#but if you read it as on purpose i do think that's actually making him far more calculated / selectively loyalty

[ninzied]

a high school au

alex is a yapper. he yaps in math class. in bio. in ap us history with miss bankston (who only pretends not to love it he swears). he does not, however, yap during english third period. there's this boy with blue eyes who looked at him strangely when he said jane eyre was overrated.

alex hasn't spoken up since.

.

henry is shy. he knows that makes him come off a certain way to some people. it doesn't bother him. usually. he has his books, and bea, and pez.

"that alex is hysterical," pez says one day at lunch. what?

"oh, i know, what a riot. in maths the other day he��"

henry is confused. henry has literally never heard alex speak, except for that one time he made a devastating comment about jane eyre that had also given henry a lot to think about actually.

he hears alex laughing at the start of third period. henry feels speechless as he watches it happen.

he's spellbinding. he's beautiful.

he's clamming up the moment henry sits down.

oh, god. so it's him, then; it's henry. he's horrified to have had this sort of effect on someone, let alone someone as vibrant as alex. henry's shy, not cruel. and now he's feeling a bit wounded too.

he turns very purposely to look alex in the eye. brown eyes. very brown. framed by these obscenely long lashes as alex stares back, mouth open, not speaking. henry feels speechless all over again too, all from simply looking at alex.

oh.

*oh.*

now he thinks he's starting to get it.

"hi," henry blurts, before he can rush out of class and be sick in a bin in the hallway.

alex blinks. a shy smile forms. there are dimples. "hey," he says.

henry is blushing. he powers through. "so. err. what did you think about this week's reading?"

alex lights up. "ooh. so many things."

he pauses then, looking uncertain. "did you want to hear them?"

"please," says henry. "i'd like that very much."

.

alex is a yapper. he yaps through math, and bio, and every one of miss bankston's classes *obvi*ously. he yaps through english third period.

especially english third period.

the only time he doesn't yap is when he's too busy doing things like gazing at henry. sitting with henry on the bleachers, where the sun lights up his hair just right. nodding along to henry's passionate rants about poems.

watching henry eat something alex has brought them for lunch. eyeing the spot of sauce henry's missed.

"is there something on my face?" henry asks. "you keep staring."

"actually," says alex. he leans in.

they're both a little too busy to talk very much after that.

[marooningmirrorball]

Splattered Coffee and Spare Blouses

A/n: hello lovelies! this is my first ever fanfic so please be kind to me when you read this 🫣 any sort of feedback will be appreciated🤞also there is no physical description of reader, that picture was just the first cute white blouse that i saw on pinterest. i hope you like it!

content: coworker!rafe x coworker!reader

content warnings: complete ooc rafe, like not even a little bit canon. jealous rafe. desperate reader and rafe. idiots in love fr. coworkers/office au (?)

word count: 1.2k words

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Rafe is too busy drinking in the sweet melody of your voice to catch the actual content of your conversation with Matt. Or is it Mark? Mason? It doesn’t matter what his name is, the only relevant thing about the guy is that he delivers the paper to the office, and Rafe knows they’re getting a paper restock when he hears the tee-heeing of your giggle aimed at something supposedly funny that Miles joked about as he stacks the reams of paper on the tall shelves behind your desk.

You don’t actually ‘tee-hee’, it’s more of a soft chortle. Rafe likes to think he knows the difference, he tries to bypass these dreary office hours by studying each laughter.

First he takes in the sound and how much it made his heart clench, then he looks at your expression; happy, shy, nervous, anxious (he’s even found the difference between those two!), angry. Lastly he takes in the context of the laugh.

It’s definitely a titter when your boss is reprimanding your newest co-worker with the frosted tips, it’s a hodgepodge of a shy-nervous giggle when your boss is reprimanding you, and it’s absolutely a guffaw when Rafe delivers a joke he’d been meticulously planning before he presents it to you.

It usually doesn’t matter what type of laugh it is, the soundwaves from it wrap his heart up and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, until Rafe forces himself to leave the room, because it can’t be normal to feel this way about a girl you've only been working with for the last three months.

But this isn’t all those other times, it's that unusual time of the month. What could a man who delivers paper to a pool coverings company possibly say to make you let out that joyous sound? What does a pool company even need paper for? Rafe, running his pointer finger along the rim of his coffee mug, comes up blank when he starts to really think about the former rhetorical question, he’s not too sure he ever wants to interact with Mike that will allow him to find out.

Too late. The kerfuffle Rafe accidently caused due to clumsy hands and an even clumsier brain leaves his (luckily) empty mug toppled, but Rafe’s not so blessed when his fallen over mug lands on his pen, triggering it to leap from his desk and splatter into your (unluckily) full mug.

You spin around in your chair at the commotion of Rafe’s, “Shit!”.

Rafe thinks being shot in the big toe would be less painful than this. It’s a Grade A Disaster. All he can see is the deep brown liquid dispersed in sporadic splats all over your previously white blouse.

“Holy shit, are you alright?”, Marcus is pulling out his handkerchief, of course Paper guy carries a handkerchief, in record time, dabbing away at the marks that have the clear intention to find a permanent home on your work top.

Rafe isn’t given a chance to play hero, before Milo is badgering, “Man, why are you doing trick shots right now? Aren’t you a sales guy?”, Rafe; however, is too mortified to think about a snarky comeback as he instead spews out a stumbled apology.

“Y/N, I-I am so so sorry– tha-that really wasn’t on purpose! I-I can–I will replace your shirt after work, I’m so sorry!”, it all comes out jumbled and untidy. A red-faced Rafe runs a hand down his face in exasperation before he’s suddenly up and grabbing at the fallen dishware, “Let me just-let me go get you some paper tow-”

You put an end to his unnecessary apologies with a gentle touch to his right hand that possesses the culprit. Rafe thinks his heart actually stopped.

The grin you bless him with manages to calm him down, “Rafe, you're okay! Don’t stress about it–really. It’s an old blouse anyway.”

And…what?

Rafe just managed to completely demolish your clothes, yet it’s you who is showing him kindness in this weak moment, “Look, if you’re really bummed out about it and want to reimburse me, I do need to go to the mall after this so…”, you drag out and let him fill in the blanks.

So did the mug actually fall onto Rafe’s head? Did he fall into a state of unconsciousness and wake up in a dream land? This can’t be real.

The scoff and retreat of Marcello’s boots snap him out of his thoughts, this is his life. This is his life and he has been staring at you in disbelief for too many silent seconds because you quickly begin to slip the offer out of his hands, “Uhh–well you don’t really have to join me to shop, I just thought since-”, now you're interrupted by Rafe’s reassurances,

“No! Wait–I mean yes! Erm I don’t actually know what I’m meaning to say”, you think the blush sporting his face has got to be the cutest thing you’ve possibly ever seen as he carries on, “I would love to come with you, please!” Jesus, he thinks, try sounding more desperate, he quickly corrects himself.

“Yeah, yeah, that would be cool if I join along. I-If you don’t mind obviously…” he trails off, unsure and not wanting to impose, despite you literally just inviting him.

The shyness is evident in your voice when you softly say, “No, it would absolutely be fun if you came with”, God, you think, why did I add absolutely in there, he’s gonna think I’m desperate.

“Okay cool.”

“Cool.”

Henry, your coworker with the frosted tips, stands at the corner of Rafe’s desk with his arms crossed, “Can I get some paper or do I need to wait another five minutes until your flirting is done?”

The both of you cower slightly in embarrassment at his teasing, but don’t let it dim the bright smiles adorning your faces. Rafe is sure that there’s nothing in this moment that could, he just scored a hang out with the female coworker that he’s been crushing on for weeks now! Not even the sight of smug Martin could kick him off this high right now.

Your too-old desk chair groans as you stand from it, and suddenly Rafe’s worried that Henry’s comment may have bothered you, “Where are you going?”, his rushed tone causes a giggle to escape you,

“My top is still soaked Rafe”, you gesture to the stained garment with a laugh, “I’m just gonna fetch the spare in my car. What? Do you want to walk with me there too?” Rafe misses the joking lilt of your voice because he’s up and walking towards the reception before you can stop him.

When the two of you return from your car, you with a clean (albeit slightly wrinkled from sitting in your ‘just in case’ bag) blouse on and Rafe with a bashful expression, Henry wiggles his eyebrows at the pair of you, implying something out of nothing. You both ignore it and get back to your work, not without the two of you sneaking glances at each other when you know the other isn’t looking.

