#i think it could be more flavourful but i'm mostly just in it for the Vibes so it's fine

[reachexceedinggrasp]

Hell bent and heaven sent are a tragic love story. Who literally cannot see it? Whouffaldi is not only Canon but it's a parallel to so many of the great gothic romance films of the 80s and 90s.

Yep! idk some people are in denial.

Like obviously it's fine if you just want to see it as platonic and are cool about it. But I'm always blindsided by the goofy comments on youtube videos etc. where they act like the very idea there could be romance there is an insane suggestion. Where they condescend to shippers as if we're delusional for seeing what's there. I'm sorry, if you're going to be confrontational and smugly wrong at the same time, I'm going to point out that you're wrong.

[echthr0s]

you already know <3

[dan-crimes]

I gotta complain abt being a picky eater here for a sec cuz I'm lookin @ all this stuff on the breakfast menu and there's always the SAME ingredients in all these SAME food items and it would be SO much easier if I could just order food without having to think of all the stuff I DON'T want on my food cuz I always gotta put in so much effort to look into every single ingredient in every since food item that I order bcuz I DON'T LIKE MOST FOODS !!! SMHH !!

[veilantares]

Dark at the End of the Tunnel

Sink into an Anglers grasp in a dream, like the undersea the Night cradles screams

Been inspired by anglerfish recently, so I'm going to try to do at few of these dark background ones back to back and see if I stumble into something new. I noticed I tend to draw characters / mechs / robots in these oneshot illustrations extremely lanky, but I wonder if I made a comic, whether I'd keep these exaggerated proportions - I'm often indecisive about how much mech vs character is in these biomechs, so I usually just don't think about it and draw what feels interesting in the moment.

This gives me a chance to lay down a meandering anecdote - many years ago as a dumb teenager, I'd stay awake every Friday evening / saturday morning till 4 am, hoping to catch my favourite developer, Digital Extremes' weekly devstream. I vividly remember during closed beta in 2012 people would introduce the game as being about futuristic space pirates zipping through corridors - the games fidelity back then was really quite different, one of the early warframes, Ember, even had her whole model redone at one point. Around 2013-2014 ish when I was most excited for these streams, I noticed the games tagline was "ninja's play free", nothing at all to do with pirates - but it was catchy, and you'd see all over in the advertising because of the parkour moves you could pull off in the game were genuinely sick.

Incidentally, both the Defiance MMO (rip) and Destiny 1 (rip) were what warframe tended to be compared to at the time, both released a little after warframes closed beta, neither of which were piratey or ninja-ey , I think probably 80% of the reason for that was that they all had both guns and abilites ... I guess they were also all live services, I don't know if they were called that back then.

Compared to Defiance and Destiny, I was puzzled at what it was about warframes identity that made the aesthetic feel "itself" - and I got my answer on one of those devstreams - the art lead at the time brought out what they called a "faction pitch bible" a one pager showing all the factions they had in the game at the time, each of them with a few lines of flavour text.

What struck me from that faction pitch was that the Tenno / warframes "cyber knight" description was nothing at all to do with pirates or ninjas, it was a third, wholly other thing, and yet by virtue of being first, it might as well have been the "true" description.

But there was another original, even more original than the "true", Warframes predecessor game, Dark Sector, was a spy thriller with biomechanical aesthetics, or perhaps a powered suit superhero series. Would this original, more original than even the initial, not be what it truly was?

I think what my takeaway was from all of these, is that first an foremost, the aesthetic is "itself" rather than any arbitrary descriptors - I enjoy this about my own pieces, that they mostly still feel like they were made by me even if I can't quite categorise them or explain myself. Perhaps I'm happy if the takeaway is "cool mech", "weird robot" or "wacky character" because maybe it's all of those things and even more!

[toskarin]

A question of curiosity - assuming you play them due to your involvement with a bunch of them, what are your favourite kinds of characters (be it mechanically or narratively) to play in TTRPGS? And do you have any associated anecdotes to go with them?

courtesy readmore

mechanically kinda depends on what's on the menu, but if it's combat-focused, I personally really enjoy characters who "deny" things

not really the kind of character who I'd ever expect a GM to put in their element on purpose (I usually make a conscious effort to remind the GM of things I'm capable of so that I don't trample on any fun setpieces) but definitely the kind of character who modifies objectives just by being in play. I also like magic-users in concept, but that's more of a flavour thing

I think that's reflected a good bit in the kind of narrative play I enjoy, too. when I make a character, I prefer to do it with the rest of the party in mind, less to make the character "compatible" and more to make them sharply contrast in ways that encourage the other characters to have moments where they can reaffirm who they are (both in narrative and out of narrative)

there's a fine balance to strike here. on one end of things, you risk yes-manning so hard that the party quickly becomes a problem solving engine with a single striking surface. on the other end of the things, you risk being The Chaotic Neutral Guy

the space in the middle there represents the characters that people often want to regularly interact with, but rarely want to play. the sort of character who isn't actively disruptive, but raises a lot of red flags when they suddenly show enthusiastic agreement for what you're doing. the kind of character you almost need a diminished sense of discomfort to play without getting in your own feelings about

I adore playing characters who are catered to find plot hooks in other players' characters and tug them just enough to pull them to the surface

most parties have characters who disagree on things that aren't easily resolved. that's always fun, but (because people courteously tend to avoid conflict) it's very rare for those conflicts to come up without GM prompting, and "create productive conflict between two characters without leaving out the rest of the characters or starting a fight between players" is often an equally uncomfortable situation for a GM

lots of fun directions to take it!

have an arc that would benefit from a character taking charge but their player doesn't feel comfortable just Doing That? it helps to have someone else try to take charge who obviously should not be allowed, just to get everyone behind the alternative

have someone with a pure heart who doesn't really get to show that in a party of players who don't want to be mean? maybe someone who's a little more morally-compromised could give them a window for explaining what they actually believe

have a character who's part of some mysterious cult that nobody else is going to find the time to look into? the party could benefit from having a nosy character to justify cracking open that backstory

GM needs to fuck something up to remind the party of how dangerous things are? why not add to the mood by showing what your often-cold character looks like when something manages to actually upset them

[WARNING: DOING ANY OF THIS WALKS THE PRECARIOUSLY THIN LINE BETWEEN BEING COMPELLING AND BEING ANNOYING]

observant readers (well, those who have followed for a while) might have noticed I periodically go on rants about the much-maligned "evil character in a good party" and how both sides of the argument represent a communication and courtesy breakdown. that also very much ties into this sort of thing. I won't go over Tolerable Villainy 101 again, but you get the idea

distilled, I like playing the sort of thoroughly worldly bastards who often end up important in their own right, but mostly on accident, by virtue of being important to what makes other characters compelling

[tealfloyd]

LOOKING GREAT IN A DAY OF HAVOC

“If MC’s going to die, at least she would do it with style~”

SUMMARY: After a stressing week of homework, MC has to spend her free day with every dorm; to top it off, she drinks Grim’s unknown potion (Everyone x Fem!Reader).

WARNINGS: Death mentions but as a joke (?) There’s not really anything triggering, I think.

CONTENT: MC changes her dress everytime she enters a dorm. Wedding mentions in Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Scarabia and Diasomnia. Every outfit is inspired on the villain except Scarabia. WORDS: 6K+

A/N: I’m glad some of you actually liked this concept, I’m not really good describing dresses and anything regarding clothes if I’m being honest, but I tried my best.

Now onto the fic~

It's six in the morning and you already feel tired, groggily standing up to overcome the busy day you have ahead.

Last week you had to do a lot, and when I say a lot is a lot, of homework; so much that you had barely seen yourself in the mirror (Vil gasped at that because your hair was starting to look like a bird’s nest).

Because of that, the time you usually spent with your friends decreased greatly, the only interaction that you had with them being a quick greeting; and sometimes your overworked mind didn't process the 'hi, MC' they were pronouncing.

When you had free time to spend with them (mostly half an hour or less), they asked you if you wanted to participate in some of their activities. Absentmindedly, you agreed to it, scribbling down on your paper without actually knowing what you were saying yes to, only saying the day you would be free.

That day has come, and it’s stuffed to the brim with different events featuring every dorm.

It was a miracle that the hours didn't collide, and it’s not like you could cancel; you have seen how eager they were when you said yes, and you didn't want to disappoint them.

Once you showered you walked down the stairs, heading to the kitchen so you could get a boosting drink, not really thinking about taking breakfast when the first thing on the list was assisting to Heartslabyul's tea party.

You saw a glass of juice sitting on the top glass of the fridge, and you decided to give it a try, because what’s the worst that could happen?

It tasted bitter, and you frowned at the flavour, gagging while placing the now empty cup on the countertop, almost letting it drop when a yell came out of nowhere.

“Henchman! What are ya' doing!?” Grim hurried over to your side, recognizing the singular vase you were previously holding.

“Ah, drinking juice?” You sent him a confused look while washing the cup. “You made it? You could have added more sugar to it...”

“That wasn't juice MC!” Now you’re confused.

“What—?”

“That was my credit potion for Crewel's class!”

Oh, oh.

You dropped the cup in horror and shock, being at a loss of words.

“Why the hell would you put an unknown potion in the fridge!?” You started to drink water, hoping that would ease the effects of whatever you just drank.

“I suppose I may have forgot to take it out... But that doesn't matter! Now I don't have anything to present!” You stood there, ominously glaring at him. Grim really has to be grateful that looks can't kill.

“Grim, what was the potion for?” Your tone causes him to have shivers down his spine,

having a murderous aura along with piercing and threatening eyes.

“Ah, well, I... Really don't know...” He muttered the last part, but it was still heard by you, only increasing your rage.

“You don't know!?” You calmed yourself down after seeing Grim at the verge of tears, taking deep breaths. “Okay, if it's for a Crewel's class it can't be poison, but you made it so that means... It can be poison."

You started to walk towards the front door, turning your head at him before exiting through it. “We will deal with this later, that is if I'm not dead. For the meantime, I expect this place to be completely clean when I come back."

Certainly, it's the greatest day of your whole life, and probably your last.

HEARTSLABYUL’S FORMAL GUEST

A ball gown. Hollow to floor with large, black sleeves. Uncovered shoulders blades lead to puffy forearms, made with a very soft material. It had a smooth lace tracing the neckline, and also a corset, which was perfectly adjusted. The wide skirt was the main attraction, waving at the minimum movement. The colours resembled those of Heartslabyul; the red, black and white harmonizing beautifully, looking like a dress a Queen would wear. A royal bun, loose but not enough that it would look messy. A few strands of hair were placed on both sides of your hair, topping it with a small crown.

Heartslabyul was trying something new. A breakfast tea party, clearly following the strict rules so that it would be a meeting worth of the Queen of Hearts; and you, obviously.

Ace and Deuce pestered asked you for the whole week, insisting that you should come and even giving you a fancy invitation with Riddle’s neat handwriting on it, stating: “You are formally invited to partake in the Breakfast's Tea Party of Heartslabyul, the next Saturday at 8:00AM."

The duo had barely seen you the whole weekend, and they were with you in the same classes, so imagine the time you spent with the others.

They saw the chance of talking to you in the lunch, thing you were doing outside of the cafeteria so you could get more work done in peace. Not that you can really be in peace when being friends of these two dorks, who whined about you not loving them anymore.

You chuckled at the setup, and you asked what they wanted. A couple of seconds after the question, Ace shoved the letter on your face, telling you the contents before you even read it.

You said yes, it wasn't like you could refuse anyways, and some Trey's goods would cheer you up after so much work.

At your agreement they swore they could cry from excitement.

Got to say that when you passed through the portal, you didn't expect a wear such a fancy dress out of nowhere as the result of Grim's potion.

Riddle is so red you start to think he's sick. It's like he created a whole new shade when he saw you approaching the table, registering seconds later that you weren't wearing your usual clothes. After that, he's a complete mess. He is trying his best to not stutter or flinch whenever you try to engage a conversation, finding the tablecloth more interesting not really, but he doesn't want you to laugh at him because of his state. He also feels a bit conflicted, since the gown reminds him of his mother; his not so happy memories cross his mind, until, by accident, he sees you smiling at him. And his mind wanders to the thought of you using a wedding dress, and at that moment he realises he spilled his tea (which was thankfully warm) on his hand.

Trey is acting like his normal self. He actually seemed to be the only one who wasn't freaking out, but don't be mistaken; if you inspect his face, you can see a slight blush and a loving gaze directed at you. We can say that out of the five boys, he is the one more capable of holding a regular conversation, after all, he’s Heartslabyul mediator. He is even bold enough to lightly tease you about wearing such a formal attire to a tea party, yet he loves that you showed up like this, thinking that you planned it when we both know that wasn't the case.

Cater is taking pictures so fast that his phone can't register them all. His storage is suffering from the number of selfies and photos he has of you, just from today. But can you blame him? He wants to preserve this moment, only posting a few ones so everyone can see how amazing you are. He would probably, probably delete them from his Magicam if you asked, but there is no way he would delete all of the other ones. How can he erase such precious memories? He would have to be insane to do that!

Ace is that kindergarten kid who has a crush on you. We all know that, yes, but it can't be ignored. Actually, he can't be ignored, since he's messing with your bun and your crown, even putting in on himself. He only stops when you get too annoyed or when Riddle scolds him. Don't have too much faith though, there's no way to stop him; he's a force of nature, the force that wouldn't stop until you pay him attention.

Deuce stops functioning. His brain cells are working so hard to try to maintain a normal interaction with you, but eventually they just give up, leading you to snap your fingers in order to get a reaction. He can't believe he lived long enough to see this part of you, and curiously, he has the same train of thought as Riddle; your dress could be a wedding dress, it just needs to be painted white- And, he’s out.

When you realised what you were wearing, you let out a huge sigh of relief, thinking that this were the effects of the potion and not a horrible death, so at least you get to live another day in this twisted wonderland.

You didn't really care about the dress. Sure, you thought it was beautiful, but it was just a dress, right?

No, it’s not just a dress.

You wondered if the potion had a different effect when suddenly everyone got quiet, and then, boom, five flustered boys at your service.

You couldn't explain the situation because some of them were too busy surrounding you or stop functioning, so you told them what happened around an hour later when they calmed down.

In general, we have four boys who're blushing so hard it rivals Riddle's hair, and one boy who doesn't make it that obvious.

Overall, pretty great experience, you got to eat good food and it was a pretty interesting sight.

SAVANACLAW’S NEW APPRENTICE

A large, sheath dress. Ruffles adorned the hem while the shades transitioned towards the waist, where a lace was tied up, matching the initial colours and patterns, making it a subtle but elegant detail. It was of a soft yellow with some gold motifs, which you thought resembled the Afterglow Savannah, were spread all-over, giving light to a majestic dress. Two braids, which interlaced to create the illusion of a crown; speaking of it, you also had some light, golden feathers tightly adjusted so they wouldn't fall off, the main ornament being a crown with a rose gold jewel.

You complained to Jack one day after a Spelldrive practice in Vargas class, saying that you wished you could be better at it so the others would stop laughing at you, clearly meaning it as a joke.

Well, Jack took it seriously. He went to Leona and asked if you could be part of the Spelldrive training one day, and the lion actually thought about it, thinking about how he hadn't seen you the whole week, so spending some time with you would be nice.

Jack came to you when you were walking to your dorm, being extremely careful because you were holding a huge stack of books, necessary for your notes.

He immediately retrieved the majority of them from you, taking this chance at talking to you to ask if you wanted to join the Spelldrive training at Savannaclaw one day.

You said yes, saying that you could do it the next Saturday, though you had to admit you were confused at the sudden request, and you must have made a frown because Jack told you what you said before.

