#it was a fun time. but it was basically two rounds' time in one due to the staggered starts

[landgraabbed]

graduation party time!! finally done with uni! year 4 next!

[written-with-blue-ink]

Pokemon Characters and Date Ideas

Basically: what dates would these Pokemon characters do with you? Characters: N Harmonia, Leon, Grimsley, Rika & Prof. Augustine Sycamore

N Harmonia

Was honestly showing affection and did private, one-on-one hangouts together even before you two started dating

It was around this time he got more affectionate in your friendship. Resting his head on top of your hair, deep eye contact (which he was often really bad at), and braiding/playing with your hair or vice versa. 

It wasn’t until you “officially” ask him out and he cocks his head to the side like a confused puppy and goes “I thought we already were?”

Confusion ensues.

As for dates, N is a really quiet and private guy. He doesn’t like being out in public or in overstimulating environments.

Most of the time dates are hikes, picnics, exploring, all that the fun outdoorsy stuff where he gets to shine in his element. 

Occasionally y’all go to Nimbasa City and go on the Ferris Wheel or play at the arcade in the Amusement Park which you both find enjoyable. 

But his favorites are on late nights when neither of you can sleep. 

You two will just go to Dragonspiral Tower and stargaze at the top of the ruins or watch the local wild pokemon do their thing. 

It’s quiet, it’s fun, and he’s with you. What else could he ask for?

Leon

Dense boy, you probably had to beat him over the head with a book to get his brain to understand (mostly bc he keeps accidentally friend-zoning himself)

Has never really dated before? 

Like, Rose set him up on dates because it's good publicity but he probably hasn’t gone on a real date.

He has money, all these brand partnerships and stuff. He tries to do really classy stuff when y’all first start dating but it leads to him being clearly uncomfortable and you getting fed up and explaining you like him for him and to do fun stuff together.

Mostly home dates from that point on or outings that don’t feel like “dates”. 

Game nights where you two play video games are super fun. Some days are challenge days where you see who can do the best run on a Roguelike or who can win the most rounds of a battle royale type game

Some days are cozy co-op games where you solve puzzles and create things…

Y’all’s favorite thing to do together though is just walk and get lost. Esp with Leon’s terrible sense of direction, you two find weird hole-in-the-wall places that are so much fun.

The best one you found was a great hole-in-the-wall traditional kantonian ramen bar that was on the edge of going out of business. However, due to you and Leon talking about it so much with friends and posting about it online, you saved the shop from going out of business.

Grimsley

Your first date with Grimsley wasn’t really what you were expecting in all honesty

He took you out for lunch at his favorite Kalosian cafe then took you to a bookstore and had you both pick out different books for each other, then went to his house and read while old records played in the background

Of course, the book he picked out for you was one of Shauntal’s (because gotta support your friends/little sister figure)

It was so different from what you were expecting but so sweet at the same time. 

Most common dates are drinks at bars after long days or flower viewings knowing you would like them

He also takes you to his favorite spots whenever he visits Alola with you.

But the most fun dates are when the two of you go to Castelia or Nimbasa to the casinos

You both are given the same amount of money and the challenge is who makes the most in time for your dinner reservation

Whenever the two of you see each other during these you have a habit of teasing the other about who’s in the lead. 

In the end, the winner pays for dinner (much to the chagrin of the other)

Rika

She’s the one who asked you and was super casual and blunt about it

Picks you up after work and takes you to the store where the two of you talk about what to make for dinner.

The two of you go back to her place and begin cooking together, smiling and chatting the whole time as the two of you get distracted by cutting veggies and being in each other’s company.

From then on dates were mostly cutesy, one-on-one time for the two of you.

Crafts while watching movies are the most common, sewing, embroidery, sketching, it's just fun and relaxing

Ceramics classes too, wet clay on your hands and you rub it on her face. Only for her to cock her brow and smirk as she cups her face with her filthy hands and kisses your nose.

Her favorite dates are the ones when you get to help her at the Academy. Running after-school activities or working in the library

It combines her admiration of her students and her love of you… her two favorite things

Prof. Augustine Sycamore

Honestly over the moon when you accepted to go on a date with him

The man is in his late 30s/early 40s and his last relationship kinda fell apart really badly 

*cough cough Lysandre cough*

So he was out of the dating scene for a while and didn’t exactly know what to do when you said yes

Like, his brain crashed and did a hard reset. He was not expecting to get this far…

He gives all his employees off one day and decks out the backyard of his lab with string lights, and sheets, rummaging around the attic of the lab, and a call to his favorite restaurant.

When you arrived you saw the backyard completely transformed into a cozy outdoor movie spot with takeout and snacks prepared at a picnic table

It’s super sweet

Besides that, you two go on “research” dates together. It’s mostly pokemon watching and taking notes on what you find.

The little sketches he does of the pokemon you find absolutely adorable!

[pyrpaw]

Can i have uhhh first year gang visiting yuu in their world? Thank youu

hell yeah you can have that 🙏 I did a little intro to the situation, and then some head cannons

(contents: might be a but ooc because I imagine they'd be pretty happy to see you again after you disappeared without saying bye, (name) is mentioned to go to school and have a job, their age isn't mentioned but they are implied to live alone(for plot reasons<3))

How did... you get here?

(I had no gif ideas)

You thought you were crazy, you got transported into some place called "Twisted wonderland" and then, you randomly got back home! and seemingly no time had passed, was it just an elaborate dream?... you had no clue, but you had to continue your life like normal. So, going back to school, your job, all of that, left with no one to rant to about how you missed your friends from Twisted wonderland... because are they even real?

Turns out, they were real! because at 2 in the morning you were doing your homework and heard banging and talking from another room, it sounded like multiple voices so you quickly tried to find your phone... only to realize it's downstairs. So, grabbing a hammer in your room you silently made your way outside your room and as silently as you could, downstairs. You heard the voices growing closer and closer, your anxiety peaked as you held your breath and froze, panic filling you as when one of the figures was about to round the corner. Once you saw a foot step out you immediately stood up and lifted the hammer up in a panic, ready to strike down.

And once your hands were already going down you met eyes with a familiar green haired fae who flinched as his head was struck with a hammer. You two stared at each other in shock and confusion, as the other first years came over to see what happened, everyone's eyes widened when they saw you... and the hammer that connected with Sebek's head.

"... Sebek?" You spoke in a quiet voice, slowly pulling the hammer back down as you stared at him. He silently nodded as the others stared at you in awe. You couldn't comprehend any words, before getting tackled into a hug from Ace as he buried his face into your neck and spoke with a shaky voice. "... I thought I'd never see you again.." and before you could even reply, Deuce came up and tightly hugged you too. "... you didn't say bye to anyone" he mumbled as he pulled back and stared at you with teary eyes.

So, after a whole lot of reunions, the boys explained that they didn't know how they got there, or how to get back, so obviously they're allowed to stay with you.

Ace Trappola

He's definitely gonna make fun of your decor, your clothes, basically anything... even though hes gonna steal your T-shirts even after they all got their own clothes

If you're not constantly going out with friends or talking to them he's gonna bully you about being a loser, however if you are constantly talking to friends, he's gonna complain that you're not giving them enough attention and you're being a bad host (even though he really only means that he wants more attention)

Deuce Spade

He won't automatically think about getting a job, but if he hears that you're struggling with paying for all of them then he'll find some kind of job and complain about it 24/7, especially because it'll probably be in customer service due to his age and having no records of anything

Unlike Ace, Deuce automatically starts to help you with funds, he'll probably find a customer service job, maybe even two

Jack Howl

He'll probably get a good reputation with your neighbors, always offering them any help, and usually being gifted something, whether it be muffins or just money

I think that he would kinda just stay home mostly, really only going out with you where he can follow you like a lost puppy (only because he doesn't know this world like you!)

also-he totally takes note of what decor, music, and clothes you like even more now, so that he has ideas for a potential gift and or way to bond with you

Epel Felmier

So... he kinda had to be... barricaded in a way, until you could find a proper hat to cover his ears, he couldn't leave... because some preteen will bark at him

Once he can leave the house though, he immediately gets a job... and spends a bit of the money on a gym membership (also, if you go to the gym he is hyped, he's following you around it the whole time totally not trying to show off his strength)

I think he'd honestly get a job at a gym, maybe a personal trainer even

He basically took up the chore of grocery shopping, like he meal preps and all, it's mainly just veggies and meat that he buys

Sebek Zigvolt

He's thrilled to finally be away from Vil and Rook, now he can actually be himself! His stupid dirty jokes and overall roughness has definitely amped up now that he knows Vil won't find out

He couldn't really find a job due to having no proof that he wasn't a girl, but like Deuce he takes up jobs from your neighbors, getting some cash here and there

He also usually goes on grocery trips with Jack, with Jack getting healthy food, and Epel begging him to get at least a few junk food items, plus he's great at picking out what fruit and veggies are the best

Ortho Shroud

Hes definitely having a hard time with the whole... all humans... no magic thing, to the point that he kept accidentally using his magic in public and got house arrest by you, leaving Ortho to make sure he didn't leave

He's still allowed to go out with supervision though, and anytime you go out to town with him he basically acts as a body guard, glaring at anyone would date approach you

He was given the task of cooking, because he obviously had to learn so he didn't have to eat Lilia's cooking, so him and Jack discuss meek plans for the week/month

He's also like a guard dog when he's outside just in the yard, he's keeping coyotes away, Bobcats, bears, any predator, he's keeping it away with no doubt

Grim

Much like Jack, he couldn't leave the house due to being a robot, technically he could leave and would just get some weird glances for having a "cosplay" on, but he decided to stay back and keep Grim company... and watch Sebek

Whenever he gets bored he'll rummage through the house and find old objects that you clearly don't use anymore... and somehow end up upgrading any technology in this house?? like you came home and suddenly your laptop had the power of a damn PC

He'll also go around when he's bored and clean up for you, putting things away, sweeping, mopping, everything, he's very considerate!

now.... Grim obviously can't leave, he has fire ears! So he's pretty pouty, but after you got him a few toys and a tablet (iPad baby I'm sorey), he calmed down, but he's still not happy!

