#we use it in such cool and interesting and mundane ways now!

[famewolf]

after I finished every story mission in ESO I thought to myself 'I think I'm going to replay Skyrim and use my old game guide and do every single quest in Skyrim'. and then Baldur's Gate 3 came out

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Advice for beginner Hellenists

This isn't necessarily a post where I include a list of Gods, epithets, resources, and offerings for said Gods, but rather, hopefully soothing the worries of those of us who are starting the journey into the religion. As someone who was once in a religion that made other religions sound like something absolutely terrifying, my journey into Hellenism was once which was also... pretty terrifying, and this fear was mostly just from my own mind.

Anyways, my list of Advice:

You can literally just start praying. If you want to get more formal, you can absolutely get more formal, but you very much don't have to. I've definitely had my first prayers to some Gods be "hello, [God or Goddess's name], I want to worship You! Please lead me in my journey. Thanks!" I can promise you, the Gods are much kinder and more understanding than any of us fully know.

You can also just start worshiping in general. I feel like I've seen on occasion people worried about the Gods not "calling" to them. This is definitely not something that needs to happen pre-worship. If you find them interesting enough to pray to, then that in and of itself is enough.

In a similar vein, I wouldn't be too concerned about the idea of "signs". I feel like there's a tendency for folks to be incredibly worried about everything when first starting out - the behavior of a candle, the sighting of an animal, a strange dream, all can suddenly seem to take on jarring significance. But I can promise you, the Gods don't constantly give out signs, and frequently, these strange occurrences can be attributed to the mundane. When something comes from the Gods, you will know, trust me!

You don't have to worry too much about the idea of cleanliness, be it spiritual or physical. Khernips are cool, and I'd definitely recommend integrating them into your practice sooner or later. Hygiene is cool too! But if I'm being honest, we in the modern day are far more physically clean, and a lot less likely to regularly encounter the type of pollution that would have been encountered in ancient Greece.

The Gods will be at varying distances over the course of your worship. Sometimes, They will feel close, joyfully, burningly so. And sometimes, They will feel far, and prayers may even feel a bit futile. Both of those are perfectly okay, and neither of those will be permanent.

And, once again in a similar vein, you will likely not find yourself having constant, close mystical experiences with the Gods (i.e., conversations, visions, etc.). These experiences are rare and far between, and I would advise that you not make them a central part of your worship. They will come when the Gods deem you're ready for them, and you definitely won't be expecting it. Focus on the little things!

My final thing (for now) is that you also shouldn't put undue pressure on yourself to be doing some sort of big offering to the Gods. If that's what you can afford, that's great! But if not, fresh water, a small wildflower that you came across and picked*, or a small bit of a meal also count as a good offering!

And with that, my (much longer than I was previously planning on) list of things for beginners to keep in mind! A lot of this list is made up of things which I picked up along the way, and a lot of it is also made from my own personal hindsight being 20/20. I hope this is helpful to someone, and that it maybe soothes some of the (incredibly common) worries which so often accompany those who are venturing into the world of Hellenic polytheism!

[spuffybot]

Hey hi! I saw your post about Buffy being your favorite show and what do you mean "you know what’s happening with certain characters based on the colors they are wearing"? That's SO cool and something I've never noticed despite being such a tv nerd, do you have examples?

Ohhhh my gosh I love this question!!! There are a few characters who come to mind (Buffy & Willow) but I’m gonna talk about Spike because I love to talk about Spike.

So Spike is a character who very much has a uniform and this uniform is linked to his identity. It’s important to note that this is an identity he crafted. Because as we know Spike started out as William, a man who was sensitive and kind and who was unappreciated by his peers. When he became a vampire he wanted to shed that weakness and he uses his hair, accent, and clothing to reinforce the idea that he is a strong, tough, and evil being.

Spikes official uniform is perfectly slicked back bleach blonde hair, a red shirt, dirty black jeans, combat boots and his signature leather duster. This is Spikes armor. It’s how he embodies Spike and leaves William behind. The red shirt is also quite critically linked to his “evil era” as I’ll call it.

Throughout the show there are key moments where Spike deviates from this uniform and it’s always linked to a crises of identity.

The first moment I want to talk about is Spike in the Hawaiian shirt. He’s just been chipped, he’s relying on the Scoobies for survival, the core tenants of his identity (predator, killer, lover of Drusilla, leader of a vampire gang) have all been stripped from him against his will. He looks ridiculous wearing Xanders clothes because we know it’s ridiculous (at this point) for him to just be one of the Scoobies.

This is not unlike Tabula Rasa (which has a deliciously layered theme of loss of identity both literal with memory loss and metaphoric with each of the characters personal lives) where we see Spike once again out of uniform completely and lacking his identity. Now like I said on the surface he has truly lost his identity he has no memory of who he is. But it’s no surprise that he draws the (incorrect) conclusion that he’s a vampire with a soul on a mission of redemption because for the past few months he’s been playacting that role. After Buffy died Spikes entire identity was usurped by the need to live up to her memory. He babysits Dawn. He patrols with the Scoobies. He lives a mundane and neutered life because he thinks it’s what she would have wanted. Except now she’s back. And she’s opening up to him in ways she never has before. And she’s kissed him. And this is simultaneously the most incredible and terrifying thing to ever happen to Spike because it’s all he wants but he knows deep down, it’s not who he is. He has no soul. He has no remorse. He is not good.

Now let’s talk about some less overt examples. Because the wardrobe team does an incredible job of making subtle shifts to Spikes uniform that communicate his emotional arc.

In Crush, we see Spike swap the red shirt for a light blue shirt (blue is going to be a theme!) and lighter pants. By doing this he communicates to Buffy that he’s different than before. He’s lighter and softer. A man she could be interested in. But of course, just like the uniform of Spike is a performance, this too is a performance and one Buffy sees through quickly.

Blue comes back again in Smashed, an episode where once again Spike’s identity comes into play. He has been play acting at being a Scooby but we know that’s not who he really is. Now, suddenly he finds that he can hurt Buffy without activating his chip. All of a sudden he gets a glimpse of his old self and it infuses him with confidence and purpose. The blue shirt in this episode is deep and rich, verging on purple. By wearing this shirt it shows us how deeply conflicted Spike is. The war between his selfish love for Buffy and his feelings of being trapped and controlled by his chip (and his feelings for her) is coming to a head. And of course, by showing his teeth he gives Buffy the push she needs to sleep with him.

Ok so now we get to talk about my FAVORITE season when it comes to Spikes loss of identity and the use of his uniform to depict that: season 7.

When we first see Spike in season 7 something very important is happening: his hair is completely disheveled and curly, with his natural brown roots showing. This is the closest we have ever seen Spikes hair resemble Williams hair and this is important because as we know, Spike now has a soul and so he is closer now to William than he has been in over 100 years.

When Spike finally leaves the basement he is in a bright blue shirt and lacking his signature leather duster. The duster becomes a key plot point in season 7 with the introduction of Robin Wood (considering it was his mother’s jacket and Spike killed her.) Now, Wood is a controversial character but I personally think having Spike have to reckon with the consequences of his past all tied up in the metaphor of identity that is his leather jacket is chefs kiss.

Speaking of the leather jacket, in episode 15, Get It Done we see Spike put the jacket back on for the first time since Seeing Red. This is a moment of reclamation of identity. Souled Spike is listless and guilt ridden. And as the potentials point out, even a demon can kick his ass. When he puts that jacket back on he takes back a piece of who he is and starts on the journey of self discovery that we will see him continue in Angel season 5. Because ultimately it’s not Spike or William but the fusion of the two that make Spike who he is. AND TO BRING IT BACK FULL CIRCLE while Spike reclaims the jacket, he does not bring back the red shirt.

One other interesting thing about season 7 is that Spike is no longer as wiry and muscular as he was in season 6. Now, James Marsters has said that this was deliberate on his part because he was tired of being naked on the show and figured if he stopped working out (he has also said that he created his season 6 body deliberately upon being told he would be naked all the time) then they would stop making him take his shirt off. And while this is obviously not a deliberate choice on the part of the show, I do think it’s interesting that Spike becomes less angular and sharp after he gets his soul. He releases some of the hardness that defined him emotionally and physically. Which ties in nicely to this overarching theme of identity crises. It also hints at a certain level of toxicity on set if one of your lead actors feels the need to take drastic measures to protect themselves but that’s a whole different essay.

I hope this answers the question and I would loooove to hear what other people think about this. I know I didn’t touch on every Spike moment but I wanted to highlight ones I feel are critical parts of his narrative.

[honey-flustered]

Too Quiet (Fluff)

YoungDad!Steve Harrington x YoungMom!Reader

Summary: You and Steve finally get a moment of peace until you’re reminded that you’re parents of two rambunctious toddlers and a puppy. Sometimes, quiet’s never a good sign.

A/N: This fluffy thought came to me because I have a toddler niece and whenever she gets quiet we know she’s never up to any good. This also goes out to the parents who just need a little break from time to time. (Note: this has also been in my drafts for so long)

Word: 1.6k+

You appreciated the mundane. Boring can be good sometimes. Like for instance, neither you or Steve had any work that needed to be done. No errands, no chores, no 8-12-16 hour shifts. It was just a simple day where the two of you got to relax.

You found yourselves so comfortable, in fact, you hadn’t recognized that you were laid on the couch with your back against his chest, scrolling on your phone until he randomly cleared his throat.

You jolt up, looking back at him. “Whoa! When’d you get here?”

He looks up from his book, reading glasses slipping to the bridge of his nose. “I sacrifice my need to get up and pee for like 2 hours just to be your body pillow. My legs are asleep.”

You roll yourself around, facing him and wrapping your arms around his neck, “I’m sorry I’ve ignored you. It’s just so nice having these moments of downtime.”

He kisses your nose. “I understand, love. I’m really glad we don’t always have to talk to enjoy each other’s company. I like the comfortable silence.”

“Me too,” You grin. “Sometimes, I don’t always want to talk. Sometimes, I just want to scroll through my phone or eat a whole pot of mac ‘n’ cheese all by myself without the necessary judgment.”

“Weird way of bringing that up…but I get it.” Steve chuckles. “And you know what—since we’re throwing things out there—I’m so over people believing that being ‘boring’ is synonymous to being ‘old’. I mean, if I prefer staying home over going to parties it doesn’t mean I’m not still King Steve.”

“Exactly! Boring is the new fun! Like vanilla sex…it isn’t so bad.”

“It’s fantastic! We don’t always need the theatrics. It’s just so extra to have freaky sex all the time. Um, waiter, I’d like vanilla sex with a side of missionary please.”

You snort at his dorkiness. “I have to admit that I don’t always care to drink when we go out. I don’t always want to be a tipsy ditz all the time. Sometimes when I’m out with my friends, they make me feel bad about ordering just wine so I just lie and say that I’m drinking vodka when it’s only water in my glass. I’m just really good at pretending I’m drunk.”

“You’re goddamn Meryl Streep and Viola Davis combined when you act drunk, baby. I could use some pointers. I don’t always want to drink either but the boys…” Steve groans. “It’s always ‘Steve, chug down this beer’ and never ‘Steve, would you like some chamomile tea.’ I don’t drink tea but I just might start if someone offers me.”

“I’d offer you since you’re taking interest. Would you like me to make you some now?”

“Maybe later,” Steve curls his arms around you tight. “I like talking about being boring with you.”

“Yeah, I could be boring with you all the time. Like if I decided to crochet some shit for the hell of it, you wouldn’t judge.”