You laugh at his thoughtfulness, lightly teasing him about it, and he just shrugs it off, with red ears and a happy, waging tail.

And now you are wondering if you should cancel it because how the hell are you going to practice with such a dress?

Leona's first thought when he saw you was that he passed out while sleeping. He took a short nap while waiting for you to arrive, opening his eyes when he heard your greeting, about to affectionately grumble. Instead, he was found staring at you, cheeks starting to become red when realising the kind of accessory you were wearing. He doesn't really focus on the dress, but on your hair, the style and the crown normally used by brides in his home place. He snaps from his trance fairly quickly, and the only thing that gives him away is his faint blush and the way he avoids looking at you for too long, almost telling you that you look on it, but it turns into a teasing comment. Well, it's the thought what counts.

Ruggie dropped his shopping bags, too stunned to take into account that he had eggs there. He went to Sam's earlier that morning, since he had some discounts, smiling to himself at the cheap shopping session, before he heard you calling him. He didn't look at you at first, but when he did, holy mother of Pearl... The rustling of the bag and the crashing of the eggs colliding with the floor was all the sound he processed. He also knows about the hairstyle and the ornament, blushing deeper when you ask him if he's okay. He laughs in embarrassment while answering that he is fine as fine as someone with a huge crush on you can be.

Jack is trying so hard to not be flustered. And if he didn't have a tail it would've worked, because its speed could rival that of Sonic the opm one or the Sega one, take your pick. Because he’s a runner, he has great control over his heart rate, so he can actually talk to you and be calm, or at least for him it seems like it. He doesn't know about the hairstyle, but he does know about the eye-catching thing on your head. He told you that you looked great, also asking why you're wearing that when it was supposed to be a practice session, but he is not complaining.

You had to apologise and explain the reasoning of your clothes. You heard Leona grumble something about taking care of Grim, while Ruggie and Jack shook their heads in disappointment and disbelief.

Safe to say that you didn't make any major efforts while being there. They refused to let you practice in that dress, only doing basic stretching standing up and correcting your position. Other than that, nothing.

It's not that they didn't want you to practice with them, but if you dress was damaged during the process, dear Sevens, they wouldn't forgive themselves.

So, you passed the remaining hour in the bench, watching them as they explained the basics and doing short demonstrations, paying full attention as that was the only thing you could do.

Once the time was done, you bid them goodbye, thanking them for the help as you promised that the next time you would come back with better clothes.

The next time.

They can't help but think of the sight of you in a large, divine wedding dress, and Leona is contemplating the idea of getting you one.

OCTAVINELLE’S UNFORTUNATE TASTE-TESTER

A mermaid-shaped dress. A long skirt made its way to the floor, a silky and shiny fabric layering over it so it wouldn't look plain. It was mainly black, but it had a gradient shade of marine dark blue and purple in the top and the hem, contrasting greatly with the translucent, white scarf that was situated over your shoulders. Soft curls. The volume of your hair increased, outlining the sea-themed hair pins that were placed at one side, giving an elegant air to the look.

These guys were sly. They asked you when you were at the lounge, drinking a little bit more of Jade's tea as you kept writing, not noticing the thoughtful stare that Azul was sending you, nodding at the twins as they approached you.

Your workflow was disrupted when you heard Floyd's loud sigh, as well as Jade's, and you raised an eyebrow at the sudden action.

They both complained very loudly that you were forgetting them, Floyd literally draping over you as crocodile tears invaded his eyes.

You sighed too, telling them that you're sorry so they would drop the theatrics, asking what you can do to make it better, all while continuing typing, a difficult task when you have such a tall boy hugging you.

Azul coughs, and you shift your attention to him. He says that you can do them all a favour, and you're already expecting the worse the moment you see his mischievous smile, along with those of the twins.

He mentioned having some menu ideas, but he needed a loyal customer to try them out, obviously talking about you, and you had no other option than to accept, doing a small pout as you said the day.

Maybe you were supposed to die today either way.

Azul is ready to welcome you with his perfect smile (which he definitely practiced just for this situation), only for this façade to break when he saw you so... Elegant. He quickly tries to hide it, but there's no use when Jade and Floyd saw the whole thing, and he knows he would never hear the end of it after this. He acts all gentlemanly, but that's just because he tries to be prepared for every situation he could get flustered around you, and let's just say that is not working. He is capable of hold a normal conversation most of the time, so cooperate with him, he might even give you a free meal as payment.

Jade is staring, and you don't know how to feel about it. He knows how to hide his feelings better than Azul when it comes to you, so he doesn't really have anything that makes it obvious about his crush on you. He offers you his arm, asking about the reasoning of your really fancy attire, and his curiosity and interest just sparks when you told him what happened that morning. My, are you really that unaware of your surroundings? Then he supposes he has to stay with you for a few days to make sure you don't endanger yourself further.

Floyd doesn't even notice it at first. The one and only thing that Floyd makes when he sees you is making a bee line, running, towards you so he can tackle you into one of his affectionate squeezes. He's too busy cooing at you and being happy about you showing up that he fails to register the gorgeous gown you just appeared with. In all honesty, he doesn't care. I mean, sure, he thinks you look amazing on it, but he's interested by your personality and actions more. Yet this certainly serves as a boost for his attention, so I’m just going to say that you have to be prepared.

You mentally cursed at this dorm's design, because it was nearly impossible for you to escape in this dress, and before you could even think about trying it, you felt yourself being lifted several inches from the floor while hearing Floyd's happy noises.

You didn't even have to walk as he was carrying you the entire time, shifting to a bridal style when Jade told him that it wasn't very proper of him to carry you as if you were a sack of potatoes.

Azul stood next to you, making sure that the food was of your taste and that you seemed happy with it, trying to set you free from the taller twin's grasp, who utterly refused as he hugged you tighter.

It made the eating aspect more difficult, but your worries vanished when tasting the first plate; a delighted gasp leaving your lips as you continued eating, hearing a relieved exhale from Azul and a small giggle from Jade.

Most of the plates presented to you were pretty good, and you hummed contently when drinking a vase of water, checking the hour on your phone.

Oh no.

Excusing yourself, you managed to set free from Floyd's grasp, thanking them for the delicious food and stating which ones were your favourites, hurriedly leaving as if you were Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight.

Well, it wasn't midnight, but it was midday, and that meant that you had to soothe the clingy boy to let you, promising him that you would be with him the next day, and with that, you set you path towards Scarabia.

SCARABIA’S RECENT TRAINEE

A low riding red harem pants and a black off the shoulder top, connecting both garments with translucent stripes, which graded from black to red to make sure that it made sense. Everything was covered with golden chains with some intricate jewels, tinkling at the contact. The pants had a black fire design at the bottom, looking a lot like the original Scarabia uniforms. Low ponytail. It was held up by two golden bands, ending in a small swirl. The main accessory being a golden headband with a sapphire embellished to it.

Kalim was known for being happy most of the time. Most of the time. The poor boy thought you were mad at him when you barely paid him any attention in the span of that long, long week.

It went to the point in which he thought you would forgive him for whatever misdeed he had done by buying you anything that reminded him of you, and there was nothing that Jamil could do to stop him.

You visited Scarabia one day, Jamil's suggestion of helping you with some history questions had you walking there; you certainly didn’t expect to see what a surprise a huge stack of gifts, neatly piled up in the dorm's living room.

You had to reassure Kalim that you weren't mad at him, just overworked, and his face bright up once again, happily hugging you.

He told you that Jamil will be helping him with some dance moves, and the latter was forced to cover Kalim's mouth, but it was too late; the box had been opened, and so did your curiosity.

You accepted, telling them that you would be free the next day (aka, the infamous Saturday), much to Jamil's dismay. He exhaled, hiding his flushed face in his hoodie while thinking of the fact that you would practice with him.

Kalim is confused, but is a good type of confused; he doesn't know why you're using this outfit, in fact, he didn’t even realise that you weren’t using different clothes in the first place: he tends to have tunnel vision when he spots you, slowly dissipating after some seconds and that’s when he takes notice of the outfit, and then, he remains quiet. And that’s starting to worry you because is weird that Kalim isn’t talking about his excitement and being around you like a puppy. You went up to him and he stutters about how beautiful you look; sweet things you would expect from a boy like him. Though he has to ask where did you get the traditional headband that engaged woman use in his land.

You can’t even see Jamil’s face at first, his hoodie hiding his flushed face as soon as he saw you. That way he can actually talk to you, instead of being a literal rock, because he doesn’t want you to see him in such a state, with pink cheeks and a love-struck gaze. He does tell you that you look good, in a very… Jamil way; suddenly asking why you’re wearing that, muttering a: ‘It looks good on you’, regretting it almost immediately because now you’re asking him if you heard correctly. He cuts you off and says that you all have to start stretching, ears burning in embarrassment.

After explaining the story, you saw a completely worried Jamil, who scolds you about your reckless reasoning of drinking something that was obviously suspicious, all while Kalim is trying to calm him down.

You apologise while laughing, the fact that he’s concerned about you touches your heart and he stops at that, announcing that all of you had to stretch in order to maintain his composure.

The practice was fun; they taught you some of the traditional moves of the Scalding Sands and it was entertaining hearing all the jingles coming from your outfit, not noticing the mesmerizing stare that the boys were sending you.

You were there for approximately one hour, and that’s when you get a text from Vil.

You groaned, saving your phone, muttering a small: ‘Sorry, I have to go’.

Telling them you should do this other day, you left. When you did though, dear Kalim was starting to search similar clothes that he thought you would look great in, and surprisingly enough, Jamil didn’t stop him, curiosity getting the best out of him.

POMEFIORE’S UNEXPECTED MODEL

An A-line gown. This one was larger than the others, bringing along a long cape with it. The plan palette contrasting the golden glitter on the hem of the cape, a black and smooth surface that you could see through it, but just at the end. The main colours were a dark shade of purple for the dress and black for everything else, with some glances of gold in the accessories, but that was it. A loose braided crown, with a real one over it; the beautiful yet simple design being a delight to the eye, as well as the rubies adorning it.

Epel begged (and when I say he begged was that he was on his knees, looking like he was praying) for you to come with him at the modelling session that Vil will have for him.

You were there, baffled at this out of nowhere action, and in the heat of the moment (mostly to make the boy stand up) you agreed.

This time though, you couldn’t choose a date, because it was programmed from the start, so at least you’re thankful your mind didn’t mess up this one.

You haven’t had the experience of being with the Vil Schoenheit in a clothes trying affair, but it was definitely something that was worth trying, regardless if the experience itself was good or bad.

He thanked you, quickly standing up fixing his uniform so Vil wouldn’t scold him, unaware that Rook was hearing the conversation, animatedly walking towards his dorm leader so he could break the news to him.

When he heard this, he brainstormed ideas and even considered getting you a Pomefiore uniform, thinking of ways to convince you to use it.

Vil’s face betrays him as he shows his astounded expression. It seems like he underestimated your fashion choices, but he’s puzzled because, MC? Why use such an elegant gown when you’re going to a clothes trial? Once he understands what happened though, his faith on you faded a little bit, but don’t worry MC, he will make sure you know how to compliment your natural beauty. He’s inspecting the dress as you stand there, getting dizzy for all the turns he was making you do. Letting a hum of approval, he mentions something about buying you both matching outfits- Scratch that, he decided he would make them himself.

Rook is kneeling before you, literally. He always praises you for everything you do and everything you wear, and this isn’t the exception. He takes your hand so gently, afraid that you would be scared by his antics, but he smiles against the soft skin of your palm when you tilt your head, looking adorably confused. It didn’t last long as Vil retrieved you from his grasp, annoyed. He chuckled at that, thinking about how to take care that his Trickster didn’t accidentally poison herself.

Epel has his mouth shaped like a ‘o’. He’s the first to ask, very loudly may I add, why the hell are you wearing that, but like, more soft since he was talking to you. After the story time, he lets out a small apology after Vil chided about manners with guests, his agitation quickly becoming embarrassment as he actually takes a good look at the costume; he needs a couple minutes to recover from the sudden shock, so don’t be harsh on him, it’s just that he’s passing through a lot of mixed feelings right now.

The truth is that you didn’t get to try any clothes on during your whole stance in Pomefiore; mostly because Vil was too busy checking the entire thing and Rook was by your side, making his job more difficult. Epel, as I said, is perplexed; should he feel relieved because Vil is focusing on you, or should he be mad that Vil is focusing on you? He doesn’t know.

Vil, being Vil, found a few errors in your unplanned dress, bringing a notebook with him so he could write things that he wanted to apply on the designs of the new one, and you get to see him do one of his rare, pure smiles out of giddiness.

He also inspected your hair, and as he did that, Rook approached to tell you one and another time that you were beautiful; that no one in earth could rival your ethereal being and you were worried what Vil would have to say about that.

Nevertheless, he hummed in response, and you were ecstatic.

Poor Epel tried to make a casual chat, but he was so nervous that his accent slipped and he had to endure a few minutes of Vil’s scolding, quietly thanking you for being there as you distracted him with a detail on your cape, and once again his attention was on you.

When the time was over, your legs and feet were sore after all the standing, thankful for the next event as it meant that you would get to sit down for the next hour.

You excused yourself, and what a shame that you didn’t see the guys pout as you crossed the door, as they were absolutely gold.

IGNIHYDE’S GAMING ROUGH DIAMOND

A short dress. From the largest we pass to the shortest, just a little bit up the knees; a robe cape that had a skull pin on the left part attached to it covering most part of it so the length wasn’t noticeable. In the end it had a cloudy texture and it looked like a goddess garment, creating the illusion as if you were walking on air. Apart from that, all the set was black, with some blue flames on it, which alluded to Hades powers. A Dutch braid. This one was also similar to a crown, but it seemed much bigger, the strands that came out of it perking up, tinted of an enticing shade of blue.

Idia was sulking the whole week. Only because you didn’t have time to play with him and he had to face the villains completely alone, as he was reminded during a cut scene of your charming laughter when you lost; something he never really understood, but it was cute nonetheless.

Ortho tried to convince him into going to Ramshackle, but just when it seemed like he was actually going, he curled up into a ball in his bed and refused to move.

The younger Shroud knocked on your door one afternoon, giving you a quick greeting as he asked you if you could come to Idia’s gaming session the Saturday.

You couldn’t refuse to Ortho, so you happily complied, wondering if he already knew that that day was your free day.

Idia let out a high pitched scream at the news; he hoped that he wouldn’t make fun of himself while being with you, something that was only possible if you were next to him, for real.

Hades better help him out to not die of shame.

Idia passes out. The only reason he wasn’t hurt when he woke up was because you managed to catch him on time, resting his head on your lap. He opened his eyes a few minutes later, meeting your concerned ones as you asked him if he was okay, and his hair combusted into pink flames at the heart-warming sight. He has already done the only thing he feared the most: embarrassing himself in front of you. He stands up so fast because of the adrenaline, trying to overcome the mortifying scene by making a teasing comment about your dress, and he ends up redder after your sincere thanks. You’re going to be the death of him, maybe quite literally.

The reason the session took longer to start was because both you and Ortho were trying to get Idia back to his senses, as he passed from a living dead state to a pink candle.

Somehow he calmed down, only looking at his phone because if he saw you he was sure he would pass out again, sighing in defeat at the recent memory.

Even after the awkward situation, the playing went smooth. You were pretty good in this game, a RPG with some rhythm elements added to it, along with the OP cards that you gained while spending your goods at the gacha some weeks ago.

You needed more practice, but the talent was there, and just when you were getting comfortable your phone played a catchy ringtone, indicating an upcoming phone call.

