#this is very rambly and half thought out but i'm very attached to it

[k9effect]

I thought about Mav passed out at his work desk with headphones on and it spiralled into this whole thing

Mav always felt a little lonely.

Even when he had people around him who loved him, he always ended up on his own one way or another and felt that loneliness seeping in. Goose was the first to notice. Before Goose's trips back to Tennessee to see Carole included Mav, he would come back to base to hear about how his pilot had lost a bit of his shine while he was away.

That's when Goose started making the recordings.

It was a small gift, but it meant the world to Mav. A brand new walkman, headphones and all, and a single cassette tape. This tape didn't have music on it, no, it contained a three hour recording of Goose reading though the F-14 Tomcat Flight Manual and adding in his own comedic commentary.

He wasn't sure what Mav would think of it, but when he returned home from another trip and found his pilot curled up asleep on the lounge, headphones on, walkman clutched in his hands, the tape run through, he realised he had made the right decision. Once Mav stirred, realising Goose had returned, he pulled the RIO onto the couch and thanked him for how thoughtful and considerate of a gift it was. That it made him feel less alone.

Goose continued the recordings. They were simple things he could make while completing other work. An hour recording here of Goose rambling while he completed chores, half an hour recording there of Goose muttering while he completes some paperwork. Even after Mav started joining him on his trips to Carole and they inevitably became attached at the hip, Goose continued making recordings. They grew more sincere over time, telling Mav that he was loved and he was strong and could get through anything.

Maverick was very glad he continued making them. It was a piece of Goose he could always carry with him.

Because one day, Goose wasn't there anymore.

Ice was never quite certain why his wingman was always listening to music on a busted walkman, but he never questioned it.

That was until he was packing Mav an overnight bag after an accident and Mav had specifically requested the walkman. Ice had taken a closer look at it and seen the writing on the cassette.

‘GOOSE - 12’

Curiosity got the better of him and he pulled on the headphones and pressed play.

“Y'know, Mav-” It was Goose's voice, Ice realised with a pang deep in his chest, “- I'm pretty sure, by like, most, if not all, the laws of aviation, you should have broken our Tomcat's airframe several times over. I honestly don't know how she's still together-” There was the clinking of dishes and sloshing of water along with the distinct sound of a bristly, sudsy brush scrubbing metal. “- What sort of demon did you make a deal with to manage this? I'm not arguing, I'd rather not face a board of inquiry again, but I'm curious.”

Ice paused it.

He realised very quickly what the cassette was and that, judging on the number, there were more of these.

Mav was always listening to Goose talk.

He packed the walkman into the overnight bag with much more care than he offered possibly anything.

Mav stared.

He blinked once, then twice. But it changed nothing.

There was a cassette sitting on his bed. On it, was scribbled a name and a number.

‘ICE - 1’

Beneath it was a small, simple note.

‘Listen to me.’

Mav pushed the cassette into his walkman and, sitting down, let it play.

“Hey, Mav. Sorry if this is weird for you, it sure feels weird for me. I- uh- I realised what the walkman is for. I'm sorry I teased you for it, it's not dumb and old. I know Slider thought you were pretty cool for having one. He's got one too. But anyways, I found a recording of Goose and I realised why you have this so I thought, y'know, maybe I could make you some new ones? To make up for the teasing at least. I mightn't be as good as Goose but I'll give it my best shot. I've got a book here, I'm just gonna read it out loud for a while, okay? Okay. Here we go…”

Mav listened to the whole thing in one sitting. It was long and sweet and Mav felt something aching inside him, something that hadn't ached in a long time.

Every week or so, Mav would find another cassette in his room with an increased number on it. It was just Ice for a while, but then he found one labelled ‘SLIDER - 1’. Then another a few months later labelled ‘HOLLYWOOD - 1’, then ‘WOLFMAN - 1’. His collection grew as more people helped continue Goose's legacy.

The day he found ‘VIPER - 1’ he felt like he was five again. Viper's recording was two hours worth of him recounting childhood stories of Mav, stories of him with his parents, of just his parents, and deployment tales of his dad.

Once Mav buys his first proper home, an old hangar out in the Mojave Desert, he builds a small shelf to hold all of his cassettes instead of keeping them in a bag or a box. It's then, when they're all neatly organised together, that he realises just how many he has.

The original thirty-one from Goose.

Three from Carole.

One short one from Bradley.

Seventeen from Iceman.

Ten from Slider.

Seven each from Hollywood and Wolfman.

Four from Chipper.

Three from Sunny.

And, so far, Two from Viper.

He doesn't feel so lonely anymore. Everyone he loves has put time and effort into making sure he doesn't feel alone. That instead, he feel loved.

And he sure does.

Even now, years down the track, Ice will stumble upon Maverick passed out at his work desk late at night ontop of a half finished project, with his old walkman next to him, headphones on, listening to Goose laugh his way through the Tomcat manual.

[anzulvr]

ʚɞ On Purpose Karma x (fem) Reader || Chapter: 2 ୨୧

Prev || 02 Butterfly Effect|| next

Karma hadn't made it to class yet, he wasn't know for being punctual much less early. Rio, Fuwa and Hinano were hovered around Ritsu's main screen with anticipation.

"Ritsu what did you find out? The suspense is killing us!" Hinano asked.

Ritsu nodded, she'd even programmed a detective outfit for herself, taking her job as the investigator very seriously, "Rio was right, He lied about getting a call and met up with someone."

With a dramatic gasp, Fuwa exclaimed, "Sounds like a shady deal scenario? That reminds me of a manga I read where—"

"Not at all! I couldn't see her face or anything but he called her [Name]! They sounded friendly with each other... it's a relief that nothing dangerous happened." Before Fuwa went off on another one of her Shonen rants, Ritsu interrupted her.

"I told you guys! He totally has a secret girlfriend!" Hinano cheered.

Maehara rushed over as if the words '[Name]' and "girlfriend" in the same conversation had summoned him. "No way! Karma's going out with [Name]?!"

"You know her?" Rio questioned.

"Do I know her?! She's rejected me a bunch of times- I was worried I was the problem but if she's dating Karma it all makes sense!"

"You are the problem! She rejected you 'cause you're a womanizer." Isogai shouted from across the room.

"Maehara you're so loud- now everyone knows Karma has a secret girlfriend!" Fuwa chastised, Ironically everyone who was too preoccupied with their own talks to hear the conversation up till this point heard it from Fuwa.

"KARMA HAS A SECRET GIRLFRIEND?!" Fuwa winced at the overwhelming reaction from everyone.

Ritsu elaborated, "I don't want to give misleading information, I'm making assumptions based on one interaction, I was going to go through their chat logs but that felt invasive... I did calculate their compatibility and it's very likely."

"Well what did you hear?" Kayano asked

"Not much, they're going out to eat at the cafè Isogai works at after school."

"We should go then! To see what they're up to and what not." Kayano's eyes light up, like a child whose tasted ice-cream for the first time.

"You just want to go 'cause they sell pudding." Sugaya sweat drops.

"That's only half the reason!"

Isogai suggests, "You all don't need to worry about it, I have a shift today anyways, so I can keep an eye on them."

"No way! I wanna see it first hand!" Hinano counters insistently.

Everyone is startled when Korosensei appears in the middle of the group, thanks to his heightened sense of hearing he is always there when gossip is involved.

"Young love is such a beautiful thing... I could die of happiness right now." He dabs his tears of joy with a handkerchief.

Nagisa, clearly taken aback by his sudden appearance, asks, "How long have you been here?!"

"for one, I think we should help him on his date. We should get her flowers on his behalf and attach a letter with his forged signature. We can send it to her doorstep and—" Korosensei rambles on and on with his own pushy ideas.

Rio stresses, "We are not doing anything, you can't get involved. We don't need her fainting at the sight of you." 

"Yeah that would be hard to explain..." Isogai thought out loud, their dismissal makes Korosensei turn blue with shock, there's no way they're going to meddle without the wingman himself.

"I'm great at disguises! No one will suspect a thing! I promise I won't interfere! I'll listen!" In a moment of desperateness, He leeches on to any excuse that comes to mind.

"Stop getting your tears everywhere! We should plan this later, if Karma catches wind of it, we're so dead." Hinano couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

"Why would you be dead?" Karma walked through the door, timing couldn't have been better.

"NOTHING!" Hinano's shoulders tensed up as she instinctively answered

Karma paid little to no mind to her reaction, he sat down in his seat. His classmates on the other hand were exchanging weird looks. Hinano seemed especially apologetic. Everyone's strange reactions sparked some interest in him but he didn't care enough to delve deeper into the matter. 

[findmeabowloftrash-blog]

okay so. I am very very recently into The Property of Hate. I am caught up, and rereading bits and parts, while attempting to find blogs that still actively talk about/post about it. I'm quite new, so there's a good chance I have just missed it, but these are some things I have noticed/wondered that I haven't seen talked about.

1) Theory: The eyes on (the top half of) the butterfly's wings are RGB's eyes. Reasoning: In "Iris," on pages 455 and 456, we see the butterfly glare at RGB while asking if he cares who they (the butterfly) once was, and he says no. It then cuts him, and we get a brief flashback of, presumably, human RGB telling someone (whoever the butterfly used to be? Or his reflection, perhaps?) that he hates them, with the same glare. This is also, I believe, the only time we ever see his eyes in a flashback. Further, the butterfly is widely believed to be Hate, and it would make sense that his own hatred (of this other person? of himself?) is what "blinded" him. ESPECIALLY if it blinded him to his own potential. More on that later.

2) Observation: Negative seems to wear actual spats, as opposed to having them be part of his shoes. Relevance: Mod once said in answer to an ask about RGB's suspenders that nothing about him is genuine, it's only meant to appear that way, and cited his not-actually-spats as one example. If Negative does indeed wear real spats, does that make at least part of him more "genuine" than RGB?

3) Theory(?): Negative means no harm to Hero, and in fact cares a great deal about her. Reasoning: He's clearly intelligent, not just violent toward whatever is closest, because in his first appearance he protects Hero, rather than going after her himself. If the Fears were no match for him, why waste time fighting them if he wanted to hurt her? She would have been the weakest target, not the Fears. Then, in the desert, after creating the giant rose to protect himself and Hero, once he looks up and notices her, the eye on his screen looks teary, like it's watering up. (Pg 355) And wouldn't you cry if a child you wanted to protect came back into a deadly storm for you? In addition, I saw a post somewhere reasoning that the House of Lead belongs to Negative, and in that post the OP theorized that Negative wanted Hero to tell RGB about him. If he were antagonistic, or had literally any ill will toward Hero, that wouldn't make any sense.

