#fun fact. this character turns 20 years old this year

[necroromantics]

🪓 — Canon Facts About Ticci Toby

all of these are directly stated by kastoway himself in deviantart posts/comments, instagram stories, or tobys canon story

I. Toby has a split eyebrow from the car crash

II. He only attended grade school for a short time when we was 12 before being homeschooled due to bullying

III. Kastoway describes Toby's eye colour as "dark brown/black"

IV. Kastoway created Toby as a fan character when he was 12 just for fun. He never expected him to get the attention that he did

V. Toby was stated to be 19 in 2013, which means Toby was born on April 28th, 1994. Today he'll be turning 30 years old

VI. In Toby's age chart, he is shown to be in a straitjacket at 30 years old, and described to "not have much time left on his plate", "any bit of sanity in him is probably gone", and "lives out the rest of his days in a mental asylum and/or gets put down"

VII. He has little to no memory of his life before becoming a proxy

VIII. When he was a toddler, he'd carry around a cow stuffie and put bandaids all over it

IX. Toby was killed by Clockwork, who was possessed by Zalgo, sometime between ages 19-25 (presumably 20-22). Kastoway had vague plans for Toby to "miraculously survive" and live up until around 30 years old, with no contact to the others

X. Toby chews his hands to the point of eating his own flesh, which is why he wears gloves

XI. He is born and raised in Denver, Colorado, USA. He has German ancestry

XII. His theme song is noted to be "I'm Not Alright" by Shinedown

XIII. His personality is described to be, "volatile, friendly at times, sarcastic at times, natural born trouble-maker, mostly up-beat"

XIV. In an older, outdated reference sheet, his friends are listed as "Jeff The Killer, BEN, BOB, Smile Dog, Slenderman, Splendorman, Mr. Widemouth, Ragface, Eyeless Jack", and his rivals are listed as "The Rake, Masky, Enderman, Zalgo"

XV. His mask is a mouth guard, like the one Hannibal Lecter wears

XVI. He is canonically shipped with Clockwork

XVII. Toby has "big ass eyebrows" (Kastoways words himself)

XVIII. Toby doesn't hate Masky, he just acts like an annoying little brother around him because he's jealous that Slender favours him. He's chill around Hoodie, but they don't talk much

XIX. Kastoway was inspired by Marble Hornets to create Ticci Toby

XX. Toby's tics are described as to "uncontrollably crack his neck, twitch around, bend over backwards"

XXI. In his updated appearance (the sketch made by Kastoway in 2014 with the cheek gash), he's described to be in his early 20s. He also said he was thinking of having the cheek gash be caused by the fire, but said that Toby eating through his own cheek was "a really good idea"

XXII. Toby was originally going to be a cannibal before Kastoway put the idea on the back burner, though he says "he'll eat some of the things he kills kind of like Eyeless Jack"

XXIII. He had CIPA, Tourettes, Schizophrenia and PTSD after the car crash

XXIV. His older sisters name is Lyra, his mothers name is Connie, and his father is canonically unnamed (though he's typically called Frank by the fandom, this is not stated by Kastoway)

XXV. He was originally going to be 5'4....... But ended up being made 5'6 (lucky bastard)

Thats all I can think of right now... Happy Birthday Toby

[ltleflrt]

Figuring out I'm on the ace spectrum was so difficult because I have always been a horny bitch. I knew what sex was at a fairly young age, because I'd asked my mom and she's one of those good parents who'll answer questions like those, and as I grew older and would ask more complex questions, her answers would evolve along with my curiosity and understanding of the world. And I remember having fantasies as young as 9 or 10 years old, even if they were hella vague and nothing close to what sex actually is lol

So as I became a teenager, and all my friends' focus turned from playing with dolls to flirting with boys, I automatically thought I was attracted to boys. And I paid more attention to Cute Boys than I did to Cute Girls, because girls were just nice to look at while boys were People To Have Crushes On. Because of heteronormativity. Looking back on it now, I know there were girls I liked to stare at just as intently as boys, although less often because I wasn't trying to pay attention. And I certainly didn't fantasize about girls because I started reading romance novels in 5th grade, so I was fantasizing about male romantic partners because that was the fiction I was consuming. I didn't even realize fantasizing about girls was possible until I was 17, and I had a few "am I a lesbian" internal crises for years because of it.

So when I did start having sex, I had A LOT OF IT with SO MANY different guys, and eventually a couple of women once I started accepting that bisexuality was real. But it was never really fulfilling. Not like my fantasies were. Not like my books were. I was slutty because sex was fun, I was horny, there were plenty of options so I kept searching for that satisfaction I was craving.

Getting married was a relief (even though it turns out I'm aro-spec too lol) because I was tired of hunting, and even if sex with my husband was meh, at least I had someone around to scratch that itch if I had it, and he didn't mind if I occasionally took care of things on my own because I'd read an especially hot scene in a romance.

I learned about asexuality in my early 20s, but I brushed it off. Couldn't be me, I'm far too horny for that. But I think that comes from the fact that everything you hear about Aces is attached to sex-repulsion or sex-indifference. I wasn't either of those things. I was horny all the dang time. I was fantasizing about sex all the dang time. I figured actual sex was meh because my imagination was so vivid that real life could never match up. Which could be true to an extent, but I think not as much as popular opinion would have us believe. If fantasy was really that much better for everyone, then I think we'd have less incels and unplanned pregnancies than we do.

In my 30s I finally saw people talking about The Spectrum, and I started examining my past, and I figured out I wasn't really attracted to anyone I had sex with. I do occasionally find someone attractive; there are men and women and enbies who make my skin feel tight and give me a little wave of lightheadedness lol... but it's always always the fantasy that gets me really going. If given the opportunity I wouldn't have sex with any of those people. Thank you, but no thank you, I'd rather just imagine it than physically participate in the act with them.

(Ok I might go down on them, but that's less about wanting sex, and more about being able to add them to my Tally. Hell yeah I want to brag about making *insert hot person* have an orgasm. There's PRIDE in that kind of accomplishment lol)

I have a lot of respect for aces that are not horny. I understand it even if I don't share the sentiment. And I feel like most of them understand me even if they don't share the sentiment. There's a solidarity between us.

Until I go into a fandom tag for a character that the aces have glommed onto because they're canonically ace or headcanoned as ace. Good lord, the non-horny aces can turn into downright vicious bastards if a horny ace sexualizes their blorbo.

This post is for them.

Horny aces exist. Please look up "autochorissexual, lithosexual, and aegosexual."

Refer to those definitions in regards to romantic attraction as well as sexual attraction.

Some aces may not fall into one of those definitions, because asexuality is a spectrum, but they may still be horny.

Horny aces are not disrespecting you by enjoying being horny on main. We promise we'll wash the stickiness off our hands before we hold your hands in queer solidarity.

And most importantly: Your blorbo is fictional and does not need to be defended from icky sexuality. They exist in an infinite multiverse, so your blorbo and my blorbo are not the same, even if they appear to be on the surface.

AND:

This post is also for the people who are confused about themselves because they're horny but don't actually feel attraction. You're not crazy, you're not wishy washy, you're not "waiting for the right person to come along" (unless you are, in which case I hope you find them). You're just a thin strip of color on a massive rainbow that holds more unique shades than anyone can perceive at a glance.

You're valid. You're one of us too.

And don't be mean to the non-horny aces. Tag your smut so they can avoid it. (But actually so I can find it lol)

[wannaeatramyeon]

Meeting Student!Gun Park for the First Time: Part 1

Part 2! G/N. 3.2k. Remember when Gun wanted to get his GED? Well. Stranger to~ Masterlists

"How old are you?"

"20."

Press X for doubt, you think, and that's the exact meme you send over on chat.

"20 like 20 or 20 like you're mid 30s and planning your mid life crisis 20?"

You know you're being rude and making a terrible first impression. It's the first day of a new school year, of a new school in fact, and for some reason the class is held on video call and you're all forced to pair off with a classmate for an icebreaker introduction.

It’s already cringe worthy and awkward enough, icebreakers must have been created as a form of torture. To add insult to injury, you're sure this guy is bullshitting you.

"I'm 20." He deadpans.

Momentarily, you’re stunned into silence. It stretches almost a tad too long before you manage to choke out, “My bad. Sorry."

Wow. You're torn between thinking that's a rough 20, this guy has easily got 40 years under his belt and oh no, when is your puberty and hormones gonna kick in like that.

And that's also the exact moment this 20 year old Gun Park takes a drag on a cigarette and you decide that it's definitely a rough 20.

"So what do you do for fun?" You probe, and you have the distinct feeling he might say something like alimony, planning his third marriage, investing in the stock market - whatever someone in their 50s might say but-

To your surprise and glee, his body language turns shifty. 

He likes to game he says, like it's a dirty little secret. Amongst other things. Mentions something about training and martial arts and you fight to keep a straight face as it turns out you were also right about investing in shares and the stock market.

Gaming, however, is what you latch on to.

"Cute. I bet I could kick your ass."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yes."

And this is how you ended up at 4am on a school night, playing Tekken with your new classmate and getting your ass kicked.

"One more!" You screech down the mic, after the KO sign appears on screen, mumbling something about cheating and how if you can time this combo just right-

There's a huff of laughter coming through your tinny headphones and an amused "Fine."

.

.

Dark circles under your eyes grow. It's been a week of straight losses.

You blame the sleep deprivation on Gun Park, though really you have your own stubbornness to blame.

He never tends to say much during the gaming sessions apart from the odd expletive and you rant enough after each of your defeats for the both of you.

Sometimes this will earn you a chuckle and he will snidely add that you asked for this, you were the one who was supposed to kick his ass. This would piss you off enough for another game or three in the hopes of defeating him and getting to gloat.

Which unfortunately has not happened yet.

With a sigh, you hope your camera quality this morning is bad enough and pixelated enough that your poor sleep habits don't show.

You scan over your classmates, the few that have their camera turned on and find him.

Gun looks completely fine. He looks completely fine in what must be 4k and ugh, you scrunch your nose up in annoyance.

You keep an eye on him through the class. Observe how he's usually paying rapt attention, scribbling and typing up notes every now and then.

It's impressive how studious he is.

In comparison, you're daydreaming. Thinking about lunch, other combos or characters to play to counter his own when you catch on to the back end of a sentence as your teacher mentions ‘this’ is something to pay attention to as it will be on the pop quiz.

Huh? You blink a couple times. What is ‘this’? Unfortunately she swiftly moves onto another topic.

You type out a direct message to the only person you know.

You: I missed that, what did she just say?

Gun: You should have been paying attention.

You: Fuck you man!

You see his eyes dip to the bottom of the camera screen, briefly moving as he presumably reads your message.

He smirks.

That night he kicks your ass again.

Then as consolation, reveals what will be on the pop quiz.

.

.

If Gun looked like that in 4k, nothing could prepare you for how he looked in real life.

You're setting up your laptop and notepad in the classroom, the first actual in-person session, when someone takes a seat next to you.

Initially you feel a surge of irritation that they could have sat anywhere else and chose to sit next to you, then you look at the offender and-

Hold on.

You double, triple-take-

Is that?

It must be.

Shit.

It's fucking Gun Park.

You don't entirely regret your initial comments on his looks because this guy definitely does not look 20 but goddamn he looks-

He chooses that moment, when your jaw is on the floor, to turn to you and give you a nod of acknowledgement.

"Y/N."

"H-hi." You manage, and even to your ears it sounds like a simpering fool.

He must have thought so too if the quirk of his lips is anything to go by.

The cherry on top is that you expected this guy to smell like stale smoke, instead all you get is fresh laundry and something faintly dark and heady like leather and cedarwood.

Fuck.

Control yourself, a disapproving voice in your head says. Even that sounds vaguely like Gun.

It does nothing to stop your wandering gaze, peering at him in your periphery when you think he's not looking.

After you have taken your chance to not so discreetly run your eyes up and down his form, the only thing that makes you feel better is his hair. Because yeah he might be hot, but holy shit that must be a gallon of hair gel in there.

.

.

The other thing, as it turns out, that makes you feel a lot better is that he doodles.

It’s utterly charming.

