#its just so fascinating. so fascinating how this type of thing happens

[vsa-pieldepapel]

Do you think there is any merit in the aggressive route? (I don't think it has a common consensus name, but I like to call it "Lost Route", in reference to enemies getting LOST)

The consequences seem to be inconsistent, with Berdly's arm's fate hinging on whether you fought his and Queen's boss fights with damage or not, and Tenna's fate hinging on two necessary recruits and ignoring wheter you beat him with violence, and Jackenstein's on having no lost enemies I think?

The [FIGHT] option seems to be neglected in being telegraphed to the player, essentially discouraged, until the Aurafarmer suddenly jumps in and makes it required.

Regardless of whether it's... questionably designed, I wanted to ask whether you think there is any point to tell, like there would be in the Undertale's Neutral routes. Like "the bonds you break make you stronger" and if there's anything beyond it.

Oh, this is interesting. I can't give too thorough an answer because I honestly hadn't sat with it too much until i got this ask. I've actually never tried this route, so I'd have to find footage and break it down. It's interesting in that it's not Snowgrave- in UT you just had to be violent, but in DR there is a very specific type of violence that leads to the "bad ending"

I do think gameplay wise it's going to be the closest equal to UT's neutral routes. Due to the nature of each game, DR's balance of violence and pacifism is more nuanced than UT, which I appreciate for being its own thing. Obviously the meta reason is that sometimes there will be players who will want stat increases for strategic reasons, but because UT was meant to make you feel like your actions have the same weight as they would if the pixels were real people, every murder in UT feels insane, where DR is touching more on the themes of unreality, escapism, and parallel dimensions. The division between both worlds is thematically relevant, so the nuance is needed.

I find it interesting despite Ralsei's utilitarian views of himself and fellow darkners, and his obedience even if you instruct him to be violent, that he still insists that you be kind to the darkners. This makes me believe his approach is a sort of cope to deal with whatever big suffering or sacrifice is implied in the Last Prophecy, and in truth he values his life and others'.

The thing you say about the telegraphing is real, at the same time, we know that toby deliberately put ACT as the second command because, iirc, he wants you to consciously ACT, and attacking would be your baseline, automatic, unga bunga response. That makes the dissonance between FIGHT being narratively discouraged but mechanically encouraged fascinating.

It does lead to unexpected/Funny results though. My first ever you became stronger outside of the one purposeful snowgrave run was this and it was half-unintentional.

I forgot that you could purify the fetuses, I saw the X over the mercy bar and, having fought the knight, I was like, well, i guess there's one thing to do... And I did get stronger. There was a stat increase for all party members. But most interestingly, the game tracks specifically how you react to the fetuses. In the file where I purified them it says just that, and in the abortion file it says "Slain". I wonder if killing the weird titan fetus creatures will have ramifications and if so, why specifically the spawn. I don't think there's enough information for anything conclusive yet though.

Toby has repeatedly emphasised there is one ending, and my belief is that the prophecy is meant to be a misdirect; that there is one ending but that ending happens because Susie chooses to go against the prophecy. The one ending is her ending and everything else is variations depending on what you do through Kris.

Perhaps in Deltarune, where "your choices don't matter", it's meant to emphasize the weird pointlessness of being violent when the result wouldn't change. Maybe you can't change the ending, but being kind results in a bustling Castle Town where darkners live happily, and that matters too. Given the end result won't change, can you still be made to care about the minute details along the way?

Apologies if this answer isn't super complete. This was very interesting, thank you!

[keepinventory]

living with an abusive parent is crazy ill go from yesterday, being in genuine mortal danger, to today, asking Hey do you want my old sweatpants

[swallowtail-ageha]

Thing about small italian villages is that the didnt really have roads up until the 70's which of course leads to a massive amount of cousin marriage and inbreeding and while yes my particular own has its issues regarding that (3 major families (one of whom i am part of!!! Yay!!!) that all of the other families are related to, everyone there has bone/joint problems or some sort of schizofrenia) the neighboring one is worse as in they have one major family and the rest of the inhabitants are ppl who immigrated to have a quiet life in the mountain slopes and that by itself could be an extremely interesting study bcs everyone there kinda looks the same-ish and has a frankly insane amount of people with developmental disabilities for a population this small

[ghostofhyuck]

The look of love, the rush of blood. ₊˚⊹ ᰔ

how nct dream looks at you lovingly.

‧˚ʚ ───────── ₊‧꒰ა ୨ৎ ໒꒱ ‧₊ ───────── ɞ˚‧

Mark Lee

Trust that Mark's the type who'll just be lost by just staring at your face. He loves every detail of your face that he had engraved it on his mind. He loves how your eyebrows dance like it has its own body, he knows if you're happy, sad, or angry by just looking at it. Or maybe he knows where your beauty mark is and he automatically aims at it for a kiss. Barefaced, with makeup on, or even when your makeup's melted, he had engraved it all in his memory. "Mark?" "What?" he automatically replied, realizing that he's been staring for too long. You only let out a laugh, "nothing, you're staring." "Well, can't help but to admire my girl." 

Huang Renjun

Renjun looks at you like you're the last existing person in this world --- in his world per se. He just stares at you with much fascination as if it's just the two of you alone in that room. Everything is just blurry, he couldn't hear any other noise except your voice and laughter despite being in a crowded room, and that's just pretty sums up how much Renjun loves you. "Renjun!" the man snaps out when he felt a smack on his arms. "Hey! I've been calling your name for an hour, what the fuck man?" Haechan angrily said. "Sorry, didn't hear you there, I was talking to yn." his friend could only rolled his eyes because he just witnessed Renjun's whipped moment. 

Lee Jeno

Everyone thinks that Jeno looks at you lovingly when his eyes disappears, but those are just during the light-hearted moment, during the cases where he can feel his heart jump in joy because of you, along with the soft laughters and endless teasings. But Jeno looks at you lovingly when you're oblivious by it. When his eyes were gazing at you wide yet soft, and gentle but you don't know that because you're used to his eye smiles. It's the type of look that will make him think, "damn, I really got myself lucky with you." without looking away.

Lee Donghyuck

You're used to Haechan's mischievous and playful side that it always surprise you whenever he stares at you with a softer gaze. Childlike stare as if you're a fragile thing, accompanied with actions that are also soft like the way his hands slide onto yours or the way he brushes your hair without breaking the contact. You know that he's whipped but you couldn't help but to laugh, ruining the sweet atmosphere. "What, why?" your boyfriend asked, confused. "Sorry, I'm just not used to you being sweet." you confessed. "What!? I can be sweet!"

Na Jaemin

When Jaemin looks at you, he'll just be in deep to it that he doesn't realized that he's not blinking at all. He can't help it! What if at the blink of an eye, you're just out of his sight? He won't let that happen! That's why he'll just admire you for so long and he doesn't even realized that he's not blinking at all until you snapped him out of it. And as he blinks, tears formed from his eyes and as he opened it, you're there looking at you with worried. "Have you not been blinking at all?" you asked, a bit appalled. He only smiled, "Can't let you out of my sight." 

Zhong Chenle

Just like Jeno, Chenle will be the type that when he stared at you, he'll be like, "she's my girlfriend? you're kidding me right?" he'll be eyes wide, mouth a bit open because he just couldn't sometimes fathom that you exist and you're his girlfriend. He'll be taken aback by that fact that he has to sink in all those thoughts while staring at you. You raised an eyebrow at your boyfriend's expression that you snapped your fingers in front of him. "Are you okay? Do I look weird?" you asked. "No! Of course not! It's just --- you're beautiful. Damn."

Park Jisung

Jisung looks at you the same way he looked at you the first time he saw you. A bit surprised expression but this time, he has a smile on his face because he knows that you're his girlfriend. He looks at you with much admiration that it is painfully sweet for others, because in his point of view, you two are like in a film where everything is just moving while you two are staying still. "What's that look?" you teased. "What look?" he asked, but there's a smirk on his face. "You know what I mean Ji." 

[mysticpearl]

GIRL DAD OR BOY DAD? - sunday, boothill x reader

- or more clearly, to what gender would they want to have more, and general headcannons of them as papas ☺️

- brainrot brainrot brainrot BRAINROT AHHH... i love these guys and i can do a part 2 for others later but godd theres absolutely not enough dad stuff for these men (especially sunday... if there is its all yandere) so never fear novas here! ahem anyways enjoy

- warnings none! pure fluff!!! wc 711

Sunday is so a girl and boy dad.

Reason why I say this is because he likely needs an heir to take over his position when he gets too old to do so, but he also wants a baby girl he can spoil as well.

Don’t worry! He loves both of his kids the same! They’re the greatest things that have probably ever happened to him and he cherishes them with his whole life. He thanks the stars above every single day for the opportunity he received to be a father to multiple beautiful children, and thanks you for granting him the chance. 

Dunno, but I could see this man wanting a handful of kids. He wants at least one girl and at least one boy, but I could see him shooting for 3-4. Will he be around to care for them? Not all the time, but he tries his hardest (and he definitely has the resources to care for that many).

Considering they’re half halovian and half human, they look pretty much just like their father! Some have your eyes, but they all have his hair. His hair and his gorgeous wings. They have your features though, such as your face, body type, etc.

His favorite part of the day is when he gets to collapse on your shared bed, his kiddos following behind him to cuddle their dad, and most of the time you all fall asleep together. Normally, you wake up just you and him because he’s good about putting them in their own bed once they fall asleep.

Once his kids get older, he’ll teach his son(s) combat and good form. He wants them to protect, and wants to raise them to be strong and independent. With his daughter(s), if they ask to be taught combat, then he won’t see much of an issue with it. He also wants to teach them independence, but in a more subtle form. 

Just expect that his children as teenagers are going to be the prettiest kids around holy shit. They’re obviously enrolled in a private school due to their fathers high status but they always come home and list the compliments they’ve received that day. Thankfully you two have raised them well enough for them to realize that it’ll be bad if all of these get to their head and stroke their ego too hard…

Supportive father asf! All I’ve gotta say here

Don’t play Boothill is SO a girl dad hello have you met the man

He’s so excited when his little girl is born ahh he’s always dreamed of being a father to a girl and his dream has officially come true!!

Obviously, if you had a boy, he’d love him the same. He just wants children of his own tbh lol

His daughter knows western culture fresh out of the womb my friend. It’s like she was born for little cowboy boots and the cutest little cowboy hat. She’s even got a western name, he brought it up and you liked it, so the name you two settled on was Cassidy.

She has his hair! It’s absolutely gorgeous once it starts coming in- a pearly white color with little black streaks stemming from the roots. She has your eyes and your face, and his slimmer body type (before he was turned into a cyborg. This isn’t canon I actually have no clue what he looked like pre cyborgification lmao).

Oh lord, your daughter is so spoiled. On every mission he goes on he’s always bringing something back for her. It could be a super fancy necklace or even just a little trinket he picked up from a street vendor, but she has a whole shelf full of the things her daddy gives her.

She thinks it’s so cool he has a metal body. She asks about it alot but she’s really fascinated with it tbh. She likes to call it “daddy’s special feature!” and he always melts to that sentence gosh

He probably teaches his daughter how to use a gun when she gets older. He, similar to Sunday, wants his daughter to learn self defense tactics and learn how to fend for herself when necessary.

She totally has his accent. Change my mind period.

[starberry-cupcake]

I want to tell you a story today.

Let me tell you about how I was finally able to finish a collection of incredibly specific 20+ year old elusive esoteric booklets, after years of looking for them.

No, no, wait, don't scroll past yet. Hear me out.

