#but i imagine she struggles knowing a time before the act and has nobody to remind her

[thunder-sea]

Focalors was really the only person with any insight of who Furina truly was before she started the act, but we can't get practically any knowledge of who Furina used to be because the person who knew is stone dead.

[mandaplease10]

A Polin Take Nobody Asked For #3

Balloon Scene

I have seen LOTS of discourse surrounding this scene. Majority love it, while some feel like it was pointless, anticlimactic, and a filler scene. However, to me, while he was a bit of a filler scene and was a little anticlimactic, it definitely served a purpose to move Polin's love story along.

I'll discuss below why I love this scene and how it serves a good purpose!

In storytelling, in order to get where we are going for the characters, there has to building blocks to get there. Imagine like a ladder or a staircase and each step is one instance in the story. Now, most will only focus on the larger steps because those have the most impact, but we also have to look at the smaller ones.

Think of the Balloon Scene in the same way as we get Colin laying in his bed struggling over his feelings or the moment he's in the study before deciding to go to the ball, etc. Each of these moments serve a purpose to their story.

The Balloon Scene:

This is really the first time that Polin interacts after the kiss when Penelope has had a successful moment with a suitor, which means she could be on her way to a courtship. This is also the first time that we hear from Penelope where she is happy and may actually like Debling and wants to share this with Colin. Therefore, it's the first time Colin is having to realize that she could potentially end up with someone else.

The next part with Penelope talking with Debling and trying to battle against Cressida for his attention is important to Pen's personal journey. In past seasons, Penelope never would have stood up against Cressida in that manner, she would have just stood back in the shadows, maybe adding to the conversation here or there.

It also is a moment to show how Debling's attention can be easily swayed away from Pen, while Colin's attention is always on Pen. He was the first to notice she was in danger and did what he could to stop it. Whereas, Debling only noticed when Pen tripped and fell.

Then once again, Cressida makes a scene and Debling leaves Pen to check on her, while Colin is looking at Pen, even though he is surrounded by others. Pen is not hurt, but she is shaken up, and her gaze immediately goes to Colin. Almost like he is her safe space and she knows he is the real reason she wasn't hurt. Plus, in her romance loving mind, he just did the full romantic hero act.

Yes, it would be have been nice to see them interact after this moment. Yes, it would have interesting to see Colin run over to check on Pen or see Debling with his arms around her. Yes, all Pen had to do do was run to the side instead of being her. Yes, all they had to do was let the Balloon go and it would have risen by itself.

But that was the point. The point was to show these little moments of care and love Polin has for each other as well as Penelope's growth as a character. I mean think about it, she went from running away in episode one when Cressida ripped her dress to standing firm against her by talking to Debling.

Honestly, I could really deep dive and break down this scene more, but no one has time to read all that. Ha!

[hopeless-ronantic]

i’ve recently come to the realization that i think my favorite fics to read are the ones where nancy and/or steve struggle to accept their bisexuality.

maybe nancy is like

“😡😡😡 robin is so annoying”

and then is like

“but maybe…?”

and then she finally can’t take it anymore & just has to be sure about what she’s feeling, so she kisses robin and everything makes sense finally

and of course the whole time robin can’t figure out what nancy’s problem is, and thinks that maybe she really is just a prissy know-it-all, but of course that doesn’t stop her from wanting to spend time around nancy any chance she gets

so when nancy finally kisses her, robin realizes nancy’s problem was never with robin, it was with her feelings for robin.

& maybe nancy realizes she had a crush on barb at some point or that maybe her love for blondie goes a little beyond just liking their music. but when she’s kissing robin, everything makes sense and everything just feels right

or maybe nancy and robin get along great (which is kinda weird for steve at first, but he’s got eddie & he and nancy are back on good terms now)

and robin has a crush on nancy but vows to never act on it or do anything to risk losing nancy’s friendship because that’s more important to her than some dumb unrequited crush

but secretly nancy is trying to pinpoint the exact feeling she gets around robin because she’s always so excited to hang out with her & she can’t tell why. because she’s never been that excited to hang out with any of her other friends before, so why does she get so giddy when it’s robin?

and one night, they decide to have a sleepover with makeovers & chinese takeout & maybe a couple wine coolers that nancy stole from karen (or maybe robin convinced steve to buy them some).

and nancy is so excited robin agreed to the makeovers part because it means that robin gets to play with her hair but again can’t tell why that excites her so much

(meanwhile robin is trying so hard to be as “normal” as she can while braiding nancy’s hair, because all she can think about through the light fog from the 2 wine coolers she’s had, is leaning down and placing light kisses on nancy’s exposed shoulders & she’s terrified that nancy might somehow read her mind or that she might not be able to stop herself & in turn ruin the only real friendship she’s had with a girl since barb)

and when they move on to makeup and nancy is applying lipgloss to robin, she is finally able to put a name to the feelings she’s been having: want, desire, longing. staring at robins freshly glossed lips, she realizes there’s nothing she wants more in the world than to know what they’d feel like on hers.

and because she’s nancy (and possibly slightly tipsy). she decides, screw it, and she just goes for it. and robin, surprised at first, quickly realizes she isn’t dreaming and kisses nancy back and it’s more magical than either girl could’ve ever imagined

i lose my fucking mind over that shit!!!

or like steve is confused because why does his heart beat like that when eddie is around? why does his stomach do little flips when eddie calls him pet names, those little flips like it used to when nancy would laugh at his jokes, or when she’d affectionately call him an idiot?

he can’t quite figure it out, because it can’t be that he likes eddie because he’s never felt this way about another man before, and he is certain he likes girls. and you can’t like both, right? right??

and he goes to robin in a panic because she’s really the most qualified to give advice in this situation (but also because there’s nobody he’s ever trusted to not judge him as much as her). and robin laughs and has to explain to steve that he can like both & that just because he hasn’t felt this way before doesn’t make it any less real or valid.

& maybe steve has to sit with that for a little bit, so he spends the weekend in his bed just staring at the ceiling, thinking. and eddie is convinced he pissed steve off because he won’t answer the phone, so he goes over sunday night to apologize for whatever he did because the thought of losing steve makes his heart ache

& when eddie knocks on steve’s open door and peeks his head in with an apologetic smile, steve looks into eddie’s big brown eyes, and everything clicks into place. all the thoughts and questions that were running through his head all weekend finally stop & all he can think is “kiss him” so he does & nothing has felt more right in his life

and eddie can’t believe this is really happening, because he thought one day the ache in his heart would kill him, the ache from knowing steve would never feel the same way eddie did. the ache that eddie would have to live the rest of his life as nothing more to steve harrington than a friend, and he’d have to be okay with that.

and i just really need more of these in my life, especially ronance because there just really isn’t enough content out there for them.. okay that’s all, thanks for listening to my ramblings.

[syoddeye]

🤍 ilysm and your work. i stopped drinking and smoking in 2022 and entered the call of duty fandom in early 2023. i found your blog first after a post about Barry sloane’s sobriety then read all your writing. For The Record is a comfort read and i love how “normal” alcoholism is written. not that it’s normal or should be normalized but how high functioning and normal you can look and still struggle. nobody noticed i was in trouble and i did it all on my own incl rehab. i know this is a personal question and I don’t want to ask too much but would you ever write a sequel? 🤍

hello friend! hope you don't mind i held onto this for a few days.

wall of text about alcohol, sobriety, and ftr below. this has been whirling around my noggin.

first, thank you so much for reading. i appreciate it. ftr is a beast and the rest of my works are chaotic as hell.

second, congrats on two-ish (almost three?) years of sobriety! that's no small feat. please know this internet stranger is proud of you.

third, yeah...depictions of addiction are tough to write. i tried to write animal as someone who is imperfect and vulnerable, but also has her shit together just enough to carry on and not unsettle/worry the people closest to her. until she meets john.

minor spoilers //

my experiences differ from animal's. i started drinking young, but did not face serious consequences like she did. while we both learned to hide our drinking and act 'normal,' i had people who actively intervened. animal struggled for years until we met in ftr. and while her friends love and support her, they are more permissive and enabling at times.

animal is a high-functioning-ish alcoholic. she has a job, a house, community, and a boyfriend (who sucks but that's not the point). on paper, she is fine.

but i considered blowing her life up before everything that happens with the 141. i thought about breaking up the band or her and jason up earlier. either would've sent her on a bender with drastic, fucked up consequences. (ask me how i know) //

ultimately, i chose a more """dignified""" route, because there's plenty of media that already depicts addicts as worthless/unlovable/irredeemable. that's not the story i wanted to tell, nor will it ever be.

that said—i don't have it in me to police how other addicts write, because our experiences vary so greatly (that's not even getting into the intersections of addiction, either, that's a whole book series) and i hesitate to say who can/can't write addicts (that's also another conversation).

this was a tangent and probably not what you wanted to read, but your ask came at an opportune time. i've been thinking a lot about ftr and my own milestones.

as for a sequel - i don't think so. i have extensively imagined where both endings would continue, but i'm exploring other things right now.

[sophieinwonderland]

Hello! VrGenic anon again back with some small updates!