Someone like Gun Park doesn't look like he doodles, but in between lines of his chicken scratch (seriously, who can even read that), there's little stick figures.

Maybe all the time you thought he was being studious he was just drawing-

Wait. You squint at the picture.

Is this guy for real?

"Are they fucking?" You whisper, using your pen to point at the page.

He doesn't answer straight away. There's a moment of surprise as he reacts like this is another secret of his he has unwittingly let you in on before his nostril flares and his eyes narrow and you grin in response.

Your grin grows when he grits out an answer. "No. Fighting."

He doesn't call you a dumbass but you can hear it loud and clear tacked on at the end.

"Whatever, pervert." You counter. You guess if you squint even harder then you suppose they could be fighting. Although the way one is lying on top of another is very suggestive. You don't hesitate to point that out to him.

Gun closes his eyes and counts to ten.

.

.

Even without a seating plan, one forms.

Places taken by chance on the first day becomes a regular arrangement.

You exchange a few words with your classmates, familiarise yourself somewhat with their names and faces. Pieces of their backstory, why they're here studying for a GED but take your spot next to Gun regardless.

No one really talks to him, you've heard them saying he's menacing and intimidating. Yet when your first encounter of him was mistaking him as someone about to hit mid life crisis, how intimidating can he really be.

Besides, he still doodles his lewd figures that he insists are not in any way shape or form comprising sexual positions. So no, you don't find him intimidating at all.

.

.

Gun, as you have come to know, is a man of few words. He is also unsurprisingly not great at literature.

What you don't yet know is he likes to say what he means and mean what he says. His patience only extends to The Art of War, so all the flowery prose and poetry only serves to irritate him.

If Gun glared at you the way he's currently glaring at the textbook, you think you may either burst into tears or burst into flames.

Luckily you do neither of those things but you do take pity on him. Leaning over, you ask him quietly if he needs help.

He doesn't respond but the pen he's clutching in his right hand snaps in half.

Alright then.

Half an hour later, when the class empties out you ask Gun to follow you to the library.

He hesitates, and you add "if you've got time" to give him an out. In the end he doesn't take it and trudges obediently after you.

You very quickly learn that he really doesn't like literature. You're explaining and working him through the analysis and also mildly offended at the bored look on his face.

"This is a waste of time," he interjects and there's a sullen undercurrent to his words.

"Just memorise the analysis then." Exasperation tinges your tone, "That's all you need to do to pass."

He arches a brow at your words.

"They're testing your memory. So just remember what our teacher says."

There's an angry air of resignation as Gun nods, and you slide your notes over for him to copy.

.

.

Not long after, you have your first minor evaluation on the literature material.

You notice during the test that while the vein in Gun’s temple is prominent and he’s clutching his (new) pen tighter, there’s barely any pause as he fills in the answers.

A few days later, the graded papers are handed back. There's a sigh of relief from Gun.

He gives you a smile, small and genuine, eyes crinkling at the corner.

"You owe me one," you tell him jokingly though he takes it to heart and gives you a stern nod.

.

.

Gun repays his debt, with a coffee.

He places the paper cup on the desk in front of you. Logo of the coffee house to the side but still visible. It's new, expensive, and there’s regular lines around the block.

Of course it would be from there.

The issue is, who repays a debt with an espresso. He didn’t even ask for your drink of choice!

"Thanks for this thimble of coffee," you remark as Gun sniffs in distaste at your comment, placing his own matching cup in front of him and saying something about how it's the best untainted way to drink it.

Of course he would also be a coffee snob.

You tell him you usually like it with a bit more cream and a lot more sugar and he mutters that you sound like Goo.

You think that's an insult.

"Well, at least Goo has good taste," you snipe back with a grin.

Gun closes his eyes and counts to ten.

.

.

You: Are you doodling or actually writing notes?

You: Cos on camera you look very studious but I’ve seen your notepad

Gun: None of your business

You: Still drawing your disgusting pornographic stick men then

Gun: They are not-

Gun: Whatever

.

.

You: Ok, maybe that espresso wasn’t terrible

Gun: I know

You: Who’s Goo anyway?

Gun: …

Gun: No-one

You: Suuuure

.

.

You: Tekken tonight?

Gun: Aren’t you tired of getting your ass kicked?

You: >:(

.

.

You: Do you wanna go over the new lit material in the library this week?

Gun: Ok

.

.

Gun: Thanks for your help

You: :) 

.

.

Gun: You’re tired. You should game less.

You: Spoken like a coward!

Gun: Dumbass

You: Hey!!

.

.

Gun: I’ll bring you an espresso tomorrow. You need it.

You: Does it have to be an espresso?

Gun: Yes

You: …Thanks

.

.

To anyone else, the figure standing in the doorway is just smoking. To you, it suspiciously looks like they’re waiting.

It's not a crime. Gun Park can wait for whatever or whoever he wants.

What really throws you off is his smoking. You've seen him casually take one single drag before throwing the whole cigarette away. Even to you, it seems like a waste.

However, this time he smokes one all the way to the filter before stubbing it out. Then does the same to a second, and third.

Strange, very strange.

You approach him. Taking gentle steps, in case he might get spooked and bolt which is really a ridiculous notion for someone like him. Nevertheless, you keep your footsteps light, yourself clearly in view and you wander over to him.

"Hey," you say, with a somewhat forced smile. He doesn't acknowledge your greeting apart from a brief nod.

"... Everything ok?"

It's a perfectly normal question to ask but a vastly bizarre one for Gun. He doesn't look like the type of person where people casually enquire about his well being.

He must have thought so too if the look he gives you is anything to go by.

In response, he stubs out his cigarette (his fourth!) then asks, stilted and stiffly, if you want to come back to his for a game of Tekken.

At least that's what you interpret as he seems to be crazy cryptic.

"Are you interested in Tekken?"

"...Yes." You wonder what on earth this question is because did you hallucinate all those games you played together?

"Then meet me. After class." 

"Where? Here?"

"No. At mine."

"Where's that?"

"..."

He gives you another look, as if you're the one trying to coax a secret out of him despite him offering.

Gun dips forward, murmurs quietly into your ear his address and some vague directions like it's highly confidential information.

You nod along, thinking what is with this guy. 

.

.

So firstly, what the fuck.

Then secondly, what the fuck.

Don't think you hadn't noticed the designer brands Gun wears. If they're fakes, they're very convincing fakes. But you're almost certain they have got to be counterfeit when he brought you over to a junkyard claiming this is where he lives.

You've seen films like this. Granted, it's less in a junkyard and more in the middle of nowhere in America where college kids meet their gruesome ends in fantastical ways.

You never thought this would happen to you. You have sorely miscalculated. 

Is this Gun Park (if that even is his real name) going to butcher you and leave your body on top of a pile of scrap metal in the corner?

Instead of a night of gaming where you’re the one KO-ing him, he’s actually the one that’s going to chase you around wearing a mask and wielding a knife or axe?

"You’re here. Come in," Gun says, opening his front door just as your inner monologue begins to truly spiral out of control and you're considering doing a runner.

"Eh?" You grunt like an idiot, not noticing when the shack appeared nor when you stepped onto his porch, or the side eyes Gun had been giving you.

He gives you another look, likely regretting inviting you at all, and leaves the door ajar for you to either enter or turn back and go home.

.

.

"This is... nice," you lie, through the skin of your teeth.

Gun sees cleanly through your white lie and exhales a huff of amusement.

It's sparse. Peeks of luxury here and there - the extensive PC gaming rig, the entertainment system and consoles, to name a few.

Apart from that, it's barely a home.

"Take a seat." He offers, and it sounds more like an order. Obediently you sit on his sofa, feeling very much a guest.

"You're not in danger," he says, bemused at how awkward you are in his domain, how tense you hold yourself.

'That's exactly what a killer would say,' you think and when you hear a low chuckle, you realise that you said it aloud.

"Don't worry," Gun reassures and it doesn’t really help before he strides off to somewhere in his house and leaves you sitting alone.

He returns back minutes later as you’re in the middle of admiring his entertainment set up and going through his vinyl collection (because obviously someone like Gun has vinyls) with a coffee for you that looks much more milky and to your taste than the usual ones he offers. 

“Thanks.” you take your drink and return back to your seat.

Taking the first sip, you finally manage to relax. Sinking into a sofa that is much more comfortable than at first glance and you take in your surroundings a bit more.

Sort of. You actually take in Gun Park more. 

He’s casual, in a way you have never seen or even considered. Dressed in a t-shirt and grey sweatpants, hair floppy and the only styling is done with his hands running through his hair now and then to keep it back.

Even during the online classes, he is usually dressed up in an open collared shirt.

If you thought he was hot before, it’s nothing compared to now. There’s an air of domesticity, the drink he made for you cradled in your hands, and the distinct feeling that not many people have had the luxury to see Gun in his natural habitat, so intimate and vulnerable.

You wonder if this is how he looks all those nights you’ve been gaming together.

You catch his eyes, having been caught checking him out and he raises his eyebrows at your blatant staring. 

Blood rushes to your cheeks as he chuckles into his own espresso and takes a sip.

.

.

"Holy shit, I won!"

You're familiar with the KO screen. What you're not familiar with is being on the side of victory. You're usually a hair trigger away from rage quitting, from throwing a tantrum down the mic.

Finally. All your hard work has paid off. Time spent thinking of combos, attacks and defences (which would have been better spent studying) is coming to fruition.

You peer over to Gun, expect the controller he is clutching to maybe have been crushed into pieces with his freakish strength. Expected nothing except for a vein throbbing on his temple.

What you do find is-

Gun looking at you, fondness in his eyes. He's taking in your grin, letting your gloating slide.

Doesn't do more than roll his eyes when you perform a victory dance of sorts around him.

And when you get in his face to tell him that you're the winner, you're the best-

(More words are on the tip of your tongue but your gaze drops to his lip, drawn to the small smile he wears.

It sinks in.

The patience he has, the attention he gives, the way he has opened his home to you.

From the very first meeting, the even-handed way he has dealt with your insults, entertained you to the early hours of the morning on Tekken.)

Gun reaches out, tugs your hand and pulls you into his lap and agrees.

"Yes. The best."

You think it's a lie, an embellishment.

But the way he holds you - tender and precious, and the way he leans forward to rest his forehead against yours - soft, like you might break - can't be anything else but the whole truth.

(Update! Part 2 here!)

[inlovewithgreta]

stephanie beatriz or rosa diaz with 20-something year old new coworker? all the other details are up in the air :)

Thank you anon for requesting this! Apologies for the long wait!! It was honestly super fun getting to know a new character, and I thank you for introducing me to her. Of course I instantly fell in love with her in the first episode.. Enjoy!! xoxo

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The Name Game — Rosa Diaz x Fem!Reader

Summary: Rosa finally reveals why she has treated you the way she has in an intimate moment you never saw coming.

Warnings: praise, very slight degradation (you blink and you'll miss it), jealousy, semi-public sex, cute pet names

Word Count: 2k

Taglist: @shslbunnylover

© Do not copy, repost, or modify any of my works.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Who the hell is this?" 

Those were the first words you heard as the Captain introduced you to your new coworkers, who all looked at you with smiling faces. Well, except for the woman who just asked who the hell you were.

"This is Detective Y/n. New member of our team," Your boss stated, looking over at the same dark-haired woman from before who had her arms crossed over her chest. "Y/n here will be taking over the empty desk next to yours, Diaz. Be nice."

"I'm always nice," she commented with a straight face.

The Captain sighed before turning his focus back to you. "Make yourself comfortable. Ask Rosa here if you have any questions." You nodded in response as the older man walked away, leaving you alone with the woman.

"Nice to meet you!" You smiled, with a hand held out for the woman to shake, but to your dismay, she ignored it and went to her desk. You followed behind her, and dropped your purse on your new desk, but as soon as you went to open your mouth again, you were cut off.

"A few ground rules," she said. "No obnoxious noises, no smelly foods—"

"Why would I even—"

"No interrupting me," she continued. "And most importantly, no shaving at your desk."

"Why would I shave—"

"Follow these rules. No if's and's, or but's."

