#overall i still like the game and am going to play the hell out of it but i'm still disappointed

[nathanbatemanfucker]

Fault Lines Ch. 2

request: wanted to know if you could write something where the reader is a ex-winter solider (just like bucky, but maybe she doesn't lose her arm) and how she struggles to accept Joaquin. An overall angst to fluff.

pairing: joaquin torres x ex-super soldier!f!reader

contents: canon typical violence, illusions to abuse and torture, ptsd and other mental illness, enemies to lovers, angst

wc: 1,383

an: this series is based off of this request here! this is definitely a slow burn/fluff if you squint type beat so just bear with me <3

fault lines masterlist

The safe house is quiet, save for the low hum of the overhead light and the occasional rustle of movement from Joaquin as he leans against the wall opposite of you. He knows better than to box you in—that’d only make you more restless than you already are.

Post-meal and shower, you sit on his cot, arms crossed, gaze fixed somewhere past him like you’re already planning your exit. The space smells of antiseptic and metal despite the warm paint and comforting art. Someone had tried to make this as home-y as they could and failed.  

He doesn’t doubt that you are.  And you are. You’re on edge, always hypervigilant for the worst. That the two men in front of you that promise to stand on decency and honor are liars just like everyone else you’ve ever encountered. 

There’s only one door and a few windows, but you had immediately noticed the door under the rug in the bathroom. Its doable.

Sam’s outside, making calls, searching for loopholes to clean up the mess you’ve already made. That leaves Joaquin with what he does best—talking. But tonight, that skill is failing him.

Something about you is making the words sticky in his throat, unable to flow as usual. He doesn’t know what to say to you to make you understand, to make you change. Though he’s not really sure that’s his goal given what you’ve suffered.

“You look like you wanna be anywhere but here,” he observes, arms mirroring yours.

“What a shocking observation, baby bird,” you mutter, voice steeped in sarcasm.

Joaquin exhales through his nose, tilting his head. “Ok, ouch. But let’s be real—you could’ve run already. Hell, you could’ve fought harder. So why are you still here?”

Your fingers curl in your lap, like the truth will slink into your hands if you don’t force it out; it isn’t something you're ready to touch. You flex them once before stilling. “Just because I’m here doesn’t mean I trust you,” you say eventually, voice quieter, more measured.

“Fair.” Joaquin watches you, gaze steady. He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you unless he has too– he chalks it up to your dangerous capabilities and nothing more. “No one’s asking you to, querida. But you want something. You can tell me what that is, I won’t use it against you.”

Something stirs at his pet name, something you thought was dead and rotted. Its easy to shove it back down in the wake of what you see is a lie. He would use it against you, that’s what everyone does. If he didn’t then Sam would. You know the game. 

You let out a breath, eyes meeting his. “You’re after Hydra and so am I. But I don’t trust that you’ll actually do what needs to be done. In fact, I know you won’t.”

Joaquin frowns. He knows what you mean but asks anyway, “And what’s that?”

“You tell me,” you challenge. “You really think you’re gonna dismantle them by playing by the rules? By arresting a few low-level pricks and calling it a day? Hydra isn’t just an organization—it’s a disease. One that’s smart enough to outmaneuver every cure. You cut off a limb, and another grows back.” Your voice lowers, darkens. “I go for the heart.”

Joaquin studies you. The shadowy certainty in your tone. The way your hands have curled into fists, nails pinching into your skin before you even realize it. He should be alarmed, maybe even afraid of you and what you can do with those hands. But mostly? He just feels tired for you and all the baggage you have to carry. He wishes there were more he could do more for you, but he knows the oath he’s taken. His values, his morals—they won’t be compromised.

“I get it,” he says, voice softer now. “You think we’re a waste of time. That we’re too soft.”

“You are,” you say, like it’s obvious and with no remorse. “Your Captain? He’s trying to lead a world that doesn’t even know what to do with itself. One that hardly wants him. He’s gotta play politics. Me? I don’t have to play anything. I owe nothing to no one but myself.”

Joaquin shakes his head. “That’s not a life. That’s a war you never get to leave. That darkness won’t let you go.”

Your jaw tightens, and you look away. You don’t deny it.

For the first time since bringing you in, Joaquin feels like he has something solid to work with. You know that your past is controlling you but you won’t let it go. With their help, you could finally be free. He lets you sit with his words, grabbing a water from the mini-fridge before settling across from you on Sam’s bunk.

Silently, he offers it. Begrudgingly, you take it, careful not to touch him.

“Look, I know what it’s like to be made into something you didn’t ask for,” he says. “To be trained to survive, not to live. And I know that once you start thinking like that, it’s almost impossible to stop.”

Your fingers tighten around the bottle, the plastic nearly giving out under the pressure. The sound brings you back to the present and you loosen your grip letting the bottle fall to the ground. Joaquin says nothing, letting you be.  When your eyes meet again, he can see that you recognize that. That you believe him when he says that he understands. You let it fade away as quickly as it appeared.

Joaquin presses forward anyway. “You don’t trust us? Fine. But what if we can help? What if we can end this without you burning yourself out trying to do it alone?”

You shake your head. “God, baby bird, you don’t fucking get it.”

“Then make me fucking get it,” Joaquin challenges, matching your energy. He hopes that in doing so you'll level with him.

For a moment, neither of you speaks. The space between you is heavy with something unspoken, pressing down on your chest. Your breath is too sharp, and his is too shallow, like being stuck in each other's gaze has sucked all the air out of the room before either of you could even think. You exhale sharply, pulling back, re-centering yourself just as another presence fills the doorway.

"There's a name," you mutter, almost reluctant. "One of the last remaining heads of Hydra. He’s been running a black ops division off-grid. And if you think what was done to your precious boy was bad, what they’re doing is worse."

Joaquin barely has time to process before your gaze flicks past him, landing on Sam, now standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

The two men exchange a look. “How do we know you’re not leading us into a trap?” Sam asks.

You scoff. “I’m not like them and you thinking I would walk you into a trap is like them. If you don’t believe me, I can happily do this on my own. And I wouldn’t have either of you slowing me down.”

Sam meets Joaquin’s gaze again; its pleading, laced with the idea of giving you a chance. A long beat of silent communication passes between them.

Sam rolls his eyes, exhaling reluctantly. He knows what its like to be an advocate, the one who’s seeing more than others. He’ll let Joaquin take his chance on you. “You’re lucky he likes you,” he mutters, jerking his chin toward Joaquin before turning back toward the door. “We’re wheels up in an hour. Try not to make me regret this.”

Joaquin looks back at you, and you could swear that you see some warmth in his cheeks. “That makes two of us.” He barely catches it—the slight quirk at the corner of your mouth. It’s smug, not quite a smirk, but it’s something. An attempt at humor. He softens again, seeing the effects of what Hydra put you through.

What had they done to you where you can’t even smile? Laugh? See yourself as more than just their pawn? The thought makes him sad, yes, but it also makes him angry. You deserve better than that.

“Three of us.” You shake your head, pushing to your feet. You’re tired of being cooped up. “Guess we’ll see.”

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> ch. 3

[utilitycaster]

One of your recent posts talked about the way BH have essentially "run out of plot" in following the Red Moon/Predathos plot and the way that the PCS are being played.

I was also curious about your thought on the interparty dynamics in the end game, particularly with recent developments. One of the issues I've had with Bell's Hells for a while now is the way they don't challenge each other (or at least not in the way previous parties have)

Yeah; they don't. And honestly I think this is a combination of just...luck of the draw of the characters they created combined with that lack of room for those characters to develop because they've been in an environment that hasn't allowed much time and space for anything but rushing to the next task. Like, as mentioned, a lot of characters are kind of here to hang out or have goals that aren't specifically tied to personal change, if they have specific goals at all. That's not a bad thing! Grog, Jester, and Fearne all share that quality and are all fantastic executions of it - and Grog and Jester do change quite a bit despite that because the story gives them many opportunities to do so, and yes, because their fellow party members challenge them. But it feels like the bulk of Bells Hells if not all of it is kind of in that boat.

I remember an early panel in which Marisha said "I don't want to think anymore" and I know Travis has mentioned something similar for Chetney, of wanting to play someone much more chaotic after playing someone so highly controlled as Fjord. Liam also talked about stepping back from being a major decision maker at some point, and built Orym to be someone who had a viewpoint but didn't specifically assert it (as we've just seen). Like, I think most resentment C3 fans have towards C2 is just jealousy and bitterness but perhaps a fairer grievance is that the cast really brought their A-Game to the Mighty Nein with a lot of incredibly complicated, driven, messy characters and due to the smaller nature of the company then combined with the scaled back production of the pandemic focused intently on them; and then nearly all of them made a bunch of fairly go-with-the-flow or chaotic characters as a breather and (not unfairly or unreasonably!) thought they'd be in a story that would give them space to become something else or that would suit them, and it didn't. As someone who likes actual play I think if nothing else this serves as a look into how fantastic overall cast chemistry doesn't translate into compelling party dynamics.

To be clear, I think Bells Hells like and care about each other, but none are really the type to both strive to be better and challenge those around them to be as well. Even their defenders in the fandom are kind of leaning on the party of NPCs line from very early on [which is funny because a lot of people HATED that line at the time; I got hate over thinking it was apt] but the thing is yeah at this point in the campaign, they shouldn't still feel like a party of NPCs. Perhaps this is a personal preference, which, to be clear, does not in any way invalidate it as criticism, but as someone with a bit of a comics background, I've never been terribly into "Suicide Squad"-esque stories but I am into stories of Person Who Has An Opportunity And Rises To The Occasion Despite Not Being The Best Choice On Paper. Ultimately, my issue isn't that Bells Hells come from humble backgrounds and tragedy (this is also...not untrue for the Mighty Nein, incidentally; in fact they had even less endorsement from powerful groups. Molly died 26 episodes in and he just stayed fucking dead because no one had Keyleth's phone number so this is another case of "your defense just makes me think the Mighty Nein achieve this in a far superior manner"); my issue is that, as Laudna put it, they kind of just walk through doors because they're in front of them. I don't need them to become classically heroic; but I do need them to have some sort of intention. And they don't. Why are you walking through doors? "Because they're there" doesn't cut it. You're here because the Exandrian Accord gave you a whole bunch of support so don't play that "i'm just a nobody with nothing" shit anymore, it's demonstrably untrue.

I had this in the tags originally and I decided, perhaps unwisely, to move it into this post because I think it's relevant, but: in case it's not apparent, I think "You! Are! Valid!" culture is fucking awful; this is what that weirdo who thinks I'm from Reddit is mad at, I think (honestly I'm not sure if they're angry, they might just be very unwell). Like, it has roots in something true and helpful; you are valid for things like your race, gender, sexuality, ability/disability, and things that have happened to you in the past. But actually no one is automatically valid for their actions. Being incurious or inconsiderate or incapable of taking constructive criticism, even if this is tied to your past? not valid. Your trauma and pain is valid; what you do in their name very much might not be. And I think a lot of people who love Bells Hells do not like this message (which, Bells Hells don't like this message, hence the repeated "whatever you do is fine" conversations) and kind of romanticize a "NO ONE IS ON OUR SIDE WE MUST DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR US THERE'S NO GOOD ANSWERS" state in which one cannot be held responsible for action nor inaction and that's a lot of why they respond so dramatically to the increasing sense within the fandom that this party lacks the juice and does judge them for inaction. Like, I've been talking about character agency and how a lot of people's enjoyment of Bells Hells hinges on how they HAD NO CHOICES and I think we're seeing the fallout, which is that a TTRPG story (ie, a medium defined more so than anything else about player choices) about characters who were stripped of choice kinda sucks ass, and anyone who doesn't look to actual play D&D to valid their personal morality (which, in this case, usually is "the world is unfair so I can do whatever I want" anyway) would rather see a story about a character who fucking had a viewpoint and did things with it, even if it were a "bad" viewpoint. I know I'm hard on villain stans because a lot of them are actually people who are like "what if the VILLAIN were the HERO...I am very intelligent," but actually, this is the crux of why Darth Vader was very popular. It's not because people thought he was a good person; it's because he drove the story more so than the heroes much of the time, and people responded to that. Purely reactive characters are boring and to get back to your original point do not challenge each other unless someone else starts the reaction chain, and there just haven't been too many opportunities of the external nor internal variety to do it. It's mostly bad luck and again, a session zero could have fixed this, but it is what it is.