You didn’t have time to say ‘hello’ as Sebek was screaming at your unpunctuality, claiming that his young master had been sad for the past 10 minutes.

Exiting the game, you expressed your gratitude for letting them stay at your dorm, and Idia muttered: ‘You’re welcome to come whenever you want though’.

You compromised to play another game later on, and for the first time in the afternoon, Idia, willingly, exchanged looks with you, promptly regretting.

You left before he could pass out, and he would be forever grateful for that.

DIASOMNIA’S HUMAN PROFESSOR

A trumpet dress. It had a long tail, but it wasn’t longer than the Pomefiore one; either way, this gave more of a…Goth vibe, slightly damaged at the ends. The full circle cloak helped cover the bare shoulders, a little heavy since it was made of a thick fabric, yet it truly increased the royalty aura that you were exuding. It was mainly black, with the sparks being of a raven purple; the flashiest colour being the neon green situated on some details of the dress, along with the cord that maintained the cape secured around your form. Feather cut hairstyle. It didn’t have accessories, nor braids or any ties, the only thing over your head being two black horns that were glued on it; smaller than Malleus horns that is.

This time you weren’t the one being the guest or being taught something; you were the teacher. And it started when you were taking a break from the overwhelming study that you’ve been doing since the week started.

Malleus always strolls there at night, waiting for you, and when you didn’t come to visit, he was enraged; the anger becoming sadness when he thought that you were mad at him, or even worse, you didn’t want to be his friend anymore.

Because the two of you were in different years, the probability of spotting you down the hallway was very low, now add to the problem that you were passing most of your time in the library, the Mostro Lounge or your dorm; now that reduces the chances to zero.

Lilia tried to cheer him up, as well as Silver, and when Sebek knew about this he explained that you were busy with your homework, and that eased him up a little.

But just a little; Malleus is very possessive and he needs to see you to make sure you are okay, so he knocks the door one night, hearing the light creaking of the wood as it opened to reveal you.

He tried to refrain himself, but at the end, he ended up hugging you. It was comforting; you didn’t push him away and you stayed there, in silence, until you broke the ice by asking if he wanted you to pass by Diasomnia tomorrow.

He smiled, saying that it would be a pleasure to receive you in his dorm.

And that’s how you scheduled the plan, leaving it for last because the other things were already timed, reserving it for casual talking about your world and human customs.

Malleus takes your hand, gets down on one knee and is preparing his words to get you engaged to him, no jokes here. However, before he can say the magical words, Lilia awkwardly laughs and cuts him off, distracting you so he can say that it’s maybe a little too early for him to marry you. He strongly disagrees, but he does gain some awareness when told that that could ruin your friendship, so he accepts, defeated. But that is not going to ruin his mood; you being there, talking to him and happily telling some stories of your world is enough for now.

Lilia is delighted, his laughter echoing through the room after Malleus tried to wed you. The style of this dress really has a resemblance with those of the Briar Valley, but it’s very unique, and maybe it’s because you’re wearing it. Even though he stopped Malleus from proposing, his mind can’t help but think about you in a traditional wedding dress of his hometown. He wonders if he can get you to use it one day, yet it stops there when he hears you cackling because of some funny anecdote that you were telling. It’s better to cherish the present, he thinks.

Silver is awoken up suddenly because of Sebek’s scream at the action of his young lord. He takes a moment to process the scene as he opens his eyes, ready to defend his soon to be king, and that’s when he sees him kneeling in front of you; noting the kind of clothes you are wearing, his cheeks burning ever so slightly. When the commotion was over, he sat next to you, and he tried to stay awake, he really did, but the soothing tone of your voice relaxed him to the point where he places his head on top of yours, quiet snores leaving his mouth.

Sebek thinks you are really going to marry his young lord. If Lilia didn’t stop him, he would; out of anger at you for seducing his master, or jealousy because he liked you too? We would never know, but what I do know is that if it was the latter, he will feel remorseful of his feelings, mostly when he realised that you didn’t even planned to come like this at first. He shuts up for a second, mind rebooting because wow, human? Tell him why are you such a beauty?

Lilia took advantage when Sebek quiet down, hurriedly sitting you in the sofa while asking some questions about your universe.

That made way for everyone’s curiosity (except Silver, he was busy sleeping on top of your head) to perk up, the air being filled with different questions about the place where you came from.

Malleus asked about the wedding customs, mostly human ones, and Lilia was surprised, to say the least, when you responded every one without suspecting a thing. How oblivious can you be?

Lilia wanted to know some recipes, and you told him some that you thought they all would enjoy; but there’s no limits to Lilia’s menacing cooking, even if he doesn’t have to use the stove or the oven he still will manage to make horrible meals, so you were very careful with your words. A futile attempt for sure, but let’s continue.

Sebek asked about the royalty and everything regarding the upper class, since he was curious that in a world with no magic, people still obeyed humans with no magical abilities. Less to say that you don’t actually know how to respond that.

It was getting late, and you noticed that the time was almost up, so you excused yourself with the same manners as before; thanking and promising to meet them next time, walking back to Ramshackle.

At the end, Grim hadn’t done much, only a couple things were cleaned and he was sleeping soundly on the sofa with tuna cans surrounding him. You sighed at it, sitting down in the couch with your pyjamas on, softly caressing the fur of the creature.

Your phone started to beep, messages popping up on the screen of everyone you just saw today, and you chuckled at that, starting to respond to every single one of them.

Maybe the fancy clothes were gone, but the havoc will still continue.

THE END~

DON'T REPOST.

EVERY CHARACTER BELONGS TO DISNEY AND YANA TOBOSO, AND I DON'T TAKE CREDIT FOR THEM.

[nipuni]

Some various lighthearted life updates 🏃‍♀️

It's been a very busy last few months! in a good way mostly. We had a friend visiting us from overseas so we showed him around the city and took him to all our favourite places. We also met new people and were invited to a bunch of events so it's been very fun! We are all out of social battery tho so now we are slowing down a bit and getting back to work. Nicolas is on a short work trip to Berlin and I'm back to painting. We also started running! aaand we are also back to watching a bunch of shows and to me talking about it here to like five people 😌

Under the cut cause it's a lot as usual!

We finished watching S13 of Doctor Who! (we still have the specials to go but after that we are all caught up!) I haven't updated in ages so here are lot of opinions!

We really did not enjoy S11 😞 I was aware it wasn't very popular but we were hoping it was for all the wrong reasons, sadly we found many to be valid. Some of the episodes were baffling, Rosa? Kerblam?! the writing of the whole season in general felt like a rushed school assignment. The first part of Spyfall was a strong start for the next season but that ending in the second part was really not it. We did love Sacha Dhawan's Master tho!! and we really love Jodie too, 13th is adorable and reminded us of Ten at times! Jodie is such a fantastic actress that it makes the quality of the writing and everything else around her even more frustrating 😫 S12 was an improvement in general. In the last few episodes It felt like the writing team suddenly remembered the companions could have a personality and agency lmao. Highlights for us were Spyfall one, Fugitive of the Judoon and Haunting of villa Diodati, tho we did also enjoy most other episodes of the season despite their issues.

The timeless child plot reveal felt a bit underwhelming? The idea on itself has potential but it felt mishandled (and it had a bit of a Moffat flavour to it? and not in a good way). I think it was meant to add more depth to the Doctor's lore but in a way it ends up having the opposite effect. Then the flux was just a complete mess. It read like a Marvel sort of plot, very comic book like which is alright I suppose if that is something you enjoy but it felt out of place. But mostly it was just way too much, it got out of hand. Anyway we still have the specials to watch! and I think the Master is in them so we are looking forward to it 🥰

We also watched Broadchurch!! and we LOVED it. We ended up binging all three seasons. Chibnall's writing on this is surprisingly great and Jodie's acting is spectacular she really shines here. Olivia and David are always brilliant!! honestly everyone's acting was amazing. This series had us both tearing up every five scenes. The direction and the music are outstanding. I could watch Hardy and Miller solve crimes forever I really love their chemistry and dynamic. We went into it expecting the usual detective fiction but it ended up being a whole study on grief with such a focus on family and community and trauma and a ton of touching interconnected character arcs, just really really good!!

Then we also watched Taking over the Asylum!! MAN we were not expecting to have our hearts wrung out like laundry by this!! We thought it was a lighthearted show!! GOD we are still not over it, what the fuck!! It was so good we loved it!! but we were not prepared lmao what do you mean 'the end'?? we'll be thinking of this for months, I was expecting an extra scene after the credits or something. Excellent characters, refreshing depictions of mental illness and trauma and so crushingly realistic. Every character is so loveable I really wish this was longer 😭

And our quest to watch everything with David Tennant on it continues. We watched Decoy Bride on Valentines day too and it was terrible but such a hilarious fever dream kind of bad that it was fun, it has David on it and he never disappoints. I feel so lucky that Nicolas and I are both in love with him, get yourself a man who shares your celebrity crushes lmao it's so fun!! We feel like teens again chatting about him and drawing little hearts next to his pictures haha 🥰 We watched the BAFTAs just for him and speaking of the baftas!! I was not expecting that last drawing of his outfits to get that much attention oh my god 😭 thank you!! you are all insane and I appreciate it so much!! and thank you for all the support in general, about my art and photos and just everything. I feel very lucky and grateful 😭 anyway I'll end this before I get sappy, that is all for now! I hope this week is kind to you all, I'll be sharing some more art soon 😊

[total-drama-brainrot]

World Tour Assistant Noah AU (where he is always an assistant):

After the gross kiss failed to stop Alejandro's flirting... Noah begs Duncan to convince Alejandro, that Noah is too dorky to date... but Duncan has an even better idea; make Alejandro jealous for fun!

(In this AU, Duncan and Courtney had broken up before Season 3, so Duncan isn't a cheater!)

Duncan: "Thanks for letting me return to the show, handsome.~" 😘

(Duncan kisses Assistant Noah's cheek.)

Alejandro: "Duncan, I will DESTROY you!" 😡

Noah: "I just want to be left alone!" 🙄

Wait hold on... hold on... this is just the premise of my favourite Dunnoah fic series but with an assistant Noah twist. And extra Alenoah flavouring. That's not to say I'm against the idea.

Though I can't really imagine Duncan ever committing himself to flirting with Noah unless the two had struck up a deal prior- Duncan's that specific brand of 2000s era bigoted where being seen as anything but straight is a social crime (despite the fact that Duncan is definitely a boykisser, just in denial), but he's also aware of just how much of a threat Alejandro is in the competition and the latino's huge obvious crush on Chris' personal assistant, so I think Duncan could push aside his own internal biases to at the very least propose a similar idea to Noah.

Really, it'd be beneficial for the both of them; Noah gets to subtly-not-so-subtly tell Alejandro to back off by responding to Duncan's advances but not his, and Duncan gets to rile up Alejandro enough to redivert his attention away from the competition itself thus increasing his own chances of winning. It's strategic, really, nothing more.

It's that line of logic that has Noah eventually conceding that, for all intents and purposes, it's a good plan. So he deigns to play along, at least for a little bit, just to get Alejandro off of his back.

And, canonically, they're both shown to be at least half-decent at flirting, so whatever displays they have planned to annoy Alejandro would be just convincing enough to really get under his skin. Especially since Alejandro's shown in canon to be the protective/possessive type (mostly in All-Stars, in how he reacts to José insulting Heather) and likely wouldn't take too kindly to Duncan swooping in on "his amor" or whatever Spanish nickname he'd substitute it with.

Which all eventually leads to the scenario you proposed; Duncan plants a wet one on Noah's cheek and Alejandro sees red.

Noah's already exhausted by default, but feels weariness seep into the marrow of his bones as a seething Alejandro glares poisonous daggers towards Duncan, who's committed enough to their little ruse to in turn shoot a wink and a pair of finger guns towards the assistant. Deciding that he isn't paid nearly enough to deal with the inevitable confrontation between the two idiots who've apparently taken an interest in him (Duncan's, of course, being a known ruse), Noah leaves to go and do his actual job.

...

And then, Alejandro confronts Duncan directly in the Economy cabin, claiming that he doesn't deserve to so much as look at Noah, and that he (Alejandro) was the one Noah kissed and therefore the object of his attraction so Duncan better lay off. This is news to the punk, and adds a whole new layer of complexity to their plan. And perhaps something he can later exploit to give himself a leg up in the competition.

But why does the idea of Noah kissing Alejandro make his chest tighten up with envy?

And then maybe Duncan finds the untamed passion of Alejandro's genuine fury kind of hot and he too enters the metaphorical boxing ring of feelings? Aledunnoah endgame? The intern server has been posting a lot of Aleduncan lately so letting those two get together (and with Noah in there too, as a bonus) just seems natural to my brain at this point.

[echoes-of-mia]

okay this is a long ramble and kinda personal, so bear with me, but i want to talk about being aspec in the joker out fandom bc I'm full of emotions and i need to share them somewhere

(just a short warning for internalised aphobia before i go on)

for context, i identify as aspec, more specifically asexual and some flavour of aromantic. I've known about the ace part for about 3-4 years now, the aro part is more recent and I'd say that before, lets say, a couple of months ago, I'd always seen that as something negative, something that makes me miserable, a deficit that will always be there and that others will never understand

and then i joined the (tumblr) joker out fandom around... june of last year, probably? and at first i thought "theres no way there are many queer people in this fandom, its essentially a boyband, and other aspec people? no way"

well, oh boy was i wrong

because not only is this fandom, like what, 90% queer? (i know someone made a poll at some point but i dont remember the percentages) but it's also around 50% aspec. and there's just this general positivity and support surrounding the a-spectrum in the fandom. like, some days ago there was an aphobic comment somewhere and before i even saw it my dash was FLOODED with people defending aspec people and i was just sitting in the kitchen reading through the posts and crying.

and yes, this is tumblr, i could have seen this coming and it's probably different on other platforms, but so many aspec people in one place, in one fandom, is still something that I've never experienced before.

so why are so many aspec people drawn to a slovenian indie/shagadelic rock band that, at first glance, is just 5 very good-looking probably-straight guys making music? that doesnt really make sense, right?

and then you see how much more they are. how they interact with each other. how comfortable they are in their sexualities, in their masculinity, in being themselves. you see a group of friends that love each other so unashamedly it's a bit unbearable to watch sometimes. you don't see them holding back because "thats not their partner!" or "that's reserved for romantic relationships!", you just see love. you see them supporting each other, being physically affectionate, looking out for each other, laughing together, even living together. vse kar vem could easily be a romantic song, but it's about their friendship!!

and what is all of that, if not THE dream of many aspec people? to be okay with not feeling sexual or romantic attraction because you have your group of friends that you love the same amount as allosexual/-romantic people love their partner(s) and to show it, and to know that they love you the same (and won't replace you with romantic partners) because they also show it, without thinking twice about it, without thinking about how others might interpret your relationship because it just doesn't matter as long as you love each other.

so of course aspec people see themselves in joker out. we see hope for ourselves in them, we are probably a little (or in my case very) jealous of their friendship, we want what they have or we just love to finally see real people live with the sort of affection we would like to have. (just to clarify, this is based mostly on what i feel, so other aspecs might feel completely different about this, idk why I'm trying to generalise this)

and this is about all five of them, but to take jan and nace as an obvious example: they love each other so much that the fans start to speculate, and they know about it. but instead of hiding their affection, they just keep on doing what they're doing. because they know how they feel for each other, and it's no one else's business, and they won't be stopping their love just because of "conspiracy theories". and to me it doesn't matter how they love each other (platonic, romantic, whatever), it matters that they do and that you can't help but notice it, because they show it in every interaction we see of them. the damon baker photoshoot just confirmed that, they look at each other and the amount of love makes me cry, it's so incredibly beautiful.

