#well there's probably still some content if i wanted to i haven't maxed out my sisyphus relationship yet

[ettadunham]

i 100%d hades!!

[lovemomhatepolice]

inCHident - charles leclerc

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pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader

warnings: drunk! reader and Kelly, English is my second language!

type: fluff (funny? i hope so)

word count: 1k

summary: there is nothing funnier than you and your good friend Kelly Piquet, with whom you imitate your partners after alcohol and their famous action of 11 years ago...

more content: formula 1 masterlist, charles leclerc masterlist, max verstappen masterlist

“You know what?” You laughed, uncertainly walking down the stairs hand in hand with your boyfriend Charles.

“I'm listening to you, baby,” the man replied, holding you carefully by the elbow and waist.

Your head was spinning. The amount of alcohol on that day probably overcame you too much, or at least at that moment. Partying with Formula One drivers after races was something you loved. That atmosphere, that closeness of everyone together, the successful partying… well, and your beloved girls who proudly stood by their boyfriends as you did.

“You're a good boy,” you grinned, squeezing his hand. “Really, I've never had a better one in my life.”

Charles giggled under his breath, well aware of your condition. Ay, it wasn't the first time he'd seen you in it, and it probably wouldn't be the last either.

“Well, in that case I'm glad,” he replied, helping you up the last flight of stairs at Max and Kelly's temporary lodging for this trip.

That's where the two of you held your after-party after a good partying at the club. You didn't often do this, as mostly everyone was already tired after the fun at the first place, but today quite a few of you still had a lot of energy in you and you definitely couldn't let it go.

“But really Charles.” you said, stopping in front of the stairs.

You were then standing in a place somewhat isolated from the room where all the rest who had come with you were sitting. They were not all drivers, on the contrary, you ended up with about ten people. The rest simply let go of further fun and either returned by plane to their homes or to their hotel rooms.

That's why hardly anyone could catch the fact that you managed the “bathroom” task, which earlier caused a lot of laughter. Leclerc just didn't want to let you go up the stairs alone, and heck knows - you could still fall down them in those heels.

“Really what?” he laughed, grabbing you by the waist the moment you threw your arms around his neck.

“You really are a good boyfriend. If it wasn't for you, I probably would have peed there, it was a must,” you whispered in his ear as if it were a secret, which brought a smile to his face.

“Mhm” he muttered, stroking your hips through the thin material of your dress.

You moved closer to him and kissed him lightly, grinning into his mouth at the same time. However, you were soon interrupted by a shout from Kelly, who, unbeknownst to you, suddenly jumped out from around the corner.

“[Y.N] I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN A LONG TIME!!!”.

You quickly turned around, abandoning your boyfriend's embrace, and threw yourself into the arms of the brunette, who stood behind you with her arms spread out. The hallway was filled with your squeals.

“Kelly, how I love you! You are so beautiful today, what am I saying? You are beautiful every day,” you replied, giggling.

You and the girl moved towards the living room and sat close to each other on the couch. Charles moved behind you, however, sat on the armchair next to you. He was well aware that he didn't even have a lift at that moment, when you continued to be giggling and in each other's embrace.

Everyone in the room was listening to some story by Lando, who was telling it with great passion, but you were in your own world. You whispered something in each other's ear, burst out laughing afterwards, paid each other compliments, and much more. It did not even cross your mind that Max was not in the room. You only found out when he entered the living room in a down jacket and looked at you and Kelly with a surprised look.

“Max, what happened?” asked Oscar, giggling under his breath at the sight of Verstappen.

Max shrugged off his jacket, depositing it on the couch behind you, making the brunette hiss from the touch of cold on her warm skin.

“I thought she went out...” the man began, but was not given the chance to finish, as he was interrupted by his girlfriend.

“NO, HE'S JUST UNFAIR,” she began to say loudly, grabbing your hand, which you quickly picked up on. You loved to laugh at your boyfriends. "I'm leading, he want to pass, he push me, I push him back and after he push me off the track. JUST NOT FAIR"

"Thank you, thank you Max" you replied, pretending to hold the microphone.

A volley of laughter went throughout the living room, and you could feel Lando's phone pulled out on you, which was most likely recording you, but you didn't pay much remark to it. So did Charles, who measured you with his eyes as intensely as Max did.

Kelly rose on the couch, catching in her hand the remote control that lay on the coffee table, and pressed it to her lips, sitting cross-legged. The girl tilted her head toward you and raised her eyebrows slightly, lending authenticity to the “interview.”

“Charles. What's happend with emm Max?" She asked and put the remote control to your lips, encouraging you to use it, like a real microphone.

You looked at Max, who was standing behind his girlfriend with a disbelieving face, and burst out laughing, but quickly stepped into your role again and put on a serious face. Just like fifteen-year-old Charles, giving an interview at the time.

"Nothing, just an inCHident... on the race" You replied, shaking your head in a familiar way.

“I think I just cried,” replied Lando, choking back his own laughter and wiping away the tears that really did trickle from his eyes.

Everyone in the living room laughed, including you and Kelly. Well, okay, maybe not everyone. Max and Charles looked at each other in disbelief, time and again shifting their gaze to you.

“I can't believe it's been twelve years and people continue to remind us of this,” muttered Charles, trying to break through the loud laughter and applause in the room.

All he got in response was a pat on the shoulder from Max, who took the seat next to him, and they both looked at the rest of their friends, wondering where in their lives they had gone wrong that they had chosen such people...

A/N: please do not copy or translate my work! if you have any issues regarding this please contact me in the messages :)

I hope it brought at least a slight smile to your face. AND what more can I say? happy (but belated) inCHIdent anniversary!

[valyrfia]

i was thinking about the drivers who don’t have a wdc yet and are most likely to win one in the next 5 years with their current team and this is what i came up with re - their chances:

1. charles - i think his best chance to win his first is 2025. now inarguably, ferrari is the team which has the most left to gain from these set of regulations. they have made some absolutely stupid development choices and still they are pretty competitive? if the rumors are true and they are switching their suspension for next year, it should gear the car balance more towards charles and and that’s all he needs to win races consistently. and i don’t think lewis would instantly be comfortable enough in a new team to contend for the championship (i might be wrong) but charles is the ferrari man.