There are a few acres of forest nearby, so sometimes he'll sneak out there with Ortho to get some outdoors time, but he's almost gotten caught a few times, each time getting scolded by you or Jack

He's secretly very happy to be able to sleep on top of his henchmen again, hes always clinging onto you now, after having the biggest scare of the one person he considered "family" randomly disappearing and leaving him all alone!

[cerastes]

It's kind of amazing that a horny game like Nikke actually included stuff like Cyberpsychosis. Nikkes going insane or committing suicide if they are reminded too much that they are actually full-conversion cyborgs. The reason why they don't have a lot of cool gadgets like built-in thrusters or weapons. And then you have someone like Snow White who replaced a large chunk of her body with enemy robot parts.

Nikke is this really cool thing to have Existing in the space, even if I don't play it anymore, because of how charmingly unbalanced it is as a whole, making the charming parts of it all the more apparent.

It's got barebones gameplay, the seams of which burst the moment you do high level content and realize there's not much it can do due to its limited concept. Combat rarely translates to whatever is going on in any story thematically, being thus gameplay being more of an abstraction. There is a gulf and an ocean of power between fellow characters of the same rarity, meaning a max rarity character might do absolutely fuck all while another one, with the same odds, might snap the game in two with ease. It's story is absolutely nothing to write home about. It's a setting that can be best described as "self-indulgent incel nice guy heaven", where your character is The Only One to be nice to all these poor second class citizen superpowered voluptuous supermodel living weapons with tits two times your head and asses big and heavy enough to easily crush cars. Everything jiggles. It's so insanely predatory with its flash sales after every little thing you do.

And yet, the basic story it tells, it tells well. It's fun. It's entertaining. It knows what it is, and it has fun with itself, but it doesn't throw all pretense, either. It walks the razor-edge thin line between having a goof and telling a story with emotional depth. What it doesn't have in complexity or originality, it makes up for in sheer moment-to-moment, with good scenes, with good execution of things we've already seen. The showdown with Modernia lives rent free in my mind, Commander loading the Vapaus round, as Modernia or Marian, no way of telling, begs them to put down the weapon, because she's already back to normal, Commander shooting, and Modernia catching it with her teeth, and then growling the most guttural threat with freshest purest fury: "You shot me. Your really shot me! Shikikan!" and then drilling Commander right through the chest. And everything that happens after in that scene. It's got interactions out the wazoo, both mundane and touching. It has music that goes from "background music that really works" to "handcrafted for the moment and the character in its excellence". I think it's because Nikke knows what it is, but doesn't reach the self-mockery rung of the ladder. It knows what it's doing, and it's still sincere about it, even if it dares have fun at its own expense sometimes.

So, with that on the table, the take on Cyberpsychosis present in Nikke is incredibly powerful as a narrative tool because it tells you just how much of a jury-rigged slapdash product Nikke are. They are not cutting edge technology, they are literally something they pumped out quick as can be while telling everyone in the world that's still alive that they are cutting edge technology. And all, all of the safeguards are ultimately subject to willpower and perspective. Some Nikke go insane if they are too machine-like. Snow White has basically rebuilt herself over and over hundreds of times in her forever war. Nikke cannot aim at humans, so Crow instead puts a steel plate on the ground and ricochets her bullets off of those to shoot Commander successfully. Aiming is something you do with your senses normally, right? Rose figured out that she can just wear a blindfold and convince herself that what she's slashing is not a human, but a Rapture, and that's how she disemboweled and killed her Commander. Just by not seeing and fervently believing.

It's really, really cool how they go about it.

[dark-frosted-heart]

The Fairytale Keeper's Final Assessment - Roger (Part 1)

This is the 1st anniversary event and is in his POV.

As usual, can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on this

Similar to how there are humans who are seriously ill, but unaware of the fact that they are, there are also humans who surprisingly lack self-awareness.

As for me? Who knows.

(A letter of agreement to continue as a fairy tale keeper, huh? Now, what to do.)

After talking with Victor, I took the letter with me.

(Basically, spend the day with Kate to get an idea)

(So whether she continues or leaves is one me.)

(Why me, though?)

I know I bother Kate a lot.

(It’s fun having her wrapped around my finger. The other dayー)

~~ Flashback ~~

Roger: What’s up, Kate? Is that all you’re eating? Here, say “ah”.

Kate: Huh? Ah…mmph?!

Roger: Pfft, hahaha. You look just like the family corgi with the way your cheeks are stuffed with food. He’s such a glutton with puffing cheeks.

Kate: Don’t just stuff it in!

Roger: Tasted good though, didn’t it?

Kate: I-it did…

~~ End flashback ~~

(She’s a natural at doing what I want)

It’s been a part of my routine to lead her around, but doing that and deciding her direction in life are two completely different things.

(I’m not gonna selfishly make that decision)

(Which means that at the end of the day, the choice is up to Kate)

(Ah, now that I think about it…)

~~ Flashback ~~

Victor: What if you don’t agree? Then we’ll say farewell to Kate when the time comes. Ah, please keep this a secret from her.

~~ Flashback end ~~

Even if I get punished for revealing it to Kate, I got ways to get around it.

And it’s all thanks to the info I collect from my daily research.

(Information always comes in handy)

As I was thinking about it, familiar footsteps descending down the stairs to the basement vibrated against my eardrums.

Kate: Pardon the intrusion.

Roger: Yo, Kate.

Kate: I suddenly got a day off today so I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help around.

Victor’s as capable as ever so he can make sure that Kate gets a proper day off.

Roger: And you came all the way to me? You’ll die young with how much of a workaholic you are. Ah, or is it… Because you wanted to see me?

Kate: N-no…

Roger: And yet here you are. You’re such a hard worker, aren’t you?

Kate: ~~...! T-that’s right. I’m hardworking.

Kate was pouting, but still waited for my next words like a dog being told “wait” by her owner.

(That’s what makes you so adorable)

Roger: Then, kind and considerate Roger will give you a job to do. Repeat after me so you don’t forget it, Kate.

Kate: Okay.

Roger: I’m ready to go out.

Kate: I’m ready to go out.

Roger: We’re both free today.

Kate: We’re both free today.

Roger: We’re going to spend our free time having fun.

Kate: !

Roger: Repeat it?

Kate: We’re going to spend our free time having fun!

Kate’s delightful smile was contagious.

–

Kate: What is this place, Roger?

Roger: As you can see, it’s a gym in the palace. And these are boxing gloves. Let’s box, Kate.

Kate was dumbfounded but I ignored it.

She accepted the gloves with a tilt of her head.

Kate: Don’t you go by the boxing club in town?

Roger: I do, but I come here when I need a quick workout. Soldiers serving at the palace aren’t stationed here, but called in when necessary. But there’s usually a few around so I grab them over for a round. I’m one of Victor’s most valued guests so they can’t deny me.

Kate: As evil as ever…

Alfons: I’ve heard that Her Majesty has been receiving complaints about being sore all over due to dealing with Roger.

Kate: Alfons!

Alfons, who just so happened to be passing by, scrutinized me deliberately.

Alfons: Muscle glasses here’s become insensitive to other people’s pain. How pathetic…

Roger: Muscles don’t grow unless you work them every once in a while, you know? Al, you’re joining in on the fun too.

Alfons: I’m afraid boxing gives me hives. I’ll see you, Miss Kate. My condolences.

Kate: Hehe, looks like Alfons got away.

Roger: That guy runs away faster than a cat. I should put a leash on him.

As we talked, Kate put the gloves on and I took hits with my mitt.

(I know I’m not familiar with how a woman’s mind works)

Usually, it’s exhausting dealing with selfishness.

It’s such a bother, so I stopped letting them in on my hobbies.

(But this one…)

Kate: What the. This is a lot more fun than I thought it’d be! 

Roger: Haha, right?

Kate: When you’re just mindlessly hitting things, you release your worries and get a high.

Kate spoke excitedly and her smile widened as if she thought of something.

Kate: Also, I can make use of this when going on missions with Crown!

Roger: O_O

Kate’s words surprised me.

(Ah, I see)

(When she’s gone, we won’t be able to go on missions together)

Kate: Roger…?

Roger: It’s nothing. Come on, hit me again.

[hubristicassholefight]

Hubristic Assholes Tourney Round 1 Part 3a

Erin Ruunaser (Aurora) vs Manfred von Karma (Ace Attorney)

Propaganda below cut (Spoiler warning!)

Erin

So in Aurora, there was this ancient, magical storm that been going on for centuries. The further one went in, the more likely they were to die either due to the hostile environment or the massive amounts of ambient magic would begin to basically destroy their body from the inside. Erin looked at this and basically went “yes, but I’m built different” and went inside with zero backup. Now, technically speaking, he is in a way built different as he is one of the only people in the world who can control all of the six (known) magical elements that make up the Storm, so he was able to bypass all of the obstacles and make it to the center. When he got there, he unknowingly activated a trap that destroyed the Storm and caused him to become possessed by an eldritch star-eating dragon, whose physical body is still stuck in the core of the planet and wants to use his new vessel to free himself. Whoopsie! Now, Erin is searching for a way to sever his link with the dragon without his buddies from the Academy finding out. Also he’s being hunted by Paladins now. Fun times; At one point, he tries to learn more about the Void Dragon by accessing a Paladin library. The receptionist doesn’t let him in because he isn’t a Paladin, and he basically goes full Karen on her (he literally asks to speak with her supervisor/manager). Then he learns that one of his friends will be held prisoner for as long as they plan to stay in the city (long story). Erin still plans to stay for as long as he needs to get information on the evil Void Dragon. Said dragon literally appears in his dream that night to tell him he’s being kind of an asshole. Also despite all of this, Erin still isn’t entirely sure if the Light Dragon worshiped by the Paladins is even real. He knows the Void Dragon is real, but the opposite still seems like a stretch I guess. Also the receptionist from earlier is one of the Paladins currently hunting him. He needs to be shoved in a locker. I need to shove him in a locker.

