#not really interested in participating on the same bullshit again

[caldella]

Another post-Mastermind crack headcanon

RE: Vassago

I'm seeing some people think maybe Vassago is Andre's ex, but I have another crack theory.

Let's say that Vassago is about the same age as Stolas, as I get that vibe. We've been shown that he's energetic and interested in doing things 'the right way.' And he clearly loves 'fun' things like music, and dancing, and even floats around on a fucking star shape. His name on merchandise is stylized like a pirate treasure map. Let's take a small assumption that Vassago grew up less isolated than Stolas and was part of “Goetia society” earlier than him. Like Stolas, he doesn't really gel with the haughty, holier-than-thou attitude parts of their culture. I'm also guessing that, a little like Stolas, he can feel out of place in it.

We know that once Stolas got his grimoire, he was meant to learn his role and join Goetian society as well. Let's assume he was in his teens when he was really thrust into the thick of it. Vassago has been participating in the 'grown up Goetia' society for a while, learning his role but also finding it disappointing. Stifling, so boring. Then this young prince shows up, nervous and socially awkward but so eager. He wants to participate, he wants to be part of things. And he's interesting! He knows all these random facts. He has books about pirates! Vassago loves pirate stories! Apparently Stolas' very first friend did, too, so he knows all about them! Stolas likes song and music, and he has dramatic feelings, and stars:

🌟His whole thing is stars! 🌟

Vassago wants to know this guy. There is so much potential! Maybe Vassago has a little crush, or maybe Stolas is an estranged half-brother or cousin he wants to know better. But Stolas is also engaged to Stella, who's Andre's sister. Ugh, Andre. Vassago knew that Andre was a pompous bullshitter from day one. His social circles are definitely not Vassago's, so unfortunately Vassago doesn't get to know Stolas extremely well, but he tries. He does see Stolas' enthusiasm dull under the pressure of Goetian society, and he doesn't like that it makes the owl prince more withdrawn.

Then Stolas gets married.

He still shows up to events when required, but nothing more. Even when he's there, it's like he's not. He does his roles, then he stands in a corner, sipping wine until it's time to leave. He acts like all the interesting parts of him never existed. No emotions, no info dumps, no theatrics, no song. The only time he sparks back up is if someone asks about his kid – he could go on for hours about her. Vassago doesn't know completely why Stolas has become like this, but he has a feeling that Stella and Andre have had some hand in it. He's miffed about that, but he's not close enough to Stolas to inquire into it. Stella and Andre's social circles continue to grow ("ugh" again), and Prince Stolas becomes more of a stranger as his wife and brother-in-law's popularity grows.

A couple decades in, and you hear Stolas might actually be getting a divorce. A Goetia? Getting a divorce? Unheard of, a surprise since he's never said much to anyone, but Vassago doesn't like Stella or Andre, so fine. Good for him.

Then Andre calls up an insane trial out of the blue that is supposedly about Stolas, for Stolas' sake, yet Stolas isn't there. What?! Vassago's not dumb. Something's fucky. He can tell Andre's bullshitting to some amount. But as usual no one cares. Everyone's eager to listen to their side and get this imp beheading over with. Until Stolas himself portals in, with his star magic and the most dramatic theater-kid-energy anyone's seen from him in almost twenty years, and declares that he is going to clarify this entire mess:

🎵🌟THROUGH SONG🌟🎵

"YES!"

(Edited to remove info that isn't correct as Vassago is likely also a prince. And really, this could also work if Stolas is older, and Vassago saw him as an interesting figure to look up to who suddenly became withdrawn.)

[malikson]

He grew the moustache to match the beard... 🥲

[icharchivist]

I WISH IT WAS I WISH IT WAS I TRULY WISH IT WAS 

post that aged terribly but i wish it didn’t i wish it didn’t so bad

[just-jordie-things]

kiss cam surprise - gojo satoru

word count: 2.8k warnings: none! :) summary: when (y/n) kisses shoko during a kiss cam at a baseball game, satoru gets a little ~jealous~ this is half fluff half crack tbh lol a/n: ok i don't take fic requests but someone dropped this in my ask box awhile ago and it resurfaced in my mind so... ur a lucky duck. also! if u like kiss cam fics y'all should check out kiss cam! by @naosaki <3 one of my fav megumi fics <3 ___

For being at an event that they couldn’t care less about, Shoko and (y/n) had been on their best behavior for the entirety of the baseball game.  Satoru and Suguru had been so excited to gift the tickets to the girls so they could join them in a fun outing, that they’d tried their best to accept the offer graciously.

Even though neither of them had any interest in going.  It was obvious when the tickets were presented to them, from the awkward smiles they’d worn to the way their eyes shifted towards one another as if to make sure the other was thinking the same thing- why wouldn’t they just go on their own? 

Shoko and (y/n) would’ve happily spent the day doing their own thing had Satoru and Suguru gone to the game just the two of them.  Maybe some light shopping, or maybe they’d hole up in one of their rooms and eat junk and watch romcoms all day.  Either way… any activity would have been more entertaining to them than this.

They barely even knew the rules of the game, only cheering when the guys did, and sharing knowing looks when they tried not to laugh at just how uninterested they were.

Still, they did their best to participate.  Both glad in the same colors of the cheap merch Satoru and Suguru had treated them to.  (y/n) was in a jersey too big for her that hung off her body awkwardly, and Shoko wore a hat with a bill that wouldn’t stop dipping over her eyes, but they didn’t complain.  They were very good sports for their friends, only sneaking off for a smoke break one time.  They even made a few trips for snacks and drinks so that Suguru and Satoru wouldn’t miss any of the games.  Sure, maybe they were trying to stretch their legs and ease the ache in their butts from the uncomfortable plastic seats, but they had the right intentions!

“This is fun, right?” 

When (y/n) turned to him, Satoru was beaming from ear to ear.  His sunglasses were slipping down his nose due to the way his ball cap bumped into them, and his bright eyes seemed to hold even more light from his obvious joy.

She couldn’t lie to him if she wanted to.  It was too cute to see him this excited just from sharing the experience with his friends.  He’d had his arm draped over the back of her seat for the majority of the game, and whenever his team got the upper hand, he’d eagerly tap or shake at her shoulder to involve her in the hype.  (y/n) was grateful for the que to pay closer attention to what was happening, but she did fluster and blush every time he’d touch her.

This didn’t go unnoticed by Shoko, who would knowingly knock her elbow from her other side, a small smirk on her face when (y/n) would peek at her from the corner of her eye.  She tried to ignore the silent teasing, but after a while it got hard with how much it was happening.

With a smile and a nod of her head, Satoru’s expression lit up even more.  “Yeah, I’m actually having a really great time,” She said.  It didn’t matter that she was more interested in all the attention he’d been giving her than the great seats they had for the game.  He didn’t need to know that part.  “We should do this more often” She adds before thinking.

Once again, Shoko’s elbow was bumping into hers, and this time a less-than-discreet snort could be heard.  (y/n) sent her elbow back into hers in retaliation, silently scolding her for eavesdropping.

“Yeah?” Satoru fixes his cap so that he can push his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose.  “Tickets weren’t that expensive, we could go to more games this season, if you want?” He suggests.

Bullshit, she thinks with a smile telling him that’s exactly what she was thinking.  Nothing was expensive to the Gojo Satoru.

“Yeah, maybe” She says without much commitment.

Going to baseball games just the two of them? The idea had her heart soaring.  Having to sit through a game that could take more than three hours was less than ideal.

Soon enough a break in the game came, the announcers hyping up the crowd with some silly chants and trivia on the big screen.  (y/n) found herself slumping down into her seat, aimlessly tapping around on her phone to pass the time.  She hadn’t been paying enough attention to notice the change in game on the big screen, that is until there was a hand smacking at her shoulder again.

Looking up, she’d almost expected to see the game in motion again.  Satoru had only been tapping at her like that when an exciting play was in action.  However this time, he’s pointing up at the screen.

She gapes when she sees that she’s displayed on the screen.  The camera has a wide angle that includes Shoko and Satoru on either side of her, the words Kiss Cam spelled out in pink cursive above them.  It’s complete with lipstick stains and sparkles for dramatic touch.

“Oh my god” She mumbles, hoping that her blush is undetectable by the camera, seeing as her face felt scorching hot from embarrassment.

The longer the camera is focused on her, the rowdier the crowd around her becomes.  Eagerly chanting ‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ like a bunch of teenagers at their first house party.

Satoru is grinning so hard his face hurts.  This was like a dream come true.  The easiest excuse in all of history to get a kiss from the girl he’s had a crush on since he was fifteen was just presented to him on a silver platter- and the crowd’s cheering only spurred him on further.

Even Suguru is giving him a smirk and a nod of approval.  He’d heard more earfuls than most about the ins and outs of Satoru’s feelings for (y/n).  Although on occasion, Shoko or Nanami were on the receiving end of his lovesick rambling.

His heart is about to burst out of his chest when he turns to (y/n).  His smile is starting to hurt and for a second he realizes he’s going to have to relax to actually kiss her.

“Are you okay with-?” 

The question barely comes out before he’s cut short.

(y/n) had already turned away from him, swiveled in her seat to face Shoko.  It’s like he’s watching it happen in slow motion.

They both giggle at their idea, and (y/n) takes off Shoko’s hat while she’s quickly tucking her hair behind her ears to clear her face.  And then time goes back to normal and all too quickly, Satoru watches as they lean towards each other to share a kiss.

It’s just a peck, so swift and chaste it’s over as soon as it happens.  The crowd hollers and then are just as quickly getting excited over the next unsuspecting pair on camera.

(y/n) and Shoko laugh a bit more before sitting back in their seats, going back to their phones and striking up conversation about some anime they’d been interested in.  Both, or at least (y/n), completely oblivious to the offended gape on Satoru’s face.

That was totally his kiss, after all! It was his perfect moment to finally take things to the next level with his long time friend that he’d harbored a crush on.

To make matters worse, Shoko wasn’t as innocent as she was pretending to be, sending a smirk his way when (y/n) was too focused on her phone.  He scowled back at her.  She knew about his crush! She knew he was going to go for that kiss!

With a huff, he stood up from his seat and made his way out of the stands.  He needed a bottle of water, or a snack, or just some damn space away from his so-called friend that was teasing him for snatching his kiss.

Satoru leaving so suddenly finally perked (y/n’s) attention.  He was gone too fast for her to call after him, but she worriedly watched him scale the steps with ease as he headed towards the hall of vendors.  She locked eyes with Satoru, raising a brow in silent question.

“He’s just being pouty,” Suguru replied casually, shrugging his shoulders before turning back towards the field.  “You wanna go after him? Be my guest” 

(y/n) sighed, turning the other direction towards Shoko.

“What’s he so pressed about?” She mutters.  “What even happened?” 

Shoko rolls her eyes, a lazy grin stretching on her lips.

“I dunno,” She says in a teasingly melodic tone of voice, suggesting she knew exactly what set their friend off.  “Maybe pluck up some courage and go ask him?” 

With another sigh of defeat, (y/n) slumped back into her seat, her thumbnail wedged between her teeth as she mulled over the idea.  A nervous flutter settled in her chest, a persistent buzz of confusion and anxiety distracting her even more so from the game starting up again.

When she suddenly shot out of her seat, muttering some excuse about needing to stretch her legs before she raced up the stairs in the direction she’d seen Satoru head off towards.

