#but i was trying to finish mako first

[hollywoodsargeant]

for the wip words thing: 'hand' maybe???

hand pops up a lot bc they are always touching each other but this one was the most enticing i think

That train of thought is interrupted when he feels someone move next to him. Like there’s— another fucking person in his bed, a hand pressing knuckles into the very bottom of his rib cage. “Why’re you awake?” the—stranger, or something—says from next to him, and the first thing about it Oscar processes is male and American accent, and then his brain supplies him with an image of Logan Sargeant, and he has to close his eyes and shut that thought up before it gets too big.

the stranger is kyle kirkwood

[mintjuliee]

Panel preview of the momboss and detectiveson fan comic I am working on :)

[sephifrog]

so we're property huh?

sephiroth x reader

Cleaning the training room after the firsts destroyed it wasn’t how you wanted to spend your afternoon but after the stunt you pulled on your last mission you were surprised Lazard didn’t give you a harsher punishment. You knew you shouldn’t have left your post. Wiping away the sweat from your brow you almost smacked yourself when you heard someone clear their throat, you spun and saw Sephiroth in the doorway, a man who seemed so untouchable why was he here? Were you cleaning the wrong ruined training room? “O-oh? uh hey?” your stutter, something a lot of the soldiers joked about, caused you to narrow your eyebrows and clear your throat missing the small chuckle that left the man.

The silver-haired general was the whole reason you (and a lot of others) joined Shinra power company, you wanted to meet the legend but after years of only catching glimpses of him, you gave up on that dream and transferred from soldier candidate to inventory grunt, still a decent pay but less work at least that's what you told yourself.

So seeing him here was a shock. “I lost something when I was training you don’t mind if I look for it?” His voice was smoother than you thought it would be, hearing it through speakers didn’t do it justice and you could feel your face warm up as it rang through your ears. You almost couldn’t answer but willed yourself to choke out a noise that you hoped sounded like a “sure”

Tearing your eyes away from him you start to tidy again wondering what he lost, unsure if you should offer your help or if that would seem like you're trying to pry. In the end, you decide on just finishing the task the director gave you. While your back is turned Sephiroth peaks at you, he feels like he’s seen you before but can't place where, he hasn’t spent much time with inventory but he’s sure you weren't employed last time he worked with them. As he opens his mouth to ask an almost silent laugh is ripped out of him as you slip and start to grumble. Moving towards you he offers his hand and when your eyes meet he can't help but be taken by the colour, so beautiful, only snapping out of it when he spots the mako. “You had treatments?”

It was a whisper curious in nature almost childlike, his thin pupils seemed to have locked onto the remnants of mako swirling in your eyes. Interest is clear on his face as he observes yours closely.

You almost couldn’t respond to him, too lost in his eyes and feeling your heart race from him being so close but you cleared your throat.

“A while ago, before I transferred”

His lips press together as he pulls you up, eyes trailing over your body in interest.

“The mako didn’t take? I don't think I've heard of many transfers”

Again you noted curiosity in him as he asked, it put you a bit more at ease seeing him so human. He let go of your hand and started to continue his search but you could see he was still listening to you.

“Eh, they took but I didn’t want to stay so I transferred, I would have left but the contract says we can’t until the mako leaves our system, something that I don’t think will ever happen” you grumble the last sentence but snap your mouth shut realising who you're talking to.

He laughs nodding in agreement. “You would be correct, Shinra likes keeping their property close” His voice wasn’t harsh but his words seemed to be angry, you could tell it wasn't directed at you when he cleared his throat and looked away. the air seemed tense as you turned to continue cleaning the tinkering of metal rang out as you swept it up.

“We could continue to talk smack about Shinra over coffee?”

You froze as the words slipped out of your mouth, nervous laughter bubbling up but before it spilled out-

he responded.

“I would like that”

[ben-talks-art]

Lin Beifong has no wins in Legend Of Korra

Something that always bothered me in regards to the way this series treated the character of Lin was the fact that it never felt like any of Lin's victories actually gave the feeling of being victories.

Maybe it's because it's been years since I watched this show, and I'm being selective in what I choose to remember, and I'm just unintentioanlly choosing to remember the bad over the good... but it feels like this series just felt a lot more comfortable dunking on Lin than actually trying to raise her up... And that kinda annoys me a little.

Lin is part of this character achetype that I like to call "The Antisocials", people who, because of personal events in their past, prefer to avoid or have trouble dealing with others. She's basically meant to be the "Zuko" of the team.

I really like this trope, and I really like to see the earth element getting some love, so I was really excited to see Lin getting her moments to shine and kick some ass in the series... Which... for some reason doesn't feel all that prevalent.

Now, don't get me wrong, when Lin needs to fight, she WILL fight, and she looks cool while doing it... But when it comes to her more memorable moments, her getting defeated sadly feels more frequent than her getting some victories.

Like... Let's take a moment to count her Ls:

She got dumped by Tenzin after another woman seduced him

A terrorist started to attack her city and kept getting away from her

She was unable to stop her men from getting captured and losing their powers

Eventually she herelf got captured and lost her bending

She's constantly getting mocked and looked down upon by other characters

Her own sister left a scar on her face while committing a crime and faced basically no consequences, only to years later have a life filled with success while Lin is all alone

Her own mother acts like she couldn't care less about her struggles

Neither of the two ever gave Lin a proper apology and instead just tried to pull an Mirabel from "Encanto" and tell her to get over it

She basically played no role in all of season 2

And when she tired to face her family about her problems she was simply treated as the one in the wrong

Now let's count her "wins:"

She allowed Tenzin's family to get away from Amon in season 1... At the cost of her getting captured... Only for the family itself to get caught later anyway

She saved Korra from falling, which allowed Amon to get away with her men

In season 3 she gets clobbered by the combustion woman so her sister can land the finishing blow

and In season 4 she tries to rescue her family, only to nearly fail and needing to be saved by her mother, who proceeds to give her the most bare-bones of moments of reconciliation, because God forbid we let our fan-favorite character from the first series show a little humility for her own daughter in her moment of weakness

It just felt like the show was afraid of ever letting Lin be a badass and giving her a real win moment.

It doesn't even need to be a battle win. She could have had a moment with Korra where she teaches her some life lesson, or teach her how to metal bend and listen to the earth, or she could have had some scenes where her actions save the day, like, how come she never gets to save her sister and mother but both of them end up saving her? Or even some character moments like her bonding with Mako, or Tenzin's kids or something... I don't think she even really interacts with anyone in a meaningfull way.

If you were to ask me who her best friend in the series was, I would have no idea what to say.

Her biggest "win" in the series was getting to wake up all happy after "solving" her personal demons, an act she achieved by... fighting her sister and venting out all her anger, I guess.

I don't know if it's just me but Lin's victories on the show all feel so shallow, as if they were telling us she was achieving things instead of actually feeling like she was. At times, she felt like the show's punching bag. Insted of being the Zuko of the story, she came more as the Squidward.

Someone who's there just to lose to the villains and make them look strong and making other characters look cool while they save her with her big lesson being that she needs to learn to be less grumpy.

Lin should be so easy to make cool! Like, you see her design, her powers and abilities, her personality, her verstility for several different types of action scenes and versatility for also different interactions with the rest of the cast...

But instead it felt like they were throwing darts at a wall trying to pick a different way to dunk on her every time, as if they were afraid of makiing her too cool.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being salty and petty because I wish more had been done with her and that's causing me to only focus on the negatives, making them look and sound a lot worse than they actually were, while also ignoring all the big positives about her time on the screen...

But sometimes it felt to me like the show was more interested in hyping up everyone else and giving them a moment to shine over Lin.

Like, again, her own sister got to take down one of the big members of the Red Lotus, and she basically becomes one of the main characters in season 4, while Toph gets to train and help heal Korra.

These two got to look so much cooler in just two seasons than Lin got to look in all 4, and I can't even fully enjoy them being cool because all I keep thinking when I look at them is "You two did Lin dirty."

If they had had an actual honest earned moment of reconciliation, I feel like I would be in heaven watching both of them kicking ass, cause again, I love the earth element, but instead I would just be "God, I wish this was Lin doing all this cool stuff instead."

I'm not exactly sure what the mindset was behind the way they wanted to handle her, not sure if there was studio interference, or mismanagement, or if Nickelodeon's meddling affected things, or what...

I'm just trying to say, I feel like Lin deserved better. I still like her character a lot but I can't help but feel even more could have been done with her.

[sebbywrites]

Training Camp Shenanigans (Nekoma & reader)

Summary: As a former club volleyball player, the reader is a great manager for the Nekoma boys team. She's just one to get into trouble when she isn't being so serious...

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

(Y/n) (L/n). A third year now at Nekoma High School. You played Volleyball the entirety of your junior high years, and had a massive love for it; you even played for the High School girls' volleyball team in your first year. 

That is until you had broken your arm on a vacation over break to visit your family in America. It had taken a lot longer to heal because you still tried to practice with it broken, which your doctor yelled at you about. You were just lucky it was your non-dominant arm. 

