#its surprisingly big! which is awesome

[sunshineram]

it looks so polite. such a sweet little smile :)

[that1geek06]

Hello!

Could you write something with teen!reader and the Avengers where reader got in a fight with his sibling, says something he regrets, and then the Avengers encourage him to apologize and tell reader that he's not a horrible person?

That would be awesome. If you can't, no worries! I'm excited to see what your writing style is like.

Have a good day/night

-V

AHHHH OMG YESS I love this idea, I had a big fight with my sibling not to long ago so lets see how this goes, I hope I do your daydream justice, this is my first one so I'm sorry if its absolute garbago 😭 ANYWAYS enjoyy

-SIBLING RIVALRY-

Avengers X Teen! Male! Reader (Platonic)

Warnings- Angst (I'm not entirely sure how warnings go so pls lmk if I missed one)

Y/N sat at the dining room table, the sound of the ticking clock seeming to make his nerves even more on edge then they were. He grips the roots of his hair tightly as he stared at all the study guides and previous home work assignments, hoping that it will all be engraved into his brain by this coming Monday.

He sighs heavily, finals week was always the worst especially since he has his internship on the line with these scores. Now don't get it wrong Y/N wasn't like Peter Parker, using the internship as a cover for the teen hero to help and slowly join the Avengers. No, Y/N was just a normal kid, sure he was smarter than most but he wish he could just focus on training and hacking rather than why Avogadros number was still accurate when being used in modern day chemistry.

While sitting there the front door opens, and his older sister walks in. Y/N pays no attention his head not even moving up to see who entered which he knows Nat would say is an ignorant move.

"Its nice to see you too Y/N, and thanks for asking, my day was just fantastic, how about you?" Sarah said sarcastically, standing on the other side of the table and watching with a raised brow as she waited for a response.

He mumbled a fine in response, eyes never wavering from their focus on the many papers. In which his sister scoffs, "I get your stressing about these tests but you could show a bit of respect you know."

"Please stop bothering me Sarah I'm trying to focus.." Y/N says dryly, ignoring the oldest comment.

"I would just like to actually get some attention from you, I barely see you because of our schedules and your always to busy now a days-"

"Oh my god, what is so hard to understand about the words Stop. Bothering. Me. I'm trying to focus." He snaps back, finally looking up at her with an annoyed glare. To which Sarah gives one back.

"Well sorry if I come home and I want to talk to the only family I have." Y/N scoffs at her words, "Oh so now your trying to guilt trip me."

She straightens her stance and takes a deep breath, "I just want-"

"No, just shut up, SHUT UP FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE! GODDAMN CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO SEE I HAVE A GOOD LIFE INSTEAD OF ENDING UP WITH SOME WAITRESS JOB AND IN A SHITTY APARTMENT! I NEVER ASK YOU TO TAKE ME IN AND HONESTLY I WISH YOU NEVER DID!" He looks up and sees his sister just staring at the ground and he scoffs, "You're not even going to listen to a word I say like normal! Whatever I'm wasting my breath. I'm going to the tower where people know how to leave me alone when I'm busy."

He quickly grabs his papers, stuffing them into his bag and storming out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Y/N finally makes it to the Avenger tower and heads straight to the elevator, using his keycard to get to the upper floors.

You see, while he wasn't a hero he was still close to the team, his talent made him stand out in the lad and Tony Stark himself took an interest and introduced him to the team. Since then he's been surprisingly close the Earth's mightiest hero's.

The elevator opens to the Avengers living area, Bucky and Steve sitting on the long couch watching an old 80s movie that was still on the list of things to catch up on.

He stomps through the room, going to the empty kitchen area and taking a seat, dropping his book bag and immediately going back to studying.

Bucky and Steve share a questioning look with each other. But before they could say anything Tony and Nat walk in, both were somehow roped into the binging with the super soldiers.

"What's up with sour face over there?" Tony teases, eating a handful of freshly popped popcorn as he takes a seat on the couch.

Steve shrugs, "He just walked in like that, we aren't sure what's wrong."

The 4 of them watch as Y/N's face slowly changes from anger to guilt. His attention seeming to not even be on his work.

Bucky pauses the show and stands, walking over to the sulking teen as the others follow. They all take a seat at the table, concerned and wondering what was the matter.

"You alright kid?" Bucky asks with a worried expression.

Y/N looks away, feeling his eyes start to water as he shook his head. "I think I screwed up, big time." He says in a wobbly voice.

Natasha gives a small encouraging smile, "I'm sure it can't be that bad, why don't you tell us, maybe something can be worked out."

The rest nod in agreement but Y/N just keeps shaking his head. "No, there's no fixing this, I...I was really stressing about my studies and my sister came home. She didn't even do anything wrong she just wanted to talk."

He takes a deep breath, voice shaking as he tries to hold in his emotion, "I wasn't thinking straight and I yelled at her. I told her to shut up, how I wanted a better life than her and I wished she didn't take me in. I didn't mean it at all...I'm such a shitty brother."

Y/N's shoulders slump as he sits there, regretting everything he did.

"Listen kid, I know you think nothing will make what you did better but she's your sister for a reason, sure you made her feel bad-" Steve hits Tony's shoulder at those words, glaring at him before he goes on, "But she'll forgive you in the end, you just have to tell her your sorry."

The 4 look at Tony in surprise and he rolls his eyes, "I get I don't a lot but is me giving this advice really that unbelievable?" Y/N smiles at that, looking at them all while thinking.

"...Do you really think she won't hate me for it?"

He asks softly. Steve smiles and puts a comforting hand on the teens shoulder. "We know she won't."

With a new sense of determination, Y/N stands and grabs his things. Swinging his bag onto his shoulder, "Then I'll go do it now." He heads to the elevator and calls it up. While waiting he looks over at the 4 Avengers, a grateful look in his eyes.

"Thank you, for the advice and everything." He says, and Natasha smirks at him, "They call us hero's for a reason." Y/N laughs, and enters the elevator, the doors slowly close as he starts heading down. Ready to make things right.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky looks over at Tony, an angered look on his face. "So are you going to take your own advice and apologize for turning my shampoo into pink hair dye?"

Steve and Natasha starts laughing as Tony groans, "Number one it was temporary so don't get those super soldier panties of yours in a twist, and number two, I'm not apologizing for something as funny as that."

Bucky lunges at Tony who quickly jumps out of his seat and starts running. He was determined to get that apology, even if he had to squeeze it out of the cocky bastard.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I HOPED YOU LIKED IT, I enjoyed how it came out, let me know what you goobers thoughtt,

[tinyapplejuice]

HII !! I dont think I've requested yet but I LOVE ur writing and was hoping for some 8bit x fem reader headcanons OR VIRUS 8BIT X FEM READER HEADCANONS! THE CHOICE IS URS I JUST LOVE YOUR WORK SM !! ^.^

8-BIT DATING HEADCANONS

✧.*

•Guys I’m stepping into unknown territory, I got back into this game since like 2023 late Decembers and I’m pretty sure I missed so much stuff correlating to 8-bit or even any brawler’s lore since I used to play this game since like 2020 so if there are any key details I’ve missed about his character IM SO SORRY LIKE IM GENUINELY ASHAMED OF MYSELF TOO BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DISAPPOINT THE FANS WHO ARE GENUINELY HUGE NERDS ABOUT THIS BRAWLER if you have any like canon information about it or if there’s a site that contains lore about Brawl Stars and it’s characters, in general, please tell me. I’m desperate, my sister is helping me with a piece of stone and rock and using our cavemen brains together. But enough about my silly ranting, let’s begin!

•8-bit, 8-bit, 8-bit, ha, what an interesting robot to date since it’s an arcade machine. I mean imagine if you go to an arcade and just see someone being affectionate with one of these things? Pretty weird, huh? But unlike them, 8-bit is actually alive, and in Brawl Stars anything could happen since it’s fiction! Oh, wonderful!

•It has mad anger issues, do I even have to say it aloud? (Some of their things have some sort of reference that leads to being somewhat negative or aggressive like in that animation with the CCTV animation and such; even his design has some cool details with both the skull on its thing and that big X on its back but whatever!) Sometimes I like to think it can get easily annoyed and just grab out its pistols and just shoot at the thing that angered them but if it’s you, they will just warn you pretty aggressively.

•BUT!!! Don’t worry, it goes to… therapy!! I know I was pretty surprised about this too but during your relationship, it does visit a therapist to sort out its behavioral problems which is awesome! So if you notice them resisting the urge to blow up then you know they’re slowly improving out it's anger issues!

•Do you think they have a general dislike of humans in general? I think it does, the only people they can tolerate pretty well are Brock, maybe some other brawlers like Pam, and you! I just think they're neutral about robots as they don’t irritate it as much as humans do. But still, if you ever see it glaring at people especially in the age ranges of a kid to teens, just know it despises them.

•OOHH! It’s so awkward hugging this big blocky dude because of their shape and size! They’re so blocky and it will be so funny if you have to maneuver around just so you could have the perfect hug! They’re probably going to be confused too.

•I like to think it doesn’t enjoy being touched. I don’t know but I like to correlate the hating humans headcanon to the fact that the reason why it doesn’t like to be touched is because of its players! They hate it when the person’s grubby hands are on the controllers, aggressively tapping and beating up the poor dude so I could see how it would grow to dislike just the simplest touch. Obviously, it isn’t going to push and then shoot you if your fingers accidentally touch them. No, they’re surprisingly a brawler who has both great and little patience if you get me. I feel like he’s able to let his loved ones touch them even though they’re not the greatest fans. AHHH IT COULD BE SUCH A SOFTIE TO THEIR LOVER TOO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT! UGHH

•8-bit’s love language is quality time. I like to imagine it enjoys spending time with their lover and doing whatever they want to do even though they suck booty! The only exception is when they have to move their legs.

•Speaking about it, They’re such a slow walker that it doesn’t even want to walk anymore for most days. They literally loathe it and you have to be such a patient person if you want to do any moving activities with them.

•Heh, another robot brawler you know what that means!!! RAHHHH ITS GOING TO BE THE FIRST CLUELESS ABOUT LOVE!! I genuinely love this headcanon and would almost apply this to every robot brawler. I don’t know. I cannot imagine a robot’s first programming to love people and that includes the arcade machine we love! I feel like they would generally get it faster though due to the lovey-dovey couple it’s been exposed to during its times of being an inanimate object.

•Can you also imagine it tried to mimic them like one time but that made both you and it uncomfortable so it doesn't do it ever again. Hehe silly billy!

•8-bit does not kiss, he literally doesn’t have lips. I could just imagine a replacement with that would be hand-holding. (If you kiss him, he gets a bit of a tingly, statiky feeling).

•OMG whenever they get flustered which is like barely like their whole face turns red and then like this some sort of pop-up appears that its system is being heated and that it needs to cool down or something and you can see smoke coming out of their body like a smoking hazard.

•The majority says that 8-bit will allow you to play their super hard, brutal game but personally it’s like a maybe especially since it lost the controller and the fact it HATES its players. It may be hesitant to let you play on it. But you know what they’re honestly fine with you playing on other arcade machines. They may be very very good at it, like they know the cheat codes and the super epic strategies that pros use or they will be dogwater. (I prefer the first one but honestly, it just depends on whatever you think it’s true!)

•Relating to its controller it lost, do you think they still mope about it once in a while? Like I could imagine it one day grumbling about the fact they lost it and you know those wasps that can clearly remember someone’s face and have photogenic memory? I could see 8-bit remembering the exact person who does it and can even accurately describe them and it would make them pay for it if they ever stumble upon them again.

•Can you imagine 8-bit easily having grudges and it’s hard to let them go? That could also be another behavioral problem that they’re fixing with his therapist. Like, imagine if you had a fight with them, and for like the aftermath of the fight it was kinda cold with you. I think they’re trying to forgive others easily, especially their loved ones.

