#not entirely sure what would be reasonable 🤔

[deers-doodles]

Hey would any of yall be interested in doodle commissions?

[orcelito]

Ykno when ur lookin at an artist and ur like "man, I want to commission art from You, Specifically"

I have something in mind for a scene that's coming up in ITNL (whenever I start writing again) that would be really cool, & I know Exactly who I'd want it by... except they don't have open commission slots 😭😭😭

I can be patient, though... I have been patient before...

[tsxkkis]

omg omg can i request? pls ignore if you dont!

s3 of haikyuu will always be my favourite season, maybe due to the fact that tsukishima realizes his potential in playing volleyball? (him having his MOMENT is my favouriteee scene)

so could you write gf manager reader x tsukki, where reader witnesses him having his first moment (blocking ushijima's spike), injuring his hand etc etc up until they receive their throphy and medals in the end ?🥹🥹💕 shes a proudddd reader and literally just smooch smooch hug hug tsukki because hes the mvp of karasuno x shiratorizawa 🥰😤

i realized that theres nobody includes this scene in their fics and i wonder why? 🤔🧐

# tsukishima kei - mvp

a/n: i am terribly sorry anon bcs this took so long T-T i'm not quite sure about some parts of this fic but overall i really enjoyed writing this request!! tsukishima is my fav for many reasons, one of which being the fact that i see myself in him a lot, and the particular moment during the shiratorizawa vs karasuno match is also my fav from the entire series!! i hope u enjoy reading this fic^^ i feel like it's not exactly what you asked for, so i'm sorry if i went too far away from your idea....

summary: tsukishima finally regains his love for volleyball.

warnings: a few swear words here and there, the fic doesn't exactly portray what happened in the series (i switched it up a bit)

'are you stressed?'

'not even a bit.'

'you're lying. i can read you like a book.'

tsukishima kei let out a deep breath, rolling his eyes as he looked away from your face. you were obviously right; there was no way he wouldn't be stressed before the game that determined whether or not karasuno would go to nationals. as much as he hated to admit it, he was almost as stressed as others. he was just better at controlling which of his emotions are shown.

you squeezed his hand, his fingers instinctively intertwining with yours. all it took was a reassuring smile from you to help with his nerves, his muscles finally relaxing after being tensed up for the last twenty minutes or so. he still tried to get used to you being more than a friend. your relationship was quite awkward and fresh, so much so in fact that you never even had your first kiss yet.

'i'm sure you'll do great.' you stated calmly, trying to hide the fact that you were even more stressed about the match than him. 'in fact, i'm positive that you'll win.'

'even if we do, it won't be because of me.' he mumbled, letting out a silent laugh when he saw the angry look on your face. 'oh, come on. it's not like i'm the greatest player this team has.'

'you know i hate it when you talk down on yourself.' you said, the tone serious and sharp, rather unusual for you. it stayed like that for only a short while, taken over by a softer, understanding one. 'you're a vital part of this team, tsukishima. winning this match is not up to a single person. it's a team effort. your input is as important as that of kageyama or hinata.'

he opened his mouth to say something but was instantly stopped by the voice of his captain, daichi, calling the team up to quickly warm up as the match was about to start.

you smiled at the boy, letting go of his hand before lightly patting him on the back.

'do your best for me, alright?'

'i will.' a barely noticeable smile appeared on his face, his hand affectionately ruffling your hair. 'don't worry too much about it.'

you finally realized why tsukishima kei never tried more. why he would never stay longer like other karasuno players to polish his skills, why he didn't truly seem to love the sport he chose to play in high school.

'you're insufferable, you know?' his words sent shivers down your spine. 'why don't you leave it the fuck alone?'

opposite forces, some might say. no one really knew what drew you and tsukishima to eachother - both of you completely different from one another, and yet oh so similar at the same time. frustration took over you every time you looked at him, and now you knew why.

he was like a mirror in which you could see all your flaws, and it irritated you a great deal.

his outlook on life and the way he viewed himself made you furious. how can someone be so full of contradictions? so cocky and confident, and yet so vulnerable and self depreciating at the same time. so full of himself and yet so hateful towards the person he saw in the reflection of every window, every mirror.

how can someone so great at what they do, so intelligent and talented, be so critical?

'because i can't! i can't leave it alone, you absolute moron.' the thought of how loud you were didn't stop you from continuing to shout, a mixed look on your face that tsukishima couldn't quite decipher. were you angry or sad? and why the hell would it bug you so much to evoke such strong emotions within you?

'you're saying i'm insufferable? from the moment i laid my eyes on you, you've been nothing but insufferable. so much so, that i want to gouge them out every time they spot you.' you ignored your watery eyes and tsukishima's surprised face, almost as if he didn't expect you to blow up like this. 'it pains me to see you be so full of doubt and hatred and i- i can't understand why you would think so lowly of yourself, why you feel inferior to the other guys in every way possible, when you could be so much more than them. do you even realize your potential, tsukishima?'

he stayed silent. for the first time since knowing you, tsukishima kei did not have an answer to your words.

'your doubts are so irrational i don't know if it makes me angry or sad. you're truly incredible on the court. you're intelligent, you can read the opponents well, you have the physical predispositions for volleyball and a natural talent that you choose to ignore because-'

'but what is talent without passion?'

that singular sentence managed to catch you off guard so much you had no idea how to answer him. such a simple question, and yet such a philosophical, confusing one.

'why should i put my all into something i'm not even passionate about, huh?' tsukishima tried to keep his composed nature, but it was hard to stay intact after what you've said. as much as he did not want to admit it, your words hit him deeply. 'why waste my time and energy for something that does not give me any satisfaction at all? tell me that, because i have no fucking idea.'

'passion is not something that dissapears once and never shows up again, you idiot.' you took a step closer, as if that was going to help you get your point across. 'if your passion is genuine, it will always be there. whether small or big, it will always crawl around in the back of your mind. if you ever truly loved volleyball, the moment where you fall in love with it again will come sooner or later.'

your words were met with complete silence, but you didn't mind. tsukishima slowly processed your words, a focused look gracing his face, lips in a tight line. even though it was only a couple of minutes, for you it felt like hours - awaiting an answer, any answer at all.

tsukishima moved closer, his tall frame hovering over you as he wrapped his arms around you, catching you in a tight hug, much to your surprise.

'thank you.' he mumbled quietly, glad that in this very moment you couldn't see his face, and the stupid smile plastered to it.

the moment where you fall in love with it again will come sooner or later.

tsukishima's mind lingered over these words whenever he played, awaiting this moment to come almost eagerly. the match was particularly hard - with ushijima wakatoshi as their opponent, the chances of winning were incredibly slim. every spike of his went through the block, his serves were absolutely killer, and his teammates did everything to deliver the ball to him at all costs.

what a hassle.

you noticed that his demeanor on the court changed from what it used to be. tsukishima seemed more invested now - almost as if he was trying to impress you, to keep his word. as happy as it made you, you were still anxious about the match and it's final score, hand shaky and a bit sweaty as your eyes followed the ball flying around from one side of the net to another.

another spike from ushijima, it'll probably be another point for shiratoriza-

and that's when you realized.

you saw the ball hit the ground on shiratorizawa's side of the net surprised gasps from everyone watching the match. you saw the shocked look on ushijima's face, the horror in the eyes of his teammates as the ball bounced off of the floor for the second, third, fourth time.

silence took over the court for just a mere second, quickly interrupted by tsukishima's triumphant scream.

he looked more than content with his performance. he looked... happy.

the rest of the boys joined him, screaming in unison. it was just one point, right? but for some reason, for both you and tsukishima, this one was worth a thousand.

for the first time in years, tsukishima kei felt that his spark for volleyball came back.

you noticed that his eyes were now focused on you, a full, cheeky smile gracing his face, and it only made you tear up. a short moment, probably insignificant for people around, but for the two of you it was like a breath of fresh air, like getting rid of the shackles that once held you in place, enabling you from moving forward.

'y/n, are you... alright?' coach ukai looked with his brows slightly furrowed, confused by your teary eyes and big grin plastered to your face.

'yeah, yeah, i'm fine. sorry, coach.' you mumbled, bowing a little as your eyes focused on the court. 'actually, could kiyoko replace me here for the rest of the match? i'm not quite feeling well.'

'tsukishima is injured.'

'what?' akiteru spoke in unison with you, terrified voices mixing together as you looked down from the stands to see the boy walking off of the court and rushing to the medical office along with kiyoko. your instincts took over you - feet moving on their own as you quickly ran towards the same place.

the two blondes followed right behind you, stopping only when in front of the door to the medical office, gasping for air after such a short run. as athletic as your boyfriend was, you were quite the opposite; getting tired after a little to no physical activity at times.

tsukishima saw your head peeking through the doorframe, a small smile on his face the moment he laid eyes on you.before you opened your mouth to say something, he already gave you an answer.

'yes, i feel fine.' he stated quietly, sitting down on the edge of a chair. 'you don't need to worry.'

'are you going back on court?' he only gave you a small nod in response, seemingly feeling better already as he stood up, his hand taped up.

you looked up at him, taking in the expression on his face, just how focused he already was. he looked almost as if he already had a plan to defeat shiratorizawa in this match. seeing him so eager to go back and play almost made you laugh a little - you swore you never saw him get this invested into something ever.

