#i figured i should post a small starter call

[foxballad]

Like this for a small thing between our muses; especially if we still didn't interact yet!

[mooodyblue]

any day now | part one.

summary: after a flight back from cali to memphis, elvis finds himself somehow stuck in your apartment in 2022.

warnings: time traveler!elvis, mentions of his death, priscilla doesn't exist, elvis (2022) exists without the cilla scenes (i know! sorry!), mentions of pill usage & insomnia

wc: 3.1k

a/n: please refer to this post before reading (unless you've never read my other don't fly away stories, you should be fine that case!). turning my first ever post on here into a full, chaptered fic. i'm a little nervous, but i hope you all enjoy! i know this is one of my most loved series. i've been working on this for awhile now so i can't tell you how happy i am to finally have this out for all of you to read!!! the first chapter is a little corny, but i assure you it will get better 🙏🏼

fresh off his final performance, sweaty and decked out in black leather. god, he felt good. more than good actually, he felt incredible. he missed this–performing the music he loves and in front of an audience, he wanted to do more. he was elvis presley, he should be making good music and not these silly films his manager had him filming the last few years.

of course, the colonel wasn't too ecstatic about the special. it was supposed to be a christmas special for christs sake. all elvis did was cover one christmas song and call it a day. and in black leather? what was going to be the outcome of all of this? the special would sure fail; it's not what the fans wanted to see. at least that's what he thought, elvis and steve binder would think otherwise. but elvis knows when he's pleased an audience, he had a good feeling about the special and couldn't wait to watch it.

there was a party set in place once filming was done, elvis was still reeling off the energy from performing much earlier. after coming in, greeting everyone with a loud ‘my boy, my boy!’–he’d had a few drinks, chatting it up with a few crew members and constantly thanking steve for his hard work. he only wished his momma were here to see how far he'd come, she'd be so proud of him. it almost made him a little sad. he shook himself out of his thoughts, getting himself another drink before going off to talk to more people.

he was ready to go home, to curl up in his bed and sleep for a few days. he had a couple more movies left to film due to his contract, but not before he gave himself a little time to rest.

he got himself on his plane back to memphis and went up to his bedroom immediately, plopping himself face first on his bed and letting out a small groan. it felt so good to be home. he missed his bed, the coldness of his bedroom.

but something was off.

elvis lifted his head, looking around the room. his room was….not his room. the walls were a plain white with photos he'd never seen before in his life, the bed was slightly smaller and there was a strong smell of….flowers? it was like someone had a candle burning. this wasn't his room at all. he jumped up quickly, “what in the hell….” he muttered. he wandered out of the room, gasping. he was not in graceland. he was in someone else's house. but how did he even get there? he walked around, looking at framed photos and all the different pieces of clutter laying around.

now, looking through other people's mail is a crime. it's illegal, however he needed to know where he was and who this place belonged to cause it sure as hell didn't belong to him. one glance out the window made him dizzy–this was not memphis and it was beyond anything he'd ever seen. for starters, he was in an apartment. maybe the fourth floor. the view was the city, but everything looked so….off. it didn't look right. it was like a different dimension. there was a billboard across the street that changed after a minute, promoting things he'd never even heard of.

he closed the blinds, backing away slowly. “this ain't right…..” he rubbed at his head, trying to figure out what to do. right, the mail. he went to the kitchen, rummaging through everything till he found a letter with an address and name on it. he was in california…again? beverly hills? what the hell was he doing in beverly hills? he just flew back home, how did he end up back in california?

he sat down at the counter, rubbing his temples trying to process everything. elvis was in someone else's home and he was positive he didn't break in. you can't just break into an apartment on the fourth floor, it's impossible. there were no signs of him breaking in anyway, so how did he end up here? maybe it was just a really weird dream. but where was the person who lived here? oh god, were they dead? is that why he's here? is he dead? he couldn't be.

there was a rattle at the front door along with the sound of keys. elvis jumped up quickly, frantically scanning to find a place to hide. you'd see him if he ran to the bedroom, he couldn't fit in any of the cabinets–this was it. he was going to prison. that'll be a fun headline. his career is definitely over. he watched as you wandered into your bedroom, not even giving him a glance. this was his chance to escape.

he quietly snuck his way to the front door, turning the knob slowly.

“what the fuck?”

oh, he was done for. elvis gulped, turning around slowly with a nervous expression on his face. “um….”

you reached for a butter knife lying on the counter, pointing it directly at him. elvis couldn't help but snicker at the idea of you stabbing him with a butter knife of all things. “who are you? why are you laughing? w-why are you dressed like a cheap elvis impersonator?”

“are you tryna murder me or make yourself some to-cheap?! who are you callin’ cheap?” he put his hands on his hips. “look, i-i-i don’t know how i got here. i’m not here to hurt ya and i swear i-i didn't break in.”

you scoffed, “i’m calling the police.” you took your phone out of your pocket, unlocking it and getting ready to dial the number.

“no! no, no, no–please! i-i-i swear-i’ll leave. i just don’t know where to go. i don't know where i am.” he begged.

you looked at him confused, “what's your name?”

he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “elvis. i’m elvis presley.”

looking him up and down, you couldn't help but laugh. you burst out with laughter, clutching over and shook your head. “okay-seriously. what's your name?”

“i’m not being funny! i’m elvis presley!” he defended.

“prove it.”

his jaw went slack, almost looking defeated. he checked his pockets and every part of his body for some form of id–he had nothing on him. there was no way to prove that he was who he said he was. “look i-i don't have anything on me. i came back from filmin’ and then-” you got closer to him, examining his face, staring right at him as you circled him. “what are you doin’?”

“you speak exactly like him.” you got closer to his face, “what year is it?”

“y'know honey, i was about to ask you the same question.” he sneered, backing away from you.

“it's 2022.” you said, crossing your arms.

his eyes widened, backing farther away. “you're lyin’ to me. it's not-what? i-it should be ‘68….” he held his head, leaning into the wall.

none of this felt real to either of you, especially elvis. you googled a photo of him from ‘68, holding the phone close next to his face as a comparison. “holy shit.” you muttered, “you're….you're not an impersonator, there's no way.” and thank god for the people who got incredibly good photos of elvis in the 70s.

“i’ve been tryin’ to tell ya!” he groaned, “god, my head hurts.”

“i’ll get you some water, here.” you helped him to your sofa, fluffing pillows behind his back. he watched you get him a water from the fridge, everything just looked so..different. you handed him the small bottle, taking a seat next to him. “what do you remember? did you hit your head?”

he twisted the cap off, taking a swig then raising a brow at you. he shook his head, “no. not that i know of. i was on my plane back to memphis and i swear i went home and went straight to bed. i’m not dead, am i? or is this a weird dream?”

you didn't know how to answer his question. in a way, he was actually dead. except he's not dead, he's in front of you. it felt like a dream to you too. your eyes scanned his face. elvis just looked lost and confused, nervously fidgeting with the label from the water bottle you gave him. it was such an odd situation–almost something straight out of a movie. he could have showed up anywhere but the universe picked you. there had to be a reason for it.

elvis on the other hand, he had so many questions. many more than you. him being here, that means he didn't exist in this timeline. unless there were two of him, which didn't make much sense to him. “i’m dead, aren't i?”

you shifted awkwardly, clearing your throat. the silence gave elvis the answer he was looking for. “when?”

“‘77.” you answered lowly.

“christ.” he sat back, running a hand through his hair. “how?”

you stood up quickly. “are you hungry?” you chirped, trying to change the topic. “i-i can order something. what are you in the mood for?”

elvis watched you pace around the room, “uh-i mean….”

“oh! you like burgers, let's get you a burger. you'll be amazed at what they do with burgers compared to your time!” you nervously laughed, pulling up a delivery app on your phone. “there's even burgers named after you! they're all pretty much the same-”

“honey-”

“-i’ve had my fair share of elvis inspired meals but honestly-”

elvis pulled you by the arm, causing you to fall back onto the couch. “we don't have to talk about it. a-and i’m sorry for askin’.”

“there's just…so much you don't know.” you mumbled, looking down. he took one of your hands, holding it in his. “you're just getting started in your other life.” his touch was soft, the feeling of him rubbing his thumb on the back of your hand bringing you comfort.

“see, i told them that special would be a hit.” he joked. “look, i don't know what the hell happened. none of this is right at all, maybe i ended up here for a reason. but we'll figure it out, even if it's just for today.”

it's funny in some way, you always wondered what it'd be like to go back in time to meet elvis or see him live–now here he is, somehow traveling to the future. his presence is just as sweet and calming like you imagined, perhaps even more. even if you were to wake up tomorrow with him gone, you’d make his time here worth every second. you had so many questions, so many things to show him, proof that he was still loved after all these years. maybe you were the perfect person to do all of that for him.

you nodded, squeezing his hand. “i just can't believe you're here.”

“crazy how life works out.” he laughed. “now, you said somethin’ about a elvis burger….”

with a laugh, “oh, are you kidding? it's beyond burgers. you've got milkshakes too. hell, there's meals that have nothing to do with you named after you.” you pulled up a few for him to look at.

“you're kiddin’.....” he gasped, “and what's..what this thing you're showin’ it on?”

never in your life did you think you'd be sitting next to elvis presley, explaining what a phone was. how ordering food was just a few taps away and how easy it was to access all sorts of information, even showing him his wikipedia page but quickly avoiding the ‘death section’. you helped him pick out his order along with yours then went onto show elvis photos of himself you had searched for on pinterest. you did your best to filter out photos from the 70s, you knew he'd have questions and you weren't exactly sure if you were ready to have that conversation;not on day one.

“so…this means that lil’ christmas special i just filmed–it's out right? you can just pull it up on that tiny thing?” he asked, pointing at your phone.

you grinned, “even more than just the special. all your movies, concert films, concert footage and documentaries. people have even made movies about you!”

he groaned, “don't tell me you've seen my movies.”

“oh, absolutely. i really enjoyed clambake.”

“don't ever say clambake again.” he said sternly.

before you could respond, there was a ping on your phone and a knock at the door. elvis widened his eyes at you picking up the bags from outside the door, “that fast?” he said, surprised.

you held the bags up proudly and gestured for him to come to the dining table, setting out his food and yours. while eating, he caught up with you about what he was doing before he ended up with you. the things going on in his life and the movies he had planned to film soon, movies you had already seen. elvis was happier when discussing his music and how much he missed performing, he was happy to hear he does manage to get out there and perform in vegas. you just skipped the part where he was overworked and unhappy. seeing him so excited made you feel bad. you dreaded having that conversation with him. as much as you didn't want to admit it, you hoped he'd return to his life before you'd ever have to explain his future.

unless, you could do something to stop it. to make him change his ways. you've read the books, you know what's going on at this point in his life. what about the pills? was he still on those? he doesn't even know about the colonel yet. god, so many things he doesn't know. it's killing you that he doesn't know.

you make a plan. if you wake up and he's still here, you'll tell him everything. you'll answer any questions he might have. you needed to keep him away from a phone and from a computer, which you hadn't introduced him to yet. worst case scenario, you get him a phone but set a child lock so he won't have access to google. he can't learn all of this on his own.