[writteninlunarlight-years]

Busy days give cute ideas-

Since the Hotel was rebuilt, Lucifer has stepped up and has started doing Kingly things again. Talking to the Sins- helping them sort out arguments basically- but also helping Charlie brainstorm ideas for bringing in Sinners and activities.

He forgot how busy being a King made him-

Then Reader, a Sinner that came after the Extermination because they saw the King Himself saying to try redemption -plus free room!- grabs him one day without warning, and throws him into bed. Just full on waits on his every need, watches a movie he hasn't seen before but does like, makes lunch and dinner for him, plays card games-

They do everything Lucifer has been seen enjoying. And Reader remembered? He barely spoke to them, but here they are. Being kind to him.

Basically a full day of reasons why he deserves a break, Lilith wasn't anywhere near as caring as he falsely remembered, and that he REALLY needs to get to know Reader now-

Lazy Dayz in a Dreamy Haze

TW: Overworking, relationship issues, sad feelings

(I am almost positive I made this completely gender ambiguous. Please tell me if I missed something or gendered the reader at all!)

Your fall from grace wasn't anything to really write home about. You were a grade-A lazy person in your mortal life, and that inevitably led to your less-than-amazing death. You could sleep wherever and whenever, find the best binge-worthy shows, and overall, you know how to relax for a good time. 

You were a little confused when you saw Charlie's original broadcast for the hotel. How could you ever be redeemed when your sin is just simply enjoying your free time? This seemed like too high a task for a mere princess to accomplish, not to mention that once word got out that the Radio Demon was helping her, it was even more of a put-off. 

You followed the story, though; Kattie Killjoy documented it every time something happened in Charlie's unsuspecting life. You also were one of the lucky few to witness the downfall of Vox’s pride due to the Radio Demon. 

When the extermination got pushed up to only a couple of days away, you had even more doubts about this redemption policy the princess wanted. When the broadcast showed Lucifer there, ready to strike down, the angels soon to torment more than just the hotel if they didn’t win; something moved in you. 

The following day, you packed up your small things and made your way across the city to the hotel. You didn't expect much when you joined the Hazbin Hotel. You saw that the king endorsed it, and if the king said it was cool, then why not? You didn’t reasonably expect your whole life to change, though. 

Not only did you gain a little family of friends, but you also got free room and board so long as you completed Charlie's exercises and you got to see him. Lucifer Morningstar was a pragmatic character in the grand scheme of things. Where his daughter had illusions of grandeur, he was there to make things happen and make things work. Doing this, however, cost him what looked like a great deal.

Lucfier worked day in and day out. Even though you lived in the same hotel as him, you hardly saw him not doing something for Charlie or one of the other inhabitants. Seeing someone doing so much to make a dream come true and not take care of his own was sad. Maybe this was when the first inklings of your feelings for the king kicked in.

Growing close to the others in the hotel, you eventually learn all about Lucifer's problems in his past, from harboring poor feelings towards his fellow angels to having to deal with losing Lilith and his daughter. Luckily, he and Charlie rekindled some of their relationship, but it was clear Lucifer worked himself to death to avoid thinking about the missing person. Lilith, though a once prominent figure in hell, was still not found, causing a lot of people, including Charlie, to assume she just never was going to come back.

You got confirmation about Lucifer's depression one rainy night sitting at the bar. You were busy talking to Husk about Charlie's upcoming bonding retreat when a groggy Lucifer came down to get a drink. While he sat next to you, the bags and lines around his face were as clear as day. For an immortal being, he looked like he was knocking on death's door. He had been working long into the night to ensure Charlie’s next adventure went on without a hitch. 

You had nothing against Charlie and immensely enjoyed her company. You can only assume Charlie hadn’t given her father a break because he was never this vulnerable around her. You knew Husk had a way to get people to open up, but you were surprised he was opening up in front of you. He looked exhausted, as if sleep had invaded him for nights. You wanted to hug him, wrap him in blankets, and tell him to sleep.

While looking over the man, you noticed a band of gold on his hand that he awkwardly fidgeted with. Taking the context clues and knowledge from those in the hotel, you'd bet that was his wedding band. While watching him drink his fourth glass of whiskey for the night, you leaned over and placed a comforting hand on his. “I know you don’t know me well, but Lucifer, you are doing an amazing job. It’s okay to stop and breathe a little. You won’t be letting anyone down if it’s to help yourself.”

His look was no less than shocked; from what you gathered, no one ever really talked to him in a comforting manner. “Uh, well, thank you, Y/N;  you know I am happy you joined the hotel. You will be an excellent Winner if we can ever redeem a soul.”

That statement struck a cord in you again. Why did he know that you would make a good Winner? He had barely even met you when you joined the hotel. He was always so busy and working that the most you two said to each other on a given day was a small hello. Yet he knew enough about you to tell you would make a great Winner. You didn’t know that Lucifer was paying attention from the beginning of your journey at the hotel. He always said his job was to help make dreams come true, especially his daughters. So when you came along and started helping everyone with your calming aura and comforting ideas, he took extra notice of you. That's why he knew all your favorite napping spots, how you put self-care and rest above everything, and how you wanted to help others as much as he did. 

From that day forth, you looked at the King of Hell differently. Instead of wondering why he was so busy and never saying no, you looked for all the times he grabbed that band. In doing this, you learned he liked to make rubber ducks, enjoyed the circus, had a fixation on apples, loved to sing randomly, and had a knack for helping others. 

Honestly, the last part wasn’t that surprising. Charlie had to have gotten that trait somewhere. With Liltih being AWOL and the stories you heard in passing about the woman, you figured she wasn’t where Charlie's helping streak necessarily originated from. Taking this knowledge, you devise a plan to help the King of Hell finally get some reprieve. 

Executing this plan flawlessly took a couple of days. From finding all the proper materials to convincing Charlie to make sure no one called on Lucifer, you had your work cut out for you. You didn’t know why you cared so much about what happened to Lucifer other than it tugged at your once-beating heart that he was so overworked and undervalued. 

The day finally came for you to stop the overworked man and get him to slow down. As he started his day bright and early, you were already downstairs waiting. His arrival was right on time, and everyone knew that when he asked the dreaded ‘what can I do for everyone today’ question, they all had to say nothing. 

When he heard he had nothing to do, Lucifer returned to playing with that ring on his finger. This was your cue to help him find a better way to distract himself than taking on millions of small tasks. You stood before Lucifer, hand outstretched with a broad smile, “Do you trust me?”

You were met with little hesitance, and before you knew it, you had taken Lucfier up to the day room on the top floor. You had set everything up for the first half of your relaxation day. There was a giant pillow fort taking up center stage of the room. 

Lucifer was taken aback. This was the sweetest thing anyone had done for him. It is a little cozy retreat away from having to work, a welcomed distraction. He was excited to see what your mind came up with. The whole interaction left a warm feeling in his chest, one he didn’t know if he was ready to explore yet. 

Crawling in, you beckoned Lucfier to join you inside and get cozy. The magnificent fort was littered with various comfort foods, cozy blankets, and a TV with what Charlie called his favorite shows. Turning on the fairy lights and TV, you immediately saw the tension in his shoulders begin to relax. 

You two stayed there for hours, watching shows, eating good food, and talking. Lucifer didn’t know when the last time he allowed himself to be this free with another person. You were content making sure he understood how valued he was, but you couldn’t deny the proximity, and the ease of the conversation was beginning to make you feel some type of way. 

When the final movie was put on the TV, you let out a slight yawn. You had never disrupted your sleep schedule and nap time for someone else before, and your body was beginning to disagree with you. Lucifer took note of this and scooted a little closer to you. When you looked up at him, he just patted his shoulder, and you understood he was offering assistance to you.

You laughed gently in your hand, shaking your head. “No, mister. I am supposed to be helping you, not the other way around. Come here.”

As you said this, you repositioned the situation, so Lucifer rested against your chest. Your arms were wrapped around him, and you were gently playing with his hair. Lucifer hadn't complained about this, so you deemed it safe to continue. His hair was soft, with a little gel from when he woke this morning. Eventually, your hand stopped moving as you drifted off to sleep. 

Lucifer was content like this. He hadn’t been held in so long. This was something he only dreamed of doing with Lilith once more. He thought about all these things and felt your hands slow and your breathing even. 

Lifting his head slightly to look at you and not wake you, he realized you were lovely. The thought initially scared him as he hadn’t thought of another since Lilith, but your compassion and kindness were a refreshment. Slowly, he rested his head back on your chest and took a much-needed nap. 

You had woken first, feeling Lucifer tighten his grip subconsciously around you. Smiling, you stroked his hair again as you pulled out your phone. There was still an hour before the final stage of relaxation day could continue. You closed your phone and realigned your attention to Lucifer. 

He looked so beautiful, almost angelic if you were allowed to say that. He let out tiny snores, and you could nearly not see the bags under his eyes. You gently caressed his cheek without thinking, and when he nuzzled your hand, your face lit up. You told yourself he wasn’t ready and to diminish these feelings immediately. 

Once the hour was up, you gently woke Lucifer with a light shake. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, looking at the now-darkened TV. Once he was situated, he got out of the fort with you, ready for you to lead him on the next adventure. 

You strategically chose the top floor for the fort retreat so everyone else could set up downstairs. See, your plan helped kill two birds with one stone. Charlie wanted a fun way to bring in more sinners, and you wanted to help take the stress off Lucifer's plate. In doing so, the Hazbin Hotel Annual Carnival was born. 

As you arrived downstairs, the carnival was in full swing. Flashing lights, games, food, and even a circus event were happening. You turned to look at Lucfier and shouted, ‘Surprise!’ He was astonished that you not only considered giving him a brain break but also made sure to add something physically fun. 

This was particularly useful in two ways: he loved the circus and would be tired when he went to bed if he got worn out at the carnival. You showed him around the carnival with a broad smile on your face. All the regular inhabitants of the hotel were the carnies and some outside friends Alstor enlisted. 

As soon as you explained everything, Lucifer had your hand in his and dragged you around. Though you were still exhausted, seeing this man so happy was well worth it. You participated in the games and the face painting. Lucifer laughed hard when he saw you get his Iconic makeup done. 

As you made it to one of the last games, you found Angel managing the Apple Bobbing contest. With a broad smile, you drug Lucifer over and place your bets on who could get the largest apple. You hoped the newly painted makeup would withstand this trial as you went first. Coming back up with a tiny apple, Angel had to make one of his inappropriate jokes. 

Next, the king himself went for an apple, not before blushing at the lewd comment Angel had made about you. He really needed to teach him that it's okay to keep thoughts inside. As he went down for an apple, he found a golden one and took his chance. Popping his head up, Angel rang a bell, signifying the grand prize. 