Travels through a famously dangerous magic storm just because he can, fixes some kind of broken magic rune circle that is causing the storm, getting possessed by the evil Void Dragon in the process; He once tried to talk his way into a restricted library and got shot down hilariously

He tries to explore to the center of this volatile magic storm that no one's ever gotten to the center of, and immediately gets possessed by the primordial void dragon that had been waiting for someone exactly like him to try to get to the center of the storm. At the time of writing this he's about to try to cross an ocean on an experimental never-before-seen type of boat, which i suspect will only go well and will have no problems :)

Ventures into a giant magical storm, declaring that the only reason no one has ever reached the center is because he hasn't tried to yet. Reaches the center and promptly decides to switch off the magical pedestal creating the storm, because he can, and gets possessed by a star-eating eldritch dragon god for his trouble.

Literally the first thing he does in the comic is go explore a highly dangerous magical storm just because he's currently the one person in the world who can manipulate all six traditional magic elements and is therefore the only person who can explore the storm safely. At its center, Erin discovers a cracked pedestal with the elemental runes on it and deduces it to be the cause of the storm, then just stops the storm without a second thought, which is notable for two reasons: 1. By the time the audience gets this info, we've already seen a town whose infrastructure depends on the strong winds the storm produces, which is obviously no longer viable 2. The storm itself turned out to have been a trap set by an ancient evil star-eating dragon trapped in the center of the planet which has now possessed Erin. He's actually incredibly booksmart and puts that knowledge to very impressive use sometimes, but he is also known to be impulsive, overcome with confusion when presented with a thing he doesn't know about already, and of course, hubristic. (he does demonstrate a pretty well-aligned moral compass when it counts, though) In summary, I really like him because his combination of character traits makes him flip-flop wildly between "exactly as awesome as he thinks he is" and "hopelessly cringefail" depending on the situation and it never stops making sense. He's so smart but he's so stupid.

(Spoilers) This dude walked into a massive magical storm that literally nobody lived long enough to see the center of, all while gloating about how smart he is, then touched a highly suspicious symbol and got himself possessed by basically Satan. He then proceeds to lecture Not-Satan on how he’s the smart one on this team and that he better sit down and shut up unless he wants to be killed by his MANY enemies. And the strange part is that it worked; The fandom gave him the nicknames “Icarus” “Sicktats McHubris” and “Pompous Nitwit” and I think that says a lot about him

Manfred

During a trial against Miles Edgworth’s dad Gregory Edgeworth Manfred von karma gets a penalty he does not lose the trial however he considers this penalty an egregious enough crime that he must kill Gregory Edgeworth. And he does however due to Miles throwing a gun he gets shot in the shoulder causing him to take his one and only vacation to recover. However he doesn’t get the bullet removed to avoid questioning as to why he has a bullet in his shoulder. For 15 years he gets away with it (miles doesn’t know it was him it’s a whole thing) but then just a few days before the statute of limitations is up on the murder of Gregory Edgeworth he decides to with the help of the Yani Yogi the man originally accused of murdering Gregory Edgeworth frame Miles for the murder of the defense attorney that got Yani off with an insanity plea (which is why Yani hates the man) then after it’s proven Yani is the murder Miles confesses to killing his dad and in Manfred’s attempt to convict Miles for that it’s proven that he killed Gregory. How? Phoenix uses a metal detector to detect the bullet in his shoulder; The thing that kills me about Manfred “I killed a man because he gave me a penalty in court” Von Karma is that he absolutely could’ve gotten away with it if he didn’t try to get revenge on Miles. He was so confident that he would get Miles convicted if not for the murder of Robert Hammond than for the murder of his own father. He was so confident because there’s no way this attorney with only 3 cases under his belt will beat him not when he tased him and that weird girl tagging along with him in the evidence room preventing him from getting any evidence on the DL-6 case except he didn’t prevent them he didn’t even bother to check because that weird girl ended up holding onto a bullet. the bullet that killed Gregory a bullet they could use to for comparison to see if a bullet was shot from the same gun a bullet like the one in Manfred’s shoulder. The bullet he didn’t have removed to avoid the question of “where did that bullet in your shoulder come from”

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hey! I still want some Sakura! Reader, but its fine if you dont want to write one. Basically, after their marriage with their lovers, they have 2 children together, the eldest is a boy and the youngest is a girl, maybe 4-5 years age gap?

So, their son train under their father while their daughter decided to become healer like reader. Right after their training, the son and RoR character decided to check on reader and their daughter, maybe for a meal together only to see reader and daughter duking it out, destroying their entire surrounding when their punches/fists met.

RoR character is just looked on, used to reader's strength while their son, who was unaware of reader's strength begin sweating. Then the son remember how the RoR characters had said that he had asked reader to punch him once to asses her strength and their son immediately shouted in shock and disbelief.

Son: How are you still alive?!

-(Love) adored you, he has for years now, but now he has more to adore with the children he created with you, a son and daughter.

-You were an amazing mother, handling not only the pregnancy and the births with ease, but also raising the children while also dealing with him and your duties, it was honestly amazing how well rounded you were!

-Your daughter had been begging to start training with you, to be like her big brother, who was 8 while she was only 5, as she sees him training with her papa all the time and she wants to do it too, seeing it as playing.

-(Love) and you had discussed it, and after one hell of a puppy eye look from your daughter, you agreed, and you started her off with strength and endurance training first, running and exercising, but she didn’t mind, as she felt like it was like playing and she was like her big brother!

-There had been some hesitation about you training her, due to your unnatural strength, the result of hard work and grueling training when you were younger, but your daughter wasn’t one to give up easily, she was stubborn, just like her father.

-It was a quiet day, after several months of training, when your son and (Love) were returning home from their own training and they felt the earth shaking around them, thinking it was an earthquake and they ran for the house.

-Moments later they were both gawking, watching you showing off your strength, chasing after your daughter, punching the ground where she was, creating craters while your daughter was giggling, easily dodging. She learned how to train by thinking everything was a game.

-You were laughing too, having fun with your daughter while the men were staring; (Love) looked impressed, seeing you showcasing your skills again and impressed with the dodging skills of your daughter.

-It was your son who was gaping, as he knew that the two of you met in Ragnarok, where you were fighting each other, and seeing how easily you were destroying the yard, moving so fast to keep up with his sister, and laughing at the same time.

-His eye lid was twitching lightly, “How the hell did you survive fighting against mama?” the two of you stopped, noticing them and you came over, bopping your son lightly on the head with the back of your hand, not hurting him in the slightest, “Language young man. How was training?”

-Your son gushed about the new techniques he was learning as (Love) kneeled as your daughter ran over, hugging her tightly as she gushed to him about the game the two of you had been playing.

-(Love) and you wouldn’t change your world for anything, this was peace for the both of you, living together with your little family.

[wjhik]

Pussy (Jude Bellingham)

A/N: Angsty one

Warnings: Slightly toxic jude; pushy reader; very light injury

Y/N's POV:

Jude knows I'm not a virgin. Him and I were best friends for so long, but we got romantic, technically more confused, about 2 months ago. I kissed him on a drunken night, and then he stayed the night with me. Not sleeping with me though. Then he popped the 'what are we' question. I've liked Jude for a while, but I can't help but feel like he doesn't feel the same way. He's not that romantic with me. He doesn't want to take me on dates or get me flowers, but he always wants to be touching me or have me touching him. He never calls me his, but never lets anyone near me. I've asked him about a relationship, and he explained to me how he moves around too much, and he only wants the best for me. I understand where he's coming from. If he just wants to stay friends, I get that. Even if he just thinks of me as a bootycall, I get that. At this point, I don't even know what he wants. He refuses to have sex with me.

Jude is sitting with me on my couch. He has his head on my chest and my hands are running through his hair. I've been staring at the back of his head for the past 5 minutes, contemplating our relationship. My train of thoughts is interrupted by Jude asking me the time. "8:32. Why?" I ask him. "I'm gonna go out with the boys at 9:30. I think they're bringing the girls, too. You're welcome to come." He tells me. Jude had his friend group and I had mine. Him and I have known each other forever, but we introduced our friends to each other a few years ago. We all turned into one huge friend group, some of my friends dating his, so our hangouts are usually quite fun for both of us. "Yeah, I'll come. Let me get ready."

"Hey, babes. You coming out today? Did Jude tell you?" Milly asks me. I put my phone on speaker phone and continue doing my makeup. "Yeah, he told me. I'm getting ready now." I tell her, brushing my cheeks with a rosy pink. "Alright. Need a ride? Jane and I are sharing an Uber. Want to share with us?" She asks me. "Nah, it's alright. I'm coming with Jude." I reply. "Ooohh. Juju's bringing his missus?" Jane, in the background, says in a singsongy tone. She's obviously already begun her drinking for the night. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. See you lot there. Love ya's"     I tell them, hanging up.

"Ready? Whoa." Jude says, looking up from his phone, leaning against the door frame. He walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist, his face in the crook of the neck and swaying us back and forth. "You look and smell amazing, love." He says, placing a light kiss on my neck. I can feel my stomach doing somersaults. This is the most affection Jude has given me basically ever. "We should go." He says, pulling away from me. I immediately feel cold when he leaves me, and I don't think it's because of my barely-there dress that I have on.

