#the idea that they used to be more open

[red-n-stuff]

Thunder Only Happens When it’s Rainin’

The morning after the interrogation, Darlin wakes from a dream reliving their past. Guilt ridden and aching though they are, Sam is always there right when they need him.

It was some time towards the end of May. They remembered the time so clearly because the school year was coming to a close. DAMN was closing into summer break and Graduation caps had been ordered. The fields of wildflowers up on the foothills were starting to go to seed. All except the late blooming yellow asters.

Those yellow asters stuck out vividly in their memory. The smell of them often followed them home. Crushed into the grain of their skin. The petals finding their way into the edges of their shoes only to fall out and scatter the floor with small reminders of him. To their keen nose, Quinn always sort of smelt like the asters. Like something tangy and tart. Not fully there unless you were looking for it.

Strange, that a fragrance-free flower held such a scent based memory for them. Though, truthfully, they weren’t sure if Quinn smelt like the flowers- or if the flowers just smelt like Quinn.

The day leading up to their time on the hill was a haze, they couldn’t remember if it was a weekend or a weekday, though in the end it didn’t really matter. The setting was the important part anyway. The sky was orange and growing purple around the edges. A warm summer evening, the sun finally gone enough to be safe. Quinn’s Mustang was parked at the bottom of the hill by the trail they climbed together. Quinn playfully shoving their shoulders, and Darlin trying to trip him as they raced. They sat were it was flat, shoulder to shoulder. Asters brushing at their legs.

They were sharing a cigarette. The last of what they had been able to nick from their mom, lit with the lighter Quinn said he had stolen from his dad some long, forgotten time ago.

There was an unspoken understanding between the two of them. Up here, looking out onto the distant city lights, the rest didn’t matter. Not the hurtful words, or their family falling to pieces. Up here, they were something Precious. Two best friends on a perfect day.

At some point, they leaned their head onto his shoulder. Both their fingers brushing as the second-to-last drag was passed over. Quinn’s shoulders rising on the inhale, cheeks filling with it followed by a slow exhale chased by smoke. Handing it back to them, where they left the butt between their lips to ruminate.

Self destructive habits always seemed less unhealthy with a friend, and wrapped in the last of the days light, even adverse things felt healing. Even looking back on it now, they struggled to find the warning. The stop sign. Any indication of what would happen the deeper they fell. They couldn’t stop their reactions to him- not even the way their heart leapt as Quinn reached between them to curl his hand around theirs’. Not even when he rotated his hand to clasp their fingers. Not even the fact that, deep down, they knew the meaning of the gestures were wildly off balance. They didn’t regret a second of it- and maybe that was what made the truth of it so hard to swallow.

They remembered the way Quinn looked at them. The feel of his thick hair as it brushed against their neck when they turned to look up at them. His eyes were mischievous. Sort of on just this side of hazy. They had an oily sheen that made him look…tired- but then again- that wasn’t something that ever really changed. At the time, seeing him on that hill was their favorite. He looked…at ease. Relaxed and in turn, that made it easier for them. He was still and calm, and that was enough.

They often wondered if maybe they’d smiled with too much truth at the time, and that’s what caused it. If they’d flashed some semblance of the carefully repressed longing they’d been concealing. If there was some fatal flaw they may have missed. Either way, they were sure the outcome would have been the same. The atmosphere was too strong. It didn’t really matter who leaned in first.

Quinn reached up unexpectedly, fingers deftly plucking the cigarette directly from their mouth in a bold gesture that took them slightly off guard. They couldn’t take their eyes off Quinn’s lips as he took the final drag- not even as the smoke escaped in whisps like a promise from the back of his teeth. Exhaled like a question. Eyes not leaving theirs’ for a moment.

They had frozen, but they hadn’t tensed. Their cheeks had darkened. Eyes unwavering as Quinn crushed the cigarette into the dirt and shoved the butt in his pocket of his jacket.

Without a scrap of forethought, they had suddenly reached over with their hand curling around Quinn’s nicotine-stained fingers. They had guided his palm to rest firmly in place against thier cheek. Holding him there as their gazes held. Quinn’s breathe caught audibly in his throat, but he didn’t pull away. He didn’t scramble back in a moment of panic. The dare to hope coiled around their bobbing throat like barbed wire. The chance at fulfilling that ever present something ache that had burrowed in their chest. It was there- right in front of them in the form of blinking eyes full of tension, and raw stress-bitten lips half parted in apprehension.

