#though later a bit into Alternative they do explain that the design is in fact partially to kill your sense of shame

[rasticore]

ngl they were kinda cooking with the Fortified Suit design it's like a more bulky semi-armored plugsuit with a soft front that becomes tearable when you trigger a thing so it can be cut open for first-aid.

It's horny on the female characters obviously (it WAS still technically an eroge series) but once you get past that it's honestly an interesting take on "thing you wear to pilot a mech" that isn't just a plugsuit/catsuit skintight thing.

it's also basically a wearable USB Drive that stores stuff and can have stuff uploaded to it AND displays shit directly on your retina

[ejzah]

In Miss Blye’s Class, Part 35

***

The call went better than expected. Monica’s lawyer was surprisingly civil and matter-of-fact, which Deeks appreciated. They agreed to meeting on Tuesday, his lawyer would be in attendance as well, to update the custody agreement. Hopefully they could resolve everything in one sitting, but he was prepared for it to be a prolonged process.

In the meantime, they were rolling into the final week of school, which meant Caleb had a few more assessments to complete. Mostly though, it meant he came home with an increasing number of projects from throughout the year and instructions for celebratory activities.

On Monday night, Deeks stayed up late with Caleb making a costume for the end-of-year party. Caleb had alternated between an artist and pirate for a couple weeks, and only decided last minute that he actually wanted to be Captain America. Thankfully, it was a simple enough design, since Deeks’ sewing and crafting skills were admittedly limited.

“Can you hand me a pin?” Deeks requested, holding out his hand in Caleb’s direction. Caleb carefully placed one in his palm. He balanced on his knees, he watched Deeks work, a pair of scissors held at the ready.

“Daddy, can I ask you a question?”

Deeks tucked the non-pointy end of a needle between his lips, readjusting the pile of fabric in front of him before resuming sewing. “If it’s why the shield is a little asymmetrical, it’s all part of the plan.” Caleb didn’t respond to that, so Deeks nudged him with his foot. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Is Mommy not coming to visit anymore?” he asked finally.

“I’m not sure, kiddo.“

Caleb dipped his head then, peeking up out of his banks sheepishly. “I heard you talking on the phone the other day with somebody about Mom. You said she couldn’t just show up here anymore whenever she wants,” he admitted reluctantly.

Deeks sighed internally. This was why he tried to conduct most of his personal business while Caleb was at school or asleep. He didn’t fault Caleb for being curious, but sometimes it certainly made life more complicated.

“Come here.” Deeks opened his arms, waiting until Caleb clambered onto his lap. His legs had grown so much in the last couple of years they extended over Deeks’ lap, nearly touching the ground. Once he was settled, Deeks wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight.

“You’re right, I was talking about your mom. Tomorrow we have a meeting to figure out if there’s a way for her to visit more regularly without it being such a big surprise. Now I don’t know if it’s going to work out that way,” Deeks explained. Caleb didn’t say anything, but Deeks could tell he was listening intently. “What do you think about that?”

“Will it always have to be a long visit?”

“It probably won’t be as many days in a row as this last time.”

Caleb nodded, his face contemplative. “I guess that sounds ok,” he decided. Taking one of Deeks’ hands, he started forming his fingers into various configurations. He gave a little sigh that was too heavy for a five year old. “I love Mommy, but sometimes it’s hard to be with her. Does that make sense.”

“It makes a lot of sense.“ Deeks kissed the top of his head. “I wish is was easier.”

“Me too.”

Deeks patted his thigh, scooching him back on the floor. “C’mon, let’s get this costume finished up before it’s time to wake up for school.”

***

Deeks took a half day on Tuesday for the meeting with Monica. When he reached the office where they were meeting, Monica had already arrived. For once, she didn’t attempt to flirt or intimidate him, outside of a pointed look before she turned back to talk with her lawyer.

Three hours later, Deeks walked out, exhausted, but cautiously optimistic. Assuming Monica didn’t come back with any changes, they’d successfully modified the custody agreement.

Kensi was supposed to come over for dinner, so Deeks rushed to pick up Caleb, and grabbed pizza on the way home. While Caleb finished up the tiny bit of homework assigned, Deeks tossed the pizzas in a couple of skillets to reheat. It was hardly a gourmet meal, but he figured Kensi would forgive him.

The doorbell rang while he was in the middle of throwing together a very simple salad of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado.

“Caleb, can you get that? Check to make sure it’s Kensi before you unlock the door, ok?” he requested in between dicing a small cucumber.

“Kay!” He ran off, his bare feet slapping against the floor. Deeks heard the indistinct sound of his and Kensi’s voices.

“Hey.” Kensi wrapped her arms around him from behind, and kissed his neck. He grinned, twisting his neck so he could reach her mouth.

“Hey. I think I could get used to this.”

“Mm. Thanks for feeding me again. It smells delicious,” she said, snatching a piece of cucumber from the cutting board.

“I’ll pass it on to Peter, my pizza guy. How was your day?” he asked. He offered Kensi a handful of clean lettuce leaves, which she accepted with a smile.

“Chaotic, but that’s to be expected at this point. Even the kids who love school are ready to break out. The ten thousand and one activities paired with candy and ice cream parties doesn’t exactly help,” she answered.

“Yeah, I noticed. Caleb spent the entire drive home singing and bouncing in his seat.”

“I’m sorry about that. It’s only three more days though.”

“I know it’s, crazy. I don’t think I’m ready for first grade,” he said, shaking his head. Kensi made a sympathetic face.

“Aw, you’ll be ok. And so will Caleb.” Moving around the kitchen with familiarity, Kensi got out three place settings, and started placing them in the usual spots around the table.

Deeks checked the bottoms of the pizzas, which had browned up nicely, and he turned off the heat, sliding each pizza onto a large cutting board.

“Hey, earlier you mentioned something about a surprise,” he said as he worked. “Do I get to hear all the juicy details?”

“Yes, but tell me about the meeting today. I kept thinking about you all afternoon.” Retrieving two cold beers from the fridge, Kensi sat down, patting the chair beside her.

Deeks groaned, feeling everyone of his 30-some years. “It went as well as can be expected. We drafted a new custody agreement. Monica will get two days of visitation per month, at a secondary location we both agree on. We initially suggested more, but she said that she couldn’t agree to that commitment at the current time,” Deeks explained. He rubbed his eyes and groaned again. “I really wish it hadn’t come to this.”

“Do you think she’ll follow through?” Kensi asked, distractedly nibbling on another piece of cucumber.

“I honestly have no idea,” Deeks admitted. He sighed heavily, shaking his head, and Kensi rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. “She could either come because she actually wants to see Caleb consistently now, to prove a point, or just skip out again.”

“I’m sorry. For Caleb’s sake, I hope she does.”

“Yeah. At least now we should have fewer unexpected visits, which is all I wanted.”

“You made the right choice,” Kensi assured him. He appreciated it; he’d probably always question his decision to a degree, but it helped that Kensi didn’t think he was a complete monster. “Alright, now you tell me about your secret. Are you moving to Aruba, joining a traveling circus, buying me a puppy?”

Kensi snorted. “Not quite. A few weeks ago, I applied for a teaching position at University of California, Los Angeles, and today I got a call saying they’d like to hire me. So, I’ll be teaching a couple of Spanish classes this summer,” Kensi shared, unable to hold back a grin.

“Kensi, that’s fantastic!” Deeks exclaimed, getting up and picking her up to swing around the room. She tilted her head back, laughing in obvious delight. He set her back down again, keeping one hand on her waist. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“You were dealing with all the Monica stuff and I didn’t want to add anything else to your plate.” She folded her hand over his. “Besides, I wasn’t really sure that they’d even offer me an interview. If it didn’t go anywhere, I wanted to wallow all on my own.”

“Hey, I will always wallow with you. I’m great at it. We’ll get some wine, cookies, make a whole night of it,” Deeks said.

“You’re ridiculous.” She kissed him softly, her lips lingering long enough that he felt a tingle of warmth building in his chest. When Kensi pulled back, she brushed his hair back from his forehead. “I love it. And you.”

“Love you too.” They kissed again, this time for just a few seconds

“You know, this kind of news deserves a celebration. We’ve got wine and mint Oreos. Only the best for you.”

“Now how could I say no to an offer like that,” Kensi teased, untangling her arms from around him. “I’m going to go wrangle Caleb while you dig out those Oreos.”

Wiggling her eyebrow ridiculously, Kensi walked out to the sound of Deeks’ laughter.

[frostedsketches]

I'm not planning on going into full detail over the rest of the Mane Six like I did for Twilight, despite this, I think the Mane Six ships in the Hopes'nDreamsVerse deserve a bit more light and attention. There are some ships that are a bit unconventional and therefore need a little bit of explaning to be believable. I mean c'mon? When do you ever see Soarin and Rarity shipped, or Applejack and Double Diamond, or even Twilight and Star Tracker? ( I already did a thing on them, so go search it out of you're interested! )

So to curb your curiosity and disbelief, I will be explaining these ships, right here, right now.

Alright, well, Pinkie Pie X Cheese Sandwich and Fluttershy X Discord are pretty self-explanatory and don't have much to explain in terms of how they ended up together. The story of Rainbow X Thunderlane and Rarity X Soarin, is a bit more of a complicated discussion, given that it's more widely known for the husband's in these two ships to be swapped, and so you would probably think they would be. Well, I'm going to tell you why they aren't. . .

( Note: I LOVE Soarin X Rainbow and am partial to Rarity X Thunderlane, however they didn't work with the next gen characters I at the time had ideas for and wanted to design. Also Hopes'nDreamsVerse didn't used to be my main and I had never planned for it to be, but things change. My only regret really is that some of the ships I personally prefer didn't get to be a part of the main Next Gen that I strictly think happened after the show, so I can only save those for alternates, but really I'm fine with in the end )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Being Wonderbolts together, it's natural that ponies within the fleet would form close friendships and sometimes even have romantic feelings bloom. Well that's exactly what happened between Rainbow Dash and Soarin, and Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser.

Rainbow and Soarin became fast friends, and even then, though she'd never admit it, Rainbow had quickly developed a bit of a crush that went slightly beyond her general fascination and hero complex towards the Wonderbolts as a whole, in fact she had always found Soarin to be kind of cute out of the stallions in the fleet.

Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser had already been friends before joining the Wonderbolts, and working together in such close proximity only escaladed their bond into something more. By the time Season 9 ended, in fact the evening after Queen Twilight's Coronation, Thunderlane proposed and the two pegasi got engaged. Only four months later were they married.

Rainbow and Soarin found romance and became in item around the time that Fluttercord and CheesePie were taking off, and though they were together for months and genuinely loved each other, in the end things took a turn for the worse. And that simply was their differing ideas for the future. Rainbow was perfectly content being his girlfriend and working on and rising up in her career, while he had always known that if he were to date he'd want it to be a permanent thing and to escalate, to eventually be something more, be something more to her and have something more WITH her. This is where the argument began, which eventually caused them to break up, though it left them both sore for awhile.

Meanwhile, Double Diamond, Party Favor, and Night Glider often liked to visit Ponyville to see their friend, and in PF's case, sister, Sugarbelle. Them being on the farm so often left room for Applejack to get to know them, and get to know Double Diamond in particular. Party Favor, once he met Miss Cheerilie, often took time to hang out with her in Ponyville while Double Diamond became interested in life on the farm and often snuck away to watch Applejack do her work — though he was genuinely interested in the work itself, he also loved to watch her work in particular, let's just say he has a thing for buff ladies XD.

Friendship and eventually feelings blossomed over the course of months and though they eventually became a couple, they being such good friends and keeping their romance out of topic to others, never really mentioned to anyone else their relationship until someone poking around eventually found out and spilled the beans to everyone.

Eventually when Rainbow decided to move on and stop showing how it still affected her, Rarity, single and by now thinking she'd always be so, took it upon herself to be match maker for her friends instead, and started sending her on blind dates, that is until the day Rainbow finally put her hoof down and told her she wasn't ready yet, that she was still bothered by her breakup and needed a bit more time, when she finally came clean about that, Rarity apologized and ceased. Double Diamond and Applejack are engaged at this point, Pinkie and Cheese are newly married and Fluttershy and Discord have just found out really early on that miraculously they're expecting a foal.