Is this the most interesting thing ever? It depends. Will it do numbers on tumblr? Not at all. Does this story sound like the statement from someone in The Magnus Archives? Absolutely.

"Statement begins", and all that.

Circa 2001-2002, I was a young girl and asked my dad for a little booklet on witchcraft. As young girls do.

It was part of a collection which was released in newspaper stands and, in my memory, it was something that you had to pay a bit extra to get alongside a specific newspaper, one that is rather informal. My mom also asked for one of the booklets, about past lives. My dad got them both when they released.

I was very interested in my little witchcraft booklet, I found the stuff both fascinating and recognizable. Any Latine can probably tell you about the very particular blend we have, especially in the outskirts of big cities, of brujería, curandería, santería and original people's cultural influences. The book reflected this in a way that sounded familiar and also gave new insights.

One day, though, my booklet disappeared.

I never had evidence of what happened but I had, at the time, a friend from school who was from a very religious family. She kept warning me about the book and how what I was doing was wrong and dangerous and how I would eventually "find Jesus". She just stopped mentioning it once the book mysteriously vanished. So, I don't have hard evidence that my book was taken, but I don't have much doubt.

I grew up and my interest for these types of things evolved to encompass different forms of folkloric and cultural insights, especially on how they represent different social contexts. I have a very particular and maybe conflicting view on spirituality but, in any case, these things interest me.

I also became an editor and I love peculiar publications. The history of publication of something, especially rare, can say a lot about its context.

I ended up reading and buying other books with esoteric themes, but that little booklet resonated still, because I could never find again something that spoke so directly to what I had grown up with.

There are a lot of publications about European and North American practices, very often the most popular folklore calendars are strictly set in the Northern Hemisphere. Some Latine authors tend to blend different things from abroad in their books, rather than talk about just us.

This little booklet was a one of a kind, I realized. In its humble and unapologetic simplicity, it contained the voice of who we were.

So, I set to find it again.

My mom had kept her booklet, the one about past lives. It had the name of the collection in it (Revelaciones), the name of the publisher (Agedit) and a list of all the books in the collection at the end. They were 12 in total. There was not a single author name in sight.

The list includes: Numerology, Runes, Past Lives, Modern Witchcraft (the one I had), Chiromancy, Tarot, Dream Interpretation, Crystals, Tasseography, Graphology, Chinese Zodiac and Astrology.

For a long while, my search only resulted in sold out listings of one or two copies. I also came across additional findings that made my search difficult (this is where I get nerdy in a publishing way):

These books had been out of print for almost 20 years, when I started searching.

These weren't really "books" per se, they were published as such (they had an ISBN) but were sold as if they were magazines.

They were never distributed to bookstores and didn't have any new editions or reprints: they had, most likely, only one print run for each booklet.

The ISBN of the book I had didn't show results online.

I found out the reason for these two points through an archived government official bulletin: the publisher went bankrupt in august of 2003.

Given that there were 12 books, they would have taken between 4 months and a year to complete the collection, depending on how often they came out, so the collection ended shortly before the publisher closed down.

Because of the way in which they were distributed (through newspaper stands) they were given by consignment, meaning the booklets that weren't sold were given back to the publisher when the next issue came out.

Due to the fact that the publisher went bankrupt shortly after, it's highly unlikely that remaining copies were sold as such, it's much more likely that they were sold as paper for re-purpose.

Especially since 2001-2003 was a Bad Time for the economy of Argentina. A Really Bad Time.

The books were edited before the book law changed to make mandatory the use of a bibliographical index, so the books themselves don't have the information now required to register a book printed inside them.

There is not a single author name anywhere.

I found out that the publisher had a very wide variety of magazines of different subjects, including a kids' magazine of the channel I started watching anime in as a kid. Between Captain Tsubasa and cartomancy there's just one step.

So, the only avenues left were patience and book sellers who dealt with used copies of both books and magazines.

After some years of searching, in 2022, the book appeared in two different online sellers: one sold it alone and the other in a set with other 8 books from the collection, including the one my mom had. The book sold alone seemed in worse condition and the set had a lower price per unit.

So, I bought the set of 9.

They were in pretty good condition, all things considered. These books were not meant to last. The paper weight vs cover weight ratio is bonkers (the cover is magazine thin), the binding is poor and the books are almost all slightly different sizes. They also have different fonts for the titles. From an editing point of view, they're atrocious.

That only made them so much more interesting to me.

Only one of the books I got in that set had an explicit author: Chinese Zodiac. I assume that one was commissioned to the person whose name appears in it. I did google the man and he doesn't seem to be much of a writer of the subject anymore, he specializes in Tai Chi and Kung Fu, apparently. Seems that his expertise only extended to that one book in particular.

The rest, though. The rest are a mystery.

I don't know if they were written by the publishing team or one person, but they feel like there was one person behind them, for the way they're worded and how they talk to the reader. Or, at least, a different person for different books. They're not detached enough to feel like the work of a team investigation project.

They are also more involved than a newspaper stand collection has any right to be. Talking about Saint Germaine and Cornelio Agrippa and geological specifics of crystal structure. At age 12-13 I wouldn't have paid attention to that but now, knowing what it takes as an editor to put this out and knowing they were a sinking publisher, I've got to respect the craft.

However, the ISBN situation is a NIGHTMARE. The collection changed the ISBN format for these books once every four books.

I could have stopped there. I had my original book, it was just as I remembered, and I got 8 extra books, some with subjects I was very interested in.

However, the tarot book was not included in the set. And that was one I really wanted to get. So, the search continued.

In 2023, my sister gifted me the tarot book. It was from a seller who only had that one and it was in worse shape than the rest. It feels like it was used more than the others. Something was definitely spilled on it. Someone might have learned with it for a long time.

It was very in-character with what I knew from the collection that it focuses solely on Tarot de Marseilles, which is the one most commonly used here (the cover of the book has an RWS deck, so whoever made the cover did not consult with the mysterious author, who used Marseilles iconography inside).

But, again, unnamed author. And the ISBN situation wasn't getting any better. The format of the ISBN in the tarot book matched the one in the crystals book, which gave me an idea of the order list being more or less accurate. Emphasis on "more or less", you'll see.

At this point, I was deep into this. I had 10/12 books, I thought I might as well try to complete the collection, right? How hard could it be?

Well, the two books left were the most elusive of the bunch: chiromancy and dream interpretation.

During my years researching these books, the chiromancy book showed up in pictures just once. I knew what it looked like, but I hadn't seen it for sale. Ever.

That is, until it popped up in early 2024.

I made a post about it at the time. This one was the most expensive of the bunch (not crazy expensive, not even the price of a brand new novel, but expensive in comparison with the others) but it was the first of its kind I had seen in all my years looking, so I got it as soon as I could.

By this time, some repeats had shown up here and there of the books I already had, including a Tarot book in better shape, but I had to draw the line somewhere. There are some that seem to be easier to find than others. Maybe because they were more popular back then, so they didn't get returned to the publisher to turn into pulp.

The dream book though? I still had never seen it.

Not a photo, not an old listing, nothing. I had no frame of reference for what that one looked like, only the title listed in the other books (Interpretación de sueños).

I started losing hope on that one. I started wondering if maybe it had never been released in the first place. Or that maybe it was the most popular one, so people kept it more often than selling it. After all, dream interpretation can be more mainstream a subject than palmistry or tasseography.

The one thing making me doubt that it was unreleased, the one thing keeping me going, was that the last two books on the list (astrology and Chinese zodiac) were listed in an incorrect order until the 11th book. Remember I said the list was "more or less" accurate? Things can't be that simple with this collection.

The list at the end of almost all of the booklets makes me think that astrology was meant to be the last one, but it ended up coming out as the 11th, and they changed the list order upon its release. Maybe the only known author who was commissioned, for the Chinese zodiac book, needed more time to turn in the manuscript.

I thought that, if they had taken the time to change the end list by the 11th book, even if there were only two left, they would have probably removed the dream one had it not come out as planned.

So, it had to exist.

Last week, I was thinking about the books again, as I have done for years, with my hopes of finding the last one almost non existent.

I decided to check in MercadoLibre and wasn't finding it. I went on google and wasn't finding it. I went to google images and nothing. I changed some of the words in the google images search here and there and...

IT SHOWED UP

It had been listed for sale 6 days prior to my search. By a bookstore called "Gluck". My German is beginner-level but I'm pretty sure that means "luck" (at least "glück" does). What are the odds?

The price was pretty cheap but the shipping was a bit steep, so I looked if they had a used copy of Lestat I was looking for, to make up for the shipping cost. I wanted an old Lestat to go with my well-loved 90s edition of IWTV. Turns out, they had an old copy of Lestat, for cheap, because it had what looks like a bite in a corner of the cover. A dog bite, I mean, or cat, not sure which. Perfect. Glück indeed.

So, last week, it finally arrived. The last piece of the puzzle. The dream book.

Turns out, the title was wrong all along.

The list had it as Interpretación de sueños and it was actually called El significado de los sueños. No author, but a promising table of contents. It wasn't the subject I was most interested in but the variety of topics covered is a lot more interesting than I expected.

Still, the most important thing here is that I FINALLY HAVE THE WHOLE SET.

Some insane things about the collection, now that I can look at all of it for myself:

Almost all are mismatched in size

Some have printing mistakes (for example, Astrology has cut marks and extra blank space that wasn't removed)

The last one is wider

The first one doesn't have the list of books

The one about past lives has a different title in the spine than in the book

The one about dreams has a different title in the list than in the book

The one about crystals has a different title in the list than in the book and spine

The one about tasseography has also a different title in the list than in the book and the spine

Most of the cover photos seem to be from different sources, I always believed the one my original book had was taken by the people making the book, because the little owl on it is a Kinder toy I had as a kid

I can now tell you how the ISBN works, so you can look at the madness with me.

The first 4 books have a different ISBN for each, with a change in the part of the ISBN that signifies particular book.

It goes from 8 to 11 and the book with the number 9 is listed as 3rd and not 2nd in the interior list (in my memory, it was 3rd, because that was my mom's book and mine came after, but who knows). All of these have a side bar code with the number 00001.

The next batch of 4 continues having a different ISBN for each book, from books 12 to 15, but the side bar code number also changes, going from 5 to 8, signifying the number of the book in the specific collection.

The last batch of 4 all have the same ISBN, as if they were the same book, with the number 22 (what happened to 16-21? who knows), but they do continue with the side bar code numbers from 9 to 12.

It's wild. I wouldn't have been able to predict anything from this.

Still, here they finally are. I have collected them all. And here's the one that started the interest for this quest.

Put together, they constitute a pretty vast amount of pages. The booklets by themselves look rather short but, together, it's a pretty impressive amount of stuff, and quite detailed for each topic.

I still don't know who wrote them, if it was one person or several, or if they even remember working on them, since it's been about 22-24 years since they came out and it seems to have been the dying breath of a now defunct publisher that didn't specialize in the subject.

But I hope that, wherever they may be, they know some people appreciated their work. Because these little messy books have a lot of personality and represent where I come from better than other more polished publications have ever been able to.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

caught my eye that jade thinks merpeople marrying humans are eccentric (pot calling the kettle black). of course, such marriage would have its difficulties due to intercultural conflict, yet i thought somebody as eccentric jade (and leech family in general tbh) would think of it as his cup of tea.

then again we did have floyd finding a story of a merlady changing into a human form for her lover strange, proclaiming that she is already cute as an octopus. hm. i wish we had some more lore on this, the differences in a way of living and how much it influences octavinelle's viewponts (what's beautiful? practical strength as implied with azul's lack of agility? some obscure trend of decorating one's body? something else entirely?) are so fascinating to me.