“Course I wouldn’t. I think you’d be the best crocheter ever and that’s saying a lot because there are a lot of great ones out there. I know this because I watched a youtube tutorial of crochet making…in full. I don’t plan to make a not one piece but I watched it anyway because I had time,” Steve shrugs. “And sometimes, even when I have plenty of time, I don’t always feel like styling my hair.”

You gasp, putting a hand to your chest. “Not the hair!”

“I can be too cool for cool.” He smiles smugly.

“I wanna wear a oversized clothes.” You rush out.

“You deserve it! I’ve seen the kind of clothes you’ve had to wear. Super tight. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course. I don’t always wanna dress in the latest fashion either.”

“I hate going to the beach nowadays. I get sand in all of my crevices and I end up finding sand around the house even weeks after.”

“I hate driving too fast.”

“I like gardening.”

“I like socks with sandals.”

“I’ve been leaning into buying those portraits with the words on them that say things like “home is where the heart is” or some corny thing like that”

“Eww, you mean the ‘live, laugh, love’ crap,” He laughs. “I’m sorry but we’re not that old.”

“Oh, please, I’m sure you’ve got worse.”

Steve thinks for a moment. “I guess I’ve always wanted to ask an employee if they’re working hard or hardly working.”

“Oh, nooo!” You cringe. “That’s horrible. Do you want them to hate you?”

“Alright, so I’m that kind of old, too.” He admits defeat.

“I think mom jeans aren’t as bad as everyone makes them to be.”

“I think dad jokes are the epitome of comedy and I’ve brushed up on some.”

“Ooo, tell me one!” You beam excitedly.

“Okay. What do you call a nose with no body?”

“What?”

“Nobody knows."

You both join in laughter which soon dies down when the gears in each of your heads began to turn. The two of you stare in space, speechless and reflective of the conversation.

“Although, it is a bit quiet,” You say, breaking the silence. “Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, too quiet.”

“Not boring, though.”

“No, not boring. It’s a good boring if it is. But it’s like…something’s missing. Like we’re forgetting something important.”

“Or someone important?”

“Some…ones…” Steve says in a reflective tone, then his eyes bug out and so do yours as you come to the same realization.

The two of you exchanged looks and simultaneously yell. “Our babies?!”

The two of you jump up from the couch and heading in any direction the two believed the boys were in. You checked the pantry, he checked in the bottom cabinets. He checked the in the boys closet, you checked underneath the bed.

“How could have forgotten about them for two hours?!” Steve exclaims. “We’re terrible people! They’re literally all the reasons why we’re so old and boring now so how can we have forgotten?!”

“They’ve handled themselves just fine alone, babe.” You say trying to comfort him.

“You and I both know that when it gets quiet it’s never a good sign. They’re like Max from Max and Ruby and you know how sociopathic that bunny could be. Little Baby Blue hasn’t barked in 2 hours either. What could they have possibly done to him?” Steve says while running his hands through his hair.

The sounds of giggling from the master bedroom is enough to shake you and Steve to your core. The boys were for sure in there and possibly doing something that will cost you a lot of money to repair.

“For all we know they’ve just created armagedon in there,” You say, darting your eyes between the bedroom door and Steve. “Whatever happens, whatever we see…we must prepare ourselves. Some things may be damaged beyond repair and most likely there will be a lot of cleaning up to do…but we mustn’t take out our anger on the children. They’re children who are simply practicing their exploration and discovery skills.”

“Easy for you to say. You weren’t the one who found your game console submerged in a toilet bowl,” He clutches his chest. “You don’t know my pain.”

You groan, hearing more laughter from the boys. “What do think it is this time? Paint on the walls? The forbidden mudpie cake? Fisher Price Guillotine?”

“I don’t know. That’s the terrifying part. They always come up with the darnedest things,” Steve holds out his hand. “Hold it please, I’m not ready for this horror show.”

You swallow hard, taking his hand. Opening the masters bedroom, you see the twins with their thumbs in their mouths watching Saturday cartoons on the large bed. Little Baby Blue is wedged between the boys, relaxing as they both pet him with their free hands. Their eyes immediately dart to the two of you standing in the doorway like you’d just interrupted a nice moment.

“Mommy.” Oslo smiles and runs up to you.

“Daddy!” Bear runs into Steve’s arms.

“My boys,” You say in relief. “Mommy and Daddy are so sorry for not checking on you. We were very, very tired.”

“Das kay, mommy,” Oslo says, snuggling into your tummy. “Blue’s here with us.”

“Blue even gave us some things to eat.” Bear points to one side of the bed which was full of snacks from the pantry.

“I was wonderful where the Oreos went.” Steve says.

You pet Blue. “That’s a good boy! Maybe next time go for the healthier options in the fridge.” The dog huff and you raise your hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. I’ll cut you some slack. I know how hard it is watching two toddlers.”

“I’m going to whip us up some lunch and then we’ll go to the park for family fun day. How’s that sound, boys?” Steve says.

The boys jump up and down excitedly with Steve hyping up their mood. “Ok, but you have to go and get ready real quick. Think you two can do that like the big boys you are?”

“Yes!” They shout at once.

“Go on then after come down for the famous Harrington men’s sandwich.”

The boys run out of the room, Blur chasing after them.

You lean in to whisper to your husband, still in shock. “Everything’s neat. The boys were actually angels the entire day. Thanks to babysitter Blue.”

“I guess those two were having a relaxed day, too.” Steve quips.

Oslo enters the room, tugging your sweater. “Mommy, can you help me find my favorite sho”

“You mean the light up ones?”

Oslo nods and you take his hand, “Come on, we’ll look together.”

“Then, I’ll help Bear get dressed. We’re going to beat you guys!” Steve teases.

You all laugh enjoying the friendly competition. Although, you enjoyed the times where things get quiet. You couldn’t trade the moments of chaos and fun with your family for the world.

[inexplicifics]

Hi the fashion designer in training again, you posted my og ask and it got me thinking about it again (as if i ever stop) and I was thinking about how different monsters would be categorized and how that might change the fashion sense of things too. For example, theres humanoids, animal adjacent, insect adjacent (broadly), and plant adjacent.

Humanoids, to me, would be creatures/monsters that have little to no animal, insect, or plant otherness, such as trolls, drowners, bruxa, even sirens (even though they overlap into animal). Witchers obviously have magical uses from their kills but from a fashion/mundane perspective a lot of what these creatures provide would be equivalent to that of what a human might. Now, there is a lot of real world history that is sensitive and triggering about the use of human remains, especially in recent times of widespread slavery that has a lot of themes of cannibalism, farming practices, and lack of humanity even after death, such as leather tanning for clothes, the use of human remains in parchment (as parchment is made from animal remains and not wood or plants, that’s what differentiates it from paper), and more. This is why anything that leans more human than monster (such as a bruxa, vampire, succubus, etc) I don’t think I’ll touch with a ten foot pole unless it is to deal with their unique remains. Creatures that lean more monster such as trolls get thrown through the wringer though.

Trolls specifically have really thick skin, which in a tanning process would take… forever to turn into leather but the results would be potentially amazing. Thick strong leather would last for centuries if treated right, I have no doubt in my mind that troll leather would make fantastic saddles, boots, furniture — awful clothes but the other implications mean a lot to me because it might just make excellent armor.

Sirens, as the middleman between humanoids and animal adjacent, would be excellent to discuss scales. There is a company that currently helps with fish scale waste and uses them to make clothes that are naturally soft and have added benefits of being moisture managing (helps with retaining moisture in skin in dry environments) and also is naturally anti-odor! This is incredibly cool for the fashion world and I could see it being a real thing for the witcher world… if they had the time to do it, as I fear modern technology would need to be replaced with magic and I’m not sure mages, researcher included, would be interested in going out of their way to collect siren scales to create fabric (unless they could imbue it with magic? 🤔 A potential concept to long lasting charmed clothes) So very interesting but not as plausible in a fantasy world.

But! Reptilian scales are highly sought after in fashion designs and are not as wasteful as fish scales. The Witcher basilisk is reptilian in nature, which would make for excellent clothes, anything in fashion you can think of in scales you can bet it exists. Scales are widely loved and used even today, so basilisk skin? Oh yeah, it’s up there for fashion. Even says so in various wikis 😉.

Animal adjacent clothing will look a lot like what we have for animals now, adjusted as needed. Basilisks are large so their hides would be easy to convert to many items, whereas snake skin is small and you would need several to make a significant piece of cloth. This would make it far more valuable. Not to mention the claws, claws which are used in various forms. From clasps on just about everything, to jewelry, to decor, to piercings, I know a basilisk claw would be on a noble’s cloak or belt, I just know it.

This translates to, as mentioned before, wargs and other furred animals. The larger, the better, the more you can take, the better, the more *dangerous* to prove your worth, the better. A bear claw is nothing compared to a warg fang, and so on and so forth. I haven’t even gotten started on the length of griffin feathers and what that would do for fashion. No one understands what length in natural materials means to me except for other people who’s special interests are fashion, fantasy worlds, and survival skills. I cannot explain *length of feathers* in gowns. In cloaks. In *jewelry.* But that’s a post for a little old me who isn’t up at 1am on a school night.

Enjoy my midnight ramblings, I realize that this got out of hand and is uh… not really well connected in terms of thoughts but I hope it made sense to people who aren’t deep in the trenches like me lmao

Please imagine me sitting here with my chin on my hands, staring at you with hearts in my eyes as I listen to your interesting and informative midnight ramblings.

[mikqls0n]

He’s mine||jace wayland x fem!reader

Masterlist

Warnings: jace being the perfect boyfriend, swearing, jealousy, use of y/n, slight smut

Summary: you and jace are inseparable but now clary comes to the institute and gets interests in jace

Extra: this is placed in 2009 instead of 2007 so jace’s 18 and reader too

“It’s a demon bite!”

After jace had brought this girl into the institute cause he thinks she isn’t a mundane because she saw him killing a demon with Alec and Isabelle made you quit angry.

If you could you would just throw her out of the institute, by just the way she looks at jace. Your boyfriend.

“Look she’s awake” the glass boy said while this girl slowly wakes up.

Jace arms was wrapped around your waist from behind and his chin resting on your head.

“Ah, shit what is that?” Red-head said as she touched the protection rune which cause her pain.

Jace wanted to say something as he got interrupted by glass-boy.

“That’s a rune, you can use them for anything, healing, protection, can yourself visible and invisible which Is so cool! And when you’re hung-“who was not getting cut off by jace.

“No! We weren’t sure but when I draw the rune on you and you didn’t die, we definitely knew you had shadowhunter blood in you” jace explained.

“Ok so here are clothes you Could wear. It’s not everyday we get girls here” Isabelle came in and put the clothes on the table next to red-head.

Jace knew you didn’t liked when other girls would come here so he said.“Alec, could you take clary to hodge? Me and y/n are going to our room”

“Yeah I guess”

———

“You don’t have to be jealous of here love,you know I love you” jace said as he could literally feel your death stares towards clary.

“I’m not, jealous” you tried to hide the fact that, if looks could kill clary would be dead the second you saw her with jace.

“Hmm, my love’s jealous over some girl I don’t know” he teased you with a smirked you absolutely adored.

“Fine. I was. So what I’m not the one giving you the look as she wants to marry you right now”

“But you do”he whispered in you ear.

“Some day”you closed the space between you, as you lips met where he immediately kissed you back.

His hands found you waist as he pushed you against the wall as you make out.