And that's how it was with her. It took you weeks before you decided to ignore her altogether. Her sharp words always cut your heart into a million pieces.

You didn't know why she was that way around you. Sure, she was blunt with everyone else but with you it was different. Almost cruel. 

But since you grew closer to Amy, who gave you the courage to not let Rosa's words get to you, and just do what you do best. Which was your job. You only talked to Rosa if you were paired together, and 'talk' was more of an understatement. Few words were ever spoken, and the ravenette was quick to catch on to how quiet you quickly became around her.

At first, she thought nothing of it, but as time went on and your friendship with Amy blossomed, it was obvious just how outgoing you were with her and the rest of the team compared to Rosa herself.

Of course everyone else noticed the tension between you two, and for detectives, it wasn't that hard for them to figure out why. The way you would dare sneak a glance in Rosa's direction when she wasn't looking, and the way Rosa would do the exact same thing with you, except in her case, her eyes would linger.

It wasn't until the Captain had the two of you stay late one night to fill out an over abundance of paperwork, that the two of you actually spent time together, alone.

"I need your signature to wrap up this burglary file, Diaz." You say as you attempt to hand the woman your file.

"Fine," she responds before snatching the file from your grip.

You let out a small sigh as you wait, not allowing her short response to get to you. Including the fact that she didn't even look at you.

"There. Done." She slid the folder back to you before she leaned back comfortably in her chair.

"What did I ever do to you?" you ask.

That question. The one question that has played over and over again in your head since that first day you walked into the precinct and met Rosa who has not once smiled in your direction or said one nice thing to you.

"What are you talking about?" She asked back, fiddling with a pen on her desk.

"What did I ever do to you for you to hate me so much, Diaz?" you repeat yourself.

The ravenette stayed silent, only keeping her focus on the pen spinning in her hand, in which you decided to take from her and slam on her desk. Her nose flared at your action, emotions that she had been holding inside for so long were now bubbling in her chest when you positioned yourself in front of her.

You had decided to stand between her sitting figure and her desk, not realizing you had trapped yourself all because you wanted to tear her attention away from her desk to answer your question.

Rosa scoffed, before rising from her seat and towering over you. She was close. Unimaginably close. The musky scent of her perfume completely takes over your sense of smell.

"Rosa." She peered down at you.

"What?" Your eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"The name's Rosa, for one. And two..." she let out a heavy sigh. "I don't hate you." 

"Bullshit." 

Your words caught Rosa by surprise. You were usually well-mannered, and the ravenette had not once heard you swear in the time you had been there, causing her to lift a surprised brow.

She liked it. She was seeing a whole new side of you and now, she wanted to see more.

"I admire you." She finally admitted, not only to you, but to herself, before placing both hands on the desk beside you, completely trapping you, and keeping you from fleeing.

"This isn't funny, Diaz..." 

"Do I look like I'm joking?" She tilted her head, her dark eyes looking you up and down with a mysterious gleam.

"I don't know—" You went to look away, but a hand flew to your chin, forcing your gaze to fixate on her, and her only as she towered over you. 

"Well I'm not joking." She said, "I admire you. I've admired you since you cracked your first case here. It was the fastest I think I've ever seen someone finish a case." 

You could swear you saw a smile tug at the corner of her lips, but it was probably just your brain messing with you. Rosa smiling? It was unheard of around you. You had never seen her smile before. Not once. Was she... proud? There was no way.

"It was remarkable. You are remarkable... and I've been jealous. Jealous of how good you are at your job. Jealous of how quickly everyone here fell in love with you." Your lips fell open at her confession. Rosa being jealous? Of you?

Her hand slid from the wood to your hip that was leaning against the desk, to hold you still. She didn't want you fleeing, not before she got to say what she had to say to you.

"How quickly Amy fell in love with you..."

"Amy? What does Amy have to do—"

At the mention of Amy, her hand fell from your chin to your neck, that neck that fit perfectly into her hand as she gave it a gentle squeeze, forcing an audible moan to escape from you.

"She loves you, y/n. Do you love her?" Her eyes flicked from yours, to your parted lips, and back up to your eyes, as if challenging you.

"Don't tell me you're jealous." You toyed, all the pieces finally coming together.

"And if I am?" She asked, sliding her knee confidently between your legs that earned a sharp gasp from you.

"Then I say you have some serious making up to do...Rosa." 

Her name. You had finally said her name, and it fueled her. Her name sounded beautifully coming from you. "Say it again," She licked her bottom lip. 

"And if I don't?" You dared to challenge her back, to which Rosa immediately caught onto, and refused to let you dominate the situation. And she knew the perfect solution.

"Then I'll make you say it."

"How?" Your curiosity got the best of you.

You let out a shaky breath when her knee suddenly pressed against your clothed center that had your hips unintentionally buck from the contact.

"Let me show you," her words were more of an ask than a demand, and with the subtle nod of your head to allow her to keep going, Rosa planned to do exactly what she said she would. 

Show you. Show you how she planned to get you to say her name again.

Rosa's lips hovered over your own, her pupils dilating as the hand around your neck slid down to the collar of your shirt before slowly picking away at the buttons. She skillfully popped each one open, revealing your smooth skin underneath with a lace bra covering your chest.

Your heart-rate wasn't the only thing that picked up. Rosa could feel your breathing grow faster, both from anxiety and excitement as she successfully removed the last button and untucked the blouse from your jeans.

"Hm, it's just too easy. Already this worked up over some light touching?" she smirked, before quickly slipping out of her leather jacket to reveal her toned arms.

"You think I'm easy, Diaz?" you toyed, a bit of confidence suddenly washing over you.

"Just look at you. You're weak. I bet I can have you screaming my name in just two minutes." She chuckled lowly before slipping a hand into the waistband of your jeans and into your underwear to play with your pussy.

"Mm, fuck you—" you failed at hiding the plethora of moans that forced themselves out of you when she circled your clit.

"Oh, princesa... that's what I'm about to do to you."

The lips that hovered over yours got impossibly closer, her hot breath fanned you, and you wanted nothing more than for her to close the thin space. But to your dismay, she only chuckles again, and brings her lips to the bottom of your chin, then your throat, then to the side of your neck where she bit and sucked on the soft spot below your ear.

"I don't like emotions," she admitted after leaving a light mark on your neck. She came face to face with you again, "I don't know how to deal with them so I acted out. Forgive me?" 

You searched her eyes for any kind of untruthfulness, but didn't find any. And when you gave her a small 'yes', butterflies erupted in your stomach when her lips finally met with yours in a needy kiss.

Moans spewed from your lips and into her mouth as her fingers simultaneously put pressure against your clit and rubbed generous circles. Folders fell from her desk and onto the floor as you repositioned your hands on her desk, to keep you from falling over and breaking her computer.

"What's my name?" She whispered against your lips.

"Detective Diaz," you whined when she pinched your bundle of nerves at the wrong name.

It was hard at first not to say her first name, but you couldn't let her win that easily. You couldn't. One thing she was going to learn about you was how bratty and stubborn you were. You would never go down without a fight.

She tutted and bit your lower lip, while also allowing your hand to grip at the collar of her shirt. Your tongues tangled together, and moans grew a pitch higher as you neared your orgasm.

"No- so close! Don't stop!" You whined when her fingers suddenly left your clit. "Why'd you stop?!"

"You haven't said it, princesa. Why would I reward you?" She smirked devilishly.

"Fuck— fuck you..." She went to remove her hand fully at your words but you grabbed her wrist tightly before she could move away. "Wait! Fine. Rosa...please. Please finish what you started and I'll say your name as many times as you want me to. Just please don't stop, Rosa," you begged.

"Good girl," she cooed, and you visibly blushed at the pet name. "Ooh, you like being called that, don't you?" The second she dove back in your panties, a jolt of electricity ran up your spine, as you could feel your orgasm coming back around.

"Yes, I— I love it." You let your head lull back.

"Then be a good girl and come for me. Right here. Right now."

"Rosa..." you mewled, just before words caught in your throat as you came with shaky legs. The ravenette circled your clit skillfully, allowing you to ride your pleasurable high for as long as you could.

"See, that wasn't so hard, now was it, princesa?" she teased as she slowed her ministrations before stopping completely.

"It wasn't, I just wanted to play with you."

"Oh you little—" you cut her off with a heated kiss, finally wrapping your arms around her leather-covered body. You enjoyed the closeness with her, it was the thing you were chasing after since the beginning. 

And you couldn't wait to slowly tear down her emotionally built-up walls to see the vulnerable human being waiting for you beneath the surface.

But first, you had to take Rosa out on a date.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

general masterlist | taglist

[dansformations]

"Man of the future"

Alan was 20 years old gay guy that turned his passion for video games into a career as a streamer. Every night, he sat in front of his computer, illuminated by the lights of his setup, and connected to play with his thousands of followers enchanted by the fact of having a popular gay and handsome streamer. That night, however, something different happened.

While chatting with his audience and viewing the comments in the chat, he noticed a message that stood out among the others.

@ yourbroski: "Try this game, 'Man of the Future'," said a donation message with a link.

@ yourbroski: "Its my game, i create It"

- You Did!? No way - Alan replied

He clicked the link, opening the Game just for being nice, the title didnt sounded like something that the girly Alan would enjoy.

Within seconds after the click, Alan found himself downloading a game he had never heard of. The title, "Man of the Future," glowed on the screen.

The game was a complicated obstacle course and shooter that quickly engrossed Alan into the digital word.

- Hey, this is indeed fun

But the fun ended quickly. When he died in the game for the first time - Which was pretty fast -, a screen appeared with the saying, "C'mon Bro, you can do better" along with an strange music, almost hipnotazing music.

- Whoa, did you guys see that? - Alan said, leaning back in his chair. - This game is savage! 'C'mon Bro, you can do better'? Challenge accepted! - he answered.

However, the second attempt didn’t go any better. When Alan died again, the message changed to, "Don’t be a noob, Bro."

Alan face reddened with frustration. "Okay, Bro," he muttered under his breath.

- No way am I letting this game call me a noob. Let's do this! - He turned to the chat, determination blazing in his eyes. -You guys with me? This game’s going down, Bros!

Took a sip of His... beer? He didnt remenber being drinking beer, he didnt even remenber enjoying beer but he was so centred on beating that game that kinda ignored It.

- OOOOOUUURRRP - he belched - dang, sorry bros - he said a bit ashamed... Just a bit. He was too centred to being ashamed.

Meanwhile the coments were going crazy.

"Whats happening With all those 'Bro'? Thats off character"

"@ yourbroski: Nothing to be ashamed! Better out than inside my Bro!"

"Are we sure this Is Alan? Lol"

He keep playing moving his fingers as fast as he could, he was doing Better and when he almost reached the wining flag - a flag decorated only With White and black lines - he got killed by another player.

- Son of a bitch! - he yelled - that motherfucker killed me at the very last BRARRRRP - belched - moment!

"Dont be a pussy" The screen said this time, as knowing he was whining.

- No way this game just called me a "pussy"! - he said ofended - Im not, and in gonna show them all - he said while opening his legs in the chair in a more relaxed position, tooking a moment to scracht his balls in front everybody before starting the new round.

In that position everybody could apreciate some strong arms and legs that people didnt knew Alan had abd Alan didnt remenber to have worked on.

"Sexy" a guy comented.

He was gay, but for some reason reading that from a guy, maked him feel angry.

- Dont be a weirdo, dude - he said

He was gay, right..?

Then started playing again, not releasing every time his character died, a part of His persona did too.

Yelling, coursing, chugging beer and burping, acting with a cocky attitude more and more, every round, less nice, less gay, less him, until...

- BROS, I-OARRRRRP -He couldnt contain a burp - I DID IT!

His character was holding that black and White flag.

"Now youre a real alpha" the tv screen said With that strange music still.

"Now youre the Man of the future"

And with that, the remains of Alan were erased, he didnt remenber being a girly gay guy anymore, he always had been an alpha, a straight, gassy, jock that loved playing videogames and humillating the noobs and "queerdos" on the games.

Alan started doing a "celebration dance" that basically was doing hip moviments to show his bulge. Like he were fucking someone.

