#oh god its nearly 2 am lmao

[diospore]

[I'm sorry, the quirk you are looking for cannot be found.]

[dr-spectre]

Hello everyone, I got some announcements to share and some plans for the future of this blog now that the Grand Fest is over and the news drought begins.

(LONG POST AHEAD!!!!)

I think going forward I'm gonna change how I approach myself acting online and be less "OH MY GOD HOLY SHITENWIOEDISIWIEOE GUYYS!!!"

Because to be honest with you all... I've been feeling very self conscious about the way that I've been acting online and I feel like I gotta channel my passion for Splatoon in a much more healthy and less EXTREMEEEEE way.

I am aware that um.... people have blocked me... and you know, that's to be expected of course when you are online and you're slowly building a following. Still really stings, though, and I think it's due to the fact that sometimes I can be sorta- "This is what happened, and if you disagree with me, you're an idiot and you're wrong!!!!!" When I make posts. And I don't wanna do that, and I don't want to come off as a gatekeeping fan that thinks lower of other people who might not know my stances very well. I wanna educate people and present my stuff as more of "Hey guys, this is what I think actually happened in this event. Feel free to take a look! I think this is really cool and I wonder what you guys think of this perspective that i have?"

And sometimes I can be pretty loud mouthed and stuff and I have talked shit towards certain characters. I remember one time I made a post where I said "what the fuck is wrong with Marie?" And said some stuff... I probably rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with that post... and other posts. I'm so sorry if I have made some of you upset in the past or have said some awful things about your favourite characters in the series...

As you guys probably know, I am passionate about Hypno Callie and I have very strong stances and opinions on her. And that leads to me get a bit... out of control. Callie is my biggest comfort character and to see certain people try and push this vile and disgusting event that happened to her... that she was kidnapped by Octavio and the Octarians when she was alone, and that he brainwashed her and forcibly put the shades on her, or he tricked her and he removed her memories too...

and I try to see the same event in a completely different lens... I see it as more of Octavio manipulating her in a more subtle way and due to Callie's poor mental state and desperation, she heard him out. Octavio used the shades as a way to control her more easily but he doesnt have full direct control over her because her influence helped motivate the Octarians. Octavio still wanted Callie to be... well... Callie. Plus, Callie was more than willing to help the Octarians as well, as she thinks they are cute. I do have evidence to back it up as well as articles and definitions explaining how hypnosis actually works and its limitations.

But this perspective gets compromised and put into question in my head when people keep pushing and pushing and PUSHING the other thing. Then it feels like I have to yell and get mad.... I've seen it as recently as when Blushing Tide came out and I looked at the YouTube comment section on one of the uploads and I just kept seeing people say "oh it's like Tidal Rush but without the brainwashing" or some shit like that idk. I dont remember it well but i know I saw the word floating around. (Don't look at YouTube comment sections. You won't get anything of value from them.)

Anyways, I also wanna cut back on swearing too because sometimes I border on being a hazbin hotel character and I DO NOT want myself to get to that level LMAO!

So what shall I be doing now that Splatoon 3 is officially wrapped up? Well... I wanna do more creative projects and fun stuff like that. I got good reception from my haikus for the Grand Fest and I think doing more stuff like that sounds really really fun!!! And it might actually give me a reason to finish stuff as well lol...

Like I have a God damn Splatoon 2 hero mode finale rewrite that's nearly done and it's been sitting on my Google docs since JULY!!!! I have also made plans to do a fan sequel to the Squid Sisters Stories that takes place in between Splatoon 2 and 3 because that time frame for the Squid Sisters has been barely touched upon. I'm also doing a personal project where it's basically what I want to see out of a Splatoon 4 and I've been really enjoying making that. I dont know if I would ever share it but... it's something to do for me at least.

I also wanna involve myself in the community more, I received an ask where someone said (I forgot who asked I'm so sorry) if I could do a thing where I receive Splatoon OCs and critique them. That sounds really fun!!!

Maybe i can do photo mode competitions or showcases!!! Where I choose a theme (Callie, water, Splatsville, etc) and people submit their photos and I critique them and showcase them to everyone!!! Does that sound like something people would be interested in?! I would love to know as virtual photography is a hobby I love to partake in and I wanna encourage more people to try it!

There is also other stuff i can do like going over the Idols outfits and rating them, but I don't have the motivation to do that at the moment and I know it's not gonna be as in-depth as the one I did for Callie.

Anyhow, that's basically what I have so far. I think im gonna slow down on posting and I'm gonna chill out. Or at least I'll try to chill out.

I've just been feeling incredibly guilty and kinda... sad that I've been acting in a certain way for a while. And I really wanna change that. I dont like making people upset and I don't wanna be the kind of Splatoon fan that puts down others who don't even know any better and don't know who I am....

But enough being sad, I wanna focus on the present and make sure that my future on here is bright!!!

[kaythefloppa]

Wild Kratts - Our Blue and Green World: Part 1: Review [Spoilers]

Welp, here it is, the Wild Kratts TV movie (not to be confused with the feature film they've been teasing us with since 2021). There's been a lot of hype around this special and season, especially with how much the latter was being hyped up during the hiatus. Let's see if the blue and green bros were able to deliver: Spoilers under the cut

Well, this is certainly an attention grabber!

This entire live action intro is shot and edited like an animated Wild Kratts episode, it's glorious.

Woah, intro change!

They said the thing! They said the thing!

HELP THIS IS SO RELATABLE. Also, THE BOYS ARE FIGHTING

Lmao I don't think they do it very often, but using animals/nature in their insults is very creative.

Also, whooping crane episode when?

This entire song is mercifully short. Like most character sung songs in Wild Kratts, it's not good, but this at least is clever in its lyrics and its visuals. It feels like a Disney reference at best and I am content with that. I also ADORED seeing the Draco and Walrus Suit return again. It's arguably the best musical number in the series. No, that is not saying a lot.

MARTIN WHY ARE YOU THE ONE WHO'S MIFFED YOU NEARLY MUFASA'D YOUR LITTLE BROTHER

CHRIS WHY ARE YOU MILDLY INCONVENIENCED YOU GOT ACRAPHOBIA FALLING FROM THAT HEIGHT

When I first saw the clip, I thought that they were going somewhere with this, like they'd activate Peacock Powers at the end when they recognized the compatibility and blue and green. But nope. Wasted potential is an understatement.

Also, where the fuck are they right now? In a previous shot there was Target the Chameleon, implying that they've been to Madagascar, but that is an Indian peafowl, and as far as I'm concerned, they don't live in Madagascar. Were they just having an off-day? These animals have little to nothing to do with the plot when they really shouldn't have, so I don't see why they couldn't have just shown a projector image or something.

Remember when I joked about the Wild Pony Power Suit returning in S7.... fuck you Apollo.

Man, they are eating it up with the animation here. It's hard to tell with screengrabs but man, is it fluid.

The first half of this episode is mixed. While it feels like the brothers are incredibly stubborn, it also does make sense for them to be this fixated on their favorites. So I can totally buy this. It could've been insufferable to watch, but it wasn't.

As if YOU haven't spied on them since the first time your dorito-headed ass showed up on screen

Did you find that funny? Because not only do they do a similar joke like that later on, but they follow through on that joke in the most unexpected way you will shit your pants when you first ingest it.

Oh my god if they make a Creature Power Suit off of that bird, I will take back any diss I've made, that is so beautiful.

Good to know that Aviva put the button near the chest and not near the back.

Maybe it's just me but this is kinda pushing it. Chris is literally getting his organs crushed, I think that should matter more than A) being right or B) trying to get 2 people to stop fighting.

I'm loving the callback and what this leads up to but ew, all this does is remind me about how ugly bright the color pallatte in S6. Really glad they fixed it in S7.

HELL FUCKING YES

This episode finds really unique ways of showing how the two different biomes are interconnected. It's like Rainforest Stew's (very brilliantly handled) message only to a larger degree. Kids can learn a lot from this.

I fucking love this episode, man.

Honestly, the way they write Paisley in the first half of the episode is very in-line with her character. Most shows that do what this episode does has them be out-of-character as a set-up, but here, she's just roasting the fuck out of Zach. Once again, recontextualized entirely in the climax.

HOW THE FUCK DID HE GET TO MADAGASCAR FROM THE GODDAMN AMAZON IN ONE AFTERNOON THAT IS LIKE MORE THAN 1,000 MILES AWAY?? ARE ANACONDAS THAT FAST?????

Also, INDRIS!!!!! :D

I was frankly expecting this to horribly backfire but spoilers, it doesn't. This actually winds up working. Common Aviva W.

To be continued.... will the blue and green rivalry end? Will one prove superior over another? And will they be able to stop Zach and Paisley and save the planet earth? And will this change the adventures of the Wild Kratts team forever? Stay tuned for part 2!

Pros:

The live action segments.

The animation of the earth's model.

The musical number not being ass.

Paisely's catty behavior.

The Anaconda Suit.

The inventive ways they show how the stability of the Earth is complex. There are a lot of ways it functions and thus a lot of ways it needs to survive

The comedy.

Cons:

The villains do not do anything until the second half of this episode. In fact, they're left completely in the backdrop. I expected them to make their prescence known and for Aviva to invent the discs to get them together for the SAKE of fighting the villains. But no. It makes the stakes feel hollow, which is the opposite of what they should be gunning for in an hour long special that they hype the shit out of.

CONCLUSION:

It was an "okay" set-up. It did live up to some of the hype it had, but not all of it. Honestly if it wasn't for the second half of this episode, this movie would be mediocre or slightly above average, but no. They do pick themselves off the ground and... they do jump the shark. But we'll get to that next time

[awfulwriter123]

Rhea Ripley x Gamer!/Streamer! Reader (Headcanon)

Okay, first time for everything right? God idk why im nervous, guess its just how i am...fuck...

Criticism is okay, just dont be too harsh please? and of course tips on how i can improve would be appreciated ❤️❤️now please enjoy!! (also quick little tip here st/n is streamer name had to come up with something)

. When you two got together, Rhea already knew u were a gamer, she just never knew you were a streamer.

. When asking you "why didn't you tell me?" All you said to her? "you never asked babe."

. Nearly smacked you upside the head for that one.

. Anyway, She always tunes in and watches whenever she can, and she loves every second.

. Watching you focus as you try and get pass a hard boss on a game, or watching while you play Call of Duty from time to time (and try not to rage at it) She finds it cute.

. When she made a Twitch account just to chat in stream, it was funny cause of her name, too say the chat made fun of you a bit for it would be a understatement.

. St/n's_MAMI: Don't rage too much babe, don't want you braking a controller....again.

. You wish your chair could swallow you whole out of embarrassment after that, and the chat was having fun at your expense.

. (Random Username): oh st/n in a mommy's girl!? 😏 St/n's_MAMI: It's MAMI, but yes, yes she is!😊🤣

. When you decided to make Rhea a mod in your stream (which u knew was probably a bad idea off the bat but oh well) you knew she'd be a good mod....and a bit overdramatic at times.

. (random chatter) has been banned by st/n's_MAMI.

. Y/n: Babe, why did you ban them?

.St/n's_MAMI: they said u were trash at the game

. The chat exploded with LOL's and LMAO's and BRUH's, rhea was a GREAT moderator in there eye's.

. When rhea introduced you to the boys of the judgement day, you and dom hit off as he is a big gamer.

. When you and him along with priest decided to play some fun party games on stream together, it was blast and you were dying of laughter.

