#i havent even gotten more of the charges

[freyito]

ꜱᴘᴀʀᴋꜱ ꜰʟʏ

✭ pairing(s): boothill x gn reader

✩ inspo: BOOTHILL DAY!!!

★ summary: Boothill tends to be a little clingy when he's charging, cause he has nothing to do! C'mon, kiss him! Nothing'll happen, he promises!

✧ a/n: happy belated boothill day :')... i currently have him e5s1 but im going for e6, i might try and get s2... if you havent gotten boothill yet, may you all be boothill havers!!!!

🗒 cw: gn reader, just fluff, short n sweet, proofread

✎ wc: 1k

Boothill has nothing to do when he’s charging, especially when he’s at home. Which should be a blessing, he doesn’t have to sit in the middle of nowhere for at least two hours. You could get him all sorts of things to keep himself occupied at home, cards, board games, pull up some old western, and he’d still complain about how bored he is.  Not to mention, he’s especially clingy. He protests if you leave his sight for a second.

You had gotten home after a long day of work, tired out and aching. Boothill was on the couch, face down, grumbling about something while charging. He just looks sooooo miserable, hair cascading over his face, messy, as if he had just woken up from a nap. He kicks his feet like a kid, the motion occupying him.

Yet when he hears you come home, his head pops up like a dog, and if he was one, his tail would be wagging. His face lights up immediately and pushes his hair to the side, running his fingers through it and petting it down to make sure he doesn’t look like too much of a mess. You don’t get a chance to complain about your day before he’s beckoning you closer, cursed by the distance between you two and his damn charging cable.

“C’mere,” Boothill’s sheepish smile is quickly replaced with that confident toothy grin you’ve come to know as home. “I’ve been soooo lonely, buttercup…”

Boothill could support you on his own easily, you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life, but you still chose to work, to give you some semblance of normalcy. There was nothing wrong with some extra cash in your pocket, anyways. Even if Boothill had complained that sitting still in one place would set the IPC off on him and probably you, too. He was never home much, anyways, so you felt as if there was no need to worry.

You saunter over to Boothill, sitting down in his lap, the cowboy wrapping his arms around you near immediately. He presses a kiss to the crown of your head, letting out a low hum of content. His hands roam your body, no idea what he was searching for, he just had the need to feel. He himself visibly relaxes as he does so, content to have you home and in his arms once more. You don’t have much to say– not that you need to– and simply enjoy the moment, watching as his hands glide from your hips to your stomach, before pulling you impossibly closer and squeezing you like you were a teddy bear.

“Missed you…” He mumbles once more, leaning over your shoulder and trailing kisses down your cheek, enjoying the warmth of human skin once more. If you were to point out how clingy he was, he’d adamantly deny the fact, yet would still find a way to get all up in your DNA.

Slowly, he trails the kisses from your cheek to your lips, and when your lips meet, sparks fly, literally. Or atleast, it feels like it. You pull away abruptly with a small ‘ow’, placing a hand over your mouth. Boothill gives you a confused and dejected look, before the lightbulb goes off in his head.

“What? Am I… electrifyin’?” He asks with a heavy voice, laden with exhaustion (can he even feel that?) and mirth. You can’t help but scoff and roll your eyes at the silly pun, and he leans in for another kiss. You try to avoid it, but he catches you, and places another shocking kiss on your lips. After several more, you manage to wrench yourself free from his grip pushing yourself off of him. “Awh, c’mon! Don’t just–”

“Nuh uh,” You shush him, crossing your arms, turning your head, and pouting. “I’ll kiss you after you finish charging.”

“Wait, c’mooon!” Boothill starts, sitting up from the couch and reaching for you. His hands graze over your shoulder, yet he was unable to move further due to the limits of his charging cable. You took one teeny tiny step back so you were just out of reach. “Don’t do this, baby! Pleaaase!”

Boothill begs you like you were breaking up with him, he’s one step away from getting on his knees and groveling for you to come back… as in step closer. He does his best to give you puppy eyes, but the most that does is unsettle you a little, the way his eye locks on with you and glowing a faint red. All you do is stand there and watch, taking another step back.

“Fudge…. c’mon, c’mon, c’mon…! Ain’t I just the sweetest?” He desperately pleads his case, as if you being in his arms is the only way he could possibly live. “I won’t kiss you ‘til I’m done charging! I swear! Just let me hold you? Pretty pretty muddle-fudgin’ please?”

His pleas fall on deaf ears as you turn on your heels to leave him whining and grumbling, deciding that you would like to make dinner. Perhaps wind down a little after work, maybe read a book… all things Boothill tried to protest, but ultimately, after ten minutes of you in the kitchen making yourself food, he finally went quiet.

When you come out of the kitchen, bowl of pasta in hand, he’s sitting on the couch with his arms crossed, pouting like a child. He was muttering things to himself, some that you caught which were curses, sometimes your name, and other words. When you come into the living room, he turns his head and gives you the silent treatment for once. You don’t mind this, sitting down on an armchair across from him, eating your food in silence.

Boothill can’t stay silent forever, nor can he wallow forever. Only after five minutes of you being there, he breaks, staring you down with his attempt at puppy eyes once more. Charging takes forever, and he wants to have you in his arms now. He can run on 40% battery for a little while, anyways. He unlatches the charging cable and practically runs over to you (over such a short distance…), cupping your cheek and tilting your head up to meet his gaze.

“One more kiss? Pretty pretty please? With a cherry on top?”

© freyito, 2024 | masterlist | queue | kofi | star header by roseschoices DO NOT REPOST AS YOUR OWN OR USE FOR AI/AI CHATBOTS.

[dorims]

last christmas (i gave you my heart).

gif creds @/fightingdragonswithwho

pairing. roman roy x reader

wc. 1.6k

genre. fluff

Spending every holiday under Logan Roy’s roof wasn’t necessarily a problem. But just like any other family gathering, the pot tended to be stirred until have a holly jolly Christmas sounded either like a call for help or the theme song from the Saw franchise. for a change, maybe spending christmas away from his family would do him good. you can only hope he agrees.

tags. NOT beta-ed(?), english isn't my first language // established relationship (fiancee/married, i havent decided yet lol), brief mention of alcohol, allusion to roy family dynamics, roman and reader are the only characters in this one

a/n. idc that its march and the fact im not big on christmas either, this one really fun to write! hope you enjoy

“So,” You test the waters, lathering the bristles of your toothbrush with the bubblegum toothpaste in the process. In tune with the routine you had wordlessly established, you locked eyes with him through the mirror. Not before letting your eyes roam over his relaxed figure of course. Surprisingly intimate, you would describe the way he liked to watch you while you finished your nightly routine. He would look so painfully comfortable, maybe even serene, as he let his body rest against the doorframe as his eyes lidded with perpetual fatigue, took in the mundanity of watching you lather your face with creams and face wash.“I’ve been thinking.”

He hummed in acknowledgement, though it sounded more like a stifled laugh. “That's new, how's that going for you?"

“Funny.” The foam in your mouth was of no help at conveying the faux annoyance, balancing out the deadpan you sported with a dose of conveniently muffled speech. Not intimidating at all, it only caused his grin to grow wider. And contagious as always, you leaned over the sink to spit the toothpaste in an attempt to hide a smile of your own, though the thick layer of adoration in your eyes gave it away. 

“I’m just saying,” he raised his hands in mock surrender, finally walking inside to lean against the marble counter right next to you. “I only wanna know how it feels to lose your, you know, thinking virginity after giving no signs of brain activity for how long? Like—“

“You can tell yourself how it feels when you lose it.”

“Oh you want to fuck my brain so bad—“

“I’ve been thinking,” You cut him off with an amused smile, taking him in once more. Big round eyes shone with mischief along a hint of sheepishness as he noticed you looking at him. Really looking at him under the vanity lights with messy hair from running his hands through the strands all day and finally wearing the matching pajamas set you had gotten for him in a pretty navy blue because wearing a matching set made you feel good and you wanted him to feel the same way. Always. 

“You've been thinking…” he rolled his eyes as if to hold back another quip now that you had restarted the conversation. The pinkish hue you were so familiar with made a small appearance as you let your fingers brush over his, gently coaxing him to intertwine his hands with yours. Not that he needed much convincing, though. 

“We should spend Christmas this year with my family.”

At the beginning of your relationship, you were sure he would’ve pulled his hand out of your grasp. You could see the way he had to swallow down the urge to do so from the pensive furrow of his brows while the side of his brain in charge of his critical thinking tried to convince him that your words weren’t an attack on his family. He was still working on it, the lousy therapy sessions here and there helped a little, but he still found himself opening his mouth to complain.

“I know what you’re gonna say but think about it, Romeo.” Thankfully, you took the steering wheel before he could start. “My family loves you and we haven’t spent Christmas with them in like, ever, actually.”

Which wasn’t his fault, and you made sure to tell him so, leaning closer until your knee touched his and giving him a quick peck on his lips before he could protest.