'go and win then.' you mumbled, patting him on the shoulder as he headed towards the gym hall.

'oh don't worry. we will.'

you couldn't stop the tears rolling down your cheeks as you saw karasuno emerge victorious from the hardest volleyball match they had to play this year, hugging yachi tightly as both of you celebrated the win of your team.

the triumphant screams filled the gym hall, the team emotional after doing what many deemed impossible. as most of them enjoyed themselves, not planning on leaving the euphoric state for a long while, tsukishima could only think of doing one thing - going to you.

you were the only person he truly wanted to celebrate with.

after the ceremony of getting the medals, to everyone's utmost shock, considering your relationship wasn't exactly public, tsukishima went up to you almost immediately, a cocky smile on his face as he ruffled your hair, looking down at you from behind his glasses.

'you didn't exactly look quite as content with your performance before getting the prize.' you mumbled, looking at the blonde haired boy with your head tilted to the side.

'well, i could've blocked more of ushijima's spikes.' he started, rolling his eyes at the sole idea of not being able to do that during today's match. 'i only managed to block one and-'

you decided to use the only method that was for sure going to shut him up in that moment, lightly grabbing him by the tshirt and pulling him closer, lips clashing for a split second in a short, sweet kiss.

'no talking down on yourself today, kei.' you said, unconsciously smiling as you saw his face getting red at what you just did, cheeks covered by a tomato-like red colour. 'i'm proud of you no matter what you think about today's match.'

he stood still for a few seconds, as if processing what had just happened seconds ago, the redness on his face deepening with each passing moment. his hand was quick to grab yours, almost dragging you away from the team and to a more private, less occupied area of the building.

'do that again.' he mumbled, after he finally led you to a quiet hallway.

'huh?'

'it was... nice.'

your eyes lit up, a cheeky smile gracing your face as you finally realized what he was on about.

'ohh, you want another kiss?' you said teasingly, eyes quickly glancing from his face down to his lips. he rolled his eyes, unamused by your act of playing dumb.

'come on, don't make me repeat myself.' still somewhat embarrassed of what he was asking for, tsukishima stood in one place, awaiting your next action.

a sigh left your lips as you took a step towards your boyfriend, standing on your tippy toes to be able to reach his face.

'alright. i guess you deserve it, match mvp.'

your arms were wrapped around his neck in no time as your lips gently touched his, tsukishima immediately kissing you back, hands positioned on your waist as you felt a smile creeping up on his face. he let out a short laugh, seeing your face being just as red as his was moments ago, hand reaching to squeeze yours.

'what?' you mumbled, as he hasn't spoken a word since breaking the kiss.

'that's surely the best prize i got today.'

taglist: @moonswolfie @wyrcan @kitsune-kita

[luvrxbunny]

okay so let’s think 🤔

i think it’s been a VERY long time since Joel had sex. i’m thinking he probably messed around for a few years after Sarah died just to feel something but after that didn’t work he probably just gave up

so now after over 10yrs of no sex, hes gotten to a point where he thinks he could just live without it. like he barely has the urge anymore.

he doesn’t even get a little inkling until he meets you. but it’s only a twinge in his gut. he doesn’t get hard but he does get turned on, sensitive and the twinge flares more depending on what you do, what you’re wearing, how close to him you’re standing.

but then you guys start dating. because shockingly.. for some reason.. he gives you that same reaction— of course a lot stronger on your end

he explains this all to you, he says it’s his age but you assume it also has to do with everything he’s been through. so you don’t push it! you’d never do that to him, give him that guilt or pressure.

but something about you being his makes that little twinge become a punch to the gut. seeing you in his kitchen, making him breakfast, makes something stir in his crotch that he barely even recognizes.

then he sees you fitting into a motherly role with ellie, maybe closer to a big sister but there is maternity mixed in for sure and that causes something he’s not even equipped to deal with.. he’s starting to get hard.

it’s just a halfie but it’s more than he’s felt in years. and he just has to wait for it to go down. it’s torture.

that goes on for a while. things get exponentially worse when you move in with him. you start acting like his wife. making him coffee to go to work with in the morning, packing him lunch and setting out his clothes. you even wash his boots for him when they get too dirty or on a particularly hot day you’ll have a bath ready for him when he gets home. he’s so hard, he’s leaking.

he eventually has to figure out how to jerk off all over again cus god knows what he likes now. it takes a lot of trial and error but he’s finally able to cum for the first time in way too long.

but that just makes everything worse

because now he knows how to solve the probelm, now that his body knows this is an option, he’s getting hard no matter what you do.

you could come to him with help for a recipe, not able to understand what they’re asking and he’ll get hard. you could walk past him, he’d get a whiff of your perfume and he’s hard. you touch his arm to move past him and he’s hard.

this leads to many trips to the bathroom. he doesn’t last long, not that he tries to anyway, and he’s found that he can cum many times in one day.

you start coddling him because he’s obviously fatigued and god that makes him hard. you cuddle him, letting him be the little spoon as you both take a “much needed and earned nap” and fuck he’s leaking into his boxers.

his entire body is tense and shaking in your sleepy arms. it’s never been this bad before. he can’t think of a time it was even this bad when he was younger.

he sneaks a hand down to his crotch and desperately digs his palm into the tent in his boxers. the relief is immediate, he has to dig into his lip until it bleeds to hold in the groan that wanted out. he can’t believe himself, the depraved man he’s become.

his hand slides down into his boxers and his stomach is trembling at his own touch. something about you being right next to him is turning all his senses up to 11.

his hand wraps around his cock and it’s the most heavenly thing he’s felt. he can’t help the moan of your name that slide up his throat and leaves his mouth as a whisper. you stir beside him and his cock pulses in his hand.

what if you woke up? what would you do if you caught him like this? would you like it?

i got carried away AGAIN

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Happy with the staff content this year but am I the only one who is disappointed with the PV we got? It's basically a slideshow of art we've already seen, major downgrade from the year 1 PV that had literally all the events. There was a drop in quality of the anniversary PVs over the years and it really shows this year. Sorry if you find this too negative I don't mean to hate I just wish Twst would do better for it's ANNIVERSARY.

[For everyone's reference, here are the anniversary PVs in order of release: 2021 / 2022 / 2023 / 2024]

Mmm, now that you mention it, I noticed this trend with the Halloween PVs 🤔 For year 1, there was a video that showed all members of the NRC casy, even those that did not receive cards at that time. There were then several short variants of the PV released for year 2/Endless Halloween Night (part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4). Altogether, they feature all of the characters, including the students from year 1 but heavily shadowed and with glowing eyes to indicate ghostly possession. Even Glorious Masquerade features all of the students that get new cards for the event plus Rollo, although there are notably more still shots here. The Stage in Playful Land CM, by comparison, is significantly shorter and only shows us the three SSRs (Ace, Ortho, and Kalim) as well as the two new characters (Fellow and Gidel).

As this anon has said, the anniversary PVs have changed a lot over time too. The first one was the most animated and integrated several event outfits. The second one was also animated a fair amount, but you can tell corners were cut in some places where they transition to photographs/still images. This alone works thematically given that the player is a photographer, but you can still catch dips in quality when it comes to the art style. I remember finding Deuce running and the Kalim + Silver flying scene odd, as well as Jade and Trein's faces strange in general. Then the third PV rolls around and it only features the third years; the animation also seems to be much more sluggish (although this could be a stylistic choice; not sure). A friend actually recently pointed out to me that Lilia's pose looks like he was pulled straight from other assets; his artwork in the animation is almost the exact same as his smiling expression in the game. This year's is the most different (+ most static) and, like year 3's PV, only provides "new" content for a select few characters (the dorm leaders). They also reuse pre-existing illustrations already found in the game that don't seem to be picked for any particular reason (like, there are random Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles groovies in there). This direction, I'm guessing, is less costly and more efficient than making an entirely original animation, which is what was done in previous years. (Not that Disney or Aniplex is hurting for money to fund this, lol) Would I have preferred another PV in the style of year 1's? Yeah, for sure. I want to see other events and their outfits animated! Was what we got this year bad? Not necessarily; I think the production and editing was very technically impressive, but I'm still sad we didn't get anything substantially "new" to chew on (as someone who isn't a fan of most third years or the dorm leaders). Maybe it's just something we perceive as a deficit only because year 1 set the bar so high. It is what it is; whoever was in charge of the anniversary PV was probably doing the best they could with whatever budget they were given 😔 Let's hope that next year's will be a return to form, or that at least the money/effort is being redirected to other bigger projects (maybe the anime?).

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

If Mike really loved El romantically, they wouldn’t have dragged out a weird plot of not being able to say ILY for two seasons. One season? Sure. I can let Season 3 slide somewhat if one discounts all the queer longing that takes place and the odd finale kiss. You could interpret S3 as an awkward kid building up the courage to say the L word.

But two seasons? Nah. If the first interpretation were true, things would’ve been resolved when El confesses that she loves him back at the end of S3. But things were not resolved? And the show goes out of its way to emphasize that Mike isn’t even writing “I love you” in his letters? And they have a big, explosive fight about it… and he still can’t say it? Nah Michael, I diagnose you with homosexuality.