So here you were, at a volleyball training camp, not playing. The reason being that while your bones had healed, you were still “baby guarding” your once broken arm, and trying to build back your muscle and strength in it. That ultimately made you quit playing competitive volleyball for the girls' team, which they understood, but were still sad to see you quit.

Starting the second half of your second year, you began managing the Boys' volleyball team. Coach Nekomata was also keen on letting you give them tips, from one player to another. 

Although your experiences differed greatly, you were an excellent player when it came to volleyball. 

That and the boys on the team absolutely adored you. 

Right now, they are doing a penalty lap of “penguins” (as you call them) after losing a match to Fukurodani. In a kenma-like fashion, you pulled out your phone and began playing Bejeweled.  

All too soon, your phone disappeared from your hands. You looked up to glare at the culprit, That’s my focus game, asshole!

“Haaah? What are you, 70 years old?”

“If your penguins are over with, a call out would’ve worked just fine,” you hissed. You tried to snatch your phone out of the taller boy’s hand, but he countered, holding it high above your head. 

You glared, “I swear, Kuroo, I’m coming for your kneecaps..”

“Eh?”

Kuroo stared at you blankly, and you took the opportunity to jump up and take your phone out of his loosened grip. 

Sometimes he forgets how good of an athlete you are, formerly or not.

“Come on, the next match is about to start.”

“R-right...”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You were now refilling the water bottles for the team, humming a random tune. The last match of the day was still going, but you also knew that all of the teams would start their free practice after a short break, and you would have to go help out making dinner.

Then again, you could probably get out of it because you were terrible in the kitchen. Given that it was day one of the week-long training camp, you could probably be banned from the kitchen for the rest of the training camp.

You grimaced at the thought. 

“What are you thinking about?”

You jumped, almost dropping the water bottle in your hands. You turned your head to see Yaku looking at you with a small smile on his face. 

You laughed, “Ahaha, nothing much, just how I have to finish filling the water bottles and go help out with dinner.”

Immediately, Yaku started freaking out given your history with cooking.

From the doorway to the gym, Lev stared at the two of you yelling at each other.

“Uhh...”

Kuroo and Bokuto were chatting just behind Lev, the former taking notice of the first year’s lack of movement.

“Oi! Lev, if you have time to stand around then you can start working on your spikes!”

The platinum blond jumped. “Right!”

He took a moment to turn and ask Kuroo what was happening between Yaku and their short-ass manager.

Kuroo’s eyebrow twitched, while Bokuto started laughing his ass off at the two of you outside the gym.

“...I don’t know.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

After somehow setting the rice cooker on fire Kiyoko-san and Mako-san immediately banned you from cooking for the rest of the week. They didn’t even want you to do the dishes. 

While you expected this, it still hurt your feelings. 

Dejected, you started walking towards the gyms to let everyone know that dinner would be ready in about an hour. 

“Oya?”

Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Tsukishima turned their attention away from their practice as you dejectedly entered the gym. 

“Chibi-chan!” 

Bokuto excitedly ran up to you and started chattering away. He left you absolutely no room to talk, making enough noise for everyone present. 

“A-ah, Bokuto...”

Akaashi sighed, walking up with Kuroo to shut up their owl-like friend.

“Sorry, (Y/n)-chan,” Akaashi said.

You laughed, now pulled out of your mood for getting kicked out of the kitchen. “It’s ok Akaashi-kun, I know how he is.”

“I know.”

Kuroo bent down (almost uncomfortably since he was a foot taller than you) to wrap an arm around your shoulder as you deadpanned. His signature smirk was plastered on his face, giving you a bad feeling.

“Oya oya, (Y/n)~” Uh oh. “Why don’t you help us teach this baby bird with blocking?”

Of course, he asked that... you thought with a twitch of your brow.

You sighed heavily, “I was only supposed to come let you guys know you have another hour before dinner is ready.”

“You got kicked out of the kitchen didn’t you?”

You froze. “Ho- Why would you think that???” you started laughing nervously.

“You can’t cook for shit, (Y/n), we all expected this,” Kuroo deadpanned.

“Yeah...”

“So...” His signature smirk made its way back to his face as he geared up to ask you again. “Help us teach him how to block? Spike some balls for us?”

After thinking about it for a moment with a pout on your face, you gave in. “Fine, I’ll spike for you guys.” 

“HEY HE-!”

“But only if you agree to stop making fun of me for playing Bejeweled.”

Now it was Kuroo’s turn to be shocked, slightly pulling away from your much shorter form. “You’re still mad about that!?”

He regained his composure as Bokuto and even Tsukishima laughed at you two.

“Fine, but I still don’t get why you play a game for old people.”

You scowled, then swiped your leg back to push in his knees harshly.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You figured something like this would happen, so you brought your volleyball gear with you to the training camp. 

After you agreed to help the boys in the third gym out, you did still have to go inform everyone else about dinner. Afterward, you changed and headed back to the gym. 

There were still 45 minutes left until dinner should be ready once you found your way back to the third gym. 

Some of the other school’s players noticed you walking past the gyms again in your volleyball gear, shoes in hand. A certain duo took special notice and went to Daichi for answers.

“Huh? Ah you mean the Nekoma manager?”

“Is that who she is!?” Hinata asked excitedly. 

“Y-yeah,” Daichi replied. “She was one of the regulars for the girls' team up until last spring.”

“So cool!”

“Regular?” Kageyama inquired. “Then why is she their manager now?  Shouldn’t she be playing for the girls' team?”

“Ah, well, from what I heard she had an injury that made her switch gears. However, a friend of mine from Tokyo said that she was well on her way to becoming the ace of the Nekoma girls' team.”

“No way...!”

As you stepped back into the third gym, putting on your beloved volleyball shoes and then beginning your warmup, you also watched the two idiots and Akaashi giving a quick lecture to Tsukishima.

“Ah! Welcome back Chibi-chan!”

“I’m all warmed up now, so whenever you want to get to the play I’m ready,” you replied with a smile.

Kuroo asked Akaashi to go set for you on the other side of the net, while he, Bokuto, and Tsukishima would try to block.

You threw up the ball toward the second-year setter, then ran up for the hit.

You had complete focus on the ball, and the three very tall boys on the other side of the net. 

What none of them knew, was that for the past few weeks, you gathered up your friends from the girls' team and had them help you practice. You were still a bit unpolished in your movements after not playing seriously for such a long time, but none of that seemed to matter at that moment.

The cold, serious look on your face as you spiked the ball with such power scared even Kuroo, who was very used to playing with you during practices. He’d never seen such a look on your face. 

It unnerved him.

Nonetheless, he had set the timing for the block almost perfectly. Unfortunately, you aimed directly for glasses’ slightly spread-out arms. 

Your spike went directly between his arms like a hot knife through butter. 

It was exhilarating.

Tsukishima stared at the ball falling behind him in shock. He was absolutely sure you had no chance of going between his arms like you did, or through any of the three for that matter. 

“Aghhh, I should’ve expected that from (Y/n),” Kuroo commented. “Well, if that’s how she’s going to play, it looks like we might have to match her energy.”

The rooster-haired boy grinned with a determined look in his eye.

“Alright Tsukishima, let’s do it again,” the blond glanced at Kuroo as they set up their block again. “Remember, though, more experienced spikers like (Y/n) here will look for even the slightest hesitation, or the smallest opening in your stance and position. It’s important to keep that in mind.”

“R-right...”

“I’m going againnn!” you called out.

“Oonnne, two!”

Needless to say, the 5 of you came back after dinner to continue practicing (although Tsuki was dragged back against his will).

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was day 3 of the training camp when Kuroo and Yaku came to both you and Coach Nekomata with a special request.

“E-eh!? Why do you want me to join in on the practice? I should be taking notes a-and getting the waters and-”

“Well,” Yaku began, “We know you’re still a really good player, (N/n)-chan.”

“And, we know you still need some practice yourself,” Kuroo added.

You scowled. “Kindly fuck off, Tetsuro.”

“(L/n).”

“Sorry, Coach.”

The old man looked back at his two third-year players, “I’ll allow it.” You and the boys smiled excitedly. “But, let me talk it over with the other coaches first. While they may or may not know how good of a player she is, this is still a training camp for the boys' teams, so they might be against it anyway.”

You three deflated visibly but understood where the coach was coming from. 

This training camp isn’t for me as a player, so I don’t really understand why they would ask...

You looked down at your hands.

It can’t be helped... I quit on my own. It’s no one’s fault or responsibility but mine that I haven’t played in any matches. 

“-/n)? (Y/n)-chan?” Yaku called to you with a softness in his voice. 

He had immediately picked up on your change in mood at the shutdown of the request from him and Kuroo. The latter had also picked up on it, seeing as he had been a close friend of yours since your junior high days. 

He knew just how painful it was for you to not play, it’s why he convinced the Coaches to let you in on practice rather than just take notes for the team from the sidelines. 