The night of the Grand Galloping Gala came. Rainbow Dash ran into Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser and hung out with them when they weren't performing. Rarity however, after the Wonderbolts show was done, stumbled upon Soarin keeping to himself and conversation struck between them, both getting along well, Soarin opened up about the breakup with Rainbow and Rarity offered some insight on Rainbow's side of the story, they ended up talking until the Gala ended and they both said their goodbyes, walking away strangely with warm, fuzzy feelings in their chests and fond wandering thoughts of each other for the next few days.

Fluttershy and Discord attended the Gala, but were forced to teleport back home when Fluttershy started feeling terribly ill and faint. Later that night Fluttershy miscarries the undeveloped embryo, and though it was so early that it wasn't even living yet, Fluttershy mourned greatly for what had almost been.

Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser's daughter Tornado Racer is born and while Cloud Chaser is on maternity leave, Thunderlane finds himself running into Rainbow more and more at work, and though at first it's all innocent and friendly, both ponies know they've walked into a mess when they start feeling things they shouldn't and Thunderlane's feelings for Cloud Chaser begin to dwindle due to less time with her and more and more arguments and disagreements at home, Cloud Chaser has always had a few red flags that never got resolved and they shine through more than ever these days, so you see it's not only his feelings for Rainbow that are contributing to their falling out.

After a particularly bad fight leaving both ponies with severely damaged feelings, Thunderlane comes to realize he doesn't feel right with Cloud Chaser and comes to realize his feelings for Rainbow are intensifying as she's been a good listening ear and comforting figure to him after fights with his wife.

Though he loves his daughter and has a bad feeling about what would happen if he were to leave her, he needs to get these feelings into words, soon confessing to Rainbow who feels the same way, but despite her feelings she gets mad at him, telling him firmly that if he really wants to act on these feelings, he has to choose, either forget about her and be a faithful husband to Cloud Chaser or get a divorce to avoid being a cheater.

Thunderlane didn't come to work for a few days after that, but when he finally did, he informed Rainbow he had made up his mind; he had told Cloud Chaser how he had moved on and wanted a divorce. Rainbow felt extremely guilty, thinking it's her fault for ruining Thunderlane's prior relationship, but ultimately knows that things were never really harmonious between them and it might've happened even without her muddying the circumstances.

They were married only a few months after the divorce was finalized, Thunderlane never talked of kids to her so she trusts he won't pressure her to have them instead of focusing on her career. He knows that's not what she wants and he doesn't trust that he'd be a good dad after leaving Tornado, the thought of it hurts too much and makes him feel even more guilty.

Cloud Chaser of course does not take this kindly, though she was half of the reason it ended this way, she refuses to believe that she was part of the problem and harbors feelings of abandonment and resentment, she blames Rainbow primarily, a belief and hatred she passed down to Tornado Racer, who's childhood is destroyed by this, though after a few years Thunderlane hears of his ex's spiral and tries his best to gain custody of his daughter, Tornado wants nothing to do with him, Cloud Chaser won't let him take her and after years he ultimately loses the battle. Tornado does have solace with her Aunt Flitter who takes care of her when Cloud Chaser is unable, but of course it's not enough to make how her life is going completely 'okay' and doesn't stop her from being messed up in adulthood.

By this time Soarin and Rarity have started seeing each other and eventually become a couple. Applejack and Double Diamond are married though ponies still wonder how their so chill and non-romantic in public ( they're very affectionate when it's just them, don't get me wrong here ). Rainbow and Soarin, now both with new partners that they love more than anyone, rekindle their previous friendship which spreads between both couples, so all four become good friends, all hurt feelings healed.

Sometime between the birth of Fluttershy's foal and Pinkie's twins, and the birth of Applejack's foal a year later, Soarin proposes to Rarity and Twilight and Star Tracker become great friends, soon to be married as I will soon explain, and soon couples are married not long after each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you have the summerized story of how these couples came to be! Hoping to have more out soon, so stay tuned! Now go out and Idk. . . keep being 20% cooler then the poor souls who haven't found joy in MLP :D

[womanofwords]

Suit Malfunction

Based on this incorrect quote that I made.

Miguel O’Hara’s suit was overwhelmingly blue. That was the first thing Gwen had noticed about it, and she teased him about it. He didn’t respond to it, though. Caped Bluesader, Blue Panther, Blue Bug, she’d had a field day coming up with nicknames for him.

Miguel O’Hara’s suit was a hologram. Gwen didn’t find this out until later, but it made a lot of sense as well as raised a few questions. It made sense because a hologram would conveniently handle the talons he had on his hands and feet. On the other hand, she wanted to ask if his suit being a hologram meant he was technically naked.

“What the hell is that?” Miles asked, pointing at Miguel’s arm. Gwen looked where he was pointing and gasped. The suit was malfunctioning. His arm was glitching, alternating between bare flesh and the suit.

“What are you gasping about?” Miguel asked. He looked at his arm, and growled with annoyance. “Dammit, my suit!” He rushed out, looking embarrassed underneath his anger.

“What was that?” Miles asked.

“The hologram’s malfunctioning,” Gwen explained.

“His suit’s a hologram. It’s the only thing that contains the talons. Everything else will just rip to shreds.”

“A hologram?” Miles’ eyes grow wide. “Does this mean that he’s basically naked?”

“That’s what I thought!” Gwen exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Miguel was trying to cooperate as Lyla debated what to do with Miguel’s new suit. “Maybe we can change the colour scheme. Give it a bit more red. It’ll stop Gwen from calling you Blue Panther.”

“No. The blue comes from a Day Of The Dead costume.”

“Also, I’ve been meaning to experiment with different clothing styles on this hologram device.” Lyla typed in some instructions. “What about a suit and tie?”

“I do not want to fight crime in a suit,” Miguel snarled.

“But I have so many ideas!” Lyla’s voice took on a whiny tone. “Like this bunny onesie-”

“No.”

“Or this Elvis jumpsuit-”

“No-”

“Or this maid outfit! Oh, you look so cute!” Miguel looked down at himself in horror as his suit, his beloved suit that he had designed himself, morphed into a black and white maid outfit. The skirt (which was disgustingly frilly) barely came down past his knees.

“LYLA!” Miguel roared, as the AI assistant laughed.

“Oh, I am keeping that one for the blackmail album! Or maybe the personal album! You know what, let’s do both!”

“CHANGE IT!”

“Fine, let me just . . . oh no.” Lyla frantically typed in more lines of code, getting more and more anxious. “Houston, we have a problem. In fact, we have two problems.”

“WHAT?!”

Lyla gave a hesitant, awkward grin. “It won’t shift back. You’re stuck like this.”

Miguel struggled to contain his anger and embarrassment. “And the second reason?”

“You . . . have a meeting in five minutes. With the teenage Spideys. Jess Drew will be there, too. And . . . basically everyone else. It’s a meeting with literally everyone.”

“This is entirely your fault. I will never life this down. Everyone will have this seared into their brains for the rest of their lives.” Miguel paced around the room, cursing and kicking the wall. “And I guess I must leave to be humiliated.”

“I wish you well.” And then Lyla retreated to wherever she went when not helping Miguel.

“Stupid Lyla, stupid outfit, stupid meeting.” Miguel repeated this mantra to himself while staring at the floor. “Good day.” Everyone’s mouths stretched to the ground.

“Am I seeing things?” Margo whispered to Malala. “Os it that Miguel O’Hara in a maid outfit? Does my suit have a filter that’s making me see things weird?”

“It’s not just you. I’m seeing it too,” Malala said.

“Before I start, I would like to point out that there is a temporary glitch in my holographic suit that is making it appear like a French maid outfit.”

“This is my fault. Wanted to mess around with the settings,” Lyla admitted. “Well, that’s all you’ll hear from me.” And she left again.

“Right. Thank you, Lyla.” Miguel coughed to ease the tension in the room.

It didn’t work.

He had no idea how he got through the meeting; he barely remembered anything from it. But it ended, and that was a relief. “Any questions?” he asked. Hobie Brown raised his hand. “Yes, Hobie?”

“I ‘ave two questions. First of all, if your suit is a hologram, doesn’t that mean you’ve been running around naked the whole time?” Hobie asked. The room descended into chaos as Miguel watched in horror.

“CALM DOWN!” Miguel roared. The sound was choked out of the room as he cast a steely glare over every version of Spiderman present. “It’s the only thing that contains my talons. Also, I believe you had a second question, Hobie.”

“Can you look here for a second?” Hobie asked. Before Miguel could say anything, Hobie snapped a picture. Miguel growled and pounced on Hobie. Hobie jumped out of the way and ran off, laughing. Miguel gave chase, and everyone chased after them, led by Peter Parkedcar.

“This. Is. AWESOME!” Miles cheered. “Are there any photographers around here?”

“YO!” a chorus of Peter Parkers said in unison. Miles jumped.

“Lots of different versions of Peter Parker are or were photographers,” Gwen explained. “There will be loads of photos of this.”

“I will pay all the money I have to keep a photo of this!” someone yelled.

Meanwhile, Lyla grinned and saved the moment for her personal album. “I wonder how long I should give it until I tell him that there was never a malfunction,” she mused.

“HOBIE BROWN, I WILL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF IF I DON’T GET TO DELETE THAT PHOTO MYSELF!” Miguel vowed.

“NEVER!” Hobie yelled, having the time of his life.

“Maybe I should give it a minute,” Lyla decided.

[moth-in-the-moon]

I get what you mean. I might sound controversial here but Si Spurrier took Chuck Austen's spot in my list of bad Nightcrawler writers for awhile now.

After this tho ? This whole 6$ mess?? I actually prefer Austen to him. It's incredible.

Should have seen this coming, all the clues were there from the start : Nightcrawler's selective memory on everything he went through, none of his friends caring about him (100× worse than Austen on this one), that bit in Legion of X where we could see Nightcrawler's s3xual fantasies which included a woman that straight up looks like Rogue, the whole Mother Righteous deal, the Golden Child in Nightcrawlers (we went all later season Rick and Morty here) and of course the Margali fiasco, to which I'm still going "why just why" whenever I think about it especially after finding out Orchis actually has a magic user (new oc from Dark X-Men) who captured an alternative version of Nightcrawler + Madelyne Pryor before Fall of X went down (so like why tf couldn't they have another oc or just her be behind Legion of X's horn plot instead of the only good parent Kurt has??)

Just get Si Spurrier away from Nightcrawler forever. I'm begging here

Who are you and how did you find me

Outside of getting an ask that isnt from people I talk to on the daily, i assume, uh. Yeah what's been happening to Kurt has all kinda a big mess.

People can like the retcon and more power to them if they do, but I just. personally dont like how it messes with everything (a la Maximoffs arent Magnetos kids anymore, but somehow worse?) Full on explaination of my thoughts under the read more, be warned though, it might be a bit messy just based on it being me trying to collect my thoughts in a written form

Spurrier has made some very weird choices in the comics, definitly, though not all of them suck IMO.

(I'm probably the one person who thought about how Azazel has basically soul magic and how Kurt could thusly have magic aswell, meaning that Hope Sword being a magic weapon that kurt made in his soul (one which he should not have, but apperantly grew back) satisfied me and me specifically beccause AHA magical kurt!)

BUT YEAH NO, they messed up Margali ALOT, which, read the headline she is my girl, I liked seeing her again but WOW did they not understand her and what she does and the way they characterized her could be considered a form of character-assasination and possibly even. downright horrible considering the fact that she is a roma woman (though lets be real there are many issues with how writers treat the romani characters and as someone who is not romani, I wont speak on it in detail now, cause it's not really my place. but like man); Mr Sinisters rule 63 self was a whole thing, again as my headline says, do not like her., i think her character was handled horribly. Plus they made her like. the reason why margali does magic and as the number one margali fan in the world, thats bullshit. Margali has been sorcerer supreme twice, possibly even trice depending on how you read her being guardian of limbo so having her get to that point cause some fuckin Nathaniel Essex clone was like "teehee i actually gave you magic" and then making her take margalis magic and kill her?? It's bad. (also i dont like the way she looks, why would she look so different from other essex clones, its just. aesthetically weird to me); On the note of the nightcrawlers, I actually quite liked them as a concept, though I think they couldve gotten more creative with their designs. Please make them look like more than just character but hit with a blue coat of paint, theyre a mix of two genetic samples, not a full clone of one character. They are in a sense of biology, children of those two characters, dont make them look boring also dont like how two of them had a baby. they both have 50 percent kurt DNA. thats. thats not gonna be a healthy baby. Do like the baby tough, shout out to the god baby, her concept is way too funny to dislike.