•At first in the relationship it has the most NPC dialogue for an arcade machine. I could see them struggling to say regular words that humans would use for conversation since it’s so used to saying what it’s always programmed to say when a player wins, loses, and more but as you dated them and the months passed, their vocabulary would increase and it would have been having regular and normal conversations with you even though from time to time it would resort saying back to “Player one” and such.

• He isn’t a huge talker but that one moment where they could properly express what it has been feeling for years was so refreshing for him! That was probably the longest he ever talked and it will be so funny if he speaks about his journey of his motherboard exploding or whatever mind-blowing and crazy in a nonchalant tone of voice and you have to stare at him like WHATT??!! Could you imagine them spilling out what was on their mind for years?? CAN YOU SEE IT PLEASE??

•It can make the cutest facial expressions for someone like them. They’re actually very expressive?? (My favorites from them are UwU and 0_0) Can you imagine it being silly and wonder if someone hacked them even though it can be like that on certain days.

•Wait just as its vocabulary increases do you think its personality develops too? It will be really interesting but I don’t really know how I could see it being more relaxed and would smile often but I don’t know.

•8-bit can actually use both of its hands, I think it’s called ambidextrous. I could imagine it using both of its guns but as you know, it can’t so now it uses these magic hands to do productive things.

•You know how it can make words on its screen to make facial expressions, imagine if it ever gets grumpy it just doesn’t speak to you and instead it would write it out like [this] (Imagine the bracket keys being the screen)...

•8-bit is a geek about games and would make references about it that nobody understands except the hardcore nerds, specifically and especially the old-school games. In addition, can you imagine it being a technology nerd as well?

•I could see it as someone who’s very defensive and protective. I could just imagine them shielding you in a protective stance with their gun out…

•Also it will be super funny if they shut off randomly and then like you have to insert coins in order for them to continue “life” Otherwise they will be shut down unless someone decides to play them. So imagine just you holding spare coins just in case it ever happens or just forcing multiple coins onto their slot so they can stay alive for as long as they can.

•They are a cool. Yep, a cool arcade machine!!

GUYS I DONT KNOW IF ITS LIKE SOMEWHAT REALISTIC I GENUINELY HAVE NO IFEA ABOUT 8-BIT BUT WHOEVER REQUESTED ME THAT THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I HOPE YOU DONT HATE ME BECASUD OF THIS

ALSO I LITTERALY PUT 8-BITS PRONOUNS AS HE/HIM BEFORE I REALIZED IT WASNT LIKE THAG IN ITS STUPID DESCRIPTION SO I HAD TO CHANGE ALL OF THAT INTO IT/THEY/THEM/THEIR AND IT WAS SO ANNOYING BECUASE I WAS ALREADY AT 1200+ WORDS !! (҂` ﾛ ´)︻デ═一 ANYWAYS HOPE YOU ENJOY!!

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted: The Startosphere 🌙🌠🌌

Since Star will be coming in chapter 3, I thought it'd be a good time to talk about Star's home, which is The Startosphere!

In this special space, its located in a cosmic space between the the mesosphere and thermosphere. In this space, millions of stars travel across the galaxy as nomads. They go around seeing different nebula formations, constellations and other wonders of the galaxy! All of the star people have cosmic power, but its never been used to the extent of actually changing their own form, let alone turning into animals or a human.

They don't have solid forms, and since there's no gravity, the star people sort of glide across space. Their outer appearance look like human people, but they're outlined like constellations with a blue, white or yellow tint. (See this Helluva Boss GIF below as an example.) Like when a person draws an animation test for a character's movements.

It can however, be a lonely life. Especially for our Star(boy). See, Star has a family. A big one in fact, but he hasn't seen them in years. And because stars are nomadic, its hard for him to make friends. He could be pals with one, but the next day he won't find them again. So he just wanders by himself, even though there are plenty stars around.

Many of the star people can see Earth from afar, but none of them have ever visited the planet itself. The stars just admire it from afar and go on about their business. Star however, was fascinated by Earth from the start and dreamed of going down there and meet the humans who all looked fun to him. He could spend hours watching them below, go away somewhere else, but always come back to Earth as if something there pulled him in like some kind of wind.

When stars reach 18 years of age, and they can pick their own names to go by. Sometimes they get them from the humans, and other times they create their own. Our Star hasn't chosen a name for himself yet, so Asha nicknames him "Star" to make things easier. Though after the adventure is over, he just might have an idea of what to call himself...

Normally, stars can't grant wishes, that's a human belief. However, Star creates his own way to do it: Going right down to Earth and helping Asha however he can. Lastly, there are a few star nomads who heard rumors of a star with more power than any other in the galaxy. One so powerful, they could grant wishes to not only humans, but other stars. But none of them have actually seen this so called "Wishing Star".

Star nomads can hear humans, but only when they pay attention to Earth. Most of the time they're too busy looking for the next exciting thing, so Earth just doesn't hold their attention like it does for our Star. However, there is one human that ends up catching his attention the most, through beautiful singing...

In the Wishverse, Star is excited to meet other Starboys because not only have their been others who've been to Earth, but now he can make Star friends and he knows he can see them again, no matter how long it's been. Not only does he gain Earth friends, now he has star friends too. He couldn't be happier. 😁⭐ (Plus he loves to hang with Suñeo and Cielo the most, surprisingly)

Hope you enjoyed this little worldbuilding here. Like I said, this is my first fantasy story. I mostly write and watch media that are sci-fi, superhero, and action. I do like fantasy, but there usually has to be a twist on it to get me invested, and Wish's concept was one of them! So I took the sci-fi part I know and used it to create this system for the star nomads. More will be revealed as the story goes on, so I hope you continue to read Wish Granted as it unfolds!

Stay awesome! 😉

@uva124 @oh-shtars @signed-sapphire @chillwildwave @tumblingdownthefoxden

@annymation @spectator-zee @lazytitans-world @kenihewa

@mythartist21 @gracebeth3604 @flicklikesstuff @emptyblog7

[ericdeggans]

My List of the Best TV in 2023: An Abundance of Quality Even in Adversity

What’s the surest proof that there truly is too much television available these days?

The fact that, even though 2023 featured historic performers and writers strikes in Hollywood which crippled film and TV production for months, there was still enough great series and projects to fill an entire notebook page.

Way too many, in fact, for me to cover in my small part of NPR’s awesome annual listing of the best TV and film of the year, compiled among six different critics. It’s one reason the strikes went on so long in the first place – for fans of great TV, it didn’t really seem like much changed, as streaming services kept dropping cool stuff, thanks to their long production lead times.

Ironically, viewers may notice the strikes’ impact more next year – in part, because a lot of cool TV shows left us in 2023 (pour one out for Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Crown, Reservation Dogs, Succession, and, possibly, Ted Lasso) and also because the streamers will spend some time rebuilding lineups which got depleted.

Here, where I have a lot more room is my highly subjective and surprisingly long list of the Best TV of 2024:

TOP PICK - Succession – A show which perfectly captured how the dysfunctions of wealthy families can impact the world delivered a note-perfect finale that surprised – though I did predict Tom would win out – and yet felt completely inevitable. All while the world was second-guessing and writing their own endings. Masterful.

The Last of Us – Who knew reinventing the zombie apocalypse story was simple as coming up with a new cause – fungus, eww! – and the willingness to hand big chunks of the story over to compelling, fully drawn supporting characters. Doesn’t hurt to have ultimate zaddy Pedro Pascal and precocious acting genius Bella Ramsey on the case, either.

The Bear - Speaking of compelling supporting characters…this show’s second season sparkled by giving the other employees in Carmy’s greasy spoon-becoming-a-great-restaurant lots of narrative room. But it took flight with unexpected, brilliant cameos from Jon Bernthal, Olivia Colman, Oliver Platt, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, and the legendary Jamie Lee Curtis.

Reservation Dogs – Proof of the amazing, authentic, original stories which come from letting indigenous people tells their own stories, smashing together a crushing realism with the sense that a jarring visit from the spirit world is always around the next corner.

Fargo – Not sure I love the ultimate message on the healing power of suburban, white, upper middle class Midwestern family life (or what happens to the one major Black character). But crackling performances from Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason leigh and Dave Foley make this year’s installment the best version in many years.

Shrinking – An emotional and truly funny comedy that reminds us how hilarious Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams can be while not making us spend too much time on Jason Segel’s angsty privileged white guy shtick.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The TV series which scored the most by taking the boldest swings, leaning into Trek’s original heritage as an adventure-of-the-week which told the most ambitious stories on the small screen.

(The dancing, dubstepping, boy band-style Klingons on Strange New Worlds powered my favorite TV scene of the year.)

Star Trek: Picard – Yeah, I put TWO Trek series here, because everyone else in critic-land seems to be sleeping on the fact that they made more than one excellent season of a new Trek series filled with nods to what came before, including this show, which reunited the Next Generation cast in a storyline basically about old people saving the universe from young, clueless, mind-controlled pawns.

Barry – Wasn’t thrilled about how grim this series’ finale eventually became. But respected the fact that co-creator/star Bill Hader never shied away from the fact that the show was going to be his laboratory for all the directing and storytelling tricks he ever wanted to try, and a dark comedy about a hitman-turned-actor has to be seriously dark to mean something.

Beef – A road rage incident becomes a crackling, entertaining look at everything from Asian family culture to Elon Musk-level mogul dysfunction while also proving my girl Ali Wong can act her ass off.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Story – While other celebrities are executive producing documentaries to show how legendarily cool they are, Fox helped create an up close look at his struggle with Parkinson’s disease which show how hard it is to put on socks and take a walk on a new York street without crashing to the ground right in front of a concerned fan.

Only Murders in the Building – A comedy about over-privileged crime podcasters in an Upper West side apartment building should not stay entertaining over three seasons. But this show pulls it off, tossing in against-the-grain cameos by Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep that provide the best icing on a very fine cake.

Slow Horses – This show about a department filled with failed British intelligence agents not only subverts the spy genre, it subverts the satires which originally subverted classic spy dramas, like Get Smart. Topped by mesmerizing performances from Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas, I would have subtitled this one, Get Smarter.

Happy Valley - This series about an experienced, ball-busting divorced single mom of a police sergeant in a mid-size town in Britain notched an underappreciated series finale featuring the amazing Sarah Lancashire as Catharine Cawood, finally confronting the man she blamed for her daughter’s suicide and her grandson’s emotional turmoil.

BS High – A great documentary often tells a story which keeps going deeper and better, like a descent into a spellbinding madness. This film achieved that by giving center stage to master manipulator/football coach Roy Johnson, who got ESPN to air a game featuring his Bishop Sycamore High School team; the film contends their crushing loss eventually exposed that the school didn’t really exist.

I’m a Virgo – Creator and activist Boots Riley made an urban parable where Black excellence became superpowers and the world’s exploitive class came for a 13-foot-tall Black teen played by the always compelling Jharrel Jerome. Always inspiring to see how Boots turns mainstream media’s tropes and expectations against itself.

[invinciblerodent]

Baldur's Gate 3's Potato Chowder - RECIPE

So a few days ago, I found this recipe around the start of act 3, near the kitchen of the Temple of the Open Hand in Rivington:

[Screenshot of recipe as it appears in-game. Exact steps will be transcribed below, within the recipe.]

It looked... honestly very simple and not dissimilar from a Hungarian potato főzelék/stew (which is a very cheap and homely peasant dish I love), so I just made it for lunch today, and guys....

this soup is uh. really fucking good. I tried following it as close to the letter as possible, but since it's quite vague, I did have to improvise a fair bit- but it's very cheap and easy to make, it's warm and comforting while still quite light (there are like. NO spices in there, it's a very European-feeling dish), and I'd say it's surprisingly filling, but it's. It's potatoes, so there's nothing exactly surprising about that.

I tried to write out the recipe in a very beginner-friendly way, so even if you're not super confident in the kitchen, it should be easy to follow! ❤️

Make yourself some video game soup, it's awesome.

INGREDIENTS:

(For about 6 servings)

A roughly egg-sized lump of lard (This can be subtituted with a different cooking fat if you'd like, but I recommend sticking with lard, as it adds a nice flavor, and it's kind of the staple fat for these peasant stews.)

