#but credit where credit's due none of this was for herself

[tuiyla]

I must admit that I never fully understood the Sebastian/Santana rivallry, and then singing Smooth Criminal. Was it because he insulted and belittled her, and made racist jokes? Because he’s done that to quite a few of them.

At this point in season 3 she wasn’t close to Kurt or Blaine, so it’s an odd choice that she’s leading the group to bring down Sebastian, which then Kurt refuses to do.

Okay SO I’ve been meaning to answer this for so long. Y’all know I love going on about Santana.

I think the episode Michael is such a great demonstration of Santana’s firece protectiveness and the lengths she’ll go to to defend the good name of the whole of ND and even people she doesn’t loudly and proudly call friends. Because it was for Kurt and Blaine and the whole club. As shown by the Kurtana classroom scene, Santana does care for Kurt. I wouldn’t say they weren’t close. Everything’s relative so maybe not as close as Santana was to her girls or as close as they would eventually be as roommates, sure. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t on good terms at this point. And sure, Sebastian did make it personal with her when he insulted her. Santana does like a good revenge plot and wouldn’t just let him have the last word. But again the classroom scene shows us that it’s not about taking Sebastian down for herself, it’s for others. She makes a point of calling Sebastian out for what he did to Blaine, makes a point of letting the whole club know the lengths she went to because she wants them to be proud, and comes up with a pretty clever plan to expose Sebastian. Even dies it without violence because Kurt asked her to. And then Kurt and ND pull a real stupid move by not using the tape rip to common sense. She taped it to her underboob! The unsung heroes of our times smh.

So anyway. I don’t think it’s an odd choice at all. Santana has the drive and brains and flare for the dramatic to pull it off. She cares about this club and cares about their good name. Cares about beating Sebastian but more importantly cares about doing right by her friends, which includes Klaine. Idk I just think chalking Santana’s actions up to her annoyance of Sebastian rather than her standing up for ND is the wrong way to look at it. She’s fighting for something here, not against. Michael is a great first real look at Santana using her bitch powers for good. From her wit through her sneakiness and even her vocals. She protects the people she cares about and I guess this means she cares about Kurt and Blaine and the whole of the club.

I always feel like disclaiming that Santana is a huge bitch whenever I write about her big heart because I feel people often choose one extreme and ignore the nuance. So yeah obligatory disclaimer, despite all this Santana isn’t a nice person blah blah. But she’s a damn good friend! And she is the kind of person who’ll take a slushie in the face and come up with convoluted plans and use her bitch powers to defend someone’s good name or bring them justice. She cares enough to do so. Much more than she cares about some lame ass racist jokes. See that’s actually part of why I don’t get the Sebastian/Santana obsession a part of the fandom seems to have; it’s not a particularly epic personal rivalry because she wasn’t fighting for herself. And she clearly beat Sebastian in terms of both wits and vocals, so.

[professorsnape394]

DAY 13: Unexpected Encounters

Pairing: Severus Snape x Reader

Rating: 🥰

Prompt: Journey

Summary: Snape is interrupted by a beautiful stranger on the journey to back to Hogwarts.

A/N: Feel like we're long over due for a cute lil fluffy piece, so here ya go :-) Comment if you're interested in a possible part 2 to this one?

Warnings:  None.

Word Count: 1977

Credits to Gif Creator.

The journey to Hogwarts was one of the few things that brought peace to Severus’ life. As a child, it meant finally escaping the wrath of his abusive father. As a teen, it meant getting to see his best friend after months spent apart. And as an adult, it meant escaping the loneliness of Spinner’s End where memories of his childhood still haunted him. Severus often spent the majority of the ride reading, occasionally turning his attention out the window to appreciate the scenic views of the Scottish Highlands; it was his last moment of peace before another year at Hogwarts spent surrounded by insufferable children and prying colleagues.

It was known by this point in his career that he liked to keep to himself on the train journey, and pretty much any other time, so the other professors granted him his privacy and left him to occupy a carriage alone. Which is why he was shocked to be interrupted such a short time into the journey.

The doors to the cabin shot open, rattling riskily in the frame. They parted to reveal an attractive young woman; dripping wet and gasping breathlessly.

“Oh, thank God.” She exhaled, shuffling her single suitcase through the doors, quickly abandoning it in the middle of the carriage, sparing no thought for Severus’ personal space.

“I’ve never seen a train so busy before. This is the first free carriage I’ve found today.”

“Did it never cross your mind that maybe there is a reason for that?” Severus droned, not bothering to look up from his book.

Ignoring his underhanded comment, Y/N immediately plonked herself down opposite him.

Barely a beat had passed before she started shedding herself of the sodden layers that had been protecting her from the adverse weather conditions outside. Hat, scarfs, jumpers and a thick woollen coat were quickly discarded to the space next to her. As she fumbled about with her gloves, Severus took the opportunity to evaluate her properly.

Despite seeming breathless, presumably from running late for the train, her pearly white smile had not yet faltered.

The rain had drowned her hair; soft waves becoming strings of tight curls, dripping puddles onto her previously dry shirt. Her pale cheeks flushed red from the harshness of the cold air. But what ultimately drew Severus in the most was her sparkling pale blue eyes, dazzling him with their glimmering curiosity as she too scrutinised him.

He arched a single brow in her direction, shaking himself from the daze she had induced in him.  

“Y/N.” She held her hand out for him to take.

 “Sorry?”

“That’s my name; Y/N.”

Severus’ eyes darted between the woman and the pages of his book, debating whether to engage. With a sigh he folded shut his book, but did not bother to accept her hand.

“A pleasure to meet you.” He sneered sarcastically.

“Ah, so you must be Severus.” She grinned. “The potion’s master I believe, I was always good potions in school.”

Snape’s interest piqued.

“How do you know who I am?”

“A family member told me.”

“The same one you are off to visit?”

“And how do you know I am visiting anyone?” It was her turn to raise an eyebrow at him.

“The size of your suitcase; you don’t plan on staying long.”

“Maybe I’m just a new professor who knows how to pack light.”

“You are not a professor.” He stated matter-of-factly, practically scoffing at the insinuation.

“I’m offended. I could be a professor if I wanted to.”

“You’re too young.” Severus looked her up and down; none of his colleagues looked like her.

“And what age were you when you first started teaching?” She challenged, folding her arms across her chest.  

Snape smirked. “You know a lot about me, when I know so little of you.”

“I do my research.” She smirked

“So, are you going to tell me?” He quickly side-tracked the conversation.

“Tell you what?”

“Who you’re visiting.”

“No.”

Severus shot her a questioning glance.

“Once I tell you, you’ll look at me differently.” Y/N explained.

“And how am I looking at you now?”

“…Curiously.”

Severus shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“I’m curious who you could possibly be visiting who would not also be accompanying you on the train.”

“You’ll find out soon enough, but I do not wish to rush the process.”

Severus sighed, sensing this was not an issue the woman would be moved on.

“I do not believe that a person’s parentage dictates who they are. Whatever I think of you now will not change once I discover who your relation is.”

“You say that now, but it’s not something you can control. It happens to everyone when they find out who I am.” The look in her eyes told him this was an issue that really bothered her.

Snape leaned back in his chair, eying the woman inquisitively. He found himself wanting to know everything about her, but was too nervous to ask anything at all.

Y/N broke eye contact first, hunching herself over to get access to her suitcase.

“What are you doing?” He questioned, watching an array of multi-coloured fabrics spill out of the trunk; his eyes caught on a particularly lacy garment before he averted his gaze, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“I’m looking forrrr… this!” She brandished a small tin box at him.

“And that is?”

“Cookies.” She grinned. “I never go on a long journey without baking myself a batch; their delicious, and a great conversation starter.”

She thrust the container out to him.

“I believe we have already started our conversation.”

“But their delicious.” She repeated, exaggerating her words. Severus’ eyes dropped to her peachy lips.

Sighing, he gave in and accepted the box from her.

“What are they?”

“Oatmeal and raisin.”

“You do not seem like an oatmeal and raisin type of girl.”

“And you do not seem like a triple chocolate chunk kind of guy. So be grateful I had some ingredients that I needed to get rid of. And I might have eaten all the chocolate myself before I had the chance to bake them.” She blushed.

Severus couldn’t help himself from smirking. The embarrassed look on her face refreshing to him after pinning her as an overconfident know-it-all. Plus, she looked adorable.

Her eyes widened at him.

“Are you smiling?” She gawked.

“I’ve been known to do that occasionally.”

“That’s not what I’ve been told.”

“Then you do not know everything, Miss …?” He waited for her to fill in the blank, she only shook her head in response.

“Why are you smiling.”

Severus thought for a moment if he wanted to expose himself for thinking she was adorable. It was too soon to show all of his cards so willingly, but he didn’t want to lie to the woman, so…

“Oatmeal and Raisin are my favourite cookies.” He admitted, finally plucking one from the box.

“Then the universe was on your side, Severus Snape. It’s destiny.”

Severus was beginning to think she wasn’t entirely wrong about that.

~

Chucking the half-eaten box of cookies to her, Y/N showed no intention of closing her suitcase and removing it from the middle of the floor. It had quickly become chaos in their carriage and it was slowly starting to get on Severus’ nerves.

“Does this chaos come naturally to you or is it a learned skill?” He quipped.

Y/N’s jaw dropped at his audacity.

“Is my mess bothering you, Severus?”

“It bothered me when you first barged your way in here. Now, it’s borderline unbearable to look at.” His eyes flicked back to the piece of black lingerie sticking out the side of her case.

The young woman bent over once more, tucking all of her garment away and finally zipped the case shut. She neatly folded her piles of scarfs and coat, placing the cookie tin squarely on top.

“Happy now?”

“I’d be more inclined to say yes, if 90% of the floor wasn’t still occupied by your suitcase. There are compartments for them, you know?”

“I know.”

“So, you’re actively choosing to be a nuisance?”

She blushed again, this time avoiding complete eye contact with him.

“I can’t reach, okay? And even if I could it’s far too heavy for me to lift on my own.”

Severus grunted, satisfied with her excuse.

He stood to his full height, grabbing the handle of her case with ease.

“What are you doing?”

“Clearing some space.”

“You’re helping me?” She said, shocked, watching him lift her suitcase into the overhead compartment.

“I’m putting my mind at ease. I cannot sit for much longer in such cramped confines.”

“Strong as well as smart.” She teased. “You’re not at all the man I imagined.”

“Don’t speak too soon. Your opinion will surely change when we arrive at Hogwarts.”

“Why would it change?”

“Because I am not the man you think I am.”

“But you are the man you have shown me to be.”

“Don’t be so sure of that.”

“I’m very sure. You are more this man, than the man I have heard stories about. You have entertained me this entire journey when you simply could have chosen to ignore me. You gain nothing by helping me.”

“You’re wrong.” He raised the last quarter of his cookie to her, before popping it into his mouth with a smirk.

“I don’t care who you show me you are when we get to Hogwarts Severus. It will not change my opinion of you.”

“What is your opinion of me.” He couldn’t help but ask.

“I like you. You’re a good man, behind all of those scowls and sneers.”

Severus wasn’t quite sure how to respond. He had never illicit this reaction from a stranger before, in fact most people didn’t even bother to introduce themselves now adays. His reputation often proceeded him, in the worst possible way.

“Tell me who you’re visiting.” He ventured again.

“No.”

“Why not.”

“I told you; I don’t want- “

“You don’t want me to look at you differently. But how can you still say that after everything you have just said to me.”

“Because it is not me that you’re forming an opinion of. My last name carries more weight than my personality could ever compete with.”

Severus didn’t push the subject anymore, after all, he would find out shortly. The train wasn’t far off its final destination, and Snape found himself wanting to savour what little time they had left together before they seemingly became two entirely different people.

They chatted about a wide variety of subjects ranging from Potions, to the views outside, to what else Y/N loved to bake. Talking to her was easy, like playing a game of tennis; one person set up the serve for the other to rebuttal with perceived ease, each of them trying their best to throw the other off their game, challenging them both the new heights they might never have otherwise reached.

When they pulled into the station Severus helped Y/N out with her case, allowing her to pile back on her layers of protection from the cold. They stepped off the train in line with each other, unsure of how to begin to part ways.

“There you are!” Minerva McGonagall’s familiar voice screeched through the crowds of excitable students. “I’ve been searching everywhere for you; your grandfather wanted me to escort you to the castle. Let’s go Miss Dumbledore.”

Y/N stared into Severus eyes, looking truly defeated. Severus nodded simply in understanding.

“Will I see you again?” She dared to ask.

“I hope so, Miss Dumbledore.” Severus smiled. “I enjoyed getting to know the real you.”

Y/N beamed up at the Potion’s Master, shaking his hand goodbye.

Severus watched on as she disappeared through crowds of children and the steam of the train’s engine.

He really hoped he would see her again.

.

.

.

Taglist:

@ayamenimthiriel @lizlil @entirelymesmerising @mikariell95 @snapefiction @a-queen-and-her-throne @amazingzou @peridot-pineapple @snapesno1thighrider @kittenlittle24 @forfaehou @caseydoodles98

[vixstarria]

Something real

I thought I’d play around with an Astarion POV and this is what happened.  

Connected with my other headcanon fics, would take place after this one, but before the end of this one. You don’t have to read them for this to make sense though. (But you totally should!) 

Astarion x Reader, Astarion x Tav, Astarion x Bard Tav, soft Astarion, Astarion POV

Comfort, fluff, budding love, banter, humour, Act 1 spoilers, non-explicit, light angst, probably too much swearing 

Approximately 2,000 words. 

AO3

You were lying alone by the fire, waiting for her to join you, trying once again to untangle the mess this woman made in your head. 

What exactly were you, to each other? 

Were you just temporary travelling companions having meaningless sex for stress relief?  

Or were you lovers in the more literal sense of that word? 

And is that what you wanted..? To be someone’s, whom you could call your own? To have something real..?  

It should have been simple, except the lines kept shifting and blurring. And needless to say, this wasn’t at all what you had initially intended.  

All you knew was, this deliciously ambiguous time at the end of your evenings, when you just talked – this was your favourite time of day.  

You were restless with anticipation, now that everyone else had finally gone to sleep or was shuffling around in their tents. 

Except she was nowhere to be seen.  

You could always slip into her tent, she might even have been waiting for you there now – but then you'd most likely wind up putting on the ‘seductive lusty lover’ mask, and as fun as that was, it’s not what you wanted right now.  

You were getting impatient. 

You wondered just how undignified and out of character it would be to simply go to her tent and lure her out on some pretense, like the stars being particularly bright, or some similar horseshit. You glanced at the sky. The stars weren’t even visible.  

Fuck. ...Well, she’d just laugh at that anyway.  

