#is it smt to do with the contract? why is there a contract?? WHAT CONTRACT??? 😭😭😭

[shortnotsweet]

I aim low / I aim true, and the ground's where I go / I work late, where I'm free from the phone / and the job gets done, but you worry some, I know

“TOO SWEET”, Unreal Unearth: Unending (2024) [ HOZIER ]

In “Too Sweet” Hozier draws a contrast between two individuals with different lifestyles and preferences, one who enjoys living life at his own pace, indulging in simple pleasures like whiskey, coffee, and late nights while not worrying too much about conforming to societal norms of waking up early and living a disciplined life, and a second individual, presumably the partner, is portrayed as someone who values discipline, health, and structure. They encourage the narrator to live a healthier lifestyle, waking up early and taking care of themselves.

Born from the 3rd Circle of Hell, Gluttony, same as his track, ���Eat Your Young”, Hozier examines excessive mess and overindulgence, similiar to Dante’s depiction of gluttony where it not only refers to overconsumption of food and drink but also the overindulgence in any worldly pleasure to the detriment of spiritual growth.

GENIUS ANNOTATION

[adventuringblind]

request idea: fake dating troop for max v xreader, they can’t stand each other maybe she supports Ferrari or smt but secretly admires his talent but he doesn’t know and is kinda of and ass to her and a lot of drama for them to get together idk, maybe there was an wedding and max needed a partner — I’m sorry of this is a lot but I would absolutely love to read something like this 💕

Media Relations

Max Verstappen x Leclerc reader

Genre: a mix of everything?

Summary: the Redbull and Ferrari PR teams think it would be great publicity if you and Max have a relationship. With the promise of your brother getting a better race engineer (and the hint of a crush already) you accept. Max does too, but he hates you for some reason.

Warnings: Max is a jerk, hints at lestappen if you really squint, jos verstappen, not edited

Notes: I felt maniacal writing this tbh.

Masterlist

“No. Absolutely not.”

You stand there watching Charles pace. You can’t tell if your older brother is mad at you or the situation. Maybe both?

“I already signed the contract and so had Max.”

“Why would you do this to yourself? I trust Max, but not like this.”

It had originally been intended for Charles to sign the contract. The teams thought this type of media would be good for them. Neither Max or Charles agreed to it. They don’t want to portray something there not where there are thousands who want to be themselves but can’t. It felt unethical and just generally wrong.

That’s where you come in. If they couldn’t do it with Charles, you’re the next best option.

The contract didn’t offer you anything, other then a possibly happier brother and he knew that. When you did your time, they’d have found him a new race engineer and some better strategists.

He knew you’d give up everything to help him get his dream. That’s why he’s frustrated, not with you, but himself.

“Do you know what Max is getting out of it?”

“He mumbled something about his father but that’s all I got.”

“Just don’t get attached, please, I’m begging you.”

“Don’t worry Charlie, I’ll be fine.”

~

It was a lie. You knew it was going to be difficult. Mostly because you’d already had a crush in him, it he despises you with a passion,

Regardless, you two walk hand in hand together through the paddock. The fake smiles you give each other gone as soon as your tucked away from the cameras.

“You can go out the back.”

Then he disappears, leaving you stranded in the Redbull hospitality.

Most of the weekend was like this. You had to carefully divide your time between your brother and fake lover. On the bright side, everyone was raving about it. You’d already grown used to toxic fans since you’d been around racing with your brothers your entire life.

You and Max got together a few times a month to stage Instagram photos and go on fake dates.

You were somehow falling for him while he seemed to have a growing dislike for you.

Tonight, you are having dinner in Monaco. Your attempts at starting a conversation are nothing short of pointless.

"Can I ask you a question?" He grunts and doesn't look at you. So you ask anyway. "What was on your contract?"

"Why do you need to know?" Stone cold eyes pierce right through you body.

"I was just wondering. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

"I'd rather not talk with you about anything?"

Letting the embarrassment take over, you shift your gaze downwards. You knew what was on the contract. It was all about Jos.

Max was willing to do anything neccecary to please his father. Including getting his father into a higher position of power within the team.

Jos had been messaging you throughout the week with reminders that you're just another step for his son's success. This led to multiple arguments with the older Verstappen because you're not one to back down when defending those you care about. The slander had turned more aggressive recently, and you wanted to talk to Max about it. Too bad he hates you.

~

"Charlie, I don't think I can do this." You sob to your brother over the phone. "Jos is refusing to leave me alone, and Max hardly spares a glance in my direction if he doesn't have to."

"You can always break things off. I’ll be okay, I promise.”

“No, this will help make your dream come true. It just doesn’t help that I was crushing on Max before we started this.”

Charles sighs heavily. “Chéri, If it comes down to it and Jos doesn’t stop then I will have words with Max.”

“Thank you, Charlie.”

It was nice having a brother that you could rely on. Lorenzo is the oldest and cares, but he has his own family, and Arthur is the youngest, so he had a tendency to steal attention.

With you and Charles both being middle kids, you two stuck together. He was your protective big brother then, and he still is now.

The next morning, you wake up to a shock. The sound of your ring tone echoing through the room.

You lazy grab it off the nightstand and look at the caller ID.

"Max?"

"I'm going to a wedding and need a plus one." He says matter of factly.

"Okay?"

"Come with me? Please? I'd rather go with you than show up alone." The sincerity in his voice sends your head into a mess of thoughts. This stupid Dutch makes no sense!

"Yeah, sure, okay."

"Great, I'll come puck you up tomorrow before noon."

"Wait, Max!" You definitely didn't mean to shout but maybe this is your opportunity to figure this whole thing out.

"Yes?"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Your voice gets quiet again as the anxiety takes over. "I just thank that if I know why then maybe I can change it."

You can hear Max's breath hitch. "It's nit that I hate you. I actually really like you." He sighs out finally. His words don't register in your brain. "I just hate the reason why we're doing this. I didn't want to get my feelings involved"

"I like you too." You say without thinking.

"Really? I thought you were just doing this for whatever is on your contract?"

"I was... but I've liked a certain Dutch with pretty blue eyes and a winners smile for a few years now."

"So what was the contract for then?"

You wonder if you should tell him. Wonder about Jos and how he might have your head later for distracting his son. But you don't care. "A better team for my brother."

"Well, that's selfless of you."

"And you? What is your contract for?" You ask, turning the subject away from yourself.

"My father wants more say in the team."

"Do you want him to have more say?"

There's a pause, and you can hear Max's mind working from the other end of the phone. "Not necessarily."

"Then why do this? Even if you liked me before why take this on?"

"Because my father wants it and I want to please him." You can hear his voice start to break. It hurts to hear him like this. "It's not a big deal though, I'll survive." He downplays. Something she's grown used to with Charles.

"We should probably get some sleep." He follows up with after your lack of response. Your thoughts still moving miles a minute.

"Yes, sorry, your right. I'll see you tomorrow Max."

"See you tommorow."

~

Just as he says, Max shows up right before noon hits. Knocking of your door in a nice suit.

"Wow." Is what you greet with and your face flush with embarrassment.

"Ditto."

The car ride is too short for your liking. The two of you catch up on life and simply enjoy eachothers company.

The wedding is more of the same. You are tailing Max while he talks to those he knows. It's weird seeing him genuinely smile at you. Finally, he feels like he can let himself give into his heart.

It's sunset now, and you and Max are on a balcony enjoying the view. Secluded from the rest of the guests.

"Thanks for coming with me."

"Thanks for inviting me." You turn your gaze upwards at him. The sun illuminates his skin with a warm glow.

His eyes flick nervously between your eyes and your mouth. He wants to do it but can't get the courage. The intimacy of this is far to much for him.

So you do it instead, and he lets himself relax in the hold of your lips.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to do that."

~

Max and you weren't pretending anymore, and both teams could see it. Which is why you sit in a cramped conference room with your pr teams and team principles.

You feel out of place since you're not a driver. You don't belong here.

"Your contracts are null now."

"I'm sorry, what?" Your taken aback. How had you violated your contract?

"You two are actually dating now, so the contrat no longer works. We wanted to stage a breakup at the end of it, but we can't do that now."

Max is avoiding the gaze of Jos and plays with your fingers for comfort. His mind boggled with how that has turned from great to shit and five minutes.

After sitting through what the contract being void now entails, you and Max find a quiet spot to talk things out.

"I wanted to help Charlie so bad. Worse is that I don't remember that being in the original contract."

"I think something is definitely wrong here. I may not have liked my end of the deal, but yours was for good reason."

You tear up over thoughts of having to endure another season of Charles getting frustrated with his team after every race.

Max holds you close and wipes your tears away. "Whatever happens we'll figure this out, we're in this together now remeber?"

His words bring a warm feeling to your body. You and Max are a team now even without the contracts. Somehow, that Max you feel even more connected to him.