2. george - my intuition is that mercedes is going to nail the 2026 regulations. and purely that’s why george is probably winning the championship in 2026. he mostly won’t get intense competition from kimi until atleast his 3rd year in f1 just because he is still so young. and max is not leaving red bull before 2026 because switching teams before regulations change would be stupid.

3. lando - now this is where it gets interesting. maybe i don’t really like the guy too much but imo his best chance to win a wdc is 2024. mclaren have a significant pace advantage over the rest rn but it’s not going to stay that way. they will hit a development ceiling and teams will converge. and i think mclaren are going to implement team orders to help lando this year and just because oscar is still in his 2nd season and a little further away from lando in points, he will have to oblige. but this is mostly the last year lando will have that advantage over oscar and unless one of them switch teams, none of them are winning a wdc.

4. oscar - i see him winning a wdc after 2026. now i don’t know out of him and lando, who is leaving the team but i am sure one of them is going to red bull in the future.

i haven’t taken aston martin and newey into account here yet because there are just too many unknowns in that team right now. but somehow i have the feeling they are not going to cook as everyone is expecting them to.

sorry this is so long but i thought since you love hypotheticals you might have some thoughts on this!

I agree with this analysis! Ferrari haven't actually been that bad this time round with the regulations, and while I'm sure they're also looking to nail 2026, they've been vocal about aiming for 2025 with the arrival of Lewis. It will be interesting to see how Ferrari might handle Charles being the one with the championship charge considering their other driver is Lewis Hamilton though...they don't have the best track record with team orders as is.

I agree that Toto is putting all his willpower into the 2026 regulations, however I'm not sure this will mean Merc will win in 2026 necessarily, considering Ferrari are focusing on the same thing. I think Merc will jump back up the field again (since I would probably place as the 4th fastest car in this set of regulations). I also think there's a high possibility that politics at Merc will start to go bad, fast. Toto's made it clear that he wants Max, and if Kimi performs well George could be in real danger. I think Toto will be backing Kimi for WDC contention from 2026 onwards (hence why he wanted him in the car for 2025), so I unfortunately don't see George winning a WDC with Mercedes.

Lando is interesting, because I think there's a good chance that if he gets a WDC, he'll pull a Nico Rosberg and retire from F1 and focus on Quadrant and other pursuits. I get the feeling especially in the last year that F1 is bringing him far more grief than joy, and the massive backlash hasn't helped. I think this is his best year to win that WDC–Andrea Stella wants the future of McLaren to be Oscar and has made that quite clear, and I don't see them choosing him to be their championship contender in the future after this year just from the perspective of "well we tried that, it didn't work". If Lando doesn't win this year, I think he'll stick around for a few more years and maybe even move to Red Bull if Max moves to Mercedes, but I think this might be his clearest chance at the WDC. Especially if the rumours about team orders are true– if McLaren are front of the field again next year, they're giving Oscar priority. I actually DON'T think this is entirely fair–if a decision like this was to be made essentially trading off Lando's WDC chance next year, it needed to be made before the summer break since that points deficit to Max gets harder and harder to overcome with each passing race. But I agree, this is Lando's best shot at it.

Oscar might be a possibility for next year (again if the team orders rumours are true), but we've seen him not be able to beat Charles (who would likely be another title contender) for the last couple of races despite Charles being in a far worse car. So, I would think it's more likely that Oscar fights Charles for future titles once Charles has a WDC, or Oscar is fighting the Mercedes that is being built around Kimi Antonelli. I don't think Oscar will go to Red Bull purely because of Mark Webber–I think Lando is more likely at this point to get pushed out of McLaren.

I will add two things: first I don't think we need to worry about Aston and Newey. This is Newey's retirement project and while I can see Aston improving (and maybe even getting Fernando Alonso a race win), they won't be title contenders. Second, Max Verstappen is a wildcard still. Either he retires soon, or for all the talk of retirement when he was dominating, losing that top step has turned the hunt back on in him and he will want to fight for another WDC after 2024. I can see him moving to Mercedes, or if Lewis ends his Ferrari contract early (as I suspect he might), moving to Ferrari. Heavy on the Ferrari especially, considering Charles has said he'd have Max as a teammate, Fred is obviously deranged enough to go with two n1 drivers as a driver pairing, Max has a personal Michael Schumacher connection, and Ferrari have a history of wanting WDCs in their seats.

[schadentekkers]

Any match recs for someone getting into DDT/TJPW?

hello and thank you for entrusting me with this task, i feel honored and under prepared, but incredibly excited. yippee!

**linking all of the matches via wrestle universe, which i highly highly recommend for the amount of content you get for the price! i believe you can also do a free trial (which got me when i wanted to watch zack on noah and then i spiraled from there. but i digress.) and if you don't dig it you can cancel it! ALSO i'm sure these are mostly available via different avenues if you're like ok we get it shut up about wrestle universe.**

DDT ~

i made a chris brookes specific match rec list a few months back, which are still a lot of my favorite matches and ones i recommend for getting into ddt, so i will send you there before listing off some more! (also want to rec ueno vs higuchi from the king of ddt show as well!)

STREET WRESTLING at IZU-KOGEN GRANILLUMI - one of the first ddt shows i ever watched and i literally had the time of my life. so much silly fun that i feel really encompasses ddt.

TAKESHITA, SASAKI, & KANON vs. MAO, UENO, & TO-Y at SUMMER VACATION 2023 - a solid match as well as solid storytelling within 37kamiina !!

UENO vs. SAKAGUCHI at KAWASAKI STRONG 2021 - really really really good match... ueno suffers so beautifully at the hands of sakaguchi. (unfortunately sakaguchi recently retired and i've been sad about it every day since)

SAKAGUCHI vs. HIGUCHI at GOD BLESS DDT 2022 - a true banger i'm gonna be honest here

CHRISDREW vs. SHUNMAO at D-OH GRAND PRIX 2021 IN OTA-KU - it is a hardcore match so there is use of unconventional weapons (see: legos and plastic bins) and blood, so be warned if that's not your thing! a comfort match for me tbh..

there is also a rumble style match where everyone is in swim trunks that i want to rec but i cannot for the life of me find it rn. so anyways. these are some great ones to start with, i think. i also recommend just watching like, a big show and seeing who catches your fancy as my lists are often skewed by my biases lol. ultimate party 2023 is a good one to start with if you go that route!

