#jam has a lot of feelings about the army

[venomwrites]

Vi presenting Caitlyn to Vander

Additional oneshots on ao3

It worked. 

Holy shit it worked.

They haul ass from hell and throw themselves into the mines. Vander is panting and spitting, his eyes flashing from blue and yellow to fire red. But each time the blue and yellow wins. Each time he comes back. The red flashes get shorter and shorter until it’s just her dad who huffs in the cave. 

“Never again, never never never,” Jinx pants with her arms locked around Isha. Isha hugs her back but also huffs and rolls her eyes. Like she didn’t almost die, “we gotta stick together. Pew!”

The gun. 

Caitlyn.

Vi whips her head around and Caitlyn against the wall. She looks like she’s in shock. Everything in Vi’s gut screams to shove her family out of there. Get them away. Everything in her heart howls to go to Caitlyn. They wouldn’t be here without her. For a moment she is paralyzed by indecision.

Then Vander thumps his shoulder between her shoulder blades and lumbers towards Jinx and Isha. 

Vi stumbles and opens her mouth but he gives her an exasperated look and glances at Caitlyn. Something young and hidden in her shrivels at the look. She knows that look. She’s ached for so long to see it again. So she walks over to Caitlyn even though Caitlyn is breathing hard and staring at the ground. Even though her rifle is on her knees and her hands are so close to it. 

“Hey, Cupcake,” Vi tries, “that was a pretty great plan.“

Caitlyn takes one breath. 

Then her face contorts and suddenly their faces are a lot closer. 

“How dare you!” Caitlyn shouts, “With her?!” She throws her hand towards Vi’s family. Then those fingers jam into Vi’s shoulder, “you,” another jam, “are,” another, “unbelievable!”

“Okay, I know you’re upset—“

Caitlyn draws in a breath and Vi realizes what’s about to happen with just enough time to dive forward and push Caitlyn against the wall. Caitlyn’s rifle smacks the same place because of course it does, but now Vi takes the hit. Tenses her core as Kiramman luxury hits her skin. She gets her hand behind Caitlyn’s head so she won’t hit it on the wall and claps the other over her mouth. Caitlyn’s eyes go furious and Vi has no choice but to flatten their bodies together so Caitlyn can’t make space to kick her ass. 

“Cait they are going to hear you,” she hisses, sliding her thumb under Caitlyn’s jaw before she can bite her, “we just escaped an army we can’t bring them here.”

That somehow gets through, even though Caitlyn still looks at her with wounded anger. She stops struggling and for a moment they just breathe in sync. Vi has been fighting the memories of their kiss for months. But being pressed together breathing the same brings some part of her back there. She scans Caitlyn’s face but if the same is true for her, it doesn’t show. She’s quiet though and still so Vi lifts her hand. Caitlyn takes a breath, narrows her eyes and shoves herself away. 

The cold air rushes in but all Vi can think about is how her hand wraps kept her skin from touching Caitlyn’s mouth. 

“I had a plan,” Caitlyn says, pacing back and forth. 

“Yeah and look,” Vi motions, “it worked great.”

“This was not my plan! My plan was good!” She looks into the darkness and fear swamps her face, “I just declared war,” she breathes. 

“Hey, look, it’s not that bad,” Vi tries, “maybe she got trampled?”

The horror on Caitlyn’s face turns to disgust at Vi’s words. Vi wonders if Ambessa dying means Caitlyn is going to go off the rails again. Then she feels bad for having that thought. She feels less bad when Caitlyn rounds on her.

“We murdered her second in command,” she says, matching Vi’s backward step, “we stole her prized weapon,” another matched step, “she saw me do it,” Caitlyn’s eyes go livid, “you ruined everything! Again!”

That stings. 

More than Vi is proud of. 

She flattens her hand over the spot where Caitlyn likes to bury her rifle. Just for some extra padding. Caitlyn doesn’t follow the gesture, she just glares at Vi. This time Vi is ready though. This time she has seen Caitlyn’s fury. It guts her but it doesn’t scare her. Not in the same way. And even if it did, Vi can hear her family behind her. Her family’s at her back. Not ghosts, they are living and breathing. And that, that Vi will burn the world down to protect. 

“I ruined everything?” She repeats, “me? You just invaded an unarmed community to murder my dad!”

“I was hunting your sister!”

“Bull-fucking-shit, Cupcake. You didn’t even know she was there!”

“Don’t call me Cupcake!” Caitlyn shrieks.

Vi is praying, praying for the fight fight. Caitlyn wants violence? Vi will beat some sense into her with her bare hands. She doesn’t give a shit what fancy moves Ambessa has taught her. Vi’s been fighting people twice her size for her whole fucking life. 

Instead of hitting the ground Vi finds herself sailing backwards and then hanging like a doll. Across the space in front of her Caitlyn is also dangling. Between them Vander lets out a loud, frustrated sigh. Vi loves torturing herself with how disappointed Vander would be in her if he was alive. But a part always held out maybe he wouldn’t be. Maybe she could get his respect back. Make him proud. It stings to see the disappointed look on his face as he holds them both aloft. 

“See, dad? I told you, she’s crazy,” Jinx says and Vi honestly doesn’t know which one of them she’s talking about, “totally—“

“Enough,” Vander cuts in. His eyes focus on Caitlyn who somehow manages to look dignified dangling from his claws. Her eyes keep darting to Jinx though. Vander notices it too, “go to Isha,” he says to Jinx. 

“But—“ Jinx starts. 

“Go,” he repeats, “we will talk later.”

Jinx rolls her eyes but huffs off. Vander considers both of them. He slowly brings is arms together and sets them down next to each other. Vi can’t look away but her eyes keep darting to Caitlyn’s profile. She is blotched with anger and her hair is coming out of it’s bun. It looks like the Caitlyn Vi would follow into hell is trying to force herself through. Vi knows her own pink is peaking though the black she’s painted herself with. Fighting its way out. 

She thinks of Vander and his flickering eyes. 

Maybe they are all two people warring for control. 

Being a leader means not being selfish.

“Dad this is Caitlyn,” Vi says. Caitlyn’s eyes snap to her but Vi doesn’t look, “she saved my life.”

It’s more true than Caitlyn can ever know. Probably why it hurt so fucking muc wen everything happened. Vander takes in Caitlyn and it takes Caitlyn a moment to drag her eyes back to him. Amazingly he holds out a hand. Caitlyn’s politeness won’t let her to anything but respond. It looks so bizarre. Even with Caitlyn’s dignity around them. 

“Thank you,” Vander says, “for saving my daughters.”

Caitlyn turns red and looks away. She actually has the grace to look ashamed for a moment. Vi can’t stand it as she tries to gather the words.

“He knows,” she says to Caitlyn.

“What does he know?” Caitlyn asks slowly, that old anger bubbling up. 

“Jinx blew up the tower,” Vander says, “and your mother was there,” Caitlyn looks down, “you saved our lives tonight anyway.”

Caitlyn looks so purely miserable for a moment. 

“That’s what she does down here.”

Caitlyn frowns and looks at her in confusion. Vi realizes she doesn’t fucking know. How could she, why would she? It wasn’t like she drew her a map last time when she was bleeding and falling. Viktor brought light back to this place. Even though Vi knows it looks different and Caitlyn has a lot of shit going on, she does feel something almost like disappointment. 

“My house is back there,” she says. 

“What?!” Caitlyn rounds on her. Looks down and sees where Vi’s hand is. Her eyes drag to the rifle in her hands. Annoyance flares in her eyes but Vi gets the impression it’s not at her for once, “I didn’t even realize,” she mutters. 

“You took her home?” Vander asks. 

“Yeah,” Vi says, “she patched me up.”

Vander touches the top of her forearm and untucks one of her wraps with impossibly gentle precision. Like he always has, since she was a kid. He gets her attention and nods towards Caitlyn. She still looks annoyed at herself for not realizing. But that’s not what Vander wants her to see. After a moment she sees the angry red skin that peeks out from Caitlyn’s collar. Caitlyn goes to touch the back of her neck and jerks her fingers away when they brush it. 

“Shit, Cait, what happened?” She says before she can stop herself. 

Caitlyn tenses but doesn’t move when she comes closer. This close she can see the redness wraps around the front of Caitlyn’s neck. The buckle of that red string around her throat has been dug into her windpipe. 

“I’m fine,” Caitlyn says halfheartedly.

“No you’e not,” Vi says. Caitlyn opens her mouth to argue but Vi stares her down. After a moment she closes her lips, “lemme see.”

Caitlyn is tense but she keeps her neck bent so Vi can undo the clasp. She doubts it makes any difference. There’s nothing they can do about the injury. Caitlyn’s throat is just going to be hurt and bruised for a while. Vi looks at the red band in her hand. Even when Caitlyn had pushed her into putting on the uniform she never broached the subject of the cravat. It had been her trying to make it palatable, as palatable as it could be. Vi had thought it was a sign she was getting better. Now she kind of wishes she had gone full demand so Vi could have woken up sooner and saved them some heartbreak. 

“Here,” she says.

“Keep it,” Caitlyn says. Vi raises her eyebrows, “if I die down here sell it and fix your hair.”

Vi can’t stop the laugh. 

She has no business laughing. 

“You really hate the hair huh?” She says.

“Me too,” Vander rumbles in agreement, “it looks sad.”

Vi rolls her eyes, everyone’s a critic even if they’re right. She sighs and bends down, dipping her finger into a puddle. They both look at her with complete disgust when she raises her dripping fingers. It’s not like she’s going to drink the water. Vi picks one of the pieces of her hair and scrubs it between her fingers. Until the pink is revealed. For some reason they both still look at her in complete disgust.