“But saying I love you is scary and a big deal and yada yada…” Okay sure. Saying ILY is a big deal. But middle school kids still say it pretty casually. And they certainly at least write it. It’s not uncommon for a kid to drop the “L” bomb to someone they’ve only been dating for a short period of time, only to break up the next day. Things are fluid and chaotic and unpredictable and messy. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo thought he was in love with Rosaline until seeing Juliet, and he immediately changed his mind.

But even if we just assume it’s harder for Mike to say ILY to El because Mlvn is serious and more meaningful than a fleeting crush, that still doesn’t let Mike off the hook. If Mlvn really is as soulmate-coded as Mlievens believe, when have you ever heard of a soulmate-coded relationship in media where the writers went out of their way to show that saying ILY was like pulling teeth? Imagine if there was a whole section of Titanic where Jack struggled with saying ILY to Rose? Imagine Leia got into a fight with Han because he couldn’t write “love” in his romantic letters, and Han was all like, “I care for you so much, Leia.”Imagine Katara pulled out the receipts, and Aang was like, “Okay, okay. Katara, you’re being ridiculous. Like what is this?”

That would be absurd. And you’d either demand an explanation or stop rooting for them. It’s not that ILY isn’t often a big deal in stories. It’s that when it’s emphasized in a weird way and dragged out for two seasons, you have to side-eye it. It’s one thing when the big ILY is the logical and natural culmination of an arc, whether at the end of a season or the end of a series. That makes sense. It’s another thing entirely when someone is literally begging you to say it, and you still can’t say it. And then when you finally do say it, it’s in the penultimate season, and it’s extremely anticlimactic. And everyone has to emphasize how you said it 9 times to cope/compensate.

If Mlvn was meant to be endgame, and Mike really loved El romantically, they would’ve just… shown Mike and El being in love with each other. There wouldn’t be any doubt. None of the other couples, other than Stancy, have ever gone through this weird kind of ritual where words are emphasized over actions. No one doubts that Lumax, Jopper, and Duzie are in love with each other. Jancy is a little more complicated cause they were separated throughout S4 and doubts were raised, but even so, it’s nowhere near the odd situation with Milkvan. Jancy, Lumax, Jopper, and Duzie have all shown they love each other through their actions. They don’t rely on big gestures or words to prove it. In fact, Lucas even specifically says to Max, “I don’t want a letter.”

All I’m saying is, if Mlvn is treated with a considerable lack of seriousness post Season 2, if the show keeps them in a weird Groundhog Day plot of constant fights and lies and not being on the same page, and if it takes a third party with vested romantic interest in the situation for Mike to finally monologue a measly ILY to his girlfriend, then maybe there’s a reason for this? 🤔

[marshmallowprotection]

How clingy can Saeyoung be? 🤔🤔

I suppose it depends on what you mean. My first thought is that you mean in a relationship overall, and not to take into account the ways he would be "clingy" per his paranoia. I wouldn't use that word to talk about his paranoia, but I realize many others might or have called his feelings that word over the years. But, when you look at the reason as to why he suffers from paranoia in the first place, it makes sense why he responds to tense situations the way he does.

That doesn't justify much of what he does, but it does give us greater insight into what's going on!

Because Saeyoung was parentified, make no mistake about that. He has fought his entire life to take care of his little brother and to keep him safe from harm. He sold his life to the agency to keep him safe... knowing he would lose the chance to live a life for himself. Only to be given the chance to have an actual life later, but with strings stitched on top of his freedom in the end.

He made enemies for life, enemies... who would be more than happy to kill, torture, and harm his loved ones to hurt him.

This has led him to become distrustful of the world, and he has the tendency to smother people, as well as push them away when he's overwhelmed. Some people might call his actions "clingy" when he offers to put a tracker on Meowy to make sure you're safe, to look over CCTV cameras if you go anywhere without him so he can be en route if something goes wrong, to ask for check-ins every other hour when you're away for a few days, etc.

But, that's not being clingy. It's a byproduct of feeling like you'll die if he's not with you. He literally built Meowy to not only keep you safe in the strong chance that he had to leave you behind, but to protect you from any danger that might try to kill you just for being seen with him!

It's definitely not a healthy way to think about the world, but it's one of those things he actively needs to work on, but it's not going to be better until his father is removed from power and the agency is gone for good. Which, that will someday happen post Secret Ending, I am sure of that, but... until that day, he has to confront those fears and... well, be willing to hear his MC out if they're bothered by how many of these feelings affect their relationship.

Some people may even go as far as to call this controlling, but that's not Saeyoung Choi. He doesn't want to limit your freedom, nor hold you back from the world, just like he wishes he didn't have to hide in the dark to survive or feel comfortable in his own skin. This is just... a matter of boundaries, long conversations, and the therapy he's going to attend to deal with these feelings.

I wouldn't call Saeyoung clingy. I don't know, I just don't like how the word has been used as a negative connotation. He loves to cuddle in bed, he loves to hold your hand, and he likes to be with you as much as he can. But, that's healthy for any relationship, wanting to be with the person you love is the entire point. Even if you enjoy being alone now and again, if you don't like hanging out with your partner, I can't say that's going to work out.

I don't think that he's quite as touchy-feely as GE Saeran is with his MC, but he's at least a close second in the running. His Valentine's DLC is forthcoming in the kind of relationship he and MC are starting to build, and since you can deviate between two paths, it makes me assume you're still figuring out your boundaries, as well as what you like and don't like in a romantic relationship. It's a little clumsy but it's his first relationship... it's bound to have some hiccups as you learn what feels good and what doesn't.

Saeyoung needs alone time, even if he'd rather not have it so that breathing room makes me think he's not always attached to his lover at the hip. But, make no mistake, he wants to be.

[kangshxrtie]

Fourteen | Professionals

"Now my tummy hurts, she's in love with her But for what it's worth They'd make beautiful babies" - Tummy Hurts, Reneé Rapp

your videography group was having its last meeting, wrapping up filming and sorting out the final details.

"have you two practiced for the kissing scene yet?" chaewon asked, her tone casual but curious.

"no, we're just gonna wing it when we film," you replied without much thought.

"are you sure that's gonna work?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

you shrugged. "i mean, we were chosen as the actors for a reason. we're professionals."

"i'll trust y'all," chaewon said, though she didn't seem entirely convinced.

she quickly moved on, checking in with everyone else about their respective duties.

once the meeting wrapped up, you wasted no time trying to get out of there. you had barely texted yunjin since that day, and she knew something was up. the constant voicemails asking why you were ignoring her made that obvious.

luckily, her rule about not speaking to you in public still applied. if she really needed to know that bad, she'd break it.

you speed-walked to your car as soon as you were out of the building. the moment your phone connected, two messages came in at the same time. the first one made you want to turn your phone off entirely, but the other? that one you needed to reply to.

huh yunjin (01) are u going home? can i come to u?

nien are u gone already? i wanna hang out y/n NO NOT YET where are u nien i'm standing at my car rn y/n u want me to come to u?

nien u can we can come back & pick up ur car l8r y/n OKAY heading over now

you shut off your car, taking your keys with you as you made your way across the parking lot to nien's car. on the way, you passed chaewon and yunjin walking together. without missing a beat, you made a big show of hugging nien once you reached her, and of course, she played along perfectly.

as you walked around to the passenger side, you caught yunjin's eyes. she was staring at you in disbelief while chaewon looked at her, utterly confused.

nien started the car, handing you her phone so you could pick the music. yunjin could never.

"hitting them would be double points," you muttered, eyeing nien's backup camera.

"i don't need my intrusive thoughts voiced out loud like this," she said, shaking her head.

"maybe it's a sign," you joked.

"damn, they moved too fast," nien sighed, finally able to back out.

once you two were out of the parking lot, you let yourself relax, only to immediately get another text from the one person you didn't wanna hear from.

huh yunjin (01) so u can leave w nien but can't tmb? y/n y/l/n she texted me to hang out first huh yunjin (01) so she's more important than ur actual gf now mayb u 2 are playing ur roles a lil too well y/n y/l/n weren't u leaving w chaewon anyways 🤔

huh yunjin (01) i was js giving her a ride home i was gonna go to urs right afterwards y/n y/l/n js hang out w chaewon huh yunjin (01) ur acting weird y/n y/l/n i gotta go hanging out w nien yk huh yunjin (01) we're gonna hv to talk abt this

"was it yunjin?" nien asked, noticing how annoyed you looked while typing.

"yeah, she's mad i left with you instead of hanging out with her," you replied, sighing.

"aww, you chose me over her? i feel special," nien teased.

"well, i would've chosen literally anyone over yunjin right now," you admitted.

"i can turn around and take you back, then," nien said, nodding toward the direction you came from. "go hang out with your other hoes."

"wait, no," you protested. "i wanna hang out with my favorite."

"i'm your favorite?" nien glanced at you for a second before turning back to the road.

"yeah. my favorite hoe," you finished with a grin.

"as long as i'm your favorite in something," she muttered.

"okay, you can't say it like that—now i feel bad," you said, frowning.

"i'm just speaking my truth," nien shrugged.

"honestly, though... you've been my favorite person lately," you admitted.

"yet you still won't date me," she sighed dramatically.

"stop joking, you don't actually wanna date me," you said, shaking your head.

"i'm serious," nien said, voice softer. "i'm literally just waiting for you."

you stared at her for a moment before shaking your head again. "i'm gonna pretend you didn't say that, and we're just gonna be good friends for the rest of the day."

