#now we're cooking (pun intended)

[marymekpop]

you need to fill your stomach if you want to stay strong

[cxffecoupx]

love languages: choi seungcheol

choi seungcheol x gn reader fluff, headcanon warnings: one single mention of making out, sex, ass word count: 497 author's notes: very self-indulgent, i should add. i planned on writing all thirteen members' together. then i decided to go age-wise. now, we're doing it by each member :') hope you enjoy!

gift giving:–

loves to show his affection you by giving you gifts. specifically, stuff that you want. it's not even mentioned directly — he just noticed you look at a pair of earrings for a little too long and with a little too want. mentally notes it. wont stop until he buys it and baam the next thing you know, he hands it to you on your birthday, your anniversary, or any other random day. stuff like these don't need any special reason, he says. doesnt even have to be anything expensive or extraordinary. even that keychain you saw at the supermarket while grocery shopping, that you then thought you didnt really need. he gets it for you the next day. would become super duper happy when he sees you using it.

"what's this," you ask as you tear open the wrapper and find a cherry blossom keychain inside. "I noticed you looking at it yesterday. so I went there and bought it.

quality time:–

loves to spend his time with you, most of it, if not all. always there to listen to your rants and talks, even if it's just about how rough work was, or something funny that happened, or just straight up blabbering. instantly gives you hundred percent of his attention when you start talking. also loves to get off work quick so that he can rush back home and be with you. however you decide to spend the time, he wants you to do it with him. it could be cooking, watching tv, doing laundry or skincare. it doesn't matter as long as you're doing it together.

"cheol, you won't believe what happened today!" seungcheol immediately turns his phone off and sits up straight as you approach, "what is it, love?" "our boss's wife showed up and started shouting at him!" "really?? why?"

physical touch:–

if he could attach you both together, he'd try that- always on you. you're connected, somehow, someway. you could be hugging, kissing, cuddling, making out, having sex, but he needs his skin to be touching your skin. it's such a deeper level of connection for him, that you're both familiar with each other's bodies, comfortable to share it with the other. it's very personal to him and he cherishes the feeling. however, in public, where he can't really engage in pda (he would, but you'd just glare at him), he finds other ways of holding you. hand on your waist, or the small of your back, or the curve of your ass; arm around your shoulder; caressing your cheeks or booping your nose. and if you reject his touches, be prepared to deal with a sulky kidult (pun intended). in general, he needs your touch to survive.

seungcheol's wrapped around you as soon as he comes home, huge arms on your waist and head on your shoulder. he doesnt say anything, only smiles when you turn around and kiss him. now he is home, he thinks and sighs contently.

[mephistopheleswasrobbed]

Finally I'm back to list all of the evidence that Peaceful Property On Sale is gay, actually!

This week again, our boys were fighting out their differences. But while last week they were fighting about class differences and the arrogance of the rich, this week their fight seems a little closer to home (pun intended) as we're talking about (chosen) family and home-cooked food as one of its signifiers. But more on that later. For now:

1

Pangpang's audience have seen Peach and Home interact like three times but they already ship it. Seeing as we, the show's audience, have seen even more of their interactions, and more intimate moments at that, we clearly have to ship even harder.

2

Home is still going with the pigtail-pulling strategy to deal with his crush.

He tries to make Peach say he's handsome:

And then he makes Peach dance for him:

All the while pretending he's doing all of this because he's some kind of old-school Bond villain and not because he likes him.

3

Aside from their more serious fights, Home and Peach keep bickering in a way that is supremely couple-coded.

Pangpang has also noticed.

Peach, at one point, is so busy complaining about Home that he even forgets to be scared of ghosts.

4

Speaking of people being uncharacteristically unscared: Home also experiences a moment of courage in the face of Peach trembling all over the place, when he steps up to deliver the coffee to Ride.

The fear only comes back when the ghost appears next to Peach, so. Make of that what you will.

5

Back at their base of operations, Home, very subtly, marks his territory by just plopping down on the siblings' new bed, while the bed owners in question sit on the sofa instead.

This is now the second time Home has actively chosen to lay on their bed. (It is also the second time he proceeds to stand on their bed once he goes back to fighting with Peach) One has to wonder why he feels so comfortable making himself at home (höhö) in Peach's bed. (It's because of gay, clearly.)

6

Relatedly, Home has given Peach and Pangpang a home in his place. He could have had them move into any of the many properties he owns, but he chose to let them stay in the one place that is "reserved for" him, that clearely means something to him.

We can see how much this place means to him, both from the flashback and from the fight he starts with Peach over the gas burner. Because it is important to him, he doesn't want it endangered by open fire. However he doesn't just say this, maybe because he doesn't want to appear weak or thinks that the others wouldn't understand or maybe because he's not fully aware of it himself. Instead, when his order is met with protest, he gets grumpy, starts a fight with Peach and leaves.

Because this bar is important to him and, (even though he might not fully admit it at this point), so is Peach's opinion, he gets visibly disappointed when Peach talks negatively about it after Home offers to let them stay somewhere else,

only to perk up again and reminice about his grandpa when Peach says that he wants to stay anyway.

Honestly this, coupled with the ep 1 grandpa flashback about the meaning of "home" is giving me CLW vibes of recently dead (grand-)father meddling from beyond the grave to get his (grand-)son a boyfriend.

7

Once Home has calmed down from his immediate anxiety over the safety of his bar, and has come back because he was lonely and scared by himself, he attempts to genuinely understand why cooking is so important to Peach and why his "solution" of "Just order takeout" was not met with agreement.

We can even see that he feels a little bad about Peach having to cook with a microwave,

leading to him compromising and getting them an electric stove at the end.

(Of course he's still disguising his kindness as a gotcha moment)

8

We learn that Home has been pretty lonely since his parents died, symbolised by his having to eat alone. While he's alone in the masion he doesn't even want to admit his lonelieness out lout to just himself. But when he's talking to Peach in the next scene, he talks about it easily and freely with little to no prompting from Peach. Because he feels safe with Peach.

This is also why, after Home gets lonley and scared in the mansion, he comes to Peach and Pangpang in the first place. Not to his uncle or Kan or Suradech (we see later in that scene, that he's clearly not too worried disturbing people outside their working hours when he calls Kan). Because being with them (especially Peach) makes him feel safer and less lonely.

9

In parallel to Thansai, who did this with Ride, the guy she liked, Home uses the excuse of having ordered too much food to spend more time with Peach (the guy he likes).

Credit to almayver for this point, not sure I would have caught that myself.

