#they were each one mg so not really that much

[sturn-wrld]

🏮christmas gift

pairing: chris x reader

summary: where chris buys reader a christmas present that is great for the both of them

genre: SMUT!!! if that makes you uncomfortable dni! warnings: unprotected sex (before you get silly, wrap that willy), nicknames (babe, baby, ma, mamas)

a/n: last day of smutmas. i actually really like this. i have no idea what i'm going mg to write now but i'm thinking a little more fluff. happy holidays to everyone no matter what you celebrate 🫶

masterlist

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you open your eyes, adjusting them to the bright sunlight by beaming through large window infrared front of the bed you and your boyfriend, chris currently occupy. the realise hits, it's christmas.

you had loved christmas for your whole life. you didn't know what it was about christmas that you liked so much because very year it changed. when you were five it was opening presents. when you were ten it was the music. when you were fifteen it was gifting presents. but now as a twenty year old it was a mixture of all it, plus the time you can spend with loved ones around you.

you look down to your beautiful boyfriend, laying on your chest and slowly start shaking him. "baby, it's christmas" you cooed not wanting to abruptly wake him. "five more minutes ma" you looked at him rubbing his face deeper into your chest as he fights away the waking up sensation and give in. "okay. five more minutes" after what seemed forever you finally woke him up. "okay it's been five minutes, wake up now. it's christmas" you said emphasising the fact that it's christmas. "alright let's wake up the other two then" chris stated trying to rid the sleep from his eyes.

as you both clawed your way put of bed there was a sudden bang at the door followed by nick and matt slamming their ways into the room. "WAKE UP ITS CHRISTMASSS!" nick said definitely more excited than the other people in the room. you smiled in response turning to chris, "told you to wake up" chris just chuckled as he slowly trudged out of the room. "what a grouch" nick said snarling at him "i know right" you added standing next to him.

as you made your way up the stairs towards the living room area followed by nick and matt, chris was sat on the couch with a. sudden change of demeanour. "let's open presents" nick said excitedly walking towards the sparkling tree in the corner.

as you all finished all the gifts from each other, you split your seperate ways to move presents into designated rooms and clean the house before guests started arriving for the day. as you and chris walked into your shared bedroom, he walked straight to the wardrobe pulling another gift from under a pile of laundry sitting in the closet. "what's this?" you asked walking towards and starting to play with the blue bow tied around the red paper. "it's for you. open it." he said moving to the bed sitting and placing it on your lap. as you ripped open the paper you noticed a familiar pink stripped box. once the box was bare you read the logo guessing what it could be. "victoria's secret" you said looking to your boyfriend, who was smiling so wide. "open it" he said prompting to the box. you lifted the top of the box to reveal a lingerie set. one you had been looking to buy for a while. "thank you baby" you said looking to chris kissing him on the cheek, picking up the lacey piece. "do you want to go try it on?" he said biting his lip, you nodding and moving to the bathroom to change.

you observed yourself in the mirror feeling the lace under your fingertips. "i'm done" you called from the bathroom, your boyfriend on the other side of the door waiting for you to walk out. "show me mamas" he instructed you walking out as he finished his words. his jaw dropped to the floor. "you like it?" you asked travelling your hands up your thighs and walking towards chris as he stood. "like it? i love it. it looks so much better than what i could imagine" he said gripping your waist looking you up and down. "your thighs look so nice and your boobs. don't get me started on your boobs" he blabbered out, causing a giggle to escape your lips.

he looked at your lips and then your eyes, licking his lips. you then leaned into him starting to kiss soft kisses to his lips. with that chris deepened the kiss, causing you to lightly moan into his mouth as he sat down pulling you onto his lap. he started kissing down down your jaw and neck as you felt him become harder under his sweatpants. as he marked your lower neck and chest you started grinding on his now tight sweatpants needing more friction. he traveled his hands from your ass up to the back of your bra unclipping it and throwing it somewhere you didn't care about in this moment. he started massaging your tits as you grind harder against him. he lifted you slightly, now able to slip his pants down revealing his hard cock, slapping against his stomach. he slowly starts traveling his hands down from your boobs back towards your ass and aching core. he starts slipping his fingers through your dripping wetness. "your so wet mamas" he said as you start releasing whining moans. "all for you baby" you said whipping your head back moaning at his movements.

suddenly he slams his fingers into you, stretching your tight hole, rubbing your clit with his other hand. "i need you to fuck me baby" you said whining for him. "anything for you my baby" he said flipping mg you over so you were now below him. he runs his tip down your folds before slamming himself into you causing you to both moan at the feeling. "oh fuck mamas your so tight" he said continuously pounding you at an animalistic pace. "holy shit baby i'm already so close" you said the pleasure building in your stomach. "play with yourself for me ma" he said wanting to push you towards your finish as fast as he was arriving. you starting toying with your clit the pleasure already becoming too much. "i'm going to come baby" you said as he started pounding deeper into you chasing his high "me too" he said as you let go riding out your high. he piled out before he came, continuing the motions with his hand as he came all over your stomach and chest.

he flipped himself down next to you, huffing and puffing.

"that was probably the best christmas gift ever"

taglist

@ermdontmindthisaccount @frozenvegitableoil @its-jennarose @ilovemattsturn

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buddie: 4x13 Recap in preparation for 7x9 (other ships included too)

Ok... I'm intrigued for the last two episodes now after reading the journalists' commentary who've previewed the episode. MG said 7x9 and 7x10 should have been billed as a two part finale and the GIF he used to describe it in one word was "Pain". Also, KP said it seems like they're picking up "old threads" that weren't properly explored. Well... I REMEMBER THERE'S A LOT THAT WASN'T EXPLORED BETWEEN BUCK AND EDDIE 👀 (more on them below).

I've been thinking about 4x13 and the whereabouts of all the 'ships during that episode to parallel them with 7x9 and here goes. (Buddie is last just like they were at the end of 4x13).

Bathena

4x13 - Bobby and Athena were on the outs because in 4x12, Athena mentioned after she was attacked by Jeffrey in 3x17, she was offered early retirement but she turned it down. She never told Bobby about it. They ARGUED for the first time in 4x13 and they were still arguing when Hen called Bobby in 4x14 to tell him Eddie had been shot.

7x9 - Bobby's struggling with his past and Athena's worried about him just like she was worried in 4x13 that he was hiding something from her. It's possible from the 7x9 sneak peek that Bobby might be having delusions of someone being after him.

Henren

4x13 - Toni (Hen's mother) got sick and she fainted. Hen's medical school classmates helped her figure out what was wrong with her. After she was admitted to the hospital, Toni told Hen, the medical field needed more African American doctors.

7x9 - Hen and Karen have a foster child named Mara. Reminder, they had just given Nia back to her mother earlier in season 4 and Hen struggled with it because she didn't want her to go back to Evangeline.

Madney

4x13 - Maddie was struggling with PPD and she was going through it. She was still going to work but Chimney wasn't aware of how much she was struggling until she told him. Maddie quit her job in 4x14 and in 7x7 she told Amir she used to be a nurse.

After 7x6, Madney is in a happy place so it's unclear what, if anything, they could be struggling with in 7x9.

Buddie

4x13 - Buck and Eddie’s storylines were the most intense, the most intertwined and the biggest. Reminder, Eddie didn't breakup with AF after Carla told him to follow his heart and not Chris'.

AF found out Charlie's mother was swindling people out of their money which led to Eddie figuring out she was poisoning him.

He told Buck and Chimney about it and Buck didn't even put on his uniform, he just left with Eddie.

Captain Jeshan Mehta and the 133 were dispatched to the call and Buck drove the Batallion SUV to the scene with Eddie in the passenger's seat.

Then the 3 minutes and 17 seconds that changed everything. It showed the audience that Buck and Eddie are in love with each other and if they missed it, they should rewatch the episode.

Eddie reached for Buck and in 4x14, he asked him if he was hurt.

7x9 - Eddie didn't breakup with Maris*l in 7x5 like he should have the same way he didn't breakup with AF in 4x13 like he should have.

The 133 will be on a scene in 7x9 or 7x10 and it'll be interesting to see if Captain Mehta will be there too.

Also, Eddie’s either having delusions that the woman he met either looks like Shannon or he thinks she does. This parallel with Bobby appears to be mental instead of physical this time, so if history is about to repeat itself, then it's likely Bobby and Eddie could both be suffering from delusions. Reminder, Bathena and Buddie ALWAYS PARALLEL EACH OTHER.

If TM is really about to redo a scene for Buck and Eddie that will rival the shooting and explore EVERYTHING THE F*X NETWORK WOULDN'T LET HIM DO WITH BUCK AND EDDIE THREE YEARS AGO THEN... THIS IS ABOUT TO BE EPIC!

IYKYK Buck and Eddie are in love with each other and if Eddie gets hurt again, EVERYBODY IS GOING TO SEE IT THIS TIME INCLUDING T*MMY, HELENA, RAMON AND THE 118.

The will was revealed in 4x14 and maybe it's meaning will be explored in 7x10 along with the reason why Eddie waited a whole year to tell Buck about it. It's possible it will come into play again before the end of the season, especially if Eddie's badly injured this time and the Diaz parents show up. If Helena thinks she's taking Chris to El Paso with them, she'll be WRONG because Buck’s his legal guardian.

Reminder, the 133 was there the last time but this time they'll be with their found family and Buck can't hide his feelings for Eddie, like EVER especially when he's injured or hurt.

In 7x6, the foreshadowing was there when he thought Eddie was dead while he was lying in the bathtub.

These are pictures of Buck’s face whenever Eddie’s hurt.

T*mmy doesn't have a chance with Buck because Buck and Eddie gave each other their hearts a long time ago and I can't wait until T*mmy sees it with his own eyes so he'll be gone. He won't be able to pretend Buck was trying to get his attention anymore because Buck’s going to go nuts if Eddie's hurt again. His heart will be on full display and there won't be any denying who he loves.

Buck loves Eddie Diaz and Eddie loves Evan Buckley!

I ONLY SHIP BUDDIE!

[amemenojaku]

Akyuu/Reimu for the ship ask, please

hi I um. turned this into akyuurei manifesto. sorry

How differently do they think of each other now compared to when they first met?

I just reread Memorizable Gensokyo and some of the FS chapters where they interact (+the bit at the end of SoPM) back-to-back and it feels like they���ve come to really respect each other. When they first met properly in MG Akyuu tried so hard to impress Reimu, who looked amused by Akyuu’s work but didn’t seem to take her very seriously… I suppose that’s partly because they were younger then. I like that small panel in MG where Reimu introduces herself and Akyuu’s like “:O!!!”… By the time we see them together again in FS, they talk as equals. Reimu acknowledges Akyuu’s authority (she’s still super blunt about the chronicles but that’s Reimu for you lol), and Akyuu trusts Reimu to get the work done when it’s needed. They know they can rely on each other. I’d even go as far as to say Reimu treats Akyuu with a bit more softness than she does a lot of characters… She worries about Akyuu walking all the way up to the shrine in a latter FS chapter, she doesn’t chastise Akyuu for organizing the symposium in SoPM despite how pissed she is at the other participants (although I do think she was still hurt… more on that below), etc. As they are now they see each other as individuals more than roles I think, which is an important part of their dynamic (and also of Reimu pairings in general imo).

What do their friends/family think of their relationship?

They’d be the type to go in circles for a while before committing to something. Take their time with it. Past a certain point Marisa and Kosuzu start scheming to get them together (much to the concerned parties’ annoyance). When it finally happens they’d be teasing but supportive. I think the relationship would be kept secret for a time… Some people still manage to sniff it out though, Yukari for example; she’d be satisfied with it. Two people she has a weird close situationship with, together? That works. There might be some gossip about them… But if/when they make it official to everyone, I honestly think they’d be blessed by most of the village – it’s the Hakurei shrine maiden and the head of the Hieda clan after all! Might break a few nameless village women’s hearts though…

How do their personalities/skills complement or contrast with each other?

They have a ton of parallels (human but not quite; role directly tied to the survival of the world they live in; bridge between humans and youkai, etc) but also a few differences both symbolically (Akyuu doesn’t fly (she’s grounded to (a relative) reality), Reimu is literally the power to fly (transcends reality); Reimu is the “eternal shrine maiden”, Akyuu doesn’t live past 30 (but even that can be turned into a parallel with Akyuu’s reincarnations*), etc) and in terms of personality (Akyuu being calmer in general and displaying better social skills). Imo it’s one of the relationships with the most interesting balance between contrast and similarities… They’re the same girl but they’re also on two different sides of the same coin and the pining that comes out of it is SO good.

*if you look too hard into this like I do you’ll see the child of Miare’s reincarnation gimmick as a parallel to how it’s implied that the past Hakurei shrine maidens were replaced often (died quickly?)

What is their favorite aspect of each other?

In canon, I’d say it’s how reliable they find each other. They’ve worked together/consulted one another a few times in FS for matters related to the human village, and despite some differences in opinion they’re on the same wavelength on a lot of issues. Now, with my yuri goggles on…. I think it’d be really sweet if they could make each other feel normal. If their similarities brought them together on a level different from their other friendships, where they can understand the weight of each other’s role and that whole “human but not quite” thing they share, and be able to completely treat each other as ordinary. I really really like it when a character with a lot of obligations gets to just be themselves, and I also love it when two characters who’re both special or generally “apart” from everyone else grow close thanks to that, so I’m just mashing things I enjoy lol

Do either of them have pet peeves about each other?

I like to think Akyuu has a healthy lifestyle and her days go like clockwork (except when she’s close to a writing deadline), so she’d probably find some of the situations Reimu ends up in very frustrating. I think that fits well with the fact that Akyuu doesn’t always realize how high her quality of life is and can sometimes act a bit inconsiderate towards people who aren’t as rich as her. Meanwhile Reimu’s a very honest, very blunt person who struggles with keeping secrets for long (see Forbidden Scrollery’s ending), so she probably wouldn’t like some of the secrets Akyuu keeps at times. But Akyuu’s an important figure to the human villagers and she does take her role as a chronicler seriously, so there must be moments she has to prioritize her obligations over honesty. I think that kind of contrast is very interesting.