Long forgotten are Max’s bad jokes and flirting, Henry’s annoying teasing, and this afternoon’s coffee disaster as you and Rafe walk side by side in the mall, he doesn’t think life can get better than this.

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[verdantwyrm]

Actually drives me a little insane over how some people read too deeply into stuff in this game but ignore obvious signs for other things and then also entirely misinterpret stuff for what seems like on purpose at this point.

No, I do not think the Tulpar follows traditional aviation rules. it makes no fucking sense for Curly's seat to be on the left, the seat that we only ever see Jimmy sit in. And it makes no sense for Jimmy's seat to the right, the one that Anya hides behind, the one that Curly sits in and the only seat that is completely consumed by the sealant foam after the crash.

But oh yeah what's your opinion on Curly, by the way? Is he evil? Is he misogynic, is he awful and deserves to be disabled because that was his punishment? I'd also love to hear your opinion about Anya, I'm sure you understand her character so well. What with how she acts around Jimmy, you would almost think she likes him, well why else would she be complimenting him? Interesting...

[kybercrystals94]

✨333 CELEBRATE!! ✨

Okay my prompt idea is “type 2 fun”

“Type 2 fun occurs when a task is difficult at the time, but feels rewarding afterward, often because it challenges the practitioner to test their limits and grow.”

Thank you so much!!

This prompt was such a fun challenge, and I actually thought of several “type 2 fun” scenarios, but I decided to go with the sweet one ;-;

I hope you enjoy it!

Worth It

Read here on Ao3!

Rated: G | Words: 333

“I don’t understand the point of this,” Tech says. “We were not required to leave our campsite location until daybreak.” 

Hunter turns to look back at his brothers trudging behind him, eerily green in the lens of his training helmet’s night vision setting. “It’ll be worth it.” 

“It better be,” Crosshair grumbles from the back of the line. 

Hunter actually doesn’t know if this trek will be worth it. After all, he only heard about the “surprise”, as he was calling it, by eavesdropping on a couple trainers that were in the hangar when they were loading up for their off-world exercise. 

“You woke me up in the middle of a good dream too,” Wrecker whines. 

Crosshair sighs. “Please don’t tell us about it.” 

“Why not? It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do hiking in the dark.” 

“Because your dreams are kriffing ridiculous!” 

“I agree with Crosshair. I do not believe that your subconscious mind conjures up even twenty percent of the details you tell us.” 

“Well, I gotta fill in the gaps, otherwise the dream wouldn’t make any sense at all!” 

Hunter thought that the hardest part of this whole thing would be getting his brothers to wake up and pack their camp before their scheduled departure time; but now, he is starting to wonder if the hike will actually be their undoing. If they don’t make it to the crest in time, it will all be for nothing. 

“Focus up, we’re almost there!” Hunter calls out. 

“You told us that twenty minutes ago,” Tech protests. 

“And we’re twenty minutes closer.” 

It is another ten minutes of hiking and bickering later that the squad of defective clones reach their destination. 

“Have a seat, boys,” Hunter says. 

“For what purpose?” Tech asks. 

“You’ll see.” 

Hunter takes off his helmet as the first swatches of sunrise colors paint the dusky sky, and his brothers do the same. Hunter doesn’t think he’s ever seen something so beautiful. The trainers hadn’t exaggerated at all. 

END

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[mrschristensen]

The Waves of Ecstasy with Sam Monroe

NNN Masterlist

WARNINGS: eventual smut/sexual content/porn w plot (READ AT YOUR OWN RISK), female s/o, soft dom (he's whiny/desperate so maybe more like a switch) Sam but he gets just a lil mean/sub s/o, smoking (s/o isn't doing any), piv sex, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), passionate/slow sex, pet names/name calling (baby, princess, sweetheart, sweet girl), lmk if I missed any!

synopsis: Sam and his girlfriend (aka the light of his life) take their time getting it down, fully soaking in one another as an extent of their true, unrestrained love for each other.

WC: 811 words

It was euphoric, even if it wasn't in the most... ideal way. But it was for Sam and his girlfriend. Some sensual alternative music softly played in the background, both of them in each other's arms as he sat against the wall, smoking a cigarette. She didn't really smoke (not that she necessarily liked him doing it either since it's bad for you, but she tried not to be on his ass about it), so she was content with simply nuzzling her face into his neck.

"I fuckin' love you, y'know that?" Sam states out of the blue, his voice a little raspy as he exhales the smoke from his lungs.

Her heart swells and she smiles, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his jaw. "I love you too, Sammy. More than you know."

He smirked to himself a bit, taking another drag. He let her get away with using the absolute worst nicknames for him, but she was the only one. The only exception. If anyone else were to do it, they... wouldn't be in too great of a shape.

He leaned down and his lips met hers in a soft, slow kiss. He's in no rush, though his passion and love for her is aching inside of him, burning for her, wanting more of her and fast. However, he didn't want that; he wanted to take his time with her, to worship her and show her just how much he loved her.

They both panted, gasped and moaned as he fluidly thrust into her at an agonizingly slow pace, noises of pleasure escaping their lips involuntarily. He reaches his hand up to meet hers, intertwining their fingers and squeezing her hand a bit before basically pinning it there with his weight.

"Sam," she breathed, and he rested his forehead against hers, grunting softly as he continued to move in and out of her wet cunt.

"I know, baby, I know," he breathlessly whispers, cupping her cheek with his free hand and kissing her once more.

He then started to speed up a little and causing her to moan a bit louder, but just a little, not much. It only made them more desperate for each other, and by the cocky look on Sam's face when he could read that she was feeling the same way, it was that way on purpose.

"Stop teasing me," she whines, moving her face towards his as if she was longing for him. It made him chuckle and wear that prideful smirk once more, pulling his head back just to lean back in and trail kisses along her neck and collarbone.

"You know you like it," he responds, speeding up just a smidge more, "and I wanna take my time with you, princess. Because honestly, I don't think you got not one clue how much I actually love you."

Her heart warms at his words, just wanting to crash her lips onto his, but his hand travels down her body—the other still tightly holding hers—and making its way to her clit, rubbing slow yet tight circles on the little bud. The added simulation made her gasp, and, to her surprise, made her get closer to an impending orgasm.

"There y'go," he pants, noticing the slight tremble of her legs start, "c'mon sweetheart, cum f'me."

He felt his own climax approaching by just watching her. When they first started dating since they were the first for one another to actually be a partner (thus meaning they were each other's firsts when it came to sex as well), he could bust by just the sight of her, and he still could. However, he was able to hold it in without much effort now, but at this very moment, it was so damn hard to. Watching her tits bounce ever so slightly with each torturous thrust, it made him see stars...

Her cry of pleasure and his name snapped him out of his trance, along with the rhythmic pulsations of her pussy throbbing around his length. He couldn't help but whimper quietly at the sensation, not even seconds later came his orgasm as well. He kept himself inside of her after all of his hot seed shot into her and painted her insides white, resting his forehead against hers once more.

"Good girl," he praised in a whisper, "you okay, sweet girl?"

She nodded slightly, the effects of her intense orgasm still coursing through her, her body occasionally twitching a little bit. She was boneless and spent, even though that was probably the slowest sex they've ever had with each other.

She goes to gently get him off and out of her, as if to get up, but he almost immediately stops her. "Don't even think I'm done with you," he breathes, "'cause that was barely even how much I fuckin' love you."

[bloodlinesceo]

Abandoned II 🩸

Gif credit: @annoyedkayah2395 (this one's perfection 🔥)

Credit to Resident Evil Village game for the visuals & characters.

Link to I (if you haven't read it):

A/N: Apologies for the bit of delay in updating. School's been a pain in the ass so I'll try to do the best I can. I've also posted a YouTube video of House Beneviento so y'all can see what it looks like. Credit to the owner who made this (TW:// Be careful of potential jump scares) The rooms are luxurious instead for now & there's a bathroom upstairs.

‼️Again, this is Horror based. If scary situations make you feel uneasy or uncomfortable, this isn't for you then, keep scrolling. Unnecessary comments or reblogs will get blocked. Just saying, I don't tolerate BS. I have Trigger Warnings up for a reason. Minors DNI‼️

Also, I apologize that I haven't updated 'In The Shadows' for a while too on Wattpad. Currently dealing with writer's block too. If any of the girlies love Tonga Loa on here that fic is all about him if you're interested 🫶🏽

Pairing: Tama Tonga x Fem! Reader

Characters: Tama Tonga, Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tonga Loa, mentions of The Usos & Donna & Angie Beneviento. (WWE x Resident Evil Village crossover).