“i really hate to ask this. i’m not one to ask favors, is there anyway i can sleep here tonight? i-if i’m still here tomorrow i-well, you can help me find a hotel room. i-if that's okay with you, of course. i didn't really mean to intrude.” elvis finally asked, almost embarrassed to be asking for any sort of favor. he was normally asked for favors, not the one asking for one.

“you don't even have to ask!” you replied a little too excitedly. the idea of elvis presley sleeping in your apartment was almost a dream come true. “i can lend you some of my ex’s clothes, he should still have some here somewhere….”

“oh, an ex?” he wiggled his eyebrows. “who'd wanna break up with someone as pretty as you?”

you blushed, fiddling with your sleeve. glad to see he didn't lose his flirtatious charms during his trip. “i’ll um…find you something to wear.” you stuttered out as you got up quickly, rushing off to find him something for the night.

elvis let out a small laugh, getting up and wandering around your apartment, taking in all the photos and books you had lying around. he picked up one from the shelf, shocked at the sight of his face on the cover. he read the back and opened the front cover, curious to find out what his future holds.

and thank god you walked in when you did. you ran over to him, snatching the book from his hands and replacing it with clothes. “they're not really your style but i’m sure they'll still fit!”

“i’ll make it work, thanks hon. bathroom?”

you pointed across the hall, giving him thumbs up as he walked away. as soon as there was a click of the bathroom door, you immediately took all the elvis books from your shelf and ran to your room to hide them somewhere. you opted for shoving them all in a box in your closet.

he came back out, looking down at himself. “i don't look awful.” he shrugged.

you turned around, “if you're here tomorrow maybe we can buy you some clothes somehow.”

“what if i’m not here tomorrow?”

you'd be sad. “well–then you're not here.” you replied as confidently as you could. “so, the bed situation…..i can sleep on the couch. you can take my bed.”

elvis rolled his eyes, “why can't we sleep in the same bed?”

you laughed awkwardly, shuffling your feet. “that's-that's not happening. sorry.”

elvis looked back at your room then back at you, a concerned look on his face. it was almost like he was afraid to sleep. but oh, you've read about this. you know what he's worried about.

“i don't have anything for sleep, if that's what you're concerned about.”

he looked at you sadly, “i’ll just….figure it out. it's fine.” he wished you didn't know about that. it made him wonder what else you possibly knew.

“you're welcome to any of the books on my shelf.” you pointed back, “they may not be up your alley but…i know you love reading.”

he nodded, “appreciate it.”

there was an awkward silence between the two of you. standing there uncomfortably, waiting for someone to move or say something. there was no way to say good night. you both knew you may not see each other in the morning but it was obvious neither of you wanted to bring it up. “soo….” you shoved your hands in your pockets, rocking on your feet.

“well, thanks. good night.” elvis finally said, giving you a small smile. you watched as he headed to your bedroom, wondering if that would be the last time you'd ever see him. he turned once more, “thank you for bein' so kind to me. i’ll be prayin’ for you.” he gave you one final nod and shut the door behind you.

you tossed and turned on the couch all night. not because it was uncomfortable, because you couldn't stop staring at your bedroom door. was elvis still behind that door? you wondered if he was able to fall asleep–especially knowing his history with insomnia. he was without his pills and you had nothing laying around the house, he must have been tossing and turning all night too.

regrets were playing through your mind too. there were things you wish you could have said to him, to warn him and maybe show him how loved he still is. maybe he could have changed his ways if he knew it all before he went back. his ‘i’ll be prayin’ for you’ was on a loop in your head the entire time. he was just so kind, even throughout this weird situation he was in.

you weren't much of a spiritual person but for the first time in a long time, you prayed too.

[arsonistic-tendencies]

"Gotham is Ugly dull dark sad and lifeless.... I merely wish to bring it beauty with the life of my flame!"

- Interview with inmate #0223****

ArtRefrences

Spotify Playlist

Voice Claims

Minor Violence warning ' Cheerleader' Coa 8

This blog will alternate between post lazerous pit and pre lazerus pit depending on shenanigans and timelines ,

Theres an air of death to this one.... Threaded through his every being he is alive something death should never be. (<= creatures of the Supernatural and people who work or do the craft will pick up on this :3)

Pre Lazerus Pit(Lives in his hideout (an opera house with running water ) The Pyrotechnics ( impulse sets stuff on fire )

Post Lazerous Pit(He gets taken in shortly after and mimics john his mentor and looks up to him): Atropos Maldonaldo. (breaks the fourth wall )

File # 0223[REDACTED]

Facts

Real Name: ????Atropis Maldonaldo????(Suspected Lie)

Alias: The Pyrotechnics, Firebug

Occupation: Amateur Arsonist

Base of Operations: Gotham (formerly jump city)

Eyes: Orange/Reddish

Hair: Red fades to an orange hue

Height: 5'6

Weight: 120

Pronouns: He/They

Age Range usually: Early-Late teens

Mentor???: Firefly

Attributes

=>Fire based meta human with an unknown amount of knowledge in the occult

=> Odd attachment to things associated with death and 'Firebugs'

=> Noted Pyromaniac and Suspected Bipolar

=> Self Destructive

=> Keep Within Line of sight!

=>Refusal to answer to Authority figures they don't trust.

Fear of anything clown like Note: His is related to his fear.

=> Has a Quetzal companion called esmel (Esmerdalda for short)

Story

12 year old Pyro started his life of crime setting small things on fire in jump city. Before moving to gotham and getting cocky. Occasionally collaborating with Firefly. they make planned attacks using gasoline and fire sometimes despite not needing it but finding it easier to set things alight. Not the (suspected) best homelife led to quite the defensive kid

Suspected run away.somehow ended up in Gotham/Jumpcity been terrorizing everyone ever since

Personality: He finds tormenting the titans hilarious. He never had the oppertunity to socialize properly so he can come off as mean or insensitive sometimes. He lives for setting stuff on fire and is generally just up to his shenanigans because he's bored. He can be quite childish when he doesn't get get his way and primarily has to be put in social situations or else he isolates himself.

Abilities

Fire, Stealth, First aid => Burns , Stabs and gunshots are his specialty don't ask why

Crimes

Several counts of Petty and Agravated Arson

Reckless Driving

Several MIP's

First, Second, and Third degree counts of Arson

Arson causing great bodily injury

Aiding and abetting arson

Reckless Arson

Malicious Arson

Tags:

(Talon Au!) #​Spades the Clown (wannabe ballerina)

(Arkham stuff) #Speaking Privileges Revoked

#Atropos Maldonaldo

#The Pyrotechnics

relationships:

His twin sister(He's the secret twin): Alazne Maldonaldo, Heiress to the Matriarchal famillia @risky-catalysts

Moira(On and off Titans member constantly in and out of relationships): She recognizes who he was and cares for him out of familiarity on occasion

John Constaintine: His guardian and Mentor post lazerous pit, He only repayed his debt to the deceased god out of fear of the gods self inflicted curse he puts on others (intentional or not) intended on teaching him how to control his magical abilities , @john-constantine-in-the-flesh

Base of Operations: originally (JumpCity) then Gotham city a safer bet where they could hide better , Then House of mystery upon John mentoring him and acting as his 'legal Guardian'

OOC: Boundries: Keep it SFW! I am a minor and so is Pyro I don't intend on aging him up unless its an au

shipping wise keep it in his age range magic!annon or whatever those are called are fine by me

You're allowed to refrence child abuse just don't actively invite me to ones where its happening presently

All starters are open unless otherwise specified ie: specific Descriptions of another character (you are always welcome to DM and I can make your own special starter if you would like to rp or whatever)

urmmm yeye!:3

[spectrallik]

Specter Learns Guitar, the Hard Way

Big things often start small

I may have made a terrible mistake.

I’m a lifelong keyboardist. Not a great one, but an OK one. And I’m finally comfortable enough with the instrument to write my own music. Just one problem: the kind of music I want to make, the stuff that’s running through my head all the time, is on the dream pop/shoegaze end of post-punk. Keyboardists have a place in dream pop, and some of my favorite dream pop acts like Alvvays and Hatchie prominently feature synths. But any genre that descends from punk rock, even something this far-removed, is still fundamentally a guitarist’s genre. Plus, the songs in my head are on the heavier side like The Joy Formidable - no keyboards there, unless you count getting on your hands and knees and playing your effects pedals like a keyboard.

My synth has guitar tones, but they come nowhere near replicating the real thing. And I have some guitar-playing family members who are willing to help me out, but I don’t really know how to communicate my ideas to a guitar player. They don’t read sheet music, they just play everything by ear. How could I communicate how to play a part, or even what tone I’m going for, when I didn’t really know how a guitar works?

The only halfway decent guitar tone on the Roland Fantom, and it only sounds good after you shove a fuckton of reverb and delay after it.

So, I decided that the only way to get that knowledge was to experience the guitar firsthand. I don’t want guitar to become my main instrument or anything, but I want to at least get comfortable with it. Once I understand how a guitar truly works, it will be much easier to write for it. 

Unfortunately, the guitar I want to get - a G&L Fallout - is backordered for a few months. So, in the meantime, I got a cheapo starter guitar to screw around with and hopefully get some of the basics down. I’ll trade it in for a pedal or something later.

This is the Eastrock 39, and it is a piece of shit. It barely stays in tune, the pickups sound thin and lifeless, and the frets are rough. You have to actively fight this thing to get the strings to ring properly. Some of my tone problems are because I still need to build finger strength, sure, but I’ve read reviews from veteran guitar players that say that this doesn’t play easily. Not great for a supposed “beginner” guitar. On the bright side, it came with a ton of extra stuff that doesn’t suck - a nice guitar bag, beginner picks, a solid capo, audio cables, and luthier tools to replace the strings and adjust the action. It even came with a practice amp, but I live in a studio apartment and have an audio interface for my synth, so I don’t have much use for it. 

So… goals. My first goal is to get the basic chords down, figure out how barres work, and learn ONE simple song. I’m not too worried right now about memorizing the fretboard - I’m not gonna do any solos anytime soon - but I need to understand chords to actually play songs. Luckily, guitar sheet music is more commonly written in an alternate form called tablature that is WAY EASIER TO UNDERSTAND THAN TRADITIONAL NOTATION, HOLY SHIT, WHY ISN’T THERE A VERSION OF THIS FOR PIANO!? I’m still not great at reading sheet music, despite my ClAsSiCaL SuZuKi MeThOd training, but it took all of 5 minutes to pick up TAB.

So, what’s my first song? Well, a few months ago, I got a picture of one of my characters playing air guitar and singing along to a song:

As it turns out, this song - Future Me Hates Me by The Beths - is very beginner friendly. 90% of the rhythm part is the same power chord shape, and the lead guitar part is pretty reserved and minimalistic by Jonathan Pearce standards. Plus, the guitar I'm waiting on is the exact same model that Liz Stokes played on that record. So it should sound perfect, especially once I get a RAT on my pedalboard.

So yeah, we'll see where this goes. I do want to keep track of my progress somewhere, and I'm planning on getting the fuck off Twitter once and for all, so I guess it will go here.