(just some other things i want to mention: them probably cooking mostly potatoes because nace is glutenfree. nace calming down bojan after his panic attack in summer. jan and bojan casually kissing on the lips during a concert. the jure and bojan getting married photoshoot. bojan touching kris's hair during concerts. kris being carried around during a photoshooting. jure and jan drawing a heart together. them gathering around jure's drumset during concerts. i could go on but for my sanity and yours i won't, there are so many moments that just make me soft)

I'd love to be more physically affectionate with my friends, but every time there's this voice in the back of my head saying what society has conditioned it to say, which is that that kind of affection is reserved for romantic relationships, and this voice stops me every time. i feel like bojan, jan, jure, kris and nace either don't have that voice (anymore?) or they've just managed to ignore it, they don't hold back and i admire that as much as i wish i could be like that.

and while i still have a long way to go until i can be affectionate with my friends without worrying about it or holding myself back, joker out have shown me that it's possible, because of them i finally have days on which i think that i can be aspec and actually happy about it. being aspec finally feels as freeing as it should feel and I'm just grateful

joker out has allowed so much queer joy into my life without intending to and although i don't think anyone i know irl will ever understand this, i hope that some of you can relate to this in some way.

I've said this a lot during the past two weeks but i can never say it enough: all the love to my fellow aspecs, and also to all the non-aspec people who support us <3

feel free to add to this if you want to; my dms are always open if you want to talk about it without posting about it, i love hearing other people's thoughts about stuff like this ^^

[bearsbeetsbeskar]

Somebody to Heal, Somebody to Hold

(Joel Miller x dispensary! reader)

Chapter 2: Silver Haze

Chapter 1 here || Chapter 3 here || Main Masterlist

Pairing: Joel Miller x dispensary! reader, AU (no outbreak) Word count: 5.6K Rating: 18+ minors DNI, will be changed to explicit in future chapters (slow burn, eventual smut), swearing, explicit discussions of drug use, age gap (reader is early 20s and Joel is late 40s) Summary: Joel can't rely on pills anymore for his back pain, so his doctor prescribes him medicinal marijuana. But he's not happy about it. A/N: PEEPAW IS FINALLY GETTING HIGH Y'ALL. 🍃 🔥 💨

This chapter was fun to write and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Thank to you anyone who has expressed interest in this silly little story and wants to see more. I doubt my writing capabilities pretty much every single day on this site, and often wonder if it's worth it to keep writing, but I still wanted to indulge in this story. Mostly, cause I'm selfish and would throw myself in front of a moving vehicle if it meant getting to smoke weed with Pedro, and more specifically our grumpy texan gentleman, Mr. Joel Miller. An enormous thank you to @iamasaddie for beta'ing, and your constant words of encouragement when I start to doubt myself in the slightest, you are my heartbeat ❤️

Hope y'all enjoy, please comment, reblog and let me know what you think! 😇

It’s been less than a day. 18 hours to be exact, since he came home from the dispensary with his illicit, but also legal drugs. The bag filled with the package of joints sits in the middle of his kitchen table. He eyed it as he leaned up against the counter drinking his coffee, and while he ate his breakfast at the table in contemplative silence that morning. 

This shouldn’t be such a big deal. He’s a grown man for crying out loud. He can buy drugs if he wants to. Not that he necessarily wanted to. Purchasing medicinal marijuana was the furthest thing from Joel’s mind when he ran through possible options of dealing with his pain problems. Really, he is just surprised with himself that he actually went through with the doctor’s suggestion. 

He doesn’t know if he should feel relieved, or guilty, or a little curious. Maybe all of the above. 

He wished he could have someone to talk to who has personally tried it before. Aside from Doctor Barclay, he didn’t really have anyone at all. His buddies would probably either: A) tell him he just needed to sleep off the pain, drink something heavy to knock himself out or work through the pain- which, if he’s being honest with himself, is precisely what he would have done if not for that sharp twinge in his back that makes him want to curl up in the fetal position. Or B) they would try to get him to take something stronger and undoubtedly more illicit. He doesn’t know how, hell he doesn’t wanna know how, but some of his buddies manage to get their hands on cocaine or acid. Sometimes they don’t even bother till they get off the jobsite after a long day, often snorting up or popping pills in their truck and then driving to a shitty dive bar they plan on occupying for the rest of the night. 

Nope. He didn’t need that. He felt like enough of a delinquent already. He stops drumming his fingers on the table and sighs, tilting his head to the side contemplatively. 

“Ah fuck it”

He grabs the bag and reaches into it, pulling out the carton with the pre-rolls, leaving the receipt in the bag. The label reads ‘Back Forty’s Moonberry’ in an almost psychedelic font, with deep purple letters. Turning the little box over in his hand, he squints at the description on the back.

“Back Forty’s Moonberry Rolls are powerful hybrid cross pre-rolls that offer big hits of flavour and an even burn. A nice, mellow and sweet way to start and/or finish your day, relaxation is guaranteed with these. Packed with a re-sealable film to ensure freshness after multiple sessions or on-the-go. Take a trip and relax with the Back Forty.”

“Take a trip and relax?” Joel huffed. That kind of trip sounded anything but relaxing. Anxiety starts to claw its way up his throat. 

What if something happened? What if he reacted badly to the weed or ended up taking more than he should? There were no specific instructions. What if it just didn’t fucking work in general? 

The doctor's words rang loudly in his head. He knew this was an option, an ‘alternate method’ as Dr. Barclay so delicately put it. But if this didn’t make the pain go away and he couldn’t take more prescription medication, what then? 

He leaned back in seat and groaned, staring up at the ceiling. He could try one. Just one. But if it tasted like shit or he didn’t like it, then what? He didn’t want to be stuck with the whole pack and he doubted there was much of a return policy on opened products at the dispensary, seeing as the merchandise was already consumed. 

Before his thoughts could snowball any further he snatched the carton of joints and shoved it back in the bag. “Fuck this,” he grumbled, grabbing his coat off the back of his chair as he made his way to the front door, the tiny plastic bag clutched in his other hand. 

—------------------------------------------------------

It didn’t take long for Joel to reach the dispensary. When he pulled into the parking lot, he turned off the ignition and sat in his truck for a minute. One minute turned to five minutes as he bit his lip, his left hand still firmly holding onto the plastic bag. He felt like he was forgetting something.  Reaching into his coat pocket absentmindedly he felt his wallet and his phone. Digging into the other pocket he paused as he felt his fingers run over a small tactile shape. He pulled it out and held it upright in his palm. The free lighter you gave him. 

He rolled it over in his hand, looking at the store name printed on shiny cheap plastic, his thumb running over the rounded edges. He flicked the lighter once, and with a crisp snap, a small flame erupted, burning brightly. 

His mind drifts to you. You were kind and patient with him, despite probably thinking he was a creep or some kind of fucking narc with how awkward he was. He feels heat rise to his cheeks as he recalls your soft eyes and warm, inviting demeanour. Maybe it's possible you were working again today. If that was the case he could just go in, explain to you that there was a mixup and return the pre-rolls, then buy a bottle of Tylenol on the way home, and wash it down a handful with a double whiskey, sealing his fate. 

Fuck the weed. Fuck the back pain. Fuck the cholesterol. End of story.

His palm curls around the lighter as he steels himself and gets out of the car, still holding onto the plastic bag.  He strides through the front door and is surprised to see the check in desk is empty, with only the '18+ ONLY PERMITTED ENTRY' sign on the desk. 

At this point, he would be content to just drop the bag off at the register and head back out with his pride still in tow. Forget getting a refund. 

“Hey! Back so soon?”

He looks up as he walks through the second set of doors into the shop and slows in his tracks as he sees you. 

“Joel, right?” 

You’re fixing a display case off to the side. He can’t help but let his gaze wander down your body. When he came in yesterday you were standing behind the register so all he could really see was the nondescript black t-shirt you wore with the dispensary logo over the chest. 

Today you’re wearing the same shirt with plain black leggings that hug the curve of your hips and your ass. Nothing special, but still Joel feels his mouth go dry and the blood starts to rush south in his body.

He pauses and squints slightly. Wait, you remembered his name?

“Uh yeah. How’d you-” 

“Photographic memory, thanks to being the doorman.” You reply simply.

You head back behind the register and lean your forearms on the counter, flashing him a dazzling smile. “So, what can I help you with today? Looking for more pre-rolls? Some edibles?”

At this point you could sell him anything and he would buy it, with the smile you’re giving him. Hell, you could give him 15 more of those cheap tiny lighters and he would happily take them. Maybe he doesn’t really need to return the pre-rolls, he could always just leave them.

You spot the small bag clutched in his hand before he can hide it and raise your eyebrows at him. 

“Actually, I uh,” he pauses, “I wanted to return these, if that’s okay.” He places the bag on the counter and pulls his hand back quickly, as if it burned him, his eyes flitting to yours before looking away again.

“Oh sure, no problem.” You pull out the unopened pack of joints and the receipt. “Were you not a fan of these, or did you maybe want to try something else?” 

“Uhm, just wasn’t a fan of them, didn’t think I’d like them..” He mumbles and shoves his hands in his coat pocket.

You’re in the middle of reversing the transaction at the register when your finger hovers over the keyboard, mid-type. “Didn’t like them? It looks like you didn’t try them though,” you quirk a brow at him and tilt your head to the side. “How do you know you don’t like them if you didn’t try them?” 

“Well I, uh-” he frowns as he tries to think of a response.

Christ. He’s not getting out of this without swallowing his pride and admitting the truth. His anxiety hits him full force, and you must see him start to backpedal cause you speak up again.

“Hey it’s okay, you can always try something else. How do you feel about edibles? Or drinks?” 

No. He just wants to forget that this entire situation happened.

“No, no it’s okay,” he vehemently shakes his head and starts to back away from the counter, “I’ll just look into some other options.” Even as he straightens his back and starts to retreat, he feels that nagging pinch shoot up his spine and he clenches his jaw.

“Joel, have you never smoked before? It’s okay if you haven’t” You’re looking up at him intently with those bright eyes, concern etched into your features.

Well, there’s no way out now.

He sighs in defeat and looks down at the ground. “No, I haven’t. Guess that much is obvious,” he remarks as he puts his hands on his hips, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“That’s completely normal, trust me” you reassure him as you lean closer over the counter, planting your palms on either side of you.

He snorts. “Yeah right.”

“It’s true! Before you came in the other day I cashed out a kid who looked like he was barely legal. He came in looking like a deer in headlights. We get customers every day who have never consumed marijuana a day in their life, not just potheads.”

He eyes you warily, still biting the inside of his cheek.

“It’s not a big deal Joel really. Is… Is there anything you’re worried about happening?”

He’ll have to tell you now. Tell you that he’s really just a big middle-aged wimp who’s too afraid to get stoned and deal with his pain problems. 

“I.. I’ve just never tried it before, that’s all,” he shrugs plainly, “I don’t know what to expect. I mean, I know you said it’ll help with the pain and all, help me be more relaxed but I’m just worried I’ll get addicted or overdose, or somethin’ will happen…” 

“Jesus,” he runs his hand over his face, “it’s fucking stupid.”

“No, no it’s not.” You cut him off before he continues. “Those are perfectly reasonable things to think about, if you’ve never smoked before. Many people worry the same thing.”

“First of all, it is possible to get addicted,” you explain cautiously, “But you would have to be consuming it nearly every day, all day before it reaches a point where you can’t function without it. And that usually happens with strains that are high in THC, the psychoactive stuff that gets you high.”

“But,” you emphasize upon seeing him tense up, “these pre-rolls you purchased are pretty low in THC, so it’s very unlikely you would get addicted, even if you smoked 'em everyday. You don’t have to worry about that.” At that he relaxes and shifts his weight from one foot to the other.

“Secondly, it is not possible to overdose on weed. Not even the strongest weed. I mean, I’m no fucking scientist and they haven’t conducted any studies on it or anything, but there have been no reported overdose deaths due to marijuana consumption,” You wink at him.

He huffs out an exhale, giving you a hint of a smile. “That makes it a bit better.”

“If you’re still really worried about it, I could show you if you want. To smoke that is,” you add on quickly. “I know it’s nerve wracking to try it on your own for the first time, and it can be better if you’re with someone, y’know, just in case something happens or you don’t like it.” 

“Really?" He looks at you expectantly with rounded eyes. "You’d do that?”

“Yeah, I get off my shift here at 5 so I could do it after?” You bite your lip and look up at him bashfully. He tracks the movement, watching your tongue peek out to soothe your bottom lip.

“Sure, that’d be great. Where should we meet?”

“We could always go to a park or something nearby. But even though weed is legalized, I feel weird smoking it in public places around families and young kids and stuff. And you’d have to drive home afterwards, which is not a good idea.” You scrunch your brows and bite your lip again as you try to think of other spots. 

Joel tries to ignore how cute you look with your brows pulled together like that. He also tries to ignore the way his pulse kicks up as he watches you bite your lip, imagining other scenarios that could cause you to bite your lips like that again.

“Uhm, you could come to my place?” Immediately he sees the hesitation wash across your face and realizes how that sounds as soon as the request leaves his mouth. You aren’t stupid. He’s a complete stranger to you. 

“Sorry. I mean,” he backtracks. “It’s just me and my daughter at home, although she’s away at college right now. My neighbors aren’t particularly nosy but they’re usually not home either. We can go on the back patio, it’s covered and I got tables and chairs and stuff. ”

And stuff. Jesus. 

It’s like he’s 18 years old again, with marbles in his mouth, unable to form a coherent sentence. 

Something about mentioning Sarah seems to put your mind at ease as he sees your shoulders lower as you shift your weight from one hip to the other. You chuckle and give him a smirk.

“That sounds good. I can meet you there, does 5:30 work?”

“Yeah, yeah that works. Thanks.” He ducks his head and gives you a small smile.

“Alright well I’ll see you then.”

He turns to leave before you call him again, holding the small plastic bag up. “You’ll still need these, otherwise we won’t get very far,” you wink at him.

“Right. Yeah that would help,” he chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll see you then.” He grabs the bag from you and gives you one last smile before he heads out the store.  

—------------------------------------------------------------

Surprisingly, Joel didn’t live that far, probably a 12 minute drive from the dispensary. That didn’t mean that you took your time though, going the speed limit and dragging out the drive as it dawned on you how weird this scenario was.

He was a customer. And he was way older than you. Something that should have bothered you more than it actually did, which is to say not that much at all. It just made you hopelessly more attracted to him.

As much as he seemed sweet from the two interactions you had, plus the unmistakable way you caught his gaze raking over your body, the rational part of your brain still questioned what you were doing. He didn’t live alone, not technically. You were surprised to learn he had a daughter, but he also didn’t mention having a wife or a girlfriend. Not that it was any of your business. Nevertheless, you tucked that piece of information into the back of your mind as you pulled up to his place. 

He had a nice, modest house, at least from what you could tell when he answered the front door with a soft smile. He led you around to the back to the surprisingly large backyard, but what impressed you the most was the wooden deck which featured a nice patio set, complete with overflowing planters, a cute coffee table, and outdoor string lights that were hung up overhead.

You noticed some plastic butterfly fairy lights hanging off of a few deck posts and railings, their colors faded after years of weathering. Running your fingers along the molded ornaments you looked at him and smiled, “nice touch.”

He smirked, shaking his head. “My daughter, Sarah, insisted on putting them up as soon as we finished the deck a couple years ago.”

“You built this?” You look around incredulously. “It’s really nice. Like straight out of a Home Depot catalog.”

