#giraffe god canon

[skyscrapergods]

in your au is zecora an earth pony, or does a different species such as a zebra or something closer to donkeys/asses exist? how does zecora, coming from a foreign land, feel about giant gods walking around everywhere - is this a new sight for her, a complete surprise or perhaps something whispered about in tales in her lands, or is there something similar to living, giant where she is from and in other regions as well?

There are many sentient species in the world beyond the main 3 "ponies" which are not all equines. Earth ponies are horses, unicorns are a species of deer, and pegasus share a common ancestor with griffins.

Horses, pegasus, and unicorns are only considered one species socially, because they can interbreed due to compatible chromosomes. However, the foal will always be either a horse, pegasus, or unicorn with no physical traits from the other species. It will be fully one thing or another, as will its children.

Zebras and donkeys are not earth ponies (horses) but they are closely related enough that they can hybridize with them. Non-horse "ponies" (pegasus and unicorns) cannot hybridize with zebras/donkeys. Hybrid offspring within the equines are sterile.

Unicorns can breed freely with horses and pegasus, as well as their relatives, the Kirin. Kirin/unicorn hybrids are sterile. They cannot breed with zebras/donkeys/griffins.

Pegasus can breed freely with horses and unicorns, but cannot breed with kirin, zebras, or donkeys. Pegasus can breed with griffins, and their offspring are known as hippogriffs, which are not sterile and have grown to create an entire new species. They have hybrid vigor and grow larger than either of their ancestor species.

Zecora is not surprised to see Celestia, as she carries the sun around the entire planet, including her home continent. Celestia is known through the world, and worshiped in some way or another through most of it.

Before and after her imprisonment in the moon, Luna is also known throughout the world as the bringer of night and keeper of dreams.

There are other gods besides alicorns. In Zecora's homeland, there are four great trees that stretch into the sky. These trees are actually the legs of Boabab, God of Life. Many thousand years ago, Boabab walked among Zecora's people, before its long neck stretched into the heavens to look for life among the stars. This god is much older and taller than Celestia, so Zecora was not particularly overwhelmed upon seeing her or any of the smaller princesses.

Other regions also have gods, but ponies tend to only care about equestria and often do not believe other species are important enough to become gods.

[brooklynisher]

HHAHAHAHA WHAT

[x]

WDYM THE SPINE WDYM THE SPINE WHAT WHAT

[heartorbit]

girl... kill!!!!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

maybe i already expressed specifically this amidst a thicket of tags but speaking of the Unexpected & Dynamic all throughout bsol's finale of a [hey all the characters are in the same place] beautiful stretch of vivacity, it's great that like. i mean one figures you're not gonna get [villain immediately kills hero] & you're right b/c that would be a surprise & slightly humorously so but too unrewarding in all other ways to be worth it as the end of a whole entire story & arcs here....but then the ways that banana has this like totally Self Imposed arc about wanting to be able to do whatever it takes to help the musician in return / in general, self imposed b/c the musician himself is like no you're good you're perfect my special little guy i will die without, & we're not exactly subject to any other characters' input like um btw banana you & your Failure to be as heroically bold & brave as to do whatever it takes, as the musician does, except when he feels he can't at some points including if he doesn't have banana with him on this journey, but not b/c he asks anything more of him but to be there with him on this journey....

that is to say, i say as i go "wait what was the specific thing i was gonna talk about in this specific post," that like it's a surprise banana might die of his own self imposed doing whatever it takes, but one of the Least surprising surprises perhaps, like ah yes the funny little guy devoted sidekick? what else would such a guy be For, even if the musician doesn't feel that way, see also: me taking 990 words to say it's fun how at the beginning we could think banana is misguided about the musician encouraging him with his heart words not his mouth words to dance, but then we would be proven wrong when the musician is like cough argh augh i Need banana & i will be encouraging him to dance with my heart And mouth words....but so that yeah even as it may be like Nooo & have stakes & suspense it could still be like ah well yeah that'd be what banana is for, alas, & That is the surprising & not "this was a total success for our heroes" downside to this finale. but it isn't, & banana getting miraculously saved himself as he nonmiraculously protects the musician b/c he wanted to do that himself too

just bringing all that back up to say i was thinking again about like "you wouldn't expect a private little moment following banana but you get one" and "and it's so earnest all throughout & with the more wrenching shift amidst the still perfectly [funny little guy] material & it Does make me cry" and then i was like :( and if he Had died i would have to cry about that too like nooo not banana for would-be dispensibility of the funny little devoted sidekick guy after it was like nooo banana :( (also held hostage in the evil marriage normativity larping but again also all the more "successfully" so b/c his guntoting spouse doesn't actually care about the mutual genuine affection you're also Supposed to have with this) & nooo banana :( (singing his beautiful sweet earnest prayer in this relatively brief song bookended with relative levity (relalelalevity) but still earnest b/c it's all earnest b/c where do you think we are) like yeah basically like i weep at that little moment with him Expressing the depth of his feeling about wanting to do this for the musician despite the musician being like huh wha of course i don't ask that it's nbd, if it paired with "& he does Resolve this by dying about it later" like noooooooooo. tambourine miracles (again thinking of a real tambourine with a disclaimer waiving liability for acts of god associated with? channeled through? that tambourine. sure)

wrapping up a post even less sure if i said anything novel or clearly enough what i wanted to say b/c i went on a journey like maybe it's about something else now, but i don't think so, i think it was just me like wah if banana died i'd be all the more like Oof Augh about his little solo packing its punch of perfect earnest real depth of feeling b/c Everyone's presumed to have that, and they do, and it shows, funny little nonprotagonists or no(s)

[lemonisntreal]

My thoughts on Sing: Thriller! [finally]

I just want to vomit out some of the things on my mind because ohhh my god, do I have THOUGHTS-

Also! Link here to the short, for the people who want / need it 👍

NO WAY

THE BASTARD LIVES???

THE MIKE FANS WERE ACTUALLY RIGHT????

It wasn't just copium!

Kinda off topic, but this is getting me thinking on how different sized animal's seats are priced. Because they only grabbed one ticket I think, so I think they're literally sharing a seat [WHICH IS CUTE]. But does this mean that bigger animals need to buy more than one ticket? Or are all the seats just ridiculously big? Or am I crazy?

Also thinking of that one scene in Spongebob where Plankton gets sat on by Bubble Bass 😭

Tiny blurry Mike hehe looks like found footage

RAHHHHH

RAHHHHHHHH

Me when I see my fav for 2 seconds with zero speaking lines

Nana is eating also holy shit

EATING 👹

Also Eddie guiding her by the hand is sweet, I love their relationship so much aaywusjhisajhajk

He has such an obviously better relationship with her than he does his actual parents and I'm eating it upppppp

The "How hard can it be to fix a stupid tire anyway???" line was so aggressive, I'm taking this as character development !

