#imagine the horse. a horse is implied but you're not going to get to see it.

[chiropteracupola]

If it strikes your fancy, for kiss prompts-A king and a herald, 19? (I'm not in any of your other fandoms lmao)

19. a kiss for luck

[readngandweepng]

quick nsfw thoughts about bottom rdr2 boys ft. arthur kieran and charles

contains amab sub top reader. ftm rdr2 men. no pronouns for reader but male implied. first time writing for these boys but hopefully not the last.

imagine arthur tying your hands together with his lasso and having his way with you; bouncing on your lap in a steady rhythm, one hand on your stomach while the other rests at his side. he looks like a true cowboy, his head tilted back as he takes you to the hilt, groaning and muttering beneath his breath. as he gets nearer, his free hand goes up to his hat, keeping it steady on his head as he rolls his hips into yours. when you both cum he gives you a half-lidded smile and takes his hat, placing it on your head alongside a charming kiss on your lips to top it off.

your slow pace is torture for kieran. he’s on his stomach, your chest pressed against his back as half your cock slides in and out of him. you both know if you go too fast and too deep he won’t be able to keep quiet, but he can’t help himself to move back into you as best as he can, his teeth sinking into his coat sleeve to stop his moans from tumbling out of him. eventually you tire of having to hold back and give kieran the entirety of your cock, not even slowing down to let him catch his breath. 

charles asks you to go hunting with him one day. confused, you find yourself in an empty forest with what seems like no animals at all. when you look over at him you see his face is dark and he bears a familiar glint in his eyes. you’re not surprised when he pushes you against the nearest tree, tilting his head to kiss you. its gentle, yet deep. you can’t find it within yourself to tease him when his hand slips past your belt. a thought crosses your mind about what you’ll tell the others back at camp when they ask why you’ve returned empty-handed, but a kiss to your neck and a grip on your cock has your mind suddenly blank knowing you won’t be thinking about anything else but charles for the next couple of hours. 

you and ftm!arthur hitch your horses for the night, throwing down some bedrolls and deciding to lay low. you roll out one and then the other, feeling an arm slink around your waist. arthur kisses your neck, the ticklish feeling making you softly push him away. he pulls you down with him onto one of the bed rolls by your belt loops, locking you in place between his legs and already he begins to press up against you, using the friction of your clothes to his advantage. you don’t argue, angling your hips to make sure your clothed dick connects perfectly with his pussy, his low groaning telling you all you need to know about how well you’ll sleep tonight.

making your shy, flustered ftm!kieran ride you, letting him go at his own pace. he’s hesitant with every move, not quite sure if what he’s doing is right. his inexperience is proven enough just by how tight he is but he’s uncoordinated, messy with every experimental bounce and sloppy with his hips. he whispers for your assistance, desperation clear in his voice. you place your hands on his waist, guiding his movements just enough for him to learn on his own. ever so slowly he figures it out and soon his clumsy humping turns into a somewhat consistent bouncing. you're so proud of him, drawing circles on his clit with your thumb and rewarding him with an earth-shaking orgasm that keeps him bed-ridden a little too long for dutch’s liking.

ftm!charles is more confident than you expected him to be. you’re closed off in your tent, on top of charles who’s on top of your now untidy bedroll. his legs are wrapped around your waist, pulling you into him so tightly there’s no chance you’ll slip out even with how wet he is. he’s never been loud, whether by choice or by instinct you’re not quite sure, so the only concern you’re ever left with is if the others can hear the sound of your balls slapping against his skin. he always takes you so well, always leaving you to be the one completely breathless afterwards. his pussy always grips your cock with such vigor and robustness, you wonder if he does it on purpose just to see you fall apart.

side note. i can only imagine how many men in this game would use the “is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” joke. also man i'm not even into bondage but i want arthur morgan to tie me to a tree so bad

[readychilledwine]

Headcanons on taking each High Lord in their beast form?

I'm sweating.

✨️High Lord Monsterfucking Headcanons✨️

Warnings- monsterfucking, beast forms, primal instincts, breeding references, mentions of knotting, implied size kink just on subject matter alone, primal play, biting scratching, marking, mating marks, picture references from Bad Dragon, unrealistic smut, dr. jekyll and mr. hyde type situations

A/n - This one might get me in trouble. A lot of thought went into this. We're going with a partial shift situation. Ignore the colors of things. Think of them as whatever color you want then to be.

Please remember, not all kinks are for everyone. If this one isn't yours, there is plenty of smut on my masterlist 💕

Rhysand

I firmly believe Rhysand would have a primal play kink regardless of if he's in his beastform, but mentally prepare yourself for bruises, scratching, and biting

Rhysand is typically a gentle but passionate lover, his beast is not. His beast has one goal: breed.

You aren't going to walk for a while. That's the reality. Sorry.

When picking for Rhysand, I was kind of drawn to the idea that he wouldn't have an overly scary monster cock, but it's very thick and heavy

It's going to touch places science doesn't have a name for yet. Once you relax, it's nothing but pleasure

I decided with all the animals Tamlin's shifted form looks like, he gets to have a horse like cock

Tamlin

I feel like sex in his beastform is something Tamlin is fan of.

Or at least, he'll shift part of himself to his beast form.

The interesting thing with Tamlin is he can shift his cock to whatever you'd desire. Fire drake, tentacle, normal but enhanced girth. Whatever you need to feel good, Tamlin will provide

He'd be down to shift his cock to every fantasy or based on your mood as well

What I'm getting at is sex with Tamlin is rarely not in some form of a beast form.

I am a firm believer in the form we've been told about not being Tam's true beastform, though.

I imagine sex with him in that form is delightfully dangerous for those of you who want to live on the edge.

Neck held between his teeth, plants holding you exactly where his beast wants you. I don't see Tamlin's beast being gentle in any way, shape, or form.

I firmly believe Tamlin isn't really all that into the idea of kids at the moment, and I think due to how often Tamlin shifts, he has control over that side of him and it's aware. So. No breeding kink here.

I almost went with Tarquin's beast form being a kraken. I landed on a leviathan instead. This was a missed tentacle opportunity. Sorry.

Tarquin

I couldn't help but to think "coral" with the texture of this, and that made me go "Tarquin"

I imagine Tarquin as a gentle and giving lover, regardless of form.

You'll still get primal play, but imagine deep growls of satisfaction versus dominance.

Tarquin is going to leave you covered in love marks and reminders when he is in this form.

Tarquin is all about breeding. His beast is going to pump you full and keep you full until it decides otherwise

Yea, I gave him a slightly scary one.

Helion

It's because I feel like Helion would find the idea of knotting delicious, but more easing into it instead hurting you.

Helion in his fae form is adventurous, but I think his beast is more straight to it. Hard, rough, and demanding.

The male knocked up Lady Autumn on accident. You'll be on purpose. He's knotting you and forcing you to lay there, exhausted, overstimulated, and whimpering until his knot deflates.

He will shift back after that and give you the best aftercare.