———

“So, this y/n and jace. They seem close” clary said as hodge told her about her mother being in the clave.

“Y/n and jace? Yeah, couple of 6 years, never thought they would truly love each other” clary’s body was filled with jealousy as she listen to hodge.

“And do they fight often?”

“No, at least I never knew or saw a fight between them, they’re always together. Inseparable”

“Hmm, okay..”

———

“Did you lock the door?” You moaned between the sentence as jace’s hands went to unbuckle your belt.

“No, but who cares?”His lips on your neck again, and as Jace was about to pull your pants down you hear a knock from your door.

“NOT NOW” jace yelled as the door opened anyway which revealed clary.

You rolled your eyes as you pulled up your pants.” Hodge said that these silent brothers are ready”

“Yeah uhm, wait downstairs ok?” Jace said as he put on his shirt again.

Clary whispered a “ok” as she closed the door.

“One person gets here and now we don’t even have privacy anymore?”

“I know love but I’ll be back as soon as I am ok? I love you” he quickly kissed you ok the lips before going downstairs.

———

“I can’t believe we’re going to Magnus just because of that stupid girl” You said annoyed as Isabelle did your hair.

“What did we say about being nicer to people?”you rolled your eyes as you and Isabelle went out the door downstairs to the Main door where alec, jace and clary were already standing.

“You look beautiful as always” jace said as kissed you head.

“Thank You” You smiled even wider when you could see clary staring at you two, eyes filled with jealousy.

———

“Well. I haven’t seen you in years shadowhunters” mag is appeared from behind.

“Though,I do kinda need to talk with clary”

“Wait how do you know her?-“simon- the glass boy was cut off by Magnus.

“Come with me”

“I still don’t get why we’re here”You mumbled.

———

You were even more pissed when Simon was kidnapped and you had to safe him because of clary.

That’s why You’re always told “don’t do anything with mundanes” .

But now you’re back and You’re in the library since jace is in the shower anyway.

“What is your problem with me?” You heard a voice behind you.

You turned around and saw clary.

“What do you mean?”You said innocently.

“You always give me these looks”

“Well, then stop staring at my boyfriend”now clary’s face got darker as she stepped infront of you.

“We both know this relationship won’t last forever. People come and go you know tha-“ you cut off clary by pushing her against the wall coming closer to her face.

“If you, ever say that again I will kill you clary fray. And you know why? Because he’s mine” you whispered the last sentence.

@angelst4re @acecampbellbower

[dufferpuffer]

I have such a pet peeve for wizards smoking cigarettes. Such a long history of tobacco use in England - chewing, sniffing, smoking in all sorts of different formats... wizarding society aesthetic is keeping alive old things that went out of fashion for muggles.

But people shove 1880's Coffin Nails into wizard mouths. Why? Only for muggle reasons: To muggles cigarettes seem like a cheap drink, dirty and casual to scratch an itch - and thus to muggles seem aloof and self-gratifying and cool.

I'm not saying cigarettes can't work with characters... but are we saying tobacco, some mundane foreign plant, has infiltrated Wizarding society in the super modern format of a cigarette - in symbolic ways Fellytones haven't even managed...? Even with their GREATLY expanded botanical knowledge...?

I'm not saying Wizards - especially muggleborns, half-bloods or rebellious Purebloods - can't smoke cigarettes. I just think there are some more interesting options, based on their situation and reason to take up the habit. (Sorta wanna do a bigger post on this lol)

For example - Severus smoking cigs because his dad/entire neighborhood of Muggle factory workers did? Cool. How about Severus smoking a pipe because thats more common for Wizards - and he really despises appearing like a Muggle? He cant kick the tobacco habit though, even though the smell of tobacco in general is Muggle-esque? A potions store of more interesting things to put in his pipe... yet he sticks with tobacco?

A character I can imagine actually smoking honest-to-god cigarettes is Aberforth Dumbledore. He was a rambunctious youth, hanging around bars and getting into fights, right when Coffin Nails were having a boom of popularity in English Muggle society - 1880s/1890s. There's no way that little dirty rebel wasn't smoking and drinking underage (though I doubt there was an 'age' to either activity back then, I'll have to look it up though) I can see him now, in his 100's, still importing cigarettes into Hogsmeade - just for himself. The Hogs Head has a distinct smell of tobacco, despite Wizards generally having better things to smoke in their pipes.

[kaidoslastbraincell]

Dabi would burn the whole world to the ground if it meant you got to live; for a world without you is not worth living in at all. (it's a long one sorry not sorry)

readers quirk: healer's breath - you can take the injuries and pain of others for yourself and your body converts it into carbon dioxide to exhale - the more severe the problem, the longer it takes to expelled and that pain is yours until it's all gone..

pairings: dabi x fem!reader

genre: slight angst, fluff (nevermind all angst with a little fluff)

warnings: mild drug use (weed), character death (reader - I'M SO SORRY)

recommended song: gasoline by halsey

_________________________________

You were a normal person. Sure you had a quirk but you weren't a hero or a villain. And Dabi loved the normalcy he could experience whenever he was with you. He wanted to keep it that way...to protect you from the hell that came with being on either side of that coin. To protect the nights spent dancing to soft music in the kitchen of your tiny apartment while dinner cooked. The early mornings spent watching you rush around as your get ready for your shifts at the hospital. For someone so seemingly ordinary...to him...to him you were magnificent in every way.

But he should have known this peace wouldn't last for long. Shigaraki had found out about you and looked into your quirk and now he was interested. There wasn't a healer in the League yet but he wanted there to be. As much as Dabi played by his own rules and wanted to keep the two of you apart, he didn't want to get you killed.

That's how you ended up where you are today. You hadn't wanted to join the League...but with Shigaraki threatening both you and the man you love, you felt you had little choice. Dabi hated every second you were around the rest of the villains. Toga's tendency to crave the blood of people she took a liking to was unnerving. The others were tolerant of you but it was clear they weren't happy you were there any more than the two of you. Kurogiri, Compress and Spinner were a little more welcoming but wary of bringing a civilian into the group. You weren't desensitised to all the violence and it was evidently taking its toll on you. Dabi kept you away as often as he could, taking you back to your apartment and trying to maintain the mundane peace you felt in each other's presence. But he could see the spark slowly leaving your eyes with every mission that spread your quirk too thin. You could take away people's injuries and pain, your body converting them into carbon dioxide for you to exhale. But the more severe the issue, the longer it took for you to expel...and until it was all gone, that pain was yours to bear.

That night, you writhed in agony beside Dabi in the bed you often shared. Magne had received broken ribs during the attack at the training camp, and during a brief confrontation with the green-haired boy, you'd taken some of his pain too (not that the others needed to know that). It had your temperature rising and tears streaming down your face. Dabi felt hopeless, there was nothing he could do but hold you and soothe the ache in your soul with comforting words and gentle touches.

"I could kill him..." he muttered angrily, "I could kill him and we'd be free. We all would."

Your grip on the front of his shirt tightened.

"It's not worth the risk." Your voice came out a strained wheeze.

Later that night, when Dabi had long since fallen asleep, you pried yourself from his arms and curled up in a blanket on your small balcony. A blunt hung loosely from your lips as you played around with your lighter, the cool evening air aiding your high temperature. Taking a drag, you held your breath for a few seconds before sighing the smoke through your nose, some of the pain washing away in the process. You had a long day ahead of you tomorrow. There was no need for you to be there really...but Shigaraki had requested your presence nonetheless. Perhaps as backup? Or maybe just to make the League seem untouchable. What did that crusty bitch have planned?

Morning came; you and Dabi were on your way to the hide-out, your feet dragging with the exhaustion of shouldering so much pain. Your lover's arm settled firmly around your waist, supporting your weight.

"If we're lucky, this won't take long," Dabi muttered from your side.

When you made it to the bar, Bakugo was secured to a chair in the middle of the room, Shigaraki in front of him and the rest of the league behind. You quickly scanned the blonde and upon finding him injury-free, you breathed a sigh of relief.

"How are you feeling, y/n?" Kurogiri asked softly when he saw you.

"I'm fine. It'll pass."

The student's eyes immediately shifted to you, a look of confusion crossing his features. He frowned and you offered a strained smile (one that you hoped would be reassuring).

Shigaraki went on one of his monologues and you tuned out the entire thing, trying to breathe through the pain still plaguing your body. There was some shouting from the boy's part, followed by more talking.

"If we want him to join us, we need to treat him as an equal," the crusty boy grinned.

Dabi expressed his reluctance, then Twice, and eventually, everyone was refusing to be the one to release the chains. With a groan, you stepped out of Dabi's hold and to Shigaraki's side.

"I'll do it. He's just a kid."

As you moved closer to him, he watched you carefully. He didn't sense any kind of threat when you were near.

"Who are you?" he mumbled.

"No one important," you whispered back.

Your desire to remain anonymous was quickly disregarded by the League's leader.

"Allow me to introduce our team's healer," he smirked, "y/n l/n!"

"Healer? Those quirks are extremely rare..." Bakugo growled.

"Would you like a demonstration? I'm sure she'd be more than happy to put your doubts to rest," a maniacal laugh echoed through the room.

Dabi stepped forward, a hand roughly landing on Shigaraki's shoulder. "You know how much strain she's already under after yesterday," he hissed.

The crusty man side-eyed him, bushing his hand off.

"She'll be fine. Spinner, bring me a knife."

Within seconds, a small knife was in Shigaraki's hands, and he was approaching you and Bakugo. He grabbed the boy's arm, keeping one finger away from the skin, and pulled it towards himself.

"Tomura," your voice was low with warning.

"Shut up and do your job."

The knife was dragged along his limb, deep enough to draw a decent amount of blood, and the blonde hissed in pain, trying to pull his arm out of the bruising hold.

"Hold still, wouldn't wanna nic a vein now would we...go ahead y/n."

With a sigh (you'd been doing that a lot lately), your hand replaced Shigaraki's, much more gently than the former had been. With each inhale, Bakugo found his pain lessening, but he saw the way your brow furrowed and tears gathered in the corners of your eyes.

"It's okay," you murmured, "this pain is my burden now."

"Wh-what!?" his eyes widened and from his peripheral, he saw the fire quirk user look away, his eyes sad.

You backed away once the wound had fully healed, your hands shaking vigorously. You turned to Shigaraki, an icy glare taking over your features.

"Happy?"

He clapped his hands, eyes wide. "Extremely. Great job as always!"

Before anyone else could speak, there was a loud knock on the door. Everyone glanced around awkwardly. Dabi stepped closer to you, reaching and gently pulling you behind him. And in seconds, the door was busted open with heroes flooding in. Your boyfriend pushed you back and you stumbled into the arms of none other than the man you loathed the most. All Might had taken hold of Bakugo, pushing him closer to the door, but his eyes met yours frantically. Once the chaos began, you heard his voice, slightly panicked.

"Wait! The girl! You need to save the girl!"

A shiver ran down your spine when you felt cold, dry hands wrapped around your wrist and throat.

