#hmm maybe i should do that art game again

[codgod]

do u guys wanna see my spotify wrapped. get a peek into my psyche

[loregoddess]

ah wait, I finished Unicorn Overlord, I should update my icon to a UO character

[thehollowwriter]

Summary: Slaving away in the bowels of Octavinelle as an anenome, Ace finds himself desperate to find a way out of his mess. Being put under the watch of a quiet Octavinelle second year thrusts an opportunity at Ace. Ace decides that, yes, Finn Clearcove would definitely be a help in this situation. It goes about as well as expected. (It does have a part 2, but I'll see how well this goes before rewriting that XD)

This is a rewrite of my first ever Finn fic, over a full year later. Please stick around to the end, I've got some special words for ya'll. (Here's the original, but pls don't look DON'T LOOK it's embarrassing/hj) Art for banner by @authoruio

Warnings: Swearing, forced labour, mentions of blood, that's about it Word count: 5239

(Pls reblog and leave a comment ❤️)

Anenome-Free Gaurauntee! (Hopefully)

Ace Trappola had fucked up. Now, this may seem unsurprising to most. Ace could never keep himself out of trouble. Whether it be running his mouth mouth or acting brashly, his actions often landed him in hot water.

This time, though, Ace had really fucked up.

The ghastly purple and blue anenome protruding from his head like some vile fungus was the bane of his existence. Not only did it look ridiculous and showcase his failures to anyone with a pair of eyes, but it turned him into a living puppet that bastard Azul could pull and contort as he pleased.

Ace was so confident when he made that contract. He never once thought he'd be kissing his freedom goodbye when he scrawled his signature onto that damning page.

Ugh, if only he'd known how many other poor souls had also made contracts and that he wouldn't have a chance. Maybe then he wouldn't be in this mess.

"Or maybe you wouldn't be in this mess if you didn't make a contract at all and asked Riddle for help or something." Yuu had said pointedly, and Ace could only groan in frustration and regret.

Now, Ace was standing in the VIP room in front of Azul's polished and tidy desk, wondering why he had been called here.

He didn't do anything wrong, did he? Floyd wasn't going to squeeze him again, was he? Oh no, anything but that, his ribs still hurt from last time-

"Don't look so terrified," Azul said, his smooth, suave voice laced with amusement. "You haven't done anything wrong. This time. But you're cutting it awfully close. I decided it would be best that I be generous and warn you that you're riding a fine line, Trappola. Your next punishment will be much harsher if you continue fighting against paying your dues. You're almost worse than the Savanaclaw anenomes."

There was a brief silence, and Ace quickly nodded, his gut tightening as he wondered what could possibly be even harsher than what was already dished out.

Azul checked his watch. "Your break ends soon. You best get going. But while I have you here, I'll let you know we're holding an event to commemorate the sports tournaments this weekend. Further details will be announced in time, but Floyd will be playing for the second year's, and Jade will be working front of house. You," Azul pointed at Ace with his cane. "Will be in the back because I can not have your abysmal attitude ruining the experience for the guests."

"Wait," Ace spluttered. "I have basketball games on the weekend too, I can't-"

"Your games are midmorning." Azul interrupted calmly. "You can work in the afternoons and evenings."

"But I'll be exhasuted-"

"Then you're lucky to be working in the kitchens and not running around for customers. Aren't I just so benevolent?" Azul's smile was stupidly smug as he spoke. "Of course, you will need someone watching you and the others while Jade and Floyd are absent. Hmm, I think Finn should be up to the task. He can keep you all in check."

"Who?" Ace blurted. Finn? Who was Finn? The name was vaguely familiar, but there were so many students in Night Raven that it could be anybody.

"Finn Clearcove. One of my second years."

As Ace eyed Azul wearily, that feeling of recognition sparked again.

Finn Clearcove. He'd heard that name before. When did-

Ah. Ace remembered now. When he and the others were helping Yuu and Grim investigate the strange freak accidents orchestrated by Savanaclaw, Finn was one of the students on their list of possible targets.

They found him in the library, reading silently in a dark corner. Ace almost couldn't believe that such a tiny, though definitely not light, guy was on their list at all. Sure, the dorm leader was small too, but he carried himself in a way that demanded respect and let you know he was powerful. This guy didn't give that vibe at all.

Their attempts at talking to Finn failed drastically as Finn's piercing eyes stared right through them, and he told them into to leave in a way that hinted at consequences if they did not listen.

Ace didn't really think about Finn after that. Finn wasn't scary, and he didn't do or say anything particularly striking, like the twins or Jack did.

Now, though, Ace's mind was running a mile a minute, trying to scrape up any other memories of Finn that may have been buried under other things weighing on his mind. Nothing.

What was Finn like? Was he as bad as the twins? Did he also relish in people's suffering? Did he play around with the emotions of others, too? ...Did he need a stepstool when getting stuff from a shelf?

Ace was drowning in these thoughts even as Azul ushered him out of the VIP room and back to work, forcing him to slave away under the watchful eyes of the twins until the skies turned dark.

Ace collapsed into bed, exhausted and woke up sluggish and filled with dread. Although he was confident in his skills, the damn anenome prevented him from practising when he wanted and left him tired and grumpy even when he did have time.

Unsurprisingly, this affected his gameplay. Cut to the aftermath of that morning's game and...they lost horribly. Sure, NRC lost a lot anyways, but even as Ace wiped sweat from his forehead and chugged down water, his heart was pounding in a mix of exertion and fury at the fact that the damn anenome made this loss worse than it ever could have been.

He made so many dumb mistakes. Mistakes a beginner would make! It pissed him off and embarrassed him to no end. And that wasn't even covering the fact that the stupid thing sticking out of his head was visible for all to see! They kept pointing and laughing at it!

Ace's mood was sour, and a storm cloud might as well have spawned above his head as he got changed and stomped to Mostro Lounge.

Somehow, Ace's heart managed to sink further when he saw just how many people were there. Not just students but families who came to watch the games. Parents, siblings, extended family, the whole place was packed to the brim.

When Ace arrived at the kitchen doors, Azul and Finn were already there, quietly conversing with each other.

Ace couldn't hear what they were saying, but he wouldn't have cared anyway because he was too busy biting back a snort at the sight of Finn. The guy was even smaller than Ace remembered, probably shorter than Epel.

Finn's face was set in a blank, unreadable expression as he quietly listened to what Azul was saying and occasionally murmured a reply. The conversation came to an end when Azul caught sight of Ace and that enraging smile spread onto his face.

"Ah, Ace, I see you're on time for once. Good." He said. "Finn, this is Ace Trappola. You'll need to keep an extra eye on him today and tomorrow, I'm afraid."

Finn nodded but didn't say anything in reply. He gazed silently at Ace with bright, light purple eyes that would make one think of an amethyst stone.

Ace met Finn's gaze and was suddenly overcome with such an overwhelming feeling of dread it startled him.

Azul must have noticed because he smirked and said, "I'm sure you'll behave, Ace." And left.

Ace didn't answer, still locked in some kind of weird staring contest with this tiny second year.

Finn suddenly turned and motioned for Ace to come inside the kitchens, where the other anenomes had already started working; preparing ingredients, cooking, washing dishes, and more.

Finn pulled a kitchen uniform from the small rack near the entrance and began putting it on, then pointed to where a Pomefiore student was frantically washing an ever growing pile of dishes consisting of both kitchen equipment and dishes from the Lounge itself.

"You're on dish duty, Mister Trappola." He said, and Ace realised this was the first time he'd ever heard him speak since the library encounter. His voice was so soft that Ace almost didn't hear it, but it was firm and commanding all the same. Sharp teeth just barely poked out from his lips. Was he like the twins?

Ace nodded and forced a smile, goosebumps rippling across the skin as he looked back at Finn. When he looked away to go and start on the dishes, the feeling of dread vanished.

Ace looked back at Finn. He caught his eyes, and while Finn gestured at him to get to work and feeling returned. Ace looked back to the dishes. The feeling vanished again.

Ace frowned. Weird.

"Get moving, Trappola!" Finn, well, it was too quiet to classify as a shout, so... called. He called, and Ace hurried to work.

Ace hated dish duty. There was always more than he could keep up with, but he didn't want anything to slip out of his hands and break, so he had to take it slower than he wanted. He was always hurried and run ragged, and then those damn twins would tell him he "missed a few spots" and make him do it all again.

Ace much preferred working front of the house, charming customers, and carrying drinks and food to and fro.

Well, at least he could see the rest of the kitchen from here since his station was at the back and out of the way. Ace found himself focusing on Finn.

For someone with such chubby fingers, Finn was nimble and efficient with knives. He wielded them with an ease and familiarity that only came from years of experience.

Though Finn was small and soft-spoken, the anenomes and other staff listened to him whenever he gave those quiet but firm commands.

Some anenomes were stubborn, but Finn's withering stare got them to shut right up. If they continued to resist, well, a harsh tug on the blue and purple monstrosities on their heads was enough pain to get them in line.

Ace wondered if he missed something because, sense of dread aside, Finn was pretty hard to take seriously with the way he strained his neck to look someone in the eyes and how he needed a step stool to grab anything a bit far off the ground and the way the buttons of his uniform seemed ready to snap right off with the way it strained against his middle.

When break came around, Ace was ready to bolt and embrace his brief moment of respite when he realised the room wasn't completely empty.

Finn remained alone in the kitchen and busied himself with making two cups of tea and a small snack.

"Pretty sure we aren't allowed to do that." Ace commented. "We have to bring our own stuff. Azul's gonna take that out of your pay, you know."

There was a long stretch of silence before Finn quietly said; "It's for Jade and Azul."

Ace furrowed his brows. "Why? Are you like their assistant or something?"

Finn didn't reply. Ace decided to take that as either a yes or a maybe. He watched Finn disappear into the VIP room, where he didn't come out until the very end of the break.

When Finn returned to start prepping for the next slew of orders, Ace found himself paying a little closer attention to him and his appearance.

Well, he didn't see anything new at first. Just the same details as before. Finn was very short, very chubby, and had curly green hair pulled back into a painfully tight bun. His eyes were like shining lilac amethyst gemstones, the colour only accentuated by the... dark circles under them.

Huh. Ace didn't notice that before. Now that he really looked, though, Finn looked really exhausted. He didn't really show it in his actions or voice, but it was prominent in his eyes.

"Work, Trappola." Finn hissed, and Ace nearly jumped out of skin. How had Finn noticed? Nevermind, he had to get to work before he got in trouble.

The rest of the night went by surpsingly quickly, the pace becoming calmer as the number of customers dwindled and the sky darkened.

At 9pm, Mostro Lounge closed its doors to customers. At 11pm, Ace was finally allowed to leave now that every bit of cutlery, crockery, and cooking utensils were cleaned and packed away, and the work surfaces and tables were wiped down, and the floor was swept and mopped until the place was sparkling clean.

Ace was the last anenome to leave, exhaustion from his game and full day of working slowing him down.

However, before he left, Ace paused at the doors when he realised Finn was still there, bringing tea to the VIP room.

"You do know that Azul's not gonna pay you overtime or give you special treatment for doing all that, right?" He called. "Your shift's over."

Finn stopped walking and glanced at Ace, his usually deadpan face crinkling to form an irritated expression. "We don't tolerate loitering, Mister Trappola. Leave."

Ace felt a sudden spike of pain at the base of his anenome and laughed nervously. "Hah, right. Yeah, I'll go. You keep doing... whatever you're trying to do." He said, backing away and out of the Lounge.

When he was out of sight, Ace heard the door to the VIP room open and close.

Just how long was Finn going to be in there this time? What was he doing in there? It didn't take an entire half-hour break to give someone tea.

...Well, going out of your way to make someone tea when you aren't obligated to is pretty nice.

Ace sighed. Poor Finn. If he wasn't an assistant or trying to gain something like Ace first thought, and instead acting out of the kindness of his heart or whatever, then the shortstack was in for a nasty surprise. Azul would take full advantage of someone like that.

The next day was Finn's second and last day of watching over Ace and the other anenomes. It passed by without incident, more or less the same as the previous one.

After Finn's time there ended, and things returned to normal, Ace found himself paying attention to his presence anytime he noticed him.

He wasn't too sure why. Maybe it was that sense of dread. It did pique Ace's curiosity. He's never experienced something like that. Maybe it was Finn's unusual dedication to the finely dressed tyrants that made Ace's life hell.

Whatever the reason, Ace's observations carried on enough for him to recognise Finn had a routine that repeated day in and day out, a routine that he rarely broke from.

Finn was always at the lounge early, before any of the other staff or anenomes arrived, either talking to Azul and the twins or beginning prep for the upcoming shift.