Potatoes (I used just under two pounds)

Half of a medium leek

Small yellow onion (or half of a larger one)

2 cloves garlic

Roughly 1/2 to 1 cup white cooking wine (optional, substitute given in recipe)

Vegetable stock (or chicken- or beef stock, or water)

2-3 tbsp all purpose flour

Salt to taste

1/2 cup of sour cream/créme fraiche (optional)

Shredded cheese and/or croutons to serve (optional)

(Recipe with transcriptions and exact steps under the cut!)

(This is basically all there is in this. Honestly.)

STEPS:

"1. Put your lard in a pot- a chunky one, mind. When it stops being lard and starts being hot lard, add any good-smelling veggies (leeks, garlics, onions) that you've chopped all thin. Please salt this so it doesn't taste of nothing."

This first step is pretty self-explanatory. I sliced the white part of he leek thinly, cubed my onion, and minced my two large cloves of garlic. In the lard melted in as chunky a pot as I've got (make sure it's not non-stick!!!), I sauteed first the leek and the onion with a big pinch of salt, and once the onion was translucent, the leek soft, and they've released some liquid (around 3-5 minutes on medium-low heat), I added the garlic, and cooked it until fragrant.

"2. When it's soft and good-smelling, chuck in any flour you've got and stir the mixture so it don't burn (note for me - it's very important not to burn it, emphasize)"

"2.5. PLEASE DO NOT LET IT BURN THAT'D BE RUBBISH"

Now we make a roux by adding just enough flour to the mixture that it starts sticking together, and looks fairly dry, but no part of the flour remains powdery. (This was about 3 tbsp for me, but since this process goes quick, I did eyeball it).

It's important to keep stirring, as this can and does stick to the bottom of a pot, but it will determine the thickness of the final soup, deepen its flavor, and give it a nice, creamy consistency. I made mine fairly blonde (light tan in color, cooked just past long enough to dissipate any raw flour smell), but it can go to a fairly dark, caramel color before burning if you'd like the flavor to be a bit deeper. (This should only take a couple minutes.)

Please do be careful- it the roux burns, that flavor will be impossible to get rid of, so.... yeah, it would be rubbish.

"3. If you're fancy and have wine (or have a generously stocked temple wine cellar nearby) add a bit of it now and cook it off. When it's done, add some wedged potatoes and a lot more liquid (not wine this time or you'll have a headache in the morning)."

We now deglaze the bottom of the pot with the wine: after pouring it in, with the wooden spoon, we scrape up any stuck pieces of flour or aromatics that there might be on the bottom.

(Note: If you don't have wine, or would prefer not to use alcohol for any reason, a neat trick is to mix about 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar and 1 tsp of granulted sugar into a cup of water, and use this mixture as a substitute for 1 cup of white wine. In most recipes, the wine's main purpose is to add acidity as well as sweetness to the dish- this trick aims to replicate those qualities, and tastes very similar in the end result. I use it often in almost anything that calls for white wine if I happen to not have any at hand. But do make sure to taste beforehand, it's very easy to go too heavy on the vinegar! It should taste sour, but not so much that it's unpalatable.)

Then, I rinsed my cubed potatoes (though the text calls for wedges, those often don't cook quite evenly!) with water to get rid of the excess starch, added them to the pot, and then covered them in vegetable stock. You can use chicken- or beef stock (which would make the soup a bit richer, heavier) or water (if you want it lighter) as well- in this last case you might need to add more salt than you'd think. (Make sure to taste- it should be flavorful, but not salty! Bouillon cubes and premade stocks often have a very high salt content, so if using that, you might find you don't need to add any.)

(It sohuld look something like this.)

"4. Cook for half an hour or so til the potatoes are nice and tender, and mash some of 'em up in the liquid. If you've got any cow products - cheese, milk and the like - add them now for extra delicious results."

From when the mixture starts to boil, it should take about 25-35 minutes of simmering on low heat, covered, for the potatoes to soften- you can test doneness by sticking a fork in one of the pieces, or gently pushing one against the edge of the pot with your wooden spoon. It should give easily at light pressure with both methods.

I then put the sour cream/créme fraiche in a heat-safe container (a mug will do perfectly), and ladled a bit of the hot cooking liquid on top of it, mixing it thoroughly- both to thin it out, and bring the temperatures closer to each other, which should help avoid any curdling. Stirring constantly, I then add the cream mixture to the soup in a thin, slow stream. (Any mildly acidic, creamy dairy product should work here- though I do think yogurt might be a bit too sour, if using that I would probably omit the wine.)

Then, as everything is done cooking and the cream is distributed evenly with no curds, I turn the heat off for safety, and using a very traditional, very fantasy, not at all anachronistic immersion blender, I blitz the entire thing for roughly 30 seconds. You can of course blend it less for more chunks (or remove some cooked potato bits before blending to add them back later), or even longer for a smoother consistency, but I did like that about that much blending left only a few, small chunks of nicely cooked potato in the otherwise smooth and creamy result.

I served with shredded Port Salut cheese and croutons on top- but this is of course optional, and I think just some nice, crusty bread would also work wonderfully!

Go make yourself a video game soup!!!!!!! It's so easy and good!!!!!!!

[thefloatingstone]

Question, so far in BG3 what do you think about each companion and who is your favorite ? Personally, like many, I pick Karlach !

I like the companions but I am still figuring them out (which is funny considering I have 50 hours into the game which is longer than the entirety of Mass Effect 1).

Lae'zel - Completely out of her depth culturally but at this point unaware of it. Very black and white in her thinking regard right and wrong... and yet surprisingly VERY quick to move someone from the "wrong" side in her head over to the "right" side. I was shocked by how she instantly liked Karlach the second Karlach explained her situation to us, and had 0 problem in immediately being like "this is a good one." despite her history. Thinks she's big and tough but is actually just a tsundere. Reminds me of Worf.

Gale - shockingly quick to latch on and trust people. To a degree that suggests he's a little bit desperate for affection. However it's not manipulative or anything, it's very genuine. He just trusts too quickly and will drink up any positive interaction like a man dying of thirst. possible praise kink.

Astarion - Like I said in the other post; essentially a cat that's been mistreated its whole life and will now swat and hiss at anyone trying to be nice to him simply out of fear. Constantly afraid but is hiding it behind sass or bitching. Only member left in the team who is still stuck on neutral in terms of relationship with Tav. Is constantly annoyed with me for being nice to the broken the beaten and the damned. Almost certainly because his experiences have taught him if you're not powerful you will be abused by those who are and it's upsetting to see someone who doesn't follow this internal logic of his. Needs a hug and a hot chocolate.

Wyll - Guy of all time. But he does come with hot demon mommy so that's a plus.

Shadowheart - obviously grew up a spoiled little princess by people who are actively grooming her for some fucked up religious role and have been telling her for her whole life that it's TOTALLY awesome and TOTALLY special and that she's TOTALLY special for being trained for it when really they're just brainwashing her into thinking getting used and and forced into something without her consent is something she actually wants and she should be proud of it. She hasn't figured this out yet tho and mostly still has amnesia about it which is 100% just more grooming. For some reason unlike my friend who found her insufferable and bratty, she's been very nice to me. Sucks to use in a fight tho.

Karlach - Ray of fucking sunshine. Somehow both the mom friend AND the little sister friend. Most purehearted member of the whole lot. Has the ADHD experience of literally vibrating in place but getting told by the entire world to "calm down" and "sit still". Uncomplicated but not in a bad way. Nothing but good vibes all the time. Has never had a bad thought about anybody. Deserves the fucking world.

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Ep. 13 "Into the Breach" Review

This was another fantastic episode that packs so much into its 25 minute runtime. Seriously, the finale better be like an hour. I feel like there's so much we have to address, yet so little time. My faith in you doesn't waver Jennifer; you've guided us through thick and thin. I will say that Rampart is surprisingly a really fun character to revisit and I enjoy watching him interact with the Batch. This man doesn't learn, but he's funny now so I give him kudos for entertainment purposes. I loved the dark atmosphere as the finale draws nearer and near. This is the end of the Bad Batch. We know it and they know it.

As usual, spoilers below:

MAMA ECHO RETURNS!!! After so long, he graces us with his appearance and he serves. I loved everything from his action sequences to his sass. Watching him sneak around the Imperial ship, rolling off of crates and working his magic was awesome to watch. That's why he's the Arc Trooper. And boy was he funny too. If it were possible, Rampart would've definitely be set on fire. Between being told he was being demoted to being denied the title of "sir," Rampart was demolished by Echo. It's just so good to see Echo again. I love him so much for his kind heart, quips, and awesome action sequences. The writers delivered!

Rampart, Rampart, Rampart... what will we do with you? He certainly hasn't changed and probably never will. But honestly, I kinda hope he doesn't. Sometimes, people are just aholes who do the right things for the wrong reasons. Rampart provides an interesting moral perspective. And he's still hot. Seeing him cleaned up in the uniform didn't help either. I'm a simple woman guys. He's also hilarious and I love it. Rampart's ego is so big that he unintentionally comes across as whiny and comical. Going forward, I seriously wonder what they'll do with him because he's going to Tantiss. Will he get dropped off? Sell the Batch out? Die in the battle that is to come? Next week will tell. I'm glad he was brought back though. He did his job as a villain well. Now, we get to see him in different situations and it's fun.

Omega, my sweet bean, hang in there. This episode does so well in establishing just how much she's grown over the past few seasons. Omega's always been resourceful and clever. Seeing her scheme to escape the Vault was exciting. You can also see the influence her brothers, particularly Hunter, have had on her. Omega's become more confident and mature. She's a leader in every sense of the word. The other kids look to her for guidance as she plans an escape. I also want to give the other kids a huge hug; I can't imagine what it must be like for them. It's one of the darkest things we've ever seen in Star Wars. Also, Emerie and Scalder rivalry definitely is gonna end with Emerie's true motivations being discovered. Scalder's not gonna let her allow Omega to slip away.

And seeing the boys strip their armor of all their color... that was legitimately heartbreaking to watch. I see it as a symbol of finality. There is no going back once they get to Tantiss. Hunter's "negative" just cements that. The last 5 minutes of the episode were so tense as the boys hitched a ride. As a my discord friend put it, "all roads lead to Tantiss."

There were a lot of smaller moments I enjoyed too. Wrecker was pretty funny this episode. Crosshair and Hunter voicing their trust in Echo was sweet. It furthers just how much the Batch truly trust and know each other. It's that implicit trust that makes me love their dynamic so much.

Anyways, that's all for now. We're truly in the endgame guys. After so long, we've finally made it to Tantiss. All that's left is to get Omega, the children, and escape which is so much easier said than done. I'm so scared yet excited for what's to come. See y'all next week!