"whatever you want, y/n," nien said with a small smile.

you rolled your eyes at nien's little smile, shaking your head as you turned your attention back to the music playing through the speakers.

"where are we even going?" you asked, realizing you never actually planned anything.

"hmm... dunno, i just wanted to steal you away," nien said, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. "but now that i have you, i guess we should figure something out."

"you kidnapped me without a destination?" you teased.

"excuse me, but you willingly got in here," nien pointed out.

"no proof of that," you shot back without missing a beat.

"i have witnesses and text messages," she countered, glancing at you with a smirk.

"yeah? well, they're not here," you said smugly, folding your arms.

nien rolled her eyes. "okay, luckily i don't wanna talk to my witnesses."

you chuckled before tilting your head. "so, what exactly are we doing now?"

"well, since we already ate, we could get dessert," she suggested.

"that works," you agreed with a nod.

nien pulled into the parking lot of a small ice cream shop, the neon sign glowing softly in the evening light. she parked and turned off the engine before glancing at you.

“you’re paying, right?” she asked with a grin.

“you asked me to hang out,” you said, giving her a look. “i think that means you owe me ice cream.”

she sighed dramatically. “fine, but only because you’re my favorite.”

you raised an eyebrow. “your favorite what?”

nien smirked. “wouldn’t you like to know?”

you rolled your eyes but felt the warmth creeping up your neck as you both got out of the car.

as you stood in line, nien nudged you. “what are you getting?”

“i don’t know yet,” you said, scanning the menu. “maybe something classic. you?”

“something that makes me look hot while eating it,” she joked, flipping her hair dramatically.

you laughed. “yeah, good luck with that.”

nien smirked. “what, you don’t think i could pull it off?”

you scoffed. “i think i’d be too busy cringing.”

she gasped, feigning offense. “i’ll have you know, i’m very good at looking attractive while eating ice cream.”

“okay, now i have to see this,” you said, crossing your arms.

“luckily, i’m a professional.,” nien quipped, stepping up to the counter to order.

you shook your head, trying to suppress a smile as you placed your order after her.

a few minutes later, you both sat outside at one of the small tables, ice cream in hand. you took a bite of yours, but your attention flickered to nien when you heard her make a satisfied sound.

you glanced over just in time to see her take a slow, exaggerated lick of her ice cream, her gaze meeting yours with a knowing look.

“okay, stop,” you said, nearly choking on your spoon.

“what?” she asked innocently, licking her ice cream again, just as obnoxiously slow.

“that is not how normal people eat ice cream,” you said, covering your face with one hand.

“well, i never said i was normal,” she teased. “and you asked for this, remember?”

“oh my god,” you groaned, shaking your head.

nien just laughed, taking a normal bite this time. “alright, i’ll behave… for now.”

you shot her a look. “i can’t believe this is what i’ve been missing out by not becoming friends with you all these years.”

“glad we’re here now,” she said with a satisfied grin. you hated how true that was.

you rolled your eyes but couldn’t hide the small smile creeping onto your lips. the two of you sat there for a moment, the warm evening air settling around you as the soft hum of passing cars and distant laughter filled the silence.

nien absentmindedly twirled her spoon between her fingers before looking at you. “so, are you regretting it?”

“regretting what?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“letting me steal you away tonight,” she said, tilting her head slightly.

you let out a small laugh, shaking your head. “not really.”

her lips curved into a knowing smile. “see? i’m not so bad.”

“i never said you were,” you admitted, stabbing at your ice cream with your spoon.

nien leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand as she watched you. “you could’ve gone with yunjin.”

you sighed, looking down at your cup. “yeah… i could’ve.”

“but you didn’t.”

you looked up at her, and for once, she wasn’t teasing or smirking. just looking at you—like she was waiting for you to say something you weren’t sure you were ready to admit.

you exhaled, shaking your head lightly before meeting her gaze again. “no… i didn’t.”

she held your stare for a moment longer, then smiled, small, but genuine. “of course you chose me. i’m just better.”

you huffed a quiet laugh, unable to stop yourself from smiling back.

it was the last day of filming; aka, you and nien's final day on the project until it was time to present the video.

you and nien sat off to the side, running over your script one last time while soobin and yeonjun set up the scene. across the room, chaewon and yunjin were directing them on what to do, while keeho and intak adjusted the cameras and perfected the angles.

"you two ready?" soobin asked once everything was in place.

"yeah," nien nodded, climbing onto the bed beside you.

"just remember, act natural. we're not filming a porno, just a kissing scene," yeonjun said.

"i didn't think we were," you shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"just had to make sure you knew," he shrugged.

you and nien laughed before locking in. you two had to focus and get the scene done.

Masterlist ــــــﮩ٨ـ Next

[marvel-wlw-ah]

Perfection (Casey Novak x Alex Cabot)

A/N: Another day, another Calex fic :p But I am thinking of writing more than just Calex; what do you guys think?🤔 I have an idea for an Alex x reader fic that I want to make beautifully devastating and angsty, but it will probably be a bit lengthy, so stay tuned!

Warnings: 18+/ NSFW content ahead! Also brief-ish depictions of a fictional SVU case.

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: Alex has always prided herself on maintaining her image of polished perfection, but with Casey, can she feel free to be herself?

Alex and Casey have been together for slightly over two months. And Alex is whipped.

Alex adores everything Casey does and still can’t quite get over how lucky she feels. Every day is a dream, and she never wants to wake up. Alexandra Cabot never imagined herself to be one to gush over anyone like a schoolgirl, but with Casey, all preconceived notions of what she wanted or what she deemed as reasonable behavior were thrown out the window.

Since they made things official, the couple has spent nearly every day (and many intimate nights) together. However, because both ADAs are swamped with complex, onerous cases, the pair have gone an entire week without being with one another for a meaningful amount of time. The most time that they’d share would be crossing paths in the D.A.’s office or quick, shared lunches.

The time apart was driving Alex mad.

She wondered how someone could become such a large, integral part of her life in such a short time. Alex had been trained to be pragmatic, strategic, and direct all her life. However, managing these feelings for the redheaded ADA is everything Alex has virtually zero experience with; as Alex soon realized, romantic attraction is practically the antithesis of pragmatic, strategic, and direct. She wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of such visceral, intense, unconditional infatuation.

Sure, Alex had been hit on and chased after in the past, but such advances only made her uncomfortable and caused her to scoff internally in disgust. Yet, strangely enough, with Casey, she felt content with allowing herself to open up and slowly began to embrace being loved.

It was a Friday night, and Alex was alone in her home office reviewing her closing speech for court tomorrow. Alex has been incessantly trying to perfect the delivery and impact of her argument.

Alex cared about this case the slightest bit more than previous ones. A schizophrenic man assaulted his girlfriend after being off his medication. The victim, Carrie, was in an immense state of denial and wanted to protect her boyfriend, Carson.

Carrie’s response was a mixture of fear of Carson and partial belief that Carson hadn’t done anything wrong. After assuring her that the days of coverture were long gone, Carrie started cooperating with the detectives.

Alex was very impassioned by this case. She wanted to ensure Carrie got justice while also handling the nuances of Carson’s mental health issues delicately. She was so determined to handle this situation as perfectly as possible because this case reminded her of Casey’s relationship with her schizophrenic ex-boyfriend, Charlie.

Alex was the one to be there for Casey when things with Charlie reached their climax a few years ago. Alex was the shoulder for Casey to cry on. Alex helped Casey heal.

It broke Alex’s heart to see the strong-witted, stubborn, sharp ADA reduced to an uncharacteristically insecure, shaken, and vulnerable mess.

At the time, Alex told herself that feeling so invested in Casey’s love life was normal and platonic.

She thought it was perfectly appropriate to feel so profoundly empathetic about her friend’s relationship to the point that Alex would spend several nights embracing Casey so tightly while the redhead slept that Alex could hear her breathing. She thought it was analogously appropriate to feel a slight bloom of warmth within herself whenever Casey would give Alex a slight squeeze in her sleep.

Of course, in hindsight, Alex knows her feelings for Casey were never truly platonic, but she never allowed herself to acknowledge that to prevent herself from getting hurt. It wasn’t until Casey kissed her during a movie night in Alex’s brownstone that she could even consider the possibility that Casey was attracted to her.

Just as Alex was fondly thinking about their first kiss, a sharp knock snapped her back to reality.

After the mild shock from the noise wore off, confusion took its place. No one ever comes to visit Alex. Well, no one besides-

“Allleeex, it’s me!” A cheerful, familiar voice called from the other side of the door.

With great haste, Alex got up and opened the door to reveal the redhead that was just occupying her mind.

“Hey, you,” Alex said, with a smile gracing her face. “What’re you doing here? I thought you needed to prep for court,” she asked as she ushered her lover inside.

“I decided I needed a break. I'm in desperate need of an ‘Alex-fix’ ,” Casey answered cheekily as she turned to face the blonde and leaned into her. She wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck, idly playing with the loose hairs that had gradually escaped Alex’s once-tight ponytail.

“And by the looks of it,” Casey started while turning her head to face the direction of Alex’s office, “you could use one too,” she said as she turned to face her lover once more, pressing a kiss to her lips.

Alex melted into the embrace and realized just how much she missed being around Casey.

Casey deepened the kiss and dipped her hands to rest at Alex’s waist. Alex sighed into the kiss before pulling away. “Casey, I really need to finish preparing for tomorrow.”