Spending every holiday under Logan Roy’s roof wasn’t necessarily a problem. It was nice to exist alongside the people that Roman loves, the people he grew up around. Watching him interact with his siblings could be endearing. So much so that sometimes you wished you could record their banter and laughter so he could listen back and for a moment picture that things between them were okay. But just like any other family gathering, the pot tended to be stirred until have a holly jolly Christmas sounded either like a call for help or the theme song from the Saw franchise.

“Every year we celebrate in a different place,” you toyed with the idea in front of his eyes like one would a cat’s toy, using your smile to build momentum to the grand reveal that at this point didn’t even sound grand to you. “last Christmas was Italy and this year we’re doing Greece.”

“Since when do you have a house in Greece?” He asked, toying with your fingers as his gaze locked itself on them. It was a good sign he was asking.

“We don’t,” the sound of your animated chuckle helped to loosen his shoulders. Though it didn’t dissipate his slight confusion, it always felt good to have you close like this. “It’s Kelly’s house— eh, her parents’ but sharing is caring or whatever…”

He let out a chuckle of his own. The sound made all sorts of warmth bloom in your chest, maybe even cute aggression if you felt like being dramatic. 

“And after we can spend New Year's just the two of us wherever you want.” He shrugged in a silent response, still pensive, and you couldn’t help but coo at him as if to coax him out of his shell. “It’s gonna be so much fun, they’ve been asking about us and the kids adore you, they’ve been obsessed with Uncle Roro ever since Lizzie’s birthday.”

“As they should be, my lower back never recovered from being used as a human jungle gym.” He rolled his eyes at the memory yet the love was evident from behind the thinly veiled sarcasm. He was a very particular individual but so were most of your siblings-in-law. And sure, the first time he met your family hadn’t gone as he expected, both in a good way and in a bad way, but your mother still asked him to join him for a glass of whiskey whenever they crossed paths with a welcoming smile and your father always hugged him in greeting like he did all his children. 

“You’re good with them,” You smiled against his lips as you leaned closer for a kiss, leaving a couple of pecks that eventually made him smile too. “you’ve always been good with kids.” 

“Yeah whatever, stop kissing me my breath stinks.” 

The way your brothers had instantly included him in their weird boys' night out, which was ruled by the obnoxiously corny motto ‘what happens in boys' night, stays in boy’s night’ that was used as a smoke screen for that one time they decided to go to the spa to never be taken seriously again once they swallowed their own stupidity, left you grinning for a week straight. And let's not start with the picture you had taken during a summer trip to Nice of all the daughters-in-law posing like they were celebrating their high school prom with Roman at the front of the line, it had been all laughter all throughout; the picture came out a little blurry. 

It’s all you could think about sometimes when you watched him doing nothing interesting in particular with a lovesick intensity only rivaled by his. How well he fits in your life, with the quips and interjections that kept you company and next to you on your shared bed. With both your slippers sitting neatly side by side and with the unmeasurable love pooling at the bottom of his chest that he had finally allowed himself to unabashedly share after who knows how long. 

“Can you pass me your headband? I need to wash my face.”

He insisted yours was better every time you told him he should buy one of his own. Even if he hadn’t tried any other than yours. You only let it pass because he looked cute with his hair pushed back. No other reason at all. 

“So,” you cut yourself by giving him a peck on the lips as he got closer to steal some face wash. He had his own on his side of the bathroom but the bottle was pretty much full and yours still ran out quicker than when it was just you. “Greece or no Greece?”

“I got chills, they’re multiplying.” He joked right before rinsing the soap from his face, chuckling at your lack of amusement. “What? You prefer right now there’s nowhere to hide since you pushed my love aside?”

“I prefer you answer my question.” 

The eyes of a kicked puppy on full display just put him out of his misery vibes, pleaded in silence as he dragged his feet across the floor until he was standing right in between your legs, his face hiding in the crook of your neck. He fit nicely against your body and instinctively you let your fingers brush along the strands of his hair. “It’s okay if you don’t want to go.” 

He groaned in response, his voice muffled against your skin. “It’s not that, I want to, I just— I already RSVP or whatever bullshit to my Dad.”

No one RSVP’ed to Logan Roy. Especially not his children. It wasn’t necessary when the table was already set for all parties involved regardless of conflicting schedules 

“That’s okay,” You kiss his hair, resting your cheek against his head and muffling your own voice. The vibrations made him hum. “I can talk to him.”

The disheveled strands tickled your skin as he shook his head. Now that his chin was resting on your chest you noticed how cartoonishly slow he was blinking, his lids heavy the weight of being awake for far too long. 

“I’ll talk to him.” He pressed a kiss against the side of your jaw, feeling the unmistakable excitement of your grin, before hiding the yawn that followed. “Tomorrow, I promise.

[bkglovergirl]

hi! could i request a hawks x male/depressed reader? reader struggles to eat/get out of bed, mostly non verbal + struggles with executive dysfunction:) been having a rough time lately being stuck in a depressive episode and keigo really keeps me going LMAO

pls don’t feel pressured to write this if you don’t feel comfortable/able! <3

I hope you feel better! And of course, I’ll do it! I get it completely lol

╭₊˚๑Keigo Takami(Hawks) X Depressive reader﹕☁️₊˚

TW: eating struggles, Depressive habits 

Anyone feeling like this just know it gets better and I hope this helps!

Word Count; 1.1k words

 ִֶָ 𓂃⊹

For the past two weeks, maybe more—honestly, who is counting—you have been lying in bed. You've barely gotten up to go to the bathroom and eat. It’s not like you are sleeping. No, you are quite literally just lying in bed doing nothing. The energy it takes to grab your phone or even charge it is a lot, and the last time you checked, it was five percent. You know what caused this yet being in bed is causing more stress but you just can’t get up. Work, training, and studying. You are so behind on both yet you refuse to sit up and at least open a book. 

“Baby?” You don’t know when this man went here, but he’s kneeling down in front of you. You glance at him, and he looks worried. God, you hate when he’s worried, especially when it involves you. “It’s been four weeks, You gotta get up.” So he’s keeping count, great. You use the energy you have to turn and face away from him but he quickly stops you. “Come on, talk to me at least what’s going on?” You just stare at him. He sighs and walks out of the bedroom. You bring the blankets over your head and let out a little sigh. He just walked out, he’s so over this and over you, you think. You don’t know how long you were under the blanket for overthinking but the heat is getting to much so you kick the blanket off you and you smell… food? It smells good but also nauseating, Your stomach growls and you realize you havent ate in a while. Keigo waddles back into the room, holding a try with pasta and water, he walks to the side of the bed you arent rotting on and slowly places the try on his lap. “Come on baby, sit up and eat.” You slowly sit up and rest your back on the headboard. He grabs the bowel and hands it to you, You take it and stare at it. “What’s wrong? Isnt this your comfort food?” You nod but still just stare at it. “You gotta speak to me baby, I can only know so much… are you nauseous?” You nod. “It’s because you havent ate, take a bite a promise youll feel better.” Keigo debates in his head a bit before grabbing the fork and bringing it up to your mouth. You take a bite and slowly chew, you let out a satisfied sigh and grab the fork from him and start eating. “Slow down!” he laughs.

 𓂃⊹

After you ate Keigo had walked out to go clean up and wash the dishes, he had left the cup of water you without knowing avoided. You were just staring at it. Slowly but surly you grab it and start drinking it, the coldness felt nice and you ended up chugging it until there was only ice left. Keigo walked back in and quickly noticed the glass empty, he smiled looking at you and you smile back. He goes to the side of the bed you are on and picks you up, surprised you gasp and wrap your arms around his neck. “It’s alright baby.” 

He brings you into the bathroom and the smell of the room hits you admittedly. Keigo had lit a Vanillia candle and it rest right near the sink. Next you notice the bath he set up, filled with bubbles and your hair products, face products and soup all set up. Keigo sets you down slowly and you look at him, “Hands up.” you listen and he takes off your shirt. You blush and cover yourself quickly. “It’s okay baby, youre beautiful.” slowly you put your arms down. “Do you want help with your shorts?” You shake your head ‘no’ and take them off yourself. “Alright baby hop in.” He takes off his shirt and you get into the tub, sitting down. Keigo runs out of the bathroom quickly and runs back in holding a cup? “Almost forgot!” You smile.

Keigo kneels down besides the tub and fills the cup full of water, “alright tilt your head back and close your eyes.” You listen and he wets your hair. When he thinks he got it wet enough, he grabs your shampoo and massages it into your hair. “Don’t fall asleep on me.” You giggle as he washes the shampoo out of your hair. He repeates and does the same thing with the conditioner, you fight back the sleep. “All done, now turns and face me.” you listen and he grabs your face cleanser, you watch as he puts some in his hands and rubs it on our face slowly, “what is I give you a soap mustache?” You shake your head no and he laughs, he wets a face cloth and gets all the soap off your face. With the same facecloth he rinceses it and puts your body soup on it, he slowly washes your body and you can’t help but avoid looking at him. “Oh don’t do that.” he whines and you look at him. Smiling he gives you a quick kiss.

 𓂃⊹

You stand there shivering in a towel as Keigo runs back into the bathroom with a fresh new pair of clothes for you. “Do you want me to do it?” You shake your head ‘no’ and get yourself dressed, Keigo takes this as a win. He knows you have the energy and strength to walk back into the bed but he picks you up and beings you into the bedroom and softly puts you on the bed. He goes and grabs your brush and sits behind you, he carefully brushes your hair making sure not to hurt you. 

