#dante 04.

[dhcmpirs]

Person: The Father of His Children @danteragnulf​ Location: where the hipsters are hangin  Kay always thought magic was more about what you intended to do with it than actual prowess. The fire thing, it was a hard element to control for an angry teenager who’d grown into a miserable adult masquerading as someone fun. He sort of thinks drugs are the same. Take something while already in a mood, it was just going to make it worse. Normally something like this would be written off as a work function and he would attempt to keep up appearances for Cloe’s sake and yet that’s harder to do after the peace treaty bullshit in general, he thinks he’s allowed a night to wallow. And wallow he does, he’s practically sulking off to the side of where the artsy types have all gathered after he’s done lingering around a few vampire’s he’s acquainted with, and normally it’s the environment he thrives in, but he stays quiet, goes through a couple cigarettes, sips from an IPA that’d been handed to him the moment he’d set foot in the campground. He’d been too polite to tell the art grad student who’d handed it to him that he might be pretentious, but he wasn’t that pretentious. The silver lining is he gets to hear Dante play though, gets to sit there quietly a few feet away throwing stupid quips at hipsters who keep passing him the joint they’ve got despite the fact that he’s clearly not listening to a single word they’re saying.  Mostly because through the haze, through being annoyed as hell about maybe ninety-eight percent of what’s going on in his life, Dante’s voice is crystal clear. Silky smooth and soft above a few guitar chords and the only reason he hasn’t plastered himself to the wolf’s side is because he knows his filter is gone enough that he’s going to crawl into his lap right then and there and beg him to stay. But even when the guitar is set aside after a while and the little crowd has broken up a bit, even when he thinks he kind of needs to say something about it, he opens his mouth and derails his own train of thought entirely. “What inspires you when you write your own stuff?” It’s practically muffled against Dante’s bare shoulder because of course he didn’t show up to this thing with a shirt on, on account of Kay is actually convinced the other man is something he’s dreamed up in his head and has been let loose on the world. So yeah, of course he wouldn’t be wearing a fucking shirt but he’d be wearing some sort of sport ball shorts. 

[littlemagicalstardust]

Orange Cassidy Singles Career in AEW (So far)

First Singles Win: 2020 First AEW Dark Win: Jason Cade (05/06/2020) First AEW Dynamite Win: Jimmy Havoc (04/22/2020) First AEW Rampage Win: Jack Evans (09/29/2021) First AEW Collision Win: Bryan Keith (12/16/2023) First AEW Championship Win: All-Atlantic / International First Reign: October 12, 2022 - September 3, 2023 (31 Defenses) Second Reign: October 10,2023 - March 3, 2024 (12 Defenses)

How many singles total in AEW: 105 Out of 105 he has WON: 88

He’s defeated (Some names repeat, I'll just be noting one time): Jimmy Havoc, Jason Cade, Peter Avalon, Powerhouse Hobbs, Serpentico, Chris Jericho, Angelico, Ten, Kip Sabian, Luther, Steven Stetson, Ryan Nemeth, John Skyler, Prince Kai, Dean Alexander, VSK, Penta El Zero Miedo, Cameron Cole, Cezar Bononi, The Blade, Jora Johl, Matt Hardy, Jack Evans, Nick Comoroto, Mike Verna, JD Drake, Adam Cole, Anthony Bowens, Ethan Page, Tony Nese, Wardlow, Anthony Henry, Ari Daivari, PAC, Katsuyori Shibata, Lee Johnson, Jake Hager, QT Marshall, Trent Seven, Trent Beretta, Jay Lethal, Lee Moriarty, Wheeler Yuta, Big Bill, Jeff Jarrett, The Butcher, Dralistico, Buddy Matthews, Gabe Kidd, Bandido, Daniel Garcia, Kyle Fletcher, Swerve Strickland, Lance Archer, AR Fox, Johnny TV, Aaron Solo, Rey Fenix, John Silver, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Bryan Keith, Rocky Romero, Dante Martin, Preston Vance, Komander, Tomohiro Ishii, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Nick Wayne, Alex Reynolds, Shane Taylor, Isiah Kassidy, Kyle O’Reilly & Bulk Bronson

Total matches in AEW: 238

Longest Timed Singles Match (WIN): Kyle O'Reilly (19:31) Longest Timed Singles Match (LOSS): Cody Rhodes (20:00) Shortest Timed Singles Match (WIN): Prince Kai (0:06) Shortest Timed Singles Match (LOSS): Miro (7:27)

[becauseplot]

Inktordem!! Posted at a reasonable-ish hour!! I have a feeling I’m gonna have to take a break for a bit so I can make more fic ideas, I need to give my idea doc a bit of a stir. We’ll see how the next few days go though.

Spoilers up through OPD finale!

DAY 8 — BIBLIOTECA

Two days. He’s put this off as much as he reasonably can. The report needs to be written, and the longer he waits, the more details will slip from his mind. Details that could be crucial later down the line. Details that could save lives later down the line. He knows this. That’s why they write reports in the first place. And he’s the one who has to do the writing because Dante’s gone blind and everyone else…

Everyone else.

That’s the thing, isn’t it.

Remembering hurts. It hurts a lot. And it doesn’t stop hurting—it never does—to remember the Liz’s lips spilling over with blood and anguish, Bea’s bright, brilliant scream and Dante’s desperate pleas, Joui’s trembling fingers around the mask, Erin’s hollow smile consumed by the flames, Luciano’s face disappearing into him, Fernando’s last kiss, Kaiser’s—

Arthur puts his pen down and drops his face into his hands, sucking in a tremulous breath. He didn’t think he had any more tears left to cry, and yet…

It’s a few minutes later, when Arthur has wiped his eyes and set the blank report sheet in front of himself again, that he catches movement out of the corner of his eye. It’s Samuel, standing in the doorway between the hall and the main room of the base, where Arthur sits alone at one of the long tables.

“Hey,” Samuel greets. His voice echoes a bit. It’s late enough that most people have gone home to rest, save for Mr. Veríssimo, who never seems to leave his office in times like these, and Marcela, doing a final vitals checks on the wounded before she heads home too. “Uh… All good?”

“Yeah,” Arthur exhales. “Yeah, just—writing this report.” The paper is blank. Arthur taps his pen. “You? How’re you…?”

“Eh,” Samuel says. His mouth does a funny thing, like it can’t decide if it wants to grin or grimace or…something else. He clears his throat a bit. “Holding up, man. Holding up.”

Arthur nods. He can understand that.

There’s a beat of silence just a bit too long. A bit too big. Arthur opens his mouth to ask…something, but Samuel thankfully fills it first.

“Anyway,” says Samuel. “I just wanted to stop over here because—well. I was going through some of the files on Kaiser’s computer.” (Arthur’s chest tightens at the mere mention of the name. He adjusts the grip on his pen.) “Getting his projects archived and all that. And I found this one file that’s… It’s giving me some trouble.”

“Trouble how?”

“It’s got this password and—“ Samuel steps away from the doorframe and motions him forward. “I think it’s easier if I just show you.”

Arthur follows Samuel into the computer room. Only Kaiser’s monitor is on, as are the overhead string lights; Kaiser’s chair has been rolled aside, replaced by Samuel’s own. Samuel moves it aside so Arthur can see the screen better: a display listing many, many, many Python files that Arthur couldn’t even begin to understand the significance of, as well as…

“There it is,” Samuel says, pointing to the pop-up box in the corner of the screen. “I clicked on some file he had I’ve never seen before. It’s just labeled ‘Important.’”

“There’s a password hint here,” Arthur says, pointing to some text below the prompt box. “That’s what that is, right?”

All it says is: “Post on 15/04/20”

“Yeah,” replies Samuel. “That’s what I thought too. I just haven’t been able to figure out what it means. I thought ‘post’ like some sort of post online, so I checked his Instagram and his Twitter, but nothing I can find under his activity from that day works. In fact, he barely has anything on that day at all.”

Samuel sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “I could just hack into it,” he continues, a murmur, “but it feels kind of wrong, you know? If the password turns out to be something only he would understand…”

“I get it.” Arthur exhales. “Kaiser…liked his privacy.”

“Yeah.” Samuel makes a sound, a half-attempt at a laugh. “Even if I did try to hack it, knowing him, it’s probably pretty air-tight. It might take me a while, so… any ideas? I’ve—I’ve tried to think of anything I remember about Kaiser and that day, anything he said to me, anything we did, any plans, or—or jokes, or movies, or something, but I’m drawing up a blank.” Samuel gestures to the computer helplessly. “I mean, I-I didn’t even know him at that point! We met back in May—”

“Easy,” Arthur says, putting a hand on Samuel’s shoulder.

Samuel visibly takes a deep breath. He lets it come shuddering out of his mouth and scrubs his eyes with his forefinger and thumb. “Sorry, I…”

“It’s alright. Let me see if I can think of something.”

Arthur tries to remember. April 15th. That’s… Well. What would have been his show night in Carpazinha was April 13th. He remembers that date well, looking forward to it for weeks as he traveled home. Then life went in a direction that he never could have ever imagined. Some terrible mix of nostalgia and longing and hurt aches in him, remembering the spider in the woods, Chris dying, his gang dying, his father dying, everyone, dying, Virgulino and the drench of red over his vision, the hospital, the mansion, the cemetery, the bar, laughing with Thiago and Liz and Joui and Cesar, Kaiser…

Wait a minute.