TJPW ~

MIYU YAMASHITA vs. MIU WATANABE at GRAND PRINCESS '24 - SO GOOD. so good. so so so good. one of those matches you remember feeling every single emotion ever. if that makes sense

RINA YAMASHITA vs. MAKI ITOH at TJPW '24 - super fun, as you would expect. rina and maki have a cute-off and everything. there is also blood so a warning for that!

YUKI KAMIFUKU vs. VIVA VAN at WE ARE TJPW - i haven't watched this since seeing it live, but i remember really enjoying it and it's one of the matches that really made me love kamiyu..i already loved her from the ddt street wrestling show mentioned above, but this match was a standout from her (for me)

MIZUKI & HIMAWARI vs. POM HARAJUKU & SHOKO NAKAJIMA at SUMMER FESTIVAL 2023 - the sillies!!

MIZUKI ALL AROUND BATTLE ROYAL at ANGEL AND RABBIT - everyone is mizuki and it's incredible. if anything, watch for pom's attempt at whirling candy and also her bridge out of a pin <3

POM HARAJUKU vs. YUKI ARAI at MAX HEART PRINCESS TOURNAMENT - the match that started it all for me, i think. pom in all of her goofy glory.

again, recommending watching one of the big shows and seeing what moves you! grand princess '24 would probably be a good place to start!!

and hopefully these are enough to make you want to watch bc both promotions are just so good. like.. i cannot recommend them enough, literally begging everyone to start watching them bc i am SOOOOO glad that i did!

[lexyvey]

Stranger Things Fic Recommendations

These last few months I've been reading a LOT of ST fan fiction and just wanted to spread word on some of my all-time favorite fics. Most are primarily steddie, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for those two lol.

Completed Fics:

without a flashlight in the dark by jurassicqueer (kukurosaki)

Takes place in s1 where Steve gets dragged into the Upside Down instead of Barb. By far one of my favorites. 10/10 recommend. It's a completed work with a little over 8,000 words and I wish I could read it for the first time again and again. Beautiful!

flight risk by Ayes, itskleo

This is probably one of the most popular ones on my list, but if you haven't read it yet, please, please, please check it out! The writing is phenomenal and these guys really know how to write a story (also the art that accompanies each chapter is just too freaking good). I've also been reading However Wild by them and it's really good as well but I digress. Steve is famous rockstar Eddie Munson's bodyguard and no matter how hard Eddie tries to shake Steve, he just can't. Then he figures out he doesn't really want to shake him off anymore... and need I say more? Go read it!

Black Out Days (Fairground Nights) by OonionChiver

Oooh the angst in this fic just doesn't stop. I absolutely love it. It's a completed work and a total binge read, though with almost 140,000 words there's no way you can get through it quick enough. It also kind of f'ed me up emotionally and I'm so glad it did. The fic is pretty much steddie to the max and I absolutely loved it. I feel like it's impossible to not want to reread it after finishing btw, so you've been warned in advance lol.

paradise by the dashboard light. by oaseas

another completed steddie fic at 154,000 words. Steve's car constantly needs fixed due to the Upside Down stuff and Eddie is the one always having to fix it up. Steve's nail bat is an "art project" and that just cracks me up. This fic is a beautiful slow burn with lots of pining. I'm in love.

smoke signal by Adure

Adure is possibly one of the strongest authors I've ever come across on ao3. This one shot was just phenomenal to read. I loved reading outlaw Eddie in this. It was just so well done. aaaahhh, just thank you so much to Adure for this one. I'm forever indebted to you.

New York Hardcore by CaptainHoney

Probably the best Punk Steve fic there is, or at least in my opinion. It's just a 7,418 word one-shot, but that's all you need because it's such a satisfyingly whole read. however... if you do want more (and you will) then you're in luck because it's part of a series including an Eddie POV as well as a sequel one shot.

WIP:

Jackrabbit Underneath by Grey_Lark

Probably one of my favorite Steve has powers fics. He has empathic powers, but doesn't know it, and that's just funny to me. This one is definitely not steddie and romance is not what the goal of this fic is, but the interactions with Tommy and Carol truly make it chef's kiss. It's incompleted but has over 210,000 words of content to tide you over until the next update. It's probably one of the most beautifully written fics I've ever come across.

Our Love to Admire by hibud

UGGGHHH, I'm literally dying to read more it's so good. Another Steddie fic that takes place after s4. It's one of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, but the author provides background as to why they don't get along and I just love it! It's also incomplete, but updates regularly. There's already over 200,000 words of poetic writing to satisfy you until the next update.

If I Ever Leave (You're Coming With Me) by roughvoiced, Sharpbutsoft (BuckysButt)

It's giving The Outsiders kinda vibes and I honestly wish there were more fics like this. I'm also a sucker for blonde Steve, though I had no idea until reading this. Eddie is still wanted for murder, but Steve manages to make them both disappear together on a road trip before Eddie gets arrested. Currently it's only 3 chapters in with 37,599 words, but so much has already happened and I just love it.

better by you, better than me by palmviolet

Eek! Another Steddie fic where Eddie is involved in all the Upside Down stuff since s1. Currently in the middle of s2 with 110,000 words in. The character development in this story is just top-notch. I swear this couldn't have been done any better. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Just Close Your Eyes ( the sun is going down ) by httphimbo

A hunger games au fanfic with steddie. I don't even know how I managed to come across this, but I'm so glad I did. I just remember going, hey that's a TS lyric so it's gotta be good, and then immediately getting hooked by the storyline. Every chapter leaves me on the edge of my seat. I'm so gone for this one guys. It's a WIP, but there's already over 25,000 words and it's a little over half-way in.

Please feel free to lmk any other fic recommendations through reblogs, comments, etc. I eat these fics up like breakfast and am always open to new suggestions. Might even update the list as I find new gems to add to the list :)

[thiefbird]

for the WIP game, maybe that justsolanders and the mass effect aubreyad au?

alright! <3

So my JustSolAnders fic is also, of course, my Inky!Anders AU - I have a whole lot of bullet points!

Backstory-wise, Hawke romanced Sebastian, and she sided with the Templars. Merrill and Isabela managed to sneak Anders out of Kirkwall and onto Bela's ship, with Fenris's help(he told Hawke he wanted to do it himself, she believed him and left him to it. He told Anders something along the lines of "You don't get to not live with this. That's a worse punishment than making you a martyr: do what you can to make this right." [I don't think Anders needs to be punished for exploding the Chantry, but Fenris does.]); they also got Bethany out then, too, and some of the youngest apprentices.