Miscellaneous thoughts and rambling:

RGB calls himself "an unreliable narrator at best" during the same conversation/monologue/story he says that he is a failure, that the only thing he ever does is fail. ("After all, I died, didn't I?" -pg 472) And it seems that way, based on his history with heroes, sure. He fails pretty much all of his goals in the story (even ones like "don't get attached"). But if we go based on a number of meta things, we can easily reason that that isn't true, and he is, in fact, an unreliable narrator of his own life. For one, he was almost certainly an actor or entertainer of some sort. That in and of itself is a form of success. But beyond that, we have Mod's "The Face of Television" art, which implies he was VERY successful. There is also the "I was in Brooklyn when I found out" art of Dial looking at obituaries in the newspaper. Why would the obituary of a failed British actor be in an American newspaper? He had to have been someone well-known. Finally, on page 433, all the way to the left, among the static, you can see, "-reaking news tonight --as famed --tertainer". All of this heavily points toward RGB being, not a failure, but instead highly successful when he was human. Rather, I think the "failure" part comes from how he viewed himself. Unable to look in the mirror, to stand himself at all, to think of himself as anything more than a projection-- empty, hollow. And isn't that exactly how he ended up? I think that he played into Hate's hand because he did, in fact, have hatred-- but it wasn't the kind she could use against others directly, because he doesn't hate others; He hates himself. He hates himself so strongly that, even after selling his memories, he still truly believes that he is, at his very core, a failure.

Maybe Negative is the part of him that believes in himself??

Also:

I never see anyone talk about the recurring shapes/symbols in RGB's flashbacks/dreams. I'm mentally calling them: Box (or possibly Casket), Hands, Iron, Teardrop, Rectangles. They appear on pages 335 and 456, at least. Possibly others. Really really curious what they represent.

Anyway I'm sure I'm missing a lot of well-known fandom stuff but. I just needed to put my thoughts together and dump them into a public space.

[kafus]

pasting a ramble i did on discord of analysis/conjecture/headcanons about liko's home life/upbringing, with strong likodot flavor in the latter half as usual, nearly verbatim because i think i worded it pretty much perfectly the first time while relaying my thoughts to friends... just edited for easier reading slightly

liko doesn’t canonically show attachment issues or abandonment worries really, but i headcanon her with some of that because like. parents busy all the time. not a lot of people in her life and the ones that are, aka mainly her caretakers (she's implied to not really have friends at the start of the show) don’t communicate with her great or are sometimes unavailable for stretches of time.

it makes a lot of sense to me that canonically the brave asagi feels like home so quickly to her. because it’s stable. the same people are always there, she literally lives with them on an airship. but like. they're stable adult figures that aren’t disappearing for periods of time, and friede’s forgetfulness aside (lighthearted), people who communicate with her better. this does wonders for her bdjdjdsk

i also think her selflessness to point of fault could tie in with this, like blaming herself for situations and shrugging off her own feelings (she often doesn’t even notice when she herself is upset/moody on multiple occasions!!) could have been a habit developed from this very thing. she loves her parents and doesn’t want to have to view them as absent or being poor at communication so everything is her fault. she doesn’t want to be pointing blame or to cause problems when people are home or things are good so she dissociates away her own feelings and is very polite and considerate of anything that comes up.

i say all this because i think it’d be an interesting way to spin liko’s character who is already interesting. but also i got to thinking about this manifesting in her relationship with dot down the line. cause like adult figures are one thing but also friends and hell having a girlfriend is kind of different. and dot does actually get busy sometimes because she is still working as gurumin on top of schoolwork (this is headcanons for vaguely what a couple years from now as of HZ053 at the time of writing might look like or something. dot going to more normal schooling similar to how liko has been, on top of still being gurumin)

this starts sparking anxiety in liko but first she shoves it down and acts like it’s fine. and then it starts slipping through the cracks. cue comedy of her being like WHY AM I THINKING CRAZY THINGS LIKE “I WANT TO INTERRUPT GURUMIN VIDEO EDITING TO HANG OUT WHO HAVE I BECOME WHAT SORT OF GURUMIN FAN AM I AHHHH also i don't want to be clingy to dot she likes her independent space...”

still, her response is to be like no it's fine, i have to be fine with this, i'm just acting crazy, dot has literally never done anything to warrant me feeling like this, i am being a bad girlfriend. and dot notices this in her demeanor and is like hey what's wrong? and liko’s like What!

anyway they talk it out and come to some sort of middle ground where of course dot still needs to be alone sometimes either to focus or to just have alone time in general. she’s not gonna let liko derail into a worsening spiral of clinginess. but! she is going to reassure her that it’s fine!

and also cue liko sometimes being able to hang out quietly in her room doing her own thing like lying in dot’s bed on her phone while dot video edits... also way more self indulgent, extremely “this is so not canon but i am a shipper let me live” imagery: dot managing her gurumin socials on her phone in her bed with one hand and liko lying on her bed partially on her lap like a lapcat while dot pets her hair with the other hand. in this essay i will

thanks for coming to my ted talk i've been rotating this in my brain for weeks

[nights-legacy]

Hello, how are you? i would like to ask if you could do a imagine if you don't mind with hawks please where he gave him one of his feathers and at some point he starts to feel an extra heartbeat and realizes that she's pregnant, but no one even knew the reader with fluff please

Hope you like it! This was so cute to work on.

Baby Detector?- Hawks

Masterlist MHA Masterlist

1541 words

Warning: None

+ After a scare, Hawks gives you one of his feathers to give you both some peace of mind. A couple of months down the road, he notices something that sends his mind whirling.

Being the No. 2 Hero is a dangerous job. Hawks has known very little of the domestic, fluffy life of being in a relationship. He honestly thought he would never experience that until he met you. You had completely flipped his world around for the better. He wanted to flaunt you to the world but he had seen how other Heroes' significant others had been in danger. He didn't want that so you both agreed to keep your relationship a secret.

Y/N's POV

I trudged into the apartment after a long day. Working for a publishing company, especially being the head assistant, Lends itself to being a busy job. It didn't help that there was a villain attack just outside our building, causing us to have to evacuate half way through the day.

"Keigo! I'm home." I snogged off my coat. Just as I took off my shoes, I was enveloped from behind by strong arms and wings. "Oh, hi!"

"Are you alright?" Keigo whispered into the back of my neck. I smiled at his concern. I set my head on top of his.

"Yes, baby. I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I was knee deep in another attack when I heard about your building and I..."

"Keigo!" I interrupted his rambling. I turned to cradle his face in my hands. "I am fine. I'm not hurt in any way."

"Good." He ran his hands up and down my arms while wrapping his wings tighter. He kissed my forehead. "Come on. I made dinner." He stepped back.

"You made dinner? Keigo Takami made dinner?" I joved. He rolled his eyes as he pulled me along.

"Ha ha. I know it's rare but I beat you home for once. So I decided to whip something up for when you got home." He shrugged. We got to the table and I saw a variety of things.

"Whip something up? You sure you're not trying to provide for a slew of people?" I laughed. He chuckled. "This is so nice, Kei. I'm going to wash up and be right back." I packed his lips and slipped away.

We ate until we were stuffed and well satisfied. We just finished the dishes and he drug me to the living room. He was all giddy and I couldn't help but chuckle at him. He sat me down on the couch.

"Okay. What's gotten into you?"

"I have something for you. Close your eyes." I shook my head but did as he asked. I heard him move away before returning quickly. "Okay hold out your hands. There, now open." I opened my eyes to see one of Keigo's feathers in my palms. It was attached to a beautiful gold chair.

"Keigo?" I looked up at him. He smiled.

"I wanted you to have one of my feathers. So you always know I'm with you. Also in case you ever need me, you have the most direct link. You know how my quirk works. So Yeah." He sat down next to me.

"Keigo... thank you." I leant forward and kissed him sweetly. "This is so thoughtful. Thank you." I put the necklace on before cuddling into his side.

"You're welcome my love." He got comfortable on the couch, cradling us in his wings.

"Buutt ... I know this is a double meaning gift." I felt him tense. "It's also so you can make sure for yourself that I'm alright. Especially after something like today."

"That obvious?" He chuckled before smiling sheepishly.

"Come on Keigo." I chuckled, pushing back to look at him. "You gave me this on the same day I was nearly in a catastrophe. You're slick but not that slick Hawks." I booped his nose. He laughed. He pulled me back down into his chest.

"Can't pull the wool over your eyes." I hummed before kissing him. The kiss started out simple and sweet but after a few moments, I wanted more. I squirmed around to sit on his lap, deepening the kiss. We pulled away, breathing heavily. He picked up the feather. "I can feel your heart beating."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And it's racing." He set his hand on my chest. "Are we excited lovebird? Do you want something?" He ducked under and kissed along my jawline.

"Keigo. If you even think about teasing..." I started but he cut me off with a kiss.

"Sh, sh. Don't worry." He said against my lips. He stood up with me in his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist. "I know what you want. I want it too."

"Then do something." I mumbled as he walked to our room.

*A couple of months later*

3rd POV

Hawks was sitting on a wall, taking a short break while Endeavor was on the phone with one of his kids. Shoto from the sound of it. It was a nice day. Not too hot with a nice breeze that blew through his feathers. At the feeling, he decided to check up on Y/N. He focused on the feather.

"There we go." He said as he felt her heart beat. He could feel her breathing evenly and that the heart rate was normal. No trouble, good. He thought to himself. He was about to move on when something small caught his attention. It was a small pitter patter that he could have easily missed. He "listened" for a moment to try and figure out what it was.

He wriggled his feather to juxtaposition where it laid on her. He determined it was on her stomach. He was stumped.

"What could it ..." He froze in realization. Soft sound. Pitter patter. Stomach. "She's... Oh man." He fell off the wall at the surprise.

"Good God, Hawks. Pull yourself together." Endeavor said as he narrowed his eyes at the birdman.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course Endeavor." He dusted himself off, shaking out his wings. He was jittery all over and the rest of the day he was restless. As soon as he got home, he was calling for Y/N. "Baby! Baby, where are you?"

