#this may be based off of something that just happened to me but minus the loving boyfriend to help calm me down and my dad was the one

[xashthebugx]

Harringrove but Billy loves makeup. like absolutely adores it. But he's too scared to go out in public with it on so he hides in the comfort of his bathroom. That is until Steve walks in and Billy is terrified, shaking and desperately trying to get the makeup off and almost in tears. while Steve just stands there confused and thinking "HE'S EVEN HOTTER HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE"

Steve ends up calming Billy down enough to let him talk about how his parents were extremely transphobic and while Billy isn't trans, he would be crucified if they ever saw him with makeup on.

they end up cuddling and steve assures him that nothing is going to happen and all is well :)

[lanadelreyscokewhor3]

THE DRIVE- L. HOWLETT

Pairing- Older! Logan x Mutant! Fem! Reader (Enemies to Lovers)

Word Count: 2.6k (an introduction to the series)

Summary: After being put on the goverments watchlist for being an "unsafe" mutant, Logan 'jumps' (tackles) to the rescue, taking you to the X-Mansion. However, you and Logan do not get along... at all.

Warnings: mentions of violence and guns, swearing, logan and y/n not getting along, crying, reader kinda thristing over logan (as one does)

**authors note/ things to note: this may not be lore accurate/ canon because i haven't watched the x-men movies since i was younger, so its roughly based off what i can kinda remember hehe. y/n has jean greys powers, and jean does not exist in this universe, this is nemies to lovers- but a slowww burn :)

"all this sympathy is just a knife, why I can't even grit my teeth and lie? ifeel all these feelings i can't control..."- sympathy is a knife, charli xcx

“I don’t like you.” you stated plainly, crossing your arms with a huff. This was the most blunt you had been with anyone, ever. But you couldn’t help it.

You had known Logan Howlett now for an hour, and it was an hour you would never get back.

“You’re not s’possed to like me kid. You’re supposed to listen to me, which you’re failing miserably at.” the older man growled, barely looking over at you from the driver's seat. His hands tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles turning white as he slammed down on the gas.

You were thankful in that moment seatbelts were invented.

You bet ten dollars Logan was around when they came up with the idea.

He was an asshole.

He was tasked with the mission to get you to safety- as you were a “rogue” quote on quote mutant as the public called your kind. It made your head spin, not only from Logan’s driving but the sheer weight of it all.

One morning you were pouring your orange juice, the next the national guard was surrounding your house, and a man who happened to have claws shoot out of his knuckles had dived and tackled you as the gunfire started.

Now you were here, in an old rusty truck- speeding down a back road through the woods with an old man who seemed to hate everything. On the run, on your way to the mutant academy- to start over, and to learn how to control your powers.

Or so you hoped.

Logan wasn’t making the trip there very pleasant though.

“I’m listening to you. And even if I wasn’t- do you blame me?! After what just happened I don’t know- maybe an hour ago?!” you rolled your eyes, glaring at him hard enough to leave laser beams through his skin.

“You’re a mutant. Get used to it.”

“Get used to it?!”

He shrugged. “That’s what I said, ain’t it bub? I was tasked to take care of you and get you to safety, so I’m doing that. Doesn’t mean you have to like me.”

You huffed, staring out the window at the trees that blurred together, dark leaves falling on the ground as you whipped by. “I don’t like you.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that kid.”

“I’m not a kid, you know.”

He snorted, running a hand through his tousled hair. “Sure.” It was silent in the car for a few minutes, minus the crackly radio, the station starting to cut out as you ventured deeper into the woods.

You leaned forward, turning it off. Silence.

“So… are you actually two hundred?” you asked meekly, darting your eyes over to stare at him. Even if he was a dick, he was handsome as hell. You couldn’t even deny that.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to ask someone their age?” he mocked.

“Sorry, I forgot elders were sensitive to that kind of thing. Let me know if you need help getting your walker from the back.” you snapped back, as he showed teeth at you- growling.

Good. Piss him off as much as you could, so when you got to the academy he would leave you alone.

He muttered something under his breath, something about how kids these days have no respect (despite you very much not being a child), and you tuned out.

With a sigh, you leaned your head against the window, the events of today taking a toll on your body. You looked up at the clouds rolling by, until they faded away to black.

------------------------------------------------------

Strong arms carried you, and you curled into the warmth they provided, hands clinging to a rock hard chest. You yawned, savouring the rocking motion, until it stopped.

Your eyes fluttered open, blinking quickly as you adjusted to the dimming light. It was dark out, stars replacing the clouds from earlier- and two dark orbs stared at you intensely.

You squeaked, stumbling down to your feet, backing away from Logan quickly.

“Good morning.” he smirked at your sudden reaction, your frown lines deeply etched in your forehead compared to how they were a few seconds previous.

“What are you doing?!”

“Walking you to our room.”

Your eyes nearly popped out of your head.

“Our room?! And I can walk by myself, thank you very much.” He snorted, jangling the keys in his pocket. “Really? I didn’t know you could sleep walk.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

“Can’t. Already tried.” he said, unlocking the door with a click. 106 was scrawled across the wooden door, and the strong smell of lemon cleaning supplies nearly suffocated you as he stepped inside.

He must have stopped at a motel somewhere along the route- in the middle of nowhere. It was older, not as old as him- but aged. It must have been quiet, you assumed- because Logan didn’t seem like the type of guy to willingly choose to be around people, especially not when on the run.

As shitty as the situation was, you were thankful for a place to sleep, and for a proper bed. The car seatbelt and window was not very comfortable, your neck aching from it rolling down during your nap.

You stepped inside, noting the very obvious couples room, a large bed in the middle of the room, with no pull out couch. You gulped.

“I’ll take the floor.” you stated, as he closed and locked the door behind you. Unease lingered in your stomach.

Please god, do not make me sleep with the Wolverine. I do not have the strength, nor patience today.

“Don’t be stupid girl.” And that was that. He shrugged off his jacket, tossing it on a little table, flickering on a little side lamp.

You were stunned into silence. You tried so hard not to look.

So. Damn. Hard.

But his muscles were on display, so much so they might as well be their own art exhibit.

His white tank top clinged to his tan skin tightly, and you watched his muscles flex, dog tags jangling on his chest as he snagged a pillow from the bed and tossed it on the floor.

You quickly looked away before he caught you staring, and taunted you for it.

“I’m going to shower.”

No reply. You bit your lip, turning around quietly and tugged your skirt down as you walked in the bathroom and shut the door.

No amount of scrubbing of the shit hotel loofa could get the grime of the day off your skin- soap foaming as quickly as it sputtered down the drain. You tried to stay in the shower as long as you could- dreading the awkwardness that the night would entail- but soon the water turned ice cold.

Shivering, you rinsed off your hair, cranking the taps until water dripped faintly. Wiping the mirror, you stared at yourself in the reflection.

A long scratch darted up your neck, little ones dotting across your arm. You wished you had Logan’s healing abilities. They were ugly, harsh and jagged- standing out like a sore thumb.

You hoped your pjs covered it, you thought, as you wrapped a thin towel across your body, acting as a corset the way it caused your breasts to pop.

Then it hit you. You didn’t have pjs. You didn’t have anything but the clothes on your back (bathroom floor).

Fuck. Could this get any worse?

Not only did you have to sleep in the same room as Logan, you had to ask him for clothes?! Taking a deep breath, you opened the door a sliver, its loud creak echoing throughout the entire room.

“Uh… Logan?”

“Mhgm.”

You poked your head out, eyes darting to survey the space- seeing your bed untouched, long legs poking out from the other end on the floor.

“I- uh.. kinda forgot pjs.”

Nothing, and then a loud laugh emerged from him, his body shaking from the sheer sound of it. “Course you did kid. Here.” he tossed a black t-shirt your way, and it landed on the carpet with a plop.

It would be massive on you, you could already tell- but it was something. Usually you had to go on a few dates and sleep with a guy a few times before you got to this stage. Not an option this time.

You quickly stepped out and grabbed it before he could look up at your (barely) covered body, shrugging it on in the bathroom.

It smelt like him, like whisky and smoke, cider and fresh cut grass. It was comforting, in this moment of chaos. You breathed in the fabric, resting your head against the wall.

Your lip wobbled, hot, salty tears slipping down your cheeks as you gasped for air.

It hurt. Everything hurts.

You were exhausted, hungry and more anxious and overwhelmed than anything. The shock had started to fade, your hands had started to shake and you couldn’t help but break down.

You didn’t care if Logan heard you. The tears continued to fall, body heaving as sobs tore through your body. How was life so unfair? So cruel? Things had changed so fast- and you hadn’t asked for your abilities. You didn’t even know how to control them yet.

But that was what made you dangerous to the government. You thought, growing even more angry with yourself. But how was it your fault?

It made you sick. You just wanted to go home, lay in your own bed and eat your own food, to see your friends and go to work. You never thought those words would leave your lips- but it was true. It was routine, and it was normal.

You felt normal, when you were filing paperwork, talking on the phone to clients. As boring as it could be at times, it was steady.

And now?

You were bouncing around like a ping-pong ball. A coin had been flipped, your fate plastered on either side- and you had lost the draw. Taking a shaky breath, you attempted to regain your composure before facing the judgemental beast outside.

Your eyes were puffy, cheeks sticky and warm with drying tears. Wiping your face, you found the courage to slink back into the main room, flicking off the side lamp Logan had left on. If he had to shower, he could find his way in the dark.

You were sure he could see in the dark- all wolves could- couldn’t they?

Slouching into bed, you gripped the thin sheets tightly- cocooning yourself to try and stay warm. The air was on full blast, despite it being chill outside- and you assumed you had Logan to thank for that.

Great. I’m going to get hypothermia before I even get to the fucking school.

“Do you have to have the air on full blast?” you asked, looking over the side of the bed, watching as Logan crankly peered an eye open.

“Yes.”

“Well could you I don’t know, survey the scene and see it’s cold outside already?”

He huffed.

“I’m warm. I’m always warm.”

“Well that’s not my problem. Be considerate wolf.” you rolled your eyes, hugging the sheets tighter to your body.

“Deal with it kid. It’s staying on- if you don’t like it, sleep outside.”

Well that made you sit up.

“You’re such a dick.”

“Yeah getting a motel room and letting you have the bed- real dick move eh?”

You huffed, gritting your teeth together. This man was pushing your buttons more than they had ever been pushed before. You hated how much he got under your skin. It was like you had your own set of claws, that only he could set off.

“Well I shouldn’t even be in this situation.”

“Yeah we all think that. Shut up and sleep.” he growled, rolling over to face away from the bed.

“You could at least have some respect.”

That was all you asked for, anyways. You had shown him it even when you were in deaths way, thankful for him for saving you. He didn’t show an ounce of it back.

“I’m not giving you any sympathy, if that’s what your asking.”

It felt like a knife had stabbed you in the back, twisting your insides. You whipped up again, throwing a pillow at his face.

“I’m not asking for your fucking sympathy you old piece of shit!” you yelled, earning nothing but silence in return.

He was over you.

Fine. You could do the exact same thing- but better.

Turning your back to him (a dangerous thing to do, you thought), you squeezed your eyes shut and listened to the hum of the air conditioning unit.

Not long after, the weight of the day pulled you back under the waves of sleep again.

--------------------------------------------------

“Wake up kid.” a gruff voice called out to you, a firm hand shaking you. You awoke with a start, blinking until the room came into focus.

Two beaded eyes stared at you narrowly from above you, rolling as you mumbled. It was still dark out, as no light showed through the thin curtains.

The clock read 5:00 and you sighed.

“Breakfast on the table. Get dressed and we’re leaving.”