They leaned in before they could talk themself out of it. Under the internal assurance that they’d come too far to stop now, they pressed their lips chastely against Quinn’s. A soft brush, a question.

Quinns hand tightened where it held his in the dirt between them. They could feel the soft gasp of air after the single second of pressure.

They didn’t recall when they’d shut their eyes, but they held them tightly closed. Unwilling to face the potential negative consequences they may find when they opened them. However, instead of a firm slap, they instead received an answer. Quinn had shifted closer, their foreheads pressing together solidly.

There was something akin to a fatal moment of hesitance in the breath between them in that moment. Like the feeling of knowing what you’re doing is wrong but falling headfirst into it anyway.

Quinn kissed them soft and sweet and slow, and of course they were weak to it. They couldn’t stop the rush they felt, the sparks that crackled behind their eyelids. Couldn’t stop the way they drew Quinn closer.

Their lips met and parted in quick succession, lengthening with each fresh press that Eventually dissolved into an extended kiss. One that felt like their lips were magnetic, both pulled and pushed by the force of suppressed want, and, oh how badly did they want him. They wanted to gather him up by the scruff and kiss him again and again and again until they were drunk on it. They wanted to taste all the bittersweet honey of nicotine and brown sugar.

Quinn shifted to press in closer, and they happily fell back against the ground. Those sunny-faced asters bobbing around their head as their lips slowly began to part. Above them, Quinn offered a breathy laugh, tinged by his accent. Their eyes opened just long enough to see the full force of Quinn’s quirked smirk before he laid down, tucking his nose against their throat.

“Tell me precious….Have you ever been bitten by a vampire?”

The scene faded around them, and their fluttering eyes slowly peeled open to the light that filtered in through the honey colored curtains like water. It bathed the room in warmth and comfort. Beside them, Sam was still asleep. Back pressed against their own. They could feel him breathing steadily.

For a moment, they were still disoriented. Lost between their past and their present. They inhaled slowly and exhaled again quietly.

A dense ball of prickling dread solidified in their stomach. Guilt made their scalp prickle.

They smacked their lips- expecting the taste of iron and nickel that accompanied their nightmares, but instead found only dryness and the memory of the cheap cigarettes they’d long since given up. They held as still as they could, blinking slowly as the memory of his touch faded against their hands.

It was hard to believe that once- sometime far away, in another lifetime, they had looked at Quinn and seen a future.

“I can hear the gears whirrin from here Darlin’” Sam’s husky voice arose from behind them, startling them from their thoughts. Still damp with sleep, he rolled slowly to face them. Tucking his nose up into their shoulder blades. Pressing a long, slow kiss against the knobs of their spine as his hand brushed against their hip. A question for consent.

They exhaled slowly, pressing back into his hold to encourage the arm looping around them securely.

“Dreamin?” Their mate questioned, lightly rubbing his thumb against their hip bone. His voice was twinged with concern in that way that betrayed his worry. Like he was trying not to press the issue, but he couldn’t help but care.

They nodded, throat feeling too sticky to answer.

Sam made a low sound of acknowledgment, tightening his arm slightly around them as he shifted up to press a kiss or two across their shoulder. His lips a bit chapped and rough against the delicate skin. The bare skin of his chest pressed warm and flush against their bare back.

“Do ya needta talk about it?” He asked, this time voice a little softer.

After everything that had happened yesterday, they felt guilty needing more. Needing him to hold them tighter. Needing to confess everything Quinn hadn’t already spilled.

They thought it over for a few moments. Through all of this- confiding was still hard. Vulnerability was still hard. The fight against their first instinct to hide everything they felt. The fight to just be themselves in that present moment. Their exhaustion helped to soften them.

“It was a memory,” they murmured after a long moment of silence, glad they weren’t facing him to say this. “Of Quinn…of before…before everything went to shit.”

Sam squeezed their hip comfortingly. They took the quiet time to try to sort through the swell of emotions that came with the admission.

