#so what choice do i have other than to be perfect!

[mayullla]

Title: His Dream Wife

Character(s): Richard (Original character / Original work)

Synopsis: He always wanted a perfect family, but life never gave him what he wanted. Instead, he was blackmailed into marrying a gold digger. But after seeing you for the first time the wife of his friend all he could think of was you. So don't mind him when he was given the option to swap his wife's consciousness with yours he took that chance immediately.

Warnings/tags: Yandere Dilf x meek reader, yandere pov, general yandere themes, body swap between reader and Yandere's wife, cheating (not done by reader), arranged, baby trapping, Yandere wants that traditional wife and lifestyle. Word count: 4.2k (Please tell me if I miss anything!)

Note: I just finished reading the webtoon "Marry My Husband," so you can probably see many small ideas taken from it in this story!

Ever since he was young, Richard had fantasies and dreams of a perfect family. He always loved the idea of someone relying on him just as much as he would on them, and someone who would love him exclusively and trust him completely. Maybe that was why he liked wolves, having been told back then that those animals would mate for life. He liked that. He wanted that. Friends were nice there is nothing wrong with that. But there is something about a family that he wanted. Maybe it was because he was jealous back then of how affectionate his grandparents were between each other, while his parents were far from that.

That was what he wanted and well maybe he started to want a little more the older he got. He wanted what his grandparents had, he wanted what the movies had… he wanted what his fantasies had. He loved the idea of a family, coming back from work to an affectionate housewife with her tummy big inside a second or third child while holding the first. The idea of kisses between each other, while his lover irrupts in giggles, playfully pushing him back telling him that he should not let the food turn cold or let the kids see them.

Someone he could spoil and give everything to while she relied on him and his money. He would work hard every day just for her and the kids, to give them the home they deserve. She would give back by cooking and cleaning the house, anybody knows that those things are hard work and everything takes time. But she would do it for the both of them, for him. 

Yet he wasn't able to attain that dream. He wasn't allowed to have it. He attracted the attention of a viel woman, who had used any and every blackmail to tie him down to her. He was a manager at a big company already quickly climbing up but also came from a rich family, he unwantedly got the attention of a woman who was greedy for money and something handsome. 

And her own manager was ripe for the picking.

She did many things but somehow he was able to avoid many of them however that could only go on for so long. She was cunning, too smart for her own good. He didn't know how she did it, it made him furious at what she did waking up in a hotel with her right beside him. He had no memories of the night yet she did when she told everyone that she had his baby a month later.

Everyone was frantic, his parents especially who cared so much about their appearance and reputation than anything else. While he hated them for the lack of love or care only forcing him to their whims to get a word above their acquaintances and rivals. The idea of him their own son mudding their name with the fact that he got someone pregnant without marriage made them furious. They wanted him to marry her immediately and he had no choice not when they held his job, reputation, and life above him not when that woman too did the same with her connections and people behind the scenes. It was idiotic that he fell into her hands like this, no matter what he did she did not let go and sank her claws deep into his skin.

Richard wanted to know if this child was his, but there was no time when everybody demanded his and that woman didn't give him a chance to check. Only to cry after the marriage that the child from miscarriage due to stress from his selfishness. Many blamed him even though he knew that she was lying this whole time but no matter what he said her crocodile tears worked far better than any explanation.

He was furious, angered by everything that happened but he wasn't allowed to do anything he wasn't allowed to break up with her. His life, everything that he worked for had turned to nothing by this woman. She could care less about love or something genuine and only cared about his money, demanding that he give her money to go shopping to buy expensive brand items and clothing while also going to parties and bars with her friends coming back home late leaving only a mess with how drunk she was.

Some days she would not come home at all and he assumed that she was with another man, as he didn't give in to her sexual demands even if they were husband and wife. At this point, the idea of touching her body even her hand disgusted him.

He thought he lost everything, he felt hopeless when he could not break up with that woman who made sure that he could not have a divorce without destroying his reputation and paying her a huge amount of cash. She was insane.

Rather than be with her he would rather drown in his work in his office. The house smelled like her strong perfume that could only make his head hurt the moment he took one whiff of it even though that woman wasn't even in the house having already left to head to the next new bar that opened up in the city.

That was his life, he genuinely thought that this was his ending, a story that didn't end so well, yet unable to change anything with knives around his neck daring him to move. But in the end, nothing is concrete, sometimes all it takes is helping an old lady who just so happens to be a fortune teller. 

Typing away at his computer late at night in his office as he looked at the time, his thoughts could not help but let his thoughts drift for a moment. Richard closed his eyes slightly burning from looking at the laptop for too long. Leaning his chair, he pulled his tie down a little as he thought about this afternoon when he helped out a poor fortune teller the old woman after picking some stuff up at the market, who looked to be in her 80s stuck outside homeless and struggling to open her shop. As she had dropped something that had rolled towards him he picked it up and gave it to the old lady. He didn't know what moved him to help her. But as a present, he had gotten a small viel.

"Thank you for your help. You are quite the hard worker." The old woman said, sitting on the chair when everything was finally set up. She looked at him with a sly smile on her face. The old woman he later realized had a way of speaking, that wasn't normal. Weird yet at the same time sharp... too sharp. “Too bad you are stuck with such a mean spirit woman. How you handle such a woman for so long now… I am impressed.” Sharp as in she knew too much than he would have liked for a stranger to know.

"Buahahaha, don't worry boy this would be the last you would ever hear from me after this." The old woman laughed at his stiff glare. He didn't know how she did it but she seemed to know a lot about his relationship with his wife and the trouble that he was in yet at the same time she had a knack for poking at his sore spots. 

Before Richard could think about calling the police she suddenly pulled out a vial inside containing a blue liquid, "You help me with my little trouble so I want to give you a little something, that could help you with your own little trouble. Besides, I couldn't resist helping someone in need.” 

“A little swap potion, let your wife and your sweetheart drink it and they will swap at the start of the next day. The lil spell would wear off in a month but if there is nothing to return to… well then that means nothing could even happen. Dont yah think so boy? Haha!” He took the vial from the lady, thinking about throwing it when she was nowhere in sight. The creepy grin didn't match her so-called kind action, but she was not finished with talking.

“You better move fast my boy, that woman will make sure you will be dead before a year. It is very easy to hide evidence with a car crash.”

After that, it was difficult to throw the thin vial. Part of him could not drop the liquid into the bin, so he stored it on his office desk, locked but with a key, along with other important documents and such.

"Richard!! Why did you not show up at the dinner party?! Do you know how much embarrassment you have caused me?" his wife screamed. He couldn't help but groan in annoyance the moment he walked through the entrance. It was too early in the morning for such screaming, but she just continued on and on: "And why are you here now?!! It is the next day!? Explain yourself!"

"I don't need to explain myself to you at all." Walking past his wife who was glaring daggers at him. The more he learned about his wife the more he realized that she was similar to his parents, cared only about reputation, and was selfish putting themselves first before anything else. Hypocrites. "I had to finish up some work so I stayed at my office. I needed to finish all the file work before the meeting." Unlike a certain someone who would come home the next day afternoon after being in someone else's arms. 

Walking into his own home, he could not recognize it... everything was thrown about and trashed everywhere. Expensive decorations on the floor and shattered. Sofa and pillows ripped letting cotton spill from them. Walls wet and dirty with glass cups, and pots of plants shattered on the floor. Looking at everything he kept his anger internally holding everything in as he continued to walk towards his office and bedroom locked with a key.

This wasn't the first time this happened, he had found out that there was no use to teaching someone who saw no reason to change her ways. He just needs to call in some cleaners, replace the things that broke and that was it.

Heading to his home office to place his bag on the table he suddenly received a text on his phone. Pulling out the device to check who it was while the woman continued to scream at him.

"That doesn't explain why you didn't tell me you couldn't join the dinner!" It was because she wouldn't listen, no matter what. If he had told her, she would have either demanded that he come or screamed at him—first on the phone, then again when he got home. "Answer your phone when I call! Are you even listening to me?!"

He knew of the calls and messages. She had been calling non-stop and texting for an hour since he didn't come to her friends' dinner. He just didn't care to answer and left it on mute to let him focus on his work. Looking at the sender he couldn't help but sigh.

"Hey, I am talking to you!" Her shrill screaming was mind-numbing as he got his clothes unable to stand her voice and would rather change elsewhere. "RICHARD!!!"

He quickly left the house and got into his car, ignoring the high-heeled shoe that was thrown at him—missing as it landed. Starting the engine, he drove off, tuning out her shouts.

It was past midnight, and he was alone on the road. No one else was in sight. As he waited at a red light, he pulled out his phone to check a message. It was from a "friend" he had made at university, inviting him to dinner the next day. The guy had always been friendly—or at least tried to be. He had the personality of a know-it-all, and while he didn’t care for him much, it seemed the guy had once considered them friends. That was until money and popularity got to his head.