But lo and behold, there she was at last, plundered bottle of wine in hand. You bit your tongue to avoid addressing her with any of your habitual epithets, for which she’d rebuked you on numerous occasions, but she went ahead and did it for you herself anyway:  

“Here I am! The wind beneath your wings, the rose among your thorns! The fire in your furnace, the... uh... help me out here, will you?” 

“The biting canines in my buttock.” 

“There we go! A touch predictable, but no less eloquent for it.” 

She sat down, right next to your head, stretching her legs out towards the fire, and gave you a searching and expectant look, not saying anything. 

You raised a quizzical eyebrow back at her. 

“Well come on, scooch up,” she said with a playful smile on her lips. 

You lifted slightly on your elbows and laid your head in her lap.  

This is new. 

“Can I offer you something to drink?” she asked, waving a wrist, and then the wine in the other hand suggestively at you.  

“Not tonight, dear,” you chuckled. “I had quite a successful boar hunt while the rest of you were playing hero in the foothills.” 

“Suit yourself.” She took a drink straight from the bottle and stared off into the fire, her other hand absentmindedly running through your hair. You resisted the urge to lean further into her touch.  

“What’s on your mind?” you asked after the silence went on a touch too long. 

“I would like you to explain something to me.” she said quietly.  

You instinctively tensed, your mind racing, wondering what you could have possibly done or let slip. 

“...Why in the fuck do you lot listen to and take directions from me? Do none of you realize I’m just a shit-talking clown and have no idea what I’m doing?” the tone of her voice was flat.  

...Ah. That. 

“This ‘clown’ led us unscathed through a subversive operation in a goblin camp. Mostly via shit-talking. You even convinced one of them to lick your boot!” you shook your head incredulously. “Give yourself credit where it’s due. Do you think anyone else here could have pulled that off?” 

I probably could have. Wouldn’t. But could have.  

She took a swig from the bottle, considering your question. “Well you definitely could have done the same. You’d just choose not to. ...why are you laughing?” 

“Never mind that. Would you like me to take over for you, darling?” 

“Good heavens, no!” she grimaced in mock horror. “Just stay at my side, as my moral compass.” 

“Your moral compass?” 

“When in doubt, I ask myself ‘What would Astarion do?’, and do the opposite. Usually that’s good enough to keep everyone happy and keep bloodshed to a minimum.” 

You’re not wrong.  

“But gods it’s been exhausting...” she was sombre again. “They all want something, and they all think their problem is the most urgent. ‘We must go to the creche – no, we must go to Moonrise – no, but my heart will explode – no, but I and everything around me will explode’” she was getting riled up, gesticulating with the bottle in her hand. You were worried it would fly out of her grip. She paused to collect herself.  

“At least your demands are too insane to entertain in the first place,” she continued with a weary grin. “‘Embrace the tadpole, take over a cult, fight squirrels, commit genocide’” - she did her best to mimic your manner of speaking, then rolled her eyes and took another swig from the bottle.  

“Never know where a little thinking outside the box might lead you, dear.” I just want my freedom, whatever it takes. ...And that squirrel was looking at you funny. “And you? What do you want?” 

“A hot bath, new lute strings, and a cat to cuddle,” she answered without hesitation.  

You couldn’t think of anything better than to emit a very convincing meow.  

It must have taken her by surprise - she glanced down at you, eyes wide, before bursting out laughing and scratching you behind the ear.  

You hated to admit it, but you were very pleased with yourself, making her laugh like that.  

“My pointy-eared feline predator,” she murmured, looking into your eyes and smiling, as she slowly and delicately ran her finger along the edge of your ear, right to the tip, which felt... divine, actually.  

This... this was too intimate for someone you just had meaningless sex with, right? 

You heard some rustling and footsteps nearby, too casual to be an intruder, probably just someone walking off to relieve themselves.  

She jerked her hand away from you, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, and actually made a motion as if to get up, before you stopped her with a gentle hand on her wrist, still lying with your head in her lap. 

“Hey... Hold on... Now you explain something to me. Earlier today, you burst into camp covered in hyena entrails, yelled ‘My star!’, threw yourself on me, legs and arms and all, like some deranged monkey, and made me spin you around, kissing you. ...But this is what embarrasses you?”  

“That was putting on a silly act,” she said sheepishly. “And this is...” she faltered, looking for the right words. 

Real..? 

“Not intended for anyone else’s eyes.” 

Real. 

"Well everyone can direct their eyes elsewhere, then,” you responded, unable to contain a smile.  

It’s real.  

...Ahah!  

“Oh, and you’re absolutely adorable, by the way,” you added. 

She flicked you lightly on the nose and looked away. Was she blushing? 

“Anyway. It’s Gale that worries me the most.” 

Fucking Gale. 

“He said the last artifact he consumed hardly did anything. He doesn’t know how much longer he can contain it. He’s inconsolable.” she continued.  

“Perhaps we should all stop worrying and embrace the orb explosion. At least that will mean we won’t have to deal with anything else, ever.” you suggested. This was helpful, right?  

“I wish I could do something to help, or at least get his mind off it for a while.” 

Of course you do, you bleeding heart. 

“And how might you ‘get his mind off it’, exactly?” 

“I think we should seduce him,” she looked you straight in the eyes and said in a deadpan manner.  

Oh, sliding off a serious topic straight back into fuckery with a straight face, are we? I know that game very well.  

“Darling, even without the orb, he would literally explode if you held eye contact with him a second too long. He’s been pining for you since you pulled him out of that rock.” You waved a dismissive hand in Gale’s general direction. “The kindest thing you can do for him is give all your undivided attention to me, so he never has a glimmer of hope.” 

Bloody Gale with his manicured beard, puppydog eyes and cooking skills... 

“Well, while we’re on the topic, I still think we should seduce someone, to spice camp life up a bit. How about Lae’zel?” she continued.

“Lae’zel would skewer both of us if we approached her.” 

...and his warm hands... 

“Shadowheart?” 

“...You know, I’m pretty sure Lae’zel would skewer us for that, too. Perhaps all three of us, on the same blade.” 

...and his ability to find kind and empathetic words in any situation. ...Shame about the orb though. 

“What about...” she grinned, “daddy Halsin?” 

You exchanged a meaningful look. 

Ha! Well there’s a curious thought. I wonder if he could contain himself, or if he would turn into a bear. How... dangerous. 

“Let’s revisit that thought later.” you said pensively.  

“Karlach is impossible, of course...” she continued. “That leaves Wyll.” 

“Oh please,” you chortled. “Even if he wasn’t depressed over the whole... demonic horns and abducted parent conundrum. He strikes me as the ‘wait until marriage’ type. And he’d want to do the seducing himself.” 

“I’m not so sure about the marriage part. He would keep it proper and gentlemanly though.” she thoughtfully tapped her lower lip with a finger. “Multiple extravagant dates to impress his sweetheart before making any moves, the whole shabang. You wouldn’t want him to try to sweep you off your feet?” 

“Just me? No no, we are in this together.” you remarked. “And he could certainly afford to woo us both at once, being the son of a duke.” 

“Weeks of wining and dining us, waiting for the fires of ‘true love’ to fully ignite...” she said contemplatively, gazing into the fire. 

“Smothering us with red roses, romantic moonlit carriage rides and ballroom dancing...” you copied her tone. 

“Until finally railing you on a grand piano one day, while I whipped him with a switch,” she said with a devilish grin. 

“You absolute uncouth filth!” it was your turn to be taken off-guard as you shook with laughter.  

You incredible, ridiculous, mad thing... I would spend another year locked alone and hungry in a tomb, if it meant keeping you alive and safe. 

Something in your chest twisted. 

Did I really just think that? 

Yes, yes I did.  

You needed to stop and consider what just came into your head. And give yourself a good slap in the face. But for now, more than anything, you desperately needed to switch your brain off.  

You sat up and kissed her, pulling her into an embrace. 

“You crazy idiot, what am I going to do with you?” you whispered, briefly touching your forehead to hers. 

“Something nasty, I hope,” she answered with a cheeky smile. But there was more warmth than lust in her eyes. 

“My tent or yours?” you asked softly, trailing a finger down a bare arm. 

“Do you have vials of boar blood everywhere?” 

“Yes. Do you have everything you’ve collected, ever, everywhere?” 

“...Yes.” 

Hoarder. I would give you a whole palace to decorate, just to see what you would do with it.  

Sigh... “I guess I could accommodate you for a short while.” 

Please stay all night.  

On a sudden whim, you swept her up in your arms as you got up, carrying her to your tent.  

What in the hells was I thinking?  

“Oh!” she gasped, surprised. “My... I don’t suppose you’ve got a grand piano in there?” 

“We’ll have to make do with my trunk, I’m afraid.” 

“And they say romance is dead.” 

None of this was going according to plan.  

Fuck the plan.  

You felt like a cretin and a fraud as you carried her off. But you’d make it right. She deserved something better. Something real.  

And so did you, godsdamnit.  

