#in terms of character she's definitely my favorite doll in the game

[commander-frostii]

[consul-valerius]

Actually posting a WIP on this blog because I’m pretty excited with these naked Barbie dolls LMFAO BUT thinking hard about Damien-timeline characters again/revisiting them, and these would be his main suitors/LIs lmfao

From left to right we haavvee:

Camilla: “former” mean-girl who is trying to make up for relentlessly bullying Damien as a child post-abduction lmfao her and Naima are childhood best friends, and she’s essentially another rich kid from an “old-money” household. Her parents are fairly (and openly) judgmental of Donna and Val’s relationship and as a result look down on Damien as a whole (which spills over into how Camilla acts/acted)

Antony: The Man. Works on a vineyard that has been in Valerius’s family for generations; doesn’t live in Vesuvia, so he is a bit in the dark in terms of how Damien carries himself when with other rich assholes (which means he’s much softer with Damien than with anyone). While Damien and him weren’t close when they were children, he always had a bit of a crush on him and they finally had the chance to really meet and connect when Damien returned

Naima: my babygirl. The future countess of Vesuvia who inherited her mother’s (and let’s be real father’s lmao) poor taste in men (Damien lmfao) Like Camilla, very repentant for how she treated Damien when they were children and also carries the weight of her mother’s successes (and failures) on her shoulders at all times lmfao

Lucius: another well-off, old money rich kid with parents who have remained (primarily silently) loyal to Lucio, even after his death (hence his namesake—also inspired by Squad convos lol) While he and Damien didn’t have many interactions when they were children, he instantly gravitated towards Damien when he returned and they almost immediately started an on-again-off-again fling (apple -> tree)

The distinction between these folks and other people Damien fucks around with is that they all, in some way shape and form lmao, would like to be “end game” with Damien, which leads to a lot of infighting/pettiness that Damien thrives on lmfao Damien’s treatment of them varies (at times he can be outright cruel to all of them) and he purposefully keeps his intentions vague about them.

(An aside is that all the older folks have a secret prediction board they’re all silently betting on lmfao Donna & Val are trying their best to be as hands-off as possible, given Damien’s whole life, to really give him the time and space to put himself out there LMFAOO but they definitely have their favorites 😛)

[alliluyevas]

dream historical American Girl year/place/demographic etc???

Oh, great question! As I said earlier, I think the most glaring gap in the American Girl historical canon (both current and retired dolls) is the lack of an Asian-American doll. I've seen people say that Julie's Chinese-American Best Friend character, Ivy, should have been the central character of the 1970s arc, and I personally also think there's no reason why Courtney from the 1980s couldn't have been written as Asian and added elements of her cultural traditions in with her general 1980s storyline. (I believe she likes video games? I haven't read her books. A little Asian-American girl can also enjoy going to the game arcade and having Care Bear pajamas). That being said, since I think it's more interesting to come up with a new addition than to retroactively change an existing character, here are some ideas.

This is definitely not my area of historical expertise, so I'm probably going to be a bit vague here. I think AG could potentially do a Chinese-American doll set during the big blank period in between Addy and Samantha. The main issue here in terms of historical accuracy is that immigration even before the Chinese Exclusion Act was heavily weighted towards single Chinese men (or potentially married, I guess, but if they had wives already they often remained home in China and the husbands came over as lone men). So there was not as much of a family life and community culture involving children. However, our character could be either the product of a relatively rare but not unique family immigration unit, or potentially biracial with a Chinese father. (There were legal restrictions on interracial marriages between Chinese men and white women, but still some marriages happened, and actually a lot of Chinese laborers in the South married African-American women, apparently.)

Another alternative would be to have a Chinese-American character whose storyline is set during the 1950s or 1960s, after anti-Chinese immigration bans were lifted and more people started to come to America. Obviously, we already have 1950s Maryellen and 1960s Melody, but we have overlapping dolls from the 1940s as well (Molly and Nanea), and I think it could potentially be very interesting to be able to compare girls with very different cultural backgrounds living in the same time period. (I'm inspired a bit here by one of my favorite children's historical novels, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, about a little Chinese-American girl who comes to New York with her parents in 1947.) Depending on what works best time-frame wise, the character could be either an American-born child of immigrant parents or have immigrated along with her parents. (Kirsten herself is an immigrant, and Rebecca iirc is supposed to have been born after her parents came to America, but either "type" of immigrant story could be very interesting looking at a different time in American history and a different country of origin.)

I think a Japanese-American character could also have interesting potential. I do think that having a storyline that directly includes experience in an internment camp would be inappropriate. There's a lot of discussion about "struggle narratives" versus narratives that are a bit more...idk, affirming? when it comes to writing historical stories about children of color. I think you can have a story that acknowledges racism and oppression without centering it in a way that can be traumatic for readers who share the characters' identities. (Or go the route that Addy's books do. They don't shy away from the trauma of slavery on Addy's family, but the first book is mostly about her and her mother escaping and the rest of them are about her life in newfound freedom.) If they were to do a Japanese-American character, they could also do something in the 1950s or 1960s, which could work with acknowledging the impact of internment camps (perhaps through the remembered experience of the character's parents or older siblings) while not feeling like trauma-dumping. Or they could go for something older, like a character set in the 1920s.

I also have some more ideas about potential storylines for a historical Mormon character, but I think that might have to be another post. (And, as previously stated, I think the lack of an Asian AG historical doll is much more glaring.)

[ecargmura]

Hirogaru Sky! Precure Episode 42 Review - Naive Hero Girl

While Tsubasa is my favorite Hirogaru Sky character, I do admit that I really like Sora-focused episodes. There’s just something about them that screams depth. One of my favorite episodes happens to be Episode 23 where Sora faltered and reflected over her actions. This episode brings in a part of her character that you wouldn’t expect to be spotlighted.

Sora’s main flaw as a character was that she hated being seen as naive. She always found that as a weakness and strived to not be naive when becoming the hero she wants to be. However, when Skearhead told her his motive, that he’s doing this for someone he loves, she becomes hesitant. It’s not as bad as her self-doubt back in Episode 23, but it’s more mature this time around. Instead of being angry over her naive actions, she realizes that being naive is a part of her and she finally embraces that one flaw towards the end of the episode. I think this was rather amazing. Usually, anime characters would try not to acknowledge their one flaw, but I’m glad that Sora is able to come to terms with it. If being naive means thinking and worrying about her enemies, then she’d gladly be naive because that is a part of who she is.

I’m glad to see Captain Shalala again. I missed her so much. She came to Earth to pick up research notes that Tsubasa wrote in regards to Kira Kira energy. The fact that Tsubasa who’s only 12 years old is making leaps and bounds on advancing Sky Land civilization is an amazing feat in itself. While Shalala only appears in the first half of the episode, her presence was definitely welcomed as she was the catalyst that helped Sora realize the answer she’s been seeking. Also, I love the call back to Episode 2 where Sora was fascinated with everything inside the mall. Instead of Sora, Shalala is the one fascinated by everything in the mall as she pointed out everything that Sora did like the concept of a large building having small stores inside of it, escalators as moving stairs and robot assistants as talking dolls. Unlike Sora who was hyper, Shalala was calm. I did like how Shalala wore Ageha’s outfit when wandering around Sorashido City. They’re around the same height, so it makes sense that Ageha’s clothes would fit her; she’s rocking that outfit so hard that a crowd behind the Precures were blushing at the sight of her. I also like her fondness for tracksuits. I do admit that tracksuits are comfortable—I’m wearing sweatpants right now and they’re comfy as heck.

I think that the finale is coming near as Underg Empire lore is building up with the previous episode and now this episode. The fact that Tsubasa is researching Kira Kira energy is most likely foreshadowing the end game where it will be used against the final boss. Oh, speaking of which, I do like the explanation on why destroyed streets and buildings get restored after purification; it’s all because of the Kira Kira energy. I don’t know why it took them 42 episodes to finally clear up this detail. Anyways, now that Skearhead and Underg Empire lore is slowly getting into the spotlight, it makes me wonder when Empress Underg will make her move. I did like seeing Skearhead finally having some reactions now.

Overall, this was an excellent Sora-focused episode that focused on accepting her flaw. You don’t have to agree with me, but I like this episode. Now, I’m curious about next week’s episode as it focuses on Battamonda again. I’m definitely sure that the Underg Empire will be explored now. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: What makes or breaks a Guest Character for you?

I know you focus on the main cast and all, but when a Guest does show up, how do you feel about them?

Feel free to use the Guests from Soul Calibur as an example. I know Link and Ezio are the most well received while Yoda, Dark Vader and Starkiller get shafted on.

Honestly, I haven't had much reason to complain about the guest characters I've been presented.

In Soul Calibur's case, we actually got VERY GOOD representation for a lot of guest characters (Bandai Namco and Project Soul were pretty skillful in that regard).

I'd argue that Spawn's presence in Soul Calibur is actually dwarfed by how he was presented in Mortal Kombat 11, to be honest.

If they managed to sneak Spawn in Guilty Gear, I'd go crazy... hahaha...

Samurai Shodown's Guest characters (i.e. Baiken/Warden/etc) were "simplified" to better suit the game's mechanics, and while that's something some people might complain about... in Samurai Shodown's case, "simpler is better" in a lot of ways. Even for Baiken in that game... she felt very solid in the game itself (well maybe not as versatile as she was in Accent Core or Xrd, but those are the peak of GG, and are hard to compare to).

I'd argue Soul Calibur IV's DLC wasn't the problem... the gameplay elements and mechanics were the larger issue.

Yoda is... well he's a mild amusement... Soul Calibur IV got mixed responses on a GOOD day... but people still loved Starkiller and Darth Vader regardless.