The guy knew a lot and had multiple connections and friends, he was the one who helped him find a cleaner will to keep silent about everything that happened in the house after the housemaid quit due to his wife assuming that he and the maid had done something sexual in the bedroom. The woman was crying as her hair had been pulled and her face slapped by his wife.

He also had seen the lust in that friend's eyes whenever he looked at her. Even after the guy was married for over a year he still looked at another wife with lust, it was disgusting to Richard that his friend would do such a thing but as the guy had helped him with a few of his troubles he didn't just cut him away.

The message was an invite for a double date. Having just left his house and his furious wife behind (not that he would ever take her anywhere unless absolutely forced), he tried to decline, saying that his wife was a bit "busy."

[Dude, dont worry about it and just come then.]

[Won't it be awkward for your wife?]

[It doesn't matter she would just say that it is fine either way.]

[Don't leave me here with her. You have already talked with her either way it is not a problem anymore. ]

From what he remembered it seemed that it was an arranged marriage between the two. Something that was decided by their parents for the benefit of their companies. The guy absolutely hated the fact that he was pushed into this marriage and had nothing good to say about his wife but that was a goody two shoes and boring. "She lacks the wildness that I am looking for." The guy said he was drinking in a bar one time having called him to express his frustrations after an official meeting with her. "She probably doesn't know anything except how to clean dishes.”

"I would not leave the house with a babe like yours. How do you keep everything in your pants?" The guy asked too drunk from all the alcohol to be careful with his words. "You might like my fiance a lot with your uptight attitude and lack of fun. Maybe we should switch wives later. Hey, wanna wife swap one time? It would be fun~~."

He had ignored the very obvious lust in the guy’s eyes, choosing not to address it and instead steer the conversation elsewhere. In the end, between hiccups, the guy told him he’d introduce him to his future wife and insisted that he should come to the wedding.

A few days later, with the invitation in hand, he attended the wedding. There, he saw the guy’s wife—and he was absolutely floored.

It was just a moment. A fleeting glimpse. He caught sight of her for only a second, walking toward his friend across the hall. Through the open door of the bride's room, he saw her, and he froze.

She was stunning.

He could not believe that a woman like you would become the wife of the guy. He wanted to take a step back to see you again, yet when his wife called him he was forced to start walking again not wanting to cause a scene due to her fickle pride. 

After all, he could see you again on the walkway when the wedding starts.

But he didn't want to leave either way.

Seated on the husband's side as the music stopped hinting to the guest that it was about to start soon. He watched as his friend walked the aisle, knowing but not commenting on the dirty slutish look his wife was giving to the guy looking at him up and down and waiting for you to show up.

You arrived soon after, dressed elegantly and sophisticated holding bouquets of flowers. He noticed how pretty you were, your walk and movements were elegant and soft, a far cry to his wife who walked to call the men's attention dressed a little too revealing for the formal occasion.

Would he have married a woman like you if this wench hadn’t come to destroy his life? Would he have married you if your parents and your friend’s family hadn’t forced the two of you into it? If this wasn’t some kind of mask, and this really was you, he wouldn’t have any complaints about being stuck with you. In fact, he would have demanded it—forced it, if he could. But that wasn’t how life turned out... You were not his.

The wedding soon came to an end and that was it. Legally you were tied to his friend while he was already stuck with his own problems. It wasn't fair. He just couldn't let it go as he stayed in his seat even after the end of the wedding speech as everybody started to leave to eat and dance. While his wife went to meet up with the groom he stayed where he was just thinking.

How surprised he was that he ended up meeting you so soon.

The guy had invited him to dinner a few times and he quickly understood that it was to have someone else in the group after the guy was forced by his parents to take you out a few times. But that didn't matter to him when he was finally able to talk to you, to chat with you.

When he reached the restaurant, the guy stood up after a small conversation, stating that he needed to run to the bathroom, take a call, or use some other excuse he had up his sleeve. He left the table for as long as possible only to come back near the end with maybe a lipstick on his shirt or something. And if Richard’s wife was there, the guy would start subtlety flirting with his wife, uncaring if he or his own wife was there, not that the woman herself cared.

He pitied you, as you kept on your smile even when your eyes swirled with an understanding of your place, yet at the same time, you were still so hurt. You were silent for the most part keeping to yourself.

You and he become rather close but not really, it was a kind of comradery of your situations or that was what he would like to think. Whenever you and him were left alone, rather than keep the awkward air around he would start to talk to you.

You were a little flustered at first but slowly you started to get used to talking with him. Chatting amicably as if enjoying the conversation between you and him. He also did enjoy conversing with you. No heavy topics, it wasn't business or anything to do with work but stuff like traveling, hobbies, and favorite food. The things that you would like to do if you only had the time or chance to do them. 

You weren't loud but you were delicate, gentle, and easy to fluster too. You were polite and careful with your words but also curious asking him many questions when he talks about his own stories. You would keep all your attention on him, even if he noticed you didn't seem maybe that interested in a topic or two.

There was one time he went to your apartment, an invitation from your husband who invited him and his wife. Your place was in a high-end apartment probably paid by the family, with decorations that were chic and modern but there was also a homely feeling to the place, cleaned and cared for with love, unlike his messed up house. The smell of the house was similar to that of a fragrant laundry detergent instead of strong perfume. Just for a moment, he realized that you were the one who did all this when he saw you coming out from the kitchen unwrapping the apron you were wearing.

Just for a moment you gave him an actual vision of a home, a vision of what he wanted so much and could have had yet was taken away from him. You gave him a vision of what it would be like to have a wife who cares so much. 

He could not help but crumble and fall.

He started to crave for you, the more he chatted with you the more he fell every night he fantasized about you in his arms. He wished... he craved for you so much that he thought he started having delusions that you were his. At night, he couldn’t close his eyes without seeing you clearly in the darkness.

But you just had to break everything, you just had to slam a hammer to his dreams and fantasies just like everyone else.

"I'm sorry," you said, a sorrowful smile on your lips. "I know my husband is using you to get out of our date. I apologize for taking up your time when you're so busy. Please, I’ll make sure this doesn't happen again. You don’t have to come every time he asks you to. I’m sure you’re busy too."

Why...? Why did you say that? He thought you knew that he already understood. He thought you knew that it didn’t bother him at all—especially when you both always had such enjoyable conversations. Why did you apologize? Why would you tell him to stop coming? Why were you pushing him away?

Your eyes looked at him in sorry and guilt and it clicked you were scared you were so scared that something wrong might happen. Because in the end, you were loyal, loyal to a man who didn't even love you.

It made him livid. 

Even if you thought you knew more than he did, he was the one who knew more. He knew well what your husband does on nights that he isn't home, where he goes, and what he does there. In Richard’s own house, he could hear the sounds of two people with familiar voices thinking they were alone. 

His wife and your husband.

You didn't know that, while you probably knew that he partied every day you seemed to have hope that he didn't have the audacity to lay in bed with another married woman much less the wife of his own friend. He didn't care who that guy lay with, but it made him irritated that a guy like him had you.

That appointment ended up awkward. Too awkward as both of you waited for your husband to arrive. The guy knew something was up the moment he arrived but seemed to choose not to say anything having enough tack not to right at that moment when he usually didn't.

Looking at the message again he sighed declining the invite again even when the guy tried to put up a fuss. It was just that he could not face you right now, not when you made it clear that all you felt towards him was guilt.

If only it was you... if only he had found you first if that woman didn't chain herself to him using blackmail and connections.

If he could just swap his wife with you he would have been happier... he would have the life he wished he had and he would spoil you with all his love and time. While you would wait oh so lovingly for him while cooking and cleaning while he worked to bring the money to keep you happy materially. He would be a better husband than your own and he already knew that you would be a far more better wife than his own.

But you just had to draw that line. That line of law and morality.

Watching the road as he drove, he could not help but let annoyance fester him at this whole situation till he saw a poster pass by him. Purple with a familiar design that he saw just this morning. Something to do with a certain fortune teller who knew a little too much and who gave him a small vial.

Truthfully he didn't believe in such things, but part of him had become so desperate that he just could not think straight. He was desperate and he knew that the old woman knew that and was laughing at him for it.

"Here yah go. This is a little something that would have cost a shit ton but I am gonna give it to you for free." The old woman cackled, she was having way too much fun knowing his situation. "If you plan to add this to a drink don't worry about the colour at all."

He didn't believe in such things. But there was a whisper in his mind a little spell in his brain that told him that this would work. That there was something different about that mad woman who probably lived only in entertainment.

His hand moved before he could even think about it, accepting the dinner invitation as he finally reached his office. It was supposed to be closed, but a few employees were pulling an all-nighter, so the building wasn't locked. In his mind, all he could think about was the life he once dreamed of—the life that had been taken away from him. All he wanted was a life with you, and that thing—that vial—would be the answer to all his problems.