Two sets of eyes watched her as she hurried off.  Suguru and Shoko locked eyes once she was out of sight, both of them snickering between themselves.  It didn’t exactly take an active imagination to know exactly what was coming next. 

To her surprise, (y/n) found Satoru as soon as she left the stands.  Moping around the upper part of the arena with a half-empty bag of cotton candy.  She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight, effectively getting herself caught by him.

“Why’re you up here eating your feelings?” (y/n) speaks first, eyes narrowed inquisitively.  Satoru scoffs as she approaches him, snatching a piece of the pink sweet right out of his hands.

“I’m not eating my feelings” He replies unconvincingly, digging the hole deeper as he shoves a rather large piece of cotton candy into his mouth.

(y/n) rolls her eyes, but the smile on her face is impossible to hide.

“Sure,” She remarks.  “You’re totally not pouting right now.  C’mon just fess up.  What’s wrong?”

“I’m not pouting.  My friend betrayed me, I think I’m right in being upset about that?” It’s a rhetorical question, followed by another shove of cotton candy into his mouth.

(y/n) frowns.

“Betrayed you?” She repeats.  “Did I miss something? Who betrayed you?” 

Satoru groaned, tossing the remainder of his cotton candy into the trash dramatically.  (y/n) had to resist the urge to laugh, not understanding where this whole little tantrum came from.

“Shoko! Obviously! I mean she knew that that kiss was-!” 

He stops mid sentence, realizing where this outburst was going to lead him if he didn’t relax and go back to his usual suave demeanor.  (y/n) shook her head in confusion, her brows pinching together.

“Was what?” She asked, a breathless laugh escaping her.  “Meaningless? A joke between friends?” She suggested.  “You’re mad about a kiss?” 

“Of course I’m mad-! Well, I- I guess not mad, I’m not mad at her,” He stammered over his words, not knowing how exactly to explain the complicated feelings.

(y/n) tried to be patient while he stammered and struggled to make himself clear.  Mostly because she was partially amused by the whole thing.  Satoru prided himself in being what he called a smooth-talker, and while normally she’d laugh at him for that, it was a shock to see him behave the total opposite right in front of her.

“But that wasn’t exactly fair, I mean, she was just trying to rile me up.  And- like- yeah, that’s what we usually do, we pick on each other but that just- that just wasn’t fair! That was my kiss and she knew it! And she just-” 

“What do you mean ‘your kiss’?” 

Finally Satoru had been rendered speechless, his mouth still hanging open mid rant, jaw slacking a bit as he realized he’d gotten carried away.  (y/n’s) expression almost mirrors his, her eyes wide and lips parted, even as she holds her breath and waits for him to clarify.

But he’s completely frozen in front of her.

“Satoru,” She waves her hand in front of his face, trying to bring him back to reality.  “What did you mean ‘your kiss’?” She repeats, shaking her head at him.

“I- I just… I meant that-” 

Words are spilling out of his mouth without direction, without knowing what the hell the right thing to say was.  He’d known (y/n) for two years now, and in all of that time he’d been pretty proud of the persona he’d built up to be sure that he was always the cool one, the guy she could rely on to be smooth and popular.  He felt pathetic now, letting his own secrets slip and stuttering over himself like an idiot.

The corners of (y/n’s) lips twitched into a smile the longer he flustered over who-knows-what.  It catches his attention when she unintentionally lets out a little laugh.

“Sorry,” She apologizes right away.  “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you.  I just… are you trying to say that you wanted me to kiss you? For the cam game?” 

She tries not to sound so hopeful that it comes across desperate, but the mere idea that Satoru had wanted a kiss from her had her chest thrumming with butterflies.

Satoru’s throat feels dry, and suddenly her gaze feels like a spotlight.  The intensity has the hair on the back of his neck standing up.  He pulls the hat off his head to run a hand through his hair to relieve the heat.

“Well… yeah,” He admits, sounding more bashful than she ever would have thought he was capable of.  Her small smile turned a little brighter, and he tried to get his voice back.  “Not that I need a silly game to kiss you, obviously-” 

“Obviously” She repeats the word fondly, giving him a small nod.

“But- s-still, the kiss cam, would’ve been… fun” He admits sheepishly.  She giggles, nodding her head again.

“Well, it was fun, for the record,” She teases, earning a roll of his eyes from behind his shades.  She steps closer to him then, a tilt in her head as she takes in the obvious nerves written on his face.  “But if you wanted to kiss me, you could’ve just asked” 

“I was going to,” He argued, his hands moving about erratically.  “It's not my fault Shoko beat me to it!” 

She giggled at his drama, reaching out and grabbing his hands as they flew around, still laughing as he froze up again from the sudden touch.

“You know, it didn’t exactly mean anything when Shoko did it,” She suggested.  “I know there’s not any cameras… but…” 

Satoru raised a brow.

“(y/l/n) (y/n),” He gasped dramatically, “Are you asking me to kiss you?” 

Her cheeks tint pink as she bites back her smile, giving him a small nod of her head.  He smiles back at her, pulling his hands out of hers and dropping his hat so he could lay them across her jaw, tilting her head upwards so he didn’t have to lean down as far to reach her.  

She doesn’t wait a second longer for him, closing her eyes and leaning up on the tips of her toes so she could press her lips against his.  Satoru’s quick to reciprocate, his fingers flexing against her skin, holding on as tight as he can without hurting her as he deepens the kiss right away.  She has to grab him by the shoulders to keep herself balanced.

His lips are soft, and taste sugary like the cotton candy he’d been eating.  She’d always thought he’d taste a little bit like sugar, what with how much of it he consumes.  It makes her smile to know first hand.

When they break the kiss, he steals one more quick peck from her, grinning with excitement before he pulls away so he can pick up his forgotten hat from the ground.

“Feel better now?” She teases as he slings his arm around her shoulder to head back towards their seats.

“Mhm,” He hums, pulling his cap over her head and smiling as it slips down her forehead.  He pokes it upwards with his index finger, then pokes the tip of her nose.  “But next game I bring you to, I get the kiss cam kiss, alright?” 

There’s a gleam in her eye and a blush on her face as she leans into him, matching his steps as they head down the stairs to their seats.  As shameless as ever, she can’t help but tease him.

“Then sit on my left next time” ___

xoxo ~ jordie

[rondoel]

Quartz & Riebeck brainrot below! doodles + some snippets of my ponders about psychology & neurodivergence in hearthian society

(snippets but it's still very long! 😂)

Started with the thought I like that Quartz is of the same age as Riebeck, making them of the same hatch bath and therefore having grew up together :D

(hanging out with Riebeck who is very cautious is probably the only reason Quartz even reached the adulthood)

--

I think of hearthian society as potentially good place for neurodivergence because of its size and how they seem to function.

It makes sense for something like mentorships going on there where it comes to raising young - a hatchling picks an adult that resonates with them in some way and learns their craft. In small society it's very important to do what you're going to be good at. That would make a person that will be raising you the best fit for you.

I small society a common understanding would be that everyone is different. And again, it's crucial for those differences to be used in the best way. So no ostracizing, no assumption to "fit in" with the "norm". Endorsing those differences to progress.

Those things together create a fascinating environment for me to examine those traits in kind of a vacuum, where I can examine how person will function in society with just the traits they have - instead of mainly through lens of learned trauma responses, masking and social pressures.

--

I'm fascinated by the thought of these two naturally being thrown into the same box of "having a bit of difficulties with people" - while being just so NOT like each other (which later on becomes obvious, but early on they just hang out with each other because 'why not, we're both weird kids after all').

When it comes to social stuff Riebeck just doesn't understand how to relate and connect with others, and it's a big issue for them. While Quartz just doesn't want to participate because they don't feel this need at all.

So there's some common ground here - but they don't really understand each other. Which at some point they start to notice.

(Riebeck - the only person to ever make Quartz laugh. at their misfortune. but. still)

Where exactly the line lies in their difference came further in my research.

--

It started with me wanting to find a better name for Quartz' neurodivergence. I was thinking about psychopathy and sociopathy and how neither are recognized as a official diagnosis. Especially not medically/neurologically.

So to examine it in hearthian society I wanted to know where is that line between actual neurological condition vs trauma response + adaptation. I wanted to know If there are traits that are there from the start.

Then I found about the Callous-unemotional traits (CU).

This name allowed me to find to find actual scientific research instead of some biased bullshit people have about psychopathy - and it was so good. The interesting thing about it is that it actually shows in infants.

In similar way to autistic traits.

So again, I started to research the links.

I wanted to know hypothetically - what If those came from the same neurodivergence but psychopathy was a result of bad handling of those autistic traits? (far reaching, I know, but I wanted to know)

And then it turned out that NO. That those are very different! The difference most visible in different empathy responses.

I explored one of the differences in my last comic.

In which before Quartz leaves the planet for the first time - they want to actually confirm their suspicions.

A thought provoking moment for Riebeck, after which (and just the way Quartz cuts themself off) they start to wonder whether just spending a lot of time with someone is enough to make you friends.

Even more jarring of a thought - to spend most of your life with someone and for it to not mean anything to them at all.

All those things combined, current Riebeck is mostly unnerved by Quartz.

[forestfiresandfics]

Foils and Mirrors

Another oft misconstrued literary technique is that of the foil. It may just be me misconstruing it though, considering I have to periodically look up the definition because I’ve gotten it confused again. Character foils are two characters who interact and by their interaction, their differences are highlighted. TV tropes describes it as ‘the foil behind a jewel to make it shine brighter’ but another way to look at it would be the way yellow shows up better on a black background compared to white. Foils are defined by their differences. Mirror characters are defined by their similarities. 

While I don’t think it’s wrong to call 3rd life Grian and Martyn foils per say, I think a more interesting reading is them as mirrors. And really, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Third life features a lot of parallels, both in plot and character arc, and the Desert Duo and Renchanting are often pointed to when it comes to discussions of this. I think it’s worth also including Flower Husbands in that list as well. And every day I consider adding Cleo and Bdubs to that list as well, but I haven’t quite decided how well they work, so for now I’ll focus on just the three groups. I will often in my writing and musing and comments and stuff refer to these three pairs as the ‘red-green’ pairs, because they spend a protracted amount of time where one of them is on their green life and the other is on their red. Scar and Grian are the most extreme example of this, spending 5 and a half episodes like that. But the timing of it aside, what’s maybe more important is that each of these teams entered into the battle of the red desert as one red and one green each. A pivotal moment in the story where we also see everyone mirroring each other. 

I think it’s fair to view Desert Duo and Renchanting as mirrors, with the flower husbands acting as foils to the others. Each share enough in common that it’s worth discussing all three groups, but while the desert faction and the kingdom share basically the exact same plot lines and traits, the hobbits serve as something of an alternative option—what they ‘could have been.’ Also fun, is that the Flower Husbands spend nearly, but not quite, equal time with both other groups: doing their job well as foils in the context of contrast-via-interaction. They discuss their statuses and their plans, and as far as the reading of ‘desert duo: protagonists’ and ‘renchanting: antagonists’ go, the flower husbands are ideologically neutral for most of the series. They make friends where they can, call out bullshit where they see it, and it wasn’t until they were thrown into the war that they actually participated in taking sides. 

