#but i'm like 95% sure this is actually happening

[beeseverywhen]

Oversharing time:

Just remembered years ago when I was working in a pretty high up office block and they were having to write a fire plan cause my knees are pretty resistant to stairs and management's answer was just that I wait in the burning building until a fireman came to get me, to which I was pretty much like 'yeah I don't think so. I'll make do with the stairs.'

They were really touchy about this and were like 'we need to account for your disability, we can't leave you to do stairs by yourself when we know you might not be able to' so they wanted me to pick a 'buddy' as in a colleague that would evacuate by my side. So i pick 2 of my friends (one as a backup) and the manager is still like 'but what if your leg isn't working that day what do we do' and she's also like 'I didn't even know you knew him, why is he your first pick?' So I'm like, look off record, I've picked buddy 1 for a reason. He isn't my closest work friend but I do know he's capable of carrying me down the stairs if necessary and the manager is like, have you asked him if he can do that? And I'm like. No. I know he can. Don't sweat it.

And she's going look, I know you're small but you can't just assume that any man is capable of carrying you down multiple flights of stairs, he could have a weak back and I'm like, look I 100% know he can carry me, trust me. She kept questioning it until I was eventually like 'look I know he can because we are friends outside of work and he has carried me, easily, before' and tried to shut down the convo.

This unfortunately seemed to raise more questions which was awkward because in reality we were not particularly close friends in or outside of work, it was just that I'd been lowkey fucking him on and off for years (in that messed up early 20s, we could make each other worse kind of way) and knew that he could very easily fuck me standing up for an extended period. We were not friends because we didn't particularly like each other lol but I did trust that he would not leave anyone to burn in a fire, and that carrying me down those flights of stairs would be no sweat off his back

[ante--meridiem]

The main mystery of woe.begone is obviously the time travel stuff but at this point I'm starting to become more invested in the mystery of what is wrong with Mike Walters.

[danieyells]

Rui mizuki’s lines from Tokyo debunker if you haven’t yet PLEASE I will love you for all eternity

They’re edging me with the rui crumbs every chapter I can’t take it anymore

One flirty reaper coming right up!! And by right up i mean almost a week after you asked hhahaha

BUT YEAH WE DO GET A LITTLE OF HIM HERE AND THERE i wonder why he pops up so much. Especially for someone who allegedly tries not to be around other people much due to his deadly touch? Kinda sus--

also this is the first time i've posted all of someone's lines! not that i don't always end up posting 95% of them anyway, but for some reason some of Rui's were ordered weird(they're normally not entirely in order but they're usually sectioned properly, but for some reason one of his affinity chats was way in the wrong place) and I ended up closely paying attention to which one i was looking at and before i knew it i posted all of them lmao. . . .

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"{PC}, hey! Here's to another day vibing our way through curse twin life!"

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"Huh? Did you know you've got unread messages? Oh, that's why you've been leaving me on delivered! Ahaha!"

no that's just because my adhd makes me hyperfocus on things and it refuses to allow me to attempt to allot attention or energy to things it deems me not having enough attention span or energy or time for and i'm sorry--

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"Aw c'mon Ed, again? Why does he always leave his socks on the floor... It's actually exhausting picking up after him all the time..."

lazy sloppy vampire lol

"You look kind of tired {PC}, you doing okay? Why don't you stop by the bar later? I can be your shoulder to cry on."

"Hey! You on break now? If you're super nice and you're gonna come chill with me now, put your hands up!"

"{PC}...were you just checking me out? Hey, it's all good, don't be embarrassed!"

"Oof, Ed popped out of nowhere so I accidentally touched him and he died again. Now I have to carry him all the way back to the dorm..."

i love the face he makes when he says this lmao like he is so tired of Ed's carelessness!

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"{PC}! Did you come here to see me first thing? No way! You just made my day!"

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Aw c'mon, Ed, what are you doing sleeping out here? Didn't you just take a nap, old man? You're gonna catch a cold!"

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Oh hey, it's {PC}! Can't believe I ran into you here, so random! Guess we've gotta go on a date now, huh? It's like, written in the stars!"

i love flirty characters like rui lolol just. there's always More Going On there. and Rui starts off with More right off the bat.

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"I can touch the plants as long as I have gloves on! I mean yeah, I'm pretty sure the same goes for people, but don't you think it'd be scary to test it out?"

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Come swing by the bar later! I'd rather watch a pretty face like yours while I work instead of a bunch of drunk guys."

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"What? Ed was praising my good looks? I mean he's right, right? People always tell me my face is my only redeeming feature!"

but rui works so hard!? who's saying that!!

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Oh sorry, I don't do the whole class thing! You go, I'm all good here!"

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Ouch! Aw man, that rose thorn just scratched my arm... Wait, nooo! My rose bushes are wilting!!"

it's so easy for him to accidentally kill anything lmaoooo

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Are you out here by yourself, {PC}? Isn't that like not super dangerous? ...Wait, did that make sense? Whatever, let me walk you back!"

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Sorry! A drunk customer broke a glass, so I'm cleaning it up! Everyone's a little pent-up lately, I guess."

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"Watering plants in the AM is such a mood lift, right? Whoa, everything's blooming like crazy out here! Better get my pruning shears."

it's a testament to how well he takes care of these plants that they grow super well in permanently-night Obscuary, i think. 8'D

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Huh? Look, you've got loose threads on your uniform. Give it to me, I'll fix it for you!"

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Hey, {PC}, did you eat yet? My door's always open! You can just stay the night after!"

damn already inviting you to stay over at affinity 13--just don't share the bed, you'll wake up super dead

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"(yawn) Wow, I am dead tired... but I've gotta take a shower, make breakfast, and do the laundry before those two sleepyheads get up."

it takes a real man to be a single mother. . . .

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"Oh hey, what's your poison? Wait, I mean, morning! Man, I tried to take my friend's drink order when we were hanging out yesterday too, occupational hazard I guess."

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"A mission? I'm good, thanks though! Oh hey, you should invite Lyca! He'd totally be into that!"

Lyca also probably needs them to pass the grade lol

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"No way, look at the time! Wish I could keep listening to you talk... Wanna stay over?"

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Oh man, I'm sorry! I'm closing early, I've got plans with a friend tonight. It'd be awesome if you could come by tomorrow!"

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Congrats on making it through another day, {PC}! I seriously admire you for working so hard. You're not doing this all for me, are you?"

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"Morning! Whoa, you wanna help me with the housework, {PC}? It's all good, thanks though! The thought's more than enough for me."

c'mon, refusing help at affinity 20? let the pc be your little helper at least!

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Obscuary looks like it'd be full of downers, but it's actually pretty lively in there, right? Not gonna lie, I def prefer it that way."

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"Lyca's an open book, but the flip side is he says the darndest things... I feel like watching him is bad for my heart..."

he talks so much about his teammates, he really is such a mom. . . .

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"My eyes are red? Huh, that's weird... Oh yeah, I was cutting onions just now when I was preparing the appetizers for the bar!"

. . .idk this is pretty high affinity. . .you were crying about something weren't you rui. . .or romeo paid you in weed and you were getting tweaked up in the back of the bar

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Oh, don't worry about me, I always sleep late! I'm down to chat till you drift off to dreamland."

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"Sometimes I wish I could've met you as a regular guy. I guess you wouldn't have given me the time of day if I had though, ahaha."

is it just me or. . .does it feel like he gets a little more distant as his affinity gets higher? like after affinity 17 it feels like he gets a little less flirty and a little more at arms length. . .like he knows his feelings are getting so strong that he might not be able to resist touching you, but he's too scared to do it even with the gloves on. . .so he tries to keep you a little further away. . .and then he admits it, he wishes he could be with you like a normal person, but if he were just some flirt in the street none of this would have ever happened. Poor Rui, he's cursed to be beloved but unable to give love how he wants in return.

Spring: (March-May) (between 5am and 11am)

"Oh man, so nice... The weather's like perfect this time of year, right? Wish we could just chill like this forever."

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Man, you wouldn't even know it was spring with how bleak it is in Obscuary! Aren't there any cuter anomalous plants out there?"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"I feel like Ed's getting more senile every day... Maybe I should confiscate his tablet."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"So, what do you think of my spring-inspired cocktail? Almost as cute as you, right? I'm gonna add it to the menu!"

Summer: (June-August) (between 5am and 11am)

"C'mon! It's summer, how can the sun never rise in Obscuary!? I wanna get a tan!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"It's not summer if you don't hit the beach! I used to go all the time back when I surfed. And then I'd pick up girls on my way home... Just kidding, I promise!"

why 'just kidding' lolol you're not together! this relationship is not monogamous even if you were!

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Ta-da! I've got sparklers! Fireworks are fun and all, but there's something special about holding a light that only sparkles for a hot moment."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"It's so hot out, I bet the bar's gonna be a ghost town... Guess I'll send Harurin and Romi a PR message!"

reaching out to the local population of alcoholic ghouls to remind them to give him business lol

Autumn: (September-November) (between 5am and 11am)

"There's so many dead leaves this time of year, it's a nightmare keeping on top of them! But you can use them to make a fire and roast stuff. Gotta look on the brights!"

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Hey {PC}, when are you free? I have a date idea for us—a romantic walk to admire the fall leaves! I'll pack us a lunch!"

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Oh damn! You look so cute all bundled up like that, {PC}! We've gotta take a selfie together!"

direct contrast to romeo who sees you in winterwear and calls you a fat slug kekw

(between 8pm and 5am)

"That piano anomaly makes the soundtrack for the bar! The song picks really tug at the heartstrings, right?"

Winter: (December-February) (between 5am and 11am)

"You're a little late today, huh? If you can't get up in the cold, I could be your alarm!"

just gotta be really loud since he'd be too afraid to touch you awake, since he actually wants you to y'know wake up--

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Oh man, how is Lyca so full of energy when it's this cold? You should take him to Frostheim and see if he runs around in the snow like a puppy."

rui pointing at lyca: that dog is my son please take care of him

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Nothing like winter to make you miss the warmth of human touch... Oh, I'm good! Just getting to talk like this is all I need!"