NOW, I will say, reading over the stuff again, i feel like its implying that Raven used a bit of the dna from the baron and azazel for the whole, having a baby thing???

WHICH, if I'm reading that right, might actually mean that they just actually did the most insane move of basically going "actually every bio-parent we've ever given Kurt is Kurts Bio-Parent" and I would actually respect that and it would change my opinion on this comic INSTANTLY because this kind of shark jumpery would be amazing.

But either way, I feel like retconning everything is really bad for everyones characterization, especially Destiny and Mystiques, part of it being the "oh we had to leave you cause future vision said so" feels very much like them trying to find an excuse for why they wouldnt raise their child

Idk it feels weird to have him be raven and irenes beloved darling child that they were forced to give up when you have mystique and destiny not really giving a shit about kurt, like ever previously in the comics.

To me it feels empty and almost like a cheap reference. It isnt something easily inserted in todays canon, years ago, when we didnt have all the baggage of years of interactions, you couldve easily added that fact and explained why they left him, but now, its a mess

Plus they JUST brought Az back in the comics in the dark x-men thing, which. feels like really bad timing, if they just let azazel fade from memory and then do the retcon like "yeah kurt just dreamt all of that demon stuff teehee", it'd be annoying but.

He's in comics.

Recent comics.

Why would you remind everyone of his existence, yknow, the man literally made and designed to be kurts bio-dad down to basically being a red Kurt with straight hair and without ectrodactyly. and then. retcon him being the father.

It feels so weirdly timed, did they not talk to eachother when planning these series??

Also I get that not everyone likes Azazel and his deal, which is fair, he's a kinda one note weirdo guy, but idk man. I like him. I think he's funny, I like villains like him being just annoying pests.

ALSO!! Spider-Kurt is actually one of my favourite things recent comics has done, because FUNFACT there's a character who we only ever see the tombstone off on battle world, from a different universe, called Amanda Wagner-Parker aka Spider-Crawler and. I am kinda obsessed with her?? Like. They actually just gave us a hinted at Kurt/Peter kid a tonne of years ago??? possibly??? like that??? and no one ever talks about her So them making Kurt be buds with Peter and hang out was actually catering to me specifically. That was a good idea. Kurt as spiderman with magic powers was written for my tastes and no one elses ever actually

Also uh, all comic characters are technically ocs so being like "ooo new oc from this" feels a bit dismissive to me, just say character

[owo-whats-bliss]

hi i want to know about 14f from aitablorbos i need to adopt her as soon as possible thank you

WAAAAH was not expecting someone to actually ask. Her name is Willow. I kind of didn’t make her because her first ever appearance was in a dream I had. Her design matches the dream exactly so it's kinda basic but she gets outfit upgrades later. (Second drawing was bought from @/samthecookielord). Also beware because you have just given me the green light to infodump. Lesgo

CW for child abuse a little bit!! And daddy issues a lot of it is daddy issues

It's kind of a long story to explain her dad (they/them dad) but the short version is that bitch (who is a god made of coagulated evils of humanity, they've got a whole lot of stuff goin on) was kind of lonely. So using the same stuff they're made of, they crafted Willow. Unfortunately, they kinda messed up, accidentally making her look more like someone they hate than looking like them. Instead of bothering to fix this, they resolved to rip her apart and try again, starting with her face.

Actually I'm gonna put the rest of this under a readmore!

Willow narrowly escapes death then, for the next about 500 years, desperately seeks dad's approval. Here's the lore that I got from my admittedly weirdly detailed dream.

She can appear in dreams and, if you give her any kind of form, be it in writing, speech, or art, she can enter it physically. Anyone who wasn't aware of her beforehand will believe she was always there and shower her with gifts and familial affection. She does that in an attempt to feel better. But she essentially takes over the world, and is extremely difficult to kill. That part is operating on the logic of "dad messes with humans, therefore if I do it too, they'll approve of me."

She isn't as strong as dad, but can still do a couple weird things, like splitting peoples' souls up and putting them in the famous labyrinths in order to trap them.

That is, until she gets summoned, on accident. A group of teens (who all go by aliases fyi) become friends and manage to accidentally summon her, and then she gets trapped in their clubroom. She's hostile at first, but none of them have any intent to actually hurt her, and she calms down after a bit. They all get to know her and vice versa, and even though she's stuck, she's actually surprisingly happy for once!

The thing she wanted most was to be loved, but the thing she wanted second-most was to be basically dolled up. Have her hair done, someone pick an outfit for her, do her makeup (to the best of their ability given she has no face). They did that, and it really cemented in that these people loved her. She finally let go of searching for dad's approval, accepting that they won't give it to her, but that she doesn't need it, either.

Only problem is, the friends can leave, and she can't. They can age, and she can't. They will die, and she can't. This information weighs heavily on her, especially because she's never had to fear greatly outlasting people before. When a friend, Recluse, asks that Willow places him in a labyrinth where his parents love him, she realizes people don't age in there. And she can turn the pain off. She can turn all the sadness off, actually! So she just yoinks the rest of her friends and keeps them in there! She reasons that she knows, for a fact, that there are tons of alternate timelines and tons of the friends, so it's fine if she keeps these ones and doesn't have to cope with their deaths.

But, as you know, one of them does find out, and puts an end to the situation. They get it, so they're not really mad per se, they're just kind of upset about it in general.

If you want to learn about what happens after, feel free to ask. Just be aware that it is mostly sad :(

[akirahas312714problems]

'finals week' or 'my final week'? stay tuned to find out!

my finals are in less than 2 weeks and i have 4 design portfolios to finish holy shit oh my god fuck fuck fu-

*ahem*

somehow i feel as though i do not need to explain my absence. more importantly, i finally have a little bit of time here and there to post on here "often" (maybe alternate days as opposed to everyday)

there are also some other updates for this blog, primarily the fact that i've deleted the theories i was working on LET ME EXPLAIN!!

i recently (like a week ago) had to buy a new phone (my previous phone's screen was starting to glitch a lot? idk what happened but my guess would be that it probably sustained some damage from the amount of times i've dropped it... oops...) and for some reason, when i logged onto this blog through my phone, all of my drafts had disappeared. i obviously panicked because those are my theory brainstorming drafts and i can't possibly be bothered to write them all over again if they're totally gone. so, i logged in on my pc and my drafts were gone there too and well... i really don't remember what i was writing so... rest in fucking pieces ig lol

besides that tragedy, everything else is going okay-ish irl. i had to skip buying welkin for like 2 versions because as it turn out, needing to urgently buy a new phone can get pretty expensive; not that i bought a particularly expensive phone, i just didn't have much on hand at the time to buy anything more expensive than something mid-range. Samsung Galaxy A34 5G, if you're curious.

i also have another fun story about how my car almost blew up but i need to eat dinner rn so i'll post about that incident later ;D

[ifearifearifear]

The FNAF Multiverse (4/10)

Part four, we're getting in it, now.

Chapter 4: Universes

In our last two chapters, we defined the different two main genres of universes in this multiverse. Canon and fanmade. But I never really took the time to explain what a universe is. So here, we’ll be doing exactly that.

Universes, in the context of the multiverse, are independent ‘worlds’ that exist between Z0 and Z-1. They may be part of larger systems, but they function normally without the support of external bodies.

For example, the GAMES universe does not need the TRILOGY universe to function, and vice versa. A piece of fan content like AVS or BTC - while they couldn’t be created independently, due to influences from the canons - can exist independently without issue, as are both fully formed worlds. And the same with other fanmedias, like Spring-trapped, DSaF, the House Party comics, or Tony Crynight’s FNAF series. (I know some of those are real throwbacks. My apologies.) They can exist independently because they aren’t built as elaborations upon canon, but instead as reinterpretations, what-ifs, and stories built to stand on their own.

On a smaller scale, things can be defined a bit differently.

Locally, universes are exactly what they sound like. They’re universes. They can be different in any number of ways, have different events, different characters, different themes, different settings. In this multiverse, the universes typically have some amount in common overall, though what exactly that is varies widely. Some universes merely have their character designs linking them to canon, being functionally distinct, but still recognizable. Most, though, have more shared ideas than just designs.

Typically, universes have a main story, sometimes with alternative timelines that aren’t the creator’s main focus - though some take the form of elaborate webs of timelines, in the form of games with multiple paths, and choose-your-own-adventure stories. These auxiliary timelines functionally exist in the same universe as the main timeline, running in parallel. Note that the term timeline is typically used only to an alternative series of events documented by the creator of the universe, and not fanworks that document a hypothetical series of events. And yet other universes have no particular story, at all.

The most interesting part of universes, however (on the multiversal scale), is how they interact with other universes, and, on occasion, reality. Because they can, and frequently do, interact. Admittedly, canon is quite restricted - but fanmade universes are much freer in terms of interactions. I’ll go further in-depth at a later point, but for now, I’d like to touch on the ways that universes - on a multiversal scale - change with time.

There have always been ‘trends’ within the fan-creator community. As people’s understandings of characters have evolved, many shifts have occurred over the years.

For example, looking further back - or in spatial terms, towards the edges of the multiverse - there’s a particular interpretation of a character, which doesn’t really exist anymore. That being: Purple Guy. Today, that moniker is mostly used in jest - but at one time, it was the only name we had for the man responsible for most of the story. And it was reflective of our rather limited knowledge of him. Which, in turn, allowed for more freedom of interpretation, for better and for worse.

Today, many universes that used that name have been deserted, for any number of reasons. Loss of interest, inaccuracies, toxicity, simply being too busy to continue.

And very fact that raises a question. What happens to universes that are abandoned? What becomes of stories that are discontinued? That’s what we’ll be covering in our next chapter.

- Chapter Navigation -

- 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 * 5 * 6 * 7 * 8 * 9 * 10 -

[kindestegg]

Deltarune Theory: Ralsei is a guide for the script

It feels crazy that Deltarune Chapter 2 has only been out for like, what, two weeks? As of the time I’m writing this, and yet, there has already been so much secret hunting and speculation over this. Not even the full game, and people already go crazy over it. Naturally, I am part of this craze. In fact I was one of the people that played it as soon as it dropped.

And, I thought it was only me, but, at least for a little while, Ralsei’s behavior struck me as… odd. Not outwardly malicious, but just… odd. Particularly the first bit of the game, it was just so… happy and convenient? And Ralsei was at the center of it all, orchestrating it, making sure everything happened accordingly.

Eventually, that initial feeling of distrust went away, but… not quite. And it seems a lot of people began to feel the same way, pointing out bits about Ralsei that are just… out of place. Things that didn’t seem to stand out in the first chapter, are now popping out about him.

Questions include:

How does he know about what’s outside the Dark World, about the school?

How does he know about the game mechanics and call them out by names?

Why is he so interested in keeping the balance between only Kris acting and him and Susie doing magic?

Why does he seem so eager to dismiss what happened with Spamton NEO?

Why doesn’t he turn into stone or even get weak at any point during the time he spends in Cyber World?

Are the parts of his name and design connecting to the Dreemurr’s intentional, and if so, what does that mean for his relation to Kris?

How and why does he take player control away to look at what Susie is doing? Why must he wait until Kris is willing to do it? What does he tell them when he succeeds in this?

Now, I don’t intend to pose here “a supreme theory to rule them all”, I’m just a guy having fun and I’ve seen people voice particularly similar ideas to this one I’ve had, so I want to at least try to answer these questions through a relatively simple idea that would, almost entirely, immediately answer ALMOST all the doubts.

First, let’s start with some steps to build up this idea. For one, we know for a fact that Ralsei holds knowledge over game mechanics and may even break the fourth wall at times.

But we also know that Ralsei’s design resembles a lot of characters from Undertale we know and were fond of. For one, he can be likened to Toriel in the sense that he is the one to give you the first tutorial of the game and his clothes resemble her original outfit as well. Another connection, much more common, that people have made is that he is like Asriel, no doubt due to his name being an anagram, but also due to the fact he is also a cute young goat.

