#honestly he probably believed a lot more weird shit i just never got around to learning about

[bittsandpieces]

How much of a conspiracy theorist? Like...we live under a dome, lizard people, etc. How deep does the rabbit hole go?

He believed in "star children", which is the idea that some people are actually not human, but instead are the souls of celestial beings that choose to come to earth to help other people. He believed *he* was a star child.

He also believed the government was regularly conducting experiments on us via medicine

We dated in late 2021. You might be able to see where this is going. I had only found out about his more... unusual beliefs like a week earlier, and hadn't decided what to do about it. I ended up with the opportunity to get the covid vaccine at the same time as my mom even though it wasn't open to my age group yet, because our local clinic had so much extra that they just wanted to vaccinate as many people as possible. I had to cancel my next date with him to get the vaccine, he got VERY weird about it when I told him why I was canceling. Called me the next day to try to talk me out of it, because he firmly believed that covid was A: invented by China, B: was not real (don't ask me how those two make sense together), and C: that the covid vaccine was actually the US government mass editing our DNA.

So, for obvious reasons, I told him he was an idiot and blocked his phone number

[ebony-blood]

OH MY GOODNESSS I was wondering, if you can pretty please do a lost boys X reader (poly if your comfortable with it) but she’s a wallflower? Like maybe she moved to Santa Carla and she’s bullied? Maybe a sprinkle of insecurity but ends up meeting the lost boys at the boardwalk and they just. Can’t. Leave. Her. Alone? She’s their mate and she’s so flustered cause the HOTTEST guys she’s ever seen are paying attention to her? Pretty pretty please?🥹🥹🥹 I’ll love you forever

Poly! The Lost Boys x Shy! Fem! Reader

Author's notes!: I had to look up what 'Wallflower' means lol, for those who don't know, a Wallflower is basically someone who kinda hangs back during parties because they are too shy. TW: READER IS FEM!! Bullying, mentioned violence, vampire stuff, the boys being obsessed right from the start. I tried so hard not to describe Reader in this, I try to be as inclusive as I can, but if anything is mentioned it's because I'm tired lol, I'll fix it, just bring it up in the comments and I'll track it down o7. This probably sucks, I'm sorry.

You had moved to Santa Carla looking for a fresh start a few weeks ago. You weren't used to the weird styles, the smell of weed and gas that seemed to constantly cover the streets, the loud boardwalk parties, none of it. So naturally, you kept to yourself, hanging back during parties and avoiding eye contact, unfortuantely, Santa Carla was not a place people like you, shy wallflowers, were treated right. 

Some people ignored you at best, they’d glare at you when you waved or smiled at them, they’d ignore you if you asked questions, they avoided you. But a lot of people were downright cruel to you. They mocked you at parties, some openly tried to take things from you or would push you around. People were never openly violent with you, at first, but after a few weeks they started getting more violent, pushing you around and screaming in your face. It was mostly the people who were either on drugs or drunk. It was mostly the men and their girlfriends who were openly hostile and mean to you. You wished you’d never moved to this place, it was gross, the people were indifferent at best and downright cruel at worst, and you missed people you knew in your past. You wish you weren’t like you were, so quiet and shy. Hell, it had been years since you could look in the mirror and see someone you didn’t view as hideous looking back at you, but Santa Carla made it so much worse.

It was yet another late night in Santa Carla. Another night of wandering the boardwalk while you tried to avoid the harassment you got from people. You weren’t surprised every time you were shoved aside, or shouted at by a familiar group. Honestly, you didn’t wanna deal with that tonight, you wanted to walk around, maybe go see whoever was playing a show that night and see if they were actually good, and then head back to your apartment, but it seemed whatever form of fate you believed in had a different idea, because the group just wouldn’t leave you alone, shouting random shit, from ‘Weirdo’ to one girl just straight up calling you ugly. You were fighting back tears.Why the hell were people so needlessly cruel? Whatever, it’s nothing new. 

You stopped by some area where people on the beach park their bikes. You took the biggest breath you possibly could when you realized your tormenters weren’t following you anymore, so you could finally breath. 

That was until you heard voices, four guys, you guessed. You looked in their direction and, for the first time since moving to Santa Carla, you got that butterfly feeling in your gut. That wasn’t a thing you had felt since high school. You swore the bullies you faced then laughed the feeling out of you, but these four seemed to knock the breath you had just taken out of you. Damn, they were hot. Three of the four men were blonde, one had curly hair, one had fluffy hair, and the third guy had a haircut that kind of reminded you of Billy Idol, he was smoking a cigarette. And then there was the one that seemed to be trailing behind, observing people around them while the other three, mostly the ones with curly hair and fluffy hair, laughed and joked. The fourth guy had long, dark brown hair. You stared for a minute longer before snapping yourself out of whatever daze you had been in. 

They had stopped walking, they were staring right at you, and you immediately prepared your apology in your head. Quietly standing up, and then one of the four, the fluffy-haired one, said something you assumed wasn’t meant to be said out loud.

“Holy shit, Marko, she’s hot.” 

You looked over at the four, confused, the man was immediately smacked across the back of the head by the one with the cigarette.

“Don’t say shit like that out loud, dumbass.”

You were staring at the four, your face suddenly warming up at the idea that they were talking about you. You figured it was a stupid thought, there were other hot girls around the boardwalk, why would any of these four think you were hot? Then, the one with the cigarette cleared his throat.

“Sorry about that, doll. Paul can’t seem to keep his mouth shut around pretty girls.” He said, glaring back at the one with fluffy hair, you assumed he was Paul.

The one with curly hair snickered a bit and looked over at Paul, before the one with the cigarette spoke up again, he quickly shut up then.

“I’m David, The guy behind me is Dwayne, and those two are Paul and Marko.” He said

You nodded softly, even their names were hot, what the hell? David and the other three were staring at you with a confusing amount of attention. 

Paul had an almost immediately obsessed or enamored look in his eyes, like you were just the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, Marko also looked absolutely in love with you already, both had the same look in their eyes, the other two, Dwayne and David didn’t seem in love, if they were, they were hiding it well enough. 

“So, where ya off to, sweets?” Paul said, giving you a soft grin.

“Oh, I was about to head home,” You reply, and they all suddenly seem to perk up a bit.

“Oh, really? Well, maybe, instead of that, you could come and hang out with me and the guys?” David asked, motioning to their bikes. 

Something about these four felt…supernatural. They carried themselves with such confidence, and something unseen seemed to be pulling you to them. You thought for a minute. Was it a good idea? Maybe not. It felt too good to be true, four hot boys, paying attention to you? They stared, waiting for your answer. Against your better judgment, you made your choice.

“Sure, I don’t see why I couldn’t.” 

Paul and Marko got visibly excited. Paul grabbed your hand quickly and led you over to their bikes, the other three following behind him, laughing at Paul’s excitement. You were carefully put on the back of one of their bikes and David got on in front of you, looking back at you when you wrap your arms around him.

“Hold on tight, alright?” 

You could only nod before the four sped off, David following behind the more rambunctious two, with Dwayne behind him. 

At the time you didn’t know it, but come the end of the next week, you’d be theirs, and you’d have no complaints about it.

This got so long lol.

Sorry it ended like it did, it's 4 am here and I'd dying.

more coming tomorrow <333

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

if tom got the DADA job what would he have been like as a teacher? would dumbledore have tried to watch him/get him fired?

Tom's Not Getting the Job

Well, you answered it, anon, Tom was never getting that job.

That's the whole thing.

The first time he tries, he's only eighteen and very unqualified for the position. Dippet said no and... Dumbledore strongly implies that he put in a very strong word against Tom being hired. I'm not sure Tom would have been hired anyway, he was only eighteen and had no credentials and we're told canonically that Hogwarts teaching is a very prestigious position and they do not typically hire you straight out of school, but regardless Dumbledore did actively put in word against him which meant it probably wouldn't have happened.

Then some years later after Tom's gone abroad, Tom comes back for the interview with Dumbledore and the interview is just Dumbledore laughing at him and telling him he's an idiot for thinking he'd ever get this job and Dumbledore would never ever hire him.

So long as Dumbledore's around, Tom's not getting the job. Tom also either didn't have the connections with the Board of Governors or the Ministry/was too proud to use them to get himself that job (I'm inclined to believe the latter but technically we don't know for certain).

Tom was never getting that job.

Dumbledore wouldn't sit around waiting for him to get fired, because he already did it, he fired Tom by never hiring him. It's done. It ain't happening and the only way it would happen is if someone went completely over Dumbledore's head and there was nothing he could do about it.

Tom the Teacher

Well, he'd be in the staff meetings from hell (does Hogwarts even have staff meetings?) where every time they meet it's Dumbledore saying something weird about him regardless of whether or not he's up to shit.

I imagine Dumbledore would do everything in his power to give Tom as little authority as possible and make sure rumor's good and spread around the students that Tom sucks.

Given Tom probably isn't telling the world he's a half-blood here or the Heir of Slytherin, as he didn't seem to canonically until he came out as Voldemort/that's not a great thing to do when the Chamber of Secrets is right there and he was at the school at the time when that happened, that means the Purebloods don't like him but you also have Dumbledore's camp not liking Tom on top of that because Dumbledore doesn't like Tom.

(Now, if Tom's not becoming Voldemort, Dumbledore might not have quite the same following he does by the time we reach canon, as most of those people were involved in the conflict with Voldemort/that's what's most present in cultural memory in Harry Potter, but I imagine he's still very influential for the same reason he was such a lightning rod for the resistance movement in HP against Voldemort.)

Honestly? I see Tom being a relatively ordinary Hogwarts professor, he's probably a lot better than all of the DADA professors Harry had, maybe even most of his professors period, but he still has to deal with kids who don't want to learn and a system of magic people don't understand. Magic in Harry Potter is just memorizing spells, not how they work, and so the better wizards and witches are just those who memorize more spells faster. Tom can't make the kids who do this well do it any better than any other professor and he can't make the kids who don't do it well suddenly do it better.