He worked quietly and efficiently at the bar, which seemed to be his usual workstation (how had Ace not noticed him before?), methodically mixing drinks and avoiding people's eyes. He rarely spoke aside from a passing word or two to customers and co-workers.

In his brief moments of respite, when he had nothing to make, Finn would close his eyes and listen to the live band always performing at Mostro Lounge, or gaze out the large glass wall into the sea of vibrant corals and fish with a tired, melancholy expression. Or at least, that's what Ace guessed it was, Finn's face still looked more or less the same as always.

When Finn's break came around, he would busy himself with making tea (the number of cups depended on if either of the twins were there or not), then disappear into the VIP room until his break ended.

And that wasn't all. Even when Finn didn't have a shift, Ace would occasionally spot him around. Most of his time would be spent in the VIP room if he did show up, unless there was a "client" seeing Azul.

When he left, sometimes his clothes would look just a bit ruffled, and other times, his face would look just a little pink. Weird.

Ace wouldn't dream of giving a fraction more of his time to those bastards outside of what he was forced to give. He couldn't imagine willingly going in there in his free time (that is, if Finn was willing at all), but it seemed Finn didn't stop there.

Sometimes, but very rarely, Ace would catch sight of Finn having lunch with Azul and the terror twins at the cafeteria. His plate would be piled high with food, and he'd quietly eat while the other three spoke.

Finn would join in from time to time, but he only really seemed to say a word or two. Sometimes, he'd even laugh. At least Ace assumed that's what it was, if Finn covering his mouth with his hand as his shoulders shook slightly and his eyes crinkled was anything to go by. Ace wondered what they were talking about.

It was... weird. Watching Finn. Ace couldn't for the life of him figure out if Finn was a secret addition to Octavinelle's infamous trio, or some poor soul somehow forced into the role of assistant or secretary and made to follow them around.

"Is Finn... always around those three?" Ace asked another Octavinelle student during his break, gazing at the firmly shut door to the VIP room. He wasn't a creep, he wasn't going around following Finn everywhere he went! He barely knew anything about him!

The third year he was talking to shrugged. "Not always. But Finn's been hovering around them since they arrived together in their first year. No idea what he could want with them, nor do I care.. He's a weird little creep that keeps to himself, and I'm happy with that as long as he doesn't come near me."

Ace glanced back at them to ask another question but stopped when he saw them holding their hand out expectantly.

Ace growled a curse word and dug through his pockets to slap a few madol in their hand. He didn't say anything, though. It was on him for asking something from an Octavinelle student. However, he didn't entirely regret it.

Finn Clearcove was definitely... close to Azul, Jade, and Floyd in some weird way. Ace wouldn't go so far as to say they're friends, but they weren't simply strangers or acquaintances either. Ace knew Azul would rather die than let just anyone enter the VIP room as they please. There were also a few occasions when Ace witnessed Finn sway Azul's opinion in one way or another or convince him to do something.

However, Ace swore he saw Finn with Azul's study guide once. He would have thought Finn was actually an anenome too, but the second year was very much lacking the presence of an anenome on his head.

The best guess Ace could venture was that Finn worked for those three, running around like a personal assistant making tea and everything, and being run so ragged he had eyebags.

Ace mulled over all he had learned, and then, well, an idea began to form. Would it work? He had absolutely no idea. Probably not. But it was worth a shot to get out of this hell.

Trying to convince Finn to help get rid of the anenome shouldn't end too badly... right?

***

After another gruelling half shifted at Mostro Lounge, Ace sacrificed the momentary relief that was his break to instead stop Finn before he could leave with his teatray to enter the VIP room.

Finn was busy fixing a pot of tea as always when Ace came into the kitchen.

"Hey, Finn!" Ace said, coming over to stand next to him. Finn didn't reply, simply busying himself with placing the teapot onto the silver serving tray with the teacups and their matching saucers and the milk and the sugar.

Ace frowned.

"Finn! Hello, I want to talk to you!"

Finn continued to ignore him. Ace reached out to tap his shoulder, but what whatever he was going to do or say next was interrupted by Finn suddenly grabbing his hand and wrenching it back before he could even react.

Finn clutched his wrist so tight it hurt. Ace yelped and tried to pull back, but the older boy's grasp was far stronger than expected.

Finn's eyes seemed to pierce right through him, and that horrible sense of dread came crashing down on him once more.

Ace paled. One of the reasons for Finn's placement on the list of Savanaclaw's potential targets sprang forth, finally clambering free from its place buried underneath other memories.

"He has a knack for spotting weakness."

"Mister Trappola," Finn said slowly. He didn't loosen his hold. His knuckles started turning white. "I'm busy. What do you want?"

"I, uh-" Ace swallowed before continuing, deciding his freedom was worth the shortstack's wrath. "I wanted to- to ask if you could do something for me."

Finn's expression didn't change, but there was a brief flicker of interest in those creepy, iridescent eyes. "If you want something, Azul-"

"No!" Ace snapped. Then he took a deep breath and continued again. "No. Stop with the Azul advertising! Please? I want a favour from you, Finn."

For a good few minutes, there was no reply. Ace would say Finn was in a state of disbelief, but it was impossible to tell.

Finally, Finn raised an eyebrow and looked Ace up and down, then said; "Is that so?" In a tone that almost made Ace take his words back. "Well, what do you want, then? I want to leave while the tea's still hot."

To emphasise his point, Finn gently tapped on the teapot with his pointer finger.

"Uh, right. So, you and Azul seem to hang around each other an awful lot. He must trust you quite a bit, right?" Ace said quickly, silently cursing at himself as every single word came out the entirely wrong way than intended. "Well, I mean, of course he must, you're always in that VIP roon of his and- and you've changed his mind about a few things more than once. That's quite impressive, right? A guy like him doesn't seem interested in what other people have to say, unless-"

"Get on with it, Trappola." Finn interrupted, his soft voice cutting clean through Ace's own much louder one somehow.

"Right, sorry. What I'm saying is, you and Azul have some weird situation going on, and I won't pretend to understand it at all, but I do understand enough to ask that perhaps you would have mercy on this poor freshman and convince the boss man to get rid of this anenome early..?"

Finn blinked at him, and for once, Ace could actually read his expression. Disbelief. 'Better than anger, I guess..?'

"You want me to... what?"

"Get rid of this anenome!" Ace repeated, a little louder. "I can't stand being a puppet! I want this damn thing off my head! Look, I'll even help you get out from under Azul's thumb yourself in return, just please get it off!"

Finn crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Ace, contemplating his words. Something... shifted in his eyes, though Ace couldn't really describe what it was.

On the inside, Finn wanted to laugh. He didn't know Ace all that well. Their interactions were few, and conversations, fewer. He didn't like Ace and didn't care to spend much more time around him than he needed to.

Now, though... now, he had an interesting opportunity presented to him, an opportunity in the form of an overworked and desperate freshman who did not seem to understand that the person he was talking to was not some sucker contorted to Azul's whims.

"Fine. I'll humour you. You want me to question my own housewarden for you, then? Me, not even the vice housewarden, asking Azul Ashengrotto to free a stubborn little first year from the terms of his own contract? The 'payment' you just offered me?" Finn made a noise that sounded far too much like a haughty scoff for Ace's liking. "That is bottom of the barrel scrap. For what you want me to do, I just might take your services for myself."

"I can do that!" Ace squawked, trying and failing not to sound as desperate as he felt. "As long as I'm not slaving away for that guy, I don't care!"

Finn regarded him with a bemused expression.

"And why would I want that?" He asked. "You slack off and put up a fight, Mister Trappola. Why would I agree to this when I could make the same deal with someone more obedient?"

"I- Well, I- I'll listen to you!'

Finn cocked his head to the side. "Can you prove it?"

"Yeah! If you just give me a chance, then I'll-"

"A trial period, then?" Finn asked, humming thoughtfully as Ace frantically nodded his head. "That's not a bad idea. How about this. I'll give you, ah, about a month. Do what I ask of you, and if you behave and meet my expectations, we'll negotiate further terms from there, and I'll see if I can convince Azul to release you. Deal?"

"D- wait. Do I have to do all that on top of my work as an anenome?"

Ah, so he wasn't that stupid, then. Finn hummed. "Yes. I won't be unreasonable, but you will be giving up more of your free time. Of course, whether it's something worth giving up is up to you."

Ace went quiet, quite an unusual thing for someone like him, as he pondered his options. Although Yuu was confident they could somehow find a way to get rid of the anenome, Ace wasn't too sure. He certainly couldn't get rid of it himself, and Jade and Floyd weren't going to help him unless a miracle happened.

The other anenomes and Octavinelle students didn't want to risk coming under fire, and his own dorm leader was a bit too enthusiastic at the idea of him suffering the consequences of his actions. The professors seemed uninterested in doing anything about Azul at all.

That just left... Finn. Ace could either A. Slave away until Azul completed his education at Night Raven, losing sleep and energy and the will to live, or B. Slave away while also doing things for Finn for one month, and if he impressed Finn enough then maybel he'd have a chance of losing his anenome and just doing stuff for Finn, who was quite notably not running an entire cafe, instead. Ace much preferred those odds, slim as they were.

Ace looked back at Finn, wincing at those piercing eyes, and nodded. "Deal."

There was a brief pause, and Ace became painfully aware of the fact that Finn still hadn't let him go.

"Uh-" Ace pulled, though it was futile against Finn's iron grip. "You can let me go now-"

Finn tightened his hold and pulled Ace down so they were eye level. "We're not leaving it at that, Mister Trappola." He hissed. "Hold still."

Ace couldn't bite down the shriek of surpise and mild pain that left him as Finn's free hand scratched at his skin with nails that seemed a little longer than they were before. A tiny droplet of blood bloomed on the surface of his skin, red against peach.

"Ow, what the hell-"

"Shut up." Finn growled. He swiped the droplet away with his pointer finger so that it stained his own skin. Then, he began to... well, Ace wasn't too sure what it was doing, but it looked like he was drawing a picture in the air.

Ace opened his mouth to ask Finn what the hell he was doing, but his mouth clicked shut as sparks of scarlet began to appear before his very eyes.

Ace watched in silent awe as Finn began to draw a circle of scarlet around the spot where he gripped Ace's wrist, then drew some weird symbols Ace couldn't recognise inside that circle

The pentragram-sigil-glyph-thing?- hovered like that, quivering. It made Ace feel a bit nauseous just looking at it.

Finn murmured something too quiet for Ace to hear, and the cursed circle thing pulsed, then disappeared.

"What..." Ace almost couldn't find his words for a moment. When Finn finally released his grip, the card soldier cradled his aching wrist . "What the hell was that?! That's no magic I've ever seen!"

"That," Finn said slowly, feeling the side of the teapot and frowning. "Is a binding. To ensure you keep your word. I don't make contracts like Azul."

"Is that some kind of second year spell I haven't heard about?" Ace's mouth was moving almost immediately. "Ugh, I knew my brother was hiding some cool kooky stuff from me-"

"No." Finn's curt response stopped Ace short and blinked at Finn.

"No?"

"No." Finn repeated. "You won't learn that here."

"Where did you learn that, then?"

Finn said nothing, and Ace, upon realising he wouldn't be getting a response, instead asked, "What does that do, exactly?"

"I just told you, it ensures you keep your word," Finn replied, tapping his pen against the teapot to reheat the now lukewarm water.

Ace furrowed his brows, tracing over the bruises Finn left on his poor wrist, red slowly turning purplish.

"What happens if... if I don't?"

Finn put his pen away and tilted his head at Ace. Then, he smiled. His teeth, still not fully visible to Ace, gleamed in the light. It was an... unnerving sight. Ace wasn't sure if he had ever seen Finn smile before. If this was his smiles really looked like then, well, he understood why.

"I don't think it'll come to that." Finn said softly. "But if it does... you'll be wishing you never spoke to me at all. Now, off you go. You've wasted enough of my time."

Ace hesitated for a moment, but the dull aching of his wrist was a good reminder to listen. He scrambled for the door, mumbling his goodbyes, and vanished into the fray of staff and customers beyond the kitchen.

He leaned against the wall in one of the furthest corners of the lounge, panting a little from his run. As he tried to calm down and tried to collect himself for the next shift that was bound to start soon, he wondered if he had perhaps made a mistake of some kind.

Unbeknownst to Ace, Azul Ashengrotto was leaning against the doors to the kitchen, smiling at Finn with that sharp smile only Azul was capable of.

"When I noticed you hadn't come, I didn't expect to find you terrorising poor Ace." He said without a hint of sympathy. "What a magnificent display, Finn. I didn't realise you finally got that binding spell right."

Finn laughed. "Hah, no. That's far too advanced for me. Papa's helped best he can, but I'm not quite there yet. Doesn't matter, though, Mister Trappola seems quite convinced it's real, and that's good enough for me. Besides, it wasn't all for show."