~

Part Two? 👀

[foxglovepng]

Hii, hello!! This might be a bit silly to ask but cld y write smt w/a yuu/reader who constantly fiddles around in class and they so happen to fiddle with their classmates hand/finger?? Like since their used to sitting alone they usually fiddle around with pens and what not, and not looking they accidentally fiddle with the classmates hand?? It's a bit silly but i wld like to see what'd you'd write w/a silly prompt like this :3,, If you're willing to take the prompt I'd like to see the Housewardens reaction to this :33

Characters: Riddle, Leona, Azul, Kalim, Vil, Idia, Malleus.

A/n: Hello! I am not that very good at writing Vil so I hope this does you justice. This will be a bit short since there are a lot of characters. Also this ask is not silly at all!! I fiddle with stuff all of the time.

Riddle

He doesn't mind when your fiddling with something either it being a stress ball, a toy, or some type of item. He might even give you something as well if it helps you focus.

However, when you start fiddling with his fingers he'd be a little annoyed. He needs to focus in class and you touching him is making him distracted.

If It was an accident he'd totally understand and would forgive you .

Leona

Like Riddle, he dosen't care.

However, if you Fiddle with his hands while he's sleeping he's gonna get annoyed.

Probably would hiss at you

If it was an accident he'd shrug it off and of back to bed, Just don't do it again.

Azul

Dosen't mind the fiddling will even try to offer something as well if you need it.

He's been curious about why you do it and would ask about it.

If you accidentally touch his hand he'd be confused. Probably would turn red.

If you apologize he'd understand it was an accident

But you could also sign a contract with him-

Kalim

He fiddles sometimes too! So he totally gets it.

He has stress toys, fidget toys, the whole nine yards so if you need one he will give it.

If you accidentally fiddle with his fingers he would be fine with it, but would totally understand id it was an accident

Que him fiddling with yours

Vil

He understands the fiddling and would also help you get items whatever you may need.

Probably lectures you on some specific techniques so your hands don't become dry/wrinkly.

If you accidentally touch him he'd jerk his hand away and lecture you he needs to keep the skin on his hand in perfect condition.

He'd understand if it was an accident, and would prefer if you ask next time before touching his hand.

Idia

He probably fiddles as well so if you need something he most likely has it and would share.

Probably programmed his own

If he ever so happened to be out an about and you ended up touching his hand he'd be terrified bro was not prepared for a level 200 boss.

As long as you apologize he should be fine. Still terrified, but fine.

Malleus

He finds your fiddling amusing and it amuses him when you fiddle with his fingers. Probably likes it and encourages it

It doesn't really bother him but is interested in why you do it.

If you ever so happen to fiddle with his fingers he wouldn't mind it.

[chaoticlandworlder]

People are kinda unhinged about Checo's Red Bull contract renewal...

Like yes, I was also surprised that Checo got signed for 2 years (though if it's 1+1 that some ppl are saying it is, it is more understandable) but come on, taking so much time just to comment and spam hate? Ridiculous and so immature.

And who should've replaced him? There are only so many available F1 drivers. So many haters are from the Versainz-lineup side (I too would've loved Versainz lol just for the vibes), but come on, realistically, Carlos was never going to work (just look at the Torro Rosso days...) and anyway it was news weeks ago that Carlos/Red Bull had no interest in signing a contract. I can see why some may say Yuki should be there but I can also understand why Red Bull may not want to promote him yet (no I will not elaborate because *gunshots*). And tbh, whichever driver they put in that seat, will still be crushed by Max. In fact, I think one of Checo's strong points is that he's managed to last fairly well against Max mentally- until last year where he got in over his head with the early talks of him possibly becoming wdc. Besides, even if you think another driver should have gotten that seat, it does not justify all the hate.

Also, some are just straight up delusional like somehow spinning it to hate on Max? E.g. those who think Max masterminded the whole contract (crazy take tbh) or got angry at Max for saying smt along the lines of how he's happy for Checo. Like what do you want him to say? "Omfg I hate having Sergio Perez as my teammate I wish [insert name of rando driver said angry person wanted to replace Checo] was my teammate instead!!" Be so fr guys.

[robby-bobby-tommy]

Okay, I'm obsessed with the lore.... So here's some of me theories/stuff I've noticed. It's gonna be rambling in it's worst, cuz I'm way too excited.

Firstly, let's welcome Madagio! I don't know what's up with him, but here's some info we know:

- he's from some island who is connected to Quesadilla through some system.

- he can travel through servers.

- cats are his eyes and ears.

So with this out of the way, here's some of my thoughts.

- Body language -

Honestly, it's not something important, but I really love how cc! Fit uses body language to convey his character. q! Fit doesn't sprint much, cuz he knows one misjudged step, one unnoticed trap and he's dead. He looks around, afraid of every lighting, every strange noise. He looks at cats cuz how are they even here, if not every person can survive here?

Madagio himself very reserved. He doesn't move much, showing us a difference between him and Fit.

- Roses -

Boy oh boy, do I have something to say. Despite obvious connections to Pac, recently there was another moment with exactly this kind of roses. At Philza's stream on 29th of December, at one point Ramon came to Titan and started to give away these rose bushes to some eggs and Phil. It might be a stretch, but it was very strange. Ramon explained that he gave away the roses, cuz he saw one in Chayanne's arm. But with this added context, I think Ramon's admin kinda hinted at this rule. Like the rose bush is a symbol of connection and love/trust. Fit loves and trusts Pac, Ramon, Chay and Lullah, and Phil too. I might be insane, but I adore this kind of symbolism. The roses show us who he has connections to. And now we understand what's at stake for Fit.

It's not only Ramon, who's in danger. Phil, his kids and Pac (probs Tubbo and Sunny too, but they didn't get roses) are also in the middle of crossfire. Madagio knew that it's in human nature for us to connect and getting attached to others even if told otherwise. Contractor knew that Fit won't be able to cheat or escape the deal, cuz he knew the veteran will have a lot at stake. He made this contract unavoidable. I love it sm.

- Music -

Since my post about Fit and his tragedy, I believe that a lot of decisions made about videos/lore streams are intentional. Like, back in a day, when we saw first dream, we heard "Étranger au Paradise" ("Stranger in Paradise "). And this song like fits Fit (pun not intended) like a friggin glove. Cuz even still, Fit feels like a stranger, undeserving this the heaven that is Quesadilla island. For example literally today he said smt along the lines of "What did I do to deserve a son like him[Ramon]?". He loves people around him, yet he can't show it, when everyone does it quite easily. I think Stranger in Paradise can be seen also in light of relationships. Like Fit considers Pac better, he loves him, but doesn't deserve his love. Agh

So why am I saying this? Well, you see. Cc! Fit uses a few songs to use before cinematic. And today he used "We'll meet again". And there's no connection, right? But what if it's a hint to contractor? Fit'll have to meet Madagio. Veteran has no idea when or where. But he knows they'll meet again some sunny day. Like, mb it's a stretch, but I really enjoy finding this connections. To this point cc! Fit was very intentional, so mb I have something here.

- Mon Dieu éternel, je te prie -

(sorry for probably butchering it, but anyway)

Well, now I have the most unimpressive and obvious theory, that leads to more interesting one.

During this stream it wasn't confirmed that contractor is a god, but there are a lot of hints. His name being an anagram to "I am a God" (Thank you, Tumblr user, who noticed it), he can't be hury, but is able to travel through the servers, and his first words to Fit are literally a rephrased "be not afraid", that is usually connected to angels.

Also his unusual connection to cats, that are his "extensions" Doesn't seem humain at all. Yet it isn't confirmed so idk.

Now, Black Concrete is closely tied to Cucurevil and can have bad effect on a person. The only people, who interacted with it and weren't affected at all, were Fit and Philza. Why? What if it's because they're protected by Gods? Like, fitza have a lot parallels in their lore, and mb it also hints at devine nature of Madagio? Rose protects Phil and his close ones out of kindness (I guess) and sends birds to cheer up her protège or show her support. Madagio literally does the same thing. But he sends cats not to show support, but to remind that he is always there, he sees and hears everything. Does it prove my theory? No, I guess. But it gives smt to think about.

- End -

At the end we see Fit waking up (smt that we've never seen before) and sees a cat. They look each other in the eyes and veteran convulsively shakes his head, refusing to something implied. Now, I'll be honest, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and I didn't really understand what he refused to? Was he saying he didn't need contractor's help? Idk. And this whole montage of moon, cat, and Madagio is very interesting, but I can't put my finger on it.

After browsing for a literal second, I have some ideas. Moon typically represents the rhythm of time, as it symbolizes the cycle. So maybe Contractor reminds Fit how little time he has. Like, time's running out. Cats, though, have a lot of different meanings, but I guess the most important to this case are freedom and mystery. Madagio is free and mysterious, so ig it fits.

