#not really but just in case i need to find it later

[penkura]

where you belong [2/10]

Summary: As Luffy's big sister, you've viewed it to be your job to see him become King of the Pirates in place of your absent parents, even as you try to find where it is you belong in the world. You never really expected to draw the attention of Trafalgar Law in the process.

Pairing: Trafalgar Law x Fem!reader

Warnings: Discussion of feelings of abandonment, age gap relationship (four years), brief secret relationship, mentions and heavy refences to sex, mentions of alcohol, typical One Piece stuff. Other warnings to be added if needed.

Note: Sorry this has taken so long! I wanted to really progress these two and get some moments between them, so the chapter ended up bigger than planned! Next one is a good one I think. ;) Forgot to mention last time but Reader is going to be described as shorter than Law, and that height difference can be your own interpretation (I'm 5ft tall, these men would tower over me).

I am also FLOORED at how well received the first chapter was and that we've got a taglist for this series, my gosh. You guys are so sweet and wonderful!! If I missed you on the taglist PLEASE let me know and I will add you to the future chapters! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and the beginning of Law and Reader falling for each other!

Taglist:

@pinksaiyans | @sukunas-play-thing | @spiderlily-w1tch-blog | @mineymak | @valen-yamyam16 | @shimmerxc | @luffy0s | @fluffybunnyu | @laws-wife-things | @crmnic

[Ch. 1]

You spend the next week learning more about the Polar Tang and the Heart Pirates themselves, Law taking most of your time to help you get used to things. He's made sure you understand the basic rules of the ship, for his crew, including the boiler suits, and what do in case of certain emergencies. You’re going to be working on your poisons in his office, in case anything happens, he can help you fix it. You’re honestly grateful for the time everyone has taken to help you get your bearings straight and work out where things are. You’ll be sharing a room with Ikkaku, who is so glad to have another girl aboard for as long as you are. She’s already started sharing some gossip with you, pointing out those involved so you knew who was who on top of it all.

Penguin has been extremely kind and helpful, telling you that you’re welcome to join him for night watches once you tell him you spend a lot of time writing during your shifts on the Sunny.

Shachi and Uni both showed you around some of the major maintenance areas, both promising they’d help you learn the most basic things so you can be of help if needed.

You’re about to join Bepo for a quick navigation lesson before their captain calls you, wanting to discuss somethings with you before you got too far away.

Law, although he agreed to letting you stay with him and his crew, still isn’t entirely sure what to do with you. There’s still that strange feeling in his chest when you smile at him, as you thank him for all his help and allowing you to stay, once he brings you to his office again a few days later, and he waves you off.

“You don’t have to thank me constantly.”

“I know,” you smile again and he feels that feeling that’s been hanging around, but Law tries to ignore it, “I’m just…really grateful. I know my being here may be a burden—”

“Not a burden, you’re welcome here. Everyone’s glad you’re staying around for now.”

Hearing that makes you brighten up, as Law starts to question you more about what you do for the Straw Hats, and what you can bring to his crew in the meantime. You list off everything you’ve come to learn about being at sea from being a Straw Hat, Law making mental notes on other things to ask about later.

“Any other special talents we should know about?”

You start to think, pressing a finger to your chin while you do so. Another action Law has to tell himself isn’t cute, before you grin and lean in close to him, quietly speaking.

“I can see the dead.”

Complete silence as Law raises an eyebrow at you as you continue to grin, halfway expecting him to ask for proof. Ask you to tell him about a spirit that might be hanging around the Polar Tang, or around one his crewmembers, but he doesn’t ask anything, eventually returning to a straight face.

“No you can’t.”

“…okay fine, I can’t. It’d be cool though!”

He rolls his eyes, which makes you laugh in return. Law goes to let you out of his office which you oblige by, knowing he’s done talking with you now that you’ve made your joke. He stops you with a hand on your shoulder first, you giving him a questioning look.

“I’ll help you make antidotes for your poisons. But you won’t use my crew as test subjects.”

“Ha! That’s fine, I don’t test on people anyway, just in case. Just give me some fish and I can use those.”

Giving him another grin, you walk ahead saying Bepo was going to show you something next, but Law had rudely interrupted by wanting to know what you could bring to his crew for the next two years. You’ll promise later to make extra batches of antidote for him to keep in his medicine stockpile, while Law watches you hurry down the hall and sighs.

“That’s the wrong way.”

He’s quick to follow you, grabbing your arm and bringing you back the right way, deciding he’ll join you and Bepo for whatever it was you two were discussing next. He wants to ensure you’re being given correct information and know what to do in an emergency, especially so if you need medical attention.

Atta boy, Law.

If you really could see the dead, you’d have noticed the tall, blond man with makeup and a large, black feathered coat pushing Law towards you.

+!+

“We’re approaching a winter island, everyone needs to be ready to disembark for a bit and—”

“A winter island?!”

Your outburst causes Law to stop speaking with a nod at you, and you’re gone to the crew bunks in an instant, followed by Bepo who is just as excited. Law gives a look to Ikkaku and Uni, who you’d been talking to when he came in, and both simply shrug at him. They all briefly noticed a sparkle in your eyes as you ran off, likely to change clothes and get ready to disembark, but none of them knew your intent or real interest in the snow.

It's only when Law catches you by the exit door with Bepo, excitedly talking with the Polar bear mink about what you could do in the snow, all dressed up in your coat, thick pants, boots and gloves. You and Bepo trade ideas back and forth about what to build out of the snow, or if you can get a snowball fight started.

Law hasn’t seen someone so excited for snow in a long time, he thinks not since the last winter with Lami.

Penguin joins you and Bepo by the door next, throwing an arm around your shoulders and giving you a smile.

“What’re you so excited about some snow for?”

“It practically never snows in my home town! I think it snowed maybe twice while Luffy and I lived there? Chopper is from a winter island, so when we were there, it was so exciting!”

“Haha, I’m from the North Blue, so snow is pretty normal up there. Well…the area me and Shachi are from anyway.”

“Ah,” you give a little sigh but smile yourself, “I’m so jealous. What about Trafalgar?”

“That’s…well, kind of different, but we did meet him where we used to live,” looking over his shoulder, Penguin sees Law but leans into whisper, “Probably better if you ask him another time. It’s…a lot…”

Before you have a chance to question it, Law comes up behind Penguin and tells him to go ahead with opening the door, the Polar Tang should be stable enough for you all to leave now. You put that question into the back of your mind for later, instead running out with Bepo as soon as the door opens. The excitement both of you have is almost contagious, as the rest of the Heart Pirates slowly join you outside. While some of them are tasked with scoping out the island, the rest end up with you and Bepo building snowmen for a while, though you and the mink end up making a snow polar bear the best you can even if it looks a little goofy in the end. Some pieces are a little larger than others but you still think it’s cute, even as your companion bows his head apologetically.

“I’m sorry, [Y/N], I made some things a little too big.”

“No, that’s okay, Bepo! It gives it charm, I think he’s cute!”

You reassure Bepo a few times with a smile, before the two of you go to work with others on more snow sculptures. It goes well until you get hit in the face with a snowball, thrown by Hakugan at Shachi who dodged just in time. While it makes you sneeze a bit as you brush the snow off your face, with Bepo and Ikkaku yelling at Hakugan while he shouts apologies and Shachi nearly cackles, it doesn’t upset you at all really. Yeah it kind of hurt to have a snowball hit you in the face, but hey, you mentioned a snowball fight earlier, right?

Crouching down to gather up some snow, you put on a wicked grin and fling the ball at Hakugan yourself, catching him in the back as he turns away while you laugh.

“How about a warning next time?!”

“Yeah, snowball fight!!”

Most everyone joins in, gathering up all the snowballs they could or just throwing loose snow at each other, Law watches from the side, a slight smile on his face. He’s glad everyone can take a bit to relax and enjoy themselves, he’s not sure he’s seen his crew this excited about snow in a long time, even Shachi who grew up in the North Blue. Some of you group up to get an advantage over others, Law turns to ignoring the snowball fight as Penguin and Uni come back with what they found on the island.

All is well until Law is hit in the back of the head with a snowball, keeping himself upright but turning quickly to search through everyone and find who did it as you all quiet down seeing his glare. Not a single person looks him in the eye, but they all point to you, while you cover your mouth with your hand and try to stifle your laughter.

“S-Sorry, Trafalgar,” a giggle escapes you as you glance over to him, “I… I was… hehe… aiming for Penguin… honest!”

“Oh yeah…?” Law’s voice is low, he crouches down to scoop up some snow, locking eyes with you as yours widen and you turn to run, but realize it’s futile when Law uses his Shambles to catch up and grab you, shoving the snow he’d gathered into your coat and making you screech before everyone returns to the snowball fight.

“That’s cruel!!”

“Everyone get Captain, he’s cheating!’

While the rest of the Heart Pirates aim for Law, you and their captain are honed in on each other, trading blows from snowballs for the longest time, your personal goal to knock his hat off as payback for shoving snow down your back. Luckily you’re not the one to hit him hard enough to knock the spotted hat off, but you’re close enough to grab before he does, sticking it on your own head and playing keep away once Law realizes where it’s at.

“Looks good on me, huh, Trafalgar?! I might keep it!”

“The hell you will, that’s mine!”

Once Law catches you, he doesn’t let go until he’s snatched his hat back off your head and returned it to its rightful place, keeping a grip on your arm as he notices the sky starting to get darker. The rest of the crew has settled down, stopping at first to watch you and Law until a new snowfall began.

You forget for a few minutes that Law has a hold of your arm, it’s not uncomfortable, but you feel your heart pick up a bit from it.

“It’s pretty….the snowfall.”

He nods, finally noticing he still has a hold of you and letting go, disappointment flooding you as Law calls for everyone to return to the ship. Tomorrow will be a day in town to restock, you’ll all take off again afterwards.

You volunteer at dinner to make everyone the lavender milk tea that Makino once taught you, most of the crew enjoying it, but you’re especially surprised by Law liking it, even telling you so.

It's the small smile he gives when you thank him that makes you realize you just might be starting to get a crush on him.