“Good morning to you too.” you grumbled, rubbing sleep out of your eye. A very stale looking muffin sat on the table, next to Logan’s black coffee.

“Why are you feeding me?” you asked, walking over to take a dry bite. You were famished. Eating anything completely slipped your mind.

“Because Charles would kill me if I didn’t. I said I’d look after you. You can’t starve.”

“Jeez I thought that was the plan all along.”

It tasted like sand in your mouth as you took a bite. You were grateful for it, nonetheless. “I never said I wanted you to starve.” he grumbled to himself, taking a long sip from his mug.

“It was heavily implied.” you spat, turning over the mini coffee bar, finding a kettle and a bag of earl grey. You waited for the water to come to a boil, the kettle screaming at you while you poured it.

You were ready for this day to be over and it hadn’t even begun yet. You had a feeling you would have to get used to it- or else it would eat you alive.

Just like how Logan looked right now- like he’d tear your limbs from you and chew them. You wouldn’t put it past him.

“When you finish that we’re leaving. You got five minutes.” he said, grabbing the truck keys from the table. “Five minutes? I haven’t even had a chance to wake up yet!”

“Too bad. We gotta go kid.” He slammed the door hard behind him, rattling the frame as he unlocked the vehicle.

“Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, asshole.” you mumbled under your breath, chugging down the rest of your tea as fast as you could. If you were back home you would have the morning to lounge around in a bathrobe, sipping your tea slowly with a book and some fresh fruit.

The odd time you would use your powers to move the toast to the toaster, or to move your slippers to your feet. But that was no longer the case.

The tea tasted bitter as you chugged it, burning your throat. You shrugged on yesterday's clothes, running into the bathroom to splash cold water on your face.

The front door swung open and before Logan could protest- you bolted out the room. “I’m out, I’m out. Jesus.” Scrambling to the front seat, you watched as Logan glared over his shoulder, slamming the door.

It was going to be an extremely long drive.

[bythepen98]

Doodles || Tomarry || Childhood friends/Growing Up Together au

(Ignore the not-so-time-period-accurate outfits)

Think of this as a timetravel au where Harry accidentally gets sent back to the past in Wool's orphanage at a young enough age where he barely notices the changes caused by the time displacement and thus grows up nonethewiser to his destiny as the Chosen One. Even when, objectively, his life at the orphanage could be considered worse considering the growing lack of food, his environment's state of decay and overall unrest happening outside the orphanage's walls, something about his situation felt right(?).

He'd always felt disconnected and out of place based on the few memories he still had from living with the Dursleys but now, it felt like he was home in a way. Like something finally clicked in his brain, his soul.

His instant connection to Tom helped cement that fact. It wasn't easy at first because the pull they felt when they first met was so strong that it scared Harry shtless and Tom, already half-full of resentment by this point, was horrified feeling anything to anyone that wasn't disgust. In the end, it didn't take long for them to meet halfway since they were still children and curiosity at the connection lured them in like candy; Harry wanted a special friend of his own and Tom convinced himself that Harry was worth his time because there was no way anyone ordinary could elicit such a soul deep response from him.

Tom has a mean streak and is more bloodthirsty than his charming facade would show but is honest about it with Harry. Although he doesn't have much to his name, Tom is serious about his self-imposed role as Harry's provider, giving him gifts (from the money he steals) during his birthdays and keeping him as warm and well fed as possible (by bullying the other kids into surrendering their share).

Sometimes, Tom....worries.....that his methods would eventually drive Harry - who has such an inherent goodness in him, so often kind to people who don't deserve it - away but what he fails to understand is that Harry's love and loyalty to the first friend he's ever made trumps any kindness he has for others. He'll never like needless violence and won't react if he was being targeted but all bets are off if he even a catches a whiff of plots against Tom. If he has to help hide a body or two in the future so that they won't be separated by something as inconvenient as jail or the law, then that's nobody's business but his own.

P.S. This Harry will probably go to Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin like in other fics. It just feels right. Probably should've drawn him wearing a yellow tie but only just got the idea as I'm typing this. Tom would rather eat slugs than go to the Hufflepuff common room but he's more than willing to entertain Harry at the Slytherin common room at every available chance. They have their own seat there and everything.

P.P.S. They also co adopt a tiny(??) baby snake when they realize they can both speak parseltongue and bring him along to hogwarts. Imagine being parents at the big old age of 10 to a possibly magical snake that may or may not grow past nagini-level size.

P.P.P.S. Future power couple in the making. Didn't think that far ahead whether I wanted Tom to go the political route or Dark Lord Voldemort style minus the horcruxes. Don't ask for me the details, just know that with Harry's help, Tom finds a way to prolong their lives without the consequences that come with using horcruxes. They may or may not discover that Harry is in fact a horcrux of Tom already but will never get the answer as to how it happened. Harry worries but Tom just chocks it up as the universe's way of paying him back for his shtty pre-Harry childhood. Ironically the type to believe in soulmates and destiny while Harry is a bit more skeptical on that front.

Alternatively, they could also decide not to do anything too significant -politically- at all and instead retire to the country side while doing research on as many branches of magic as they can. A bit laughable because of Tom's world altering ambitions and Harry's indulgent, enabling behavior but at the same time, anything's possible.

[lovemyromance]

How tf are there still antis saying they don't know how Elriel counts as a forbidden romance??

1. Rhys literally forbade Azriel from seeing Elain

2. Elain is mated to someone else. She and Lucien may not even want each other, but that bond is something that is highly regarded by many and rejecting the bond could come with political consequences

That is the definition of forbidden romance. When you have external factors preventing you from being with another 🙄

And I know the antis go around saying " Well, it's just Rhys nobody cares what he thinks" and "if Elriel got together it would be fine"

Rhys is a HL. He rules over the NC, including Azriel and Elain. I suspect they will disobey him, but their romance isn't just as cut and dry as if they simply decide to be together so there are zero consequences.

There is an explicit order, mating bond, and politics / blood duel at play here. All are consequences from their potential relationship.

You know who actually has zero consequences and the world would probably rejoice (minus Elain and Azriel... and Nesta) if they got together? Elucien.

Next.

Then there's the antis who go on to say "well forbidden romance is gross! If they aren't doing something wrong, then why hide it! It means Elain is cheating on Lucien!"

They're hiding it because, again .... Rhys explicitly forbade Azriel.

Elain is not cheating on Lucien because they are not in a relationship, nor have made any commitment to each other out of their own free will.

Next.

"oh but Azriel deserves to be loved and not have to hide it! He deserves a love he doesn't need to hide away"

Yes, he does. And one day, he and Elain will be together in broad daylight (in front of sunshine hehe) because they're endgame.

But right now, let me introduce you to my friend Angst. I'm sure you've met them before, when you make your headcanons about Elucien & Gwynriel experiencing obstacles because they actually have nothing preventing them from getting together! It's rude to pretend you don't know someone, especially Angst in a capital-Love Story.

Next.

"SJM doesn't write forbidden romance!"

Too late, she already did when she had Elriel almost kiss in the hallway and then had Rhys explicitly forbid them.

Next.

"Well I think forbidden romance is a childish trope and -"

Bp-bp-bpp imma stop you there ma'am. 🖐️😌

If you don't like it... don't read it! It's as simple as that.

I'm sorry to inform you that your personal opinions on tropes you like/dislike did not make it into SJM's editing room 😩. She's set up Elriel for 3 books now and until the BC, we didn't know what trope they'd fall under but after the BC, it's clear: Forbidden Romance is happening.

Next.

Don't believe me?

Read that again. Sounds like Rhys is forbidding Azriel from getting with Elain isn't he?

Now, just based on what we know about the Spymaster of the NC - do we think this man's is about to follow orders? Especially when he's disobeyed them before?

Show of hands please 😌 Anyone genuinely believe Azriel will tuck his tail between his legs and scamper off, following Rhys's order to the T and refusing to even speak to Elain forever until death?

Didn't think so.

[in1-nutshell]

Hello teacher I'm just resending my request cause I remember you said some of the request you get from other followers disappears and I haven't seen the other request that I have send you when your request box was open

So I took the liberty of myself when your request box was open to copy and paste my requests so here they are

1.) Not too sure where this idea came from but I would like request a (our world buddy again) who happens to have a great fatherly like relationship with Prime Verse megatron who ends up meeting IDW Optimus who actually is her adopted dad he has the papers and data pads to prove everything and Prime megatron and his decepticons decided they were gonna fight IDW Optimus for custody of buddy and it ended somewhere along the line of Prime megatron ended up in the medbay completely unconscious and half of his army traumatized after they found out what an how angry a prime who is a father can really get (technically related to my story)

2.) Don't really know what to think for this one but what about IDW Bots meet G1 bots?

3.) Buddy from our world meet team prime and team megatron from cyber verse world? I would love that interaction

Oh and cyber verse starscream got really attached to her to the point he doesn't like sharing her attention which buddy has no problems with cause she knows why he is the way is. And maybe megatron and sound wave got attached too and devised plans to steal her and keep her the nemesis for a little while cause it's not everyday you meet someone who show so much affection

P.S feel free to write these last cause I know you are busy😃✌

This is a pretty big list, so I went with number 2, minus the Cyberverse part. I don't write for Cyberverse as of now.

Hope you enjoy!

Human Buddy from the real world meeting Team Prime

SFW, Platonic, Human reader

TFP

Buddy was starting to think that maybe the new coffee mixture they had made was really an elixir to travel dimensions.

They didn’t know how hard they hit their head when they saw Wheeljack arguing with Ultra Magnus.

The two bots didn’t even notice the human until they came literally running to Magnus’s pede and hugged him the best they could.

Buddy hugging Magnus’s pede: “If this is a dream I don’t want to wake up!” Magnus nearly jumps feeling the random human hug his pede. Wheeljack looks like he is going to glitch, though he doesn’t know for what reason. Wheeljack: “Hey… umm, kid what are you—” They turned their head so fast Wheeljack was sure that he heard a snap. The human starts running up to him rapidly shaking their fist in excitement: “Wheeljack! I can’t believe I’m actually talking to you! Either that or I may have found the limit of coffee I am allowed to drink.” Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack: “What?” Buddy: “Hey, aren’t you supposed to take me to meet the rest of the team? Isn’t it like, the whole protocol?” Ultra Magnus gives Wheeljack an uneasy look: “You seem to know quite a bit…” Buddy waving their hand: “I’ll explain that later, now, who am I climbing in?!”

When they arrive to the base, they are practically bouncing off the walls.

They are even more excited than when Miko first showed up.

In fact, the new human is excited to meet the kids, Fowler and June just as much as they are excited to meet the bots.

Miko has a taste of her own medicine and feels the need to apologize… someday.

Buddy does calm down when explaining how they know who they are and how they had been through a similar situation like this before.

That leads to more questions, but Buddy refuses to answer them.

Something about ‘Not wanting to mess with the universes’.

Buddy: “Anyways I need to keep you guys from finding out about some spoilers, like Bee’s voice coming back. Team Prime: “WHAT?!” Bumblebee: BEEP!? (MY VOICE?!)” Buddy: “…Rats…”

Optimus does allow Buddy to stay on the base while they wait until they return back home.

Most of the team thinks that another Miko is among them now.

And to a point they are right.

But Buddy also knows when to stop and tries to be useful around the base.

Buddy sweeping the human area. Miko: “This has been the third time you’ve cleaned this place this week. You can leave some stuff around you know?” Buddy still sweeping: “Ratchet finds the mess distracting; I’m just trying to lighten some of the load.” Ratchet, who overhears this now has to rethink his opinion of Buddy.