I’ll tell her... Just not today. 

~~~~~

Next in series - Are you mine?

This work is part of a series - here is the master list

AO3

[melodic-haze]

Can I ask for a sub Jade x fem reader? Jade is so cocky and self-confident thinking that she will dominate the relationship, but reader puts her in her place by taking her to the extreme Thank you in advance and have a nice day!💕

☆ — DEMO TRACK: sub!Jade x dom!afab!Reader

☆ — TYPE: NSFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: None? A lot of biting?? Does that count???? Rough sex in general

☆ — NOTES: To celebrate getting Jade I am writing about scissoring her she CANNOT escape me. As per usual I wrote this at the dead of night so if nothing makes sense then 🤷‍♀️

It's so funny, dating Jade, bc she's so self-assured of anything and everything—no matter how risky a deal may be, it's as if she has it all figured out.. and really, she probably does. That confidence transfers over to her general personality ofc which. Aha 💀 goodness

She's definitely convinced herself that she was going to take the lead for every single thing, taking care of you and punishing you if you deserve such treatment. She already does so in her daily life, what's a relationship with someone so precious as you make a difference?

A lot, she goes on to realise sooner or later when you have your first time together LOL

"So eager, aren't you," she practically coos at you as she steps further into the secluded room, taking off her hat and placing it carefully on the vanity.

"What, you rather I wasn't?"

"Now, I didn't say that." The pink-haired woman let out a soft laugh, "I would like to give you credit where credit is due, however, for waiting to get inside the bedroom rather than pulling me into the next available alley you find."

A huff slipped past your upturned lips, your eyes scanning every inch of your lover—who you once thought was unattainable without a hefty price, much like such precious gems are, is now standing in front of you at the foot of the bed with a not-so-innocent twinkle in her slitted eyes.

"I wouldn't dare have our first time together in some random setting," you simply say, "a lady should be treated as such.. and I wouldn't want to break you where everyone could see. Not yet, anyway."

That gained Jade's attention, her hand halting to a stop before she could slowly remove her singular glove. "Oh? I was under the assumption that I would have to take care of you, sweetheart. Unless you think that I can't leave you more than satisfied?" She walks up to you as she speaks, tracing your skin with a manicured nail before gently grasping onto your hand, "Because I assure you that I never leave my clients with the feeling of.. incompletion."

"One problem with that statement."

"Mm?"

"I'm not a client of yours, am I? I'm much more than that."

She raises an eyebrow, its shape perfectly sculpted and arched and perfect, "Confident in where you stand, aren't you? Such arrogance can often lead to one's downfall, you know."

You walk forward, prompting her to follow your motions like an intimate dance, "Are you saying that because you believe you're the exception to the rule?"

"Not that I'm the exception, no.. but challenging such things is something I am required to have expertise on, considering my line of work."

You hummed in response, "You've yet to prove that to me beyond professional transactions."

"Haven't I?"

You don't speak in turn, though instead you draw your hand back from hers before swiping it under her intricate blazer that hangs on her shoulder, letting it slip down.. and then pressing the same hand on the centre of her chest to push.

Your lover gently falls onto the mattress with a soft sound of surprise, with her long hair fanning out under her like some sort of pink halo. That momentary surprise is easily replaced with a pleased smirk, however, as her hands roam around her body to caress every inch of herself like a tantalising temptress, simultaneously opening up her outfit and fully revealing the lacy underwear underneath.

"So you caught me off-guard. That's a first."

You moved to straddle her, stripping off your topmost clothing and discarding them to the side, "Is it, though? No point lying through your teeth there."

"Ha. I suppose you do have a penchant for surprising me on the occasion." She puts her hands on your hips, gripping you and gently digging her nails into your form, "And I also suppose that that was you taking advantage of the situation, which.. bravo. I hadn't even noticed I let you take the lead."

You leaned down, capturing her lips with your own and cutting off whatever words she had planned to form after—if she ever even planned to, which you sincerely doubt it considering how her arms tugged you closer to her—before drawing back and leaving her wanting more. Her beautiful blue eyes, formerly slits, had seemingly expanded as she laid there in a silent daze.

"And you can continue. Letting me take the lead, I mean." You breathed out as you took one of her breasts into your hand and groped her idly, "Let me take care of your needs and desires this time, yeah?"

"Unfortunately that isn't in my job description," she jests with a slight rasp to her voice.

"Too bad you're not working right now," you quipped back.

And without any more to say, you lean back in as the two of you let your desires take over completely.

She definitely absolutely challenges your authority HAHAHAHA oh my god. She's SUCH a brat actually, teasingly trying to grab the reigns back and dominate you but somefuckinghow you're looking at her and acting a certain way that it actually sends a shiver down her spine once she realises you mean to consume her wholly like a snake with its prey

She isn't used to being on the receiving end, to being the one being taken care of, to being the one overwhelmed by the amount of pleasure you're giving her. And the foreign experience fucking thrills her bc almost nothing scares this woman in bed

I say "almost nothing" bc if your buttons are pushed enough bc she makes it a point to make it INSUFFERABLE for you bc you could just hand her control and she'd take care of you :((( and take the easy route like everyone else :((((( and you snap, there's no telling what'll happen to her 🥰

ROUGH HER THE FUCK UP and that's when she starts getting concerned for her wellbeing (in the fun way), though the thrill is still there and has never been this amusing and overstimulating since.. god knows when. It has her wanting for MORE

She wouldn't beg though. She refuses to do so—something something she still has some modicum of dignity in her—but that's fine.. you can just have her struggle in desperation 😋!!

Such a bestial, carnal act was unbefitting of such a classy lady.. and that debauched expression on Jade's face was even less so.

Her nails dug into your skin, though this time her grip was a far cry from its gentle yet possessive force. Instead, it was harsh and desperate, perhaps even enough to draw blood. Your neck and the line of your collarbone was in a worse state as your lower back was, though, with the multiple bite marks that littered your skin (and some of them were even the slightest bit punctured, not necessarily all that dissimilar to a snake bite).

Not like she was any better either, with how throwing her head back meant that you were able to see the myriad of marks all across her body—her skin was painted like a canvas, signed repeatedly by you and only you through some sort of binding contract.

You bucked your hips into hers with a crooked smirk to your lips that easily broke off as a groan escaped your lips. Your clit had rubbed onto hers in a certain way that had the both of you stumbling, if the time spent repeatedly switching from making her hold off from cumming, continuously pushing her off the edge and having her please you as a form of gratitude rather than her initial service didn't exhaust you two enough already.

Whenever you look at her, she always seems to be on the cusp of truly letting go and pleading for you to finally give her the release she needs from your constant minstrations throughout the night, always seems to be on the edge of admitting that you hold the power over her, that you were more than some random client like she joked about.. but she seems to have some extra willpower within her that prevents such sudden declarations.

Doesn't matter, though, because you have the power to simply draw back and leave her on the tipping point.

And when you look at her again, when you see her mouth smudged with lipstick move as she voices out her thoughts, when you see her reach out for her, when you feel just how embarrassingly wet she is...

When you see the Stoneheart at her rawest, without any sort of modification to suit whoever she deigns to interact with, you just can't help but give her a bit more.

Guys I'm a firm believer in Jade having fangs but anyway

Be mean enough to her and eventually she'll crack 🥰🥰🥰 and it'd be RUDE to leave her hanging..........or yk. Leave her hanging 😜 as a way for her to remember exactly how easily you can put her in her place

Either way now she knows FULL well not to get all cocky again unless she wants that hot-and-cold rough treatment again ☺️ and she also knows not to underestimate you ANYMORE what a way to learn not to underestimate someone

[leikeliscomet]

Racism in the ace community is seen as a joke from the outside and a confusing concept in the inside but it's pretty bait tbh:

Barbie, Wednesday and Elsa are ace-coded but not canon aces but they're widely accepted as ace icons in the community. Lacking genitalia, disliking romance and being single are not inherently asexual yet the community happily claims them as ace solely on those reasons. But Selah Summers? Nah she actually didn't say the words "aroace" even though the director confirmed it so she didn't really count. Abbi Singh? Nah she had a girlfriend and her superpower is being a succubus and it's not like the Imperfects actually addressed the themes of an asexual lesbian South Asian woman and her sexuality or anything. Fei Hargreeves? Well yeah the actress and producer confirmed it but she never said it on screen. Ace characters of colour always get held "screened" for approval to be "real rep" in a way white aces aren't its so weird (this also happens to gay aces but that's another post)

Almost anything involving Yasmin Benoit. The reason she's unacceptable ace rep is because of misogynoir. She's spoken so many times about never dating and not having sex (which mind you is none of our business and she shouldn't need to explain herself in the 1st place) and yet she's "too sexual" to represent the community. Again with the nitpicking, popular white ace accounts were so quick to dogpile her for not-so-good takes but when she speaks about racism? Crickets. When she spoke about sexual harassment? Crickets and not only that but they defended her harasser. The main ace activists that defended her were other Black aspecs.

Not understanding how desexualisation affects POC. Specifically, Black women are excluded from representations of love and sex because we're seen as undesirable. It's common for TV/Film to pair up everyone but the Black girl, or have a rebound Black partner for the non-Black main character who's disposed of when they're ready for their "real" non-Black partner again. This isn't done for Black aspecs benefit. It's a form of dehumanisation. Friendship especially in m/f is needed but exclusively pushing for friendship between Black women and non-Black men when there is romance coded or confirmed and shaming Black women in fandom or in show for shipping the Black female character is not doing what you think its doing.

Not understanding how sexualisation effects POC. Again linking to Yasmin, POC, especially Black people have been sexualised due to white supremacy. The "allosexual privilege" framework fails to acknowledge this because Black people's sexual attraction and sex is seen as aggressive and animalistic. Black people aren't "allowed" to be ace because of this sexualisation and why Yasmin regardless of what she wears or does is seen is too promiscuous.

Not acknowledging ace POC as ace rep. Again, where was the acknowledgement of Selah and the Spades as groundbreaking rep? The first aroace darkskin Black girl as a lead in any film? Sherronda J Brown spoke about Big Mouth's Black ace character and someone said it didn't count just bc they dislike the show. Again with Abbi and Fei the community didn't make noise for them like they did Todd from Bojack Horseman or Florence from Sex Ed (mind you the gap between how they did Florence vs O is jarring in itself) Isaac from Heartstopper was inspirational for many aspecs and I wont take that away but the way he's instantly credited for ace representation when he has so little screentime compared to the others is wild.

Just tired tbh. "Listen to POC aces!" "POC aces are valid!" Prove it then...?

[monarch-moon]

No harm in submitting this!

For the past few months, I've been working on and off on a new project called World Cell, which is more of an adventure story featuring a caravan of characters going on a world-wide journey! To put it lightly, at least lol. This is the height chart and a collection of refs for the major cast!

Bits of info of each of them under the cut!

We of course have Asher as our main character! This royal prince is ready to do what he's been training to do, but the only other thing he likes aside from swords and weapons is eating bugs!

Returning is our grumpy lady, Evo! Now sporting 20% more side boob, 40% scales, and 100% foul language.

Third is our gentle giant, Haoyu, who is the party's medic. It doesn't take long to get him to freak out, especially since he's in a gang full of reckless troublemakers.

Fourth up is our resident living armor, Alyster! Don't mind him, he may be the largest, but he's pretty chill.

You know her, I love her, it's none other than our resident potato, Aki! Now with more dogy love, especially to her angry lizard girlfriend~.

The party needs someone competent to cook for them, so meet Eirwen! When things get gloomy, you can trust his friendly face c:

But if you need someone who can bring a lot of sunshine in the group, meet Natsu! Our lovely transgirl here has a smile so powerful, the only other thing that can rival it is her punch.

The group needs someone sensible to lead them, so meet Haku, Natsu's older brother! This man may be short, but he is prepared for any situation. We stan a short king.

Next up, we have our lovely lady Sarya! She may not participate much in the action, but she contributes in a different way: driving everyone around in a sizeable carriage!

Following close to Asher is the first princess of Vaalum herself, Naiotah! This is her first time doing this, but she's ready to go either way!

Never without his box of artifacts and rocks, we have Hayden! Rumor has it he can tell exactly what era something is from just by licking it...except it's not a rumor, that's true.

Can't have Asher without Odix!! He may have more feathers than before, but he's still full of heart~

Last but certainly not least is our pearl from the sea, Xouya! Don't let her elegant demeanor fool you, this one's got p l a n s cooking in her brain, and you might not like em.

To be quite honest with you guys, this has been the most well put together main cast I've made in any story I've created (though credit where credit is due, I made all the refs, but @snowprismdragon , @hawker-the-gary , and @solannecontinuum contributed characters...namely Alyster and Eirwen from Snow....Aki, Hayden, Sarya, and Odix from Hawk, and Xouya from Solanne. Asher, Haoyu, Haku, Natsu, Naiotah and Evo are mine.)

Anyway, if you've read all this, thank you guys for your time c: I will probably be drawing these guys a lot when I can!

[twstedpometea]

1 year later: Ugigiugi review and thoughts

Hello Everyone.

It's finally been a year since the PDF was released. I decided to do a retrospective post on Ugigiugi, the history of her tracing, and share my personal thoughts now that some time has passed.

Feel free to read below!

First off, I wanted to publicly address the fact that I noticed the new "findings" in the tag. I have collected those for annotations.

As I've stated before in one of my older posts, this whole situation was the first time I'd seen or dealt with a serial tracer like Ugigiugi. Counting her last post day, she had been tracing for 5 years. Given all these things, I decided to reflect a bit on the Ugigiugi situation and things are a year later.

At that time it appeared that Ugigiugi was mostly a tracer/self-insert Mary-sue type of artist. Given her lack of crediting and stealing from others, it was pretty apparent that she was a lazy and passionless person masquerading as an artist and had zero shame in taking the efforts from others for herself.

While there is still plenty of art that has yet to be sourced, it can kinda assumed if Ugigiugi saw it, she stole it, regardless of the source. This is pretty evident when you look at the located sources which spanned from small-time fan artists and to published works, including online media or comics she's read in her own time. And let's not forget the audacity of her tracing over other people's original characters, and comics, or stealing from lgbtq+ ships.

Pharaoh’s Concubine by Misha/Youshi

Ennead by Mojito

Now, generally, it's alright to feel "inspired" by other people's fan art/comics/stories/etc. That's normal. And I certainly can't police what people will end up liking in their media.

But blatantly stealing others shows no passion and demonstrates you have very little respect for your fellow art peers. As I've said in my previous post on Tracing/Copying/Referencing while tracing is one way to "learn" how to draw art, it is not something you should heavily rely on as it can quickly become a crutch. If you're not pulling any useful information from it and just trace without a second thought, you will become dependent on it for everything and never truly learn how to draw without that crutch.

Every artist needs to study the fundamentals to learn how to break the rules. Every artist needs to learn how to use resources properly, be transparent if they borrow from others, and give credit where credit is due. Every artist has to gain confidence so they can create and self-motivate to improve.

Ugigiugi had NONE of these qualities because at the end of the day she did not care about being an artist.

She wanted attention and praise and did not care how she got it.

Looking back on the fallout and how Ugigiugi handled it when people tried to correct her or called her out, I can't consider her a creator in any capacity. Given that most of her pieces are in the genre of Mary-sue/self-inserting, this was really just her putting the spotlight on herself and that's the bottom line.

Now I'll be frank: I don't care for self-inserting. But that is a personal preference. However, I understand it is a thing people do within fandom spaces for fun, and if that's what you like? More power to you.

But if you have to steal from other artists to do that? From fellow fans or even from people who probably spent years developing their skills and putting art online to advertise their artwork or comics? You are just a leech, no different from the "AI artists" plugging prompts into generators to spit out terrible soulless art, scrapped from the honest efforts of thousands before them. And how can you call yourself an artist when you take from everyone else but having nothing to show for yourself?