Nekomata hadn’t ever seen you play until the first time you joined in on practice for 3 on 3 matches on a trial run. Kuroo’s lame excuse was that since you were a player yourself as well as their manager, you would have a better time gauging their strengths and weaknesses if you witnessed them firsthand in a match. It wasn’t necessarily wrong, as it certainly did help you gauge their abilities better, but it was still an idiotic excuse.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Nekomata gathered the team together in front of the bench. Their two-hour lunch break had just ended, starting the practice matches back up.

You had yet to make your appearance back at the gym. No one knew why just yet, but a certain third-year duo had an inkling.

They were correct of course.

Just as Nekomata finished his little speech with the team and sent them off to warm up, you entered the gym in full volleyball attire.

“You see, our manager was a star player on our school’s girl team. She’s just as tenacious as those boys are, but I think it may also be a good learning opportunity for all of the teams.” Nekomata explained to the other coaches. 

“Huh?”

“I get that she was a player before, but...”

Keishen and Takeda shared a look with one another before the former spoke up. 

“We’d like to go along with it.” Ukai looked around the cafeteria to the players and other managers. “It’s a bit unorthodox, but because she’s a third year, and from what I’ve seen of her games-” Nekomata gave the young coach a look of surprise at that comment- “Nekoma’s manager is a force to be reckoned with.”

“Is that so...” Shinzen’s coach said.

Nekomata pulled you aside as you were refilling the water bottles a while before the practice matches were to start back up. 

“I talked to the other coaches about your request.”

“Chibi-chan is playing!?” Bokuto practically screamed.

Akaashi looked up from their team circle in surprise, as did many other players around the gym, including the resident God-like quick duo.

You tried to act nonchalant about it, but it was starting to be really hard not to focus on all the eyes on you courtesy of the other boys in the gym. 

Yaku grinned in delight. Kuroo gave his signature grin. Kenma looked a bit surprised at your small frame in volleyball gear, but quickly returned to save his game before starting warm-ups. Even Yamamoto had started crying.

“ACK!” Lev scooped you up into his arms and squeezed you as he cheered.

“L-Le-Lev!” 

“OI!” Yaku quickly kicked the back of the first-year’s knees, allowing you to breathe again. Once you were accounted for as safe from Lev, Yaku began berating the first year for quote-unquote “ALMOST KILLING OUR POOR MANAGER” .

You and many others sweat dropped at the two. 

“Uhh, Yaku? We need to warm up now...” you gently patted his shoulder.

You were nervous since the Nekoma boys were the only boys you’ve ever played against, but as soon as you had begun the first match of the afternoon all of your fears melted away. 

Once you were rotated into the match against Fukurodani, switching out with Kuroo, you gave a signal behind your back to tell the team the play you wanted to use. 

You know every single one of their strengths, weaknesses, and plays. You and the Coaches had come up with a large majority of them together, and you studied each player like you were going to have a pop quiz on the team at any given moment. Not to mention you practiced with them literally all the time.  

Bokuto and Akaashi knew you were good, but during the first set, they greatly underestimated just how good you had gotten since the last time they joined Nekoma in a practice match (which was only a few months, but you had also been putting in a lot of work to get back up to your previous level and then some). 

You guys didn’t win the match against the Owls, but it left a mark on their psyche at how close it had ended. 

Scary... they Fukurodani players thought to themselves. 

“What’s your analysis on the players, (L/n)?” Coach asked after your penalties. 

You used a towel to wipe some sweat off your face, staring into the ground blankly. 

“...They’re good,” you said. “But we can also be better. The next time we go against them, I think whenever Bokuto is on the court we need to give him more kill blocks than soft blocks. We gave him way too many soft blocks this time around, myself included.”

“You heard her,” Coach clapped. “Shut down more of #4’s spikes next time, but if you do find the need to intentionally get a one-touch, I advise you to do that as well. Sometimes it can’t be helped, to be honest...”

Nekomata grinned, seeing that Karasuno just got their asses handed to them by Ubugawa. They just started on their dive-receive penalties. 

“We’re against Karasuno next,” Kenma mumbled. 

“That’s right! Lev and (L/n)-senpai were gone for our practice match against them, and those two haven’t shown their ‘weird quick’ yet in front of her,” Inuoka commented.

“Weird quick...?” you inquired. 

Kuroo and Kenma started talking about it. 

“It’s fuckin fast.”

“It’s Shouyo and Kageyama’s extremely fast quick attack.”

You put a hand to your chin, thinking about something. 

The team left you to think, getting into position.

You and Yaku, the last ones to leave the team huddle, started talking strategy for the next match, although Yaku assured you this should be an easy one to win; they were all out of sync and still trying to perfect their new quick attack with Hinata’s eyes open now. Their star players were pretty shitty right now, you had to admit. 

You also knew though, that the second they got their shit together your team would be in an uphill battle. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was the last day of the training camp. You were excited to finally head home soon, but you would certainly miss seeing your new friends.

Over the course of the training camp, Kuroo and Kenma introduced you properly to some of the players from Karasuno. 

Kuroo had to admit though that he was jealous at the instant click between you and Sugawara, though; it almost made him regret introducing the two of you. This is because while you were a pretty serious person in and out of games, you were an absolute menace to society. Daichi felt the same about Sugawara, just he was exceptionally polite and kind to mask his menace personality (for the most part). 

And because it was the last day, Suga and yourself roped some others into participating in a prank war. 

It started with you replacing Suga’s water for soy sauce in the middle of a game when no one was looking, as retaliation for him putting a shit ton of curry powder in your curry and you had to, uh, retire for the rest of the night. However, what you didn’t know was that you managed to put it in Daichi’s water bottle instead because you were panicking about getting caught by Suga, Kiyoko, or their Coaches.

Daichi thought it was Tanaka and Nishinoya that replaced his water, who in turn thought it had to have been someone like Yamamoto, who thought it was Lev, and so on and so forth. The only people who suspected you of the ‘crime’ were Kuroo, Kenma, and Yaku; they had known you the longest and knew about your... habits. They also knew what had happened with your dinner the previous night, and had the suspicion that you wanted payback. 

Things didn’t get any easier at the celebratory lunch, either. You somehow acquired water balloons and got Bokuto, Hinata, Kageyama, Inuoka, and a couple of others from the other teams to join you in wreaking havoc.

“Ahhh, youth,” Nekomata said at the sight of the large group of high schoolers screaming their heads off while getting absolutely pummeled by the small group of idiots with water balloons.

Keishin Ukai stared at the sight in both horror and shock.

“(Y/NNNNN) (LLL/NNNNN)!”

You froze at the sound of an irritated Kuroo. Yaku was close behind the tall rooster-head, equally if not more irritated. You slowly and mechanically turned to make eye contact with them.

Uh oh.

“Hey, hey....” Kuroo drawled. 

“Tet-Testu I didn’t-”

He and Yaku started sizing you up and you prepared to run for your life.

“(Y/n)....” Yaku muttered when they were within a short distance of you. “GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!!”

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!” You screamed as your favorite fellow third years started chasing you, both soaking wet and attempting to beat your ass like irritated parents.

“I’M SORRYYYYYYY! PLEASE I DON’T WANT TO GET WET IT WAS A JOKE! I SWEEEEAAAAARRRRRR!”

“YOU AREN’T ESCAPING THIS ONE, GET BACK HERE!”

Some had paused their war to look at you getting chased by the Nekoma captain and libero. They watched as you got violently tackled at the top of the hill and then came rolling back down.

Daichi had already corralled his evildoers and was in the middle of scolding them. He paused to smile at the antics before going back into his Dad Mode™ and continuing to yell at his teammates.

“Right.... Youth....” Ukai spit out. 

[firstknightvulion]

Brainrot has taken over. Spoilers ahead. Be warned.

Finished the Gongaga Reactor fights last night.

Just cause I haven’t seen anyone talk about this yet.

Right after killing another one of Hojo’s experiments.

Cloud was helpless in this scene. Mako poisoning. Dragged around by Barret. I can only imagine the mishmash that is his headspace. Probably didn’t know who he is. I mean, more than usual.

Then Tifa is attacked and it’s clear as day. In a second, he’s back. Physically and mentally, laser-guided. And I think that is a very important aspect of his psyche. He forgets so much but the promise, the desire to protect Tifa is so damn foundational to Cloud. Even when he swung his sword under Sephiroth’s influence, he didn’t cut Tifa. There was no wound or blood. And as evidenced by the Trooper Massacre, it was not a lack of skill. Some part of him was trying his hardest not to kill her.

Which is why I believe Sephiroth was messing with Cloud and Tifa’s relationship specifically. He knows she is his rock. His foundation. In the scene with the Weapon, Sephiroth wasn’t trying to kill the planet protecting Kaiju. He was trying to kill her. Without her, Cloud would be just another Black Robe stumbling along.

I love how these two, young nobodies from Sephiroth’s past he barely remembers, are the one-two punch that knocks him on his ass. Especially in the OG game. The ‘literally who’ aspect of his demise in the original is so cathartic and funny.