She's an actually amazing actor in-universe and I love that

Meena Sweep

Also this set is clean as fuckkk- also a lot more realistic, but still very not LMAO

Also he's DOING A JIG AAA

The crunchy version is for my enjoyment specifically

HOLY SHIT I WAS REFERENCED /j

Also also.

Both GMO and Alice in Wonderland were really short plays from what we see, but I actually do think that this isn't how it actually goes in canon. When they're on the bus in Sing 2, the script looks pretty thick for one. And two- why would anyone pay for tickets for 4 minutes of show?

Like it just makes sense, you gotta understand my reasoning.

They couldn't put the whole 2 hours of play in the actual films, but I like to believe that's actually how it goes

That there's some story and depth to it as well [💀]

Reference. For later.

THE WAY HIS FACE SCRUNCHES DUDE DUDEUDUED

Meena Gunter and Ash are absolutely partying in the back bro

I wonder how often Meena finds herself in cars. Because like there's size, but also we know she just takes the bus everywhere. I don't think her family has a car, they all feel like they utilize public transit instead

Cars that are modified for bigger and smaller animals are probably more expensive and not mass-manufactured either

Not just height but weight limit is also something that needs to be kept in mind. Elephants are like a few thousand pounds.

I think it's just easier to have modified public transit rather than modified individual cars for that kind of load. I bet public transit has way more funding in the Sing universe because of this need too. Because there's also Rhinos, and Hippos, and Giraffes-

I'm getting lost in the sauce again.

HER NOSE SCRUNCH

She was AT that door. First one there, bouncing with excitement. Adorable. I wish Clay had speaking lines with her in this AGH

REFERENCE.

girl what the fuck are you doing here, your ass was NOT invited ‼️

The Infection AU would go CRAZY

Somebody needs to make that rightttt now, actually

I'm giving it some thought right now and how with a few tweaks this could be cool. Like I'd definitely make it so there were different phases, like the MLP AUs. And I'd keep the hivemind thing definitely, because I think that adds an extra terrifying aspect to it

Probably make the ooze stuff look more messy, eyes would be leaking the stuff, mouth.

Idk I'm just spitballing LMAO

The dog from under the table is actually terrifying

Rare sighting of angry Meena

ALSO WHY-

I have a complaint.

Why were they dancing.

For a full minute. With nothing.

No singing. Just instrumental. It dragged on for so insanely long. Like that's my one complaint about this short, is that the pacing is just absolute dogshit after they all get possessed. You can give me a Thriller reprise without making it look super awkward and boring. Why couldn't this have been a cool chase scene instead? Like actually keep up that tension you established?? Because like Crawly and Buster are just STANDING there now, and it's just like-

And then the actual chase is over so fast

Man.

HE'S SO STUPID LOOKING I'M GONNA CRY [positive]

the Borb....... [Buster orb]

I hate the "it was all a dream!" trope but I can't really be mad

I saw it coming from a mile away, and I'm honestly glad because it means that this isn't canon and we don't have to deal with random zombie shenanigans in the actual lore

Or maybe not because Crawly was literally possessed at the end but whatever. Not canon.

My final thoughts are that this was really solid! I feel well fed and very happy to get some new content of the sillies. I will most likely be drawing lots of Thriller stuff because WOW were some of those shots pretty. Overall, critically? C+ short [mostly due to that minute of almost nothing happening]. But my enjoyment level puts the grade at a B+ for me so [B is for Biased].

[arkrow]

The sides and their favourite musicians (except it's full of my own biases)

We're in for a long one fanders, strap in

Logan: Bo Burnham. I don't imagine he actually listens to that much music, but when he does, Bo Burnham (and I could honestly see Jack Stauber too), is his absolute go too. Y'all actually have no idea how vindicated I felt when I first looked at his official playlist and saw "art is dead" (also, speaking of the official playlists, I'm not using them as reference, these are all my own head canons.) He loves the wordplay, he loves the references, he loves the instrumentation, he loves the messages, this man is a Bo Burnham fan, and you cannot change my mind. For somewhat similar reasons, I think he'd also enjoy the concept of Will Wood but in practice he finds many of the songs to be a bit 'much', though he likes "In case I make it" and ESPECIALLY Willard!

Virgil: Now, I could go for the very obvious answer and say My Chemical Romance... and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I like to imagine he's like an actual sleeper agent whenever he hears the words 'look alive, sunshine' however he's sort of built up a tolerance (like it's a poison lmao) to the fabled g note. As for other less predictable and less emo artists, I imagine he'd also be into punkier stuff and mainly riot grrrl (mainly because I love riot grrrl) and possibly dabble in some folk punk (because I love folk punk). Specifically, I think he's like Cricket!'s album 'self-sufficient' and the Cat Crash songs 'wdymhdosp' 'Connecticut' and 'dreamer'.

Roman: I thought about doing a deep dive into what I think Roman's favourite musical to listen to would be, but it dawned on me, his favourite artist is Thomas Sanders. As Thomas's ego, it would make sense for him to be proud of his work. As for other thing's I think he'd listen to 'find me in your dreams' and 'deadbeat boulevard' by ace of hearts definitely come to mind as well as a fair few MARINA songs.

Patton: 'divorced dad rock' this, 'kidz bop' that, THIS MAN LOVES HIMSELF A SWEET ACOUSTIC GUITAR LOVE SONG! The album 'hello world' by Naethan Apollo, a bunch of Charlie Bennett songs, 'hi' by Matt Maltese, all come to mind for me. Also, for some reason, a whole bunch of Muppets songs (I have a strong visual of him belting 'am I man or am I a Muppet' to himself, by himself, singing both parts)

Janus: Whatever the hell spotify keeps telling me 'dark cabaret' is. 'Brass goggles' by steam powered giraffe, 'stuff is way' and 'kiss me, son of god' by they might be giants, his own cover of 'into the unknown', 'I/me/myself' (both the original and 2018 live in studio demo) and 'LaPlace's angel' by Will Wood are all staples of his playlist. Similarly to Logan, he likes wordplay and clever lyrics, but he also likes funkier sounds, jazz(?), mixing and mashing different elements from different genres, the unique and oddly genuine nature of music in the first place. He also (may) (he does but refuses to tell Roman) have one or two or ten Disney villain songs in his playlist.