“See? It’s just grease,” she says.

“When was the last time you showered?” Caitlyn sputters. Vi shrugs. The pair of them look at each other. 

“That was not me,” Vander says. 

“No all me,” Vi says, taking the responsibility for the decision before one of them can. She straightens up and wipes her fingers on her pants. Caitlyn still looks grossed out but her eyes keep dragging to the pink, “it’s all there underneath.”

Is Caitlyn all there? Somewhere? Vi knows people change, it’s part of life. But has to hope somewhere under all the rage and pain, that part of Caitlyn that broke her out of prison is still there. The one who saw her and Ekko and didn’t flinch from PIltover’s sins. That’s the part Vi was willing to follow. That’s the part she has to believe is still there. 

“We’re going to have to wash your hair with dish soap,” Caitlyn mutters.

She looks like she did at the fish stand. 

Yeah, she’s in there. 

“Okay, Cupcake,” Vi says, “deal.”

Caitlyn rolls her eyes but doesn’t tell her not to say the nickname. Vander looks between them and something almost like a smile twists his lips. It’s like he’s remembering something pleasant. Vi doesn’t know what he’s seeing. Before she can ask he turns to Jinx and Isha. She looks at Caitlyn but Caitlyn is looking back into the dark. She glances at Vi before her eyes go back there. Vi can’t hear or see anything. But she also know they can’t stay here. Risking it she touches Cailtyn’s shoulder and gives her a questioning look.

“I didn’t realize where we were,” she says. Vi opens her mouth to point out there was no way she could have known, “I was so blind,” Caitlyn says and that shuts her up, Vi has a feeling this has nothing to do with their location. “How could I not see?”

“My dad’s been alive this whole time,” Vi offers. Caitlyn looks over to her, “I had no idea. Seven years,” her throat tightens when she thinks about it too long. Thinks about what he’s been through. The prisons and transformations that bind them together even further, “what I’m saying is we all go blind sometimes,” she says. 

Caitlyn’s head dips, but she doesn’t shake off Vi’s hand. They stand there for a moment in the first comfortable silence Vi can remember. Caitlyn breathes out and then gathers herself up, guiding her rifle to her back, She tugs her uniform back into place, but the armor has been irrevocably chipped somehow. Caitlyn is peaking through. Like the pink that peaks out from the grease. 

“I’m glad your dad is alive,” she says. 

“Thanks for helping,” Vi replies.

The air turns heavy. Caitlyn’s eyes dart to the scar that cuts through Vi’s lip. Vi remembers the feel of her waist as they pressed together. There’s so much shit though. Neither of them says anything. It’s like they’ve taken a huge step back in so many ways. But with her family alive, with her dad looking proud, for the first time Vi feels like she can let herself want Caitlyn. Without the shame or guilt of wanting something for herself. She can just settle into a little. Then Caitlyn clears her throat and brings them back to reality. 

“You can thank me by showering and putting on a shirt,” Caitlyn says. 

“What’s wrong with my shirt?” Vi questions glancing down. Everything important’s covered. 

“You’re not wearing one,” Caitlyn replies. Vi rolls her eyes, “you’ll give my father a heart attack.”

Vi blinks. 

“We’re going home?” Slips out of her mouth. 

Caitlyn pauses and looks at her. Vi is stunned by the want of it. All the shit that’s happened, all the time’s she’s flipped her fingers at Caitlyn’s beautiful house and sworn she’s never going back to the shitbox. But when Caitlyn says it and offers, the thought of them in Caitlyn’s house makes it feel like home. Vi glances at her family up ahead. What does going home with Caitlyn mean? Caitlyn’s hunted her sister to the ends of the earth. But she’s also just worked with her. Vi risks looking at Caitlyn. 

She recognizes her. 

It’s the look at the Council, the look at her parents. The look of I know this is right and I know it will hurt. But it’s right and I will accept the consequences. Vi knows that look. Vi knows the thought behind it, the sacrifice it demands. Caitlyn catches her off guard because even though Vi knows it, even though she’s felt it, never in a million years did she think it would be on a Topsider’s face. 

“I don’t want to see her,” Caitlyn says. Vi’s heart pounds. Caitlyn’s eyes go to hers, “she does not wander. She does not leave—“ anger and fear flash across her face, “she goes nowhere near my father.”

“No, hey,” Vi grabs her hand before she can stop herself. Caitlyn’s hand is limp but she holds on, “we’ll keep her away. I promise,” the weight of this cripples Vi, “Cait—“

Caitlyn pulls her hand free. Tugs her uniform back needlessly. She flips down her rifle, her skin bouncing with nervous energy as Vi tries to comprehend the weight of her gesture. Caitlyn stares down the barrel of her rifle. Vi can see the angry tears. The raw grief. She clenches the rifle and the swipes under her eyes. Her tears don’t fall. The only time Vi’s seen her cry is when she held her. It occurs to Vi she may not have cried since. This whole time she’s been stoic while Vi has sobbed and screamed enough for bth of them. 

That stops now. 

“How do we stop Ambessa?” She asks. Caitlyn’s eyes widen. Yeah, it stops now, “we can’t let her bring her war bullshit here,” she says emphasizing the word, “do we have time to plan something?”

We. 

Us. 

Vi and Caitlyn. Caitlyn and Vi. The beating heart of this. Vi wants to say Caitlyn’s a part of her family but she’s really hoping that’s a question she can ask her one day in the future. On a knee. Caitlyn straightens up and looks back at her. 

“She’ll gather her forces for a full scale invasion now,” Caitlyn says. 

“So we have time,” Vi reminds her.

“Yes,” Caitlyn agrees, “we do.”

“Good, because I left the gauntlets back there,” she says wiggling her fingers, “so we gotta fix that too.”

Caitlyn rolls her eyes. They don’t touch but as they walk they pick up the same pace. It’s still dark, the mushrooms only have enough glow that the entire place isn’t in darkness. Jinx and Isha don’t clap. As they get closer together, Vi puts herself in between Caitlyn and Jinx. Caitlyn goes out of her periphery and Vi puts her hands on her hips, tries to spread her shoulders so Caitlyn doesn’t have to look. Ahead, Vander glances back. He reaches out and swings Jinx forward, taking her by the back of her bra like a wolf carrying a cub. Isha scrambles up his leg and their delighted sounds almost make the mushrooms glow. Almost. 

It’s still dark and heavy and there’s so much shit to do. 

But Caitlyn’s at her back and Vi knows they can take on the world. 

Together. 

[meetinginsamarra]

Fanfics I Really Liked in September 2024

So. Since I keep a list of what I´ve read anyway (there´s always a list), I will rec all the fics I´ve wholly enjoyed on a monthly basis. Old and new, canon or AU, big or small authors, long or short but nearly always Johnlock (-ish).

Clean Start by standbygo @blogstandbygo

UniLock - John meets an odd man at the laundrette who deduces people from what's in the dryer.

Delightful different first meeting.

These Hours That Define Us  by predictably_unpredictable

Sherlock has just been discharged from hospital, not knowing what to expect or what he'll be coming home to. He's convinced himself that he should never see John again for John's well being, believing himself to be a hindrance to him. But when John shows up unexpectedly to 221B in the middle of the day hoping for a place to stay, things take a different turn, forcing them both to confront their past and their future.

Awesome S3 fix-it!

The night visitor by Snoozydog

John Watson, former army surgeon, employed by the secretive and indefinable government official Mycroft Holmes, accidentally saves the life of his employer's younger brother and ends up being hired as his private physician. John is immediately fascinated by his new patient but not only is Sherlock engaged to be married to someone else, but he is also a man surrounded by many dark secrets. Under the looming threat of Mycroft’s watchful eyes, as well as Sherlock’s imminent wedding there is also something else that lurks in the shadows, something that threats the budding relationship that has started to develop between the doctor and his enigmatic patient.

^^ Says it all, go read!

The winding road of secrets and lies by Snoozydog

John Watson takes on a mission to infiltrate the household of Mycroft Holmes by order of his new employer, Sebastian Moran, to access information their boss is wishing to get his hands on. To be able to get to Mycroft John will have to befriend his younger brother Sherlock and try to establish a bond with him. But what starts out as a seemingly simple job proves to be much more complicated for John as the Holmes household harbours many dark and unexpected secrets, especially about the very complicated relationship between the two brothers. Under pressure from his boss to follow through with his assignment, Mycroft suspiciously watching his every move and, to complicate matters even more, John beginning to develop feelings for Sherlock, he is beginning to regret ever taking this job. Can he complete his initial plan to steal information from Mycroft and what will happen when Sherlock finds out the truth?

^^ Says it all, go read!

The Printer Is Jammed by startrekto221b (snowandfire)

John is a disgruntled customer who just wants his money back for a shoddy printer Harry ordered for him off of a catalogue. Sherlock is a bored customer service rep working the summer he has off from Oxford. They are both about to get more than they bargained for.

Fandom classic AU different first meeting. Grumpy John and snarky Sherlock and hilarious shenanigans aróund the printer. Lots of fun.

The Printer Is Still Jammed by startrekto221b (snowandfire)

Life after happily ever after still has its pitfalls. Glimpses into the lives of Sherlock and John after they said ‘I do’.

Part 2 of the printer fun.