Aerith was the threat in the broader context. The Last Cetra. Wielder of Holy. She lays the foundation but Cloud and Tifa are the ones (plus everyone else) that see it through.

Anyway, playing Rebirth is like playing the game again for the first time. It’s so good.

Now here’s a funny:

Also, I love the fact that most of my Cloti stuff was before I got to play that game. I didn’t know the party would have so many Cloti shippers. Feels good.

[sirazaroff]

Find your 3 oldest WIPS. Then list for each:

The inspiration- Why it's still a WIP- Will you finish- Why or why not-

Try not to mean to yourself!

Hey ol friend :> I didn’t get to answer your previous ask so I’ll get to this one quicker.

————————

I don’t tend to have much wips, I either finish things or just go scorched earth to it. Luckily I do have some to show.

My “oldest” cause I’m sure there’s older but:

It’s Mako and Minako. It was for an ask I think? The pose I had in mind was complicated to create without a reference and I ended up not finding one in time to keep the momentum going so I just ditched this. It’ll probably stay that way too. Tbh should delete it

Second:

I made this back when first coming up with the Blake and Velvet swapping outfits. Was just gonna be Velvet so I was like ‘let’s go all in lol’ but then I just kinda idk found it too silly to wanna continue. ‘Cringe’ maybe. Ended up doing Blake and her both there to show the swap and liked that a lot more. So you can say the wip is ‘done’ cause it’s a new idea.

Third:

This is a comic idea I posted some months ago on twt. It’s been on the back burner for a while cause comics take a while and I wanted to make finished illustrations instead. Based off the idea where Velvet couldn’t stand to use the only photo she had of Ruby for a weapon. The fun thing about this is recently I picked it back up so it’s now a proper wip again

Lmao neked ppl. This is gonna take a while so you guys won’t hear from me for a bit ✨

Okay that’s all yippie yahoo

[orangepanic]

Finished Fic: Smoke

It's finally done! My fic for this year's @wipbigbang is one of my longest-running WIPs and also one of my personal favorites. My apologies and thanks to anyone still waiting to find out what happens to Equalist!Asami and her unexpected lover - I hope the ending is both satisfying and believable.

Story Title: Smoke

Fandom: Avatar: Legend of Korra

Summary: When General Iroh is captured during the Battle of Yue Bay, it's up to Asami to extract information from him that will win the Equalist revolution. By any means necessary.

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, major character death, suicide attempt, major character injury

Characters: Iroh II, Asami Sato, Hiroshi Sato, Amon | Noatak, Amon's Lieutenant, Tarrlok, Mako, Lin Beifong, Zuko, Izumi, Original Equalist Characters

Pairing: Iroh II/Asami Sato, other background pairings (some canon, some not)

When I Started: February! February 2021, that is. Eek.

How I Lost My Shit: Most people who know my writing know I'm a die-hard panster, so while I had a loose idea of how this fic would go from the beginning I of course didn't write that. This was my first time writing a real Enemies to Lovers (like literally they try to kill each other a lot) and I found that as a consequence of that I needed to make changes to the story along the way in order to fit the genre. A big decision was to slow down the action to make the romance believable, and another was to flesh out more of the Equalists and their operation in order to avoid a "good guy good and smart, bad guy bad and dumb" dynamic which wouldn't support the kind of story I wanted to tell. All this in turn led to a time skip and whole second half to the fic that I hadn't anticipated followed by a few long breaks myself while I tried to figure out where the story needed to go from there and who with. Mostly because the main characters both wound up killing people I hadn't planned for and so there was a whole legal thing I had to puzzle through that eventually ruled out the original ending I'd had in mind. Nobody listens to me, you know? And I now know an awful lot about immunity and extradition.

How I Finished My Shit: @chocolate-cringymuffin, an existing reader of this fic, incredible artist, and dear fandom friend, agreed to be my artist for the WIP Big Bang. I could NOT let them down. There's really nothing more motivating than fan art from someone who cares about your story. I might not have finished this fic without their enthusiasm. I certainly wouldn't have finished it today.

ALSO CHECK OUT THEIR BOMB-ASS ART!!!! HOLYYYYY CRAP!!! It's so beautiful I'm crying. They're so happy. I also love the choice of scene, which comes at a part of the fic where I think both of them really commit to letting the past be the past and their new life together.

A/N: Thank you so much to the mods of @wipbigbang for putting on this event again! It's a great forcing function. I also want to give a shout out to @alishatheninth who, while not a beta reader, gave me a lot of feedback that I needed to hear about what was working and what wasn't early in the fic and in general has been an invaluable critic and cheerleader on this grand adventure. Alisha, I'm lucky to know you and I'm sorry I killed your favorite LOK character in a truly horrible way. Mostly.

[beneathstarryskies]

hihi! may i request what a nightly routine looks like with cloud?

Cloud is quiet by nature and is pretty easy to settle into a routine with. He appreciates it a lot too since his thoughts can still sometimes become scattered even all these years later. 

He prefers to have separate routines to an extent, especially when it comes to grooming. Even if you’ve been together for a while, he’ll be a little shy about stuff like showering together. And he enjoys having a little bit of personal time to unwind. 

That being said there are certain things that integrate into your nightly routine together that Cloud really loves, and the fact that he’s willing to stick with them is proof of how dedicated he is to you and your life together. 

The things he insists upon doing together include all aspects of dinner (cooking, eating, cleaning up), at least a little while of quality time, and then cuddling before bed. Cloud gets a little grumpy if you break these parts of the routine.

You’ve been busy lately. Cloud wants to be supportive, he really does. He knows you’re not purposely ignoring him or throwing things off balance. Yet, you are. For the last few nights, you’ve eaten dinner separately since you’ve come home so late or even picked something up so you could stay longer at work. He was trying so hard to be patient, but dammit he missed you. 

His longing for your company made him feel weak inside and he was too embarrassed to even know how to voice things. So instead, he’s been grumpy. You’re greeted with soft grunts and pouts when you come home. At least you still cuddle before bed…

Except for when you stopped. It happened two nights in a row. The first night, Cloud was so worried he was sitting up for most of the night on the couch waiting for you. He’d fallen asleep eventually, and you’d felt too guilty to wake him up. So you draped a blanket over him before heading to bed. 

The next night, when he gets ready for bed you’re still up typing away on your laptop. He tosses and turns, trying to fall asleep without feeling you in his arms. A few hours later, he’s just dozing off when he feels you slip into bed beside him. You fall asleep immediately. 

On the third night, Cloud has had enough. You at least have dinner with him, but when he gets out of the shower you’re still working away on your laptop. He goes through his usual routine of brushing his hair and cleaning his sword. He checks his delivery schedule for the next day. You’re still working. 

He lays down on the bed and watches television for a while. You pad through to take your shower, and he’s eagerly waiting for you to get out. Maybe this time, you’ll give him his nightly cuddles. He wants to be so close to you. He wants to hold you in his arms and feel your fingers run through his hair so soft. Instead, as soon as you’re out of the shower you’re about to dash towards your desk again. Cloud is intercepting you. His jaw is tight and his lips are knitted in a stern frown. His mako-blue eyes are fixed firmly on your face. 

“Enough,” he says. 

“Enough what? I’m busy-” 

“I know,” he sighs. “Too busy to spend time with me.” 

Your eyes widen, and you see Cloud’s face harden even more as he tries to cover up the vulnerability he’d let show. 

“Cloud, I…No, that’s not what I meant.” 

“Forget it, whatever,” he sighs before letting go of your hands. 

“Cloud, wait, don’t-” 

“I’m going to bed.” 

You watch in defeat when he lays down. You feel torn between going to cuddle with him like he wants or going to finish your project. You know he’s growing impatient but once you finish things up, you’ll have more time…

You miss him too. You can’t even begin to deny that. So, you go to bed. He’s persistently stubborn at first. He lays with his back to you and only huffs when you lay down. Finally, you just cuddle up against his back and drape your arm around his waist. It does feel good to have a routine. 

[crowtaclysm]

I also got into pressure and made a Pressure self insert sort of!

Meet Rivet Stitch!

He got yoinked by UrbanShade because he along with a coulple of friends were tryin to gather intel on the company to expose all the horrible things they had done, plan didn't go as accordin though when the hacker of the group accidentally triggered security, Rivet and his friends had to make a run for it but in their desperation to escape they threw him under the bus, leavin him to get caught. As punishment he was used for experimentation and kept in the site, forced to comply and work as "The Warden" via various control devices they had on him.

He seemed to get along with Sebastian and tolerated anyone he considered innocent working at the site(like janitorial staff and such), when the lockdown happened the control devices he had on went off, leavin him paralyzed and in pain, with no hope to escape, it was Sebastian who found him first and removed them for him.

Nowadays he stays in the site as he knows he has no chance at returnin to society while lookin like this. He resents his ex-friends, not only for usin him to save their asses but because he knows(and it's true) that they never again tried to get in, hack or even contact him to see if he was still alive.