Arthur whips out his phone. He has one post on his Instagram from April 15th, and he didn’t make it.

“Here,” Arthur says. He holds his phone out to Samuel. “Do you think this might work?”

Samuel looks. He gives a small laugh. “It might.” He takes Arthur’s phone, sits, and starts to type.

“hAccked by thE ANgel of teh Niightx!!!!”

The file opens.

Arthur can’t breathe. It’s a library of cellphone photos. Photos, upon photos, upon photos. Samuel scrolls through its contents, stopping every now and then to look: A photo of Jennifer, curled up in the arm chair with Ivete. A photo of some colorful graffiti on an alley wall. A photo of Joui, who looks like he’s trying to steal the phone out of Kaiser’s hands as he takes it. A photo of a sunrise through the curtains. A photo of his Polaroid with him, Cris, and Cláudia close enough to see every detail. A photo of his high score on the Tetris machine. A photo of Samuel in his chair at his desk, throwing up a peace sign to the camera, and Kaiser’s hand just in frame mirroring it back. A photo of their neighbor’s flowers in bloom. A photo of Arthur on his bed with his guitar balanced in his lap. A photo of a mug of coffee in front of his gaming set-up at home, either late at night or early hours of the morning.

Photos of lunch last week. Photos of the rain in the winter. Photos of their boxes when they first moved into their new house in São Paulo. Photos of Carpazinha, the original Suvaco Seco, their smiles and laughter, frozen in time…

Kaiser’s everything. Cesar’s everything. All of his memories. Remembered here.

“Important,” says the file.

Not a detail lost.

[towns-end-bindery]

Divine Comedy - Inferno

By Dante Alighieri

I debated with myself on whether or not I would post this now or later. But ultimately I decided I was too excited about having finished the casing to hold back, even though I still haven’t foiled the title on the spine yet, or decorated the back. It always takes a bit of time for me to muster up the courage for that.

The text block for this book had been sitting around next to my printer for probably 2 months, just waiting to be cased. I find casing so tedious and also nerve wracking. It’s so easy for things to turn out all wrong, especially with the alignment of the end papers. I can’t help still noticing the little flaws even on this lovely book. But chances are no one else is going to notice, so why am I stressing? Haha.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this beautifully illustrated book.

11/04/2023

[schizoidcel]

## LIMBUS COMPANY ☆★

♢﹕scenarios ∣ ♦︎﹕headcanons ∣ important note

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ counter-clock, we rose --

┌─ ✧.* sinners !! ──────────────┐

# 01, YI SANG ..

yi sang & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 02, FAUST ..

faust & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 03, DON QUIXOTE ..

don quixote & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 04, RYŌSHŪ ..

ryōshū & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 05, MEURSAULT ..

merusault & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 06, HONG LU ..

hong lu general romantic hcs (lcb hong lu x reader) ♦︎

hong lu & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 07, HEATHCLIFF ..

heathcliff general romantic hcs (lcb heath x reader) ♦︎

heathcliff & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 08, ISHMAEL ..

dumblings (liumael x reader) ♦︎

ishmael & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 09, RODION ..

rodion & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 10, DANTE ..

dante & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 11, SINCLAIR ..

engagement (cinqclair x reader) ♢ + ♦︎

sinclair & reader w/ bpd (lcb clair x reader) ♦︎

sinclair & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 12, OUTIS ..

outis & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

# 13, GREGOR ..

gregor & new sinner reader (poly!lcb x reader) ♦︎

└────────────────────┘

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ -- counter-clock, we reload.

┌─ ✧.* others !! ──────────────┐

♪ VERGILIUS ..

♪ YURI ..

♪ SAUDE ..

♪ EFFIE ..

♪ SAMJO ..

♪ SHRENNE ..

└────────────────────┘

ׂૢ་༘࿐ ...

[devilbrakers]

was tagged by @gothimp to do this tag game!

tell me about...

01. a character you love.

dante... :). i'm sure everyone who follows me at least knows OF him fdjsklf. but he's a mercenary who specializes in the supernatural, mainly demons. he is sooooo silly but also so riddled with sadness and grief. i have an art board of him sitting on top of my aic box set rn

02. your favourite food from your culture.

fry bread my fuckign beloved.... it's such a comfort food to me especially when my dad makes it. also german style pretzels are always a joy. i love carbs 🫶

03. what your dream apartment / room / house is like.

a decent sized house that i can live in with my friends :). not too big but enough space to not be cramped. but i'd also settle for an apartment. also would love to have a spot to display my record player/record collection

04. your personal style or aesthetic.

i'm not as fashionable as i'd like to be ig? i'm broke and also get overstimulated by fabrics pretty quickly so i keep it simple for the most part. my clothes are usually soft and baggy since that's the most tolerable for me. oversized t-shirts and flannels, or hoodies. i usually wear sweatpants if i'm out but just loose pajama pants if i'm at home. but i'll occasionally wear stuff like this if i'm going out with friends or smth.

05. a happy memory.

so there's this quarry close to where i grew up that i went to with friends a lot before they moved away. we'd get food and go hang out on the peak or close to it. it was simple but i always really enjoyed it.

06. your favourite way(s) to spend time.

playing video games, writing, painting, watching movies/shows with my friends on teleparty, making edits, baking, etc

07. story behind your url / title / quote / description / icon.

devilbreakers are a weapon nero uses in dmc5! missing a letter bc the proper spelling is being hoarded 😔😔😔. my title is from the crow which is my favorite movie

08. something that comforts you or brings you joy.

my cat!! she loves pasta, scrambled eggs, and sitting on the couch like a person 😭

09. what you’re looking forward to.

honestly not much atm 🥲 i have an mri coming up that'll maybe give me some answers but we'll see fjdkslf

10. something else that’s important to you.

i can't think of anything so here's bob <3

tag list (opt in/out): @numbaoneflaya @katsigian @dmc4 @opaleyedprince @mrs-theirin

@celticwoman @vvanessaives @theonlyadawong @aztarion @quickhacked

@ebongrove @pitchmoss @hibernationsuit

[jess-total-mess]

it’s been a wild time everyone, and while the outcome wasn’t what we were hoping for, it’s not over yet. back when i played hockey, i had a coach who told us “you don’t stop skating till the clock is at zero. i dont care how many points the other team has, how tired you are. you go out there and you give it your all; don’t let them see you defeated” (paraphrased, but the intent is the same)

and while the ‘24 election is over, the game isn’t over yet. so here are quotes that have resonated with me in this particular time, remind me that we are not helpless

Times are bad. Children don't listen to their parents and everyone is writing a book.

- believed to have been spoken by Cierco, a Roman with many roles, who lived through the political crises that directly led to the Roman Empire

There’s always something bad happening every day. If we had to react to every bad thing, we’d never have time to eat.

- While Daniel Hunter didn’t coin this, he attributes it to a friend of his

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

- This is the Serenity Prayer, written by Reinhold Niebuhr, as he witnessed the rise of the Nazi Party

For every revolution there is a counter revolution, for every step forward there is a step back, that things may not be good forever but they will not be bad, either.

- this is Tumblr original, or at least, appears to be, from @unseenbox as they recount their experience in ‘04

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

- Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, a beloved American is the originator of this, or rather, his mother is.

Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars

- the final line of Dante’s Inferno, where hw and Virgil return to the surface from the Underworld; originally “E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle” (various translations exist)

[halfetirosie]

✨ 😊 This event is healing me from the aftermath of the last event 😊 ✨

(Exercise 04 - 06 React-os!)

1) Ohhhh shit, that's really impressive, Olivine!!! 🤯🤯🤯

This dude is over here investing new spells!!! I don't know what the standards are for intellect amongst mages in that world, but isn't that literal GENIUS behavior????

Be proud of yourself, Olivine!!! You're smart as fuck!!!

2) Awwww!!! (⸝⸝o̴̶̷᷄ ◡ o̴̶̷̥᷅⸝⸝)

Look at that soft smile!!!! ♡♡♡♡♡

Damn, Rei is so pretty....

And it's always nice to see Rei looking more relaxed. The bond between him and Garu is part of it, but as a whole, his character development is helping him to loosen up with everyone and express affection. We love to see it!

3) Oh dear...

Er, is it really a good idea to let Morv be the commentator???

Are they really certain he'll be able to focus on the competition and not the competitors (you know what I mean)?

(ᵕ—ᴗ—)

4) ♡ QUINCY!!! ♡

I don't think I've commented on it yet, but that hair style is very cute on him!!! I'm a big fan of the hair-half-up style in general---it suits literally everyone!!!

Come to think of it, I wonder if 2/3 of my top 3 favorite characters ended as my favorite because of-

-PFFFT!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣

WHAT IN THE NAME OF FANSERVICE?!?!?!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

TALK ABOUT A LACK OF SUBTLETY!!!

My GOD, I was NOT expecting the sudden zoom-in on the bulge!!! (I made a very real, audible screech of laughter!!!)

This game is going to kill me!!!