Adding to that, after the first time where Thansai lies, she does actually order extra food to share with Ride. Home, meanwhile, has ordered too much food from the beginning (sharing it with gramps the first time). He's always orderd extra food because he's always wanted to have someone to share it with. And now he's finally found them (him ^^).

10

After Home opens up to Peach, he lets Home in a little more, in turn, by inviting him to help him with his cooking.

And even though he words it more like an order than an invitation, Home clearly recognises the olive branch and gets to looking for the soap to wash some vegetables, without any complaint. (Oh Home you sheltered little rich boy) (Although I can't make fun of him too much for this. It sounds exactly like something I would do had I never cooked before)

This leads to the wonderful, very subtle moment of the two of them cooking together under the "Cok Long" sign. (And since there is such a clear shot of this, no one can convince me this wasn't done with full intent)

Peach continuing to warm up to Home, is further exemplified by his willingness to play along with his BS after the successful exorcism

and the fact that he unconciously prepares a fourth plate for Home at the end of the episode. For which he promptly gets called out by Pangpang.

11

Peach feels safe with Home. He has (maybe subconciously) taken note of the events of the previous episode, as he's now turning to Home when he gets scared by the ghost.

Interesting to note, even after he confirms that Ride has left, he doesn't fully let go of Home. Someone's looking very comfortable clutching Home's arm even though there's no ghost anymore.

12

I think the entire scene of Pangpang calling them the mother and father of their little family speaks for itself.

It's okay boys, Thailand passed gay marriage, you can both be the dad.

13

And then we get another moment of absolute boyfriend behaviour in the end credits when Home steals Peach's glasses to play with them.

Him putting the glasses on Kan at the end is also the only moment this episode that could maaaaybe be interpreted as slightly flirtatious towards Kan, but if you do interpret it that way, you also have to admit that he was flirting with Peach a lot more in that scene.

BONUS

Peach didn't punch anyone this episode, so instead I'm bringing you

Lesbians

It startet with them holding hands last week as they fled from Rak

and turned into bickering over whether or not Kan gets scared by ghosts. (A topic which I assume will give these two grounds for further bickering for at least the next couple of episodes.)

(Judging by the smirks on Peach and Home's faces whenever these two go at it, Pangpang might not be the only shipper in the group anymore)

When Home doesn't want to come to her party, she proclaims that she "has got Kan", so that's okay, and then batts her eyelashes at Kan.

Pangpang said "I see your 'emotionally constipated boys trying to pretend they don't like each other' and I raise you 'unashamed and uncompomising flirting sunshine x grumpy style'"

Looking forward to see how Kan will answer that going forward.

[selene-moonie]

Jean Kirschtein Simp Post

I love Jean Kirschtein. He had me in the palm of his hand from the moment he challenged Eren for being a suicidal maniac (AND HE WAS RIGHT!!!), and when he debuted in s4, he was basically my husband.

Bless his s4 visuals because he didn't need to look this good, like damn.

Again, Jean calling out Eren for for constantly attempting suicide as well as being irresponsible in his fights got me from the get-go. I watched Eren be irresponsible and I watched everyone else applaud him for being courageous but I don't think they understood that Eren already had little to live for, so it wasn't courage. It was the only option. Eren was fearless for the most part. Jean telling him he's suicidal and irresponsible was refreshing, and it showed that Jean had a better head on his shoulders than most of their cohorts.

Actually, this plays into what Marco told Jean - that he'd would make a good leader. It's because Jean is aware of his surroundings and makes good use of it. Eren on the other hand, bites off more than he can chew then lets his friends clean up his mess. That's why they clash. Jean sees how things can be handled with the least amount of casualties, and Eren fights. And even then, Jean ends up growing up and moving past things with Eren till s4, when Eren becomes a problem again.

Additionally, I love the way Jean loves. Openly, honestly, wholeheartedly. Now, he's a smart man, so he knew not to mess with a girl clearly in love with someone else, but you could see how openly he'd loved Mikasa if they'd gotten together. Like he'd be giddy and happy all the time - because he has the girl he wants. Also, loyalty? Seven years after they met and he was still fantasising about her.

Also Jean can cook. That's just chef's kiss, no pun intended. I love me a man that can cook. And I know he, Connie and Sasha were swapping recipes over the years. They had a ball in the kitchen if Sasha didn't eat everything.

I say this in every post as well - but his friendships with Connie and Sasha humanised him. They matched his energy and took his ass down a peg or 10. They were the siblings he didn't have, but needed. Like you can't tell me he's just some vain/arrogant guy when he has the capability of having deep relationships with others like what he had with Connie and Sasha. I'll this again as well - Sasha never went a day not knowing that Jean and Connie had her back.

But yeah, seeing him go from this arrogant little teenage shit, to a capable man was a sight to behold. All his dreams were crushed and he changed course. He wanted to be best best, and he ended up being one of the best (can't beat Annie and Mikasa). His friend that hyped him up the most? Dead - titan vomit. The girl he loved? In love with someone else. Becoming military police? A waste of his skills in light of the real fight being with the titans. The high rise apartment? Probably still a possibility, but when do they actually live in their homes as soldiers? Jean had some of the best character development I've seen in fucking ages.

One of the things I resonated with the most was the fact that he kept fighting. He kept moving forward. Even when he'd cover his ears and fantasise about his high rise apartment in Wall Sheena with Mikasa and their child - he'd get up and deal with reality. Do you know how fucking hard that is? When you have a real and genuine fear of what life is, and you still get up to face it - that's true courage. That's something I'll admire till the day I die.

Now that we're done talking about his personality, let's talk looks because his s4 visuals were absolute fucking crack. I don't know what Isayama put into his visuals, but he did it right. Honestly everyone looked great but due to my attraction to Jean, he looked even better. The mullet he'd slick back? Just his looks in general? Absolute fucking crack, and I am just an addict. Jean is the full package. The full fucking package.

I have this headcanon (basically a modern au) that he likes expensive cologne and has a somewhat meticulous grooming routine. He cooks a lot, and it's like French restaurant quality, but he'll never forget his humble omurice roots. As an individual, he's cool and respectful, but it's always chaos with Connie and Sasha. He's a private person and excels in his dedicated career/job, and be he loves openly. He doesn't hide who he loves or that he loves them. Like, he's a person at the end of the day, but just a really cool one. Also he's responsible.

Anyway yeah, Jean Kirschtein is perfection incarnate and I stand by that.

[lebenspurpur]

what do they smell like

AN: I know I did this before, but I need to correct myself. Plus, it was like 2 years ago, so..

ℝℤ 𝕄𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕖𝕝 𝕄𝕪𝕖𝕣𝕤

Most of the time, he smells like sweat and that sweet coppery odor of blood.

That changes whenever he actually decides to take a shower and change his clothes.