Yoda is the "Kliff Undersn" of Soul Calibur, if you can believe it... tiny character, awkward hitboxes, silly hits and combos... but DESPITE ALL THIS... he is very lore-accurate to the films that depicted Yoda in Combat in the Star Wars series (which is funnily ironic.)

I'd argue that they could've chose Boba Fett or the Mandalorian and got a stronger response, but that's Star Wars for you.

Honestly, I'm a huge fan of Jedi Survivor and Jedi Fallen Order, but that's a different story.

Soul Calibur IV itself suffered under its own mechanics and features, the Tower of Trials it had was some of the hardest content ever seen in an SC game, to be honest... not nearly as fun as Libra of Souls.

I'd say the character DLC wasn't the problem with that game... the mechanics of the weapons and the unlockables needed more to be improved upon.

In terms of visuals though, Soul Calibur IV is still one of the prettiest SC games (SC6 wasn't nearly as bright, but it also had a lot more stable features and played at a faster pace like SCII and SCIII are better known for being).

SCIV also didn't have an extensive museum/library like SC6 does, so that right there should tell you something.

Also SCIV had a ton of guest characters beyond the DLC and many of which looked nothing like standard Soul Calibur cast, some were straight out of an anime (Angol Fear), which was jarring to compare to at the time, since most SC characters look semi-realistic.

My standard for guests boils down to how well they fit in with everyone else in the roster... if they stand out like a sore thumb but can still scrap well in a fight, I guess that's fine for some people, but for me I don't necessarily want to be embarrassed by my friends when I decide to pick a character.

Angol Fear definitely stands out, however a character like Ashlotte was inspired.

It was Ito Ōgure who came up with her design, but as a result we got the Clockwork Doll character creation template later on in Soul Calibur 6... and many fans have appreciated it.

(By the way, Ashlotte is still one of my favorite SC designs as well.)

You could argue that 2B is the "next big step" in that aesthetic and genre, though in her case it's a bit more complex.

2B is also a guest character in Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising now, which is also nice to hear, I'd argue that Granblue is the 2D equivalent of Soul Calibur (and given the staff that created the game were former Project Soul Staff, that should be obvious).

Even if Harada once stated that Project Soul had to be disbanded in order to make a game like Tekken 8 possible, I still believe that everyone who was behind Soul Calibur as a series would love to work on something similar in the future... it was that great a concept.

Ultimately, when it comes to fighting games, you have certain themes you want to make present... and when including guests in to that theme, you want to make sure they mesh well overall.

Of course, that doesn't just apply to fighting games, but to every game that has that level of potential.

Despite the fact many might consider Soul Calibur dead and buried... MY SOUL STILL BURNS.

[danganronpafan777]

danganmon reading update also how thy day going!

Not too bad!! I’ve been busy with a Wattpad story, and a TON of irl stuff, but I just finished Chapter 2!

Here’s some notes/reactions while I was reading it/watching Blaze’s playthrough

SPOILERS

Danganmon Chapter 2 from someone who knows nothing about Pokémon:

I’m curious to see what Faust looks like without the mask as much as everyone, but ngl it kinda rubbed me the wrong way that they were pushing him so hard when it’s clearly a sore subject

HE LOOKS SO FREAKING CUTE THO

Sam: “…I think it looks nice too, maybe in this case “cute” would be the right word”

Ayooo

Last chapter, I wasn’t sure whether I should ship them or see it as a sibling relationship, but I’m leaning towards shipping

Faust keeping the mask on because he wants to be taken seriously is honestly a pretty valid reason (it’s a nice twist instead of a scar or trauma)

Maya is growing on me ngl

She reminds me of a more socially awkward Rei

Flidgey being amazing as always 

Cyrillo and Wimessir give that “We will be adored” energy 

Kami deadass asking Cyrillo why he’s tall- 

This premotive game sounds like a fun concept! I feel like Sam is gonna let Faust win

Fry seems like such a cutie that it makes me scared

So Kami and Fry don’t actually have to face off against each other? I’m assuming all the funhouses are different, so theirs is just not competitive?

BRO LAVA??

They’re literally exchanging their fav flowers while trying to escape from lava 😭 I honestly like this duo and I’m scared Fry might die

Sam really disappeared faster than my will to live 

Okay Zoro definitely giving blackened energy

Zoro and Roxanne got some sibling energy tho

I want to hug Faust so bad 

Maya and Flidgey friendship is unexpected but not unwelcome in the slightest (I actually love this dynamic)

Flidgey: A ghostly guy and a ghostly girl… lemme guess, some guy tried to suck you up with his vacuum? 

I love her sm

Stella and Cyrus being bullied by a robotic Gordon Ramsay for burning bread is def my favorite fun room 

Voodoo doll motive :0

Apollo probably got Maya, I’m calling it now

I’m getting some death flags from Lillie and Juno…

At least one of the melons is probably poisoned

Glad Sam apologized and everything worked out. Genuine apologies and communication is rarer than it should be in dangan/fangans

I’m officially on board with Sam x Faust and Maya x Flidgey 

If any of them die I’m rioting man

(Flidgey raised some death flags and if she goes then I’m quitting this fangame I swear /hj)

…FUCK

*end credits*

(I swear that wasn’t planned)

A trade between dolls?  Apollo is probably involved, but it’d be a cool twist if Flidgey was the one who swapped

I’m never forgiving whoever the hell killed Flidgey tho 

Okay now Apollo starting to piss me off (Still like his character tho)

CALLING HER FRIDGEY BRO THE DISRESPECT

(I hate how it made me laugh)

Wimessir is my top suspect tho, she’s just acting a bit sus

I KNEW IT

WTF APOLLO YOU BITCH

Okay I forgive Wim but Apollo you’re dead to me

Oh god, using Cyrillo against her is a whole new level of screwed up

KICK HIS ASS CYRILLO

Sapphire tucking in Juno’s doll makes me feel a lil better tho

CYRUS MY MAN

Out of all the antags in dangan, Apollo is the first to just be badshit insane, and like a genuine pychopath

(Well, his backstory does sound screwed up from what little we’ve seen of it)

The bags under Cyrillo’s eyes makes me sad :(

I actually loved this chapter tho, the funhouse games and the bonding between the characters is such a good buildup

9/10

The investigations are a bit short and Wimmessir’s guilt came a bit out of nowhere (In terms of evidence. I had suspicions from her behavior, but Apollo’s accusation and the purple hair was a bit abrupt) It felt like everyone turned against her rather quickly, and not much could really prove her involvement, but her execution was well done

This was great, but I kept thinking of the ways a reader would fit into the story which really shows the type of person I am (I write too many x readers lmao)

[afraidofchange]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

respond to the prompts out of character!

what made you pick up the current muse(s) you have?  I love women? Basically I just love all my female canons and my female OCs are just the Lexie Extended Universe (my mind). But Rama Wolfbluff is my long-standing D&D character and I love her dearly - more so as I play as her in BG3.

is there anything you don’t like to write?   I guess just anything getting into 'dead dove don't eat' territory; it's not for me, and some subjects imo really shouldn't be roleplayed on this platform e.g. S.A. etc.

is there anything you really enjoy writing?  Romance. I eat that shit UP!!! Whether it's slow burn or something quick from chemistry. I love it.

how do you come up with headcanons?   Whatever comes to mind, or if there's a prompt on the dash. It helps if I'm playing an OC (like Rama) in a game like BG3 where I can think on what her decisions would be/what dialogue she would take.

do you write in silence or do you play music?  Music!!! 95% of the time, anyway. I usually get inspiration from one song and keep it on repeat while I do a single thread.

do you plan your replies or wing them?   I usually have a general idea of what I want to respond with / what I want to happen. But in terms of drafting out ideas like I would an essay? no, lmao.

do you enjoy shipping?    Absolutely!!! I lean mostly to f/f ships of course, but I have a few m/f pairings that I enjoy (Ashley/Owen, Miranda/Aiden, Ana/Reinhardt, Nikita/Vernon/Job, to name a few!).

what’s your alias/name?   Lexie - it's just a nickname variation of my government name, lmao.

age?  30!!!

birthday?  Feb 5!

favorite color?  Red!

favorite song?  Landslide - Fleetwood Mac, probably.

last movie you watched?  Drive Away Dolls in theaters w my gf. We're going to see Love Lies Bleeding tomorrow!!!! gay movies!!

last show you watched?  The Sopranos

last song you listened to?  Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs - May 1997 live performance where Stevie Nicks stares straight into Lindsey Buckingham's soul.

favorite food?  Love me the classic medium rare steak and baked potato, served with asparagus type meal.

favorite season?  summer!

do you have a tumblr best friend?  I certainly have friends that I've known for a very long time (some for 11-12 years!!), so I'd say definitely a few!

tagged by :  No one, I stole it.  tagging  :  you!

[reefer-reelz-n-reviews]

Elf (2003)

Smoking: Graffiti

Hands down my favorite Will Ferrell movie. And in honor of the season here we are 😊

Definitely a lot of product placement in this movie. Which if you don’t know is a Marketing term and how a lot of movies and tv shows make money to support their creation. We had Bob the Builder doll, Mr. Potato Head, Barbie and Etch-a-Sketch all with in the first 3 minutes of the movies. Wonder how much they paid for that 🤔

We have poor little Orphan Buddy who sees a teddy and decides to go for a late-night crawl and ends up traveling around the world and ends up back at the North Pole.

We have the wonderful Bob Newhart playing his adoptive father. When they are in class, I don’t understand why he’s in the front row. He’s so tall, he can see from the back, I’m sure.

I totally say Cotton-Headed-Ninny-Muggins in a good number of conversations. I would hate to be the Jack in the Box toy tester. Talk about ANXIETY!!!!