It's also very out of scope to discuss how magic even works and start doing something interesting with it when it's something the wizarding world just doesn't discuss or deal with at all and will just confuse most of the students (even up to seventeen) that he'd be dealing with.

I imagine Tom hates putting up with Dumbledore and is just waiting for the man to retire or die.

[menlove]

wait curious about your thoughts on this. i genuinely dont believe the paul john reconciliation thing that paul pushes in every interview (abt the bread phone call etc) like im sure they had that conversation and maybe that was a nice memory but theres a paul late november 1980 interview (good morning america i think?) where the interviewer is like “john said you died creatively etc” and then paul gets very awkward and said he just keeps quiet publicly or else john will get resentful and that he doesnt know why john does that. its literally like two weeks before john died idk im like a mclennon ended on bad terms truther and i genuinely believe pauls batshit behavior the last 40 years is the result of him feeling bad about everything

I think I'm at a bit of a middle road with it! because there's certainly that (although what john actually said in that interview was meant differently and seemingly misconstrued to paul to try and start drama, although it sadly says a lot that paul sort of just expected that sort of thing by that point) & I do think that their relationship by 1980 was a lot more complicated than paul has wanted to talk about (for good reason). I wanna say there's a few interviews where he even says that, like it was difficult to come to terms with his feelings on everything with john bc suddenly he was Dead you know?

but I do think them reconciling and being friends again wouldn't necessarily negate that. there was a lot of baggage between them at that point & it would be very easy for the two of them to be Wary of each other even if they WERE on good terms and calling more often. which would just make paul's reaction to "john said you died creatively" even more of a blow for him like "what the hell, we're on good terms now, why is he STILL saying this shit?" and given that it was misconstrued and I wanna say not even a PUBLISHED interview yet, he really had nothing to go on except being ambushed by that question

plus there's the fact that they apparently had a recording studio booked for '81 and john was set to come back to england to record with him. and ofc (just like) starting over in general, though that depends on how much you believe that was for paul

honestly I think john died while they were on confusing terms. not really a Great place but also not on bad terms either. sort of a "yeah okay, we've made up, we're trying, maybe we'll get together and record, now what?" sort of place. especially given a lot anecdotes that yoko was fielding calls from paul & requests to come see john. I think they both Wanted to make up, but life was in the way. so they got phone calls about bread. but paul was obviously still wary and hurt/confused by john's back and forth behavior. I think there's some other quote somewhere from paul about how he never knew what he'd be picking the phone up to. on john's end, he probably WAS hopeful and fully intent on recording with him in the next year and, ya know, starting over. for paul, he probably didn't know if he could hold him to that or even hold him to being nice the next time they talked.

but ya know, 40+ years down the line, it's probably a bit easier to cling onto the good moments and not the confusion around where they stood at the end. lots of time for reflection on how john must have been feeling & coming to the conclusion that they WERE on track to being okay again. I think at the Time paul was probably just rightfully very cautious & that had to be a weird feeling to deal with after any future plans were killed with john

[weebsinstash]

Babe! A new Helluva Boss episode just dropped! And Ozzie and Fizz are just so goddamn cute! 😍😭 and Ozzie is such a sweetheart! (I hope he’s genuinely such a softie and not playing an act, we need more softie demons).

Can we please talk about Yandere! Ozzie again? Pretty please with a shit ton of sprinkles on top? 🥺

Bestie thank youuuu I watched that shit immediately and I have so many thoughts

This episode actually shows a big reason why I haven't really published a lot for like, Ozzie or Valentino in terms of actual fics because, my take on Ozzie's personality based purely off his debut appearance would've been a lot more different and now we see that, bro he's, suave yeah, but also, a huge green flag lovable cinnamon roll dork??? Valentino, we only have seen so much of. To be honest the way he's been presented seems to sway from "scary as fuck during gangster business stuff" to "he's kind of a ratchet ho, actually" and I'm not, entirely super confident writing stuff for him because like, I'm more of, assuming? I can't, analyze his character like I can for other characters with more material out for them.

For real though, my current stance on this matter is: Asmodeus, you could go to him and ask for his knowledge and advice on like genuine issues or things you're curious or concerned about like, legit you could sit down and have STD talks with this man ("h-hey Ozzie is it normal to have xyz on my you know what" "oh honey yes that's just like a blood blister from friction you're fine" "oh my god ok good because I was worried it was cancer" "HONEY NO 😩") meanwhile fucking Valentino over here would be like "bitch why you got cellulite" and like make backhanded comments like, oh maybe he could reward you with a boob job instead of your next paycheck (as in like, cosmetic surgery 💀 you know I've thought about that? Yan Valentino who's crazy for ya but, not crazy enough to not make certain, tweaks to your actual body. Maybe he dyes your hair or has it styled a specific way and basically refuses to let you do whatever you want with it. Gets your boobs or ass done. Makes you get fillers/botox for any wrinkles/static lines. Controlling your wardrobe is a must. You're like his little.... pursedog)

(That being said though. I'd still let him hit 😩 reader who gets drunk and fucks around and finds out--)

Anyways though, over here in our corner we believe in unapologetic self indulgence and I still believe a Reader who has magical abilities or powers and whatnot and can travel the rings through whatever convoluted means is a fun time. So. We're gonna do that! I mean. Asmodeus honestly seems chill enough that even if you like, somehow crashed into his club, as long as you were polite and respectful, he'd be chill with letting your hang around, maybe even getting a kick out of teasing you (but never pushing anything too far unless you show interest, and if you show any discomfort or trauma he backs off to re-strategize). I imagine his club would actually be pretty fun? Drinks, live music, although, kind of makes me wonder, how openly horny is this place? Probably not like "coochie in your face" like working for Valentino, so, Reader could even be all "honestly this is such a much more safe welcoming environment to engage in like sexuality" and Ozzie hears this and its like, dude. You might as well have just struck him through the heart with cupids own arrow, but, also, he's curious, what other places have you been?

I'm kind of convinced that if a little imp cunt like Crimson thinks he has the balls to stand up against Ozzie, hostage or not, I kinda feel like. Valentino would probably openly treat Asmodeus like shit. He'd probably be a catty fucking bitch to him. He probably looks at Ozzie as like, a diet coke version of himself, a version who has so much power but doesn't go far enough, and probably scoffs at Asmodeus' romantic attachment (even though Val has some weird on-off thing with Vox himself). Valentino doesn't give two fucks about consent and would probably openly mock Ozzie'e values

Or. They could be big business partners because, maybe there's some sort of inter-Ring porn trafficking pipeline or something, smuggling the good shit up from Lust and trading it with stuff from Sinners, who have more visual variety besides other perks etc

But just picture, Asmodeus and Fizz are, minding their own biz, at the club, chilling, listening to music, eating food vaguely shaped like clocks, and Ozzie's cell rings, and they're both like "aw I bet Reader's calling to say they're having fun at that party or whatever" but they answer it and you're like, hiding in the bathroom or a closet or something, crying, whispering under your breath "d-do you still have a place for me to stay like you said before 🥺 Valentino is really, REALLY drunk tonight and he's really scaring me, he grabbed me and--"

They're both at your exact location in like less than 5 minutes and maybe have to play it off, Ozzie distracting Val while Fizz steals you away, or, juicier, like. Imagine Val snatching your phone from your hand, going through your messages, "who the fuck have you been talking to?" And he pulls like the classic abusive boyfriend move and when he sees you're in frequent contact with someone named "Ozzie" he calls him from your phone and as soon as a male voice picks up, they're both going at it "bitch who the fuck are you?" "Bitch who the fuck are YOU?" "Why you got my baby's number?" "Why do YOU have MY baby's PHONE???" "I'm about to HAVE my foot up your ass, you--" like, you know what I mean? Asmodeus is rolling up and these two are all but butting heads with each other as you have to awkwardly explain how you know both of them and of course, suddenly there's a not quite comfortable conversation about which one of them you... "belong to", neither of them wanting to leave you with the other (although I imagine in a physical fight Asmodeus would win but Valentino would have homefield advantage involving his security dudes)

Either way like.... oh my god watching them lounge in that nice big bed together. Fizz being on Ozzie's chest, like. Give me that 😩😩😩 "oh Reader, baby, so glad you took up our offer for a place to crash, but, since it was so short notice it'll have to be with us tonight" type shit and like you're fine with that but then bedtime comes and. There's Literally Only One Bed. And you're like ok you know what I'm not really in a position to be ungrateful, Valentino could have actually fucking hurt me or trafficked me or whatever, but, you're still small enough that Asmodeus could hypotheticallyyyy just, reach an arm over and scoop up you into his chest for a cuddle, or just have you in the crook of his arm like a cat or a teddy bear. Ozzie definitely sees an immediate perk on Fizz not being so much of a troll as to give you the airhorn treatment your first morning there, so, obviously, they have, multiple motivations to, keep urging you to stay 👀 after all, Val is going to be looking for you in the Pride Ring, and you don't have any other friends, so, you're kind of stuck with their whims aren't you? Unless you try to run off on your own, and I mean. Really. They can just hire someone to bring you back lmao. Or get you themselves. Could you imagine feeling way you uncomfortable around them and slipping away and suddenly you find a little white demon dog on wheels happily rolling up to you out of nowhere and it's. Fucking tracking you for Fizzarolli and Asmodeus, like. Damn, can't even trust the dogs in Hell. Demon dogs in Ohio be like

Anyways idk I just like the idea of like. Combining several ideas, you do the whole "accidentally did the whole Death Fall From The Sky and crash into Vals sunroof, he keeps you in servitude because you have to repay him, eventually you Fall into Lust and you start basically doing double jobs at both clubs and prefer Ozzie and he eventually has to rescue you". Also like Valentino "canonically" humiliates his partners on social media so I can imagine he's just publicly belittling and negging you all the time. One second you're happy at Ozzie's listening to music and eating unholy amounts of onion rings with your quirky well intentioned clown friend, the next week Asmodeus sees a Sinstagram post where Valentino is just like "cutie was whining she couldn't get any tips so I helped her out 😜🤭🍈🍈" and its just. A photo of you in your work uniform where he clearly just reached forward and tore open the front of your blouse and he is just. Full on deadass without any hint of irony making you basically work in your bra and he's just without any remorse posting photos of your running mascara and you're clearly crying but what can you do?

