#it's too late to put my brain into tagging

[chiqita]

WIP Wednesday <3

Tagged by @theoneandonlysemla @skyrim-forever @dirty-bosmer @pocket-vvardvark

No pressure tagging @hircines-hunter @pyre-of-pages @friend-of-giants @sunlightpassingthroughthewater @boiledkwamaegg @labskeever @madam-whim @sulphuricgrin @silly-little-diary

As always, feel free to tag me to your WIPs, I want to catch 'em all!

This scene cooked my brains on Monday, and I was cackling to myself. No idea if this just ends up dying in my drabbles, but had to get it out of my system. Sorry it's so long.

CW: None

“We need to talk, somewhere private.”

Ondolemar’s voice was calm, lacking the usual command of a Thalmor official. It sounded less like an order and more like a suggestion spoken by someone used to being obeyed, but Talisse wasn’t interested in softness that came too late. She kept her gaze forward. Whatever tone he thought would make this easier, it wouldn’t work.

“No,” she said, the word clipped. “I think we’ve both already spoken our minds.”

She moved to step past him, but he shifted just enough to stand in her way. The movement was enough to stop her.

A pause settled between them. His eyes met hers, searching her face for any softness, any hint of warmth or forgiveness, just to find none.

“Fine,” he said eventually, voice quiet. “I understand you do not want to talk to me.”

She couldn’t help the slow, exaggerated roll of her eyes. Congratulations, she thought dryly. Took you long enough to understand what should have been obvious for days.

But then, as she turned again to leave, his voice followed her. “I still want you to have this.”

She stopped, but didn’t look back. A rustle of cloth sounded behind her. When she finally turned, it was slow, reluctant, every motion spelled from a reservoir of impatience.

In his hand, wrapped in a small dark bundle, was something she couldn’t identify.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want it,” she said, arms crossing over her chest, drawing her boundaries in tighter. The words were final, but there was something defensive beneath them too, something unspoken—I don’t want anything from you.

Ondolemar didn’t argue, he only stepped forward slightly, extending the bundle again without insistence. “Just take it. Open it outside. You can toss it after that, if you wish.”

His face was unreadable. Not pleading, certainly not kind—there was just certain weariness there. Talisse narrowed her eyes, then with an irritated breath, snatched the thing from his hand. 

“Fine,” she said coldly. “If that’s what it takes to finally get rid of you.”

Her fingers clenched the bundle tightly, more forcefully than necessary, as she turned and left without another word. She moved quickly, each step an attempt to put more distance between them. The bundle burned in her hand from the unwanted intimacy of it.

Understone Keep swallowed her in its silence as she finally passed into the open corridor. The cold air outside felt sharper than it should have. It wasn’t until she reached the outer steps near the gate that she finally slowed. Her fingers moved before she fully registered the decision, tugging at the folds of cloth that wrapped the object. Part of her told her to toss it now, unopened—better not to know.  But curiosity had teeth, and its bite was soft but deep. What did he think she’d want? Or worse, what did he think she deserved?

As the cloth unwrapped, the weight in her hand shifted, and then she saw it—metal gleaming in the pale light.

She’d recognize the shape of an amulet of Talos anywhere.

Her breath caught and a chill not born of wind crept up her spine. She stared at it for a long moment, as if it had crawled into her hand uninvited. 

Her grip loosened slightly, her thoughts tangled with suspicion. Then it dawned to her. He wouldn’t have—

“Halt.”

Talisse didn’t need to turn to know what she’d see. Heavy steps approached behind her, and two golden-clad justiciars emerged from behind a stone arch. One of them stopped just a few feet from her, eyes fixed not on her but on the thing in her hands.

“We’ve received a tip,” the first said with mechanical composure, “that you may be in possession of contraband that falls under the Thalmor’s interest.”

Before she could speak, the second stepped closer and seized her arm. She simply stared at him, her expression one of slow, simmering disbelief.

“Let go of me—” she hissed, but the first Justiciar was already plucking the amulet from her now-open hand.

“Just as we thought,” he said with quiet satisfaction.