“M’sorry…”

“Shh don’t apologize baby.” he kisses the top of your head. “I know everything is a lot right now, and I should have stepped away from work sooner and helped you.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not, I thought you just needed time but I ignored you for to long. Just know i’m here baby and I’ll aways be here.” He puts down your hair brush and pulls you onto him, he combs his fingers through your hair. 

“You don’t hate me right..?”

“Of course not baby! Don’t make me laugh! Stuff get’s stressful I understand. I Love you and this won’t change that.”

“I love you so much.” You turn and hug him tightly.

[armandposting]

okay I've gotten about halfway through, which I think actually covers most of the sexual violence. i intend to come back for the second half in a reblog of this post, as I can't remember for sure if there's more sexual violence there and either way want to mark the particularly disturbing physical violence in the second half.

page numbers for sexual and physical violence in The Vampire Armand

using Ballatine Books mass market paperback, first edition (2000). I've used both page and chapter numbers so hopefully this is somewhat usable even with other copies. if you want to just blanket avoid the worst of the sexual stuff, I'd advise just skipping chapters 2-5, although you will miss most of the Venice years by doing this.

use notes:

if you don't want to know anything of what happens, just use the page numbers and don't read the descriptions. the descriptions specify what happens in each scene I've marked. I've tried to balance accurately covering everything that happens so people can effectively use the descriptions as a risk assessment without going into too much detail.

sex scenes in this book tend to be pretty esoterically described with a lot of flowery euphemisms, though to an adult reader it's clear what's happening. i have used the word rape to describe various sex acts occurring even when armand doesnt understand exactly what's happening or is enjoying it. I havent specified which sex acts are happening in these notes.

during the Venice years, armand sleeps in marius's bed and is frequently held and kissed by him, but I haven't marked all mentions of this, only times when sex acts or particularly erotic blood sharing is involved.

the other violence tends to be more graphic/directly described than the sex and I've noted those scenes as well.

to avoid confusion I've referred to armand as "armand" throughout, even though he doesn't get that name until later in the book.

armand is about 15 when marius first buys him and about 17 by chapter 4. he's turned later in his 17th year. most of the sex happens between these two events, the majority in chapter 4. 

the page numbers do not necessarily pick up every time that armand thinks about these things happening to him in passing or their impacts on him, so even skipping all of these pages is not going to be completely trigger-free.

chapter 2, pages 29-35: description of armand first being sold after his abduction from Kiev, slightly more descriptive than what's told in the show. we're told that he's raped, beaten, and eventually begins to refuse food and drink, but it's not described in detail, except for a brief description of other boys in the brothel molesting him. 36-37: marius takes armand to his house and bathes him. he rapes armand in the tub. 51-52: marius rapes armand.

chapter 3, page 66: marius and armand are intimate, unclear whether sex occurs or if it's particularly charged blood sharing. 67-71: armand tries to offer sex to marius, they share blood several times. 73: more blood sharing, only briefly described.

chapter 4, pages 74-75: marius drops armand off at a brothel so that he can learn about sex. multiple sex acts between armand and the sex workers are briefly described. 76: after marius picks armand up again, he lets armand mimic some of the things from the brothel on him. they share blood. 78-79: marius drops armand off at another brothel, this time with boys and eunuchs. multiple sex acts are described. 80-82: armand "lets himself be seduced" by an englishman at least twice his age, they have sex and the englishman threatens to kill him. armand doesnt feel particularly threatened by this at the time and leaves. 83-86: upset by the experiences described above, armand goes to bianca, who is a friend of his, and they have sex. armand feels guilty and sees it as a "rape" and a "ravaging" but bianca participates and isn't upset about it. (note: bianca's age is never really clear to me; she's younger than marius appears to be but runs her own household.) 92-97: marius beats armand with a switch. armand pretends to enjoy it for a while to piss him off. marius only stops when armand is bleeding and thinks he won't be able to walk. marius then undresses armand and heals the wounds, hitting armand a few more times when he talks back. all of this is very sexually charged. marius eventually rapes him and they share blood. in my opinion the most upsetting scene in terms of sexual violence.

chapter 5, pages 114-131: this scene is kind of a doozy but I'll try to hit the main points. marius has brought armand along to kill a group of men who have been forcing bianca to poison people. the men hit on armand and try to give him gifts for sex. some of them start touching him before marius starts killing people. one of the men continues to come onto armand who starts to get increasingly upset. marius asks if armand will have sex with the man as his dying wish, unclear if he's joking. the last man alive asks for a kiss, armand, now extremely upset, kisses him on the cheek but the man turns his head to kiss his mouth. marius, after killing the last man, berates armand about the value of human life or whatever and kisses armand several times. 138-144 [this is split over the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of 6]: the englishman armand previously had sex with comes to the palazzo in a jealous rage and kills several of the other boys. some are noted to be as young as seven. armand fatally stabs the englishman and is wounded with his poisoned blades. I've ended the page numbers after the fight is over but armand continues to be dying from the poison for the rest of chapter 6 and 7.

chapter 8 is when armand is turned, but it's not particularly sexually charged for once.

nothing else of note up to chapter 10, which is where I'll pick up for part two.

[voiceofsword]

hi mimi :] guess who got new "matching" voicelines . i think i might be a bit delusional but it's a saga in my HEART and i will now rough tl/paraphrase them for you as i haven't the time to do it properly atm ( i'm at work but i had to inform you asap )

niki: i'm developing new recipes for a cooking segment on a new show i was put in charge of ! i'm thinking of focusing on spring vegetables ..

rinne: ( yawn ) i went out with niki early in the morning to dig up bamboo shoots, and we stayed there until pretty late in the evening, i've been so tired .. i think i'll sleep a bit now

niki: rinnekun told me spring was a great time for picnics, so i'm going to make a bento ! what would go nicely in it .. 💭

i swore there was another one but i don't feel like checking the shop atm to see if i missed a line . will update you if i did o7

WAUUGHHH THANK YOU... IVE SEEN A FEW COMICS ABT THEM BUT HAVENT GOTTEN THEM MYSELF so thank u so much for keeping me updated. now i will ramble

thinking about rinne being like (grumble grumble) why am i up this early (grumble grumble) damn you niki (in spite of agreeing to drive him the night before).... but still driving him, and joining him in digging up the bamboo shoots, and they end up having such a good time that he forgot he was even that tired at all to begin with. cue rinne and niki sitting in silence for like 5 mins in the car before he starts playing stuff from a playlist he made for the two of them and they immediately start singing/humming along

and in the following bento line i can imagine that happening almost before rinnes, like oh, bc rinnes doing this for me ill make us some food since he said spring is nice for picnics :) itll be fun and yummy food is always good~ (not just thinking about the food, obviously, but specifically remembering that tiny detail and wanting to Share That with the person he loves)

so by the time they have a few bags of bamboo shoots and are exhausted and covered in dirt nikis like ta dah!!! i made us bentos!! and rinnes thankful but also like omg, is this a date, does niki like me? i wouldve gotten dressed nicer 😳😳 nikikyun, you shoulda told meeee (super teasing, everyone knows theyre dating, hes being silly) and niki jokingly smacks him like no way! not like you wouldve done the laundry today anyway!! (but makes no attempt to reject the date idea) and and and.

idk i just started thinking about this scenario, i always love the "oh i have to do this thing" and the other immediately joining in like "well duh obviously i gotta go with you" both in the more serious sense and with more everyday activities like this, as much as they complain they treasure each others company so much IM DEADDDDDDD

[all-pacas]

do you ever think about chase vs kutner replacing house... i got the vibe that they were setting up kutner to be house's successor and then had to switch to chase. his character arc in s8 was a little sudden if i remember correctly (havent seen it in like a year lolsies) but it was also really interesting. but also i love kutner and i can imagine him running a department with a lot more gusto than chase. interesting to wonder if kutner would continue the cycle of (weird) abuse like chase presumably does, or if things would be different with him in charge

I mean, I hope this isn't a hot take, because I think Kutner was great, but there was no way he was ready to take over for House any time soon. It was a running joke that he was a massive liability; he kept pretty consistently making pretty severe mistakes (setting people on fire!). And he also had a real creative brilliance, he was smart as hell and had a ton of potential, but he was nooooot anywhere near a leader. He'd have made a great number two, though. And it's possible with a few more years of development, he would have gotten better, but to be honest most of the time to show was setting up Foreman to be the true successor, not Kutner or Chase.

Which I think says a lot about what the show thinks — and House thinks, maybe — about what the "next House" should be. I think Foreman is hands down the smartest of the fellows on like, a testing level. He lacks the Chase/Kutner/House creative spark, but he's always set up as the Smart One, someone whose brains House respects from day one, someone who has entire character arcs about being like House and not wanting to be. And over time the show drifted away from that, and became more aware of his flaws. We also know that he was never planned on becoming the New Cuddy, they were floating bringing back one of the S4 rejects for the role for a while, they didn't plan on Cuddy leaving. I think that Foreman was planned on being the successor. That's almost stated from S1.