Anders then eventually made his way to Ostwick's Circle, where he befriended a Mage-Templar sibling duo, Evelyn and Maxwell Trevelyan, and helped them stage the strange Ostwick exodus; unfortunately Maxwell was one of the few killed when Ostwick's Circle dissolved. Evelyn urged Anders to adopt her brother's identity, for Anders' safety, and because Maxwell would have wanted that (Anders and Max may or may not have had a romantic relationship, I haven't decided if I want to give Anders another dead lover).

As Maxwell Trevelyan, Anders became relatively well known as a voice for mage integration as opposed for isolationism, which is why he was invited to the Conclave

Leliana recognises him from Vigil's Keep (Leliana-romanced Warden, they may or may not have had a threesome with Anders. Probably did but it's never confirmed in fic), but is content to see what happens, because she can't resist a little chaos. He manages to avoid Varric until after the explosion; Varric is immediately convinced Anders is at fault (obviously Anders is the lead suspect in a Chantry-related explosion <3 ) but importantly does NOT tell Cassandra who he is at first, because Varric also knows the all-important rule Don't Talk To The Cops, and Anders' disguise is decent enough (short-cropped hair dyed black, beard also dyed black) to give him plausible deniability towards not immediately recognising him.

Solas immediately recognises Justice in Anders, but does not say anything because it's Solas. Also, he's intrigued by this guy with a spirit in him because of course he is.

In terms of general info, Bethany takes the role of Hawke, because even Varric can agree that Hawke has gone off the deep end. The only thing that could make Varric dislike Hawke is promising to lead an Exalted March on Kirkwall. Which she has done. Loghain is the Warden Contact; I am hand-waving how Bethany knows Loghain because I am do what I want. Merrill is the eluvian expert, not Morrigan, though she is also there, with a Loghain-sired Kieran; she and Merrill have a very intense and possibly leaning towards sapphic rivalry about the eluvians.

The Mass Effect Aubreyad AU WIP is a bunch of disorganised notes that I toss in there when I think of them (and mostly a list of who is what kind of Alien), but here you go!

Maybe Andromeda? Stephen would like that, EVERYTHING is a nondescript. He can name so many things after Jack if he wants to

Jack is a human. He is the most Human Guy I can think of. Platonic Ideal of Human Man

Stephen is either a drell(assassin/spy) or a quarian. I cannot make up my mind but it's definitely one of these.

I cannot decide if Diana and Sophie are humans, or asari, or if Sophie is a human and Diana is asari - they could still be cousins even if Diana is asari, and then it can be extra tragic when she dies. Bc she should have outlived Stephen by hundreds of years.

James Dillon is a turian. He is SUCH a turian. Platonic Ideal of a Turian. Probably still had A Thing with Stephen.

If not set in Andromeda, is Jack Shepard? Maybe? That would be very stressful for him. That would be very stressful for everyone. I do not think Stephen would cope well with Jack being Lazarus'd. It would be funny tho

[eudaemon-m]

how do u farm crystals so quickly... how.. i need answers

yo anon im now curious where did you even get any info about my xtals savings lol tell me... i mean, i wouldnt say i farm them that quickly? i save up doing the usual stuff... most of the time im in RL in abyss (i drop down to A3 sometimes but pretty rarely), i do ER (also i still have some ER valks i haven't finished maxing out so i occasionally go for that for extra funds), MA, dailies events etc etc. and save up for something i really want. which often means that i will have full geared valk that i've been saving up for and then i will have absolutely shit gear supports for her lmao... i do occasionally slip when im saving, like sometimes if there's gear gacha for something i really need i will try to get lucky by doing a couple of pulls. that's kinda rare, im usually hellbent on getting that valk (or skin....) that i want guaranteed, only happens sometimes if i want better supports for my faves (got hotr weapon like that in a lucky 10 pull a couple of months ago in preparations for my garuda team..) also ig it's common knowledge you can get xtals for content creator program, so there's that. but i've only been part of it for a rather short time as of now yeah. and i participate in open betas, those can also give you some crystals (honestly not some insane amount either but yea) tbh im pretty bad with my crystals bc since my first days of playing honky game i've been mostly focusing on fu hua and senti. which means that i've probably spent a good 36k+ xtals on skins for them.. and then god knows how much for the valks themselves and their rank-ups... hahaa.... also im not in favor of spending real money on gachas and im usually broke anyway but i did buy hos skin and stamps from bp so yea. overall im well known among my friends for having terrible gear on some of my other valks which is exactly because of my skewed sentihua priorities. thumb up emoji

[patchdotexe]

ok heck it uhhh stickmolus

(this is still one of my fav drawings for it. the guuuyyyys)

it is! a Henry Stickmin au! taking place in our Limoliverse setting, which is the catch-all name for.. several stories we haven't made any content of except character designs and incoherent tumblr posts. um. hm. WELL the part that matters is that everybody is aliens!

it's a very loose adaption of the whole series, except with the twist being that henry is jumping between routes willy-nilly and potentially even creating brand new ones as he goes thanks to breaking things in unexpected ways. you know how it is with spaghetti. also there's a lot of background worldbuilding that we are very bad at actually implementing

(also it has an askblog! @stickmolus is in a weird limbo state on account of the exhaustion and my difficulty to keep up an ongoing interactive project, but its fun to read and i still think about picking it back up. i want to so bad. i am my own worst enemy)

quick hits:

Henry is.. something! nobody knows what his species is, including himself. he just straight up spawned one day and immediately began doing crime. this immediately got the attention of the CCC, especially once he started pulling out every power and item out of his back pocket and launching between timelines at random.

everyone's response to him is some form of panic on account of him being an Unauthorized Fucking Thing. speaks english but also writes in minecraft galactic and can make nether portal noises. he's not mute but there's a pretty big language barrier he's trying to work around and when he is able to talk to people he's pretty sparse with words. his head is weirdly shaped and i admire max's ability to actually Make A Whole Ass Sculpture Of This Guy oh my god i just looked over at my shelf and got emotional

i did animation memes with all 3 of triple threat and henry's is RENARD!