[zelenbug]

more rayman headcanons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i wrote a LOT here

some general descriptions of like 31 whole characters in my headcanon lore. at least those i had much of note to say about. so like, some pretty important characters are missing sorry

rayman - hes cool and a doofus at the same time. hes also a little bit stupid. he values having friends so so much and has no clue what romance is because hes never felt any kind of romantic attraction. he was raised by his fairy mom (betilla has her exact r1 design btw.) and theyre still on good terms : ) favorite activities: inventing ridiculous fun new things to do with globox

globox - he is exactly like in rayman 3 aside from the odd parts in the first map of hoodlum headquarters. silly idiot with a big ego, plays himself up to be mega competent and awesome at everything despite also being a coward. loves his family and haveing fun and his friends. hes good at coming up with ridiculous stupid conclusions. he dislikes glutes (I MEAN THE BIRDS IT IS WHAT THE BIRDS IS CALLED) because they kept biting him and stealing his lunch when he was a kid. he is terrified of rabbids. hes a red wizard but hes bad at being one (due to being tall, bald, not red (anymore) and not much of a wizard (he knows like 2 spells (hes really good at making rain happen though!!!))). his parents dont like him very much for being too much of a silly idiot

uglette - basically globox 2 in a lot of ways. not a coward but is averse to adventuring so she doesnt do that (also isnt as arrogant). kicks your ass if you threaten her kids though. not as much of an active participant in various fun activities despite being fully supportive of it BUT DONT GET IT WRONG she is still also a silly idiot. she doesnt like math either but is surprisingly good at counting which is the only reason her and globox know how many kids they have (globox was barred from helping out with counting, hes so bad at it which is why they were miscounting as over 650 for a while, its really just 651). uglettes parents dont like her very much for unclear reasons (hwy do you think shes named that)

their kids - allowed to run everywhere and have as much fun as possible which includes them punting every other glade inhabitant they can get to like the ball. they are UNRESTRICTED MENACES. if confronted about it (usually by murfy) both globox and uglette would go "its good parenting". at worst they get told off like "hey dont be mean please". andre is one of the kids btw

murfy - he is exactly like in rayman 3. hes actually really good at different voices which is why hes really squeaky at times (he puts on an act and pretends to be nice when polokus is around, that includes making a stupid squeaky voice). has flirted with rayman who remains completely oblivious to this. attempted to date a lot of people otherwise, didnt go so well, one of them was a literal girl with great big eyes though (a mosquito). also he would rather pursue acting than whatever his job ended up being

goth teensy - i wrote a post about him already. nice naive little man. his memory is awful for no reason. he doesnt remember how he got this watching over the dead door job either and he barely does it because he keeps getting distracted (and justifies it with "well how likely are the nightmares to get out anyways?")

raymesis - his one goal in life is to be raymans greatest rival and make sure everyone knows how bad rayman is (raymesis fails horribly at this. when he pretensd to be rayman literally everytone can tell that is not rayman). he is a giant cringefail loser. he wears cringy gamer shirts (like. over his hoodie) at home, which is a horrible dingy apartment. has several other embarrassing interests he doesnt even let glombrox know (who basically lives in his apartment due to constantly finding new ways of breaking in)

glombrox - claimed by raymesis to be his sidekick, actually just goes along with it because hes smart and can also kick raymesis in the back once his own plan goes awry. raymesis is both his favorite target to mess with and the closest thing he has to a friend. he smells horribly and hates baths, he loves beating up people for fun, he writes in cursive so fancy its legit unreadable. he was also an asshole as a kid (hes no longer allowed anywhere near his relatively normal family) and found more company with darktoons who only slightly influenced him. somehow everyone keeps thinking hes globox. he hates it. he can eat mold

teensy queen - honestly kudos to my friend for coming up with most of this because this is like really good. teensy queen is just kind of nuts and also a giant drama queen (lmao), like fake fainting with back of hand on her forehead. her targets of attraction consist exciuslvely of women and rayman. she has probably spoken with ghosts

andre - unfortunately for him, stuck at globoxs village permanently after being turned back into a black lum at some point (during rrr's events). globox and uglette and their kids literally all consider andy a family member, he hates it and he hates everyone here. he doesnt even try to escape anymore because SOMEONE will inexplicably get him back there (ie his siblings catching him in a bug net. they kick him around too btw). hes still trying to plot some evil plan that he hopes to execute eventually. hes terrified of rayman more than literally anyone else in the glade

ales mansay - NOT the magician, just pretended to be him to try and get on the heroes' good side. ales is slightly taller than him actually. anyway ales likes mr dark very very much (this is not reciprocated whatsoever). hes really bad at magic for a teensy (his organ thing that works with magic just doesnt work right?) and he got bullied as a kid relentlessly for it, he was already mean but this just made him worse. hes the closest thing the glade can get to a techbro (if he makes all hte tech himself). was even more mean to goth teensy in particular (who was just trying to reach out and become friends maybe) when they were classmates

polokus - hes seen even by the other gods as a weird little silly man. he can shapeshift between pretty much any kind of look (he has to remain beige though) but the design in origins is his "true" form i guess. he created the glade and its inhabitants long long ago and set them loose, he created globoxs spcecies in his own image but thought itd be funny if they didnt have legs. when hes not vacationing god knows where (like himself) (anyway he went there during rayman 3) hes pretty easy to talk to and become best friends with. he is divorced (over teensies)

voodoo mama (NOT THE NYMPH this is literally not what the nymph is called ignore raywiki IM TALKING ABOUT mama hite) - God's Ex. she thinks hes too much of a silly idiot too. she literally only likes one teensy (romeo patti), thinks all the other ones are ugly as hell. nowadays (aside from hanging out in land of the livid dead briefly before getting kicked in the eyes. yknow. big mama.) lives at the sea of serendipity with red wizards, offering her weird concoctions and whatever else to people, usually they do some magic effect they want (ie how rayman recolored himself like globox for fun) but with Side Effects. all the red wizards are convinced shes just some tall lady thats really good at magic and not literally, like. another god. even though she doesnt bother to hide it that much. sorta acted like a better mom to globox than the one he actually had, it took him a long time to also learn she was, in fact, God's Ex

LIGHTNING ROUND,!? the (unique) BABYS!!! brainox is obviously the smart one, a polite little guy, he has albinism and thus doesnt like sunlight, looking at it OR being in it. so hes more nocturnal bimbette is just cutie pants (from fancy pants) basically. she is a huge brat. lacks eyelashes for some reason zikox (remember hes the yellow one this is a canon name from the dreamcast localization file) pursues rap sure he secretly really likes poetry. wouldnt let anyone know. oktette is obviously the other smart one but shes REALLY smug about it. she literally looks down on people shes the tallest of the babys. (actually theyd be like teenagers by now almost?) hardrox isnt mean but hes just annoyed all the time by everything. he has a cool rock band, his dad is the only other member (as you know globoxs rayman arena desc says he likes rock music) catastrox is confused about everything constantly he has a hard time understanding anything. actually one of the least chaotic kids. he also just didnt really understand robo pirates were bad because he didnt know morals yet (also bc he hatched with the pirates somehow)

flaming teensy is the cool old (not that old, hes in like his 40s equivalent) man. despite appearances (and whatever happened in mini) hes actually pretty nice. looks over the tricky treasure as a job. hes in a relationship with another teensy but hes from the cold part of gourmand land this time

(i didnt intend to pick images of both magicians (i guess. you can see i refuse to call ales that) with no hats on. i just thought they were funny. this one is from an educational game btw)

the first king is the actual old. hes oldest teensy that has ever been alive, he refuses to die out of sheer stubbornness and just constantly complains about "kids these days". hes like cranky kong with less video game references

jano - one of the more minor gods, only one created by polokus (it was an accident). then he made a mess and now nightmares and the scary part of land of the livid dead exist. hes gotten more neutral over time, but not exactly nice and he doesnt regret making nightmares happen. nowadays he actually guards the way to land of the livid dead (cave of bad dreams is just a part of it), which is a somewhat different job from goth teensy

(side note r3 and origins land of the livid dead exist in the same "space", but the origins one is in a sort of pocket dimension. pocket dimensions have mostly been created by group efforts of powerful teensies for convenient travel purposes, ie the highways or the hall of doors, or some other purpose like the tower also in (r3) land of the livid dead. anyway nightmares reside in the origins land of the livid dead. and it wasnr created by teensies just to be clear, its that most of the other pocket dimensions were)

dark globox - nobody invited him to these races one time he just showed up. everyones scared of him, hes not even mean or evil he just throws people into walls for some reason. he speaks in BFGKBLFBDKFHMMDFKS but hes like, a sapient person with thoughts in SOME form? still the same species as globox but hes the most weird shaped one. everyone just called him that due to approximate similarities to the only other competitor who was also the same species (unless you count globette) anyway dark globox is literally the only person glombrox genuinely respects

tily - like a cat (full of mischief) that can fly. unstoppable, chaotic, bites people (mostly globox. for no reason). if caught in the act (for example, pushing fragile objects off tables for no reason) she acts like shes entirely innocent and hasnt done a single thing wrong or bad at all. which keeps working, every time. but she can be persuaded to stop for a little bit with some treats of candy (thats a difference from cats, cats cant taste anything sweet at all!). i dont know what her relation to ly is but theyre both cats in some way

the magician (the real one this time) - has always been a rayperson. hes a grown man but is shorter than most teensies for no reason. obviously great at magic but anything involving technology confuses him to no end. hes maybe just a bit mischievous at times, hes nice he just messes with people a little bit sometimes for fun. Ok so i can really only describe this best with an image also from an educational game

red wizards arent like. one character but i could go into more detail on them. so they live mostly around sea of serendipity and mystical pique. at least the older ones are absolutely committed to being always serious and never having fun or being silly ever, and they hope to also teach the same values to god with their boring mantras. you can understand why globox didnt fit with the other red wizards like at all. ALSO red wizards gossip a LOT, htey end up knowing about everything remotely adjacent to them (but nothing outside of that, they had no idea there were robo pirates at all for example)

romeo patti - why did he decide to live in land of the livid dead?? anyway he kind of has the easiest job in the world because most of his patients are already ghosts and you cant do much about that. so he spends all his time smoking all kinds of stuff, thats kind of why hes the only teensy voodoo mama likes. hes also one of the tallest known teensies, its hard to tell because he also has the worst posture of all the known teensies

TOOK LONG ENOUGH TO GET TO MINIMUSES I GUESS? talking in plural because i think its mostly a set of teensies that steal the crown from one another. being The King is mostly meaningless but it makes them feel important and they get to shout commands at people. only one of them was brave enough to participate on some fun adventures with rayman and globox and goth teensy, he acts like the leader of the team which makes the other three go "?"

sir globrax - he keeps getting stuck in absolutely unreal situations. nobody knows how he does this. murfy for a time got assigned by polokus to watch over this poor chainmail wearing idiot and, while he wouldnt show it, murfy has never genuinely hated anyone more than this guy and his penchant for trapping himself in ways nobody on the planet can decipher. meanwhile his view on murfy is like. My assisant murfy who helps me when im in trouble : )

globteen and teensy ray together i guess - theyre like. friends but they mostly focus on being the number one biggest fan of whoever their respective favorite guy is. and they both run fanclubs but the globox fanclubs only members are globteen and globox. teensy ray will try and fight anyone who is mean to rayman, also hes one of the few teensies that isnt bald (he made himself not bald)

globteen is a funny little guy overall. his age is a mystery. most people find him kind of weird and a bit nuts so he doesnt have a lot of friends but he doesnt seem to mind that much. hes actually REALLY pale for a teensy for some reason, being a very light yellow color. its a bit hard to tell because he never goes out without his face painted blue (like globox). also he is literally this

might do more of this if i come up with things to write about other characters

[nyoxt]

8, 13, 50 for Mutt and 9, 16, 36 for Belrod :D 💛

Mutt: [8] How open they are about their true feelings, both positive and negative?  She's more open with negative ones- if she's annoyed or angry-you will know about it, if not verbally than with body language/expressions. With positive feelings she's pretty much very closed. You'll need to pull those out of her with the tongs. While trying to not get shot or kicked.