At that he puffs out his chest slightly and shoves his hands in his pocket. “Eh, I don't know about that. When I’m not working a job and got spare time, I try to do stuff around the house. This was a quick project one summer,” he shrugs noncommittally. 

“A quick project? You built a whole new part of your house Joel,” you raise your eyebrows at him as you sit down on the couch. Still, he brushes off the compliments and asks you if you want anything to drink. Moments later, you’re both sitting on the couch, two glasses of water and the pre rolls on the coffee table, along with the lighter and a small ashtray you brought. Another small cheap item from the dispensary with the logo on it, that no one would likely notice had gone missing.

He shuffles beside you momentarily. You can feel his nerves creeping back as he fidgets and leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. 

God he’s so .. big. You can feel the couch cushion dip underneath his weight beside you. His shoulders dwarf the space between you. It doesn’t help that with him being this close you can faintly smell him. The lingering scent of sandalwood, and a sharpness to whatever body wash he uses swirls together in a heady concoction that has your brain short circuiting. 

You already knew he was attractive from the moment he walked into the dispensary. But now, getting a chance to drink him in, you’re incredibly flustered. His deep brown eyes are easy enough to get lost in, as are his high cheekbones, aquiline nose, and strong jaw. A jaw peppered with gray stubble and a few sparse patches, that he’s currently tensing as he looks down in front of him. Your gaze follows his to the opened package of joints that are sitting on the coffee table in front of you.

“So what do we, uhm, where do we start?” He looks from the stuff on the table to you.

“Well, there’s really only one step with these pre rolls, you just light 'em up and inhale, and let the relaxation kick in.”

“Seems easy enough,” he gives you a small smirk.

Reaching forward, you pluck one of the slim joints off the table and you grab the lighter as well. The free lighter you gave him. 

“Have you ever smoked a cigarette before?” You hold the joint between your index and middle finger, turning to look at him.

He scrunches his face slightly and his brows furrow. “Yeah, long time ago though, not since college. Back when this stuff was still illegal anyway.”

You can’t really imagine young Joel in college. He must have been handsome. That much you were willing to bet money on.

“So basically the Woodstock, hippie, peace and love era?” you ask him with a smirk.

“Now, I may be old but I ain’t that fuckin senile” he squints his eyes at you, but there’s a small smile pulling at the side of his mouth. You bite your lip and smile at him.

“Well, not much has changed since then. You light it, and start to inhale as the flame catches and the weed starts burning. Don’t inhale too much but try to hold that smoke in your chest for a couple seconds, don’t exhale right away. The longer you hold in your breath, the quicker your body absorbs the cannabinoids in the weed.”

He looks at you intently as you explain it to him, but you can still see a bit of confusion on his face, so you elaborate.

“Cannabinoids meaning the THC and CBD, the stuff that cause you to feel relaxed and high”

He nods and you place the joint between your lips, raising your hand to light it, as you inhale deeply, the faint crackling sound of the paper and herb burning. The smoke slowly fills your lungs as they expand, and you let your eyes go heavy as you savor the earthy, fruity taste of the herb as it burns. 

You pull the joint away and let your mouth fall slightly open, holding some smoke in your chest as the rest of it falls out of your mouth in an opaque cloud, curling out into random tendrils before it disperses in the air. Exhaling, you turn to Joel and reach your hand out, offer the joint.

He blinks at you a few times. There’s something in his gaze, something heated that you catch, before they refocus and he looks down at the joint in between your fingers. You can see him hesitate again as he stares at the joint.

You duck your head slightly to meet his eyesight. 

“Hey, you can take as much or as little as you’d like Joel. Start off with a small pull and see how it feels.” You say, not pressing him any further than that, as thin wisps of smoke curl upwards between you two from the joint. 

He looks at you again, his eyes are big and round, like the cutest fucking puppy dog ever. The crease between his eyebrows disappears, as does the frown that seemed permanently etched on his face. It’s almost like he’s asking you for permission. You tilt your chin upwards slightly in encouragement and smile.

“Alright.” He takes the joint from you, mimicking how you held it, bringing it to his lips and looking at you as he inhales.  His eyes squint and he frowns slightly as he pulls from it, his broad chest puffing out a bit, the embers at the lit end of the joint glowing. He heeds your instructions, holding the smoke in his chest for a few seconds before exhaling, and you nod in approval. 

Fuck. 

You expected that maybe that he would wrinkle his face in disgust right away, or start coughing obscenely the moment the smoke entered his lungs. The usual things that beginner smokers do. 

But what you’re definitely not expecting is how fucking attractive Joel looks while smoking. Or rather, how attractive he makes smoking look. Either way you’re mesmerized by the way he casually holds the joint between his thick index and middle fingers, the way the smoke pours out from between his lips. Even the way he turns his head away from you so that he doesn’t exhale in your direction. He smokes like he’s done it multiple times before. 

You snap yourself out of your daze when he raises his eyebrows at you, his hand stretched out to you offering the joint. Narrowing your gaze at him, you take it from his hand, your fingers, brushing against his.

“You smoke like a veteran Joel. Are you sure this is your first time?” Eyeing him suspiciously, you bring the joint to your lips and pull from it again, this time holding the smoke in for a bit longer, allowing it to fill your lungs.

You can feel the moment that the high starts to creep up on you. The moment that the THC starts to permeate your bloodstream. Everything slows down, flooding your system with a hazy warmth and lightness. Your head is a bit light and you feel your body begin to buzz, as if every part of you is vibrating with mellow energy while you exhale. 

Joel makes the sign of the cross over his chest and leans back, settling into the couch. 

“I promise darlin, first time.” He replies in that warm fucking Southern drawl.

Darlin. 

God. The word slips out of his mouth like molasses, caressing your skin, as you feel your body heat up ever so slightly. You wet your lips, the dryness of cotton mouth hitting you with full force as you watch Joel spread his legs, the further he reclines back and relaxes into his seat.

The downright thirst you’re experiencing for this man however is something else entirely.  It must be the Indica. Just the weed, nothing else.

You sit back into the couch as well and pass the joint back to him. “Well, in that case I’m honored to have taken your weed virginity Joel Miller.” Pressing your hand to your heart, you give him a cheeky grin and bow your head.

At that remark his eyes widen and he actually does start coughing harshly mid-inhale, sputtering and hunching over as he shoves the joint back into your hands. You anticipated he would have coughed up a lung anyways with it being his first time but you can’t help the laugh that you let out at his misery.

“Oh shit! Sorry man, are you okay?” The concern in your voice is genuine but you’re still giggling as he gathers himself, slamming his fist against his chest a few times while his coughs die down. He grabs his glass of water off the table and takes a few sips, still breathing a bit heavy as his lungs try to suck in more air.

When he opens his mouth to speak, you’re caught off guard by how husky and deep his voice sounds. Deeper and more raspy than it usually is. 

“Jesus, I’ve been called many things before but being a weed virgin, that’s a first.” He chuckles softly and looks at you. “Besides, I bet you say that to everyone who smokes with you for their first time.”

You shake your head with a small smile as you take another toke from the joint. “Actuallyyyy,” you drag out the ‘y’ as you glance up at him from under your lashes, “you’re the first one.” As if admitting that to him is some kind of secret that you’re embarrassed to share. 

His eyebrows scrunch together again in disbelief. “No fucking way, c’mon”

“I’m serious." You giggle through your words and draw a cross over your heart, mimicking him. "None of my other friends smoke, the only other stoners I know are my co-workers.”  

“Plus, I know it can be a big deal, trying it for the first time, and ideally people want to smoke with someone they trust, whom they know they’re gonna have a good experience with. So I’m grateful you let me share that with you.” 

You try to ignore the way your pulse quickens as Joel’s gaze softens while looking at you. You clear your throat and look down at the lighter in your hand, picking at the plastic label.

“I should be the one thanking you. For your patience, and showing me the ropes with this stuff.” He gestures to all the paraphernalia on the table in front of you both and sighs. “I wasn’t keen on trying marijuana. Regardless of whether it was ‘medicinal’ or not.” He huffs as he makes the little air quotes with his hands.

“When my doctor suggested it for my back pain, I was about ready to get up and walk out of the office, but he also made it pretty clear there weren’t many other options.  Had to swallow my pride and give it a go. So thank you,” he leans into you a bit with his shoulder, giving you a playful shove, “For making this a good first experience for me.”

He gives you a sheepish smile.  Your body begins to heat up at his close proximity. 

“Anytime, Joel. Really.” You angle your upper body towards him and look up at him. Your gaze flicks from his deep amber eyes, down to his lips, and back up to his eyes again.  You almost miss how his eyes track yours, dipping down to your lips for a millisecond before he blinks.

Jesus. You need to get a grip. 

“Uhm, how do you feel right now?” You switch the subject in an attempt to shut your cavewoman brain off. 

He pauses for a minute and he looks off to the side like he’s running an internal diagnostic scan. That crease in his brow deepens slightly before his expression softens and he looks back at you with wide eyes. “I actually feel pretty good. A little out of it but pretty relaxed.”

“And the back pain?” You tilt your head at him.

He shifts a bit in his seat and leans forward, straightening and stretching his spine, twisting from side to side, gauging the movement. A baffled expression crosses his face. Actually, flabbergasted might be a better word to describe it.

“Holy shit,” he mutters, “barely any pain at all,” he laughs in disbelief as he looks at you with bright eyes. 

“That’s amazing Joel! I’m glad it could help” You beam up at him, still mindlessly puffing away at the joint. You slowly let the cloud of smoke fall out of your mouth, as it spills out you start to inhale the opaque cloud through your nose again. 

Joel’s smile falls faintly, and his expression morphs into fascination as he watches the smoke disappearing up into your nose. His eyes are rounded. Like a child who just watched a magician pull a coin out of their ear.

“That’s fancy,” he murmurs.

“Huh?” You exhale the rest of the smoke in a large plume towards the ceiling, and look back at him. “Oh. What? This?” You mimic the action again, pulling from the joint and allowing the smoke from your mouth to disperse into the air, as you inhale it again through your nose. 

“It’s a French inhale, nothing fancy. More of a force of habit,” you chuckle dryly. “I don’t even realize I’m doing it half the time, but it was the first trick I learned.” 

You look at him sideways but he’s still watching you. The fascination is gone, replaced by a darker expression. Hunger. 

Was that weird? Does he think you’re pretentious for trying to look cool in front of him?

“Tricks eh?” He repeats after you and tilts his head slightly.  All of a sudden you feel like prey, under his predatory gaze. As if he’s assessing you, sizing you up, about to devour you. You feel your throat start to go dry, and this time you doubt you can blame it on having  cotton mouth. 

“That’s pretty cool. Can you do any others?” He asks.

Aside from the French inhale, there’s really only two others that you can do. The ghost and doing the classic O’s or rings. 

“Uhm, a few others yeah but I’m not that great at them.” You blink a few times and look down at your hands.

“Now that I’ll call bullshit on,” he quips.  He relaxes into the couch, draping one arm over the back while spreading his legs wide, his other hand in his lap. 

His gaze pierces yours as he murmurs. “C’mon. Show me.” 

You’d hardly call it peer pressure but the way his voice gets even deeper and he takes up more space with his position, convinces you.

Resistance is futile at this point. He could ask you to do anything in that fucking tone of voice and you would do it. 

You exhale shakily as if you’re about to put on the biggest fucking performance of your lifetime. 

For whatever reason, you want him to be impressed by you. Fascinated by you. So you steel yourself and hold his gaze as you take another pull from the joint as it starts to burn out.

Holding the smoke in your mouth, you slowly tilt your head back and pout your lips slightly, making an O shape with your mouth, pushing the smoke out in brief pauses. The first few that come out are a bit small and wonky, but as you keep going, the rings of smoke become thicker, forming perfect O’s that float upwards, dissipating into the air. 

You exhale the rest of the smoke out in a rush, stubbing the joint in the ashtray. “I’m a bit rusty. It took a while to teach myself how to do them.” 

You add that part onto the end, to stroke your own ego mostly, but also because you selfishly want to elicit more praise from him. Which he willingly gives you.

“Don’t seem that rusty to me at all darlin’. That’s pretty damn cool.” He rubs his jaw with his thumb and index finger, brushing his thumb over his bottom lip. 

“You’ll have to teach me some tricks, some other time.” His hungry expression falters as he gives you a genuine smile, not before it’s interrupted by the quietest rumbling sound. His eyes widen slightly before he clears his throat and starts fidgeting a bit more, flexing and flexing the hand in his lap. 

You hum and grin at him deviously.

“Hmmm, it sounds like the munchies have kicked in at this point.” You return the playful shove but he barely moves an inch, his broad shoulder feeling like a solid wall. “You hungry?”

[crystaltoa]

If I may ask. Your headcanons what kind of food and dishes the turaga like best? (Remembered the post discussing and being silly about the turaga realizing that they and the matoran have to eat food on Mata Nui. It was probably also an adventure when they figured out how to prepare it to make it taste better / able to be eaten at all.)

Hmm...

A lot of this depends on whether you assume Matoran's nutritional needs are at all similar to humans, or quite different, or whether they consume food for energy and nothing else. I'm kind of going with the latter but assuming they still can taste their food.

I've kind of made it a bit about the villages in general since what the Matoran have access to is going to influence what the Turaga eats and vice versa, hope that's okay.

Some general notes first:

Crops and orchards do not appear to be a thing on the island of Mata Nui. Each village has a single Vuata Maca tree, and some villages also had access to Bula berries, both of which are high energy fruits. Other foraged fruit and vegetables are on the menu, but grain-based foods are likely out.

Some of the foods I mention here would typically be made with a flour in our world. but since grains aren't really a thing, you can imagine it would be made from something like ground up nuts, tubers, or maybe even something like tree bark.

That said, despite not exactly farming the land, the Matoran on the island did try to maintain the health of the "natural" environment, for example, volcanic soil from the lava farms was used to improve the health of Le-Wahi's forests.

Two real life plants with edible parts are confirmed to be found on the island: Bamboo, which has edible shoots, and the harakeke, which has nectar used for flavouring. I'm also going to include seaweed in this category.

Matoran don't seem to eat meat apart from fish. In fact, the Skakdi mostly eat meat just to intimidate people from other cultures and they don't require it from a nutritional standpoint. Kualus was also alarmed and disgusted by the existence of predatory bird Rahi, so... Matoran seem to have a different view of what is or is not food than most human cultures. If you want to give them a bit more variety, perhaps there are shellfish, molluscs, or arthropods that they might also eat.

Terms that originate in cooking (baked, boiled, friedetc) are often thrown around in other contexts, but it implies that Matoran are familiar with them as cooking practices

Ga-Koro: Fish is going to be a big part of the diet. Nokama may have developed a taste and skill for hunting them as a Toa Hordika. I doubt that food poisoning is an issue for Matoran given how energy absorbtion works for them, so fish doesn't technically need to be cooked. However, cooking them for improved flavour or texture may have developed over time, though Nokama herself still prefers sashimi. I imagine Ga-Matoran have also experimented with sauces and marinades (including the harakeke nectar), and have derived a number of spices from aquatic and waterside plants. In the absence of refrigerators, they have probably developed a number of preservation techniques (pickling, drying, etc) that are largely used for trading fish to other villages, especially during spring-summer when the fish spoils more quickly (they may not get food poisoning but nobody wants fish that smells and tastes rotten!).

Ta-Koro: I headcanon that Vakama loves spicy food, and prefers meals that most people would consider slightly overcooked. Ta-Matoran in general probably like stews, curries and soups as well, even in summer, as they love the heat and aren't bothered by having a cooking pot going all day in their hut. I think they would also have invented various types of tea, some of which may have slight medicinal properties.