[tossawary]

Recent "Star Trek" reboot universes have really tried to sell me on three different romances for Spock with other TOS characters whom he did not have romantic relationships (at least not positive ones) with in TOS, which makes it particularly annoying when some fans try to squirm away from the idea of ST ever doing a future reboot or remake in which Spock/Kirk are explicitly queer.

Like, "But it's not in the original! They want to be faithful to the original!" really, REALLY does not pass the "I think you might just be discomforted by queerness and you should work on that, rather than making appeals to the authority of textual accuracy to avoid being called a homophobe or transphobe" check here. Because it's not as though these reboots care about perfect faithfulness on pretty much any other front. We'll accept that the costumes and special effects get updated to move with the times, we'll accept wildly different characterization choices that essentially give these characters new personalities, we'll accept new timelines that change the entire political map of the galaxy, but you as a fan draw the line at "What if this character was bisexual this time?" Really???

To be clear, I am not trying to dunk on Spock/Uhura, Spock/Chapel, or Spock/T'Pring here, I am merely trying to illustrate a frustrating double-standard. TOS Uhura does notably flirt with Spock several times! I see it! I remember TOS Chapel's feelings for Spock being one-sided, but I also don't think it's a bad thing to try to update TOS's more misogynistic writing choices regarding female characters. TOS T'Pring did... kind of try to kill Spock because she didn't want to marry him, but again, I don't necessarily think it's immediately a bad thing to try to explore her as a character and her betrothal to Spock. It's fine! It's fine by me to explore new takes in new AUs.

It's just that none of that evidence from TOS for those relationships holds much of a candle to whatever the fuck Kirk and Spock had going on to inspire The Premise. "Amok Time" is an Experience. There's only so many times that Kirk can say something like, "The cost [of abandoning Spock] would have been my soul," before you want to put your face in your hands. They are taking shiny pebbles from TOS and trying their very best to sell them to me as the basis for romantic relationships in reboots, sure, while they are standing in the shadow of Spirk Evidence Mountain (TOS).

(Yes, I have seen the recent "Unification" short film. Yes, I enjoyed it. No, I will not consider Spirk "officially canon" until all plausible deniability for the squirmy folks has been completely, explicitly destroyed by a HUMAN kiss onscreen.)

And okay, I must admit, at the moment, I don't actually want Spirk to eventually happen in "Strange New Worlds" now that they've finally met. I'm mostly indifferent to their Spock and Kirk actors, personally, and the writing for every canonical romantic relationship in both SNW and "Discovery" so far has gotten a solid "well, they certainly are standing next to each other" from me. (Yes, even the gay marriage in "Discovery". I just haven't been into it so far.) I think the writers would fumble Spirk if they tried it in this specific show and then annoying fans would use the fumble as "evidence" never to try to do Spirk or queer retakes on other TOS characters ever again, or as "proof" against other queer ST in other shows characters generally.

I'm mostly just mildly annoyed that I have to keep watching Spock specifically, famously read by many people as a queer man, be straight and messy about it, especially when there has not really been a significant queer relationship onscreen in SNW yet, unless you count M'Benga's daughter Rukiya and her glow cloud friend named Debra, which I personally don't, honestly. I'd like an onscreen relationship with a main character with zero plausible deniability. There's definitely nothing yet that comes remotely close to the screentime that Spock/Chapel, Spock/T'Pring, and Kirk/La'an have all been given so far, unfortunately. (Sulu is not here yet. Scotty has just shown up. If Scotty gets to make out with a guy next season, or Uhura or Ortegas gets to make out with a lady, without it being part of some god-like-being's fantasy world, then I may be satisfied.) (Also, yes, I am aware of queer characters and relationships in other "Star Trek" shows, thanks. I very much enjoyed Mariner having her incredibly silly breakup with her girlfriend in "Lower Decks".)

"Star Trek" is one of those properties where some people's double-standards regarding romantic interpretations of the original series really jump out. "They can't do Kirk/Spock because they want to be faithful to the original!" Get real.

[meelusinee]

I LOVE IT WHEN YOU STAY ✧ | E.B X READER

in which relationships, while they should not be the only thing that makes you happy, they certainly help a lot.

pairing: boyfriend!lorenzo berkshire x reader

tags: TINY DRABBLE, fluffity fluff fluff

word count: 405

warnings: none here!

author’s note: i have FINALLY reached lorenzo berkshire, the man myth and legend himself. i know thag he most definitely has potential for dark evil and mischievous works, but he looks like a golden retriever personified so that’s what im going with! this drabble is kinda barely inspired by the chorus of stay by the hails (such an underrated band)

I LOVE IT WHEN YOU STAY | E.B X READER

You felt the happiest you ever had in a long while.

Enzo and you had gotten together after a long while of back and forth, the both of you too oblivious to realize each other's feelings.

Which, came with its perks.

"What on Earth are you wearing?" you asked him incredulously, chuckling softly at the sight of his shirt. It was a plain white shirt with simple text splayed across his chest, the text reading my girlfriend is hotter than you.

“It’s a shirt!” he giggled softly, looking down at it before up at you. “Do you not like it?”

“It’s definitely a fashion choice.” you said, shaking your head. “You’re not seriously wearing that out to Hogsmeade, are you?”

“Uh,” he said, looking at you with an expression that said duh. “What else would I be wearing?”

“Clothes!” you said, chuckling softly as you looked at the shirt. He really was planning on wearing that shirt out on your date.

“This is clothes!” he said back, chuckling even louder than you were. His hands moved to his backpack, pulling out a cropped shirt with matching text. “And I got you a matching one too!”

“Enzo!” you giggled, smiling softly.

“Come on pretty girl, put it on.” he said, happily placing it in your hands. He looked too happy for you to say no.

“I’ll have to change my entire outfit because of this.” you muttered, opening his closet and finding objects for you to incorporate in the outfit.

“My closet?” he chuckled.

“I’m stealing your pants.” you hummed non-committedly at him. You paired the white crop top with black pants and a grey thong-like underwear. “This doesn’t look that bad.”

“You look,” he whispered, his hands grabbing your waist. His fingers ran under the the straps of your underwear, snapping it against your skin. “Perfect.”

“Perfect?” he whispered, smiling as he twirled the bow around his hand. “You’re cheesy.”

“As always, my love.” he smiled brightly, kissing your lips gently yet passionately at the same time. “I love you, love you so much.”

“I love you too.” you whispered.

Lorenzo smiled before standing up, his hand wrapping around your waist as he guided you out to the Slytherin Dormitory exit. “Let’s head out to Hogsmeade now, yeah?”

AUTHORS NOTE

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL UR SUPPORT OF LIKE EVERYTHING ON HERE??? this one is definitely shorter but it was a really cute idea and i quite honestly didn’t feel like making a big thing for it. HENCE THE DRABBLE FROM MY PHONE :D i did get my pc charger back but i’ll possibly be working on schoolwork tonight, so lovesick!mattheo will be either today or tomorrow!

AS ALWAYS, please like, reblog and comment! loaf yawl, and have a wonderful thanksgiving dinner if you celebrate that stuff <3

[anonymousewrites]

A Not-So-Disastrous Romance (Book 2) Chapter Twenty-Two

Saiki Kusuo x Reader

Chapter Twenty-Two: Festival Play

Summary: The show must go on no matter what.

            With two days until the culture festival, casting was quick to finish, and rehearsals began. Saiki was pleased to discover (Y/N) was right—Teruhashi couldn’t choose him as Urashima because he avoided the casting meeting—and he got a background role instead of anything in the spotlight. He was happily playing Seaweed No. 4 and stood in his green bodysuit. (Y/N) was one of the other deities in the castle, which meant they also didn’t have to do much.

            “Teruhashi is coming!” announced a boy. The costumes had been finished, so everyone was trying them on.

            “How do I look?” Teruhashi stepped into the room, glowing more than ever. Her hair was intricately pinned up, and her elegant kimono fell beautifully around her.

            “Oh, wow!” was the (almost) unanimous reply. “Teruhashi, you look amazing!”

            “Wow, thank you,” said Teruhashi, smiling. That was a perfect entrance.

            “As usual, Kokomi leaves an impression,” said (Y/N), smiling as they walked up to Saiki. They also wore a kimono, far less ornate but still a pretty pale blue.

            Oh, wow. Saiki thought (Y/N) looked amazing—as usual.

            “I wonder who the other characters are?” wondered (Y/N).

            “We’ve got a great Urashima,” said Kaidou.

            “It should’ve been me,” grumbled Nendou. He wore a giant suit that made him look like a piece of coral.

            “You couldn’t memorize any of your lines,” said Kaidou. “So you’re coral.”