+!+

Law knows something is up when you don’t join the rest of the Heart Pirates for a meeting before being let off the ship. He still does his job as captain, giving out duties to everyone so they knew what to do and who would be stocking supplies, who would be checking for wanted posters, and anything he felt needed to be done this time. He’d planned for you to join him on a once around the island to look for anything of interest, but when you don’t show up, he knows something must be wrong.

“Ikkaku-ya,” Law stops your roommate before she gets too far, Ikkaku giving him her full attention, “Where’s [Y/N]-ya?”

“Oh, um…” Ikkaku shuffles from one foot to the next, not fully looking at her captain and that’s what worries him more, until she speaks again, “She isn’t feeling well…she’s not sick so she doesn’t need a check-up but, it might be best to leave her alone today, probably tomorrow too…”

That leads to Law believing your cycle had started, and he chooses not to question it further, lest he or Ikkaku feel embarrassed about the discussion. He decides to leave you be, you’ll probably join them tomorrow for island exploring, most likely with Penguin if he asks you especially. When you do show up for dinner that evening, you’re quieter than usual and Law notices how Penguin and Ikkaku are the ones to talk with you. He can’t hear anything they say, but seeing you at least smile and respond to them is enough for him to think that everything is fine, you’re just not feeling 100% and that makes sense. He’s heard you and Ikkaku complain about cramps and the like the last few months, he already knows the first day is hard for you, so he lets it go. At least you’re out and talking to everyone.

But he knows something is up the next time it happens, not even two weeks later, and it can’t be blamed on your period this time. You don’t show up to a crew meeting, you still aren’t one of his crewmates but you’ve been joining for anything interesting or important, and Law doesn’t let it show that he's a little more worried, so he stops Penguin this time and asks him the same thing, where are you and why didn’t you show up?

Penguin doesn’t fully look at Law, scratching the back of his head as he tries to find the words.

“She…just isn’t up for it today, Cap. Maybe we should let her have the day off…”

Although Law tells Penguin that’s fine, he does go off to find you, the door to your and Ikkaku’s room barely open, but he knocks to make sure you’re not indecent or anything. There’s no answer so he opens the door, not seeing you anywhere, the new assumption being that you’re in the bathroom. He turns his attention there, again knocking on the door.

“[Y/N]-ya, Penguin-ya said you weren’t felling well, are you all right?”

No response, Law furrows his brow and knocks again, saying your name a little louder this time. He swears he hears a small whimper and a sob, and that’s what makes him finally open the bathroom door, simply saying he’s coming in before doing so, but he nearly freezes when he sees you.

Nearly curled up into a ball in the corner, head buried in your arms wrapped around your knees with numerous used tissues and he just knows that if you looked up at him, he’d feel that strange feeling in his chest again, or one of heartbreak, he isn’t entirely sure which one.

Law is not trying to scare you, but when he touches your hand and says your name a third time, it makes you jump and look up at him with wide, tear filled eyes, you feel beyond embarrassed that he’s caught you like this, but it quickly turns to more tears and a bit of anger.

“Are you—”

“Get out! Go away!!” Law barely dodges the box of tissues when you throw it at him, he’s not able to dodge the mascara you toss at his head as you keep yelling at him to leave. He doesn’t really move to leave until you stand up much too quickly and start pushing him out, he’s just surprised at your reaction to him finding you crying. “Leave me alone!!”

Once he’s out the door you almost slam it shut in his face and lock it, Law doesn’t know what to make of this really.

He can handle physical ailments, mental is a little harder for him but he’s working on it for his crew, yet emotional problems are not in his wheel house at all. He doesn’t really know why you’re locked in the bathroom, hiding in a corner crying, but that look on your face gave him an idea. He recognizes it from his own past, after his family and Flevance, then again after Corazon.

It was pure grief that was written on your face, definitely from your still fresh loss of Ace, and Law isn’t sure how to help you.

He doesn’t know if he should help you, you just might turn all your grief inward and ignore any hands held out for help, even from your new friends let alone him.

“Captain? Why are you…oh.”

Ikkaku finds Law still in your room several minutes later, staring at your bathroom door, until he hears her and looks at her, an expression she can’t read on his face.

“How long?”

“A few weeks now,” she sits on the edge of her bed, not looking at Law now, “It happens randomly it seems like, or something reminds her of Ace and sets her off. His birthday is soon, so that might be it right now. Penguin and I promised we wouldn’t let anyone know, so she could grieve alone.”

“Why was it being kept a secret?”

She shrugs a bit, Law isn’t sure he’s going to get many more answers today, but then Ikkaku speaks up again.

“She doesn’t want to burden anyone with her feelings, I guess. She should be fine by dinner, Captain, she just… needs some time.”

While she is correct, and you show up again at dinner looking normal but still with a sadness on your face that he can see, Law wonders if there’s something he can do to help you. Your need to grieve and have that time alone isn’t a bad thing, he won’t deny you that when you need it, but he wants to do something for you, he still doesn’t know you well enough to know that exactly you need, but anything is better than letting you be alone.

He knows all too well how that feels.

When it happens a third time, several weeks later, you don’t show up once again, Law doesn’t even need to look at Penguin or Ikkaku, they won’t meet his eyes anyway. After he lets everyone else go, his next mission is to find you, even though he knows exactly where you are. Law isn’t sure if his plan is going to work, but he wants you to stop hiding away from everyone when you break down. It’s not because he’s angry about it, he just doesn’t want you to continue suffering alone. It’s not good for anyone to do that.

He doesn’t even knock when he gets to your room, but does so when he sees your bathroom door is closed like the last time.

“[Y/N]-ya, I’m coming in.”

“No,” you force back a sob, making sure the door is locked, “Go away!”

“I won’t.”

You haven’t experienced all the abilities Law has at his disposal, but you aren’t that surprised when you see a blue hue, and he’s in the bathroom with you not even a moment later. He’s not phased by you attempting to throw things at him again, even while you yell at him to leave you alone, you don’t need help, you don’t need anyone right now.

You’ve handled things like this by yourself your whole life, why would need help now?

“I don’t need help!”

“I’m not trying to help.”

“Then lea—”

Law doesn’t give you much more room to talk, instead grabbing your wrist and pulling you into a hug, pressing your face into his chest which causes your eyes to widen a bit and tears to flow even more.

“I’m not trying to help,” Law holds you tightly, feeling a just a bit of relief as you slowly wrap your arms around him in return while you return to crying, “but you don’t have to be alone, all right?”

“T-Trafalgar…I…I just—”

“I know, I get it. But,” he knows it’s probably going to sound hypocritical based on his own issues, but Law still feels the need to say it again, “you don’t have to do this alone.”

Law isn’t entirely sure why he’s chosen to let you cry into him, let you grip onto his shirt like he’s the only thing holding you to the earth while you continue to cry and say how it isn’t fair that Ace died, that you lost another brother (he’s going to have to ask about that later, that’s the second time you’ve mentioned it). Maybe it’s because he didn’t have anyone back then, when he lost his own loved ones. It might be that, because he saw a reflection of himself in you the first time he found you hiding away and struggling to handle your grief. While you drag the two of you to the floor, Law simply adjusts to as comfortable a position he can, he’s at least sure you’ll both be there a while. You don’t show any signs of calming any time soon.

Law doesn’t know why he came after you, but once your cries fade to nothing, not even whimpers, he’s relieved to hear you speaking to him without being upset or between sobs of anger and sadness.

“I’m sorry…for crying all over your shirt again…”

“Don’t be. It’ll wash.”

Law strokes your hair a bit while you finally smile, nodding, before he helps you up off the floor. While you wash your face, Law directs you to not worry about helping anyone out with chores or sharing shifts today, he’s already split everything up among his crew, you’re under strict orders from the doctor to rest and recover from your breakdown. He does offer to bring you something to eat and drink, which you take him up on, stopping him before he fully leaves your room.

“Thank you…Law, I appreciate this…”

He’s completely aware that’s the first time you’ve used his first name, and he notices a different feeling in his chest. It’s not the same, almost heart squeeze he’s felt before, but something more comforting. Warm almost, and he’s starting to get it more.

“You’re welcome, [Y/N]-ya.”

Ah, that’s what it is…

Law realizes he’s starting to have feelings for you, though he decides to push them down for now.

He’s not going to use your weakened emotional state to push himself further into your life, not when he doesn’t even know if he’s okay with these feelings or not. For now, he’s going to do what he said and bring you some lunch, he’ll deal with these feelings later.

It is nice to hear you call him by his given name though.

+!+

“You’re as reckless as your brother.”

You giggle a bit while Law continues to wrap bandages around your arm, shooting you a small glare while you laugh. He’s not amused, mostly because it was him you’d tried to protect and ended up getting hurt over. You shoved him out of the way of an enemy attack, receiving a deep slice across your own arm instead. Once he realized what happened, Law was furious with you, even though he knows you aren’t part of his crew, it didn’t change the fact he was trying to protect you for Luffy while your crew was apart. You were lucky, he’d told you after he forced you to the infirmary, that your attacker’s weapon didn’t have any poison on it. You’d probably be dead before he even got you there if it had been.

You just grinned and said it was the opposite, your attacker was lucky your knife didn’t have poison on it, or he’d be in worse shape than he already was from your perfect aim hitting him between the shoulders. It doesn’t cause Law any relief to hear that, he still glares and it makes you start to shrink away, averting your gaze elsewhere.

You two still don’t know each other very well, it’s only been a few months since Luffy tossed you to him as the Heart Pirates left Amazon Lily. Still, you’ve found Law is fiercely protective of his crew, his family, just as you are with the Straw Hats, and while you’re with them, you count as one of his crewmembers.

The feelings you’ve started to develop for him don’t help much, Ikkaku being the only one who knows since you’ve told her how distraught you feel over it.

How could you start falling for a rival pirate captain? It’s only a crush but it makes you feel like you’re betraying your crew sometimes.

“Law, I’m fi—”

“And what if you weren’t?” He’s nearly grinding his teeth and ties off your bandage a little tighter than he intended, making you take a sharp breath. “What would you want me to tell your brother?”

You shrug, starting to play with the end of the bandages to distract yourself from him. “Could just tell him I protected you.”

“I don’t need you to protect me,” you jump when Law slams down the scissors on the metal plate, keeping his back to you so you don’t see how upset he really is, “My crew knows I don’t need it. They know to run if a battle might cost them their lives. Why can’t you see that?”