Lucifer was handed a giant white snake plushie with a top hat as his winnings. He smiled, holding the cute item, and then turned to you. Gently, he wrapped the snake around your arm and shoulders, smiling wide. Your heart fluttered at the notion that he had given you his grand prize, no questions asked. 

Over the loudspeakers, an excited Charlie could be heard asking everyone to come to the big top for the show. Lucifer was excited that his daughter, as a ringmaster, would entertain all these guests. As you two took your seats in the crowded room, the lights dimmed, and Charlie, in an adorable outfit almost identical to her father's, came out. 

The smile on Lucifer's face when he saw Charlie look and act like him was heartwarming. You could almost see tears in his eyes. Lucifer was notably the most involved watcher of the show, answering questions, raising his hand for volunteer options, and even performing a song with Charlie. It was a fantastic event that left many impressed. 

As the circus act ended, Charlie approached you and thanked you for taking over this task. She had already gotten many people asking to enroll in her redemption program. While Charlie was talking to you, it was missed by all the knowing soft smile Lucifer had while staring at you. He realized that he hadn’t gone to rub his band once this entire day since you showed up.

Looking down at his hand, he moved the band from his left finger to his right. He wasn’t fully ready to let go of Lilith, at least not in the semblance of her being the mother of his child, but he was ready not to let his past hold him back anymore. He walked over to you and Charlie and gently interrupted the conversation, asking to steal you away. 

Charlie said yes, giving you a big thumbs up before she went on her own way, too. You gave Lucifer your full attention again as he led you to the Farris Wheel. Climbing aboard, you two faced each other and began talking like earlier that day. The conversation seemed so fluid for you two, making this a beautiful moment. 

Once at the top of the wheel, there was a sudden jolt, causing you to move forward and land in Lucifer's lap. Both of you laughed gently as you resituated back in your seat. In doing so, however, you noticed his left hand was bare. You panicked, “Where did your ring go? Did it fall when I moved? We have to look for it.” 

Lucifer just laughed at you and shook his head. He showed you his right hand now adorning his wedding band. You calmed down and looked at Lucifer as he explained, “I have never been so well taken care of, Y/N. To say I appreciate you would be an understatement. For seven years of my life, I have lived in this dark shadow that I was at fault for losing all I held dear. Though Charlie has been there trying to help, I still drown myself in work to forget Lilith.”

Lucfier repositioned to sit closer to you, looking you in the eyes, “However, you have impacted my life since the day you arrived. I have been watching you and find your efforts to comfort and help those around you refreshing. I find it so amazing you even took time out for me to plan all of this.”

Lucifer gently touched your cheek as he continued, “I have loved every minute of this day, and as I began to love it more and more, I realized I couldn’t let Lilith control my life forever, especially if she wasn’t here. I am not ready to completely let go; she is the mother of my child, and I hope she is alive and well. I am saying, though, that I am ready to move on and try to live more carefree again. You, Y/N, have been a dream come true.”

Tears welled up in both your eyes as you took in the words. You smiled and reached your hand out to hold his. Hand in hand, you two laughed and looked over all of hell from the top of the wheel. You were happy he finally accepted being free from his past and taking self-care and love for himself seriously. It was also astonishing that you were the one to teach him this. 

As the Farris Wheel ended and let you two off, the darkest point of the night finally hit. Grouping up at the front of the hotel, Lucifer's arms wrapped around you. A beautiful array of fireworks went off while you looked up to the sky. Turning to face Lucifer, you felt like you were living a dream. Who knew Lazy Days would result in a beautiful Dreamy Haze.

[sex-tech]

This is gonna probably be a really long post about my thoughts for Act 3 with what has been set up already because I need to shout into the void about this shit LMAO get ready for a WALL of text

Also a fair warning, I'm gonna be talking about so much jayvik/vikjayce in this you don't understand THE HELL I AM GOING THROUGH THERE IS GONNA BE SO MUCH COPIUM IN THIS

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 2 !!!

Quick mini-review: I feel like a contrarian when I say that I actually preferred Act 2 to Act 1. There were a lot of things set up and a lot of payoffs. I do have issues with the pacing overall; season 1 had much better structure and with the introduction of so much LOL lore in season 2, there are bound to be issues. There were 6 years of production for season 1 vs. 3 years of production for season 2, and it has clearly had an effect on the writing. Some scenes are too quick, some scenes are too slow, some cuts are too abrupt - I feel this is painfully obvious sometimes and talking with my friends about it we all agree that the pacing has suffered immensely.

But other than that, Act 2 has been really playing with my emotions and there are so many moments where I just kept breaking down over the scenes with Jinx, Vi, Vander and Isha. The watercolour-style flashbacks were so incredibly well done and those scenes had a lot of love put into them - props to Studio Fortiche!

I believe there is definitely a time paradox happening of some kind, one where Jayce, Ekko and Heimerdinger are lost in some kind of timeline.

This reflection in this artwork feels like it's hinting at what we will see in Act 3, maybe a different timeline, or the future, and Jayce will end up seeing the outcome of the Arcane. I feel that with how the lore is being changed, they need to give him some purpose or reason to pursue Viktor, to officially make them enemies. Whatever Jayce will see or experience will lead to that - a difference in perspectives and ideals.

Also, this shot, where Jayce returns and we see him glitching in and out, I feel that's a really clear depiction of a paradox, of different timelines converging or something similar. I can just imagine him living through all these different events, surviving something so awful, and now it's destroying him from the inside. He's so traumatized and I will defend him with my whole being.

I'm also a bit worried now about Ekko and Heimerdinger. I'm convinced that the latter won't survive however I'm not so sure about Ekko. I feel that everything being a time paradox would lead really well into him finally receiving his time powers, but as of now I think he is really under-utilized in the series as a whole, more so in season 2, and I'm really hopeful that we will get more screen time with him in Act 3.

Singed's role in this season is huge and it will definitely become even more important in Act 3. The introduction of Orianna, which I thought was so great, as well as the name-drop of "Dr. Reveck" has really set up his motivations. Warwick being his experiment for bringing back his daughter I believe will lead to him experimenting with Viktor.

Warwick's design was confusing to me at first. He felt too human but I think that was intentional - Singed wanted to create him with some humanity, a test, hence he is still more like Vander, still able to feel his love for Jinx and Vi. I believe he will survive, and Singed will get rid of his humanity completely, potentially leading to a more LOL accurate look.

This also brings me to Viktor and his OG lore. I really liked his concept in the game and I will admit, seeing them change it in Arcane worried me. While I really love the design, I was hopeful that we would see Viktor entering his glorious evolution era. But now with his interactions with Singed, with Singed's personal motivation for revival, I believe that there is still hope. Seeing how Orianna is preserved, still human-like, I believe that Singed's discoveries will lead him to recreating Viktor with metal, something closer to what we see in the game, maybe a cursed combination of both Arcane and machine, and I believe he will see it as a breakthrough in bringing Orianna back.

The way he describes it, the way he says, "You must survive, Viktor," a parallel to him saying "the specimen must survive" feels so intentional. He sees the potential in reanimation with how Viktor returned, healed, and this won't be the end of him, not yet, he must survive.

This scene where Viktor asks Singed, "Do you believe in fate?" I believe also points to another thing. Viktor knew very early on what his fate would be. He was accepting of it, he was confused as to why he was alive, and I believe in the scene where Jayce kills him, that look in his eyes was of acceptance. He did not look afraid, he looked at peace - with the idea of different timelines, with Viktor becoming closer to the celestial, he might've already known what would happen, which is why he invites Jayce to meet him. That with him saying, "I've been expecting you, doctor," is another reason I think that Viktor is aware of everything.

With Singed's final words to Viktor, the disdain in Viktor's eyes, the way Sky is looking at Viktor directly, frantic, worried, an expression of dread at the thought of the Arcane dying out completely, of all the progress coming to an end. I still believe the core is manipulating Viktor, that Sky is the personification of it, and that the core is aware of its own evolution reaching its final state, death - like a virus without a host.

And then there was this, the heavy breathing, the gritted teeth, squint in his eyes, the way he drops down - it felt like heartbreak, like guilt. He just murdererd a man, a man that spoke to him as Viktor.

Just this look. He's tired. He's returned from hell and he can see the beginning of the end, he can see Viktor's descent into madness, recognizes it immediately, and he's disappointed. Maybe he'd hoped to see something else.

Also, with Jayce saying, "I thought you were done with Hextech, and me," could imply that this new version of Viktor, remade by Singed, would no longer have a connection the Arcane - he is reforged, he has realized the weakness of flesh and compassion, "it's inescapable," and he will be remade with steel and rage, once again against his will, just like Warwick was. And perhaps, in this dark future, when Jayce finally sees what Viktor becomes, sees Viktor reject him entirely, that he is done with him, is also what makes Jayce spiral.

And now that he has returned, seeing Viktor welcome him with open arms, inviting him to spend time together, to show him what he has uncovered - what must he have seen? What must Viktor have said to him to make him feel so denied and unwanted?

Someone he once loved, someone that broke him, showing him the same gentleness and care he had once before.

"I won't fail. I swear it."

This entire sequence was insane. The different emotions in Jayce's face, the way he's cycling through pain and fear and conviction. The initial shock in his eyes, seeing what his Viktor has become, seeing him in this state, before the corruption - he looks vulnerable, he doesn't fight back, doesn't resist. He has made his promise to Viktor before, and I believe this is another promise to him, a promise to rend his mistake and do right by him. And Jayce looks frightened by his actions, frightened by the sight before him - Viktor looks so exhausted, so sick - I can imagine it reminds Jayce of him before he combined with the Hexcore.

Jayce's entire arc this season is about him gaining more agency, more control of himself despite the way he has been spiraling, whilst for Viktor it's the opposite, he has lost himself to a greater purpose, a perfect mirror to how they were in season 1.

The way their designs mirror them both too, Jayce getting the leg brace, his eyes changing, him being afflicted with the Arcane, Viktor keeping the blanket, keeping a cog that reminds him of the discoveries they made together, one side of it being perfectly clear, the other corrupted, a representation of them - two sides of the same coin.

I believe Viktor's monologue at the end, the scenes with him and Sky in a magical world where he is emoting, showing compassion for those that suffer, his realization that emotion is inescapable, shows that he still feels, even if it is all subdued. His reaction to Jayce killing Salo hurt, he looked pained and yet, as though he expected it - "that isn't Jayce" - it's not his Jayce, not the Jayce that he remembers, the one that he stayed with over shared affections, this is a Jayce ruined by him, and he is yet to see just how much they have and will hurt each other.

Maybe the exquisite chaos he is talking about is his corruption from the future, constantly self-replicating and self-annihilating, something that he has never observed before because it is yet to happen to him. He knows his fate, but not anything beyond that.

A couple final notes:

All the butterfly imagery - Jayce's hammer, the explosion in the mesh(?), the "Talis" butterfly - a symbol of death, rebirth, transformation

The parallels between Jayce and Singed, wanting to keep Viktor alive, creating a monster, and now Jayce having to destroy that which he created, a consequence of him breaking his promise

Viktor appearing as though he is connected to both the void and something celestial, godly, a balance

TLDR; jayvik divorce era will be the death of me, they were made for each other and will be the death of each other

[s4ggygr4ndma]

HI !!!!!! i'm interested to see how you think the nerds would be like when camping 😆

The Nerds going out camping!

So sorry for the late post 😭

Anyways, shitty writing incoming.

Earnest Jones

- He’s forced to collect firewood with Fatty, you might need a few pair of hands to carry some wood if one couldn’t carry the rest.

- He would be a lazy bastard for camping, you had to force him out of his bed to get him to join you guys. He isn’t really an outdoor guy as you can tell.