"A round of tequila shots for the table, please!" Maya orders for the table. "Sooo..." Milly says, nudging me. "So, what?" I know what. She's going to ask me what Jude and I are and then get disappointed by my answer. "You know what, Y/N!" Jane says before going to take a sip of her boyfriend's drink (which she's drinking due to the ban on her buying one for herself), which is quickly snatched away from her. She pouts at him, and he explains how he'd like to see her alive by the end of the night. Those two bicker like an old married couple. It's more adorable than anything. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Josaiah. Anyways, how are you and Jude??" Jane says, brushing her boyfriend off her. "Same old..." I say, disappointedly stirring my martini. "You guys haven't even had sex yet? After he dragged you out of the club last weekend for dancing on that guy, I thought you would for sure get a good fucking." Milly says, shocked. "I thought so too, but apparently not. He just gave me a lecture about how 'guys can be dangerous' and how I should be more responsible." I say, finger quoting him. "Literally, who the fuck is this guy?" Phoenix chimes in, dropping the shots she received from the bar on the table."He's always loving on you and shit. Why can't he just commit?" She says frustratedly. She gets more angry about how guys treat me than I do. She's always been super protective of her girls. "He's not even worth your stress. Bottoms up." Milly says, passing out the shots to everyone, not including Jane to avoid an earful from her boyfriend.

"What are you pretty ladies up to?" I look back to where the voice came from. I see Jude and Alex standing there with their drink in hand, not paying a single ounce of attention to me. "Hey, baby." Phoenix replies, avoiding eye contact with Jude, still upset at his treatment toward me. Alex walks up to his girl, placing a hand on Phoenix's shoulder, giving her a kiss. Gets up to sit with her boyfriend on the other table. Alex takes this opportunity to sit next to Phoenix. Jude, however, continues looking for a seat. I make some space next to me and call out to him. He locks eyes with me and I pat the booth chair. Jude sits down and scoots next to me. I look around me to see all the happy couples loving on each other. Jude is talking to Toby when I cling onto his arm like a baby koala.

"Jude!! Come dance with me!!" I say, high on adrenaline. All of a sudden, this sad night turned into a very fun one. The DJ played some of our favorite songs and my girls pushed me to dance with them. With enough alcohol in my veins to keep me confident, I agree and I'm having so much fun. Jude shakes his head at me, sipping on his drink. I roll my eyes and walk over to him. I grab his hand and pull him. He leaves his drink and friends behind as he resistingly walks with  me. I start dancing with him, and it gets a little more heated than expected. He has his hands on my hips, damn near at my ass, and my arms are slung around his shoulder. I move my hand to his face and he looks away from me. I grab his face with both my hands and make him face me. We lock eyes and I kiss him. At first, he's timid and resistant, but after a while he eases into him. I hear a few shouts and catcalls from his friends before I decide it's time to go. I'm sick of this playing around shit. I'm going to get what I want from him today. What we both want.

I push him against the door and kiss him hard. His hands are hovering over my ass, but not touching. What is this guy so scared of? I break the kiss and reach behind me. I keep eye contact with him and grab his hands and put them firm on my ass. "Mhh...Y/N, we shouldn't..." He moans into my mouth. "Why not?" I say, grinding against him. He pushes my hands off him and grabs me. He kneels down to my eye level. "You're drunk." I sneak a light kiss on his lips. "I'm not. And neither are you. Don't be a pussy." One thing about Jude is that he doesn't get mad, but when he does, he is scary. He's a 6'2 professional athlete. As gentle as he is, he can hurt you if he wants to. One thing you never want to call Jude Bellingham is a coward.

I can see Jude's eyes go dark as that leaves my mouth. I know it was a bad idea, but I need a reaction from him. He flips me over and slams me against the wall I had him pinned against just a second ago. I hit my head relatively hard against the wall. I look away from him and the back of my head with my hand. This is quickly stopped with Jude's hand being wrapped tightly around my throat. The breath is stolen away by him. This isn't the reaction I expected, but it's better than nothing. "Say that shit again. I dare you." He says. My hands are pulling at his much bigger ones around my neck. "You're. A fucking. Pussy." I say, in between gasps for breath. Jude's grip tightens around my neck. He pulls me towards his face. I feel his breath fanning against my face. I see something in his eyes that I can't identify. He lets me go roughly, making me hit my head again. That was really aggressive, but maybe he just likes it like that. I don't mind. I look up at him, his eyes much softer now.

I lead Jude into my bedroom after that very rough interaction. I sit him down on my bed and get on top of him. "I'm sorry." I tell him. Maybe I went too far. I shouldn't play about stuff like that. Jude starts loving on me and apologizing. He's kissing my neck. "Mhh. It's okay. I liked it." I mean, I didn't love it, but it's Jude, so it's okay. I take off my dress and go in to kiss him. I feel him get hard underneath me. That's a good sign. He bucks up into me as I kiss his neck. I take off his shirt. He has his hands spread out, not touching me. Normally he's all over me. Maybe he's not like that while having sex. I start grinding on him and he's letting me, but still not touching me. I feel his semi go completely soft. What happened? Maybe I should suck him off. Guys like that.

I unbutton his pants and slip them off. I reach for his dick and squeeze it. "Y/N." Jude says in a serious tone. I continue stroking him through his underwear. "Y/N." I hear again. "What, Jude? What is it??" I ask him, desperately. I pull my hands away from him. "We shouldn't do this. You're drunk." He says. What is wrong with this guy? I'm barely tipsy. He's so open to shut me down when I want something, regardless of how I feel, so if he doesn't want this he can just say it. "Jude. I am fucking sober and we both know that!" I yell at him. How come the one time he needs to shut me down and shut me out he can't. Jude quickly jerks me off him, leaving me to fall to the bed, hitting my head on the headboard. "Fuck!! What is your fucking problem?!" I ask, rubbing my head. I basically have a concussion at this point.

Jude's POV:

How do I tell my best friend that I'm madly in love with that I'm scared to have sex with her? Not because of her or anything she's like, but I don't want to hurt her. Not emotionally. I would be the best boyfriend to her. No one could treat her better than me. Physically. She's so small, and I'm so...not. I get up, ignoring her cries of pain. I walk around the room to find my shirt. "Jude!! I'm talking to you!" I hear from behind me. Why does she have to make this so hard? Just let me leave without a fight. "Why won't you fuck me?! Or date me?! Or anything?! Man, all you fucking guys are the same! You take what you want and then leave before you get too fucking scared!" Ouch. Her voice sounds shaky. I hope she's not crying. I finish buttoning my shirt and grab my pants. "Jude, please..." She sounds scared. I finish putting my pants on and grab my shoes. I sit down at the end of her bed where she lies. "You're a fucking pussy." Does this girl not learn? I finish putting on my shoes. "Why can't you get it in your fucking brain that I don't want to hurt you? I've seen what guys have done to you. Who's going to be your Jude when I do that to you? That's why I won't date you. And I won't fuck you because I'm me and you're you. You were wrecked every time your 5'6 whiteboy would fuck you. Crying to me about how your legs, and your back, and your arms, and whatever the fuck else. I'm not going to be the one to do that. Not to you." I look down at her as I stand up from my place on the bed. She looks crushed, tears running down her face.

Y/N's POV:

Wow. I am an asshole. I see Jude's remorseful but exhausted face. I don't even realize that I'm crying. "I'm so sorry, Juju." I say, reaching for his hand. He sits down next to me. I tuck myself into his chest and he rubs my head, where he hurt me multiple times. As I start to doze off, I feel Jude getting up. "Where are you going?" I ask him. He walks out the bedroom door. I quickly get up and put on my robe and house slippers. I see Jude at my front door with his hand on the doorknob "Jude?" I ask him. Without even looking back at me, he turns the knob and walks out. Wow. Maybe I wasn't wrong about him.

Wattpad: funkyfishfeet

DM for requests

->

[color-craz]

AF MidWeek Round-up!

This is just a simple post compiling all of my attacks so far along with some artists notes! Mostly because I found myself much more active this year than last year (Minus these few couple days due to some appointments). I'll be tagging everyone and linking to other socials so you can see these lovely folks. Of course if you want to attack me, I'm ready to fight! Without further ado, here's all the attacks so far :>

@cosmicdenro @stellarknightz - Weekend Date The name of the game for these first few attacks was to get everyone who I was supposed to last year but ran out of time ^^;;. I decided upon Jesse's Zircon over Jesse the character (one in my bookmarks) b/c it seemed like Turquoise Zircon was less drawn this year but was his icon on AF. So easy pick from me :> (Btw doing Sodalite's stripes and copying Zircon's shape language was really fun!!)

@/clawothy (Twitter) - Chill Cat Another attack from last years bookmarks! It was definitely a soft but enjoyable opening into drawing furries since Claw's so human shaped. It was fun drawing his tail and patterns :>. This is just a nice character design all around.

@twidaisi - Speedy Service Twi was also one from my bookmarks, but also a doorway down an ArtFight rabbit hole. Which will become apparent in the next two pieces. For this one, I had a pretty clear pose in mind so I placed it onto O.R.B.I and went from there!! His design is so neat and he seems so cool! The pose was also pretty fun to do as well, just an overall fun art piece (Also this one got a revenge!!! I still really really love thank you so much!!!!!)

@scratchgeist - Escapism Ho! This was a doozy! Twi had Scratch's profile linked so I ended up hitting him with an attack too. Drawing Scratch's mane turned out to be a pleasant experience despite me originally fearing it. This scene idea also came from a prompt of Scratch going outside. I ended up putting Polish on this because all those scratchy "ink like" lines I actually did manually (take a fuzzy brush and then go over it using a sketchbook eraser). It was nice dipping my toes into BatIM again and trying out more animal feature.

@/stylin.art Instagram @/crypticc0rpse Instagram - Pirates in arms One of those two people were linked on Scratch's profile and the person linked also linked to the other person. But I realized that both Stylin and Crypt had some shared characters. So this ended my little rabbit hole of people by attacking these two lovely fellows at the same time. This little crossing swords idea took me a nice minute to come up with but I liked how it ended up anyway. I really did like drawing James together like this (probably helps that I really like pirates in general). Also yes I know her hand is fucked up I noticed way to late to fix it.

@smoresthehalloweenqueen - Listen to the waves Once I finished up with that I moved onto the next bookmark, which was Smores! Originally I was gonna draw Brutus but then I was like "I like his sona it looks like fun!" So I drew them listening to music because why not :>. I struggled on the arms initially but it came out real clean and nice. Honestly might be my best work so far! (Fun fact, I color picked the waves + background from Seafoam's icon.)