[13] What kind of sense of humor do they have, if any? Mutt has little sense of humor and it's mostly dark/sarcastic. If she jokes she does it with the straightest face and blunt/dry delivery. Surprisingly her most usual “jokes” are pranks- and those used to be quite sadistic/bullying in her younger years- like shooting someone in the foot and laughing at the resulted suffering, but later became less violent. I mean, it's still got a violent flail to it, but it's more of a force of a habit than realized intention. But when her pranks are actually funny- Coyote might bestow upon her some small boons, like a good luck for a short time or a magic buff. [50] What are they really good and really bad at? Mutt is very good with guns, inflicting violence, following orders, decent at planning combat encounters. Can be a pretty good leader, but not enthusiastically. She’s rather bad with magic. She’s been awakened since her teen age, but never seriously worked on her abilities or connected with it much, thinking that guns/rifles are a more reliable way to fight. Aaaand she's especially bad at forming healthy connections with other people- because for the majority of her life she used to stick to the meanest strongest groups she could get into, with strongly reinforced hierarchies on top of that - so forming new relationships which are not grounded within strength or combat experience- is h a r d. And it’s also made harder because Mutt can’t exactly realize the roots of this problem, doesn’t know what help to ask for, and doesn’t want to ask for help because it is something awkward and being awkward is a sign of weakness and being weak will get you to the bottom of the food chain-> the cycle continues Belrod: [9] What is their love language?  Gifts- he looooves to bring people his favorite ppl things they want/like; actions of service; words of affection. Many many words of affection. Screams of affections even- if he befriends you he might scream from the rooftops how awesome and cool you are and how much he loves you. Literally, like, climbing on some roof and screaming. [16] Do they easily rely on others to help them out, or prefer doing everything themselves? Bel was always a perfect team player, he’s very good at finding his place and use in a team. And growing up with a rather big family+a huge extended family and in a tightly knit community- he knows when and how and who to ask for help and how to rely on others! His challenge during Origins+Awakening was actually in learning to do things alone sometimes and make important decisions by himself. [36] Do they own items that have sentimental value? -The boots his mother made him. He couldn't walk in them for the long travels because they were a bit too tight, but they were always in his backpack. Bel gifted them to Morrigan when she said she likes the embroidery on the boots. Because he thinks that things are the happiest when used for their purpose, and will bring more luck this way than when buried in the bag.

-his mother's tiny knife. It's not very useful in serious combat, but it's easy to conceal and is great for surprise stabbings. He hates when people insult its size/usefulness, and threatens to “put it in your eye and see how funny this “toothpick” will look up close”.

-Alistair's rose. Bel keeps it dried between the pages of his journal.

-"Fang" dagger. Bel finds blade's shape hard to get used to, but it belonged to his mother, so he loves and cherishes it. 

As you can see- he loves his mom a lot.

[antiv3nom]

ive been enabled so im making a new post for it <3 n e ways welcome to my list of what characters the straw hats would play in guilty gear strive

luffy - sin kiske/may

ok first of all im entirely biased but luffy would fucking LOVE sin, like the bit of him eating to get buffs would DEEPLY entertain luffy (although he'd use it entirely way too much and get blown up for it)

but for both characters, i think he'd be a big fan of doing like one hit and a simple combo and absolutely DESTROYING someone's health bar, which fits for both of these. he wouldn't be very GOOD at the game because he wouldn't be able to sit still and wait for openings or anything of the sort but boy would he be great at corner pressure (until he gets dp'd)

zoro - nagoriyuki

i swear to you im not just giving the sword guy the sword guy (although that's certainly a factor because i bet you that'd influence zoro's character decision) but like. zoro is also the type to want to do one combo that does a ton of damage

i think he'd be moderately better than luffy and defense and neutral though, being able to open people up with pokes (cough cough beyblade cough cough), but he'd CONSTANTLY spend too much blood, although he plays surprisingly well inside of blood rage

nami - asuka r#

nami is the type to want to stand on one side of the screen with her opponent on the other side of the screen and just shoot so many fucking cubes at them honestly. plus i think she'd be really great at keeping track of spells and resources while she plays

however if u can get in on her? it's over, she has negative defense and constantly flails and mashes her way to death, but otherwise she's a pretty solid player. also, im a wizard's whimsy believer regarding nami so. asuka!

usopp - happy chaos/axl low

usopp is ALSO a zoner main but like. to the fucking extreme. hes GOING to guard crush loop you from across the entire screen hes GOING to rensen your ass for a whole round hes GOING to be sent through the fucking wall if you close in on him

sanji - giovanna

ok so i actually think this is a cool decision because like. we see gio use her hands in like...2? 3? of her moves? like its 5p 2p and 6p and thats about it. and its GIVING SANJI!!!!

i do think that sanji would have fun playing a rushdown character but also he'd get so good at playing defense bc he doesnt want to let gio get harmed

chopper - jack-o' valentine

CHOPPER WOULD HAVE A FUCKING BLAST PLAYING JACK-O'!!!!! i dont think hed be good at strive by a long stretch but hed LOVEEEE controlling the goobers and all the silly animations hed be having the time of his life

the ASSUMPTION might be faust but i think chopper finds him too creepy to enjoy playing him regularly

robin - anji

robin is a fucking MASTER in neutral i am convinced of this, specifically that she can just. get her opponent to do what she wants. so easily. and then she uses spin and kills them! as is her right!!!

this one is more vibes than anything but i do think she'd enjoy spin and counter as moves to just fuck with her opponent in a major way, plus anji just being a graceful motherfucker

franky - potemkin/goldlewis dickinson

franky doesnt want to play your silly little game. he doesnt want to hold your mix, he doesnt want to set up oki, he doesnt want to play neutral, he wants to KILL YOU AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

this isnt how he approaches things in life but i think theres something about strive that would just make him want to do the biggest damage possible with the least amount of hits and he'd want to land every fucking pot buster and behemoth typhoon to ever exist. unfortunately this means he wouldnt entirely be engaging with the strategy side of the game and would frequently be blown up but if he can get one grab on you hes happy.

brook - i-no

look. ok. the music connection is awesome and i think brook would enjoy mixing you into oblivion but. i have never met an i-no player who doesnt play her at least in part because she's hot. and thats absofuckinglutely how brook would choose who he plays LMAO

like its JUST the nature of the world. but in terms of gameplay yeah i think he'd like flitting around the screen with her hoverdash and divekicks and he'd have so much fun with her pressure and mix

jinbe - sol badguy

ok for legal reasons i have to specify that like i have met jinbe and know him im thr series but not super well so take my opinions with a grain of salt. but anyways i think jinbe would have a lot of fun with sol, he feels like the type who wouldnt like play strive much on his own but REALLY get into it when playing with other people, and i need him to experience the euphoria of hitting a clean hit hvv or getting a wallbounce combo

i also think he's another fan of doing a shit ton of damage all at once but i think he's willing to do some comboing and some setups to get there, and i think he's get REALLY fucking good at stagger pressure it would be scary

[chaifootsteps]

Rewrite for Seeing Stars idea, based on both yours and some other's criticisms of this show:

- Its an episode set up the same way, only with more parallels being drawn for Octavia and Loona feeling ignored by their respective fathers for not wanting to do an event with them. They decide to then sneak out using the Grimoire together, ending up somewhere in Los Angeles instead of where Octavia meant to. No matter though, because Loona is stubborn and determined to let Octavia have a good time.

- Blitz only notices the Grimoire missing because he wanted to do a contract that day (to get the whole Ozzie's ordeal out of his mind), and now he has no access to the human world– Similarly, Stolas only notices Octavia is missing when he goes into her room to apologize for cussing out her mom in front of her and how it wasn't sensitive of him seeing as she still maintains a pretty good relationship with her, and notices the calendar with their big event circled. He then gets a phone call from Blitz [extremely awkward, given what had happened like a few nights prior] and puts 2 and 2 together when he says the Grimoire is gone too. Oh Fuck, My Angsty Teen Daughter Took YOUR Angsty Teen Daughter (Because to me Loona and Octavia will always be the same age) And Now They're LOST in the HUMAN WORLD

- Stolas takes Blitz to human realm, and tries to give him a proper human disguise this time around just for the extra safety, but Blitz specifically insists not to get one because he doesn't want to be around Stolas much and just get everything done with, and Stolas takes it surprisingly well by respecting his boundaries and staying a bit distant from him.

- Blitz / Stolas go looking for Octavia and Loona, and the previous two are just having a fun day while also trauma bonding about having less than ideal fathers.

- Instead of the dumbass Brandon Rogers plot, we get to see how much Blitz cares about Loona through a series of flashbacks and lore exposition, showing how the two slowly got closer together as Loona realized she and Blitz had a lot in common (for example, both getting ostracized from their communities for having autis- I mean, being weird and aggressive!), and Stolas reflects on his own relationship with Octavia as he realizes "Holy shit I mess up all my relationships by being distant from the people I love or trying to protect them only to come off as selfishly pushing them away, this is an issue and I should fix it"

- Octavia is really shy and awkward while Loona is super smug and outspoken, so I think they could have an absolutely adorable dynamic as they hit the town. In this version specifically, maybe they go to a karaoke together and Loona gets to see Octavia loosen up while she sings some emo shit with her, which i think would be an awesome parallel to Stolas' own songs :DD

- M&M are off on their own shenanigans because of the intrusion on Ozzie's, so the plot stays a bit more concise. I like to think there'd be a cutaway gag with Blitz screaming really loud and it cutting to Millie/Moxxie on vacation and one of them going "Did you hear somethin" "Nahhh dont worry Bout it. We're on 2 weeks leave"

Let me know what you think :)

This is adorable and would have been so much better! It keeps things light but still tackles the blow up from Ozzie's...the fans would have liked this, everyone would have liked this!

[vocaloightmares]

Part 2 of the TW Lore--Season 1 and 2 (V1):

Wuh oh, revised/rewritten bits from Part 1:

• The Pavere Carnival was subject to violent backlash for inducing nightmares on both children and adults visiting the attraction. Karakumo, the original ringleader during this time, was the public’s punching bag and sought ways to alleviate the madness. She consulted with Milly Dilly about this and the two worked to avoid potential risks. It all went well until influencers rose in popularity across the world, causing a blow on the Pavere Carnival’s visitor rate. Such an event caused MD to take drastic measures in making her employees more scarier. However, several accidents involving the carnival’s attractions immediately closed the Pavere Carnival for good. Many of MD’s employees remain by her side by working outside of the attraction’s ruins but some, including Karakumo, left because they disagreed with their former boss’ actions.

The PC’s shutdown happened before Karakumo joined the Super Wings, but she was still training Rakumo because he actually wanted to work with her since the teen didn’t like Milly Dilly’s ways of running the carnival. Karakumo’s student heard about the shutdown on the news and Rakumo’s someone that enjoys anything weird.

• The conversation between Karakumo and Lance at Venice: the former (now) specifically told the latter to stop the PC’s current ways of scaring the world. Lance said he doesn’t know much about the Pavere Carnival’s inner workings but would look into it while he works for the Super Wings...and deal with Karakumo. But the mention of the delivery organization prompted the puppeteer to inquire about Lance’s workplace. He was hesitant to explain about the Super Wings to his adversary but, being the psyche analyst he is, a side of Lance is convincing him that Karakumo was being nice/genuine for once.

A few years later, Vicky was enthralled by a documentary about the disappearance of a Legendary Super Wing named Kid Wing on TV. One of the things she enjoyed is the LSW‘s fighting style and how it was applied to take down criminals, even the supernatural ones, across the world. Vicky enjoyed his arsenal of firework weapons and began mimicking Kid Wing’s fighting style. As a result, she became a self-taught fighter.

But what Vicky didn’t like was the LSW’s unexpected disappearance. It bewildered her: why would a powerful plane suddenly let the bad guys come out from their hiding spots? Who would take his place to stop them?

And thus, Vicky requested to her dad if the troupe and herself can become both crime fighters and troupers.

Which resulted in Lance spitting out his morning drink one day upon hearing the news: he was reluctant at first, but a sparkling touch of convincing and big fat puppy eyes made Lance surrender because how can a dashing father disappoint his rising star?

In fact, the international acclaim of his troupe, which is now named as Teen Troupe, can boost if they were to combat the elusive Pavere Carnies. So comes S1: monster of the week, domestic banter, idol showdowns, you name it.

.....Until we meet the ringleader of the Pavere Carnival in Slovakia who kickstarts the actual story of Teen Wing. Rakumo’s personality will then be further revealed in S2:

Teen Wing finds old news about the Pavere Carnival and how its ruins still stand today. Surprisingly, no sign of nature reclaiming is present: only fading paint indicates the grounds’ abandoned status.

She finds the Pavere Carnival’s ruins at an unspecified country a bit far from civilization. Perhaps it was located here to evoke their creepy feeling when the carnival was still operating.