. So much so that rhea eventually walked in and sat down and watched as you and her friend's had a blast.

. After the stream was over and you said bye to priest and dom, rhea asked if you could show her some games you could get her into and that you guys could play together.

. You decided to not immediately throw rhea in the deep end and deiced to start small, with a fun puzzle game called portal 2.

. Y/n "RHEA!!! I swear to god if you move the portal above the water so i die again, i will hit you!"

. Rhea "Awww, but its hilarious.

. Y/n "NOT TO ME!!!"

. Alot of different clips were made that day of you raging and rhea dying of laughter

. You know, maybe throwing her in the deep end probably would've been a good idea.

[territorialufo]

i give in can you tell me about that little iphone binch

YESS YES I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE LITTLE IPHONE BINCH !!!!!!!!! this is literally just rambling im so sorry. There's a lot of text blocks in the beginning but the end has more pics and silly stuff 

Also ii spoilers but its hard to talk abt mephone without getting into the recent stuff so whatever 

Under cut cause this got. Really long. whoops

Context/background of II/mephone 

“Inanimate Insanity” (ii) is a web animation originally released in 2011, considered the second “major” object show after BFDI. btw an object show is a genre of web series that features anthropomorphized inanimate objects competing for some kind of prize. I am NOT the right person to ask about object shows cause the only one ive ever been invested in to this extent is ii and theres SOO many other ones out there LMAO. Ok sorry i sounded like a bot for a second there JUST PROVIDING CONTEXT!! Inanimate Insanity’s structure is kind of interesting because it starts out as a silly comedy in s1 and most of s2 before descending into a really drama heavy storyline, with tension caused both by mephone’s past haunting him and conflict between the contestants themselves. Then suddenly s2 goes on a four year hiatus and animationepic (main youtube channel) launches s3 with new characters and artstyle, seemingly completely ditching the plot they had in s2??? IM NOT GONNA GET TOO INTO ALL THAT but it all works out timeline wise so its chill the tone switch was just rly funny at the time 😭😭😭 

ANYWAYYYY mephone. Mephone4. Mister phone. Four. The one and only four. MeFon! MePhone4 (parodying the IPhone4) is the de facto host of the in-universe reality show “Inanimate Insanity”!! As the host, he has speaking lines in nearly every episode which is super awesome and epic for mephone4 enjoyers (me). His initial vibe was inspired by Chris McClean from TDI, and was even voiced by Christian Potenza in the first episode before being switched to Mark Katz, who is the father of the creator of II, Adam Katz, which is also pretty cool i think. Since Mark Katz is a grown ass dude, mephone just has. The same voice for like the entire series SHDHF everyone else’s voices are changing and stuff as the creators got older but mephone just sounds like a middle aged man for all of it 😭I love it tho this isn’t a criticism!!! As the years go by it gets more and more expressive :) s1 is. rough. considering it was made by a bunch of kids, its very much a product of its time lol

Lore/character 

Ok lore time cause the thing w mephone is most of his backstory was kind of just hinted at (or implied with the existence of Apple irl). Like in s1 there was the introduction of mephone4s and 5, but otherwise, not much (as far as I can remember. I watched s1 when i was a kid so its been a while lmao). Then there was s2e8 where the contestants go to headquarters and we meet steve cobs (yes, like steve jobs), who’s his creator and dad?? Again some hints are dropped but nothing concrete about their relationship. And then BOOM. SEASON 2 EPISODE 13. “Mine Your Own Business” was my fave II ep for sooo long (idk what my fave is now tbh) cause THE MEPHONE LORE DROP??????? IT WAS CRAZY and also the ending of the episode with fan’s monologue and the soundtrack “shell of a fan” is my fave in the show ANYWAY ANYWAY so begins the remembering of the Horrors. 

He was “born” in Meeple Headquarters, and PLEASE KNOW THAT HE WAS BORN AN ADULT OH MY GOD there are some clowns who think hes literally 14 years old bc thats how old the iphone4 is USE YOUR BRAIN USE YOUR BRAIN AAAAA right so he basically knows nothing about the world, confined to headquarters until his eventual escape. Cobs and mephone have a pretty interesting dynamic, where cobs has most of the power. The way Cobs praises mephone but later shoots him down is so AUHGHGHGH. It’s an oppressive environment he's living in, only expected to do assigned tasks and shamed for any genuine interests, while having the pressure to impress his creator on his shoulders at the threat of being discarded. Mephone grows to hate and fear cobs, but at the same time, cobs is the only person whos known him since the beginning.

The way literally every problem mephone has can be traced back to his origin/how he was raised is so crazy. Like even before the s2e16 twist, it was extremely prevalent??? There are a bunch of analysis posts that explain it way better than I could but MANNNN for a show that the crew started when they were literally 13, they were able to tie things together pretty well, i think! 

It’s been pretty obvious since s2e13 that hosting Inanimate Insanity is just one big escapist fantasy for mephone, one where he is free to do as he pleases while ignoring all the trauma he sustained in “childhood”. Cause it’s implied he escaped Meeple, deleted his bad memories, and then started s1 right after. I mean, it makes sense, since outside of the cold, mechanical nature of Meeple, the only warmth he got was from his enjoyment of reality tv shows. If s1 is an amnesia mephone, and s2 is a spiraling mephone, then I’d describe s3 as “escapism but worse” mephone. It doesn’t ever get as gloomy as s2, but s3 has steady background reminders of “hey guys remember mephone is running away from all his problems right now!!” until it all comes to head in the finale. Some ppl dislike how mephone-centric the show’s gotten, but honestly idgaf more for me

I do want to say that he is very flawed, though. Esp near the beginning, he is really fucking rude and does not respect his contestants at all and frequently belittles them and puts them in mortal danger. he tends to view them and everything that happens to them through the lens of “its just part of the show!!!!”. He tends to brush off everyone’s problems, no matter how serious, even when he’s the one that caused them.

His reality show host personality is all a very big facade to cover up how he feels about the past (thus further submerging him in the fantasy of Inanimate Insanity). Like previous users have mentioned, this is likely due to the fact that he had no one to learn HOW to be empathetic/kind from besides reality television (which is known to be exaggerated for drama) and cobs (who is his abuser) But I famously do enjoy characters who are kind of dickheads, the confidence being a mask is like a tasty bonus to me.

The dichotomy between his arrogant host exterior and paranoid/anxious interior is really interesting and fun to watch. Compared to his relatively sweet/naive beginning personality, it’s wild to see just how much he’s changed since then because of everything that’s happened.  His relationships with the rest of the characters is also interesting, cause despite being their host, he isn’t very close with a lot of them. Other than maybe Bot, who I believe he feels kinship with since they're both robots who freed themselves from the expectations of others. Same with Mepad, since they’re both from Meeple. 

He’s a robot, but in an emotional/psychological sense, is basically a normal person/object (person is synonymous with object in this case). He feels like a person despite being an AI. which makes cobs a lot worse imo, he mistreats all his creations, but at least the other newer mephones are barely “feeling” at all, unlike 4.

Basically, 

Cobs: i have engineered a machine that is functionally a person

Everyone: you fucked up a perfectly good phone is what you did. Look at him. He’s got ptsd. 

Not to get too into ii16/17, but they basically recontextualized the entire series and made what we initially thought about mephone’s escapist tendencies and origins a million times worse. Bro was so tormented he subconsciously made his OCs come to life 😭😭😭all while projecting all his issues onto them??? Psychologically sound individual activities. Additionally, the way he was created is also. Terrible. Cobs basically invaded an alien planet, kidnapped an alien kid, and then presumably used its energy to create mephone4. Outer space colonization? In MY object show? yes!

Ok now im just gonna talk about random stuff i like about him  

His powers are so cool.,.,,. Esp as a foil to cobs/mephonex, who could represent destruction, he represents creation with his generation ability. Also something abt using his powers for non violent reasons when his creation was built upon violence uhh idk. And I think the screen turning green and the sound effect is very satisfying dlsjkfg. Oh and the fact that he canonically had to practice to get better at it? In the flashbacks he’s shown having trouble generating even a simple tree, and now he can make pretty much anything with minimal effort. 

Also MeLife, which allows him to bring contestants back from the dead, is an ability unique to him, which is super cool!!

He can create portals as well and this is never explained. He can just suddenly do it KDLJFGH this kind of renders Mepad’s teleportation ability useless but it's still fun. 

I like when he uses his face as an actual screen :)

Something something robot related stuff

He is not waterproof and will malfunction or even die when wet

His speaking function can be disabled by other people

Glitches while talking sometimes!! Delightful 

Something that gets overlooked often I think is the s1 finale, where mephone4S (mephone4's brother) basically killed himself to save mephone4 by downgrading his own OS. Technically, mephone isn’t even in his original body anymore, he’s inhabiting his brother’s. Fun!

this is unrelated but he got shot in the face with a gun once. there havent been any guns since unfortunately

Get yoinked idiot 

In conclusion, 

I heart him and im sad ii is gonna be ending soon thx for reading

[jadebread64]

time for me to post my bullshit ramblings on the new doctor who episode in no particular order like a maniac lol

(SPOILERS AHOY, DONT CLICK ON THE READMORE IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE EPISODE)

obviously seeing tennant and tate back in their roles is so cool, they feel exactly as they should, it doesnt even feel like 15 years have passed when you watch them its great

DONNA CANONICALLY HAS A NONBINARY DAUGHTER AND IM SO FUCKING HAPPY ABOUT THAT

NOT ONLY THAT BUT HER ALSO BEING PART OF THE METACRISIS TIME LORD SHIT IS SUPER COOL

lmao im not even joking when i first saw the meep™ i literally thought "aww it's so cute i hope it doesnt end up being evil" and LO AND BEHOLD

OH MY GOD DAVID TENNANT JUST SUDDENLY PUTTING ON A FUCKING JUDGE WIG AND DOING A COURTROOM SCENE WITH THE MEEP AND THE WRARTH WHILE DONNA AND HER CONCERNED FAMILY JUST OBSERVE

also i think the wrarth voices are so funny cause in the trailers they're like *auurhghghg scary monster sounds!!1!* but in the episode they just sound british like every doctor who space alien should

i think the new TARDIS looks really cartoony and i think it's kinda fun, idk if ncuti is gonna end up with this TARDIS set (i'd imagine the bbc doesnt have the budget to make a whole TARDIS set for 4 episodes then just make a new one lol) but i think it looks kinda plain at the moment? idk if they added some chairs and bookshelves n shit like the capaldi one and make it look more lived in overtime it might be one of my favourites just for the whole classic who vibe it has. either way it's perfect for david he gets to run around like a little kid in there and thats all that matters lol

also tennants new suit looks so fucking good and honestly wish he just had that in series 2-4 instead of the brown suit

i think it's so funny how literally not even 5 minutes after entering the TARDIS donna just fucking spills her coffee on the console and the whole thing just explodes and goes to shit immediately lmao

ALSO WE'RE GETTING A FULL ON TENNANT/TATE ADVENTURE NEXT WEEK???? AM I IN 2008 OR 2023 I CANNOT TELL ANYMORE TIME HAS NO MEANING

im really hoping we get to see whoever the fuck neil patrick harris' character is in the next episode, im 99% sure it's gonna be the celestial toymaker but only because the doctor who youtube account kept posting celestial toymaker clips and i think they're being cheeky bastards lol (/positive)

(/sarcasm) i cant wait to see all the queerphobic assholes shitting on this episode for having the few pronouns/binary lines in it and going "dOcTor wHo iS wOkE nOw yUcK" even though doctor who has been progressive since literally 1963 with the daleks (which got a fancy new colourization that i need to check out still but thats a whole OTHER THING LOL)

oh yeah and david's acting is really fucking good in this, like when he thinks wilf has died and he just sorrowfully says "i loved that man." like MY HEART CANT TAKE THIS

plus when he thinks he has to sacrifice donna to save everybody, holy shit his perfomance is incredible

this is just a me thing but seeing a doctor who episode live as its broadcasting is so cool, i've been watching this show for like 8 years (i think??) and i usually just ended up finding it on dailymotion or some shit like a day or two after the episode aired so i'd always be late for it lol (btw for the people coming after me i dont pay for disney+ at all lol) so watching it the at the same time as everyone else was very cool especially since i nearly slept in through it lmao

anyways i think thats all if i remember any more things i'll add em in lol

plus some bonus ramblings before the episode aired

[sushisocks]

11 for the ask thing ^_^

Eeeheheheh!!!