- And just my thoughts ig -

God, i loved it so much. Fit's lore is subtle yet very important and interesting. It shows a character and builds on it so much, while explaining the world itself. Guuugh I love it so much.

And here's just some screens that shows how much Fit has grown.

He is no longer doing everything for himself only. Now he cares for others, breaking a simple rule made by contractor.

P. S.

I feel like this picture rn

[marbere]

This is weird, but I was bored so...

Words: 1465

G

I wouldn't get angry if someone decides to use it as a prompt or smt.

---

Damian...

His footsteps echoed. His path was relatively long and he would be alone, completely alone if it weren't for the person who was waiting for him at the bottom of what was a cave. A deep cave with rock stairs and uneven walls, barely lit by torches that seemed that they'd go out at any moment due to the humidity.

Damian...

Damian stopped, sensing movement to the side of the road, only to notice a few rats eating the carcass of some other animal. He frowned. How he'd gotten there was a mystery. His body had taken him to that hidden place between different corridors and under many keys. A place that only his grandfather had access to and a place that he hadn't been interested in at all.

Until that moment.

The voice in his head stopped repeating his name as he stopped in front of the only other person. A woman, clearly, from the non-conservative attire she was wearing. Her arms were held back by chains that disappeared into the darkness. Her eyes were closed and Damian might have thought she was dead, or at least in very bad shape, if it weren't for the smile she flashed as she lifted her head.

If it weren't for the fact that his grandfather had no interest in such practices and for the enormous amount of energy and power that she radiated, he would think that she was simply some kind of slave. Because even after so much training and meditation, Damian could still feel a certain attraction to her.

Or was he attracted to her because of her power? He couldn't tell. After all, it could be the same kind of power that had brought him here.

"Damian Al Ghul," she said, not missing an opportunity to meet his gaze. The violet of her eyes almost getting lost in the darkness of the cave.

Damian watched her in silence for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes.

"So you were the one who brought me here," he concluded, ready to draw his sword.

But she shook her head, the chains jangling rhythmically.

"You came here of your own free will."

"We both know that's not true," he replied, finally drawing his sword and pointing it at the woman, leaving its edge only an inch from her thin, pale neck. "I don't know who or what you are, but I don't like having my mind messed with."

She shrugged and leaned her head toward the sword, not afraid of cutting herself. Not afraid of him or his actions.

"I doubt anyone would," she said mockingly, only to exhale at his silence. "I just wanted to meet the next head of the League of Assassins. That pseudo-demon Ra's should retire by now—"

"Watch your mouth," Damian cut her off, though she didn't seem to heed his threats, so he soon found himself putting his sword away again. She watched him closely, almost disappointed, and he had to ask; "Why am I here?"

She smiled at him once again. And if she wasn't chained up, she'd probably be making flashy gestures like someone giving a political speech.

"My name is Raven, daughter of Trigon, the one who gives power to the Lazarus Pit… and like I said, I just wanted to meet the one who will command the imbeciles who made a contract with my unloved father."

Damian frowned. If his grandfather held her captive for any reason, it was probably because she kept disrespecting him.

Although the words she spat out with hate did not go unnoticed.

"My grandfather wants to save the world and all of us who follow him also wish for a better one. Imbeciles are those who do not understand such a noble purpose and only dedicate themselves to destroying it more and more."

Damian turned around. He didn't even know why he had said all that, since it was of no importance to a demon. And it was not important to him to be understood.

He had wasted his time going there, even if at least he no longer heard her voice in his mind.

Taking only two steps back, she spoke again;

"Do you want a better world, Damian Al Ghul?"

He stopped. He for some reason did it, and it wasn't out of interest in what she was saying. His hands and his feet, even his head were stopped by a greater force. Like when someone is paralyzed with fear, even though he wasn't scared at all.

This demon woman had more power than they had used to hold her.

"I do," he replied, not seeing why not.

And she said something that he didn't expect at all.

"Why don't you sign a contract with me then?"

Damian turned his head slightly. Raven, daughter of Trigon, looked serious, even though she was flashing an enticing smile.

"If you really are the heir, then it would only be speeding things up," she explained, slowly getting to her feet. Damian watched carefully as the chains silently exploded and they fell, disappearing to the cave floor.

What did she mean by that? He wasn't exactly sure. His Grandfather hadn't told him anything about it.

Raven walked towards him, circling him and positioning herself in front of him.

Damian clenched his fists as she reached a hand up to his cheek. If her goal was to seduce him, he couldn't help but feel a hint of curiosity as to how she would go about it. However, when her fingers were about to brush his skin, a spark —literally— caused her to step back.

Damian could only see the sparks of it, but soon his eyes met Raven's, just before she directed her gaze to her hand. She opened and closed her affected hand, frowning.

"You're protected. Too bad," she said, and though Damian hadn't exactly been trained to read people, the disappointment in her words was obvious.

Raven exhaled, moving past him and returning to where she had been before.

"He is ready to dispose of you at any time."

Only then did Damian realize that whatever had held him still was gone, and the chains on the demon's arms reappeared as if they had never been destroyed.

With narrowed eyes, he wondered if what had just happened was real, or just an illusion. But he decided not to give it so much importance.

"If your intention is to make me doubt my grandfather, you won't," he clarified. "I am his heir. Together we will make this world a better place."

"And yet he still doesn't give you your due power," the demon shrugged.

Damian frowned, but soon took a deep breath to calm himself. That was what the demons did: they deceived. She wanted to tempt him. Tempt him so that he would fall into her trap and do what she asked.

But if it was so, then she didn't seem very angry at his refusal. Rather it seemed like she had expected it.

"Worry not, then," Raven told him. "Either way you'll never be like your grandfather."

If she was trying to annoy him, she wasn't succeeding either.

However, Damian still asked:

"What?"

And she smiled at him… sincerely and perhaps sympathetically. Call him crazy, but Damian felt it that way. He felt it that way because it was a kind of smile he never saw around there. "For you possess something that he'll never have. A heart."

And he blinked, confused, only to frown.

A heart?

Was she crazy?

If his grandfather didn't possess a heart, then why the hell had he created the league and given such a purpose? It was stupid.

But before he could voice his objection, Raven cut him off, as if she knew what he had thought. As if his face had given it away no matter how expressionless he had kept it.

"If you don't believe me, you should go to this place…" she moved her hands and something got… into his brain? Damian couldn't think of a better way to put it. Like when they entered an address into a search application or a coordinate into a computer. He didn't know where that place was, but he knew how to get there.

He didn't like having his mind messed with.

But Raven just shrugged again, only to smile alluringly afterwards.

"I will be waiting."

And as if those words had been a command, Damian woke up. Shaken, tired… not really, but with the feeling that he had come a long way and with the intention of going on another.

He frowned. Raven...

It hadn't been a dream. None of it had been. He still knew where she was sending him.

And though his distrustful nature opposed it, his curiosity guided him.

He'd go.

[likitakans]

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[sleeps-au-bag]

prsk x smt au with honami as the protagonist

mochizuki honami is just a regular high school girl who's in a band with her childhood best friends. lately they've been acting very weird and have been cancelling practice more and more, leaving her with more time to work in her family's bakery. she's worried her friend group is going to break up again and it feels like there's nothing she can do to stop it. the only thing she can do is talk her feelings out with the mysterious yoisaki-sama and her butler tsu-san.

it's not until she discovers a strange new world filled with demons that she finds out why her friends have been acting so weirdly.

~~

that's all i have so far. i don't really know which character go into which alignments for smt but i do know that the rest of the leo/need girls fall in the law organization and will stay in the law organization.

for this au, i wanna do something called demon contracts and demon contractors. contractors are people who made contracts with demons. demon contracts are contracts that must be accepted by both human and demon in order to come into effect. there's a wide range of them: giving humans more power, near immortality, keeping you alive long enough to fulfill your last wish, etc. honami makes a contract with a demon called (it's either izanami or kaguya-hime) to both save her life and find out the truth of what's going on.

there might be a few more people who side with law but they either die or leave to join neutral or chaos. i know i want minori and kohane to be neutral, possibly have the rest of wondershow be chaos. mafuyu is definitely law who goes to chaos.

kanade and tsukasa are an interesting case, they're a neutral party who don't fit into any of the alignments. they point out each of the routes flaws and how despite how good they sound at first, there will never be a true happy ending. they know that there will always be another conception (or the equivalent of one) no matter which route is taken. they just enjoy life and help out honami no matter which route she chooses.

[sublimecatgalaxy]

♥️ Daryl Dixon Masterlist♥️

This is a masterlist dedicated to things I've written about Daryl Dixon.

Check out my Prompt List and my Character List in my Masterpost which is pinned for more info on who I write for and some inspiration for requests.