BBY WE ARE ALL BUNDLED UP. YOU CAN HUG YOU'VE BOTH PROBABLY GOT ON AT LEAST TWO LAYERS JUST DON'T TOUCH FACES.

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Here, this Rui-original hot cocktail will warm you up! I'll blow on it for you, free of charge!"

is this the next step after gamer bathwater. host club host breath.

His birthday: (March 14th)

"Yeah, it's my birthday today! Oh damn, you're gonna celebrate it with me!? No way, I'm like, super touched right now!!"

Your birthday:

"{PC}... Happy birthday!! C'mon, birthday girl, sit down and chill out! This is your day, you should take it easy!"

New Years: (January 1st)

"Happy New Year! Want to start the year off on a high and come on a shrine date with me?"

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"Oh damn, are these for me? My heart! Is this your way of professing your love to me? Do I have a shot here?"

White Day: (March 14th)

"Ta-da! Happy White Day! This is for you! What's inside? You've gotta open it and find out!"

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"Guess what!? I finally broke my curse! Let's hold hands... just kidding! April Fools!"

this feels more like a joke on him than on you. . .a mean one at that lol

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Happy happy happy Halloween!! Trick or treat! Obviously I'm picking trick, ahaha!"

Christmas: (December 25th)

"Merry Christmas, {PC}! Oh man, I must be like, super blessed to get to spend it with you!"

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"Hey, hey, hey! We finally get to spend some time together, it's illegal to take your eyes off me!"

(13 affinity and above)

"{PC}? You seem kind of busy, guess I'll take this chance to get some work done…"

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"{PC}, you're back! I was worried you'd forgotten about me!!"

he's so flirty and clingy, but also he can't be clingy because he's scared you'll die if he touches you, even if he's wearing gloves. . .also surely your curse would cancel out his? Then again I'm sure a reaper i stronger than any other [living] anomaly out there. . . .

but. yeah. rui's a darling haha he just. he's another one of the 'i just wanna be a regular person, i wanna go back to normal' characters whose desire to just be a guy makes him special in a more fantastical world. i'm really looking forward to seeing the Obscuary chapter--probably like a month away, right? 'u'

[itswillowneptune]

you obviously started with a more submissive persona and was doing exceptionally well for yourself, so my question is:

how did you discover femdom and realizing you wanted to be a domme? how did you discover some of the kinks you talk about like chastity, feminization, etc

personally i just find your journey from your old content to what you do now fascinating

What an amazing question that no one has really asked yet, so thank you for being curious and inquisitive ♡ My initial persona or character was exactly that: a character. I thoroughly studied what people with a similar body and "niche" to me were doing and created something from that knowledge, my own frankenstein's monster of porn. It worked great! I bought the wig that looked the most innocent and "girl next door", I stuck to the script in my videos and it was a completely compartmentalised part of my life. After work I took off my wig, and lived in the world with my hot pink buzzcut. What in the world could go wrong? The main problem, was that it wasn't really me. Sure it was an aspect of me, but it was around 5% of my sexual interests that happened to align with the supply and demand of the market. There was a whole 95% of me I wasn't expressing through my work.

My initial plan with porn was to do it for a while, then get the fuck out and pursue the scientific research I was interested in. It was naive, because I was naive. To answer the second part of your question: I didn't really "discover" the kinks like my digital narrative might suggest. I just peeled back the layers. I was practicing femdom when I was creating submissive content and it took a certain level of vulnerability and self expression to share that with the world. I remember dabbling in femdom sexting in my first month and explaining to the guy afterwards that my Domme side was something I was keeping for myself, away from content. It took some time to adjust but I'm actually far more successful now that I'm a Domme. Turns out tumblr doms and brain-rotted frat boys on twitter don't particularly convert into the most loyal repeat clients. I like my work and clientele a lot more now. Now I'm not sharing 100% of my soul on the internet currently. There will always be parts of my life that will never be documented by a camera and I like it that way. I would hate to have sex and kink as a whole feel like a work obligation. It's like a fountain. You have permission to fill your chalice, throw a coin, make a wish and enjoy what's there for you, but all of my art trickles down from something within that can't be captured or encapsulated on social media. You just have to read my poems and try and wrap your head around the way my mind works to fully get it. To live is to perform.

[korn-official]

JONATHAN DAVIS INTERVIEW FOR PIT MAGAZINE (date unknown but guessing ‘95 or ‘96)

“I had no idea that people would relate to me so much.”

**

Korn came together in 1993, in Huntington Beach, California. Now, their Epic/Immortal self-titled debut is winning critical acclaim from the music community. Dark, intense lyrics front this hard-hitting sound. The band is comprised of Jonathan (vox, bagpipes), Fieldy (bass), Brian (guitar), James 'Munk' (guitar), and David (drums).

Be sure to eat your vegatables, son.

Pit: Tell me about the bagpipes - how did you come up with that? Are you of Scottish descent?

Jonathan: I went to a high school that had a pipe band. I started taking lessons at school; then I took private lessons and started competing. I always wanted to learn how to play that instrument, but I never thought I'd play it in a band. Then we wrote this song and thought we'd try it; it just worked.

Pit: How did the band come into being?

Jon: Munk, Fieldy and David had been playing in a band for like the last ten years, and then Brian got in the band. The singer didn't work out. They saw me in Bakersfield, where we all grew up, and asked me to try out. We just clicked. We wrote three songs our first practice. That's how Korn started; two months later we were signed. And here we are.

Pit: You're from Bakersfield, California. What kind of childhood did you have?

Jon: The normal hell-childhood. It's like out of a Stephen King novel - it's crazy. Nothing to do... Only thing I did was study music, because my dad owned a music store. So I took a lot of lessons. Eventually I learned to play a lot of things.

Pit: You're very impassioned when you're on stage. How do you feel when you're playing live?

Jon: I don't really know; I just get in a state. I don't know what I do. I get to a point where I feel everything - all the pain that I feel inside, all the passion for my songs. I can't remember anything after; I just go for it. The band tells me what's going on after. Haven't you ever gotten that freaked out?

Pit: I have, but not on a regular basis.

Jon: Well, that happens to me every time. There were a couple of shows where I snapped out of it, and I just hated the shows. Things went wrong.

Pit: What do you expect to see in the crowd?

Jon: I usually just see lots of kids going crazy - jumping around in pits. I expect to see the kids having fun.

Pit: Is there a message in your music?

Jon: I guess the only one is to be honest with yourself. I'm tired of seeing hardcore kids acting like they're so tough, so hard, so bad, but they actually have feelings. It's hardest to be yourself. If you've got to be a fake, then who are you trying to fool? I have a lot of problems with all the testosterone.

Pit: Is it hard for you to be honest with yourself?

Jon: It was for a while, but it's not anymore. Now that I have my music I can get all this out. It's like therapy for me.

Pit: You're album has gotten a lot of critical acclaim. How does this affect you?

Jon: I think it's great. I never dreamed it would be like this, but getting good reviews makes it worth it. I had no idea that people would relate to me so much.

Pit: What do you think makes your music different?

Jon: Maybe it's our grooves. That's a good question.

Pit: What do you see as the world's biggest problem right now?

Jon: Us, I guess. The people. The politics. Stuff I don't care to talk about. I hate politics. Everyone should just kill politicians. America is a huge business; they do fucked up shit to us.

[silverwhittlingknife]

hi Silver! o/ because that fanart made me wonder - would you happen to know when/where Dick's stuffed elephant plush Zitka turns up in the comics?

GREETINGS CAM <3333 THAT ART WAS SO CUTE

Yeah, I think your instincts are right - it's a truly adorable bit of transformative fandom, but I'm 95% percent sure it's not comics canon. Barbara has canon plushies, but I don't think anyone else does.

I got kinda invested in the investigation (it's hard to prove a negative!) and I ended up typing out an entire History of Elinore/Zitka, so, uh, if you're curious, meet me below the cut for:

Where does Elinore / Zitka - the animal - appear in comics?

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

Where does Elinore / Zitka appear in comics?

We're gonna go in chronological order!

Dick's circus elephant friend was first created for practical reasons: in Batman 436, Marv Wolfman does a big expanded flashback to Dick's circus backstory as a way to subtly show us Tim before officially introducing him (so that we can have a technically-solvable mystery-of-Tim's-identity in LPoD). In this comic, there's an elephant named Elinore who loves Dick:

Aww. Such a cute elephant!

Batman 436 comes out in August 1989. New Titans 60 comes out a few months later, in November, and guess what? When Dick visits the circus, he is suddenly surprised by an unexpected blast from the past! It turns out that even though it's been years, Elinore still remembers him!

Here's the part where Elinore remembers Dick:

SUCH a cute elephant. I love her.

(Guess who else still remembers Dick even though it was so long ago. Guess which other character is about to be an unexpected blast from the past. Guess which character Elinore is directly paralleling guess guess guess sorry everything is about Dick and Tim in my mind but I can focus I swear)

Four years later, in 1993, Batman: The Animated Series retells Dick's origin story. They like and keep Wolfman's elephant, but they change her name to Zitka:

Wolfman doesn't return to the elephant beyond those two appearances, and a few years down the line, New Titans gets cancelled and Wolfman's not writing Dick anymore anyway. So the animal gets abandoned for a while, until Devin Grayson, a fan of both Wolfman and B:tAS, revives the Wolfman-era Titans team in JLA/Titans and then the ongoing series Titans 1999.

Grayson then brings back the elephant in a flashback to Dick's past in Titans 16 (Jun 2000), where she imports the B:tAS name. Sometimes I'm skeptical of TV-to-comics imports, but honestly, I endorse this one. You lose the alliteration, which is a shame, but IMO Zitka is a better elephant name than Elinore.

Here's Dick with the newly-christened Zitka in Titans 16:

Grayson also briefly references the elephant in Gotham Knights 20 and - in a final angsty callback - in Nightwing 88 (Feb 2004), where Zitka tries futilely to comfort Dick in the midst of his trauma conga line:

... And... honestly, I think that's it for comic appearances? The two Wolfman comics plus the three Grayson comics.

