#i’m mobile and can’t cut my posts lmao

[truublood]

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ @luposcainus cont. from here.

✧ her own lips curl into a small smile , jessica never really had been one for following social norms , or rules , or whatever , ❛ you’re no bother at all── who says that vampires and werewolves can’t be friendly with one another ? ❜ she asks , letting her hands clasp together behind her back as her own shoulders shrug slightly , ❛ you ain’t done nothin’ to me , and i ain’t done nothin’ to you , right ? ❜ with his next question , jessica shifts on her bar stool slightly , facing him a bit more directly , ❛ i’ve met a few , there’s a whole pack of ‘em nearby where i used to work. i’m even good friends with one of ‘em. ❜

[macadam]

Do you have any truly unpopular Transformers opinions?

I don’t think I have any unpopular transformers opinions? Every debate I’ve been in has come from me talking about a very mundane aspect of the franchise/fandom, completely unaware of the massive landmine that’s been built under it in ways only fandoms can do.

Actually scratch that I do have one unpopular opinion and it's that T̴͓͎̕h̶̞͐͘è̶͎ ̴͓͒̕F̴̗́i̸̖̯͒̅ṫ̴͇n̷̤̫͂̿e̷̳͖͑̚s̷̨̿̂s̸͍̔G̶̩̳̚r̷̰̔͑à̵̛̹m̷̳̰̏́™̴̘̏ ̶͔͙̄P̵̧͌a̶͍̍̕č̸͈̞͠e̷̫͖͑r̵̙̱̀̕ ̷̜͒Ț̴̠̑̍é̷͎̺ś̶͚t̷̨̯̓ ̷͖̿͒i̶̢͊͠s̴͎̔̅ ̶̼̳̔a̴͈̭̽̇ ̴̄̿͜m̵͖̆ǘ̵̬ļ̸̞̇͠t̶͖͉̄i̴̧̼̐̎s��̳͉͆͠t̵̙̖̀a̴͙̹̽͛g̷̜̖̅e̷͚̔͠ ̷͕͑a̸͚͠e̵̙̣͆̈́r̴̨̪͗̽ö̴̥̞́̈b̵̭̊̎ï̸̳ć̷͎ͅ ̷͇͔̅́c̶͚̄ả̶͙p̵̬̆ą̷̗̏͑ć̶̗i̴̙͔͌t̶̲̑ẙ̵̙̏ ̵͓̾t̵̯͊e̶̦͊ś̴͔̍t̶̳̄ ̷͍̀t̶̢̛̲h̴̜͋a̵͛͜͠t̵̞̤͊͝ ̴̯̒͘͜p̴̦͘r̶̮͗ò̷̮͠g̸̱̭̽̍r̶̡̯̊e̴͚̹͒ś̶̚͜s̷̺̦̓ȋ̵̘̭v̵͕̑ĕ̷̳͇l̶̢̝̕ẏ̶͈̭ ̶̳͔̒̾g̵̤̦͛ě̸͖͜t̷̪͌s̸̺̥̚ ̵̬̏͒m̸̭̓̇ǫ̵̭́̍r̴̥̘̈́e̷̬̟͊̄ ̸̝̿͋͜d̶̗́ḯ̴̢̾ͅf̸̮̔f̴̫͔͂̈́i̷͍̅c̶̱̗̋͠ǔ̷̹̯l̸̤̈́ṫ̸̡̾ ̴̀̇͜a̷̙̪͌͝s̵̩̈́͜ ̸̬͔̿ỉ̴̺̯ṱ̸̎͊ ̷̥̀͘c̸̡͍͌̃ò̶̫̠n̴̛̪͈̅ẗ̶͖́̄į̸͚̂̀n̴̤͝u̸̙̖̅̚ë̶̙́s̷͔̬͐.̷̹͂̇ ̷̬̈́̀T̸̖̒ͅh̵͇͛̀ȅ̴͚ ̷̟̅2̴̨͖̎͒0̶͎̩͌̚ ̶̼̖̄͆m̷̬̝̍ȅ̸̱̯t̶͖̮͐ē̸̜̱r̶̫͒́͜ ̷̫͌̑p̸͔͑͝a̴̟͋͆ͅc̴̙̓͂ȅ̶͉r̴̩͙͂͝ ̶̰̹̇̔t̵̗͛ͅé̸̖͔s̶̡͗͝ť̷͚ ̷̣̥͝w̴̪̼̏̓ȉ̶̯̤l̸̻̃̈l̶͎̓̒ ̷̧͎͒T̶̨́̄ḥ̵̉̐e̶͖̚ ̶͇̈́̏r̵̳̈́͝ȗ̵͚͉n̷̡̖͗n̶͎̒ì̴̗̅n̷̤̄g̴͕̮̉̒ ̶̢͎̈́s̷̝͝ṕ̵̤̙e̷̝̾e̶̺͖̅͌d̸̡̓ ̴͎͆s̴̭̊t̴̛̤̹̓à̴̝͎r̴̢̘̕ṭ̴̗̏́s̴̝̼̊̎ ̶̳̰̽̌ș̵͈̋͗l̵̡̛o̸͍͇͋ẉ̵̆l̴̄͝ͅy̵̪̎̆,̶̺̈́ͅ ̶̝̜̓͗b̴̢͒͘ụ̴͛̈́t̶̳́͝ͅ ̶̪͐̅ġ̶̪̥e̷̡͆̍t̶̬͠͝s̸͇͠ ̵̙͝f̵̱͚͛a̴̻̔s̸͚̯͗̌ẗ̴̰̙͛e̸͇̤̓̏r̷͉̈́̕ ̵̲̾̒e̴̗͑͛a̵̺̤͋c̶̛̭h̵̭̍ ̴̝͛́ͅm̶͔̊i̸͕͐̑n̷͚̓u̶̡̲͌ẗ̷̗́ē̶̺ ̵͈̞̚a̴̛̮f̴̡̛ͅt̵̯̆ͅe̶̫̚r̸̝̉͊ ̶̩̱́̈́y̴̞͚̑͝o̸̬̿ű̶̖ ̶̢̝̒͋h̸̟̘͂e̸̤̒͛a̶̹̘̒͐r̸͎͠ ̷̧̦̎̈t̷͎̀ḧ̸̡́ì̵̫͕s̸̠̗̀ ̵̫̯̍̚s̵̢̮̅i̶̛̼̓g̸̢̔̇n̸̟̾a̸̙͖͂̂l̶͉͚̈́.̷͈̆ ̷̱̗͔̝͋͗̈́̇b̶̢̗͙͓̈́͑͌̒e̶̼̤̳͉̘͑̚g̵̳̋͗͘i̵̡͇̳̝͂̀n̵̨̰͕͔̂̒̆ ̶̮̐̓͑i̶̡̹̠͙͝n̸̨̖̈́̚ ̷͉̹̽̈́͘̕͜3̶͕͓̲̉̽̉̈́0̶̗͓͔̮̼̽̍͐ ̵̖̙͛͗͆͘̚transformers is not a political allegory

[connorsnothereeither]

were there any specific styles/cultures you took inspiration from when designing the telchin clothing styles?

Honestly the tricky answer is: a lot-

Initially, it was very much just like “okay does this shape and colour palette and design look cool? Sick” and just throwing thoughts at a wall.

When it came to defining those broader shapes/colours and adding things like specific cuts, details, patterns, etc, I sort of worked backwards to grab inspirations.

Ulysses initial/main outfit is honestly quite Medieval, European (but notably Norse/Scandinavian in its cut/style), albeit with a ridiculously plunging neckline for some reason lol-

(it was even a bit early on that every time one of the cast drew Ulysses, we’d make his neckline just a little bit sluttier)

HOWEVER the details on the collar and sleeves are directly lifted from ancient Greco-Roman designs, specifically influenced by the “Greek Key” or “Greek Meander” pattern which can be seen in pottery, jewellery and architecture all over the ancient Mediterranean!

Specific to Ulysses, his clothing has currently reached a fairly fairytale-esque “fantasy” stage, drawing a lot of early Renaissance and pirate-style influences with his little poet-shirt and sash, since he’s been on the Overworld so much, and is slowly growing to become a part of that culture and world, and I really wanted to show that in his clothing changes.

Honestly, a lot of the broader telchin clothing when I have sketched it up is very Greco-Roman, at least in the way I tend to depict it (that is my field of expertise, given my degree haha) but there’s honestly a lot of broader Mediterranean ties in as well. The army and their armour is designed to be very Ancient Macedonian, and a lot of the more casual clothing skew very Ancient Egyptian.

Canonically the Telchin clothing style also definitely develops rapidly over the course of the war with the drowned, mostly for practicality sake more than fashion (loose flowing fabrics aren’t doing anyone much good escaping the undead), leading to an almost 1950s/60s American aesthetic? Of course still mingled with the Greco-Roman patterns. Especially in the way the scientists are presented in lore/my art, they always had a very retro-60’s almost sci-fi scientist aesthetic. If I was to give it a fancy/proper-sounding name I think “Wartime-Americana Retro-Classicism” would be more or less it, potentially lmao-

(You can even sort of see similar shapes and patterns in that first reference image to Ulysses eventual design!)

There was of course always a flair of Victorian-Mad-Scientist too, because I have a bit of a brand and I can’t help myself. And given the blurring of science, alchemy and magic in Fable I think it definitely fits.

It’s a shame Tumblr only lets me upload 10 images per post on mobile because I have A BUNCH of reference images for all of these stages of the Ulysses/broader telchin clothing design lol, but sadly I can’t include them here :(

But I hope this was somewhat useful/interesting!! I’ve had so much fun coming up with this kind of stuff over the course of Fable s3 for the telchin and I’m very grateful to Ocie and Metta for kind of just letting me go ham on a bunch of aspects like this lol-

[joviantwelve]

Oh boy, probably should have gotten this out for the ol’ worldbuilding wednesday, but...here’s a big one!  An elemental system for Rixile!

The tl;dr is that the group of ten is split into two separate main groups, creating five dichotomies!

The dark star is “chaos,” and the light star is “order.”  Each element represents a specific categorical role in the cycle of elements, with the ones directly across each other on the opposite star acting as the "poles.”

I enjoyed integrating order/chaos this way, because I’m starting to really dislike how it’s the new version of “good vs. evil” in things.  BOTH are productive and useful to have in a world’s magical systems!!  They’re not objectively good or evil!  The gods of Rixile represent more “balance” or “harmony” this way.

I typed up a formal introduction of the system and its related concepts at Toyhouse, which you can read here.

Below the cut is further elaboration on the creation of this Double Pentagram Chart specifically, and things I would like to do in the future with this system.  It will make more sense if you read that TH post, but admittedly it’s mostly me being excited about possibilities, where before there weren’t many.

This is something I had been chasing for a LONG time...sort of a holy grail of worldbuilding for the setting.  I never mentioned such a “system” before, because, well.  I just.  Didn’t have one.  If I wanted to incorporate one, I wanted it to be interesting at the very least, so if I couldn’t manage that, I just wouldn’t bother.