“Because I do this for my crewmates, too. I’ve even pushed Zoro and Sanji out of the way. I’m sorry if you don’t like it but—”

“Sorry wouldn’t bring you back from the dead.”

You both become silent, you taking a deep breath and holding it for a moment before nodding and biting your lip.

“You’re right…that’s why Ace isn’t back.”

“Hey, I didn’t—”

“Thanks for bandaging me up, Trafalgar,” Law turns around just as you jump off the table, going to leave, “I’ll see you at dinner.”

Law watches you leave, letting out a frustrated sigh once you’re gone. He really hadn’t meant to upset you, it just came out, but it was also the truth. What good was ‘sorry’ if you had died and he had to tell Luffy that he'd lost another sibling, this time a blood related one? He didn’t want to have to deal with that, not when you and Luffy were still getting over Ace’s death.

He gets it, he really does, that pain doesn’t go away quickly, no matter how many false smiles you give to him or the others, or how often you laugh with them. No matter how many times he finds you crying the bathroom over you grief. It hasn’t been that long, he doesn’t expect you to be whatever is normal for you so soon. He probably shouldn’t be berating you, you’re not part of his crew so he doesn’t have the right, Law isn’t your captain.

But, you’re under his care for two years, you’re a temporary member of his crew, so you should listen to him. You’re proving to be as stubborn as Luffy is, but also just as protective as Law is.

And your progress with him, ugh. You’d finally gotten comfortable enough to call him by his first name, and now you’re back to calling him Trafalgar instead. Seven months of progress down the drain all because he was concerned, worried about you being reckless.

…why am I so worried though?

He could easily chalk it up to the fact you’re Luffy’s sister and he’s trying to protect you until you’re back with your crew, or he could even say its because of the feelings he’s developed for you, but Law doesn’t want to get into that right now.

Neither of you speak until dinner, when you run into each other right outside the kitchen and start a back and forth about who should go in first.

“You’re the captain, sir.”

“Ladies first, miss.”

You don’t like being formal, or hearing him call you ‘miss’, but you don’t want to fight about it. Not when his crew can hear and might be concerned about it.

“Crew shouldn’t eat without their captain there.”

“We don’t have that rule around here.”

Eventually you relent and go first, getting your food and taking the first free seat by Ikkaku, Law sitting beside you a moment later. You don’t talk to each other the whole time, you focus on your conversation with Ikkaku while Law responds to anyone speaking to him. You barely even notice when Law takes the roll he really didn’t want to have on his plate, and moves it to yours, almost like a peace offering that you two are okay, he’s not mad at you for trying to protect him anymore. You do give him a smile when you notice, which he returns with a nod before leaving for his room.

You sigh a bit, looking back to your plate and keeping your smile to yourself.

Things will be okay.

+!+

Over the last nearly ten months, Law has learned a few of your quirks. When you work on your poisons, you mark things three times over to ensure you have the correct amounts listed, you almost always strike up conversation with him about anything that comes to mind, even if Law doesn’t answer you.

Sometimes he’s caught you biting your pencil or pen while making notes, it’s one of your cuter quirks.

On nights you can’t sleep, like tonight, he can easily find you in the kitchen, brewing up some tea to help you fall asleep, and that’s where Law decides he has to talk to you. You’ve both moved past your argument from a few months ago, it’s like it never happened now, but he feels the need to speak with you about something important.

No, not his feelings, he’s going to ignore those as long as possible. He recognized them after you’d had an emotional breakdown, he’s not going to admit that especially, he doesn’t want you to think he has a kink for crying or something, absolutely not.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey, Law,” you look over your shoulder for a second with a smile, turning back to your tea, “Couldn’t sleep, though some tea might help.”

“Your usual then?”

Nodding, as you finish off your tea making, Law sits at the table and waits for you to join him, knowing you’ve made him a cup of lavender milk tea too. You’d started doing that and either taking it to his office before you head to bed or having him join you in the kitchen where you have small conversations before you both turn in for the night.

You’ve gotten quite comfortable with Law, your own feelings for him aside. He’s been helpful with your poison and antidote creations, ensuring your ratios are correct and helping you when they aren’t. You’ve started discussing books you’ve both read, you were shocked to find he enjoyed the Sora Warrior of the Sea comics. His being such a nerd over them never struck you as odd thankfully, Law even letting you borrow a few of his copies so you can give it a try yourself.

He makes you feel safe and comfortable, you really enjoy being with Law.

Law thanks you when you hand over the mug of tea, taking your seat across from him to enjoy your own, settling into a welcomed silence. With how rowdy his crew can be at times, you get why Law hides himself away in his office most of the time, and you’re grateful that he lets you share the space when needed.

“I know you said I didn’t have to,” Law looks over to you as you speak, an eyebrow raised, “but thank you again, for letting me stay. I really appreciate the help you’ve given me.”

“Like I’ve said, its no problem. Everyone’s glad you’re here.”

I’m more than glad you’re here.

There’s a soft smile on your face that Law enjoys seeing, and he honestly hopes you won’t lose it after he talks to you.

“I wanted…to tell you something.”

“Go for it,” setting your mug down on the table, you rest your elbows there with your chin in your hands, “I’m all ears, Law.”

He's almost fighting himself on if he should or shouldn’t, maybe another time. It’s late after all, you probably want to go to bed now that you’ve had your tea. It’s making him sleepy too, but the anxiety he feels is almost nullifying the tea’s effects.

Taking a deep breath, Law finally speaks up again, not meeting your eye.

“I want to tell you about my past,” that makes you perk up, remembering what Penguin had said to you months ago, “But I don’t think I can tonight. It’s…”

“A lot…?”

He nods, which you return, realizing this must be more than what Penguin could’ve meant, it has to be hard for Law to dredge up whatever memories he has of his childhood and teenage years, of everything that led him to where he is now.

Everything that’s leading him down the path he’s chosen.

“So,” when he finally looks up at you, you’re not surprised at how tired Law looks, it has to be taking a lot for him to do this, “I want to set a time in a few days, where you and I can sit, and I can tell you everything. “

You need to know before I could ever tell you my feelings anyway.

“Law,” Nodding, you quietly reach out your hand to his, not wanting to scare him off, “Just tell me whenever, and I’ll make myself available to listen, okay?”

After he agrees, Law offers to walk you back to your shared room with Ikkaku, which you take him up on even though you know the way. The Polar Tang is only so big, but it’s nice to have him by your side. Once you reach your door, Law turns to leave and you stop him, grabbing his shirt sleeve and leaning up, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, his eyes widening just a hair.

“Thanks for walking me…and trusting me, Law. See you in the morning.”

You don’t give him a chance to say anything in response before you enter your room and close the door, sighing heavily as you bring yourself to the floor, Ikkaku watching you from her bed.

“Man, you’ve got it bad for the captain, huh?”

“…it’s that obvious?”

“As obvious as the fact he’s the same for you, girlfriend.”

While you don’t believe Ikkaku is correct in that statement, Law isn’t able to bring himself to move for several minutes, frozen in shock that you decided to kiss his cheek and just run off to bed.

It looks like you’ve got more to talk about than just his past now.

[thewintersoldierdisaster]

a/n: trade? what trade? brady’s a cane, always will be 😭 seriously tho, odds are pretty good that i just keep writing him as a cane bc i have no interest in having to learn the preds beyond beau and josi 🤷🏼‍♀️ had this written for a bit but never posted it bc i was yelled at during the playoffs for even thinking about the canes 🙄

tw: stomach flu, mentions of vomiting, mentions of dizziness

word count: 3.4k

summary: norovirus makes its way around the canes’ locker room and it finally takes you and brady down

Brady’s fingers are cool as they card through your hair, brushing gently against your temple and scratching lightly at your scalp. Your cheek is pressed against his thigh, smushed up so it interferes with your vision - not that you’re really focused on the TV. Comedy Central has a repeat of The Office on and above you, Brady chuckles faintly as Dwight complains about identity theft.

You roll your eyes back to cut your gaze at him and Brady’s head is resting against the back of the couch, his eyes partially shut. He’s mostly just listening to the TV.

Norovirus had swept through the Canes’ locker room, taking the players and their families out one by one - starting with Burnzie, which had led Jarvy to conclude that one of the Burns’ children had brought it home from school. As one player recovered, another was taken out. Last week had been Brett and Jordan, this week it’s yours and Brady’s turn to be down for the count. He’d come home from morning skate two days ago looking paler than usual, a greenish-grey tinge to his skin. You’d already dry heaved over breakfast that morning, thinking it was pre-period nausea.

Less than an hour later, you’d each retreated to separate bathrooms and hadn’t emerged until there was nothing left to purge. Brady had managed to text Rod, who was entirely unsurprised by the turn of events.

The next day and a half had been a blur of Instacarted Gatorade and crackers, the smell of Clorox and Lysol a permanent fixture in the house. Unfortunately, the smell of Clorox only triggered your gag reflex even more. Only this morning you’d managed to keep down more than a few spoonfuls of chicken broth.

Your stomach cramps a little and you curl your body into a tighter fetal position, turning your head to muffle your groan against Brady’s thigh. His fingers pause in your hair and he asks, “you okay, sweetheart? Need the bowl?”

“The bowl” is your combo popcorn/salad/vomit stainless steel bowl and it’s resting on the couch next to Brady, easily within arm’s reach just in case. The bowl has seen a lot of action the last two days and honestly, you’re contemplating tossing it out at the end of this. Or burning it, if stainless steel even burns. Hell, you’ll just throw it into the ocean at this point. You never want to see the bowl again.

“No,” you mumble against the fabric of his shorts, voice raspy and throat sore. “I think my stomach is eating itself.”

Brady nods his agreement and you can hear his stomach growl slightly behind your head. “Think we can manage more soup?” His fingers continue their work in your hair and it’s so soothing you find your eyelids fluttering, fighting to stay open.

“Honestly?” You nuzzle your face against his leg, tucking one hand under your cheek and the other underneath Brady’s thick thigh. “No, but you should try. You don’t want to be too weak when you get back to practicing.”