5) ♡ GARU!!! ♡

This intro is definitely on-point---a lot of people gush over our lovable wolfboy's booty, but personally? THOSE LEGS THO. I agree with Karu---I like their powerful (muscular) legs the best!!! :D

Also, that popsicle looks good. Watermelon, I assume? I could really go for a-

-PFFFT!!! THEY GOT ME AGAIN!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I'm getting flashbacks to the original max-damage Unfulfilled Dream Rei, where Father made an attempt to cover Rei's bare chest! 🤣

More seriously---it's very sweet of Aster to cover up Garu here. We love a Protective King!

6) PFFFT!!! GOD DAMMIT, DEVS!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

They're not even going to bother focusing on his face first??? I was wrong---THIS has got to be the least subtlety ever perceived!!! My poor Cringefail Doritoman

♡ Dante!!! ♡

(Thank goodness he doesn't seem to know that the camera focused on his bulge before even showing his face... NO ONE TELL HIM.)

/// Flustered Dante!!!! ///

Fuck, he's so adorable!!! ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

7) Eiden, you absolute psycho!!! You wanted to make them even longer???

Please. PLEASE. PLEASSSSEEE tell me what the full titles were going to be!!!

Please, they're probably so ridiculously cringe!!! PLEEAAASSSEEE!!!!

8) *slowly shakes my head, chuckling fondly*

Dante, stop trying to apply logic to a fantasy world. You will not win. 😇

(Also, I suspect he might be jealous that his animal friend doesn't have his own custom-made accessories 😈)

9) OH MY GODDDD!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

He doesn't even know what the surfboard is, let alone how to use it!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I can't what to see him get overly prideful when he finally figures it out! OR EVEN BETTER---if he gets embarrassed over it!!!!

This event is going to tease Dante so much, I can feel it!! AND I AM SO EXCITED FOR IT!!!!

CRINGEFAIL DORITOMAN, MY BELOVED!!!!

(≧∇≦) ♡♡♡♡♡♡

10) Not gonna lie, I feel for the devs trick and believed Dante was encouraging Eiden at first. 😅 (I mean, Dante has been getting progressively more corny and sweet to Eiden.)

But, it's almost better for it to be Sooley instead---

After all, we get to see more Sooley!!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🐾 Cat Dad Dante 🐾 fawning proudly over his animal friend is always a delight to see!

And not just because of the cute animal---it allows us to see the softer side of Dante, which he rarely shows to anyone.

(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

11) ?! Oh???

♡ Eiden!!! ♡

Oh snap, I thought they were done introducing competitors! I assumed Eiden was going to be some sort of referee! But he's a more-confusing-and-mysterious competitor!

PFFFT!!!! 😂 GET DUNKED ON, EIDEN!!!! 😈

I mean, to be fair to the crowd, sweetie; you're standing right next to three of the most beefy men in Klein... No offense, but even I'm worried whether you'll be able to keep up with them... 😅

I'm having such a good time, ya'll!!!

☀️ End of report! ☀️

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 23/04/2024

How 2 Do Anything

Season 3 Featured on: STRINGS OF FATE ~ SiIvaGunner: King for a Day Tournament Original Soundtrack

Ripped by Scribble1k Vocals by eva twin

(Also check out the Remastered Version!)

Requested by Corb! (Request Form)

In reading the request for me to cover How 2 Do Anything on here, I was made to realize something pretty big. For the 10-plus months that I've been running this blog, and for the amount of coverage I've dedicated to Season 4 Episode 1's King for Another Day tournament event, I've barely devoted any time to its Season 3 prequel on SiIvaGunner. I wrote about an excellent original piece made for it by dante and wolfman1405, FINAL DESTINATION, and I got to gush specifically about Anamanaguchi with Give Me The Fantasy...but I've hardly even touched on the tournament itself. I'm here today with How 2 Do Anything, and its remastered version, to try and resolve that issue - to celebrate the very first SiIvaGunner one-day king, and in some ways, a turning point for the entire channel.

So, first of all - the King for a Day Tournament. Halfway through Season 3, the SiIvaGunner channel was suddenly prevented from uploading videos for a week's time, but were still able to make community posts and tweets. The team was given the perfect opportunity for a channel shake-up, an opportunity to rethink what SiIvaGunner could be, and began thinking of ways to have the channel engage more directly with its viewers. Sure enough, that eventually landed on the idea of a "tournament arc", an event wherein viewers would both submit ideas for contestants to be featured, but then vote between the qualified few to crown a champion - with said champion then getting the reigns of the channel for an entire day of rips. Takeovers had become a regular occurrence on the channel ever since Season 2, be it the Inspector Gadget takeover with Become as Gadget, or the Santana and Rob Thomas takeover with Haltmanna feat. Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 - each of these, as you can tell, brought with them a bevvy of rips tied to the character hosting the channel, and have in some cases become legends on the channel in retrospect. Thus, each submission to the tournament was of a character who represented a specific kind of rips, a "source list" as it's now since been called - and the voting came down to which kind of rip the viewers would most want to see on the channel for a day's time.

Truth be told, I wish I had been more involved with the fanbase at the time of KFAD1's unfurling, I can only imagine how exciting the discussions must've been during the unveiling and lead-up on Discord and Twitter. Yet as a big lorehead, a big part of the appeal of the original King for a Day tournament for me was specifically the characters each contestant was represented through. Season 3 was right when the Christmas Comeback Crisis (the channel's main storyline) had begun slowing down, with a lot of the lore additions made being supplemental rather than advancing the core story forward. Even though King for a Day wasn't connected to this main story, it was nevertheless a sudden explosion of character - and characters! - added to the channel, a good amount of which would continue to be relevant outside of the tournament's confines. Like, this was the debut of Ajit Pai on the channel, who basically had his own little narrative spun across his first appearance, A New Threat and Totally Shaaking Out Right Now - this was the debut of Geno, the tragic fallen star of DEARLY BELOVED... who we'd later catch back up with in the Season 6 DoomFes event - this was where we got JOHN NOTWOODMAN as the event's host who I rambled on about in Vote Responsibly!!....and it was, of course, the debut of everyone's favorite, Unregistered Hypercam 2.

Even though I was disconnected from most fan discussion at the time, I'm certain I wasn't alone in having Unregistered Hypercam 2 as my favorite of the tournament right from his unveiling. A source list consisting of every anthem of the old internet - Paralyzer, Dreamscape, Bodies - all wrapped up in a completely original character design, the most Little Guy thing you'd ever seen? Frankly, I was sold right away - and with each example rip made under his name, it seemed we'd only be made more sure of our choice. Throughout his run, and after his victory, it was as if How 2 Do Anything became the little guy's anthem - a modern, reimagined take on the theme that taught us all so many things across the early internet's scuffed YouTube tutorials.

I've covered some rips by Scribble1k on here before, notably the fantastic Guilty Eyes Creeper mashup, but King for a Day and its sequel gave rippers the unique opportunity to shine through full-on professional-grade rearrangements. I've always been partial to the themes that Hypercam brought with him to the channel, you may recall I've covered Paralyzer specifically twice already with YACKER TOILET and Remember when this song was the one related to toilets?, but I'm just as attached if not MORESO to the legendary Dreamscape theme that How 2 Do Anything is arranging. Just the three opening piano chords alone strike such a raw nostalgic nerve: its instrumentation is as far removed from Dreamscape as you could come, yet there's no other song that sounds quite like that, it introduces the theme as an old memory to be recalled through Hypercam's presence - an age of the internet lost to time, brought back all these years later after being buried away for so long. The arrangement itself goes in swinging soon after that, a main melody carried through a heavy electronic, almost dubstep-esque vibe - yet it never wholly loses that sort of melancholic tone set up by the introductory piano. The noise and distortion of the arrangement conveys almost a sense of the Dreamscape theme being at battle with the rest of the internet's noise, almost akin to Your Worst Nightmario, yet its a battle that turns into an incredibly sick listening experience, a balance of light and dark.

It's all topped off with a full-circle piano ending, and a small vocal signoff from guest contributor eva twin, whisking the theme away with a proud reaffirmation - "You can do anything...". And sure enough - the little guy did it!! Through a tough bracket and a close final dual with Splatoon's Off the Hook (hence, OtH Was Robbed), Unregistered Hypercam 2 wound up becoming the tournament's champion - and, in the process, has become an outright mainstay character on the channel. He got to have his Windows Movie Maker-core, day-long takeover, filled rips like Never Gonna Give Up Mahjong, and got to appear as the host of the King for Another Day Tournament, playing a vital role in its storyline and surprise final boss with NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2). He's a core SiIvaGunner cast member, and all of this started with just an idea, a figment of the imagination cast into SiIvaGunner's email address for a silly tournament arc. One that was so successful and beloved by the fanbase, that it shaped the entirety of Season 4's two episodes - and in turn shaped much of Season 5 and Season 6 to boot.

This one little guy helped change SiIvaGunner forever, and in turn helped bring in a wave of incredible original arrangements just like How 2 Do Anything in the years to follow. The King for a Day Tournament may well have been overshadowed by its vastly bigger follow-up, but it has paved the way for everything that has kept SiIvaGunner so engrossing to follow in the years since - a shot in the arm at just the right time, and an incredible gateway for SiIvaGunner's team to flex just how talented they've always been.

