#i suck at starters so badly

[milkweedman]

Resisting the urge to carve myself a distaff from one of the evergreen boughs ive dragged home and learn medieval in-hand distaff spinning. Do i need to do any of this ? No. Am i happy with supported spinning ? Yes ! Am i probably gonna do it anyway ? ... also yes

[ervotica]

you’re an angel, i’m a dog — a.donaldson

pairing; older!art donaldson x fem!reader

warnings; roughly written, badly edited, not beta’d (because when is it ever?), allusions to smut, implied age gap (reader is early 20s, art is early 30s), slight tashi x fem!reader if you squint, infidelity (but tashi is kinda cool with it), just some thoughts about older!art and his pretty girl

a/n; this concept has been eating at me for daysss so i had to write it at least roughly! should we make this a series? (maybe get patrick involved?🫢) let me know what you think! ART & CHALLENGERS (poly!art & patrick) REQUESTS ARE OPEN! any questions / conversation starters about this particular au are highly appreciated and encouraged!! please come to my inbox 📥 <3

older!art is fucking obsessed with you— you, who comes to every one of his matches, who sits next to his wife in those adorable little tennis skirts you sport just for him, who whoops and cheers from the stands whether he wins or loses.

you’re forbidden fruit. so, naturally, he adores you.

tashi knows, because of course she does. she never pries, never so much as spares you a second glance when he wraps his arms around you and buries his face in your neck and huffs hot air against the shell of your ear. she doesn’t care — you’ve made art better at tennis.

his confidence has skyrocketed since having a pretty thing like you cheering him on, his biggest and most enthusiastic supporter. he plays better, he second guesses himself less, he’s more relaxed.

you’re what’s been missing. the last piece of the puzzle.

an obedient little thing, glued to his side, wagging like a dog at his every command.

he fucking loves it. loves having someone relying on him for love and validation. loves the way you preen under his fervent gaze and flutter your lashes at the slightest touch.

when tashi asks you to join art’s team officially, you almost keel over.

“look, i don’t care that he’s fucking you… or that he’s in love with you. he has a shot at the us open this year, and he needs you by his side to do it.” she says. you’re quick to agree, ever obedient and desperate to please.

“he’s in love with me?”

she scoffs. “you’ve seen the way he looks at you. he almost creams his pants every time you’re in the same room as him.” she tilts your chin upwards with a crooked finger, giving your cheek an affectionate - albeit condescending - pat.

“you two can have your fun— but he has to win this year.”

art’s perched against the doorframe when you turn, corded forearms crossed over his chest. you scrunch your nose, pushing back a smile that crinkles at your eyes despite your efforts.

fucking smitten.

tashi rolls her eyes, a half smile tugging at the corner of her lips, and she nudges you towards him.

“go on.”

he opens his arms in greeting and you’re quick to fall into them, your fingers knotting in the shorn hair at his nape. his chest expands beneath your own as he takes a long breath, and he presses his nose to your pulse point, shuddering.

“love you.” he murmurs into your skin.

“love you more.”

he could cry; he doesn’t remember the last time someone told him they loved him and meant it. you’re obsessed with him, almost as much as he is with you.

at his next match, you carry his rackets and send him off with a good luck kiss that has him breathless, grinning as you roll his wad of gum between your teeth that you sucked right from his waiting mouth.

he wins.

how could he not with his pretty girl watching?

and that night, he rewards you with a thorough fucking, whispered love confessions against your lips, and a breathy moan as he cums that you won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

so, yeah. maybe this life isn’t so bad, after all.

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

What I Mean When I Say, "I Ship Huskerdust"

When I say, "I ship Huskerdust," I don't mean that I think it would be a perfect example of a healthy relationship. Because it wouldn't be.

They've both got issues that they would need to work through if they wanted their relationship to succeed.

On Angel's side, there's the fact that his prior interactions with Husk basically consisted of him flirting with Husk, and Husk making it clear that he wasn't interested, and Angel ignoring that and doing it again. That's harassment.

Yes, Angel stops doing it after Episode 4, but he never explicitly apologises for it. That was a missed opportunity, in my opinion. It was a change for the show to say loudly and clearly, "Hey, trauma sucks, we get that, but it's not an excuse to treat people badly yourself. You grow by owning up to your mistakes and trying to be better than the person who hurt you."

Speaking of trauma...

Angel is being abused by Valentino and exploited in the porn industry. That's not a personal failing. It's not Angel's fault. But it has affected him deeply, and it's something that he and Husk would need to work through.

It's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. Angel will cry, Angel will get angry, Angel will lash out. He will behave inappropriately, and he will keep being hypersexual because he knows how to do it and sometimes it feels like the safest option. And he will have no idea how to just rest with a loved one and trust them. So Husk will need to be the bigger person and take all the ups and downs and keep loving Angel through the dark days.

But I don't know if Husk has what it takes to do that.

That leads me nicely onto the issues on Husk's side. For starters, there's his judgemental attitude. He's a gambler, and therefore believes he can read people and know everything about them. Angel's "It's not an act!" outburst shakes Husk and makes him realise that he didn't really know what was going on.

But even after that, Husk is still judging Angel. It happens in Episode 6, when Angel is offered drugs by Cherri Bomb and Husk says, "Look, you wanna fuck up all your progress, be my guest. I just ... I just thought you were better than that."

Addicts can relapse if they go back to their old environments and old relationships. It happens. And it's probably not a good idea to be so condemnatory about it.

Can you imagine what Husk's reaction would be if Angel really did relapse? Would Angel feel safe opening up to Husk again if he knew how badly Husk could take it?

Sometimes, it seems as though Husk puts Angel on a pedestal. In Episode 8, when he tells Angel, "I guess you have changed," Angel doesn't look convinced, instead changing the subject. Husk sees Angel as better than Angel thinks he is.

And that goes hand-in-hand with when he was judging Angel more harshly in earlier episodes. Husk applies higher standards to Angel.

I think part of the reason why Husk is so hard on Angel is because Husk sees something in Angel that he doesn't see in himself - youth and potential. Husk has made it clear that he isn't trying to get into Heaven. He probably doesn't think he deserves it. That's why he told Angel not to look for answers to problems at the bottom of a bottle, but continued to drink himself.

My theory is that Husk is working on Angel because he finds it easier than working on himself.

It's much easier to judge and boss around others than to acknowledge and rectify your own flaws. To borrow a metaphor from Jesus Christ himself, Husk is trying to take specks of sawdust out of Angel's eye while he's still got plenty of planks in his own eye.

One of those planks being his complicity in the Overlord system.

Yes, I should probably mention that Husk used to be an Overlord. He used to participate in the very system that is now trapping and torturing Angel.

And he gambled with the souls that he owned! He put their afterlives at stake! Can you imagine being owned by Husk, thinking you knew where you stood, and then waking up one day to be told that you were now owned by someone else? Potentially someone as bad as Valentino?

(Now, I don't think Husk ever actually played a game with Valentino, given that he can't seem to remember Val's name in Episode 6, but still, the implications are horrifying.)

Angel didn't have too big a reaction when Husk opened up about his past. But that's probably because he was still reeling a bit from his own outburst. Once it had sunk in, how did he feel?

How can Angel feel safe and loved around someone who used to own souls and gamble with them carelessly? Someone who apparently still has his Overlord powers? Someone who could turn into yet another Valentino in the wrong circumstances?

How can a romance work?

Can a romance work?

Despite all of that?!

No, when I say, "I ship Huskerdust," I don't mean, "I think they're fluffy and adorable and 100% unproblematic." I mean, "Huskerdust contains interesting dynamics that are fun to explore." There's something about their interactions that I enjoy.

And Huskerdust could be a good way for the cartoon to dive into its themes of redemption and second changes.

Husk could change Angel for the better. We can see that, after Episode 4, Angel is willing to be more honest about what he's going through. He actually tells Niffty about the gruelling 16-hour shift Valentino put him through, instead of trying to pretend he's been all right.

If they became an official couple, Husk could show Angel what it's like to have someone genuinely care for him and his wellbeing, not just use him for money-making or self-gratification. Since Husk isn't interested in Angel's hypersexual porn star persona, it would be a chance for Angel to take the time to figure out who he (Anthony?) really is.

Angel could change Husk for the better, too. Other Tumblr bloggers have pointed out that Husk seemed to be drinking a little less after Episode 4. Perhaps watching Angel attempting self-improvement encouraged Husk to give it a go as well, albeit in a more low-key way.

And if Husk was the one who got Angel out of his contract with Valentino, that would be a great culmination of his character arc. It would be his own personal redemption for participating in the cruel Overlord system, because he'd be freeing someone from an Overlord's control. He'd be correcting his past mistakes. I for one would love to see that in a future season.

That is what I mean when I say "I ship Huskerdust."

TL;DR Angel and Husk are not perfect people, not by a long shot - but they could be perfect for each other.

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt for Lottie; a pocketful of Kons.

Bruce went to make a call and Dick went to call off work, because Tim getting a Pocket of not-Superman is concerning and going to require some all-hands-on-deck Bat-investigation, and Alfred went to get lunch started, because he’s a better man than any of them and a true hero to the people. 

And Tim is currently sitting in the cave with a Pocket who still refuses to take off the cape, and since it's no masks in the manor, he's kind of stuck down here for now. 

He wonders who this guy actually is, because while there are plenty of people out there who can shapeshift or whatever, a Pocket is supposed to reflect who they actually are. It's incredibly, incredibly rare for a Pocket to shapeshift at all, in fact, unless they're from a society or species where it's common from birth. Like–Martian Pockets shapeshift, apparently. 

Do they show up shapeshifted, though? And then stay that way? Because that part–that part seems weird. Like, definitely weird. 

Tim actually didn't even know he liked guys, but he hasn't even had time to deal with that weird internal realization because the specific guy that showed up is Superman. Like, not actually Superman, according to Bruce, and Bruce is usually right about these things, but . . . 

Well, then who is he? 

“You don’t make any sense,” Tim says, eyeing his Pocket. “Why do you look like Superman?” 