[otome-mondays]

Review: Collar x Malice 🐈‍⬛

Ok yeah I’m very late to reviewing this game, but in my defense I didn’t have a blog where I felt ok posting otome reviews until now lol. Disclaimer: 1) it has been years since I last played this game. I have my thoughts written down but this is not going to be as polished as I hope my future reviews are. 2) This game has really rough themes and topics, please don’t read if topics such as terrorism, violence, suicide, and police are triggering to you. I’d recommend looking up a full list of triggers before deciding to add Collar x Malice to your list of games. 3) Like all my reviews, this will contain spoilers. This one has spoilers for some CGs and general route spoilers!

Onto the review!

Collar x Malice takes place in the city of Shinjuku, which is currently under lockdown due to terrorism attacks from a group called Adonis. You play as a girl name Ichika Hoshino, and while you can change her name I chose to keep the default. Ichika is a rookie officer assigned to the SCRPO department. Their goal is to help keep peace among the citizens, meaning there’s little crazy action happening in her specific department. Part of the SCRPO duties are doing patrols to look out for Adonis members and maintain as much peace as can be possible when you’re in such a situation. Unfortunately, thanks to plot bad luck, Ichika is targeted by the group and they try to convince her to join. How so? That’s where the collar comes in. So Ichika gets snatched by a member and a collar is placed on her neck. Not just any collar, a collar filled with poison. How wonderful! Now, there is a slight issue because she already got a small dose and can’t move and is stranded in a church of some sort in the middle of the night. A random group of men come in and save the heroine, being given a memo from Adonis. They introduce themselves to Ichika as a small ragtag detective group looking into X-Day outside the police force. There’s 4 members, but only 3 are present. These 3–Enomoto, Sasazuka, and Yanagi—are all former cops who quit for their own reasons and have all decided to do independent work looking into X-Day. Oh right, I should explain X-Day. X-Day is a day Adonis is counting down to with monthly attacks before basically purging Shinjuku from who they think are nasty lowlifes who deserve death. Adonis has the ability to fully monitor Ichika and those around her from the collar, and they want to ultimately recruit her and if possible the ragtag investigation group. Ichika also can’t tell anybody else outside the group or they’ll kill her. So now she has to hide this information from everybody close to her. Totally not stressful at all right? As she’s deciding to join an figure out what she wants to investigate, one more problem comes in. Okazaki Kei. He’s a SP officer who, along with his subordinate, are assigned to monitor Yanagi’s group. He also seems a bit persistent on monitoring her. Oh also not to mention the other oddball in the group, Shiraishi, who seems kind of suspicious. Ultimately, she decides to investigate a certain set of cases and put an end to Adonis with help from Yanagi and friends. And that’s where the route split is, depending on how you answered the questions in the common route determines which cases and ultimately which route you play. I played this game back in 2020-2021 when everybody was supposed to be inside and in lockdown as well, and it felt really fitting at the time. I’ll add some thoughts on each route next, but if you just wanted a general plot starter and to see if I recommend it, scroll past all the character sections for the end! I’m not going to make walkthroughs as there are already plenty out there, but I will mention I relied on Otome Kitten’s walkthroughs located on her website. I’m going to review the characters in the order I played:

Spoilers Ahead

Okazaki Kei 🏃‍♂️

So I decided to start with this route because honestly I was the most interested in Okazaki out of all the characters. I spent way too much time trying to see route order recommendations and I saw enough people say that his wasn’t big on lore so it’s ok if you do his route first. I also had the interesting challenge of otome being even more of a niche genre in the west than it is now so I struggled to find resources on the game. Now that could also be me struggling in general with technology sometimes lol. Okazaki here is kinda the odd guy out of the group. He isn’t investigating X-Day incidents with Yanagi and Co, but rather he’s keeping an eye on them with his junior partner Yoshinari Hideaki. The case we’re exploring in this route is the July case, and then we start investigating the November case. Nobody’s been investigating this specifically in Yanagi’s group, so Ichika is all on her own with understanding what happened. Okazaki decides he’s going to help for seemingly no reason, which does help her solve the incidents since she doesn’t have much experience. Without going into more details for spoiler reasons, Okazaki is a very sad character and honestly I love how well written he is. His route doesn’t go too much into the overarching story of the game and is also very isolated from the other characters. This is most likely due to how he’s not in the same group as the others and he’s not privy to how they are as people but rather their general actions and behaviors. This route is a really good starting out point! 9/10

Enomoto Mineo 🪭

Enomoto is highly recommend as a starting route by most people and I can totally see why! Even if you’re not a fan of genki style characters, he is a very enjoyable one. Enomoto is the youngest of the love interests and is a former Field Ops 2 officer. His mentor was a victim of one of the X-Day attacks, and because of that he ultimately left the force and joined up with Yanagi to investigate those specific incidents. On Enomoto’s route, we are investigating the April-May case, also the very first countdown to X-Day attack. Enomoto and Ichika really do start out kinda rocky as investigative partners, and slowly get to know and trust each other. I also think that Enomoto is a very well written character, and his route has some of the best writing for lots of side characters. I do have a couple gripes, such as his main tragic ending not being anywhere near tragic as…oh I don’t know…BAD ENDING NUMBER 4. That one actually caused me emotional pain. Anyways, his route can easily spoil who the leader of Adonis is to anybody who isn’t as clueless as I am (genuinely was focused on solving other mysteries to the universe). Like Okazaki, his route is very much an introductory route and is another great one to start with! Either play this one or Okazaki’s first and then play the other. 8/10

Sasazuka Takeru 🍩

Alright now for Sasazuka’s review. This was an interesting route, and honestly pretty good middle of the game route. I’m going to be honest and say I wasn’t super interesting in playing through his route, but I really came to love Sasazuka as a character while playing it. So let’s get into some details. Sasazuka is a former cyber crimes officer and he’s also our tsundere character. Now, he’s the type of tsundere that’s honestly very much verbally aggressive and it’s a very hard start for Ichika and Sasazuka. Like every other love interest and character in general it seems in this game, the man has severe trauma. His route has you exploring the June and August cases, starting with the August case. This route we learn a lot more about Adonis and why they’re doing what they are doing. Yet again, Collar x Malice is wining an award for great character writing in my brain. I really do like how Sasazuka is written and how he starts recovering and healing from his trauma. Now as for endings, like Enomoto he suffers from a mediocre tragic ending and also not great bad endings. His best ending is definitely the good ending, but who’s surprised about that. Definitely play this game 3rd though, it makes the most sense story wise. 8/10

Shiraishi Kageyuki 🐱

And here’s the controversial one. I cannot begin to explain how much I love this route. This is such a wild route and at first I totally hated Shiraishi but by the end he ended up being one of my favorite characters ever. I’d say Shiraishi’s route is like pseudo-yandere route? Or at least that was how it was described in some of the few posts I saw before playing and that immediately made me concerned. It honestly is a really good route and I wouldn’t personally classify it as a yandere route. This one goes over so much in universe lore and uncovers a lot of secrets, so please don’t play this before the other 3 routes above. Shiraishi’s route is also one of two that have to be unlocked, so even if you wanted to start with his you won’t be able to. To unlock Shiraishi’s route, all you have to do is finish one of the first three routes. I don’t think you have to get the good ending, but you do have to get either the good ending or tragic ending for it to count if that is the case. Now Shiraishi’s route goes over the September-October case. Out of all the cases you explore, I think this one was the saddest with the June case being a close second. Shiraishi is the only one in Yanagi’s group to still be working with the police as Director of the Field Ops department. Because of this, Ichika is very suspicious of him at first and thinks he’s potentially a double agent. I’d say he is easily the most traumatized one out of all the characters. He has a very intense love-hate relationship with Ichika even as colleagues, but they figure out how to communicate with each other. Now, a lot of people talk about how his good ending isn’t truly a good ending to them or a larger discussion of what makes an ending a good ending. This route has amazing writing, and the good ending is a part that proves it. Warning, it is very bittersweet but it is the best result based off of everything that happens. Now the tragic ending…I once again do not have words to express how I felt reading that. That ending is so twisted and I love those types of endings for bad endings. Honestly, this is probably the best route in the game even if he’s not my favorite LI. 9.5/10

Yanagi Aiji 🚬

Alright, final route time. Now, if you want to play Yanagi’s route and fully see the world of Collar x Malice and answers to all the questions, you’re going to have to wait a while. You will not only have to finish all the other routes, but you specifically have to have obtained all the good endings. If you’re like me, this will take a while because you want to see all the endings. If you’re not, congrats it will take you slightly less time! So Yanagi here is basically marketed as that “true route” but not really. He has his own prologue, he has the longest route, and he’s only unlocked after playing through the other routes. I hate to say this but Yanagi’s route was the most boring one to me. I love Yanagi as a character, but I do not really like him as a love interest…which is unfortunate because he is the most stable one. But, as with all the other routes and boys, he definitely is well written and has a well written story. His route definitely focuses more on solving X-Day and definitively ending Adonis and the terrorism attacks. Because of this, you’re not getting much romance. Sorry to all the Yanagi fans. Yanagi, as the little leader of the group, is investigating all of them. At this point, you already understand and have solved the cases in previous routes so now we just have to figure out who is behind X-Day and Adonis and why they are so freaking weird. As is the pattern, Yanagi is also a traumatized man. We love to see it. Anyways, he also has some growth and development from confronting his trauma in his route. Thankfully, unlike Enomoto and Sasazuka, he has both a great good ending and tragic ending. I’m not going into detail on either because major spoilers. 8.5/10

Overall Thoughts 🐈‍⬛

Collar x Malice is a great entry point into Otomate titles or otome as a genre. It has has some unique features like trigger mode, investigation mode, and then an occasional map mode for the station Ichika works at. I didn’t mention it above, but this game also has great side characters including Ichika’s little brother who does play a huge role in the story. If you’re looking for a recommended route order, mine is going to be Enomoto/Okazaki -> Sasazuka -> Shiraishi -> Yanagi. As for which route to play first, either pick who you’re more interested in OR pick whether you want to learn more about the characters or Adonis. If you want to experience the characters first, start with Enomoto. If you want to see more of an intro to Adonis first, pick Okazaki. My rating of this game is going to be a 9/10! It’s truly an enjoyable experience!

EDIT: I am adding in my LI and route rankings! This one is really hard for me, because I genuinely liked them all.

Route: Shiraishi > Okazaki > Yanagi > Enomoto > Sasazuka

LI: Okazaki > Shiraishi > Enomoto > Sasazuka > Yanagi

Resources 📝

I obviously pulled my information about the game mostly from the game itself. The CGs are also from the game. Now for people’s thoughts on the game, I looked at the otomegames subreddit, Blerdy Otome, and Otome Kitten. I also followed Otome Kitten’s walkthroughs. I highly recommend looking into these places of the internet for otome content and also more perspectives on the game!