[peppermintpillz]

Punch Out Wii boxers if they were in band

Glass Joe- French horn 

I had to make the obvious French joke with the French man. Also in my personal experience, French horn players were always the weakest in terms of playability so it’s fitting for glass joe

Von Kaiser- trumpet 

I know trumpet players are usually associated with having big egos, but I think people tend to forget trumpets are very well-respected instruments, especially in the army. Since Kaiser is a veteran, it would make sense he probably played the trumpet

Disco Kid- tenor sax

Disco Kid is a very jazzy guy, so obviously he’d play one of the jazziest instruments. He’s not an alto because I feel like altos are usually more prissy, meanwhile tenor saxes can still jam but they get along with everyone

King Hippo- drums

This one is based on the fact King Hippo always bangs on his stomach, kinda like a drum. Plus he’s really huge, so I feel like playing the drums would be easiest for him, as he would have an easy grip on the mallets

Piston Hondo- xylophone

I put him on xylophone mainly for the xylophone sound effects that play right before his Hondo Rush. Plus he kinda has a whole “speed” thing going on (the Hondo Rush is a bunch of fast punches, also he runs faster than a bullet train) and normally you need to play the xylophone very fast to keep up with tempo

Bear Hugger- bassoon

All the bassoon players I’ve met were jolly and kind, and bear hugger is one of the friendliest boxers in the WVBA. Plus they’re kinda similar in way? Bassoons are usually seen as a “bass line instrument” and usually forgotten, but in a lot of pieces there’s usually a bassoon solo where it’s actually more important than it seems; which I feel is also how Bear Hugger is treated (dude was in the arcade PO, SPO, and punch out Wii I feel like he should get more recognition than he gets)

Great Tiger- bari sax

Bari saxes seem to have this sense of “knowing they’re better than everyone else because they’re skilled”. Great Tiger seems to have a bit of an ego similar to that, and so I feel like bari fits him the most. He would be a skilled player, but he would def rub it in 

Don Flamenco- alto sax

Alto saxes are probably the most romantic instrument there is, and Don Flamenco is the most romantic boxers out of everyone. Plus, alto saxes all seem to have this flamboyance about them

Aran Ryan- flute/ piccolo 

In his theme, the flute is very present, it practically carries the melody. I think Aran would be one of those guys that takes playing the flute and piccolo with pride, and would try to break the standard that only girls play those instruments.

Soda Popinski- tuba

Kinda like bassoons, tuba players are always so whimsical and chill. From what I’ve seen, Soda Popinski is usually depicted as a big scary Russian man, but to me it seems like he’s really kind-hearted, and only gets angry due to the fact he’s being drugged with all those sodas. I think Sodas wouldn’t mind he would normally just play the bass line, he’s just happy to be playing music 

Bald Bull- oboe

There seems to be a running trend of big aggressive men playing dainty little instruments. It’s similar reasoning as Aran Ryan, Bald Bull’s theme seems to have an oboe carrying the melody, so ofc he’s on oboe. Plus I think Bald Bull does have the ability to be calm and composed, and I think playing the oboe (an instrument that super expensive and requires careful usage) would calm him.

Super Macho Man- trombone

Imo trombones players are the ones with the biggest ego (also the most annoying). SMM probably would just be ok on the trombone, but he will definitely start blasting as soon as he got the melody in a piece and would never learn to shut up. 

Mr. Sandman- clarinet

Philadelphia has a history of very rich and jazzy music, and I feel like Sandman is the guy to play the clarinet over the saxophone. The clarinet is also a pretty important instrument to jazz music, and jazz is a pretty important part of black culture. Mr. Sandman is one of the less stereotypical boxers so he’s less connected to his Philadelphian culture, and I think playing clarinet is his way of getting more connected. 

Little Mac- contra bass

This one is like Aran and Bald Bull, except the opposite. Since little Mac is shortest of the bunch, I think it’d be funny that he happens to play one of the biggest instruments that’s requires him to stand. Not only is it comical but also kinda fits with the whole underdog theme, despite his size he still manages to play the contra 

Doc Louis- conductor 

I put Doc as the conductor since conductors are usually just band members that retired, and got promoted to teaching band members. Since doc teaches little Mac to box, he would probably teach others how to play an instrument 

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 10/22/2024

rare tuesdaypost with no fallow sections. i CANNOT find the exact image i am looking for (mouse-drawn person sitting on bar stool with ankles crossed and blushing with eyelashes) but i feel like i found a lot of things this week that charmed me immensely. rare many such cases of many interests intersecting.

listening

almost exactly a year ago i wrote about jolynn j chin's SHIFTED, a piano jazz piece where the time signatures change on every bar, which came with an explainer video that is, spiritually, a physics video.

she's done it again with OFF TIME and a full album of equally bonkers concepts. i have a brain that is fairly good at manipulating 2D things (yarn, fabric) into 3D things but i do Not have this kind of math brain. wild shit.

-

reading

thank you philip for overseeing the photography of this trio of DELILAH DIRK graphic novels from Tony Cliff. i saw these on the library shelf and went "holy shit i read one of these as a webcomic in high school".

very well-paced indiana jones and james bond adjacent pulp adventures, with a soupcon of steampunk conveyances for taste. delilah started life in 2007 when strong snappy female characters were far less common. this is particularly...not quite grating, but very notable in the first two books (published in 2013 and 2016 respectively). they are intended to be middle-grade (disney villain falling deaths, no tits or ass, etc), but they punch far above their intended age range. a particularly interesting reckoning with the long-suffering native guide trope. not a series overly concerned with historical accuracy, although it's certainly more grounded in real history than you might expect of a middle-grade pulp adventure graphic novel. more colonial political concerns than i remembered or expected.

the art is really killer in all three books. tony cliff really knows the effect of a good page turn spread.

he also has a very charming way of illustrating continuing action across a huge panel. all four shots are from The Pillars of Hercules (2018) bc it happened to be the last one i read and the one with by far the most ambitious art.

-

watching

tubi has acquired the streaming rights to most of the batman animated movies. i keep getting served ads on instagram for an upcoming animated film about batman and the yakuza, where the premise is that a portal from real-life japan has opened up over gotham and the yakuza are pouring through like a demonic horde. this seems to be a sequel to batman ninja (2018, dir. Junpei Mizusaki)

Batman, along with his allies and adversaries, finds himself transported from modern Gotham City to feudal Japan.

batman ninja includes the lines:

I’m going to rule this country and turn it into a kingdom of monkeys and rewrite the history of the world!

and

What am I going to do with you, Batman? You’ve destroyed a perfectly good giant robot castle!

i would describe this as more of a feature-length animation showcase than anything else. the haters on letterboxed didn't even give it an average of 3 but that's bc they hate fun. this is some real weeb shit. this is not a grimdark or particularly thoughful batman entry. this is an entry to clap your hands in glee at the giant gundam vs monkey army fight. they have once again done my favorite comics boy jason todd dirty but what the fuck else is new.

so much fun even on just the like tree field guide level of identifying the six or seven animation styles. plus everyone's feudal japan looks are sick as shit.

was it Good? no. was i delighted at nearly every moment? fuck yeah.

-

playing

EXCEPTIONALLY charming embroidery-based game jam game, Cross Stitched by Panzerr here for free on itch.io. made in godot. god bless.

(image from the developer) you've got your little baba yaga house gundam in the center constantly firing projectiles, and you have to keep these fucking birds back. you can WASD around the edges of the tapestry, and your health is in the top (i really love how it gets "ruined" dark chunks taken out of it as you lose health, like a piece of embroidery decaying) and the bottom black bar of motifs fills up as you make progress towards adding another level and another piece to your powerup level tapestry.

(following images from me) you do have to think about your placement and plan it out a bit, and you can't embroider over something you've already stitched. would not recommend surrounding your initial base damage motif with other motifs bc then you've sort of fucked yourself over. a really simple concept (a good bite size for a game jam) elevated by a very fun visual style and great music. really delighted me! i am so jaded by my time in the video game marketing mines that i forgot they can be fun actually!

-

making

unphotographable: too many bugs in my house! tried to replace the weatherstripping on my front door and discovering that both the front door and the storm door were installed incorrectly and should probably be replaced.

in better news, the newest pathetic little waif in the office bathroom has been freshly neutered and will be going to a nice cushy indoor home next week-ish. whenever he is fully recovered. the most polite cat i have ever had in this carrier: did not piss, shit, or throw up.

KO'd by six cc's of various goops. poor man.

[tossawary]

I'm going to rewatch "Revenge of the Sith" later and I don't remember the original trilogy all that well either, but... both "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" seem to suffer tremendously during their final battles because the films keep cutting away from the potentially dramatically and emotionally rich sequences to... the childish physical comedy adventures of sidekick characters.

I'm not going to pretend that "Star Wars" isn't incredibly silly at times. "Return of the Jedi" has the Empire being murdered by teddy bears with sticks at one point, and I am personally incredibly fond of this sequence and the Ewoks generally for no good reason I can name. But, from what I remember, that movie was better editing-wise about letting more dramatic sequences like Luke versus Vader breathe emotionally. We had some time to settle into these fights, to feel Luke's fear and anger, to see Luke's resolve, you know?

And in "A New Hope", the climatic dogfights involve people dying and it's treated quite seriously. A lot of lives are on the line with the Death Star's destruction. The characters go into the battle knowing that some of them won't make it back. And in "The Empire Strikes Back"... as far as I vaguely remember, there's not very much silliness at all at the end of that movie, the protagonists "lose" and all of the characters are in a lot of pain. The camera stays with them to show us their agony and grief and strength.

