#hope the surprise random starter works for you lol

[akechisjustic]

(Your turn lol) "Shall we dance?" +anyone from thytrueselves

Send "Shall we dance?" and I'll write a starter where our muses either waltz on the dancefloor or engage in a fight.

Goro hadn't expected to see Haru freaking Okumura across from him. If he had any survival instinct or actual points in stealth, he would have snuck away before she had spotted him, but it was clear from the way they were now standing in front of each other it was too late for that. He took a deep breath as his hands curled into fists.

A cafe? It would be unexpected but it would make sense considering her interest in food. A fancy ball? Goro didn't have any reason to go to those anymore, but he could definitely see it happening (especially if she was hosting it). A random Lawson's at 8 at night when he just so happened to be working? Now clearly fate had it out for him.

He gritted his teeth and smiled as politely as he could. "Now this really is a surprise, I didn't expect to see you here," he said as cheerfully as he could as would be expected of a convenience store clerk. "Ah and with such a haul too, I hope that your business is going well and that's not why you've decided to stop at the local Lawson's? How are your friends? Alive, I presume?"

Really, he should stop talking before he "accidentally" insulted her any more than he already did. Even if he didn't exactly "need" the job, he wouldn't be happy about losing it from his smart mouth either. He took a deep breath and hoped his boss couldn't read his mind and start breathing down his neck about being nicer to customers.

[princessofmarvel]

Meeting For The First Time

Summary |  Being One Of The Only People To Remember Peter Parker After Dr. Strange Cast’s The Spell To Make Everyone Forget Him, And Being Dr. Strange’s Daughter Thing’s Can Get Kind Of Crazy, And Something Happening To Bring Even More Crazy Into Your Life, Might Sound Awful But, This Something Might Just Be Quite Amazing. (I Am Awful At Summaries I Know)

Pairing | Tasm!PeterParker x Fem! Reader)

Genre | Fluff!

Warnings | NO WAY HOME SPOILERS!

Authors Note | Hi!!!!! This Is Going to the be the start of A New Series That I Write! I Hope That You All Enjoy This! And, If There Are Any Mistakes I Am So Sorry! I Read Through It Once, But I Might Have Missed A Few Things. I Also Have Severe OCD So If There Are Random Cap's Where There Normally Would Not Be, I'm So Sorry, And That Is Why , Lol .

Working with your father definitely has its perks, such as getting to meet the likes of the Avengers, or, the protection of having someone such as him always looking out for you, (Which sometimes could also be a con).  But, he Can Also Be Extremely overprotective and over-bearing.  Strange took you in at a young age, you were a brilliantly gifted kid, knowing answers to things by just looking at it.  Strange came by your school one afternoon because there was a kid who would be the next him.  After A Conversation With You, He Come To Learn That You were an orphan who had gotten into the school on a special Scholarship. After some thinking, He went down to the orphanage and started the conversation of adopting you.  You have always thought that the main reason he Adopted you was because he would not really have to raise you, or take care of you, you being able to do pretty much all of that on your own, and it looked good for him to have a kid.  It wasn’t really until 2016 that He Really Started To Act Like A Real Father.  He got his powers, and then something odd started to happen.  You started to develop powers of your own.  Once your father found out, he was always having you practice your powers.

You had a Few Different Abilities, For Starters You can control people's minds and move things with it too.  You got irritated with all of the training sometimes, but it did make you better.  Getting into people's minds was what would hurt the most.  Your father would bring in people, and to see if they were lying or not, He would have you get into their heads and find out.  But, that also means that if someone was capable to, they could invade your mind and emotionally torture you.  This hasn’t happened but after you had a nightmare about it, you talked to your father and found out that it could be a possibility.

You were not around when the events of people coming and trying to find Peter Parker were happening, You were visiting your best friend Wanda when you both felt the shift happen.  When everyone started to forget who Peter Parker in our universe Was, She felt the change but you had a spell of your own put into place already in case these things happened.  You casted A spell making it to were you would not ever forget people that you know,  You Put This Spell In Place When You Found Out About Your Powers, Knowing that you could control people's minds, and get into theirs, You just felt like you needed to make sure that you would not forget anyone that you knew, in fear that someone would try to make you.

Rushing back home to see what was happening you went to find your Father immediately.  Him obviously not knowing what you were talking about, you finally had the chance to give him a lecture about being responsible and having that spell in place like you and wong do.  Seeing that your Father was not being of much help, You went to find Peter Immediately.   Going to his apartment and seeing that No one was there, You Decided To Use Your Powers To Find Him, And When You Finally Found Him, You Found Him In A Crappy Apartment.  Knocking on the door, not knowing exactly what to expect, He opens the door, And looks A little Surprised To See You.

“Uh, Um, Who are you?” He says while scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“You Are A Terrible Actor, Drop The Act Peter.” You said while Pushing Past Him, And Into His New Apartment. “What The Absolute Hell Did You Do, Peter?” You asked, standing in the middle of the small Apartment.

“Y-You know who I am?” He asks, while closing the door and coming closer to you.

“Yes Peter, I Know Who you are, I put in a Spell to make it to where,  I will never forget someone that I Know, Or Know Of, And Wong Has the same spell in place for himself, So I would not be shocked If A Angry Wong Burst Through Your Door Any Second Now.”

Before you could say anything else, You were almost tackled by Peter hugging you, and since you felt your shoulder start to get wet, you knew that he was crying.

“Uh, Peter What’s Wrong?” You Asked Him While Gently Rubbing His Back.

“I-I Lost May Y/n, I-I Lost Everyone, No One Remembers Me, N-Not Even MJ, And Ned.” He says while sobbing into your shoulder. “T-Thank You For Remembering Me.”

���Peter, We may not be that close, but trust me, I will never forget you, And not just because of A Spell.” You Say Running Your Hands Through His Hair to Try and calm Him Down Some.

You two spent the next few hours having Him Explain to you exactly what happened and Trying to figure out how you will fix everything. Starting with going down to the Sactume.

“Y/n, who have you brought here?” Your Father Says While Basically Floating Down The Stairs To The Two Of You.

“Oh, This Is Peter Parker, You know the guy that you made everyone forget, Including yourself since you just never got around to putting the spell in place.” You Look At Your Father And Say While Taking Your Jacket Off, And Sitting It Down On The Table.

“Um, I Did Ask Him to do it, and He Asked Me if I was Sure, And I Said Yes.” Peter Said Awkwardly.

“Ok Peter, Don’t Tell Him That Part.”

“Y/n What Are You wanting me to do? As Far As I know, there is nothing that I can do.” Your Father Says While Taking A Sip Of His Drink.

“There Is Something.” Says Someone Walking through the door.  Wong.  Thank God Wong Was Back.

Walking Up To Your Father, And Smacking Him On The Back Of The Head Before Explaining To Him That He Could Cast A Spell To Make Him Remember Peter, Wong starts to cast the spell on your father, (Much to his dismay), Making Him Remember Peter.       

“Peter, We Saved The World Together, You’re Spider Man.” Strange says while his Memories Of Peter Start To Flood Back Into His Mind.

“Hey Mr. Strange, I’m Here For My Lesson.” Says A Voice Walking Into The Sanctum. Almost Immediately Wong Casts A Spell making the man freeze.  When you turned around, You noticed that it was Ned, Peter's Best Friend.

After having Wong Cast the spell to Make Ned Remember Him, And Then Watching Their Emotional Reunion, It was time to move on to MJ.  She was surprisingly ok with the spell being casted on to her, Since She Trusted Ned.

“M-MJ?” Peter say’s walking up to her, And Before You Know It, MJ is hugging Peter, And Crying, reminding you of how Peter was with you Once you remembered Him.

Once Peter Had The People That He Needed To Really Remember Him, Remember Him, You, Ned, MJ, And Peter were all going to go celebrate when someone burst through the door.

“Ok, We Really Need To Find A Way To Stop People From Just Walking In Here.” You Say To Your Father.

“Who Are You?” Your Father Asks The Mysterious Man In Front Of You All. “Tombstone” Says The Man who then steps Out Of the Darkness and you can now see that the man looks like cement.

“I Just Came By To Tell You All That If You do not hand over the spiderman to me within 72 hours, I will take out my frustrations on the city.”  He Says While looking at everyone with a serious face.

“We don’t have the Spiderman”, Your Father Tells The Man.

“You Do,  I Know You Do, So Just Do As I Ask, And I Won’t Hurt Anyone.”  He Say’s Heading Towards The Door, But Using your Powers You Push Him Out The Door, And Then Shut The Door, And Lock It.

“Alright!  Which Spiderman Does He Belong To And Why Is He Still Here?” You Ask.

“I Have No Idea, But We Need To Find Out” Says your father while looking at Wong.

Within a Few Hours, You All Had Been Able To Contact Both Spidermen, And Bring Them To Your Universe, And Then Come to find out, The Villain Was From Neither Of Their Worlds.

“Uh, Hey, Who’s That?” Asks The Peter Who Look’s To Be In His 20s And Looks Like He Could Be The Middle Brother Between All Three Of Them.

“Uh, That’s Y/n Strange, Why?” Say’s MJ.

“Um, No Reason.” He Says Turning His Face Away From All Of Them.

“Oh, Dude, Don’t Even Try It, She Doesn’t Date Anyone.” Ned Tells That Peter While You Are At A Table Working On Something With The Peter From Your Universe.

“Well, Um, Maybe I Could Change That.” He Says While Looking At You.

“Be Our Guest, But Do Not Say That We Didn’t Warn You.” MJ Tell’s Him While Holding Her Hands Up In Defense.

Walking Over To You, Peter Finally Introduces Himself.

“Hey, Um, I’m Peter '' He Says While Holding His Hand Out To You.

“Yeah, I Kind Of Gathered That.” You Say While Taking His Hand, And Shaking It, Having No Idea, That, That Handshake, That First Touch, Was What Was Going To Be The Beginning Of Something So Much More Amazing.

[pepperful-qt]

hi can i pls get Anything abt mr. ryunnosuke tanaka 🥺

omg yes 🥺 love my man Ryu. I ended up doing hcs for this bc I had so many ideas lol

warnings: mentions of nosebleed

strangers->friends->crush w/ Tanaka Ryuunosuke

so you "meet" on the train. you've just started additional test prep classes before and after school and it happens to line up with the times of his morning and evening practices :0

he thinks you look familiar but also he thinks you're cute 👉👈 so you catch him staring a few times and he tries to play it cool

see: fails to play it cool like he'll start whistling or lean against a pole and slip falling into another patron 🤦‍♀️ which makes you smile bc aw & it breaks the intimidating impression he gives off

so one time during winter otw to school you notice him sniffling a bunch and then his nose starts bleeding bc of the dry air ;) hey plot convenience

and bc you were watching him you immediately pull a bunch of tissues out of your bag and shove them in his face

Tanaka broke uh oh

stuttering mess poor bby this is not how he wanted any first conversation to go smh just says the most ridiculous things in a very loud voice

you laugh at his flustered state bc it juxtaposed how he looks so much and oop he died

he finds out you go to karasuno too and you're a second year like him and he's like oH that's why you looked familiar

so you tell him about the extra classes you're taking and he's like 0.0 bc o shit that means you're smart

you end up walking to school from the train stop together yk and he's surprised how easy it is to talk to you?? Like don't get me wrong he's still stumbling over every other word and saying dumb shit and lowkey hiding his blush behind the tissues bc omfg a girl is having a conversation with him

once vb comes up he turns into Cocky Ryu™ talking abt how he's a starter and a wing spiker which is the coolest position and other bragging stuff like that

and you find it refreshing to talk to someone like him bc you're mostly stuck with academic types first thing in the morning and his energy is just so,,much in a good way tho

and he's actually funny. and a dork. and you did not expect this😳 it's also entertaining to see how quick he switches from braggart badass to flustered mess at the most random things you say dirty minded ryu hello

Then at school you part ways and Tanaka goes over to the lil second year squad who are lit rally 👁️👄👁️

Nishi: "rYUUUU??!? Whomst?!??!" yk

and his poor brain finally processes and he is non functioning

you hear screaming in the distance

so you guys actually talk after that ! Mostly you tbh bc sometimes he feels too dumb to talk to you, but he doesn't let it get to him, mental stability king that he is, so he just enjoys being around you. Also likes to watch your mouth move bc he's just like that lets be honest here

Tanaka be talking about you all the time tho. Like his teammates actually want to strangle him whoops. Not like it's the first time he's had a girl obsession but like once he's done thirsting (yk it's true) he starts talking about your personality with the same enthusiasm and his teammates are 👀⁉️

meanwhile you mention him to your friends and they tell you all these rumors and stories about how he's a gang and a delinquent and all that and internally you're just: "that guy? the one that couldn't form a sentence or stop blushing when I gave him a tissue and nerds out over volleyball? that guy?? sounds fake but ok"

Then after encouragement/begging from Ennoshita he asks you (aka screams) to help him study, then immediately tacks on a "andtheothersecondyearsontheteam I mean only if you want to actually imma jump off the train now"

"Tanaka no it's moving. Also I'd love to"

You are the queen. They all love you. Nishi worships you, Ennoshita is grateful for your very existence bc even if you're not academically savvy you still know lots about studying materials and exam stuff from your classes! and they actually listen when a girl tells them

meanwhile Tanaka is a weird combo of smug, flustered, and 😍

anytime you express any doubt in yourself or your future/talent/etc Tanaka immediately turns into Hype Man Tanaka ™

negativity?? insecurity?? who are they??? the concept that you are any less than perfect INCONCEIVABLE

sidenote Tanaka would be the best hype man in haikyuu change my mind

even though he's not always the best with words (he'll apologize for that) his sincerity and genuine lovebelief in you is enough 😌

oop yea you got a crush you realize that now

one time after you were talking about your horrible day on the train home and like usual, he bashes anyone who made it worse and gets mad or sad or whatever with you before cheering you up like normal

and then you give him a kiss on the cheek😳 "Thanks Ryu"

TanakaRyuunosuke.exe has stopped working. Hard reset required.

LIKE his heart is so tender and his brain didn't even comprehend that you could feel that way?? But what if it was a kind gesture?? Nothing more??

cue Overthinking Tanaka™

and he misses his freaking train stop poor bby

can barely function around you anymore 😔🥺 lowkey you feel bad bc maybe you overstepped and he didn't like you that way? you knew he liked their manager etc so now you're overthinking aaaa

then one day he says it

"Y/N!!! I like you a lot!! If we go to nationals I'm taking you on a date!!!!"

you: 👁️👄👁️

also you: "yesomfg I believe in u" (yall the type of couple that hypes each other i-)

and we all know how that bet goes😌

***

this is so long omfg I don't know how to add a read more on mobile rip

I rlly should've written this as a scenario but o well 💕 I hope you liked it!

[alirhi]

random snippet again

as promised, @feralgoblintea here's the (temporary) scene where the two sisters meet for the first time since one went missing as a child

note about the nickname: Rachel's middle name is Miranda; everyone has called her 'Andy' from that since she was a little kid. it's explained in her story, but not in this scene, so I just wanted to explain it here lol

"Your parents are very eager to know where you've been and what you've been going through all these years," the doctor told her, deep voice oddly gentle and soothing. Rachel smiled sadly; his voice reminded her of Amadeus. "Most of all, they want to know that you're alright."