Finn held up the hand he'd been grasping Ace with, a large smile spreading onto his face and displaying all his teeth to his unflinching housewarden and... partner.

"I have a new voice now."

-End

...........................................

Super Special Author's Note: Over a year ago, on November 14th 2023, I wrote a story for my twst oc Finn. That's nothing too surprising, I like to write stories for my characters, after all. What did surprise me was how it all snowballed into where I am today, with so many wonderful moots and friends I never thought I'd meet, as well as their wonderful ocs I never thought I'd get to know.

It's been a pleasure to interact and draw and write with everybody, and I hope we're able to do all the more in the next coming year. Thank you everybody for caring so much about my skrunklies and getting to know me. You all mean so much to me.

Quinn <3

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[zahri-melitor]

So I've read the opening story of Tim Drake: Robin.

The opening issue is solid, highlighting a lot of Meghan Fitzmartin's skills as a writer. She picked up threads neatly from her earlier stories, showed her hand to the audience, and did do a fair amount of subtle character work. If I'd picked it up with no background knowledge of the fandom conversation about the title, I'd have been very excited for where it was going.

I liked the links back to how part of what prompted Tim to move out was Bruce being fussy over Tim having been shot in the throat in Batman #125. That felt realistic and a nice little link between titles.

As far as a story goes: I didn't mind it. Parts of it were very obvious, especially when you clued into the themes - if I'd actually been reading it as it came out and had a month between issues for things to soak in, I probably would have been tapping my toes over the reveal of who Moriarty was disguised as.

I would like to specifically dunk on both Meghan Fitzmartin and Moriarty for the detective novel writer selections, because...hmm. Kinda misogynistic there. Fitzmartin uses 6 writers for this, and 6 specific stories/franchises:-

Edgar Allen Poe – Murders in the Rue Morgue

Mark Twain – The Stolen White Elephant

Arthur Conan Doyle – Sherlock Holmes

Raymond Chandler - Goldfish

James Gelsey – Scooby Doo

Wilkie Collins – The Moonstone

What do you notice about this list, that I immediately noticed? They're all men. Who is an immediate name that comes to mind, who even had public domain stories as of 2022, who probably should be on a list like that and who also has incredible influence over the direction of the genre? Oh, I don't know, maybe Agatha Christie? (Also Dorothy L. Sayers is also right there and available, but skipping Christie?)

And once she'd built up this "it's all the detective stories" premise, Fitzmartin then went for a book code (cool!) from non-existent books (not cool). If you've just spent all this time glorying in how this is all related to Specific Classic Detective Stories, why not...use a real book code and refer to their actual stories? You've already done it for the plots! Commit to the bit!

Also I spent a good chunk of issue #4 staring at the page going "Carol Donovan? You mean Deb Donovan's judge daughter who recently appeared in Mariko Tamaki's 'Tec run? Tim, how are you missing something this straightforward? Also she's dead?" and then it never came to anything. Maybe do a quick check if anyone else has been using the name you just invented for the story.

"I even tried making a new costume for myself. It doesn't fit." - I did find it interesting that Fitzmartin was once again playing with the "is it time to move on" themes for Tim that were popping up around here in various conversations. Especially given she had Tim and Dick relitigate their conversation from Urban Legends #10 and similar themes in DC:YJ. It does suggest to me that she was working her way around to getting Tim into a new identity, but cancellation has once again left that in the 'not happening' basket.

In terms of the art: Riley Rossmo was the wrong pick for the title, but I do see the thought process that led into him getting the nod for the opening story, given the whole claymation villain set. It was very 2D animation style. I don't mind Rossmo (and interestingly he's developing a whole line up of detective stories he's done art for, given he's also had a Martian Manhunter book and got Wesley Dodds, he did one of the Batman/The Shadow crossovers...) but his highly malleable art style loses a lot of background detail or makes what is there harder to parse.

I did very much appreciate the way Rossmo drew Tim's detective work, though. I liked the technique for highlighting details and clues, and it actually very much reminded me of how some computer games present clues (including how it's done in Gotham Knights, in fact).

I know everyone has said this, but Bernard needs to develop a personality AND to commit to whether or not he knows Tim is Robin. Because sort of hinting that he knows, while Tim worries about hiding things from him, but not actually confirming either way is only really acceptable if you actually do build up to a big reveal moment where the whole drama has been paid off.

I did appreciate that MegFitz had clearly taken feedback and returned one of Bernard's two pre-existing personality traits (conspiracy theorist who thinks the Bats are urban legend cryptids), because one of the weaknesses of using Bernard, a side character with 6 preboot appearances, is that at lot of his existing personality was sketched in. He was a conspiracy theorist, and he desperately wanted to be popular but wasn't, so he presented himself as having a Cool Guy's Personality (see: 'your step-mom is hot'). Now, Meghan Fitzmartin wants us to read into that second trait as a facade that Bernard was putting up to deal with the fact he was gay and hiding it, probably even from himself, at the time. Which, fine, it's a perfectly reasonable reading of Bernard (and to her credit, MegFitz has Bernard spell it out a little on page in TD:R), but the problem is...you've just lost one of the two identifiable traits of 'Bernard' and it hasn't been replaced with anything else. And while 2004 in comics was still trying to hold onto the Urban Legends reading for the Bats to an extent (though it was failing), 2022 comics has so long since abandoned it that Bernard having kooky theories about Batman's connection to Mothman or whatever is very...why?

And because both of these pre-existing personality traits are under strain from the context, it really is sort of necessary to give Bernard something else about him for people to latch onto for his personality. And it doesn't really seem to be there yet (as of #6). It's the same complaint that people have about Jon/Jay and a whole host of other partners for recently out superheros: they're generically pleasant, supportive and bland, with about the depth of a mirror. Give me some of the toxic drama the 30 year old lesbians are allowed. Where is my breakup over custody fights with an ex and one of the two getting seduced by a vampire.

[sageofgrief]

i can't remember your rules but i would like to request krisis getting flustered? thanks. i will llose my mind 💛

from brisquad-unit-4402

flustered krisis!?

︱ gn reader , teasing reader , flirty , established relationship with wilson

divider by cafekitsune

art by papercider (twt)

vezalius bandage

you and zali throw around flirty remarks at each other all the time, whenever one of you tries to catch the other off guard with it, the other just hits you with one right back, its definitely an amusing relationship for an observer.

zali was tending to your wounds after you trip and fell and took a pretty good bruise on your knee caused by the rocky ashy road. "you really need to be more careful, my dear.." he said as he laid the bandage on your soft skin, to which he noticed. despite being a medic healer, he's never had to heal you that often since you were really a careful person, which is why youre confused how this even happened. "your skin.." zali noticed "..what? whats wrong?" you looked at zali then down at your knee, which now was a better sight to be seen than before. "..nothing, it's..so soft" zali caressed the area around the bandage, you chuckled softly as you thought this was another one of zali's flirtatious gestures he was trying to pull on you to finally see you blush. you put a hand on top of his hand and it felt...warm. "youre warm, zali" you took notice, looked back at him and smiled, a smile that stung his heart and the memories of it ringing, bouncing back and forth in his head. he thought of all the happy memories you two had with each other up until this moment and started to form a faint blush on his cheeks. "zali?" "hmm?~" "youre blushing." you said, "am i now? well thats unfortunate now is it?" he chuckled softly, zali didnt care now that he technically loss their little game 'cause all he wanted is to tell you how he was really feeling, and by the look of it, it looked like you felt the same way.

vantacrow bringer

vanta always act so tough but this man will melt if he stares into your eyes for even 5 seconds, maybe even less. you knew this was his one weakness so you decided to challenge him to a staring contest.

"hah! i win once again!" vanta cheered as he released his arm from yours, you two were having an arm wrestling contest, you already knew you'd lose so you just gave up. "what should we do next? ive been winning every challenge so far~" vanta teased you, "how abouuut.. a staring contest?" you suggested. "easy!" he confidently obliged.

you two sat down on a chair across not that far from each other and began. you stared into his purple eyes that windowed into his inner soul. you were doing great, but vanta's eyes seem to be shaking? "why you shaking, bringer?" you asked, "...im not shaking youre shaking...." he nervously murmured.

the man eventually blinks and you declare your victory, but just before you said so, you take a look at vanta who broke the gaze and it looked like the man was out of breath from running a marathon. he had a hand on his chest, he was blushing, and he was sighing. "looks like i won.." you declared. "y-yeah.. you win" he admitted defeat and looked back to you, "are you blushing?" you tilted your head to the side. "uhhhhh..." he tried to come up with an excuse before looking down at his phone, "hey zali's calling, lets meet up with him...!" vanta quickly whipped up a quick excuse just to get you to stop teasing him about his flustered state. while walking though, you could tell that he was still thinking about that moment by the way he smiles randomly from time to time.

yu q wilson

he's a simple boy. just hold his hand and you'll have him hiding his face from you. he also enjoys when you ruffle his hair, when you sit on his lap, oh he also loves when you give him nicknames.

you were in the drivethru at a local fast food restaurant, you were in the driver seat, wilson being your passenger princess. you pulled up and requested your order to the worker, "that's it for me.. you want anything, yu?" you asked wilson if he wanted anything, he told you his order and you told it back to the worker. you decided to pull a little prank and call him your husband instead of your boyfriend. it's a silly prank that you saw on the internet and you knew instantly that you had to try it on him "my husband just wants fries" "HU- hus..band...?" he nearly yelled but covered his mouth before doing so. "yes, thank you" you thanked the lovely worker and drove away from them. you drove up to the window and waited for your order, you decided to look back to wilson and he just had the most confused smile on his face with the most obvious blush on his cheeks. "whaaat?" you acted clueless. "HUSBAND?...husband???" that time he yelled to which you just laughed. right before the worker opened the window to hand you your order, wilson pulls you into a kiss that nearly turned into a makeout session in the car...you freaks.

im SO sorry this took so long 4402!!! but at last, i deliver

intro • masterlist • general rules • detailed request rules • main acc @sageofgrief • nsfw acc @sageofmarionette

[honeyjars-sims]

3.16 Mr. Sensitive

After Johnny had his talk with Lucy, she made good on her promise to trust him with more tasks. For a bit, he worried about what he��d gotten himself into. Gone were the days of lazing about on set—Johnny was following in Lucy’s footsteps with the amount of running around he was doing.

As much as his feet were aching by the end of the day, the productivity actually helped to boost Johnny’s confidence. For once, he felt useful. The things he did at work contributed to the content they were producing, both directly and indirectly. His co-workers appreciated his efforts and Lucy was grateful to have more time to focus on the bigger picture.

He was distributing call sheets when he heard Lacey, Lilly, and Clara discussing an idea for a video.

“We could all dress up as a different Voidcritter when we play the new game,” Lacey was suggesting to her cast mates.

“Great idea! I think I would really serve as Avesu,” Lilly offered. “I just need some feathers and some gold jewelry.”

“Ooh, I want to be Cyprin! They’re the cutest Voidcritter in my opinion,” said Clara.

“Hmm, you kind of look like Cyprin,” Lacey told her. Clara pursed her lips like a fish and crossed her eyes, making her friends laugh. “I’d like to be Nimbus,” Lacey continued. “I don’t know how I would make the cloud part, though.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Johnny broke in. “The art department has some foam sheets. If you cut them into strips you could arrange them to look like a cloud without it being too heavy.”

Johnny flipped over one of the call sheets and began sketching out his idea. “Like this. You can sit on one of the ottomans and it’ll look like you’re perched on the cloud.”

“Wow, that’s really great, Johnny!” Lacey exclaimed. “It’s perfect. Do you mind if I keep this to show the art department?”

“Sure, go ahead,” Johnny agreed.

“Who knew we had another artist in the building?” Lilly enthused as she peered at Johnny’s drawing.

Johnny shrugged. “I’m not really an artist. I just do silly little drawings in my journal sometimes.”

“You have a journal?” Clara asked.

He could feel his face grow hot. That wasn’t something he usually told people about. “Well, I used to when I was younger,” he explained. “I haven’t written in it much lately.”

“Well, I think that’s cool!” Clara reassured him. “I like to journal, too. I never thought about drawing in mine, though.”

“Yeah, I think it’s attractive when guys are in touch with their feelings.” Lilly clasped her hands to her chest and smiled sweetly.

“You should pick up journaling again if it’s something you enjoy,” Lacey suggested.

“Maybe I will.” Johnny thanked them for their compliments.

He started to distribute the rest of the call sheets when Damien entered the room and requested everyone’s attention.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just got out of a major meeting and there’s something I need to discuss with everyone.”

Everyone gathered around, murmuring to each other about what their boss might be getting ready to tell them.

“As of today, I'm no longer the CEO of Rainy Day Entertainment.”