[thursdaygrl]

i'm gonna bury my head in drafts immediately after posting this but here's a muse specific wishlist / starter call. like and i'll come to you for a bit of plotting but optionally we can just jump in. i'll cross out anything that gets taken that i don't wanna double up on.

alina — honestly someone to match her freak. someone to see her as she is and recognise that they like it. or maybe they hate it but they're obsessed with her. could be human or a ghost even.

ciro — soulmates au but wtf why is my soulmate this sweet, innocent human??? / on and off love with someone he turned early in his vampirism, can they ever make it work?

cricket — rivals or enemies to lovers / the sneaky journalist being played by someone who is secretly writing a story about her/her family while getting close to her and the fallout of what happens when she finds out.

dawson — figure skater/hockey player im BEGGING you. / accidental pregnancy also.

freya — this and i could see her on either side of it. / something lisa frankenstein inspired. i think freya accidentally bringing her soulmate to life is hilarious and i'd also be down to play it as modern day rather than in a fantasy verse like i usually would.

jeremy — the sunshine to his grumpy, preferably someone who takes what he's researching seriously which takes him aback.

kellan — exes to lovers, someone from the peak of his criminal days who he loved so dearly but now they're both trying to be 'reformed' and should probably stay away.

letha — a little nathan/haley from one tree hill inspired thing, pls.

luther — weird strangers meeting on the road and there’s a sudden spark, would absolutely prefer if she was a little crazy cause he’d be into that. could be just intense or a murder, we don’t mind

mason — give this man a wife to worship. would love to explore the criminal stuff with his family and the angst of keeping their family safe. also would love there to be babies.

moira — a journalist or detective she comes across working the same case in a small town, they clash and also probably bang cause that’s fun.

molly — gay sad normal people inspired plot pls.

oscar — let me do the damn sugar daddy plot. let me do it. smutty and angsty pls.

quinn — fake dating pls or best friends to lovers.

revan — princess and the scoundrel, i'm sorry it slaps every time. something tangled inspired would make me so happy.

river — something jess and rory inspired cause i’m a sucker for that and i want river against someone bookish and cute.

ronan — basic and boring but i need enemies to lovers. would actually die for a sherry-lee watson fc and i'll speed up working on gifs for both if you give me it.

rory — i really want a girl who thinks she’s straight to discover otherwise through rory mostly bc i think it’ll be funny.

slater — ok so this as inspo. someone worse than slater, who makes slater worse and it's such a doomed ship bc they're both terrible but they're so drawn to each other.

sosie — i’d like to play her against someone who works for or with her father, e.g. campaign advisor, fellow politician, bodyguard etc, ya girl loves something forbidden. / cappie and rebecca from greek inspired.

vienna — art & tashi from challengers inspired please. i need a failmarriage for her real bad but also would take patrick and tashi inspired cause i would love her to be challenged. either. both. / also this because she definitely could go full gone girl on someone.

yessica — age gap thing with her hot neighbour that is totally inappropriate but she has too much fun flirting to stop. probably goes further than she actually ever thought it would.

[inu-jiru]

How I'd Write "Outcast of Redwall" - The Name, The Prologue and Book One

So as a Redwall fan, I've seen my fair share of complaints about Outcast of Redwall and why it's the black sheep of the franchise, and while I haven't read the book itself, from what I've heard in podcasts and read on Redwall blogs, I can agree that it's got issues. It's a shame because I believe there was potential in it, and Taggerung was a much better representation of the idea Brian Jacques was trying to tell. I know people have their own ideas of how this book could've been better (and I'm a good 20 years late to the conversation), but I couldn't help but think of my own version since I've been getting back into the series (I've been writing a fanfiction as well that I should probably post here lol). This is going to be long so I'll split this up into separate posts:

THE NAME

For starters, I agree with the common criticism that "Outcast of Redwall" kinda fails as a name when the Outcast in question isn't even born until the 2nd act, if I'm remembering correctly. For the plot I came up with, I figured "The Hunted Ones" would be appropriate, referring to the main characters, Sunflash and Bluefen (yes, she's got a much bigger role this time around), as well as those close to them, and how they're under the constant threat of Swartt and his influence.

THE PROLOGUE

The prologue is a telling of Sunstripe's capture. This is based on the assumption that Sunstripe was about Mattimeo's age (so early pre-teen, if the animated series is anything to go by), when he ran off to fight Verdauga. The prologue starts many days after Sunstripe is defeated by Verdauga. Sunstripe has since wandered far into the northeastern section of Mossflower Country, injured and too ashamed to return to his mother and Brockhall. Wishing to have simply died by Verdauga's paws, Sunstripe leans near a tree and decides to waste away, believing it to be what he deserves for failing to avenge his father. He falls unconscious just as vermin emerge from the woods. These vermin are followers of Wurgg Snarefang (formerly Wurgg the Spinecracker in canon; he is a ferret and Bowfleg's father in this reimagining, the surname comes from Bowfleg's canon insignia), whose camp is settled in the area. Binding Sunstripe, Wurgg's beasts bring their prize to the ferret, who claims Sunstripe as a pet. The prologue ends here.

BOOK ONE - THE ALLIANCE

Book One would mainly follow the growing companionship of Sunstripe and Bluefen, as well and their eventual escape to Redwall.

It begins seasons after the prologue. Sunstripe is now an adult (late-20s, early 30s-ish, in human years). He's lived in captivity for seasons, being beaten and mocked by the horde constantly. A late middle-aged Bowfleg Snarefang now rules in his late father's place, and has gifted the family "pet" to his daughter, Bluefen (who would be close to 18 or 19 in human years). Bowfleg is not a very good father and lives off his father's infamy, growing fat and lazy as a result. He's abusive to his daughter, ordering around like a housewife and ignoring her complaints when he tells her to seek out a good, strong and loyal ferret in the horde to serve as his son-in-law and carry on the Snarefang bloodline. Frustrated and feeling like a prisoner in her own right, Bluefen regularly takes out her anger on Sunstripe, calling him "Scumtripe" as an insult.

Sunstripe, meanwhile, regularly has dreams of Mossflower, his parents, Boar the Fighter, and the mountain of Salamadastron. He regularly feels the pull to escape, to see his mother again and to visit the mountain, but is unable to shake off his guilt. He is also housed in a deep pit lined with smooth stone, making climbing out impossible without outside assistance.

At the same time, an outsider named Swartt Sixclaw arrives from farther north with his small band, "eager" to join Bowfleg's ranks. Bluefen doesn't trust Swartt for a second, but Nightshade, Swartt's Seer, is able to sway Bowfleg's mind with "omens" promising a great future should Bowfleg accept Swartt. Bowfleg, blinded by these false promises, offers his daughter to Swartt as a token of their alliance, much to Bluefen's dismay. Swartt agrees, purely to keep on Bowfleg's good side.

A feast is arranged; Sunstripe is taken out of his prison an made to do tricks. Swartt is allowed to torture him (which he enjoys a bit too much). Bluefen can't bring herself to enjoy any of it and takes off, contemplating if she should simply flee to begin life elsewhere. After the feast, she goes to Sunstripe's prison to try and cheer herself up with her usual bullying, but breaks down due to the anger at her father and the fear of her new husband. Seeing this and being reminded of his mother's pain after Barkstripe's death, Sunstripe shows compassion to his would-be tormentor and consoles her. Bluefen is uncertain of why a beast she mistreated would be kind to her, but does admit that she's being married off to Swartt. Sunstripe can tell it upsets her greatly. They strike up a conversation and the seeds of a bond are planted. While this happens, Swartt takes advantage of a drunken Bowfleg and poisons him with wine, becoming the sole ruler of the Snarefang horde.

The following seasons are rough for Bluefen as she suffers her new husband's cruelty, and his treatment of Sunstripe leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. Swartt has claimed Sunstripe as his steed and regularly brings him out of his pit to ride him around camp. Swartt also schemes to move further south, having heard on the wind that the Thousand Eye Army is long gone and Mossflower sits free for its next ruler. The march begins, and a pregnant Bluefen desires more and more to escape and live elsewhere. Her conversations with Sunstripe continue, and they bond further over how miserable they are. Sunstripe soon decides that, even if his guilt still lingers, he has to help Bluefen, whom he pities despite her past mistreatment of him. Desperate, Bluefen agrees, and they plan their escape.

As Bluefen assists Sunstripe in escaping his prison, she's spotted by Swartt's followers, and they both flee for their lives into the woods. Swartt, taking the lead, attempts to kill Sunstripe, but with some quick thinking, Sunstripe crushes Swartt's arm with a makeshift club. The pair disappear into the woods, and their journey begins. Things are rough, given the winter climate, and both have little experience surviving in the woods, Bluefen especially. They bicker a few times, but Bluefen dares not leave Sunstripe's side, knowing his usefulness in a fight. Things take a turn when Bluefen goes into labor, and Sunflash takes her to a cave which is inhabited by the Lingl-Dubbo families. Kind beasts, the families agree to look after Bluefen and provide both travelers with good food. A healthy baby ferret is born that night. Bluefen names him Veil, due to his mask marking reminding her of the veil she wears. She plans to never tell him of his father or of the Snarefang Horde.

Skarlath, a friend of the families and fancier of cheeses, visits the cave and befriends Sunstripe and Bluefen. He's asked to guide the pair further south to Redwall Abbey, so that Bluefen could provide Veil with a proper shelter and food. While recovering, Bluefen is also taught a bit of how to use a sling, so that she can defend herself and her baby. Veil is a fussy infant, constantly demanding food and attention and it reminds Bluefen of her father and Swartt. Part of her considers dumping the baby entirely, but she decides against it, not wishing to be as cruel and sadistic as the ferret she'd left. The journey continues with the three friends narrowly avoiding Swartt and using guerilla tactics to slow the horde down and lower Swartt's numbers.

As Redwall draws near, Sunstripe sends Bluefen and Skarlath to the abbey while he creates a diversion to keep Swartt away from the innocent beasts there. Secretly, Sunstripe fears meeting his mother, who now resides at Redwall, and he still wants to visit Salamandastron, which is further west. He promises Bluefen that they'll see each other again and Skarlath decides to act as a messenger between them once Bluefen is settled.

Sunstripe leaves and Skarlath informs the Redwallers of Bluefen and her baby. Some are wary, especially when hearing that a horde is approaching the Abbey. Martin the Warrior (and most of the other characters from Mossflower and Legend of Luke) has recently passed, and the only defenders are descendants of the Mossflower Holt and Lady Amber's squirrels. Abbess Bryony is willing to house Bluefen and Veil, but won't hesitate to give them both to Swartt if it means protecting the Abbey. An old Bella of Brockhall argues in defense of Bluefen and Veil due to the ferrets' association with her son, and commands the Abbey defenders to keep an eye on the woods, as well as sending the Skipper and a party of helpers after Sunstripe to keep him safe.

The combination of his rage against Sunstripe and the beasts guarding Redwall force Swartt to focus solely on the badger, leaving Bluefen and Veil safe. The book ends with Swartt and his forces beginning their march west, Skipperjo and his group catching up with Sunstripe and traveling with him, and Bluefen settling into Redwall with Veil.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I feel like, in a book format, this Book One would be pretty long, but it does have to set things up before Redwall gets involved. I wanted Veil to actually be alive in Book One, even if he isn't the main focus, and I also wanted to try and fix up the timeline issues the original book had. It might not be perfect, but I think I did pretty well. I'll write Books 2 and 3 at a later time.