She knew he thought she was crazy. Her parents definitely shared that opinion, which was why she was here to begin with. Still, she couldn't help asking, "And, in your professional opinion, am I?"

He caught her lightly mocking tone and snorted, leaning back in his chair to mirror her pose. "In my professional opinion," he shot back, though the sarcasm left his tone before he even finished his sentence, "you've been through Hell, Rachel. The trauma you've suffered is very, very real. If you're asking, do I believe in demons and portals and time travel, I'd have to say no. But that pain and fear came from somewhere... I'd like you to come back in for regular sessions, if you're up for it; see if we can cut through the fantasy, see past the demons and find the real monsters who hurt you."

"That's why I'm not coming back." She stood, shaking her head a little. "I'm not surprised you don't believe me - I probably wouldn't believe it, myself, if I hadn't lived it - but it's a bit frustrating. What I told you isn't metaphors or delusion. It all happened, and I'm not interested in having someone rip it all apart and try to make me doubt my own memory."

"They call that 'gaslighting' these days."

Startled, the blonde whirled around to face the source of the new voice; a woman she sort of vaguely recognized was standing in the doorway, hand on the knob, smiling at her. After a long moment, her brain helpfully edited the image before her to make it make sense; wild red hair to dirty blonde, violet eyes to mismatched green and blue, face younger and body smaller and more plump. "...Beck?!"

Rebecca's smile widened and she stepped forward with a nod. "Hey, Andy."

"Oh my god!" With a laugh and a delighted screech, she launched herself across the room and threw her arms around her little sister. "What are you doing here?"

Nearly squeezing the breath out of her, the younger woman murmured, "I heard you were back and had to see you. Stand your ground, Andy. Don't let them make you forget or doubt that it was all real. We know the truth." She released her, only to bring her hands up to grip the sides of her sister's head. "Magic is real."

Rachel froze, staring at Rebecca's mouth long after it closed and the two long, wicked fangs that had drawn her attention were hidden from view. "...What happened to you?"

"Not here. I'll tell you everything, but not here."

"Okay." Without so much as a backward glance at the shrink, she followed the redhead out of the office, past their fretting parents, and out into the bright sunny day that made Rebecca hiss.

She cringed and immediately donned a beat-to-hell baseball cap and a pair of dark sunglasses. "Fuck, I hate sunny days."

"You always did." Rachel couldn't help smiling faintly; so many years had passed, more than anyone in the world around them could ever understand, and yet so little about her baby sister had changed.

"Yeah, well... I've only gotten more sensitive to it."

Once they'd made it deep enough into the woods behind the Industrial Park that there was no risk of anyone overhearing, they stopped, and Rachel asked her point blank: "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

Rebecca laughed, gratefully leaning back into the shade of the nearest tree. "Only in our lives is that a casual conversation starter. And yes. Thankfully I'm old enough that daylight won't kill me. It's just unpleasant."

With her own accidental time travel in mind, the blonde asked, "How old are you?" Thirty-seven, she knew, in the eyes of the people around them; to them, Rachel herself had only just turned thirty-nine, and yet both sisters looked at each other with exhausted, haunted eyes millennia older than they could ever hope to make anyone else understand.

"As a vampire, or in general?" She smirked, shrugging off her own question before her sister could answer. "In general is harder to pin down, but I've been a vampire for about six thousand years, give or take a few."

Leaning against a tree roughly opposite Rebecca's, Rachel mirrored her smirk and crossed her arms over her chest. "I was Queen of an entire planet, and then POW and slave on a second, then a fugitive... I managed to send my older daughter home, before I got stuck on a third planet with my boys and little girl. It's been about ten thousand years."

"You have kids?" Rebecca grinned, once again showing those distractingly long fangs. "Me, too! I have two daughters, Madeline and Alice."

"Senna, Kieran, Caspian, and...Cassie," Rachel told her in answer to her unspoken question. She couldn't help blushing as she listed her children's names; she'd since learned what senna was, and hadn't actually given her younger two children names beginning with the same sound on purpose. It had just sort of worked out that way.

"Twins?"

She shook her head. "Caspian's my stepson, kinda, and Cassie was named after-"

Rebecca flinched, remembering. "After Cassie Wade, right? I was so focused on figuring out what happened to you, and then fighting to survive, I'd forgotten she went missing with you."

"She..." Clearing her throat, the blonde squared her shoulders and pulled her strong front around herself like a familiar safety blanket. "She saved our lives; she didn't make it. And, yeah. I named my youngest after her. Anyway, they're all grown, and Kieran..." Jaw clenching, she forcibly dismissed thoughts of her rapist and merely said, "He's my perfect warrior prince. Well, King now. I love them all, and desperately miss Senna, but Kieran, despite his more questionable choices, has a special place in my heart."

Rebecca took her sunglasses off and studied her for a moment before venturing, "Y'know... I literally eat rapists for breakfast."

That got a startled bark of laughter from her big sister, who shook her head. "Even if my boy hadn't already killed him, I doubt his gross, rancid blood would sit well with you. He wasn't human."

The redhead shrugged, smirking again. "Doesn't have to be. I've eaten Fae, elves, one vampire that pissed me off royally..."

"Not such a picky eater anymore, huh?" she teased, grinning. "Was it some badass revenge on your sire or something?"

Laughing, Rebecca shook her head. "Nope, no sire. I'm the OG vampire, babe. The first of the species. My younger daughter, Alice, is the first of the natural born vamps."

"So, wait... You could still get pregnant after you were turned? What?" Rachel frowned, beyond confused. "And how the fuck...?"

"I'm not dead," her little sister explained with another laugh. "Everything's slowed way the hell down, but hasn't stopped. I can't have kids with a human, or probably most Fae, but a certain trickster God..."

"...God?"

She grinned and nodded, though her haunting violet eyes looked sad. "Loki. He's Alice's dad."

"Huh. So the Gods are real." Rachel snorted. "Go figure. And my sister banged one."

"I loved him," the other woman whispered, staring at the ground. She opened her mouth as if to speak further, then seemed to reconsider and closed it again, clearing her throat.

To spare her from some clearly painful memories, whatever they were, Rachel asked, "What's a Fae?"

"Fairy," was the simple enough answer. "Fairies are real, too. Maddie - my oldest - is Fae."

Is she Loki's, too? She didn't dare ask - Loki was clearly a touchy subject - but she was dying to know.

As if she could read her mind, Rebecca, still avoiding her gaze, explained, "I was still mortal when I had her. Her father was Fae."

As the light breeze shifted the leaves above them, making the light dance across Rebecca's ghostly white skin, Rachel finally noticed the scars. At first, they'd looked like tribal tattoos, done puzzlingly in a silvery-white. When she realized they were actually a complex web of ancient scars, she also noticed they covered every inch of her sister's flesh that she could see around her shorts and tank top. Her face was the only place free of the oddly beautiful swirling lines, though she did spot a faint scar on her forehead, running from hairline to cheekbone and through the outer edge of her eyebrow.

"Is Madeline's father why you hunt rapists?" Is he the one who tore you apart?

"He didn't rape me... Technically. But yes, he's the one who scarred me." At her startled look, Rebecca smirked; it utterly failed to reach her eyes, but it was a start. "I can read your mind. I'm trying not to - I find it unspeakably rude and invasive - but when you're actively thinking about me, it tends to cut through my shields. The scars are from a spell he worked on me; blood magic. It's what made Maddie's conception possible, and chained me to him for years."

"Kieran's father was my greatest enemy; Crown Prince of the people who'd been attacking and slaughtering mine. King by the time I escaped." She didn't know what made her suddenly share this, but it felt like the thing to do. Her sister had told her something deeply personal and troubling; it seemed only right to meet candor with candor. Besides, Rachel and Rebecca had been two peas in a pod as children, as close as two sisters could possibly be. There was no amount of time that could strain their relationship. "I was captured in battle and kept as a slave for around a year and a half."

"How did the other three come about?" She smirked again, shoving her wild red hair back off her face impatiently. "Even when we were kids, I'd have bet just about anything that you're gayer than a rainbow, so how do you have so many kids?"

Rachel laughed, rolling her eyes. "Political marriage gave me Senna - born in a dungeon, thanks to me being pregnant during the battle and not knowing it yet. She was smuggled home to her father after she was born. I made a friend in that Hellhole, Emil, and he'd been raising Caspian; he's not his biological father, but that never mattered, just like it didn't matter to me that I didn't give birth to him. That boy's just as much my son as Kieran. We were supposed to go back to my home when we escaped, but something went screwy and we ended up on Achlys, instead, where I met my girlfriend and we all decided to just settle and raise the boys."

"So you cheated on your husband?" Rebecca's grin was teasing - and, thank god, reached her eyes at last! - but Rachel still threw an acorn at her when she said, "You whore!"

"I never saw him again! And he wouldn't have given a shit," she explained with a laugh. "I was, like, his third or fourth wife. And like I said, it was purely political; I was Queen, he was my advisor, he wanted power and I wanted an heir. Enter Senna, who boosted Raziel from random noble to father of the next Queen, and assured that there would be someone to take the reins if I died."

"So..." Her sister began ticking points off on her fingers as she spoke. "Shrewd political moves gave you Senna, you're co-parenting Caspian with a friend, we won't speak of Kieran's origins... How and why was Cassie a thing?"

Rachel shook her head, gaping at her. "A thing? That's nice, Beck. Real nice."

"Gods, you've missed so many cultural shifts, dude." Rebecca shook her head right back, trying not to laugh at her. "Just answer the question, old lady."

"Emil and I, and my girlfriend Trinity, all talked and decided to hell with conventionality; we all love each other, so we'll all be together. Em's my exception, I guess; the only man I've ever been attracted to even after seeing him naked. Our boys were grown, Senna was long gone, we'd made a whole new life for ourselves, so we decided to have another baby. Enter Cassie." Rachel sighed, staring off into space. "And now she's grown, Kieran's back in that awful place trying to turn it around, married to a great girl, Caspian's there with them to help..."

Though she had a feeling she knew the answer, the vampire asked softly, "And your lovers?"

"...Dead. Cassie - Cassie Wade, I mean - died in prison, Trin and Em were killed in the second war." A bitter smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "Kieran and Cas are running a third."

"There's always another fucking war," Rebecca grumbled. "I've watched so many of them come and go, fought in two, myself... It never really ends."

[taltos-seidmadr]

I have this book about 'norse magic' but in one chapter it had fetch animals which is basically irish, so I got really confused about this. I know in norse mythology you can have something like a familiar, but it's more like a death omen? I did it anyway and meditated for about an hour or so in the woods until an animal came to me and told me their name. later I researched it and found out it's one of Odin's many names and now I'm even more confused lol do you have any experience?

Yes, you are correct about this Anon... the wording does raise a number of questions if not red flags about the legitimacy of this book. My immediate gut instinct is to tell you to take any books about “norse™ magic™” with a truckload of salt, but it is at least talking about a concept that does exist. What the author chose to translate as “fetch” for whatever reason, is referring to a type of spirit called the fylgja, which means, and is normally translated as, “follower”. If you look into it under this name, you will have success finding resources about it.

Off the top of my head here’s a starter: The self and its parts

According to Norse beliefs, everyone has a fylgja. I have also heard that it may appear to signal a death, but as far as I know, it’s not necessarily the only reason it may appear, though allegedly it appears more commonly in dreams. If someone started going into spirit work or journeying, I wouldn’t be surprised if a fylgja were to appear at some point... and if there is a line between what you explore in different forms of altered states, I believe it to be very blurred and widely overlapping. Granted, my personal beliefs are a little bit closer to what my own culture holds (or used to hold) rather than strictly just what the Norse people thought. Maybe @north-of-annwn wants to weigh in on this? But either way, the bottom line is that seeing your fylgja doesn’t mean in itself that you need to be alarmed.

That being said! Based on what you told me it’s totally impossible to say whether it was your fylgja, or Ódin, or the spirit of a random animal in the woods, or somebody else entirely who contacted you. If you want to find out, you will have to take it up with the spirit themselves.

I hope this doesn’t come off as condescending but I don’t know who you are so... maybe it’s worth mentioning that you should know what wards are and how to make them well, before contacing spirits. Otherwise, idk, go for it man? You know, within reason, critical thinking, etc. But you will probably never find out unless you ask.

I have but two things to add:

1. Be extremely cautious with beings who are eager to reveal to you as quickly as possible that they play an important role in your life. Spirits can and will lie or deceive exactly in the same way humans can.

2. If it was really the old man contacting you, You Will Absolutely Know. Be prepared for the imminent avalanche of signs raining down on ya. You will literally not be able to miss it.

Fingers crossed, and let me know how it went 👁️‍🗨️🔥

(yoyothericecorpse)

[markcaramel]

fuckboy P.1 [m/a/f]

fuckboy!mark being a pain in your ass and trying to get you to fuck him.

GENRE: Smut, light angst and fluff.

MEMBER: Mark Lee (and some other members but this fic is about Mark so)

WORDS: 1.4k

MATERIAL: Since this is only the first part, it’s a little suggestive.

WARNINGS: Mature content, do not interact with this account unless you’re above the age of 18.

*AUTHOR’S NOTE: This was originally a one-parter, but I decided to split it so the ideas won’t get messy or anything.