"I'm here. In our room." Y/N called. He was across the apartment in a flash. He flew in the bedroom door. "Woah, woah! What's going on?"

Y/N's POV

I stared at him as he caught his breath. He looked like he had run a marathon. I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for him to calm down. I couldn't help but chuckle at his appearance.

"Give me a second." He held up a finger. I held in another laugh. I could tell by his wings that he was excited about something.

"What's got you in such a tizzy?"

"I'm not for sure but I think I may have some big news." He straightened up and took a big breath.

"Okay then what's this maybe big news?" I asked. He took a step closer. I could see he was a bit nervous. I reared up and stroked his cheek. "Keigo?"

"I checked up on you today. Through, you know. When I did, I noticed something." He started. I urged him on. "I noticed a small sound that was barely there."

"You're not making any sense, Keigo." He chuckled. He looked down at my stomach before setting a hand on it.

"I heard what sounded like a heartbeat underneath yours, right here." I looked down at his hand and it took a moment to put two and two together.

"What!" I exclaimed. I looked him in the eyes. "You mean you think I'm..."

"Yeah." He nodded.

"I'm pregnant?" I said breathlessly.

"It's just a maybe but there is definitely something going on. So maybe be a good idea to go to the doctor?" He suggested. I was in a daze, still comprehending his words. "Baby?"

"Yes, yes. Doctor. Yes, I'll make an appointment. Um..."

"I want to go with you so can you schedule it on my day off." He asked.

"Keigo."

"Yes?" He met my eyes.

"That means someone will know about us..." He must have just now realized that.

"Right well. This um..." He stumbled on his words. He paused before a look of determination came over his face. "I will not let you go through this on your own. If you are pregnant, I won't have people thinking you're some type of hussy. They need to know that you are an honest woman and there is someone taking care of you." He said strongly.

"How chivalrous of you." I chuckled lightly. He smiled, setting his forehead on mine.

"Plus, it wouldn't be so bad if people knew, right? At least the people we're closest to us?"

"Yes. It wouldn't be so bad." I agreed. "On both people knowing and our own... Our own baby."

"Can you imagine it? A kid of our own?"

"Yeah. I can." I said, looking down at his hand still on my stomach. I place mine on top of his before reaching up to cup his cheek.

"A mini us." he whispered before kissing me. I sighed, kissing him back. He pulled away suddenly. "Oh! We need to pick a room for a nursery!" He took off running.

"Keigo! Don't get ahead of yourself!" I laughed, chasing after him.

Tag list: @spicy-therapist-mom @dxnaii-rxse @iris-shihabi @l0vely-lee

[troutfur]

José. My absolute beloved.

Unveil ALL your Kestrelflight lore 🙏 All of your characterization and headcanons and everything 🙏🙏🙏

RAMBLE ABOUT THE MEDDIE, MY GOOD MAN

Aye, aye, captain!

(Under the cut because length, predictably.)

So! Let's start from the beginning and let me tell you what are my family headcanons for him. I don't have well defined parents for him, I really have no idea what works best for him. But I do know pretty definitively who I think are his littermates: Antpelt and Harespring.

What really gave me this idea was the Only Child Lionblaze AU. Each of these three characters have a connection to the WindClan three and as such I thought making them siblings would be fitting.

Harespring is a rival to Hollytail for the deputyship. Both are ambitious, rule-following, and competitive. Harespring in particular resents Hollytail because he sees her as having an unfair advantage. He's both Ashfoot's apprentice and granddaughter, not to mention Onestar's grandniece. In his view she's coasting a lot on the nepotism and so Harespring decided on training in the Dark Forest as a way to gain his own advantage on her.

Antpelt is Breezepelt's best friend. While in this AU given that he has Hollytail and Jayroot to serve as a support net that keeps him in check and helps alleviate the pain of what they all suffer having Crowfeather as a father, Breezepelt still has a lot of aggression to him (not helped by getting to have Lionblaze's power). Breezepelt's firendship with Antpelt ultimately begun with them being sparing partners and grew from his need to have someone outside his family.

(Breezepelt also takes the role of Ivypool, the DF spy pressured to take the role by his siblings. His introduction was through Antpelt, and as you can imagine that turns out tragic.)

Finally Kestrelpaw who was a nursery friend of Jaypaw's who was devastated about how cold he turned upon becoming a warrior apprentice. He's very desperate to win his friend back over, fretting about whatever he did wrong, trying in vain to approach even though Jaypaw seems to want nothing with him, losing much sleep and tears over it. They end up reconnecting once Jayroot earns his full name and Kestrelpaw is unsure of what changed and is over the moon about it.

(What happened is that StarClan was trying to goad Jaypaw into sabotaging Kestrelpaw and replacing him as Barkface's apprentice. Jaypaw began avoiding Kestrelpaw for fear StarClan may play a dirty trick. StarClan only gives up once Jayroot becomes a warrior and only then can their friendship rekindle.)

I really enjoy this dynamic between the two litters a lot and even though the Hare & Ant & Kestrel litter doesn't work nearly as well without it, I'm still attached to the headcanon. If nothing else the thought of them working together as WindClan's upper rung of power and them having to contend together with the fact their brother was erased from existence is compelling. I bet it was a tragic conversation once Harespring could talk about it.

BUT ANYWAY! Onto his characterization!

His most consistent traits in canon, at least as far as Po3 and OotS are concerned, are that he's friendly and naive. A little bit stupid even. I really like to play into those first two in the way he interacts with Jaypaw. He's convinced that with a friendly attitude and a little persistence he can turn the grump around. He's not ultimately wrong about it, too.

Within the half-moon meeting gang dynamic Willowshine is deeply disapproving of his endeavor to win Jaypaw over. She met him before her, as we may recall during Jaypaw's first half-moon metting Kestrelpaw was sick back in camp, and it wasn't at all a good first impression. Willowpaw tries to dissuade him and acts antagonistic towards Jaypaw in an attempt to protect sweet, naive, little Kestrelpaw.

Eventually, though, when he makes progress with her, he acts as the ambassador. Willowpaw and Jaypaw have a rocky road to building a friendship. But in the end they manage to become verbal sparing partners. Argument and debate are how they pass the time and bond. Kestrelflight has to constantly reassure everyone they do, in fact, get along.

Another way I really like for the Kestrelpaw & Jaypaw dynamic to develop is what I did on this other fic that's been since privated but which I want to rewrite eventually. In this Jaypaw gets the meddie position by being an absolute insufferable BRAT to Leafpool because he thinks he's entitled to it over Hollypaw. When he eventually breaks her he's already made quite the reputation for himself.

Willowpaw is quite harsh and antagonistic to him from the get go over the slight to her friend Hollypaw and thus Jaypaw ends up quite isolated. He and Kestrelpaw begin interacting because he pities him, essentially. But soon enough the kindness brings about in Jaypaw a desire to repair his relationship with his siblings and better himself as a person.

In the end they end up in a clandestine meddie relationship. All because Kestrelpaw didn't like seeing him so alone and miserable.

Finally! With regards to the way I like to fill out the details of his ascent to full meddie. As I said before the story implied in how even though he's older than Jaypaw by all canon evidence but doesn't get named until the allegiances of the first book in OotS, the first chapter of which has an announcement of Barkface's death, fascinates me.

Being unintelligent is something that's commented on in the narration and the fact he does not have a full name until after Barkface is dead to me imply very clearly he was only promoted of necessity. Even if by Clan culture he would be adult aged twice over he was not ready to handle the responsibility on his own.

I hesistate to name any learning disability in specific, but I think it's a combination of that and a general immature personality. I like to think he cherished having an extended childhood/adolescence and didn't want to ever grow up. Even if he would have to eventually because Barkface is old and won't live forever.

The 6 month timeskip between Po3 and OotS really lend themselves to having these circumstances that necessitated his premature promotion be really tragic. This is why I pin Barkface's cause of death as a terminal disease. Alzheimer's is a really good suggestion I was given and I still have to research that some more before I get to write this fic.

I also like to think that in this timeframe he got to make friends with the other apprentice in their little grouping, Flamepaw. Willowshine and Jayfeather are already full meddies and in many ways dealing with a lot more responsibility than even Kestrelpaw's care of Barkface. I feel that Barkface's impending death would put the contrast between them in sharp focus and make him more likely to bond with someone still firmly in the "kid" camp of this liminal time he's going through.

And that's about it for my thoughts (he says, having written over 1100 words). Hope it was a fun peek into my thought process and why I rotate this bird boy so much in my mind.

[chromotps]

uhhh thoughts on alabasta ratman sleep-deprived and weed fueled ace vs peak chad energy fuckboy prime wano ace?? like which one do you prefer, do you have any thoughts if he’d treat/think of luffy any different? in these two periods of his life?