- Earnest is somewhat not afraid of the dark or any “monsters” out in the woods but scared him with a noise or just scare him in general you’d get girl slapped in the face while earning a high pitched scream from Earnest, had you holding your stomach for dear life due to how much you were laughing at his reaction.

- Would be an early bird and wouldn’t even realize it, he’d be awake while everyone is just asleep.

- He thinks you all disappeared but overall it was a fun trip

Melvin O’Connor

- Due to him losing his grasp of reality and slowly being in the world of GNG, he genuinely acts as if he’s in the game itself. It got you and the others concerned but it’s just Melvin being Melvin, so you couldn’t really do anything about it.

- He would point things he would see in the woods which genuinely scared ALL of you, especially Algernon.

- “Is that an orc?” He pointed at the woods

- “What.” (Everyone was either staring at the woods or at Melvin, they nearly shat themselves)

- You had to force Melvin to go to sleep because he was out sitting near the campfire planning for a new scenario for gng, since you guys played throughout the duration of the camp or tell creepy stories that definitely didn’t make someone cry out of fear

Fatty Johnson

- Guess who was in charge in gathering the firewood? This guy!!

- He wouldn’t mind helping but he was A BIT distracted in stealing some grub and you had to force him out of it.

- Fatty would make some very odd jokes during the whole night when you and the nerds gathered by the campfire to tell scary stories or to play some games. When you talked about some stories about creepy creatures that lurked in the woods, he had to look to his right, left, and his back to see if it was safe, he was scared as hell.

- “Did you guys know I shat myself?” “Get out.”

- He would be the loudest out of all of you when he slept, which was the reason why you guys couldn’t get some shut-eye, aside from the scary stories.

Algernon Papadopoulos

- You would enjoy the whole day scaring this guy, one singular “boo!” And he pisses himself.

- This guy is in charge of nothing other than sitting down because you know how he’d slow down your progress and dirty everything in his path. You don’t trust this guy with anything at all.

- Algernon would start shaking in his boots once nightfall came, he shouldn’t have agreed on this camping trip AT ALL. It’s like having to take care of a toddler for the duration of it and it annoyed everyone.

- For the scary stories, the answer would already be obvious.. He pissed himself due to how scared he was along with crying because of how dark it was which just caused more paranoia for Algie.

- Couldn’t sleep but was forced to because he was still awake at 2 AM.

Beatrice Trudeau

- Beatrice was first hesitant about the camping trip but she thought it would be fun and maybe a way for the nerds to be more exposed in the outside world.

- She would make a list of all the necessities and other things that are important for the camp, she doesn’t want anyone to sleep outside in the cold air and that scary forest that you definitely didn’t tell scary stories about..

- Beatrice is just chilling and yet normal throughout the whole thing aside from the others. She’d ask if you need any help in preparing all the things because she didn’t want to be a lazy bum and sit around all day doing nothing, she has to do something once in a while or she’ll get bored of the whole trip.

- She would write in her diary about the camping experience with the nerds, complaining about the nerds’ actions and how the whole day went for her. But she would bring a camera to take pictures of the environment. She enjoys nature, it’s canon(to me).

- The best part of the day for Beatrice is when you all went home aside from the pictures she took of the woods and a few butterflies.

Bucky Pasteur

- Scaredy cat like Algie if i’ll be honest. He wouldn’t handle being in the woods after nightfall then he’ll start staying in the tent due to how terrified he was.

- The only thing he’d enjoy would be GNG and roasting marshmallows.

- He’s worried about his grandma since he went away and will overnight in the woods, while he wondered if she was okay.

- He helps in setting up the tents

- He also goes out fishing with Thad and Donald!

Thad Carlson

- Dragged him out his bed and placed him in the back of the trunk with the help of Fatty in order for the gang to be complete. Poor guy was just kidnapped and he wanted to stay home, but he likes fishing anyway so he would bring a fishing pole with him.

- Would disappear to find a nearby lake to fish while bringing Donald and Bucky with him.

- Most calmest mf during the whole experience, he’s like every dad or grandpa that enjoys fishing.

- He’d endlessly yap about war stories he saw online or studied himself.

- Best part for him? GOING HOME AND FISHING.

Donald Anderson

- I don’t know what to say for this guy, but he would disagree on the camping trip which caused you to kidnap him with the help of others.

- He somewhat hates the whole thing, until he went out fishing with Thad and Bucky.

- He added you to his list

- He would enjoy telling scary stories, it’s his specialty. He would steal a turn to tell scary stories which made the whole group make him stop for a while so they can talk about something else other than scary stories all the time.

-

Cornelius Johnson

- He agrees with the camping trip, he might even bring food for the trip incase the marshmallows run out.

- Best guy to bring around for some reason. He will help with the tents or also join the fishing with Thad and the others if he ever gets bored.

- He would sit by and enjoy the campfire while being surrounded by his friends, basically enjoying the peace and quiet along with the chatters and laughs of his fellow nerds. He would talk to Melvin about the plans for another GNG night to pass the time.

- Obviously, would get scared in the scary stories and all the mythical creatures in the woods of Bullworth but he likes mythical creatures so let’s just say he’s scared and not scared at the same time.

- Cornelius enjoyed the nature, but he also enjoyed spending time with the group.

[katapotato55]

how to make your writing be remembered forever and possibly be well loved.

(incredibly stupid and silly fanfiction line at the end of this post) I know that title is incredibly daunting but listen, its very simple. you ready?

MAKE STRONG CHARACTERS

"but kat! surely its not that simple! " nononono listen. bear with me. I want you to think of your favorite thing. Now ask: what do you remember the most about the thing you love? I will go first:

I love team fortress 2. and guess what: this game has been around since 2007, and was in development hell since before I was even born. The game has been around for 16 fucking years. And guess what? in the strong year of 2023 team fortress 2 Is STILL getting memed about. and do you want to know the crazy part? the character designs to the naked eye are not special at all. ok sure from a designer standpoint, these are very well designed characters made so that you can easily tell who they are based on their silhouette. but from the average joe.... tf2 is iconic but overall it looks ok. it doesn't seem special to a stranger to tf2. look at this completely random and arbitrary example of a game in the same genre:

I don't know shit about the characters in overwatch. Yeah i have a BASIC idea on what their personality is like based on voice lines and some videos i guess... but in-game they just exist. these characters are brightly colored, they have beautiful unique designs, hell they have even more diversity such as robots and people from other cultures! but i don't remember shit about these characters. Maybe I remember the ice lady and tracer, but nothing else. and yeah part of overwatch struggling right now is incompetant development, BUT: The characters in team fortress 2 are SO remember-able because the characters have such a vibrant personality. I am an orange box owner, its been a decade and a half and I am still remembering this game and enjoying art about it.

"but kat! that is a comedy game! Overwatch is a very serious game! are you saying comedy is needed to make a character more noticeable?" no. though I think allowing your characters to lighten up every now and then would humanize them. Not full on goofy, just give them something that makes them likeable. and if you cant do that, you can STILL make a compelling character even though they are mostly seriousness. I have an even more awfully thought out example:

kung fu panda is a masterclass in making a serious comedic movie somehow work. Master Oogway.... he isn't a comedic character at all. Yeah we made memes about him, but ignoring that, he is a wise and resourceful person. He is at calm and has faith in this intuition. there are a lot of characters like this. What makes Oogway stand out is that he is also a little bit kooky and sassy.

this youtube clip sums up what I mean. It is a funny line, it fits the character, and It doesn't ruin the seriousness of the moment. Some of the most successful series in history have something about them that has appealed to people. In my opinion: characters with strong personality and interesting traits is always a good way to ensure your writing is successful. The second most important is the characters bouncing off of each other in terms of their chemistry with each other. There is a reason why I spent years playing the first Destiny game and all of the DLC, but I remember fuck all about the characters. I think I maybe remember the bootleg star lord robot guy.

A writing exercise

here is an exercise to get you in the spirit of character making. step 1- get a random character from a random bit of media. In this case let me bring you master Oogway. Step 2- Get a completely different character from a completely unrelated series. I am going to give you Scout from team fortress 2. step 3- write a random ass thing about them interacting. Think about how the characters would react to each other and why. Think about each characters values in life and think about how they would bond and conflict with each other. Think about characters similar to the character they met in the past and how they reacted then, and if they have never interacted, make something interesting with it. Step 4- keep experimenting. Once you get into the spirit you can apply this to any new character you could want to make anyways thats it byeee- "arent you going to do that ?" do what? "make a writing thing about oogway and scout. " ........

Scout: let's go turtle you got nothing on my speed- Oogway: The one who first resorts to violence shows that he has no more arguments. Scout: that sounds like chicken talk! come on tough guy let me have it- Oogway then proceeds to make scout eat shit before vanishing in a cloud of cherry blossoms and dust from the desert. If this post isn't popular I want you to know my dignity was lost for nothing.

[heartofwritiing]

could you write wilbur soot confessing his love to a crush? 👉👈

something about how he's been pinning after this crush for so long, but the crush seems a bit avoidant or something

but that's because the crush also has a crush on him and is very very shy qpwimsmanssjslslek sorry im not good with requests

You and me need never be, lonely again.

Paring: cc!wilbur soot x fem!cc!reader

authors note: Thank you so much for requesting! I hope you don't mind the reader being a content creator and i’m sorry she’s not super shy because im not really sure how to write shy lol but i hope you like the request! I just thought it would add to the idea and I've wanted to do something similar to this for a while! This is a request back from august. I am so sorry this took me so long to get out. I've been going through some shit irl but I'm finally starting to come back to writing because I genuinely love it and posting on here since it is my safe space!

line from this prompt list

warnings: friends-lovers, reader lives in the US, brief description of anxiety, the reader sends mixed signals, swearing, kinda angsty, happy end, super unedited!

"No! That was such bullshit!"

The voice of Tommyinnit ran through the speakers of your computer causing you to let out a chuckle that you were the reason for his outburst.

You were playing Gang Beasts on stream with some of your closest friends, and you had grabbed Tommy's character and thrown him off the map by picking him up.

Laughter rang out amongst the group as the screen card popped up saying your username won. You cheered as everyone groaned but dispersed into 'ggs' then that's when everyone started to bid goodnight. You hadn't realized it had been four hours of streaming and playing games, showing the good time you were having with friends.

"Alright chat, that's gonna be it for me today! Please remember to click the follow button if you're new to stream that way you'll know when I go live! byeee!" You did your outro, quickly closed your stream down, and logged out of Twitch.

It was an uneventful stream session, thank god. You’ve noticed more and more how your chat gets when you even mention wilburs name.

“you logging off completely y/n/n?” Ranboos voices asks through your earbuds.

“No, I’ll play a few more rounds if you guys are down,” you respond.

“HELL YEAH!” Tommy boasted. “IM GONNA KICK YOUR ASS THIS TIME Y/N/N!”

“Oh, it’s on gremlin child!” you replied.

Wilbur listened to this conversation on his end, letting out a chuckle. He honestly doesn’t know why you make him laugh so easily. Anytime you threw a genius comment toward Tommy that was deemed insulting, or calling him a name Wilbur fell for you more and more. If only he had the guts to tell you.

You as well wouldn’t admit it but every time Wilbur laughed all you could feel was butterflies punching your stomach and a smile that made your cheeks hurt. You were also falling hard for him.

After about another fifteen minutes, Tommy and Ranboo had bid their goodbyes for the night and ended their calls. You were left in call with Wilbur, the silence could be cut with a knife.