Both Wolfman and Grayson are writing multiple titles - Batman, New Titans, Titans, Gotham Knights, and Nightwing between the two of them, spanning a big chunk of Dick's post-Crisis canon - and both writers use the elephant for heartwarming moments of nostalgia, which means if you're doing a post-Crisis readthrough for Dick, Elinore/Zitka feels memorable. But I don't think she actually shows up that much.

For post-2011, I am not as well-informed - throwing this out to the dash? anyone know? - but I feel like Zitka the heartwarming symbol of Dick's heartwarming circus past is, uh, thematically very at odds with the Court of Owls evil!circus vibes, so my instinct is that this story element was almost certainly dropped in the reboot.

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

In WFA, yes; in main comics continuity, no. Technically, I have not read every comic ever published, so I could be wrong!! But I don't think so.

Below, find my rambling reasoning on the tonal vibes of pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, and post-2011, and why this particular story element doesn't seem right to me for the first two.

Pre-Crisis (...okay, mostly the Silver Age): stuffed animal, yes or no?

tl;dr no, requires too much background knowledge on the part of the reader, plus the elephant wasn't a thing until later

Elinore doesn't get created until post-Crisis, but also just generally, pre-Crisis callbacks are more along the lines of this reference in Batman 129 (published in 1960), where, wow, Batman and Robin are hunting jewel thieves - and it turns out Robin recognized this strongman! BUT HOW?!

The comic goes on to recap Dick's entire origin story in flashback, on the assumption that you may not know it.

(BTW, if you'd like to know more about Haly's Circus throughout the years, nightwingology has a great post here summarizing a lot of fun plotlines and characters!)

Basically: Silver Age comics are very self-consciously episodic and kid-friendly; they're not generally gonna do overly-elaborate callbacks because they don't know what comics their kid readers may have randomly picked up or remember.

By the time of post-Crisis, comic books were being written for an adult audience buying from the direct market, i.e. readers who are collecting whole runs & don't need or want Dick's origin story to be recapped to us in full every time it's referenced. That's why in post-Crisis, we get stuff like "hey, neat, this particular soda brand is getting mentioned in several different books!!" or "in order to understand this story arc, buy SIXTEEN DIFFERENT COMICS in FIVE DIFFERENT RUNS and read them ALL ACCORDING TO A NUMBERED ORDER and also you better be following the individual plotlines and recognize these five minor characters who we don't bother to introduce!! Good luck!!" But the elaborate post-Crisis plotlines - and subtler worldbuilding like a stuffed animal callback to Dick's backstory - don't make a lot of story sense UNLESS you're imagining your readers as completionist adult fans.

So IMO a stuffed animal wouldn't be a pre-Crisis thing unless it was The Episodic Story Of the Week, and I don't think a stuffed animal is action-adventure-y enough for the fast-paced storytelling of the Silver Age. (Unless it, like, came to life and tried to eat you or something.)

Post-Crisis: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr: no, Dick's a manly tough guy, he's not gonna have a stuffed animal, that'd be lame, like something Tim might do

Part of the edgy grimdark adult vibes in 80s/90s comics is that some characters who used to be kinda silly & goofy & lighthearted - like Batman and Robin - get reimagined as Serious and Angsty and Edgy in a Tough Cool Manly Brooding Way. This massively affects characterization for Bruce, Dick, and Bruce and Dick's relationship.

(I obviously love this change & love the tense Bruce-and-Dick interactions, but plenty of fans of the earlier fluffy comics really disliked the edgy retcons of Miller / Wolfman / Starlin / et al.)

The upshot is that post-Crisis is a period when you could have a recurring reference like a stuffed elephant, but you wouldn't have a stuffed elephant, not for Dick. I think a toy like that would be too cutesy / childish / effeminate to give a male character in post-Crisis, unless you were poking fun at him.

Now, you could probably let Tim have a stuffed animal, because Tim is sometimes cool but also sometimes a tryhard loser who is faking being cool and not entirely pulling it off (see e.g. the Robin comic where he practices tough-guy faces in the mirror, or the Teen Titans comic where Conner discovers his cringy Enya CD, or when he's fanboying over Connor and it's awkward, etc etc.). A stuffed animal would be deeply embarrassing, and you'd have to be careful to compensate by having Tim do something cool afterward - but Tim's character concept allows for "he's kind of a loser sometimes."

But Dick isn't!! In post-Crisis, Dick's a tough / impressive / "cool guy" character, the kind of guy anyone would want to be, even in the flashbacks where he's Robin, and even in the stories where he's more lighthearted than angsty. It'd be kinda lame for Dick to have a stuffed elephant, so he wouldn't. I feel like Dick would be more likely to poke fun at it if someone had one, like when he's making fun of Wally for liking the Hardy Boys. Dick could have a Batman action figure, at most, and if he had one he would have it ironically.

Basically: in post-Crisis, a male character hugging a stuffed elephant feels more likely to be a punchline to me, not something poignant. (Even with Tim, Tim could have an embarrassing stuffed animal, but he couldn't hug it when sad - that's too far. Maybe Booster Gold might do this. Probably he wouldn't, but spiritually, he would. Sorry Booster ilu! <3)

Instead, Dick instinctively deals with his inner turmoil like the TORTURED ACTION HERO he is: by punching things and brooding and yelling and joining the mob and sleeping on rooftops and going on obsessive secret missions and acquiring Angsty Stubble!! Just like Batman!

(Technically I don't know if Bruce ever joined the mob but you know he would.)

Anyway as you know this is my favorite continuity and I am poking fun affectionately, but uh, yeah sdfsfdsfs. No stuffed animals.

Post-2011 / Infinite Frontier / Wayne Family Adventures: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr it's in WFA! Probably not anywhere else, but it could be.

Post-2011 stuff tends to be cutesier overall, most of all in the current Infinite Frontier era. So I don't feel like this would be tonally out-of-line with IF comics. Taylor tends to go for more meme-y references rather than fanfic references, though.

So the obvious best fit is WFA, which is aiming for a rough approximation of Silver Age family-friendly vibes - wholesome, episodic plots, Teaching Good Moral Lessons For The Youth, etc. - plus lots of Easter eggs for fanfic readers and some comic references.

And look, here we are:

Aww.

Whew - that's everything I could find!

Anyway as you can probably tell, I LOVE the elephant, so this was a very entertaining rabbit hole to go down, thank you <3

[sugakookie78]

University Finals (Instagram AU)

Pairing: Lando Norris x Reader

All pictures are from Instagram, Tumblr, or Pinterest

@/landonorris She's studying a lot of stuff that I don't understand... Good luck on your finals!

Tagged @/Y/N.Y/L

Liked by @/Y/N.Y/L, @/danielricciardo, and 124,967 others

Y/N.Y/L Thank you, love. You've been so helpful!

landonorris Of course. Love you!

danielricciardo You don't understand a lot... But good luck, @/Y/N.Y/L

landonorris What? I actually am very smart and understand so much, Dan.

Y/N.Y/L Thank you, Danny. Lando...

user1 Good luck!

user2 What is she studying?

@/Y/N.Y/L Two finals down, one more to go. I passed the first exam, but I'm not sure about the second yet. Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement.

Liked by @/landonorris, @/yourfriend, and 21,859 others

Y/N.Y/L Also, thank you @/landonorris for helping me through this. He's been there with me every step of the way. Thank you and I love you!

landonorris You're welcome for the help... Even when I don't understand what's happening. Love you <3

user3 This is what I want

yourfriend What did you get on the exam?

Y/N.Y/L 95%. You?

yourfriend 82%

user3 She is really smart!

user4 Congrats on the first two! Good luck on the last one!

[lemotmo]

Bless her heart 🫠

Q. From a PR standpoint what would be the purpose of the official 911 account responding directly to so many comments hinting at Buddie? And gay/queer Eddie?Isn't that highly unprofessional? It's not like they don't have audience members who don't want to see them together.

Q. I'm sorry but Ryan and Oliver are just cringe. I get it they like one another and everyone is clearly having fun with mustache stuff but it's officially over done now.

Q. As far as the audience is concerned Tommy is Buck's canon relationship and he is the one they should be pairing with Oliver for promotion. ABC isn't doing anything to discourage the Buddie nonsense and it will backfire on them when the Buck/Tommy relationship is solidified in season 8.

Q. God Oliver and Ryan are going to be insufferable aren't they? Filming runs thru March, ugh. We get it you want your characters to bang. Stop rubbing it in.

Q. Everyone involved in this garbage should be ashamed. Buddie is not canon and until it is no one, especially the shows PR, should be leaning so heavily into them for promotion.

A. Rip to my ask box 😭. I will say I'm genuinely surprised by the number of comments they directly replied to. The Eddie Mercury one was definitely brow raising. I'm stunned they replied to that comment. That being said though Oliver/Ryan and Buddie was 95% of their entire PR campaign last season and they were the number one show on the network. Number one show in their timeslot. It worked. They're absolutely going to do it again, especially if Buddie is actually going canon this season. And you're correct, anon they're doing nothing to discourage that conversation. Some of their replies are actually only going to fan the flame. But they knew that when they chose to reply. And they replied to them in a way that would make people talk. They know what they're doing. But they do have to be careful. All implications are it's happening. But if they don't do it then t's absolutely queer baiting and it will cost them dearly. But I think they're well aware of that and it's why I don't think that's what's happening here.

Yes there are audience members that don't want them to be canon, but there are far more that do what them to be canon. Oliver and Ryan clearly want it. And they're not cringe, anon. Nearly 22,000 likes in a little under two hours is impressive . That is a quick clip. Their audience likes Buddie. Their audience likes Oliver and Ryan. You all are in the minority. And frankly it's not content for you. Your opinions of it are irrelevant. He's not there, anons. Deal with it. You'll get something small at some point, maybe, unless he isn't coming back at all. But your time is nearly up. You're going to have to settle for your imaginary content for now.