“I…it’s hard to believe we ever…worked.” They murmured, curling in tighter on themselves. “That I..that I ever..did what we did.”

They sighed, rolling over to press their nose into his chest. Scrubbing a hand over their face.

“It’s alright Darlin,” he soothed, likely for the hundredth time in the span that he’d known them. Eternally patient. “Thunder only happens when it’s rainin’ after all…seein’ him again, and him…” he drew in a slow, steadying breath. Darlin could smell the spark of anger he tried to quell. The sent like gunpowder. “And him doing what he did…there’s bound to be stress that’s reopenin’ old wounds.”

“Yeah..” they affirmed quietly, worrying their lip between their teeth for a moment. Guilt rising in their chest. It hadn’t been a bad dream though. The shame and embarrassment of it left a bitter taste- but the memory itself was something like fond. One of the few handfuls they had of Quinn just being normal. It felt wrong to have any fondness when it came to that man.

“Just feels wrong.”

They heard Sam restrain a sound. Not sure fully what it would have been, but sure it was frustration. Sam’s fingers reached to slide gently through their hair, petting them slowly. Massaging their scalp.

“It ain’t wrong to love, Darlin..” he whispered, “it ain’t your fault he did what he did…people like that only love you when they’re playin sick, twisted games.”

He gently kissed their forehead, and they slowly let their eyes droop closed.

“You just feel whatever you needta feel, and dream whatever ya need to dream.” He squeezed them tighter, “we’re gettin through this. Together. Come hell or high water.”

They released a shuddery exhale, overcome with their love for this man. For the gentleness he shared with them. The delicate touch to all their broken scars.

“I…I’m so thankful for you.” They murmured against his skin.

“And I’m thankful for you Darlin’” he squeezed their shoulders tenderly, “ain’t a hair on your head that I don’t count amongst my blessin’s.”

Their lip quivered, and they pressed their face as hard as they could against his collarbones to stifle the rise of tears. They wouldn’t cry again. They wouldn’t.

Sam’s hand slowly rubbed the middle of their back, pretending like he didn’t notice the way their breathing changed or the salt against his skin.

“Let’s just stay in bed.” He soothed, “go back to sleep…we’re not in a hurry. I’ve got you Darlin.”

They nodded weakly.

“I love you, Sammy.” They whispered through choking breaths.

“I love you too Darlin.”

[crabsnpersimmons]

"Do your best today! I'll be waiting here when you get home, starlight~💕"

had two busy days of work outside of my cave and the only thing that kept me going was the sight of my housewife/househusband Eclipse waiting for me at home

that is, the sketch of him waiting for me to finish drawing him 😂

starring @starriegalaxy's Eclipse from her Fear Factor AU/House Husband AU

[dandelion-roots]

[ID: a digital drawing of riz gukgak from fantasy high. in the front is a relatively small drawing of riz juggling books that are falling out of his hand and a phonecall, and he has a huge backpack on. he looks a bit overwhelmed, hair flying in all directions, and has a nervous smile on. in the background is a large shadow of riz, only one glowing eye and a shining gun visible. the background is red, giving an eerie feel. End ID]

Kill your best friend

Cheat your way to your rogue teacher

Announce your presidential campaign

Don't let them know how angry you are

LEARN TO RECOGNIZE A MONSTER

[el-pada]

since im probably gonna draw my mutant mayhem interpretation of usagi a bit imma just post the design and story idea so theres a bit of context, feel free to ask any questions im open to developing him further

also have an animation assignment where i just drew him lol

(im still hella inconsistent with his ears but ill figure it out at some point maybe)

[ranchstoryblog]

Fandom Memories: HMFarm

Hmmm. So, nearly a quarter of you whippersnappers wanna hear about the good ol' days, huh? Well, back in the day, you wouldn't just hang out on one or two big websites to try to find people who shared your niche interests among a million random users. Everything had its own dedicated site, with its own special pack of weirdos that you probably wouldn't find anywhere else. Home grown fandom, sprouting from the cement sidewalks of the freshly paved internet like so many weeds with pretty little flowers on top. So, let's take a little stroll down memory lane and visit one of the oldest fan sites with Archive.org's "Wayback Machine."