Knowing him for two years was hard. Wilbur was everything to you. He was funny, smart, charming, and overall made you feel comfortable. Something you thought you’d never have with anyone. Having to only talk on call and video made things easier for you. On call you could hide your blushes and smiles from him, but not from your chat who caught every interaction between you and Wilbur when you streamed. The constant ’Wilbur x name confirmed?’ tweets and comments in your twitch chat were recently repetitive and you wondered when you became such a beacon of attention. It gave you such anxiety to have all eyes on you when you wanted to spend time with your best friend.

It was getting obnoxious to the point where you debated making a tweet to get the fans to stop shipping you both, even if you were dating it was no one’s business. Still you never dared to say anything out of fear of stans coming at you in anyway. You didn’t need to draw more unwanted attention to yourself.

“You logging off? it’s getting pretty late for you,” you spoke up.

“Yeah, we both should, by the way what times your flight tomorrow?”

Right, you were flying less than eight hours from now to finally meet your friends inperson. You all had planned this for months, booking hotels and flights, making a whole deal about it. Then you really wouldn’t be able to hide from him for a whole week.

“Around seven-thirty,” you reply.

He hums.

“I’ll let you get some rest, see you tomorrow night darling,” his voice purposely going lower on the ‘darling’ part that you almost didn’t catch it, making your knees go weak.

“N-night Will,” you stutter, end call and slump back into your desk chair trying to calm your racing heart. Meanwhile Wilbur all the way across the ocean in Brighton has a smile plastered across his lips.

About a plane ride, a train ride and car ride later, you are stood in the hotel lobby in Brighton waiting for a late Tommy and Wilbur to arrive. You were super nervous to meet them. Having only been friends for what was a short time, it felt like you knew them for years, so why was this so scary?

You debated in your mind about texting them to see if they were close by, but you didn’t want to come off as annoying and impatient. You wanted to make a good first impression, but again these were your friends. Why were you shaking with nerves?

You fiddled with your thumb’s absentmindedly until you felt a pair of hands on your shoulders, causing you to jump out of your skin. You spin around to be met with a cackling Tommy who is clucking his stomach from laughing so hard at your reaction.

“Fucking gremlin child,” you huffed under your breath, not realizing the evident blood rushing to your cheeks from being startled so easily.

“It’s nice to hear you say that in person,” a deep voice said from behind Tommy. You shifted your eyes to see a very tall Wilbur, who was wearing his round glasses pushed up his nose and curly hair fluffed to the side.

His dark sweater selves rolled up to revel his arms tucked into his side as he gazed at you with a soft smile. Finally after two years of being separated by seas, your best friend was standing right in front of you. It was surreal to say the least.

You laugh and jump forward to embrace him. The number of times you’d tease him over-call about his height made you regret your words. He towers over you as he bends down to your level to give you a long awaited hug. His arms are soft, yet firm as they wrap around your back and cage you into his embrace.

You both pull away, both grinning from ear to ear. He looks down at you with a hint of something behind his eyes, he seems to be genuinely happy to finally meet you in person. which makes you blush at the thought of him looking forward to this moment since you told him you wanted to come here. You're quickly brought out of your moment when Tommy speaks up behind you.

"So he gets a hug and I don't?!" his tone slightly offended.

"Yup, cause you're annoying," you bring a hand up to flick his forehead, causing him to let out a irritated noise. you had only just met him in person but something compelled you to do that. Maybe it was just a reason for you to break the ice and it was working because you all broke out into giggles.

“Im just kidding Tom,” you motion him into a hug.

Wilbur just stood observing the entire interaction between his two best friends. He was thrilled to finally have you here, he couldn't wait to show you all his favorite places, hang out, and get to know better in person. Finally.

The two boys had managed to drag you to the beach, and even though it was freezing Tommy insisted on going to the arcade to try and win another 'vlog gun'. After suffering through loosing a few games, Wilbur managed to win you a little stuffed cat that you promptly named Mr Whiskers.

It was endearing to watch him struggle at most of the games so he could get enough tickets. It was all worth it in his eyes to embarrass himself by losing ski-ball to you, twice, he saw the evident blush on your cheeks and the look you gave him. As if he hung the stars in the sky just for you. It made his chest hurt in a good way.

The rest of the night went smoothly for the most part. More and more, Wilbur had been getting more touchy with you. Though you didn’t mind it at all, maybe he didn’t realize how much he was putting his hand on you as you walked side by side as he led you through crowds. How he held doors open for you. It was sweet.

Maybe he was doing it just to be nice. That small voice in the back of your head telling you thats all it was. Because thats what friends do.

Eventually, the three of you met up with Ranboo and Charlie. They were just how they were online, which made meeting them a whole lot better. Walking around Brighton, making inside jokes and teasing each other. You hadn't been this happy in a while. You can remember the last time you genuinely enjoyed yourself, your friends were the product of that. You were fortunate to have found them when you did. Quarantine was hard on you, much like the rest of the world. So when you were invited to join a group game call, you couldn't pass up the opportunity. That night, something had clicked between you and Wilburt specifically. Then you started to join more calls with the gang and the rest was history.

Sometime in the night, you found yourself walking behind with Wilbur by your side chatting about nothing in particular. Until the comfortable silence filled the air between you, you took a moment to take in the nightlife of Brighton. The street lamps guide your way through the beachside and the pubs on the corner were starting to fill up. As if the city was somehow more alive at night.

"I'm really glad you came," Wilbur speaks, sincerely.

You stop your wide-eyed gaze to look at him and smile softly at him.

"I am too," You gush. "I'm honestly considering moving here,” Now he’s smiling.

Wilbur's brain starts to go a million miles a second. His heart leaped at the thought of you living closer to him. Seeing you in person everyday seemed like a dream come true. He begins to slow his step and a frown replaces your smile. Your own thoughts running rampant now, assuming you might've freaked him out by voicing that you wanted to move here so soon after meeting him in person. Maybe it made him uncomfortable. it was too soon to say something that bold. You had only just met him in person today.

"Listen, Y/N..."

You stopped and your brain got the best of you with his tone. You shouldn't have said anything like that to him. It was too soon.

“I don’t want to sound cheesy, but I need you to know how I feel.”

Oh... OH.

You knew what this was leading to. Realizing why he was acting the way he was all day.

"I like you, more than like you. You're funny, beautiful, smart, and everything I could've hoped for in a best friend. But I can't keep pretending I don't think of you when we aren't talking, or how when I look at you my chest hurts."

Wilbur liked you. Really liked you. You would jump for joy and shout to the rooftops about how much you reciprocate his feelings but something in the back of your mind told you not to. The doubt in your mind from yourself, both your fans online judging. It made you slowly start to panic. You felt as though you weren’t good enough for him.

You saw the aftermath of when his fans shipped him and Niki together. It almost ruined their friendship. You didn’t want that.

"Please say something?" he stops his rant to notice you are staring up at him with blank eyes.

"I-uh," you stutter. "can we maybe not do this now?"

His face falls and it instantly crushes you with regret. His disappointment shows as he gives you a forced smile and nods.

"Y-yeah, let's catch up with everyone, Tommy wants to do this big stream at his place." he gestures for you to move along with him, all while you feel horrible for doing this.

You wish you could take back what you said. You know you've hurt him, It's painfully obvious when he doesn't talk to you for the rest of the walk. You glance at him a few times but he keeps his eyes forward and stoic.

If only you didn’t let your anxiety get the best of you. You had to talk to him at some point, but for now you pushed it aside. The rest of the group didn’t seem to notice the sudden tension between the two of you, if they did nothing was remarked about it.

As you continued the journey to Tommys flat, you and Wilbur still walked silently side by side. With what little courage you had, you reached out your hand and held his in a moment of truce. Giving it a gentle squeeze with your fingers to seal the deal that you would talk later. You heard his soft inhale at the contact and he squeezes back. Your shoulders drop from the weight of tension being lifted off. Maybe, just maybe this ment this conversation wasn’t over.

Back at Tommy’s, the monitor in his cramped bedroom with everyone packed together like sardines; shows the twitch chat flashing by with viewers comments.

“WELCOME BACK TO THE STREAM EVERYONE!” Tommy shouted causing you to hold your ear in slight pain.

“God Tommy, could you be anymore loud?” you wince.

“Look who’s here chat!” he gestured to you with his hands, ignoring your complaints. You waved at the webcam as chat went crazy. He introduced everyone else as they all broke out into a chorus of conversation.

Wilbur was mostly quiet on your left, an occasional sarcastic comment made here and there. You could practically feel his eyes buring into the side of your head. Hopping chat wasn’t noticing how he was looking at you, your eyes shifting to your lap to fidget with your fingers.

Out of view, Wilbur reached over and took your hand picking at the skin around your nails. You had stopped your nervous tick and opted for squeezing his hand. Nobody seemed to notice the sudden shift in both your behavior.

Suddenly you felt tense, the feeling of having everyone’s eyes on you made your mind start to spiral.

Letting go of Wilburs hand, you quickly had excused yourself and walked out of Tommys room and into the kitchen.

Everyone had a mix of concerned and worried expressions as they watched you leave the room but didn’t say anything about it. Wilbur had followed you in pursuit. He found you in the kitchen hyperventilating Your panic had taken over and now your lungs were paying the price for the burning sensation from not breathing.

“it's okay,” he took your face into his hands and held you. “just follow my breaths.

he took a breath in, and you followed.

When you came to your senses, Wilbur had asked you what was wrong and you just began to cry. Everything came rushing down on you.

“Im sorry. I-Im sorry I shot you down earlier, Im sorry for h-hurting you. I-i,” you stuttered over yourself. Wilbur shakes his head at you. He probably thinks you’re such a mess.

“I don’t understand, I know you like me too, so I don’t understand why you rejected me after I poured my heart out to you. Then you go and hold my hand while we're walking.'

Wilbur was right. Playing with his feelings was selfish and cruel. He was completely in the right to question you. You were practically flirting with one another all day, and then you shut down his advances of trying to open your relationship.

“I do wanna be with you.” you sniff. “I'm just really scared.”

"Why darling? It's just me, your silly old Wil." he pokes at your sides causing you to let out a giggle. Your best friend, who looked at you with the prettiest chocolate eyes, who stayed on call with you all night when you couldn't sleep. The only person you told your deepest fears and dreams to.

You take a shaky inhale as you begin to explain. "I don't wanna ruin our friendship, we have something I've never experienced with anyone else in my life. I care about you too much to let me be a distraction in your life, and I am scared that the fans will-"

Wilbur interrupts you with a hand on your arm.

"The fans? darling who cares about that, I care way too much about you to even care about what strangers think. It's no one's business who I, or you for that matter have a relationship with." he clarified. "I love you and nothing or no one will ever change that."

Those three words made your heart leap in your throat.

"Y-you l-love me?" you stutter in disbelief.

"Yes, of course I do."

Tears roll down the apples of your cheeks as you lean forward to engulf Wilbur into another hug. His arms wrapped around your back reciprocating your embrace. your face buried in his neck as you inhale his cologne and your tears dampen his skin.

"I love you too Wil," you whisper.

He squeezes you closer to him in return and this time you don't hold yourself back...

-

taglist: @trashcanduck @ax-y10 @mysticalsoot @idontreallyexistyet @loonalvjy @toastyliltoasts41

[balanceoflightanddark]

Hey, I know that the recent comic has gotten everyone down and out of sorts about Azula’s and the treatment form the bigwigs towards both Azula and subset of fans, it was quite a disappointing in many aspects.

Have you ever played Skyrim? Well one of my favorite characters in that game is Paarthurnax. Who was at one point dragon that enforced his elder brother Alduin’s tyranny over the Nordic populace of Skyrim, and helped his brother shirk his duty in ushering in the end of the Kalpa. Until though various reasons (including divine intervention…) he changed his ways and joined the Nords in their just rebellion.