Thank you Nonny!

Ali, how are you holding up? Everything okay? Make sure to drink a lot of water and take a break when you need one. If you need a new keyboard after replying to all of those asks, we can start a GoFundMe for you. We'll make it happen. Trust. :D LOL!

Seriously though, if it all becomes too much, take a break okay? This must be a lot to handle.

Yeah, the social media team never really interacts all that much. They did now. That must mean they were told to interact and hype up the viewers. Another way of promoting the show.

But I do agree that they need to pull through with Buddie after all of this and all of the Buddie promo they did last season. There is no way back after all of this. I have no doubt that they will pull through though. It's glaringly obvious at this point that is where the story is going.

Buddie has been around for 6 seasons now. It has drawn in a big audience. Even the more casual fans of the show would like to see Buddie happen. The BT fandom is very small and most people of the general audience have already forgotten about Tommy, but they haven't forgotten about Eddie. They have eyes and see the same things we see. They can draw the same conclusions. They just aren't as openly passionate about it as we are.

Season 8 is our season.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[wonwoosthetic]

Hi Maddie! Hope you are also keeping happy and healthy! Not sure how caught up you are on this week's going seventeen special, but I watched 'I want to see you do this' and totally thought that DK could have written that wish for Wonwoo in your Minnie fic. I imagine that instead of Hoshi, Minnie gets it, and chaos ensues even before they play that hat game. Her wish is maybe for someone to go to a ballet class or an aerial yoga class with her? Anyway, this isn't a request for you to write, I just wanted to let you know that I'm sometimes thinking of this imaginary world when I watch seventeen content now too. Take care! -boo's pld anon

HIIIII☺️ I know writing this took quite some time, I‘m so sorry!!!!🫶🏼🥺 I truly wasn’t very well caught up with GoSe sadly but let me just tell you: you sometimes thinking about my little fictional world on here when you watch Going Seventeen means so freaking much to me!!! Like… I can’t even believe it😭😭😭 you actually think about this?!?!? That’s insane and a massive compliment!!!!!

I absolutely loved this request and I had a lot of fun writing it, I hope you enjoy it!!!🫶🏼🤍Thank you again for being such a wonderful reader and anon and I can’t even put into words how much it means to me how emerged you are in this story🥺🥺🥺

< series masterlist

word count – 5k

pairing – minnie x svt

[GOING SEVENTEEN SPECIAL] ETC: I Want To See You Do This 🌷 Minnie

'I Want To See You Do This' was the title of the next game the group would play in the long list of what Minnie liked to call 'random games we once mentioned or kinda played and now get to do again'. She was sitting between Dino and Joshua when Minghao introduced the start of the video as he would be the MC for that game.

After a bracket of the idol group had their short jittery moment, the '97 Liner got to finally present the rules of what was to follow.

"You just need to write down something you don't want to do, but you want someone else to do," Minghao explained. "And then we're going to sit here," he pointed to the open space right in front of the couches they were occupying, "and play the hat game."

Minnie smirked to herself before she even opened her mouth to speak. "So like sending Mingyu skydiving?" Earning her a gentle elbow to her side by the '95 Liner to her left and a snarl from the other end of the line.

"Ha ha!" Her fellow '97 Liner called out in clear sarcasm while the rest couldn't help but chuckle.

The girl leaned forward, an annoyingly wide grin on her lips, and turned to the side. She stuck out her tongue in between her lips, getting another annoyed huff in return before Mingyu just copied her facial expression.

[we promise, SEVENTEEN really loves each other]

Before she could react, a soft hand on her arm pulled her back - at least the vice leader could keep one of the members in line.

"But didn't you say, you wanted to go skydiving?" The maknae suddenly wondered at the female member.

Woozi could only frown, mumbling quietly, "Who wants to go skydiving?"

"I do," Minnie nodded, falling back against the cushion behind her as she crossed her arms, "But Mingyu's being mean to me today, so I wanted to mention it." To which Dino could only shake his head with his signature laughter. The other '97 Liner held himself back with a scoff.

[another normal day in the life of roommates]

The producer of the group decided to change the topic. "You could write something you want to do on the chance that you get your own though."

"But the chance of that happening is one in 14," Mingyu clarified, getting corrected that for that day's shoot, it would actually be one in twelve as the two oldest of the group were missing due to their injuries.

"You could be really smart about this," Seungkwan started, "and write something that a member will find really difficult." Before changing his idea again. "Or, you write something that will be heartwarming and beautiful."

Getting a "That's right," in agreement.

Minnie perked up again, straightening her back to move her body forward, eyeing the members to her left that had just spoken. "And what about things you'd want to do with the members?"

"What would you want to do with others?" The '98 Liners nagged her with a smile, but the girl just shrugged.

"Don't we spend enough time together already?" The girl heard from the very end of the line, her gaze meeting Vernon's, who was clearly judging her question, based on his reaction.

"No, we don't!" She defended herself quickly. "At least not all of us."

"Who do you not spend enough time with, Minnie?" Dokyeom's kind voice rang through the room, getting a moment of silence from the girl as she glanced around at each member, thinking to herself.

"Mmmm," she hummed out loud, chuckling once she saw how some of them had started to avoid her gaze. "Junnie-hyung!"

"We just went out to eat together!" The '96 Liner replied, making her head snap towards him.

"And?"

"That was recently! We do spend time together." But that only got a frown out of the female member before she went on to the next one.

[not enough]

"Woozi-hyung!"

"We spend more than enough time together," he stopped her quickly, his palm facing her, putting a little sass to his words.

Minnie scoffed, "In the studio! That's hardly spending real time together."

But he ended the discussion promptly. "It's enough for me." Getting a round of laughter from every member, but her.

[today is a hard day for some people]

While the other ten of them were hardly able to control their chuckles, Minnie threw her hands up in desperation, "Do all of you not want to spend time with me?!"

"Noona," Dino put one hand on her arm and one on her back, comforting her as his lips stayed curled up. "I'll spend some time with you."

[maknae coming to the rescue]

With a big smile, she let her head drop to his shoulder, just as a,

"I'll spend more time with you too," came from her left - a voice she knew all too well. 

[suddenly spending time together is popular]

She didn't even try to hide her grin as she looked past Joshua and found Wonwoo's eyes fixed on her, sending him a nudge with her head,

"Thank you," followed by a sweet grin.

Minghao continued to lay out the rules of the game, letting everyone know that the person who would lose, aka have the red hat in their grip by the end of the round, would have to post a picture or video as evidence of them executing their penalty.

"Wait, but I don't get this-" Seungkwan interrupted. "Are you writing this for a specific member?"

"No, no, no." Before anyone else could even open their mouths, Mingyu beat them to it, "You just write, 'I want to see you do this'. And whoever picks it has to do it."

"But what if I want a specific member to do it?" Minnie wondered, mostly hoping that only the members right next to her had caught it, but her voice seemed to have been loud enough as her fellow '97 Liner continued to run his mouth.

"Well, that's not what this program is about," he told her monotonously. A clear frown formed on her forehead as she turned to glance over at the slightly older member. Shooting her brows up, Minnie nodded at him in annoyance,

"Sorry for asking," slightly rolling her eyes before sulking back into her seat. The members could only chuckle at their antics again, deciding to move on, not commenting on their behaviour even more.

Minghao, being the good and well-prepared MC he was, had started ripping apart the notebook, to hand out exactly 12 sheets of paper. Once everyone had gotten one and Mingyu finally passed around the remaining pens, each member got down to writing. They mostly kept to themselves, some clearly grinning as they put down the penalty they had come up with. The clear box in the middle of the room was slowly filled up by the crumbled-up pieces of paper.

"I probably won't get mine," Dokyeom commented as he stood, strutting over to the box.

Minnie smiled, "I hope I get mine." But Minghao was already shaking his head,

"If you get yours, we'll go again."

"Then I won't say that I pulled my own penalty," she sheepishly grinned at him, to which he could only shake his head with a chuckle.

[keeping secrets]

Finally, it got to the point of the lucky draw. The MC followed the line of the members, letting each pull out one piece of paper after the other. They were ordered to keep them folded, yet, of course, not everyone had gotten that message.

Dino's million-dollar cackle made the girl turn her head, her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Did you look at it already?" She asked him as if she didn't already know.

He nodded, continuing his chuckles. "Who wrote this?" Making Minnie's nosiness spike up. "It's nice. It's very nice," he kept on saying to himself.

"Oh-" Minnie laughed, "Then it's not mine."

The youngest turned towards her. "Why, what did you write?"

"I'll tell you once the member reads it," she assured him.

They decided to go down the same line in which they pulled their penalties, starting with Vernon and ending with Minghao. The '98 Liner didn't seem all too excited about possibly having to become TWS' manager for one day but took it without any complaints before they moved on to Jun. 

"Write a sincere letter to a member and buy them a gift."

As soon as he had finished reading it out loud, the group already had an idea of who this could've been written by.

"Members? All 13?" Dino misunderstood.

"It doesn't say 'all 13'," Jun showed them the piece of paper. But as soon as Minnie's seat neighbour spoke up, she had made up her mind about who could've possibly written that 'penalty'.

"Just one member," Joshua let him know, to which the girl glanced at the '95 Liner with a cheeky smile. She got a chuckle out of him before he shoved her slightly, making her lean into his side and wrap her hands around his biceps. Another hint was a slight misspelling, but even without it, the group knew it could've only been him.

"Hey," Hoshi suddenly started, gaining the attention of the room. "But at least that one had a set person. Mine says, 'I want to see you pole dancing'."

The entire room erupted in loud laughter and almost immediately, Minnie felt a smack to her upper arm - the maknae couldn't control himself - but she tried to not react as best as she could. Failing. Hard.

"What?" Mingyu chuckled, throwing his head back against the couch.

"Minnie, who do you want to see pole dancing?" Seungkwan's sudden accusation made her shoot up.

"What?! Why me?"

"As if this could've been written by anyone else!" The '98 Liner threw at her.