(comment for part 2 hehe)

[bathomet-writes]

Could- 👉👈 could I perhaps ask for a rise Mikey x reader short, where like: it starts with a flashback of the boys as kids, going outside for the first time and while exploring, Mikey spots this little girl on the playground and just thinks she's the prettiest creature he's ever seen, so he goes to give her a flower, completely forgetting he's a mutant and like, readers scared at first but then sees the flower and is suddenly flattered

And then flashback ends: Mikey is now left hopelessly in love with reader, who the boys have now been friends with for a long time and reader is like well dam aware of mikeys crush, but decides to act like she doesn't know to see how long it'll take Mikey, but after a failed attempt of impressing reader by almost getting hurt, reader is just like 'fuck it' and makes the first move

If u don't wanna do it then just pretend u don't see this, and if ur interested, feel free to make any changes you'd like. Also pls do not feel rushed and have a good day.

candy hearts and paper flowers

relationship: Mikey x F!reader

warnings: romantic, fluff, humor, minor hurt/comfort, kissing, sfw

word count: 5,289

author's note: omg..my first request!! this was so fun, i've never written for mikey before. i hope you like it!!

Mikey peeks his head out, lifting the manhole cover up a couple of inches to get a look around. The sliver of light that flooded out from the outside was mesmerizing. He blinks, adjusting to the brightness. 

“Woah…!” He lifts the lid even higher. 

“What do you see?” Donnie whispers. “Is it a horse? I read that there are horses out there sometimes.”

“You read that there are horses in New York? Please,” Leo sighs. 

Raph climbed up the ladder behind the other three, urging them to keep moving. “Quit holdin’ up the line!”

Leo and Donnie crash into one another, knocking their noggins awkwardly. “OW!”

Heaving the manhole cover to the side, Mikey jumps through the air. He tucks his body in to do a quick backflip, crying out a high-pitched “Hoo-wah!”

Mikey stood in hushed amazement, taking in the view of the street they popped out of. He’d only seen places like this on T.V. or in comic books, or while sneaking secret looks through sewer drains. But to stand on the pavement, feeling the dirt and grit beneath his toes, it was something else. He simply couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. 

“This is amazing! Hello dumpster! Hello alley cat! Hello mysterious rainbow-colored puddle!” He hopped and skipped with glee, greeting every object his eyes fell on. 

Eventually, Donnie, Leo, and Raph made their way out of the sewer to join him. They too were taken with the mundane sights around them, amazed at the fact that they were finally above ground. Donnie had already pulled out a crumpled up notepad to scratch down notes. Little observations of the people and buildings he saw. Leo was equally enraptured, following Donnie around as he pointed out various things on the ground. 

“Woah, a used cigarette. Cool!”

“Don’t eat it,” Raph warns. 

The red-clad turtle was trying his best to stay vigilant of his brothers, making sure none of them wandered too far off or ingested something they shouldn’t. He couldn't help but be star-struck as well, however. The ambient sounds of cars passing by and humans talking amongst themselves filled his ears. Raph claps his hands together, getting the others’ attention. 

“Okay, boys. Splinter said we could come up and explore for exactly thirty minutes. Not thirty-one minutes, thirty minutes.” Raph gathered up everyone in a tight huddle, laying down the ground rules. “If any of you mess this up for us–”

“All we have to do is keep a low profile and not die, right?” Leo scoffs.

Mikey nods enthusiastically, siding with Leo. “Easy as pie!”

“I concur. Let us all go our separate ways and reconvene here in a half-hour. Commence the synchronizing of watches.” Donnie readjusts his glasses on the ridge of his nose before hitting a button on his wrist. 

That was all Mikey needed to hear before bounding away, giggling to himself. “Cowabunga!”

Raph was soon left standing by himself as the others followed suit, going off in separate directions. Sputtering, he calls out to them. “W-Wait up! Don’t leave me alone!”

Quickly, he chooses to run after Leo across the street. 

Mikey made a beeline through a nearby alleyway to explore its contents. The smell was strangely worse up here than it was down in the sewers. The pungent scent of garbage made his nose scrunch up in disgust. 

“Nasty. Humans just leave their trash lying out like this?”

Once he gets one last look at the graffiti markings on the brick wall, he flattens himself to the corner of the building to check out the perimeter. There were a couple people walking around, talking on phones and looking somewhat distracted. Taking a chance, Mikey steps out onto the sidewalk, suddenly very nervous. 

The locals didn’t seem too interested in a pre-teenage mutant ninja turtle, not so much as sparing him a passing glance. Mikey twiddles his fingers together, almost waiting for someone to scream out in horror. 

“Huh…” he blinks. “I guess New Yorkers really have seen everything.”

He scans around for a moment, casually people-watching. There were so many humans, and they all looked so different! 

Suddenly, his eyes catch a glimpse of a playground just a couple of yards away. His eyes go wide, sparkling. 

“Omigosh!” Without thinking, he sprints over.

The playground was sizable, seemingly a part of a larger park in the neighborhood. Mikey marveled at the monkey bars, jungle gym, and various slides. He does one more double-take, making sure there was no one else around, before launching himself into the air. 

“Aw, yeah! All mine, baby.”

For the next fifteen minutes or so, Mikey sampled all the playground had to offer. This kind of place was the perfect outlet for all his manic energy. He swung off of every monkey bar, climbed through all the plastic tunnels, and dug through the sandbox for any potential treasures that were hidden away. 

As he buried himself within a sand castle he constructed, Mikey patted himself into a cocoon. “There, perfect.”

“What are you doing?” A tiny voice calls out.

“Hm?”

Mikey turned his head toward the swingset to his left. Somehow, he failed to notice a human girl sitting right beside him. She sat clutching the chains of the swing, letting her foot move herself slightly back and forth. 

“I said, what are you doing? You’re gonna get sand everywhere.”

Mikey laid there, looking up to the sky in deep thought. Only his head was visible, while the rest of his body was buried in the sand. That must be the reason why she wasn’t terrified by the sight of his unusual green skin. 

“I like being buried.” He chirps. 

The girl continued to stare, pushing herself lazily on the swing. “Whatever.”

Mikey turns back and gives her a pleasant smile. He was thankful for the company, even if it was a slightly annoyed human. As he opened his eyes to fully look at her, he felt a sudden tightness in his chest. And it wasn’t just from being trapped in a sand prison. 

Mikey didn’t know how to describe it. He could look at a painting and call it beautiful, or look at the moon up above and say it was enchanting. But the person sitting next to him, looking at him with slight indignation, left him gobsmacked.

She tried to look away and continue to enjoy her swing in peace, but she felt Mikey’s eyes bore into her. 

“Do you want me to leave or something?” She sighs.

“What’s your name?”

She turns back to him, a small frown gracing her charming features. The way her scowl curled to the side was adorable. Every minute detail of her face was drawing Mikey in. 

“What’s your name?”

Suddenly, Mikey sits up and lets the sand fall from his person. “Michael. Angelo. Michaelangelo!”

Her annoyed expression falls away as she takes notice of his shell. The green skin, the bald head, suddenly it clicked. 

“You’re a…?”

Mikey scrambles up, putting his hands out in a placating gesture. “I-I know, it’s weird! Is it the mask? It’s the mask, isn’t it?”

He reaches up to untie it and pull it off of his head. Holding it out before him, Mikey waves it around in her face. “See!”

Scoffing, she bats his hand away. “I mean you’re a turtle!”

Mikey secures his mask back on before giving her another winning smile. He shoots his hand out for a shake. 

“Yup! And you are…?”

“I’m leaving.” She slaps his hand away again, rejecting his friendly gesture. 

Mikey watches as she moves to sit up, heart-broken. His lips tremble slightly as he rubs at his hand. Maybe he was being too presumptuous, but he didn’t really expect to get such a cold welcome his first day up on the surface. 

His eyes search around, desperate to find a reason to make her stay. “Wait! I can push you on the swing? If you want…?”

She stops, looking back at Mikey. After a couple seconds of contemplation, she sits back down.

“I guess that’s fine.”

Instantly, Mikey’s mood does a 180. “Yes!”

Stepping behind her, Mikey places his hands on the chains. He begins to step backward and lift the girl into the air. She gulps, her hands gripping tighter.

“This is kinda high.”

“That’s the best part! Here. We. Go!”

Then, Mikey reels back and lets the swing go. He doesn’t take into account the fact his strength was a little more intense than most, accidentally sending the girl flying.

Screaming, she does a full rotation. Mikey stares on in horror as she does another spin. And another. Eventually, she becomes tied to the top rung of the swing set, bound tightly by the chains. 

“That, uh…might be a little too high?” He chuckles.

“GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!” She wails, wiggling against her restraints. “How did you even do that?!”

Mikey quickly jumps up into the air and lands on the bar. He gives her an apologetic look, feeling like he was in real trouble. 

“Sorry! I’m so, so sorry! Let me just—“

She blinks at him, watching as he untangles her from the swing. “You’re…really strong!”

She grins in spite of herself. Her limbs finally go slack and she’s pulled up into Mikey’s grasp. He holds her for a second before gently setting her back on the ground. 

“I’m really sorry again. I kinda can’t control my own strength yet.”

Mikey hangs his head as he lands on the wood chip surface of the playground. 

She kicks her feet, feeling a little awkward for making such a fuss about it. He looked so genuine, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

“It’s fine…That was actually kind of fun.”

Mikey looks up, hopeful. “It was?”

She nods, holding out her hand. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

Mikey beams, his eyes shining like stars. He wasn’t sure what it was about this girl that was making him so upbeat. Well, more upbeat than he usually was. He launches forward and brings her into a tight hug, shaking her back and forth. 

“Y/N! You’re my first new human friend! The first of many!”

She groans, trying to escape his enthusiastic hold. “Okay, that’s enough!” 

Chucking, he releases her. “Right. Sorry, too much.”

Mikey rubs the back of his head, smiling goofily at her. She flits her eyes down to his mouth, noticing his missing tooth. Without thinking, she covers her mouth. 

“Your teeth.”

Mikey, feeling suddenly very bashful, closes his mouth. “Yeah, I know. My dad says the tooth gap will go away eventually, but…”

The girl blinks, moving her hand away. She didn’t mean to make him embarrassed at all. To Mikey’s shock, she breaks out in quiet laughter. 

“H-Hey!” He shouts, waving his hands around. “That’s not very nice!”

She laughs even harder, moving her hands away from her mouth. Then, Mikey sees it. She was missing her top right canine. 

Blushing, she points up to her teeth. “You’re just like me! I lost this tooth last week. That’s so funny!”

Mikey’s eyes go wide, watching her continue to heartily laugh. Slowly, his lips curl into a smile. He chuckles along with her, his voice steadily growing in volume. 

As the two of them wind down, Mikey’s smile falls away. He never really interacted with a real human before, was this how he was supposed to feel? His stomach was full of butterflies, hands opening and closing out of sheer restlessness. 

“Can I give you something?”

Walking back to lean against the swing, she nods. “Depends.”

Mikey sweats, realizing he didn’t really have anything to give her. He pats his chest, searching for a gift. “I— I’m gonna give you…”

Looking down, a couple of dandelions sprouting out of the corner of the sandbox catches his eye. Mikey quickly picks them from the ground and presents them to her. He accidentally tore them out by the roots, stringy grass and dirt dangling from the flowers. 

“Flowers! You’re supposed to give cute girls flowers!”

“You…think I’m cute?”

Before he can respond, Mikey notices a large clock face against the side of a neighboring building. It had already been a half-hour! Panicking, he shoves them into her hands before running away.

“GOODBYE!” He screeches.

Mikey peels out, sprinting back toward the direction of the manhole cover he emerged from. He stumbles and trips on the wood chips, accidentally getting some in his mouth. 

“Blecch—!”

He scrambles up to continue his ungrateful exit, leaving the girl behind. She sits dumbfounded, staring at the bouquet of dandelions. A small blush colors her cheeks. 

—

You smile to yourself, remembering the day you and Mikey first met. 