Welllll, my guess is the devs didn’t want the characters to give their commentary on who they would be romantically interested in, as that could conflict with who the players ship them with (whether it’s other canon characters, themselves, an OC, etc.). For example, having Jade express an interest in one race over the others (such as humans) might be upsetting to fans who ship him with fae, beastmen, or fellow merpeople.

Life in the sea and life on land is very different. I’d imagine there would be several cultural clashes as a result of this. Their food is different (food in the sea is usually raw, there aren’t a lot of sweets), merpeople don’t know about common land things like fire and clothing, even the concepts of breathing and walking are limited, humans may not understand merpeople values (such as for music, or worrying for the survival + safety of their children)… That’s why the mermaid princess established the land boot camp—in an effort to bridge this knowledge gap.

I don’t think it’s strange or out of character for the twins to find interracial marriages eccentric. It’s something that seems to be pretty rare in Twisted Wonderland when you consider that fae-human marriages are frowned upon (see: the Zigvolts), there’s only one merperson-human marriage per year (if any at all, according to Jade in Eternity Float), and there are cultural conflicts between different types of beastmen (stated in Tamashina Mina) so it’s likely that even within one race they keep to marrying within their species. Because it doesn’t happen much, of course the twins would see it as odd. That’s not to say that they aren’t also fascinated by it, but it’s just not something they may understand. While Jade and Floyd find different aspects of life on land interesting (mountains, fashion, etc.), they are still most familiar with the environment and culture they grew up in and use that as a means of comparison for what is “weird” or not.

I think Floyd calling octopi cute has less to do with actual attraction and more like… to do with him being a predator?? Like, wanting to actually CHOMP. Because he also calls Azul “cute” but also says he’s “squishy” and jokes about wanting to eat him. (Ominously, both he and Jade’s favorite foods contain octopus.)

It might be interesting to consider how the beauty standards vary for the different races. Merpeople don’t normally wear clothes, so I guess that doesn’t factor into “beauty”. Judging by how Azul got bullied in school for his size and speed, I’m assuming how well you can survive in the wild does factor in. Not sure about everything else or the other races though. If I had to guess, subspecies of fae or beastman probably factors into this; for example, the colors of a bird beastman’s plumage may contribute to their physical appeal.

[oddly-specific-hermit-headcanons]

scar likes to do those paintings by numbers things but with those little gems and glue. at first, he got one of those at some merch stall on one of his first mcc trips, but now he realised how great they are, how much it helps to start up the creativity procces while also having smth to calm your mind and he cant stop doing them whenever he needs that spark of creativity or to just relax

and that was well and good, until other hermits saw those things..

grian found them Fascinating but this obsession lasted only a few days, but the word spread around like crazy and lots of people you wouldnt even expect picked up that hobby!

one of them is doc, who saw it as a helpful tool to train his minor motoric skills in his mechanical arm, but after a whole nighter and 3 finished paintings later...well. yk how obsessive some redstoners can be. Speaking of!

tango and cub both started work on producing their own paintings-by-numbers! cubs was really easy to use and had all the colours, and he kinda revolutionized the glue part of it all... yk. a side effect bound to happen. which became a big seller FAST

tango desided to be even More creative with it, by using redstone. it meant his paintings had to be bigger, yes. but its like... a painting and a "redstone for dummies" type thing. some of the gems were made of redstone and acted as conductors, so by sticking them in right places it could glow! it had some... firey accidents in the procces. you know... glue, paper, power. gotta be careful!

anyways. hermitcraft got introduced to paintings-by-mnumbers and their little world gained a new group obsession, but this time it didnt involve any deaths, lag or mischievery so thats a plus!

.

[shantechni]

Natsume's Fear of Thunder

I'm gonna be honest, this can hardly be considered an analysis. It's more of a "sporadic and unnecessarily deep observation" of how Natsume's astraphobia has been presented in the series over the years, both in the anime and in the manga. So, please for the love of God take all of this with a grain of salt.

Yes, I'm using the term "phobia" very loosely, but I'm not about to get into that rn. Natsume has an irrational fear and strong dislike of thunder, that's an undeniable truth.

Before I dive in, I'd like to briefly explain why, of all the little bits of information Midorikawa has given us about Natsume, this one is the one to ceaselessly bump around in my brain like a DVD logo. This series is not in the horror genre (it's serialized in LaLa DX after all), but it does get suspenseful, and pretty disturbing depending on whatever topic it touches or the types of situations the characters may find themselves in. I don't fault anyone, particularly Natsume, for growing up with valid fears and preconceived misconceptions about most youkai; they can sound scary, they can look scary, and they can do some scary stuff if they really feel up to it.

That's why I'm so fascinated to see Natsume develop and still harbor an irrational fear for something like the everyday phenomena of storms. He's landed himself in all sorts of trouble and has come face to face with many beings, both natural and supernatural, who didn't have his best interests in mind, and yet the clap of thunder somehow keeps its spot on the list of things that has him scared stiff.

Aight, spoilers for both the anime and the manga beyond here, you've been warned👏🏽

Our first introduction to Natsume's fear is near the beginning of chapter 42, when he and Tanuma accidentally stumble across Taki's home while seeking shelter from a sudden shower. He questions how Nyanko-sensei ended up at her home as well and the youkai, much to Natsume's visible dismay, cheekily explains:

That doesn't end up happening since the rain remained light until its swift end, and the mention of Natsume's fear is glossed over rather quickly to save him the embarrassment, but it's an interesting mention made by Midorikawa nonetheless since it adds another layer to whatever image the audience has of Natsume and the series itself. Nyanko-sensei, having been around this kid long enough to know a lot of his vulnerabilities and insecurities (even the ones his dreams unwittingly reveal to the youkai), has seen and grown accustomed to a side of him that the audience had yet to be formally introduced to for once.

Right about now, you may be wondering how the anime adapted this scene. It didn't💀.

While the start of the episode (S3 EP5) is a one-to-one recreation of the chapter with virtually the same dialogue and scenery, any mention of Nyanko-sensei following Natsume to pick on him when it thunders is nonexistent and entirely skipped over so the gang can go straight to cleaning out the storeroom.

Most fans who have read the manga will tell you how notorious the anime is for excluding some of the characters' lines or scenes that take place in the manga, or just straight up rearranging or changing up those same factors. Sometimes those alterations work wonders, and other times they leave more to be desired, mainly if you know what happened in the manga counterpart of the episode. This such example is one of the times that'll leave people scratching their heads and wondering what warranted getting rid of a scene so insignificant that it'd have no effect on the plot of the episode whether or not it stayed. The only answer I can think of for that is the directors likely wanting a smoother progression of events to make for a viewing experience better tailored for an anime episode rather than a manga chapter.

Or, they genuinely didn't have enough space in the episode to squeeze in that little bit, which I highly doubt, but what would I know, I don't work for them. At the end of the day, we didn't get to see that scene in the episode.

After some more anime switcheroo shenanigans go on behind the scenes, along with an original episode pulling a retcon during a lightning storm, we receive our next moment in a surprising scene from the anime team in S3 EP10 (adaptation of chapter 28). Though the scene itself is short and not exactly an example of Natsume's astraphobia, I feel it should still be included because of its relation.

The chapter originally starts with Natsume and Nyanko-sensei searching for a tree that was struck by lightning during a storm the night before. However, the anime makes an addition of their own by rewinding time to that very night and showing Nyanko-sensei excitedly watching the storm take place while Natsume is tied up with his homework.

Nyanko-sensei goes on to tease him by suggesting that he doesn't want to watch the storm because he's scared, but Natsume dodges the youkai's mocking and begins to tell him to close the curtain before a crack of lightning cuts him off and illuminates his room.

Not only does Natsume not simply deny Nyanko-sensei's claim of him being scared, but his reaction to the thunder is seemingly more sudden than Nyanko-sensei's. Both of these points could subsequently lead the audience to interpret this entire sequence as the anime's first acknowledgement of his phobia, and it'd make for a very intriguing choice on the anime team's behalf after taking their ommitance of the previous scene into consideration. It could be a stretch though ngl, I tend to stretch like crazy, it makes sense to close a curtain when a pet is being noisy—

Finally moving on from S3, we eventually reach the most overt instance of Natsume's astraphobia, and potential origin or exacerbation of it, in the S4 finale (adaptation of chapter 46). This three episode arc is a largely intimate and heart wrenching one as it focuses on Natsume's journey to revisit his childhood home before it gets renovated by its new owners, a task he initially denied himself the permission of doing before realizing Touko and Shigeru would never deny him something so personal. Of course, he wouldn't be Natsume if he didn't attract a youkai along the way, and he's being pursued by one that seeks to feed on the tragic memories he formed while staying with the Aoi family, who was strongly implied to be the first family (if not, one of the first families) he was taken in by after his father's passing.

One of those memories shown to the audience is a younger Natsume relaxing in a shrine while memorizing where his childhood home is located, all in the hopes of gaining more discernible memories of his father and no longer being a burden to Miyoko and her parents.

Unfortunately, he falls asleep at the shrine and consequently loses track of time before having his slumber disturbed by a violent boom of thunder. He's so frightened by the ordeal that he can't even bring himself to rush back to the Aoi family's place, and his exhaustion puts him back to sleep until he's eventually found by some of the neighbors who went out searching for him.

The anime, with the natural strengths it has over the manga, goes the extra mile by not only keeping this portion relatively untouched, but further setting up the scenery and depicting just how rapidly the area goes from peaceful to turbulent. The character animation and voice acting make for a splendid combination and do a wonderful job of capturing this image of a helpless childhood version of Natsume.

What comes soon after this scene is a depressing sequence of events on its own, even more so when we can see he's still reeling from the storm and believing he caused the Aois to get into trouble by not getting back before dark. The adults obviously don't fault Natsume for getting stuck in the storm, but he doesn't see it that way in his shocked state.

The way Miyoko reacts by throwing her frustrations onto him doesn't help either.

And so, after aimlessly running off in his last unsuccessful attempt to find his childhood home, the memory fades away with a somber note as his present self recalls the moment he finally stopped calling for his long gone father.

Now, one could argue that Natsume had his fear of thunder prior to his time with the Aois since we don't have much reference material to work with when concerning his short period of time with his father, and they could be right for all I know. It's common for children to be startled by loud noises and bright flashes since they just aren't quite accustomed to those loud noises and bright flashes being customary for weather disturbances. Natsume, who we know grew up to be pretty sensitive to the things that go on around him, may have been one of those children who felt apprehension anytime a bad storm rolled in, and his father may have been the one to quell his fears back then. So, if we go with the conclusion that his fear didn't originate here, then this scene likely could've aggravated it. But I'm personally leaning a bit more towards the concept of this being the cause of it (partly due to how appealing that conclusion is to the obsessive part of my brain).

His initial reaction to the thunder is seemingly one of surprise rather than fear, and his behavior suggests that he's more concerned with making it back down the mountain before the thunder halts his progress. Although he's seen trying to talk himself down and fails to do so with how relentless the thunderstorm is proving to be, he doesn't need to have preexisting fears or anxieties over thunder to resort to calming himself down.

The dialogue differences strike me as something to consider too, but they're likely irrelevant.