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[deedala]

🗝️ random tag game wednesday 🗝️

thanks for tagging me!!! @blue-disco-lights @lingy910y @mickeysgaymom @thepupperino @jrooc @mybrainismelted @suzy-queued @kiennilove @energievie @spookygingerr 💖💖💖

it's that time again…

what weather would you use to describe you current mood?

hmm cloudy, kind of rainy, soggy and muddy, kind of mild temperature but a chilly oppressive wind

have you ever had braces?

yes i had braces in middle school and maybe a lil bit of high school? that was the 90s my babies. anyway my mouth still said haha fuck you because after i got them taken off one of my front bottom teeth went ahead and took a step back behind the other guys lol. should i have worn my little clear retainers more? perhaps. but also...snaggle tooth okay?? snaggle tooth cute?? maybe??

do you celebrate halloween?

yeah i guess, though celebrate doesnt feel like the right word. provide halloween? oversee halloween? i have little kids its all about them. (though if its cold i may put on my sloth kigurumi.

best halloween/fancy dress costume you've worn

i think my favorite thing ive ever worn was when i was in my 20s and i spent a couple years putting together the perfect gothic lolita little red riding hood costume. it was perfect. i was so cute 😌

last song you listened to

nirvana by elliana (im very obsessed with it right now)

last thing you googled

hrmm..unsure. i have recent searches turned off so i cant go look. probably googling the definition of a word lmao

dream car

uuuhhh, my current subaru forester except i can OPERATE THE FUCKING TRUNK MYSELF AND NOT HAVE TO LET IT OPEN AND CLOSE AUTOMATICALLY IM GONNA FUCKING LOSE IT ONE DAY I STG

what's your favourite type of cheese?

my current fav vegan cheese is the little babybel things num num. back when i could have real cheese uugggh fuckin love smoked gouda.

what colour are your socks today?

white and grey fuzzies

what was your favourite subject in school?

art

has your mood weather changed after answering these random questions?

no lol

and if you'd like to come play PLEASE DO!! and i will tag these particular little nuggets today!! @michellemisfit @too-schoolforcool @darlingian @heymacy @heymrspatel @gallawitchxx @sleepyheadgallavich @captainjowl @the-rat-wins @loftec @wehangout @mmmichyyy @crossmydna @spoonfulstar @gardenerian @palepinkgoat @echotrees @callivich @sickness-health-all-that-shit @sam-loves-seb @samantitheos @creepkinginc @transmickey @ian-galagher @sgtmickeyslaughter @konaiiro @catgrassplantdad @gallapiech @rereadanon @vintagelacerosette @iansw0rld @whatwouldmickeydo @themarchg1rl and anyone anyone else xoxo!!

[otomiyaa]

Love Is Hard for a Broke Otaku

Narumi x Hirotaka

A/N: In wave of inspiration I drafted 3 new fics yesterday and THIS WAS NOT ONE OF THEM. This one just spawned today and it's the fault of @dokidoki-muffin and her amazing art that inspired me🤭

Summary: Narumi and Hirotaka continue dating with the golden rule: no otaku talk during their romantic outings unless you would like to contribute to the piggy bank. A great rule for those who have money. (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 2.2K

Such a beautiful spring day! It was the perfect Shoujo scenario date. A stroll in the park, a swan boat date surrounded by couples, a romantic picnic for two while enjoying the beautiful sunset...

"We're being so romantic, Hirotaka! Seeing us together like this, I ship us harder than Dr. Ratio and Aventurine, which says a lot! Their chemistry is really off the charts!"

Without a word, Hirotaka instantly held out the otaku-off-limits piggy bank. Narumi gasped. Where did he get that! As if the damn thing just spawned in his hands like a video game item!

"Too bad, Narumi. You held out for so long without breaking the rule," Hirotaka said dramatically.

"You brought Bernard?!" she shrieked.

"I still disagree with that name. But yes. Penalty time, you geeked out," Hirotaka said. Narumi sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"Geek out, geek out? H-how did I geek out?"

"You talked about Honkai Star Rail, again. On top of that, a BL couple. It is against our dating rule."

"You're so mean, Hirotaka! Besides, Honkai Star Rail is a game. You should geek out with me then."

"That's not the rule. Besides, I already told you it's not my kind of game. Pay up," Hirotaka said, and he shook the piggy bank. Narumi listened to the sound of the coins inside and she sighed.

"Can you forgive me this once?" she asked, feeling her pockets. Not even a 1-yen coin was left.

"Why? You know it's our date-rule. You made me pay too, the other day. Twice."

"But that was because you wouldn't stop bringing up Monster Hunter. Paying twice was the ultimate minimum compared to how much you geeked out."

"I also recall you made me pay when we went to Disney Sea too, last weekend."

"But you wouldn't stop doing these unnecessary raids in Pokemon Go!" Narumi whined. Hirotaka glared at her.

"I don't see the difference. So, rules are rules. You pay. That would be 500 yen, miss." He held out the piggy bank. Narumi fiddled with her clothes.

"Then... can I pay later?" she asked. Hirotaka cocked his head.

"I don't see why. Don't tell me you're broke?"

.... Narumi hesitated for too long, so Hirotaka gasped. "You are broke!" he yelled, and Narumi quickly grabbed his hands.

"No no no, I'm not broke! I'm just out of cash! Don't forget I bought us drinks and ice cream for our date today! That was everything I had with me... today! I have money at home, a-and on my bank account!"

Narumi felt her cheeks getting red knowing that was not true, especially when Hirotaka gave her this judging stare.

"Do you really?" he asked. "So when we go to your home now, or to the bank, you can pay?"

Narumi blushed and bit her lip. Nooo! "M-maybe?" she said. Hirotaka sighed.

"Just what did you do with your money this time?" he asked. Narumi nervously played with her clothes.

"Well... T-there were tickets on sale for Comic Con..."

"Ah, Comic Con. I remember you asked me to go. Those tickets are expensive," Hirotaka said.

"Hmm yes, you turned me down. S-so I still bought two tickets, for Hana-chan and me."

Hirotaka frowned. "And...?" he asked. Narumi lowered her head.

"I a-accidentally bought them twice."

Hirotaka jumped up again. "What! Twice? How?"

Narumi shrugged. "Well you see, these things happen. They were on sale on the website, and you have to be there soon because they sell out fast - a-and there was also a special sale that included a meet & greet with my favorite seiyuu on another website. I wanted to make sure to get at least one of them! I was in the online queue on the two websites and, actually ended up getting both! I didn't expect I would. It's a miracle."

"...A miracle that cost you a lot of money. So, you can just sell one set, right?"

"I can't. One has the VIP package and the other has the special meet & greet! They're different! I have to keep both!"

Hirotaka groaned. "Are you serious right now? You can't just pay entrance fee once and the special packages separately? Sounds like a scam. So anyway, that's why you're broke?"

"It's not a scam, just my mistake! Hana-chan didn't want to sell hers and I I kind of said I could keep mine too... And yes now I am broke, but only for the weekend. Hana-chan will pay me back her share when we are at the office. I have food at home too. I'll be fine."

It had really not been Narumi's intention to spill the truth about this unfortunate money situation to Hirotaka. It all went so well, with her just offering the little money she had for the least expensive treats today, such as drinks and ice cream, while Hirotaka paid their lunch, picnic snacks and boat ride like a true gentleman. He originally wasn't going to find out about the her blunder, and about her greed.

To think that her geeking out about one of her favorite BL pairings was the cause of this.

Speaking of...

"That's a shame. You do owe me then," Hirotaka said. Narumi jolted, sad that he was really returning to the penalty topic.

"Y-yes! I'll pay later!"

Hirotaka shook his head. "I mean, it's not about the money. You know that. More like, the small punishment for breaking the rule to keep our dates romantic." He smiled, and Narumi's heart fluttered.

"Romantic.." she mumbled with a blush, remembering why they had installed the rule in the first place. It wasn't always easy to be the friends-to-lovers couple after all.

"I think I can let you off, if we change the punishment. How about that?" Hirotaka suggested. Narumi cried out in delight and nodded.

"Yes. Yes! What should I do?"

Hirotaka stared into the distance. He pointed. "Run up and down those stairs."

Narumi stared at the huge ass stairs, leading to the shrine they didn't visit today for the exact reason of those stairs being too damn long.

"...Twice," Hirotaka said with a smirk. Narumi looked at him in horror.

"You might as well just kill me then," she said dramatically.

"Or... You'll let me tickle you. For..." Hirotaka said, taking his phone and tapping something. He then held up the timer.

"...Six whole minutes."

"Six? That's specific. Not five?"

"Six. So, would you agree?" Hirotaka asked. Narumi nodded.

"Sure, let's go home first."

Hirotaka shook his head. "No, we'll do it here." Narumi gulped and looked around the park. There were couples everywhere. Families... Dogs. People.

"Why, are you embarrassed? It's not like there's anyone we know here."

"B-b-but!" Narumi squeezed Hirotaka's hands and she shook her head. Did he really think so lightly of getting tickled in public? Someone as ticklish as her?!

"M-m-my dignity!" she stuttered, and she grabbed Hirotaka's shirt and tugged it repeatedly.

"You have to spare my dignity!"

"Hm? What dignity?" was Hirotaka's cold reply. Oof! Meanie! Narumi let out a whine and leaned her head against his chest.

"Is there really no third option?" she asked. Hirotaka chuckled.

"No, it's either stairs or tickling." The villain. He obviously knew Narumi couldn't even run up and down those stairs twice, having the stamina of a wanky banana peel. She'd strand in the middle and gasp for air like an old woman on her dying bed. Now that might even be more embarrassing than getting tickled.

"F-f-fine.... Tickle me then," she finally sighed. "But if people laugh at me, you have to stand up for me and tell them I'm beautiful."

Hirotaka smirked. "Don't you worry. You'll be doing most of the laughing here. Let's not mind other people."

That made Narumi blush, and she repositioned herself on their picnic sheet, shuffling awkwardly.

"S-so what do I do?" she asked while Hirotaka put his phone down.

"You come to me," he said. He turned on the timer and spread his arms.

"Come here," he said gently, and for a moment he really looked gentle, welcoming his precious girlfriend for a hug. But the moment she moved closer, she could already see his expression change. This wasn't Hirotaka being gentle, this was her villain boyfriend who was way too smug as he lured her into his tickle trap!

"Gotcha," Hirotaka said when she was so flustered she tried to move away again, and he locked her in his arms, bringing one hand to her side while the other moved up, immediately aiming for her underarm.

"Wawawa-wahahhaait Hirotakahahaha! Spahahare me a lihihittle!" Narumi whined when his fingers began to wiggle around their chosen tickle spots. She wriggled and squirmed in his arms, but Hirotaka reminded her he wasn't as weak as he looked - no offense, but it was the truth! And she couldn't help but love him for it.

"It's better to not mind them," Hirotaka said when Narumi couldn't help but turn her head to watch the judging couples in the distance. So embarrassing! It wasn't as if her getting tickled was the worst that was happening out here! Look, there were people kissing over there! Aaah!

"Buhuhut- aahaha! Wait no- not thehere!" Narumi laughed. Hirotaka had moved the hand on her lower side further up and tickled her ribs, while the other continued to gently wiggle its fingers under her arm. Narumi grabbed Hirotaka's jacket and she shook with hysterical laughter.

"I'm gohohonna ehehexplode!" she howled dramatically. Hirotaka chuckled fondly.

"No you won't," he said, and she gulped when he suddenly pushed her down on her back. He towered over her and grabbed both sides of her ribcage, his fingers racing up and down as if she was playing a game. Narumi squealed and tried to grab his hands and pry them off her as a reflex, but to no avail.

"Aaaahahaha nohoho it tihicklehehes!" she whined.

Hirotaka even captured both her hands and only needed one hand to pin them above her head. With the other he clawed and poked her ticklish armpit that was now helplessly exposed.

"HIROTAHAAKAAAA!" Narumi kicked her legs, messing up their picnic sheet. Despite everything she was very aware of the people staring at her and the way it made her blush - but even more aware of her boyfriend's fingers tickling and making her blush even worse!

"Three more minutes. We're halfway there," Hirotaka informered her, and Narumi shook her head wildly.

"Bwahahaha I cahahan't take ahahanymohohore!" she cackled. The fond smile Hirotaka showed her was so unfair.

"I'm sure you can," he said. He released her hands and continued the tickle attack by wiggling his fingers all over her tummy. Narumi screeched and tried to curl up. Reluctant to hit her precious attacker in the face, she pounded the picnic sheet like a madwoman.

"Plehehease! Hahahave mehehercy!" she shrieked. Hirotaka glanced at his phone.

"I will. After two minutes and fourteen seconds."