Ahh, just like I remember it. This here is "Harvest Moon Farm." 'course, we just called it HMFarm, like the URL did. This used to be the place to be. The prime progenitor of all farmin' fansites in the English speaking community. Maybe not the literal first, but up until around 2005, this was where you would go if you wanted to know anythin' about digital farmin'. It truly was a magical place to visit.

This screenshot isn't the oldest design, but it's the one I fondly remember. The majority of my time using the site was during the lead-up to A Wonderful Life, which was probably also when it was the most active as an information source. Seeing the screenshots, checking the forums, speculatin', wonderin', dreamin'... It's a warm feeling. I can't really describe how it felt to look at these shots for the first time. Granted, they were mostly sourced from various places like IGN or Newtechnix, but who wanted to go to THOSE messy sites when all the info I wanted was right here? IGN wasn't telling me how to revive the Vineyard in Harvest Moon 64 while I was waiting for AWL news either.

Our first look at the character we would come to know as Muffy, the sheer novelty of being able to go into the townsfolk's glorious, 3D-rendered rooms, the apparent misidentification of flowering tomatoes... The webmaster, Gamergirl87, would caption each one as well. Some of the captions of those screenshots ended up not being exactly true, but it was the closest thing to on-going coverage we really had. Who else was there to trust?

It's a little off topic, but I think at one point after learning about the GBA connectivity, I must have dreamed about this very gallery and seeing a screenshot of a Gamecube-ized Popuri with the caption that Mineral Town villagers would visit after connecting the GC and GBA together. At least, I'm pretty sure it was a dream. I've met some people who claim they saw the same thing, but none of us have been able to find that screenshot or comment again.

The one that would most catch my attention was the one on the left here. I didn't have a PlayStation 2, so I was coming fresh off of the GameBoy and Nintendo 64 when going into A Wonderful Life. The pond, the mysterious glowing plants, the mood and ambiance of their lighting, the little tree on the door... Naturally, I mirrored it on my first day the remake was available.

It's a real shame that the message boards are poorly preserved, since it doesn't look like there was a news post about the pre-order plush cow. I was hoping to find the name of whoever it was that convinced me to commit my first ever preorder. I still have the receipt, but without the forum post it's really only tangentially related to HM Farm.

'course, just learning about existing games and upcoming games wasn't the only good thing HM Farm was for. As I alluded to, there was a whole community here! While it's a shame that the message boards aren't well preserved by the Wayback Machine, you know what is?

The "ideas" list! This incredible time capsule was one of the first "interactive" parts of the site, starting in the year 2000. It's kind of fun to see how many of these ideas actually happened. Obviously, new characters and personalities were probably expected, but Animal Parade would eventually feature a honeymoon, several games have clothing and other customization, a mall, city, and pig would be added as soon as GBC 3, a goat would be in A Wonderful Life... It's actually amazing how prescient a lot of the suggestions are.

I'd share the whole thing, but the amount of e-mail addresses involved gives me pause. Still, there's a couple I wanna highlight:

Considering how often I still hear about people wanting to marry the moms and people attributing it to just "the fans getting older," it's funny to see Laserion lay out that, no, we've always been like this. Right down to using Manna's unhappy marriage and Lillia's husband never returning as valid reasons they should be available.

Tuan145, on the other hand, I just find extremely amusing because of the specific "2002 Escalade" part. Yes, this is clearly the ideal vehicle for all farmers in the Story of Seasons universe. This is now accepted headcanon. The boat was added in GBC 3 too, so obviously a 2002 Escalade is going to be added any day now.

Another thing that's amazingly well preserved is the site's fan art section. There's a few missing images here and there, but for the most part the entire thing is open to explore. People of basically all ages and skill levels happily submitted their creations, including original characters, digital art, traditional art, crossovers with popular series like Sailor Moon, a liiittle bit of drug use... Y'know, all the kinds of things you'd expect to see in a fan art gallery of the day.

Even better, some of the artists are still doing art today! Looking around, I quickly discovered one of my favorites, Rina Cat, is now on Blue Sky. I made sure to ask for permission to repost their art before including it here. Reaching out to everyone would be a bit much though, so I'll just encourage you to just browse the gallery using the Wayback Machine yourself. There's poetry and fanfics too!