Helion has bit your neck and forever marked you as his. When his beast sees that mark, it's almost as if he purrs while he's affectionately licking what is his

I feel like Beron in his fae and beast form is a flip of a coin. If you're obedient and submissive, he's a generous lover. If you're not, well, expect to just be his playtoy.

Beron

Which, don't get me wrong, if you're into used and abused, let me introduce you to the High Lord of Autumn

Beron's beast form is straight up feral. Snarling, growling, biting, scratching. I'd recommend visiting a healer for a good healing Potion.

Beron clearly has a breeding kink. His beast form is no exception.

You need to be prepared to spend hours cockwarming his beast because he's not going to let you move for a while. That seed is too precious to waste.

His beast form cock is intimidating. Mainly due to the head.

Lots of prep going into him taking you like this. He may be cruel, but he has no interest in damaging his favorite part of you.

I'll be honest, I don't see Thesan as the type to enjoy monsterfucking.

Thesan

I see Thesan as a sweet bottom starfish who just wants to relax and have someone else do the work.

You can ride, maybe? How ambitious are you? Very? That's good. This dick tapers

You think it will be easy the first time since the tip and top of his shaft are slimmer. Hit the middle and get back to me

I loved the idea of his cock having bumps along the sides. Extra stimulation for you, and in my mind, extra sensitive for him.

I don't even really see Thesan as a power bottom. People normally like the opposite roles they present to the public during sex. I feel Thesan, even in his beast form, feels that way as well.

He's more than happy to lie back, watching you please yourself using him, watching you take things your pace.

Don't sleep on this male. I keep tell you all.

Kallias

Knotting. Knotting. Knitting.

All the time. Expect it when you are enjoying his beast.

He got Viv pregnant fast for a reason, so I hope you like Littles.

I wanted something smooth for Kal with the logic that their beast forms are supposed to be the physical representations of their powers. Smooth and cool like ice is what I was picturing, and this fit the bill

Still slightly ridged for your pleasure, but mostly a smooth ride to absolute bliss.

I imagine Kal can play with his body temperature. Making this colder at will for some interesting temperature play

I do see him as valuing intimacy and romance more than pleasure. With who he is at his core, I imagine his beast is about foreplay and aftercare.

There's a misconception that gentle sex is boring (thanks porn) and Kal is proof that is wrong. Very very wrong.

Yes, he will growl, bite you if asked, and run his claws down your back, but those harsher touches are followed by his snoot buried in your neck and hair, his tongue flicking a sensitive area of your choice, and purring. Comforting purring.

Kal's slow when he has you take his knot. He works it in inch by tantalizing inch until you are drooling below him.

That's his favorite sight in the world. You in a state of total Euphoria.

Tag List not attached to respect that this isn't everyone's cup of tea 💕

[yuri-is-online]

Hi Yuri! Have you ever considered the idea of there being an alternate version of the twst boys in Yuu’s world? Since we have no clue if it’s just another planet or an entirely separate universe, it’s theoretically possible. Poor Yuu would think they are going crazy seeing a familiar face or hearing a familiar voice in another world. Perhaps it is even painful to the point Yuu tries to avoid interacting with the boy in question. - 🦐

(Also, I am well aware of how often I’ve been sharing these thoughts. If they’re annoying you or you don’t feel up to it, I don’t want you to feel pressured to respond or anything. I’m just spitballing and posting before I forget. 👉👈)

OH BOY DO I HAVE SOME THOUGHTS ON THIS!!!!! (first and foremost being that you are very much not annoying <3)

An alt version of a twst boy in Yuu's world is just so yummy. There's so much angst potential depending on what the relationship is/was. Did their boy die in some horrible accident? Is he waiting for them, anxious and terrified about where Yuu went? Does this imply that twst also has a version of Yuu somewhere out there in the world? Questions questions. I did sort of write about this idea in the tags of this yan version of the soulbound au, wherein a cursed Yuu driven insane by their curse kills their soulmate before being isekaid to Twisted Wonderland and finding a different version of him, horrified with the realization that they could kill him again... but I want to cook up some dynamics for what the dorm leaders/overblot boys could be up to in Yuu's world first sooo...

I had a hard time thinking about Riddle until I remembered he's a horse girl and cast Yuu in the role of bad boy ranch hand whose dad's got a job at the barn so they're forced to help take care of the horses and warn all the would be YA protags about the "special horse" who doesn't take orders from just anyone. Not that Riddle is the protagonist... he's more the well established rich petty bitch who looks down on the new girls and especially on you because you're never taking care of his horse in accordance with all his stupid rules. And in stereotypical horse movie fashion Riddle has a massive not so secret crush on bad boy ranch hand Yuu who just doesn't get why he keeps trying to talk to them.

There isn't much royalty left in the world, but imagine Leona as the son of some rich business magnate whose older brother got the company and left him with "nothing." Maybe Yuu works at a liquor store part time and Leona comes in to pick stuff up every once in a while. You wouldn't call him a friend, but you guys shoot the shit enough that you have a general feel for each other to the point he joins you on your breaks to keep up the talk and play chess.

I love the idea of student president council Azul. He's made for that trope. Born for it, he'd be such a terror with Jade as his VP and Floyd as well. Floyd. I can't see him really being a part of the student council but I had this idea the other day based off this instagram post I saw about this mom who sews right? Her daughter was running for class president and she made these bracelets with little shrimp on them and attached them to cards that said "Keep it shrimple! Vote for (kid's name)!" And I was struck with this vision of Yuu doing that so like. Yuu running against Azul with that campaign slogan and he's tearing his hair out over it being so popular because people like memes (the original idea had Floyd running as Yuu's vp but they both dropped out at the last minute because neither him or Yuu wanted to do the actual work lol.) I also like student council president Azul and delinquent Yuu... but that's because of Tsuredure Children ha

Kalim and Jamil are hard... but I think the same set up of rich businessman's kid and his bodyguard in training still fits. How Yuu meets them is beyond me, but if you were friends with either of them could you imagine how painful seeing the same tragedy play out in this new world would be? Jamil doomed to always be a servant and Kalim doomed to be betrayed by his best friend... that would be so painful for someone who cared deeply about either of them I could see it motivating Yuu to try and resolve things for twst Jamil and Kalim that much harder.

Ok so hear me out... Vil still wants to be an actor in your world but he doesn't have the connections to his dad and is working as a pharm tech with Yuu at your local drugstore while going to school and hunting for gigs. He mentions being interested in cosmetics and magical pharmacology in game... and he also mentions knowing nothing about his mom so like. Your world Vil ended up with his mom instead of his dad and you get to see him on the cusp of his big break as one of his number one supporters from the very start, only to get isekaid to a world where you get to see what things could have looked like. It's strange how similar and yet not both versions of Vil are...

Idia is the guy who comes in to buy snacks at your convenience store during the night shift who you start talking to when you notice him buying a game time card for something you also play. You're stupid awkward around each other at first, but it's nice to finally have someone to talk about your niche interest with once you've passed each other's sniff tests. You don't actually know him know him though... so getting sent to another world where there's another version of him makes you worried the more you learn about his backstory that maybe you should have been there for your Idia more. Is he doing ok back home? Did he think of you as a friend? You hope he isn't blaming himself for any of this...