♡ Mark Lee. A troublemaker you’ve had to deal with since elementary school. Ever since you graduated to highschool. He’s just been a plain fuckboy. Always getting into random girls’ pants, then acting like it never happened. He’s always tried to fuck you, but you wouldn’t budge. Some blondies that hangout by your locker are super jealous of the way he looks at you when you pass by eachother in the hallway and always give you dirty looks for it and talk bad about you, but you couldn’t care less. No one in the school knew why you always reject him, not even your bestfriends. After all, you knew that if you fuck him once, you’ll just end up like all the heartbroken girls he once hit and quit then forgot. ♡

♡ You woke up by the unthrilling sound of your buzzing alarm, slapping it with your palm to get rid of the annoying noise. It was Monday, which wasn’t very thrilling either. You got up, and did your little morning arm stretch, cracking your bones in the process. You quickly got ready to go to school, kissed your mom on the cheek and left. While eating your sandwich on the sidewalk, you see Mark on the opposing sidewalk with a phone in his hands and a bag lazily hung on one shoulder (just like you), not paying attention to anyone walking infront of him. You giggled softly when he accidentally ran into a brunette teenager, but then rolled your eyes when he winked at her. Will he ever stop? No. Would he ever stop? Obviously no. The brunette dropped the eye contact acting all flustered and quickly made her way to wherever she was heading. ♡

♡ You then moved your gaze to the sidewalk concrete floor getting lost in your thoughts when you suddenly feel someone walking next to you. “Hey Y/N.” You heard a familiar voice speak. “What do you want Mark?” you sighed. “Good morning to you too.” He semi-mumbled. “Is it so wrong that I’m trying to have a conversation?” Saying it in the most dramatic way ever. “Go start a conversation with something else, maybe a wall for starters.” You said while smiling at his stupid overreactive reaction. “Sorry I’m trying to be nice.” He said in a high-pitched tone which made you giggle, sighing right after, but of course Mark’s dirty mind heard it in a dirty way. You suddenly saw a tent build up in his pants which surprised you a lot but also didn’t surprise you because come on, it’s M A R K. “MARK!” You kind of yelled while pushing him. “WhaAat?” He yelled back. You looked at his lower body then at his eyes, then he got it. “Ooohhh, Sorry I can’t control my genitals and how they feel!” He said sarcastically. “I can’t believe you, walk alone.” you said in a slight funny and surprised tone. “You really think I’m going away that fast? Heh, you expect too much.” He admit. It was true, I mean, this is Mark Lee we’re talking about. ♡

♡ As soon as you reached the door, a blondie came running to Mark. “Hey Mark! My parents are going on a vacation, and I’m gonna be home alone for a month! Unless you wanna come over..” she said while winking. You literally gagged internally and walked away searching for your friends. The sun’s blinding rays forced you to squint your eyes and raise your eyebrows in attempt to open them and search more clearly. You continue to look around wondering where they sat this time, until you feel a hand poking your shoulder, you could’ve sworn your heart was about to come out of your mouth. “Why the hell is everyone sneaking up on me today?” you whine while facing the person who poked your shoulder. “Oh hey, Johnny!” your face lighted up at the sight of your bestfriend. “Hey! So I really need to head to class but I just came to tell you that if Mark tells you to follow him during lunchtime, don’t. Just don’t. It’s better if I don’t tell you why so you don’t murder him.” He said while giving you a smile as a goodbye. You needed a moment to process his words because he was talking as fast as the speed of light. ♡

♡ 2 periods later, while preparing your art supplies for the next class, you were very confused about the thing Johnny told you earlier. What could Mark possibly want? You thought Johnny and Mark were luring you into a prank or trap or something. He can’t just suddenly pop out of nowhere and tell you this, it just seems sketchy to you. You were knocked out of your thinking by your friend telling you that class started 2 minutes ago while you were zoned out. You let out a short chuckle and walked over to your classroom, you were fairly nervous because right after this class was lunchtime, you made yourself a plan just incase they were trolling you. “Hey uh, can we sit somewhere else during lunchtime? Like under that big tree outside or something.” You persuaded your bestfriend. “Sure, but why?” she asked, puzzled. “Oh, I don’t know, I just wanted us to have fresh oxygen while eating instead of smelling ramen and chicken while I’m eating.” you tried to sound as honest as possible so she won’t catch on. “Alright then.” she said while giggling. Fast forward to lunchtime, you felt like exploding from the amount of nervousness you were feeling, it was literally nauseating. You made your way outside hoping not to bump in Mark or Johnny, or any of their friends. The thought made you shiver. You felt relief as soon as you walked through the school doors and continued to walk to the big ass tree on the field. You sat down and let out a sigh of joy. “Wow Y/N, this place might become our official lunchtime area.” your friend admitted. You giggled in response, opening your container of salad and lemon. ♡

♡ Mark walked into the lunchroom in a confident way for what he was about to do. “You really think your master plan would work?” Jaehyun asked. “Of course it will, Jaehyun, don’t be ridiculous.” Mark answered. “As if any plan you have ever made worked, genius.” Renjun scoffed. They all sat down in anticipation, waiting for you to walk in. “I’m gonna be right back.” Mark got up and speedily walked out of the lunchroom. “Where did he go? I thought he’s was gonna use his master plan on Y/N.” Johnny said, quite confused. “You think he backed down?” Yuta asked. “Come on, you know Mark, he’d never back down, no matter what especially when it comes to her.” Jaehyun said pointing at you through the window. “So that’s where she’s been this whole time and you haven’t said a word?” Renjun said, afraid of Mark’s reaction to Jaehyun’s nonsense. “Calm down, I literally just spotted her.” Jaehyun explained, defending himself. ♡

Mark came back into the lunchroom but didn’t make it pass the door. “Yuta come quickly!” He yelled loud enough for his friends to hear him. Yuta rushed off his chair and quickly followed Mark outside. “See Y/N?” Mark pointed at you, pausing for a moment to admire how the sunlight between the spaces of the leaves illuminated your pretty face. “I need you to go to her and tell her this-“ Mark cut himself off and whispered to Yuta the rest so no one would hear them. “Got it?” Mark asked, unsure if Yuta even heard anything. “Yes, yes I got it.” The boy said, very excited. Yuta walked over to you, hands in pockets. “Y/N, Mark says he really can’t understand this stupid Biology formula and he really needs your help at the library.” Yuta said. “Oh really?” you narrowed your eyes at him. “Well then, tell him to find some other person who’s willing to teach his stupid ass.” You replied, quite proud at your response. “But everyone he asked turned him down.” Yuta tried reasoning with you. “So did I.” You took another spoonful of your salad in hope of him leaving you alone. “It’s really important Y/N, Mr. Saltzman (tvd character lol) is giving him another chance of making his grades better!” Yuta said, very very desperately. “What do I get out of this?” you asked, giving up, knowing he won’t go away until you’ve agreed. “I have no clue, ask him.. and was that a yes??” Yuta bent over so you were face to face. “Fine.. I’ll do it.” You said, completely ignoring Johnny’s warning. ♡

[thecassadilla]

The Perfect Moment

Word Count: 1,866/AO3

Pairing: New Dream/Rapunzel x Eugene

Summary: Eugene tries to find the perfect moment to propose to Rapunzel. 

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! This is my contribution for Day 5 of New Dream Appreciation Week - Proposal! I’d just like to reiterate that I, idiotically, have not watched seasons 2 and 3 of Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (well, I watched one random episode at 3 in the morning, but that’s a different story for a different day). While I know there were multiple proposals and rings from both Eugene and Rapunzel, I actually haven’t seen any of them, unfortunately. So, in true “me” fashion, this is a Modern!AU that I pulled out of thin air. Seriously, I don’t know how I managed to come up with this - I’ve never been proposed to, and all of my friends have gotten engaged in Disney World. Definitely not my area of expertise lol. I hope you enjoy it!

If you asked him directly, Eugene would’ve denied being a planner. He lived his life on the edge, doing things on a whim. Spontaneity. Until he met Rapunzel - then he subconsciously became a planner. Although outwardly, he tried to play it cool and pretend like he was too focused on living in the moment to care about the future, that couldn’t be further from the truth. It only became evident to him when he purchased an engagement ring for Rapunzel and carried it around for months, unsure of when and how to propose to her. 

Like the night they went to dinner and she looked so beautiful. He wanted to pull the ring out of his pocket and propose right there, but then there was a fire in the kitchen and they all evacuated, so they ended up getting fast food and calling it a night. So, he scrapped his plans and decided it would be best to wait for a better opportunity.

There was the weekend they went to New York City where he thought about proposing a thousand times. Like inside the Museum of Modern Art; the vibes weren’t right, though, and that plan quickly went out the window. He thought about doing it at the ice skating rink at Bryant Park, but then someone injured themselves while skating and he knew he would’ve felt guilty for taking away the attention from someone who’d just been hurt. He very seriously thought about doing it in front of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, and just as he was about to pull out the ring and get down on one knee, a couple less than ten feet away from them got engaged. Forget Times Square, that place was filled with couples getting engaged. And then just like that, the weekend was gone and so was the opportunity to propose in New York.

He thought about doing it on New Years Eve, surrounded by their friends and family at a party, and instead, he found himself in a fog.

“Hey,” Rapunzel said, shaking his arm slightly.

He shook his head in an attempt to come out of his trance. “Huh?”

“Are you alright?” She asked, a glimmer of concern in her eyes.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I was deep in thought.”

“Okay,” she smiled. “Just checking.”

And thus, another opportunity fizzled before his eyes. He was immensely grateful that Rapunzel appeared to be none the wiser to his plans, failed or otherwise. The thought was on his mind constantly, but he had a long list of everything that it had to be: perfect, for starters. Unique. Unforgettable. Extraordinary. And daily life just wasn’t like that; it was ordinary and mundane. They went to work and ran their errands, and that was that. 

He was certain that he was going to do it on Valentine’s Day. He had the entire evening planned out; they were going to go to see a show at the theatre, and then to a fancy restaurant and he was going to do it - no more inhibitions. Until he got stuck late at work.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sunshine,” he said into the phone, trying his best to keep his voice from cracking. 

“Hi, baby!” She exclaimed. “Sorry, I’ve got my hands full and I couldn’t see who was calling. But I’m so excited for tonight.”

“Yeah, about that…” he started, but trailed off.

“Oh no, what’s wrong?”

“I’m stuck working late,” he sighed. “I’m really sorry, I know you were looking forward to tonight.”

“Oh,” she said, the slightest hint of disappointment in her voice for a split second. “Well we can always reschedule! It’s just a day, after all.”

She was ever the optimist, wasn’t she? If only he felt the same way. He wasn’t bitter, but it was yet another wrench in his plans. And this one wasn’t for lack of trying, or because someone else stole the moment, either. It was just sheer bad luck. 

So he sat on it for a long, long time. There were no more special days, no more special trips. Time was passing quickly, and it was starting to bother him more and more, and eventually it became noticeable. 

“Is everything okay, Eugene?” She asked while they were sitting at the dinner table one night.

He looked up. “Of course.”

“You’re lying.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“Something isn’t right,” she said, placing her hand on top of his. “You haven’t been yourself lately. Is something bothering you?”

“No, everything’s fine,” he lied. “Things have just been rough at work. You know how it is.”

“Okay,” she nodded, her eyes sympathetic. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

He didn’t answer. And he hated himself for that. He hated himself for lying to her, and he hated himself for not doing it right then and there. But the most perfect woman in the world was sitting right in front of him, and she deserved nothing less than perfection. 

He decided that he’d have to work harder to disguise his feelings. And more time passed. He thought about doing it when they went to the park at sunset, but they were being eaten alive by mosquitoes and had to leave before he could even think about doing anything. He thought about doing it the night they sat outside and stargazed, until their neighbors came outside and ruined the moment. He contemplated doing it on her birthday, but that plan fell to pieces when he realized that she should have her birthday to herself; getting engaged should be a separate day to celebrate. He thought about doing it when they were laying in bed one night; she was reading a book and just as he was about to clear his throat, she leaned in to kiss him goodnight and turned off her lamp. And the moment had escaped yet again.

And that brought them to mid-July. He’d been carrying around the ring for eight months, letting it sit in its box instead of on her finger, where it belonged. The beach, the pier, the mountain they hiked, and the drive down the coast became other missed opportunities along the way.

When he woke up that morning, he wasn’t surprised to see that she was already gone. It wasn’t unusual for her to get up early on a Saturday to run her errands. He laid in bed for a while, brooding and muttering to himself before he got up and decided to go on a long drive to clear his head. It didn’t help, of course. He wasn’t only wasting time, but also gas. He felt totally incompetent; the ring was burning a hole in his pocket and he felt like he wasn’t being honest with Rapunzel. 

He returned home in the early afternoon, feeling no better than he did before he left. He took a deep breath as he pushed his key into the lock, unsure what he would do if Rapunzel noticed his sullen expression - it was more a matter of when than if, at this point, though.

The living room was covered in a large tarp, an easel and blank canvas in the center of the room. The coffee table was pushed into the kitchen and a bouquet of sunflowers wrapped in brown paper were resting on the counter. Every blind and curtain was open, so the entire room was illuminated with natural light.

“Hey!” Rapunzel called, emerging from the hallway with a stool in her hands. “I wasn’t sure when you were coming back, so I turned the living room into a studio. I hope you don’t mind.”

He was immediately taken aback by her appearance. She was wearing denim overall shorts, with a white floral off-the-shoulder top underneath. She had a light blue headband in her hair, a small knot sitting perfectly in the center. She placed the stool next to the easel and put her hands on her hips. She looked so happy, and completely at ease with the world.

“No,” he shook his head, dumbfounded. “I don’t mind at all.”

“I figured you wouldn’t,” she giggled. “Oh, and guess what!”

“What?”

“I went to the market today and they said the sunflowers bloomed two weeks early! Isn’t that just incredible?” She gushed. 

“Yeah, that is something,” he said, his voice low.

“The only thing is, I can’t remember where I put the vase. I’d like to get them in some water, but I don’t know where it is,” she said, bringing her fingers up to her face. 

He tried to think but his brain wasn’t working.

“Ooh!” She exclaimed suddenly, clapping her hands together. “I remember what I did with it!”

She raced down the hallway, and he heard the closet door open. A minute later she was back with the vase in his hand, and he realized that he never moved from the entryway to their apartment. He was standing there, shoes on and keys in hand, frozen. 

“I found it! I was keeping all of my sewing stuff in it temporarily,” she explained, bringing the empty vase into the kitchen. She navigated around the coffee table that was taking up most of the room, and he heard the tap turn on, followed by the sound of paper being torn away. A few seconds passed and she came out, holding the vase full of sunflowers in her hands. She was smiling brightly when she said “See! Look at how nice that looks.”

She went back into the living room and placed the vase on the stool. And then he decided it was now or never.

“Marry me,” he said, his voice practically a whisper. 

“What was that?” She asked, her back facing him.

He dropped his keys on the floor, startling her, and then charged in her direction. She turned to face him and he repeated himself.

“Marry me,” he said, breathlessly.

Several looks crossed her face - confusion, shock, delight. “I-uh, w-what?” She stuttered.

And so he pulled the ring box out of his pocket, got down on one knee, and opened it. Both of her hands flew up to cover her mouth and her eyes widened as she watched his every move.

“Rapunzel, you’re my best friend. I love everything about you - your kindness, your ability to see the world in a positive light, your creativity and your sassiness. You inspire me to be a better man each and every day. I love going on adventures with you and I want all of our adventures to be together. I know you're the only one I want to share the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” She nodded, tears pooling in her eyes and offered him her shaky left hand.

He slid the ring onto her finger and stood up, and immediately she was in his arms. 

“I can’t believe this,” she blubbered, when she finally pulled away. “How long have you been planning this?” 

“A long time,” he admitted, sheepishly. “I’ve had the ring for about eight months, and I kept trying to find the perfect moment, but it wasn’t easy.”

“Nothing could be more perfect than this,” she promised, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips.

[onigirimsby]

Royal!AU Akaashi x Reader? Also, I'm the anon who sent in the idea! I hope this is enough information. (:

Hi! Thanks for the idea! I’m so sorry this took so long :) I got distracted lol Anyway, I couldn’t decide what kind of royal au so i said why not 3 diff ones? hahahaha I hope it’s okay that it’s fem!reader

I feel like a proper royal au has GOT to be multichapter tho! You need room for the development, and the pining! 🥰

Royal AU Headcanons (akaashi x fem!reader)

The appeal of AUs is the idea that no matter the universe, they will find each other; no matter the timeline, they will fall in love.

Medieval Royal AU

You are a young princess, and Akaashi is your brother’s best friend. 