For a second, the girl fell silent, letting the members' laughter die down before she snapped back.

"So what?!" Getting another round of chuckles in response. She shook her head and turned towards Hoshi, grinning at him as he met her eye. "Let's do a class together."

"Together?!" He stopped her with a cackle, the members joining him only a second later.

"Ah- no- wait-," Minnie tried to explain, but interrupted herself with her own laughter. Quickly, she hid behind the oldest member's shoulder, gripping onto them with her life. Suddenly the situation felt a lot different than what she had wanted it to be like. "That sounded weird," she sulked. "Please cut that out," smiling shyly at the producers, who had been laughing just as much as the members.

"That's not what I meant..." she quietly said, but no one was believing her, still insanely amused at the scene.

Woozi shook his head in disbelief, "Mh, sure."

"I don't know what sounds worse. You wanting to see someone pole dance or wanting to do a class with them," Joshua added, earning him a sharp smack to his arm.

"Don't make it weird!" She complained, still whining.

"Did you have someone specific in mind?" Dokyeom continued teasing her, only grinning even harder once he saw her eyes glaring at him.

"No!" She defended herself, even though the question had caught her off-guard.

He continued to push her further, "Who did you want to get the card?"

"You have to be honest, you can't lie!" Seungkwan added, making her roll her eyes.

"I didn't have anyone specific in mind!"

"Are you sure?" Seungkwan made his eyebrows wiggle, continuing to stare at the girl, who was already glaring at him.

"Yes!" She snarled at him, "I told you, I want to spend more time with you." Mumbling to herself, "Idiots..." which only the audio technician caught as he started to chuckle. Her lips curled up at his reaction.

"Spending time together in a pole dancing class?" Mingyu jumped into the conversation, but Minnie only sent a warning finger straight at him.

"Minnie," Hoshi started again. "I would do this happily. Alone or together 

with you." His comment made the female member smile. "Even though it sounds weird." And with that, it faded just as quickly, getting a chuckle from the members surrounding her. A comforting hand found its way onto her knee. Joshua had noticed the slight heat that had come up to her cheeks, making him smile even more as she shook her head in embarrassment, crossing her arms in defence.

-

If Mingyu were to lose, he'd have to write a book report, which they agreed on, would never see the light of day or take multiple years to finish. Minnie couldn't help but smile to herself, not remembering the last time she had seen him even pick up a book out of a reason other than cleaning hers and Wonwoo's up from the living or dining room.

Woozi drew having to go to a workshop retreat alone - which, even he himself, admitted to never wanting to do completely on his own.

And then came Dino, who read out loud,

"I want to see you climb to the top of Halla Mountain and shout 'Hooray'," getting the entire room to laugh and gasp in synch. It wouldn't take him forever, only about 4.5 hours, but still, it was regarded as the highest point in the entire country, altitude-wise.

"Wow," Jun exclaimed, "who wrote that? That's good!"

Considering, the place was in Jeju, Minnie's glance immediately fell on the '98 Liner on her left. And Minghao seemed to have had the same thought as he pointed at the younger member,

"Seungkwan! Because it's in Jeju-" but he was already brushing off the accusation.

"What do you mean, no? Of course, it was you," Minnie threw at him, getting a side-eye in return.

"Not everyone writes so obviously that everyone immediately knows it's you." She was ready to fight back, but also knew that today's shoot already had a few too many bickerings probably and God knows, where this could lead to more, so she decided to retreat.

The discussion immediately switched to the right gear you'd have to own if you were to climb Halla Mountain, making you almost think Dino had already lost and was preparing for the execution of his penalty.

"Alright," Hoshi moved on. "Now, Minnie."

Letting her finally unfold the piece of paper she had been holding onto. At first, she let her eyes look over the characters quickly, followed by a frown making its way to her brows. Only then, did she read it out loud,

"I want to see you sincerely p-pro...pose? Propose?" Once she said the word out loud, Minnie realised what she had just read, "OH-," repeating it in English, "Propose?"

But the members were already giggling left and right. Dino's well-known cackles filled the room while Joshua nodded at her question, shaking his head with a chuckle.

Minnie laughed along with them, glimpsing around the space in confusion, "What?" She was watching the members being clearly entertained by the penalty she had pulled. Her eyes locked on Wonwoo, who was already looking over in her direction, his lips parting,

"Who-... Who wrote that? What?" He tried to find the gaze of one of the others, but they were too occupied by still chuckling at what they had just heard.

"Does it mean like really propose? Or like propose an idea?" Minnie wondered out loud, still looking over at the left side. No answer, just laughter.

"I don't think anyone thinks about proposing an idea in this context," Minghao let his comment slide into the moment, slightly mumbling, but still loud and clear enough for everyone to hear.

The female member shrugged, "I don't know... it could be. Why would-"

"You don't actually believe that!" From the other end, Vernon's voice rang through the room as he pointed at the girl, his smile still wide as he had just calmed down from his laughing fit.

With wide eyes, Minnie snapped, "How would I know?!" Her exclaim got another round of laughter. "I don't know what they meant by that!"

"But this is perfect for you," Woozi's remark surprised her.

"For me?!" She exclaimed maybe just a little too loud as the members grinned at her. "Why for me?!" Chuckling nervously as she shifted in her seat.

Dokyeom decided to take the next word, all heads then fixed on him. "Isn't it because they want to see what you would be like if you were proposing to the person you love?"

Minnie was already opening her mouth to speak, but the maknae behind her beat her to it, pointing a finger at the main vocalist. "You wrote this, huh?"

"That's right." With no hesitation, DK raised his hand in defence, getting another round of laughter from all of them including their female member.

"Why would you want to see that?" Minnie giggled at him in slight confusion while the youngest member next to her had a hard time holding himself together once more.

"Because it's cute!" He defended himself.

Before anyone could say anything more to that, Hoshi jumped in.

"But... but isn't it a bit weird if Minnie does it?"

Her head immediately turned towards the '96 Liner. "Why?"

"Don't you think someone else should do it?" 

While everyone else seemed to have understood the implementation of his question, some smirking to themselves, others opening their mouths, ready to stop the discussion immediately, the female member glared at him.

"Why?! It's 2024, I could propose as well!" Taking clear offence in his statement. The members glanced at her in slight confusion before they realised that she had misunderstood him.

"Oh- no," he stuttered, "that's not what I-" Hoshi tried to explain, but was cut off by Mingyu's arm in front of him and a slight shake of his head. He understood. "Ah, yeah... sorry, you're right, Minnie," nodding at her. "Then please, propose."

A short second of silence passed before she opened her mouth again. 

"That's crazy..." She chuckled, looking around, trying not to let her eyes land on a specific person, knowing it would gain unwanted attention.

"You can decide to who," Dokyeom declared. "But it has to be romantic. Very romantic."

"OH, yes!"

"That's right!"

"It has to be genuine!"

Different loud hollers filled the room. Minnie sent a quick surprised facial expression into the camera, putting a piece of hair behind her ear while she waited for the voices to die down.

"It has to be?" She wondered, making her fellow '97 Liner nod, along with the other members, who were grinning widely.

Suddenly, Mingyu's voice reached their ears. "Ya... Isn't that a bit much?" Tilting his head with a somewhat smile at the guys who were now looking at him.

"But she gets to choose the member she does it to," Seungkwan replied. "So it won't be weird." Hoping to end the topic of conversation right there.

"Okay, I can do that. I think...," she giggled, "but you guys are weird." Getting a soft chuckle from the members next to her in response.

Joshua was next to reveal his possible penalty.

"I want to see you reveal your abs at our concert." The reactions came immediately.

Throwing her head bag together with Dino, Minnie couldn't hide her amusement, laughing loudly together with the maknae as they held onto each other.

Hoshi let out a loud "Woooo!" Getting even more chuckles out of the other members.

"I want to see that too!" Minnie's comment earned her a slap on the shoulder, making her lean into Joshua's side, laughing against his shoulder as he tried to brush her off.

An arm reached over her before snatching the piece of paper out of the oldest's grip.

"It's so obvious that it's Hoshi!" Dino pointed out the handwriting that clearly indicated who it came from. And the '96 Liner didn't even try to deny it, continuing to smile proudly.

-

Wonwoo had already taken a sneak peek at the folded paper before he revealed it to the room.

"For me," he started. "This is so Jun," getting a few chuckles in return. "I want to see you go skydiving."

But that thought was quickly denied as Jun spoke up from the other side,

"It's not me."

"Oh-," Dokyeom glanced over, "It's not you?" Making the other member shake his head.

Dino grinned. "If Minnie's wasn't already revealed, I would've thought it might be from her."

The girl stopped mid-sip she was about to take from her iced coffee, her eyebrows scrunched up immediately. But before she could say anything, Wonwoo replied,

"But this isn't her handwriting."

"And!" She exclaimed, looking over to her left, "I wouldn't do that to you."

"But to me?!" Mingyu shouted, earning himself a sarcastic smile and nod from the female member. With a scoff and shake of his head, he decided to quiet down again, getting a soft smack to his upper arm from Hoshi, who was grinning at the duo.

"Isn't it Hao maybe?" Minnie wondered after taking a closer look at the paper Wonwoo was holding up.

"Is it?" He asked himself out loud before turning to the member in question, "Is it you?"

Minghao was already smiling from ear to ear, nodding his head excitedly.

-

They moved on quickly, going through Dokyeom, who was challenged to eat 10,000 calories in a day, over to Seungkwan, who would have to buy hotpot for all the members of Seventeen - that was immediately debunked to come from Jun. He had even drawn a small picture of a hotpot serving, making the members chuckle in awe. Minghao's penalty was revealed to be a fitness photoshoot. The culprit was first to be thought to be Mingyu, but he quickly denied it, leaving the answer to remain anonymous.

After going through each member, they were finally able to move on to the game that would determine who would have to actually execute the penalty given to them. The production crew opted for a hat game the group had never played before, giving them a new challenge to face. Even after all these years and videos with the same crew members, they were still able to keep the idol group on their tippy toes.