Suddenly he smells like nothing. And I mean nothing.

If you inhale deeply enough, you might get a faint whiff of sanitizer, like the kind they use in hospitals, but that's it.

You can decide for yourself if that's a blessing or a curse.

𝕍𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕊𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕣

Paraffin wax.

So he smells like plastic and, like, the worst kind.

Maybe you need to convince him to use some bee wax candles for a change. Or some wax that smells like something nice, at least.

Which makes me think of another headcannon: Vincent hates the smell of cheap scented candles. He can not stand them. You'd think his nose might be desensitized to bad smells by now, but no.

The only scented candles he allows in his basement are the expensive ones, with real dried flowers or some good essential oils.

Other than paraffin wax, he smells like his body wash, which is the same as Bo's.

(You can not convince me they do not share one. Maybe buy him some nice shampoo while we're at it.)

The smell of the wax easily overpowers anything else, though.

𝔹𝕠 𝕊𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕣

Bo prides himself on owning some really nice cologne.

So, if he applies that, he actually smells really nice.

Other than that: cigarettes.

I feel like he actually has a nice smell, though. He smells like someone who'd call you sugar, if that makes sense.

𝕃𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕣

I know, we have the ongoing joke of Lester smelling bad, but I've changed my mind.

Of course, after working, he smells very bad. Like a dead animal that has been cooking in the sun for way too long.

But he's a clean boy! After he takes a shower, he smells like a mix of leather and something flowery, airy. Kind of like a freshly picked bouquet of wildflowers. Don't ask me where that comes from.

When he's been crafting something, he also smells like hot glue and wood, but it's not powerful enough to be unpleasant.

𝔹𝕣𝕒𝕙𝕞𝕤 ℍ𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕖

Dust.

Like, you know when something smells old because it's been standing somewhere without being touched for too long?

That's what he smells like.

He doesn't need to, though. He probably has an arsenal of really expensive perfumes and colognes standing somewhere in that mansion.

After he meets you, there's a slight chance that he'll take more care of himself. And in that case, he will finally use those fragrances.

As soon as he does that, he smells like that mansion looks. Rich, educated, charming, handsome even.

𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕒𝕤 ℍ𝕖𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕥

Hay, dry earth, Tommy smells like a hot day on a field.

When he spent some more time in the basement, the smell becomes even earthier and damp. Like a crypt.

Though, most days the 'warm' smell is stronger and it's really wholesome. When you hug him, it feels like you're hugging a cat who's been lounging in the sun for a while and got all heated up. (I just want to hug him, man.)

𝕆𝕥𝕚𝕤 𝔻𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕨𝕠𝕠𝕕

Now, that man smells bad.

Rotting corpses, vomit kind of bad. It's not good.

When he does his makeup and actually showers, it's not that bad anymore. Then, he just smells like the makeup he applies (you know, the stuff they paint children's faces with?) and (probably Baby's) body wash.

𝔹𝕒𝕓𝕪 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕝𝕪

Baby loves sweet perfumes, especially when they have a fruity note (pun intended).

She has a few fragrances she always uses, and they make her smell really nice, and really sweet, kind of like candy.

If she doesn't apply those, she smells like lotion and body oil.

Pretty, that's what she smells like.

ℝ𝕁 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕝𝕪

Motor oil, leather and rain.

Motor oil from working on the trucks all day long, leather from his jackets. Where does the smell of rain come from? Don't ask me.

He smells really masculine in that sense, like a ride on a motorcycle.

𝕁𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕍𝕠𝕠𝕣𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕤

Do corpses emit smell if they're still alive?

Well, Jason does.

He smells like wet earth, rain, and the forest. A really grounding smell overall.

Hugging him feels like laying on the forest ground after it has been raining for a while. In a nice way, though.

It's really refreshing, and really pleasant.

𝔸𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕘

Amanda uses really nice body wash. Something that smells like pine needles.

Other than that, she smells like old metal and disinfectant.

Old metal, because she spends half of her days designing traps and disinfectant because of John.

[ilovemorayeels]

Yan!itadori and Yan!megumi!! ☆⌒(＞。≪)

a/n: I had so much fun writing this lol!! yuuji my bby!!!

CW/Tags: platonic yandere, gn!reader, nonsorcerer!reader, stalker!yuuji, stalker!megumi, candid photos, breaking and entering, Megumi, Yuuji, and reader are friends,

Word Count: 1302

…click…

Yuuji glanced at his camera, admiring your beauty, you looked so pure, even in your sleep. He was so lucky that there was a tree and a window right in view of your bedroom, it felt like your house was just asking for Itadori to take pictures.

"Did you get a good one?" Asked Megumi, now climbing down the tree branches to get on Yuuji's branch. He wasn't really fond of stakeouts like this, honestly why bother when he can just send the dogs to watch you? It's not worth the risk of falling and breaking something.

"Yup! I think this is the best one yet!" Itadori beamed as he shoved the camera in Fushiguro's face, a sound asleep, peaceful you appearing in the tiny screen. You were beautiful, no wonder you capture both of their attention. The black haired sorcerer's eyes softened at the picture, his heart throbbing with love.

"Well, then our 'mission' here is over, let's go back to the dorms. I don't want Gojo catching our ass being stalkers." Megumi grunted, grabbing Itadori's hoodie, he didn't want you to catch on either. Hearing too many rustles of the tree could lead to suspicion from the neighbors too. Too risky.

"Nooo—let's enter Y/N's houuuse!!" Yuuji whined, grasping onto the camera as he looked at Megumi with pleading eyes.

"Are you crazy?!" Fushiguro berated in response, he already had swiped some meaningless things that though didn't matter to you, mattered the world to him. One of your shirts, a hair clip, a filled notebook you had for the past 3 years or so. The boy didn't need breaking into your house, you just needed to turn your back! "There's no way we're going to break into Y/N's house—"

pick…pick…

Fushiguro grumbled curses at Itadori as he tried his best to unlock your front door, his eyes squinting at the lock, trying to see if he's doing it right. "I swear to god if we get caught…"

As soon as Megumi said that, the door unlocked. Seriously, is the writer playing games with him right now (yes, yes i am)?! He peeked at the dark place, trying his best to make the door not screech with creaking. They were both very familiar with your house, lounging around it everytime they can. You weren't a sorcerer, so you thought that Megumi's dogs symbol thingy or the way they don't really open up about their jobs was just a weird quirk of theirs.

Yuuji inhaled the scent of your house. The candle you lit a few hours ago, the dinner you cooked, and your scent. He loved your smell, whenever he gave you a bear hug he sniffed your hair, what a sacred scent. He toyed with all kinds of clutter, ignoring the fact he was supposed to be quiet.