Warnings ⚠️: 18+, swearing, dirty talk, heated, mentions of sex. Tama being clingy. (I've gotten requests to make it sm*tty but I really haven't been comfortable with writing that & I don't want to write something I'm bad at & let y'all down. But there is implied shower sm*t). Hickeys, touching, paranormal shit. Solo being sassy & in character. Mature themes. Character disappearance & abduction. NOT PROOFREAD! MINORS DNI!

Written for fictional purposes only & does not depict who they are in real life!

Word Count: 4.3k

Hope y'all enjoy! 💫

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The 5 of you walked down the path, you tightly held onto Tama still doubting this, but you all didn't have a choice.

"What if nobody's home?" whispered Loa. "Don't be silly, the lights are on" said Solo. You all climbed up the stairs carefully. Solo took a deep breath, knocked on the door and gave them time, no answer. He tried again "hello? Is anyone home? We need help, our car got stuck on the side of the road" he said. "We bring no harm!"

"Yeah sure, that will get them to answer the door quicker" said Tama sarcastically. You playfully slapped his chest, again he starts making his signature noises at you. "Yo! Stop with the gremlin noises, they're gonna think we're crackheads" whispered Jacob, making him stop. "Weirdo" you said, "but I'm your weirdo." Tama smirked. "Get a room" sighed Loa. "We will if we get in" smiled Tama. "Well it better be far away from where I'll sleep. I don't need to hear a recap of the night before" said Loa.

Still nobody answered the door. Jacob went towards the window on the side & peeked in. "Dude, don't be creepy why are you being a peeping Tom?" asked Loa. "I'm trying to see if someone's inside, maybe I can try to communicate with them through here. I don't see anyone, but the place looks sick!" admired Jacob.

"Yeah, that totally helps our situation" said Solo sarcastically. He knocked again. "Y'know what? F-ck it" he mumbled. He pushed the wooden doors attempting to open it & surprisingly the doors opened leaving everyone in shock. "Orrrr we could do that" said Jacob.

Solo slowly stepped inside, everyone following after. "Hello? Is anyone home?" he called out. "They would've opened the door if they were right?" asked Loa. Solo shot him a glare. "Sorry" apologized Loa. "It's okay, I'm just stressed with this whole thing" he said. Loa nodded in understanding.

"Okay, me, Loa & Jacob are going to look around the house & see if it's cool for us to stay here for the night & who sleeps where" said Solo. "And with who" whispered Tama smirking at you, knowing what he was indicating. "We're finally inside right?" you said, confusing Tama. You unzipped his coat from underneath & ran out "I'm free!" Tama groaned.

"Okay, let's not get too excited" said Solo. "We're gonna go check the place. Y/N, Tama, y'all check the ground floor. We'll head upstairs" said Solo. "You're gonna leave those two alone here? You better pray they behave & the owner of the house doesn't walk in on something" cringed Loa, causing Solo to facepalm himself. "Behave & stay on task, this ain't your house or the hotel room, ya nasties" said Solo pointing at you two. Both of you nodded. "I can behave" you said "your right hand man is the one who can't keep it in his pants. He's the real nasty" you smirked, making Tama cock his brow at you & chase after you "now I'll show you nasty!" he yelled.

"I can't believe he's the eldest out of all of us & gets to have fun while we suffer here alone" said Loa. "It's okay, tomorrow we'll all be free from this shit & go back home to our women & families" assured Solo, making the men smile. They all made their way upstairs to check the place you, & Tama stayed downstairs.

You walked around & observed the place, starting off with the kitchen & then making your way towards the living room. "Hmm nice & cozy place" you praised. You went down the hall & looked out the windows observing the nice view of the waterfall. You then went into the main area near the front door. After you & Tama fully checked the ground floor & tried to pry his hands off of you at times, you both found everything okay, and decided to go upstairs & check on the rest.

You were climbing the stairs when a huge portrait on the side of the wall caught your attention. You stopped by to observe it.

The girl was dressed in all black, had pale skin & had her hair tied back. She was beautiful but, you were wondering why she had this doll beside her who was adorably frightening. The doll looked like she could jump out of the frame at any moment. But this girl, you were wondering who she was. Was she the owner of the house?

Your thoughts were cut off when you felt two strong muscular arms wrap around your waist & a pair of lips on your neck. You knew who it was you tilted your neck to the side giving him more access, but not taking your eyes off the portrait. His kisses moved higher up your neck in search for your sweet spot. You were too invested into the photo.

"Tama?" you said. "Hmm?" his voice vibrated against your neck. "Look at this picture, does something seem odd about it?" you asked. His kisses stopped & he looked up, taking in the picture. "Yeah, call Chucky cause I think we found his bride" he joked. "Tama" you sighed. "What? That's one creepy ass looking doll!" he exclaimed. "I know, but this girl. I wonder why she has this doll next to her & who she is" you said out of curiosity.

"Donna Beneviento?" guessed Tama. You were surprised. "That's her name?" He nodded. "How did you-" he pointed to the bottom of the photo which illustrated their names Donna & Angie Beneviento. The doll's name must be Angie, and she must consider this doll close like a family member, you thought. "While Solo & Jacob were pulling open the gates, I saw the name House Beneviento written on the mailbox" said Tama. "She must be the owner of this house I'm guessing, but where is she? And why would she leave her place open like this?" you wondered. "Probably went on vacation to find Angie her lost husband when we could've brought Chucky straight to her" joked Tama. You rolled your eyes at him "that's not funny, Tama" you said making him pout. You continued to climb up the stairs leaving him there. "Y/NNNN, don't be like that" he whined following after you.

"Hey, y'all find anything interesting?" you said joining the 3 men in a room. "Yeah, there's only one bedroom here" said Solo. "Never thought upstairs would be less work for the 3 of us, maybe we should've sent you up here instead" said Loa. "Yeah, downstairs took almost forever for me & Tama" you said. "There's so much storage though like I see shit packed over there & shit packed downstairs too, are they moving out or renovating?" asked Jacob. You shrugged "I guess we'll have to ask Miss Beneviento that when we meet her" you said. "Beneviento?" asked Solo. "Yeah man, that's her name, Donna Beneviento. While y'all were playing tug of war with the gates, we saw her name written on the mailbox" said Tama. Solo looked surprised same with Loa & Jacob.

"Come on, I'll show you what she looks like" you said leading them towards the stairs. All 3 men looked at the picture & felt uneasy. "Uh uh, I don't like the looks of this" cringed Jacob "that's one creepy ass looking doll! I thought M3gan was bad!" "that's what I thought too!" said Tama. "They look friendly & welcoming" said Loa, sarcastically. "Creepy doll aside, I'd love to talk to this Donna chick, and ask how much mortgage does she pay to afford a house like this near the waterfall" wondered Solo. "Can y'all think of anyone but yourselves for a change?" you asked. "What? We need a place to get away! Especially from my brothers" said Solo "their hungry asses always show up at my place wanting to go to Waffle House, I'm sick and tired as hell of them" he sighed.

"Anyway, there's a double bed downstairs if y'all need a place to sleep. Just move the dolls around" you said. "Yeah, we saw dolls in the upstairs bedroom too. Why's this place packed with dolls? It screams cursed" cringed Loa. "Yeah, I kinda wanna leave now this place is scaring the f-ck out of me" said Jacob. "Will y'all grow up? It's just dolls, they ain't gonna do anything. Geez, we're pro wrestlers who come from a strong family so act like it" said Solo. "Anyway, Y/N, Tama,I guess y'all can take upstairs. Jacob & me will take the downstairs bed" confirmed Solo. "Hello? I'm here too!" Loa whined. "You can take the couch in the front area" said Solo. "Oh nice, another uncomfortable night for me. Just say you hate me & go" snapped Loa. "I don't hate you & it's just for tonight" assured Solo "then you can kiss it goodbye."

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You & Tama were upstairs. You came across a journal from Donna, you weren't sure if you wanted to read it, but you definitely wanted to know more about her. As you were reading you felt the bed dip & you see a shirtless Tama smirking & crawling to you. "Haven't you had enough?" you questioned mirroring his smirk.

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"Alright, you feeling comfortable Uce?" asked Solo while fluffing his pillow. "Yeah" said Jacob, "this place still gives me the chills though." he says laying down & putting his arms behind his head. "We'll be outta here at dawn" smiled Solo. "Yo Loa! How you holding up there?" he called out to the next room. "Uh, alright!" he answered. "I'll go check on him, goodnight" said Solo "night" nodded Jacob.