@skittisketch - I got it! Mr. Sascachawean himself! I referenced this pose form the classic Objection point because I thought it would fit his personality. This was also a little bit of a test with a style I had only done in sketches (Basically my human style but omitting a neck which somehow shaves off a lot of time). This was a super fun pose to do with a pretty nice background! (Once again, fucked up hand I know I noticed too late again)

@justpainterrobot - Rare Nightly Sight I had this really really clear picture of what I thought up for this attack and I'm happy that I was able to make it a reality. I put the polish tag on this one because I almost got super super detailed of what the junk was below her (Stuff coming down from Elysium n all that) but due to a lack of references I just went with typical metal and wood. Fun fact, the night sky in the background is based on the one from Deponia itself (The first game's scenes with the professor at night). I think this rewrite of Toni was really cool from what I could find about her. Overall a labor of love type of attack.

@coelpts @swan-swanno - Boss Battle I thought to myself "Hm, I see Coelpts around a lot, lets hit him with an attack." and it turns out Ciel's gay married to Swanno's charater Mikhail, who was the last one in my bookmarks from last year. So another double attack for this one! It was a struggle starting this one mostly because I was debating whether or not to draw Ciel's Lord outfit but I ended up doing so because why not :>. It was a fun experience copying Swanno's more angular style, which is a stark departure from my more rounded shapes (As you can see here). Has a nice venture doing the lighting as well, overall a good experience.

@tailsylennon - Sweet Treats Mitchell showed off Tasily's proflie one day and I saw their sona and was I was like "Lemme draw it!" and did! I ended up following another prompt by her because it was their birthday! (By the time I started on this it was 8 pm and I freaked tf out and got to work). Her sona was really cool and I really loved drawing them. Fun fact, each of the set pieces references the Hallows Souls trio. The chair is decorated after Terra, Markus is the table, and Whistle pallet is used for the tea set :>. It was just a pleasant and cozy attack to make overall.

@ceaseless-enemy - Congratulations!!!! I've actually known about Voila for quite awhile now and thought his design n theaming is quite neat! I actually based the pose off of Ai from Oshi No Ko (I think one of her key arts before the anime released, ifykyk). But I skillfully cut out the legs because I can't draw digitigrade legs... Hooray... Otherwise it was quite nice to work on this attack in particular, especially the eyes and the hair :>.

@killbent - Getting Ready This is another one I had a real clear idea of prior to doing this, specifically because Killbent gave a prompt to give Mr Fairchime pink hair, so i thought a "pre-show" set up would look nice :>. The lighting was another new venture for me, because I usually do cool/night time like lighting but I think it turned out nicely for Fairchime. It was also fun doing the accessories and stuff on the vanity as well. Fun Fact, it's a bit hard to see through the watermark + lighting but the face paint and pallet both have the colors of his make up! Overall a pleasant and warm attack for this year.

And that's all of them so far! I picked up some new bookmarks + I gotta get Twi back for drawing Compact!! So those will probably be compiled by the end of AF so about, early August-ish if I keep up the pace. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and gracing me with the opportunity to draw all of these amazing characters!

Until next time!

-Gappy, Witch of the Stars

[qcoded]

Belos, and the way he purposely appealed to The Collector: A TOH ANALYSIS.

I feel like one of the reasons that The Collector trusted Belos so much, was because he literally made himself appealing to them.

Despite the few scenes that they have, you can probably name a few of the aspects he changed around them. But one of the most apparent ones for me, was how Belos basically changed the way he spoke around them.

In a lot of the moments where they appeared together, he seemed to use a much more softer & sing-songy voice around them, as well as more simpler and 'friendlier' language. It's not even just with The Collector, through-out multiple times in the series he's changed his behaviour around individual people.

To name an example, let's start off with their initial meeting. Although Philip/Belos was speaking in an already soft tone of voice towards Luz and Lilith in Elsewhere and Elsewhen, it was much more calmer and monotone.

"Thank you for your kindness, crab maiden. Perhaps we were destined to meet."

Despite the obvious compliment, his words almost feel empty. There's no feeling of "thankfulness" behind them, just a pat to the shoulder and that's it. But that's the thing, even Lilith said it in the same scene. He just says everything a person wants to hear, and to Luz, just hearing his 'gratitude' through a sentence was enough to make her feel nice for assisting him so kindly.

However, when you look at when two of his scenes with the Collector, you can see Philip's shift in tone and behaviour.

Although he still had an almost blank expression, the very first thing he said when he unburied their plate and held it up was an almost playful, but simple "Found you", literally singing it out, around the end.

I feel like this is due to the fact that, Philip definitely knew The Collector was a child and made that subconcious switch in his words while speaking for them. It was made way more apparent when he was talking to their tablet and calling them these (objectively) silly names, at the same time looking endeared while speaking. Philip's face almost lit up as they called them 'a round boy'.

Like Lilith said, to Philip, he immediately started to speak like how you'd typically do with a child. Much more playful wording, and friendlier mannerisms even.

Although I believe at the start of their relationship that Belos treated The Collector more kindly to have them warm up to him, even later on you can still see this happening.

In the memory of Belos & The Collector in Hollow Mind, it's even more obvious than my previous examples. Belos & The Collector are quite literally playing a game, in this case Hide & Seek, with Belos being the one to start the whole interaction.

And again, when he's calling out for The Collector at the start he's using that playful, but gentle sing-songy voice. He's going along with their little game, because he's been doing this for *decades* now. Exactly what I mean when I say Belos appeals to them, he's giving into their childish nature and feeding onto it.

Likewise with his language, Belos changes it to make things sound more engaging to them. Although The Collector knew what was happening with the Day of Unity, with the way Belos was framing it, it was inevitable that they would just treat it so unseriously.

Ex: "You'll have your fun, on the Day of Unity" Like? Even though The Collector didn't even understand the concept of death, it was clear that they weren't fond of people just disappearing, like the titans. But Belos was literally treating the death of millions of witches like some fun game of hopscotch. Add that to the list of manipulation points!

Another example? Grimmwalkers.

The Collector was seen to view them as 'things', toys that he saw Belos just get rid of time and time again. And with the way he was framing it as them 'betraying' him, Collector probably just began to believe that and started viewing them like he did.

I think I delved into a completely different point with this scene, but long story short, Belos additionally uses his change of tone and language to further desensitize horrific situations to them. I would say even sugarcoat them in a way.

During King's tide, there's this one scene where King sees The Collector, and Belos is reassuring him. This one is a bit more different than the other scenes. Unlike the previous scenes I've talked about, instead of The Collector just acting playfully and seeming to trust Belos with what he says, they're actively doubting and complaining to him. And what does this come off as to Belos? A cranky child.

And like anyone dealing with a cranky child, he immediately deals with the situation as 'best as he can'.

First, he reassures and shuts down their doubts about being freed, telling them that it was *specifically* AFTER the draining spell that they'd be freed. And when The Collector doubted him once again, he essentially frames it as the child being the one in the 'wrong' here. They just have the be patient to get their reward after all, don't they? It's sorta like how a parent just tells their kid that "Oh, we'll be there soon, just wait!". Except that The Collector instead of waiting, will literally never get freed.

Basically, Belos is quite literally gaslighting them, in the sense that he's making them feel like they're acting out of order for a very reasonable doubt.

Additionally, he's also making them FEEL like an impatient with the way he's speaking and wording himself. Belos is portraying the whole thing as this being unfortunate for the both of them ('WE have to way for after the draining spell . . .'), and tell them to just have 'patience'.

In a fucked up way, this is probably how Belos disciplined them.

And this leads me to my next point. Like some sort of system of rewards and punishment, whenever The Collector was shown to actively say things that Belos didn't like, even if it was just for the moment, he altered the way he behaved and talked around the kid.

During Clouds in The Horizon, you can immediately notice the difference during the scene with these two. Even if there was the chance that Belos was already in a bad mood, and The Collector who was just making crude jokes for half of the time worsened everything, and there's a notable change in his wording and behavior. Belos is much more withdrawn, not even responding to the boys comments at certain times and giving them the silent treatment

Something I noticed even as I write this, was that in a sense this scene and the one from Hollow Mind parellel almost perfectly.

In Hollow Mind, when The Collector was joking about Belos lashing out at Hunter and turning into his monster form, Belos pretty much brushed it off and just took it as a chance to go "well, as long as he doesn't fuck around and find out, he'll be fine". Even when they were literally saying that the grimmwalkers were 'things', a mind that Belos just made them to torture them, the guy literally SMILED as if he was amused.

Meanwhile, Belos had a completely different reaction to practically the same comments, but in a different font.

Now, The Collector was making fun of him for his monster form, saying how he can't even keep it up anymore. In response, Belos just proceeds go punch the wall and just prove their point. As for the grimmwalkers, when they suggested that the man should make another one go play with, he just shut down them said they needed to 'deal' with this one.

There's a very clear difference here: In one scene, The Collector isn't directly mocking Belos, and the man is amused by their honestly horrific joking about such vile situations. In another, they're using those same situation and topics to make fun of Belos.

In short, Belos only seemed to excuse these comments when they weren't directly being negative towards *him*, and almost rewarded The Collector by continuing to speak to them in a friendly manner. Once they did, he almost retracted a 'priviledge'.

Because that's essentially what it was. A privilege that Belos gave them by just treating as 'nicely' as someone like him could get. And like any child too, they were blinded by it.

Again, bringing me into my next point.

When Belos betrayed The Collectoe, it was the exact moment when that privilege and everything else, was permanently revoked. At first you can see how Belos just watches as The Collector, like expected, excitedly talks and gushing about how they'll be able to play. Even after all these years, Belos really is freeing them. And they'll be able to play now!

Except they aren't.