"Gahaahha I wihihill dieeehehehe!" Narumi wailed. She weakly tried to crawl away, but Hirotaka only needed to tickle her underarms again to make her collapse. He then settled with wrecking her socked feet for the remaining minutes. Hirotaka was pure evil.

"Nyaahhaahaha I cahahan't breheheathe!"

"You're doing just fine."

Narumi was sure he cheated. He must've secretly extended the timer or something, because no way had it actually been six minutes by the time he stopped. It felt like it was way longer. Narumi wrapped her arms around her stomach and wheezed.

Hirotaka looked at her with a charming smile.

"Game over, right? Well, I must admit this was way more enjoyable. If you like, we can just stop paying to Bernard and tickle-punish you instead, anytime you act like an otaku during our dates."

".....Pffffthehehe," Narumi giggled, muffling the sound with the back of her hand.

"Hmm? Still feeling ticklish?" Hirotaka asked teasingly. She shook her head.

"You called the piggy bank Bernard."

"Oh. Yes, I guess I did."

"And, introducing the tickle punishment as a permanent penalty means I get to tickle you too."

"....Oh. I guess so?" Hirotaka said, suddenly sounding a lot less smug and confident.

"And I will claim my six minutes right away, because you just said a gamer otaku thing."

"Huh?!"

"You said 'game over', that counts."

"Eh? It's a general phrase! Anyone would say 'game over'. Non-gamers would say it too."

"No, let me tickle you. Six minutes tickle punishment coming right up!"

"That's way too long for- aaaahh!" Narumi was suddenly no longer tired now that she chased after Hirotaka who was acting way more flustered all of a sudden. He tried to get away but she pounced on him and immediately began to tickle.

"Ahahahah! Nahaharumi! At leheheast tuhuhurn ohohon the tihihimer ahahaha!"

"Naah, you can keep count for me!" Narumi sang teasingly, and she enjoyed the sound of Hirotaka's cute laughter. She kind of agreed with him now. This was a lot more fun than the piggy bank.

And what was also a lot more fun: at the end of their park date filled with embarrassing tickle punishments, Hirotaka came with the sweetest suggestion. He'd buy the extra ticket for Comic Con from her, and convince Kabakura to join Hanako as well. They would attend the event with all four of them, while Narumi and Hanako could experience all of the extras as they wished. Woohoo!

Evil tickle monster tendencies aside, he really was the cutest boyfriend ever!

[no-shxme]

OKAY so i have all the pieces im gonna go full lunatic ramblings and talk about the new talon skin.

The skin in question:

(spotlight video)

and his bio:

“Talon doesn’t remember much of his past anymore; all he knows is the sorrow and regret etched deeply within his soul. These emotions have transformed into hues, dying him and making him what he is today. Others revere the power he wields, but to Talon, it’s no different from shackles binding him. Refusing to be a pawn in destiny’s game, he fights desperately, determined to rewrite his unfinished tale even if it means only darkness awaits his blade at the end, where all the colors shall eventually converge.”

Additionally he has vo in br portuguese as well as spanish. i've taken the liberty of translating the spanish vo as i know some, even if my english is better >_> you can find the english translated lines here. and if you're a fluent speaker feel free to throw ur two cents in the ring.

i am going to also ramble a liiiiil bit about the other skins in the line in connection with talon, and also go into sett a bit more and at the end i'll talk about a talsett lens. ofc this is all just my opinion blah blah im yapping. this will be a very long post.

OKAY SO FIRST OFF LET'S TALK ABOUT THE DESIGN.

I think splendor opus talon's design is... probably his weakest aspect of him... like imo his design falls into a line of 'there's too many things going on.' too many bells and whistles. i know there was some contention about his colors but i personally like them, tho i dont really like the swirly stuff he's got going on by his shoulders. and idk if i dig his anglerfish lure like hmm. his outfit is kinda a mess but that's okay i forgive him. i wish he had visible eyes always and its interesting that you can see them sometimes they're just super fucking yellow.

like wow hello!

imo his splash art is also great!! compared to his last skins, primal ambush on pc and stargazer/prestige on wr (we dont talk about the prestige) this one just gives off a better vibe to me?? the pose is better than stargazer imo.

and his EXPRESSION is so good here. it's cool neutral, and if you squint then yeah maybe he COULD be smiling just a tiny bit, or maybe he could be frowning. its so GOOD.

(once again not a fan of the wispy shit but blah blah)

in terms of model animation, like the wild rift entrance visible in the spotlight intro,, i don't like it as much? just in the starting animation, when he's on the boat all the way up to looking at the camera, i think he gives off yone energy there, not talon energy. i think its because he looks too put together. i think talon should be noticeable for his less than stellar posture lol. he's got some grime i think they should let him keep it.

wild rift offers several poses and there are several that i think do a better job. i dont think his default screams much talon, tho i understand that he would keep good posture sometimes. (i reference it while writing too.)

he breathes fire in his animated performing pose, which is fun. i think poised and the end of performing are his best poses. idk i just think dignified is a strange word to associate with talon, personally. i wouldn't even associate that with enduring blade.

extra side note about his model i love the lil thing that ties his fuckass hair back.

as a side note (but generally more unimportant compared to other apsects of his skins) the animations and in game of him is also very good, but that's a given bc of the better wr models. i love his e, and sometimes ingame he pulls out his fan for a sec? the way his cape moves almost reminds me of rakan.

EDIT: FORGOR to mention that sett is LITERALLY IN HIS RECALL??? AUGHHH

anyway, model aside, let's talk LORE/THEMATIC:

now full disclaimer there's gonna be an event ingame so if there's more lore revealed i'll have to make a summary post or smth, but we'll find out later.

lore/thematic is what i was most wary about, especially because wild rift was handling it, and their last entry (stargazer talon) was so brutally boring in terms of thematic. ive said this before but it gave him no real texture, just someone who was 'secretly working for the enemy.' when i refer to narrative texture i'm more talking about complexity. talon is such a complex character, so if there isn't a layer of complexity in his bio then its shrimply not as good. i always consider skins to be a 'translation' of the character. so painting talon as a flat villain is a poor translation of the character. there are a couple champs that suffer with this tbh, getting reduced or translated to other skinlines poorly. (yone. for example. sett too. maybe some other day i'll make a post about it going into my thought process.) all this to say that i dont really trust wild rift's quality when it comes to character interpretation? like i trust lol pc much more. i think wr gets away with things that wouldnt get through on pc. stuff like putting heels on all their women models, etc.

anyway.

i was VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED THEN BC the lore isn't actually one note or flat or leaving little room (primal ambush for example, was a filler line that didnt really give lots to chew on). but this line not only interprets talon but also gives a fair amount of texture!!!

but basically it boils down on first glance to 'sett and the others have to defeat talon (and mundo technically who is like, following behind talon) i'd assumed talon would be a villain from the teasers and i was scared of him being just a flat villain. but that's actually so opposite to the case, because once you look at talon's bio and voice lines he's a tragic and textured villain fighting to choose his own future.

there is admittedly a lot of haziness in regards to the actual world context. even the cinematic they released (here) is set very non-specifically. we know that teemo is Literally Destiny and 'is [trying to] ensure that the chosen ones walk their destined paths.' in sett's bio it mentions being chosen by the 'Paints of Providence, being chosen to take on the mantle of The Gallant Hero' and defeat talon. are the paints different from teemo? uhhhhhh... dont really know.

there are some instances in riot lore where im like 'they totally didnt mean to do that' but i think they very much intended talon to be seen as 'correct' in his motive (though prolly not his actions.) trying to achieve his goals in the wrong way.

i think from all the lore (as in the bios and voice lines) its implied that fate gives you a role to play and erases your past memories? im really not sure about that last part because sett references his ma in his legendary lines... but at the very LEAST fate gives you a part to play. and in talon's case he doesn't want to play it. he's got lines about deciding his own destiny and its fucking sick and on brand. there's even an animated emote (which i'll post separately) explicitly called 'i define who i am.' and YET he's portrayed as someone who 'needs to be defeated.'

ITS TRAGIC. in a talsett lens it really is peak enemies to likers, and FINALLY we're back to themes of control/loss of control that we have with talon's best skins (thematicwise.) and its more tragic if you push it further and think maybe teemo (destiny) knows that him 'fighting his destiny at any cost' is just him cementing himself in his predetermined role of antagonist.

HE IS FIGHTING FOR HIS OWN AGENCY LIKE. HELP.

like high noon also has the same reoccurrance, of things happening to talon outside of his control and him struggling to deal with it. enduring blade: loses his POWERS? (irelia, chill) and suddenly being cast down to mortality. i thiiiiiiiink i've said this before but thematically across (most of) his skinlines talon has two major vibes:

struggles with control

themes of being pushed too far to the point that he doesn't care if the whole place burns down/anarchy. (withered rose and blood moon are two notable examples.)

if you pair this with the idea of him loving perfection and also the idea of 'the edge' you get a tragic portrayal of someone who is just pushed too far (edge) to the point where they snap. feast or famine, all or nothing. and i think that's SUPER interesting because when you look at like, his base/lore that stuff is very much under the surface/not as evident. (imo this is because he's just not at that breaking point yet in story.)

splendor opus is thematically very good because it covers both of his major vibes. it's kinda what i was missing from the stargazer skin. (my criticism was that it's a missed opportunity to put talon in a story about fates and futures without adding his struggle with them.) it also portrays him as a foe but sympathetically, which imo is 90% of the time how it should be. high noon was: yeah he's a devil but he's going through it. enduring blade was: yeah he's a prick but he's going through it. KATARINA COMIC was: yeah he tried to kill her but he's being manipulated. she even let him live like she knows this!!! AGH

as an added note, because this is peking opera themed, i havent ruled out the idea that this is all a stage play and that irl this isn't actually happening. but idk if that can be determined yet. unless i've missed smth, we'll have to see if anything else is revealed.

in summary: i personally rate this thematic VERY high tbh, though still under like, high noon at the very least. i wish the setting was more established but the lore/theming surrounding talon is quite excellent imo, even if his design leaves stuff to be desired.

ALSO, a note on splendor opus sett:

i like his skin a lot tbh! (mythic chroma not as much) and the model/animations are great ofc, but as a legendary skin released alongside another legendary skin this is definitely the lesser of the two. the voice lines are very nondescript and add little thematically compared to talon, and he only has 1 alternate pose? (and a different alt pose on his mythic chroma) so it seems like unequal quality? strange. i think they could've added a tiny bit of doubt to his bio, personally, because a lot of sett's theming is around fighting for those who need it, and talon kinda... needs it? (well, he doesn't need it, but he could USE it.) but this is once again dipping into my opinions on how sett's character is often reduced. though talon actually DOES have a voiceline with him where he calls him stupid, so maybe its something that clicks later for him.

that being said i still like his skin. i'll take what i can get.

if you read this whole stupid thing then thanks for humoring me lol. this is all just my personal opinions, if you wanna discuss feel free!!! yayyy talon

now i must draw them together....

also im not even rereading this so if there's mistakes ill uhhhhhhh fix them later.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A couple of replies about our anniversary drawing, and a couple of random twst ones.

Anonymous asked:

Happy 14th Anniversary, you two! 🥳🥳

Thank you very much, Anon!! 💕💕

tardigrade-misfit asked:

Oh wow! The murder mystery art is just… WOW

I love how its like one of those pictures where the longer you look the more you find. And is that a gun in Floyd’s pants?

Also, Lilia holding the meat cleaver and with that hairstyle is strangely hot?? I feel like I shouldn’t be looking… 🫣

And happy 14th anniversary!

Thank you so much for your kind words!! 💖💖

I’m very happy to hear that; we put a lot of effort into that one, so it’s amazing to hear that you can look at it for a while and discover new things that are hidden on it! There aren’t much, we couldn’t come up with anything super smart, but some of the elements ended up being quite sneaky lol

It is indeed a gun in Floyd’s pants :3c And I’m glad you like this sexy grandpa and his meat cleaver! Hehe.

In a way it’s a shame that their outfits ended up being hidden for the most part. Maybe I should draw them in this universe again at some point.

thestarlightfae asked:

Who did they kill? Did Ortho help?

This is a mystery for Idia to solve 🥰 All of them look so innocent though, including Ortho! Not a single suspicious bone in their bodies.

maximumalmonduniversitysports asked:

Is Night Raven representative of Twisted Wonderland as a whole? Like how their students act and interact with others?

Hmm, do you mean Twisted Wonderland as in the universe or as in the game? Regardless, I don’t think so 🤔 Depends on what you mean though.

There are all kinds of people in Twisted Wonderland, including Neige and the other boys from RSA, so the “good guys” are also a big part of Twisted Wonderland. So I guess not everyone is petty and annoying to each other lol

But then again, it’s not like NRC boys are only petty and annoying and nothing else: they are capable of all kinds of feelings and interactions, and are mostly viewed as “villains” by us the viewers/players because we know who they are inspired by… They can have their dark hints and moments and express negative emotions without the threat of being a “bad example” to the audience. It feels wonderful to have a piece of media like that.