Solo walked into the front area & saw Loa trying to adjust himself on the sofa. "You good?" he asked. "Yeah, I'll try to make it through. Did you check your phone signal?" asked Loa. "Damn, I didn't think of that. Thanks for the reminder" said Solo. He whipped out his phone to check, "what the f-ck? My phone's dead! I swear it was fully charged when we left & I didn't use it much!" he said shocked. "Here, use mine" said Loa whipping his phone out. "Mine's dead too, the f-ck?" he yelled. "How's that possible? We finally get shelter & both of our phones die? Anyway, I'll ask Jacob for his charger. I left mine's at the hotel. Sleep well!" said Solo walking away. "I'll try to, I bet the lovebirds are having a slumber party up there so it'll be hard to sleep" sighed Loa. "Just ignore them! Put your head under your pillow!" said Solo.

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You both were in a heated make out session, before Tama started to move his head down to suck on your neck making you moan loud. "Shhhh" he whispered against your neck. "How can I?" you whispered, making him smirk evilly as he moved his hand up your dress. You stopped him "I'm going to take a shower" you said, making him look at you in shock. "What?! Didn't you shower at the arena?" he questioned. "How can I? Y'all were starving like bears. Jacob was craving Popeyes & wanted to get there before closing time" you rambled. "But I'm just getting started with you!" whined Tama. "I don't see how that's a perfect reason for me to stay here" you laughed "you're acting like a brat now. I need to set you straight" Tama started to get serious. "Well not right now, I'm gonna freshen up, we were stranded & we walked all the way here too through a swampy forest. Ergo, I need to shower!" you stated squirming away from beneath him & grabbing a towel. "Who the f-ck says ergo nowadays?" scoffed Tama.

You giggled walking down the hallway towards the bathroom, you spotted Loa downstairs trying to sleep. You couldn't help but find it adorable. "Sleeping well Snowloa White?" you teased from above. He looked up at you giving you a dirty look "y'all couldn't be any louder up there? Thank God we're in a deep forest or else the Hotel Manager would've been banging on the door by now" he said clearly agitated. "Your brother is the one who's horny on main" you defended. "But, I hear your voice the most" said Loa. "And your brother is the one who's causing it" you talked back. "Stop!" yelled Loa covering his ears. "What's going on?" called out Solo from the next room. "Nothing! Just Loa being a grump again." you said, Loa groaned. "Anyway, I'm going to have a shower, so you'll get your peace & quiet. Goodnight" you said. "Thank God, goodnight. I'm traveling on my own next time" he said. You rolled your eyes & went into the bathroom.

It looked very nice & cozy, you gotta give Donna props, she kept her place nice. You stepped into the bathroom closing the door behind you, checked around to be safe & turned the shower on. You got undressed & stepped inside. You felt the warm water consume you & you let out a sigh in content feeling the warmth on your skin. Something you definitely needed after almost freezing to death. You heard the bathroom door open breaking you out of your peaceful slumber & heard a rustle of clothes dropping onto the floor. The shower curtain opened & you let out a scream.

"TAMA WHAT THE F-CK?! CAN'T YOU KNOCK?!" you yelled as he stepped into the shower with you. "We've been living together for a year now & never gave a shit about those rules. Now you wanna apply them?" he asked raising a brow at you. "Why are you here?!" you asked. "Showering in an unknown place by yourself? Aren't you scared, woman? Plus, I walked all the way here & need one too. I know Miss Beneviento wouldn't want her water bill to go up, so let's save it" he whispered walking towards you. "No!" you said lightly pushing him away from you "Just because I want a peaceful shower doesn't mean I want a pleasurable one too" you scoffed. "I was gonna help you shower, and soap up your back. You don't have your brush here & I know how much you hate not getting your back, so I thought I'd help you out." offered Tama. You sighed "fine, but no funny business. I'll get yours too" you said making him grin.

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After you both washed up, you couldn't help but get lost into Tama after he helped you. Your hands lightly trailed up his abs feeling his skin, making him heavily breathe. You looked at him & got lost into his eyes as he got lost in yours. You thought you should just reward him at this point, and smashed your lips onto his, he immediately kissed back and pinned you against the wall pressing his wet body against yours.

You sighed in content feeling him. He lifted your legs up wrapping them around his waist as your arms wrapped around his neck, running your fingers through his curls, the kiss got deeper. He licked at your bottom lip & you let him in locking your tongue with his. "Mmm... see? I knew you'd give in. You're No Angel" he mumbled against your lips. "Shut up" you giggled into the kiss. Seconds later, he moved his lips down to your neck kissing & licking the skin there, you moved your head to the side giving him more access & feeling the hairs on his beard prickling your skin. He found your sweet spot making you moan, you felt him smile against your skin. He sucked and bit on that spot, giving you a hickey "Tamaaa" you moaned loudly. He pulled away grinning at his work & giving the bruise one last flick of his tongue. "I know, baby" he breathed. He then started going lower with his kisses. You bit your lip knowing what was coming.

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You both quietly exited the bathroom with your towels on. "Funny, how you said you wanted to save her water bill by getting us to shower together, but I think it only skyrocketed. She's gonna be hella pissed!" you whispered in worry. "Relax, I'm a rich man & I'll pay her bill as a thank you for letting us stay here" chuckled Tama. "Yeah, without her knowledge!" you whispered tip toeing.

"Your poor brother is definitely pissed off at us for ruining his sleep again!" you said. "Well it's safe to say, I didn't instigate it this time" teased Tama. You lightly slapped his chest, looking over the railing to check down on Loa, only to notice that he wasn't on the couch anymore. "Hey, where's your brother?" you asked Tama. He looked over your shoulder to see that his brother wasn't there. "Probably went to the downstairs bathroom or moved to another spot to sleep, you know he can't stand us ma chérie" he said shaking his head. "Come on, let's go to bed" he said pulling you away.

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Tama was asleep, next to you arm wrapped around your waist. For some reason, you couldn't sleep. You were hooked onto Donna's journal gaining more knowledge on her, she's a doll-maker which explains the dolls in her home. You learned about her struggles growing up, mentally & physically, her parents, tragedies she faced, Mother Miranda, her family, how she found Angie & her becoming a part of her life, and the dolls she made. You never realized how important Angie is to Donna, she was given to her by her father & she communicated through Angie. You felt bad for judging her earlier. Some parts really struck you, emotionally & because you are an empath too you felt for Donna.

You were deep into reading when all of a sudden you heard a loud crash coming from downstairs, making you jump. You quickly sat up and placed the book on the nightstand next to you. Tama woke up and quickly sat up beside you "what was that?" he asked. You shrugged. You both quickly rushed out of bed heading towards the stairs when you saw the lights were already on & Jacob & Solo were standing there.

"What happened?" you asked meeting them at the middle of the stairs. "Looks like the wind came in & knocked this portrait down" said Solo picking up the framed portrait of Donna & Angie up. You started to get chills. "But how?" asked Tama. "How did the wind even get in? This place is air tight shut." "Does it look like I live here to know?" sassed Solo. "Damn, you really are like your brothers" said Tama. Solo & Jacob both tried hanging the frame back up, meanwhile you noticed a missing member from the group.

"Hey guys, where's Loa?" you asked. The four of you looked at the couch where he was last seen. "I thought he went to the bathroom or moved towards you guys" assumed Tama. "He never came to us nor I heard anything aside from this frame falling" said Jacob. Jacob went to the living room where they slept to look for him. "Tonga?" he called out. "Loa!" you called out looking into the kitchen. Solo searched all around the front area where he slept "Tonga??? You here?" he called out. Tama looked down the hallway on the side "Toko???" he yelled out.

"Jacob?" you said. "What's up?" he responded, looking at you. "Remember how this place was packed with shitloads of dolls?" he nodded his head. "I don't see them anymore" you said shaking. He scrunched his eyebrows up & looked at the spots where he last remembered seeing them at, noticing "what the f-ck?" he said confused. "I swear, I saw two of those little brats here. There's no way in hell they could walk right?" he asked. You shook your head. "What in the Child's Play?!" he said shaking his head.

Solo & Tama joined you both in the living room. "Any luck?" you said, they both shook their heads. Tama started to get worried about his brother's absence. You went over to comfort him. Jacob whipped out his phone, still no signal but tried calling him hoping it reaches him. It didn't go through. "So you know how there were dolls packed everywhere? They're gone now" you informed Solo & Tama, making them raise their brows at you. Solo chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, "what?" "I'm serious Solo, look they're gone!" you pointed to the spot they were previously at . Solo laughed "sure! They went all Baby Alive & started developing magic powers walking away" he chuckled.