There's a lot more to the site, including useful bits of history like keeping track of release dates for games, pre-release screenshots, and information that was only available on Japanese websites at the time, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Unfortunately, though the site continued to be updated until 2010 and stayed online until 2021, it's no longer available on the regular internet and the URL doesn't seem safe to access anymore. I wanted to include an interview with the former webmaster as well, but all their readily available contact information was tied to the website and I haven't had any luck so far in finding other means of contact. If I have any success, I'll be sure to make a follow-up! If you have any memories of HMFarm, or other fan sites, I'd be happy to hear about it.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[recent-rose]

yknowwww there is something... deeply uncomfortable about the way mel never speaks directly to viktor in the 'build hextech weapons' scene. she really only speaks to jayce. plenty of people have pointed this out already but like the one scene they actually share a meaningful interaction and she treats him like he's beneath her. all this after jayce has emphasized how important viktor is, that hextech is theirs, together. she unequivocally ices him out, there's no other way to interpret this scene. the way it's shot too - from viktor's perspective, looking up at her, as though to reinforce the same belief in him. like he doesn't even bother expecting respect from her - or anyone from the upper echelon of piltover. he's fully accustomed to being dehumanized by everyone around him at this point. sometimes even by jayce, despite the trust they clearly have in each other.

then of course after this scene is viktor experimenting on himself. it's pretty clear that he has internalized his own dehumanization. crazy.

[things-stronger-than-fear]

literally in another universe snowbairdplinth could've been THE revolution. they wouldn't even really need any allies, lbr.

like, between coryo's cunning, sej's conscience, and lucy gray's charisma? the snow name, the plinth fortune, the baird d12 but neither district nor capitol pedigree?

coryo could've actually been like, panem's first 20-year-old president, who outlaws the hunger games and who the districts still listen to because he has sej and lucy gray on side. and yeah maybe coryo still kills a bunch of people but like whatever, no one really bats an eye -- who's gonna mourn gaul, anyways? no one in the districts, that's for sure. even if gaul didn't suck ass they'd be busy with cool covey music and awesome new legislation.

in a better universe i am 100% certain snowbairdplinth could've managed a fairly bloodless revolution, six decades early.

[savingsallow]

Calling All Members of Hogwarts Food Club!📣✨

— I asked Feenky to prepare something special for us!

@espressoristretto-patronum @not-that-evans @ps-cactus @accio-bagel @alibasnur @ravenwind-75 @acslytherpuff @diana-bluewolf (bc i know chris loves food 🤪)

[minty364]

DPXDC Prompt #58 Part 3

Gotham Academy High School was the sort of school where almost everyone was elite in some way or another. Some of them were from old money like Damian who held himself up to a very high standard in his academics and was the top of the class. Others from new money like Dash and the rest of his cohorts became very hateful of somebody like Danny who was given a scholarship by Bruce Wayne, in their eyes Danny was taking advantage of Damian not even knowing that Damian approached Danny for companionship two years ago.

This also meant that everyone including the teachers would compare Danny and Damian to each other even though they weren’t brothers. That didn’t matter though as Danny was associated with them so that was all the reason they needed.

Danny groaned as he sunk into the seat next to Damian. The lunchroom was filled with chatting students and Danny was glad he shared the next class with Damian, which happened to be English. Dash never bothered Danny when Damian was around, probably because Damian had threatened the jock. How he was threatened Danny didn’t know, Damian never told him what happened and he was a little scared to ask. 

The guy hadn’t stopped harassing Danny since he and Jazz transferred a couple years ago. The school year had barely begun and Dash had made Danny his primary target like he was making up for lost time over the summer. Danny sighed as he dropped his paper bagged lunch on the table with a little plop. Jazz had packed for him this morning hopefully before his parents arrived and contaminated the entire kitchen.

“Dash again?” his sister asked across the table, she was seated next to Tim.

“I was paired against him in dodgeball again,” Danny lamented, his head resting on his arms that were crossed on the table.

“Danny, could you just talk to Mr. Lancer or something?” Jazz asked before she took a bite from her sandwich.