After the war was won he sought seclusion and a life of contemplation and isolation on the “throat of the world” (the tallest mountain in the game lore). Almost like he was a medieval Stylite. Though the fact he was a dragon with wings does kind of take away from that a bit…

So Paarthurnax was an actual remorseful Philsopher who lived life as a hermit of sorts. Basically becoming the Iroh like figure the ATLA fandom likes to pretend Iroh is.

But during the game Paarthurnax says an amazing quote that stuck with me "What is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?".

So Azula was a bully as a kid, whoopty fuckin doo. That doesn’t change that she fought and bled for her nation, was prepared to sacrifice her own life at multiple points in the story (such as during the eclipse for example or at the Air Temple) for its betterment (or at least was she was taught would be the Fire Nations betterment). In a similar vein to how Iroh did. Only much more successfully and bloodlessly.

Because while I reject the silly fandom notion that she was born wholly and utterly evil, she was raised in the Fire Nation’s imperial system. And has to overcome that taught imperialistic beliefs through “great effort” (which I think is happening to do in your story).

So anyway, this was my long winded way of saying, thank you for writing an awesome story (though ongoing) and we can all (or at least I am) consider to be the actual canon and ending for Azula!

Thanks for the response. I AM working on Chapter 24. It's just I had a lot of work this week and I've got a project for school. Finals are coming up, and I want to focus on that a bit. I'll still try to fit in as much work as I can.

Anyways, the comic. Yeesh. Do I even need to say anything about what a mess that was? I'm just shocked that they made almost every Fire Nation character, sans Azula, unlikable at this point. Which is incredible. We have two victims of abuse (Ursa and Zuko), an old regretful general (Iroh), two girls mistreated by the system (Mai and Ty Lee), and a toddler (Kiyi). You'd have to go out of your way to make those characters insufferable, yet somehow they found a way. On accident. By their creators. That's got to be near impossible odds, isn't it? Somebody do the math for me. I need to know.

It would almost be awe-inspiring if it weren't so rage-inducing. And they didn't go out of their way to insult Azula's fans. And they didn't pretend these guys were the pinnacle of morality or something.

Which is part of the reason I love Paarthurnax so much. There's a good reason why he's my favorite character in Skyrim, and he's a fan favorite overall. Simply put, he basically is what people would imagine Iroh to be. He formerly supported his brother Alduin in subjugating mortals before turning against him. When we meet him in-game, he's become enlightened and offers to guide the Dragonborn in the way of the Voice.

Here's what makes him compelling: Paarthurnax knows damn well what he did was wrong. He knows that people won't forgive him like the Blades if they find out who he is and admits he'd do the same if he were in their shoes. Hell, he's correct in saying that trusting a dragon like him is a big gamble. But that's what makes him compelling. Rather than giving into his instinct to dominate and his background of oppressing others, Paarthurnax sought to meditate and work on addressing his issues. He used to look down on mortals, so he befriends mortals and aids them in their time of need. He used the Voice to dominate the "weak", so he teaches others the Voice and establishes the Greybeards on how the Voice should be used. He aided Alduin, and so he willingly aided the heroes the first time around, aids the Dragonborn in their quest to stop his brother, and fights Alduin himself when they cross paths.

Paarthurnax knows he can do evil, so he makes damn sure that the chances of that happening are slim. "What is better: to be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?". There is a reason that quote is so poignant. He's saying that anybody can overcome their dark side if they work on it, and it's more rewarding to actually tackle their problems instead of ignoring them.

It's what an Azula redemption arc should be about. She should acknowledge her dark side and that she's a bad person, but resolve to try and fix it. She's already halfway there. She's questioning herself in the mirror scene. Even in the comics, it's shown she is willing to change her behavior and bury her grudges if given the opportunity. The problem is that she doesn't see herself as worth salvaging, and nobody is willing to argue against her. That's the ultimate tragedy and something that could work for almost all the Fire Nation characters. How do you be good when you've done so much wrong? Zuko's struggled with it. Iroh's struggled with it. So why not Azula and all the rest?

That's what I hope to accomplish with my story. She's not there yet and she's going to be making some mistakes in the coming chapters. But I'm hoping to get her there. Thank you so much for the ask and I hope to get back to working on the fic as soon as I can.

[lordship-posts]

A review nobody asked of me!

Soooooo I took my time and finally finished KCD2.

I absolutely loved it!

A lot about it was really fun especially characters who overdrink and a lot of them being super unpredictable characters. I would consider myself a experienced gamer. I've been playing Video games for a solid 20 years my biggest like most played it's my entire life kind of Game was Skyrim so I am no stranger to swords and rpg stuff!

But I have to admit even tho I played half of kcd 1 that KCD2 really at some parts was insanely difficult. I never had aching hands from playing so much and trying so hard! Haha. So there is that. Gotta commit and be ready to backtrack a lot when you go into battle severly underarmed and underleveld. I kid you not. The first time I was up against Zizka he clapped me 30 times in a row with a one or two hit. Same for defending Suchdol. Everything that could go wrong did! Same as my 'skills' . But I also went longsword Main and put nothing into other weapons or shields. Not even crossbow, pistol or bow. Longsword MAIN haha, mad man behaviour.

I did play a bit dishonorbly. I didn't give Istvan a Duel. I didn't accept Eriks duel but I did not shed innocent blood ever. I however gave Markvart a death with dignity. I still got a fairly bad ending... Seeing after everything how in his dream Henry's parents turned against him.. that hurt. That was really rough. They only had a Black and White view not even a pinch of morally grey in the middle. I chose the people I killed on my Personal Codex. But yeah the end where they turned away from me.. ouchie.

Radzig gave me the sword and I liked what he said to Henry a lot actually, he was proud and happy.

I of course romanced the hell out of Capon hehe. That was amazing. The most chemistry I have ever seen between two men in a Video game.

So overall a really great game just wish the ending with his parents could have been a bit more ... well.. allowed more grey zones. A good middle of devil and saint or something. They did not consider for a second how bad Henry has had it. How rough everything was for him, didn't care a bit about his trauma :/ well.

Then I shall listen to the man who's still alive eh? Dadzig!

Also, some of my fave screenshots:

My boy's 😭🧡

The gang 🤭

Saving Sam 💚

Before revenge...

During

After....

Bonus:

I've got plenty plenty more...

But that's all for now ♡

[bdafic]

Have you played Veilguard? Do you plan to?

If yes, what is your opinion on how Solas and solavellan was handled? :)

I did! I actually posted about it, encouraging people not to read reviews and posts and just play the game for them. I chose not to go into any depth other than I liked it. I'm cool with going into it now, though I want to make really clear to anyone reading that I have zero interest in seeing, inviting, or participating in the "everything must be criticized hard and moralized" discourse. The level of hostility around this game is off the charts and I'm super not into it.

(I am very into being hostile as fuck about layoffs, crunch, and execs sabotaging projects, setting impossible "goals" and whipping up anger to justify dissolving studios though. We can do that all day.)

Anyway, back to your question.

Overall, my feelings on how Solas/Solavellan was done mirrors my feelings on the game as a whole: I loved 85% of it, and the other 15% I didn't so much 'not love' as much as I wished it could've been more. That last 15% felt like being a kid finding out there's a whole other floor of your house you've never explored, and once you finally get all prepped to go spelunking you find it in the midst of being demolished. All those little tantalizing peeks you got are gone or waved off like "you can make do with what you have". Technically that's true. You've got a nice house that's pretty and isn't falling apart and everything connects and has all the right things in it... but you can't help being really sad for the loss of experiences you could've had on the mystery floor.

I loved all the insight we got into the history of the Evanuris, ancient elves, and Solas himself. It confirmed a bunch of theories I'd discussed with others for years -- and that felt awesome! I love it when fans are rewarded for noticing the details and putting shit together. (If you're also into that, go watch Severance). There's so much of what we saw in his memories and experiences that deepen the sense of sadness and loss in his character. It made people who hate him, hate him more, and people who love him, sympathize with him more. I think he's honestly one of the most well-written characters I've ever encountered in any media, anywhere, and not just because I'm a sucker for beautiful tragedy.

I'm happy they didn't shy away from Solas' edges, either. I'd predicted Varric's death at his hands during The Missing's run, though I thought it'd play out differently. I think that and the war crimes were good additions to his story. It reinforced his position as an antivillain to the series. Solas is a living, breathing, 'sunk cost fallacy' of a man. He (almost) says it himself: to stop now would make all the horrible things he'd done be for nothing. He has to keep going.

He was Wisdom, twisted into Pride. He wants to still be Wisdom. It's how he sees himself, though he's smart enough to know it isn't true deep down. The planning, the arrogance, the failures, the devotion, they're all aspects of that change. Of course he keeps failing. Of course he keeps trying. And of course falling in love without any of that being known would absolutely caboodle his noodle. One of the things that first drew me was realizing how much of him was only revealed upon romancing. It makes a ton of sense for his character, and gave him a depth and longing that was incredibly compelling. A character who lays it out for everyone regardless is just an NPC, but that made him feel like a person. It speaks to his loneliness; how badly he wants someone to find a way to change his mind, and how resigned he is to the belief that nobody can. Wisdom and Pride.

I'm very pleased that a Solavellan ending even exists, because that's a pretty big nod to fandom and the impact of his character. Of course I'd have loved to see more -- Solavellan hell is eternal and I'll never escape -- but I can be happy with what we got. And I understand why it felt truncated.

(And honestly, my biggest complaint with Lavellan's inclusion is that we cannot modify her appearance later if we fucked it up. My kingdom for her eyeballs to've worked properly in my first run.)

I am a bit sad about how 'well' a lot of it got wrapped up, not just because of the loss of mystery, but because it's pretty clear that was a reflection of the (rather prescient) fears from devs/writers about the future of the franchise. The game's impact and mood suffered from that sense of impending doom. Edges were shaved off, things glossed over, middles discarded so threads could be tied up neater, and that probably really sucked for the people who have lived and breathed this world for the better part of 20 years. It needed more time. Chill time. And freedom to fuck about. People say that audiences don't like it when things end on an uncertain note, and honestly after seeing the discourse this produced as is I'm gonna say that the things I personally wished were included would've probably started much bigger fires and resulted in much more smoke. (People like to jump in here with, "it was going for ten years" but that's kind of disingenuous. It was ten years between releases. The game was scrapped twice and the final iteration was only going for three-ish, and writers and devs kept getting fucking laid off.)

Anyway, there's a lot of stuff it's clear they wanted to go into more and simply weren't able to. That isn't their fault, and I grieve with them. People forget the writers were the original spelunkers. They're also people who have to roll with punches in a way that fans never, ever, have to.

That was a lot of words to say, basically, that I think Solavellan and Solas' story were handled well, and I'm satisfied. I wish there was more -- I'll always mourn whatever was on the mystery floor -- but that's what fanfic is for. It's in our hands now.

[buubonita]

budbonita. fellow horrortale connoisseur. opinions on the horrortale game that came out this jolly holly eve,,,,,,, me personally i am very calm and relaxed (eye twitch) 🙂

Hello, Tryglybud! Its good to see you again in my ask box :3c okay lets het to the point shall we?

THERE IS SPOILERS ON THIS, so have that on mind before READING!!!

WARNING FOR child death mention, decapitation mention.

That said (rubs my little fly hands)

If there's one thing I really liked about Horrortale is that SAS takes elements from the original game and re-routes them to fit the story. The charm of Horrortale is that it's precisely an alternate timeline that you can believe will happen without problems. A neutral route that turns into the living hell of monsters.