I wonder how much back and neck pain doing all of these scenes with having to hunch down. I like how they have some of the characters based off of the old Rudolf Claymation movie.

How is his outfit able to keep him that warm? I mean he traveled through the snow-covered mountains; you know that shits cold, and he’s got on leggings and an elf hat. It’s not free candy!!! 🤢

Meeting his father. James Caan, for the first time. Christmas Gram time! His awkward song “Guess what? I love you, I love you, I love you”

I love watching him go up the elevator 😂 "it's a Christmas Tree"

Enter the love interest, Zooey Deschanel. “Best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is to sing loud for all to hear.”

I love that Mary Steenburgen is in this movie. She is also in another one of my favorite WF movies, Step Brothers. “You can call me night hawk.” Tell me why his name tag says Wanda, but in the line up on IMDB he’s named, Gimbel’s Manager 🤔 wonder if it was a recast at the last minute?

Faizon Love is another of my favorites. But from a totally different movie. The Replacements. Probably the only football movie I like.

The gif I use the most is “You sit on a thrown of lies.” Mainly to my friend Heather 🤣 when I’m teasing her about something. Or calling her a cheater because of a card game 😂

I wonder how that candy spaghetti tasted. I half want to try it and half want to throw up 🤢

I swear he has some kind of ADD, maybe its all that sugar 🤣

There is NO WAY Mark Acheson was 26 years old at the time of this 😂 he looks like he’s at least 40 something.

Enter Peter Dinklage, “the elf” that’s too far from the North Pole for WF. I love when he climbs on the table and just attacks him 🤣

Make the Buddy sighting seem like he’s bigfoot 😂 I swear this movie ☠️

And what saves the day? None other than ZD “the best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

And here’s the end of the movie. Thanks for reading this weeks.

Happy Holidays!

Toke on!

-RRR

[cerastes]

What do you make of Specter's operator record? Personally I liked it, but that's with the knowledge we're getting more Specter backstory soon.

Ok, so! Just as you pointed out, I went into it with the knowledge that:

We're getting Under TIDES soon.

Specter gets a second Operator Record later, some time after Under TIDES.

And with that in mind, I'm fine with it, but if I was a CN player and all we got was Specter's first Operator Record without any knowledge of the future, I would be pretty pissed, lmao. In fact, CN players were pretty pissed, the reception to her Operator Record was pretty bad. Specter is a popular character both in terms of gameplay and character (the latter more so in China, she gets a steady influx of cosplayers, fanart and fanfic in Weibo, Lofter, and such). It's believed that Hypergryph announced her second Operator Record because of this backlash.

Now, with the context and preamble on the table, I want to say: Great idea, not so great execution. Overall, I enjoyed it, but again, that's only with knowledge of the future. Despite that, I sincerely praise Hypergryph for actually having the balls to try a narrative approach like this one on a mobile game. The thing is, just because an idea is interesting doesn't mean it's good, and I think a lot of aspiring writers and designers need to hammer that in their head, especially armchair game designers that like to theorize oh so much about how cool it would be to have a game that did this or that. I don't care if it's cool or not, is it enjoyable to experience?

And that's just the thing with Specter's Operator Record: It felt lackluster in many regards. The approach was definitely interesting, bold, I'd even say, but that doesn't really matter too much if the result isn't a success, now, does it? Let's immediately address the Originium Slug in the room: Specter doesn't even appear in it. Now, is that an interesting approach to an Operator Record? Sure! Is it good? I don't really think so, especially with a character that fans really have been clamoring to see more of in actual cutscenes, given the wealth of clues they've put regarding Specter in other places:

Blue Poison' Files -> We learn that Blue Poison knew Specter personally before her descent to madness, addressing her with her real name.

Skadi's Dialogue -> Skadi implies that Specter was on a very important mission, and more or less confirms she knew her before she went crazy.

Several pieces of official art -> Specter is associated with the phrase "All seas are singing your name".

Ceobe's Fungimist -> It's implied the cursed painting depicting the end times is the same confusing painting Specter painted in her Token.

Rosmontis' Files -> It's confirmed that Specter's spinal cord is filed to the brim with originium fluid, and the Medical Team theorizes that, just like Rosmontis, her infection was artificially induced. It also confirms that they have no idea how Specter is able to fight such an insanely high level of infection.

So, see, this has been a character that fans have really been clamoring to see again. The only cutscene Specter's ever been is the secret cutscene of Grani and the Knight's Treasure AKA the very first event in the game. Understandably, after two years of the game existing, people were a bit miffed that once again we just get breadcrumbs and a non-participation 'appearance', to say the least, in what's supposed to be her day in the limelight.

Now, personally, I kind of get how they are handling her, and the Operator Records are a very faithful reflection of this: Specter is meant to be this mysterious force that we don't have clearance to know about, as Kal'tsit herself is the only one authorized to treat her or even enter her containment quarters. And, in this regard, I think the Records succeed:

It all starts innocently with Suzuran drawing Specter in a Secret Santa and then having to start deep diving to find out who the hell even IS Specter, because absolutely no one knows of her. Eventually, Suzuran lucks out by asking Meteorite, who did participate in a mission with Specter once, to which Suzuran immediately reacts: "Hey hold on, don't they send you on pretty dangerous missions all the time?", and Meteorite's answer is, "Yeah, and she's right at home there."

Now, this is really interesting because we, as Doctor, have some level of clearance: We know things about Specter and can even converse with her to a certain degree, because Doctor is a high authority in Rhodes Island, but the average Operator, like Suzuran, Aosta and Chiave, doesn't even know of her existence. She's one of Rhodes Island's well kept secrets, even within Rhodes Island. Even Meteorite, a veteran Sarkaz mercenary and a bombardment expert, only knows about Specter in a need-to-know basis (because they deployed once together). More telling is the fact that Meteorite doesn't think she'd get along with Specter, simply based on the fact that, just on that one operation, the level of violence and carnage brought upon by Specter unnerved even her, a Kazdel Sarkaz veteran. Well, to be precise, it's not the sheer level of destruction that Specter is capable of that unnerved Meteorite, it's the fact that she does it all seemingly without a care in the world, expressionless, soundless, simply following orders to the letter without showing or taking in a single emotion. To paraphrase Meteorite, "someone that can unleash such destruction and violence upon others so easily, and that can then just not mind it in the slightest, has something wrong and concerning going on with them, no doubt".

Next up, we also learn that Folinic has very restricted, also on a need-to-know basis access to Specter. Keep in mind that Folinic is extremely competent and not at all a stranger to danger: She handles Phantom. So this is a huge hint: There's perhaps more to the secrecy regarding Specter than just her being a dangerous, unstable element. Folinic could reasonably handle Specter professionally, but it's not about whether she can or not, it's about information, and this brings us back to Grani and the Knight's Treasure: Kal'tsit makes it clear to Skadi that Specter is, as a whole, inaccessible to everyone but her, that only she has clearance to access Specter's quarters. Keep in mind that Skadi does not operate in the same conditions, despite also being an Abyssal Hunter. In fact, it's well known that Skadi is infamous among other Operators for being unreasonable and obstructive in operations, as well as unapproachable outside of them (unless you are Grani, who managed to successfully befriend Skadi and vouches for her). There's things about Specter that are so sensitive, so important, that Kal'tsit can't risk them getting out, and even using her as an Operator is something reserved for very dangerous operations. Not even Warfarin, senior staff and Operator that's been with Rhodes Island for a very long time, has full access to Specter, but she clearly knows the importance of keeping her under curtains, given she immediately diffused the Folinic-Suzuran situation by coming up with a compromise on the spot.

There's another interesting contrast between Files and the Operator Record: Meteorite describes Specter as "dead silent". Mind you, we knew from before, thanks to Specter's Files, that the shark is completely silent in battle, but we also do know that she incoherently rambles quite a lot. Folinic sheds some light onto this, explaining that Specter intentionally stays silent most of the time so as to not say anything that could be misunderstood when around others. When she's in a more private setting, however, she does let loose with the insane talk. This is confirmation of something that had been hinted at before: Even though she's insane, there's a fervent part of her clinging onto sanity for dear life with bloodied, splintered fingers, and it manifests itself in how she'll never harm an ally, and how Specter is, to a certain degree, aware of how far gone she is, and thus keeps her mouth shut around others that aren't Doctor or Kal'tsit, so as to not spook them out or accidentally threaten them with her insane rambling.

Then, at the very end, after Suzuran managed to get her present to her, Specter does in fact deliver a thank you present back to Suzuran: A music box, consistent with Specter's love for the arts. Of course, the gift might have been chosen by a proxy of hers (Skadi or Blue Poison, both known to also enjoy music), but the message is all the same: Specter clearly appreciated the gift, and was mentioned to see an improvement in her condition after receiving the doll Suzuran gave her.

So, in paper? All of this? I love it. Of course I do, she's my favorite character, and it was such a bold way to present her Record, too, I respect them trying out new things, it managed to capture the essence of "the mysterious, terrifying fighting machine Operator they don't want us to know about that's actually a pretty sweet and decent person, just going through some really hard stuff" that they've been going for with Specter, it's just, I can also understand (and agree with) fans because... It's been two years, bwahaha, let us see her again, you know? It's her Operator Record, we've gotten some VERY good insights into the lives and days of other Operators through those, like with Angelina's or Kroos'! Of course we also wanted something like that, bwahaha.

What I would've loved, and what I think would've made it all better with fans, is if the final scene had Specter actually show up in Suzuran's room like the cryptid she is, with Suzuran noting the security door had just sort of been casually pried open, Specter's perpetual smile on her face as she's holding her thank you gift before Warfarin and Folinic just sort of storm into the room like "DUDE, WE SAID YOU CAN'T--", she thanks Suzuran wordlessly, gently hands her the music box, and then she calmly turns back and walks back to her confinement quarters.