You look over to him as the two of you stroll through the same park. A good number of years later, things were relatively unchanged. The playground had a couple of updates, some new equipment. Tonight’s destination, however, was the botanical gardens. Mikey insisted that you accompany him tonight, eager to show you the exhibits.

“And, why couldn’t this have waited until tomorrow again?” You ask.

“Because,” he skips ahead, giving you his signature gap-toothed smile. “There’s no one around at night!”

You fold your hands behind your back, winking at him. “So we’re breaking in.”

“No. We’re sneaking in.” He corrects.

Chuckling, you playfully shove him aside. “You just want an excuse to hang out with me alone, don’t you?”

You close your eyes, confidently walking forward. You hear Mikey sputter and cough, having seemingly been found out. He tries his best to cover up his bashfulness with a cool facade. 

“W-What’s so wrong with some good-natured plant watching between friends? You need a little more culture in your life, and who better to provide it than me.”

Mikey places his thumb and forefinger on his chin, his eyes glinting under the dull moonlight. 

“Uh-huh. Sure,” you scoff. 

You didn’t consider yourself a particularly perceptive person. Especially when it came to matters of deciphering people’s intentions. But, Michael was unfortunately kind of an open book. He wore his heart on his sleeve, the poor guy. 

Even a fool could see that he was head over heels for you. You’re not too sure if Mikey had always had a crush on you, but lately he had made quite an effort to shower you with attention. His texts were more frequent, sending you random online quizzes and songs that you just had to see. Mikey was always pretty touchy-feely with his family and friends, giving out plenty of hugs. He was a very physically intimate turtle, sometimes to your detriment. 

“We’re here!”

His voice rips you from your thoughts and you glance up. 

Before you stood a grand building, composed almost entirely of glass windows. The yard surrounding the gardens were almost a little more impressive, countless hedges and water features decorating the area. 

Mikey slides up next to you, waggling his eyebrows. “Right?”

“Okay, this is pretty cool.” You smirk.

“I know. Allow me to razz my tazz…”

You watch as he backflips into the air and sticks to the exterior of the glass building. How did he do that, you wonder? Mikey feels around the glass panel, looking for the loose edge to wiggle himself into. He finally finds it, knocking his elbow against the window. 

Suddenly, he slides in, letting out a surprised squawk. “WOAH—!”

You cringe hearing him fall through a number of limbs, leaves shaking and vines ripping from the impact. The jungle of foliage inside was dense, so you can’t really see where Mikey lands. You run up to the service door, waiting for him to give you some sort of signal.

“Oh, Michael? Are you dead?” You cup your hands together, calling out to him in a sing-song voice. 

Pressing your face against the door, you strain your ears to listen closely. Silence. You click your tongue in annoyance.

“I’m gonna call Raph.” You slowly reach for your pocket.

Mikey slams his head against the other side of the door, his pleading face squished against the glass. “NO, DON’T!”

“AAAH—! Don’t jumpscare me like that!” You shriek. 

Mikey quickly throws open the door before pulling you in by your shirt collar. Stumbling in, you nearly fall over. You huff indignantly while he lifts you back up on your feet. For such a little guy, he sure was strong. 

“Falling for me already, eh?” He jokes. 

You flick his nose. “In your dreams.”

He awkwardly snickers at you, feeling a little shy about his casual flirtation. Mikey didn’t know if he was coming off as cute or just creepy, unable to gauge your reaction. You were always a little more cool and collected than him, your quick wit and charm rivaling even Leo’s. It was humbling, even a little attractive. He follows you from behind like a love-sick puppy, desperate to impress you. 

The two of you eventually walk into the center of the botanical garden and stand in awe of the plant life. Part of you wishes that Donnie was here to inform you both on each and every plant name, he was full of fun facts like that. But, you were happy just to have Mikey here to yourself. It was a good opportunity to test out a theory you had brewing in the back of your brain. 

“So, what first?” You smile, turning to Mikey. “Lead the way.”

He gives you an even bigger smile, eager to have you on the hook. “Oh! There’s that one stink plant!”

He directs you to the right, walking ahead of you before stopping dead in his tracks. You peek your head over his shoulder, looking around curiously.

“What?”

“I, uh— I forgot we kinda made it into a mutant with a security guard.” He chuckles.

You stare at his face, looking all at once bashful and spacey. Smirking, you edge your head closer to his. You were usually pretty touch-averse, but maybe you could try being more physically intimate with him. Just to see what would happen.

“Maybe that’s for the best. I know you have a very sensitive nose,” you whisper. 

Mikey covertly gulps, caught off guard by your sudden closeness and your low voice in his ear. “Let’s go look at the babbling brook! I think I can hear it…babbling!”

Spinning around, he grabs your hand and drags you along behind him. 

You bite at your lower lip, entertained by his flustered behavior. You hated to admit it, but teasing Mikey was just too much fun. You hold his hand tighter.

“Aww, it’s like a tiny waterfall!” You gush, walking up to stand beside Mikey. “I wonder if there are any fish in here?”

Mikey shakily lets go of you, placing his hands on his hips. “There actually are. Lemme show you!”

You furrow your brows, watching Mikey step into the tiny river. The water led to a larger pond, lilly pads and other aquatic plants scattered about the surface.

“That’s probably a bad idea,” you warn. You follow him along the bank, careful not to step on any of the flowers.

“Relax. I’m a turtle, water is my natural habitat.”

You narrow your eyes. “Don’t Ornate box turtles drown really easily?”

He tosses his head at you, continuing to march forward. “That’s a myth.”

You fold your arms over your chest, meeting his cocky gaze with your unimpressed scowl. 

“Let’s see…I think I saw a fish somewhere around here.” Mikey leans down, moving aside a lily pad to investigate. “Ah-hah! Told ya.”

He shoots back up, holding out an orange-spotted koi fish. It thrashed wildly in his grasp, flapping its tail against his hand. 

Sighing, you walk closer to the edge of the pond. “You’re gonna regret that.”

“I’m putting it right back, okay? Chill—“

Suddenly, a whole army of koi fish swarm around Mikey’s feet in the water. They apparently did not take too kindly to his rude intrusion. You wordlessly watch on as Mikey got practically attacked by a dozen or so fish, their tails repeatedly slapping against his body.

“Woah, hey! Stop that! I’m not your enemy! AAA—!” Mikey tries to run out, lifting his legs high and shaking off a fish that had clamped its jaw onto his foot. 

Your hands grip onto your arms in an attempt to stop yourself from laughing. But, as soon as you see Mikey fall into the water, you break. Cackling, you grab at your sides as Mikey pitifully splashed around in the pond. 

“This is amazing!” You tease. “I’m sending this in the group chat.”

“Help me! I lied, I’m drowning!” Mikey screams, waving his limbs about. 

You hold your phone out and start recording a video, chuckling. “The water’s barely a foot deep.”

The last koi fish gives Mikey a harsh slap across the face, leaving him behind to lie in the water. He looked utterly shocked and defeated. 

Once you’ve gotten all the evidence you need, you stow your phone away and kick off your shoes and socks. You were cruel, but you weren’t that cruel. 

“Okay, I think you’ve had enough.” You roll up the cuffs of your pants and gingerly step into the pond, holding out your hand to Mikey.

Blinking up at you, he scowls. “I could have died back there.”

You purse your lips, resolving to just reach down and pull Mikey up by the edge of his plastron. “Serves you right for disrespecting the pond.”

As you lifted him out of the water, his body was stiff as a board. His face was still screwed into an exaggerated frown. You can’t help but chuckle again at him, wiping off some pond scum that had gotten stuck to his shell. 

“What?” He pouts.

“You’re so cute when you look like that.” You pull Mikey out of the pond, peeking back at his offended expression.

“That’s totally not demeaning.”

Once you both get back onto the path, you give him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, okay? You just have a naturally cute face.”

Your hands drift up to land on Mikey’s face, gently squishing his cheeks. His eyes were still angry, but you could tell from his blush and his wavering frown that you were really testing his resolve. You knew he wasn’t really mad, just embarrassed. It only made him even more cute. 

Mikey stared at you, using almost all of his willpower not to melt into your touch. You had never been so brazen, so comfortable with casually touching him like this. The cheeky way you were looking at him only made him more flustered. Clearing his throat, he dips out of your hold. 

“The succulents are over here.”

Huffing, he marches away. You can only smirk to yourself as you follow behind. Maybe you were teasing him a little too much. You didn’t really care, though. With a pep in your step, you catch up to meet him at the desert flora section. 

You saw a collection of cacti, some towering over your heads, others small and rotund. Mikey shakes off his growing nerves to present them to you. 

“Behold, the pokey plants. As you can see, they are covered in pokey bits.”

Nodding, you sit your chin upon your fist. “Ah, yes. Very pokey indeed.”

The two of you nod to one another in mock-seriousness. You watch as Mikey begins to smile again, and you feel a little relieved. While you quite enjoyed seeing him playfully mad, you can’t deny that you miss seeing him happy. 

Mikey quirks his head to the side, an idea knocking around in his head. “I wonder…”

You cock your head as well. “Wonder what?”

“Dare me to touch it?” He lifts a hand up toward a particularly sharp-looking cactus. 

You shift your eyes from the plant and back to him, cautiously interested. “I won’t stop you.”

“I’m gonna do it,” he warns. 

“Fine. See what happens.” You toss your hand over your shoulder, walking away. This was bound to end well. 

Before you know it, you hear a loud crunching sound behind you. You twist around to find Mikey crumpled over the cactus’s broken trunk, absolutely covered in thorns. His eyes were as wide as saucers, almost in disbelief of his own actions. 

“Michael!” You gasp. “I swear to god.”

Shuddering, he crawls out of the exhibit, moving through the pebbles that laid about. “Pain…I’m in pain.”

You turn your back to him, exasperated with his antics. “I’m not helping you.”

“Don’t need it. I’m perfectly capable of helping myself.” He stands, legs wobbling. He tries to grab at a large spine poking out of his forearm. 

“Ow.” One thorn. 

“Ow.” Another. 

You grumble, listening to Mikey remove the spines one by one. This was just sad. You slowly turn around, watching as he stands there plucking at his arm. Sighing, you decide to be a little more merciful. 

“You’re lucky you have that shell.” 

You find a nearby bench and plant yourself on it. You pat your hand to the seat next to you, beckoning him to sit down. “Come here.”

Mikey quickly pads over to sit in front of you, swinging his legs around the bench. You follow suit and do a once-over. Thankfully, his legs were mostly unharmed, but his upper body and face were covered in barbs. 

“What did we learn?” You sigh, carefully removing all of the larger spines. 

Mikey tries holding back each cry of pain as you pluck them out, his eyes squeezing shut. “I wasn’t trying to throw myself into a cactus, you know. I just tripped.”

“That’s why are you covered in pokey bits?”

“I– Ouch!” He seethes, recoiling away from you. “I was trying to be cool, okay. Aren’t you impressed?”

Chuckling dryly, you move on to the smaller, more difficult barbs. You knew he was just trying to show off, even if it was kind of pathetic. Internally, you frown. No, he wasn’t pathetic. You somehow felt bad for even thinking that. It wasn’t like he was putting on airs, or being fake. He was actually pretty genuine. 

“Not impressed. Just slightly concerned.”

Mikey sniffs, feeling a little disheartened with your reply. “Sorry.”

You flit your eyes up for a moment. “Why do you think you have to impress me? I already think you’re cool.”