In response, Casey groaned hyperbolically before leaning forward once more to fling her arms around Alex’s shoulders, embracing Alex in a hug. She then quickly transferred her weight to push into Alex, essentially going limp around her lover’s shoulders.

Alex smiled at Casey’s dramatics and adjusted to support her weight. Alex then led them both to her couch. As soon as the blonde sat, Casey climbed on top of her, knees pressing into the cushions on either side of Alex's thighs, and draped herself over her like a warm, petulant blanket.

"Casey," Alex sighed, exasperated but not really annoyed. She tried to shift, but Casey's arms hung limply around her shoulders, a deliberate, heavy weight that kept her pinned in place.

"You put too much pressure on yourself, baby," Casey hummed. Though it’s not the first time Casey has called her that pet name, it still sent Alex reeling. “Plus, I have seriously been missing my Alex time."

Though she knew how much she’d been missing Casey as well, Alex really needed to practice more in order to feel confident in court.

Alex huffed, her hands hovering awkwardly in the air as she debated whether to push Casey off or give in to her antics. "Casey, you know I have court in the morning," she reminded her, voice firm but lacking real bite.

"And I have a girlfriend who's been neglecting me," Casey countered, pressing a quick, teasing kiss to Alex's jaw. "Guess which one of those feels more urgent right now?"

Alex sighed again, but this time, her hands settled on Casey's waist. "You're impossible," she muttered, though her fingers betrayed her, tracing small, absentminded circles against Casey's back.

Casey proceeded to plant kisses down Alex’s neck until she decided on returning to Alex’s lips. Casey kissed Alex with such fervor that made the blonde’s head spin. Casey slipped her tongue into Alex’s mouth, making her let out a mixture of a grunt and a moan.

Once again, Alex pulled away, contemplation written all over her face. Reading her mind, Casey said, “Alex, you need a break, and I guarantee you already have that entire speech memorized.”

It’s true; Alex already knew what she wanted to say and precisely how she wanted to say it. Most ADAs would’ve stopped and called it a night. But Alex, sometimes to a fault, was not like most ADAs; she needed to be perfect. She couldn’t let Carrie down, she couldn’t jeopardize the opportunity to get Carson help appropriately, she couldn’t-

“Please, baby,” Casey muttered against the skin of Alex’s neck, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Just let me take care of you.” And with that, Alex surrendered. How could she say no to a request like that?

Alex gave Casey a slight nod of her head, which prompted the enthusiastic redhead to gently tug Alex’s top off. Casey was met with a simple black bra that deliciously hugged the perfect peaks of Alex’s chest. The sight made Casey salivate.

She reached behind Alex to unclip the garment then proceeded to gently cup her breasts, admiring how the weight of them felt in her hands. Casey then rubbed her thumbs against her pebbling nipples; she loved watching Alex’s body react to her touch.

In an instant, Casey’s lips were on Alex’s skin once more, hastily kissing and sucking every inch of exposed flesh. Casey was touching and kissing Alex as though she was trying to perfectly map out every dip and curve of her lover.

“Lie down for me, baby,” Casey said as she climbed off of Alex. Alex complied by lying down with her head aligned with the couch’s armrest, shakily breathing with anticipation. No matter how many times the pair makes love, Alex will always feel a spur of excitement when she sees that hungry look in Casey’s eyes.

Casey lowers herself and reaches for the waistband of Alex’s pants. Then suddenly-

It hit her.

Alex remembered she hadn’t shaved.

Alex is always sure to be perfect for Casey and is entirely shaved anytime she anticipates sex with her. An old boyfriend of Alex’s told her how gross he thought it was whenever she wasn’t entirely clean-shaven, and ever since, it has been drilled into Alex to stay shaved for Casey in fear she would also think her hair is gross.

However, since they’d both been so busy and Alex wasn’t expecting to see Casey, she hadn’t prepared.

“Wait!” Alex stated a little louder than she intended to. Casey immediately pulled back and looked up at Alex with concern and fear lacing her face.

“Baby, what’s the matter?” Casey said hurriedly. Alex couldn’t decide what would be more embarrassing: letting Casey see her when she was indecent or practically shouting at Casey to stop.

Alex looked down, ashamed, and Casey, growing more worried by the second, asked again, “Alex? Are you okay? Did I do something?”

“No! No, God, no- I just,” Alex began to explain, “I just… haven’t shaved in a while.” Alex mumbled the last part of her sentence so quietly that Casey could hardly make out what she said despite no other noise being present.

“What, baby?” Casey asked with a gentle curiosity.

“I haven’t shaved, Casey. You know… down there,” Alex responded while gesturing towards her groin.

Casey lightly chuckled at the confession. Embarrassment and fear simultaneously ran through Alex’s body. Was she laughing at her?

Alex began to hastily cover herself with her discarded shirt from the ground and get up, but before she could push Casey off, the redhead stopped her with a firm grip on her legs. “Hey! Hey! Baby, hold on,” Casey said with mirth still evident in her voice. “Honey, I’m not laughing at you, I promise,” Casey said, more seriously but still maintaining a reassuring smile.

“I was laughing because it’s funny that you think there’s a problem with you not being shaved.” Casey calmly and earnestly said. Alex looked at Casey as though she had two heads. “Alex, I think you and everything associated with you is perfect. Body hair isn’t going to change that perception, silly.”

Still slightly red with embarrassment from the entire exchange, Alex finally made eye contact with Casey. The redhead’s smile widened at her lover’s gaze finally reaching her eyes. “Look, if you are uncomfortable and do not want me to touch you right now, of course I won’t. But if you don’t want me to touch you because you think I have a problem with your hair, please let me assure you, that is not the case.” Casey said with the utmost conviction.

“No, no I- trust me, I definitely want you; I want this,” Alex said while still feeling slightly insecure but more assured than before.

“Yeah?” Casey asked with a cheeky smile and a cheerful tilt to her voice, making it apparent that she was hoping Alex would say that.

“Yeah,” Alex responded, matching Casey’s smile.

With that, Casey propped herself up, planted both hands on either side of Alex’s head, and leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss. Casey then grabbed Alex’s shirt, allowing the garment to retake its place on the ground. It was as though Casey was trying to kiss away any doubt Alex had, and if that was her intention, it was working.

Casey worked her kisses down Alex’s body, and her hands came to rest on Alex’s waistband once again. After receiving a nod from the blonde, Casey gingerly pulled her pants and underwear down her legs and off her body to join Alex’s other clothes on the ground.

Casey was now face to face with Alex’s sex, which was lightly covered in cute, light brown pubic hair. Casey traced the natural flow of her hair in adoration and uttered, “You are absolutely perfect, Alexandra Cabot,” and proceeded to place a kiss on the hair present on her pubis mound. Alex flushed in a combination of fleeting yet ever-present shame, the feeling of being so vulnerable, and mere bashfulness at the compliment.

With her right thumb, Casey spread Alex’s slightly glistening folds, gathered the arousal from her entrance, and began to rub at Alex’s nub of pleasure. Alex let out a quiet whine from the stimulation. “That feel good, baby,” the redhead asked while lowering herself to suckle loving kisses into the flesh of Alex’s inner thigh.

“Yes, Casey,” Alex practically breathed out, the embarrassment from the past ordeal practically nonexistent; how could she be concerned with anything when she had her tantalizingly sexy girlfriend between her legs and touching her in all the right ways?

Casey lowered her right pointer and middle finger to Alex’s entrance, slowly inching their way inside of her. Casey was studying Alex’s face to search for any sign of discomfort to which so found none, in fact, quite the opposite. Alex’s chest bloomed at the thought that Casey was so careful with her and so attentive to ensure she was okay. Her girlfriend’s consideration only turned Alex on more.

Casey then stuck her left thumb up and moved it toward Alex. Getting the hint, Alex opened her mouth to allow Casey to collect her saliva on her digit. With that same thumb, she then started to draw quick, tight circles around Alex’s clit while still pumping mercilessly into her with her right hand.

“I love how you feel wrapped around me, baby,” Casey said adoringly, “This perfect little pussy wrapped around my fingers…” Casey muttered slightly absentmindedly, entirely absorbed in her lover. Alex flushed at the vulgar choice of words and felt the heat within her rise even further.

“Come on, baby- come for me,” Casey said, and that was all Alex needed to come undone around her fingers. With a high-pitched, girlish cry, Alex climaxed and swore she saw stars. Casey gently let her ride out her high before removing her fingers and leaning forward to kiss her girlfriend. Alex started to reach for the hem of Casey’s top so she could begin to undress her very-much-so-still-clothed body. But Casey reached for Alex’s hands, stopping her.

Alex pulled away from the kiss, looking puzzled. She was met with a kind smile from her lover. “Tonight is about me taking care of you, okay?” And before Alex could protest, Casey continued, “Let me run us a bath, order some food, and maybe we can watch a movie, yeah?”

God, what did I do to get so lucky, Alex wonders.

“Yeah, Case, that sounds perfect,” but as Casey stood to make her way toward the bathroom, Alex said, “Thank you, Casey. For everything.”

Casey sat back down next to Alex on the couch and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. “You never have to thank me for loving you.”

With that, she gave another peck to her lover’s lips and started to walk away.