(also ugh I adore both and there’s something special about alabasta ace who went after luffy to drum island, made sure everyone knew he would be waiting for luffy in alabasta, then went and sat there for 10 days with no other purpose but to wait for luffy. bc he just wanted to see him so so much. brocon alabasta ace is uhhhgggghh insane vibes but. there’s also something about wano graciously giving everyone big tits and a healthy layer of fat tissue on top of all that muscle. also the fact that portgas d “i hate when little children follow me around” ace willingly befriended and took care of tama. also promised her the same thing he promised luffy. idkidkidk I just like to think luffy was on ace’s mind 90% of the time, wherever he went, and he often just thought about him bc a lot of thinks reminded him of luffy. like things luffy would like, things he’d like to eat, things he’d find funny etc)

I thought this would be easy to answer but then I had like a whole essay typed up in my head. so. thank you for this ask, I have a lot of feelings about it apparently. 😂😂

they really do feel like 2 different characters, maybe bc Oda was still firming up the details of marineford/wano when Ace first appeared in alabasta? In any case it's always fun seeing which "version" of him fans lean into in fanart/fic/headcanons hahaha. like do they make him more scrungly and sleazy (but maybe also secretly doting)? you got yourself a greasy Ace fan. do they make him all upstanding and softly affectionate and soulful? wano ace wano ace wano ace

(a lot more rambling from here)

I have to admit...... and I'm ashamed to say it............... but I was only half-aware of Ace in Alabasta—like at that point, he was just another "wacky cool shounen guy" to me. It took Marineford breaking my brain down to its component parts and rearranging them for my full Ace brainrot to set in, and at that point he was closer to Ethereal Fridged Wife wano Ace, so I'd probably go with that one? God I do need to rewatch Alabasta tho, I feel like it'd be such a trip of fawning over greasy ratman Ace this time around ahahahah

I think it took until Marineford for me to really latch onto Ace bc it was outwardly like: Alabasta Ace: I'm cool Marineford Ace: I'm cool [ironic][hiding INTENSE self-worth issues]

I agree with everything you said though... I love wrinkly, wrung-out-to-dry Alabasta Ace and his devil-may-care coolness. His vibes of being just a bit more of a rebel than any of the Strawhats even, the thing that makes people cast him as a guitarist or artist in modern AUs. that fuckin,,,,, crouch/perching thing he does,,,, The WAITING... he's so understated with his devotion, like, this panel??

he's trying to be so cool and older brother-y but really he just wants his little brother to visit him sometimes!!! he waited for luffy for 10 days when he's been prioritizing this mission over everything else, even being with his other found-family crew, and I just!!! sigh

"any thoughts if he’d treat/think of luffy any different" I so agree that Wano Ace is pre-Whitebeard Ace, meaning that even though he's presenting himself as independent and a leader/captain, there's a part of him that's still very angry and searching for acceptance. And yesss, bc of that he was probably holding his memories of Luffy so close all the time, seeing his brother who loves him in the innocent, trusting kid he helps, and unable to stop bragging about his brave little brother to the brash, impressive club-weilding guy he runs into.

meanwhile I feel like Alabasta Ace is actually more mellowed-out in his feelings toward Luffy, in a way? like idk, maybe—I might be completely off—but he's more secure in himself and his attachment to Luffy... or at least he tells himself he is. I just feel like that explains why he's shown to be so openly brag-y about Luffy in his Wano days, but seems way more laidback in Alabasta, haha (but the brocon devotion is still there, just better-hidden, lmaoooo) (and it gets ripped to the forefront during Marineford—he's forced to confront all that fear and attachment when he sees Luffy hurtling through the air toward him AH)

god tho. wano ace. wano ace and this gif

the things. the things i want to do to this man. the morals i would abandon. unspeakable.

and this???? him??????????????? sunkissed angel backlit like the once-in-a-lifetime love interest in a twee indie film???

yeah I... in summary, I feel like I have 60/40 preference for Wano Ace over Alabasta Ace, but really it's that mix of all those qualities that I like to bring in when i can.

(my secret third answer is Marineford Ace. the blorbo who started it all, lmao)

[cdreambur]

space au where professional pilot dream is hired for a transport flight across half the galaxy.

his employer even supplies the ship, a new model made by reputable manufacturer soot corp. and "one of only six released prototypes", as the guy proudly tells him.

dream's not complaining, considering the sleek design, strong motors, and impressive technology on the control panel.

with the first half of the pay deposited in his account and his cargo stored, dream boards, sinking into the surprisingly plush seat of the captain's chair.

flipping the switch to activate the controls, he startles when a sudden light flickers to life on his right, bathing the cockpit in a bright silver blue glow.

when dream turns to it, a face is staring back, and it's only now that he realizes that he's looking at a hologram.

"hi, i'm wil, your assistant navigator." the hologram says before smiling brightly at dream.

it takes the form of a young man, probably around dream's age, with wild brown curls, warm eyes, freckled cheeks, and a simple black sweater.

dream just blinks at it, righting himself in his chair as wil explains, "i've already received the coordinates to your destination. do you want me to tell you and let you figure out the route or should i guide you step by step?"

his head is spinning, surprised that the artificial intelligence already knows where to go when dream didn't get more than an "a small, relatively populous planet in the outer ring" from his employer. though this might explain why he didn't go into detail about it.

he clears his throat, finally smiling back at wil.

"i'd appreciate it if you tell me."

finally starting the motors, he listens as wil rattles off the coordinates, already mapping out the best way in his head. it isn't an area he's been in before, but he's visited planets close to it, and while it's a relatively long trip of around a week, it's also not a very complicated one.

when he voices the thought, wil agrees, right before rambling about all the reasons why the region is a lesser visited part of the galaxy and how that's good for them.

they're in hyperspace already when the talking eventually stops, wil blinking up at dream.

"wait. what the fuck is your name?"

the question is so blunt and out of the blue that dream can't stop himself from snorting, finally introducing himself. he tells wil a bit about his home planet, about his family, and how he came to be a pilot.

and it's nice.

the artificial intelligence is a surprisingly good listener, with a great sense of humor and a seemingly endless supply of little jokes and quips.

dream thinks he's going to enjoy the week of travel.

-

the days pass way too quickly. dream spends almost all of his time in the cockpit, talking to wil, who he's learned a lot about.

wil goes by he, and he likes to sing. he's sarcastic and enjoys telling stories. he knows a lot about the universe and loves nothing more than talking about it.

and dream's getting way too attached to an artificial intelligence bound to a ship that doesn't belong to him.

it doesn't get better when they reach the orbit of their destination.

because it definitely doesn't look like the planet dream's employer described to him.

sure, it's in the outer ring. but it's not small, and not populous either. in fact, it seems as if no one lives on the giant green planet.

"are you sure this is the right place?" he asks wil, doubtful as he looks down at the hilly surface.

"yes." wil answers softly, and there's something in his voice that dream can't quite place.

he pushes it to the back of his mind when the hologram starts directing him to the landing site.

it's... weird.

the place where they finally touch down is a flat area covered in green stems dream has never seen before, close to a majestic mansion that reminds dream of the strange, intricate glass structures you can find on diare.

something doesn't feel right, and dream voices as much to wil.

"i'm sorry." the hologram replies.

dream whips around to him, finding wil unable to meet his eyes and his expression hidden behind his disheveled curls.

"what do you mean?"

and when he doesn't get a response, "wil, what the fuck do you mean?"

wil swallows.

"if you want answers, go to room 16. and for the the small chance that someone asks why you're there, tell them you followed hullar's orders."

then, he flickers one last time before disappearing.

and dream is left staring at the console, torn between finding out what's going on and leaving to complete his job.

as always, his curiosity wins in the end.

he crosses the short distance between the ship and the house, surprised when he finds the door unlocked. no alarm bells start ringing when he steps into a grand foyer, and there aren't any people either. the whole building seems empty and unprotected, but there's a creepy air hanging over it that doesn't quite allow dream to relax.

two doors lead further into the mansion, and dream picks the left one at random, peeking inside to find a long corridor with numbered doors, all of them a strange off-white color.

the numbers start with two though, so he closes it again, walking over to the other door.

the hallway that lies behind it looks identical to the first one, but this time, the numbers start with zero and thus seem more promising to dream.

he closes the door behind him when he enters the deserted corridor, taking a slow, deep breath before he starts walking.

the even numbers are on the left side, and room number 16 is almost at the end of the hallway, looking just like the rest of it.

dream's hand shakes a little when he reaches for the handle, but he pushes it open without any hesitation.

on the other side stands wil.

he looks exactly like he did on the ship; messy curls, light brown eyes, smooth skin, a black sweater.

but this time, he's real. a person made of flesh and blood, just like dream.

dream doesn't know if he wants to punch or hug him.

"what the hell?" he chokes out as the door silently shuts behind him.

wil smiles sheepishly at him before ducking his head, curls falling into his face in the way dream has seen so often in the last week.

"hey dream." he whispers, and dream almost flinches at the sound of his voice, so similar and yet so different from the slightly distorted version of it he's heard over the last few days.

"what the hell." dream repeats, softer and a little more composed. he straightens his shoulders, letting out a deep sigh as he crosses his arms.

"care to explain?"

it comes out a bit more demanding than he wanted to, but in his defence, this is probably the strangest situation he's ever been in and he doesn't quite know how to handle it.

wil doesn't seem to take offense, although he does shrink a little bit further into himself.

"i'm really sorry." he apologizes again, tone the same as when he said it on the ship. but this time, he doesn't disappear after, instead continuing, "my name is wilbur, wilbur soot."

dream's arms fall to his side at that, the name registering immediately. however, he doesn't get the chance to think about it as wil goes on with his explanation.

"my father is the founder and chief engineer of soot corp., and as you may know, they're the leading company on the market when it comes to spaceships. with that comes a lot of envy and a bunch of very ambitious rivals."

wil finally looks up at him, a soft, sad smile curling the corners of his mouth.

"i'm my father's only child. and people know that hurting me would hurt him. so he keeps me here, keeps me safe. but i don't want to live in a golden cage anymore."

his expression shifts, something so sweet and hopeful in his eyes that dream has to hold himself back from pulling wil into his arms.

"i wanna see the universe. i wanna see the planets and the stars and the galaxies i've only ever read about. i wanna be free."

and dream knows how this is going to end, knows what he's going to ask before he actually does.

"can you take me with you?"

and how, how is dream supposed to say no to someone with so much wonder twinkling in their eyes, someone with so much passion and curiosity for what the universe has to offer.

he nods.

the smile that takes over wil's face is blinding and steals dream's breath for a moment. he basks in it, just for a small second, before he reciprocates it, gesturing towards the door.

wil nods, and together, they leave the room, and then the hallway, and then the house.

there are still no people, still no alarm bells, but the creepy atmosphere seems to disappear in wil's presence, leaving nothing but a content warmth in dream's chest.

it doesn't take them long to reach the ship, and dream sinks into the captain's chair with a satisfied sigh, something that makes wil giggle from where he's tucked himself into the co-pilot seat.

starting the controls, he expects hologram wil to come back to life, but the spot where he usually appeared stays empty.

"huh?" dream mutters to himself before turning to wil.

"where's the artificial intelligence? even if i found you, it should still be here."

wil's sheepish grin returns.

"you weren't talking to an artificial intelligence. you were talking to me. to get away, i had to find a way to contact someone, and since my father developed these prototypes here, i had the chance to secretly build in a video messenger."

dream blinks, stunned.