Po-Koro: Pie is mentioned in MNOG in Po-Koro, so I'm going to take that as canon. These could be made with fruit, root vegetables, or even fish when they can get it. I also think Po-Matoran, and especially Onewa, like a lot of salt on their food (interpret that any way you want) Maybe they even add other ground up minerals for flavour as well in lieu of herbs and spices. I think it's fair to say Onewa's favourite pie recipe wouldn't be considered tasty or edible by human standards.

Onu-Koro: Headcanon territory here, but I'm going to make this the one exception to the no farming rule. I like to think they grow a lot of root vegetables on the surface but mostly harvest them from below the ground, meaning the plants are almost never uprooted for harvesting, and some of the tuber root systems grow absolutely enormous. Cooking below ground has the obvious problem of smoke, which could be dangerous without good ventilation, so I like to think that quite often high-power heatstones are used to fry, boil and perhaps bake their food instead. Like Ta-Koro, they like their stews and curries all year round since the underground village is less vulnerable to the summer heat. I also think of the Turaga, Whenua is one of the most adventurous in terms of figuring out what is and is not edible. Some varieties of organic beetle grubs have made it into the Onu-Matoran diet as a result, though most of his culinary experiments don't really catch on. He does not trust mushrooms, and refuses to say why.

Le-Koro: Fruit is the big one here, with a lot of foraged fruit, berries and nuts making up a large part of the diet. Being the most energetic of the island's Matoran, most Le-Matoran love sugar, and anything they can use to make food sweeter is highly sought after. Marinating fruit in nectar, honey or juice is common. They even sweeten traditionally savoury foods like fish. If sugarcane exists on the island, they would be coating absolutely everything in raw sugar. Matau, while not as adventurous as Whenua, has tried a few interesting food experiments in his time, though most meals he eats are a fruit or berry salad with some kind of sweet flavour enhancer. He will not comment on the mushrooms.

Ko-Koro: Ko-Matoran tend to eat a lot less than other Matoran as their lifestyle is all about conserving their energy for things that really matter. Many of them live off the odd Vuata Maca fruit from the village's tree and don't feel the need for anything more exciting. A lot of their other food comes from trade, and they keep the traded goods in large storehouses as Ko-Koro often becomes inaccessible to other villages for weeks at a time in the winter. Cooking is not terribly popular, but smoked fish and marinated fruit obtained from other villages are well liked by many Ko-Matoran. Traders visiting Ko-Koro often have the problem of their wares, such as fruit juices, freezing solid during the trek up the mountain. Turns out many Ko-Matoran like their food frozen, however, so vessels similar to popsicle molds are used by some traders to take advantage of this. Nuju is a little different and has been known to try things that the local bird rahi recommend and bring him. So far the seeds are his favourite, and the fish was okay, but it was a hard pass on the mice and the worms.

[bienmoreau]

Can you tell me abt sunshine court? I see a new book came recently and I've gathered it's a book series and I could just look it up but I have not. It's books? About foxes? I guess it's not about foxes. I like foxes tho. When I see it on your blog I think abt foxes which is nice.

Boy CAN I!!

The Sunshine Court is a spin-off of the All For The Game trilogy by Nora Sakavic! It follows my absolute favourite character from the trilogy the one and only Jean Moreau! (And my 2nd favourite Jeremy Knox)!! BUT! TSC is going to make next to no sense unless you've read AFTG!

So what is AFTG?

; A trilogy consisting of the books The Foxhole Court, The Raven King and The Kings Men.

Shortest answer is: a truly wild collegiate sport drama with an extra flavour of trying to escape from the mafia and shed loads of trauma!

Slightly longer answer is that the books are about Neil Josten a boy on the run for his life from his dad who's obsessed with a fictional sport called Exy. Against all better judgement he is convinced to sign with a college team. And against all odds doing so is probably long-term what saves his life. Tho not for many a close call when his past and his present collide with more fallout than even he could have anticipated. Thankfully he has the 'psychotic midget' Andrew Minyard at his back and maybe they can make a future together out of this mess.

Longer/other answers can be found in this tag here #wtf is tfc

And also please mind there are a heap of trigger warnings for these books if you do plan to read them! More info on each book here!

But yeh. These books mean a lot to me. A friend got me to read them in 2015 and a group of us spent a couple months building a fandom and promoting the heck out of them and that fandom is now bigger than I ever could have imagined back then and most of the old crowd aren't really in it anymore but the love from that time hasn't gone anywhere and then last year Nora messaged me to say she was writing TSC (incredibly exciting madness since she went offline YEARS ago!) so I've been dipping my toes back in a bit since then, mostly just for tsc & jerejean again, but the OG 3 books still mean so much to me and I'm rereading them rn and still absolutely adore Nora's writing and the story she is telling with these books!! So with all that (sorry got a little tangential there) if you are interested and wanna know more feel free to ask me anything abt them!

🦊xx

[davyreads]

review of tomi adeyemi’s children of anguish and anarchy

zélie confronts her final enemy, the king of a foreign land who hunts her heart.

"i'm not ready for our story to end."

children of anguish and anarchy is the final entry in tomi adeyemi's legacy of orisha trilogy, and it was preceded by commercial and critical successes children of blood and bone and children of virtue and vengeance. this final book continues where the second book left off, and readers are reunited with zélie, tzain, amari and inan, as they fight to free their people and save the life of an unknown girl. the plight of the maji has always been reminiscent of the struggles of the black community, but this is made even clearer and more visceral in this final installment.

keep reading for my personal thoughts (there will be spoilers)

the story follows zélie as she frees the maji from the captivity of those known only as the skulls, for the masks that they wear over their faces. after freeing her people, during the process of which an artefact from the skulls is embedded into her chest, zélie searches for a mystery girl and aims to save her life and protect her from the skulls and their monstrous power. whilst she does this with tzain and amari, inan returns with the rest of the maji to orisha to warn the rest of their people of the threat posed by the skulls. upon returning, they find their people still at war with one another, and they very quickly understand that in order to stand a chance against their new foes, they need to stop their infighting and unite. meanwhile, zélie, tzain and amari come across an island of people with different and unique gifts, and they find the girl they have been looking for. there are many time jumps, and a sacrifice made by one of our protagonists, but by the end, the maji and zélie’s new friend, mae’e, defeat the skulls.

the aspect of the trilogy that i really enjoyed, and that i have always enjoyed, has been the worldbuilding, and this final book carries on that legacy, and expands it to different continents. we’re introduced to new worlds and new abilities and, briefly, new systems of magic, with references to different cultures and mythologies. this is something that has never been an issue for this series, and i appreciate that this is something we get to enjoy to the very end of it.

another thing is that, as i said in the small blurb i wrote, the references to struggles faced by the black community from outside the community and within it have always been part and parcel of the series, and these themes have driven the story in an authentic way that allows readers to relate to the characters. i truly appreciate these inclusions and it helps the series maintain a flavour of what initially drew readers in to begin with. unfortunately, this final entry was a major disappointment to me, and it let me down greatly. the issues that i will discuss are the pacing, the characters, the story itself and its place in the trilogy.

i knew almost immediately that something wasn’t right, because the pacing was quite fast, and it felt abnormal. around 100 pages into the book, our characters have already staged a successful revolt without powers (mostly; with the exception of tzain, curiously); in any of the other books in the trilogy, this might not have really been an issue but since this book is shorter than the other 2, this is ultimately less than a third of the way through, and with the way the rest of the story is written and paced, this speed feels unnecessary, and it doesn’t feel like there was any point to this, because there was no clear compromise on any other aspect that could possibly explain this. there are many time jumps and skips and whilst these are good, and should be used, this just left the book feeling a bit spotty. when i think of my experience reading the book, there aren’t any actual gaps in my memory, it’s just that the timing of the novel is really bad, as much as it pains me to say. we don’t see any actual training for the characters, with the exception of a singular scene for zélie and tzain, if they can really be called that, but this takes me to my next grievance: the characters.

there is no development, and certain characters just straight up disappear (roën is nowhere to be found…?). the characters don’t change whatsoever. zélie is still zélie, amari is still amari (except she’s explicitly queer now, which i will discuss), and inan is still inan. tzain doesn’t really change either, he just gets a weapon (made from his own rib, which is pretty cool, i have to say), and whilst i can appreciate that he has felt powerless throughout the series as he has had to wait on the sidelines whilst the main action happens, this almost comes out of nowhere, and it felt like there was no buildup. i might even go as far as saying that there might have been a few out-of-character moments for some characters (inan consistently making terrible decisions even though he’s the closest we have to a military tactician was annoying to witness). this doesn’t seem as big of an issue as other aspects that i will discuss further, but it’s aggravating that with all these new threats and discoveries, everyone stays the same. inan sacrificing himself at the end of the novel felt like a very cheap way to shock the reader rather than it feeling like a necessary part of the story; in the book, it’s explained (kind of terribly) that inan must exchange his breath of life for zélie’s, and it is for that reason that inan dies and zélie lives, however it felt incredibly cheap and weak because nothing has changed about inan over the course of the novel to truly make us feel emotional at his death. it felt a bit like the ending of netflix’s chilling adventures of sabrina when nick scratch kills himself because it felt less like a needed part of the book and more like an attempt at shocking the viewers. i also think the book suffers from having too many perspectives, and i truly feel that tzain’s perspective was insignificant, especially seeing as with his point of view, we still know close to nothing about his training and what his experience in new gaia is like. this was really disappointing to read and very very annoying.

as i mentioned earlier, amari is explicitly confirmed to be queer, and many have read her as such since the first book, a popular pairing being zélie x amari. however, as much as i love queer stories, specifically black and african queer stories, this felt very lacklustre. amari meets mae’e and they pretty much fall in love instantly, with a short and uninteresting throwaway line from tzain where he remarks that amari looks at mae’e the same way she used to look at him (pg. 270). personally, this wasn’t very satisfying, and i can’t tell if it’s because the romance itself wasn’t convincing or if, in the context of the rest of the novel, this was just disappointing. the villain of this book is also very uninteresting and it got to a point whilst i was reading that i was waiting for the book to end because i felt so unstimulated by it, which really upsets me.

my final grievance that i will discuss is how well this novel works as an end to the trilogy, and the story itself. in short, i think this book was an incredibly disappointing and dissatisfying end to a beloved trilogy, and it truly hurts to say that, because there aren’t many times where i will see my culture written with such love and written so beautifully. this trilogy, in my opinion, really should have been a duology, and it should’ve ended after children of virtue and vengeance, perhaps with an epilogue that explored how their world was changed by the return of magic and how they are working to rebuild their country. this final instalment was so inconsequential, and really did not change much about the world of the trilogy, and because we were being introduced to so many new things in the shortest book of the trilogy, everything felt a bit out of place and time. nothing felt earned or deserved, and the only death that really moved me was one that didn’t even appear in the book (i miss you, imani). the epilogue was also very weak, in my opinion, because whilst it promises the hope of rebuilding lives and homes and orisha as a country, i think it would have been better placed at the end of the second book as it would have allowed the series to end on a high note.

[donutsupremacy]

Pocky Game (Pt. 2)

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Summary

"Hey, [Choice of Character]! Wanna try this new treat with me?"

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Warnings

Pocky Games and the rules are likely inaccurate lol

Male characters only

Included characters are the remaining (K-Z)

Organized from Region and alphabetical order

Mostly fluffy

I didn't specify the flavor, so feel free to pick ur desired flavor

Steamy ones marked with (⚠️)

Some cussing

I have ran out of scenarios for 70% :>

1000% Ooc

Written during 3.7

A/N: Iabxjnskxjei can't wait for Fontaine to meet my lovely sweetheart Lyney

Once again, YES I KNOW POCKY DOESN'T EXIST IN GENSHIN— yet.

For the sake of this imagine, just pretend the regional chefs made it

Remaining male characters included are (Not in order);

Kazuha/ Mika/ Pantalone/ Pierro/ Pulcillena (Yes)/ Razor/ Wanderer/ Heizou/ Thoma/ Tighnari/ Venti/ Xiao/ Xingqiu/ Zhongli

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Mondstadt

"When Sara created it, she also made a new based on it. She said that it would be best to play it with a partner, so... would you like to play a game with me?"

Mika

➷ My precious bby deserves better in this community.

➷ You'll likely find him somewhere busy remapping some areas that were recently revamped by everyone's favorite lil' terrorist Crimson Spark Knight

➷ You don't dare to jumpscare him, being in the Reconnaissance Company is already a tough enough of a job as it is. So, you loudly trampled across the grass, at least loud enough for him to hear.

➷ A little taken aback, he greets you meekly, all the while expertly marking the terrain on his map despite already looking away from it. (Maybe accidentally drawing a small heart on it once he saw you, mwehehehehe)

➷ You pecked his already blushing cheek, asking if he could take a break. He can multitask between mapping out the area while relaxing with you as being with you while doing cartography has always been his favorite type of 'break'.

➷ The two of you sat down on the grass, with you watching him work while he listens to you talking about whatever was going on in Mondstat. The gentle breeze brushing against your hair and his map.

➷ After finishing his work, you introduced him to the new treat Sara made and a new game.

➷ Mentioning the word 'Kiss' alone made him flustered. The two of you had been in a lovely relationship, but have yet to kiss on the lips. You reassure him there's no need to push it, but it's been a secret of his that he wonders just how your lips may feel on his.

➷ So he takes on the challenge, after all; He's the front-line surveyor of the Reconnaissance Company, he shouldn't be afraid of a kiss from his [S/O]!

➷ ...Maybe a bit more preparation was needed. As soon as your lips grazed across his own, locked together by the flavored stick, he attempts to kiss you properly by headbutting you on accident. Déjà Vu, amirite, Bennett from Part 1?

➷ "I-I'm alright! There's no need to worry... What about you? I didn't hurt you did I?... Huh? Y-You enjoyed the kiss? Me? O-Of course I enjoyed it! I'm just sorry our first kiss had to be... less romantic. Let me make it up to you! Follow me, I actually want to show you a place in Stormterror's Lair, I-I think you'll like it."

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Razor

➷ Oh shit he came from the trees

➷ Quite literally, he dropped down from the trees, greeting you with a small smile after your lovely scent reached him.

➷ You introduced him to the treat and as you had expected; He was skeptical at first, having his diet based on mostly meat.

➷ But, he's willing to try anything, especially when it comes from his beloved Lupical... even if you suck at cooking like me heueheuhwhshsbdkannfks

➷ Regardless of what flavour you chose, he reacts positively, stating that the taste isn't as bad as he initially thought. To be honest, he thought you brought something to poison him, he hasn't seen this treat before since his last visit to Mondstadt's City.

➷ It's still feels odd eating... 'Stick with flavour', as he calls it (He doesn't know how to pronounce Pocky properly). But then you place it between your lips, suggesting him to eat another one while sharing it at the same time with you.

➷ Innocent little Razor automatically agrees, seeing this as something romantic humans do; Sharing something they like with their partner. Of course it didn't take long for him to grow flustered at the lack of space between your lips and his.

➷ Out of instinct from seeing many couples in the city do this, he just lunges ahead and take a large chunk of the stick, his lips grazing against your gently enough to be called a kiss.

➷ He chews the stick silently in shame as you just stared at him out of surprise. He quietly mutters an apology as he assumed he something wrong, to which you reassured him that you enjoyed the kiss. That earned you another happy peck to the cheek.

➷ "Me too. Your lips... taste like treat. But also soft on mine... It is— very nice. I... like to kiss you. Can we try one more? I-If you want."

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Venti

➷ Booze flavoured Pocky?