Anyway, now to point out the little things I liked.

The dark twist of Sans' Iceezs puzzle! In the original the joke is that you can't find any of the words that are written (the fucking puzzle is not doing the puzzle if you want to pass it. It's literally doing nothing lol) but here you literally HAVE to find the words to advance. I found it funny because if you've played UT your first instinctive action is to do nothing! It's like that Papyrus puzzle and the colored tiles that you don't expect to be relevant and then it turns out that it was! Just cute, thanks SAS.

The music! the overall atmosphere is super eerie and ominous, the opening song for waterfall is simple and sounds like still water. It gives you the feeling that you're in dead ground. Like the genocidal route in waterfall and its theme, but again, SAS USES the game's foundations and directs them into their own story YYYYYY OUAGHAHA I LOVE IT! Do you think Aliza inhales the dust in the air while walking?

Goner Kid!'s dialogue is literally a reversal of what one of Gaster's followers says about living in a world where everything is exactly the same but you don't exist in it. In this case, SAS AGAIN redirects and gives new meaning to phrases and details from the game for Horrortale.

The underground would probably have been saved if Sans didn't exist, that is, if Sans had decided to die for all of them! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH I'M REALLY SMILING LIKE A LUNATIC. I love, LOVE the importance SAS gives to the source material considering Horrortale is a timeline and not an AU! It adds another layer of depth and reinforces the plot a lot; you who played the game and knew the story and grew fond of these characters are now witnessing the suffering that YOU as a player caused in one of your games!

Onion san submerged in that pit of black water was scary, I really expected him to come out of there to kill me when I first saw him (and I wanted that to happen, for him to jump out and kill us why not? >:3). His exchange with Aliza is sweet and adorable considering how scary he managed to look at the beginning haha. Horrortale is still a sad story even though it has scary elements.

The painting on the wall of waterfall reminded me of that thing Alphys created to rip out Horror's magic eye, although the description says it seems to be from a creature. It's probably ambiguous on purpose.

Aliza's deaths are brutal. I died with River Person for the first time and I felt bad for Aliza, poor thing was stripped down to the bone! A gruesome death. The rabid Temmies! I loved that they were included, their dialogue is simple but works well and feels in character. She was decapitated, MY POOR GIRL! Devored, impaled, drowned, this girl wont stop going through the most horrorific DEATHS!

And that's another thing with Horrortale, they all feel in character just like their original versions! Sans is still a joker, only his psychosis has made him more violent, more sadistic and prone to darker humor (I'd eat Horrortale's little black humor animated shorts with fries). He also keeps the tendency to beat up children, his character is consistent and that's why he's my favorite.

There's such a thick and obvious parallel with Aliza and Horror when he says "how much do you think your life is worth?" I mean, if he's on her case maybe it's because he wasn't in her shoes for long (although Aliza doesn't wear shoes!)

And I'm not saying Killer or Dust aren't, they're also wonderful in their own way but they're maybe very different approaches, but they work (and I love them too, believe me).

My only complaint with this little game is that it's very short once you figure out all the puzzles! But I can't complain when we get more of the comic in JANUARY (my birthday month!!). I look forward to more story and seeing more characters soon. This was a little treat i will treasure with all my heart.

[spicyrouletteburrito]

Kinda wanna study Rachel and Khun’s relationship under a microscope

Spoilers for the anime, upto date w the webtoon

Actually gonna count how many times Rachel’s won against Khun overall

Not in order

- Getting on the hell train. I think we can even add on that Bam was so effected by seeing Rachel for the first time since she first attempted to kill him that he refused to listen to Khun or anyone else.

- End of the Dallar Show where Rachel had Yura transport everyone that mattered to her out, Team Bam almost died if not for Yuri, Khun’s trust in Hwaryun and his quick thinking

- Exploding Khun’s heart, frankly an incredible defeat since it took Khun out of the game for two years and Bam had to return to FUG. Out of everything Rachel has managed to pull over Khun I think this is really high on the list specifically cuz it effected Bam so much and we know Khun can never accept something that hurt Bam

- Rachel killed Gyetang and paralyzing Dan, she literally played the long game for this. Insane.

- helped start a war by literally selling Khun off

Some continuous wins Rachel has over Khun

- she knows what Bams past is, I feel like she’s the few people who actually knows what Bams place in the tower truly is, over Garam and Jahad even. I am willing to bet she might be the only person who actually knows every single thing about Bams past. The reason I say over Jahad is because I doubt Jahad is going to bother with the smaller details of Bam w his parents but Rachel being the kind of person she is would probably fixate and remember things like that

- Rachel has the ability to traumatize Bam in a way Khun cannot protect Bam from, shes done this repeatedly. Pushing Bam off again, stabbing Khun, knowing about Bams past that Bam doesnt know so he can never know for sure if shes lying or not so he has to listen

- and of course, ‘killing’ Bam at the end of S1

Khuns wins

- dallar show by humiliating her w the coin toss

- Bam actually ending his relationship w Rachel after Khun is stabbed, specifically because it was Khun Rachel hurt Rachel has hurt Bam himself NUMEROUS times, killed Khun’s teammates, endangered Team Bam many many times etc, but its her targeting Khun that finally ends their relationship. This is what lets Bam focus on himself and finally truly stop chasing after her voluntarily which is a HUGE win for Khun. Khun gets to keep Bam, Rachel ends up in her words: choosing White who loses to Bam several times. In other words, to her, she got the short end of the stick with Bam while Khun got someone who is likely to become the strongest person in the tower.

- sending Wangnan and Ehwa in the White Mirror on the Hell train

- Hwaryun actually leads Khun to the right places lmfaooooo, this is insanely funny to me. I highly doubt Hwaryun actually led Rachel where Bam needed to go and instead just led Rachel down a path that would keep Hwaryun alive long enough to reach Bam herself. Khun doesn’t even like Hwaryun but there is mutual trust there that keeps them in the same level.

- Poe Bideu Gustang trusts Khun, he fucks around w Khun’s lighthouse knowing Khun would never leave Bam and saves Khun while giving Rachel a fake bracelet that nearly got her killed

Am…I missing some wins or is Khun actually not beating Rachel as often as he sounds like he is?

Cuz the wins Rachel has are actually really strong ones and it has started to feel like Khun is underestimating her. That being said I dont think anyone can estimate her connections cuz she is shockingly good at getting people to help her. Even if she ends up being a pawn in the end, her goals are usually met, Gustang being the outlier. Hwaryun picking Bam over Rachel still did not stop Rachel from finding other helpers in FUG, and she only got these connections thanks to her earlier arrangement w Hwaryun

Khun is incredible at planning and his skills w the Lighthouse are incredible, hes great at negotiating and working under pressure but I think when it comes to Rachel he’s bested thanks to her ability to make connections

All the connections team Bam have are thanks to Bam or Wangnan, Khun even makes a point in the webtoon that Wangnan has the ability to make anyone want to follow him and thats what makes him a crucial teammate. Khun is aware he doesnt have that and understands the value of it

That isn’t to say that Khun isn’t good at making connections either, but he makes them having the other party owe him something, Rachel does this too like with White, but…

Rachel spent years nurturing Bam to be dependent on her, somehow became good friends w an Idol and member of the ten families, Yura Ha, is well connected in FUG enough for them to help her constantly, and is somehow friends w Bellerie who is literally starting a war w the ten families

Like this girls connections r bat shit insane and unpredictable and I think its this skill of hers that puts Khun at such a huge disadvantage

Khun knows how to get people to act under pressure but not so much at gaining allies himself, every ally he has is thanks to Bam or another character. The few who arent(Shibisu, Rak, Hatz, Endorsi, Anaak) i would argue started from Bam and expanded to Khun

Khun has the Lo Po Bia Princesses but thats through favors, he does have one Family Leader fairly supportive of him w Gustang which is also insane but Gustang can change his mind if he feels like it. He doesn’t cuz he knows that Bam would never support him if he doesnt help Khun, that being said Gustang actually does respect Khun(and Endorsi) for beating Bellerie and getting to the last stage in the chess game. Yuri Ha Jahad would help Khun anytime thanks to his closeness to Bam but note that Khun doesn’t trust Yuri(I think theres no reason why he shouldn’t cuz Yuri gains NOTHING from supporting Bam and genuinely wants whats good for Bam so in theory the two could actually get along well since neither wants Bam to be used).

But Khun does get allies thanks to his intellect, people help him cuz they respect him. Rachel…I wonder why some characters help her, Yura Ha especially since Rachel treats her like shit.

By the way, I don’t mean that Khun doesn’t have massive wins in general, he absolutely does, i just mean with respect to Rachel. If there are more wins I forgot feel free to add onto this.

[logical-emotion]

my super cool yttd opinions (tiers aren't in order)

reasoning below the cut!!! Not doing reasons for everyone, just the top two tiers and anyone else i want to mention. If you'd like to know just ask in a comment!! Also spoilers

nao and joe tier/s tier

-Joe Tazuna

genuinely my favorite fictional character of all time he's my number one comfort character and he means a lot to me and he's a silly guy if he is evil it will personally come and edit the very code of the game. PRAYER is my favorite song of all time and the emotion Joe ai scene is my favorite scene ever of anything ever

-Nao Egokoro

I love her so much I relate to her a lot and her character growth is so good and massacre ending and her father daughter relationship with Mishima and the two ships with her i love (naosara and naoreko) is a bonus

GRAHHHH (affectionate)/A tier

-Sara Chidouin

Shes such an amazing protagonist and compelling character i cannot wait to see what happens with her in 3-2 I love her

-Alice Yabusame

I love him so much too his backstory is so interesting and his relationship with reko and I love his design and also transgender!!!! He's so cool and funny I love him

-Keiji Shinogi

The most interesting character for me???? His backstory KILLS ME and I love yttd's criticism of the police system and he is so cool and 3-1b did i mention 3-1b also he is objectively fine as hell

-Gin Ibushi

THE GUY!!! THE LITTLE GUY!!!! he's so cute and I love him but I also love how he has character beyond "cute kid" like him volunteering himself for the banquet. If he's evil I'm genuinely going to be so upset

-Kazumi Mishima

is this because of multiple inside jokes? yes. Is it also because he's absolutely amazing? yes. as a nao fan I am not allowed to put him any lower its the law

-Mai Tsurugi

Here she is my favorite dummy she's SO. I always try and have her as my surviving dummy because I think it so perfectly ends her arc please come back i miss you bad

-Megumi Sasahara

I HAVE REASON TO PUT HER HERE OKAY OKAY HEAR ME OUT. I already said that I love how yttd criticizes the police system as a whole but I love how megumi is. She's so morally grey and is such a huge part of keiji's backstory and she's really the only character besides midori and meister that we haven't had reason to sympathize with and that's so interesting considering the other guys are like. The main villains. anyway she's cool play jackleg participants I have an au where she lives she's pretty

-Ranmaru Kageyama

Im linking the video essay on him i watched it's so good but he's so interesting. I love him in both routes and his relationship with Sara. Unlike other people I font think he was executed poorly, though I do think it should have been either impossible to get him killed early in that route or after he kills yabusame, since if you do fail the minigame it is a bit anticlimactic. Nankidai please save the talent for the rest of us. Overall I love him and his hair. sand.

video essay -> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=70F6LZVPWv0

-Reko Yabusame

Once again as a nao fan I cannot put her lower but she's so cool!!!!! I love her design especially when she's in her Samurai yaiba outfit, and her relationship with Alice and backstory are so great. I love how they are characters without each other and their relationship is vital (like mishima and nao) and it's so cool also I'm a lesbian

-Q-Taro Burgerberg

hes so cool man. his development is so good man. I wish I could draw him man. I love him. He's so well written oh my god what the heck

Other mentions

-Shin Tsukimi

I used to be the biggest shin hater but I've since realized he's such a fire character. He's only here because of the fact that I still can't decide if I hate him or I love him

[lmaopuli]

Never Leaving

*credits to gif owner

Christian Pulisic Angst

Warnings: argument, angry Christian, sad Christian, swearing

Word count: ~1k

———

“Are you… leaving?”