He hums and his fingers slow down, tangling gently in your hair. “Maybe ‘fter a nap,” he mumbles, head going back against the couch and body slouching a little deeper into the cushions. You can’t really argue with him - like clockwork, you’d both been with your heads in the toilet every thirty minutes. You don’t remember what a good night’s sleep feels like.

Brady falls asleep quickly, his hand covering the side of your head like a mask. The dogs pad into the den, semi left to their own devices the last two days and you feel bad about it. Reese settles on top of Brady’s feet, curling into a little ball and letting his tail swish along the floor while he looks up at you with big brown puppy eyes that bear a striking resemblance to your boyfriend’s.

“Sorry, pup,” you murmur, reaching out to scratch his head. “We’ve been bad pet parents, huh?”

He lets out a little whine that you take to be golden retriever for ‘yeah, mom, you guys suck lately.’

Sully hops up on the couch and wedges his body between your back and the back of the couch, a warm, solid presence. His nose presses against your shoulder and you wiggle forward a little to make more room for the big dog. Neither of them are supposed to be on the furniture, but you have no energy to shove him off.

“Just for today,” you warn him in a rasp. “Back to the floor with you tomorrow.”

Sully yawns, tongue lolling out of his mouth, showing just how much he cares about your proclamation.

With a soft scoff of your breath, you roll your eyes and keep them shut, pressing your face more solidly against Brady’s thigh. The muscle twitches under your cheek and you blink slowly. Soon enough, the combination of the low volume of the TV, Brady’s gentle snores, and the dogs’ soft breathing lulls you to sleep.

You wake with a jolt, your mouth filling with saliva and your stomach lurching. Sully’s draped over your legs and you don’t think, panic flooding your senses. Clamping your lips together tightly, you lunge over Brady’s lap and grab for the bowl, heaving into it. You empty the minimal contents of your stomach into the bowl, feeling Brady’s legs move under your torso. His hand fists in your hair, pulling it back into a makeshift ponytail so it stays out of your way.

“Okay, there you go,” Brady’s voice is low and soothing, his other hand rubbing circles on your back as you spit into the bowl. After a moment, nothing is coming up anymore and you groan, easing back carefully onto your knees.

Brady squints at you. “You okay?”

“I love your teammates,” you groan. “But I could kill every single one of them.”

Your boyfriend laughs and then winces when his stomach muscles tense. “Fuck, this shit really is no joke,” he mutters, stretching his arms over his head.

Your mouth tastes disgusting and your entire body hurts from heaving. On shaky legs, you carefully step off the couch, snatching the bowl and padding slowly into the bathroom to get clean it out. You catch a glimpse of your reflection in the mirror over the sink and wince. Dark purple circles under your eyes highlight just how pale you look. Little red pinpricks of broken blood vessels are scattered over your cheeks like freckles and your hair is a matted, knotted mess in a limp bun on the side of your head.

“Ugh,” you mutter to your reflection, honestly surprised that you look so awful. You’d been avoiding mirrors as much as possible. You rinse out the bowl and douse it with Clorox, leaving it in the bathtub for now, before rinsing your mouth twice with Listerine and brushing your hair back into a semi-decent ponytail. This bathroom’s going to need a major disinfecting too.

Add it to the list.

Brady’s in the kitchen when you leave the bathroom, his body hidden behind the open fridge door. Both dogs are at his feet, circling his legs like he’s about to drop some food for them. He pulls back and shuts the door, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head and a wan look on his face.

“Nothing looks appetizing,” he explains, leaning a shoulder against the fridge.

You slump over the kitchen island, one arm folded between the granite and your chest. Reese lopes over to you, brushing his head against your thigh and you reach down to scratch behind his ears. “What, blue Gatorade and saltines lose their appeal on the third day?” You joke, tucking your chin into the stretched out neck of your ancient crewneck.

Brady’s lips twist up in a small smile. “I would kill for the ability to keep something else down,” he scrubs a hand over his face, dragging his skin down on the second pass.

“We could try the golden diet,” your head feels so heavy, so you prop your chin up on your palm and look over at Brady. He lifts an eyebrow and you continue, “plain boiled chicken breast and rice.”

Both dogs bark, excited, and you wince at the noise and how it feels like an ice pick in your brain.

“I’d rather not feel like one of the dogs,” Brady laughs faintly. Almost immediately, he clamps his lips together and freezes in place, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows harshly. He doesn’t make a move for the bathroom and you wait another moment before it passes and he frowns. “Sorry,” he mumbles, “thought I might have to make a run for it.”

“I could try and make some more soup,” you suggest, your stomach rumbling a little. You honestly have no idea if you’re actually hungry or if you’re going to have to run off again. Reese butts your thigh with his head and you sigh down at him. “I feel bad that these guys haven’t been getting as much outside time.”

“How do you feel about a short w-a-l-k?” Brady spells out the word because the dogs will go insane otherwise and it always makes you giggle a little.

You hum and skirt around the island so you can wrap your arms around Brady’s waist and bury your face into his chest. His arms come around your back, warm and strong. “Not great,” you mumble into the fabric of his sweatshirt. “But maybe some fresh air and sun will do us some good?”

He nods, chin bumping the top of your head. “A short one, like two blocks,” he suggests. “And then right back to the couch.”

Agreeing, you give Brady a little squeeze around the waist before reluctantly pulling away. You clap and grin down at the dogs, “okay, puppies, time for a little walk!”

Predictably, they go nuts, barking and jumping at you so that Brady holds his arms out to brace his hands at your lower back so you don’t fall over. He laughs a little in your ear before whistling to get the dogs to calm down. They stop barking, but they’re still bouncing around your legs and you laugh as you push past them, heading for the hall closet. It’s warm enough in Raleigh that you don’t have to change out of the thin sweats and crewneck, but you do pull on a plain black vest just so you have a pocket for your phone.

Brady clips the leashes onto both dogs’ collars and steps into a pair of slides, holding the leashes out to you so he can lock the front door. You let the dogs have some leeway with the leashes, watching them as they roll around together on the front lawn. It’s bright and sunny and you squint even behind your sunglasses.

“Has it been this bright out all week?” Brady asks, taking a leash in one hand and lacing his fingers with yours. He still has the hood up on his hoodie and when you look up at him, all you can see is the side profile of his nose and chin. His nose wrinkles up and you can’t help but mimic the expression.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” you sigh, starting to walk down to the sidewalk. You feel like a baby deer, all wobbly legged and weak, but the breeze is nice and you have to admit that it feels good to not be breathing in Lysol scented air.

The dogs tug at their leashes and you give them more leeway, walking slowly down the sidewalk. Brady’s thumb rubs over the backs of your fingers, your linked hands swinging slightly between your bodies as you walk. It’s quiet in the neighborhood since it’s the middle of the day on a Wednesday and you savor the peace.

Your stomach cramps a little and you lean into Brady’s side as you walk, huffing a frustrated breath through your nose. “When I get my hands on Jagger…” you trail off the threat, ruining the effect with a little laugh. You’re on board with Jarvy’s theory about patient zero for the Great Norovirus Crisis.

Brady’s laugh wraps around you like a hug and trails off into a brief cough as he catches his breath. “You and Svechy, beefing with a middle schooler,” he shakes his head, sounding a little breathless.

“For valid reasons,” you grumble, stumbling a little when Reese pulls on his leash. Brady’s fingers tighten around yours and you manage to keep your footing, but your heart pounds in your chest and you suck in a startled breath. Your head spins a little and you close your eyes to stave off the lingering nausea from your stomach lurching.

Brady’s hand is warm in your own and he squeezes your fingers to draw your attention. “Ready to go back home?” He asks, a concerned frown turning his lips downward. You nod and Brady whistles for the dogs.

It’s been the world’s shortest walk, just two blocks away from the house, but your head is throbbing and you’re feeling lightheaded. Brady still looks pale too, his jaw tight as if he’s trying not to vomit. He rubs the tips of his index and middle fingers against the space between his eyebrows and you know he’s probably developing the same headache you’ve got pinching your brain.

“I think we pushed it enough for today,” you murmur, tugging on the leash so Reese will come back from where he’s sniffing at a patch of flowers at the base of a tree.

Brady nods and he looks a little better after his pause. He leans in and kisses your forehead, where you can feel his lips turn down in another frown. “You feel kind of warm, sweetheart,” he says.

You tug at the neck of your sweatshirt and shrug. “Probably just a little overheated,” you start back towards the house. “I’m going to put shorts on when we get back, I think.” Your phone vibrates in your pocket and you pull it out, reading the texts on the screen as Brady talks.

“I think we need some lunch too,” Brady says, digging his phone out of the pocket on his hoodie. “I’ll order something. Even if we can’t manage all of it, we probably need something with protein.”

“No need,” you laugh a little, waving your phone in his direction. “Amy felt bad we caught the plague from Brett, she dropped off chicken noodle soup and fresh sourdough.”

Brady grins and pumps his fist, making you laugh even more. “Oh hell yes. I think I’ll be able to manage that,” he unclips the leashes from the dogs’ collars and lets them into your backyard, closing the gate behind them before following you up to the front porch. You cradle the giant brown paper bag in your arms like a baby.

“It’s still warm,” you sigh happily, wiggling your shoulders a little. “I love Amy, god, she’s the best.”

You kick off your slides and head into the kitchen, getting lunch ready while Brady pulls open the back door so the dogs can traipse in and out of the house. They’re both barking up a storm while they roll around on the lawn, so you figure you might actually have a minute to eat in peace. Brady reaches around you to pick a piece of the crust off the loaf of bread, popping it into his mouth with a happy little noise. You laugh a little under your breath at how adorable he is and finish divvying up the soup into bowls.

“Bigger bowl is yours,” you tilt your head and Brady sets a glass of ginger ale in front of you, tugging lightly on the end of your ponytail as he withdraws his hand. You lean lightly back against his chest, bumping your head against his collarbone and Brady dips his chin to kiss your forehead.

“Still a little warm,” he murmurs against your skin.

You shrug, “I’ll take another Tylenol and sleep in the guest room, just in case.”

Brady snorts and drapes one arm over your shoulder to hold you in place since you’re leaning heavily into him. “Sweetheart, if you’ve got a fever, I’ve probably got a fever. The house is germ central,” he rips a piece of bread off the loaf with his other hand and tosses it into his mouth. Around the mouthful, he continues, “no use in separating now.”