He’s a duke’s only son who likes to play knight, and his family has been loyal to yours for as long as history can remember.

On this particular day, your brother yells out Akaashi’s name and you can’t help but lean outside your window.

There he is, on the palace grounds, looking lean and strong and majestic upon his horse. You want nothing more than to run down to meet him.

You can’t help admiring the way he dismounts his horse.

As soon as you think that, he looks up, as if he’s heard you (impossible). He smiles and waves while your brother chats absentmindedly.

You blush and wave back, glad he can’t see you very well from that distance. Your brother playfully punches him on the shoulder when he realizes what’s happening.

As soon as they’re looking away, you retreat back to your room and beg your lady-in-waiting to let you finish your embroidery later. It takes a lot of pleading and promising but she finally relents.

You run as fast as your heavy skirts allow and the palace staff have to pretend they’re not witnessing something so scandalous.

“Akaashi!” As soon as he hears you calling, he whips around, smiling as you approach him all flushed and with your hair messy from the exertion.

“Your Highness” He bows and you remind him he can call you by your name.

In a moment, a servant arrives with your favorite horse saddled and ready. Akaashi helps you onto the animal. His grip on your waist is respectful, though he lingers a beat too long that even your brother notices.

When you straddle the horse instead of riding side-saddle, Akaashi blushes, and you wonder why, since you’ve always ridden that way when it was just with family and very close friends.

Your brother sets a comfortable pace as the three of you ride, but it’s not long before it turns into a race.

You win, of course, and you’re not surprised when Akaashi follows in second, not too far behind. You dismount, and watch him ride into the secluded hollow that was the finish line.

As soon as Akaashi dismounts, you pull him close to you.

“Your Highness, it’s not proper.” He says, though he’s smiling as he presses a kiss to your lips.

“Akaashi, you’re going to have to stop calling me that.” You say, reluctantly pulling away from the kiss. “People are going to assume my fiance has forgotten my name,” you kiss him again, and this time his arms wrap around your waist as he pushes the two of you deeper into the shrubbery. “Besides, that’s not how you address a duke’s wife.”

“Oh, forgive me, your grace,” Akaashi corrects himself as he smiles into your kiss.

Ancient East Asian Royal AU

Your household is in a flurry as Akaashi unexpectedly visits your sprawling mansion. He’s young, but experienced in battle, and rumored to become the Emperor who will unite your nation. Or at least, that was his goal.

And you were the daughter of a nobleman who’d gained renown for being especially clever and wise.

When you reached marrying age, the expected suitors arrived, that much was normal. What no one expected was how difficult it would be to woo you, and how much of a prize you really were.

For starters, you’ve refused to show your face, despite rumors that you were beautiful, and you’d insisted on conversation and strategy games as the methods through which you’d pick your groom.

Another oddity was how you attracted suitors in the first place. Why would a well-respected, wealthy man work so hard, only to be rejected by someone they’d never seen. Sure, you were a nobleman’s daughter, but there were many of those in the country.

You were rumored to be beautiful, yes, but what really drew them was the challenge of outwitting you when no one else had. What had them coming back was the shame in being outwitted by a woman time and time again.

This is what had the young future-Emperor visiting your home. Akaashi knew if he were to unite his people, he needed a wise Empress to rule by his side.

When you welcome Akaashi into the room he kneels in front of your shrouded dais, and your glad he can’t see how nervous you are. You aren’t prepared for him. If he weren’t the future Emperor, he would’ve had to ask permission to visit, or announce his intention. And you had never expected to attract his attention in the first place.

Akaashi admits he isn’t especially eager to marry, let alone someone he’s never met, but he tells you he only wants someone wise and capable to rule by his side. He’s humble, and obviously cares for his people, and you guard your heart. You’ve fallen for those tricks before.

So, you give him his first riddle, and though it takes him days to solve it, in the days between, he visits you, still, just to talk.

The second puzzle is a task. It’s an impossible task, of course, unless he happens to listen to the advice of a lowly maid who has no right to talk to royalty.

The “maid” is always you in disguise. You want to see how your suitors treat those they don’t seek to impress.

To your surprise, Akaashi listens to the “maid”, and is thankful when the advice proves useful.

It goes on like this for an entire year; longer than any other suitor’s attempt. 

He takes his time solving your riddles and puzzles, and you do your best to determine what kind of person he is. And all that time, he never once asks for your hand in marriage.

On the weeks he is absent to tend to his duties, you find yourself missing him. And upon his return, you’re excited to talk to him again.

He returns one day looking tired and bedraggled. He apologizes for his appearance and says he’s preparing for battle, one harder and more dangerous than any he’s faced before. And finally, he asks for your hand. If he survives - if he wins - he could not imagine anyone more capable to rule by his side.

To his surprise, you push aside the curtain of your dais so he can see who you really are.

“Let that be the final task, then.” You tell him. “Come back to me, win the battle, and I’ll be your bride.”

Modern Royal AU

You didn’t think you’d actually end up in the same class as the Crown Prince.

Of course, you knew he was entering the same university, since it was all over the news. You just didn’t think...

You try your best to act normal around him, because lord knows it must be weird enough being a prince. And you try not to get too annoyed when random people try to get pictures of him as he’s entering and leaving class.

You cringe at the thought of accidentally ending up in one of those pictures. Not that anyone would recognize you.

Your luck runs out when you end up working on a major project together.

How were you supposed to do your best and get a good grade when you were so intimidated by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Akaashi the Pretty or whatever?

And when he asks if you can work in his apartment (for obvious privacy reasons), you don’t expect a whole penthouse.

For what it’s worth, Akaashi does seem a bit shy about the opulence, and you do your best not to stare.

When you end up on the cover of a magazine (Scandal: Prince brings home mystery woman), Akaashi immediately apologizes and gets “his people” to take everything down.

You almost feel bad for him (after all, it was really just a blurry shot of your back), but you’re sort of terrified. It was a creepy invasion of privacy.

The next time you work on the project, you decide to book a study room in the university library.

The room feels too large and quiet, since they’re usually for larger study groups, and it’s awkward.

So, you babble to fill the silence and tell him it’s okay, and you feel worse for him. Until you realize how inappropriate that is, and apologize profusely. But you’re surprised to find him smiling.

Things warm up between the two of you after that. He’s a perfectly nice and well-adjusted person after all, and your a breath of fresh air from his formal and constrained life as a prince.

You’re surprised that you’re a little sad when you have to turn in the project, because that means no more convenient excuse to hangout.

That is, until Akaashi bashfully asks you out.

And he’s shy and scared because he knows his life is high-stakes, and it’s anything but casual, so he’s even more surprised when you say “yes”.

[purplesurveys]

1057

survey by lets-make-surveys

1 - When was the last time you had a roast dinner? What kind of meat or vegetarian option did you have with it? That’s not really a thing we do here, but for our noche buena dinner we did have roast chicken with rosemary as one of our dishes. It was surrounded with bangus (milkfish), lumpia with cheese, callos, baked macaroni with cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy. My family has never been traditional when it comes to Christmas food and I’ve never tried hamon or queso de bola.

2 - When was the last time you drove or travelled for over an hour? Where did you go? It is for sure going to be today because we’ll be driving to Laguna to visit my dad’s family wearing our face masks, face shields, equipped with alcohol and hand sanitizer, and ready to follow social distancing.

3 - What’s your favourite kind of coffee to order (eg. cappuccino, latte etc.)? I’ve been ordering caramel macchiato in the last...6–7 years. If a coffee shop doesn’t serve it, the next thing I go for is whatever sounds like the sweetest drink on their menu, like a chocolate chip truffle frappe or something like that.

4 - When you get old, are you going to let your hair go grey or dye it instead? I will probably dye it for a bit, like what my grandma used to do. But I guess it’ll also depend; I might end up liking grey hair and not feel the need to change how it looks.

5 - What genre was the last book you read? Was it any good? I can’t remember which one it was but it was definitely a wrestler’s memoir; I must’ve read around four this year. The best ones I read are always of Chris Jericho since he has fantastic stories but he also knows how to write well. A lot of wrestlers have great stories, but are so-so in writing.

6 - Did you ever wear braces on your teeth? Yeah, briefly from the end of middle school to freshman year of high school. I need to get braces again, though.

7 - When was the last time you were relieved about something? What caused you to feel that way? Continued from earlier today. We brought both dogs to my dad’s family’s place today and I was glad that they were fast asleep on our drive back home and that neither felt bad and puked.

8 - Where was the last place you went that required you to wear a mask? Are you used to having to wear one now? Everyone is required to wear masks as long as they find themselves outdoors, period. I wear one even if I’m just walking one of my dogs in our backyard. I’m definitely more used to it now, compared to months ago when I had just started going out again and would be forgetful when it came to masks.

9 - How often do you receive calls from unknown numbers? Do you ever answer them? I get them a lot more often now that I’m working and have to coordinate with third-party people...I get unknown numbers once or twice a week. As much as it irritates me, I have no choice but to answer all of them now.

10 - What’s your favourite condiment to have with sausages or hot dogs (or the vegetarian equivalent)? Whenever I have a sausage/hotdog in a bun, I’d be glad to simply have mayonnaise on it.

11 - Which fictional character can you relate to the most? Is this a character from film, TV or a book? Monica Geller from Friends.

12 - Do you groom your eyebrows? If so, how? Nah, haven’t in a long time. It’s just not something I’ve ever particularly cared about. Whenever I have to, I just shave them. I also haven’t had a trichotillomania episode with my eyebrows, which is a relieving thing to realize.

13 - Did you get “told off” for anything the last time you went to the dentist or was everything okay? My last trip went smoothly. I just had a tooth extracted and there wasn’t really anything to reprimand me for since the tooth was already damaged.

14 - Would you rather get a starter or dessert? Have always been more of a savory girl than sweet, so I’ll go with the starter.

15 - Have you ever been involved with the police? Did you find them to be helpful? I mean...I guess? Kind of? I wasn’t arrested by any means, but I was a journalism student, so *shrug* pretty self-explanatory lol. There was one time in one class where we were all required to write a story covering the police beat, so I had to stay at a police station in Manila and wait for any tips or leads to come in. I was in freshman year and was absolutely scared, but I did have a classmate/friend with me ‘cause we were in the same class and she needed a lead as well.

16 - Are you tired at the moment? Is there a specific reason you feel that way? I am extremely tired and would pass out in a second if I let myself. But I had been out all day and didn’t have the chance to do anything I wanted to do whether it was doing embroidery, watching 2 Days 1 Night, or taking a survey, so I’m making up for all the lost time and powering through this survey.

17 - Are you big on colour coordination? Does that just apply to your outfits or to the rest of your life as well? It rarely comes to mind. It’s not something I feel the need to maintain, precisely because I’m very inconsistent with maintenance. Even though I know I possess the necessary effort and patience to organize a group of items by color, I also know it would be disorganized in less than a week.

18 - What shoes did you last wear? How long have you had them? Puma sneakers. Yep, I’ve had them for the past two years.

19 - When was the last time you wore make-up? What kind of make-up was it? September, for my first job interview. My items were simple; just an eyeliner pencil and some lip gloss.

20 - Have you ever slipped or skidded on the ice? Did you end up getting hurt? Continued from last night because I’ve been so sloppy at taking surveys lately, loooool. I’ve slipped a few times on ice skating rinks before. I don’t know if it’s the same experience, but whenever it happened to me I usually felt more embarrassed than hurt. It only hurt quite a bit when the cause of my fall was crashing into someone on the rink.

21 - Do you wear glasses or contacts? I wear glasses, but I already need to change mine since my eyesight has gotten worse and the lens that are on my current pair aren’t for me anymore.

22 - Do you own any photo albums? Are they dedicated to special occasions or just a random selection of photos? My mom made several photo albums for her kids from our childhood days so each of us have lots of photos from age 0 to about 7 or 8. I haven’t made a photo album just for myself, though I really should. Making memories with a film camera and having them developed still sounds very appealing to me.

23 - What was the last reason for you using a spoon? I was mixing my coffee to make sure all the granules are mixed into the water.

24 - Did your state/region go into lockdown or similar back when Covid hit in March? What did you do to pass the time while you were stuck at home? Of course. I would be more surprised to hear of a city or region anywhere in the world that did not go into lockdown. March was a livelier, more optimistic time, so I tried out lots of new things while the lockdown was still fresh and no one had any clue for how long it would actually pan out, and continue to pan out until the literal end of the year. I played the Switch for longer hours, tried making dalgona coffee, watched Descendants of the Sun, pulled more all-nighters, revisited computer games from my childhood, and did my thesis chapter by chapter with Andi.

25 - What’s your favourite meal of the day - breakfast, lunch or dinner? In my family, lunch and dinner are very identical so I’d go with either of them.

26 - Who was the last person you texted? How do you know that person? I have not touched my phone in a while, believe it or not...I haven’t needed it much during the holiday break. I think it was my cousin? He’s a relative, so I’ve known him since birth.

27 - What was the last thing you put in a sandwich? A hotdog.

28 - What was the reason behind the last time you shouted or raised your voice? I was at my dad’s family’s last night and I had ordered four boxes of empanadas from their business, and I was trying to hand over the P500 bill to my aunt (the total was like P300, but I gave them bonus to serve as my treat and my gift). I kept trying to give it and she kept rejecting it and putting it back in my pocket hahaha, so it became like a game for me to see which tiny space in the house I can squeeze the bill in so she can stop retorting. It turned into a funny cat and mouse situation and I ended up raising my voice a few times.

29 - Are you a citizen of more than one country? Would you ever use that advantage to move abroad? No.

30 - Do you know how to change a tyre? Could you do it without help? HAH, no. I am fucked if it ever happens and when it does, I really hope luck would be on my side that day and have a kind stranger that knows how to change tyres walk or drive by.

[ducktales-wco-oo]

✩ How I Run My Blog! ✩

Speed: 

Slow As Hell, for the most part. True, there are times when I yeet replies out because me and/or my muse are ridiculously invested in a thread, or inspiration instantly strikes. However, my default tends to be Really Slow. Something I try to make prominent to everyone since I understand some people prefer to not wait months at a time for a response- which is something I often end up doing. For a variety of reasons: be it because muses are fickle, it tends to take hours at a time for me to craft replies, I literally have hundreds of threads... As a result of this, I don’t drop threads too often either? Usually, they're lingering in my drafts, and it isn’t uncommon for a hella old one to suddenly be thrust onto the dash.

Of course, I never expect people to reply to Old Threads if they don’t want to, and don’t mind either way! I just like offering a response so I didn’t just abruptly drop it. :3 But yeah, I am a very slow roleplayer and while I hope my writing is decent enough to be worth the wait, I’ve had experience interacting with others who obviously prefer things to be quick and constant. Which I am not. Not delving into THOSE experiences because yeah- They weren’t the best. lol But I just want to make it clear that my speed does not equate my interest in a thread or in interacting with others. I am just a hella slow person who wants to write about birbs. 