Talisse stared at him, heart now thudding—not with fear, but cold fury.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Her voice rang louder than she intended, drawing glances from a few passersby on the steps. But behind her anger was something colder. The Thalmor cunt had outmaneuvered her. 

If she wouldn’t speak to him by choice, he would make damn sure she had no choice at all.

[cleverreports]

We report about shapes in the sky, surprisingly enough. We do realise that it is all mostly about shapes in the sky, and the way they help us understand other, future shapes. Our expert takes offence when we voice these thoughts, but then they tell us some more about the shapes.

[verdantglow]

So I just watched Etho's Double Life Episode 5 for the first time & I...

Like. My understanding of this session was from watching Grian's Double Life & I think I watched Pearl's video for it & then everything else is what I've absorbed from fandom.

& two things that I hadn't been expecting based on that knowledge that I got out of Etho's video:

First: Etho trying to extinguish the Relation. Like. They come up on its burning remains & Joel is saying that it's okay, it was really more of a metaphor, they'll be alright, & Etho's just. Stumbling over repeated questions of what they'll be & where they'll be without their Relation as he hops around the remaining blocks, picking up decorations not on fire & putting out whatever blocks he can.

Joel lets it go, accepts that the Relation is gone the moment they get to it & see the damage, & reassures Etho while also plotting revenge. & Etho's in shock & still trying to save it, trying to save this ship Joel built for them, by himself, while Etho was off taking huge risks after making Joel promise not to take any, that Etho came home to & was stunned by its beauty. Etho does not want to let it go, to admit that it was gone. Which brings me to...

Second: Once Etho realizes that's it, the Relation is gone, he's so 110% on board with everything burning, & quite frankly, from his point of view, he is very much the more unhinged one here. Joel might be leading them & announcing that everything burns, but Etho is right behind him, taking flint & steel to anything that'll go up, repeating those words like a mantra.

Joel seems focused on taking out everyone else's bases, but Etho is lighting everything on fire. Any hint of wood on a base? On fire. Trees? On fire. Mobs? On fire. Other red name players? On fire. The grass? On fire. The bridge made of deepslate that's not actually going to burn at all? On fire x6.

Also on fire? Etho. He's so desperate to make the whole server burn, he keeps setting himself on fire in the process & taking surprisingly long to actually extinguish himself. He lighting the ground in front of him & then jumping over the flames & they catch him in the process & he does this like six time in a row while trying to light up a burn proof deepslate bridge. & he only actually pulls out the water bucket a couple of times in the process, just letting himself be on fire.

This man is so hellbent on destruction that he seems to forget his own safety, forget that that is also Joel's safety, & is So. God. Damn. Reckless.

I've read a lot of fic about the Relation burning down & based on every single one of them, I expected Joel to be devastated by its loss, to be inconsolable, to be reckless while Etho comforts & follows along & joins in, because Joel needs this, so maybe Etho does too.

But no, from Etho's own point of view, it is the exact opposite. Etho is devastated, Etho is in shocked, Etho needs to be comforted & reassured. Joel suggests everything burning in response, & yeah, he wants revenge too, but gods. It really feels like he suggests it to give Etho a direction for all those feelings, to give Etho an outlet.

Because while Joel might want revenge, Etho needs it.

[dano-or-not]

This too is a form of self love I believe.

[ministarfruit]

bad ending

[camellia-thea]

okay. just rambling here, but, i think armand took more than just the end of the interview away from daniel.

we got that little moment about that night, saying 'you asked me to' to louis. 'you asked me to take this from you, you could not live with it,' leading into, 'i look after you when you cannot look after yourself, i make those choices for you.'

we know that during the chase and devil's minion era, daniel was an addict, who was, by his own admission, slowly killing himself. he was also addicted to blood.

it's really not too far to make the jump, if devil's minion occurred, that armand made the choice to step in, in his own mind, for daniel's best interests. i know this isn't a unique jump to make, but; again with armand's "i look after him when he cannot look after himself" continual reiteration, i think it's a fair assumption.

he can also replace and blur memories, which makes the discussion of alice and paris -- why the dessert from that night? -- and how immediate and sincere his answer of "she wanted to say yes, but she didn't trust you. you hadn't given her a reason to." this could be the night he took them away, replaced himself with alice, planted something similar for her to start the relationship, then step back and watch it fall. and i think the thing that stands out there is just how tender he is while saying it. there's an undercurrent of something else entirely underneath, it isn't a dig at daniel in the moment, despite the pushing earlier in the scene.