Charles is a pilot for the Limolian military and is certified in both air and space travel! good for him. he's a limolus, which is kinda the "mascot species" for the setting seeing as its. named after them. they've got your basic run-of-the-mill psychic powers tropes and are heavily inspired by Giegue from the Mother series! i could talk about them for a very long time. LET'S TALK ABOUT CHARLES.

charles was stationed on earth for a while and as a result is considered kinda Weird because he picked up a lot of earth culture stuff. he's fluent in both english and lilio so he's henry's translator, although his translation is pretty loose and skips details and basically he is not reliable no matter how hard he tries. i love him

his animation meme is BAM BAM! and it was really really fun to make. i love drawing charles i love thinking abt charles he is My Boy

ELLIE oh my god this drawing doesnt have her tattoos. what the hell. ellie is ALSO a limolus! they can be colours besides red its just that ellie and charles are both red. anyway. she's very good at telekinesis because canon ellie already uses the force, so that's her solution to most problems. her relationship with henry is a bit rockier from the get-go due to a communication barrier on Several Levels, but theyre able to get along! ..in some routes. oops.

uhhhh she's actually got some pretty intense backstory that hasnt come up yet because Ellie Has Not Appeared On The Blog At All for the love of god why did i pick the order i did its gonna be FOREVER until we see ellie AUGH. but she got locked up in the wall for some Pretty Serious Crimes (like uh. treason?) and even in timelines where she joins up with charles there's some friction because of that.

her animation meme is Wolf in Frenzy which is probably the best one ive made so far ngl

Reginald's anatomy is terrible and i hate drawing him. also he's a musae, which are very long/tall and very venomous. the toppats overall are a ragtag group of people of various species and various backgrounds, in stark contrast to the govt which is like 90% limoli. also he's a pathetic noodle of a man but that doesn't stop him from being a tricky bastard

i didn't animate him but he shows up in RENARD for like 5 seconds if that counts

uuhhhh also i have a "#stickmolus au" tag. which is probably pretty incoherent. im tired

[zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u]

nukani Q&A

Questions from here! https://matadorofheart.tumblr.com/post/717595845428707328/

1. What got you interested the game? What kept you playing? - some leaked H scenes, now i'm still playing to find out the lore/story and see more H scenes

2- Who was your first SSR? -OG SSR Kuya!

3- Who’s on your home screen? Do you tend to stick to the same character/card or switch it up? Do you have Eiden onscreen with them? Currently SSR Aster + Eiden, i originally had OG SSR Kuya. haven't played the game long enough, but i think i'll be switching up on who i think is coolest at the time

4- Favorite character? -Kuya & Aster, closely followed by Garu, Rei, and Morvay

5- Favorite Eiden ship? -I think i'm a polyclan shipper, but I like Kuya/Eiden, Eiden/Garu, and Aster/Morvay's H scenes the most.

6- Favorite non-Eiden ship? oops, Aster/Morvay xD but I'd watch Morvay bang everyone. I also believe Quincy/Kuya is partially canon, but dont care about quincy so i dont actively seek out fan content about them.

7- Favorite territory of Klein? -No favorite territory. But maybe wood since thats where Kuya is from?

8- Favorite chapter? -oof, i'm torn between Rei's chapters and Kuya's chapter. but i also kinda hate them bc getting through the chapter boss fights WERE SUCH A PAIN IN THE BUTT. Ok technically Rei's should not have been that hard, but I was only building up 1 healer and 1 support. I didn't know i'd need several of them to beat his fight :(((

9- Favorite event? -GAMBLER'S PARADISE, and I'm really liking Misty Vale so far. Ok maybe I have recency bias xD but i really liked everything about Gambler's Paradise except for the high stakes stages which i couldn't clear story, the new SSRs, H scenes, eiden's outfit, the violence/gore in the event story, the horniness of the event story, the intimacy gifts, and how everything tied itself together. what the heck, it was such a well packaged. (Especially compared to Sunburst Festival and Chase the Rainbow's rerun, which are the only 2 other events I played)

10. Favorite original SSR? I think overall (battle stats + H scenes) Kuya, but Edmond (for battle stats) and Garu (for H scenes) are a close second.

11. Favorite event SSR? H scenes- Aster & Morvay, Outfits- Edmond slays in every outfit he has I swear. But also Maid Blade and A/B/O Garu? Hnnng. Battle stats- I have no idea, but I want the Kuya and Garu event SSRs

12. Favorite H scene? Oof, a tie between SSR Aster & Morvay. Warning that there is some dubcon/noncon in there, but if you ignore the dialogue, the voice acting and artwork is very yummy. A close second are Kuya's OG SSR and SR H scenes, but i KNOW i would love Kuya's Sunburst & Lakeside Spark H scenes if i had them- I've seen the screenshots. A/B/O Garu also seems to have very promising H scenes and I'm very excited to unlock EG Garu's scenes cause they look fun too.

13. Current level? 60... but none of my units are 60 yet xD

14. Most powerful unit? SR Morvay at 59 xD SR Yakumo is a close second at 56.

15. Least powerful unit? Probably all the cards i have that are still at level 1 (which is like 80% of my cards lol)

16. How many of your units have maxed out bonds, if any? I have maxed out SR morvay, SR aster, R yakumo. Then several cards that are at room 4.

17. Do you strategize & focus on gameplay, or are you just here for the spice? -I'm only here for the spice.... but I've spent significantly more time on strategizing instead :( I'm bummed out about that

18. Thoughts on the challenge events? (Sorcerer’s Trials, Lost Relics, etc) Uh I dont have strong enough teams to tackle anything higher than trial 29 on ST... I wish I could like them. Lost Relics looks particularly intimidating

19. What’s your favorite thing about the game overall? The H scenes xD And i guess the lore too. Rei & Garu's mysterious backstories are especially interesting to me. (I really like horribly traumatized characters lol)

20. Got any wishes for the future of the game? (Story, events, new characters, etc?)

ok so mostly a lot boring gameplay/gacha complaints that i've already seen like the pulls/energy/currency/etc. Buuut for fun wishes, I can't believe maid Blade is the only card with crossdressing! we need another one! Yakumo cooks & cleans! he should be in a maid dress at least once! Also more violence and gore! I dont know if there was any explicit murders before Gambler's Paradise, but as a huge horror fan, i loved that tiny glimpse of fictional violence. Also more *extreme* kinky activities! Nuca is surprisingly vanilla; we only get some glimpses of bondage or some sex toys here and there, so when Aster whipped out some tentacles, I was so so so excited. LIke I've seen the Kuya 4koma webcomics. He's a super kinky bastard- we should see it more. Currently the femboy possibly trans twink is more sadistic than Kuya is. C'mon, its a porn game, there should be more porn in it. Speaking of Aster, I hope there's something somewhere hidden confirming that he's trans. Too many signs point to it, but i still see denial. Also I'm not into big guys or DILFs, but Aster said he has an old-man form, and I know there's a subsection that would go wild over DILF Aster. (Especially traaans DILF Aster maybe? trans DILFs can be very hot).