So I started off by going into public game lobbies under a sort of persona, I started off by writing some basic traits and some likes/dislikes (these will change overtime once she gains consciousness)

I also remember in the post with the video you were talking about, it had only taken a couple days for the person to start talking about this persona as if a completely different person.

So I tried this out specifically, after each play session I would go to my friends and start talking about what happened, at first I stuck with just I/me pronouns, but eventually as I kept playing more and more, I noticed I would accidentally switch between I/me and referring to the persona as her proper name and pronouns

I've noticed also that it's pretty hard to exactly "act" (I don't wanna say act but lowkey that's what I'm doing before she fully forms) as her outside of VrChat, for example, I decided to take a bit of a break and get a drink, so I decided "hm this might be a good time to practice" so I kept trying to ask myself things like "what would she drink? How would she mix it? Does she like multiple drinks?" And overall the answers were mixed, I couldn't exactly put one answer on each question, but if I was in VrChat and someone asked her her favorite drink, she would say apple juice (I ended up drinking alot of apple juice bc of her, but apple juice is good so🤷‍♂️)

Also whenever I would log into VrChat, while standing in the blue void waiting to get into the lobby, I had a weird almost dizzy like feeling, not like the feeling u get if u get motion sickness but as if I was having to shed off my old persona and then layer on this one, it wasn't bad it didn't really affect me that much, but it was cool to notice!

She has also gained some friends on VrChat, which helps tremendously with forming her since I can use more time in private worlds and figure out how she might react to certain situations, she ended up going to a spiderman world and she thought it was pretty fun, just a bit of a struggle to figure out

Overall, in a nutshell, so far some progress has been made, but I do not think she has her own consciousness YET, I will keep working towards it tho!

This is really awesome! Thanks for sharing your results with this experiment so far!

There's a lot of really interesting stuff here!

It's cool hearing how naturally the shift in pronouns happened. Especially since you were already aware of it from the other video and were watching out for it. I would have guessed that knowing would have made it less likely for this to happen. That because you were aware that it happened with someone else, that you would be paying slightly more attention when you spoke, and so using these other pronouns would be less likely to just slip out. The fact the language change happened even when you knew that it happened to someone else and was watching for it is fascinating!

The way you describe the dizziness whenever you're in the loading screen makes me wonder if it's become a sort of trigger. If so, I'm curious what would happen when you practiced outside of VR if you took a moment, closed your eyes, and imagined going through the loading screen.

But I might not advise doing this yet. It might be better to wait until later in development and you think that she's fully conscious. If only because I am incredibly curious how a headmate who has existed primarily in virtual reality would react when fronting outside of it and what her perspective would be on the outside world.

Overall, this is just really cool stuff! It's a whole new frontier of plural psychology that nobody has really tested before, so thanks so much for sharing your results with me so far! 😄👍

[strangegardendelusion]

MY REVIEW OF HAZBIN HOTEL EP 2!

~~~~

Summary of the episode:

This episode follows Alastor as he finally goes back in the public eye. In this same episode, we are finally meeting The vee's: Vox, Velvette, and Valentino. Now, for plot B of the episode, we follow the hotel as they receive a new guest... Sir Pentious!

~~~~

My issues with the episode short formed:

● voice acting (I explain later in full)

● When Charlie said she had to get done in 6 months

● The villains for the season should be switched around

● How they handle Vanlentino character

~~~~

My issues with the episode long formed:

● I heard Valentino voice for the first time, I legit thought, "Why is the Valentino voice changing?" Because Valentino had 10 different voices going on. I don't know if the va was nervous, so he kept messing up, or if he was struggling to keep up with the voice.

● in the beginning of the episode, Charlie was freaking out, saying she had to be done in 6 months. Which to me crazy! For example, if charlie plan of redemption is the first of it kind, why is she limiting herself to 6 months! Like that not enough time to prepare nor find out what she needs to do to help sinners get to heaven.

Like 6 months roll fast! Especially if you are doing something new and unique. Like things take time, that is why a lot of projects take years to take off the ground. So because of that, I do find it a little annoying whenever charlie brings up that she has to be done before 6 months. Because nobody actively told her to do 6 months, and we later see in other episodes that it stresses her out.

So why stick with the 6 month limition when it first stresses you out, and it really doesn't benefit anyone from I can see. Now I think about it, I do see why charlie wants to be done in 6 months, she want to prove to heaven that the extermination is not needed, but I don't know the hotel is not that main of focus to really care about the 6 month limition.

● I feel like the villains should be switched around. Imagine having literally Father of humanity and his right hand person against you, then only for the next season it just 3 people who apparently we supposed to be sacred of. It just feels like a down grade, so just switching villains around would probably just be more appropriate.

● honestly, I hated how Vox treated Val like a child. Like we supposed to fear Val, but honestly, I was just like, when is this gonna be over. I just didn't like how they just treated him as a kid instead of an adult. They do the same thing to charlie, where she more treated as a child than an adult. But charlie I get but Val on the other hand just no.

I would have it rewritten where Vox found out by himself rather than Val telling him. So Vox is doing his thing when his assistant tells him that the radio demon is back. Or Vox is stalking the big computer desk thing he has when he notices a familiar red deer. Either way, Vox rushes in Val room to tell him who is back in town. Then Vox is like, "he can't be back! I beat him fair and square! And Val is like, "Yes, you did, and you will do it again. I mean, you only have been getting more powerful. Maybe we should teach this deer another lesson."

~~~

I rate it 7/10, even though I had a lot to say. I really did enjoy it!

[mangoshorthand]

Thing of the Past- [Five Hargreeves x F Reader]. Ch1 (Hard Feelings Part 4)

SUMMARY: You can't avoid it any longer: Five has to meet your parents. It goes more wrong than you could possibly imagine, spiralling to bring up secrets he'd rather stay buried.

⚠️TRIGGER WARNINGS⚠️ Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven/Epilogue

You're getting married. You have a baby. No avoiding it.

Reader is unavoidably an OC at this point. When I tag this as #Number Five Imagine, I never said it wasn't going to be tough. 😜

⚠️Please heed content warning⚠️

Chapter One: Bone Structure

You couldn’t put it off forever. You had a fifteen-month-old daughter and you were about to get married. They’d known you were seeing a ‘famous guy’ since the JUICED scandal. Your mother scolded you for only telling her you’d been pregnant once Aoife was born, but had then quickly forgotten it in talking about how nobody appreciated her at work. You've always thought that your mother seems to struggle with object permanence- she behaves like the stereotype of a beleaguered mother when directly confronted with you, but your existence doesn't seem to occur to her otherwise. She always seems to forget that the phone goes two ways.

Aoife’s asleep in the car seat. In the passenger seat beside you, Five reaches over and removes the pacifier drooping from her mouth. He can’t resist running his thumb down her chubby cheek as he does so.

Your knuckles go white on the wheel.

“Are you ok?”

The familiar feeling of foreboding is rising. You’re a block away and the familiar sights assault you. Home, yes, but not like the Academy, or even like your apartment. The old feeling of resignation comes on you again. It’s not dread, it’s more an obligation weighing in the pit of your stomach.

He senses you’re not okay.

“…You don’t talk about them often.”

“And there’s a good reason for that.”

To Five, you don’t sound like yourself. You're…detached; something hidden behind an ironic cynicism that would have looked better on him.

“Pull over,” he murmurs.

You do, a little way down the street. Though the engine stilling has been known to wake her before, Aoife stays mercifully asleep on this occasion.

“Tell me.”

You breathe in.

“Can you…play nice? For me?”

His brow contracts, “I’ll try. But why would I have to?”

“They’re…weird.”

He tilts his head, “You know I can cope with weird.”

You stare directly out of the windshield. There it is, the modest colonial in which you’d spent the first eighteen years of your life. White picket fence and all. The one you’d left and never looked back. He won’t get it unless he sees it- how to even begin to explain?

“It is what it is.” you sigh and give him a rueful smile, “Just…don’t be as honest as usual.”

He gets it; he has to up his bullshit-taking capacity. He places a hand on your knee, “Babies are excellent meat-shields.”

You nod and prepare yourself.

“Let’s get it over with.”

You get out of the car and unstrap Aoife from her car-seat. She stirs and fusses, so you replace the pacifier. She rubs at her eyes with one clumsy arm and then sneezes suddenly: as always, a blue flash accompanies it and she judders in your arms: a quasi-spatial jump she can't control. Though she has Five's power, she can't use it volitionally yet and the effects she does experience are weak and fleeting.

According to Five, he had been similar, only managing to control the ‘sneeze-blinks’ when he was four. 

"Apparently every time I was sick, I used to blink to random places in the house and throw a tantrum,” he’d explained

“That’s still how you act when you’re sick,” you’d laughed.

Now, with Aoife’s diaper bag over one shoulder, Five takes your free hand and you lead him down the sidewalk, through the front yard and to the door.

You ring the bell. The ding-dong inside tolls with gloomy portents.  The door creaks on its hinges just the way you remember.