Sitting in a circle on the floor, each of them was given a white hat, with one of them, at the beginning Wonwoo, wearing a red one. They would be singing the chorus of the all-so-beloved trot version of their newest title track 'God of Music' while moving the heads from the members in front of them onto their own ones, moving to the beat of the song. Whoever ended up with the hat by the end of the round, that either being by the end of the song or a mess-up from one of the members, would lose and eventually have to go through with the penalty they had pulled.

It started out smoothly, with Dokyeom starting to count the beat before everyone else joined in. But only after a few seconds, they had already run into their first mess-up, making them have to start from the top. And that was only the warm-up. For the second round, they decided to start by singing the chorus already, hoping it wouldn't mess up the rhythm all too much. But that was too much to hope for.

"Ya Mingyu-ya!" Jun exclaimed with a smile on his face. The '97 Liner giggled to himself, three hats stacked on his head, clearly showing who was to blame for another round they had to stop.

Minnie, sitting between Wonwoo and Woozi, turned around to snarl at the rapper, but couldn't hide her grin as she saw the amusement on his face.

"Get it together!" She giggled at him.

"Seriously!"

"Hey!" Joshua called out. He pointed at Hoshi, who not only had one white hat on top of his head but the red one as well.

"It's him!" The leader defended himself, straightening his back and turning around, taking off both hats before he shouted at the younger member. It was only then that he realised he was holding onto the red hat, a look of shock coming to his face in an instant.

As he at first started to blame Mingyu, all eyes were now on Hoshi, pointing fingers and shouting at him.

"No, no," he tried to defend himself, "this isn't it! This isn't right!"

"You're holding the red hat!" Minnie threw at him, followed by a chuckle that made her lean forward, resting her forehead on the 58cm shoulders in front of her.

"B-But I-" Mingyu stuttered as he explained himself, "I was doing it normally like 'one, two, one, two'," counting the beat out loud when he pointed at Joshua behind him, "But you weren't taking them! So I kept on putting more and more hats on." Amid his rant, Hoshi placed the hats he had worn just merely seconds ago, onto the '97 Liner's head.

"No!" He took them off, "It's not my fault!"

He continued to try to explain his side of the situation, only getting giggles and chuckles from the other members in return as they continued to find nothing but humour in the moment. Hoshi was nodding along to his words, completely dismissing the fact that he had technically lost the round, and pretended to agree with everything the younger member was saying.

In true Seventeen fashion, the members had started to randomly stand up, making a bigger scene of their exclaims. After Mingyu was finished with the details of his story, Joshua tried to explain himself while the others seemed to have already been on Mingyu's side.

Finally, everyone agreed, that TECHNICALLY, Hoshi would've lost the round, but due to the circumstances and confusion, they opted to play another round, hoping for the best. They couldn't just let the video end without getting the entire chorus right at least once. With big gestures, Dokyeom and Seungkwan clarified the rules one last time, clearing up most of the confusion that was left in the room, before they sat down in a circle again.

"Woah...," Minnie sighed out loud, "This is so much fun." Drumming with her hands on Wonwoo's back.

"Right?" Joshua nodded at her excitedly.

"But now I'm nervous that I'm gonna mess it up," she whined with a chuckle, suddenly feeling a comforting palm on her leg. Wonwoo had reached behind him,

"It's okay," giving her knee a few pats before he retreated his hand to get back in position to start the next and final round.

-

Only a few seconds after the producers had put on the song, the hat order was already messed up. Hastily, the members threw around the ones they had too much to the others that didn't have one anymore, quickly wanting to get back to finish the chorus in unity. Starting again, they were forced to break it up after two seconds, coming to the realisation that lifting the hats and shaking them was throwing off most of the members, causing a chain reaction of issues to happen within the circle. Minghao asked to just let out that one move, but Dokyeom was too motivated to get it right. He whined out loud, begging for everyone to finally get it right so they could move on.

Deciding that it might be easier if they sang the song themselves instead of listening to it through the speakers, the game started for the last and final time. Singing at a slower BPM than the original, they found it much easier to keep up with the hat switch. That was until Minnie was trying to grab the white hat from Wonwoo, but couldn't quite get it off at the right time. He moved the red hat from Dino onto his own head, stacking it on top of the white one that Minnie was still holding as she was about to take it off.

"IT'S WONWOO!" The members clapped in glee. With a loud laughter, the girl fell forward, her hands and forehead resting on Wonwoo's back.

"I'm sorry!" She called out as the rapper turned around to glance at her, his lips curved up to an amused smile. "I'm sorry," she patted his shoulder, still giggling, so her excuse was hard to take seriously.

"WONWOO, WONWOO," Seungkwan continued to chant.

"What was Wonwoo's?" Dokyeom wanted to know.

The rapper held up the red hat proudly. "Skydiving," getting a louder round of claps and hollers in response.

"I wrote that!" Minghao announced with a big smile, taking the '96 Liner's hand into his.

While some members wondered whether or not it was fun to send him skydiving, Minnie felt a poke to her back, making her turn around.

"He lost because of you, right?" Woozi sneakily grinned at her.

With a shy smile, she nodded, running a hand through her hair, "But I didn't do it on purpose. I couldn't get the hat off." She explained while demonstrating the situation.

"At least he won't hold a grudge against you," the producer told her, but Minnie shook her head with wide eyes,

"I wouldn't say that," getting a chuckle out of him. "I'm serious!" She exclaimed as Woozi had pushed himself up to stand. At that same moment, Mingyu passed the duo, coming to a halt to hold a hand out for her to take and to pull her up on her feet. Just as she reached out and was about to place her palm into his, he suddenly pulled his hand away. A giggle escaped Minnie's lips as she leaned forward, smacking his legs with an exclaim. Her fellow '97 Liner joined her chuckles, getting a hold on her elbow to actually pull her up.

Just before the two went to their designated places, Mingyu brushed a hand over her head, earning him a slight nudge to his side.

Taglist: @waosobii @chaebb @lunarxsun @hoe4wonwoo @kimhyejin3108 @soobzao @billboard-singer @cosmicwintr @zwiehe @alixnsuperstxr @angie-x3 @smooore @allthings-fandoms @lllucere

[susiephone]

the discourse around "the coffin of andy and leyley" is so headache inducing and even ignoring the fact that the narrative outright says that The Incest Is A Bad Thing and the characters engaging in it are Bad People and the fact that it only becomes explicit, physical incest in a route the player has to choose to go down, and the game straight-up warns you This Is The Incest Route Where Bad Things Happen, Are You Sure, i find it so fucking funny that people mostly flip out about it in reference to the ending of ch2.

because...again, it's only one possible ending and it's one you very much cannot get by accident, but mostly, the relationship between andrew and ashley is very clearly toxic and inappropriate from the very start. like beginning of chapter one, the subtext is there, and as the story continues and we explore their dynamic more, it becomes just....text. so when i see people acting scandalized and shocked only about the possible ending of ch2, i assume they either never actually played the game and thus only know about that ending, or they just straight-up were not paying attention for the first 95% of their gameplay experience. like i'm sorry you do not get to act all shocked and offended that the game is "going there" when it was already driving in that direction from minute one. (and, again, it will not fully "go there" UNLESS YOU TELL IT TO.) like, is it only bad once there's no longer any plausible deniability, no matter how thin that deniability was to begin with?

anyway. people who sent the game dev death threats over this would not have survived crimson peak, or any gothic literature course.

[shadow4-1]

You're Not My Boyfriend! - Crazy!Soap x Reader Imagine (SFW)

[I just found out that my best friend of 10 years thinks we're dating (even tho he knows I'm married and have only ever referred to him as a friend - albeit my best friend). Idk what mental hoops he had to jump through to get to this point. Instead of dwelling on this interpersonal fact, I'm going to distract myself with a imagine on why Soap would most certainly act with the same kind of crazy.]

The two of you crossed paths for the first time because you're someone who works a support role for the 141 (ie. the medical/technical fields). You're not in the 141, in fact, you rarely see them because you're too busy with your own duties behind the scenes. You know they're important/a big deal because your superiors tell you so, but it's not like you really care. You don't deal with them enough to.

When you finally crossed paths with Soap, you find all of the team a bit brutish. You don't really like talking to them, and if you have to, you keep it curt. Soap is the one who actually tries to chat you up. You still keep up the same behavior because no thanks. He smiles too wide, and he doesn't blink enough. You're 95% sure all of these men are psychopaths.

A few weeks go by, and you completely forget about him. It isn't until flowers and chocolates and teddy bears with your name on it start showing up. The same note is always inside: Can't wait to see you again. Your stomach flips because you haven't been on a date in a couple years. All of your coworkers think you finally have a new significant other. They coo over the gifts and talk behind your back about how someone like you doesn't deserve the effort. You don't have it in yourself to speak up nor would it really matter.

You throw yourself into your work to distract yourself from the gossip. You tear through assignments like it's no one's business. Eventually, your productivity is noticed by Laswell. Unbeknownst to you, she does a background check on you. She finds out you've already been noticed by the 141 and have been receiving gifts from a particular member. She's half tempted to tell you but decides against it. She knows this won't end well either way. Laswell decides to leave you be, but manages to pull some strings to get you a well-deserved promotion.

The gifts stop for a few months but start up again sporadically. Rumors start about how the timing of the gifts matches up with the 141 deployments. Someone on the team has taken a liking to you. You roll your eyes at them, and you don't want to believe them. Those meatheads from the 141? One of them likes you when they've got dozens of other pretty young things working in their peripherals? Ha, likely story. The person actually sending you the gifts is probably the old janitor. After all, chivalry is so dead nowadays.

The gifts keep coming even as you enjoy your new promotion. The notes start to change, but they continue to remain anonymous. You start to accept that your favorite flowers are being sent from a 141 member. You have to see them more often, thanks to your new post. It doesn't take you long to figure out which man has been trying to capture your attention. God, why does it always have to be the creepy ones?

He's too touchy and too insensitive, and he's loud and makes you feel small. You want him to leave every time you have to be in the room with the team. Why couldn't it have been the Captain or the maniac in black? Why does it have to be the Scottish one who won't shut up?