How would each reconcile with each other after a fight?

They’re both stubborn… But I see Reimu as the first to try to reconcile most of the time. Her soft spot for Akyuu would take over her natural pride imo. So she makes the first move. Akyuu takes longer, but her apologies are sincere.

Buuut there’s one time I can imagine Reimu completely withdrawing into her shell and refusing to even acknowledge that she’s really upset at Akyuu until confronted about it: SoPM. I won’t ever be able to explain it better than que-de-metal did right here so I recommend reading it!!

What would be their ideal vacation getaway together?

Hot spring resort. Quiet, relaxing and good for Akyuu’s health! And plenty of time for Reimu to laze around and read mystery novels. (I’m projecting… I miss onsens…….)

Think of a new way (AU, different situation, etc.) they could have met for the first time.

I’m honestly a bit upset that Memorizable Gensokyo is when they first met proper, even though there’s no way the Hieda family isn’t regularly in contact with the Hakurei shrine maiden. I think it’d be cute if they met when they were both kids and Reimu was in training with her predecessor and they were both called at the Hieda mansion for something. Extra points if Akyuu was intrigued by Reimu’s natural powers and that’s where her desire to impress her in MG comes from, and if Reimu barely remembers that meeting (like with Alice in PCB).

[ginsengkitten]

༺ Beautiful Dangerous༻

A slashxreader fanfiction

༺☆༻

Chapter One:

Tower Records

word count: approx.: 2900

Trailer/Moodboard here :)

☆ Authors Notes ☆

ty for reading. This is mostly a world building intro but I hope y’all like it :) - also I will be including photos and music that inspires or I felt matches each chapter, just for fun. This story takes place in some sort of fictional timeframe of 1984-86 ish when GNR had just started developing/finalizing their OG line up. I know not all the pics and timelines necessarily add up but this literally isn’t real so whatever!

Track list:

You really got me - The Kinks

Green Onions - Booker T. & the M.G.s

Foxey Lady - Jimi Hendrix

Your parents had shipped you out to your cousins home in the Hollywood Hills every summer since you were 10. The sprawling green hills sprinkled with Tuscan topped mansions upheld to excite you. Simply because there was so much more to be discovered outside of the ritz. This summer was going to be perhaps the best one yet, because now that you were turning 18, Uncle Rob would finally allow you to go down into the city for the first time.

Uncle Rob and Aunt Shena were the most uptight, stick up the ass, pair of individuals to bethrall the hills. You would think with the unceasing access to every pill, herb, and juice in Hollywood from Robs fancy job would have eased them up over the years; their long time neighbor, Dave, was one of the most sought out coke suppliers in the area - or at least that's what your cousin Daisy has told you- and Daisy liked to dramatize occasionally.... Daisy also says that her parents think too much ibuprofen could spell a trip to the confessional at church. This statement however was proven to be true because of the time Aunt Shena almost refused to give you a 50 mg Tylenol the time you had started your period in their guest bedroom.

Needless to say, it was in agreement with your own parents that you'd not be permitted to go down to the city until you were 18. "The city is where the devil preys on gods most vulnerable and precious spirits" Aunt Shena would recite this at least ten times throughout each summer visit, sure to remind you of the evil that lurked in the streets below. Most summer weeks were spent at the house, but it sure beat Indiana summers back home. Mondays were family nights at home, Tuesdays were beach days, Wednesdays were usually home days too but occasionally sailing on the family boat was allotted. You didn't have a boat back home in Indiana. Daddy's money was steady but not BOAT money steady. Plus it was Indiana- where would the sailing even take place? Lake Michigan?

Thursdays, the cinema would have discount movie matinees. If the film had been pre approved through the other moms in Aunt Shenas crochet circle, then she would take you and Daisy to go see it as a treat. Occasionally, Daisy would ask to use the restroom and you both would sneak into another screen room to peek at the other movies you weren't allowed to see, up until you accidentally snuck into a showing of 'The Evil Dead'. Both you and Daisy had nightmares for weeks and her parents couldn't figure out why, and no shot in hell would either of you admit what happened.

Daisy was fun and secretive like that. You appreciated her ability to lie straight to her parents face. Daisy liked to adventure a little bit more than what her parents would allow. Naturally she became versed in the art of bullshitting her parents.

Daisy was almost like a stranger to her parents. It was sad in a way but mostly just impressive. Daisy would steal cigarettes from her dad and stash them in her pencil case and sell them to the other girls in her church group. She also snuck out regularly, mostly to the local park to meet up with boys from school. She was brave. Real brave. She was cool. Real fucking cool. In fact, she was so cool and so brave, that she got the mastermind plan to steal her fathers Pontiac Firebird while he was away on business and Aunt Shena was knocked unconscious from her qualludes. (But god forbid ibuprofen right?).

"I don't know why I hadn't done this sooner!" Daisy bounced in the drivers seat like a mental patient. The engine cried out aggressively and the whole vehicle roared awake. There’s no way the entire street didn’t hear that. "And you're SURE your mother isn't going to find out? What about your daddy?" You pegged for final assurance from Daisy before becoming an accessory to theft. "Daddy won't ever know. You know why? Cuz' you remember Jeff from my church? He showed me how to roll back the odometer on a car in exchange for...well for never-mind but you don't gotta sweat about a thing Y/N. Now cut the square talk we gotta get to Tower Records before it closes!".

That's another thing Daisy kept secret. Her music. Daisy had a whole stack of vinyl records along with a record player, stashed under her bed. She would purchase raunchy records like Tina Turner and Cheap Trick, and slide them in the back of the more inconspicuous records like Chuck Girard and Bob Dylan. One of Daisy's boyfriends last summer had gifted her an Aerosmith record. Daisy played it for you once and that's how you first learned what rock music was. Some kind of bug bit you then. You itched to hear more, but between the uber cult of Daisy's parents and your own sheltered family back in indiana, who were perpetually trapped in the era of disco music, rock music was hard to come by. Rock music was foreign to you but felt familiar. You'd never felt a craving for sound before hearing it. So when Daisy devised to steal her dads car to go visit Tower Records in the city, you shoved all notion of "evils that lurk below" and the two of you ripped down to the sunset strip.

-

It wasn't that you weren't adventurous too. You could be if you wanted to. You were just too busy to be bothered with mischief like Daisy. While you believed yourself to be an open minded individual, it was clear Aunt Shenas repeated affirmations of danger sat in the back of your mind, welling up further and further to the forefront while the lights of the city glittered closer and closer into view.

"Wow wow wow Y/N...look at it all right? You seein this?" Daisy's eyes glazed over as the neon lights poured over the Pontiac. It was like nothing you had ever seen before. Or her. Daisy had only made it down to the city a handful of times but never at night. Each building had its own neon get up signage. Loads of people strolled the night street. It was busy! Your heart pounded in your chest a little bit. Fear and excitement all in one. You couldn't take your eyes off the passing sceneries. You tried to take it all in. Burger joints you had seen a million commercials for bustled with crews of hot rods parked in the parking lots, engines proudly displayed. Beautiful women leaning into the windows of old rusty cars, hung out on the darker corners in big groups for some reason. Was everyone down here revolting against wearing clothes?

"Tower Records baby!" Daisy sang as she pulled into the parking lot. Huh. It wasn't really a tower like the name had suggested. Rather a dingy stand alone strip mall off the corner of the strip. The disappointing reality shocked you back to your more cautious senses. If anyone finds out we're here we're totally busted.

You stepped out of the car and a wall of hollywoods finest scents burned your nose. The air down here wasn't like the air in the hills. Air can't be so different like that can it? "God I hope they have the new Cyndi Lauper release." Daisy said, pushing into the store door with her back.

The door chirped out a small out of tune "ding!" To notify the staff of the new and completely out of element customers entering. Two scrawny flower fresh girls in inconspicuous uniform-like attire, looking plain and straight as an arrow. The saying "bull in a China shop" but as if curiously reversed "China in a bull shop". Daisy somewhat fit the bill better but you-you did not look hip enough to be in a record store, or the state of California. Even if it was a dingy strip mall. Which made you all the more nervous.

A few other customers sleuthed the aisles, clearly regulars. You tried to stay out of everyone's way while you tried to keep track of Daisy darting into the vinyl labyrinth. You scanned the sea of music. Tracing your fingers along the spines of sleeves. So much rock music! You glanced around to see Daisy already chatting up one of the grungy male employees. Your eyes caught a gorgeous vibrant yellow sleeve and you plucked it out. 'Are you experienced' by Jimi Hendrix.

You'd heard of him you think. Maybe on the news somewhere? He seems like a big rocker name.

You made your way over to the front corner  of the store by the check out where they had open record players where customers could play records and listen to new samples. You held the album in your hands and stared at its dazzling colors. Almost spellbound until;

"Foxey Lady."

The sudden voice snapped you out of your trance and you looked around. Suddenly catching the cashier at the empty register. Did HE say that? To ME? You hesitated to question if he spoke to you. He seemed like the type to cause trouble. Was this a cat call? Is this what cat calling is? One time mother had been cat called in front of a sears and daddy found the man who did it and really gave him a reaming. She warned you about dirty and dangerous men in the streets who call women obscenities for fun. What jerk cat calls a young woman shopping at their own store?

"Excuse me…?" You questioned.

"The record." He pointed to your hands gripping the yellow vinyl.

"Foxey lady. It's the best song on that album." He connected. Your eyes glance back down at the track list and sure enough 'Foxey Lady' was spelled out. Your face suddenly blooms pink in embarrassment as you look back up to him. That's not what you were expecting from this guy.

He leaned his back against the wall behind the counter. It was impossible to tell if he was looking at you because his eyes were protected from a curtain of thick, pretty dark curls and sunglasses….indoors….at night. His arms crossed coolly. He had an aura of mischief about him. He was almost like a ghost. Dressed in all black leather. You'd never seen someone dressed in only black clothes before. Maybe he was a rocker type too.

"Oh..uh….I'll need to give it a listen then." You replied politely and cordially with a nervous smile, averting his face to hide your obvious embarrassment. You became slightly flustered. He didn't drop his attention towards you. You start to fiddle with the record, somehow losing your sense of coordination because you were being watched. Suddenly the record isn't lining up correctly. The lid almost clamps on your hand but something catches it and spares your fingers. You look up again and he's now in front of you, acting like some sort of hero. An intense mixture of tobacco, rubbing alcohol and an almost sweet musk surrounds you. You now see that he is in fact looking at you. You stare at him like a deer in headlights. Stunned, embarrassed and confused at how he managed to sneak his way over to you so quickly. "Here, I'll play it for you." His lips curl up slightly into an almost sickeningly lovely smirk. He places his hand upon yours and kindly removes it out of the way. You step aside and allow him to continue, still stunned and nervous.

Not only had your heart already been on high alert from the firebird thievery, a guy was now in your direct personal space. A potentially dangerous guy. Well no- he wasn't cat calling you after all right? And he just helped you and? He is sort of nicer than you expected. He just seems so...cool?

All up in your personal space. It wasn't like you were a prude! You'd kissed a boy before! Even held hands too. Granted the kiss was on the cheek. But this guy just kind of....took over. His presence was so laid back and yet demanded the attention of the room. It was hard not to want to stare back at him. You wanted to better analyze this predator/prey situation here. If he's so dangerous, why is he being so kind? It took one glance at him up close and you were starting to call bullshit on Aunt Shena's precautions altogether. You'd been in the city for almost an hour and remained entirely unscathed.

Your hand still felt electric from his touch. His eyes only briefly detaching from you to put the record on.

A funky rock ensemble flowed out of the record. The same type of musical pleasure you had heard from the Aerosmith record, revisited your body. A rougher, harder groove than what's on the radio. It was melodic and fierce. The guy redirected himself to you once more. Watching you for your reaction to the song. You nervously nod your head to the beat, meeting his gaze. Once you connect sights, your stomach jumps in a swirl. Butterflies soar in circles inside you. This oddly intimate interaction but you couldn't seem to pull away. Almost spellbound yet again but for an entirely different feeling.

He began mouthing the lyrics, still staring back at you over a sea of tension thick air.

'You know you're a cute little heartbreaker'

Your face is rushing hot. It was almost like he was intentionally singing these words to you.

'And you know you're a sweet little love maker'

He smirked at this one. You turned now what you must have assumed was red with embarrassment. You break your gaze and look down at your shoes and then glance around the shop to locate Daisy. The shop was mainly now empty as the night had grown in. Daisy could still be found giggling away with another boy in the far end of the store. Your heart fluttered rapidly. You suddenly feel the air in front of you grow warmer. Looking back he had stepped closer to you and space between you had shrunk. He continues.

'I wanna take you home-

I won't do you no harm'

He held a smug look on his face as his lips mouthed these totally obscene lyrics to you. Like he knew it was not something you'd ever heard before. Your naïve shock seemed to entertain him.

'You got to be all mine, all mine'

Ooh Foxey Lady.'

"You dig it?" He asked still holding a smirk. "Definitely" You admit all too quickly. He give a slight breathy chuckle. Your sure answer when you had seemed so unsure about everything else til then was cute to him. A gal who was on board for rock n roll was nothing but perfection to him. But you didn't look the part, and that amused him. Your light floral scent drifted sweetly around him, he was unable to ignore you as soon as you had walked in and he had watched your every move. A nervous animal. Timid and clearly not someone he had seen in before. The girls that normally perused Tower Records were hot but they were rough around the edges. You- you were something sweet…something different altogether he thought. You were like a breath of fresh air to him. What's that saying...opposites attract?

"You like it so much you can have it." He said, his voice a lower octave.

"Oh well I was thinking of buying something el-" you started to politely object.

"No. " he laughs at your oblivion. "Just take it. It's yours." He pushes it into your hands. You're a little in shock once more just at the thought of stealing? Twice in one night? You really like the record and you would love to own it...but. You look around nervously.

