I was initially clipping this to capture the overwhelmingly accurate, absolutely devastating hilarity of "you went for realistic, and sadly, you nailed it". And then just kept recording because I really fucking love the discussion about how to balance the line between like:
You are trying to tell a story that feels good and gives you the kind of lift you might be looking for in an explicitly fantasy story,
vs
How to ensure it still feels grounded and rewarding in a way where you can "bring this good feeling back to earth" at the end.
Like they're talking about TTRPG's but they clearly make parallels to other forms of storytelling/worldbuilding mediums, like movies, and. like. Yeah. Yeah.
Like the framing of "you really recreated the feeling of powerlessness..." and wanting the fantasy element to manifest in there being the clearer, straightforward ways to solve complex issues, vs trying to ensure that you can have a victory and it feels feasible and substantial and applicable in some way, and has something you can take out of the fantasy world and hold with you back on "terra firma".
Its tricky! Its a tricky thing to balance, and I don't think there's a single "right" answer nor should there be because it depends. It depends on the story, and the intent, and the setting, and the medium, and etc. Big fan of this framework to explain it.
Summary: you dated back in highschool and never took him seriously and essentially now it’s timeskip of you two meeting again on unexpected terms
[based on yet again another song, This time it’s “love is a laserquest” by Arctic monkeys (my fav band ^~^) anyways hope you enjoy: happy ending? idk anywho, matcha girl out :p]
Coming back from being in the states for work to japan was exciting you missed kenma and all your friends back home It had been a few years since you left for America to go to college and work. Unfortunately you did dread of seeing a past lovers. More specifically Kuroo you never took the poor boy seriously back in highschool you had no reason too you were gonna leave anyways. He knew that but he couldn’t help the fact that he fell so hard. The day you left he didn’t really know what to do with himself he knew it was coming he knew that you didn’t take him seriously. He understood the circumstances that came with being with you in highschool so you couldn’t really say it was completely on you.
As your best friend kenma comes and picks you up from the airport to take you to the house you had bought in japan before you left and asked him to keep maintenance for you while you were gone. As you guys are on the ride home you ask “how’s the house?” you turn to look at him “uhm to be honest i don’t really know” he looks a bit terrified while driving.“YOU HAVENT BEEN KEEPING UP WITH IT?!” you sorta yell at him worried that your house is in shambles. “Well no, i wasn’t supposed to tell you but i asked kuroo to keep up with it for me…” he says sorta worried about how’d you feel about the guy you played in highschool taking care of your place much less making sure it was prepared for you when you came back. “oh. he’s doing it for me?” you say sorta feeling bad about how you treated him, it’s not that he didn’t know it was going to be like that you were just sad that he still tried for you like he always had always trying to make you understand how serious he was about you. As kenma drops you off at your house handing you your keys and hugging you goodbye you slowly make your way into the house, looking at how nice and clean it was you smiled softly but you felt sad. The guy you hurt the most in highschool because you never took anything seriously but your career still cared for you like he did before even though his life is probably just as busy as yours, He always made time for you. As you get ready for bed falling asleep soundly in your room you can help but dream about him and you and the memories you had in highschool.
You wake up hearing a faint noise outside “who the fuck is cutting grass this early in the morning?” you get up groggy in your pjs and walk outside seeing who it is, it was none other than kuroo cutting your grass assuming you weren’t here yet and was just here for weekly maintenance “y/n?” he says startled to see you here at all wondering why kenma didn’t tell him. You immediately freeze in your tracks as your stomach drops not knowing what to say you run back inside not wanting to face him after all these years looking like this. Why did you care how we saw you all of a sudden? anyways you run into the shower and try to look decent but in your head your hoping he’d be done before you got out so you wouldn’t have to face him once more. As you peek out your window he’s still there doing yard work, looking good while doing it at that. You snap out of your stupid delusional and decided to fix him up something since you feel sort of bad about all of this and decided makes it’s time to talk you walk outside facing kuroo one more time “Hey kuroo i fixed you something, im sorry for scaring you earlier i was just shocked to see you” you nervously say with a half smile “no worries y/n it’s all fine to be honest i wouldn’t have showed up and did this if kenma told me you were already here i just came to do the weekly check up you know?” he says walking up to you “Thank you for keeping up with the house even though it wasn’t your job ill reimburse you for everything if you’d like” you say and he laughs “no it’s all good i did this just to keep me busy i guess” he half smiles with a bit of sadness in his face. You both take a sit outside on the little table you had out there as his eating the snack you fixed up for him with grass stains on his face and sweat beads on his forehead you can’t help but notice how handsome he’s gotten. He looks up at you and says “Do you still feel younger than you thought you did by now? or darling have you started feeling old yet?” he laughs a bit “don’t worry i’m sure that you’re still breaking hearts with the efficiency that only youth can harness” he says has his smile slowly dims, you respond “and do you still think love is a laserquest?”
“what about you y/n do you take it all more seriously now? You know i’ve tried to ask you this in someday dream that i had, but you’re always busy being make believe.” he says taken you back, you look at him sideways with even more sadness than you did before in the morning “and do you look in the mirror to remind yourself your there or does somebody’s goodnight kisses got that covered?” you respond.