Because immediately after, Belos shut down any hopes that they have of being freed with a simple "I'm afraid that's impossible".

At first, they're confused, hurriedly repeating Philip's promise, because sufely he couldn't have forgotten about it. But the man just brushes it off as an inconvenience, that he just didn't have any more Titan's Blood to free them.

And even as The Collector shouts and screams that Belos was a liar, unlike in the scene where he reassured them about their doubts, he doesn't have to do that anymore. Because there's no use in appealing to them anymore.

The kid was wringed dry of all their use to the man. And just like those grimmwalkers, like those witches, like everyone, Belos would leave them. Because in the end, they were also just a 'thing' for Belos.

And to add more insult to injury, it's not even like Belos just started acting all serious and mad like whenever he was upset with them. Opposite, even, because there was still using that sing-songy, playful tone to his voice speaking to them. In a sense, it was now The Collector's turn to be mocked. And it's not even like they could protest and throw one of their 'tantrum's', because Belos essentially just shut them up.

After dropping their plate down a bridge, just to add to open up that cut even more, Belos simply parted ways with them with a GOODBYE. Not even calling them by their name, giving them one last display of 'affection', or perhaps thanking them for their 'help' to Belos. Just a truly emotionless goodbye.

And, BELOS JUST WALKED AWAY AFTER THAT. Because truly, those decades meant nothing to him. The way he so eloquently phrashed and sang out everything to flatter the kid, going along with their silly games, and reassuring them– that was in the past now.

But here's the thing with that man. HE LITERALLY CANNOT STAY CONSISTENT. Belos cannot fucking commit to, and accept that his actions have consequences, because it was obvious he immediately regretted disregarding the kid once they were freed.

As my final point, let's take a lot at the infamous "splatter" scene.

You can literally see how Belos stepped away out of fear. Because unlike the shadow boy that just lived in his basement, that could only move around his walls at most, The Collector was now freed. And what does that mean? It means that Belos fucked up BIG time. Literally as they turn to look at him, that blank look on their face told that man everything he had to know.

And of course, he immediately retracts on literally every he said before, and begins trying to appeal to the kid by twisting around his intentions.

Belos was probably just hoping they'd be gaslighted enough to just run back into his arms and accept his words, but at that moment they weren't fooled like before. The Collector knew his true intentions, and no amount of sing-songy voices and empty compliments could change that.

This analysis is quite literally getting too long LOL, it was supposed to be super short. I was planning to also analyze the Raine scenes, and compare the scenes included to seperate belos scenes, but I'll end it on a short note.

TLDR; Belos purposely changed his tone of voice, language and overall behavior to appeal to The Collector. Essentially to manipulate, desensitize and gaslight the boy to a lot of horrific things. Even then, it backfired on him in the end.

[randomanimehoe]

Yurio x Reader who grew up in agriculture. Part 2!

Part 2

Alrighty everyone I’m back with round two of this post. Since y’all seemed to like it I made a part two! Enjoy :3

Description: Yurio attempts to help with farm chores: it doesn’t go well

One day during the off season you and Yuri made plans for him to come visit your family. After settling in for a few days you tell Yuri that you have chores to take care of due to the fair coming up. Out of curiosity (and not wanting to be left alone with your dad who barely spoke) he decided to join you.

he didn’t know what he was getting into 

Wasn’t expecting to be woken up at the ass crack of dawn but you know, he wanted to help. He would slowly get dressed and trudge into the kitchen to find you waiting with a hot cup of coffee for him- which he down’s gratefully 

After y’all head to the barn to feed the animals. He watched with great interest as you show him the clipboard of the different nutritional needs of all the different animals and is amazed at how fast you prepare the feed. Seriously he’s only mixed up the feed for one horse and you’ve already fed 4! 

Once the horses are fed the both of you bring hay out to the cattle(he struggles lifting the bales)

Finally it’s time for his least favorite animals: chickens

He’s hesitant to enter the chicken coop. He says it smells…

He’s actually afraid of your larger laying hen Bethany who chased him around the day he arrived

You laugh and tell him to quite whining. 

He’s shaking as he’s filling the feeder and cleaning the water dish.

You roll your eyes and collect the eggs.

Once morning chores are done it’s time for breakfast and oh boy he has never been so hungry. (I think he normally has a very small, light breakfast because of skating. )

You both go inside to find your mother and sister setting the table with trays of eggs, bacon, French toast and fruit. You have to drag him to go wash up because he’s standing there with him mouth open, practically drooling. You can bet that once he finally gets to get he practically chokes with how fast he’s eating…

The day isn’t over yet though.

After breakfast it’s time to tend to the family garden while your dad takes care of the larger fields of feed corn he’s growing. Even still, that family garden is a lot bigger than Yuri anticipated….

Still he has fun weeding. The both of you make it into a game of who can pull the most weeds within a certain time period. You guys just repeat that until all the weeds are gone which takes about an hour. 

After that you divide and conquer with the watering: he does the smaller plants with the watering can while you handle the larger ones with the garden hose.

It’s not time to harvest anything yet so you guys are done with that for the day. 

Now it’s time to work your show steer and after exercise a few horses before turning the rest out.

This is the part that Yuri is excited for!

You catch your steer and show Yuri how to lead him around as well as the basics of showmanship. He drinks in every word you say about body composition, weight, muscle, behavior etc. Congratulations you now have a wannabe 4H kiddo

He gets a little sad though when he learns that the steers get sold to market. (Please give him a hug he’s in tears)

To cheer him up you decide to show him the horses and honestly he’s a little scared of them at first, they’re just so big-

You notice this and hand him a chunk of apple to give to your horse, showing him to hold his hand flat. He chuckles when he feels how soft the muzzle is and perks right up. 

Should I make a part 3?

[everyones-least-favorite-bard]

this is just a collection of highlights from my last Goofy Presentation Night in which i discussed (read: forced my audience to listen to) orv/yhk thoughts for two hundred and ten minutes

ill add more and rb/tag accordingly n stuff later bc its a lot of words to post and i am one very eepy boy

ON DOKSOO

In 1973, Ursula LeGuin wrote the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, which, if you’ve been around the English side of ORV fandom for long enough, might recognize due to jomeimei, our yhk scholar’s writings. If you don’t know it, the basic premise of the work is that there exists in some far-flung imagined world, a utopia called Omelas that is perfect in every way, save for the fact that its perfection is maintained via the constant suffering of a small child. (One can surmise from the title of course, that there are those who upon learning this, choose to leave the city and live elsewhere.)

One of the ways this intersects with ORV comes in the Epilogues and what happened to the Avatar of Han Sooyoung living in the 1863rd round. The Han Sooyoung of that round, if you recall, found post-suicide attempt Kim Dokja in the “real” world while looking for the author of Three Ways. Judging by her reactions, we see she has two epiphanies:

EPIPHANY ONE: There was no tls123. It was nearing the end of the year that Three Ways was published (in her and Kim Dokja’s memories), but the novel had not been published yet. The only people with knowledge of the original Three Ways timeline in the world were herself and the Dokkaebi King. If she didn't do anything, if she simply sat back and let the year finish out, she could leave WOS as an unpleasant memory and nothing more. She could save the world.

EPIPHANY TWO: Kim "Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World saved my life" Dokja would not survive without that story.

She is faced with the same dilemma those who left Omelas were faced with: does she condemn the world to save this child, or does she save the world but condemn this child?

Let's leave that thought to simmer for a while.

Now the moral quandary that she’s dealing with is similar in structure to the Trolley Problem. (Which, if the reader of this has been living blissfully unexposed to 20th century philosophy and 21st century bastardizations of such, is a moral thought experiment in which a tram is headed down a track towards five people, with a lever allowing one to switch the tracks placed before the subject. However, the second track has one person on it who will also surely die from a direct hit by the trolley. Does the subject choose action or inaction?)

And this decision, which, according to other iterations of the Trolley Problem (in which the one person is someone the subject knows and cares about) is still not even in line with those theories or justifications.

ORV is utterly rife with these sort of fun moral messes. There are countless moments in which characters are faced with needs-of-the-many versus needs-of-the-few. Kim Dokja, for one, is perhaps most memorable for these given his propensity for (continuing with the Trolley Problem metaphor) throwing himself onto the track before the tram can reach the fork.

The events of the 1863rd round (and its aftereffects) are the most direct parallel of the experiment. 

As has been established, Han Sooyoung of the 1863rd round only knew Kim Dokja for a week, if even that, and yet she is fully willing to burn the world to make sure a life in which he might be happy is given to him. This decision is even further warped when we consider that the moment of her epiphany(s) is not the first time this Han Sooyoung was faced with the Trolley Problem.

We know that (based on the conversations she has with Kim Dokja) in the 1863rd round, Han Sooyoung was operating in a utilitarian space in order to seamlessly complete the scenarios. She chose to sacrifice Yoo Joonghyuk and put him in the position of a “villain” (thereby making him spiritually “dead” to all his loved ones and peers) in order to make sure she made a perfect run. And arguably she did–upon arriving in the 1863rd round Kim Dokja (loathe though he is to admit it) cannot find fault with how she has completed the scenarios thus far, and is even (if I remember correctly) somewhat jealous of her for being able to orchestrate such a clean run.

But instead of working with her to finish her run, to draw the period marking the end of the story she’s made, Kim Dokja’s desire to save Yoo Joonghyuk outweighs his desire to save the world, and he steps in and tears it into a comma. (Yes, I’m deliberately referencing the epilogues. No, I haven’t stopped thinking about the fucking period/comma scene. Don’t talk to me.) He switches the lever back to the track with five people because he refuses to sit back and allow the one man to die.

Now, based on what we see of Han Sooyoung in this round and her immediate reaction to Kim Dokja’s dickery, she would have continued operating in her ends-justify-the-means space. She obviously does to some extent as she reaches the end of the scenarios and wrangles the Dokkaebi King into granting her a wish. Upon arriving in the “real” world she is fully prepared to kill tls123 and save the world. But she doesn’t, she has the key to saving the world in her hands, she could so very easily keep Yoo Joonghyuk from suffering a thousand lives, she could save billions of people and live a wildly successful life as a famous webnovel author but! She! Doesn’t!