Val posting a photo of him literally shoving a tip INTO your bra, his FINGERS in there, and other like little clips and snippets of him demeaning you while you're like actually fucking blubbering "and make sure to get me extra ice!" "*sobbing noises*" "I didn't hear a REPLY! Do I need to take some of those nice tips I'm helping you make?" "N n noOo I'm sorry" "sorry WHAT?" "M sorry mister Valentino, I'm sorry, I'll get your drink right away mister Valentino" and Val is just slapping your ass HARD as you turn to leave like and just laughing like this is the most fun he's ever had

like I feel like Asmodeus realistically would only be able to do so much IN Pride itself (because would You show up in your boss' turf doing your own shit? Big risk) BUT, I mean. You go down to Lust and you're basically fair game. You show up to your next shift after The Boob Incident and Ozzie's like "giiiiiiiirl imma keep it real with you, I know you wanna try and be independent but I got some concerns--" and he's barely even halfway through it before you're just, TEAR EXPLOSION, "i hate working for him, I HATE IT, I wanna work HERE full time, but I don't have a place to staAaaAaay" and just. Some UGLY crying because you're at wits end

Zero hesitation here's Asmodeus "Sweetie what kind of apartment do you want??? You want a penthouse? I can get you a penthouse?? You want some shopping money?? Tell Big O whatever you need." and the next thing you know Valentino is scrolling through Sinastagram and has to do a double take as your account starts posting all kinds of photos of you looking cute and having fun and, poolside in a bathing suit and you're becoming more comfortable with your body and your sexuality and, he's thirsty absolutely, goes to try and tease you or make fun of you and you're just like "you wanna fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid" and just ignore him as Val is forced to watch you pal around with Asmodeus (either as just friends or total fuck buddies like, deadass catch me out here "hey so, there's this position I've always wanted to try--")

[qoldenskies]

omg ok i gotta ask what it wouldve been like if the curse was centered around hurting one of the other bros and not donnie? 🥺 like esp with leo i wanna knowwwww

THIS IS AN INTERESTING ASK..... donnie's situation is really unique to what he's been through considering kitsune's status but i will ignore that for the sake of this thought experiment because i already got THOUGHTS......

i think one of the first things to ask would be "how would donnie act if HE were cursed?" because it melds itself to each person individually, and honestly i think one of the first things would be to ask if leo is also still cursed here too (he'd probably be a lot different if leo were at the center, im not sure how though) because he would have quickly backed leo up in a really similar way to mikey. donnie is Terrible at manipulating and lying, but he can still do a lot of subtle damage considering his skills, so i feel like he would've done some nasty shit like turning off the heating in their room or something, and especially with leo coaxing him along and giving him suggestions it wouldve been horrible!!

and personally i feel like, if it were mikey, he would have found out the SECOND the behavior got worse. he trusts his brothers to be kind to him unconditionally and he's always been the baby of the family, but he's also arguably the most self-assured there. they try to pull the shit they did with donnie and he goes "who do you think youre talking to, you cant TREAT ME LIKE THAT" and when they continue to act terrible, he'd go "no, something is WRONG, they'd never do this to me" and go to april or draxum, maybe both. mikey doesn't feel like the kind of person who would fall for thinking he deserves it, because mikey genuinely believes he's a GOOD person! being forced to hurt someone like that is actually worse for him than if he'd been the one hurt. and i also think a big reason he'd figure it so fast is because it's harder to lean into it subtly, mikey's treatment as the youngest suddenly being switched up would look weird no matter how hard they tried lol. (mikey also fits the canary symbolism but in the way that wild canaries ACTUALLY are... children of the sun that represent childhood innocence and happiness. i do actually plan on using this a little later in the story, it's why ive mentioned he's so important)

and with leo, oooh boy. okay honestly i feel like it would end the same way donnie's did? it would be broken because he broke his ninpo, but leo would react WAY differently and he'd do it for way different reasons. donnie reacted in freeze/fawn, he rolled over and showed his stomach and took it absolutely believing he deserved it, when he was conscious enough to make choices he didn't run. but leo would definitely lean more fight/flight, he would fight back the WHOLE TIME. the SECOND they start treating him like garbage, especially with physical abuse, his trust for them is Gone. especially if it culminated in a murder attempt, i feel like he would go for blood especially with raph, and afterwards while in recovery he'd bristle around them for a long time. it's the same problem in a different way, honestly i feel like he'd turn into the kind of person that would instantly bring a sword to someone's throat if they snuck up on him from then on (and god forbid you try to wake him up from a nightmare). i feel like leo wouldn't end up telling april or his dad, either, because deep down he would be burying some feelings that are very similar to how donnie OPENLY reacted, but i dont think he would have the strength to be open about it until the end of recovery. i think not having someone like CL leo to gaslight him would also be a big reason for this, they'd be just as vicious but there'd be less tact which means he's seeing through it faster, although i dont think he'd suspect a curse. honestly there's some heartbreak in a very similar way, because it'd show just HOW MUCH leo had already been protecting himself and pushing people away/hiding behind a facade; he was just as predisposed to this.

and with raph i can't think of anything super specific, but i feel like despite being in less physical danger he might end up with a really similar reaction to donnie, blaming himself and believing he deserves it. feeling unloved by the people he's sworn to protect would fuck him up, especially because he's less perceptive and wouldn't be able to see through them in the way that mikey and leo would if they were in his situation. the psychological torment would get him BAD. leo would destroy that poor dude's self-esteem :( all he'd have to do is poke raph hard enough to have him lash out and then treat him like he's dangerous for it, and it would be. painfully effective

[jewishcissiekj]

hi let's talk about her

Honestly I have so much to say about her. so much. so here's some of it

-Asajj (NOT VENTRESS THAT'S HER LAST NAME ISTG PEOPLE JUST HATE USING HER ACTUAL NAME AND IDK WHY I GUESS IT'S A COOL NAME BUT ASAJJ IS ALSO A COOL NAME AND)

-Asajj was last seen in canon in the Dark Disciple novel. Where she died. I would never recommend that book to anyone so if you haven't read it yet please don't. In short, after becoming a Bounty Hunter in The Clone Wars she grew out her hair, got a cool yellow Lightsaber and for some reason teamed up with Quinlan Vos to try and kill Dooku. They didn't manage to do it. And Asajj died (was fridged) trying to protect Quinlan. The Bad Batch will not contradict that, as was said by the creators. So this is just a summary for anyone who hasn't read it because I wholeheartedly believe that book is bad

-I have not watched a single Bad Batch episode in my life. As a disclaimer. I started the first one, watched their TCW arc and saw memes screenshots clips and spoilers but I do not know this show. I will watch it now that Asajj's there tho

-She does not have the same outfit anymore! It's a change, and we haven't gotten a clear look at her new design so idk how to judge it yet. Might be to look less recognizable, but it has a very different vibe than any of her prior outfits. There's a leftover shoulder pad and probably some other stuff from her last design but I feel like they kinda clash with the new one and tbb's design language in general. The Bounty Hunter look has a very TCWish feel to it and this one is a sharp turn in another, much more casual direction. I'm not inherently against it but I guess we'll see how it looks in action soon

-In my opinion the hair looks like shit. I don't think she should have hair ever. I don't understand why she can't be bald. Why is she bald when she's evil and has hair when she's a padawan (good) and when she is "redeemed"? guess we'll never know. It's a leftover from the cancelled Dark Disciple TCW arc design (and the Dark Disciple cover and promotional material ofc) and it's bad if you ask me but to each their own and if you like it good for you

-Her Lightsaber!!!!! Same case as the hair in terms of irl development but I like it so much better. The yellow just fits her character and it's pretty. Would love for her to find another one and get back to dual-wielding (I know that won't happen)

-The bag and pouches make me so happy as a design element do you think she carries a (tooka) cat in there

-Now, visually she looks great and the animation style is smoother and nicer than TCW (as is the quality), but what about the direction the character's going in? I didn't like her being dead before, but I felt like it was somewhat better than her being shoved into being a cameo character in new content. If you can't touch her after a certain point, you also can't mess her up. But I do wonder where they're going with her. A few questions:

-Asajj in canon is a directionless character. Also, a partially nonsensical and inconsistent character in her choices and storylines. I've talked about it a lot but in short she just feels messy. What's her purpose in life? Her motive? Her origin story doesn't really make sense, even. She's a Bounty Hunter, sure, but why? If all she wants is revenge on Dooku and maybe money (which was pretty much the case in Dark Disciple), what's she doing after the Empire? And more importantly, why?

-Obviously, the question I haven't asked yet because I don't like it: How the fuck is she alive? Nightsisters have a weird relationship with death but seriously, how?

-She's a Force User after the Rise of the Empire now, so what does he do about that? Is she founding The Path? Fucking around and finding out? Making a not-Jedi-not-Sith order with other force users she finds? Is the Empire after her? Do they know she's live?

-What about her girlfriend? Is Latts Razzi safe? Is she alright?

-Why is she in The Bad Batch show? Are we making her into a cameo character or is there a purpose? Why'd they bring her back? For fun? What is she doing after the show? Floating in dead space? Cameo-ing? Will we have a book?

-OK enough for tonight but if we see Quinlan Vos in the show I'll become violent (/neg). We probably will (he might just get mentioned idk).

[lemmylemons]

Random, useless Tekken headcanons at 6 AM because I am bored and still a little high, but it's okay:

• Kazuya and Jun sleep like bunnies in bed, they curl up and fight over their covers because they both clutch onto the blankets for dear life

• Kazuya snores LIKE A MOTHERFUCKING TRUCK STOP, like Jun got used to it when they were young, but she comes back, gets back into bed with him, and swears to God he's going to choke to death in his sleep; and it's not like, consistent snoring, it's 'HONK-HONK *random incoherent noises*'

• I don't know if Marshall is still married, but I honestly think he's probably divorced - and married to Paul for money and convenience, DO NOT FIGHT ME ON THIS, I AM RIGHT (they 'adopted' Steve, aka, Steve lives with them)

• Jinpachi and Wang are just a little zesty, please, I love them, THEY'RE A LITTLE HOMOSEXUAL...