Anonymous asked:

Would Meleanor be a top or a bottom? Or would she be the first switch in this franchise?

To be 100% certain we’d have to look at her first, buuuut I’m almost sure she’ll end up being a bottom mainly due to my own feelings for her lol Plus, due to her similarity to Malleus!

Anonymous asked:

Are you going to draw Crowley soon?

Depends on whether Crowley is going to make me want to draw him soon or not; or if someone from Ko-Fi requests him lol We rarely make plans like that, so if I draw Crowley sometime in the future, it’s probably going to be spontaneous.

I don’t mind drawing Crowley, I love his design, but I don’t have any plans for him right now.

[ardate]

For the end of the year ask game: 1, 2,3 4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25 :3c

3, 4 and 18 answered here! :]

1- Song of the year?

According to Spotify my most repeated song this year is Carpathian Forest's 'Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern'. I'm a tad surprised since I phased on em again relatively late this year but it's fair tbh I Did live on this one for a bit

2- Album of the year?

Urgehal's 'Goatcraft Torment' that I just been coming back to again n again this year. Been a while since I got into such a strong urgehal mood but it was nice,, wish I could see them again if only they hadn't split for good wahh

8- Game of the year?

I frankly have barely touched a game at all this year, in part due to Circumstances(tm) and in part due to just not being in the mood for it bhGBH I suppose by default I'll point at Monkey Island cuz it's the one and only game I've really properly started (re)playing this year, and I'd have def continued if I wasn't brainrotting about other things

9- Best month for you this year?

Kind of a bummer maybe but, September, when I finally was able to go home after more than 3 months of homelessness due to the fire 🫠 It was an immense relief to just,, be able to have my space again fhbfb

12- Talk about a new friend you made this year

The Goons, name for group of international friends I made (alongside @ Birb) at the beginning of this year,, Met em at the local bar during a concert w my two other english speaking friends and I was like "you guys aint french?? You're hanging out with us Now" and at the end of the night I was like "You guys are coming back next week so we can hang again (an order)" and well guess it didn't scare em off cuz they did stick around and we hang out regularly now. I love em to bits

13- How was your birthday this year?

Completely uneventful and unremarkable LMAO as it usually is tbf. I have somewhat of an odd relationship w my bday due to many reasons, but in this case I also had been at the bar literally the night before (with aforementioned Goons), had drank plenty, and realized it was my birthday by complete accident the next day. We all were too tired to hang out again after such a long evening the day before so I just went home to vegetate

15- What’s a bad habit you picked up this year?

Hmm good question, I don't think I picked up anything new, more like bad habits got exacerbated depending on situations. I think my RSD got worse this year, probably not helped w all the shit I've dealt with but still,, I wanna try and get it under better control again

19- What’re you excited about for next year?

Actually a bunch of things. Gonna celebrate our 30th birthday together w old friends which should be nice, and I might go to the US for a short while to visit a friend so should be nicies also,

20- What’s something you learned this year?

Too much about housing insurance 🫠

24- Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

Ngl i just don't do this shit hBGJB ofc all respect and fun to those who do, but making a to-do list of a lot of improvements just aint my thing. I'll change from day to day when I can and I feel like it

25- Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

Sniffs. Sniffles. Snif. 👉👈 Yeag. My Simpsons girlie Ann-Doreen my beloved failgirl with whom I have so so much fun,,, I don't dare share her around too much cuz wow the sentiment to bother everyone w it is strong but we ball and I love toyin with her still :')

[eccentric-nucleus]

so, i finally finished (posting) my huge, novel-length teenage mutant ninja turtles fanfic. i just posted the final epilogue over on ao3!

here is my director's commentary on it, if you want to read even more about it. this contains spoilers for the whole thing. maybe read the epilogue first and sit with that for a minute. also this will probably be pretty incoherent if you haven't read the whole thing. it's just a disconnected series of thoughts i have about the story, really

man, this story. this is maybe the longest thing i've ever written? like 'the new hive' and 'hell game' had more words (i think) but they were mostly a disconnected series of sex scenes with thin connective tissue between them. this is ~200k words of a single, linear, mostly-plot narrative. i'm writing scenes that aren't just about getting the two leads to fuck!! that's weird. it's definitely the most ambitious thing i've written. kind of weird that it's tmnt fanfic. that's just how it worked out, i guess.

so back in 2022 i watched the rise of the tmnt movie because people kept talking about the animation quality of the fights and that got me into a spiral of actually paying attention to the ninja turtles. i had never been into them & genuinely i think a huge part of getting into tmnt stuff was that rise actually varied the design of the turtles so that they weren't all basically identical save for color-coding. turns out visual design was the missing mystery ingredient.

also in 2022 i was burning out on writing 'goblin cave', when what i had intended to be a fun little writing exercise ended up getting algorithmically surfaced and getting me hundreds of comments on each chapter. that got a little stressful and i wasn't really enjoying that, so i stopped. but i was like, hmm you know i mostly just write weird porn but maybe i should write something a little more ambitious. with a plot, and everything. 'goblin cave' was (in my mind) all about a character who was created for violence deciding art was a much more worthwhile pursuit. but the main character of that doesn't know what art is. because it's a magical dungeon core. and i was still thinking a lot about dead zones of the imagination, by david graeber. so i was like, okay, let's do this again but in a slightly more self-authentic way and make it weird gay porn with weird animal dicks. let's give michelangelo ninjaturtle a monologue about how the powerful are utterly insulated from any consequence.

(also early on, after watching most of rottmnt, i stumbled across this blog post about the tmnt comics and the end of the world. that ended up being deeply influential on the fic too. i've been kinda in a state for the past few years and this fic is absolutely a part of me working through a lot of complicated feelings about the world and the future. lol people talk so much about people writing dark fic 'to cope' but this was pretty much the first time i've outsourced my emotional processing by having bad things happen to fictional characters.)

so uhhh where to start here. the setting of the fic is this complicated messy mashup of a half-dozen tmnt continuities. it's very rise-heavy, since... that was the only series i had watched(/read) when i had determined the major plot points, but there's a lot of bits and pieces from all over.

to roughly outline the characters here, a huge influence on mikey's personality in this is... mikey's 'dr delicate touch' persona in rottmnt. in the sense that... okay yes yes that is a kid's show and all of his dr delicate touch lines are, you know, setups and punchlines. you think he's going to be nice but actually he's mean! etc. but in-universe it's like, wait hold on a second. mikey is like the most emotionally-intelligent of the four. he absolutely knows when people are on the edge of flipping out and need a calming out to a stressful situation. and instead he freaks them out more! mikey's hobby is: being mean to his friends & family, for fun! what a fun character trait.

i was thinking about this tweet a lot, too. i read some writing advice once that people tend to make characters who are supposed to be likable too squeaky-clean. nothing but positive character traits for them! but actually every 'positive' character trait is exactly the same as a 'negative' one; it's just a matter of focus and degree. a character is light-hearted and comedic? they can never take things seriously, even when they really should. a character is willing to do anything to protect the people they love? so they're violent and threatening and scary if they happen to decide you're something that they need to protect against. etc. i was really dedicated in this to bringing out the worst characteristics of everybody's personalities.

mikey was also very deeply inspired by: all the garbage progression fantasy stuff i've been reading. i've complained about this several times on this very blog, but a constant theme in most progression fantasy is 1. the main character will constantly get more and more powerful and 2. the main character will never really have their relationship with the rest of the world changed via that power. it's just stat-ups. they just have higher stats so they're more powerful. mikey is the most powerful person on the planet and it's fucking ruining his life. he knows that there's nobody capable of actually checking his behavior, & he's in this constant state of thinking he's maybe a few bad days away from murdering half the planet and incredibly aware there's not really anything he can do about that aside from constantly worry. he's kind of an anxious mess.

mikey absolutely thinks it's more ethical to murder somebody out of the sheer glee of seeing people crushed before you than murdering somebody for something as tedious as mob orders. you're satisfying a deep, raw desire felt from the heart! that's good!

what he'd like to do, in some sense, is just hang out in his studio and chill with other artists, but he knows the world is not gonna let him do that. things will come up. a lot of his being a creepy bystander thing while people get murdered is b/c he's very much formulated his morality to be like... it is not his responsibility to fix other people's problems. other people will do what they want and that has no bearing on him. is that a pretty cowardly and self-serving morality? sure! but he was kinda designed to rule the world & his flinch away from that pretty much defines him as a character in this. that's kinda the morality he needed to end up on to convince himself not to be a genocide machine.

he's incredibly aware he could basically be a superhero, & all it would take is... giving up on all his hopes and dreams and constantly engage with his abilities. and being a superhero isn't that many steps removed from living up to his full design spec and just taking over the world and ruling as god-emperror. idk how well i hit all those notes in the actual fic, but, that's what i was going for. mikey as the narrator clearly doesn't want to talk or think about it so it's never really directly confronted.

raph is... okay so i guess a fairly common piece of fanon, for rise especially, is to characterise raph as having multiple personalities? whether that's him just having alters or him having full-blown MPD depends on the fic. my fun little nod to that is that he's kind of a disassociative mess. he has kind of failed to reconcile the disparate aspects of his personality and he switches between one of several different facades depending on the situation. also, you know. the trauma.

(i didn't really mean for it to be as such, but there is this theme in the story about names? despite everything else mikey has a crystal-clear self-conception of himself and has one name, which he gave himself. raph, who has kinda failed to build his own personality, has a collection of name other people have given him, none of which he feels actually fits him. donnie has a more fluid self-identity and also has roughly a million aliases and false identities & constantly slips in and out of character when it's convenient. leatherhead still going by the name mikey gave him goes hand-in-hand with that bit where mikey meanly thinks about how maybe leatherhead's entire self-conception is hung up on something mikey said to him once, etc. this is one of those things that i'd go back and make more present if i did go back and clean up the rough draft, b/c as it is it's there, but it doesn't really do a whole lot.)

--

this fic was inspired by... i had read a few big aus that were just like, taking the characters and loose bits of setting and going off in completely different directions. some of NeiNing's aus were a definite influence, plus like, this one au where raph is an ex-con mechanic, etc, etc. just like "i am going to play out a completely unrelated drama using turtles as the dolls". maybe most directly influential was Of Knights and Thieves, where donnie & mikey are corporate espionage hacker/thief types and raph & leo are do-gooder vigilantes. the original concept for this was much more heavily focused on the art forgery. in a very early draft the idea was leo would get involved much more actively in trying to track down the creator of the false takenobus. then i was like, "i am going to crash a completely separate story concept about the dark armor into the side of this art-forgery story". the filename for the story is still 'lol grindr hookup art thief'. that is not really where the story went.

oh man, the art stuff. i made some posts about this at the time! that are now several years old. here's one! i did end up getting a traditional woodcut printing of Tokaido 53 stations, no. 11, Hokone. in a lot of ways doing all the art research was more satisfying and fun than writing the extensive downward spiral that was the latter half of the fic. but, hey, that's life too i guess.

also raph in this is... okay, so, i don't mean this in a mean way. i really liked the fics! but cndrow has written several raph/donnie fics where raph is just like... like a repeated theme in them is raph confessing eternal love & talking about how he's like, mentally planning on them being together forever. on the first date. and sure sure everybody has different tastes; i'm absolutely sure that my interest in guys who are mean leads to some stories that are extremely offputting to some people, etc. but it's like, oh man, raph, please slow your roll a little. if somebody said they were planning our future wedding all of ten minutes into talking to me i would flee the room. & the raph in blinded by the summer sun is very much inspired by that. sadly, i never fully committed to that. originally i even had a line in chapter 9 where slash was like 'please tell me you didn't drop the 'i love you forever' on this guy already' to imply that that was, you know, a theme for raph, but i chickened out and cut it. raph as a kind of rolling series of bad relationships characterized by him falling forever in love w/ his latest crush until the relationship detonates and leaves him not really understanding how things went wrong. but i don't think that's expressed well like, at all. but that ideally should characterize a large part of why he keeps chasing after mikey even well after the point where it would be reasonable to disengage. also to convey some of the downsides of a character believing in true love. it's rough out there in the world.

also thank you tumblr user averyterrible for writing this goncharov post. that was the point in the story where i was like, actually i have been writing raph as way too much of a sad boy. if i want to play in the space of crime drama, there needs to be some crime! he's a yakuza assassin. he needs to chop off somebody's fingers with bolt cutters.

--

to me, the central question in the fic isn't really 'will the mikey/raph relationship work out' or 'will mikey succeed in his plans', it's 'why is mikey doing these things'. & i think the leatherhead chunks in chapter 23 finally give enough context to what's going on with mikey to let people answer that? like oh, mikey is a mess.