In my various revisions of Rixile there’s all sorts of silly charts I attempted to make, but I often followed Pokemon-esque principles of rock-paper-scissors strengths and weaknesses, but it felt very...phoned in to do it that way, and I could never make the circle include all 10 in a way that felt right.

Here’s one from 2008, for example:

I have no idea what the fuck this means.

Also, hey, including Light and Darkness in your elemental system actually sucks, because they’re SUCH a dichotomy that it’s hard to integrate them with anything else.  This is probably why every mobile game with elemental RPG mechanics out there just has light/darkness counter each other all alone, because it’s a hassle...

BUT LATE IN 2021...THE IDEAS CAME TO ME.  Thank you FFXIV Shadowbringers.  By embracing a dichotomy structure for EVERYTHING, I don’t have to worry about rock-paper-scissors at all, which I think is a good way to start attacking this.  I don’t necessarily WANT a system of strengths and weaknesses...more just...Interactions?

Here is a gif of the “opposites” thing btw.

I realize now it was a mistake to have this transparent and the line be white, but oh well.  It will look better on my blog itself.

For Rixile proper, opposing elements interacting creates dangerous conditions such as disasters, and may explain things like demons.  I wrote another TH post about how including EVERYTHING as “elementally aligned” works in Rixile thinking, as well as an attempt to include like, fairly modern real-world science within this magical framework regardless.  I don’t want “magic” and “science” to fight in this world, either.  Like order and chaos, both work in tandem to create a further unified whole. 

If we take the elements as introducing harmony, then I guess Rixile’s big dichotomy is harmony vs disharmony, which is not the same thing as order vs chaos.  Lmao.  I guess it could be seen that way, because “disharmony” in Rixilian terms means disease, disasters, haywire magic, etc...but “chaos” in Rixilian terms means “natural fluctuations.”  Natural vs unnatural?  Hmmm.

Well, whatever the case, I feel comfortable about how this turned out.  I think I should also mention, mostly because I can’t think of where else to put this in the post, that you could consider the gods as “elementals” for the setting.  It’s just that, being purely one element is also a quality of divinity here.  Everything else is a mix.

Back to the chart, I love that it’s a shape!!  A cool shape!  I think having some sort of cool-ass graph for your magic system opens up a lot of possibilities simply by connecting lines.

But also, it’s kind of where I fall short...because I can see other places this layout can go, such as:

(Again, looks better not on a white BG, sorry!!)

But...I’m not sure what these mean.  All I’ve figured out so far are the opposites and their relationships.  Which, admittedly, is largely helped by there being rivalries in the pantheon in the first place...the only one that didn’t really exist before is Volt/Phyll.  (even now, it’s not really a “rivalry,” they just don’t really vibe with each other.)

So for this, I guess it could be complimentary forces?  The “warm” elements of fire/earth/light are up there as a trio, with “cold” metal/dark/ice below...There does seem to be a kind of progression to the perimeter, similar to what I think I was going for with my old 2008 draft, but I haven’t figured out what it exactly means in worldbuilding terms yet.  But I would like to integrate it!  You have Terra/Volt/Galvan all in a line there, SURELY it means SOMETHING.

I think leaning on the five categories I gave the elements would help me come up with something, like how they’d interact in terms of the “cycle,” or whatnot.  Much to think about.

The final geometry I can see in the double pentagram...

I guess I’d call this “triads”?  Trios within their singular side of order/chaos.  The previous two relationships involved a chaos one and an order one, so I feel like this would have to emphasize how it’s only one side.  But what, again...dunno.  I love how Nocturne/Ignus/Mist is one of the triangles, though.  It’s perfect!!

And that’s part of the magic of making this, for me...seeing interesting relationships potentially manifest through mere proximity.  I might not have ideas for the full system, but the basics have been planted, and I’m interested to see what it could produce for the setting in the future.

[saltinekryze]

ahsoka 1x08 (finale!!) liveblog / post-mortem

under a cut because a) i have a lot of thoughts, and b) i finally updated my tumblr app and i can do that on mobile now

in the recap where thrawn talked about “wren and bridger” as a team and there was a shot of them grasping each others’ wrists mid-fight, the epitome of trust and partnership — chef’s kiss. i luv them

“even i fell victim to the heroics of a single jedi” yeah thrawn you better give ezra his flowers

the nightsister ritual is cool af. i’m still wondering why morgan elsbeth looked mostly human in the first place. is she generations removed from the nightsister line?

“the blade emitter is too narrow” lmao was that a nod to the criticism about how the lightsabers in rebels looked skinny

ANOTHER KANAN MENTION

“HE TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I KNOW” 😭😭😭

EZRA’S USING THE SAME EMITTER AS KANAN AND USING A BLUE KYBER CRYSTAL 😭😭😭😭 THERE’S ONLY TWO EMITTERS OF THAT SAME KIND. IM FINE!!!!!

oh i’m glad sabine got her helmet back. (did she get it back last ep and i just didn’t notice?)

ahsoka, sabine and ezra all fighting the troopers is VERY COOL!!! please imprint that scene onto my brain

oh it feels soooo good to see ezra fighting with a saber again

zombie troopers! oh shit!!

“what’s your excuse?” “i missed you” AWWWW I LOVE THEM ��️❤️

“for dathomir” 🥺 idk can we get merrin and morgan to have a cup of tea together or something. can they just vibe together

yessss let diana lee inosanto’s skills shine!! major props to rosario dawson too, i can’t imagine the amount of training she undertook

ezra and sabine fighting more troopers together with lightsabers HELL YA

ezra’s nervous smile as he stabbed the night trooper PLEASEEE that is so him

so there we have it… sabine using the force…. cool moment but again dave. we don’t HAVE to make everyone force-sensitive. that being said, i do enjoy the contrast of the effort it took sabine to summon her saber vs. the ease with which ezra summoned his. different levels of force-proficiency! i suppose that’s something they’ll explore more later (in a different series or in the upcoming filoni film?)

ezra’s trust in sabine!! sabine’s trust in herself!!! THE FORCE JUMP!!! (i guess sabine really unlocked her force abilities just then. 0-100 real quick. i am still figuring out how i feel about that.)

the troopers just standing in a circle watching ahsoka and morgan fight lmao. like a cursed dance battle

SABINE CAME BACK FOR AHSOKA 😭😭😭😭 oh this is such a good moment for her character. i’m so proud of her

ezra up to his old tricks stealing stormtrooper armor and imitating voices on comms :)))

“i knew your master” sick thrawn novel reference. so where’s the chiss ascendancy

SABINE AND AHSOKA ARENT MAKING IT BACK HOME. I FEEL SICK. IM SO SAD

SABINE AND EZRA WERE FINALLY REUNITED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS AND NOW THEY’RE SEPARATED AGAIN. I AM ILL

MORAI!!!!!!

oh there’s shin. that shot of her on howler-back raising her saber? dope af

BAYLAN STANDING NEAR MORTIS GOD FIGURES???

the Daughter’s head is missing. so i guess they are setting it up so ahsoka will take her place somehow and restore the balance. she’s imbued with her spirit after all

the fuck is thrawn planning to do on dathomir?

so like. did ezra just steal a ship and sneak away? no one noticed? or cared?

DID CHOPPER RECOGNIZE EZRA FROM AFAR?? IM CRYINGGGG

“hi hera. i’m home.” THE LOOK ON HERA’S FACE ❤️❤️ EZRA’S TEARY SMILE

ahsoka telling sabine “it’s time to move on” … leave me the fuck alone. sabine HAS to get back to the ghost crew. she just has to. i cannot bear it if she never sees them and never gets to go home again. i can’t even think about it too hard

FORCE GHOST ANAKIN WATCHING THEM (sabine can sense him too so i suppose she’s officially part of The Disaster Lineage. good luck bestie)

THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!!!!!

i do have some bones to pick though: namely — NO ONSCREEN HERA AND EZRA HUG????? NO ONSCREEN EZRA AND JACEN MEETING??????? DOES EZRA EVEN KNOW ABOUT HIM?!!

i wish we got more of a hint of what baylan is up to. ray stevenson is a tremendous actor and his presence will be greatly missed.

i might just write an angsty fic about ezra returning to the empty communications tower sabine lived in and maintained in his absence. i’m in shambles. goodbye!

[weeping-gospels]

fun fact!

I’m very fast with mobile but I’m very slow on a laptop hence why I’m strictly mobile. Also, I suck terribly at anything technical. So PC programs confuse the shit out of me and the “hard” way to make icons via mobile is actually very simple for me.

1. Use a MidJourney AI prompt to get the right facial expression.

2. Slap that shit in the PS Express app, render it to 200x200.

3. Slap that shit into Picsart, render it down to 100x100, edit the lighting.

and that’s it takes me like 30 seconds lmao

the only thing that sucks about mobile is the fact I can’t use that automatically trim post shit so I simply abuse the read more feature and try to cut off my long responses for everyone’s comfort rip

[madsnic1119]

Charles Xavier x reader headcanon

Idk how this will go but here’s my version of headcanons from my previous post. Also I’m writing in mobile. I also don’t know how to put read more. And I think I might write more so I’ll need someone to help beta read them😅

Summary: GN! Reader is in love with Charles but they can’t/don’t speak but Charles is in love with reader as well so he tries talking to them through their minds. Everyone can see them falling in love even more than they already were.

Note: in writing on mobile and I put gn reader so if I note to something that isn’t gn please let me know and I’ll fix it. This is my first ever thing I’ve done so pls be nice😅

-Reader couldn’t speak from losing their voice. Idk how but make that up on your own lmao

-Charles would see how much the reader struggles to communicate, either by sign language or just writing

-Readers mutation is telekinesis so they would move things around when bored since they can’t speak

-One day Charles goes up to the reader and asks “Can I enter your mind? To speak only I’m not going to look through anything, not unless you want me to of course! But I just thought I’d be easier to speak that wa-“

-Reader just nods enthusiastically cutting Charles off

-‘hello y/n’ ‘hello Charles’

-they continue to speak to each other about how their days have gone and how they’re doing

-Logan, Scott, Jean, and Storm all sit on the couch watching the two just stare at eachother while chuckling every once in awhile

-“They couldn’t be any more obvious could they?” Scott’s the first to speak in the 10 minutes they’ve been doing this

-Charles face goes serious after hearing what Scott says while reader just looks confused about what Scott meant(maybe also being a bit nervous if Charles finding theyre in love with him)

-‘Y/n I didn’t think I’d tell you this anytime soon but ever since you got here over a year ago I’ve been fascinated with you and I have fallen in love with you’

- reader just looks surprised while also feeling their face get warm.

-‘I-I love you as well charles. I’ve been in love for quite awhile. I was just to scared to to tell you because I thought you didn’t love me back’

-Charles just leans in and kisses the reader. The kiss didn’t last long but the reader was happy

- everyone on the couch just starts cheering and saying “FINALLY”

-Logan hands Scott 10 bucks

-they had a bet for how long it would take for them to admit how they feel

-everyone clears out of the room so Charles and y/n can be alone

-Charles asks reader out loud “wild like for me to help you find an easier way to communicate with people?”