Malleus is an old money trust fund baby whose family was absolutely royalty at some point and is still overly attached to it. He likes old buildings, cemeteries, long walks in the fog, you know all those good goth things. He's tall and socially awkward and so grateful for you, his first and best friend who he met one moonlight night he swore was a dream in his favorite abandoned building who spoke at length with him about all sorts of things he liked. So you know. More or less the same. Just without the world ending powers... I think this is another one that would be quite sad. Which version of Malleus needs Yuu more? Which one is the real one? I'd hate the idea of him being destined to always be lonely and lose the ones he loves.

As for Yuu avoiding them... I could see that. It would feel weird seeing someone you love so much only for it not to be them at all. I know that the Lovebrush Chronicles kiiiiind of deals with this??? I wish I had the patience to play through it has an appealing glasses wearing ro but it's a mobile otome :/ but still. It's a concept I promise I am totally normal about.

[sun-undone]

okay so i'm rereading the poppy war for the sole purpose of trying to squeeze all the chaltan content i can get out of it and my god is it delivering already

this first one is something that i completely breezed past in my first reading cause i didn't even know who tf chaghan was yet but on a reread????? GAY (pg. 226):

you're telling me that chaghan and altan just happened to be together when chaghan felt tyr's death? in the middle of the night??? mmhmm yup for sure

now as willing as i am to fully chalk this up to a late night chaltan tryst, i will be fair and admit that i'm not super clear on how exactly chaghan got the tyr info here. it kinda seems like he's doing his monthly meeting with the hexagram goddess (in the dialogue he literally says "there has been a hexagram" and then he interprets 3 things from it), but first off, it seems too coincidental for him to just happen to be doing that at the very moment that tyr dies, and also why tf is he doing it in the middle of the night?? is he just being extra dramatic and making up some "we have to do it at midnight" bullshit to see what he can get away with (a la the infamous kitay horse piss incident) or is there an in universe explanation for that that i've completely forgotten?

OR is it a secret, gayer third option: altan and chaghan were already together when he felt tyr's death, which then prompted him to convene with the goddess and get the hexagram. and we just don't see the full process or really get much of a proper explanation cause we're in altan's pov and it's all mysterious and shit at this point in the book. that's the one i'm going with and i cannot believe that this is their first scene together. the intimacy is already so palpable and we don't even know chaghan's name at this point in the book.

and then of course there's THIS (pg. 227):

absolutely fucking bonkers i'm spinning on my head

is anyone else this gentle with altan ever????? i'm genuinely asking. who else in the cike would even THINK about pulling a move like this? also the added layer of chaghan originally being next in line for commander before altan took him out to the fucking valley for THREE WHOLE DAYS and then THIS is his reaction to altan officially inheriting said title??? we know from a later conversation that chaghan has with rin (pg. 337) that he's very aware of how unprepared altan was to assume leadership over the cike, which just makes this gesture from him even more meaningful and tender. "we are yours to command. i am yours."

this next one just made me giggle and idk if it's just my brain being broken from scouring source material for gay crumbs or if it's actually intentional but (pg. 285):

i mean. i mean. if anyone knows the extent of chaltan, it's most definitely qara, and a lot of these crumbs involve her so i'm taking it as more evidence and no one can stop me

speaking of qara being an icon (pg. 317):

i actually forgot how much she's in this book i am so sorry queen

so unegen also has a strong reaction to ramsa's dialogue, but if i may be incredibly nitpicky about it, i'd argue that qara snorting implies a sense of "yeah right now that's funny", while unegen spitting out his wine implies more pure shock than anything else. i'm sure the cike have some idea about chaghan and altan's relationship going deeper than meets the eye (if it's this obvious from the crumbs we get over the span of a handful of scenes i can only imagine how sick and tired they must be after an entire year of it), but once again, qara is likely the only one who really KNOWS. for obvious reasons.

then we have the iconic dramatic entrance where chaghan is officially introduced, and even before zooming into a specific piece of it to prove my chaltan agenda, just the very existence of this scene is so fucking insane to me. rebecca could've chosen any way to properly introduce us to chaghan, and this is what she decided on. you could argue that it sets up chaghan's dramatic and obnoxiously proud personality, and that him being hurt is so we can see how it affects qara (and also just to up the tension and stakes) BUT how coincidental that on top of achieving all that character and narrative stuff, it also succeeds in showing us a completely different side to altan. one that is specifically brought about by chaghan.

would altan rush out into a sea of federation soldiers to help any other member of the cike? yes. but rebecca chose to show him helping THIS member of the cike. in THIS dramatic of a fashion (and it's literally on a horse like that is so fractured fairytale romance of her actually). and it's also the aftermath that really clues us into something deeper between him and chaghan in particular (pg. 373):

along with qara, who is SOUL BONDED TO CHAGHAN BY THE WAY, altan is screaming at him for being reckless and how he could've gotten himself killed. intentionally or not, rebecca is clearly aligning altan and qara here, and i LOVE how it's shown in the way their dialogue is formatted. you don't even know who is saying which fragment. they are one in the same when it comes to the level in which they care about chaghan's wellbeing. and also when it comes to yelling at him for being an idiot! and if that's not love then idk what is

[l3viat8an]

I have nsfw analytical thoughts about levi dyck so yeah, for those who wish to read/listed, Nsfw twin dick analysis following:

Due to some research on my own part i have some things to say about possible Levi dick theory: firstly, if he has more than one dick, there is absolutely no way to quietly or secretly have sex unless his room is sound proofed and we know it isn't t because everyone can hear him yell all the time. I say this because the two dicks in question, no matter the size or shape (tested this theory on multiple things including tentacles) it creates a gap that allows a significant amount of air to be shoved in an out of MC. Im afab so i have only tested the i tended entry for this >_>

That being said, said gap not only is going to allow for "air noises" it also means any cum or eggs or what ever else scenario is happening, is going to be thrusted out n several directions upon entry thrust.

The other thing i noticed, if it is tentacle like, it requires a lot more lube for some reason? Dunno y or where tf its going but it gets used up quicker.

The next bit i know from having kids: even if ur like me and like having ur cervix hit with the dyck, having it opened HURTS LIKE A BITCH. A nurse checked regularly to see how open it was and her shoving fingers n it hurt, none the less if you're re putting some penile protrusions in there to lay eggs. Thats gunna hurt so bad. Even when numbed. I took all the meds they would give me and it still hurt. This from someone with a high pain tolerance.

(Do with this what you heathens reading this will, to each their own.)

On the egg thing; while oviposition is cool, this also implies that Levi is trans. Even if he's also adding sperm to inseminate, that would mean he's hermaphroditic and you the reader are just a holding cell. So yeah, egg levi says trans rights no matter what 👍

The only species on earth where the male is the female position baby wise are sea horses and sea dragons, neither of which lay eggs. The female lays them and the male carries them in a pouch to give birth later.