(lol the initial setup for the early chapters are supposed to give an audience response of like, "oh no, raph has some dangerous secrets" "oh no, raph is a violent yakuza murderer! i hope mikey is going to be okay interacting with raph" "...oh no, i hope raph is going to be okay interacting with mikey")

a lot of the story really is about how... mikey & raph's relationship is in a lot of ways very adolescent? they have not had a lot of prior experience with healthy relationships, and they're trying, but, uhhhhhhh. mikey likes to act like he's so cool and above-it-all and unaffected by things happening, but that's actually just b/c he doesn't really care about most things. when something happens that he genuinely doesn't like he immediately snaps and has a giant meltdown. (we see this once with raph, when mikey has a panic attack and throws up when raph blows him off wrt warning him of bishop, and once with donny about the armor, where mike immediately starts tantruming and threatening to kill himself. mikey is very bad at resolving conflict. he's kind of a brat, actually.)

like every character in this is in some way their worst self. they're all pretty awful people. but they're all also trying to... grapple with their place in the world and try to be better people. to even figure out what 'better' means. this is a story about how 'being a good person' is a constant struggle, not to 'do the right thing', but to even figure out what's 'right'. it's about picking yourself up again after a bad period and going, well, let's keep going. like mikey has a lot of traits but one that i, the author, actually think is fairly admirable is his ability to get back up and keep going after a really bad period. which is funny b/c characterwise that goes hand-in-hand with his callousness. just shrug off all the misery you caused other people, i guess! see above about positive/negative character traits.

(also uh there's another tmnt fic author whose work has a lot of... a Bad Guy is constructed/identified. then helpless children (or teens!) are rescued from him. then the bad guy is ruthlessly & violently murdered. sometimes onscreen, sometimes offscreen. and then it's nothing but chapter after chapter of people being happy and cutesy to each other. and like, i get it. but the, like, recurring theme there of the Bad Guy having done something fundamentally unforgivable that separates from all understanding & mercy, to which the only justice is a violent death, just strikes me as... simplistic. sometimes people do really awful things and part of grappling with that as an adult with an adult moral conceptualization is realizing that you gotta look past your initial reflex to punishment.

or like, mikey's whole childhood in this really fucked him up but a huge part of his identity is him having to form an identity from that. having to make the determination of which parts of him are 'him' and which parts were done to him. lol @ him aggressively and extensively rejecting everything about what draxum made him to do & then blithely being like 'we were engineered to eat humans anyway' as a defense for all the corpse-eating. mikey you just like eating people & have decided that part does align with your self-identity. mikey would really not appreciate anybody being like 'i'm sorry nobody saved you from that' b/c that (to him) would basically be the same as them saying they thought he was fundamentally, irreparably damaged & was going to be forever incapable of being anything other than what draxum made him to be. he wouldn't take it well.)

uhhh what else. i mean there's a lot. fun fact pretty much every time mikey gets mad at somebody else he's hugely projecting. even his pacifism is like... hmm maybe he should have killed draxum. a lot of his talk @ raph about splinter is secretly mikey relitigating his feelings about draxum. oh what's that mikey you think that splinter is only playing happy family b/c he's immortal and he has infinite time to spend humoring somebody's illusions but that when push comes to shove he'll drop all that? gee i wonder if that might apply to any dynamics in mikey's own life. lol at mikey being like "wow red your life is kind of a fucked-up nightmare of weird psychopaths playing like they're happy family" and then two chapters is like "hey come meet my family. we live in my genocidal dad's bombed-out lab and we're treating him like a weird racist grandpa". i kinda wanted something that would complicate mikey just being like "i am a pacifist now and i don't kill anybody"; mikey that's all well and good but like half his inner tension comes from not being sure if he should've left draxum alive. that's kinda the mirror to him debating whether or not actually killing leatherhead would've been better. (in a few years shelldon is gonna go through a period of not wanting to talk to any of them. mikey & donnie are better parents than draxum but that's such a low bar.)

(likewise at the end when mikey is like "this is raph's healthiest relationship so far!" to leo, like, this is more mikey projecting. really the raph/casey relationship was probably better for raph & casey, idk, who can say. but is mikey's relationship with raph the healthiest romantic interaction he's ever had? yes, absolutely. we don't get to see the mikey/leatherhead relationship really up-close and personal but it should be pretty clear that it was pretty awful for everybody involved. compared to that, the mikey/raph is absolutely mikey's healthiest relationship so far. just. low bars.)

lol i am a little concerned that mikey's tendency to monologue, & especially his whole political monologue near the end, will get people to think he's just acting as an author's soapbox. i mean, okay, the little author's note where i'm like "as always, mikey is a perfect role model and everybody should do what he does" was a fun little joke. but, oof, the number of fics i've read where the authors feel the need to loudly and repeatedly disclaim that This Story Contains Things The Author Does Not Condone In Real Life is pretty disheartening. way to have absolutely no faith in your audience. but likie, the part where mikey is pretty much flat-out like, "actually i think my moral framework is whatever is necessary to justify my actions" is meant to be pretty damning. maybe not of mikey specifically as a character, just of, you know. the whole world where that's a pretty common outlook among people with power.

--

lets talk about the rape. part of it is that it felt like it would be inauthentic to go through the entire story without mikey seriously violating one of raph's boundaries. part of it is that mikey here kinda has the trifecta of ASPD, ADHD, & bipolar, and the thing with that is it's very easy to just say that but a little more difficult to convey the personality traits involved. this isn't really something ever stated as such in the fic, aside from various people calling mikey crazy + raph calls him a sociopath once. it's kind of too didactic to just flatly state "and this is what's wrong with mikey!" imo. but. this is a story about violent people. imo you can't just gesture to a character with the background level of callousness for the genre and go "okay this is a clinical sign"; you kinda gotta do something more direct. 'wow mikey sure is CRAZY and WEIRD good thing it only shows itself as him being slightly mean to people'. no. mikey has done some pretty horrible things in the past and clearly isn't fully done with that.

(i did pretty much go straight down the list of symptoms there. impulsive, suicidal, aggressive, violent, risky sex, arrogant, limited empathy, no regard for other people or social norms, difficulty with relationships, arson, etc, etc, etc. but it's not like he's a 'realistic' portrayal here, since... i mean, he is a super-powered ninja. there's a level of 'superficial charm' here but we do get enough of mikey's interiority to be able to tell he's a total mess in a way that's not particularly constructed.)

also it's like. raph graphically tortures several people to death & i didn't really feel the need to disclaim that here. murder is usually seen as a lesser crime in fiction than rape. people love their violent blorbos but the second there's the implication of sexual violence people freak out. the usual line people say is that the threat of murder is a little more removed for most people than the threat of rape, which idk if i fully agree with. but part of it is also to draw a line between raph's violence and mikey's boundary violation. like mikey says, well, raph tried to non-consensually murder him a few times too.

anyway i don't think i really stuck the landing with that either, in part b/c raph's response to it. he's a little too pathetically accepting of things at the end instead of being angry + violent. that could use a rewrite or two.

--

honestly i'm kinda sick of this story now? which sucks a little, since i kept realizing things about the story all the way up to the very last moment of editing. if i had waited to post any of this until i was done with the first draft... well, it'd be a very different story if i went back and turned this rough draft into something more complete. i never really did manage to hit the character beats with raph i was hoping to. oh well. like, i still like it. but i can definitely see all of its weak points. i guess that's just part of the process of writing. it'd be worse if you wrote a giant novel and came out on the other side not more aware of your failings as an author.

i feel like raph isn't super well-realized in terms of character motivations. or... his relationships aren't shaded in as well as they could be. if i were redoing this whole thing i'd definitely include some chunks of raph pov just to lay out more concretely what he's doing & what his life is like when he's not in the same scene as mikey. i kinda included that raph+donny conversation at the very end just for jokes, but actually ending every chapter with a little section of non-mikey pov would've helped ground a lot of the characters. raph isn't super well-developed and leo is pretty much incoherent absent external familiarity with his character's deal. they're not conveyed super well, in part because, well, any time mikey is onscreen everybody is having to deal with mikey. it's a problem.

but something that absolutely could have worked as a secondary narrative to the story is the whole thing with raph working w/ the oroku. that was a bit of a late addition to the story. it's meant as a reference to, you know, all the times raphael ends up being compared to/assuming the mantle of the shredder in the comics. but as it is since we don't get any real looks into exactly what's going on in yakuza town when mikey's not around none of that got developed very well, imo.

--

it was very important to me that mikey not learn any lesson here. where things are at in the end are pretty much the exact same as where they were in the beginning. the bit in the pizza scene where he's like 'you guys get to live and i get a boyfriend' is very accurate. literally the only change in mikey's life through this entire thing is that at the end he is in a relationship w/ a guy who he can tell some of what his life is like to. not that it's a super healthy relationship, but it is there.

well, that, and also now he's maybe out of time. (uh, so the laughter at the very end of the epilogue is mikey realizing he's out of time. the whole epilogue really is about how he's got all these conflicting tensions of who-knows-what in his life, & then right in the middle of the tension it's like, whoops, the utrom aren't coming in 10 years or 20 years, they're coming now. and in a week you're gonna be getting some really pointed questions about how you know the utrom envoy. and in a few years, well, there's gonna be some planetary evacuation) like the whole story is about... anxiety. mikey feeling the weight of the future on him in every moment. actually seeing things collapse would be a relief; you'd get the release of all the potentiality collapsing into an actual problem. the moral of the story is you get what you get and in the end all mikey's actions, good or bad or otherwise, have bought him is nine more months of ignoring his problems.

anyway sorry to all the tmnt fans who were expecting a happy cheerful mikey/raph story. this is actually about the fundamental injustice of existence. whoops!

[valeriele3]

Hello hellooo~ How's your day? Hope It's been good!

I see that you write for Enstars?

I've read the rules so here I am..! If what I'm about to request though violates a rule whatsoever please ignore/delete this request

If it doesn't bother you too much..Can I please request a yandere or self-aware (Or maybe both yandere and self-aware combined?) Ritsu Sakuma x Reader?

~Sincerely, Ritsu simp Rin <3

Ritsu Sakuma x GN!Reader

Warnings: Yandere, ooc, mention of harm that can be inflicted physically or mentally and mentions of a nasty co-worker

Summary: Ritsu’s jealousy and anger got the best of him

Hi hiii~ Don’t worry as you didn’t violate a rule and the self-aware/Yandere isss part of what I accept soo it’s alright

Also this may or may not have some things that happened to me in-game cough cough the start cough cough

I apologize for the ooc and hope you enjoy this <3

Btw..Important A/N in the end and apologies in advance for the massive cringe that’ll bring you back to 2018 or smth

“I swear if they do the La Mort event next..”

“Sigh..It’s because of that Limited Chiaki and the current collab that I lost my savings..”

“My poor beloved Ritsu..I’m so so sorry”

In the screen Ritsu seems to be asleep but in reality..Ritsu is awake

Ritsu was and still is listening to his beloved darling go on about how they lost their saving

Ritsu looks calm and peaceful on the screen but inside he is fuming with anger, annoyance, and jealousy

‘Tch..Those diamonds were meant for ME and ME only..! It isn’t fair! They used up everything in the Antique’s Fair event too..What’s so great about those two? They already have my cards, isn’t that enough?!’

‘But..At least they didn’t pull in that bastards fc’

‘No matter. They’ll be in my arms and mine alone soon’

‘Just wait for me darling. I’ll come get you soon’

“The heck? Why’d Ritsu laugh out of no where lmao”

‘Oops’

“Hmm..Judging from the line of events in the JP one the La Mort event is still super far off..The one with Little Romance will even come first..”

“WAIT NO! FUCK! THE ART OF RITSU IN THAT IS ONE THAT A 5 STAR CARD HAS FUCK FUCK FUCK IM SO FUCKED! MY BELOVED IM SO SO SORRY!!”

‘Sigh..They’re panicking again. But, I’m glad that’s how much they love and care about me..’

‘Maybe we really are meant to be..No, we are meant to be’

‘Maybe I should..’

“Eh? HappyEle you are the absolute best! Ehehehheeheh another free 10 scouts for me~!”

“ ‘Due to some issues with [KNIGHTS] Ritsu Sakuma’s voice lines we have issued out free 10x Idol Jewel (Ritsu Sakuma). We apologize for any inconvenience’ Sweet! And ten too!”

‘Do you like my gifts darling? Hopefully you won’t find it too suspicious if I were to send in some more’

Ritsu says to himself as he watches you peacefully sleep after a long day of work

“Looking at your face calms me down..I swear, I hate that guy so much! Can’t he see no one likes him? Everyone in the office avoids that bastard yet he still can’t see it. He’s so lucky he’s my superior, if not I would’ve punched him so many times already”

‘This person again..I swear I’ll kill him.’