Replies: 

My replies tend to get L O N G. I am not adept at short threads, and even ones that start out as really small back-and-forth replies are pretty much guaranteed to get longer on my side within a few responses. My muses like to get introspective and I like to get descriptive- I’m talking several paragraphs before they start to talk or even get to the point where they aren’t thinking-about/reacting-to whatever your muse did in the last reply. XD I’ve noticed that my average seems to be three-to-five paragraphs, but it isn’t uncommon for me to break the double-digits at times. Of course, I never expect my partners to match length and as long as I’m given more than a couple sentences in return, it’s all good. 

Starters: 

Whenever I add a new muse, I often post a Starter Call for them. They tend to vary in length, but are often two-to-three paragraphs long because I’ve tried to make single sentence ones and it never seems to work out. Occasionally, I’ll throw out random Open Starters when inspiration or a random idea strikes. These starters are free for as many people to respond to as they want, and are ALWAYS open regardless of how long ago I posted them.  

Inbox: 

My Inbox is always open and I am constantly reblogging RP and Ask memes for it. However, again I shall bring up my Turtle-Like speed because my asks do tend to snowball. Right now I have 966 asks, so it’s no surprise that sometimes they can get lost in the pile. But I have a habit of answering random ones whenever threads aren’t working or I’m in a mood for something specific that a reply won’t give, so that’s why I continuously reblog things. I like having a healthy stash of stuff to answer when needed. So don’t be surprised if an ask you forgot you even sent is suddenly popping up onto the dash. XD 

Selectivity: 

I am semi-selective, meaning that while I am willing to RP with people I am not technically mutuals with, I won’t RP with everyone. I’m not trying to discourage people from approaching or make anyone feel poorly, there are just certain writing styles that I tend to gravitate towards and click more easily with. For example, if I notice that someone’s blog is filled with a surplus of one-liner back-and-forth, uncut replies, chances are I’m not going to follow because I don’t want my dash constantly cluttered. Maybe I’ll RP if they approach and give more than single sentences in our threads, but I’m not going to automatically promise to interact with everyone. Because I did that before and honestly, it’s not fair to me or the other person if I’m not actually enjoying replying to a thread. 

I don’t take graphics or Aesthetics into consideration when it comes to following or interacting. After all, what is important is the writing and the fun. :3 

Wishlist: 

I have a tag for random things that I thought would be fun to explore- #Got The Quacking Craze || {Wishlist}

But if I have to state some specific things, I suppose that right now I’d enjoy threads in some of my AU verses. Specifically, the Siren AU for Fenton because I LOVE that fluffy fish and it’s a shame that I don’t often get to write in it. Another AU that I like is the Robo AU for Louie, and I’ve rarely used it as well. Not to mention, his negaversion Louis is a precious boi who I definitely wouldn’t mind more interactions with. Oh! It’d also be cool to have threads that take place when my muses are kids- particularly: Fenton, Gladstone, and Mark. 

Or threads that take place during College/Teen years. Again with: Fenton, Gladstone, and this time Imma throw Panchito into the mix. Some College Caballeros, perhaps? Some Fenton-still-with-his-assnugget-bf Angst? Some glam-rock-phase Gladstone dealing with the jealousy of his peers, the still-lingering guilt of having ‘killed’ his parents, and crushing on his nerdy best friend all wrapped up in the facade of Teen Drama? JNFFJKSDFNDSF... 

Honest Notes: 

As well as being slow with Replies and Asks, I am oftentimes slow with my IMs. This is nothing personal against anyone! I just get overwhelmed at times and have the memory of a potato. Which means sometimes I’ll think I replied or just flat-out forget until days later. Plus Tunglr LOVES to screw with my messages, so more often than not I’m not even alerted of them until hours upon hours later... Long story short, I really do enjoy talking with all of you and love getting messages from my friendos. Seriously, I don’t mind if when I’m flooded with them. It just sometimes takes me a bit to gather up enough energy to reply coherently.

Random Side Notes: 

My blog is pretty messy and while I’m trying to whip up bios that are more than just notes for my own benefit hastily scrawled down whenever I was in a muse-adding frenzy, lots of info about my muses tend to either be in my own head or jotted down on the random Headcanon posts I sometimes throw into the wild. XD I also have a habit of analyzing the HELL out of things when I get excited, so long-ass posts like those sometimes pop up as well. 

Speaking of excitement, there WILL be times when I gush about the star of this blog- *motions at Fenton* and everyone must Accept That. Because he is my FLUFFY SON and I shan’t apologize for loving him with every fiber of my being. X3 Sometimes I’ll go off about other characters too, but more often than not it is HIM. OOC posts are a thing too.

Sometimes inspiration comes in bursts and muses take over the blog for a day or a few- like right now, how Fenton is dominating everything. My birbs are fickle bishes and I’ve learned to just let them fight over who is going to get the attention, then roll with whoever wins. This is why I encourage people to interact with as many muses as they want and start as many threads as they’d like. That way, no matter which muse is strong or what kind of thread I am in the mood for, there’s a chance something will Work With Me. Besides, I’m always up for new threads and ideas, regardless of how many things we are juggling already. 

That being taken into account- Please understand that I oftentimes don’t know WHO the Hell I’m going to feel the muse for or WHAT threads they will be. So no rushing or nagging for replies because all that does is make my muses drag their feet. :’3 

Tagged by: @soul-heart-and-beyond​

Tagging: Whoever wants to! :3 

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010: 35 - 31

35. KEiiNO - “Spirit in the sky” Norway 2019

During the preshow I posited that "Spearwhil”  would be the Rasmussen but as it turned out-

I HEAR YOU CALLING ME AT NIGHT

No, Tom NOT NOW!!! I’m in the middle of my sentence. 🙄 Wait your turn Anyway, it turned out that ‘the Rasmussen’ really ought to be called ‘the KEiiNO’. Observe this Michal-esque rise up the scoreboard:

OutSzpak’ing Spzak. 😍 Let’s be honest though, it was-

I HEAR YOU CALLING ME AT NI-

- COMPLETELY DESERVED TOO.  Fred was especially great, who delivered EPIC yoik solo that I am sure won KEiiNO the televote on the spot. 😍

This particularly pleases me because I was worried Tom & Alexandra (who are both very good performers) would take the spotlight away from Fred, but no did the weakest link pre-show turned not only turn out to be the strongest one, but he was arguable the single strongest performer of finale night. SO PROUD OF THEM ANGELS. 😍 Let us all sing along

*cough* I said, “let us all sing along”

... 

(k Tom, now is ur cue)

I HEAR YOU CALLING ME AT NIIIIIGHT

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ARE DANCING

HÅ LA HEI LOI LÅ

A lot of the criticism from KEiiNO comes from your typical value-seekers who can only enjoy themselves in public if their shallow trash comes coated in a thick layer of novelty gimmicks and Deep Meaning, so they don’t have to admit to others and themselves than they tune in to have fun, like everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with novelty gimmicks & the like, but applying that standard to everything is taking it a tad too far. Sometimes, simplicity is key and that’s exactly what KEiiNO were: unpretentious, highly-addictive EDM adorned with epic yoiking. 😍 

_______________________________________________________________

34. Gianluca - “Tomorrow” Malta 2013

"Tomorrow” is, to use Gianluca’s own words, a curious delight: I always, always, always forget about it. Then I rewatch 2013 as I do at least once per year, and each time it’s like a Céline Dion song IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO ME and I’m in love again. 😍 “Tomorrow” is such a clever twist of the typical love song by telling the story from the THIRD PERSON PERSPECTIVE by an all-knowing narrator. It’s world’s merriest audiobook. 😍

Naturally, this works because Gianluca has TONS of charisma. He’s one of the most magnetic humans ever on a Eurovision Stage? 

It’s hard to believe that he ages like the rest of us, I’d assume he was birthed fully formed and clothed, at age thirteen, in whatever rests at the end of a Neverlandian rainbow. 

“Tomorrow” could’ve so easily been one of those “Annoyingly Positive songs”, but because he’s so relentlessly jolly, Gianluca injects “Tomorrow” with limitless happy energy, enough to melt the polar icecaps. I am happy that I don’t revisit Gianluca between watches, as I do with others, because each time I rediscover him it’s like finding a four-leaf-clover. 🍀

________________________________________________________________

33. Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov - “Samo shampioni” Bulgaria 2013

IMA LI MLADI? IMA LI LYUDI? TSYALO SELO DOIDE PEITE NE SE BOITE

Let us continue with one of the most glorious trainwrecks EVER in Eurovision. 😍 Of course, this being the GOD-tier the severity of wreckage (aka the Sennek Factor) is even higher than normal. In the case of “Samo shampioni” the messiness began DURING THE PRESELECTIONS. 😍 Okay you may not remember or know this backstory, so allow me to enlighten you:

Okay, so *initially* BNT selected Elitsa & Stoyan and for some reason decided to hold an NF: They introduced: first a terrible rapbomination, second a boring ethnoballad (think Iriao + percussion) and then pulled out an experimental fusion of ethnic bagpipes, polyphonic singing and dubstep, which Elitsa openly pointed as her favourite. 😍 Obviously, the audience had to choose for the latter? NOPE The audience chose the iriao-esque ballad 😍 and in one of the most hilariously open displays of riggage, LESS THAN A DAY AFTER THE NF (and after Elitsa allegedly threw a huge backstage temper tantrum threatening to withdraw LMFAO), BNT produced a statement that was all like “well. we can’t send “Kismet”. 🤓 You see... it has come under our attention that... the songwriter from Argentina (lmao) can’t agree to the copyright terms we demanded of him 🤓but that’s fine because it means we can send “SAMO SHAMPIONI” instead 😊‘ <3333333333333333333333456789 who the fuck is Christer Björkman, fucking NOBODY that’s who. And of course, once “Samo Shampioni” finally got to Malmö it was an utter disaster. 😍 I say "disaster” in the best meaning of the word though. I LOVE when countries showcase their musical traditions, but Elitsa and Stoyan do it so aggressively, BLASTING the unassuming viewer with loud af bagpipe noises, following it up with a menuet of polyphony, a clarion of “AAAAAAAAAAAA-YUUUU” and a finale of dubstep and mayumaniacal percussion. “Samo Sampioni” was loud, abrasive, a clamour of ethnic noise but by the same token such a catchy, infectuous, delightful fucking BOP. No surprise it got jurypwned but it was well worth the effort. 😍

________________________________________________________________

32. Nadav Guedj - “Golden boy” Israel 2015

Welcome to the Dicedrome, ladies and gentlemen: Introducing the man who put Israel back on the map after four straight NQs. But Nadav is more than just a Hebrew Tom Dice. 

For starters, “Golden boy” is also the first time we were ever subjected to Doron Medalie (and also Imri Ziv but lol Imri), who is at his BEST here (apart from that moment when he brusquely shoved Cesár out of the way as if he were Krisse Salminen lmfao 😍): “Golden boy” has everything I could want in an uptempo party song: Drama, catchy rhythm, limitless fun, chanting, dancing and an absolutely ridiculous premise: sixteen year old boy gets wasted after fruitlessly flirting with all sorts of femfolk on his first night out. Yes, THIS

is sixteen years old. 😍 But what I mostly love about “Golden boy” is the humour. Intentional humour is really hard to get right and “Golden boy” NAILS it for me. From self-deprecating one-liners, to that choreography to b-roll material like the sound effect of beer being pourn as Nadav gets further into the song, to of course the epic finale of “THREE MINUTES! BYE :selfie”. ���

A wild ride which, as serendipity demands, is topped off by Nadav kicking off a strong Israeli streak that indeed ENDS up with Israel winning the contest (with a worse Doron composition :-/) and him showing us around in Tel Aviv. Funny how life works sometimes, huh? 

OKAY GOTTA GO  THREE PARAGRAPHS BYEBYE

_______________________________________________________________

31. Jessy Matador - “Allez ola olé” France 2010

Did you know “Matador” is Eurospeak for “SLAYER”?  😉

Speaking of EPIC party songs, I was looking “Allez Ola Olé” up for my usual ranking purposes and this song.. is one of the most successful Eurovision songs EVER? I am not surprised, because “Allez olla olé” OWNS, but at the same time random 12th placers becoming massive off-season hits <3

(yes I am aware it’s because it was the French “Waka Waka” but that’s even more hilar, actually. What on earth is it doing in Eurovision <3)

Anyway, “Allez ola olé” definitely DESERVES all praise it can get. ETERNAL THORN IN THE SIDE OF THE EUROVISION ELITISTS <3 it is of course the anti-Proud, being all rhythm and no story, literally having no purpose other than making people dance (which I LOVE doing to “Allez Ola Olé”... within the confines of my bedroom, with the curtains closed because I have the dancing skills of drunk JarJar Binks) and honestly, what a spectacle. 😍

It features, in order of ascending awesomeness, male twerking (gender equality <3)

witty references to sex (which I don’t mind here because it’s clearly consentual, and therefore, healthy, ICKOLAS)

“Je sens le truc monter/..😏 ALLEEEEZ 😱”. 

DAM BA DAM BA DAM BA DAM DAM

A fucking HAKA????? (btw, the female backing doing a salute is also lowkey great <3)

Actually, TWO HAKA’S????

This song may not have relevant meaning but my weave flew all the way to French Polynesia. “Allez, ola, olé” is nothing less than fucking AWESOME. 

In this update, we pay our final respects to Norway, Malta and France: Read more about them below:

NORWAY

I don’t feel like this chart reflects my true feelings on Norway, because I like them a LOT more than what their average implies. They’re largely just dragged down by a few bad entries in the first half of the decade. Norway in the second half of this decade has shown a lot of promise and they are on my list of countries that I expect to win in the upcoming decade. 

MALTA

Malta are a very average Eurovision country imo. As you can see, they very often select songs that are not worth giving a fuck about, but conversely the few times that they do, they’re usually excellent happy-go-lucky gems. I could see them winning if they find that rare 1-in-50 entry (by one of their jesc winners preferably), but only if they keep internally selecting their entrant because lmao MES(s)C <3

FRANCE

This is a really good chart for France and roughly what I expected. Not my favourite country but solidly upper tier. France really have reinvented themselves post 2016 and are reaping the rewards with generally higher results. I hope it gets topped off with another win soon. They deserve it. 

[dragonairlairgiveaways]

Thoughts on Let’s Go

So as someone who has beat the main game of Let’s Go Eevee (like I’ve said before I’ve played through Kanto so many times now. I can do it pretty much blindfolded.) I have thoughts both good and bad on it. There will be SPOILERS here so I advise you to scroll past if you’re new to Kanto especially but also if you’ve played through the region before but not here yet because there are some new things/changed details. ANYWAY: 

PROS

I really love how expressive both your Partner Pokemon and following Pokemon are. Interacting with them is such a delight and makes me even more attached to my Pokemon.

Kanto is beautiful. Whilst I wish they’d kept more of the Savannah/grassland feel it had in past generations (because it made Kanto unique vs temperate Johto it shares its landmass with), the region feels so full, vibrant and alive.

I really love the gym re-designs, even if some are only subtle. I also love seeing the Gym Leaders and E4 with defined personalities. I was ESPECIALLY happy to be able to see Sabrina’s telekinesis in action thanks to the graphics we have now. 