"You think my girl's a joke to you?!" defended Tama stepping towards him, clearly upset himself. You held him back "it's not worth it" you whispered in his ear. "I'm not saying she's a joke" said Solo, "I just think it's surreal that a doll would start-" he was cut off by a familiar scream. The four of you turned around & looked towards the direction it was coming from. It was coming from down the hall where Tama previously was. "That's him!" exclaimed Tama recognizing his brother's voice. The 4 of you ran to the direction it was coming from.

To be continued...🩸

A/N: It kinda stung writing Loa being the first to go missing 🤧 But, you'll find out why.

Reference to Donna's story & if you wanna learn more about her.

[alastyr-not-alastair]

Breaks hands

Alright, let’s get into each of them!

Below is:

Each of the drawings for each character

Their names

And some facts about them

First things first here’s all the individual pics of the characters

In order of colour, the names of each of the scientists are

Blaze

Amber

Storm

Clover

Coral

Aether

Berry

If you look closely, you can see that Rainbow Steve actually has at least one of each of their features!

(Totally like that wasn’t the point of the whole edit hahahaha what are you talking about?

Let’s go in order of each of the characters, shall we?

First of all we have Blaze

- You’ve seen him before because I drew him one other time for lighting practice

- Rainbow has his nose

- Blaze is a pure fire type red steve, he does not have any sort of ability to control lava, no matter how hard he tries.

- The markings on Blaze’s face are just that, markings that he’s had since he was a child

- He was one of the few reds in his village that actually knew common, but he only ever learned it because he wanted to be able to work on large scale experiments

- He also used to eat redstone as a kid sometimes and only stopped because his parents found out, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and held him in place while washing his mouth out in a panic

Secondly we have Amber

- Rainbow has his eye shape

- Amber is a healer type orange steve, he has no abilities to manipulate matter

- The colouration on Amber’s face is some freckles

- He was actually considered pretty strange compared to other oranges since he spent much more time on actual science stuff rather than the creatives

- He once accidentally got powdered colour everywhere as a kid while trying to make a recipe that was better than the traditional dye making ones. It succeeded but he was coughing pigment for days

Next up we have Storm

- Rainbow has his ears

- Storm is a combo type yellow steve, born with both the abilities of speed and lightning

- The lightning mark on his face is actually a scar, he was accidentally electrocuted by a younger sibling when he was in his teens, the scar spans from his face to his arm, down to his fingers

- Storm is actually a middle child in his family, not the oldest but far from the youngest

- He ran face first into a tree once because the moment that he was about to sprint over the sapling, it grew right then and there. No one ever believed him

Fourth up is Clover

- Rainbow has his lips

- Clover is a plant manipulator type green steve, he is unable to speak to plants

- Clover does not have a second eye, it was taken out in an experiment he and his crew were doing while trying to create a seed launcher for offensive purposes. It shot a seed directly into his eye, which instantly grew and gouged it out.

- He’s known for being a genius when it comes to plant growth, to the point where his works can be used for offensive purposes (as seen above)

- as a kid, he would run into the woods and just hang around there for a while messing with his powers, until one of the elders found him in a mini city made of plants and realized this kid might have a gift

Moving along to Coral

- coral blue #5…

- Rainbow has his eye colour

- Rainbow has the least similarities to him, but Light on the other hand… he looks pretty similar, don’t you think?

- Coral is a water type blue steve, being unable to control ice or handle the cold too much

- The marks on Coral’s face are just facial markings, they started as smaller diamonds but grew as he got older. It’s a side effect of living in an area with a high population density

- when he was younger, Coral would go and hide himself from everyone, usually a hidy hole in the library to read a few books like a NERRRDDD

Comin up on Aether

- You can’t really see it but Rainbow got his eyebrows

- Aether is a teleported type purple steve, no access to any sort of pocket dimension like some other purple steves

- There’s a large scar on one side his face due to an end crystal explosion, the explosion was harsh enough that it messed up his eye as well. Between him and Clover they have a total of 1 pair of working eyes

- Aether used to work in a different lab, which is where the end crystal explosion happened. He didn’t stick around for long after that due to a bunch of other osha violations

- As a kid, Aether was a massive sleep teleporter, it was more often for him to wake up in some random unknown place than to actually be in his bed

Last but not least we have Berry

- Rainbow has his jawline

- Berry is a mild mind control type violet steve, unlike the common empathetic types

- The marks on his face aren’t natural marks, they’re gently cut into skin and taken care of until they scar for every large achievement made

- Despite the whole mind control type, it’s not something that’s super strong, and compared to other powers it may even be seen as weak

- As a kid, Berry would go around trying his best to do good deeds in hopes that they would be good enough for him to earn some marks, he didn’t earn them until he later on made a few scientific discoveries, which is why he got the majority of his marks

I feel obligated to also add in the height chart made for them

Rainbow Steve is just all their heights averaged out

Legally required to add my stats on the drawings as well

Do I look like him?

[unordinary-diary]

Blyke and John: Parallel Characters

I’ve written multiple entries about this,

[x] [x] [x]

But I’m back to make a comprehensive analysis about the glaring similarities between these two. I’ll try not to repeat myself here.

‼️SPOILER WARNING for the whole series‼️ but this mostly focuses on the story before John’s suspension.

Firstly, this scene:

ch. 121

This conversation takes place near the beginning of the Joker arc. It’s after John targets Zeke, after he targets Juni, and the day before he goes after Seraphina’s kidnappers. The timing is important.

“If someone hit your best friend, would you let it slide?”

That question is supposed to remind us what John does to people who hurt Seraphina: hunting them down and sending them to the hospital. Blyke shooting a destructive beam really close to John was an example of a trait they share: they both blow up violently when people mistreat their friends.

John’s downward spiral carries strong themes of hypocrisy. He’s angry at the world, he’s angry at himself, and as a coping mechanism, he chooses to believe that everyone else is as bad as he is. That means that most of the traits he hates others for are the same things he hates about himself. In this scene, Blyke is unintentionally calling out this hypocrisy: “What I did is no different from what you do”.

But Blyke’s just trying to connect with John here, he has no idea what John’s been doing. And John, of course, doesn’t give a shit about what Blyke has to say. This line was here for the audience to notice.

They’re both so similar, but their similarity immediately causes tension between them because, well, John was on the wrong end of Blyke’s protectiveness.

I really love the way this was written— there are so many flashbacks to this scene, but they remember it differently. John remembers the part that hurt him— he’d describe it as “the time that jackass shot a beam at me”. Blyke remembers the part that hurt him, or rather, hurt Remi: “the time that jackass hit Remi for no reason”.

Blyke and John are both hotheaded characters with strong ideals. They’re similar enough that Seraphina points it out:

(ch. 80)

As Blyke grows as a character, he becomes more like John: sticking up for low tiers and speaking out against the injustice in the world. But while Blyke is doing that more, John is going in the opposite direction, until they are fully opposed to each other.

Speaking of Blyke’s character arc, it took me a few rereads to actually understand what part of him changed. His kindness, selflessness, bravery— all of those things were there from the start. Blyke’s character arc was about becoming more aware of his surroundings, and how his carelessness can harm others. Blyke was never malicious, but after X-Rei and integrating more with the school, he becomes aware of people suffering around him and how he unintentionally contributes to it. He becomes less reckless, privy to the flaws in the system he grew up not questioning, and uses his power more responsibly. He even comes up with a more controlled way to wield his ability. The part of Blyke that changes is his maturity.

Part of John’s character arc is also about being careful. It’s not as close of a parallel as other things are, but one of the things that John works on during his redemption arc is holding back. Both of them learn self-control throughout the series, and for John, that means acting early before his emotions spiral out of hand.

Adding onto my first point about the two of them wanting to protect their friends— the fact that they can’t do that makes them both angry and desperate. For most of the story, the “block” that prevents John from protecting Seraphina is in his head. It’s his own trauma that holds him back. The block that prevents Blyke from protecting his friends is, guess what? Also John’s trauma! Parallels abound.

Another thing I noticed in Episode 80 is this:

Notice that when Seraphina says “I’d take that over strength any day,” John is looking at the camera. He’s avoiding Sera’s gaze. Seraphina is saying she prefers honesty over strength. John is very strong, and very dishonest, but Seraphina thinks the opposite because John is so dishonest. John appears to be reflecting on this disconnect.

In relation to this analysis, Seraphina is actually pointing out a major difference between Blyke and John. Beyond that, she’s praising Blyke’s traits, (less strong but very open) above John’s traits, (strong as fuck but a liar with his pants on fire). Furthermore, John really cares what Seraphina thinks of him. Knowing that she would think less of him is the main reason why he spent so much time and effort preventing her from catching his lies.