More respect is earned when they see Buddy football tackle Miko from going into the groundbrigde.

Many hugs are given on what seem like random days.

Those days turn out to be heavier than others and Buddy is always behind the bot ready to hug or do whatever they can to make them feel better.

Smokescreen walks into the base with his doorwings a bit drooped. Buddy running over to him: “Hey Smokes.” Smokescreen puts on a fake smile: “what’s up Buddy?” Buddy patting his pede and giving a genuine smile: “You’re doing great.” Smokescreen just nods because he doesn’t want to cry in front of Optimus. Later… Ratchet still on the main console. Buddy grabbing a blanket and places it nearby. Ratchet: “And what are you doing? You should be in bed.” Buddy: “That’s where you should be too.” Ratchet scoffs and continues working. Buddy: “Don’t think I didn’t see you put back your rations today.” Ratchet stops mid key stroke. Buddy: “I am NOT going to sleep until you get some energon and go to sleep.” Ratchet: “Well then prepare to stay awake for a long time.” Buddy cracking their knuckles: “Bring it! I’ve been awake for 3 days and 3 nights straight during exam week!” Ratchet suddenly worried for Buddy’s health: “…You win this round.” Buddy laughs in sleep deprived.

The bots are wrong to assume that Buddy wouldn’t pull a Miko.

… and now some are considering bringing them out with them.

Buddy fan almost as much as they do with the bots and some cons are now afraid of getting the feral human on them.

But Buddy has also thrown rocks at certain cons out of pure spite.

Buddy throwing some rocks at Breakdown: “SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE AND JOIN US!” Breakdown looking at the human questioning: “What?” Buddy still chucking rocks: “YOU COULD BE A GREAT AUTOBOT WITH YOUR POTENTIAL! BRING KNOCKOUT TOO!” Knockout: “I think this human lost it.” Buddy: “DO NOT LET YOUR MAN GO OUT HUNTING THAT TRAITOROUS SPIDER!” Arcee: “Finally something we agree on.”

[ao3cassandraic]

Angels, demons, language, and culture: part 3

(Part 1 and Part 2 for those interested.)

"I play an ineffable game of my own devising. For everyone else, it’s like playing poker in a pitch dark room with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won’t tell you the rules and who smiles all the time." --God, Good Omens

This is just. Creepy and awful and so, so wrong for a quasi-omnipotent being. Ugh. Good Omens!God is an abject horror.

But if you're one of the poker players at that table, what do you do? You try to figure out the rules and mark the cards, naturally. Especially if leaving the table only happens via swan dives into burning sulphur, or getting kicked out of the only home you've known into a hostile desert with lions in it. While pregnant, yet.

So, I did a Bat Mitzvah back in the day, as it happens, and my Torah portion was from Deuteronomy. Which is, as I am hardly the first to notice, chockablock full of rules. Good Omens definitely leveraged (rather than inventing) the idea of trying to figure out Her rules and codify them in writing! Note, however, that the Bible per Word of Gaiman is a human thing. Codifying divine rules? Therefore also a human thing, minus I suppose the Ten Commandments -- though I can certainly envision a Good Omens in which Moses was, um, not exactly telling the truth about the source of the tablets; we only really have his word for it.

Angels and demons, who have a low opinion of literacy and just generally don't seem to be very good at it, never did this. We see that Aziraphale, Before the Beginning, has intuitively figured a few rules out: don't question Her, don't comment on (much less critique) Her decisions or designs, don't ever ever piss Her off. The Starmaker hasn't gotten this far, tragically, and our Crowley remains confused throughout the show as to what rule he can possibly have broken that earned him the identity-changing torture She inflicted on him.

Fundamentally, Crowley doesn't want to -- perhaps can't -- believe that She is capricious and cruel. He thinks there are rules, "don't test to destruction" being a major one. We know he's wrong, however. She straight-up told us so, in the quote at the top of this post! Aziraphale, too, knows, though he buries this knowledge as deep under the words "ineffable" and "Great Plan" (there is no Great Plan, She told us so, it's all a game to Her) as he possibly can -- I think as a coping mechanism -- and does his best to avoid drawing Her attention again after the Sword Incident.

But we see angelic and demonic confusion about the rules of Her game again and again. It's at the root of Aziraphale's successful Great Plan/Ineffable Plan hairsplitting at the airbase. It's why Aziraphale has to (with Muriel's help) dig through the contract for Job, and why Gabriel and Michael can't even be arsed to, even revising Job's reward on the fly. They're guessing! They're guessing about the rules based on what they've seen of Her caprices! She likes sevens!

It's how Crowley rules-lawyers the demons into letting the Whickber Street tradespeople go. If there are actual rules of Heaven-Hell engagement -- and there may not be! Crowley's pulled plausible-sounding lies out of his arse before! -- I'll bet you anything you like practically nobody in Heaven or Hell has actually read them. (My top picks for rules-of-engagement authors, if those rules actually do exist, would be Satan and the Metatron.)

And it's why Uriel has to ask the Metatron, as unsure and afraid as Uriel has ever looked in the entire series, whether the remaining archangels have done something wrong. The Metatron's response refuses to clarify what's at issue -- he, like Her, won't tell anybody the rules. If I'm feeling extremely cynical, I think She and he refuse to explain the rules because they're more powerful if there's no rulebook that rank-and-file angels can use to contest them with.

It makes me so sad. The legions of Heaven would assuredly have followed Her rules, if they only knew what those rules were! Fanart of the just-fallen Starmaker routinely breaks my susceptible heart, not least because the commonest expressions on his face are agony, sorrow -- and confusion. It's just all so damn unfair.

Same with Job, and Peter Davison sells it beautifully. Poor Job assumes he must have broken Her rules somehow, and blames himself for not even knowing how. That's totally on Her, though! If Her rules aren't clear enough for righteous Job to be able to trust his own righteousness under a horrible test, that's Her fault, not his!

The closest that Heaven and Hell -- and humanity, for that matter -- have to Her rules is prophecy. I probably don't need to spill many pixels on how vague and confusing prophecy is, how often it's counterfeited, and how pointless it is to try to live your life by (or trying to avoid) true prophecies; prophecies will invariably gotcha you. Good Omens is hardly the first work of literature to point this out. (Try the story of Oedipus. That's a good one. Yeesh. Or, if we want to be all Biblical about it, Moses again.) Agnes Nutter may well be the only genuinely well-meaning prophet in the entire history of prophets! Even so, her book is incredibly bewildering! Generations of her descendants try to figure it out, and mostly they fail -- look at the annotations we see on Anathema's index cards.

So when @thundercrackfic asks me what Aziraphale gets out of books, my first (though not only) answer is "rules for living." Not just rules for living as safely as possible around Her, though -- rules for living among humans, too. I headcanon (and posited in "Endgame") that Aziraphale has been collecting human etiquette manuals as long as humans have been writing etiquette manuals. Codified rules, like the ones in Deuteronomy, likely help him feel more secure.

I think this is also why Muriel characterizes books as portable people. Muriel is trying their sweet adorable best to figure out the Earth rules on the fly, since nobody Upstairs told them (or indeed knows, the Metatron aside) what those rules are. They do have Aziraphale to help them along -- Aziraphale is so much better than Upstairs! he doesn't condescend or insult, he just gently instructs -- but Aziraphale can't teach full-time, he has other things on his plate. So Muriel the scrivener, one of the few angels who would have a clue about literacy due to the nature of their job, gravitates to books and discovers that they too can be gentle and compassionate teachers.

The final question outstanding is how well Aziraphale understands and assimilates human books, especially fiction, especially especially non-literal figures of speech. It's an excellent and complicated question, and I don't think I have The Answer to it, but I'll see what I can do.

[bigpuppyroegadyn]

Day 11 - Fave Gear: Body

I may have gotten lost in the swtor sauce yesterday and forgot that maintenance would happen before my bedtime, oops. ANYWAY here it is a day late!

The Ala Mhigan chest of fending is one of my favorite things that Hound has worn, but it's also kind of important as it helped me settle on a more consistent visual for his "combat look", something I'd been struggling with for a while.

He had been wearing a lot of grays prior, and his Heavensward armor was silver full-body armor, and while they weren't bad looks I still felt like I hadn't really found a look that was "his", and I also wanted to be more Hellsguard-y about it. This chestpiece was great for that! It has fur detailing and the arms are partly uncovered. It also began my trend of having him wear ink blue as his main color, and the gold detailing of the sets work wonderfully with ink blue, and give his armor so much more life! His ShB armor and then his current canon armor for EW and DT are still ink blue and gold with a long butt-cape. (and more importantly his current armor also leave his arms uncovered)

I base my idea of Hellsguard armor off two things mainly: WAR artifact gear sets, and the Sohm Al Armor sets. WAR artifact gear because the very first artifact gear is in fact, canonically hellsguard armor! (as well as Bravura). Since most following WAR AF sets follow a similar aesthetic flair, I'm just mentally headcanoning that they are all hellsguard styles. Alas I can't use them on other classes.

It is also canon that roegadyn culture/dress generally favors showing off their arms, so I've tried to go for armors that do so!

The Sohm Al sets I've latched on as being hellsguard style as well due to them having a similar aesthetic, but also because Broken Mountain wears it! Him and Curious Gorge are the few NPCs to be explicitly from the mountain clans. Hellsguard stuff is pretty rare in game and the most we get is from the WAR quests. I've used one of the tops on my brd glamour to try my hand at a "hellsguard hunter" look!

My only minus for those sets is that the *very* wide sleeves have priority over like, every pair of gloves ever. They're somewhat unique in that aspect, I think most other armors will let long gauntlets/gloves have priority. But that means a bit less control over the overall silhouette. But this set is stil lvery important to me and SE still hasn't put another variant in game!

Cough sorry for rambling but I have spend maybe way too much time in my long time playing this game thinking about the hellsguard lmao.

[scarlet-ancunin]

hello again, I wanted to thank you again for your Patience with me and explaining everything I really appreciate it.^-^ I Send you the Infos for my tav and was wondering If I could get Like Astarions pov :) be fluffy, be angsty, Go wild, im honestly Just Happy about this opportunity. Thank you so so much again ^-^

A/n: hehe I love this and you are welcome i'm glad you asked me to do this for you. I hope this is to your liking~ this fic is based off of your unique Tav ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧

My Dear Idiot~

It was another lovely morning in the camp. Gale was making breakfast for everyone in their Group while the others were either packing up or freshening up. For Astarion it was the latter. he may not be able to see his reflection but he knows how to draw attention to himself. it can be good or bad. good for his look but bad for his snarky remarks or attitude. Soon Astarion's eyes land on Egon, his half-elf companion. when he first met him he wanted to see the man dead assuming he was working with those mindflayers having a knife to the poor man's throat. Turns out he didn't have to spill their innards. Astarion saw that Egon was somewhat like him with trust issues. But they slowly both grew on each other. But damn was this man greedy at times. Astarion scoffed at the memory. they found a hidden cave behind some carefully crafted rubble to look normal, but Egon wanted to go in, and he hated it because he used to enter without knowing if they were walking into a trap or if everyone was downright tired. "Why in the hells are we doing this now we can rest here and then check it out in the morning Egon" Astarion would complain standing by the entrance with his arms crossed. Egon was annoyed but he smiled because he wanted to get his hands on any rare trinkets or gold he could get his hands on. "well I'm not tired Astarion i want to get everything now so that way we can have something to sell or keep for ourselves to use. AND, what if someone else gets it before us?" Egon stated Astarion growls "You are so bloody stubborn what about Me- I mean, everyone else ever considered they are tired" Gale tried not to laugh. "well how about we go in halfway and make camp that way if someone tries to enter we can stop him. Halsin nodded smiling. "seems good," Egon said sighing in defeat. Astarion did admire his determination though like when he mentioned to him about Cazador he made it his business to promise to protect him from his master. "sweet love but he isn't a simple vampire you can kill he can come at any time whenever the mood strikes him." "well I can strike him too and he won't see it coming" Egon counters pouting slightly. Astarion rolled his eyes "your such an idiot." Egon snickers "but I'm your idiot" Astarion hums low looking at Egon "well you have a point." Astarion would chuckle at the memory he was indeed a stubborn idiot but he did care about him and how strong and determined he was to anything he set his mind to. and because of this Astarion wanted to make sure he does small things to let Egon know he was grateful for him. Astarion recalled last night's events and smiled fondly because he found out his lover enjoys being read to. However, he would enjoy it when He reads specifically. he would fall asleep with everyone else but he and Egon make sure he was cuddled next to Astarion listening to him read. and when he was tired he would tell him to stop so he wouldn't miss the next part which makes him laugh but soon join him in slumber or rather he sleeps while he meditates. Astarion snaps out of his daydreaming to look at Egon once more who just so happens to be reading a map to locate a treasure that was in Baldur's Gate. Astarion did love this man during all this and now he was certain that maybe there could be a future for them. minus the possible stupid and rash decisions but where is the fun in simplicity? Shaking his head he would walk toward him and shake his head. he leans against him and looks over the map as well. "hm something to get love" Egon grins and nods sharing the map there is a way into this spot through the graveyard" Astarion snorts "ah my darling idiot always doing instead of thinking."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧

A/n: I hope you enjoyed this, my friend. as always requests are open and you're welcome to send me your unique Tav if that is what you want.