Pokemon distribution across Kanto is so much better than in past games and makes forming a balanced, structured team so much less of a nightmare. Same goes for the altered movesets. 

Pokemon Tower. Oh God, the cutscene was so short, sweet and subtle but made me cry. It gave us the emotional attachment the older Kanto games missed out on. 

I really appreciated the changes to important locations game-lore wise that made them more fitting. Pokemon Mansion for example made me super uncomfortable thanks to the additions of the cloning/testing equipment in the basement and the confirmation from Jessie & James that sweet old Mr Fuji is the same Dr Fuji that created Mewtwo. 

It gets its own section because Cerulean Cave is BREATHTAKING design-wise and a lifesaver with the valuable respawning items hidden in the crystal dust on the floor. 

I love the rival. He is an absolute sweetheart and I just want to hold and protect him. 

Player! Character! Is! Expressive! No more thousand-yard stare in cutscenes. 

Can Ultra Balls be this cheap in the regular games please? 

Leaf/Green finally, canonically exists other than when chosen as the player in FRLG and my heart is filled with joy by this y’all don’t even know. 

NPC Pokemon with nicknames show up with that nickname when spoken to, not with their species name and idk it’s such a small thing but makes me happy. 

I really love how self-aware this game is in terms of how Pokemon plots go by talking about the E4 and people asking/speculating that they’ll come deal with the threat. Y’know given how in past games they’ve largely been suspiciously absent and left everything to a child.

The cutscenes in general are pleasant to look at/watch and don’t run in forever and are less frequent. They hit a good balance here I think. 

Speaking of which, the ones that play before taking on the Legendary Birds/Mewtwo are INTENSE.

Pokemon Box in your bag is super convenient, I just wish it wasn’t just one big, huge box so I could organise better. 

Getting to dress up my Partner Pokemon is precious. 

Riding on Pokemon is great and there are some rideable choices that were a nice surprise. 

The replacements for HMs are so silly and I love them. 

I’m a shiny hunter so I think the new shiny hunting method is super fun and relatively easy depending on the Pokemon you’re hunting. Streaks are easy enough to build and avoid breaking and seeing the Pokemon with its shiny colouration in the overworld adds the little bit more of excitement to me. 

Cinnabar finally has an obvious volcano on the map even if you can’t actually access it in game. (it’s not like you haven’t let us roam around active volcanoes before, Game Freak.)

I really like the torches in Victory Road? Lmao it’s such a minor thing but it makes it feel more... idk.. magnificent, I guess? Like it’s a manmade cavern. The final test. It feels more like it now with those and the changes to the puzzles. 

Thank you for the random NPCs that will heal your Pokemon when you’re far from a city/town. 

The spy NPC was great. I love her. 

Rare spawns are a neat little mechanic. Area unknown in the Pokedex? LOL GUESS AGAIN. 

Cons: 

The big one: Only Kanto Pokemon. It’s a huge sticking point for me because it’s quite limiting and just... a tad annoying. I get this game was an experiment and with its success will likely come more Let’s Go side games but... it was still disappointing. Even if they couldn’t add all Pokemon from later gens, they could’ve at least added the prevolutions/evolutions of Kanto Pokemon that came later to give the region an expanded Pokedex and just added more diversity to the game. Lance having a Seadra really brought that point home for me when it literally has a DRAGON TYPE evolution he could’ve used. 

Whilst the capture mechanic is fine I miss wild battles. If you need to grind especially it’s annoying because you have to burn through Pokeballs to get EXP. It would be nice to just be able to faint wild Pokemon. 

The rideable flying Pokemon. I’d hoped for something more like the Soaring mechanic from ORAS but nope. You also have to go into the party menu to return the Pokemon to its ball to be able to move between gate/map areas. It would have been so much better if you could just press one of the buttons to do that so you didn’t have to go about constantly opening/closing menus.

Super sad Trainer Customisation is so limited. I’m pleased they kept the option for skintone choice but I wish we could at least change the eye/hair colour of the player character. What outfits we get to mix/match are cute I just wish there was more. 

The lack of Abilities pains me. They added depth to the game both in and out of battle and I sorely missed them. (Hello yes, why is your Pokemon not getting paralysed after coming into contact with my Raichu? Oh right, Static isn’t a thing here.) 

Getting Meltan itself isn’t hard even if you just briefly download Pokemon Go to get it. Getting Melmetal however? Good luck if you just play casually or not at all really with how the crate feature works. 

I like that the Go Park exists but I’m sad it replaced the Safari Zone and that it doesn’t work in a similar fashion to Pal Park. Wasting Pokeballs on Pokemon I have already wasted them on to catch one already is kind of annoying. 

You can’t ride the Legendary Birds and that is just straight up NONSENSE to me. 

I wish we could play with/feed our other Pokemon, not just our partner. Pokemon Amie/Refresh is one of my favourite mechanics in the main games so I’m sad it’s limited to only our starter here. 

Not specific to Let’s Go but given a huge part of Pokemon has always been playing with friends, having to pay for an online subscription to access trading/battling really rubs me the wrong way and I still think it’s a bad move on Nintendo’s part as a whole. When Gen VIII comes along and if Pokemon Bank gets ported to the Switch (or a similar thing) am I going to have to pay for both? That kind of sucks for kids who play if their parents aren’t willing to pay for it or for people who can’t afford it in general. 

Big Mad that outside of completing all the research in Go (Again, not something everyone can do, I have severe anxiety/agoraphobia and therefore cannot leave my house much.) the only way to get Mew is to pay the ridiculous price for the Pokeball Plus. An event Pokemon that has always been given out for free shouldn’t be behind a massive paywall. 

Grinding to be able to take on all the Master Trainers is hellish to be honest. And not a good feature in lieu of an actual post-game. 

RIP Sevii Islands, it would've been nice to at least visit the first three (since they only have Kanto Pokemon living on them in FRLG). But no. 

So overall... I liked it more than I thought I would. There are things in the game I really, really loved and hope to see more of (PLEASE let following Pokemon return in the main series, I’m begging you Game Freak). But I still have my hang-ups and things that I think removing/keeping out took away from the Pokemon experience as a whole. 

As side games I’d like to see more of them with hopefully some improvements. But I definitely have a preference for main game, regular mechanics as a whole. The games definitely won’t be for everyone and YES, they are incredibly easy even for a Pokemon game - which was the point - so for some people that might be a problem/make them boring given the lack of challenge but I’d still recommend giving them a go if you’re a die-hard fan of the franchise. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

[the-desolated-quill]

The Quill Seal Of Approval Awards - The Best of 2018

Hello and welcome, dear reader, to the greatest, most important awards ceremony in the history of entertainment. The Quill Seal Of Approval Awards. The award of recognition that everyone on Earth covets even though they don’t know it. For the Quill Seal Of Approval is a most esteemed prize for hard work and artistry. Better than the Golden Globes, more prestigious than the BAFTAs and guaranteed to be more diverse than the Academy Awards. You know your film, novel, TV show or video game has achieved legendary status when some random nobody on the internet says it’s the best in some obscure top 10 list that’s read by only a couple of people. That’s the true sign of success.

First, a few parish notices. Obviously this is my subjective opinion, so if you disagree with my choices, that’s fine. Go make your own list. (also remember that my opinion is 100% objective, scientific, factual and literal truth and anyone who disagrees is clearly a philistine and a dummy and a poopy-head whose mum smells of elderberries). Also please bear in mind that I haven’t been able to experience everything 2018 has to offer for one reason or another. In other words, please don’t be upset that A Star Is Born isn’t on this list. I’m sure it’s as amazing as everyone says it is. I just never got around to watching it.

Okay. Let us begin.

Inside No. 9 - Series 4

BBC2′s Inside No. 9, written by the League of Gentlemen’s Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is an anthology series that’s often sadly overlooked, but it’s really worth a watch if you’re into shows like Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone, and this series in particular has been fantastic. We’ve had an episode written entirely in iambic pentameter, an episode whose chronology runs backwards, a live episode that really plays around with the format, episodes containing tragic and biting satire, and one especially twisted episode that brings out a side of Steve Pemberton we’ve never seen before. Series 4 has been a real treat from start to finish, with each episode beautifully written and expertly performed. Inside No. 9 deserves to share the same pedestal as Black Mirror, no question.

Black Panther

I’m sure everyone knows about my less than flattering views on the Marvel Cinematic Universe by now, which is what made Black Panther such a breath of fresh air for me. Stripping away all the convoluted crap, Black Panther has often been compared to The Dark Knight, and for good reason. Like The Dark Knight, this movie uses the superhero genre to tackle real social and political issues. In Black Panther’s case, exploring just what it means to be black in the modern world. Boasting an impressive cast of black actors, strong female characters, an engaging and complex antagonist, fantastic special effects and truly excellent direction from Ryan Coogler, Black Panther represents a new benchmark for Marvel, the superhero genre and the film industry in general. It proves how important and how lucrative diversity and representation in media can be, and it unintentionally shows how flawed the Marvel business model has become. The reason behind Black Panther’s success is simple. It’s because it’s bloody brilliant. And the reason it’s bloody brilliant is because Coogler was allowed to realise his own creative vision without Kevin Feige and Mickey Mouse breathing down his neck. Perhaps they should take note of that in future.

Deadpool 2

Of course Deadpool 2 is going to be on this list. Are you really surprised?

The Merc with the Mouth goes from strength to strength in the rare instance where the sequel is actually as good as, if not better than, the original. The first Deadpool was a great origin story for the character, but Deadpool 2 felt like an adventure ripped straight from the comics themselves. Crass, ultra violent and hysterically funny, Deadpool 2 is the crowning jewel of the X-Men franchise. Fan favourites such as Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus return as well as new characters such as Domino, played by the exceptional Zazie Beetz, Cable, played by the astounding Josh Brolin, and Firefist, played by Julian Dennison who deserves all the success in the world because good God this kid can act!

But of course the star of the film is Deadpool himself with Ryan Reynolds once again proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he understands this character back to front. Not only is he hysterically funny, capturing the character’s irreverent tone perfectly, he also absolutely nails the tragic underpinnings of Deadpool that make him such a wonderful character. In between the f-bombs and gore are moments of real drama and emotional pathos as the film tackles themes such as loss, discrimination, abuse and suicidal depression. All this whilst taking the piss out of 2017′s Logan. 

Oh yeah, and it also features the first openly LGBT superheroes in cinematic history. Fuck you Disney! NegaYukio and Poololosus for the win! LOL! No, but seriously, now that you have the rights to X-Men back, if you try and censor Deadpool in any way, shape or form, I will kick your arse.

God Of War (2018)

“BOY!”

Yes Kratos is back, having successfully destroyed the world of Greek mythology and now has his eyes on the Norse Gods. And he has a son now. What could possibly go wrong?

Seriously though, this new God Of War is simply exquisite. While I have long admired the God Of War franchise for its interpretation and adaptation of Greek mythology, the previous games in the series have never exactly been the most sophisticated when it comes to storytelling (and the less said about the casual sexism, the better. Yes Sony, I promise I understand the thematic reasons behind playing a minigame that allows you to have sex with Aphrodite in God Of War 3, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s sexist as shit). God Of War 2018 changes all that with an intelligent and engaging story that allows us understand and connect with Kratos at a more personal level than we’ve ever done before. Taking place years after God Of War 3, Kratos is older, wiser and trying to raise his son Atreus in the hopes that he won’t make the same mistakes Kratos did in his past. Not only is the story amazing, continuing the franchise’s themes of vengeance and the strained relationships between parents and their children, the gameplay is also a ton of fun with many memorable moments and boss fights.

And as an added bonus, we get two strong female characters that aren’t treated like discardable sex objects. That was nice of them.

Incredibles 2

The long awaited sequel to The Incredibles finally arrived in 2018 and it did not disappoint. Incredibles 2 was everything I could have wanted and more. Continuing on from the events of the first movie, we see Elastigirl take the spotlight as she fights the Screenslaver whilst trying to persuade the worlds’ governments to lift the ban on superheroes. Meanwhile Mr. Incredible takes a back seat as he tries to reconnect with his kids Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack and prove he can be a good, supportive dad. 

Continuing to draw inspiration from Fantastic Four, X-Men and Watchmen, Incredibles 2 is... well... incredible. Expanding the world he created, Brad Bird tells a smart, funny and compelling story that stands head and shoulders above the majority of superhero movie fodder we get nowadays. Elastigirl flourishes in the lead role this time around and the kids get a lot more development, the Screenslaver is a great villain that compliments the themes of the franchise wonderfully, and we get to see a whole bunch of new characters such as Voyd and the Deavor siblings as well as the return of old favourites like Frozone and Edna Mode. 

Honestly, the baby alone is worth the price of admission. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another fourteen years for Incredibles 3.

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Marvel’s Spider-Man is an amazing game. But of course you knew that already. It’s made by Insomniac Games, the same guys behind Ratchet & Clank. Of course it was going to be brilliant.

Simply put, this game does for Spider-Man what the Arkham games did for Batman. Not only is it a great game with brilliant combat and fun web swinging mechanics, it also has a great story worthy of the wall crawler. Unlike the movies, which seem to continuously yank Peter Parker back into high school with each new reboot as those the poor bastard were attached to the fucker on a bungee rope, this Spidey has been fighting crime for eight years. With great power comes many responsibilities as we see him struggle to juggle crime fighting, his new job as a scientist, his commitments to helping Aunt May at the F.E.A.S.T shelter and trying to win his ex Mary Jane Watson back after a six month split. It’s a brilliant story featuring many classic villains such as Shocker and Electro as well as lesser known villains like Screwball and the criminally underrated Mister Negative who finally gets to be the central antagonist in a Spider-Man adaptation. It’s fun to play, engaging, dramatic and really emotional at points. I cried real tears at the end. What a punch to the gut that was.

OOOOOH! And we might be getting to play as Miles Morales in the sequel! I sure hope so! :D

The Grinch

At this point I imagine many of you are scratching your heads. 

“Really Quill? The Grinch? Illumination’s The Grinch? This deserves the Quill Seal Of Approval? Are you sure?” Yes dear reader, I’m absolutely sure. Just hear me out.

It’s true that the majority of Dr Seuss adaptations are shit. While the live action version of the Grinch starring Jim Carrey has a cult following and is fondly remembered by some, it’s still pretty crap, and even Illumination themselves screwed up royally with their adaptation of The Lorax. But this new Grinch is truly excellent. For starters, the animation is gorgeous. This is clearly the format that works best for Seuss movies. Benedict Cumberbatch does a really good job voicing the character, giving him depth and complexity beyond just being a big old meanie. The film also has something no other Seuss film has ever had before. Subtlety. Illumination have clearly learned their lesson after The Lorax. They’re no longer bashing you over the head with a moral message. They’re not trying to over-complicate a simple story by adding pointless sub-plot after pointless sub-plot. In fact the bits they do add actually feed into the main core of the narrative, as opposed to The Lorax, which just confused things. And while there are cute Minion-esque sidekicks like there are in a lot of Illumination films, The Grinch limits it to two (Max the dog and a reindeer named Fred), they’re both legitimately funny, serve an important narrative purpose and don’t distract from the more serious and emotional moments.