I would like to do a complete turn around here though, and say I do not think any of this points to Ralsei being related to Kris in the familial sense, for more than one reason, but my main one being that I don’t think Toby would be as frankly disgusting as to imply such a thing when there is so so much teasing in the direction of Ralsei possibly having a crush on Kris. I mean… really, Toby?

You know, I’m not too sure this would be the smartest idea, Mr. Fox, but alright.

However, I do think all these hints in his design and name have a purpose. And it has to do with how us, the fandom, see these two characters. For one, they are very beloved characters, and Toriel is one that we associate with her tutorials and guidance, whereas Asriel is one that people have yearned to see more in action. They are back, in a sense, but not present in our adventures so far.

What I’m getting at is that Ralsei is specifically designed to be the darling of the fandom. He is made to be loved, to be trusted, to cause feelings in us that make us want to protect him and accept his advice. This, in a way, also affects the in-universe characters who see him, as Susie put it: “as a big portable teddy bear”, whose job is “giving hugs”.

And I don’t just mean this in a character design way, like “oh wow Toby was so smart to make a perfectly marketable boy!” No. I think Ralsei exists as a meta element, his form being a direct manifestation of what we want to see.

He looks like that because he wants us to see him and lower our guard and expect his guidance. Remember how his form was shadowy and vague throughout all of chapter 1 until the very end of it and how he poofs into nothing but a pile of clothes in both chapters so far, no matter what form he’s in? What if he’s a shapeshifter? What if Ralsei isn’t even his real name? That certainly would explain why he says he doesn’t know what being Ralsei-like is like.

Ralsei? Ralsei? Oh God he’s gone.

Now, do I think he’s lowering our guard in the sense of leaving us vulnerable for an attack? Not exactly. I think it's so we learn to accept him…

Accept that he is a GUIDE for the game’s script. His entire existence hinges on guiding the main characters, specially Kris, throughout the story, and making sure the whole story, all seven chapters, play out exactly as planned.

You see, Ralsei isn’t evil. His goal is pretty simple, actually: guide us, the player, throughout the game, making us feel as safe and happy and secure. In that sense, of course he pushes so hard towards the pacifist route. After all, that’s the one that’s closer to a completionist route, as the sparing + recruiting mechanic adds more characters to your town, and therefore more content. He wants you to see all this content and get the most enjoyment out of it. His code urges him to bring you the best experience possible.

This would also answer why he does that thing with taking our control away from Kris and to watch Susie’s shenanigans. Because it’s satisfying to us. Notice how stressed out and pushy he gets in the alternate route when Susie comes out of Noelle’s room without being able to let us see what happened. He knows he messed up, something went wrong. He was supposed to let us see, so that we wouldn’t be bored, because God forbid the players be bored.

Just imagine this going through his head.

He also seems to genuinely care about Kris and Susie, and with good reason, as he knows these are the protagonists, and he is supposed to care for their well being too and ensure they reach their goal. I do think, however, there is a good amount of being genuine in his care, as he has no reason to react so boldly sometimes to either of them, showing outrage or affection in pretty telling ways. He isn’t heartless despite carrying out this job.

However it is also worth noting, for all his care, he cannot do the one thing that Kris would desire the most: free them from our grasp. And that is his ultimate failure towards them, and may end up creating conflict later on in the game.

From, here, there are two possible pathways:

Ralsei does not know about the dilemma Kris is going through, and believes Kris is entirely oblivious and passive towards being in a video game. He may even end up being the final boss to fight, as he desperately tries to keep everything on rails while Kris very much does not care for any of that.

Ralsei is entirely aware of what’s going on with Kris, after all, everything in a game’s design is planned, even the cutscenes, therefore even Kris’ struggles. Ralsei knows of the fate that lies ahead, that Kris will eventually be free, how it all ends. But to get there… is still a road ahead.

I think Ralsei’s affection towards Kris will definitely be explored in the later chapters. Not just because of the teasing we’ve been getting, but, if Ralsei really is a guide of the game’s code and script, what would that mean for him to get so attached towards the character the player is controlling?

Ralsei will have to make a choice. He will either recognize Kris is suffering and cannot wait any longer, or be faced with possibly having to fight them himself. This is why those two pathways matter as well. If he doesn’t know, his choice will come later and it will be an unpleasant surprise for him to find out the game universe is breaking apart around him with the self awareness of certain characters. If he does know, however, his choice is NOW, and waiting for the inevitable will be torture.

Just how long until he breaks? Or will he keep the facade until the very last chapter?

Like I said, I don’t intend this theory to be the biggest, most revealing and coherent theory. But… It could add a very interesting layer to Ralsei’s character, as well as answer many questions posed beforehand. He knows the school layout and game controls because he is part of the code. He can get to the other Dark World’s easily and remain unharmed because the game demands him to be. He looks like this so that we love him. He wants to give us the most fulfilling Castle Town so that we will love the game. He doesn’t protest even when Kris does things like try to give him the thorn ring, because to him, everything will be okay anyway. Everything he is, is for us. He isn’t evil or malicious per se, he just opposes Kris’ biggest need.

But he may have gotten himself attached. And that may be a clue to sparing him if he does become a final boss.

But! Tell me what you thought of this theory! Do you think it’s way too weird and farfetched, or do you think it’s possible that it could happen? Or maybe you agree with some stuff but not with other stuff? Go ahead and tell me!

[nat-20s]

 Part 8 of the wonderful! Au: the boys answer some questions! Up to you to decide if they actually clarify anything!

(also on AO3)

~*~

Martin: Hey everyone! I know what some of you are thinking right now: it's not Tuesday, why is this episode in my feed? I know significantly more of you are thinking: I don't consistently keep up with podcast releases, how much free time do you think I have, buddy? To answer your queries: this is a bonus episode! We're answering listener questions to clear the air and/or have fun. Also, I don't know, around 20 to 40 minutes a week, as that is the average amount of time per episode? Maybe during your commute? My husband's omnipotence has been gone for five years, we just have to guess at that sort of thing now.

Jon: For legal reasons, that last statement was a joke. In fact, to cover all of our bases, we do not guarantee that any of our responses are genuine.

Martin: Just because we say we'll answer things doesn't mean we'll answer truthfully. Though, honestly, I think we might make it more enjoyable if we do tell the truth. Like, I don't necessarily have a fun lie prepared for our first question from konspiracyking97: "What's their fuckin deal anyway?"

Jon: Is this referring to the oblique references  we've made about being from a parallel reality and only ending up here as a consequence of ending one apocalypse and potentially starting another or the general premise of the show?

Martin: Oh, it's gotta be general premise, yeah?

Jon: In that case, I'm Jon, the other voice you're hearing is Martin, we're married, and we talk about things that are..nice? Good? Usually generally but occasionally rather specifically pleasant.

Martin: That pretty much covers it. It's not a complicated show. Uhh, next question comes from Shane: are either or both of you aliens? Nope!

Jon: Well..

Martin: No. We are 100% human people from Earth, we are under no definition extraterrestrial.

Jon: Eh..

Martin: Okay, first off, I know the tone of that 'eh' and "not fully human" is not synonymous with alien, so even if 100% is being a bit generous, we're still from the same planet as our listeners.

Jon:..

Jon: But. We sort of aren't though. Technically speaking.

Martin: No no no no no. I don't care if it's parallel, Earth is Earth is Earth, regardless of whatever nonsense metaphysics might be occurring.

Jon: So what you're saying is that if you got sucked through a portal and landed on an Earth where dinosaurs were still the predominant species, you wouldn't consider yourself to be an alien?

Martin: Nope!

Jon: I'm certain that they would consider you an alien. All of their mammals are probably shrew sized.

Martin: Sounds like a them problem.

Jon: Sounds like a-?! You know what, no, this will be an off the record debate, for now, I suppose I concede that the two Earths and our physiologies are similar enough that we might, maybe, not count as aliens.

Martin: Thank you. Anyway, our next question is from anonymous, and asks, "Is all of this an ARG?"

Jon: A whomst?

Martin: Alternate reality game. It's a method of storytelling that's interactive with audience, and usually has, I dunno, a certain suspension of disbelief to it where it pretends to be something actually happening in the real world until a dramatic reveal. A lot times it was used as a marketing gimmick, but others have done it just for fun. I can show you some examples after the show?

Jon: So it's in essence a more involved creepypasta?

Martin, delighted: Aw, babe, I'm never going to have a handle on what pop culture you are and aren't aware of, huh?

Jon: We were born within a year of each other, and I've told you that I was a deeply morbid teenager, you should probably be able to intuit some of things, love.

Martin: This coming from a man who has yet to see "It's a Wonderful Life", but has seen every film in the "Banjo Cannibals" franchise, including the Easter special. Jesus doesn't exist in the Banjo Cannibals universe, why does it have an Easter special?

Jon: The movies are rather shoddily translated from Russian, so I'm fairly certain the Easter component of that special was invented wholesale in the English version.

Martin: You say that like it answers more questions than it raises.

Jon: Yes, because it does. Oh, and to answer anonymous's question, no, this isn't an ARG. From my understanding of it, if it were, it'd be a poorly constructed one, as there's no real game element to any of this.

Martin: Hmm. Well, sometimes the game component is just trying to figure out what's going on with the story, or if there's any deeper content, and people are definitely doing that with this show.

Jon: That's not by design though. It's more a side effect of us having poor brain to mouth filters, I'd say.

Martin: Harsh, but fair. Oh, this next one is from Zac, no K, who asks, "Are you two actually even married?"

Jon, flat: We are, but it's under false names because this whole thing is an elaborate insurance scam.

Jon, incredulous: Yes, obviously, we're married. What did you hear in this podcast that would make you wonder otherwise, and how do we rectify it?

Martin: Clearly we need to up our quota for how "disgustingly in love" and "horrifically sappy" we are per episode. Which segues nicely into the next question from Gwen, "What's your favourite wonderful thing you've brought so far?" My answer: my husband. He's kind of my favourite in most things, you know?

Jon: Boooooo

Martin: Why, what's your favourite thing?

[Jon reluctantly sighs]

Jon, indulgent: being married.

Martin: A: serves you right for trying to pretend you're the less horrifically sappy and romantic one even though earlier today someone put a love note in the lunch they packed for me-

Jon:- Lies and slander! I have never, in my life, done that, even once.

Martin: Oh, sure, not even once. And you definitely don't reserve the lilac sticky notes specifically for my lunches because you know I like the colour. 

Jon: I..I don't.. you're rather ruining my image here.

[Martin snorts]

Martin: Can't have the audience think that you are, on occasion, an incredibly doting husband-

Jon: -A title I would argue we both share-

Martin: - which is obviously why, even with it being your favourite thing you've brought, being married to me is just a small wonder-

Jon, audibly rolling his eyes: As I already explained-

[A Pause}

Jon: Actually, you're right-

Martin: Wait-

Jon:- I really should have brought it as a larger wonder-

Martin: Wait-

Jon: though I should warn you, I think I'd have far too much material for just one little segment-

Martin: No no no no no-

Jon:- In fact, I think I might have too much material for just one little episode-

Martin: Joo-oon-

Jon: I might have to do a whole series! Where would I even start? I mean I could talk about how every day I get to watch the early morning sun highlight your curls when I get up first, or hear you quietly humming and shuffling around the kitchen when you do, or I could talk about how the lunch notes only started in the first place as retaliation to the notes you would leave on the mirror for me to find, or how every time I get to see you at ease in a way that you aren't with anyone else, it takes my breath away, or I could talk about how cute I find the lines between your eyebrows that you only get when you're thinking something petty, but you know it's petty so you don't want to say anything-

Martin: Okay, okay, Christ, I give !up I surrender, and will cease my teasing on this particular topic.

Jon, probably making the :3 face: You don't have to stop. I mean, I could also discuss how very, very attractive I find your voice when it takes on a teasi-mmph!

[There's a pleased hum, then a pause.]

[The audio quality is slightly changed, as if the recording has been stopped and then started later]

Martin, giddy: Uh, heh, anyway, Eric asked what the least favourite thing we've brought was, and because of Jon's attempt to embarrass me live-

Jon, overlapping: It's definitely not live-

Martin:- on air, I'm gonna say it's my husband.

[Jon scoffs]

Jon : If the past few minutes are any sort of indication, I'm going to go ahead and saying that you are lying.