➷ You'll be aware of Venti's true identity for this one. You are 'The Melody of Venti's Vocals' and/or vice versa, following him and creating a tune together that tugs the strings of the Mondstadters all around you.

➷ But at night, where life tends to retire for their slumber and secrets lay hiding within the shadows, you accompany the Archon (Unsurprisingly) to the bar. Telling tales of himself as he downs several shots of Dandelion Wine. And then later paying for his bills before dragging him to your home for some cuddles.

➷ On this particular night, you asked the bard to skip the drinking, much to his short-lived dismay.

➷ You drag him all the way back to your private abode, sitting on your porch and asking him to share the treat. He'll definitely agree to play the game as well, not skipping a beat to say 'Absolutely!'.

➷ It starts off cute, playing the game normally. Until halfway through when he holds both your cheeks, taking the rest of the stick in while giving you a biiiig smooch.

➷ You're flustered at first, before playfully pouting at him as he giggles and slyly winks at you. He then proceeds to ask you for one more round. One after another, each one you lose because he sucessfully kisses you. Though, you certainly didn't mind the slightest.

➷ At the strike of midnight, Venti sighs, licking his lips that hsd the taste of the stick's flavour and your own. He grins at you cheekily, as you fake pouted for not winning once.

➷ He chuckles, bringing you into his embrace, to which you lean against him, your feigned anger quelled in his arms. As you both stared at the moon above, he gazes softly into your eyes, his slim fingers caressing your cheek.

➷ "Exchanging tokens of love has always been a delight— for the spark between us to shine brighter than tonight's moonlight... Now, take my hand, dear Windblume— and allow me to proudly declare my everlasting love, to none other than you..."

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Liyue

"I know Xiangling's cooking can be... odd, but I promise; this one actually tastes amazing!... And, she even included a little game to it!"

Xiao

➷ "Xiao?" "U called?" "AAAAAAA—"

➷ Perched on the rooftop of Wangshu Inn, golden leaves raining from the tree above. As soon as you pulled out the box of Pocky, the Yaskha turns you down before you could utter a word.

➷ Obviously, He doesn't need food, it doesn't benefit him if he consumes them anyway. Well, except maybe Almont Tofu huehue

➷ It wasn't until you started fake whimpering, bringing out the puppy eyes did he finally cave in. He loathes the sound of your whimpers, it makes his heart ache painfully to comfort you. And your teary eyes? It hurts more to look at them than his karmic debt.

➷ He sighs before stating 'Only this once', causing your eyes to light up brighter than the star themselves. He may not enjoy food, but he finds comfort being with you. He's willing to tolerate anything when it comes to making you feel safe and happy.

➷ He asks what's the point of the game, to which you responded with 'It's a surprise!' casually. He rolls his eyes before taking the other end of the stick, the two of you taking turns chipping away at the treat.

➷ And then your noses touch.

➷ His piercing golden eyes widened, pupils trembling at the sight of how close your lips are to his own. It wasn't like neither of you have shared a kiss before, you always pecked his cheek as a greeting. But when he's supposedly suspended in place when your lips were right there, inches away for him to take... it's the sudden craving for your kiss that makes him feel— flustered.

➷ He's the one who broke the stick, reluctantly swallowing the treat while avoiding your eyes. He subtly glances at you, noticing the upset exoression as you silently chew on your end of the stick.

➷ It doesn't take long for the cogs in his brain to start spinning, before he asks if this was a ridiculously pointless plot for you to steal a kiss from him. In which you replied; "Yes :3"

➷ He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighed, the tip of his nose a rosy pink colour. He grabs your chin, turning you to face him before he leans in slowly, planting his lips on your own.

➷ It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an entire decade went by before he finally pulled away. His gloved hand cradling your face, thumb caressing your blushing cheeks as you gazed at him happily.

➷ "You humans truly love making things much more difficult for yourselves than it should. You're lucky i'll humour you today. Uhm, you... aren't afraid of asking me for something so simple and small— are you?... You're not? Oh. That's good... Next time, you can just ask, I won't decline... I promise."

Xingqiu

➷ *Proceeds to read out the entire story of Romeo and Juliet at your arrival*

➷ You see him occupied reading a book while on a bench, so you interrupt by slipping the box of treats in between the pages he was reading, cooing at him to lend you some time for a bit of fun.

➷ Amused, he closes the book and pecks your forehead, followed by the usual compliment of your lovely presence greeting him and pulling you closer to him.

➷ You asked him to play the Pocky Game with you, to which he narrows his eyes at the box, deep in thought. You were about to reassure that if he didn't want to, there was no need to, until he gleefully agrees to play. You could see flowers dancing around him, which already made you feel weary of him.

➷ Nonetheless, your happiness powered over your cautious side and you eagerly planted the stick between your lips. He leans foward biting the other side, the corner of his lips tugging into a sly but unnoticeable smirk. You've fallen into his trap, again~

➷ Your naivety wasn't aware of his eyes growing half-lidded, his head tilting a certain angle and his hand reaching out to your face. Halfway there, and your biggest mistake was looking up, locking eyes with his suddenly lustful amber eyes.

➷ his hands barely grazed your cheek, the faint moan of your name reaching your ear, eyes pleading for more than a simple kiss from you. That was when you instinctively snapped the stick apart, nearly falling over the bench you both sat on, covering your bright red face that felt like it was on fire.

➷ The male giggles slyly, watching you sit up with a bright red face that could rival the hair of a pyro wielding bartender in Mondstadt, an angry pout forming on your face.

➷ You punched him gently on the shoulder as you dragged yourself back on the bench, pretending to ignore him for tricking you.

➷ Of course, that didn't last long before he wraps his arms around you, kissing your still red cheek and whispering apologies into your ear.

➷ "My liege, why are you fretting over such a simple and intimate act? Are lovers not obliged to display affection for one another as a way to express their true feelings? Or perhaps... has something suggestive begun circulating in your thoughts? Hehehe~ I thank the Archons for blessing me with such a doting and endearing [S/O]~"

Zhongli (⚠️)

➷ Habsjsbdin i feel disgusting writing these

➷ You'll also know Zhongli's true identity in this one, I hc that if he found a lover, he'd reveal he's an archon some time in your relationship as to not make your... 'Parting' too difficult.

➷ Sad stuff out of the way, you slide yourself next to Zhongli, who was in the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's lobby having his afternoon tea.

➷ He greets you, poised and soft as ever. He pours you a cup of tea, offering it to you. The liquid cools your insides, a sigh of relief escaoing your lips as you thank him for the refreshment. Or if you dislike tea, he'll offer you just a glass of water, saying he predicted your arrival.

➷ You wasted no time in asking if he'd like to play the Pocky Game with you, waving the stick in front of him as you informed him of the rules. Amused at your offer, he agrees to try the oh-so-harmless game.

➷ It started off normal and innocent at first, the two of you playing the game as intended, with you going on a losing streak for breaking the treat too much, being too flustered because of Zhongli's face getting too close to yours. He looks so— gorgeous up close...

➷ You call for a break, frantically drinking your [cup of tea/glass of water] to try and cool down your body. All the while Zhongli was patiently watching you fan yourself as subtly as you could, which wasn't subtle at all.

➷ He thinks you're flustered for losing so much, so be wraps his arms around you, pulling you close to him as a way to comfort you. Which wasn't working, if anything, it made your face feel more hotter.

➷ He whispers sweet nothing into your ears, reassuring you for something you weren't upset about. And it gets worse when he pulls you into his lap, having you unintentionally straddle his hips.

➷ Mainly out of embarrassment, you squirmed around a little. Laughing sheepishly as you shyly explained you weren't upset, but flustered at how pretty he looked up close.

➷ Unfortunately, your words didn't reach his ears, distracted by you pressing down onto his clothed member. His hands trailed down your body slowly, effectively shutting you up and making you wriggle around more.

➷ He groans your name quietly, raspy voice echoing in your ears. Wanting to hear more, you experimentally rolled your hips against him, a small moan leaving your lips at his erection pressing against you.

➷ His gloved fingers dug into the flesh of your waist, pulling you downwards to feel himself throbbing against you, the tightening core in your abdoment aching for him.

➷ Lustful amber eyes met yours as he cradled your blushing cheek, leaning foward to lock lips with you. He lifts himself a little, now it was his turn to tease you. A moan escaping your intertwined lips, now joining him in his administrations.

➷ "My love... there's no need to tempt me, I understand your needs. Shall we take this somewhere more... private? Director Hu would not appreciate it if we... make love here. I wish to show you my passionate side that awaits you."

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Inazuma

"Anna asked if I could taste test it, but then she told me it would be more fun if I had a partner to try it out with... Why don't we have a bite or two together?"

Kazuha Kaedehara

➷ Beidou is his mom, now she's ur mom as well. I don't take no's for an awnser.

➷ You arrive on the Crux, crew members scurrying around the deck, attending to their duties. Your boyfriend no where to be seen, but you spot the captain gazing at the sea intently, presumably wondering what sort of adventures are there to come.

➷ Beidou greets you enthusiastically, an arm looped around your shoulder and pulling you in for a tight hug. You choked due to her strength, but returned with a shy greeting of your own. You gave her an extra Pocky box as a gift, knowing she and her crew were ready to set sail soon.

➷ You asked the Electro wielder where your beloved boyfriend was, to which she chuckled, before responding with a vague 'Ask him what's up!' and pointing somewhere.

➷ You followed her finger, directing your eyes to see what was behind and above you; Your amused boyfriend sitting on the roof, smiling down at you.

➷ The white haired male got up and jumped down, using his Anemo vision to assist him in his graceful landing. He greets you with his usual soft tone, taking your hand and planting a kiss on your knuckles.

➷ Beidou soon leaves with a hearty laugh and a 'Get a room, lovebirds!~', returning to assist her crew members. Meanwhile, you dragged your boyfriend over to a more secluded area of the ship while asking him about where his travels will bring him to next.

➷ Sitting near the edge of the ship, he awnsers all of your questions calmly, before asking if you wanted to play the game with him. He chuckles, admitting he heard your voice faintly in the wind talking to a friend about wanting to play the Pocky game with him before he leaves.

➷ Although embarrassed that he overheard your conversation, you nodded. You took one end of the treat and pointed at the other, which he happily took.

➷ Since he was about to leave soon, you were only able to sneak in a couple of rounds before Beidou's voice could be heard announcing the preparation for departure was completed. But you were still happy, as you had fun kissing your boyfriend on the lips, which you'll miss for a while.

➷ He cradles your face, his soft but captivating red eyes staring into yours. He plants his lips onto yours once more, pulling you closer to his chest, your arms wrapped around him.

➷ "Hearts intertwined, strings stretched apart but not once torn. We will never be seperated, for our connection is something that will last much more than eternity. I'll be back soon, [Name], my heart, mind, soul and body are yours forever."

Shikanoin Heizou (⚠️)

➷ Very self indulgent. Very very long and self indulgent :>

➷ You were visiting the Tenryou Comission, greeting many familiar faces while on the way to see a certain detective, who was likely about to take his break and waiting for your arrival.

➷ As you had correctly guessed, you entered his office, quietly so you wouldn't accidentally disturb the burgundy haired male seen busy sorting some files at his desk. His brows furrowed and olive eyes reading each label intently, you can't help but silently admire how pretty he looked when he was focused.

➷ You opted to help him finish his current task first, putting away the box and moving to his side to sort the remaining files. You've always assisted him with his work whenever you stopped by to see him, it helps him immensely when he was given a large workload. Sorting a couple of files according to their statuses was a walk in the park, you've done this many times.

➷ His eyes widened at your sudden appearance, but smiled fondly at you, his mood improving tenfold. Soon enough, the desk was neat and tidy in contrast to the pile of mess before you came in.

➷ He breathes a sigh of relief, pecking your cheek and asking you to take a seat next while he grabs you a glass of water. On the way, he locks the door, giving the two of you privacy. His eyes spot the box you've hidden, his velvety laughter reaching your ears.

➷ You thank him as he sits next to you, arms wrapped around your waist and pulling you close as you took your sweet time taking a sip. Meanwhile, he sneakily takes the box, examining it's peculiar design.

➷ When he asks you about it, you introduced him to the treat and told him about the game's rules, later asking if he could play a game with you. Of course, he accepts in a heartbeat, already handing you one stick.

➷ You bite down on it while he takes the other almost immediately, grinning at you slyly. The round proceeds smoothly, with you taking the victory after sucessfully kissing his lips, your cheeks tinted a pink hue.

➷ He blinks, a bit in shock while you happily chew your treat. He chuckles, pinching your cheek while calling you 'cute'. You offered to play another round, to which he gladly took. Unbeknownst to you, he's already planning something to... 'spice up' this competition.

➷ Each and every round, you ended up as the victor, unaware of why he seemed rather lazy to play, only smiling at you in amusement. It wasn't until he took the last stick, asking for one more round, you accepted, thinking nothing of it.

➷ While you were already half way there, he lunges foward, taking the remaining stick into his mouth and locking lips with you. You nearly fell off your chair, arms clinging onto his shirt while he grips your waist tightly.

➷ He pulls away, licking his lips and gazing into your eyes, olive eyes clouded with lust at how much your trembling from his lips alone. He doesn't let you speak, barely letting you register when he pulls you in for another kiss.

➷ He shifts himself to hover over you, one hand resting on your thigh while the other hold the back of your head, pushing you to deepen the kiss. You steady yourself by grabbing his shoulders, the chair tilted back slightly.

➷ He retreats, only to kiss your chin, slowly moving down to litter your collar bone with bright red marks for all to see. You choked back a moan, his hand on your thigh now moving closer to where you want him the most.

➷ "You're a needy one, aren't you? *Chuckles* how cute~ Did I rile you up too much? Do you need me badly? Don't be scared, even if they hear, then they'll know who you really belong to now~ Say the word, my [Pet Name], say it loud and clear to me... and i'll make you scream my name louder in return."

Thoma

➷ I'M RUNNING OUT OF SCENARIOS SO THIS IS THE PART WHERE I SHORTEN EVERYTHING AND BS MY THROUGH—

➷ While gathering feedback on the new treat for Anna, (The chef in Inazuma, the one in Ayaka's story quest) you accidentally rammed right into Thoma, dropping the box and falling onto your rear with a soft 'thud'.

➷ He apologises, helping you up and repeatedly asking if you were alright. You reassure him that you weren't hurt, although, you were a little upset that your snack was inedible now as the last few sticks were scattered on the ground.

➷ Nonetheless, you still hug Thoma as a proper greeting before peppering his face with a couple of kisses. He chuckles, returning with a sweet kiss on the nose.

➷ Suddenly, he pulls out the exact same box you had, asking if you were given the same task Anna gave to him. You can't help but chuckle at the coincidence, the two of you were doing the same thing and bumped right into eachother at the very end.

➷ He immediately offers to share the box with you, stating he was done with the job, adding that this is his way of repaying you for earlier.

➷ You gladly accepted, but asked to play a couple rounds of the game with you. He doesn't waste anytime in planting the stick in his lips, teasingly waving the stick at your face.

➷ You both finished the box, your game ending in a draw and full of kisses. Now, you were resting your head on his shoulder, happily rambling away about whatever came to your mind.

➷ He was staring fondly at you the entire time, though, his eyes trailed down to your lips. He's kissed you many, many times... But they're absolutely irresistible to him.

➷ He stops your rambling when he touches your cheek, causing you to flinch and look at him in confusion. He chuckles, apologising for disrupting you.

➷ "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you... You're adorable when you just babble on mindlessly. But I can't help noticing how... lonely your lips look. May I accompany it with my own?"