- This Is for you, @broski - Alan put His microphone close to his ass and ripped a big, loud, smelly fart on It - i beated you - he said proud. Between laughs he added - Nah, GG bro, youre talented, definetly gonna share It with the bros.

"Whats happening with Him?!' someone comented

"@ yourbroski: That flag send the fag away"

Alan didnt even read those coments, he was busy trying to fan away the fart with his hands.

That Night the strange transformartion of the gay gamer Alan was trending everywhere, but before His friend Group had read something, they receive link to a Game from Alan.

"Alan: Best game of the month broskis"

The group of friends made up of gay guys and nice straight guys thought Alan's writing was odd, but without knowing the situation they gave more atention to the link, opening it, ready to play a life-changing game, "The man of the future."

(This is just fetish writing)

[goddessofmischief]

Hey, thanks for tagging :) I am 34, so the "old men" are not so old to me and quite frankly, watching Shanks, Buggy and Mihawk in OPLA is feeling like coming home to old friends back from 20 years ago. (I was crushing on Shanks and Buggy so much...😅) So I thought, maybe you could write something where fem!reader already knows them and has a soft spot for each of them, since back when they were flirting and making fun when they were young. Now as adults they meet again and the chemistry is still there.

I remember one of my stories from back then. I was jealous of mermaids, because all the pirates got stupid once they're around, and a drunk Shanks said: "nah, you wouldn't like to be one; You'd be missing slamming doors and Buggy would drown on daily basis just to say hi-." Both Buggy and Reader: "shut up! So not true!". Just like young stupids are... :)

Anyways, thanks for your writing and I can't wait to read more about the "get-shit-done"-squad Mihawk, Shanks and Buggy

     — MERMAIDS (YOUNG SHANKS X READER, YOUNG BUGGY X READER)

A/N: Hope this is alright: since your formal request was so in line with what the theme of the series will be anyway, I used the excerpt of your line as basis for this particular fic. All credit of course goes to you for coming up with the lines and the idea. On a personal note, I just want to say how much I respect that you were an OG fic writer and still have interest in and love for these characters. Welcome home.

...

You would have believed that you had been at sea for years, until Buggy reminded you that it had only been weeks.

Granted, this is how he reminded you:

"It's been wee-eks," Buggy whined, stretching out on his hammock. Shanks was collapsed against the wall, fingers knotted together, eyes not really focused on any particular place.

And you? You were lying on the floor, gazing up at the wooden ceiling, wondering if it would be a good idea to leave the cabin and see the stars.

Being on the ship for weeks was highly irregular for your crew. Great captain he was, Roger knew he could only keep this ragtag group sane if they stepped onto shore and ate an orange every once in awhile. This concern was triply inflated by the fact that he had three young adults onboard who became very antsy if they had to stay in one place for too long. Your patience certainly rivaled Buggy's or even Shanks', but even you had your limit, and you had met it long ago.

The ship would have planned to make port nearly a week before, but the World Government was closer to finding you than ever. It was simply too dangerous.

You soon learned how your friends reacted to a situation such as this. Shanks had retreated mostly into silence, with exception of the odd joke or attempt at conversation, and Buggy had decided he blamed you both somehow for this situation and that any words exchanged with either of you would only be of the complaining nature.

"I know, Bugs," said Shanks, and you were surprised to hear him answer Buggy's complaint. You exchanged glances with him, then turned back to Buggy.

"Let's go outside, yeah?" you suggested. "Do something fun."

"Everyone's outside," Buggy complained. "They've been yelling over something for hours."

"And you didn't think that was important to mention, Bugs?" Shanks asked, irritably. Buggy shrugged.

...

The thing that had sparked such interest in the crew was simply that, as your ship had sailed very far into the deepest waters, much farther than usual, you had sailed into a home of mermaids. Extremely dangerous, and the crew knew it.

It did not negate their interest whatsoever, though.

Pirates get stupid when mermaids are around. It is a core trait of pirates and no less than a sacred tenet of piracy itself. More than a few decent men have been seduced to the sea by the very concept of mermaids, and to that end, the idea of finding one.

Shanks and Buggy were no exception.

You had never really taken the care to notice how they behaved with girls. Their flirting was of no interest to you, and so you didn't bother to surveil it. But it came to your attention now that they had terribly different styles: namely, that Buggy was mostly content to sit and watch from the edge of the deck, and Shanks was more interested in yelling, waving, and nearly falling off the boat.

Granted, by this time, alcohol had become involved, and all bets were off.

Despite all the excitement, the first in weeks, Shanks had begun to notice how quiet you'd become. He approached you, somewhat cautiously, hoping you wouldn't react with a retort or a threat.

"You okay?"

You nodded, staring at the drink you held.

"You sure?"

You shrugged, whispering something under your breath that Shanks struggled to hear.

"What's that?"

You spoke again, slightly more than a whisper, but Shanks heard it all the same.

"...I wish I was a mermaid."

"You wish you were a mermaid?" He repeated loudly, almost outraged. You shushed him, and he just laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just... nah, you wouldn't like to be one. You'd be missing... slamming doors, and Buggy would drown himself on a daily basis just to say hi-"

"Shut up!" you giggled. "So not true!"

"And then, of course, there'd be all the pirates. I wouldn't like sharing you with them."

"I'm a pirate. You're a pirate."

"I'm a different sort of pirate. And you're barely a pirate at all."

You shrank back, inexplicably hurt by Shanks' drunken offhand insult.

"I'm as much of a pirate as you."

"Of course you are. I didn't mean that. Not like that. I mean, you're just... you're very careful, you're much too good for us. You're not messy or mean like the rest of us are."

"What do you think I am, then?"

"A princess," he blurted out, and you tried not to laugh. "I've always thought so."

"Always?"

"Mhm. The whole time."

You studied Shanks' face, seeing him in a new light that you'd never glimpsed anyone in before. Had he always been this cute, or charming, or kind?

Well, it didn't matter if he always had been, because he was now, and before you had given much thought to it at all you were pushing his straw hat back and he was meeting your lips in a kiss, your first, his first.

"You're a terribly nice pirate," you mumbled.

"You're a terribly beautiful princess," he replied.

You both parted awkwardly, staring at each other with confused half-smiles and resigning to focusing your attentions back on the ocean. For now, it was merely a strange evening, a shooting star, but later on, you would remember that night as the precise moment you began to love Red-Haired Shanks.

And Buggy, watching from across the ship, would remember that night as the second time a deep knot of resentment grew in his chest, one that would only become larger with time. The first time had been as a child, when Shanks had done something exceptionally well where Buggy had failed, and Roger placed his famous straw hat onto his head.

The second time was tonight, because of you.

taglist: @sawendel @twinklesnake

[luxaryllis]

Can I request the dorm leaders and Jamil with a little sibling reader who’s like Elementary school young so like a 1st grader? It was their first day of “Big kid school!” (The reader adorably labeled it) and she was so excited to go practically bouncing off the walls and their older sibling was aware it would be their first day but obviously couldn’t be there because they have their own school to be at. Later that day wailing can be heard in the halls and when said students go to check it out they find outside the front of the school gates Crewel holding a sobbing, hysterical child who he’s trying to console who looks all scraped up or covered in dirt hair a mess and they realize it’s the reader and it turns out they ran all the way from their elementary school to NRC to see their big brother instead of going home because it turns out they had a terrible first day of school crying about how some kids were mean and they got pushed around shoved into a dirty puddle stuff like that? Basically made fun of and teased and their reactions to the whole thing? Like who’s drop kicking children? Who’s having the whole school board shut down? Who’s lowkey about to commit murder? Who’s about to burn the building down? and them just coddling the child the rest of the day. This was a long ask but I couldn’t get this out of my mind I’m sorry! Sjfnwnicsnjfkhnsrh I thought it would be precious seeing them soft for a little child sibling😭

First Day Gone Terribly Wrong: Part 1

Note: This was rly cute and gave me a good brainrot, so here you go!

Also, I'm gonna be making the younger sibling gender neutral since you didn't exactly specify what gender you wanted.

Just saying, the younger sibling reader in this is different from the ones on my other younger sibling reader fics. Unless you wanna give those cute and traumatized kids some fluff and comfort, you're free to interpret this sibling as something else entirely or the same.

Characters included: Riddle Rosehearts, Leona Kingscholar, Azul Ashengrotto

To be included (in part 2, possibly a part 3): Kalim Al-Asim, Jamil Viper, Vil Schoenheit, Idia Shroud (ft. Ortho Shroud), Malleus Draconia

Reader/the younger sibling is referred to with they/them and as [Name]. And considering the reader is in first grade, I'm assuming that they're around 5 or 6 years old, but I'll be saying 5 year old since that the age most people start grade one, at least where I'm from/from what I know.

Also, because of the fact that Leona is canonically 20 and Falena has a son (who, upon speculation, is around 5), I'll just make the reader Cheka's sibling (for plot reasons, I'll just say that reader is younger than Cheka by just a year or smthg-). Thus, this makes Leona the uncle of [Name] instead of [Name]'s older brother.

Also, the younger sibling may be described in some parts as having similar features as their respective elder brother/s. Like Idia's younger sibling would have blue fire hair like him, Leona's sibling would be a lion beastman, Malleus's sibling has horns, those stuff.

Oh! And Crewel calls [Name] puppy, pup, and other variations because... it's Crewel. And please ignore the semi-obvious plotholes cuz the characters have already went through their respective overblots by the time this whole thing happens-

I'll start trying to upload more works now too!! There's been so much stuff sitting on my inbox, I'm so sorry for making everyone wait.

Word count (including intro): 2864 words

Warning/s: Bullies, Possible OOC, Dorm Leaders + Jamil being protective of their cute sibling (or in Leona's case, nibling), The child cries a lot (IT'S A CHILD!!!), A couple of my personal headcanons would be thrown in sometimes, Not proofread, I accidentally mix up between 2nd and 3rd person I'm so sorry, Tell me if I missed anything

Full fic under the cut!

Intro:

As [Name] was getting ready for their first day of school, they were practically buzzing with excitement.

They've ranted and rambled about their excitement to their sibling/s, refusing to even stand still (much to the dismay of some) as they were given their bag and snacks.

Eventually, it was time for [Name]'s older brother/s/uncle to leave for Night Raven College. Since the child's school was also on Sage Island, they were entrusted in their older brother/uncle's care to head to the island for school.

On the way there, [Name]'s older brother/s/uncle gaze at the lively 5 year old with a fond smile, watching the child chatter about how excited they were for their first day of "big kid school".

Unbeknownst to them, however, there would be a sinister force awaiting the cute 5-year old. Bullies. The worst kind of bullies that left you running away to your big brother/uncle's school for comfort.

Although, unfortunately for the bullies, [Name] has quite the protective family backing them up.

Riddle Rosehearts:

Riddle's childhood has always been rough and strict, and the same could be said for his younger sibling, [Name]. When his mother had gotten pregnant with you, Riddle was silently and internally fearing for what would become of you. He knew what impact his mother's rules had on a person and he was worried that you learn to be stricter on yourself because of your mother.

Because of that, throughout your childhood, he teaches you to obey your mother, but is a lot softer on you. He wouldn't want you to topple over the sheer amount of pressure he went through. He grew to be protective over you, but he still prioritized his mother's orders over anything else.

After his overblot, however, he tried subtly showing you that it was alright to break some rules if it was harmless. He treated you over at the Clover family bakery to let you have some tarts. And this time, his mother had trusted you in Riddle's care, believing that he wouldn't dare break a rule. Your mother was wrong, but the Rosehearts siblings could care less about it as they were as happy as can be. In the end, both of you weren't caught and you ended up being close friends with Trey and his younger siblings.

When Riddle finally had to see you off at your own school, he was constantly worrying about you. From the moment he dropped you off and you left his sight, terrible situations started sprouting in his head.

He speaks his worries to his trusty vice, Trey, who reassures him that bad things are unlikely to happen. As an attempt to help Riddle, Trey tells him stories about how Trey's own younger siblings had great first days of school. While it did help a lot, he can't help but still be concerned for you in the back of his mind.

However, during lunch break, as the students were eating lunch, crying was suddenly heard nearby. The crying disturbed atleast half the student body, for a variety of reasons, but what bothered Riddle was the fact that he could practically hear you.