Martin, sighing contentedly: Maybe a bit, but how was I supposed to resist when your indigance gives you that adorable little nose scrunch? In reality, my least favourite thing was probably, um, mini golf? Which, I still don't think is inherently bad, definitely superior to regular golf, but when it's the only thing a next door two year old wants to do with you, the charm begins to wear off a bit.

Jon: Wow. A rather scathing review of a toddler.

Martin: Not so much a scathing review of a toddler as it's a scathing review of minigolf's inability to keep its appeal after the third time in the same week.

Jon: Mmm, the sound effects rather quickly go from part of the atmosphere to part of the irritation, don't they?

Martin: So what's your least favorite thing we've covered here?

Jon: Oh, love, I'm not going to pretend to have nearly enough memory of what we've covered so far to have a least favorite.

Martin: Really? Nothing that you regret or rescind?

Jon: Well, regret, certainly. It was one of the weeks where you went first, and your second item was mutual aid funds, and what they can do for marginalized communities, and I had to follow it with fucking Slapchop.

Martin, poorly suppressing laughter: In your defence, Slapchop, or whatever offbrand we have, is pretty useful, especially when either your scar or my arthritis is acting up.

Jon: I'm still not convinced you didn't somehow see my notes for the recording and decided you get revenge for the first year that we knew each other.

Martin, no longer suppressing his laughter: Yep, you got me! This marriage wasn't an act of insurance fraud, but it was a near decade long con to humiliate you on a podcast that about twenty people listen to. I'll draft up the divorce papers immediately, and then we can finally go our separate ways. 

Jon: I'm glad you've at last admitted it. Such a weight off of my shoulders. Goodbye forever then.

Martin: Right.

Jon: Right.

[A beat.]

[There's a pfft from one of them, before both dissolve into giggles that lasts a good 30 seconds.]

Martin, slightly out of breath: I can't believe we're the kind of people that talk this much about speciality kitchen gadgets.

Jon: Sorry about that.

Martin: God, don't apologize. I'm, like, deliriously happy with our varying degrees of useful cooking ware filled life. If you had told 25 year old me that one day he'd be debating the merits of getting a tortilla press with his husband, he'd have wept, I tell you.

Jon: Funny, if you told 25 year old me the same thing, he would've said "You don't know the future,piss off" and then quietly have a bit of a panic at 3 am that night.

Martin: I bet you were insufferable in your mid-twenties.

Jon: First of all, who isn't, secondly, I was fresh out of Oxford, and third, I was insufferable in my late twenties, as you can attest to, and I'm insufferable now, as you can further attest to, so extrapolation would indicate that, yes, I was insufferable back then.

Martin: Probably a different kind of insufferable, though.

Jon: There are different kinds?

Martin: Of course! You used to be "prick boss" insufferable and now you're "smug in a way that I can't admit I find hot or it will go straight to your head" insufferable.

Jon, in the aforementioned smug tone: Oh, really?

Martin: See, see! Straight to your head.

Jon: Well straight is probably the wrong descriptor-

Martin: Oof, 4 out of 10 joke, babe.

Jon: That would be a far more convincing rating if you weren't grinning right now.

Martin: It's a genuine review, I'm just well known to be a sucker.

Jon: You and me both, darling.

Martin: Okay, if you're pulling out darling, you're clearly in too giddy of a mood to be focused on recording. Last question, from Jess, "You two mentioned meeting at work, but how did you actually end up together?" That's easy, Jon pulled me out of a hell dimension and then we went on the lam together to Scotland.

Jon: If that's not the way to tell a cute boy you like him, I don't know what is.

Martin: All right, that wraps up this bonus episode, and as the old saying goes, hiding from murderers in a cottage is more conducive to romance than suggesting you gouge out your eyes together.

Jon, cut off: Hey-!

[sunjaesol]

because your kiss is on my list

alternatively: four times juke snuck up on each other for affection and the one time they didn’t have to | based on the achingly beautiful fanart by @lovelyrugbee

1. 

Luke was being manic again. And not in a cute: “Oh my God, he’s so passionate about music!”-way, but in a: “He might actually tear his eyes out from these infuriating lyrics that aren’t working”-way. Every once in a while, songs didn’t flow out as easily as they usually did. The topic was a bit trickier, or the instrumentals didn’t mesh, or something was just off. Julie wasn’t too stressed about it. They had plenty of time to rework and fix things before the gig in two weeks. 

Unfortunately, Luke didn’t have the same mindset. 

He has been holed up in the studio all day, cramped on the windowsill to the point of submitting himself to a hernia and scrapping writing scrapping scrapping scrapping. The sound was infuriating, Alex being the first to poof out and Reggie following soon after when Ray became far more interesting than a guitarist going haywire. Which was sad, cause her dad was just unloading groceries. 

Alright. She had to do something. Standing at the doors of studio with a somewhat amused expression, she took in as her boyfriend was oblivious to the world and her. In any other situation, he’d notice and compliment the orange dress she was wearing. She thought about calling his name, maybe singing or jamming her fingers on the piano, but then a better idea came. A fun one.

Quietly slipping closer, a mischievous grin crawled on her lips. Thank God she was barefoot, or else her sneakers would’ve squeaked against the cement floors. He still hasn’t noticed her, the pinch between his brow so deep and lost in thought. 

Three, two, one... 

“Ah!”, she cried out like a warrior, snapping her arms around him from behind and snatching the damned songbook from his grasp. Before he could react, she smacked a wet kiss on his cheek and added a “Mwah!” for good measure. 

The startled Luke began chuckling, trying to get his book back, her peppering more kisses on his cheek in retaliation. He had to get out of this funk! Breathe a little! Turning his cheek to look at her, he smirked. “Sneaking kisses now, Jules?”

Julie hummed against his skin, eyes sparkling. Whispering in his ear, she said: “Stop breaking your head over these lyrics and relax. We have time.” 

His smile softened, gaze tracking the way she hugged him and then- “I like the dress you’re wearing.”

Ah, yes. There he was. 

2. 

Julie Molina truly made the afterlife less boring and a whole lot more bearable. Which became really apparent whenever she had an avalanche of homework and couldn’t hang out. Luke loved his boys, but damn did he miss his girlfriend a lot now. If the situation were different (you know, had he not been head over heels in love with her), he’d poof up to her room and annoy her until she came to the studio. Alas, he respected his girlfriend and her interest in getting good grades, so he had to deal with it. 

Bleh. “Dealing with it” was like a curse word to him. 

He hasn’t seen her all day though. She left early for school and didn’t pass by the studio when she got back. All he needed was a quick look and talk and maybe a hug and then he wouldn’t be so antsy. 

(What he’d give to wrestle her into cuddling right now. He was honestly blessed he found a girl who saw all of his need for affection and then gladly gave triple the amount.)

Yup. Screw homework. He had to see her. Without telling the boys, he stood up with a huff and poofed out. The offended “hey!” from Alex he ignored. 

Dropping into Julie’s room, a smile instantly bloomed on his face at the sight of her. She was on her bed, textbooks and notes splayed out in front of her while her curls danced with each breath she took. Even when tired, his girlfriend was pretty as hell. 

“Hey,” he grinned.

She didn’t look up and mumbled: “Hey.” A page turned. “What’re you doing here?”

Luke sat down on the edge of her bed, far enough so her pens wouldn’t roll away. “Haven’t seen you today. I missed you.”

This time she did look up, her weary eyes softening and smiling. “I missed you too. I have homework though, so...” The implication was there: please leave so I can finish. His hope for a hug quickly dwindled.

“Yeah,” he muttered, not ready to go back and get slapped by Alex. “Uh...” His eyes fell on her right hand, slightly more outstretched then the other. It just... laid there. Teasing him. Freaking tantalising him when he knew how good it felt whenever those fingers brushed his cheeks or raked his hair. 

It happened before he thought about it. Crawling onto the mattress, he snatched her hand and pressed soft kisses on the knuckles. Julie caught his gaze again, that smile he loved so much melting into an adoring puff - like she couldn’t believe this idiot was her boyfriend.

He didn’t mind being her idiot.  

3.

Sometimes, Julie was just that more adorable. Like now, with her hair spread around her shoulders and that small smile stuck on her lips and her eyes that seemed impossibly soft today. All for him, only for him. 

Sure, it was probably because they were working on one of their personal songs, but the fact remained that his girlfriend still left him rendered speechless months into dating.

“What if we try it in a lower key?”, Julie proposed, nodding at his guitar. 

The song in question was a song about them. It wasn’t so lovey-dovey that it would turn the guys off, but it was still blatant. Only they would write about ‘the sea glass green of his eyes’ and ‘the smile that put Mona Lisa to shame’. 

He did what she asked, her singing the same verse again. It held more depth now, soulful and lively. The rasp in her tone made it playful and egged him on to join, like it was truly banter between lovers put to music. It was them. It was her. It was-

Luke abruptly stopped playing, pushed his guitar aside and grabbed onto her. She hardly had time to chuckle as he pressed his lips onto her forehead and held her as tight as possible. Warmth filled his chest, that strange sensation of being loved and loving back twice as hard, as she clutched his body. He almost got choked up. Here he was, in the sundrenched studio with the girl he adored playing the music they created together and she was singing it in such a quintessentially ‘them’ way. No one but them would ever truly understand the magic they conjured. How it was only explained through grins melting on skin and the giddy skip in his heartbeat. 

“What’s that for?”, she smiled. 

His hand trailed from her back to her cheeks with an elated shrug. How could he explain to her her ‘Julie-ness’ was dialled up to two hundred without sounding insane? Caressing the skin, he murmured instead: “I guess you’re just irresistible today.”   

Her eyes squeezed shut at his words, like she was embarrassed how much delight it brought her, and pressed her face back in his shoulder. 

Letting that giddy skip in his chest kiss her again, he gently pulled away to sent her a wink. “Let’s finish ‘Wicked Love’, yeah?”

4.

“So, Flynn’s been thinking-”

“Mh-hm.”

“-about a new poster for the gig we’re playing. The old one is a little amateur and she made some new concepts. Wanna see?” Julie held her phone at his face, his hand leaving the strings of his guitar to gently push it back. Falling back on the bed, she frowned. 

“Maybe later, I’m figuring out this progression...” His back bend over his guitar again, only giving her a view of the black muscle tee. 

When Luke told her he wanted to hang out that Saturday afternoon, she had hoped it would be a bit more ‘Julie and Luke’ and not ‘Luke and His Guitar’ - alas, the girlfriend was competing with a piece of wood and some metal. While texting Flynn about graphic design was fun, it was time for Luke to start doing what he promised her.

Then again, she was a sucker for music talk. “Why don’t you try switching up the chords? Start with G instead of C.”

He tried it out, a grin crawling on his cheeks. “Yeah... yeah, that works. Thanks, Jules.”

“So?”, she sang. 

“Hm?”

With a sigh, she grabbed onto the strap of his guitar and gave it a tug. Luke’s neck rolled backwards in surprise, catching her playful smile.  

Chastely pecking his forehead, she said: “Your head is in the clouds.”

The teasing look of his matched hers. “You’re kissing my head right now.”

“Mh-hm,” she mumbled, loving the way his hair had that perpetual scent of apple and something inherently Luke. Kissing the locks, she added: “And you’ll be getting a lot more if you actually start hanging out with me.”

His book and instrument slid off his body just like that as he speared her into hug. Luke collapsed onto her body with the cutest grin and she knew she caught him. Their laughs chimed throughout the house for the rest of the day. 

+5.

Luke poofed onto her bed with a grin, his girlfriend automatically snuggling into his side and finding each other’s lips with ease. For a beat, they’re cherished the quiet passion shared between them. They didn’t need to do a lot to feel loved by the other. 

He pressed his nose into her curls. “How was school?”

“Good,” Julie whispered against his neck. “How was the studio?”

“Chill. Reggie scared a spider.”

She giggled, the sound making his grin widen and hide his face so she wouldn’t see how ridiculously giddy she made him. Turning her head so she’d see him anyway, her nose scrunched. “I know you’re smiling.”

“That’s my line, Molina,” he huffed, the teasing glint shimmering in his eyes. 

A signature brow quirked. “You got that on paper?”