After years of knowin Sebastian as well as spendin time with him after the lockdown, they grew close together, started datin and are currently "married". Rivet is not a big fan of marriage and would rather avoid it, but he went along with Sebastian because he seemed happy with the idea, he likes matching marriage rings with him and loves bein called husband/hubby by Sebastian.

Rivet has the DNAs of a Leopard Seal, a Lion Fish, a Lancetfish, a Shortfin Mako Shark, an Inland Taipan, a Flashlight Fish and [REDACTED]

Size wise he's not as long as Sebastian but he's larger than him, Seb reaches at about Rivet's shoulders. The redacted creature in his DNA is what gives him his size. Rivet is also both venomous due to the Inland Taipan as well as poisonous due to the Lion Fish. His bite as well as anything green and sharp are to be avoided if you want to survive.

His game mechanic has him stalkin the player most of the times, he always spawns in thouse rooms with windows that have Naval Mines outside, he'll be hidin behind thouse, makin constant eye contact. He only becomes a threat whenever the player is underwater, be it crossin a big openin on the site followin the beacons or in flooded rooms. His tell will be the loud scratchin of his claws against the floor and walls as well as his hissin and growlin as he rushes towards the player. If he doesn't see you he very much acts like an Angler(will rush in and out at least twice and at most five times), minus takin the lights out. If he does see you however you'll have to hide in a locker and will get a minigame similar to Pandemonium's or you can avoid him by hidin somewhere out of reach like a vent or a small crevice, he'll claw at it for a bit before givin up and leavin.

Lastly he also has a mechanic in which he will use his natural glow to make the player think it's a beacon and lure them into a hole in the wall that leads to water before swipin at them and draggin them in, if you have another player close by you'll be able to be rescued by them at the cost of 50 points of damage that continuously drain overtime due to his poison unless you use a medkit or pay Sebastian to remove the poison out of you(if you pay him you'll get an easter egg of Rivet laughin and lookin at you from the hole on the ceilin of Seb's shop, Sebastian will also let out a small amused chuckle at Rivet's mockery), if you're solo or your friends are too far it's an instant kill, the tell is easy however as real beacons also have smoke comin out of them while Rivet's fakeout only has the green glow.

And now, a WIP of the gays under the cut:

Lord this sketch is so messy, I'll try to finish it tomorrow.

[ryusuisloveinterest]

My contribution to Night Kids November

hi guys! I heard it’s night kids November so here I am with some headcanons! I hope you like it!

Night Kids x Reader Headcanons🩷

Takeshi Nakazato

One day you saw a black r32 outside of the coffee shop you were going to

Of course being the big car geek you are you start taking pictures and admiring it until you hear a voice 

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

You quickly stand up and see none other than Nakazato himself

“I’m so sorry! Is this your car? It just seemed so cool I wanted a couple of photos to show my friends… I can delete them if you want….”

You look back at the man to see his face being a bright red color

“I-it’s fine! Just wasn’t expecting someone as good looking as yourself to- I mean-!”

He’s still a nervous wreck lol

You’ve been dating for months since then but he still finds himself stuttering and blushing at the littlest things you do

I’m sure Nakazato has some kind of money cause dude has a whole r32 so I’m sure he’d spend the rest on you

I just read he possibly does something with pharmaceuticals so he definitely gonna spend that money on you. Buying you jewelry, the plushie you looked at through the window, and definitely a nice expensive dinner

Gets so excited when you come to his races

The first time he saw you in the crowd he freaked out 

He was happy you were there, but he was scared of all the weird guys that hung around too 

So from then on he just took you with him to wherever he went

If you really don’t wanna be part of the race or you don’t like actually racing then he trusts his team enough to let you stay with them

But if you’re in the car with him while he races he’s gonna wanna show off so much in front of you

But at the same time he’s so scared he’s gonna big a guard rail too

It’s just best if you stay with his team, but he’ll drive for you once the race is over!

He’s such a gentleman

Doors always opened for you, feet rubs, cuddles, you name it and he’s doing it 

His favorite thing to do with you is crafts with you 

Like HE personally doesn’t like doing it, but he loves it when you finish making him a bracelet or a painting and comparing it with his

His definitely isn’t the Best but your smile makes it worth it 

Shingo Shoji

This boy💀

Where as I can see Nakazato with a a partner who doesn’t race or doesn’t like racing, Shingo has to have someone who at the bare minimum likes cars

He probably saw you racing one night, and just as you passed by him he saw your face 

He needed to get your number!

He asked everyone if they’d see this car

It wasn’t until he asked Sayuki when he found out who you were

“A red NSX? Oh that’s y/n! Me and Mako drive with them sometimes. What about it?”

He begged her to give him your number or set you up on a date

Once you guys finally did meet you guys clicked right away

The both of you do weird couple things 100% and have no shame

You’ll get up to grab you and him something and he’ll just smack your butt and be like, “thanks babe” like nothing happened 

A few hours later and you do the same back to him, “it’s payback” you say

The rest of the night you’re chasing each other around smacking each others butts giggling and laughing at each other 

Shingo doesn’t really give gifts, however he loves to do random things with you 

The both of you will look up random things to do around Miyogi or wherever else you guys feel like going 

Or you both will try new things together like cooking, walking around looking for rocks, or even playing basketball, etc.

He’d love to see you at his races

If you were part of a team or races against others too he’d definitely show up to show his support, using every opportunity to say, “yeah she’s my babe,” or, “I bet you wish she was yours huh? Too bad, I guess you’re just gonna have to keep looking from afar.”

If you know how to gum tape then I don’t think he’d mind too much for you to go against him, but he would still prefer not to

If you don’t have a clue about it then he doesn’t wanna risk you getting hurt

His favorite thing to do with you is late late drives

He likes when your in his passenger seat, he likes when he’s in yours

He likes when your racing with each other

At the end of the day as long as he’s with you he’s satisfied 

[wwraithsart]

Finally finished the updated reference sheet for Gale's team (that I started back in... january). Click for better quality!

More about each team member below:

Monty:

Main gear: Tentaclinger Earring (not pictured), Urchins Jersey, Blue Slip-Ons

Favors mid-ranged slayer type weapons (sloshing machine, slosher, most blasters but especially range blaster) but is generally pretty flexible

There's a somewhat small independently published magazine in Splatsville about what's currently popular (fashion, weapons, splatfest speculation, etc). He writes articles for it, mostly noting what is currently popular, what that means for the direction of the meta, that kind of thing.

He's one of the founding members of Gale's current team. He likes to analyze how teams play and experiment with different team compositions and strategies. He tries his best to stay on top of what's new.

Outside of competitive stuff, he likes card games. He likes to collect stuff and is kind of a completionist.

Jessica:

Main gear: Retro BluFocals (not pictured), Patchwork Bomber, Mako Bucket Hi-Tops

Really enjoys backline, anchor type weapons. On her own she plays the Hydra, though she's skilled with most other splatlings. She also likes long range chargers (scoped E liter, splatterscope, snipewriter), and if you give her enough time to de-rust she's good with the jet squelcher.

She plays X rank in her free time, her peak power being in the 2600s, though she still has plenty to learn. A goal she sets for herself is to have more self discipline, since she occasionally feels herself get impatient and "one more set" or "one more match" when she probably shouldn't.

She and Monty are the founding members of Gale's current team. She'd known him from seeing him a lot in X rank, since they had similar powers at the time. They both share a similar philosophy regarding competitive play; not doing it for the glory of winning, but for self improvement and enjoyment.

Outside of competitive stuff, she likes to play video games. She's really into open world games. She also sometimes offers individual, one on one coaching for younger players.

Leela

Main gear: Cephalo Pods, Lime Ski Jacket, Gray Sea-Slug Hi-Tops

Likes weapons that skirmish a lot, and was a tetra dualies one-trick for a while. She doesn't mind playing support roles either, so she'll play the n-zap or splash o matic if the situation calls for it. She also likes the trislosher, but that's more for when she's playing soloqueue rather than on the team.

She's pretty new to competitive play. She met Jessica through X rank lobbies, where Jessica saw a lot of potential in her. Leela occasionally struggles with coordination-- she's very used to soloqueue, so she'll miss callouts and get caught off guard. As such, it's her main focus of improvement.

Outside of competitive stuff, she loves music. She almost always has earbuds in and is trying to discover new bands. She also plays the saxophone. She's optimistic, talkative, and can be stubborn to a fault.

Gale

Main gear: Knitted Hat (+ heart pin), Chili Octo Aloha, Violet Trainers

She's fairly flexible in what she can play, but she's strongest with shooters (her favorites being 52 gal and splattershot, sometimes splash o matic). If she can be aggressive with it, she'll play it.

She's the newest member on her team. She met Leela after regularly seeing her in anarchy lobbies, and Leela introduced her to the rest of the team. At first, Gale would fill in during scrims when one of the team members wasn't available, but when that team member had to leave, Gale took their place.

Gale hadn't played on a competitive team in a while, so they were a bit rusty. Monty recognized them from their previous team years ago, though he never mentioned it. He knew they had potential, though. They take their role on the team very seriously out of a desire to do better than last time.