This leads into my main point here: Blyke is the “goody-two-shoes” version of John. Or, more accurately, the person that John wants to be. Blyke has a clean track record and doesn’t really get into trouble. He is respected and left alone by the school without being hated and feared, he de-escalates conflicts without taking things too far, he doesn’t lose control, he’s someone Seraphina thinks highly of, hell, even his grades are better! Blyke represents everything that John wants to be, and the person that he could have been if he’d gone down a different path.

But, crucially, John is also what Blyke wants to be. Well, not wholly, but his ability? His strength? It’s one of the things John hates about himself, but Blyke wants that strength so desperately that he risks his life for it over and over again.

They’re both desperate to be like each other, even when they hate each other the most. Neither of them have any idea how alike they already are.

I don’t know what Season 3 holds in store for us, but I do hope that John realizes that Blyke embodies who he wants to be, because mutual jealousy would be a very interesting dynamic to explore in my opinion. I also hope that it ends up being something they can bond over, by helping each other accomplish their personal goals. (Blyke being another helper in John’s character arc, and John helping Blyke train.)

A side note: John beat up Blyke four separate times. That’s more than any other character, which is interesting because John’s main rival is supposed to be Arlo. For reference, John has beaten Arlo twice, three times if you count the time when Seraphina intervened, and he only beat him unconscious once. But John beat Blyke to the point of passing out all four times, the worst of which being a shot clean through his chest. (shoulder? Unclear. S1 finale).

It’s odd, isn’t it? Out of everyone, Blyke is the one who John physically hurt the most. John’s only grudge against him is an old memory from episode 33, of an event that didn’t actually harm him. John’s grudge against Arlo is much more serious and again— that’s his main rival. So why is it that he’s so much more violent towards Blyke?

The problem here is that I’ve been thinking about these fights as “John picking on Blyke”. And that’s… kind of true? But while Blyke didn’t start any of these fights, they were all consensual in a way. He didn’t seek to fight John, nor was he ever happy about fighting John, but he was always a willing participant.

(138, 153, 206, & 211)

In three out of these four fights, John didn’t even expect to be fighting Blyke going into it. This is significant because while Arlo is John’s main rival, John absolutely fills that role for Blyke. Blyke’s own agency is what leads to most of these events. The reason, narratively speaking, why they fight so much is not for John’s character, but for Blyke.

For John, his reason for fighting Blyke so much is not narrative but moreso symbolic. John is angry at everyone and everything, but ultimately the person he hates the most is himself. It’s only fitting that the character most like him would bear the brunt of his wrath.

As John is having his positive character arc (suspension and post-suspension), he is becoming more like Blyke, and the two of them reach a point where they’re even more similar than they were at the start of the series.

In the Rowden amusement park, John does start to realize how similar they are:

(249)

Additionally, I want to draw your attention to the parallels between this scene:

Blyke and John’s argument in chapter 249

(which the image limit won’t let me add, scroll until you see red hair.)

And this scene:

Argument in ch. 121 (it’s at the beginning)

Two sides of the same coin.

Furthermore, in the S2 finale, Blyke is shown being taken to Keon. There is an implication that by Season 3, Blyke and John will share Keon-related trauma as well. Despite my pessimistic predictions, I do hope that this is a similarity that can bring them together rather than tear them apart.

[raayllum]

also cause I'm not there yet in my 5x08 liveblog but because even just a whiff of "Callum gave Finnegrin the spell" made the fandom troll come running into my inbox to say otherwise, just wanna clear up a few things for peace of mind before we get there

The first is that I know it was the fandom troll because of the timing & presentation, not necessarily because the now deleted/blocked ask had the "Callum purposefully gave Finnegrin the wrong spell" take. While that was an indication to me that this was probably the fandom troll since they seem to take issue with my characterization of Callum in particular, perfectly smart reasonable people have also proposed that possibility of the spell ingredients being not entirely accurate as purposeful; it's not exclusive to crappy people by any measure.

With all that in mind, I want to discuss how I view the scene (and indeed how I think it's meant to be interpreted per a casual viewer reading) as well as why I think Callum giving Finnegrin a not word-for-word accurate actually kind of makes his choice more morally questionable, not less

So let's begin

1) I don't think the scene's intended takeaway is that Callum gave Finnegrin the wrong spell

I think Callum panicked, and he folded, and he would've told Finnegrin anything the pirate had asked for in that moment to try and spare Rayla's life. While TDP is an immensely detailed show in many ways (hell I have a tag dedicated to just those details), every scene still has to ultimately work for a casual viewer. I don't think this scene is any exception. One of the first things in the series that we learn is that humans took down the King of the Dragons with dark magic and it's a repeated fact throughout most of the first season, and into the third when we see the events that transpired exactly.

So when Finnegrin mentions it, we're probably going to remember that was a thing that happened and it involved Harrow and Viren, but we're probably not going to remember the specific ingredients. Therefore, like Finnegrin, most audience members are going to take Callum at his word, especially since throughout most of his conversation with Finnegrin, Callum is arguably far more honest than he needs to be (fessing up that he did dark magic at all, mentioning that he studies all the primals, that he did the spell to save a friend at all - which is exactly why Finnegrin sets him the hand cutting test to try and break him, etc). The scene - again, for the audience's benefit - even as Callum clarify for those that wouldn't remember why he was spouting things about dying breaths and unicorn horns, because again, I do think this is the Intended Takeaway:

Part of the reason I think Callum panicked (other than Jack de Sena's wonderful voice acting and uneven breaths) is because, if Callum was thinking clearly enough to withhold information purposefully, he could've considered 1) that Finnegrin is bluffing about threatening Rayla (Callum cannot see her or any of the others, so that could be the case) and 2) Finnegrin would have limited means to know that Callum was lying if Callum said exclusively the wrong ingredients and sent him on a wild goose chase. To give as much as he did accurately was dangerous (but we'll talk more about that in a second).

We also know from instances in the previous seasons and just the prior episode that Callum doesn't have all sky spells (ones that he can do whenever he wants basically) memorized either, and that it's not out of the realm of possibility that Viren would've fudged a little to Harrow about some components of the spell (such as emphasizing love and hatred) because he was actively trying to convince - somewhat guilt-trip and manipulate - Harrow into doing something didn't really want to do, but ultimately couldn't say no to.

However, one of the things that's the most fun meta is reading into things deeply, looking at various character interpretations, and seeing what we can find below the surface level / casual viewership read. Just because something may not be the 'intended takeaway' (which can already be hard to define) doesn't mean it's not a real possibility, especially if enough dots connect, and doesn't mean it's not worthwhile and or without merit.

So let's look at the scene from the assumption that Callum is giving Finnegrin a not totally accurate spell On Purpose - what does he omit, what does that tell us, and where does that leave us from a character standpoint?

2) Haha, jk, unless...?

First things first, let's look at what Callum says vs what Viren says

No, no, wait! A dying breath. Blood filled with hatred. And a unicorn horn. That's the dark magic you want.

In her final moments, I captured something that I hoped we could use later. It contains her dying breath. [...] Claudia captured a unicorn and brought me its horn. The dying breath. The unicorn's pure horn. There's one last component I need. The undying hatred of one who loved the victim. Your blood.

Now, even Viren's stance and the circumstances of the spell isn't entirely clear. We don't know if any dying breath would do, or if it had to be Sarai's (and had to go her killer, as opposed to someone else). We don't know if the spell requires the unicorn's horn to be 'pure' (I'm assuming not already corrupted somehow with dark magic) or if it would work regardless. And we don't know whether the hatred or love is more important, or just one, or if they're equally important. It's quite a list, after all.

Which is why I think in some ways Callum's lack of specificity actually makes what Callum told Finnegrin more dangerous, whether you read the minor omissions as intentional or not.

Cause think of it this way, you're a pirate lord and you want to kill your enemy. You heard from this mage kid that any dying breath would do. What's your next move going to be? You're probably going to murder a random member of your crew and collect the breath because you were never told it had to be your loved one's final breath (which would make the spell impossible).

So that's one murder down, bare minimum. Then you're going to either send people out or word that you're looking for a unicorn horn at a port where people already canonically smuggle dark magic supplies (Chasing Shadows, TDP reflection). This will either lead to you hiring people to eliminate one of the - it appears to be - few remaining unicorns that still exist to bring you the horn, or if you've put out a reward, multiple dark mages / mercenaries may try their hand at killing one and bringing the horn to you. That's probably 1-5 unicorn murders as a result, if the mages are working not in communication with each other and all vying for the reward. This is also assuming that none of the mercenaries or mages come back empty handed and get harmed or killed because of Finnegrin's anger at their failures.