So what are the similarities between each, and what are the differences? The similarities come first. All three groups are red-green pairs. All three pairs have some kind of strong partnership, all three pairs have a scene where the red of the relationship offers fealty with a trinket (flowers for the husbands, flowers for the desert, and depending how you see it either the rabbit’s foot or the axe for the kingdom). As I suggested before, Desert Duo and Renchanting have even more in common. Both partnerships began because of a debt, both leaders are businessmen, both leaders are red and indentures green, both of the indentures are the “brains of the operation,” both indentures grumble their way through the partnership at first before becoming devoted, and both sit on either side of the server wide war—not just as participants but as the ringleaders. There is also literally even a scene where Martyn tells Ren to put his clothes back on (“me lord? Fancy putting your armour on?”). Frankly this is just scratching the surface, it’s insane how perfect mirrors they are. 

This similarity between the two main groups on the server really highlight the tragedy (lowercase t) of the death game, how these two groups ended up mortal enemies simply because of the world they live in, despite having more in common than differences. And the flower husbands as foils in my opinion ALSO make it sadder. While renchanting and desert duo are messing around with complicated hierarchical relationships and testing loyalty and ordering their partners around, the husbands are working together out of trust and respect. Scott starts out with his fellow greens in rejecting the partnership at first, but he demonstrates what mutualistic relationship should look like, not to mention a relationship that doesn’t make itself the whole server’s problem.

This is already getting long so I won’t get into this next bit too far, but while the red-green pairs foil and mirror each other, each pair also serves as a foil for themselves. Scar is confident while Grian is timid, Ren is trying to do a lot all at once while Martyn is organized and keeps him in line. Jimmy is friendly while Scott is matter of fact. All the reds end up acting as cloudcuckoolanders with the greens to bring them back down to earth and on track. They are all somewhat odd couples, they are very different from one another, and the juxtaposition of these differences highlights each other’s traits as well as their strengths and weaknesses. These partnerships are all advantageous, and they can each fill in for the other’s weaknesses. All three partnerships wouldn’t have made it as far as they did without each other. Not that this makes them idillic partners, they each have their flaws as well, but that’s not really the point. They each help the other shine, like the backing of a jewel. 

Masterlist

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/11/2024

sibling visit!!!!!!!!! but who cares about that my cats finally greeted each other calmly and politely!!!!!!!!

listening

WET DREAM by SNOW WIFE, off one of my sister's playlists. i have since added it to my playlist titled "SOMEBODY COME FUCK THIS (GAY)". sounds like early kesha?

-

reading

oh right i read a brace of temeraire books last week. we're in australia now. excited to see what sort of bullshit we get up to. i do really love these books and am astonished at home much they Feel like period-typical books, but i am too busy going :D :D :D while reading to have tuesdaypost thoughts about them

-

watching

thank you @rae-being-naughty for this rec bc i inhaled A Murder At The End Of The World in one evening. limited series on hulu that is set in Legally Not Elon Musk's Compound with Legally Not Elon Musk.

"A Murder at the End of the World" is a mystery series with a new kind of detective at the helm -- a Gen Z amateur sleuth and tech-savvy hacker named Darby Hart. In the new limited series, Darby and eight other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at a remote and dazzling location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must put to use all of her combined skills to prove it was in fact murder, all against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life.

oh my godddddd do i love a horrible little woman. sopping wet cat pathetic fuckup of a woman. enormous friends at the table clementine kesh vibes here but slightly lesss malicious. now! normally i am a girl's girl. i love women. but my god did darby royally fuck up her former lover.

one of the better hetero-appearing romances ive ever seen-- we fall in love with bill just as much as darby did, and his death drives the show in a way a fridged wife would in a different show.

i like how it is not a show About hacking, and darby became a hacker somewhat incidentally bc she needed to hack to get what she wanted. super tense, beautifully shot, balances current-day and flashbacks well, the twist is honestly bonkers but it is a very fair mystery.

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playing

got clorinde :) now i have to collect one billion starfish to level her up :(

her story quest was so cute! a really fun visual novel take on ttrpgs/larping! everyone got little character art! i like her more uniform-braid-style outfit in the character art more than her actual outfit but oh well. im sure they'll release that one as an alt outfit at some point

also pulled dehya! pyro claymore wielder! goodbye diluc u were a mainstay on my team for a year but there's a hot girl who fills your same niche now

-

making

my sister was here so a lot of sibling bonding (going to lesbian bars, moving furniture up my horrible stairs, art museums, weeping over impossibly well tended five hundred year old tapestries and carpets, etc). i had an Excellent slice of key lime pie cheesecake at House of Pies-- i do not typically enjoy cheesecake, i feel like it's often too rich and leaves a weird coating on my tongue. alarmingly green but the tartness offset the cheesecake in a very pleasing way.

look at my new desk's woodgrain again

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Hi! How do you think the skeletons would react to the Olympics?

Undertale Sans - He's clearly not a sportive guy but that's all there is on TV right now and since moving his butt to fetch the TV remote is near impossible right now, he's watching. He doesn't think much of it and kinda lost interest after a while. But it for sure helps to develop his sportive puns to annoy his S/O when they'll get home.

Undertale Papyrus - He actually traveled to Paris to watch some games with Undyne! It's very new to them, but it's the first time there's a small team of monster athletes and they want to support them! It turns out maybe Monster sports are a bit different and he was definitely outraged after the Soccer team got eliminated because you can't put the ball on fire or throw bullets at the enemies. Clearly the humans don't understand anything. And that fencing, you call that sparing? Papyrus had to hold back Undyne who was SCREAMING to "THROW SPEARS AT THE ENEMY STOP POKING IT WITH YOUR STUPID METAL STICK".

Underswap Sans - He got sent to help with the security and yeah, maybe he kinda forgot once or twice that he was working to watch the games. Blue is sure he can beat all of these guys in a race but the organizer won't let him try. He's just frustrated. What is the point of watching all these people run and jump if you can't do the same? Please someone rob the stadium so he can chase them, he's desperate for exercise.

Underswap Papyrus - He went to Paris with his brother but he really doesn't care about the games. All he cares about is Céline Dion and he swears he's going to see her before going back home. He actually managed to find her, but when she smiled at him, his brain crashed and he kinda passed out in her arms lol. At least he got a selfie. He woke up and discovered she signed his head because he didn't have a paper. He's never washing his skull ever again.

Underfell Sans - He's judging the athletes from his couch. He thinks none of this is really impressive and that he can definitely do better. His brother hears him, looks at him slouched on the couch from head to toe, smirks, and then leaves. Red gasps, offended. What the hell is that supposed to mean?! He throws bones behind his brother as revenge. Edge suddenly bounces on the couch with an enormous bone in hand as a "To be continued..." flashes on the screen.

Underfell Papyrus - Since it's a sportive competition, he assumed everyone could participate so he traveled to Paris with Undyne, had to bear her for 8 hours in a plane, and when he arrived, he got met with confused eyes from the organizers said they actually can't compete? What the hell? He even put his sports clothes under his regular clothes! That's bullshit! Undyne and Edge decide that they don't need their opinion to compete anyway and go to participate in that basketball game, confusing everyone because now there are three teams on the pitch??? Security actually tried to drag them off, but, uh... One death stare of Undyne actually convinced them it was best to not do that. They actually won the game because the other two teams gave up for some reason. Clearly that "the match is canceled" excuse is shit, they were just scared to lose against them. Shortly after that, both of them got arrested and thrown in the first plane going back to Ebott City lmao. At least they're very famous around the world now as they ended on every news broadcast around the planet.

Horrortale Sans - He doesn't understand half of what's going on and he's just going with the mood. They're all at Toriel's place to watch the games and he is kinda cheering when they're cheering so he doesn't feel left out. He has honestly no idea what's going on and why it's suddenly so important to see people enjoying a swimming pool. He's pretty sure he already asked for an explanation so he doesn't ask and stays completely confused.

Horrortale Papyrus - It's more entertaining than he thought! He was not too enthusiastic at first, but Toriel and Grillby managed to hype him a little because of the three monsters that were participating. Turns out Willow is way more competitive than he thought as well, and he keeps screaming at the refereeing because they're as skilled in analyzing as an oyster! He can't believe how bad they are! He's this close to smashing the TV!

Swapfell Sans - He was invited along with the Queen to see the Opening Ceremony. Let's say it was quite memorable. Beheaded people, child kidnapping, a weird naked man cosplaying Undyne. He didn't know France was that cool! He even decided to stay a few more days to rest and have fun for once, asking every Parisian he knows where he can go to see a public decapitation. He's confused why everyone is looking weirdly at him. Should he say it in French for these stupid people to understand? "Je voudrais voir personne faire couic couic the head s'il te plaît" Somehow it's still not working. Those Parisians, always so snob for no reason.

Swapfell Papyrus - He's mad. They canceled his favorite TV Shows just so random humans he has never seen in his life can run like weird ducks for hours??? When does this even end? Ok, maybe it was funny when one of them suddenly facepalmed into the cold hard concrete, but it was four hours ago. If only he had enough strength to grab the TV remote on the table in front of him to switch the channel. But that means he has to leave the fan and no way in hell he's doing that.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He got places to watch some games in Paris and he's judging all of the athletes so hard, to the point he got noticed by all the TV reporters around the planet who keeps interviewing him to ask what he thought of the game. Wine keeps saying they are running like babies and that even those brainless dogs he trained Underground are running faster than that. He added that if it's the best they can do, surely they won't get mad at him if he takes over the crown of this pathetic country to show them how things are done. Many many heads of state didn't like that and now he's kinda watched by all of their secret services because he's considered as dangerous. Wine later added on his social media that if they got offended by that, he has clearly nothing to fear about them. Maybe it's best to make Wine shut up now.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He couldn't care less about those games, but he found a funny thing. He's pausing athletes while they're in the middle of jumping into the water and he's creating memes based of that. They're actually quite popular after a day or two, to the point he gets overwhelmed and pressured to do more. So now he's sleeping in front of the TV, trying to get as many good pictures he can.

[accirax]

Mr. Showtime 2DMV Theory

The release of Mr. Showtime full and its 2DMV... oh my god. I’m back on my Tsukasa bullshit, so please allow me to talk about what I thought was the most interesting part of the 2DMV:

This part, with the jester boy on the moon with balloons. Please ignore the YouTube time bar I don’t know how to get rid of it While the entire 2DMV is gorgeous and bears rewatching one million times, it’s this part that stood out to me in conjunction with the lyrics. Specifically, the strings of the balloons stood out to me, after reading and participating in this post by @/getwonderhoyd. It discussed the symbolism of Tsukasa and the marionette strings in comparison to Mafuyu, and how their tight wind around his fingers implied the tight grasp he has on controlling his situation.

He has that same winding grasp on the balloons. But what are the balloons?

While not all of them are direct depictions of the Wonderland Sekai, many of them also are. The ones that aren’t all seem to be related to stories Tsukasa is featured in, specifically a lot of the girls’ events for some reason? The presents seem to be from On This Holy Night, I Sing; the mermaid tail from Mermaid Adoration; and the tropical climate from A Desperate Situation?! Island Panic!. The plane, I would imagine, is from their travels abroad in Popping In My Heart, and the candy clouds balloon could either also be that event or resemble the clouds in the Smile of a Dreamer cards. I don’t remember where the scary face could be from-- I would posit either a spooky Halloween face for It’s On! Wonder Halloween or the checkered pattern could imply the phantom thieves of A Gentleman Thief’s Thrilling White Day?!. 

Anyways, Tsukasa is clutching on tightly both to the sekai and his memories with his friends. Typical. But could it go deeper than that?