[irresistiibles]

i was gonna do small little starter calls and changed my mind so under the cut is a post event plotting/starter call with little bits on how everyone is doing post event! i haven’t fully decided what i’m keeping/dropping but i know i’ll drop a lot, so feel free to message me if there’s something you really want to keep, but chances are if it’s not plot or connection heavy i will wind up dropping it. if you want something transitioned or time skipped to post event just let me know! otherwise all of my characters are under the cut with some little blurbs on how they’re doing! i’ll also be using memes as a way to get some new stuff going but in the meantime feel free to like to plot or reply with who you want the starter from/for! this is a long post underneath the cut i’m so sorry

achilles (2/5) : honestly he’s a little shaken. something about it all just did not set well with him, the violence, being out of control, everything, so he’s on edge and as a result a bit of an asshole but like when is he not honestly

starters: josh washington, dream

amber (1/5) : she had a fun time! i mean it was a little more stressful than a standard sparing matching but she’s not all that mad about it. they will be going around offering cleanup help or whatever else to help with repairs though

starters: noelle

asami sato (1/5) : very glad she didn’t murder korra. very over the city being like this. honestly she’s just trying to regain some normalcy though what even does normal mean around here. is gonna deal with her stress by being a little reckless but it is what is is

starters: lettie hatter

chihiro ogino (0/5) : honestly between not going on a date and being a little head empty even at the best of times chihiro really wasn’t all that affected by any of this. sympathetic to people’s issues though and happy to listen while she’s chilling

starters: ?

ciel phantomhive (0/5) : aware again! ciel is back to his typical ways of being a condescending rude little shit. he’s a little shaken, having his pile of memories which are mostly bad forced back on him really wasn’t a vibe but he’s not expressing that and will probably just be even more difficult to deal with than ever for a little while

starters: ?

emily davis (0/5) : i already did a starter call for her when i took her but if anyone else wants one lemmie know. she’s more stressed finding out people who should be dead are here than with anything regarding valentine’s day to be honest

starters: ?

esther mckinnon (2/5) : well her mom doesn’t know who she is so that’s a big pile of stress she’s not happy about. she’s used to these things happening but usually with people she can argue with and insist that she knows them, so figuring out how to express and deal with these emotions might be a bit of a time

starters: cleo mckinnon, stitch

glinda upland (1/5) : very upset! that she killed her best friend! needs some support some people to vent to or whatever because she’s loud and emotional no matter what’s happening and this is actually something worth being loud and emotional about 

starters:  addison wells

jin ling (0/5) : very relieved he didn’t stab anyone this time. stressed about the people he knows who are now unaware but will be acting annoyed about it. the stress of having such a big fam to check in on after things like this has him mostly just tired. he needs a whole nap

starters: ?

lily evans (3/5) : event over means she now has to go on the mission of making sure all of her friends got out of there alive which is always a task and a half. she’s glad she avoided everything but damn, could the city relax? tense but will be out helping people while trying to get back to normal

starters: fleur delacour, ginny weasley, rubeus hagrid

mianmian (0/5) : somehow both embarrassed and relieved that her murder attempt didn’t work. note to self rat poison is not guaranteed to kill a person. lesson learned. she’s gonna want to be a real hermit after this nonsense so someone come forcibly drag her outside please

starters: ?

madoka kaname (1/5) : avoided being shot through the power of being an upbeat lesbian so honestly she’s feeling pretty good. will be running around trying to help with recovery in whatever ways she can and get back to normalcy as she figures out what’s going on with her and homura. happy to have some friends of any kind

starters: tifa lockhart

mob (1/5) : Stressed and upset. he was supposed to have better control of his powers and then this happened. sure, rosemary was alright but that doesn’t make them feel a lot better. also trying not to be too stressed in case that sets off more destructive powers so he’s having a rough time. trying to keep to himself and focus on improving his jogging.

starters: benjamin

nico di angelo (1/5) : glad to have control over himself again. back to his usual of trying to avoid people and figure out why people don’t die long term here. he’s so bad at socializing but please give him a friend anyway he deserves it and is nice at his core i promise

starters: t.k. strand

nie huaisang (2/5) : freshly unaware! come be his friend he’s lots of fun. busy getting his phd in art history though i think he was something boring like a business major so he could have actual money before pursing his interests. give him some drinking buddies, people he tutors, pretentious museum friends, literally whatever

starters: childe, jin guangyao, elliot alderson, lan xichen

san (0/5) : killed someone but isn’t stressing about it tbh. killing a human is a positive in her mind though they don’t love that they lost control over themselves. she needs more human friends so she can chill a little please (or a nonhuman friend who understands her confusion and distaste for the city who makes her worse whatever)

starters: ?

shang qinghua (1/5) : was fully stabbed and is currently recovering. he’s gonna be achy for a little while and avoiding potential arson accusations. yeah he did it but that’s not the point. he’ll be whining about his injury but also bored from it and wishing he could run around and do more. he’s annoying sorry.

starters: sha hualing, luo binghe

shi qingxuan (1/5) : fully updated memories now and is having a bit of a time with it. honestly someone be their friend and give them a distraction. not sure about all of her usual lavish activities but if you want someone to hang out with and drink really cheap wine with qingxuan is great company. despite everything he’s trying his hardest to be optimistic.

starters: xie lian

toph beifong (05) : best valentine’s day ever tbh. a little stressed and upset about hurting innocent people. toph loves to fight sure, but she is a good person at her core and wouldn’t have wanted to go that far in usual conditions. could probably use a bit of cheering up, which for toph means reckless behavior so join them for stupid decisions and fun

starters: ?

victor nikiforov (1/5) : uh man is mostly confused about what the actual fuck went down. glad he didn’t get hurt or hurt anyone but seriously what was any of that. any normal people who wanna hang and wonder what the actual fuck this city is he is your guy.

starters: yuuri katsuki

yin yu (1/5) : does not realize his boss was killed and is now unaware because he’s too awkward to just ask why he’s being weird and is just assuming the guy forgot his name!! he could really use some chill company everyone he knows is A Lot and though that balances him well after something like this he would really just like some quiet

starters: yin yu

zagreus (0/5) : honestly? had fun. he’s apologetic about anyone he tried to fight, and will just apologize if needed but he loves to spar, and this was just a more intense version of that. he’s feeling hype after everything, loves being out of the underworld, thinks mortals are fun, and is getting a really messed up idea of what the human lifestyle is like

starters: ?

zhongli (1/5) : not feeling great ngl. he killed someone, and though he’s not the type to get really distressed he still doesn’t feel good about it! gonna keep himself busy with nice meals, visiting museums, and keeping himself busy with work so feel free to give them some company!

starters: childe

[alexhandersenblog]

Hi! I found this blog and thought it was one of the most well put together AHA fanpage out there! The topic is all AHA and straight to the point haha

Actually, I only really discovered Alex last year. Through Vikings of course. I was keen on the show when it started years ago but lost interest when Ragnar died and stopped watching for a long while... I picked it up again and decided to give Ragnar's sons a chance! Then eventually developed a crush on Ivar's actor (probably because it seemed he had more screentime).

Now, I'm not THAT familiar with what's happening/happened with his life. Any other work I've seen of him is the Bombardment and that's only because it was available on Netflix; but he seems to have a bigger following in DK, obviously, so maybe danish fans are more on track with his work and the acting circle.

One thing I noticed on this page, is the seeming disapproval of his gf? I find that curious. Is she not a famous actor in DK as well? What other work has she done? Is she well liked by the audience or has a following? Any controversies?

It seems like everybody has a sixth sense about this person and is not really letting out what they know. I'm picking up clues that maybe people are implying she's sort of a user?

Am I just being nosy? Is this a "no shit sherlock" moment?! 🫥

Hi! Thank you so much 🥰

It's hard to figure out what his "famous" status is in DK. He is quite famous, but not as loved/famous as Mads Mikkelsen. He has a few new projects running/coming out, but all Danish: Kald Mig Far and Nattevagten, are his most recent projects.

In addition, he has also done some small things in Danish productions. He appears in Danish television programs and podcasts, but nothing big.... And nothing international. So you haven't missed much.

To me it’s not entirely clear what his future plans are. There was talk of an international project, but it was quietly cancelled. So I think he will stay mainly working in Denmark, but never say never.

As for the girlfriend ... she is not really "known”. I would say more of a starter. Did mostly musicals and did play in 1 well-known thing (if I'm not mistaken). So if we have to put a term on it I would say Mads Mikkelsen = A-list celeb, Alex = B-list celeb, gf = C-list. (I'm basing this on things I've seen etc. so I could certainly be wrong).

It seems that since she is with Alex she is doing everything to create a "new" persona (deleting a lot of pictures and trying to be more influencer like etc.) She is surfing his famous wave and reaping the benefits. That's what (I think) bothers a lot of people. Also several things she did on instagram were not really well received. To name a few things: Even before it was known they were a couple she was already posting 'hints'. While Alex always insisted very hard on his privacy.

Furthermore, she also posted a so called 'drunk' selfie with Alex only to delete it afterwards, she also posted a series of photos of Alex with the caption 'you snooze you lose', then also deleted it etc. These are just a few examples. These 'little' things just come across as very wrong...

And then she also felt it was necessary to show off her creativity. All good. But she posts a picture that she was painting. The painting however was an exact copy of another artist. Someone responded that she should give credit to the original artist. She responded that it was pure coincidence. But if you looked (at her then) public Pinterest she had saved the exact painting. That person said that. Suddenly her Pinterest was private and all comments deleted… A bit of a stupid response for someone who also works in the creative sector, if you ask me.

This is all just off the top of my head, there are probably some other things too. But just to give some examples.

A disclaimer: All this is obviously based on things that we see online. I don't know her, but it's mainly the vibe that's not really okay for me.

Other than that, no hate. I don't encourage hate either. As long as they are happy together, totally fine. But what's also ‘weird’ is that Alex is suddenly falling for things he never wanted. He often does the opposite of what he says, and that's just not okay either. Then again, that's entirely his part of course!