[astralaffairs]

voltaire to versace 04 | thomas jefferson

title: voltaire to versace 04

pairing: professor!thomas jefferson x reader

words: 7.4k

warnings: this one is chill just like sexual tension. sorry ive been gone for two years lol

desc: from francis bacon to foucault, descartes to dante, your political philosophy seminar doesn’t promise to be a blowout — and yet, one mysterious stranger and a risqué evening later, your burberry-clad professor gives you the feeling it won’t be quite the snoozefest you’d expected.

tags: @lunariasilver @tinywhim @nyxie75 @wreakhavoconmacroissantdiggs @checkurwindow @katierpblogg @cubedtriangle @lunariasilver @lexylovesfandoms @fanfic-addict-98 @stephyra17 @notebookgirl30 @exorcisms-with-elmo @kmsmedine @itshaileyn @honeyand-roses @laic2299 @id-do-it-for-free-babe @luckyfriesss @golddiggs-x @drreamhugs @sillyteecup @notebookgirl30 @marvelouslyemily @checkurwindow— let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

SHE STILL FINISHED grading the first round of essays for Thomas, but she dropped them off at the faculty mailboxes that Sunday afternoon — she couldn't face him at that point. On Monday, she gravitated back to her seat at the rear of his lecture hall. She did the same on Wednesday.

Her responses to his emails and his texts were short and to-the-point. He needed her to grade the recent papers from his International Security class? Sure, but she was busy during his office hours; any chance he could leave them in his mailbox so she could pick them up the next morning? Thanks, that'd be great. He wanted her to work with him on laying out the rubric for an essay? No problem. She'd set up a shared Google Doc right away.

It was a week after Y/N had last spoken to Thomas that Dolley was over his apartment that weekend with James. She was smug when she came home to Y/N.

"Thomas is looking for you," she said mildly, and Y/N glanced up from her laptop on the couch with a skeptical gaze.

"And what, exactly, makes you say that?"

"He asked me to tell you."

Y/N's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, seriously?"

"Mhm." Dolley's smile was self-pleased. "He was home when I was over, and he said he needed to talk to you."

"Thanks for letting me know." Y/N's voice was tense as she looked back to the paper she was writing, and Dolley took a seat beside her with a glass of water.

"Can I ask why that might be?"

"No clue."

"So are you going to talk to him?"

"I have class with him Monday. I'll see him then."

"Y/N." She gave her a deadpanned look, and Y/N looked tired when she met her eyes. "Did something happen? You haven't mentioned his name even once all this week."

"No, everything's fine," Y/N assured her, but Dolley looked less than convinced.

"Then why do you look so unhappy right now, dear?"

"What? I don't," she replied defensively, and Dolley raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"How daft do you think I am?" she asked, folding her arms after she put her glass on their coffee table. "You can deny wanting to sleep with him all you'd like, but I know how much you like Thomas. It isn't exactly subtle. So what happened with you two?"

Y/N sighed, rubbing the side of her nose. "It's not really that big of a deal. I'm probably blowing it out of proportion, but he drove me home from the party at their apartment last weekend, and..."

"And?"

"And I came onto him." She was wincing at even the memory. "I was drunk, though, and he knew that, but it was so stupid. I'm still kind of mortified, so I've been dodging his attempts to talk to me. I don't know how I'm supposed to face him."

Dolley took a deep breath, eyeing Y/N where she sat with her head in her hands, her laptop closed on her lap. "Well, he clearly wants you to talk to him, so I'm sure he didn't think it was quite so bad."

"But I'm gonna be an anxious wreck the next time I have to talk to him," she groaned.

"You're his TA and his student," Dolley pointed out. "You can't avoid him forever."

"I'm not trying to," Y/N said. "But… y'know. I can still put it off for a little while. Midterms are only a week away, and then it's spring break. If I can make it that far, I don't have to talk to him until fourth quarter."

"You're being ridiculous."

“I’m being practical,” she replied, “besides, it’s only two weeks till break. The only time I’m gonna need to talk to him is when I turn in my midterm.”

Dolley snorted. “I’d wish you luck, but this one’s a lost cause, dear.”

————————————

IN THE END, Dolley was right. He hardly let her get away with it for more than a week.

"Y/N, can I have a word?"

She cringed.

It was 6 PM on Wednesday; the rest of her class was filing out of the lecture hall, but she paused where she stood in the row second to last. She'd already turned to leave. She shifted on her feet as she turned to Thomas, pulled her bag further up her shoulder, but when she saw him standing at the front of the room, arms folded and brow creased as he watched her, she couldn't meet his eyes.

Her classmates shot her curious looks as they left — Thomas never asked students to stay after class. If something was wrong, he sent them emails, he asked them to come to his office hours, he’d even used Twitter messages to reach people before, but he never publicly asked someone to hang back. She’d learned that it was against his ethos as a professor; he’d told her a story or two of his college days that made her understand why.

However, as much attention as this anomaly in his behavior drew, she had a feeling she knew why he wanted a word with her. She slumped back into her chair beside the aisle until everyone else was gone, and finally, the door fell shut, echoed through the hall, and she approached Thomas's desk with a looming sense of dread. He glanced up from packing his bag.

"Hey."

"Hey." Her voice was hesitant. "You couldn't have just approached me after the class got out?"

"In my defense," he started, "you haven't been makin' yourself all that easy to find. Everything okay lately?"

He was watching her expectantly, an eyebrow raised, and she folded her arms. "Yeah. Just fine."

"Then lemme rephrase that." Then, he turned fully toward her, his bag pulled shut and pushed aside. He frowned. "Why've you been avoiding me?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "What? I'm not."

"Yes, you are." The words left no room for negotiation, and she sighed. "And I mean, 's your prerogative. You've still been comin' through as a TA, so I'm not about to try and criticize you, but can I at least get an explanation?"

He looked pretty frustrated for someone who wasn't about to try and criticize her.

"You're not that oblivious," she said. "I have a feeling you know why."

Several moments passed in a tense silence. He was eyeing her tentatively, unmoving, and she couldn't meet his scrutinizing gaze, shifting on her feet. Finally, he sighed.

"The party?"

"Got it in one."

To her surprise, he let out a dry huff of laughter. "To be honest, I'm surprised you even remember that."

"I kinda wish I didn't."

Thomas offered her a reluctant smile. "I hear that. But..." He hesitated. "Which part of that night’s still bothering you?”

Y/N furrowed her brow, looking back up toward him. "Seriously?”

She figured it was obvious. Trying to seduce your professor while well-past drunk seemed like a clear, egregious issue, and she wasn’t quite sure why he was playing dumb.

"After all that time you spent avoidin’ me, you've gotta know what I'm talkin' about. C'mon." She stared at him blankly for another moment, and finally, he sighed. "Nevermind. I'm sorry about what happened then. We don't have to keep discussin' it if you don't wanna."

"No, hang on, what are you sorry for?" she asked, disbelief clear in her voice, and he raised an eyebrow. She hesitated before she went on, "I... I'm sorry for coming onto you like that. It was really stupid, and I know I crossed a line, but that's all my own fault; I don't—"

"You were drunk. Don't feel bad about it," he said reasonably. She was searching his apologetic expression as he spoke; she couldn't fathom why he looked guilty. Had something happened that she didn't remember?

"But why are you apologizing?" she asked softly, creasing her forehead. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I got real close to doin' something I shouldn't, though," he said, carding a hand through his curls. "I shouldn't have let it get that far. 'Specially not when you were drunk. I got too close to crossing that line."

"Too close to..." Y/N repeated, trailing off with her brow furrowed, but that was when it hit her. Had she not been so mortified by her own actions, she realized, she'd have been dwelling instead on the way his hands had tightened around her waist, how he'd pulled her into himself with a bruising grip when she tugged at his hair. That evening, she'd convinced herself he was going to spend the night. "Oh."

"Yeah." He swallowed hard, hands tucked into his pockets. "So, 'm sorry. I should've shut that down, and I get why you've been keepin' your distance."

"No, no, relax." She dismissed his apology with a flippant wave of her hand. "I was in the wrong. You were trying to be considerate."

"You're givin' me too much credit," he sighed, and a flicker of a smile graced her lips.

"I wouldn't say that," she argued, and she hesitated, cocked a brow before adding, "Unless, of course, you had an ulterior motive for insisting on taking me home in the middle of the night?"

His eyes widened. "Oh! Jesus, no, I swear, I didn't— I wouldn't..." As an amused grin split Y/N's controlled expression, though, he trailed off, squinting at her. "You're just messin' with me, aren't you?"

“Maybe,” she answered mildly, giving an innocent shrug. He scowled. “But, really, Thomas, it’s fine. We can forget it ever happened, okay?”

He watched her warily as she offered him a tense smile. He wasn't sure it was fine, and quite frankly, he knew he'd have a hard time forgetting it ever happened — he felt like there was more left to say.

But as his pause stretched on, as she raised her eyebrows at his uncharacteristic silence, he didn't have the words.

"You sure?" was all he finally said.

"Yeah."

“Alright.” He eyed her for another moment, wary, before he pulled his bag up onto his shoulder. "That’s good. I… guess I'll see you around. Good luck with midterms, Y/N."