• Jin always, somehow, wakes up with his thumb in his mouth, he could be sleeping like a plank, but still wake up with his thumb in his mouth; ah, trauma (it's just comfy for him); adding onto that - I think biting his finger nails or skin is his indicator that he's stressed

• Kazuya's bisexual, Jun's a little unlabeled; she just goes with the flow of whoever (Kazuya's has many secret boyfriends when he was young, nothing can't convince me)

• MY PERSONAL FAV LITTLE WEIRD POLY SHIP THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO CONTENT: Raven x Victor x Dragunov - LET ME EXPLAIN - Raven and Victor are dating, (in my opinion, Raven's in his early 40's, he's gay, Victor's bi, they're definitely "open") and Dragunov is like... A 'sugar baby' who drops in, starts shit, SOMETHING happens between them, and then they go back to hating him (queers)

• Kazuya knew Jun was pregnant, I honestly believe that he knew, but it was in a short time frame from his death, if he didn't fucking DIE, I think he definitely would have had an amazing relationship with Jin

• I have a page in my notebook dedicated to Jin headcanons, and my favorite is that Jin has a stuffed tiger named 'Tora', it's a bit ripped, extra loved and dirty (from being left outside in Yakushima): it was given to him when he was born by Jun... As he thought- turns out, when Kazuya heard she was pregnant, he got a little stuffed tiger to give to their unborn baby, but obviously, his ass died, and Jun still gave it to Jin... He found out and blew a fuse, refusing to believe it

• All the Mishimas are born with that fuckass hair, evident by Kazuya LITERALLY being born with that fuckass hair

• Steve Fox is gay, do not fight me on that, he's gay

• When Kazuya was a baby, Kazumi used to sit down with him and her pet tiger, letting the 2 just kind of... Explore one another, the tiger was a gift from Heihachi, and she LOVED that tiger, so she likes to include it in family time - so she'd take baby Kazuya and just set him in front of the tiger and let to two sniff and grab at each other

• Jin's vegetarian to me, like, obviously he needs to protein, but I feel like he gets sad every time he has to eat meat because he just thinks of the animals

• Heihachi baby talks Kuma, I will never not think that; obviously not in front of others, but it happens, it fucking happens

• If Kazuya lived for Jin, he'd be the best house husband ever - obviously Jun's around a lot, but if she has to take a case, Kazuya's cooking for them, cleaning, with Jin, best house husband

I'll have more eventually...

[lightwise]

TBB S3 E10 Reaction

Life has been a bit busier the last few weeks so I am finally catching up on my episode reactions (I’m determined to do all of them this season!) And I apologize y’all, this episode made me very snarky apparently.

I’ll be honest. When this episode first came out I was nowhere near as surprised by it or horrified by it as reviewers seemed to be. Nothing about Palpatine hunting down force sensitive children as experiments and using Cad Bane to do it is a surprise, and the Vault feels so much like Andor. But even on a rewatch this episode holds up so well and honestly just starts to give a cold chill under the skin as the quiet horror of it sinks in.

- Cute kid. And the Batch nowhere to be seen. This is going to be a different episode isn’t it

- Oh no. He’s force sensitive 😫😫😫 hmmm how could that possibly go wrong

- This is giving Andor vibes 👀

- It’s always interesting seeing “regular people” in Star Wars and little markets and how they’re just trying to go about their daily lives.

- Don’t go around snitching people! Nothing good ever comes of it!!!

- Yeah this guy is worse than Timm from Andor. Wtf dude. You’re turning in a baby!!

- Also is it just me or typical Star Wars “houses” end up being pretty dark and depressing?

- Wait okay okay. So this is the CX chamber. Why can’t we see any of them yet 😩😩 what is this red fog? What are these weird conditioning pods? What kind of armor is on this datapad?? *trying to crawl inside my screen* I NEED ANSWERS JENNIFER!!

- “Do you trust me?” Ooooh why do I think that’s going to come back around

- But also, babygirl, I don’t think you actually know what you’re signing up for

- “I could be more useful” “you wish to be the new chief scientist Dr. Karr?” “I believe I’ve earned it.” Alright. This. This is interesting. This fully encapsulates the dynamic that these two have shared. Emerie knows that Hemlock only values things that are useful, and probably only sees her own value in the light of what she can contribute, due to how she was raised and the circumstances she has been trapped in. Hemlock’s tone of voice implies that he has never considered her as being the new chief scientist, and yet he acquiesces quite quickly, almost as though he’s just too busy to think about it and if it means things are brought back up to production standard then he’s fine with it. His utter disregard for Emerie as an actual human and someone with merit is disgusting though.

- But I get it, the man’s busy, he’s got a lot of evil shit he’s trying to do all at the same time 🙄

- So we have “the assets”, which is the area that Hemlock took Palpatine in the first episodes, where the orange containment pods are and the zillo beast is being kept. We still don’t know what those assets are. The Vault is something different.

- Well. Shit. It’s Andor and Narkina 5 for kids. Lovely 😳💀

- “There are few adults left with such characteristics” I WONDER IN THE NAME OF ONE EMPEROR PALPATINE WHY

- Okay so this entire exchange is awful. The kids are so cute! Hemlock is so cold. “Specimens. Assets” ughhh Emerie what are you getting yourself into!!

- Is this the first time we’ve heard the word glasses in Star Wars?

- Oh no. So THIS is why Cad Bane was brought back 🥺🥺

- The score in this episode is perfectly eerie

- Lol Todo is not good with kids huh 🤣

- That poor mama when she wakes up and finds her baby is gone

- I hope that dude has his entire life flash before his eyes as he’s trying to pick all of those credits up

- “My name’s Eva” 🥹🥹🥹 Emerie has no idea how to handle this 😂

- I still wanna know what’s happened with these commandos. No way a clone of Jango Fett is able to look a child in the eyes, call them a “specimen” and not have even an ounce of remorse as they stun them point blank.

- “Jax?” And Eva just points. The power in knowing someone’s name vs a dehumanizing number

- It’s also interesting that these kids are species that are red, blue, and green, and when they get Bayrn in, he’s white. RGB colors make up white light when put together.

- The little peeks of Emerie’s backstory we keep getting are so interesting. She was abandoned by Nala Se. She knows that these children don’t belong here, the same way that Omega told both her and Crosshair that they didn’t belong here either. Nala Se says that the Empire will hold these kids to control them. Emerie feels like she has no power to do anything differently. So much to unpack here.

- Why is Tarkin’s holo so large?

- Lol I honestly love getting to see the backbiting politics of how the Empire functions. It’s so bad and so funny

- Also love that Project Necromancer is so secret that even Tarkin doesn’t know what it is. He’s so nosy

- Okay why does he bring up the CX schematic again and why is it so different than the one we saw earlier??

- Whoa Cid was tortured???

- “The other operatives aren’t ready to join you in the field” why????

- We’re visiting a lot of space stations this season

- Man I wish Emerie had fudged this test

- Nooo let the poor baby go home 🥺

- Oh and now we’re putting kids in solitary confinement. Great.

- C’mon Emerie. Keep clicking that moral compass until it points north

- She kept the straw Lula. She’s giving it to Eva 😭. There’s hope for her yet

[flooficandii]

thats got me thinking actually . i havent rly had the energy nor the interest to update nuniq's doc to include interactions w/ the newest agents . including harbor and tjats literally her boyfriend lmao 😭😭😭😭 but anyway lemme make some poorly drawn depictions of what nuniq thinks of the newer agents (starting from clove to gekko)

clove

honestly. nuniq wasnt too jazzed about the idea of hiring a kid (grown adult but theyre a kid to her), especially an untrained one . she understands they might have a link to omen going rogue but is still iffy about the whole situation

also oof. the whole immortality thing? yeah it must be a lot to bear for clove, theyre just very good at hiding it. but like with a lot of the young radiants, nuniq lets them know they can approach her about this stuff bc shes been through it too

she can admit she gets pissed at clove bc their immortality causes them to make more reckless decisions on the field . she wants to get it in their head that you still have to be smart about these things no matter how much power you have

but! she thinks clove is very nice. very silly very sweet guy who is an excellent storyteller. storytelling is very intertwined in both nuniq and clove's cultures so she loves listening to whatever clove can whip up

clove has probably dragged her into dnd at least once

she took a while to grasp it but thats ok shes trying her best

anyway yeah clove talks a lot and sometimes nuniq cant understand them so she has to ask them to slow down

iso

valorant hired him because he was a kingdom killer and nuniq was ALL FOR THAT !!!!

she can tolerate the cocky smug little shit thing bc hes professional at least

hes not very hard to work with and is very cunning and calculating. nuniq likes that

iso has most definitely heard about nuniq before and was surprised to see her alive bc a lot of media made it seem she was dead to quell the uprisings against kingdom

nuniq is fascinated by iso's radiance but it definitely makes her think about how fast and how complex the concept of radiance itself is evolving . to think he could create his own pocket dimension with prismatic energy

besides that i feel like they mostly mind their own business

theres a mutual respect for eachothers skill and grit and they just *nods*

deadlock

like the thing says. theres currently some weird tension between deadlock and nuniq rn (and its surprisingly not gay)

theyre both so cold its kinda hard for either of them to approach eachother

deadlock is. working on her relationship with gekkos creatures! which nuniq appreciates

but idk nuniq never forgets anything and its hard for her to get over the fact she almost killed wingman multiple times

+ proposed awful countermeasures to keep the radivores in check

yk that one headcanon someone made about gekkos friendliness and critters winning over a lot of the protocol?

and how they immediately had beef w deadlock because of it?

yeah thats the situation with nuniq

things have simmered down with the creature situation but nuniq mostly ignores deadlock outside of work

and frankly i think deadlock's scared of nuniq too so

gekko

last but not least GEKKO !!!!

nuniq loves gekko!!! hes so silly

hes fun and lighthearted while still being a good fighter

being around gekko makes nuniq feel. Friendlier idk how else to describe it

also his critters have 100% stolen her heart sometimes she asks to babysit wingman when gekkos busy

she has had to apologize for aput using dizzy as a chew toy though

gekko has dyed nuniqs hair temporarily; it was northern lights-colored streaks that looked really cool when braided, she kept it for about a month until it washed out

overall she thinks hes very sweet and she and reyna can get along over being protective of him

anyway yeah i think thats every agent so far after harbor! wow !!! i cant believe we've already made it this far to agent 25 .. and agent 8 still hasnt been revealed yet i love valorant lore (tired

[gh0st-patr0l]

Okay like 2 people interacted thats enough. My NSFW Darby hcs r below the readmore enter at ur own risk

(Obligatory disclaimer that this is abt the character portrayed on aew, fiction vs reality, etc and so forth)

First of all- Believe it or not he doesn't have like the Healthiest situation in regards 2 sex/hookups

Essentially I looked at the Crazy sexual tension and obsessiveness he works into every feud and went yea. This guy gets weird specifically abt people who hate his fucking guts

To do a bit of fictional psychoanalysis, I think it comes down to him not being able to trust and be vulnerable towards others in an honest, emotionally intimate sense.