“Oh BABY!” Your mother pulls you into an abrupt, rib-crushing hug. “Oh it’s SO good to see you!”

She holds you on the doorstep, eyes closed. Five pastes on his customer service smile, hands clasped behind his back and waits patiently. He looks down at Aoife, struggling under her grandmother's arm pinned to her head.

She is probably in her mid-sixties. She’s angular, hair tied tight in a scrunchie and glasses at the end of her nose.

To Five’s eye, she hugs her daughter for a little longer than is necessary or, indeed, comfortable for an onlooker. He notes your poker-stiff body language.

“Hi Mom. Hi…” you try to extricate yourself, “I’ve brought them to meet you.”

Finally, your mother lets you go and her eyes fall on the baby.

“Oh she’s BEAUTIFUL. Oh, just look at her little hands. Oh, she gets those fingers from me.”

She looks up at Five, shoves past you and pulls him into another of the too-hard-too-long hugs. He recoils a little...but he has to play nice…

“And oh, aren’t you a smart young man? It’s SO good to meet you Five.”

Great. ‘Young man’ again.

“Er- thank you, Samantha, likewise.”

“Oh no,” she says, arms holding him shaking with the hand-gestures she would otherwise be making, “Not Samantha. I go by Geri now. It’s my middle name. Suits me better.”

“Okay. Geri.”

You feel your eyebrow raise. This is new. Her voice as she says it is affected. It reminds you of the time she signed up to an Ancestry site and didn't shut up about how she could trace her lineage back to the Stuart era for roughly five years. She releases a highly uncomfortable Five and holds him at arms’ length.

“OH, and so handsome!”

He laughs politely as she ushers them over the threshold, cooing over the baby and asking inane questions about the journey.

“Oh, your father won’t even drive on the interstate anymore. I’ve said to him so many times- if you can’t drive the interstate, you can’t drive, (OH look, she knows her grandma! Look at that little face!) But will he give up his license? No siree. You know what he’s like, never listens to a word I say. I may as well talk to that wall.”

The house is like something out of one of the Commission’s training videos; a time warp to approximately 1978. The furniture is good quality mid-century. In the right setting, he’d definitely approve, but not so much here. Assorted VHS tapes and saccharine china figures of women in period clothing line the dresser. All along one wall are pictures of you as a little girl. Yearly school photos, horribly staged first-communion photos and many others. He notices there’s much fewer pictures post-puberty.

Your dad sits in an easy chair in front of the TV. He’s older than Geri- has to be pushing eighty. He’s thin, reedy and unhealthy looking. He turns his head with difficulty as they walk in.

“Hello sweetheart. Long time no see,” then he turns to Five, “And hello to you. You’ll have to excuse my not getting up to greet you, I’m a little stiff today.”

Five shakes his hand and sits on a couch nearest to him.

“Nice to meet you sir. Old age. Quite the bastard, ain’t she?”

Your dad laughs.

“Bert,” he introduces himself, “Five, right?”

“Mhm.” Five gives a little nod.

“Yeah. Part of that…Umbrella thing?”

“That’s the one.”

"She had the action figures I think."

Five looks over at you, amused. 

"You never told me that!"

"I'd forgotten. Was it Klaus and Allison, Dad?"

"No idea." he mumbles, his attention span already waning. 

"Not me?" asks Five

"Nah. I was never particularly interested in you."

Five grins, "What changed?"

Geri cuts in.

“Oh FIVE, you have to show us your powers. Are you the one with all the tentacles?”

He sighs, “I’m the space and time-travel one. The tentacles were Ben. He's dead.”

Geri’s delighted expression doesn’t falter as Five mentions this loss:

“You have to show us.”

Five demurs but she keeps trying to persuade him. After his second refusal, you feel obligated to intervene on his behalf:

“He’s not a performing seal, Mom.”

“Leave the boy alone, Sam- I mean, Geri.” Bert’s voice is stern but low.

Geri ignores her husband.

“But you can time travel?”

“Only a little.” he smiles politely.

“Not enough to avoid knocking up my daughter, am I right?” 

This is clearly Bert’s idea of a joke so Five graces him with a strained smile.

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t.”

“Oh! Let me hold her!!”

Geri springs for Aoife with speed that makes her jump and cry.

“Slow down Mom- it’s upsetting her.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. She just wants a Gam-gam hug.”

Aoife begins to fuss and wriggle in the grasp of the unfamiliar and loud person.

"Ma Dada ma!" she protests, as Geri bounces her ineffectively on her knee.

Five looks at her with sympathy. Tell me about it, Bambino.

“So- how do we actually pronounce her name?” asks Bert.

“Ee-fa.” 

Five notices the twitch of annoyance on your face.

“It’s spelled funny,” says Bert, eyes still predominantly on an old episode of Cheers, “You young folk like your kids to be different.”

“It’s an old name actually,” says Five, struggling now to keep the annoyance out of his own voice. His smile has become rather fixed. “It’s Gaelic. I was born in Dublin.”

 “Coffee?” asks Geri, dumping her grizzling granddaughter unceremoniously onto her mother’s lap. There’s a noise of general assent, “can you help me, Five? I don’t know how you take your coffee.”

“Just black, thank you.”

He smiles and gives her the sort of nod that usually quells people…but it’s ineffective on Geri. Apparently, nothing can stop her when she gets an idea in her head. A little like her daughter, he supposes.

“Still, there’s a lot for little old me to carry.” She smiles at him expectantly.

Pasting back on his customer-service smile, he claps his hands to his knees and rises; always in anticipation of old-man back pain that never comes. He follows Geri towards the kitchen.

As you try to soothe the fussy baby, Five exchanges a glance with you. You try to convey apology.

“I’ll get her some food,” he says, shouldering the diaper bag.

The kitchen is more of the same. Formica surfaces, patterned linoleum and miles of wood panelling. As Geri fusses with the coffee pot, Five places his hands in his pockets and leans against the kitchen surface as the puree warms in the ancient microwave. He crosses one ankle over the other. He’s in control here.

“So,” she turns around. “You’re an Irish boy? Top o’ the mornin’ to ye'.”

Five supresses a cringe. Play nice…play nice.

“I wouldn’t go that far. Sure, I was born there but I stayed for less than a week before getting adopted. I'm a New Yorker, really.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. I’m Irish, you know. My paternal great-grandmother was born there."

She steps in front of him. She's uncomfortably close, her feet are either side of his protruding ankles.

"You can always tell an Irish lad…it’s in the bone structure.”

 She places two fingers either side of his jaw bone in a way that reminds him forcibly of The Handler. As with her, he maintains his unfazed demeanor; the only way to win this game is not to play. She runs each finger down to meet at his chin, leaving the skin in their wake to tingle unpleasantly.

The microwave beeps and he’s pleased to have an excuse to step out from in between her and the kitchen surface. As he stirs and tests the temperature against his inner wrist, she lowers her voice to a stage whisper.

“I am so sorry about Bert. So rude. I think it would be nice one day for me to come visit the city and spend some time just us four. Bert doesn’t get out much these days and it would be nice to have a little time away from him. Maybe you can show me the city.”

Something about her tone lets him know that 'you' isn't plural in her last sentence. He searches for a response, but she doesn’t really require one.

“We’ve not really seen eye to eye in over fifteen years now, Five. You know how it is? I stay because of the house but we’re not husband and wife anymore. Not really. He's never known how to treat a woman.”

“Okay.” says Five, his veneer of politeness starting to crack as annoyance at this woman begins to build. What is happening here?

She carries on as if he hasn't spoken:

“I spend most of my time in my room. It’s easier than dealing with his sniping. I got plenty of friends,” she lowers her voice even further, “I even have a guy, Jude. That makes it easier. Of course, you can’t tell her this. She’s tied to her father’s apron strings. She just doesn’t want to understand.” she sighs, looking put-upon.

Are you crazy, lady?

He bites back the instinctive response.

“Coffee’s done,” he says, smartly stepping to the pot and grabbing a tray from behind the microwave.

“You understand how things are, right Five?”

“Oh I think I got that pretty much straightened out,” he says, “Milk?”

She places the carton on the tray while he opens various cabinets in search of mugs. Gotta keep busy.

“So, Five, when’s the wedding?”

"A month, today, actually." he surprises himself with this reflection, "Invitations will be sent later this week. We're a little tardy but it's a small wedding."

“Which church?”

He snorts a little, his resolve cracking, “Yeah, not gonna be a church.”

“But why?”

“I’d guess two more-or-less atheists and their bastard child might be out of place.”

Okay…he has to roll back the sarcasm.

She doesn't react, changing tactic unconsciously- he doesn't think she's aware that she's employing tactics. Finally, he finds the mugs and grabs four. He turns back to place them on the tray to find her nearer to him.

"I take it the dress code is black tie?"

"Not strictly. We'll both be dressed formally though."

"It was nice of you to dress up to see us today, Number Five. You cut an impressive figure." 

It's not her words that get to him, it's the conspiratorial smile she gives as she moves even closer to him, the little flick of her eyes as she looks him up and down. Suppressing a shudder, he steps out smartly from her path. He places the mugs haphazardly onto the tray along with Aoife's finished food. Before she can respond, he blinks out of the door.