He turns his head away slightly. “I don’t know? I just want to.”

Mikey was usually pretty good about verbalizing his emotional desires. But for some reason, he felt so confused. 

After you pick out the last barb from his cheek, you toss them all away into the bushes. “There, all done.”

You were about to stand back up before you felt Mikey grab at your upper arm. You freeze, looking down at him. 

“I just– Sometimes I feel like I need to show off. Show you that I’m cool and strong, I guess? I’m not super buff like Raph, or smooth like Leo. And I’m definitely not smart like Donnie.”

You move to sit back down, staring at him. You don’t know how to react to his sudden confession, simply opting to remain silent. 

Mikey lifts his head to look you in the eye, a sad smile tugging at his lips. “I just want to make you feel safe.”

You frown. “You think I don’t feel safe?”

Shaking his head, Mikey bails on his own admission. “No, I don’t know. Nevermind.”

In an instant, you get an idea. You rummage around in your bag to pull out your old, worn sketchbook that you carried around everywhere. You leaf through the pages to land in the middle. “You recognize this?”

Mikey blinks away a tear that threatened to accumulate in his eye before looking over. “Your sketchbook?”

“No, this.” You reach in and pull out a couple of pressed flowers. They were shriveled and brown with age, but they were very clearly dandelions. 

Mikey’s sad frown melts away as he leans forward. “Those are…”

“The flowers you gave me. When I first met you, I was actually kind of freaked out. I just remember thinking, ‘Why was this weird turtle harassing me?’” You allow yourself to smile, recalling the memory. 

You hear Mikey chuckle quietly, his eyes softening. 

“But, you were obviously just a huge dork. Sweet, but still a dork. I took those weeds you gave me and put them in here.”

You carefully place them back into your sketchbook, closing it. “I carried them with me all the time, so I wouldn’t feel so alone, y’know? If I ever felt scared, I would just clutch onto this and pretend you were there.”

Mikey sat up straighter, letting your soft words wrap him up into a warm blanket. He felt so safe, so secure in your presence. 

“Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it too often. Because you were always there, somehow.”

Finally, you put your sketchbook back into your bag and look up. You give Mikey a lopsided smile, watching him look at you with quiet amazement. Reaching up, you place your hand upon his flushed cheek, bathing in his warmth. 

Mikey was speechless. Words couldn’t begin to describe what he was feeling right now. He unintentionally allows his head to nuzzle up against your hand, practically sighing. 

“You okay?”

“My skin kind of hurts.” His voice was oddly low, laced with a shy sweetness. 

Leaning forward, you debate with yourself whether or not you want to tease him even more. He looked so vulnerable right now, you wouldn’t dare ruin a rare moment like this. Humming, you indulge yourself and decide to place a soft kiss upon his cheek. You didn’t want to scare him off. 

Mikey’s skin tingles with excitement, electric sparks surging through his body. “Hahh…”

“Am I hurting you,” you whisper. You weren’t sure if he was hissing out in pleasure or in pain. 

He immediately responds. “No, you feel really nice.”

Angling your head lower, you slot your lips gently against his. The kiss is chaste and short, but you feel your heartbeat thrum in your ears. The low light of the night sky illuminated the two of you, making Mikey’s skin practically glow. Moving an inch or two away, you admire his features. 

Mikey sighs, his eyes fluttering open. You meet his soft gaze with your own. After a charged couple of seconds, the two of you break out into laughter. His head falls onto the bend of your shoulder, his breath heavy. 

“I can’t believe you did that.” He exhales shakily. 

“Pull out nearly a hundred cactus spines from your body? Yeah, I can’t believe it either.” You chuckle. 

In a bold move, Mikey smiles against your neck before placing a kiss on your hot skin. You shudder, feeling his teeth brush up against your pulse. 

“Woah-hoh-hoh! Ouch!” You tear yourself away, flapping your hands at his face. “Your teeth are sharper than I thought.”

Mikey gives you a cheeky smile, his tooth-gap on full display. “Sorry, I’m kinda pokey.”

He feels his heart swell in his chest, his limbs going limp and gooey. He wondered if he could even stand up. Seemingly reading his mind, you reach over and hook your arms underneath him. In an impressive move, you heave Mikey up and carry him bridal-style. 

“H-Hey! What are you doing?” He cries out, blushing furiously.

“Carrying you back. Because I can,” you smirk. 

Out of sheer embarrassment, Mikey covers his face. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Neither did I!”

And with that, you make your way back to the exit, giggling with Mikey as you bask in your newfound closeness. You hope that he felt safe with you, safe enough to let you into his heart just a little bit more. 

[yinyuedijun]

hiiiii i have not read or seen windbreaker my only interactions with it are bc some of my moots r into it now so ive read some fics and i saw tokyo vice on my dash and i was really pulled in by the summary so i read both parts and sincerity and the little prequel piece and oh my god it’s so good. i love the humor, the narrative voice is so witty. suo’s character is so intriguing bc as much as the reader loves and knows him there’s still so much going on that we can only guess at and i felt like that was communicated really well. i enjoyed the fact that sincerity and the prequel let us see their relationship at a different time and how we got to where they are in the present. im really interested in the reader and i felt like u did such a good job of weaving in the comedy to make some of her internal dialogue more lighthearted while still developing her emotional state really well. plus the smut was insane like 11/10 no notes. when the reader said she was excited for pussy inspections >>> like fuck yea me too!!! but anyways i loved the details we learn about her and how her fantasy is have really mundane romantic and vanilla sex. it really speaks to just how fucked up her life has been to the point where her biggest romantic dream is just to have regular sex with the man she loves. like ugh the angst interspersed with the comedy and smut was just chef's kiss. AND THAT ENDING??? WHEN HE THINKS SHE'S ASLEEP. like that did tug at my heartstrings especially when he talked about what their old friends think of him :(( and how if he was a better man he'd let her go. i read another organized crime x civilian fic for a different fandom a few years ago and it ended with the civilian person leaving his partner/his partner letting him go bc the deeper the partner he got into organized crime the more unhinged he became and how his mental state began affecting the civilian. thats a really condensed way of explaining but the events were crazy and it had me crying and screaming every chapter but that's something that ive never seen in other yakuza/gang/organized crime aus so i thought it was really cool to see how that is something that suo thinks about and has to come to terms with now that its been a few years and he can look back at his behavior.

but anyways i really really loved it and im gonna watch/read windbreaker as soon as i can now :)) so thank u for the wonderful fic 🙂‍↕️ and is tokyo vice over? i dont think i saw a completed tag on it on ur masterlist so i wanted to ask if u were leaving the world open

ANONNN I LOVE U SO MUCH TRULY THANK YOU!! 🥹 tokyo vice was an absurd self-indulgent project so I'm so very happy you gave it a shot despite not being into wbk!!! I must confess that it's wildly different from canon LOL but I do adore the canon series nevertheless, and I hope you enjoy it :-) (let us know if you do!!!)

I can't thank you enough for sending such juicy feedback abt tokyo vice, especially about the reader! I did find it somewhat stressful trying to balance the comedy of her narration with the horny and angsty and deranged events of the plot, so I'm glad that you liked that aspect of the fic !!! 🥹 and yeah despite all the comedy, she really is a traumatized meow meow. but it's okay, she can now have the normal sex of her dreams with the love of her life - as long as she can survive 4 months of orgasm denial before their wedding 😭

and LOL I love yandere charas with self-awareness so in general I love writing arcs where they love the reader enough to understand that they should let them go. the plot you're describing is sooooo up my alley and I think suo would absolutely have that thought process if the reader were even remotely mentally normal. unfortunately she is equally insane. I guess that is the tragedy of it for suo - he knows that he can never get better, and he also knows that as long as they are together, she can never get better either. fortunately for him, she could not care less ♥️

I do think tokyo vice is complete, but I do want to finish that sakura wip at some point and also write about suo and mc's sex life after they get together (which is very nasty premaritally and then really vanilla and emotional on their wedding night). I want to finish this kitsune suo pwp first though and finish my ffg commitments too 😭

anyway sorry for yapping so much HAHAH I'm just so happy that you commented on all these aspects of the fic!! thank you for reading and for sending such a wonderful ask 🥺💗

[nitewrighter]

After that mirrorwatch ask I sent it finally got me spiraling back again to your fankid stuff mun!! And I know its been a hot minute but may I ask for Rei, Aedan, Rajeev and Akasha drabbles and interactions? :000

I just now went over their polycule and the Reidan & Rakasha antics again ahhhhh its been so longgg and I can feel myself missing these four so much now!!

Rei: Do you think you, personally, changed history?

Rajeev: *wary* Guys...

Akasha: ...I mean it's not like I would have any way to tell, would I? If history was already what it was because I changed it, I wouldn't know I was the one who was supposed to change it, or even how my interference would change it. I just... wasn't anywhere long enough to have a context on how I was affecting it, if I was affecting it at all.

Rei: I mean... I know being displaced in time sucks in general, but it really sucks that you never got to meet a cool historical figure.

Aedan: Or be in a time that really interested you.

Akasha: *snort* I can assure you, I wasn't exactly hoping for celebriy cameos in that time.

Aedan: It's just like... you were bombarded with just... the overwhelming mundanity of human history, and given the passage of time, that should be a comfort, but at the same time, it could not be a mundanity to you.

Rajeev: *nervously* Look, I don't think we really have to--

Akasha: *touches his arm* It's fine. I think the thing is, we always want the things that hurt us to mean something, to have helped us grow in some ways--like... what are we if we can't grow from our pain? But right now, I don't mind talking about it, making sense of it in a safe space, but I also am fine with this being the time for me to grow. This being the time for me to heal. I don't need to have... impacted history for me to feel like I'm where I need to be right now.

Rajeev: *wibbling lip*

Akasha: Really. I think you freak out about the teleporter stuff more than I do. You do know I cut your eye out of your skull, right?

Rajeev: YOU WERE IN TELEPORTER HELL FOR FIVE YEARS.

Akasha: And I didn't even get to meet Genghis Khan. Tragic. You guys all pick really weird aspects of that to get hung up on, honestly.

---Flashback---

Edvard Munch in 1892 Oslo, Norway: Goodness... the sky over the fjord is unusually orange this evening... this, along with my grief over my sister's recent commitment to a sanitarium fills me with a roiling urge that I cannot articulate. It's... almost a primal helplessness.

Akasha: *blips into existence shrilly and hysterically screaming for 11 seconds, clasping her hands to the sides of her face before blipping out again*

Edvard Munch: Yeah. Something like that. I have to paint something.

[ticklystuff]

hellooo

can i request lee!diluc with ler!tartaglia? chilluc has been on my mind for a while so~~

ah, for the spots, maybe hips/tummy? but anything you feel like writing i'm sure will come out amazing ~

send no more, thx!

wc: ~1.2k

hewwo hewwo, i think i struggled getting their dynamic down, but i hope this turned out ok. ty both for requesting them! also hi nim ur one of my fave writers here asdklfj

---

"You nervous?"

Yes.

"No," Diluc quickly scoffed, but the shakiness in his voice had already given himself away, prompting his head to turn to the side and avoid the amused glint in Childe's eyes.

"Hmm, I don't think I believe you." Normally, the cheeky tone would be enough to set Diluc off and he'd have no problem throwing Childe off of him in the moment, but the subtle eagerness laced into his words sent a shudder through Diluc's body and he could only respond with an apprehensive cough.