The mentality I picture is like... if he fucks the guy he knows hates him and just wants to use him, then he knows for sure what to expect. He's gonna get hurt and have his control taken and be left alone at the end of it, but that's certainty. As opposed to trying to genuinely form a healthy relationship with someone, which is a minefield of what-ifs and trusfalls that he sees as far more frightening

Essentially, stalking and harassing a guy in2 hatefucking him feels more comfortable to him because he knows what he's gonna get, and there's no concern about how they might actually feel about him.

There's probably more there 2 dig into but this is supposed to be hot so lets talk abt something more fun!!!

Personally I've always read him as a total sub. He's a fuckin maniac in terms of energy, and likes someone who can take whatever he throws out and turn it on him. A lot of the time he's just got so much buzzing inside him, he needs a wall to throw himself at until he wears himself out.

This motherfucker Loves bondage. Idk if you've ever seen him in tag matches but the way he hops around on the apron and chews on the tag rope and shit?? He LOVES being held down and getting to struggle against it.

Honestly, with that and all the BDSM shit, it's about being taken care of. He's always forcing himself to be independent and not let anyone in or see him weak. He can't bring himself to hand that control over willingly- he needs it to be taken from him.

U know that post thats like. Submissive but like how a guard dog is submissive. Yea. Put a collar on that boy

You can dominate him but you can never Not expect him to bite back and try to trip you up the whole time. Again, he likes the challenge- he's a total brat.

He loves degredation and s/m shit, but he's secretly also got a massive praise kink that he refuses 2 engage with. (Unless? 👀)

As for kinks, he's into all the basic bdsm stuff like impact play and breathplay, but he also likes all kinds of weird violent shit- knives and weapons, fire, blood. And even if he's not specifically into it, there's not much he won't try

((Skategoat sidenote: I think part of why he and Jack work 2gether so well is that Jack usually gets to dom. After so long of being controlled and having choices made for him and being used, getting to be in the driver's seat for someone else makes him feel empowered and secure in a way he usually isn't))

Anyway thats it for now ig. Reply with thoughts if u are epic and based 🙏

[yiiiikesmish]

it's been like 2 hours and episode 3 dropped so please (if you want to) enjoy more of my ramblings. all reactions are written as i watch and ngl it'll probs be a lot about how much i love river and that id fuck him in less than a heartbeat.

genuinely what the fuck is up with the french??? WHAT IS THIS CONSPIRACY WHAT IS GOING ON

probably didn't need to hit you but you're just so pretty when you're beaten up baby.

WHAT BOMB WHAT DID YOU DO DAVID.

ok no need to be a bitch david. catherine is a treasure and she's just trying to help you.

ok catherine is better than me bc this man has said i need to speak to first desk like 10 times and i'm just shouting at my screen going yeah we fucking know that asshole

you're being hurtful about my appearance. HES JUST A BABY (a very stinky unshowered old baby but still i protect)

FACTS DAVID IS A PIECE OF SHIT SING IT JACKSON

roddy is a disaster i love him. oh wait who's his girlfriend tho i wanna know

see i knew claude had some brains. work out what stupid shit people have been doing.

god rivers eyes are so blue 😍😍

i'm honestly incredibly surprised that this dumbass hasn't attempted to escape through like the roof or smth stupid like that

OFC HE WAS HER SON LMAO. literally only river could be like oh it's cool he's dead and the guy being dead is like probably not the best thing that could happen

pop off catherine. if i didn't know better i'd totally believe that she'd never seen david

ok what is up with hoodie boy. and that got dark really fast that knife popped out of nowhere. hoodie boy has a sad tortured backstory (does he have a name???)

what weird biological french boy army is this frank guy cooking up???

RUN YOU STUPID FUCK WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE GOING LOL THATS A BIG DOG

oh my poor baby he was so close to making a cool exit. you almost did it and that's what counts. CAN YOU RUN PLEASE the lack of self preservation skills is honestly something to be admired

david made his escape. WERE FUCKED YALL

WHAT DID YOU DO DAVID WHAT HAPPENED IN FRANCE

OH SHIT THE OTHER OLD MAN IS THAT SAM BLOKE

marcus babes idk what you're doing but TURN AROUND STOP DOING WHAT YOURE DOING

marcus you are an awful negotiator what was that i think i cried out of embarrassment

GO SHIRELY IDK WHAT ABT TO HAPPEN BUT YOURE GONNA SLAY BABES

LEAVE HIM GO SAVE CHAPMAN. oh you tried baby you got blood so good enough.

lmao ofc jackson just keep walking. OOP take that back he ran the french bred army boy over (and he already disappeared???? what fucking training camp did this frank put his sons through????)

anyways that's all for this week honestly surprised and saddened that i didn't thirst over river more but anyways... if u got this far thank you for skimming my thoughts. i'll be back next week for episode 4!

[oodlyenough]

6-2 magical turnabout

I gotta admit I was deeply skeptical of this one, because it felt weird to jump back to Apollo and Athena and Japanifornia after the tutorial, and I'd heard about the uh questionable way Phoenix and Trucy's relationship is handled, and the Gramarye retcon stuff was a mess ...

but I actually really liked it! At least as much as Turnabout Academy, where I think they are similarly "so dumb it loops back around to being fun" (not a bad place to be for an AA filler case). What gives this one the edge is that SOJ has actual gameplay again. Thank fucking god. I can click things! I can investigate! There are minigames! I have to solve puzzles myself instead of waiting for NPC Athena to do it for me! These are the most basic elements of an AA game and somehow Dual Destinies had none of them, making SOJ feel like a revelation. So I think that makes this my fave case since AA4? Wow

Anyway let's get into it

I like the idea of defendant Trucy. Trucy was so ignored in AA5, and even in AA4 where she was a major player we rarely dealt with how she honestly feels about things. So it was nice to explore that a little more. Being a defendant is a rite of passage for an Ace Attorney character. She's all grown up now.

A magic show as the scene of a murder is a really fun idea also. It just gives great excuses for the shenanigans that take place in any murder case, and the solution feels less contrived bc it is with a perpetrator and a set design where those things are expected and facilitated naturally without a shit ton of contrivances and coincidences.

Apollo and Athena, for all my complaints about how they cannibalize each other's screentime just by simultaneously existing, are a fun team. And this time we actually got a lot of interactive banter because we actually got to CLICK STUFF wow so great much gameplay.

I do really enjoy Athena. I wish this franchise would get out of the habit of creating these interesting but half-baked characters just to park them immediately in the next instalment to create more interesting but half-baked characters. I have the rest of SOJ to go but I don't imagine Athena will have much of a role to play in it, just like how Apollo got shafted in DD to make way for Athena, and Trucy fared even worse. The main cast is so bloated the games can't balance everyone.

I am THRILLED Ema is back. Some of her new sprites are sf cute too. Overall, I have to compliment SOJ's sprites, which are very detailed and have lots of different animations. Many characters have new/more expressive ones, and they look way better than DD's 3D models.

The Gramarye lore is a hot mess. I do not believe the new writer remembered that Trucy is a Gramarye on her MOM'S side, since apparently the "Gramarye creed" was "passed down from my father, from his father", making it... the Enigmar creed. I also, generally, could probably have done without some of the way the Gramaryes were discussed here. They were pretty obviously a toxic shitshow nightmare in AA4, and Phoenix explicitly wants to protect Trucy from the truth of that. Here, we introduce the Jonkler out of nowhere, and have him cursing Magnifi and taking his revenge on ... the toddler... and it's all just a little bit weird. The poster of him being CANCELLED is the funniest thing I've ever seen though so I can forgive a lot of it just for that.

Also where is my man Valant. Why the hell would Trucy invite the Onceler to her show and not him lmao. Justice for Valant!!

I've also never wished Apollo knew his heritage more than in that last bit where Tony Stark was raving about how he defeated the "last" Gramarye lmao.

Nahyuta is ... fine so far. Honestly I know he's so unpopular in fandom but he's kind of fine so far? Not an immediate fave, but not even in my bottom two. The bit where he talks about studying Japanifornian culture made me think of the Dalek that "knows everything" because it downloaded the internet in 2013.

I've been semi-spoiled for Apollo and Nahyuta having a history together, and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that the game is not concealing this, but teasing it right from the off. I liked that in Apollovision his dialogue box is labelled "Nahyuta" even though everyone in-dialogue is calling him by his surname. I suspect this might be more a game dev limitation (character limit?) than anything else, but even if that's the case, it's a happy coincidence. The real test will be if they manage to stop Nahyuta and Apollo from feeling like a redux of Edgeworth and Phoenix, or Athena and Blackquill. Much of my issue with the end of DD was that it felt like we were just revisiting the trilogy's greatest hits without the same depth. But... whatever. I'm intrigued enough, at this point.