He catches your eye as he re-emerges from his spatial portal. His eyes widen, communicating disbelief. You pass a brief, unspoken conversation behind Bert’s back.

What the fuck was that?!

Oh God, what has she said?

He places the tray on the coffee table, tests the food's temperature again and sits down next to you. He holds out his arms for Aoife and begins to feed her. He’s deliberately placed himself in between you and the arm of the couch.

"Hai fame, piccolo? Ti piacciono gli ignami?"

As Geri comes into the room, his efforts to avoid her seem in vain. Unable to sit beside him on the couch, she sits on the arm instead, right next to him, effectively thwarting his attempts to block her.

“And he speaks Italian- what a man!” she simpers and he avoids her eye. Then, turning to you, “You’d better believe I didn’t have any help when you were this little.”

Bert grunts.

“No, I had to do everything myself. ‘I don’t know what to do with babies’, that’s what he said-”

“Well, I didn’t.” he mumbles, still watching Cheers.

“-But Five knows it’s all about practice, don’t you?”

He ignores her, spooning a little pureed yam off Aoife's lip. She turns back to you.

“You girls have it so easy these days. There were no modern men when you were born.”

Five doubts this. The 90s weren’t exactly the dark ages.

“Ooh! Show me the ring!”

Your mother leans over Five and Aoife and grabs your left hand. Sensing this, your father turns over to baseball: you’re thankful- this was one of your past rituals when Mom became too full-on. If you put on sport and comment on the game, you can kinda talk together while having an excuse to not talk to her.

She twists your wrist, looking at the ring in different lights.

“Darling, an engagement ring is supposed to have a diamond.” she says, as if you’ve never heard of the concept.

“I don’t like diamonds, Mom."

“But how will people know it's an engagement ring?"

"I know it's an engagement ring. That's all that matters."

She scoffs, "I just wish you'd consulted me before you chose it.”

“The cubs are doing well this season,” no more than a mumble from Bert.

Five breathes out through his nose, “I chose it, actually. Considering it’s an engagement ring, that would make sense, don’t you think?”

“Oh, well it is lovely, but a diamond symbolizes eternal love-”

“Oh really?” says Five, the dangerous sarcasm you recognize creeping into his voice, “Does your engagement ring have a diamond, Geri?”

“Of course!” she shows him. Clearly, she has not understood the sting in his question’s tail.

“Very pretty." he says, testily.

You draw Five's eye and give him a slightly pleading smile. He nods minutely.

"Well, Five chose perfectly. He knew I wouldn't want a diamond."

“Convenient for your bank balance, eh Five?” grunts Bert.

Geri shoots him a filthy look. “Don't be stupid. Money is no object for Reginald Hargreeves’ son.”

You feel like your brain is about to turn inside out from embarrassment, looking down at the phone in your hand, you send Lila a quick message.

YOU: 🚨🚨🚨INITIATE EMERGENCY PARENTAL PROTOCOL. EXTRACTION NEEDED. GO GO GO.

And, thank fuck, she replies immediately.

LILA: 10-4 good buddy.

In under a minute, she calls you. You owe her flowers.  Five looks at your phone ringing and then back at you.

‘Don’t you dare leave me’, his eyes say.

Still on the couch, you answer the phone and turn the volume way down.

“Hello?”

“Hey sweet. Let’s get you outta there.”

“Yes.”

“So has Five murdered anyone yet? Is that what’s happening here?”

You decide the best way to take advantage of this opportunity.

“Oh no!”

“Huh?”

“Wow that sounds serious.”

She begins to chortle and you answer her pretended utterances,

“You need the whole Academy? Now?”

“Yeah, there’s a shitload of scotch flooding a subway station and we need Five’s particular skills.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Number Five immediately. We’ll come as soon as we can!”

“Tell me everything.”

“Of course, goodbye Police Commissioner.”

You hang up to her laughter.

Five looks questioningly at you.

“It’s terrible news. There’s a…quantum suspension…node back in the city. Spatial anomalies everywhere.”

Five cottons on, you see his mouth spasm.

“Heavens, not a quantum suspension node!”

You give him a look: ‘don’t ruin it asshole!’

He stands up, drawing himself up to his full height and squaring his shoulders in a way clearly designed to make you laugh. 

“There’s no time to lose. Geri, Bert, we’re sorry to leave so soon...but the world needs me.”

You supress a laugh with difficulty. Your mother, gullible as always, looks impressed. Though you can’t see your father’s face, you’re fairly sure this won’t have fooled him. You’ll call him later.

“What the fuck was that?”

Five drives down the street, determinedly avoiding the eyes of your waving mother from the bottom of the yard.

“I told you.” you say, palms of your hands pressed against your eyes, "I need a fucking drink."

Once you’re back onto the main highway, he says,

“Seriously: what the hell?”

“What happened in the kitchen?”

He sighs. He can’t not tell you. He is not equipped for this.

“She…your parents’ marriage. I’m getting the impression it’s a little…unsteady?”

“Oh god.” You put your head in your hands.

“This might be hard to hear. She told me not to tell you but fuck that. She told me she’s been having an affair.”

He braces himself for the hurt, for the shock, but instead you just snort darkly.

“Yeah? Sure she has. What's this one called?”

"Jude." he says, confused.

You laugh fully this time, “Probably just some guy she met over online poker and never in person. She was 'with' this guy from Ontario for years and it never went beyond spicy messages.”

“What?”

“It’s a fantasy Five. Everything is with her. She tells herself whatever story she can to get through the dull-ass life she refuses to actually do anything about. I’ve known about this shit for years.”

 He takes a deep breath.

"She also...kind of came onto me a bit."

"Oh no." 

Again, your face doesn't register the shock he'd expected, you just crumple into a deep cringe.

"I'm sorrrry."

"It wasn't so bad. She was just a little creepy. Touched my face and backed me into the kitchen counter a bit. Called me Number Five."

You make a disgruntled little noise that conveys disgust and sympathy in equal measure. 

"Are you ok?"

"Sure I am. I've dealt with worse than her. Are you ok?"

You sigh deeply, "I don't know why I didn't expect it. I'm sorry. I don't know why I let her get you alone. She did the same thing to my boyfriend in high school. She'll go for any man she can corner. First she'll bitch about my Dad and then she'll go all 'oooh I need a big strong man to save me from my meaaan husband.' "

Five keeps his eyes on the road. How did you come from her?

“Up until I was thirteen it felt like she was the best Mom I could have asked for. Affectionate, loving, supportive…but then she just…withdrew. Pretty much as soon as I stopped being a kid she could dress and project her personality onto. She just disappeared one day- moved into the spare room and sat on the computer for the next five years. Dad was a shit parent but at least he stepped up then; actually spoke to me on my own terms, cared a little about what interested me. With Mom it's a single question about me and then right on back to her bullshit.”

You fall into exasperated silence. He doesn’t know what to say. As trauma goes it’s fairly tame, but it still sucks

“Families, eh?”

“I much prefer yours to mine,” you mumble.

He laughs a little to himself. 

“You’re telling me the Von Trapp Family Killers are the normal ones here?"

"Don't kid yourself Five." a smile breaks through your dour expression, "you could never pull off lederhosen."

Tag list: (please comment to be added or removed.) @dilfjohhny , @sunsunhe, @w4stedtr4sh, @nevbrooke-555, @theredvelvetbitch, @td-miley01, @five-hxrgreeves, @rorygi1more, @jamiebower88

Masterpost

Alternatively, join me on A03.  Here is a link to the whole series

Comments would be appreciated here or on ao3 because I'm a needy ho.

[xerith-42]

pls talk more about doll shadowknight headcanons i love hearing about them

Hey council, I uhh, I may have cooked something up @gonedreaminggg @cinnamontoastcroonch @laurencezvahlslefteyebrow I'm gonna mash my two favorite headcanons together watch this--

Shadow Knight Musician Struggle Time!!

Laurance trying to play the lyre after the doll effects start kicking in and his hand just goes limp mid song. He can't do anything about it and just feels so ill about the whole situation. Garroth tells him that it's okay, that his playing before was great, but it's still kinda a cowabummer.

Vylad practicing his ocarina along and suddenly their lips get stuck around it as Vylad's body just freezes. He's on his own at this point, but it still sucks. He had a real jam going.

Hatsune help me, what if Sasha was a musician before her death? I could totally see Sasha playing the violin when she was younger, giving up on it so she could become a guard or whatever, but when she comes across an abandoned violin, she decides to take it and practice it again. And while she's playing one day, her hand stops moving, as does her arm. Just frozen in place. Her grip on the bow was loose in the first place, and in the silence left by the sudden stop of her music, the bow clatters to the ground.

If she's unlucky, it could even fall from the roof of the fortress she's playing on and land in the lava pools below. Then again if that happened, the instant Sasha got control of her body again she would go beat the fuck out of the Shadow King with her bare hands. It's hard to get musical instruments when you're literally stuck in hell and it's one of the few things that brings her solace.