Remus: Lemon demon. Man listened to 'two trucks' once and never looked back. He's also a big fan of musical theatre and while he doesn't listen to it as religiously as Roman does, 'blue' from the original heather's soundtrack has a soft spot in his heart. His playlist has some wildcards though, and it's just total tonal whiplash, one song it's 'alien blues' by Vundabar and the next it's 'Scotty doesn't know' by Lustra.

[bluegekk0]

can grimm move his (head bumps? horns? ears? what even are they?) the spiky bits on the top of him head. also what does his skeleton look like?

They are meant to be horn-like protrusions, yeah. Structure-wise they would be similar to the ossicones on giraffes (some extinct relatives in particular have very long ossicones, so something similar to what Grimm has isn't that far-fetched), which are bony structures covered in skin and fur. This is why in Grimm's case they end up looking like ears. I don't think he can move them, not the same way as you'd expect if they were ears, at least. Perhaps if he lies down on his back they can bend slightly, which is similar to what I think Vyrm's horns do (they can bend a lot before breaking, though in Grimm's case that extent is a lot less extreme). But he can't move them on command.

As for the skeleton, it would generally resemble a real skeleton in structure, but looking closely it would have a slightly weird appearance. I think it would be quite dark in color in most of the body, and it would look as if it was stitched together. In some areas it would have the appearance of tendrils that were tightly connected together to form a hard structure (similar to how I imagine his muscles look). I definitely want to draw that at some point, so look forward to that if you're interested, I suppose.

In general the inner anatomy of his body is quite a mess. Some of the organs are very simple, for example his stomach is more like a waste container for food that then gets incinerated by his body instead of digested. It definitely has the vibe of a god who's made the body from scratch and adjusted it to his liking, occasionally just going "eh, good enough". His eyes are also weird, he can't cry and they always glow slightly, as if they're pits of fire separated from the world by a translucent membrane. His mouth and vocal organs are probably some of the most complete parts of his body, though the latter does get impacted by his body breaking and burning from the inside quite fast (which leads to the more canon-esque raspy voice).

The body works for what it intends to do, but it can at points offer limitations. For example, the heart which pumps blood to the rest of his body and acts as a power source for the whole structure, weakens at the end of his body's lifespan (the unfortunate effect of his power being so limited, it can't create a heart that would sustain the body indefinitely). This in turn makes everything else slowly break apart, which is why he drinks blood to delay that from happening for a while longer. It can be from other bugs or even beasts, though the latter are quite difficult to catch, and he needs fresh blood from a living being. Said blood then gets absorbed into his body instead of ending in his stomach.

As another example of his body not being quite "fully developed", there are his lower parts, which are kind of like an amalgamation of male and female parts, but not fully functional past their most basic use (what that use was for him, I think you can guess). He eventually modified his body so that the female organ can work as intended, which, of course, resulted in the kids after a lot of trial and error, but the other one is still just at its most basic state. Though t's not like he needs it to do anything more, considering he's the only one in the relationship able to carry eggs.

Sorry about the tangent, I know the ask was about horns and his skeleton, but I thought that sharing more information about his inner anatomy would help illustrate that his body is just... kind of weird. It works for what he wants to do, and on the outside it looks near perfectly normal, but cut into him and you'll realize that it's very much a DIY anatomy kind of deal. And at many points that's also how I treat it. Does it make sense? No, definitely not, realistically it wouldn't work. But he's a god who makes the body using god magic. I think it makes sense for it to not make sense.

[catocappuccino]

Im gonna give everyone what i think would be their favourite furby teehee

I think V would like the fresh giraffe. Nice orangy and yellow hints, but not overly in your face.

J's, need i say more. Might've been Tessa's at one point and now J takes care of it.

I think N would be OBSESSED with any of the colourful, wacky ones. Especially the KK. Names them something absolutely crazy too :)

Uzi gets the Red Wolf as it "comes off as edgy" and their name is Crimson or something like that, but she absolutely loves them and treats them with lots of care when no one is looking.

Cyn gets the tie dye because its pretty and has cool colours on it, i hc cyn as autistic (as well as N and Uzi lmao) and i think she'd trace the different spots with her finger. She names it something disturbing though, like The Flesh Consumer. Everyone is.. concerned. Wait, why does it look like the furby summoned the solver symbol? OH GOD-

OOOOH GOSH OKAY

THIS... you are just SO real for these I can't do much but agree

THE BEJEWELLED FURBY- YES I- you're just spitting facts. This idea warms my heart. She makes sure none of the gizmos get lost, probably has a dedicated place for it somewhere and keeps the lil guy as clean as it is possible.

Uzi's definitely the one to be like "yeah it's just a cool item for DISplay not that I play with them- who said that I play with them??? I DEFINITELY DO NOT PLAY WITH THIS STUPID HUMAN TOY, BITE ME, LEAVE ME ALONE." and then she apolagizes a lot to her furby even if they weren't anywhere in the hearing-range. Frick YEAH, Crimson is such a sick name, she'd definitely use that.

Tie dye's such a feast for eyes... and drone cameras. Since The Flesh Consumer was given to Cyn she insisted to carry them everywhere she goes but her hands were losing grip, dropping them unintentionally, so Tessa made her a little carrier for them and... HSHSHSWHS I'm giggling so much this is so adorable. Imagine if The Flesh Consumer was canon and they like, just kinda co-existed with Cyn, just, just imagine that. Her little companion...

Okay I'm done rambling 🔥

This unlikely concept of the drones having any contact with furbys is just so much fun to think about

[gaydragontournament]

ROUND 2: PART 1

Propaganda under cut

Xue Xian (Copper Coins (Tong Qian Kan Shi) (铜钱龛世))

● A literal dragon in canon m/m relationship. Got stuck in the mortal world after getting grievously injured (he's paraplegic for most of the story) and ended up going on an adventure to retrieve his missing body parts with this one amnesiac Buddhist monk he accidentally met. They butt heads a lot in the beginning, but slowly fall in love over the course of the novel. Also while Xue Xian does have a human form, he also comes in big noodle and smol noodle variants (♡ˊ͈ ꒳ ˋ͈) As a smol noodle, he wraps around his bf's wrist like a bracelet!

● Is he a dragon? Yes! Xue Xian is a dragon god who got his spinal column stolen (yeah it's kinda complicated) and now journeys across the land searching his bones because he wants his spinal column back, damn it.

Is he gay? Yes! Along the way, he encounters this quiet, stoic, so-damn-annoying bald monk guy named Xuanmin whom he does not like, okay?!? He doesn't like him at all! Sure, he ripped out his dragon scale as a gift for him, but that's only because Xuanmin helped him first and he doesn't wanna be indebted! Sure, he feels compelled to annoy Xuanmin 24x7, but that's only because Xuanmin deserves it! Sure, he thinks Xuanmin's wrists look lovely, but that doesn't mean anything, he's just being objective, you know?!? He doesn't like this guy at all!!! (Spoilers: He totally does, and they end up spending the rest of their immortal lives together as lovers, bickering for all eternity.)