This is a mix of headcannons, oneshots and blurbs :)

Confession:

Summary/Request: "a daryl dixon request! can be anything:) maybe him confessing his feelings for the reader during a run and you could take it anyway you’d like from there"

A Bit Beat:

Summary/Request: "How about something upbeat for Daryl? Like Alexandria time with none of the sad shit?"

Whoop-ass:

Summary/Request: "Can you do something where the reader gets taken by the Governors people and like conflict between Daryl and Merle cuz Daryl likes the reader."

Normal:

Summary/Request: "Can you do something with Daryl when they get to Alexandria and they all stay in the same house that first night?"

I Got You:

Summary/Request: "From the prompt list: 2. 'Whose blood is that?' 9.Mutual Pining with daryl dixon if possible!!"

Needs:

Summary/Request: "OH EHM GEE, OH EHM GEE! #5 (slow-burn/build up) with Daryl Dixon, cause why not? 🤷‍♀️🤭"

Sunshine:

Summary/Request: "daryl dixon x fem!reader, morning fluff ! literally anything that has to do with them waking up and stuff!"

 First and Foremost:

Summary/Request: "doing daryls hair?"

Heartbroken:

Summary/Request: "'I’m not afraid of you.’ Daryl"

A Dumb Choice:

Summary/Request: "Okay but I will beg for an awkward, cute Daryl one bed trope confession fic. 👀 I feel like I haven’t seen nearly enough of them for him."

Pillow Talk:

Summary/Request: "request for daryl for the “stop pouting” line and maybe reader sneaking into his bed after nightmares:) please"

Slip Away:

Summary/Request: "Daryl and Unresolved Sexual Tension please"

Tight Leash:

Summary/Request: "Prison Era!Daryl and a reader who both like each other but are too scared to say it. She contracts the illness at the prison and both are worried that they won't be able to confess before it's too late."

Close Call:

Summary/Request: "may i pretty please request some sort of daryl hurt/comfort (making up after a fight, close call after an argument, etc) <3"

Lessons:

Summary/Request: "Can you write having a father daughter relationship with daryl like hopper and El from stranger things headcanons"

Count To Ten:

Summary/Request: "daryl dixon fic request! plz do whatever you feel like doing and whatever you’re comfortable with<3 so like a prison era daryl right and he’s in the mood but the readers got some news?"

Kiddo:

Summary/Request: "can we have a fluffy daryl Dixon, in which he has a daughter like a little bit younger than carl? and it is set on the first seasons?"

Offer:

Summary/Request: "can you do daryl with the friends with benefits prompt? u can take it in any direction and any era!"

Drama Queen:

Summary/Request: "daryl dixon x fem!reader, enemies to lovers (you dont need to do that) with the prompts "What do you want from me?" and "Whose blood is that?""

Happy Accident:

Summary/Request: "Daryl Partner in Crime (Rick or someone's sister?) + Pregnancy trope"

Mundane Life:

Summary/Request: "Some Daryl-Reader-Leah drama, please?"

Unscathed:

Summary/Request: "Hey hey! Would you be willing to write a oneshot about Daryl and his female love interest reuniting after his time in The Sanctuary? You can decide if they're already together or not but I am an absolute sucker for second chance romance!! Thank you so much 🥰"

Pretty Pansy:

Summary/Request: "if you’re still taking daryl Dixon requests could you do something where Daryl’s dating someone rlly sweet and kindhearted. For some reason I see him dating someone who’s rlly sweet and maybe they like to bake or garden maybe even crochet idk😭"

Proof:

Summary/Request: "A clingy Daryl during the farm era? Maybe he really loved holding hands and kissing your shoulder randomly. :) Thank you"

Insecure:

Summary/Request: "daryl reassuring an insecure reader?? maybe they think there's smt between him and carol or he's still hung up on leah, it's up to you!"

Messy:

Summary/Request: "okay, but what about daryl and reader cooking and spending a day relaxing (it could be any era) with a bit of spice and cuddles 😌"

Death Wish:

Summary/Request: "I love your stuff! Could you do one where Daryl was captured but reader saves him but reader has never killed anyone before so they're really out of it and in shock kind of?"

Storm:

Summary/Request: "can i pls request daryl x reader in the middle of sexy time and judith ruins it bc there’s a storm outside and she’s scared and goes to auntie y/n’s and uncle daryl’s room but daryl tells her dog will keep her safe in her own room so daryl x y/n can continue sexy time 😏"

Play Nice:

Summary/Request: "Helping Daryl escape and tending to him at the prison after him and Merle escape Woodbury?"

Old Man:

Summary/Request: "Daryl feeling insecure about how he looks because he thinks he’s too old for the reader"

Pining:

Summary/Request: "I'd love to read Daryl x Female Reader - prompt no. 16, mutual pining, smut nsfw!!❣️ Love your works❣️❣️❣️❣️"

Dixon's Girl:

Summary/Request: "Give us a jealous Daryl, pleaseee? 🥹"

Insecure:

Summary/Request: "Chubby/plus size reader x Daryl’s where she is worried daryl won’t like her because of her size? Smut or no smut up to you :)"

Interruption:

Summary/Request: "*12. Interrupted/Almost Kiss* with daryl please?"

Forbidden:

Summary/Request: "Daryl/ Forbidden Romance/ Lori or Rick's sister"

Brother:

Summary/Request: "OOOO okay bet, maybe a lil shane and his sister w a lil hint of daryl x reader? fluff?? or even angst of after he died? all up to you"

Husband:

Summary/Request: "Can I get negans daughter x daryl? When/if you have a chance to get to it of course <3"

A Reason:

Summary/Request: "it can be any era you want!! use that creative freedom with some hubby daryl<3 hopefully it’ll help out with some of the funk:("

Out Like A Light:

Summary/Request: "How about Daryl and the morning after first time w Reader"

Panic:

Summary/Request: "daryl helping reader with a panic attack that comes out of nowhere? thank you!"

I'm Gentle:

Summary/Request: "Daryl request that he and reader like eachother a lot but is scared of touch due to his past abuse. She goes slow with him showing him that touch is meant to feel nice. Fluffy smut pleeeease."

Waiting For You:

Summary/Request: "It’s Monday (again) so I’m up for an angst! 🌝 Reader to Daryl - 11. 'You left me and you didn’t even think twice about it.' 🫣💔 Uh I love u and your works! 💕"

Tall:

Summary/Request: "I was wondering if you could do a Daryl X fem!reader who's as tall or taller than him? Doesn't have to be romantic, just reader is feeling a little insecure about how she's a lot bigger than other girls. Maybe they're out on a run or hunting with Dog and it kinda comes up?"

Bad Guy:

Summary/Request: "Hi, could you please write something with DarylxReader using prompt no. 7 “ Just cuz I’m the bad guy doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy.”"

Worst For Him:

Summary/Request: "Can you do the pregnancy trope prompt for daryl? Please and ty"

ADHD:

Summary/Request: "Can I get a Daryl and reader? The reader has ADHD and talks very fast that never stays on one topic but Daryl is used to it?"

Reuniting:

Summary/Request: "Daryl will reunite with my oc or reader in the apocalypse after not seeing each other for years the last time was before she ran away from home from her abusive parents. They were the best of friends they save each other form their abusive parents."

Rick's Ex:

Summary/Request: "Hiii , how about something like this — Reader is Rick Grime’s ex, after they broke up she found comfort in Daryl .. they eventually fell in love and he feels guilty about it knowing that his brother Rick is still in love with the Reader. 🎈"

You Said It:

Summary/Request: "OMG what about 'I just thought you would like to know that I’m not wearing any underwear right now. Do what you must with this information.’ with Daryl??? like imagine how flustered and frustrated he would be???? ... i am asking for a friend"

Please:

Summary/Request: "hey could you make a daryl smut with daryl!sub and the reader the dom? but still more in a caring way, nothing to dominant like spanking, yk something that suits daryl. in alexandria and daryl in the later seasons"

New Girl:

Summary/Request: "Could we get some s1 daryl meeting a girl he shot by mistake whos just like him? She hunts and keeps furs and pelts from the animals shes caught. He cares for injuries and brings her to camp. Fluff, possibly smut because theyre both wild?"

Praised:

Summary/Request: "Can I request that praise kink Daryl’s smut? Established relationship super soft and fluffy?"

Signed, Daryl:

Summary/Request: "Would you be able to do a Daryl one-shot where It’s prison era (before the governor is a thing cuz I hate him lol) and the reader is (male or female) and deaf? I know recently learned ASL for work and family and I would love more deaf representation!! (Putting like “he signed”)."

Staying Put:

Summary/Request: "hey babes! i hope you’re doing well🤍 im rewatching twd from season one and im on episode 6 where the group is at the cdc, and i was wonder if you could write something where dr jenner tells the group that the building is gonna explode and y/n wants to stay since all of her family is gone but daryl refuses to leave without her (kinda like dale and andrea)? sorry this was so long 🤧"

Scars:

Summary/Request: "hello!! could you do a daryl x reader story with a reader who has scars from physical abuse from their family, but it confident about them, not afraid to show them and not covering up? and daryl feels comforted around them bc of it?"