For mc to then birth what ever kind of egg levi has to give, that egg is going to need to be soft shelled to get past the super tight cervix and through the curved birth canal. The egg could harden after the fact like a snake, but that might pose some higher risk to MC as that kind of egg usually has some glue like substance its laid with and if that hardens inside a human MC they might have medical issues to follow; and should those eggs not be of the soft shell variety, MC needs a cesarean [c-section] to remove them so they don't shatter upon contraction or push.

This all assuming they're a size that is smaller than a human baby that can be pushed out to begin with. As with egg laying creatures they are born the size that can fit in the egg and just grown normally unlike human babies that r born and then continue to develop before growing. Its a minor difference but kinda important.

I won’t lie- I’ve used a tentacle toy before the lube is so true helpshdj but never two- like wow- I bow to you anon 🙇🏼‍♀️

‘n the whole ’cervix fucking’ is fun to read but like irl not really my thing, and I don’t even want to imagine the pain of having it opened 😭 fanfics are amazing!!!but I could never jshsjsj

Honestly I love the idea of Levi being hermaphroditic- (so many ideas)

Also this is all gonna be super helpful for more ‘realistic’-ish writing!!! Omfg- thank you!!

[dootznbootz]

At this point i am so sorry Ovid for all the hate you are better than the author that wrote Tele-GONE-ny :')

Like makes no sense for Odysseus story like it's not even canon. I believe he wrote it because of the success of Homer and wanted to make a known book based on something

Hmm this behaviour is oddly familiar with something recently we experience 👀

Honestly, it's not Ovid's fault in a way, just most peoples' taking his work as GREEK mythology instead of Roman. I don't think it's bad to enjoy the Roman Mythology version as long as people KNOW it's Roman and as long as they leave sweet boy Perseus alone.

Tele-GONE-y? That is just a titan of its own and it's so frustrating.

Because if you look it up? That's technically part of the Epic Cycle!

One of these is not like the others~

And it really sucks because we can't just say "It's Roman, therefore technically not Greek Mythology" like we can with Ovid! Why, out of all the myths for Odysseus and Penelope, would you choose this one? Why would you finish such a lovely story with such a trainwreck?

It literally goes against Tiresias' Prophecy! The myth of Odysseus being turned into a horse would've been a better one to go with if people didn't think "dying peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after old age" isn't "exciting enough". At least then it's kind of cute to possibly imagine Horse!Odysseus being pampered by his family or something.

It is so dumb and just WRONG to say that the Odysseus and Penelope that are in the Tele-GONE-y are the same ones we know and love in Homer's masterpieces.

Even to lump the Tele-GONE-y with the rest is laughable. Even without considering the extreme out of character-ness of it, its plot is just messy and almost overly simple. As even with just FRAGMENTS of the others, we can take so much of what is implied and see the beautiful web that's being woven!!!

One of my favorite arcs, for example, is with Palamedes and his effects along the way. He places Odysseus' BABY in front of the plow and ofc, Odysseus saves his son. His sanity is proven and he has to go to war now, after having a prophecy of being the only survivor and not seeing his family again for 20 years.

Odysseus' rage is just boiling under the surface and he frames Palamedes for treason, causing him to be killed. THEN Palamedes' father, King Nauplius, hearing of his son's death plans to get revenge against all the kings. He goes to their wives telling them that their husbands plan to replace them.

Almost all of them either killed themselves or took new lovers EXCEPT for Penelope. While we don't know the exact details, I believe it was likely that:

1.) "You're telling me, my husband, my Odysseus, is planning to replace me? That man is the biggest simp to ever simp, I've never heard such utter bullshit in my life. Get out of my house." 2.) When she realizes that he is Palamedes' FATHER? She's absolutely not believing one word that leaves his mouth. This is the father of the man who nearly got her baby killed and caused her husband to be taken away from her. She does not trust him.

(Silly side thing but Penelope's also probably making sure that Telemachus doesn't meet him lol "Remember that mean man who put you in front of the plow that I told you about? That's his dad. Don't talk to him. We don't know if 'Malice towards Telemachus' was inherited." 😂 )

It's so amazing and ironic that Nauplius got revenge against them all except for the man responsible!!! ALL BECAUSE PENELOPE IS THAT COOL AND SMART!

Granted, yes, he lied to Anticlea causing her heartbreak but still!

It's just such masterful and lovely storytelling!!! The rest of the Epic Cycle interweaves and connects lil stories into the big ones in such satisfying ways!!!

There is nothing like that in the Tele-GONE-y. No little seeds placed along the way to build upon. No "hey, this decision is actually monumental". Shit just happens.

It really does just feel like a young author being like "So, this is my new OC. His name is Telegonus and his dad is Odysseus! No, his mom isn't Penelope! And like, he has a special stingray spear and he kills his dad with it!"

I'm all for supporting and encouraging authors no matter how silly or cringy they get (I'm silly and cringy too!) but imagine from Homer's and the other authors of the Epic Cycle's perspective, that you write a book that you worked so hard on, only for people to take some FANFICTION as canon and therefore affecting how people see your work!

I got really rambly but I'm just genuinely mindboggled that people take the Tele-GONE-y as canon. It's not good. In general.

Another small thing but Homer usually tells us little details even when the characters don't know it. For example, with Helen not knowing her brothers are dead. (in Homer's works)

But I can’t see two of the men’s leaders,                                     Castor, tamer of horses, and Pollux, the fine boxer—they are both my brothers, whom my mother bore along with me. Either they did not come with the contingent from lovely Lacedaemon, or they sailed here in their seaworthy ships, but have no wish                                     to join men’s battles, fearing the disgrace, the many slurs, which are justly mine.” Helen spoke. But the life-nourishing earth already held her brothers in Lacedaemon,                             in their own dear native land.

(Book 3, Johnston)

Homer would have most likely said something in Book 12 of the Odyssey along the lines of "And so he left Aeaea for the final time, not knowing that he will have another son that grew up without his father." or something. HE DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT. BECAUSE IT'S NOT CANON. It also never says that they slept together in Book 12. All she did was pull him away so that they could talk and she could warn him.

[shallyne]

I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (Rhysand's Version)

TW: implied abuse (Amarantha)

I can read your mind

"He's having the time of his life"

There in his glittering prime

The lights refract sequined stars off his silhouette every night

I can show you lies

'Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit

They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make it" and I did

Lights, camera, bitch smile, even when you wanna die

She said she'd use me all her life

and that life was too long

Breaking down, I hit the floor

All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, "Whore"

I'm still grinning like I'm winning, I am wearing my mask

'Cause I can do it with a broken heart

I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday every day

I'm so obsessed with her but she avoids me like the plague

I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art

You know you're good when you can even do it

With a broken heart

I can hold my breath

I've been doing it since she came

I keep seeing her in the throne room

Crucial evidence, I didn't imagine the whole thing

I'm sure we can pass this test

'Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit

They said, "Babe, you gotta fake it 'til you make it" and I did

Lights, camera, bitch smile, being cruel for miles

She said she'd use me for all time

And that time was too long

Breaking down, I hit the floor

All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, "Whore"

I'm still grinning like I'm winning, I am wearing my mask

'Cause I can do it with a broken heart

I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday every day

I'm so obsessed with her but she avoids me like the plague (she avoids me)

I cry a lot but I am so productive, it's an art

You know you're good when you can even do it

With a broken heart

You know you're good when you can even do it

With a broken heart

You know you're good, I'm good

'Cause I'm miserable

And nobody even knows

Try and come for my court

The Archer (Feyre's Version)

Combat, I'm ready for combat (UTM)

I say I don't want that, but what if I do?