"Here Foxey, All you." He firmly asserts it into your grasp, lets go and begins to walk back behind his counter.

"Y-you could get into trouble for this you know." You point out with concern for this kind stranger. He waves you off with his hand. "we're closing miss, you'll have to get." busying himself in false cashiering practices he had probably never paid attention to until now. Daisy meets you mid store. She hardly notices the record in your hands or the insane cashier who just let you steal from his store. "I've just met the cutest boy, Y/N! And he’s in his own band! I'll tell you on the way back. “ She giggled. “Let's get sodas maybe too if some where's open." Daisy ushered you to the door, blind in her own personal thrills to notice you looking back over your shoulder to meet the gaze of the cashier once more, who to your delight had removed his sunglasses, already staring back at you, watching you leave. He gave you another sly smile and you returned one of your own, forming some sort of mutual pact of this secret.

Why did he think you would keep this a secret? Why did he trust you like that? You were going to after all, but how did he know?

Doesn’t he care about getting in to trouble?

[literaticat]

Hi! If your client has a bunch of MG books that stand alone but can be considered in the same vein, would you pitch it as having series potential? At what point would you mention the other books?

"Series" can mean different things. But basically, sure, if it has series potential, I'd pitch it as such. And if they were interested, I'd show them a series proposal / pitches for other books in the series. At what point, depends on what kind of series we are talking.

EPISODIC SERIES. Usually following one hero or group of friends or whatever, all set in the same world, with the same general format/style for every book, but with a different issue every book. Each book can be read on its own in any order; the characters don't age much (or they do so very slowly!) These types of series could be literally endless. (Like Nancy Drew, or The Babysitters Club. Or on the TV side, Scooby Doo, the Simpsons, or Law & Order... any sitcom or "monster of the week" type show, really!)

These often ARE conceived as series from the jump, especially for chapter books, so they can all be branded as a series together from book 1. If that's the case, I'd go out with the first book and a series proposal (aka ideas for several further potential books), they might be sold in a multi-book deal. This happens ALWAYS with chapter books (I'd never go out with a totally stand-alone chapter book, publishers buy them in multi-book deals all the time) -- and sometimes but less often with MG books.

ANTHOLOGY SERIES. This is like an off-shoot of the Episodic style series. In this type, the series as a whole has a theme, and every book has the same kind of tone and length, but every book theoretically stands alone and is sometimes vaguely associated with the others, but doesn't have to be. Examples: Goosebumps - usually different kids/different monster in every book though sometimes popular ones make a reappearance, I'm lookin at you SLAPPY! I Survived - different disaster every book. On the TV side, Twilight Zone is a good example -- the only thing REALLY tying those stories together is the tone/style and narrator, each episode is its own thing.

This would likely be conceived as a series from the jump, as above, and if that's the case, again, I'd go out with the first book and the series proposal from the start.

PROGRESSIVE SERIES: Usually following one hero or group of friends or whatever, all set in the same world, and with different issues every book, BUT, there is a "Big Bad" or mystery or something that the overarching series is trying to solve, a story told the whole series long, time passes during the series, you DO sort of have to read them in order to get the full effect, and there is a conclusion. Like Harry Potter, or on the TV side, any "Limited Series" type show. White Lotus, say.

IF book one CAN stand alone -- like, the story of the book concludes, BUT there is obviously more story to be told / a larger thing happening -- I'd probably go out with it as a stand-alone but mention that there are more potential books, that it could be a series, and I'd have a series proposal that sketches that out, etc, and if they liked it they might want to know what future books would look like, so I'd show that to them at that point..

COMPANION BOOKS. These books completely stand alone, BUT they are set in the same world. So maybe each book is about different members of the same family, or a group of best friends -- each one has a story that is totally discrete, the series aren't numbered on the spine, you can read them in any order. (MANY MANY Romance novels are this way -- think Bridgerton, where each Bridgerton sibling gets their own book with their own romance, and yes, the other characters make cameos, but you don't need to have read their book to understand what is happening at all! On the kid's side, the Casson Family book by Hilary Mckay is an example.)

This, I'd likely go out with whatever book as a stand-alone, but mention in the pitch that there are ideas for other books set in the same world, each following a different sibling / friend / whatever. And if they were interested, talk to them about that or show them brief pitches of other potential stories. But this would probably sell as a stand-alone, and if it did well, they might add more books.

[drownedinlight]

Scene just popped into my head. Daniel and the daughters are sitting around talking. Then the girls mention something from about their old baby sitter and Daniel connects some dots. And then this appeared in the box.

Kate was still puttering around the great room while Lenore and Dad had taken their seats. "Dubai..." she would mutter with a huff every so often. "Du-freaking-bai." As she muttered and puttered, she would pull dry dishes from Lenore's dish rack and put them away, or tidy something that looked fairly neat to Lenore's eye. They had always had different ideas of clean.

"Kate," said Lenore, then again when her sister didn't stop. "Kate, come sit down. You're just giving yourself and anxiety attack and a migraine and you know it."

Kate huffed, but came and sat in the blue wing back Lenore liked to sit in most, but left for her sister because she knew Kate wasn't in a mood to sit next to dad. "Tell me, please, you have weed."

Lenore rose from her seat and went to her buffet and hutch, pulling open one of the drawers to pull out a stash of edibles. "Dad, when's the last time you got weed high? It's not going to trigger any cravings is it?"

"Didn't when I got high on the plane to Dubai," said Dad with a snort.

Lenore turned to him and made the "t'skt!" noise she did when Bo the Cat was getting into trash he wasn't supposed to. Dad held up his hands in supplication.

Lenore hadn't been to the dispensary in a minute, so all she had left were 10 mg THC gummies which would get each of them high off their asses. As fun as it would be to see Kate that high, the come down would not be great, so Lenore sliced one up three ways and passed them around.

"Salut," she said, making a pretend toast.

Dad and Kate toasted her back before they chewed and swallowed the little bit of gummy.

Lenore sat down next to Dad again and opened up her grocery store app to order snacks, since she didn't really have much in the house. "So what's it about?" she asked, selecting corn-free cheese puffs for Kate and soy-free cheese puffs for herself. Dad didn't have any allergies or intolerances (except to heroin, the bastard).

"What's what about?" Dad asked, slouching on her couch.

"The book. The one you went all the way to the UAE to research."

"Yeah," said Kate, looking over Lenore's shoulder. "At least tell us that much -- oh, Nory, you have to the Rhine River snacks, they're the best."

Lenore added some to her basket.

"It's about how memory is a monster," said Dad, leaning back in his seat.

"That's a good line," said Lenore.

"Thinking of opening with it."

"Vague, though," said Kate, taking the phone from Lenore's hand and looking up others of her favorite snacks.

Dad shrugged. "What can I say -- it revolves around someone's memoirs. If it wasn't about memory, that would be a little weird."

Lenore remembered, as a kid, going through some of her dad's old things (though she hadn't known they were his at the time), and finding old cassettes. She had her own cassette player, to listen to books on tape they would check out from the library, so she had popped on in and started it, only to listen to the story told by a woman about what it was like to work as a topless waitress and dancer, and how sometimes, she would blow men for extra money, but only if her boss didn't see. Not because he would fire her, but because he would want a cut. Dad had raced into the room when he realized what she was listening to and hit the "stop button." It was the fastest she had ever seen him move.

In college, when she had access to a wealth of databases, she had been futzing around with a national newspaper archive and decided to put her dad's name in. There were thousands of results (he had, after all, one a pulitzer by that point and had recently been nominated for his second), so she had narrowed it down to the seventies. Then the titty tape had made sense -- Dad used to interview people. Just regular people. And the paper he worked for published the interviews. It was fascinating -- not only to see a time capsule of human life, but of her father.

So in this moment, hearing that he went to interview someone about their whole life, working with them on a memoir, Lenore grinned and said, "Old school of you -- did this fella ever wait tables?"

Kate giggled.

Dad mock groaned and rolled his eyes.

"It is funny, though, since you never had the best memory," said Kate. "Like, I mean generally -- I'm not picking a fight. You never really got people's names or faces."

Lenore was like that too. She liked to say that she was lucky to work in a field where everyone wore nametags.

Dad blinked, almost pouting at them. "Like what?"

Kate covered her eyes. "Like what color are my eyes?"

Lenore laughed, but Dad rolled his eyes again. "They're blue-green, like mine. Lenore's are blue-blue. Try again."

"Like, you never remembered any of our teachers or coaches or anything," said Kate.

"They changed every year."

"Or what about our baby-sitter. We had him for years all through his undergrad and grad school and you never once remembered his name."

"Who? Aaron? I remember Aaron."

"His name wasn't Aaron," Lenore interjected.

"Yes it was."

"No," said Lenore. "It was Arun. He was Indian."

"God, Arun was the best," said Kate, veering off onto the topic of their old babysitter. "He'd make us naan and put in a sci-fi movie --"

"Usually blade runner," said Lenore.

"Yeah, and he'd just sit with us all night, listening to whatever, playing games."

Lenore tensed and tried to take stock of why. She was starting to feel the high a little, so it couldn't be that, but then she realized that Dad had tensed up right next to her. "Dad?" Lenore asked, turning to him. "Are you okay?"

"What... what did Arun look like?" he asked.

"Fuck, he was so pretty," said Kate, dragging her fingers down her face. "and his eyes, ugh his eyes -- they were... were they brown?"

"They were amber," said Lenore, still looking at Dad. "Dad, talk to me."

Dad's hand had started to grip his pants leg, but Lenore could still see it and feel it start to shake. "That bastard," Dad said. "I'm going to kill him."

Lenore held up a hand when Kate had begun to question why Dad wanted to kill their old babysitter. "Did... Did something happen, Dad? More than just the memoir?" Lenore reached out and took his hand, uncurling his fingers from his jeans so she could hold it in hers.

Dad had grown red with anger, but when he turned to face her, Lenore could see tears pooling in his eyes and already slipping down his face. "Yeah, baby. A lot has happened. Some of it was before either of you were born, and it's just coming back to me now. Fuck. How long was he there? Has he always been here? And I just never knew?"

"Oh god..." Lenore squeezed her eyes shut. "Dad, I'm sorry, I can tell you're freaking out, but I feel like I'm doing math with half the equation and getting a very disturbing answer. I -- we -- need a little more."

"Was he always good to you?" Dad asked, squeezing Lenore's hand, or trying to. "He never hurt you, never yelled at you? You never lost time around him?"

"Lost time?" Kate asked, leaning forward. "What the fuck, Dad?"

The doorbell rang. No one moved to answer it. Io the Dog started barking and Lenore called up at her to calm down.

"Dad, are you saying that Arun... did things to us?" Kate asked, her voice morphing into a squeak at the end.

A metal scraping caught Lenore's attention, and as she looked toward the sound, she saw her deadbolt turning of it's own accord. "What the fuck...?"

Dad and Kate's gaze followed hers as the deadbolt clicked back and the front door opened, a man stepping inside. He was just as Lenore remembered -- warm brown skin, soft curling hair, and eyes like amber. Beautiful, like Kate had said.

Bo the Cat nearly ran passed him, but Arun scooped the cat up with a gentle grace before he closed the door behind him.

"Bottom Feeder!" said Lenore jumping to her feet, holding her hands out for her cat.

Suddenly, everyone was looking at her.

"You named your cat 'Bottom Feeder?'" Dad asked, a startling giggle dropping from his lips.

"No!" said Lenore, as she took the tabby from Arun. "Someone at the shelter named him Bottom Feeder since they found him in a dumpster! That's why I call him Bo most of the time -- well, and because Bo and Io are cute together, and I did name Io."

Arun tilted his head to the side, a slight smile coming to his face. "For the record, Katherine, Lenore, no, I never did anything to you other than what you remember. And Daniel, I never needed to take any of their memories."

"I am either too high, or not high enough for this conversation," said Kate.

"You hadn't told them," said Arun.

"Not yet," said Dad, mildly. "We were coming around to it."

Arun smiled. "Girls, you may wish to sit. Your father was just about to tell you that I am a vampire."

[chairteeth]

“Nemu Hiiragi: The Shadow”

The promised Magius Nemu essay arrives. I have given up on proper essay formatting and will simply leave my analyses in semi-rant form because my brain is too chaotic and goes on too many tangents. It cannot be tamed. Informal essay under the cut!

So. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has heard others refer to Nemu as a shadow, Touka 2.0, or some other frankly reductive term. Most of the time, unless her creations come up, she’s not discussed at all, and even then… barely. That’s not exactly surprising. Given Nemu’s normally calm demeanor, and the fact that she and Touka are joined at the hip, it’s only natural that Touka would be the one to get the most attention, the one who stands out. Where Touka is the boisterous sun, Nemu is the humble moon. Today, we turn our eyes to the moon.

There is so much to talk about when it comes to Magius Nemu and pretty much all of it is going to make you really sad. Much like Touka and all other magical girls, she led a double life the entire time, but in her case, when she “traded one terminal illness for another” she got the short end of the stick. Imagine being a writer and discovering that your magic allows you to give physical form to your stories, to breathe life into your creations—literally. Now picture finding out later down the line that each time you use it, it consumes so much magic that it shaves off pieces of your very life force. That’s one slap in the face. But, it gets worse.

Let me lay out everything we know about how Magius Nemu’s sacrifices affected her physically, and how each of the people around her responded to her worsening condition. First, we know it causes pain severe enough to temporarily affect her vision and speech, and severe enough to make her fall to the ground, though she doesn’t always faint from it. We know it inflicts exhaustion and that even something like releasing an uwasa for the first time can make her pass out on the spot, so presumably it’s a lengthy process that takes a toll on her at every stage (well not sure about conceptualization, but creation and release definitely do). A voiced example of one of these episodes is in Arc 1 Chapter 8, 4:02:36 - 4:03:43 if you're watching the video.