You’re not about to argue with him because you’re feeling clingy and needy, desperate for the comfort of Brady at your side while you’re recovering. So you nod and reluctantly let him step to the side to eat.

Amy’s soup is probably magic because you both manage to polish off your bowls, with Brady going back for seconds, and a few hours later, nothing threatens to reappear.

You and Brady spend the rest of the afternoon lazing around, disinfecting the house, and just generally relaxing in preparation for return to normal. You’re planning on working remotely, easing back into your inbox after three days away. Brady will see how he’s feeling, if he’ll go to practice. But for now, Brady sits on the floor, his back against the couch, and tosses tennis balls for the dogs to chase after and fetch.

“Please don’t hit the glass,” you sigh, sprawled out on your side on the couch, one hand propped up under your head and the other working its way through Brady’s hair, a mirror of Brady’s actions earlier in the day. The salt and peppered strands are soft under your fingers and you can’t resist tugging gently, just to get a reaction out of your boyfriend.

He groans low in the back of his throat, the noise sending a little wave of heat through your body. “I was a quarterback, sweetheart,” Brady grumbles, affectionate teasing laced throughout his tone. “I never miss my target.”

Sully comes bounding back with the tennis ball clamped in his jaw and Brady wrestles it away from the dog with a laugh, sending the tennis ball flying through the air and out through the open French doors. You can see it land with a little bounce in the grass before Sully pounces on it. Reese jumps on his brother and they roll around in the grass for a bit.

“Cocky, former quarterback Brady is my favorite version of you,” you tease, scratching your nails against his scalp.

He laughs and reaches back to rub a hand over the top of your head. You curl up a little, bringing your knees closer to your chest and Brady’s head by default. He shifts, turning to the side so he can look at you and wedge his hand in between your knees, fingers curling around the back of your thigh. Your hand falls from his hair, coming down to rest on his shoulder, fingers dipping beneath the collar of his shirt to brush against warm skin.

Brady’s head tilts to the side, cheek coming to rest on the edge of the couch cushion, trapping your hand. You flutter your fingers against his collarbone, smiling softly. His lips curl up too, lifting his cheeks and crinkling the corners of his eyes.

“Whatcha thinking, Mr. Skjei?” You ask quietly. “I can see your gears turning.”

“Nothing really,” he replies, tickling the back of your knee lightly. You squirm and press your knees together, squishing his fingers to try and get him to stop. “Just…been nice to relax with you.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, a skeptical smirk on your lips. “Norovirus was relaxing?”

“Well,” he snorts a laugh through his nose, “the last few hours were relaxing anyway.” He presses a kiss against the back of your wrist and brushes his nose against your skin.

A little shiver races down your spine, warm love for Brady flooding your entire body. He keeps his cheek pressed to the back of your hand and taps the back of your knee. “Think I can rejoin you in bed tonight?” He asks, breath warm against your skin.

“I’d really like that,” you grin, having missed his body curled around yours. Decamping to separate bedrooms had been a protective measure over the last few days since every time you heard Brady gag, you’d gone and puked.

The dogs traipse back inside and Brady shifts so he can stand and close the door, pressing a sweet kiss to the corner of your mouth as he goes. Tomorrow the routine will go back to normal, but when Brady comes back and lifts your legs to sit on the couch next to you, your legs draped over his lap and your ass pressed against the outside of his thigh, you soak up the quiet moment in your little bubble.

[fluffybuns22]

Hashira NSFW HC's 18+!

Minors do not interact, unmarked blogs or blogs without ages will be blocked on sight.

HC's listed below will include Rengoku Kyojuro, Sanemi Shinazugawa, Gyomei Himejima, Giyu Tomioka

Tengen and Obanai on hold until I decide on if I'm adding their wives/Mitsuri.

TW: Overstimulation, Oral fixations, squirting

Sanemi Shinazugawa

• I feel like this may be a controversial take, everyone thinks this man isn't a virgin but I feel like hes the type to need a strong emotional attraction to a person besides the physical for him to want to have sex with them. He hasn't found the right person yet until he meets you.

• He's the type to begrudgingly take on a Tsuguko and when it gets to the point you're able to kick his ass and keep toe to toe with him, his cheeks flush and he fights harder. Not quite yet realizing why he got flustered to begin with until he crawls into bed later that evening, his cocks hard and all he can think of is you flushed, panting and pinned underneath him and having just as much fun as he is. He's just grateful that he's the one that knocked you to your back on the last sparring because looking back on it he realizes his face wasn't the only thing betraying his excitement.

• Fully believe he has a high sex drive, he will get himself off regularly. Now if you catch him after fights and hes full of adrenaline? The man needs to cum before he can sleep. He typically doesnt fall asleep after coming but if you both get back from a fight he will purposely get you off before himself regardless because he's aware that once he cums he's pretty well collapsing on top of you, lights out sleepy Nemi. No pillow talk after that, unless you count his sleep talking in which case he's mumbling small "love you's" before he knocks out entirely. He will deny this vehemently to start, do not believe him he just can't believe his subconscious betrayed him before he could say it himself.

• When it comes to actually sleeping with him for the first time, if you haven't had experience either - you both take it slow until he's confident enough to take the lead. But boy if you have experience he's fully at your mercy, 100% willing to try out anything you toss at him. He's a quick learner and while over time he leans more towards being the dom, like a true switch he's more than willing for you to reduce him to a whimpering, submissive mess.

• Two words, Oral Fixation - let the man eat and he will happily live between your thighs. He's guiding your hand to his hair and encouraging you to use his face and mouth to gain as much pleasure as he's getting from getting drunk off your pussy, desperate for you to cum while his cocks hard and pressed against the mattress, grinding against it. If you really want to break him starting off early into your relationship just praise him the entire time he's eating you out and just listen to the sweet whines and whimpers coming from between your legs. His hands grip tightening slightly over your thighs but then gently running his thumb over any marks he may have made in his excitement, a silent apology as he gets back to work making sure you're thoroughly taken care of.

• This man just needs someone who understands him inside and out and once he realizes he has that with you he's a softy. Just don't tell the others.

Gyomei Himejima:

• This. Man. Has. Fucked.

• Once, a long long time ago. But, it has happened, I feel it in my bones.

• His sex drive is pretty low due to his restrictive lifestyle, but when he's in a mood he will fully envelope you in his arms and press you flush against him as he takes you again and again.

• Since he obviously can't see he relies on touch, be it through his hands as he's cupping your face. Pressing his thumb against your lips, a low hum of approval erupting from him when you take his digit into your mouth, his thumb pressing against your tongue. Or be it when hes exploring your body with his own, lips finding each and every curve, nipping gently and pulling gasps and whines from you while he just thanks the higher powers that be that he landed you in his lap and in his life.

Rengoku Kyojuro:

• Much like Sanemi I take him as a virgin but more for the sake of him wanting to marry his partner. He comes off more old fashioned in that regard in my books.

• Your wedding night will be him dedicating your pleasure into every recess of his mind by testing every limit he's thought of over the course of your relationship. What will you sound like when you're coming on his fingers vs his tongue? Will you whimper or ravish him back when he presses inside you to the hilt. These are the things he'll be making mental tally notes on while also desperately trying not to come so soon.

• He wants to make you feel good and it makes him feel good and makes his thirst for you double when you're enjoying yourself just as much as he is.

• "My little light, let me hear you."

• He also is high key into messes so if he's able to make you squirt that's going to be his new favorite pastime.

Giyu Tomioka:

• He strikes me as someone who's had sex but it was a long time ago. A past partner perhaps, or with a friend when they were still decifering their feelings for one another.

• He has an abnormally high stamina point, it takes a lot for him to cum so be prepared for when you first get together for the challenge. He's yet to tap out first for longer sessions,  he's generally pretty quiet during sex until he's close then he gets more vocal. Not to say he's silent, he's quite the talker.

• He will soothe you more the longer it goes on, "I know love, it's okay just a little more you're doing so good. Look at how much you're taking, so good for me." Babbling a constant stream of praise and love while overstimulating you into the next phase of existence.

• He loves to be draped over you, his full body weight braced against you be it against your back or chest to chest. He tends to prefer face to face though as he loves to watch the ways your eyes light up and the way they water when it starts to get to be too much, brushing his thumbs over your cheeks and kissing you to distract you from the way your thighs cramp from over exertion or from how exhausted you are.  You're well taken care of with him.

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

Random Collection of MGSV Things I Noticed

Venom hallucinates Skull Face or, hallucinates around Skull Face in both the Skull Face mission and directly thereafter. In one, he's just distorting how he looks and sounds, in the second, he just full out see's Skull Face behind Kaz when he's quoting him.

When Code Talker is put back in the chopper after Metallic Archaea, Venom sits him in the seat, but Ocelot buckles him in. This task apparently needed the both of them to pull off. (I guess Venom couldn't just sit Code Talker down and buckle him up too?) You can drive a whole ass tank in front of soldiers and sometimes they just won't notice. But they will sometimes notice your car and put C4 on it to blow it up.

I/ Venom kicked Huey right before accessing the Walker Gear and it stopped him from doing any of his whining or even his usual narration for the entire mission. He was blissfully silent.

Huey has a bag on his head the entire time Skull Face confronts Venom with Sahelanthropus after you rescue him. Because of this, I assume that Huey is going strictly by sound, and the way Skull Face is yelling, to understand what is happening.

(I've mentioned this one before but) Huey tries to lie and claim that he never met Hal-somehow forgetting or thinking Venom wouldn't notice that he had a full on picture of Hal with Strangelove at his desk in the lab.

*This one is from Reddit, but if you're really struggling with Quiet, weather modification+rain will distract her for a few moments. The same trick can be used on the Skull soldiers.

*Shared in a video-you can hit Mantis with the blast arm if you're absolutely struggling with that mission task.

*Mentioned before but this still amuses me: Ocelot implies that Skull Face killed Josef Stalin.

Venom was most likely seasick for most of the boat ride. (See boat tapes for how disgruntled he gets talking about it)

*Another tip from Reddit that I've used myself: You can do offline combat deployments to destroy weapon sheds, transports etc. If you do this and attack outposts and guard posts afterward, they can't call in back up or resupplies temporarily. This is 50/50 on effectiveness and by region.