[charles-leclerc-official]

First, I just want to say that your analysis on the Suzuka race weekend was absolutely beautiful - thought out, concise, to the point and really well written!

I just have one question, since you seem really knowledgeable on the more physics - concerning aspects of a race - how is negative tyre deg even possible? I know what it is, the definition isn't the problem, what I don't get is how can it even happen? How can you go faster on older tyres, how does that possibly work? Considering physics point towards the maxima you, yourself mentioned - new tyres = ability to go faster. And yet negative deg is possible, which has me incredibly confused.

Admittedly, physics isn't my strongest subject, so forgive me if the answer to my question is something very obvious, I would still appreciate you taking the time to explain it!

Took me a while to get to this one because it is a very advanced concept as far as the physics are concerned, and full disclosure I am by no means a physics expert. I understand the principals at play but the calculations for these relationships are pretty advanced.

But the main thing for why this is possible has to do with a relationship between the suspension, the track temperature, the camber of the tyres, the specific setup a driver chooses for their car, and the driver and their driving during the race.

So the idea is if you have a car base that is gentle on the tyres like the SF-24 the tyres may not warm up quickly. Tyres that are warmed will be able to have better grip and thus go faster. So if you have a car that isn't warming the tyres on the first laps enough for maximum performance then there exists a window where it is possible to go faster in later laps. This window can be widened by a driver's specific car setup choices as well as driving. The wider a driver can keep this window the longer they can maintain zero to negative deg. This is I believe what is going on with the SF-24.

So basically if you drive and achieve almost zero deg at first, you are essentially still on new tyres and thus when you want to push to go faster or increase your speed you can. This is a very oversimplified explanation and it doesn't apply to every single instance where we have seen a driver achieve this but you get the idea.

You see this in miniature with some laps for some drivers, if they have a really clean lap you often see them able to do a slightly faster lap or an identical lap on the next one because they didn't degrade as much as expected. It's the sheer consistency in not wearing the tyres or achieving minimal wear over many many laps in a row that gets into the territory we saw with Charles in Suzuka.

However doing this in practice is difficult. The driver's personal setup and the way they drive plays a massive role. So in Suzuka for Charles to pull that off he essentially had to make zero mistakes when it came to slippage on the corners (and he was almost perfect minus that one slip we all saw onto the curb) If he'd made any consistent mistakes that would have added to the wear on the tyres and he wouldn't have been able to last anywhere near as long.

I will say that because a driver doesn't do this it doesn't mean they are doing something wrong. Most drivers operate under the expectation that the tyres will degrade at a predictable rate.

This is a phenomenon that also would not be possible every race, or at every track etc. Conditions do also have to be right. This will probably be impossible in say Qatar, the heat will just be too great for this to come up there.

It's very situation and skill dependent. Both things must align to achieve it. Also obviously you have to have a car that is gentle on the tyres, without that kind of base it doesn't matter how good you are the tyres will still degrade. There is a reason we've only seen this in the top 2 - 4 drivers on the grid at any given time, and that is because the skill to pull it off with so few mistakes is not to be under-stated.

Tyre data would be able to help us understand this better but detailed tyre telemetry is unfortunately not made available by teams. This telemetry records the rate of wear lap to lap, tyre temperature etc. So teams get to use this data to further understand these things in their car and their driver.

I hope this helps at least a little. This is really asking about one of the cutting edge physics topics in F1 that not even some teams fully understand. And since we don't get the detailed data it's really hard to look at what the actual relationships at play are.

What we can do is look at the results we get, the lap times a car and driver generate and we can understand the car behavior that way.

[way-of-love]

Mayor Que Usted (Simon 'Ghost' Riley x LatinaFem) (R-RATED) (NO MINORS) PART 3

Hey Sorry it took so long but please enjoy! And yes, there is a part 4 that I am working on as we speak or erm...read?

It took the two of them quite a while to leave the 'safe' and secluded walls of the supply closet. Thankfully, their clothes remained intact minus a few wrinkles, lipstick stains, and scent exchanging. After such a long time without the touch of another she was thankful their little dry romp allowed her that one single orgasm she's been truly needing to keep her from going after whoever she can at the next work function. And Simon, he was just glad he could feel her writhing in pleasure as he brought her to her climax rather quickly.

Amelia sat almost dazed a few days later in her office thinking back to their exchange of heated words. His promise to be better and to be more involved. To say she was excited was an understatement. She was elated.

Her daughter, Ophelia, grew up thinking her father was somehow lost coming back home to them. And Amelia didn't have the heart to tell her that she was the product of lust between two consenting adults.

Firstly, she wouldn't understand. Secondly, who would ever want to hear that from a parent? Amelia sure wouldn't.

Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts when someone knocked on her office door. Immediately she knew right away who it was because the sudden hush of high pitched giggles was heard very clearly through her office door.

Amelia smiled and stood slowly making her way towards it," Now who could it be knock at my door at this early hour?" Another fit of excited giggles left the culprit.

The daycare had an agreement with the base allowing the children to visit their parent or guardians once a month on Friday's. And only when there aren't missions actively going on or if some teams aren't on their way back in need of assistance.

"You have to open the door and find out mama!" Oh, her sweet accented voice flowed through the door and right into Amelia's heart and she had to clutch her chest with a hand as she reached for her door and pulled it open ready to envelop her daughter into a hug and a kiss on her cheek as per their usual greeting.

But her simile immediately fell when she saw a dark presence behind her little ray of sunshine. Her dark eyes trailed up his bulky figure who's hands were bare on his jean clad hips until their eyes met. The sea of his eyes crashing into her earth. Simon immediately took her breath away with the look he was giving her- he may have hidden his expression behind that stupid painted balaclava mask but his eyes gave her everything. Poor Amelia didn't know if she should be blushing or glaring at him. Because this was not how they were supposed to introduce him to their daughter

This was not what they had agreed on.

"Mama! Mama! I met this man on my way to see you. He said he needed to see you too, so Miss Emily let me take him to you." Ophelia who's voice sounded angelic to Simons ears made him smile under his dark mask hearing how she was so bold and told her mother most of what happened between the two of them. She wasn't afraid of her mothers wrath nor was she intimidated by a scolding she might get. This was definitely his daughter.

Amelia looked down at her and went down into a crouch looking at Ophelia eye to eye with a perfectly arched brow, and took her little pale hands into her larger tan ones. "Mi corazon, I know you mean well and that you were just trying to help but you can't go off with strangers by yourself. Cuantas veces te he dicho esto, hm?"(TL: How many times have I told you this?)

Simo watched the two interacting with one another with a familiarity that he could only dream of having with his child someday. If only he gave himself that chance to feel that instead of witness it like a stranger. He wondered what would happen if he had stayed there in that small house of hers or if he even left something so she could get in contact with him. But the more 'ifs' that popped up the more 'shouldn'ts' came up. No one should have known who she was, or even know she had Ophelia. Simon 'Ghost' Riley had too many enemy's to count and if they ever found out he had a family...no. This was the best outcome.

"Pero mami. Parecia que necesitaba ayuda," (TL: But mami. He looked like he needed help.) Ophelia responded back to her in almost a whiny tone while she tilted her head to the side. Simon saw the small pout on her lips. Though despite the whininess tugging at his heart he was actually quite impressed that she spoke Spanish and English very well for her age. He had a feeling she knew the language because he noticed an accent with some of the words she said on their way here.

Still holding onto her daughters tiny hands she stood back up and confidently looked straight into the deep sea eyes of the father of her daughter. And their daughter looked back at him with that same pout.

" Alright then. Thank you, Simon for escorting Ophelia here. And," She looked down at her daughter a small smile tugging at the corners of her painted lips," thank you, Ophelia for escorting Simon here."

Immediately the small pout was gone replaced by a goofy smile revealing her missing front teeth," You're very welcome mami!"

Amelia then ushered Opehlia into her office and told her to stay put while she 'assisted' her 'patient'. Ophelia was such a well mannered girl that she understood her mothers line of work, she helped people at all hours of the day even when they were at home her mother would sometimes get calls from patients. Only if they were really sick. So she didn't make a fuss and happily went into her mother office in search for her coloring book her mother would keep in there.

Amelia crossed her arms and stood in front of the door narrowing her eyes at Simon who mirrored her actions." Explain, now."

Her tone left no room for side chatter or even a proper greeting. Releasing a tensed sigh Simon looked towards both ends of the hallway making sure the coast was clear before starting from the very beginning.

-Few minutes earlier-

Simon was on his way to the doctors office wanting to continue their conversation about meeting Ophelia, his daughter. At first he was hesitant because he never pictured himself as father material or even raising a child but again, he didn't have the honor to raise Ophelia with the woman he could barely forget.

Rinsing off and pulling on a fresh black long sleeved shirt pushing the sleeves up a bit revealing some of his tattoo. Usually he wouldn't bother revealing anything of his skin until he was in the privacy of his team or on his own but seeing Amelias reaction to his tatted arm always brought a sort of satisfaction to him.

Back in her tiny room where they both laid naked under the thin floral sheet she'd trace the lines of her tattoo asking to many questions. All of which he answered. Maybe that's what caught the young girls eye when they crossed paths in the hall way.

He just left the training room after dismissing both Gaz and Soap heading in the direction of the medical bay here on base. And Soap snickered seeing his superior making a beeline to no doubt see the esteemed heartthrob of a doctor. It didn't take long for Johnny to connect some of the dots. Hells, LT was making it pretty obvious that he had a thing for the doctor. But what else connected the two that had them so involved but so far from another, he wouldn't know. But he did have a feeling that the doctors daughter was the key to all of this. For now though, he'll let Ghost enjoy it.

Ophelia was on her way towards her mothers office when she saw him and the first thing that came to mind was the sheer size of him then the heavy lines he had that somehow were left uncolored on his arm. The mask she can get over because there was another man that she saw once wearing a similar one. Or was it the same guy?