Outside of competitive stuff, they like to cook. They're very social and dedicated to their work, but tends to hold themself to impossibly high standards.

[demialwrites]

I Can Train You

Smut with dirty talk with Rufus under the cut

"Who's my little cocksleeve?" Rufus asks in your ear. "Say it."

It's difficult for you to answer right now because he's balls-deep inside you. He is quite pleased with the passionate ride he is giving you on his office chair. He has your wrists in his grip, preventing you from touching yourself. His coat is draped on the back of the chair. Your knees are as wide as he can get them while your pants are around your ankles.

"Hurry up. What if someone comes in?" he purrs.

Rufus knows everyone went home for the day, but you don't. Behind, the view out of the windows is dark with the green mako glow of the reactors peeking from the bottom.

"Hmmm, but you would like that wouldn't you? Should I call someone in? Who would you like me to pass you to?"

You go to shout 'no' but Rufus gives you a few teasing thrusts from below, driving a loud moan from your throat instead. You try to move your hips in time with his, searching for that elusive end. It's no use. Your desperation is obvious and it makes him grin and nip at your ear.

"Rufus, please..."

He hardens further temporarily at the sound of your pleading but it's not what he's looking for. "Just say it."

You strain and wiggle but he is stronger than he looks. You're aware that your legs are spread facing the door. Even if you still had your shirt on, no one could miss on whom you're sitting if they walked in. Rufus stuffs his hand up said shirt and under your bra. He squeezes your nipple between his knuckles until you squeak.

"These are so cute, sometimes I get the urge to pull them off with my teeth."

He punctuates the words by nipping the side of your neck with a canine. Sometimes he says such things when he's feeling particularly cruel. It's flattering, in an odd way.

On the desk, his phone lights up momentarily to display a missed call and the current time, startling you and drawing your gaze. It's been 45 minutes since he first pulled you onto his lap. Rufus sighs silently, resting his chin on your shoulder. His cock rocks lazily in and out.

"You feel good. I could keep you here all night."

He could coast towards orgasm then go home and you know it. He's done it once before. The next day, he had checked the camera feed for his office. You thought you were so sneaky to hop your little behind onto his desk and finish yourself off. He had watched with a lazy smile then deleted the file.

Currently, you're exasperated and really horny. "...fine."

"What was that?"

"Fine," you shout.

"And?"

It's maddening that your orgasm is right there but he continues to dangle it just out of reach.

"I'm your fucking cocksleeve!"

"Not quite. But I can train you."

It seems that's enough for tonight. Ever the man to insist on being in control, his fingers beat yours to it. He skillfully pushes you over the edge. It's then that he lets himself go, biting his lip and bouncing you hard. His arm comes around you, just under the chest as you come all over his cock. His remaining thrusts smear his white seed downward to mix with your wetness. You're both left a mess.

You're both hot and sweaty but satisfied. He nuzzles into your neck, his breath steaming your skin. He is pleased with the moan that echoed across the empty office, but he expects better obedience next time.

[prismaticpichu]

How do you think zack would react to sephiroth's wing? (with seph ofc being disgusted and ashamed of it) :3

Dhdhhdhdhdhhddh! That PREMISE, ANON! <333

In a world where sane!Seph has his wing…

~

“Bud..?”

Slowly, Sephiroth lifted his gaze from the wretched stretch of plumage bleeding like an oil spill from his side, draconic eyes seeming to widen and flicker as they met the unyielding light of Mako-blue.

And Sephiroth read those eyes, reading them like a book that held all the answers to his world.

And he read them.

And read.

And read.

And read.

And read.

And read…

…

And the light in those blue eyes never went out.

“You know this doesn’t change anything… right?” Zack’s voice was nothing more than a tender whisper as he reached out, placing a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. “This doesn’t change a single thing.”

Sephiroth didn’t have the words, subdued into silence by the inexplicable understanding in his friend’s words, only able to muster a quiet swallow as his wing quivered and twitched against his side.

“But…” He said after a few beats, the warrior’s tone shrinking in his throat. “How… how can you…—“

“How can I say that?” Zack finished kindly, without blame, a small and delicate smile budding on the First’s lips. “Because it��s the truth, pal. Wing or no wing… you’re still Seph. You’re human. You’re still my best friend. And nothing is gonna ever change that.”

Sephiroth couldn’t remember the last time he felt his lips quiver, struggling to remember the last time he had felt the burning swell of mist trying to rise in his eyes. He blinked and bit to suppress both sensations, the draconic slits expanding to orbs, glistening wetly against the cool jade waters surrounding them.

“But…” He couldn’t help but say, the hesitations not all yet assuaged. “Genesis, Angeal… their wings… They said it made them…” And the man shook his head, silver bangs swaying defiantly at the memory.

“Hey, hey…” Zack got out of his chair, having pulled it over to be closer to his treasured friend, and kneeled in front of him to clutch his quivering hands. “Don’t say that, bud. You and me… we know that’s not true. ‘Geal, Genesis… it wasn’t the wings that made them inhuman. Heck—it wasn’t the experiments or even the degradation as a whole…” His eyes saddened for a moment, glossing over with their own tide of melancholy, a fragile sheen that coated the sapphires as they gazed deep into the emeralds again. “..None of that physical stuff made them inhuman, pal. It was the decisions they made… And—and I don’t know if it was degradation twisting their minds, but… you would never hurt anyone like they did, bud. You would never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. You did everything in your power to protect those two, even when they turned their backs on us.” He squeezed his friend’s hand tighter, squeezing all his promises and pleas and words unspoken into the loving gesture, trying and fighting to squeeze the poisonous thoughts out of his system as a man would wring a cloth.

“And that’s what makes you human, Seph.”

And he reached out, running his fingers through the velvety terrain of feathers, his nails gingerly grazing the glistening stretch of of night like someone tracing constellations stars in the sky, gliding and drawing and tracing because he knew the appendage would never hurt him.

“Undeniably and wholly human.”

When the teardrop fell from Sephiroth’s eyes, it felt slowly, like a drop of dew rolling off the wilting pressure of a petal, trailing down from his glimmering eyes and plunking softly onto the desk. Armored shoulders began to tremble, rising and quivering to the rhythm of his bridled breath and then falling back down again, the plated shift of metal and muscle ringing quietly around the office.

He—he just didn’t understand it. Couldn’t process it. How… how could someone so scarred and wounded walk into an office with and see him with his wing unfurled, having revealed in an impulsive bout of reflection, and not be disgusted or terrified? How could Zack not see what he saw in the unholy white feathers of Angeal or the scraggly ashes of Genesis? How could he but be abhorred, or appalled, or… or angry at him for keeping such a secret? How could he not immediately question where it came from; how could he not question if he was apart of the scheme; how could he not question everything about him, breaking him apart, looking at each plume like a symbol of cruelty and inhumanity and question everything he had ever known to he true about him?

How… how could he still love him as much as he did?

Overwhelmed, Sephiroth squeezed his friend’s hand in turn, biting his lip and swatting his eyes and shaking his head once more.

“Oh, buddy…”

As the arms wrapped around him, pulling him close to his chest, Sephiroth did all but try to resist the warm and assuaging embrace, sinking deep into his best friend’s shoulder and letting the rivers flow. Quivering and straining, Sephiroth buried his face deep into the familiar threads, lifting his own arms to enfold around the First in an unspeakable display of gratitude and trust, his throat clogged and smothered with the blessed emotions he felt at being blessed with such a wonderful friend. He held him closer, unnatural silver hair cascading down his sides, celestial catlike slits open to glowing green fissures, and lifted his wing to envelope their embrace in another layer of warmth and protection, cocooning both him and his cherished friend in a swaddle of silky feathers.

And when Zack did nothing but sink further into the embrace, unruffled and unafraid, Sephiroth knew the truth.

“I… I am human…” he whispered shakily, almost as if he couldn’t believe it.

Only he did.

He believed it with all his heart.

Because a monster couldn’t feel love like this.

Young, strong arms squeezed him tighter, nuzzling deep into the crook of his neck, holding him closer and against his heart and feeling every beat of Zack’s heart drum against his own.

“There’s the Seph I know and love…” he smiled gently. “Doesn’t believe any kind of crap.”

Quivering lips curled into a faint smile of his own, emerald eyes blinking hazily against the teary pebbles beading his lashes.

And he tightened his wing around them, blanketing them both, cherishing its warmth for the first time since inhuman hands had grafted it into his skin.

And he thought about how beautiful the truth could be.

[enemyoflactose]

I finished Battle City

So for my redemption arc, I have finished both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City.

I think I may have gotten worse.

I'll start by talking about voice acting and which one I prefer:

Bakurae: I like both Ted Lewis and Rica Matsumoto's performances. They both did amazing and I am so bi for their voices.

Marik: His goofy ass skeletor voice is not it. It's funny as hell, but he just sounds better in the sub.