From the Get to know your fic writer list!

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

Ohkay, oh my god, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume these aren't my own fics bcz besides the ones I wrote back in like 2018, I only have 3 out, and one isn't even finished jnbhvghbjbh

I'm also gonna limit myself to RDR2 ones bcz how many of yall are here for Drarry and Klance fic recs these days anyway?? I thought so, lmao, SO

1) OBVIOUSLY I have to start out with Faithless, by my dear friend Necromantic AKA @absolutedisaster69 !!! RDR2, Charthur, Unreliable Narrator, still ongoing, and REALLY FUCKED UP SO FAR, I am simply in LOVE with it okay. If you're looking for a completely different take on Charthur, and the VDL gang as a whole, this is IT!! AND, lol, if you look through the comment section of that fic you WILL find me in there analysing the shit out of nearly every chapter, it's WILD and I'm WILDIN'!!

2) Is one I genuinely think needs more attention -- Burn Like Whiskey Flames by Lysandra_Lewis AKA @ithinkthiswasabadidea is still my FAVORITE MacSummers fic to date. Imagine me, STARVED for content, going into the Sean/Lenny tag only to find this TREASURE of a fic buried among fics that only really list them as a sidepair. It is funny, and wholesome, and so sweet it will rot your TEETH out. It's Francesca's only RDR2 fic and it is a GIFT to the fandom, okay, and thusly SEVERELY underappreciated. When Sean comes into the lodge and starts "wooing" Lenny? Bro I've read this fic so many times and I am STILL giggling and blushing EVERY TIME!!!! They are SO dumb, and I'm genuinely obsessed with them and this fic okay!!!!

3) I mean, come on, we've all read Lost Country by iridian(ryehouses here on tumblr), right? If you haven't, it's Charthur, and don't be fooled by the coffee shop au tag because there is SO much more to this fic. It's been a while since my last readthrough of it, and I'm nearing a point where I'll want to reread again for sure, but I'll leave you with my bookmark comment to give you an idea of how I feel about this fic: "this fic changed me irrevocably. i was and am obsessed with everything about this fic. i listened to the playlist for months. certain songs still make me go feral. ill never forget how this fic made me feel." DEFINITE recommend, always!!

(Honorary mention to Strange Visitor by Necro, which I was very autistic about in its final months of posting, and is where I decided I wanted to be his friend!! One year later and I am a pest in his DMs all the time <3)

I know this just said to list them, but who in their right mind doesn't GRAB at the chance to gush about their favorite fics whenever they can? Give me a break, and go read these fantastic fics if you haven't already!!!

[arcplaysgames]

does this mean we can kiss or.....?

yeah yosuke, if you get under my umbrella (ella) we're practically a couple

(kanji, baby, play it cool, let me wingman for you)

every once in a while i love yosuke's instigating lil bastardly nature and this one one of those times

lmao i love this game sometimes. i def picked to go with naoto and kanji got Extremely Flustered and ran all the way to school. just ask them out, kanji, good lord.

sorry kanji i lied, i'm a terrible wingman. this is why i needed Junpei.

so anyway. the cultural festival.

So there's a beauty pageant because the weird sexy teacher, who.... is a contestant. (I swear to fucking god this shit wouldn't fly at Gekkoukan.)

Yosuke, my beloved instigating lil bastardly boy, enters all the gals and Naoto as a joke.

The weird sexy teacher is barring people from dropping out which. THIS SHIT WOULD NOT FLY AT GEKKOUKAN. MITSURU WOULD WHOOP SOME ASSES. SHE'D END CAREERS.

So in return, Chie signs all the guys up for the crossdressing pageant. Which, honestly? I fully support her. Good for you, Chie.

I am never not serious about the art of drag, Yosuke.

SPOILER: Yukiko is lying and owes Kanji an apology. She did not play to his strengths and its a rotten shame and a crime.

Teddie shows up and is allowed to enter the drag contest. Because of course he is, we're letting a teacher in the other pageant, this is a lawless world.

Naoto is doing Teddie's outfit and make-up, interesting to note for later.

Rise did Kanji's look and I'm big mad at her, she knows better, she could have done a MUCH be-- oh. oh right rise has a weirdly antagonist relationship with Kanji. GOD I JUST PUT THAT TOGETHER. KANJI I'M SORRY I SHOULD HAVE SAVED YOU. She didn't even give him any pointers on his posture, which alone would have done a lot.

Chie did this purposefully for revenge, you cannot convince me otherwise. Again: she has my full support. But with Yosuke, she had to put in some effort, it would have been very easy to make him a very good drag look. I'd wet his hair and put curling stuff in it, zzuzh it up a bit and give him a smoky eye. Totally could have worked.

Sadly we don't get a close-up on Reverie. I am sad. I wanted to examine the Look.

anyway OBVIOUSLY Teddie wins. Naoto did a great job. Don't fuck with what's already working and accentuate what you already have. Naoto knows what's up! I would have punched up Teddie's eyes but Naoto apparently doesn't even own a make-up kit so maybe that's not their skillset.

Because Teddie wins, he gets to be a judge for the other pageant and he declares it has to have a swimsuit portion. Are sure Teddie is not also the Devil?

i love you naoto

ALSO WEIRDLY. Hamuko the token fat girl is in this and like. it's not NEARLY the horrorshow that the Spring Camping Trip was. small mercies.

Kanji continues to be a good dude. YES it was brave enough of Naoto to show up at all. Bailing on the swimsuit part is also brave of them. Good for you, Naoto! (It's also funny, Kanji is flustered by Chie and Yukiko and Naoto but not at ALL by Rise. Rise is like the least attractive person int he world to him. Not that he finds her ugly but just there's no spark there. lmao. is that why she dislikes him? I cannot figure out the source of Rise being kind of a dick to Kanji.)

Aaaaaand Naoto wins the pageant anyway.

THIS WHOLE SEQUENCE SUCKED. HOWEVER, IT DID NOT SUCK AS MUCH AS THE SPRING CAMP TRIP SO.

also in the middle of all this, class 2-2 was doing a like.... weird... speed... dating... thing. that no one was interested in obviously.

OF COURSE I AM GONNA SIT ON THE GIRLS' SIDE. man i have beef with this game but I cannot lie, it DOES offer me a lot of options I genuinely want.

So here's the interesting bit. Because, again, the game likes to indulge me, Reverie gets asked who he wants to date. And I can pick Kanji, Yosuke, or a girl. I'm playing Reverie as gay, so OF COURSE I pick Kanji. Because I have eyes and a sense of taste, okay.

Which leads directly to Yosuke goading Kanji and almost getting punched again. THE USUAL.

HOWEVER. I RELOADED THE SAVE OUT OF CURIOSITY, RIGHT. AND I PICKED YOSUKE INSTEAD.

Yosuke actually gives you approval points for picking him, unlike Kanji. Kanji doesn't not (and here I just have to accept in my tired broken heart that Reverie is not Kanji's type, and y'all KNOW it's just shattering to me, just so sad) but YOSUKE DOES.

Yosuke is the most repressed bisexual I have seen in a LONG fucking time. Holy shit.

anyway overall 5 out of 10. this could have been much worse but it was still not fun like the beach.

[yomogi-mogi-mochi]

Pygmalion (IV)

Pairings: Rook/ (Pygmalion) Reader // Idia/Reader (Platonic)

Summary: You were frequently told that your career as a renowned sculptor did not match your dull and less than colorful personality. With your cybernetic hands, you carve the lives and deaths of those long gone‒ producing pieces which have been held in both technical and emotional high regard, dubbing you with the title “Pygm.AI.lion” despite your human heart and brain. When you accidentally still the usually flamboyant archer into silence after he comes across you working in your atelier‒ you find that you’ve become a victim to one of his ceaseless stalkings. Though, you’ve been prey long enough to know how hunt the huntsman himself.

Notes: I've been reading more of Song of Achilles and I'm sobbing. Help lol

Sorry updates have been slow. I've been working between fics‒ I have an Orpheus inspired Vil fic coming out soon-ish??? We'll see how my creativity is fairing after completing this chapter lmao I can feel myself burning out as we speak. Short chapter but I have big things coming next chapter

Comments and kudos always appreciated ヽ(●´ε｀●)ノ

CW: Hints of depression?? Mention of death. Not really much else except bad French oh my god it’s so so bad

AO3 Link Here.

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 (Here) // Part 5 // Part 6

Masterlist

——————————————————

Grief anchored you to the ground for minutes? Hours? Days? You weren't sure. Your sense of time had been long broken when you separated from the rhythm of human life‒ and you would let yourself rot for however long you wished, knowing‒ painfully‒ that it would not matter how many more centuries you stayed harbored to that misery, as it would just circle back to the same emptiness. But you knew it was long enough to warrant a visit from Idia of all people, who examined your arm with a careful eye.

"Seems fine now. Your Orpheus system is just lagging because you haven't upgraded your physical body in its entirety for a while.” He let your hand go, falling limp into your lap. “I can whip up something quick‒"

"It's fine." You tried to say it as neutrally as you could, but it came out strained and hoarse instead. Porcelain teeth grazed the insides of your mouth, gathering saliva in your mouth to fix the dryness in your throat. "I'll be alright, little flame." You corrected.

"Ortho misses you, you know."

"Is that so?" You clenched your fist, testing its movements. "It'll pass."

Idia pushed a stiff breath past his lips to release his growing frustration. "Hah? Sorry‒ what? 'It'll pass?'"

"Yes, it will."

A violent vermillion licked the tips of his hair. "Be so serious right now (Name)." He stood suddenly to his full height, knocking the wooden stool behind him. "You're finally free and this is what you are now?"

He was nearly three feet taller than your sitting height. It would have shook a bit before to see the difference from his small stature during his childhood, and now at the cusp of his adulthood, but it didn’t now. You challenged him with an empty gaze, cold as splintering ice. "And what am I now?"

"You know what I mean."

“I’m not quite sure. Enlighten me.”

"I know it's not simple.” He began. His chest heaved with desperate, slow breaths‒ you could tell that he wasn’t used to raising his voice. There’s a slight pain that made you squint your eyes. “Ortho reminded me that you need to value your heart, as much of a fault in human programming it is. You taught me that first, you know.” If an answer was expected at that time, you did not give it. “If you keep cornering yourself into what S.T.Y.X tried to make of you, you’ll never actually be free from them.”