"If you make another sound, I'll kill you. And when you somehow get brought back to life I'll kill you again." Megumi threatened lectured Yuuji, grabbing his hoodie again. He stared at the pink haired boy with piercing eyes. But deep down, he was afraid that if he got caught, he'd lose you forever.

Then, the bedroom. The domain (pun completely intended) that you resided in. Laid in a deep sleep after another day of studying. You looked like royalty in a coma, waiting for your princes to save you. Yuuji peeked over, shadowing your presence. Oh to kiss those pretty little lips and wake you.

Megumi felt that you sleeping was less than a fairytale. It was a necessity. He didn't want his darling to have bags under your eyes. To have you get behind your classes due to your lack of rest. Still, just like Yuuji, he was mesmerized by how you retained your beauty in your slumber.

You'd soon be theirs, they'll be your princes. The princes that will worship you like you're more than royalty.

[likeshipsonthesea]

I love your recent posts about Eddie and Shannon and their relationship. I just don’t see how the show can address any of that with the way they’ve written this arc. There’s no one who can criticise Eddie’s feelings of ‘she was the love of my life, I’m broken without her’ except us the audience. There are no characters who saw their relationship as it actually was, so how can the show steer Eddie in that direction? I feel like they’re gonna leave it as she’s his Great Dead Love and that’s that

i see what you mean, and tbh i'm not sure what the show is going to do with this arc on-screen. they have a bunch of storylines to tie up in this finale episode (here's hoping we don't get any cliffhangers 🤞) and i don't know how much time they will have to devote to eddie, or even what they want to do with that time. it's possible they have a completely different perspective on this and will take it a whole other way, but i have faith that the show will tell the story they want to tell and, if the past six seasons are any indication, i will enjoy that story

all that being said, if we're talking dream arc, this is what i would want

as far as who can tell eddie "hey, you're looking at your marriage with rose-colored glasses, this is how it actually is," i've got two ideas for this. one is eddie himself, and the second is his parents, specifically helena, who has been rumored to be in the s7 finale. i'm kinda more excited about the second, so let's get the first one out of the way

eddie himself - hopefully after the clusterfuck that is explaining to his son that he's been seeing a dead ringer for his dead mom and she cosplayed as mommy to give eddie closure, eddie will talk about this in therapy, and through the skills he's learned and a frank discussion (pun intended) he will be forced to confront the reality of his marriage and start to address the trauma he has from everything with shannon

p cut and dry, my typical eddie-goes-to-therapy kinda story. we've all been here before.

now, for the good stuff 😈 (putting this under a read-more bc i have Thoughts)

helena. the diaz mother we all know and have complicated feelings over. or not-so-complicated feelings over, given the "don't drag [chris] down with you" line. i know i keep asking y'all to think of things from the white woman's perspective, but bear with me just one moment while i do this again

helena married into a large mexican family in the 80s. she had a mother in law whose cooking was renowned, a husband always away on business, and three children to bring up along with keeping her home together. given how everyone in their family seemed to treat shannon, i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume there were some heavy expectations on helena to be the wife everyone thought ramon deserved, and i'm gonna assume that meant a lot of tradition--cooking the right things, doing the holidays the right way, teaching the kids the right values, etc. etc.

i think it was hard. i think helena didn't always meet the expectations put on her. i know it was played as a joke, but during ramon's retirement party, eddie and pepa were concerned that helena was cooking a specific dish (i can't remember which one atm) until abuela assured them she was in charge of it. meaning this is probably a running joke, helena not cooking things as well as she ought to.

also, raising three kids with a physically absent husband in a town that (i'm assuming) is full of in-laws seems hard to me, too. (if this is sounding familiar, yes i'm about to make a shannon comparison just gimme another second). the stories we hear about eddie as a kid are yes, reflections of traditional masculinity and eddie falling short of that, but also reflections on his parenting--how could helena let her son try to cook? that should be her job, she should be watching him! how could she let him try to drive at 8? tsk tsk and all that

i think helena has become a part of the diaz family fully, but i don't think it was always easy, and i think when her son married a white woman who didn't fit the expectations of a diaz wife either, helena recognized that. i think helena saw herself in shannon so clearly.

and instead of breaking the cycle and offering shannon that support and empathy that shannon (and young helena) needed, helena enforced those expectations even harsher. helena did it, so shannon had to, too.

maybe it was out of protection--she wanted shannon to fit into the family the way helena had learned to. maybe it was common generational sentiment, i.e. it's the Right way or it's the way I did it so therefore you have to do it that way, too. maybe it was a means of reinforcing her own place in the family, as she was no longer the newbie, shannon was.

whatever it was, i don't think she was conscious of it, and especially after shannon left her son, helena refused to acknowledge she was anything like shannon at all.

until now.

(yes i've found my way back to the point, i usually do i promise--and yes my adhd meds are THRIVING rn)

both helena's husband and son have done a lot of emotional work in the recent years and i think it's likely she would take a queue from them (and if her daughters are anything like me, i'm sure they're trying to nudge her towards a therapist at every turn). helena very well may be in a place where she can acknowledge how the expectations she's lived under may have been stifling, and given her son's recent encounter with kim, she very well may be in a place to acknowledge how similar shannon was to her.

and that's where, dear anon, your point comes in.

because helena was there for shannon and eddie's entire marriage. ramon was working, eddie was in the war, abuela and pepa were in la, but helena was right down the street (idk if she was actually right down the street but you know what i mean). helena knew shannon as an 18-20yo woman, as a new mother, as a struggling mother. she was in the unique position of watching shannon go through a marriage alone and remembering exactly how that felt.

kim may look like shannon, but she has no idea how shannon felt during her marriage. eddie can say all the things he wants to say, but it's like talking to a gravestone. i think helena can say the things eddie needs to hear, even if he may not want to hear them.

....and now i really wanna write that conversation. fuck.

[apolloendymion]

listen to me. i am talking directly in your ear now.

save your kitchen scraps. I'm talking carrot tops, peels, and greens. the tops & skins of onion and garlic. celery leaves. squash rinds. citrus peels. apple cores. tomatoes and lettuce that are just a little too wilted/mushy to be palatable. eggshells. cheese rinds. chicken skin. potato skins if you washed the dirt off. the water/oil from canned foods. BONES!! skins, peels, stems, leaves, anything that isn't poisonous but you wouldn't normally eat. we're going to make some fucking Broth.