"I'd hate to disappoint you, but I don't think you'll get what you're looking for here," Diluc's voice trailed off into a whisper, a feeble attempt at dissuading Childe, though it honestly felt like he was trying to convince himself. He wasn't even sure what there was to be afraid of because surely there'd be no way he'd still be ticklish after all these years.

"Well, why don't we check together, just to make sure," Childe winked, his one hand that pinned Diluc's wrists above his head seemingly growing tighter as he spoke. 

It was futile to shake Childe off at this point and Diluc inwardly groaned, knowing full well that he himself was mostly to blame. The harbinger was an.. interesting person, to say the least, oftentimes displaying personality traits that Diluc would not associate with such a high-ranking member of the Fatui.  The boundless curiosity mixed with his stubbornness and naivete more often than not led to trouble that Diluc would inevitably have to drag him out of, but this time, there'd be no one to keep Childe in place, as Diluc himself was now the focus of Childe's current interest. 

He only had himself to blame, however, because had he not scrambled at the other's attempt at poking him, Diluc might not have piqued Childe's attention on the matter. This only unleashed more potential tickle attacks that Diluc would take care to avoid, but Childe's persistence grew more frequent over time to the point that Diluc constantly had to watch his back for even mundane things, like whenever the two would get dressed together in the morning. "Y'know, most people that actually aren't ticklish would just say so," Childe would often tease him and Diluc knew him to be right, but he could never bring himself to just say "no" because Diluc didn't even know if he was ticklish himself.

His train of thought was broken by the sudden presence hovering just above his stomach and he made the mistake of taking a glance in front of him. Although Childe's free hand still hung freely just a mere inch from its intended target, the way his fingers twitched sent a shiver down Diluc's spine, almost like they were antsy to finally make contact, and Diluc couldn't help but suck in his stomach, as if withdrawing by just the tiniest of space would save him.

"Uh-uh, none of that, now," Childe mused, using his fingers to trail up Diluc's stomach, dragging the white t-shirt up in the process. Diluc flinched at the sudden touch, feeling the cool air on his stomach that contrasted with the warmth of Childe's hand. Light grazes from his fingertips soon awakened the butterflies in Diluc's stomach and he couldn't help but shift in place with the way Childe teased at his navel, prompting Diluc to quickly bite at his cheek, forcing his mouth closed. These little reactions seemed to enrapture Childe and Diluc disliked the way his eyes twinkled more with each passing moment.

"Ticklish?" Childe giggled to himself, as if he already knew the answer. His fingers continued to drum at the sides of Diluc's navel, keeping the other on edge.

"Sh-Shut it," he managed to breathe, the corners of his mouth slowly upturning the longer Childe went on. His wrists strained under Childe's hold and a small whimper slipped past his lips as he waited in anticipation for the other to finally strike, feeling each motion become more pronounced. When he could no longer take it anymore, Diluc shut his eyes, bracing for the worst.

It never came, though.. at least, how he expected it would.

"HahHMMPH!!" An unsightly sound, one that Diluc would normally be embarrassed about, but it was a product of his best efforts to contain himself. The tummy teases simply acted as a diversion for Childe's true intentions, throwing Diluc off by targeting one of the vulnerable hips instead. Had his eyes stayed open, maybe he would've been able to better prepare himself for the surprise attack, but through gritting his teeth, he was able to at least stifle the flow of giggles, though, the way his hips swayed and jittered to Childe's insistent prodding seemed to amuse the other.

"Almost got you." The sing-songiness to his voice certainly didn't help with the current situation and certainly added to Diluc's struggles, much to his chagrin. His face continuously puffed with air with each jab and prod to the sensitive hips, a cycle that lacked any sort of end. 

"How long do you think till you'll break?"

He refused to answer that, partially to deny Childe the satisfaction of a strangled answer, partially because if Diluc so dared open his mouth now, there was a good chance he'd just combust into laughter. The only option, of course, was to shamefully turn his face into his arm, hoping that he could hold off till Childe started to grow bored, though that would require a miracle with how determined the harbinger could be.

The sudden release of his wrists subverted that notion, however, and for a brief moment, Diluc thought that finally Childe had decided to call it quits, only for his expectations to be flipped over once more and that extra hand to make its way over to the unoccupied hip, tag teaming alongside the other hand that had been teasing Diluc this whole time. The two hands at his hips were enough for the older man to sit up, bellowing out a shriek as he tried to stop the onslaught that Childe brought down on him, feeling every ounce of tickling from each squeeze and poke.

"There we go," Childe exclaimed smugly, fighting back Diluc's attempts to push him away, hands focusing on those hips. With each pinch came new bouts of ceaseless laughter that rang throughout the room.

"OKAY- OKAHAHAHAY! I-I'M TICKLIHIHISH!"

"Hmmm, I'm not sure I'm convinced yet," Childe teased, his voice laced with mischief. "I think we're gonna have to- oh!"

Diluc breathed faintly, heavy with each exhale, but with his wrists freed, it was no trouble at all grabbing both of the offending hands, holding them captive in front of him. He shot daggers at the other, to which Childe responded with a cheeky smile.

"Soooo, someone's ticklish," Childe said with a head tilt, as if he didn't just put Diluc through a brief moment of hell. 

"Yes, I am," Diluc responded flatly, loathing the triumphant look that Childe proudly displayed. "Now, I wonder if you might be the same." It was now Diluc's turn to smirk, watching as he wiped the smugness from Childe's face, the quick shift to a pitiful pout unmoving to him. "Surely, a harbinger wouldn't be a ticklish like me, right?"

"I- well, I-I don't know- W-Wahahait, Diluhuhuc! Nohoho! NohohHOHOHO!"

[trickstarbrave]

exploring elder scrolls lore is a lot like playing historian and theologian. its interesting, complex, and contradictory in ways many media tries and fails to create realism. it is told primarily through unreliable narrators, in game texts that contradict each other as much as they agree, with varying opinions and perspectives you are tasks to sort through and come to your own conclusion on often enough. sure, skyrim drops the ball sending you on infinite annoying fetch quests and plots that feel like they dont even effect the world around you and killing a god has about the same weight as getting a cool sword, but there is still some meat behind the bland surface they couldn’t quite scrape out despite their best efforts.

the problem with it i find, like most fantasy stories and epic tales, is that is male focused.

“but brave” people cry “female characters do things all the time!” this is true, we do actually have more substantial female characters in the elder scrolls who are just as important as their male counterparts. sure their male counterparts are usually not important at all, but there is equality in there. and you can be bi presumably because bethesda couldnt figure out how to code any other sexuality in the game. but what i mean by “male focused” is that most of the lore and mythos we get concerns male heroes, battles, and war. there are politics sure, but mostly things like religion and battles. the importance of textiles is never considered, different cuisines are afterthoughts, fashion is relegated mostly to armor and cheap trinkets for you to enchant. if it does not exist to further grand tales of combat, is largely ignored, and this is increasingly more and more the norm in the elder scrolls.

it isnt entirely non-existent. if you go looking you can find bits and pieces. but most things presumed to be “women’s work” are largely ignored despite making up most of daily life. weaving isn’t a skill you can learn when historically we do see people wear armor made of linen, but you can sure mine and melt down metal, something also mundane and usually boring, because blacksmithing and mining are seen as a traditionally masculine jobs. so saying “ugh no one wants to spin thread” doesn’t exactly hold up when its equally as boring to make dozens of iron ingots and iron daggers to level up smithing.

it’s also just a shame because (and this is touched upon more in older games at least) what clothes people wear can tell a lot about their culture, background, and class. it could be used for stealth, for blending in, and if you are dressed incorrectly you look like and are treated like an outsider. how food varies region by region shows what food they have available to them, what they produce, what goods are more expensive, and also can talk about background and class. riften and solitude should not be eating largely the same food just with different mead. nor should they be mostly dressed the same. these things add richness and complexity to a world that is now largely ignored because who gives a shit just pick up a weapon and fight that’s all that really matters.

skyrim in lore has sheep. of course it does, because they live in a cold climate with a limited growing season, they have devote more time for crops to feed their people and not on textile crops like you might see in warmer climates with longer growing seasons. yet you dont see any sheep, just goats. you don’t see shepherds, or hear about them. you dont see piles of wool, or women spinning thread by the fire or weaving. you don’t see them dyeing yarn or fabric or sewing clothes. even if you don’t want to make your player do it as a game mechanic you could have it be present in the world as a logical part of the setting just as you have npcs working in fields. instead clothes just magically appear in chests and other loot cabinets and are relatively worthless except to enchant despite fabric being a very expensive, labor intensive product to make. it just pops into existence anonymously, largely unimportant and uninteresting. they always say very little, and mean nothing unless you want to play dress up or enchant for a spell caster.

it’s not like the designers have never had to think about these things before. they have, at least subconsciously. fabric is still very clearly heavy and wool. it contains classic pop culture “viking” imagery (including some that are uhhhh very not historically accurate like men wearing women’s broaches), but that’s about it. why they dress like this is unanswered. how their ancestors dressed isn’t really important. how they vary from location to location is also not important, because large swaths of land obvious wear and eat the exact same thing, that’s why there is no regional food or styles of dress across all of europe /sarcasm

anyways throw a dog a fucking bone every now and then i am tired of constantly looking for lore that isnt about fighting and killing and breaking shit. what did they wear and why, how did jewelry evolve, what dyes do they have accessible to them and how rare are they, fabric weaving, gossiping, give me it back so the world feels slightly more alive. 

[pawmesan]

With the next episode about to have some good old angst and us having a better idea of what the title refers to, I wanna take a moment to focus on Satoshi. It's really interesting to me that the next episode title ,"Pokémon! I'm glad I met you!", is voiced by him, especially now that we know the focus of the episode and that he's definitely gonna continue being in the series (and if you wanna believe certain leaks, so will Gou). In other words, while the title certainly also refers to him, Koharu and Gou reminiscing about their adventures with Pokémon, the main focus is definitely about Gou wanting to go on a journey, but he assumes Satoshi will tell him to go ahead because that's just the way his supportive friend is. Because he thinks he's not as important to Satoshi as Satoshi is to him, probably.

And this title, being spoken by Satoshi, is meant to tell us already that that's not true. And it's been shown throughout the series already, even if Satoshi seems to be less open about how much he likes Gou specifically. That's what I want to talk about in this post as a refresher of sorts for next Friday, so sorry for the long introduction lol.

First things first, their meeting on Lugia of course. They had a lot of staring at each other in that episode, but for Satoshi especially I think that moment on the flower field, when Gou talks about wanting to see the world and all sorts of Pokémon, is important. You'll notice in that moment he sits up and his desire to show that world to Gou has sparked. He realised that this boy shared this big desire with him. And while at that moment they're nowhere near close friends, their mutual interest in each other is definitely there. And interest is something Satoshi keeps for Gou, like in the following episode, after they had their little fight, when Satoshi closes in curiously because Gou knows much better how to use technology than him, even if it's just knowing how to ask your phone stuff to actually get a useful answer about a construction site.

Then in further episodes, we again and again have Satoshi eager to show cool things to Gou. Be it experiencing battles in the Flute Cup episode, how to catch Pokémon in that first catching ep or meeting his family and Alolan Pokémon later on. Satoshi had been a mentor showing newbies how to do stuff before, namely when May and Dawn started out back then. But unlike with them, their relationship starts on mutual grounds. Satoshi doesn't see himself as above him, he's more like just a kid wanting to show someone all kinds of cool things they know to get closer to them. If you remember your own friend-making process back in elementary, you'd tend to try to impress each other and show each other really mundane stuff (ex. Satoshi showing Gou how he eats his food on the train in the Scorbunny catch ep because he thinks it's tastier that way). You're equally eager to try out the things the other shows you (ex. in the same scene Gou shows him that ripping the bread with your hands first is easier and Satoshi tries it out right away). I think that's something that makes them especially cute together in the beginning, because the anime did a great job at portraying two young boys getting to know each other and becoming close friends. That's probably my favourite part of the ship too, because it just feels so real, like you're watching their relationship develop in real time.