The man in question who looked like a giant fluffy bear seemed to be getting closer and closer to them but he didn't seem to see her. And she did not like not being acknowledged so when he walked by her and her teacher Miss Emily she called out to the giant bear of a man.

"Excuse me, mister!" Her sweet voice called out to him and Simon somehow, needed to stop.

He did and he turned to look back to the person who called to him. Immediately his eyes landed on a petite blonde who looked very apologetic. "I-I'm sorry sir. We're just from the daycare-"

"Daycare? Here? Why?" His voice was cold, intimidating.

Why would the daycare personnel ever come here? Were they letting just anyone on base? Were they a museum now? Simon took a step forward ready to interrogate the young pale woman but he heard that child's voice again.

"Don't be rude. She's taking me to see my mom." There goes that sass again. And why did it sound so familiar?

Glancing down at the tiny figure next to the woman Simon felt his eyes widen a fraction. Standing there with her tiny hands on her hips with a brow raised was Ophelia, the estranged daughter he never knew about until a month or so ago. Seeing her in the flesh now giving him sass that reminded him of her mother.

"And who are you here to see, exactly?" He crossed his arms over his chest and spreading he legs further apart as if trying to intimidate the little girl but what he didn't know was that her mother taught better than to be intimidated by any man. Especially big burly men like him.

"Doctor Amelia Cruz," She mimicked the man in front of her crossing arms over her her plaid overall dress even moving her head a bit with each word that left her lips. "She's my mom."

Her hair was that of a similar color to his own but darker, probably due to the hair product used to keep her baby hairs down. Her skin was without blemish, pale, just like him with a light coat of freckles going across the bridge of her nose. And her eyes, the same color as his own but except hers were filled with life, more so than his.

While he saw much of the world and knew the bad that was in it causing the light to dull in his eyes; she just barely knew of it. And he would do all that it took to hide all of the dangerous things that would dare cause her light to go out.

Simon will kill for her. Overall, Ophelia looked exactly like her picture. And acted exactly as he thought she would act. She was raised by a single mother thus far and she did more than a wonderful job at it. Hell, Amelia was so very talented that she caught the eye of the government and offered her more than he thought was possible. She could have gone anywhere but she remained here to where she could easily get to her daughter if need be.

When Simon had some free time he pulled some strings to get her file or rather her information when they reunited in the med bay. She was clean. No criminal record, no misdemeanor's. She didn't have a single ticket and her credit score was through the roof. Better than half of the population.

"Hm. So you're the doctors daughter. Perfect. I'll escort you. Turns out I'm going to see her as well."

The little girl didn't seem bothered by his questioning nor did she mind him escorting her to see her mother. This building was huge and as scary as it was her teacher Miss Emily certainly made it even more so by how intimidated she became when entering this place. So having a big scary looking guy like him walk her to her moms office did feel like she had an unlimited hall pass.

And on they went. Simon apologized to the teacher quick and curt that almost came off as rude and very dismissive. Miss Emily was too stunned to even respond and simply pushed Ophelia forward to the giant masked man and went on her way.

Ophelia did most of the talking between the two like a five year old would, she went into such detail she had Simon impressed with how expressive she was, and how she paid attention to every bit of detail.

She must've gotten that from him. That made him feel...proud.

"What's your name?" She asked while reaching for his large hand.

"Simon." He placed a finger to his covered lips," Keep it a secret, yeah?"

And he gently took the little girls hand in his enveloping it in a fatherly warmth.

Of course he asked her questions about her life, about what she enjoyed and her favorite things to do trying to get to know her as much as possible before her mother hid her away again.

~

Amelia stood there with her mouth slightly opened and a 'I can't believe this' look on her face while Simon finished telling her about the conversation their daughter had with him on their way here. But one thing stuck out to her.

"You're such.. I don't even know what to call you right now. I agreed to keep Ophelia's identity a secret because you asked me to Simon and I was very careful-" Simon gave her a look with is eyes that made her roll hers. Amelia was careful, but her careful allowed him to find out." Okay. I was careful. The least you can do now, is not bring any kind of light to her if you don't want anyone to know," she pointed a finger at him, "Per your request."

Her voice was low enough that only Simon could hear and if he didn't he read her lips well enough to understand. Amelia purposed an idea to him that day in the training room where he was allowed to see Ophelia when and only when Amelia spoke to her about the father figure the young girl sometimes asked about. And thus far, Amelia hasn't brought it up to the girl. It was going to be sudden and quite frankly she wasn't sure how it would all play out.

Amelia hasn't seen Simons face and to say that a masked man was her dad would make her look crazy. She did tell Simon her concern and he suggested a neutral place to meet up, somewhere far from town just in case someone were to recognize him but Amelia shut that idea down. If his life was such a secret why did he spend any time with her that day on the island?

Whatever the answer was she didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that her daughter was at arms length and her father solely wanted to hide her away along with Amelia. As if tensions were high enough between them in private it was pretty noticeable in public too. She noticed the way a certain 'Soap' keeping an eye on her and on Simon.

"Amelia," He said her name in a low warning tone. One he used before when he forced her to tell him the truth and she immediately rolled her eyes breaking eye contact with him looking off to the side. She was silently trying to dismiss the warning not wanting things to escalate because she was more than ready for things to escalate.

It wasn't like he was hiding his daughter because he wanted to. He explained to Amelia after their little half-quickie in the supply closet that he had enemies. Enemies that have stepped into his home, knew his name and would no doubt use whatever they could to bring him down, even if it meant killing his child and the mother of his child.

The thought itself brought anger forth and uncertainty. Anger, because imagining someone touching a single hair on any of his girl's hair made his blood boil. Uncertainty, because he didn't know what the future may hold if they are revealed. He can't stop the future danger but he can do his best to prevent it all together. Simon wasn't prepared for his heart to be ripped out of his chest like that. Not when he just gotten both the woman and the child. He'd fucking kill anyone and everyone involved with his girls.

"I know what I said doctor. And I still stand by it but," He glanced back over Amelia's shoulder to the closed door his daughter was hidden behind. " As soon as I saw her I couldn't stay away."

Looking right back down at her he took in the way her red lips turned up a bit in a kind knowing smile and her dark chocolate eyes that seemed to liquify and warm him right up, surprised him. She always was on the defensive from the moment they met, especially after he found out about what she was trying to hide from him. She spiked up her defenses after leaving herself bare for him and he simply walked away from it. Hell, he'd build as many walls as possible to keep the opposing party out. But luckily for him Amelia wasn't like him.

"What?" He asked narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"You already feel that fatherly connection with her. Dito Simon I'm so happy for you!" Her voice was low but she sounded like she was congratulating a friend on their achievement and he didn't like that. At all. Especially when she and him were definitely not friends. He fucked her brains out and got her pregnant. He was at least her...dare he fucking think it?

"First," He leaned down glancing down the end of the hallway making sure the coast was clear before he moved freely. He brought his hand up brushing her tanned cheek with the back of his knuckles, " Don't you ever speak to me in that tone of voice. I'm no friend of yours."

Amelia who was just trying to be kind and supportive of the father of her daughter found herself locking eyes with him the moment he touched her cheek. Immediately she felt that familiar knot start to pull down in her center. What was he trying to do? Intimidate her? Or turn her on? Whatever it was they couldn't do anything about it here. Their daughter was in the office behind her.

She licked her lips out of nervousness and spoke in a hushed voice. "Then what are you?"

Simon was no stranger to temptation or even seduction. He can withhold himself from it as many times as needed to get his job done but Amelia had this way about her that triggered this dark need within him, and he couldn't say no.

That's why his kid was behind the door she was blocking.

Leaning further down until his covered lips were only but a hair away form her lips he spoke firmly and clearly.

"I'm the one who impregnated you and gave you that sweet girl in there behind you."

"Hm. Anyone could have given her to me. Try again." Feisty.

"Want me to fuck you again and test that out?"

Their eyes never broke apart but Amelia's certainly went wide. She was actually shocked hearing his words so heated and full of promise despite their interaction to be playful. Simons eyes narrowed some and closed the gap between their lips. It was meant as a soft peck through the mask but Amelia closed her eyes and parted her lips just a bit to reciprocate an open mouthed peck.

"Be a father to Ophelia first before you become my man. Then we can talk about expanding." She opened her eyes and smiled at him. Not a sinister smile or baby trapping the man but a genuine one.

She wanted to be with Simon despite not knowing what he may have looked like beneath his mask. Pulling away he stood straight and squared his shoulders already feeling a new kind of confidence surface.

Amelia took note and snicked when she turned around to open the door but not before she felt a hand pat her rear. She stopped and looked back at Simon with a 'What the fuck are you doing?' look which he shrugged and pointed to the door.

"Go on doctor."

She sucked her teeth and pushed the door open.

Ophelia was currently sitting behind her mothers desk with different color crayons scattered around other paperwork Amelia was working on. And mother hen quickly went over to clean the mess while scolding the daughter in her native tongue.

Simon watched while closing the door behind him a small smile forming on his hidden lips. What he wouldn't give to be there from the very start.

To see Amelia pregnant and swollen with is seed, to help her throughout her pregnancy. He had always dreamed of having a wife and a few little ones when he could but the older he got the more he realized his dream of becoming a father were slim to none. And when that opportunity came he fucked it up.

Now he was watching his own daughter who was more than likely four or five arguing with her mother who seemed annoyed at this point. Maybe he should step in? Afterall he did come here for a purpose.

Stepping towards the duo he cleared his throat placing his hands on his hips. Both stopped and looked over at the masked man standing as if he had any kind of authority in this room. Amelia finished packed most of the crayons that were scattered around her desk and placed the box back inside one the drawers.

"Ophelia, I have something to tell you mi amor."

Amelia walked over to Simon and stood next to him while facing their daughter who sat behind the desk with that sweet innocence of a child. This wasn't going to be easy especially not for Amelia. Ever since Ophelia was young she would always tell her the story of the father she never met.

How sweet the man could be, how he radiated authority. He loved traveling to many different places. And the stories Simon told her she would tell Ophelia. And through that Ophelia wanted to travel too. Said she would one day grow up and travel just like her dad. Yet every time Ophelia would ask what he looked like Amelia would immediately state that she looked just like her father and then tell her about the scar he had. The only thing she remembered when she touched his face that night.

The silence was heavy and Amelia found that she couldn't do it. Simon glanced at her taking note how her eyes glossed over and how she tried to swallow whatever was in her throat. He'd never seen her like this before.

Simon took the initiative and took that weight off her shoulders. He moved forward and stood in front of the desk, before his daughter and revealed the secret that had been killing both him and her mother.

"Ophelia I'm-"

"My dad."

Simon blinked. He wasn't sure if he could be surprised again in his life but here he was. Surprised. Her little response came in way too quick.

Amelia slowly walked over to the desk just as shocked because there was never an instance when she told her that Simon, this hulking male was her father nor has she ever pointed it out to her.

"Ophelia...h-how did you?" Amelia stood beside her placing a hand on the back of her chair.

Ophelia just shrugged her shoulders childlike as she fiddled with her fingers, she always did that when she was nervous.

"Well... I remember when you told me stories of my dad and... when we came here I heard you talking to abuela saying you saw my father," She looked guilty when she looked up at her mother. She knew she wasn't supposed to listen in on adult conversations but her mother wasn't just any adult, she was her mother and her abuela was her abuela!

Ophelia started to twist her fingers," And I saw him with a skull and when I went to talk to him he said he was going to meet you mama. And he's really nice! Just like you sad! And he's British!"