-reader nods ‘I would love that but for now let it just be us’

-Charles and reader spend the evening speaking through their minds. Eventually going up to Charles’ room and talking all night

Idk how to end this so if you would like to se Elmore let me know. I know that more of needed as a slight fix or Drabble but in headcanon form but idk how to do any of this😂

[cozylittleartblog]

queencember day 23 (past)

it feels weird to post such lengthy non-art content on here but listen. listen. SOMEONE had to sort out the weird spade family history. and i. have decided. to give my opinions. because - you probably did not known this, it might be a surprise - i love them. and i have been thinking about this for three months. it’s funny I post this for queencember because admittedly queen is only in a solid half of this, it covers four characters and the relationships between them, but i don’t know under what other circumstances i’d post this and it’s definitely way too much to draw at once. i suppose it’s prone to change if i hear any Better Takes or if something interesting comes up in canon, the game isn’t done yet after all, but also this just. feels like stuff that isn’t going to get covered lmao

so here we go. four god damn pages of headcanons under the cut. a couple of them i did not come up with or have modified, and a couple of them i might have mentioned in tags or art before. there are also a couple light canon contradictions but this is what amuses me most in my head so A Few Sacrifices Must Be Made... these are just my own headcanons so if you disagree with anything that’s perfectly fine and valid 💙

The entire post-lightner abandonment section might as well be called “the fanfics went STRAIGHT to my head”

Obligatory set-up notes:

King starts as moderately less of an angry asshole, for the record. Still an angry asshole but not Nearly as bad as post-abandonment and post-knight king. He’s someone you wouldn’t mind working under... that much.

Queen is still queen of the cyber world. She is not originally from the card kingdom. 

Rouxls did tutorials before he did puzzles. The puzzle makers, after being fired, took up making tutorials. Why would that be a feasible option? Because the guy who made them took their jobs and the position is open. Checkmate. 

Pre-Lightner Abandonment

Queen is, in the light world, a library computer. Computers are mobile. Sometimes she’s loaned out to other locations. Relative to the dark world, this means her disappearing for weeks, maybe months at a time, on “Vacations/Business Trips/Jaunts/ETC”. (i don’t know if she has any advisors or anything but i like to think she lets swatch & the swatchlings run things on autopilot for her when this happens)

At some point she is loaned to the old classroom for an unspecified amount of time. (I can’t tell if this is funnier if it all happens over like, three weeks, or if this was a whole semester or even school year. Unspecified it is.) She acquaints herself with her fellow royals and, in-particular, befriends the King of Spades.

Now at first, they actually get along pretty well! Mutual admiration of power and status, the intrigue in the perspectives of royals from another kingdom, they both care about their subjects... Queen is funny and charismatic and endearingly dumb sometimes, also hot, and King is intimidating but out of the public eye he’s notably nice and even sweet in this reserved, affectionately awkward kind of way. A little rough around the edges, sure, but I’m sure he’s not secretly worse or anything! 🙃

They’re friends, eventually there’s some flirting. King likes her more than she likes him (and she does like him! just not as much,,,) but she knows she’s not staying here for long so might as well have some fun before she goes back home! Sure Let’s See Where This Goes

They’re dating, they’re married, making her officially a Queen of Spades, a child is spawned* - you know when a couple moves too fast so then they settle down and try to be serious and realize they don’t actually like the other person?? Yeah. She uh. Didn’t mean for it to get this far.

* I think darkner biology works differently?? I cannot elaborate but I don’t think Lancer exists by traditional means. He also might. I don’t know. LOUD shrug emoji. BUT, by whatever means he does exist, he is related to the both of them. 

They are both far too stubborn for this to work out. Queen is an eccentric nightmare to live with who can’t take things seriously. King is a lazy brute with a short temper. They mutually cannot handle each other for more than a couple hours every day, and now they live together.

Divorce time, babey! They do not like each other at this point but it’s Queen who serves the papers. Happens just in time for her loan to be up, and she’s returned to the library. She is not returning with a baby in tow. Enjoy the free spawn, King!

He needed a heir anyway this is fine

Lancer isn’t any older than a few months when this happens, maybe even younger, which is why he doesn’t remember her. King does not talk about her, ever. Actually I think so much as mentioning her is grounds for imprisonment, or private execution if it were in front of Lancer.

King is much too busy to parent a kid alone, and the servants are ill-equipped for this. You know what’s good at teaching people things and helping them?? Tutorials. They literally have a tutorial guy. That’s his whole thing! 

This is where Rouxls comes in, beyond being someone the King is only vaguely aware of. He dumps responsibility of Lancer onto him and he is less than thrilled about this, but he is a suck up to anyone above him and a huge coward. Telling the King “no” is a good way to end up in a cell on a good day, and the dude’s fresh off a divorce rn. So. Baby-sitting duty it is. It’s not like he’s needed for literally anything else, he is notorious for being next to useless. (“Oh being of use for a change, and to someone as important as the King himself and his own son… maybe this won't be so bad.”)

Whenever this all happens it was the final year the classroom was used, so it almost immediately leads into…

Post-Lightner Abandonment

King Is Fucking Pissed! 

He is trying to convince the other kings to take action, do something, blah blah No Talk Him Angy

Rouxls is raising Lancer. King checks on them when he has time, which is not often. He ends up befriending Rouxls by extension. 

Rouxls is still a pathetic suck up but he is a dumb and sweet pathetic suck up and oh no, that’s cute. His shenanigans are, to the King, a nice and even welcome change of pace from both the stress of running a kingdom, and dealing with the whole “aaa the lightners abandoned us” thing. and the whole “my wife left me” thing. ... ok dude’s got a lot going on. Also he’s… decent? With his son? I won't lie he is not winning any awards but he is Good Enough™ 

(I am sensing a pattern. The King likes dumb funny people.)

Bit of a slow burn here but his visitations increase and they’re boyfriends eventually. 

I saw Chapter 1 three years ago and immediately assumed King & Rouxls were like an actual couple and that just stuck in my head forever sorry 

rouxls needs attention and to be valued, has hopeless amounts of love to give, and is attracted to power. king has power, enjoys praise and affection, and is still capable of being just sweet enough to keep this dumb idiot wrapped around his finger. both of them are lonely. this works out somehow.

Literally all Lancer’s parents are bisexual I’m pretty sure it’s in the requirements when you sign up

It’s obvious who really raised Lancer. He doesn’t have a walk animation, likes making signs and writing, eats bugs, capitalizes Random Words for Emphasis, and just has some general similar flares for the dramatic that I feel he got from his ironically-titled Lesser Dad? He’s really silly too, unlike King but very much like Rouxls! (… and his mother! 🤔) There are some other things I can’t remember but like. It’s clear who at least tried to do the parenting here lmao. 

King does kinda care about his son? Enough to do the Bare Minimum but not as much as Rouxls comes to. He’s the one Lancer goes to when he’s hurt or having a rough time because he’s... so much nicer and more understanding than King. King is really hard on him and generally not that great of a parent. Hardly even hangs out with him and doesn’t really get that kids are… small? And weak? And still learning about the world? He’s got some… rough parenting practices. But I'm sure that’s fine, it's just tough love, right? Right, guys?

Rouxls is so stupidly soft for this child but he is not about to admit it or be public about it because he doesn’t need another thing for people to dangle over his head when he is already viewed as pathetic and useless. 

Post-Knight

King Has Fucking Lost It! 

I do not like the king but I think about Toby saying the fountain was affecting him and Making Him Worse, like, too often. He already wasn’t great. Now he’s double not great.

Rouxls promoted officially to Duke Of Puzzles for reasons even I am not sure about. Seriously IDK why anyone thought that was a good idea. 

So I’ve just decided to say it’s because They Are Boyfriends Your Honor and King wanted his funny little man to finally have a nice, high rank worth respecting. This is just about the last nice thing King does for either of his boys tbh.

(The “Rouxls is secretly super-powerful, being the rules card.” headcanon slots nicely in here as well if you look at it from the “I cannot have an easily influenced, borderline-god in easy access of anyone who wants to overthrow me or get in my way” angle.)

The “I Do Not (Publicly) Care About Lancer” shtick is cranked up to 11 as a result. And tbh he’s good at fooling people with it. 

[benry voice] rouxls likes mean people. So King being Extra Crazy And Malevolent? That’s fine. Attractive, even. Until he and Lancer are hardly spared from it. Kinda sucks now, actually. But, he’s not about to give up his nice new high rank, or piss off King and lose his head, or abandon Lancer to his shit father, etc etc. So he just. Deals with it. It’s fun when it’s not happening to either of them, at least.

Lancer and Rouxls have always been a comfort to each other. But especially right now 8′)

King has never viewed his son as more of a tool before. This six year old is just another thing to use to get what he wants. 

This six year old also doesn’t entirely understand what's happening or he might actually hate King more. He is too busy being Baby and seeking a glint of affection or approval from his dad to really care, though. 

Post-CH2

Rouxls broke up with king first chance he got lmfao Time For New Employment (And A New (Boy/Girl)friend/Partner?)

(you know what else i think about too much. it wasn’t enough for rouxls to be queen’s #1 peon. he was trying to get with her. and that feels like one more point for team “rouxls also likes dating his evil overlords” thank u very much) 

The more King slowly comes off his evil-fountain-high the less pleased he is about the above development. Oooof he misses his weird little man. Cry some more you evil little hamster man. Sulk in your stupid little cell. 

Queen is here again and more responsible. Lancer is hers now she’s not messing around this time. 

Re: The game dialogue about Queen arbitrarily deciding she was his mom - I would argue, in the right context, particularly this one, that the king is referencing how she'd left them originally. She arbitrarily picked up the title, that doesn't mean she didn't have a claim to it before. 

This Free Son Came With An Additional Free Dad?? Nice

Help The Free Dad Has A Crush On Me 

Nevermind It’s Fine He’s So Pathetic He Swings Back Around To Being Funny Lol (And He’s Weirdly Endearing And Nice To My Our Son) New Friend!!!!!!!!!

I will not elaborate on their relationship because I like playing (and will be playing) with conflicting takes at the same time (one-sided? requited but not officially acted upon/furthered? dating?), thus I don’t have any one solid headcanon here, but regardless, every take has the same ending - Queen does Not let it go anywhere official, because she’s not going to risk Something Happening and making the co-parenting situation Awkward. Can’t ruin a relationship you don’t have! Sorry rouxls lmao but it’s ok he gets over it

edit - hey. psst. future liz here from the future. ignore that last part i scratched out. she’s totally unironically kissing that idiot eventually, but i am not outright Deleting that part because that would be a legitimate hurtle in their relationship, should one develop. (i Do still stand by that there are multiple ways to read them and they’re all funny but My Favorite One Has Changed) i don’t think she’s ever had a serious relationship before. she is Fully aware of what a dick move it would be to waltz in, claim to be lancer’s mom girldad, just to get distracted and kiss his (other) dad, break his (other) dad’s heart, and then fuck back off. Again. She’s very dedicated to doing right by lancer, so... there might be A Minute There where she’s not really doing right by rouxls, whether or not he realizes that in his blind quest to get Any Scrap Of Attention At All. but it all sorts out eventually dw only happy endings for these fools as that is what they deserve. alright back to the rest of the post the way it was originally written -- 

She will still tease him in the meantime either way. It’s funny. Dude’s got it bad. ((edit again that part is still true haha the teasing quickly becomes. Self Indulgent. on her end. while she’s trying to figure out what to Do and pretending it Is still just teasing))

Lancer kinda misses his dad and hopes he gets better soon but for now he has two Other cool dads so it’s fine and wowie neither of them yell at him or make stupid rules or forget to feed him!!!