You learn (against your will) that his name is John "Johnny/Soap" MacTavish, he's single and ready to mingle, he loves his mum and his sisters and he thinks you're "bangin" (whatever that means). It's so obvious he's got a crush on you, but you desperately try to play it off. He's a puppy, and all you have to do is wait for him to grow up and realize it's never going to happen.

One night, you decide to head out with your coworkers for drinks. And lo and behold, guess who dragged his whole team out to the same bar? You're understandably pissed off, but you can't bear to tell Soap off in front of everyone. It's probably the biggest mistake of your life.

He physically sweeps you off your feet and refers to you as his "bestest girl". Despite how annoying he is, his good mood seems to run off on everyone...including you. He buys you drinks, and you keep him at a respectable arms length. Despite how much you really don't like him that way, you have to start admitting he's got a weird charm to him.

You make him repeat it back to you. He seems all too happy to agree with you.

Later on in the night, you take him off to the side. You explain to him clearly that the two of you are friends. Only friends. You'll never be more than that. But, he's a good guy, and if he needs someone to talk to, you're down to be friends.

"Yes, Bonnie. We're only friends."

With a sigh, you slap his shoulder and tell him to buy you another drink.

Weeks drag on. The romantic gifts stop, but the gifts keep coming. At first, it's nothing you'd really bat an eye over from a good friend. It's Scottish hot chocolate tablets that he swears you have to try. It's CDs of his favorite bands because your taste in music should be broadened! It's books and bags and stupid little trinkets to personalize your desk.

You can't believe you find yourself humoring him, but you do. After all, it seemed like his crush on you disappeared. You get him weird snacks and make him mixtapes for his longer missions. Always under the guise as a treat from the rest of the staff, you send care packages if you can. Johnny calls you out on it but you feign ignorance. He's your friend. You'd actually hate to know he's slogging around in mud, hungry and alone.

That sounds like pure hell.

"Y' git used to it, Bonnie."

Eventually, he suggests spending time outside of work. He mentions he'd gotten a new gaming console you'd been dying to have yourself. That night, the two of you sit comfortably side by side, trying to kick each other's asses at a video game. When he wims, he leans back and laces his arms beneath his head, grinning and laughing. He looks so proud of himself. A part of you whispers that it's because he'd weaseled his way into your good graces, but you were in too good of a mood to listen to that part of your brain.

Just as you were about to get ready to leave, Johnny stops you. It was late. You should take his bed and get some rest. He'd take you to work in the morning. Despite yourself, you agree. It was late, and you were tired, and the drive back home would be too long. You take off your pants, crawl into his huge bed and pass out.

The next morning was normal. You had an extra uniform in your locker, so you got changed at work. You had gotten a great night's sleep, so you didn't think about your appearance. But apparently, everyone else did.

The gossip began at full force. Someone saw you changing despite the fact you always came into work in uniform. Johnny looked terrible. It was obvious he hadn't gotten great sleep last night. You looked well rested. In fact, you were even glowing! And Johnny had dropped you off, too?

Oh no.

You wanted to address the new rumors, but that's all they were. And even if you did, you were sure it would just backfire. You tried to keep your head down, but one of your best friends (a fellow coworker) came by your desk. Apparently, Johnny was bragging that his bestest friend spent the night over.

You were so mad you tracked him down and pulled him to the side. You whispered angrily at him, chastising him for making it seem like the two of you were an item. You were only friends!

"Yeah, you're m' bestest girl." He shrugged, grinning happily. "N' m' you're bestest boy. We love each other."

The deranged pieces were starting to come together. The way he brushed off the advances of the other girls. The way all of your prospective partners disappeared after getting into it with him. The knowing, almost pitying glances of the 141.

"W-we're friends!" You squeaked. "You're not my boyfriend!"

"Boy friend. Boyfriend. What's th' difference?" Johnny laughed hard, doubling over. "We're together."

After that, you blocked his number and tried to ignore him. Of course, it didn't work. Johnny was relentless. He got new phone numbers to text you. He started sending gifts (this time a mix between the romantic and the mundane). He sent letters of all kinds during deployment. He even sent pictures you were sure would get him in trouble.

You tried so hard to ignore it all until one night, he messaged you on social media.

He was out on a mission again, but he just had to say how he felt:

I can't wait to get home and see you again. I miss you so much. You're one of the only people I can talk to and laugh with. I'm sorry if I made you upset. We should talk about it over dinner. My treat, Bonnie.

You knew better. God, you knew better. But that part of your heart that wanted to trust and love won over. You agreed to talk when he returned, but you made it very clear that it would be a meeting between coworkers, not even friends.

The day eventually came, and the two of you sat across from each other at a too fancy restaurant. There was a dress code, so you had on a nice dress. You were mad from the jump, you couldn't believe you'd let him talk you into this.

He was dressed nicely in a suit, with a bushel of flowers and a medium-sized gift box. He apologized for making you feel uncomfortable. He'd never meant to make you feel that way. He really did see you as his best friend. In his eyes, you were the only person who truly understood him. He let his physical attraction blind him, and for that, he was sorry.

"I'll admit, I did a few bad things against y'." He offered you the box. "I wanna give it all back, wipe the slate clean, love."

Love?

You shakily opened the box and felt bile rise up in the back of your throat. It was pairs of your old panties, missing chapsticks, nail polish, scrunchies, and even a dirty uniform shirt you thought you had lost. The contents of the box had a slightly musky scent that no longer resembled yours. He'd stolen these things and had kept them for a long, long time. Perhaps even before the two of you had become "friends".

You covered your hand with a mouth as you felt like you were getting sick. What the fuck?

"We'll, now tha' everything's been laid bare..."

You watched in shock as a few classical musicians with their instruments came around the table. They encircled you and began playing a romantic piece with sweet vibratos. The guests at other tables started to gasp and point at you. You tried to stand, but John put a hand on your shoulder to keep you sitting. With a voice loud enough for the whole restaurant to hear he began to talk.

"These last couple years you've been my bestest friend, m' bestest girl." He sighed dreamily before getting down onto one knee.

You were mortified. You tried to pull your feet away from him, but he placed a firm hand on your knee. He pulled out a shiny box from his suit pocket. The music hit a peak that made you start to cry from overstimulation. No, no, this couldn't be happening. He's crazy!

"Please, be m' bestest girl forever." He practically pleaded, opening the box to show off a much too large diamond ring. Women at the tables behind you gasped. The music began to stop, but the whine of the violins hurt your head. Tears began to spill down your face.

"Marry me, love."

The entire restaurant went silent.

You could feel dozens upon dozens of eyes on you.

The pressure was too much for you to outright say no.

But you couldn't say yes, either.

You began to sob loudly. You covered your face and tried to hide away from the gaze of the strangers. John shushed you and cooed and pulled you into his arms. You wanted to fight him but his large body shielded you from the petriying public gaze. He rubbed at your back and whispered encouraging words to you. Eventually, he got you to stop blubbering and pulled away from you just enough to look down into your face.

"I love you. N' 've always loved you." He smiled.

You squeaked at the feeling of ice-cold metal being slipped down your middle finger.

You looked down at the ring in shock.

The entire restaurant erupted into claps and whistles and congratulatory whoops.

"N' now we'll be bestest friends forever, love."

[genericpuff]

So this is random, sorry, but someone I know is reading a touch of darkness (I think you've mentioned it here before) and oh my gods your right?? It's literally just LO in book format instead of a Webtoon. Persephone and Hades in a "modern" setting except this time he's a gambling den owner instead of running a corporation that stands in for the underworld. Persephone is a student at university etc etc until she happens to run into Hades (and is already weirdly fascinated with him for some odd reason). Enemies to lovers tropes out the wazoo, badly written smut etc. Like wow I know there's bound to be some overlap but this feels almost copy pasted. It's like a weird vicious cycle of the modern era where we keep getting the same tired Hades and Persephone story of "their in love really and they hurt people but it's hot and Demeter is a helicopter mom" that follow the same formula. Why is it such a thing? LO, a touch of darkness, losing beauty etc. There's so many of them.

OMG SO I HAVE A FUNNY STORY ABOUT THAT ACTUALLY LOL

a pal sent me this a couple weeks back and uh. I'm like 95% sure this person is talking about A Touch of Darkness:

That said, I think it's really ironic that people are trying to 'report' whatever book this could be considering the characters in LO are not really Rachel's 'characters', but A Touch of Darkness is SUPER egregious with how much it ripped off LO. It came out in May 2019, and LO started in the Originals section in March 2018, though it was on Tumblr before that so I don't think it's far-fetched to think that Scarlett St. Claire read LO and was 'inspired' to write a novel that was exactly the same.

The reader here though says that LO came out 3-4 years before this unnamed series, which does make me think it could be something else, but it's also "series of novels" which A Touch of Darkness definitely is at this point.

So yeah, this could either go nowhere due to Rachel not owning anything when it comes to the Greek myth characters in her 'retelling', or it could lead to the smackdown of the century LOL

[lukola92]

So personally, I think that there was issues between Nicola and Luke after the London premiere. I see that because she left the after party before he even got there. Then She went silent on social media. And before people comment, I know she was filming, but she was filming big mood and Bridgerton was still active on social media. We also during those early summer months she would post but she would not post her face and definitely not as much as we are used to. Personally, I think was deliberate. Clearly they somehow have made up. Or they've at least talked Because she's posting him again. And I also think she will slow down with how much she posting cuz things are slipping she showing her hand to much. And now we're getting all these songs. I also do not think that it's for Eamon or Jake. Those songs are definitely Luke coded. I think that they still have a lot to work through. But he needs to fully get out of this situation that he's in. Also, I've seen on TikTok people are mad because he's not posting a lot what do you guys expect him to do? He post you to say it's not enough. He doesn't post you say is not enough. No matter what move he makes right now people say crap to him. a lot of men I know are not big on social media. They might have one the post once in a while. They might call some videos. But they're not spending hours online looking for things the way women do. They could also be one of the reasons he didn't see this girl deviousness. I'm hoping he's seeing it now. They've all been so quiet because they're dealing with it BTS. Because since Italy, we haven't seen no pictures and we've seen pictures all summer long. Then that whole group is moving weird. Then all being quiet and S rearranging her post with her and her boyfriend being the main photos. Like I said I have a gut intinct that somethings happening. One last thing, we have all known that she leaks things to fan pages I'm 95% sure she does that. we also know that things were leaked to DM so it's not far off that things would be leaked to fan pages. so right now unless you see actual proof, don't believe anything anybody is saying. Because if he is trying to get away from her I have a really hard time believing she's going to take that lying down. She's going to try to create problems for him. And it's just so funny that we're starting to see all of these pages say that they're traveled alone (when fan pages have called that out) or talk of them getting married. It's wild rumors let's not fall into her traps. She gotten good with getting under the fandom skin.