She didn't miss the final, unreadable once-over he gave her before starting up the stairs out of the lecture hall. She didn't go after him.

————————————————

WHAT FOLLOWED WAS midterms week, which came and went without much pomp or circumstance. She didn't see much of Thomas that week after finishing with his test, which was more intentional than she’d like to have admitted. On Friday night, she finished grading the papers he'd delegated to her, but she just left them in his mailbox.

When Saturday afternoon rolled around, she was perched on the couch in her apartment flipping through the same Netflix suggestions she'd been seeing for the past hour. She'd had an incredibly relaxed day, and she assumed it would stay as such until Dolley came bursting in with a wide grin.

Y/N raised an eyebrow. "Where are you coming from looking so excited?"

"James's."

"Ah." No further questions were necessary, but when Dolley circled around to stand right between Y/N and the television, it was clear something more was up — something Y/N had no interest in finding out about. "Do you mind? I was watching that."

"Oh, please. No, you weren't," Dolley scoffed, but her eyes were alight despite her contrived annoyance.

"Well, I was going to," Y/N grumbled, and Dolley could only smile.

"You're going to want to hear what I have to say."

"Am I?"

"Certainly." Y/N raised an expectant brow when Dolley took a step closer to her. "Spring break just started."

"What else is new?"

"James's family has a home in the Outer Banks."

"Good for him." Y/N's responses were short as she tried to lean around Dolley, scrolling through the 'New to Netflix' category. Dolley groaned, rolled her eyes. Y/N's noises of protest went entirely ignored as Dolley pulled her remote from her hand, and she deadpanned as Dolley rested her hands on her shoulders, sitting down to straddle her lap on the couch. "Seriously?" Y/N whined.

"And we are going to the Outer Banks for spring break."

"I'm sorry, what?" She let out a dry laugh at the conviction in Dolley's voice. "Alright, maybe you're going to the Outer Banks over break, but last I checked, James and I aren't exactly on the level of road trip buddies."

"Please consider it. He told me I could invite you."

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because he likes you. Not because he wants me there."

"Oh, what does it matter?" she whined. "An invitation is an invitation. James just doesn't know you yet. I'm sure he'll come to love you."

"I don't care," Y/N groaned, shoving her off, and Dolley rolled off to sit beside her on the couch with a huff. "As much as I love you, I refuse to let your infatuation with James take over my social life."

"What social life?" Dolley scoffed. "I've already taken it over. Now I'm just adding James."

"Hey, I have other friends," Y/N said, but Dolley gave her a disbelieving look.

"Your professors and your study groups don't count."

"There's also the kid I see every day in the library," Y/N defended. "He's the only other one on the sixth floor."

"Do you even know his name?"

She hesitated. "That's not relevant."

"Darling," Dolley groaned, shifting onto her side to face Y/N. "Just come with me. It'll be fun. And I'm sure James is bringing Thomas; after all, they're roommates."

"That doesn't add to the appeal, Doll." Y/N wasn’t sure she trusted herself on a vacation spent with him in the Outer Banks, sleeping in the same house as him, trying not to stare at him shirtless on the beach. "I let you drag me to their apartment for a night, and it ended up sucking. I'm not gonna subject myself to that for a whole week."

"Ten days," Dolley corrected her.

"That's worse." Y/N’s huff was heavy, and as she raked a hand through her hair, Dolley wore a pout. “Besides, I can’t. I have that scholarship dinner thing, remember? I have to wine and dine all the donors.”

Dolley wrinkled her nose. “I forgot about those. I’ve always thought they were exploitative.”

“Oh, they are,” Y/N agreed, “but they’re giving me too much money for me to be able to complain. I can be their little academic Miss America for a night as long as they keep paying my tuition.”

Dolley hummed in acquiescence as Y/N returned to scrolling through her suggested shows on Netflix. “So it’s like a beauty pageant, but instead of hair extensions, you bring your resume.”

“Feels more like a strip club. I had to go to two at my old school, and it’s just putting on a show to get rich, wrinkled old men to throw us a few bucks. May as well wear a g-string and try to find myself a sugar daddy.”

“Mmh, let me know if any of your DILFs have pretty sons, alright?”

Y/N gave Dolley a skeptical look. “You’ve already got James; leave the rich legacy boys for me.”

“Sharing is caring.”

———————————————

ULTIMATELY, DOLLEY WENT to the Outer Banks without her. She left the next morning (but apparently couldn't leave without giving Y/N a serious tongue-lashing). And from there, Y/N was left to fend for herself.

The first couple days were fine. She ate the remainder of the groceries in the apartment. She watched seven seasons of Grey's Anatomy before deciding she hated all the characters. She cleaned out the fridge. She drank Dolley's nice red wine (with no plans to replace it). She organized her sock drawer.

Alright, so maybe she was going a little stir-crazy in Dolley's absence. So much for her having a social life outside of that apartment.

However, she didn't leave until she was clean out of food, bourbon, and episodes of SVU.

She was just around the corner from the nice CVS, though, so when she left, she didn't particularly expect to have any reason to look her best — if any of her classmates saw her in her pajama pants, it was far from her greatest concern.

She emerged with two white plastic bags, both stretching around the edges of the fruits of her pseudo-grocery run; the fact that she hadn't bought anything with nearly the nutritional value of actual fruit was beside the point. Regardless, she was feeling rather self-satisfied as she turned onto the sidewalk headed back to her apartment, arms weighed down with junk food, holding her CVS rewards card in the corner of her mouth, lips pressed into a thin line as she tried to re-organize her wallet — but apparently, she was too preoccupied to realize what was immediately in front of her as she took the next left.

"Woah, there."

She screeched as she ran directly into the man on the other side of the corner. As she stumbled backward, not managing to spare herself from falling on her ass, two of her grocery bags went tumbling to the ground; three split right through the bottom of the plastic, and as her pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream rolled to the feet of her accidental assailant, she let out a defeated groan.

She dropped her shoulders with an angry huff, and when the man before her leaned down to pick up the ice cream she'd spent the past week working up the energy to leave the house for, her gaze followed it up as he rose.

"Mint chip? Really?" When she caught sight of Thomas's amused expression, the exhaustion on her shoulders only compounded. He'd clearly been out running; he ran a hand through his curls, wiped the sweat from his brow as he popped out one of his earbuds. "You've got some awful taste, there."

"Of course, it's you," she grumbled. "Because I couldn't have been bulldozed by some stranger to, at least, spare myself the humiliation."

His smile was entertained as she dusted herself off, sparing what she could of her CVS haul, tucking her rewards card into her wallet and her pack of razor heads into her purse before she stood. "I think this belongs to you?"

"Yeah, yeah." The annoyance was clear in her voice when she looked up to see his outstretched hand, offering her back the ice cream, but (although she took the pint back immediately, as her priorities were still in order) that wasn't where her gaze stopped, instead trailing up his arm to his heaving (bare) chest and the earbuds hanging loosely from one of his ears. Her breath caught in her throat.

Sweat trailed down his torso to his abs, glistening in the mid-morning sunlight and drawing her eyes down to the waist of his sweatpants where they hung low on his hips. Her stare was only broken when he pulled his headphones out, wrapping them around his hand and yanking her gaze back up to his arms. The shift didn't help; instead, she couldn't break her wide-eyed, gawking stare from his biceps.

"Y/N?"

She was jolted back to earth with a start at the sound of his voice as he stuffed his earbuds into his pocket. His grin was broad, and her cheeks were on fire. "Shit, sorry, I, um—"

"Relax, it's fine," he said, tucking his phone in his pocket. "Need a hand with your, uh..." He picked up her extra-large jar of Nutella, "groceries?"

As he watched her expectantly, she swallowed hard, shaking her head with a tense smile. "No, no, that's fine," she assured him. "I wouldn't want to interrupt your run. I can manage."

He quirked a brow. "You sure? You're gonna have a hell of a time carryin' all of these on your own."

"I don't live far."

"I know," he said, and as she did her best to collect all her goods from the pavement around them, he did the same, "but there's no way you can get these all back by hand."

"I'll be alright," she said, her words taking on an undertone of annoyance (although it was ultimately born of her unease). Thomas didn't look so convinced.

"C'mon, just lemme help you out?" he reasoned with her, and as she tried to pull her purse shut around her two bags of mini tacos, balancing a package of laundry detergent pods on her lifted knee, she couldn't put up too much resistance. "You 'n I both know you need it."

Y/N pursed her lips. "Fine. Thank you."

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Call me crazy, but you don't sound too grateful, now."

"Let's just go."

Though it took them a moment longer, between them, they did manage to balance all of her quasi-groceries in their arms, and Y/N nodded in the direction Thomas had been coming from. "My apartment is back this way."

"Yeah, I remember."

"Still?"

He shrugged. "I'm good with directions. And I've taken you back there twice, now."

"Right.” Against her will, the memories from those two separate nights began to surface in her mind, and she could feel her cheeks heating up. “How could I forget?”

Her tone was dry, uncomfortable, but to her relief, Thomas laughed it off.

"Someone's feelin' hostile today, huh?" he commented. Although she rolled her eyes, her face was burning; his presence had her on edge, reacting to even the smallest of his movements, and she was still trying to shake off how mortified she was from having run into him in the first place.