But, yeah, I've gone on for long enough. I appreciate it overall, knowing what's coming, and I appreciate the idea, I just think they could've handled it better, but the whole essence and message of it, I think lands pretty nicely.

[rachaelswrites]

Nicknames

A/N: I didn’t include all actors/characters but if you want one just send it in and I’ll do it. I’ll start including these in my writing

~~~~~~

Here are some nicknames that each of the reader’s have been given

Sebastian Stan “prinţesă”

-Obviously, its Romanian

-There were a few he tried out with you when you were younger but this one stuck for multiple reasons:

-You were a major daddy’s girl (still are) and you pretty much got anything you wanted. You were almost on the verge of spoiled brat

-It also didn’t help that you had a very huge liking for Disney and it’s princesses

-Those dresses with the matching shoes? You had almost all of them

-He called you that until you grew out of your princess obsession, saving it for certain times

-The first time you ended a long term friendship was the first time he used it in years. He’d either call you by your name or something more generic like “Sweetheart”

-You came home visibly upset and ran right into your dad’s arms

-You’d never been this upset before so he said it, hoping in some way it would calm you down

“It’s alright Prinţesă, I’ve got you”

-When it worked that time, he did it again after your first break up.

-You were more angry than sad this time

-He had to hold you down on the couch so you couldn’t hurt anyone

“Prinţesă, calm down. He’s not worth a criminal record

-He used it on days when you were sick or were feeling down

-Maybe even if you were in trouble

-You and him both thought by the age of sixteen, you would hate the nickname but surprisingly, you liked it even more

Chris Evans “peanut”

-Another case of daddy’s girl

-This one comes from several trips to Red Sox’s games

-Chris wanted to get you into sports when you were young (just to watch, not necessarily to play)

-He took you and Scott to one of the first games of the season and he bought peanuts, in his true American way

-You were seated in between him and Scott

-Both of them were sharing the bag while you had ice cream

-Peanuts were a new food for you and you wanted to try them. You grabbed a handful of them and copied your dad’s movements to crack open the shells

-You ate like twenty in less than a minute

-You loved them so much and that’s how that name happened

-Unlike the others, Chris uses this name pretty regularly 

-You didn’t mind how often he used it until he started using it on front of your friends

“Hey peanut, do you guys need anything?”

“Dad! That’s embarrassing”

-Your face went bright red and for the rest of the day, your friends teased you (in a loving, joking way)

-Chris realized his small mistake and was a little more careful about when he used it

-Scott called you it once and you swear, you never saw your dad move so quickly

“She’s my peanut, not yours. Find your own nickname”

-Anytime he posts a picture of you on Twitter/Instagram, he used that name instead of your own

Matthew Gray Gubler “munchkin”

-Three words

-Wizard. Of. Oz.

-You had a very weird obsession with this movie. It’s almost embarrassing looking back at it now

-By the time you were three, you knew all the words (as best as you could) to all the songs

-Matthew was about to lose his mind because he had the songs in his head as well, twenty-four-seven.

-You would talk and talk about how much you wanted to go to Munchkin land and be a Munchkin

-It also didn’t help that at the time, you were probably close to the same height

-Sadly, as you got older, you and your dad learned you didn’t develop his height

-You were a whopping 5’2 at the age of fifteen

-And the name stuck

-He knew you weren’t super fond of the name but somehow, it always cheered you up

-If you had a tough day at school, he’d sit on the couch and let you vent

“Let it all out Munchkin”

-You secretly did like the name (even though the origins were embarrassing)

-Matthew never let you live down that obsession 

-When you were on set and he called you that, everyone asked why.

“Matthew, why do you call her Munchkin?”

“Dad, don’t do it”

“She was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz”

-He also very rarely referred to you as “Y/n” on social media, opting for Munchkin instead

-Trying to get back at him, you tried to come up with some ridiculous name for him

“I’m going to call you dancer. Cause that’s how you broke your knee”

-That one didn’t last long but Munchkin sure did

Tom Holland “bubs or darling”

-Tom gets two because I can’t pick

-Bubs is because you are the baby out of all of the brothers

-It was also because before you could say any brother’s name, you just called them bubs

-Sam, Harry, and Paddy also called you Bubs. They still call you that sometimes so Tom wanted to try something new

-When you were about five or six, he accidentally called you darling

-It wasn’t a typical brother/sister name but it suited you

-You were such a kind person and your favorite movie to watch with Tom was Peter Pan

-And the last name of Wendy was Darling, so he thought it fitted

-When he called you darling, it was mostly after he came home from filming

“I missed you so much Darling”

-You liked the meaning behind your nickname

-Tom used Bubs if you weren’t feeling like yourself

-Whether it was a bad day or if you were sick

“Take some medicine Bubs” or “Bubs, tell me what’s going on”

-He hated the others calling him Tommy but for you, he’d let you do it anytime you wanted

-Literally, you were the only person he let you call him Tommy

-But he was the only person who could call you Darling

Bucky Barnes “doll”

-Classic

-This one is pretty self explanatory

-It was common during your childhood but once you were in the 21st century, Bucky couldn’t part with it

-It reminded him of the past (in a good way) and he always wanted to relive those memories 

-You were eight when HYDRA took him and then you

-The name reminded him of when you were little, and it reminded you too

-While Bucky was in Wakanda, he’d send you letters once he woke up

“Hey Doll, I miss you so much. Hopefully we can see each other soon”

-You kept them all with you

-And when The Snap happened, you’d read those letters back to yourself everyday

“The sunset was really pretty today Doll, it reminded me of the ones from when you were little”

-After those five years, that was the first thing he said to you

“I’m glad you’re safe Doll”

-It only took one time for Sam to tease you about it before you threatened to hurt him

“You make fun of it one more time and I swear it’ll be the last”

-Sam didn’t really understand why that name meant so much to you

-Bucky had to explain it to him

-It was really one of the only things you had left of your childhood

-And it was the one thing you could hold onto for the rest of your life

Ransom Drysdale “princess”

-Again, I think this one is self explanatory and obvious

-You’re spoiled, no doubt about it

-The name actually came from Meg

-She was a few years older than you and she was so used to being the only girl in the family

-And now she had to deal with you

-The reason she called you that was pretty stupid in the first place but as an eight year old, it didn’t matter to her

-You had spilled your drink on her by accident and onto her new shoes

-She went red in the face and started screaming in your face. You burst into tears

-You were only four and Ransom had never raised his voice at you. It was a new experience for you

-All the adults came into the room and walked into the scene of Meg screaming and you crying

-Ransom scooped you up and told Meg off

-Of course Joni took her daughter’s side but no one else did, making her mad

“She never gets in trouble. She’s such a princess”

-After that incident, your dad only used that name just to piss everyone off

-Like there was no need for him to but he just did it

“Princess, come here”

-In general, Ransom liked to show you off and the nickname Princess was the best way to do that

-As you got older, he felt weird using it. Meg had finally gotten over herself and everyone accepted the fact that your dad was spoiling you rotten

-You didn’t need a name to show that

-But as you got older, the issues in the family and all the problems started to weigh down on you

-There was so much drama that happened at family dinners, you were completely drained and exhausted once you got home

-Ransom could tell something was up so he reached into his bag of good parenting skills (which he definitely had, which shocked everyone) and called you Princess for the first time in ten years

“Princess, please tell me what’s wrong”

-For some reason, that one name made everything better for you

-Ransom noticed the small improvement in your mood so he kept calling you that on the daily

“How was school today Princess?” 

-And in front of the family again

“Princess, it’s time to go”

-This name was literally just used to show the other Thrombey’s that you and your dad were better than them

-Of course though, you didn’t need a nickname to see that

Spencer Reid “squirt”

-Another name based on an obsession

-But this one can be blamed on Garcia

-While Spencer was on a case one time, she was in charge of watching you

-To keep you entertained while at the BAU, she put on Finding Nemo

-That was a mistake

-From that point on, you had a weird fascination with sea turtles, because of Squirt

-Once Spencer got back, you would not shut up about turtles

“Daddy, look what I just read”

-He was glad you found something you were interested in. He sort of hoped you would find something closer to a more “normal” topic but he would never stop you from learning

-Spencer wasn’t sure how the name fell onto you but once it did, he didn’t stop using it

-He generally used it in the apartment with just you and him

“Squirt, can you pick your toys up for me?” or as you were older “Squirt, can you grab those books for me?”

-He used it a lot when you felt stressed and you weren’t telling him

-So whenever he called you that, you knew you might as well tell him

“Tell me what’s going on Squirt”

-It was such a small gesture but it really did help you

-He tried to explain why it probably made you feel better but you weren’t too interested in the science behind it

-The only time he used it in front of the team is when he got back from a case

-You always met him at the BAU (he made sure you were there to greet him)

-You would stand in front of the elevator and wait for the doors to open

-And when they did, you ran into his arms and he wrapped them around your body

“I missed you Squirt”

-The team absolutely adored that nickname but knew to never call you that, unless they wanted an angry Reid on their hands

Emily Prentiss “love”

-To me, Emily just has European vibes and so does this nickname