(note: cruciferous veggies like brussels sprouts are ok in small quantities, but keep in mind that they're bitter and may bitter-ize your broth in larger amounts.)

put those scraps in a bag in the freezer. I'd recommend storing the liquids in a separate bag from the solids. add scraps whenever you've got em, until you've accrued about half a gallon ziplock of solids. now, you're Ready.

put a little oil at the bottom of a soup pot. just enough to sauté your solids. add some minced garlic and herbs/spices, if you have them (dried is fine, but i don't recommend powdered spices unless they're all you've got.) i like warming spices like star anise and cardamom pods; they make it taste like pho, sooo cozy. and of course, bay leaves!! if you have them, put at least 3 in there. minimum. trust me.

(if you don't have/want animal parts, add a little more oil than necessary for sauteing. you're gonna want the extra, believe me. I'd also sauté for longer, and pick an oil with a little flavor if you can, like olive. canola/vegetable is perfectly fine though.)

add the solids and sauté. i usually just thaw them in the oil, but if you're better at planning than me, you can put them in the fridge the night before. ideally you should sauté until the veggies start to brown. I'm not always that patient. it's fine. just make sure everything fully thaws and separates from one another. get a thin coat of oil over everything.

next, add the liquid ingredients and fill the rest of the pot with water (taking care to leave some space in case it boils over.) bring the pot to a boil, then turn it as low as your stove allows and leave it to simmer for as long as possible. this is KEY. let that shit MARINATE. let it STEW, no pun intended. i usually try to start this project in the morning, so i can leave it for the rest of the day. i have left it on overnight before but i can't recommend that in good conscience. do not burn your house down for broth. 2 hours would probably be my absolute minimum. stay close by, and stir it every so often so it doesn't boil over. chill on the couch. watch tv. enjoy the smell that permeates your house and makes it feel like a home. it's cozy time.

add salt, tasting as you go. you don't want to overdo it. some folks say to add the salt at the sauteing stage, but i feel this gives me too little control over the final product. i need control. I've got anxiety. but you do you. live your life. I'm not your boss.

once it tastes how you want it, strain out the solids. if I'm going to make soup right away, then I'll strain the liquid directly into another pot, throw in the soup ingredients, and simmer till everything's soft. otherwise, put it in a container you can freeze for later.

rejoice. broth be upon ye.

sip it when you're sick, make it into soup, use it in a casserole, cook rice with it. give a jar to your neighbors. you are the broth god. you are unstoppable. you will never waste a vegetable piece ever again.

go forth and Experience The Broth.

[grilledcheezy92]

Transcript link for Decorating With Your Tsundere Werewolf Boyfriend actually directs to Comforting your Tsundere Werewolf Boyfriend so uh...

We're rawdogging this one (pun maybe intended)

"What? I can't just sit with you? I have to have a reason? Maybe I just wanna sit with you and watch you play your game. Would that be such a shock?" Davey pls, Minecraft bores you. So yes, you have ulterior motives.

"You cannot tell when I need something." 🤨 You say to your partner of one year and nine months. You say to your mate whom you have been living with for over a year.

"Who am I fucking kidding, yes you can. Fine! Yes. I need your help." That's what I thought.

"But I was going to wait until you finished your game before I asked. Then I remembered this ridiculous game doesn't have an end ... the point of a game is to finish it." The point of a game is to have fun actually but whatever.

"I wanted your help decorating for the Solstice Party. That part of it was never really my thing. I'm usually more focused on the cooking side of things. But now that we've got the house and we're the ones hosting, I have to focus on all of it and I'd appreciate it if you help." Angel getting more involved in pack events 🥰

[beetlegoose01]

🧁Chainshipping Week Prompt 1: Cooking/Baking 🧁

Summary: In order to help Diana with her school's fundraiser, Adam and Lawrence must work together to face their hardest challenge yet: baking.

Read on AO3!

"A bake sale?" Adam quiered, raising an eyebrow as he leaned against the fire escape, amused as he listened to his partner's plea. 

Lawrence gave him an equally pointed look. Unlike Adam, he was merely poking his head out the window. With his foot or lack thereof, he didn't want to risk stumbling on the rickety platform. "Yes, it's a fundraiser for her school.” 

“She goes to a rich private school, how much money does it actually need?” 

“It’s the principle of working hard for something in return. And it sounds like a sweet idea. Pun not intended.” 

 "No, it sounds like a recipe for disaster." He waited for a moment, before adding belatedly. "Pun intended." 

Lawrence sighed. "I know, I'm not thrilled about it either."

"I can barely microwave ramen, Larry, what makes you think I'm at all qualified to help make something remotely edible for small children?" He pinched the tip of his cigarette between his thumb and index finger before taking a long drag. His eyes lit up. "Wait. Can we add edibles?" 

He pinched the bride of his nose in exasperation. "We are not feeding edibles to fourth graders, Adam!"

"Hey, keep your shirt on, there can be two batches. One for the kids, one for the adults." Smoke swirled around him as he exhaled once more. He only smoked outside, since Lawrence hated it, but sometimes he moved close enough just to mess with him. 

"Will you please be serious?" Lawrence asked wearily, forehead lines creasing from stress. He looked exhausted, both with work and from personal life taking a toll on him. His blond hair was even starting to see some silver streaks in his temple. "I promised Diana."

"Why would you promise her that?" 

He chewed at his lip, thinking for a moment on how to answer. "Ali was usually the hands-on parent. The one who would do this sort of thing. She would go to meetings, host birthday parties, and see her piano recitals. I was always too busy with work. And um, other excuses. I found myself disappointing both Ali and Diana more than once."

Adam frowned, flicking the cigarette on the ashtray. His angry eyes spoke more volume than any words could. 

"But I want to be different for their sake. Give Alison a break, and bond with Diana. Especially since we have her this weekend. I don't know, perhaps it is stupid. I don't know the first thing about bakin---"

"I'll do it." Adam said firmly. 

"What? You will?" Lawrence stared at him in astonishment. "Are you sure?" 

"Hell yeah I am. We'll make the best damn brownies her school has ever tasted." 

"I was thinking we would bake cookies, since they're easier."

"We'll make the best damn cookies her school has ever tasted." 

Lawrence laughed. "Thank you. Now, I should pick her up, speaking of which. Would you mind getting the ingredients while I'm gone?" 

Adam waved him off. "You can count on me. I'm totally prepared---"

"No edibles." 

"Aw."

Adam heard Diana before she even arrived, with her high pitched voice echoing through the halls. The door swung open and lo and behold, she burst in charging at full speed the moment she plopped down her My Little Pony lunch box.

"We're home!" 

"Hey Princess!" He chuckled, lifting her up and twirling her around. He was only able to do this for about three seconds before putting her down again. "Oof. You need to stop growin', kid. My back can't take it."

Diana giggled. "You're just old, Adam." 