There was a familiarity in this conversation that slumbered somewhere in your hazy memories, that prompted you to answer as automatically as the reflexes programmed within your bionic muscles.

“You don’t know me.”

Idia’s sudden strength almost surprised you when he picked you up by the scruff of your collar, face bright from the orange flames that flickered onto his face. "No‒ don't you dare‒"

"I'm not interrupting something, am I?"

The door opens wide, revealing Rook with an amused stare. You were sure you locked it‒ but everything seemed to blur together in your head.

"...No." Idia's hands left your collar, letting you fall solidly onto your chair. You slumped into yourself, turning to your drafting table to keep pretending like you were busy like when Idia had first entered.

"Just…think about it, please?" He says quietly, turning away to leave. You couldn’t bring yourself to nod, or shake your head‒ unsure if who he was talking about was truly the one implanted in your mechanical body. So you merely stared at the bare paper, bent and wrinkled from the several days you had spent laboring over its blankness.

“A spat with the Ignihyde house warden? Now that’s a sight to behold. One could only imagine what you have done to prompt such a response.”

“I was being cruel.” You answered‒ almost a warning, a violence to fend him off. That fire felt seasoned in your throat, perhaps you had someone else’s memories deep down that had spat the same wickedness from it.

Rook tried again. "Critique is not quite the same without you."

You felt your voice echo in the hollowness of your body, ringing in your ears. "Really."

"Yes‒ no one appreciates or loves beauty quite like you do." He shakes his head. "As Le chasseur d'amour‒ I find it simply pitiful that I am unable to be in the presence of your masterful critiques anymore."

"I don’t love beauty‒ they were just my observations."

"Ah but I know it‒ I feel it!" He exclaims, pacing between statues bearing foreign faces. "You love beauty most of all‒ Maître d’Ivoire, is it not what has pushed you for all these centuries?"

You evaded his last statement, turning your face sour at the thought of even contemplating what truly had been dragging you through the centuries. "Knowing and feeling are two different things."

"Oh?"

"Knowledge does not require sacrifice. Feeling does." Something deep was swelling inside you, which plunged your voice into a quicker pace. You weren't sure what it was, but it singed more than the archaic violence in your throat. "Knowledge is obsession‒ there is nothing you just give to obtain it. Feeling‒ however‒ is love, it is giving a precious part of yourself to make room for something, someone, whatever." You stumbled over your sentences, urging you to bite your lip to quiet yourself.

"Hm. Then in that case I do not know which one beauty is for me." His hair sways as he turns towards you again. "This is so like you‒ Maître d’Ivoire. You make me question new possibilities. Tell me‒ what do you think it is for me?"

"Hunter of love, you say?"

"Oh, vous parlez ma langue?"

"I lived in the City of Flowers, I speak a bygone version of it."*

"You're from there?"

“Je viens de nulle part.” I am from no where, you dismissed with a quick tongue. "As a hunter‒ do you truly care if it's love or obsession? I imagine it doesn't matter as long as you're fed."

He thinks. "Hm. I suppose it doesn't. But I would like to think I love it.”

“If you merely think of it then you do not love it. Beauty is but knowledge to you. When you love it‒ you feel it, and let it feel you‒ unravel you, break you if you stay long enough.”

The smile began to falter from his lips. Cruel, you knew it. But you had warned him, hadn’t you? The words didn’t stop from your mouth. “Obsession is young, it takes, it conquers. It is tethered to ephemerality, and therefore is the brightest, the most beautiful. But it devours itself eventually. To love is pain. To love is to prevail beauty, to feel absolute reverence in whatever shape it takes. If in your eyes…” the breath hooked heavily in your chest, reminded of his words, “With my human eyes, that's all I can see”. You started again. “If in your eyes, it is beauty, then so be it. But to love it is to know you'll grieve over and over and over again, for it is a part of your heart." When you talked with him, you felt so sure of your words despite the centuries weighing heavy on your chest. You pierced your gaze into his own, looking far into the lush green of his eyes. “Would you fear that? Lingering and loving a thing enough to know it’s absence, le chasseur d'amour?”

Hunter of love. The title he wore like a crown felt like dust when it touched your lips. Once again, you were blurring the picture of clarity in his mind with a hazy heat, an aching hunger which rolled inside him that urged him to join your hands in breaking beauty, breaking truth. But he remained frozen.

His eyes shook at your words, your unblinking gaze searching for any fear, any grief, anything‒ in hopes that he would pluck it from its own heart and hand them to you‒ fill you with any particle of humanity. If it was him, surely it would feel fresh like the hunger in his eyes. Rook clambered those things in his chest, he felt the roles of the hunt were tipping, fiercely tumbling between animal and human‒ but he felt himself allowing it for once, his grip loosening and his chest swelling euphorically at his flowering palms.

“I am not scared.” He reveals quietly to you, as if whispering a secret. “Just greedy for it. For everything. Maybe it’s not all black and white as you say.”

Too many fruit bore in front of his eyes, and every second he spent inspecting one made another rot. He starved below the base of the fruit tree, paralyzed in choosing which delectable sweetness he could latch his lips onto for eternity. There’s no time, no time, not enough, he seethes.

You saw the quiet fire in his eyes, looking aside in shame. You had no right on the matter‒ you could linger as long as you could‒ you had the choice to leave people first before they hollowed you out with their absence. And even if you stayed, it would be fossilized under the deep pressure of eternity‒ their faces would become unknown to even you, forgotten forever. True death‒ you witnessed it, created it over and over.

Right, this again. Humans did not have this privilege. But you did.

You felt far, impossibly small for these vast things.

“Yes. You’re right.” I am no longer entitled to such things.

“Then how about you? Do you love it?”

“I…” I shouldn’t. I can’t. Not again.“…I have no right on the matter. You shouldn’t listen to me.”

His frown loosened into disappointment. He grips his sensitivities back into his chest once more, quieting his footsteps as a kindness as he walks towards the door. “I see”.

You clumsily clasped his wrist with your gloved hand. “Wait‒” He turns, with wild eyes. “I didn’t mean‒“ What were you doing?

Despite the stillness in his body, you could feel the warmth rumbling through his wrist through your gloves, into you sensors. “Can I show you instead? And‒ you could help me decide?" You felt like a child again, begging for forgiveness, justifying your ignorance to people twice your size. "I don’t know. I truly don’t. I wish I could tell you. I'm sorry."

“...Okay.”

You slid your arm to cup your hand over his. His lips twisted slightly, but allowed you to guide his fingers towards a familiar statue, encrusted with soft, pink wax. You pressed it against where her cheek was, her flushed skin, warmed from the sunlight and life that was fleeting within when you touched her with your bare hand. You felt hers, then his heartbeat jump in your hands.

“Tell me, what does she say to you?”

Rook was silent for a moment. “Can it speak?”

“Her.” You corrected gently, running his hand in across her jaw with the soft force of your own. “Her name…I cannot remember, time is bitter to me right now. But feel her‒ what do you feel from her?” You felt your fingers lingering on his own, before they parted from him, your body falling to a chair.

As he felt the fluttering heartbeat‒ gradually slowing in his hands, a storm of stimulation buzzed inside him. This felt like sweetness leaving his lips, leaving his mouth dry, but honeyed. She feels green with greed, but in the light it shines pink‒ like tender flesh, like love; and blue, like the quiet entropy of the cosmos. Everything felt so raw‒ the colors and his senses fresh to him like a child, or a man nearing death. When the beating burrowed in the wax slowed to a whisper, she felt lighter against his touch. But he still felt her warmth dancing in his palms, leaving a ripple of colors before it turned snowy white in his mind. A frosted fragrance, like pine, smoldering to ash in the fireplace. It reminded him of Christmas nights with his siblings, where distant laughter could be heard in the room over as he drifted into blissful stillness. The warmth felt like a hand in the dark‒ like when his father had guided him through the forest on early winter mornings to see the sun rise. Your love carved into this cold flesh‒ felt so alive, felt like everything, everywhere, all at once.

He felt a swelling in his entire body, every nerve, every cell in his body felt bigger than he was, threatening to burst at his seams. It was the same feeling he had felt when he first encountered this statue‒ a bittersweet fire at his tongue, something writhing under his bones, begging to dig its way out.

The beauty of your craft had been knowledge, something he had merely observed before. But even his exceptionally sharp eyes could not have felt so tenderly, this, that, here, there, all of it. Only when you had led his hand heavy towards fleeting life, a ceaseless thing you had felt in the centuries of your existence‒ had he truly loved the heaven-laden beauty crafted by your hands. You were right. Before, he didn't want to give a single drop of himself‒ seizing your life as a fruitful opportunity, sweet but quick to rot. Now, he felt himself sinking into it, feeling, smelling, and tasting its whole as a part of himself, before he carried that flesh to his mouth to become a part of his mortal blood. Oh gods, it was delicious to eat the world so tender. He could feel himself falling off his bones.

“Do you think that is love? It’s been six hundred years‒“ You gulped the heavy air between those words. “I just know anymore‒ what humanity or beauty or love is. I'm a fraud. I'm no artist. A fraud."

He suddenly understood Idia’s angered response. If you were a fraud what was he? “Maître d’Ivoire. You know better than anyone, those words could not possibly be true.” The muscles behind his eyes tightened from the salt that lurched behind them. He cradled his own thoughts in his chest, guarding it with such tightness he feared he might break them. He let go to reach a hand towards your bare hand‒ feeling the warmth pouring from yours into his bones, softening that hold inside of him even more. When he spoke, he merely traced the words inside of him, spending no time decorating with meticulous distance like he always had.

“It feels like a storm is buzzing inside me. Like the bitter chill of a quiet morning. Like sweetness leaving my lips‒ spacious, but sweetened. She feels green with greed but shines pink in the light‒ like tender flesh, like love; and blue like the quiet entropy of the cosmos.”

“Oh‒“

“Allow me to finish. Everything feel so raw when I touched her‒ I felt like. Child or a man of his deathbed. And when the life stopped‒ it still felt warm, and colorful. It was like cool pine, smoldering to ash in the fireplace. Like Christmas nights with my family, nights where I hear distant auger from the other room while I drifted off to sleep. The warmth felt like my father’s hand in the dark‒ when he guided me through the forest on early winter mornings to see the sunrise.” He sucked in a deep breath to catch his own. “If this is the life and death you have touched others with is not love, I would not want to know it.”

You gave him an owlish stare, unable to give a response to his words. Now, you felt far too close, tethered to your body and its rising warmth that tingled at your cheeks. You brought your fingers to your face to check your temperature. They shook with your twitching blood, unable to register anything other than their tremble. If you had a stomach, you would have heaved it out with your heart at that moment you realized Rook was still holding your bare hand in his own.

“That’s so…” Your hand squeezed his. “…sappy.”

Rook gave you the same look you had a second ago, before bursting out in a fit of laughter. You quickly trailed behind him with your own chuckles, but you don’t let eachother’s hands go. The atelier fills with the lightness of your laughters, the two of you clutching stomachs and throwing your heads back and forth, but you don’t let eachother’s hands go. The weight of that touch grounds the soaring feeling inside of you, hand in hand, sharing that gravity together.

“Not only are you an artist‒ you are a comedian too? Fantastique!”

“Only because I did not know you were such a sap! But I should have guessed‒ le chasseur d'amour.” Your laughter began to die down to chuckles. “It’s been centuries since I’ve laughed like this.”

“I am glad to be the reason you have.”