Again, the balloons are his memories. It’s good that he has them, considering his past history with memories. But here, we get some more interesting insight-- these memories are carrying the travelers. The travelers/stars are surely his troupemates, and Tsukasa believes he is carrying them with his memories. Sure, he’s carrying them with him through what he remembers, but as the leader, I think he believes that he’s the one carrying them forward. Not in a totally vain way, of course-- he loves his friends and thinks they’re all super talented, too. But there is one way that he specifically is undeniably carrying them... and that’s through the existence of his very own sekai.

That’s why his memories of prior events and the memories of the sekai are so combined. This other post which I adore by @/wondahoiii discusses how sekais are based off of repressed feelings. This makes the Wonderland Sekai, and the fact that it’s a neverending paradise based off of solely Tsukasa’s childhood memories, kind of terrifying.

Wonderlands x Showtime has had a lot of events recently about how much they don’t want their time as a group to end, even though it inevitably will. All four of them have lyrics here about wanting to avoid an ending, while Tsukasa is the only one shown acknowledging its arrival. But, down to the name, Wonderlands x Showtime and the Wonderland Sekai are connected. Since Tsukasa and Rui would have never made up without Kaito and Miku’s help, you could argue that Wonderlands x Showtime couldn’t exist without the Wonderland Sekai. So, in a way, when the members say they don’t want “it” to end, they could also be talking about how they don’t want the Wonderland Sekai to end.

What happens when true feelings are resolved?

If Vivid Bad Squad becomes a tight foursome without envy and insecurity and surpasses RAD Weekend, would they need the Street Sekai to practice in anymore? If Kanade really does write a song that can save Mafuyu, and all the members of Nightcord become mentally healthy, would they need advice from Miku, Meiko, or anyone else anymore? Someday, More More Jump will retire from being idols, right? Would the Stage Sekai still exist, even then?

And what about Tsukasa? If he became a mentally healthy person, one who could retain and potentially regain all of his memories, and make people like Saki smile... what would happen to the Wonderland Sekai?

There’s a certain fear in being the one-man show that fuels an entire universe.

Tsukasa will do anything to make the people he cares about smile. It’s literally the basis of the Wonderland Sekai itself. So, if the Wonderland Sekai makes Emu, Nene, and Rui smile, of course he would keep it open with all his power. Not to mention that, as reminded by the event story balloons, the Wonderlands Sekai is making his friends better people. Emu has people who unshakably care about her, Nene is overcoming her stage fright, and Rui feels understood and appreciated for the first time ever, thanks to the Virtual Singers inside the sekai. The Wonderland Sekai is making them better.

But at the same time, there’s a problem. As stated, the Wonderland Sekai consists of every happy childhood memory Tsukasa has repressed. For the Wonderland Sekai to exist, Tsukasa has to repress these memories, or else they wouldn’t be “emotions never expressed.” While I would never say that Wonderlands x Showtime was unhealthy for Tsukasa, it’s possible that, to a point, the Wonderland Sekai is. If he wants to reclaim his memories, he has to let the Wonderland Sekai go.

He has to be the one to bring about the catastrophic end.

It’s not just that Tsukasa wants to keep up a happy attitude so that no one will worry about him, or through some sense of pride at being the unshakable leader with masterful skills of pretending. It may be that Tsukasa is worried that if he shows even a crack, so will the world they’ve come to love. You know-- the one that Hasn’t Even Started Yet.

Which is why Tsukasa will never let go of those balloons. The ones that only contain memories of recent events; nothing about elementary school, or middle school, or even Saki and her heart-wrenching hospital trips. Living in the present, keeping things going, ignoring the past, is the only way to keep the Wonderland Sekai alive in his mind. Until closing time comes, Tsukasa and virtual singers like Luka will share this secret. Just like how Luka is constantly falling asleep, Tsukasa, too, will fall asleep on his own needs to ensure that he’ll keep the never-ending merry-go-round spinning. He’ll give up his own happiness for the betterment of others. He refuses to express his memories in words so that he can bear the burden of carrying the travelers by his side.

For the ultimate sacrifice... the show must go on!

[oreharuuu]

éta ritual (1)

Summary: You didn't know why you agreed to do some stupid ritual on the first place. You've never had believe on the supernatural. Maybe you will after this encounter.

Warnings: none

A/N: oop first post, reminder this will be a yandere series. and I'm planning on making it a bit towards horror. Oh, and it's ot8 ;)

Going back to a few days ago, you really weren't paying attention to what your friends have been talking about. You were mindlessly scrolling through Instagram when Jieun, one of your oldest friends, tapped you on the shoulder.

Your whole life you've never been this stressed out. Not even your siblings could make you almost faint at how stupid they were at believing stuff.

"Hey, (name)! Have you been hearing us this whole time?" She pouted. "So mean! I was explaining something fun here."

"Sorry," You sheepishly apologized. "What were you explaining again?"

Jieun smiled as she clapped her hands. "I found this website, super creepy! They have an interesting ritual where—"

"Yeah nope."

"(name)! I swear it's so interesting," Jieun smiled as she grabbed her phone, typing something for a while. "Oh wait, I forgot to turn on the VPN."

You sighed before looking at Hyein, only for her to shrug her shoulders. "It's kinda interesting, the ritual said you could potentially summon hot demons."

"That's what you focus on? Not the weird creepy ritual Jieun somehow find through an obscure internet site?"

"Hey! For the record, it wasn't me who founded it. It was Kim," Jieun wagged her finger before pulling up her phone. "See? Super creepy."

What you're looking at seems to be like one of those dark web stuff that you usually watch from YouTube. How it's supposedly blocked from any access unless you know the code or something. It's corny but it works, with how minimalist and not threatening the website.

Jieun then tapped on one of the links and there it was. The summoning ritual. It's the same as the website, minimalist in every way. It only has a few steps that you apparently should follow if you want to summon a demon. Or demons.

1. Make sure you're in an empty and dark room, prepare an unlit candle in the middle of your circle.

2. Hold hands with each other, make sure there's four to eight participants.

3. Close your eyes, don't open them. If you open them there will be consequences.

4. One of the participants will read the chants slowly and clearly.

5. Listen to your surroundings, there will be sounds.

6. If the ritual is successful, then the candle will be lit.

"Weird. Usually candles are lit before right? Then some freaky stuff happens before it's blown by a wind," You hummed.

"Or maybe a hot demon," Hyein smirked.

"Yeah, again, no."

You placed the phone back to Jieun's hand before closing it. "Jieun, I love you—"

"I know."

"—but you seriously better not be doing this. It's bullshit. It's make believe."

Jieun sighed. "I know, but it's been so boring lately that I've been searching for stuff to do in our free time. And when Kim offered us to do the ritual I can't just reject the offer!"

University was closed for a few weeks. You don't know for sure but whispers around the hall said it's related to someone's death. Who's death? You don't know for sure. You don't even know if it's a rumor or the truth. But then again, free from stress and annoying professors? Sounds like a good time for you.

You hummed before stopping. "What do you mean by offered?"

"It means," Hyein started. "That Jieun and I already agreed to do the ritual, and you're going with us!"

"What?!"

●

That's how you find yourself in some abandoned building that Kim found, with the printed instruction held on Hyein's hand. She hands the paper to Jieun, who excitedly grabbed it before facing the both of you.

Jieun squealed. "This is going to be so awesome!"

"Of course. If we succeed, then we'll have the experience of a life time," Kim hummed as she grabbed the candle from her bag. You glared at her from the corner of your eyes, not liking how calm and reserved she is.

You've never been close with Kim. Only Hyein and Jieun were close to her because they have the same course in university. Sure she's nice to you, but she somehow always unnerves you at times when she just stared into oblivion without blinking. Even then you could still sometimes hear her mumbling something, like she's talking to someone. She wasn't like this when you first met her, this strange behavior only started when university got closed off.

You tried to dwell your nervousness and slowly walked to the rest as they sat around in a circle. You sit between Hyein and Kim, ignoring the shiver you got when you noticed how cold her hand's were. You ignored her when she glanced at you a few times, focusing at how Jieun was practically moving with excitement.

"Ok, I have the papers in front of me. It's already dark, so now we just have to close our eyes."

You exhaled before closing your eyes. You're scared of the dark but at least you're holding hands with someone to know they're still there. Even though it's Kim but you tried to ignore it.

"Everyone has their eyes closed?" Jieun asked, and you all answered a soft 'yes'. "Alright, let's start."

You regulate your breathing and tried to listen to any of the sounds mentioned in the instructions. Well it didn't really specify what sound you're supposed to hear, but you kept listening anyway.

Jieun's still chanting, so you assumed the ritual wasn't working. You held back a yawn before changing into a slouching posture, trying to stay awake. For some reason Jieun wanted the ritual to be held at midnight so you don't want to argue with her. You just want this to be over.

The chanting abruptly ended, making you frown in confusion as to why Jieun stopped.

"...I hear something."

Your heart plummeted, gripping Hyein's hand before waiting for someone to speak up again. Hyein's grip turned lax, making you curse.

"I-I hear something too!"

Mentally cursing out your friends, you tried to think that this was all not real. Maybe they're just pranking you, right? They're the ones who founded it, maybe Kim asked them to prank you because they know you don't believe in this kinds of stuff.

"(name), how about you?" Kim suddenly asked, making you jolt in surprise. You didn't answer, not when you're trying to regulate your breathing so you would calm down. You ignored how Kim's grip turned even tighter than before, her nails seemingly more sharper than ever. You tried to take your hand away from her, struggling slightly when it's apparent she doesn't want to let go.

That's when you heard it.

(name)...(name)....

You scream in surprise, tilting your head downwards and closing your eyes even tighter. There's no fucking way the ritual actually worked, you don't even want to open your eyes. Kim's grip turned normal as if she could hear what you just said.

"It's time to open our eyes. If we see the candle lit then it means someone's with us," Kim explained before taking her hand's off you. You decided whether or not to open your eyes, mentally debating if it's the right thing to do.

You shivered when the cold air hits you suddenly, before you felt like someone or something touching your shoulder softly.

open your eyes, darling

You snapped your eyes open, glancing back to see nothing. You looked back at the unlit candle before noticing that all of your friends seemed to be waiting for it to be lit. Not even a second later, the candle was lit.

"What the fuck?!" You screamed, moving backwards. Hyein seems to be scared and hesitant as well, following you to hold your hands together. Jieun just seems excited while Kim blankly looked at the candle.

"Wow, it actually worked!" Jieun awed in wonder before moving closer to the candle. "Jieun! What the fuck? Move away from it," Hyein hissed.

"Oh, don't be a big baby. Besides, if the ritual works then—uh...what's the purpose of the ritual anyway?"

Sometimes you want to strangle Jieun so hard when times like these happens, when her stupidity knows no boundaries that it could cost you harm to you and your loved ones. But these kinds of things intrigued her, she loves the unknown territory. You're happy for her to have a hobby like this but this was really out of your boundaries.

"When the candle is lit, it means that someone is here for you. It hears all of your desires and needs. It wants to help you," Kim answered as she grabs the candle, blowing it out before grabbing her bag.

"Wha—Is that it?! What the fuck should we even do after this?" Hyein gawked. Kim glanced at her before standing up, walking slowly to the both of you.

"Wait and see. You'll notice when it's there, you just have to be patient. If they show themselves—"

"Wait, we're gonna fucking see them?!"