You jumped at Christian’s question, not expecting him to come into your shared bedroom already. You didn’t want to look up at him yet, for him to see the tears still lingering in your eyes. You kept your gaze on the laundry you were folding, realizing it looked like you were gathering clothes to pack up and leave. You sighed, hoping and praying your voice wouldn’t give away your broken heart, “No, I’m just folding up our clothes.” You were hurt, really hurt, but you would never leave.

Christian lingered around the doorway, too nervous to come close to you yet. He had no idea what you were feeling, about the fight, about him. You still haven’t looked up at him, but if you did, you’d see the tears still lingering in his eyes, just like with you. He brought his hand up to face, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose at the memory of how he spoke to you just moments ago.

——

“I’m fucking sick of you saying the same shit over and over again every time we come home!” Christian snapped.

“What the hell am I supposed to say as your girlfriend, huh? Am I not supposed to support you?” You spat back, tired of the way he’s spoken to you, not just today but the past few weeks. “You want me to say you guys played like shit today? That you won’t be getting better? Is that what you want?”

“You keep suffocating me!” He responded. He’d regret his words later, but now, he was seeing red. “Just leave me the fuck alone!”

“Fine” you mumbled, shocked that he’d go that low. Tears were welling up in your eyes, but you turned around before Christian could see. You couldn’t deal with this anymore. “I’ll leave you alone.”

——

“I thought you wanted space. What are you doing here?” you sniffled, annoyed with yourself that couldn’t keep your emotions in check anymore.

You looked up at Christian, and his heart squeezed uncomfortably at your blotchy eyes and red nose. He did this to you. He upset his perfect, angel of a girlfriend, and he didn’t know if he could forgive himself for it.

“God, baby—fuck, I'm sorry—I don’t want space from you. I didn’t mean that,” he stumbled, but you didn’t let him finish.

“Then why did you say it? It was so much worse at Chelsea, and you never spoke to me like that then.”

You were right. Some weeks were absolute hell at his old club, but one of the things you admired most about him was that he could separate it from your relationship. You were his safe space when things got tough. He couldn’t care less about what fans were saying on social media, as long as he could come home to you. You couldn’t figure out why a few tough games at Milan, when overall he was doing great, could get to him like this.

Christian sighed, trying to figure out a way to convey how he was feeling. You could sense the turmoil in his eyes, and motioned for him to sit next to you on the bed. A few moments ago, the last thing you wanted was to speak to him—but now, you needed to know what was clearly bothering your boyfriend.

“Chris, talk to me, please.” You pleaded after he sat down, placing your hand on his knee.

“This move to Milan’s been harder than I thought it was going to be.”

Your heart dropped at his confession. The fans have been amazing to him, so have his teammates and coaching staff. What? Your brows knitted in confusion.

“I just feel like there’s been a lot of pressure from everyone with how my time at Chelsea ended,” he continued, “I wanna prove that I can do really well here, and not just for a season.”

“Baby you’re doing amazing so far—”

“But the team isn’t right now. And I’m scared they’re gonna start making me the scapegoat again.” The tears previously welled up in Christian’s eyes were now flowing down his face.

Oh.

It took you a few seconds to register what he said, and you felt sick at how long he’s been keeping this from you.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” You asked, trying to brush the tears from his face.

“Because this is a huge adjustment for you too. You’re in a new country, learning a new language, trying to get along with the other girlfriends and wives and—”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me about this. We’re a team, okay? You take care of me all the time, listen to my problems, give me advice,” you gently grabbed his face, making his red, teary eyes meet yours, “I wanna do that for you too.”

Christian didn’t know what to say. He tried to calm his ragged breathing, but you pulled him into your embrace, comforting him yourself, rubbing his back and leaving kisses on his hair—like he’s done with you countless times before. You had no idea how long you both were sat there, it could’ve been anywhere from a few minutes to an hour.

Christian mumbled something into your neck, but you couldn’t understand him with the way he was pressed into your body.

“What was that, baby?” you asked, imploring him to repeat what he said. He reluctantly lifted his head from your neck. His eyes were still a little red and cheeks had some remnants of tears, but he was looking a lot better.

“I said I’m terrified to lose you,” he said softly, voice cracking slightly.

You felt a pit in your stomach, tears pricking your eyes for the third time that night. Pecking the corner of his mouth, you whispered back, “You’re never gonna lose me,” and then you pressed your lips against his, showing him you weren’t going anywhere, that you would never leave.

———

Christian is my first footballer love, and this fic was so out of my comfort zone, but I hope you Puli girls enjoyed it 🫶🏼 as always, feedback, reblogs, and likes are so so appreciated :) MUAH

[okidenshi]

Some thoughts on Infinity Nikki's 1.5 update

Things I enjoy:

-Love being able to customize our ability outfits!! This was the biggest highlight for me so far!

-Enjoying the Serenity Island updates, though the collision bugs are a bit annoying when they occur. But getting back to collecting chests, dews, and whim items and just exploring a new map has been very fun! Quest so far has also been fun and engaging.

-I like we get an extra color variant for glow-uped items. and you don't even need to glow up the whole outfitto get peices you want!

-The Seer is beautiful and I love gay people

-Artists and animators for this game i love you god those new 5 star outfits are just stunning and i cant imagine having to weight paint those damn outfits they are SO detailed my god. i love you and i hope you get everything you want out of life.

Things I don't enjoy:

-The dying feature. I don't really understand the way it's set up, and I like even less that you can't just unlock a collor pallet/the color wheel across the board- it's PER ITEM! which is insane to me! I also am still unsure about how to collect the material needed to unlock pallet colors. I almost wish that the dying system worked more like, hey, you start out with these base colors/pallets, and as you play the game, maybe there are quests or ways to unlock more colors- kind of like how pet grooming/insect collection/etc gives you insight, and as your insight goes up, you unlock new things.... like i liked the IDEA of dying outfits, i really do, but god it just feels so convoluted the way they set it up....

-Sea of Stars.......... what a massively disappointing and confusing area. So weirdly empty while also feeling overwhelming. Bugs galore, I question if it was properly play tested at all. Quest markers are also bugged as hell, I don't understand how mutliplayer/co-op works at all yet, I don't get why most of the 'activities' there exist or what the purpose of them are.

-Also -1000000 points for not being able to explore the ruins in the background int he Sea of Stars. It's so beautiful LET ME GO UP THERE AND EXPLORE INFOLD!!!

-The Retconning of the original opening is such a baffling move to make. I don't understand why they made such a massive change to something that just did not need it. I like the Seer, I loved the cinematic we got with her and Nikki, however why they thought that should just completely replace the original story opening for the game.... I get that it's connected to Multiplayer and you want that to be available to your players from the get go, but there had to be a different way to open that up to players without altering the entire lore of the story thus far. It's incredibly frustrating to your current players, and honestly I think will make for a confusing introduction for NEW players; old tutorials will talk about old lore that is no longer applicable, and the word-of-mouth about how just after 6 months post-launch, lore is already being changed... like how can new players trust the experience they're getting if stuff gets changed like this out of the blue, esp unprompted for????

-The obvious increase in what you have to spend to get pitty from banners. While I think IN is a bit kind of a gacha game compared to others ive played int he past, its just not a good look to increase the pity so soon in the games life. Personally I like the idea of having more separate clothing pieces, but I don't understand why the pitty has to be increased to do that.... if you wanna add extra items to a clothing set, make it a deep echo's reward after pulling so many times. It's just a sketchy thing overall.

-I fully understand this game's gotta make money cause the people who work on it deserve to get paid for their work, and I personally want to support games I like. But man this update felt so egregious on so many levels. I really hope Infold chills the hell out with updates and paces themselves moving forward. I still really love this game and want to see it grow and flourish.

Anywho. I just could not believe how much the ball was fumbled outside of a small, small handful of new features from my experience and needed to get this shit outta my brain lol

[foggyfanfic]

Did you guys hear Disneyland Cast Members voted to strike?

It was nearly unanimous too, 99% of the unionized cast members voted in favor of the strike. This doesn't necessarily mean they will strike, more that when the union rep shows up to the negotiation table on Monday they'll have that extra bit of leverage. Hopefully that'll be enough to win them living wages and such. I don't have anything intelligent to say, I just feel a kind of way about this subject, I'm going to put my opinions under the cut.

Ok, look, I love Disneyland. Love it with a passion. You know what reminded me this was happening and prompted me to look up the story? I was thinking of updating this card I made for one of the many games I've come up with to play in Disneyland because I have a weird variety of hyper-fixation when it comes to that park specifically.

So I am not speaking an ounce of hyperbole when I say Disneyland is my favorite place in the world.

But! Whoever the hell is making the big decisions around there needs to get their head out of their ass. I don't know if I should be blaming Bob Iger or Josh D'Amaro for the way the parks have been since the pandemic, but I'm going to blame both. I can deal with them experimenting with Genie Plus (I hate it but I'm used to capitalism), and I can sort of deal with the prices (I can't afford them easily but I'm saving up), but Disneyland has very clearly been trying to cut labor costs for a while now and it's incredibly baffling to watch. It feels like the parks are being run by somebody with a business degree from a sketchy "college" and zero experience with the real world.

They're cutting back on shows, overworking their existing staff, and skipping regular maintenance so they can operate the park with a smaller maintenance team. Overall it results in a worse experience for the customer, making it less likely that they'll convert new guests into returning fans like myself. While Disney World is a major tourist attraction that most people consider a once in a life time experience, Disneyland has always had a steady revenue from local Californians that return again and again. If you frequent forums about the parks you hear all about folks who live in SoCal that buy their annual pass (I know that's not what it's currently called, but that's what it is) and use it to get into the parks just to have dinner or rove around and maybe grab a churro. They might not be paying for Iger's next yacht, but those folks are providing a reliable revenue stream, and they go back again and again because for decades Disneyland has maintained a "magical" atmosphere.

And I feel like it's fairly obvious that the front line workers are the ones that make Disneyland what it is. Right? Like I'm not crazy, we all agree Disneyland would be nothing without the hard work of these cast members, right?

Why are they-? You need front line workers, why wouldn't you-? Do they not have years of research and experience backing up how beneficial a well paid staff is? I love the Incredicoaster but if all I wanted was thrill rides, Six Flags is an hour closer and a whole lot cheaper. I'm going for the complicated rides that require their own pit crew like Mickey's Runaway Railroad. Why are we even still having this conversation? I get that people like Bob Iger are a bit insulated from the rest of us, but the relationship between a happy staff and profit is well documented. Why wouldn't they just...? In the Disneyland subreddit a retired cast member post the Benefits Binder he got back when he worked for Disneyland and this thing was thick, it included health, retirement, and stock options. Somebody somewhere must have known that whittling down benefits while stagnating pay was not sustainable. Right?!

Like I said, I don't have anything intelligent to add to this conversation, but to be honest, I think everything intelligent to add has already been added. I'm just annoyed for my own sake and downright pissed for the sake of the cast members. I hope they get everything they ask for on Monday, and if they don't, I hope the strike knocks some sense into everybody it needs to.