——————————————————

Notes:

You know, in a perfect world, there would be an English or Japanese to Old French translator. Or I would have some linguistic talent. Unfortunately the transition from Roman Vulgar Latin (the dialect of Classic Latin spoken in the Western Roman Empire) to French is so fucking convoluted because Charlemagne tasked an English who didn’t even speak a lick of Latin (or any Romance languages) to “French-ify” it by making all of the spelling literal from the pronouciation of the Latin word. Also French has a bunch of other influences like Celtic languages (Gaulish‒ because oh yeah, the Roman Empire was big but so were the Goths) and others because after the Roman Empire fell, things were a little bit chaotic until countries began to differentiate themselves by the Middle Ages were Middle French emerged as a closer relative to contemporary French.

If it’s one thing I can’t do it’s languages. I can barely speak my native language (Japanese) or my second language (English), and sometimes I’m illiterate like genuinely I look at my writing sometimes and I’m like ….What? I’m sure you all share similar sentiments about my writing sometimes lol. But sorry for the historical accuracy this time. My academic Achilles heel consists of non-applicable math and sciences, and linguistics.

Fruit tree analogy stolen from The Bell Jar lol I love Sylvia Plath

Sorry this was kind of short. But I have something bigger planned for the next chapter

[terramythos]

System Collapse by Martha Wells Reading Notes

Full Review Here!

-ohhh fuck new murderbot explodes

Chapter 1

-I am glad to continue the "slightly out of order even in microcosm" style

-ok WHAT is it redacting. It sounds embarrassing.

-"I could have said a one liner but the ag bot scientifically couldn't understand me if I did so why bother" omg

-Another Sec Unit with somewhat heavy focus, which potentially tried to kill Murderbot, I'm sure this will be irrelevant and have no implications

-multiple uses of 'it/us'.

-God I love ART

-well I think one fun idea we could explore is there being rogue Sec Units completely separate from Murderbot (/Three, who Murderbot freed). It is theoretically possible others could have figured out what Murderbot did, or even other methods it didn't.

Chapter 2

-"fuck proprietary software" rant. So real bestie

-the slavery theme continues. Like obviously it's major to Murderbot as a character, but here the surviving colonists are framed as "salvage" to a corporation. So. Yeah looking forward to more of that.

-YEAH MAYBE ART'S PROTECTIVENESS BECOMING HAIR TRIGGER VIOLENT RESPONSES lS A BIT CONCERNING.

-it's giving Rimworld vibes

-yaaaay more neopronouns wooooo

Chapter 3

-ARGUCUSSION. Might steal that

-murderbot I'm beginning to seriously consider that the threat assessment module is just anxiety

-WHAT DO YOU MEAN REDACTED. HELLO?

-murderbot adding increasingly catastrophic hypothetical contingencies to worry about is far too relatable

-ART quantum as fuck

-what does redacted meeeeaaaan why does it keep happening what is going on that murderbot doesn't want the reader to knowwww

-ok there being such a heavy focus on ART and how unusual it is and how much it is capable of doing and being at once… in conjunction with the title… is a little. Hm!

-Ratthi my friend Ratthi

-"HUMANS CAN ALSO HAVE AUTISM ITS NOT JUST ME" ok go off mb

-was redacted a nervous breakdown or something?

-Ratthi getting defensive about Murderbot 💖

-"at least nobody had noticed" lists 3 of the 4 people as probably having noticed

Chapter 4

-"I don't know how to respond when humans say [be safe]. It was always my job to get hurt". :(

-ok why would a pre-CR ruin be actively powered. That's a little. Odd.

-i know this is just a reminder expository dump but I do still enjoy the concept of alien material just causing weird shit to happen to human biology and technology sometimes.

-MB precisely citing a historical reference is. Something. Did it suddenly gain an interest in this

redacted

-Tarik going from "random extra red shirt coded character" to "oh wait you have a backstory and thematic character foil shit going huh". 👌 the good shit

Chapter 5

-its been spelled "hanger" not "hangar" a couple times which feels like an error

-'murderbot, why are you like this' I mean

-oddly specific media similarity queries is oddly relatable

-murderbot low self confidence is :(

-framing its friends helping it in a difficult time as covering for its mistakes sure is a way to look at things

-ok so I guess murderbot is having like. Ptsd related stress nightmares? Hence the redacted ("inaccurate") memory? Murderbot doesn't dream like a human as far as we know so it wouldn't be a shock that everyone is confused about it.

-I guess there could be another explanation but

-yeah the story describes it as a "flashback" which is a ptsd thing. But I guess then I'm surprised murderbot hasn't had something similar happen before considering some of the things that have happened in the series. I guess it isn't nearly predictable in humans irl either, but still.

-poor murderbot

-ok so when it said "I froze" it meant that literally in like a computer sense

-"I guess machine intelligences of that era were too polite to say 'that sounds fake but okay'" LMAO

-the pre CR system seems interesting and I like the framing of their convo in an extremely basic programming language (if that's the right term for it)

-telling that it doesn't have a word for 'client'

-and how did BE get there so fast…

Chapter 6

-not Tarik sitting like me

-GOD why did "explaining the existential horror of the governor module in LanguageBasic" make me laugh so hard

-so I'm pretty sure the implication is one of the main humans sold them out to BE, which is how they knew where to look for the separatists. Though since ART speculates they got there early, I guess the main colonists could have as well, but that doesn't explain the BE SecUnit trying to (presumably) hurt Murderbot.

-on that subject, that SecUnit might have (1) immediately identified Murderbot as an altered SecUnit and (2) that's the reason it attacked the ag-bot how it did, either to test the theory or because it knew MB would be okay. But that also doesn't explain how it would have avoided the automated report to its governor module.

-AdaCol2 being horrified about a governor module even existing:(

-OMG AdaCol2 having its own extensive media storage. That's so cute omg.

-so to this point in the series MB hasn't been characterized as "part human" despite being partially made of human material. It's always considered itself more of a bot with mostly inconvenient human neural tissue. And now that human neural tissue is causing worse problems than it has before (PTSD/flashbacks).

-SO when ART here says "the part of you that is human" that's significant. It makes me wonder if MB is going to be reframed as "part human" in a way the series has avoided so far… or if ART is genuinely just wrong about that.

-but MB's resistance to even being treated as a human indicates SOMETHING there… compared to its acceptance of being repaired and healed while framed as a bot-- and its fixation with being 'broken' like a machine when that's not really the problem.

-just. Very interesting to think about.

-MB did mention just before this scene that human neural tissue is essential to understanding visual media like TV shows. And we know how important that is to MB. So I also wonder if that is a factor in characterizing MB as "part human" (maybe even retroactively).

-OK the little cut in with Mensah saying "you just don't want to talk about [whats wrong with you]" supports the entirety of the above. So.

-& leaning heavily into the theming outside that… and Considering the title…

-oh Ratthi & Tarik having Something Going On recontextualizes some earlier scenes

Chapter 7

-ok this is the second hint that someone is leaking info to BE. And like the OBVIOUS candidate would be Tarik. But I kind of hope it isn't, if thats where we're going.

-'would it have been kinder to kill you, before you disabled your governor module?' 'yes.' What a fucking gut punch. Jesus. The whole exchange.

-Murderbot is not okay :(((

-inspiring change through the power of media! Yaaaaay

-I like the implication that MB used Sanctuary Moon to kinda.. rewire its brain after the governor module. To heal, I guess. Like that's pretty obvious if you think about it, but I like seeing it acknowledged directly.

-what a cool way to potentially solve the main conflict. It's so character appropriate. I really like this

Chapter 8

-"die trying. It's not the worst thing that could happen." AAAAAAAAA

-ratthi my friend ratthi

-i like the bit about media analysis and applying that to your own craft. Relatable

-last minute group project energy

Chapter 9

-'the documentary explained the reality of the situation. I think that's the opposite of a sales pitch.' LMAO

-he shot at Leonide? So… inner BE politics?

-there is something grimly funny to me about the shortening to "BE" for Barish Estranza for purely personal reasons 1 person maybe reading this will also understand.

-i think it's interesting that we mostly use terms like "forcible indenture" in place of just "slavery". It gets called slave labor, yes, but the corporate-whitewashing term being juxtaposed with the horrible reality of it is quite striking.

-more about ART being quantum. For lack of a better word as the narration hasn't used that term yet. But idk how else one would describe that

-i have a dreadful feeling Iris might get killed off but that would be one hell of a thing to drop this close to the end. She just gets a lot of characterization this book and there's a heavy emphasis on her importance to ART. and we already saw what ART was capable of just thinking MB got hurt or killed last book.

-sees 'Hostile!SecUnit' explicitly written in the text looks at Martha Wells I Know What You Are

-i know they're friends and that's like a predictable thing but I like how MB and ART have gradually changed to be more like each other

-i think AdaCol2 is just out of commission despite MB assuming it betrayed them. But ART had that comment about it being more sophisticated than it let on… but I don't think it would betray them based on the characterization so far, like its horror at the mere concept of a governor module and uploading the documentary for them.

-did we know SecUnit hands are metal

-Tarik being badass as a background detail

- YAY AdaCol2 back

-the idea of a human augmented to be the HubSystem is a little horrifying. And introduced in media res so like "don't think about it"

-ok a reasonable justification for not freeing the two SecUnits. Like it can't happen all the time. But it's still upsetting knowing what it's like to be one.

-BUT giving them the means to do so later like MB did with Three in Network Effect is nice. If ill advised as it realizes later lmao

Chapter 10

-if Leonide doesn't piece together that MB is rogue ill be shocked

-THE FREED SECUNIT HELPING THEM SCREAM CRYING

-ART drone is like. Drunk

-i kinda like the framing of the humans taking over to help SecUnit and ART

Chapter 11

-MB was worried about Ratthi :(

-'booped by the pathfinder' god why is that funny

Chapter 12 -oh no is Holism like. Another ART

-yeah, confirmed. Huh. So there's more than one semi omniscient space ship hanging around. It's not just Peri. I didn't even suspect that.

-yeah honey you DO need therapy.

The end!

Ok so. Thoughts. We kind of end in a similar place as Network Effect, with Murderbot deciding to leave the Preservation team to go with ART. This story feels like a character

development add on and I'm not sure if it was originally planned when Network Effect was written.

That's not really a criticism because we do learn interesting things. There's a heavier lean into ART and its functional existence. MB has a realistic response to the traumatic events of Network Effect and we have to deal with the fallout of it. Which I think is important instead of jumping to the next arc right away. We also get heavy characterization of 2 newer characters, Iris and Tarik. Tarik especially gets a lot of development. I legit can't remember if he was in Network Effect. But he's a human character foil to MB which I think is a good addition to the story. We have had multiple bot foils for MB so having a human one is good (Gurathin doesn't really count imo) Since as this book emphasizes, MB is kind of both.

My speculation on what we go to next? This book had a heavier emphasis on MB being partially human. That's always been true but not something MB likes to think about or identify with. And the trauma response to Network Effect is framed as a human part of MB. So how do we explore that in the future? I think back to how MB talking to Bharadwaj was integrated into Network Effect and how that explored its trauma and past. Now we have trauma and the present, and the implication that MB will get actual therapy, so will it be similar?

We can obviously examine a lot about the University. We got a taste that there's more to it right at the end with Holism's existence reveal. That's pretty major and there may be way more to it. All we know about the University really is ART and its humans. We could conceivably have non ART/Peri ship characters that are similar to it.