But in "The Phantom Menace", the film keeps cutting away from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan versus Maul in favor of Jar-Jar Binks tripping over droids. Jar-Jar Binks fighting to defend his homeworld against an invading army, as his people die around him, is treated as an utter joke. Pure comedic relief with no substance at an utterly inappropriate time. They are undercutting the "war" in "Star Wars" that was a big part of its tone. The film doesn't bother to treat anyone like they or their lives matter in that sequence. And Anakin is in a ship he's struggling to pilot against an entire army, but we never get any real sense of him being afraid of dying in space or being at risk, as he almost accidentally saves the day. Padmé is just... fighting down hallways and it's kind of boring, both action-wise and emotionally. I spent most of the time wishing that the camera would just cut back to Maul again because that fight had actual, like, substance.

And in "Attack of the Clones", the film keeps wasting time cutting back to Threepio with his head accidentally stuck on a battle droid's body, when it's not even clear why he and Artoo are even there beyond just jamming them in as iconic figures from the original trilogy. They shouldn't be there!!! This is blatant shoehorning!!! This is valuable screentime that the Battle of Geonosis could use to focus on the Jedi who are being killed, on the separatists who are being invaded, or on the clones who have just entered the war. Mace Windu or Obi-Wan Kenobi reacting emotionally to the nameless Jedi being cut down around them would have been nice. The confrontations with Dooku could have dug deeper into the emotional and physical pain of his betrayal.

Mace Windu's fight with Jango could have been longer, instead, seeing as the hardest emotional beat we actually get in this film confronting the death of this battle is probably Boba picking up Jango's helmet. A kid has lost his dad!!! We could have seen any of the clones reacting to this, maybe? We could have seen Mace Windu telling Obi-Wan about Jango's death and then Obi-Wan belatedly realizing that they don't know what happened to Jango's child in the chaos. "The Clone Wars" television show ended up doing so much heavy lifting emotionally for this trilogy, because these movies are way too busy with unnecessary Jar-Jar Binks and Threepio physical comedy in all the wrong places.

"Revenge of the Sith" as far as I remember is at least too busy finally focusing on everything going to hell and the tragedy to fit in a jarring sidekick comedy sequence during any final battle. Can you even imagine? Anakin is murdering younglings and the movie keeps cutting back to Threepio and Jar-Jar tripping over droids and shrieking trying to escape Coruscant? I don't remember the movie that well. If there actually is a sidekick physical comedy sequence through the end of the fights in "Revenge of the Sith" that I have blocked from my memory, then I am going to scream into a pillow.

[official-wonho]

K-pop star Wonho talks about kicking off fan meetups in Houston and new single 'What Would You Do'

Wonho has a sweet message for fans who have been waiting for his return.

"I love music. I love Wenee," he says, referencing the name of his fandom. "I always try my best."

K-pop star Wonho's What Would You Do' music video already has 3.5 million views.Highline Entertainment

A new English-language single, silky pop jam "What Would You Do," dropped last month. The music video has tallied 3.5 million views in less than two weeks. During an early morning (U.S. time) Zoom call, Wonho recalled his memories of Texas, getting through military service and what he listens to on the treadmill.

K-pop star Wonho talks Houston memories and singing in EnglishK-pop star Wonho kicks off his fan meetups in Houston and has a new English-language single called 'What Would You Do'.Joey Guerra

How does it feel to be returning to the U.S. for the first time in five years?

I'm very excited because it's my first time visiting U.S. fans as a solo artist.

What are some of your favorite things about coming here?

I like everything. When I first came to the U.S. fans made me feel great.

You finished your military service in September. What has the transition been like back to everyday life and music?

International fans don't know that much about military service, so they must have been very worried. But it was a special experience for me to learn a lot from. It felt so easy because I was always talking to my fans about what was next while I was in army service. It felt good to think that I would be meeting them soon.

Do you have any memories of being in Houston? What comes to mind when you hear Texas or Houston?

Texas has very delicious food. And it's very hot, I remember. Is it hot there now?

It's been up in the 80s until recently.

Wow. That's amazing. It's very cold in Korea.

Do you like hot or cold weather?

Hot weather. So I like Texas.

What can fans expect at these meetup events?

I'll be singing and dancing. I will also do some challenges and games with fans. I miss you so much, Wenee. I'm coming to you soon. So please look forward to it. And let's have fun.

What was the process like of recording your new song "What Would You Do?"

English is my second language. It's not easy for me to say the words. It's hard every time. But when I try singing, I always think of Wenee and imagine them listening. I'm preparing an album that will probably come out next year. I'm working hard on it.

Is it easier talking or singing in English?

Singing is easier. When I'm talking, I don't always remember (the words). I'm so nervous, and I forget everything.

You're known for staying in shape. How do you do it on the road?

My routine doesn't change. I try to go to the gym after the show and try to eat healthy food. I'm always going on a diet. I don't want to diet but I do it for my fans, of course. I like the leg press. Do you like it?

I should work out a lot more. But I do like the treadmill.

I hate treadmill. But I have to do it.

Who do you listen to when you're on the treadmill?

Charlie Puth, Billie Eilish and Conan Gray.

You're not afraid to change up your look. Where does your sense of style come from?

I like fashion, so sometimes I search for new styles on my phone. I usually look for Japanese brands and designers. I like oversized things, like a big hoodie and wide pants, because they're comfortable.

Source: houstonchronicle.com

[alexbrunn]

Do you have any headcanons for Pav :?

Yes, I have quite a few headcanons about Pav. I'll tell you a "top five" that are rolling around in my head right now, maybe I'll remember more afterward.

Pav is a learned ambidexter. As a child, he did everything exclusively with his left hand. However, during the destruction of his village, he receives a severe burn on his right shoulder. He believes that it is much more symbolic to kill the Kaiser with his right hand, as this burn became a symbol of pain and loss on that fateful day.

Pav is a very tactile person. He touches people, pats them, strokes their hair, invades their personal space in any way possible. He can let his hands loose in his flirting, not only to get the person emotional, but just to simply feel the person. Despite the vulgarities he says when hugging he likes them a lot and can hold them longer. He remembers his mother in this moment.

Pav has a sweet tooth. He likes not only ice cream, but also candy, cakes and pies with fruit and berries. He drinks his tea with jam or honey. Anything that quickly and easily raises dopamine. One of his favorite childhood meals was bread with butter and sugar. It was hard to get into the army with that kind of preference.

Pav came from a not very large family (by the standards of the time). In one house lived his grandmother (his grandfather died at a very early age and he hardly remembers him), his father, mother, older sister and a newly born younger brother. At that time, the birth of a boy was prioritized as the continuation of the family, so Pav had a great responsibility and expectations, which only increased after the birth of his sister. The future head and protector of the family and upbringing was appropriate especially on the part of his father. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why he was so driven by a desire for revenge. His mother, unlike his father, loved her son immensely and was always tender and caring to him, he absolutely adored her.

Pav loves winter. Snowdrifts, snowfalls, the whole forest standing in a white blanket of snow. He is not the kind of person who celebrates the beauty of nature, but he likes the view very much. Molding snowmen, playing snowballs, sledding, all the entertainment of winter he likes. Holidays that take place at this time of year (including his birthday). He really missed this feeling, because Bremen has much warmer weather in the winter and snow doesn't usually fall in such quantities. In turn, he dislikes summer, not only because of the heat, but because it is the time of year associated with his tragedy.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - October 20 - Week 42

Happy Sunday, friends! Here’s your fic recs for the week. ALSO! As a reminder, @marveltrumpshate auction week is in progress and the rec blog has an auction up! You can bid individually or as a group to win 12 curated rec lists from me through next year! 

~

Soldier, sit you down and idle by BladeoftheNebula 

Fresh out of the ice, Steve Rogers is lost. Everything is too loud, and too different, and just too much. He feels adrift, unsure what place he has in this new world.

He takes a spontaneous road trip, hoping to find some peace; little does he know that it will lead him to a charming little town, Tony Stark and just maybe... a place to call home.

Alternate summary: A soft sad boy on a brooom brooom has a serendipitous journey.

Duet by viklikesfic (v_angelique)

“I know people assume a lot about me,” Tony concedes. “But… I wouldn’t actually mind something more traditional.”

More KinkTok shenanigans, boys falling in love, and Steve Rogers has a LOT to say to people on the Internet.

As Hoarded as Gold by FestiveFerret

Steve wakes up in a new world, in 2008, and joins the Avengers where he finally gets to meet the man whose name has been imprinted on his skin since birth. But Tony Stark is closed-off, distant, and disinterested. While Steve is trying to come to grips with finding out his soulmate doesn't want him, he can't help but notice the decline of Tony's health. Worried about his heart after the arc reactor, Steve steps up to help him, but when Tony confesses what's really wrong, it's not at all what Steve expected.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happy Hour by BladeoftheNebula

“What is your problem?” Steve finally asked, annoyed at the way Stark was acting like there was a storm cloud over his head.

Stark reeled back. “My problem? My fucking problem? You walk around this place with a stick jammed so far up your ass I’m surprised you can even bend over to suture!”

Steve’s jaw dropped. “At least my head isn’t so big it barely fits through the OR doors.”

Dr Steve Rogers is finally assigned to work at the MASH 107 army hospital in Korea, just like he’s been wanting since he was drafted.

Too bad the Chief Surgeon is such an ass.

Coffee into Theorems by BladeoftheNebula 

When Natasha actually smiles at Barnes and Barnes in return gets to call her ‘Nat’ without being killed in a scary and extremely painful way, Tony decides Barnes hasn’t just encroached on his territory, he’s fucking invaded and set up a new regime.