But, Teen Wing finds a visitor roaming around the carnival’s grounds: a jet who introduced himself as Inei. He was a longtime regular of the Pavere Carnival and continues to visit after its closure. Moreover, the jet wanted to find any secrets the attraction stowed from public.

Inei’s also a really damn awesome graffiti artist. He’s vandalizing walls and repainting eroding carnival art.

(Important note: When you want to go urban exploring, bring someone with you like friends who provide assistance and fun. It’s way safer than going alone even though you think a particular abandoned place doesn’t look dangerous to you.)

So, Vicky and Inei introduced each other and the latter infodumps about the Pavere Carnival while the two jets walk around the ruins. At night, they fight as Teen Wing and Rakumo respectively and the two continue this routine until they take a really bad turn at World Spaceport.

The Super Wings fell victim to the ringleader’s puppetry and Teen Wing had to sneak around them, knowing the planes moved a foot like live mannequins every time she doesn’t turn back at the SWs. She had to find the power source in the ginormous World Spaceport to turn on the lights as fast as she can, but a big fight erupts between her and Rakumo revealing himself.

It was difficult for Teen Wing to avoid landing hard hits on the SW. Eventually, she managed to shatter Rakumo’s mask, revealing the same face back at the Pavere Carnival’s ruins: Inei.

Silent tension happened and TW’s anger was beginning to bubble up until, in a state of panic, Inei slashed the crimefighter across the face, partially damaging TW’s eyesight. Luckily, with the puppeteer fleeing the scene, the Super Wings woke up from their mannequin state and the lights turned back on. Noticing TW bleeding on the ground, the SW brought her to the medical wing quickly and patch her up.

From there, they would learn that TW is the alter ego of Vicky, a renewed Teen Trouper, but kept it a secret as the crimefighter's request. When Vicky woke up from her unconsciousness, she gave her organization's contact to the SWs to call. As a result, a distraught Lance burst into World Spaceport. He was about to fight the SWs with a glowing fencing sword buzzing with intense electricity, but Jerome, Sunny, and Sara convinced him otherwise altogether.

"Also. We're big fans of your troupe."

"Not right now, Sunny!"

Calm, Lance witnessed the SW making special glasses that can transform into Vicky’s signature Teen Wing mask. Vicky was happy about the advanced technology but is still reeling from Rakumo’s revelation.

Eventually, the crimefighter requested to have a break from work.

Luckily, one of the SWs recognized her costume being strikingly similar to a lost Legendary Super Wing. Vicky, and Lance following behind, was introduced to the Hall of Fame and learned more about Kid Wing than what the documentaries on television told her. There was also a plane whose name is unfamiliar to Vicky: Karakumo.

She wasn't a LSW, but often partnered up with Kid Wing, which hardened the frown on Lance's face.

Afterwards, he brought his daughter back to their home hangar and put her to bed. He kept a watchful eye on the assistant director, becoming even more protective than before that was extremely annoying to Vicky the next day.

But then again, she really needed physical comfort.

Meanwhile, fearing in the inside, Rakumo reported back to his boss about his failure in World Spaceport. But he was able to get vital intel about the Super Wings' connection to Teen Troupe. From there, the Pavere Carnival's operations will rack up.

At the end of the season, we would then get a name of the Pavere Carnival's big boss: Milly Dilly.

[slusheeduck]

In Which Yuri Plisetsky Definitely DOES NOT Have A Crush

This is an oldie that I wrote for an anthology that ended up only having two chapters, but it's still something that consistently makes me smile when I read it, so I figure I could share it again on its own.

----------------

                As much as Yuri liked to say that he knew he was right about everything, he was painfully aware that sometimes he made mistakes. He usually managed okay, because he was awesome and yelling seemed to fix most problems. Case in point: he found Viktor after flying to Japan despite not knowing a lick of Japanese purely because he yelled his name a lot. Yelling worked.

                But, after this mistake, yelling didn’t work. Punching his wall didn’t work. He even tried to flip his bed, but it was too heavy, so he kicked it over and over. But that didn’t work, either. So, for the first time in his young life, Yuri had to think about how to fix a problem. And he might…

                …have to talk to someone.

                But who? Grandpa? No, Grandpa would listen, but he wouldn’t really get it. Mama? No. Ugh, god no, she’d coo over him and tell him how cute he was being. Mila would do the same thing. Georgi would start crying probably. Maybe Yakov? He wouldn’t get it. He did still have Viktor’s number…

                No.

                Viktor could never know.

                Surprisingly, this whole…issue didn’t start until after the Onsen on Ice bullshit. Clearly, whatever weird practice regimen Viktor was doing with Yuuri was working, because he ended up winning. Even though Yuri was clearly the better skater, the minute that stupid pig got on the ice, something changed. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Yuri wasn’t sure if it was Katsudon’s face or steps or some sort of weird black magic demon stuff (which, admittedly, would have been really cool.). So he decided to watch some of his old videos to find out what it was. Know your enemy and all that.

                This had been the mistake.

~

                Before this, he’d only seen the pig skate at the Sochi GPF. He’d been impressed with his short program—and even more impressed by the death glare he’d given the camera while waiting for his score. Most skaters were all smiles or tears in the kiss and cry, but not Yuuri Katsuki. That’s the kind of skater Yuri wanted to be next year: stony-faced after success, too confident to be moved even by a personal best score.

                Yuuri Katsuki was so cool.

                But then there was the free skate. And Katsuki had just fallen to pieces. He fell, twice. What was wrong? Was he sick? Yuri wondered if buying one of his posters had been a bad idea. Maybe it had jinxed him.

                If Yuri’s faith in Katsuki had wavered during that terrible skate, it was renewed when he went to the kiss and cry. Again, there was that death glare to the camera! So cool!! Yuuri Katsuki didn’t give a shit and it was awesome!

                Once the final was over (Viktor had won again, big whoop. Yuri would fix that next year) and Yakov was off yelling at Viktor for whatever reason, Yuri slipped away. He was going to find Katsuki. He had to meet this cool, collected skater face to face. He’d probably have better tips for next year than Airhead Nikiforov.

                Yuri pulled the hood of his jacket up and stuck his hands into his pockets, slinking through the halls. He had to look cool when he talked to Katsuki. It wasn’t like he was a dumb fanboy or anything. He was basically an equal. They were just gonna talk. Like skaters. Cool skaters.

                It took him a minute to realize the nerdy guy with glasses walking down the hall was actually Katsuki. He looked so different on the ice. Maybe it was to deflect the tons of fans he probably had. He was so much smarter than Viktor; stupid Viktor just kept making the fan problem worse. Maybe getting a pair of glasses would get those damn Yuri’s Angels off his back.

                Well, he’d get cool glasses. Like, cheetah print ones. But still.

                Yuri focused as he watched Katsuki slip into the bathroom, phone out. Huh? What was he doing in there? Maybe he was going to fire his coach for making him lose! Ohh, that’d be cool to see! Yuri slinked out from the hall and leaned against a wall for a moment. He didn’t want to be creepy. So he waited, just for a little bit, then slipped into the bathroom.

                Immediately, he heard sniffling from the middle stall, and someone speaking in a language he couldn’t understand. Probably one of the sucky Juniors. Yuri was always surprised at what babies the other competitors could be. Some of them were even older than him.

                Well, let that baby cry. He was looking for Katsuki. He had to be in here somewhere, letting his coach have it over the phone. But all the other stalls were empty, save for the one the crying was coming from. So…

                No.

                NO.

                Yuri stared hard at the stall. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t. It couldn’t be Yuuri Katsuki crying in there. But he was so cool! So collected! He looked like he was gonna murder someone in the kiss and cry! So how could…why would…

                As Yuri’s view of his new idol crumbled before him, he shook slightly. Rage began to fill him, and before he could stop himself, he kicked the stall door as hard as he could. A little yelp came from inside. Then, slowly, it opened.

                Yuri glared at the man—if he could even call him that after crying like a little girl!—who opened the stall. Stupid Katsuki with his stupid glasses and his stupid falls. Katsuki froze up right in front of him, looking terrified. That just made Yuri even more angry. Where was the scary face he was wearing earlier?

                Where was the Yuuri Katsuki he had seen on the ice?

                He tried to find what to say. How could he bring back the other Yuuri Katsuki? The cool one? He glared for a moment longer, then pointed at Yuri.

                “Hey.”

                Katsuki didn’t respond. Yuri grit his teeth.

                “I’m competing in the Senior division next year. We don’t need two Yuris in the same bracket.” Yuri spat out the name. To think, just a few hours ago he thought it was cool that they had the same name. “Maybe you should just retire already…” The rage bubbled out of him, and he shoved his face as close as he could to Katsuki’s as he yelled, “LOSER!”

                He deliberately kept his walk slow as he exited the bathroom, making sure his words resonated with Katsuki. Hopefully he’d see it as a challenge. If one Yuri loved facing a challenge, the other would, too, right? Right?!

                As he slunk down the halls, he came across Yakov.

                “There you are! I swear, Yuri, you’re just as bad as Viktor when it comes to…” Yakov trailed off, catching the glower still on Yuri’s face. “Yurochka? What’s wrong?”

                “I don’t wanna talk about it!”

~

                This dumb…thing did kind of explain a lot. It explained why he put up with Katsudon’s drunk bullshit at the Banquet. Sure, at first, he’d taken the dance contest as Katsuki’s attempt to challenge Yuri back. But…well, he was kind of fun and actually not a bad dancer (though Yuri was better) and…

                Ugh. No. Focus, Yura.

                It also explained why he didn’t immediately tear up the poster of Katsuki when he got home. He’d actually put it up on his wall, naturally, as a reminder of who he had to beat. Next year was going to be a competition of honor. He was going to make Katsuki work if he decided not to be a loser and retire. And maybe once in a while he’d laid in bed and stared at it while marveling over how Katsuki was so nerdy and awful off-ice, but how he was absolutely breath-takin—

                Goddammit.

                Anyway. Back to after Onsen on Ice. As mentioned earlier, he’d pulled up every video he could of the pig’s skating before the Grand Prix Fuckup, as a way to gauge what he did that made him so spellbinding. He watched his routines from Juniors, from the Japanese Nationals, from his practice sessions in Detroit. He watched them all again. And again.

                The question of why Yuuri Katsuki was so amazing on ice wasn’t answered.

                But the question of why Yuri was so obsessed with him was.

                And he hated it.

                So now he had to win. He had to train harder. And he told everyone that it was because that stupid pig had taken Viktor from Russia, so he had to prove that he didn’t need Viktor to win the GPF this year. And every time he saw an update of Katsudon’s progress, he was that much more motivated to be better than him.

~

                Yuuko was the worst thing that ever happened to him. She reminded him of Mama, honestly; all enthusiasm and  supportive of him even from abroad. She even kept texting him after Onsen on Ice and listened to his bitching about Lilia and Yakov.

                That wasn’t why she was terrible. She was terrible because she kept giving him updates about the pig. Sure, some of them were prompted by him, but damn it, it wasn’t like he could stop himself from asking about stupid Katsudon! She should know not to tell him!

                She was also terrible because she was teaching him Japanese. “In case you come back,” she said, sending a stupid little heart emoji. Granted, it was hard to learn Japanese via text. But one of the things that stuck was how to write his name.

                ユーリ. プリセツキー.

                If he’d had literally any other name in the world, that would have been cool to know. He’d write it everywhere, because Japanese looked cool and he could brag about it. But one idle thought, tapped out in a moment of weakness, had ruined this forever.

                “is that how the other yuri spells his name too?”

                Given the amount of emojis that followed, Yuuko’s nose was probably gushing blood. (Because that was just a thing that happened to Japanese people???) He shut his phone off immediately and hid in his room for the next eighteen hours.

                Most of that time was spent kicking his bed enough to scare poor Potya off of it while blasting loud music over his headphones to drown out the shame.

                A very small, insignificant part of it was spent listening to some dumb love song he’d downloaded on a whim. And, while listening, he definitely didn’t get teary over the injustice of being so misunderstood in the seriousness of his situation, and he sure as hell didn’t write out, in tiny, tiny characters, “Юрий + ユーリ”before scribbling angrily over them.