and then in s1, when louis say to daniel, "i'd give it to you now." and the cut to armand, still in disguise, and his micro-expression of horror, the way he stiffens and looks away... and the little moment of what i read as conflict when daniel says no. his jump to "may i be excused?" i can't tell in the moment, if he's horrified about the offer itself, the fact that it is louis offering to turn daniel rather than himself, or the fact that daniel denies it. because i don't think armand could actually let daniel die if this was the case.

the disguise itself-- why pretend to be rashid? i think part of it is to try and hide behind a human persona to keep those memories at bay; especially given the little moments of flashback that got triggered by little mannerisms. i can't decide whether they're intentional pushes or not, whether armand wanted/wants daniel to remember on his own, or wants to keep it under wraps. i think, even if he believes he doesn't want it to come forward, he truly does deep down.

and once he's revealed himself as armand, the way he gazes at daniel, his beautiful boy. the continued "our boy", from both he and louis, the "he's still in there, somewhere..."

and i think "our boy" is also really interesting, because why would daniel be armand's boy, based solely on the moments that louis initially remembered? armand didn't really have any emotional connection to daniel that night, sure, he saved him, but that doesn't really mean anything; he saved daniel for louis, not for daniel's sake.

and, jumping back "our boy,[...] he's still in there somewhere"... there's implication that louis might know about it? again, i don't think this is related to the original interview, or at least, limited to it? i don't have anything concrete here, just vibes, but again, why is armand's boy still in there somewhere?

and sure, some of these are reaches and i don't think i'm necessarily right, but god it would be deliciously awful if i was.

[clowningcrows]

autistic burnout is fucking infuriating what do you MEAN i practically can't mask at all these days no matter how much sleep i get or how much i try to figure out the right thing to say. nothing i do is remotely helping and i feel like i'm stuck feeling like this forever

[silusvesuius]

unleashing the same hellscape i did on my notes app here it's my nelvas thinking dump i wrote just for fun and to keep track of what i view them as up 2 this point. Might change my mind on it later on it has a lot of things written in brackets for no reason . it's like ~2500 words long which isn't much but i think i said everything i've had in my mind for now read it for fun if you like to have fun leik me :) And talvas :) And nelothxP

retyping what i said in the tags of those last text posts and rearranging those thoughts a bit: in my train of thought that's been going steady since early 2024 i'm almost certain that neloth might see talvas as the epitome of being morally Clean (before that changes because of neloth's influence over him) and generally pure as a person. pure not used in the Pervert way; neloth is just a veeery big fan of talvas having absolutely no backbone and being very docile when it comes to him. which is r expected traits 4 someone if they find themselves under neloth's thumb as an apprentice, but it being written that he isn't at all catty and defiant to his face is cute. all talvas manages to do is shit talk neloth to others and pray neloth doesn't find out he meant the things he said but also can’t help feeling bad about it, even though neloth doesn't and wouldn't care, if he found out. neloth is happy with being an obnoxious & disgusting person. truly.. him growing obsessed with talvas' docile and innocent nature doesn't necessarily have to add up to him wanting to Taint or Ruin him (and if it happens ((it does)) it's not done on purpose, neloth can't hold that much control and power of his actions in that specific department). he encounters difficulties when he realizes he actually wants that Elven Twink.. it's too far gone to fix anything after he's tampered with talvas' patience and stability, and even then he can't be honest with talvas about anything, because he still wants to hold a great deal of power over him (neloth essentials for survival).