Kim glared at Hyein before continuing. "Yes. If they show themselves, it means that they're ready to help you."

You bit your lip, grabbing Hyein's hand tighter before looking up to Kim. "Why...why do we need to wait for them to show up?"

Kim tilted her head at you, looking up into the dark abyss before smiling down at you. You really didn't like how she smiles, it's creepy.

"Well, you're not getting the help for free. You have to earn it."

You moved your gaze to Hyein as she looks anxious, even Jieun was starting to fidget with her fingers as she listens to Kim. You yelped when Kim suddenly squatted in front of you, making Hyein move away.

Kim brush your hair behind your ears, humming slightly. "I'm jealous of you. I was the one who summoned them, well not all of them. But they wanted you. I don't know why...but I'm intrigued," She whispered. Moving her mouth next to your ears, you could've sworn to hear a growl nearby. Or maybe growls?

"Just a reminder, once they take a liking to you, they'll always be there. Always."

And with that, Kim stood up and walked away. Leaving the three of you to comprehend what the fuck just happened.

[tied-ash]

DRDT ROLE SWAP: CHAPTER 1 SUMMARY - DAILY LIFE

Since me and the friend I've been watching DRDT with have finished Chapter 1 not too long ago, I've decided to think about the thoughts of that one DRDT AU I have (Not DRRT, but the Role Swap AU).

If you need a rundown of the AU, you can look at this post:

With that in mind, this obviously has spoilers for all of Chapter 1! If I get any of the events wrong, let me know!

Also... this is long :,) I've underlined & bolded the important parts.

After the killing game was announced, the students were left speechless. They eventually decide to investigate the facility in hopes of finding anything useful. Veronika, the ultimate horror fanatic, was used to this. She was content with being alone. However, Xander quickly perked up and offered to go with her. With other's encouragement, she decided to accept his offer.

The investigation was pretty standard... if not a wee bit swapped. Veronika was the one who made most of the informative comments, while Xander commented on other things. However, he was able to get a list of the other participants' weapons.

During their investigation, they ran into many of the others. This included J in the infirmary with Rose, patching up the latter's wounds (though J kept commenting on how she really was not fit for this, and Arturo should be the one to be doing this), as well as Ace and Min in the bathrooms - Ace seeming bored out of his mind as Min rambled about something that neither Veronika or Xander cared about.

Eventually, the investigation came to a close. Nobody was able to find an exit, unfortunately. That aside, everyone decided to split up and do their own thing. Before doing so, however, Levi had mentioned that the elevator was probably something to look at.

As such, Veronika chose to do just that. There, she met up with Arei and Rose. They get into a small scrabble about talents, with Veronika explaining that she has been destined to be, what she likes to call, a "typical horror movie final girl". Why else would she be so interested in horror? VERONIKA: "Ever since I can remember, I've been put through very interesting experiences. Many people who even dared to walk into my life are met with an unfortunate end. I just find it interesting to see people who are like me... you know?" Arei calls bullshit on that, but Veronika insists that it's true. Regardless, she talks about herself as well, claiming that she never really wanted to get into bowling. Well- she did, but she quickly lost interest after lots of "sleepless nights", though she does not elaborate. She comments about having to want to prove someone wrong, but once again, refuses to elaborate. Even though they were unable to open the elevator, at least they have something to bring to the rest of the class.

With that in mind, they do just that! And Ace has the perfect solution to see who's strongest; an arm wrestling competition. He was originally just gonna have a fist fight, but quickly realized he'd have to partake in that. And quickly changed his mind. The arm wrestling competition goes as the same in canon, with Xander winning it. Upon opening the elevator... the same thing happens. It's out of order.

Without much else to do, Veronika finds three people in the kitchen; Nico, Whit, and Levi. The three of them explain that they were planning to bake some stuff, which was admittedly Whit's idea. Veronika very excitedly joins in. While they bake the cake, Whit is quick to make a bunch of baking puns (I would specify, but staring at the 113 baking puns list is giving me a headache) while Nico and Veronika tend to the actual baking. Also ignore Levi, he's totally not just eating straight up sugar. That's not a thing he's doing. Totally. Anyway, after the baking is done, they decide to frost the cookies! They turn out... um... Nico's are certainly the best, being animals that they feel represent the others (Golden retriever - seeing as Whit is very... well... I don't think I have to explain, Siamese Cat - for their supposed chill nature, and Parrot - for their very talkative nature). Veronika's is of various horror characters. They're amazing works of art, but the cookies look inedible. Whit's are mainly just hearts. Nothing special, to be honest. And... Levi... Let's just say that it barely looks edible with the mass amount of sprinkles he put on it.

But, of course, the cake is ruined after they decorate it. It was certainly fun while it lasted. There's better things to worry about, anyway. The fact that Veronika seemed to sprain her knee! Due to that injury, Nico decides to take Veronika to the infirmary.

At the infirmary, they meet up with (or, rather, literally run into) Xander. He looks very out of it. However, before either of them could ask him what's going on, he stumbles away, leaning on the wall for support. Brushing off that strange interaction, they enter and see Charles in an almost similar stance. Upon closer inspection, Veronika realizes that he had removed his mask (In case I forgot to mention it, RoleSwap! Charles wears a mask to conceal his wound. It's like a mask that painters would use, but more... chemist...y. If that makes any sense.) The horror fanatic helps him calm down, and thanks to that, Charles orders Nico to leave. With them gone, the chemist shows Veronika his weapon: Some sort of chemical mixture. It's definitely not deadly, which he emphasizes greatly. VERONIKA: "Why are you showing this to me, Charles?" CHARLES: "..." VERONIKA: "Aww, do you trust me?" CHARLES: "...I'm not going to elaborate." VERONIKA: "You DO trust me~!" Alas, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Hearing some commotion in the dining hall, Veronika and Charles discover that Ace is causing a ruckus. He seems really petty about the whole baking situation. Like... really, REALLY damn petty. So petty that David has to shut him up. However, after a half-assed apology, MonoTV announces that a motive is to be held! And just before the class goes to sleep, Charles instructs Veronika to meet him in the computer lab. According to him, he found something on the computers that could be of use.

The next day is laundry day! Min and Xander are there! As the three of them discuss various things, Xander suddenly brings up parents. He mentions that his family was very nice- they're the reason why he's so motivated. Min is reluctant to engage, claiming that her family was... average. Veronika (I don't know anything about Canon! Veronika's family, so this is just an educated guess) explains how her family was... not exactly the healthiest. With all of the horrible incidents Veronika nearly caused by accident, her family is very weary of her. Xander promises Veronika that they'll try their best to make her comfortable and safe.

Surprisingly enough, Arturo had gotten Veronika to walk around with him. However, despite her excitement, Veronika quickly comes to realize that it's only so Arturo can complain about his special weapon. Levi hears the commotion and tags along, trying to see how a scalpel can be useful. However, Levi gets distracted, mentioning how they might be able to discern what kind of paint was used for the walls. He has slight knowledge about that kind of thing, as you have to take into account of the fabric dye when making a costume (ignore the fact I'm pulling this out of my ahh). However, without the right materials, it's close to impossible to figure it out.

Later, in the computer lab, Veronika runs into Teruko and J. They seem to be having a civil discussion... until Teruko starts talking about her misfortune again. After hearing so much about it, J gets fed up and leaves. And... That's all that happens there. Yup.

At lunch (dinner?), Charles and Veronika talk to Eden. It's a nice conversation, honestly. Even if nothing important happens, it's nice to hear about the hours of work Eden spends on clocks. However, they're interrupted by Arei, who mocks them. This causes Eden to quickly retreat, annoying Charles. However, nothing is really done about Arei. It's not like Charles or Veronika feel any extreme compulsion to confront the bowler.

They also talk to Hu! Now, I haven't mentioned it yet, but in this AU, Charles is actually very fond of the zither player. She's the person who he treats with the most respect. In fact, he's listened to her music whenever he needs a break, or is studying... or... well, he listens to her music a lot. So it's very nice to hear sweet nothings words of encouragement coming from his idol. In this AU, there's a good chance that Charles/Hu will be a ship. I love rarepairs. Feel free to put down ship names in the comments. Please.

Finally, they show the cookies! And... the cake... ...We don't talk about the cake.

BUT IT TASTES GOOD SO NO WORRIES.

After that mess, Veronika keeps her promise to Charles and meets him in the computer lab. He's acting horribly suspicious...

VERONIKA: "...Charles? What are you doing?" CHARLES: "...I'm... I'm sorry, Veronika."

She suddenly felt a rush of pain in her stomach. As the blood dripped from her mouth, she could only stare up at Charles and watch his reaction. The way he stumbled back, almost drunkenly. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was as if something possessed him to stab her.

VERONIKA: “Why… did you…?”

But Charles didn’t respond. He only stared at the blood, his breathing increasing. He couldn’t bring himself to articulate any words for a long time. There was only silence filled with Veronika’s sharp breaths. Finally, he spoke.

CHARLES: “I… I was told to… V-Veroni—ka—“

Then, there was silence again. The chemist was surprised that she hadn’t fallen yet. Then, suddenly…

She began to laugh.

VERONIKA: “Kagh… hah… This… you failed.”

CHARLES: “…??”

VERONIKA: “Y… You can’t kill me. Over and over… I’ve gone through this same thing… horrible events that left my friends dead… left me… in pain… haha…”

She gave him a terrifying smile.

VERONIKA: “…you’re nothing more than another antagonist in my story…”

Charles shut his eyes. Those were the last things Veronika remembers before passing out. As the world grew dark, she could still hear her distant laughter.

[thewertsearch]

CURRENT apocalypseArisen [CAA] RIGHT NOW responded to memo. CAA: i will n0t be participating

Shocking.

I still believe that Aradia will find herself again - but right now, she's still a deer in the headlights of the Alpha. It's not her time.

CCC: I mean, I don't really mind talking to t)(em! It could be fun and t)(ey look interesting. CCC: But I really don't t)(ink t)(is is all t)(eir fault.

The trolls can all kind of tell that this is bullshit. Even the ones who are on board for the campaign are doing it for their own reasons - Terezi is experimenting, Kanaya is flirting, and Tavros is just happy to have someone to rap with.

The only one who's sincere about this is Karkat himself - and I think even he's starting to wonder. He's seen a lot of John's journey by now, and he's not stupid. Behind his frothing rage is a sneaking suspicion that these kids are not, in fact, his enemies.

PAST terminallyCapricious [PTC] 420 HOURS AGO responded to memo.

Gamzee has his own personal arc number, and it ain't 413.

CGC: EUHFHSDKLNVSDJKLSJKBSDJKF PTC: wHoA CGC: K4RK4T IS M4SHING MY K3YBOSDVFDNFLBLGBGSDGFSB['A [...] CGC banned herself from responding to memo. CGC unbanned herself from responding to memo. CGC banned herself from responding to memo. CGC unbanned herself from responding to memo. CCG: WHY ARE YOU BANNING YOURSELF TEREZI????

They're fighting over a single keyboard, aren't they?

They're sitting at the same terminal, holding each other back as they manually switch accounts, and arguing through texts instead of looking at each other.

Only in Homestuck, I'm tellin' ya.

CCG: HEY VRISKA, YOU'RE DOWN WITH MY TROLLING PLAN. CCG: WHY DON'T YOU TELL EVERYONE IN RAINBOW ASSGRAB JUNCTION WHAT A GREAT IDEA IT IS. CAG: I'm 8usy. CCG: WHAT THE FUCK COULD YOU BE BUSY WITH??? CAG: I'm making my own plans! I'm a pretty 8ig deal, remem8er Karkat?