Now, as for the people around Nemu, starting from more distant to closest. Her family? Oblivious, responsible for her state of emotional deprivation and for several other issues. Alina? Ehh she seems to either not care or care very little, which is properly Alina-esque of her. Mifuyu? Oh let me talk about MIFUYU for a second. Disclaimer, despite her many sins committed against my favorite characters, I do love the sheep, she’s too much of a failure, I cannot hate her. But Mifuyu “I want to be a nurse” Azusa is insensitive beyond belief, and I was honestly surprised when they appointed her to be some sort of… ethics teacher for Touka? Bruh. You see, an MGS is supposed to put us in the shoes of whatever character it’s about. That’s what it does. However my brain is broken and perceives the world from a TouNemu perspective by default. Which means I had a completely different reading of Mifuyu’s MGS. I am going to illustrate my point with screenshots this time because I happen to have them on hand.

Mifuyu says this about Touka and Nemu getting worked up over Alina wanting to prioritize witches above rumors. But. Here’s the thing. The thing that Mifuyu seems to be missing completely. Rumors are created by Nemu, through a sacrifice of her own life force that worsens her pain and makes her suffer more with each subsequent use. Evidently, the girls reply that no, they don’t think they were getting too emotional.

YOU THINK? Have you given any thought to why that could possibly be the case, Mifuyu? But, okay, fine, we can look past this. Alright. Next scene, it’s Touka and Nemu being upset that Yachiyo just destroyed the Divorce Stairs (I call them that, but for clarification, it’s the Friendship-Ending Staircase). I’m going to bring something up that I don’t believe is exactly contradicted by canon, though not confirmed either, but I’d be willing to believe by the fact that Nemu knows of Iroha (by name and I assume appearance) that there’s a psychic link of some kind between the uwasa and their creator. That would make sense, considering they are made of her magic and have pieces of her life force. If this is true, then that massacre Iroha and Yachiyo go on during Arc 1 Chapter 7 is far, far worse.

But alright, back to the scene. Touka is standing up for Nemu here, and Mifuyu proceeds to go and dismiss their feelings because, as she says in her thoughts, “they’re just children”. Okay, Mifuyu, hear me out. They’re 11-12. They’re not toddlers. Just because they’re children doesn’t make their emotions invalid, unimportant, or not worth considering. Particularly in this case, where they have a good reason to be upset. Nemu even mentions the life force she’s using up and Mifuyu’s first and only thought is “Yacchan…” (this is a repeating pattern).

The next relevant scene is one where Mifuyu does something Alina has also done and Touka hasn't: ask Nemu to make a rumor for her.

Nemu reminds her that it comes at a cost, and that she’s using up her life for this. Nemu gives in, of course. I will talk about this imminently. First though, the final scene of Mifuyu’s MGS. Where Mifuyu repeats the previous pattern but worse. How exactly is it worse? I’ll let the screenshots speak for themselves here. Nemu and Mifuyu meet at the shrine where the uwasa is going to be released, Nemu does the deed, and faints, then Mifuyu reacts like this:

These screenshots are less than a second apart. It is the immediate follow-up. Absolutely zero concern for one of the people she’s supposed to be responsible for who just did her a pretty big favor (as if you needed someone’s blood to open a door, they stabbed themselves to get you the blood, and then you left them on the ground in pain). So yes Mifuyu is insensitive and she is not helping Nemu’s view of adults. Relatedly, before I move to talking about Touka, since I’d like to actually end this on a non-depressing note, I’m going to circle back a little to Nemu’s family.

I am infamous for not liking Nemu’s family. Her parents, mainly. Her brother, for as much of a snotty brat as he is to her, is presumably still very tiny and has had scarce interactions with his sister, therefore leading to the way Nemu describes their relationship (“strangers”). As a slight aside, Nemu does try very hard to have a relationship with her brother, not only in her MGS, but in her solo Christmas quotes where she’s lost on what to get as a gift for a kid that likes soccer and asks Homescreen-chan for advice. And you see, Nemu has this thing where once you get past a certain point with her, she becomes a people pleaser. Unlike when Ui’s parents have visited before (seen in TouNemu’s Christmas MGS), Nemu was shocked to hear that her mother and brother had come to see her. This leads me to believe the visits are an extremely rare occurrence and that there is no other contact besides them. Ui’s parents at least video call her, from what the quotes say.

And now we have reached the point where it’s unavoidable and I have to talk about Nemu’s emotional trauma. Her family does not seem to know about her writing, which was a good call because it shielded her from much of the gifted kid trauma. However, that doesn’t mean her parents’ actions (or lack thereof) were without consequence. A lot of these might be subconscious, so bear with me a second. At this point in the timeline, Nemu struggles to believe that others will meet her needs or care for her. She seeks affirmation, acceptance, approval, and fortunately seems to get it in the form of her website and Touka during this era.

Let me give you some examples of Nemu’s people-pleasing tendencies, as any kid would learn that catering to the needs and desires of others can sometimes lead to a sense of belonging or validation—she explicitly wants that, she is aware that she wants to feel loved. This is immensely obvious with her family’s visits, where her first reaction isn’t good but then she plays along and puts up a happier face (which drops literally as soon as her mother and brother are out of the room), even apologizing for the slightest inconvenience regardless of whether or not the reaction to that inconvenience was bad (the book that was hard to find, the general Presence™ of her family in the room, apologizes again for talking about her feelings, etc). So that she doesn’t have to burden them with her feelings. So that her mother can feel like she’s fulfilled her duty by walking into the room, giving Nemu a rundown of what the family has been up to, and leaving without really actually spending any real quality time with her or bothering to really ask about her. Touka gets (righteously) angry in Nemu’s stead once her mother and brother have left precisely because of this. Nemu proceeds to, like many children in her position, defend her parents completely and then chastise herself for “looking down on them”. Touka and Ui both understand at least the heart of the issues at play here, and express as much. My point here isn’t exactly “Nemu’s parents are equivalent to Sana’s” or anything, it’s more that they’re extremely oblivious and their actions (and lack thereof) have hurt Nemu deeply.

That habit Nemu’s parents have of never truly showing interest in their daughter’s life seems to remain after the hospital, and then they’re focused on her brother’s comfort. Not Nemu’s. Never Nemu’s. Then, later on, in the Wings of the Magius, every time someone asks her to make a rumor (read: sacrifice a piece of her life force and make herself feel physically worse presumably forever), she agrees. Mifuyu asks her to, yeah sure. Alina wants a rumor? Of course. I won’t count when everyone asked her for stuff to add to Fendt Hope solely because I’m not sure Fendt Hope works like normal rumors do. Something, something, difficulty setting and maintaining healthy boundaries, struggling to distinguish her own needs from the needs of others…

A child who learned that her voice and desires were not prioritized in such critical stages of her life naturally struggles to articulate her own needs and wants. Prime example, Fendt Hope’s creation. She listens to the others give their ideas for it, never suggesting anything herself after reminding them of her usefulness. Until. Touka asks. When she does, Nemu seems almost taken aback. She apologizes. Nothing comes to mind. That very same day, she gets home, tries again to have some sort of positive interaction or time with her brother, gets rejected. As soon as an alternative form of service (doing the dishes for her exhausted mother so that she may help her brother with homework) presents itself, she practically jumps at the opportunity. The scene after that one, with the way she views Touka, Alina, and Mifuyu, vs the way she views her mother and brother, only makes this more obvious. How is Nemu supposed to feel any sense of value at home? At least as a magical girl, she’s useful. At least as a Magius, she has people who know her. The feelings of low self-worth aren’t as obvious on Nemu as they are on many of the other girls who have them, though.

The next time there’s a Magius meeting, this time to decide on a name for their base, Touka is again the one who asks Nemu for her opinion. It’s important to note that Touka is never once hostile, aggressive, or even annoyed when she does this. She considers Nemu’s thoughts and feelings more than anyone. Heck, Nemu would have no way to doubt Touka’s care for her considering their history and the way she acts.

Now I get to talk about the relationship between Magius Nemu and Magius Touka. If I start gushing incoherently, I apologize in advance. I covered a bit of Magius Touka’s attitude towards Nemu in the essay dedicated to her, and slightly in this one, but now I want to draw attention to how incredibly sweet Touka can be when it comes to Nemu. Nemu desperately needs that reliability and that love Touka provides, the hope she brings. And Touka is the one person who openly shows her care, attention. Over and over again.

Touka considers Nemu an equal. During the main story, as I said in my Magius Touka essay, she shows concern for Nemu’s health and wellbeing when no one else does. This goes beyond her magic-given affliction! I only wish we had more bits and pieces from that era, but as for what we do have… Well, I have to point at Nemu’s swimsuit costume story for the easiest and shortest point of reference. I’d use screenshots, but if I did, I would just end up showing you every single piece of dialogue and expression.

In that costume story, Touka and Nemu are at Fendt Hope, talking about their future trip to the beach (which they made plans for together in Touka’s swimsuit costume story). Nemu has her insecurities, and she’s shy about putting on the swimsuit, but then Touka proceeds to be incredibly supportive by first making her feel comfortable—for some reason she also had her own swimsuit lying around and offered to wear it too because Nemu mentioned it’d be embarrassing if she was the only one wearing a swimsuit and Touka was wearing clothes—then as soon as Nemu expresses self-doubt, she doubles down via genuine compliments (these two compliment each other way more than you think, even in main story Touka praises Nemu for her ideas). This is also a rare occasion where we’re shown that Nemu’s parents, or her mom at least, who seems more present than her dad, mean no harm, since it was Nemu’s mother who helped pick out every element of her swimsuit. After that, Touka goes off to change back into her school uniform, and Nemu is “uncharacteristically giddy” (as she states) looking at herself in the mirror. Touka gets back, and Nemu is startled to have been caught in a vulnerable state, but, critically, Touka is happy to see her happy and doesn’t tease her, although Nemu (jokingly, blushing) laments that letting Touka read her heart is the greatest failure of her life. Nemu asks Touka to listen. And Touka complies. Nemu trusts Touka with her heart, with her honest feelings, and knows Touka will never hurt her. That’s why she’s able to be so sincere with her. This is shown in Nemu’s Tap 8 quote, where she also refers to Touka as trustworthy (Touka has a matching Tap 8 quote, and hers is about how reliable Nemu is for her). This relationship, no matter what it is, is deeply important to both participants.

Finally, to end this glorified rant… I know I used the sun and moon metaphor earlier, but. I would like to borrow the words of Nemu in one of my fics: “It’s silent at night. Touka stays up with her telescope, I stay up reading nearby. We are stardust brought to life. A quiet place, just for us. The gentlest fire in us, like binary stars.” (I’m sorry but the binary stars comparison is too good not to mention). Their connection was there before the Magius, and after everything they went through, their lives became irreversibly bound, intertwined beyond the understanding of quite literally anyone else. They practically always speak in plural, the time they spend together has been on the rise, and at the time of writing? To avoid spoiling Arc 2 Chapter 12, I won’t go into specifics, but the relationship has reached a beautiful point that I will froth at the mouth about eventually.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the Nemu essay, I went slightly more feral this time so apologies for that. I’ll see how soon the hospital era essay can be thrown into the wild. Nishi out!

[icycoldninja]

Okay I’d just like to say that your account is a GODSEND and ily for it!!!🩷😭 Especially since there’s not much MGS content, let alone surrounding MGS2 Raiden (sobbing)

I was basically wondering if I could have a fluff request with MGS2 Raiden where the reader just practically dotes on Raiden? Like maybe the reader comes home from a long day of shopping just to surprise Raiden with gifts they bought for him and maybe even feeding him some sweets or something? And maybe afterwards some physical affection like cuddling? Thanks! <3 (I am SO sorry if this request is cringe😭)

AWW THANK YOU SO MUCH 💜 A while back I discovered that there are several characters I adore (Raiden included) that don't get a lot of attention or fanfics made about them so I decided, F it, I'm gonna write my own fanfics. I'm so glad you decided to request, and don't worry, it's not cringe. 😁 One serving of tooth-rotting fluff coming right up!

Besotted (MGS2!Raiden x reader)

You fumbled with your keys, cycling through each one until you found the house key you were locking for. Giddily, you slid it into the lock and swung the door open, entering the quiet solace of your home. "You're back," Raiden called from the couch, nodding at you with a soft smile on his face. "Have fun?" You nodded, setting down the bags you were carrying on the coffee table. "I got presents for you!" Raiden blinked a few times, unsure of whether or not he heard that right. "Presents?" You nodded brightly, reaching into one of the bags and pulling out a light blue, oversized sweater. "For you." You said, placing it into his arms. Raiden examined the garment with great curiosity, before smiling widely. "Thanks. I love it." He immediately tugged off his shirt and slipped the sweater on, sinking back into the couch when he felt how soft and fuzzy it was.

"Ah, but there's more," You said, grinning. Reaching into one of the other bags, you pulled out a set of fluffy white tiger slippers and a beautiful crystal pendant. "All for me?" Raiden asked, as you shoved the items into his hands. "All for you!" Raiden chuckled, a light blush spreading across his face. "Thank you so much, Y/N..this is amazing." He wasted no time in sliding the slippers onto his feet and clasping the pendant around his neck. "How do I look?" You beamed, throwing your arms around him and squealing. "Friggin' gorgeous!" Raiden returned your hug full force, squeezing you so tightly you heard you spine pop in some places. "I love you, Y/N," He whispered, resting his head on your shoulder. "I really do." You playfully mussed up his hair, still smiling widely. "I'm glad--all I want to do is spoil you." Raiden's blush suddenly deepened; he cleared his throat several times before lying down on the couch and spreading his arms wide welcomingly. "Want to help me break in this new sweater?"

You wasted no time in tackling him, hooking your limbs around his and lying flat (or as flat as you could) on his chest. "So warm..." You mumbled, running your hands up and down his torso. "It is, isn't it? Good for winter." You nodded your agreement before closing your eyes and drifting off to sleep, surrounded by warmth and love.