Lancer is only allowed to visit his dad with the other two dads present. 

Said other two dads are good at being civil but REALLY like spiting the King and semi-affectionately pissing him off. Mostly Queen. Rouxls is still a coward, even facing a dejected man behind bars, and also still has a small soft spot for him From The Old Times. (Also he doesn't want to burn that bridge completely) … That is not to say he doesn’t willingly participate in Queen’s spite, or that he doesn’t occasionally Go Off on King for his shitty behavior towards his son.

To be fair his motivations for Willingly Participating In Her Spite is like 98% just to be on the receiving end of her affections

He will participate in many flavors of shenanigans if it means any sort of interaction with her but ESPECIALLY romantic ones, even if she’s just doing it as a joke or to annoy someone else. Context doesn’t matter just Let It Happen Please 👉👈

Basically, Lancer has two cool dads now who love him very much and King is in jail. If he gets out he is Not invited to the Cooler Spade Family.

DROPS the MIC. THANK YOU. FOR COMING. TO MY TED TALK. there is actually MORE but this is, somehow, the short version! also there are some things i want to try exploring in art and i don’t want to just. show my whole hand or whatever.

i have. adhd <3 really really bad <3 and i have Latched Onto these idiots <3

[melting-tofu]

would you do albedo marriage headcanons if you aren't to much busy?♡

ah i have been sleep deprived lately and now looking at the phone and laptop's screens hurts my eyes ngl.

luckily it was raining outside, i'm always in the best mood to write when it rains, it just feels romantic <3 (i'm single lmao ;-;) of course only when the rain is not too heavy- i'm glad that i finished this before hearing the first thunder strike of the day.

-> Masterlist

Note: Female reader.

-------

Before it all starts, Albedo wants to try something new... maybe a different hairstyle.

He ties all of his hair up to a single ponytail (you know, his hair is fluffy so it kinda looks like kazuha's there-)

He waits patiently in the changing room, wondering if everything on your side is going alright, with Klee there to keep him companies.

For once in his life he actually feels excited outside of his alchemy researches-

Too excited also leads to him worrying, Klee has to tell him everything is going to be alright to keep his character.

"Hey 'Kreideprinz', it's starting!" makes him snap when Kaeya peaks in.

Albedo quickly gets up, looking at the mirror one last time to realize his hair is back down to its usual style but he doesn't mind and just moves on.

He sees, of course, all of your friends, there are some outside of Mondstadt too. Seeing their smiles calms him a little, but he's still waiting for you 👉👈

And then there you are, brillantly beautiful, with Paimon floating along, scattering the flower petals around.

He feels like his heart skips a beat when you warmly smile at him, he can't help but smiles back.

The look on your face back then, he swears it's the best thing he has ever seen.

And when you're standing close to him... Archons...

After exchanging your vows, he really can't wait to kiss you gdjdhd but he's a bit hesitant at the same time...

Finally, Albedo gives in, lifting the hand that has the ring up to your cheek.

To his surprise, you wrap your arms around his neck.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Chalk prince."

-----

i almost choked when the power cut off, i seriously had no more for mobile data and had to wait until the power was back on to post this.

[bratkook]

one chance. (m) knj. teaser.

pairing. flash!namjoon x reader genre. fluff, angst, smut, superhero!au word count. approx 20k warnings. light hearted, some fighting (not graphic), mentions of character death (also not graphic...or permanent), mutual pining, namjoon is an adorably sweet dork !! smut: tbd as i write! but ofc filthy summary. namjoon knows he only has one chance to go back and make things right, but is he prepared to live with the potential consequences that his actions could cause? note. this was going to be part of a bts super hero collab that fell through (& i hope the author’s involved still post their fics) i’m about halfway through writing it and hope this will give me the motivation to finish it lmao. i might do a tag list if anyone is interested?? lmk muah.

The searing pain is felt before Namjoon even hits the floor, shooting down his fingertips when he attempts to move them, making his shoulder ache with each breath he takes. The plastic drums he had just collided into—an impact at a speed they weren’t designed to withhold—lay tattered in bits and chunks all around him, cold water that would typically be held inside them now spilled out and soaking into his suit. 

A hiss escapes his lips as he remains on the wet floor, already hearing the rushing footsteps approaching him. “It’s broken!” he shouts out, wincing when he once again attempts to move his arm. “Why isn’t it healing if it’s broken?”

When you and Hoseok finally reach him, you breathe a sigh of relief. From the absolute chaos his crash had caused, you were expecting to see him a lot more battered and bruised. Instead he lay on his side, hand gently cradling his aching shoulder with a grimace on his face. 

“Holy shit, that was awesome.” Hoseok barely spares a glance at Namjoon, overstepping him to assess the damage caused, tapping away at the screen of his tablet as he does so, checking the speed data he had captured. 

“You told me these would hold,” Namjoon grumbles, foot kicking a nearby scrap of plastic, another groan leaving him when his shoulder throbs. 

“That was just a guess.” Hoseok brushes him off, continuing to type away as he circles the crash scene. He only approaches Namjoon to pluck the Go-pro off his head, pocketing it with a sheepish smile on his face. 

With a subtle eye roll, you’re crouching down to meet Namjoon’s body, hands gently reaching out to see what the problem was. He lets his hand fall from it’s protective position, eyes squeezing shut as he waits for the burst of pain to come, jaw clenching when your fingers press along his shoulder, clearly feeling the way it had popped out of place. 

“It’s not healing because it’s not broken.” Namjoon finally opens his eyes now, peering up at you and gulping when he realizes just how close you are. He can clearly see the worry in your eyes as you try to see just how bad it is, a crease between your brows that he wants to rub out with the pad of his thumb, small frown on your lips that only makes him feel worse for going against your warning of this being a bad idea. 

A small huff spills from your lips once you realize you won’t be able to help him until you’re back at the lab without this suit—a suit that Hoseok calls his pride and joy—covering him up. “It’s dislocated. You probably tore some ligaments and tendons, but those will heal up just fine once we pop it back into place.”

“Wait, is that gonna hurt?” he whines out, huffing out the strands of his brown hair that had fallen over his face and gasping in pain when you purposely prod at the swollen joint with a small glare. 

“I’ll make sure it does so you remember to never go against my warnings.”

“Oh god, you’re doing this on purpose!” Namjoon yells, sat on the cold chair, knees pulled up as he braces for the pain. 

“I told you I was,” you smirk, extending his arm out, hands placed against his palm with the other on his trap muscle to get a good grip. The loose threads of his suit tickle his skin, a product of you cutting the fabric to double check that the only thing wrong was in fact his dislocated shoulder. 

Did you actually have to cut it? No. This was just your childish way of getting back at Hoseok for convincing Namjoon to do this. 

The grimace never leaves his face as you stretch the limb out, twisting it slowly to the right angle before pulling back with a slight pop once it settles back into its rightful spot. 

He feels the relief instantly, tense muscles relaxing as he sags back into the chair, face no longer contorted in pain when you gently lower his arm. Namjoon swears he’s never felt better, already able to lift his arms as if nothing ever happened, the torn tendons quickly repaired and back to normal thanks to his regenerative ability.  

“Good to go. If you pop it out of place again you’re gonna have to do it yourself.”

“Yeah right. I’ll just have Hoseok do it for me.”

Right on cue, a crash sounds out behind you, followed by a shout and an apology as Hoseok picks up whatever gadget he was currently working on. 

“You sure about that?” you question with a smug smile, crossing your arms under your chest as you step back. As smart and helpful as Hoseok was, his mind was far too focused on the technology surrounding him. If Namjoon seriously injured himself, the only person who would know what to do, was you. 

He knew this, and sometimes he liked that fact, not opposed to the way you’d constantly worry about him—totally choosing to ignore the reason why you did so was because it was your job. That tiny factor in the equation was tucked into the back of his mind. His small crush was innocent, and if looking forward to seeing what color lipstick you’d wear that day helped him deal with getting poked, questioned, and forced to run on a treadmill to document his speed, then that's fine by him. 

“I won’t dislocate my shoulder again. I promise.” 

Something about the smile on his face does nothing to ease your worry, and as Hoseok emerges from his room with a giddy laugh, you feel the need to pry. 

“What the hell were you trying to do anyway?”

“I think we’re close!” Hoseok announces, your question being brushed aside as he thrusts his tablet into Namjoon’s now fully mobile arms. The only thing lighting up the screen is a skew of numbers along with a diagram and some fancy looking animated figure that slightly resembled himself. It meant nothing to Namjoon so he doesn’t bother trying to decipher it, looking back up at Hoseok with a confused expression. 

“I don’t think me making those plastic drums explode got us any closer.” A small shiver courses through him as he recalls the pain from his shoulder once more. 

“Oh yeah, that was pointless. But I think I figured out another way.” Hoseok grabs the tablet once more, tapping a few more times before another animation fills the screen. Peering over his shoulder you spot what it is, a golden animation of what looks to be a treadmill, swirls flowing on either side of them that you believe to represent wind. 

“Another way for what?” You question again, not liking the sly look on Hoseok’s face. 

“Time travel.” He says it so casually, not even sparing you a glance as he flips the tablet over to show Namjoon. 

That wasn’t what you were expecting. When you had walked in on Hoseok pitching the idea to Namjoon, wanting to document his full speed, push it further to see what more he was capable of, you thought it was just to gather information to help when it came to figuring out a plan of action the next time a meta-human decided to torment the city. 

“Time travel?” you repeat, a displeased look on your face that Namjoon spots instantly. The small wrinkle between your brows is back and he can’t even allow himself to find it adorable because the small glare you were giving Hoseok changes course and stares directly at him. 

“Yeah,” he quietly admits, pressing his lips together gently. His saving grace comes in the form of his phone ringing loudly, cutting through the tense silence and making him jolt in his seat, hands fumbling for the device.

He has never been more thankful to get a call from work, your scolding being directed at Hoseok now, but Namjoon can hear it through his current conversation. The worried tone in your voice is clear as you question Hoseok’s sanity, stating how dangerous time travel could be in the grand scheme of things. Hoseok can only stumble over his words, flustered at being on the receiving end of your lecture. 

Namjoon ends the phone call right on time to hear you shout, “Are you trying to start World War three?!”

“I gotta go…” he whispers, slowly sliding off the chair trying to be as quiet as possible, hoping he wouldn’t be detected. But before he can flash out of there, you’re looking at him again. 

“Not so fast.” He freezes instantly, hands lifted up in front of him. “We’re not done talking about this—“

“I know, but I gotta go. I do have an actual job after all.”

Hoseok glares at Namjoon, “So you’re gonna leave me here to get yelled at...alone?”