And in a way I think it's bad writing, because the show did lean more into him having a pathological need to be in charge, and because it tended to humble him by having him kill patients, which, uh, undermines the "he's the best doctor" thing by a lot. The fact that Foreman as Dean of Medicine makes so much sense feels kind of… telling? It feels right for him to be an admin and a boss instead of a Creative Genius Doctor, you know?

Likewise, Chase taking over was definitely a S8 thing. I was looking at the dates and airdates and stuff: Hugh Laurie announces he's not continuing the show, and the very next episode to air is Nobody's Fault, followed by Chase. The episode after those is one where everyone agrees Chase deserves to be "team leader;" Chase then gets a run of solving cases while House isn't around. Like, very clearly the show went "oh, fuck, we have 14 episodes left of the series," and one of the main tasks was setting up Chase as House's successor. And I think it does actually fit well, even if it's obviously rushed. Even if it was an accident, he did have the best solve rate of the fellows, and there is something very fitting about it. (Honestly, if they weren't cowards, they wouldn't have fired Jennifer Morrison and we could have had an ending montage where the original kids literally emulate the grown ups: head of diagnostics, dean of medicine, and Cameron as a department head to slot in for Wilson. Imagine.)

SO ANYWAY. TL;DR part one: Chase being the successor wasn't planned at all, but I think it fits. Kutner, god love him, would have made an incredible number two (imagine him being Chase's #2), but I really don't think he was ready for leadership.

(To be fair, Chase also almost never got a chance to be a leader, although we do see him mentoring Park and Masters a bit and doing it well.)

(I'm gonna have to make a different post about a leadership tangent WATCH THIS SPACE)

As for Kutner's leadership style… honestly, I think he'd have so much fun. I think his fellows would have so much fun. I'm not sure how efficient they'd be (I don't picture Kutner as a big details and paperwork kind of guy), but his patients would love him too. It would be so nice.

[thelesbianpoirot]

could you plz talk about your thoughts on poor things. I havent found the courage to watch it yet and id love to hear your takes on it

I like Yorgos Lanthimos films, he deals in absurd fucked up little worlds, I've seen Lobster, Dogtooth, and The killing of... and enjoyed them. They usually tackle something fucked up in society. How these characters live is deranged, we are also doing these deranged things, but we've normalized it so much that the absurdity on us is lost. Lobster - Our fixation on romantic partnership to the point people who choose not to participate in this societal arrangement as treat unfairly and left out of many areas of society. So where is an absurd situation is where this society forces you to be partnered or you are not human anymore. Killing of a sacred deer (TO ME) was about how we're at the mercy of powerful men with vices (and perversions) that can ruin our life without consequences, the drunk surgeon ruins a family by killing someone, the male doctor has a very scary fetish, assaulting unconscious women etc, when you realize the fallibility of men in charge of our lives, horrifying, so here is an absurd situation where someone has ultimate power and characters have no control. It is horrifying to be powerless to human men. I have been a woman who had to be sedated for a procedure, with a male doctor, my greatest fear was being taken advantage of, it would make me throw up to know my doctor had a fetish for having is wife pretend to be dead/unconscious while they had sex. That is what I took from that film. That is what made it powerful for me. POOR THINGS I thought when people were criticizing it they may not have gotten the satire, (I thought) it was supposed to be about how people only love women, the concept of women, if we are eternally girls, never mature, and always giving them carte blanche to exploit us and have a smile on the entire time. The prostitute who loves sex with random strangers for money, always sexual, always flirting, she just can't control herself. The stripper who loves being an exhibitionist, she's just a freak and has to share it. The woman who loves pain, it turns her on to be hurt by men. We've seen her on TV and in porn. I expected this to be an exploration of how men love this fake woman, and want to control her, because if she loves sex, they should be in control of who she has sex with or it is no longer fun for them. I thought this was going to be another "LOOK AT THE ABSURDITY" of such a woman. She doesn't exist. And if she did, she'll have to be brain dead, literally a shell of a mature adult woman who has killed herself because she cannot cope with this world. An analogy for how the sex industry takes advantage of drug using and mentally ill women. HOWEVER, director man wants to have his cake and eat it too, satirizing the exploitation of women, while exploiting a woman doesn't not make good satire. You're just doing the thing you're condemning. Satirizing sexualization of mentally unwell women, while actively eroticizing fucking someone with the mental IQ of a child is not good. Men already have a fetish of taking advantage of women with developmental issues, would loved if fuckin children was legal, and here you have talented actress Emma Watson making a fucked-stupid face right out of hentai. And she's being alluded for doing what porn actresses do every day, the voice and facial expression that makes me want to throw up. The film more goes on it stops being about (what I viewed, me personally) as a critique of the sex industry, and became about controlling a woman's sexuality, with no character there to present a feminist path that isn't BEING USED BY ANY MAN VS BEING CONTROLLED BY ONE MAN.

HERE IS A SHORT VIDEO of how I don't like satire of objectification/sexualization that uses objectification/sexualization to say it's message. But also I don't even think poor things are anti-sexualization, it is mainly about autonomy, the autonomy of women to sexually exploited. The exploitation isn't criticized, marriage is, a child like woman with unquenchable sexual lust belongs to the world, not one man it says. It was gross to watch and I felt icky. Not the kind of grossness that Killing of a sacred deer felt like, which was necessary to feel uneasy because feeling powerlessness is not comfortable. However, it is up to you to watch the movie and make up your mind, I am just annoyed that when it came to tackling women's issues acclaimed directors always fumble the ball.

[absoluteocellibehavior]

i was actually gonna send you a message about further arcana alignments bc i loved the initial post - potato-lord-but-not seems to have already gotten most of what i was gonna suggest, was initially gonna put faroe as death but the world does work much better. yknow who would work Better as death though? parker. both i guess in the literal sense and in the sense that parker has been the herald of major change in arthur's life? ie death-as-metamorphosis. the death arcana is generally misunderstood as physical death but the emphasis in meaning is actually on cycles and change, specifically death/rebirth. like. i can't be the only one who sees the parallels with the guy that singlehandedly Started the narrative the guys are on through his death (and also his entry in arthur's life). idk i havent really done this before but i am a little Obsessed with this concept feel free to fact check me on that

YES!! SOMEONE ELSE GETS IT!! (and awe thank you <3) Death is one of my favorite cards. Like The Devil, it's generally misunderstood what it actually means (guilty as charged. The Catholic side of myself took a minute to separate the meanings when I was first getting into it). Death is SUCH a beautiful card and you nailed it with the "metamorphosis" description. Parker is a wonderful pairing with Death. On the surface level, yes, Parker died but his death means so much more than that. Like Faroe's death being an end to Arthur's somewhat normalcy, Parker's death signaled the end of that cycle of Arthur's life. He was irrevocably changed the moment he opened that book. That's a key aspect to Death as a card. It is inevitable and resisting the change only leads to more pain. It is the acceptance of it and moving along with it that allows for it to bear fruit. Death as a card is good. It is very much a light at the end of the tunnel sort of thing. Arthur lost his partner, but he eventually gained an even deeper love and connection with John. And THAT is beautiful. This a very long-winded way of saying absolutely Parker is Death.

[trickstarbrave]

heyyy i wrote more!

very few answers but kaidan kept steren alive (i havent played with kaidan much. i just think he would know how to Not Die of hypothermia unlike some nords who have natural cold resistance)

they are aware that things are getting Weird though. hoping azura has answers. and hopefully next chapter steren will wake up

--

It was a scramble to get the mysterious dunmer back to Raven Rock. Why had he gotten soaking wet in this weather? Why was he dressed so poorly for the climate? Would he even make the trip?

“Strip him down first.” Kaidan instructed. “If he stays in wet clothes he’ll die.” Nerevar was the one who did so. While it might be uncomfortable being stripped by a stranger, it was better than dying. Besides, it hadn’t been the first time he had to to save someone’s life--in war it wasn’t as uncommon as others might think when you threw off armor and clothes to get to someone’s injuries. “And don’t focus on his limbs or rub the skin. You’ll send him into shock or injure him.”

After he was out of his wet clothes, Kaidan piled up various furs and cloaks on him, while Vivienne stood awkwardly to the side, though he was impressed with his husband taking charge and saving the day. 

“Someone should hold him close while we carry him back.” Nerevar was going to volunteer when Voryn, who had been oddly quiet the whole mess, stepped forward and took him. 

“Luckily we aren’t too far.” Voryn remarked as he began walking with a serious expression on his face, a clear indication of worry. Nerevar didn’t see him making that exact face very often--usually it was when something was wrong with Nerevar, and very rarely if Vivienne was upset. 

Nerevar had also thought, once they handed him off to a healer, that would be about it. They quickly got to work fussing over him and Nerevar tossed them some coin in case the boy (and Nerevar could tell he was still fairly young, only punctuated by the fact the delirious young man was calling for his father) didn’t wake up for some time. They could talk to the captain, describe him, and figure out who his family was, before being on their way. 