-Probably because Emily grew up in Europe, she developed this habit of calling you Love

-The parents of her friends growing up used that name

-She sort of just picked up on it, starting when she first held you in the hospital

“Hi Love, I’m your momma”

-It’s such a simple but meaningful name to her

-You were truly the one person she loved the most (even her mom and even Sergio)

-Speaking of, once she brought Sergio home you started calling him that as well

-You were only four and didn’t understand the concept but Emily didn’t stop you

“Hi Wove”

-Emily never used this in front of people unless something was wrong

-As you got older, it was used more as a reassurance for you

-Her “death” was really hard on you and every case, she would check in 

-Lots of the time, the phone calls were short and around the other members of the team

“Hi Love, I miss you. The team says hi”

“I miss you too momma”

-Very rarely would she use it in normal, everyday conversation

-If you were visiting the office, sometimes it would slip out

“Hey Love, are you doing your homework?”

-In front of the team, she used names like “baby” or “honey”

-Love was strictly reserved for just you and her

Jennifer Jareau “bug”

-First thing to know

-If anyone besides JJ called you Bug, even Will, she would literally rip their heads off

-This name was super personal to her and she didn’t want the meaning to be ruined

-You had taken after her love and fascination with butterflies

-Except you hadn’t learned the word butterfly so you just called them bugs, hence the nickname

-JJ only called you two things “Y/n” and “Bug”

-Nothing else

-At one point, Will was convinced that she might’ve forgotten your first name because she called you Bug so much

“JJ, she has a first name you know”

“I know, I think Bug fits her better”

-She did attempt to get your name changed, but to be fair, she was drunk when that happened

-She didn’t care that as you got older, the name was a little embarrassing, especially around your friends

“I’ll pick you up at seven Bug”

“Mom! Really? In front of my friends?”

-Your brothers for awhile thought your name was Bug, because she really only called you that at home

“Do you need help with your homework Bug?” or “Bug, can you set the table?”

-You didn’t realize the meaning behind the nickname until she explained it to you

-And once you did, the name meant so much more to you

-Will helped you pick out a matching necklace set of two butterflies

-You gave it to her after a case and she cried, knowing exactly what it’s meaning was

“Thank you Bug, I love it”

-She never took that necklace off, ever

Taglist

@ssebstann @peachyprincessss @emmy-writes-sometimes @dudele @kerrswriting @laura-naruto-fan1998 @multifamdomfan12 @aquariuslavenderhoney @rafehogwarts

[lunarlagomorph]

Ok this time i actually wrote out what i thought of tsukihime. Im readmoring both for spoilers and length

First off, kohaku's route: really incredible and the way it builds off hisui's route flips a lot of things that seemed innocent on your head, and makes you pay attention to the parts of the plot you already know to understand what Kohaku is really doing and feeling. A good example of this is when Kohaku cuts her finger while cooking and says she can just imagine her hand as a doll hand; in hisui's route this comes across as weird and having more to it, obviously, but knowing exactly what she means makes it a lot sadder to hear.

In general, I think that's one of Tsukihime's strengths you are essentially hearing the same story multiple times, but it manages to recontextualize everything each time and never gets too boring. Certainly there is the difference between the near and far side routes, as well as among the routes themselves, but even those have so many similarities due to shiki's (and SHIKI's) backstory, shiki's connection to the killer, etc. But the timing of the reveals, what shiki does and doesn't know, and a bunch of other things keep the same information feeling fresh, and really lets the game explore all sides of the characters relationships.

Though btw that does remind me why is roa just. Not in the second half? Did he not reincarnate as SHIKI in those? We see Arcueid is in town so one imagines she is here to kill roa. I mean she could just be here to kill the vampire serial killer (SHIKI) but if thats the case she does a real shit job lol. It wasnr that bothersome but it was a little weird to have zero explanation about a major change to backstory.

Anyways i think the near side routes were fine, and arcueid and ciel are both really interesting, fun characters (though i liked arcueid infinitely more) but they definitely lacked the emotional depth the far side routes had. Honestly i knew id like kohaku and hisui as much as i do but i didnt expect to grow to love Akiha as much as i did. It is unfortunate her character is a bit weighed down by nasu's incest fetish or whatever was up with that but pushing past the weird stuff that i think she ended up my favorite character.

And pushing past the weird stuff is like. Required to read tsukihime. Though i will say the sex scenes were very easy to skip thanks tk nasu having specific music for sex lol.

I think besides the weird stuff, though, Tsukihime's major flaw is just the weakness of its themes and symbolism. Which is fine; it more than makes up for that in terms of character depth as well as entertainment quality. But after reading umineko, for example (wow bringing up umineko who would have thought) i really took away a lot of meaning and it's still something i think about in terms of symbolism and themes to this day. The lessons Tsukihime teaches are "killing is bad" and "being nice and forgiving people is good" from what i could tell (though as i let it simmer in my brain i may changs my mind) and those are the same themes as like. Stevens university lol. Again it does a grest job bringing emotional depth to shiki's decision to choose kindness and fight against his nanaya blood or what-not, it just didnt feel like i walked away a changed person like with umineko and similar works. All this does is stops it from being my favorite thing ever, but it was still really enjoyable. I don't do numeric ratings but i think id put this somewhere above steins;gate, and then lowered a bit to account for the fact that nasu was way too horny and way too weird. Which btw i loved steins gate so that means i really loved tsukihime.

Random other thoughtz:

Route ranking:

Hisui=Kohaku > Akiha > Arcueid > Ciel

Character Ranking:

Akiha > Arcueid > Hisui > Kohaku > Ciel >>> inui > yumizuka > nvnsqr chaos > SHIKI > roa(i guess).

This makes me feel mean ranking kohaku so low but honestly all of the route characters were incredible so its not that i didnt like her.

Oh right what the hell was up with sensei i thought shed be a part of the plot. Idk if its sequel bait or what but i was a little annoyed lol.

Ok i think thats it. Im sure no one read this lol but if u did thx

[tooruluv]

Tobio Kageyama x F!Reader ( part 4 )

❝ goodbyes hurt when the story is not finished, but the book is closed. tell me, have we started a new one? ❞

description: it had been years since you and kageyama broke up. it had been years since the two of you left each other, hatred brewing. fate works in funny ways, you thought, as you caught his eye across the café. love works in funny ways, you thought, as you woke up in his bed the next morning, his fiance calling his phone.

genre: forbidden love, cheating, ex lovers, (all characters are aged up)

word count: 1,632

warnings/notes: this one is just a little filler for what’s to come !! expect some drama next part ;)

tag list: @kara-grayson04​​​ @sadhwstudent​​​ @unlikelytigerqueen​​ @kageyamavibes​​ @monviemoo​ @tazzi-baby​ @1800xibal​ @osterfield-hollandwriter​ @amirahroronoa​ @lozzybowe​

prev | next

You woke up in Tooru Oikawa’s bed. His white sheets were a huge contrast with Kageyama’s navy blue. It brought out the light specks of caramel in Oikawa’s eyes.

“Staring is a bit creepy, doll.” Oikawa spoke. He was still sleepy, eyes droopy and hair a mess.

You stayed the night. Of course you did. It wasn’t a common occurrence, per se, but it definitely had happened before. If you were to be completely honest, it felt natural. Best friends who sleep together sometimes when they’re frustrated. Yeah, that’s normal.

“I thought you liked attention?” You quipped. He smiled.

“You’re not wrong.”

You were facing each other. You weren’t cuddling, just laying together. You could feel the soft breaths leave his chest, he could still feel your warmth. He stood up, naked, and placed a kiss to your forehead.

“Pancakes?” he asked.

Smacking his arm, you replied, “Waffles.”

The first time you and Oikawa had ended up entangled together was a year after you left. He came to visit on a little vacation with Iwaizumi. He had lost a game, you were still heartbroken. Somehow both of you ended up that way.

It became a reoccurring thing since. Every time you would visit each other and stressed or upset, you would end up together. A frustration deal. Nothing serious.

“I’m guessing it’s the King of the Court.” Oikawa said. He handed you a plate of waffles when you emerged from the bedroom.

You poured syrup. “Isn’t it always?”

He didn’t ask you anything else. Because quite frankly, he didn’t need to. He knew how heartbroken you were. He knew how even after five years, you wanted nothing more than to take it all back. He knew.

Tobio Kageyama was not a cheater. In fact, he was so incredibly loyal that it stressed everyone around him out. Loyal to volleyball, loyal to eating the same food every day. Literally the definition of loyal.

Yet, somehow, all of that went out the window the second he caught sight of you.

Hinata knew that there was something up. He didn’t necessarily say, “Hey, Kageyama, you look like shit.” But when they met for brunch (seriously, Hinata, he’s not even married yet and he’s going to brunch), Hinata asked, “What’s up?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nevermind.”

“Say it.”

“It’s just.. uh..” Hinata tapped his fingers on the table, refusing to make eye contact. Kageyama waited. “It’s just. You look like you did when…” A pause. “Oh my god. She’s back, isn’t she?”

He didn’t answer. He could’ve just replied with a “Yeah. She’s back. In fact, I slept with her because I have a lot of unresolved feelings and she’s back and I missed her more than I should’ve.”

Instead, “I don’t know.”

“You’re lying, Kageyama. I’m not dumb.”

“Debatable.”

“With an attitude like that, I’m going to text Oikawa. I’m sure he knows all about her return and what happened.”

“You’re annoying.” Kageyama sighed. He swirled the fork on his plate, staring entirely too hard at the food. “Yes. She’s back. I ran into her yesterday.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard!” Hinata’s mouth was full of food. “Next question: why do you look like shit?”