Finally, for my last point, I'll share my thoughts on Ugigiugi's last known post and her "apology" before she deleted her Tumblr since not everyone got to see her response/rant when the callouts first began to circulate. I'm also leaving her DA post here for reference.

Someone had asked me if there was any actual proof Ugigiugi ever apologized anywhere before she nuked her social media. No, she never did apologize. You can even see in her Tumblr "apology" that she doesn't admit to what she did before going off on a rant. As of this year? She still has never apologized for all the tracing or stealing and for not crediting her free resources.

That being said a lot of what Ugi said at the end of her apologies always bugged me. I'll zoom in on these parts of her posts.

Here's the thing. You can have all the dreams in the world you like. Does creating art help you escape from the troubles of the real world? By all means that stuff is normal. To create art and express things is also fine.

But what isn't normal or acceptable Ugigiugi's lack of responsibility.

You can't build things with stuff that isn't yours to begin with. What story or world is there to share if you're just stealing the building blocks from others with no regard for people's works or boundaries? How can you create or inspire anyone when all you have to offer is a poorly reproduced copy. Can you even call it a hobby when you're not even going to put in the minimum effort? I don't think so.

Yes, Ugigiugi's can have issues with the doxing/political hubbub but at the end of it all, she is in a mess entirely of her own making. If she hadn't traced and just sourced things properly, I don't think people would have gone after her for all the stuff she had stolen (problematic media/opinions aside obviously). Taking accountability is always a sign of maturity.

And that is probably the biggest reason I can't give Ugiugigi a pass. She is not some misguided young artist just starting out. She is an adult. And not just any adult but one in the educational field too. It is appalling and little disturbing that an educator is engaging in such selfish behavior. And in her own words she knows these things and people have corrected her. But instead of taking accountability, she chooses to double down even harder and get mad at everyone for "bullying" her. She acts like a victim and makes excuses right up until the bitter end. And even now, despite a year of silence, I suspect her stance hasn't changed.

But this post is already growing quite long and rather then continue to beat this dead horse, I would rather finish this entry to talk about what people should avoid.

Even a year later after the PDF was published there's still stuff being sourced from her traced works and we have no idea if Ugiugigi is continuing to lurk or continuing to steal but keep it offline to avoid another public fallout.

Whatever the case may be I would like to leave a final thought both to encourage people to not do what she did and also address and of her lingering supporters who might stumble across this:

There are some out there who feel that what Ugiugigi did was not that bad since "everyone traces". But these people are wrong.

When you take something that doesn't belong to you, that is stealing. And when people discover you have been stealing they get upset for far more than just the theft. They get angry because that person is a LIAR. That is a betrayal of trust from an artist they believed was acting in good faith. If said artist can just rip off other people's work or resources without even so much as a token acknowledgement of where their inspiration came from, it calls their entire body of work into question.

And when people discover you have lack integrity, they no longer trust you. And once you lose that trust it can be impossible to gain that back. That is why they leave, block that artist, and refuse to engage further because if they can steal from others, what is to stop them from stealing from you?

Ugiugigi's downfall is ultimately from her own egotism, a misguided belief that she deserved praise while giving negative effort. And while there are still many like her out there, there is at least one less parasite to deal with.

[chromaticleaf]

Can't get Murder Drones out of my head. Almost like some eldritch code has taken root inside my brain. It's probably fine.

Anyway, headcanons for what the murder trio were before Tessa got them:

J was almost certainly in some corporate position. I like to think she was involved in marketing, since she has all those buzzwords ingrained in her lexicon. Maybe they even had her working with graphic design with her art skills. I also imagine she kinda hates corporate structure. "Bootlicker J" jokes aside, I can't imagine even she would have fun as a (literal) corporate slave, and she definitely enjoys freely speaking her mind: not something that flies very well in corporate and marketing contexts. Maybe she got dumped during some convoluted office politics, maybe she was dumped due to random downsizing, who knows.

N's a bit trickier. We see a lot of dexterity and showmanship from him in the manor. He's quite flashy with the glassware at a few points. He also likes drawing, but is lacking in technical skill, especially compared to J. He's also quite personable and friendly, and also seems to truly admire J in some capacity. As a bonus, Cyn mimics a lot of N's mannerisms, and one of her defining traits is her acting, even specifically playing at "improv" while rebuilding J. Therefore, I think N was in theater/entertainment.

He wasn't necessarily an actor himself: still a robot slave after all. But he likely assisted with a lot of setup. Rehearsals, testing stunts, watching over pets/kids (whether those of actors or actors themselves), etc. He enjoys fancy costumes as well, and he's pretty genre aware. He's probably had his fair share of experience with horror movies/stories. Maybe he got dumped pissing off the wrong famous person, maybe some stunt went wrong and they didn't want to bother repairing him, maybe they just wanted the newest model.

V is tough to decide. She seems to enjoy fighting the most out of all of them, but none of them are really slouches in combat, so I don't think that says much about her past. We don't see much of her in the manor, but the impression she gives is a bit more shy and demure. We see her playing chess in the credits, but one hobby doesn't mean much on its own, especially since chess is a common game to put on computers: probably all of them have chess programs built-in.

With that little to go off of, and her tendency to both act out in outrageous ways and keep herself closed-off, I'm thinking she was probably a menial worker beforehand. Minimal freedom, in a position where she'd best keep her head down. Follow the rules closely in order to keep what little she has. "Do your job and I leave you and N alone" was probably a pretty good deal to V because it was as good or better than her previous work arrangements.

Could be a lot of jobs like that for a robo-slave. But let's have fun with it and extrapolate from her usage of "narc" and her apparent desensitization to violence: she was used by a criminal organization for clean-up duty, and got dumped after being confiscated by authorities.

[felassan]

David Gaider on Twitter: "Going through my old DAI files and came across the original plan for a playable post-credits Epilogue... which, due to time constraints, eventually got down-scaled to the post-credits cutscene you saw on release. A lot of the meat here was, I believe, resurrected for Trespasser." [source] "At the time, I was pushing hard for an actual denouement - as opposed to always ending the story so abruptly after the climax. Considering how few players ever get that far, I suppose I can see the argument that it's not exactly a great place to focus resources. I did like where the cutscene ended up, mind you. A nice, Marvel-esque stinger that hinted at story to come. Took the sting out of having yet another story plan go awry... which is simply par for the course for game dev. Writing can always imagine more than we can produce. ;) And in case anyone wonders: no actual work was done on that playable section prior to the cut. You can imagine it being this fully-fleshed out, glorious thing, if you like... but it could just as easily have been half-baked and terrible. The team was fully stretched as it was." [source, two, three]

Some further info from follow-up tweets -

User: "It's a bummer, though I understand the logic. A proper end to cap off the experience can make or break your enjoyment of the full game though, imo" DG: "That was indeed my argument. There's a point where we have to draw the line and finish the story, however, and I'm afraid the original plan was... mmm a mite too big. This was far from the only cut."

User: "WAIT. Am I reading this right… Solas drains Flemeth and then COMMANDS the Well of Sorrows drinker to kill Flemeth?" DG: "I think it was Flemeth who commanded it. I'd have to look through the whole document. It's complicated. Part of why it was eventually cut, probably."

User: "Hold on. We were to kill Flemeth on Flemeth’s command to, possibly, prevent Solas from taking everything? Was passing whatever energy she did to the Eluvian her way of preparing for survival ?" DG: "I don't think it was going to be explained any more than it was in the cutscene you got, tbh."

User: "My WoS Lavellan is SCREAMING rn god please help her in the next game" DG: "Keep in mind that none of this *actually* happened. ;)"

User: "Interesting to see this was envisioned as having adversarial encounters between Solas & Flemeth with the well-drinker being ping-pawned between them. I noticed the Inquisitor lurking off-camera in that cutscene and wondered if they were originally meant to be part of it." DG: "Heh. I'm pretty sure the Inquisitor being placed there in the actual cutscene's level was because a player had to be present *somewhere*. Might be wrong, though." John Epler: "the way the cinematics worked, if you had them firing too far from the player character the engine would try to optimize and cutscenes would start jittering" DG: "Yeah, I thought it was something like that! Thanks, John."

User: "Does this have any link to the fact that there are dialogue audios of Morrigan reacting to solas “absorbing” Mythal in the game files?" DG: "Possibly? I finished writing the epilogue, so it's possible some of it got recorded prior to the cut."

User: "So Morrigan would've finally gotten to kill Flemeth herself, and nobody had to turn into a dragon this time? Also, this clears up what even happened to Flemeth at the end. She's definitely dead. Presumably, the spirit or essence of Mythal and possibly Urthemiel are inside Solas?" User 2: "does it? it can be theorized that flemeth commands the inquisitor/morrigan to kill her so solas wouldn't be able to take all her essence. regardless, in the ending we did get it's not entirely clear what happened. but i doubt she's truly gone. she cheated death before." DG: "And remember that what this stuff points at never actually happened. Whatever becomes of Flemeth in the future is up to the current writing team, and is based only on the cutscene you saw."

Summerfall Studios: "Our creative director davidgaider shares some insight into how Dragon Age: Inquisition's epilogue evolved over production" DG: "You want "evolved over production"? *cracks knuckles* Lemme tell you how we cut Corypheus attacking Skyhold. Now *that's* evolution."

[accirax]

Fourth Anniversary Art Analysis

(Credits to DRDTdev for the art, obviously. Please support the original post.)

Yeah guys, this is definitely Charles, trust me. (/j)

In all seriousness, the reveal of what Teruko's brother (more or less) looks like got me thinking about a couple of things. I'd like to ramble about them in a space less directly linked to the public fourth anniversary art!

The first is that we've (basically) confirmed that Teruko's brother is older than her, something that I don't think we actually technically knew until now! I always got those kind of vibes, but it's nice to know for sure.

The second is something that most people have picked up on-- his white hair color. Between DRDT and altDRDT, the only people who we've seen with white hair up to this point are XF and Dandelion (I think those are the names people agreed upon???). Both of those seem... unlikely to be Teruko's brother, although, for what it's worth, they do both use he/him pronouns. That's not to say that Teruko's brother couldn't have dyed his hair after he and Teruko last parted, and still be someone else we know, like Teacher. However, I could also easily believe that DRDTdev may have wanted to draw this art as a soft disconfirmation of the "Teacher is Teruko's brother" theory before people got in too deep. It's too bad, though, I did like that one.

One of the reasons why I liked it was because of the synergy with Teruko's favorite color being red due to "association." However, even if Teruko's brother still is Teacher, it seems like he has no red in his design as of the last time Teruko saw him. I suppose red could still be his eye color, but I'm going to take this mean that Teruko's positive association with red is due to somebody else-- likely either Xander or Mai, or possibly still Teacher, but without him being her brother.

Lastly, and most importantly, I find it highly interesting that, at this point in time, Teruko's brother is shown with several scrapes and bandages, while Teruko has absolutely none. It got me thinking about the nature of Teruko's luck.

I wonder if Teruko's bad luck operates in a way where it will hurt whoever is around her until she's the only one left, at which point it has no one to attack but herself. (The only comparison I can think of is to the Death card in the card game Fluxx, so shout out if you know what I'm talking about.)

As long as Teruko is the "protagonist," her luck will go after the "side characters". But, if Teruko isolates herself, then the luck will go after the hero.

Now, there is a bit of contradictory evidence going on here, because Teruko has had unfortunate things happen to her since entering the killing game and being around other people. Most notably, the time that she slipped and fell while holding the cake, and when Xander tried to kill her. That's why I'm wondering if there's also an element of how much Teruko cares about these people involved. Like, if Teruko cares less about someone, they don't pop up as a "side character" punching bag as much. Or, if Teruko caring about someone is the inciting incident to turning an entire group of people into "side characters"-- that way, if she had no friends at any of the schools she attended, she could have avoided dooming them all.

Teruko cared a lot about Xander, so his betrayal was the tipping point. After she took one last blow, the scales tipped and more bad things started happening to the other students than to Teruko. Teruko falling down transformed into the much worse luck of Min dying. And, from then on, the "side characters" started taking the brunt of the bad luck (J's secret being revealed, Eden being bullied and threatened, Ace nearly dying, etc), while Teruko remained mostly fine.

If there is an element of how much Teruko cares about people involved, it would give her a lot of incentive to be a loner and actively make people dislike her.

Anyways, just a thought. This one is pretty off the cuff, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm missing something or overstepping here.

Happy fourth anniversary DRDT, happy ???th birthday Mai, and a happy day to all of you!

[theladyofbloodshed]

Chapter 28 - You're The Closest To Heaven I'll Ever Be

Nesta said horny mode is on

Nesta heard nothing. Saw nothing. Only felt that endless ringing in her ears. The man that had helped do this to her was on their side. She and Elain were just casualties of his plan to remain inside the heart of their enemies without rousing suspicion.

Nesta felt sick from it.

Jurian spoke with such a tender tone, his brown eyes flicking often to her and Elain, as he vowed that his words were truth, but Nesta couldn’t let herself be moved by it. He had come here and span the tale to Graysen and his father. She knew what mortals thought of faeries. Knew it too well.

A rational part of Nesta tried to tear her emotions from it all. Tried to see the benefit in his innate knowledge of Hybern and their movements. But as Azriel departed to Illyria to inform Cassian where Hybern intended to attack, all Nesta wanted was to sink into his arms and weep. She had been made into this to bolster Jurian’s stories. Had the Cauldron felt the same for him? Did it claw at his chest like it had to Nesta? Had it been so endlessly cold like a winter that had no respite? And did he know this before standing by and watching them forced into the Cauldron?

‘I do not pretend to have a large army. Only a considerable unit of soldiers. If what you say is true, we will take them. Whoever can make it.’

Nesta could find no joy in Lord Nolan’s words. Not when she knew her people now despised someone like her. She’d find no comfort amongst mortals again. She was fae and there was no reversing what had been done.

‘Take that ring off.’

Elain curved her fingers into a fist. ‘No.’

‘Take. It. Off.’

Even with his father’s warning, Graysen took a step closer to Elain. His eyes were slitted with his anger – and Nesta’s magic soared to her fingertips ready to meet him if he so dared.

‘Take it off!’

‘That’s enough,’ said Rhysand, in a lethally calm voice, one like ice before it cracks. ‘The lady keeps the ring if she wants it. Though none of us will be particularly sad to see it go. Females tend to prefer gold or silver to iron.’

To his credit, Graysen did not balk, but met Rhysand’s look with his own seething stare. ‘Is this the start of it? You fae males will come to take out women? Are your own not fuckable enough?’

‘Watch your tongue, boy,’ warned his father.

‘I am not marrying you,’ said Graysen to Elain. ‘Our engagement is over. I will take whatever people occupy your lands. But not you. Never you.’

Nesta could not take it. Not the tears on Elain’s pale face. The ring she still clung to. The idea that they were worse because they were fae when they had the same hearts and feelings as before.

Before she knew what was happening, Nesta smacked him hard enough across the face that his head snapped to the side. For one, long moment she thought she had broken his neck. The male would have earned it.

‘You never deserved her.’ She turned to Feyre, eyes burning. ‘I assume we’re done here.’

She took Elain by her arm to guide her away. Her sister could fall apart, but not here, not in front of him.

Their camp was moved to the north of the Winter Court where cruel winds blew so fiercely, Nesta had to wonder if she’d ever be warm again. Their tent was small with a brazier tucked to one side for warmth though it did little. As soon as the cot was placed there by an Illyrian with the same perceptive eyes as Azriel, Elain curled upon the thin mattress and wept. Anger and sorrow fought in equal measure inside of Nesta at her sister’s plight. She’d had her misgivings about Graysen – largely due to his father – but Elain had been in the throes of love and he’d seemed genial enough. Now, she wanted to part his head from his body and launch it into the sea where none would find him again for making her sister cry.