Just had a wicked and evil thought, we characterized Gene with his porcelain scar, but what if we applied that same idea to someone else? Zenix is like a puppet on his strings, right? What if one day he glanced down at his wrists and found red lines wrapped around them? As if the strings are digging into his skin. And this is after he's already "cut himself free" from the Shadow King's control and is killing Shadow Knights. A chilling reminder that he still isn't in control.

After a bad fight his healing powers come into play, but it leaves a permanent stitch mark where his flesh came back together. Not the way a scar from stitching normally looks, but like a rushed stitch you did on a piece of fabric to get it functional but not pretty. It never goes away, nobody can see it from under his armor, but Zenix knows. He knows it's there.

I know before I said Vylad has compeltely limp states like Laurance, and that's still a thing, but I want to tweak the flavor. I'm imagining Vylad as like a

This fucking thing. That's Vylad. Sometimes only one of his joints stops working instead of the entire limb. Bro will be climbing trees and then their left elbow just goes backwards. Whoops it's not supposed to do that! Vylad is honestly not too bothered by this after the third time it happens, bro just gets used to it.

Everyone else (especially Garroth) is understandably very thrown off by this suddenly happening. Like it's one thing for Laurance's arm to go numb and act like it's out of socket, it's another thing for Vylad's arm to be able to bend backwards with seemingly no physical pain caused to him. He keeps trying to assure everyone that this is just ab symptom of being a shadow knight, and it's only Laurance who really gets it. The phrase "all dolled up" might as well be a universal trigger of Shadow Knights. Cadenza says it in reference to Laurance while she's helping him get ready for Kenmur's wedding, and while she instantly knows she fucked up and Laurance can see that, it still makes him stiff. His hands twitch as if to make sure it didn't start just from her saying the phrase. References to dolls start to fade out of the vocabulary of the alliance and its members over time. Largely because everyone has respect for either Vylad, Laurance, or Vincent and doesn't want to potentially upset them. The whole doll thing is a pretty sensitive subject.

Speaking of Vincent, as we've established, the doll stuff happens regardless of whether they're premature or not. I think that it happens less if you've answered the calling, but it still happens. Vincent gives me the vibes of like a voodoo doll almost. So he definitely gets the randomly limp limbs sometimes, but sometimes he just can't open his mouth, as if it were sewn shut. Oh that's awful oh my Irene this headcanon has caused so much pain.

I have other stuff to say on the Vincent as a voodoo doll thing but... Wow what the fuck that's horrifying. Like the first time that happens is maybe after he's answered the calling but still doesn't fully understand what he is. He's trying to explain it, nearly screaming to try and fight against it, clawing at his face to try and tear it off-- Wowie Minecraft Diaries really lends itself to body horror. I didn't even plan to write that sentence but as I was writing it I remembered the very popular headcanon about Shadow Knights having claws or at least sharper nails that could easily tear skin and yeah wow what the actual fuck.

Uhm, on a better (??) note, I think this means Vincent sometimes just gets random stabbing pains in his body with seemingly no cause. I feel like this might be connected to the Shadow King, but then also could somehow connect to the other divine? Idk about that part I just think the idea of Aph growing her angel wings causing Vincent to feel some form of pain in his back as a response would be weird and net. Vincent is weird and neat, sorry for low key mutilating him.

Have fun incorporating those scars into your next redesign!

[sleepybunn-y]

Introducing my current PC’s!!!

Tomie:

———

- Specifically named after Junji Ito’s Tomie because A. I like the name and B. I think every PC has a little Tomie in them. She just has a lot. But without the murder. Yeah.

- Star-sign is pisces.

- Favorite animal; doe.

- Only child; parents died in murder-suicide of which she was a witness.

- Severe survivors guilt.

———

- Tries to act like “normal” people and fails miserably. Frustrated by her social incompetency.

- Struggles with her mental health due to that isolation. Very close with Harper. Almost infatuated with him in a way. Odd.

- Very unaware, or at least that’s how she wants to be. If she sees things others don’t she gives no indication.

- Almost as unpopular as Kylar in school and so they spend a lot of time together. Despite this, she doesn’t really like him. Thinks his obsession is flattering though.

- Her room is as filled as Bailey will allow with stuffed animals. (Whitney’s twin fr 🤞🏻)

- Owns one stuffed bear from her life before the orphanage. Her one prized possession.

- Very fashion oriented, closet is stuffed with clothing.

- Makes most of her money as a model.

- Aspirations to become a professional model or a lawyer. Whichever is easiest.

- Angel motif, not an actual angel.

- Genuinely thinks Avery is a sweetheart.

- Feels as though she’s been forsaken by God.

- Would do almost anything for affection.

- Just wants to be loved.

Anthy:

———

- Named after Anthy Himemiya because I like that name. Heresy to name a character this pale after Anthy but whatever.

- Star-sign is Cancer.

- Favorite animal; bunny.

- Only child; parents died in house fire.

———

- Biggest whore in town. Proud town bicycle. Fucks for free. Enjoys the agency found in willingly giving her body away.

- An it girl. Very popular in school and out.

- Despite her obvious attraction to all things profane, she’s very active in the temple. She’s mostly just curious about the goings on.

- She is not well liked in the Temple. Like, at all. I don’t know why they let her stay to be honest.

- Ivory Wraith apologist. Thinks the tentacle thing is weird but is dtf whenever.

- Doesn’t really like Sydney as a person. Feels like he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Honestly a bit frightened by him.

- Also doesn’t appreciate how malleable he is.

- Doesn’t like Sirrus either. He’s a weirdo.

- Also struggles with mental health issues (what PC doesn’t tbh) but distrusts Harper. Doesn’t understand how nobody else sees through his bullshit.

- Makes most of her money at the cafe doing gross things for gross amounts of money.

- Weird about anime. Like in the way I imagine Kylar is. A weeaboo if you will. She’s dl with it though, doesn’t want to freak people out.

- Big Wren fan. Has a crush on him and feels strange about it. Doesn’t like that she’s gotten attached, especially to a guy like him.

- Shit at blackjack. Maybe on purpose.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1098 - Initial Thoughts

Who's ready to feel sad again this week?

If the answer was no then...well...yeah, sorry Another One Piece chapter is out and we are ready to get hit by the cast iron hammer of trauma

brace yourselves

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too

We'll start with the elephant in the room, I didn't want to believe comments that the chapter looked unfinished because I didn't want to also worry about Oda's health, but the chapter is very unkempt. The cover even has a message of Oda apologizing

I'm sure I'm not alone, but I feel like nobody would've thought less of Oda just delaying the chapter to make it look polished if he so wished, I am curious about the reasoning though because usually he's ahead on these things, did the sent draft get damaged or corrupted or something? I wonder if we'll ever know

But the cover page is Brook jamming with an Electric Eel, no continuity relevant covers like last time

It appears that during the Goa fire incident another uprising is looking dire, stretching the army thin

Kuma decides to go and solo it though, on a mission and acting recklessly after news of Ginny's kidnapping

Oh, oh no. It's much worse. Captured as a prisoner for being a Revolutionary would've been one thing, but Ginny was kidnapped because a Celestial Dragon wanted her as a bride

And we all can guess what that will mean...

Kuma does successfully help the Toomi uprising succeed for the army, but Kuma has being running himself rugged

2 years pass and a ragged ship sails the sea with a crying baby Bonney

Ginny is alive, contacting Baltigo to talk to Kumachi

Something feels off though, the Celestial Dragons aren't ones for simply letting people go, especially if they're sick, usually it's a bullet

The forlorn face of Ginny's Den Den Mushi does hide a more darker truth, maybe even one Oda's not fully telling us

Of course, Kuma clocks onto the fact that Ginny's sick, and it turns out that Ginny isn't gonna be able to make it to Baltigo

Kuma wants to be with her, but she doesn't want him to see her in her state at death's door, asking Dragon and Ivankov to look after Kuma

Kuma's already gone though, rushing to the Sorbet Kingdom to the one place he knew she'd go, but in turn missing her last declaration of love for him

Kuma arrives to the right place, but time has run out

Ginny's illness is something we've not seen, her skin hardened and crystallized in contact with the sun, a risk she willingly took to cross the ocean and get home, leaving a baby Bonney in the safest place she knew

It's heartbreaking stuff as Kuma reminds himself of all the times he had with her; he did everything right, everything selflessly, and he still lost everything

Kuma's a better man than me though; if I learned that the woman I loved and lived with for over a decade got kidnapped and spent the last 2 years being the enslaved plaything of the worst creatures imaginable only to come back dying of a disease that deprives her from the light and dies before I got to see her I would've gone full Shinra Tensei on Marejois

Still, Kuma will not let Ginny's death be in vain, and will raise Bonney well

Of course, since Kuma is gigantic, he struggles being delicate with a child, seeking advice from the elderly people

Bonney was a glutton since birth

A brief wholesome montage of Kuma being a good dad to make sure this chapter didn't get super dark

Until it's layered in with Kuma having to fight with the Revolutionaries at the same time

He did put an iron cage over Bonney's cot too so he didn't smush her

And a brief Sabo training cameo

Time passes but the two kids find the church boarded up and Kuma locked inside

And right where her piercing is, blue stones form on Bonney's face

Doctors aren't sure what it is, but it's clear Bonney inherited Ginny's condition, we can only confirm it's not White Lead Poisoning like Law had

As a result, Kuma quits the Revolutionary Army to tend to her

For a guy who quit raising his child to be a Revolutionary, Dragon seems more than understanding seeing Kuma quit the Revolutionaries to raise his child

Seven years ago, Bonney is 5 years old, meaning her true age is likely 12

Local kids bully her, calling her a vampire and running into the daylight to escape her

Bonney is still foul mouthed for someone raised by a pastor, giving the boys the finger as well

Kids aren't too smart though, trying to use a cross on her, while she lives in a church...