At first, he thinks that it's just him being paranoid, but he still decides to check it out. There, he sees Professor Crewel holding his younger sibling, who was crying. His younger sibling, [Name] Rosehearts, was covered in mud and had some traces of the strawberry tart (that Trey made) Riddle had sneaked in the child's lunch on their clothes. Not to mention how messy their hair was and the scratches on their arms and face. The sight made his blood boil.

Who dared to make his sibling cry? How dare they cause tears to fall from their eyes?

Riddle's face turns red, and Cater and Trey (along with any nearby Heartslabyul student) felt as if they were suddenly brought back into Riddle's tyrant phase. The redhead practically stomps over to Crewel and [Name], as his two seniors follow, trying to calm him down.

When Riddle finally reaches his dear sibling, he forces himself to outwardly calm down, and approaches the teacher.

"Professor Crewel, this is my younger sibling. May I know what the situation is?" the dorm leader asks. The dual-haired professor, having seen Rosehearts' little outburst, raised a brow. But the man shrugged off the sight and retold what he knew.

Apparently, Crewel found [Name] running to the school, all dirtied up while crying. The child had been calling out for "Brother Riddle", saying that today was "the worst day ever" through sobs. It was a miracle that Crewel even understood what the little puppy was talking about.

Riddle, who had calmed down a lot better by then, gently took the crying kid in his arms, holding them up. [Name] looks at the new person (who they had just noticed) and their face lights up when they see their elder brother. "Brother Riddle!!", [Name] cries out, wrapping their small arms around Riddle's torso, sobbing even louder.

Riddle immediately comforts his younger sibling, patting them on the back with one hand and quickly moves to go to Heartslabyul to get some privacy. He silently thanks his professor and makes a beeline straight to the Hall of Mirrors, glaring at anyone in his way.

As he finally reaches the comfort of his room, Riddle set you down gently on his bed. By then, both had calmed down, and Riddle kneels on one leg to look at his sibling eye-to-eye. He then asks the child to explain what happened.

When you explained to him what happened with their "bullies", who had made fun of you and pushed you to the ground, along with your strawberry tart after you had refused to share their lunch and dessert with the other kids. This enraged Riddle once more, but he hid it better.

You tried apologizing to Riddle for wasting the food and bothering him, but he only shushed them and gently patted your head, reassuring them that it was okay. Afterwards, he gets them all cleaned up and dressed them in the extra clothes your mother had packed. He then allowed [Name] to take a nap while he goes back to class.

Meanwhile, as the younger Rosehearts slept peacefully, Riddle decided to call up the school that held such disrespectful bullies. When the phone is picked up, he requests to speak to the principal or someone in charge of the first grade students.

When he gets to speak to the person, he starts sharing the same story [Name] told to him and requests that something would be done about the ill-mannered students who acted in pettiness over a child refusing to share their only food to the others. As much as this sounded like a 'karen moment', as the Ramshackle prefect would call it, Riddle spoke with courteousness and acted as if he were in an official debate.

The redhead's confidence and sense of authority, along with the obvious moral side of the topic, won over the other person and the bullies' parents were spoken to, while the bullies were given a severe warning.

Eventually, Riddle requests to his mother and the Headmage that his sibling, [Name] Rosehearts, would be allowed to stay in Night Raven College with Riddle to allow easy transportation between "home" and their school. And also so that Riddle can keep a close eye on his dear sibling, whom he would always protect.

Leona Kingscholar:

If anyone would ask Leona, he'd say that he wouldn't give a single care in the world when it came to his nephew & nibling. But the thing is, that's not exactly true. While he really does wish the children would stop clinging to him and stop causing trouble everywhere, there's still that small piece in Leona that helped raise these cubs.

The king and queen of the Afterglow Savanna were very busy people after all. And Leona would often be dragged into playing cub-sitter while his older brother and sister-in-law would be too busy. He didn't do any work, as he just supervised the hired nannies to make sure nothing bad would happen to the children.

Most of all, he can't help but somewhat see himself in the younger of his niblings, [Name]. While their existence obviously made Leona third in line for the throne (much to his utter dismay), he saw traces of how the servants would treat him in the way the young cub was treated. At first, Leona could care less. It wasn't his business after all. But upon hearing you cry in one of his original hiding spots (that you must have found on your own), his heart squeezed in his chest and he was brought back to his own childhood, when he himself was crying as no one wanted to play with him or even pay the slightest bit of positive attention to him.

This solidified the idea in his head that if this sort of behavior was still found within Falena's reign as king, Falena wasn't a good king nor a good father after all. Because of that, Leona somewhat took it upon himself to teach the young cub what they need to know. He taught them to be tougher, to be stronger, to not let anyone see weakness. He taught you what he had taught himself as a young child.

It was only after his overblot that Leona realized that you didn't need to be strong, you needed someone else to be strong enough to hold them and comfort them. So he started to teach the young cub to express themselves more, because he now knows that bottling it up won't help at all. He starts teaching them and showing them things he wished he could have done when he was their age.

When it was time for [Name]'s first day in first grade, Leona is left thinking why the heck his brother thought it was a good idea to send them off far from their home land? While the Kingscholar royal family had made arrangements that the young cub would stay with Leona in NRC, Leona can't help but think that this was the kingdom's way of saying that he and [Name] weren't welcome there. After all, there are plenty of schools in the Afterglow Savanna as well, which is where Cheka studies.

Regardless, when he drops his nibling off at their school, he watches over them as they are guided over to their class by a teacher nearby. On seeing that you were safely in your room, he turns and leaves to his school, yawning and muttering to himself.

In contrast to Riddle, Leona barely worries at all. After all, the school knows that they are housing someone of high royal status there, so he doesn't see why anyone would want to mess with his nibling.

So imagine his surprise, disappointment, and annoyance when he realizes that there are in fact kids that had the balls to bully the youngest child of the king of the Afterglow Savannah.

Leona finds out when Ruggie wakes him up from his afternoon nap in the Botanical Garden. The hyena was holding the nibling, who was currently eating their favorite food. The lion cub had tear streaks on their face, some tears still falling, but was mostly calm as they nibbled their food.

Leona saw your scraped knees, scratched arms, and bruised (and slightly bleeding) tail and promptly sat up, demanding to know what happened. Ruggie told him that you had ran to the NRC campus after a couple kids made fun of your lion ears and stepped on your tail, pushing you around.

Hearing all of that made him give out a low growl, tempted to just have those brats sent to the kingdom's prison or even punished for hurting his nibling. He calms himself down, though, when he notices your ears fall down in a sad motion and your tail twitching in pain.

He sighs and orders Ruggie to get a first aid kit and treat your wounds as he has you lay down next to him. While Ruggie left to get the first-aid, Leona silently caresses your ears and hurt tail.

"I'll tell Falena about this. Your parents won't be pleased, but I can promise you that we'll do something about those brats that did this to you," Leona mutters to you as he gently hums a tune to get you to sleep.

The next day, the bullies promptly apologize to you and had to clean the windows and tables after school as a punishment. Though if Leona had any say in the punishment, the bullies would be guaranteed to be in much bigger trouble.

Leona also paid closer attention to you, and even decided to teach you chess, saying that if anyone makes you feel bad about yourself, you should challenge them in chess, because Leona knows that you would win every time.

Azul Ashengrotto:

Azul, having been a victim of bullying, himself, Azul wanted nothing but the best for you. This meant that he would always make himself appear as a good role model for you, and that he would always make sure that you would be on top of everything.

All this, so that you wouldn't have to go through the same hurtful words he did. He helped you grow out of your shell so you would become much more confident than he was, and taught you just about everything he knows and wants to pass down onto you.

He taught you important techniques in socializing, studying, singing, and even making good first impressions. He was utterly determined on making sure that you wouldn't end up as the crybaby octopus he used to be. He didn't want you to end up hurt from the brutality of the world around you.

He has no idea what came over his parents when they told him that they wanted you, [Name] Ashengrotto, to start first grade in THE SURFACE!! When his parents suggested this, he argued that it was a terrible transition from merfolk to human, especially since [Name] has no idea how to walk on only two legs.

In the end, Azul hesitantly agrees with his parents and gives you some human form potions beforehand so that you can practice walking as a human. He takes a lot of care in making sure that you can make the perfect first impression in school so that you won't get bullied.

As Azul drops you off at school, he reminds you of what you have to do and tells you to always stay safe. He's quite sentimental in seeing you off and worries incessantly the whole day about you.

While he's actually kind of confident that nothing could possibly happen to you, there's still that nagging feeling in the back of his head that says that his efforts wouldn't be enough and that you'd leave him after possibly getting humiliated because of him. Floyd complains that Azul is starting to act like an octopus mother with how he's been acting.

Azul tries reassuring himself despite his worries, but unfortunately for him, one of his biggest nightmares became true. He found out when a knock came on his office door while the Mostro Lounge was dealing with the after-school rush. Opening the door, he's surprised to see his younger sibling there, with unshed tears in their eyes, messy hair, and a bump on their forehead that was sure to bruise.

Azul quickly lets his younger sibling in, fussing about them as he closes the door behind him. He asks you what had happened, though he somewhat knew what had likely gone on with your day.

Apparently, some of the kids there thought that you were an attention-seeker because you kept participating in class and answering the teachers' questions. So they decided that it'd be a good idea to take one of your hard-cover books and hit it on your forehead multiple times while you were getting ready to be dismissed from class.

They had called you a bunch of mean names like "know-it-all", "attention-seeker", "nerd", telling you to "go back under the water, where you came from" and things like that.

Hearing all that, Azul's head suddenly flashed back to when he was younger, and people had bullied him for what may as well be the opposite reasons. People called him "dumb", "a crybaby", and yet people bullied you just because you were smarter.

The thought made him feel guilty for you and kind of angry at himself for letting this happen to you. He then proceeds to gently wipe your tears, which started to fall while you were telling him what happened, and conjures an ice pack for your forehead.

Azul proceeds to spend the rest of the day practically coddling and doting on you, trying to "make up for his mistake".

He also calls up your school, telling them of what happened and started suggesting ways on how the school should punish the bullies. Regardless of what the school ends up doing with the bullies, Azul and the Tweels still make it their personal mission to make the bullies' lives hell for children (be it by scaring them away, or other things).

END!!!!

[deadboydetectives-confessions]

Responding to the previous Anon defending TCK: ALRIGHT STRAP IN THIS IS GONNA BE LONG.

Quick disclaimer, I actually very much like TCK as a character. Morally grey characters are so much fun to read and write about, and he's a great and interesting character. Doesn't mean I like when people defend all his actions though, lol.

"[The Cat King] is a trickster. He is eye for an eye. He’s all about equality. Punishment fitting the crime." While yes, TCK is a trickster and didn't necessarily abide by human laws/morals, he is absolutely not about equality or punishment fitting the crime. Punishment fitting the crime would have been slapping the bracelet on Edwin's wrist and sending him off to count cats. But no; his first punishment (emphasis on PUNISHMENT) is literally propositioning Edwin for sex. Even though he changes the punishment when Edwin is visibly uncomfortable, that doesn't change the fact that he's essentially trying to pressure Edwin into having sex with him. As far as Edwin is aware, TCK isn't going to offer another way out. As far as Edwin is aware, the only way to get the bracelet off is to have sex with TCK, and if he hadn't been noticeably uncomfortable, TCK would've gone through with it. Edwin could not fully consent to that situation regardless. He's pretty much being blackmailed into it. It's his freedom for sex.

"Also, if he hadn’t trapped Edwin, Niko would’ve died. (I will say that I condone his behavior in episode 2. I am perceiving his reaction to Edwin’s startled response, as rejection and it wounded his pride a bit.)" This point is irrelevant. He had no clue Niko would've died if he hadn't trapped Edwin; this isn't at all related to his moral standing or anything. It's just coincidence. Also included that last bit about you condoning his behavior because yay that's good at least.