Zinnia (Super Lesbian Animal RPG)

● She's an old sweet trans lesbian dragon. She's the mentor of Greenridge's guardian, and has a deep connection to the history of magic in the world of Reverie as well as Fortuna, the Goddess of Magic.

She has a giant dragon form, a smaller form, and she sometimes shapeshifts into a giraffe beastfolk form when mingling with ordinary people.

● She's a big gay dragon lady!!! The plot of the SLARPG game hinges on her past relationship with another woman!! She's very cute and her intro to the game is delightful!! snout

[darishima]

What do you like about Midari? I rarely find people who love the show :D

ohh boy that's hard to answer... is it a copout if i say everything? it probably is so i'm gonna try to pin down all the reasons why. sorry it'll probably be long and a bit rambley 😭 thank you so so much for asking though i have been WAITING for the opportunity to talk about midari

*tw for discussion of self harm, suicidal thoughts, and general mental illness (obviously, cause this is midari we're talking about)*

first of all, i think a lot of it is because i heavily relate to her. the feeling of never being fulfilled or truly happy and turning to pain and suicide as the apparent answer... it really hits home, and back when i watched kakegurui for the first time (in 2019) i'd never really seen any other piece of media that talked about it so openly.

that, specifically, is one of the things i find most interesting about her- the fact that (prior to meeting kirari and losing her eye) she'd never been "truly happy." and the fact that (self-inflicted) pain (or the risk of pain/death, specifically) is what finally made her feel something is so deeply sad. i feel like a lot of people brush her off as a "crazy yandere" or whatever, which is frustrating because she's so much more than that (and even her ""yandere"" side, the way she feels about yumeko, is just because she wants yumeko to kill her; it's not the typical yandere portrayal, like yuno gasai or the like, because it's not driven by romantic interest- at least, not fully). she's clearly struggling (the bandages she wears on her arms seem much too convenient to be there for any reason other than covering self harm scars/injuries), but she still has such a confident and "gives-no-fucks" attitude that i find genuinely admirable. she's really smart (she's a amazing gambler, has good grades, and i've always gotten the impression that she could easily be the top of her class, maybe even rival sayaka, if she ever bothered to study), very perceptive (as shown when she immediately saw through yumemi's idol façade and sayaka's intelligence), and also genuinely caring, like when she saves ayame nureba from suicide in the kakegurui midari manga (granted, she does it in a distinctly midari-esque way, but she still saves her life).

a lesser seen side of her, though, is that she's actually kind of... a adorable weirdo? it's most often shown in kakkokari (a manga spinoff of kakegurui that not many people have read, because it's never gotten an official english release/translation). like, she refers to animals with the -san honorific (except giraffes, she doesn't like giraffes),

cleans up trash around the school,

knows yumemi's songs by heart,

orders cutesy dishes at a coffee shop,

and when she gets 3rd place in a "which student council member do you want to be your girlfriend" competition, she's surprised and embarrassed (i'd vote for her in a heartbeat btw)

she's just so skrunkly yknow?? and there's dozens more moments like this from kakkokari, like when she wears a kigurumi hoodie like runa's, or when she gets hiccups and convinces kirari to choke her, or when she turns out to be surprisingly worried about how other people perceive her, and asks sayaka to teach her how to fix her "vulgarity" (and then gets told by kirari that she seems "normal," and immediately holds her gun to her head lmao).

TLDR; she's someone who is struggling a lot, and has been for years, but still manages to be smart, perceptive, confident, and kind. the issues she has with her mental health are things i've struggled with too, and really relate to (i'm a midari kin, after all), and god i just want to give her a hug so bad. and she's also adorable and goofy and weird in all the best ways, and she means the world to me <3

sorry that was SO long lmao... i had to omit a lot of character analysis from kakegurui midari (a manga spin off about her pre-canon, in which she has a girlfriend) but i hope i answered your question well enough!! thank you for asking, and giving me an excuse to ramble about midari :))

[the-jnadf-man]

VIOLENCE THOUGHTS (Nobody asked but here goes anyway :))

7-1!

"Aw man can't wait to OH SHIT FLASHBANG"

"Where the fuck am I going" *spends like 3 minutes running in circles*

"FAST FUCKING DOLLS! MURDER"

"Yo holy shit BIG MAN JUMPSCARE! FOLLOW THAT BITCH IMMEDIATELY I WANT TO FIGHT IT"

"Oh hey Maurice"

*Spends another 3 minutes running in circles*

"Why is it so dark"

"Oh ye gods it's" *Points dramatically* "MINOS' WILD RIDE 2!"

"Oh I get to fight people on the rollercoaster? REAL SHIT? AW YEAH I LOVE IT WHEN THE GOONS ARRIVE ON CARTS" *Proceeds to fall off cart due to hands shaking from excitement*

"I GET TO FIGHT BIG MAN ON DA CART?! YES YES YES YES YEW"

"Boy that is a MICROSCOPIC hitbox"

"Oh sweet another goon"

*Wins on round 2* "That was a fun fight"

*House of Leaves reference comes back for round 3* OH SHIT OF FUCK NONONO

"That bitch has a Panopticon hammer?? That's really cool!"

*Wins* Aw naur Big Man fucking dieded :("

*Reads lore entry* "So this is illiteracy. I don't care for it.

*Reads more* *Starts crying inside* "MINOS WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST GET YOUR DOG"

7-2!

"YO ITS A DA GUTS MAN"

*Performs victory dance* "Oh they EXPLODE when you Goomba stomp their corpse okay cool I guess.

"Is that the fucking Big Ben"

"Why are the Mannequins in here. Are they made of the British??"

*Fails to notice the train. Tram. The thing you put the bomb on.* *Runs into the Guttertank instead* "Oh what is THAT" *Dies*

*Wins round 2* "Shit's crazy" *Almost dies to landmine* "Shit's crazy!"

*FAILS to notice red skull place location* "Okay better follow these tracks"

"Oh there's a hole in this building" *Lose shit and get very scared of the Under Construction sign*

"Okay where get bigger boom though" *Spends like 7 minutes accomplishing nothing whatsoever*

*Friend in VC tells me to put the nuke on the train* "What fucking train???"

*Backtracks after another 4 minutes of confusion* "Wow."

*Finishes level with some difficulties* "That took almost half an hour. Man. That's kinda sad."