            “It’s a perfect fit,” said Saiki.

            “At first, I thought Nendou as Urashima might be original and interesting,” said Kaidou, his “director” (self-appointed title) speak coming out. “But he couldn’t remember a single line. And then I thought about (Y/N) as Urashima since they and Teruhashi are friends, but we decided that two pretty people wouldn’t work. We needed someone who looked humble enough to be a simple fisherman. Sadly, for a while, we were stuck with Nendou.”

            “We had to rehearse some scenes a million times,” said a new voice.

            “Where is that coming from?”

            “Down here!”

            (Y/N) and Saiki looked down and found a turtle staring up at them with Hairo’s face.

            “What the hell?”

            “Are you method acting?”

            “Hairo is amazing,” said Kaidou. “Coming to school, during gym, he does everything as a turtle.”

            “What an idiot.”

            Hairo began crawling around speedily. “I can move this quickly now!”

            “Turtles don’t move quickly.”

            “I’m still impressed,” said (Y/N).

            “So who is Urashima?” said Saiki curiously.

            “He’s here. You look good in that,” said Kaidou as someone new entered in costume.

            “Reall? I can’t tell.” Kuboyasu entered, not wearing his glasses but looking adorable as the humble fisherman.

            “Oh, it’s Kuboyasu.” Saiki thought that was actually a good choice.

            “Putting on the costume makes me nervous,” said Kuboyasu. “Can I really do this?”

            “You look good,” said (Y/N), smiling.

            Never mind, Saiki thought this was a terrible choice in casting if (Y/N) was going to be complimenting him.

            “You’re the supporting role. You can do it,” said Kaidou.

            “Supporting role?” said Saiki. “Isn’t Urashima the lead?”

            “Make way!” shouted a familiar voice.

            “Damn. He’s here,” groaned Kaidou.

            “You’re in the way, peasant! Here comes the leading role.” Saiko walked into the room in a fur coat.

            “He’s the ‘Other Urashima,’ ” said (Y/N).

            Saiki deadpanned. “What?”

            (Y/N) sighed. “I argued against him, but he bought everyone off, paid for set and costumes, and was generally his usual self.”

            “But what does it mean that’s he’s the ‘Other Urashima?’ ” said Saiki.

            (Y/N) tutted playfully. “You should have read the script, Kusuo.”

            “It’s time for final rehearsal,” said Kuboyasu. “So you’ll see.”

            “It’s not going to be good, is it?” said Saiki.

            (Y/N) laughed. “What else could you expect from us? We’ll have fun, at least.”

            “You will, maybe.”

l

            “Is everyone ready?” said Kaidou, excited for the final rehearsal of the play. “Action! Year 2, Class 3, The Other Urashima Taro.”

            The narration began as the curtain was pulled back. Unsurprisingly, the narrator was Akechi. “Once upon a time, there was a young fisherman named Urashima Taro. One day, Urashima set out to sea as always but saw some people by the shore. He saw some children bullying a turtle.”

            Kuboyasu stood onstage watching with faux shock as Takahashi and Mera bullied Hairo the turtle.

            “Scum—I mean, how awful!” said Kuboyasu, stepping forward.

            “Urashima Taro stepped in to save it,” narrated Akechi. “But then, a demon whispered in his ear.”

            “Don’t do it,” whispered Saiko, appearing behind Kuboyasu.

            “It’s The Other Urashima Taro,” said Akechi.

            “Saving it won’t make you money,” said Saiko.

            “What is this character?” said Saiki, deadpanning. (Y/N) just shrugged. They hadn’t made the script.

            “Actually, Urashima has an alternate personality,” said Akechi.

            “I feel like this has been done before,” said Saiki.

            “Only the strongest will survive in this world,” said Saiko to Kuboyasu.

            “They made this a horror story,” said Saiki.

            “But that turtle is intriguing. Hold it, turtle plebe,” said Saiko.

            “I think he’s improving some of that,” said (Y/N).

            “I can help you, turtle,” said Saiko to Hairo. “In exchange, show me the underwater paradise, Palace of the Dragon.”

            “How did you know about that?” said Takahashi.

            “Disappear, plebe.” Saiko waved a hand, and Takahashi was literally thrown back.

            “I don’t think we’re supposed to have stunts,” said (Y/N), tilting their head.

            “What was that?!” cried Takahashi.

            “It’s just a minor explosive sewn into your clothing,” said Saiko, shrugging. “Don’t stop the play.”

            “Why would you do that?!” shouted Takahashi.

            “Keep going,” said Kaidou.

            Hairo was next to speak. “Thank you for helping me. As promised, I will take you to the Palace of the Dragon.”

            “And with that, Urashima Taro was taken to the Palace of the Dragon,” narrated Akechi.

            Hairo was carrying Kuboyasu and Saiki on his back.

            “You’re up,” said Kaidou to the people watching. “Coral, just stand. Seaweed, just wave or something. (L/N), be nice.”

            “I’ll try,” said (Y/N), smiling.

            That will be an easy role for them, thought Saiki, getting onstage.

            The new set looked beautiful and elegant, with grand doors that Saiko and Kuboyasu stood before.

            “Urashima and the turtle arrived at the Palace of the Dragon,” said Akechi.

            “This is the palace of the dragon,” said Saiko.

            “At the bottom of the sea?” said Kuboyasu.

            “Upon arriving, they were greeting by several handmaidens of the lady of the palace,” said Akechi.

            The doors opened to reveal (Y/N), Miko, and Yumehara.

            “Further inside—” Akechi was cut off as a bright line shone from within the palace.

            “What is this?” said Kuboyasu.

            “Welcome. I’m the princess,” said Teruhashi.

            “Urashima couldn’t help but—”

            “Oh, wow,” said Kuboyasu.

            “—sigh in awe,” said Akechi. “Urashima fell in love with the princess.”

            They added a romantic subplot, thought Saiki.

            “Urashima Taro spent a fantastic time at the Palace of the Dragon,” continued Akechi. “He relished his stay at the Palace of the Dragon.”

            Why keep repeating the name?

            “Before he knew it, a month had passed,” said Akechi. The curtains drew back once more to reveal the beach again. “Urashima Taro left the Palace of the Dragon for home.”

            What happened to the romance? There was no continuity.

            “Urashima tried to court the princess but was rejected. He was given a box that must never be opened and was chased out of the castle. Upon returning, he immediately noticed a change. He didn’t recognize anyone. While at the Palace of the Dragon, hundreds of years had passed. Urashima opened the box.”

            Kuboyasu opened the box, and smoke exploded out of it.

            “Engulfed in smoke, he rapidly aged and died.”

            When the smoke cleared, only Saiko stood on the stage.

            “But the Other Urashima Taro did not die. All that disappeared was Urashima Taro’s life, and the Other Urashima Taro was fine. Urashima returned to the Palace of the Dragon.”

            The underwater set returned, and Urashima walked into it.

            “And married the princess. They lived happily ever after.”

            Saiko stood proudly next to Teruhashi on the stage.

            “Great!” said Kaidou, grinning. “Well done!”

            “…That’s it?” said Saiki.

            “Yeah,” chuckled (Y/N).

            “That was not good,” said Saiki.

            “At least we’re having fun,” said (Y/N).

            “We should end with me kissing the princess,” said Saiko.

            “Ew,” said (Y/N).

            “I’m going home, so have it fixed by next time,” said Saiko, waving a hand. He barged towards the doors. “Out of the way. I’m the lead actor!’

            “Saiki, what did you think?” said Kaidou.

            “I made even less sense than the original,” said Saiki.

            “Was it strange to see a happy ending for the Other Urashima?” asked Kaidou. He grinned. “Of course it was. Because that script was a lie. Saiko kept complaining, so we changed the script. In the real script, the Other Urashima will age due to the box, and the real Urashima will live happily with the princess. Set and costumes were bought by Saiko. If he were to pull out, it would be a disaster.”

            “Then why didn’t you have Kuboyasu be the Other Urashima and let Saiko be Urashima so that the right ending is ready and Saiko is appeased?” said (Y/N). “I don’t support him getting everything, but having a secret script feels like a lot of work.”

            “…”

            He didn’t think of that, thought Saiki as he watched Kaidou blink. (Y/N) just stared brightly at him, waiting for an answer.

            “Is that so?” said Saiko.

            “Saiko!” exclaimed everyone who had hidden a script.

            “You tried to trick me,” said Saiko in irritation. He snapped his fingers, and his bodyguards appeared. “Take everything away!”

            “Uh-oh,” said (Y/N).

            “Yare yare.”

l

            The day of the Culture Festival had arrived. (Y/N) stood nervously backstage. Without the costumes or sets, after the performance of the Wizard of Oz, poor Class 3 was going to look, well, poor.