Simon crossed his arms over his chest looking at Amelia as well. So, she would tell their daughter about him? He had to admit it made him feel all warm inside knowing she never gave up on him. Even if they never have met again Ophelia would have some sort of description of who he was.

"Oh, Ophelia mamita don't worry I'm not upset," Amelia took the girl int her arms lifting her up off the chair and making her way over to where Simon stood. Amelia kissed Ophelia's head before looking at the big bulk mass of a man with a smile.

"Well, cats outta the bag Simon."

Simon looked at Ophelia and gave a nod of his head while reaching out hesitantly and caressed her warm soft cheek with the back of his finger. She was so small her little head fit completely in his hand.

"Sorry it took so long to introduce myself," Both father and daughter looked into each others matching colored eyes. As if silently speaking to one another. She knew none of this was his fault and his job was very important that's why he was never there with her and her mom.

"It took you forever." Ophelia reach out and grabbed his hand held it and Amelia simply smiled at their daughter.

There was nothing in this world that could tear this moment apart. He finally, finally met his daughter as her father and he wasn't rejected. Simon feared the day he'd meet her and she would immediately cry, demand her mother take her away or even shun him. Could little girls even shun someone?

But there was one little secret he and his daughter knew that Amelia will never find out. Well, not yet anyways.

After their little reunion Simon was called back to his post, overseeing some intel Price wanted his to look over for their next big mission. Ophelia laid on her tummy coloring in her coloring book on the floor while her mother took in calls and prepared paperwork for surgery that was coming up for a wounded soldier who was doing some intel work but was caught. So they severed a limb trying to shoot and kill him.

"You know mommy, dad is really handsome."

"What makes you say that?" Amelia was surprised she started using the name for Simon. But she wasn't going to stop her. The girl had every right to call him whatever she wanted.

"Hm. Just a feeling."

Ophelia did in fact get a look of Simons face when they were making their way here. She asked him if his face was ugly and that's why he wore the mask. He was amused by her question and hid her in a corner and crouched. Simon made sure that the cameras didn't see a lick of his face when he lifted it up enough to reveal his features. He was not ugly. The giant of a man was actually very handsome!

And Ophelia took it all in. She already had a hunch that this man may have been her father because of the skull painted on his mask but the scar on his cheek confirmed her suspicions. Her mother would try and describe her father to the best of her abilities but never really gave her a full description of him. But what stuck out was the prominent scar he had on his cheek that went below the left eye down over his cheek and ended above his jaw. It looked like someone was trying to scoop out his face.

This man, was her father. Is her father. There was a rush of emotions coming through her little body. Excitement, shock, sadness and most of all fondness. Finally she could put a face to the man she one day dreamed of meeting. Maybe now that she found him her mom won't look sad anymore when she asked about him.

"You have a booboo," She lightly traced the scar under his eye being very careful not to press incase it still hurt him.

Simon smiled, his face wasn't used to smiling so it felt strange. " Just a small one."

As soon as he slipped the mask back in place he held her hand again leading her towards her mothers office, "You should show off your face more. You'll get married if you do."

[snowydragon10]

‼️‼️‼️

I think we're approaching this... "Chapter" of the Showgrounds Saga from the wrong direction

Theory Time!!

(It's a bit of a long one, so take your time)

Ok, so we've all been thinking - most of us at least - that this would be SMG3's Focus Arc and his turn to get character development and/or Trauma via a big movie event, but it's not what we expected. When I asked myself why, I came to some questions and theories

So, we've seen the pattern so far, SMG4's Perfection, Meggy's Idolization, and then WotFI happened, which I think was SMG3's Chapter.

I think what happened was that WotFI was his main event. Instead of building up to the tension, they swapped it and had the big event first with the development after, henceforth all of the focus episodes after WotFI regarding his shop, his selfworth and his place with the Crew.

So, "If SMG3 already had his fair share of Puzzle/Adware interference, then who's the focus for this chapter?" You may be asking, and I have the theory:

It's actually Us the Audience

Think about it! There's always some kind of connection between each Movie/Chapter moving towards the next one! In IGBP, while rescuing SMG4, how did Meggy fight off SMG3? Her splatfest skills (Former Splatfest Champion Wren)!! In Western Spaghetti, what did SMG3 have that added to his character from that point onwards? His bombs (Coffe n' Bombs Cafe)!!

So now, what's one connection with WotFI and this one? We the *Audience* are allowed to add our input based on the situation! (The Heist Plan Votes and the Video Reviews!!)

Not only that, BUT when WotFI finished and we got that post credit scene, Mr. Puzzles didn't address just anyone. No, he wasn't talking to SMG4, he wasn't talking to Luke, Marty, or SMG3; he was talking DIRECTLY to us the *Audience* at the 4th wall!

Adware KNOWS that we're finally picking up the hints and pieces!! He finally acknowledged that we're ready for our turn!!

When the first movie came out and he appeared as that keyboard malware virus (when we dubbed him Adware), we didn't think much of it. We thought it was a one-off, a fluke, something to further the story via typical SMG4 Weirdness.

It wasn't until the Western Spaghetti movie hype was building up that everyone realized that there's a pattern happening. That was when fans started pointing out, "Hey! There's something Fishy going on (Ha), and here's the hidden clues to prove it!!". We became suspicious of that damn symbol, and became more vigilant... and then WotFI happened!!

(Addition: I feel like Adware was beginning to test how ready we were when we got that one Steam Link with Tari in an empty room and the TV at the front of the train. Yeah, it was to hype up the movie, but it was also almost like a... puzzle, you could say)

Which could explain why this time it isn't a movie event that lasts for one week, but instead nearly over an entire month! I theorize that Winston wants to test us for some reason, and for that, he needs to collect information. Information like maybe a certain interactive website with reviews. You can't get the audience involved with just a single movie, just saying. Plus, the fact that he said endless entertainment all Saturdays forever? Who's the most involved in that specific detail, hmm?

Also! The theme! Granted, I don't have much proof for this one, but the theme I've noticed is Nostalgia. Blue's Clues isn't something very important to any of the characters that got kidnapped (minus 4 hating content farms) but it can be something that a lot of us have a fond attachment to! Which Adware could use to his Advantage! What better way to get good reviews than to target what the audiences like?

(4th wall sidenote, after that TV song jingle, Winston glances over to the screen directly at Us)

Also, notice how weird it is that the Crew Members that got kidnapped are popular among the fandom? You know, characters that we've gotten attached to? (Don't tell me Bob doesn't have a fanbase of his own). Every time a "Victim" is targeted, their close friends end up getting dragged into the mess.

SMG4 (3, Megs and Mar)

Meggy (Tari, Mario, Axol, DESTI)

SMG3 (Eggdog got a Cameo, 4, Bob??)

Us (Our favorite characters)

....

So, all of this to say, we need to stay on our toes, especially for this chapter. Be wary and all of that. I may be overthrowing it, but hey, theorizing is fun!! What do you guys think?

[thelilreddragon]

Welcome to Red Reviews: The Weekly Witch Watch Edition!

This is where Red reviews random things! My personality until October 30th will be Agatha All Along. Be warned. Spoilers ahead.

Agatha All Along: Episode 3

- Agatha clearly has never actually been on the road. Her face 2:52 confirms this. She is making things up as she speaks. You can tell based on her eyes darting from side to side. Plus with her addition to trying to break the rules during the trial, she clearly was bluffing. More on that later.

- Let’s take a closer look at “Teen” and the sigil across his lips. As soon as we flip it over (tilt your screen), it does look like a curved cursive W and M. In this scene, the sigil did not allow us to make out any lip reading… peculiar.

- Additionally, why does little witchy wannabe boy not know what a sigil is? He knows everything else about witchcraft.

- Whatever magic is on the boy, still works on the Road, where no magic can be used… quite a strong spell, I see.

- Unbind, reverse fortune, discover answers, and then Mrs. Hart disappears.

- Mrs. Hart seems to be incredibly connected to the earth…

- The mark on the door is a water sign. It’s the water trial. Each element gets a trial, possibly?

- The jewelry on each individual, minus “Teen” didn’t change. This include’s Mrs. Hart’s earrings. I believe she was wearing a necklace initially, but disappeared. It’s either behind her scarf or she is only half magical?

- The uninitiated lost his piercings and jewelry; Does this mean anything?

- Huge Tiny Lies is a reference to the 2017 drama Big Little Lies.

- The flowers on the card seem to be blue roses (correct me if I’m wrong), and symbolize mystery, secrecy, and pride. I think this gives a huge hint towards how the four confirmed witches respond to the potion. Pride being Alice’s mother, secrecy being Jennifer’s and mystery being Lilia’s. I believe that Agatha’s hallucination is a combination of all of them.

- I roughly translated the label on the wine; “Queen made in the Rioja property, qualified designation of origin, aged 2016, _____ for Queen: Product of Spain” Couldn’t figure out the blank.

- Red Queen wine. Scarlet Witch.

- Also 2016 is when Age of Ultron released

- WHY 2016?!

- Wine is 10 years old.

- It is believed that Agatha traded her child (Nicky?) for the Darkhold

- He disappeared. He may be dead. He may be a demon. OR AN AGENT OF MEPHISTO. Jennifer believes that Agatha may not recognize him.

- if “Teen” is 16 now, then 3 years ago, during Westview, he was 13. He mentions that a lot happened to him at 13. Did post-hex, version of this boy show magic?

- Ale Wife’s Revenge…

- Spanish… that seems to be an important language in this show thus far! Agatha said andale and it means hurry up.

- “Try to save Agatha…” - Lilia

- Alice’s hallucination has her mom wearing an amulet, however Alice’s necklace has more design and customization around the amulet itself. Her mom believes that something is going to kill her.

- Jen’s hallucination has a creepy dentist man, who looks to be from the 30s? He tries to drown her in her hallucination. This is the only hallucination in which someone is forced to do something. Jen physically feels like she is drowning.

- Lilia’s hallucination is in Italian, according to captions, and then switches to Sicilian . The outfits seem to be from the 16th-17th century? Who are the skeletons? Is one of them Evanora Harkness?

- Agatha is incredibly tender with Lilia. I think that they were close in the past.

- Agatha’s hallucination is by far my favourite. Her genuine fear of her son being replaced by the Darkhold broke my heart.

- Cerulean means relaxing, hence why the potion changed it.

- Mrs. Hart drank the antidote before the timer wore off, and did start moving again. Her eyes were wide open.

- I don’t think she’s dead.

- Agatha is still having issues with memory, or she’s just that self absorbed, hahahahaha! (she’s my favourite character.)

My thoughts?

I think that Mrs. Hart is alive, just comatose. Or something else. She’s a lot more important than I think we know.

Rio will need to be in the next task, or I’m gonna riot. And so will Scratchy.

Overall, I really liked the episode! It is very psychological thriller, so I am very happy. It’s really fun to psychoanalyze!

Do I like it more than WandaVision? I think they are completely different. I like them both for different reasons. WandaVision was fantastic and incorporated different elements of television, while Agatha All Along is incredibly whimsical and magical.

Also- Idc what anyone says. Teen is Billy, and Agatha knows deep down that he is Billy. Because she couldn’t protect Nicky, it doesn’t matter, she will protect Billy. She wouldn’t let him drink wine, she just wanted to rile everyone up. When she found out it was poisoned she almost lost her mind.

I don’t think Agatha turned Nicky over for the Darkhold. I think she tried to get the Darkhold to bring her son back, and that’s what tore her and Rio apart.

I’ll post my theories closer to next week. Now I can sit and scroll through everyone else’s reviews of this episode!