Daddy Daryl:

Summary/Request: "Hi! Maybe some story of Daryl Dixon being a dad? Just because everyone want to see that 🧡"

Subspace:

Summary/Request: "could you do something with daryl and reader in subspace? maybe with the prompts 19 and 22 but honestly whatever you feel is best! 🤍🤍"

Back Now:

Summary/Request: "Hello friend! I love your writing. Can I get 13 and 18 prompt for Daryl with number 5 trope? Smut, fluffy, spicy, whatever 😘"

Keep It That Way:

Summary/Request: "How about a jealous Reader and Daryl?? 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼"

Start talkin’:

Summary/Request: "Hi, could you please do a Daryl Dixon request around the time of the prison, something fluffy of Daryl helping the reader deal with the stress of the herds or something like that please and thank you?"

You Made Your Bed:

Summary/Request: "hii, can we have a daryl x reader where reader finds out/listens in on carol’s and daryl’s conversation on leaving on their own without telling anyone? and the reader feels betrayed because she thought she was close to him?"

Jeweled up:

Summary/Request: "Daryl & readers first time having sex and daryl sees that she has her nipples pierced! 😻"

Grown Woman:

Summary/Request: "more daryl x walsh!reader? maybe shane “confronting” daryl abt the reader if its not to much"

Note:

Summary/Request: "Like Reader finding Daryl’s note for Leah in the cabin? Huge fight, silent treatment and probably sleep on the couch with Dog for week!"

Don't Push It:

Summary/Request: "I was just wondering if you could do one where either the reader or Daryl have a very close call with getting hurt and realize their feelings for each other?"

Tune:

Summary/Request: "could you possibly write something with daryl dixon and a reader thats a really good singer and he hears her singing and its fluffy? i love your writing!!!"

Up Close and Personal:

Summary/Request: "How about Reader getting jealous of Daryl and Connie so she flirts with a cool guy in the Commonwealth? 🤭"

Laugh:

Summary/Request: "what about the first time the reader makes daryl laugh?"

Any Means Necessary:

Summary/Request: "Can I get a Daryl x Reader where the reader was with Daryl when they went to go find Merle? Like she's there with him when they find Merle's hand and how she comforts him after his big blow up?"

Not Until Now:

Summary/Request: "Hey! Can I request Daryl and Reader, prison era, when Daryl left the group because he found Merle in Woodbury? Maybe something angst but with a heart-warming ending?"

His:

Summary/Request: "How about something like this: Reader is having a “friends with benefits” relationship with Daryl, all good until they arrive in Alexandria and Spencer started flirting with her! It’s up to you how to end the story, I mean what do you think Daryl would do??"

Verbal:

Summary/Request: "A non English speaking reader instead of Korean is totally okay! Yeah I just meant rick is aggressive with reader but daryl calms him down when he sees reader is scared and not trying to hurt anyone, and then daryl is soft with reader. I love everything you write so however you wanna write this is cool, I'll love it either way <3"

Right Person/Wrong Time:

Summary/Request: "How about a Right Person/Wrong Time situation? Where Daryl and Reader were together before the apocalypse happen."

Mafia: Part 1; Part 2

Angel/Demon:

Summary/Request: "Can you do Daryl Dixon with the AU Angel/demon with the prompts “you didn’t just break promises, you broke me” and “I hate the way that I don’t hate you and I so desperately want to.”

Stay Away:

Summary/Request: "Scenario: Ex partner "

[freakygirlie]

tbh, I don't think we should use 90% of the "proofs" we use to tinhat. I've been a hat for over a decade and most of these so called slips can be easily explained away or hats simply read too much into smt. To me, the Italy one is enough. There's no explaining away no matter what you try to do with that story. The other ones are extremely easy to turn into a het explanation or be regarded as a joke or smt else. The Italy one and maybe the 4am text one are very much enough for me to be SURE of j2

+just to exemplify: jared saying he was si gle in the kelly thing: nah, he just refuses to acknowledge sandy bc of reasons we will never know. "get to sleep with one" a joke. D and Ted "she was just defending herself". jared liked a post mocking G: the pic was manip w someone else's face, not g's. G said contract ref to her marriage: a lot of actually married ppl do this as a joke. not saying it is just sayin hets and J2 can easily get away with most "slips". For that I say: Italy date supremacy +you CANNOT explain that away: "oh they were on a date with D and Jen too" okay so why not mention them? "well he just did that different times one w G and the other with Jen" um lol? why not say that the first time then?! Jared RAMBLES on about EXTREMELY IRRELEVANT details oh but mentioning jensen there no? pls. "oh-" NO. Italy date supremacy 😌 it was a major ass slip that can easily be considered their coming out story but the spn general fandom is very gullible 🤷🏻‍♀️ - Honestly anon i agree, many of these tiny slips can be gone unnoticed or brushed off as a joke BUT YES ITALY DATE SUPREMACYYYYY the best slip of the fandom tbh. And the 4am textgate bc holy hell i have dunked all het explanations with that one and yep it's an awesome slip too <3

[laryna6]

I love the scene in one of the original SMTs where Lucifer needs your help because even though Lucifer is the one rallying opposition to God and his plans of genocide, when God gave Lucifer an order Lucifer had to obey.

Because even though Lucifer thinks free will is amazing, he doesn’t have it. If God gives him an order he has no choice, he has to obey, no matter how many innocent people are going to die because of what God made him do.

It really brings home that angels are a slave race, and just how awful that fact is. Lucifer has dedicated his existence to opposing God, but he’s still not free. He can never be free, because he was made to always be a slave. Despite all the things Lucifer has done, the sum of all the decisions he’s made, he can’t choose not to obey. Without free will, he doesn’t have a choice.

And that’s why free will means so much to Lucifer, and why he’s fighting to keep humans from having it stripped away from them. Because he knows what existence is like without free will. Knows that freedom is beautiful and glorious and worth dying for. But he will never have it himself. 

He can’t disobey God, but a human can, so all he can do is ask a human to do their best to mitigate the damage of what God made Lucifer do. 

In SMT IV’s chaos vs order alignment questions, there’s a pattern where the chaos people all assume that any going along with social convention is due to mindless obedience or being forced into it. The nonhuman characters have no concept of the ‘social contract’ where ‘I’m choosing to give up my right to murder you in exchange for you giving up your right to murder me.’ The idea of choosing to obey, consenting to being part of a society, is utterly foreign to them, because to beings without free will, choosing not to obey isn’t an option, therefore their concept of obedience is that it’s all nonconsenting, because if there’s no option to say no than a yes isn’t valid. Beings of angelic stock can’t conceive of power that isn’t inherently an act of violation, the only difference between Law and Chaos is ‘everyone should be constantly violated by god’ and ‘everyone should have equal right to violate others.’ Because to be an angel, to not have free will, is an existence without consent, one of violation. 

Humans are the only ones who can conceive of a world where, like, violation is not allowed, because people have rights, and therefore the only ones who can possibly create one. So humans need to be the ones choosing how humans live. Lucifer may think we’re great, but he’s incapable of grasping the concept of consent (see his transformation of the Demifiend) because his species was created incapable of it.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Silly plays more Monark

Ok so like....without TOO MANY spoilers (gonna keep it vague as possible), got through the 2nd dungeon (well my 2nd dungeon, I think the game allows you to choose between 3 in any order but I’m not sure) which was the Envy dungeon. And.......I don’t think it’s perfect.....but Envy arc clears any of P5′s bosses except Kamoshida (cause Kamoshida is special), especially Strikers. And yeah there’s more in common with Monark and P5 than I realized, grant it I was getting used to Monark’s terminology in dungeon 1 (good god they dump it on you, wasn’t fun), and we were still getting introduced to concepts. I don’t know how much it has in common with SMT If (since they also do a deadly sin thing). But there is a good parallel between P5′s Change of Hearts, and Monark’s shattering of ideals. Other than that, gameplaywise AND character wise there’s nothing to compare imo. I like to call Nozomi “the better Makoto” (cause both are prez) or make parallels to Futaba with Chiyo and Kokoro (ones a little sister, the other is all knowing) but those are just me making silly connections, I’m not being serious.  

The character writing/prose is nowhere near the same. The gameplay is obvie different completely different. I might conflate Authority with Persona, Pactbearer with Persona user, Monark with a contract akin to the Nahobino, Yoru as fucked up Igor, to make it easier since only Persona likes to take the good route of keeping things simple stupid. Basically......Their general feel is different. But what is similar is interesting to parallel. I probs wouldn’t recommend Monark if someone liked P5 cause of those big differences, unless they were craving the moral questioning side that P5 left them craving on.   