            But, still, as Class 3 was announced, Kuboyasu steeled himself and walked out. The entire class had their determination behind him. Even without Saiko, they’d put on a good show. The quality would be different, but their hearts would still be in it.

            “One day, Urashima found children bullying a turtle,” said Akechi.

            Hairo curled up on the ground while Takahashi and Mera “kicked” him. It looked really bad without costumes.

            “Urashima intervened,” said Akechi.

            At this rate, the show was done for. And what was going to be troublesome was that Kaidou was the Other Urashima now, and he was a terrible actor.

            “A demon whispered in his ear,” said Akechi.

            “Saving it won’t make you money,” said Kaidou. Amazingly, he had put together a good costume and makeup

            Kuboyasu’s eyes widened, and Kaidou blushed, pleased that he had surprised everyone. They had a chance.

            “It’s, you know, only the strong…survive.” Unfortunately, Kaidou’s stage fright was still posing an issue.”

            “What?” said Kuboyasu.

            “Kusuo—”

            Saiki nodded as (Y/N) looked at him worriedly. Hypnosis. Now Kaidou could say his lines correctly.

            “But that turtle is intriguing,” said Kaidou.

            “Alright, you’re on,” said (Y/N).

            Nendou brought out a sign as the seaweed stood on stage and swayed sillily. “Urashima and the turtle arrived at the Palace of the Dragon,” narrated Akechi, having gotten through all of the “Other Urashima” dramatics while the set changed.

            “Welcome,” said (Y/N), Miko, and Yumehara, keeping on brave faces and smiling kindly at their friends.

            “The Princess of the Palace of the Dragon emerged to greet Urashima,” said Akechi.

            It was time for Saiki to put his powers to work again to make sure (Y/N) was pleased with how things went.

            “Welcome to the Palace of the Dragon.” Teruhashi stepped onstage in just her gym clothes. She still had a kimono left behind, but she had chosen to wear what her friends were to preserve the camaraderie.

            That’s fine. I can still work with this.

            “Urashima, you’re very kind,” said Teruhashi, ignoring people’s whispers about her being in her jersey.

            The crowd frowned as she acted. As she glowed and spoke, her clothes seemed to transform before their eyes. Suddenly, she wore the gown of a princess, her hair was pinned, and she was true royalty.

            “An illusion caused be her beauty and performance!” exclaimed the boys in the crowd. “And it’s not just her! Next to her, he looks like Urashima Taro.”

            “Oh, wow,” said Kuboyasu.

            “Urashima Taro just gasped! The turtle, seaweed, and seamaidens looked like humans a second ago, but now—Wow, it’s really the world of Urashima Taro!” cried the audience. “No, it’s Teruhashi’s world!”

            That’s right. I don’t need a costume. Teruhashi smiled. With my acting and beauty, I can make you see anything I want. “Make yourself at home.” By wearing the same jersey as everyone else, it made it easier to project onto them, too. And together we can share the spotlight. She glanced at (Y/N) for a moment and smiled before returning her attention to Kuboyasu and Kaidou as Urashima Taro.

            Yare yare. She’s good, but not even she can change everyone’s appearance. So I used hypnosis to make the audience seen the whole cast. Without her, using hypnosis this way would’ve made someone realize something was up. I’m an organizer, so I have to do this much.

            (Y/N) glanced at him from onstage and winked.

            Saiki smiled.

            I guess I would have helped anyways.

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[glamourscat]

¡Shidou’s hcs and character analysis!

tw// childhood trauma, violence, reference to possible SA in his past, my writing cause I didn’t proffered this

PHYSICAL TOUCH!! Friends, lovers or even just acquaintances, he has the bad habit of seeking touch, small or big doesn’t matter. From shoving to fidgeting. It’s different obviously base on the relationship you have with him. Are you two friends? Expect playful shoves, ruffling each other’s hair, if sat together legs or shoulders will touch casually. He is the type of person to laugh and slap your shoulder while laughing. 

If you two are lovers: hand holding (he does that thing of rubbing his thumb on the back of your hand), kisses, hair ruffling, legs intertwined, hugs from the back, nibbling/biting. Pressing his forehead against yours. SQUEEZES. Especially if you have more fat on you, he would *love* it. The need to hold you close and squish your rolls or chub. 

I personally see him as unlabelled. I know a lot like to hc him as gay. And it does make sense, but one can flirt with guys and it doesn’t erase the possibility of being into women too. That said, I do believe he has a preference for guys, especially aesthetically, but ultimately his choice of a partner would be base on mental compatibility and aesthetic attraction, no gender. I feel he is into someone who truly enjoys being their true self and doesn’t conform to society norms, more on this in a sec.

He is complex, as we see glimpses of this in the “egoist bible” and during his internal dialogue (like in the U20 arc). I don’t think he would be a bad boyfriend, but neither would he be perfect. Objectively speaking, he does have a rough, almost explosive side. But that’s a side he brings onto the football field. How he is outside of football we don’t really know. He is shown to be someone who values uniques, and also strength, complimenting other players strengths. He is not a demon, he just so happens to be a human with a deep complex personality. He seems to value peace in his life outside of football, which is something you don’t expect from him. Because he gets presented as this brute individual and yet he is the same who pops out this answers: “What made you cry recently?” At the end of the day when I become nothing, tears come out.

“What will you do on your last day on earth” Watch it as it reaches its end

“How would you spend your day off?” Be free from everything and become nothing

His answers are, intense, are they not? Which leads me to several thoughts. 1) He is very lonely. Using humour and anger to defend himself, a common trait of children who were abused, neglected in their childhood.

2) base on this, I feel in a relationship he would enjoy someone who has similar vibes to him but ultimately is different. Someone he can be chaotic with, someone he can laugh as loud as he wants, someone with who he can gossip and still have deep conversations at the same time. Ultimately, an artistic partner would be the best. Not only because he is into art, mostly as a way to cool down and shut down his brain, but because an artist or even a writer can see the world under different shades of colours rather than in greyscale. Classical introverted x extrovert duo, with the exception that the introvert individual becomes as extrovert as him when they are alone. His partner is his ancor. He will need to feel at peace from the turmoil inside of him. 

3)his home life was not the happy kind. Now, this has been long speculated and I will give my 50 cents on the matter. Let’s analyse his favourite movie, manga and song: 

Music > hide. Especially "Pink Spider" 

Movie > "A Clockwork Orange" 

Manga > "Chainsawman"

On the base line all three explore the darker sides of humanity, the need for personal freedom, and the consequences of defying societal norms. They create a raw and intense narrative about self-destruction, survival, and transformation.

But if we dive deeper > the movie mainly depicts SA, it’s a twist mix of violence, societal injustices and lack of free will… “Chainsaw man” it’s all about violence, power imbalance and manipulation. Denji was a tool from the start to end (again, lack of free will). The song, explored themes of internal chaos, the darkness in humanity, destruction and emotional turbulence and the psychological tool that that violence and abuse leaves on people.  I mean… can it be any more obvious? His whole character is shown to be this brute, rude, violent individual but slowly we are being feed details into his insight. Like how deeply philosophical he is, artistic and yet he is genuinely over sexualised. Maybe is a reach, but I don’t think that movie, the song and the manga choice are casual. They are a mirror image into the possibility that his childhood was pretty much terrible. That his sexual comments, which come off as almost distasteful, and feel icky in a way, are a projection of what he went through. Trying to use a distorted sense of humour and the violence he grew up with, to shield himself from what’s his personal life and past.

Like when he was locked up, his reaction was intense. He was close to begging to be set free. Again— lack of freedom, he hates not being able to be free. Something could have been taken away from him in the past. Maybe is as simple as a culture thing— as we know Japan is a rather modest country with certain unspoken rules. Its traditional outlook on things such as gender and sexuality are the total opposite of Shidou’s persona. His appearance is loud, his personality is loud and it alls screams “look at me I’m here” and yet at the end of the day he is still a lonely being.

I recently reread the U20 chapter where he enters on the field. His inner monologue he uses biology (specifically fertilization) as an analogy to scoring. Many people interpret it as him making a connection to sex, but for me, it didn’t read as such. Maybe it’s my literature student nerd ass, but, I took from his inner monologue a sense of need in terms of leaving a mark onto this world. He speaks how art leaves a mark, so does books, buildings and obviously children, showing the family legacy. Proof that something existed before them.

Shidou feels that his legacy, his needs, are validated through scoring. He feels seen, people are cheering. He is leaving a mark. Which ultimately could be validating a lack of emotional attention he received when he was a child. To me, all of these references and the constant sexual innuendos are a meaning for something deeper. We saw how each character with a heavy backstory has a trait or something in them that screams “something is not right”. Like Rin’s personality being a result of what happened between him and Sae. Can’t think of anything else to add, maybe I will add something later. If you have any opinions, I am more than willing to read them!! Feel free to reblog/comment :))

[belabelphie]

So uh yeah... The Wild Life wildlife AU is becoming a thing now. Everyone's being turned into a silly creacher and there's nothing I can do about it :)

We start the designs off with Grian, who is a northern cardinal! I mean, it's a red fluffy bird, it's perfect! However, if you'd like more information on why I made this choice, my ramblings are below.