[ginsengkittensecondary]

I HAVE MOVED TO MY MAIN. PLEASE FOLLOW GINSENGKITTEN FOR UPDATES. STORY WILL CONTINUE THERE. <3

༺ Beautiful Dangerous༻

A slashxreader fanfiction

༺☆༻

Chapter One:

Tower Records

word count: approx.: 2900

☆ Authors Notes ☆

ty for reading. This is mostly a world building intro but I hope y’all like it :) - also I will be including photos and music that inspires or I felt matches each chapter, just for fun. This story takes place in some sort of fictional timeframe of 1984-85 ish when GNR had just started developing/finalizing their OG line up. I know not all the pics and timelines necessarily add up but this literally isn’t real so whatever!

Track list:

You really got me - The Kinks

Green Onions - Booker T. & the M.G.s

Foxey Lady - Jimi Hendrix

Your parents had shipped you out to your cousins home in the Hollywood Hills every summer since you were 10. The sprawling green hills sprinkled with Tuscan topped mansions upheld to excite you. Simply because there was so much more to be discovered outside of the ritz. This summer was going to be perhaps the best one yet, because now that you were turning 18, Uncle Rob would finally allow you to go down into the city for the first time.

Uncle Rob and Aunt Shena were the most uptight, stick up the ass, pair of individuals to bethrall the hills. You would think with the unceasing access to every pill, herb, and juice in Hollywood from Robs fancy job would have eased them up over the years; their long time neighbor, Dave, was one of the most sought out coke suppliers in the area - or at least that's what your cousin Daisy has told you- and Daisy liked to dramatize occasionally.... Daisy also says that her parents think too much ibuprofen could spell a trip to the confessional at church. This statement however was proven to be true because of the time Aunt Shena almost refused to give you a 50 mg Tylenol the time you had started your period in their guest bedroom.

Needless to say, it was in agreement with your own parents that you'd not be permitted to go down to the city until you were 18. "The city is where the devil preys on gods most vulnerable and precious spirits" Aunt Shena would recite this at least ten times throughout each summer visit, sure to remind you of the evil that lurked in the streets below. Most summer weeks were spent at the house, but it sure beat Indiana summers back home. Mondays were family nights at home, Tuesdays were beach days, Wednesdays were usually home days too but occasionally sailing on the family boat was allotted. You didn't have a boat back home in Indiana. Daddy's money was steady but not BOAT money steady. Plus it was Indiana- where would the sailing even take place? Lake Michigan?

Thursdays, the cinema would have discount movie matinees. If the film had been pre approved through the other moms in Aunt Shenas crochet circle, then she would take you and Daisy to go see it as a treat. Occasionally, Daisy would ask to use the restroom and you both would sneak into another screen room to peek at the other movies you weren't allowed to see, up until you accidentally snuck into a showing of 'The Evil Dead'. Both you and Daisy had nightmares for weeks and her parents couldn't figure out why, and no shot in hell would either of you admit what happened.

Daisy was fun and secretive like that. You appreciated her ability to lie straight to her parents face. Daisy liked to adventure a little bit more than what her parents would allow. Naturally she became versed in the art of bullshitting her parents.

Daisy was almost like a stranger to her parents. It was sad in a way but mostly just impressive. Daisy would steal cigarettes from her dad and stash them in her pencil case and sell them to the other girls in her church group. She also snuck out regularly, mostly to the local park to meet up with boys from school. She was brave. Real brave. She was cool. Real fucking cool. In fact, she was so cool and so brave, that she got the mastermind plan to steal her fathers Pontiac Firebird while he was away on business and Aunt Shena was knocked unconscious from her qualludes. (But god forbid ibuprofen right?).

"I don't know why I hadn't done this sooner!" Daisy bounced in the drivers seat like a mental patient. The engine cried out aggressively and the whole vehicle roared awake. There’s no way the entire street didn’t hear that. "And you're SURE your mother isn't going to find out? What about your daddy?" You pegged for final assurance from Daisy before becoming an accessory to theft. "Daddy won't ever know. You know why? Cuz' you remember Jeff from my church? He showed me how to roll back the odometer on a car in exchange for...well for never-mind but you don't gotta sweat about a thing Y/N. Now cut the square talk we gotta get to Tower Records before it closes!".

That's another thing Daisy kept secret. Her music. Daisy had a whole stack of vinyl records along with a record player, stashed under her bed. She would purchase raunchy records like Tina Turner and Cheap Trick, and slide them in the back of the more inconspicuous records like Chuck Girard and Bob Dylan. One of Daisy's boyfriends last summer had gifted her an Aerosmith record. Daisy played it for you once and that's how you first learned what rock music was. Some kind of bug bit you then. You itched to hear more, but between the uber cult of Daisy's parents and your own sheltered family back in indiana, who were perpetually trapped in the era of disco music, rock music was hard to come by. Rock music was foreign to you but felt familiar. You'd never felt a craving for sound before hearing it. So when Daisy devised to steal her dads car to go visit Tower Records in the city, you shoved all notion of "evils that lurk below" and the two of you ripped down to the sunset strip.

-

It wasn't that you weren't adventurous too. You could be if you wanted to. You were just too busy to be bothered with mischief like Daisy. While you believed yourself to be an open minded individual, it was clear Aunt Shenas repeated affirmations of danger sat in the back of your mind, welling up further and further to the forefront while the lights of the city glittered closer and closer into view.

"Wow wow wow Y/N...look at it all right? You seein this?" Daisy's eyes glazed over as the neon lights poured over the Pontiac. It was like nothing you had ever seen before. Or her. Daisy had only made it down to the city a handful of times but never at night. Each building had its own neon get up signage. Loads of people strolled the night street. It was busy! Your heart pounded in your chest a little bit. Fear and excitement all in one. You couldn't take your eyes off the passing sceneries. You tried to take it all in. Burger joints you had seen a million commercials for bustled with crews of hot rods parked in the parking lots, engines proudly displayed. Beautiful women leaning into the windows of old rusty cars, hung out on the darker corners in big groups for some reason. Was everyone down here revolting against wearing clothes?

"Tower Records baby!" Daisy sang as she pulled into the parking lot. Huh. It wasn't really a tower like the name had suggested. Rather a dingy stand alone strip mall off the corner of the strip. The disappointing reality shocked you back to your more cautious senses. If anyone finds out we're here we're totally busted.

You stepped out of the car and a wall of hollywoods finest scents burned your nose. The air down here wasn't like the air in the hills. Air can't be so different like that can it? "God I hope they have the new Cyndi Lauper release." Daisy said, pushing into the store door with her back.

The door chirped out a small out of tune "ding!" To notify the staff of the new and completely out of element customers entering. Two scrawny flower fresh girls in inconspicuous uniform-like attire, looking plain and straight as an arrow. The saying "bull in a China shop" but as if curiously reversed "China in a bull shop". Daisy somewhat fit the bill better but you-you did not look hip enough to be in a record store, or the state of California. Even if it was a dingy strip mall. Which made you all the more nervous.

A few other customers sleuthed the aisles, clearly regulars. You tried to stay out of everyone's way while you tried to keep track of Daisy darting into the vinyl labyrinth. You scanned the sea of music. Tracing your fingers along the spines of sleeves. So much rock music! You glanced around to see Daisy already chatting up one of the grungy male employees. Your eyes caught a gorgeous vibrant yellow sleeve and you plucked it out. 'Are you experienced' by Jimi Hendrix.

You'd heard of him you think. Maybe on the news somewhere? He seems like a big rocker name.

You made your way over to the front corner  of the store by the check out where they had open record players where customers could play records and listen to new samples. You held the album in your hands and stared at its dazzling colors. Almost spellbound until;

"Foxey Lady."

The sudden voice snapped you out of your trance and you looked around. Suddenly catching the cashier at the empty register. Did HE say that? To ME? You hesitated to question if he spoke to you. He seemed like the type to cause trouble. Was this a cat call? Is this what cat calling is? One time mother had been cat called in front of a sears and daddy found the man who did it and really gave him a reaming. She warned you about dirty and dangerous men in the streets who call women obscenities for fun. What jerk cat calls a young woman shopping at their own store?

"Excuse me…?" You questioned.

"The record." He pointed to your hands gripping the yellow vinyl.

"Foxey lady. It's the best song on that album." He connected. Your eyes glance back down at the track list and sure enough 'Foxey Lady' was spelled out. Your face suddenly blooms pink in embarrassment as you look back up to him. That's not what you were expecting from this guy.

He leaned his back against the wall behind the counter. It was impossible to tell if he was looking at you because his eyes were protected from a curtain of thick, pretty dark curls and sunglasses….indoors….at night. His arms crossed coolly. He had an aura of mischief about him. He was almost like a ghost. Dressed in all black leather. You'd never seen someone dressed in only black clothes before. Maybe he was a rocker type too.

"Oh..uh….I'll need to give it a listen then." You replied politely and cordially with a nervous smile, averting his face to hide your obvious embarrassment. You became slightly flustered. He didn't drop his attention towards you. You start to fiddle with the record, somehow losing your sense of coordination because you were being watched. Suddenly the record isn't lining up correctly. The lid almost clamps on your hand but something catches it and spares your fingers. You look up again and he's now in front of you, acting like some sort of hero. An intense mixture of tobacco, rubbing alcohol and an almost sweet musk surrounds you. You now see that he is in fact looking at you. You stare at him like a deer in headlights. Stunned, embarrassed and confused at how he managed to sneak his way over to you so quickly. "Here, I'll play it for you." His lips curl up slightly into an almost sickeningly lovely smirk. He places his hand upon yours and kindly removes it out of the way. You step aside and allow him to continue, still stunned and nervous.

Not only had your heart already been on high alert from the firebird thievery, a guy was now in your direct personal space. A potentially dangerous guy. Well no- he wasn't cat calling you after all right? And he just helped you and? He is sort of nicer than you expected. He just seems so...cool?

All up in your personal space. It wasn't like you were a prude! You'd kissed a boy before! Even held hands too. Granted the kiss was on the cheek. But this guy just kind of....took over. His presence was so laid back and yet demanded the attention of the room. It was hard not to want to stare back at him. You wanted to better analyze this predator/prey situation here. If he's so dangerous, why is he being so kind? It took one glance at him up close and you were starting to call bullshit on Aunt Shena's precautions altogether. You'd been in the city for almost an hour and remained entirely unscathed.

Your hand still felt electric from his touch. His eyes only briefly detaching from you to put the record on.

A funky rock ensemble flowed out of the record. The same type of musical pleasure you had heard from the Aerosmith record, revisited your body. A rougher, harder groove than what's on the radio. It was melodic and fierce. The guy redirected himself to you once more. Watching you for your reaction to the song. You nervously nod your head to the beat, meeting his gaze. Once you connect sights, your stomach jumps in a swirl. Butterflies soar in circles inside you. This oddly intimate interaction but you couldn't seem to pull away. Almost spellbound yet again but for an entirely different feeling.

He began mouthing the lyrics, still staring back at you over a sea of tension thick air.

'You know you're a cute little heartbreaker'

Your face is rushing hot. It was almost like he was intentionally singing these words to you.

'And you know you're a sweet little love maker'

He smirked at this one. You turned now what you must have assumed was red with embarrassment. You break your gaze and look down at your shoes and then glance around the shop to locate Daisy. The shop was mainly now empty as the night had grown in. Daisy could still be found giggling away with another boy in the far end of the store. Your heart fluttered rapidly. You suddenly feel the air in front of you grow warmer. Looking back he had stepped closer to you and space between you had shrunk. He continues.

'I wanna take you home-

I won't do you no harm'

He held a smug look on his face as his lips mouthed these totally obscene lyrics to you. Like he knew it was not something you'd ever heard before. Your naïve shock seemed to entertain him.

'You got to be all mine, all mine'

Ooh Foxey Lady.'

"You dig it?" He asked still holding a smirk. "Definitely" You admit all too quickly. He give a slight breathy chuckle. Your sure answer when you had seemed so unsure about everything else til then was cute to him. A gal who was on board for rock n roll was nothing but perfection to him. But you didn't look the part, and that amused him. Your light floral scent drifted sweetly around him, he was unable to ignore you as soon as you had walked in and he had watched your every move. A nervous animal. Timid and clearly not someone he had seen in before. The girls that normally perused Tower Records were hot but they were rough around the edges. You- you were something sweet…something different altogether he thought. You were like a breath of fresh air to him. What's that saying...opposites attract?

"You like it so much you can have it." He said, his voice a lower octave.

"Oh well I was thinking of buying something el-" you started to politely object.

"No. " he laughs at your oblivion. "Just take it. It's yours." He pushes it into your hands. You're a little in shock once more just at the thought of stealing? Twice in one night? You really like the record and you would love to own it...but. You look around nervously.

"Here Foxey, All you." He firmly asserts it into your grasp, lets go and begins to walk back behind his counter.

"Y-you could get into trouble for this you know." You point out with concern for this kind stranger. He waves you off with his hand. "we're closing miss, you'll have to get." busying himself in false cashiering practices he had probably never paid attention to until now. Daisy meets you mid store. She hardly notices the record in your hands or the insane cashier who just let you steal from his store. "I've just met the cutest boy, Y/N! And he’s in his own band! I'll tell you on the way back. “ She giggled. “Let's get sodas maybe too if some where's open." Daisy ushered you to the door, blind in her own personal thrills to notice you looking back over your shoulder to meet the gaze of the cashier once more, who to your delight had removed his sunglasses, already staring back at you, watching you leave. He gave you another sly smile and you returned one of your own, forming some sort of mutual pact of this secret.

Why did he think you would keep this a secret? Why did he trust you like that? You were going to after all, but how did he know?

Doesn’t he care about getting in to trouble?

I HAVE MOVED TO MY MAIN. PLEASE FOLLOW GINSENGKITTEN FOR UPDATES. STORY WILL CONTINUE THERE. <3

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

My real problem with the New Adult genre as a whole is how similar these stories not just at a concept level, but the prose level. This is the biggest reason why New Adult always reads much younger than Young Adult or Middle Grade novels. Say what you will about the Hunger Games era — and even the Twilight era, but those stories were always only identical at the idea level. Divergent obviously comes in to capitalize off of Hunger Games, and those stories mirror each other on the surface level, but the writing of those novels reads completely different to one another. Shatter Me reads different from both of those novels, even if I can opinions about the writing decisions. The tropes might be similar, or diluted down from Hunger Games, but the stories still read like their own.