When you first met Kageyama, he didn’t talk much. It wasn’t that he was shy. It was just that he didn’t like to talk to people he didn’t know. And you happened to be a pretty girl.

He watched you approach the team after a game in junior high. He watched you talk to Oikawa, and then turn to him.

“Good job!” you smiled at Kageyama. “Seriously, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you.”

“Uhm. Thanks.”

You sent him another smile. His immediate reaction was to smile back.

You left Oikawa’s feeling a little bit better. Another tease, another kiss to your temple and you were off. You couldn’t believe that you let yourself fall back into any form of rhythm with Tobio Kageyama. You just had so many questions. One of which: what the fuck happened to make him want to marry Hana?

You were mumbling to yourself, grumbling with hate and anger, when you ran straight into a brick wall. No. It was someone’s back.

“Shit, sorry.” You muttered as a habit.

“Watch where you’re going.” The voice replied, and you knew. How could your luck be this bad?

You stumbled back on impact, and arms grabbed you before you could fall. Kageyama stood in front of you, holding onto your elbows, staring down. He seemed to freeze for a second, recognizing you.

“Sorry.” You said again.

He stayed with his arms on yours for a little bit too long. He kept them there. “Hey, uh. I wanted to apologize.”

You blinked. Shaking your head, you said, “Don’t.”

“No, really.” His arms stayed on yours, blue eyes looking at you. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. And I definitely should have told you, or had Hana tell you, about… about us getting married soon. So I…”

“Please don’t apologize.” You grabbed his hands. “I seriously don’t think I can handle you ever apologizing to me.”

Kageyama nodded as if he understood. You don’t think he would ever understand.

The two of you stood like that, your hands wrapped around his wrists and his eyes never leaving yours, for what felt like forever. The city streets moved with people and cars but you stood still. There was so much you wanted to say, so much you wanted him to hear, but you couldn’t.

“Can I ask you something?” he finally spoke.

“Yeah.”

Kageyama took a breath. Like he was trying to find the right words but couldn’t seem to place them together correctly. Until, “Why did you come back?”

“Why did I come back?” you tilted your head. “I got a job here. And, if I’m being honest, I missed it here.” Missed you. You would never admit that, though.

You didn’t miss the way his eyes focused primarily on your lips when you spoke. You didn’t miss the way he swallowed. And you definitely didn’t miss the look in his eyes. You were standing entirely too close. The air was darker, electric. Like it was taking everything in your power, and his, not to fall into each other.

Your name dripped off of his tongue. You hadn’t realized that your eyes were on his lips until you had to flash them back to his eyes. He stepped closer. You let him.

“Kags…” you started, but he stopped you.

Lips to ears, he whispered, “I missed you, too.”

He let his hand lay in yours until the very last second, finger tips the last to pass until you were no longer touching. And he left.

Tobio Kageyama hated pet names. He thought that they were stupid and held no actual meaning. Why have a name only to be called something else?

You, however, thought that they were cute. They were a term of endearment. And you would never pass up the chance to call Kageyama one. Your favorite was “babe”. You loved the way his ears would go pink, or how his teammates would give a smirk when they heard it.

Eventually, he ended up using them for you. Not because he wanted too, but because they seemed to be natural when he spoke to you. His favorite was “honey” or “love”.

You think that’s why you got as mad as you did when you heard Kageyama on the phone with Hana. He had called her “babe”. He always detested pet names that had to do with “babe”, “baby”, “baby girl”. He thought that they were weird and he was not weird.. He didn’t think that way anymore, you guessed.

You wanted nothing more than to understand what happened while you were gone.

kawa’s flat ass: you should date him!!!!! date him date him date him

You sat in your bedroom, gushing over a certain volleyball player on your best friend’s team. There was something about him. Hana and Oikawa heard you go on and on for days.

you: i really dont know. i dont wanna date someone & not know if im even going to go to the same high school.

kawa’s flat ass: thats boring.

Luckily for you, however, you seen him the very first day of high school. Karasuno wasn’t top for volleyball, so you wondered for a second if he managed to come to the wrong school. But there he stood: still as beautiful, yet taller, than the last time.

“Kageyama!” you waved, sending him a smile.

He didn’t see you at first, scanning the crowded hallway as an attempt to find the voice that called him. You waved again and he caught sight of you. He gave a small wave back.

“I didn’t know you were going here.” He said once you’ve reached him.

“I didn’t know you were going here, either.” You giggled as you walked next to him. “Guess we’re friends?”

“I guess.”

You knocked on the door, knuckle against hard wood. Your insides were screaming, “you shouldn’t be here”, “it isn’t too late to turn around”.

You waited a couple of minutes. As your back turned, ready to give up and retreat, the door swung open.

“Oh my god, hi! You’re back!”

“Hi, Hana.”

[legionofpotatoes]

we decided to watch all story cutscenes from the new resident evil village videogame on a whim, since it’s not really our cup of tea gameplay-wise but seems to be this massive zeitgeist moment that made us morbidly curious. And I know how much everyone cares about my thoughts on things I know very little about, so. let’s get into it huh gamers. and yeah spoilers?

for context, I’ve only played resident evil 4 and a small portion of 5. I also read the wikipedia entry for 7’s plot recently. all this to say I was only vaguely aware of how tonally wacky the series was going in

I also completely gave up following the plot of the mutagens’ soap opera, so that paid off in spades here as you might imagine

anyway so that baby in the intro. that baby’s head is just massive. humongous toddlerdome. when ethan finds the baby’s head in a jar later on. there is no way that head would fit into that jar. bad game design. no not even game design. basic stuff. one hundred years in prison for jar modeler

if I see a single functional hetero marriage in video games I will cry tears of joy. I understand their misery is kind of The Point irt them badly working through the hillbilly romp trauma but like. sheesh. at least set that up as an emotional story goal the plot will help resolve. but nope they start off miserable and it goes nowhere

I know I know the mia thing has a huge wrinkle in it but like. not really in terms of dramatic function?? set up a happy end to the re7 nightmare (miranda can keep up appearances for all she cares) and then take that all away from angry griffin mcelroy for manpain. it will still absolutely work to set up the dramatic forward momentum. why throw in this cliche Hollywood Tension in their marriage if you’re not going to address it oh maybe because it’s normalized as automatically interesting because nuclear families are a self-propagating pit of a very narrow chance at emotional happiness relying on social stigma to preserve their empty function oops my baggage slipped in yikes abort mission

I called him griffin mcelroy because I saw his face on twitter and. yeah. I will continue to do this occasionally. my house my rules

... fuck the reason I’m hung up on this is specifically because the rest of the game is so tonally dexterous (which is a shining point to me! more on that later!), and yet they felt weirdly compelled to create the aesthetic trapping of a family-at-odds trope without following it through too well. a sign of both the good and the bad stuff to come

but listen the real reason why I wanted to talk about any of this is to nitpick the fascinating backwards-engineered nucleus of the entire thing; in that this game essentially creates a melting pot of just SO many disparate horror tropes and then makes a no-holds-barred unhinged effort at weaving thick lore to piece them all together. it is truly a sight to behold. like straight up you got your backwoods fright night situation, your gothic castle vampires, your rural-industrial werewolves, and don’t forget your bloated swamp monsters over there, with then a hard left turn into robotic body horror, and the entire ass subgenre of Creepy Doll writ large, and the bloodborne tentacle monsters, and a hellboy angel bossfight, which rides on the coattails of a mech-on-mech pacific rim bonanza, and just jesus henry christ slow down

almost all of these are textural hijack jobs that don’t really get into the metaphor plain of any of those settings but the game sort-of makes an argument that the texture IS the point and revels in it. It is kind of admirable almost. The same reason why the intro felt boxed in and unmotivated is also why the rest of the game just blasts off of its hinges to the point of complete and self-indulgent tonal abandon. I kinda loved that about it. lady dimitrescu made sure to hold her hat down as she bent forward in mahogany doorways and then suddenly she’s a giant gore dragon and you settle in your temp role as dark souls man with Gun to take her ass down. Excellent??

this rhino rampage impulse to gobble up every horror aesthetic known to man comes to head when the game wrestles with its FPS trappings in what is the most hilarious solution in creating visceral player damage moments. Since most cinematics and the entire game is in first person, that leaves precious little real estate for the devs to work with if they really want to sell griffin’s physical crucible. To wit. This dude’s forearms. Specifically just the forearms. They are MASSACRED throughout the story. The poor man lives out the silent hill dimension of a hand model. by the end cutscene he looks like a neatly dressed desk clerk who had decided to stick both his grabbers into garbage disposal grinders just a few hours prior. like in addition to everything else it manages to rope in that tinge of slapstick violence into its general grievous genre collection except this time it IS for a lack of trying! truly incredible

but wait his miracle clawbacks from everything his poor paws go through are retroactively explained away, yes, but far too vaguely and far too late to console me as I sat and watched everyone’s favorite baby brother reattach an entirely severed hand to his wrist stump by just. placing it on there. and giving it a lil twist ‘n pop terminator-style. and then willing his fingers back into motion right in front of my bulging eyes. this game just does not care. it does not give a shit. and boy howdy will it work to make that into one of its strongest suits