"Sorry. I'm just tired." He raised an eyebrow. "My sleep schedule's been all over the place without Dolley around to nag me about it."

"Oh, yeah, she's outta town with James, huh?" She hummed in confirmation. “Why didn’t you end up goin’ with ‘em? James told me he invited you.”

She huffed out a dry laugh. “Yeah, he invited me as an extension of Dolley because he wanted her there. I’m much happier alone in my apartment than stuck in the Outer Banks with people I hardly know.”

“Yeah, you ‘n me both.”

Y/N furrowed her brow. “I thought these were your friends that were going.”

He shrugged. “James ended up bringin’ a lotta grad students I’ve never met. Some undergrads in there, too. Would’ve been a shitty ten days, ‘specially once he let me know you weren’t comin’.”

“‘Especially once you knew I wasn’t coming’?” she echoed, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, don’t get ahead of yourself,” he replied. “I stayed behind ‘cause I knew I could pawn more papers off on you to grade.”

“Well, that is part of my charm,” she said frankly, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“That and the pajamas you’re always wearin’ around campus?”

“Oh, come on, I’ve seen you when I was wearing pajamas once. That’s it.”

He hummed skeptically, and she glanced up at him as they walked. “I know you’re no math major, but addin’ today to the day you stormed into my office makes two days, not one.”

“Today doesn’t count,” she argued. “The plan was to go to CVS, go back home, and interact with nobody. Besides, you’re not even wearing a shirt, so it’s not like you have any room to judge.”

“At least you know that I own shirts, though.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you only own pajamas, sweetheart. Didn’t think I had to spell it out for you,” he said matter-of-factly, casting her a sidelong glance, and while his expression was playful, she could feel her cheeks flush.

“Oh, shut up; you know that isn’t true,” she defended. “Just because I’m partial to my sweatpants doesn’t mean I can’t dress up when need be. I have nice clothes.”

He eyed her skeptically. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

————————————

IT TOOK THE pair of them just a few minutes to reach Y/N’s apartment building, but it took several more for them to actually make it up to her apartment. Trying to get the door unlocked without dropping anything was a fiasco — it ended in one of her mini Coke cans rolling down the hall, no doubt fated to explode the minute she opened it, and a bag of pizza rolls splitting open at the corner when she dropped it. Thomas had little sympathy for her complaints about them being exposed to carpet germs.

"Thank you for all the help." Y/N turned to Thomas with a sheepish smile when she finally put her groceries down. "Sorry for ruining your workout."

"Don't mention it." He dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand after he put the rest of her things down into the pile she'd started. "After all, you're tiring enough that it doesn't make a difference."

"Shut up." Despite her scowl, he snickered, and she rolled her eyes as she went to open her fridge. "I should put everything away so it doesn't go bad, but is there anything I can get you as a 'thank you'? A drink? Something to eat?"

"This just your way of askin' me to stay longer?" He raised a teasing eyebrow, but when she turned to him, her eyes were wide.

“Oh! No, no, I didn’t mean… I mean, you don’t have to, I just—”

“Woah, relax.” His voice held a trace of a laugh at the panic that was slowly dissipating from her gaze. “I was kiddin’, alright? Didn’t mean to rattle you like that.”

“I’m not rattled,” she defended, closing her fridge, and she could feel her cheeks heating up as he eyed her with disbelief. “I just felt like I owed you something for all the help. I know I kinda derailed your day."

"I told you, it wasn't a problem," he said mildly. “But, y’know, if you wanna pay me back, I’ve got a whole lot more papers that need gradin’.”

Her groan made him laugh. “God, please don’t make me regret becoming your TA. I have better things to do with my spring break.”

“Like what?”

“Like eating all the ice cream I just bought?” she said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, and he rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, if I give you the rubric, you really can’t multitask?”

She sighed. “Yeah, alright, if you really need the help. I’ll come to pick them up sometime this week if that works for you?”

“That’s just fine. I wasn’t plannin’ on going into my office, though, so you’ll have to swing by my apartment.” Her most vivid memories of the last time she’d been at his place flashed in her mind’s eye. “That okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” She cleared her throat when she realized how long her moment of hesitation had been. He creased his brow. “Just tell me what time you’ll be home. I won’t have any scheduling conflicts.”

“What, you don’t have any big parties on the calendar?” he asked, cracking a lopsided grin, and she let out the lightest of laughs, the sound quiet and forced. “You aren’t gonna find yourself gettin’ arrested when a professor calls the cops on your rager?”

“Nah, not this time,” she said. Her smile was stiff, and he pursed his lips as he watched her continue unpacking her groceries, bending down to tuck various packages into different cupboards.

“Good to know,” he replied. In the pause that followed, Y/N was aware of every twitch of every muscle in her body; she could feel his eyes on her as she moved through her space. ��I’ll text you when I sort ‘em out, then.”

“Cool.” Her mouth was dry. She didn’t look his way.

“Alright.” The hum of the fridge had never sounded louder. They could hear footsteps on an adjacent floor of the building and the soft buzz of their AC unit. Y/N swallowed. His next words were cautious. “So, should I, uh, head on out, then?”

Her eyebrows jumped. When she turned her head to look at him, she realized he hadn’t moved from his spot. She shrugged hesitantly.

“I mean, it’s your call.” His gaze flitted away from her when she met his eyes. “If you have somewhere to be, I don’t wanna keep you. I can finish putting my food away.”

“Wouldn't wanna overstay my welcome is all. I dunno if I should be spendin’ any more time in your apartment than I need to.” His expression was nonchalant, uncaring, but his shoulders were tense. She could see the tendons in his upper arms twitching, and it was only then that she was reminded that he was, in fact, very shirtless in her kitchen.

He glanced back at her with tentative eyes.

“That might be smart.” She stood up to her full height, looking down at the counter before her. “It’s getting kinda late anyway. You should probably head back before it gets dark.”

It was nowhere near sundown, but the message was certainly received, and Thomas nodded. “‘Course. I’ll see myself out.”

“Thanks for the help with the groceries,” Y/N said softly, and he smiled.

“Anytime,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

———————————————

“WHAT CLASS GOT a multiple choice midterm?” The indignance in Y/N’s voice made Thomas laugh.

“The freshmen.”

They were at Thomas’s apartment. Dolley and James would still be gone on their road trip for five more days, though, and that left them living alone about a block away from each other. Y/N wasn’t sure she knew where they stood, but when she went to pick up the midterms Thomas needed her to grade, he first had to walk her through the rubric. Then she started asking questions, and they both ended up sitting; then Thomas returned to sipping his coffee, and Y/N started leafing through one of the papers with a pen, and it only made sense for her to stay.

At least, that was how she justified it to herself as she reached the end of her second hour parked on his couch.

“I swear to god, you coddle those freshmen,” she said, twirling her pen absentmindedly as she went through the answer key. She scowled. “And they’re still getting, like, 25% off.”

“See? I’ve gotta coddle ‘em,” he defended. “If I make that class any harder, I’m gonna have a full class of Fs on my record. Won’t be gettin’ tenure, that’s for sure.”

“If you treated them like they were competent, maybe they’d be forced to learn,” she suggested, and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. When you finish grading ‘em, d’you mind calculating the curve for me?”

“This is curved?” Her tone bordered on genuine annoyance, but her dramatic reaction was only entertaining Thomas. “I’m gonna need another cup of coffee to get through this.”

“Now, this feels exploitive.”

“You don’t even pay me to TA,” she pointed out. “With the bullshit I put up with, you owe me a drink from that fancy espresso machine you have tucked away.”

“Aw, c’mon, is workin’ with me really so bad, sweetheart?” He plastered on a pout, but the casual term of endearment made her pulse jump. It didn’t feel so natural to hear him call her that anymore.

"Don't get me started," she said, but she knew how shaky she sounded. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice (and if he did, he didn't mention it).

“Alright, alright. I was just headed to get myself another, anyway.” He acquiesced easily, and she was all but relieved when he left the room, taking both their mugs with him.

She wanted there to be a way for her to shake off any of the nerves he always seemed to leave her with. It wasn’t right; it wasn’t fair — he was her professor. He used terms of endearment without a second thought. She needed to stop overthinking it, especially given that she’d heard him call both Maria and Angelica “darling” and “honey” on more than one occasion. “Sweetheart” seemed to be reserved for her, though.

Stop thinking like that.

She cringed as the observation surfaced. She knew she was reading into it, and her mind was running a mile a minute to try and replace the idea with something else, any kind of distraction. She decided to chalk it all up to the caffeine she’d been consuming en masse.

So maybe another latte wasn’t the greatest idea. She pushed herself off of his couch with a grunt.

All she wanted was a glass of water, so she didn't expect that there'd be any problem with her just barging into his kitchen since she was already at his place.

But she'd just turned into the kitchen's doorway, and Thomas wouldn't have minded it if she hadn't turned with the worst timing imaginable.

"Oh, fuck." She felt the coffee scalding her skin before she processed what'd happened. Her grimace was involuntary and pronounced as she stumbled away from him, pulling the back of her shirt as far away from her body as she could. "Shit, shit, shit, that's hot."