Namjoon gives him a guilty smile, shrugging and mumbling out a quick apology before bolting out of there—literally. Your hair flows up at the speed, Hoseok’s shirt flapping wildly, and nearby documents scatter around from the gust of air he had caused. The only thing left behind is the red suit draped across the chair he had been sitting on, flashing out of it and into his regular clothes before leaving to work. 

“What was the Gopro for?” you question. As much as you didn’t like the idea of time travel, you were slightly curious about the entire situation. 

“Just thought it’d be sick to film it. Like imagine if it actually works and we have solid proof?” Hoseok’s eyes glimmer at the prospect of it all, tapping at the screen to replay the footage captured earlier. The two of you have front row seats of Namjoon’s earlier crash, and seeing the chaos along with hearing Namjoon’s grunts of pain a second time makes you glare at Hoseok once again. 

You reach forward and grab the discarded red suit from the chair, balling it up and tossing it at Hoseok’s face. “Patch it up. I had to rip the sleeve to properly see his shoulder.”

He whines loudly as he peels the material off of his face, fingers clutching the precious suit and gasping when he spots the torn area. “You monster!”

[kyluxtrashpit]

Okay so I jokingly mentioned I have an entire rant on twitter and then people wanted to see it so I’m gonna crosspost here too cause why not

(Note: includes spoilers for Major Grom and Plague Doctor comics, has nothing to do with the movie. It’s regarding what I strongly predict will happen in volume 8, which comes out next week)

(Second note: I’m gonna tag this with ‘long post’ even though it’s behind a cut for the sake of mobile users to go blacklist literally right now if they’re not interested cause I included the relevant comic panels and thus it’s LONG sdklsdklsdks)

Anyway: why Sergey must be the one to personally rescue Oleg in volume 8, from a narrative point of view

In order for Sergey and Oleg's relationship, regardless of how you want to define it, to move forward with positive momentum, this /must/ happen. The narrative demands it in order to bring closure. Why? Well, let's get into it by analyzing what we have so far

1) While I do fully believe Oleg trusts and forgives Sergey (and I’m not gonna go into proof of that here, as others have before), there is a constant spectre hanging over them. A spectre in the shape of 5 bullets. We are reminded constantly of it, largely in the form of Sergey's guilt, which is something we haven't gotten any real closure on yet. Sergey believes himself only capable of destruction, which is literally represented using a picture of him and Oleg.

The rift in their relationship is why Sergey doubts himself. The lasting physical effects bother him as well and we are all but beaten over the head with it - Sergey can't forget and neither can we, the audience. Oleg, too, has to live with this, even if he has made his peace with it

In fact, his long term injuries are what cause him to be captured in the first place. This situation, from a narrative pov, is thus Sergey's fault - if not for the 5 bullets, it's implied Oleg could've won. But no, he's captured and tortured, because of what Sergey did

What Oleg does or doesn't think of that is honestly irrelevant; the narrative is what's setting this up as a direct consequence. Also, whether or not Oleg has forgiven Sergey is also irrelevant because Sergey hasn't forgiven himself. This is what the story has presented and thus what it needs to conclude.

2) We are all also aware that Oleg has rescued Sergey more than once, even when it was ill-advised. The first time, sure, there's some risk, but it’s still in the range of manageable. But the second time? Not only was it more dangerous, given all that was going on in the immediate aftermath, he’s also risking himself to rescue someone who shot him 5 times. Oleg is cautious; he keeps Sergey in a cell presumably until he feels safe freeing him, but he still did it. He planned it, had that place ready, faked their deaths, all of it. He did that after the 5 bullets

So Sergey isn't lying when he tells Lera they don't leave their people behind. Oleg has been there for Sergey before, rescued him no matter the dangers, continues to stay by his side, and even cares enough to make sure he sleeps. Given this, how could Sergey not be ready and willing to return the favour?

3) Every outside character who knows anything about their relationship believes it to be imbalanced. The mercenary, Altan, Vadim, and even Lera. They all say this, they all point out the 5 bullets, that oh, Oleg, why does he stay?

While they don't have the insight us readers do, this tension is here for a reason, especially coupled with the previous two points. Even if we know better, the narrative is offering us a kernel of doubt. Does Sergey really care? Will he go as far for Oleg as Oleg has for him? Did he really mean those apologies? Or are the others right? Even Oleg, although I do think he's lying to protect Sergey, says he has doubts. Vadim seems certain Sergey will come, yet still calls Oleg “Mr. Stockholm Syndrome”.

The equality of their relationship is continually called into question - why do that if it's not going to be resolved? Why play this 'will he, won't he' game if he won't? Why set us up for disappointment? If Sergey doesn't go, all of this will remain unresolved and their relationship can only get worse, not better. The spectre will never leave them alone.

(One note here: I believe most of these perspectives are from unreliable narrators, given what details they give and that their accounts conflict with what we actually see. But these perspectives are included for a reason – imo, so that Sergey can prove them wrong)

4) The other thing the narrative tells us is that Sergey can be impulsive. Yes, he's brilliant, frighteningly so, but it's Oleg that is constantly urging caution. Sergey is aware there are risks, yet he forges ahead anyway, restrained (sometimes) only by Oleg's advice.

Why would that change now? If anything, with how distressed Sergey seems to be, I'd argue he'd be even /more/ impulsive than usual because he's too emotional to think right.

And who's going to urge caution, if not Oleg? Lera? I doubt he would listen if she did and, to be frank, why would she care if Sergey gets hurt? She knows him primarily as the one forcing her into a situation that is having serious negative effects on her life. Her secondary knowledge is that he's a murderer and terrorist. Much as it's fun to think of them all having a friendly relationship, Plague Daughter and all that, that’s not where they are right now. She might from a logical point of view, just because it is very obviously a trap, but Sergey knows that - her saying it isn't going to convince him of anything. Even if she did try, I don't think it'd have any effect.

5) And lastly, Lera is absolutely not ready for this fight. This isn't some regular asshole on the streets; Vadim is a professional killer. He beat Oleg in a fight and, even with his injuries, we all saw the kitchen fight. We know what Oleg is capable of. I love Lera with my whole being and she is a badass, but she's not ready for this. She had trouble with Kamenny, who honestly may have let her win under Altan's instructions.

Even still, Vadim is MUCH better and, much as Altan wants PD alive, I don't think he much cares in what condition. Best case scenario is that Lera gets captured too, and Vadim likely wouldn't hesitate to kill her, and then Sergey has to go himself anyway. Lera may come to help, but Sergey needs to be there. If Sergey really is better than Oleg at present, he's the one who needs to fight Vadim (with a plan, obviously, and maybe some extra backup).

In conclusion, all of this comes together to say one thing: Sergey needs to go. He needs to prove to himself, to the audience, and most of all to the narrative that no, this relationship isn’t one-sided, and that he will go as far for Oleg as Oleg has gone for him. The narrative made this a big point of tension, insisted upon it, beat us over the head with it, and now has teased at Sergey’s opportunity to put up or shut up. It has to be Sergey, both practically because Lera isn’t ready yet, and in order to be a satisfying story. Because if he doesn’t, that tension isn’t resolved. His guilt will only grow after failing Oleg once again, despite Oleg sticking with him through everything, and it would have been by his own choice, not because of the Bird’s influence or anyone else. He will know it. Oleg will know it. We will know it. And their relationship can only sour from there. There will be no more possibility for positive momentum, only negative.

As a last point, I will also say that I’m aware my anxieties may be unfounded. These creators do seem to legitimately care about these characters, telling a good story, and satisfying the audience. But I’ve been burned by pieces of media where that is not the case, so it’s hard for me to trust and not doubt, even with creators who have, so far, not let me down lmao.

Anyway, thank you for coming to my tedtalk, I’m sure I missed something I would’ve liked to add but holy shit this is absurdly long already sdklsdklsk so uh bye ✌️

[iamanartichoke]

... All right, let’s do this. 

Under the cut bc there’s SO MANY images, and I’m sorry, and I know the cut is worthless to mobile users but, well, here we are. Please don’t unfollow me for this post specifically. 

^^ I can’t decide if this woman holding the Tesseract is impressive or not bc, I mean, she’s wearing a glove - but, Red Skull probably was, too? Also the TVA are obviously not humans, so “impressive” may be generous. On the other hand, “only beings of enormous power” can wield the Tesseract/infinity stones, so. 

Loki looks pissed. 

“I know what this place is.” I like this, bc it provides us with some narrative evidence that Loki has always known much more about the universe and How Things Work than anyone cared to realize. Loki’s always known what’s going on; that he isn’t ignorant to the existence or inner functions of the TVA feels in-character. 

Inception! 

Lokiception! 

Why does every shot of the TVA’s headquarters look like the inside of a poorly-lit DMV? Though I guess it fits with the “timelessness” of it all as, after all, time ceases to exist or have meaning once you enter the DMV. 

But I digress. 

I’ve already remarked on the “I’m smart” comment, but I do like this shot. 

I really love what Loki’s hair is doing here, I don’t even care. For better or for worse, his hair’s doing it’s own all-natural thing and I dig it. Let it move, let it dance, let it fall into his face and obscure his features as fanfic has allowed so many times. 

I’m not a fan of the exaggerated jump or “wtf” expression along with “this is absurd” but THIS moment? Classic Loki. He looks 500% done and we’re only 51 seconds in. Also, I refuse to believe that stack of papers is everything Loki’s ever said. I know we all complained about the “you love to talk” line but, I mean, certainly he’s said more than approximately the total sum of Ulysses in his 1000 years of existence. 

Here’s what I want to know: 

1. How does Loki taking the Tesseract result in so many new timeline branches? Surely he’s only responsible for one new timeline? I really, really hope they address that this is all the Avengers’ fault. 

2. What timeline is WandaVision and TFatWS taking place in? The main one, I presume? How do we know it’s not one of these alternate ones? 

3. Which timeline is Agents of SHIELD in and will they be addressed? Bc they got up to all kinds of Time Shenanigans in seasons 5, 6, and 7 to the point where I’m pretty sure they split off into their own universe (which is why they weren’t affected by the Snap or that whole thing, or so I’ve heard). If Loki crosses paths with Coulson & crew, I may pee my pants.

4. So where does Jessica Jo - ah, forget it, I’m not even going to ask. 

I wonder what it is about this “unique Loki perspective” that Mobius is interested in recruiting. (Incidentally, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Owen Wilson in, like, a real role - wherein he’s not playing some version of Owen Wilson, that is. He’s got a costume and everything here. Fun to see!) 

This is a bamf shot, okay. The way it’s framed is pretty intimidating. 

“You listen well, brother -” 

“I’m listening.” 

^^ I figured out what kind of energy this moment has, lmao. 

“It’s adorable that you think you can manipulate me.” I mean, do I even have to comment? I am here for narratively validating the “Loki is ten steps ahead” (heh, and I quote) canon. Here’s another place where I feel like Tom was involved, since I’m pretty sure that somewhere, he’s literally said “Loki’s always ten steps ahead of everyone else.” 

That said, I’m not crazy about the delivery of this line; the over-confident tone of it smacks of “here’s someone about to get knocked the fuck off their pedestal” and I’m not here for that. 