"And I don’t know why people keep calling TCK a predator. (Yes, I know Yokey also called him a “predator”) He was respectful in his advances and never touched Edwin inappropriately. He backed off when Edwin declined his advances." He was most definitely NOT respectful in his approaches. While he did "back off" when Edwin declined his advances, it wasn't because he was being respectful. If he was being respectful and genuinely backing off, he wouldn't have kept coming onto Edwin. He would've stopped after the initial rejection, or at most just reminded Edwin he was available if Edwin changed his mind. Regardless of this though, there's the whole age thing, which we'll get into in a sec.

"In fact, he did literally everything Monty did, except he didn’t kiss Edwin without his consent." The biggest difference here is perceived consent. In TCK'S case, he knows he didn't have consent. He has no indication he has any form of consent. But in Monty's case, he thought Edwin was confessing his feelings for him. There was implied consent there, from Monty's perspective, and while that doesn't make it okay (consent should always be asked for, obviously), it makes it understandable why Monty would have tried to kiss him.

"Also we don’t know how old Monty is either. He could’ve been with Esther for decades or even centuries as her familiar. If we’re going off a plain old crow, those can live up to 20 years. So he could’ve been a teen or he could’ve been “older” than Edwin if we’re going off the argument that Edwin is still the age that he died at." While technically true, Monty still had a crow brain for all that time. Crows developmentally are like a human child's level of development (a big reason I actually don't like Monty and Edwin together). Monty very well could have been literally older than Edwin, but their development once Monty was turned human would be about the same, because even if Monty was technically 20+, he's only had human life for a couple days by the time he's turned back into a crow. It is heavily implied though that Monty is a teenager though, at least developmentally. He acts like one, at least, and the way he's talked about makes him seem like one. TCK though has had human levels of intelligence his entire existence and is implied to be more like mid-20's appearance-wise.

"And speaking of Edwin’s age, I think Edwin is both 16 years old and 123 years old. How? Because he died at 16 but that didn’t mean he stopped maturing mentally. It could’ve been a slow mental maturation (to make Cryland not also have a huge age gap) but it did happen." Agreed that Edwin is both 16 and 123; that's just the facts of the matter. But that doesn't mean he was actually maturing mentally. Memories/life experience do not equal brain maturity. People in comas who wake up after 10 years are still mentally 10 years younger than their physical body is, even though their brain and body kept developing. People with amnesia who lose two years of life experience don't suddenly have the brain they had two years ago, etc. etc. They are still developmentally 16, and will never mature past that. Also to bring back in the earlier mention of people calling TCK a predator: this is a very hard area to determine, but like you said, Steve himself called him a predator, and (might get this a bit wrong because I don't have the quotes pulled up right now) he talked previously about how TCK is literally meant to be this kind of typical role of an older gay man "teaching" a younger gay man things, in an often very predatory way, because again, the other gay man is younger and typically has little to no experience. He's literally written to encapsulate that.

"So by this logic, Edwin is 124 years old mentally. Like Claudia from Interview with a Vampire or Edward from Twilight, they might be shaped like a child/teen, but they’re much older than you or I." You mentioned slowed development. If that was true, Edwin would not be mentally 123 years old. That would be contradictory. Considering your previous Cryland point: Charles would developmentally be, at most, like 18. Two years maturity in 30 years time. So Edwin would be more like 19-20, mentally. But that's not counting all the trauma from Hell. Trauma slows brain development, so he'd probably be closer to 18 mentally, just like Charles. And the brain only fully matures around 25 for someone with a regular, healthy brain. Again, it slows with trauma. If I remember my facts correctly, Edwin would have to be closer to 30-35 developmentally to have a fully developed brain, with all the trauma he's experienced. Look it up yourself though, fact-check me, I may be misremembering. And he's not going to mature anymore; he's stuck at 16 for literally forever. Ghosts bodies don't change after they die, besides injuries. And those don't even leave scars, as far as we can tell, so they're not actually changing anything.

Anywhosies. That was really long. I love The Cat King but people need to stop defending his every action. He is, at most, a morally dubious character. He is not supposed to be a character who constantly makes good decisions. He makes plenty of bad, morally corrupt decisions, because he is morally grey, and he also makes plenty of good ones. He's like Monty in that respect. Neither character are paragons of righteousness, neither of them are in the right or justified in all their decisions. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy the skrungly little fellas.

.

[herefortheships]

What do you think of the Bj and Lydia controversy due to age?

You know, the short answer I have for this is that I do not think it should be an issue that's even brought up anymore. Lydia is now an adult woman in her 50s; plenty of people end up with a partner who is 10+ years older than them, meaning that they would have been a full adult if they would have come across their partner at sixteen. And that's just speaking about the real world; let's not forget Beetlejuice and the characters in that world are all a work of fiction. I don't think the fact that they met when she was a teenager all those years ago should even be an issue to ship it or not. As a matter of fact, people can ship whatever they want. They can even ship it in the first film and it's not an issue... Shipping in itself is inherently innocent. These characters and the situations around them don't even exist, and therefore, whatever you imagine with them, has no effect in the real world. Shipping is no different from a kid grabbing a couple of dolls and making them kiss. It's all in good fun.

Let me tell you, I had written a long freaking essay under this question 😅, but I decided to leave all of that for a separate post. But a few notable points from that essay which I think would be good to include here are the following.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s we had ships with pretty big age gaps on network TV and nobody batted an eye about the age gap (as far as I'm concerned). I'm talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer specifically in this post. This was before social media, but as far as magazines and fandom spaces go, I'm sure the discussions around Buffy's love interests in BTVS centered around which hot vampire was better for Buffy, Angel or Spike. (Even nowadays we see this kind of article, exhibit A). And you don't see these articles starting with disclaimers and trigger warnings, either.

For those who haven't watched BTVS, Angel was around 240-something when he slept with 17 year old Buffy. He slept with her the night she turned 17, by the way; they were already together while she was 16. At the time he was turned into a vampire, Angel was around 26 years old. Angel met Buffy when she was 16, but he was stalking watching Buffy since she was 15:

Now about Spike. Spike met Buffy when she was 16, but he didn't actually become obsessed with her until she was around 20. Still, they got together and it wasn't ever an issue that he met her when she was a teenager. In Spike's case, he did stick around and interacted with Buffy multiple times before they started dating. In Betelgeuse's case, we know that while he watched Lydia from afar, he never actually managed to interact or even be seen by her during the years they were apart.

A lot of antis throw around the word "grooming" around Beetlebabes; I don't think they understand the meaning of that word. To put it simple, to groom someone is to condition them and emotionally manipulate them for years into a certain behavior, in this context, into falling in love or becoming sexually involved with the groomer. This term, therefore, cannot and will not ever apply to Betelgeuse and Lydia's relationship (it also does not apply to Spuffy, while we're at it). How can it? When they only had a few interactions over 30+ years ago and only met now after all that time.

And about those interactions in the first movie, the fact that Betelgeuse attempted to marry Lydia is attached to an idea of sexual inappropriateness only when that particular idea is projected onto what actually happened in that scene. Objectively, for Betelgeuse, marrying Lydia was a means to an end; there was no sexual or romantic implications in their marriage in that movie.

I believe in the case of Betelgeuse x Lydia versus ships like Buffy x Angel or Buffy x Spike, people are quick to see an issue in one where they never notice an issue in the other for the following reason: While Angel and Spike are hot, young-looking vampires, Betelgeuse is gross and does look like a dead guy. That is literally the difference. Spike and Angel are good-looking hotties; Betelgeuse... I love him lots and he is hot for me, but he is not conventionally attractive. I bet you if Betelgeuse looked like Michael Keaton did playing Bruce Wayne... People wouldn't have an issue that he's lusting after 50-something year old Winona Ryder, (also a hottie herself btw).

Let's add here before I close off this post that both Angel and Spike did objectively horrible things to Buffy when they were soulless (Angel while Buffy was still a minor), and meanwhile Betelgeuse has never harmed Lydia (no, the insta-pregnancy didn't harm her; everything that happened in that scene was an illusion). He didn't even behave inappropriately toward her in the first film when he was wilder and hornier than he is now. And yet shipping Bangel or Spuffy (last I checked lol) isn't widely seen as problematic. I ship Spuffy to the moon and back, and used to ship Bangel as well at some point 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I haven't seen people attacking shippers nor have I seen discussions of these ships being inappropriate (though I'm sure there must be... it's 2024 and the purity culture fandom infection has spread widely), not in the way I see Beetlebabes fans being harassed.

Anyway, I wrote a separate post about this and will post it eventually. This wasn't meant to be this long, but here we are 😅.

[puckpocketed]

hello i was tagged by @18minutemajor for WIP Wednesday. it is not Wednesday but i am also not a cop so . here we gooo!!!!!!! tagging my esteemed colleagues (very politely and with no pressure!!!):

@neonfretra @oensible @sorrellegiance @moregraceful @stereax

@wheelsnipecelebrini

@korshrimpski (EDIT: it won’t?? let me tag you. unless these are on separate lines <3)

what's in-progress in your life <3 writing? art? recipe? skill acquisition?

if any crafty people see this - if ANYONE sees this - and would like to join in, feel free and consider yourself tagged <3 (and tag me back so i can see your stuff!!!) link to 18minutemajor's post if yall curious :3 my VERY long wip dump + ramblings under the cut!

its christmas soon and i like to paint gifts for my friends + and i'm finally revisiting my anime/lineart/inking era (here you are K!! my lineart past, present, and future!! <3) so here are some things i've been working on/coming back to/MAY NEVER FINISH: hockey related:

this is juraj slafkovsky and his dinky little middle part which he can absolutely learn to style into something a little less dinky but never does. i am so charmed by him. i imagine he just rocks it because his pretty privilege supersedes dinky middle parts . LMAO!!

here is Sasuke from my Naruto Hockey AU. I am a little stuck on jersey mockups lol. here he is. our haunted little 1OA who is absolutely normal and regular about his captain (LOUD incorrect buzzer):

personal oc art

wanna know some puckpocketed deep lore? i've never been one to make OCs. i was just not a very creative kid tbh. spent all my time drawing sailor moon instead. i still go back to her sometimes because she is one of my favourite shapes in the WORLD!!

in my 20s i took up playing d&d because of the. uh. plague. <3 and got pretty close to having OCs!! those count right? anyway. here is my tavern-wench-turned-wizard!!! i think i painted this 2 years ago? <- put dates on your works guys it saves lives. her name is Mel (short for Melins (pronounced like melons. on account of her knockers. can you tell i never grew out of my 12 yr old booby/cock joke era?) i revisited Mel recently and have started painting her in earnest again!! :3

I briefly dated someone who was very into streetwear and fashion, and I fell down a techwear/gorpcore/cyberpunk rabbit hole for a couple days out of curiosity. i remember literally zero salient info on any of it except the broad strokes of silhouetting and Vibes. what i emerged with, however, was a ?? sorta OC?? im not sure what to call them. they dont rly have a name or gender. I did this little sheet ages ago + the aborted attempt at a portrait later:

Here are my most recent explorations (i have been doing SOOOO much art. <3) which include:

unfinished character sheet + chibi art. I played with their jacket (much more structured/square/tailored thing) and added a lotta random buckles and belts. i took textiles class years ago and have a little experience in garment construction. and i know for a fact this thing does not make any sense. it hurts me to look at a little bit LMAO so i've paused it while i go draft patterns (badly. i was never good at drafting. i think i may have to break out my scrap fabric stash and hand sew a real life mock-up. HELP!)

here is me having fun with them and imagining them as some kind of cyber-fisherman. the best part of every game is the fishing mini-game to me. i love fishing mini-games so much. I made their hair really big because i wanted them to have big unwieldy hair and the vibes told me i should add more movement to the piece aside from the fishing line. I messed with their jacket AGAIN because i can't stop thinking about what kinda jacket they'd wear. gorp-core ? idk. it sure is something!

gifts for my friends :3

back in my weeb era for real YAYYYY!!! up til now i'd been making hockey art using a zero pressure sensitivity pen brush because i simply did NOT want to deal with that. it is and has always been a barrier to me making art that uses line art. <3 easing my way back into it though!

I used to paint gifts for my friends and then get them printed into lil posters and mount them on nice backing :3 i am now ready and back to painting.