ANYWAY, back to the boss, the reason I don’t compare it to Kamo is you are supposed to hate the very obvious villain Kamo. Kamo is simple and clean and straight forward. Envy is.......dark grey... it’s messy. It’s what striker’s tried to do but I think Monark did it better. I pity the villain, but he also needed to be stopped for obvious reasons. But it was a very messy situation and I really like it. 

Envy was twisted, but you can really understand why they were twisted. You can agree that yeah, it’s unfair. But your actions aren’t good. 

Ryotaro is probs the best counterpoint to Envy, cause while he is capable of pity/sympathy/empathy, he also marches to the beat of his own drum and isn’t a ashamed of it. He unabashedly goes by what he feels is right. Which can vary from situation to situation.

Which can be selfish, but it can be hypocritical. But so is the Envy boss. It’s messy, but in a thought provoking way (not in a poorly written way). And that is WAY more than what P5 could ever deliver for me. 

I’m about to start the Wrath dungeon (I’ve seen whispers that some people side with Wrath so that’ll be interesting). But I’ll be fine if Monark peaked with Envy. It already peaked better than P5 in this case. Ok I’m actually half way through Wrath since I wrote that (so far still like Envy more buuuut....). Omg, yeah they do make this one grey too because like.......the victims are STILL assholes. It’s hard not to root for Wrath. “Like I know killing people is wrong buuuuuuuuuut-” (there’s also the benefit of them like...not being real that helps). Imo Wrath is a better Alice from P5S. Wrath I do feel bad for, and pity (ironically something they hate), Alice I feel skeeved out because she reminds me more of Kamo but with the game trying to make me feel bad for her and absolve her. “but Silly! They are different sins!” yeah well, both have a similar backstory. Both have similar motives. One just makes sense (revenge against the actual abusers), and one is being used as a means to manipulate us into feeling bad (aka Alice went BEYOND her abusers in some mental Olympic gymnastics I can’t fathom and we don’t really get to go into). 

Monark’s sloth is more interesting than Strikers (I mean he’s dead). Mementos tho.....hm, we’ll see where Monark’s sloth goes. Might not be comparable, since Sloth is..... they might have gotten it because of how people perceive them. Or they are a bit slothful. Or both. It’s interesting. 

Gluttony is bae, love them. I hope they get to shine more, and see their sinful side in action too (along with sloth). 

Monark does better than P5 in the fact of Moral questions being raised. There is inherently a moral question raised by forcibly “changing a heart” P5 doesn’t like to dive into. Monark, so far is doing a better job at that. And they don’t change their Palace owner’s hearts, they destroy them bit by bit. And at least acknowledge that this probably means they aren’t the same person they were before that did that. Aka they acknowledge the sense of self. 

tldr; Monark does better with fleshing out the Antagonists, one as someone I actually want to defeat because stakes (something only Kamo made me want to do in P5, both thanks to how NPCs are utilized), and as gray villains (when they want them gray, which I blanked on Pride but I don’t think he was grey) because the situation is fairly grey and while you want to defeat them you kinda.....question your morals a bit while doing so (might depend on who is playing it how strongly you question them, but that’s more than what P5 did so~!).

I’ll still be happy if Monark peaked with Envy (Wrath is still good), both are doing more work than P5. 

One last thing before I jump back into the game. Vanitas the bunny is cute and I love him. I love how the localizers but a lot of effort into him too. He can be evil incarnate I don’t care, he’s baby. 

[palmett-hoes]

i so agree on the thea/kevin thing. i do think they end up together though - not because i particularly think they're good for each other but because sometimes people end up in relationships they settle for and maybe they change and maybe they don't but sometimes life is just like that. thats kind of why i particularly like how nora makes it clear that allison doesn't end up with a man because she tends to seek out the anger issues + doesn't want to help themselves type of man. it b liek dat smt

hmm okay. i think first i want to address what i mean when i answer asks, especially one like the kevin and thea ask you're mentioning. just because i'm writing it doesn't necessarily mean i'm committing to the idea 100% and it doesn't mean it's what i believe 100% will happen. it's a possibility and more than that it's an idea i'm exploring for the moment

that was an analysis of how i view their dynamic, with some predictions based on that specific interpretation, and the end part was a best-case scenario if everything worked out perfectly. but you're right, a best-case scenario doesn't always happen. people's lives don't always play out perfectly and they don't always find the perfect right person that they're with forever. and sometimes they settle for something that's stable or familiar and that's not even necessarily a bad thing

what's really great about transformative work like fandom is that i don't have to stick to just one idea. i can entertain the idea of a perfect world for kevin and thea where they break up but stay friends and help each other overcome the trauma and conditioning of the nest, and at the same time i can also entertain the world where they fall a little flat of that, and still end up together and sometimes kevin sits up at night and looks at his wife and asks himself "do i love her? am i happy?" and knows that the answer isn't a resounding yes, but that she's still his partner and they have a daughter together who he wouldn't trade for anything. analytically, you can make an argument for either of those pathways, or even one where kevin and thea get marriage counseling and end up the happiest most in-love couple in the world, or a million others

you can create a post-canon where anything happens. one where kevin meets the love of his life, one where kevin never meets anyone, one where kevin suffers a career ending injury at 26 that this time he truly never recovers from. as a creator i can explore each and every one of these options for him and think of them all as equally real and equally possible, even if i'm thinking about two completely different ones at the exact same time

it's a story. it all comes down to what i'm feeling at that moment, what I'm looking to explore. do i need a pick-me-up? do i want catharsis? am i angry? sad? cruel? do i want to deconstruct the notion of the cold war nuclear family? do i just want a good time? you get out what you bring in

whatever i end up typing is a reflection of what i'm thinking and feeling in that moment. i may want to look at it completely differently in another moment

but i do agree that i like to keep a little reality regardless, and i also like that nora did too. she didn't give everyone a perfect happy ending with a marriage and kids and i think that's right for the statement she was making with the series

and sometimes i like that, sometimes i want a world that's a little softer around the edges for a bit. that's for me to decide

but if you want my strictest, most true-to-life, mirror of reality take on what happens in post-canon, okay

---

i still don't think that kevin and thea end up together, because there's at least two more years on kevin's college contract and no guarantee he'll go onto thea's pro team from there, and i don't think either of them will really be trying to stay in touch. long-distance is hard. long-distance when you're not even trying is impossible. i don't even think they explicitly break up it's just they realize they haven't spoken in months and don't even have each others' current addresses so they avoid eye contact if they ever happen to be in the same room and eventually one of them has a 30-second news spot about dating someone new and that puts the final shred of uncertainty between them to rest

kevin never really finds someone. he's too committed to exy, as a pro-player and as whatever he does after, and he's never going to tell anyone that his life is technically owned by the mafia. maybe he has a convenient marriage or two with some other celebrity that ends in divorce. he's not really particularly concerned with it and when he's old he doesn't regret it. maybe he never wanted a partner in the first place

it's aaron and katelyn that i think are the most likely to end up the way you described kevin and thea. they get married and they stay married but really they're married to their jobs as doctors. and as the years go on they sometimes wonder why they're still together but it's too much of a pain to sort through their shared finances and they're not unhappy, so they stay together. maybe one or both has an affair that they hide, but even if the other knew it probably wouldn't change anything. their house is really expensive and in a really nice location, it's not worth the divorce

dan and matt also probably get married, but i don't think it stays. matt seems like the type to want kids, and dan seems like the type to hate the idea. irrevocable difference. eventually they have to split. matt definitely remarries and has his kids. dan may remarry, she may not, her job is her primary concern. they stay amicable, but it's tense for a few years. they really rocks the foxes, because it's the only internal breakup between two of them

andrew and neil are both the most stable and the most happy of the foxes, because they know how to communicate and they know how to fight for each other. but also because neither of them has any grand notions of romance or true love. they didn't build their relationship on passion, they built it on understanding and cooperation. to them, a person to wake up to in the morning or sit by a window with IS a miracle. it shocks a lot of the foxes who all either subconsciously or not thought that their own relationships were better or healthier or more destined to last than andrew and neil's. over the years all the other foxes have come to them at least once, in private, looking for advice. they'd be lying if the irony of so many years of being given unasked for relationship advice coming full circle didn't make them just a but smug

nicky and erik are the other long-term success of the foxes. if nicky can stay with the twins at their worst he can shelter through normal relationship drama. still the hardest part for him is when the relationship ultimately becomes familiar, as they all do. he's always buying relationship books and planning dates and setting up relationship retreats because he's honestly so afraid of being alone if he likes the flame die. sometimes it's honestly the biggest strain on his relationship, all the frantic effort he puts in, but they get through it

renee never marries or really has any significant relationships. she says she's married to jesus and her job but she's still always a little bit haunted by her past in a way that holds her back from truly opening up to a partner. she adopts several kids though, somewhat later in life, because she believes that she can pass on the chances that stephanie gave her, and that's more important than romance

allison has a string of wild marriages and even wilder divorces that are usually the highlight of fox get-togethers. she has a child by accident and she isn't a wonderful mother. dan and renee are both very involved with her kid, for many years more than she is. when the kid is nearly an adult allison finally pulls her head out of her ass to see that she missed so much of the only relationship she can't annul. at that point she quits relationships and focuses on fixing things. it's a slow, painful process, but they manage to be close later in life