Might be the type to just want talvas to magically(haha) think it's okay that his wizard master desires him and expect that energy right back without talvas actually acknowledging it because it'd make neloth feel insanely cringy and embarrassed.. humiliated.. EVEN. but that's just in a deep deep dark corner of his mind, he isn't stupid. when trying to gain 'access' to his apprentice ("*His* apprentice" is also kinda funny way of viewing his mind too. just cause talvas is working as an apprentice under him neloth probably already feels a concerning sense of ownership over him that makes him feel very good) he can't even make the signs of interest be apparent to talvas because he's insanely inept at being Soft and honest for obvious reasons. he can tell what possibly could make talvas warm up to him even after he treats him like shit for eons but there's no way he's bringing himself to do it (change is embarrassing, especially in their formal dynamic, and especially at his age). so it's a half-assed attempt (actually he's trying his hardest🙄) to try and make talvas be (at least) less afraid of him. not that talvas has any other place that we know of that he "Belongs" to, he just sticks with neloth regardless of anything. neloth watching him as he sleeps ensues . Guys what do i do to make my apprentice let me hit because all of the eye contact i do with him while gripping his arm or petting his knee isn't helping. 

if we were to go back to how that spark is ignited in neloth swamp of a heart, brain… idk, it has to be when he realizes talvas' capability of forgiveness and 'Sucking it up' instead of lashing out at neloth after .. anything, but perhaps physical abuse in particular. neloth a 100% has absolutely no problem putting his hands on anyone, especially someone he sees so often, such as talvas. not that talvas really annoys him (his clear and voiced obedience pleases neloth as anyone can tell), but he just doesn't see it as too much of a big deal. the physical mistreatment that happens once in a blue moon isn't intense enough to scare off talvas for sure anyways. neloth is a bitch so all he can so is smack him at the back of the head (talvas finds it very normal) and slap him if he's feeling festive (something talvas finds kinda extreme but not that it happens often. he sometimes feels like he deserves it, or that neloth is warranted to do as he pleases. he tosses around it being justified or pitying himself, though). May be possible that neloth would realize he Like Likes talvas once he slaps him, mayhaps, for the first time, but talvas' immediate reaction to being treated like that is just sadness mixed with feeling shame for tearing up/crying in front of someone he respects *bishoujo sparkles sfx*. talvas is a delicate soul so he can't hold warranted emotions like that for long, and even tho it's expected of him to be making eye contact w/ neloth in a setting like that, he wouldn't be able 2 bring himself to do it because looking at neloth would make him wanna burst out in tears like a weeeee baby. Booo hooo.. talvas is the 19th century (4th era) damsel that runs out of the ball in tears after no young cavalier invited her to dance. watch this bleed into the most awkward and silent week of neloth's entire life because talvas doesn't even really feel like speaking to him or looking at him, but neloth doesn't wanna brute force the usual respectful etiquette out of him cus he thinks that's just gonna make talvas hurl himself down on some rough rocks at the seashore. Good thing talvas is very spineless and forgiving (especially in relation to neloth… i mean.. who r YOU to not forgive him) so that might just last a day or two. the hurt always stays tho. neloth this is why talvas doesn't wanna smash you.. you might've made some conclusions about what elven twink you like but talvas is just even more scared of you now. was your Pervert awakening worth it. and even if we do backflips and jump thru the point where everything is too far gone for either of them to go back, dude is still too afraid to make out with his apprentice. Deserve. but why though because talvas wouldn't refuse. for what reason? we may never know

^^^ this makes me feel like i love seeing characters i reaaaalllly love (elenwen and talvas in this case) as enigmas in situations where they're confronted with something so ""Intimate"". elenwen's stance on this is final tho cause she's a grown ass woman and there's no way you could reshape her brain. ulfric left her mind plane in SHAMBLES. talvas has more right (in the literal sense) to be erratic or inconsistent with his actions. maybe he likes to be desired. Also i strongly believe that talvas has probably never been in love (for any reason rly but it's mostly him not having actual time for it + not seeing it as something that is important to him at that point in his life)… i want neloth to be his first experience with Love so that it ruin his view on it forever. can't get myself to say he'd be in love with neloth at any point though. From his standpoint it really should feel empowering and 'nice' that neloth wants him in many ways (ew).. cause that's a man with status.. power.. ability to do anything rly . talvas is in no condition to be playing mind games with him or anything tho so don't get that idea. he's not strong enough of a person to be Tricking anyone or to be Playing with anyone's feelings. neloth would be immune to that, too. neloth can just kinda tell talvas is too good and … UNTAINTED. talvas wants to see the best in everyone. too bad he genuinely detests you, neloth.. so: he doesn't actually love neloth but wouldn't be happy to see his tombstone either. SO (PART TWO): if you time it right he wouldn't be against getting Freakkkkyyyy with you okay?but no promises