“Rob!” his Pocket chirps happily, grinning up at him from his seat at the Pocket-sized tea table with a Pocket-sized plate of Alfred’s Pocket-sized cookies and a Pocket-sized rack of Pocket-sized clothes he is Pocket-sized ignoring. He doesn’t seem to like the tea and absolutely hates the clothes, but he definitely likes the cookies. 

Tim probably should hurry up and name him, if only because he clearly does care about names and Tim doesn't want to upset him again. But also, it’s making him crazy to have a mystery right here and be completely unable to solve it. It’s not as if he can question a Pocket, especially not a brand-new one that only knows his name and his codename, and there’s not exactly any evidence to follow or anything, so . . . 

So he doesn’t know, exactly. 

Maybe he should just focus on what’s in front of him right now. Name his Pocket, get him settled in, talk him into some glasses. Maybe find him some more cookies, if the opportunity arises. 

He just–doesn’t know what to do long-term here, he guesses. Taking home a full-grown adult Pocket isn’t exactly going to thrill his dad, for starters, especially because said adult is a man and Tim didn’t even know he wasn’t straight, much less ever tell him he wasn’t straight. And that’s ignoring how badly getting his Pocket out of the cape is going. And he just . . . he doesn’t know. 

“I don’t even know what to name you,” he groans. “I don’t know who you are. I was supposed to know who my Pocket came from before I had to name them!” 

His Pocket frowns, looking hurt. Tim immediately feels like an asshole. A Pocket turning up before you meet your soulmate is supposed to be a good thing, he knows. That’s what everybody says. It means the bond’s going to be stronger. 

At least Superman he’s actually met a couple times. He knows absolutely nothing about whoever his Pocket actually is. 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he tries, still feeling like an asshole. “I just–I don’t even know what you’re like. I want to think of a good name for you."

His Pocket looks a little mollified, but still smaller and quieter than he was acting before. Tim’s not sure if that’s because he sucks at this or because Bruce and Dick and Alfred are gone and he has fewer people to show off for. Whoever his Pocket is, they’re definitely a show-off. Just–very definitely. 

Opposites attract, Tim guesses. The only time he shows off is when he’s trying to draw fire or provide a distraction.

He really expected to get to know his soulmate for a while before a Pocket ever showed up, assuming he ever got a Pocket at all. Probably a pretty long while, given how bad he is at getting close to people. A Pocket showing up out of nowhere before he’s even met the person they came from, when he has no idea who that person even is . . . 

Well, that’s not something he’s planned for. Or been ready for. Or . . . 

He wonders how close they’re going to be, if his Pocket showed up this early. Even if he walked upstairs right now and found his soulmate delivering a package at the door or something, which seems unlikely, it’s just–early. 

Tim doesn’t know why he’d get a soulmate bond that strong. Like–why would he? 

People don’t like him enough to have a bond like that with him. 

“Sorry,” he mutters, and looks away from the Pocket of someone who doesn’t even know him yet, much less care that he exists. 

“Rob?” his Pocket says, sounding concerned. Tim feels like an idiot and just–tries to concentrate on thinking of names. “S” ones, maybe. “S” is a place to start, no matter who his Pocket actually is. His best operating theory right now is Supergirl, actually, because she does have shapeshifting powers, doesn’t she? And also some identity issues, according to Bruce. And showing up as Superman actually might make sense for a Pocket that’d come from her, given she was partially based off him when she was created, so maybe . . . 

“What about ‘Shift’ or ‘Shape’?” he suggests, looking back to his Pocket, who immediately makes a face at both ideas. “Alright, gonna take that as a no. Um . . . ‘Steel’? ‘Synapse’? I don’t know, ‘Stunt’?” 

His Pocket keeps fucking pulling stunts, so it’s tempting, anyway. Or . . . her personality? If he/she is Supergirl, he means. 

Does Supergirl actually have a gender identity, come to think? Is that a thing for shapeshifting protoplasmic lifeforms? 

Hm. Worth looking into, maybe. 

Tim’s Pocket looks considering about “Stunt”, but Tim’s interrupted from gauging his (or her) full reaction by Dick coming back down the stairs. He’s not in costume anymore, and has Red’s wheelchair cupped in one hand and Star floating over his opposite shoulder. Tim’s Pocket doesn’t seem interested in Dick’s arrival, but he chirps excitedly at the sight of Red and Star. Red clicks back and Star croons, flying over to hug him. He grins delightedly and hugs her back, nuzzling into her ridiculous amount of hair until he practically disappears in it. 

“Any luck on the name?” Dick asks as he sets Red down next to the table and she wheels over to Tim’s Pocket too and punches him lightly in the hip before getting a hug of her own. 

“He’s taking ‘Stunt’ under consideration, I think, though all things considered maybe I should’ve gone with ‘Stud’,” Tim says dryly, watching his Pocket take far too much pleasure in trying to hug Star and Red both at once while they avoid actually touching each other. 

“Oh, buddy,” Dick says with absolute pity as Tim’s Pocket lights up in absolute glee. 

“. . . fuck,” Tim realizes in dread, putting a hand over his face. Dick just pats his shoulder sympathetically. 

“Rob! Tim! Tim-Rob!” his Pocket crows happily, abandoning Star and Red to zip over to him and hug him instead. Or try to, anyway. Mostly he ends up smushed against his face and chattering in thrilled Pocket talk as he tries to pull Tim’s hand down. Tim refuses to let him. He’s not going to acknowledge this problem. He’s going to ignore this problem. This problem does not exist as long as he’s safe behind his hand. 

Unfortunately, Stud has super-strength, so that’s kind of a doomed effort there. 

Tim has no idea how he’s supposed to explain this to Bruce. 

[eternalmx]

KINKTOBER PROMPTS & REQUESTS OPEN! 🕷️🕸️

₊⊹⁀➴ Rules : For starters! Most prompts are not mine and can be found here. Now for the fun part! There are different sections under the cut, which have the limit of how many prompts are allowed in the request. Any member of Monsta X is allowed, along with Wonho for these requests. Some of these will be written in full others will be shorts, depends on how inspired I am with each request. If you have son inspo that you would like to add with your request please feel free to do so! 🤭 Some of these will also be on the darker side, but prior to each request, I will clearly state any triggers and list any warning if and when needed. Your mental health is important so please be mindful and aware of warnings when going into some of these. Again, IT WILL CLEARLY BE STATED AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH REQUEST ONCE POSTED. No hate is allowed either, I see hate or negative comments you will be blocked. If something isn’t for you, simply don’t read it, simple as that. Please be as detailed as possible with your requests, some request might be modified if I have a tough time with writing it but for the most part I will do my best to stick with and provide exactly what is requested. So have fun! Requests are open!!! SUBMIT HERE ❤️‍🔥 (Will update once requests are closed and/or out on hold so I can catch up)

⟢ Request Example: [Memeber’s Name] [One liners - limit 3] [Theme] [Kinks] [ Tropes]

⟢ i.e: Changkyun / “Feel this? it’s just for you” / Mirror Sex / Roleplay / Confessions

One liners (Rules - limit 3)

"Feel this? It's just for you."

"Let's ruin ourselves for anyone else."

"I want to taste you so badly."

"Make me beg for it."

"Oh I can do this all night long."

"You surprise me every day."

"Let's find out how much you want it."

"Kiss me, I can't wait any longer."

"Come on, please, do it."

"Oh, you like that?"

"Hmm, you're not very patient, are you?"

"Well, let's see what happens tonight."

"Can you kiss it better?"

"Oh, you're hard to please."

"I had a very nice dream that started like this."

"You are so amazing, please never stop."

"Can you be good for me?"

"It's so hot when you talk like that."

"Stop teasing me and do it!"

"You're still holding back, just let go."

You’re a lot more flexible than I thought.”

“I want to please you.”

“Tell me what you would want to do, if you were here right now.”

“Your shirt got a little dirty, how about we take it off?”

“I want to give you a hickey, so everyone can see how I feel about you.”

“Oh, I love that sound you make.”

“Do you want to take it off or should I do it for you?”

“I never imagined you to be so sensitive, but I love it.”

“Maybe you could use that mouth for more than just talking nonsense.”

“If we weren’t in public right now…”

“Your hand feels much better than my own.”

“As soon as we’re both sober, we can do every dirty little thing you ever dreamed of.”

“Come on, you have to work for it.”

“I’ll take it that you like what you see.”

“Your moans will wake everyone up and I’m oddly fine with that.”

"I want to hear you beg."

"Arch your back for me."

"You look better with my hands around your neck."

"Swallow it. All of it."

"God, you feel so fucking good."

"Suck on it."

"You're so fucking hot."

"Open your legs for me, baby. I wanna see you."

"Don't hold back."

“Ah, fuck.”

"That noise...keep making it."

"Wrap your legs around my waist."

"Let's make this quick."

"Don't close your eyes, baby. Look at me."

"You're mine."

"Such a good little pup, aren't you?"

“Faster—ah shit—harder…”

"I wanna go again."

“I want you. I need you.”

“Huh…uh…keep going.”

“Wait—uh—do…do that again.”

"Mark me. Mark me so everyone knows who I belong to."

"Don't be gentle with me—I like it when you're rough."

"One more time! Please!"

"Fuck—uh! I love it when you touch me like that."

Overall theme (Rule - Limit 1, these are just some options! You’re more than welcome to send in your own!)

1) mirror sex

2) sex in front of a big window where anyone could glance up and spot them

3) fully clothed x stark naked

4) slow sex while one or both are injured (bonus points if it’s after a battle or after they’ve patched up each other’s wounds)

5) body worshipping

6) marathon session (they just fucking keep going, babyyyy)

7) finding a somewhat private area at a fancy party to fuck (coat closet, empty office, secluded corner on the big balcony, hedge maze if we wanna get dramatic, etc)

8) oops, we were just hiding in this closet, but then the close proximity get us too turned on not to fuck

9) revenge sex

10) finding their partner’s sex toy/toys and making them play with it in front of them

11) quickie where you don’t take any clothes off, just tug and pull and expose the essentials

12) fucking, but one is still trying to keep all of their attention on the game they are playing

13) getting a little too handsy on the dancefloor

14) library sex for those dark academia vibes

15) jealous sex in the alleyway behind the bar

16) accidental i love you’s during sex

17) seeing the love marks they left on their partner later and getting turned on all over again remember how it got there in the first place

18) rough sex

19) getting turned on by their partner’s new uniform for work and then roleplaying a bit

20) sleepy domestic sex

Kinks (Rules - No limit go wild! As long as it’s cohesive and can be written in a well flowed manner)

Oral

Toys

Primal Play/Predator/Prey

Bondage

Praise/Worship

Degradation

Orgasm Control/Edging

Roleplay

Breeding/Creampie

Knife play

Blood play

Fear play

Dom/Sub

Impact Play

Overstimulation

Public

Free use (established/consensual)

Breath Play/Choking

Somnophilia

Owner/Pet

Voyeurism/Exbitionism

Photo/Video

Sensory Deprivation

Size Difference

Age Gap

Mask Kink

Predicament Bondage

Twosome OR Threesome (You choose the members)

Why Choose (This will be all members, if requested)

Tropes (Rules 1-2, As long as they’re cohesive, Again, NOT LIMITED TO THESE, feel free to submit your own!)