That said, these next scenes - 

- not only show Loki with the upper hand but, also, it’s clear that Loki goes rogue at some point, possibly early on, and I do like that. Drag me if you will, but I want to see Loki scheming and being manipulative, in his own interests. 

I think that Loki being the protagonist will allow them to portray his manipulation in a way that the audience is on his side. I don’t think that the TVA is being framed as the “reliable narrator” through which the audience should view Loki, or “good guys” at all; I think that maybe they’re not evil, but there’s probably a lot of morally-grey shenanigans and goings-on. 

I also think Loki is capable of outwitting them; Loki, being ten steps ahead, has probably figured out something that the TVA has not even thought of yet, so he’s going to fix things his own way, according to his own plan. And I want to see that, because I think that this will give the narrative room to really explore both how Loki thinks and what he does when his plans go awry (as I’m sure they’re bound to do); like, how will he fix it and still remain on top in the end?

So, I mean, I’m pretty intrigued (and still cautiously optimistic). 

Lots of action shots happening, I won’t add even more images to this post, but this magic is still giving me life. 

What is this, a food court? (Speaking of which , what’s up with all the action in the mall earlier?) 

“I’ve studied almost every moment of your life” 

(^^ Missed opportunity)

“and you’ve literally stabbed people in the back like 50 times.” 

Receipts or it didn’t happen, and that’s all I’m gonna say about that line right now. 

Thanks, I hate it. This is all wrong, this whole thing - just awful, scrap it, toss it out. Tom, I love you, but this was the wrong delivery and an all-around bad acting decision. It’s too over-the-top, too earnestly “well I never!”, too comical (as in, feels like it belongs in a comic with a speech bubble as opposed to funny). 

Once more, with feeling. From the top! 

I like that we get to see Loki doing a wardrobe change, as I don’t think we’ve gotten to see that before. He always just shows up in a new outfit or illusions one on. 

That’s one ugly ass outfit, but you make it look passable, Loki. You’re beautiful, in case no one’s told you that today. 

The remaining shots are very visually pleasing and action-y and I dig them, except the volcano one (stop posing with your arms outstretched every five seconds, Loki, it’s kinda cringe. In the above still, it works; in front of a volcano, it’s just tonally off. I say this with love, don’t @ me). 

Overall, I think I maintain my 7/10 rating. I think that the trailer hints at a lot of potential in the story that I will enjoy seeing, and I think that the nature of it being a trailer means that it’s a little tonally hyperbolic (this is kinda the format for Disney shit; show the flashy bits, the funny (”funny”) bits, to draw in the casual viewer. Save the story bits for the show. (Case in point: there’s a lot of great material in TFatWS that happened just before or after the one-liners shown in the trailer.) 

So, yes. Sorry this is such a mammoth post, I just needed to explode my feels. If you think the trailer’s awesome, kudos and I love you. If you’re disappointed and upset, I’m sorry and I love you. If you’re hovering in the middle, still in cautiously optimistic territory, pull up a seat and have some popcorn with me. 

That is all. 

[bowandcurtsey]

I love ur writing!! Could u pls write a Yami Sulehiro x fem!reader where she’s a magic knight captain and has super powerful light magic so she gets kidnapped and boom plot twist she’s 9 months pregnant with Yamis baby so she can’t rlly fight so Yami rescues her and goes feral on her captors and then she goes into labor so he needs to help her deliver the baby. Ik this is kinda all over the place lmao sorry 😭 thx!💕

Hi Anony! Thank you for requesting such a good one UwU

I’m sorry I took awhile because I was thinking about this one for days. I’ve been writing so much Yami x reader, I’m practically living with this man in my mind. ^m^ (I’m not complaining tho) I’ll be tweaking the plot a little; that everyone knew that reader is pregnant instead of it being a plot twist. I hope you don’t mind 🥺 It will be a continuation of this ; the post where yami x reader was expecting their second child ∩(·ω·)∩ I think it would be impossible for me to write if the reader had to give birth for her first time with Yami! ;-; 

I’ll put all my longer writes under the cut from now onwards, to keep the blog neater! [2071 words] 

“We’ll get to see her anytime now,” your husband’s calloused hand rested on your belly.

It was your favourite moment of the day; you laying in Yami’s arms, looking at the ring on his finger glisten under the moonlight, watching your belly wriggle sometimes, reminding you of how blessed you are being married to this man.

“Mmm” you responded, drifting off to sleep. “Love you Yami,” you fell into deep slumber, not knowing that tomorrow, everything would turn into chaos.

Yami was home a little late that day. Because you were on leave (everyone had to force you to; you were about to pop anytime), Yami would settle some paper work and discussion with Julius on behalf of you, also a team captain, which made him slightly busier.

D/n, your first born was with her favourite Uncle William and the golden dawn tonight, so you went ahead with your daily evening stroll with your squad’s girl members instead. You talked about your girl gossips, and how excited all of you were for your baby girl to arrive.

All of a sudden, 10 masked men appeared. “Hey pretty ladies,” they gave off a menacing vibe “we don’t want any troubles, but we need this pretty lady with the light magic to come with us~”

Your belly made it extremely difficult for you to move around, let alone fight, but you had to do it, to protect your child and your squad girls. “Y/n san! Run! We’ll buy some time for you!” The girls stood in front of you as their grimore rose.

The opponents were not that powerful but you were outnumbered. How could you leave them and run away? Your grimore rose as you casted a few strong light magic at the intruders. Eventually, they had to use some kind of spell and you could feel yourself drained of your energy. Your powerful light magic continued attacking and defending at the same time. Alas, your lack of mobility from your heavy bump got you caught.

“Y/N!!” Your girls tried to come to your rescue but they were no match for the masked men. They used teleportation magic and you disappeared along with them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“FUCK!” Yami’s hands smashed into a wall and it crumbled. He was called to Julius’s office for an emergency meeting and was just told of the news. “What didn’t ANY of you come to me immediately?!”

Yami was in rage, he had lost of senses; his pregnant wife got abducted and there was no trace or clue of where she could be. “I’m going to find her right now” The black bulls captain turned and was about to leave when Julius called to him.

“Yami, we don’t know who we are facing nor where she is at all. Let’s think of a plan at least,” the wizard king debated with him

“Sit here while my wife and child is in danger?? Do you even have a plan Julius??” He shouted in fury, his pupils constricting and shaking. In all the years that Julius knew Yami, he had never seen him gone feral before. He was like a real bull, muscles tensed and waiting to strike at any moment.

“Okay, how about we have Marx read the memories of the girls, and see whether we could get any clues on who the kidnappers are” Julius knew he had to remain calm for both you and Yami now. “And also let’s get Marx to trace the communication device that all captains hold, to see if we could find her location”

Yami relented at the idea. “you better find out where she is Marx.” He sat and stared at Marx.

Even Marx was worried, Yami seldom called him by his name, he usually called him “mushroom head” and he wondered for a brief moment what would Yami do to your abductors.

You guys hit jackpot when you screened the girls memory. One of the guys wore a mask that had a logo on it, “it’s a logo of a group called ‘the cloud’; they believe in a certain god and believe in sacrificing human with strong powers to the god” Marx paused and was cautious in the words used in his next sentence, “especially humans with light magic...”

Yami was livid, and at the same time in despair as he digested Marx words. All the veins in his body showed as his body turned rigid. He wanted to tear apart those kidnappers, burn them, murder them and at the same time he wanted to break down at the thought of you and your unborn child being sacrificed. 

He stood up, “are you able track her Marx?” he spoke slowly and softly all of a sudden.

“I’m trying my best Yami,” beads of perspiration trickled down his temple, “it seems that they are somewhere near the borders of the diamond and clover kingdom, but i’m still looking for the exact location... the mana waves are too strong and is interfering with my m-” Yami had already left the room. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Yami and Finral reached the boarders, Yami used his mana zone and his ki. The area he covered shocked Finral. He too, have never seen his captain like this before. Yes, he had a short temper but he never really saw Yami so silent and in such a wrathful state. 

At that moment, Yami sensed you. It was feint, but he knew it was you. He knew your ki so well, he could even find you in a crowd with millions. The black haired captain disappeared towards your ki and left Finral behind. 

You gained consciousness as you realised your limbs were being tied up to a chair. There seemed to be something binding onto your hands restraining you from using your magic. You seemed to be in a big cave-like room and there was a steel door as the only source of exit to the room. Only candles illuminated the area and it was cold. You looked around. You were on a platform and below were what seemed to be like a hundred people, all in masks and robes.

You were really petrified as cold shudders went down your spine; all you could think of was protecting your unborn child. The people in robes stood in some weird formation and seemed to be quietly chanting and praying. There were candles all around you and it didn’t take long for you to realise what’s going on. “Let me go!!” you struggled with whatever strength you had left. But they simply took one glance at you before going back to their rituals. 

A dark wide slash came from behind the doors and it killed at least over 20 people with that slash. The door crumbled down and you heaved a sigh of relief, knowing this dark magic very well. 

As Yami laid eyes on the state you were in, his mana intensified and the entire room shook. Everyone froze in fear. You had never seen your man in this murderous state. 

“Attack whoever that comes in between us and god’s way!” one of them spoke and pointed at Yami. 

They all charged at Yami at once, and you could see dark magic swirling around his katana once more. The black bulls captain moved so quickly and attacked with such precision that you could barely make out what was going on. Yami took some damage but it was clear who was winning the battle. 

In 15 mins, Yami stood above dozens of dead bodies and the strong smell of iron filled the air. He rushed to your side in an instant.

“are you hurt anywhere y/n??” You shook your head as he quickly released you and embraced you in his arms. The warmth of his strong arms gave you a sense of security and tears flowed down your face after calming down from your shock. 

As he held you, all of his anger dissipated, your small frame wrapped in his massive arms and your steady and strong ki calmed him down, knowing that you and your child were left unscathed. That was all that mattered to him. He wiped away tears of relief from his eye. 

“I’m sorry I took so long baby.” he said, stroking your back as you calmed down.

He carried you carefully out of cave and you stared as his face. There was not a hint of fury on it and you really wondered whether this man before you was the same feral man that was fighting from before. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was already dawn and the gentle ray of sunlight hit your faces as both of you reached the entrance of the cave. your body relaxed under the warmth of the sun and the cooling breeze.

“Yami, put me down” you look at him wide eyed, “my water bag just broke.”

Yami returned your expression with an equally wide eye and he quickly glanced around for a safe place to let you down. He settled under an oak tree nearby with a big shade. 

“AHRGGHGHHHHH!!” You screamed in pain as you felt your contractions. 

“I thought we’d have some time after the water breaks baby?!” Yami was almost shouting. 

You couldn’t even respond, you could feel your baby coming along. 

“Can you hold on a little longer baby? I’ll look for finral and-”

“I CAN’T YAMI!” You clung onto his biceps and screamed, “SHE’S ON HER WAY OUT” 

“Alright baby, erm.. breathe! breathe!! deep breaths!!” Yami tried to hold onto you for support

You signalled for Yami to help remove your pants, sweat pouring down your face as your tried to push. 

Yami held your hands and looked in between your legs, trying to figure out what to do. He glanced around to see if Finral was anywhere in sight. Where the fuck is he at this important timing?! He made a mental note to kill Finral after all of this. “uh! try pushing baby!” Yami helped you to support your legs.