Or: In which Tony acquires a family, then a Steve and Bucky Barnes returns from the dead to ruin Tony’s life.

[the-bar-sinister]

Needle By Thread (1093 words) by Overlord_Mordax Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Horror, Psychological Horror, Supernatural Elements, Time Travel, Time Loop, Whump

-

James wakes up in the sodden, decrepit bathroom, heavy with fatigue and dizzy with confusion. He stares into his milky, distant-seeming reflection in the dirty haze of the mirror, and he stares at his hands, sweaty and stained, and he feels suddenly like he has been here before. He feels it like a blow to the head leaving him reeling and drooling and about to be sick.

He stumbles and the moment passes. He catches his breath and he gulps down the bile. He has been here before, years ago. On his honeymoon. That is the source of the deja vu, the strange wave of grotesque nostalgia that overtook him for a moment. Nearly knocked him from his feet.

That must be it.

He has only ever been here once before.

With her. With Mary.

Surely that happy memory is the one that his hindbrain is reaching for as he stands among the spiderwebs and the black mold. Surely it makes him sick because Mary got sick— because this place, this town, is the last place he held her before everything started to go wrong.

There is no other meaning to the already fading sensation. There is no smell of rotten flesh. There is no vision of endless twisting corridors, bloated carpets and peeling wallpaper.

It fades. It doesn't matter.

He is back at the beginning. Back where it all started to go wrong.

Back in the last place he remembers being happy.

And there is a letter in his pocket.

James stares at his reflection in the foggy mirror for a moment more, his distant blue eyes, his tousled blond hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. The lines on his face. Stress lines. They make him look older than he is. So do the heavy dark bags under his eyes.

He touches the front pocket of his jeans, just below the hem of his old army surplus coat. He can feel the paper of the letter crinkle as he touches it. He doesn't have to take it out to know what it says.

James pushes his sweaty hair out of his face before it falls right back where it was before. He turns and he shoulders his way out of the oppressive rest stop bathroom, and into the parking lot.

He sees his car outside, parked crooked in the nearby space. The many hours long drive to get here now seems like a distant memory. Like it happened to another man a dozen years ago. He really should have taken a break to sleep on the way, he knows that. He knows that he's fatigued and tired, and he was driving for so long that now that he's out of the car it feels like the drive was another lifetime. He knows that he could easily have fallen asleep and wrecked the car and gone to meet— no but he had to meet Mary.

Mary wrote him a letter. He touches his pocket and he feels it crinkle again. 

He couldn't even stop for one second on his way here. Not for an instant.

Mary wrote him a letter. Mary was in this town.

Mary was supposed to be dead.

James paces the parking lot, trying to dismiss the tingling, numb sensation that suffused his whole body, but especially his legs. The air is cold and the fog is heavy and wet. It casts a gloom over the trees that hang slumped on the hill just over the barrier wall, rambling scrub-like all the way down from here to the lake.

James leans his hands on the cold, rough grit of the concrete wall and he looks out into the impenetrable fog. Somewhere down there is the lake. Somewhere down there is Mary– maybe.

He doesn't have to look at the letter to know what it says.

"I'm alone there now, in our 'special place'. Waiting for you.'

He feels the concrete sapping whatever heat is left in his fingers and he pulls them away, jamming them into the pockets of the old military coat. It's not as helpful as he hoped. He should have brought gloves. He and Mary had been here in the summer, he didn't think about how cold it would be now.

He ran out of the house without even thinking about gloves. He barely thought about keys.

He's thinking now. He's thinking about where the hell Mary could be. If she is here. If she's alive. How could she be alive? Mary died of that damned disease three years ago. A dead person can't write a letter.

Where the hell would she be? Their 'special place'? The whole town was their special place.

James bustles over to the car and its hinges squeak as he pulls the door open to grab the map out of the glove compartment. There's an old picture, too, and James stares at it for a moment, feeling achy and numb and lost and angry. Mary's face smiles back at him just the same.

He puts the map and the picture in his pocket too and he slams the door of the car.

The road is closed past here. There's a faded yellow and black barrier all across the main road, down from the rest stop and James remembers hazily that that was why he had stopped driving in the first place. The road into town is blocked completely.

If he wants to get to Mary he is going to have to leave his car here and walk.

It's fine with him. It's really fine. Maybe walking a little way will clear the feeling of lack, of numbness, of bereftness from his body. Maybe walking will warm the icy toes of his shoes and the tips of his fingers.

At least if he passes out walking he's the only one who'll go down. Not the car going nose first into the lake, giving him enough time to think about what he's done, but not enough time to escape. Even if he tried to escape.

James' chest feels heavy for a moment and his breath shudders. His vision shimmers as if he is sunk below the waves. 

It passes. He is here and this is now. Just like those old self-help books used to say. You can only do the task that's in front of you.

James' task is to find Mary. There's no use thinking about anything else.

Before he even reminds himself of his purpose he is already halfway down the stone steps, headed toward the winding path through the woods.

[meenawrites]

Again with Trudy y’all!

Okay SO! We all know that Trudy HAS to have excellent taste in music. Like look at her.

I’m sure this woman has been gradually building up her musical library since she could afford it and now she has like 10 000 songs or something.

I think she sings a lot by herself like just jamming as she works on her kestrel or does stuff around the lab and eventually she starts sharing the music with Spider.

So it becomes like a mama-son thing for to give him one of her earpieces and they just sing at the top of their lungs together and have dance parties. Trudy used to be way more private about people seeing her sing or dance but like after the shit she’s gone through on Pandora it seems pretty trivial, plus it makes the kid happy so she’s just like whatever.

I also think that Trudy would have a great voice. Like I think she’d have a strong belt with a bit of a rasp to it (think kind of voice like Persephone from Hadestown’s voice). Like she can go pretty deep in her voice, her range is good. She can’t hit super high notes though, her throat tightens up at those and just like refuses to work.

Spider also has incredible range. He’s been a good singer since he was a kid both in Na’vi and in English and Spanish. He just has an ear for music and he loves it because it’s a different form of storytelling for him. He can hit those high notes even as he grows older, not like soprano level but mezzo-soprano or something.

Now I’m not enough of a music connoisseur to give a definitive look at what Truyd’s taste in music is but I can try from what I know. I think her vibe would be like 80s and 90s rock and some indie music. Like Spider, she also really listens to the lyrics of songs and not just the sound so most of her song collection has what she considers to be meaningful lyrics, with only a few staple generic pop songs that she can’t help but like. I think she’d be into indie music as well and some grunge. The type of music that comes to mind from my limited knowledge would be Paramore, Pink, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Journey, Aerosmith, etc. I think she’d have some Taylor Swift songs up in there; though I’m not like a die hard Swiftie, I’ve listened to her lyrics and her writing is honestly great so yeah she’s on there. I also think her guilty pleasure would be musicals; she doesn’t even show Spider those at first because she had a bad experience for her fellow soldiers judging her about it when she first joined the army, but eventually Spider gets unlimited access to her collection. And he eats that shit up! Yet another form of storytelling for him to explore that mixes narrative and song and sound and she finds out because she finds him belting along to like a Heathers song or something cause he has already memorized the lyrics.

I also am so sure Trudy has some sort of sex playlist listed an an obscure name with some dirty songs. That isn’t really my area of expertise though so I don’t know what would be on there per se but yeah. Though I am picturing this one song I know called “Kiss or Kill”. I don’t think she’d have any songs on there that are like super explicit but more just capture the feeling of when she’s in a sexy mood. I’m also picturing Dove Cameron’s “Boyfriend” being on there.

And we can’t forget her roots! She’s gotta have a huge Spanish playlist. Again this is not my expertise but I have a friend who does know! So hopefully I will make like an update post for that to include some songs she would have on there soon! If anyone does have any ideas I’d love to hear them.

So yeah Spider and Trudy have song alongs and dance nights together and that fills my brain tbh.

If anyone is interested in submitting songs you think Trudy would listen to, I would love to see them and maybe make a playlist out of them to share on here!

[sacred-stanning]

Chapter 9 Part 5: Lute and Vanessa <3

To start us off, Lute gets rid of this last reinforcement. After this, we can finally start moving up to the chests and Tana above, and to the boss room entrance down and to the right.

Franz gets the Luna mage.

I mentioned Luna's bad hit rates and 0 might before, but here we can see just how dire it is. 28 is awful hit, and since all the attack comes from the user's magic stat with no added might from the tome itself, it isn't even that dangerous in a low-level enemy's hands. Even if this guy actually did hit and crit Franz, he still wouldn't kill him.

I start to move Vanessa forward, and...Oh! What's this? A support conversation?

...with Lute???

So, some of you may have been able to guess from the very tiny and subtle clues I've dropped here and there, but I absolutely love Lute, so I'm actually going to look at this support a bit.

It starts off with Vanessa saying, "Ah, you're...Lute, right?"

I remember at least a couple of other Lute supports start off with the other person not being sure of what her name is. It's consistent enough a factor that we can guess that Lute doesn't really socialize a whole lot with people in the army. It's not surprising given her personality and her obsessive interest in specific things.

After introducing herself, Vanessa introduces her pegasus, Titania.

At which point, Vanessa has stumbled on one of Lute's interests: creatures.

So Lute proceeds to monopolize the conversation and info dump on Vanessa.

She starts by talking about the different names for pegasus. This part in Japanese involves her not only using the katakana, foreign-derived word "pegasus", but also two kanji-based words, "sky horse" and "has wings horse".