'Cause cruelty wins in the movies

I've got a hundred thrown-out speeches I almost said to you

Easy they come, easy they go

I jump from the train, I ride off alone

I never grew up, it's getting so old

Help me hold onto you

I've been the archer

I've been the prey

Who could ever leave me, darling?

But who could stay?

Dark side, I search for your dark side

But what if I'm alright, right, right, right here?

And I cut off my nose just to spite my face

Then I hate my reflection for years and years

I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

The room is on fire, invisible smoke

And all of my heroes die all alone.

Help me hold onto you

I've been the archer

I've been the prey

Screaming, who could ever leave me, darling?

But who could stay?

(I see right through me, I see right through me)

'Cause they see right through me

They see right through me

They see right through

Can you see right through me?

They see right through

They see right through me

I see right through me

I see right through me

All the king's horses, all the king's men

Couldn't put me together again

'Cause all of my enemies started out friends

Help me hold onto you

I've been the archer

I've been the prey

Who could ever leave me, darling?

But who could stay?

(I see right through me, I see right through me)

Who could stay?

Who could stay?

Who could stay?

You could stay

You could stay

You

Combat, I'm ready for combat (King of Hybern)

For @officialfeysandweek

[jovalencia]

daddy long dick has landed in washington baby and since this was my first time in new england I would like to discuss some of the differences I spotted/things I noticed. new england east coast mutuals get in on this

obviously I had a limited experience and I'm comparing this to western washington let me have my fun tho 

okay the Main thing I noticed. like the first thing. this is gonna sound insane but you're fucking houses. WHERE is the overhang on the trim. like you have roofs yeah but there's no overhang on the gabled part. the sides of your house are getting dirty!

your trees are bigger. like the non needled trees. on the west colonizers pulled up and chopped all that shit down and we had to start over. save for a couple of trees that got spared. love it.

speaking of trees you guys don't really have very many needled trees. I can't imagine how that place looks in the fall

CICADAS I LOVE YOU. wish I got to see one. that's all.

your place names are like. parodies of what I would guess east coast city names are like. like fucking west yorkshire libertyville englandtown bullshit WHAT is that. whenever my mom and I were driving we would read the town names out loud and just laugh

everything is just older. like duh but we would see signs for buildings or cities that were established before white people even started colonizing over here. like damn!

boston accents are real. I always thought they were kind of a myth. I know i already said this but people really talk like that. love it.

FUCK PATRIOTS FANS I HATE PATRIOTS FANS. okay jk but they were being really mean to me my mom and my sister :( like guys it's just a sport. ALSO just throwing it out there that when the crowd was supposed to be loud it wasn't loud. like it was Loud but I couldn't still very easily talk to my sister. girl at the seahawks games you can't even Hear over how loud everybody is. we cause earthquakes over here bitch fuck your team! 

where are your birds.... I didn't see many birds and I certainly didn't hear them. where are they.....

your houses just generally look cooler I'll say that. like most of ours are all very 1970s suburban but you guys have a nice wraparound porch victorian ish style thing going on with a lot of yours. but you could do with more color. and less of the fake window shades.

dunkin vs starbucks. we all knew this. but what I Knew but wanted to See was that yall don’t have coffee stands. nor coffee shops coffee Stands. I'm pretty sure it's a pnw thing that we have little tiny coffee places that are only drive thrus and are usually manned by one singular young blonde white woman who is running that shit like the navy frankly. if you want a coffee you can get a coffee. or a redbull charger or a lotus. which my sister's friends have never heard of but they're not a diverse sample

I'm sure this is probably just the area we were in but the lack of estate sales. disappointing

but on a similar note I'm pretty sure this was just this one person but we saw signs for a "tag sale" and my mom and I went obviously but it was just a garage sale. tell me if this is a thing yall say. listening and learning.

your water tastes like shit

washington is not super walkable but the places I was in new england were somehow less walkable. which I don’t get bc your towns were all established when people had to walk or take a fucking horse everywhere so what gives 

I learned that when you order a mocha at dunkin it's not implied that it's a a latte. black coffee and some chocolate is not a mocha I fear....

think that's all I got I'm sure I'll post more in the coming days. overall it was nice but unforch I don’t think I would live there... I like my state. bless.

[nomerrynolife]

I just need to rant...

This episode my heart bleed for Night and from a mere dislike, I am now fully enraged with Day's and Night's mom.

looking down on other's because they're poor? Ma'am, your own son remembers that you used to begged for food after your husband ran off, get off your high horse.

if anything she should empathize with Mhok's situation, not feeling like a queen vetting and reviewing Mhok like some kind of a liability to the state. I can understand a mother wanting the best, but you obviously too busy to be home to realized that Day had started smiling and living like a normal person again.

if it wasn't for Mhok, ma'am your son probably has gone mental talking like a guppy coz the only friend he has is the fishes in the tank.

if she care a bit about Day at all, she should know how miserable Day is being locked up in a room for an entire year. Not learning how to bring Day back to society nor learning how to handle a blind person and treating him like everybody else, like a son he always has been. This reminds me of that scene in Moonlight Chicken, when Heart's mom had to rely on LiMing to translate coz she didn't even bother to learn sign language.

what rages me the most is that the mom also implied that Night is responsible for Day's condition. Ma'am please, your job is to make sure BOTH your son is taken care of, not drive a wedge between them! At the very least not make Night feel even guiltier, and that's also so that Night doesn't feel guilty and burdened to help Day. It's obvious that Night did try his best to help (letting Day go to Songkhla, slipping the new phone with his meal, changing the soggy noodle soup with Day)

Idk about anyone else, but favoritism among kids is not uncommon in South East Asia household (at the very least my country) so seeing that framed picture of Mom hugging ONLY Day makes my heart breaks further for Night. It shows that mom already favor Day to Night, and when the accident happen and she further blames Night I can only imagine how awful it is to be Night.

Night calling their long lost father to confide and pour his heart out because he has no one in the house to turn to... help me I'm crying.

even your blind son can see that favoritism bullshit you're pulling during the Christmas dinner, MA'AM I CANNOT HELD MY ANGER AND MY TEARS SEING NIGHT BROKE DOWN LIKE THAT.

Anyways, we'll see next episode if she redeem herself. I sure hope so. Night still got that rizz staring down on Porjai knowing her legs has turn jelly (well, at least I know I do) and not hesitating to be a father that stepped up, A MAN. I just know he's gonna be a great father since he's gonna pour all the love he didn't get to that child.

[yanderes-galore]

Platonic Yandere! Primis! Tank Tempsey with Mentally Regressed! Darling? She often appears and sound like a child throughout their journey, but is actually a young woman over 18 and is in the place of Samantha Maxis instead. She's mentally regressed due to the corruption by getting in contact with Element 115 and gotten stuck in the Dark Aether realm in the Ultimis timeline, no thanks to Richtofan. She likes to play with them— and by play, I mean constantly sending them horse-sized Hellcats who she calls Whiskers.