He didn’t miss a second. “I love you.” He didn’t need to ponder or linger or rewrite or scrap or workshop the thought. It wasn’t even a thought. It was a truth and he’d repeat that truth over and over again until the universe knew it too and kept it in their books for centuries to come. He loved her, he loved her, he loved her. 

The smile that came was worth the truth, how her love for him broke through without a moment of hesitation. Now she’d say the same, over and over and over again, so the universe knew they were talking about each other and would always keep their names together in said books. 

Julie kissed him again, long and sweet and as easy as breathing. Her utters were barely audible, but his heart caught it. “I love you too.”

Locked in their embrace, they shared earphones listening to their favourite music until they fell asleep. (How Luke could fall asleep, but only when in her loving touch, he wouldn’t question. Some oddities of the universe were best unsaid.) 

@blush-and-books @unsaid-emily @bluefirewrites @willexx @ourstarscollided @alexjulies

[phoenixyfriend]

That One Fucked-Up Rexwalker AU

OKAY so people showed interest in this! Cool! This is... actually you know what, yeah, this falls into dead dove territory. It's kind of angst with a happy ending? At the very least it's hurt/comfort.

Warnings: rape as psychological torture by an enemy party, later dubious consent by parties that are at least trying to make it consensual but the situation makes it difficult to navigate

This was inspired partially by the first chapter of this collection by @the-writing-mill, which features Obi-Wan getting absolutely railed by a fucking machine set up by droids who don't understand consent. I got to thinking about the set-up and slid sideways into a slightly different context.

So Anakin, in all his shitty luck, gets captured, as one does. Whoever captures him has strict instructions to avoid physically damaging him or permanently fucking up his connection to the Force, because they'd like to use him as a weapon eventually, but to play around with his psychological damage in whatever way suits.

We'll say it's Ventress, who vastly prefers horrifying physical damage for torture, or killing/hurting people's loved ones in front of them, and now has to get creative to deal with Skywalker, because for whatever reason, she only managed to get Anakin and not any of his friends.

Obviously, Palpatine is the one saying 'don't damage the good.' She doesn't know that, though, just that Dooku said His Sith Master said to leave Skywalker intact for later.

So the easy route to psychological damage is, well, rape. But she's not into him, and there aren't really any other sentients in her little torture castle, but last she checked Skywalker is really needy? She's picked up on the fact that this guy really loves Having people.

She handles it: strip him down, strap him down, and get a fucking machine involved. Naked and cold and with a pipe leaking from the ceiling. Let a protocol droid keep an eye on things so he doesn't have some kind of permanent physical damage, but basically just have him unceasingly fucked for like a week, sometimes edging and sometimes forcing and sometimes just really digging into the oversensitivity, whether he's awake or asleep or what. Nothing but air and metal, and sometimes Ventress when she comes by to taunt him. There's magic involved to up his sexual craving without making it any easier on him.

It's fucked up but he does get saved! Eventually!

Ventress did her job, didn't enjoy it, and doesn't care that he's gone. She has people to kill, okay, she's bored.

So, you know, Anakin needs time to recover. He doesn't try to argue that he doesn't, at least partly because he's having trouble standing. He'll be fine! Stop worrying, guys! It's fine!

It's not fine, everyone tells him, because that was fucked!

It takes a while to get back to Coruscant. It's normally a few days, but there's a disruption on the hyperlane they'd use, sooooooo they're stuck.

Anakin tries to make some calls to Padme. When the calls connect, she helps. Obi-Wan was part of the rescue team, so he's there to do what he can, but Anakin keeps flinching away. Ahsoka is helpful because Anakin's hindbrain reads her as Not A Threat, but nobody's telling her what kind of torture Anakin was dealing with, because she's Designated Baby.

Anakin is alternately overwhelmed by physical touch and craving it, and the fact that he just got the Force back isn't helping.

(It later comes to light that the reason he flinches from Obi-Wan and Ahsoka is because they've got the Force and a person with the Force approaching for that week meant Ventress, and that's--not great. And it's just a LOT and REALLY BRIGHT after his time in the Force-nullifying cuffs.)

So Anakin spends a lot of time alone, craving people while being deeply unnerved by the ones he's most able to ask for that sort of thing (his master and padawan). Rex is one of a handful of clones that volunteer to check in on Anakin until they get to Coruscant. He's not the only one who walks in on Anakin shifting uncomfortably and looking red in the face, but he's the one that actually asks about it.

Anakin, with some prodding, does not admit to the problem. He does, however, admit to a different problem, and asks if Rex would be okay with a hug, or maybe putting an arm around Anakin's shoulder, or--actually, no, this is stupid, forget he said anythi-- Rex sits down next to him and pulls Anakin into his side and just lets Anakin relax into him.

Anakin starts shivering. Shuddering. Crying, after a while. Rex lets it happen and tries not to panic, just rubs an hand up and down Anakin's arm.

They don't really talk about it, but Anakin does end up cuddling with Rex for a few hours a day while they try to get everyone home, and Anakin's kind of on enforced medical leave, so he can't really help until Obi-Wan comes up with a solution that gives Anakin a job directly.

Rex finally gets an answer to why Anakin keeps looking uncomfortable and close to tears but embarrassed about it. He doesn't, for the record, press for that answer. Instead, he accidentally walks in on Anakin three fingers deep in his own ass and whining into his pillow.

Which is. Awkward.

Obviously.

Turns out whatever Ventress did to him has him feeling incredibly empty without something to plug him up! It sucks! He hates it! He's been trying very hard not to submit to this need, but it's still there and he needs to be filled up and just snapped and had to do something about it!

This is, as you can imagine, not a comfortable conversation for anyone, but Rex tries to cheer him up with "Well, Jedi have stipends, right? You can probably find, uh, a toy, right? Once we're back on Coruscant? Or the Senator...?"

Anakin doesn't want Padme to know.

Anakin is also near tears but that's. Well. Rex is used to that by now.

(Anakin isn't using shipboard fabricators to make a dildo or plug because have fun explaining that on the expense report!)

So Rex is in this awkward position of having to comfort his recently-more-traumatized-than-before superior officer, whom he just walked in on furiously and tearfully masturbating due to said trauma...

And Rex is pretty much just like "Dude, please call your wife and have her talk you through the... whole... thing... I'm just, I think you'd probably feel less upset about having to fill yourself or whatever if she was talking you through it?"

They drop the subject for a bit, but Anakin is still Fucked Up in many ways, including new and exciting ones, and it turns out he hasn't been sleeping! And only sleeps if there's someone he trusts nearby!

So obviously Rex volunteers because fuck it, it's not like there's anything about his General he hasn't seen yet, right? So, yeah! Sleepy cuddles! Intended to be platonic!

Rex wakes up hard and flushed and with a very much still asleep Anakin grinding his ass against Rex's crotch.

Which, under significantly different circumstances, he'd not be upset by... But given literally everything going on, um. No?

Rex has no idea what to do, so he just kind of lays there and tries to shift away so his back is pressed to the wall and Anakin isn't accidentally trying to fuck himself in his sleep. Which works.

For about fifteen minutes.

And then Anakin is whining and shuffling back and Rex just tries to wake him up like Dude, You Don't Actually Want This, You Told Me You Don't Want This

And they separate and avoid each other and shower, and Rex leaves to go do Things while Anakin continues to try to meditate away what trauma he can before they get back to Coruscant for extremely long mandated therapy.

Rex shows up that evening to cuddle again, but Anakin tries to turn him away because He Can't Be Sexually Assualting His Friends In His Sleep, so he should honestly just sleep alone, right? Right, okay, bye Rex, Anakin is so sorry about this morning--

And Rex interrupts that he's not actually upset about it, he's just upset about Anakin being in this position, and Anakin doesn't actually want Rex so that's kind of upsetting, and Rex would be very open to this later after the war when they're not in a position to fuck up their entire legion with a change in dynamics--

And this goes back and forth for a bit before Rex realizes that Anakin does actually want him, and did before this whole Situation happened, and Anakin realizes that Rex is interested in him and NOT just trying to 'do his duty for his Jedi' or whatever.

And anyway, it turns into some very sweet lovemaking every night where Anakin gets to fall asleep with a cock in his ass, filled with cum, with Padme's blessing, until they get to Coruscant and he can find a plug for the nights they're not together (and also some therapy).

When Obi-Wan finds out they're fucking, he's actually furious and ALSO unsure of which one's taking advantage of the other.

Initially assumes Rex is taking advantage of Anakin's recent emotional traumas. Anakin protests that he asked Rex for this, and Obi-Wan is asking in horror if Anakin ordered one of the soldier under his command to do this, and it all just kind of goes very poorly.

Everyone means well. Nobody really succeeds at it.

[flare-dragon]

Another Random Deltarune Thought

What if Susie's dark world self is reflective of her ideal self?

A bit of a strange way to start it, but basically, Noelle saw that Susie had a tail and that it was wagging in the dark world, while Susie is very much adamant that she doesn't have a tail in the real world. What if that is indeed true?

Perhaps as a more interesting way to put it: What if the presence of a tail in the dark work and an absence of it in the light world is due to her feeling highly embarrassed that she doesn't have a tail in the light world/really wants a tail an 'embarrassing' amount?

If we then look at a few pieces of text in the dark world, we've got Susie's infamous "I always figured I'd grow one of these" when trying to equip Devilstail, as well as the end of Ch. 2's dark world segment, when Susie remarks specifically on being able to weird an axe, battle and use magic, and not have anyone tell her what to do. I also went on about the thought that the dark worlds are formed from not just the environments they correspond to in the light world but also the desires of the lightners that are in it, which would establish precedence.

Another good point to look at would be Noelle and Berdly, or rather, their dark world designs. Berdly looks like a "gamer nerd"s favourite design, looking "cool" and "smart", with a summonable halberd affectionately named "Halbird". He even comments "Why am I so cool?", really bridging the personality to the design. Noelle, alternatively, has a mage-like (cleric-like?) appearance, with a graceful white robe that speaks to mind of snow and peace. She can heal, like she says she wish she could in the hospital scene later that chapter, and is also capable of defending herself with ice (though one would have to argue what part of her personality corresponds to this). They seem to reflect some part of who they are and who they wish they could be/look like/do.

Wrapping it up, it makes me wonder if lightner designs are in-fact based on their own desires 'cause of the implications of it and the way it tells us of a character's story and perceptions. When considering the alternatives, though...

In either case, I do think at least Susie's dark world design is based on what she wants 'cause that honestly just makes the whole tail debacle both make sense and is really funny~

Tl;dr Susie having a tail in dark world and no tail in light world could be explained by her dark world design being based on what she wants

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

Analyzing Marinette’s hairstyles

So, I’ve actually seen a bunch of different posts and takes of what Marinette’s hairstyles represent and symbolize especially in regard to the episode “Heart Hunter”, but I wanted to go through all the different styles of hair instead of solely focusing on the pigtails/hair down of that particular episode.

With that being said, in no particular order, here we go:

The Bun

This hairstyle is almost exclusively seen in the episode “Animaestro”. However if you’re paying close attention, you will see Marinette wearing this hairstyle, in the old class picture, featured in “Reflekta”. I find the fact that the show made this connection between these two (scenes? examples?) incredibly interesting and very telling. Putting the class picture aside for a moment, one must analyze Marinette’s behavior in the episode “Animaestro”. To be sure, it isn’t great. For the most part, Marinette acts foolishly and immaturely and her actions in this episode, indirectly lead to the akumatization. Marinette, in her jealous state, goes so far as to join up with Chloe (a person she despises), and attempt childish pranks on Kagami. In short, I think that the bun hairstyle symbolizes a sort of immaturity for Marinette. The fact that she wore this hairstyle when she was younger only goes to prove my point. Marinette is not a perfect character, but her actions in “Animaestro” are arguably some of her worst, and naturally when she has hit a low in her maturity level, she reverts back to a hairstyle of her youth.