However, as if the situation couldn’t get any stranger, Captain Veleth didn’t seem to know who they were talking about after they tracked him down. 

“I apologize, Hortator,” Veleth looked apologetic, “But I would remember someone with a red star on their forehead quite easily.” He shot a brief, subconscious glance at Voryn’s third eye, before continuing. “Such a mark would be the talk of Raven Rock, after all.”

“Maybe you recognize his clothes then?” Nerevar offered, pulling out an embroidered shirt and jacket that had begun to thaw in his bag. The captain looked that over as well, his brow furrowing more.

“... I haven’t seen anyone in clothes like this for some time.” He remarked. “It’s old House Hlaalu craftsmanship.” He made a sour face as he looked it over. “I’m not exactly an expert, but I saw pieces like these often during their height in the Third Era. Half the people in Balmora were wearing it.” 

Nerevar frowned, taking the shirt back and looking over it. He just recognized it as dunmeri and a bit imperial, but… 

There was bright yellow and pink flowers--or maybe they were fruit--beaded on it. Gold scrollwork was around the collar as well, a tell tale sign of Third Era Empire influence. After the oblivion crisis it had long since fallen out of fashion, and now House Hlaalu had hardly any craftsman to speak of now that their house had been demoted. The few that were left went to other houses, renouncing House Hlaalu, or renounced Morrowind entirely and stayed in the empire’s heartland to produce dunmeri goods for the rest of the continent. The beads were elegant pink glass too, in a style he recalled was vaguely popular in Cyrodiil before he was shipped off to Morrowind as the Nerevarine. 

It was… Unusual. 

“Did you see him come into port then?” Raven Rock was really the only port on Solstheim after all. “He had to have been seen by someone… He was looking for his parents too.”

“I will ask around then. I’m certain someone must have spotted him at some point.” Someone must have. He had to get on the island somehow, after all, and from how he was dressed he doubted he came in on a raft or something. 

“Thank you.” Nerevar tucked the clothes back in, sighing. “I guess we’d better go back and drop these off for him then and wait until he comes to for answers unless you can find his family first.” 

Most of Vivienne’s companions returned back to the manor, but Vivienne and Taliesan accompanied Nerevar and Voryn as they returned to the healer, more confused than ever. Voryn had still been oddly silent--more than he usually was, anyways. Typically he would make a few quips, or even just hold Nerevar’s hand and offer him a few smiles. Instead Voryn seemed distant and deep in thought, which only confused Nerevar more. 

“Something on your mind?” He asked, and Voryn blinked, looking down at him. 

“I was just… Thinking about that dunmer.” 

“He’s certainly been a weird case.” Nerevar replied. “Did he seem familiar to you?”

“Vaguely.” Voryn answered. “But I would know if I’d seen him before…” He huffed slightly, clearly annoyed by how strange it all was. “But when I first saw him I thought…” His voice trailed off. 

“What?” Nerevar asked, taking Voryn’s gloved hand and giving it a squeeze. 

“An… Odd thought came to mind. Almost out of place.” He hummed softly. “‘Little star’ was what I first thought and I feel… Protective towards him.” 

“I thought Neht was the broody hen out of the two of you…” Taliesan muttered under his breath, before getting an elbow to the ribs from Vivienne. 

“Well hopefully we can get him in good health and back with his family.” Nerevar smiled, even though he too couldn’t help but feel something was amiss. 

--

“Hortator,” A healer rushed to him the moment they entered, and Nerevar at first thought the worst; his anxiety spiked as he was concerned from the look on her face she was going to tell them the boy didn’t make it even though he thought they got him to town in time. “You need to come see this.” 

He gave a look, telling Vivienne and Talisan to stay near the door, before he followed the healer to the back. Voryn came with him silently; both out of concern for the boy, and because he was Nerevar’s guard as well as husband and refused to leave him unattended. 

There, he could see the dunmer under piles of blankets. The room was warm now as they got to work slowly warming his core up. It seemed like the healing spells also managed to save his limbs from frostbite too, which was a relief. But the healer took his hand, motioning towards the ring that made Nerevar freeze. 

He knew that ring. He would know it anywhere. 

It was the Moon-and-Star. Proof of his identity and the ring he used to unite Resdayn so many centuries ago. It looked identical, to the point Nerevar tore off his own glove to check that he still had his. Even if it had been stolen, it would kill anyone that wasn’t Nerevar, so how was he…? 

Voryn stepped forward, taking the ring from his hand, looking it over carefully, and checking the enchantment. 

“... It’s authentic dwemer craftsmanship.” Voryn remarked, more puzzled than before. “Identical to your ring.” If it was real dwemeri jewelry then it had to be ancient--from before the War of the First Council. Had one of Dumac’s craftsmen made a copy?

“The enchantment is almost the same as well.” 

“Almost?” Nerevar quirked a brow. 

“It’s the same enchantment from Azura but modified slightly.” Voryn held the ring tightly. “Instead of it killing anyone but you, it also would allow someone of your blood like a descendant to wear it.” Honestly Nerevar had considered asking for that modification in his first lifetime, but had ultimately decided against it when he soon learned Almalexia had no interest in having a child with him. What was the point if he didn’t have any kids? He wasn’t going to get any random woman pregnant--and if he did through some mistake (even though he preferred men), giving a child he didn’t really know access to such a powerful ring could spell disaster. 

“That’s… Strange.” Stranger still that meant this dunmer must be him then? But that didn’t seem right at all, especially not when there were two rings. “We should consult Azura about this…”

“I agree.” Voryn slipped the ring back on regardless. “It could be her doing, or something stranger going on…”

“Like the cultists?”

“It would be convenient for the Tribunal Cultists, I can’t deny it.” Voryn looked disgusted even talking about them. “They could claim you are a fake, and the real reincarnation of Nerevar backed the Tribunal Temple rather than the Good Three. Raise counter claims to your right to the throne and your leadership entirely.” 

“Well right now he’s still asleep.” Nerevar replied. “Even when he wakes up I doubt he’ll be much of a threat. We can speak with Azura, and failing that we can have Vivienne commune with Mephala.” If Azura didn’t know, Mephala would; it would be well within her scope after all and if anyone had gotten so close to making a false ‘Nerevarine’, it would have piqued her interest. 

“We’ll keep tending to him in the meantime.” The healer spoke up. “Besides hypothermia he has extensive internal injuries, likely due to some kind of magic attack.” She looked at the boy with heavy concern in her eyes. “I don’t know how he was walking with how injured he was… I haven’t seen injuries like that in all my days as a healer.” That was even more concerning; whatever attacked him might still be out there.

“We’ll be back soon.” Nerevar told her, before giving one last glance at the pale dunmer. “Once he’s stable, have him moved to the manor. I want to make sure he’s well guarded.” He didn’t want to risk any cultists being able to find him; the manor would be safe and allow them to keep a close eye on him. 

[bridgyrose]

Days had passed since her friends had arrived and Penny was still no closer to finding out what Ironwood had wanted with them or why he wanted to keep everything quiet. Walking to his office to try to listen in only managed to get her pulled away to take care of some grimm, any attempt to talk to Yang or Blake was met with empty promises to tell her what was going on, and Ruby… seeing the way that Ruby was used as a weapon to clear out grimm from the mines reminded her of how the General had used her before Beacon fell, only to nearly toss her away when she couldnt live up to what she had been built for. 

Penny sighed as she stood up and started to make her rounds around Mantle with Weiss, taking to the streets to look for any grimm that made it through the wall. 

“Everything alright, Penny?” Weiss asked. “You seem… distracted.” 

“I… I am worried about Ruby,” Penny answered. “We hardly get to see her and I want to make sure she is safe. That she is not becoming like how I was.” 

“A machine?” 

“A weapon. A tool. Something for the General to use and to put away when he is done. I do not want her to go through the same thing I did.” 

“I worry about her too, but there’s nothing we can do. If the General needs her, then it has to be important, right? And the next time we see her we’ll help her get her memories back.” 

“If we get to talk to her,” Penny thought to herself. It was going to be unlikely that they were ever going to be able to talk to her again, and even if they did, there was no guarantee they’d be able to undo anything that was done to repress Ruby’s memories. Dying wasnt easy, and coming to terms with that death takes time. And time felt like it was running out. Beacon falling, Atlas cutting off all trade and putting up a blockade to keep people from coming and going, her friends suddenly showing up… something was coming and she needed to know what. “Have you been able to talk to our friends?” she asked. “I know that you have missed them dearly.” 

“Only a little,” Weiss admitted. “They’ve been kept busy so I havent been able to see Blake and Yang much. And Jaune… he’s worried about Ruby too, but he has other things on his mind.” 

“Have they told you what they’re here for?” 

Weiss shook her head. “Not really, only that it was important and that they were told not to bring us into it. Though, they wouldnt say why.” 

Penny nodded and sighed. “Maybe we will find out more.” 

“I hope so. It feels strange to be this close to my friends and be so far away from them.” 

Penny nodded and stopped in her step as her scroll picked up the alert of grimm entering into Mantle. She looked out in the direction the alert had told her the grimm was, frowning. “That cant be right, it seems like its almost near the crater.” 

“Maybe its a flying grimm?” Weiss suggested.