You also might torment and torture someone else to get them to hate you before you drain them of blood / take their blood for the spell, again not realizing that 'love' has to be a facet of it. At best, that would maybe be what you do to the crew member before you kill them for their final breath.

Then, once he has all the ingredients (and he'd need some sort of incantation, because dark magic is a lot of steps and processes) there's two main avenues.

Either these all work and he successfully has his weapon of vengeance needed to kill Domina Profundis, because what was given was enough. This would mean Callum's actions led to about 2-3 successful murders of mostly innocent people and possibly more political upheaval at the death of another archdragon (the ocean would certainly be out of whack, but it's not clear how much, if any, political power Domina still holds).

It doesn't work and Finnegrin, stubborn as he is about control and loathe to admit he can't commandeer something (magic and wills included), figures that something went wrong and tries again, having to collect the ingredients all over again. Depending on how many times he'd try (I feel like maybe 2-3 max), this could put those murders up to maybe nine innocent individuals, assuming Finnegrin's worsening temper over his failures doesn't increase the tally.

Rattling off the accurate spell ingredients could've actually minimized the damage, because any of the specifics might've stopped Finnegrin in his tracks. If Finnegrin just needed hatred of one who loved the victim, he could've fulfilled that on his own with some of his own blood ("I loved that crab" and her definitely hates Domina Profundis). The one that could've entirely halted his plan is if the dying breath had to come from the victim, in which case the chance to avenge his beloved crab is long gone. Finnegrin could've heard the list of very specific ingredients, deduced that he would not be capable of carrying out the spell, and been on his merry way to use Rayla as revenge fish bait.

But by giving Finnegrin an 'imperfect' list, Callum made the pirate captain more likely to engage in the violence required to get there, without an actual textual guarantee to the audience that what was given wouldn't have worked, either (aka we have two ingredients list and without a third to tip the scales, it'll always be a technical 50-50, maybe 60-40 read in favour of Viren).

So where does that leave us?

With these two readings in mind, you have two options:

Callum is willing to sacrifice Domina Profundis', and a few unnamed innocent lives/creatures, to save Rayla and thereby gave Finnegrin a dangerous in its own way, if not more dangerous because of potential increased collateral damage, list of spell ingredients, because he acted entirely out of emotionally fuelled panic where he wasn't totally thinking clearly

OR

Callum is willing to sacrifice unnamed innocent lives and creatures, but not Domina Profundis', in order save Rayla, because he decided on purpose to give Finnegrin a more achievable sounding list of ingredients that would increase collateral damage, but not let him kill the dragon, because he made a calculated decision on purpose that those lives were worth less than Rayla's and Domina's to him (for some reason, as she's a stranger to him)

To be clear, I would love the second option as an interpretation because I do think Callum can be calculating and I do think that's the far more Viren-like option - choosing what to sacrifice for other people in the mindset of harm mitigation ("A thousand men and women are prepared to fall protecting you tonight, but you won't let one sacrifice their lives for you?" / "If you must choose, choose the egg").

But again, given the framing of the scene I think the first reading is 1) more sympathetic and speaks to Callum's more compassionate emotional nature and 2) is the intended takeaway, but if people want to read it as Callum strategically deciding that certain lives - other than Rayla's - were worth sacrificing that so she and Domina Profundis wouldn't be killed, that is absolutely a valid prerogative.

It's just not mine

[ccbatman]

actually so evil how much of hal's internal world gets obliterated with the rewriting of his relationships with jessica and martin.

[youn8ss-2]

‘them who finally accessed her full powers after breaking from a big loss that represented for her what she wanted to become as an adult’

reading is fundamental lol

Also willow only became ‘supposedly suicidal’ i would call it more destructive not even self destructive cus she wanted everyone gone with her, after feeling the pain of the world after stealing giles’ powers that the coven back home granted him. I still stand by what i said cus in moments of deep pain and emotional turmoil, you fall back to behaviors that are natural for you and how you built yourself and she built herself as a resentful wallflower with passive aggressive behaviors who copes by holding resentment in, instead of being forthcoming and not going from 0-100 against her friends (3x02/7x05/3x16/5x11) thats why she is so uncomfortable with anya cus is blunt and for willow it’s unnatural.

Thats also one of the reasons she was scared of losing tara both in separation and death cus she was scared to go back to the powerless shy girl that resented that her friend had powers.

Cordelia and willow also mirror each other on that but where willow envied buffy’s powers, cordelia envied her calling and the fact that she has a deeper purpose in life (when b and c find themselves in the cabin before going to the ball cordelia asks her why cares about winning the crown bc she already has something going for her ie her role as a slayer). Willow thought that the power would get her to become who she fantasizes herself to be confident, revered and powerful (3x01 w emulating b when she is patrolling//willow seeing her current self as a veneer of what she sees herself as her true form the girl we met in the pilot in 4x22) whereas cordelia was always comfortable with herself and how she came accross and only wanted her life to mean more than vapid gossip and clothes (in angel 3x11 skip even notices that in dreams people to fantasize as a little different, better looking or else and is surprised that even in her dreams she sees herself as her regular self, its also the episode where she is offered everything she has ever wanted and still walks away from it to embrace her calling and sacrifices herself in the process)

Willow in so many traits is much closer to xander in character than buffy, cordelia or tara who are both much closer in personalities than others in the group.

Btvs fans tend to love to paint some btvs as super heroes with no fault or if they have then they have an which creates the image of flat boring characters and writing, whats great about btvs is how petty and flawed and human the characters are (aside from the incessant quipiness) and yet they still show heroism in situations of danger, also jw made sure to paint buffy as the most heroic cus she has the calling of a slayer and is the hero and painted her after a tragic superhero spiderman who sacrifices himself despite all of his loss

See it like this, Buffy, Tara and Cordelia would sacrifice themselves to save the world but willow would never do that even after her whole arc is done she is still not the hero she thinks she is, thats why despite being touted as the most powerful she always keeps herself in the place of 2nd/3rd/4th in command cus it takes away the responsibility of fucking up and risking your own life.

Where tara faced a hell god and still stood strong and never gave her what she wanted, willow went out of her way despite buffy’s plea to not retaliate and went behind her back kickstarting glory into attacking buffy and everyone else directly therefore revealing who the key was and rendering tara’s sacrifice useless. willow is ultimately ego driven and those don’t make for actual heroes.

Willow was so displeased with herself as a teen and ya that she was willing to do anything to garner more powers when buffy was faced with gaining more powers she rejected it cus she knew more powers would drive her away from herself and her loved ones. She understood and saw what it did to sineya and how it compromised her human nature and she knew who sourced and what was the source of this power. Willow wouldve most likely accepted it and when she discovered how power corrupted her she realized how giles was right.

Even her role in the last episode is pretty passive, yes she activates other but at no point do you see her fight with the others.

i know that cordelia is meant to be a foil and a mirror image to buffy and what her life could’ve been without her calling (and cordelia showing envy at certain moments that buffy even have a calling and therefore a meaning for her life) but

I wish they explored the mirror image thing with other characters cus they all have history that predates buffy stepping foot in sunnydale.

One of my favorite is cordelia in angel 1x22 and willow in btvs 6x22, both find themselves in a situation where they have to feel the pain of the entire world and thats when you see the contrast in their reaction. The power hungry wallflower thinks its better to destroy the world and put an end to all’s suffering and the coming of age arrogant vapid mean girl makes her mission to help the people to lessen that pain. It might seem cavalier and just a way to make the plot move forward as the writer wanted but its also a great representation of their character. It feels almost natural atp that the science nerd who has had to rationalize her feelings to cope with them who finally accessed her full powers after breaking from a big loss that represented for her what she wanted to become as an adult would decide that finishing it all would be better and a more direct solution than the altruistic and unattainable idea to help everyone around the world that the overtly confident adult who just found her purpose takes on the matter.

Its both a representation of their selfish needs/wants but also a clear reflection of the personality they were during their formative years and how it still defines them after they have changed as characters.

I like that people who have known each other most of their life off screen but don’t have that much history still get to mirror each other in surprising ways from when we met them, it feels fated and right.

[memento-morri-writes]

This is far from my best work, but it's 1:30am, and I needed to get this down before I slept or lost my mind. So here, take a snippet of Rook seeing Zara again for the first time in 3 years.