Enemies to lovers

Fake Dating/Marriage

Only one bed

Kissing as a distraction

Jealousy

Blind Date

Taking care of them

Forbidden Love

Confessions

Friends With Benefits

Cheating

Friends to Lovers

One Night Stand

Second Chance

[panpanghost]

I can't believe it but part 3 of this :

_"Hey guys!" Monkey king jumped off his cloud and into the sand where the gang was waiting at the shore,

_"Monkey king! Are you okay?! Where's Macaque?!" MK asked worriedly,

_"Hey hey, easy budy. I'm as gorgeous as ever and Macaque is asleep." Wukong put his hands on MK's shoulders and he could feel MK relaxing after saying that,

_"Oh, that's great. Wait- asleep? Why is he asleep?" MK went back to his worry,

_"He was trying to find new info about the crown as well and stayed up for a couple of nights so I thought I'd just let him sleep."

_"he must be working hard... did he find anything?"

_"Unfortunately no."

_"Fiddle sticks... But don't worry! We found something! But thankfully it's wrong."

_"Why would you say that?"

_"Because if what we found is true, Macaque would've been dead by now." Mr. Tang added,

_"What?" it was almost a whisper, Wukong now understands why MK was so worried, "Ahem. Why? What did you find?" he asked hoping it's nothing serious,

_"Well, the scroll said it's 'the corrupted king's crown'. It's supposed to take over the person wearing it. Once under its control, they start to destroy everything around them until it absorbs all their energy... and soul..."

_"Well no need to worry. Macaque has healed nicely and hasn't used his powers to destroy anything, so maybe it's another crown or the information is badly translated." Wukong said smiling,

_"Really?! Oh that great!" MK felt relieved, so did everyone else, their faces finally lit up.

_"Show me the scroll and I'll look into it, maybe ask a few old friends."

_"of course, here." Mr. Tang gets the scroll out of his bag and gives it to him.

_"Now that that's out of the way, I feel so much more relaxed and super hungry, I'd love to eat some noodles." Mei said giving Pigsy a side eye and everyone else joined,

_"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!! I GET IT!" Pigzy snaps at her, well... if he's being honest, he's also hungry.

_"Do you and Macaque want to join us?" MK asks the monkey king before they started heading towards the ship to leave.

_"I don't think that's a good idea, kiddo. Staying here is safer for him." Wukong felt his heart squeeze when he saw MK's disappointed face, "Once he's all good, we'll go together and have a feast." he said and winked at MK, and it did make him a bit happier.

Once everyone left, Wukong opened the scroll. Damn it. It is the same crown... Is that why Macaque couldn't use his powers? Is that why he couldn't heal and needed my powers? Is that why he couldn't recover his memories? He did say that he feels pain in his entire body every time he tries to use them...

That's...

GREAT! So as long as Moonpie wears the crown he won't leave. But... the soul sucking part is worrying. He hasn't lost his mind yet so maybe the spell wasn't completed properly when whoever did this put it on him. I need to make sure that part is out of the way-

_"Wukong?" Macaque startled Wukong when he came from behind him,

_"Oh, peach! What are you doing here?"

_"I heard them leave so I came. Did they find anything?"

_"Sorry peach, they only thought they found something but it doesn't fit so we're back to zero."

_"Oh.. That's disappointing."

_"Hey hey, don't be sad, it's just a little set back, you'll be fine, I promise." Wukong hugged Macaque and gave him a little forehead kiss,

_"Yeh, I guess." Macaque said hugging Wukong back, "I just don't know what to do. I'm lost." Why...

_"Well, for starters, how about we take a long hot shower, and then I give you a little massage aaaaand maybe we can watch TV, there's a show I KNOW you're gonna love."

_"*sniff* yeh, that sounds good." Why are you lying?

_"yeh?" Wukong held Macaque's face in his hands, "You have nothing to worry about."

_"I know." Macaque said as Wukong wiped his tears, "I have you."

_"Yeh you do! Now let's go, we'll order some food as well."

_"oh I love that! Can we get some noodles?"

_"I'll get you whatever you want." You just have to stay with me and I'll give you the world.

_"I want a piggyback."

_"pffff, haha! Alright, get up here." he held him on his back and headed back home.

edit: part 4

[salon-maiden-anabel]

figuring out teams for characters who dont have canon teams/only partially full kinda fun sometimes .

I already have talked abt Argenta's team previously bc of CiaCM but im still sticking to my decisions . Meganium specifically is her old starter/possibly child of her original starter? still trying to decide. But Meganium is just such a Her pokemon to my brain in no way i could explain. Same with ninetales it just feels right. Dragonite from the tcg cards and Skarmory from pokemas. Apharos and Floarzel have less explanation else then the vibes just felt right for her

thorton bottom text. Most are from pokemas/one a reference to pokespe team. Rotom just Feels like a thorton 'mon and Cyclizar just feels right in my heart

Darach keeps his canon 5 + gains Haxorus as once again. Trust Me Bro.

Dahlia swaps out Medicham for Quaquaval ! It fits her dancing theme to a t as a fighting type more then Medicham. and also the more i can ignore medicham the better. Gourgeist and Dragapult reserves have just been smtn ive been thinking abt for a couple years now. Which accidentally means she has a lot of ghost types lol

Palmer doesn't change his team. lmao

for the hoenn brains i don't think most of them would shuffle their teams too much and stuff down the line but i do have Thoughts abt additional pkmn they'd have. Specifically how much Greta with a Zoroark would suck so severely it should be banned from the Battle Arena. which is exactly why she should have one. Same logic for Aegislash. "How would she have a Sneasler?" how do half these people have the legendaries they canonically have. Its free real estate.

Tucker's is mostly just following his trend of pokemon that would all later receive mega evolutions bc HOW did all his canon mon receive them. He's the reason the battle frontier didn't return /j

behold the worlds most unique Brandon team /j. Anyways all canon mon else then Gimmighoul which just FEELS like a brandon pokemno but specifically not a fighter. It just sits in his office and torments Samuel

Lucy is Lucy. Lucy has snakes. I imagine Serperior would run a contrary based set to rough up people unprepared. The entire second row are non-combat pokemon though! Arbok being an old pokemon from her youth who was already old when she caught him and is now a little too under the weather to battle all the time. Dunsparce. Typhlosion Mamoswine and Skitty are based off some of her anime-only housecats but i let the first two evolve over time! Skitty is a menace to society. Skitty will make everything Your issue. Lucy refuses to accept anyone trying to tell her that her Skitty is the worlds biggest problem causer skitty.

Noland. Running out of things to say. Gestures with my hands.

I have not added any new pokemon to Anabels list of pokemon. She just has so fucking many between sun/moon and the anime originals

However. That was Fallerbel. Mega-timeline/non eeby deebied Anabel gets a different team layout then her since their life experiences after a certain point are completely different

Spenser gets a Tangrowth bc that just feels right. Given its been a little over 10 years im not sure he works at the frontier anymore though that man is over 100 :sob:

I'm still to this day deciding who takes over the Battle Palace in his place [ive been thinking abt wally but am mortified of being accused of copying other people :sob: so i gotta think] But since Anabel gets deebied to megaverse theres a spot open in the Tower for a new Tower Tycoon so. Slaps oc that needs to be redesigned so badly in here, Dia. She's Perrin's cousin but i created her before Perrin existed :sob: so feeling meh on her design. Anyways.

[occasionallyprosie]

"Choosing Your Path"

Chapter 1: "Lives Taken"

Event Masterlist

Next>>

"Why can't you ever just use a map! Follow the path!" Legend complained, Hyrule grinning in front of him. "Why would I even bother? It's so much more fun to not! I make my paths," Hyrule declared as he laughed. Legend covered his eyes with a hand. "You’re exhausting. "I'm the Traveler and I choose my own paths! No map can tell me what to do!"" He mocked. Hyrule just laughed at him. ...Legend wasn't laughing anymore.

Febuwhump 2024 | Alt Prompt 10: Last Man Standing

Read On AO3

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Major Character Death

They were set up for failure, Legend realized.

For starters, they were in Hyrule's era, which already was bad for them. Secondly, they were ambushed in a ravine area, high, steep slopes on two sides and monsters closing in on all four.

"Get a vantage point!" Warriors yelled. Legend whipped out his switch hook, hissed at Hyrule to swing at him, then shot at one of the archers overhead.

He switched places, only disoriented for a moment before he was drawing the first blood with Hyrule carving his switched monster apart.

Wild scaled the other side of the ravine, Legend trusted him to handle it.

He whipped out his fire rod and sent a strong blast along the ridge and at least knocking over a dozen monsters. With his general area cleared, he drew his bow and shot down a monster running down the bottom of the ridge.

They had a strong start.

He heard Four scream, he saw the smithy get thrown into the wall of the ridge. Rocks crumbled toward him and it was a pure shot of instinct that had him throwing a hand out and shooting as much magic as he could.

With the intention to protect, a magic shield formed above Four, and the rocks bounced off it.

He'd never done that before, but quickly jerked the shield larger, over the whole group, and angled it before the rocks fell again.

A few boulders crushed the incoming swarm of monsters.

"Thanks Vet!" Four called.

"Don’t make me do it again!" He called back, drawing back his bow and shooting one of the lizalfos on Wild's ridge.