Setting aside everything I just ranted about in the above paragraph, I should specify that I'm not simply pointing to the storm scene as the singular root cause for his future woes. Many psychological problems often aren't so black and white that someone can definitively point to one person or thing as the sole reason for the existence of their psychological problems. And phobias obviously don't always develop as a result of going through or observing a traumatic event; people can grow to fear or strongly dislike something merely by its association with an unpleasant memory or stressful situation. I know I'm starting to stretch hard rn, and this part of the post is getting awfully wordy, just hear me out—

Going back to that aforementioned short period of time with his dad, it's plain to see just how innocent of a time that was for Natsume. He was playful and affectionate with his dad like many children growing up in a healthy environment would be at that age. He doesn't even appear to have an awareness of youkai (if so, only slight enough for it to not become a problem for him just yet). We're shown later on that he would commonly draw around the house too, as evidenced by the nearly two decade old pieces of artwork his father never removed from the kitchen area and closet.

Natsume even proceeds to make a comment about this childhood version of himself likely being the mischievous type for him to run around drawing on surfaces without a care in the world.

He undeniably had his own troubles at that stage of his life though, with one of those troubles being his mom and the empty spot left behind by her passing away. Apart from his heartwarming portrait of a family with both parents, he's also shown lamenting to Miyoko after the death of his dad about not being able to remember his mom. We've seen with those two examples that her absence indeed left an impact on him early on in his life, but he doesn't stay too broken up over her considering how little he got to bond with her, and he doesn't openly despair about the loss of his dad until his growing sense of loneliness and longing becomes too much for him to smooth over.

The point I'm trying (and admittedly struggling) to make here is that after moving in with Miyoko and her parents, the worries on Natsume's plate increased tenfold and weighed him down far more than he was willing to accept at first. Suddenly, this kid had little to smile about in life, taking a glance at his only picture of his parents causes grief and envy to flare up in his chest, he's afraid of being a burden to those who took him under his wing, he's eating less than Miyoko because he's concerned with coming off as too greedy, he feels responsible for Miyoko getting picked on because of his relation to her, he's still learning the way back to the Aoi family's home, and now he's surrounded by all of these weird creatures that apparently no one else can see.

Suddenly, he's no longer that carefree toddler we saw sitting on his dad's lap as the two of them watched over his late mom's garden.

I feel moderately certain about Natsume's experience with the storm, coupled with this pivotal and devastating shift in his life, being the plausible cause for him developing his irrational fear of thunder as a child.

After this arc, we aren't greeted with another scene featuring or centered on his astraphobia until chapter 85 (which doesn't appear to be adapted in S7 judging from the PV😭), and it focuses on Natsume, Tanuma and Taki viewing a limited exhibition at an old inn that has a deep history with youkai. Not too long after the owner engages in conversation with Taki, Natsume and Tanuma briefly comment on how peaceful the inn is making the both of them feel, and a sudden lightning strike cuts through the tranquility of the inn.

It catches everyone off guard and, unsurprisingly, has Natsume frozen in place as Tanuma asks him and Taki if they're alright.

Much like Nyanko-sensei's first time mentioning Natsume's fear, the moment doesn't last long as the gang soon realizes they'll have to spend the night at the inn while they wait for the sudden storm to pass.

By this point in the manga though, Midorikawa has evidently decided to make Natsume's astraphobia a recurring element of the sorts. She could've easily left his astraphobia as another facet of his that we get to see once or twice and never again since it's not serviceable to the story as a whole, but she's started using his phobia as an additional means of displaying his discomfort in any given situation. Having a thunderstorm suddenly appear during a moment of serenity, immediately after Natsume tells Tanuma the place is making him feel strangely good, was a brilliant move of jarring him. And it works especially well here as a sign of the looming threat that'll find its way into the inn over night and slowly creep upon the group the longer they remain there.

Midorikawa pulls this same stunt again to slightly greater effect in chapter 117, where Natsume, Tanuma and Nyanko-sensei happen upon the Kisaragi Manor and find themselves taking part in a ritual for summoning youkai.

It starts with the trio meeting up in the evening to view the bamboo lanterns, but a woman claiming to be in search of a mansion requests their help to find it before it gets too dark, as well as to avoid getting caught in a downpour should the drizzle grow heavier. While Tanuma shows interest in the ritual, and the people they meet are treating them somewhat cordially, Natsume is disconcerted by the arrangement they've found themselves in. He's surrounded by five women he's never met in his life, is once again in an unfamiliar place that feels weird in Nyanko-sensei's own words, and is thrown for a loop by everyone's enthusiasm with the idea of meeting youkai rather than being put off by them.

The group isn't even a minute into their summoning ritual when a huge boom of thunder shakes the room and causes a power outage, sending them into a brief stint of darkness until Hitomi relights the candle.

While waiting for the candle though, Natsume answers Tanuma's question by for once admitting that he's bothered by thunder, leading to Nyanko-sensei characteristically picking on his phobia by calling him a chicken.

Again, the moment is subtle and restricted to one corner of the page, but it sticks the landing. Instead of using the lightning or thunder as a sign of things to come as she's done before, Midorikawa uses them here as an integrant of an already somewhat concerning scene slowly veering towards being disturbing. In addition to selling just how uncomfortable of a situation this is for Natsume, it also depicts how far along he is in his friendship with Tanuma to be honest about an irrational fear we know he'd rather not speak of.

Alas, chapter 117 was our last time seeing thunder scare Natsume, at least until the next time Midorikawa chooses to use his fear to her advantage, unless the anime miraculously surprises us with its own original take as we've seen it isn't afraid to do. What we've been given so far though is plentiful in comparison to many other plot points or quirks that get reused or called back to far less than this one. I won't throw a tantrum if his never gets referenced to or utilized again (which I doubt will happen knowing Midorikawa's writing), but I eagerly anticipate seeing it again should it reappear.

It's captivating to watch this minor detail frequently make it's way back into the story somehow, to the point that it eventually cemented itself as a miniscule yet effective way of shedding different shades of light on the many complexities of Natsume.

[cute-little-fly]

Stolitz is crazy and delusional, and that is precisely its appeal

A defense of Stolitz from a deranged fan.

Hi!! Fly rambling here once again… wohooooo!!

This time I wanted to make this to say a thing that I’ve been feeling since I started in this fandom.

I have stumbled upon posts, videos and specific comments comparing Stolitz with other fictional relationships. Often these comments come from audience or writers, not always, but often, that think about the ship from their perspective, and how they craft their characters and relationships themselves.

Therefore, here I am talking about a deep disconnection between these types of… let’s say critics/audience and us (fans of the show for whom the relationship makes a lot of sense).

I don’t want this post to come off as me thinking I can interpret this better than them, and that is just that they don’t understand. They might have a point. Maybe their opinion comes from an informed place from their perspective.

However… here comes the BUT.

A lot of aspects of Stolitz these writers frame as “mistakes” or “bad writing” in a way they frame as “writing mistakes” are precisely part of the things that made fell in love with Stolitz so much and what make them stand out.

I have found this fascinating…. Because honestly, I think it’s the first time that something like this happens to me with a piece of media. That precisely the things some critics frame as an “mistake” are the things that I find insane, in a cool way, about them.

That they are so crazy, delusional and mentally ill, in a complementary way, makes it somehow compelling. I know I sound crazy. But I will attempt to explain this like a normal person.

Stolas and Blitzø started backwards, from the bedroom to the basic.

They have been inside of each other bodies, but don’t even know what the other eats regularly. They trust each other in BDSM, were you need to have clear boundaries with the other person, but are unable to communicate at a basic level outside of the bedroom.

That their deal was BDSM is often ignored and is important.

BDSM practices involve a lot of trust. The experience from those encounters can be so extreme that you might have moments where you rely completely on the other person. This builds trust. Non spoken trust. (I don’t know much about this, but this is from what I’ve read okay?? So I won’t talk much about it).

I love this moment in Apology tour because you can see how Stolas knows that Blitzø will always catch him if he lets himself fall.

I like how they can hold onto each other in Apology Tour after they have been repeatedly fighting. Also like… How they can find solace between each other, but can be also wounded or mad to the other at the same time.

How they can have this closeness and intimacy almost without realizing, with a complete lack of basic understanding at the same time!!! Like, what do you mean???!!

THIS IS INSANE!!

For me, this is precisely a big part of the appeal.

For me it’s not bad writing that they think they found an opportunity to love in the other, without having gone through basic steps of their relationship like getting to know each other for real. Because their relationship it’s very atypical by design.

They ate dessert before having dinner, but by eating the dessert they developed some connection, and unspoken understanding that meant something. It’s not enough for a relationship yet, but has some meaning. Like.. how often fuckbuddies catch feelings.

Both of them unconsciously were looking something beyond sex, even if Blitzø did it initially *mostly* for the deal. There are context cues that show that he felt something with Stolas the first day they were together, when there wasn’t any deal.

I think that eventually we need to be shown what happened that first night. Something important probably happened, without the deal being in motion yet.

But… I give the critics that there is a lot of delusion here, mostly from Stolas at first, but also from Blitzø’s part. I don’t find this surprising. At all. They don’t have a real image of what healthy and real love is. Have people thought of that? Maybe the only one that has it is Blitzø a little bit, because he sees M&M every day, but still…

It’s natural from the character’s perspective to treat the connection they developed there in that delusional way... even if us, the people of the audience know that you need way more to have a relationship, the characters don’t have our same standards. As they slowly progress in the future they will realize this.

Stolas and Blitzø deep down feel similar things, and the environment they were in made a bridge between them.

This is precisely what ties Stolitz with the social class sub conflict.

They were written to be FOR each other; but, separated because of the barriers created from their trauma and their different understanding of things because of the social class difference. Like… at a very essential level they are the same, but the things around them have put walls between each other.

This is what makes them compelling imo. You can see how they deep down have wounds, feel lonely, are vulnerable loving people that crave connection but the context around them decided they were worlds apart. That it is impossible for them to understand the other. This is something they have even interiorized themselves. Stolas with classism, Blitzø with his trauma and prejudice.

By shattering his classist views and by Blitzø opening his heart, is the way they can reach out. This is also a good thing for both of them that would make them evolve beyond those limitations.

I have seen critics say that they don’t think this is where the show is going… but then, why put so much emphasis on classism and hierarchies? Like, to understand most of the plots and characters we have to think about precisely that. Of course this will also relate to the development of Stolitz.

They both projected a fantasy based on their trauma and hardships

Blitzø projects the fantasy of someone that is so powerful that can’t be hurt by him. Blitzø trauma it’s related to be a bad influence on other people’s lives or someone that makes them worse. If Stolas is a powerful prince, there is no way he can do that... APPARENTLY.

Stolas fantasy is easier to notice. He projects a knight in shining armor that is going to rescue him, because he feels trapped in his life. He sees Blitzø as this guy that can do anything and is like this idealized “sexy rogue assasin” from his books.

This is a formula for disaster. Of course everything was gonna crash down eventually. But, this fantasy projection is not just about their relationship, but about themselves. This is what differentiate this from just oh silly fantasy to compelling story imo.

By breaking the fantasy that Stolas couldn’t be hurt, Blitzø had no option but to open his heart. Stolas took Blitzø’s strength as a beacon to have courage to face Stella and a complete court of demons. This is why this hits.

Which also takes me tooo….

Stolas and Blitzø would grow as people by being together FOR REAL, because they would balance each other’s flaws, and ultimately, they still can find solace in the other, even after seeing the broken shards…

This is why we root for them… even if right now they still don’t have a mutual understanding about the other, the show clearly did well showing the chemistry and connection that will slowly draw them to one another.

Blitzø is resourceful while Stolas is passive and is used to have things lent to him.

Stolas and Blitzø have the opposite issues parenting.

Stolas is on touch with his feelings while Blitzø doesn’t.