Odion: I like both

Ishizu: I like both

Everyone else: could go either way

Characters:

Yugi didn't really do a lot at the start, and everything I want to say about him happens in his duel with Joey. Honestly, I don't like how in the anime he doesn't play much of a role.

Yami Yugi: this man... This man.

Téa: I love her. Honestly. She gave like zero friendship speeches this season and didn't really do much except help Yami find Ishizu.

Joey: I LOVE JOEY WHEELER.

Tristan: he's there. I don't like how he treats Serenity.

Serenity: I actually really like her. She's not the most realistic sister character, but I still like her.

Duke: my guy, leave the girl alone.

Marik: I can't take him seriously. I just can't. He sounds like Skeletor, his plans are stupid, he can barely duel, he's a coward, he dresses ugly, mother fucker uses Revival Jam, this happened

How am I supposed to take him seriously?! Also, his backstory didn't do anything for me. Like, yeah what he went through was awful, but it just feels like an excuse. It felt like Ishizu and Odion were trying to justify Marik's behavior and say he did nothing wrong and should be forgiven. (Also, I saw a post about how Joey should have showed Marik sympathy. They blocked me when I said that was stupid)

Ishizu: she's such a great character. Her love for her siblings feels real, she's a snarky dork, her duel with Kaiba is fantastic, and she's pretty.

Odion: Am I supposed to feel bad for him? Not because he was horrifically abused I do feel bad about that, but with the way he was treating Marik... My guy was an enabler. Of course Marik is still evil under your care, you haven't done anything to help him be good. He just rolls over and lets Marik do what he wants because he doesn't want to betray his oath or something.

Mai: literally so cool. I'll actually get to talking about her in a bit.

Kaiba: iconic.

Mokuba: he takes his duel commissioner job so seriously it's adorable. He just pops up out of nowhere to catch people cheating and then Kaiba comes along to scare the cheater when they don't listen to Mokuba.

Regular Bakura: B-baby boy???

Yami Bakura: I'd literally bend over for him. He can have all of my possessions. Anyway I feel like he went through some character assassination this season. He just doesn't seem like a threat, but I guess that's how abusers get ya because he stabs Regular Bakura.

Arkana: I've said it once and I'll say it again, I am a sap. I felt so bad for this guy. First his magic show goes wrong, then his face gets mangled, then his wife leaves him, then he gets indoctrinated into Marik's cult, then he almost dies by saw blade, then he actually dies.

Lumis and Umbra: these two are gay and dating.

Strings: there is nothing there.

Mako and Weevil are pretty much the same.

Espa Roba: he's a cheater.

Duels:

Bandit Keith vs Yugi Moto (Duel 1)

The first duel of the season introduces us to Marik. We learn that he wants the puzzle and has a magic rod that can mind control people.

This duel shows off that Yugi is not yet as good a duelist as Yami because this loser gets fucking cooked.

Yami Bakura shows up and breaks Keith free. This makes Marik a little annoyed.

Marik makes Keith break the puzzle.

Bakura comes in and helps Yugi fix it, but he puts a little piece of his soul in the puzzle because of reasons that are never explained.

Bakura leaves and Keith burns the building down.

Joey and Tristan save Keith and Yugi.

Yami Yugi vs Jonny Steps (Duel 2)

I am not talking about the duel you suckers. I'm talking about what happened before the duel!

Yami and Téa go on a date. During this date they go on wacky high jinks and Yami gets Light Force Sword.

After dueling Jonny Steps, they go to the museum and meet Ishizu. She tells them that Yami is actually an ancient Egyptian pharaoh and he needs to save the world by joining Kaiba's tournament and winning it. Also he needs three Egyptian God Cards.

Joey vs That one guy (duel 3)

Joey gets Exodiad and feels so bad that he doesn't go and visit his sister in the hospital.

He also lost his Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Tristan finds him on the beach and shows Yugi and Téa who he found (fuck you 4kids)

Kaiba vs the machine (duel 4)

OBELISK, FIST OF FATE!!!!!

Yami vs the one guy(duel 5)

Yami beats Exodia and wins back Joey's Red Eyes.

Joey declined it.

Joey vs Espa Roba (duel 6)

In this duel Joey faces an alleged psychic who had already defeated Rex Raptor.

Rex tries to help Joey for a little bit, but stops like half way through the duel.

During this duel, Espa is talking about the universe and how he can't lose and shit like that and Joey's just clowning on him.

Espa Roba has his brothers up on a building helping him win duels.

Joey figures this out.

Joey wins the duel.

Some guy in the audience says "Espa couldn't predict he'd be a loser", and I think that's funny.

Joey got a Jinzo!! The only good card he'll get this whole tournament.

Yami vs Arkana (duel 7)

Yami faces a magician who's all like "Aren't you SO sad that your precious Dark Magician is in the deck of another duelist???!"

Some bullshit happens, Dark Magician is sentient and saves Yami, Dark Magician Girl is summoned by Dark Magic Curtain, there's shadow blades, guillotine-chan is here, apparently there's no service in the tent.

Yami wins.

Arkana dies or something it was really unclear.

Joey vs Weevil Underwood (duel 8)

Joey got his deck and Duel Disk stolen by some mustache and had a card put In it.

Joey and Weevil duel ata fountain.

During this duel Weevil calls out to the Parasite Paracide card in Joey's deck and turns all of Joey's monsters into insect cards.

Weevil brings out Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. Joey destroys it.

Weevil brings out his Insect Queen and talks about how much he wants to fuck it. Joey destroys the Insect Queen and wins it.

Joey gained the worst card of the season.

Yami and Kaiba vs some guys (duel 10)

Kaiba uses Lord of D and two Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon three dragons and then he summons Obelisk and then he wins the duel and takes some locator cards.

Joey Wheeler vs Mako (duel 11) ft. Marik falling for the Bakura sham.

Joey and Mako duel.

Joey is putting on the world's greatest show, and is told to stop because it's "embarrassing and taking to long"

Joey tries to use Parasite Paracide, but flip monsters haven't been invented yet.

MEANWHILE

Marik almost runs over Bakura.

BACK TO THE DUEL

Mako is telling a son story about his dad and how Legendary Fisherman is his dad and he loves his dad so he has to win the duel for his dad because he loves him ever so much.

MEANWHILE

Yami Bakura is talking mad shit and Marik's all like "This idiot has NO idea that to open the door to darkness he needs the Egyptian God Cards."

What if my guy was talking 'bout Kingdom Hearts?

BACK TO THE DUEL

Mako used a ritual card 🤮

Now Joey has to find the fisherman and attack.

Joey finds the fisherman and attacks. Mako gets sad. Loser deserved it tho for using rituals.

Joey uses some gambling cards and oh no

MEANWHILE

Bakura puts his scam into action and says he's a strong duelist (He's aight.)

Marik doesn't even fact check this and makes a deal with him.

The rod for a god card.

BACK TO THE DUEL

Joey uses Panther Warrior to wipe out the ritual card 🤮, and wins the duel.

Joey has gained Legendary Fisherman! Not as bad as the last card, but Joey you have a shitty deck how do you keep winning???

Seto and Yami vs Lumis and Umbra (duel 12)

THERE'S ANOTHER FUCKING RITUAL CARD!!!! AND IT'S NOT EVEN A GOOD ONE!

It's awful, it sucks, it's worthless, they should have just used level cards

This duel is not worth my time.

Yami and Seto win.

We interrupt this essay to talk about important stuff that happened out of duels:

Bakura got stabbed

Mokuba, Téa, and Joey got kidnapped

Tristan ran for an hour with a teenage girl on his back

Duke hit some guy with dice

Mai met Serenity

Joey got mind controlled

Téa girl mind controlled

Joey vs Yugi/Yami (duel 13)

I cried during this duel

Joey got mind controlled by Marik and is evil and dueling Yugi for the puzzle and they're also strapped to this anchor that's gonna drag them to the bottom of the ocean in an hour and oh my God this duel

Téa's life is also being threatened but she's a badass who doesn't care.

Kaiba can't help because then Téa will die.

Joey was given all these rare cards and is using them against Yugi.

Yugi is so scared to attack because he doesn't wanna hurt Joey.

Yugi is so fucking sweet I love him so much.

Yami is just in the corner like "you good Yugi?" And "Oh no!!! Joey!!" I love them so much

Yugi ends up giving the puzzle to Joey so he can fight Marik better, he summons R d eyes black dragon to get through to him, this shit is just barely working I HATE THIS DUEL

Marik is being a whiny little bitch ass loser because his mind control is failing

Joey breaks free after attacking Yugi then he uses the effect of some mirror card to attack himsefl

Joey and Yugi both plummet to the ocean, Yugi is saved by Joey and Joey is saved by serenity.

I LOVE JOEY WHEELER

Meanwhile at the hospital

Yami Bakura vs Bonz (duel 14)

This episode is so fucking good. The animation, the duel, BONZ IS HERE

This duel starts off with Yami Bakura already being kinda annoyed. He just got jumped so it makes sense.

He summons a headless knight and it gets destroyed.

He destroys Bonz's cards.