Also this isn't a wish, so much as a hope it stays, but i hope we never have a "true ending/route/romance" type thing. I think Eiden & his harem should remain poly.

[saiyomiya]

April 2024 Plans

March was not the most productive but like, it's fine.

I was planning on reading Tsukihime, right? Well, the monotonous, heavy loop music really killed my motivation real fast. It just takes way, way too long to read and the music loop was starting to drive me insane. I might try it again when the remake is out on PC.

So, I ended up buying Dai Gyakuten Saiban on sale and started trudging through it slowly. I haven't played it that much since I got it, but am starting my first trial (I started at 1-4 since that's where I was at on the Switch version before I stopped).

I'm not sure when I'll play it more? It takes so much mental energy to, so we'll see when the mood strikes me next... I definitely like it a lot, so I'll play it more, most likely this month.

As for the JP I have done for the latter half of March, I've been playing Shinymas more due to the goodies we're getting due to the anniversary.

It's a much, much easier read than DGS because the girls don't tend to talk about anything complicated or with heavy jargon, so it's a real self-esteem lifter. I highly recommend checking out slice of life stuff if you're studying Japanese. It'll go down a lot faster. Of course, some groups talk about more complicated things than others (I'm looking at Alstroemeria and Shhis for this, lol).

I don't really have goals when it comes to reading Shiny Colors other than to just... read it. I guess I'd like to read all the Shhis events (easy, since they have so few of them) and also Alstroemeria (harder, even though the content is easier--there's a lot of them). I finally started playing TFD so getting through every unit would probably be a good idea too.

Last month, I managed to read Mamiya and wrote a lengthy review on it. I really liked it, but I read it in English since I just wanted to read something in English for once. The translation was really good and a welcome break from the JP grinding I was doing for most of the month.

I still haven't finished Relink. I keep thinking I should, but I just haven't had the motivation to? Surely I'll get back to it someday, and I don't really regret buying it on release, but next time I'll wait before buying a game as expensive as that.

The last thing I mentioned on my list was to make keychains, and I got them done and they arrived! I think they ended up pretty cute, but Raqio ended up a little washed out, and I'm not sure how to fix it. Fuck printing blues, man...

I'm thinking of seeing if there's interest for purchasing these, but I'm kinda lazy about making a post so we'll just keep kicking that can down the road...

April 2024

This month, I'd obviously like to read more JP, such as the aforementioned Shiny Colors. I'd also like to spend some time reading Granblue stories in JP, which I've meant to for a while (I should make a list of ones I'd like to read). And of course, play more DGS.

When it comes to games, the No Name Yet event in Enstars is coming up and I have to play it. I have pretty much retired from Enstars, but I want to at least be back for such an important event for me and I have a dumb amount of resources for it so maybe I'll just max out the card and call it a day. I dunno. I know it's a lot easier to auto these days and it's not a Tour event, thankfully. I just have to keep an eye for it coming over.

Creatively, I'd finally like to make my Setsu plush, but I'm really lazy... everything is all set for the pattern, but I think I have performance anxiety for embroidering the face... We'll see how it goes.

Another thing I'd like to do is finally decorate my Tenka nui, which I kept putting off for months (I'm even staring at her on my desk rn). There's some really cute fan outfits that really make me excited to do it, and it frankly even shouldn't take that long to put blush on her and glue on some sparkles for her eyes so... I'm not sure why I haven't done it yet, lol

Also, Sekimeiya's anniversary is coming on May 6th and I'd like to have something drawn for it. So... yeah. And I guess finally finish up Ilsa maybe. Maybe...

I guess that's a lot of stuff I'd like to do, so better rise and grind... once again.

[2dkapsddr]

January 2nd, 2024 - vivid/stasis, IIDX 31, GITADORA

TRAINING ARC, BEGIN!!!

Okay, so today the vivid/stasis Dualia Ascensia tournament qualifiers opened up, but the problem is that I haven't played in ages! Looking at the charts in the qualifiers and seeing all the unplayed content I have yet to catch up on, I needed to work my ass off to get to the top level Fast. In my current state, I'm no match at all for the greats like Aurica and Spartan that are on Every Single Leaderboard. And so, with the inspiration I got from seeing Zolder's scores, it was time for my very own training arc!

I started off by grinding ENERGY SYNERGY MATRIX on ENCORE (tech chart my beloathed) since it was Really not my strong suit, but with more plays and more watching youtube videos to see what I did wrong, I saw that I was slowly but surely improving at memorizing and executing some of the tech! That's right, I was very much gaining MUSCLE MEMORY required for a chart of this caliber! And after several attempts from start to finish (including a ton where I restarted whenever I got a miss or slight acc choke), I did it... I got a full combo! With 25 criticals, 1 great, and 2 goods! Though unfortunately, those groups were a result of not fully knowing the chart, and I still needed to study up on it to get where I wanted to be; potentially a single digit crit AC? or maybe even a MAX...

Moving on, I tried unlocking some songs and found this peculiar chart in Final Landing that I just so happened to meet the requirements to obtained! So unknowingly, I opened the chart and oOOH GODDD THAT'S SO VICIOUS

Yeahhh, so I tried sightreading 3.1V.C1 FIN-14+ and was greeted with extremely chaotic tech that I had to survive on a challenge gauge, as well as with an extremely laggy background since I didn't know how to turn it off! Gonna have to study this one too, I still have yet to get to it but I'm working on it slowly but surely...