Stolas being educated in grammar and Blitzø being good physically.

Blitzø lighten a spark for Stolas to start making decisions for himself, even if that’s the last thing he intended.

Stolas ironically classist view and sheltered limited knowledge about the real world for imps, made him never doubt that Blitzø trying to have a business like that was that unlikely.

He trust Blitzø the book because he saw him capable; but he was also ignorant about how hard is for imps to make businesses.

The thrill of this is how fucking unlikely it is that the circumstances put these two people together, that look so incredibly different but… are actually meant to one another and complementary in their abilities and flaws. Is this likely or realistic? NO… like don’t try this at home PLEASE!!! (LMAO!!).

But why does it have to be realistic to be a good written story? Sometimes unlikely things happen even irl, and this is precisely the thrill.

Like… it’s crazy that even with all the harm they did to the other and how much misunderstanding they have…. Their limitations and everything they still manage to keep this connection alive and they won’t abandon the other in the middle of hardships.

Now… they need to learn how to show that like a regular person… or demon I guess?

Sinsmas is not the right episode to analyze further Stolitz, because all the rest of things going on.

Making that slowly, letting all of that entirely for season 3 instead of forcing that in Sinsmas is a good call imo.

They are starting to put the plates and preparing the meal to finally have that dinner they never had.

Stolitz is NO a major focus here and that’s important. These segments are mostly about Stolas adapting (or frankly… not adapting) to his new condition and life, about Stolas crashing without his meds and usual comforts.

For me, it’s expected that Stolas is not focusing much in learning about imps or Blitzø, since he is without his pills and thinking in Octavia.

Blitzø is also focusing on keeping the guy together after he saved him, only asking the necessary for him to be comfortable. He is also not focusing on romance right now.

He sees that being with Blitzø it’s not the fairy tale he thought, how unreal the fantasy was… BUT at the same time, that he can count on him, that he can be free and whine or express his frustration as much as he pleases without being shut up. That he is more free now.

That there are things of Blitzø he doesn’t know yet and how nice will be to discover that… also… this is important… he is not going to like some of this things. But… if those things make Blitzø be him… he will eventually love him with those too.

If he understood love and if he started to behave like a usual parter or interested person now would, that would take weight of the traumatic situation he just endured AND makes sense with how sheltered he is from reality.

I loved how everything was depicted here, because I’ve had experiences with depression, and all what I saw it’s pretty accurate to how it is. Not pretty. Not sunshine and rainbows.

So… it pulls me off when fans act like they are officially together, or when critics point out flaws that don’t consider all the picture. That it’s not just about Blitzø and Stolas here. Or when they act like Stolas doesn’t love or is interested in Blitzø, where initially he clearly show he was.

That we need to project and think about a lot of things that aren’t explicitly said/shown sometimes… well that could be an objective flaw… but it also makes engaging with it really fun?

I won’t be long on this one… because showing a little more of them interacting was needed. Maybe not just make Blitzø said that Stolas comments on his posts and calls him to just talk but show that.

However, for the other part… personally I like to engage with these sort of stories where you need to dig a little bit more than the surface.

Some people say that if everything it’s not clearly expressed it’s bad done.

For example, how sometimes we use the messages that are shown that Blitzø sent to Stolas in the hospital, and that we need to pause and enlarge to see that context. Twitter posts about the paintings seen in Octavia’s song, that aren’t that detailed in the show itself.

I find this very suitable for a web series, that had its origins on the internet and with no conventional forms of media.

So… here I have a mixed opinion. Which I like how we don’t have everything spelled out and we can have fun digging but also, it would have been nice to be shown a few things that are just implied.

At the end of the day… my objective with this post is to say that the non-conventional nature of this relationship and show it’s what made me so invested, because it ended up making this love story very different to others.

I mean… I kinda like that they don’t follow strict rules of writing sometimes. That everyone can project a lot on them from their perspectives and experiences. Which also leads to some people finding it horrible.

I even wouldn’t think about Stolitz the same if they did the “fixes” some people propose to it. Like… the reason I like it is precisely that it’s a mess, and that we are shown the timeline of the relationship in a non cronological way.

Like… of course it would be sweet and still engaging. Also, more people definitely would get on board with it, or even relate that with their own failed relationships that they looked at with rose tinted glasses… however, the way it is NOW makes other people engage with it as how it is now, even if we are like a bunch of weirdos (no offense ❤️).

I kinda dislike that now everything needs to be so grounded and so realistic…? Like, a situation like this is possible because they are them.

It’s meant to be seen as that this is a super weird and unlikely situation, and that it’s happening in this way and is possible because they are them, because of fate, because of misunderstood self-fulfilling prophecies or whatever.

I can understand not like this kind of stories. But this is not the first story to use this, and I don’t see why that’s… wrong? I can see why some people don’t like it. But not why it’s wrong because of this.

Blitzø and Verosika, for example, were drawn to each other because of their emptiness and loneliness, but weren’t the right person for each other. However, you can also have a super toxic situation where you end up finding something real. This is the difference between these two relationships.

How you could find something special in the middle of a bad situation.

[thatsafuckeduptale]

I said I was gonna go to sleep but apparently I am a liar and a fool

SO!!! Reader insert dating headcanons with my swap guys and my swapfell guys :) These are my personal AU interpretations !!! so don't get mad at me if they don't line up with common fandom lore.

You can see more of my guys here (for swap) and here (for swapfell)

Larimar (Swap Sans) is the type to realize immediately that he's in love. He isn't stupid and can fully pick up that his feelings towards you have changed, it's the confessing part that he has trouble with. He's still a Sans, so he still has SOME issues with dealing with feelings and how to process and speak them. He doesn't have a big planned out confession or an ultimate romantic date where he confesses. It just slips out during a domestic moment or while you two are having fun.

While I wouldn't say he has a fetish for humans, he does have an extreme interest in how humans work. This makes him especially touchy and also causes him to watch you do basic tasks with a dopey love struck grin. He's especially fascinated watching you eat, watching the muscles flex and work under the skin, if it creeps you out he'll try to stop but he still ends up staring a little.

Lars isn't really the jealous type. He's confident in you and the trust you both have so he isn't at all worried. He does, however, get possessive if somebody tries pushing your boundaries and what you're comfortable with. He was formerly the Captain of the Royal guard, so he does know how to be intimidating and demand respect (even if he doesn't use that skill often.)

You getting along with his brother is an absolute must!!! He is aware that his brother is... odd at times, and he doesn't really understand what questions are rude and what questions aren't, so you at the very least have to be able to be in the same space for a few hours without killing each other. If you get along with his brother that's even better!

Regardless of your height or weight he will 100% carry you around. He trained EXTREMELY HARD to be Captain and he sure as hell won't let his training go to waste! He'll carry you bridal style, fireman style, or even under his arm like a sack of potatoes.

Larimar's ideal date is an observatory! While stargazing is nice, an observatory tends to be a little more interactive.

Clay (Swap Papyrus) doesn't realize he has feelings until they're either pointed out or it hits him in the middle of another task. Once he realizes those feelings he reanalyzes every interaction you've ever had with him to pinpoint when it happened. He confesses casually, no flare or pizzazz. Hell you'd probably barely even notice it if it didn't come out of left field.

Clay is kind of weird when it comes to actually being in a relationship. While he's open with his emotions he's not exceptional at picking up yours. It's a relationship that involves a lot of communication about things that might upset you, you can't just huff around and expect him to know whats wrong or even pick up that you're upset because of him.

Clay isn't jealous at all, nor is he really possessive in any way. He'll step in if somebody is bothering you but its more in a casual "we may or may not be dating" way. He's not super into PDA either but holding hands or having his arm around your shoulders is fine, though he does have a preference for hand holding so he can feel the joints under your skin (he is 100% stimming).

He does want to have Lar's approval before the two of you can actually date, mainly because he knows Lar's is a good judge of character and while Clay believes he's a good judge it never hurts to have an extra pair of sockets looking out for him. You getting along with Lars is either the best case scenario or worse case scenario depending on how many puns and shitty jokes come out of it.

Clay actually really enjoys cuddling, especially if you lay on top of him. He isn't fragile so don't even worry about putting your full weight on him, you're just a really warm weighted blanket. You WILL relax and take a nap with him.

His ideal date is the Aquarium but specifically the underwater tunnels with seating, so you can both just watch the fish go by.

Charoite (Swapfell Sans) is the type to realize he has feelings, come to terms with it, and then ignore it. Hell he never actually confesses. He just wakes up one day and you're sharing a bed and a life together and he goes "Wait a fucking second." Big "do you like me" "we've been married for 10 years" energy in this guy.

Charon likes to make sure you're well fed and taken care of. He'll neglect his own health (often on accident) but he ensures both you and his younger brother are healthy. This ranges from making sure you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to reminding you to take a shower or a bath. He is extremely good at balancing greasy indulgent foods with healthy foods, so your meals are always enjoyable.

He's a little bit on the jealous side, though that can be attributed to his life underground, where having a defined romantic relationship often ended in tragedy unless you both were powerful. He tries not to let the jealousy win over reason, but if somebody ignores your boundaries even once they are on his shit list. Possessive as fuck when somebody is trying to flirt with you.

While he loves his brother, he is fully aware that his brother would probably remain uncomfortable around you for a long while. Charon uses his own judgement to decide if you're someone to keep and can get along with his brother or if he should cut his losses as soon as possible. If you do end up getting along he is over the moon.

Charoite loves affection, but any kisses on his face should only be given to the side of his face he actually has feeling on. While he understands the empathetic need to kiss his scars, he'd prefer the kisses be somewhere he can feel them. He also adores nuzzling into you at any possible moment, reputation be damned.

His ideal date is stargazing with a picnic. He's used to constantly being stressed and on the go so something relaxing and low energy is fantastic.

Rust (Swapfell Papyrus) is the type to be afraid to realize and commit to his own feelings. Once he accepts them, however, he'll confess in an extremely romantic way. He's anxious and might be shaking a little while doing it, but he wants to do it properly.

Rust is more of a landscape and environmental artist, but started branching out when he arrived on the surface. He often draws your face specifically in an attempt to get past his face blindness and commit you to memory. It hasn't worked so far, but he's hoping it will someday. Regardless of his ability to remember your face, he has your scent memorized to SOUL.

Rust is absolutely on the jealous side. He's always been an outlier Underground in that he was more passive so once he has something important in his claws he's not letting go. He still tries to keep it under control, but if he even smells the slightest romantic intent from somebody else towards you he'll get possessive. He does try to keep that under control as well, but half of the humans that approach you that way smell absolutely foul and he just can't help himself from resource guarding.

He absolutely wants his brothers approval when it comes to dating you, but is also willing to argue with him. He trusts his brother's judgement but is also well aware of the fact Charoite doesn't trust easily or willingly. It'll be a long long string of awkward family dinners before things relax.

Rus HATES PDA. It makes him extremely anxious and it makes him feel like literally everybody is staring, though this is a bonus when he's feeling possessive. In private he's practically glued to you, hanging off you or playing with your hair or clothes. He is touch starved and even just sitting next to you on the couch makes him happy.

His ideal date is going to the beach or a lake, where he can draw both the scenery and you.