The biggest problem with this case, the elephant in the room, is Phoenix, who is inexplicably not there for his daughter's debut, did not even send flowers (apparently), and does not even talk to her on the phone in the last scene. This is exceedingly stupid and reeks of a total narrative oversight because they're not even trying to make some kind of point about Nick being a bad father. It's just a total lack of thought or effort. But ... anyway I have a whole other post written up about how Trucy and Phoenix's relationship is written in all the games, so, more on that another day, I guess. TL;DR Canon is a liar sometimes.

The "Gramarye[Enigmar] Family Motto" stuff, which is already so similar to the Mia Fey wisdom, could've just been collapsed into one thing: Trucy as a performer adapting that lawyer motto to her own life would be a nice way to show how Trucy is influenced by Phoenix, as well as Apollo and Athena. But uh, well, the game doesn't seem to care much about Trucy and Phoenix, so. I also find the "smile though your heart is breaking" mantra, including the JUDGE telling Trucy to look happy lmao??!?!, is like, kind of weird tonally, to the degree where I wonder if there's a culture gap happening. But I don't know enough about Japan to say.

Overall, though, I enjoyed this case. SOJ is off to an OK start with me so far, at least in comparison to DD.

[minotaur-asterion]

The voices, and when they get down with the sickness (long post underneath, please prepare yourself):

I think Hero kind of wishes they could act out that classic sickfic scene where they get to stay in bed all day and someone brings them soup and takes good care of them. Well, it’ll never happen with that nervous attitude, so until they get the balls to ask someone they’ll have to suck it up and take care of themselves. So, so tired the entire time. Poor meow meow

Alternatively, Hero’s a doting caretaker, if not physically distant. Doesn’t want to catch anything… but rest assured, they’re at their charge’s beck and call- they’ll bring food, medicine, heating pads, blankets, the crown of Russia, Russia, and more!

Cold can’t tell until something really noticeable happens, and even then it can be a while before he figures out he’s sick. Oh, his nose is running? It has been getting cold recently, no pun intended. He collapsed? Has to determine whether it was lack of sleep or if he got stabbed recently and that was blood loss; illness just doesn’t immediately come to mind. Might get a little loopy and out of it while recovering. Appreciates the lack of taste if forced to eat

Cold’s really good at treating sick folks, but taking care of them can be 50/50 depending on who it is. If he actually gives a shit he mostly curls up in a chair nearby and chills- again, pun not intended- until they need something. He might even offer the briefest of cuddles, which depending on his charge’s strength might end up lasting a lot longer than he planned

Cheated gets sick a lot- he doesn’t get much sleep so his body doesn’t have a lot of energy to fight it off. It’s total chaos if he gets a fever. Complains soooo much. But he gets very warmly happy if someone throws in the towel to take care of him. Wants to snuggle a lot

He refuses to take care of most of the others. Fuck them! But he’s probably going to get roped into it one way or another, knowing his luck. The only people he’d actually agree to care for is Opportunist and Contrarian since they live together. I’ve always imagined those three as a package deal anyway

Speaking of Opportunist- ey’re used to a little bit of body ache, so ey’re able to power through the less severe colds and such, just take it a little easier than usual, wear a mask to work, you know. It gets trickier when severe sickness aligns with a bad back day, ey don’t enjoy feeling like that while barely being able to move around. Ey’re honored if anyone decides to help, honestly…

Opportunist is a believer in laughter being the best medicine. He likes to talk and talk about all sorts of things just to take his charge’s mind off their symptoms. He also likes to hear himself talk, so it’s a bonus, really!

Contrarian… surprisingly barely ever gets sick. Or, at least, they don’t let on most of the times they do. Maybe they get a little quieter, but it’s surprisingly easy to melt into the crowd for them. It’s probably easier to not expect or ask for anything anyway

But on the contrary, pun intended this time, Contrarian loves to help out and take care of sick folks. God knows he’s not helpful at all with treating the sickness- which makes me think he’d be a good duo with Cold- but he’ll certainly entertain and keep company. “Oh, but you’ll catch something-“ he definitely will, but it’s worth it!

Paranoid is fascinated by disease. Would probably get sick and immediately think “how can I turn this into a zombie-making virus?” Jots down every single sniffle in her journal. Studies the microorganisms that caused it. Just really weird and iconically herself about it. The few times she does sleep, her dreams will be even weirder than usual. I think her obsession with recording the darn thing is overriding the symptoms

It’s much the same with when someone else is sick- pencil to paper, on a scale of one to ten how bad do you feel, describe your symptoms, can I get a swab for totally normal not nefarious reasons. Makes sure to wash her hands after existing in the same room as anyone who’s sick

Broken genuinely doesn’t think it’ll make it. Sure, it’s a really light flu, but it just won’t survive. Most illnesses are similar to a bad pain day regardless of how bad they’d normally be, but the good thing about the whole ordeal is snuggles and attention… Even if it’s out like a light most of the time. Might get weird and horny about it

Broken gets really worried about the others when they’re sick, and usually sticks them in bed if he can even move them there. Perches at the foot of the bed and watches closely. A little creepy, but he means well. So so so worried

Hunted’s surprisingly clean, so it’s hard for it to get too sick. Very pragmatic approach to dealing with it, which includes keeping everything clean during times when it feels better and resting when it feels worse. Doesn’t enjoy it for a second, especially when it clogs its ears and nose, but it’ll survive

Goes a little haywire when someone else is sick. You’ve never bore witness to the kind of strength it can muster to get someone in its nest. Protective as all get out, preens and tries to spoon feed. Will only allow people it trusts with its life- and maybe not even that depending on how feral it is- near the nest

Stubborn isn’t one to get sick often, and even then through the sheer power of, I dunno, muscles or something, he can fight it off pretty well. Just lay off the baking for a bit so he doesn’t accidentally infect anyone… In the rarest cases where he just can’t keep going as usual, he becomes surprisingly tame. Too tired to get all worked up. Sleepy little guy…

They can also be surprisingly helpful, especially with calming down a much stronger personality (cough. Hunted) who’s also trying to take care of someone sick. Makes the meanest fucking soup you’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. And I say this with Broken definitely in mind, but they get a little affectionate about it. Just a smidge. Not because they care about this person, no! Don’t be ridiculous

Smitten probably gets sick all the time from his flower allergies, but he can’t bring himself to stop gardening. That’s why he got allergy medicine. If it’s not allergies he’s stumped on what to do. Might even get dramatic about it- write his will, eat some ice cream while watching his favorite rom com shows (he knows at least that sugar can help calm nausea), read Shakespeare, uh… I don’t know what else he’d do but it’d be dramatic!

Smitten’s a total sweetheart when taking care of someone else. Breakfast in bed, reads to them (dyslexic, does silly voices), treats them like total royalty. The drawback? Literally never takes care of anyone on a whim. Has to be planned, premeditated. Draws up a schedule of the whole thing

Skeptic likes to take sick days slow. Sit in the butterfly garden. Unless it’s winter. Then he’ll just stay in bed the whole day. Probably hibernates through the illness and wakes up crusty but healthy

He’ll certainly try his best to take care of someone else, but he’s not that great at it. Good at reassuring them about their anxieties though. Gives them a little too much medicine

I have a feeling Meek might be immune to disease. Otherwise she’d fucking die. Sneezes so loudly it’s like a bomb went off

She’s also not great about helping someone through their sickness, but she’ll scoot into their lap and offer them to pet her. The others suspect she might even like being pet… she will vehemently deny it though

Flinching is very shaky when she’s sick. Terrible grip strength. She’ll realize something’s off when she accidentally drops her favorite mug and now has to sadly stare at it on the ground before Doubting picks it up and puts it back together (he made a mug that’s easy to repair specifically for this reason)

Very gentle with sick people, almost as though she’s afraid to break them. Wonderful bedside manner. If she wasn’t so squeamish she would’ve tried becoming a nurse, but alas, just a librarian for now…

Doubting’s vision is usually bleary, but eventually he’ll figure out something’s wrong when he puts his glasses on and he still can’t see well. He’s a good patient, though, and recovers quickly with the right conditions

A lot like Flinching, he’s also good about taking care of others. May or may not be developing experimental treatments for diseases though. Do not touch those beakers

Much like a huge disoriented beast, Obsessed doesn’t do well with sickness. It messes with them badly. Not as clean as Hunted about it but definitely not to be trifled with still. Think like a rabid animal, how they can lose their fear of certain things and just… stare

They don’t live near anyone, so there’s nobody to take care of when sick

[skylarsblue]

Could you write Lester Sinclair a secret (at first) lover who is a man? They live outside of Ambrose and are just as or even more eccentric than Lester. They are also more athletically built and a good bit taller. 💕 If this is too specific just let me know!

✦Lester Sinclair W/ Male!S/O✦

*slamming hands on desk* I LOVE GAY SHIT ✦AMAB!Reader that uses He/Him pronouns, implied to be 6'0+ & muscular, also kinda southern, warning for some suggestive stuff, also for time-period appropriate homophobia✦

I firmly believe Lester is pansexual with no preference. He's just into people, though of course, he doesn't know much about labels. He's not in the loop of society much, and he grew up in a small southern town. He knows straight, gay, and "straight until you have a beer", essentially.

Lester never had the understanding of why being gay would be an issue. Even when he'd hear people whisper about it. He's probably asked his brothers before, which was hard to explain to Lester. Bo didn't really try and Vincent struggled to find the right words.

Lester probably had to have it explained in the simplest of terms. "Ain't nothin' wrong wit' bein' gay or bein' straight. But people gonna talk if you swing one way, cause people are assholes. That's how it is." That's what Bo said. Vincent took a little more care, writing it all out so he wouldn't be hindered by limited sign language.