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Despite all the writing I've done just for the vivid/stasis scores I got on this date, the REAL highlight was when I went to Round 1 to meet up with some extremely cool people, including CHI XU (who arranged the meetup while just visiting the area), and Frums!!! We played a bit of DDR, and while unfortunately I didn't take any pictures (except for the login screen pictured below), it was a blast nonetheless! (and super funny when i turned on dot arrows and tried surviving)

The scores finally started coming in when we went to go play IIDX and tried matching in arena mode, though we later found out that only one person could be on one cab at a time if we wanted to play Arena. So then, each of us played Free+ and I was paired with Frums to compete (with random on, of course) on some hyper charts! After two songs played (and a bitter interaction with a guard who was checking IDs), I decided to say FUCK IT and, seeing that Frums had Sakazuki unlocked (still not default despite being way back in bistrover!! 3 full years ago almost!!), played my first ever 10 on hyper. And to my surprise (with a very big choke section in the middle), I CLEARED IT!!! MY FIRST 10 ON RANDOM, AND PROBABLY 4TH 10 OVERALL???

Moving on from IIDX shortly before I had to go, we found the Gitadora cabs empty (except for one discontinued credit in the Drummania cab) and goofed off with it for a little bit, but then after Chi saw my Epic Awesome drummania skills (they were very bad), we did a co-op session on some random songs and got a score out of it! (Two scores, actually, but we don't talk about the chaos of the 2nd one)

And unfortunately, that was it!! Wish I could've stayed for longer, but I was to be kicked out anyways and I needed to be back home at a reasonable time anyways. Still, I really enjoyed the meetup and hope I can meet with Chi, Frums, and everyone else sometime once again! I'll keep it short here since I already wrote around like 20 paragraphs describing the whole meetup in my personal journal (hands off!!), but trust me when I say it was amazing! 'Til the next time I go to Round 1 then, PEACE!

[ladala99]

Some rambling below: about the stuff going on Reddit, my current video game habits (including some things about Pokemon), The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion (including major spoilers so watch out), and Trails fandom opinion the Gagharv trilogy. All over the place!

Whelp. None of you probably know this but Reddit was my main fandom space for Pokemon/Spyro/other video games that aren't petsites, and well, there's this thing going on over there.

I've been trying to get off of it for a while anyway. Too easy to waste a ton of otherwise-productive time, I keep running into spoilers for games I'm still playing, and also I tend to doomscroll the political subs.

So maybe this will finally get me off of it. Certainly the fact that the admins are giving an ultimatum to the mods of various subs (including r/pokemon, my most frequented one) leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth and makes me not want to engage with the site. The whole attitude the site owner(?) has about it is just disgusting, and if it's true he idolizes Musk, that's all the more reason to have nothing to do with it further.

So what to do with this extra time that I don't want to be productive and just want to type essays at strangers about my interests? I guess here's as good a place as any! It's my blog and I can put whatever I feel like on it. Some of you are probably following for that type of content anyway.

------

So, to start, I guess I'll explain my current video gaming schedule. Starting the month before Pokemon Scarlet and Violet released, I decided to change up my video gaming habits. I had previously had a schedule where I played different games according to the day of the week. This resulted in me not making a ton of progress on some games and kinda feeling discouraged with how long it was taking.

The month before Scarlet/Violet came out, I went into my customary no-main-series-Pokemon-for-a-month period, and decided that I would instead play Animal Crossing: Wild World and only Animal Crossing: Wild World during that time-frame. And you know what? It was great! It was both relaxing and fairly motivating since I knew I had only a certain amount of time with it before I put it away again.

Scarlet/Violet released, and I extended that idea. I even wrote some blog posts here while I was... avoiding spoilers on Reddit... I had a schedule to get through the game (Gyms only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, one plot event max per day) and once I hit the postgame, I had one month to do whatever I wanted before putting the game down for the moment. That postgame month, again, was amazing. Just some guilt-free gameplay of doing whatever I felt like at the moment. Motivation to get the Pokedex done (I did so) and then try some other things. I didn't get everything I tried to do done, but I did a good variety of things and had a good time.

After that, I went on an alternating two-week, one-month schedule for different games. Two weeks on something chill, like Animal Crossing, followed by one month of an actual game, like Breath of the Wild. Alternating between a set of Pokemon games and non-Pokemon games.

And that's a great schedule for games I'm good with playing a bit, taking a break from, and getting back to. But what about heavily story-based games or ones I haven't beaten before? I'm not playing multiple hours a day, so even a month isn't always enough to finish!

Well, enter my new schedule: play for two weeks, check to see if I'm still having fun or if I accomplished what I intended to accomplish, if I'm not done and I'm still having fun continue, otherwise move on.

When Pokemon HOME became compatible with Scarlet/Violet, I felt strongly about transferring everything I could in, so I took a two-week timeframe to do so. My initial goal was to get everything breedable into Scarlet, I accomplished that, and then I moved on to trying to get extra Legendaries. I speedran Shield to get what I could out of a new playthrough and then ran out of time. That's okay - I'll finish later. Because I accomplished my initial mission and I have other games to play. This excursion was interrupting a different game I was (and am) trying to get through. One that I'll start a new section for below.

Also just to put it somewhere: I'm tracking my games on HowLongToBeat now. Here's my profile. (I don't have the time on Zelda because I'm going to use the Switch menu's time at the end)

------

My current game is The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion. Yes, you read that right. I'm not being silly with the name of the Zelda game (I already posted about that earlier anyway). I'm playing Tears of the Kingdom as well, but it's not my main game at the moment.

And I just have so many feelings about TLOH: AToV. (If you don't want spoilers for it, stop now because I am not holding back.)

I first played it as a young teen. I got to the end but never actually beat the final boss. But it stuck with me. I don't remember much of the plot other than two very powerful, very spoilery scenes.

It's so weird going through it how much and how little I remember. Like the entire plot is about not-Catholics vs. not-Satanists (and the not-Catholics aren't always good) and I didn't remember that at all. But I did remember bits and pieces, particularly out-of-context bits about certain characters. (spoilers start now) Like there's this black-haired girl I saw and immediately went "missing sister! :O" But she's not actually Avin's missing sister, but another character's. A character I hadn't met at that moment. There's another guy I just met and immediately went "oh, I like him! :)" and I still don't remember why he sticks out so much since he doesn't seem that much more important than other characters I forgot about completely.