The Braid

The braid can be easily shoved aside as not holding any symbolism, as just a way the design team chose to incorporate the tail in her costume. However, there were a number of ways the tail could have been incorporated into the Ladynoir costume, and as such the braid must be analyzed. Now, a braid can be considered an almost restricting thing, it carefully tucks back locks of hair and traps them better than an ordinary ponytail can. However, the Ladynoir braid almost has a ‘fun’ twist to it (pun not intended but appreciated). It is long (like really long), and we even see her flick it playfully over her shoulder. I think that the braid is supposed to represent that dualism between responsibility and fun that the job of superhero can have. I have heard a lot of people criticize “Reflekdoll” for its lack of parallels. In other words, Chat Noir learns something and better appreciates Ladybug, but the reverse isn’t true, and I would say that in many ways this is true, Ladybug is not privy to the lesson that Chat Noir is. However, I would argue that she did learn something. Ladybug learned that it’s okay for her to have fun and to joke around. Towards the beginning of the episode we see Ladybug chastising Chat Noir for his joking around, however by the end we see Ladybug embrace this approach and even make some jokes herself. The braid shows Marinette acceptance of balance, of the combination of enjoyment and responsibility within her life.

The Space Buns

This design as well can be attributed to the design team finding a way to show mouse ears, but I’m still going to try to analyze this. I have two different ways to possibly explain this hairstyle. The first being to draw parallels to the bun hairstyle as this is essentially the same thing but two instead of one. The correspondence between the two hairstyles could be seen through Marinette’s feigned naivety in front of Chat Noir. She “accidentally” reveals herself as Marinette and pretends to be less informed than she really is. The other way to translate this hairstyle is as a security blanket so to speak. I haven’t gotten into the metaphorical interpretation of Marinette’s pigtails yet, but I will briefly explain a part of it now (and go into depth a little later). The pigtails serve as a sense of security for Marinette, as a source of status quo. The space buns are that, but elevated. In the episode this hairstyle is featured, “Kwamibuster” (I don’t think I mentioned this before), Marinette is desperate to keep her identity a secret from Chat Noir and develops a convoluted plan (including Multi-mouse) to accomplish this. She wants the security of her identity and wants to use her comfort style at this moment. However, Marinette is trying to distance herself from Ladybug and as such she uses a slight variation of her pigtails in her alternate hero form.

The Ponytail

I’m gonna be honest and say that I can’t fully analyze this hairstyle as we have not yet seen the episode where this hairstyle makes its second appearance. So I’m just focusing here on the ponytail from “Optigami”. I might make another analysis on the ponytail after “Sentibubbler” comes out but it might make more sense to wait until after the whole season comes out, in case there are new examples of ponytails (or other hairstyles for that matter). I don’t want to say anything about Pegabug’s ponytail, because as I’m sure you know, Miraculous trailers can be very misleading. Anyways, after that ramble, I now focus on Ladybee’s ponytail. To be frank “Optigami” was a bit of a doozy. I watched that episode with a sense of dread that did not lighten by the end of the episode. This isn’t a bad thing, but it was intense for a typical episode of Miraculous, a show where my usual reaction is a mix of “oh this is cute” and cringe (to be fair I cringe easily). But what I like so much about season 4 is that we get more than that (I won’t go into this now because I’m straying from the topic too much). Ladybee comes at a time of great stress for Marinette, she gets stuck in an elevator with someone and is thus unable to transform (let alone the fact that that “someone” is Adrien), she is without the help of Chat Noir and most of the other heroes, and (unbeknownst to her for a majority of the episode) her friend has been replaced with a sentimonster. Yet, despite all of this, Marinette remains cool, calm, and collected. She, unlike Alya, does not fall apart and despair when Senti-Nino is revealed, she knows she has to get the job done. A ponytail gives an image of “getting the job done” of focus. Although the situation is dire and dangerous, Marinette displays her competence in crisis and the ponytail magnifies that trait. I have a feeling that the same will be true for Pegabug, but only time (and the episode coming out) will tell.

Hair Down

In the two episodes that we have seen Marinette wearing her hair down, they were both in connection with Adrien and her relationship with her. I want to separate the two examples because though they both wind up achieving similar goals in regard to their symbolism, they do it in different ways. Focusing first on “Chat Blanc” Marinette wears her hair down in part to distinguish to the audience the difference between the two timelines. Though the surface level explanation of her hair would be sufficient explanation, this choice of hairstyle also has a deeper interpretation. This being as a metaphor for Marinette’s vulnerability. She is allowing her feelings to be known to Adrien, she is allowing herself to be open and honest about her emotions and with that freedom she lets her hair free as well. It is also significant that she is free from her secret identity (albeit unknowingly) and as she allows Adrien to see the full spectrum of her personality, she frees her hair from its restraint. In “Heart Hunter” too, this hairstyle signifies vulnerability and freedom. In this episode we see Marinette having fun with Adrien and Kagami, without the worry of how she is being perceived by Adrien, without the stress about her feelings for him. It is of great significance that when she lets her guard down, when she “lets her hair down” (both literally and metaphorically), Adrien comments on her beauty. We already know, as viewers, that Adrien has fallen in love with Marinette’s personality as Ladybug. But as Marinette, Adrien has not been privy to her full personality. He has only been given glimpses, as in this episode, to the full extent of her persona. Marinette is seen later on in the episode to revert back to her old hairstyle once she is no longer comfortable, when she feels inadequate compared to Kagami. She puts back on her guise when she feels she needs the security. Which leads us to that source of security.

Pigtails

I feel a bit bad as I have simplified this hairstyle in earlier paragraphs to a symbol for security. While this definition is a correct one, this hairstyle has more than one explanation. As Marinette’s primary hairstyle, in both her every day and hero outfits, we see this hairstyle A LOT. Because of this, there is an array of interpretation as to what this hairstyle could mean. Starting with the aforementioned, this hairstyle works as a form of security for Marinette. The style required her to hold her hair back, to keep it in check, away from possible disasters and viewers (wind can tangle hair very easily). The pigtails are the antithesis of letting her hair down, a common symbol for freedom and relaxation. The pigtails therefore show that she is on her guard and is protecting herself. The pigtails also represent her quality of being a do-er. She likes to do things, she is an active person, she doesn’t stand aside or wait for things to happen, she works to make them happen. As a do-er she needs focus, she needs a restraint for her hair that could get in her line of sight, and the pigtails do that well. As Ladybug, the same is true. She is focused and determined to accomplish her goals, to succeed in her battles and she needs to tie her hair back to best accomplish this. There is importance in the fact that she chooses to focus herself with pigtails rather than the equally practical ponytail. This can be attributed to the child-like quality that pigtails have. Marinette, simply put, is still a child. Though as a whole she is particularly mature for her age, at times she can show a bit of immaturity. It is interesting to note that as the seasons progress, the more we see her with other hairstyles. As she matures she wears the pigtails less. The pigtails are also a girly hairstyle and show how Marinette is a girly-girl in a plain and easy way. Additionally, the pigtails give her the approachable, girl-next-door look. In simply looking at Marinette one gets the image of her sweetness and good nature. In visual media, it is important to make a connection between personality and visage. In cartoons especially, a character’s design should fit with how they interact with their world, and the pigtails are an immediate signifier as to Marinette’s character. This about sums up my analysis of her pigtails. I know that there are more ways to interpret them, and feel free to comment if you think of any other interpretations!

[kryptsune]

World Building Wednesday! ~Felldritch

🌼I got a request to do a WBW for Felldritch and since there have been updates to the overall world and lore I wanted to make sure this was all in a nice little package! If you have questions and want to learn more let me know the ask box is always open!  So let's get started! Oh and here is a link to the fic! FELLDRITCH

Felldritch

Classification: HorrorFELL

Cult  Alternate “Nicknames”:

Red: Saw Boss: Corvus

Gaster: Sephtis

Asriel: Saber Toriel: Ameria

Asgore: Kirnon

Undyne: Ryx Alphys: Vesh Muffet: Carmilla Grillby: Noire MTT: Faust

Doggo: Croix

Riverperson: Bastet (Tet)

Main Plot Synop: Felldritch takes place after a pacifist run by Frisk. The story briefly goes as follows. Frisk ends up in the Underworld (Underground) and befriends the monsters and wants to set them free. It is basically a way watered down version of WTU in essence. Once reaching the end of her journey the monsters refuse to let her be that final soul. They would rather wait and figure out something else but with her Determination she promises to return to them and set them free. At this point in time she is around 18-19. Asriel sacrifices himself to that end to see her leave through the barrier only for the humans to capture the poor girl after she leaves. They conclude that she is not mentally stable due to her insistence that monsters are real and throw her into an asylum/sanitarium to be “treated”. Nearly 5+ years later and she manages to escape finding herself once again in the Underworld only it is far different from what she remembers. At this point, she is questioning whether anything is real or not. After being “treated” for so long she doesn’t quite know which reality is the true one. As Red (aka Saw) points out:

The Brothers: 

Red: The younger brother of the two. His attachment to Frisk stems into more of a relationship though he blames himself for loosing her all those years ago. This psychological state causes him to throw himself into the problem that is befalling their world. At first nothing seems to combat this intrusive forest and horrifying beasts but he learns to utilize his magic in a different way. Prior to this he is what one would think of a a Red type but after meeting Frisk he promises to not only change his heart but also the hearts of others. Instead of destructive magical ability he follows in his brothers footsteps and takes up healing practice. 

In the world he is known as the merchant, the one that tends to give out healing items in exchange for coin but the bulk of his business relies on talismans or charms to ward off the evil plaguing their home. As far as they all know these magically infused charms are powerful and have incredible protective capabilities. He runs a wagon that travels around the entire Underworld.

In the current timeline he more sympathetic and empathetic. The concept of Kill or be Killed is no longer a factor. This is mainly about survival and for the most part the other monsters are aware that working together is their best option though their heightened paranoia (validly founded btw) makes it difficult sometimes. His personality is lighthearted on the surface, making jokes, and being a good guy. In a way he reminds me of Jester who tries not to dwell on what is going on but is fully aware of the situation. Red wears a blindfold in public to keep up appearances but he has no vision or eye light problems.

Boss: After Frisk’s departure from the Underworld, Boss, takes her words to heart. Unlike the majority of Fell Pap characterization he is very soft. When he feels his brother no longer needs his guidance he begins to feel purposeless until he learns that like his brother he has the magical ability for healing. As Red is the charm merchant of the two, Boss is the apothecary. His design harkens to plague doctors back in the 17th century. He grows all his own herbs and spices but he is particularly fond of tea. He also wears a blindfold just like Red but unlike Red he does in fact have damage to his left eye socket where the teal color of his eye lights no longer inhabits. 

The two combined help their fellow monsters as much as they can but in a world of uncertainty how are you supposed to know who to trust? 

Frisk’s Mental Demons: The psychological toll on Frisk is great as she has been told constantly that she made up her time in the Underworld in order to shut herself away into a fantasy world. A world where she had a family… where she is loved and wanted. This happens frequently as the “Doctors” continuously try to refute her experiences or sensations medically.  Every time she goes to sleep in the Underworld she ends up back at the Asylum tied down kicking and screaming. 

She only wakes up again when she is sedated. Rinse and repeat. The question is… is it real? Or rather which is real. The doctors go on to state that her dark state of mind twisted her original concept behind her “family” making them this eldritch styled horror. He also goes onto explain that the reason she is so drawn and close to Red is that it is her “flirting with death”. That she is accepting that outcome because if she continues to resist treatment she will die and the moment she trusts him in her “fantasy” that will be the end. These kinds of situations happen a lot.

There are also instances when the lines between real and fiction are blurred as Frisk's behavior consists apparently of defensive aggression, auditory, visual, and olfactory hallucination, acute paranoia, anxiety, and PTSD. One such example of this is her apparent psychiatrist, Dr. Cyrus Reycroft, who happens to have an uncanny resemblance to her skeletal friend if he was human. 

The Beasts: Felldritch plays off Eldritch horror aka the fear of the unknown. As Frisk reunites with Red she is subjected to a rather concerning conversation in which he explains the situation they are in. He mentions having crossed into an upside down broken and colorless world which drew both himself and his older brother into. It is implied that the two stepped into a dimensional space that was able to then afflict those within their own dimension. Over time the inhabitants begin to go missing and great otherworldly hellish beasts begin appearing. The inhabitants come to the conclusion that these creatures can not afflict you with their corruption if you can not see, hear, or speak in their presence. This mindset has some rather gruesome implications as inhabitants become irrationally desperate mutilating themselves to adhere to the new "See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil”.