Ooh, I don't like the sound of that.

We haven't seen any trolling from Vriska, but she did show up in Jade's trollslum, early in Act 4. I don't like the idea of Vriska getting her claws in Jade - especially with Terezi, Karkat and Kanaya distracted with their own humans. This might become a problem.

[jorrated]

Some super stray thoughts I had while reading STCO so far:

Knuckles would NOT prioritize his past over Tikal’s suffering are you crazy in the head!!!!

Zak Simond-Hurn’s art is really charming, if it wasn't for the digital onomatopoeias, I wouldn’t mind having this style by a base for an official sonic comic! The design for the red echidna villain however… HM. Not pleasing to the eye.

I like that Ebony are having a bigger role on the fist few issues! But also Ebony’s constantly referring to Super as his friend and doing things to bring him back. Like I get it but also is this going to be her only trait now? Girl…

And porker is going on adventures again. Actually I don’t think they ever explained why Porker went back to being more adventurous in the og comic, participating in Chaos defeat and all. Not against it, and I like to see he still has a bit of bite and wasn't reduced to only a coward, tho it would’ve been cool to see at least a comment on how hes back on “adventuring”.

It’s cool to see Amy dealing with grief over Jhonny (I’ve given up trying to write his name correctly, too weird for me), but IDK. Amy probably was the best grounded character in that situation, so it feels weird to see her distressed over it? I don’t know how to explain it but in my eyes, Amy’s grief for Jhonny would definitively be more melancholic than scary/guilty. I’m glad they are trying to flesh out Amy more, but it doesn’t feel very cohesive with the comic to me. And Jhonny-zombie the killer… a bit tacky but in a funny way.

WHO…. Designed Vichama. I just want to talk. Tell me why you made him look that way. What is that. What went through your head. Dude. I get that Ebony has considerably more anthro body features than the other animal characters, but I feel like Vichama crosses the line into the “gross valley”. If he were drawn closer to how Zachary is I probably wouldn’t care, he probs would’ve looked like an Archie character. But the bulging muscles are kinda upsetting to look at. Cover up man.

So Shadow was created by some enemies of the echidnas. Noted.

Big and the Drakon prosecutor are actually really cute. I like them. Knuckles trying to break Ebony’s spell on Tikal is making me fume. HE WOULDN'T TRY TO DO THAT!!!!! He maybe would be a little desperate trying to trigger some memories but he wouldn't knowingly hurt someone to get information!!!! There is a pannel tho in this part of the comic that makes Knux ask “Where is Porker” and then “Where is the emeralds”. THAT is Knuckles to me, checking in on people before anything else.

Knuckles not being able to carry Big is bullshit. KNUCKLES PUNCHES ROCKS IN HALF LMAO. It’s fine I assume they need to be separated for a reason.

ROUGE STICK LEGS. Somebody please give my girl a double cheeseburger with extra fries and a big gulp of soda.

Actually I love that Rouge is a cunt here. Girlboss!!!! Stole this dudes emeralds AND left them to die, queen shit. Didn’t work but she did have the intent to kill them.

Big wouldn’t eat his friends….. He’d never eat Froggy, and DP (Drakon Prosecutor) even tho looks like a fish, Big considers a friend. BIG WOULDNT THINK ABOUT EATING HIS FRIENDS!!! HE IS A KIND BIG GUY!!!!!!!!!!!! ← most egregious mistake until now. Fucking funny tho can you imagine dying by vore They kept Mighty funny, that’s good.

MMMMN. I like that Sonic is consistently arachnophobic. Really nice continuity. How he first met Shadow tho… It felt underwhelming? Like yeah we know they were going to meet some time but IDK. The framing/pacing is weird to me. Either have them meet quickly at the start of the issue and Sonic is like “IDK WHO that guy is but I don’t like him!!!” or have them meet at the end of the issue, but only show Shadow in shadow (lol) to hook to the next issue. Shadow’s bland ass “I am Shadow” has the same energy as two kindergartners introducing themselves first day of school.

Shadow’s personality is interesting tho. I like him being a bit cocky but not too much, it’s a good take on him, plus he bounces off Sonic pretty well. I do wonder what the hell they’re going to do with him tho.

Awn… acknowledgment of some of the chaotix families… Blockhead Bill my dude

Tikal being given more of a spotlight is neat. It doesn’t give her much, but it’s refreshing to see her thoughts and intentions. However, I can’t help but think that she was mainly inserted to aid Knuckles and be a well of angst. Like IDK, Knuckles has moments mourning his past, or wondering if he will ever understand his ancestors, and Tikal well… She sees things rather than feel? If that makes sense? Like in this comic she is able to see a bit of the past and think “wow this is horrible! Must be a nightmare!” but she doesn’t feel despair? Or anything much? The only moment so far she felt despair was to make Knux Angst, like “ooooh shes suffering so we need to wipe her memories, that means Knuckles wont have his backstories :(“. Smells fishy.

Oh wow, Shadow has an actually interesting backstory here. It gives a reason to follow Robotnik, hate Sonic, not give a shit, aaaand its ambiguous enough you can probably pull off whatever. Fucking congrats STCO writers.

Fave image. What the fuck are they even doing here. Freaks.

Hm. No thoughts on Shadows maybe death. Thematically it’s interesting and all, but we don’t get enough time with him to give a shit. Unless I’m reading it wrong it seems like Shadow is sacrificing himself to save Robotnik, but IDK.

Grimer develops a situatioship depression.

2007 ANTI-ASIAN RACISM. BAD.

Bro what’s with this Knuckles characterization. He would NOT be mean to Tikal. If anything he’d probably be a bit overbearing, trying to give attention to her even if she didn’t want it. I get trying to tie him living his whole life alone being overwhelmed and feeling frustrated that Tikal can’t give him answers, but he wouldn't treat her like crap what is this. I like Porker’s and Knux bro moment, but that doesn’t make up for treating Tikal badly for no reason. Where’s her catharsis? She’s probably just as confused and desperate as Knuckles but she doesn't get any of these moments. Sigh. This idea could’ve definitely worked if Tikal was pushier or more imposing, but like she doesn’t do much, so Knuckles just snaps and it feels off. Knuckles’s stories are probably the issues with the biggest potential, but the writers for sure squander him the most, whomp whomp.

“One of Sonic’s fears is seeing Amy settle down with someone else” no it isn’t shut the fuck up. And the fact they put this on the same level of fear as Jhonny death is deranged.

The tonal whiplash between character comics is p funny honestly. You’ll have one really serious comic followed by a comedic one, lil bit of a mood killer. I guess STC also did this, but to me it at least wasn't jarring like this. Like how am I supposed to process Big getting shot, after Knux and Tikal experiencing the worst nightmare of their lives, living the trauma of seeing million of dead echidnas, after Vector put angel island as a security fund for his ship LMAO.

SONIC CHARACTERS HELPINH OUT THE POLICE SFAJHBJHBWRKJBJB??????!!!!!!!!????????????????????!!!!!!!!!????????11111111!!!!!!!111!!!!111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate this actually.

These Shorty and Tekno comics…… I don’t know what it is about them but god. I just don’t like them! Firstly that now it seems they are a completely separated duo from the rest of the team. Like They don’t interact with Sonic or Amy or whatever. Secondly.. Shortfuse is TOO nice. It doesn’t feel like him where is his tantrums??? And this isn’t a diss on the artstyle itself, cause I think it looks pretty nice and cute, but I don’t think it’s really fitting for the characters? Tekno and Shorty look like they’re in a shoujo manga.

I really like how Sonic is now a loser LOL. He got canceled to hell and back.

Finally Rouge makes and appearance. Kinda only realized how little she showed up during the SA2 adaptation.

Grimer destroying Sonic’s reputation is actually kinda nice. I like that they acknowledge his Robotnik situationship depression, tho I think it’s a bit over the top have him be behind EVERYTHING. Still like it tho. Go gross boy go! (Also the art in this issue is REALLY solid, wow, Zak Simond-Hurn really is my favorite artist from the STCO group).

At some point I think I need to stop complaining about Knux’s characterization. But I Do Not Like How They Write My Boy. Doc Zach is still serving cunt so that’s great. Go grandpa go!

It’s kinda awesome to see how the issues expanded through STCO’s run, but I think having so many stories at the same time kinda makes stuff bloated. Like I’m sure I’ll forget some parts of this, even if they are short bits. Like do we really need to follow 2 sonic stories and 2 amy stories at the same time? I think it would’ve been better to pace this with a limit of 3-4 stories MAX per issue. And then once a character story is done, release the next story with the same character. Sonic and Knuckles are kinda always going to be there, having the biggest pull on the comic’s lore and story, so the other ones could cycle out between amy, tekno, shorty, tails, sonic’s world, chaotix, and so on. I haven’t read some of the other non-sonic stories like decap n attack, but those could be thrown in the cycle too!

Actually I love that DP is just hanging out in Big’s restaurant. It’s goofy I really love it.

I wonder how old Sonic’s gang is supposed to be here. Like in theory some years have passed in the comic, but how many. It’s not important at all but Amy is seen drinking wine with Chrysalis and it’s like?? Is she a kid?? Is she an adult?? Is she underage drinking? Again it’s not a big deal, and I don’t even think these characters need a specific age but IDK this was odd to me.

Oof the multiple stories at the same type problem came instantly. I like how Amy acknowledges the losses of the group, Sonic is “evil”, Jhonny is dead, Tekno is missing and stuff, Porker has PTSD and cant fight… But like. That feels so weird when you have a story right next to it with Amy and Tekno together!!! This is why the pacing and bloating feels whack, the comic has continuity with SOME of the stories but not all so its confusing. I know the OG comic had moments like these but because it had less stories per issue, it was way less noticeable, and usually were one-off stories I think.

And on the topic of Porker, I did mention before how he just kinda.. went back to being more adventurous? But know the comic insists that he can’t do it? Man this is kinda messy. I don’t mind Porker starting to become more adventurous again and then maybe regressing a bit in recovery, being too much for him, but it doesn’t feel like that is what it’s being intended here. It feels like someone read STC and maybe skimmed on STCO and then wrote this, so it feels out of place? Like you have porker in the first issue of STCO going on a mission no problems at all, but then on another issue he goes on a mission to blow up an eggman database or smth and hes freaking the fuck out being nervous all the time. Like which is it!!!!! I don’t mind him progressing and regressing on his trauma but at least acknowledge or be consistent with it! Is it because the underwater mission didn’t involve Robotnik? Is that it? Who knows.

I get that Knux and the crew planned to bait Zachary and shit, but like, then why did they act like that in the previous issue? Like the plan was to break the shield so why did Porker said to Knux be careful about it? Girl. This information is only given to bait and switch the audience and it doesn’t work. Porker and Knux have no reason to pretend to not have a plan when they are alone what.

Tails working with cops I’m going to kill myself.

Oh so like. The special zone is dead for real. Like for real FR. Jesus. Could’ve let the characters grieve a bit huh.

Really liked the #250 issue (Tho its funny that I complained about the number of stories per issue, and then #250 has ONE story LOL)! It’s awesome to see the different arts from the varied artists on the STCO team. And even with my complains and whining, it’s an impressive project full of love, good to see stuff like this!