Always angrily called the four men "Meanies" whenever they ruined the fun. Likes to try provoking them in her hallucination "child" form and gets away before they can even get to her. While not knowing Dempsey is frantically trying to urge Richtofan to fix her faster. To Dempsey, she's no more than a little girl who's been through a lot. (just wait until he realizes she's actually older than she appears and sounds) It'll take a lot of effort for that to happen due to her powerful dark aether abilities and mental instability. They'd probably have to somehow travel to the Dark Aether realm in order to get to her actual physical form to try and cure her.

Lol sorry I got too invested with this request. But I hope this sort of helps! :)

I... um... woah I didn't realize how long and complex this request was until I looked back at it again. I'm going to do what I can with this and just kind of tackle it in sections if that's fine? I got a bit overwhelmed and a bit confused. I need to rewatch the Zombie lore omfl, lol.

You have good ideas Anon I was just confused on where to start with this personally, sorry if I had trouble following-

Yandere! Platonic! Primis! Tank Dempsey with Mentally Regressed! Darling

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Mental regression presumably due to trauma/corruption, Obsession, Dempsey trying to be a dad, Slight manipulation, Implied murder, Overprotective behavior.

I can imagine your first meeting doesn't give the best impression.

Upon your first meeting Dempsey doesn't entirely like you the most.

The giant zombified cats and regular but fast zombies certainly don't help.

Although when Dempsey sees the hallucination of your child form he starts to wonder if you really are just a kid infected with Element 117.

You call them all "meanies" whenever they get past your waves of zombies but you most likely hate Richtofen the most.

All of which only makes Dempsey more distrusting of him.

Honestly Dempsey probably feels bad for you when he sees your child form and is probably always the first to follow.

This surprises the whole group as no one really thought Dempsey had a fatherly side in him, let alone to a strange child trying to kill them.

Dempsey really feels bad for you... a lost little girl stuck in an unfortunate situation.

He does wish you could stop with all the hellcats, however.

Dempsey would indeed bring you up to Richtofen for information and ask for him to try and fix you.

"Fix her? Dempsey do you know how much work that would-"

"She's a little girl trapped somewhere, Richtofen. Who cares... we need to learn more about this. Why does she hate you so much?"

"...."

Finding and rescuing you is a trivial task on its own.

Meanwhile whenever Dempsey sees you he tries to convince you he's just trying to help.

Due to your situation you could react in whatever way you feel makes sense.

The Dark Aether's power corrupts your thoughts so you most likely ignore him and go back to your games or listen briefly before running off.

For the entirety of the journey Dempsey believes you're just a little girl.

Until he meets you in person... where he finds your physical body.

Somehow and in someway Dempsey manages to get Richtofen to try and force your soul back into your body.

(This is different from Samantha's backstory but bear with me, this is where I take my own liberties with this-)

This doesn't entirely fix you as your soul is that of a child and not... a grown woman.

Richtofen then leaves you with Dempsey as he is the one who "wanted to fix her so bad."

As a result Dempsey becomes your caretaker.

A parent if you will.

Dempsey doesn't mind the role, he also doesn't mind the age thing.

In Dempsey's eyes... you're still that little girl he's been following after all this time.

It may take time before you fully trust him but Dempsey is willing to wait.

While you try to get used to having a functioning body again, Dempsey tries to help.

Dempsey soon appears as a father to you.

He knows you aren't fully cured and you may be unable to be fully cured... yet that does not stop him from caring for you.

If the others in the group have issues with it he ignores them and tells you to do the same.

Although Nikolai and Takeo may also act like parents to you if you come to them, while Richtofen prefers to stay away.

You're an important part of the team to Dempsey and he's just happy he was able to help you in some way.

He isn't sure what made him want to be a parent to you so suddenly... but he isn't fighting it.

He just can't leave you alone, can he?

You've already been alone for so long...

So maybe you do need him?

Dempsey could be getting second hand corruption from you and your body when he has this obsessive need to be around you... yet as of now there's no way to fix it.

This could be a way to explain his yandere behavior, however.

It's hard for me to find a way to make this yandere for some reason but Dempsey would probably be an overprotective parent.

He'd start fights with Richtofen if he tried to suggest he leaves you.

"She'll hinder our mission, Dempsey. We need to get her somewhere safe."

"Hinder? She's my daughter, Richtofen... we aren't leaving her!"

"Daughter...? Dempsey, have you gone mad?"

"Hell no... she needs someone and that someone is me. Look at her... do you think she can take care of herself?"

Dempsey may be occupied with the mission half the time but he teaches you what you need to know.

He also tries to show you fatherly affection, like hugs even if you struggle to understand it.

Dempsey does not mind your childish view of things.

He really is a good guardian for you.

If you ever got hurt then Dempsey does what he can to fix it.

Be it killing someone or something... or just patching you up and telling you it's okay.

It's nearly impossible for the rest of the crew to pry you apart from each other.

Dempsey loves and cares for you... soon you do too.

You don't understand that Dempsey is suffocating.

You don't understand a lot of things due to being in the MPD for most of your time.

Despite that... you don't mind.

You love Dempsey as your father...

Dempsey loves you as his daughter...

Who cares if he never wants to leave you and turns violent over you... you need him and he knows it.

[merrilark]

looks like sean was cale's one and only TRUE obsession, i mean cale even told him his Big Evil plan (and made curls) dkjfgjbbb im kidding but. i love thinking about it

LISTEN. You're kidding, but I'm not skdfjskdljfslkfs

Okay, maybe a little. But hear me out.

Cale is definitely obsessed with recreating the childhood trauma of his first murder, as well as keeping order, and when his order was interrupted by Sean, so was his obsessive recreation through Katie. Putting my tinfoil hat on here to say that I really do think that shifted something in Cale and he gradually began to see Sean as the horse trainer he killed far more than he saw her in Katie. The lines get awfully blurred near the end imo, and the parallel between Cale shooting Katie and Sean screaming is almost 1:1 with the scene at the beginning where Cale shoots the young horse and the trainer screams.

There's also just something about Cale not only stealing Sean's jacket and wearing it to attack Riley, but also what appears to be trying to mimic his hair that really makes me raise my brows. I... I just honestly can't tell if whatever that thing is is a valid symbol of something deeper, or if I'm just reading too much into it because I'm the freak that enjoys rolling around the extremely messed up Cale/Sean dynamic à la Hannigram lmao

But whatever it is, I dooo love thinking about Cale being a little obsessed with him especially after canon events. There's actually an interview with Robert Sheehan where he was asked how he thinks a sequel would go, and he says:

"I think the FBI tries to put Cale under [...] pressure in order to confess for all the girls he has killed for many, many years and I think they use Sean because they understand that Cale has this strange affection, this strange camaraderie, twisted camaraderie [....] There’s a kind of mutual respect, I mean not necessarily mutual, but definitely a respect from Cale to Sean. So he’s not totally free of him! And I don’t think he ever will be, as he said."