It is always raining in the cut scene when Venom boards the chopper before the Skull Face mission.

Soldiers knocked out and then put in dumpsters and toilets will NOT wake up for HOURS (nobody asked but the longest I've waited is an hour and a half or so in real time) and the other soldiers will not find them. Sometimes this extends the alert for a long ass time though, so be gentle with it.

Something to separate Venom from Big Boss I never thought of before? When Huey is yammering about cloning to Venom, he quips "It'd make a good movie" (Also implying Huey's talk is bullshit). I find this interesting because we know Big Boss barely watched movies, or gave them any thought at all.

Adding to that, Venom is more logic minded. He outright dismisses Ocelot when he talks about the supernatural, and doesn't appear to hold any belief in it. Whereas Big Boss does, and has personal experience. (This, granted, is something I'd brought up before, but I still find it interesting).

To continue, Venom is hinted to be more sentimental than Big Boss. We all know about making the diamonds from the soldiers ashes. But he also tells Kaz he wants to keep Sahelanthropus on base 'as a mark', and as 'proof we brought at least one crisis to it's end'. (I'm aware this sort of thing has multiple meanings)

When Code Talker is talking about the vaccinations (the infamous ones that render all the men infertile), he later clarifies that it is 'almost certain' meaning that there is a chance it wasn't a 100% guarantee. (Just in case anyone wants to have some fun with headcanons there wink wink)

I'll add onto/expand this list maybe periodically, but I'm in a retrospective mood again so here we are ;)

Add your own too if you like!

[flame2ashes]

A guide to extracting a CC Shepard’s headmorph as a model (for beginners)

Are you a humble CC (Character Creator) Shepard user (like me)? Do you want your Shepard’s head as a 3D model (like me)?

Luckily for all of us, there is a Blender script for that, thanks to mustbetuesday (which I assume is their username; it’s the name of their website anyway). While there is a tutorial on their website on how to use it, it doesn’t go into detail on certain steps of the process (and also it mentions having to manually install UModel and use it to find and export the model, which isn't really necessary these days as Legendary Explorer makes all of that easier).

So here is a different tutorial, written in a way that beginners to ME modding and/or the tools required are able to follow. If you already know how to use these tools, you can pretty much just skim this guide.  The guide mentions both OT and LE, but the files mentioned/used will be from the LE version. Note that for the sake of simplicity, I will only cover extracting the model itself and extracting textures.

(btw this is technically part 1 of an overarching guide on mesh swapping an NPC with your Shepard, but I figured that it would help to have it as a standalone guide in case people are interested in this kind of thing. Feedback is welcome!!)

Disclaimer: this guide only pertains to ME3. The script should also work with ME2 facemorphs and ME2 head models, but I haven’t really tried it yet. Maybe you can let me know how it goes if you try it with ME2 assets :)

What you need:

A PC copy of Mass Effect 3, or Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Blender version 2.8 (You can grab it here)

A PSK import/export script for Blender (I use this one personally for 2.8)

Legendary Explorer (You can grab it here)

A ME3/LE3 save of the Shepard you’d like

(ME3 saves are located in Documents/BioWare/Mass Effect 3/Save)

(LE3 saves are located in Documents/BioWare/Mass Effect Legendary Edition/Save/ME3)

ME3 Gibbed save editor (You can grab it here. The recommended version is from Nov. 14, 2015)

Trilogy Save Editor (You can grab it here)

The Blender head importer script (You can grab it here. Make sure to get the 2.8 version)

The base head model for male/female Shepard (I’ll go into detail on how to get this one later)

PART A: Getting the .me3headmorph

This part requires:

ME3 Gibbed Save Editor

A ME3/LE3 save

Open the ME3 Gibbed Save Editor. It should look like this when you first open the editor:

The save editor will automatically locate the directory for the OT ME3 career files, meaning that when you click Open, it will list all of your careers. This is useful for those using OT ME3; not as useful for those using LE3. Instead, what you want to do is click on the arrow beside the Open button, which will give you two options. The one you want is the “Open from File…” option:

From there you’ll be able to navigate to your saves and open the save you want. By default it’ll open the directory for OT ME3 saves. You may have to navigate manually to the LE3 save directory. While Gibbed save editor was originally made for OT, LE saves have the same filetype and will load normally.

Once your save is loaded, it will show the basic info for that save, like this:

The tab currently open is the Player > Basic tab. Navigate towards the Appearance tab. It should look like this:

What we’re getting here is the .me3headmorph, so you can ignore the other stuff for now.

Click on Head Morph, then “Export to File…”:

Save it wherever you like. It will save as a .me3headmorph file. Great! You now have the headmorph of your Shepard.

PART B: Getting the base head model

This part requires:

Legendary Explorer

You have the .me3headmorph of your Shepard, but you also need the base head model before you can actually apply that data. For this, we’re going to need the CC base head model.

Legendary Explorer (LEX) is the modding toolset for Mass Effect and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. You can use it to view, browse, edit, or export any file from both the OT and LE versions of the trilogy. LEX has a tutorial wiki covering a variety of modding topics for those who want to try modding the game, but for now all we’re going to do is export a 3D model.

When you first open Legendary Explorer, it’ll look like this:

Click on the “Meshes & Textures” tab. You will get these programs:

Open Mesh Explorer (abbreviated as MSH). You’ll get this:

(If it’s your first time using Mesh Explorer, you won’t have anything under “Recently opened items”. Also, read the Welcome page, as it has some useful info.)

To get the head mesh you need, you’ll have to open the Package file it’s contained in. Normally you can search where the assets are located using the Asset Database (a different LEX program), but for the sake of the tutorial I’m just gonna go ahead and tell you the package file you need.

Go to File > Open, and if it doesn’t automatically open to the appropriate directory, navigate to your game’s directory. It should look something like this:

Origin Games\Mass Effect Legendary Edition\Game\ME3\BioGame\CookedPCConsole

(Steam users, refer to your game’s file directory path by right-clicking your game in your library, then go to Manage > Browse Local Files.)

Locate and open the file BIOG_MORPH_FACE.pcc. This is what you’ll see:

There are multiple base head models here, but the one you want ends in _CC (so HMF_HED_PROCustom_MDL_CC and HMM_HED_PROCustom_MDL_CC). The models that start with HMF are the female models, while HMM is the male models. When you click on the models on the left, they will render on the right:

To export these models, right-click on the entry you want on the left, then click on “Export Mesh to PSK with UModel”:

Save it in any directory you want. After that it will ask for the output format. Just select “psk” and click OK.

(btw, if this is your first time exporting with UModel, LEX will automatically install UModel for you.)

Once that’s done, File Explorer will automatically open to the directory you saved your model in. A folder named after the package file you exported the model from will be created, and inside there will be three subfolders. The model will be in the SkeletalMesh3 folder.

Congratulations! You now have the base head model. Now it’s time to put it all together.

PART C: Putting it all together in Blender

This part requires:

The .me3headmorph file you exported in Part A

The head model you exported in Part B

Blender

(Make sure your scripts are installed!! If you don’t know how, follow these instructions (just ignore the “Open Blender 4.0.0” part, it should still apply to 2.8))

When Blender is open, delete all the default items in the scene (the cube, the camera, and the light source). Once that’s done, go to File > Import > your PSK import script, then import your head model. (If you’re using a different script than the one I’m using, there may be an option to scale down your model. Make sure this is unchecked.)

Now your scene should look something like this:

To hide the bones for the head model, click the eye on your imported model on the top right.

IMPORTANT: Once you import the head model, DO NOT MOVE IT!!! This will mess up the face import. You can move the model after you do the import.

If you look on the right of the scene, you should see a section called “Mass Effect Face Importer”, which is located under the Object tab (this tab should be displayed by default). Expand the face importer and you’ll get this:

Click on the file button and navigate to where your .me3headmorph is located. Click “Accept,” and your .me3headmorph’s path will be loaded. When you’re ready, make sure your head model is selected, then click “Import HeadMorph”.

And boom!!! You should now see your Shepard’s headmorph applied to the model. For comparison, here’s the male base head before and after I imported John’s headmorph:

And for further comparison, here’s John’s face in-game:

So there you have it! You now have your Shepard’s head as a 3D model. From here you can save it, export it, edit it, do whatever you want with it. It’s your city now.

….But also I said I’d cover extracting textures so-

PART D: Extracting your Shepard’s textures

This part requires:

Trilogy Save Editor

Legendary Explorer

So you may notice that this guide requires two different save editors. The reason for this is that Trilogy Save Editor (TSE) does not export your headmorph in the filetype required for the script. That being said, It’s much easier to view Shepard’s headmorph data in TSE, hence why we’re using TSE for this part.

(Also, TSE is referred to in a lot of customization mods, so if you use hair or headmorph-related mods you’ve already used TSE in one way or another.)

When you first open TSE, it will look like this:

Click “Open,” and File Explorer will automatically open to Documents\BioWare. Follow the usual steps to getting your save.

When you load your save, it will look like this:

Currently, it’s on the General tab. Click the Head Morph tab to display your selected Shepard’s headmorph.

(Oh yeah, you can also get the file path for your Shepard’s hair mesh if you wanted.)

What’s nice about TSE is that it displays an asset’s file path. The first part of the file path will always be the Package file the asset is placed in.

For textures, click on Texture Parameters to expand the list. To display the parameters for each entry, simply click on each entry to expand it.

In this particular example, HED_Diff is the diffuse texture for Shepard’s face. The package file for this particular diff is found in BIOG_HMM_HED_PROMorph, and the filename for the texture is HMM_HED_PROBase_Face_Diff_Stack. Typically, this means you now have the info needed to open the file in Package Editor and locate the file yourself.

But there’s an easier way, and I mentioned it already: The Asset Database.

On the LEX menu, click the Utilities tab, and click on Asset Database (abbreviated as ADB)

If this is your first time using the Asset Database, you’ll need to actually build the database before you can use it. Each game needs its own database. You should be able to build these by going to Database and selecting “LE3 Database,” then click “Generate New Database”.

Once your databases are generated, the window should look like this:

To look for textures specifically, click on the Textures tab.