The tents either side of theirs belonged to Azriel and Cassian, with Mor’s slotting behind and the one Feyre shared with Rhysand being just ahead to keep them nestled in safely. It was so difficult to hear anything above the howl of the wind, but sometimes Nesta caught brusque tones or the flap of wings. She remained between the brazier and Elain, one hand stroking her sister’s back as she slept. The bitter cold seemed to seep through the seams of their tent so she pulled another fur around her body. Even as the light faded, Nesta remained where she was. Her mind was adrift. Seeing Jurian had been the final nail in the coffin. This was to be her life forever. There was no reversing time and being mortal once more. She was fae. And always would be. A strange sort of acceptance came with that knowledge. She thought of the handsome and thoughtful male who had done his best to ease her into this life. The countless hours that Azriel had spent at her door pleading with her to take that step into their world.

Mating bonds were rare, she knew from her research. There were many fae who waited their whole lives and never found their mates. She supposed she was lucky that she had already found her equal – and there could not be a better male.

Perhaps it was the battle that encroached on them. Perhaps it was her sister’s anguish at losing love. But Nesta pulled a fur around her head, slipped her boots on, and went out into the snow towards Azriel’s tent.

It was dark and empty when she entered. A bag of weapons had not yet been unpacked nor had the leathers which were tossed haphazardly on top of it. Nesta went to her knees at the brazier to coax a fire into existence. Her hands were well practised from their years in the cottage. She knew how to stretch the tinder to make it last. Her face was inches from the ground as she released a slow breath to add air to the flames. Nesta even collected snow to melt for fresh tea for when Azriel arrived. She wanted him warm and relaxed ready for what was to come in the morning.

Finally, after what felt like hours, she heard Azriel’s cool voice beneath the wind followed by Cassian’s much louder, rougher tones.

The toggles of the tent were undone one by one.

‘Surprise,’ she said softly, as he side-stepped through the slit of the fabric.

Cassian turned towards her, a laugh already building on his face, as she realised her mistake.

‘Wrong tent?’

‘Obviously.’

Cassian took in the water boiling upon the brazier that glowed hot, the neatly-made bed, the two mugs waiting for tea.

‘I didn’t know I meant so much to you,’ he mocked, touching a hand to his chest.

‘This was a mistake,’ she seethed.

Cassian gave a laugh. ‘Az is pretty, but I’m a more refined taste.’

She folded her arms across her chest, thoroughly dismayed.

It took mere minutes for the tent to flap open again then Azriel bolstered through, the material snagging on his wings.

‘Nesta’s missing. She’s not in her tent. Not with Mor or Feyre.’

He stopped suddenly. He also catalogued the cosy environment that she’d cultivated within the tent with a puzzled look spreading across his face.

‘A mistake,’ she said quickly.

‘She means not coming to my tent sooner,’ added Cassian with a wink.

Azriel was ready to kill him. The blue of his siphons flared.

Another easy laugh from Cassian as if they weren’t going into battle in the morning and this was all a game to him.

‘You are the most annoying person that I’ve ever met,’ she said hotly.

‘And yet, you came to my tent, made it nice and warm. Oh? You even made the bed for us to mess up later.’

‘Cass,’ Azriel warned.

He held up his hands, grinning at them both. ‘Lucky it was my tent and not Mor’s. You can take the tea, if you like.’

‘How has nobody killed you yet?’

‘They’ve tried,’ muttered Azriel as he hastily poured the hot water into the mugs then shepherded Nesta out while Cassian’s laughter pealed in the air.

His hand was cold in her own as he tugged her across the well-trodden track towards his tent in the darkness then guided her inside. It was just as cold and bleak inside.

‘I’ll light the brazier,’ he murmured. But Nesta could see from the blue siphon light that illuminated him that it took all of Azriel’s willpower to go to his knees and begin striking at the tinder. Each little spark had him recoiling, his hands flinching away.

Nesta took the striker from his hand. ‘Allow me.’

He inched away, swallowing, as Nesta struck the metal and showered the tinder with sparks. With a few coaxing breaths, the flames curled over the dry wood.

‘I shouldn’t stay long,’ she said, rising back onto her feet. ‘Elain is alone. I wanted to see you before…’

Her voice cut off. Before tomorrow. Before the battle where I might never see you again. She wondered how it would be for her – for them – if Azriel fell. Would she forever mourn what could have been? Would the impact be the same even if she hadn’t accepted the bond?

Azriel silenced her with a kiss full of longing. His lips lingered, hovering there with a feather light touch as if awaiting permission before reaching for her. Nesta reached for him again, kissing him with equal fervour. Her hand pressed against his leathers, the siphon beneath her palm flickering with acknowledgement then, as though it saw a challenge, a shadow tickled her cheek. 

‘They’re all fighting for your affection,’ Azriel murmured against her lips. 

She was flattered by it. All of it. The shadows were a part of Azriel and Nesta welcomed them. 

‘I shouldn’t stay,’ she repeated although her heart told a different story. 

The impending morning weighed heavily on her. Azriel seemed to read something in her expression – the hesitation, perhaps. 

‘Why can’t you stay?’ 

‘Elain is alone.’

There was a slight pinch to Azriel’s brow like he knew he was treading on thin ice but continued anyway. ‘You have made enough decisions that have revolved around her. You aren’t her keeper.’

‘When I don’t protect one sister, I’m vilified for it. When I do, I’m doing too much.’

He touched her cheek. ‘Nobody can deny you love your sisters but you don’t have to put your life on pause because Elain’s heart-’

Azriel cut himself off, looking frustrated with his lack of words and the ones he had said. Nesta should have argued with him. Should have told him to stay out of anything involving Elain - but hadn’t Nesta done enough? She’d gone to the ball, listened to her sister’s wistful daydreams about Graysen, stayed in their manor with Elain rather than claim safety in Velaris. She’d been at her bedside, tending to her day after day since that night in Hybern. She’d gone back to the mortal lands, held Elain while she cried, and been the only one to remain with her in that tent until now.

Nesta tilted her head to look at him. ‘You would like me to stay?’ 

His hazel eyes were wide, the pupil blown out from the dim light. 

‘Yes.’

The confirmation was everything to her. When he went to reach for her, Nesta paused his keen fingers. 

‘I thought a lot about today. About my sister. Graysen.’

She should not say this. Should have thought more before she opened her mouth. 

‘There is no going back. I will always be this. Me,’ she amended. ‘Instead of being a curse, I have time now. When I have children, it could be in a hundred years from now. And there is so much that I could do - could see. When I imagine it, you are there. There isn’t a place I can think of going without you. I keep thinking what if something bad happens to you tomorrow and the bond is hanging loose. How will it feel to lose you before I’ve had you?’

Her heart beat rapidly, the words tumbling out before she could stop them. 

‘Of all the males in the world, it could be so much worse,’ continued Nesta, heat scorching her cheeks from her honesty. ‘This sounded much better in my head.’

Azriel was kind enough to stop her from flailing and pulled her close. Her cheek rested against his chest and a hand cradled her head. 

‘I just mean that the bond still scares me. I’m so new to this world and I already have somebody for the rest of my life - but I’m glad it’s you.’ She paused for a breath. ‘I am glad you are my mate, Azriel.’

As he exhaled, Nesta sank deeper against his chest until she could feel his heart pumping against her ear. 

‘What does this mean for us?’

‘I don’t know. It didn’t feel right to have these thoughts and not share them before tomorrow.’ 

She felt him swallow. The implications of the morning looming over them like the blade of a guillotine. 

‘I will fight with everything I have,’ he vowed. 

Will it be enough? The words lingered on her tongue, leaving a rancid taste. 

Azriel took a step back and held her face up, examining her. He saw all the words that she didn’t say. All of the worry that created little stress fractures in her heart. 

‘I have had five hundred years of practise. I’m not worried, Nesta. Illyrians, we’re made for this.’

She couldn’t say to him that he abhorred his people and was vehement that he wasn’t like them. Azriel sensed the doubt in her expression again and held her close. It was just them. Their heartbeats singing with each other, his beats following hers. Beyond the tent, the cruel winter rolled around them.

‘I want to stay,’ she whispered. ‘But I need to be gone by the morning.’

‘I’m an early riser.’

‘Because you don’t sleep,’ countered Nesta with a quirk of her brows. ‘Not a lot anyway.’

Wordlessly, Azriel led her to his low cot that was propped up on wood to keep the cold from seeping into the mattress. How had she even confused Cassian’s tent with this one? The bed was neatly made, the sheets tucked tight around it. The weapons had already been unpacked and lined up on a fur. If she knew him, they’d already have been sharpened too.

The morning was a dark cloud that she didn’t want to acknowledge until it poured upon her head. For tonight, they could push it away a little bit longer. Pretend it wasn’t there.

‘This is for you,’ he said, handing her a long, soft top to pull on instead of her dress.

They did their same routine where Nesta made him look away, but her own eyes were too greedy to do the same. He gestured for Nesta to find a place in the bed first so she pushed away her nerves and tried to be bold. Before Azriel joined her, he placed two letters beside his weapons.

‘Take them in the morning, please. One is for you. One is for my mother. Just in case.’

She didn’t like to hear him acknowledge it. That meant he considered his own death in battle too.

‘Read it if I fall,’ he said softly. ‘Burn it if I don’t.’ At her expression, he went on, ‘I will say it all to you in person. Promise me you’ll do that.’

‘I promise.’

He held her gaze for a moment then slipped into the covers beside her. Nesta tipped her face up expectantly and before Azriel kissed her, she caught the smile that crossed his face. Kissing had become her favourite thing in a few short tries. She could go on kissing Azriel until the world stopped turning. She met each press of his lips with her own, the flicker of his tongue with hers. His hand wound around the back of her neck, fingers stroking her hair as she pressed a hand to his body. It was still different to see him without his leathers. The siphons had gone clear in their armour, discarded in a neat pile on the floor. Nesta ran a hand over his chest where one usually lay then felt the beating of his heart beneath her fingers.

Her hand slunk lower with every wave of their kiss that she rode, each one bringing more boldness to her touch. When her fingers grazed the waistband of his bottoms, Azriel’s breath hitched. For a moment, they stopped kissing, lips only a hair’s breadth from each other as Azriel managed himself.

Over his trousers, she felt his hardened length. Nesta had seen a male naked before. Father had a book in the library on anatomy and she and Elain had giggled at the drawings of naked men beneath the table until they were red in the face as children. But she hadn’t touched a man. Hadn’t known it would be so hard – or so large. A momentary panic rocked her as she wondered if her body was capable of taking such a length. It was akin to being impaled. Her mother had told her that women must endure to make a child.

‘Nesta,’ Azriel murmured.

She had frozen, palm still pressing to his length.

‘You don’t need to do anything – anything like that.’

‘I want to,’ she offered in a soft protest. ‘I just don’t know what I am supposed to do.’

The admission did not embarrass her. She shouldn’t have been touching a male at all unless she was married – and Nesta could not imagine these sort of things took place in a marriage.

‘Can I help you?’

Nesta nodded, unwilling to meet his burning gaze, or she’d lose her mettle.

Azriel removed his trousers and Nesta looked away quickly. His hand clasped her own, dwarfing it, then moved it to his length. She hadn’t expected the skin to be so soft or for it to slide back in her grip.

‘It doesn’t hurt?’ she whispered.

He led her through the motions of what felt good for him – a slight twist of her wrist at the bottom of the shaft, an occasional rub of her thumb against the sensitive head, and a slow rhythm of pumping him. Azriel let her explore once she had found her courage. He lay back against the pillows with his wings spread behind him as Nesta touched and teased him. Each motion was a new way to evoke a slight moan from him, or a sigh, or a twitch of his wings.

Then, when he seemed impossibly hard, Azriel took her hand again, moving it quicker this time as he sought release. She watched his seed shoot from him, the speed faster than she expected, and it left ribbons on his stomach and chest. Nesta gazed at him, at the sprawl of tattoos on his beautiful body, the way his chest fluttered to catch his breath, and the reverent look he gave her in return.

Once he was cleaned, they nestled together in the bed to chase away the cold from the Winter Court’s night. Azriel needed to sleep. Nesta wouldn’t. Her mind was alight. It had been as much fun for her as it was for him. A curiosity had been opened that Nesta was desperate to explore. One of Tomas Mandray’s friends had made a crass remark once about a village girl using her mouth on him and Nesta found it repulsive to suggest a thing – now, she wondered if it was a possibility. Is that what lovers did – use their mouths on each other? How would Azriel react if she did? Would he use his mouth on her? And fingers. He had touched her in Illyria but could he use them inside of her too?

‘Sleep,’ murmured Azriel, already succumbing to his own fatigue.  

An impossible task, she thought glumly, when her mind was occupied with such salacious thoughts.

(I usually use the word cock but it didn't feel right for prim virgin nesta to be using that so length it is)

[laugtherhyena]

Out of curiosity, Are you able to talk about all the characters in Danganronpa Another and what you do and don't like about them?

And out of curiosity, what is your opinion on the creator?

Be ready for a lot of rambling anon because you just opened the floodgates here.

Ok so first and foremost, I don't really feel much towards Linuj himself? That's sorta of a me thing where i tend to not care much about the creators of stuff i like so you'll never see me go like "wow i love this person they're fucking awesome" or "Goddamn that guy sucks" (unless said creator has done something genuinely awful, in that case obviously I'd dislike them) at most you see me go "that's wild" or complain about writing decisions and that's about it, none of that makes me inclined towards liking or disliking Linuj as a person. Tho as much as i rant about his games i gotta give credit where credit is due, the dude manages to make two whole games prey much all by himself and I respect that honestly.

Onto the opinions on the charcters, I'll just be doing the Dra folks because it's been years since i last went through Sdra2 and since I don't like that game nearly as much as a the first one i feel like whatever I've got to say about the characters would be really shallow in comparison to the first game's cast and that's like,, not fair? In my head?So yeah, sorry Sdra2 fans, maybe some other time.

Kiyoka Maki

Kiyoka is a character i genuinely love a lot because she feels like the most perfect execution of a first victim character in a Danganronpa type game, so much so that i am genuinely appalled that Linuj just randomly decided to pick her as the first victim like, what?? She fits that role so perfect that it genuinely feels as if she was created with the idea of being the first victim in mind rather than creating the character and only assigning the role later, from her personality, to character traits and even down to her design, everything works so well together that it's insane for me to think that he created the pinnacle of first victim characters pretty much accidentally.

Regardless, the way she was written and inserted into the story never fails to amaze me but i already went into more details about that here so go check that out cuz now i wanna take this time to talk about her as a standalone character instead of just her role in the story.

Because really, Kiyoka is such a funny character! She's just this silly girl that wants to chill out and hang out with her besties but she could also shoot you square in the face from several feet away. That immense discrepancy between her talent and personality is something i always found absolutely hilarious, tho if there's one thing i dislike about her is that i wish Linuj would have explained how she got into spining in the first place? Since it's such an out there talent that Kiyoka herself doesn't even like that I can't help but wonder how that happened. Not in a "the character NEEDED this" way, I'm just genuinely curious and I'd love to know how she got herself into that pickle.

Her interaction with everyone else in the cast are delight too, i love thinking about her and the sunshine trio going around and getting into stupid shenanigans and i think Linuj did a fantastic job writtring her and Ryutaro's relationship, it's a very realistic portrayal of sibling relationship which makes me really sad whenever i think back to ch6.5 and how Ryutaro will never be able to apologize to his sister. Fun fact! The ending segment of that chapter where we see him at Kiyoka's grave was the first time I've ever cried over anything that happened in these games.

Mitsuhiro Higa

Higa is in this weird spot where I don't dislike him but I don't like like him either, it's this limbo area where I'm way too indifferent to actively dislike him so he just exists there and I don't think about him like ever and that's pretty much it.

Seriously, it's hard for me to even think about way to say in terms of likes and dislikes when it comes to him because i just. Don't think about Higa-

One thing that sorta bothers me about him is how Linuj tried to make him a bit "heroic" in that one flashbacks sequence we see in Ch6 that shows how the class was captured. It's just comes out of nowhere and it's so jarring considering not even his FTEs try to paint Higa in a nicer light. It's also really weird to me how Kizuna, the other awful person in a similar vein as Higa, didn't got any of that treatment which is just,, off.

