well meaning advice. Or even giving relationship advice considering Amber. Or, importantly, how to convince an entire reign to end their colonizing ways, lol. Is Mark perhaps willing to start a war, take advantage of being related to any leaders, or fake his own death to varying results?

In general, there’s something so fucking funny to me about Nolan, in the sake of comparison, being Pink Diamond coded. Like OH, did an important or well respected of the colonizing empire come to earth and learn the beauty of its people and nature, including faking/lying/omitting things about his identity and background to being in, only to feel conflicted when his responsibility still remained, and he tried to free himself from them? Yikes! We’ve been through that before! Like gimme Pink Diamond and Nolan outfit swap rn. This is tickling me so much oh my goodness.

[technically-human]

Valentine's Day!!

The boys finally get a happy moment after going through the canon events

This was a commission for @i-am-as-normal-as-you-are so thank them for the cuteness!

The bonus is completely my fault though:

[thanergetic-hyperlinks]

I always thought that guideline was simply so that Ianthe couldn't tell anyone (including herself) about The Work. Leave no witnesses (no witnesses who can speak). That way Ianthe can't blackmail her either.

This is the same reason she wrote letters to herself to silence Coronabeth and Judith, and warn Camilla.

Interestingly, Ianthe says:

When Ianthe says this, the curse is preventing her from telling Harrow why God gave her the two-hander. This was very confusing to me, until I realized Harrow's plan demands having the two-hander by her at all times, so it's very likely she told Ianthe to convince Jod to let her have the sword.

Now, re: Harrow's other mysterious letters, it makes me so mad that they're lost in the River forever along with her exoskeleton. She never opened In case of your imminent death, or In the event of the Emperor's death, or If the Ninth House is in mortal danger, or Upon the death of Harrowhark Nonagesimus, even though they all have applied by now. (Ianthe's death is the only one that hasn't come true… yet.)

But let's revisit the known content of those letters:

Harrow hopes to play a part in Alecto's resurrection?!

I mean, yeah, Harrow decided to live “in case she ever woke up”, but still?!

Her oath to Ianthe cannot supersede her obligations to the Body, but they DO come before her allegiance to the Emperor? Whom she describes as “lesser than the Holy Corpse”, or at least equal but not superior?!

This is interesting. It seems that the Tomb doesn't get much interest outside the Ninth, and so most people don't think about the Prince Undying truly having a weakness, but—just what do Ninth cultists think makes the Holy Corpse special? She's got to be powerful. Why? How? What do they think of her?

But yeah, the question remains: even if she's lived her life in hope that Alecto might wake up, and she knows that might mean the Emperor will die, and she's ready to let God die so long as her frozen corpse paramour can live…

but

what does she need to tell herself about that?

I have one hypothesis. In House religion, Jod is explicitly a guy who became God. But his letter to the Ninth also speaks of “honoring their love for the Creator”. I've long taken this to mean that House religion considers a Creator God who kicked the Universe into existence, and the Emperor was blessed as the First Necromancer through a miracle and now acts as a proxy for divinity. Citing Abigail, “he never claimed omnipotence”.

Now, Tamsyn has said that, in TLT, the divine is feminine. Part of Alecto's untombing will be, I think, about revealing the true source of divinity here: Gaia/Earth. John stole from her and usurped her place.

People have already written about Ninth religion having parallels to Christian sects who worshipped Mary as a goddess. I think here we see the first inklings of it.

did we ever find out what this was about??