“Maybe, but we would have gotten an alert sooner if it flew over us.” 

“Unless the alert system was tampered with.” 

“I’ll meet you out there,” Penny said as she took to the air. She took a breath to try to calm herself as she flew over Mantle and scanned for any grimm as she made her way to the crater. There were no signs of grimm having run from one of the holes in the wall towards the crater, and if it was a flying grimm, then it should’ve been sighted earlier or at least taken care of by the airships that patrolled the air. 

As she made it closer to the crater, she spotted a lone sabyr near the crater, though it seemed different from other grimm. Less stable, an ichor dripping from it that led to a nearby crack in the street. It was almost as if the grimm had just suddenly appeared on its own. Still, she started to charge her laser to blast it.

“Fiona, block it from running away! May, get the civilians away until we know if there’s more here. Joanna, you know what to do!” 

Penny paused and lowered her hand as she watched a group of huntresses take care of the grimm with ease. Once the grimm was taken care of, she lowered herself to the ground, eyes still watching the huntresses as she scanned them to find their identities. 

“About time Ironwood’s toy shows up,” the leader of the huntresses, who she recognized as Robyn, said without looking at Penny. “I take it he’s finally going to deal with the grimm showing up.” 

“I am not sure I understand what you mean,” Penny said as she walked over. “This is the first time I have gotten a warning about any grimm this close to the crater.” 

Robyn turned around and offered a hand to Penny. “Then what are you here for?” 

Penny reached out to take Robyn’s hand for a moment, pulling back, and then taking her hand. “I had gotten an alert for a grimm out here.” She paused when she saw the aura around her hand turn green. “My partner and I are supposed to keep Mantle safe, but seeing a grimm out here without any other alerts sounded off.” 

Robyn pulled her hand away and motioned for Penny to follow. “Then maybe the two of you can help us out.” 

“Help out?” 

“Grimm like that one have been popping up around the crater without warning. We thought they were coming through the wall and tearing through the soldiers left to keep the grimm out, but after today, we dont think that’s the case anymore.” 

Penny followed Robyn, almost curious about what Robyn had meant. “I still do not think I understand. Grimm do not just appear out of nowhere.” 

“These have. We actually watched one crawl up through a crack in the ground.” 

“Why have you not told General Ironwood about this?” 

“We’ll tell him whenever it is he finally opens up about why supplies for the wall are being moved towards Amity Arena out in the tundra.” 

“He… he said he was going to take care of the wall,” Penny said quietly. “I was just supposed to protect Mantle until then.” 

Robyn shrugged. “Guess he keeps some things closer to his chest than I thought. In the meantime, I’ll need you to help out around here. And maybe you can help us find out more about what Ironwood is doing.” 

“I… I will need to think about it.” 

“You know where to find me.” 

Penny nodded and started to make her way to Weiss. Grimm appearing out of cracks in the streets, repair supplies getting pushed to Amity instead of the wall, none of it made any sense. Much less that the General would allow for anything like this. 

“There you are!” Weiss called out as she ran over to Penny. “Sorry I’m late. A few grimm appeared without an alert and I had to stop them. You’ll never guess how they appeared though.” 

“Through the cracks in the ground,” Penny said more than asked. 

“Y-yeah, how… how did you know?” 

“You are not the first to notice. Robyn said the same thing.” 

“Robyn… Robyn Hill? You actually spoke to her?” 

Penny nodded. “She seems to trust me and is hoping that I can work with her to find out what the General is doing.” 

“He’s trying to keep Mantle safe, isnt he?” 

“Robyn said he is moving supplies from the wall to the tundra to help with Amity.” 

“But the wall… we were only supposed to protect Mantle until he could get that repaired.” 

“That is what Robyn wants us to find out.” 

“Then we should do it!” 

Penny paused for a moment, almost thinking everything over. She trusted Weiss and her judgment, but she also trusted the General. Still, if Robyn was right, then they had to do something to help keep Mantle safe. “Alright, but if we do, then we cannot tell Ironwood that we are working with her.” 

Weiss smiled. “That wont be a problem.” 

[olreid]

hey I've been really loving your neverafter analysis - it made me feel like i wasn't complaining about nothing lmao and you word it much better than I could

so about that, you've mentioned the acoc finale a few times & if you have a post about that or any kind of commentary, I'm really curious to read it

<3 i dont think i have any posts from when i watched, ive deleted most of my acoc posts over the years bc they annoyed me lol. ive gotten several questions about this and will do my best to explain what i mean! it's not going to be super detailed due to i havent watched that season in literally 3 years but basically i just remember the very end of the acoc finale being really like. tonally jarring because the players were saying all this insane stuff about consolidating political power but it was being framed as a happy ending not only for the party but also for their subjects. the vibe was like, well it was tough going there for a minute but now the Right people are in charge, so it's all good now :) just no acknowledgement of the inherent violence of governance via monarchy, which again may be stupid to expect from the dnd comedy show, except for the fact that the content of the season was like. a painfully extended enumeration of The Violences of Monarchy. but i guess we learned nothing :) like let's just read from the wiki briefly about the events of the episode post-siege:

Cumulous asks Liam what is glowing in his pocket. Liam without hesitation eats the seed from Lapin Cadbury. He thinks of the change he most wants to see in the world and wishes that the creativity and magic of Candia would burst forth, and instantly Candia quadruples in size within its place on the Calorum map. Saccharina thanks Liam as the new queen of a lot more Candian land. Far off, Liam hears Lapin chuckling […] Lapin whispers to Liam on his way out, “There’s nothing wrong with being a seed guy.” A new age of Candia is born as Emperor Amethar of the House Rocks embraces his new title and brings a new age of peace to the realms […] Liam brings the Pontifex and Sir Keratin back to life in an act of mercy and locks them in prison for the rest of their lives. He leaves them, and goes back to being a seed guy […] Saccharina tries to find Cinnamon an alternative food source to Bulbian hearts, looking through all of Vegetania before returning to Candia. Just outside the castle, a tinfoil tree grows and a cranky Cinnamon eats the fruit from the tree and then grows gentle, regarding the world with love instead of hunger. 

all of this is soooo stupid and shoehorned to me... why is liam wishing for candia to grow four times larger besides that ally the player thinks that would be a good thing. WHY is liam resurrecting dead people and throwing them in jail framed as 'quirky' besides the fact that they have essentially already rolled credits and so are just ready to frame anything that happens as funny and nice because they don't want to like. get into the politics of it.

and that's not even getting into the rest of the wrap-up where like. all the bad stuff, all the outstanding conflict and tension that would naturally linger after the battle just gets done away with completely for the sake of an ending that is not tainted by even the faintest hint of complexity or violence (again, this is revealing and tells us a lot about what the table considers violent vs. what is so normalized as to not even register as violence in the moment). rather than having to grapple with having raised and domesticated a pet that feeds on people in a time of war and then still being responsible for that creature after peace has been declared, cinnamon is magically transformed into a creature that now only needs the fruit of trees to surivive. the events of the season usher in a reign of peace rather than a rocky period of distrust and repairing alliances or even open rebellion because that is the happiest ending for our royal protagonists, not because it necessarily follows logically from what took place in the finale.

all in all i feel that what the acoc finale wants to convince me of is that the season's conflict was largely a case of good vs. evil individuals rather than complex people caught in and trying to exploit violent systems, and that as long as the good people win out and have the space to rule as they want to, monarchy is not opposed to concepts like happiness or justice but indeed is highly compatible with them. we just needed a good king!!! earlier in the season it felt like there was space to question monarchy's claims to moral authority, particularly through saccharina's abuse and the outsider perspectives of her crew of outlaws. however, by the finale all of this critique has been subsumed into the narrative machine and we're back to cheering for the rulers of candia in their noble pursuit to conquer ever more land, something we hope they achieve because they have shown themselves to be pure of heart and sound in judgement. this was not a actually a forum to question whether a small group of unelected wealthy people should be allowed to govern just because they want to, but rather just an extended job interview for the rocks family, and they have passed with flying colors. anyway.

the reason i compared this week's neverafter to this particular acoc episode is that i think we are again seeing some of the limits of the table's political imagination, particularly as it relates to incarceration; imprisonment has been invoked repeatedly through the device of trapping people in timothy's book, which is either framed as a good or bad thing depending on whether it is done by a protagonist or an antagonist. if the authors or the fairies trap the characters in their respective stories, it's an abuse of power that must be challenged. however, if the party traps an annoying or superfluous npc, or a meddling princess, in their handy portable prison, it's (a) benevolent; the possibility has been raised that trapping characters in this way makes them happy, and may indeed be a way to give them a happily ever after; or (b) violent, but markedly less so than other available courses of action and thus merciful by comparison. there is no space to discuss the inherent violence of incarceration or entrapment even if it is used as an alternative to death, which IS INSANE in a season where the horror that kicked everything off was the horror that what the characters thought were their lives was actually a prison made of narrative.

across these two seasons i think we are seeing an inability or perhaps just an unwillingness to contend with the inherent violence of being held against one's will. the problem for the party seems not to be that characters experience various levels of incarceration by virtue of being trapped in narratives, but rather that the wrong people have been imprisoned while those who truly deserve the punishment roam free. the party, our protagonists, have been trapped in story despite their inherent goodness, while the true bad actors -- the fairies, the princesses, the gander -- are allowed to roam free. according to this logic, simply capturing and imprisoning everyone who advances a plan the party doesn't agree with will be a satisfactory outcome and should be enough to set the world to rights.

tldr it frustrates me as a viewer when d20 seasons make a point to explicitly raise and explore structural issues only to "solve" them at the last minute with individualist fixes that do nothing to address the root cause of said issues. it adds insult to injury when they try to tell me the ending is a happy one simply because it made the party happy, even if others had to suffer for that to be so.