"so... everything hologram wil said and did was... you? it was real?"

wil nods, and something in dream settles at that confirmation.

because it's strange. theoretically, they only met twenty minutes ago. but dream already knows how wil sounds when he's tired and how much he loves constellations and what his favorite food is. and in turn, wil already knows who dream's best friends are and which planets he likes visiting the most and which ships he would love to fly.

wil is real, and he's here, and he's going to stay.

dream grins to himself when he starts the motors and lifts off, leaving the planet behind and entering space in no time.

stabilizing them somewhere where they're not going to be in the way of other ships, he turns to wil, planning to talk about their next moves.

he's stopped by the sight of wil curled up in the chair, knees pulled up to his chest as he looks out the window, sparkles in his eyes and the softest smile imaginable on his face as he watches the stars.

dream chuckles, quietly making a promise to himself.

he's going to show wil the universe.

[theneighborhoodwatch]

ramble about wally & home's codependent swag. do it. you know you want to /lh

sorry for sitting so long on this one, anon. it's good to let thoughts Ferment sometimes. anyway - [pulls up a chair to sit down on it backwards, facing you]

so, the way i see it: it all comes back to home, yeah? home is not just the house - home is also the name of the town, it is very likely the town itself, and that town may be (as far as we know) the entire world. the very Concept of the home been discussed by clown as a central theme of welcome home a few times on his blog. when i say that home is everything, i do mean everything, and i don't think there's anyone for whom that rings more true than wally.

i know i link back to my older posts a lot, but i swear this one is relevant bc i wanna elaborate on a point that i make in the first half of it: the way i see it (as of the time of this writing) home, in all senses of the word, is wally's top priority. which is not to say that his devotion towards home supersedes everything else, but that everything else sort of feeds back into it by design. the neighbors? they are there to inhabit home. we, the audience? we are there to perceive home and round out its population. the WHRP*? they said it themselves - they're there to make that fucking house a home. home is everything, and in turn, everything is for the sake of preserving home. wally cares for his neighbors, and he cares for Us, but would either of those still be the case if there was no home to preserve? i'm not sure.

there is a catch to this, though. of course there is. wally's identity already seems tied pretty heavily to other people; he learns from his neighbors, and he does so on the audience's behalf. given everything i've written in the above paragraph, this can arguably be an extension of his devotion to home, however genuine those relationships may be in their own right. in other words, home (more specifically the restoration/preservation of home) is not only wally's chief motivation, but as far as he's concerned, the reason he exists at all. i think a lot about these tags that @pretty-in-possible (hope you don't mind the tag) left on a post of mine describing their image of wally:

and i had something very similar in mind. if wally's goal truly is the restoration/preservation of home - in this context, his raison d'être, the basis for his entire sense of self - then i can imagine why he would be willing to follow his original role as closely as he could even 50 years after the end of the original show. i can imagine that outgrowing that role in any capacity would feel like a sin. i can imagine that watching his friends outgrow theirs, or at least express a desire to do so, would seem extremely reckless to him, if not an outright betrayal.

("wait," you might say. "doesn't tampering with the site technically count as him adapting/evolving past his original role as audience surrogate?" "yes 8]" i would say. i would not elaborate, and then we would move on.)

i've mostly been talking about wally's side of things, and the reason for that is mostly that wally is just easier to speculate about. home is such a mystery that some people aren't even sure if they're the same being that was on the original show; i've seen people posit that whatever home is now, it is Not what they were originally, either that they're undead or that they've since become a husk for Something Else to inhabit, or some third thing i'm forgetting. either way, i think it's interesting that as attached as wally is to home, even he doesn't seem to be able to assess whatever their needs are with 100% accuracy - if the duet audio is to be believed, there's at least Some guesswork involved. who's to say that wally isn't just hearing what he wants to hear, at least some of the time?

i wonder - how does home feel about being an Embodiment, not of just the town, but of the very word "home?" are they frustrated with the fact that even wally, their own inhabitant, can never fully understand them, and has become resentful? do they appreciate the effort regardless, but feel a growing impatience gnawing at them day by day? are they apathetic at best towards wally, but need him to fulfill some goal or another, since they're an inanimate building? either way, i can't help but feel that home also relies on wally in some way; perhaps not as heavily as he relies on them, perhaps not in the same way or for the same reasons. but there is something Mutual there, i think.

tl;dr: these two are hurtling towards disaster and i, for one, cannot wait to see every last bit of it. here are two songs that remind me of them every time i hear them, the realization of which is often accompanied by guttural wailing.

* wally doesn't seem to have any strong feelings towards the WHRP team outside of maybe sharing the same motivation as them (i.e. restoration) but this may be because he's either hiding from them and also doesn't seem like the kind of guy to Express negative emotions, or he because he is the WHRP team - we'll see how things shake out.

[that-gay-guy-from-hell]

Been seeing a lot of dmc5se art (I'm too much of an anxious coward to tag them, sorry) lately and, some times, they draw Dante (and others) in the style of MLP. So, I thought it would be fun to draw as well! It's been an EXTREMELY long time since I've drawn MLP styled stuff (or drawn traditionally for that matter) so it's a bit rough (and stiff) but *shrugs* it was fun.

Forgive the poor picture quality, my phone's focus doesn't work right-- it's a feisty bitch and I hate it lmfao Also my handwriting is horrible, sorry lmao (Rambling about this idea below because I have been suffering brain rot over this)

Putting in my two cents on the idea, I think that Sparda (and his descendants) would have a white coat and blank flank (which is covered by their coats).

Sparda would obviously be a demon pony. I think that his "human" or in this case "pony" form would be of an earth pony with a hint of batpony. He'd want to blend in the best he can. He's too bulky to pass as a pegasus and would have an odd shaped horn if he tried to pass as a unicorn. The hint of batpony is because of his ears and eyes. Even with this however, he can still use magic and fly--which looks strange to say the least, an earth pony that's able to do other races things... Freaky.

Eva would be a unicorn, curved ribbed horn, hoof tufts, fluffy ears, and a "classic" type tail. (Not much else to say)

Vergil and Dante would both me earth ponies. However, they each would have devil/demon horns--that are the same as their Devil Trigger. Despite not having a unicorn horn, however, they can use magic. (which adds to the "wtf" factor the whole Sparda family has).

Dante would have a set of two (four in total) (pictured above) horns that curve downwards; which he trims/grinds down then covers the remaining stumps with his mane. Before you ask: yes, this hurts. He's grinding down something that has blood and tissue in it (like most animal horns do) but he's stubborn. The youngest twin inherited his father's body type (or well, fake body's type): a thicker more stocky build. The one major thing from Eva he has is fluffy ears. His tail he keeps trimmed close to his flank because it's a disadvantage in a fight (and a pain to take care of).

PRE NELO ANGELO: Vergil has a fully grown set of horns (two in total) that curve upwards and are more developed/tougher than Dante's--since he doesn't trim them. Oppisite his twin, Vergil inherited Eva's body type: long "traditional" unicorn tail, hoof tufts, slimmer build. The one thing he did not inherit from her is the ear fluff, having his father's batpony structure instead. POST NELO ANGELO: Vergil's horns are snapped in half. Unable to grow them back, he keeps them nearly sanded to a smooth edge. His tail is gone, only have a scar where it did attach before. His hoof fluff takes some time to grow back. V: Skinny earth pony that's white with black faded stocking marks. His front hooves have fluff and he has no tail. His ears are normal. V has his tattoos all over his body except his flank. URIZEN: Didn't want to exclude him but there's not much to say. He'd look like a rooted version of post Nelo Angelo Vergil. Maybe he'd look closer to a changeling? Not sure. His design is something that I would have to play with and try out before deciding.

Trish looks almost the exact same as Eva, however, the major difference is her horn has no ribs. It's a smooth curved horn.

Lady would be a hypogriff (Arkam would be a griffon). Again, not much to say.

Nero would be an earth pony with very little different (otherwise it would've been overly obvious that he wasn't normal). His back hooves have tufts and he has a longer--but not extremely long--base for his tail. His ears are fluffier, but not too much (and not bat texture). His devil bringer would be akin to a griffon's front claws; talons and whatnot. POST "Awakening" (learning to Trigger): Nero does have small horns that curve around his ears; just like his DT's (almost like a ram). He also gains the ability to use "magic" and levitate/hover/glide despite not having a horn or wings.

Sorry that was a lot... But it seriously has been just stuck in my head. Might doodle more of this at some point, might not; I don't know yet. This was really odd and strangely comforting to go back to. Most of my art pre-2020 was MLP styled (even though I had lost interest in the show WAY before that. Just got used to drawing it and was, not to pat myself on the ass, pretty good at it... but I never shared like 99% of it.)

okay I'll shut up now lol

MASTER LIST FOR TUMBLR

[glacierbash]

transfem ysayle headcanons?? 👀

hi bestie hi you're absolutely fueling me today thank you so very much. okokok. so. i've been trying to compile my thoughts in a way that reads as mostly understandable but I just physically cannot, so please excuse my entirely disconnected rambles, I'm GOING to try and make a point in the end (and also i know that anything you specifically may know about ysayle is probably through Post Osmosis so if you have any questions about her ask me I will talk about her for actual HOURS) also final "disclaimer" that's actually just "haha funny story:" this headcanon first came to me in a DREAM months ago, and i couldn't remember what point I had made in my dream until like 2 days ago while talking with my partner, which is why I'm so eager to talk about it now. Literally came to me in a dream. ok with that all out of the wayyyyy

Generally, this hc comes from two different places: Symbolism in the story, and actual, factual, "wow this makes sense and I can point to pieces in the story that make me believe this." With regards to the first half, I point to Ysayle's overarching story: Desperation for change. So much of Ysayle's character motivation comes from this genuine need to see the world changed for the better, to the point of being willing to do anything that she deems necessary. She's extreme, but it comes from desperation (for you specifically, the best way I could think to describe Ysayle is Anders, if blowing up the Chantry was the wrong decision). Furthermore, all of Ysayle's ice theming--ice is something that can change, and remarkably easily, too. There is something to be said that in embodying the cold that defines her, Ysayle allows herself to live a more genuine life. She's change encompassed within a woman, for better and for worse. When she sees the white dragon from her visions as a child after everybody she knew is killed, she is almost reborn in a way--perhaps in this rebirth, she decides to live a life more authentic to herself.

and then, there's her deep connection with Shiva within the story. In FF14, Shiva is a figure from loooong ago who fell in love with the white dragon previously mentioned, Hraesvelgr, and chose to have him consume her so that their souls may never part. Big story about love, and Shiva's influence upon him is the reason Hraesvelgr remained a peaceful figure as much as he REALLY wanted to start blowing shit up. Ever since she was a child, Ysayle saw visions of Shiva and Hraesvelgr, and my idea was that she very much attached her identity to Shiva, even before she had the words to describe how she was feeling about her gender. As she grew older, she related more and more to Shiva, even as the visions scared her--this longing to be like her, even if she didn't know why. Of course, after Ysayle survives the avalanche that kills everybody she knows, what does she have if not her visions to cling to more? As Ysayle decides to rally the heretics to fight against the Holy See and try to end the war, she hails Shiva as a saint, truly claiming her as part of herself.