After what seemed like eternity but actually just an hour or so, Yami saw the head of the baby. “Babe! I think I see the head!” You were exhausted by that time but hearing Yami say that pumped up your adrenaline more. You tried pushing harder and soon, your baby girl was born. 

“Finally found you Yami S-” Finral was interrupted by wailing sounds. He gasped as he saw what had just happened

“About time you got here bastard, Hurry! send us back to the hospital now!” Yami held the wailing new born in one arm, and you in the other. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After about 10 cigarettes to calm his nerves down, the doctor finally came out from the room you were in and carried your cleaned up baby daughter in his arms to Yami. “Congrats Yami san, she’s a healthy girl”

He carried her in his arms, so tiny and fragile. “How’s y/n?” 

“Her body is still in distress, being in high levels of stress and having to give birth on her own.. she might need to be warded a few days,” the doctor explained, “but she’s awake now, you can head in to see her”

The nurse took your daughter away to “run a few checks on her” and Yami headed in to see you.

“Hey,” you smiled at him. Yami felt so at ease as his body instantly relaxed seeing your smile. 

“Hey,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead, “long day huh?” 

You chuckled. You held onto Yami’s huge hands “yeah, felt like I’ve been through war”

“Don’t ever scare me again like that y/n,” he brought your hands to his lips, “Don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

You both stayed in silence for awhile, enjoying each other’s company, appreciating moments like this. 

“MOMMA! DADA!” Your first born d/n burst through the door, William and Julius right behind her. Yami scooped her up and led her right into your arms. 

“Thank god both you and the baby’s fine y/n~” Julius spoke cheerily “You should have seen Yami earlier on, I have a huge hole in my meeting room right now because of him.” The wizard king teased.

“I swear to god if you don’t keep your mouth shut Julius...” Yami shot a death glare at him, and you chuckled as you shook your head a little. 

“Well,” Julius patted Yami’s shoulder, “I knew every thing would turn out okay eventually. Afterall, it’s Yami and y/n we’re talking about” he smiled at the both of you. 

“The most powerful couple in the clover kingdom,” William added. 

-end- 

I know that giving birth is not that easy as what I’ve written! I had to do a little research here and there to make sure it’s as close as I could imagine it to be. I’m sorry that some parts are not really possible in reality >3<

I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it Anony! <3

[inquisimer]

Hey! I just read one of your DWC entries about Sari Mahariel and her timelines. I liked it! Can I ask for any facts/nuggets about the story(ies?) in this 'verse? 😍😍😍

hi!! yes!! i would LOVE to tell you about my beloved Sari<3

below the cut, because i have a tendency to ramble

for a more eloquently written explanation ((and a picture)), you can check out Sari’s page here or the post here for mobile users

the dalish origin was my first da:o playthrough and I loved it, but I had this story idea recently and decided that Sari was the right oc for it and reworked her canon (in my head lol) to suit it

hers is one of two long fics I’m actively working on, but it isn’t posted (yet). hopefully it will be soon, once i’ve got enough raw content and really felt out the world state and vibes

the core of Sari’s story is that she really hecked up in the Fifth Blight (read: I had no clue how the origins interface worked lmao). She was naive and standoffish and that meant she offended a lot of people and lost a lot of opportunities. She romanced Alistair, but he died killing the archdemon and she basically said ‘fuck you’ to the Wardens and the world and left to wallow in her grief. 

Hawke in Sari’s worldstate is Léan (page here or mobile here), who is a mage, and unabashedly vocal about mage rights, in a romance with Anders. The Inquisitor is Irosyl Lavellan, Dalish First and rift mage who romanced Solas to the bitter, bitter end. She doesn’t really have a page because she mainly exists in relation to Sari’s story, but there is a picture here, no mobile version, sorry!

basically, Sari’s story starts when she’s found a cure for her Calling and returned to Ferelden; Leliana and the Inquisitor call her to be part of their ‘stop Fen’harel’ effort and she goes. The fallback plan, when they obviously can’t stop Solas, is to send Irosyl back to the Breach as a re-do. Unfortunately, the ritual goes wrong wrong wrong and Sari ends up back in Ostagar. RIP her. 

Various tidbits about Sari and her first timeline: 

she was absolutely crushing on Tamlen and buddies with Merrill

Sari stops considering herself Dalish after Nature of the Beast

When she first comes to Skyhold, the only interaction she’s had for years is with Avernus

she went after a cure for the Calling less for herself and more for others’ benefit, but she also wants to sever all ties to the Wardens

she is a rogue who started out with a bow, but now prefers dual wielding bc it’s less tied to her Dalish heritage

in the events of da2, clan Sabrae is annihilated; after the events of dai, Merrill becomes an agent of Fen’harel 

her full name, Nada’sariel, is taken from the words nadas (inevitable) and sar (yours, possessive), and means ‘your inevitable one’

so that’s Sari’s verse as it stands now! like i said, i’m actively working on this one and it is undergoing some heavy development as i write out the first draft

thank you so much for the ask!!! i’m glad you liked Sari and the drabbles for DWC, i imagine she will feature in those often for me

i appreciate you<3

[bluebuckstallion]

the sun will rise again - mlp fic p2

part one contents: aj and big mac are like. 13 and 15. big mac realizes she is a trans woman, and is guided by applejack, but there is much more to it than just that lol. its also a little hard for her. sappy, feel-good, tough internal conflict but overall happy fic. paragraph one is previewed here, the rest is below the cut! disclaimer: there is no transphobia in this fic lmao im not gonna write abt horse transphobia. this is a feel good. but cw for fear of outing (note: i am aware my blog makes posts a little hard to read bc of a glitch, i am trying to fix it at the moment, i apologize D: i rec reading it on tumblr mobile or highlighting the words as you read, im sorry!) paragraph one: The wind whispered lovingly, cooling little Big Mac and Applejack's drowsy heads. A time like this in a young pony's life can be very confusing, something the two of them had grown to be very familiar with. Applejack rested his backside against the trunk of one of his family's old apple trees, if they had no where else to take solace, at least they had the orchard and each other's company, he thought. It felt nice, having this little secret kept safe by somepony you knew would protect it, and who still cared about you just the same. "If nopony accepts us, at least we have each other. I don't care if it's just you and me, Big Mac, we'll be jus' fine." Applejack stated in a soft voice, breaking the silence. He was accepting of his circumstances, no matter how they turned out. As long as him and his sister ended up okay. And again, he was sure they would. Big Mac smiled and folded her hooves neatly, "Eeyup."