To me, this implies that Sean is the only one Cale would cooperate with enough to talk, and "affection" is a very interesting choice of words. Of course an actor's word isn't necessarily canon, buuuut I am Definitely Looking. 👀

I swear if Bad Samaritan had a bigger fandom, Cale/Sean would be one of the big ships. This quote is practically begging for it.

Whatever it is between them, though, it's canon that Cale is at least impressed by Sean and more than a little intrigued that someone as bumbling as him managed to not only break his routine but was persistent enough to track him all the way to Sandy. For that alone, he calls Sean "worthy". I can only imagine how Cale must view him after his arrest... Surely there must still be some twisted form of respect and admiration there beneath the hatred?

[raedshadowlegends]

LO hot take:

idk if I was writing a story about Greek mythology I would a) do actual research first b) not make it about Hades and Persephone cause the original myth to my understanding contains some pretty heavily implied SA and c) if I was still going with the modern theme Rachel’s going on I would commit to it fully, set it in actual Greece (again, doing research) and have the Olympians live in a skyscraper instead of a mountain

also I wouldn’t make the gods neon

I feel like it would be more interesting to write a story about, say, Hephaestus and his struggle to fit into the Olympians, or play with the themes of how power corrupts or how the Olympians attempt to navigate their complex family relationships while trying to stay true to original myths

but yeah there are a ton of super cool myths in Greek mythology and a lot of them are really epic stories with important details like the fatal flaws of heroes, the earning the favor of the gods, anyway I feel like they shouldn’t be reduced to cotton candy looking smut with a barely held together plot

I agree with everything you're saying here.

Now I am by no means a mythology expert but I'm pretty sure that the original myth was about the grief of Demeter and not a fluffy uwu smut story.

It's honestly kind of disrespectful to be slandering a myth this much. Yeah, retellings have always been around and they always will be. But I'd expect a retelling to treat it's source material with respect, y'know? LO is far from respectful in my opinion.

I remember seeing a while back that if LO characters just had normal oc names, nobody would give a shit about it. And yeah. That checks out.

But you're right, there are dozens of myths to choose and retell in unique (but respectful!) ways. I genuinely think LO would be much more appealing if it were a collection of mini stories. Each one could take on a new myth in new ways/ Maybe add some original twists and turns. And get creative with the designs too!! That way Rachel and her team wouldn't be handcuffed to the Persephone and Hades myth and they could have fun experimenting.

Shit, if they had a myth they had fun retelling then they could expand upon it later down the road.

I dunno, I just would have preferred to see that version of Lore Olympus.

It's sad that Greek culture is kinda being slandered like this. It feels pretty disrespectful to me but I'd love to hear more thoughts about it.

Also the neon colors fucking suck.

I'm not a big fan of having my retinas fucking obliterated each time I look at Persephone's horse face. Dear god I wish Rachel had reference sheets and the colors didn't gradually become blinding. Honestly sad.

But I can imagine that the bright colors draw in younger readers. They see the pretty pink lady on the cover of a book and they go for it. Not good. Don't let kids read LO.

Anyways thank you for the ask, I agree with literally everything you said. I wish we got to see a more fleshed out LO like you suggested </3

[pain-in-the-butler]

Hii!! I absolutely ADORE Coattails!!! Thank you so much for writing it!! I feel like you really understand the characters and the story in a way not many do, so I would really love to hear some of your headcannons about Ciel and Sebastian, maybe somethings you would have liked to write into the fic but just wouldn't have fit or made sense to the story^^^^ whether its individually or about their relationship, either would make me very happy!! Thanks again for creating something so precious and close to us. Have a nice weekend!!!

Well hi there, anon! Wow, thanks for all this enthusiasm, I'm super stoked you're into the story! I really appreciate all the hype!

Hmm, as for your questions, let me consider how to answer them... I already have a place for posting any Coattails drabbles, so if there's something I really want to write that won't otherwise work in the main story, you can count on it showing up there. But there have definitely been a few very short scenes over the years that I've cut or reworked as necessary! I'll compile what I can remember here:

Chapter 3: After Mey-Rin's backstory came out in the manga, I changed the scene where Sebastian asks her if she had ever hidden or lied after making a mistake as a kid. Initially, Mey-Rin had told Sebastian that she'd hidden after breaking an heirloom belonging to her father.

Chapters 10-17: The horse jockey plot actually changed a lot while it was being written. Initially, there was supposed to be a literal underground racetrack that Sebastian and Ciel would infiltrate, but during the two-year break between chapters 14 and 15, I decided that I didn't like it anymore and changed Hastings' ploy to be solely about developing the strength injection. I didn't originally plan for Sebastian to reveal he's a demon to Hastings either, but sometimes I just let my writing guide me and see what happens (that's most of the time, if I'm being honest).

Chapter 17: I played around with the idea of Ciel getting one of the strength injections and having to deal with its effects in the short term, but ultimately decided that Sebastian would be too attentive to allow this to happen. It wouldn't have added anything to the story either.

Chapter 26: I really wanted to include a scene where it's lightly implied that the person in the mascot costume at the Funtom event is Yana Toboso, since she's done that RL at the pop-up store, but the chapter already had waaay too much going on, so I nixed it.

Also, Sieglinde's existence is hinted at in chapters 26 and 27, and while she sadly won't make it into the main story of Coattails, I would love for her to meet Ciel and Sebastian in a post-story drabble!

If you were looking for more "deleted" scenes between Dadbastian and sonboy, usually when I come up with those they don't get removed because they're so central to the story. So, sorry I don't have much to provide! I usually do feel disappointed any time I have to do a time skip, because I imagine there must have been a sweet moment between those two during it that'll never be realized. I think small moments are just as important as the big ones, if not more so.

AH, but headcanons about Ciel and Sebastian, in terms of Coattails... Let me see... Well, I guess I'll share some of the things I keep in mind whenever I write the two of them!

Sebastian sometimes misses when things felt easier in their contract, but he doesn't want to go back to how it was before either

Sebastian's favorite thing lately is asking Ciel a question when he doesn't know how Ciel is going to answer it. He often has to restrain himself from being too overbearing

Sebastian's least favorite part of experiencing love is feeling like there's so much he has to worry about now (he doesn't know how to deal with all of his new worries yet)

Sebastian's favorite part of experiencing love is how different it is from anything he's known before. He really doesn't understand it at all yet but he's very curious about it

And now for Ciel headcanons:

Ciel feels that "current Sebastian" is easier to talk to, but doesn't yet trust him completely and isn't convinced that Sebastian's changes are for the better

Ciel hates everything about growing up because it means contending with the fact that he's not already an adult

Ciel talks with Sebastian more than Tanaka because he's afraid his emotions and his past would scare Tanaka

Ciel is pretty sure Sebastian knows he called him "father" one time but has vowed to never ever mention it (he'd rather not know)

Well, not all of them are happy, but I hope those HCs gave you something to consider while you wait for more story! I don't know when chapter 30 will be done yet, but when it is, you'll know! Thanks again for all your interest in Coattails! This was fun to write 😊

[huntunderironskies]

Still thinking about how high level competitive play (as inspired by VGC stuff) would transfer over to actual real-life Pokemon. I think the biggest nuance is that you'd have to make sure that the Pokemon in double battles like...actually get along and work well together. The overwhelming majority of Pokemon at least seem to generally be social creatures so presumably they could pack bond with each other, but I would imagine swapping out teammates is something you would have to do very sparingly, especially since training Pokemon is probably a matter of months to years. Them suddenly having to adjust to a new teammate isn't something you'd do within a competitive season since it'd throw off your game.