Why?

Imagine for a moment, if you will, sitting in a hospital room across from a fifteen year-old boy, sleeping or unconscious, fresh from a suicide attempt. Imagine for a moment, if you will, having met this fifteen year-old boy in another life when he was no longer quite so small or physically close to death, but was equally (if not more) close to it in spirit. Imagine for a moment, if you will, knowing the exact thing that will keep this boy if not happy, then at least surviving, for long enough that you might meet him again. Imagine for a moment, if you will, knowing that withholding that thing is certain death for this boy.

How could she condemn him then? How could she, after knowing the depth with which he will love and will fight to save those he wants to save, leave him here to die, alone?

We see therefore, that as a result of her interaction with Kim Dokja, that she is fundamentally changed in her worldview: she is no longer utilitarianally or unilaterally doling out unambiguous justice, sacrificing Yoo Joonghyuk for the world, but rather sacrificing the world now for Kim Dokja. 

It is by this that we know that written into the very condemnation of the world that Kim Dokja uses to justify his consistent self-flagellation is a story of love. Han Sooyoung does not walk away from Omelas--no, she reaches in and says to that lonely, suffering child, I will save you. I will love you as you are. The three ways to survive in a ruined world have always, always been love.

[chuckeroo777]

Frieren Liveblog- Chapters 29-32

Last time, we found a new companion. Not sure how long he'll be sticking around, but he should be fun.

I see. So it's been exactly two years since chapter 4. I think you should be a little leniant with him. After all, it was only back in chapter 26 that Stark learned birthday gifts were even a thing.

Sein has only been with the group for a few days, and even he can see the romantic tension between those two.

Good to see Sein and I are basically on the same page here. I don't get what Fern's problem with the pouch was though.

Stop overthinking things. Just talk to people. It's easy.*

*It very much is not easy. But it is usually the correct course of action.

I see they went to the Loid Forger school of helicopter parenting.

Yes! She finally gets her revenge for all of Heiter's unsolicited head pats!

Definitely bigger on the inside.

TLDR: Flying is hard.

Once again, I suspect we are conflating warrior traits with dwarf traits.

Oh. Oh no. I've suspected it for a while, but...

Himmel really did love Frieren, didn't he?

What an oddly specific and oddly useful spell. Does it only work on things that belonged to you, or can it be used as a general loot-finding spell?

:(

I really hope Frieren does get a chance to talk to him by the end of all this. Even if they can't be together, I really want to see them reconcile and bring closure to their relationship.

I think this is the only lingering spoiler. I saw a clip a long time ago of a scene where Frieren explains her deeper motivations when it comes to mimics. It's the same scene that gave me the impression that this manga was more dungeon based.

I think I also remember a clip of Frieren having a wizard duel in a dungeon, but that's such a vague scenario it barely counts.

Was it, Frieren? Was it?

Huh, neat. I was wondering why Frieren wasn't able to cure poison and stuff despite studying so much magic.

A standard round in DnD is six seconds. It'll be fine.

Talking is a free action. Seriously. I've read enough Manga at this point to know definitively that talking is a free action.

Also, Frieren's go-to slaying spell is a varient of Soul Track, so it would probably bypass refection.

That's how it goes with this sort of party. Frieren is terrifyingly OP, so the rest of the squad is tasked with covering her blind spots.

Is this that Yaoi thing I keep hearing about?

Lol, Fern and Frieren barely hesitate to consider selling Stark's body for money.

Ah, I see. Guess Stark gets to keep his innocence for today.

Frieren knows what she's about.

Also, I've long learned to ignore money values in this sort of setting. It tends to come up so infrequently, that there isn't really any consistency.

Could be worse. And judging from this chapter's cover, I think things will work out fine.

Talk about imposter syndrome. Not only is he being forced into a noble position, but the young prince is basically in the same position Stark used to be in.

On the one hand, Frieren may be doing this due to understanding the romantic tension between Fern and Stark. On the other hand, it's just as likely because she's lazy.

Yep, that's pretty much how I've felt at every wedding I've ever attended.

Weird. Outside the cover illustration, we basically don't get to see them dance. I imagine the anime won't skimp out.

And that's a wrap! Not too much of note happened this session, but Sein is quickly establishing himself as a nice member of the team, and Fern and Stark are clearly forming a connection, even if they won't admit it.

[stereax]

Can you explain the erik-canes drama please 😚

Yeah, no problem, anon! Meet me under the read more for the details :)

So last night we found Haulzy wearing a "Canes Suck" bracelet -

(let the record show I posted this FIRST before the Canes fans found it because I am speedier than them and also much better in every single way 😉)

Now, you may be asking yourself, "why is a grown, 32-year-old hockey player of a man wearing a bracelet that says Canes Suck on it?" That is a WONDERFUL question. First, let's look at Haula's career.

Erik Haula was drafted in the seventh round by Minnesota. He played for the Wild for a few years before, well, the Wild essentially sold him to the Golden Knights in the expansion draft - they basically sent Vegas Alex Tuch (one of their better prospects) for a third and "expansion draft considerations", meaning the Knights would choose Haula in the draft and not a player like Matt Dumba or Marco Scandella, who were more vital to the Wild's core.

Haula plays for the Knights for two years - he's part of the team that wills itself into the Cup finals in 2017-18. In 2018-19, Haula goes down early, getting injured in a game against Toronto that keeps him out the rest of the season.

Vegas trades him to Carolina three days before his wedding. It's a Kelly McCrimmon move - and if you know the Knights, you know what that means (trading fan favorites for better returns). By all accounts, Haula loved Vegas, so he's going into this Carolina thing with some apprehension, especially because this is the last year on his contract. If he puts up good numbers, he's going to get a payday. If not, well, probably not. Remember, he had a career year in 2017-18. He wants to prove he's got what it takes.

Alright. He gets there, gets hurt for a few games with an LBI, comes back, gets hurt again and is out for a few weeks. At the time he gets his second injury, he's got 11 points in 16 games, with 8 goals, one less than team leaders Svechnikov, Aho, and Hamilton (all of whom played more games). So the dude's playing stellar, but then gets banged up. He slots back into the lineup just before Christmas.

And here's where things go south. You see, Haula and his wife, Kristen, were planning to start a family. Kristen got pregnant probably around August, given that when Haula posted the baby announcement on his Instagram he noted a May due date.

The baby is found without a heartbeat 12/30/19.

Erik Haula plays the next day and pots a goal and an assist.

It's a second-trimester miscarriage, which means it's likely Kristen had to deliver a stillborn baby.

He points to the sky after the goal, honoring his lost daughter.

It's around this time that relations between Haula and the Canes begin to take a nosedive.

(Fun fact, contrary to what Canes fans will tell you, Haula's play only suffered significantly after the miscarriage. In the four games in December he played before the miscarriage, he got 2 goals and 2 assists, so in 20 games he had 15 points which is nothing to scoff at for a middle-sixer. Despite being tossed around a bit in the lineup, he was still producing very well.)

Reports of exactly what was going on are incredibly difficult to find and are generally tainted by the biases of whoever writes them. It's stated that Haula was, in some way or another, "forced" to play the day after the miscarriage and never given time to emotionally recover from it. He gets scratched a few times (and again, it's a contract year for him, so ice time is exceedingly valuable). There are rumors of a "shouting match" between Haula and head coach Rod Brind'Amour. Supposedly, he's not participating in after-game workouts that Brind'Amour makes the team do (for recovery) and thus "doesn't fit the culture of the team", "has no respect", and "is a jerk". (Which... we'd prefer him do work on the ice, thanks???) Other rumors say he's "bullying" the rookies on the Canes (which have never been corroborated by a reliable source nor been backed up by similar actions anywhere else). Kristen makes vague posts on Instagram that Canes fans interpret as being derogatory towards the team - Reddit widely quotes one as "Don't allow your loyalty to become slavery. If they aren't appreciating what you bring to the table, let them eat alone."

So Haula gets dealt at the deadline to the Panthers as part of a deal for Vincent Trocheck, after playing only 41 games for the Canes. And he journeys around the NHL for a few years after that before finding his home in New Jersey.

Ever since then, the Canes have absolutely haunted Haula. The "1-14" thing Canes fans put on pictures of him? It's because, since leaving the Canes, he's won once at their home rink (PNC)... and lost 14 times. In three consecutive years, his teams have lost to the Canes each time in the playoffs (Predators, Bruins, then Devils, respectively). He's the first player that happened to, where he played for three different teams and each year lost to the same team.

Canes fans boo him every time he touches the ice - for them, he's a traitor that shit-talked Raleigh and the team and backs it up by playing like a goon when he's against them.

So if there's one person on the whole Devils roster who deserves to wear a Canes Suck bracelet, it's Uncle Haula.

Go off, king.

📿👑

~ [ Addendum 1: Pasta ] ~

David Pastrnak, much like Erik Haula, also lost a child - his son died only six days old. I'm sure, when Pasta accidentally ran into Antti Raanta on the ice during the 2022 playoffs, they didn't go on his socials and make disgusting comments about his child's death...

Oh? They did? Well then.

Canes fans will tell you they only had the utmost of respect for Haula during his miscarriage and never used it against him, both during and after his Canes tenure. Somehow, I doubt that.

But maybe that's just me.

~ [ Addendum 2: Signs ] ~

When Canes fans make signs like this about you, it's understandable why you get upset.

The sign reads "It's me. Haula. I'm the problem. It's me. Hi everybody agrees", with cutouts of Haula's former teams' logos pasted on top.

What's so strange is that no Panthers, Bruins, Knights, Predators, or Wild fans seem to have a problem with Haula. It's only the Canes fans calling him "locker room cancer". Jack Hughes disagrees with this assessment.

Coincidentally, the "locker room cancer" charge was also famously said about Dougie Hamilton...