"Jesus, are you alright?" It wasn't until a split second later that she turned to see Thomas standing behind her, mortified and frantically going to set down his mugs so he could go to check on her.

But she only shook her head, doing her best to regulate her breathing, control her expression despite the searing pain across her upper back. “Shit, I—” Her voice broke off as she swallowed hard, far from concerned with being a considerate guest when she pushed past him into his kitchen. Thomas was frozen to the spot, watching her rush to the sink and frantically yanking off the nozzle of his sink to run cold water over her shoulder blade (she’d never been more grateful for his bougie interior design). Her focus was nowhere near him.

She had no clue how to treat a burn. However, she didn’t think twice before tearing her shirt off — it was searing her skin.

Her tunnel vision may have blinded her to the larger context of her panic (and for good reason, all things considered), but Thomas was stunned as he watched her strip off her button-down in the middle of his kitchen, run it under water to use it as a rag. She tucked it under her left bra strap so that she could press the cold cloth directly against the burn.

Thomas was gawking. When Y/N caught her breath, turning to him, she met his eyes, and— well, actually, she didn’t meet his eyes. His gaze was focused a good ten inches below her eyes, and she chose to conclude that he was staring at her chest because he was concerned about having burnt her with coffee. The fact that not even a drop of the scalding coffee had touched her chest was a nonissue.

“Do you know anything about treating burns?”

“Not…” He cleared his throat, redirecting his stare up to where her eyes actually were. “Not much. I— Holy shit, are you alright? God… lemme Google it. Hang on.” She tried to catch her breath as Thomas pulled out his phone, and the first thing he said was, “Alright, says you’ve gotta get rid of any clothes over the burn.” He glanced back up at her. “Looks like you’ve got that covered, though.”

“Yeah, I figured that one out for myself. Thanks.” Her tone was dry.

“Right.” Thomas cleared his throat. “You wanna use my shower to run it under cold water, then?”

She nodded frantically, grimacing as she pulled her damp shirt out from under her bra strap, holding that as far from her skin as she could without her bra coming off. “Please.”

It took just about all of Thomas’s willpower to keep his gaze north of her collarbones as he showed her where the bathroom was and told her how to work the shower. If any god happened to be real, he was fairly sure he was being tested that afternoon — and all because he didn’t feel like calculating the curve on his midterms. He could safely say that this was far more difficult.

He gave her a towel and some of his spare clothes to change into, but when she dug the Neosporin out of his medicine cabinet, he heard her call his name.

He knocked on the bathroom door. “Everything alright in there?”

“Yeah, I just…” Her voice was muffled as she trailed off. “I can’t reach the burn.”

“Oh.” He swallowed audibly, although Y/N was far enough that she couldn’t hear it. “D’you… need help?”

“Please.” Her voice was hesitant and nervous.

“Can… can I come in?”

“Yeah, just hang on a second.” There was a pause. Y/N didn't meet his eyes when she came to open the door; she held a towel over her bra-clad chest, one of the straps having slipped off the side of her left shoulder. "I, er… can't reach my back to bandage it. Can you… ?"

Thomas's eyes widened. "Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I've got it."

"Thanks," she said quietly, and when she turned to the sink, passing him the ointment and gauze as she faced the mirror, she kept her hand towel held over her front. "Sorry about… all this."

"Why're you sorry?" The amusement in his voice eased the tension in her shoulders. "Sorry for gettin' coffee spilled on you? Sorry for havin' skin on your back?"

"Sorry for having burnable skin on my back," she corrected him, and he laughed.

"Yeah, alright, good point. If you weren't so damn flammable we wouldn't have this issue," he teased, but he pursed his lips. "In all seriousness, this one's on me. Wasn't watching where I was goin'; I was the one that ran right into you, not the other way around."

"Yeah, but I was in the way," Y/N pushed back, and Thomas raised a skeptical eyebrow, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

"You've gotta stop apologizing for things, sweetheart. Especially things that I think we both know weren't your fault." How frankly he spoke made her sigh, and in that moment, it felt as if she was back in the entrance of her apartment, clinging to him as he tried to keep himself from pulling her closer. She swallowed her pang of guilt. “Lemme know if this hurts, yeah?”

“Okay.” Her voice was small.

Neither of them spoke as he dabbed ointment onto her wound, and his gentle touch had a warmth filling her skin that had nothing to do with the burn. He stood within inches behind her. The air in his bathroom was tense; both of them were aware of every movement the other made, every brush of their skin against one another, and it took every ounce of her willpower to keep her eyes down, to keep from staring at him in the mirror. She glanced up to see him knitting his brow, concern in his gaze. 

He placed the ointment back onto his sink, instead unraveling the gauze he held in his other hand.

"Pass me the medical tape?" The sound of his voice made her look up, meeting his eyes in the mirror. It took her a moment to process his words, but when she did, she broke his gaze immediately, clearing her throat and nodding as she reached for it and handed it back to him.

Her skin tingled as he laid the gauze softly over her wound, doing his best to give her skin room to breathe. She shivered as he taped it down by the sides. "Alright."

"You're done?"

He nodded and although his touch was tentative as he pressed the tape down to her back, it was firm. "Yeah, that should hold. Looks good."

"Okay," she said quietly, giving him a small smile. "Thank you."

When he finished, she expected him to take a step back, to let himself out of the bathroom so she could get dressed, and so she turned to him, anticipating that he'd move out of the way and she could retrieve her clothes from the bathroom floor. However, it was at the same time that she turned that he leaned forward to put the gauze back on the edge of the sink behind the ointment. They moved in synchrony, but it wasn't the synchrony either expected.

They were both far, far too afraid to move, then.

Thomas's hand was on the side of the sink, now to her right as she faced him, and with him leaning into her, between his arm beside her and the rest of his body in front of her, Y/N didn't have much of anywhere to go. Thomas, however, could've moved. He should've moved, too, and he knew that well. But when she turned to him, he found his face mere inches from hers. His nose brushed against her cheek, and with her having used his shower, with her wearing his spare clothes, he could smell the traces of his woody cologne mixing with a sugared scent he couldn't describe as anything other than her. She swallowed hard.

This felt familiar to both of them, by then. The proximity between them was all but second nature with how much time they spent together, with all the late hours in his office or her apartment. But this atmosphere was charged.

Every interaction between them had been measured and meticulous for months — while they had both been pushing boundaries, neither dared to cross them. But this? Neither of them had meant for this to happen. Neither had meant to make it so easy for them to simply fall into each other, but something about it seemed so natural, almost fateful.

Thomas was exercising every last drop of his willpower as he looked down at Y/N's wide eyes, her wet hair, her (his) pajama pants that were far too long for her. He tucked one of her damp locks behind her ear.

"We can't do this." Y/N's words were cautionary as Thomas's eyes wandered to her lips, but there was no feeling behind them. She didn't want him to stop.

"I know." His thumb traced her jaw, and he made no move to step away. He did know that what he was doing was wrong, but with how caught up he was in everything that was her, he was having trouble remembering why. "So stop me before I do something stupid."

She couldn't take a breath. Her voice was trembling.

"I don't think I want to."

He was hesitant to lean in toward her, but when he shifted forward, she met him halfway with every bit as much trepidation, and this kiss was nothing like the night they met. His touch was careful. His lips were slow, savoring the taste of her on his tongue. He held her as if his gentle touch would negate all the implications of their actions, all the damage this might cause.

Because this didn't feel like the illicit affair that Y/N knew it to be. This was Thomas, her friend, her coworker, her fleeting one-night stand, and she held him against her in an embrace like that of a lover, her arms looped around his neck as the side of her nose brushed against his. This was easy. This was natural.

But this was her professor.

"Stop." She pulled away from him, a hand on his chest as she struggled to catch her breath, and Thomas's gaze didn't read as dejection or hurt, but instead it came with an air of concern. The silence that followed her single word was excruciating.

"Y/N?" His voice was hoarse, but it was heavy with guilt. She didn't meet his eyes.

"I… I'm sorry, Thomas. I really…" She trailed off as he took a wary step back; she let out a breath of relief when he was no longer boxing her in against the counter, his hips no longer pinning hers back. "I need to go. I'm sorry."

She left the bathroom in a rush, grabbing her shirt from the floor and pulling it back over her head without a second thought. When she took off, he didn’t try to stop her.

[chanyouchan]

⌕ aristotle and dante

⚠ em caso de inspiração, me credite.

📆 09/04/23 | ✎ @mnini (psd)

[booklyaesthetic]

12:04 pm

Chapter 45 in Twisted Hate and just saw the name Dante Russo in it. I need to get the King of Sins series after this 🫣

[chiimi-png]

{04/02/2024} Part III: The Pharaoh, the snitch, and the audacity of that bitch

Ok first commentary on the book: As of right now Im really enjoying it. The “antagonists” really think this lie is the solution to their problem and, although one of them knows this whole situation is wrong, he doesn’t try to fix this situation he kind of enabled. Although their initial problem is one of jealousy, with the introduction of Villefort and his father, a new layer of trouble is added to Dantes’ situation when the substitute finds out the letter out hero carried had his father’s name as the recipient. The imprisonment of Dantes was now a matter of importance to forbid him from tarnishing his reputation and future since Bonaparte’s anti-royalist movement was a direct opposition to Villefort’s aspirations

Current Progress: 12%

[star-vessel1237]

Repeating Storyline AU ( A TWST AU)

Summary: What if Crowley failed to stop the madness that the overblots brought the first time it happened. To try and fix his mistake he started summoning students to try and help the students. However the last twenty two times have failed, currently the new summon, Yuu, is doing well. They are getting close to figuring out Crowley’s secret however. But what came of the other summons? Well, reseting the time loop will cause errors and sometimes replacements are required.