Alex was used to being rigid and careful and calculated. But with Casey, she doesn't have to be the hard-ass, bitchy ADA Cabot. She knows it's more than okay just to be Alex. And knowing that brings more comfort than she’ll ever let the redhead know.

A/N: With every fic, my word count nearly much triples 😬 at this rate I will be writing 6 million words by my 10th fanfiction!!!!! (I think… I dont know- I’m a social science major, not a math major😓) Also this is not really proofread, sorry!

[zihua-art]

A tiefling’s best friends ~ Xerxes and his actual fave Companions: Scratch and owlbear cub 💙🐕🦉💙

Commissions on HOLIDAY SALE open

Name: Xerxes

Race/class: draconic tiefling sorcerer

Gender/sex: (cis) male

Age: late 20s

Background: This tiefling is probably one of the friendliest you’ll meet - coz he really loves to make friends! He’s generally nice and morally good, wanting to help people as much as he can, buuuut occasionally willing to break a few eggs to make omelettes. He doesn’t try to go on a murderous rampage if he can help it, but when opportunity strikes, he’ll take it - then loot it all! But Xerxes won’t do stuff simply for the money or glory, he just wouldn’t say no if you offer it 😂

He adores animals very much and will take every opportunity to play with and pet his furry and feathered buds whenever he returns to camp. His companions have gotten used to hearing “Who’s a good boy~? Yes you are, Scratch! Aww, you’re so sweet, little owlbear! You brought a wonderful gift again, thank you~” every night, but it’s endearing to hear such friendly, playful words coming from his low yet gentle voice.

He’s strong leaning towards gay (pref for men and masc presenting/leaning people) BUT Karlach seems to have won his heart as the exception! Xerxes finds his fellow tiefling very adorable and sweet, her energetic personality very contagious, and he just loves her little fidgety dances. She always gets a smile from him when they talk and he loves seeing her eyes light up in happiness from good stuff, so he tries to keep that light shining always. He’s nice to all his companions, but he especially cares for Karlach. As of right now, even if the future’s unclear for the two of them as a pair, Xerxes would be happy with whatever times he can get to spend with his heart 💙🔥

-

Ahh BG3, the one thing my entire household of 4 loves haha 😌 With good reason! This game is a gem for even me, who doesn’t game much at all yet has gotten very deep into the characters and world - and of course, as an OC creator, the character designing hehe~

This Tav is my partner’s, so I can’t go into a ton of detail on his backstory but everything is based off what I’ve observed during playthroughs (and headcanons lol) I am kinda curious about what my other housemates have for theirs, but I’m currently at the point where I’m mostly interested in the design *coughilikeattractivecharacterscough* so I’m not entirely up to draw a Tav if it’s more meme’d (like my one mate made a literal Oompa Loompa 🤣🤣🤣) soooo this is technically fanart for my partner because Xerxes is hot (but also a sweetheart 😌) haha

It’s funny how contrasting Xerxes is with my character Areum lol (who’s not me btw, I like to see how my OCs would fare in BG3 with their personalities rather than playing as my chaotic self 🤣). I was remarking with my partner how kinda opposite they are. Xerxes being a tiefling may seem intimidating at first (and he’s tall!), but he’s a softie, loves animals, is morally good, and his expressions are usually neutral and accurate to the situation. He looks generally friendly out of combat. Meanwhile, my Areum being a (half) elf may appear as not scary for her race, but while she is morally good, she often has resting b*tch face haha. Her few times smiling or wide-eyed curiousity are so cute I’m like why can’t you look like that more often instead of seeming judgy of everything and everyone even when they’re your friends 😭😭 I blame her father for the genetics, I canNOT get that man to smile without a gigantic bribe 🥲😂

I do wanna draw our Tavs together sometime 🤔 Wonder how Areum would feel about this social tiefling hehe~ But I’m sure Xerxes will enjoy meeting her - and especially her feathery siblings ☺️

[herefortheships]

Had to come here to share this random Beetlejuice dream I had last night 😂. Listen, I dreamed that I was watching Beetlejuice 3 at the movie theater, and that it was so bad, I was rationalizing it as "this movie got leaked, it's because it got leaked!" And I was sure of that, anyway, because I hadn't seen a single trailer or promo for it and also no one on Tumblr had said anything about Beetlejuice 3 being green lit. I also got to the conclusion there that they had filmed this entire movie secretly right after BJBJ.

Anyway, I don't remember exactly what was going on at the beginning of the movie to make me feel like it was boring and terrible, but I think it mostly had to do with the fact that Betelgeuse hadn't shown up at all. And I think Astrid was also not in the movie, or at least she was only in it a few minutes at the start. But, later in the dream movie at least there was something interesting going on. For some reason Rory was there and I think he was a vengeful spirit coming after Lydia now, so Lydia wanted to get Betelgeuse's help.

But! And here's the part where the movie was getting good for me, Betelgeuse refused to show up when Lydia summoned him. When Lydia called him, DELIA showed up, sent by Beej himself to tell her that he wasn't going to help this time 😂. He was angry that she kept backing out of their deals, and so he wasn't going to fall for it again.

Oh, in my dream you had to hold an object while calling Betelgeuse's name to be able to summon him, so Lydia later on showed up with a bunch of... I don't even know what those were but it looked like small boxes. Maybe matches? But they were larger than that 🤔 Soap boxes?? I'm not sure, but she had her arms PACKED with these things so she could try summoning Beej many times at once, so clearly what you were holding wasn't important, you just had to be holding something in your hands to summon him 😂.

And she started calling "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" Over and over, with a lot of energy, she would call "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" to get him to talk to her. And... I woke up right after he showed up!!! AH!!! I wanted to see what was going to happen 🤣. Because he was being bitchy, or more like, acting hurt, and was refusing to talk to her and I wanted to see how she was going to mend things between them, because, in this movie she really wanted to. It wasn't only that she needed his help, she also wanted to talk to him. And I'm sure I dreamed this because last night I posted about how I really kept hoping for the two of them to talk to each other in BJBJ 😂. Oh, by the way, for some reason Betelgeuse showed up in the red car from the model in the first film. lol

[eredhes]

Hey!

I majored in anth at a p awesome school for it (had a so fun class where we hands on used paleo to neo lithic techniques- from making stone tools to processing hides) but there wasn't much available for prehistoric art (+ I was a major switch from microbiology so bio anth, epidemiology and forensics stuff, made more sense with my course history). Been out of school for almost 10 years now and unfortunately doing nothing even remotely related, but I'm wanting to learn more about prehistoric art of all sorts. With search engines being overrun with AI misinfo I'm not really sure where to start other than Wikipedia. Do you have any favorite resources you'd be up for recommending?

Thanks a ton! Happy holidays, and may the new year be kind.

Hello! I should preface this with saying I am just someone with a general interest and not remotely an expert haha! Getting to do hands on stuff sounds really fun!

A lot of my reading has been restricted to Upper Palaeolithic Europe, and cave art at that, so I can't really recommend anything outside of that.

I've been concerned also with avoiding misinformation - there was a painting I saw a while ago where it was obvious the level of research involved was typing "Lascaux" into pinterest and just using whatever results came up (the art used was from Cueva de los Caballos and Mesolithic) and it's been driving me nuts. I've been sticking to books for information, almost everything I've read has been through Internet Archive, and majority are over 30 years old so could be outdated, can contradict each other, and should be noted are can be very racist.

Putting the list of everything under a read more as it's quite long, I hope there's something useful in amongst all of this! Happy holidays, I hope you have a good new year!

Books and other resources I've found useful in no particular order:

The Cave of Lascaux: The Final Photographs by Mario Ruspoli (1987) [Is on Internet Archive but currently unavailable, the German version is still up.] When Lascaux was closed to the public Mario Ruspoli was hired by the French govenment to document the entire cave on film and wrote this book afterwards. Even though it's focus is Lascaux I found it a good introduction to the topic of cave art. I have tried to find the footage online with little success so if anyone knows... do tell. This book brings you through the cave and gives a good idea of the layout and where paintings/engravings are in relation to each other. I would love if there was something like this for other caves but I'm not aware of anything 🤔

Lascaux Virtual Tour [Link here] The video isn't toally clear but it gives a good sense of the layout, and you can click the little 'i' icon to see clearer photos and get more details.

Images of the Ice Age by Paul Bahn and Jean Vertut (1988) [Internet Archive Link] This book is also a good starting point! There's also Journey Through the Ice Age which is the same book.

Cambridge Illustrated History of Cave Art by Paul Bahn (1998) [Internet Archive Link] I haven't gotten around to reading this yet but it appears to be a broader scope and not restricted to Europe.

Palaeolithic Cave Art by Peter J. Ucko and Andrée Rosenfeld (1967) The main appeal of this bok is that it goes through the different possible reasons for cave art. I had to buy a physical copy as I couldn't find it online.

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes (2020) [Aeon article link "Sheanderthal: Not all Neanderthals were ‘cavemen’: half were women. What can archaeologists tell us about how they lived?] Not solely focused on art but she does talk about what the neanderthals made including a large circular structure in Bruniquel Cave - there is footage of the cave in the recent netflix documentary Secrets of the Neanderthals (not great, at one point the narrator says neanderthals lived in the neolithic lmfao but the interviews with experts are interesting).

Don's Maps [Link here] Really great website. Some books will mention a painting/engraving/sculpture but no image, so my first place to check is Don's Maps as everything he includes is either from a book which will be referenced or from his own visits to caves.