even if @ some point talvas develops indistinct feelings towards neloth cause of neloth's own incessant weird-mild advances it wouldn't have to mean he just likes old men permanently now. actually it kinda does. i can sorta feel it rearranging his braincells and making him unable to normally interact with people in his age range. he probably already had a hard time talking to others in hopes of developing a friendship just cause he's timid but after neloth's nonstop abuse and Accidental romance mind games he morphs into a whole new type of guy. it's hard to notice at first but he'd probably just start to leech off of neloth's prissy and unbearable personality in a natural course of things + neloth is the only person he sees and talks to on the regular pretty much. < this can just be reworded as just the cycle of abuse and whatnot. if he notices an opening in the abilities and Smarts of another person, especially someone his age/younger, he will automatically see them as umm…stupid. and also insult your abilities to your face if he snaps. he strikes me as the type to be afraid to say what he really thinks (another consequence of being glued to neloth all the time when all talvas does is act like he totally respects anything he says) and gets scared if anything slips out his mouth but is proud in letting the "Truth" be known because he already figured out you're a lesser being than him. he's just cloning neloth's verbal abuse braincells though he would never put his hands on someone. his desire to be mean and see himself as superior stems from neloth always disparaging him obviously.. talvas 4 that reason is very self conscious of his abilities and doesn't rly think he's all that useful or talented. his self doubt then would play into how he doesn't know when to believe what others are saying to and about him.. i wanna imagine that talvas is very oblivious to neloth's weirdo status just cause he partly doesn't even want that thought to cross his mind. i bet everyone but him sees it and finds it gross😕 but nobody in the vicinity is strong enough to tell neloth that he should be ashamed LMFAO. if you would try and even hint to talvas that it's happening he'd never take you seriously and just get mad. he's protective of neloth's image more than neloth himself is; not that people knowing neloth has abnormal sodomistic inclinations toward his apprentice would make his public image worse than it already is (everyone already thinks he's weird so it's not shocking at all) but talvas still wouldn't wanna hear it cause he thinks it's just false. maybe he's just ashamed that he's being brought into the whole thing. also because he doesn't wanna face the reality EJI23JRIO32KJ Well talvas when neloth makes an actual move on you don't say that we didn't warn you.. we're all waiting till neloth's status as an obvious apprentice-pervert becomes obvious to you

even if he's willingly ignorant of the fact he still thinks of the 'accusations' a lot when he feels like it. and unknowingly begins feeling even more uncomfortable in neloth's presence. heart starts beating faster and everything. neloth could come up to him meters away and talvas would still cover his mouth in realization and be like "i knew it… the DB told me but i didn't wanna believe it …..😦 so you really do like young men … and you're in love with me ..😨" *Neloth wakes up from this fever dream drenched in sweat* < neloth doesn't want (obvi) talvas to react that way at any point because he himself would just get scared so they'd just be staring at each other wide eyed. but talvas jumping into his advances isn't what he wants either (that'll also scare him). neloth is still relying on talvas' politeness to let him do as he pleases. but it is impossible for talvas to let it slide without questioning anything regardless so🤷‍♀️ take your few Ls and move on. neloth just wants talvas to sit on his lap. wants to spoonfeed him soup. he's so romantic. he also wants to(sniper on rooftop blows my head to bits). neloth is actually a pretty touchy feely person when he's feeling Frisky (=deranged about talvas). I'm certain his favorite part of talvas' body is his legs. talvas has beautiful young man skipping leg day legs. so nothing special at all but neloth wants to touch them lol.. let your master wizard squeeze your calves and he might just be occupied enough like a kid playing with a fidget toy to not abuse you verbally for 3 seconds. as i said befoar neloth is unpleasant with his touch because he doesn't know how to be soft + doesn't even want it to necessarily feel very 'rewarding' as to not pamper talvas. petting talvas kinda turns into a nervous habit for himself and an instrument of some sort of Reassurance 4 talvas when he wants him to know he’s not mad, for example. non-vebal confirmation. talvas still finds it weird but thinks it’s a charm point too. neloth wouldn't even be against touching him familiarly in front of others but only in a "older male figure" ways ex. touching his knee or putting his hand at the back of his neck (talvas sees it as some sort of disciplinary tactic though). physical touch that matches neloth's age and is enough for it to be seen as not necessarily romantic / overtly weird. 