Report #01

Good evening everyone. Unfortunately we have terrible news tonight. Last week on January 4, 2021, a boy by the name of Riley Rose-Heart went missing. He was last spotted at Queen’s Garden with his mother, Elizabeth Rose-Heart, while attending a private party.

The last time anyone had seen Riley was when he and his mother had gotten into an argument about his future. The young boy screamed at his mother before running off into the garden’s rose maze before disappearing. Authorities called say that the only evidence left was the boy’s hairclip, the item itself lying in the center of the maze.

If anyone has evidence on the whereabouts of Riley Rose-Heart, please contact authorities, thank you.

Report #02

G̷o̶o̷d̸ ̶e̸v̷e̶n̶i̵n̷g̸ ̵e̷v̷e̶r̷y̸o̵n̷e̵.̴ Unfortunately we have terrible news tonight. A young man by the name of Tyler Green had gone missing on January 31, 2021. He was last seen getting groceries for his family’s small bakery, he did not return h̷o̴m̸e̵ for three hours. 

After the police were called, they found evidence that he may have been kidnapped. The evidence was a list with his handwriting, a fallen grocery bag, and his glasses, damaged on the left lens. All of these were found on the dirt rode he took from home to his local grocery store, horse hoof prints being found near the scene.

If anyone has evidence on the whereabouts of Tyler Green, please contact authorities, t̷h̸a̵n̴k̸ ̵y̶o̸u̸.̷

Report #03

G̶o̶o̸d̶ ̵e̷v̵e̵n̷i̷n̵g̷ ̴e̸v̵e̸r̷y̶o̶n̸e̷.̸ ̵U̷n̵f̵o̶r̷t̶u̵n̴a̵t̴e̶l̵y̸ ̷w̷e̵ ̴h̸a̶v̵e̸ terrible news tonight. A college student by the name of Carter Diamond had gone missing on February 2, 2021. According to eye-witness report from his friend, who choose to remain anonymous, they all went to Queen’s Garden to do a vlog post about the disappearance of the missing boy, Riley Rose-Heart. 

Due to the unexpected fog, they ended up splitting up. Carter’s friends heard him scream and ran to find him when the fog was lighting up. When they weren’t able to find him they called the police. Police later found evidence of yet another kidnapping, the evidence this time with Carter’s broken cellphone and similar hoof prints to Tyler Green’s disappearance.

If anyone has evidence on the whereabouts of Carter Diamond, please ̴c̵o̶n̶t̵a̴c̴t̷ ̵a̸u̴t̵h̸o̸r̴i̸t̷i̵e̸s̶,̷ ̵t̵h̶a̴n̴k̷ ̵y̷o̷u̵

Report #04 and #05

G̵o̴o̴d̶ ̵e̷v̸e̵n̴i̸n̶g̵ ̶e̶v̵e̶r̸y̶o̷n̵e̵.̸ ̴U̴n̷f̶o̸r̴t̴u̸n̶a̵t̸e̷l̷y̷ ̵w̴e̷ ̴h̷a̷v̵e̸ ̷t̶e̴r̶r̶i̶b̶l̴e̵ ̶n̵e̴w̵s̶ ̷t̵o̵n̶i̶g̵h̷t̸.̷ Two high school student, Ace Liddell and Dante Spade, had gone missing.

Ace Liddell had went missing on February 26, 2021. After his school’s basketball game he gone into the lockers to change with his teammates and Dante waiting for him. After a while, they decided to barrage into the room to see if Ace was alright. Despite no noise being heard, there were smashed lockers and Ace’s normal clothes ripped up as the entire room was a mess, with Ace nowhere insight. People have suspected kidnapping as the small window in the locker room was smashed along with the rest of the room.

While the basketball team panicked and called the police, Dante ran off in the middle of the night on his bike to try and find his friend. It wasn’t until it was the morning of February 27, 2021, that his bike was found by the auto repair shop he worked at. The shop owner claims that he didn’t hear anything all night and the security footage had been corrupted around that time, the only audio being manageable was Dante screaming to get away from him, before a crash was heard.

If anyone has evidence on the whereabouts of Ace Liddel and Dante Spade, p̸l̵e̷a̷s̸e̶ ̴c̸o̵n̷t̸a̷c̵t̶ ̸a̸u̴t̸h̸o̴r̴i̸t̵i̶e̵s̴,̵ ̴t̷h̸a̴n̷k̷ ̵y̸o̷u̸.̷

A̴l̸l̶ ̷t̴h̵e̴ ̷r̶o̴s̶e̵s̴ ̵a̶r̸e̵ ̷n̴o̵w̶ ̵p̶a̷i̷n̵t̸e̸d̸.̷.̵.̶

(That’s all for now. Hope you enjoyed.)

[las-nevadas-cafe]

🧶 cat!Tubbo 🧶

family + love + Antfrost as his father

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alire sáenz // Ocean Vuong On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous // ion_art // 1×04 "Phantom Traveler" // Pierre-Auguste Renoir // trista mateer // stardotnet // kittlet // sharing oranges by sincerelykhadja // Family Mother Mother // the sorrow festival by erin slaughter

[vyladromeave]

04 and 08 for the ask game?

04. what are your favorite episodes/scene?

I've answered this one already here, but why not list another ep i like? I still go back to S1 Ep 68 pretty often!! It's one of the last episodes we're given where Garroth is written well imo, but he REALLY shines in this episode. I really love how Laurance and Garroth's dynamic is handled, + we get our first hints of Shadowknight-hood affecting Laurance more, AND we even get quite a bit of Garte stuff/overall politics things that I find very interesting!

This is honestly the golden era of S1 to me, and some of my favorite bits of how they handled storytelling like, mechanically. (Having the NPCs unpromptedly just start going off at eachother was very cool. Very rarely did NPCs have conversations with eachother that weren't facilitated by Aphmau before that point.) ITS A GOOD EPISODE! The back half is a little boring, it was definitely like that because Jess spent all her energy making the front half cool, but the front half WAS very cool, so I can excuse it.

08. alternatively, what's a dynamic you really want to see in canon?

THIS IS AN EVIL EVIL QUESTION BECAUSE THERE ARE SOOOOO MANY. lets just get Vylad and Literally Everyone down just to start. this is a joke but also not.

Vylad and Emmalyn (their intense irene discussions. Vylad obviously has some sort of academic knowledge of irene judging by the fact that he knows about Irene's Dimension on his own, and brings it up as a thing Zane would do BEFORE Aphmau can explain it. I think it would be cool for Emmalyn to have scholalry discussions around Irene with someone who also has that knowledge)

Vylad and Dante (Oopse Gene Sucks Hope We Dont Bond Over This. It makes sense in canon why Aphmau discouraged their meeting because she didn't want Dante to freak out about more shadowknights and she doesn't know about the dynamic between Vylad and Gene very well, but also I think hearing that validation would be very good for both of them considering Gene is literally gaslight king #1. There aren't a lot of people who can relate to being hurt by him directly who are also able to tell the tale.)

Vylad and Katelyn (HER SEEING JEFFORY IN HIM IS SOOOO INTERESTING AND THEN THE ONLY THING IT EVER EVEN KIND OF GOT USED FOR WAS SHIPPING BAIT WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. theyre some of the two most Emotionally Congested characters there are itd be sooooo interesting to me if they like. they dont even have to talk about it. its fine. they can just hang out silently together. ok. they can vibe together. i think they would enjoy that. please.)

and for some non-vylad options so that I'm not just talking about him for the rest of this post: Dante and Zoey NEEED to have a bigger dynamic with eachother considering they were the big Stayed Behind For 15 Years guys and barely anything ever comes from it im so mad

Zianna and Aphmau is a dynamic that can really only be explored in a post-S2 timeframe. but i think would be very cute :) I can see Zianna being very motherly towards Aphmau (or mother-in-law if thats the kind of thing ur a fan of) when she finds out that Aphmau doesn't have/remember having a figure like that in her life already. + I think Zianna would respect Aphmau a lot as being both a responsible lord and a mother herself. I think the two of them would get along very well :)

Similar to above in regards to timeframe, I think Travis and Garroth would be a fun dynamic to explore. Garroth strikes me very much as a "I Can't Hate Them, They're Family" kind of guy just cuz thats what he was taught growing up, despite having an undeniably negative relationship with people like Zane and Garte. Travis being so openly a #dadhater would help Garroth work out some of his own issues regarding how he feels towards members of his own family. And from Travis' pov, Garroth gets built up a lot over the course of S2, and hearing all these tales and stories only to meet him in person and discover he's kind of just a nervous wet cat of a guy is very funny.

(ask prompts from here!)