Sorry for my extensive answer, but hopefully it clarifies some things ☺️

By the way if you like to read up even more and know more about all this I recommend @hoghtastic (you may already know it) but highly recommend to stay up to date! 😄

[feathvrings]

“When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”

selective and semi-private indie portrayal of KAZ rietveld BREKKER, JESPER FAHEY, naoise burns NESHA VLADSTIK, and WYLAN van eck HENDRIKS, as understood by sen.

rules below cut for mobile users.

general:

all muns must be 18+, as i am. i do not allow anon asks, so please be aware of this. this is my first venture into indie/1x1 rp, so please go easy on me—i’m accustomed to group rp, and still don’t know all the terminology. i will use the block button, whenever i feel it necessary. be nice and respectful. it’s a basic thing. i’m here to write, not argue—so let’s keep the ooc drama to a minimum. i don’t interact with call-out posts/purity culture/passive-aggressiveness/etc. don’t godmod/metagame, please. my name is sen! i'm 18+ and use they/them pronouns.

writing:

i write semi-literate to literate multi-para responses. i use a mix of beta and legacy editors, mostly because i’m new to tumblr and can’t figure out what the hell is going on with that, but i don’t seem to have the option to switch whenever i want. i will cut posts whenever possible—please be patient with me. i’m very active and have a tendency to reply frequently. please don’t feel rushed by me, i’m very patient—this is just a heads-up. just a warning, i talk in the tags. a fair bit.

plotting:

please don’t reach out through dms to plot with me unless we’re mutuals. if we are moots, feel free to contact me at any time to start up a thread, fangirl about the source material or our threads/characters, or just chat about anything at all. ask memes are a great way to start up interactions—always feel free to throw an ask my way, even if we’re not moots. memes and open starters are open to everyone, and i’m willing to write those threads for as long as they go.

formatting:

i do use small text, just to keep my dash easier for me personally to read. if you’d prefer i not use it for various reasons, just reach out and let me know! i generally use gif icons and/or small/medium gifs, but you don’t have to. i do not expect you to match my formatting. please don’t expect me to match yours.

content:

dark themes and triggers will absolutely be present on this blog due to the nature of the source material. i will do my best to tag things as needed, using the format “trigger cw.” things that will 100% be tagged are as follows:

death.

gore.

nsfw content (not that there should really be any of it on this blog).

this list will be added to as necessary.

following:

i will not follow/interact with blogs that:

write only/primarily smut/nsfw content.

contain omegaverse or a/b/o content.

roleplay as real people.

use a deceased person as a fc.

if you write untagged smut/nsfw, i may block you. if i follow you, i have read all of your rules/information and am interested in writing with you. if i don’t, i’m not. if you initiate a follow, 9 times out of 10 i will check it as soon as i see it and read your page. if i don’t follow back, i’m not interested—it’s nothing personal, and it could be for any number of reasons, so don’t feel bad. please don’t spam follow me to get me to accept it—my answer likely won’t change. if i initiate a follow, you are (of course) under no obligation to accept it. if you don’t intend on reciprocating however, please block-then-unblock (i think that’s a softblock?) me to remove the follow. i will take the hint, i promise. if i soft or hard block you, it’s nothing personal. i keep my dash very strictly curated.

nopes:

i do not write nsfw/smut. i do not accept anons. i reserve the right to not interact with anyone or engage in any interaction that makes me uncomfortable—period, end of discussion.

asks:

any meme/starter can be answered at any time. (if it’s one of those “send an emoji” ones you may need to remind me which post it’s coming from.) you’re always welcome to turn an ask response into a thread. please don’t use me as a source for memes—reblog them from the op. they’re the one that created it, they should get the credit.

for mutuals:

if you’re going to drop a thread, please let me know. i don’t mind, just tell me ahead of time so i’m not eternally on hold. always feel free to reach out to me. my dms are open: if there’s a reply that you’d like me to make some changes to, any plotting things you want to clear up, a cool musing you saw that fits our characters, or you just plain want to chat—hit me up.

[abroadlifeactually]

A Quest for Survival: Hunting for Friends

Friends are the single most important thing you need to survive living abroad, and you need to make them fast.  Living abroad can be very isolating (doubly so if you’re a new mom), I imagine it contributes to why many people end up moving back to wherever they are from. Especially where I am, because there is NO small talk. It might be a cultural thing, or it might be that I’m a foreigner who probably doesn’t speak the language, I’d say it’s 90% the former. The introvert in me lives for the fact that I can just be in my head, chuckle at my podcast, and daydream uninterrupted. But on the other hand, it severely hinders your ability to meet people.

My friends and family are half a day away, so when we first moved, my husband was the only person here I could talk to. We were living in a hotel at the time, so whatever alone or privacy we got during covid was eradicated.  I was still breastfeeding, so I wasn’t all that motivated to leave the house, which meant the only people besides my husband I talked to, was our realtor, and an interpreter who took me to the Driver’s License Center to sign up for a driving test. Instantly, I became an oversharer. They both knew how I met my husband, anecdotes about my single life, and my breastfeeding schedule all within minutes of meeting me. I only met the interpreter once, I try not to think about what her impression of me must be because it makes me cringe. I ended up turning to Facebook…yes, Facebook.

Facebook is a really good resource for people in this situation. There are tons of Facebook groups that cater to different audiences, and I joined them all. Surprisingly enough, the Facebook groups were able to sustain me for a little while. I never posted anything, but my history as a long time lurker of various messageboards finally became useful, and kept me somewhat entertained. One thing I found interesting was that sometimes people would make posts looking for friends. I agonized over whether I should do something like that, but I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t good at making dating profiles, I realize this wasnt that, but it felt similar.  I’m not good at describing myself, and certainly not in writing. I don’t think I have a photogenic personality, if that makes sense, I think I just come accross better in person. So a post looking for friends was out, but I figured I would try to go to at least one social event advertised…I didn’t. To be fair, the social events I saw that seemed like they might be fun, also made me feel like I’d be the old b*th at the club. I had to find another way.

Making friends as an adult is hard. Most adults find friends at work, or through their kids, which applies in this situation as well. Since I don’t have a school age kid, and the only job I can easily get abroad is teaching (which was a non-starter), I had to increase my social media activity. I started following a bunch of instagram pages of groups, businesses and people in my area just in case there were opportunities to connect. A lot of the stuff I saw definitely catered to a younger crowd, which makes sense, since that would most likely be the crowd that would be able just up and move to this side of the world. Now don’t get me wrong, the fashion loving/ party girl in me would love an evening out, but 1, we didn’t have childcare which meant going alone which is something I hadn’t done in YEARS, and 2, the idea of anything remotely clubish exhausts me. My watch starts flashing that the noise decibels are too loud… and it is too loud. Those days for me are long gone.

Eventually, at the suggestion of my husband’s colleagues we joined a private social club. I realize that this sounds extremely privileged, but it’s a great landing place for families like mine, new to the area, that might not speak the language yet, or know how or where to find things they need. It softens what can feel like a crash landing, especially for kids and trailing spouses, as we’re called. They host lots of events and opportunities to meet other expats and locals, so we joined in the hopes we might meet some other couples. They also had in-house sitting services so on Fridays, my husband and I would go to the bar for happy hour. Except, the sitting service closed at 5pm, so we went at 3pm and left just before 5pm, missing any actual HH crowd or specials. We were often there basically alone. It was still nice just to get out of the house and have adult time. 

One Friday, after 5 months of extreme family bonding, we met who I can only describe as an angel. A brotha walked into the bar. In general I was happy to see him because we weren’t sure we’d meet any black people at the club when we joined. He immediately came right over and said hello, which was also shocking because up until that point any black folk we saw in passing would avert their eyes. My husband and I came up with a theory that, if we saw a black person and they smiled or acknowledged us, they must be tourists (that hypothesis hasn’t changed much). The heaven sent brotha chatted us up for a bit, and then he invited us to an event for Black families the following day. There we met what is now our family. It was such a sigh of relief. We met a few other black expat families that would be here for the same time frame. Our lives changed from that day on (we had also just found our apartment which felt like a miracle after a long hunt). Our friend group is amazing, we now spend holidays and vacations together, we celebrate each other’s wins and birthdays, and offer support however we can. They make living far away from home enjoyable. 

My advice to anyone moving abroad is to join as many facebook groups as you can. It truly is the best start to meeting people and getting answers. I’ve met other amazing people outside of my core group of friends since being here through facebook forums. Of course be active on all the other social media platforms, but don’t neglect Facebook.

[sonatacomic]

Oreo is collaborating with Pokemon and it's very cute! 😂✨

Too bad there's no free card or something like that inside lol *freebiethinker XD.

All of them is very cute. Too bad, no trapinch evolution line or Chimecho ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ. They only take the familiar pokemon... which I understand why.

//Totally not good with photo.

//But hey!

//You can see the Lapras there!

// And cute Dratini and Sableye!

Among the pokemon above... I really like... no one 😂 /slaps /justkidding.

For the Kanto starter, I really like Bulbasaur more than Squirtle and Charmander. But indeed I think Charmander is very handsome- cough- wait don't think too far!

And I didn't really fond of Pikachu. Jigglypuff too. Rowlet too.

The rest... I like it. Not the main party I adore, but I like them. Especially Dratini and Lapras ⭐✨.

Oh yes. Yes. And I bought a cheap Genshin Figurine I see at marketplace.

Don't you think it's pretty çute? ☆*:. o(≧▽≦)o .:*☆

It's the Seven Statue figurine; Barbatos and Morax! My sis is always using Zhongli. Meanwhile I can't say the same with my Venti X"D. Too many new character, I tend to forgot to use the old one 💦💦.

I think I bought these around... let see... 1-2$? I buy it along with a Doraemon zodiak figure but I forgot to photo that one.

Can the small toy like this be called figurine? A chibi? A nendroid- wait that's different too...

Oof whatever!

Welp! I play Wuthering Waves.

At least- I meant- I try to play it. Since I really love Punishing: Gray Raven. But... perhaps the game isn't really for me (and my phone) XD.

I don't hate it tho. I'll probs play it occasionally. But I can't say that I love it like PGR.

Hmm..

...

The talk is start from food, figurine, and wuthering! Haha! So random, I like it!

I should write something like this again sometimes.

Well the next post is about Reverse:1999 hehe!

[directorofwulin]

Rules

I. Hi I am Pocky this is my blog, I am over 30 , I am a gamer I have a full-time job and I enjoy rping. Adult situations may appear on this blog. There will be supernatural, wuxia, xainxia featured on this blog including but not limited to combat, blood, hurt, death and monsters oh yes monsters, as far as story background goes. I would suggest 18 or older but it's a suggestion. I will tag things. II. I use small text and icons when I write. I will never say you must have the same to write with me. I will write with canon & Oc's I will write with side-blogs and mumus. If you have a mumu please give me a muse when you send an ask, or I will list your muses and randomly roll which one gets a post. It's character Rolette. I do not mind if your characters are artwork or a face claim or both. I love that people are so creative, but again to me the story is the thing. III. I am willing to ship with chemistry I might on occasion post a shipping call. If I do it's not a guaranteed thing it is a let's talk about it and see if we can ship together. Ultimately it will result in how the characters interact and perceive each other. Please not ALL SHIPS will be in their own verse. I will not write polyships, I will not write cheating or humiliation with you. If things go steamy, I will put them under a read more and tag them NSFP (not safe for places) so it doesn't get blocked or whatever weird things that tumblr enjoys blocking. If we ship I ask that you write a verse separate from any others that you have ships in. As I said I do not write cheating threads and if I want to have a ship I want it to be ours.