Here is my girlbestie's OC. just a rough pose sketch. i think im pretty unsatisfied with the gesture of the head/hand. i wanted to include her gun in some way. i fear i may have to rework the pose entirely <3

For the genshin girlies.. here are some of my friends fave characters.

Yelan - this one i started many holidays ago and put on the backburner because the colouring was wigging me out. you can see where i started rendering stuff + got sidetracked and started on something else (the crystal choker IM LAUGHING @ past me...)

Ayaka - I reaaally like what i did here with the perspective + foreshortening. I don't know if the pose or expression is in-character or not, but i had fun :3 got stunlocked looking at references of genshin weapons so this is where i left off:

if you made it all the way down here hi... <3 ice hockey really cracked the ketchup bottle open for me when it comes to making art again. i love the communities i've found, and i'm inspired by every artist on here every day. thanks for being so cool + have a great day :)

[littlemissclandestine]

Why I think Russell Adler is going to make a comeback in COD 2024

WARNING⚠️: Contains spoilers for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Disclaimer: This is all just speculation on my behalf of course. I've just tried piecing stuff together for fun because Russ is one of my fave BO characters even though he's a bitch but i need more Adler content stat. <33

Let's get into it peeps. HEAR ME OUT.

Buckle up. Gonna be one hell of a ride folks 🤪

We'll start off with some random/background info.

Russ was born on February 12th 1937 so that would make him 53/54 in the Gulf War era. This actually isn't that old because if you think about it, Woods was about to turn 51 in 1981 during the Cold War campaign. What's a few more years?

We last saw Adler in action post-campaign in Warzone 1.0 cinematics but we've been kept in the dark about Adler's whereabouts post-1984 (after being brainwashed and killing Stitch LOL).

This meanie in a beanie wasn't forgotten about, oh no. He appears in the new cinematic intros on startup for both MWII (2022) and MWIII (2023). See below:

He was also featured twice in the 20 year anniversary video for Call of Duty whereas COD Ghosts didn't even get an appearance (ouch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL_w5HmxsPI

I personally believe Adler was a great addition to the Black Ops roster and is essentially the new Black Ops 'cover boy' now. Would be such a shame and a missed opportunity not to include a character like him in the upcoming COD. One who is morally grey, does whatever he deems necessary to get the job done - a bit like Cpt. Price in MW. Got the COD fans riled up about him brainwashing and pulling the trigger on Bell too - he's already got the spotlight in both a good and bad way.

Now, let's explore my main reasoning as to why I think Mr Shades 2.0 is most likely coming back in late 2024...

🎖️First up: Gulf War mission list 🔫

Here are some of the campaign missions that will be featured in Black Ops Gulf War. Obviously, this is subject to change, however, going off what we have, look closely...

Credit: @MWIIINTEL on Twitter/X

Safehouse guys...SAFEHOUSE. Takes you right back to Cold War, doesn't it? Ugh the potential.

🕵️ Next up: The campaign for COD 2024 will dive into the CIA's role/the Black Ops timeline 🕘

I took the following snippet from this official article.

From this, we know there will be a huge focus on the CIA and who's a CIA clandestine special officer? Mhm, you guessed it - Russell Adler.

Now, according to the events of BO2, it's evident which characters have the possibility of returning out of our original BO trio - Jason Hudson, Frank Woods and Alex Mason.

💫 Alex is presumed dead after Frank shot him so he's out the picture in '90/91 until 2025 when they canonically meet again.

🪵 Woods would be in his 60s during this time too so I'll let you decide whether that's too old for him to be in GW.

Edit: Woods got SPAS-12'd in the kneecaps on Dec 20th 1989 by Raul Menendez so uh...yeah

🧊 Hudson died on Dec 20th 1989 at the hands of Raul Menendez.

Feel free to check out this website (Call of Duty Wiki) for an outline of the events after CW to remind yourself. Here's a link to the Black Ops timeline from there.

➡️ Gulf War being a direct sequel to Cold War and what that could mean 💉

That brings me onto the rest of the safehouse crew. Since GW is a direct sequel to CW, it would make sense for some characters to carry over if possible:

We, as the player/Bell, get to choose whether Park or Lazar die (or both lovebirds) in 'End of the Line'. It's highly unlikely they'll return unless the devs make one decision canon maybe.

There could be a chance we see Sims again given his bond with Adler (Da Nang etc.), his age (late 40s in GW) and his status (alive).

That leaves the man himself, Russ. Everything from his age to the fact he's CIA and was the deuteragonist in COD 2020's campaign just makes sense for him to have at least a lil cameo or even a larger role, don't you think?

📱Finally: Hints from official posts 🔎

This post from Call of duty's official Instagram account kind of sealed the deal for me.

Oh lookie - they dropped syringe-lover's famous line in a zombies post. Why would COD just drop it so casually like that without a reason and years after CW came out? They could've said absolutely anything else but no, this was purposeful.

And that's all for this episode guys and gals!

Thank you for reading!! 🫂

Do what you will with all this information but I have concluded in my silly little brain that scarface is coming back.

How he's only in one game is beyond me. Won't get a character like him ever again. Seems like a cliché war dude at first glance but dig a little deeper into the details of the CW campaign, peel back the layers and get into his psychology and WOWZERS.

Am I delusional? Most definitely.

But the possibility he might be returning...that little bit of hope is enough for me and i won't shut up about it.

This will age horribly if he isn't in GW. Forgive me for feeding your delusions too in that case. Please?

What are your thoughts? Feel free to share them! 😊

------

EDIT: Y'ALL IT'S HAPPENING 😭😭

[dsmp-lainey]

DSMP AGE HC’s

we as a fandom don’t talk enough about the fact that most dsmp characters don’t have canon set ages and thus we can have fun creating our own dsmp characters age hc’s

i’ll go first with some of mine, y’all can add on yours :D

-c!wilbur is older than often perceived, he’s a demigod after all, he doesn’t age like normal and appears/acts younger than he technically is. he could likely live hundreds of years with his natural life span if he stayed out of danger. but overall he is still very young for demigod life span.

-c!puffy is older than people think, she’s actually in her late 30’s or younger 40’s, basically she’s a milf lol. c!niki is younger (early/mid 20’s) and LOVES this about her.

-c!skeppy and c!bbh are old af lol. c!skeppy is a demigod (similar to c!foolish) and c!bbh is a demon so they have a longer lifespan than humans. they’ve been together decades by the start of the smp. c!sapnap is almost 30 by the start of the smp and they were together a long time before they even had him.

-c!purpled is the youngest character, because of his personality and his non human appearance it makes it harder to tell and many think he’s older, but he’s literally SO young the whole time. no one understands rage quite like a 14 year old who realizes they’re being pushed around and c!purpled proves that.

-c!fundy matures faster because he is half nymph (my hc for what sally actually was) which is a species with a much shorter life span than others. this is because when a full blood nymph reaches their life span they turn into an animal or plant for a bit and then essentially respawn as a baby eventually. unfortunately c!fundy being only half means he doesn’t get that and only gets the shorter life span, luckily his dads dna off sets it a little so he will probably be able to live up to 50 years but he will always age far faster than he friends and family, something that is just another way he feels isolated from all of them.

[bestygogirl]

BEST YGO GIRL: ROUND 4, GROUP C

Match 2

please use this as an opportunity to say why you like a character, not why you don't.

Propaganda under the cut!

Mana

mana is the apprentice to mahad and her ka is dark magician girl. she is the basis for apprentice illusion magician. she is the first one to inherit the millennium ring after mahad, while it allegedly has yami bakura in it. her fate is left up to the viewer. another fun fact is she teases atem like he's her big brother and hides in vases. she makes fun of set's stupid hat and turns it in magical hats. she's a fun loving child who is put in a position where she needs to fight a war. and like. she's my daughter please vote for her.

Isis Ishtar

gorgeous, very caring sister, strong duelist, and the only woman to ever make Seto Kaiba squirm

anyways. not only as mentioned above is she the first woman to make kaiba squirm, but she was by all means going to beat him if not for the millennium rod's millennium interference. yami marik admits that she's a strong duelist with a strategy that's been working for literal years-- and given that she's not like, a professional duelist, thats pretty impressive

she also recently got some really cool meta bumps and let me point out that an "ishizu deck" now includes obelisk the tormentor-- which we knew she had prior to giving it to kaiba, but i think it only solidifies my opinion that she very much could wield an Egyptian God Card, an exclusive little club for top tier duelists

as a character she presents herself with an amazing amount of poise and grace, shes compassionate and kind and stays with mai and serenity even though she only just met them. shes struggling through living the past 5 years of her life drowning in guilt for her family's tragedy just because she wanted to make her little brother happy and shadi is a fucking liar. shes foretold her own death and marches towards it grimly but with so much love in her heart. and even then shes 20 years old and holds an important position in the egyptian government that typically requires a doctorate degree AND has been dealing with mariks off-and-on bullshit entirely by her lonesome. she also likes to flex her fortunetelling a little which is awesome i think she should do that more that scene where she tells the guy exactly how the stele is being transported was so everything

speaking of shes got such an attitude. "is it your destiny to waste my time?" iconic. never seen before will never be seen again. watch the duel between her va and joeys its so fucking funny

shes excult. shes doesnt flinch in the face of god nor death. seto kaiba and yami marik respect her. shes so sad and so sweet and battle city couldnt have happened without her.

also her parallels with kaiba are what motivate kaiba to give yugi the card he needed to beat marik.

kaiba, in duelist kingdom, was ready to jump off a ledge if yugi didnt let him through to face pegasus while trying to save mokuba out of sheer desperation to save his little brother. he KNOWS what that dedication feels like and the iron kind of will you need to have to make that kind of gamble. isis is being so fucking legit with what shes saying and he respects that and her judgement enough to change his mind and not only watch the duel, but give yugi a card that eventually helps him win, even if he has no real confidence in the odds. but theres a CHANCE, which is the same thing he taught her when he beat her in a duel. the layers its her faith that moves him to act. which is so crazy

anyway vote isis shes my best friend forever and a real rep for all the 20 year olds who honest to god did not sign up for this bullshit

[klerothesnowman]

The Reason the Jedi Suck is Because Conflict is More Interesting Than Peace

Okay, here I go defending the Jedi.

I've mentioned it in a previous ramble, but my primary engagement with Star Wars for the past year or so has been a Neverwinter Nights roleplaying server set during Knights of the Old Republic. It is the most niche of niche corners in the overall Star Wars fandom, but it's given me a really great example of why a lot of people have the opinion that the Jedi are massive fuck ups who are responsible for all the problems in the galaxy.

If you somehow don't know, the big twist of KotoR 1 is that the player character is an amnesiac Darth Revan, the previous Dark Lord of the Sith who ruined everything. The Jedi concoct this big plan to mind wipe him, train him as a Jedi again, and then use him to turn the tide of the war. There's a lot of details to this that are up in the air, like if this plan was entirely premediated, or something spur of the moment when an amnesiac Revan exploded into their laps when Malak betrayed him. One of the Jedi Masters who is absolutely not on board with this plan is Master Vrook. Vrook is a real dick, he's crotchety and angry and he shoots down all of your achievements. At one point he flat out says that training you is a mistake because Revan will just come back. Homie does not care about OpSec.

In KotoR 2 one of the more shocking, yet extremely understated, twists is that Jedi Master Atris has fallen to the Dark Side and is partly responsible for the slaughter of the Jedi Order after she gave the location of the Order's meeting place away to the Sith in an attempt to lure them out. Because KotoR 2 was less about big twists and more about an unfolding of events you could see coming a mile away, the fact that Atris is evil isn't surprising, the first time you meet her she flips off the handle about how much she hates you and you watch a recording of her flipping out about how you should be dead later. The reason Atris' fall is shocking isn't because "Oh man, this character who I had a positive outlook on is evil? Say it isn't so" but more because she was all over the marketing for this game, she's on the box art fighting Sith, she's the one who juxtaposes the game's iconic Sith. She, metatexually, represents the light side for Kotor 2. Everyone who played Planescape Torment noticed that her name was an anagram of Trias and sniffed her ass immediately however.