Bonz fuses Medusa and crawling dragon to get... An elephant?

Then Bonz activates that one card that makes you lose life points for every card sent to the graveyard. Yami Bakura responded by fucking cheating and just tossing his hand to the graveyard.

Then he summons Earl of Demise and Bonz puts him in a cage.

Then Yami Bakura uses ectoplasmer and wipes out Bonz's life points and sends him to hell the Shadow Realm.

Mai vs Jean Clawed Magnum (duel 19)

I am not talking about this duel other than

Joey x Mai supremacy

We love polarshipping

Stuff that happens before the finals

The gang is shocked at the idea of Regular Bakura dueling (rude)

Tristan can't flirt

The gang raid Joey's pantry

A bingo machine

Yami Bakura pretends to be Regular Bakura and messes with Joey by saying shit like "Cheerio" and "fellows"

Marik does stuff

Odion gets threatened a few times

Ishizu shows up late

Mai drinks censored wine

Yami Bakura vs Yami (duel 15)

This shit is so hype

It starts off with Yami Bakura being dog shit and summoning weak cards (it's for a plan), and Yami and the gang just ragging on him and insulting him.

Then Bakura summons Dark Necrofear, but he doesn't attack because he's scared that Yami's face down card is a trap (reasonable)

Dark Necrofear gets destroyed by a buffed Dark Magician Girl, but this was all part of the an because now Yami Bakura can use not only his Destiny Board (worst win strat ever), but he can also use Dark Sanctuary.

At this point in the duel, Yami Bakura is cooking. He is dominating.

He got out his Dark door, Yami can't attack more than once. He got his spirit redirecting attacks at Yami. He's cooking something delicious.

Then Yami special summons Dark Necrofear and now Yami Bakura can't use his strategy.

Unless he summons Jougen the Spiritualist!

Now the sanctuary is back and he can keep up with his shitty win strat.

Then Yami summons Slifer and he contemplates death.

Marik makes Odion walk over and go "I release Bakura from the spirit" and Bakura starts dying and at this point my shipping senses start going nuts.

This duel has become a love triangle between Regular Bakura, Yami Bakura, And Yami Yugi.

But that's not important.

Bakura doesn't like this strategy because it's for cowards and he's worried Yami will attack his host. (Reasonable. The Yami he knows probably would've)

Yami meanwhile doesn't wanna attack Regular Bakura because that's his friend.

No one has told this boy to just surrender.

Yami Bakura takes control of Regular Bakura again and tells Yami to attack him

Then Yugi tells Yami that he did that because he needs Bakura, not because he liked him. (This is untrue if I believe hard enough)

Regular Bakura is knocked out and the ring is gone.

Joey vs Odion (duel 16)

Joey is talking shit.

Odion keeps setting and passing

And oh what's this?? FLASHBACK

Odion was abandoned on the door step of Marik's and Ishizu's parents. He was raised by them but never truly accepted.

He wanted the tomb keeper initiation to become accepted, but he was adopted. So that didn't happen.

DUEL

Joey's losing

FLASHBACKS

Odion was Marik's best friend and watched their mother die immediately after Marik was born.

He vowed to protect Marik.

DUEL

Odion has trap monsters and Joey is surprised by this.

A massive scorpion monster thing is summoned and Joey says

"Are you really Marik?"

Then Marik has a temper tantrum and tells Odion to summon Ra. Odion summons Ra and fucking dies.

Then Joey dies.

FLASHBACK

Odion watched as Marik got his tomb keeper initiation and afterwards he did his own initiation.

DUEL

Odion tries to get up, but he doesn't.

MEANWHILE IN JOEY DREAMLAND

Joey is having a dream about his friends helping him get ready for a tournament and he can't get up.

DUEL

Joey gets up and wins the duel.

Marik is having a migraine and then becomes Yami Marik.

Mai vs Marik (duel whatever I don't wanna check)

Marik got a fashion upgrade and looks better!!

During this duel Kaiba is edging himself waiting for Ra to be summoned.

Marik makes the duel a shadow duel and starts to erase Mai's mind.

Mai loses one memory and almost gives up immediately.

Marik continues his mind games while Joey and the gang try to help Mai out.

Mai is having non of this.

Mai steals Ra

Marik is cooking

Mai summons Ra, but Marik broke a rule because Ra is written in a foreign language without a translation.

Mai loses because she can't summon Ra and Marik attacked her, Joey, and Yami.

Final duel, Kaiba vs Ishizu

Ishizu should have won

Kaiba and Ishizu keep milling each other's deck.

Ishizu has a plan though. She saw it in her visions

Kaiba defys those visions tho and instead of summoning Obelisk, he summons the Blue Eyes White Dragon and wipes out Ishizu.

I forgot to talk about the Yami vs Strings duel

Marik is a pussy so he uses some murderer to duel

During this duel Marik is using cards like Revival Jam and Jam Breeding Machine.

He uses them to summon Slifer.

Yami is trapped in a cage.

Yami uses Revival Jam against Marik and uses it to cause Marik to lose by DECK OUT.

DECK OUT

That's embarrassing.

So yeah, I think this journey of redemption is becoming a journey of derailment instead. Wish me luck and health.

[laugtherhyena]

What are some of you're favourite Sprite edits you've made Whether that be this year, or any over years you've been in the sprite editing business

Ok so I've made A LOT of edits over the years so it took a lil while for me to sort out the favorites and why exactly, but here it is so get ready for some rambling!

First things first i gotta say this isn't really organized from the one i like the most and least, i like all of these edits a whole lot and i really don't think i can pick one or two to be the favorite.

So let's start from the start (sorta) i have to give a spot to my Fantasy Au twins edits, it would be illegal to not put them in this list

The Sdra2 Fantasy Au was one of the first things i made in the fandom and i was attached to it for a long while. These are actually the 4th version of their sprites, out of all them only the 3rd had a full gallery of sprites and trust me they were complex since on top of posting i even made different tails and ears to move around depending on the emotion of the sprite.

Even tho i never finished this 4th take on them I'm pretty happy with the redesign (since as i grew older i realized some of my choices were questionable and i really should have thought more before just going with it, just keep in mind i was a dumb 14-15 year old then) and the improvement on graphical quality because not only does it show how much i improved in editing but also because editing the fantasy twins were my first really hard edits and i was always happy with how well i was able to translate their weird little designs to sprite form.

The Fantasy Au as a whole had a lot of edits with a bunch of complicated details that i never finshed and although I don't like them as much as the twins i do feel like they deserve to be shown somehere so have this pile of lizards, undead firemen and two human girls.

(fun fact; i didn't know how to add textures back then so see those scales on the dragons? I made them all by hand-)

Next one on the list has gotta be the Nijiue siblings! Crazy to think these guys are only 2-3 years old like it feels like they've been with me for ao much longer!

These guys where my first try at making Oc sprites since before all i did were Au stuff and they're very very dear to me, as you can probably guess by the amount of spites an different iterations i made of them over the years. While there are a few things i could improve upon them if i were to remake their edits nowadays, i never felt a strong need to do so because as it is their sprites hold up well imo so remaking them feels unnecessary to me.

And you know I can't really talk about them without mentioning the Voidswap Au and a couple tumblr blogs owned by friends of mine. After Voidswap's cancelation i didn't thought I'd ever use these guys for anything so to think that nowadays there's so many people who not only know these characters but care for them a lot out of seeing them in Asoot and Dfta more recently really fills me with joy! I'm glad y'all enjoy my silly siblings so much and obviously huge thanks to the mods for wanting to include them in their stories, I really couldn't be more thankful for that!

And since we're talking about the fam, let me add Mako to the list as an honorable mention of sorts, a i'm still very happy with how i made her adult designs especially the whole closed trenchcoat and open trenchcoat thing she has going on and how i was able to cary out the heart motif on both of them :]

This next one is one of my newer edits + a pretty simple one which is this Irl Sora design i made for mod Bubbles around early this year.

Honestly, I don't even know how to explain why i like it this much? Maybe it's because Sora is one of the characters from Sdra2 i still decently enjoy or because i had a fun time coming up with her design. I had in mind that i wanted something plain and simple just like her in-game one, just adapted to a more adult look. Rolled up sleeves to resemble her uniform's ones and a scarf to bring back the spark of red her old design had, i also gave her the short hair that post game Yuki has because it's still her body at the end of the day + i think butch-ish Sora looks pretty good :]

From simplicity we jump back into weirdness with these last ones because obviously i wouldn't leave my girls out of this list, what did you guys even expect?

Favoritism? Absolutely, by now I'm sure all of you know how much i like these two but focusing on the graphical side for once, I'm super proud of their designs, i think they fit with the weirdness of some of Linuj's design choices pretty well which in turn makes them look kinda legit? In my head at least. I also had a lot of fun working on their sprites, especially Beni's since it had been a long while since i last tried to really exaggerate expressions on sprites of my characters so that was really fun! + I'm super proud of the baby sprites i made of them too, almost as much as i like their standard/adult designs really.