*Reads Guttertank lore (And name)* "GUTSMAN TANK CANON"

*Laughs at Faust Panzer for like five minutes with friends*

7-3!

"Oh okay these are some funky-ass trees"

"Mmmm yes the Mannequins LIKE the dark spooky forest where they kill people. Definitely made of The British."

"Yoooo I get to feed the tree"

"What's up with these funky blood men???"

"Oh okay guess this is happening now"

"They upgraded the blood men????"

"Oh that is. EVERY all of the bad guys???" *Does not notice dual wield*

*Finishes level, somehow gets an S* "That sure was a thing I just did."

7-4!

"Oh no this passage is made for short people. Guess I'll have to go back inside."

"BIG FUCKING DUDE"

"Holy shit it's the it the its its IT'S THE FUCKING MARIO GALAXY BOSS"

*Opens blood waterfalls* "Oh no it's the plague! We've released the plague rats!"

"IT'S THE FUCKING- THE HALBERD'S DEFENSE SYSTEMS ARE DOWN WHERE'D THE BIG FUCKING LOBTER GO"

*Gets stuck in rising blood, mashing jump button, getting bullied by friends for dying* "The game just did not bloody let me jump :("

"Oh sweet it's Mother Brain with Star Dream's lasers" *Dies x3*

"I GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE"

*Proceeds to die to environment during escape sequence, more friendly(???) (I cannot tell at the best of times, but I assume yes) bullying from friends (Mostly the one person)* ":("

"YOOO BIGGER MAN EXPLODEAD"

*Finishes level* 10/10! *Internet fucking. Dies??* "Yeah seems like a good spot to end on"

*Reads Earthmover's lore* Mmmm, robot giraffe bad, gotcha.*

*The next day* *Reading TVTropes* "THUS THEY HAVE BEEN CHRISTENED!

BENJAMIN!"

[intothetlkverse]

Decided to challenge myself by drawing every single TLK character out there, up until this point in time, and post it here. You can see the finished project on my main account, though I figured to post it on my tumblr just show I could proudly show off my work and a few of my head canons.

Finishing up with this project, here's every monster/ghoul/spirit/cryptid across TLK/G:

Being a world of animals with enough sapience to have memories, tell stories, and have beliefs, surely they must have their own mythos, cryptids, and monsters. So in the spirit of Halloween, here's taking every monster, ghoul, or bizarre creature across TLK and given a proper acknowledgement and description.

First off with the Zimwi, the name literally translating to 'ogre', 'ghost, or 'demon' in Swahili. One of the more widespread, notable monsters, described to be an enormous creature, as tall as two giraffes, a body is covered in long spikes, with eight legs that are each bigger than the last, and teeth sharper than a crocodile's. Mostly told as a boogeyman story to diurnal creatures in order to ensure that they stay sleeping safely with their families during the night, most likely this creature is an amalgamation of many nocturnal predators and creatures combined into one shadowy form. Some say it's a manifestation of all the fears and evils in the world, meant to haunt the living and steal their souls, other see it as a trickster, terrifying animals who are meant to be sleeping at this time and teaching them a harsh lesson in obeying your parents. Some believe they're the amalgamation of spirits who are unable to pass on and wander the earth, others say it is a real tangible being which eats naughty animals and causes sickness and disease upon whoever witness it. Some say they are the very first darkness, the progenitor of everything bad in existence, a primordial evil which stalks the earth. Whatever the theory, it is a malignant monster you must beware.

In a world where the Circle of Life is a common belief, there is also the notion of death outside the tangible, physical plain, of the spirits. When a creature dies, their spirits are taken back to the spiritual realm where the gods are. Good, neutral or even bad spirits may enter Juu(up), which essentially means their spirit is added into a sort of pool or melting pot of spirits, where things such as memories and identities are removed, and the spirit itself is combined with others in the energy before being taken out, made into a new soul, and reincarnated. The memories and identities are not completely erased, as they get turned into energy that goes into new traits, instinct, and occasionally lingering as past memories and warnings. Notable, good spirits, such as the Great Kings of the past or important figures are given a different path, to join the gods in their realm of Aljanna(paradise), to become things like stars to guide their species or descendants from up above. They are allowed to keep their memories and identities, and they can become guardians or legends for their species, guiding them from up above, though some, like Askari or Mufasa, are exceptions. Lions are considered to be the Great Spirits favorites, given he is a spirit of the moon and the Great Kings are his stars, and many of his descendants are rulers and stewards of the lands. In Mufasa's case, he was allowed to come down as a more prominent, physical form after death, to communicate with his son in order to save the balance of the Circle of Life from dying in the Pridelands. Normally divine communication is done via dreams or through natural phenomenon such as the breeze or clouds with no rain, which a shaman can then interpret, though given the severity of the issue in the Pridelands and the Great Spirits lineage in the Pridelands' rulers, as well as determining that Mufasa would be the best to intervene here, he was given this exception. As for bad spirits, for the truly evil ones, they get sent down to Chini(down). There they are forced into divine punishment, forced to relive painful moments from their own lives, shown the consequences of their actions by letting them see things from their victims perspectives, made to suffer as they did in death(i.e. death by fire=constant burning, drowning=always soaked and lungs full of water), etc. Predators and prey alike, carnivores and herbivores, young and old evil. Traitors, rapists, backstabbers, murderers, terrorists, abusers, anyone who left a dark stain in the Circle of Life finds themselves here. There is a sliver of hope, however. Those who are able to reflect on their crimes, take accountability for them, and plead for forgiveness may be taken out and allowed to go into the cosmic spirit pools of Juu to be reincarnated, hopefully into a better life, though those who remain stubborn and unapologetic stay there. And yes, this does include Scar and Zira, though until they've shown true remorse over their actions, they will be there for a long time. Some say that Chini resides underneath the earth, and that the evil, anger, and eternal punishment is what fuels the fiery magma which occasionally bubbles to the earth.

There is some belief though that not all spirits remain in those realms. Some say that through the vapors and smoke from volcanos, or the areas surrounding graves and final spots, the essences of spirits can linger and combine to form supernatural entities, typically ones which haunt the living. Ghosts, ghouls, zombies, malignant spirits possessing the living, garden-variety monsters, you name it. Of course here we're including the sadistic Werehog, zombie-like Mooks, and the legendary crocodile ghost Mambo Croc, all falling into the category of the terrible cryptids and entities you would not like to run into. Other ones, frightening but not as terrible, like the Mokele Mbembe, another large cryptid described as "smarter than the smartest elephant, stronger than the strongest hippo, and faster than the fastest cheetah", not as exclusive to the night as the Zimwi, and not as malicious. Often described as an elephant-sized quadruped with smooth skin like a hippo, a tail like a crocodile, a long neck like a giraffe, and a single tooth or horn like a rhino, it is graciously an herbivore, though still terrifyingly big and elusive. I decided to also do the narwhal thing with the 'horn/tooth' and make it a tusk, which by the way, in narwhals are actually a extended, specialized tooth on the left side of their jaws, that they use to help them sense their environments, as well as weapons for males to compete in the breeding season. I also gave them short spine spikes, since the crocodiles already have them.