I think that, after London N and L were ready to try to stay together, unfortunately third parties have ruined everything and L had to accept to be seen for a while with A, to protect N and not make her appear as the one who had made the "gf" betray, for sure N will have been sick but also L and we saw it clearly from his face, both have been sick these two months, but once L returned from Italy, he realized that he can't go on like this, for me he will have immediately gone to talk to nic (probably the day of the toast story) and N from that day on, has returned to being more social, returning to give us clues clearly referring to L, in italy, L will have been angry because private things came out and because they probably posted stories with the location and he didn't want it .. I think he got angry with everyone .. if you noticed the like that N gave today to chappel roan you will understand that she is tired of both her and L no longer having any privacy .. A is desperate and continues to do strange things but she hasn't understood that she is about to disappear because she is nobody, she will have to learn from her mistakes sooner or later, right? N is the only one we have to trust, I've always said that!

[needle-noggins]

Time for Vol. 5: Meryl's very bad no good horrible day

Even though she saved the day by shooting Legato, breaking the craziest stand-off while also scared shitless. I love my wife. She can hold so much complexity in her. Now let's get into it:

First, a moment from Vash:

Our boy is in utter agony here, and the thought of Meryl is what keeps him going. Obviously she's in danger and needs rescuing, but come on. He's enduring this pain for her. He can't quit, for her. Yeah, this is par for the course for our anime jesus figure, but come on. Let me have this.

Quick moment of Meryl seeing Vash's feathers for the first time and she's terrified. It's interesting how Wolfwood and Meryl are both so deeply terrified of Vash, but Wolfwood saw a lot more up front at Jeunora Rock and from a distance. Meryl, on the other hand, is trapped. I also think Wolfwood processes it completely differently because he also sees himself as a monster, so to him it's recognition of the self through the other (deragatory). For Meryl, it's just all traumatic. She's just a 23 year old woman and she didn't ask for this.

I think these panels above explain my question from earlier - Meryl is definitely seeing Vash's flashbacks to July here. She sees the black hole gate, the destruction, and the angel arm; I'm not sure if she knows about the part with Knives, but based on some really helpful people on my earlier post today, I think she reveals that she saw that too (oof). I'm not sure what she's seeing in the bottom panel of page 95, though. If someone could explain, I would be super appreciative.

Like I said, she's just a normal person. What was it that someone said to Vash earlier, that he's endured more pain than any person possibly could live with? And now Meryl feels some of that - a lot of it, perhaps, considering that July was so traumatic to Vash that he lost his memory of it. Someone else pointed it out wonderfully that while Fifth Moon was Knives controlling Vash, July was 100% Vash aiming to kill Knives and everyone else was an unlucky casualty of Vash's fear and anger. Meryl sees what Vash is capable of - and that he has killed scores of people - not just second-hand through circumstance, but in actuality.

ANGEL MODE GO CRAZY GO STUPID! GORE GORE GORE!

I mean, Vash doesn't have great control of his power anyway, between hardly ever using it and feeling intense emotion that affects it. Thank god he doesn't use the angel arm here, but holy shit? Meryl just saw what that thing is capable of, and Wolfwood saw it in real time, and he's yelling at Meryl to escape but she's trapped underneath him. After she was also trapped in an elevator, and the elevator fell, and holy shit if i were her I would need extensive therapy to go into an elevator ever again, never mind all of Vash. And then as Vash's angel arm powers down it morphs again into this ungodly homunculus of body parts like it's fucking Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist (*Trigun predates FMA, to be clear) and he is apologizing profusely, knowing how terrifying it is and he has no control over what's happening with his body.

Huh. Between that and how Knives keeps assaulting him, that's a pretty painful running theme.

Thankfully, as Elendira takes the spotlight (my other wife) (she can do no wrong, I love her dearly), I think it gives Vash some time to cool down long enough to go back to "normal". And then he holds a dying Hoppered's hand, showing compassion to a man who tried to kill him but then re-experienced the horrors of July with him, showing that Vash still cares that despite how terrifying and destructive he can be when he loses it. And Meryl watches on.

[ddejavvu]

hi i know u literally just wrote this, but could u please do more bully! sirius? i just loved it so much!!

maybe he sees u crying cause u failed a test or something and he’s comforting u but doing it in a teasing/forceful way?? like him pretending he’s being mean but saying heaps of actually nice stuff about u

thanks so much!!

today is multiverse monday, send me any au you can think of! :)

cw for bully!sirius. he doesn't hurt her, he just teases her, but if you're uncomfortable with that then don't read. this is your warning, your media consumption beyond this point is your responsibility.

You're already more than ashamed to be crying in the back corner of the library, and that's before Sirius barges his way in. You're not sure how he found you, you'd tucked yourself away snugly behind a shelf. He seems to have a scarily terrific ability to find you wherever you are in the castle, much to both your dismay and delight.

It's not delightful now, though. Not when you want to be alone.

"Well, what have we got here?" His tone is unfortunately sharp today, more so than usual, "Oh, poor thing." He crouches beside you, peering condescendingly at your tearstained cheeks, "Lemme guess. You raised your hand, and the professor didn't call on you. Is that it?"

"Go away." You plead, turning your face away from him against the back of the bookshelf. He scoffs, reaching for your face and turning it back towards him.

"C'mon, out with it. Really, what's got you crying?"

"It's none of your business," You try, but he tightens his hold on your face ever-so-slightly, and you quiet down.

"Your business is my business," He murmurs, "That's why I'm always in it. Spit it out."

"I just got a bad grade! Okay? I got a bad grade, and I don't feel good about it. And I'm not used to not feeling good about my grades," You sniffle, wiping beneath your nose with the sleeve of your robe, "It's just new and I hate it."

"Bollocks," Sirius studies your face for a second after you confess, trying to decipher if you're lying. But you're not, and he knows it.

"You got a bad grade? Little Miss Fuckin' Perfect got a bad grade? What's bad to you, a 95? Is 89 enough to send you to your grave?"

"I got a forty!" You barely refrain from wailing in the quiet library, hissing miserably instead, "And it was a really important exam. Just leave me alone, you're making this worse."

"You can't possibly be crying over one 40%," Sirius gives you a disgruntled look, "You think that's gonna change anything? You're annoyingly smart, this is never gonna happen again and you'll probably raise the grading curve for the next exam just like you always do. Suppose I should be thanking you for lowering it this time, actually."

"Sirius-"

"Pull yourself together," He narrows his eyes, leaning in so close that you can feel his breath hit your skin, "Dust yourself off, and get off the floor. You're a big girl, yeah?"

You nod in his grip, "Mhm."

"Then act like one," He lets you go, "Come on, off your arse. It'd be a pity if you flattened the thing, 'might have to pitch myself off the astronomy tower."

[mooncello]

Hi friends. I posted chapter 5 of more than a footnote last Sunday. It's over on ao3.

I'm working through some beats for chapter 6. Unlike some of you magnificent plotters, I hate outlines. They feel constricting to me. And the story shifts and evolves as I write. Characters reveal stuff to me as we spend more time together, and sometimes that necessitates plot changes or deeper subplots. It's also my greedy curious distractable brain. Like: Oh, but what if this happens? What if he did this instead? Truly, squirrel brain. But y'know those lil bushy-tailed fuckers can unintentionally plant oak trees so ... I will follow those acorn trails and play with a new thought or question, even if it wasn't originally plotted, to see whether it has a place in the story. It's kinda like having an ongoing conversation with the story as it's being written. It's humbling af and takes twice as long, I'm sure, than if I wrote an outline and stuck with it. But I've tried the detailed plotting thing, and it just doesn't work for me.

So I don't have anything from chapter 6 to share just yet. But I do have something else. It almost feels like a tease, because I don't know when I'll actually sit down and write the rest of this fic, but I finally figured out what direction lost boys is going. (Sometimes you follow the squirrel, and sometimes you let a story rest to see what emerges from quiet stasis.) I'm excited about it again. Which feels amazing. Here are way more than six sentences from chapter 3, Baz POV:

“How old were you,” I ask softly, “when you first came here?” “Eight.” He switches his hands behind his head and moves his shoulder blades against the earth, like he’s trying to get more comfortable. I have a sudden bolt of reckless courage. “Here,” I say and sit up fully. I scoot closer, angle my body, and wrap my palm around the curve of his head. Thankfully, he understands what I’m communicating and shifts until his head is resting in my lap. I suddenly find Simon staring directly up at me. An easy smile slopes across his face. “Hey,” he says. “Hi.”  I feel my own mouth stretch into a responding smile. There’s a delightful tumble of butterflies in my stomach. Without giving it any thought, my fingers thread through his hair, nails skimming his skull and then pulling away with curls between knuckles. The slightest of tugs. Release. Then I repeat the sequence over and over again. Simon melts against my thigh, and his eyes flutter closed. A tiny, contented moan leaves him, and I grow momentarily dizzy because I did that. That sound was because of me. “Feel good?” I murmur. “Mmph.” I’m glad his eyes are closed and can’t see me smirking. I’m so goddamn pleased. And he looks incredible like this. Relaxed and untroubled, draped over my lap.

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