Bonney threatens to chase after them, but is stopped by Kuma, who worries even if she wasn't being serious

Bonney is at least aware that her facial stones are part of an illness, but Kuma still tries to uplift her, calling them her Jewels

I guess that's where the Jewelry comes from

Kuma asks Bonney where she'd like to go when she's better, leading her to talk about the Sky Islands

It's a bit obscure, but it seems the book she read it from is Kuma's bible

Bonney also feels like they could meet Nika up there, so they settle that as her 20th birthday, for her 19th she'll go to Fishman Island

Bonney's disease finally gets a name though; Sapphire Scale, feels like a Game of Thrones Greyscale kinda deal, it's allegedly incurable

It's super rare, but the stones grow when they touch any natural light, sun or moon, and even then avoiding the light just slows the disease

The doctor gives Bonney 5 years, traumatizing Kuma more

Bonney only partly overheard the conversation too, taking 'it'll be over on her 10th birthday' as the disease will pass by then

Kuma goes along with it though, you can't tell a child they're gonna die after all but he also feels the guilt of giving her so much hope

A year later, King Becori returns with fire

This time instead of making borders, he's gonna burn the south down himself

Oda please, it's sad enough

and it's gonna be 12+ weeks since we last saw Nico Robin too I haven't forgotten about that

The unfinished panels didn't hamper the chapter as much as it might have had the story quality not been strong, there was only a couple of panels I just had to look a bit harder at to distinguish.

But yeah, the story. I can't say it's great because it's heartbreaking and soul-wrenching, so let's just say it achieved its intent. Ginny suffered a cruel fate and unable to be saved by Kuma, but I also feel like there's more to it than her simply being 'let go', escape is probable but I also fear that Sapphire Scale was an experiment.

There's so much traumatic irony too, a disease that deprives you of the sun, of the light, of the dawn, it feels like something the Gorosei would weaponize. Also the irony of Bonney stopping Zoro from killing a Celestial Dragon who was going to forcibly take a woman as one of his wives, I feel like Kuma wouldn't let her know the full story but that is a tragic bit for us. It also implies that Bonney is technically a Celestial Dragon herself, almost a bridge between both since Ginny was also a slave, it could explain why the Gorosei keep offering a bit of leeway to her too.

The worst part of it all is that I can't be certain that the clone theory is off the table for Bonney, Law survived his disease due to the Ope Ope no Mi, I don't think Bonney's fruit can provide the same assurances. Oda can go super dark if he wants to continue to rip chunks out of Kuma by having Bonney not make her 10th birthday after all, and then Vegapunk clones a Bonney without the Sapphire Scale disease in her DNA. I do hope not of course but it still sadly remains an option.

King Becori's return was an odd place to end though, this is either the point where Kuma becomes King, a pirate, a Warlord or all of the above, perhaps as King he gets World Government information to find a cure for Bonney. We'll find out in 2 weeks I guess, but Oda please,

There has to be a way to end the story with Kuma being happy.

[lgcmisha]

hi! i'm nyeo (18+ / sh/th) and i'm very, very happy to be introducing you all to the semi-honorable, idol-actress-personality in-the-making: hong misha. she's outspoken, bratty, and ever-so-slightly catty, but above all, she's a businesswoman who knows how to play to her strengths and (usually) get exactly what she wants. small, but mighty, etc. etc. she's a bit of an enigma, but an interesting case study in self-sabotage, for sure. in lieu of writing a super long intro, i'm gonna link her expanded character outline here and save you the super long read with her gen outline under the cut. :3 uhhh, other than that, d-scord is available upon request and if you'd like to plot, give me a like so i can come to you! i look forward to writing with everyone!!! 💖💘💝

hong misha (紅米沙, 홍미샤) was born august 13, 2001 in nanping, china. her blood type is O+, her MBTI is ENTJ and she thinks that both of those things don’t really mean anything. she’s bisexual and single. her favorite color is light yellow or dusty rose, her favorite kind of candy is gummies, and she listens to all kinds of music, but has a particular affinity toward pop and rnb. her primary goal is to become an idol-actress, but she’s open to various avenues. her primary strengths lie in acting and vocals, but she shows great promise in variety and songwriting, too. she plays the guzheng and speaks chinese, korean, and japanese with varying degrees of fluency, but only slightly conversational english. her style is cute, feminine and eclectic, and she considers herself a maximalist. her concept is versatile, but she excels at cute, quirky, and story-driven concepts. when she's not training, she works as a freelance nail artist and a waitress.

positives quick-witted, methodical, independent, adorable, self-confident, loyal, ambitious neutrals coquettish, artful, savvy, fanatical, opinionated, superstitious negatives short-tempered, repressed, spiteful, skeptical, impenitent, competitive, melodramatic

debrief

while outsiders will describe her as deceptively innocent, incredibly cute and endearingly poised, those close to her might tell the tale of someone that you never fully know. she’s yet to truly master the art of emotional intimacy and truly growing closer to her tends to involve a lot of push and pull. she’s not really interested in people that aren’t interested in her and all of her oddities. no flower blooms without a struggle, no?

creatively minded, she enjoys music a lot more as an idol-will-be than she ever did as a child who grew up around the sordid, punkish types who played in smoky bars (and forgot to pick her up from her lessons,) and more and more is honing her skill set to make herself feel more deserving of the praise she gets as both a personality and a vocal. she’s vibrant in her element and has gained a reputation for being a hardworker, maintaining the “fighting!” spirit and zeal of a fresher faced trainee well into her growing seniority. she’s clear and playful, well-mannered and well-spoken, and a (mostly, sometimes, if the sky is clear and she slept eight hours the night before) good sport when it comes to the innate competition that comes as a side effect to being a trainee among many others.

home life

she was raised primarily by her grandparents, but started living with her aunt in seoul in 2015, after her mother remarried following a short trial period of misha living with her again full-time in an attempt to repair their historically tumultuous relationship. nobody wants to say the quiet part out loud, but it was clearly a fresh start for her mother, who’d gotten married and had her very young. she visits when time allows, but now that her mom is pregnant again, she can only imagine how often that’ll be. anyway, moving to seoul was a new beginning and, as it stands, her only connection back home to nanping is her grandparents and her ever-therapized dad. she was formally adopted by her aunt in 2018.

fun facts

she has a habit of intergrating chinese or english phrases or exclamations into her daily speech (ex. saying something is cute or delicious in either eng or chn, saying “oh my god,”/“wow” etc.)

she was born a month early and her grandparents affectionately call her “speedracer” because they could tell early on that her eagerness to get here would be indicative of her desire to succeed.

her grandparents own a bakery and her aunt, who she lived with up until her signing with legacy entertainment, makes specialty marshmallows in a cafe. misha sometimes goes in to help when time allows, but has more or less accepted that it’s not really her calling.

misha enjoys collecting stuffed animals but has recently had to donate more than half of the ones she brought with her to the dorms because they were taking up a ridiculous amount of space. that combined with her shopping habit was practically a recipe for disaster. she still buys them, obviously, but she’s restricting herself to small, soft, cute ones that she could stuff in a suitcase, if necessary.

die-hard 2nd gen kpop fan

she was a reptile kid growing up, so she has a lot of useless knowledge about lizards and snakes stored in her pretty little head.

more than likely dresses like a combination of harper finkle and london tipton and one of those maximalist fashion girlies on tiktok

“she’s incredibly sexy, but she has to do something goofy every five seconds or she’ll die.”

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #74 - THOUGHTS

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Oh yeah, I have a review to do.

So, here we are - the penultimate issue of the Phantom Riders arc, which itself might be the climax of the ongoing Clean Sweepstakes saga, we'll see.

This issue does everything you'd expect the second-to-last issue of a major arc to do. Builds the stakes, heightens the drama, and sets everything up for a climactic showdown, and it opens up by paying off a showdown of its own, set up last issue.

Here we get Amy, Tails, Belle, Don, and the Chaotix vs. Clutch and his henchmen - with Rough and Tumble being amongst them. Last time, I mentioned that I expected this fight to go fairly quickly in the heroes' favor, wondering what it was Clutch had up FDWJFGBDhis sleeve, and it turns out...