A wizzro appeared across from Legend and set a magic sphere at him. It wasn't the basic elements, but it crackled with dark magic.

Alright new shield magic don’t fail now-- he pulled it up and the sphere slammed into it. Instead of bouncing off, however, it pressed further and Legend had to pour more magic to maintain the shield.

Then it exploded and the magic, though it didn't touch him, the force sent him flying back into the ravine.

"VET!" Someone screamed, Hyrule, he was pretty sure.

Thankfully, he wasn't dazed. He twisted and landed... still very badly, but not awful. He managed to roll, which sucked on rocky ground, and as a result only his shoulder was screaming in pain. He got back up as quick as he could, forcing his shoulder back into position then drawing his sword.

He heard something slam--metal crunched and Twilight screaming.

Time was injured. He looked over and sure enough, a daira had gotten to the old man. An axe had sunk into his side. Legend saw him slice off the daira's head with that giant sword of his, but he lost vision of them.

Hyrule pressed against his back. "I can't get to them!"

Legend dug out his switch hook again, his best and favorite option at getting through thick hordes of enemies, and shoved it into Hyrule's chest.

"Switches places with the target! Do what you have to."

Hyrule startled, then he nodded and launched the switch hook.

Next thing Legend knew, beside him was a lizalfos and he was cutting it down.

"CUB LOOK OUT!"

A sinking pit formed in Legend's chest, he chanced a glance up and saw Wild dodging an arrow only to get caught in the ribs by a flying javelin.

"NO!" Twilight cried.

Legend cursed. Sky was already hookshotting up and defending Wild.

We're not winning this, Legend realized. Even if we do kill them all.

He had to put distance between himself and the group. He had to pull out his stronger items and abilities, this could go much more quickly if he could.

The Bombos Medallion and Quake were just out of the question, Ether would do just fine.

The temperature dropped several degrees as ice exploded ahead of Legend.

An arrow whizzed past his ear, slicing it open. He hissed, covering the bleeding with a hand and slashing his frigid blade ahead of him.

He heard a yell. "CHOSEN'S DOWN!"

How?! He was--That's Time, Wild, and Sky. Oh goddesses, he really had to pick up the slack, and he had to do it now.

A whole minute passed before Legend forgone any option of holding back. Right before he made that decision, he heard Hyrule call out for the Captain, and then the Smithy cried out in pain.

Five down. That left the Sailor, Traveler, and the Rancher.

That's when he dropped any bars, newly discovered shield forming behind him, he released a pure explosion of flame and force in front of him.

The ravine shuddered, he staggered from using two medallions but still turned around and tried to take out the monsters he'd protected in efforts of saving his brothers from the explosion.

"SAILOR GET--" Twilight's voice cut out and was covered by a scream.

Legend actually could see the blood now. Four was unmoving with a huge, moblin-wielded mace on his chest. Warriors was trying to get up with four arrows in his back and a fifth in his chest, Legend couldn't even react fast enough before a sword impaled his stomach and he watched the light dim from the captain's eyes. Time was unmoving not far from Hyrule, who was yet untouched, thank the goddesses. Legend wasn't sure if Time had been healed or he was dead. Wild was crumbled on the ground, the spear still in his chest and Legend could see his blank eyes.

Sky was getting back to his feet, tearing a blade from his chest. He raised his blade upward and Legend watched him let out a battle cry as lightning split from the heavens and in a similar display of his own, blasted the monsters that had come from the other side of the ravine.

He collapsed right after. Legend finally spotted Wind, who had a huge gash almost bisecting him from his shoulder to his hip.

Twilight didn't last a minute later than the sailor. Legend was caught off guard by a pair of bright gold lizalfos, taking a spear to the side and barely dodging the sharp tongue. At that moment, from the corner of his eye he spotted Twilight get caught by a ball and chain, sent into the rocky wall, and he didn't get back up.

Legend blinked and Hyrule replaced the lizalfos beside him, spinning and slashing through a nearing moblin.

Their backs met.

"Just us still standin'?" Hyrule asked and Legend noticed the blood seeping down his head and how quickly his tunic was becoming soaked, a deep gash in it. He must've just been hit.

Legend nodded. "If any of the others are, I haven't seen or heard them."

"Well--I got your back."

"I got yours."

He wanted to get to Twilight, cover him until he got back up, but that was just not an option. Even with his and Sky's powerful attacks, monsters still flooded in. It was an army in the ten thousands, and Legend didn't know how many he had killed, but it was in the single thousands now, and he was matching his total kill counts from each adventure.

Hyrule must be used to unending battles like this too, and considering they were in his era, most of the monsters were ones both of them were well familiar with.

Legend didn't know how they were the last ones left, luck or what, skill? Maybe, but he knew the other heroes should've been right beside them still too.

Maybe the other heroes were more used to different battle styles, now that he thought about it. If any of them ever had to fight such a large horde, they probably had companions and therefore trusted someone to have their back and to cover their missteps. The only exception was Sky, but Legend didn't even know what took the Chosen down the first time, and he'd seen him collapse after his display of power, which had been a last ditch effort to help. Warriors was used to companions, Wild probably wasn't but he had admitted to depending on stealth to handle large masses, the Sailor and Rancher definitely weren't used to this, nor was the Smithy, and Time? Legend never knew anything about Time, but he knew the old man had been hit early, so considering how well he'd noticed his defense was, Time was probably targeted off the bat.

The difference between Legend and Hyrule, and the rest of the heroes, was first, they'd all agreed their monsters were just generally stronger, faster, and more dangerous. It came from the saturation of darkness because of Ganon's victory and reign. Wild was the same. The second difference was that, for Hyrule, he didn't have any companions so fighting to this extent alone was his usual, and for Legend, he had the experience. He hadn't fought a battle to this level, not this many opponents, but similar enough that it was like he was doing the smaller group over and over again. That, he was familiar with.

Legend lost count, he lost track of how many monsters he cut down. Just that he and Hyrule had to move before they were stuck atop a pile of dead bodies.

He grew exhausted soon enough, then he lost track of his brother.

He took an arrow to the arm at some point.

The battle went on for so long his magic had replenished enough for him to use a fire rod.

Eventually, he sliced through a monster and staggered. He expected another one to follow and yet...

Yet it was done.

Hyrule was still standing too, Legend wondered how they'd survived.

He pulled the arrow from his bicep as he staggered toward Hyrule, who was swaying.

"Rulie?" He called.

Hyrule turned, and with blood soaking his features, he smiled. "Hey... hey Vet."

"Hey--RULIE!" He dove forward and caught him as he collapsed. "No, no--come on, hold on. You’re not supposed to die before me, that's not how being my successor works."

"I'm sorry," Hyrule breathed softly. "I couldn't save the old man... Had to stop to keep fighting... I'd be surprised if any of them survived at this point."

Legend would be to. He'd also be surprised if either of the two of them survived their wounds, especially since the group had ran out of potions two days ago.

"But..."

He raised his hand to Legend's face and Legend froze as he felt his magic.

"Don’t you--No!" His wounds healed, faster than Hyrule usually could heal which meant-- No. his hand was glowing gold.

Hyrule caught his hand. "I... I choose my path, right? No maps make me do anything."

How dare he use Legend's teases against him?! Now?!

"J-Just make sure my body's burned, kid."

"You're barely a year older than me you jerk! Don't do this!" Legend begged, as if that would change anything.

His body flashed gold and Legend could feel the divinity that always encased his successor fade, the Triforce released from its protector to wherever the goddesses wanted it.

Hyrule was gone.

Legend was unhurt, he realized that as he got up, standing over the whole massacre.

He looked around, monster bodies were finally just about gone... and he could see the bodies of his brothers, all dead... all gone.

How--goddesses how--was he the last man standing?

"I can fix it for you," a voice spoke up from behind him and he spun. He drew his sword out and held it at their throat. "For a price."

Next>>

[bullet-prooflove]

Clean: Trey Cahill x Reader

Tagging: @@mariashane @kj77 @tiredmarshmellowuwu @choppedgalaxynerd @herwordslikebutterflywings @flopiboni @words-and-seeds @aiko24k @@kane-nero-6 @wabi-sabi1090 @kmc1989

Trey used to traffic drugs. His dealer used to give him ten grand to transport a few bricks of coke over the border into Arizona under the guise of delivering one of the classic cars he’d been restoring to a buyer.

It was usually a five hour trip to the stash house. He’d drop off the merchandise, take his cut and then get high in a shitty roadside motel. He’d stay there for days until he was right again to drive the five hours back to Vegas.

He doesn’t do that crap anymore, he hasn’t since Folsom got him into rehab two years ago. That’s when he got serious about restoration, started turning a profit on the garage, building a client base. He may not ask where all of his spare parts come from for the sake of plausible deniability but the heavy stuff, he’s out of it.

If he gets caught it’s not just his life he fucks up, it’s yours too. You’re already getting shit for dating a former criminal, you will never admit it to him but Folsom had filled Trey in after the scuffle with the defence attorney. That stuff, it reflects badly on you, it puts you under scrutiny.

He’s kept his nose clean since then. He’s stopped going to the bars with all the shady shit going on, lost contact with the people who could suck him back into that life, tossed his burner phones. He’s gone completely legit.

He has his head tucked under the bonnet of a 1969 Chevy Corvette when Killian turns up at the garage. There’s a problem with the starter, he’s still trying to figure it out when he hears someone clearing their throat behind him. He knows it’s Killian, even before he glances over his shoulder. He’s been trying to get a hold of him for days now, putting the word out through the people they used to have in common for Trey to get in touch because he needs the cars to move product.

“You’ve been ignoring my calls.” Killian says as Trey straightens up and turns to face him.

He’s leaning against the hood of a Stingray Trey’s been tuning up, his hands are tucked into the pockets of his black leather jacket. He looks more haggard than the last time Trey saw him. Dipping into his own supply, Trey thinks.

“That’s not my life anymore.” Trey tells him as he picks up the rag from his work bench and uses it to clean the grease from his hands. “I thought you would have got the message when I stopped buying drugs from you.”

“Hm.” Killian says as he holds up a baggie of coke between two fingers. “So I assume you don’t want this.”