Danny sighed again and unpacked his lunch, “I have but no one will listen! They all act like I’m lying or something.” The teachers at this school probably wouldn’t listen to a charity case like him. Dash was a football player and had plans to become captain of the team. Everyone at the school loved Dash and it was precisely why everyone except maybe the four students at the table they were seated looked down and sometimes even bullied Danny.

Danny ignored it all eventually, it was better just to let the jock tire himself out. 

Once Danny and Damian finished eating they made their way to English. Luckily it was easy to carry the material for a class that only required a small binder and whatever book they were reading, in this case it was ‘gone with the wind’. Danny didn’t really care about reading old literature like this but he did what he had to maintain the grades he had. He’d endure anything, even Dash’s bullying, to become an astronaut.

Danny could hardly concentrate today through his afternoon classes. For some reason he had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. He tried his best to ignore it, he was probably just tired or something. Soon the school day was out and Danny packed up whatever homework he had for the day and headed outside to wait with Jazz. Damian and Tim were probably wrapping up their classes. Tim had an AP class that ran an extra 30 minutes and Damian’s last class was art, they were doing a painting and it wasn’t unusual for Damian to finish up what he was working on as he found out over the last few years that he enjoyed painting.

“… Do you think it’ll work?” Jazz asked a hint of hesitation in her voice. Danny knew she was talking about the portal, the both of them had talked about it before. Danny glanced over at his sister, he could tell she was having trouble sleeping lately, her face looked tired and her posture was stiff with her arms crossed in front of her. Both of them had anxiety about the possibilities the portal possessed, and they were especially worried that their parents wouldn’t take it well if the portal didn’t work. 

He was equally concerned that it would work. “I hope not…” he said eventually. It was something that brought the siblings closer as the whole of their family fell apart. How their parents managed to pull off getting the funding in the first place seemed to be a miracle. Everyone called their parents crazy and dismissed all of their science as ludicrous garbage.

Danny wondered how they even managed to stay under Batman's radar, he thought that something like this would be cause for the vigilante to look into it but maybe the thought of ghosts was just that outlandish that even the dark knight himself thought it to be crazy too. Danny himself didn’t believe in anything his parents published, some of the papers even seemed to be biased somehow, even though his parents hadn’t ever actually encountered a ghost. That last part was probably the reason no one bothered to actually investigate his parents, there wasn’t really much to investigate.

The siblings waited in silence and eventually Tim and Damian showed up after their classes and the four headed to Alfred waiting by the car. 

If anyone tried to start a conversation with Danny he wasn’t paying attention. If he was being honest, his parents' portal scared him a lot. He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous about it, both him and Jazz renounced the thought that ghosts could exist. Something deep down in his guts told him that he should turn and run, that what his parents were attempting was taboo and that his parents were tampering with forces unimaginable. 

No one was going to listen to a fourteen year old though so Danny kept his feelings to himself and ignored them. 

Soon they were pulled in front of their apartment and true to their word, Damian and Tim asked Alfred to park nearby. Danny and Jazz took a hesitant glance at each other as they walked into the house. 

[puretopia]

my little farmhouse is the first thing I've attempted to build but tbh this game has a knack for making anything look pretty!

[lucabyte]

i am looking at nohats au 👀 please share more

So! NoHats! I'm going to grab you and use this to ramble. A Lot.

The NoHats AU is @samhainian's it's just that I'm the strange little freak who takes the words said unto me and executes on them. But I can still do a little explainer on what our overall thoughts and vibes are. (And, that we are in fact propping up a little box with some cheese under it here. 🪤 Please (PLEASE) feel free to pick up what we're putting down.)

We're far from the only ones exploring a "what if siffrin fucking died" AU, though the main difference with NoHats is the placement of the death in the timeline. Instead of being 'Mal Du Pays Wins' or 'Act 6 encounter goes horribly wrong', the death is… Just after the (literal) falling action.

(This placement is because Sam is a comic book fan who thus has become used to characters being ripped away at the cruelest times by shitty writers. THANK FUCKING GOD adrienne is not that and isat is delightful yippieee, but, back on topic.)