When I first had the idea to turn everyone into wildlife, I was immediately torn on what animal to choose for Grian. I eventually settled on either a scarlet macaw or the northern cardinal and, after making a sketch of both designs, I thought the cardinal worked best due to their round and fluffy shape.

In nature, cardinals are birds often seen accompanied by others of its species, forming close bonds to one another. However, to everyone else outside this bond, they're quite territorial and aggressive. Sounds fitting, right?

Now comes the real question... I'm not sure if I want this AU to have any sort of deep lore? I mean, they're all animals running around killing each other for research purposes, that's it. However, if I had to say anything... I'd say Grian was probably raised by the Watchers/researchers ever since he was a chick, which is why he knows more than the others about all these weird games and experiments they have to go through :)

[thanakite]

I wonder if raising/taking care of Isha made Jinx realize that even if Silco cared about her he still also manipulated her into fitting his own ideals?

Like it's very clear how much she cares for Isha and that Isha cares for her in turn and the show makes it pretty clear that Jinx is never pushing Isha to be like her, that, that is Isha's choice 100% and that while Jinx has her way of doing things she's also not pushing her to take revenge on people or anything like that, instead she's really more trying to get them to hole up and hide away together

Comparing that with Silco who convinced her to need revenge when she was vulnerable, who regularly preached to her that Vander (the man who took in her and her sister and raised them after their parents were killed by enforcers and did everything in his power to keep them safe while giving them a good a life as he could given the circumstances) wasn't who she thought he was, and who pushed her down the most dangerous path forward (like really, Jinx didn't have to be someone in the field doing things she could have been their inventor, someone he kept safe and protected behind the scenes and who provided them with weapons and such but wasn't expected to actually get her hands dirty or do dangerous things, but instead he set her up to be front and center, to potentially get caught and sent to Stillwater or killed or whatever, when that wasn't necessary to make her a vital member of his organization, and in fact it would have made her more valued and respected if he had done that since her acting in the field often caused people to look at her as a fuck up)

Really, I think that for all Silco cared for her (and he did care for her in his own way), what he really wanted from her was to be a face for their organization because it showed people his own skill/power. People who remembered Powder and remembered Vander and Vi and Claggor and Mylo would see her and would see that Silco could take a kind and smart girl from a family that cared deeply for her and turn her into a murdering menace, which in turn kept specific eyes off of him (Because while some people knew that Jinx was connected to Silco, aside from those in Piltover who worked for him, Piltover didn't really know that for a long time so to them it was just her)

And really, while the show doesn't make it clear if Jinx was doing similar work before the Progress Day stuff, it is clear that Silco wasn't actually fully utilizing her talents (I honestly wonder if he feared that by doing that she'd become more popular and more powerful than him), because if he had been, his people would have been set up with weapons designed by her and would have likely been using other things she could have invented during that time as well, because all things considered, she is smart and capable and able to create some amazing stuff, while at the same time it is clear that her talents weren't even honed correctly

Like really, she could have been working with Singed to develop her skills more and hone them into ruthless destruction and such, but there is such clear evidence that her childish nature is present in the weapons of hers we are shown that it is clear that she wasn't really given that kind of training (Because even if she did like that stuff a lot, time training under someone like Singed or even just time being encouraged to make things for the cause would have seen at least some of that stuff fade away a bit, if ONLY because it wouldn't be logical to take the time to paint on that kind of stuff if she was having to outfit a lot of people)

And in raising/taking care of Isha, while Jinx was obviously not perfect and was never going to be and while she didn't push Isha away from violence (which likely would have been difficult anyway) it's also fairly clear that she wasn't constantly pushing her towards violence either

She didn't tell Isha to go to the rally in her place, she actually didn't even know she had gone in the first place, she didn't tell her to attack the checkpoint, Isha did that on her own and Jinx wasn't exactly happy about it when she found out

And that is very different from Silco sending her to "take care" of the Firelights, even if she was older than Isha when that happened

Did Isha make Jinx see that while Silco took her in and raised her, he also had an agenda that ensured she further screwed up her life?

[schluttforschlatt]

Bartender pt. 2

WC: 2.1k

Warnings: alcohol consumption

Parings: Schlatt x Reader

AN: more setup and character building, the next chapter will focus more on Schlatt

I love yall!! Hope you enjoy :)

You watched the clock across the bar while absentmindedly wiping down the counter. The little hand ticking closer to the next minute provided minimal joy, but meant another minute closer to going home.

3:47

3:48.

The bar was fairly vacant this time of day, with the sun still being out and most patrons wrapping up their day at the office. Of course there were a few early birds partaking in their choice of drink, but they were typically the one drink and done type. The kitchen got more action from this crowd than you ever did behind the bar. It was also a Thursday, another factor that limited the amount of customers wandering in. You moved to the ice machine to refill your well, deciding to wipe that down, too. Not like there was much else to do.

After returning with the bucket of ice and dumping it in, three men strolled on in. You greeted them while one broke off from the group and made his way towards the restroom.

“Welcome on in! Seat yourselves!” Your cheery voice rang. One of them turned and waved a hand as a ‘thanks’, flashing a small smile. You took note of how young they all looked, a contrast to the other occupants inside, then returned the ice bucket back to its home.

I hope one of them actually buys a drink.

You sighed, looking around for something to refill or deep clean. It was hard finding things to keep busy with on weekdays, especially afternoon weekdays. There were only so many bottles of liquor to dust or beer taps to polish before becoming tedious. You settled on rolling silverware, occasionally glancing up from the task to peek at the men.

They settled into a booth after their friend had exited the restroom, sharing a few laughs. They were discussing something about a sponsorship from what you could gather. It’s not eavesdropping if they’re talking loud enough for you to hear.

After about fifteen minutes, one of them got up and strolled over to you behind the bar. He stood there impishly and waited for you to notice. You placed the silverware to the side and turned to take his order.

“Would you like me to run a tab for you?” You asked, looking up at the man.

“Yeah, what would be great,” he smiled. Taking in his features while he recited an order, you couldn’t help but notice how soft his eyes looked. They were warm, an amber-ish brown color, with long eyelashes, reminding you of bourbon: you could get drunk on them alone.

“Alright, I just need to see-“ before you could finish your sentence, three IDs were placed on the counter. Checking over them, you nodded in approval as he picked them up, securing them in his jacket pocket.

You took in more of his face. Strong nose and wide chin, facial hair growing down his jaw. He was very attractive. And also very tall. While his face was inviting, his stature was imposing, towering almost a foot (if not more) above you. You continued to input his order into the register, feeling your face grow warm.

“You got it, boss. I’ll have those out for you in just a moment.” You grinned while moving back down the bar to start the drinks. One lager from the tap, a grasshopper, and a double whiskey neat. Easy enough. You started the lager first, pulling the tap with your right hand, while reaching to grab a whiskey with your left, pouring it into a rocks glass just below the shelf. You stopped the lager once the foam was just about perfect, keeping an eye on your pour of whiskey. Maybe that’s a little more than double. Oh well. Returning the bottle back to its home on the shelf, you then grabbed a bottle of crème de menthe and crème de cacao, holding the bottles in one hand while reaching to scoop ice into a shaker with the other. After pouring, you placed the lid on the shaker, gave it a rough few tosses, removed the lid again, and gave a hearty dose of heavy cream. Replacing the lid once more, you shook it a few more times before pouring it into a coupe class, and garnishing it with a sprig of mint.

Once the three drinks were complete, you turned around to hand them to the man that had ordered them. You looked up at his face and blushed, noticing that he was staring rather intently at your back. I hope you’re not gonna be one of those customers.

“Here ya go!” You ignored his gaze and handed the drinks forward, trying to brush off the way this interaction was making you feel. He shook his head and exchanged a quiet “thanks” before a blush would creep across his own cheeks, turning around and making his way back to the table with his friends.

Normally when a man would stare, it boiled something deep within yourself and made you cringe, uncomfortable and unnerving. However, something about this guy made you feel… nice? Maybe nice wasn’t the word. Confident? Regardless, this was just another transaction with another customer and meant nothing. He hadn’t tried to actually hit on you, and seemed rather bashful that he was caught. You turned around and hummed to the song playing over the sound system, picking back up silverware to roll.

-

A few hours had passed and patrons had come and gone. It was an early night for you, which meant being out of the establishment by 8:30. Looking up at the clock, still ticking by too slowly for your liking, it was 8:15. Fifteen more minutes.