The big elephant in the room mentioned in this book is the ComfortUnit MB freed early in the series. What happened to it? And this book adds another SecUnit to that (2 technically but we only see one do something with its freedom). Will they come back into the story? And since they know how to free themselves will they spread that to other constructs? Will MB helping others on its journey have a knockdown effect throughout the Rim? That seems like the most likely solution to construct slavery, which is like the MAIN CONFLICT/problem of the series.

One thing MB has mentioned a few times is that some rogue Units do respond to sudden freedom with violence-- which is an understandable response, honestly. But that isn't something we have seen. MB just… kept doing its job for 4 years before the Preservation team discovered its secret in

the first book… and it's implied the one it freed in this book plans to do the same thing. Three wasn't violent either and is characterized as more… childlike, I guess? The ComfortUnit just fucking booked it the second it could. So we haven't seen violence happen with Three and the other Units MB directly freed but it's something that could be a conflict later on if suddenly a bunch start going rogue in that kind of ripple effect. There's the CombatUnit from book 4 that I vaguely recall had no interest in being freed and was incredibly violent. So who knows.

[silvkatt]

Introduction:

Hellooooo I am Silvkatt! I’m also often known as Nekovo on discord! So if you’ve seen me in skycord before, hi!!! I’m your resident chaotic cat-loving artist who does artist things like going mad over art!

This blog’s where I put random stuff such as doodles and other random stuff. What doodles? Why it’s multifandom and OC-related ones! I don’t make fully colored drawings often but I will post some. Eventually.

Also if I don’t post for a while, it means school is dragging me into the depths of hell and is snuffing out my screams for help. I jest but sometimes school can make me quite busy so yeah, do keep that in mind. Or it might be because I am having terrible artblock and that is very terrible :,)

I won’t be putting my other socials for now even though I bet you could easily find my instagram somewhere and also my reddit if you look hard enough. Though to be honest, instagram kinda SUCKS and reddit also sucks but like a very tiny bit less than insta but still sucks.

Also huge fyi, I am not interested in any shipping and nsfw stuff lmao. Ain’t interested in that cuz that stuff’s like a pile of tangled earphones and nobody likes tangled earphones.

(putting the rest under the read more because hoo boy)

Hobbies:

Drawing, duh. I can also play the violin albeit poorly. I don’t practice enough… I can also solve a rubik’s cube uhhhhhhhh-

Current Main Interests: (IT KEEPS EXPANDING AND SHIFTING-)

Undertale/Deltarune (But I don’t check the community that much nowadays)

Pokemon (Played gen 3 to gen 7 games (including gen 1 and 2 remakes) and also mystery dungeon EoS)

Homestuck (oh noooooo)

Sky: Children of the Light (I pop into skycord cozy chat sometimes and also contributed to r/skyplace 2022 and a lot more in 2023)

Persona 3, 4, and 5 (I swear I will play 1 and 2 EVENTUALLY)

Library of Ruina (And the rest of the Projectmoon games but I’ve only player LoR please I am not ready to dive into another gacha hell- Update. Im in another gacha hell.)

LIMBUS COMPANY!!!! (LIMBUS COMPANYYYYY!!!!!!!)

Patapon (and also its spiritual successor, Ratatan)

Ace Attorney (Played all games except Layton crossover which I will EVENTUALLY)

Hololive (All of EN mainly 🎲, 👁‍🗨, 🐾, 🎩)

Genshin Impact (Let’s just say I have a lot of mains)

BFDI (aka Battle for Dream Island)

Oneshot (I can’t believe i forgot to include thh funny cat game)

Rainworld (Even this one god i nearly forgot to include the other more painful funni slugcat game)

Outer Wilds (You are now being compelled to play Outer Wilds. It is good game please play the funny space exploration game)

And that is all for now folks! Have a nice day and thank you for somehow taking the time to read all of this. Here’s chocolate for your effort! 🍫

[yblis-gaymer-reviews]

Dark Cloud Review!! [PS2]

[Emulated][I did not play this game on its intended platform]

[These are entirely my personal opinions and observations]

Overall ratting: 7/10

Spoilers ahead! [I have played through 10 levels of the first dungeon for the purpose of this review :3]

Cutscenes: 8/10

All of the cutscenes are pretty nice and entertaining. But oh god. Oh my fucking God. WHY IS THE INTRO CUTSCENE SO LONG. SWEAR TO GOD I WAS SO BORED DURING THE DANCE SEQUENCE 😭😭

Other than that, they are quite good!

Character Designs: 9/10

Fun and fitting for a kid's game

Bonus points for not sexualizing the catgirl!! Her design is cute and fitting and no unessary sexyness here!

The white haired antagonist is so edgy I felt middle school me there jdjaxbak

Controls: 6/10

THIS CAMERA CONTROLS ARE ATROCIOUS, so. slow. don't even try to move it, just use square instead to focus enemies and good luck

It always seems to have a lag behind after you press a button. It takes forever to respond

It was very 50/50 when it came to how intuitive buttons are. It took me awile to get used to using the quick menu for items

The shitty câmera controls have made me lose so many times I actualy considered giving up on the game

Its a situation of "get used to it" jank that I do NOT like and would very much rather not go through

Gameplay: 8/10

The Gameplay loop is mostly what keeps me coming back to it.

I enjoy watching the houses be complete and the people start to wander

I do plan on filling everyone's house placement request, but I am a bit lazy for now lmao

I really enjoy the weapon system and I am pumped to build up one of them!

The way the resorces are put is very fun but I do think the thirst mechanic is a bit pointless. It seems to be an atempt to add dificulty and it fails at its ONLY job.

The game straight up does not tell you about things like the power of the little ponds/springs around the cave. It was quite the nightmare to navigate everything before I accidentaly went into one

Bat and ghost hitboxes are so fucking stupid when they're flying. Now, its already hard to hit without locking in the câmera, but to try and hit the bats/ghost while they're flying it just unfair. The hitboxes simply are janky

I hate the Poison mechanic. Its well done and objectively adds a fair and well balanced dificulty the game bebefits from. Im just fucking tired of the janky bar hitboxes that keep making me get bit by them

The quick time events felt like they came out of nowhere, but they work perfectly and look rather cool if you ask me, so I really don't mind them

Bugs & Glitches: 5/10

I have gotten soft locked twice so far.

One when at the start of the game the mayor did not trigger the extra resorces he gives you, so I kept dying on the second floor like and idiot. so I had to restart the game

Other when unlocking the cat. I restored the house, but no event trigered. Had to again restart it

I am not ususaly this harsh, but 2 soft locks and one at the begining of the game is just unacceptable

Closing thoughts

I really like the game overall, it makes me want to die sometimes for all the wrong reasons, which is not ideal, but the Gameplay loop is enjoyable

Although I don't think I would ever stop to play nearly as often as I do if this wasn't being emulated on a hand held device honestly

[misqnon]

hi, i just read all of ur posts tagged as misqnon's one piece liveblogging and it was so much fun T-T. im here to rant about one piece and im sorry.

i really love seeing people react to content i am caught up with and hold close to my heart.

i got into the 800s in the anime and stopped watching, took a break and then read the manga up to around 1060. but last month i decided to read the whole thing from the beginning and it is genuinely SO WORTH IT.

after u have caught up completely its super rewarding to go back and look at previous chapters bc its constant "oh my god look what was foreshadowed here??" and "now i understand the context behind this!!!" and "this interaction is so much more meaningful now that i know their relationship!!". yes it did take me a whole month of nearly nonstop reading to catch back up but i have 0 regrets.

wano and the arc after it are both super fun and interesting and i think ur gonna love it. the lore is crazy. i hope u dont see any spoilers bc going into it completely blind will probably be way more exciting, especially with the most recent arc since its kinda suspenseful and mysterious,,.

anyways thats all i have to say how do you end these things.. take care!!

AAAAA ANON THIS IS SUCH A FUN MESSAGE TO RECIEVE THANK YOU...

I ended up talking a lot so I'll put this under a cut lol

I used to be the person who said I would never watch one piece 😭😭 I've been into anime since I was like 12 and I'm almost 24 now (fuck . That's like half my life) and obviously it's always been on my radar but I always thought it was 1. Too popular 2. Too Long 3. Hated how oda draws women lmao so I was fine ignoring it and only knowing the basics from just Being On The Internet

I think sometime early on I caved and attempted to watch it- I got to alabasta and stopped bc the anime pacing wasn't doing it for me (though I liked it up until then, but didn't LOVE it)

cut to high-school where a couple of my good friends liked it but we never really talked about it, it was a lifelong interest for one of them bc he'd started reading it on like 4th grade

Well I'm still friends with them (shoutout to sam and seb) and they convinced me to watch one piece film red with them in like July or August of last year bc they were showing me the songs and I, ado fan bc I'm a retired weaboo and a vocaloid Stan, was like "haha that sounds like ado" and they went "IT IS!!!!??" so I had to watch it for her.

again, I was like oh this is fun I like this :^) but no IMMEDIATE interest, more of a passive thing... until the live action came out a month or so later and I watched it just because and DAMN I FELL IN LOVE FAST

I went back to the anime and rewatched the beginning, then skipped back to alabasta where I had left off years and years ago and now I'm Here 🧍

I watched up through part of dressrosa before I started reading the manga, and now I'm doing that while watching certain episodes of just the parts I really wanna see animated

It's been. So Fun

I am now that person who's like Hey You Should Watch One Piece. I get it now. I so get it lmao. And you know the weirdest part is that with it being divided up into arcs like it is I find myself thinking it really doesn't feel that long!?!? Am I insane,

anyways. It's been a while since I was in an active fandom or even in a fandom at all - ESPECIALLY such a big one!?! (I was in college for 4 years and Busy).

but it's. Crazy. I'm writing fanfics and joining discord servers and I've never done that before. it's been very fun and rewarding tbh...I don't like a lot of things about oda and aspects he included and ofc one piece isn't perfect or unproblematic but it IS a really awesome epic of a story about friendship and found family and anti authority and its just.

I'm also a person who's always loved reaction videos or just even seeing otherppl react to things I like so I RELATE AND IM SO GLAD I CAN BE THAT FOR U...

I'm ngl as I've been reading I've been wanting to look up some old one piece forums dated the time certain reveals happened bc I want to see how people felt as this shit came out holy Shit....

it's additionally funny bc this blog is about 10 years old and has amassed a decent amount of followers over the years who were just into some of the other random stuff I've been into but I know a fair amount of them were thinking we were on the same page of not being into one piece and now here I am. Ruining that. And with the pervert character as my favorite no less. lmao SORRYYYY YALL <3

I'll leave u with this message I sent into the discord I share with some friends the other day, none of which really watch op, when asked to explain something about the show. In fact, I think the reasoning for this message was BECAUSE I was explaining to a friend just how much oda foreshadows things!! jinbei, kaido, haki, sanjis backstory, ALL being mentioned by name or referenced DECADES/YEARS BEFORE APPEARING ON SCREEN...HUNDREDS OF CHAPTERS APART....I could rant on more but I'll stop for now.

thank u for the message and feel free to dm me to talk about this silly show anytime bc its sunken its claws into me 😭

[indefenseofkara]

My (mostly silly) thoughts while playing the MWIII Campaign

spoilers under the cut, obviously

Operation 627

was this man wearing a suit in prison?