The Occult World: The cult as I keep referring to it as is a group of powerful monsters. After the deposition of the King the other monsters begin to become influenced by outside sources. They begin to believe that any fallen humans are the angels of death and because of this they will kill humans on sight, of course, they want to live in denial of their horrible deeds because monster souls are supposed to be made up of love and kindness. Unlike the cult that wishes to break the barrier, the rest want to stay hidden from the beasts above believing that the humans are to blame for all that has happened.

The senses play a huge roll in this idea as the beasts are rumored to be able to use souls like puppets, as in spys, if they are corrupted. It essentially becomes like a hive mind with the main entity being able to see, hear, and speak through those it comes in contact with. It’s no secret that Red is in fact infected by this entity in some form as this is a quote from the fic:

A set of antlers snagged the velvety cape as he worked the metalwork to release its hold on the material around his throat.

Bony fingers tugged on the bunched up fabric and pulled it back, revealing a charcoal grey sweater underneath. It was soft to the touch but just hidden beneath the wool she caught a glimpse of off white colored bone. There were bits and pieces that had been chipped off, knicks, and cuts. Even before they had met Red had some scars especially around his collarbone but that was not what caused her to gasp. His hood remained over his head as if using it to shield his expression from her view, “See?” He flinched when her fingers traced some of the scars.

She didn’t want to appear like she was fearful of what she was witnessing but her fingers quivered, pulling them back toward herself. A soft whimper of a voice left her, “R...Red…” There intertwined with the magically composed vertebrae of his spine were branches. The same deep blackish red wood that plagued this entire forest. It wove itself through the bone engulfing portions of his ribs, twisting it into chilling patterns. If it was allowed to continue its infestation it would crack his ribcage open in a bloodless gaping fissure. She could just make out that gentle white and crimson glow shrouded by the wood. Was that his soul? There was no other explanation.

It looked like the branches were trying to worm their way toward that glowing heart, pierce it, and absorb it into its oily black, almost pulsating bark. That was only one singular aspect of horror that she was now subjected to. Her eyes followed the trail that crept through the bone following the knots and twists that crept up and underneath where his skull attached to his spine.

The grip that he kept on her hand only tightened while the other shifted to pull the hood off his skull. Her eyes widened, reddish-brown irises wavering within a sea of white. A hand rose to land on her mouth, now agape in a silent gasp. She could see the same strange bark that comprised his antlers exited straight out of his skull. There were fractures that radiated from above the temporal portion of his cranium in concentric circles. The same kind of patterning one would see from blunt force trauma. Only this had pushed out the bone externally rather than internally. His sockets no longer contained those ever dulling carmine eye lights as her own eyes traced the hairline cracks along his head. She could not imagine the kind of pain a transformation like that would have caused him. There were places where the bone had tried to heal and suture itself back together, forming around the bark.

Angel of Salvation (a.k.a. The Eldritch Horror)- What the cult has been working toward is summoning their “savior” with the help of the human souls they are bound to. It gives them extra abilities and power. Each within the ranks is bound to a human soul. Their leader ??? wants to use this power to summon an “angel.” It turns out that is actually an unholy amalgamated eldritch beast/god out for blood instead. Humanity will perish and the monsters will take control of the surface once more. That is the reality. (The cult including Red is told otherwise).

[yuzukult]

i’m bad too 06 (m) || kdy & reader

title: i’m bad too - drabble series pairing: kim doyoung x reader genre: angst, fluff, smut, goodboy!doyoung, nerdy!dy (basically he’s a dork) & badgirl!reader, hitman!au, oc-isn’t-a-hitman-but-she-could-be!au, there’s just a lot of unspoken things happening here lol word count: 1.7k warnings: blowjob/handjob (lucky doyoung), sexual usage of ‘oppa’ lol don’t judge a/n: still tryna learn the correct jargon for warnings but this is a drabble so.... very minimal stuff here lmfao

please let me know if anyone wants to be tagged! taglist: @wownajaemin​​​ @crescent-iak​​​ @ncttboo​​​​ @byunbaekby​ ​​← previous chapter || next chapter →

Doyoung makes you watch an obscene amount of superhero movies. For clarification: Marvel-Cinematic-Universe-kind-of-movies. However, you barely complain. If it means more time with him, you’d even watch Sesame Street just to be in his arms. 

He doesn’t like to watch those movies where there’s a way deeper message hidden behind the plot. He lives for the action, sprinkle of comedy, and occasional love interest. But not a ton. Too much romance might set unrealistic expectations, according to him. 

Albeit you sort of think he still has a vastly different depiction of love in comparison to you.

For one, in this alternate universe where there’s villains and superheroes, you, without a doubt, are a villain. You’ve tried explaining to him that you fit the stereotype—the whole leather attire plus motorcycle really takes the cake, but he doesn’t even know what you’re up to half the time. In fact, almost every single event you’ve performed a task, you’d show up at his front doorstep, hands remaining dirty from a mission for the Boss, and he’d welcome you with open arms with no idea. 

Doyoung doesn’t even have an ounce of a clue what you do.

He’s such a nice guy. Girls practically eat that shit up when they meet him, often overlooking the fact that he holds so many great boyfriend qualities. When you’re sore from “work,” (he questions what you do all the time but you just shrug nonchalantly) he’d always slip off your socks, massage the soles of your feet and finish off the rest of your body with no resistance. He doesn’t expect anything in return—not even sex. Doyoung just gives and gives, nearly never taking.

On one side, you’re glad that most women don’t recognize how perfect of a significant other he is. It gives you time to figure yourself out; how do you become good enough for Kim Doyoung? You’ve already dropped smoking. You’ve been putting more effort in your studies, granted he is your tutor. And you’ve spent the majority of your free time with him. If you ever needed to review material, you’d do it with him, just to show how much you’re trying. 

Even if there isn’t a label for the two of you.

You’re friends—but you’re definitely more than just friends. You fuck, but you’re not just fuck buddies either. You’re exclusive but you’re not straightforwardly dating. Doyoung doesn’t hide the fact that he wants you to officially be his girlfriend, although he never forces the idea upon you. He’s content with the circumstances he’s under even though he hopes to have you be his and his only. Nonetheless, it’s under your terms and he never forgets to remind you that. 

Honestly, you thought that you might be okay with this. That is, until a pretty gal with shiny black hair, toned body, and gentle voice named Joy came into the picture.

Joy is a given nickname. Her actual birth name is Park Sooyoung, a name as beautiful as the beholder, but people had gotten into the habit of calling her Joy, since… well, she’s such a joy to be around. She’s part of the school’s cheerleading squad, called the ‘Red Velvet Queens,’ plus extremely involved with other extracurriculars, including the competitive tennis team that Doyoung is on. There’s a lot of bitches on the squad, especially with the encounters you’ve had with them, but Joy isn’t one of them. She’s an angel. She’s the woman version of Doyoung. 

Doyoung likes to wait outside in the parking lot, right in the unspoken designated spot where you leave your bike. You’ve offered him a ride to school since he often stands idly, except he politely declines, and you speculate that it’s from fear. He remains cute in your eyes despite being a bit of a wuss.

Today, however, he’s not alone. It’s a daily routine that the view of Doyoung leaves you breathless, heart pumping like you’ve gone running, but today is different. Your blood is boiling, smoke whistling out your ears like a kettle on a stove from the heat that lingers around your neck region. Joy stands beside him, the widest grin smacked across her cheeks, lips stained as red as her cheerleading uniform. You wobble on your bike into the parking spot, shutting off the engine before kicking out the stand, pulling the helmet off your head while obnoxiously chewing on a piece of gum in your mouth. 

Joy’s gaze meets yours.

She’s sweet, and none of this is her fault. But you kind of hate her presence right now, just because she’s got all of Doyoung’s attention. 

Spitting out the gum on the asphalt, you shuffle through your pockets for a toothpick. This stupid toothpick that you’re stuck with because you quit smoking cigarettes for that charming boy. Popping the wooden stick in your mouth, you rake your fingers through your greasy hair, slinging the backpack over your shoulders before walking past Doyoung. 

“Sorry, Joy, I’ll catch up with you later,” You hear faintly before his heavy footsteps are rushed, catching up with yours. “Hey-Hey! Where are you going? We’re supposed to meet here. Why didn’t you wait for me?”

You shrug. He’s not happy with that response.

Hand grasping on your shoulder, he halts you in your steps to turn you to face him. As much as you hate to admit it, but you feel this green-eyed monster gnawing on your insides and you’re not a fan of it. “What’s wrong? What did I do? Talk to me.”

“Nothing. I’m busy. You still wanna tutor me later or are you busy making plans with Joy?” You snarl, munching on the pick. Doyoung’s eyes lighten up; he knows the problem now. “Are you jealous?”

“That word isn’t in my dictionary.” It’s a blunt reply, and your unfazed stare is there to support it. “Why would I be jealous of a nice girl like Joy who wants to get with a good boy like you?”

Doyoung likes you, no matter how hard you try to push him away. Your dilemma before was that you always thought a guy like him, so generous, so kind, could never love someone with a charred heart like yours. And yet, here you are, evidently jealous of a girl practically his equal when he’s done nothing but proven to you that you’re the only one he sees.

You want more, and the longer you continue to deny and swallow these feelings, you’re even more desperate to be held by him. In the midst of a tutoring session, you’ve managed to unbutton his cute sky blue dress shirt, unzip his trousers and suddenly his dick is in your mouth.

“We’re supposed to review l-limits,” He stutters over a moan, fingers reaching to comb back your hair. “S-So I told her I couldn’t hang out with her today.”

“Mm,” You hum against the tip, tongue gliding down his shaft. “I heard you the first time.” His thighs tighten when your mouth envelopes down his dick to the base with his head thrown back in the chair of your bedroom. He’s glad that he noticed you take initiative to lock the door today since you often don’t, and the possibility of one of the staff members entering in while sucking on him is kinky but he’s still scared of your brother. 

Doyoung lets out a soft gasp when your tongue swipes over his slit where a pearly bead of precum sits. “S-Shouldn’t we— oh fuck—be reviewing materi—ohh?” He sighs; your hands are everywhere; it’s hard for him to focus on anything when you’re gazing up at him through your pretty long lashes with tinged pink cheeks from his cock hitting the back of your throat. He melts under your touch when you graze over his thighs, claiming the territory that he’s succumbed to you willingly. You kiss the head of his cock and he bucks into it. “We’re reviewing a different kind of material. Have you ever been sucked off by a girl before?”

He shakes his head ‘no’, looking down at you with hooded eyes. With his arousal still in your grip, it twitches, yearning for your attention. You hate to admit it, but you’ve obviously tainted his ‘good boy’ persona with him in your bedroom like this, but Doyoung doesn’t think that. Disheveled hair, mouth gaped open, and sweaty forehead is a view of him you engrain in your memory. 

Doyoung is a good boy, but he has a body of a bad boy. There’s no way that tennis is the reason behind those washboard abs, toned thighs, and built arms. He’s not as muscular in comparison to Johnny, nor his friend Lucas, but Doyoung is gorgeous like this, perfect in your eyes. 

That’s why when you moan around his girth and he sputters, you think he’s got a halo over his head. He’s so pretty, so gorgeous, and you want to see him in all types of forms. Your hand wraps at the base of his dick, mouth wrapping around the red and angry tip, it’s glistening with your saliva as you start pumping him at a pace that leaves his jaw slack, groans bouncing off your bedroom walls. 

“Baby,” He calls out the term of endearment raspily, heart racing and abs tightening. A familiar feeling stirs in his stomach, and he knows he’s about to combust. “I’m about to cum, I need a tissue, I—”

“Cum in my mouth, oppa,” You whisper, quickening your movements but calling him “oppa” is what snaps within him, ropes of cum shooting down your throat along with a string of curses and a breathy moan escapes from his lovely lips. 

“So,” Doyoung begins, fiddling with his fingers anxiously across the lunch table from you. “You called me ‘oppa’ the other day. That was uh… new. You’ve never called me that before.”

Tying your hair up in a bun with a bobby pin between your teeth, his cheeks flush pink at the thought of you giving him a blowjob in your bedroom the other day, his fingers streaking through those luscious locks, and him cuming in your mouth. Popping out the pin, you slide in to push back a short piece of hair. “Yeah, well, there was a reason for it. You know why.”

Doyoung blinks blankly, utterly confused. “I… don’t. W-Why’d you call me oppa?”

“So you wouldn’t get nervous and just let me swallow.”