                He wasn’t some sap.

~

                Yuri really needed to burn that damn poster.

                He’d brought it with him to Lilia’s to motivate him. To remind himself why he was fighting so hard, and whose beautiful STUPID UGLY FAT FACE he wanted to smash into the ice with his GPF victory. It was brought solely because of that reason. Definitely not because, after all of his purely academic searching of images, he thought it was one of the best official portraits of the pig yet. Certainly not because he found himself admiring the way Katsudon held himself in that pose. Absolutely not because it’s one of the few portraits where you can see that the pig’s eyes are a soft brown and a few pieces of hair had fallen across his forehead and his lips are slightly parted and maybe once or twice or five times in the middle of the night a stupid thought had entered Yuri’s head and he might have stood up on tiptoes and leaned forward to…

                The first night Lilia wakes up to find Yuri Plisetsky screaming into a pillow, she worries. After that, she just lets him keep going until he feels better.

                God knows she did the same thing at his age.

~

                Mila prodded him into watching the Cup of China. “We have to support Georgi,” she’d said.

                Hag. She knew exactly who they were going to watch, and it sure as hell wasn’t Georgi.

                But he’d be fine. He’d be fine. He’d already seen the Eros routine, like, eighty times. He could probably skate it himself if he wanted to.

                Skate it himself and look better doing it.

                He tried to look as indifferent as possible as the pig got on the ice. He watched the tv with complete disinterest. His heart definitely didn’t jump as Yuuri the stupid ugly pig landed a perfect quad Salchow, using the exact method Yuri had taught him. When Mila pointed out that he’d tugged his straw out of his juice box during Katsudon’s performance, he loudly informed her that he’d done that on purpose and anyway juice boxes were for babies.

                Due to some bad luck and thirst, his juice box was empty. Otherwise, he absolutely would have sprayed fruit punch right into Mila’s stupid face due to the smug look she gave him.

                Even so, he managed all right with Eros. Basically complete disinterest. But then came the pig’s free skate the next day. He hadn’t seen that one fully.

                Goddamn, he hadn’t been prepared.

                His eyes were transfixed as he watched Yuuri skate. If he had been spellbinding before, he was an angel now. Yuri couldn’t even get angry about the falls and over-rotation. Katsuki was the picture of grace: neck outstretched, arms graceful, step sequence flawless. Yuri stared, jaw dropped and throat tight, as Katsuki tried to land the quad flip. It didn’t work, but the fact that he even tried to do something on Viktor’s level…

                Yuuri finished, hand outstretched toward the camera, chest heaving and brown eyes wide and clearly so, so proud of himself. Yuri felt his heart flip. A part of his brain whispered, Let yourself have this. Succumb. Let yourself acknowledge that you have a cru—

                And that’s when Viktor kissed the pig right on international television.

                Mila whistled. “Well, guess we should’ve expected this from our Viktor. But that was some performance, don’t you…Yura, are you crying?”

                “No!”

                He definitely wasn’t crying. He definitely wasn’t jealous. He just…

                He wanted to win so badly, was all.

~

                The road to the GPF is hard enough without this…thing. So Yuri pushes it down and focuses. Before, he’d just wanted to win to prove to Katsudon that he was the better skater and that he was the best Yuri and that only losers cried and got kissed on television.

                But then that shithead JJ came along.

                Twice—fucking twice!—that self-absorbed Canadian snuck in and grabbed the gold. Even after Yuri snagged a personal best! He’d been so thrown that he’d actually caved and been nice to Katsudon. (Well, sort of. He’d still kicked him and yelled at him, and most of the motivation was showing how cool his Grandpa was.) He wasn’t even bothered by the fact that he slipped and more or less wished him a happy early birthday (which was November 29th and it didn’t matter how he knew that.)

                Yuuri Katsuki wasn’t his target anymore. Now, JJ was the one to beat.

                He could lose to Katsudon (he wouldn’t, but that wasn't the point) and be okay if it meant that fucking JJ was below him. But god, that first place spot on the podium would be the best place to watch JJ squirm in his failure. So no more Grandpa, no more Katsudon.

                His motivation was ruining JJ’s life.

                And, surprise, it worked.

                The thing creeps up again when he stands on the podium with Katsudon and Otabek (who, by the way, was his new super-cool best friend). Despite losing, the pig is still genuinely happy. Maybe he really is proud of Yuri. Maybe it’s from the engagement (?) or because he’s glad Yuri kept him from retiring like an idiot. But he’s smiling and care-free and goddammit, for a moment Yuri wonders if that whole “skating for love or whatever” thing actually wasn’t bullshit.

                But then he remembers that he won his gold purely out of spite, and that snaps him out of thinking like a sap.

~

                For one bright shining moment after the GPF, Yuri thought he finally, finally had someone to talk about this with. He had a friend. One that he made on his own! Surely Otabek would have some advice on what to do with this.

                But there was one problem.

                Beka…was really, really cool.

                He was a DJ! He skated like he was in a war! He rode a cool scooter and wore sunglasses inside and was technically an adult and went to cool clubs and he was just so cool.

                And the coolest thing of all was that he thought Yuri was cool, too. He said he had the eyes of a soldier. The eyes of a soldier! That was, by far, THE COOLEST thing anyone had ever said about him ever.

                But this whole thing with Katsudon was definitely not cool. He’d just come off as some dumb, drooling teenage fanboy. So Beka could never know.

                But there was a problem.

                The pig had moved to St. Petersburg. So now they were rinkmates. And he’d expected it’d be like when he’d become Viktor’s rinkmate: he’d finally see all of the flaws and how terrible Katsudon was when he was around him for more than a week. He was expecting relief.

                Instead, he was pretty sure he was in hell.

                Shitty Katsudon was nice to him. He invited him over to his and Viktor’s place or when they went to explore the city. He asked for help with translations when Viktor wasn’t around and taught him how to use chopsticks. Sometimes he called him “Yura” instead of “Yurio” and it made him want to die.

                He had to talk about it. He had to get this awful strangling feeling that was nice but also the worst thing in the entire world out of his chest. If he didn’t, he would probably die. And it’d be the lamest way to die ever.

                But again, who could he talk to? Beka was too cool. Lilia would probably tell him to kill that part of himself (to which he would yell back “What do you think I’ve been trying to do, hag?!” And then he’d have to do an hour of grand adages.) Yakov and Grandpa wouldn’t understand, because they were old men. Mama and Mila would be terrible. And Viktor…god no.

                But who? Who would understand the pain of having a…..c     r    u    s    h……..on someone who would probably never, ever think of him that way?      

                No.

                No.

                NooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO.

~

                Hell wasn’t having your crush live nearby and be friendly to you. It wasn’t having your crush be a rinkmate and constantly have to look at his stupid fat beautiful face on the ice while listening to his fiancé gush over how beautiful his stupid fat beautiful face was. It wasn’t having catching your crush making out with said fiancé in the locker room when all you fucking wanted was to put on your skates.

                Hell was your crush being the best option to talk to about having a crush on him.

                “Did you mean to text me this morning?” the pig asked as they warmed up. Yuri felt like he was going to throw up.

                “If I didn’t want to text you, I wouldn’t have sent it, dumbass.” Yuri hissed out the insult to really drive home the fact that Katsudon wasn’t that important to him and he totally hadn’t been staring at his phone for an hour before finally sending the ‘i wanna talk after practice” text to him.

                The stupid pig stared at him curiously, but nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

                “I’ll tell you after practice.” Yuri hopes his face isn’t red, because Jesus Christ does he not need that right now, and he skates away. To try and combat the anxious feeling building in his chest, he does a quad Salchow right there and then.

                It doesn’t help much, but it does look cool.

                 Practice drags on forever. Yakov makes him do drills like some novice. Viktor and Yuuri are all over each other on the ice, giggling and kissing and generally just being gross. Yuri debates calling off the stupid talk and just going home to throw up instead. But that won’t make him feel any better. He has to do this, even if it’s the worst thing he’s ever done.

                The two Yuris exit the ice while Viktor hangs back to be yelled at by Yakov probably for being an idiot. In the locker room, Katsudon is the one who brings up Yuri’s impending death.

                “So what did you want to—”

                “Not here!” Yuri hisses, then glares down at his skates. “I don’t want Viktor to hear. Just…just you.”

                He chances up a glance at the pig, who looks surprised and…what, touched?...at his statement. He quickly adds, “Will you be able to survive being away from him that long, pig?”

                Yuuri gives him that infuriating smile that says he knows Yuri’s being prickly on purpose, and he says, “I think I can manage for a little bit, yeah.”

                Katsudon doesn’t say any more on the subject, even after they’re changed and marching out into the Russian winter. Yuuri pulls out his phone—probably to text Viktor some gushy love crap—and Yuri tries not to look at him or think about how it’s kind of cute that his ears get red in the cold because that’s a LAME and STUPID thing to think about.

                Yuri leads the way into the first café he sees, with Katsudon following quietly after. When the idiot fumbles his order, Yuri barks it out for him. He orders the same tea with milk at every place, it’s not like Yuri pays attention or anything.

                It’s not until they’re both sitting, hot drinks in hand, in a very cute corner of the café that would be a very nice area for a date that would never ever happen, that Katsudon decides it’s time for Yuri to die.

                “So what did you want to talk about?”

                Yuri fidgets. He takes a long drink of tea. He burrows his nose into his scarf. Yuuri is annoyingly patient with him, watching him with those stupid doe eyes. Finally, Yuri swallows, keeping half his face buried in his scarf.

                “What do you do...when you like someone?” Yuri grimaces and tries to burrow deeper into his scarf. “Like…really like them?”

                Immediately Yuuri’s face softens, and he smiles. “I’m���not really sure I’m the right person to ask about this, Yura.”

                “Yes, you are. Everyone else would be stupid about it.” The pig will probably be stupid, too, but with Yuri’s current condition, he could tolerate that stupidity. He watched Yuuri hard, frowning beneath his scarf, as the pig stayed quiet, stupidly soft brown eyes staring down at his cup. Was he just not going to talk? Was that better or worse?

                “Okay, but really. I…don’t know what to suggest to you. Tell them?”

                “Нет.”

                “Why?”

                Yuri grimaces as he feels his face grow hot. He hated this. Hated. This. Maybe he could just strangle himself with his scarf. “H-They’re seeing someone.”

                “Oh…”

                “I don’t want your pity, pig! I want a solution!” Yuri snaps, earning a couple glances their way.

                Yuuri puffs out a breath, looking away. “I…I don’t know what to tell you.” He gave a small smile, an awful one that made Yuri’s heart ache so hard he nearly punched himself in the chest. “I know you’ll think I’m a loser for this, but…it’s only been Viktor since I was twelve. I spent most of my life pining for someone who didn’t know I even existed. I didn’t think he’d ever see me like I saw him.”

                “That’s exactly how I feel,” Yuri blurts before he could stop himself. “And it sucks. It really sucks!”

                “I know it does.”

                “And then I see him and if he does literally anything, I just…it’s like I’m having a heart attack and it doesn’t stop and I like it but I also really, really hate it, Katsudon. I hate it so much!”

                “Having a crush is the worst,” Yuuri agrees.

                “It is!”

                This conversation is surprisingly…not terrible. Yuri seemed to be doing a good job of keeping Katsudon in the dark, and Yuuri was giving him exactly the kind of sympathy he’d been dying for. Which probably wouldn’t help in the crush department, but in the moment, it feels so good to get it all out. Yuri slumps forward, chin plopping into his hands.

                “The worst is when he skates,” he mutters, looking at his quickly cooling tea. “He’s like something out of a dream. Like the moment he’s out there…”

                “The whole world stops, and it’s just him.” Yuuri says these words slowly, and Yuri starts to nod, but he freezes as he catches the emotions flitting over Katsudon’s face.

                Realization.

                Guilt.

                Distress.

                Sympathy.

                Shit.