‘How DARE he touch what’s mine’

‘That’s it. Tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow, I simply can’t wait anymore’

“Another day, another grind”

“Hm? Is Ritsu glitching? Love? You okay?”

“I’m alright, Darling”

“Huh? Wha—”

Soo..Yeah..I got lazy..Please take this cringe Yandere Ritsu (ㆀ˘･з･˘)

.

.

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Important A/N: I KNOW THAT’S YOU! You can’t hide yourself from me “Rin”. Don’t you “I see you write for Enstars?” Me, you know I do (⌒▽⌒) Also pls give me back my Ritsu keychain

[matchatransistor]

Post-Exam Destress

I haven't officially posted my writing in while but uhhh...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I may post this on AO3 in my collection of short stories about these two :)

Boomer preemptively flinches as he clicks the submit and then subsequently exhales a relieved sigh. Holy shit he passed... Actually, he passed the homework. The rest of the class was still up in the air. He really shouldn’t have put off doing biology II. It was straight memorization. He hated it. At least physics and calculus were fun. Hell, even chemistry. And then then compared to his art specific courses? He could barely bring himself to open the biology pdf. Well, since his homework is done for now—he can relax a bit. His eyes flicker to the time on his computer. 5:40 pm. Buttercup’s class should be over by now.

*ding, ding*

He instinctively goes for his phone, and smiles. Right on time.

u still in the library?

Yup!

cool. almost there

Sure enough, the brunette soon walks through the automatic double doors of the library. A scowl, he notes, firm on her face. She drops her backpack on the floor and plops next him in the booth. “Hey, Booms.”

“Uh, hey, Butters! How was the exam?”

She narrows her emerald orbs and rests her forehead on the table. “I failed. I already know it.”

“No, you didn’t! I’m sure you did fine,” he encourages.

“Dude, there was almost no statistics, and he spent most of the time on that!” She briskly faces him, her cheek on the wooden surface. “Do you know what acroposthitis is? Because I sure as hell don’t.”

“Acro-what?”

“That’s what I said.”

The blond gives her a sympathetic smile and rubs her back. “Okay, but I know you, I’m sure you figured out enough for you to pass.”

Her mouth opens to say more, but instead, her gaze falls to the floor. “... Thanks. How about you? Bio going any better?”

He screws his face in contemplation. He’s managed to pull himself out of the danger zone. “I think so, but it’s still hella boring.”

“It’s biology,” she replies matter-of-factly and pats his knee. “Glad one of us is doing okay at least.”  

Boomer continues to rub her back. “Hey, it’ll be okay! We got this, and if we fail, we fail together.”

“... That doesn’t sound as sweet as you think,” Buttercup remarks, forehead now resting on her forearm.

The blond thinks over what he just said. She’s got a point. Either way, he knows her. She’s definitely not going to fail. From what she’s told him, this is the only class she’s been frustrated with this semester. Per her grumblings, it seems the issue is more her professor and not the actual subject matter. The art major is sure she gets the material fine. He peers down at her. He just wishes she would know that; she doesn’t work best when she’s stressed. Maybe he can take her mind off this crisis for a little while.

“What are we gonna do for our next date?”

She lifts her head up to look at him. “Huh?”

“Our date,” he repeats with a light chuckle. “What do you wanna do?”

“Hmm,” her onyx brows furrow as she ponders. He smiles. He always found that cute. “How about we hit up the arcade?”

“Again? That’d be three times in a row.”

“Please,” she scoffs. “Like you didn’t have fun?”

“I definitely didn’t say that...” He smirks at her with half-lidded eyes, remembering them sneaking off during their last game of laser tag.

Catching his insinuation, her cheeks flush and her gaze flits away. “Uh, well... you have any better ideas?”

The art major folds his arms and leans back against the booth. For some reason, he wants to go out-out. They’ve been dating for a little over a year and usually default to home visits—they love to relax and chill, but he wants to shake things up a little. With something other than the arcade, but something they could do—just the two of them. A catharsis to get rid of her post-exam worries. ‘Hm...’ No rock or metal bands are performing this upcoming weekend. Nothing of note going on downtown... He beams. He’s got it.

“Let’s do karaoke!”

She snaps up from her reclining position. “What?! I don’t sing.”

“Liar! I bet you’re an amazing singer.”

The dark-clad woman rolls her eyes. “And you know because...?” She trails off, with a sarcastic wave of her hand.

“Because you have a great voice. I love hearing you talk,” he sincerely explains.

Her eyes dart away, and she brushes her hair behind her ear. “That’s... u-um... Well, people can sound totally different when they sing! I could be totally tone-deaf.”

He laughs. “But you’re not.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see on Friday.”

Chartreuse eyes flash back to him. “I never agreed to go.”

“Aw, c’mon! It’ll be fun!”

“Booms-”

“Please~,” he drags out and utilizes his notorious puppy dog eyes. He knows she’ll have a great time. “I’ll pick out the perfect playlist and everything.”

The criminal science major groans. “Shit, okay.”

“Yes,” he cheers and raptures her in a hug. “You’re gonna love it. Trust me.”

She side-eyes him, but then sighs with a soft smile. “I better or I’ll kick your ass.”

“Sounds kinky.”

“Oh, my-! Shut up!” she laughs, pushing him away.

[goldenteaset]

What would you say was your favorite event of the year?

Thanks anon! I'm glad to say it's a tough one this year. :D

In a category of its own: Heart of the Sun, because its themes kept popping up in every single event this year, it was great: Grief, the high cost of attaining power, loneliness, what "love" is and how it can be used against you... I really like the cool ways they changed up the presentation of things, too, like POV shots or depth of field.

After that, though...man, this was a great year for story events. I'm actually struggling to choose! The Last Sumo Warrior made me appreciate sumo for the storied martial art it is, The Dark Singularity was both fun and heartfelt (aka a summer event besides The Maydays and Sincerely, Your Dearest Friend that I actually liked), Our Style and Our Substance gave me all the fashion worldbuilding my id could want and Lamouralla aka The Princess of Fashion and Carbonara, Monscian was just straight up exciting and tense, BTTP made me literally laugh out loud...

But the two that are neck-and-neck for me are Lone Wolf's Passing, What Reeks and Burns and The Lion Stirs. Under the cut because I went feral again! XD;

WRaB is an absolute winner of "a mystery/being in the head of a character who's going insane" combo that immediately hooked me once I realized what was happening. The only downside is that I can't say much about it without giving the game away. ^^; If the other two I mentioned didn't exist, this one would win hands down. It's also not tied to any previous event stories, per se, so it's a good intro to what GBF can offer, I think.

Lone Wolf's Passing is similar in that regard. Sevastien was already interesting as a character (he runs a spy ring that also operates as a soup kitchen, how could I not like him), but with his backstory revealed he got even better. The romance between him and his wife was so good I genuinely forgot about her having already passed away and was horrified by how that happened. Speaking of, I may not have enjoyed the antagonist, per se (especially after WRaB's), but he got the job done and was very enjoyable to smack around. XD; Also, Bridgette and Cordelia got to be relevant again!

And then there's The Lion Stirs, which made me go absolutely feral and still does, oh my god. Oh my god. I don't like to call myself a "Dragon Knights fan" even though I do like them a lot, because really I'm a fan of Vane, Arthur, Mordred and Merlin, and the storyline surrounding them. So of course the one that's basically The Hibergrief Kingdom Variety Hour is the one I love the most. I started losing my mind when horse SFX of all things started up and pretty much didn't stop the whole way through. XD; Vane got to be serious! Sir Kay is finally here, and a really great take on him to boot!

And Merlin! Merlin oh you miserable catboy you were everything I wanted and so much more. I'm beyond excited for more of him and Mordred together, they're going to be either a force to be reckoned with or the most miserable people in Wales, and either way it'll be SO MUCH fun.

...Actually, maybe Our Style and Our Substance should be higher? I keep going back and forth on that. Hmm. Anyway, those are my favorites for this year! :D

[tarot-by-e11e]

Heyy! How are you? 😊 I'd like to participate in the Home tarot game please! I'm Karishma and there's so many cool features I'd like for my dream home!

TL;DR

1. First, I need security because my home is gonna have a lot of features! I want my own pool, a library, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a large kitchen with marble counter tops and maybe an island in it too! I also would like a music studio, a study room/office, a large bedroom with the biggest bed I can find lol 🤭 I'm not sure an Alaskan bed will be big enough 😂 I really really always wanted a spiral staircase 😍 ooh! And a tiny room under the stairwell! And a huge yard/acres of space for my cats and future pets 🤩 Maybe also a huge room filled with cat toys and cat trees as well. Oh, and a catio too! I would love a wardrobe filled with tons of pretty clothes and shoes, and I'd never struggle to afford clothing ever again. I would love the closet that Miley had in Hannah Montana. That was every girl's dream back in the day 😂 I wanna furnish my home with lots of pretty art and paintings and have plants too! Ooh! And a garden as well!!! I know these aren't part of the actual home, but I'd like private chefs and butlers and maids! What else am I missing? 😂 Hmm... I'd like an attic as well and put some comfy beds up there and make it cozy! And of course, it should come with a ceiling window! I've seen this on social media and I fell in love with the idea 😍 To be even more grand (lol sorry 😂) I'll have a smaller house as well so I can be cozy one day and feel luxurious the next day! It'll depend on my mood lol. An underground tunnel or a secret passageway is ideal too 🤩 why not right?!

2. For my ideal self care routine, I'd of course keep up with my basic hygiene, but also style my hair whenever I want to. I'd dress up in my prettiest or comfiest clothes and wear pretty jewelery if I'm in the mood. I'd use all my favorite lotions and perfumes. I'd get manicures and pedicures any time I want to ^-^ I'd buy all my favorite things if money wasn't an issue. There's this plushie at my local tea house that I've been eyeing but it's so expensive ugh 😭 27 dollars!!! Wth?! Oh yeah, speaking of tea houses, I'd love to go get boba tea and eat some yummy food, then play video games, read comics, and hang out with my friends. I'd also love to cuddle with my cats!! The oldest one doesn't like to cuddle lmao XD so, that would be nice if he did cuddle with me. Also, I'd love to sing and dance to my favorite songs without anyone watching and hearing me hahaha. I get embarrassed too easily 😂 I'd also do some arts and crafts as well! Ooh, and go sightseeing!

Okay, let me shut up, I'll just keep on rambling LMAO. If you've made it this far, thank you so much!! Love you ^-^ ♥♉

Hi Karishma,

Thank you so much for participating in my Home ask game.

First of all, I love how you know exactly what you want and need if money isn't an issue! Mad respect for the thorough breakdown of your ideal house, backed by your preference's explanation!

Now your ideal self-care is nothing short of detailed and intentionally curate to your needs and wants! But seriously, Money is not an issue in this question! So get that plushie!!

OMG cats!!!!!! Oh no the oldest cat might like, "mooooommm, I'm not a baby cat anymore!! shttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapppp!!"

So the cards I pulled are: Page of Swords, Fool, 9 of Swords

So what I love about how much this card makes sense in your reading is that you're meant to keep being inspired, explore, and stay curious to be at home in your body and life. What this means is that you are encouraged to keep moving forward, keep getting better, keep shining, and keep learning. Basically, you're allergic to stagnancy.

This can be interpreted in many ways. You can start a new work out routine. Travel more. Go back to school. Sign up for dance classes and other workshops. Collaborate with like-minded individuals in your industry, etc. It really depends on what catches your fancy and your goals in life.

And the Fool card just loves to back up the Page of Swords in your reading. Literally put yourself out into the world, explore new horizons, meet new people, make friends online and abroad! Literally get out of your pajamas, pack your bags and book the next flight out your country. If international travel is too pricey, start road trips locally.

Finally, it feels like you want to break free from 9 of Swords: fear, anxiety, heck, I heard limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging tendencies. You're encouraged to find ways to break free from the aforementioned. Now this one is needs every possible delicacy to suggest. Find the method that works for you. What method that works for others may not work for you and vice versa.

So in this last card, to be at home in your own body and life, you are highly supported by your guides to approach this as an exploration of finding yourself. It seems vague, because it's not meant to be something that I would suggest to you in a practical manner. The task and responsibility on your journey lies in your shoulders.

So dear, don't beat yourself up if one method doesn't work, just keep researching and trying out new ways to be at home in your body that actually works for you and your current lifestyle. It doesn't have to be grand and expensive, it needs only to make sense to you.

This concludes the end of your reading. Do let me know how this resonates with you. Feel free to show some support via my Buy Me A Coffee here (This reading is for entertainment purposes only.)