...Man, this just makes me want to dedicate some daydreaming time to how breeding and trading would work in a high-pressure environment. I would imagine that selling Pokemon is considered to be pretty awful, but I'm not sure if that'd stop groups from forming who'd exchange eggs amongst each other.

(Vaguely adjacent to the point: one of my favorite headcanons I ever saw in a fanfic was that Pokemon are uniquely good at learning languages, even moreso than humans, though on a species-by-species basis they might be deficient in other areas. This was supposed to account for how quickly wild Pokemon pick up on human speech and how Pokemon seem to functionally speak each others' languages. It was one of those fics that was trying to be realistic, which in Pokemon fanfic can often translate into needless over-the-top grimdarkness, but it ended up not going wholly that route. Which is good, because while I like detail-oriented realism, the super edgy "POKEMON TRAINING IS SLAVERY" or focusing super hard on violence or warfare gets dull. I'm here for befriending the magical animals/possessed machinery/trashbags and defeating bad guys or friendly rivals with the power of friendship.)

That could go a long way towards creating dark horse picks, especially since if you can't travel regularly to other regions. Free public transit...seems to be a thing, unless you're in Lumiose City in which case the cabbies will charge you, but there'd still be logistics involved and it's hard to say if cross-regional transit from areas further than Kanto and Johto (since the Goldenrod train doesn't charge) would be expensive. And, well, everything seems to indicate that the overwhelming majority of trainers don't make much money.

All that's to say that creating the same sort of perfect team comps you see in VGC wouldn't realistically be common...at all. I'm really glad we've apparently gotten past the old mentality of legendaries being literally one-of-a-kind gods, Arceus possibly notwithstanding since they seem to be capable of creating avatars of themself which gets into some rough philosophy-of-self territory, but I'd still imagine legendaries are one of those things you'd see once in a blue moon. They probably don't breed in captivity as indicated by the fact...they don't breed, which might imply that most of them are more akin to endangered species who are mostly outcompeted by Pokemon who are less specialized and capable of breeding quickly but hanging on due to just sheer power. If they are solitary that's probably not doing them any favors either.

(I also have THOUGHTS about the whole Pokemon-as-gods things and how people without a religious studies background can read it wrong since at least in Hisui and, probably, Alola they're more akin to kami and kami-as-gods-in-the-Abrahamic-sense is a vastly oversimplified view of Shinto spirituality, but that's getting into religious studies nerdery and honestly my focus area is not that so I'm not even sure if I can do the whole discussion justice.)

Point is, while it's probably super showy to pull up with a Heatran or whatever it's still another Pokemon and can lose. And they might be harder to work with training-wise. A lot of legendaries are just objectively not that good in a competitive environment strictly in the games while some "common" Pokemon are actually really good. Though, a lot of them are also really good but you'd have to find something else that can fill their niche. Someone having to work around what they'd have to get access to and both get along with themself and what would vibe with the rest of their team personality-wise is fun to think about.

I think my one difficulty is boardstate manipulation (e.g. terrain, weather, Tailwind, Trick Room, etc.) is a huge deal in competitive play and especially doubles. A lot of those show up pretty rarely in the anime and manga. Weather stuff is more common but I believe Trick Room only showed up once in the manga so that makes things a little difficult to visualize in terms of how it'd work. Unfortunately that sort of tactical manipulation of the battlefield is what I'm also the most interested in and would like to preserve in my little mental world so I'll have to keep speculating on that.

[daz4i]

ok i have time to kill and nothing better to do and a kinnie brainrot slowly eating at my skull so. dazai animatic brainstorming time bc i can't draw or animate but i have ideas :)

song is debt collector by jhariah (can you tell i have mild brainrot abt his music lately) btw. go listen to it. i am no longer asking 🔫

It's all catching up to you now, hope you can run

the horse race scene basically.

Cause soon your past will come and drag you (Down, down)

jouno showing up and cuffing him

You scammed your way into Heaven

shot of dazai with the ada, looking like he's talking and they're listening

Til the angels realize you're not one of them

the image changes a bit - instead of regular current day dazai, he is now dressed as he did during the dark era, looking way more serious and empty

Here comes the debt collector, seems you owe him again

dazai in meursault, sitting across from fyodor's cell

Dollars and coins can't cut your check this time around

we see them talking, body language implying it's the scene right before nikolai takes them out of their cells

Here comes the debt collector, and you owe him again

start of the race, nikolai explaining the rules of the race

Kind words and lies won't save your head this time around, 'round, 'round

dazai pointing at sigma, choosing him, smiling

i think there's some music here so like. see them walking through meursault

Gravedigger, cordial killer, your payment is due, they're looking at you

with each. not word but ig section? as in after every comma, the image changes to different moments from dazai's time in the mafia, mainly hurting or killing people

We've done what we can, it's out of our hands

the talk dazai had with mori right before odasaku's death, very clearly mori speaking these lines

Sooner or later, it comes back again

dazai turning around and running out of the room, and as the next line enters, the scene changes from him running in the mafia hq to him running in meursault

Here comes the debt collector, seems you owe him again

he is walking with sigma down the hall, then grabs him

Dollars and coins can't cut your check this time around

they are dancing into the security room with the dead guards, and dazai immediately props himself by the microphone

Here comes the debt collector

this time it's not dazai being spoken to, but rather him talking to fyodor, we see him say these words, smiling

And you owe him again

but then his smile goes away as we see chuuya drowning next to fyodor as well

Kind words and lies won't save your head

dazai's gay ass flashback speech,

This time around

he turns around, and we get a hard cut to dazai and sigma in the elevator

Please don't think I have no empathy for you, what you've been through, but

fyodor talking!!!! fyodor by the mic, saying these exact words!!!! on the "but", he clicks a button

There's nothing I can do now but stand here and watch it all catch up to you

the room filling up with water, dazai and sigma slowly starting to drown

Here comes the debt collector, seems you owe him again

fire bursting, dazai shooting the gun, yknow that whole scene

Dollars and coins can't cut your check this time around

dazai kicking sigma out of the elevator -

Here comes the debt collector

and now we see him on the ground

And you owe him again

same pose, same scene, but now there's a gun against his forehead

Kind words and lies won't save your head

we see chuuya is the one holding the gun, and now dazai is raising his head to look at him, starting his whole "we are destined to-" thing

This time around

the gunshot

during the outro music, we can see him bleeding from his forehead

and that's it! short and simple. idk how vivid that one was esp given a lot of it just canon scenes and less imagery and symbolism but it's very vividly imagined in my head and i hope it is now in your head too :)