TURBO TURBO TURBO MY BOY TURBO!!!!

The art on this issue is great but some of the flow of the dialogue is off, as in, sometimes I don’t know which speech bubble I’m supposed to read next, cause usually you go left to right, but it seems this story follows top to bottom for speech bubbles and left to right to panel. Not awful but it did throw me off, and it does fuck up the pacing.

um. hi shadow? ok.

(Only read until issue #250)

[chickenparm]

Where You Willed The Moon - Part 3/End

happy scara-release-day, here's the ending of this little goofy thing as a celebration. mind the chapter tags for specific warnings :^) can you tell this chapter is just a love letter to scaramouche? is it that obvious?

---

AO3 Link Prev Part

Scaramouche/Reader (reader is the traveler) reader in prev parts is F but this part can be read as GN 3,119 Words - NSFW Chapter Tags: Blowjobs, Crying, Confessions, minor Overstimulation Story Tags: Unhealthy Codependence, Enemies to Lovers, P in V, f!Receiving Oral, Thigh Riding, Mentions of m!Losing Virginity, Pining, Bullshit Sereniteapot Magic, sub-ish Scara when it counts :^)

Spoilers for the Sumeru story, disregards anything post-boss-fight.

---

“You could try to be a little civil.”

“And you could find a hole to stuff her in and we could leave her.”

…

“Why do you need her, anyway? You’ve got me now. Surely I’d be a better guide than a flying lavender melon.”

“Well, for starters, Paimon isn’t a wanted criminal.”

“I doubt I’m wanted. The sages are unlikely to admit their folly, and the Fatui aren’t necessarily on anyone’s good side, even on their best days.”

“Paimon is my best friend. I think that’s a good enough reason to not leave her in a ditch somewhere.”

“And I’m your-”

“My what?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Think about it. We’ll talk about it tonight-”

—

Wangshu Inn is deceptively quiet. Such a central location, popular with travelers and merchants alike, should be far more bustling than it currently is. But the weather is balmy and warm, the sky is clear, the roads have been safer, so it’s no wonder if there are more campfires dotted on the horizon than usual. 

It leaves you in blissful quiet, only the occasional conversation drifting from the walkways above and below, too muffled to really eavesdrop on anything of importance. That’s well enough for you - you’re alone, leaning on the window, breathing in of the slightly humid air that’s tinged with the dinner that’s being made in the kitchens below. 

Scaramouche will be back soon - it’s hard to break the habit of calling him that, when you’ve gone so long. You’d never use it to his face, but you’ve given up on trying to push that away for now. It’s not a terrible name, the connotations having been changed in your heart the moment your consciousness touched his own. 

With him comes Paimon - they’ve been arguing again, you can tell with how Paimon takes her food and disappears in a shower of sparks. She’s been doing that more often, her distaste for him well known despite your assurances that he’s not the same man that had been so hostile before. Conflicting personalities, you supposed. Like two pieces of sandpaper. 

“You’re thinking hard.”

“I’m not thinking at all.” Your counter comes over your shoulder, given with a lazy smile and a shrug of your shoulder. The skin of your cheek sticks to your shoulder with how thick the air feels, Liyue’s Summer has been particularly unforgiving this year, so you’ve heard. 

“Oh, so your head is just as empty as I thought it was.”

“You looked into it, remember? Saw my every thought?” Your lower back presses against the window frame as you turn to lean against it, watching as he settles at the low table and portions out food for himself. It’s unnecessary for him - food doesn’t provide him with anything other than an interesting pastime. Yet he participates anyway, and you’re not about to shame him for finding enjoyment in something so trivial.

At your questions, he lifts his gaze, unable to block his expressions with the hat that was thrown haphazardly on the bed you’ll share this evening. Without it, he seems almost vulnerable - like he’s lost a shield that protects him. The answer lingers for a moment, before he nods in an effort to forego something verbal. Your silence in return urges him to backtrack on that. 

“I did. Everything - likely as much as you’ve seen about me, I’d say.” Violet eyes turn to his bowl, filled with only rice for the moment. He takes a second to mix it around aimlessly, steam rolling once his chopsticks break the surface. “I wouldn’t have killed you, you know. In our fight.”

“One hundred and sixty-eight times grows a little fuzzy, but… I believe you.”

The amusement in your tone seems to annoy him, and he fixes you with an unconvincing glare and a sharp exhale. “I mean it. When we connected, I saw your life. Where you’ve been, what you’ve gone through. You aren’t human - you’re immortal. You won’t-”

Leave me. 

He doesn’t need to finish the thought, that mere insinuation making his cheeks color slightly as he looks you in the eye with all the bravery he can muster when he clearly wants to shy away. “I was confused but… a part of me believed you, when you brought up the prospect of losing myself. When you made it seem like you cared.”

“I did care. I do care.”

“I know that now,” he mumbles under his breath before righting himself, “but at the time, my thoughts were in the wrong place. I still wasn’t going to kill you, I wanted to-... to convince you to stay, I think. To convince you that if you joined me, I could help you look for your twin. As the Everlasting Lord of Arcane Wisdom, maybe I could offer enough to keep you.”

The leaves of Wangshu Inn’s tree rustle with the coming wind, filling the space with natural white noise and drowning out the sound of your heart breaking. He avoids you in favor of looking out the window over your shoulder, a stubborn set to his jaw as he cuts off anything further he might say to incriminate himself. 

Unable to allow a declaration like that to rest, you push off the window to cross the room, only a few short steps bringing you to his side where you kneel close enough for your knees to brush his thigh. He flinches when you reach for him, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear, soft as ever. 

“If only you could’ve known that it was what came before that which brought me to you, hm?” Playing with the ends of his hair, you twist them loosely around your fingers before letting that hand slide down his shoulder, then to his arm, then to his elbow where his skin is barely covered between his arm guard and sleeve. “Well you have me now. Everything happens for a reason, I guess. Maybe all of that was just a convoluted way to bring us together.”

Scaramouche’s head turns so quickly that it startles you, his face dangerously close to your own, his nose just barely brushing against yours. His voice wavers, his question is one you can almost taste on your lips if you were to run your tongue out to catch it. 

“What am I to you?”

And the answer is so simple, so obvious that you wonder why he needed to ask it at all. But you’ve felt the need for reassurance more times than you can remember, and perhaps the situation with Paimon earlier had shaken his resolve in your dedication to him. Even after you’d given him everything, he greedily asked for more. As long as it was in your power to give…

“Everything.” A small smile from you, a look of astonishment from him that’s wiped away when you lean forward to kiss him gently. The featherlight touch lingers, leaving your skin tingling as you pull away just enough to watch the way his eyes snap shut to stem the shine of tears beginning to gather at the corners.

Scaramouche’s lip quivers, just before he draws it between his teeth to hide the motion. Giving him a small bit of privacy, you lean in to wrap your arms around his body, pulling him to lean on you. It’s a familiar motion, one that you’ve indulged in with him an innumerable amount of times. It’s as easy as breathing, as familiar as gliding had felt the first time you’d soared over Mondstadt. 

Fingers dig into your back, clutching you as he seeks all the comfort you’re offering him. He nearly bowls you over with how he leans into you, selfishly accepting everything on display until his face is buried into your shoulder and his body shakes with the effort of holding back the emotions that want to run free. 

“Don’t ever doubt how much you mean to me, alright? No one else can occupy the same space in my heart as you.” Gently, you kiss the exposed skin of his shoulder, lingering at your leisure as you watch a shiver raise bumps along his skin. Dragging your lips up to his neck, mouthing at the point of his pulse through the sheer fabric of his undershirt, you relish how he’s gone from limp in your arms to stunned tension. Anticipation colors him, even if you can no longer see his face. 

“Can I tell you something? Something you didn’t get to see in my mind, something you haven’t learned yet?”

As if he would say no, but it’s not often you get to tease him without getting a taste of his barbed responses. Instead of his sharp tongue, you receive a nod that’s deceptively demure, his hair brushing along your cheek smoothly with the motion. Kissing further up his neck, along the soft skin beneath his ear, and finally to his earlobe, you murmur your secret just loud enough that only he could ever hear its first manifestation into reality.

“I love you.”

Everything falls silent. The heartbeat in your ears, the leaves whispering in the tree, the conversations that flutter in from outside. For the briefest time, you’re almost convinced that perhaps you’ve spoken some code words that cease the world from spinning altogether. 

If you did nothing, said nothing further, would you be allowed to stay in this single moment until the end of time? Would that ending even come, so long as you kept so very still, your knees beginning to ache from the hardwood flooring? It’s a simple pain to bear in exchange for holding him like this, the burden on your heart lifted with the proclamation that’s been clawing to release itself from the very moment he’d crashed to the floor in that workshop so far below the city of Sumeru.

It’s not your doing that time begins to slip forward again. It’s his, where his shaking hands grow lax against you, barely hanging on with the friction between his fabric-covered palm and the back of your shirt. “Do you mean that?”

Scaramouche’s doubt hurts. Not because he second-guesses what you’ve said, but the entire reason he feels the need to do so in the first place. He’s been lied to, scorned, pushed away so many times that he can’t help but feel wary. So, you decide perhaps it’s best to show him. To ingrain it in his heart and his mind so thoroughly that he’ll never doubt your conviction ever again.

He doesn’t even fight you when you give him a push, pulling away enough that you can watch as he allows you to lean him back, further and further until he has to shift his legs to cage you in as his back hits the floor. The lanterns in the room set his face alight, showing the rose color of his cheeks and the wetness that begins to well up in his eyes once more. 

One swipe of your thumb isn’t enough to wipe them away, but it leads him to lean into your palm that conforms to his cheek so perfectly. Like he was made for you to hold him in the sweetest ways, some divine form created for you to love as surely as you do in this moment. 

The lithe muscles of his abdomen jump as your hands slide beneath the parted fabric of his kimono, warm palms pressing against his skin as you explore planes you haven’t given yourself nearly enough opportunities to indulge in. Beneath you, a shaking breath leaves him, catching in his throat as you untuck his clothing from his belt, then work at the knot keeping the remainder of his clothing cinched securely. 

“What are you-”

“Showing you. Making sure you don’t forget, that you never question for a single moment ever again what sort of meaning you have to me.” He tenses as you continue to tug at fabric, untucking and parting until he’s just indecent enough for you to wrap your hand around his half-hard arousal. All it takes is that single touch for him to moan low and slow, appreciative enough for his head to roll back to rest on the floor with a dull thud. Any apprehension leaves him with a gentle stroke of your hand. 

Leaning closer, enough that your intentions are obvious even as he can’t look anywhere but the ceiling rafters above, you speak close enough to his cock that your warm breath washes over it. He tenses, hardening in your palm as you hum, “I want to make you feel so good that every time you wonder how I might feel, you’ll remember this moment and your problems will go away.”

And the response in his throat dies as his cock finds a home on your tongue, from base to tip, dipping into the slit and tasting the beginnings of his release with a saltiness on your tongue. It’s far from unpleasant, and you find your lips wrapping around the head in search of more. There’s a scraping sound, grating in its insistence as his nails dig into the hardwood flooring. Both hands are straining, fingers shaking with the effort of keeping still for no real reason. 

Scaramouche resists for only a moment as you use your free hand to reach for his, squeezing it once before guiding him into resting his palm on your head. An open invitation, one that he doesn’t quite grasp yet as your tongue swirls circles that leave his breath ragged and hitching. It takes a single bob of your head, a taste of what he could demand from you, before he puts pressure against your scalp in encouragement. 