Trying, and failing, to keep his voice from shaking, [Rook] said “Hello, Captain.” Mouth still open in surprise, [Zara] replied “Well, hello yourself.” The reality of what she was seeing seemed to hit her as she rounded the desk. “Rook, is that really you?” He nodded. “It’s me.” Zara ran towards him, stopping just short of touching him, and said “What did she do to you?” Rook’s heart stuttered and he had to brush his fingers together to confirm Sigmar’s ring was still in place. Could she possibly see through its illusion? But then he remembered what Lanny had said. She knew where you were. His throat clenched and he choked out “Two years.” A wave of grief swept across Zara’s face as she said “I’m so, so sorry.” Rook shook his head vigorously. “It’s not your fault.” Zara ignored him. “It is my fault. I failed you. As your captain, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe, and I failed you.” Rook wanted to say something, to reassure her, but she pushed on. “She sent me letters, told me all the terrible things she was doing to you. I… I let you down.” Those words hit Rook with the force of a dozen cannonballs. Lanny had said that Zara knew Wolf had him, but knowing that Zara had been aware of what Wolf was doing to him… somehow that was more painful than any wound Wolf had ever inflicted. He barely managed to force his next words out around the lump in his throat. “Where were you?” And why didn’t you come? “She said she’d kill you if I came to get you. Or if I hired anyone to get you. You’re standing here because I stopped sailing.” 

(honorary one-time tag for @space-writes bc I remember you enjoyed my other bits about Rook and Zara.)

[steakout-05]

drawing my Craig fan design for REAL!!!!! + stupid little doodles

earlier i made a post talking about how i was planning on making my own canon where Crarry could still feasibly exist (as well as having other story beats and whatnot) and i mentioned how i refined my Craig design a little bit from the last time i drew him. i finally got around to actually drawing a proper full-body sketch of him and what he's supposed to look like!!! i think i drew his eyes a little more far apart than i intended but. whatever.

he's my skrunkly. he's my baby. he's got perpetually bored resting face and a phd in Pocketbeasts lore. he's got messy hair and a few stray whiskers as he tends to forget his own personal hygiene, what with being a hardworking scientist who usually doesn't show his face and all. i redesigned his eye to have more of a prominent scratch on it that warps and distorts his pupil, as i felt like that'd be the most fitting for his facial scar and the type of injury he has!

and for fun i'm gonna do a general timeline of the evolution of how i've drawn this design over time, because it's actually changed quite a bit since i first drew him back in 2022!! (click for better quality)

god it is. so weird looking back at that first design. it's so..... why is he so square shaped............. lol

now, in terms of differentiating this Craig from Canon Craig, i've thought of giving him some slight personality enhancements that i've always thought would fit him. i haven't seriously thought about it yet (i am tired) but here's some basic little traits i want to make more apparent in his character:

Logical Knowledgeable Creative Naive Perfectionist Fearful and Cowardly Not a very high self-esteem; Afraid to take charge Easily exhausted Not physically strong; Makes up for it with his quick-thinking skills Easily irritated when presented with inaccurate/false information Easily embarrassed; Tends to erase memories when this happens Reliable Honest Earnest Nerdy; LOVES to infodump about any given special interest he has Focused, sometimes to a fault Detail-oriented Introverted

this will likely be expanded on and developed more, but these general personality traits are quite fitting for how i headcanon Craig to be as a person!

i love how whenever i get attached to a character or even just really like them, i always bestow my best headcanon onto them in high regard: the autism headcanon. gonna try to keep this short so i don't infodump for 12 hours but the major autism traits i like to imagine Craig displaying are issues with social skills (unaware of many cues, accidentally says things in an inappropriate way/unintended tone, takes things literally, misconstrues sarcasm as genuine statements), a speech affect (monotone affect), low empathy (doesn't feel what other people feel and has trouble reacting to and feels uncomfortable with certain emotions), has special interests (robotics and engineering, Pocketbeasts, cats, and he loves infodumping about them!!), stimming (rubbing the back of his head when uncomfortable, fidgeting with and studying a particularly intriguing object or tool very closely, doing little puzzles that make little clicky noises that are very pleasant to listen to), experiences sensory issues (joint pain, eye strain, sensitivity to loud and sudden noises, despises certain tastes and textures, often experiences shutdowns), has a strong need for a solidified routine (sudden routine changes can cause distress for him, as he needs more time to process his surroundings and has a strong need for structure in his daily life), a few motor control issues (he's quite clumsy and has issues with spatial awareness, causing him to bump into stuff. this has unfortunately resulted in him bumping his thigh on the edge of a table way too many times.) and a few other things i've probably forgotten about. a lot of these are inspired by a few of my own traits as an autistic guy myself. the dude's like a combo of Data, Barclay and Geordi mixed into one dorky nerd (apologies for any non-trekkie followers who don't know who those characters are :skull:)

Craig seems like the type of person who, once you get him started, will infodump to you about his special interests for HOURS and he still wouldn't even be done yet. just like me fr. also tiny little Craig getting his face smooshed

get squoshed idiot

this is an older sketch i did when i was still finalising Craig's design along with doodling other stuff on the page. this was a little expression test of Craig blowing his face up with chemicals because 1. i thought it'd be funny. and it was. and 2. i've never really drawn him with big wacky expressions before, and i LOVE drawing big wacky expressions lol. it will be a rare sight to see Craig making a face like that but it'll still be funny nonetheless lol

no comment. only moob. i feel the same way about barry tbh HAHAHAAH what who said that

i fucking LOVE the Yababaina music video so much, it's absolutely insane and fun to watch, although it does put my eyes out of focus when i look at it for too long. heavy eyestrain and seizure warning for anyone who wants to check the video out, it's extremely fast-paced and has a lot of bright saturated colours. here are my three boys drawn doing that little handholding thing Miku, Teto and Zundamon do in the video. also first drawing of Prince Runingunin!!! he's so silly <3

that's everything i have today. i'm excited to draw this version of Craig more and make more art of him and Barry together!! just sucks i have to sorta swerve around canon with a convoluted solution but whatever. i like diverging from canon and making stuff up into my own thing anyway lol. blond nerd craig my beloved

[sysig]

Okay but what if (Patreon)

[aq2003]

there comes a beautiful time in life where i have to ask myselg th question, "did i accidentally project too hard onto the character that i only relate to a little bit and in doing so hugely missed this one entire aspect/interpretation of the characters . am i stupid"

[shikiimisaki]

*walks in, removes eye protective wear and hangs up labcoat after a long day of Observing One Piece Ship Discourse On Twitter fieldwork* so while it may appear strange that people really readily say "luffy is canon aroace/doesnt care about any of that" whenever someone makes a truther post about luffy/hancock and then those same people may turn around and share a bunch of posts about gay ships involving luffy, it's actually more of a symptom of the fact that while most people posting said gay luffy ships are completely aware that their ships will not/could not/probably even should not actually be canon and are deep in the hypothetical, many dudebro types who ship luffy with hancock are completely convinced that their ship absolutely should or even will become canon, simply because he is a male protagonist and she is an extremely attractive woman who is interested in him, and it makes "no sense" for luffy to not go with her, either because they think that is how Stories Should Work (heteronormativity) or because they want Coolguy Chad Luffy and think having a hot woman obsessed with him like, adds to his coolness points in some vague objectifying way, which got more and more misogynistic sounding the longer i tried to find a way to word that sentence. this last interpretation does disservice to both of their characters and frankly, completely doesn't comply with any of the reasons hancock fell in love with him in canon in the first place. if you look for more then a minute at either of their characters you can tell that in canon it would never work, not even just because luffy is completely and entirely disinterested and in all likelihood that will never change, but because although I would say hancock's love is based on real traits of his she respects and was deeply moved by, she idolizes him and her fantasies about being with him involve shit he wouldn't actually do or say. she loves him because he's, literally, the only man she's ever met- and in the current day, often only person she knows across the board besides literally her sisters, who doesn't immediately treat her like a sexual object- and he only doesn't because of his fundamental and absolute disinterest in her, romantically or sexually. they exist in a paradox, and that paradox is used as a source of comic relief. what they have going on would be LESS interesting if he liked her in that way. if he was interested in her she would not like him in the first place. this got really off topic sorry. what im saying is this is why 1 person posting about how luffy and hancock are Totally Canon Endgame because who could turn down such a bad bitch!!!!!!! is a mischaracterization statement that prompts response or backlash in a way that 20 people posting zolu making out sloppy style in a corner completely aware that they are indulging in a mirror dimension and He Would Not Fucking Say That is not