"People hate what they don't understand. If they can't relate, most of the time, they won't have empathy. Those people are cruel. Their opinion means nothing, even if they're a majority sometimes. It doesn't matter where your love comes from, as long as it's genuine." Vincent had a much nicer way with words. But Lester took both explanations to heart.

He never really saw representation either, so it probably took him a long time to realize which way he slid. He knew he definitely liked women, he and Bo had a similar type most of the time. But occasionally, he'd find himself staring at man, unable to break the stare for some reason. I'd imagine he was around twenty before he heard the term bisexual and ran with that for a little while. He doesn't label himself though, he's more of a go-with-the-flow type of guy.

Lester never properly came out either, not when he was sober anyway. I'd wager to bet that Vincent probably knows because they're also a bit fruity, while Bo's oblivious.

Though Lester likes just about anyone who gives him positive attention, he's got minuscule experience. He was always the weird kid growing up and he never knew how to really grow out of that. He likes people, but he doesn't understand people if that makes any sense. Maybe he got lucky once, honestly, I can't see him being much of a playboy or anything.

Him having a male significant other would probably come up out of nowhere, since he's never been the type to actually bother looking for a date. All his crushes were spontaneous and a lot of the time, he didn't even try talking to them. I'd imagine he'd bump into you either in a public setting, or maybe he'd find you walking by yourself toward Ambrose. Or perhaps you're his favorite worker at a store he regularly visits. Whatever it is, he'll be a little thrown off by the butterflies he gets.

Even when you're dating, Lester won't tell his brothers. He trusts his brothers with a lot, but he's shy about his sparse love-life. Bo's very protective & reading Vincent's opinion is virtually impossible. That coupled with the old mindsets they were raised around, and then lay the fact it's the early 2000s on top of it? Yeah, he's got a lot of anxiety.

Lester will be honest that he has brothers nearby, but explain haphazardly that he's a bit worried about introducing him. "Cause I'm a guy?" "Oh no no, well, I mean, kinda. But like they ain't bigots or nothin', it's just that they're protective and I don't want them gettin' the wrong idea, and they-"

Man went on rambling for minutes on end until you reassured him it was fine, and that you completely understood.

Lester knows that a lot of people are against gay marriage and stuff, but at the same time, he doesn't filter how he feels about you at all. Even in public. Sometimes he'll be hyper-aware of who's around and other times he acts as if you two are the only ones that exist.

Holding your hand in the store, playfully flirting at a bar, demanding a kiss when he does good on picking groceries. He's not used to affection so he soaks it up like a sponge Homophobes be damned, he's gettin' his lovin'!

In any relationship Lester's in, I can't see him being necessarily dominant, though I can't see him being real submissive either. He's more in the middle. That kind of dynamic doesn't really happen in everyday life when you're with him, you're equals.

In the bedroom, this tends to carry over as well, but again, he's not super experienced. Especially with a man. There's some anxiety that blends with his eagerness, and it leads to him kinda...awkwardly freezing. He wants to do stuff! He's just not sure what the stuff is. You'll definitely need to coax him to loosen up, explaining you can take the lead for now, and if he wanted to do so later? When he had more confidence? Then you'd do that.

That being said, Lester honestly doesn't mind bein' a bit of a pillow princess. He doesn't know that's what he's being but hey, it's nice being cared for sometimes! Especially when you're a super touch-starved dude like he is.

You ain't wearing him out either, he gets hyped up on this stuff. If you're the type to need a nap after doing the naughty? Good fuckin' luck, Lester's ready to talk your damn ear off. "Oh! Did I tell ya 'bout the giant wolf spider I found in my truck? The sucker was big as my hand! I mean it! Wolf spiders are real interestin', they got real good eyesight and-"

You know so many animal/plant facts, it's really great for bar trivia.

Lester's not bothered by the fact you're bigger than him either. He has no issue at all, he can work around that! You can life twice what he can? "That's mighty useful! Maybe you can give me a hand!" Oh, your voice super deep and bass-y? "I bet everyone would lis'en to me at the wood shop if you'd back me up! Soundin' all scary like that!" Oh, you a bit too tall for him to reach for a kiss? "Oh that ain't no problem! I can just stand on the back o' my pick-up! Look, see? Now I'm perfect height ta reach!"

Hell, he'll fuckin' jump if he has to. He's getting that kiss.

Lester moves really fast in a relationship for the most part. He's not going to pressure you and he's completely understanding if you need to move slower, but he's not wasting any time if you're okay with it. Move in a week after meeting him! Hell, he'll marry you within a few months if you feel it's right. Full courthouse and everything! (Don't tell him it's not legal yet, he'll get sad)

If you find out what his brothers do, and the fact he helps them, Lester gets sick and numb. He'll honest to god have a panic attack if he can't find you afterward. He's worried about his family and now he's sickened by the fact the person he loves most thinks he's a monster. That doesn't tend to bother him any other time.

But, if you don't leave, and even seem kinda chill with it? It's the biggest relief. It'll also help how he feels about you meeting the twins.

Still, he'll try to keep you away from it if possible. He doesn't want you needing to get your hands dirty with blood unnecessarily.

He absolutely thinks you being sadistic is attractive, I'm sorry, I don't make the rules. He's willing to kill for the person he loves, and if you return the favor? Oh, OH, he's gonna suck ya dick so hard.

✧---------------------------------------------------------✧

There were storm clouds coming in, and quickly. The wind was cold and it was growing harsher by the second. Dirt & small rocks clattered together as your shoes met the ground. You took in a deep breath and looked up to the sky, silently cursing the hands of fate that dealt you these cards. It was a shitty deal and you clearly weren't cut out for gambling with this kind of luck. "Fuckin' figures."

You'd come out to the middle of nowhere with nothing but some clothes in a bag, a Nokia phone, a switchblade, and your dignity. All shoved into a 1971 SST 2-door hardtop. Which was now completely dead. Both from a lack of coolant & gas. It had carried you across half of Lousiana, loyal thing, but it was bound to fail eventually. Especially with the limited funds you had. It was either a car or food, and bathing, given not every local gym was nice enough to let you take a shower for free. You'd at least managed to get one before you ended up on some old backroad, not that it would matter now, since the rain was coming in. Being in between jobs was hard enough. It seemed like everything kept getting worse. Being let go from a decent-paying job, losing an apartment, and needing to move back home all at twenty-four? Not a great month. Then it was made even worse.

All because your parents were old Southern baptist.

They'd heard it around of an old "buddy" of yours, a brief boyfriend was what he really was. Not a terrible guy, honestly, but it didn't work out. It ended amicably. And yet, one slip to one wrong person, and now you were a homeless drifter. Of course, your parents had technically given you an option. Rebuke the devil or leave. Naturally, you left. You weren't a huge fan of your parents anyway. You'd told them you'd be caught sucking the devil's dick before you went through another baptism to "wash the queer" out of you. That was basically the last nail in the coffin of your already shotty relationship with them.

You'd been walking for a while, though you weren't exactly sure how long. Long legs getting you pretty far with each stride. A headache had begun forming from the unconscious anger showing in your face, clenching jaw and furrowed brow. You sighed and rubbed the back of your neck, looking down at the dirt. A large gust of wind blew towards your face and it carried a terrible smell with it, making you cringe and slow for a moment. "Fuckin' hell, the fuck is that?" You hissed, looking around. It was a few feet further before you saw the cause. A roadkill pit. "That 'splains it." You slurred quietly, adjusting the hold on your bag. You hummed, watching flies circle around decaying bodies of deer and other animals. You tore your eyes away at the sight of a decomposing dog. Poor thing.

You'd made it about a little past before the sound of tires and some clacking caught your attention. You turned and spotted a Chevorlet, old and dirty. Probably from 1980-something. It rolled to a stop beside the pit. You tilted your head and watched as someone got out, seemed like a man, probably only 5'7". Dressed in a stained flannel, some jeans tucked into boots, and a dark green hat. Whistling a tune as he walked around the truck and to the back. The sound of a tailgate dropping and thumping gave away what he was doing. He was the roadkill driver. Respectable job, even if gross.

You stepped a bit closer. Maybe he'd know where the nearest town was, or maybe you'd get lucky and he'd have a bottle coolant somewhere in that truck full of... raccoon tails and bones, by the looks of it. Though you paused when a dog's head popped up from the seats, staring at you through the windshield. Then it began barking, though it didn't seem too aggressive, you hoped anyway. There was a light sprinkle of rain starting now, and it would no doubt start to get worse. The man spoke to the dog as he came back around the truck. "Yeesh, Jonesy, what's your deal?" He asked in a thick southern accent. He looked in your direction and you gave an awkward wave. "Sorry, didn't mean to freak out your dog."

The man shut the car door. "Ah nah, that's alright. Can I help ya?" He smiled. Not the best teeth but he couldn't help but remind you of a dog. You returned the smile in kind. "Well uh, I'm not sure. Would you happen to know of a town nearby? Or, perhaps you got some coolant in that truck of yours?" You asked. The man adjusted his hat and shook his head. "Ain't got any of that, but there's a station up in Ambrose. Bo could fix ya up there. Might wanna get there quick before the storm gets worse." He said, walking back to his truck. He motioned for you to come closer. "I could take ya if you'd like!"

"Really? Fuck, you're a lifesaver." You sighed in relief, jogging closer. The dog, Jonesy, popped up when you opened the passenger's side door. She sniffed at you aggressively, tail wagging, before she seemed to smile and settle down. "Well, aren't you sweet." You said softly, patting her back as you got in the truck. Bones clattered. It was a busted-up truck, but it was charming in that way. "Oh yeah, Jonesy's a sweetheart for sure. Found'er on the side of the road! Got real sad cause I thought I'd be puttin' her in the back. But nope! She was alive!" The stranger smiled, staring the car again. You hummed and quickly acknowledged you hadn't told him your name, which you quickly corrected. He repeated it by the syllable to ensure he got it.