Oh, hey, look, some Canes fans behind the Devils' bench, just behind Jack, made a sign! I'm sure it's nice and respectful :)

Wait, is that Ellen Weinberg-Hughes next to a man whose face is photoshopped to be Sebastian Aho?

The sign says "Jack Your Mom's A Ho", by the way.

And several Canes players signed it.

"Bunch of jerks" is right.

So if you wonder why Jack Hughes beat the shit out of Sebastian Aho... look no further.

~ [ Addendum 3: Culture ] ~

Once again, I point you to this post by eugeniosuarez -

1 is about Jordan Staal, 2 and 3 are about Tony DeAngelo, if you're unsure.

Yeah, I think I see the culture problem here. Just to be clear, this one, right?

Glad we're on the same page 👍

[hopelessbaddays]

INTRODUCING MY OWN HORRORBREW, #219 AKA NIIKKU

due to how the game is programmed, there are several invalid color combinations of the player character in Super Mario Bros. 2 (aka the Lost Levels). one of them, for whatever reason, has the exact same combination as mario though his name is completely glitched.

this is based on an idea i had of turning this concept into an in-universe event (and giving 219 existential and identity crisis).

(more under the cut cuz this will get long)

219, nicknamed "Niikku", is a faulty clone of Mario born in World 9 while the brothers were trapped there due to Minus World's influence on World 9, which is a boundary between that place and the normal Mushroom World. he physically resembles Mario except for two things: his sidebangs are a single curl over his ears instead of parted into two round bangs, and his clothes are completely organic and cannot be taken off as they're part of his body.

personality-wise, he has Mario's most basic traits: he's a sweet, cheerful guy who is always willing to help others. however, his sense of identity is shaky due to having been born with blurry and incomplete memories and a great self-awareness. upon birth, he questioned who he was and clinged to the idea that he was Mario because it was the only thing he was sure of, even if slightly.

under high amounts of stress, his body starts melting and returning to its original state. while he has an efficient regenerative ability, the time taken until everything is regenerated depends on which kind of cells melted (skin cells being the fastest while bones being the slowest). usually, the melting starts with the hands or the face. though he can regenerate his brain cells, if his brain completely melts or is damaged in some way that halts his regeneration, he will die.

for most part, he has a good relationship with the original Mario brothers. he's closer to Luigi and sees him as his own brother, treating him as such. he has conflicting feelings for Mario, but doesn't have any ill will towards him; if anything, he's more likely to overthink and stress himself into melting than harming Mario.

at first they were suspicious of Niikku, but overtime they came to treat him more and more like family, albeit a little strange on the side. Luigi likes spoiling him as a little brother, which often leads to some bickering as Niikku thinks of himself as the older brother, and offers comfort whenever Niikku is panicking. Mario sees him as a clueless younger version of himself and assumes the role of an older brother and a mentor to Niikku.

that's not to say neither brothers have a lasting, albeit baseless fear of Niikku suddenly turning face and killing Mario to replace him, but such is reserved to their nightmares.

Niikku's key characteristic is the questioning of his identity as a person.

he sees himself as Mario and doesn't accept the fact he's a clone well. to him, being born with this body and these memories should mean something — but the truth is that his existence is completely out of chance. nothing about him was planned. he simply exists. and yet, even the only thing he was certain of turned out to be a lie.

he doesn't like being reminded that he's a clone over and over. at very least, he wants to be treated as a person. he can get some quips and jabs, just don't push it. depending on who you are, he will either start melting or throw hands at you.

the basic story outline goes as such:

As a fun little challenge after rescuing Princess Peach again, they decided to take the Lost Levels route to World 8, known for being much harder than the usual route and thus only people with excellent jumping skills and reflexes can successfully travel through it, but without taking any Warp Pipes to skip worlds.

This resulted in them reaching World 9, an elusive land that’s rarely seen due to the high difficulty of traversing the Lost Levels, its only known entrance for some reason, alternatively named as “Fantasy World” by the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. World 9 is also the boundary between the normal Mushroom World and the Minus World, being heavily influenced by the eldritch workings of that realm and thus possessing many similarities though significantly less hazardous.

The brothers found themselves trapped in World 9, looping back to the beginning whenever they reached the fourth level, and decided to look for a way out more carefully as the usual approach wasn’t working. During their prolonged stay, things like blood and dead skin cells exposed to the land’s strange atmosphere accumulated across the land, which, thanks to Minus World’s influence, started mutating into distorted mockeries of the Mario brothers.

Most of these “invalid brothers” were little but animalistic creatures made of flesh or disfigured beings that could barely tell their surroundings. However, one became an almost flawless copy of Mario, down to his basic personality traits, mannerisms and some of his core memories — this being Niikku.

Waking up alone and disoriented in 9-3, the newborn clone struggled to comprehend his own existence in the midst of an unfamiliar place, assaulted by confusing memories of a life that wasn’t his. He started believing he was in fact Mario since it was the only thing he was sure of. Despite that, his sense of identity remained shaky.

At one point, Niikku came across Luigi while the brothers were separated to cover ground and, recognizing Luigi as “his” twin brother, accompanied him in the original plan of looking for an exit. Luigi noticed something off about “Mario” and the slightly wayward way he acted, but initially brushed it off and blamed it on stress. They traveled together until Mario caught up to them. 

The two Marios accused each other of being an imposter, with Mario growing impatient of the clone’s insistence that he was the real one and Niikku agitated as the presence of a second Mario caused his mind to doubt itself. Before a fight broke out, Luigi convinced both to settle the confusion by asking questions that only the real Mario would know. While Mario answered each question flawlessly, Niikku found himself hesitating several times, second-guessing himself and giving uncertain answers.

It ended with Niikku being exposed as an imposter. However, before either of the brothers could decide what to do with Niikku, the clone spiraled into panic the more he questioned himself and his identity. This led to his body to start melting, returning to its original state. Niikku stayed ignorant to it, assuming that the wetness on his hands was tears until Mario and Luigi’s shocked reactions brought him back from his thoughts. Niikku went from panicking over his identity to panicking over the fact he was melting, and desperately sobbed out to the brothers that he didn’t want to die. Out of instinct, Luigi comforted Niikku and helped him to calm down as Mario tried to find a way to stop the melting. It stopped once Niikku calmed down; his face’s skin and eyes would regrow hours after the incident.

The Mario brothers then decided to take Niikku under their wing until they were out of World 9 and had an idea of what to do with him, with Niikku accepting the offer. They would travel World 9 together whilst Niikku pondered about his identity and false memories.

that's all for today! congratulations, you reached the end of this yapfest! have a cute niikku doodle!

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #32 | 06.27.23

Hi everyone!

I'm here! With an Update! This is an exciting one because I am Finally releasing a Full! Game! <3 I will obviously still be talking about Alaris, but I am vibrating with excitement because I can't wait to release intertwine to you all! THE RELEASE DATE APPROACHES

Writing

Because we entered crunch mode for intertwine, this month was mostly focused on continuing to fill out Druk's route and my dissertation.

I didn't make as much progress on Druk's route as I would've liked (I was hoping to FINISH it, but Otojam crunch wrecked my ass). But I do have most of the route finished! At this point, I only have the final chapter to go, so we are Very Close! Druk's route is shaping up to be a really fun one. I like to sprinkle humor into all the routes, but because of Druk's character, there are a lot of funny (at least to me) cast interactions. I hope people enjoy it as much as I do because I have a big fat crush on him now!

Regarding editing, we are just about rounding out the last of Fenir's developmental edits (courtesy of local superhero dev Wudgeous of Herotome) and Kayn's line edits (courtesy of local royalty IF writer Vi of Next in Line). With Fenir's script coming up on the last of the developmental edits, that is basically two routes that are going to be ready for beta-testing after the updated demo, which is very exciting! I am extremely happy with how Fenir's route has turned out after some developmental revisions, and I hope you all like the sweet little (grumpy) baby's route!

Art

Again, most (all) of my attention was on intertwine art assets this month. I was focused on the rest of the GUI, sprite expression, and CGs so that the game will be ready for release at the end of this month!

I'm really happy with how intertwine has come out visually considering the two month time crunch! Many of the playtesters mentioned how they liked the GUI and overall aesthetic of the game, which---for my pea-sized brain that has no object permanence when it comes to compliments---meant the world to me!

Review of intertwine Screenshots (left to right, starting at the top row): Main Menu Screen, Options/Preferences Screen, In-Game Dialogue Preview, Exhibit Preview

For Alaris, I did still get some new backgrounds from Vui, and while they are beautiful, I can no longer share them since they venture into spoiler territory. Sorry folks!

I have a sneak peek of a little Something Something.

Adorable emotes for a certain Something Something! That's all I will leave you with for now <3

Additional Notes

I spent A LOT of this month coding. I re-entered programming hell to get intertwine up and running. There were a lot of features that I coded for the first time, like a texting interface, some animations, and one Special, Very Game-Centric Feature That I Can't Disclose Due to Extreme Spoilers. It was really rewarding to see it all come together, and I am pretty happy with the end result ^^

You don't even know the hell I went through to customize this texting feature

We also have a lovely voice actor for Van, which we revealed on Twitter. Max has been an amazing talent to work with, and I am in love with the way he brought Van to life!!

Finally, I spontaneously ended up working with Orpheo Fenn and Kija of Faefield Productions for a custom intertwine soundtrack. I've been wanting to work with them for a while, so I'm so happy we were able to collab!

No market research this month, except for the fact that I played Tears of the Kingdom a little bit in my free time ^^ I am so in love with Link. Also, I didn't see the appeal to Sidon in the first game, but for some reason in this game, It Clicked. Like I Get It.

That's all from me for this month. Look forward to an intertwine release in the coming days! I'm excited to get back into Alaris full-swing this upcoming month. I didn't think I'd feel this way after feeling oversaturated with them for a hot minute, but I miss my Alaris gang <3 See you all next month, and stay safe!