                Yuri sits up straight, eyes wide. For the first time in his life, he’s speechless. He fucked up. He really, really fucked up.

                Katsudon knew.

                Was there even any way to recover from this? Should he just die? What was the quickest way to manage that? He was already in hell, so it wouldn’t be any worse than just sitting here, staring at Katsudon who now totally knew that he had a crush on him.

                Just as Yuri was about to throw the table and run, a hand reached out to rest on his arm. If he wasn’t in shock, he would have thrown it off and continued with the table plan. But considering his entire world was crumbling at the moment, he couldn’t do anything more than stare up at Yuuri—stupid fucking beautiful shitty understanding asshole Yuuri—mutely and wait for the inevitable, “Oh, Yurochka, I’m so sorry…”

                It didn’t come immediately. For a long moment, Yuuri simply stared at him. He wasn’t mad—which was good but also not because if he’d been mad then they could fight and Yuri was good at that—but he didn’t look too happy either. After a long moment, he moved his chair closer. What was he doi—?

                Yuri’s crumbling world came to a grinding halt as the stupid pig pulled him into a tight hug.

                This wasn’t like the Rostelecom Cup. He couldn’t fight this; he was in too much shock. So he just sat there, stock still, as Yuuri gave him what had to be one of the top five best hugs in his life.

                “It sucks,” Yuuri finally whispered. “I know it does. It’s the worst thing in the world. And…and it’s really, really unfair that I got the ending I did.”

                Yuri manages a stiff nod. Yuuri just hugs him tighter and he feels himself melt, just a bit, into the hug before Yuuri pulls back to look at him with the most hopeful, wonderful smile he’d ever seen.

                “But Yura, you’re amazing. Look at what you did at the GPF, and I know you’re gonna make us all work three times as hard at Worlds!” His look softened, and his smile warmed. “You’ll find your own Viktor someday, I know you will.”

                Yuri’s soul is forcibly ejected from his body.

                “You think…I…Viktor?!”

                “Like I said, I completely understand, and…” Yuuri’s cut off as Yuri gets to his feet and kicks his chair back. “Yu—”

                “This conversation’s over, pig!”

                  It turned out, hell wasn’t talking to your crush about your feelings for him.

                Hell was having your crush think you liked Viktor FUCKING Nikiforov.

[m3ffsstuff]

Tobias was always afraid of a field of rye. He saw red ears intertwining with wind in an unknown dance, and as a child Tobias always wanted to rush into the dance with them. But broad hand on his shoulder did not give off the warmth that would allow, and her strokes were not gentle, so Schneien always lowered his eyes down. Down at the little insects, for whom he seemed to be God himself; down, as if penetrating the loose earth with his gaze, and hitting the boiling cauldrons where the lost are overthrown.

Tobias blinks, feeling the strength of the lying hand go away and he is released. Painstakingly, as if not daring to allow even a drop of freedom to the end, considering whether Tobias is worthy to see the real light from the sun on the golden ears. Brunette looks up, immediately starting to glow like a shooting star. He swallows, shifting from one foot to other in hesitation and feeling such familiar dirt under his feet, mixed with wet grass and small bugs.

For first time, Schneien sees beautiful flowers, to which he timidly stretches out his hand, but immediately withdraws, as if afraid of getting burned. Afraid that their toothy leaves will suddenly close their small jaws, biting into the soft skin. These flowers fascinated with their awesomeness and contrast with the red sea of ears around; they looked like strangers here, completely unexpected guests among other plants, and for some reason Tobias feels a connection.

– These are cornflowers, – a familiar voice interrupts a bad stream of thoughts, makes blue eyes pay attention to themselves. A pleasant smile on the young man's face prompts heart to beat a little faster.

Tobias swallows, returning his attention to the surprisingly contrasting colors. Cornflowers. And their name, it would seem, is so affectionate and color is beautiful that Schneien decides to try his luck again. A pale hand meekly reaches out to the flowers, touches them first with a finger, as if checking if they are real, and then, no longer feeling that danger, gently plucks the stem. Tobias hopes that it didn't hurt them, that he didn't behave selfishly by taking their lives for himself, but his heart starts beating faster from this bad thought. He turns his gaze to Carmelo, involuntarily comparing him with cornflowers: rude, only in appearance, the name is affectionate and the color of his eyes is the same as those of these flowers, which almost immediately fell in love with Schneien.

– Such a strange feeling, – Tobias whispers, continuing to carefully collect cornflowers, counting to thirteen. He raises his bright gaze directly to the boiling sun, not at all afraid that this big dot in the sky will burn out his eye sockets. Tobias pushes the blackness of his hair behind his ear and the innocent daisy behind his ear is immediately lost, winking at the last ray of the sun.

– Tell me about him, – offers Carmelo, feeling the tickling ears near his face. The morning dew is still fresh on them, although the day is already moving towards its end. Tobias sighs, adjusts the wreath, which was quickly thrown on him, without asking much. Everything tries to fall on the eyes, makes you feel blind. How then to look at him — De Monte — since the wreath is so restless?

– I'm, – the brunette blunts his gaze, maintaining a slight pause. A cold wind blows over their faces, forcing them to squint a little. — scared?

Swallows, which always seemed bloodthirsty to the brunette, are swinging on the branches, and Tobias thinks that they are hiding in the sleeves of Carmelo. Now he is about to wave his hand, and the stars will fall from the blue, equally innocent sky. The field will turn into a sea, something like an ocean, and they will drown together. They will drown before they fully realize reality. And Tobias swallows the viscous saliva, thinking about it: he barely restrains himself from putting sweaty palms to his whitish cheeks.

– Is it scary, like when you look at your reflection in the river? — Carmelo stretches his neck slightly, cracking his joints, purely out of habit. But Tobias blinks a couple of times, hearing the ringing crunch of bones, and hoping that Carmelo will not break his neck this way. — Or like when you look into an abandoned squirrel hollow?

– No, – Schneien says more and more quietly, feeling the collar of his once light shirt dig into his neck. He strangles her, not letting her breathe, as if he knows that Tobias is afraid of dying from asphyxia. The brunette slightly moves his shoulders, trying to discard the feeling of rough male hands on his thin neck, because they are so wide and unpleasantly familiar. — I'm afraid for you rather...

Tobias swallows the words like embers left on a square near their city, and Carmelo suddenly becomes touching. Tobias's eyes are also the sky. Innocent and, it would seem, has not yet known the fury of the local thunderclaps. When De Monte bends down to press his foreheads with Tobias — the wreath falls on their palms — it seems to him that they reflect sparks. The real stars, slowly fading, but for some reason ignited again.

– Don't be afraid, — the wreath in Carmelo's hands turns into a thorn, without giving Tobias an eye to blink. The brunette, not believing that the wreath is not starry, closes his eyes for a moment, not allowing Carmelo to merge into their depths. — if I'm destined to burn, for example, then well.

Tobias feels Carmelo's warm breath on his cheeks, and involuntarily wonders, they say, «has the sun come down from heaven?». He feels an unpleasant tremor in his chest when the tips of someone else's fingers gently touch his pale cheeks. It runs from the cheekbone to the ear, descending to the chin, leaving behind an obsessive burning strip that only Schneien could feel.

Tobias slowly opens his eyes and sees two boundless star depths: beautiful, giving light, majestic and sublime. Tobias feels like a dark spot on the sparkling tree of the stellar genealogy, as if a star without radiance and only his eyes give him belonging to something unattainable. Definitely for Carmelo.

– Fire suits me, don't you think? — rays of sun play in Carmelo's hair, they shimmer with a bright blue tint and Tobias almost jumps out of his skin.

– Yeah, — as if fascinated, Schneien whispers long, plunging into depths of salty sea with his head. Bitterness in the throat, like hops, like that familiar cahors or the very blood of Christ. — you will burn beautifully..

Tobias lowers his eyes to stop seeing his beloved face gnawed by fire, which still retains its smile. The wind blows in the gasoline-scented hair, forcing the brunette to sigh languidly and again feel the sweet-nauseating smell, which for some reason seemed so familiar. Blood appears along the lines on his hands, on which it was too early to guess and the young man still did not understand why.

He feels warm, tickling touch of someone else's hand. Warm, affectionate and completely devoid of its usual rudeness. Still the same meek, but rather in order not to scare away than to keep her groundless power. Tobias watches as someone else's hand briskly passes over the fingertips, rubbing the middle of the palm, and then squeezing pleasantly. Soft strokes seem unusual and Schneien swallows nervously. Hand has not been gnawed by fire, has not been touched by anything but clumsy touches in response and Tobias sighs heavily.

– Just remember me beautiful, – Carmelo suddenly whispers hurriedly, making Tobias laugh softly and pick up the neatly woven wreath with his thin spiders–like fingers. And when the wreath falls back on Carmelo's head, Tobias suddenly feels that everything will be fine with him.

[orion-my-rion]

ok it's time to share a mere fraction of my insane thoughts about beastieball and the preview.

for starters, kichik was my favorite from the beginning but now having seen the first metamorphosis for all three starters i am even more partial to them. ostrisigh is by far my favorite of the three (by a Much larger margin than kichik was my favorite of the initial starters), although i don't rock with the name as much as i enjoy the names hopsong and handicoot. frankly i'm not immune to "cool" designs, and i also like when parts of a design are explained by the description (the fact that their leg feathers and talons overgrow bc of a refusal to use their super strong legs for anything, and they look grumpy bc of constant headaches from relying on their heads instead, is an Awesome concept). i also like the play style over the other two as i'm big on having dedicated hard-hitters and saving support roles for my other beasties.

speaking of other beasties I MISS SKIBBLE!!!! does anyone else miss skibble? it's going to kill me WHY aren't they available in the playtest?? i understand they probably moved their spawn area to the caves or something but that's literally my friend. they're soooo cute i could cry. put them back.

i've also fallen in love with a few of the newly revealed/available beasties :) the collarva line is absolutely WICKED and i love the raremorph for them. really really cool design and play style, although the defense drop at full maturity is a bit of a bummer (but understandable for balance reasons. and also that's a bug).

we saw diggum in the demo but being able to play with them has changed my entire life. i can't imagine Not using diggum in the full release. i love them. my raremorph is named tiramisu <3 my friend had a hell of a time knocking them down in pvp LOL my fluffy brown self-healing tank.

humflit is SOOOO CUTE and also surprisingly very versatile?? the defender/avenger abilities are super cool and useful (having a wiped beastie in your team raises their defense/power, respectively, by 1.5x) and the moves they learn are super good for how i play And the design and colors and alt colors are so so so cute. i cannot wait for the full set of sprites to be finished.

i also love servitt!!!! much like with kichik i looove a dedicated damage beastie and even tho its weakness to mind damage is a little scary this is fairly easily played around with strategic movement, tactical tag-ins and tag-outs, and other beasties' abilities to redirect attacks or raise defenses :) not to mention the power of healing. and also they're a little kitty cat btw if you even care.

besides the beasties and the strategies i enjoy in the actual beastieball portion of the game, i also LOVE the newly introduced characters. kaz is my favorite and basically my actual best friend (and also Extremely reminiscent of my real friend jasper? which also happens to be the name of kaz's home town?? hello? greg???). i would do anything for him. i wish the volley minigame could be replayed forever i wish you could hit him up on speed dial and meet up to play at any time. i also wish you could do exhibition rematches bc i miss his team and music. he's so awesome.

speaking of music THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD. all the new tracks are SICK i love each and every one of them. the sports king theme is especially good. kaz's themes are both excellent. riven's themes are cool. reese's theme is charming and fitting. the new town themes are cute. lena raine is just so so so incredible.

one last thing: starting the marlin fight while replaying the tutorial for stream and seeing that unidentified CREATURE looming behind his original team was the biggest jumpscare. ma there's a weird fuckin cat on the court. looks like some sort of gigantic BEAST. i really like yamyth's design and concept art but they did Not need to scare me like that lol

okay i think that's all :) play beastieball. talk to me about beastieball. i'm very regular about this game please. thank you goodnight <3