IV. I am happy to write multi-threads with the same muse. I always continue Asks as threads. I am happy to do starters and I will sometimes post open threads. These are for anyone and will be continued in their own thread && their own verses. Send me as many memes, or random rp's as you want. How much time I have will depends how many I will get to, but I promise I will get to them! I will always tag a thread you are into you, and I will place your blogname in my tags so you can easily find any role-plays we share. V. Patience. Please be patient I do not mind you checking in to see if I got a thread. I will always <3 a thread I have seen, and it will be placed in my Drafts to do. Please do not guilt trip me for a thread, and please don't vague post. I write where I can and sometimes, I might feel an ask I have received or finally figured out how to reply to it. I do not blackball my friends or hold them hostage. I might just still be writing to it, finishing it up, wanting to spell && fact check it before I post it etc. VI. I might spam you with asks, if I see ones I think works. Feel free to do the same. VII. Fighting and Godmoding should also be mentioned. Please do not move my muse around they will do their own moving. I don't mean small things like having my muse serve food, tea or tend to a wound you know small things. If you overstep the boundaries of this, I will speak up. I will not accept attacks I don't get a chance to reply to, I will not accept an auto-kill all newbie like. Just don't do it, its crappy to do. In a fight scene I will always leave my attacks open ended, so you will never get auto attacked, auto hit or automatic anything. This is how I prefer to write combat. Should it come to such a thing. If we have talked about it in a PM or DM I have no issue allowing you to write it. My muse is a sword-immortal this doesn't mean he cannot be hurt, or damaged or get sick (sick is highly unlikely due to immortal cultivation but it can happen). Death is highly unlikely, but again I don't mind wump/care threads. VIII. I will under no circumstance write anything steamy with a minor if I find out you lied about your age to do so. I will block you.

IX. I very rarely block anyone. Sending hate will get you blocked. Anon is not there to critic people or be cruel. If this is how you get your jollies find another spot. I will likely delete it and have a great day no matter what. I will unfollow people who vague posts a lot, or I catch sending hate, calling out people for small things.

X. Please tag terminal illness for me it is my only trigger. I always try to tag triggers if I have missed yours approach me like a human being and ask me to tag it. I will, if you give me an attitude. I will move on. I don't need that negativity. I try to be considerate and would like the same from others. XI. If I add to this, I will post about it.

[comedywalkwalk]

Today was day one of Comedy Walk! Walk! Right off the bat I can already tell this is going to be a long process. The earlier episodes of CBB are going to be tough to get through, but that just seems fitting for the beginning of a health journey since it should get easier over time.

So for starters, I should mention that at this point in the shows history, it was called “Comedy Death Ray” and was featured on indie 103.1 as an internet radio adaptation of Scott Aukerman’s UCB show of the same name.

Tonally, this episode isn’t too far off from current day CBB but the structure of the show is completely different. The guests featured were Tom Lennon (of Reno 911) Rob Huebel (of Human Giant) and Doug Benson (Super High Me). This first episode felt much more like a radio show than current day CBB which makes sense as it started on radio and Scott hadn’t really figured out what the show was yet. The radio show comparison is also unavoidable since there are actual breaks for music. (I’ll list the names of all the music he played below*)

Through out the episode the running bit was that Tom Lennon was not there yet and running late (even though he was clearly present) Rob Huebel tried a bit where he had people tweet in their relationship questions for he and Scott to give advice to. It was at this point the show really dates itself when they all make a joke about Rob being a date rapist, giving advice on how to be a better date rapist. Doug Benson calls in for his “Doug Loves Movies” segment, and describes “X-men Origins: Wolverine”as “constant bloodless mayhem” and says “if you ever find yourself saying “boy I wish that character would just die” they do immediately”

As for the walk portion of things, I found a path that I’m overall pleased with that works for what I’m trying to do. I walked from my house to a small park in the back end of my neighborhood. I chose this park because it’s within walking distance of my home, and it has a full concrete circle path around it.

I walked for a little over an hour, and ended up with 6380 steps over 2.7 miles which is pretty good for the first time. I’ll be including a picture of the app I’m using to track my walks with each post.

After my walk, I was feeling it in my back and my knees, and I can’t lie, there were a few times I questioned whether or not this was all worth it. But I’m proud of myself for pushing through, and by doing so I realize I’m totally capable of following through with this project.

Overall I’m optimistic about both the walks and listening to all these episodes so I give day 1/episode 1 a solid 3/5.

Songs featured in episode:

Dragon Boy Suede- “Buy you clothes, do you in them, take them back”

R. O. Manse- “Ladyboy”

Cracked Out (Bret Gelman and Jon Daly) “Count to 100”

Sean Connery sings “In My Life” by The Beatles

If you want to check out Comedy Bang! Bang! For yourself, I highly recommend it! There are free episodes on most podcast hosting apps, but if you really want to support them check out CBBworld.com

[carlageddon]

Now where was I?

So, after a small stint in Arkham... I mean.. Hospital, I’m now back.

The day before I went in to Hospital, I had family over which meant my Brother-in-law and I could go into Games Workshop to have a look - he too hasn’t been in one since the 90s.

The miserable bastard that I had a run in with, that I mentioned on a previous post, was working. I’m not sure if he had caught wind of my rantings to a sister-store about his attitude, or maybe he just got laid recently, but it was like talking to a different person. Maybe he just hated me and liked my Brother-in-law? 

Any way. We talked about the same sort of things. I wanted to get into playing the games, but don’t really have any friends. The ones I do have, don’t want to buy anything themselves and don’t want to play games that take 12 hours and you have to use tape measures, templates, make sacrifices to the old gods, or anything other than, roll a dice and move... it’s why we stick to a simplified rule-set of HeroQuest. 

He was instantly showing us how Warhammer: Age of Sigmar had dramatically been “streamlined” since the days of Warhammer: Fantasy. He took us over to the table where he’d set up some starter sets, and briefly talked us through the combat, which did seem a lot easier (I appreciate there is still a tonne more to it than that, but with the refreshed attitude it made the world of difference). 

We looked through the different started box sets as well choosing which ones we should go for (I seriously think, if the guy at the store was like this on my original visit I think I’d of walked out with a few starter sets). 

Sadly my Brother-in-law lives on a different planet in a different country we can’t get together to play anything which is a shame. However, due to the marvels of technology, we are trying to come up with a game we can play, using something like FaceTime to video call with each other over a game, both buy the same game and extras and play that way. 

If anyone has any experience playing any of these sort of games virtually (doesn’t even have to be a Games Workshop branded game) let me know.

We looked through pretty much all the box sets that were in the store. We figured Warhammer 40K, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Lord of the Rings would be too ‘large’ to try and do this. Kill Team would be too long & Complicated for two people to try and copy what each other were doing. Blood Bowl was a possibility, but again, both of us would of had to manage each others players on each of our own boards... then he suggested Warhammer Underworlds.

It’s played over tiles, so no tape measures or templates. There are only a few figures each side (known as Warbands) so easy for two international players to maintain two “mirrored” games. The box set gives you standard figures. 

I told the fella in the shop that I was about to go into surgery, so there was no point in me buying anything yet. I don’t think he believed me. 

However once I got out of hospital, my girlfriend, feeling sorry for me, said that if I got a game, she would learn to play it with me (this is a big thing, she hates the hobby and I don’t think she quite understands it’s always going to be a little more complicated than snakes and ladders). So I brought a copy of the Warhammer: Underworlds Starter Box.

So the first step is done. I have brought the starter game. (I see there was a Warband of Crooked Moon Goblins.. I do like me a goblin or two... more on this Warband add-on later). Now to convince my Brother-in-Law to get the same starter set... he’s trying, but will have to come over to the UK later this month to pick up an English version.

So far so good. Let’s take it out the box. See what we got. Boards, Dice, Cards, Miniatures on Sprues.. rule book.. OK let’s spend the first half of the day, making the miniatures up.. (had to wait another day to Amazon some clippers and a knife).

OK the 8 miniatures have been assembled. They all clip together so no need for Superglue just yet. Really like the modern figures. I am going to avoid painting these until I am a little better.

Now on to learning how to play. Let’s have a look at the Rule book... I mean.. it can’t be that complicated can it? 

   “History of the Underworld... something, something, tree, something, something, undead ghosts, something, something, Gold Army, something, something, what’s in the box, something... to start a game of Warhammer Worlds first roll the dice, if it is a Thursday and the Sun shines brightly and there are birds in the sky and if you had egg for breakfast you can put a figure down but not before you clap your hands and do the dance of the midnight monkeys.....” 

  I’m starting to get a bit lost. Maybe i’m stupid, maybe it’s the pain medication, maybe I need to go to Wizard School for a couple of years?

I know I will go to my local Games Workshop and ask for advice. Surely anyone that works there will have to know the rules of the games they are selling?

Bearing in mind, this is the first time “out” for two weeks. I’m still not great on my feet. I meet up with my flat-mate for lunch first. We nip into Games Workshop and there is a little Canadian Dwarven girl, on her own struggling to stack the top shelves. She doesn’t seem to chatty.

...you know.. maybe it is me that’s the problem...?

 I ask if she knows how to play Underworlds. She didn’t. That ended that conversation. 

(I’d of thought due to the nature of the business, all staff should know the basics of all their games, so it makes it easier for them to sell them, when I asked which games she plays, she replied. None. She just likes to paint. Well Gimli, on that basis I could do your job). So I decided to show my flat-mate the game, which led me to buy the previously mentioned Grinkrak’s LoonCourt Warband addon. Who doesn’t love a good group of Squigs & Goblins.

A week later and we venture out further and I visit the Gloucester store, I like visiting this store. The staff in there are super friendly, knowledgeable and always make the time to chat. The younger lad there knows Underwolds quite well and invites me to come in on Sunday afternoon so he and another member of staff, will gladly go through the game and teach me the rules. 

Then because of how nice the guys are there, I ended up buying another couple of Warbands - to be honest, it wasn’t a hard sell... “Gryselle’s Arenai has only just come out today..” Yeah OK then..

The Exiled Dead and Gryselle’s Arenai. Wonder if there is a list of all the Warbands out there?

I’m looking forward to Sunday and I know I’m going to end up buying more... 

I’m hoping that I enjoy the game and I can pick up the rules so I can teach my girlfriend and my Brother-in-law how to play.

Stay tuned folks and I’ll let you know how this journey goes.

[ghost-in-the-hall]

Some very late Ghost Halloween One Shots

(A/N: Hey there guys, gals, and non-binary pals! For starters, these are all going to be short, these are all going to be fluff, they're all going to be GN! Reader, let me know what I should call big posts like these with everyone. Secondly, Terzo isn't included in this because he's going to have his own separate fic that I plan on having up later tonight! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!)

Primo:

You looked over your costume in the mirror, an absolutely elated expression on your face. "I can't wait to show Papa." You say out loud to yourself. You knew Primo didn't really celebrate Halloween, but he was always more than supportive of you showing off your costume to him. You couldn't help but let out a little squeal when you heard the door to your and Primo's quarters opening, knowing it was time for him to come back from his office.

"Sweetheart, I thought you'd be waiting to show off your costume, where are you?" You walk into the main room and pose for him. "My darling, you look absolutely wonderful!" He looks you over, marveling at every detail of your costume, making you giggle at his attentiveness. "You did a wonderful job on your costume." He pulls you into a hug, placing a gentle kiss on the top of your head. "You're going out with the Ghouls tonight, yes?" You nod, he holds you gently by the shoulders, keeping you just far enough to make eye contact with you. "Have fun and be safe my darling, I'll try to be up when you get home." He smiles warmly at you.