New Adult, as it is now, reads exactly the same not just at the idea level (courts, dark romance, magical Faeries, dark-haired love interest) but literally on the prose level. I remember when I reviewed Serpent and Dove for the first time and I realized just how similar the writing was the author who will not be named. These stories make the same grammatical mistakes, the same sentence structure, the same exact plot points. They’re ALL copying the same author’s prose and it’s so jarring. It’s the same narrative voice, the same syntax/sentence structure, the same exact character descriptions. Even when the story is trying to delve into the complex themes the stories all lean into the same moralistic, simplistic style of telling instead of showing.

The dystopian era of YA was always heavily generalized, but a lot of the stories always deviated at some point from one another. At some point these stories became their own narratives. And there was some very good literature to come out from that era. If you look you’ll find wholesome, original content. We’re not even getting that now. It’s literally so similar that if you give any random NA book that’s popular on TikTok any person could guess the plot points down to a T. All the way down the the ending of the story. Even down to the ‘plot twists.’ It sort of feels like insanity.

I could find a YA or MG book that reads much more mature in a heartbeat. Fourth Wing may be explicit in terms of sexual content, but it reads younger that Middle Grade. I was reading A School of Good and Evil and even that reads more mature than that book. I think authors need to really give themselves more time with their editors, because even when the books offer interesting ideas they end up being written in a way that’s exactly the same.

[askmadcomcrew]

To Sanford & Deimos: Have either of you ever botched a mission? To Sanford, Deimos & Doc: Has the element of sound ever been a vital aspect in any of your missions? (e.g. distracting an enemy, disorienting them, luring them into a trap, etc) To Hank, Sanford, Deimos & Doc: What would your ideal mission look like? (e.g. would you prefer going loud or quiet? Any particular weapons to be used or preferred enemies to go against? Would you prefer a specified objective, or simply just killing everyone? Things like that.)

Sanford: Yeah, early on we flubbed a few missions. Most people don't really know it, but me n' Deimos didn't really like each other much when we were first startin' out. Trust ain't an easy thing to come by in Nevada, so when Doc wanted us to work together, we were just waiting for the other to make a move. Sometimes we spent more time fighting each other than we did the bad guys.

Deimos: Nah, never botched a mission, not once not ever. Don't believe the naysayers. Deimos has a perfect streak, it's my meathead of a pal by the name 'a Sanford who was the screwup. That one time I died don't count, it was a cheap shot.

Sanford: Sound? I mean, yeah, it's pretty important sometimes. Depends on if we're doin' a stealth op or not. Most 'a the time we just prefer to go loud. Stealth takes a hell of a lot longer, so often times it's just quicker to shoot everyone in the face and keep movin'.

Deimos: Sure, sound's important enough, I always keep some suppressors in my pack in case we need to go hush-hush. Stealth has its place, but I prefer to go big and loud. Sanford still hasn't let me live down the MG-42, but I don't care. That thing was awesome.

Doc: Sound can certainly be an important factor, not just for stealth, but also knowing where one's enemy is. Being able to hear your enemy coming up behind you can mean life or death in some situations, it always pays to be aware of one's own surroundings at all times, even in the heat of combat.

Hank: Get in. Kill everyone who gets in my way. Get out.

Sanford: I guess an "ideal" mission would just be goin' into some place, grabbing what we need, and then hightailing it. Unfortunately it ain't that easy. There's always some gang 'a jerkfaces waitin' to bash your face in, so you gotta fight back. I usually bring a shotgun for tight quarters, but if I know I'll be fighting somewhere more open, I'll bring something that's more useful at a range. I just like shotguns. Push comes to shove I can compensate for the lack of range with my hook. Preferred enemies would be none, but I'll never say no to just a couple of agents and grunts.

Deimos: My ideal mission contains at least one helicopter getaway, at least one explosion, and the chance for me to use a really big gun. Ideal enemies are idiots who can't shoot straight and are easy to kill, but you know that big D over 'ere don't say no to a challenge. MAG agents? No problem, bring out your biggest and baddest guys and I'll squash 'em. Agency goons are nothin'.

Doc: I'm not one for boots-on-the-ground type engagements, so I have less experience with infiltration compared to some of my men. However, an ideal situation would be minimal to no resistance, and easy acquisition of the desired target. Even more ideally, done with complete stealth without ever raising awareness, however this is largely optional provided it gets results. I would personally find myself clearing the area of potential combatants via sniper rifle, as I never have been one to get up close and personal. Truly, I do not prefer direct combat in any form, and avoid it when possible.

[random-vore-blog]

Sugar and Spice

I came up with the title for this one (sorry if I kept making you do Rengoku I’m just a huge fan of him and he’s my comfort character but this character is different!) I was thinking of Sanemi X Reader sfw Vore story, where Sanemi was just trying to tell his feelings to the reader but he couldn’t and when he was training with the reader, they get injured and Sanemi wanted to keep them in his stomach after Shinobu treated their wounds and gave them medicine, idk I’m just very tired and in the mood for Sanemi and Genya but I’ll request Genya later if you like-

I love this boy! And wanted to use my au for this! And sorry if this is late or not what you wanted, I tried. Enjoy!

" Can you ever be weaker?!"

Those words were something I have gotten used to. How my brother was able to ignore his rude comments was beyond me. But it wasn't like I could fight a Wind Hashira. No... he was the second strongest Hashira in this forest.

His white hair stuck out from his tanned features and scarred body. His gorgeous purple eyes stared at me with his exposed, scarred chest...

" ..."

I said nothing and just got up. This was no time to be weak in fromt of him... there was no way I could be weak in front of the Wind Hashira.

" But I am different."

" STOP WITH THAT BULLSHIT! YOU AND YOUR BROTHER THINK YOU ARE BOTH THINK THAT YOU ARE ABOVE US!"

" ... I- ..."

I kept my mouth shut, keeping quiet as not to anger him any further. Why didn't he look at my wrists and see the blood dripping down onto the ground? Was he blind?

" And why are you bleeding?"

" Training."

" Training? You have weak skin."

" How did you know my skin was weak?"

I asked oh so plainly. How did he know my skin would break by just the mere touch of a twig? Just a pinch to the skin in one area? The largest oragan covering my body and hiding my flesh and muscle?

I saw his eyes widen slightly, the scowl gone and turned into something of shock. I have never seen a reaction like that from him, never.

" What?"

He breathed out, something below a whisper but I could hear what he asked. It was almost as if... he was worried? Was he worried? What did worry sound like in someone's voice again?

" What- how- would you repeat that."

" How did you know I have weak skin?"

I repeated the question, and I swore that his cheeks flushed red. Was he sick? Did he catch a fever? Should I take h-

I felt myself being picked up, the rough but soft surface of Sanemi's skin made contact with my wrist as I held his arm out of reflexes.

" What are you doing? Put me down."

" We are going to see Kocho. Your hand is bleeding more ever since we kept speaking."

" There is no need to take me."

I insisted, but he ignored my words. I was at a loss for words. Really, I was. I didn't know that he cared about me this much. However, I don't think he does care about me. I am just like mg brother, Giyu. Why would he like me if I am related to Giyu?

-x-

" How is she, Kocho?"

" Well- she is currently unconscious and seems to be like Tomioka in a way."

" Which is?"

I questioned, mixed feelings swirling around my mind and heart. Why didn't I just confess my love for her?

" Sleeping a lot."

" Pardon?"

" She likes to sleep in questionable areas like Tomioka."

This was getting weirder and weirder. First she asked how I knew that her skin was weak- which I had no idea, and now I find out she has questionable sleeping habits that are worrisome?

" I found her in a pond once."

" HUH?! How does one manage to fall asleep in a pond?!"

" I don't know."

I swore that I was going crazy, because I thought I felt my soul leave my body. This wass just getting weirder and weirder.

...

I stared at Y/n, and sighed, looking at the hand that held the plant that could shrink anything.

I swore that I was not intending to have done this, but I couldn't keep it a secret anymore. My cravings grew each passing day whenever I saw Y/n.

Slowly, I rubbed the ripped off end on her skin, making sure to be as delicate as possible as I squeezed all the plant juice out onto her arm.

She slowly shrank, and I could feel my mouth water. Kocho was the one who knew about my love for Y/n- the romantic one.

I shivered as I gently picked her sleeping form up in my hand after the shrinking stopped. She was so small compared to my palm.

My mouth slowly opened and I gently tossed her inside before closing my mouth and swallowed. I could feel the small, warm and fragile body slip down my throat and into my stomach.

It felt... nice, in a way. Even if Y/n was unconscious, it still felt nice to have a little weight in there with the knowledge that she will be safe. God I missed this feeling so much.

I stood up and climbed in her bed, curling up as I felt drowsiness creep up my spine. I'll confess later. For now, I knew we both needed to rest after such a long day.

And then, as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell into the world of sleep.

The End

[faksyan]

12/16/19 :3

ooohh boyy that got really long. lots of mgs rambles under the cut. thanks for the ask!!! very slight nsfw mention in the second one, nothing major.

12) the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I'll be honest I'm actually still familiar with some of the games only on surface-level (fake fan I know), and I don't think I have anyone like that from those I know well.

Well, Paz, but I talked about her a bit in the last ask already. She is full of rage and loneliness and gets just a glimpse of real affection and friendship and I find a lot of these themes very compelling. And I guess all the women in general, because fandom spaces usually gravitate towards men, and with mgs it's even less surprising. I really, really like Eva in Snake Eater, but that's mostly due to my own interpretation rather than the writing. I feel like her understanding of love must be really interesting as someone who was taught to pretend/actually feel on some level love on command, and I also think it's interesting that she was the one The Boss opened to. I really wish so many mgs women's traits weren't so tightly linked with romance, man. Quiet is also so cool, but she too suffers from being reduced to just that.

I really like The Boss, she's such a interesting contradiction - cold and strict, but also full of love for the while world and ready to give everything she has to make it just that much better. I would love to see in more detail things about her and Sorrow, an actual game with her as a protagonist would be awesome. Strangelove's tapes in pw are absolutely fascinating as well, the one where she's talking to Joy's ai almost made me cry, and she generally has some pretty interesting take on some things. I really liked the part where she talks about how ai would be an amalgamation of people's consciousness rather than of individual's in the future, because that put into words part of why I hate ai-generated images and text that people call art.

16) you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Well, I can get people liking anything on account of different tastes, so this is more about popular takes I don't really get because of how different my reading of canon is, I guess? Like the idea of bbkaz being abusive to a point where Kaz was having a horrible terrible time every day at every corner. I've seen it in some fics, and kind of get where people go with it, but I think Kaz "almost blew himself up with a grenade so he wouldn't be taken prisoner" Miller would rather die than be treated like shit. He would blow up their shared tent if it ever came to it ya feel me. He is too proud and too impulsive and too much of everything. They respected and listened to each other and I'd say a lot of their issues were kind of more subtle? in a way. What they had definitely wasn't healthy in many aspects, but it was in ways where they both could ignore/didn't feel it was that bad at the moment, that type of thing.

I read through almost the entirety of ocelhira tag on ao3, and i could write a whole list of stuff about them that I personally see differently as that part of the fandom. I'm very picky when it comes to them, in no way those are bad, and I've /seen/ them being executed in a way I enjoyed, I just don't really get them. The main things I don't really see are, as follows:

That they hate each other (next to zero basis of that before the ending of v, and even this can be argued about.)

They would punch each other on the first meeting or shortly after (never seen either of them as people who would resort to violence in a more business-like setting. because that's how I see them approach what they have. Ocelot mainly uses violence in specific scenarios like interrogations and is good at controlling his emotions. Kaz is impulsive but he is a businessman to the bone. Maybe he'd punch Ocelot at some point but definitely not early on. I feel like the main instigator of random CQC is Snake after all, and without him they would figure things out differently.)

They would fuck on the first meeting or shortly after (Ocelot is weird about intimacy and doesn't trust anyone and is a spy who's probably never had friends or lovers, in any meaningful sence of the words. Also he's on aroace spectrum to me. I don't think Kaz would have sex with a person he genuinely despises even if he found them appealing, out of sheer stubbornness. If he hates a person he hates them, same reason why I don't think bbkaz would work in any way past v. Even if Kaz tried to hook up with Ocelot in the beginning, he would probably kill him for a mere insinuation. Give me the intricate details of getting to know a person and figuring shit out, they had nine whole years.)

There's probably more, but this is getting like. super long sorry my bad. And sorry so much of it is about ships, the platonic tags are barren as a desert I gotta write and draw some myself✌️

19) you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

Vocelot a bit maybe (not necessarily romantic or sexual) because the whole concept of them having a close relationship could go a very fucked-up route (like a bit more than the average mgs level). Not really ashamed, that's why I like it, it has a sort of a Hannigram feel to it. Even in case where they genuinely care about each other, there are still some weird power dynamics and mind games and codependency. I just generally find ideas of brainwashing really unsettling.

Also I really like Huey as a character. am I allowed to say that. am I getting fed to the bears. I can and will elaborate at some point, I just really like characters who are unredeemable impossible hypocrites (hey, that's part of why I'm a Kaz Miller fan) and Huey is just. vastly misunderstood when it comes to what caused him to spiral, none of which helps his case but it's INTERESTING. Instead he's just being reduced to a punching bag without taking a look at what exactly led up to it all. Grantedly, I don't think Kojima thought about it that deeply at all, but it came out as a vivid critique of how society and especially military treats men who are disabled/not "masculine" enough/can't stand up for themselves. to me. and I like that.

[rhaenizziettie]

Legacies 1x03 Rewatch

Haven't even made it past the Previously On ... and I'm already rolling my eyes at Alaric's speech to Hope. Like how did the writers think yes, let's sprinkle this all in so heavy handed but next season, when it's his blood daughter doing all that and more, let's have him sit silently and coddle her and force her murder victims to be nice. The character assassination -

I can't be the only one who does not give a fuck about the flashbacks over the season. Like not a single one is memorable except the Ben/Jen ones. I forget they exist and I really don't care.