cause generally speaking resident evil was THE premiere vanilla zombie content destinaysh for like a decade, right? and as the rest of the world and mainstream media started encroaching and bloodying its blue ocean it went and just exploded in every single conceivable horror trope direction like a smilodon on catnip. truly, genuinely fascinating franchise moves

yeah the big vampire milf is hot. other news; grass... green. although I do love the implication that her closet is just identical white dresses on a rack. cartoon network-level queen shit

apropos of nothing I’ve said there’s also this hobo dante-devimaycry-magneto man, and I can’t believe this sentence makes sense. anyway he made that “boulder-punching asshole” joke referring to chris redfield and it was probably the only easter egg that really landed for me and boy did it land hard. I have not seen him punch the boulder in re5, mind. I had only heard about how funny it is from friends. and here this dude was, probably in the same exact mindset as me, trying to grapple with that insane mental image. with you on that ian mckellen, loud and clear

I advocate vehemently against the shallow pursuit of hyper photorealism in art direction but I gotta admit it works really in favor of immersive horror like this. the european village shacks especially gave me super unchill flashbacks to my rural countryside retreat in western georgia. I could smell the linoleum dude. not cool

faces are weird in this game. can’t place it. nice textures, good animation, but the modeling template is... uuh strange? and the hair. it has that clustered-flat-clumpy look that harkens to something very specific and unpleasant but I just don’t know what. sue me

griffin’s mental aptitude to take all this shit in stride and end every seemingly traumatizing bossfight involving some fucking eldritch being yet unseen through mortal eyes by essentially throwing out an MCU quip is just. What the fuck dude? I mean that was funny how you casually yelled the f-word at a god damn werewolf that you considered a fairy tale an hour ago but are you like, all right?? it was swinging a sledgehammer the size of a bus at you, ethan

oh oh the vampires are afraid of cold and your last name is winters. I get it haha

Pro Gamer Nitpick: boss fights seemed a bit unnecessarily long?? idk why the youtuber we picked decided the ENTIRE propeller man fight counted towards the vital story scenes he was stitching together, but man mr big daddy lite there really had some get up and go huh??

why are they saying dimitrescu.. like that. is it really how you say that word or is the english language relapsing into its fetish for ending every single word with a consonant at all costs

I’m not saying it’s a dramatic miss of a twist in context of all that’s going on, but the “you died in the last game actually and have been DC’s clayface ever since” revelation is low-key. it’s. it’s just funny to me, I dont know what to say. century-old god-witch fails her evil plan after she mistakenly removes heart from what was definitely NOT just some white guy with eight fingers after all

chris realizing he’s about to become the player character and immediately swapping out his tsundere trenchcoat for the muscletight sex haver sweater

the little bluetooth speaker-sized pipe bomb he taped to his knife was nuclear?? really??? I must have missed something because that is just too good. I buy it though I totally buy it. chris just got them fun-sized nukes in his car trunk for, you guessed it, Situations

anyway this is all for now just wanted to briefly touch on how unexpectedly funny and tonally irreverent this seemingly serious game turned out to be. did not articulate any cathartic story beats whatsoever but my god it had fun connecting those plot points. he just fucking put his severed hand back on his stump and it Just Worked todd howard get in here

[sillyguyhotline]

k. i finished logic route today and i'm beginning to play emotion route, but ngl, i'm not exactly sure if i'm the biggest fan of 3-1b so far? i sort of mentioned it in some of my ramblings last night but i do feel like the sense nankidai created earlier in the game, that everyone's actions have severe impact, have been diminished slightly. i feel like part of that is because of the introduction of the dolls; when you have a mechanic where an exact replica of the dead can be brought back to life, deaths begin to feel like they have less meaning. hence the whole q-taro thing. i do think that he got a satisfactory ending to his character arc, and his death definitely made me sad, but his doll just showing up and being like "yeah im not actually him im a doll lollll" and then fucking dying felt so rushed. same with alice/reko's death. maybe it's just because there's nobody left to significantly grieve the surviving yabusame sibling, but i honestly feel like everyone forgot about them dying as soon as they did. sara should have been a lot angrier imo. plus, we got 2 major human deaths and all the dummies got killed off. in the span of HALF a chapter. that just doesn't rub me the right way. it amazes me that a chapter segment that took me 9 hours to complete managed to feel so rushed, but it definitely did. deaths in this game don't feel consequential anymore, and it doesn't feel like nankidai did that on prupose. like i said yesterday, one of my favorite things about the game prior to chapter 3 was how human the deaths and the grief suffered afterwards felt. but now barely anyone bothers to acknowledge the deaths that occurred before this chapter, and the ones that do happen in this chapter don't feel processed that well. i'm really, REALLY hoping that this is because everything that's happened to sara in the logic route has desensitized her and that it'll be different in the emotion route, but that's probably not going to be the case.

i also mentioned this as a joke a few days ago, but the stakes feel so much lower. i mentioned that midori was just sort of fucking around and not really doing anything, and i don't like that very much. the group is essentially held to their own objectives. there's a timer for how long keiji has until he's incinerated, but it doesn't actually come into play in the game. in chapter 1, the threat of the oh-so-suspicious Main Game was looming over everyone's head. in chapter 2, the characters were held to clear time limits. even in 3-1a, they have a clear, floormaster-motivated objective of tagging him. now everyone, including the floormaster, is just fucking around and doing whatever and i'm not a huge fan of that.

shin just also isn't a threat during this chapter. at all. he has one offhanded line about how he views everyone as no different from midori (a sentiment that he already voiced almost word for word in 3-1a anyway) and that's it. my thoughts on this are kind of mixed. on one hand, i think it's kind of interesting that as much as shin promised to be a threat and to avenge kanna, the threat posed by saving him is actually the toll that his actions had on sara. his manipulation motivated sara to put more value into her own life, which consequently led to her voicing those thoughts to ranmaru and ranmaru literally fucking hanging either alice or reko. he turns sara into the monster she never wanted to be and compromises her leadership. i sort of like that. however, while that makes sense in terms of writing, it doesn't in terms of the story itself. you're telling me that he showed her one shitty ai and then was like "ok cool im just gonna be a chill member of the group now" ??? it just seems like another example of things no longer having consequence and i'm not a huge fan of that.

overall, it feels like nankidai set himself up to accomplish too much this chapter. he introduced too many new characters and too many new plot points, and addressing all of them came at the consequence of character development and the writing style from the previous chapters.

[ellaenchanting]

Hypnovember 2020 Master List

Now that I have awoken from my post-Hypnovember nap, it’s time to post my 2020 Master List! in comparison to last year’s entries, a lot of stories this year delved more into either more intense kinks or more of my intense personal feelings than my stories last year did. Sometimes writing stories is a bit like reading my own tarot cards in that way- letting an ambiguous prompt roll around in my subconscious and sometimes being surprised or amused or even slightly unsettled by what it turns into. I hope you will find something in this group of works that soothes you, that turns you on, that intrigues you, and that most of all provokes a response. If you do, I’d absolutely love to hear about it. :)

Copying one of my favorite @jukeboxemcsa  ideas, I’ve also included a HypnoBS rating for every work about how realistic the hypnosis/mind control is in each work (IMHO). In this ranking, 1 means to is absolute bullshit and 5 is a normal Tuesday night (for someone).

Icons- 📰- story. 🔊- audio 💻- technology 😍- romantic 🌈- queer 😴- regular ole’ hypnosis 🛀- brainwashing and/or character in tub 👻- spooky 🐈- at least one happy pussy ❓- bad or reeeally questionable consent 👨‍🔬 -science! 🤪 -crackfic #-#sceneideas 😭-feeeels ⭐-author’s personal favorites

Day 1: Instant M/f 📰 😴🐈#😭

Choice quote: “Sean chuckled as he moved in closer. And closer. ‘I thought you wanted to know what it was like to be hypnotized, sweetheart. To follow suggestions? To have someone else take control? It’s not real control if I’m doing something you already wanted, now is it?”

HypnoBS- 5. Read the whole thing but- IMHO totally plausible.

Fun Fact- These are the same characters from last year’s Day 5: Poison.

Day 2: Coils F/m 📰 😴 💻 👨‍🔬

Choice quote: “Daniel rolled his eyes. ‘I bet you could hypnotize me with a bar of soap if you wanted to. That still doesn’t make me like spirals.’”

HypnoBS- 5. Maybe 4 because I don’t love the induction but- maybe you will? Also- oh no poor Daniel is so conditioned that he’ll go under to anything Jamie does! How hard for him. :(

Day 3: Staged Hypnosis (Stage) F/f 📰 😴 🌈 🛀 ❓

Choice quote: “No one needed to know she was a plant. A confederate. A stooge.”

HypnoBS- 1.5. This would collapse like a house of cards. It’s a fun concept though.

Day 4: Psychic F/nb 📰 😴 🌈 😍 👨‍🔬⭐

Choice quote: “Something about the hypnosis- being in and out of each other’s heads and in and out of each other’s bodies all weekend- made her feel like she and Tris had merged in some way. Like there was a new, deeper understanding between them now- a telepathic bond.”

HypnoBS- 5. Maybe a 4.5 if you’re recognizing some nre magical thinking here. But- I’ve definitely had this feeling and this kind of experience- and I hope some of you have had it/will have it as well. :)

Day 5: Visor F/multiple 📰 😴 🛀 💻 👨‍🔬 🤪#