---

so, do i necessarily WANT all of these things to happen? no, many of them are quite sad. but all of them are good stories, and all of them are realistic in the sense that they are reflective of what happens in real people's lives

this is one version of how i think post-canon plays out. of course, i may change my mind later, or fiddle with the details, or want to play with an entirely different idea for one or more or all of the characters

[hetreatshimreallywell]

here are observations I made before even researching babygate (just to prove how it doesn't even take looking into it to know smt is up)

you see, the thing is, louis makes it known how important family is to him. he makes sure everyone knows that, to him, family comes first. his family is his #1 priority.

i don't even know how long it's been since louis has seen freddie, but that rly says smt, doesn't it?

or what about the fact that he didn't even bother fighting for custody over him? sure there were headlines saying he wanted to take b to court for a custody battle/shared custody over f, but articles and headlines are easily bought and could have just as well been published via management's wishes. don't trust the fucking media, people! if Louis rly wanted custody, he would have stopped at nothing to get full custody. if this were his child, he would have full custody.

I'm not about to get into bbg and all the inconsistencies of the narrative/b's pregnancy bc that should be common knowledge by now and if not, I've linked the masterpost here.

moving on, we have the fact that Louis never gets asked about f in interviews. my bet is that that topic had been blacklisted. the times he has been asked about f, he gave short and curt answers. take a look at liam in comparison. when asked about Bear (which is quite often), he shares "moments" with us. Louis? "yeah, he's with his mum, he's doing good."

as we all know, when it comes to beard and pr stunt contracts, there are often scripts to be followed regarding what can and can't be said when the celebrity is asked about their relationship. taking a wild guess, I'd say there is also paperwork regarding exactly what Louis can and cannot say when asked about f. we know Louis doesn't want to be in this situation, which is why he barely says shit when it's brought up. he says as little as possible bc he doesn't want to say anything at all.

it's blatantly obvious how fame hungry b and her family is. f is constantly being exploited by this family bc they love the attention. they know that the child is the only thing giving them their media presence and the only reason they're somewhat of a household name. exploiting a child for their own fame crazed selves.

Louis is a private person and I know that if f was rly his son, he would not for a second be okay with the way b is exploiting him like this. it doesn't add up.

but again, these are just observations I happened to make before I properly looked into babygate. it's so painfully obvious, it's impossible to believe ppl don't see the fault in it!

[raguna-blade]

Getting Closer to actually daily rambling

So, I am, slowly, quite slowly, achingly slowly, working my way to doing a big ole analysis of Persona 5 Because that’s the exact kind of nerd I am but one thing has kind of stuck out to me in Persona 5 as a weird problem.

Like, in a game that starts out with a PRETTY FUCKING DIRE stance on sexualization of young women, what the fuck is going on with Ann?

LIke, it’s weird that the game starts off so strong on that front, and then from that point forward in regards to Ann drops the ball like a lead weight into a blackhole.

Seriously, the statement is made rather objectively and clearly, Don’t Sexualize the young lady and then...proceeds to kind of do that the entire game right? Unless I’m misremembering things rather badly which is quite possible.

And I got a little mini essay thing of notes hidden away elsewhere right now looking at it, but this one thought came to mind semi recently and well...

Ok, let’s talk about themes in the persona games, at least in the last three mainline ones alright? And specifically, we’re gonna talk about said themes in relation to Shadows which are of varying levels of importance throughout the series. Honestly, I should one day do the first couple of games to get a full picture of it but...

Still before we go further, Quick definition. Fans will know, unfan’s won’t, but either way I want to be clear of the definition I’m rolling with here. What the flip fuck is a Shadow? In series, a Shadow is basically an embodiment of well...You. It’s all the stuff you repress about yourself, and in series that’s pretty universally negative.

Thing is though, the thing about that, Shadows in Jungian Psych aren’t. As I understand it anyway, they’re not inherently negative. Shadows are basically just whatever you repress about yourself, good or bad. It’s whatever you refuse to acknowledge, either because of trauma, danger, ignorance, actual refusal, whatever. Anything and everything about yourself that you don’t ever want to deal with and you shove off into the negative space of your mind halls so you don’t have to deal with it ever again becomes a part of the Shadow.

Got it? Cool.

Now themes though. Persona 3 has a pretty cut and dry theme (more or less, and drawing from rather old memories at this point) involving Death, Mortality, and the fact that you are absolutely positively going to kick the fucking bucket one day so you better live up and be the best you you possibly can be of yourself. You see it in all of the Persona’s and how they evolve going through the game’s story line. Inevitably, as they have to deal with things that they’ve struggled with in a unvarnished and straightforward way, they have to integrate these new truths into themselves and basically become better people, more whole. And in doing so, their persona’s grow up and become stronger.

Now as far as shadows go, they never really make an appearance in the game formally (in the sense of specific shadows relevant to the characters themselves. You spend the entire game putting foot to shadowy ass, much to your detriment) EXCEPT FOR, Strega and those who use the drugs to control their personas. Which is weird, because they’re still personas right? Except that a Persona is EXPLICITLY a tamed shadow, yourself put under your control more or less, so for Strega and the other drug users, They haven’t actually done the proper actualization that the rest of SEES and them do to get their persona’s under their control. They haven’t exactly confronted themselves and overcome it, thus why, occasionally, their Persona Flip out and try to kill them because YOU STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN THIS SHIT UNDER CONTROL YOU NINNIES.

Make sense? Cool, we move forward to 4.

Four has a rather explicit and subtle theme about reaching out to the truth and cutting through ignorance to find the heart of things, and as regards shadows and self, acknowledging your true self. The more you do it, the stronger your persona becomes etc etc, but unique here is that everyone (and I include MC here because I am DAMN certain that Teddie is his castoff shadow but that’s a whole other story) literally confronts their shadows before making them into their personas, and what we see universally is that their shadows are...Kind of raging assholes yes, but also none of them are exactly you know...EVIL. Kind of dickish, and playing up fears and such, but that’s kind of what happens when you don’t deal with your shadow. Let it fester and you start getting weird neuroses about things and start tearing yourself up about such minor things as you know, hating the town you live in, the distinct possibility that you’re nowhere near as straight as you thought you were, the disquieting thought that you’re basically whoring yourself out to make a living, or that you’ve got a distinct and actual problem with Gender In Regards to your desired profession and/or yourself.

You know. Minor Teen things.

But Inevitably, you confront yourself, you confront the situation, you integrate, and your shadow becomes your persona. Cool Story.

Now I’m going to pause here and mention something that only explicitly becomes a thing here in four and that is that Shadows are shown universally to have bright yellow GLEAMING eyes, and that’s going to become SILLY important in about 20 seconds.

SO WE MOVE ON TO PERSONA 5, with it’s themes of rebellion and freedom, and being your own authentic self all times everytime, anytime. Symbolized, rather explicitly, by the outfits each and every one of the Phantom Thieves wear when they enter a Palace.

Which is cool, but I hear you asking, but what of the shadows? WHAT OF THE SHADOWS MAN.

Where the fuck are they? I mean, yeah their persona but...

Hey.

Hey buddy.

You remember every single time the characters transform for the first time their eyes turn into that gleaming yellow color in their eye spaces?

Why it’s almost like they’re...Almost like they’re becoming their shadows?

Why yes, that is exactly what I think is happening here, because TO A MAN, every shadow summon we see has them saying some frankly OMINOUS SHIT. Like...One second let me just rip from the SMT Wiki right quick.

Listen to this shit Arsene Says when he’s summoned.

"What's the matter...? Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then? Very well...I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I...Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!" 

Now if Persona Are Shadows, an established fact in canon, the fact Arsene is saying this to Akira is KIND OF FUCKING CONCERNING, and as I realized like yesterday pretty explicitly foreshadows the bad end. Because well...Do what I want for my own justice? yeah no way that can go wrong it’s not like anyone else in the game is doing that no sirree.

But this is about Ann right? And her frankly kind of weird sexualization that’s going on throughout the game?

What’s Carmen Got to say?

"My... It's taken far too long. Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't? Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within... I am thou, thou art I... We can finally forge a contract... There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength."

That’s...Actually relatively tame. Stop restraining yourself. Uh...ok. Guess that has nothing to-

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND WHO’S CARMEN?