Kizuna Tomori

And speak of the devil! Kizuna Tomori my beloved, they could never make me hate you❤️

I actually got this question about Kizuna specifically a while ago, so go read that post so that I won have to repeat myself here.

Ayame Hatano

Do you guys know Dungeon meshi? Have you ever seen people talk about how they've improved their eating habits or are generally eating and cooking more often because of how much they like Senshi, whose main character traits revolve around proper nutrition and cooking? That's literally me but exercising frequently out of how much i love Ayame.

Honestly? I feel a little embarrassed getting to talk about my liking for her like this because this is a character that's only around for like 1/3 of the game at most? If you count flashbacks scenes and extra materials like the FTEs and the IF chapter. At the end of the day Ayame is by no means an incredibly complex character so I'm not here to ramble about how she's actually really a deep and intricately constructed character and you guys just don't see it because ultimately, she isn't.

The older i get the more i realize that this is the sort of character i tend to gravitate towards in any media i consume. Very rarely do i ever become this attached to characters who are super intricate and complex, let alone main characters, i feel like even simpler characters like Ayame who has pretty normal life in comparison to others from the cast and not a lot of crazy stuff going on in her backstory have things going for that the casual fan may not notice but are absolutely worth looking into.

And it's crazy because i like quite literally everything about Ayame from her character to her design, in fact, it was her design that initially brought my attention to her because Ayame's hair is one of my favorite hairstyles to see in any character design ever (specifically the little spiky parts on the side that stick up a little) so that immediately made me like this character a bit before i even knew anything about the game other than the death order and that it came before Sdra2. And for real, i think Ayame's design is really good, simple yet solid much like the character herself honestly.

While Ayame was always amongst one of my favorites characters from Dra, I was much more into Sdra2 back when i first got into the series so for a good while my liking for her wasn't as imense as it is nowadays, but it was definitely more than i liked any other character in the first game though i could never quite place my finger on why i liked her so damn much. It was only when i got back into the another series years later that i was hit with a wave of emotions as i remembered how much i adored this character and looking into her again with a better understanding of things made me finally piece together what made me love her so dearly. Spoiler alert, it went much beyond my dumb teenage self pointing at the phone screen and going like “she's just like me fr‼️” to the point that nowadays i really don't relate to Ayame as much as i used to back then, i guess a good term to describe her would be a comfort character of mine but that doesn't feel that right to me either? I think this level of attachment to a fictional character goes beyond that like she has a special place in my heart and I think by now I've rewatched Ch2 more than any other person in this fandom-

I think what i love the most about this character is the inherent contrast within her, one so prominent that it goes as far as blending into her sprites and expressions, she appears as a serious and maybe even a little intimidating person upon first impressions with Yuki and while those are indeed parts of her Ayame is also a caring girl with a huge heart she's just a little awkward.

She struggles quite often when it comes to communicating and socializing with her peers but i cannot stress enough just how much Ayame cares for her classmates even though she's not the best at showing that, and don't mean just Akane (though she's by far the person she was the closest to). In the Ch2 post trial we learn that Ayame had actually been affected pretty heavily by the first motive video the cast was given yet she kept it to herself which when taking into account how she wishes for the rest of the class to get along as she's leaving for her execution reads to me as Ayame genuinely caring for the others as well to the point she wanted them to see her as strong so that they could also remain strong amidst the despair, and if that isn't enough to show her care then just look at the fact that this girl went as far as reopening an old wound on her leg, one that brought her so much pain and despair in the past, as a means of apology to all of them in case she managed to win the class trial (+ i personally believe this was also a self inflicted punishment for killing Kizuna since Ayame is well aware that she could have tried to save her instead of leaving her to bleed out with a knife on her neck, but that's more on the interpretation side than in-game implications.)

And this is where the nuance of this character comes in because while Ayame is a good person at heart, and a courageous and determined one at that, she's not beyond being cruel and getting her hands dirty in order to protect those she loves, but amidst this desire there's also a heap of selfishness in her acts that Ayame herself admits in the post trial as being the reason why she didn't just admit she was the killer from the start. She killed to spare Akane's life from an unavoidable execution but at the same time she wasn't free from the urge to take that as a chance to leave hope's peak academy herself and that's just,, ough man i love when characters can be brutal yet kind, selfless and selfish at the same time and i think this conflicting aspect of hers is what truly makes this character special.

So much so that i feel like if you just look at chapter 2’s case purely from a “clean” perspective where Ayame wanted to save Akane and there's not much more to that then you're missing out on the most interesting aspect of both the trial and her character and if that's as deep as most viewers tend to interpret her actions then it's no wonder why she's commonly deemed not very memorable and tends to be reduced to her relationship with Akane.

Yes, what she did was noble and it truly showed just how much she cared for Akane when she was willing to give up her own life and dreams for the future if it meant sparing her from a terrible fate, but you can't just gloss over the fact that at the same time Ayame had the selfish desire to use that as an opportunity to escape, and most importantly in my opinion we shouldn't ignore the fact that this sacrifice came in the form or brutally murdering someone she had the opportunity to try saving. It's just as cruel as it is noble yet simultaneously intertwined with Ayame's own selfish desires and wow! This character makes me unwell❤️

So yeah, in conclusion i like Ayame a whole lot and i wish more people would acknowledge the fact that she's kinda of a little freak too.

Kakeru Yamaguchi

So Kakeru is a weird one, in concept i like him quite a bit! I love the gentle giant archetype and i think the idea of him switching into a more assertive and loud personality in trials is really cool, but much like Kakeru as a whole, that is pretty underutilized and results in a character that could have been so much better than what we actually got in game.

I get the feeling that Linuj didn't really know what to do with Kakeru, he had a handfuls of ideas but there was no proper execution for them and he so he was sorta just,, there for the ride. I think what bothers me the most is how dumb he is in the trials, sure, DR trials aren't at all similar to the real life ones he would have been used to going to due to his talent, but that doesn't excuse the fact that Kakeru is surprisingly dumb in both the trials he's in when he should at least be able to argue and bring more to the table than just be another one of the characters that goes "i don't get it" or says something blantantly wrong for Maeda to refute. + If he smarter than that then maybe he could have been one of the characters to oppose Tsurugi more directly, since he is a lawyer and Kinjo has his "all criminals are scum" mentality. It would have fit well in with the characters and storyline but because Kakeru is such a nothing burger that role ended up being passed to Kinji since he's one of the few smart characters in Dra.

Still, none of that makes me dislike him it's just a little disappointing and ultimately makes him one of the people I don't think about very often but he's still a pretty sweet dude who i think it's pretty silly and funny in his interaction with the others from the cast so yeah, he's neat :]

Kanata Inori

You know, Kanata wasn't a character i originally thought much about but the more i looked into her the more i started loving this character, simultaneously, i felt disapointed of how underutilized she was in the story, but I'll get into that later.

Kanata is just such a sweetheart and you can really feel how much she cares for everyone during her interactions with the cast during the storyline, she's also quite useful in the trials she was in seeing as she was able to perform autopsies and give Yuki information that he probably wouldn't have known otherwise which more often than not ends up being pretty decisive in figuring out who the culprit is. I also really enjoy her backstory and how Ando's kindness in working to save her life despite the borderline nonexistent chances of her making out alive inspired her in such a way that Kanata decided to pursue a medical career so she could bravely save people just like he saved her! They're one of the sweetest family relationships in this series in my opinion so much so i get so sad whenever i rewatch ch6.5 and get to the part where Ando talks about Kanata and how she's an amazing kid :(

Much like Kakeru, the one thing i dislike about this character is that she was ultimately underutilized in the story, but whereas Kakeru's came from the fact that his character is an unorganized mess of ideas, Kanata had things going for her, they just weren't shown through most of the time she was on screen for whatever reason. Seriously, why was she reduced to the emotional character who cries all the time? I get that she's very nice and cares a lot for her classmates but c'mon, she worked at a hospital she should be able to deal with the situation at least a little better instead of bawling her eyes out whenever something bad happened.

Kanata hit a yakuza member on the head in the middle of a gang fight so that she could treat him properly once, she can be fierce and assertive when the situation calls for it, so why did she never do that in the main story?? This is absolutely baffling to me because it genuinely does such a disservice to the character and can end up driving people away from learning more about, like if i wasn't writing for an AU where she was a major character during the time she was alive I don't think i would have looked deeper into this character and learned how incredible she is because the main story made me think of her as just "the emotional one who cries all the time".

I also feel like it was a missed opportunity to not have her being the one who died trying to save the other ch3 victim. Like c'mon, her backstory shows us how she can often put other's safety before her own, that would have fit so well.

Kinji Uehara

Just like Kakeru, he's also a character I don't think much about but that comes from personal preference rather than feeling as if he was underutilized in story. Kinji just isn't the kind of character i tend to pay much mind to and that's ok! I do think he's a pretty interesting character, with his deal with the orphanage and also being the traitor in the game, i also enjoy how he always made his opinions clear to everyone like when he left the group because he didn't agree with Tsurugi's way of going about things and how he stood up against him and called him out in his hypocrisy in the Ch3 post trial.

If there's one thing I don't like about Kinji's is how linuj structured his murder plan, his method are SO violent for a character who had a noble motive and wasn't just some kind of crazy serial killer. Kakeru's make sense, since he was trying to stop him as fast as he could but i just don't understand why he still went on to kill Kanata when he had already killed someone (which was all he needed to do according to his deal with Monokuma), we're never told that Kanata saw it was him who attacked her, so why did ge insist on killing her anyway? Just because he had the plan set already? A plan that was also uncharacteristically brutal for a guy like Kinji. Seriously, when i first spoiled myself of all deaths in this game i got to Ch3 and thought "oh so he's the token crazy serial killer character" and while i was happy that he wasn't that, it's jarring that he got so violent out of nowhere + his breakdown in trial also feels pretty out of character in my eyes.

Haruhiko Kobashikawa

See, Haru is a cool guy, him Satsuki and Teruya (for a good part of the game) are essentially DRA's comedic relief characters and I've always had a big soft spot for those in DR games, when my faves inevitably die really early it's there character's inclusion that keep me watching the rest of the game!.. And then they die and struggle to get myself to watch the final chapters because most of the remaining characters are people I don't care nearly as much for- (thank god Ch5 has Mikako and Teruya survived the whole game)

But the thing is, when it comes to Haru himself I don't actually have much to say about him? He reminds me a lot of Kiyoka in the sense that he's a pretty normal guy for his age with a really out there talent that he's crazy good at. I think where Haruhiko really shines is not in his actions during Ch4 (tho that was amazing too, i can totally see why this is so many people's favorite chapter/case in Dra), but in his interactions with the other character because pretty much every single one of them are just so endearing to watch, regardless he's just being a dumbass or getting into trouble, in fact! I quite enjoy how he's a little hot headed (not sure if that's the right term)? The dude stands his ground and is not afraid of getting into fights if something's bothering him a lot, tho his own shortcomings and paranoia can often get the best out of him and he'll be sorta of an asshole and makes him feel so real to me, like he's just some dumb teen bound to make mistakes in a dangerous situation like the killing game and i really like that.

If i had to think of one thing i dislike about him I'd say is how he was characterized in the Ch6 flashback segment, like, by that point him and Satsuki are a couple right? So why was he trying to hit on the random Kisaragi fundation worker? That's not necessary out of character for him, but it's really weird that he's doing that despite havinya girlfriend of her own (smh Haru, i expected better from you).

Satsuki Iranami

Satsuki isn't a character i talk about a lot but i like her a lot! Not only is she a genuinly funny character who i love seeing her interactions with pretty much anyone in the cast, but i find her relationship with her family and the way she goes about it really interesting. I think anyone who've seen Satsuki's FTEs can tell that her family is insanely abusive, creating an environment of making their kids compete and compare themselves to one another on who's the best clown and treating Satsuki like absolutely garbage since she's considered the worst of them. Hell, I'm pretty sure they only sent her to hope's peak so they could get rid of her since she was of age to attend which is just,, damn. This is a fucking awful place to grow up in.

Yet Satsuki herself isn't a sad person nor do we ever see her get really depressed and upset when talking about her family, at most she looks a little sad and, unfortunately, agrees with them that she's the worst of the clows while sticking to not crying or sulking about it, instead she goes on to keep being silly and joking around which has always striked me more as a coping mechanism instead of "Satsuki it's too stupid to realize how terrible her family situation is" because as goofy as she is i do get the feeling that she knows her situation is absolutely awful but doesn't know a great way to cope with it other than what she's already doing.

And this seeing this strange coping mechanism explains so much about the way she acts in the killing game, she keeps joking around even during trials or when faces with murder motives because she just wants to remain happy and tries to see if maybe doing so will lift up the spirits of her classmates as well. Not saying that this is by any means a healthy coping mechanism, like, no, Satsuki girl it's okay to cry and be upset over terrible things, be it her family situation or the killing game, but this is nevertheless the most fascinating aspect of this character to me.

And once you take that into accound, it makes perfect sense why she was choosen to be sorta the "hope beacon" of the cast in Ch4 because really, that's just what Satsuki's Been doing the whole game. Tho i do wish this aspect was given more of a spotlight even in Ch4 itself because on first watch (without going through her FTEs) it felt a little jarring to me how Satsuki "randomly" became really important, but i consider that more of a nippick in comparison to other things I've complained about here.

Yamato Kisaragi

Oh right, this guy! He exists in the same indifference limbo as Higa but only because I don't think about him that often (so much so i forget he exists sometimes) because whenever i do think about him he gets violently pushed onto the active dislike section. Which is really funny to me considering Yamato is the perfect and super cool genius guy of the first another game, and that's a big point on my lack of care for him. The game insists in telling us how awesome Yamato is, how all of his classmates like him and how much of a hero he was for try to save them both in the Ch6 flashback and in the IF chapter, and i think that's exactly what made me feel such insane annoyance/repulse towards this character to the point that I'll see him and just groan and roll my eyes.

He's a character the story actively wants us to like but he's just so bland and generic that this push just annoys me and i feel nothing towards him as a person, the fact that we barely see him be himself in the game doesn't help either since he died almost as soon as he's introduced and all we have are flashbacks, the other character's opinions/memories of the guy and his Ai version. And even when we do see Kisaragi be himself in the IF chapter, his role there is like,, textbook generic anime nice guy protag and i just feel?? Insane???

His bland ass is like a piece of wet cardboard to me that i see people point at and act like it's the coolest thing ever and i just look down at it in my hands and think, i don't get it. I don't see it.

And don't even get me started on how Linuj fucking side lined Mikako's role and character in favor of giving this guy the spotlight by having him come in as if he's the goddamn saving grace of the killing game and solve all the mysteries that were set and build up BY ANOTHER CHARACTER, because nooooooooooo we can't have Mikako do that, it has to be Kisaragi because he's THE. GUY. EVER. ISN'T HE JUST SO FUCKING AMAZING EVERYONE????????