This is how it starts, he remembers. A freebie, a little fun, before he knows it he’s five grand in the hole, doing ‘jobs’ to pay off his debt.

“Do you think I’m really that weak?” Trey laughs, crossing his arms over his chest trying to ignore the twitch in his fingers. “That I’m going to jump back into bed with you because you offer me a bump.”

“I think if I leave this here.” Killian says setting the baggie down on the workbench alongside Trey. “I’ll be getting a call from you in a couple of hours’ time for a little more.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.” Trey bites back and Killian gives him that smile, the one that sets Trey’s teeth on edge.

“Once an addict…” Killian says, pushing the baggie towards him.  “…always an addict.”

It’s a few hours later that you turn up at the garage. The lights are still on despite the late hour. Part of you is worried and the other part pissed because Trey was supposed to meet you for dinner tonight at that little Chinese place you both like. You’d sat there for an hour before you realised he wasn’t coming. He hasn’t been picking up his calls or his texts.

When you step inside you find him hunched over the workbench with his head in his hands. Your hand comes to rest on his shoulder and he flinches at the sensation before he turns his head to look at you. His eyes are red rimmed, the vibrant blue shining through the frustrated tears as the muscle in his jaw clenches.

“Trey.” You say softly and he takes a sharp inhale of breath before he tilts his head towards something on the workbench.

“I need you to get rid of it.” He says, his voice pained as you follow his gaze to the baggie of coke. “If I touch it…”

He trails off because he doesn’t need to say anything else.

Two years sobriety, everything he’s worked for, it’ll be gone and he can’t go back to that place, not when he’s come so far. But the thing is he can’t seem to help himself. His mouth is dry, his fingers itch, he can feel himself giving in and he’s powerless to stop it.

You pick up the baggie and tuck it into your pocket. The relief is visible, Trey exhales for the first time in what seems like hours, the tension seems to flood out of his body as he uses the back of his hand to wipe across his eyes.

“I need to know what happened tonight.” You say quietly. “How this ended up here.”

If it were anyone else including Folsom he’d lie, say one of his customers dropped it because he wouldn’t want them to know about all the bad shit he’s done in the past. But it’s you and he’s always been honest with you and that’s not about to change today.

He tells you everything, from the product he used to move for Killian, to the nights he spent high as kite. You listen quietly, your hand holding his and he’s grateful for that because being here with you, it keeps him anchored, it reminds him that he’s more than just his addiction.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He says quietly as he clasps your hand to his cheek. “Really I don’t.”

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Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[crystalelemental]

When I was a child, there was something that really bugged me in Pokemon games. Why was it that some Pokemon showed up so late? I really like Misdreavus, but it's all the way in Mt Silver! Even smaller issues like Seel in FRLG felt annoying. I have to beat five whole gyms without this thing? Why even pick it up? This led, inevitably, to my first hacking device: a GameShark for Gen 3. I have a vivid memory of replaying FRLG, excited to hack in my own personalized and very normal starter, Articuno. Articuno was so great when you caught it! Surely it would be even better if I could use it all game!

Now...I did not have the internet at the time. And by Gen 3, I was perhaps overconfident about not needing a strategy guide. So while you may know what happened already, I did not know what was coming. Articuno sucked. Like, really bad. If you look at it, it turns out the answer is obvious: it only knows Gust and Powder Snow as attacks until Ice Beam at level 49. Which...hey, wait a second. That's only one level below what you catch it at to begin with! And it turns out, this was similar all over. Seel didn't learn anything but Headbutt until level 17, it was useless against Brock despite its typing. What is going on? Why do all these Pokemon I like when I catch them at the intended time suck so badly when I get them early?

At the time, I blamed it on the Pokemon being bad and just hacked rare candies. But over time, you begin to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the game was designed on purpose? That maybe there was a structure to the game at large that kept things in balance. With age, it stops being "this was badly designed because I didn't get what I wanted out of it," and starts to become its own thing. To quote a famous Nuzleaf, I believe all of this is happening for a reason.

Friends...let's talk Sword and Shield.

My team was Rillaboom, Thievul, Butterfree, Mr. Rime, Alcremie, and Dragapult kinda sorta, with additional showcasings for Carkoal and Perrserker. I say sorta kinda on Dragapult because I intended to use it, but it didn't fully evolve until after I beat Leon. Oops!

If the intro wasn't a giveaway, I want to talk gameplay first. While we'll get to the story issues, I think gameplay matters more to Pokemon, and is the bigger problem that keeps Galar low on my list. To get some small housekeeping out of the way first:

I will not be harping on graphics, I don't care. Yes I know performance isn't good, but it's mildly annoying at worst.

I will not be harping on designs, they're largely fine. The starters are one of the weakest sets, and the box legends might be my least favorite, but there are plenty of good ones to the region as well.

I will not say "game too easy," but I will be discussing factors that led people to that assertion.

I will not be talking about Dexit. While I hated it at first, having calmed from it, I think it's for the best. I liked when Gen 5 forced you to use the new stuff to generate new favorites, and if anything Dexit should go harder by removing Home so they can more severely tweak stats and movesets between generations.

My problem with Gen 8 gameplay my very well be my own preferred means of playing, but I'm going to attempt making my case with three examples.

First: Growth via TM progression. In my Crystal run, I ran a Togetic, and have a pretty rough time of it. Togetic was never particularly strong, but it had an arc, picking up Mud Slap for Morty, Sunny Day/Solarbeam/Flamethrower for several Kanto gyms, and then falling back on Psychic/Zap Cannon when the earlier set wasn't working out. Togetic had an arc of struggle, in which it had to find tools that made it work for each phase of the game, that came down to recently acquired TMs the game provided naturally. Barring Flamethrower, all of these were free acquisitions.

Compare this to Thievul is Galar. It also is pretty bad, despite access to Nasty Plot, because its best attacking move is Snarl. It needs TMs to learn anything else. But in Galar, TMs are no longer infinite, as TRs now cover the really good moves. And the only way to get them is random den drops, and random shop items around the Wild Area for thousands of Watts, when a full den gives only 300. Acquiring the specific TM it wants is next to impossible. Dens aren't guaranteed to be Dark type, and even if they are, you could get other dark moves like Crunch. The shops aren't guaranteed to sell Dark Pulse, and even if they are, how long will it take to farm 5000 Watts? There is no control over what the Wild Area produces, and thus no arc to be had for anything specific.

Second: growth via learnset progression. In Emerald, I ran a Mawile. Caught at level 37 in Victory Road, we needed several levels before it could learn the move that would give it relevance, and the EXP options were scarce. I had to use an EXP All, cutting the entire team's EXP gains just for Mawile to catch up, while trying to find optional areas with trainers left, and at times trying to keep Mawile in to win the fight herself. There's a struggle and a cost to the growth unit perspective.

Compare that to my Butterfree. Until it gained Quiver Dance, Butterfree contributed little beyond the occasional Sleep Powder lockdown. It took off once it learned Quiver Dance, but the means of getting there was just...have it in the team. Even on the back row, it'll be fine and catch up with no real issue. There's not much of a struggle to overcome, or a sense that you're building things. It just kinda happens to you.

Third: Galar's Intent. I do not have a comparison point for this, but Mr. Rime. Probably my MVP! Once it hits Mr. Mime, it has Icy Wind, Psybeam, and Dazzling Gleam. With a Thunderbolt TM I had randomly picked up from an early den, it had excellent coverage that took down a majority of the region past its evolution. This was a fairly fun find.

I think that's the intent of Galar's structure: accidents. Surprises. The Wild Area lacks any sense of control, holding events locked to the day and forcing save commitments that refuse to allow soft resets for different outcomes. If you can roll with the punches, and accept whatever comes at you, this game probably is a lot of fun. That's probably why my wife likes it so much. But if you can't...well, you're like me, and this game is really difficult to appreciate.

I will, however, argue that it's not just me. The Wild Area's structure is awkward, being the sole home of a lot of different Pokemon, who will only show up under specific weather conditions and at very low rates. Look up how to find Dreepy some time. But the dens lack control as well, unless you manipulate the system's clock in the right way. Then, even if you find something you want, you have to hope for the random TM to drop too. I decided to use Rillaboom because I never once ran a starter, and part of Rillaboom was wanting TMs that required time manipulation to find in stock. If you come in wanting literally anything, the Wild Area is very likely to deny you. You have to come in wanting for nothing at all, working only with what's handed to you, to have a good time.

Which feels crazy disingenuous to me? Pokemon is all about the little critters you can find, and growing an attachment to things you want to catch. Not everything even comes from what's randomly found, sometimes you see something in an enemy team and get really excited for that thing. Like, imagine seeing something like Cursola in Allister's team, and going man, that looks cool! Regional Corsola and it gets an evolution, sign me up! So you go out into the world hoping to get it, only to find that it shows up exactly 5% of the time under one (1) specific weather condition in one (1) region of the Wild Area. Better hope that one area has the right weather condition or there is no way in hell you're getting that Corsola!

I just...I get that replaying Pokemon games is a thing, and that each experience can be different, and that having some random outcomes is beneficial. But Galar takes it way too far. I think their intent was to give players technical access to what they want right away, without making it actually available. See, this is something I heard and agree with: Pokemon is most engaging while you're building the team. Postgames have felt difficult for me to appreciate because my team is done, my moveset is done, I don't want to do the volcano in Platinum I just want to finish. You need to have a ladder to climb and a goal to reach for the game to remain engaging. But players are also impatient, and have gotten worse with this series over time. Learned movesets went from situations where Gyarados learns very little of value naturally, to learning its best Water move at like level 21. Players will tell you they want the feeling of being done early, but that provably kills the experience.

Another thing I'd do with hacking as a kid was bring in all TMs. Yeah, let's start HGSS with a Swinub that has Ice Beam, Rock Slide, and Earthquake, what could go wrong? It turns out everything at once, as you just clobber the entire early game with no resistance. There was no real challenge to approaching the game in this way, and the run turns stale fast because oops, Swinub had its best moveset right out the gate. I started a lot of runs in those days but rarely finished, and it's why nowadays I do have some compulsion about the purity of a run. It can actually take away part of the joy. And more than likely, the devs know this too. So if players demand the ability to kill that joy, but you want to sustain it, what's the compromise?