Adam put a hand to his heart in faux offense. "Ouch. You wound me." he teased, poking at her nose. 

"Sorry, it's just the truth, and I gotta be honest."

"Huh, can't argue with that. Speaking of old, where's your Dad?" 

"Coming!" Lawrence called out. In typical Dad fashion, he was carrying Diana's backpack and handling his cane. Though he tried not to show it, he was clearly struggling to manage both, as judging by his limp being more obvious. Immediately Adam rushed to his partner's side, taking the backpack off his hands, hanging it up on the hook. 

"Diana, don't forget to take your shoes off." As she was about to do so, he said, "and don't kick them off, please." Begrudgingly she obliged and unbuckled them right next to the closed door. 

"I didn't have a good day at school today." She said, shuffling towards the couch and flopping on it. Adam made a note of her mismatched socks, one rainbow, the other blue with puppies. 

"Aw no, what happened?" He asked, to both Lawrence and Diana. Last week they both heard from Alison that she had been repeatedly picked on by a bully named Brayden. They had spoken to the school and the parents, so he was hoping the little shit wasn't causing her any more grief. Otherwise he would have to resort to violence. 

Diana made a face. "We had to do fractions." 

Adam winced, pulling the exact same expression of disgust as Diana. "Ugh, man. I hated fractions when I was your age. Useless, if you ask me. In fact, I promise you that you won't use fractions anywhere except for school." 

"That's not true," Lawrence interjected, handing Diana a plate of apple slices from the kitchen, which she happily started to devour. "Fractions are important, honey." 

Diana didn't look convinced, but she nodded. "Can we watch SpongeBob before I do my homework?" 

"Actually..." He said with a shared smile at Adam. "We have a surprise for you in the kitchen." 

She gasped. "For real life?!" 

"Ye---" But before either of them could tell her what the surprise was, she sprinted into the kitchen and let out a squeal. Together (although Lawrence hobbled behind a bit) they discovered Diana rummaging through the grocery bags. Adam had bought regular stuff: sugar, butter, flour, salt; he also took the liberty of buying all sorts of confectionary decorations. The latter of which Diana was more invested in: sprinkles, silver balls, icing, chocolate chips, walnuts and little candies. 

"Can we bake now?!" She begged. "PleasepleasePLEASE!"

Lawrence nodded. "Alright, let's get cracking." 

As expected, Diana did little to help with the baking. After helping crack a singular egg, she scampered off to watch cartoons while Adam and Lawrence attempted to follow the recipe to the book. Mostly Lawrence, since Adam was rather distracted, despite being in charge of the dry ingredients. 

"Don't forget to add salt."

"I won't."

"But not too much salt."

"Yeah, yeah."

Lawrence had successfully combined the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl, but it was hard to celebrate when all he could focus on was Adam staring at him dreamily. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his strong arms, and it was impossible not to look.  

"Do I have something on my face?" 

"You do."  

Automatically Lawrence started to touch his cheek, and in that moment had taken the bait, Adam flung some flour into the air, swirls of dust hitting Lawrence right in the face, and in his hair. 

"Don't worry, I gotcha." He used his fingers to brush it with a cloth. With a cheeky grin, he moved over to bump Lawrence's hip, sliding his hand over to graze it slightly. 

Lawrence, though startled, accepted the affection by pulling him closer, combing his hand through a mop of messy dark hair and tracing his fingers against the man's jawline. Adam took this as an invitation to make another move, heart aflutter as he finally pressed his lips against Lawrence's, at last closing the gap between them. He took this opportunity to slip some tongue in, a soft moan escaping him as he reached for Lawrence's belt----only for the latter to pull away. 

"Not in the kitchen!" He hissed, cheeks flushed. "Are you out of your mind?" 

"S' not my fault." He whined.  "You're so fucking sexy when you roll your sleeves up."

"Need I remind you that we are not alone?" He warned, waving his finger. 

"It was just a kiss."

Lawrence snorted at his attempt at innocence. "Just get the mixer out, please." 

Adam rolled up his own sleeves as if nothing happened. "You got it! We'll continue this later." 

"Diana, honey, would you like to sprinkle some chocolate chips in?" He asked, ruffling her hair fondly.

Diana squealed,. "Yes!"

"Ready kiddo?" Adam said, preparing to open the oven with Diana by his side. 

"Ready!" 

A blast of hot air hit them at once, smelling of sweet chocolate goodness as they reached inside to retrieve the pan of cookies. To their delight, they looked absolutely delicious. They were crispy, but not burnt. Fluffy, but not too soft. Round with the perfect chocolate chip to cookie ratio, they couldn't have looked better. 

After they let the cookies cool off, Diana was practically bouncing with excitement. "Can we decorate them?" 

"Maybe we should taste them first?" Lawrence suggested, already cautious.

"Man come on, they look amazing! And they probably taste amazing too!" 

But when they each took a bite out of the smallest three cookies, they promptly spat them out in unision.

"Eeeew it's salty!" Diana said.

"Mine has a weird salty after taste too," Lawrence tilted his head. "Adam, how much salt did you add?" 

"Uuuuhhh..." 

"Adam." 

"It might have been a bit more than I should have." He admitted. "But it's not that bad---" He took another bite, forcing himself not to gag. "Oh God, thisissogross. I mean, wow! So good." Wiping his mouth, he said, "Yeah, no I wouldn't feed this to my worst enemy. What do we do now?" 

"Box mix?" Diana piped up.

"Box mix." Lawrence and Adam agreed. 

As it would turn out, Pillsbury Cookie Dough tastes just as good as homemade. 

[the-s1lly-corner]

Can I get Centipedes x Ragatha? (it’s a joke)

Ragatha and centipedes

jokes on you im going to entertain this because im feeling a little silly. going to be all over the place since its just a bunch of random stuff tying in with the general centipede idea future admin here VV did not think i would need to put a cw on this but this genuinely made me feel bluuuuuugh and yucky so uh. CW on talk about bugs and vague talk of infestations because the admin tried to make a hc on why ragatha is scared of centipedes in particular (admin realizes their phobia of bugs is worse than they thought by the end of writing it they just thought they had arachnophobia LMAO) not even going to bother to tag this

i think its centipedes specifically that ragatha doesnt like. shes okay with spiders, shes fine with flies, hell shes okay witih silverfish (which arguably are just as gross if not grosser than centipedes). its something about centipedes in specific she hates. maybe its the legs. its gotta be the legs

or maybe theres something else? honestly i can see her getting her little fear of the things from a prank by jax gone terribly wrong, or perhaps even an in house adventure