These twists and characters are extremely well known, basically common knowledge to anyone who cares for KotoR. Like, for instance, the kind of reprobates who would roleplay KotoR in a 20 year old D&D RPG.

There was a time on this roleplaying server where, not getting into details, the Jedi players fucked up. The DM team deemed that their behaviour was unjedi, and that they needed to intervene to push them onto the right path. The method of doing so was to have their enclave be audited by Master Atris. When the announcement was given the Jedi characters panicked. Characters who were from Coruscant told horror stories they knew about how mean Atris was, one in particular described her as "The Worst".

There was another time where players ran into Master Vrook. Vrook was a dick, he smacked down any attempt to have fun, he seized on any attempt to criticize characters and completely wrote off particular characters as lost causes, almost gleefully rattling off lists of their failings. Vrook actually was The Worst.

These portrayals of Vrook and Atris were not challenged. Why would they be? They lined up with how players remembered them. Of course Jedi Master Atris is mean and awful, she was mean and awful to the Jedi Exile.

The issue with that should hopefully be extremely obvious. You're not the Jedi Exile.

Atris being an evil hateful shit is a twist, it's a reveal. Immediately after Atris flip out one of her Handmaidens steps up to her and asks "Are you okay? I've never seen you act like that before." The Jedi Exile was her hero, if you plan as a male PC she loved him, he stood as a testament to what the Jedi should be. And then the Exile betrayed the Order and joined Revan in the Mandalorian Wars. The Exile hurt her in a intensely personal way that only the Exile could. Atris acts mean and awful to the Jedi Exile and only the Jedi Exile.

Vrook is angry and dismissive of Revan because you're Revan, he thinks this entire plan is a mistake and that you're just going to fall to the dark side again and then everyone will be right back where they started. And yeah, he's angry, stubborn and dismissive of the Jedi Exile too, but again that's because you're the Jedi Exile, the guy who joined Revan. The guy who, in a very rare out of the way bit of dialogue that often gets missed, used to bully his Padawan.

Every time Vrook and Atris are interacted with is when they're at their worst, we the viewer never get to see them at their best, we just get to have the little not-Yoda's word that Vrook is actually pretty cool. The entire fanbases perception of these characters are tainted by whose perspective they were seeing these characters from, and the moment you are seeing them.

This is something that the Jedi get screwed by in the entire franchise.

Starting from the prequel trilogy, it's pretty oldhat to point out that these movies are about the Jedi Order falling for a trap, after being manipulated for over a decade. It's a story about good people having their flaws and fears preyed upon by an enemy they're unprepared for. The severity of the war, combined with the knowledge that the Sith are behind it somehow, pushes the Jedi to get involved. The Clone Army falling into their lap is too good to be true, but its discovery is intentionally timed with a sudden urgent need for an army. The Jedi are forced to make compromises on their ideals and convictions, and that's what leads to their downfall.

Meanwhile in the Original Trilogy, a similar narrative is playing out. The Jedi are defeated and in hiding, traumatized by life under The Empire. When Luke's friends are in danger Yoda urges caution to continue hiding, saying he's not ready to face Vader and that he's rushing into it. When Luke says that he can't bring himself to kill his father, Obi-wan laments that if he can't do it then the Empire has already won. But the thing is, Obi-wan and Yoda are wrong, their beliefs influenced by their fear. Luke isn't rushing to face Vader, he's trying to save his friends, Obi-wan thinks Vader cannot be redeemed but Luke holds onto that hope to very end. And in that end he's proven right, Luke redeems Vader, and the galaxy is saved. Luke stands true to his ideals and convictions and is rewarded for it.

Both of these narratives require that the Jedi falter, require the Jedi to not meet their own ideals for both tragedy and Luke's eventual victory as one of the greatest Jedi who ever lived.

Furthermore, once Luke can make a new Jedi Order, he makes one that has learned from the mistakes of the previous Order but also, crucially, understands why certain decisions that he wrote off as mistakes were done. There's an entire ass story about Luke coming to the realization that a lot of Star Wars fans have to make, that Attachment and Relationships are not the same thing, and that the Jedi Order were right to bar the Jedi from them.

The thing is about Luke's Order though is that the stories told within it could not be a three part movie series. They're episodic novels and adventures, where the writers have room for the smaller, day to day operations of the Jedi Order. Missions where Jedi swoop in and save the day, and it doesn't need to feed into a narrative that only has one to two hours to wrap shit up. Where they protect people, not lead armies against their enemies. Where they get to be everything they're supposed to be.

These novels are also a lot more niche. It's more of an investment to read a book than it is to watch a movie, meanwhile the movies are one of the most successful blockbuster franchise ever made, everyone watched the movies, no one read the books. So it's the movies that influence people's perception and ideas. And then it's those perceptions and ideas that make people go "It would be interesting to explore how the Jedi are actually not that great." which perpetuates the image of Jedi as fuck ups.

And it IS interesting to explore how the Jedi are actually not that great. You should always be critical of institutions, it's how you keep them honest and watching institutions fail makes for interesting storytelling. The institutions failing is the inciting incident for the movies. But the movies still maintain that the core of the institution was something good.

[richincolor]

Interview with Hanna Alkaf

Today we're excited to hear from author Hanna Alkaf whose latest release THE HYSTERICAL GIRLS OF ST. BERNADETTE'S fits in with the creepy vibe that's often happening in general at this time of year. If you want to know more about the hysterical girls, you can hop over to our recent review. 

I'm not generally someone who reads horror stories, but I really loved QUEEN OF THE TILES [Audrey's review here] and THE WEIGHT OF OUR SKY [Crystal's review here] so this was one I had to pick up. I read THE HYSTERICAL GIRLS OF ST. BERNADETTE'S at a rapid clip. It was fabulous and I'm so glad I moved out of my comfort zone. Thanks to you though I am having to look over my shoulder when I hear dry leaves moving around. ;) It's fall here so that is happening often. Does that sound bother you at all?

The sound of dry leaves doesn’t particularly bother me, but at the risk of sounding totally cruel, I love that it now bothers you! One of the things I love most about horror is its ability to take something completely innocuous and mundane and turn it into something ominous and dread-inducing. A kind of dark magic, if you will.

You have several works that lean toward or are classified as straight up horror. Have you been a horror reader/watcher/writer for a long time?

I absolutely love horror as a genre, whatever the medium — I think it stems from my friends and I whispering scary stories to each other as kids. Ours was a mission school very much like St. Bernadette’s in the book: Old, gothic in design, full of shadowy corners and unnervingly quiet spaces, and rife with rumours about the atrocities Japanese soldiers had committed on school soil during the occupation. It was fertile ground for young imaginations to populate with all manner of ghosts.

I really appreciated your caring note at the beginning of the book. It truly did help to be prepared for what was coming, but also let me know that the author was mindful of the fact that readers come to books with a lot of different backgrounds and experiences. That said, what was it like to research for a book about ghosts and monsters be they human or another form? It seems like some of that could also be challenging to process.

Unfortunately — or perhaps fortunately, depending on your perspective! — I’ve had a lot of experience in writing the darkness, whether it’s natural or supernatural, and have learned what I need to do to cope with diving into that abyss. That includes building in breaks and days off where I immerse myself in spending time with my kids, sketching, or binge-watching romantic K-dramas (the fluffier the better). It also means having a safety net in the form of a husband who knows to watch for signs that I’m having trouble pulling myself out of that darkness, and steps in when necessary.

What led to your choice of having two perspectives? Were there complications or surprises to using that format?

I wanted to contrast two very different perspectives and experiences of the same situation, and two very different ways of processing trauma, while hopefully showing readers that both of those voices were still true and valid and deserved support and belief. Multiple perspectives is such a tricky thing to pull off — you do have to make sure those voices don’t start blurring together, making them as distinct as possible from each other. But I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed being in each character’s head, and how fun it was to weave their stories together.

Do you write with a set schedule each day or are you a writer that fits it in all throughout the day in smaller chunks of time?

When my kids were very little, I had to utilize whatever time I had to get writing done, and it was often in small chunks — 20 mins here, half an hour there, at least one blessed hour during nap time. Nowadays, thankfully, they’re much older and I’m able to carve out time in the day to write while they’re in school — though I often also snatch some writing time in the midst of shuttling them to various after-school activities.

Are you one to manage multiple writing projects at a time or do you like to just focus on thing?

I prefer to focus on one thing at a time — though sometimes, that really isn’t possible!

And what is it that keeps you writing?

The idea that my kids, and kids like them, won’t have to look far to find themselves within the pages of a book.

Are you allowed to tell us about your current and future writing?

Next year, I have a middle grade anthology coming out that I edited called THE BEASTS BENEATH THE WINDS! It’s an illustrated collection of short stories about mythical creatures from Southeast Asia, each written by some of the most brilliant SEA and diaspora kidlit authors; truly, it’s been such an honor and a dream that they agreed to be part of it. I also have another middle grade book in the works, though I can’t tell you too much about that yet. And eventually, when I have some breathing room, I’d like to start working on my first novel for adults.

Do you also read young adult books and if so, are there some newer or forthcoming books you've enjoyed and would recommend for us and our readers?

I loved Wen-Yi Lee’s THE DARK WE KNOW, and I’m excited to dive into THE SCARLET THRONE by fellow Malaysian author Amy Leow!

We always appreciate when authors take time to chat with us. Thanks so much and we look forward to reading more of your work in the future!

[burstfoot]

I'm still pretty new to Arknights, what's the thing with the bad alt? :o

Okay so back in 2021, Hypergryph had their first summer event that had a limited-run unit - for this banner, the big shiny unit was Ch’en the Holungday, who was controversial for numerous reasons:

First off, Arknights is supposed to be a fairly grim and serious story, and turning Ch’en, one of the stories main characters at the time during Arc 1 into a lazy swimsuit character seemed both out of character for her and like an easy cash grab by the devs.

To double on how silly she is, her codename is just a pun of her race (lung) and the word Holiday - a real tone shift to her grim story in Arc 1.

At that time, people only expected the CNY and two anniversary limited banners per year, and adding an extra limited banner frustrated people because it was very obviously trying to get people to break the bank through FOMO.

Secondly, Ch’en alter’s E2 artwork is really bad. Her E0 artwork is maybe a little revealing for Ch’en but is fairly tame for gacha swimsuit standards, but in her E2 art she’s in nothing but a minuscule bikini - though, most of the people in a fuss didn’t really care about that, they cared that her face looked really bad, drawing a lot of comparisons that she looked like Blaze instead of Ch’en. This led to them having to update her art in game! (Old artwork on the left.)

Third, she was crazy busted at the time, sometimes called the best unit in the game - having high damage, high defense shred, a passive slow while her skill was active and her skill being ammo-based, so you could often just set it and forget it without having to time skill activations. Her kit is also relatively uninspired - her first two skills are really just less powerful versions of her third skill, in my opinion, though I don’t know if that’s a common complaint.

Time has been a bit more kind to her - with Lone Trail, she got this beautiful L2D skin pictured above! As well, as alter shenanigans get more silly with dual-alter banners like So Long, Adele and limited alters of limited units like Wis’adel, her initial drama doesn’t seem as big of a deal. At this point, summer banners seem more or less normal.

Also, powercreep has gotten out of hand that she really isn’t that viable of a unit anymore - she does do good damage, but Młynar does better damage, has a passive taunt and massive HP pool, and almost costs 3x less to deploy than she does. I wouldn’t even really say she’s a top ten unit anymore, maybe not even top 20 - you just don’t see her used often much anymore so she’s mostly forgotten about! But I did use her to clear Big Sad Lock and some other fights in Chapter 8 & 9, so she’s served me well.

One last fun fact: she’s getting a module with the upcoming Nymph event, but her first talent has been bugged and doubled the listed effect since she was released, to the point that her 5th potential actually doesn’t upgrade her talent at all (Exu has a similar thing with her S3 being bugged and being significantly more powerful than it’s supposed to be).

What’s really funny though is that her module’s second upgrade changed it to be what it actually does in the code, but they didn’t go back and fix this bug or anything so her second module upgrade literally only changes the displayed text and nothing about her actual stats. If you want an actual upgrade to her talent you need to upgrade it to level 3!!