[youkaigakkou-tl]

Chapter 100 translator's notes thoughts

Would be pretty bold of me to call this tl notes considering how long and rambly it got lol

First off, some news: JP volume 15 will release on June 27! It’ll likely contain ch 94 to 100 (based on pagecount). Vol 2 of yoseito also releases the same day, probably containing ch 16 to 32 (and i’ll finally be able to tl ch 16)

Also, vol 13 in english comes out July 18

Chapter Name

Honestly I could have translated it as “Hundred Demons’ Night Parade of Hyakki Academy Island” but that’s really long and doesn’t have the double “hyakki”s and also everyone knows what “hyakki yakou” is right? Right?

Anyway, the part I’m pointing out is the way it’s numbered. In Chinese and Japanese, there’s an alternate system for numbering things in a set if there’s only 2 or 3: 上-中-下 or 前-中-完结 (or 后)

上-中-下 means literally “upper - middle - lower”, 前-中-完结 means “start - middle - end” (if there’s only 2, it skips the middle)

So the fact that this is used tells that this is a 2 or 3 part arc, instead of simply “part 1” which tells you nothing about how many parts there are total. Unfortunately, simply “part 1” is also the most natural way to number things in English so it is what it is. Also I don’t know if it’s 2 or 3 parts so it’s not like I can confidently put “part 1 of 2”.

While we’re on the color spread, did you notice Seimei in the back? (With the JP he’s way more covered by the text)

At first I thought it was “gods / teachers etc / class 2-3 / family” but then I realised Principal was on the left so its actually “senior citizens / teachers etc (relative youngsters) / class 2-3 / family” (and then later noticed Seimei and karasutengu troupe behind Ranmaru)

Also Ame on the color page again!! Ame nation (population: me) being fed this year amen

Autumn Festival

The autumn festival, or aki matsuri. As the name sounds, it’s kinda vague, and from what I could find, while a lot of shrines and temples celebrate it, there’s not one nationwide date, and it happens anytime from early October to late November, most commonly around late October to early November.

(Really? Is canada really focusing on dates again? For real? Again?)

Late October/early November is probably right, given the most recent confirmed date we have (ch97, October 18th), and it’s still within 2 weeks of ch95. (And also because time travel stuff hasn’t happened yet, which also has to be within these 2 weeks where he has bandaged arms. its me, ceo of time travel truthing)

What Is Sensei Cooking

First of all, the bandaged arms, Hatanaka time travel etc etc I’ve said this a million times.

The mystery of why Ibara likes Hatanaka in the first place gets brought up again! It’s GOTTA happen it HAS TO.

That aside, this is the second time it’s brought up that the baby may be a shutendouji (the other time is ch 81) and I’m starting to think this is going to be like… real plot or something…? Eyebrow raise?

If we do the maths, ch11 (the first senseis’ sunday chapter, where we learn Ibara is pregnant) happens on May 26th (assuming my timeline is right), and it’s currently October/November, so she’s at least 5 months pregnant. It also mentions she was feeling ill, which was why Hatanaka took her to the hospital, so she may have already been a few months pregnant at that point (assuming the pregnancy is a similar length to humans’)

Well. This doesn’t really mean anything but I like putting things into perspective.

Also, I’m just realising that both senseis’ sunday chapters (11 and 81), besides being “the teachers hang out on a sunday”, are actually caused by Ibara being pregnant. What the hell why is this manga so smart (I may just be stupid)

Random misc TL notes

Late Edo period would be around 1850s/60s. For reference, Takahashi was in school 120 to 130 years ago, and the main story takes place sometime in the 2010s, so that would have been the 1890s, plus minus 10 years.

I’ve mentioned this before and it’s not really an important detail, but “temple” is for Buddhism and “shrine” is for Shinto.

“Shintai”, literally translated, means “god’s body”, is the object of worship at shrines that stands in for the god itself. It could be something small and held in the shrine like this mirror, or like the whole of Mount Fuji. The tree at the shrine Genbu recommends in ch 94 is also a shintai. I could have translated it more but if they’re going to talk about it a whole lot may as well keep it as it is.

Now “shinsen” is evidently such a rare word that sensei had to put that note there, and also my phone couldn’t type the “sen” kanji. If it weren’t for that note I totally would have just gone with “food offering” and been done with it!! (shakes fist)

The stuff on the shelf is probably what clued Principal in that Ranmaru didn’t have prizes other than candy (besides knowing what he’s like ofc). There is no way this guy owns A5 wagyu. Or onsen trip tickets. Also irrelevant but that game console says “sailor” lmao

This thing… well… the screenshots speak for themselves

Marodo Shrine

Marodo shrine has actually been shown before, in chapter 27. It wasn’t even brought up by name in any dialogue but it stuck out to me because I remember finding it weird there’s a shrine on the island and googling it to get no real answers. The name itself is pretty vague, “客人 marodo” just means guest, in this case “guest deity” (so it's not the name of any god).

But looking at it now with the knowledge of, yknow, turtle island, it’s fairly interesting.

There are a few shrines called “Marodo shrine”  but the common trend seems to be an association with Itsukushima island (also known as Miyajima) or the sea. The most famous one probably being the one in Itsukushima shrine (the shrine with the giant torii on the ocean), and the island itself is said to be the god and the object of worship. There’s a pond called “Kagamiike” (mirror pond) in the shrine, and the Marodo shrine itself worships the 5 sons of Amaterasu, which tangentially connects it to the Yata no Kagami mirror of the three sacred treasures of Japan. None of this really means anything it’s probably just happenstance. For one, Itsukushima is in Hiroshima, nowhere near the location off the coast of Tokyo that the manga shows multiple times.

But it’s not like I’m pointing this out because it’s a 1 to 1 comparison, rather it’s an interesting coincidence (probably). By the way, I think this is where the shrine is on the island (since it’s on the mountain and has steps leading up to it)

Turtle Island

Anyway. Speaking of turtle island. Wow turtle island am I right. I still have not recovered from turtle island this page is insane. I’m pretty sure this is also the first time we get a good look at the island from above. You can see the train station they’re at in ch 58 at the bottom there.

Like how principal face reveal recontextualizes every previous time we see him, this is the same thing to me.

It specifically points out that it's from Chinese mythology, which is interesting, and I wonder if there's anything more to that than just being trivia. In Chinese mythology, the spirit turtle, or just turtles in general, are a part of a set of 4 sacred/illuminated/intelligent beasts, being: dragon, phoenix, kirin and turtle. This is distinct from the other set of 4 animals that are Seiryuu (dragon), Suzaku (bird), Byakko (tiger) and Genbu (turtle + snake). But these two share a lot of concepts because they’re the sort of animals that show up everywhere in Chinese mythology anyway.

Mount Penglai (Horai in JP) is said to be an island where immortals reside and is carried on the back of a spirit turtle in the ocean to the east of China. (This will be relevant?)

Turtle Tangent

A commenter on Bilibili (the chinese tl site) pointed out, and I’ve noticed personally, that the spirit turtle of China is typically a land tortoise or freshwater softshell turtle, and almost never depicted as a sea turtle, even in the context of “carrying an island in the ocean”.

This is very irrelevant, but I haven’t seen anyone make the connection, so my hypothesis is that “sea turtles” just weren’t a known thing in ancient China. There are 5 species of sea turtles native to the seas around China, but all known nesting locations are far in the south, whereas most of the population centers throughout history have been in the north, and most importantly, inland. On the other hand, tortoise shells have been used for writing and divination since writing developed, and softshell turtles are used in chinese medicine.

Of course, that wouldn’t be the reason in the modern day, but perhaps that specific image of the “spirit turtle” has become encoded into the mythology and become a fictional creature as much as dragons or kirin.

Honestly I’ve Just Been Chasing Tangents For This Part

Another story that comes to mind when hearing “turtle” and “mythology” is probably Urashima Taro, a fisherman who saves a turtle and is carried on its back to the dragon’s underwater palace, but when he returns to land he finds that hundreds of years have passed. In an older version of the story, instead of the dragon’s palace, he is taken to Horai (aka Mount Penglai).

There’s some kind of connection here with Itsukushima shrine I think, which is said to be built on the ocean in the image of the dragon’s palace, located on and worshipping an island mountain.

None of this means anything, probably. I just want to see what sensei cooks up really

One last thing though, about Ranmaru. We get 2 pieces of somewhat-conflicting info directly from him: “this god owes me a favor so they gave me this island” and “this island IS the god, and they’ve been asleep in a mirror this whole time”. You see how this doesn’t sound good for Ranmaru right. I don’t necessarily think he’s lying about any of it since he looks too serious for that, but he’s definitely leaving out some important details on purpose.

Thing is, if the mirror has to stay in the shrine to keep the god asleep, telling the principal to make offerings to it every 3 years a pretty good way to make sure the shrine is maintained and the mirror isn’t lost to time, as well as sidestepping the problem of curiosity if he outright said “the condition is you keep that mirror in that shrine”. Actually, did the shrine and mirror already exist on the island before Ranmaru gave it to the principal? And if it didn’t, how was Reiki being kept asleep before, and who made the mirror?

In any case. Ranmaru I love you but you are going to have to explain everything. Anyway this has been 1800 words and I need to end it so I can close the 50 wikipedia tabs I have open.

[sleepis4theweak]

FLASHBACK AU QUESTIONS, YOU SAY? FLASHBACK AU QUESTIONS YOU SHALL RECEIVE (Or at least somewhat related to the au questions...)!!

How did you originally come up with the story? Have you planned it out? Have you made any changes since you first thought of it?

What's your fav Mikey dynamic? Do you think it shows in the comic? My personal fav is PB & J duo :>>

Who's your least favorite character in the comic to draw?

Who's your favorite character to draw?

Where did Madame Bishop (I forgot her name- she had one didn't she?..was it Joanne? MAN I HAVE AMNESIA) get that scar from?

IS... IS MIKEY GONNA STAY DEAD...? 😰

Can we have a sneak peek by any chance? :3

What do you think Madame Bishop (...yeah might be Joanne...) would have been like in the doomed timeline?

ALRIGHT THAT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF, I'LL LEAVE YOU OFF WITH A PUN : Have you heard of the theory that no two people see color the same? I guess that would mean color is just a pigment of our imagination 🤔

YAYYAYAYAYYA THANK YOU I GOT VERY EXCITED TO ANSWER THESE YAY!

ANYWHO LONG ANSWERS BUT:

1- This was honestly supposed to be a two part comic. The entire au is based off of experiences I have had (minus the whole dying part of course) with my cousins and or brother. The first part was about Donnie and Mikey- and Mikey having the puppy dog eyes that Donnie couldn't do. That was about my cousin! It was supposed to just be like oh look Mikey can do puppy eyes. And then I saw something about how kids that struggle with understanding emotions can practice expressions in the mirror sometimes* and was like haha I should add this since it's actually something I used to do as well! THEN I wrote the line about him wanting to be the youngest and I mean... my brain went straight to "now what if Mikey dies"...

I didn't expect people to like it as much as they did tbh... so when people started to really comment on it I was like okay I should bring Mikey back to life... But then it turned into a whole au...

It's almost entirely planned out now! And most comics are still based off of stories of things that have happened with my cousins or brother! (Like how I smashed my cousins legos because I was angry at him.... its a long story lol).

*(It can also be something that kids with autism do... and someone actually pointed it out! ->)

-----------

2- Thats a really hard one... I think my fav has to do with the situation I guess? Or how I'm feeling? But Donnie and Mikey are probably my favorite overall! But only by a teensy tiny bit.

Raph and Mikey are my favorite angst wise, and the ones I can relate to the most. Leo and Mikey are really fun, and I really like using it to explore responsibility.