My chain spell potential. Wasted.

No but why is Lizzie actually so nice to Penelope in the beginning?? Like last episode, she's willing to go along with Penelope's ideas and this episode, of all the people in the room, she's the one to say why Penelope's absent? I know Josie said she used to have a crush on Penelope but GIRL GET UP.

"If it pleases the court." Is this and 4x12 foreshadowing Lawyer!Lizzie? Because if so, I'm down for it.

"If anyone should take the blame, it's Josie." "WhAt?" I mean, look. Did Lizzie need to point it out? No. Bitch move. But it literally is because of Josie. How is she gonna stand there and pretend like it wasn't.

"I promise I'm not gonna betray you by being friends with Hope (who I made you believe hated you and did some fucked up things to you)." The very next morning:

"You only play by the grown-up rules when you don't need something from me." Get him again Hope!

"Baby, I'm a loser, yeah, yeah, yeah." as Lizzie stares at Hope's ass. I can read between the lines.

"Litter, weeds, graffiti." And then they immediately forget about weeds. Like they split into two groups and not a soul went to weed??

"I love trash. As of this moment." "Your sister's kind of a dumpster fire." HOPE. I SEE YOU. I SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU.

"Daddy's girls." Said the pot to the kettle.

"You run, I run. Period." BRING RAFAEL BACK TO ME ALREADY. THE JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE.

"She hates me, doesn't she?" "I don't want him to hate me." Tethered.

As much as I hated it, I miss Kaleb's stance on supernatural-human relations. I hate that it just went away. It made him into a villain-like character, but damn it, it was interesting. Why did Legacies let all their interesting plots go in favor of "immortal man dies again" "the girl who grieved grieves again" "girl who ran runs again"??? I would have rather seen Kaleb start a small sect of students who believed in his idea that supernaturals were better than humans than listen to Josie whine about how she wants to leave again because people don't like that she murdered them for a season and a half.

No because fuck MG and Connor for that one. I will never understand the absurd Lizzie hate in S1. It reads like a bad fanfic where they layer on the abuse to set the tone but it also is wildly unrealistic and not based on anything.

PEDRO! (Side note: Had a dream last night where J*lie appeared to tell me there was a spin off about Pedro coming and I just told her everything she did wrong)

Enough time has passed. Emma and Alaric should've ended up together.

Call him a bitch, Lizzie. You know you want to.

"Hope and Josie are all sisters in solidarity." Baby, just say your crush is picking trash with someone else.

"But as I was walking home, I did the work and I dug deep." I want to give you a hug.

"She has a point." This is gonna be a real controversial opinion here but I think Emma was more of a mother figure to Lizzie than Caroline was.

"People disappoint." "When I let my guard down, people disappoint." How did I not see what they were setting up from the beginning.

Lizzie sacrificing herself for all of Mystic Falls who had done nothing but treat her like shit really get glossed over

"We've known each other over a decade and anytime you get the chance, you poke." Maybe because you've been spreading rumors about her and bullying her since you were eleven?? She heard that shit??? God, I can't stand Josie's fake innocent act.

"I can heal it." BUT YOU CAN'T HEAL THAT BEAUTY OF A SHOE HOPE.

"Sir, we've already taken your money twice." Landon's so soft.

"I just think that that's making me a little bit nauseous." It's called jealousy.

"MG has the impulse control of a pre-schooler." That's such a nasty thing to say about your "best friend" who has diagnosed ADHD?? Open a fucking book.

"He also always goes for the wrong girls." Yeah, you're gonna tell me that wasn't a shot at Lizzie? The one girl MG goes for repeatedly??

"Lizzie has dibs" and mind you Lizzie just arbitrarily decided to try and crush on him

"She always has dibs." So is it canon that Lizzie called dibs on Penelope then?

"Lizzie's sensitive." IF I SPEAK -

"That's why she's extra testy lately." No I'm pretty sure that's because in the last 48 hours, she's been assaulted several times, you've been lying to and gaslighting her, and her father's been a giant hypocrite. But sure. She's not there to defend herself, so keep going.

Jeremy really just showed up once and never again, huh?

Josie feels it when Lizzie is attacked by monsters but not when she uses black magic?

Dana and Penelope would have been best friends and she should've been in the Dana x Josie AU.

"I had to ask the honorable -" Blah blah blah. I'm really finding it hard to fall for the nice guy act this time around knowing what he does at the end.

Standing there silently while Kaleb talks all sort of misogynistic shit on Lizzie. Ooh if I could reach through a screen -

"She didn't. I did." ... okay?

No because Rafael losing Cassie and Hope losing Landon at the same time would have hit hard. And what if I just rewrite Legacies myself? Like damn.

I love that they just leave Lizzie on the floor. Like not a soul even holding her hand as she whimpers in pain. Wow.

Alaric jumps in front of Hope like she wouldn't just wake up a Tribrid if the gargoyle had got her. You're telling me this man was ready to die if his research was wrong just so she could stay human?? I'm not buying it.

"Me being the evil one in this scenario?" and I know she was flashing back to eleven years old hearing Josie make all the witches laugh at her for being a villain

"These secrets are gonna tear us apart." If only she knew.

"In their minds, we're the villains because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it." Oh the Dark!Josie foreshadowing.

Me, trying to listen while also trying to jam out to Raign.

"I had the kitchen make these. Your favorite. Brownies." "Someone else's baked goods?" Oh Hope was throwing shots and I didn't even know yet.

Also Lizzie's favorite isn't brownies. It's key lime pie. She says so later in the season. Get it to-fucking-gether, MG.

No because Dana running into the Salvatore School to deface it, finding out about the supernatural, and turning THAT into a plot would have hit so good.

[roseofcards90]

STEVEN UNIVERSE WATCH:

Hi hiii, everyone! I am planning on making a series of posts for my first time watching Steven Universe! I’ve been watching with @mgjong and it’s been so much fun omg! I can’t thank her enough for watching with me ❤️

For these, I’m going to talk about my breakdown analysis for each season (I’ll be doing Season 1A and Season 1B as separate), and I will also give commentary on every episode (yes I am insane) and highlight certain ones that are my faves! I will give my overall thoughts about the season as a whole, as well as the main characters and what I’ve learned of them so far.

Episodes marked with a ⭐️ are some of my personal faves from this season! Here is my overall breakdown of Season 1A down below:

*I also wanted to preface this saying that my knowledge of the show is very limited. Most of the things I’ve heard about it have come from when it was still airing, and my childhood friend who was obsessed with it at the time would also ramble about the show to me. I already know some major plot points (such as Garnet being a fusion and the Ruby and Sapphire stuff) and other minor details, but yeah most of this overall is still pretty blind to me!

So first off! I wanted to talk about some general points about the show:

- I absolutely love the art backgrounds in each episode. Some of them are just so pretty to look at. I know the animation can be iffy at times, but overall it is very consistent across episodes.

- Character designs are also pretty unique, and each one stands out to me among the cast! The fact that you can easily pick out even the minor characters is a huge win for character design imo

- The title cards also reflecting the time of day/weather for the episode is a neat detail! I did not realize that, Mg had to point it out to me kdfjdfnk and the fact that they imply little things from just that one shot (like it being the temple hand above the house where they do their laundry) is a great attention to detail!

- I think the setting is also really nice! Having it take place in a coastal town near the beach feels refreshing to me.

- Soundtrack amazing that is all 🫡

General Character Thoughts:

Steven:

At first, I really didn’t think much of Steven’s character I would have to admit 😭 I thought he was a sweet kid ofc, but I wasn’t sure where the show was gonna take his character and his development. That is, until I started to see more of the bigger picture and realize what direction they were going to take him. And now I have high hopes on how Steven is going to develop throughout the series just from all the expectations placed on him from his loved ones and the other gems. Your mother was amazing, she was everything. She gave up her form so you can be born. How do you deal with that? How do you cope with being the only one to not know her at all, your own mother? Can you fill the void she left behind? Will you falter when you can’t?

Also, having a mother-son version of this trope is one I haven’t seen much? Barely at all tbh, so it’s refreshing! I think it’s very sweet to portray a male character as very emotional and compassionate, and have him take after his mother.

Amethyst:

Amethyst is great I love her LMAO she’s so silly!!! On the surface, she seems to be the outward comic relief in the cast. But when you look more closely at her character and her reactions towards certain things, then it becomes clear that there is something deeper, the feeling of self-hate and resentment towards herself compared to Pearl and Garnet. I like how this is first hinted at in Tiger Millionaire, an episode about Amethyst’s hobby with wrestling. I think it shows that even in her own space, that self-hate will still find a way to manifest (it didn’t help that Pearl and Garnet showed up but yeah 😭)

Pearl:

Oh, Pearl. Where do I even start? There’s…a lot. I’m going to be honest, my perception of Pearl from what I remember is just “very gay lady” back when the show was airing LMAO which isn’t wrong necessarily. She is that, but she’s also a lot more than that. Pearl is tragic. She is a character who continues to grieve because of her closeness and her love towards Rose. She can be a bit overbearing and critical at times with Steven, but it’s because she cares about him and wants him to grow. Ofc she loves him, that’s her son. But Pearl isn’t perfect. She’ll have outbursts, she’ll panic, she’ll slip back into the loss that continues to consume her and project it onto others. And it’s not healthy at all 😭 I am curious to see how her character will be in the later seasons, but for now she’s one of my faves! Absolutely love tragic gays who cannot move on 🫡

Also I just love how at first glance, she seems like the character to have the brain cell in the group, but then you realize episode after episode that nah, she’s just as insane as everyone else LMAO it’s so good (I believe in OCD Pearl too btw SO REAL)

Garnet:

AAAA I LOVE GARNET!!! I love how calm she is but also deadpan LMAO??? She’s so silly sometimes, it’s cute! I like how she’s the one to ground the whole team together, not wanting to underestimate Steven, but ofc, still being protective of him. There’s more we learn about her in Season 1B (which I’ve already seen by this point), so that’s why I don’t have a lot to comment on here. But she’s still pretty cool, especially with all the various hints towards her actually being a fusion!

Greg:

Greg is an interesting guy! I didn’t have many thoughts on him at first, but some episodes later in the season had made me rethink my initial thoughts on him. He’s clearly trying his best as a father, wanting to still connect and bond with Steven. And he’s also another character we see deal with the grief of losing Rose. I love how he has many parallels with Pearl because of this, with the way they deal with loss and also their personal relationship with Steven. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him and also more interactions between him and Pearl I think they would be funny DJDKFKF

Connie:

I LOVE CONNIE I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! IDK MUCH ABOUT HER BUT SHES SO CUTE AND I LOVE HER AND STEVEN'S RELATIONSHIP! I do like how she’s written to be a bit of a weeb LMAO it’s very accurate for 12 yr old kids obsessed with anime. I can’t wait to see more of her in the main cast!!!

Rose Quartz:

Besides her sharing my name (which I already love lmao), I have heard many things about her character that have piqued my interest! From what I've seen, she's a character who haunts the narrative, always being mentioned in the other's words as a lasting memory, or just her own portrait in the house being displayed in the background during some scenes. I love how the writing continues to portray her like this, and us as the viewer are curious to learn just who she really was as a person. We know that she was important, that she led a rebellion against her own kind to protect the Earth, and that she meant a great deal to the Crystal Gems and Greg. But just who was Rose really? Behind everyone's fondness and memories of her? Is she really just the all-loving heroic sacrifice we're presented with?

It's funny, because we are a lot like Steven in a way. We are in the same shoes as him, where we learn alongside him in finding out more about is mother and what the kind of person she is behind everyone's rose-tinted glasses. It's a really neat touch that helps connect the viewer to Steven as both a protagonist and a character

Episode Breakdowns (very brief):

Gem Glow:

• I think this is a decent introduction episode that lays out the characters and initial dynamics in the show! The Crystal Gems fight but they don’t want Steven to get hurt, but Steven ends up helping in his own way and starts using his powers as a result. I don’t have much else to say about it, but I think it’s neat!

⭐️ Laser Light Cannon:

• I like this one because you can start to see Rose haunt the narrative, and also the implications that are shown in the episode: the main one being that the cannons activate due to Greg’s phrase! I just love how much this implies how close her and Greg were that she made it so that the cannons activate because of something so silly, yet obviously meant something to her back then

⭐️ Cheeseburger Backpack:

• I stared this episode mainly because I absolutely love how it comes back in the best way possible in Season 1B. It is such good foreshadowing, and while the episode itself isn’t too noteworthy to me, I think viewing it as a mirror of the other episode that calls back to it makes it so much more interesting

Together Breakfast:

• I don’t think there’s much to note in this episode, other than it’s a characterization moment for Steven. It shows how much he sees the gems as his family, and how he wants them all to be together. It’s sweet!

Frybo:

• …I have nothing to say other than…yeah, nightmare fuel 👍

Cat Fingers:

• Okay lowkey this episode disturbed me a bit while I was watching KJDFDFKL 😭 I did not find the cat fingers cute, but I do like how this showed Steven’s ability to shapeshift! We’re starting to see Steven be able to wield some of the abilities the Crystal Gems have too!