In the first Alola episode I think we see for the first time how Gou misinterprets how Satoshi feels towards him. And I can't even blame him with his low self esteem and all, but still. He tells Kaki that Satoshi has no interest in supporting him, that dreams are something you reach on your own. Satoshi doesn't correct him, but we see his expression and we saw even to that point that that's not true. He DID support Gou as much as he could and Gou supported him in return even. And they're not stopping anytime soon.

Later in the Mewtwo episode, when Gou talks about how the future lies in his hands, Satoshi joins in and says "OUR hands, right?". That's huge, because he openly says he wants to share a future with Gou. I don't think he's ever even been that invested in another person. And that's not just super gay gay homo gay, but also already gives an answer for the upcoming episode. Beneath his supportiveness of letting his friend go when he wants to go, because Satoshi is just like that, his true wish is to be with Gou. During the Darkest Day arc, when they're separate and he's in that hotel room and says "I wish Gou was here right now", you see it again. He might not voice it to Gou himself - and that's kinda his mistake - but he absolutely loves being with him and wants to stay together with him.

Much much later, right before his battle with Dande, when Gou has to leave on short notice and won't see the battle, you see the disappointment all over Satoshi's face. But again, he is a supportive person, especially for someone he really cares about. Even though it hurts him, he doesn't want to stand in the way of Gou's dream and lets him go without complaints. Same with previous Project Mew missions btw, where Satoshi sees it as obvious to tag alongside Gou, no matter if he actually helps or not. You see his disappointment again, the one time where Asahi doesn't let him join during the battle royale (good idea lol Satoshi would obliterate everyone there) and especially the one time Gou says he wants to go on the Regi mission alone.

Letting someone go despite wanting to be with them 24/7 is probably the greatest sign of love. Satoshi loves Gou so much, he puts his desires over his own. What he doesn't realise is that due to his lack of resistance (much unlike Gou's reaction when Satoshi stood him up to hang out with Dande lol), Gou misinterprets it as Satoshi not valuing him as much.

In other words, tomorrow's episode had a lot of buildup. It was bound to happen sooner or later if the writers were to stick with the narrative they built. And they did, so I need this moment to point out how much I love that. I think anipoke is oftentimes... far away from the pinnacle of writing lol because it's bound so much to marketing and quantity that the storytelling really suffers from it. But now with Satogou's relationship, they absolutely took advantage of those boundaries and I'm all here for that.

Long story short: We know Gou really, reeeaally likes Satoshi, that's clear as day. It got proven in last Friday's episode AGAIN when he thinks about smiling for Satoshi and then confronts Mew, thanking it for letting him meet him among things and directly referencing all the way back to his gay awakening™ in the Ivysaur episode.

Because Gou's case is so glaringly obvious, Satoshi's feelings for him are kinda overshadowed, both for Gou and the audience. And if that was on purpose it worked really well, because I've seen a lot of people think Satoshi will definitely let Gou go like he did with previous companions. But we know he had a hard time parting ways with previous companions too, so I think this episode will absolutely subvert our expectations when Satoshi, for the first time, will be open about how he feels and ask his buddy to stay with him. And Gou will be just as dumbfounded by that reaction as the audience.

Thanks for reading my Satogou essay once again gjcjxvxv 💕

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Mornings at the beach

@sasumimo

🫧🍉🩳 (bubbles, watermelon, swim trunks)

Fun fact, this is inspired by a really treasured childhood memory I have <3 my heart is so warm after writing this out now

Lan Wangji feels inexplicably emotional as he bites into his triangle-shaped piece of watermelon, the silly mermaid tooth pick lodged in it for decoration nearly making him lose it.

But he swallows back his tears and decides to focus on the fresh flavor of the fruit instead - he knows this isn't a place for tears. He's not even sad! In fact, he feels the opposite - he's so happy it threatens to burst out of him.

Wei Ying and A-Yuan chase one another on the sea shore, blowing soap bubbles at each other, laughing so loudly that the grumpy old ladies trying to tan in the morning sun glare at them. They're wearing matching swim trunks, blue with these cartoon sharks on them, and Lan Wangji almost wishes he had a pair too.

They just didn't have it in his size. Oh well, there have to be downsides to everything.

Lan Wangji watches them, and his heart is so full he feels as though love is ready to spill out of him at any second. He's only ever used to dream of moments like these - soft, domestic, simple, a life so loving and so uncomplicated, beautifully mundane.

His life, Wei Ying's life, even A-Yuan's life - neither have had the luxury of "simple". There has always been something, someone standing a way, some cruel turn of fate that stole their dreams from right under their fingertips. For a while, Lan Wangji thought happiness to be impossible, an unattainable goal.

But now, he looks on at his family playing on the seashore, and he knows he has attempted the impossible with them and reached it. It's a feeling that cannot be described unless you've felt it, a mix of peace, safety, comfort and purpose, a beautiful amalgamation of all that is good in the world.

Lan Wangji quickly dries his eyes so that neither Wei Ying, nor their son notice how they're a bit shinier than usual - and busies himself with preparing snacks. He' s packed a large picnic basket full goodies before they left their beach house this morning - watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, an assortment of sweets, some sandwiches and, of course, plenty of water and alcohol for Wei Ying.

It's a bit of a struggle keeping everything cool now that their cooler has decided to refuse to do its job, but Lan Wangji is a resourceful man, and so everything is still fresh and ice cold. He doubts any of the foods and drinks will last long enough to get hot anyway - his family gets very hungry in the mornings.

And he seems to have been right on time, his husband and his son racing one another towards their beach towels, plopping next to Lan Wangji and digging into the food with abandon.

"Eat slowly." He chides, but it falls on deaf ears as his dearly loved stuff their cheeks with treats.

He sighs, fond and exasperated as he sips at his green tea and digs through the beach bag for some sun screen. "A-Yuan, after you're done eating, you need to put sunscreen on."

The boy makes a displeased face and tries hiding behind Wei Ying as he munches on a sandwich.

"Wei Ying, you need to as well."

He makes the same displeased face, and Lan Wangji can't help but smile at that. They're both so adorable - but they won't talk him out of sunscreen.

"It's still early, the sun isn't even hot right now." A-Yuan tries. "I hate that thing, it feels like slime."

"Didn't you like slime?" Lan Wangji replies, raising a challenging eyebrow. "If your interest has run out, we can always donate your slime collection to-"

"No, no, slime is still great! Just... Not on my skin... Baba, help me out here!"

Wei Ying shrugs as he bites into a piece of watermelon. "Sorry, little radish, there's nothing I can do. It's better to be slimy than burnt."

"Then why don't you like sunscreen either?!"

"Look at this child, talking back to his parents!" Wei Ying fakes offense. "Lan Zhan, are you hearing this?"

"Mn. A-Yuan has a point."

"Lan Zhan! Traitor!"

A-Yuan sticks his tongue out at Wei Ying, and promptly gets up to run when Wei Ying makes a scandalized noise and comes up after him.

Lan Wangji laughs, watching them raise sand up in their wake, and finds himself suddenly drawn to one of the little soap bubble containers.

He hasn't played with one ever since his mother died. It feels healing to do it now.

The bubbles dance in the light breeze just as beautifully as his family's laughter fills the air.

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, SPRING BROKEN SPECIAL - THOUGHTS

A while back, it became pretty clear that the abundant specials IDW has been releasing for the past year have had a certain... "commonality" about them. Endless Summer, A Very Chaotix Halloween, Winter Jam - the Four Seasons theming read loud and clear. Now, up until a couple months ago, I'd assumed the 900th Adventure Special was meant to be the stand-in for Spring in this lineup, so I was a bit surprised when Spring Broken was announced to round the seasonal specials off. I was interested to see what kind of send-off they'd give this little gaggle of stories.

This time around, we have pencils by Adam Bryce Thomas and colors by Leonardo Ito. These two are a really great combo, as I think Ito's emphasis on simple, soft color palettes compliments the very manga-esque style Adam brings to the table. This style, however, leaves me a little confused as to why he, of all artists, was the one pulled for this story.

ABT tends to be at his best when working on big, over-the-top action sequences. His work really sells the sense of adrenaline the series is trying to convey in its tensest moments. That being said, the story here is... fairly mundane? The characters spend a day at the fair and solve a mystery about flowers. Heck, the entire last couple pages are entirely dedicated to showing the characters enjoying the attractions once all is said and done.

There's not really a ton here in the way of high-stakes plot that would really give Adam a chance to shine.

That being said, there's still enough here that you can see his art style noticably developing a bit in a manner akin to Evan Stanley's. Namely in the way he draws Sonic himself.

It might just be my imagination, here, but I could swear Sonic's quills are longer and come to a more distinct point than the way Adam usually draws them. We know Evan has been taking strides to incorporate elements of official 2D Sonic art into her artstyle, perhaps this is a sign that Adam has been doing the same. Beyond that, I think I'm noticing some more fun and stretchy facial expressions on some of these characters, too. When it comes to the way faces are drawn, I've always found that ABT has a tendency to stay pretty on-model, but here I'm seeing a bit more expressive warping of the facial proportions than I'd expect out of Adam.

Where Adam really knocks it out of the park here, though, is with the background character designs.

Adam's always good at drawing up unique OCs, and there are tons of 'em here. Having so many characters with so many looks and still having a consistent style to them all goes a long way toward helping the world feel just a little more lived in. Another cool bit of background work he contributed is this central figure that pops up in a few places around the festival.

Also I just noticed that Cream and Vanilla are here. Neato.

When asked about this figure on Twitter, ABT said that she's intended to be a sort of Nature Spirit, and that the festival pays reverence to her. She's never mentioned in the story, but it's a neat little detail to see the more spiritual side of this world's cultures.

As I said before, the story, written by Josh Trujillo, is not too incredibly exciting. The majority of the plot centers around the mystery behind the annual Flower Contest, which itself is really three mysteries, all of which are wrapped up pretty quickly. Really, it seems to be less about the mystery, and more about how these characters spend their free time in a sort of slice-of-life fashion. This is fine, and it shows us some neat character interactions we don't normally get to see, like Jewel and Espio or Amy and Nite, but it's also something we've been getting a lot of lately.

It almost makes me wonder, with the amount of miniseries and specials they've been putting out there recently, if it wouldn't be possible, and maybe a better use of resources, to just run a dedicated sister series devoted to telling side stories like Sonic Universe did for Archie.

I'm not the first person to make this point, but perhaps then we could get more big, exciting plots full of stakes and gravitas in the main book. Who knows.

All in all, Spring Broken didn't particularly blow me away. I'd say it's a nice break from the norm but... it's not. It's exactly the kind of story we've frankly been getting in surplus as of late. I'm ready for things to move again, ready for the non-stop, blood-pumping action of Sonic the Hedgehog! There are some cute moments here and there that I do appreciate, but I just wish they could have come at a different time.

Issue #70 drops in about 22 hours for me, so with any luck, that will scratch my itch for more exciting Sonic stories for a bit.

'Til then, thanks for reading!