A. I was right!

B. Nothing!

Yeah, outside of the quick hostage situation, the heroes are quickly able to fend of Clutch and co. long enough for Charmy to escape the vault carrying a data drive full of Clean Sweep's dirty deeds. Pursued by Clutch, he immediately rushes it to the bridge, resulting in this really great scene where Clutch struggles tirelessly to stop Nite from releasing the incriminating information to the public, but at every turn, the random, nameless Restoration workers throw themselves in his way - throw themselves into danger - to slow him down, even if it's just a couple seconds.

It really hammers in just how genuinely cool the Restoration is. These people are volunteers. We have no idea if they're being paid or not, but the fact of the matter is that nobody is requiring them to be here. And yet, when the chips are down, these regular folks spring into action because they believe in the Restoration and its cause, not because of how lucrative its partnership with Clean Sweep can be.

I also love Clutch's expressions throughout this issue. Over the course of this whole saga, Clutch has prided himself on being a smooth operator, remaining collected and confident as he pulls strings from the shadows. Yet, every now and again, we've seen little hints of a hidden temper within him. Hints that, when his plans don't go smoothly, he nearly falls apart. Here, we finally get to see that in full force, with Clutch absolutely melting down when all of the chips he so perfectly arranged seem to turn against him. I really like seeing him descend into petty rage.

Nite and the Restoration volunteers aren't the only ones getting badass moments here, though. Jewel herself gets a bit of spotlight when Clutch tries to take control of the shuttle and its weapons system, using her own authorization to activate the shuttle's self-destruct sequence.

Clutch, of course, doesn't take this sitting down, his tantrum coming to a head as he sets the shuttle on a crash course with the city below before wrecking the controls the prevent the course from being altered. It's kind of insane that the stakes to this story got so high when there's no tyrannical empire, no ancient gods, no sentient weapons of mass destruction. Just a crude businessman about to commit a massive war crime that will result in countless casualties.

The drama does not stop outside the shuttle though, as, in the midst of Sonic's face-off with the Diamond Cutters, Duo arrives and spills a not-insignificant can of beans:

They've been playing an interesting game with the Diamond Cutters here, with Lanolin doggedly pursuing the Phantom Rider while Tangle and Whisper know it's Sonic, and keep quiet because they assume he's acting for the greater good in some way - all the while Mimic, incognito as Duo, works to drive a wedge between them. Tensions have been rising between the DC for some time now, and it seems like they may finally come to a head here. I'm fascinated to imagine what will happen as a result of this. How will this affect Lanolin's view of herself as a leader, knowing that her own teammates didn't trust her enough to tell her about this? How will she react when she learns that Sonic's stunts as the Phantom Rider were all pulled off with the help of Dr. Eggman? What's going to happen when they all learn who Duo really is? This plot line specifically has got me really excited.

Of course, all the while, Sonic himself sees the imminent danger approaching and rushes off to handle it without a second thought, without a single care what conclusions the Diamond Cutters come to regarding his recent antics.

This arc has really done a great job at nailing down that irreverent aspect of Sonic's character. He doesn't care what laws he broke or what the consequences are. He only cares what he feels is right, and acts upon that instinct one hundred percent of the time. Radical free-agent, Sonic the Hedgehog.

We also get a neat little bit of tension between Duo and Surge as well.

This is really cool since Mimic, now faced with Surge and Kit as enemies, has to reckon with the fact that they are they only two people in the world besides Clutch who know his true identity, and the extreme danger they present to him. As he rushes with the Diamond Cutters toward the Shuttle, and the inevitable confrontation with Clutch, it's likely that his cover isn't going to last too much longer, so I'm really excited to see how this all shakes out.

And that's where Issue 74 leaves us - right in the throes of a do-or-die scenario. These past couple arcs have really been peak IDW Sonic, and this issue did a phenomenal job of bringing everything to a boiling point.

Hammerstrom was a perfect choice for this one, as his expressions really sold the drama at play here, and Froese's lines and Graham's colors consistently compliment his work perfectly. Stanley continues to be at the top of her game, and I can't wait to see how she pays all this buildup off in the next issue.

Before that, however, we have a Knuckles Anniversary Special to look forward to here in about... 20 minutes, so I'mma go read that and see what my thoughts are.

Til then, thanks for reading, and I'll catch you for the next review!

[realmeganamram]

NEPO BABY

Hey, guys! There’s been a lot of discussion going on lately and I just wanted to clear the air. I totally understand that people think I got my job because of my dad, but I definitely would have still been the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ even if my dad wasn’t God. Everyone says I would have been the Son of God even if I weren’t the son of God.

Just because my dad is famous, it doesn’t mean I don’t have merits of my own. I am a very good listener, and nice, and I have a bag that has seven million fish in it. I’m pretty embarrassed by D-d—I don’t even really like telling people my last name. When people find out that my last name is Of Nazareth, it just shuts down any conversation. How do they know it’s the same Of Nazareth? What if my dad was, like, Bill Of Nazareth, just, like, a guy with a truck and a snake? Not everyone in my family is famous. What about my mom? She’s a prude and a nobody! Her last name, Mary, isn’t well known at all! Her last name is Mary and her first name is Virgin.

You have no idea—it actually really sucks to have a famous parent. No one believes that I healed those lepers on my own. But now we’ll never know if I could have cured leprosy without the leg up my dad gave me, which is that I am magic and have the gorgeous hair of a horse you hope breeds with all the other horses. Sure, I got all this myrrh as a kid, but that myrrh lasts you only so long. And then you have to work for your own myrrh. And I worked for every inch of myrrh I ever got. Every cubic centimetre of myrrh. Every cup of it. What is myrrh?

I toiled really hard to get where I am. I went to four years of carpenter school. And, no, I don’t have student loans, because, yes, my dad invented wood, but it was still hard. I have hammered my thumbs so many times. One time, I even drove a nail all the way through my hand. It hurt so bad, and I was, like, I hope that never happens again, but then it did! I totally acknowledge my privilege, but let’s not act like other people don’t have privilege, too. I can turn water into wine, but my buddy Eric can turn water into piss. Why aren’t people obsessed with Eric’s dad?

I started from the bottom—I was born and immediately put in a manger. You’d imagine that soft hay would be in there, but no. Do you know what was in there? Four scorpions. Worse than a normal bed. I don’t even technically have my own birthday! I share it with Santa, which is antisemitic.

I’m a really good sport about things. Every time I walk into a Catholic church, there’s a good chance I’ll see myself on the Cross, being crucified. Obsessed with me much? And everyone is obsessed with drinking my blood and eating my body. It makes me feel faint. We have to talk about something else before I fall off this horse. And, before you comment about my having a fancy horse, just know that a lot of people’s dads make them horses for their sixteenth birthday.

I don’t want anyone to feel too sorry for me, but the nepo-baby thing makes me really insecure. People are just so ready to tear you down and say, “You don’t even deserve to have a really popular book about you.” I struggled with impostor syndrome for so long, but then I was able to cure it, because I can cure any disease, because I am magic, because of my dad.

All I can hope for is that, by keeping my head down and just doing the work, my legacy will finally be separate from D-d’s. At the end of my career as the Lamb of God, no one is going to think about my dad. They’ll just be, like, That’s some guy who is a really hard worker and always has, like, a hundred loaves of bread with him for some reason.

Ultimately, it boils down to talent. And I will rest easy knowing that the haters are just jealous. But I will love them anyway. Because I am the most humble person of all time.

[she-said-hello]

i want something like what u and @nsfwcarpetmuncher have so bad. i think we all deserve to hear more about u guys. we want to know everything! :3 i have a few questions.

can u describe emma?

what is she like out of her account?

is everything mostly sexual between you both or is it more than that?

really want to know what she looks like can you describe her face if shes comfortable with that?

is emma always dominate with you?

do you guys talk a lot?

how does emma make you feel?

-👻 ( from emmas inbox )

- emma (@nsfwcarpetmuncher) is absolutely wonderful. she is the kindest person ever, always so encouraging and sweet to me. she is ALWAYS there for me no matter what. we've had some really intense and difficult conversations where, in my past, people absolutely would have left me to struggle alone but she has always stayed with me and listened and helped until i told her i was okay. she shows her emotions and is vulnerable, but she's also SO fun and funny. she tells the best stories. she is also... whew... so sexy. she's able to turn conversations on me sooo quick until i literally have to drop what i'm doing and touch myself. she makes me soooo weak. loves to surprise me with unexpected photos/videos and sends lots of voice notes, which i'm obsessed with because her voice is my favorite sound in the whole world. she has the cutest laugh and most soothing voice and i swear one of the most common things i say to her is "let me hear you" or "talk to me" because i love hearing her. she is so beautiful inside and out.

- she is a lot more goofy than how she is on her account lol. the account is more for like the dominant, sexual side of emma (which i am very much obsessed with) but she isn't like that all the time. she's VERY romantic and sweet and soft and sentimental and silly

- there's definitely lots of sexual stuff, but it is absolutely more than JUST sexual. it's fun and romantic and emotional and sad sometimes but so exciting and fulfilling and so so much more than just sexual. she's my best friend, i love her to pieces.