Make it all so random that it's borderline impossible to account for anything. Yeah dude, you can get everything right away! But you can't get anything specific at all. Which solves nothing and creates new problems. Because now there's no progression toward the endgame outside of learnset, and some learnsets in Galar are hilariously bad. You ever looked at Coalossal's moveset? Its best Rock move is Rock Blast at 54. Good luck not using TMs and making that thing work to any enjoyment. It feels like they overshot the mark, and for anyone who plays like I do, thinking about what Pokemon you want to run or trying to chart a course for the game, it's naturally going to be miserable. Galar still ranks really low for me, but I at least feel like I understand what Galar may have wanted to do.

Gameplay aside...it's time to talk about the aspect that got my wife laughing at me, and will probably have @alphakuriboh saying some things too. Story.

Much like XY, Galar is generally considered a low point for story. Doesn't make sense, antagonist is stupid, etc, you know the drill. However, I do think they Galar was cooking to some degree.

Rose is the main sticking point regarding story, because...again, the antagonist's actions are the only story we get in Pokemon. And he kinda pingpongs. Worried about a millenium from now, he refuses to wait 24 of god's own hours for Leon to finish his sports tournament, and unleashes hell. He acts sad about the state of affairs but resolved that he must do it, then after you beat him is back to borderline cheerful about how fun battles could be. You solve the problem, and Rose turns himself in, never to be heard from again. That is. An event, my dude.

Thing is, I think his actions make more sense given his character, and the theme of Galar. Galar's big theme is a sort of "passing the torch," best summarized by Opal. The old need to know when to step out of the way, but we're not done yet. Opal's stance and her actions tell the full picture. It's not that the old blood needs to disappear, but rather that at some point, the young need to take ownership of their future. They're the ones most impacted by the conditions going forward, after all, and it's important they be granted the ability to decide for themselves what they want.

Rose, as a character, denies that entirely. He manipulates the younger generations for his own ends, and his motivation is about maintaining his own view of things and his legacy 1000 years in the future. Yes, it's a far off problem that can be solved a bit later, but that's not the point. This is his problem, and it has to be solved his way. And most importantly, solved how he commands it. His lack of patience isn't about truly being so hasty. It's about forcing Leon back into compliance. Even if Leon didn't strictly say no, it wasn't a yes, and that's not how this goes.

Rose acts kind, propping up Leon as the unbeatable champion and giving Bede his position and mission. But his actions aren't altruistic. Leon now holds the same neuroses as Rose, taking everything on as his own responsibility. Accidents at the power plant? He'll talk to Rose, you all go on. Dynamax Pokemon going out of control? He'll take care of it, don't worry. Eternatus is unleashed? He'll catch it and take care of it. That last one is even what Rose wants! Leon falls completely into his expected role that Rose shaped for him. Bede also falls exactly into the role he expects, even if it results in discarding him and banning him from the competition as a result. Rose controls the youth in order to shape his vision of the future.

While I didn't play it, I imagine this is the intent with Shieldbert and Sordward, too. Control over the truth of the past alters what you think to do in the future, and so they are just another iteration on this idea, albeit less fleshed out.

Rose's future also lacks accounting for everyone's future. Spikemuth is in horrible poverty because they lack a power spot to draw energy from, or to Dynamax for spectacle from. Any future Rose builds will continue this inequality. His vision of preserving the future isn't a net positive for others, but that's not important. What's important is that it's his future. Which is why he lets himself be locked up. If the energy crisis was really the main concern, then your character catching Eternatus and beating Leon should result in another attempt. It never comes because at this point, whatever happens next is no longer his future. He can't care if it's not what he wanted.

The flip flop on his general mood state is a little harder to read with certainty, but I imagine the intent is one of cycles. I doubt he crafted this company from nothing, and his family likely had their own expectations of him that led to him perceiving every little thing as his concern and losing connection with the fun of things. It's a bit messy, but I'd be lying if I said the start of his fight with him gripping the Pokemon wasn't a cool individual scene.

Now before I get too positive, I do think Galar's story is also rife with problems. Primarily, its refusal to engage the player in anything. We feel utterly disconnected from anything going on with Rose or the region, because Leon's taking care of it instead of us. It does hinder the feeling that we're doing anything particularly important or special.

I also feel like some of their decisions were rather...poor, regarding passing the torch. Mostly Magnolia, if I'm honest. I think the decision to not even use your first old female professor to play up her 20-something granddaughter is...telling. God forbid female professors be old, they have to be super young and pretty. I just think it would've been more interesting to have Sonia acting as assistant to Magnolia and piecing together what your player character does instead. It gives Magnolia more spotlight, and gives Sonia like...an actual function beyond turning to you all the time to ask what you think, rather than posit ideas of her own.

Lastly and most vitriolically...what is the point of Marnie? No really, why is she here? Spikemuth's situation is understood, but Piers carries all the interesting stuff. Refusing to Dynamax as a statement about the inequality and the value of its residents is fantastic, and Marnie just throws it out the window. She holds no convictions, and at no point in the story does she really do anything. She's around for the ride until Piers shows up and has an actual emotional stake in things. His own passing the gym leader torch to her doesn't even feel valuable because she's so disconnected from his philosophical stance. I think Marnie should've been the one out here making that statement by refusing Dynamaxing while climbing the League's ladder, and Team Yell benefits from this as their interference can be interpreted as concern that their one chance for a Champion is playing risky by not using Dynamax for some political point. She just feels pointless.

The less said about postgame the better. That entire sequence is just tedious and annoying and completely missed its mark dramatically.

Unlike Kalos, Galar remains low on the list. I'll admit, I have been harsher on the game than was strictly called for, but I maintain it's one of my least favorites. Its entire design is just so functional antithetical to what I like in these games.

Next...I'm gonna be real, I have no idea. I'm kind of in stasis right now. I don't feel like replaying Gen 9, that's too fresh. I considered White 2 but didn't love White 1, so I'm hesitant. I considered ORAS, which...might be next. And for my own console time...it's either BDSP or I pick up one of the games in my backlog. We'll see what I feel like doing tomorrow.

[beoneofus]

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬 | 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞

unedited

++

for starters, he never asked for a soulmate. not one like you, nor any other specimen on the planet. paul always thought he'd be alone, whether his mate was already dead or just didn't exist, so he never had the faith of meeting the one he was meant to be with forever.

he slept around, got high, partied, ate til he was nearly spilling it all out. maybe it was a way to cope with his self doubt and inner termoil, or perhaps the was just meant to be a fucked up, horny vampire that loved rock music and bud.

but then you came along. you moved to santa carla and hit the boardwalk just like everyone else, only difference was you didn't fall right into his palm like every other person did. despite your guys’ pull to one another, you weren't interested.

your mother actually forced you out that night. the days were flying by like nothing, and all you did was stay in your room. very little did you come out to eat, and when you finished using the bathroom you just journied right back into your safe space. your mother was sick of you not only just lounging around, but isolating yourself from the world and showing interest in literally nothing.

then, you just so happened to walk past a certain blonde that night when you were headed over to one of the many stands that lined the boardwalk. he instantly caught whiff of a sweet scent and couldn't help but accidentally run into you.

from there, he'd bother you, until eventually you began chatting either him. It took some time for you two to grow close because of your lack of trust, but it happened at some point. he let you in on his secret, and surprisingly you weren't freaked out. you just asked lazily if he could keep the gore away from you for the time being.

when you two finally became an official pair, you spent more time around his brothers (or friends). they didn't take much of a liking to you due to you not being very interesting.

although dwayne seemed the most kind, he found you to be a drag. you really sucked the fun out of almost everything - at least in their eyes.

paul saw you as something more, though. whether it be the soulmate bond or not, everything you did he was astonished by. everytime you weren't paying attention, he'd admire you as much as possible; lips usually fell open on silent amazement.

he'd always watch you. there wasn't a minute that passed where the man wasn't admiring your beauty every time he could. if a girl tried to flirt with him? he'd brush her off. if a guy tried to compliment his hair? he'd thank him, but would be staring at you. if a person tried talking to him? he would ignore them, as simple as that.

but, back to his brothers not liking you. he didn't exactly enjoy that, nor take kindly to the shit they said when you weren't around.

“ I'm tellin’ you paul, you gotta ditch that bat! ” marko would comment, arms flying into the air dramatically. “ they're boring! ”

payl ended up settling that, that night by beating the ever living piss put of that vampire. his eyes were narrowed, breath ragged, mouth and hands bloody. marko looked no better. usually, those two were as close as a pair of kings, but you? you were more important to him.

“ that's my soulmate, man. leave them out of shit. don't let me hear any of you speak badly about them again. ”

this man always stuck up for you, and was always by your side. sometimes you were completely oblivious to it. but, other times, when people actually dared say shit to your face, he was right on their ass; nose to nose, nearly fist to face.

“ come by them again! huh, I fucking dare you! ”

you never voiced it, but you were very thankful for him. you never noticed before, but paul actually made things more enjoyable.

you slowly began coming out of your shell more, the more you were around him. smiles were pulled from you often, whether paul actually saw it, or if you managed to hide it. you sometimes cracked a small chuckle at his cheesy jokes and god classic pick up lines. the way his hair always blew out of his face and surrounded his head when he road his bike, actually made your heart race.

paul was so, so pretty in your eyes. you had never felt like that for someone. you never even seen anyone in such an admirable perspective. but him? this vampire gave you heart palpitations and it took you so long to realize.

when paul got into fights on your behalf, you always felt bad. It got to the point where you actually volenteered to clean him up. he was surprised the first time around, cause usually you'd look at him with an unreadable stare, and watch as he stormed off.

but, after having him sit in front of you back at your house on your bed, dabbing a cotton ball covered in hydrogen peroxide over his face, he didn't question it; instead, choosing to enjoy the attention you gave him. it made him melt, the way you were so focused on your work. your caring gaze, which was new to see. the way your lips parted, the way you chewed on your bottom lip out of nervousness.

everytime it happened, silence hung in the air. paul knew you were awkward when it came to talking, but he learned to admire that. with the way he was practically speed gonzalez, it was refreshing to have someone who was opposite to him. someone... not necessarily calm, but down to earth and different.

you were the yin to his yang.

the first time he mentioned taking you on a date, it was very... odd, on his end. for one, he's never been on a date; not for a while, at least. for two, he had no clue how to approach you. what if you rejected his offer? what if he made a fool of himself? paul wasn't one to question his antics, but with you it was so different.

he had went with getting you your favorite flowers, the darkest shade he could come across. a note was attached to them, and silently you had read it.