You were thankful for the hours you got here. Weekdays you were out by nine at the latest, giving you enough time at wind down with homework before getting comfy in bed. Your boss had been kind enough to work with not only your school schedule, but your schedule at the diner as well. What a saint. She had been understanding of your situation, what with needing to work two part time jobs because the full time market with flexible scheduling wasn’t exactly flexible when it came down to your class schedule. And sure, taking only a few credits per quarter and being online helped a lot, but most places were looking for nine-to-fivers, not only-available-mornings-and-nighters. In no world would working two jobs be ideal, but this was mangable for you. This is manageable for now.

You made sure to restock your bar, take the bussing bin of used glasses back to the dish room, and prep garnishes before clocking out at 8:30 on the dot. The night bartender would always be handed over a neat station, with all tabs lined up on the POS ready to be cashed out. You’d worked a handful of twelve hour shifts to know how frustrating an unstocked bar could be when another bartender hadn’t pulled their weight or side work during their shifts to leave in any state other than perfect. You exchanged a few words with the closer before walking to the back of house and getting your bag to head out.

You pulled your hair out of the messy ponytail it was in and raked your fingers over your scalp, sighing at the feeling. On days like this, (slow afternoons with mostly older crowds) letting your hair down was the first step to winding down for the day. You stood up straight and stretched before snatching your bag from the desk to walk out for the night.

The weeknight bartender waved you over as soon as she saw you emerge, the tall man from earlier standing in front of the register.

“Everything all good?” You asked her, seeing a receipt and a few bills cash on the counter.

“Everything’s perfect! Just wanted to make sure you got your last tip before heading out.” She smiled, sliding the stack towards you. You reached out to grab at it when the tall man placed his hand over yours. There’s that damn blush again. He cleared his throat before speaking up.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier, I was just impressed watching you make our drinks. My friend said that was the best damn grasshopper he’s ever had,” a small smile tugged at his lips, almost as if he was embarrassed to be speaking with you. “Jus’ wanted to pass that on.” You returned the expression.

“Thank you, I hope y’all had an enjoyable night.” He removed his hand and nodded shyly, his friends leaving the booth and making their way over to him. Pocketing the tip, you ducked out the door not knowing how to continue the interaction while feeling a pang of guilt for not even getting his name. You shook it off as you took off towards your apartment, aching feet begging for the feeling of warm fuzzy socks and your comfy bed.

-

You hadn’t even walked through the door of your apartment when the cries of your cats became audible. Chuckling, you unlocked the door and stepped inside, kicking your boots off while greeting the starving felines.

“Mel, I know you think you’re dying when you go more than eight hours without wet food, but the lack of crunchies in your bowl says otherwise,” you joked at the cat as she rubbed up against your legs. You walked over to the couch and set your bag down, trying not to trip over her. You bent down to pick her up, scratching under her chin. “Let’s get you fed and ready for bed, yeah?” She chirped back at you in response. You carried her into the kitchen with the other two trailing behind you. You placed a kiss on her head before setting her down in her preferred food-receiving spot on the counter.

Your night would start the same way your morning would begin. Getting three ceramic bowls out of the cupboard, and opening up a fresh can of Fancy Feast for your three non-human children. Of course Mellie was first, followed by Oats, and lastly Bones. No other order would do. Washing your hands after serving dinner, you considered what to have for dinner. Pizza, Alfredo, or Fajitas. All TV Dinners, of course.

You settled on Alfredo, removing the meal from the freezer and popping it into the microwave. Your mind wandered to the topic of the essay you needed to finish, mentally mapping out which direction you wanted to present it. The microwave beeped bringing you out of your little trance, and you swiftly removed the tray and grabbed a fork, settling back down on the couch much like you had earlier in the day.

You powered on the television and thumbed through the applications presented. Thank God for Roku. Clicking on YouTube and waiting for your feed to pop up on the screen was the second step to winding down for the night. You scrolled through uploads for a few moments, blowing on the plate of Alfredo occasionally, until settling on a video about the history of Nintendo.

You ate in near silence, the tv only on at a low volume. Throughout the meal, you tried to brainstorm ideas for your essay. You weren’t too happy with the current direction it was going, but knew it was too late in the quarter to switch topics or start over. You sighed, swapping the now clean plate for your laptop on the coffee table, and began to furiously type away.

You weren’t sure how long you were staring at the document in front of you, but it felt like you should have had more written than you did. You only managed to get through a few paragraphs before abandoning ship. The cats had all settled down around the living room, which inspired you to do the same. You saved the document before closing your laptop and returning it to the table once again. You stood up to stretch, snatching the discarded plate to place in the kitchen sink before retiring to your bedroom.

You couldn’t help but feel guilty, determined to have made a sizable dent in the essay, only to neglect the task at hand to daydream. Sure, you often got distracted doing homework or projects, who doesn’t, but the source of your diversion tonight made you feel slightly embarrassed.

You couldn’t stop thinking about the man at the bar. About his gentle brown eyes, his soft-looking chestnut hair. Even his facial hair, a bit scraggly but somehow endearing. See? Embarrassing. He made you feel like a schoolgirl, butterflies fluttering around inside your chest. He had said maybe a total of five sentences to you and you wanted to lay down on your stomach and kick your feet in the air. After changing into pajamas and climbing under the covers, you let your mind run free, trying to recall every detail about him.

You remembered his name started with the letter J, having only glanced to verify his age when he handed you his ID. Was it Jason? James? Jared? You couldn’t recall, but hey, at least you knew it started with a J. Against better judgement, you unlocked your phone and opened up Tinder, deciding to swipe and see if just maybe this guy would magically show up. Maybe he was local and was just out for some cheap drinks with friends from out of town. Maybe he’s only in town for some family thing, linking up with buddies from college. The possibilities were endless, much like the men you continued to swipe past. Your eyes began to feel heavy, the grip on your phone weakening. The search can continue tomorrow. You plugged your phone in to charge, quickly checking to see that your alarms for the morning were set, before locking the screen and drifting off to sleep.

[mwolf0epsilon]

With Viktor's rework in the making, I am not only losing OG Viktor, but also losing what made Malzahar special as well...

Like I said before, I don't mind Arcane Viktor. I think the whole eldritch/otherworldly/corrupted-transcendence-of-the-self fits his overall themes, but only as another Alternate Universe (and considering LOL and Arcane both have the Multiverse's existence as a core part of its overall worldbuilding, it's not even a stretch to insinuate Arcane could live as it's own independent universe outside of the main universe of Runeterra). One where instead of looking to machinery as a means to re-adapt and evolve, magic was his poison of choice (although calling it a choice is a bit of a stretch, considering Viktor has no real agency in what transpired until it was too late).

The thing is... Why was it ever necessary to make Arcane Viktor the base to which all versions of him are built upon?

His original storyline was much more compelling than him being "just another mage". An engineer who's inventions are so fantastically innovative and powerful that some would consider them to be akin to magic? The desire to help his people adapt to an ever declining environment via mechanical augments and other inventions that clean and rebuild infrastructure? A strong moral compass and refusal to override consent because the future he has in mind is not a hivemind but a society run by logic and no conflict? The constant mislabeling as a villainous figure because of a heavily biased account of what he does that was built on lack of context and understanding? The Blitzcrank Legal Debacle? These were features that made him a complex and very intriguing character!

And, the fact of the matter is that the storyline Arcane put upon him is very much just a cheap knockoff of Malzahar's story. Something which personally slights me not only as a Malza fan, but also as an OG Viktor fan due to one very simple detail:

Malzahar is an immoral being through which the unknowable horrors beyond the veil of the fabric of reality acts. A puppet molded to further an agenda that would obliterate the world around him via its consumption by the Void, because he truly believes in its inevitability. He is a cult leader, figurehead, and more than willing to sacrifice everyone and all to the unholy beings he worships, whether he has their consent (and some of his followers do consent to being sacrificed because he charms them into believing his cause) or not (the Kai'Sa incident that turned Malzahar and Kassadin into mortal enemies).

He was, in essence, the opposite of Viktor. An actual villainous monster who at some point was just another victim of circumstance, and who now tries to push the world into annihilation because to him that is not only his purpose but also the perfect outcome for their world... Which sounds terribly familiar right now, doesn't it?

Alas, I know how this is going to end and it's not gonna be fun in the slightest. I'm just happy I recently unlocked Viktor again to give him one last hurrah before he's inevitably changed from what he used to represent.

[chimcharstar]

.

[hecksupremechips]

Thinking of vlr Akane is so conflicting cuz on one hand I’m so upset that she doesn’t ever get a moment to just rest and enjoy being alive again I’m upset that she just gets deeper and deeper into this role she’s built for herself and she loses her humanity and will never ever be that girl who died in the incinerator. But on the other hand, I need her to get so, so much worse I need her to be so obsessed with perfection she has this unique ability to change the course of history and she will burn everything and everyone to the ground in the blink of an eye if it means she can "reset" and get a perfect timeline and I desperately need her to never be satisfied with anything because really, is there anything that’s worth all the damage she’s caused?