This connection to Shiva, this claiming of her, goes hand in hand with Ysayle fully embracing her gender identity, going so far as to conjure up a false god that is meant to be Shiva, this completely idolized being that is everything Ysayle needs to be. And then, when Hraesvelgr denies Ysayle's creation, claiming it to be a mockery of his beloved Shiva, is that not ripping apart Ysayle's identity? She has spent so long attaching to this woman from her visions, this figure she idolizes, to the point of, again, creating a false god to embody, only to be told by the one living being that knew her, you will never be her. It's beyond devastating--it is no wonder that it sends Ysayle into an absolute spiral.

Of course, what of when she shows of to stop the heretics attacking Ishgard? Saying "there is no more war. There is no more reason to keep fighting." it's almost as though Ysayle is peeling herself away from Shiva, trying to stand on her own as her own woman, being her own figure not dictated by this dream she wanted to attain. And then, come the First Flight of the Excelsior, wherein Ysayle rides upon dragon's back to save us? It is as herself. There is no Lady Iceheart, and the Shiva she conjures is not defined by her idolizing dreams--it is Ysayle, as she longs to be, desperate to save us all.

(And of course x2, this makes me even more feral for "Ysayle lived" aus, where ysayle is given not just a second but a third chance at life, and she doesn't feel like she has to earn it. Her life isn't dictated by war, or by loss, or by violence, or by dreams from her youth. She's finally given a future to decide what she wants to do. She's fought for her future and won. her old child-like self who dreamed of a better world, who wanted to know why she felt so connected to the white-haired woman from her terrifying visions, doesn't know it--but one day they'll be happy. one day, they'll be free. One day, it'll all be worth it. One day.)

[fixfoxnox]

In the last hours of my birthday, I come here to make use of my birthday privilege(?)

I ask... For anything you can give me, Roach headcanons, Jackson headcanons, more bts, or something about Makarov, headcanons of past Simon, Gaz and Jackson, or past/present Soap, Laswell and Laswell's wife, or Price.... Anything you can give, seriously. I love so much SiTO I accept every crumb you can give me

But, a mandatory thing. Use this ask to ramble about Roach, game Roach or SiTO Roach.

I love so much your fic, is consuming my life. Everytime I see an update, I just scream. And how much you share about the fic here, makes me so happy. Keep writing please.

Happy Birthday!!!! I would be honored to ramble for you!

ROACH MY BELOVED

He's my little skrunkly cryptid guy and I will always rant about him

I think that he learned his knife skills from Ghost

When he joined the 141 he was obviously extremely skilled with weapons and ranged fighting, but the team found out pretty quickly that he basically had no experience with hand-to-hand

So Soap/Captain MacTavish paired him with Ghost to have Ghost teach him because he had the most experience out of the team

This is how Past! Simon fell for Roach and how Roach fell for him

Essentially they spent hours together in training and Ghost just became attached to Roach and vice versa

Idk if anyone else kinda thought this/drew the comparison, but some of Roach's special takedowns in MW2 remind me of a takedown that Ghost would do (which is where this comes from)

Specifically the two in Cliffhanger, like they're both so violent that they make me thing of Simon "Stab a man 8 times before killing him" Riley

Speaking of which, you may remember that I mentioned that Past! Soap was in love with Roach. Well he doesn't know it, but essentially he's the reason that he and Roach aren't together.

Roach had a thing for Soap before Ghost in the first life, but his feelings faded and instead grew for Ghost because of their training together

Also I'm like 100% sure that the reason why they couldn't put Roach in the new MW2 is because they knew he'd be too powerful 😔

He would have killed Graves and all present Shadow Company members right as they started their betrayal and he would have looked good doing it

No but seriously I do think they've kinda backed themselves into a corner a bit with Roach because they've canonically made him:

A) hard to kill

B) insanely good with any weapon, like better than even Price and Ghost

So I think the only way it works to bring him back is to have him be the character that we play as again. So I can kind of understand why he wouldn't show up in MW2 if they'd set themselves on having Soap and Gaz be the playable characters

That being said, I better see him in MW3 or SO HELP ME GOD

EVEN AS AN OPERATOR PLEASE I WILL PAY GOOD MONEY I WILL FUND IT MYSELF IF I HAVE TO

I like to think that, in his first life especially, Roach liked to climb to high places

Soap and Ghost would go to the training room and look up and he's just chilling in the rafters because he finds it calming

This is one of the reasons I think he chooses to climb to the top of the armory when he's having his panic attack earlier in the story

Heights just relax him for some reason

Takes to wearing a mask in his first life because of Simon. When Ghost tells him why he wears it, he decides he's going to start wearing masks as well.

He can't do the full balaclava like Simon does, so he settles for a half mask

If the current life, he doesn't wear masks much on missions. He's just fallen out of the habit of it.

That being said, it is common for him to pull his scarf up to cover the bottom half of his face during missions

He does it off missions too though

I like to think that if he gets embarrassed or nervous he pulls it up to cover his face

Past! Simon and Current! Simon had very different rules about their masks

Past! Simon wore his all the time while on missions and would put it on while on base as well. However, when on base he was much more willing to pull it off. Typically he would take it off while training. Sometimes he just takes it off because he feels like it. This only happens if its just the 141 around. Never wears it while out in his civvy stuff.

To him, the mask is a work thing only. A way to allow himself separation and anonymity while at work so that nothing follows him home again. He would never wear any sort of mask while out with Roach because it's not really about his face or his scars.

For Current! Simon, the mask is an all the time thing. He's so worried about someone recognizing him and him losing the things important to him that he would just prefer if no one saw his face ever. This also, I think, comes from some insecurity on his part, though he'd never admit it.

So he wears the mask all the time. If he goes out with the team, its either a face mask, or the balaclava that he got from the ghost team mission. The only time he isn't wearing a mask is when he's alone with someone he really trusts. So typically only when he's with Soap and Roach.

Okay quick rant for a minute because I'm still not over it:

WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SAYING ROACH IS CANONICALLY BRITISH?

NO SERIOUSLY AM I MISSING SOME KEY PIECE OF CANONICAL INFORMATION THAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS SEEN ABOUT HIM?

When I try to look it up, the only things I get are fandom websites saying he's British with no actual proof or sources to back them up

Everyone keeps saying he was SAS, but like as far as I can tell that was never confirmed and since the 141 is a multinational group its fully possible that he's American?

His model from COD Mobile has an American flag patch, which I know people have said its because they used the design from another character, but like you're telling me they couldn't, at the very least, change the flag?

I'm also fairly certain you can see him in the museum in MW2 and he has an American flag patch there as well (unless I'm mistaking someone else for Roach)

Literally any time you look up his character model and he has an American flag patch

I can't find a source confirming that he's British. As far as I know Soap doesn't mention his nationality in his journal (I need to get my hands on it still but surely someone would have mentioned if it did)

And I don't think its confirmed in any of the comics either?

SO PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOODNESS CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT I'M MISSING CAUSE I'M NOT SEEING HOW THIS BOY ISN'T BASICALLY CANONICALLY AMERICAN AT THIS POINT

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program

Some quick BTS stuff

I recently had to do some research into Makarov's backstory in the games (for an upcoming chapter 🤗) and let me tell you, I did not realize how old this man was during the events of the game

HE'S FUCKING 47 WHEN HE DIES BRO

FOR SOME REASON I THOUGHT HE WAS LIKE 30

This is all to say that it made me think more about the ages of the characters. So I've decided that Roach was likely almost thirty when he died in his first life and he's nearing thirty again in the present

So, with all the time that has passed so far, Roach is actually currently about a week and a few days out from his birthday in the story

I will also point out, to anyone who has forgotten: when the team celebrate Roach's birthday in Chapter 9, they're actually celebrating his birthday about a month in advance.

I would also love to talk about the differences in Makarov calling Roach Insect and Ghost and Soap calling him Bug.

Bug is like an affectionate nickname. Its cute, its unassuming, you can tell that they mean it in a loving way

Makarov calling Roach "Insect" is almost degrading. Its like he's nothing more than a nuisance. Its said in an almost mockery of the way that Soap and Ghost call him "Bug"

However, I would like to point out, that Makarov probably doesn't see it this way. When he calls Roach "Insect" he means it in an affectionate way. To him, Insect isn't degrading or meant to make Roach feel small, its a nod to who he is.

He's not reducing Roach to something small and unassuming like the word "bug" implies, but is rather acknowledging that Roach is a capable person who can be deadly and dangerous.

Of course, this is how his mind see's it, but the reality is also that he certainly uses the name Insect to remind Roach that he is essentially nothing anymore. Nothing outside of the purpose that he gives him.

I would also like to say that I think Makarov is genuinely in love with Roach and, if Roach did actually give into him, I think his obsession would grow to a very very dangerous point

Like a "I need to keep him locked in this room for safety. No one can see him because they might try to kill him. I have to keep him alive. I have to keep him alive. He's all I have. He's mine." Kinda deal

Would essentially turn into Roach only being allowed out when he's with Makarov or not being allowed to leave a room/the compound at all

The real question is, would Roach ever actually give in to Makarov?

I think the only way he would is if all of the members of the 141 were dead. I genuinely think that if that happened, he would be so broken by it that Makarov would be able to easily come in as the "only thing you have left" person and fully manipulate him while he's at his worst

If even one member of the team is alive though? No chance. Roach would sooner kill himself then turn to Makarov.