there'ssssss no saving talvas after such a powerful person gets his hands on him. any will to leave would leave HIM either out of fear or out of attachment and neloth wouldn't just let him go (Alive at least) since he knows the things he knows. if talvas were to escape i'm a Truther of him not feeling in place and wanting to go back cause it's the stability that he's used to. but tbh if he encounters neloth on accident anywhere he's gonna start running. I was drinking tea while writing this and started choking on it i just nearly died writing this are youhappy. anyways, nelvas is a never-ending abusive relationship that doesn’t even have High highs, all it has is low lows. neloth always mistreats talvas for any reason but is never genuinely kind from the heart or out of remorse. .. hmm……yeah. I forgot to type this back out from my posts tags > talvas might just start viewing neloth as fuck crazy and demented after he Finally notices at least one molecular sign of gay attention from him . like ‘Oh wow Master Neloth obviously doesn’t get any female attention or anything cus he’s a sick fuck why does he have to search for it from me Can varona take the hit for me 🥺 *sees her dead body being dragged by the DB* hmm i guess not well i’ll figure something out i guess’ (he doesn’t) also the dialogue talvas has with varona after he steals neloth’s book trying to conjure some bs up will always be so cute to me he’s so defensive and afraid of neloth finding out. Him trying to decipher neloth’s handwriting is cute TOO ik their 19th century love letters to each other would go crazy and make sense to anyone but each other but i’m not gonna talk about 19th century girl talvas x neloth rn it’s too much . what ever. i think i’m done thank you i should just go back to drawing them as grecian pottery red figures or smthj Fun stats for you 4 getting to the end: times the word ‘abuse’ is used: 6

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

~ inseparable opposing images ~

[salty-an-disco]

Yeah, sure, gonna do this too. Here’s a list of some of my ships and also just some dynamics I’m really fond of:

Gonna start with my explicit romantic ships, ranging from OTP (my personal description of an OTP is a pair I cannot imagine in any other relationship) to ships I’m just very fond of.

ContraHero (duh, my OTP of all time)

ParaCold (smth of a secondary OTP, I’d say, since I also can’t imagine them in any other relationship lmao [at least, long-term])

Foreign Body (Quiet/Stranger) (I can’t imagine the heart not being Stranger, tbh, and also, smth about the both of them having a ‘monstruous’ form aksmdjddj)

Skeptunist (it’d be a slooooooww and LOOOONNNG burn, but I think the progress would be so interesting and the eventual relationship so weirdly sweet)

Ghost Lily (Spectre/Witch) (reaching OTP to me, ngl, as I can’t bring myself to be invested in other relationships involving them lmao)

Sweethearts (Smitten/Damsel) (have no problems imagining them with others, but this is still my primary ship for them)

Eternal Challenge (Stubborn/Asversary) (same situation as above)

Aaannnnd that’s it for explicit romantic pairs I think, I’m. actually a pretty picky shipper akmaksmdjkdmd

Now let’s move to what I call my OTBesties. When you ship them, but in a ‘they’re besties!!!’ way :D

Dark Comedy (Contra&Cold)

Strategy Game (Skeptic&Cheated)

Shining Shield (Hero&Para)

Bare Root (Wounded Wild&Thorn)

Nightmare&Spectre

Witch&Hunted

Hunted&Stubborn

Mending Hearts (Smitten&Broken)

Prisoner&Cold

Spectre&Paranoid

Confined Minds (Prisoner&Skeptic)

Thespians (Oppy&Smitten)

Hunted&Stubborn

Those are the ones that actively takes up more brain space, and ones which I most rotate around my head. Here’s some general dynamics I like exploring:

North Star (Cold/Oppy): their toxic yaoi wouldn’t last a year and be horrible for the both of them (mainly Oppy), and I’m all here for it.