The Neanderthal Museum Digital Archive [Link here] Despite the name is not exclusively Neanderthal, lots of photos of cave art in the Wendel Collection (including a photo of the one known instance of a saiga antelope in cave art that I hadn't been able to find a photo of before!).

There's also the Archaeology Podcast Network and sites like Academia.edu but I don't have any specific recommendations at present.

[butmakeitgayblog]

Hi! How are you? 😁

Quick question about Demon Lexa and Demon Clarke: do they ever talk about the fact that Clarke was Lexa's first? 'Cause it was a big reveal when Lucifer told Clarke that, so do they ever talk about it?

I lied, I have another question: what would have happened if Clarke went to God and not Lucifer? Was it even a possible choice? Does Clarke ever realize that she is Lexa's soulmate? Because it seems like it when she speaks with Lucifer. 🤔

Hi! Sorry I've been so quiet recently. My gf had a bit of a break from work so have been busy 😌 hope you're well 💕

As for your questions

Do they talk about it? Specifically? Directly? No not really. Mostly because Clarke doesn't want to make it A Thing. Looking back on their interactions a lot of Lexa's heavy handedness when it came to flirting and establishing contact, coupled with a lot of her... not innocence. Lol never innocence, but the signs of her inexperience? Never speaking of past lovers, surprised by her own physical reactions to sex, never seeming entirely sure how to react to the things Clarke expected from her as a lover or partner. The clues were there, if Clarke had been paying attention. Because for as big of a game as Lexa talks, she was always just grappling to keep up with Clarke. Lexa may have pushed for more with Clarke, but Clarke was still always the one driving this thing between them.

But the real thing for Clarke is that Lexa never explicitly told her. She didn't lie, she just didn't offer up the truth. For pride or for embarrassment, or whatever her own reasons were, it was a truth about herself that Lexa apparently never felt necessary to put into words. And the idea of overstepping that? Taking away Lexa's choice to keep that piece of herself private? It felt important. Because the other option would be to bring it up and let Lexa know, "hey so I know you held this boundary with me in not letting me know I was your first, but your fuckass brother told me without your consent, so this very intimate detail about you that you wanted to keep to private? I know anyway. Sorry. Love you."

It would just suck. It would feel fuckin awful even imagining those big, black eyes glossing over with a sheen of bright sparkly tears from anger and embarrassment. It'd almost be like it was another invasion of Lexa's privacy, when she's already had so much of her sense of self and her dignity and her autonomy as a person stripped away beyond her control.

Clarke is more than content to keep that information to herself.

As for the God question, the long and short anseer is also no. No, going to God wouldn't have been a choice. It's not what Clarke was created for as Lexa's soulmate, so he was never an option. And no Clarke never knows that she is Lexa's soulmate. Lexa has an inkling, but never addresses it because if she addressed it she'd have to face the possibility that Father may have done something for her. Which leads down the terrifying path of contemplating if that means he regrets his decision. Which is not a train of thought she ever wants to go down, because even if that were true, there is no going back. She is still damned. She will never be forgiven. She can never go home. So it's a worthless exercise in her estimation. Much easier to just love Clarke with every fiber of her eternally condemned soul and continue hating him instead

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

what I meant by my post about the boys not appreciating Yuu enough is about the trauma they inflicted on them and the lack of compensation we get because trauma=not guilty.

We just let them get away scott free without them facing serious consequences and get little to nothing in return. I got inspired by this post https://rose-tea-and-strawberries.tumblr.com/post/720285231576465408/justiceforyuu

So what are your thoughts on this?

[Referencing this post!]

Mmm… 🤔 While I do think the post linked is an interesting read (and OP does make valid points), I think a lot of it goes back to the nature of TWST’s design vs what the individual desires. It’s very easy to self-insert (meaning everyone’s mileage with the characters and plot will vary greatly), and with it being a mobile gacha game, there are definitely some limitations and design philosophies that must be adhered to in order to keep content flowing and thus keep the game profitable.

However, I don’t agree with some of the points suggested (whether by OP or by Anon), particularly that TWST presents “trauma = not guilty” and that Yuu should somehow be “compensated” or given something in return for the troubles they went through. To the former point, I completely agree that the boys’ punishments are far too light for what they’ve done (in OB form). As for their behavior pre-OB (which is, admittedly, still shitty)… I mean, we came into this game knowing the characters are twisted from villains, of all things. We shouldn’t be expecting them to be Super Nice and Empathetic to begin with, no? (So of course Riddle will be insulting Yuu’s background and lineage, Trey’s a bystander, etc.) It doesn’t excuse the behavior of course (it’s still objectively bad), but I thought we came into TWST expecting it??? Like it’s a major part of the draw…

I also believe TWST does a decent job at explaining the OB boys’ trauma while not excusing them because of their trauma; funnily enough, a major theme in book 1 was Riddle being held accountable for his actions for once. (This isn’t limited to just his OB behavior, but rather extends to prior; he was clearly harming his own dorm members well before Yuu got involved with Heartslabyul.) The OB boys were eventually punished for their actions, but because the sentences are relatively light, that’s perhaps where the “trauma = not guilty” perception of the fandom comes from. As I said before though, I think this can easily be attributed to TWST being constrained by the mobile game format (ie it has to be snappy); the light novel is able to expand on the consequences in greater detail.

The game devs likely don’t want to linger on how badly the OB boys truly acted because that could hamper their bottom line (ie endearing the characters to us enough so we sympathize with them and spend money). If they keep demonizing the boys or continuously bring up their literal murder attempts when they were fully lucid and aware of themselves (Leona almost sanding Ruggie, Vil trying to poison Neige), it looks “too” bad on the characters’ part. We also can’t haul the boys off to serious rehabilitation facilities because they need to be physically present to return for the subsequent book—and, of course. You can say “they didn’t get punished severely enough”, sure. But what exactly would that “more severe punishment” being called for entail, especially without disrupting the current story’s flow and not harming the OB boys further in the process? There are practical real world game design and business reasons for this.

To address the Yuu should somehow be “compensated” part, well… I’m not entirely sure if I understand it?? Thinking about it logically, what “compensation” are we looking for? Firstly, no compensation, in my opinion, is worth the anguish that “earned” it in the first place. Compensation will never make up for the mental scars 😔 Secondly, it implies that people are “owed” something for the general bad attitudes they’re given on a daily basis, which is not in any way how real interactions work. Some people will just be assholes to you, and we have to deal with it and move on. In the cases of the OBs and some events (like being kidnapped and basically held hostage in book 4), yes, those are much more serious and should be treated as such. But again, what exactly are we looking for here as “proper” compensation? Is acknowledging one’s faults and mistakes, and saying sorry for it and working toward being “better” not enough? What about the money Vil gives in book 5; is that also not enough? Where do we draw the line? When is it finally “enough” compensation? It’s so poorly defined and there’s no “blanket” compensation that would satisfy everyone and anyone 💦 I would personally be happy just knowing that the other person is aware they’ve done wrong and are taking that vital first step to changing. That’s very difficult to do, especially considering the pride of the average NRC student, so I commend them for at least doing that.

TWST’s story isn’t one that focuses on condemning people for their flaws and errors, but giving them a chance to recognize their wrongs and to grow from them. Its story promotes restorative justice over punitive justice. Overly punishing measures and reparations have proven to not smooth over “bad behavior” in real life; it’s something people need to consciously and actively work toward, so of course it’s going to be a hard process.

The reaction(s) Yuu has to the events going on around them are only as serious as individual fan interpretation makes them out to be. Official depictions thus far (manga, game, light novel) have not strongly indicated that Yuu has had any extremely adverse thoughts or feelings regarding the treatment they’ve experienced at the hands of their peers or any stress related to not being returned home. It’s also not clear (especially in the game) just how much physical involvement Yuu has in battles. Because TWST itself does not frame or portray these events as having super serious impacts on Yuu, that also informs the fans that absorb this content (so they, in turn, will usually also not take the story’s impact on Yuu all that seriously).

The interactive medium of the game (which is the main form people absorb TWST content by) plays such a crucial role in how Yuu is portrayed. Because Yuu is so inherently tied to being the player’s avatar/self-insert, there are limitations to the overt nastiness Yuu takes and their involvement. The manga and the light novel feature new versions of Yuu, yes, but these interpretations are wholly separate from Yuu (the game one). The manga and light novel Yuus can be treated as their own characters and not self insert vehicles, therefore there is a degree of separation between the player and the manga and light novel Yuus. This is why the manga Yuus are more shown to be more active in the story (most notably getting involved in battles). This is why the light novel Yuu is shown receiving more bullying (from mob students) than is depicted in the game. The manga and light novel are NOT interactive mediums, and they don’t have to worry about potentially alienating or offending players who self insert as the game Yuu. Game Yuu is intentionally kept vague for this reason; we aren’t necessarily meant to interpret that game Yuu gets as involved or is treated as harshly as what other mediums depict.

I really don’t think we (the audience) are meant to interpret most of the things (game) Yuu experiences as being deeply traumatic or scarring. In most instances, Yuu is either ignored or they act very nonchalant about what’s happening (groaning or joking about how “oh, not this again!”). The worst injury I can recall Yuu ever getting is when Grim scratches them at the end of book 5. They barely even ever bring up going home or the worry of not being able to get home (not counting very early and very late in the main story when it is plot relevant, or the occasional event story to shoehorn Yuu’s presence in). The game in particular glosses over any potential negative ramifications on Yuu’s part because endearing the boys (who often are Not Nice) to the player is an important component of the gacha model. You can’t have the players despising the characters because that doesn’t encourage spending money to roll for them on banners or to throw money at merch.