-

Applejack worked his fluffy hooves through Big Mac's mane, doing his absolute best to make the fine ginger hair into a braid. He wanted to do something nice for his sister, something to celebrate her bravery and courage in realizing - and telling - Applejack, and he wanted her to feel nice in her own body, even if she couldn't change much right now, or for a while. No matter how small the act, Big Mac was especially grateful. Nobody had ever treated her like this, on purpose at least, like she was a mare. And every chance Applejack could sieze he would do just that, remind her that was what, *who* she was. "So, Big Mac, what do you reckon I call you now?" With that her eyes widened, and her brows furrowed, it caught her off guard. "Like...my name? I didn't know I could change my name..." she let out, slightly confused, a tender hoof raising to her chin as she thought hard. "Yeah!" AJ beamed, not straying from his tedious work. Big Mac, still lying down, started shuffling her hooves again. "Well... I always thought if I were a girl my name would be something pretty, which I mean, I am a girl and all, but I don't feel very pretty ever," she admitted disheartened. "You're plenty pretty! You're an Apple! You wouldn't say Ma or Granny wasn't pretty, would you?" Applejack pointed out, gesturing absentmindedly in the air with his hooves, then promptly returning back to his work, being sure to keep a steady hoof. "Well... Nope." Big Mac blurted awkwardly, pursing her lips. "But-" she began. "No 'but's'!" Applejack interjected, "You're an Apple, and a dang pretty one!" Applejack closed his eyes and lifted his head proudly, putting his non-dominant hoof against his puffed chest, "Look at me, I'm an Apple and I'd say I'm awful handsome, just like Pa!" he said with an endearing foal-like passion and certainty. He chuckled, his cheeks growing slightly cherry as he let out a tiny chuckle, and got back to his work, about a quarter way down the locks. Big Mac grinned slightly, "I suppose," and tapped her hooves together shyly, playing with the grass falling between them. "You know, I always did think my mane was a little long for a stallion," she laughed playfully, diverting from the subject and trying to reassure herself. She went to touch her mane, and was swiftly batted away by Applejack's quick hoof, "Nuh-uh Big Mac, I'm workin' here. Don't go touchin' it now," he said sternly but still non-maliciously. He just wanted it to look perfect for his big sister, he wanted her to be proud, and feel as pretty as she could. Applejack wanted to know how it felt to look pretty, too, but in the way he'd always dreamed of. He wondered often if he'd ever get the blessing of such a wonderful feeling. "Applejack, do you ever wish you were born a colt?" Big mac asked genuinely, still a little unsure of what Applejack was feeling, but knowing there was solidarity in it somewhere, she just had to understand it a little more. "Well - not really," Applejack spat out, his eyes looking away from his busy hooves, and quickly darting back to them before he drifted off in fantasy. He thought about it for a second, and still felt strange. "I wasn't really born a filly or a colt... or anything, I think, I was just born me. And I wouldn't really have it any other way. Sure, I mean, maybe I'd like shorter hair or somethin', or a uh," he struggled to find the words in his young foal vocabulary, "maybe if my nose was a little more colt-ish I'd be happy. But I think I'm pretty happy with me now. I do hope when I'm older my voice is a little better, though. I can't really do much though," he sighed dismissively. He continued, "I don't ever really feel too bad about who I am... I think I just feel happy about who I am. When I see myself as not a colt and not a filly, just a foal, a pony, it makes me real happy-like. But, I don't get too sad unless people are real serious about calling me a filly. I do get sad sometimes though, when I look too much like a filly to other people..." As Applejack placed an orchard blossom in Big Mac's hair, tucked snug and safe behind her ear, a thought went through Big Mac's head. "Applejack!" she jumped up, the rush of movement startling him, who was so concentrated seconds prior. "Let's give you a haircut! It'll be like how you braided my hair for me, we can cut yours!" Applejack nervously rubbed his elbow, then raising his hoof lightly beneath his muzzle, and he began to sweat. "Well, I, what if Ma and Pa don't like it?" Big Mac thought hard as Applejack grimaced, "Well, we can hide it with one of Pa's hats, an' I'm sure they won't mind," she suggested happily. Applejack considered briefly, just for a moment, the downsides of it all. He then immediately turned them all away and smiled so hard his eyes shut, stomping his front hooves against the ground up and down, "Okay, let's do it Big Mac!" As they galloped back to the barn, Applejack had suddenly realized he was so surprised with how much Big Mac had been talking, she never seemed so excited to talk about anything, and he realized how much this all meant to her. It meant a lot to him, too. Especially that his sister was so supportive while still knowing so little, but in her defense, he didn't know much either. It was a very special feeling, he thought to himself, very pleased. They skidded to a halt clumsily as they reached the doors to the barn. Foal-ishly peeking through the front windows, they realized it was only Granny and baby Bloom home, their parents must be out. They looked at each other, grinning, and cantered to the back, sneaking inside through the back door. When they made it to the bathroom, Applejack noted Big Mac looked a little worn out, wearing a tired look on her face. She figured all this chattiness probably made her sister a little exhausted. He shot a reassuring patended Sibling glance at her telling her all she needed to know, not needing words. Big Mac let out a gentle smile. She helped her little brother reach the cabinet above the sink, reaching the scissors that were so high up it took them both working together to reach. Applejack had a slight doubt in his mind, his parents probably didn't want him touching the scissors by himself, did they? But he had his big sister with him, and it had to be done! Nopony else would, and only they understood. Applejack balanced shakily with two hooves on Big Mac's back, warily reaching one back hoof up onto the sink, as he balanced with his two front hooves against the edge of the cabinet. He grasped the scissors between his teeth, and brashly jumped down, just barely missing a potential accident, even though they both knew better than to jump around with scissors, they threw caution to the wind regardless. Applejack happily put his front hooves on the rim of the sink, tapping them and bopping his little head, he looked at his big sister, who began working at his hair. Big Mac chopped with a great lack of care, playfully snipping one strand then the next. Applejack beamed the whole time, simply happy to have it happen, plan or not. Big Mac frequently spun around him, balancing on three hooves and sometimes getting in so close that she held his face with one hoof, his hair with another, and cut with the scissors firm in her mouth. Applejack's body relaxed completely and was kicking and rearing with every cut, wiggling and happily holding his front hooves together and constantly swishing his head from side to side to check how it looked, one side fell to his muzzle, and the other to his chin. He smiled bigger than ever before. With the final snip, Big Mac dropped the scissors carelessly to the tile below. She gently grasped Applejack's chin and turned her sibling's head forward to face the mirror, and his mouth immediately fell agape, his jaw slack, and his eyes slowly widening with the purest joy there ever was. He cupped his hooves to his mouth, removing them, turning his head to the side, and then fixing himself and putting his hooves to his open mouth once again. He felt a soft tug in his throat and his chest, and he couldn't control the watering in his eyes, "Big Mac!!" his voice cracked. "Yes Applejack?" the filly said apprehensively, fearing that she had done something wrong. "Oh Big Mac, oh my gosh I love it so so much!!" He bucked and whinnied, spinning in circles, his once-flowing tail too short to trip over now, and the euphoria of it all was the most overwhelming emotion little Applejack had ever felt. The tugging became so immense he couldn't ignore it, and he acknowledged it by leaping onto Big Mac with a hearty hug, squeezing her tight as his little arms could, and he rubbed his muzzle into her neck. Big Mac politely pushed her hoof between her neck and AJ's hoof, making sure he didn't squeeze too tight, struggling slightly to breathe. This foal was definitely a strong one. "Thank you so much big sis!!! I feel so great!!" he neighed, stepping back, one hoof raised wiping his immense wave of tears. The feeling of euphoria shot through his body in a rush, showing itself in the form of a tiny but powerful hop, as he lifted his legs into the air and threw them around. Applejack rushed back to the mirror, urging Big Mac to come look as well, as she didn't quite see herself yet with her hair "done all proper-like." Big Mac's face became pale, as she felt the rush of a thousand different emotions. The paranoia became astounding again, what if she didn't like how she looked as a filly? What if she still didn't feel right? What if it wasn't - Her thoughts were abruptly cut short by Applejack tugging her over, knowing her sister just sometimes needed a push in the right direction. "Lookie Big Mac!!" he placed his arm cheerfully around her, wrapping it over her back. Big Mac's eyes were glued shut, and she only bashfully peeked one eye open because curiosity would've ate her alive otherwise, and deep down she knew she had to see herself eventually. She uncovered her hoof from her eye, and opened both of them slowly. Her mouth opened ever so slightly, and she wasn't even aware she had stopped breathing, her eyes fluttered up and down the braided locks, along with her heart, and her eyes landed on the blossom in her ear. She couldn't speak, her throat clogged up from such elation. She felt the choking once again, but it wasn't like before, this feeling was quite welcoming actually. It rushed from her throat up to her head, and took her breath away. The sobbing ebbed at her cheeks right away, and she turned to look at her brother. As they spoke with lack of words, they stared with inordinate graditude. As Big Mac smoothly turned back to the mirror, Applejack stomped all his hooves again, one after the other with no apparent order or care, shaking his head in a frenzy as his ears twitched and he smiled a mile wide. He finally felt *pretty.* Big Mac watched herself adoringly, for the first time ever, and felt this acceptance and understanding of herself coursing through her veins with a confidence she'd never had. She blushed, and her ears fell downward, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Applejack," she whispered softly, as if she were too worried the world would hear her secrets. Applejack peered closer with wide, curious eyes, "Yeah Big Mac?" he whispered back. "My name.." she mumbled. Applejack raised his eyebrows, captivated, as Big Mac slowly lifted her hoof to the blossom behind her ear. "Blossom?" Applejack stated inquisitively, before Big Mac could shake her head AJ corrected himself, "Orchard Blossom!" he exlaimed, leaning back and jumping in the air, "Oh big sis, that's so pretty!! I love it so much!!" Orchard Blossom nervously gestured for him to keep it down, as he was prone to being unaware of his volume control. Applejack embarassedly covered his mouth with a shy smile, "Oops, sorry big sis." he cleared his throat, "Orchard Blossom!!" he yell-whispered, the excitement shining through him, he stamped his tiny hooves and clapped them together in celebration. "That's so pretty, Orchard Blossom!" Applejack told her earnestly, loving the new name. "I don't think I want a new name, but I'm really happy ya found one you like!" "Orchard Blossom, Orchard Blossom, Orchard Blossom!" Applejack repeated, playfully prancing in circles, excited by the sight of his short tail, he spun even faster. "What's all that commotion in there? Applejack? Big Mac? Are ya in there?" they heard through the shut door, hoofsteps gradually approaching, painstakingly slow but steady. Both of them felt their hearts drop from their chest as they froze, unable to even fathom moving. How would they explain any of this? Applejack hurried to clean up desperately, brushing the hair together with his hooves, coldly sweating from his brow as he frantically hurried to remove any evidence. He stopped mid-sweep to quickly shove his father's hat on his head, which slumped immediately and blocked his vision. "Oh dangit Blossom, Pa's hat's too big! I can't see!!" Orchard Blossom was still unmoving, sheer panic stopping her very breaths. Applejack felt the tugging in his throat rise up again as he began whimpering.

[dog-teeth]

2 weeks post op top surgery update!! pics & details under the cut!

i had my 2nd post op appointment on monday, getting the stitches off of my grafts and medical tape off my incisions. other than my limited mobility and some mood stuff and scar care, im pretty much back to normal! im v happy with how my chest looks, and my doctor said i was looking more healed than average for the 2-week mark :)

physical healing:

having the stitches taken off the nipple graft was a bit uncomfy but just felt like a light tugging and only took a few minutes. having the medical tape taken off hurt a bit bc the adhesive pulled on my skin, but it was super fast and not an intense pain at all.

so i had been instructed to keep my nipples very very hydrated with aquaphor (which is why they look shiny here lol), and not to pick at them or rub them. before my appointment yesterday, the entire grafts looked how the nipple does now, all black and scabbed, but i hadn’t been able to tell that it was just dead skin scabbed over & ready to come off because i had been keeping them so hydrated that they didn’t flake off like normal scabs, i thought it was just my bruised healing skin and that the scabbing process had barely started. then, i went into my appointment, and when my doctor took out the stitches, she swabbed the area lightly, and all of the dead skin came off super easily! i was so surprised! turns out almost all of the scabbing of the areola had already happened, i just didn’t know, because it was so different from normal scabs due to the constant hydration. now all thats left is the nipple, which takes longer to heal because its a thicker part of the graft.

you can see the little indentations on my skin from the gauze pressing down under my compression wrap, which i still wear all day every day, and will continue to do for the next few weeks. there is still a light bruise on one side of my chest and a numb patch on the other, plus a bit of swelling around the incisions, especially near the center of my chest. the bruise actually looks more visible in these pics than it does irl.

current physical care:

i’ve started scar care, which is super exciting! i massage my scars twice a day with healing ointment, keeping them nice n hydrated under a thin layer (but still dry enough that they dont get weird from being wrapped up all the time). i also started using silicone scar cream, which is for healing and fading scars.

i massage the incisions for about 15 minutes per day total, for 5-10 minutes at a time. it feels nice, its pleasing to run my fingers over the incisions, it is a bit tender on the place where there is still swelling and a light bruise. i also (very lightly) rub the outside of my nipple grafts when applying the aquaphor, which is to prevent the buildup of excess scar tissue that would raise my areolas up.

i feel much more confident about my healing after having the tape taken off my incisions and the scab tissue wiped off my nipple grafts. i spent the entire past 2 weeks worrying about my nipples falling off, and now i know that won’t happen lmao. im very excited about scar care, being able to massage the incisions and confidently touch my nipples is great. i’m looking forward to my nipples scab tissue flaking off, and for the dissolvable sutures under my incisions to dissolve completely, because i can feel them under my scars which is weird!

concerns going forward:

-spitting sutures, which is when a dissolvable suture gets agitated or rejected by your body and has to be removed, but it’s an easy fix if it does happen, i just have to go into my surgeons office and have them take it out.

-scar care! keeping my nipples hydrated, massaging my scars and the rims of my grafts, keeping everything wrapped under my ace bandage compression with gauze pads over the nipples.

-limited mobility and not carrying stuff- now that i’m pretty healed its hard to make myself not do normal things like reach my arms out, stretch, and lift things up, but i really shouldnt do it even if it doesn’t hurt.

-compression, i still wear my ace bandage wrap and will for at least 2 more weeks, which sucks, i can’t wait to be done with it! but im also glad it’s there because it makes my chest feel protected, i’m still very very cautious and weird about my giant wounds and still-healing nipples.

mood:

overall, i’m very happy with how it looks and how it’s healing. im very relieved to be past these first few weeks when everything is at its most difficult. i’ve been really really stressed out about it this whole time, worrying about my nipple grafts failing or not healing right, having full on anxiety attacks when i accidentally stretch my arms out too far or put too much weight on them, and being terribly afraid that my chest won’t look good aesthetically.

i’ve also been depressed lately, idk if it’s post-surgery depression or my normal depression or my seasonal depression. i was in very good spirits the first week, but i’ve been having low moods and low energy more recently :( i think once i’m able to drive and exercise again i’ll be much happier, but for now being trapped inside all day in my room has been rough.

recovery has been physically grueling and mentally very weird, because i literally did not believe it would actually happen until it had actually happened (seriously i was at the hospital getting prepped to be taken into the OR and i still didn’t think it would happen), and i didn’t believe it would be okay until my 2nd post op on monday when i saw how healed my grafts and incisions were. so really, i’m just now getting to experience the relief that i finally got surgery!!!! the more healed i get the more i enjoy it, which i’m sure will continue for the next months and probably years.