“Please…”

As if he would need to beg. All he’d need to do is say the word, make the motion, quietly demand anything from you and it would be his without complaint. It takes nothing more than that little push for you to follow his demands, the flat of your tongue dragging along skin that draws a high-pitched, needy groan from him that feeds the odd hunger you’re feeling. But you want more - need it - and let him set the pace of his cock feeding past your lips and over your tongue. 

Deeper and deeper, until your nose is brushing his pelvis and his fingernails are dangerously close to drawing blood against your scalp. It takes him a moment to gather himself, and when it does it’s with both hands on you - the one on your head, the other curled against your cheek. Craning his head, he looks down his body at you with a startling amount of reverence in his eyes, lips parted with the anticipation of words you’re certain you’ve been waiting your entire life to hear.

“I-I love you. I love you. So much-... ngh-... so much it hurts. I love you. So perfect, so beautiful, e-everything I’ve-” his words cut off sharply as his back arches, hips jerking enough that he buries himself to the hilt before letting you pull away. Every muscle in his body seems to shake with the effort of containing himself, the sensations manifesting as uncontrollable tears in his eyes that trail down his temples into his hair, matting it against itself. 

“Pleasepleaseplease-”

Both hands are what you need to hold him still, pressing down on his hips until he can’t roll himself upwards into the warmth of your mouth, the softness of your cheeks and tongue in search of the pleasure you’re offering him. There’ll be more time for him to be greedy later, to use you in whichever way he pleases. For now, there’s a point to be made, and that’s only done by you holding him still and worshipping him like he demanded be done not so long ago. 

“I-I’m going-... I can’t-”

Scaramouche throbs in your mouth, teetering on the edge physically and verbally. If he were any louder, you’re certain anyone would be able to hear him beyond these four walls. As the thought crosses your mind, so too does it strike him, as the hand on your cheek rips away in favor of slapping over his mouth to muffle the moan that accompanies him falling to pieces. 

Holding your breath and pushing yourself to your own limit, you take him whole and feel his release hit the back of your throat in a handful of steady bursts that come in time with him bucking against your iron-tight hold. Even muffled, the sounds that leave him are akin to some celestial song, ragged in its desperation and beckoning you to suck him further. Moans turn to groans turn to whimpers, hand falling away as he all but begs you to stop. 

You only do so when he grows soft on your tongue, his thighs shaking next to your head as his knees bend to curl in on himself. If you could get away with it, you’d hold him there and do it all over again, but a single glance at his face tells you that he’s spent. Red-cheeked, hair ruined, lashes thick with tears as he blinks toward the middle-distance lazily. 

He barely flinches as you tuck him away, righting his clothes enough that he’s decent. Even as you crawl up his body, settling yourself between his thighs and resting your cheek on his sternum. On anyone else, there’d be a heartbeat thudding in your ears - but all you hear is the remnants of his labored breathing, your head moving with the rise and fall of his chest. 

In a vain hope for the world to stop in its tracks, to give you a little longer in this moment, you murmur those magic words again. “I love you.”

Scaramouche doesn’t answer right away, though his hand does come up to curl around the back of your neck. He holds you there, fingers pressing gently against the muscles there, thumb moving in concentric circles that grow larger, then smaller. There’s no expectation for him to speak it again - once was enough. Once was all you’d need to hold on to for the sake of bringing yourself comfort. 

But despite his greed, Scaramouche can be rather generous when he wants to be. His own proclamation flutters over you like dandelion seeds, like sakura petals, like crystalflies that dance along your skin. 

“I love you. Centuries of life, and I’m convinced it was all meant for you.”

The years you’ve lived have been lost to time, their number far beyond your memory, especially after the tampering that happened while you slept for so long. But as he cranes his neck to press a kiss to the crown of your head, a subtle show of affection that holds immeasurable meaning, you can’t help but share the sentiment wholeheartedly. 

[a-fantastic-time]

Guide to a Fantastic Time!

Hello everyone! Thank you for coming, I hope we have a grand old time. First things first, this is a 18+ Rp area, so I hope you please respect that we should do just fine. Rps do not need to go down that route, I am 100% down for SFW rps, but I mainly prefer NSFW. Just pointing that out now. Also I will absolutely will not do anything with anyone under age, characters or people.

Muses! Unfortunately I do not have a set listing for muses. I actually love to play as many characters as I can from different fandoms, or OCs that I have sorta made up and never really put them to pen and paper. So feel free to ask me about them, and I will gladly talk your ear off. Note that I do play any gender, be it Male/Female/Herms.

Fandoms! I will do my best to get as many of my favorite Fandoms/interest listed down, I will be editing this when I can, so if you ever have an interest, or show, or game that you like and you do not see it on my list. Please feel free to ask me about it, and maybe I can add it to the list.

List of Interests-

She-Ra The Dragon Prince Glitch Tech Transformers (series, not movies) TMNT(series, not movies) Steven Universe Big Hero 6 RWBY Marvel(Comics/Shows) DC(Comics/Shows) Halo Pokémon Digimon Mortal kombat Mass Effect Dragon age Final Fantasy (Any game/series) Boku no hero UnderTale DeltaRune Sonic(Series) Ben 10 Diablo League of Legends Wakfu Miraculous Ladybug Bleach D&D Yu-Gi-Oh Gargoyles Aliens(Franchise, and in general) Kaiju(Monsters in general, not just the franchises) Gundam (any series) Hazbin Hotel Helluva Boss Murder Drones Starwars Critical Role Destiny Warframe Panty & Stocking Resident Evil(all series)

RULES: More may be added at a later time. But for now please read and follow.

I absolutely do not "one line", I have told many people this and sometimes I do make exceptions depending on the situation like if you are tired and its late, or you are not feeling up to rp. If you continue to one-line after I give you a warning, After that, I will simply not reply.

I do not in any shape or form condone rape. I am ok with rough sex or maybe being dominate with my partner, but I will not participate in rape of any kind sorry.

I will do my best to message you first as soon as possible. If you do not get a message from me right away, its most likely because I thought I did or I forgot. So please let me know if I have yet to talk to you yet. I do not treat anyone as a number.

If you have a problem with the way I RP, then please let me know. I have no problems changing things to make the rp more pleasant for both parties. Whether it be either grammar, or possibly with how you prefer actions or talking to be placed in either ** or "". Please just let me know, and I will see how I can change it to make it more pleasing to you.

I am completely fine with rough to kinky sex, but I hate abusive sex. Examples: forcing me to suck, ride, fuck you when I do not want too. cussing me out while we fuck for the sake of demeaning someone during it to make yourself seem superior or saying you can do that just because your Dom/alpha is bullshit. If you do this I will tell you to quit it, but if you whine about not being allowed to be yourself you will be blocked enough said.

I enjoy futas/shemales/dickgirls as much as everyone else. But if you plan to stick anything in me, you will get the same treatment in return. Its how I see its fair. I do not care of your "DOM" or "Your only comfortable with giving". With that said, I do have a preferences towards woman, and futas.

Sorry guys, not into you! Especially not into fembois, sissies, or traps. With that stated, didn't think I would have to emphasis this, but I am not into Men. I will play them, but will not ship with them. So to make it clear. I do not do M/M, nor Futa/Male. Trans is questionable, and needs to be discussed with me.

AGAIN!!! I PLAY MALE MUSES, I DO NOT RP WITH THEM!! if you see on my page M/F, it means I am playing male. It does not mean you get to be reply with a male muse and expect me to play what ever muse you think I am playing.

[thessalian]

Thess vs NaNoWriMo

So that time of year is fast approaching, and I think a lot of people I associate with on this platform are going, "But Veilguard's coming out on HALLOWEEN!", which is entirely fine - NaNoWriMo is optional. And honestly, all things considered, I am probably never doing it as an organised situation again.

It took some digging to find the original text, and I'll probably post the screenshot I saw on Bluesky too, but summary: not only is NaNoWriMo pretty much supporting AI (they say "absolutely not condemning", but the rest of the text isn't nearly so mealy-mouthed about it) but also calling people who are against AI "ableist and classist".

No, seriously. I mean, seriously.

Look, how people get their ideas is probably up to them. And stolen valour aside, plugging an idea into ChatGPT and getting some word salad in return is ... I guess someone's prerogative. The same as someone just typing, like, "rutabaga" 50k times technically counts as writing 50k words. But ... first of all, NaNoWriMo was supposed to support people who write. Second of all, the idea that not having someone immediately at your side to serve as beta reader is "classist" is ... no. Like, if you're online enough to understand NaNoWriMo, you can find a damn beta reader. Third, "Some people's brains don't work well enough to see the problems in their writing--" SEE ABOVE RE PROOF-READING, FOR ONE THING, and for another, that's just shit like spelling and grammar check, which has been standard on word processing programmes basically ever since the concept existed! Fourth, I'm not sure how AI assists in shit like "Can't find a publisher because publishers are only really interested in what will sell ALL THE BOOKS", but that's one of their arguments too.

But the last thing - the worst thing - is what that means. NaNoWriMo is not cool with plagiarism as far as I know, but that's what trains AI. More to the point, you have to verify your word count with their website by actually copy-pasting everything you wrote into the site for it to show you as a winner. The fact that they support AI, and that one of their sponsors offers a whole bunch of AI features? I don't trust them not to be selling every single thing people submit for word count total to feed someone else's writer-bot.

I mean, the NaNoWriMo bods have made some spectacularly shitty decisions the last few years. There was that partnership with those scammers at Inkkit, which also revealed the whole thing where one of their moderators - who operated the youth programme, by the way - turned out to be a paedophile and groomer. But this one is just ... disrespectful of the very thing they were supposed to be supporting.

Please don't use the official NaNoWriMo resources. I am concerned for what it will do with not only what you submit for word count, but what you put in their forums too. If you want to do 50k words in 30 days, I am with you all the way, and others will be too. Find a support group that isn't these jackasses and do that.

Plus the "not using AI is ableist" thing is bullshit, by the way. I am not participating this year (I don't think, anyway; not unless I get a great idea) because I'm damn sure I don't have the spoons for that ... because disabled. Because fibromyalgia. The thing is, I don't want to just say "I produced 50k words and won NaNo", I want to write. I want to use my voice, not something cooked up by a machine learning algorithm based on a single sentence. I think way too many people have forgotten what "in your own voice" means to art.

Like, on the r/criticalrole subreddit, we were talking about how Lance Reddick actually did record all his lines as Thordak in TLOVM before he passed, and I mentioned how different that was going to hit, with the example of having heard Robin Sachs as Zaeed in the ME3 Citadel DLC after he passed. And someone went, "Oh, shit, I didn't know he passed! Hey, do you think they'll one day be able to use the voices of dead voice actors so we can keep hearing them? Because I know it's possible because Snoop Doggy Dogg is reading me my homework now and it's awesome!"

I ... may have kind of exploded. I may also have mentioned that some bunch of assholes tried to make a George Carlin special after Carlin's death and his daughter (understandably) hit the roof. It's bad enough to disrespect thousands of people by training an AI to spit out whatever of their works will fit a prompt sentence, but imagine hearing the voice of someone you love, mangled by AI's inability to get real emotional nuance, possibly saying shit they would never say? Using their voices doesn't change that the emotion and power behind those voices is gone forever; it just parades a decaying copy of them around like some vocal equivalent of Weekend at Bernie's.