“ pleeeease go on a date with me. If you do, I'll buy you those gummies you love! ”

you looked up at him with a neutral expression, only to see him smiling nervously, big and wide, practically sweating bullets. It was actually laughable, but the best you managed was a crooked smile.

“ I'll go with you.. ” you croaked out, nervously clearing your throat. It was adorable.

paul literally cheered. pumped his fist into the air, before jumping up and down in a circle, nodding his head wildly. he ended up picking you up by the waist and spinning you around too, leaving you to gawk at him. everyone could've swore he proposed and you said yes.

your dates were nothing special at first, but eventually they progressed the more comfortable you got. paul wanted you to feel safe, loved, cherished... he truly cared about you.

everything you two did together, he took his time. he knew that's what you truly needed. someone who was chill, fun, but also understanding.

that's why he never complained, because he needed someone too.. someone who actually took the time to get to know the real him. he needed you.

[msmargaretmurry]

☕️ caps next season, what are you hoping for?

thank you for asking, anon!! i am hoping for a fun season. this past year most of the preseason predictions were that they were going to suck and i was like "y'all i think they're going to be better than THAT" and they WERE and i love being RIGHT but they were still, you know, not particularly good. and i love them anyway but we all love winning so i hope there is at least a little more winning.

(i think there were a lot of factors going into last season beyond them just not "being good," whatever that means — there were so many injuries, a good number of young players just starting to find their footing in the league, and i don't think it can be emphasized enough how hard losing nick backstrom on the ice was for them. even though the injury had been hampering him for a few seasons now, just — what a blow. it's so hard to see a player forced to step away from the game before he's ready to go.)

anyway some SPECIFIC things i would love to see are: dylan having another career season and being one of the team's leaders in goals/assists/points again. i just want him to thrive. i really want sonny milano to get to stay healthy and have a career season for himself, too. i'm really excited to see all the younger guys continue to grow — mcmichael, lapierre, miroshnichenko, protas, fehervary, iorio, sandin, alexeyev. it's been a while since the caps had a real contingent of young players and i love watching them!! i especially love seeing guys make the jump from hershey to sticking with the big club. i hope they make the playoffs and win at least one game. i hope tj oshie is able to get the medical care he needs to play the one last season he clearly wants so badly to play. lots of love to darcy kuemper but i hope we trade him somewhere he can be a starter again and we can sign a nice cheap backup for chuck and spend that darcy money on something nice elsewhere in the lineup. and obviously i hope ovi breaks the goal record. it would suck for him to score like 40 and have to wait another entire offseason to see him score the last two 😂

[positivelybeastly]

What's your take on bendis interpretation of beast?

To put it bluntly, I think it sucks.

And because it's me, we gotta overanalyse, SO HERE WE GO.

For starters, Bendis is just a very . . . limited, writer, in general. If you search his name on almost any comic book related forum that he's done an associated run for, you will invariably find a lot of people talking about some fairly massive characterisation slip, or some intense continuity fumble, or a run that started strong and ended badly.

Superman, the Guardians of the Galaxy, to say nothing of individual characters who have suffered under his pen like X-23, Jon Kent, or Wanda Maximoff - the man just isn't good at writing characters that aren't his own. This may be why his run on Alias is so strong, that's his character, she's acting within the boundaries he set, that's completely fine. But other characters?

If you want to see a more professional level takedown of especially his dialogue, have a look at this. It's a fairly damning examination of the tropes that drive his writing, but try the quiz at the end of the page and see how many of the characters you can identify by dialogue alone. You will be shocked at some of the ridiculously huge deviations from a character's established voice he's responsible for.

But we want to get specific, so let's get specific, shall we?

So, in order to establish why Bendis' characterisation of Beast is out of whack, we gotta establish what Beast was like beforehand. In the past 10 years before 2013, what's he been up to?

Well, Hank's well into his secondary mutation storyline at this point, struggling with a new, more animalistic form that comes with a strong bloodlust, one less finger, new senses, new drives, and a strong sense of body dysphoria/dysmorphia that I, personally, quite identified with. Hank's neuroses are still fairly strong on this, but he is getting better, in no small part thanks to . . .

Abigail Brand. Hank's partner (I don't like to use the term girlfriend or love interest for Abigail because they honestly feel a little beneath her), they have an intense, occasionally combative chemistry, but they love each other to the point where Abigail tells Magneto in dialogue that she wants Hank's children at some point, and Hank has a near nervous breakdown when she's temporarily killed in Si Spurrier's X-Men Legacy.

Struggles with ethical and moral quandaries related to mutantkind's survival, as well as the use of lethal force in superheroics. Between the Ghost Box laser strike, the Secret Avengers nuclear bomb, the Endangered Species experiments, and the Secret Invasion Legacy Virus bioweapon, Hank has been involved in quite a lot of ethically dubious things - by his standards, anyway. By the standards of Cyclops or Captain America, Hank literally hasn't done anything wrong, but Hank holds himself to a different moral standard. This is especially important.

A tenuous relationship with the X-Men, to the point where he's only come back to the Jean Grey School to spite Cyclops during Schism/Regenesis. Prior to this, he had left the team, and multiple members were downright hostile to him on first seeing him again afterwards.

So, we start off All-New X-Men #1, and what's up?

Hank is dying because his body has randomly started to mutate.

. . . Why?

Iunno, just is.

The more I think about it, the less sense this really makes, because literally every other time that Hank has mutated, there has been an insanely specific reason why. He ingested MGH, he was experimented on, Infectica/Pestilence touched him, Sage jumpstarted his mutation, etc - but here, it just sort of. Happened? And this really bothers me, because Hank's mutation is really important to his character arc. His relationship to his body and his outward appearance and how he experiences the world on a tactile, emotional level is one of the building blocks of the character.

But because feline Beast isn't drawn consistently, and people are nostalgic for 90s simian Beast, we're getting a new form just 'cause. I feel like a fairly massive rule in writing is that things never happen just because, and yet, this whole thing is happening just because.

It's also killing him. Now, this opens up a really interesting can of worms that I don't think Bendis really thought through, because this is actually a tragic, on-brand thing to happen to Hank - he hates his mutation so much, and now it's literally trying to kill him. He also fairly obviously does not trust the other X-Men to be able to help him (which is proven correct by the narrative) and is in a helpless, depressed enough state of mind that he accepts he's going to die.

I feel like Bendis didn't realise what he'd done here? He's set up Hank as this isolated character (which he is) who doesn't feel like he can trust the X-Men to help him (he can't) and who is in a depressive enough place in his life that he doesn't drop his normal workload to do anything more worthwhile with what may be his final days on Earth. He just keeps trudging on, lugging around heavy equipment to the X-Jet, coming when called, telling his friends he's fine. He's given up on fixing what's wrong.

Fellas, do we call this attempted suicide? Iunno, maybe we do?

And it's in this state of mind that Hank hears Bobby say, man, if only Scott could see himself in the past, he'd hate present Scott.

Now, I don't really accept the conceit that Hank hates Scott enough to blow open the timestream in a fit of pique. I straight up don't think it's his style, he's not been established to have the capability, Hank can occasionally be reckless but mostly with his own life, not other people's. Especially not when we have all of these exchanges to consider. But fine, Hank's in an altered state of mind, he's dying, he's panicking, he's not thinking clearly.

Bendis will promptly forget all of these facts and pretend that this is some grand plan Hank had, and no-one ever even addresses that Hank was about to die. The X-Men are all very happy he's alive again when his younger self fixes him, and no-one ever asks, so hey why didn't you mention you were dying? Which? I think? You would do?

Abigail Brand will also be established to have broken up with Hank off panel for some reason so that Bendis can have Hank make a joke about not getting any in a while.

Bendis has already blown out two of the four main storylines that Hank had through the 00s for basically no reason. Because he doesn't like cat Beast, and because Abigail would logically stop Hank from doing something this stupid and care that he's going off the rails, so they've got to go.

Friends, they were broken up in 2015. We still don't know why. We have never. EVER. Gotten a reason. They apparently still care enough about each other to finger empty eye sockets, but not enough to, you know. Kiss or hug or fuck or be on panel together.

In fact, I'm gonna fuck you up right now. This is from Kieron Gillen's series during Secret Wars.

"Abigail Brand's War Journal.

Today I answered two questions. Firstly, what had happened to Hank. Secondly, of Perfection, the zombies or the Wave; which I hate the most.

I was hoping Hank was still alive. I hate myself for that now. If Doom above listened to my prayer and arranged this, then it's my fault.

I should have hoped he was dead. If he was dead, the Annihilation Wave wouldn't have been able to capture him, and turn him into what tried to break through the Shield this morning.

Killing him wasn't easy, but that'd be just as true if they hadn't changed him. Who would want to kill Hank?

McCoy was a kind man. Kinder than me. Kinder than anyone.

He didn't deserve to end up like this.

I don't want to write anymore."

Abigail Brand is not a women often inclined to sentiment. But Hank inspired it in her because he's so kind. He's soft. He's gentle. He's loving. He's tender. He's moral. He's just.

You can hear the love in Abigail's words, just as I tend to believe that you can hear the writer (my boy Kieron Gillen) loving Hank, too. There's just such a sadness and a sense of tragedy and lost opportunities here. There's a sense of someone so wonderful and so great being lost.

Where is any of that in Bendis Beast? He's just - to put it bluntly, he's an idiot. Not a goof, not a clown, no, he's an idiot (derogatory). He doesn't have any smart plans that save the day, he doesn't provide sage counsel to people who need it, he doesn't have anything constructive to add, he's just an idiot. When Scott turns up on the lawn and calls for everyone to revolution, he just.

Growls?

I'm sorry, what? Is this the same man who has absolutely no fucking shits to give when it comes to chewing out Scott Summers or not?