[sysig]

If the rules are “Catch them all” ZEX already has a leg up (Patreon)

[likelysobbing]

GIRLLLL YOURE FILIPINO???? can I request a kk Arnold x filipino! gf! reader 🙏🙏

#bakla

𖥻 ATE OR ATE ?! kk arnold x filipino!npc reader

synopsis: kk arnold dating a … *gasp!* filipino!npc reader ?!

notes: hey… hey y’all… been a minute… and also hi nonnies, AND my first ever 😸 nonnie hehe YIPPEE!! welcome! i decided to combine all your requests as they were general enough to use as simple prompts! i’ma be real, kk would probably? not really mind your roots? i lowkey had big writing block doing this so the length’s kind of bad but it’s made with a lot of love i promise!! but also its kind of ass. and also, thank you so much for the kind words my loves. i prefer interactions being sent to my ask box so I'll be able to properly get to them.. . but just know I truly appreciate it. you lot are so sweet. #bakla!!!

cw: kk being notoriously bad at pronounciation, paige n ice make a cameo but don’t really have dialogue, i’m posting this sleeeeeepy deepy eepy… goodnight.

THANK YOU FOR THESE REQUESTS you are both geniuses. assuming that you’re talking about a filipino npc gf, i’m just going to automatically assume you’re like fresh from the philippines. maybe you have a student visa, or you just moved here a couple months/years ago and youre still getting used to it, but the point is you’re fresh off the soil of the MOTHERLAND 💪

the way you met + got close was the same as what i wrote in TRU-LY FRU-ITY. the pen-returning first meet, the epiphany at the game kk had, the pining—all of it is the same. There’s no need to elaborate more on it besides the fact that if you have an accent, it made kk’s eyes quirk up a bit—not because she minded it, or that she recognized it— but because it was so uniquely yours. whenever you spoke over her, she was pouty, yeah, but she couldn’t help but notice your voice (again)— and how pretty it sounded overlapping hers. dare i say you’d make sweet music together .. . hahahaha. js kidding. that was a bad innuendo

kk doesn’t outwardly show interest (may or may not be a direct lie)— that is to say, she doesn’t ask about things unless they spark her interest. the problem is, everything sparks her interest. kk in actuality is a very curious person—she’s going to definitely be interested in your culture, but she’ll do it in a way that is lowkey and … #nonchalant.

kk tries to be as lowkey as possible when it comes to her curiosity about your language, but sometimes its hard when hearing your voice— that filipino accent along with it— is such a significant part of her routine. she’s so quietly fascinated by the way your voice sounds like speaking tagalog–to the way your voice sounds like in general– and she finds herself simply exchanging words with you for no real reason other than to hear your voice. she like absorbs information during times like these, don’t get her wrong, but lowkey in the middle of your ramble she just goes off into dreamland and your voice lulls her deeper into it.

“my day was okay,” you begin, kk’s head on your shoulder and her eyes closed as she listens. “yeah?” she replies, “what happened? talk about it.” she insists, snuggling deeper into your neck. you laugh; an airy thing, and you feel kk’s hand on your arm tighten. she curls herself smaller into your space, kissing your shoulder. you raise an eyebrow, “you promise not to fall asleep?”

kk pauses. opens one eye. “girl, don’t start.”

when she sees you reading through tagalog websites, blogs, etc. she cranes her neck slightly down at your device just to see how words are intertwined in your language. she definitely tries to pronounce some words in her head.

you weren’t doing anything, really.

there was a new post from your favorite newsletter— it just happened to be typed out in tagalog, and you were reading it. despite being so far away from home, you tried to keep up with your country’s current events. It wasn’t born out of anything—just curiosity. Your eyes scanned the site, not noticing the looming kk behind you, staring at the screen and tilting her head as if trying to sound the words out.

“mag…” she began, startling you out of your zone as you looked back at her. you looked between her and the screen, leaning back a bit, challenging her to read it as a smirk began to form on your lips. “mag—“ she repeated, butchering it efficiently, “ingat?” she murmured, before saying it out loud again. “ingat.” eenjat.

loud and wrong.

“po kay-o.”

you laugh into your hand, shoulders shaking, and she just stares—trying to sound out the next sentence.

she tries! she’s a huge tryer. not a very huge successor but sometimes she gets it with enough coaching! however, half the time, she focuses more on your voice rather than what you’re actually pronouncing. you’re trying to teach her how to pronounce ‘mahal’ and she’s just staring down at you and your mouth moving. my girl is NOT absorbing anything you’re saying she just thinks you’re pretty

“kk, are you listening?”

“yuuuuup.”

“to what i’m saying, kk.”

“nooope.”

she’d be interested in filipino trends— think the budots craze, for example. we all know kk loves her tiktok dances, and so simply peeking over your shoulder, watching a video of someone completely eating up the dance, would send her into an intriguing phase of . … how u say …. DIGGING.

she ends up learning the tiktok dance herself, doing it, posting it, and not realizing that filipinos have lots of pride. she opens her phone to comments that are literally just ‘UYYY PHILIPPINS🔥🇵🇭’ but in different fonts. she’s actually JUBILANT about it. she even shows you!

“bae-bae!” your head perks up, and you slowly blink as you turn your head to a very happy kk. she greets you with a big smile, presenting her phone to you as if it were blessed by God, holding it up simba style and all—all to show you a …. a tiktok comment section? “kk, what?” your eyebrows furrow, leaning back as if to see better even though you’re not even registering whatever’s being shown to you at all. kk pushes the phone closer to you, “look at these comments!” she giggled, “i got em welcoming me and stuff…”

on the topic of social media… i did say that she didn’t necessarily hard launch you, but she would make it known she was taken. under the assumption that you have a filipino surname, you’d immediately get attention considering filipinos are EVERYWHERE . i am serious . maybe you make a cameo on live, speaking tagalog, or maybe you make an instagram post with a plate of kakanin (yum❤️❤️) at your side, or maybe kk posts you too much (while still trying to stay nonchalant & totally chill about you) and lowkey has people curious enough to stalk you a bit … respectfully. point is, you get outed (is that the right word) as having filipino roots and suddenly everyone is, once again, like: “UYYY PHILIPPINS!!!”

likely every one, and i mean every one of kk’s fans begin to call you ate (big sister). it was started by a filipino portion during a live, and ever since then, you’ve been referred to as ate by kk’s fans. or literally the entirety of uconns fanbase.

SPEAKING OF LIVES ACTUALLY… heres how the usual live goes between the team and you:

kk positioned the phone on a makeshift stand, perching it up on her bedroom wall as paige & ice began to gather around it—with ice pushing you forward to get closer, too. it wasn’t pushing, actually. more so gentle beckoning that felt like a push because she was a D1 basketball player. you digress. kk greeted the live, smile wide as she waved— “hey y’all! it’s beeeeen a minute…. i know, i know, y’all missed us?” she grinned, watching the comments pile up. “we missed y’all too! anyway, for today’s live…” she paused, “i actually don’t really wanna do nothing big.” she shrugged, before shrugging again but this time emphasizing it so as to add comedic effect. you stood stiff as a board behind her, and regardless of whether or not you dressed to make a statement, comments began flooding in.

“who dat in the BACKKKKK”

“i think there’s a statue behind u kk”

“can we get a bueckers cameo” (paige peeked her head into the camera)

“ice brady i love u”

“is that ate?”

“hiii ate!”

“baby, they saying hello to you,” your girlfriend giggled, and you waved. “hello,” you said back, grinning at the comments as they seemed to increase. in complete spirit of spontaneity, kk asked: “actually, is there a hello in tagalog?”

“Tagalog lessons with ate!”

“HEHEHEHE uyy philippins🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭”

“🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭MOTHERLAND🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭”

“it’s just hello kk 💔”

“that comment.” you murmur, pointing briefly at it. “they’re right. literally just ‘hello’, kk.”

“oh! so like, kamusta…”

“when did i ever say that—“

it’s legit just kk asking you to ‘rep the home country’ and you blinking confused into the camera. and then the comments are like “i love you both . adopt me”

KK IS SO CURIOUS . but she doesn’t want to seem too overbearing. BUT SHES SO CURIOUS. but she’s nonchalant about it.

her curiosity comes in what she thinks of as ‘slick remarks’, pointing at things like tables and microwaves and asking you “yo, what’s that called in philippines? is it like different or something?” — of course, you satiate her desires. you respond. this comes, also, in the form of sharing your snacks with her.

i feel like kk would fw mik-mik— it’s like, this sweetened powder that boomed mostly in the 1990s. once you tossed kk a pack, she ended up hooked on those little fuckers. she downs them like they’re crucial to her existence.

“kk.” you called, hands already working to untangle a long chain of the mikmik packets—tearing one off and tossing it to your girlfriend, who already had her head perked up like a very curious puppy that loved you to a degree that was concerning. she caught the packet, hands clasping around it as she blinked. “what’s this?” kk asked, despite already tearing open the packet.

“just eat it.” you ordered, simply. she blinked again, and then because you were her girlfriend and she practically worshipped the ground you walked on, she obeyed!

she dipped the powder into her mouth, letting it soak before her eyes widened in awe—as if she were a renaissance artist, discovering anime for the first time. she looked at the packet in awe, lips parted, and you broke into a grin.

“yo, get me some more of this!”

despite your culture not playing a significant part of the relationship, kk notably acknowledges and adores it as what makes you you—and so, one might say that she loves you even more—but she already loves you the most she physically can.

so she loves you all the same.

@likelysobbing.

[icetruckprincess]

blood & devotion | part one

description: when your cousin, tony tucci, survives a brutal encounter with the ice truck killer, you find yourself haunted by the trauma and intrigued by the charming doctor assigned to his care. but beneath the hospital lights and stolen glances is something darker. in the chaos of grief and guilt, you search for something to hold onto... unaware that you're falling into something more dangerous than you imagined.

chapter cw: brian moser x f!reader, brian as rudy, mature themes, implied violence, canon type violence, slowburn, nsfw series

wc: 2.6k

part one | part two | part three

please do not steal or copy my work in any way. copyright © icetruckprincess 2025. all rights reserved.

the fluorescent lights of miami central hospital buzzed faintly overhead as you leaned against the wall outside of your cousin’s hospital room. the antiseptic of the hospital clung to the back of your throat, a sterile bitterness that mingled poorly with the coffee in your hands.

inside the room besides you, tony tucci lay unconscious, pale, and missing the lower half of his leg and hand. kidnapped and tortured by the ice truck killer. the infamous killer hadn’t managed to finish the job, and it was a miracle, so the doctors said. you weren't so sure. 

you brushed a strand of your hair behind your ear and exhaled slowly. your fingers wrapped tightly around the paper cup, its warmth long gone. your eyes searched the hallway, mind racing on what to even say to tony when he awoke. this wasn't the kind of trauma someone walked away from unchanged. you rubbed your thumb over the paper rim, trying to soothe your nerves.

that’s when you saw him. 

tall, broad-shouldered, and slightly unruly dark curls framed a strong face with a cleft chin. he was beautiful. his sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, his white coat open. his green eyes landed on you like he had been expecting you. he approached with a smile that looked practiced till perfection. 

“you must be family,” he said, voice warm—a little too warm in the cold setting.

you blinked, momentarily thrown off. “uhm yeah, i’m his cousin."

he extended his hand towards you, and flashed a warm smile. “dr. cooper, but call me rudy. i’ve been working on fitting the prosthetics for your cousin’s case.”

you took his hand, firm and gentle. you nodded in response. 

he paused; he was waiting for something. 

“oh- it’s..." you said as you gave him your name.

he said your name slowly, with interest.