Kind of like how we often use Latin or Greek based words in English when we want to sound fancy, or for technical terms (due to the history of Europe's obsession with the Greeks and Romans often being viewed as the "initiators of European civilization") in Japanese there is a tendency for words made up of combined Chinese characters to sound more stiff, or like technical terms. In many cases, this is because these are literal loan words that Japanese educated people adopted into their language, sometimes a couple hundred-thousand years ago when China was viewed as a center of culture and learning.

I think a good example could be the word she uses for "sky horse". The two characters are jammed together, and usually in those cases, the "Chinese" reading is used, which is true here too, "Tenma". (Like I mentioned above, the "Chinese" reading is based on the pronunciation of the characters that some Japanese guy got from the Asian mainland at some point in history. Many kanji have multiple readings like this since there are many different Chinese languages in different areas of what's now China, languages also change over time, and of course, Japanese phonology is radically different from any Chinese phonology, so the pronunciations are more like approximations of how some group of Chinese people read the character at some point in time. If you look in a detailed kanji dictionary, it will often tell you the Chinese dynasty/ies in power at the time the character's reading(s) was/were adopted into Japanese.)

If this word were using "Japanese" readings of the characters, it would probably be "Sora no uma". Just based on feels, "Tenma" sounds a bit fancier and stiffer, whereas "Sora no uma" sounds very straightforward because the words "sora" (sky) and "uma" (horse) are used in everyday conversation, whereas the parts of "Tenma", "ten" and "ma" are not used on their own usually.

I explain all of this because it's interesting how it's coincidently very similar to something we can see in English too. Take a word like "autograph". It's two Greek words, "self" and "write" jammed together. These words aren't used on their own usually. (I mean, maybe this is a bad example since these two parts both are used on their own, but that's only because "auto" can be short for "automobile", and "graph" can also mean a table or chart. What I really mean is, we don't use "graph" as the word "write" in English on its own. No one says, "Please graph your name on this line here.") But these parts are frequently used to express meaning as parts of words.

Imagine how "self write" (both Germanic words) would sound in place of "autograph"? It sounds very basic, almost too straightforward. This same thing that we do in English all the time with Latin/Greek/Norman based words is similar to what they do in Japanese with the distinction between words with an "original Japanese" origin versus a "Chinese" origin.

In English, germanic words often sound straightforward and basic. In Japanese, Japanese origin words often sound more straightforward. In the same way, in English, words made up of Latin/Greek/Norman French parts often sound more educated or technical. And in Japanese, that's often the case for words made up of combined kanji using the "Chinese" readings.

----END INFO DUMP---

At any rate, now that I've info dumped at you, you may see why I like Lute so much.

Lute goes on to explain to Vanessa (who rides a pegasus literally every single day) how they fly by kicking the air, not by flapping their wings, and that their wings are used more for gliding.

To which Vanessa kindly responds that, yes, it would be really hard to ride them if they flapped their wings all the time.

She responds like this instead of, you know, getting all prickly about this random girl lecturing her about the animal she knows better than any other.

God bless you, Vanessa. You're a saint.

Lute also continues to talk about the origin of the word "pegasus" and its connections to "springs" and "oceans", and basically, go look at Wikipedia if you want to see the rest of what she said. :)

Vanessa continues to be an absolute sweety and says, "Thank you for the very clear introduction. I'm glad we're allies."

And then Lute says, "I look forward to working with you, Titania!"

Vanessa: "I'm Vanessa!"

Like a lot of people, I've jumped on the Dungeon Meshi bandwagon recently, and it's hard not to get flavors of Laius from Lute.

At any rate, the original reason I moved Vanessa there was to block the soldier from hitting Lute, and Vanessa does an admirable job of that during enemy phase.

I also discover that there is another guy with a sleep staff in the throne room. He misses Vanessa though.

You can see how low his hit is on her, with her good res.

It's this guy, here.

I start sending people up to deal with the enemies around the chests and Tana. I leave Vanessa in range of the mercenary, and Ephraim in range of the armor, though it later on turns out that that guy doesn't move.

Next time: More reinforcements, more sleep staff nonsense, and maybe we'll finally save Tana

[voidwritesstuff]

Long Way To The Truth

Cw:misgendering (accidental).

Summary: Lucas makes it to Colorado and helps a young kid with their identity.

->chapter 4: Colorado.

By Next morning he was already in Colorado, as he has breakfast in a small cafeteria, he thinks back on last night. In hindsight,he feels like he just pulled a Wheeler and acted as the guidance counselor of three 20 Year olds. And it didnt bother him one bit.

For lunch, he stops at a small family owned restaurant. Its really quaint with its ochre colored walls, the plants growing from the pots placed infront of the blue framed Windows.

He steps through the double Doors made of some dark brown wood, and the smell of spicy,home made food greets him. He relaxes a little, Rolling Back one of his shoulders instintctually to then take off his army baseball cap.

As he joins the line,he sees a young kid going out to take the trash that Belongs to the stablishment. They have long dyed purple hair in box braids, tied up by a yellow and white bandana, they drag the heavy trash bag as they walk down one of the back area halls, the door to said Hall is Open which is why Lucas can see the kid.

--Thanks son!--Says a male voice from the kitchen. The kid seems to scowl and mutter something under their breath before resuming their walk.

Lucas orders once its his turn, as he eats hes contempt to watch the news since hes written down his entry of the day during breakfast. The news show how in a few months,a New ship was going to be comissioned by Mayer, the SS Thanatos.

"Kind of an edgy name,isnt it " he thinks,munching down on his chili. The spiciness of it all Burning his tongue,but he doesnt seem to care." Though, its interesting,why would mayer comission a New ship? What are they bringing?".

Hes quick to Scribble down his thoughts on his Journal in a small spot between his Many little doodles he had done during a particular terrible traffic jam on the way here.

--Ive told him so Many fucking times-- he hears the kid from before say-- its not- its not son,goddamnit-- Lucas perks up at the voice,filled with anger and sadness. Theres this look in their eyes of feeling misunderstood.

He watches them walk away and outside the restaurant through that Hall they went down earlier. Theres a slight suspicion in his mind as to what the kids discontent had to do with, bit he knows its none of his business.

"This ain't a song for the broken-hearted

No silent prayer for the faith-departed

I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd

You're gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud"

As the News didnt show anything interesting after a while, the owner changed the channel to MTV. Where Bon jovi's "its my life" was playing.

Lucas drums along to the rythm of the song as he walks out of the restaurant. He gets approached by the owner of the restaurant,tall,dark skin and warm brown eyes, he looks worried.

--Hey,Sir. Excuse me- have you seen my son? His-their name is Juniper-- he asked,cleaning his sweaty hands on his apron-- about yay high,purple hair?

It takes him a moment to pinpoint the kid as he puts on his army baseball cap-- uh yeah, why?

--Hes been missing and he hasnt been replying to my calls-- he explains-- he seemed a little annoyed and I wanted to ask him where he was

Always the Smart one, the ex soldier nodds-- yeah,saw 'im by the parkin' lot-- he replied ,gesturing to the opposite side of where the kid had actually gone. The Dad runs away in a panic, and he takes that opportunity to go the actual way the kid left.

He knows he shouldnt have lied,but from experience he knew that sometimes parents would make things worse. And it looks like Wheeler rubbed off of on him because hes on his way to adopt yet another child.

Now that the owner wasnt there,nobody paid him any attention as he snuck into the Hall that the kid left through, it leads down an empty sort of backyard. Theres a small half broken concrete wall that seemed to be the wall that acted as a barrier to a previous,smaller, Back yard and the outside world.

Through the cracks and missing chunks of the wall,he can spot a set of purple hair blowing in the passing breeze. He sighs inwardly and tries to channel Wheeler as he leans on the Fallen wall and says.

--Yer dad's lookin' for ya

The kid gets startled, throwing a small pebble sized Chunk of Fallen wall towards him. He barely ducks out of the way and adds-- nice aim

--Who are you and what do you want?--The kid asks, pressing their knees against their chest. Their locks fall to cover half of their face since the bandana is no longer restricting them.

--'m the guy who told yer dad to go the other way so he didnt piss you off further

The kid looks at him and then looks away, growling-- good. I wouldve ripped his face off.

--Can I at least ask whats pissin' you off before I leave you alone? You look like yer either gonna hurl a piece of debrie at yer old Man or break down cryin'

--You wouldnt get it-- they reply,looking away

--kid, you'd be surprised at the ammount of shit ive seen. Try me

The kid sighs loudly and gets ready to throw another pebble sized chunk. But its not at Lucas, he throws it at a nearby tree stumpt And misses it by an INCH.

--So...so i dont really feel like a boy,or- or a girl-- they start, grabbing another pebble-- I asked my folks recently if they could use well- gender neutral words for me- but they Keep forgetting, especially my dad

"It's my life, it's now or never

I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive"

God,how loud was the TV? He could hear it all the way from here.

Lucas nodds,folding his arms over his chest-- n 'm guessing thats what pissed you off?

They nodd-- its not that hard-- They followed up-- and it hurts when they dont do it- I call 'em ma and pa but they cant use the words I like?

--I get that kiddo-- he replied,looking at the tree stumpt,littered with previous atrempts of hitting it. His eyes narrow as he calculates the distance between them and the stumpt.-- parents can take a while to accept New things 'bout their kids

--How would you know?--his companion asked, throwing the pebble and missing,again,by an inch.