“when im not being honest i pretend that you were just some lover, now i can’t think of [your fav thing or place] without thinking of you i doubt that comes as a surprise.” he says “and i can’t think of anything to dream about, i can’t find anywhere to hide” you responded with your head rested in your hands feeling overwhelmed. You both sit there for a moment in time which felt like years but truly only lasted a minute “i’m sorry kuroo. I’m sorry for everything and the way i treated you back in highschool i was so dumb and focused on something in the future and taking the then for granted.” you say lightly crying “you didn’t deserve any of that you treated me so well and still do i didn’t realize how much love i had for you till i left but i thought it was too late” you say breaking down fully at that point kuroo sat there in shocked seeing how much you changed how you weren’t that girl that didn’t care about guys and only wanted a simply good time, how now you were a girl that had everything she wanted expect genuine love his eyes softened at her he got up and hugged her tightly “it’s okay y/n you were young and had goals and didn’t want anyone to get in the way of that even if you wanted simply pleasure at the time i still knew you were a good person, to tell the truth i always hope you’d come back and we’d be able to have this conversation that you’d come back for me and im happy it was later than never.” he says hugging you. You stare up at him with teary eyes….
“i love you kuroo, can we start again?” you say softly “id love too my darling more than anything.” he says happy to have you back and this time fully and for real.
The boxes packed in your car were your sole companions as you drive down the familiar roads leading to his family home.
You lied to your friends about where you’re headed before leaving town. They wouldn’t understand. You can’t handle their judgement or concern. Not today.
He’s standing outside, hands in pockets.
Your chest feels tight. He’s handsome as the day you left. Now returning to your old lover, you felt unsure of why you agreed to come. What was between you and him was over, dead and buried. Still, he reached out after months of silence and just like before, you were a moth to his flame.
Parking your car in the driveway, you take a deep breath before turning off the vehicle and getting out.
You both exchange greetings, like strangers. But he’s no stranger to you, and the fake politeness tugs at your bleeding heart.
“Thank you for coming.” He said with a sad smile.
The anger you felt towards him returns, betrayal and hurt he fed you all those months together is still infecting your mind. You laugh, but there’s no humor in the sound.
“I see you’re all packed up.” He tried to make small talk. Annoyance makes you snap.
“Why did you want me to come?”
He never could just flat out and say how he felt, one of the main factors of why things didn’t work out. He sucked at communicating.
“To say goodbye, obviously.” He scoffs like he had a right to make such a bold request when he was the one to broke up with you.
“We said our farewells months ago,” you argued.
You knew you shouldn’t have come. You hated how you still let him string you around. You hated that you still—
“I love you.” He admitted. Finally.
Months ago, when things were good, that’s all you wanted to hear. Now? The sweet words were bittersweet.
Tears burn behind your eyes, and you knew it was time to leave.
“Wait, please!” He reaches for your arm when you move to get back in your car.
“No!” You had begun to sob, like his touch granted your body to mourn for him.
“You can’t do this to me, not now,” you shook your head, his expression so soft. It all stung.
“Don’t be selfish, you knew that was all I wanted from you and now that im finally done with you and leaving, you acknowledge your feelings for me?”
You were shaking, angry and hurt by his actions, by his words that he lacked back then but somehow has the courage to say now.
It was too late.
“I loved you then and I love you now,” he tries to catch your eye but you pull your arm away from him.
“Good for you,” you replied sarcastically as you get in your car. He holds your door open, his body leaning towards you.
“Please, can’t we try again?” He pleads, a tear falling down his cheek.
You have never felt so much sadness.
Shaking your head, you wipe your tears with the sleeve of your jacket.
“No, we can’t.”
You hate saying it, but you both knew it was never going to work— no matter how much you wished it could. Too much had happened, and the love you once shared was shattered and torn alongside your heart.
His head is hung down, sniffling and nodding.
“I’m sorry,” he whimpers, moving away from your car.
“I’m sorry too,” you said softly, and with that you close your car door.
He watches your leave, and he waits to see if you’d look back.
delilah's approach to consuming laudna this time and her specific wording of "i've waited too long to have been this close and have it taken. i'll do what i always do, what must be done." is so similar to what lolth just pulled with opal and her "so sorry. i think i wanted us to have a little more time to do this organically . . . you accepted my crown, and now the bill is due". and dorian getting as far away from laudna as quietly and slowly as possible is making my chest ache because yes sure he has the thing (another fucking thing) in the bag of holding he was tossed but also he's reliving what cost him his brother's life and half of his friends barely two days ago. what is he supposed to do with that. none of this is fair but having to have to replay that day again hours later is so fucked.
I've decided the only reason Lloyd, known descendant of dragons, didn't tell this to Egalt, who refuses to train non-dragons, is for the same reason he never mentioned he's the First Spinjitsu Master's grandson. It just never came up. Nobody asked him directly about it. And besides, he's only like, one-fourth dragon, so does it really count? He doesn't look like a dragon, and he has never in his life considered himself a dragon. Mentioning his ancestry to Egalt probably would've just made him look like some hotshot, or make him more annoyed. There's no need to bring up such a silly little fact. He's sure it won't be important later.
ELLO!!!! GUESS WHO REDID HIS METAL SLUG DESIGNS!!!! i guess you could call it that uuhm
but YEA!! i've been thinking a lot about metal slug lately and i just... couldnt resist redrawing my versions, hopefully i do more in the future for more characters n all, i really want to post more metal slug stuff, i love LOVE these silly guys
im not writing anything at the moment cause i really didnt change my headcanons and im kind of tired to write proper paragraphs (i should stop staying up until 3 am to finish drawings? maybe).
There's something about scar... idk what it is but whether it's the fanon designs of his character or the irl person he's just so. Handsome. Cute. Everything. He's just the man. The only man ever actually.