In all honesty, I was debating between giving the Quill Seal of Approval to The Grinch or to Bumblebee (the first legitimately good Transformers movie), but I decided to go with The Grinch because of how it handles the character and the story’s message. A lot of people scoffed at the idea of giving the Grinch a back story (and to the film’s credit they don’t force the issue or over-explain where the Grinch came from) but it’s honestly what makes this new adaptation of The Grinch so special to me. He’s gone from being a Scrooge-like monster to an anxiety filled misanthrope who associates Christmas with being alone. It may sound like a jarring change on paper, but in practice it honestly works so well and adds a whole new dimension to the Grinch. It’s treated with absolute care and sincerity and the film really earns its emotional moments, particularly at the end when we see the Grinch sit down to have Christmas dinner with the Whos.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you give this new Grinch a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised :)

Doctor Who - Series 11

A woman?! In the TARDIS?! How absurd!

Jodie Whittaker made history as the first woman to play the Doctor and the new series doesn’t disappoint. Whittaker is predictably brilliant in the role, giving the character compassion, charm and wit. We also get a new bunch of companions (including the always brilliant Bradley Walsh as Graham) who all have some great moments in Series 11 and the relationships they form with each other is incredibly touching and fun to watch. But the writing, my God, the writing. Admittedly not every episode has been perfect, but it’s leagues above anything Moffat has given us during his disastrous reign. The majority of Series 11 has been well written and intelligent, tackling important and relevant social issues (something Doctor Who has always been doing and anyone who says otherwise is an idiot) and focusing on likeable and relatable characters rather than convoluted series arcs. We got to meet Rosa Parks, witness the partition of India, and ponder on the dangers of automation whilst the Doctor tries to save the world from bubble wrap. Oh, and the Daleks are scary again! I know! I couldn’t believe it either!

What makes this all the more remarkable is who the showrunner is. Chris Chibnall. A writer I’ve often criticised in the past for being derivative and shit, and yet somehow he’s managed to create some of the best Doctor Who I’ve seen in a long time. Not only has his writing improved dramatically since his Torchwood days, he’s also demonstrated a commitment to having diverse representation both in front of and behind the camera as well as in the scripts themselves. For the first time in what feels like an age, Doctor Who feels like Doctor Who again, and I’m ecstatically happy.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

How come we don’t see many animated superhero movies in the cinema? Considering the medium from which superheroes came from, you’d think it would be a no-brainer. Presumably it’s because Disney have got such a strangle hold on the animation market, but that’s hopefully going to change thanks to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (or, Sony’s Repentance for The Emoji Movie).

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The animation is gorgeous. It’s pretty much an animated comic book and it stands out as one of the most unique looking animated films in recent memory. Spider-Verse is essentially a love letter to the legacy of Spider-Man as we see multiple different versions of Spidey, including Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham and Nicholas Cage as Ghost Rider cosplaying as Spider-Man Noir, demonstrating not only the sheer variety of Spider-Men we’ve had over the years, but also exploring what connects them together. With all these different interpretations across many different universes, the idea of Spider-Man comes to the same thing. An ordinary person who experiences tragedy and becomes something greater. It’s hopeful and inspirational in a way Spider-Man films hasn’t been for a while now (Spider-Man: Homecoming sucked donkey balls. Period).

But let’s not forget that while the film explores the Spider-Verse, the main focus is Miles Morales who finally makes his cinematic debut. Not only is it a very faithful adaptation of Ultimate Spider-Man’s origin story, Miles himself is such a great central character for the modern age and arguably has more relevance to today than Peter Parker does. The characters are funny and relatable and the story is expertly crafted and impactful. But then what do you expect from the writers and directors of The Lego Movie? (if only Disney hadn’t interfered with Solo: A Star Wars Story. We could have had it all).

Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle

This one kind of snuck up on me toward the end of December, but I knew the moment I saw it I had to include it on this list.

Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle is an adaptation of The Jungle Book with Andy Serkis making his directorial debut. Yes the same guy who did the motion capture for Gollum in Lord Of The Rings and Caesar in the rebooted Planet Of The Apes movies and who totes deserves an Oscar for Best Actor (fuck you Academy Awards!), and he brings this same motion capture technology to this film. Unlike Disney’s Jungle Book, which merely rehashes the original animated film whilst somehow stripping all the charm from it, Mowgli sticks closer to the original Rudyard Kipling book. This isn’t a cheery musical. This film is often dark and intense as we see Mowgli (played wonderfully by Rohan Chand) struggle to find his place in the world. He knows he doesn’t belong with the animals in the jungle, but he doesn’t really fit in with the world of man neither. It’s an emotional and dramatic character piece brought to life by great writing, great acting and stunning special effects. 

Andy Serkis has expressed a desire to do an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and after watching this movie, I would love to see that. If you haven’t already, go watch Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle. It’s available to stream on Netflix and it’s truly amazing.

And that’s it for 2018. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Quill Seal Of Approval Awards. Unfortunately we’re on a limited budget here on The Desolated Quill, so I can’t offer any sort of trophy or medal or anything. What I can do though is write the words ‘I’m an awesome cookie’ on a post-it note and stick it on your forehead. Will that do?

[coffin-of-eternal-darkness]

Thank you for over 3000 followers

I reached 3000 followers a while ago and even though I didn’t do anything for my other milestones, I thought I should make a post about this one (though I couldn’t think of anything special). After all, 3000 is most likely the highest I will get and it really is an amazing number, considering I’m not doing anything special XD Kinda fitting too. In NnT everything started 3000 years ago, and for my blog everything started 3000 followers ago XD I’m not sure how many people from the old days even follow me anymore, but, thank you all. It’s been some amazing years!

As for what I’ll do… Well, my friend @maybeishouldwait helped me with some question prompts, so it’ll sort of be like an interview? I hope at least some of you are interested. So, let’s start!

1. Let's start with an easy one: how did you discover NNT, and what drew you to it?

I’ve recently answered an ask with a similar question but here we go! It was a complete coincidence. I wasn’t necessarily searching for something. I randomly browsed a manga reading site, probably looking foe updates and the title somehow caught my attention so I clicked on it. I didn’t take it seriously at first, the first chapter really didn’t impress me at all, and I only continued because I thought it was funny. It’s no secret I fell in love with the series but it still baffled me how fast it went from “Lol, this is funny and stupid” to “BEIRHJ I LOVE THIS SO MUCH” in a matter of a only few chapters XD Everything was such a new experience to me. The characters weren’t the usual stereotypes, they were actually deep and interesting. The story took a while to become interesting, at first it was more about just… gathering these super powerful knights and it was so cool to see what kind of crazy character the next one would be. I also loved how I could never see anything coming. Even now that we know what kind of series this is, there are still plottwists like Hawk’s eyes being the portal to purgatory or Cath’s whole appearance that just… could not be predicted and I really love that surprise effect when something unbelievable happens. So I love the characters and the surprises but I also love the story, or rather how it’s told. For the first… 70 or so chapters to me it felt like with every chapter it just got even BETTER than before. I still had a few of those moments in the Commandment saga, just, scenes that blew me away and made me think “Wow, I wonder how much better this series can get”. I think it also was around chapter 70 that I created my blog. And more than anything I think I love the tragedies. It’s hearbreaking but heartwarming at the same time somehow. Not many of you probably know this but my first NnT OTP was actually Banlaine and I cried so much when I read their backstory. I loved how deeply in love they were to the point of sacrificing themselves for the other. Both had to deal with a large chunk of loneliness in their lives and for both of them the other was their salvation. Every time Ban was saying anything about Elaine in the main series I was both crying and cheering for him. By now everything is a tragedy and while I wish there were a few more lighthearted scenes for… personal salvation… I like that and crying about all those characters and CARING for their happiness really helped me get into this series I think.

2. How has your blog changed since it started?

Well, apart from the fact that is has grown popular… I actually think I’ve burned out a but. I write a lot less text posts than before. I had an awful amount of (stupid) theories back in the old days and also an awful amount of free time somehow. Now I feel like I don’t think about theories that often anymore, let alone post them. Part of that is that I’m busy with work and other hobbies, but partly that’s because the series has gotten so long and it’s becoming harder and harder to remember details, especially from the newer chapters. I really want to reread the series but I never get around to do that anymore. I also think that back in the days I more or less posted just anything I found or thought was cool, while nowadays I’m always wondering what I could do. I still try to keep it up but it’s becoming harder and harder. Oh, there’s also a lot more follower interaction too!

3. What are some of your favorite blogs or sites for NNT stuff?

As for sites, I usually only check the official ones, like the official HP or the official Twitter account. As for blogs… I don’t really follow a lot of people since I look through the tag almost on a daily basis anyway. Of course there’s @spoilerkingjuliane, she’s a must follow XD I can also highly recommend @maybeishouldwait since she’s an awesome writer. I always enjoy @nostalgicbookworms gifs a lot and @sdsmangacaps is my go-to account for manga caps. There are a lot more blogs that I really like, there are tons of really good artists on Tumblr and Twitter but since I’m not actually following a lot of them and I fear I’ll forget a few I’d rather not mention them directly and hope they know I appreciate them. The most obvious Twitter account is yuka_sai0127 btw, but there are a lot of others.

4. What advice would you give to someone wanting to make their blog as successful as yours?

Tbh I have no idea how I even got so popular in the first place XD I started on a whim and thought I’d lose motivation immediately and nobody would follow me anyway. But before I knew it I had almost 100 followers in a matter of a few days. Maybe it was my obsession? I also quickly befriended the other popular NnT blogs, that probably helped too. I think it depends on what kind of blog you have, but I think the most important thing is frequent updates and high quality. I also think blogs should have a good balance between your own content and reblogs. There are blogs that live only through reblogs and that’s fine but I think it’s harder to be “interesting” when you don’t have your own content. Try to find something only you can do and do it. @spoilerkingjuliane for example is good at finding info and she is immensely popular because of that. I will forever be slightly jealous of her because I will never reach that level XD”

5. What's the best part of running your blog? What's something you wish was different?

The best part without a doubt is how much it involves me into the fandom. I’m more or less forced to see all kinds of fandom posts and while that’s sometimes stressing me out, I also see a lot of amazing content and being able to share those posts with so many people makes me really happy. Running this blog also helped me boost my own confidence. As I mentioned earlier at the beginning I thought nobody would be interested in my blog anyway and I’d give up right away. But I gained followers quickly and it showed me that yes, I might not be as boring as always I think I am. It showed me that I can do things if I just try. On the downside though, running a popular blog puts a lot of pressure on you, and I constantly feel like I have to do something, have to go through the tag, have to make SOME content somehow. And even when you’re stressed you can’t just take it out on people after all so the stress piles up. That’s probably my own responsibility and not the blog itself that is doing that, but I still wish I could take it more easy.

6. How did you learn Japanese? Did you find it difficult?

Well, it wasn’t easy at least. I started learning Japanese twice, once I gave up quickly because the book I used was a horrible starter and after that I learned the basic grammar and a few words through a magazine crash course. Learning specific words was easier than to learn all hiragana and katakana on their own and since I also knew the basic grammar it made it easier to learn and understand whole sentences. Still, I’m an extremely lazy human being and even though I’ve been learning Japanese for almost half of my life now I very rarely actively studied. Most of the time I would try (and fail) to read manga in Japanese and pick up new words and grammar here and there. But through switching between actually learning and trying to read manga I got better. Once I was at a certain level I bothered a ton of random japanese people too in order to befriend and speak japanese with them, which also helped. I think the most major step in my learning career was getting obsessed with Tales of Vesperia a few years ago tho. I was at a comparatively high Japanese level back then already but playing a game of THAT length completely in japanese was a challenge. I learned a stupid amount of new words and grammar and ways of talking through that game and it probably helped that it was just an amazing game that remains to be my favorite. I’ve also translated a few manga chapters back then that really got me practicing and I also worked at an Udon restaurant with (except for me) 100% japanese staff. And as is the case with all languages… Talking with real people is always the best practice. Then of course my year working in japan gave me the final boost. I still have a ton to learn and I’m nowhere near really GOOD but I like to think my japanese is pretty decent at least.

7. What do you see for the future of your blog?

It won’t be all too long anymore til the manga ends and when that happens there won’t be any theories or reviews to write anymore… There will still be an S3 and possible an S4 and maybe more anime projects. But it will be harder to update the blog with original content. Eventually it will most likely turn into a reblog only blog. But I hope I will have some more time and motivation to actually reread the manga, complete my NnT encyclopedia and update the blog with interesting stuff I find in between. I really want to keep this blog up for a few more years!

No matter how it will turn out though, I’m happy I came so far. I made a whole bunch of good friends during this time and had a lot of fun. To my friends and followers (silent or not): Thank you so much for your support!

[noxstrix]

ABOUT THE MUN.

hello. i am coyote. my pronouns are she / her and they / them. i am over 21 years old, and a full time college student. i’m a practicing pagan in the real world. i have adhd and anxiety, so i really prefer to reply to drafts selectively and with mutuals only. my classes are mon - thurs  and i tend not to reply very much on those days. because of this i’d call this blog medium activity. as of right now nisa is my only character. i believe everyone has the freedom to say whatever they want on their blogs, within reason, please do not follow me if you are someone who is easily offended.

i know my rules are long, but they are to keep everyone on the same page and to prevent any future discourse from happening on my blog or between us as writers. thank you so much for taking the time to read everything, i sincerely appreciate it !!

TRIGGERING CONTENT / TRIGGER TAGGING.

please exit the page and unfollow right now, if you are under the age of eighteen.

this blog is extremely triggering. i cannot stress this enough. blasphemy is a reoccurring theme. a lot of the content i write here explores  conspiracy theories about the biblical apocalypse, the vatican and its links to illuminati, free masonry, and the ninth circle. if you have ever been curious enough to research on these cults, then you would likely know they are linked to subject matter such as human sacrifices, sex trafficking, murder, pedophilia, etc etc. while i do not promote or condone any of this, there will be frequent mentions in my writing of these topics and i won’t be tagging them. blasphemy will also never be tagged on my blog.

images posted / reposted on this blog are sometimes graphic and contain blood, gore, or melancholy. i will not be trigger tagging anything that does not make me personally uncomfortable. this blog is mine and i can do or post whatever i want on it. however, sometimes i do feel like there’s a line that might be crossed in regards to my followers.

i will be tagging any triggering imagery as  /  horror.  if you wish to add that to your blacklist. additionally if you have any really specific, and legitimate phobias you require me to tag, don’t hesitate to message me privately. all phobias brought to my attention ( ie. spiders, eye gore ) will likely wind up under the blacklist tag   /  trigger.  i will not be tagging anything such as food, or body image.

THE CHARACTER / THEFT.

my character takes basis from biblical, luciferian, satanic, gnostic and jewish mythology. she is lilith’s reincarnation. i however, do change up some of the lore and give it my own ideas and flavors. everything about nisa and lilith, i headcanoned myself. same goes for her partner blog lucian / lucifer ( @antichrstis ). i wrote both of biographies. please do not steal any aspects of either character, or any of my lore regarding their universe, as i worked very hard on their background stories. i will post a call out, if i catch you imitating, copying, or stealing anything. this is your one and only warning.