As for spirits, we've got the Ghost from "Ghost Boosters", Green Ghost from "The Green Ghost", and Genie from "Wishy Washy", depicted more simplistic/less-humanoid here for the sake of this animal-centric world. For the Ghost, I went with his shape-shifted designs and combined him with the standard ghost form he has. Now for monsters, as in unusual mutants, or beasts unlike the ones seen in the wild. Considered to be altered mortal forms taken by the gods, possessed animals, or mistakes made by the gods during creation, or some other reason, they do have some resemblance to known animals, though are much different. In this category we have the fire-breathing fowl/chicken, the oversized scarab Mummy Beetle, Torgo the undead warthog/ogre hybrid creature, Bigfoot who most likely is a supersized gorilla, Beast which is a fire-breathing, winged crocodile, Bartholomew the wildebeest/ape/croc hybrid, not to be confused with the "crocobuffalion" from "Teacher In Danger", depicted as a bark-like crocodile with the mane of a lion and skeletal buffalo face, the bat-winged Flying Lion from Rafiki Remembers(though sometimes this is what those who witness the Great Spirit claim he appears as), and the laughably bizarre, swan-warthog hybrid porkswanees from "The Big No Sleep", this universe's answer to 'when pigs fly', in both literal and metaphorical form.

Lastly is two bizarre categories which I had difficulty placing. The first is the watu, two-legged creatures which left some markings on cave walls and some tools, yet have never been seen. Allegedly thought to be both violent and intelligent, they seem almost alien in how they're described, sort of detached from the natural world, yet still physically there, even if they're just a legend. They're depicted as paintings on the tree, which I am curious if this would be something Rafiki would actually have in his home. Lastly is Bahuka the tiki stone from "Oahu Wahoo!", which I've decided to merge with the the bearded stone from Anansi folklore. A terrible living rock statue with an impressive stone beard to match, they were a malevolent rock which would curse or you for saying its real name or about its beard, as well as order you to complete tasks without payment before allowing you to go. According to legend, Bahuka was defeated first by being thrown into a volcano by some disgruntled animals it abused, which striped it of it's supernatural powers. Next its body was destroyed and broken, some of its body being ground up into sand, other larger chunks were made into the Moja kwa moja stones to help guide animals to finding the Tree of Life for aid and healing.

[accidentally-in-fictional-love]

Things I Noticed While Writing Light The Fuse: Part 6, Episode 3

Oh boy I can tell already I might need to split this one up into several posts again let's jump right in

Proud of them 🥰 Bru's also so funny lol hey wait why did Ethan look at Matty I didn't even write this ep 😮

Another rare mention of time, it's every single one of these small mentions that made me switch the timeline from an estimated year or many months down to just two.

Why is Johnson leaning so far isn't that like so uncomfortable??

Okay I went to gif this because Matty's hand on his thigh is driving me insane but then I noticed that Ethan is sitting so spread he might actually just have his leg touching Johnson's 😳

I love how he's speaking to everyone and he's still like 'this is all on you' while Johnson is free from the lecture the entire time. I love writing Johnson's interactions with Joel so much for reasons that aren't revealed yet and I wish the show gave me some so they all weren't just me ;w; and again Joel is hot but not my quite type but if he did this to me I'd 😳

I love this bit so genuinely. The Brawlers are strong and in power. They have the cops paid off. They make so much money. These are good times like Joel says, but he also isn't high and mighty and overpowered. He's been through the old war and he doesn't want it to happen again. Fuck I seriously love this guy I love writing him so much and I'm so incredibly excited for the episode 8 chapter you don't even know

They're all so beautiful

This isn't my Phoenixes but I love the detail of his chain being attached to a knife, not a wallet, and he uses it to whittle the giraffe for Lyla ;w;

Since I'm on this scene, it's also interesting that the clock in the background is broken to keep up the timeless theme, I don't think I've seen a single clock in this whole thing and if I did I completely missed it

I really love Ethan's serious face here, I wonder if he was this assertive before he met Matty and Johnson cause he seemed pretty restrained back at the restaurant even when he was getting mad

Fuck off Witt 😒

Or you could stay. It makes me actually kinda sad that he's still trying to get away here

Angel! But really I'm so curious as to who she is to him, like am I right?? Is this Matty's girl or usual Pinup? Are they together in some sense or are they friends? I don't think she sells anything to him since that seems to be Meredith's whole thing, so I'm gunna continue calling her Angel and writing her story for the writers okay it's canon now

Had to gif this entire exchange because their relationship is so important to me. This boy has always been a single child and now he knows what it's like to have a little sister ;w; him letting out the longest resigned sigh known to man is the funniest thing to me apart from his little smirk in the 4th gif oh my god I love him so much, gets bullied once and agrees

Would've loved to do the next scene as well since they're all together but I couldn't resist all the Matty, so all of that will be saved for tomorrow~ 💙

[skwxang1437]

꧁𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒

┌─────────────────────────┐

ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʀᴇꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇ, ɢᴏ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ᴡᴀᴛᴛᴘᴀᴅ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍʏ ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴀɴ ᴀɴɪᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ ʀᴜɴ! ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴀɴ xᴏᴄ ʙᴏᴏᴋ.

└─────────────────────────┘

│𝙍𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙫7𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙯𝙢𝙞𝙧'𝙨 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣?│

Character: Liu, kuga, Popo, lonkey, miyo, Pala, rema, spin, alto, kuku, makhan, Shan, Sezmir, Zayd, Jin (Gai will not be here since he had left, sorry Gai stans)

Timeline: takes place after season one, this is not canon, it's just a oneshot that is separated from the main story. This oneshot doesn't have detective frank to ruin the moment nor the running men will be thrown in the old city.

━━━𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 battle of ulcus, the world was finally at peace, when the running man contestants beats the creator himself before he could obliterate the world myand create a new race.

Not only did they came out alive, or are proclaimed heroes by everyone. They also discovered that their fellow teammate and friend was ulcus' daughter who was brought to this world by the creator himself, also one of the reasons why ulcus went on a rampage.