Giving the party the full understanding of What Happened that you get by putting the death after black hole siffrin, but before the A6 encounter leaves an interesting gap to be filled. See, making Siffrin's death very much not Loop's fault means that… this once again reads (when not read as simply a tragedy...) as the universe doing what it sees fit to fulfull Loop's wish… Thus making Siffrin's death Loop's fault again, but only in their eyes. And only in a way they could express if they were honest about who they were…

And this is where having had excuse to waffle about my general Postcanon Loop thoughts the other day comes in handy, because Sam and I have that as our canon-compliant reading to begin with, NoHats plays off of a lot of the same readings of Loop's character. Namely: Uh Oh Somebody's Lying By Fucking Omission Again. (BECAUSE TO BE FAIR THIS TIME… HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU HANDLE THAT?)

Now, neither Sam nor I are fanfic writers, so this has been a little bit trapped in our heads and DMs (and my unfinished art but,)

But our thoughts on how NoHats like… Goes.

Siffrin's death is peaceful, but that does not mean the aftermath of it is. I can't imagine the party takes it well, especially after understanding the circumstances of the Loops. (And, of note, in A5 where nobody had the discussion on what to do with each other's bodies should something happen…) But I'd imagine it traumabonds them somewhat (understatement of the century) and now knowing how the rest of the party feels, they resolve to travel together for the forseeable future.

The party track down Loop to deliver the terrible news, since they were clearly Siffrin's friend too, and invite Loop along to travel at least long enough to (let them grieve) get the burial over with. Loop, here, can be helpful in knowing what Siffrin would've wanted where the party would be at a loss. Loop, I think, takes a bit of a lead on the funerary aspects of it all, because, um. (Performing rites on your own body, huh?)

Then, as things are after a death, life just… Kind of has to continue on as normal. The party travel, pick up Nille, and get to know Loop as this mysterious new person. Maybe in this situation they might stay in Bambouche for a while to give Bonnie more stability since. They are probably taking it the worst. It would've come out of absolutely nowhere for everyone in the party obviously but god, for a kid? For A Kid?

It should be stated NoHats is not intended to be grimdark, just y'know. An exploration of grief. This is also why it's got a bit of a lopsided focus on Bonnie vs the rest of the party because hhrrhghghhghghhhghhghhh <- incoherent

Now, a crossroads.

How does the party discover Loop to be Siffrin? How long does it take. How much have the party embraced them as part of the family (especially with something as intense to bond over as this)?

There's the Odile option. Have her put it together and have to bring it up somehow. This could also be done by Isabeau, perhaps. He's smart. (which. God. If anything's the real Isabeau Torment Nexus it's this)

Then there's the other option batted around by Sam and I. The: The Universe Dislikes Duplicates option.

The items in the house that fzzt away when inspected. The Universe doesn't like there to be two of something, at least not when they're acknowledged. But one of something is just fine…?

Which is to say. I'm not a personal proponent of 'Loop getting their body back'. EXCEPT …… except this one time.

There's only one Siffrin now, so they don't need to be obfuscated to exist.

Consider, if you will. Loop swallowing their guilt for long enough to be comfortable. Falling back into old habits. Without another Siffrin around to compete for the niche of, they actually begin to act like Siffrin again. Not intentionally, it's just… The party is as welcoming as they've always been. And the party swears they keep catching glimpses of a face under all the light.

Then, one day, while still not fully human again, the resemblence becomes undeniable. Loop having not even noticed until everyone looks at them like they've seen a ghost.

Has it been months? How long have they kept up this lie? Is it even a lie, to them? They're Loop. But they were, once, Siffrin.

Even after explaining it, does that make it better or worse?

Bonnie cuts through the betrayed, struck-nerve reactions with a sobering "I missed you."

… Anyway !

Yeah so that's the vibe for NoHats. As for LoopLoops? That's more nebulous. I think it can go anywhere really in the NoHats timeline. I err personally toward the "Loop continuously replays the last 10 minutes before Siffrin's death almost immediately after they find out and have to parkour their ass up the House in the most distressing situation possible to try and get them to hold on, just please hold on." (Remember! Siffrin can remember the contents of Loop's loop backs in the A6 fight!)

But there is the possibility that this happens months, or worse years down the road. One last Loop back. Throw it all away for the chance to just get that one thing you didn't know you even wanted but now know you NEED.

Misc:

Okay miscellaneous time.