“... nice to meet you.” another smile, and he finally let go of your hand. your pulse skipped a bit.

he put his hand back in his coat pocket and looked at you, “i know it's a difficult time, “ he said gently, "but tony is lucky. most people don't survive encounters like this.” 

you pressed your head against the wall, “so i've heard.” you turned to look inside the room to see the unconscious figure of your cousin in bed. 

you don't know if it was because of the highly emotional situation you were in, or that he was helping tony, but you confided in him-“he looks so different. what happened...it's so fucked."

rudy’s voice softened, "whoever did this knew how to keep him alive while hurting him. that kind of precision is rare. it’s disturbing, but he’s strong. he survived."

you looked up sharply. his tone was clinical, but there was something just underneath it. fascination? he caught your expression and quickly masked his. 

“forgive me,” he said with a sheepish smile. “that probably sounded awful, doctor talk. i'm around this kind of thing so often, sometimes i forget how it comes across.” 

you shook your head lightly, “no it’s fine. youre right. the ice truck killer or whoever the fuck did this, is disturbing.”

you brow furrowed just thinking about it. rudy’s eyes narrowed as if deep with thoughts. 

your eyes flicked back to rudy. “thank you for taking care of him, or his case.”

“of course.”

there was a pause—a spark as his gaze lingered a moment too long on you, like he had just come to a realization. you tilted your head, lips curving. 

“what? do i have something on my face?"

he smiled back at you, “no, … you just remind me of someone.” 

you both stood there for another beat too long. the silence felt charged. rudy cleared his throat. 

“if you have any questions or need updates, i’ll be around.” and then he turned to take his leave. 

“thank you, uh rudy.” you replied and turned to enter the room, pausing to catch another glimpse at him. there was something calculated about him, you thought, but also magnetic. you didn't know whether to be wary or ignore the thought.

but what you didn't know was that rudy, better know as brian and the ice truck killer to the miami metro, had just chosen you as his next victim. 

the next time you saw rudy, it was strange and yet perfect. 

you returned to the hospital the next day, during the evening as it was the only time you could afford after work. you brought your sketchpad underneath your arm. tony was still unconscious by the time you got there, but the nurses encouraged you to sit and speak with him—it might help, they said. so you stayed, whispered things about your childhood, from what you could even remember yourself, and tried hard to not think about the brutal reality of what he had survived. 

it was dusk when you stepped out into the hospital hallway to stretch your legs and clear your mind. 

and there he was again. 

rudy leaned against the reception counter of the floor you were on, a pen in his fingers slowly spinning. his coat was unbuttoned again, and his expression softened as soon as he noticed you. 

“you’re back again,” he said playfully with a smile. 

you smirked, “of course, he’s like a brother to me.” 

he nodded and then paused, looking down at your hands. “going for a coffee refill?” 

you looked down tracking his gaze, to the paper cup in your hands. you didn't even notice it was empty yourself.

before you could even respond, he replied, “i have a coffee machine in my office that's much better than the cardboard they serve down at the cafe. want to come?”

you hesitated. rudy was undoubtedly attractive and charming, but he was also your cousin’s doctor. and a stranger. not that you weren't allowed to engage in friendly conversation, but it felt like something more. like the way his gaze made you feel like he could see right through you. at a time like this, it felt weird to be excited. 

but you found yourself nodding anyway. you couldn't help it, his charm, confidence and interest in you, enticed you. and the thought of some good coffee.

as you walked down the hallway, both of your foot steps echoed quietly. you caught glimpses of his profile through the reflective glass. his jaw was sharp, eyes focused, and stride was effortless. the comfortable silence was interrupted by his voice,

“so you like to draw?” he asked like he's known you for years. 

“w-what?” how did he know that you-

“i saw you drawing in the room earlier this afternoon.” he seemed to be able to read your mind immediately and provide a response to ease you. but did that mean he had been watching you? 

“yeah, it’s just something i do in my downtime.” he paused– as if he could sense that you were closed off towards him.

“snooping are you?” you teased a bit to lay off your suspicions. 

he half smiled, “was passing by and i was curious. still am.” he continued on and you followed.

there was a pause in the air. not heavy but thoughtful. you both approached his office door, “here we are."

he held the door for you, allowing you in first. as you stepped into the office, your eyes swept the sterile space. the room was neat, professional and impersonal. framed degrees lined the walls in perfect symmetry, besides the anatomical charts of limbs and joints. he led you further in, the front door whispering shut between you two. his office was cooler in both temperature and mood. 

“snooping, are you?” he mimicked you playfully, as you were eyeing his space. you smiled, embarrassed as he caught you. 

“you caught me” you replied, and he chuckled lightly back. 

“and over here, is the amazing machine that produces the best coffee you can get anywhere around here” rudy said softly, moving towards a smaller corner where an espresso machine sat. his hand brushed past the small side of your back as he walked behind you, light and deliberate.

you froze, for a second, as shivers ran through you. 

“how do you take it?” he asked, with what seemed like genuine interest. it's like he wanted to know everything about you.

“uh, however you make it. i'm not picky” you replied, not wanting to inconvenience. he began to make the coffee, and you couldn't help but look around his office again. prosthetic limbs propped on shelves and stands. you felt out of place, as if any misstep would disrupt the balance that he carefully maintained in there. 

he finished making the warm cup and handed it to you. you took a cup. the sip was smooth, delicious. he made it just how you like.

“not bad,” you murmured. 

"i aim to please" he charmed back at you.

he leaned against the counter, arms crossed and watched you over the rim of your cup as you sipped more. his expression was unreadable to you—calm, maybe curious, but once again something you couldn't pin down. he had no trouble reading you, but when it came to him, you were lost.

you decided to indulge in his previous inquiry, “i usually draw moments… not faces but gestures. fragments. hands, sometimes. people who look like they're about to leave or just arrived.”

he watched you as you spoke, intently. you felt a bit stupid for sharing that, not meaning for it to be that vulnerable. 

“that says a lot about how you see the world,” he replied, uncrossing his arms. 

you looked away, “what—that im moody and vague?” you teased yourself.

he shook his head and took a step forward,  “no. observant, intimate.” another step. your pulse quickened. “maybe a little lonely too,” he joked. 

you chuckled, but he was right once again, able to see right through.

feeling his eyes all over you, you changed the subject to him, “what about you? you work with people's bodies all day. ever feel like you're just, building parts of them instead of really seeing who they are?” 

you noticed how he paused, almost taking a step away from you, something unreadable flickering behind his calm. 

“everyday.” another silence between you two, as if you were finally able to get into his head. 

he changed the subject back to you, “if you ever wanted to show me something you've drawn, i’d like that”.

you raised an eyebrow, lip twitching into a smile, you couldn't help yourself. he was saying all the right things. 

something passed between you both, not loud and obvious, but charged. like a current flickering beneath the surface waiting for either of you to touch the water. 

your fingers slipped through your hair in a nervous gesture, “sorry. i don't usually do this, talk like this, with strangers…"

his eyebrow raised.

“.. i mean well, doctors. especially a doctor working my cousin's case.” you were realizing the situation as you spoke. here you were laughing and smiling with tony’s doctor in his office, drinking coffee like it's casual, and even flirting—well could you call it that? all while your cousin lay unconscious down the hall. you couldn't help but feel guilty.

his warm voice intruded your inner dilemma.

"well i don't usually flirt in the middle of work hours.”

your head shot up. the guilt you felt moments ago washed away.

“so this is flirting?” you questioned, mainly to confirm. he was flirting with you? attracted to you? sure you thought it for second but considering the situation, isn't this some sort of violation?

he kept his gaze with you, his eyes not wavering. calm. direct. 

“without question.” there was something about the way he said it—assured but not cocky. like he didn't need to convince you. like he already knew that you felt it too.

your cheeks warmed before you could stop them. you bit your lip, half to ground yourself, half to keep smiling too much. his gaze lingered just long enough on you to draw you in but you didn't step back. this was dangerous. 

rudy pushed away from the counter, crossing the short distance between you. you almost didn't hear him move at first. you stood up straight, surprised and he leaned in besides you, almost touching but reaching past your shoulders to his desk. his arm brushed near your hair as he picked up his mug.

it wasn’t the touch that affected you; it was height. 

the sudden startling awareness of how much taller he was. his body was so present. you swallowed hard. he looked down at you, “pardon me” he said drawing back his original place. 

you didn't say anything in return. you couldn't. you broke eye contact and tried to focus on anything else, the table, the neat row of tools, but you could feel him looking at you. 

“you free friday?” 

you blinked, caught off guard again. 

“what?” you asked, in shock. 

“dinner, friday, somewhere real, no lab coats, or coffee machines involved.”

your heart had a small, unexplainable jolt.

still in disbelief you replied, “i thought doctors were supposed to have a terrible work-life balance.” you joked trying to change the subject and you couldn't believe this was happening. 

“i make time when it matters.” he said as if it was the simplest thing. your pulse was loud in your ears. was this part of a game? charged moments and careful comments? or was this real?

he didn't elaborate, or fill the silence. he just waited and watched you with that same unreliable calm. you felt a flicker of nerves in your stomach, because you wanted to say yes. and that felt risker more than anything else. 

“okay, friday.”

he nodded, no dramatic reaction, but something shifted in his expression. almost like a faint quiet satisfaction. he gave you his number and said he’d pick you up. and just like that you had a date with rudy cooper. 

the sliding glass doors opened, as the hot heavy air of miami hit you as you walked out of the hospital at ungodly hours. the scent of car exhaust and something blooming nearby—jasmine, maybe. 

you barely thought about it, as you walked in an uneven rhythm, legs moving on autopilot. you could still feel him behind you. not physically, not anymore. but the echo of him lingered.

rudy cooper, his calm voice and measured smile, the subtle way he leaned past you without touching you, and still managed to set you on fire. 

it had been so casual, “you free friday?”, like he wasn't turning something over with it. like it hadn't changed the way the air felt between you two. 

you pulled your keys from your bag and stared at the reflection of yourself on the car window. you didn't date doctors or, well, anyone. definitely not your cousin's doctor. and yet here you were blushing over said handsome doctor. entertaining the idea of dressing up for him while your cousin was fighting to stay alive. 

the guilt crept in slowly and sharp. it wasn't that rudy wasn't kind, hell he was in charge of helping your cousin. and he was equally interested in you. but that was part of the problem. 

he made you feel alive in way that you haven't in days. but maybe that's why it felt so wrong. you leaned against your car, letting the heat of metal bleed through your shirt. your breath was shallow. 

you didn't get to run off in some detached fantasy while tony was there. you're supposed to be present and with family, and yet...the way he looked at you. really looked at you. your body answered before your mind could catch up. 

you hated yourself for liking it. saying yes. for wondering what you would wear. you closed your eyes and let the guilt sit with you. let it settle like dust. and then quietly, you just breathed. let the guilty thoughts wash away, just as he had done for you before. 

you hadn't walked away from tony, or abandoned him. you were just searching for the feeling of being human again in all this chaos. to want something even if it's messy, or not perfect timing. and rudy gave you that chance.

you opened your eyes and the world hadn’t shifted, but something in your head did. you slid into the driver's seat, and shut the door gently behind you. friday would come. and maybe it would be complicated. but maybe you deserved to feel something again too. maybe you deserved to have something in spite of all this chaos, that would be in your control. 

or so you thought.

a/n: need more brian fics on here, down so bad i had to write a series myself. my first work, i hope u enjoy hehe.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

I'd like to request a ShinyHunter!Reader giving their epilogue friends Pokemon they caught during their adventure (can be traded or gifted), with handwritten notes carefully taped inside their Pokeballs kinda explaining the meaning behind them:

Carmine - Authentic Polteageist

"I came to Kitakami as a stranger but left as your friend. It's my hope that this Pokemon and your beloved Sinistcha can be good buddies just as we are now."