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Sumeru

"Lambad was asking if I could collect any feedback on this treat, he even made up a whole game about it... do you wanna kill two birds with one stone and play the game while tasting it?"

Wanderer (⚠️)

➷ "Hi, Nahida! Where's Don Sombrero?"

➷ He'd likely be wandering (heh) outside of Sumeru City in the middle of the night, his bored indigo eyes staring up at the moon.

➷ The sound of a twig snapping in half made his eyes widened in alert, turning around and swiftly sending a sharp wind blade towards the supossed stalker— You.

➷ He frorze in place staring at you in shock, while you just stood there awkwardly with a lopsided and confused smile, the blade barely missing you by a few inches. He clicks his tongue, lowering his hat to hide the worry in his eyes while he approaches you, reprimanding you for sneaking up on someone who could've ended you in one fell swoop.

➷ You apologise, offering to take a leisurely stroll with him, explaining that you couldn't sleep. He scoffs and begins to walk away, but doesn't decline. You jogged up to his side, not a single complaint leaving his lips.

➷ The two of you strolled around the forest that surrounded the city, basking in eachother's presence without having to share a word. Until he tries to slip his hand into yours, his way of showing his appreciation for you without using words.

➷ He ends up grabbing the box instead and asks what it is. You blurted out the true motive behind your decision to join his late night excursion; To play the Pocky game with him. He sighs, calling you childish but agrees to play since it'll make you happy.

➷ You two find a quiet and safe spot, settling down while admiring the view of Sumeru City at night. He says he'll only play a couple of rounds just to get this over with, so that the two of you can just cuddle relax in peace.

➷ He takes his hat off, in case it'll hit you by accident. You plant the stick between your lips and leaned in, allowing him to take the other end, albeit a little reluctantly. He would've just preferred to kiss you normally, but he'll humour you.

➷ Though it was frustrating when he was already prepared for a kiss, but you end up snapping the stick at the very last second. The moonlight did little to hide the blush on your face, you apologised profusely out of humiliation, admitting you broke it because of how pretty he looked close up.

➷ He scoffed, saying that was a ridiculous reason and stating it wasn't any different than the previous times you've kissed. But he doesn't want you to beat yourself up over something stupid, he wraps one arm around your waist and pulls you closer to get that kiss he's been waiting for.

➷ You wrapped your arms around his shoulder, tilting your head a little to lean in closer to his lips. His hand around your waist moves downwards, his touch caused a quiet moan to slip past your lips.

➷ Your hands glide across his chest, his fingers digging into your flesh from the ghostly touch if your fingertips.

➷ "Look at you, already falling apart at something so miniscule as a kiss that was meant to fulfill your desire. Or was it truly your desire to begin with? Perhaps you were craving for something much more than that? Lowly human... your soft pleads mean nothing to my ears. If you want something from me— beg for it."

Tighnari

➷ Srry gonna have to nerf u real quick

➷ You were treading through Avidya Forest, on the way to Gandharva ville. Though, you had injured one of your legs that was now in a cast, you didn't let the pain distract you from wanting to visit your part-canine boyfriend.

➷ You limped along the dirt road, oblivious to the pair of eyes stalking your every movement. You could see the village up ahead, your heart fluttering at the thought of greeting Tighnari, his bushy tail swaying back and forth at your visit.

➷ However, you were pulled out of your thoughts when you heard something heavy land right behind you. Startled, you spun around, only to trip over your own foot and fall onto the ground.

➷ Panic coursed through your blood when you were met face to face with a Rishbolang Tiger, whose eyes stared at you with hunger. It growls, the fur on it's back standing erect as it stalks closer to you, baring it's sharp teeth that were ready to sink into your flesh.

➷ You scrambled back onto your non-injured leg, but it was near impossible to outrun something as fast as a tiger. But lady luck was by your side when you heard a familiar voice call out your name, followed by something being hurled at the tiger behind you.

➷ The tiger was soon trapped in a field, it's dilated pupils darting everywhere in search of you. Out comes your boyfriend, running to your rescue before the field's taunting effects dispels.

➷ One Arm around your waist and the other hooked around his shoulder, he helps you to limp away from the distracted tiger. Despite being visibly unscathed, Tighnari proceeds to check you for any more injuries. All the while calling you an idiot for traversing in the jungle with an injured leg.

➷ He sighs, bringing you into his arms for a comforting hug, saying he was worried about what would've happened if he wasn't on patrol.

➷ You returned the embrace, saying you just wanted to visit— Aaand, you lost the Pocky box during your escape. You sighed sadly while he kissed you in reassurance, stating he could escort you back to Sumeru City and purchase another one.

➷ He asks what it is, to which you replied with a description and your desire to play the game with him. He scoffs, travelling all the way here with an injured leg just to play a kissing game with him? You're too cute for your own good.

➷ "There's no need to be upset over something small... especially when you were nearly devoured by a Rishboland Tiger. Regardless, you should refrain from adding more pressure on your leg. For the time being, you should recover here for a few hours before returning to Sumeru City... As for the 'game' you wanted to play, that's a ridiculous reason. You want a kiss? Then... oh, whatever, just come here..."

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[This section of characters may have innacurate personalities and responses, their parts will be shortened due to the lack of information present.]

Pantalone

➷ Russian Baizhu and I have officially ran out of ideas.

➷ The two of you rendezvous outside of the Fatui Harbinger's Headquarters, drops of snow dancing around the two of you.

➷ You fixed his coat, huffing about how cold it is outside while he enjoys how fussy you're being. Once done, the two of you strolled around Snezhnaya, hand in hand.

➷ Idk if there are travelling merchants in Snezhnaya, but we'll oretend there's one who'll introduce the treat to you. Hearing the instructions of the game, Baizhu Pantalone purchases it, giving you a sly smile.

➷ Eventually you two returned to the harbinger's headquarters, about to bid your beloved a farewell as he was about to resume his work. But then he stops you, asking to play the little game before you leave.

➷ You sighed, but really wanted to play the game with him.

➷ "Dear, your face seems red! Oh, my poor darling... Has the snow gotten to you? Or... did something else snuck it's way into that pretty little bead of yours, hm?~"

Pierro

➷ I struggled SO MUCH writing the last two fatui harbingers, having to add the dialouges at the end was fokin' T O R T U R E

➷ Tartaglia had sent over a box full of Pocky to you, with a note asking you to give one for each of his fellow comrades, with a little doodle of himself winking and a instructions on how to play the game.

➷ You saved the last one for your beloved master; Pierro. After you finish reporting the current affairs to him, he thanks you and allows you to take a small break, to which you ask if he could join.

➷ He responds that he was busy, saying he would have a meeting with the other Harbingers later, but states that he could still join you for a couple of minutes.

➷ It was good enough as you introduced him to box, adding that it came from Childe and he had included a little game you wanted to play with him, he sighed upon hearing the name. You sat on his lap, his arm holding your waist to balance you.

➷ You stuck one end of the treat in-between your lips, leaning foward for him to take the other, albeit a little hesitantly. The game was way too childish for him, but harmless nonetheless.

➷ I'll make this quick; He wins multiple rounds. You couldn't bear seeing his stoic, yet, gentle face that only you could witness, being so close to yours. He finds it amusing, but shows little to no change in expression.

➷ "I apologise for cutting this short, I will have to take my leave now... However, you may hold onto the last remaining sticks, I never said I wouldn't return to you. Let us rendezvous outside the headquarters once the meeting is over."

Pulcillena

➷ i'll make this as serious and short as possible srry

➷ As with most of the Fatui Harbingers, you find him giving instructions to the new batch of recruits on their first official duties and assignments.

➷ Once he was done and the skirmishers had dispersed, you wrapped your arms around him, greeting him with a kiss on his pointy nose.

➷ He returns the gesture with an affectionate nuzzle to your cheek, asking if there were any stray recruits he had yet to brief. You shook your head, only stating that you wanted to stay with him for a little bit before returning to work.

➷ Agreeing to your request, the two of you decided to take a leisurely walk around the building, chatting about whatever came to your minds. It was refreshing after having to deal with many injured recruits returning defeated by the Traveller.

➷ You brought out the box of treat, stating Tartaglia had sent this for the two of you and the rest of the Harbingers to try. He chuckles, saying he was given the same box that was meant for his family.

➷ The two of you decided to play a couple rounds, but it's difficult to play the game when your partner nearly poked your eyes out several times with his nose. He apologises, feeling insecure about his nose.

➷ You tossed the box aside, planting a reassuring kiss on his forehead, reminding him that the nose would never be enough to break the connection between the two of you.

➷ "Ah... How did I get so lucky to have you as my own? I wonder if you were my reward for pledging my loyalty to the Tsaritsa, the most perfect partner I could ever ask for, a truly one of a kind lover."

Aether

➷ Why not? I may have run out of scenarios, but one more for our best boi

➷ After tearing down several Hilichurl towers, the two of you flopped down on the ground to catch your breaths while Paimon levitates over to your side.

➷ You asked Paimon if she could scout the area, which left eventually you and Aether alone. Aether gazed at the grassy terrain of Mondstadt, his golden eyes sorrowful as two foxes danced around eachother happily. He misses his sister...

➷ Wanting to help distract him from his sorrow, you shook his shoulder gently, shaking a box of Pocky and asking if he'd like to take the time to try it out. His frown lifts into a smile, nodding in agreement.

➷ But that smile turned flustered when you placed one stick in your lips and leaned towards him expectantly, his cheeks tinted a faint pink hue. Although, a bit taken aback when you wanted to play the game, he doesn't refuse the offer.

➷ He bites down on the other end, but refuses to stare into your eyes, his gloved hands fidgeting with his cape.

➷ The two of you took turns inching closer, your heart pounding harshly against your chest when your lips and his are barely a few inches away.

➷ It was his turn now, but he freezes. You assume it was because he might be uncomfortable at the close proximity, so you prepare to break the stick, only to feel his hands reach up and touch your cheeks.

➷ He leans foward, now taking your lips as well. For brief moment, your brain paused to register his lips on your, before you melted. Eventually, you both pulled away, with you now shifting to lay your head on his lap, his hand caressing your cheek.

➷ "Thanks [Name]... It feels refreshing to just relax once in a while, travelling between nation to nation gets really exhausting... I'm glad I still have you by my side, you're my motivation to continue on with this journey."

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A/N: Jabsiwbfihsdiiwd I actually wanted to add Lyney but decided against it. Lyney will be coming anyways, so i'll get to know his personality and quirks better. I know damn well i'm gonna be fawning over him once he gets his debut, his wink made my heart go uwu

[Part 1]

[willsimpforanyone]

If this isn't much, could you do a annabeth chase x any gender reader

Where the reader can sometimes look creepy (for example: they sometimes widen the mouth or just have creepy eyes) and how she handles it when that happens

interesting, some uncanny valley stuff, what a unique request

i'm gonna make the reader a child of moros, the greek god of doom, just for flavour

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you have a Vibe about you

some people do not like the Vibe

annabeth loves the Vibe

being the child of the god of doom makes for some strange happenings around you

your mother used to put it down to you just having bad luck until you were older and it became less about your bikes being stolen and more about that kid that bullied you falling out a window every time he did it

before camp halfblood you were convinced you were doomed in everything you tried

you didn't even have a cabin initially so were allowed to stay in the hades cabin just because that would cause the least offence to anyone

chiron actually asked annabeth to ask you about your cabin and how you'd like it

he trusted her to be faithful to your vision and not offend the gods beyond reason

you were moping on the bottom of a bunk bed when she knocked on the door

'hey! i'm annabeth, i'm here to help you design the moros cabin-'

you simply moved away from her

'nope, back away now, i'm gonna curse you or something'

you didn't see her roll her eyes but you did feel her drag the blankets until you rolled onto the floor

you sat up and glared

'okay now i'm gonna curse you on purpose'

she shrugged

'i doubt it'll do anything, i've had to deal with much worse than moody doom demigods'

she sat down on the floor opposite you with a notebook and pen

'now, cabin, whatcha got'

slowly she got you to open up a little, asking about what kind of cabin you'd like to stay in, any caveats that should be put in place to counter the small accidents you'd get into on a daily basis

you ended up forgetting to blink for minutes on end, staring at the notebook with a strange intensity

annabeth noticed this and gave you the notebook for a moment, popping back to her cabin to get something

she returned with a spray bottle of eyedrops and spritzed you right in the face

you sputtered but realised your eyes were so dry and begrudgingly thanked her

you were more attached to her than you wanted to admit, she really didn't seem scared that you were doomed and would doom those around you

it was nice to have someone that wasn't reluctant to be near you

annabeth worked with you a lot to build the cabin and learnt your weird habits that made other people freak out a bit

she kept the eyedrops on her for when you forgot to blink

she'd gently exaggerate her breathing when you seemed to forget how to breathe or when you started breathing in a weird oracle-in-a-cave way

when she caught you staring at people she'd direct your attention somewhere else, mostly back to her

occasionally she'd visit your cabin to find you standing in the middle of the room, eyes completely white, black smoke emitting from your mouth and filling the room

this only happened when you'd had a nightmare or forgotten there was a whole world outside your door thinking you were totally alone

she'd cover her mouth from the smoke and take your hand, guiding you gently outside to the sun or the rain and remind you that you were not powerful enough to kill the whole world

you were safe, everyone was safe, she wouldn't let you hurt anyone ever again

she'd stay with you until you blinked back to yourself, ignoring all the stares from the other campers

you were always very apologetic but she made a joke of it, saying she liked having a partner that looked so dangerous but was really a softie

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thank you for requesting, i hope you enjoyed!

[ramonag-if]

Hi Ramona! Long time listener, first time caller lol. I’ve been a big fan of CoE since you started it. Love the story and the setting. Also really like the intrigue of the most recent updated demo. Also wanted to say my go-to romance is usually Irus but I decided to switch it up and romanced Oren this last play though. I’m a changed woman, Ramona!! 🙌Oren’s route is so sweet and romantic and soft and thank god he’s got his head on straight because my MC does not with her no lmao. I also had some questions about CoE.

1. What will Dena be like as a RO? Any hints?

2. What are the basic food staples/diets of each country? We have seen foods from Vinia and I’m hungry every time I read them, but what about others?

Thank you so much for your support and I'm really pleased that Oren could win you over with his soft and gentle love 😊

I can't tell you for certain what Dena will be like since I normally just write as I go. Dena genuinely cares about the MC so they will be somewhat protective of the MC. As for the rest, you'll find out when I find out which is when I write their romance route 😅

That is a very good question! I answered a long way back so this might differ from then. Vinia: A mix of Ishari cuisine, seafood and lots of vegetables and red meat - out of all the regions, Vinia has the most diverse diets and food staples. There's a range of salts, spices and herbs that are used to season different dishes to give it a unique 'Vinia flavour'. Ishari: A lot of flatbreads, rice, spices and curries. Most of the meals made are cooked with what's available so meat and vegetable versions of the same dish are common. The food tends to be spiced and fragrant. Cyre: Cyre's cuisine is mostly seafood near the coast, but more inland, there's more meat (not seafood) available so the dishes will vary depending on the area. In places like Salt Bay, fish stews, grilled seafood and broths were the norm but in places more inland (and closer to the palace), you'll find lamb, vegetables and different types of cheese and breads available. Look hard enough and you'll also find variations of Ishari cuisine scattered about. Southern Islands: The Southern Islands are a lot like Vinia in that the cuisine is influenced by the different regions and traders that visit the islands. You'll find food from Cyre, Vinia and Ishari in the Southern Islands along with foods from elsewhere like the Nomad Tribes.

I didn't think anyone would really care about the different foods mentioned in the game, so I hope this answers your question! 😊