⭐️ Bubble Buddies:

• Connie’s first appearance!!! I love it so much, the fact that they had met each other before and Steven was waiting to see her again and return her bracelet, how Connie also paid attention to him too! I love that little backstory they have together before they officially meet

Serious Steven:

• Another characterization one for Steven! Him wanting to help the gems no matter what, and I like how this episode kinda parallels the first episode a bit? Instead of being childish here like in the first episode, we see Steven be more serious, but he still helps them in his own way. Also this had an interesting frame showing a mural with presumably Rose Quartz fighting? Very curious indeed…

⭐️ Tiger Millionaire:

• This is where we see Amethyst’s self-esteem issues at the forefront. Seeing Amethyst’s and Steven’s relationship be expanded upon was nice too. We see one of Steven’s core traits with wanting to make everyone happy. He wants to continue accompanying Amethyst in her wrestling hobby and even uses a made up back story for Amethyst’s wrestler persona to help people understand her better. In relation, we see that Amethyst takes pride and confidence in wrestling because she’s good at it. It gives her something meaningful to her existence. So overall, I think this episode does a good job with characterizing the both of them

Steven's Lion:

• Lion’s first appearance! I love how he’s just…not explained LMAO he’s a pink lion and he’s chilling, and it’s obvious with his connection to Rose because of his pink color scheme

Arcade Mania:

• I like how this episode focuses on Garnet’s competitive side, as well as showing her 3rd eye under her visor. It’s silly, especially with the rhythm game (why did they name it that…), but it’s cool that it showed how Garnet is an important member on the team and seeing Pearl and Amethyst rely on her too. Also her relationship with Steven as well and how determined he was to snap her out of the game was sweet

⭐️ Giant Woman:

• OPAL FIRST APPEARANCE ALSO PEARL AND AMETHYST BEING GAY AF WHEN OPAL FIRST TALKED I THINK I DIED AND CAME BACK TO LIFE 🪦 but seriously, I like how we see fusion for the first time and they make a cool point that many fusions are their own person, and they take the best aspects of said gems and have them be in balance together. Very cool fr!!!

⭐️ So Many Birthdays:

• They went the existential crisis route omg 😭 but besides how dark this episode is, I do like how we see the gems care for Steven a lot. It also emphasizes the point of Steven’s powers being heavily influenced by his emotions!

⭐️ Lars and the Cool Kids:

• It’s a Lars episode and it exists, but the main thing I loved about it was towards the end. It had such a great moment with Steven standing up for himself and his mother, but it was also a bit heartbreaking too? Steven never met his mother, but he still believes in and realizes how much she cared for living beings. He will stand up for her no matter what because he doesn’t have anything to doubt her on, only what he’s heard from the others. I do wonder if this will be forshadowing later on when Steven learns something less…positive about Rose he can’t stand to believe as the truth

Onion Trade:

• This one is funny LMAOOO I HOPE THAT ONION CONTINUES TO BURN DOWN BEACH CITY

⭐️ Steven the Sword Fighter:

• Another dark one with Pearl literally getting stabbed in front of Steven. Along with the Tiger Millionaire and Arcade Mania, this one is my favorite among the episodes showing the relationship between the gems and Steven! Having him try to deal with the hologram Pearl while the real Pearl isn’t around really showed how much Steven has grown as a person. He’s tying to be more responsible and mature without Pearl around, which I think is a great character moment for him

Lion 2: The Movie:

• I like how this episode both develops Steven and Connie’s relationship (they’re silly kids who both think that the other doesn’t want to hang out with them but Connie provides normalcy for Steven, while Steven provides excitement for Connie. They both accept each other is the main thing that I love about their relationship), as well as whatever tf is going on with Lion DKDKDK it becomes even more clear now that he was Rose’s lion with the training temple they go to (love how this also comes back too). Also COOL SWORD

Beach Party:

• A silly one! This one is more of my favorites among the episodes that focus on the Beach City residents. It doesn’t get too bogged down with silliness, but it still focuses on character interactions between the gems and the residents! It’s overall very funny <3

⭐️ Rose’s Room:

• Rose first voice appearance! In the form of a whale LMAO I couldn’t imagine when this episode first aired and people lose their shit when this happened. It’s cool to get a glimpse into how Rose’s room works, that it gives anything Steven wants, but whatever it creates is still imperfect

Coach Steven:

• Sugilite first appearance! I cannot believe Nicki Minaj voiced her 😭 also I do like how it touched upon Pearl’s insecurities. “I’m not strong enough to do anything” THATS SUS PEARL WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN THROUGH WHY IS THAT SOMETHING YOU BLAME YOURSELF FOR??? I NEED TO KNOW MORE

Joking Victim:

• Lars and Sadie are cool ig??? I mean Sadie is cool, Lars is…there LMAO but it’s interesting to see more of their dynamic. I assume they’re a popular ship in the fandom, and I think Lars in his own way can be sweet at times. But in general, I just think that Sadie deserves so much better 💀

Steven and the Stevens:

• Very convoluted episode fr 😭 it doesn’t make much sense to be canon either? I feel like if the gems had access to a time travel artifact thing, they would’ve already used it a long time ago. I’ve also been told this doesn’t come up again, unless it’s with Steven recounting his trauma during this episode, so idk it really doesn’t make much sense, besides it being another silly episode

It’s nice though how this episode hints at the season finale by showing the desert created by Lapis in Mirror Gem in the background! Very cool detail there

Monster Buddies:

• We start to see more of the corrupted gems and learn about them. This one also highlights Steven’s overall kind and compassionate nature that he’s willing to extend to corrupted gems, seeing their humanity beyond the corruption. It’s another reflection of how his mother acted before. Also he’s able to bubble gems now and becoming more and more like his mother

An Indirect Kiss:

• An interesting way to show that Steven has his mother’s healing powers? 😭 was not expecting it to be through his spit DJDKDLDL the title is clever for that. I also like how it subverts our expectations (as well as the gems’ expectations) that Steven has the exact powers his mother did

⭐️ Mirror Gem:

• Lapis first appearance! I love they just casually show that Steven hasn't attended school 😭 it's kinda sad in a way? Like ofc we see Pearl try her best with teaching him, but it still highlights the differences between Steven and the other kids. He still doesn't have the most normal life when it comes to being 12 and not sharing experiences other kids his age have gone through.

⭐️ Ocean Gem:

• The season finale! I loved it a lot. Mainly because of how they start to set up some doubts regarding the Crystal Gems and their motivations. Lapis obviously doesn't like them and tells Steven to not trust them. She says they "never cared about the other gems, only Earth", so it leaves the viewer wondering if what Lapis is saying is true or not. But it also reinforces the point that they gems have been fighting for Earth, in the name of Rose Quartz and her mission. In contrast, Lapis only wants to go back "home", not seeing the beauty in Earth like they do. She's a good foil to the crystal gems (I would also say she parallels Pearl in a way because they both want to go back home, but Lapis follows her own ideals and wants to be set free, while Pearl's takes on Rose's ideals as her own and follows them to the end).

BUT YEAH THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH SO COOL SEASON I LIKE HOW IT'S SETTING UP A BUNCH OF THINGS FOR LATER STUFF AND IT'S SILLY AND HAS ITS SERIOUS MOMENTS TOO!!! I think the show towards the end started to become more grounded on what it was going to do, so I like that! I can't wait to start my review of Season 1B fr 🫡

[capncococharms]

Games I Enjoyed in 2023

I did a big blog post last year where I listed all the games I enjoyed playing and gave my short thoughts about each of my experiences... and I'm doing it again!

Since 2018 I've kept a digital sticky note to keep track of all the games I've played AND finished throughout the year. For 2023 lots of folks claimed it was the "BEST" year for gaming and to some degree... I guess??? Depends on who you ask, but to me I only enjoyed like a handful of new releases and played a lot of older games (or remakes of older games). It was a year of reflecting back on what made me love video games more than looking forward to what's "new".

In 2023, I've finished 32 games. That's 10 more games than I finished from last year but out of all the games I played, here are the ones that stood out to me and left a pretty positive impression.

LIVE A LIVE

I never had a chance to play the SNES version, but I was very familiar with the game to some degree from the old days when I use to browse forum threads about RPGs I've never heard of. I knew I would get around to playing it one day and thankfully it got a remake on the Switch (and then it got a PC port later this year). I didn't get to properly play it last year, but after sitting down to play LIVE A LIVE... it's a game with a really powerful soundtrack, engaging characters, and a unique story that left me wanting more games like it.

I could type up many reasons why I like this game, but I feel it's something you have to experience more than anything. I don't want to spoil anything about this game. If you love Chrono Trigger then you will have a great time with LIVE A LIVE.

Final Fantasy VII- Crisis Core Reunion

I love FFVII and FFVII Remake. When they announced they were remaking Crisis Core I was excited to finally see what the deal was and by the end of this game... it left me a very broken man sobbing my eyes out. As a stand alone game it works very well even if you're not familiar with FFVII. It's a touching and contained story about a man striving to be a hero. Zack is a person I wish I could be in terms of confidence and wanting to do what's right. He's also a goof ball and I am very happy I got to know him more through Crisis Core. I don't want to say much about this game either, but PLEASE play it if you haven't! It made me finally understand why people love Zack so much.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

I've put off this game for way too long. I had the chance to get into it when this game came out on 3DS, but I was too busy in college then. I ended up playing the PS3 version of the game (this was before the MGS Master Collection came out to every platform). At first... I wasn't a fan of this game. I struggled to play this game and felt like an idiot when it came to sneaking. I got stuck at the Volgin fight and out of spite, I started over on "Very Easy" to better equip myself. After working my way back to Volgin, I enjoyed my experience more and was engaged with what was happening around me. Once the game was finished, I was tearing up and couldn't help but think about how often true heroes are forgotten and how history is retold.

Thank you for the heartrending experience, Hideo Kojima.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

I had a weird experience with Zelda games this year. Tears of the Kingdom released and I went in hoping it would be a great follow-up to Breath of the Wild. I wasn't the BIGGEST fan of BotW. I had some faith going in that TotK would be a better experience. Unfortunately, after making it back to Hyrule my fears sort of came true. It felt like the same game I played almost 7 years ago except you can use bubble gum to craft and make things which is... fine I guess.

I kept pushing on hoping the story was going to set up something great and for a while, it did! The BIG twist was interesting, but once I got to the final scene I wanted to chuck this game out the window. The newer Zelda games just weren't doing it for me anymore so I decided to replay some older Zelda games (Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD which was a TON of fun to replay) and decided it was time for me to give Majora's Mask another chance.

I ended up playing this on NSO and after a month or so, I 100%'d the game and greatly appreciated what this game had to offer in terms of setting, story, soundtrack, and characters. The setting is dark and terrifying yet it still keeps a goofy demeanor. I just fell in love with exploring and seeing how human this game can be (especially the finale). This is what I want to see with future Zelda games. I miss having ACTUAL dungeons and linearity, but we won't get that again. I hope that there will be another 2D Zelda game or Nintendo goes back to its roots with 3D Zelda games, but here's to all the indie devs out there trying to recreate that GOOD Zelda magic.

The Great Ace Attorney (Adventures)

I love this series but fell off during the 3DS era with AA6 (I still need to play that...). Since this game is more of its own thing I thought I would give it a shot and MAN! This game took the AA formula and dialed it up to 1000. In Ace Attorney fashion I love the characters, I love the puzzle-solving, and the mystery aspect where everything is tied together (especially that finale omg). My only irk is that the cases tend to go on a bit too long compared to AA 1-4, but I can let that slide because I was streaming this game, and having to voice and read EVERY bit of dialogue was exhausting (I plan to play Resolve on my own time next year so I can get through it much quicker). Ace Attorney still rocks and I hope to catch up and play more in 2024 (looking at you Apollo Justice "Trilogy").

Ranko Tsukigume's Longest Day

One of the shortest games I played this year. I love SUDA 51's work and wanted to give this a shot and it sure was an experience, to say the least. The gameplay is simple and difficult at weird times, but the one thing that sticks out to me about this game, in particular, is the absurdity and goofy humor (which is... basically expected with a SUDA 51 experience) with its visuals and jumping to different art styles and animation. Something about this small game makes me want to start working on my own projects more than anything. You can tell this was made with a creative team and the devs from Tokyo Jungle worked on it to so maybe that's another game I should look into as well... Overall, this was like a fun snack to chew away at left me with my heads in the clouds.

Pizza Tower

I don't need to say much about Pizza Tower. If you've played it, then you get it. Go play Pizza Tower! The OST and crude cartoon art style is what gives this game... uh as the kids call it... "soul". It's the Wario Land game that Nintendo will never make. It's 25% off on Steam! GO PLAY PIZZA TOWER!

Hypnospace Outlaw

Had a rough time playing through this game at first because it would crash pretty often. Turns out the game would connect to the wrong graphics card so after I got that sorted out, I finally got to play this game in peace, and... man... there's nothing else like this game in terms of telling a story/ narrative through faux web browsing. It's a game that perfectly emulates the experience of the late 90's internet browsing. There's a particular joy in exploring page after page to learn about all these characters and their hobbies. Letting the player take a small peek into their lives is a treat. As you get deeper into the game, you start learning about some of these people and who they are underneath their online persona. Without going into spoilers, the game went in a direction I didn't expect with its tone. The final arc of this game left me with some tears and a HUGE respect for what once was before what our current internet has become...

Hypnospace is really really cool.

Undertale Yellow (Pacifist Route)

Kinda unexpected that a fan game would end up on my list, but I'll make the exception. From what I've read, Undertale Yellow was in development for 7 years and that dedication and work shows in terms of presentation, story, and new characters. For a fan game, it doesn't heavily depend on needing the cast of characters from the base game of Undertale to tell its OWN story. Like Undertale, you fall in love with these new casts of characters and go through many vignettes in each part of the Underground where you get to learn about how these monsters live, and just like Undertale you'll laugh, you'll cry, and wish that the journey would never end. Once again I don't want to spoil anything, but for a prequel to Undertale's story... it's surprisingly more powerful than I thought it was going to be. Congrats to the entire Undertale Yellow team who worked on this. It was a pleasant December surprise that made me want to work harder on my passion projects.

I feel to some degree, I love this game probably a little more than Undertale itself...

Probably...

One thing for sure is that this game is helping me tide over until the new chapters of Deltarune come out.

2023 was a great time to play my backlog and give games another chance. Also trying out new stuff in the process despite my current feelings on the gaming industry at the moment...

I hope in 2024, I can continue to dedicate my time to slowly chip away at my backlog and try out new games (or older games I missed out on). Video games inspire what I want to do creatively and I love seeing what people can create and put out there.