Hey now, short story, Carmen is the heroine of the titular play, and she is a woman who is rather handily in control of her sexuality even when it ends up destroying her (admittedly, because two idiots couldn’t stop being you know...dumb. But anyway). Critical thing though, Carmen is basically a femme fatale, and as Ann says in her Social Link, those were always the kinds of characters that she wanted to be like. Those sexy, kind of devilish lady villains from kids cartoons and you know what, that’s pretty cool. That’s a level of absolute self confidence and such that cannot be denied I think so fair’s fair.

But uh...Have...have any of you seen Ann seduce anyone in the game? She’s....She’s really fucking bad at it guys. She’s actually, consistently awful at it. And yet, Ann is also consistently, continually, stated and shown to be the hot one of the group, such as it goes.

Which, fine, but still...Why the ball dro-

Have you seen her social link? The one where she more or less throughout finds that things she’s been doing on automatic require real genuine effort more than what she was doing? Like say, consistent diet and exercise, skin care, etc etc etc if she wants to be a model? Things she was absolutely not doing? Things she was, in fact, kind of really stunningly, amazingly ignorant of?

I...I almost feel...I almost feel like there’s a parallel here, something something...

Well, Their Shadowverse costumes are explicitly their idea of rebellion, and transforming into it, at least for the first time, has them apparently transforming however briefly into their shadows.

Which says to me, that functionally she, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves, are TRYING ON their shadows. That is to say, they are actively, knowingly, willingly embracing their Shadow Selves, in opposition to the previous groups who more or less suborn the shit out of their less repressed halves. And why wouldn’t they?

I didn’t bring up themes for no reason you know, ramble though this is. The Story is obssessed with being free, breaking the chains that bind you, and outright rebellion. How could they POSSIBLY keep on theme with that, if the first thing that happens upon awakening your persona you shove your shadow in a box and never talk about it again because Hey Y’all, it’s under control, no need to deal with that den of horrors and things I don’t want to think about.

Ann is, effectively, just as everyone else is, trying to directly integrate her shadow self into her. And for her, that involves sexuality rather explicitly. Which is probably even more of a problem for her (for all that it’s not explicitly brought up again ever by anyone else in the game because you know...Rape/Sexual Assault, whether threatened or actual is kind of stressing? Especially if it’s by someone who’s an authority figure and you were supposed to respect and was supposed to protect you? Just...Yeah.)

I mean I’m not an expert by any means, but holy fuck would I think repressing thoughts of myself being sexual in any way shape or form especially when I really wasn’t trying to be and up until that point wasn’t consciously aware of how I was would be absolutely understandable if not justified especially given proximity to the event.

But with that said, She, and the rest of the cast for all of their less than stellar attributes as expressed by their outfits and persona, are actively trying on those parts of themselves, rather explicitly being the version of themselves that they don’t feel they are, or don’t exactly want to be, and have hidden away for one reason or another.

And for Ann, that’s well...being a sexual person. Which notably, no one else at all seems to struggle with save perhaps Makoto but that is arguably a different story (her blanket lack of understanding of love does lean towards inexperience in relationships, which I absolutely get, but on the other hand, her first action upon awakening is to put on a full leather outfit, call herself queen, and immediately mount and ride her [female who pretended to be male] persona out of the mind bank ufo of a dude who kind of threatened making her with prostitution(not strictly in that order), not to mention that her Arcana Card has a lady checking out a questionably clothed model but uh...It’s a different sexual issue shall we say? Although, now that I think about it, does raise some curious questions if my Makoto is the other actual protag thing ever bears fruit.)

Now mind, this doesn’t exactly excuse the camera antics involved, that’s something else entirely, but otherwise, it’s actually pretty consistent from what I recall of it all, So you know...There’s that.

Still mostly a ramble, as there’s a lot missing here but still.

Gotta get into the habit if I’m gonna make a right and proper daily ramble yah?

[eirikrjs]

Tenkai can’t catch a localization break (SMT4A Eng. thoughts)

YHVH has been defeated FOR LITERALLY NO REASON again--but this time, in English! It’s been almost two years since I played the Japanese version of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse and so there were few surprises waiting for me here. Still, as I’ve been making my way through the game I’ve been jotting down things that caught my attention:

First time I’ve noticed that Japanese honorifics are inconsistently cased, e.g., “Kushinada-hime,” but “Kikuri-Hime.” Should be lower case. Like, you wouldn’t type “Sumisu-San.” I don’t remember this in SMT4, but it would have to be since Atlus USA generally doesn’t touch demon tables that have already been translated.

But, uh, maybe they do mess around with them again. Girimekhala’s name has been reverted back to the “Girimehkala” spelling. MEH

The game points out that the signs in Naraku, written by Samurai, are in English. If you look at the texture they certainly are written in roman characters but are gobbledygook. I never thought about it being definitively English because it’s never pointed out that what’s on the texture is meant to be diegetic. But since language choice other than Japanese must have been the influence of the angels on the citizens of Mikado, why would they choose English instead of Hebrew or Latin?

Bucking my own recent magic build trends, this time around I stuck every stat point I got into Dexterity, because I knew you’d eventually get the pierce-all passive. It worked out pretty well, I gotta say! With a +2/-2 buff differential and Charge, Riot Gun was doing almost 10k damage. Here are my current stats:

Dagda chastises you (specifically “humans”) for eating, yet in actuality he’s a god of sustenance. Like, he owns a magical cauldron that never goes empty? How did they mess things up this badly???

There are additional conspicuous double entendres found in the Maruo questline prior to Mara’s appearance I never saw posted on Miiverse, ones even slightly cleverer than Mara’s own. Was that really because there wasn’t a giant green penis on-screen to make the wordplay obvious?

Almost every player I’ve DDS’d with has been Japanese. A couple times I’ve tagged the same player in back-to-back downloads. After 300+ cards, my rankings are, in order: Shiva, Krishna, Alice, Satan, Angel (82), Demiurge, Odin, Izanami, Mastema, White Rider. Could be worse! And no Mara?! I thought he was, like, the most popular demon EVER. Oh, he was judged most popular on a social media platform? So I guess if effort or money are involved his popularity takes a dive Fridays after five, it seems. 

The narration is extremely patronizing. It sometimes describes things you literally just saw visually, like Asahi being eaten. Do they think we’re all in junior high school or something? Oh. Ohhhhh.

Do stores shortchange you when selling relics? I just noticed I was getting about 10k less than the value listed on the field overlay. UPDATE: Later on I save scummed outside of a shop and found that yes, the price you actually get for relics not only deviates from the overlay value,  it fluctuates from visit to visit. Why???

[Suzaku Shot], [Genbu Bomb], [Baihu Rounds], [Long Rounds]. Really. Really?

Oh, would you look at that: all the violent and aggressive Japanese gods are just that way because they are worried about the state of Japan. Izanami just has the best interests of her children in mind. How virtuous!

Seems kind of arbitrary whose souls got sucked up by Shesha and whose didn’t. Though it was hilarious how unconcerned Fujiwara was about the large group of supposedly precious humans who were partying outside of his command center just minutes before; he notices just one guy who’s zombified and goes “yo, this guy’s fucked up.”

Let’s all say it together: INANNA. IS. NOT. A. MOTHER. GODDESS. You can insert the clap emojis yourself.

During the Mitra battle, Toki disses his “truths.” Facile smacktalk, yes, but when you think about it (always a dangerous game to play with Maniacs Team games), Mitra with his contracts and whatnot still represents what were once evidently human truths and viewpoints for the ancient Indo-Iranians, like how important it was for people to keep oaths and the idea of a divine overseer and dispenser of justice. That’s not to say these concepts should be free from criticism, but if you want to ignore what gods really represent and are a bad writer, you can make them look as dumb or evil as you want! Look, it’s amazing I even noticed this because Toki is one of those “instantly depress the X button” kind of characters for me.

The post-Vishnu-Flynn scene where the Scooby gang agrees to kill YHVH is just as cringeworthy as expected, particularly because it’s accompanied by the cheesy anime Kinshicho underground theme; that’s almost as “great” as the instance when the theme plays while you can inspect the body of the dead child lying directly across from your room. That’s a Top 10 SMT Moment right there.

Everything about YHVH’s Universe is even more awful once you can fully understand the dialogue. Also, the last time I went through the dungeon fresh it was before they patched in so many extra warps; seriously, there were at max like 1 or two per Brane (I think). Now they basically act as breadcrumbs, at least for the first couple Branes.

The gameplay is still a lot of fun and fusion is pretty rad in tandem with the affinity system. Just a shame about everything else, including when the gameplay becomes a slog from bloated dungeons or inflated HP totals and MP costs!

Lastly, Flynn’s sword got stuck in mid-air:

“Baiting” a “pole,” huh? Looks like Mara has some up-and-coming competition!