Choice quote: “Besides, everyone knew stormtroopers were kinky.”

HypnoBS- 4.5. Some of the exact details would need to be changed and thought through more thoroughly, but I absolutely believe you could do something like this if you wanted to. (And if you do, you definitely have to let me know. I know some of y’all out there go to Dragoncon.)

Day 6: Pendulum F/y’all 🔊😴 👨‍🔬

Choice quote: This is a trick I first learned from a science book I read in 5th grade.

HypnoBS- 5. The real thing.

Day 7: Song Aliens/the human race 📰 💻 👻❓

Choice quote: “Anna didn’t know what she was singing.”

HypnoBS- 1. I hope. Why do the song based stories always turn out so creepy?

Day 8: Performance unknown/f 📰 👻❓😴# ⭐

Choice quote: “With each snap, the gears inside her doll body click click click clicked into action. She turned, jerky but graceful. She was determined to do well. “

HypnoBS- 5 (if part of a fearplay scene, which is my headcanon for this story)

Day 9: (Hot Under the) Collar F/f 📰 😴🛀🌈 🐈#⭐

Choice quote: “She was wearing her collar. She was aroused. It was as simple as that.“

HypnoBS- 5 With time, I think you could do this. Maybe a 4.5 for the 30 minutes thing- that might lead to a bit too much cramping.

Day 10: Gentle 🔊😴

Choice quote: “Just look into the spiral....”

HypnoBS- 5. I hope.

Day 11: Summoning Sappho (Summon) eventual F/f I hope 📰 😴🌈 🤪

Choice quote: “In fact, the only ideas left to try on their brainstorming board included ‘sexy alien invasion’, ‘sexy witches’, and this. Shockingly, at this point a sexy seance seemed the most practical.”

HypnoBS-1. Although stay tuned for Femme Flirt 2021.

Day 12: Plants unknown/m 📰 😴🛀#

Choice quote: “If he focused, Chris could feel that new suggestion also growing stronger and stronger, becoming more and more firmly rooted inside of him. “

HypnoBS- 5, with the right person

Day 13: Artifact F/f 📰 😴🛀🌈 👨‍🔬 ❓

Choice quote: “She fumbled through the contents when suddenly her hand found something unexpected from her past.A red lipstick tube. An artifact.”

HypnoBS- 4? There’s different ways of reading this story, but my headcanon is that the consent here is pretty dubious.

Day 14: Tail M/f 📰 😴🛀❓👻#

Choice quote: “It was no use. She could sense her tail was still behind her. She couldn’t shake him. She should have known he’d come for her.“

HypnoBS- Let’s say 2. Although I think this could work really well for a fearplay scene in an appropriate setting (where someone wasn’t actually left unmonitored with extreme paranoia).

Day 15: Serve F/m 📰 😴#⭐

Choice quote: “He had put his heart and soul into the dish.They were hers now.”

HypnoBS- As a scene? 5 (depending on the person). As a long term effect, much lower.

Day 16: Memory F/f  📰 😴 🛀🌈 😍

Choice quote: “Mesmera waited for Galaxy Girl at the door.”

HypnoBS- 4, you could do an induction along these lines but -1 for psychic powers

Fun Fact: These characters were originally featured in last year’s Day 19: Hideout. 

Day 17: Toy F/f m/f 📰 😴 🛀🌈🐈 #

Choice quote: “Dolly hated to have Bad Manners. “

HypnoBS- 4.5. This is pretty deep into headspace, but I wouldn’t want to rule it out for the right person.

Day 18: Monster m/f 📰 😴 ❓😭⭐

Choice quote: “That kind of stuff wasn’t fair to think about here. It wasn’t everyone else’s fault that she was so warped.”

HypnoBS- 5. Ouch my heart. Poor young!Ella.

Day 19: Eyes M/m 📰 😴 🌈 😍

Choice quote: “Scott looked into his partner Brandon’s eyes. Brandon had hypnotized him so many times over the years in so many ways but- this was one of Scott’s favorites.”

HypnoBS- 5. Especially in a long term relationship like this. (In my pretend Hypnovember universe, these guys are some of the patriarchs of the hypnokinky convention scene and absolutely wonderful advice givers.)

Fun fact: The story of how these characters originally got together is in last year’s Day 12: Stage story. 

Day 20: Possession F/f  📰 😴 🌈 😍😭

Choice Quote- “Things that were hard to do for herself during these times became easier to do as something owned by Thadra. Taking a shower. Getting up and going to bed at the right time. Making sure she ran once a day. Making sure she ate.”

HypnoBS- Errr....4 trending upwards. Although for this to be safe and healthy you’d really need to be checking in with a therapist and working on your continuing mental health at the same time (IMHO). Please do not get relationship advice from my porn.

Day 21: Snaps 🔊😴👨‍🔬

Choice Quote- “No, that one was up.”

HypnoBS- 5. I’m not sure quite how this translates to audio but this is the kind of shenanigans I pull with friends all of the time.

Day 22: Restrict  F/f 📰 😴 🌈 🐈👨‍🔬 

Choice quote: “’Hmm. By ‘weird’ do you mean ‘hot’?’ asked Zahara, lounging above her on the couch. Nikki nodded. She definitely meant hot. “

HypnoBS- 2. A month is a long time and this is a strong reaction. But- maaaaaybe would work for a bit, especially within these boundaries?

Day 23:  Villain there’s a m and a f  📰 🛀👨‍🔬❓#

Choice quote: “They had been planning against that damned do-gooder reporter Lizzy Lampost for months and now they were about to finally have her in their clutches. “

HypnoBS-1. But you’re not reading this one for realism, are you?

Day 24: Drink F/f 📰 😴👨‍🔬🌈 😍

Choice quote: “’Leah,’ she said. ‘I’ve found a drinking game! This might be fun! Want to try it?’”

HypnoBs- 5. With the right person. (That part of the end might be a bit harder.)

Day 25:Worship: F/m 📰 🛀🌈 

Choice quote: “After all, it wasn’t the time to work right now. It was time to worship his Mistress’s cock.”

HypnoBS- Someone on AO3 told me this fic just wrecked them. Lucky that person- this one’s a 5. Maybe not with everyone, but an awful lot of people should be able to do an awful lot of the activities in this story. :)

Day 26: Fey M/f 📰😴 😭⭐

Choice quote: “Humans do not know the spells they weave.”

HypnoBS- 1 Only true in that metaphorical way. (So- really, really true. But not factual.)

Day 27: Recording F./m 📰 🛀❓👻#

Choice quote: “It’s a recording, he reminded himself. “She’s not there. No one is there.”

HypnoBS- 2 At least, I don’t know how to make this happen (outside of a consensual scene).

Day 28: Obsession M/F 📰 🛀😍👨‍🔬

Choice quote: “Some guys had cars. Some had computer systems. Some had home brewing. But Mark’s obsession was Julia.“

HypnoBS- Oh gosh. Errr...2.5? Hard to say. 

Fun Fact: This started as a one-sided scenario, then it changed, then it felt really hot, now it feels like a sweet silly sitcom premise. (If you want to read some episode synopses of this hypothetical sitcom, there are some brilliant ones here! Also- feel free to send me more!)

Day 29: Helpless F/m 📰😴😍

Choice quote: “’I want to be helpless,’ he replied. Juan felt his headspace changing. He threw himself into that feeling, trusting Josie to take the reins.“

HypnoBS- 5. Not a scene log, but pretty much How I Top.

Day 30: Awaken 🔊😴👨‍🔬

Choice quote: “Aaaaaand-awaken!”

HypnoBS- 5 Hypnotist BS- also a 5

Thank you all for reading these! Thank you especially to everyone who reblogged, wrote me comments, and generally supported me through this past month. I’m going to specifically single out @daja-the-hypnokitten​, @wellgnawed​, and @spiralturquoise​ for the encouragement- y’all are the best. :)  I know this is a long post, but I’d really appreciate reblogs of it!

Also, I didn’t have time to contribute myself but- if you donate to Hypnokink for Trans Lives, let me know and I’ll write you an epilogue for any of these stories that you choose. 

[sokkagatekeeper]

hmm what's ty lee's verse?

oh well!! a while ago i wrote this little thing for the zukka week and i was like, this is a very interesting concept actually. so i figured i could just expand the universe a bit, and i started with ty lee, naturally, my favorite liar. “ty lee” is... an umbrella term really. it is about ty lee as it is about mai and azula and suki, maybe a little about zuko as the original fic focused a lot on sokka. but mostly it’s an exploration of ty lee and her relationships since she is one of the most interesting characters to me.

here’s a snippet;

“But you are not involved with your soulmate,” Ty Lee points out, feeling bold. “Are you?”

Piandao lifts his eyes from the canva for just a second, not easily perceivable to anyone who isn’t Ty Lee — to anyone who hasn’t been training herself to perceive anything perceivable since Princess Azula invited her to the royal palace for the very first time.

Just when Ty Lee is regretting asking, Piandao gives her a sigh. With his eyes still on his painting-to-be, he says, “We live different lives, my soulmate and I.” He slices the paint brush, firm and exact, like a sword. “We are more damageful to each other, than we are beneficial.”

From her place at the window, Ty Lee gets the perfect view of Mai opening her dumb mouth. “What’s the point of having a soulmate at all then? If you can just choose not to be together.”

The irony, Ty Lee thinks.

And then, Piandao takes his eyes off the canva, and looks directly at Mai. Ty Lee feels herself tensing, waiting, ready to react, whether it’s with a bubbly comment or a blocking of the man’s chi paths. She’s ready, she’s always been ready.

And yet.

“What do you believe a soulmate is, young Lady?”

Mai stops a minute to think about it. She touches her forehead gently, as if feeling her peach pink collection doll mark through her bangs, remembering it’s Ty Lee — not Zuko, who is her soulmate. Ty Lee wonders if there’s a game deeper hidden beneath Piandao’s question.

She doesn’t need to wonder about Mai, however. She knows how simple things are to Mai. She sees the question, the answer, not the meaning underneath, nor the threat, and that’s what Ty Lee is for.

Ty Lee makes her way closer to her, just in case — of what, she’s not sure yet. She’s not sure she can save Mai from this one.

Finally, Mai says, quietly, “A partner?” she looks at Ty Lee, and by the resigned look on her face, probably thinks of Azula. “The partner. The definitive one.”

Piandao nods sharply, and looks away from Mai. He traces the paint brush across the canva again, gentler this time, almost wistfully.

“The cultural meaning of a soulmate varies quite a bit,” he begins, eyes still on the painting. “I like to think of it as a… mold, of sorts. Where you can see something about yourself, more than be something entirely.” He casts a quick look at Ty Lee, almost as if he knew. “A soulmate is not a choice, but rather, the result of a choice.”

Mai frowns, thinking about it. Ty Lee saves this information for later. Azula and Zuko come back to the room, that hesitant tension that’s always around them present as ever. Ty Lee sighs, plays it off as dreamily.

“So, like truth or dare?” she says.

This, of all things, is what makes Piandao’s look stick to her at last. 

Ty Lee was not going for that look — a knowing look. Not with Azula in the room. Her heart races, she puts on her best oblivious mask. 

“Exactly,” Piandao says. “Like truth or dare.”

ask from this list.