Of course they couldn't believe Sezmir was actually their god's daughter, since it was unexpected, but that doesn't stop them to see her for who she is, and not just the creation or daughter of ulcus, which she is grateful cause she doesn't want to be treated differently.

Gai left, saying he has to report the incident to his tribe's chief, so he went on with his brothers. But he did promise that he'll come back soon to see them, which was a relieve.

"Over here!" Liu said, calling the robot's who were carrying rubbles as they helped the players fix the tree city to its normal place. He gestures where the robots would put the debris and rubbles, while they follow his orders. The bug place both his hands on his hips, seeing all of them helping each other to rebuild the city.

Shan went to his side and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Well done Liu, soon enough the city will be rebuild in no time." Shan said as she looks over the scene, Liu nods and smiles at her words, the older bug left his side to help the others.

He was about to turn around and pick up more troubles, but stopped when he hears footsteps nearing. He looks towards his side, seeing Sezmir holding rocks, with a few behind her floating with gold color, probably cause of her powers. "It seems like the world is back at peace." She said, while Liu smiles, while also staring at the fox a little longer and admiring her beauty.

"Yeah." He replied with a dreamy sigh, the girl turned her attention towards him making him flinch, she gives him a smile before continuing carrying the rocks. Liu's gaze follows her, he raised his hand to touch his cheeks, feeling it warm. His ears perks up, when he heard his sister chuckling not far from him, "Sis!"

Sezmir saw popo struggling to lift a bug rock, "C'mon why won't it budge!" She hears him yell in frustration. Another thing, Popo was bought back to his original self, thanks to Pala who created the medicine and Sezmir helping him with her powers to make the antidote faster. She sighs before walking towards the frustrated penguin.

"Want some help?" The penguin looks behind, to see the girl he had a crush on walking towards him and offering help, "Yes please!" He said, he watched as Sezmir used her powers to make some of the rocks levitate, she gestures her hand, making the rocks fly to the side.

Popo's eyes sparkled as he watched the fox using her powers, he admire her face or look, her personality and her kindness. He's really grateful for her help, or else he would've been stuck trying to carry rocks.

"Hey Sezmir! Would you mind helping me carry those?" A voice said, revealing lonkey who points at the rocks not far from them, Popo irks when the prince interrupted his moment, lonkey looks back to see his best friend giving him a glare. The giraffe pulled down his eye and sticks out his tongue at the shorter one.

This adds more fuel to Popo, "Lonkey!" He started throwing cards at the prince, making him panic and run away while Popo chased after him, "You're gonna pay!"

Sezmir ignores the two while carrying the rocks where lonkey points out, she hums without a care in the world, while carrying the rocks. She stops when she heard a scream, she looks back to see lonkey looking fried on the ground with Popo laughing proudly, she sweats at the scene.

"Idiots." Miyo said as she walks beside the fox, the other girl gave her nervous smile while turning her attention back at the two who were doing shenanigans.

Sezmir felt a weight on her left shoulder, she looks at the left to see spin leaning his arms at her, "Hey." He said with a wink, "Hi." The fox greets back. Miyo side eyed the two, she narrowed her eyes at the closeness of the two, she huffs and looks away in jealousy.

"Sezmir!"

They all stopped when they heard unfamiliar voices, they turn their heads towards who yelled it and saw two unfamiliar people, that they didn't meet or see. "Who the heck are they?" Kuga asked, "No idea." Shan replied.

Spin pulled back when the two figures suddenly appears in front of him and Sezmir, the white haired one engulfs the orange headed girl in a hug, "You're okay!" He yells while squeezing the poor girl.

The female fox winces at the tight hug, she pats the stranger's back, "Yeah I'm fine, but please let go, I can't breath." She struggled, the person didn't listen and kept hugging her. The other stranger had enough and smacked the white haired man, hard enough to let go of Sezmir and almost make him fall, "Ouch! Hey!"

"Idiot, she said she can't breath, not just that you're embarrassing yourself Infront of people." The black haired fox said, "But that doesn't mean you have to hit me that hard!" The one who hugged Sezmir shouts, they both continue to bicker. Meanwhile the others just watch them while sweating.

Sezmir who was in the middle of the two strangers, was quiet, she had an irk mark in her forehead, while her smile twitches, "You two..." The two stopped when they felt the aura of the girl, making them flinch. Even the others got scared at the change of aura.

She stomps white haired man's foot making him wince and hold his foot, while she delivers a punch at the black haired man's head, making him yelp and hold his head in pain. Sezmir sighs seeing the two calm down.

"Who are they?" Rema asked while standing beside the fox, she turn her attention towards the gray cat and gives her a smile, "Oh forgot to introduce you. Guys this is my brothers Jin and Zayd! The white haired one is Jin while the black haired is Zayd." The female fox introduced, while the other two foxes were still wincing and holding the parts of their body where their sister hits them.

The two brothers gave them a wave, Jin looks around the people before his eyes landed on a familiar bug who was trying avoid eye contact, "You!" He points, while Liu flinches, "Me?" He points at himself, "Yeah you! I know you still remember me!"

Sezmir sweat while Zayd facepalmed, seeing how Jin reacting, "I still haven't forget what you did." Jin starts walking towards Liu, making the younger lad panic. But he was stopped by his two siblings, "Idiot that's a kid!" Zayd yelled, "Don't hurt him Jin! He didn't do anything!" Sezmir added.

"what happened?" Lonkey asked, "Well it was las—" Liu was cut off, "NO DONT YOU DARE!" Zayd and Sezmir yelled at the same time, making them look at the siblings surprised, "Now that's make me even more curious." Lonkey exclaimed.

"C'mon Liu, we wanna know!" Popo insisted, the bug looks towards the siblings, seeing them shaking their heads at him, indicating to not tell. "Well..."

Half of the cast laughs at the story Liu made, Jin was sulking in the background, with Sezmir trying to comfort him, while Zayd was letting out a sigh, tired of this bullshit. Liu looks at the female fox asking for forgiveness, she just smiles at him.

"You three are still the same as ever." The three foxes snapped their heads towards where the voice comes from, and see makhan, walking towards them, he smiles at them, "Hello—"

"Old man!"

The old tiger's smile was replaced by a scowl when he heard that nickname, "I take back what I said, you headaches." He snarled, the white fox smiled at him, "You're actually here! I thought you'd be dead by now because of your age." Makhan irks at Jin's words, "Yeah, I thought your corpse must be decomposing somewhere." Zayd added, making the master even more and more irk.

"YOU LITTLE RASCALS!"

That day was full of laughter and joy, because now that peace is here, all tribes can live in harmony without going to war. And the ahem ahem—suitors— get to know more about sezmir's brothers.