Take the name of the texture you need and paste it onto the search bar on the top right. It will automatically filter the file list to the files that contain the name. To view the texture in the middle, click on “Toggle Texture Rendering”.

Whoa, now you can see it! On the left is each individual file containing the name you searched. On the right are the usages – a list of the Package files containing that specific file. (NOTE: Package files from mods are highlighted in red. Vanilla Package files are in black.)

To export the file, click “Export to File,” where you can save it to any directory. You can save the texture as either a PNG, a DDS, or a TGA.

And there you have it! You now have your Shepard’s face textures. You can repeat this for all the textures you need. Note that some of the textures have alpha channels, which will come into play if you decide to edit them. Some textures, such as the eyebrows, may not actually be diffuse but rather normal textures. This is due to the way they’re applied in-game. But that’s a topic for a different guide :)

If you do decide to edit your textures by baking in the colours, you can go back to TSE to view your Shepard’s headmorph again, but this time expanding Vector Parameters. Here’s what it’ll look like:

(All the vector parameters have the option for inputting RGBA values as well as selecting a colour via colour wheel.)

If you’ve gotten this far and successfully followed the steps, then congratulations! You’re well on your way to making self-indulgent content using your beloved Shepard characters and/or learning how to mod Mass Effect in general. If I get around to making more guides (read: if people want them), I’ll get into more detail on other things, particularly on how to mesh swap your Shepard into the game. For now, extra notes:

If you need extra advice on mesh or texture modding, I recommend joining the ME modding Discord. Here’s the invite. There are people there who actually know how to texture/mesh mod better than I can lol

This is mostly a comment, but I am so glad the 2.8 version of the script exists. Back when I first did this I had to use 2.7 and it took a lot longer, especially with the way it affected UV maps. Luckily the 2.8 version doesn’t affect the UV maps, and in fact made this entire process much easier and less archaic.

Incidentally, the reason why I learned how to extract CC Shepards from the game wasn’t even for ME modding. It was for XNALara. Anyway here’s a meme:

[lotusunique]

Nights Like This

Armando Aretas x Fem! Reader

Mkay so while yall wait on this pt.3 of The engagement, ima give yall this lil story I been working on! Im ngl I did cut it in half this was long as HELL! So enjoy ❤️

“We should go out tomorrow night. We never do that anymore.", Kelly says grabbing her purse. "Yeah because you and your man are always boo'd up somewhere. Marcus isn't allowed out too many times in a row or Theresa will kick his ass. Mike is happily married now. And I refuse to be a third wheel on you two’s date" I explain.

“So why don't you invite Armando out.", She looks over to Armando who's looking through a case file. Since he helped take down McGrath and saved Callie, Mike tried to sort out a deal for him. He'll work out his sentence, here at AMMO, being apart of the tactical weapons team.

"Um absolutely not. He literally doesn’t know I exist in that way", I groan. "That’s not true. You just gotta make yourself known. Plus he’s kinda a dick. I don't know why you like him anyway.?”,she says damn

near screaming my secret. "Um firstly, shut up. What you wanna tell the whole world my secret?", I shush her. That’s all I fucking need. For Armando to find out I like him or WORSE. Mike and Marcus could find out. I’d never live it down.

"Invite him out or l'm gonna shout it from the rooftops.", Kelly gives an evil smirk.

"Shout what from the rooftops?", Mike looks over to us. "Oh nothing just that Y/n li-", you elbow her in the side. "That Y/n is going out with Kelly and Dorn tomorrow night", you give a tight lipped smile. "I'm so excited I could scream", Kelly smiles.

"Y'all weird as hell man", Mike says just giving the two of you a glance. Kelly lets out a laugh before nodding towards Armando's seat. "No.",you give a stern look.

"Yes!", kelly says seriously. "Fine. I'll do it before I leave later.", you give in, not wanting to discuss it any further.

- Later-

"I'm out, don't stay too long okay", Kelly says patting your shoulder before heading out, quickly shooting a glance over at Armando, signaling you to talk to him.

She heads out, the door closing, being a deafening reminder of how quiet it is since you and Armando are the only ones in the office. The dim lights giving an Erie feel. "Breathe Y/n. Now's the time to go talk to him", You think to yourself.

"Hey."you walk over to him. He looks up at you with a stare that says "what do you want". "Well I just thought that since it's just me and you tonight, we could at least conversate so it won't be absolutely boring", You sit on his desk.

"What do we have to talk about?", He says with that accent that just drives you crazy.

"Well I do technically have something to ask you", You say looking down at him. "There it is", he flashes a smile. "Stop", You roll your eyes.

"Mkay shoot.", He crosses his arms with a smirk.

"Please come with me tomorrow night. Kelly wants me to go out with her and Dorn. And I really don't wanna third wheel.", you plead.

“What’s in it for me?”, he looks up at you, placing the pen in between his plump lips. “What do you want?”,you ask, staring right down at his lips.

“What’re you offering?”, he asks, moving his rolling chair to where he’s sitting in between your legs,staring up at you with this smirk on his face like he just knows what he’s doing to you.

“I..I..uh”,your breath starts to hitch. “Use your words hermosa.”, he glances up at you through low eyes.

He has to know what he’s doing to you right? The only option is to match his energy, even though it’s all a front.

“Mister Aretas, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were flirting with me.”,you snap out of whatever shy shit you just had going on.

“And if I was?”,He traces his finger up your exposed leg. Today was the perfect day to wear a pencil skirt.

The sound of the glass doors creaking open surprises you, causing you to move off the desk swiftly as possible.

“Sorry, I left my house keys”,Marcus walks in, not looking at the two of you.

“Hollup…it’s real dark in here. What yall in here-“,he looks between the two of you. “Nothing we were just talking”,you say quickly. Marcus looks over at Armando who has a condescending smirk upon his face. “Oh okay”,Marcus laughs. “It’s not like that Marcus”,You bury your head in your hands with a laugh.

“Look that ain’t nun of my business. Just make sure you use that latex. Cause you don’t wanna get that I’m late Text!”,he says before dapping Armando up. “What is HAPPENING”, you internally scream to yourself.

Marcus quickly makes his exit, leaving you and Armando to discuss what just happened. “That was embarrassing”,you groan. “It was hilarious”,he laughs. “No it wasn’t”, you lean against the door. “I’ll go with you. I’ve got something to handle before hand though,so I’ll meet you there”,he smiles over at you.

“Okay great. I’m gonna go home. Be safe. I’ll see you tomorrow”,you nervously grab your things before heading out to your car.

[fandomworld9728]

The Morningstar Pack - Chapter 1

(This chapter gets NSFW!)

"Alastor, for the last time, you are not going to kill my father." This is not what Lucifer wanted to be doing with this insufferable man right now. They could be doing much more fun or productive things. Or even picking up from when they were interrupted that morning.

However, the Radio Demon was insistent on his plan to murder the Lord in Heaven. When asked about his reason behind it, he explain how he believed God was trying to make it so Lucifer and Adam would end up together.

Honestly, Lucifer couldn't blame Alastor for thinking that. He knew for a fact that his father was a huge supporter of him and Adam. It's why he had been allowed to reproduce with the first man all those years ago.

"Al. God is not trying to cockblock you."

"Look at the evidence, my dear. Until I'm proven wrong, I am sticking to my plans."

"Yeah? Well, I don't want my idiotic deer to be reduced to a pile of ashes. Especially not right in front of me."

"As if I would allow- What did you say?"

Both men were silent as Lucifer's words registered. A gold blush spreading across his face as a smug smirk settled on the sinner's lips.

"So, I'm yours now, sire? Careful what you say. I do not like to share."

Alastor knew at some point he would have to share the fallen angel, but that didn't mean he had to like it. This was progress though. True progress. He now had verbal confirmation that the king wanted him too and not just physically. That helped cool the burning jealously inside him at the thought of sharing what was his.

"W-Well... T-That is- fuck." The omega found himself backed up against a wall and couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment. Not when his alpha's touch was making him feel so good.

Startled by that thought, Lucifer used all his remaining willpower to push Alastor's hands away. Ignoring the frustrated growl from the other man, he gave him a serious look. 

"We need to talk about what this... thing between us is before we go any further."

"I believe I've made my intensions known for some time now. However, since I have not properly courted you yet, your confusion is my own fault. Apologies."

So he was right! This wasn't just flirting and their odd sexual tension fueling the sinner. It soothed something inside him and made his decision easier.

"Now that that's been settled," Grabbing the taller man by the shirt, Lucifer yanked him down closer to properly reach him. Why did he always go for ridiculously tall partners? "I can prove to you once and for all that my father is not trying to cockblock you."

Surprised by the sudden shift, Alastor fell to his knees from the fallen angel's show of strength. That had arousal burning in his gut. Filing that away to explore at a later date, he wasted no time in pulling his king close and getting his hands on that smooth, unmarked skin.

Had that really been what worried Lucifer enough to pause their activities? Concern that this was only about sex? If that was the case, Alastor was more than happy to show him otherwise. He'd have to converse with their dear Charlie and maybe one of the Deadly Sins to find the perfect courting gifts. But first, he had his omega to take care of.

The confirmation from both demons about wanting their relationship to be something more serious caused their desperation to grow. No patience for gentle touches, Alastor threaded a clawed hand through those silk-like blonde locks before gripping tightly and tugging. A grin spread across his face at the wide - eyed expression and needy moan he had been rewarded with.

Closing what little distance was life between them, the sinner eagerly swallowed the sound. His other hand that had been busy undoing the fallen angel's shirt and waistcoat, bowtie long ripped off and tossed God knows where, slipped into his pants.

He was so wet. It made pride bloom in his chest as he easily slipped two fingers inside the omega, the whine muffled by their kiss only increasing the feeling. Nothing was going to stop them this time. Not those idiotic angels, not that buffoon Adam, not even their lovely daughter (a thought to reflect upon on a later date) or her partner.

The other residents of the hotel were capable enough to fend off any attacks to the hotel until they were finished. Unless high ranking angels targeted them. That was highly unlikely, so they had nothing to worry about.