Smitten and Skeptic, while not in OTBesties tier for me, is also a friendship I’m very fond of. I think they’d have coffee in the morning together.

Nightmare’s possible dynamic with anyone would be so interesting to explore, but especially with Tower– just. imagine the chaos

Speaking of– also Tower’s dynamic with Razor. Put her in the same room with some of the most relentless and violent vessels, I wanna see what happens

Wraith and Cheated would be an interesting dynamic when taken out from their chapter’s context tbh– Wraith is resentful because of how she’s been treated and only resorted to those drastic actions because that’s what you left her with. I think Cheated would sympathize with that and realize the hand he played (if you get him in her chapter) to get her like this.

Oppy and Hunted feel like they’d have a weirdly close and strong bond. Not OTBesties or explicitly romantic, but a secret fourth thing

Oppy and Contra have beef at first sight to me. They either completely ignore each other, or swear to make the other day’s worse, whatever they feel like atm

Also– since me and the folks in the discord started headcanon that while alive, Narrator could’ve been groomed by a cult and that’s why he has such a deep fear of death, and think eternal bliss is the best alternative for that– I’d like to see more of his dynamic with Broken. In a what-if scenario where they both got over enough of their bagage to have an actual conversation together, I think they’d have a lot to talk about.

Also, shout-out to my Happily Single Tokens, aka, characters I hc as non-partnering/not interested in romance/‘just not in the mood for it, dude’:

Cheated, Broken, Thorn (aro hc for her caught my the throat and won’t let go, I’m sorry Modeus), Prisoner, Narrator (AroAce and romance-repulsed king, tbh), and Hunted

[heybaetae]

hi

[oof-ow-my-bone]

sneezes

[keeps-ache]

HEY

[alchemiclee]

I hate how much i'm afraid to open an art shop because my last 2 failures cost me so much money 😭😭😭😭 especially in this time of great, scary uncertainty! and i know i can't bother other people about this, so i'm in this alone. *sad yippee noise*

[seafoam-taide]

goofy au

[discoknack]

I can imagine Soshiro going to pat Skully's head for some reason or another.

I also think Skully would greet their usual babysitter (besides their Mama, Kafka) as "Oki", short for Okonogi. I feel like I've heard that before.

And it might be cute if Soshiro at some point began to spot Captain Ashiro near a certain region of the base a little more often. Just enough to notice, but not enough to be suspicious.

One day he enters the surveillance room and Skully is humming and wiggling in their seat, doodling on some paper at their Oki's desk. Okonogi Konomi is supervising as usual: Her hands are clasped and her neck is craned to get a better look at the drawing, but she's otherwise just smiling and letting Skully do their thing.

She points at the paper and asks Skully a question. Okonogi always interacts with Skully in a sweet way. Aside from her initial fright at a Yoju up-close, Soshiro figures her scientific curiosity was piqued, and it's only natural for a human to treat a baby nicely. And Skully is such a sweetie, even as creepy a baby as they are. This time, though, Okonogi practically sings the question.

Skully's reply is short, so after, Soshiro casually asks, "Something good happen, Okonogi-chan?"

Skully reacts to Soshiro's presence, yipping "Papa!" and zipping out of the chair to run at him, page and crayon in hand. Meanwhile, Okonogi addresses him as Vice-Captain.

When Skully reaches Soshiro, Okonogi murmurs, as if keeping a secret, "I just saw something cute today."

Soshiro crouches to pat Skully's head, saying "Ah, little Kaiju~ You get bigger every day! What are we going to do with you?" which is, of course, an exaggeration.

Skully lifts themself on their toes to happily meet his hand in the greeting. But then Soshiro makes a slight face and rubs his fingers together. Something sticky or oily? He inspects his hand and notes a sweet smell, and the substance is clear and shiny.

He holds out his hand in front of Skully's face, curious. "What's this?"

Skully sniffs it, then happily hums in response to the scent. They look down at their paper with a kind of smile, their body wiggling, especially the tail, and something about their demeanor suggests they're blushing right through their face-plates. They croon a little when they say, "Pretty Ma-" but they stop, suddenly bewildered. "Ma?"