Hank had no problem giving a page long monologue to past Warren about his actions and why they were necessary a page before, but the instant the target of his derision is on the lawn in front of him, he just? Growls?

Like, just admit that you don't like Beast, Bendis. Why is it that Matt Fraction, who writes a somewhat poor Beast, and Chuck fucking Austen of all people, know that even if Hank is wrong, he should still win the argument through pure rhetoric power because his most notable super power is that he's super fucking smart and he won't shut the fuck up, but you don't, Brian?

Why's Beast got nothing to say? Why isn't Beast bringing up any of the stuff that drove a wedge between them in the first place? Why isn't he bringing up X-Force? Why isn't he bringing up the multiple suicide missions Cyclops arranged for people, including his son Cable and Nighcrawler? Do you not remember those or do you just not care, like, WHAT? Even if you, the writer, do not believe that Hank is in the right, he should at least act according to character and at least try and win the argument.

But Bendis Beast is stupid, so he doesn't try.

I don't even want to talk about the Watcher issue of All-New X-Men #25, or the Uncanny X-Men #600 issue which is a lot of other characters having arcs while Hank gets his shit kicked in by a lot of people who seem to be very much tired and unhappy with him. I legitimately just don't want to cap those issues because they make me sad and I just. Don't. Like it. It doesn't feel like Beast to me.

Hey, you wanna know what the Beast-Storm relationship was like before this issue?

"Henry's voice does that funny little quavering thing. He's still worried."

These two know each other and care enough about each other that Ororo knows what his voice sounds like when he's concerned but doesn't want to push, but sure, she's just gonna fuckin' browbeat him like that. Okay. Sure.

I fucking hate Bendis Beast so much. Without Bendis Beast, we wouldn't have Percy Beast, and I hate that Beast even more, because Bendis at least knew enough that he could make Beast an idiot and not evil and the fandom would swallow it. He had to cop to mind control to justify it.

But that's all it takes, isn't it? The step from, Beast is a good guy, to, Beast disagrees with Cyclops, to, Beast is an idiot, to, Beast is a race traitor, to, Beast is a Bond villain. Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the road to Percy was paved by Bendis. All it takes is an inching up, and suddenly you go from Beast being given maxed out scores for Wisdom and Conscience in a 2010 handbook, to using Wolverine's brain as a fucking sock puppet in 2023.

Oh yeah, and speaking of socket puppets, you want to know something infuriating? This future Beast, who is established here to be a puppet of Charles Xavier II? He gets murdered by Magneto off panel fairly violently because I'm fairly certain that Cullen Bunn just kinda forgot that this version of the Brotherhood is two actual bad people and a load of puppets.

What a hero. Thanks, Cullen, I really feel good about it???

And you know, it's that . . . it's that basic derision for the character, that basic ignorance of continuity, that plagues Hank so much these days. There's just so much that instantly flags as wrong if you know him, if you bother to read his stories, if you actually just read the comics instead of going by Wiki summaries. If editors did their fucking jobs.

Mm, no, he's not a doctor. He's 17. Doesn't have a doctorate yet. And when he did have a doctorate, it was in Biophysics, not medicine. Henry McCoy was not a medical doctor at age 17. Try harder.

The fuck you even sayin' to me, Bendis? Try harder.

A) That's fucking creepy. B) Hank was never in love with Jean. Try harder.

Like, just.

It's the basic facts of the character, Bendis. And I can go on! I can go on and on and on and on and on but I don't want to. All I can say is?

Try.

Harder.

It's just so embarrassing, watching professional comic book writers struggle to try, and fail, consistently, to write Hank McCoy. Because when he's written well, I can buy him doing morally suspect things, because the writer has established that they are trying to challenge Hank, that they are interested in poking at where he will and won't go. Because Hank will cave to peer pressure, and do what his friends think is right. Because Hank is insecure, and needy, and dependent. Because he feels like a person, with an actual psychology.

Lemme show you some things.

Warren Ellis wrote Hank getting more blood on his hands than I can conceive of, but I never call his Hank out of character (except for the occasional ableist slur that Ellis has him drop out of nowhere) because Ellis gets why this matters to Hank. Ellis understands that Hank cares. Ellis understands that Hank does know what consequences are.

Did you just feel the ambient intelligence in the room go up? You sure fucking did. Isn't it immediate, just how quickly you feel the difference when you go from braindead Bendis Beast to Ellis or Hickman Beast? Is there not just an immediate uptick in eloquence, in brilliance, in humanity, in soul?

The things that Ellis or Hickman had Beast do are more monstrous and awful than anything he did during the events of All-New X-Men. But because they had sympathy for the character, and because they bothered to write him as anything more than a sock puppet to oppose Cyclops, he comes across so very differently, doesn't he? One of these versions of Beast invites derision. The other invites sympathy.

Fuck Bendis.

[csmicletters]

✨Name your least favorite Islander tag game!✨

Thanks to my amazing friend that just called Lucas out for tag me in this @perfectlysunny02

So I have a lot of characters I don’t like… but let’s talk about Bobby, shall we?

For starters, I didn’t even know about the fandom when I first played S2, but I found him a bit obnoxious… after finding the fandom and figuring out he was a favorite I never got why, but I have some reasons…

Well… Bobby is a little bitch. The mind games and I just can’t.

Boy gets insecure, ok… understandable cause most guys were at least slightly interested in the MC, but the whole Operation Nope gives me the ick of him strongly. Like he started to stir the pot, he hyped Priya (and MC, even worse if you are on his route, said he wouldn’t mind), then when given the chance to save the person helped him with it, he saved HOPE instead of PRYIA! Acts like a jealous victim to MC… for absolutely no reason other his own entertainment, I guess.

He is also ALWAYS putting MC second to everyone else. Specially Lottie.

The hype just makes no sense. Ok, he is a bit funny as a friend, but that’s it… he got nothing going on for him.

They tried to do a wanna be Tim but lost on the mark BADLY. Tim was not a romantic option but he was loyal and your ride or die. Bobby, sucks to suck.

For this game I’m tagging: @justtuesdays and @rebelrayne and anyone who chose violence and feel like joining.

[showtoonzfan]

This is a random thing to ask you, but what do you think of Moxxie's Mom? Imo she's the best character that was released in the new episode, but I feel like they could've done more with her. Like giving her an actual name lol.

Yeah I agree. I’m gong to get into nitpick territory with her, but they could have done a WHOLE lot more with Moxxie’s mother. For starters, it feels like her entire existence was just used for drama, like they literally dangle her corpse for shock value to the audience, and this wouldn’t be so bad if there was more to her. We don’t even see her face in the flashback for seemingly no reason, and like…we get to meet Crimson and his impact on Moxxie but not her? Sure, she’s nice, she was caring towards him while Crimson was a jerk and she didn’t want her son to get involved with him, but that’s it. We literally blink and then she’s gone. What’s worse is that like some other critic blogs have been saying, Viv CLEARY didn’t plan all of this out from the beginning. I’m going to nitpick again, but Moxxie never came across to me as someone who went through something THAT dark during childhood, especially since he was the one who killed his own mother, yes…Crim MADE him do it, but Moxxie was a child when it happened, for all we know he could have blamed himself. It’s just…kinda hard to acknowledge the impact Moxxie’s mother had on him when the first time we meet her IS ALSO the same time we see her killed, which is why I call Viv too impatient and too ambitious as a writer, cause if you’ve read my constructive criticism post, you’ll know that I wished this episode would keep her in the shadows but acknowledge that she existed, show Moxxie uncomfortable by her mere presence, and have Millie point out in the beginning that Moxxie NEVER brought up BOTH of his parents. Keep Crimson’s mask on until the end of the episode, and either introduce more about Moxxie’s mother in a later episode through MOXXIE’S perspective, or Crimson’s perspective, or maybe even both, anything to get to know her more. But unfortunately that’s not what we got, and guess what? After that flashback, she’s never brought up or acknowledged, she wasn’t even acknowledged in the entire episode, even by Moxxie.

I could be speaking too early, maybe they have more planned for her, but I doubt we’ll be able to see her on her own with Moxxie or even be mentioned without Crimson being attached to her so Vivzie can soak up how Uwu bad he is. Still, even if she does come up later, this episode should have been different regarding her. It already sucks that Moxxie never brought her up in the past or even seems to be scarred for killing her, again, none of this felt planned, they couldn’t even give this bitch a name. Knowing how Viv writes these episodes, she’s probably brainstorming as we speak how to bring Moxxie’s mother back into the picture, since she doesn’t plan ahead with these things, and the upcoming episodes from the trailer sure as hell don’t follow the events of Ex’s and Ooh’s so……..god Moxxie and his mother deserved better effort and writing. Feel like Viv poured more effort into freaking Crimson because she wants to have dark moments for this silly demon show so badly but never thinks the rest through or know where to go from there, and that’s a problem. That’s why I get so ticked, I feel like these dark themes feel so cheap, they feel like a desperate attempt to seem deep, even though the person writing this has NO idea how to handle these themes with respect or knows what they’re doing.

[whumpshaped]

Am pulled El close, worry growing as their shaking continued. for the five sentence starters

you've got this zi! sending good energy your way

Am pulled El close, worry growing as their shaking continued.

"Topolina?" He held them tight, as if he could stop the trembling by sheer force. "It's okay. It's all gonna be okay. You're safe."

El gave a quiet whimper in response, one that didn't sound like it was even trying to mimic words. They clung tighter as well, sucking in shallow breaths one after the other, almost gasping for air.

"Remember that lullaby I taught you? The one you wanted to learn so badly?" Am hummed the first few notes, just to jog El's memory a little. "You wanna join in? You love that song."

It took a bit. It took time, and Am gently rocking them back and forth, and a lot of encouragement, but it worked like a charm. El's breathing was slowly going back to normal, since the melody required them to inhale for more than half a moment at a time. The shaking gradually lessened.

"There you go, baby. Feeling a little better?" El nodded against his chest, and Am smiled. "Good. We can keep going if you want. Or I can keep going, 'till you fall asleep, or calm down some more... Whatever you'd like."

"I love you," they murmured, muffled by Am's bunched up, tear-soaked shirt.

"I love you too. I love you more than you know."