- she posted a short video of her face a while back i believe! might just have to scroll back a bit. but oh my god she is gorgeous. she has the sweetest smile and the most beautiful green eyes. i love seeing her face just as much as any other part of her.

- as much as she'd like to say she's always in control, we BOTH know that is not the case hehehe. i am definitely very submissive with her, it just comes naturally, like i swear i turn into an puddle for her SO fast lol. HOWEVER i do know her weaknesses and have been in control at times. she acts like she hates it but i KNOW she secretly loves it ;)

- unfortunately we have a 6 hour time difference which definitely is not ideal, but we talk CONSTANTLY when we're both awake. we joke that it takes us hours to respond to everyone else but we read each other's texts immediately lol. so yes, we talk a lot.

- emma makes me feel a way nobody has ever made me feel. gonna try SO hard not to cry while typing this but am definitely failing lol. i have an overwhelming amount of insecurities and anxiety about myself and my body. because of this, i have never let anyone get close to me in a sexual way. emma has somehow managed to make me feel so comfortable from the very start. i have shown her things i would never imagine showing anyone, and she ALWAYS makes me feel so good. showers me with compliments and praise and i truly have never felt sexy before in my entire life, but the way she reacts to me actually makes me feel attractive. she makes me feel absolutely ravenous for her, like oh my GOD that woman is. incredible. cannot get enough of her and her body. truly, i will never get tired of seeing her. aside from all the extremely intense sexual feelings she gives me, she makes me feel SO loved and cared for. she makes me feel heard, and respected. she makes me feel pretty, which nobody has ever been able to make me feel. she makes me feel SO happy but also makes me cry a lot because of all the barriers between us. she makes me feel like i have something to look forward to every day, and that i have some sort of purpose because she makes it known how much she cares about hearing from me. she makes me feel at home.

[astxrwar]

graydark bucky content with more overt murder/violence vibes under the cut.

deranged!bucky x clinical psych grad student RC who’s maybe like. a friend of peter parkers or sumn. asked to provide off-the-books not-technically-therapy because he has problems with authority + acts way too antagonistic towards Official Therapists with their fancy doctorates and established practices and shit. Tony (everyone lives au for simplicity’s sake. steve imo fucked off to the woods to do art, maybe got a girlfriend or something, Does Not Do That (superhero stuff) Anymore, so i can still play around w the abandonment theme) offers to personally fund her thesis + pay her to the tune of 80k/year which is like. hell yes!! grad students make like below minimum wage when the salary is divided by typical work hours.

I just want more weird thriller vibes with Attraction That RC Should Probably Not Be Feeling but this time with kind of mean!bucky. he’s not like. actually uncaring he’s just struggling with reconciling Enjoying Killing People with like. being a not-evil person, and he’s actively hostile to the idea of giving a shit about anybody for a lot of reasons. but anyway the Plot Elements im thinking about are 1. she def tells him about her life in an attempt to Connect and he straight-up hunts down and kills a past abuser; she doesn’t know for a fact that it was him but like. her gut knows. 2. stalking. oops. i feel like it’s a given for any flavor of deranged!bucky because of the whole WS history, 3. showing up maybe at her college when she’s walking to her car in the evening paranoid she’s gonna get him sent back to prison because atp he’s opened up about the Enjoying Murder thing. which leads to a fucked up kidnapping road trip getting-together fusion. emphasis on the fucked up.

particularly imagining a scene where they stop at a truck stop or something after it’s already been established she’s not going to try to run or call for help because Bucky would probably just. kill whoever’s unfortunate enough to get involved if he thought he was under threat of jail time. anyway he tells her to stay in the car because it’s really late at night and shady as fuck and she Doesn’t and gets cornered by some dude being gross and giving sexual assault vibes whomst bucky kills in front of her by snapping his neck with his bare hands. terror + some deeply fucked part of her finding it kind of hot. something wrong with me I’m afraid

also. distinction between “not going to hurt you” and “not going to *harm* you”, little bit of sadism. for science. knife kink probably. MUTUAL knife kink.

and then underneath all the really fucked up stuff is a really fucked up but also really vulnerable core of him that’s afraid to trust and terrified of people he gets attached to leaving him. first time they fuck he holds her down w the metal hand around her throat (just. keeping it there. a little bit of a threat, mostly an act of possession. i will see myself out) final time before the end of the story it’s with his right hand. because. symbolism. and he begs her not to leave him. or. well. his version of begging which is just telling her “you did this to me (made me care about you) and now you can’t leave/I’ll follow you if you do/ you will never be able to run from me i’d find you at the end of the earth” etc. fucked up control issues speak for “please don’t leave me everyone i ever cared about always leaves”.

I just crave more dark content where RC is not like. cowering or controlled by fear. personally I go right to compartmentalizing/rationalizing under extreme stress and if i thought i might get killed by some guy I was kinda already into with no feasible way out of the situation I would be on my emotional manipulation + trying-to-hit-that game like nobody’s business (bc you’re a lot safer if they see you as a human being. yaaay criminal psychology) but maybe that’s just me being nuts

[elainsweetcobalt]

Hi, I saw that a court of thought answered this anon and I am sure that she is talking about you... fyi

"I saw your back and forth with one of the nastiest El/riels in the fandom and I wish I could have saved you from the effort to talking to a wall. I'm not surprised to see her reputation continues to set the way for her and her friends. Her phrasing and condescending "sweet girl" attitude is super easy to put together, she is fooling no one. She is also OBSESSED with some of the big Gwynriels in the fandom.

My suggestion block her, and while you can't stop them from using burner accounts, if they go through the effort of stalking you, says more about them at the end of the day.

I can't believe we have to remind people these are fictional characters, shipping characters should be fun and lighthearted. Someone shipping another potential couple is not life and death and it gives nobody the right to behave like a scorned lover out for blood and revenge.

Elain IS NOT REAL. What she thinks she is feeling is a projection of her own limited interpretation of the text. It is laughable how much some people take for face value vs taking in all the context. If SJM wants Elain and Lucien to be together, guess what, SHE WILL PUT THEM TOGETHER. For someone who is getting multiple degrees, I'm genuinely concerned of the education they've received if they don't understand consistent patterns. Imagine thinking Elain wearing blue is sign of endgame but Gwyn's bracelet with blue caused an uproar. Mor wears red, does that mean she is truly Cassian's mate. Oh Emerie is associated with purple, Feyre, out the way dear, Emerie was Rhy's true mate all this time. There is a reason El/riel's jumped ship in 2021 and their engagement is dropping. Not the other way around. T"

her response.

A young girl referring to others as "honey" and "sweetie" in a condescending way is pretty much a calling card for immaturity. So is throwing around the degree they were obtaining at 20, acting like it proves how serious and superior they are to all others even though a few years later they are taking delight in instigating fandom drama.

My sister has two degrees and she completely lacks common sense. My husband has a Masters, can build a computer from scratch and code a video game but often struggles with adulting.

My father in law dropped out of high school at age 16 yet managed to work his way up to Vice President of a company in New York City (before his retirement), where he traveled all over the world and ended up having box seats for Super Bowls.

Degrees are wonderful but many times, they don't mean much of anything except for someone's ability to memorize information. And they definitely don't make someone more mature.

And the point you were making about the characters and their colors is valid. They latch on to something so long as it supports their ship while acting like there is no possible meaning behind it if it comes to another.

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters in this fandom is trying to get into the head of SJM by paying attention to her patterns and writing style.

It doesn't matter who is a doctor, who is a lawyer, who is an author themselves, who is a server, who is a psychologist.

None of that matters because SJM could care less about what any of us do or whether her characters are following the patterns we expect of them. She only cares about what SHE wants and where her characters take her and our personal lives really don't factor in to any of that.

Truly, the only way we can get a leg up on the future of the series is pay attention to the type of author she is, the romance she prefers, and what she's done with characters in the past.

I've been following you for quite a while and I haven't seen you being nasty or any of the things she says, I hope that doesn't affect you.

Hello Anon! Ok I'll start with this sigh First, why is this so long?

I don't know what reputation they're talking about or how I'm such a nasty person, I also don't know what big Gwynriel accounts I'm obsessed with when I only interacted with a gwynriel once and it wasn't a BIG account. If someone wants to call me a witch, go ahead but at least have proof of that.

We all know that they are fictional characters, I never said that it's not funny how this person uses that argument and immediately tries to embarrass my professional education, I have NEVER used my professional title to validate my arguments, I think that only the people closest to me know what I do for a living, I did not say hey I studied this so my argument is more valid, so as usual they are simply a lot of lies.

about the response of A court of thought, I don't think I can say much. I'm glad her family is well and multitalented I guess.

I never thought that the word "Dear" was an insult and I didn't think that would lead someone to insult me because of my age someone who had already tried to shame me for my age before. I'm 24 not 14 please, or tell me directly that "must respect my elders", nor that someone treated me like an idiot and after blocking me edited their reblogs.

I'm tired of condescension and hypocrisy, among other things in this fandom. Thanks for reaching out, and I hope you continue to follow me and enjoy the content I post, but it's not worth the time or frustration. She can say what she wants, but those who know me know the truth.