"Primo, mi amore, why don't you come with me tonight, just for an hour or two." You'd always ask Primo if he would like to join you when you went out. Typically, after a long hard day, he would be too tired and 'wouldn't want to hold you back', so he never comes. But, for once, he looked like he was actually considering it. "Please Primo, I'll miss you if you stay home." You put on your most convincing pout.

"For you my darling absolutely," he looks at you excitedly, "my Papal Paint can even pass as my costume." You laugh and hold onto his arm, the two of you heading out to meet the Ghouls. "I love you honey."

"I love you more." You say with a sly smile.

"I love you most." He kisses your cheek, earning another small laugh from you. You absolutely adored the Halloween you got to spend with your Papa.

Secundo:

Every Halloween with Secundo was always a party, both literally and figuratively. Secundo was always placed in charge of the Abbey's Halloween party. If anyone was going to be able to get strippers, drugs, and alcohol it would be him. So, there you sat, in the middle of an absolute rager, sitting comfortably in Secundo's lap. "I think I'm going to hand the party planning over to Terzo next year."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" You tried to speak as clearly as possible over the loud music without absolutely screaming in his ear. "Papa, why don't we take this somewhere a little quieter." You say as you realize just how impossible it would be to have a conversation like this. You made your way to the one place hopefully no one was making out, hooking up, or doing drugs, Secundo's office. "You love planning your parties, why are you giving them up?"

"I... I just think I'd like to have a more domestic Halloween next year... with you." He beckons you closer, pulling you into his lap once more. "Next year I want the two of us to carve Pumpkins, to go apple picking, hand candy out to the trick or treaters."

You kiss his nose, "I think that sounds wonderful, hun. We can stay home and pretend to be an old married couple." He chuckles, kissing your forehead.

"Maybe we'll be married by then so we won't have to pretend." You exchange a short sweet kiss.

"Would you like to enjoy the rest of your last Halloween party my love?"

"Only if you'll be by my side darling."

Copia:

Since Copia was the active Papa this Halloween season you had been tasked with passing out candy to the children that visited the Abbey. You hummed contently as you packed up small goodie bags to fill up your bowl with. You couldn't help but smile at the feeling of his arms wrapping around your waist. He places a gentle kiss against your neck, "How can I help my love?" You hum, turning to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Did you finish putting up the outside decorations?" You can't help but laugh as he spins you around and pulls you to him, dancing you around the kitchen.

"Yes my darling, everything's put up, the lights are on, the skeletons and the jack o lanterns are out." You smile and sway with him, you always loved dancing with him. "You need help with the goodie bags, and then we just need to put our costumes on." You let out a happy sigh, holding him close.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" He chuckles, holding you tightly.

"You remind me every single day my darling, I love you." He smiles, allowing the two of you to finish up the goodie bags for the trick or treaters. You couldn't help but smile as you watched Copia hand out the bags to the children, he had such a way with kids, they all loved him. He stood and turned to look at you, a playful grin on his lips. "Now what is that look for?" He pulls you into his arms, leading you back inside.

"You're just such an amazing Papa." He smiles, kissing you on the forehead. You couldn't believe how lucky you were.

Sodo:

You pressed your back up against the heavy wooden door after you had made your way outside, a sigh of relief escaping your lips. The garden was silent aside from the muffled music blasting inside the Abbey A chill clung to your sweat dampened skin as you made your way further from the building, eventually finding yourself sitting on one of the many low walls around the flowerbeds. You had started your night with relatively high hopes, most of it thanks to you pre gaming with your friends. You were finally going to confess your feelings for Sodo tonight. You walked into the party with your head held high, your friends at your side. It was pretty easy to spot Sodo, he was almost always with Aether which made it pretty easy to find the two of them in a crowd. You managed to fight your way through the dance floor to get over to them. Sodo's eyes raked over your frame momentarily. "(Y/N)..." he starts, "you look stunning." His bright eyes locked with yours, every word in your vocabulary suddenly leaving your body. You stood frozen, searching for something, anything to say to him.

"I just wanted to say hi." You blurt out suddenly. "I was actually just about to step outside... take a break." You laugh nervously.

"What? You just got here!" He shouts over the music. "Why don't you stay and dance?"

"I'll come find you later." Without giving him time to respond, knowing he would somehow convince you to stay, you pushed through the crowd until you reached where you were sitting now.

"Hey," You jumped slightly at the sudden voice. Eyes darting up to find Sodo, tail darting from side to side. "Are you alright?" You nod. Sodo motions to the seat next to you, you signal it's okay for him to sit. He joins you on the wall. "You know, the things people like to say about me make me seem kind of scary. But, I promise, I'm not that bad. I feel like you get scared to talk to me sometimes. I'm not gonna flip out, man." You laugh at his exaggerated hand movements as he explains himself. His eyes kept searching around your face, looking anywhere but your eyes.

"You're cute when you're nervous." You blush as the statement leaves your mouth. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be." He smiles gently at you. You shiver as the wind picks up. Sodo moves in to wrap an arm around you, "may I?" You nod, his body melding into yours, instantly warming you. Being a fire ghoul definitely had its perks. He held you against him, eyes still searching your face. His lips pulled into a small, content smile. Your cheeks flushed from either the cold or from being this physically close to him, neither of you could tell.

"Sodo?" Your voice comes out barely above a whisper. He hums softly in response. "I think I might be falling in love with you." His eyes finally met yours, you felt his hands grow warmer, almost uncomfortably hot against your skin. You could see him searching for words. A smile suddenly broke out on his face, an excited laugh leaving his lips.

"Really? Y...You like me?" You nod, his smile growing even more. You couldn't help but lean into his touch as he gently rests his hand on your cheek. He tilts your head slightly, allowing his lips to effortlessly land on yours. A jolt ran down your spine at the feeling of him kissing you. He wrapped his arm tighter around you, pulling you even closer, the two of you eventually separating for a much needed breath. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?" You felt drunk from his kiss alone, you still couldn't believe that had actually just happened.

"Give me a second, I can't think straight." You both laughed, you couldn't have imagined a more perfect confession.

Aether:

If you knew one thing about Aether it's that he was always down for a couples costume, this year was no different. The issue you both ran into is you would rather die than be something cliche you had seen a thousand times, Aether thought the concept as a whole was absolutely hilarious. "What if we went as Mario and Princess Peach, I want to be Peach though." He gives you the brightest grin he could manage.

"Baby, do you realize how many other Siblings are going to go as those two characters. You know I don't want to-"

"I know, I know, but it's a cute idea. This is my first Halloween with my partner, I want us to be cute." You can't help but smile at the sentiment. You sigh, walking up behind Aether who was currently digging through your closet for ideas, and wrapping your arms around his waist. "What about a Spiderman themed couples costume, you like Spiderman."

"I'll have to try and fix the costume, your arms busted the seams on the sleeves last time, remember?" You give his bicep a squeeze, placing a gentle kiss on his arm afterwords. "My big strong Ghoul." He blushes down at you, Aether always got embarrassed when you brought up how strong he was. You checked the time, "we still have a couple hours, why don't we take a little shopping trip?"

Aether nods, "we don't have to do anything cliche if you don't-"

"You said it yourself, it's our first Halloween together as a couple. I want people to get cavities from how sweet we are." Aether's whole body shakes with a chuckle.

"Have I told you that I'm in love with you?" You blush and grin up at him.

"You have, but it wouldn't hurt to hear it again." You pull him into a sweet and tender kiss, you couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend this Halloween.

Swiss:

You couldn't see straight the bass from the music was booming so loud. You were currently dancing with Cirrus, Cumulus, and Sunshine, waiting for the rest of your group to finally come join you. Swiss was falling a little behind, his costume was taking a little longer to fully put on than he anticipated. He told you to head on out with everyone else while he finished getting ready, he'd catch up with you in a bit. Feeling an all too familiar pair of hands slide onto your waist you couldn't keep a smile off your face. "You look incredible babe!" He spins you around to face him, your arms instantly wrapping around his neck as he pulls you as close to him as possible. You and Swiss had been seeing each other casually for months, but everyone would always just say you two were dating. Thinking back to it, there wasn't really a time the two of you weren't together since you started seeing each other. At some point during the late nights the two of you would stay up holding each other and talking until the sun came up the next day, Swiss taking you out on dates and giving you small homemade gifts, the two of you had fallen in love. It was obvious to everyone around you, but you were still nervous to ask Swiss if he even wanted to take things to the next level. You were shocked back to the moment by Swiss giving you a quick kiss. 

"I was worried you were going to stand me up." You tease, he instantly laughs at your joke.

"Now what gives you the impression that I would ever stand up my partner?" You froze, did he just say what you thought you just said. His eyes slowly began to widen as he prepared to backpedal.

"Swiss, do you want to be my partner?" He blushes slightly as he nods.

"I have pretty much since we started seeing each other, but I didn't want to rush you." You both smiled at each other, him giving you a gentle kiss. You couldn't believe he was officially all yours.

Rain:

Rain was never much one for partying, he enjoyed more of the warm and cozy aspects of Halloween than anything else. Tonight the two of you spent the night doing just that. You put on your warmest sweaters and socks, had some hot cider, and sat watching horror movies and cuddling under a blanket. "The original slasher flicks have always been my favorite." Rain couldn't believe it when you told him you had never seen the original Halloween. You cuddled into his side, his arm adjusted as it laid across your shoulder. He looked so handsome. His face lit up by the fire in the fireplace and the light from the TV. He explained every bit of behind the scenes knowledge he had, you were fascinated by the vast amount of information he had.

"I can see why you like this movie so much." You smile at him, thoroughly enjoying your very low key Halloween. Rain cleared his throat suddenly.

"(Y/N)... Can I kiss you?" His voice shook slightly as he finally got the question out. You smile at him as you nod, slowly leaning in closer to him. His hand slid to your waist, lips hesitantly brushing yours before he finally pulls you in for an actual kiss. You melted under Rain's touch, his fingers cool against your skin. "You make me so incredibly happy." He says softly, pulling you in for another soft kiss. The two of you continued to cuddle and watch movies until you fell asleep on the couch in each other's arms.

Mountain:

You had to physically force yourself from falling to your knees in pure emotional defeat. There, right before your very eyes, stood your behemoth of a boyfriend in the hottest costume imaginable. "You alright babe?" He chuckles, watching the gears finally click in your head as you physically pick your jaw up off the floor.

"Who allowed you to look this good." He smiles at you, embarrassed by the direct compliment. You wrap your arms around his waist with a content hum. Mountain pats your head gently.

"You know, this is the first year I've actually been excited to go out." He leans down to give you a small kiss. "I'm really happy I get to spend Halloween with you." 

"You're too sweet, you know that?" You kiss his nose. "Let me go get changed so we can leave." He nods, hand lingering on your waist as you pulled away. You couldn't keep the smile off your face. Much like Mountain, this was the first year you were actually excited to go out. You never really had anyone to dance with when you went to the parties at the Abbey, unlike your friends you had trouble dancing with just anyone. So being by your boyfriends side all night will definitely make this whole experience more enjoyable. You finished getting into your costume and rejoined your boyfriend in the living room. He can't stop smiling at you, just happy to be by your side.