I think it does show in the comic! I mean I went straight to the PB & J duo- and then with Leo and Mikey I really explored responsibility. With Raph and Mikey it was shorter, but it was a lot more emotional for me personally. And right now Raph and Mikey are really getting the spotlight. Though Leo and Mikey are the main ones in the next update! :)

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3- DONNIE. OMFG DONNIE IS SO RECTANGULAR AND ITS TERRIBLE. ITS WHY HE'S HANGING HALF IN HALF OUT OF A LOT OF FRAMES BECAUSE I HATE DRAWING HIM. I've definitely gotten better at him tho! Example for u ->

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4- I think Leo is the easiest to draw, with Mikey coming in second! My favorite to draw though is definitely Mikey. I like his mask tails :) Also he's my favorite in general hehehe

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5- LMAO I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE NAME JOANNE CAME FROM IM LAUGHING SO HARD- THATS HER CANNON NAME NOW. ITS CANNON HER NAME IS DR. JOANNE BISHOP.

She got that scar from an experiment! Idk which one... but she was experimenting on something and it freaked and scratched her! :3

It isn't too important to the story, but it may add some depth/explanation to some of her reactions later on.

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6- ... lemme tell you, I have gotten this ask so many times... BUT CONGRATS I WONT DELETE THE ASK THIS TIME JUST FOR YOU <3

Usually I answer the ask, wait until I'm sure the person sending it saw my response and delete it to keep the mystery alive hehe... but I won't delete this one.

No. Mikey is not gonna stay dead. I mentioned it in the first one, but the comic was supposed to end with him maybe dead maybe not... but since the au is continuing... I don't like it when characters die :( Its sad so he was never gonna be actually dead. So yes, he will come back! Its just gonna take a bit...

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7- YOU MAY! I was considering which spoiler to give you... but I've decided to give you a big spoiler... just cropped. :) Because I'm evil like that :))

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8- Hmmm.... idk to be honest, I haven't thought about it... I think she would be just... even crazier. Like batshit insane.

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THAT PUN MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD- THANK YOU FOR THAT AND THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK IT MADE MY DAY <3

[flowersandbirdsflyingfree]

4 and 10 for IronPetals

6 and 14 for Blooming Bullets

Hello, my friend!!! This will be fun💖💖💖💖💖

IronPetals

4. Who embarrasses the other in public with kisses and pet names?

Each other. Both of us. It's like a game to see who can fuss around with the other until they give up and melt. At first, it was just me. Tank would roll his eyes if I subtly called him schmoopy in public and peck him on the cheek. "Yeah yeah, whatever. I know you can't resist the Tank." Then it flips to him months later trying to fluster me BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT WORKS UBFHRWEJDKNI He puts on the voice like "Aww, did you miss me weally much uwu" and gives me a giant kiss on the forehead after I quietly give him the death stare (I am smiling after the fact)

10. Who brings up the subject of kids first?

Tank was the one. He was hoping this time he could do it right. A little angst conflict is that he lost most custody of his 5 year old minus alternate weekend and holiday visits with the issues he had with his ex-partner. I was worried myself if I would be a good mother, but with enough reassurance to each other, we agreed to start a family someday. And sure enough, we would eventually have two kids: Charlotte Dempsey (6) and Lucas Dempsey (5)

Blooming Bullets

6. What small quirks do they love about each other?

For me, it feels like an endless list. I adore his mannerisms. Like how easy he can get a laugh out of me by kicking open doors. His voice is also smooth like velvet. Just being able to get lost in hearing him talk sometimes brings me at ease. Sometimes, he hums or sings a bit around the trailer while getting stuff done. Or when we’re both laying down, he might sing me something while playing with my hair. It’s in the way he rambles about his pov of the world, or says “beep beep!” if me or Champ are in the way by accident. Or his spontaneous nature and having no regerts regrets in being himself/reacting back at others who push his limits. Or even the way he smiles. I feel a warmth from the core of my heart blossom onwards. There so much about him I cherish. (Oh oops… I am in yearning mode now)

The Dude adores a lot from me too, but I think the most notable quirk would be how I tend to throw so many lighthearted jokes/ quick, witty one-liners when the situations calls it. For example, I remember sitting in church and he was feeling a little less peopley that day. Everyone prior was ticking him off in town, so having a little kid behind him constantly kicking the pew and the constant applause holding us from leaving at the end seemed to be the last straw. I leaned over and whispered, “What’s with all the clapping? Did the airplane land?” He had to cover his mouth from laughing. Another better example would probably just be little things like accidentally setting the car’s radio too loud and me going “SHHHH!” And immediately rolling it down like “Really banging on that ear drum, huh?” It’s all I can think of. They happen so fast that going back to remember them isn’t always easy for me. All that matters is they help make the day much easier for him.

14. Where would they go on a 3am adventure?

AOHHHHHHHHHH I LOVE THIS QUESTION! GREAT CHOICE! So, I can already see us randomly popping up at 3am due to lack of sleep. We cuddle close to what feels like 10 mins in attempt to go back to sleep. We can’t, so Dude like “I’m bored. Get dressed and hop in the car with me.” There isn’t as much open this late. But we may end up having an “early breakfast” via tearing to the Wendy’s drive thru and the two us sharing a chocolate frosty (he’s stealing my chicken nuggets when I look away >:C).

Afterwords, it could range from stargazing in the Arizona desert to us dangerously exploring a junkyard for “free shit”. It’s mostly a lot of urban exploring based stuff due to how most of town is closed. It’s a lot of fun. We barked at the cats to go away 😂 I usually prefer the flea markets in the daytime, but the nighttime adventures are a lot of fun. Dude helps me become a braver person and encourages me to take on the world in new opportunities I never had before. Also, watching the sunrise on the roof of an abandoned mall? So worth it❤️

I think once we went to a bar and just talked about whatever. We don’t do it anymore since Postal Dude got into a big fight and I had to rescue him out of there. In his words: “You’re too good for places like that anyways, sunshine. I don’t know why I chose the roughest hour to go in the first place.”

[mlek13]

A New Neighborhood

I keep seeing posts about Decades Challenges and Test of Time Challenges that made me want to try something similar again.  I gave in and started a new neighborhood, but I have been hesitant to share about it because the last time I tried something similar, it fell apart and I abandoned it as soon as I posted.

But this time it has gone very well and I have made a lot of progress.  Be warned that I may abandon this at any time.  I will eventually get back to my kingdom neighborhood.  I have already played through most of the merchant class and I have a couple of posts started in my drafts from almost a month ago.

So, as usual, I started out with 8 sims, 4 men and 4 women with a mix of genetics, random names, aspirations and personalities and moved them into an empty lot.  I set them up with the bare essentials (empty fridge, a couple of counters, straw beds, tree stump chairs, squat anywhere spots and waterfall showers.)  Then I filled up the lot with trees that can be chopped, harvestable berry bushes and fruit trees.  They got a fishing pond, garden plots, and all sorts of crafting stations.  I’m not using the in game money system at this point, so I use motherlode anytime they need more funds.  Also the visitor controller blocks all NPCs, so I don’t have to bother with bills.

They were off to a good start, with everyone getting along well.

Aside from some inevitable cheating and jealousy, but fortunately, no one holds a grudge over it for long.

At the start there wasn’t much interest in gardening or fishing, but with the fruit trees and berry bushes that I edited to be harvested autonomously based on hunger, they were well stocked with food.  (It doesn’t mean they were always smart enough to fix something to eat before they were near starving.)

Or that they were successful at cooking when they tried.

They chopped enough wood that they were able to build shelter before winter.  I trade one stack of wood per wall section or floor tile to build a roof. 

This first room is the nursery to separate the crying babies from the sleeping adults. 

They had enough wood to build two more rooms for adult sleeping quarters (minus part of the roof on the third room) before winter.

Things were going well, except for the fact that just one man was the father of most of the children in the camp and another one of the men had no children at all.  I knew that was going to pose a problem in the next generation or two, so I decided I needed to add another family.  I decided to wait to see if they survived the winter first, since that’s where I gave up last time, but the winter was mild.  There was only one incident of freezing and he survived, so I decided to start a second camp.

The second family was a total disaster.

They did not seem to like each other from the start.

Those that did were same sex couples, which is fine, but not helpful to my population problem.

When sims from my first camp would visit, they would wreck their relationships.

It turns out I didn’t have the empty templates installed and I forgot to clear out the neighborhood before starting, so I have all the Peasantview townies. 

I blocked them from my first camp, but decided to let them in the second.  That introduced roaches and the flu to the neighborhood.

A blind date from one of the townies did lead to love for one of my sims.  Unfortunately, she died young and I can’t find a picture of what happened.

I decided to separate the group and see if the less troublesome sims from this camp would do better on their own.

They were just two happy couples.

These two (Rex and Tomas) would autonomously get engaged, then break off the engagement, every other day.

This group . . . just as soon as I would start to like a couple, one of the pair would die.  Ultimately, they did introduce a little bit of new blood to the neighborhood, but not as much as I would have hoped.  I’m still adding in new sims as potential partners.  I’m trying to do better at making them matches for the sims that I already have rather than just random sims.

Here are the sims I started with in my original Alpha camp.  (In alphabetical order, because that’s how they were listed on my screen.)

Anthony was the only sim who could not find love among the original camp members, which is unfortunate since he was a family sim and wanted nothing more than to fall in love, get married, and have a baby.  I had to add in a third group of sims before he found the love of his life and started a family. In the meantime he was the camp lumberjack and was one of the first to get into chopping trees and processing boards.

Dinah was interested in nature. It took until the second year for anyone to want to plant crops or fish, but once she started to take an interest, she consistently wanted to plant more crops everyday.

She was also into hiking and once or twice in her later years, she took a group of children who were interested out on an excursion.

Doug was the other garden enthusiast in the first generation and he eventually took up woodworking too.  He only had one child of his own, but he was very active with helping out with the other little ones in the camp.

Fernando was the camp Casanova.  He had romances with three out of four of the women in the camp.  At one point all three of them were simultaneously pregnant with his children.  He ended up fathering ten children in total. At the time 2/3 to 70% of the children were his.

Having that many children eventually took its toll on his romance sim aspiration.

Magda was the only woman in the camp who did not fall to Fernando’s charms. 

Magda had a difficult time.  Her pleasure sims needs weren’t being adequately met and she started spending time in aspiration failure.

She was also the first sim in the camp to die.  Dinah had a close call previously and I decided to intervene because she was pregnant with her first child.  I tried to intervene with Magda too, but with the bed in the way, I couldn’t get anyone to her in time.

Misha is a sim that kind of fell under the radar.  She was just a solid, low drama sim, who kept her head down and did her thing.  She was the last of the women in the camp to have a baby.

Rosalyn was the first sim in the camp to give birth to a baby.  She was a very devoted mother with her first child and was constantly nursing the baby.

After giving birth, she immediately wanted to make a wish on the genie lamp that I hadn’t realized was on the lot.  I decided that she earned it.

Wishing for the power to cheat death, definitely paid off.

(I think Doug ended up taking the last two wishes and used them for beauty.  Can a sim make the same wish twice?  It didn’t do him any good.)

Being a mother was fun the first time around, but by the fourth time, it was a bit too much.

Theron is another sim that I don’t have a lot to say about.  He was the first one to get engaged when he spontaneously proposed to Dinah.

And he was the first to call of the engagement after catching her cheating with Fernando while at the neighbors’.

He was very sweet to comfort Dinah’s children (and Fernando’s not his) after the breakup to let them know everything was okay and nothing would change because of the breakup.

He also turned out to be the sim that proved to me that I was smart to disable teen-adult relationships when he was an elder and the second generation was reaching adulthood