[andyourhostkristenwiig]

I've kind of disappeared for most parts for quite a while now.

I'm sort of back but still not quite.

The festival took a lot of energy but the aftermath even more.

Not even the aftermath itself but what's going on in my life.

My sister is suddenly living with me and no one cares to solve this problem. Like, my parents simply act like she's not their problem anymore now.

But also I never got paid more. The mayor doesn't even care who we are as long as he can act like he was in charge of this festival. Meanwhile the prime Minister of our Land came to our office to congratulate us. And additionally, I don't even have a position right now, I'm just a random helper in a new department now...I scan things, I copy things, I do whatever people don't have the time for at the moment...and my new boss' biggest problem is that I havent brought over the technology from my old office.

So I'm actually looking to get a job fully outside of public administration and to fuck up the mayor and all his leaving employees.

Oh but also. I'm still totally in love with me former head of the team...and I've gotten mixed signals from him.

Also my 30th birthday was total bullshit. I have not had a second to myself for a year now because my sister never leaves my place

I hate everything. I never felt more alone with my decisions. And I don't know where I'm going. Except constantly going to the doctor to not be at work a lot.

[bkaleidoscopec]

"how do u know ur a system if you cant remember your trauma and havent gotten formal testing?"

idk bro the people screaming over eachother during math trying to remember what the correct formula was should be a clue for one

and i swear its like none of the academic ppl that are meant to be in charge of that like its just the most random people who dont even have access to calculators

once we get back to school... it's gonna be a nightmare we have so many more sys members now

- the host

[averysmolkirbo]

Since im working on my fic, id thought id share this other thing i made. I meant to make it an objection.lol, (thats why it's simple) might still do that, but im gonna have to get home first to do that.

I dont have an AO3 yet (i havent written fics before) so the story'll be below the cut.

Its a little wrightworth thing (with some bonus franmaya) its the first thing ive made so lemme know if you like it!

[Courtroom, ~8pm]

"Alright. I'm here, what did you need so urgently that it required me coming here now, at this hour?"

"Huh? Edgeworth? What are you doing here?"

"Oh don't play dumb, you said you "urgently had to tell me something at the courthouse"

"When did i say that???"

"Franziska spoke to me earlier today that you apparantly 'Had to tell me something'. What even is it anyway?"

"I never said anything like that to her. Maya said she wanted me to come to the courthouse for some reason."

"And... you believed her?"

"What? Yes, of course i did! And so did you!"

"You thought she had gotten herself arrested again didn't you?"

"Well, that thought did cross my mind, but really i came because i was sorta bored all alone at the office."

"Hmph. I fear we have fallen victim to some kind of ... practical joke. If you dont have anything else to say, i'll be leaving now."

"No wait, I- I actually do have something to tell you."

"Really? Are you in on this absurd joke too?"

"No, no! I just.... had something i was gonna tell you about the next time i saw you... and you're here already.... so......"

"Alright then. What is it, Wright? Please make it quick. I'd like to get home.

"Oh? What's got you in a rush?"

"I didn't come here to be interrogated. Get on with your question, Wright."

"Ok, just curious.... (Why is Edgeworth acting so strange? Its later than he'd normally be at the courthouse, but its only around 8pm....)"

"I'm just tired, alright?"

"[I thought he didnt want to answer?]"

"What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. Well not to be rude but you look... tired-er than usual?"

"More tired."

"Fine, whatever. You look 'more tired '."

"That's why i was leaving."

"Well what made you so tired to start with, then?"

"I happen to have some very important and complex cases right now. There. That's your answer, anything else?"

"[I swear i'm about to begin seeing things...]

"Hehe, that's me when i take 17 benadryl and i start seeing the hat man."

"Excuse me, Wright, i didn't quite catch that last part. THE WHO?"

"Not The Who. THE HAT MAN."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT. I. MEANT."

"WHOM IS THIS HAT MAN?"

"THE MAN WHO SHOWS UP WHEN I TAKE 17 BENADRYL. KEEP UP, MILES."

"You are absolutely, IMPOSSIBLE. Do you know that??"

"ive been told that a number of times...."

"Not to mention- why on EARTH are you taking SEVENTEEN BENADRYL? No wonder you're hallucinating."

"Idk, 2 just doesnt work for me. Especially if im already sick. Besides, arent those labels just suggestions anyway? Whats the big deal if i take a few more than intended?? I need it!"

"S-SUGGESTIONS? SUGGESTIONS?! "

"I'm gonna take it by your reaction that they arent suggestions?"

"SUGGESTIONS FOR LIVING."

"Calm down, Miles, its not that big of a deal. See, i'm fine. I havent died yet. ive only done it like 3 times or something."

"IT'S- I- I wonder what goes on in that head of yours sometimes."

"haha, this is nothing, ive done worse. Like when i got charged for murder and then ate at a glass necklace to hide the evidence."

"I would be shocked right know, if i was talking to literally ANYONE else right now. But since im talking to you, Wright, i'm not the least bit suprised.

"Let me guess, in true Wright fashion, you escaped with few ill effects from this most foolish behavior?"

"Haha, how'd you know?"

"I think i only had a stomach ache, but that also mightve been what i had for lunch that day..."

"Of course.... What sort magical force do you possess that allows you to be so... immune to harm?"

"Is it perhaps the work of that magical charm Ms. Fey gave you?"

"The magatama? No, dont think so. I think all it does it let me see people's secrets..."

"Well there has to be some secret to your invincibility."

"I don't know, maybe im just lucky?"

"I'd say "Lucky" people can't fall through a BURNING BRIDGE into FREEZING RAPIDS and end up with NOTHING BUT A COLD!"

"AND "NORMAL" FRIENDS DON'T FLY 14 HOURS ACROSS THE WORLD JUST TO MAKE SURE SOMEONE'S OK BUT YOU DIDNT HEAR ME BRING THAT UP, DID YOU?"

"I TOLD YOU, THAT WAS DIFFERENT! LARRY TOLD ME YOU DIED!"

"ok, yeah, fair point. But you of all people should know not to trust Larry."

"Would you have prefered i hadn't believed him??"

"If you're going to be bringing that up, then i'd say that i have some 'decisive evidence' makes you a hypocrite."

"Uh-huh. Sure, tell me what this evidence is then, Edgeworth."

"You changed your college major just to "save" me. Whatever that means. I'd say a "normal" friend wouldn't do that ..."

"I was already considering changing majors after the whole murder trial thing, really.

"Now you're just making up excuses. Ms. Fey already told me about the trial where her sister defended you and your sudden interest in law."

"Well... well.... WELL I LOVE YOU!"

"I LOVE YOU TOO!"

"What?" (shit. The jig's up.)

"What?" (oh god. I cant believe i just said that...)

"You... uh... you say something, Edgeworth?"

"No. Did you say something?" (Oh god, he definetely noticed... think of something-)

*maya pops up from out of nowhere*

"HAH! Gotcha, Nick!"

"Aah! Maya??? What are you doing here?? How long have you been here?!? I thought you left?!"

"Ive been here....The entire time. >:3"

"Was this some kind of elaborate scheme to get us to admit our... feelings?"

"Maybe >:3 , Franziska didn't think it'd work"

"Wait, Franziska was in on your little... scheme??"

"Oh yeah, this was actually all her idea. I just lured you here, haha."

"Wha-"

"Hahaha! You guys should've seen your faces!"

"Yea.... thing is franzy said it was 'getting too hard to watch you two lovebirds pine for eachother all the time'"

"WHAT? What pining?!"

"Nick, have you even ever SEEN yourself after a trial with Mr. Edgeworth?? You always look like your crush just asked you out to prom or something!"

"I-I do?! I mean... um... No i dont..."

"You might be great at bluffing, Nick, but you're the worst liar ever! Even Pearly can hide things better than you!"

"E-even Pearls??"

---

[Defendant Lobby, ~8:30]

"We should go back to the office now, Maya. It's getting late."

...

"Hold on a minute, Wright, before you go.... is what Ms. Fey said true? About you after a trial with me?"

"I guess.... it is, heh."

"Really? You... really feel that way?"

"Of course! Its ok if you dont-"

"Don't try to act like you aren't the same way, Miles Edgeworth!"

"Hi Franziska! Glad you could make it >:3 we're just getting to the good part! I told you it'd work!"

"It-it seems it has, Maya. Thank you."

"And for your information, Mr. Phoenix Wright, this foolish fool feels the same foolish way about you as you do about him. He's an absolute fool at trying to hide it."