AGE LIMITS.

because this blog is full of mature, adult content, please do not follow me if you are under the age of eighteen or you cannot maturely handle in character content like profanity, sex, horror, violence, torture, mental or physical abuse. if  either of the words sex or smut bothers you and makes you feel even a little queezy or you have an aversion to it, i definitely  do not suggest following. while i don’t smut often on this blog, it does happen, and when it does, it’s with characters whose writers are over the age of 20. sorry, i personally do not feel comfortable writing smut with muns younger than 20 years of age, i don’t care of 18 is the legal age, this is my personal preference.

additionally, i do not ship my oc against characters whose face claims are under the age of 25. i will not ship her with characters under the age of 23 ( divided by 2 + 7 rule )  that’s creepy to me. not only is nisa thirty one years old, but lilith is older than the earth’s creation. don’t even try to come up with excuses or convince me otherwise because it’s gonna get you hard blocked, you feel me?

MUN =/= MUSE.

nisa’s personal beliefs and actions, are not my own ! please keep ooc and ic separate in this regard. these are works of fiction and this is roleplay. the mun’s personality is not the muses. she’s a bit of a binch sometimes and narcissistic, but just because she is rude and mean to some characters, does not mean i, the mun, feel that way towards you ooc, or towards your character!

CHARACTERIZATION + METAGAMING.

please, please, please, read nisa/lilith’s about pages in full. like every detail, okay? because i am so, so very tired of people approaching her as the stereotypical lilith. or approaching her automatically like she’s a bitch. if you’re a bitch to her first or give her an attitude, you better believe you’re going to get a reply according to that ten fold.

nisa is in essence, a fallen angel / demon, and the creator of witches and supernatural monstrosities, reincarnated. lilith is sometimes interpreted in biblical prophecy as the anti-christ’s partner in crime, which means only god can kill her. you can throw holy water at her, you can torture her, decapitate her, but your character can’t get rid of her.

she is true immortal. if you are going to pick a fight with her, pick your battle wisely, because she will not hesitate to use her magic or destroy your character to make a point. i do not hold her characterization back for any reason, so when you find yours flying across the room or pinned on a ceiling, don’t be surprised.

also bear in mind she has the ability to see people’s pasts and future, to pick up on their emotions, insecurities, and decipher personal things about them. i always read character’s backgrounds first to get an idea, and sometimes dig through headcanons pages for some juice. unless your character is a witch or supernatural being who has taken precautions spiritually or magically to block anyone from doing so at any given time,  don’t be surprised if this happens. i analyze your subtext as well, so anything your character is feeling or any vibes they’re giving off may or may not additionally not be picked up on.

if you read this and you’re thinking “lol overpowered, mary sue,” don’t follow me. it’s that simple. all of the powerful / evil characters you hate to love on television are mary sues when you strip away the lime light media.  i suggest taking a look in the mirror and getting off your high horse when it comes to your attitude towards original characters, kay? awesome.

GOD MODDING.

ah yes, god modding. please don’t do it to my character unless discussed first, or unless you are sending me a starter! starters are the only situation i let people gently god mod in, because i know it can be difficult writing threads out of thin air.

do not undermine evil or magically powerful characters. i think most of us have been around the rpc long enough to have seen the psa going around on tumblr about this. it’s truly frustrating, when you have someone’s human character or any being capable of dying, repetitively poking a villain with a sharp stick, and then getting all butt-hurt when the other person replies accordingly with negative consequences for their muse.

because my character is an immortal, with nearly all magical abilities, i am going to be honest with you. if your character does anything threatening towards nisa/lilith, or anything which might provoke her to harm yours, i will god mode in my reply. again, pick your battles wisely. this only happens if your character does something to deserve it. there will be no ’ attempts made ’ because  if they are human, she can literally begin choking them from across the room, melting their brain, breaking their bones, setting them on fire, or instantly kill them with a tap on their shoulder, if she chooses.

if your character is supernaturally based and has magical powers, etc, i will message you first and give you a heads up so we can discuss how we want their fight to end and which direction to go in. every attack on your supernatural character will be attempted. in counter, if your character wants to engage in a magical battle or some sort of violent fight with mine, i hope you will respect me the same way and message me before hand.

ENGAGING / INTERACTING WITH MY CHARACTER.

this blog is mutuals only! if i don’t follow you please do not send me random memes, or anything unprompted. also please do not like any of my starter calls or reply to my open starters. if i don’t follow you back, please don’t feel bad! it is most likely because i don’t see her interacting with your character, you post too much ooc, or i already follow too many of a certain muse. i am ocd about what is on my dash. i have adhd so a fast and clustered or disorganized dash does give me anxiety!

with that out of the way, any mutuals, whether we have or haven’t interacted, are always welcome to send nisa/lilith random starters, dialogue one liners, crack, memes, headcanon questions, etc. there is no limit as to how you can interact with me or how you want to. if you feel like interacting with nisa, feel confident that you can just do it and don’t hesitate !!!!! none of you will or could ever annoy me tbh.

SOFT / HARD BLOCKING / UNFOLLOWING.

this blog practices both soft blocking and hard blocking. if i soft block you and you try re-following, i hard block. i do this to protect myself, and to protect my creative freedom on my blog. i don’t owe anyone an explanation. if i see frequent call outs, callout reblogs, vague posts, or negativity on your blog, i will not hesitate to block you as i see fit. please keep your ooc political views off my dash. i really don’t give a shit, since i’m here to roleplay.  

if you think i might have unfollowed you on accident  ( bc lets be real the mobile app is really trash and my thumbs are clumsy ) please unfollow and then refollow me to alert me of my mistake. my tumblr msgs are currently for mutuals only, so that’s the easiest way to get my attention.

SHIPPING / SMUT.

as far as shipping is concerned, this blog only engages in pre-plotted ships. all  pre-plotted ships will get their own verse.

nisa is a complicated character and she is demiromantic. she isn’t really a flings kind of person and i bet you’re thinking ’ lol but it’s lilith ’ and yeah, that’s true, but just because the bible  called her a whore, doesn’t mean she is one. i’d really like to point out that they gave her that image because she disobeyed adam and god, whom are both men. did i also mention that the bible and rabbinical story of lilith, was written by men?

okay, great. now, we’re on the same page. many pagan practices and religions believe that periods of celibacy are a good thing, and actually makes witches more powerful, because sexual energy is powerful. before nisa accepts her fate of being lilith’s reincarnation, she does this frequently, as well as fasts, so that her various uses of magic, or that her visions, have an amplified effect.

in contrast, sometimes celibacy gets to be too much and she needs to actually release that tension and craves companionship, so one night stands, and flings are more likely to happen over romantic ships. she is flirty by nature and sometimes touchy-feely, this does not mean, however, that she wants to engage in sexual relations with your character.

i will only write with / ship with one lucifer, and that is @antichrstis in her main verse.

if your character is feeling nisa, or you view her character as someone yours might want to romantically ship with, and you would like it to happen, please feel free to message me andwe can discuss verse arcs and details ! don’t let what was previously mentioned above deter you.

i briefly mentioned smut earlier in my rules, but this is a reminder that i will not smut with anyone under age 20 or any muses whose fcs are under age 25.

DISCORD / TUMBLR MSGS.

if we’re mutuals, message me at your leisure! if you would like my discord, it is available upon request. i am open to ooc chit - chatting and plotting. i like making friends and getting to know people, so don’t be shy!

[botslayer]

Triple reboot review. (Puppet Master the Littlest Reich, Titans, Mega Man: Fully Charged)

Okay, Now, while I have yet to see these things in full (Titans being nothing more than a trailer right now, Littlest Reich not being out in the general public yet to my knowledge, and only having seen a preview of MMFC), But quite frankly, fuck you. I’m angry, I had a shit day, let me do some Sabre Rattling for the properties I like. 

Up First, this sneak peek of Mega Man: Fully Charged:

https://youtu.be/MWMopzUcG_Q

So we have a character who needs to blow his fucking nose, It is a massive distraction everytime he’s on screen, his voice is also the worst in the clip in my opinion. Megaman’s “Civilian” form also looks dull. The only thing that would make him stand out in a crowd is his stupidly big hair. 

Also: WHY DOES HE HAVE A CIVILIAN FORM?! In the games, he has an “Armorless” mode, yeah, but at the same time, that is usually just for when the Robot Masters aren’t a threat. Why, if you could just be walking around and suddenly, giant jet lady robot attacks, would you ever get OUT of the armored mode? In the old show that was just how he looked, he could still talk with people, hold conversations, etc. And while, yes, it is sort of weird to talk to the dude with a laser blaster built into him, A LOT of the Robot masters were built for specific jobs and given non-human anatomy to distinguish them from regular people. (At least that’s my headcanon.) The point is if this version of Mega Man is a kid with a Power Rangers/Beetleborgs-esque “Normal kid life mixed with superhero stuff.” (As implied by the “No one’s looking.”) WHY? Why not build a robot with the shit you just gave this kid!? There’s a big fat half-jet lady taking up good space begging that particular question. If he IS a robot, what does it matter that no one’s watching? Does he not want people to know he’s a robot? How would they not? I don’t care how “human” he may look if he’s avoiding certain “Human” activities too much (Say, Eating, resting, drinking, what have you) then it will probably be obvious.

Going on, Mega Man’s voice is annoying as hell. I don’t have anything to add to that, I just hate his voice. The armor isn’t TOO bad, maybe a LITTLE too busy, but if he is a robot you could explain the lights as “System failure in shoulder” making that light turn red or something, but if he isn’t what is it other than decoration? Plus there are lots of un-needed lines, but you don’t really have to convince me that it’s Megaman, and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters. (I would also like to point out his Helmet looks more like X’s, which might be an interesting visual easter egg if intentional)

The random cut to the Pixel animation was stupid, sudden, and REALLY broke the (minimal) flow that fight had going. I will say though, the ending joke is good. So out of that entire clip, I had 3 good things to say... Jesus this is gonna suck. 

And don’t give me any of that “Well it isn’t for you” bullshit, we all know full well that a reboot should probably do SOMETHING to appeal to the old fans in some way. And the way they tried to do that here was bullshit. It was like when Power Rangers Operation Overdrive tried to ape the first episode of Light Speed Rescue without really getting what made that work. 

And lastly, I don’t mind Blasto Woman. They should have just used an old Robot Master, though, to be fair, someone like Metal Man would probably be too edgy. (Bah-dumb Tiss)

In short: High hopes for a new Mega Man cartoon, dashed from a single clip.

Up next: Puppet Master, The Littlest Reich:

https://youtu.be/rtSF_-Gyl40

For starters, Toulon looks creepy in a way that he just shouldn’t. I read a review that spoiled a LOT of the movie and quite frankly, I am not impressed. This all looks and sounds like a gore hound’s wet dream, and while I like buckets o’ guts, that isn’t the point of Puppet Master. 

Blade looks like shit design-wise, he and Torch both look Too Plasticky for my tastes, there’s a weird froggy looking one that reminds me of the Joker (Due to the lighting), and it’s all, in my SO’s words, “a giant morality swap AU.” Which I agree with. Andre didn’t make the puppets to torture and kill people constantly, he made them to keep his friends' spirits alive and fight against Nazis. This is so stupid. AGH. Look, before I die of an aneurysm, as there anything I LIKED?

I like that Blade’s knife is hidden in his hand, that is fairly clever design. I also liked the brief snippet look at Pinhead, he doesn’t look terrible, at least. plus, the Frog dude (”Amphibian”) Is okay, and they express SOME logic in the killer sentient puppets. Logic you could see from a mile off, mind you, but I like that they sat down and explained it a little. The closing “joke” is also okay. That is all the goodwill I have.

Finally, Titans:

https://youtu.be/d6rWiM1BQ5E

So... Fuck this trailer. 

Let me explain some shit: Robin being some sort of cop, I can accept. That isn’t a bad idea, I think that happens a few times in the comics, even. no, the problem is just about everything after he whips the “R” into a wall or whatever he hit. 

For starters, Raven looks weird. Like she looks like a Half-ass Cosplayer. Now, while I’m a fan of Cosplay and see that you can do just about anything, long as the character is recognizable, she looks like the epitome of “No fucks given, lol.” and just going in pseudo-goth attire. And then the slightly infamous “Fuck Batman.” ... Yeah. “Fuck the guy that wanted to help me seek justice for my parents being shot.” “Fuck the guy who probably stopped me from slaughtering all these kinds of thugs in the past.” Fuck you, Dick. If this was Jason Todd or Damian Wayne, I’d go “Yeah, sure, why not?” BUT IT’S DICK GRAYSON! (Most likely) and if it isn’t, they are intentionally misleading people with this trailer, if you have to do that, you are part of a trash project. Although I will say I can’t weigh in on most of the costume, so that might look alright. 

Raven having to deal with a demon inside her as a more constant part of the show rather than “Whenever” is a good change if it is indeed put in. 

Beast Boy looks wrong. He looks like Trip from Time Force without the head gem. 

Am I the only one who sees this?! I know “Green skin.” But that isn’t helping by much given that second look we got of him at the end where he looks to be a pale little shit. 

Star Fire looks god awful. Everyone says it, I say it too. “Prostitute.” She looks like a hooker with a wig, really whacked out eyes, and an outfit that screams “I will suck your whatever for the right price.” Her skin looks weird with that “Crawling” effect, AND FOR THE LOVE OF TZEENTCH, WHY ARE HER POWERS ORANGE FLAME!? WHY ISN’T SHE USING STAR BOLTS!?

Then there are Hawk and Dove seen mutilating some dude about as bad as Robin... and why? Why are hawk and dove lacerating some poor bastard’s knee? Some context for that would have been nice, especially when Dove looks to be the one doing it and she isn’t that sadistic! I don’t have anything to say about how they look because I didn’t get a good enough look.

Finally, We have a line that agitates me. “My mom says there’s no such things as monsters.” ... BITCH YOU LIVE IN THE DC UNIVERSE! THERE IS A DEMON LIVING INSIDE YOU/YOU ARE HALF DEMON, PARADEMONS ARE A THING, MEDUSA EXISTS, THERE IS A COUNTRY OF TALKING GORILLAS, MARS HAS A REAL BAD RACISM ISSUE, THERE ARE ENTIRE UNIVERSAL SCALE POLICE FORCES DEDICATED TO EMOTION USING ALL MANNER OF ALIENS, YOU SAY THIS WHILE RIDING WITH A DUDE WHO IS CLEARLY A KILLING MACHINE, FUCK WHAT YOUR MOTHER SAID! “MONSTERS EXIST!” WOULDN’T BE A SURPRISE AT THAT POINT, ALL I’M SAYING!

And even if most of that shit isn’t a THING in this continuity, I still want to point out Raven’s demon thing and who she tells that too. I hate it when this shit happens in anything. “No such things as monsters.” That is actively harder to belive in ANY comic book universe.

TL;DR, Fuck all of these projects, they all look like garbage.