--

Kieran - Roaring Moon / Iron Valiant

"I wanted to give you something that's just as rare, powerful, and wonderful as you are. Just as you found yourself through the darkness during the excursion in Area Zero, so too did I find this Pokemon."

--

Arven - Arcanine

"I wanted you and Mabosstiff to have a loyal, strong companion by your side, someone who will be by your side no matter what happens in life."

--

Nemona - Whatever the reader's starter was

"I wanted you to carry a piece of me in your party, since you've been the first friend to support and encourage me on my adventure."

--

Penny - Either Espeon or Glaceon

"I know you love a certain type of Pokemon, and I hoped this one would find belonging with your team - just like you've found it with me, Team Star, and the others."

Ik we can't trade shinies but damn it if gamefreak won't let us,,,we writers WILL make it happen

........

Carmine

One of the first things she learned about you during your trip to Kitakami was your obsession with shiny-hunting. You've done it all your life, with your first ever starter pokemon being a shiny, too!

You literally spend hours at a time running around different places, looking for Pokémon that either have a darker/lighter hue to their colors or looked incredibly different.

Tbh wonders if this is some Paldea craze bc no way could she see herself wasting so much time...

Despite that, your team of shiny 'mons had great stats and kicked her team down pretty good.

For a while she thought you were being the biggest show-off.

But after everything that happened with Ogerpon, the Loyal Three, BB Academy, Kieran, Terapagos, Pecharunt, etc..Carmine becomes one of your closest friends, learning to accept and support your passions for shiny hunting.

When she decides to trade you a Poltchageist, you surprise her by trading back a Shiny Polteageist with the authentic stamp, having found it by sheer luck.

Inside its pokeball, she discovers a note carefully taped within, and you assure her she can read it in front of you.

"To Carmine: I arrived to Kitakami as a stranger, but left as your friend, and I'm glad our bond has grown stronger. It's my hope that this Authentic Polteageist and your Sinistcha can become good buddies just like we have -[Y/n]"

She was so close to tearing up until she reads the word "authentic" and wonders how tf you managed to find such a specific Pokémon (especially a shiny authentic Polteageist).

"Well I had to set up a camp near Alfornada and then-" You almost start infodumping your hunting strategies, but she stops you with a hug instead.

"I promise they'll become the best of friends, and if not....then I'll...I'll make them be friends!" She huffs, while you just smile and hug her back, glad she appreciated the note.

Kieran

In Kitakami, he was always fascinated by your team of shinies, and at dinner he gawked when you brought up tales of your harrowing adventures in trying to find them.

For instance, you nearly got beaten up by some Mankeys before finding a Shiny Primeape somewhere nearby--but talked about it so casually. Like it was just another normal day for you.

You're not only strong, but very brave too..and he admires those traits.

Although when you two meet again at BB, it's just more fuel added to his jealousy of you. And he even comments about whether you wasted more time shiny hunting or training.

In the underdepths, you found a Shiny Carbink, and he tries catching it first---only for it to break out of the pokeball, and he scowls when you capture it without much trouble.

But after reconciling with each other and resolving the whole mess with Pecharunt, Kieran decides to trade you an Applin (after hyping himself up to ask you ofc).

You considered trading him one as well...

But you thought of something even better that also held special meaning:

A Shiny Paradox Pokémon you found when you returned to Area Zero to capture the alpha 'raidon.

More specifically, it was [Roaring Moon/Iron Valiant], and he was absolutely stunned when the creature pops out and greets him, unable to believe his eyes.

"W-Wowzers, you're actually gonna let me have one of.....huh?" It presents him with a note, handwritten by you.

"To Kieran: I wanted to give you something that's just as rare, powerful, and wonderful as you are. Just like how you've found yourself through the darkness back in Area Zero, I too found this Paradox Pokémon waiting for me. May it be your guiding light to future victories -[Y/N]"

He doesn't realize he's crying at your touching message until he sees several teardrops staining the paper.

How did he get so lucky to have such a caring and forgiving person like you in his life?

Arven

He knew about your shiny hunting hobby, although at times he thinks you're nuts for willing to risk life and limb for a slightly differently colored Pokémon.

You have notes about how you found a Shiny Garganacl, Copperajah, Gabite, Houndstone, and even an Iron Bundle--all down in Area Zero.

You explain that sparkling sandwich recipes make them show up more often, and he tries it out and is stunned when he finds a Shiny later on.

Ofc you take a little pride in teaching him something new.

When he visits the League Club and decides to trade Pokémon with you, it wasn't that hard to figure out what to give him.

He's stunned when it's a Shiny Arcanine with a note taped within the pokeball, addressed to him.

"To Arven: I've helped you and Mabosstiff before, and I will do so again. So here's a Pokémon who will be forever loyal to you both. No matter what curveballs life may throw at you, Arcanine will never leave your side -[Y/N] (PS: I've been calling this one Mustard, but you can give it a new name if you wish).

He laughs a little at the end of the message, as it brought a huge smile to his face.

"Not a bad name, buddy! Thank you..truly. I think Mustard and Mabosstiff will get along just fine."

Nemona

She'll thrilled you've found your calling as a shiny hunter during your Pokemon journey, but always reminded you not to forget about being her "rival for life", too.

When all is said and done, you invited her to the clubroom at the BB Academy with an idea.

Since she was the first person in Paldea to give you the encouragement to start your Pokémon journey, you wanted to give her something extra special to show your thanks.

Although first you had to pull her away from Kieran (who was startled by her demand for a battle) and distract her by proposing a trade.

Turns out she planned to do that exact same thing when she arrived....but got caught up in meeting a fellow champion and totally forgot in her excitement.

Anyways, you finally did a trade and Nemona's amazed when you give her a shiny version of your starter Pokémon (meanwhile, your fully-leveled starter ace is standing beside you, looking proud).

She's so hyped to rush outside and train it that she doesn't even see the note you left in the pokeball until the shiny gives it to her.

"Huh?? Oh! How could I have missed this??" She gasps dramatically before sitting down to read it over.

"To Nemona: You've always supported and encouraged me since the start of my Pokémon journey, and I couldn't be more grateful. So as my first friend and rival here in Paldea, I wanted you to carry a piece of me in your party. May you both grow stronger together -[Y/N]"

Her heart is just full as she reads the sweet note, before jumping up to crush you in a hug.

This really meant a lot to her--more than you ever know considering you've been her #1 source of encouragement, too.

Penny

Tackling all the Team Star bases definitely gave you an excuse to do some shiny hunting on the side, and you soon come across an Eevee.

It had a lonely/timid nature when you caught it, feeling like a misfit despite being in your party of shinies.

You weren't sure which form to evolve it into, as it didn't seem interested in any stone or in becoming your friend.

After helping Team Star and Penny redeem themselves and resolve the mess with Pecharunt, you have a small chat in her dorm room about Shiny Eeveelutions--to which she remarks her attempts to collect them, yet is having terrible luck so far.

She's well aware that Flareon, Glaceon, and Leafeon shinies look painfully similar to their counterparts (having slightly different hues) and expresses her frustration in the fact she could have seen one but didn't realize...

Later, you find Shiny Eevee digging through your bag, and you wonder why until it pulls out an ice stone.....and it finally occurs to you that it heard your conversation with Penny.

Seems like it finally made its choice.

So when you invite her to the League Club, you trade her a Shiny Glaceon, to which she just gawks like "are you fr???? I can have this one????"

Then she sees the note meticulously taped inside and reads it to herself.

"To Penny: I know how much you love a certain type of Pokémon. So I entrust you with this Glaceon, a true Shiny. I hope it finds belonging in your team, just like you've found it in me, Team Star, and all the others -[Y/n]."

She can't help the smile growing on her face, taking off her glasses to wipe at her eyes, all while Shiny Glaceon smiles and comforts her--proving that it's ready to be her new companion.

[radioactiverats]

Are seekers in trines then drawn towards being in romantic poly relationships or is it more of a some seekers in trines are not romantically involved but might be more friendship or platonic focused with one person in there trine. You indicated that Thundercracker and Skywarp are in a romantic/flirty relationship but does Starscream have that kind of relationship with them too then? Just curious kinda the idea has just been rattling around in my brain since the new chapter 18. With starscream actively looking to expand the trine as well oof the tension with seeker reader!! Feels like seeker reader and starscream are pretty bonded though so it was so sad to read Starscream flirting and looking to find other seekers to frag!! Ahhh I can't wait to see how it turns out! Its such a good update I can't wait to see the progression!! 💖💖

Thank you for your ask and for following along with the story!! <333

In this AU all types of trine relationships exist, platonic/romantic alike. Trining for me feels more like a declaration that you trust these bots to have your back no matter what. Here specifically, the Elite Trine engage in romantic/intimate activities on top of their bond with each other, but I imagine TC and Skywarp spend more time together and have their own sort of way to interact - because Starscream’s the leader, and SIC to boot. He’s always busy and grumpy as a result :,)) Imagine engaging with a group of friends and they’re all your friends, but you have different sorts of relationships with each of them individually. At the same time, this leaves Starscream stranded aloft on a plateau of loneliness more often than not, because there’s no one to really understand his troubles as leader. TC and Skywarp probably help Starscream blow off steam quite often, or cajole him into letting himself be taken care of before he actually shuts down. Starscream snarks at his trinemates a lot, but deep down he’d worry if anything happened to them :,)

Starscream’s pretty open about flirting with other bots, you know this. Maybe it’s a seeker thing, maybe it’s a Starscream thing. But either way, he doesn’t seem to think much of flirting with others - he seems to view it as a valid tactic to gain allies. All the same, he doesn’t realize the effect it has on you. You at least take comfort in the fact that he doesn’t sleep with just anyone anymore - you’d listened in rapt fascination and horror during one Girls Night when Skywarp got hold of some engex and decided to regale you in great detail with tales of their past. But with your instincts emerging now, you’re not sure how you’d take it if Starscream came back to your shared habsuite directly from a tryst with someone else, or if he simply didn’t come back for the night. (Absently, you wonder whether it’s your presence that caused this change, but nah. You can’t, won’t be so presumptuous. Especially when you get to leech warmth from his frame every night - you’re not complaining.)

The bond you share runs deep, but it’s one of those characterised by a fierce protectiveness, care, and trust. Beyond that, you don’t know what to call it, and there are trine bonds like this. You’re happy knowing that the depth of your affections for him are reciprocated, but you can’t help but want more given that he actively wants a flock. You’re right in front of him. Your instincts scream that you would be a good candidate, and and the turning point now is Starscream realising that you’re suited to be a trine leader, which opens up the possibility of bonding as leaders and forming a flock together. (Of course, when others try to court you as a potential trinemate, Starscream turns his nose up at the very idea of you being anything less than trine leader and doles out the rejections for you.) Your reaction to his flirtations with others are a sign - he’ll be observing you carefully, testing your reactions to potentially pushing your bond further.

But at the end of the day, the connection with him is one based on a deep sense of care and trust for each other. You’d trusted him with many of your ‘firsts’, so to speak, graduation, fighting, injury… and now trining instincts. Even if you had more choice in the matter, you would without a doubt choose him to guide you through these experiences, because you can’t think of anyone you trust more. His bond to you is markedly different as well, because by virtue of staying by his side for so long, you understand what he’s up against - the stresses of being Air Commander and SIC, Megatron, his worries about his trinemates. You see it all, and as a result understand him in a way that’s different from the others. TC and Skywarp had remarked on it, too - you’re good for him, Thundercracker had told you gently. The way he so naturally assumes to find you by his side… it’s a good thing. I hope you feel the same.