"Name's Lester Sinclair! Nice meetin' ya!" He held out one of his hands. You went to shake it, though hesitated when you saw some roadkill blood. He glanced and quickly wiped it on his jeans. "Sorry bout that." "Nah nah, it's fine. Come with the job, yeah?" You said, properly shaking his hand now. His hands were callous and dirty, but Lester noted how much smaller his hands felt compared to yours. He never thought he had small hands until now. "Mighty big hands you got, you a workin' man?" He asked. You shrugged. "More or less. Not at the moment. Corporate bullshit and all." He nodded at your response.

You glanced down at the dog between the both of you and noted a knife strapped to his belt. "That a bowie knife?" You asked. Lester looked over and then down before he grinned, pulling it from the holster. "Yeah! You like knives? Carved this one myself!" He held it up proudly. He felt warmth bubble in his face as your fingers grazed his, taking the blade. "That right? Did a good job by the looks of it. You the "use everything" type of man, eh?" Lester felt his cheeks burn, he hoped it didn't show. "Mhm, that'd be right!"

"Well, that's real admirable. Don't find people like that much anymore." You complimented, giving the knife back. Lester seemed to get more energetic, tapping his fingers on the wheel. Maybe he thought it was subtle but you noticed, and honestly? It was pretty cute. The sound between you both dipped off for a moment as the rain grew worse, clattering against the windows. "So what brings you all the way out here?" Lester spoke again. "Oh, technically I was just off the highway, I've been walking this road cause my car gave out on me. Poor thing, been through a lot recently." You explained. The man looked over at you with wide eyes. "You walked this whole way from the highway?! Well, I'll be damned, you must be exhausted! What's a guy like you doin' that for?" He asked.

"Well, been a shitty month. Job let me go, been strugglin' to get a new one. Got kicked out of my apartment cause rent went up by twice as much as it used to be. Went to my parents for a lil, then had a falling out with'em. Probably the last I'll ever speak to'em." You admitted. It felt cathartic to actually say it out loud even if it was also upsetting. Exhausting for you to recall all the problems that happened in such a short span of time. Lester clicked his tongue in sympathy. "Ain't that some shit. What was so bad they kicked ya out?" He asked innocently. You bit the inside of your cheek. It was always hard to gauge how people felt about the topic of gay people, and with all due respect, Lester didn't seem like the type to be cool with it. Still, it wasn't like you had much to lose. So, with a sigh, you just said it.

"Ain't too into me likin' men. Church-going types." You said quietly, looking out the window, following the raindrops. "Oh that kinda bullshit, don't blame ya for not wantin' to talk to'em then." His response was quick and it honestly caught you off guard. "You uh...you okay with that?" You asked. Lester glanced over and nodded. "Yeah? Well, I grew up 'round people who weren't, but I didn't ever understand why. One of my brothers put it in a way that always stuck with me. It don't matter where your love comes from, s'long as it's genuine." He explained. A smile broke out across your face and your gaze softened. "Well, that's a nice change."

Lester nodded. Butterfly wings grazed his stomach and he came to a stop, hissing between his teeth. "Road's washed out worse than I thought. Thought I could beat it." You waved your hand. "Nah, don't worry about it. I can probably just walk across. You got me pretty far." You replied. "You'll get soaked out in that! And there ain't no guarantee Bo'll even be at the station. Hm..." He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "I got a cabin nearby if you wanna wait it out there. Only if ya want though!" He offered. The kindness was a much-welcome change. Perhaps it was a bit naive to just...agree. But you didn't feel like wading through ankle-deep water to end up in a town with no one in it. "Yeah, sounds fine to me." Lester beamed at your agreement. He hadn't had guests in his home in...well, ever, excluding his brothers.

Some nerves burned in his body as he changed course to drive up to his cabin. Silence passed between the two of you, comfortable for you, tense for Lester. Finally, he struck up a slightly shy conversation. "Ya know uh, I ain't ever been to sure bout my whole...sexuality, or whatever it's called." He admitted. You glanced over with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah?" "Well like, I know women are mighty pretty. Always knew that. But uh...ya know, every now and then..." He trailed off with a passive hand motion, ears bright red. You smiled and gave a soft chuckle, not mocking, more fond. "There's a man that's just as pretty?" You asked, making him nod. "But then there's manly women and pretty men and they're also nice to look at. Met a few people who I couldn't tell at all, but I knew I liked lookin' at'em." Lester rambled.

"Well, there's a term called pansexual, bisexual also covers that kind of feeling. It's the ability to be sexually and romantically attracted to people. Just people. Regardless of their biological gender or how they present." You explained. It was a bit more complicated than that, but a simple explanation was probably best suited. "That right? Huh...maybe I'm that then." Lester mumbled. "Could be. Ain't anything wrong with it." You shrugged. The conversation dipped off again but not for long. "You got a type in men?" You asked, smiling when Lester choked on his own saliva. "Well uh- I mean, no, but like-..." He stuttered. Your laugh rang out in the truck and he felt his chest tighten. "Relax, loverboy, take your time." The pet name made Lester's blood burn. He let out an exhale. "Startin' to form one right now." He whispered, maybe thinking you couldn't hear.

You did.

"I'll keep that in mind." You replied quietly. Lester let out an exhale as he turned past some trees, pulling up to a nice-looking cabin. Rustic and hidden amongst tall trees. You snorted when the man thumped his forehead on the steering wheel, snickering when he patted his face. "Alright, I'm good." He said, sitting straight again. "Welcome!" He motioned to the cabin. You laughed again and nodded. "Thank you! C'mon, I'm eager to see all the bones you have." You said. Lester brightened up and hopped out of the truck like a kid on Christmas. He'd never had anyone interested in his bone collection. Running up to the porch. "Oh I got plenty to show ya, trust me." Lester grinned. "If it's anything like your truck? I'm excited." You nodded, following him inside.

What a nice turn of luck.

[the1trueanon]

I FINALLY GOT THESE DONE HERE WE GO:

ACTOR AU SAGE!!!

Fun fact! Actor AU is currently the only WH AU to have a version of Sage instead of Rosemary! :D

Her intro stuff is really long, so I'll put it under the cut (AAAA IM SO EXCITED TO SHARE HER)!!

So, for the Actor AU, Sage actually isn't an actor at all! She's a singer and songwriter who has pretty recently (like, within the past year or two before meeting the WH cast, maybe?) become very popular. Sage's personality and music draw a lot of inspiration from AURORA and MALINDA -- songs that tend to have a lot of deeper meaning behind them. She's eccentric and honestly a bit weird, but she's most known for being open and honest about herself and her music, and for being very caring and sweet. She's able to immediately connect to people and help them see different points of view, which is part of why she's gotten so popular with both puppet and human audiences.

Wally, of course, doesn't really trust it, considering how he thinks and what he believes. He assumes she's probably just another attention-hungry diva, thinking they're the shit, using the whole "lets all be best buds!" schtick to sell out. So he doesn't really pay attention to her or what she does too much, besides taking note of her rising popularity.

That is, of course, until he meets her.

Due to Sage's rising popularity, the show executives decide to have her come on the show as a sort of guest star. Wally doesn't really like this, but they're able to negotiate him to at least try it out for an episode and they'll decide what to do after that. Wally reluctantly agrees, but he's not too optimistic about it. He's really just expecting another one of those "rising star" types, y'know? (Which, fair enough, when you consider what all he's probably had to deal with in his time, plus the fact that all he's probably ever seen or heard of her is in interviews, and he puts on an act well enough for his, so.)

I have a whole actual comic planned detailing this that I'll hopefully finish and get out soon (sitting and writing comics is hard when you have near-zero focus QwQ) but essentially he's outside, before filming for the first day of this, just to get air before having to go back in and start directing things and getting ready and she approaches him and just starts talking with him. And he has no idea who the fuck this is??? (Honest to god, he'll never admit it now but he thought she was an intern or something at first XD) But slowly he goes from just answering her shortly to actually participating in the conversation?? And not just a "how's the weather" sort of thing, but like. Actual deep conversation, about what he's doing out there and talking through a little bit of the stress and stuff. And eventually he kinda like, comes to and realizes he's been talking way too much about way too deep stuff and he's like "hold up who tf are you again?" Which is about the same time her manager (who has been named Savannah and she's also a sweetheart) comes out looking for her and before Sage heads in she fully introduces herself to him, and he's just. Stunned. Absolutely blown away.

Here he was, expecting some diva he'd have to give the shake down to, but instead he's met with just. A girl. An honest, strange, caring girl.

This continues throughout that week of filming, Sage subverting every expectation Wally previously had of her. The whole time he's just more and more startled by Sage and who she is. Her whole team is super sweet and she obviously has very deep trust in them, and jokes with them like friends. She treats his staff with utmost respect (which, admittedly, makes him act on his best behavior every time she's around. He doesn't wanna look bad in comparison XD). She seems to genuinely enjoy her time there and what she's doing. Even more than that, Sage honestly has a very poor filter, so she talks a lot about everything lol, but it can be good! Because this is how Wally learns about her drive to create and how much she genuinely wants to bring people together. He finds out that really, the two of them have very similar visions, just for different audiences. Later, he and the executives and director and stuff are all discussing if they wanna keep doing stuff with her and her team and he's just immediately like "Yes. Absolutely. She has a similar vision to me. We either keep doing stuff with her or I'm personally helping fund her, capiche?" and they're all like "👀Got it" XD

And then, of course, there's her music. Which, after that first day of filming, he searches up as much of as he can and listens to it. And is again absolutely blown away lmao (there's another little comic idea I have for this too hehehe but its much shorter than the other one)

And thus begins Wally's journey of self-improvement, led by Sage's example /j XDDDD

ANYWAY HRGHRGHRGHRHGR THATS ALL THE EXPOSITION IMMA GIVE HERE CAUSE THATS A LOT AND THERE'S STILL A TON MORE STORY IN MY BRAIN BUT AUUUGGGHHH I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS AU (also Frills, I have no idea what spell you've put on me with this thing but I have never made such cinematic art before O-O don't stop XD)

As always, Welcome Home belongs to Clown (partycoffin) and Actor/Diva Wally and the Actor AU belong to the wonderful @frillsand!! 💖💖💖