Cutscene

wonder what the 141 was about to do before learning about Makarov

RIP Dena, first named side character to die this game

Precious Cargo

if Graves was serious about helping Urzikstan he'd pronounce Farah's name right

I tried to be stealthy. it never works 😢

omg Graves is so annoying and won't stfu. he even interrupts himself

Cutscene

RIP Ivan, you were just trying to do the right thing

i don't think patches really tear and attach that easily

Gaz's headshot is really so much better than everyone else's lmao

Reactor

once again i tried to stealth and failed

"I'm going loud" yes?? of course??? i just blew up a helicopter! is there a way to stealthily blow up a helicopter????

gave Price lung cancer oops

Cutscene

ghost is so proud of his joke lol

finally Farah learns about what Shadow Company did in Las Almas (kinda i guess Price didn't mention all the innocent people killed lmao)

aw but Price trusts Farah

Payload

i kept pressing the button for exiting recon drones in MP/WZ but it's different in the campaign 💀

my left joystick keeps drifting and idk whyyyy

the bunker dining room is set up so nice. table cloths and flowers!

Cutscene

damn Farah really gets everything done, the other 141 boys didn't stop their missiles

Nikolai! Rocking out to metal! I love it!

is Kastovia in Russia? I thought it was a country

Yuri!

Deep Cover

i'm Laswell!

for like 2 minutes lmao damn that was short af

Cutscene

oh god No Russian coming up

do i have to shoot civilians this time?

Passenger

bruh wtf is this?

why was Makarov even on the plane?

could/should have been a cutscene

Cutscene

Farah is my badass motorcycle gf

"Yes, ma'am" Alex knows what's up.

Crash Site

ooooh i found a crossbow!

goddamnit Alex i just took down like 30 men and you got caught by 3?! get it together man

the game wouldn't let me dramatically zipline in to save alex, rude.

Cutscene

Farah continues to be the most capable person in the series

Aww Gaz and Nik being bros

Flashpoint

this post is supposed to be silly thoughts but what is going on with this timeline? Price and Soap and Ghost are together but not part of the 141 because that hasn't been made yet. Also they're all British SAS why are they reporting to Shepard? (that's a question for all the games but especially in this pre-141 scenario) (ok back to silly thoughts)

i shoved Makarov so much lmao (i also shot him but that made me fail the mission)

everyone is gloating so much get it together

Cutscene

Herschel lol

he clearly has a plan and they're all like "what are you talking about Makarov we totally got you"

oh look i was right

oh look it's my least favorite people

"Ghost that is not nice" ok that got me i cackled

Gaz is distractingly pretty rn

Oligarch

listen i swear i'm trying really hard to be stealthy i don't know why i'm so bad at this i'm on recruit ffs

Cutscene

good cop bad cop

"to hide my face" he has a point

i have strong doubts that Milena actually worked for that money lol

Makarov talking about a "Shadow" and i am shocked. Shocked, I tell you! (i am not shocked)

Highrise

this was a fun level

Nolan's talking shit after i shot him, but i didn't even know i got him - i downed him while blinded by a flash grenade lmao

when did Price hook into the skyhook? nearly had a heart attack when we took off

Cutscene

oh its the high fashion mission coming up

Frozen Tundra

godammit another mission where i want to shoot the guy we have to keep safe for some dumb reason

Gaz is the voice of reason again

soap keeps running away when i try to get ammo from him 😭

Cutscene

lmao gotta love these scenes where everyone is part of an intimidating conversation

Gora Dam

i didn't even try to go stealthy this time, immediately stole a truck with a sentry turret on the back

Cutscene

Graves ugh

Gaz not shaking his hand, ICONIC

Danger Close

not really a fan of these types of missions

accidentally used a missile to take out one person but that's ok because i got an achievement for it called "your tax dollars at work" 🤣

Cutscene

yeah he's not dead

huh Shepard telling the truth, shocker

lol jk still lying too

lmao where was Alex in that little scene. "Nik take Farah back to Urzikstan" and Alex? where'd he go??? weren't you in Urzikstan? You left just to talk about this with Farah but not Alex? WHAT IS GOING ON? DID YOU THINK I WOULDN'T NOTICE DETAILS LIKE THIS

Trojan Horse/Countdown

doggo!!!

actually liked the CCTV bit, it's realistic

got runover by a train because my joystick keeps drifting 💀

playthrough interrupted for cat snuggles

"chunnel" lol i forgot some people call it that

RIP Soap, that was a pretty definite death

"one KIA" you mean one task force member... all the police with you are KIA too damn way to be insensitive Price

Cutscene

Uh does Soap not have a family?

Lol Gaz is the only one who took off his hat/hood

Tbh i was expecting a tragic military funeral with bagpipes

this was too short i didn't even have time to process before it was over. didn't cry.

Bonus scene

thank fuck he's dead. now let's get Graves.

Credits

lol what is this music? (oh it's 21 Savage)

production babies!

someone is named Amish.

I know some of these people!!!! I sat through over 10 minutes of credits to cheer for my pals suffering under the evil overlords at Activison!

there wasn't a "thanks for playing" picture at the end what

[shwarmii]

i just moved three boxes (two light and one heavy-for-me) to my car to take to the storage unit after a break and i AM SO BRAVE

context: i am still in the process of moving (un-moving? i am here, in a new residence, but i am surrounded by boxes and shit ugh) and i was very kindly gifted a storage unit by my parents since i down-sized so much (and my dad is a hoarder so he was very "YOU CAN'T GET RID OF YOUR BREAKFAST ISLAND CHAIRS JUST BC YOU NO LONGER HAVE A BREAKFAST ISLAND" even tho i got the three plush chairs for a total of $20 bc thrifting yay). but i couldnt supervise the movers (bc i was so wiped i was gonna throw up or faint if i didnt lay down and let them do whatever) and they apparently read like.. 2 or 3 of my labels and none of the rest. so they ignored so many that instructed them to put things in the storage unit. and i dont feel comfy calling them for a discount bc they had to deal with so much regarding me and my disability already (mainly: that i didnt finish packing before they got there. yeah. i did 2 or 3 all-nighters in a row just before they came, worked for weeks, and still couldnt do it all. best i could do was make them piles of the remaining stuff and go "please help")

but yeah, im quite disabled and sickly and i have muscle weakness, and i am spent FOR A DAY after a carrying a single case of Arrowhead water from my car to my personal cart to my apartment, so you can imagine the havoc a medium-to-large Costco Box of board games is apparently causing me

(read more is just more of me complaining about boxes, ft. me breaking down how my internalized ableism skews my pov of how difficultly heavy things are by using my little sister for comparison)

i was so shaky after, it sucked so bad. im so glad my storage unit has carriers by the door so i dont gotta haul that shit long-distance anymore. my body is so disregulated, jfc, that box felt like it might as well have been 50 lbs but i know for a fact it was on the heavier side of "light". bc my little sister helped me out with the worst of my heavy boxes a week or so ago (aka: my book boxes. bastards were the heaviest thing by far bc i have a concept art book collection and those books are weirdly shaped and hardcover and even just five of them is heavy enough for me to struggle. though, in my defense, i had a physical therapist test my muscle strength and she openly said "Oh, god, that's not good" lmao rip) and like.. my lil sister is an athlete, sure (and built like a model jfc she is so tall and dainty, hOW?? shes got muscle mass but its so stretched out that she looks like she doesnt have much. but bitch works out for fun, runs at least a mile every morning before college classes, and does sports and dance for shits and giggles. and also she's STEM. beauty and brains. jfc, i love her, her future partner better worship the ground she walks on, i swear. but yeah, her favorite way to show love is acts of service and she likes doing physical labor, so when i asked for help all hesitantly and ready to bribe, she was like "Okay!!✨️" before i even finished and rejected any form of payment that was more than a starbucks frap. she's back in college on the other side of California now anD I MISS HER COMPANY.. AND ALSO HER MUSCLES...) but she truly carried all my book-boxes like they weighed as much as a handheld-basket of laundry

and i even asked her "Is that an okay weight? I can grab another cart, we can take as many breaks as you need, would you like a water, thank you so much for doing this, are you okay??" and she just laughed like a mix of Santa Claus and the blonde girl from Utena (/positive)

she was so fine with what she was carrying. the only reason she agreed to a cart was to make shit faster with less trips, but she didnt care about the weight of the boxes themselves. she even said "These aren't nearly as bad as you made them out to be!" (as bad = me telling her I couldn't lift them. i had to make the boxes and tower then ontop of one another and put a book in individually at a time. after they were filled, i could not lift those boxes at all). she openly found these boxes easy to deal with. they were about Office Depot File Cabinet size bc i worried using a BIG box for books would be truly unliftable. but yeah no she was fine. my sister was very open about it even and did a couple of tricks for the comedy of making me go "EY EY EY, BE CAREFUL, DONT HURT YOURSELF" and fuss over her

so. like. i know she'd be able to carry this board-game box i am currently struggling with, probably even one-handed if it wasnt for its awkward size of it which would necessitate she use two hands. and you might go "shwarmi, your sister is probably not an accurate representation of a person's strength, im sure those boxes were heavy, books are heavy, so are board games" and im like:

the book-boxes were likely heavy but mangeable for most people. the board game box was definitely heavy-end-of-the-"light" weight-spectrum. also, my sister is a great barometer for me because i am in F-tier, maybe D-tier on a good day, and she is A-tier. she is likely not S-tier, she isnt a body-builder, doesnt have obvious muscle definition, no a six-pack, no evident biceps or calfs, nothing. so most people are B- or C-tier. so she is actually a good litmus test for me, personally, because i see the strain on a B-/C-tier person and i spiral into thinking they feel like me when they DONT. so seeing my sister have no problems or strain beyond "this cart that your storage unit supplied sucks to steer!" makes my dumbass go "...ahhh, i see how different me struggling versus a B-/C-tier person struggling is now that i see my sister's limits and think of her proverbial Strength Stat as ridiculously high". i have a few other friends (and a brother, who teagically lives far away from me boo) who pride themselves on their strength that similarly make me do a double-take of "OOOOOOH.. oh, okay, my frame of reference has been righted, okay"

really brings to light a reminder that i still have a SHIT TON of internalized ableism. it is very hard rn to not kick myself for only doing three boxes in one trip today. my dumbass really wants to go "DO A NORMAL PERSON AMOUNT OF STORAGE MOVING" but, my comrade, i am not normal. i am disabled. i very physically weak. there is a reason why my loved ones and i make frequent jokes comparing me to "sickly Victorian ghost children" (hence why my @/playbychoices account had that John Mulaney quote as its blog-title for so long). i can do these three boxes today. hopefully, i can do the equivalent or more tomorrow, but i also could have another week-plus long flare-up like i did this past period before today. so. today. just three. very sadge. but alas, the way things do be

anyway

praise me for this stupid fucking board-games box. the other two were easy, even for me. one was even the same awkwardly medium-large Costco box but just had lighter shit inside. but the board game box??

shit sucked. im sitting next to an a/c with an ice-cold drink and my feet up, trying to get my likely-POTS-raddled body regulated back to a mangable level

but still

shit sucked

[dearlawdimasimp]

Just your luck

Prompt: "Stop laughing at me!" "You've never called me that before, I like it."

Pairings: Steven Grant/Marc Spector x sorcerer!Reader, Khonshu x sorcerer!Reader

Warnings: language, grammar(english is not my first language😭), not beta'd or whateves, No spoilers! :D, this a bit of a crack fic but generally fluff, and characters might be ooc :')

Summary: Baking aftermath in a nutshell starring clumsy reader, overprotective bird god, a mercenary that loves to tease, and a sweet sweet 'gift shop-ist'.