I also want to add that many people make Yuusonas to have fun and to escape into a magical world (which is likely reflected in the nonchalance Yuu demonstrates toward going home for most of the story); it’s far more common to see these lighthearted takes because I can’t imagine many people want to self-insert being deeply traumatized by the same magical boys they’re likely big fans of. If you personally want to make or to see a Yuu that becomes traumatized and jaded from what happens during their time in Twisted Wonderland, then yeah! Go for it! All the more power to you. Just remember that this isn’t a universal take.

All of that being said, we come back to something I’ve said time and time again: since Yuu is such a blank slate, you get out of it what you put into it. This means every person’s individual interpretation of the events and how Yuu engages with and reacts to those events may differ wildly. It’s all in good fun, just try to be cognizant of canon vs fanon, as well as others (who may have very different interpretations of the same events and characters).

[obsessive-clown]

Your content is so nice. To a fellow yandere Nanami enjoyed I am curious about your two cents on this. What would be the difference personality wise between a Yandere Nanami and a Yandere curse user Nanami 🤔

Oh!! This is an interesting one…

As someone who hasn’t dabbled too much into Curse User Nanami media (but would love to), I think I have a few ideas…

꧁ꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥ꧂

First of all:

Curse User Kento is far more sadistic. This is just a given, I mean look at the man. Slaughtering his entire work place? Not giving a shit about other people or anything around him? There is no doubt in my mind that man has a hit list of sorts, and every single name on that list is full of people who have wronged you, hurt you, dated you, slept with you. All of it.

Not to mention, I think Curse User Kento would be a bit sloppier with his work, unlike his Sorcerer counterpart. Whether this be on purpose or just because he has a lack of care. Sometimes he wants you to find someone from your past, that you’ve nearly forgotten about, on the news and taken out brutally. He struggles to show love and interest, at least in normal ways, anyways.

Following Up:

While CU!Kento has a lack of care, empathy and compassion for others, something about you makes his long dead, cold and miserable heart beat and feel something new.

Regular, Sorcerer Kento is just kept to himself. He doesn’t particularly like showing too much emotion. He doesn’t like people seeing his soft side and using that to their advantage. But with you, he lets you in on every bit of it. There’s just something about you that the Sorcerer loves and can’t get enough of. Unlike his Curse User counterpart, he has morals, he approaches you in a calm, normal, civilized manner.

Both of the Kento’s are incredibly problematic in their own sense though.

CU!Kento will convince you to push those around you, away. Gaslighting? He’ll do it, if it means getting to be with you. No other man— person in general— is good enough for you. Only he is. Everyone else is garbage compared to you. He struggles with being overly controlling in my mind. He would love to work on this for you, since he doesn’t particularly like seeing you upset, but he can’t help it. Old habits die hard and he just needs to know he’s your only option and that you’re his.

Sorcerer!Kento will be overly possessive of you. You want to go out? Let him come with you. He hates the thought of another person getting the idea to try and take what’s his. You’re his prized jewel, so naturally, he hovers a lot. Gatekeeping you? Absolutely. You’re his everything, his reason to keep going. He may hide all of this well and be extremely subtle and soft with how he shows it, but it’s a force of habit.

꧁ꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥ꧂

These are just a few things I could think of… I’m sure more will conjure and I’ll have to post about them… I apologize for posting this so late though! And I hope you enjoyed, loves. 🫀

[scienter]

My Reaction to Wind and Truth Chapters 21 & 22:

Chapter 21:

Sigzil did his best to pretend he was Kaladin.

Oh, no. I read every Sigzil scene with a sense of foreboding after The Sunlit Man.

Bridge Four was the only place I ever felt like a person rather than an accident, he thought. But without Kaladin, Rock, Teft, Moash… was it really Bridge Four anymore?

I wonder if the comradery of Bridge Four prevented Sigzil from realizing sooner that he was a better fit for the Skybreakers than the Windrunners?

“The Nightwatcher came from the Night, as the Stormfather came from the Wind. Though, when I was young, the Wind was different. So very different.” “Some six thousand years ago, when the Stones wanted a legacy in the form of a child of Honor and Cultivation. Back when Bondsmiths bonded not to spren, but to the ancient forces, left by gods.”

So the Bondsmith's bonds went like this:

Wind -> Stormfather

Stone -> Sibling

Night -> Nightwatcher

And then the Night left and the Wind specifically asked for Kaladin's help. 🤔

Something about those timelines itched at Jasnah. Something that made her want to gather the other Veristitalians and set them to work, searching for primary sources. 

You and me both, Jasnah.

This is me right now:

“If you were to Connect to it in the right way, you would ascend to Honor’s position. Then all the ambient power of the world would be part of you. You’d need to find a way to persuade the power to accept you.”

Hmm, this makes me think that Ascending will not be as easy or simple as Dalinar thinks. Remember how Kelsier found it difficult to connect with Preservation because he spent so much of his life killing/destroying? I wonder if Dalinar’s previous connection to Odium will make it difficult for him to connect with Honor too. And if Dalinar’s attempt is successful, will his Ascension be temporary like Kelsier’s or permanent like Sazed’s?

Perhaps he will stop the war entirely if we give him accommodations.” She didn’t look at Wit. “What if we let him leave?” “What is right,” she said, “is not so easy as swearing an oath, Uncle. It’s about what brings the greatest good to the most people—and sometimes that requires making difficult decisions.”

I know people have speculated that Adolin will be Odium’s champion*, but could Jasnah switch sides believing that getting Odium off-world is the best way to help the people of Roshar? God, I hope not.

*The Adolin will be Odium's champion is a solid theory given his anger at Dalinar. But is Adolin's anger enough motivation to switch sides?

Chapter 22:

“I’d have thought,” Szeth said as Syl zipped past in the other direction, “that she would find this place dull. Wouldn’t it be less fun to inspect plants that do not respond?” “Syl loves novelty,” Kaladin said.

You love the novelty of it too, Kaladin. You’re just as amazed by these brave plants as she is.

Can Kaladin retire to Shinovar when this is all over?

“I trust Dalinar because I must,” Szeth continued. “So I am not allowed to resent you. Nevertheless, do not assume I will endure you trying to ‘save’ me, Kaladin Stormblessed. Not all beneath your judging gaze are in need of your protection. Keep your attention on finding the Herald.”

Okay. So basically we're getting the Cosmere version of this:

“One of the Unmade is here,” Szeth said. “Awakened years before you became a Radiant, before the first oaths were sworn. My people have embraced it for some reason, and welcomed in its darkness and its manipulations.” “How can you be sure it’s an Unmade?” Kaladin said. “It took Dalinar ages to recognize the Thrill as an Unmade.” “Because,” Szeth said, “before my exile, I met it.” He paused for an instant. “It began during my youth. With… a rock.”

Ohhhh. So Szeth’s status as “truthless” was related to one of the Unmade? And is the Unmade the reason the Wind asked for Kaladin’s help?  

I heard you discussing Honor’s power, the Stormfather thundered. Why, Dalinar? Must you think so highly of yourself? You’re ruining everything!

Why would Dalinar Ascending ruin everything?

“Is it possible for me to take up Honor?” Dalinar demanded. No. “Wit says otherwise.” Wit is a liar.

Okay, so why does the Stormfather think Dalinar can’t take up Honor? Does he think he’s not connected enough with the Shard’s Intent?

This is not for you to seek or decide. The power cannot go to one who wants it, Dalinar. “You said it was impossible earlier,” Dalinar said. Impossible the way you want it to happen. “And Cultivation, who brought this plan to me in the first place?” Traitor. She should know the implausibility of what she suggests. “So which is it, Stormfather?” Dalinar demanded. “Is it impossible, or merely implausible? Is it wrong, or is it the only way to unite people, as I’ve been trying all along?” It… This is not my plan.

So is the Stormfather discouraging Dalinar from trying to take up the Shard of Honor because it’s impossible/implausible to take up a shard you want or because it’s not part of his plan?

“Your plan?” Dalinar pushed. “I thought this was Honor’s plan. You said he charged you to find people for the visions—so they could prepare for the coming dangers. You’re filling a role, just like me.” You have no idea what you’re talking about.

We know that Tanavast's cognitive shadow merged with the Stormfather after his death. Is Tanavast or his cognitive shadow the one who doesn’t want Dalinar to take up the Shard of Honor?

Because right now, the Stormfather's push back feels like this:

Maybe. But… they are not reliable anymore, are they? Time has broken them… I’ve broken them. He looked back at Dalinar. I cannot say if the power would accept someone like you as a host, after what happened with Tanavast. “And what happened with Tanavast?” Dalinar said. It’s… worse than I told you, Dalinar.

What the fuck happened!? Did Tanavast break his Oaths? Why wouldn’t the Shard accept Dalinar as a vessel after what happened with Tanavast? 🤔

“So you lied.” Yes. Does that surprise you? Anger you?

Of course, the Stormfather lied. He's been evasive throughout the series.

These two chapters are a lot to think about. 😵‍💫