or maybe she experienced something with them in her real life that, despite her losing her memories, she fears the bug down to her very core. something that shook her so deeply, engraining itself into her psyche, enough to carry on even after losing everything that once made her her when she put on the headset

okay jokes aside, originally i was going to go on a tangent about how that maybe her fear came from a really bad IHA.. but now that i think about it, the idea of her going through something in her real life makes more sense. plus as much as i write about jax putting centipedes in her room i dont think he actually did... but what i have cooking in my brain far exceeds the cruelty jax would dare dish out

i dont know about you but infestations can quickly instill a fear in you. i would know personally because when i was younger roaches and silverfish were common in my house hold, especially during wetter times of the year. also crickets. and woop the admin hates all three of those bugs, deeply. can you imagine going into the bathroom as a small child, only to get up and see a roach as big as your hand just chilling in the toilet bowl. do you know what that does to a person

cue that one post where op said they were taking a dump and they poked a weird spot on their wall only to watch in horror as a hoard of silverfish started spilling out of it

genuine fear of mine i hate silverfish kid me used to avoid the bathroom because of them

so anyways with the power of my self projection, im going to apply the same idea to ragatha. maybe she lived somewhere where centipedes were common. sure they might not have been the huge gnarly ones that we all think of when we hear about these things, but i think even the smaller ones would do her in after enough time. could be a large amount of house centipedes but as stated above, it would probably drive you insane after you see enough of them for long enough

shrugs

okay psychological torment aside i dont think theres really any curing her fear if we're following this hc, like maybe you can help her build a tolerance to having them around but to actually get rid of it fully? yeah no thats going to take a lot more than you can give her in the digital circus

will NOT pick up a centipede you try to get her to hold, you could have the best intensions and it can be the cutest one ever in existence

i was going to add a lot more to this post and make this comically long but my skin is crawling (pun intended) at the images ive just put into my head. genuinely feel yucky inside

[fan-maniaer]

After a while of working on it, I would like to share my own tmnt universe called

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : The Hamato Destiny

Or TMNTTHD for short.

I would like to share the ages of the turtles for each of them there personallys there friends and villains. Let's go with their ages first.

Donnatello is 17 years old. The oldest of the brothers.

Raphael and Leonardo are 15 the murder twins I like to call them.

Michaelangelo 14, the youngest of the four turtles.

In my version, Donnie starts out as leader because of him being the oldest he views it as his responsibility to protect his siblings at all cost. Even if it means sacrificing his own well-being. He is still the tech guy in this version, and he likes his siblings to utilize his tech a lot in missions, and he gets very upset if they don't use them like he intended. He also has a werid obsession with dragons (I wonder why). He's also a great cook.

Raphael is the silent type who likes to smash heads on and break bones, but he also likes the feeling of water on his skin, and most of the time, his siblings will gind him just Submerged in water. He also likes stuffed animals, and his room is full of it, and his twin brother likes to make fun of him for it. And yes, this guy does have a bit of anger issues, but it's most of the time controlled and only let loose in very stressful situations. He also likes to exercise a lot, especially in his free time.

Leonardo likes to play pranks and make puns most of the time. But he is also a big animal lover and likes to spend most of his time at the zoo when it's closed and no one's around. He is also like his twin likes to smash heads in and break bones he's just less violent about it as Raph. He also can camouflage with his surroundings, which (most of the time) helps him pull off most of his pranks. He also looks up to his big brother Donnie (tho he'll never admit it out loud).

Michaelangelo, the little sister of the group she is the youngest and uses that power to the fullest. Like having Donnie not put her on top of the fridge. (She doesn't like the fridge punishment). She is also a great singer and cook (she asked Donnie one day to teach her how to cook and he agreed). She is also a little artist and likes to paint and draw all over the lair. She is also very close with april sense thereb oth the only females of the group. She also sometimes helps Leo out on his pranks.

Speaking of April, she's the first human who they make friends with. April and the Turtles met when they we're all kids and theu all been inseparable sense then. She is very close with both Mikey and Donnie, thanks to Mikey being the only other female of the group and Donnie and her being the oldest of the group.

I would like to mention splinter, but I don't have a lot to say about him right now other than he starts out as an emotionally absent father and didn't teach them anything about Ninjasue (at least at first). But he does get better over time.

Now on to the villains. I can't really say much about them yet sense it would be spoiling a lot of the plot, but I will name each big bad

1 Rat King

2 Drako

3 Baxter stockman/Superfly

4 Jigoku

5 Kurōn

6 Karai and Bonesteel

7 The Krang

8 Savanti Romero

That's all for now. I'll probably explain more of this au in another post. But here are some sneak peaks of their designs for now!

[foodiepoll]

ROUND 3 BRACKET

(round 2) now things are getting heated, pun only a little bit intended

KEY POINTS:

Vote for whoever you believe is the bigger "foodie", by whatever metric you feel is most appropriate :)

Each poll is open for a week. Since we're down to the final eight, they'll all be going up at once ;)

For ease of browsing, all polls are tagged matches & any propaganda is tagged foodie propaganda. Finished polls are tagged as results.

Accepting propaganda btw <33333

In the case of a draw, the characters will move forward together as a team.

Everyone has been very civil (<3) however it bears repeating: if you are overly vitriolic in the tags/replies, about any character or voter, I take away 10% of the votes for your candidate.

(matches under the cut)

Nomoto & Kasuga (She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat) vs Remy (Ratatouille)

Laios Touden (Dungeon Meshi) vs Brock (Pokemon)

Akane Owari (Danganronpa) vs Shinjiro Aragaki (Persona 3)

Banica Conchita (The Evillious Chronicles) vs Amaury Guichon (from the school of chocolate on netflix)

[miqo-tales]

Patch seven point one and done

Back to posting my stray thoughts (and my sass) about the XIV patches. As always, don't look unless you've gone through the latest patch content.

MSQ

"I killed your older brother a few dozen times until he dropped a set of cool looking wings" was, weirdly, not a dialogue option for what I've been doing lately, so I had to pick a different response.

It's a bold move to invite to your beloved ruler's funeral the people that were responsible for her "death" and the subsequent dismantling of your societal and emotional training wheels.

Also, sorry, but I can't help but laugh at them creating a special black version of the regulator for a funeral. And on top of that, to jump ahead some, it's even limited edition?

(Is there a red version that revives you 3 times faster? How about a glow-in-the-dark one?)

Didn't take long for new dungeon to become depressing.

So did that Echo come from the tural vidraal's memories, or from a soul implanted in it? Cause if the latter, I can't imagine it being anyone but Teeshal Ja.

Trains! Honestly, not a whole lot to say about this entire sequence. I'm glad they're addressing the issue with the rroneek, since I thought it was weird that they kinda glossed over it during the 7.0 story.