Okay let's leave the worlds biggest creep (Makarov) and move to the worlds cutest throuple (ghostroachsoap)

They're favorite activity is cuddling

Will, very literally, spend all day in bed together if given the chance

I think Soap and Roach like to drag Simon out to watch movies with them

They like scary movies but only Simon is really able to handle them well so it usually turns into him with an arm around each of them as they hide their faces in his chest during the scary parts

Naturally, its one of Simon's favorite activities

Love to play wrestle

Particularly I think Soap and Roach like to gang up on Ghost and try to wrestle him down (they always fail)

However, Soap and Roach will wrestle between themselves playfully until Ghost has to pull them apart for getting "too rowdy"

This is typically when they turn on him

Soap has literally the coldest hands and feet imaginable and he thinks its hilarious to randomly walk up behind Roach (the human heater (if anyone makes a joke about his death here we will be fighting)) and put his hands on the back of his neck

Roach jumps every time and let's out the most undignified squeal at it

Ghost thinks the noise he makes is adorable to he never warns Roach ahead of time, even when he's literally watching Soap walk up to him

They swap who's in the middle of the cuddle pile, but usually its Roach because he's the smallest so Soap and Ghost can still touch/hold each other around him

Ghost likes it when Soap and Roach just lay across him with like their full body weight. Usually one of them is laying across his chest and the other has their head on his lap or laying across his legs

Soap and Ghosts morning voices literally drive Roach crazy. Like its gets to a point where if they have to be somewhere in the morning he has to forbid them to talk so they can actually leave without him either dragging them back to bed or having to take a very very cold shower

Roach is the biggest flirt without realizing it. Like he genuinely doesn't realize he's flirting most of the time, he just thinks they're having a normal conversation/joking

This causes numerous instances of Soap and Ghost dragging Roach back to their room desperately because of his flirting while he's just there like "???😃???"

They only really hate it when he ends up accidentally flirting with other people without realizing it. This happens a lot while the three are out in their civilian stuff.

Soap and Ghost are fairly jealous/possessive, but Roach is typically very chill/doesn't get bothered with people flirting/crushing on the two. He really just trusts them completely

Even when he was only in love with Ghost and Gjost was with Soap, he wasn't really jealous, so much as he was just sad and a little angry

That all being said, when he does get jealous? Oh boy, he gets jealous

Like worse than Soap and Ghost in terms of handling his feelings when it comes to jealousy

Actually throws a rock at someone at one point over his jealousy kinda beat (don't worry he missed them because he was so blinded by his jealousy)

However, Soap and Ghost think he's fucking adorable when he's angry/jealous, so sometimes they may or may not try on purpose to make him jealous

I should probably stop here, but I hope this was a good enough birthday gift!! 💙💙💙

[roxannarambles]

Writing a short initial reaction to Epilogue. My mood is glum.

Well. It was underwhelming. Mostly just a short storyline as a vehicle to serve up a Mythical pokemon. As I expected.

But I understand I was never going to be satisfied with it. I wanted to go on another adventure with them, and I didn't really get to do that. I . . . miss them. And it didn't feel like I really got to see them. Other than this very perfunctory little thing.

Even the Blueberry clubhouse dialogue isn't that detailed.

I was briefly amused, though, that the story was a semi-horror story (I'm saying 'semi' because it was more of a horror-comedy), since I wrote a horror story that involved the crew visiting Kitakami. A lot of the interactions and vibes aligned with my own story very well (esp. 'Penny acts like she thinks horror stories are stupid but then she's one of the first ones to freak out') so that was kinda cool. And Nemona managing to half-tell us that she thought a move we did during battle was cool despite being possessed was cute. Nothing seriously wrong with the short plot, just . . . not enough.

Would have been nice if these characters were expanded upon. Would have been nice if we went on an actual adventure together and not just a short 'walk to a few trainers to battle and then catch a pokemon.' Would have been nice if we'd been given a lot of things. But it's not like I expected the Epilogue was going to actually do that, it was clear they weren't gonna.

I'm sorry guys, I'm being a killjoy. But that's what happens when you get too attached to characters. You want more. You yearn for more.

It's why I write. 'Cause I know the game won't provide that. And it gives me a chance to express my fondness for the characters, to expand upon them, to have more adventures.

But there's always an edge of sorrow to my experience with writing. Because the yearning is always there. Maybe that's true for a lot of writing though. You write out of a wish to imagine things that do not exist.

That edge of sorrow seems far less sharp when I talk to others about the characters, at least. Makes the experiences seem much more real.

Anyway. I am rambling, as I am wont to do

[minasummersch]

🌺🍰 welcome my lovely faebies! 🌺🍰

There's nothing in life that can't be solved with chocolate🍫, cake🍰, or glitter✨

Hello everyone! Welcome to Mina's Musings, a tumblr blog run by Mina Summers. I am a half-fairy VTuber who owns and runs Marigold Bakery. I starting VTubing to make people happy and earn my fairy wings! I hope you'll join me on this magical journey together~

I stream primarily on Twitch and occasionally on YouTube as well. You can also find me on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and Discord. If you'd like to support my content you can check my Carrd for more links and info!

You can use these tags to navigate this blog and find more of my content:

#mina's musings = longer posts from Mina

#minaLIVE = Any content related to Mina's livestreams

#minaCLIPS = Clips of Mina's streams

#minaART = Fanart and commissions of Mina

#minaBAKES = Mina's baking related posts

#mina's ramblings = ramblings and thoughts from Mina

(the tags will be updated as I use them and add more)

Read below the cut to learn more about me!

Hashtags

General tag: #minasummers Live tag: #minaLIVE Clips tag: #minaCLIPS Fanart tag: #minaART Baking tag: #minaBAKES Fan name: Faebies Emotes: 🌺🍰

Schedule

I work a few different freelance jobs and so my schedule is constantly in flux. I usually stream weekday at 11:00 AM or 12:00 PM in the EST/EDT timezone. I'll attach my weekly schedule for the current week below:

Content I Stream/Create

I usually stream otome visual novels or joseimuke mobile games. Some of my favorites are Ensemble Stars!! Basic and Music, Bandori, Taisho x Alice, Tears of Themis, Hatoful Boyfriend, and BUSTAFELLOWS.

Sometimes I'll stream variety content such as JRPGs, scuffed karaoke (yes it is always scuffed lol), baking or decorating desserts (rare because this is messy and requires lots of planning!), crocheting, and cozy chatting content. I like to experiment with my content when I have more time in my schedule!

I'm currently working on a larger video project where I summarize the entirety of the Ensemble Stars story backlog and lore on YouTube. The series is still very much a work in progress but I do have a livestream VOD where I explained some basics about the game universe and characters which you can watch here:

I also really love music! I try to hold karaokes as much as I can and I've recently start recording covers songs! You can check out my first cover song below. It would mean a lot to me if you gave it a like as well!

Other than that I do a bit of voice acting, sometimes while I'm playing VNs I'll even try to voice over the characters. But mostly I just record short voice clips and post them to YouTube and TikTok.

Now that I have this page I hope to post some exclusive Tumblr content such as video scripts for my YouTube videos and reviews for games, animes, mangas, and novels! I'll link back to some of those posts when I do create them.

Mina's Model Credits

1.0 Model - Pink Dress Mina

Live2D videos to be added soon!

Design + ref sheet + PNG + fullbody Live2D model -- _kawarumii

Live2D rigging + chibi Live2D model art and rig -- tomoxm2

Scuffed VRoid model (not pictured) -- me

Detailed VRoid model -- claire_maid

Plush doll PNG (not pictured) -- Miyukiko

Cottage core alt outfit

Full Model coming someday!

Design -- Lapin

Lehenga outfit

Coming soon!

Designed -- Dayleaf404

2.0 Model - Secret

Coming soon!

Design -- Fei

Mina's Stream Asset Credits

This is a list of the creators who Mina commissioned or bought assets from for her Twitch and YouTube streams.

Channel Music -- ViSO by UTALIVE and KODOMOi

Overlays and Panels -- Aurora Rosalia

Stinger -- Aurora Rosalia

Chatbox -- chroneco

Header + Profile Image -- miyukiverse

Emotes -- vera_li

Badges and Channel Points -- AvilaRozma

Mina's Fanart and Commission Credits

This is a list of all the artists Mina has received fanart from or commissioned for artwork.

Bachiilla

Chrysalia Csilla

DaisukeSenpai

Dayleaf

Dinara

Haru

Kaji

Kuri

Miunee

Miyuki

Miyukiko

Rcol

ro_arts_id

Sketch the Witch

糕Pastry

Xela

Thank you so much for reading this far! And thank you even if you didn't really read the whole posts lol, I know it's long but I wanted it to be extensive enough that you could find anything possible about me.

I'll be updating this post as much as I can to keep the info up to date. It would mean a lot to me if you checked out some of my content and dropped a follower/sub/like on anything that interests you. Comments are always welcome as well and my ask box is always open to everyone!

[mtbluecat]

DAY 3 (favourite clans/archetypes)

today's prompt is just a long textpost + my competitive decklists lmaoooooo since somewhere down the line, i accidentally became a sweaty tryhard vanguard player

warning: this post is really long but i would appreciate if even one person reads my ramblings about projecting onto characters really hard and my descent into coping the tcg full-time

tl;dr i like luard and shiranui a very normal amount

shadow paladin - luard

i definitely can't go without first mentioning my eternal main, shadow paladin luard. and there is a story behind this except it's like half just me being unhinged and projecting really hard but what is that but the spirit of vanguard itself. so i sat down to learn the actual tcg a while back and i was like "okay i need an avatar card. whomst will do" and eventually settled on luard since i liked his card art/aesthetic and his premise being "a member of this group of wizard researchers who study how to shapeshift into dragons". as a researcher and as a fan of shadow paladin from ever since i started watching this show, i was sold. oh yeah i also read the luard lore sometime after this (forgor how long after) but yeah i was definitely committed after that lmaooo yall should go read his lore you will not regret it hslkdfjklsdjlsk

at some point i also rewatched g next and for some reason, i noticed kazuma a lot more that time and the projection became real. like. man. we're a lot alike and at some points it was honestly kinda uncomfortable to watch but i think that also changed my perspective a bit lmao. anyway i'll be cringe i'll own it: my avatar card is luard.

if yall are interested in my v-prem list here it is: https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/LKRM

nubatama - shiranui

so like when i watched g next for the first time, the character i did the most projecting on was actually kazumi, not kazuma. nowadays it's a pretty good mix of both + luard, but i am also very much attached to kazumi and his deck.