This makes me. Genuinely so mad and since I'd rather not pop a vein while raging as i write this go look at this post if you wanted to see me ramble a little more on this part.

Wow, after this it's tricky for me to even think of a positive to say, uhm.. I guess his relationship with Mikako is nice? I do like how it genuinely seems like they care a lot for one another tho sometimes this care can come off the wrong way and lead to arguments between the two, like how Yamato was avoiding and being rude to Mikako during that flashback sequence i keep mentioning over and over even tho she could tell there was something wrong with him and just wanted to help. They're sweet and tragic when thinking about how they met their ends but I can't feel much on that regard seeing how many,, feelings. I have towards Yamato.

Mikako Kurokawa

You know i feel like we as a fandom don't talk enough about the horror that Mikako goes through during the killing game. She never lost her memories, she remembers these people being friends and having strong bonds with other another and she's just forced to sit there and watch as they forget everything and murder each other without knowing of what she knows, and if Mikako does as much as try to say a few words regarding what she knows her head already starts splitting into two and she'll have headaches so bad they'll make her pass out and puke blood. And that's without counting the fact that she's left completely in the dark about her brother's whereabouts through most of the game and when she does reunite with him is in the worst way possible because Yamato’s mental state is even worse than hers and he dies not long after with her being blamed for his murder. She had the worst time ever in that game and i feel like it really isn't an understatement to say she suffered through the whole thing.

And that's where Mikako's spirit really shines because despite all the pain she went through, both physical and mental, she always held onto hope and wanted to help her friends even if her options were incredibly limited. She cared for each and every single one of them to the point she even wanted to try and save Yuki and Akane even though she knew they were the masterminds because she thought that with their memories erased they could embrace hope as well and come out of that as better people, and in her very last moments she still wished to help the remaining characters and kept talking even though she knew it would kill her. That's such an insane level of courage and determination from her part that it never fails to impress me.

She's such an insane character I can't help but feel like we were robbed when she died, especially when it happened before she could unravel all the mysteries Mikako had help build up through the entirety of the game and instead we get her amazing and so cool brother doing that and getting all the spotlight instead of Mikako herself.. How nice.

But i think what bothers me the most about her death is that it was so?? Unnecessary?? Like, what did it do for her character arc? It feels like she died more because Linuj wanted her to die than because it felt fitting for the character’s journey to end where it did, and you can't tell me it wouldn't have been awesome to see her in Sdra2 and how she'd react learning that her shitty mother was one of the reason why that second killing game happened in the first place.

I explained my thoughts on Mikako's death in a nicer manner in this other post so please go check that out because I will never not be upset over her death in this game, especially when her execution ends in a way that she would have survived if she wasn't already dead by the time started.. that just felt like an unnecessary fuck you from Linuj’s part-

Akane Taira

Another character I've rambled about in the past and so don't feel like reiterating it all here (this post is getting REALLY long), so yeah, check it out but tldr, I think Akane is a really cool character and i think writing her so frequently in -2+2 has made me not only get a better understanding of her character but also like her a lot more too!

Yuki Maeda

As y'all know, Dra Yuki>>>>>>>>Sdra2 Yuki always and forever in my heart ❤️

Seriously, for someone who tends to really not give a fuck about the protagonists in DR games it genuinely surprised me how much i grew to enjoy Dra Yuki after i went through the game's full translation and realized “Woah! He isn't the same universal punching back as the Sdra2 one!” Because prior to that i was under the impression that both Yuki acted and were treated the exact same by the game's storyline and as you can probably tell I don't like Sdra2 Yuki all that much.

Dra Yuki differs because not only does the game not try to force the horrors upon him constantly but he feels very human in his actions, he's just some guy not the embodiment of good or a hope hype man so he's bound to get a little sick of this shit sometimes and make mistakes. We see this during Ch4 in his argument with Akane and also in Ch2 where he decides to break the groups trust by reading the secret note anyway which later comes back to bite him when the cast finds out, and this really stood out to me and made him instantly more interesting than other protags in my eyes, although I'm pretty sure this nuance of his character was done as a way to foreshadow his reveal as Utsuro/The mastermind.

Either ways, it ended up creating one of my favorite protags of any DR type game + i do really like the twist of the protagonists being the mastermind at the end of the day, it was something super unique by the time Dra first came out and it's still something i haven't seen be done in any other fangan (tho to be fair I don't look much into those anymore nowadays-)

It's hard for me to pick something i dislike about him since he's overall just a neat guy in my eyes but if i had to pull something I'd say he constantly taking Tsurugi's side feels kinda annoying at times? Sometimes it feels like he just glosses over some of the nasty stuff Kinjo says, like when he questioned why the group for kicking out Kinjo in Ch3 as if he hadn't just told Akane to kill herself right after she saw her best friend be grinded into minced meat. Like okay buddy i get that you see good in Kinjo and you wanna help him, but he really deserves to get a good slap in the face sometimes and the others are rightfully mad at him.

Utsuro

Not much to say here honestly, i feel like i like the idea of Utsuro and what he brings to the table in terms of world building, how his presence and powers affect the others around him and even the story itself. The idea of someone with insane luck powers he can't control that made his life miserable since he could achive literally anything with no effort and everyone he met only wanted to exploit said powers which led to him falling into the despair ideology since by that point it was the one thing that made him feel something it's just so,, wow man, thats some crazy angst and such an unique way to explore the borderline magical luck that exist in the DR franchise.

I love thinking about him in that vein but as a character?.. Erh, i really don't care nor think much about Utsuro at all. Which in a way, i suppose isn't all that different from how the world saw him in universe? How ironic.

Teruya Otori

By far my favorite out of the survious though I'm not sure how to explain why i like Teruya so much? I feel like part of it comes from the soft spot for comedic relief characters i talked about earlier and the rest from the way he was written in the story.

It's crazy because i feel like Teruya's writing in itself really highlights the changes in the way Linuj viewed and went about characters by the time he started working on Sdra2, i feel like if Teruya was a character that originated from that game he would be portrayed as a bad person who you shouldn't sympathize for even though he has his reasonings for acting the way he does sometimes, sorta like how Linuj tends to punish Hibiki even tho she was the bigger victim at the end of the way.

Just like Haruhiko he feels very real to me and his character arc through Dra has gotta be one of my favorites. Teruya is not a bad person, he's a good kid at heart but the severity of the situation they're in and the stuff that gets forced upon him gets to him a lot which leads to Teruya lashing out at his friends and doing some pretty bad things here and there, yet he's never portrayed as an awful person that shouldn't be forgiven or shit and he does change for the better at the end of the day. He went through a lot and came out bigger and stronger on the other side and is a shame this kind of character arc isn't properly used in Sdra2 since Linuj's mentality became so black and white out of nowhere.

I love this little guy, I'm so glad he survived the killing game though unfortunately the same can't be said for the second one but honestly? Teruya's entire role in that story was such a mess, and sometimes even a detriment to his character in my opinion, that nowadays I can't even feel that sad over his death anymore. While there are a handful of things that bother me a lot about it, like the amnesia plot just because Linuj seems to hate actually building up to things in that game and his entire role in ch4 (seriously. What was that. Why.), i think what i dislike the most is the fact that he ended up being permadead while Rei escaped the killing game fine.

I know Linuj actually gave a good explanation to why it happened (unlike Mikako's barely explained sudden brain explosion), but still, it feels like such a mean thing to do to someone who's been through so much and still tried his hardest while being in a dangerous and unpredictable situation. My guy was done dirty in that game.

Rei Mekaru and Tsurugi Kinjo

Grouping these two together because i feel like my opinions on both of them are not only pretty much the same but they also stem from the same place, so yeah-

Don't get me wrong, these two are very interesting characters and I'd argue they're one of the more complex ones in the cast as well, not only because they make it through both games but also because of their own personal backgrounds and how that shaky upbringing affected the kind of person they became as they grew older. With Tsurugi living under his father's black and white ideologies of criminals being deserving of death no matter what and falling deeper and deeper into that the more friends he loses during his life and Rei being abandoned (albeit unintentionally?) by her parents at an young age which led to her working hard to get where she's at now which not only made her quite used to being on her own but also loathe those who "take the easy" way and want all awnsers handed to them on a silver platter, which explains why she's so rude to the rest of the cast since she wants them to figure out stuff on their own too.

There's a lot to look into these characters and it makes sense why so many people like them a lot, I'm however not the biggest fan of this type of character (tho i feel like that lies more in their personality than anything else?) so i never looked much into them before i started writing DRA -2+2 and decided to look into everyone in the cast to get a better grip on their characters. And man, writing these two really did give me a newfound appreciation and love for them! They're such fun characters to write and have interacting with the rest of the cast. Tho i wouldn't by any means say i have a proper understanding of them, i feel like that's a bit out of my league still.

If there's one thing I'm not a big fan if is that i wish we would have seen more of those two in Sdra2 instead of them just having a major role in Ch6, AKA; the messiest chapter in this entire series. Like, would it have hurt that badly to not have the Void theather segments and instead cut to small scenes at the Kisaragi foundation showing what the characters are doing and how they're reacting and planing to go about interfering with Mikado's killing game? I feel like that would have been so much more interesting than watching Emma bother Hajime with bad puns while Nikei and Iroha continue being the same assholes they've always been + it would have made Tsurugi's backwards development less of a shock to see whenever Ch6 actually rolls around.

Anyways, to wrap up this massive post here's what i hope will be the definitive Carol Dra cast tierlist

[randobisexual]

Aight, let's do this beyotch

My headcannons on Juri Han!

•so first off, Juri would definitely beat your ass at times

• this woman one, loves fighting a whole lot, and two, is a sadistic fuck. Of course she'd love to see you in a beaten pulp due to her own two hands er- feet.

•of course, she does have her moments where she is somewhat kinder to you. By that I mean that she'll give you an ice pack for your bruises, before leaving to fight someone or something.

•do not be mistaken, Juri will have no mercy on your sorry ass in fights. She does this for two reasons. One, she wants to see you be in pain caused by none other than herself, or she would want to make sure that you can atleast somewhat defend yourself if you were in danger, but mostly the former reason.

•she would absolutely love to see you begging and groveling on your knees for her. Infact, she loves it so much, in order to get her to do most normal things for you, like having her give you a water bottle that was right next to her, you would have to beg on your hands and knees for her, while she probably (definitely) steps on you. It's actually one of her kinks.

•as for dates. She will either take you for a long ride on her bike around the city, or she will hook you into some vandalism or something along those lines.

•she will make you get a tattoo on your chest or back (possibly both) stating "property of Juri Han" or something along those lines. And she will definitely at least make you wear a purple and black collar on your neck almost all the time, since it gives her an ego boost.

•when Juri is bored, she will mess with you. Either by teasing you by asking you if you want her to crush your head with her thighs, or by simply spamming your phone with messages, or by using your credit card to get something for herself.

• YOU ARE JURI'S BITCH

•she will always try her best to be in control. You can never give juri any orders, if she ever does anything for you, it's cuz she either wants you to return the favor, or because you groveled and begged for her to do it. If you are to try ordering juri to do something, you will have your ass handed to you.

•she is also very protective of you. She is the only person allowed to hurt you, or make you cry. If someone were to even attempt to try and do that to her, well... they might as well have signed their own death certificate.

•be prepared to move a lot. She is a wanted criminal, and is always on the run, so you can't really settle down in a house with juri, unless you wanna max out the security systems so when the police eventually come knocking on your door, the alarm will give you and juri a chance to escape.

•you manage to be fine with all of that, and congratulations, you will get yourself a Juri Han as a lover

[kieraspsychonautssideblog]

Why Hollis Forsythe is a Deeper Character Than You Realize

So ya'll seem to like my essay on why Loboto's Labyrinth is a good tutorial level for Psychonauts 2. I've wanted to write an essay on the rest of the cast as well, so I decided to start with the second character we head into the mind of: Hollis Forsythe.

We are first introduced to Hollis when she comes to greet the cast after they land at the Motherlobe. I have played this game with my friends and my step-dad, and both parties initially believed Hollis was the mole due to her saying she didn't hear the crew's call for help and her initial dismissal at the idea of a mole being in the Psychonauts.

She is shown to be strict, serious, and maybe has a bit of an ego due to her preference for "Second Head" instead of Lesser Head, and with how she conducts herself after the casino mission. She isn't exactly soft towards interns, particularly Raz, and she can easily be seen as intimidating.

I do think it's rather odd that she would put a psychic intern under the mentorship of a non-psychic employee, but think of the situation she has been put in.

Truman is out of commission, and she has to keep the whole place running, and a mole is possibly running around about to bring back the biggest threat to the Psychonauts ever, their budget is getting tight, and a new intern has plopped into her lap.

I am choosing to believe that Hollis put Raz under the mentorship of Nick Johnsmith as a temporary thing, and would have given him a proper mentor afterward (given that none of the interns are mentoring under Sasha, I believe that Hollis would have given Raz to Sasha if things went differently.)

However, after she gives your mentor, you can ask her about her diploma, and she mentions being an intern at the Neurological Hospital for one year before joining the Psychonauts.

We learn in Hollis's mind that the reason she left was because while she was interning there, she came up with a new method that could save lives, but Dr. Potts had stolen her work and claimed all the credit. Appallled at this, Hollis used Mental Connection to try and mess with Dr. Potts, but ended up breaking him and they had to call in the Psychonauts to help. Truman gave her the position after this.

It is interesting that this hospital internship seems to be so central to Hollis as a character given that it was only for one year. However, it does seem to have affected her character greatly. She is immensely worried about the safety of the children she mentors, after all, and there are several figments of people being hurt or being cared for in both of her minds. Hollis's Classroom, while important to establish Hollis, is not where Hollis's character shines.

That will have to be Hollis's Hot Streak.

In Hollis's Hot Streak, we go through the Pharmacy, the Maternity Ward, and Cardiology to get three gazillion dollars to enter the High Rollers lounge and fight the Lady Luctopus. In each of these areas, we get a good insight into Hollis's thought process.

Side note: the fact that the hub area is a six-sided DIE in the MORGUE...

This game and its pun.

Anyway, in the Maternity Ward, we see that Hollis actually has a very cynical view of babies and those who want them. Most obvious is the rich couple who only want a baby for their own gain. The fact that there's some emotional baggage only accessible through dark thoughts is also something to think about. In this area, when we go to the backroom, we hear Hollis say "Well, of course, the whole system is rigged! But I mean, I'm just one person! What could I do about it?" which reads very heavily like learned helplessness almost. Given that, if you go talk to Hollis in the Motherlobe after your family arrives, she mentions that "all families are terrible", it does imply Hollis might not have a good relationship with her family.