Word count: *clears throat* I- uh..around 2.2k+ words..... eheh😅

A/n: Greetings everyone!! I decided to participate the lovely Rose's(@beautifulbows924) prompt challenge and here is my entry! I am still learning how to write stories so do forgive me if its a little meh lmAo. hope you guys enjoy it! 😊💞 ngl im a bit nervous posting this one HAHAHA

Note 2: Text in pink is the prompt; Bold dialouge is Khonshu speaking; Blue and Red dialogue is Steven and Marc, respectively, speaking/talking in their head.

You deeply sigh, just your luck huh?

You were baking. You were successful on that part, which made you a tad suspicious seeing as you sometimes don't accomplish a task so easily but then, you looked around. The absolute mess you've made in your kitchen is so ridiculous that you wondered how you did not notice it.

Nearly every inch of your counter and your apron is covered in flour, you probably even have it on your face. Used bowls and spoons are strewn around the room. The whisk you used dripping batter on the floor, when you saw it you snatched it before it could make more mess and surprise, surprise! You slipped because why would your floor not also be covered with flour, and landed painfully on your butt. 

Which brings you to your current predicament, laying on the floor covered with flour- hah! that rhymed- as your butt throbbed from the impact with a whisk in one hand. All you wanted was to surprise your lovers, Marc, Steven and Khonshu, with a delightful home baked pastry that are simply cookies filled with Nutella (not sponsored by™) when they arrive from their trip from the groceries.

You want to sit up and clean the mess around you, actually you could just clean this mess with a simple spell, but the floor is much more comfortable at the moment. Hopefully, they wouldn't come home too early.

You hear the doorknob jingle and click. Oh shit. Are you seriously being robbed at this very moment of time?! You raise the whisk, waiting for the right opportunity to hit the intruder when-

"Hey, sweetheart!"

Oh it's just Marc. You drop your hand back to your side.

WAIT IT'S MARC. THAT MEANS-

"Beloved! What in the world happened?!"

Khonshu's home too. His booming voice full of worry echoing in your messy kitchen as he drops his staff in a haste to kneel to your side and aid you. Not that it's a bad thing that he's home but he usually goes over the top when it comes to your well-being.

"Why- what happened?! Are they hurt?! Where are they?!" ..So do the two..

"I'm fiiinnne!" You answer one of their many questions. Juuust your luck huh?

"We could never be that certain until we check, are you sure you're alright?-" As the god inquires, Marc carefully goes over to you both, mindful of his steps and crouched behind you.

Did they really have to be home early on this very lucky day! 

You nod as you try to sit up, Khonshu places his rough hand on your back to assist you, Marc follows suit as he puts his hand on your waist and then places one on your head, looking for any signs of wounds. You can hear him mumble to himself, "I'm checking! I'm checking!" Steven is probably nagging him to thoroughly check for any signs of injury.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Just fell on my ass 's all.." You reassure them with a smile, well trying to give them a smile as you couldn't help but to frown, scrunch your nose and hiss as you finally get to sit up. Your ass hurts like a bitch man. 

Your pained face made Khonshu menacingly ask with a growl, "Who did this to you, little one?"

And there it is, overprotective bird god.

"Woah, lover bird, cool it..I did this to myself." You reassure the Egyptian deity mindlessly as you place your hand on his forearm, while you try to put the battered whisk on top of the counter while still on the floor. 

Lover bird? Khonshu repeats in his head.

Marc takes the liberty to end your suffering and takes the whisk from your hands and places it on the full sink and asks, "You what?"

You thank him before continuing, "No, not like that! I meant- gods I would not intentionally hurt myself like this- I was just baking something up before you guys arrived- which I did successfully by the way they're cooling in the fridge if you need evidence."

Khonshu had stopped dead in his tracks, lover bird? He wasn't even listening to what you had said after that anymore, as the nickname echoes inside his skull. He usually brushes off the nicknames you give them, it's just this one that stirred something inside him and made him blank out. 

You didn't seem to notice Khonshu's reaction to the nickname nor did you pay mind to what just slipped from your lips as you continued to babble about what you were doing while they were gone that led to this mess.

Marc notices the god's behavior as he listens to you- and so did Steven, "Oh..oh my days, is- is he -for the lack of better word- blushing?!" The american chuckles at the brit's observation, and the realization of the ridiculousness of the whole situation just made him laugh more.

Marc's chuckling behind you made you stop and look up at him, ah yes..the dreaded embarrassment of the aftermath of your predicament.

You huff and glare up at him, "Don't- It's not- Marc I swear-" Your warnings that are interrupted by your own snort, and Khonshu's aloof state, egged the mercenary's laughter to continue and increase in volume. 

"Stop- Stop laughing at me!" You whine between giggles, your cheeks flaring red, still oblivious to the state of your other lover that is knelt in one knee beside you.

"S-sweetheart-" He tries to form coherent sentences, but his laughter stops him from doing so. "I- I'm not-" 

You groan in annoyance and bite your lip to stop yourself from grinning. Chuckles bubbles in your throat as Marc continues to have the time of his life. 

"Maaaarc!" you shriek and gather some of the scattered flour and throw it at him which didn't do anything helpful, besides staining Marc's jeans, but instead it made him howl in laughter and tickled your nose and- 

"Achoo!!"

Khonshu finally breaks out from his trance, if he had eyelids he would've been blinking rapidly. He glances over to you. 

"S-orry." You apologize between giggles as you use your shirt to rub your nose. 

"It's- It's..okay, dear one. How about you stand, hm? Let's get you cleaned up and tidy up the kitchen." Says the god, unable to stop his stuttering. He silently praised the heavens for not having skin on his face or else you and Marc(and probably Steven and Jake) would've seen a very red Khonshu.

The god silently huffs and glares at his fist of vengeance, he's wiping away the tears that are forming on the corner of his eyes. He's annoyed that Marc didn't help you up while he was…out of it… and also because his avatar probably noticed his unresponsiveness.

"I think- yeah, I can. Hold on-" Your giggling continues, too giddy to notice his stuttering, as you fold one knee and lean your weight to that side before folding your other knee and stand. You were about to fall again as you lost your balance, cussing at Marc's infectious laughter and futile aid, but Khonshu was able to catch you in his bandaged arms, "Be careful." He sternly yet softly scolded as you clutched on him. 

You apologized and thanked the deity. Surveying the state of the kitchen, "I really made quite a mess, didn't I?" you voiced your thoughts as your giggling dies down, Marc calming down along with you.

Knonhsu chuckles while Marc snorts. Khonshu then raises his arms, his staff wooshes to his hand, "Don't worry, moonstone. I'll fix this, Marc, how about you clean her up-" 

"I'm glad of your concern but I can clean myself up, mo-WOAH!-" 

Yep. you slipped once again but it was Marc that caught you this time.

"You were saying?" "Shush up and let's just go to the bathroom."

~~

After you took a refreshing bath, Steven was the one fronting and had changed their clothes to a clean and comfy one. He also laid some comfy clothes on your bed, bless him. You put them on and carefully made your way to the living room, not risking slipping and hurting yourself again. (The aching of your butt had just become bearable.)

You found the two lounging on the couch, munching on the treats you made a while ago that led to quite an event for each of you. You glance over to the kitchen and find it spotless. You hum, greatful for your wonderful lovers.

"I hope it tastes good, I wasn't able to taste test one so I really don't know if it's good or nah.." You say as you beelined to the couch.

"It tathe- sho goodth-" Steven exclaims with his mouth full of cookies, crumbs flying out of his mouth as he spoke. You found it cute but the god beside him says otherwise, "Ugh! Steven! You're making a mess!" "Sweetie, please don't talk with your mouth full." "Steven!..."

The brit apologizes after swallowing the food and offered you some. You took one as you gently nudged his and Khonshu's knees, they part and give you space in the middle allowing you to sink down on the couch with them on each of your side. You silently munch on your cookie as you watch the movie Steven picked. Khonshu lays his arm behind you on top of the backrest of the sofa while Steven half-leans his head on your shoulder. You softly smile at the 'giftshop-ist' before wrapping your arms around his shoulder to make him more comfortable.

"Better?" "Much. Thanks, love." He kisses your cheek in appreciation, leaving crumbs on your face. You laugh at his shocked expression as he saw the mess he left on your face. 

"It's fine Steven!" "You sure?" he asks the umpteenth time as he wipes the crumbs off of your cheeks. "One hundred percent." You firnly told him and kiss his nose to further reassure the man. He blushes at the gesture and finally settles back under your arms. 

"I just want to say.." "Hm?" "What?" "Please don't." "We're a batch made in heaven." A hearty a laugh and groans, one that is booming and audible to you while the other only Steven could hear, fills the room.

Half an hour into the movie, Steven has fallen fast asleep on your side. The cookie tray, now half empty, lays on the coffee table in front of you. Your free hand being held by Khonshu's rough, larger ones, caressing your knuckles with his thumbs as you two continue to watch the film. You were a little worried though, he hasn't spoken a word since it stared and he usually has something to say whenever you all would watch a movie. May it be witty comments or criticism or just bashing on the actor's appearance. Did the incident earlier really scare him?

You gave him a glance, he looks fine to you (as he always do) and didn't seem to be troubled, his breathing is even and-

"You're staring, dear one." He murmurs, taking Steven's sleeping state into consideration. 

"Sorry, can't help it." You whisper back, grinning up to the god before turning your attention back to the screen. 

He chuckles before asking, "Is something troubling you?" 

"Funnily enough I wanted to ask you that question.." You mumble as you remove your hand from his grasp and place it above his, carressing his knuckles this time. "Is something troubling you, Khon?"

See, this was what he meant awhile ago. Nicknames don't bother him but dear heavens did that phrase stuck to him, the reason why he had been silent the whole time.

"Lover bird." He stated plainly and looked over you. Your brows furrow at his statement, "Wha?" You chuckle in confusion. 

"You called me lover bird, a while ago…" 

Your head tilts to the side as your eyes squint, trying to remember- "oh!" You exclaimed but immediately covered your mouth as you remember, both at what you said and at the fact that Steven is sleeping on your side.

Khonshu's chest deeply rumbles as he chortles, raising the hand that was resting on the backrest as he runs his digits through your hair. "You've never called me that before.."

"Oh? Yeah..I haven't..Do you want me to drop it or-"

"I like it, dear one." He interrupts you as he stops his ministrations on your hair, cupping your face and caresses your cheek with the back of his fingers.

"O-oh.." Physical affection from Khonshu is not new to you. Especially after you were able to cast some spell that would allow him to interact with the things in your plane of existence, with his help of course. Sure it got you in trouble but it was worth it. 

"Well..that settles it then, lover bird." You tease with a grin, leaning to his now open palm. Khonshu only huffs at your teasing and turns his attention back to the television. 

"Don't get smug on me, little wizard."

"I'm not a wizard!" 

"Hm, sure. Steven begs to differ."

"Wh- oh! Steven, darling, sorry! I woke you up didn't I? I'm so sorry!!"

"It's fine, love-"

"Who decided to 'cast' this insolent? Can't even portray a very simple emotion properly!"

Aaand there he is. 

The two continue to banter back and forth about the movie as you lay there in the middle of it, grinning at the scene before you as they held you while they were at it. 

Just your luck..to have these people in your life.