(Did.... von Karma just stutter when she spoke to Maya?)

"I- Hmm...(Oh. There's no point anyway... its already out...)"

"I didn't know you felt the same way, Edgeworth."

"Speak for yourself, Nick! You two are the most open books since... since... forever!!"

"How long have you been trying to get us together??"

"Well, initially i wanted to give you two lovebirds time to do it yourselves, but-"

"It was absolutely unbearable watching you two foolish fools around each other."

"Yeah.... franzy originally wanted to just whip it out of you but i covinced her to try my plan first.."

"Ummm... Thanks?"

"You know i'm still open to doing so, Mr. Phoenix Wright.

"Ok! Ok! Sorry!"

"Wright..."

"Yeah? What is it, Edgeworth?"

"Would you perhaps... care to have dinner with me? Now? My treat."

"Oh, I would love to! How about we bring Maya and we all get burgers?"

"That sounds.... Wonderful. Let's go."

"YAY! Burgers! Let's go!"

----

bonus franmaya thing:

"Are- are you and Franziska together, Maya?!"

"I saw her blush while talking to you, and she didnt even call you by your full name."

"Duh! Why else do you think she lets me use a pet name? You know not every couple wants to wait 15 years to confess to each other ... right, Nick?"

"I just thought that she would be the last person you'd want to be with. She did try getting you convicted of murder, remember?"

"Franzy's actually way softer than you think, but don't tell her i told you that."

"Besides, Mr. Edgeworth did the same thing and YOU still love him!"

"That was different! He was my childhood friend and he probably didnt have a choice on who he prosecuted then. Also, Edgeworth has never whipped me to unconciousness before. Or at all."

"Oh yea, i remember that, franzy told me it was one of her favorite moments ever in court. But you also cant tell her about that either, or she might reenact a version 2"

(Maybe stop telling me all your relationship details then....)

"Why did she like it so much?? (is franziska a sadist??)"

"You know what, actually, im too hungry to argue right now... lets go."

"Good choice Nick, lets go get some burgers!"

============

[goremet-chef]

im too big of a coward to play normal on my own i cannottttt do it my role is vital and i cant play it alone!!! my role is resident paranoid and by god i play it well 😁😁 my friend is very. LOUD, they only use the fuckin chainsaw to cut down trees. EFFECTIVE YES, BUT LOUD!!!!! so i need to stand back and watch very very closely to see if anything comes for us. IM SCARED TO BE SNUCK UP ON AGAIN so now im just. my paranoia has tripled in that game and hey! i havent gotten snuck up on since! so id say its technically a win (ramble)

thats something thats different with sons of the forest, yesterday i was alone for like. an decent amount of time when we played and i didnt feel hardly scared at all. GRANTED, it wasnt mutant spawning time yet but even in the forest im scared day 1 to day 100 baby. no, it was relaxing even. SOTF is just. rgRGgrrg

because the forest is an older game its less? i mean sons of the forest is just better like better graphics, better ai, etc etc etc which is great, its a more fulfilling experience in a sense? the game is fucking gorgeous!! the cannibal ai is really interesting, the animals are better ETC like idk to me its just more tranquil and im relaxed more often then not

WITH THE FOREST THOUGH? existential dread all the way through. the beginning week is fairly easy, we usually have some kind of base by then ofc, but after that week passes? im not the man i used to be 💀 i get quieter because i need to listen for mutants, im CONSTANTLY looking around. ive learned that if i see one, i need to be super clear about it (unlike my bestie who literally just saw girl mutant behind me and booked it 😁) im a lot quieter about being startled in that game until something starts chasing me MAINLY so i dont accidentally scare my bestie cuz like.

the forest entire ATMOSPHERE is a little desolate, like i love this game, but god i feel. ITS LIKE YR JUST WAITING TILL SOMETHING GETS YOU IT FEELS REALLY AWFUL SKFJSF for me it honestly has similar vibes to squirrel stapler???? not good KSFJS

anyways no it kills me the amount of chest pain and shaky hands the forest has given me, youd think i just faced god bro

nope! good ol johnny boy and armsy pretty much exclusively? IDK WHY THAT IS.. virginia isnt very loud so i have a hard time hearing her but i tend to see her way before she gets close, and shes not super hard to fight for me? lure her to the water and have her charge into it 🙄 easy peasy. cowman a little harder, they are sporadic and they turn on a dime which is not good! theyre huge. but the charge into the water thing can work on them too. me and my friend need to kill one of those actually, we have all the other mutant heads on our wall except that one 😔

armsy cant really be lured like that? everything about armsy is just. my nightmare. huge, loud, fast. not cool!! we can kill them fairly easily but even still like. IM STILL SCARED EVEN IF I KNOW THERES BIGGER THREATS its so personal between us bro

also i heard if you use the???? rage thing the ANGER BALL you can attract like. a group of SIX MUTANTS, fuck all that noise. i want the peace ball actually thatd be so dope

overall its just. horrible to be honest, and specifically like I CANT HANDLE LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE THAN WHERE WE ALWAYS LIVE (which is where markiplier made his base in the more recent forest playthru 💀) cuz its fairly open?? AND EVEN WHEN ITS OPEN IM STILL SCARED

imagine the fear when we have to go deeper into the forest for any reason 😀

unimaginable, downright painful i know this game has taken years off my life at this point. ITS JSUT SO AWFUL MANN because now that the trees are thicker, you've taken one of my vital senses away which is sight! i am now afraid and have to rely on my ears alone! (cicerocore tbh)

its. SICKENNING I HATE IT SO MUCH RGRGAGR even though i know im strong and i fuck up those cannibals like no tomorrow, even the mutants we dont struggle that much with (besides maybe the blue variants) its still SCARYYY no i hate it. my friend always makes me go with her like okay time to loot cloth from the village cmon bestie lets go :]]

. okay. like I WANNA BE THERE WITH HER BUT no i do not, i just. theyre CARELESS my MC instincts kick in cuz theyre careless in minecraft to and im like. constantly jumping forward in dark caves to kill whatever is in front of us so it wont kill her and leave me alone KSJFS so its like that but worse! i need to listen for both our sakes its exhausting 💀💀 and most of the time there is some kind of mutant in the forest, like only ONCE WE WENT and there was no mutant at the village

ironically despite that run through being flawless, no cannibals no mutants, i was still completely petrified like there was, it was so. NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS IN THE FOREST its just waiting for when something inevitably jumps out at you. but nothing did and ive never felt more uncomfortable in my lifee it was horrible. that one time was directly after we were dealing with girl mutant too, awful vibes the forest like

THATS THE EASIEST WAY TO SUM IT UP, the forest gives absolutely RANCID vibes truly terrible. sons of the forest is pretty and relaxing at times and just nice and the forest?? no its horrific its just terrible awful energy, i love it. this game is gonna kill me but i love it!!

[qualityempathshoebear]

Fuck and Fucked

Well then, a lot has happened, some good things some bad. Ill update you.

Lets start with the good first, i have my last exam tomorrow (geo and physics) and then I never have to see these fuckers again. Very exciting, right? I have to say that I am thankful that my last couple of week of school havent been hell -I mean, they werent enjoyable but definetly not hell. Severly awkward and uncomfortable, yes, but hellish? No. Im so grateful to the girl group that took me in and made verything more bearable. I wouldnt have gotten through it without them, thats for sure. I have actually laughed-cried a couple of times with them aswell. Theyre great people that deserve great things.

Onto the bad. Yesterday my mom called me before i got home to tell me to meet her in the downstairs bedroom/livingroom/study area. She told me my sister had complained about our dad to CPS and accused him of abuse. She is so dumb. He gets andry sometimes, but he is not abusive. Im honestly so stressed by all of this and I feel this panic and anxiety heaving at my chest. She is so stupid. Does she not understand that dad could be charged, and all of us could be removed from our family. She is so fucking selfish. I talked to her and told her to fix it and she said she would but the worst part is that she isnt even bothered or regretfull at all. She is risking our livelihood and reputation for absoluly nothing. Its dusgusting. My parents have completely given up on her and my dad isnt even angry at her, in fact he is so sick of her he hasnt spoken to her at all. If this goes forward, dad could lose his job and this abuse charge could go on his permenant record and then he cant get a job abroad and move. He (we) would be stuck here, as a criminal.

Im being nice to her now, to keep her in check, and insure that she fixes this. But after this is over, I highly doubt me or anyone else in the family will speak to her again, especially dad.

Despite my problems with my family, they are all i have left. If I lose this too, I will be truly alone, and I dont think I can handle that.

Ps. I know this is silly to say considering the circumstances, but the boy with the same name as that of a south American country (except spelled with a different first letter) stopped talking to me and unfollowed me from instgram a while ago.

Also another unrelated update, my dad started applying to jobs again so hopefully we can move, if this CPS thing gets resolved.

Edit: I just found out that she told her math teacher, who just so happens to be my form tutor, and I have to see him tomorrow morning and all I can do is pretend like I dont know that he knows. I honestly feel so defeated. I just want to die. Luckily, its just 1 more day. Just tomorrow, and then im done for good.

Much love!