[dykedvonte]

wanted to say I appreciate your nuanced takes on MW and especially Curly. i don't get the claim that the fandom is full of Curly apologists when majority (esp yt and tiktok) say he's worse than Jimmy. Yes there's commentary about bro culture defending people, he def messed up in trying to placate Jimmy (tbh "we'll fix this" sounded more like trying to keep someone prone to outbursts like Jim calm and not hurt Anya/himself) but I don't think he did nothing to help Anya, since she continued to confide in him and he had less than a week to resolve it before the crash (I also don't get everyone saying he knew for ages when it seems like Anya told him that same week). I get Jimmy's a pos but saying stuff like Curly should've known he'd crash the ship or that Jim had a criminal record he ignored, reducing them to obviously horrible villain and willfully ignorant sidekick feels like a disservice to the game. If your best friend turned out to be horrible, what would you do in a confined space in the span of a few days to respond? I'd say some of the horror comes from trying to do good but ultimately failing, Curly's state after the crash is meant to be tragic horror not revenge/punishment

Thank you and this is what I want to get across.

A lot of information we have to supplement when it comes to how long things have been happening on this current ship. I think people try to add on to the horror and negligence by making things more obvious so it can feel like it was easier to avoid when, true to life, its not. Jimmy clearly didn't deserve or appreciate what Curly did for him in getting him the job, but do you think if Jimmy was that big of a menace on Earth he would've given him a position where he could have that level of power over people's lives? There's something in the fact he specifically chose to pick a position so close to himself where he could watch Jimmy.

I hate the bro code argument because that is a whole can of worms people really don't get. That sort of mentality is born from the general respect and preference of male matter over female ones. Curly is clearly not that guy, he is absent minded about the issue and inadvertently dismissive but he clearly believes Anya, he just can't understand what she's going through. It's an onslaught of information that no one really reacts right to. Additonally, the entire discussion of her assualt plays to heavy into the idea that there is fault outside of the perpertratior when it comes to SA. It's too close if she only did this or if Curly had protected her better but the fact of the matter is Jimmy did what he did. He did it before any of the conversations with Anya about it and it's why her behavior seemed to change so drastically in those last two days.

He has other conflicting thought and while his role as a Captain should've taken over, people act like it's not a very human thing to have such a toxic presence cloud your judgement. It is never easy to separate friend from coworker once that connection is formed, you want to help them, especially if they were friend first and for a long while like in this case. It's not right, but people act like it would be easy when the game clearly points out that no choice is easy to make, especially when you have to make it for more than one person. You have the weigh the consequences, look at all the options and make a plan. People can headcanon and decide how long things where happening, but if we look at what we were presented through the characters eyes, the only person given time to do that was Jimmy.

He waited two months after the crash to appoint himself Captain. Every time a problem was brought up he immediately took action and refused to sit on it and find a better solution. I think it's important to look at the warped way Jimmy takes initiative where Curly didn't as it works as a good contrast of why you don't just run in to "fix" things. The quickest and easiest option may not be the safest or most beneficial. I think some thoughts on the game suffer from the black and white thinking the game doesn't operate on along with us being voyeurs. We see what exactly led to what but the characters don't. They don't have the hindsight and foresight we do and even ours is scrambled by the non-linear story telling.

Like it's hard to talk abuou those grey zones without sounding like an apologist because you're explaining why taking responsibility isn't easy. It's not and it's weird to act like it would be in a scenerio that led up to the events of the game knowing what we know. We see all these characters in such isolated moments with various things before, in between, after and even during we aren't privy too. The idea that Jimmy is worse than Curly heavily banks on the words Jimmy was saying to Jimmy before he crashed the ship. That whatever happened on the ship was his responsibility to bare, which is true due to his position. But, are they not still not responsible for taking the actions Curly then must bare?

Like i feel like people think that these are situation that become easier with age or when you are in a postion of authority and they aren't. You don't lose your biases or gain some sudden knowledge that makes it easier. It just becomes more tiring as you keep dealing with it. I would be first in line to say Curly fucked up and should've done more but the idea he knew how bad it could get or he really saw the worst in the people around him and ignored it pretty much ignores a huge aspect of his character and the game.

[nientedal]

Usually I just save stuff like this to my drafts until I calm down but you know what, fuck it, I'm done.

Any so-called leftist who refuses to recognize that our options right now are "genocide abroad, progress at home" and "genocide abroad AND genocide at home" and that there is a significant difference between those two options is cordially invited to eat shit and die. We do not have time to entertain your anti-voting hopeless nonsense. A future in which we are able to move towards less death will always be preferable to the one in which we can't, and if you smug, sneering little clowns sacrifice that future on the altar of your own self-righteousness because you're too high on your own farts to realize how far up your own ass you are, I genuinely hope you fucking drown. Specifically, I hope you drown in the blood of the people who will die all over the world as a result of your bizarre refusal to work towards a future that doesn't include ethnic cleansing.

This is the United States. We sell war, here. I don't know how so many of you are only just now figuring that out, but you better get over your shock like yesterday because we are out of fucking time. We ran out of time when Reagan took office if not long before. You think not voting will improve any of this?

Keep calling, keep writing, keep screaming. Governments everywhere are (slowly) beginning to listen. Democrats are (slowly) beginning to listen. But Republicans never will, and if they seize power again next year (which they will absolutely do their damned to attempt), everything will be so, so much worse for everyone, everywhere. The work is slow and painful and imperfect but it will only get done if we show up and do the work, so keep calling, keep writing, keep screaming-- and when the time comes, you show up and vote for the future that lets us build a better tomorrow instead of just choking to death in the steaming shitpile of today.

[phagodyke]

wanted to go to the gym social tn but as I was getting my stuff together to go out, a friend said smth that rly pissed me off and now I'm too fucking angry to go out. fucks sake man

[katyspersonal]

Do 8, 10, 21 and 25 for the Bloodborne fandom. I am curious

(Asks from this ( x ) meme)

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

It is kind of a hard question, because opinions are opinions! They are not supposed to be right OR wrong! I suppose that some of them do fall on the territory of lacking perspective, and in that case I'd say insisting on how Yharnam is Victorian London! To be honest, again, everything in Bloodborne is off-brand and Yharnam has several inspirations, but like... there is the Czech clocktower, there is off-brand Nikola Tesla with his inventions, names like Micolash an Iosefka, and there is Polish language on the graves in Hemwick!

Yharnam is as Slavic as you can get come on fdsjdffds

21) part of canon you think is overhyped

Hard to tell, sometimes it feels like almost nothing in the fandom gets enough attention on the contrary! I am not sure if this is just the small fandom problem, or the problem of the source material being too good, but no matter what aesthetic, lore piece or character dynamic got a lot of attention it ALL feels deserved! I used to think that maybe Choir was getting "too much" attention and eclipsed the rest of the covenants in fanart, but again, 1) they ARE interesting and appealing enough and 2) the sense of one hyped thing 'robbing the spotlight' from another is usually a mistake, people are naturally drawn to what they like and if it didn't exist it is not like all that attention would 'instead' go to more neglected bits! In other words, everything in Bloodborne deserves its attention AND more!

25) common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Kinda tired of the complaints about how Maria and sometimes other female characters are drawn! Not because they are not true, but because they never will REACH their target audience! People that draw Maria with big hips and tiddies and no hint of strength simply do not GO on the websites like Tumblr or Twitter! I don't really see the reason of recycling this complaint specifically in the spaces where people that do draw female characters like this will not even receive this feedback. I can't be 100% free from hypocrisy on this one though because I also sometimes vagueblog rather than addressing what I disagree with directly (in my defence though usually it happens because I physically can't message the person fdhhfds).

But basically, it feels like people have trapped themselves with the whole "never offer unsolicited criticism" mentality and thus can't post criticism UNDER those inaccurate fanarts. The 'treat others like you want to be treated' can and WILL be a bitch, so we're left with frantic posts about how this or that character should be drawn, in the place where everyone already draws this character accurately, so it gets jarring! I am an asshole that will go in people's DMs about drawings to tell them that Henryk's skin is not so pale, that Damian/Yurie/Henriett/etc have grey eyes and not blue and that Malenia is NOT built like Barbie doll so maybe this is why I do not understand the point?

10) worst part of fanon

[mishkakagehishka]

Like we'll never make proper progress bc too many women have internalised misogyny and are quite happy with it bc they see their successful conforming to gender roles as something they should be proud of and other women's "unsuccessful" conforming as something to shame. Why? My assumption is bc they also don't want to have to conform 24/7 and are bitter when confronted with women who have decided they won't bother anymore. I like to think that bc then there's at least some hope for them.