The said orange fox smiles at the scene in front of her, seeing the people she cares about enjoying their time.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

ᴺᴼᵀᴱ: ᴰᴱᶜᴵᴰᴱᴰ ᵀᴼ ᴹᴬᴷᴱ ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᵂᴴᴵᴸᴱ ᵂᴿᴵᵀᴵᴺᴳ ˢᴱᴬˢᴼᴺ 2. ᴹᴵᴳᴴᵀ ᴹᴬᴷᴱ ᴹᴼᴿᴱ ˢᶜᴱᴺᴱᴿᴵᴼˢ ᴬᴺᴰ ᴼᴺᴱˢᴴᴼᵀˢ ᴬᴮᴼᵁᵀ ᵀᴴᴵˢ ᶠᴵᶜ.

┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

[locktobre]

Any chance we can get 3, 12, 22 for Barbie? 👀🩷

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you’ve seen on tumblr

I feel like most of the worst takes I've seen have been ppl coming into my own fucking inbox. The one that takes the cake I think was when I was speculating about where The Lost Birthday might take place before it released, and based on the animals we saw (the giraffe, elephant, etc) I said something like, "I don't want them to be white girls in Africa." Like it was bad enough when they went to Hawai'i in Puppy Chase. And then someone came into my inbox like "what's wrong with being white in Africa?" and I don't even remember if I posted that or just deleted it. I tried searching my blog for any evidence of all of this but came up empty. But I remember it very vividly.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

You already brought up Tori, which is my first answer, and I've already talked about why at much length. And even converted a few ppl! But I think the next most unloved Barbie protag is Kara, so I guess I'll say her. Ppl think her movie is dumb and ugly, but they just don't know how to have fun. She has a lot of growth during her movie, almost starting out similar to Tori in that she's pretty bored, except unlike Tori she's already looking for something to occupy her. And before she can fall into mischief, she gets superpowers and gets to dedicate herself to that instead. Her motivations for being a hero start out pretty shallow and selfish (she is mostly doing it for attention), but by the end she has started to see that there is more to being a hero than glory. I'm so, so, SO sad we didn't get a sequel for her, even though my "sequel" headcanons are almost a full reboot but I would have been interested in where canon could have gone.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Wenlock's wives stay together. This makes me insane whenever I think about it. They suffered god knows how much abuse, they were transformed against their will, they're finally free to go wherever they want (perhaps back to wherever they were kidnapped from, whether that's other kingdoms or not)... and they stay together. Idk if the director thought that much about it beyond the gag at the end of making Wenlock serve them instead, but every time I think about this it makes me so crazy. They stayed together!!

[irishk0rn]

was fucking around and doodling and this came to mind, so I might make it my lil illigar canon

//

Khadgar felt the color leave his face as he listened to the thundering of hooves. Was he sweating? He felt like he was sweating — but his robes could just be warm.

The champion had brought Illidan back to the tower, after he had confided something in them. He cursed to himself for such, knowing he would probably regret that decision and not make that mistake again. Yet another thing to be belittled for.

Illidan looked down at the mage; Makers be damned, he couldn’t read the demon hunter.

Khadgar tenses and closes his eyes. He tries to pretend that it isn’t Illidan he is speaking with, but rather the champion. “I just wanted to voice my concerns,” he said, lightly, “I didn’t mean to hurt him,”

Khadgar disassociates when he’s scared. Illidan knows. It’s one of Khadgar’s anxious habits.

The demon hunter remained silent.

The mage can feel his frown.

“Illidan, I know you’re angry — and that is your right—” His words tumble over each other as they race out of his mouth. “Makers, will you say something?”

Illidan can hear and feel the panic rise in the archmage. His ear twitches at the notion.

“Calm down,” he says finally. “Do you think I’m going to hurt you?”

Khadgar closes his eyes again. “Yes.”

The night elf blinks. That was not the answer he was expecting from his human. Was he… afraid of him?

“You have hurt me before — often. Er— not often, I guess, but I— I can think of many examples— I—”

“Breathe.”

Khadgar gave up on the elegance of his words. “You have hurt me before. A lot. I do love you, truly I do, but Gods be damned if it isn’t hard to. You can be so hurtful — I’m done with it,” he took a breath in before he continued, “I’m done. I don’t— I don’t deserve that. I’m terrified right now — having to stand up to you, this once. Do you understand?”

The realization hitting Illidan is almost surreal; like watching a baby giraffe learn to walk for the first time.

Had he lost control and not remembered? Realized?

“I’ve struck you?” Illidan asks, genuine concern and regret lacing his voice. “I’ve hurt you? Tell me when I have, Khadgar— please. How? What have I used? I—”

He is interrupted by the shake of Khadgar’s head.

“No. No, it’s— you have never struck me. But you hurt me. You make me feel so stupid and inadequate sometimes — I don’t think you realize you do it. I don’t want to believe you are doing it on purpose. Because if you are, we’re done—”

Illidan frowned and shook his head. “No!” his voice raises, and he notices Khadgar flinch. He moves back, disgusted with himself, that his beloved is scared of him. “Khadgar, I…”

Horrified realization crosses Illidan and he looks down at the ground, not having the strength to look at his lover.

Well, now Khadgar knows it’s not intentional. He can work with that.

And slowly, like approaching a stray animal, he moves to Illidan, taking his cheek in his hand. Illidan can’t help but lean into and welcome the touch. His eye lights dim and stop, simulating his eyes shutting.

“Illidan, I know love is difficult for you. It is for me, too. But… if changes aren’t made, I cannot continue like this with you,”

Illidan nodded mutely.

Khadgar offered a smile and rubbed his cheek with his thumb, inciting a low rumble from Illidan as he leaned into the affectionate touch.

“What would you like me to do, Khadgar?”

Now that’s a question. And the mage thinks on it for a moment, before looking at Illidan again. “I’ll help you. I’ll let you know if you’re doing it… and how you respond is up to you. We can start with that, hm?”

The night elf nodded again and leaned forward into the human’s touch.

“I’m sorry.”

Khadgar blinked. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

Khadgar wasn’t used to hearing that from his partners. Especially not from the most rugged and closed off of them all; he had a few quite sweet lovers, like Kalecgos, who would always apologize, but he didn’t expect Illidan to. Ever. This was a surprise.

“It’s okay,” Khadgar paused, “Well, no… no, it’s not okay. But it will be. And I forgive you. How about that, huh?”

Illidan nodded a third time and nuzzled his head against Khadgar’s.

“Love you,” he muttered.

“Love you, too,” Khadgar whispered back.