tbf the main reason why i picked it up was because i thought dominate was a really funny mechanic and also i first built it in vgzero (rip that game btw) because it was meta and also can be pulled from one set. but like. i really liked playing it in zero and it was the only deck i mained from that point forth. flash forward to when they announced history collection (histcolle) in en and all my competitive player friends were talking about nui making its way back into the meta and i was like "wait this is perfect actually zero is dying but i can finally learn premium with a deck i like".

anyway the deck is really fun except when rinne just rips out your opponent's shield tickets smodge. my only "complaint" is that when people lose to nui they are unreasonably saltier than if they lose to any other deck. it's the villain deck curse i think but at the same time it's pretty funny to watch people mald over mizukaze.

uhh the decklist is honestly probably gonna change but i'm pretty happy with it rn: https://decklog-en.bushiroad.com/view/9CWP

[riddlerosehearts]

okay, so i finished my first playthrough of baldur's gate 3 last night!! and then i played the ending cutscenes and the epilogue twice so i could collect my thoughts and reactions and figure out how to write them all out. god, i love this game. for a while i almost didn't want it to end because i loved it so much but i think now that i've finished it i'll only become more attached to the silly little half-elf bard that i created to play this game with, and want to keep thinking about him and posting about him more--especially since i'm planning to eventually get a new graphics card and then i'll be able to make nice high quality screenshots and gifs of the game. i've already been planning out what my next tav will be like too, and thinking about doing so many more playthroughs of this game! i may have some criticisms here and there because bg3 is definitely flawed in some areas, but i mean, what isn't? it's a huge game, i had a lot of fun with it overall, and i'm so glad i finally decided to pick it up in march after months of seeing its characters flood my dash.

i kept hit the "4096 characters per block" limit while making this post btw 😭😭 but it seems i could get around that just by breaking up the bullet points a bit. i don't care if nobody but me is going to read my million words of rambling about how much i love these characters, i am not cutting anything out of my post.

so we have the big goodbye scene at the docks, starting with orpheus wanting you to mercy kill him and lae'zel to carry on his legacy and lead the rebellion. i wasn't sure what to have her do, so i initially picked the option for her to make her own choice because i wanted to see what would happen, and because it's what i've usually been choosing in these situations. she decided to do as orpheus asked and the dialogue she had about it was beautiful, but honestly in this specific case i think persuading her to craft a new fate for herself in faerun is the most in-character thing for elenion to do. so i reloaded and did that. and i think it definitely was the right choice for this playthrough, because what she said about her destiny not being for orpheus or vlaakith or decide, and how it was on faerun that she learned to be free, is pretty much the exact reasoning i had in mind! and the epilogue party, with the hopeful letter from voss mentioning an alliance with the githzerai and the dialogue from lae'zel about fighting vlaakith's army, also ended up confirming for me that her staying in faerun doesn't mean the githyanki are doomed or that she won't still find ways to fight for her people.

the way she's all like "go mingle! that's the word, right?" and "this is... nice. yes, i think that's the right word for it" at the party is so funny and cute. she's trying her best!! i adore lae'zel and i will never understand why she seems to be so much less popular than most of the other companions.

after lae'zel's scene we have a very short scene with gale talking about the crown of karsus. i chose to have him give it back to mystra. i'm going to come back around to gale later and talk about astarion now though! his ending scene makes me so sad to think about, like, everyone is talking about celebrating and then he's just suddenly on fire, nobody really shows any concern outside of one of the companions saying a single line about how he won't get to see the sun anymore, and then that's the last anyone sees of him before the epilogue party?? the tone of the scene feels like it's supposed to be funny but like i said, it just makes me sad :( the epilogue makes things a lot better, though--you get to actually talk to him about and he's surprisingly earnest and apologetic, and seems so much happier and more at peace now. he also continues to be hilarious. the second time i did the epilogue party i chose the "i've been boring--living a quiet, peaceful life" dialogue option and he's like "and fate let you get away with that? i'm impressed!" anyway, though, i love his growth and i'm so proud of him.

next up, wyll and karlach--i totally get why so many people ship them now because wyll is the one to call out to her and bring up the idea of them going to avernus together, and then at the party she says having him there has been incredible and that you can get through anything with someone you love at your side?? i mean, karlach is very freely affectionate with her friends--she tells a non-romanced tav she loves them after fighting gortash, and if you tell her as she's dying that she was spectacular in every way she'll say she adores you. so no, her saying she loves wyll doesn't have to imply anything romantic, but it is just adorable anyway.

the scene with them in avernus feels so weird though... i mean, karlach's part in it is badass, the problem is wyll just standing there being silent the whole time. i know that if you romance karlach your tav can go with her to avernus instead, and it feels really obvious that the scene must've been made with only that scenario in mind when wyll's version of it could've been unique to him and had actual dialogue between him and karlach!! honestly, it just feeds even more into the feeling of wyll's personal quest never being about him. it also makes me even more curious what the ending is like with him becoming grand duke... i mean, does he end up becoming a slimy politician who's corrupted by power? if so, then why did the story itself not do more (or anything, really) to hint that that would happen to him and give him more of a power hungry side and if not, then why do the dialogue options for convincing him to become the duke both talk about power and make it seem super obvious that that's the Bad Ending™?

oh well, i guess i can't say i'm not happy that there's a way to give karlach a more hopeful ending! i understand the appeal of a good tragedy, and i understand that karlach herself would rather die than be unable to live freely, so maybe you could say that letting her make the choice to die rather than return to avernus is the option that gives her the most agency... but at the same time, the song that plays over her ending scene is "i want to live". she says she wants to live, to be free and be happy with her friends by her side, but it just seems so hopeless. if one of her friends is willing to brave avernus with her, to make sure that she won't be alone while helping her have a fighting chance of getting her life back, then i think she should be able to take that chance. i kind of wish it was possible to fix her engine and give her a fully happy ending as well--everyone but her pretty much has one, as even though astarion can't walk in the sun as a spawn he can still be free from cazador. and if the tragedy of karlach's death or the bittersweetness of her returning to avernus resonated more with someone, then they could still choose one of those endings. but i guess larian probably isn't going to add anything like that at this point :(

i also still just can't help but feel like wyll really deserved better treatment from the writing. well, at least his epilogue confirms that mizora isn't bothering him too much, and you get some incredibly sweet dialogue if you tell him you've missed traveling with him.

does... shadowheart not have any kind of ending scene at the docks?? like, she's obviously there, she can be randomly chosen out of the companions to make little comments on things, but i don't get a scene with her at all and i'm unsure if it's bugged or if the writers just left her out?? it feels weird. but i guess that's okay for now, because i absolutely adore the entire conversation i got to have with her at the party. i'm so glad she chose to save her parents in this playthrough--apparently, there are certain hidden requirements you have to meet or she'll agree to let them go, and i guess i came across everything by accident during the brief time that i took her around the city with me. anyway, elenion got snarky with her and pretended to forget her name and then she got snarky back and just automatically hugged him. adorable. the first time i played the epilogue i volunteered halsin to take the owlbear because i hadn't talked to shadowheart yet, but the second time i played i gave him to her because holy shit she's got as many animals in her house as fluttershy. love that for her. and the way she rambles on about her parents, her mother's recipes and her father's terrible jokes, and then apologizes because she thinks it must be a boring topic?? excuse me, no, i am unironically extremely interested in this and i think elenion is too because he's also just been trying to live a normal boring life with his and gale's families for the last 6 months.

and now, back to gale. god he's so cute. the way he does this little bow to your tav during the ending and then they bow back. the silly indirect way he tries to propose by asking if you'll come back to waterdeep and become part of the dekarios clan. the way he says it would make tara and his mom happy if he got married and then goes "oh thank goodness!" when you say yes. the kneeling down and kissing your tav's hand after that. i had to try and get decent screenshots of that part because it was so cute:

i also tried both of the choices, between whether to move right in and settle down with him or continue traveling together, because i was initially indecisive about what would be the best/most fitting choice for my tav's character. in the travel ending, i love how gale says that even while adventuring, he's never been so relaxed and now he spends his free time writing, painting, and knitting. i also had this extremely cute dialogue at the party and now i'm wondering what the variations for each class are:

but, ultimately, after trying both and having both versions of the epilogue convo, i decided that just moving to waterdeep and living a calm life is what felt most right. i figure that what elenion needs most in their life now is stability. also, gale becoming a professor is just perfect for him and is so cute. and so is this:

see, this is why gale with a bard tav is a perfect combination: they can collaborate on their writing! anyway i love gale so much but this post is so stupidly long at this point and i need to try and wrap it up, so uhhh, what else...

tara is so cute and funny at the party, grumbling about being jealous of gale's relationship with your tav if you romanced him and then complaining that he keeps his potions in such disarray that it seems like he was raised in a barn. i also overheard her calling everyone ugly while i had speak with animals up AKJAFGHSKFG. at least half the reason why i want to do a gale origin playthrough is because i need to see more of tara.

volo claims his invitation got lost in the post. i really, really think he just was not supposed to be invited, and yet here he is! one of the first things he tells elenion is that he's gotten good at forging their signature, and then he says their success has been wonderful for his reputation. they just might be considering hiring astarion to kill him.

i did not even know jaheira had kids. i looked it up and apparently you can find her house and meet her family in the city but i just completely fucking missed that. something to keep in mind for my next playthrough!

i love that there's a whole box full of letters from people you helped throughout your journey. honestly, i wish there were a few more, specifically from characters like rolan or his siblings, isobel and aylin, omeluum and blurg, and more from the tiefling refugees in general because i love them. but the ones from alfira and dammon are so so cute. also, i got a letter from shadowheart's friend nocturne, which made me realize... i never met her and i never got the memory related to her either because i didn't know you could give shadowheart the noblestalk LMAO oops. i missed quite a few details, huh!

...and i guess that's where i'll end this post. i've been playing this game since march and i've only just finished my first playthrough, though granted there were like 3-4 whole weeks in there where waiting for a new hard drive + feeling weird from irl stuff meant i didn't really play at all. still, though, i can't wait to start back over in act 1 again! especially since, tbh, i think act 1 just might've been my favorite. i love act 2 for ketheric and isobel and aylin and a lot of other things, and act 3 honestly felt a bit messy and overwhelming but still had a lot of great moments. but there's just something i love about beginnings, and the atmosphere during act 1. so, yeah, can't wait to experience it again as a whole new character.