--well,kid-- the ex soldier grabs a pebble and throws it at the stumpt, hitting it dead in the middle--im Bisexual,and a soldier with PTSD,from a family of soldiers who also had....issues . So I'd get it

When the kid sees Lucas hit the stumpt,they look up at him and ask-- HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

he chuckled-- permission to approach?

--Uh,permission granted--They followed along with the joke,a small excited smile.

Lucas sits with them and grabs another pebble,handing it over. Now up close he can see that their eyes are puffy and a little red,and he softens his gaze-- keep your pulse steady-- he starts,showing them how to fix their aim.

His companion tries again and they hit the stumpt dead in the centre. They look all happy and they smile wide.

--Yknow,your old Man worried about you. Even corrected himself when he messed up your pronouns. -- the ex soldier added as the kid tried again.

--did...did he?--They ask,Setting down the pebble.

--Yup, do you go by juniper?

They nodd enthusiastically-- he even remembered my name?

--Yeah

Juniper smiled and stood up, all happy and with a Pep in their step. Lucas noticed the bon jovi black shirt and raised an eyebrow internally. They tie their yellow and white bandana around their purple hair and dust off their black shirt, they flap their hands a little.

--'m gonna talk to him-- they said,walking past Lucas.

--Hey kid, just one thing. Tell yer dad that it makes you feel bad when he doesnt use the right words. Otherwise he wouldntve known I think, but also know that not all parents Will understand New things

The kid puts their hands inside their pockets-- and what If he doesnt understand?

--Well...-- he trails off and points to the air,as if hes pointing at the music hanging on the breeze.

"It's my life

My heart is like the open highway

Like Frankie said I did it my way

I just wanna live while I'm alive

It's my life"

--I dont like the idea of my dad not understanding though-- Juniper adds, looking a little concerned. Their eyes go to the entrance of the Hall that they came out of.

--i understand but ive realized that well, if it makes you happy then its worth it. Parents be damned-- Lucas stands up,holding Back a wince as his back stings a little. But he manages and leans on the wall-- hell,im drivin' all the way from Florida to Washington

--Why would you do that?--his companion asked-- thats kinda weird --Theres a brief silence and they add-- right,because it makes you happy

--'m tellin' you this cuz when I was your age,I wouldve liked to know that i dont--he makes a pause,hands going to the dogtags around his neck-- that I dont need other peoples approval to be enough.

Juniper nodds,to then perk up as they hear their dad calling out for them-- thanks -- they reply, glancing Back at the ex soldier-- hey by the way,if you go all around over there-- he points at to where Lucas' Back is facing-- youll come out the other way. Just so my dad doesnt think anything weird if he sees you with me

He nodds-- ten four,much obliged-- he tips the visor of his cap like a cowboy would, making the kid laugh at his slight weirdness before leaving for the restaurant.

Lucas goes back to his van through the way the kid told him, and just as he hops into his vehicle, through the outside mirror he sees Juniper and their dad talking. The kid seems dead serious as they talk to their old Man,who nodds and gives them a big hug.

--There we go,happy thoughts kid-- he mutters,seeing a little of his past in the way the father and the kid hug things out. Whenever he would get into dumb arguments with Wheeler,they'd talk it out and hug it out.

He clears his throat,Trying to not get sappy this early in the day,and so he continued his merry way through Colorado.

Switching the radio on, he hears.

"This is for the ones who stood their ground

It's for Tommy and Gina who never backed down

Tomorrow's getting harder, make no mistake

Luck, it ain't enough, you've got to make your own breaks"

But as he drives he notices something in the rearview mirror,a black SUV following along a few cars away. He squints and decides to take an alternative Route he had mapped for ocassions like this.

Thankfully,he does lose them and by nightfall, he stays on a small inconspicuous motel on the outskirts of the state of Utah. Keeping an eye out on his van and resting in between watches

[soft-for-yoongi]

Drunken Vlive (sick JK)

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

Sick: Jungkook

Caretaker: Jimin (minor Seokjin)

Tw: emeto, vom*****, mentions of nausea, alcohol, drinking

Thank you @bleucheeks for this suggestion!!!

Word count: 1199

(Jungkook drinks too much in his recent vlive and has to end it early before he gets sick)

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

His hyungs were right. Most definitely right. (As they always are), Jungkook should not be drinking this much while on vlive, especially at ungodly hours of the morning.

Jungkook has been singing on and off, reading comments from fans and messing around with Bam. Of course he got himself a couple drinks to go with it, but he might’ve gone a little overboard. Okay maybe a lot overboard. He had some beer, soju, whisky, white wine, and who knows what else.

Jungkook's got a bad case of the hiccups and has to keep muffling them into his elbow or turn his head away. Jungkook rubs at his chest, trying to get them to calm down as he sqints at the comments flying past. "Vibe?" Jungkook reads aloud, "daechwita?" Jungkook hates that he can feel just how full he is of all the alcoholic beverages he's consumed as he shifts uncomfortably.

"Hic—excuse me." Jungkook murmurs. Jungkook moves a little further away from the camera, hoping they can't hear his stomach gurgling and grabs his mic. He starts singing another song, lyrics playing on the tv. Jungkook has to lower the microphone when an air bubble rises and he disguises a burp with a cough, face scrunching at the horrible taste it brought up.

He finishes the song—save a few more hiccups that interrupt him—and somehow he manages to hit all the notes despite being under the influence. Jungkook's stomach is getting more bubbly by the minute and he feels so full that even breathing in encourages more trapped air that he has to swallow back down.

Shit, this is definitely not looking good. Jungkook wonders what he should do because he's surely going to vomit. And there's no way he's doing that in front of fans. Jungkook takes out his phone, sending a drunken message to their bangtan group chat.

.....hyungies yuo were definitely right I shuoldnt habe drank on live. Somebody plz help me. I think m gonna puke.

Sent, now Jungkook puts as much of his focus to the screen of comments and not on his sloshing stomach. Jungkook jerks with one of those hiccups again and tries to think of an excuse to end the live. "Saranghae armies." Jungkook holds up a finger heart. He tucks his hair behind his ears, bringing a hand down to rub at his stomach discreetly.

Bing

Oh gosh, Jungkook. I'll be there in a few.

Jimin the sweet angel—coming to the rescue. That's the best news ever because Jungkook can feel his mouth pooling with saliva and he can barely look at all the empty drinks that linger behind the camera.

"Sorry—hic—armies, but the camera is about to die and I have to go." Jungkook smiles, hoping he looks more decent then he feels. "Good night Army! Thank you for watching so late!" Jungkook waves and does a heart before he quickly pushes the 'end live' button. Jungkook imidiantly groans, hand placed on his full tummy. He needs Jimin.

Jungkook can't even bring himself to get up and go to the bathroom, Bam is somewhere in the room and Jungkook can feel a suspicious heat building in his middle. Jungkook burps, hand coming to cover his mouth just as Jimin enters Jungkook's living room. Giving Jimin a spare key was definitely a good idea.

"Aish, Kookie. Why do you do this." Jimin scrambles over to the younger, scanning him up and down. "Hyung, I drank too much." Jungkook pouts at Jimin, who looks back worriedly. "I can tell, are you gonna puke?" Jimin asks, given Jungkook has gone pale and won't stop hiccuping.

"Yuck, I don't want to thin—hurrkk" Jungkook jams a fist to his lips, jolting with another gag, lips sealed tightly. "Oh shit—" Jimin dashes to the other side of the room, swiping up a small bin and thrusts it under Jungkook's chin just in time. Thank goodness the live was turned off.

Jungkook moans into the bin, bringing up puke and trying to keep his hair out the way. Jimin quickly realises and takes off Jungkook's glasses, setting them aside before using his hands to hold back Jungkook's long hair. Yes, it's beautiful and amazing but right now, the locks were proving to be an inconvenience.

"Hyung—it got in m-my hair-" Jungkook whimpers, alcohol has really done him over, hasn't it? "Shh, it's okay Kookie. Get it all out." Jimin places a hand on Jungkook's back, trying to calm him down. Jungkook's ears are ringing and he shudders at a small burp, prompting more puke to exit from his mouth.

Jungkook makes a very nauseated sound and even Jimin's stomach feels a bit uneasy. Jungkook continues to vomit his guts out, it sounds like he's almost choking with his shaky inhales. More torrents leave Jungkook's mouth, stomach contracting as it works everything out of his system.

Nausea swells over Jungkook's body, and he wishes he hadn't drank so much. "You really gotta listen to your hyungs, Kookie." Jimin adds, a soft giggle leaving his lips as he continues to hold back Jungkook's dark hair. Jungkook is not going to live this down. He can already hear Seokjin's voice in his head, telling him off for being so reckless. On cue, Jimin's phone starts to ring, the eldest member's name clear on the screen.

"Hey, how's Jungkookie doing?" Seokjin says after Jimin accepted the call. "Hyunggg I think I'm dyingg." Jungkook's voice is loud enough to hear and Seokjin tuts in sympathy. "Yah! Next time listen to us, okay??" Seokjin calls out, causing Jimin to laugh and almost forget the task at hand, making Jungkook whine when his hair falls back in front of his eyes and in the line of fire.

Jungkook retches audibly and Jimin hisses, "sorry, hyung I've gotta put you on speaker even though you probably don't want to hear this. I need both hands to hold Jungkookie's hair." Jimin places the phone down, focusing back on the maknae.