This is where I admit that I have a bunch of unfinished NoHats art that I haven't gotten around to yet because I feel like a right tool being so obviously Loop-Centric with my fancontent (I AM . . I REALISE I AM NOT DOING MUCH TO BEAT THE ALLEGATIONS.) So like if people want to see that please say because euaghghghhfh <- the nervous.

this is like the most fucked up place to do isaloop fr. anyway.

one of Sam's mid-game observations that I'm just going to share for no particular reason is that Bonnie's hair shares a bunch of shapes with Siffrin's. The flick up at the top, the 3 pronged shape of the fringe… just something to think about.

Without 2 Siffrins around to compare each other to it'd likely be a lot harder to notice Loop's similarities. Doesn't mean that those similarities don't sting more in this context though.

If you do NoHats without LoopLoops. The concept of this all fading into memory years down the line while they just have slightly-glowy but otherwise regular Siffrin hanging out is fucked up to think about. Just like real grief. Augh

6. a peek into the original dms as a treat from us

[whollyjoly]

hot in the day, hot in the night, hot as the coal coming to tread, light on your bed, here we go oh, listen whistle roll (baby the, the sun is getting low)

the bucktommy cowboy au nobody asked for part two (part one) (part three)

(song insp.)

[kaeyachi]

One of the probable reasons as to why Kaeya didn't arrive on time for Crepus and Diluc when they were attacked was because he, and the knights with him, had no vision, and thus, cannot use a teleport waypoint.

Him receiving his cryo vision when he was supposed to get scorched by Diluc was genuinely the biggest slap to the face given to him by Celestia. It arrived just in time to save HIM.

Even now, the vision only heals and shields him alone as a manifestation of his desire to keep living from that fight... but he can't use it to help others.

[leisi-lilacdreams]

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Pelagic Skies

[click image to reveal]

back with leo and the jellies

there's something so ethereal about sea creatures swimming in the air

[kacievvbbbb]

Ty Lee becoming a kyoshi warrior made no sense to me. If anything it feels like a regression. Don't get me wrong I think she'd fit in well with them and I love suki/ty lee but realistically at the start of the season we hear Ty Lee proclaim that her trauma of growing up with six identical sisters is what drove her to the circus and it was kind of dismissed. and then we never really get any closure on this the time we see her she betrays Azula and is imprisoned and then after that the last time we see her she is part of the group in full garb after befriending them off screen.

she joined the one group where a huge recruitment is looking like everyone else. Why?

And the thing is this totally could have worked her coming to terms with her identity even tho she looks like everyone else she is still Ty Lee and she has a lot to contribute by simply being her (and also like how she taught them chi blocking) and so the idea of becoming another "faceless" girl doesn't scare her as much because she knows that to the people that matter they know who she is.

But like the way its done just feels like they needed a nice little fun way to wrap up ty lee's story but it also makes it feel like Ty Lee is incapable of standing on her own, if its not the circus its azula and mai if not them the kyoshi warriors. She's never just on her own being Ty lee she is always playing fidde to some group.

I think it would have been better if the ending had ty lee instead of having already joined the kyoshi warriors had instead been separated from mai and anyone she knew in prison and had had to for the first time get by on her own merits as a person not what she could do for other people. (a bit like what Suki does in Suki alone) and then a little moment between her and Suki where they reconcile Ty Lee tells her how she wants to help rebuild the word after the devastation of the fire nation and Suki's like "it's not exactly rebuilding the word but maybe you can teach me and my girls that chi blocking you do, it's impressive." and Ty lee could smile and agree. Not exactly an invitation to join but a way for her to carve out her own niche and make a mark in a safe space. It could also tie into the chi blockers that we see in LoK of Ty lee decides she likes teaching and decides to teach more non-benders how to protect themselves since the Kyoshi Warriors is pretty sacred and has traditions that not everybody can adhere too.

I just think making her a kyoshi warrior came out of nowhere and not that ut couldn't work at all but it would have needed more time to breathe. I would say have Suki introduce the fact that the kyoshi warriors are going to stay as Zuko's security detail for a while and Ty Lee's knowledge of the palace and Chi blocking skills would be an amazing hep to them so she starts of working with them and maybe int he comiucs we can see that she joined them (but I doubt they had decided this little plot line when the series actually ended)