In the Pharmacy, the entire point is to fix the Pillinko Machine so you can win. With Hollis's heart in the wrong place, it's up to us to try and make better connections in order to get to the backrooms. When we're there, Hollis says "Swallowing your feelings sounds bad, but really, who wants to hear about those ugly things anyway?" She's clearly had to repress these emotions for a while.

In Cardiology, you bet on suits of cards in race. However, Hearts has a broken leg. Although Hearts is told to stay off the leg by their doctor, their doctor is also their boss, and if they miss another race, they'll be fired. They are being exploited. Makes me wonder if that's how Hollis felt when Dr. Potts stole her work. In the backrooms, Hollis says "Different race, same runner. I can do this on my own, I don't need anybody's help, I CAN'T need anybody's help." Hollis clearly feels overworked and stressed about the situation but feels as though she cannot ask for help from those around her.

There's still a lot about Hollis's mind that interests me. The mental barriers you have to shoot through blocking your way, the religious imagery that's also in her mind, etc. But overall, I think Hollis is a much deeper character than we're lead to believe, as she doesn't get to do much after the Casino mission. But still, Hollis is really interesting to analyze.

EDIT: I AM COMPLETELY DUMB AND FORGOT TO MENTION: The fact that Hollis associates being a doctor with gambling is also really interesting. Yes this is because of Raz's actions, but the several ways she associates the two is fascinating. You have to wonder how many patients Hollis might have seen die in her time as an intern.

[hypergamiss]

In your opinion, why do you think men choose unattractive and mean women to be their wives? I know a woman who is over 300lbs and has a horrible attitude, but her husband makes great money and he thinks she's the hottest thing around. Just imagine a very large woman, with a potty mouth, badly done tattoos and a septum piercing. They got married very young, but before him she had plenty of men interested in her. I don't get it.

I knew her briefly and quickly grew tired of being around her because she's not very nice and we just didn't have much in common. The only reason I kept her around for as long as I did, was because the business she had, gave her access to all the elites in our city--she had the best gossip. I learned about the weak spots for a lot of the upper class families, through her. But I got tired of her because every conversation, she had to remind me that she didn't have to work and that she only created her business because she got tired of being in the house all day. She's even aware of the way she comes across because she labels herself as an "asshole". She expressed that she doesn't get along with most women because she's "not interested in the things most women are interested in--like shopping." Her hobbies are smoking weed and nothing else. In other words, she's trashy lol.

Meanwhile, I'm attractive, sweet, funny, educated and have never been in a relationship. I just don't understand men at all. Women who I would think would be considered undesirable and gross by men, have great options. Men say they want a woman who's nice, attractive, and not lazy and then choose the exact opposite. I'm just confused.

She's just confident. Even if it's a "bad" type of confident, she clearly doesn't ever doubt herself and knows that she can get what she wants. I've said this before, most women think you need to be a 10/10 to be with a man that would give you the world. Literally any woman can get treated right if she plays her cards right. Yes, attractive women will always have the upper hand, but that doesn't mean the less attractive ones can't get the same outcome. If a man had to choose between me and Gigi Hadid, Gigi is winning. But no big deal, there is another man who isn't even on Gigi's radar that can give me everything I want. Think of all of the celebrities or well off women who are not attractive at all but clearly have everything they want in a partner. They didn't get it by having low self esteem and complaining about their circumstances. They decided to fully grasp the concept that women hold so much power. They have the same lady parts as the attractive women and the ability to strengthen their game in other ways that are not superficial.

She knows how to seduce.

She knows how to keep a man on his toes and keep him constantly chasing her, always trying to win her over.

She knows how to keep her boundaries and restrict access to herself when she doesn't get what she wants.

She knows how to reward her man when he does well by her.

She is selfish with her time, she doesn't lose sight of her goals and ambitions.

She puts herself first overall.

Notice how none of this has to do with looks. Looks at this point are just a cherry on top if you know how to make a man crazy about you. I'm not trying to say that she's a good person, but it's fair to give credit where it's due. She values herself and doesn't accept anything remotely close to being below her standards, even if she doesn't meet those herself. You can be a good person and still know how to play your cards right, or else I would just stay single forever because my moral compass wouldn't allow it.

Comparison is the thief of joy. Instead of wondering how she got so "lucky," study her with a grain of salt and learn how to do the same or better.

[komotionlessqueenmm]

Imagine # 1,042

Gif NOT mine.

If this gif is yours (or you know who's it is) please let me, so I can give you/them credit.

Gif credit goes to - @meph1stophel3s (Unless told otherwise.)

Year posted - 2023

⚠️Warning(s) - Little spicy at one point, you'll see.

*I made up a random name for the book in this story, but odds are there's actually is a book by that title, because to me it sounds so generic so someone is bound to have used it. Just roll with it.

(Y/h/c) = Your hair color

The sound of the tiny electric car approaching rapidly should have been warning enough. But (Y/n) found her nose deep in her latest book, one she'd gone as far as to create a elusive cover for with washi tape. Due to her embarrassment of her latest taste in literature, and considering why she was so enthralled with such stories since she began working nights at the museum. Should she have saved these stories for when she was home, nestled in the comfort of her favorite reading chair, and surrounded with privacy? Yes, she probably should have. But that was easier said than done, considering just how perfect this particular book had been so far.

'He trailed kisses along her pulse point, taking his sweet time as he drank her in. His dexterous leather clad fingers inched slowly from the back of her neck, trailing down her clavicle, to the swell of her breast, where he gave a playful almost needy squeeze. As his nose gently nudged the underside of her jaw, tilting her head back further, and his fingers continued their journey. Fire was left in their wake across her bare skin, and making her ache in ways she never knew was possible. His hand grasped firmly on her hip, as he nudged her legs apart with his knee, whispering sweet nothing's as he began kissing down the valley of her breast. "What a sight you are darlin'." His voice drawled deliciously as he peered at her untouched flower. "Sweet I'll bet." He hummed as he inched his face closer and closer to where she needed him most. "Oh~." She breathed out a soft moan as his tongue-'

"Evenin' darlin'!" Jedediah called out as he and Octavius existed their hotrod. In an instant (Y/n) snapped her book closed with a very audible thump. Then, without thought, she shoved the book underneath her right thigh, as a precaution that no one would learn of what she was reading. Her cheeks flushed as she looked down to the cowboy and centurion, their confession evident on their faces as they peered up at her questioningly. "H-hi guys." She stumbled over her words, clearing her throat immediately afterwards in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "Good evening (Y/n)." Octavius called out to her, attempting to move on from the odd encounter. Jedediah on the other hand, was having none of it.

"Watcha readin' there darlin'?" He asked as he tried to peer at the book only just barely poking out from under her thigh, frowning a little when he realized he could only see the edges of the page and no title. "Oh! Uh n-nothing just a u-um." She trailed off trying to think of a quick lie. "Horror story!" She suddenly belted out, chuckling nervously as she wiped her sweaty palms against her pants, hoping her lie was convincing. "Is that why yer so jumpy?" Jed asked with a tilt of his head, while Octavius looked at him confused, clearly having seen right through her lie. (Y/n)'s eyes darted around for a moment, unable to look at Jed without blushing all over again. "Yes yes exactly, it's very..." She trailed off, subconsciously thinking back on the words she'd just been reading moments ago. "Scary." She concluded in a soft tone, before shaking those thoughts away.

"Perhaps we could read it some time." Octavius suggested, knowing damn well she was lying, and attempting to get her to admit it. "O-oh no n-no it's um... It's not my bo-book I'm afraid!" She cursed herself internally for still being so flustered. "Maybe you could read it to us then." Octavius pushed, a cheeky grin on his face when he noticed just how deep her blush became. "No I uh don't read aloud to well, an-and I don't really have a good reading voice." (Y/n) cleared her throat once more, squirming a little out of nervousness. "Are ya crazy? Your reading voice is real sweet I'll bet." Jed tried to encourage her, unknowingly making her thighs clench at the words 'sweet I'll bet'. But Octavius noticed, and suddenly realized exactly the kind of book she was reading.

"Ah well perhaps another time." Octavius suddenly stated before pulling Jedediah back by his vest, confusing the cowboy as he waved goodbye as he spoke again. "We'll leave you to your story then." He stated before all but shoving Jedediah to the car. "See ya later darlin'!" Jed called out, complying to Octavius' silent demand to get in the car. (Y/n) waved goodbye despite averting her eyes to the rather "interesting" part of chipped tile on the floor. "What was that for? I wanted to-" Octavius cut Jedediah off by simply holding his hand up. "My friend." He started before casting his gaze to (Y/n), who could be seen inching her fingers towards her book. "(Y/n) is reading a scandalous book." He stated as Jed followed his line of sight.

"What do ya mean scandalous?" Jed questioned as Octavius began driving away. "I mean a romance novel that takes a rather lewd turn." Octavius tried explaining without actually saying it, but Jedediah understood this time. "Oh... Oh!" He muttered under his breath before frowning. "How would you know?" He quickly questioned, making Octavius sputter a bit. "This-this isn't about me!" Octavius quickly defended himself, turning Jedediahs attention back to the matter at hand. "Didn't you see the way she was acting? She couldn't handle looking at you without blushing!" The Roman pointed out, his words effectively directing Jedediahs attention elsewhere. "Well... So what?" Jed concluded with indifferent confusion.

"Well that means she's probably reading that story with you on her mind!" Octavius pointed out, as if it was obvious. "No." Jed denied the notion, making Octavius groan as he slammed on the breaks, jostling Jedediah in the process. "Hey what are ya doin'!?" Jed hissed as he readjusted his hat, which had become lopsided. "That means she likes you, you idiot." Octavius pointed out as if it were obvious, which admittedly it was pretty obvious. "Yer crazy." The cowboy shook his head, a faint blush dusting his cheeks at the notion. "Fine if you don't believe me, I'll just have to prove it to you." Octavius decided before making speeding off, needing some reinforcement in order to do what needed to be done.

----

They watched and waited for the precise moment before enacting Octavius' plan. The moment coming when (Y/n) began her rounds to ensure all the doors that needed to be locked were still locked. "Now!" Octavius exclaimed as if they were charging into battle, him and his men along with Jedediah rushed as quickly as they could to cross the room. Then they climbed up to the bench where (Y/n) had left her book lay, right beside her bag of assorted trinkets she would toil with to occupy her mind. Luckily she left it with the spine away from her bag, making it possible for Octavius' men to heave the large cover open. It took a few minutes, and much encouragement from Octavius, before the solid cover of the book swung open and fell with a loud bang. Well... Loud for them.

Octavius and Jedediah climbed up the thick book, walking across it to read the title. "A Cowboys Lust." Jed read aloud, a blush creeping up his neck. He couldn't look at Octavius, so his eyes cast to his feet, where he realized they stood on a large image. And image of a blond cowboy, holding a woman with (Y/h/c) hair firmly against his body as he kissed her throat, her body scarcely covered by a thin sheet as he held her in his lap on horseback. Octavius had been observing the image as well when he realized what Jed was looking at, a smirk spreading across his face as he noted the similarities between the characters in the book and (Y/n) and Jedediah. "I told you so." Octavius stated as he placed his hands on his hips. "Shut up." Jed quickly shot back, sulking away, much to Octavius' confusion.

"Well what's wrong now?" Octavius questioned as he and Jed hopped down from the book, silently signaling for his men to close the book so as to not raise suspicion. "What's wrong?" Jed chuckled bitterly. "What's wrong is I'm not even a fraction of her size! I couldn't... We could never... I can't even hold her hand!" Jed exclaimed dramatically, making Octavius hum in acknowledgement. "That does pose a problem." The Roman mused aloud, making Jed scoff. "Ya think?" The cowboy retorted sarcastically. "Well... Maybe Ahkmenrah can do something about that with his tablet? We've never asked him before." Octavius offered as they stood a good ways away from his men, near the edge of the bench. Jedediah sighed sadly before descending down their makeshift ladder, unable to allow himself to feel any semblance of hope that they could do something about it.

Octavius wasn't about to let it go like Jedediah had, he knew all to well how much his dear friend cared for (Y/n), and he always was a sucker for romance. For two nights Octavius and Ahkmenrah worked in secret, to figure out a way to temporarily change Jedediahs height. And when Jedediah finally found out what they were up to, Ahkmenrah was confident he'd finally figured it out. "Now hold on." Jedediah started, hating the flicker of hope that bloomed in his heart. "Ya can't just-" He tried to argue, but Octavius had cut him off. "You'll thank us for it." The centurion stated before waving an encouraging hand to Ahkmenrah, who with a nod of his head began pressing the appropriate buttons.

The tablet glowed a brilliant bright gold, making all three men's eyes widen in anticipation. But nothing happened. The glowing dimmed and snuffed out as quickly as it had came, leaving Ahkmenrah and Octavius confused, while Jed tried to swallow the knot in his throat brought on by disappointment. "I don't understand, it should have-" Ahkmenrah was suddenly cut off by the sound of (Y/n) screaming from down the hallway. Ahkmenrah quickly snatched up Octavius and Jedediah before dashing out into the hall to see what had happened. But as they locked eyes on (Y/n), they saw that she was shrouded in that same brilliant golden glow that the Tablet of Ahkmenrah had just been bathed in, the sight making Ahkmenrah freeze in his tracks. "(Y/n)!" Jedediah called out to her.

"What's happening?" (Y/n) called out as she locked eyes with the Egyptian Pharaoh. But before he even had a chance to utter a word, (Y/n) suddenly glew so bright they had to look away. And when they looked back, she was gone. "(Y/n)!" They all shouted in unison, panic bubbling within each of them, that is until movement caught their attention. There she was! In the exact same place she had been, only now she stood at about an inch tall. "Put me down!" Jedediah hollered, and Ahkmenrah complied, setting him and Octavius down gently after he crossed the majority of the distance between them and (Y/n). Which was only about 12 feet, but he knew to them it would have felt like miles.

"Jed." (Y/n) called to him with confusion etched onto her face, the wind being knocked from her lungs when he suddenly embraced her in a bone crushing hug, his hat having flown off from the impact. "Jed." She wheezed quietly, making him loosen his grip in an instant. "Sorry!" He blushed in embarrassment, keeping ahold of her shoulder when he pulled back from the hug. "What's going on?" She questioned as she looked around, realizing quickly that she'd somehow been shrunk. "That would be my fault." Ahkmenrah chimed in, smiling sheepishly. "Mine as well." Octavius cut in. "But we were trying to make Jedediah grow!" The Roman quickly added. "I'm not sure what happened." Ahkmenrah mused as he looked to his tablet. "It shouldn't be permanent though." He added as he looked back to (Y/n).

"Shouldn't?" She breathed out fearfully. "I'm sure it will be fine." The Pharaoh reassured her, again smiling sheepishly. "Why exactly where you trying to make Jed grow in the first place?" (Y/n) asked as she looked to Octavius, her gaze turning back to Jedediah when he released her shoulders, to instead hold her hand between both of his. "Well darlin'... It's because I've been wanting to ask ya out on a date." Jed explained anxiously, his piercing eyes gazing longingly into her own. "You?... You do?" She asked in honest surprise, not realizing that Ahkmenrah and Octavius were slowly leaving to give the pair privacy. "Course I do. Do ya have any idea how incredible ya are?" Jed mused with a large smile, using his right hand to turn her head to look at him, when she bashfully looked away.

"I'm serious (Y/n), yer incredible." He whispered softly, slowly leaning in for a kiss. (Y/n)'s eyes widened at the realization of what was happening, and when a fleeting thought that this could be her one and only chance to kiss him occurred, she shut her eyes and closed the distance. The kiss was filled with passion and tenderness, nothing quite like anything else (Y/n) had ever experienced before. "Is it bad that I don't ever want the spell to reverse?" Jed asked softly as they parted for air, his question making (Y/n) lightly smack his shoulder with a playful glare. "What?" He chuckled with bright sparkling eyes. "How about that date cowboy?" (Y/n) changed the subject, her words immediately sparking the perfect idea in Jedediahs head. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and swept her away, spending the rest of the night riding around on his beloved horse, simply enjoying each other's company and forgetting about the what ifs of the whole situation.

*Making a custom cover with washi tape on scandalous books is something I actually do. Because I will read them while out and about, and especially on downtime at work, and I'd die if anyone was to see the actual cover and know what I'm reading. And if I ever feel like someone is getting nosey over my shoulder, I snap the book closed and wait until they've gone before picking it back up. 😅 Stupid I know, but what can I say?