"Ayy, my poor Jungkookie.." Seokjin's voice fills Jungkook's ears and he makes a mental note to send the older a message when he's feeling better. Jungkook coughs up more beer, cursing under his breath. His mind is still a little loopy and when he catches a break he sighs heavily. "Jimin-hyung, you're really pretty." Jungkook blurts out, using Jimin's face as a distraction turned out to be quite effective.

"Thanks, Kook-ah. You feeling better?" Jimin smiles, "make sure he drinks lots of water Jimin-ah." Seokjin buts in. "Mhmm, I need to sleep... I'll probably throw up n'the morning though." Jungkook replies, forgetting that it already is the morning. "Okay, let's get you to bed, dumbass." Jimin says, "I'll call you later, hyung! Bye bye!" Jimin takes the phone.

"You better, Park Jimin!" And with that, Jungkook's practically half asleep, head lolling to the side and Jimin whisks the bin away before a mess happens. "Come on, pukey. Let's sleep before a massive headache is added to the list." Jimin ruffles Jungkook's hair and gives his back a comforting rub.

"As long as you cuddle me..." Jungkook slurs, somehow still adorable. "Of course, Jungkook-ah."

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

Once Golden Butter Cookie ever leaves the box/or wakes up (Really depends which au we're talking about here), will they ever get back into dollmaking?

I just find it interesting that even if the world and others have gone to create things far better than her own creations, I don't think that takes away the fact she can grant sentient life to her creations if she so wishes. She even made an entire realm for herself and her dolls which if you think about it, is really impressive on its own and it probably took months or years to create.

So even if she's burntout, I don't think that entirely means she's lost her creativity. I think the only reason she went through burnout in the first place was that she was stressing herself to create something noteworthy for the public to notice. So that you know, maybe there was justification for her to deserve HER SOUL JAM. So when she realized that she just couldn't keep up, what use was she to the world at this point...

Why is her corrupted attribute cowardice? Personally, I don't know, however when it comes to creativity, there's usually a risk involved. The courage to explore and experiment with new ideas, challenge expectations even if it'll face large or failure criticism. However, exploring new ideas is different from your own artistic identity. I'm assuming Golden Butter Cookie was trying to create things within the status quo required by the general public in order to remain as relevant as her friends, trying to create her own ideas and expound in those that resulted in failure and frustration too many times that she just gave up. I think her motivation also became a large factor in this too, that perhaps the things she was creating wasn't in her best interest. She has a literal army of dolls and toys, she probably has some workshop out there. But imagine her shifting from creating living toy companions that brought happiness and protection to children to sudden machines that should serve a purpose in making work easier. It's stressful and a bit hard to adapt to when you think about it. But what if she adapted her own dolls to make work easier? Sure it feels weird having some plush toy do some of the work, but it gets the job done. And I feel like unbeknownst to her, she managed to explore this idea a bit during her time in the toybox before succumbing to sleep.

But that makes you wonder, in all her years she spent wasting away in her toybox realm, why hadn't she ever discarded her own soul jam, or given it to someone much better than her...? Maybe because it was a gift from her own creators... Maybe it was her way of clinging to the small speck of hope that a part of who she once was is still there... Her purpose...

But honestly, maybe the world doesn't need her as much as they did before, but that doesnt mean her own friends don't need her. She's Golden Butter Cookie, whether she's some great inventor or not, she was an integral part of their life. She was important, not for her powers, but for her.

anon... anon I am shaking you so hard right now/verypos

This actually almost perfectly describes Goldie, i don't know how you did it anon, but you did! so congrats!! As for your first question, I don't think that Goldie would ever give up doll making in the first place. The dolls of the Toy-Box are basically her children and most cherished items/people, and making dolls is in fact, Goldie's passion.

In fact, Goldie's persona, Butterscotch Cookie, is a doll maker! Just a fun little fact.

As for why Golden Butter Cookie's corrupted attribute is cowardice... Well, it's a lot like you said. She was unwilling to break away from the norm, trying so desperately to be seen as useful like her fellow heroes. She didn't have Shadow Milk's knowledge, she wasn't as good at bringing smiles to others as Eternal Sugar was, she couldn't lead revolutions against the corrupt like Burning Spice did(in fact, maybe she feared change.), she couldn't find her own will like Mystic Flour could... And she was too much of a coward to stand by their sides, but she knew that silent salt would never do such a shameful thing as running away from the world to hide.

And then, when they became beasts, she was still too much of a coward to stand up for what was right. To fight against her friends. But how could she? She was just so much... less, compared to them. Hell, she can't even grow to their gargantuan size! How the hell was she supposed to be able to do... anything?

But she could have at least done something... right? But she was too much of a coward to do anything except hide away.

...

Also, about what you said about her adapting the dolls, yes that does indeed happen! There are gardeners, architects, builders, and many more types of dolls to fill the roles of a society within the toy-box! Goldie realized that she couldn't really do everything by herself, so she decided to make some dolls to give her a helping hand!

And as for why she didn't discard her soul jam... Well, it's an integral part of her. Her connection to it is baked into her dough and it isn't something she could easily rid herself of... if she even could. She still wants to cling to the dim hope that the Light of Creation supplies her with, it's voice is quiet... but it's still there.

And when all was said, and all was done, and when Goldie left the Toy-Box... She was ready to face her friends once again, even if it (metaphorically) killed her to do so. Because it wasn't her powers, her achievements, or her creations that they saw. They saw Golden Butter Cookie, nobody else, not a failure, not anything other than who she was.

And she was their friend.

[kitkatopinions]

RWBY has been nitpicked to the bone by now. I suppose there's volume 9 but lets be honest not alot of meat to work with there, lots of gristle though. But here's my take. The end where the team arrives at Vacuo doesn't fill me with anticipation like an ending should. I feel more confused than intrigued. Likewise the same for the template preview at RTX. So many unanswered questions and considering the next volume isn't guaranteed, many will likely remain unanswered.

Ah, see, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on nitpicks. I feel like I still have plenty of nitpicking left in me for RWBY. XD

But I completely agree with you on the ending of V9 when they're in Vacuo. First of all, they went where and when they're needed the most, but... Why are they needed? By the look of things, Vacuo is doing way better than expected (because natural consequences don't exist in this show lol,) and honestly the writers have done an incredibly poor job of explaining why these five specific kids who aren't of graduation age and essentially were given their hunter badges because of nepotism and protagonist armor are needed in the war against Salem. Shouldn't they logically have gone somewhere that was in desperate need of any Hunter with a weapon like a village outside of the kingdoms? Or a place dealing with devastating Grimm attacks that a Silver Eyed Warrior could help with? Also, I've been mostly against time travel plots, but 'when you're needed the most' implies that the Tree goddess literally was doing time stuff and dude, when Team RWBY now is needed the most is probably pre-V3 so they can... You know, stop the devastating attack on Beacon that launched the whole war.

Second off, wasn't getting any semblance of an army together even to fight Salem a sure sign of how evil and controlling and oppressive Ironwood was? And yet the sight of ships overhead in Vacuo is supposed to fill us with hope?

Third off, the entire RTX original end for V9 was so bad that it's literally comical. Winter going on about the poor giving martyrs that wanted so much and did so much, Willow hiding out in her little sun hat being mistreated by mean poor people, the little 'remember her message' grafitti as if Ruby said something more than a bunch of confusing stuff and then a half-baked 'everything will be fine' platitude, Qrow being weirdly fine after the supposed death of his beloved nieces... All of it was just so badly done.

And yeah, it's possible that we might not get V10, but I think we probably will. I just don't know if we'll get anything more than V10, so I'm anticipating a major rush job that tries to jam pack in way too much while completely forgetting about tons of things. Then we're going to get a bunch of hate from anti-rwders blaming us and not acknowledging RT's terrible history, the RWBY writers' poorly done work and bad planning, or the fndm putting other people from other fandoms off of rwby as possible reasons why the show didn't last for another ten years. XD

[the-feral-one]

⏪For the icy kitty! More lore!

Chien-Pao's past -

He and Wo used to be a lot closer then what is shown.

In the Paldean king's castle, following the scribe's demise, Wo was feeling pretty low.

So the snow leopard decided to spend a lot of his time making sure Wo wasn't left to suffer on his own.

As they continued to spend time together, Wo and Pao developed feelings for each other, that, at the time, they couldn't explain or put a name to...but it made them not want to spend time apart.

These feelings lasted until Pao was made part of the king's army and sent out to fight on the tyrant's side in wars against other regions, but, until that happened, he and Wo got to enjoy the time they got to spend together.

They experimented with what could be done in their developing relationship, even getting ideas from humans that were in the same situation within castle grounds.

The relationship came to an end when Pao returned from a lengthy fight against another region with both his personality and appearance changed for the worse.

Wo was distraught by the changes. Pao...didn't really do much to try to fix the state he was in. The broken sword halves that were jammed into his top jaw were possessed by so many angry spirits that they were constantly echoing in his head, so loudly that he couldn't think straight.

Wo became quite fearful of Pao, and refused to go near him, even when the leopard tried to get his attention. The state that the leopard was in - crazed and unpredictable - also made the snail get upset whenever he did see him.

Pao would stay that way, with the swords becoming permanently stuck where they were. Even as the voices kept swirling around in his head, the leopard couldn't help but think about on day having them shortened so he could lie down properly...

--

Much later on, that thought would become a reality after being found by several mons that would succeed in helping him, both with shortening the swords, and getting him reunited with his oldest friend.

Pao won't try anything more with the relationship he has with Wo, as he is pleased with where it is, and he doesn't want to ruin the current relationship that Wo has with Oki.