Clothes discarded; Alastor pressed the willing and unnaturally warm body under him into the bed and finally, finally, sunk into the tight, wet heat of Lucifer's. It was like his own personal little slice of Heaven. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he forced himself to be still.

"W-Why did you stop?" Grinding down to try and get the alpha to move, Lucifer whimpered and huffed in frustration when instead of enticing the other man to fuck him, he was held still.

The low, amused chuckle above him made him pout but calm down some. What was Alastor waiting for? What more did he have to do?

"Apologies, my dear. I would like to enjoy our time together. I fear I may not last too long if I allow myself to go too wild outside of my rut."

Oh. That was... sweet. Lucifer hadn't expected slow and loving sex so soon into their odd relationship, but hell, he wasn't gonna complain or turn it down. Especially not when it had his inner omega purring in a way it hadn't in many, many years.

Amused at his angel's improved mood at his realization, Alastor set a slow, steady pace and made sure he gave as good as he took. Caressing and kissing the beautiful body under him and the wonderful creature it belonged to.

Yes. Alastor was not going to lose this. Even if it meant he had to... ugh... share. 

Next >

The Life of the Mornginstars - Chapter 1

[thatstonedwriter]

Full Moon

Thoughts and Review- these notes are a combination of my initial reactions to the episodes and some more thought-out critiques

Formatted chronologically, organized by scene. Overall Thoughts are at the bottom

.・。.・゜✭・.

Stolitz Duet

Seems like Stolas is understanding his role in manipulating Blitz, the power differential, and Blitz’s discomfort

Blitz seems to use his sexuality to mask his nervousness- personally, I think most of his nerves are attributed to feeling indebted to Stolas, having mixed feelings about their relationship and his growing feelings, as well as his job security with Stolas still supplying him with the grimoire

Furthering Stolas’s hesitation of giving Blitz the Crystal, but knowing it is something that needs to be done- so far looking like good character development

Taking note of Stolas being out of his medications, unsure if that information will actually be important and referenced again or if it’ll be forgotten; regardless, that context doesn’t excuse Stolas’s later actions

CHERUBS

Glad they’re being utilized again

Is Colin new? He seems to know less than Cletus and Keenie and is more easily manipulated- this also seemed to be the case in C.H.E.R.U.B 

 Good to see Agents 1 and 2 again

Office

Finally, more crumbs of the IMP business

Blitz clearly states how he’s wanted a break from Stolas and has been taking advantage of Stolas being more lenient with the deal- Blitz is prioritizing his comfort- with, seemingly, Stolas’s “permission”

When Loona makes her comments about Stolas getting bored of Blitz, his first thought is that he’s going to lose his ticket to the Overworld, jeopardizing his company and employees- another product of the unhealthy power differential between Stolas and Blitz

The “overdue paperwork” gag made me giggle

Interrogation Room/DHORKS HQ

The Cherub/Dhorks team-up makes sense; I’m just really not that interested in it- they allude to bigger issues of the government being involved, but I doubt any of these lines/themes will be used or referenced later on

The Cherub battle suits being based on the IMP squad feels a bit lazy tbh- It is also just a little too on the nose for me for the parallels of the role each Cherub plays in their group - Cletus/Blitz, Colin/Moxie, Keenie/Millie

Wondering about what the lore explanation is for angelic beings existing in Hell and demons existing in Heaven- is it a mutual thing? Do angels or cherubs have more power? I assume (in reference to the Hazbin lore) that cherubs are like Imps and are lower-ranking angelic beings? I could be wrong though- unsure if something else has been confirmed

Lust Ring

Not really interested in the Cherub gags while following Blitz. they all rely on the "innocence" trope, which I personally find a bit boring/overdone

FIZZ CONTENT- LOOK AT HIM- HE'S IN COLORFUL PANTS

No way Blitz is over Fizz. Look at the way he reacts when he’s blindfolded- like, come on

Fizz’s just so great in this whole scene

IMP/Cherub fight was pretty good

Stolas's Home

Right off the bat, why’s Blitz gotta be so cute? Damn

When Stolas asks for the grimoire, he does not give any words of reassurance to Blitz that his job, livelihood, and friends/employees will be safe. Blitz hears that Stolas needs the book back and goes into panic mode because he’s worried about fucking up Loona, Moxie, and Millie’s lives- he also assumes this is Stolas retaliating against him- not the healthies assumption, but a reasonable one, given what their dynamic and agreement is

Stolas lets Blitz speak but never intervenes to reassure Blitz, leading Blitz to default to what he knows Stolas usually wants- sex

Stolas gets up and walks away, saying he’s made up his mind, AGAIN being vague and Blitz’s panic only gets worse- he literally begs Stolas for the grimoire

Good on Stolas for giving Blitz the crystal and explaining- again, it really seems like he’s coming to terms with how he’d been treating Blitz and understanding that their dynamic isn’t healthy

Honestly, Stolas’s apology and explanation here was the best part of the episode

Blitz’s reaction, while I don’t support it, is still understandable. I don’t think Blitz has a ton of context for what's happening. From his perspective, this is all very sudden, and he was clearly trying to ignore this issue earlier in the episode- now that he’s confronted with it, he’s scared and, again, defaults to sex as a means to appease Stolas. This is a pattern that developed BECAUSE Stolas kept sexualizing and belittling Blitz

Stolas, taking this reaction at face value, I can understand—it’s hurtful to be so open and then be met with sarcasm and insincerity—but then to close off the conversation? My Man, can you really blame Blitz for also being confused, hurt, angry, and scared?

 Stolas is confused that Blitz thinks he only wants sex?? Stolas!! Your agreement literally hinged on the fact that Blitz was willing to prostitute himself to keep his business going

Blitz, they could never make me hate you. 

His lashing out isn’t healthy at all, and he has some serious emotional development to do, but I honestly can’t blame him. All of this has been building up for so long- Blitz isn’t good with handling big emotions, this was all just sprung on him, and Stolas took his angry outburst at face value without giving Blitz time to process

I can’t tell if this is good writing for a miscommunication trope or negligent writing that victim blames one character while painting the other as a saint

Overall

The composition of this episode was cohesive enough, but definitely has some weak points.

The inconsistency and one-off gags that are introduced are funny but sometimes frustrating, as they can allude to larger themes but ultimately go nowhere

I really enjoyed finally seeing more of Moxxie, Loona, and Millie. It's frustrating that they're being sidelined in favor of Stolitz, which probably should have been more of a B plot than the main one.

Currently torn about the writing for the Stolitz dynamic because there are multiple lenses that their content can be viewed through. I want to try using the Reparative Lens Theory, but honestly, the writing just seems to get more inconsistent and is meant to cater to Viv’s ideas of “good” and “bad”

re-watching this episode after Apology Tour is so, so frustrating because any character development Stolas might have gone through is scrubbed and retcons everything just to make Blitz the "bad guy"

If you made it this far, thank you for your time

[wizardpotions]

one of my favourite examples of preserving atmosphere in a remake or HD version of a game will always be deciding not to remaster any of the music for twilight princess HD, and actually not changing much of the visuals either, something about that games atmosphere comes from the hazy and and dream like quality of digital media from the time. the muffled audio has this incredible ethereal quality to it that you just do not find in games anymore. there was something truely magical about 2000s dark fantasy media that i hope we will see again someday

[critter-wizard]

ep 43 had me tearing up in a fucking shopping centre ‼️‼️

b+w alt version that I truly couldn't decide if I liked it more . Also I included a lot of thoughts in the tags but they're somewhat incoherent<3

[theflyingfeeling]

I hate it here sm

[ssruis]

Losing the idgaf war over here but re: “tsukasa needs to be saved from wxs/rui actually wants to hurt him”

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Rui: ascending to the stage from the seats won’t have enough of an impact. He needs to make a powerful impression as a knight…

Rui: Oh, I’ve got it! That will definitely be better! But I’ll have to assess it’s practicality and safety first.

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Rui: anyways, the stage is sorted and we’re ready to hold our show. I’ll start planning the next one in the meantime.

Rui: hmm… maybe I can make it easier for tsukasa by reusing some of the gimmicks that worked with him last time.

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Tsukasa: ah, it’s wire-flying time!

Rui: he somersaults in the air and flies past his pursuers…

Emu: that’s going to look INCREDIBLE ♪

Tsukasa: this is just the kind of daring performance I was born for! What comes after that, Rui?

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Rui: but you have me mistaken, Tsukasa… I… I’m making changes to improve the show…

Tsukasa: and I’m telling you to quit lying like that!

Tsukasa: I told you that I’m going to make the most of the role you’ve given me. I’ll pull off whatever you throw at me, no matter how tricky it might be!

Tsukasa: we have the potential to put on a jaw-dropping show, but you’re holding back!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

(Asked if he was mad at himself for getting hurt) Tsukasa: Of course! I still am too! I killed the director’s confidence, didn’t I? I’m not a star, I’m a disgrace!

Tsukasa: a real star inspires their director to entrust them with any role! To unleash their imagination and try new ideas!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

Read it’s on! Wonder halloween!

READ ITS ON! WONDER HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!

[liquidstar]

a friend who'd wait :)

[kittlyns]

A hard pill for me to swallow lately has been that, despite everything, I'm probably the best version of myself that could've existed. And that's not really a comforting thought.

[catalise-comenta]

I like geggism for how unexpectedly clever and wild it is, like yeah! Fuck the government, the state and the federation! We're all Gegg!

But if I was to take it realistically, then insaneduo are the best candidates. It may be, as other people are saying, a cultural divergence where we just don't believe in such idealistic movements as a "council" or a "let's everyone take the decisions together" sort of thing, but honestly if it were, like, real life politics and some candidates proposed such thing I'd just laugh and roll my eyes at it.

But this is just a block game, with a fake electorial system and that it's in no way to be taken seriously, so yeah, I'm voting for Gegg for sure!

[skyburger]

WHAT THE HELL NOBODY EVER TOLD ME TWO OF MY FAVE VILLAGERS GOT A LINE STICKER TOGETHER. ive loved tabby for YEARS like since 2019 at LEAST. and these stickers are from 2018 how did i not know !!! i love tabby and boots so much 😭😭😭 TABBY AND BOOTS ANIMAL CROSSING I LOVE YOU SO MUCHHHHH OOMFS FOREVER AND EVER