Also, all the stuff with Koana is fine, I guess. He really jumped into the deep end of "I will save the rroneek" and really fast. It's a bit campy, but it's also pretty in-character for him, I think.

Back to Solution 9. Once again, I can't help but laugh at Wuk Lamat being disappointed that the Alexandrians haven't completely adjusted to the reality of death in the, like, hour or so that we were off playing with trains.

Joking aside, I don't know if it's intentional by the devs, but I like how sudden and jarring it is that Sphene is back. Cause no one but Wuk Lamat and you are surprised by it, and the cold stares from everyone when you try to challenge it help to sell it.

Still, no idea where they're going with this. We're in setup-land for now, and just have to ride it out for a bit.

And then we get another example of "no one ever fucking dies". So, seems likely this is genuine real girl Sphene, somehow? I dunno if I like it, but I will say it is kinda brilliant because during the Alexandria dungeon, the dialogue says "They did it, they preserved the queen's" before it's cut off. And by that point in the game, you assume they meant "memories". But, apparently, not just that.

YUWEYAWATA FIELD STATION

Devs wanted to get their Resident Evil on, huh? (Or Biohazard for them.)

I was surprised that there doesn't appear to be any dialogue about the people still in the containers.

Raise your hand if you quoted Monty Python when you saw the final boss.

o/

I honestly love how much trouble people are having with the second and third bosses. I don't think I've ever seen so many deaths in a dungeon.

JEUNO

Fun!

I wish we could have seen a little of Xarcabard, cause I always thought that zone was cool (no pun intended), but no big deal.

This raid is a good example of why players really need to learn to recognize visual and audio cues and patterns.

I'm not too keen on the story premise of it so far though. I dunno if I like the "this is a fake Vana'diel" angle, plus I don't really understand how Sareel Ja survived? But we'll see. It's likely that Alxaal is not a simulacrum, so we'll see if more genuine things cross over later.

PELUPELU SOCIETY

I don't usually comment on these quest lines, but I was amused they brought back the bandit guy from the MSQ. And I liked the possible responses when he first sees you.

**********************************************

Not much to say about this overall. The first patch of an expansion is usually a bit weird, so we just have to let the writers cook, as they say.

I'm just glad the FFXI raid is fun. Like, genuinely fun, not just nostalgic fun.

[hotpoopymilk]

i appreciate the sentiment here and i agree with you, but i scrape human flesh off of sharp objects for a living and i make enough to just barely scrape by (no pun intended). lots of watcher fans don't make a fair and survivable living and don't even get to make cool things or follow our passions in life. that's why a lot of us have found solace in watcher's content.

tbh i've seen a lot of extreme and unfair statements being made by "fans" and i hope that shane and the watcher team are doing well mentally right now with everything going on, but i think it's also important for watcher to know that they let a lot of us down this time. and i'm sure that they already knew that that was a possibility going into this. at the end of the day, it is what is. we're all just strangers on the internet who don't owe each other anything, but i will say that i've been watching shane and ryan's content since i was 13 and it's been a pretty consistent and good thing in my life up til now, so i'm pretty bummed about this.

it's okay for the watcher team to want more, and it's okay for those of us who can't give more to be bummed about it.

sorry for the mini essay. all this to say, i'm a fan, i wish them success, and i'm sure that whatever they're cooking up is great, but a lot of the fans' disappointment is coming from a place that's much deeper than just not wanting to pay for something.

We’re Leaving YouTube

[daybreakrising]

okay, finished acts III and IV today. thoughts under the cut

i've already touched on my thoughts regarding act III: boring filler, dull af, too many 'walk, cutscene, walk, cutscene, walk-' elements, not enough actual story or useful information, hate hate hate c//itlali: she just fckn annoys me and her voice is grating AF bc 90% of her dialogue is either yelled/shrieked or the tone of it is just obnoxious and harsh to listen to-

act IV, thankfully, was much better. it is so good to see actual consequence happening on a large scale when we're dealing with war. i//nazuma should have been like this. that entire section of going place to place to fight back the abyss and seeing corpses of people and saurians scattered everywhere was exactly what it should have been like, and i'm glad they went there. war is brutal and it was nice to have that shown in game beyond "oh this one npc we met for five minutes is dead" (rip teppei)

i did really enjoy that entire section too - yes, it was a little repetitive but that's to be expected given the context of what we were doing, and there were some unique elements here and there with the npcs we interact with etc so it wasn't too stale for me by the end like endless combat stuff would usually be. the map slowly getting covered with purple fog and the markers slowly changing to "come here and you'll die" really added an element of threat and danger. & it was so weird but also so great to be working alongside f.atui npcs too lskdbgkfjnh love those reluctant allies-

my one complaint about it was that you couldn't pause. normally, when a quest has that restriction / is going to take a long time, the game tells you this and suggests you make sure you have enough time to complete it. now, unless i missed it somehow, for some reason this part of the quest didn't have that - and i ended up having to rush through some dialogue scenes because i had to go out and couldn't pause the fucking quest without risking restarting shit. i know there were a few "door of resurrection activated" pop up messages throughout so presumably it saved it in stages so you wouldn't have to do the whole thing from scratch if you did have to quit the game, but.... would have been nice to have the warning. (again, i might have missed it, but i don't remember seeing anything like the usual pop-up message on screen from previous quests involving a similar mechanic).

capitano lore? great. i gotta admit, the reveal of his identity (to an extent, as we still don't know everything-) was a tad disappointing for me, just bc i've seen so many really cool and interesting theories over the months/years, and the truth just... felt a bit eh in comparison, BUT still very interesting to know - and made me squint a lil at a certain mr boughkeeper (tell me your secrets, dain-). very interested to find out more after these reveals (also, rip to my menogias au that i never got to use-)

the last two 'heroes' were pretty obvious from the start, considering the tribes and the characters we've been introduced to. still undecided on how i feel about o//roron as a whole but his weird soul deal is definitely curious. c//hasca.... eh. i don't dislike her, but i also don't exactly like her. i don't really have any feelings regarding her, strong or otherwise. and tbh.... i'm so tired of the 'power gets awakened when loved one dies' trope, especially when said character is already the 'tragic backstory' kind. loved the consequence of war, hate how that one in particular was used. (at least we now know why she got the unique npc/potential 4* design but no visible vision-)

some nice world lore reveals in this act too - of course, honourable mention to the visual confirmation of the fake sky deal. very interested to see where that goes from here. and the cinematic cutscenes, as always, were fire (pun intended).

and now... we wait until 5-point-fucking-3 for more. hyv, you better be cooking something real fckn good-