And the two things I did come in remembering (really, really spoilers now) involve Mile dying halfway through and turning up again at the end of the game as a dark mage, so everything he does is just. . . I'm paying so much more attention to him and he's like, the perfect healer. He's functionally the healer in that he's the party member who's always with you that has healing spells, but he's also such a healer in the story, too. He cheers up Avin when they were kids, being a friend to a traumatized boy who just got separated from his beloved sister. He gives up his wish to help Avin out. He goes with Avin on the dangerous journey when he has no personal stake other than to see his friend succeed. He acts as a foil for Avin, who has a quick temper, calming down every tense situation, and even lying when it helps diffuse a situation. And then he dies.

I'm not there yet. I just remember the pool of blood and the shock I felt. I think I'm getting there soon, though. Because Avin just reunited with his sister and I don't remember that lasting long. (I didn't even recognize her portrait, unlike the Baron that I feel positively about for unknown reasons.)

It's just so good! And yet...

------

Before I started the game back up, I was looking at the modern The Legend of Heroes games for Switch. I wondered if it was worth getting one of the more recent games. So I decided to check out the fandom and see if there were any tips for fans of the Gagharv Trilogy (which A Tear of Vermilion is in) getting into the newer games.

Uh. . . no. There aren't. Fans of the current series mostly have not played the Gagharv Trilogy and actually think they're kinda bad. Particularly the PSP versions (which is the only version that got translated to English and the version I have).

And it's funny, since when I see people say why you should play the Trails series (what the new games are considered), they say a lot of the same things that are accurate to the Gagharv games. One of the main gushes I've seen about the series is that random NPCs have lives that develop as the story develops - you'll meet the same characters again and again as you happen to travel the same places they do. And that happens in A Tear of Vermilion. There's this writer guy that you meet and tell your adventures to, and his agent will keep giving you books. There's a greedy merchant you keep running into and Avin keeps getting mad at him. And there's so much variety in character conversation - gain a new party member and talk to everyone in the village and they'll talk to/comment on the new party member. Every time a major event happens, you can go back around town to hear everyone's opinion on it. There's some secret books that characters will give you if you talk to them after certain plot events.

I'm guessing this is a Pokemon Sword/Shield situation where while the Gagharv Trilogy is good, the Trails series is so much better that the Gagharv Trilogy is bad in comparison. That's the only way I can make sense of it.

------

Anyway, that was a lot and did not stick to one topic. But I just have a lot of thoughts right now. Here's Mile's official character portrait for making it through the whole thing:

[watchmegetobsessed]

BABYMOON

A/N: this family is still my absolute fav and im so not done with writing about them!!

PAIRING: husband!dad!Harry X Reader

WARNING: a little bit of adult content, nothing detailed tho

WORD COUNT: 2.3k

MORE FROM THE ANOTHER ONE UNIVERSE

It's a rare occasion in the Styles home that the house is not buzzing from kids' laughter and chatter, tiny arguments or screaming. With three little kids around, the meaning of peace and quiet is almost unknown. But today it seems like you can finally catch a little break.

Ellie is spending the night at a sleepover at one of her friends and the twins are spending the weekend with auntie Gemma, giving you and Harry an entire evening and morning just for yourself, something you haven't had probably since the twins were born.

Harry's duty was to drop Ellie off and you drove Maddie and Max over to Gemma's. Your route is a little longer than his so by the time you pull up to your home Harry's var is already there. Walking into the house you're immediately met with delicious smells, the air is thick with basil and garlic and you don't miss how the dining table is set, this time not for five, only two people. Candles are lit here and there and soft jazz music is playing in the background as you find your husband by the stove wearing your apron and it's upsetting how well he can pull it off, probably better than you can.

"Hello there," you walk closer, taking a look at everything on the counter, eyeing the food in the pan that he is currently stirring, a pot filled with boiling water and pasta in it.

"Hi, everything went well at Gem's?" he smiles at you, leaning down for a kiss as you stand next to him, one hand gently rubbing his back.

"Yeah, she said she'll drop them off Sunday morning."

"Great."

"So what is this all, Mr. Styles?" you ask, nuzzling your nose against his shoulder.

"Thought we could have a date night now that we have the house to ourselves," he smiles cheekily. "Go change, I'm actually almost done here, you hungry?"

"Is that even a question?" you scoff, sliding a hand over your growing stomach. You've been definitely eating more than during your previous pregnancies and you can already see the extra weight you put on so far. Harry doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all though, he always makes sure to have all your cravings at home and whenever you go for a second plate he just smiles at you warmly, even almost proudly. The man is obsessed with you in general, but the pregnancy multiplies that for sure.

"Good," he hums, kissing your forehead before you head upstairs.

When you return, the food is already on the table and Harry is filling two glasses with some lemon water. He hasn't drunk since you've gotten pregnant, something he did during all of your pregnancies. He never wanted you to feel like you're missing out on something so whatever you couldn't do, eat or drink, he said no to all of them as well.

"Italian again?" you smile at him as he meets you at the table, kissing you shortly before he places the drinks down and pulls your chair out like the gentleman that he is.

"Can't help it, it's what I know best," he chuckles.

"It feels weird, right? Being without the kids," you admit as you dig into the amazing pasta.

"I kinda miss them," Harry huffs and you know how he is feeling. You just dropped them off and you'll see them very soon, but you still got so used to having them around, it's unusual to be just the two of you.

"Can you believe there was a time it was just you and me? No kids?" you sigh, thinking back to the time you weren't married yet.

"God, it feels like a lifetime ago!" Harry chuckles and you grin at him nodding.

"Doesn't feel like we've been together for over a decade, but it also does? Does that make sense?" you giggle at your own words.

"No, I know what you mean. I still remember everything vividly, but also I know how long it's been," he nods, curling some pasta onto his fork, a boyish grin tugging on his lips. "Hey, do you remember our first kiss?"

"Of course I do, but do you remember it?" you challenge him.

“I do, because I was really fucking it up before I grew some balls and actually kissed you,” he chuckles, shaking his head as he thinks back at that weekend.

“I truly thought it’s just gonna be the two of us at the fair, but you brought along others and I took it as a hint that you didn’t want to date me,” you grin at him, still teasing him about it even after all this time.

“Because I was shitting myself, I didn’t know if you liked me or not and I didn’t want to make it awkward in case you thought it wasn’t a date.”

“But I wanted it to be a date.”

“Well I know that now!” he huffs, making you laugh. “But yeah. I thought I blew my chances but Niall actually talked me into asking you out for a real date and I’m glad I did.”

“We had our first official date the next day and you finally kissed me after you walked me home.”

“You were so pretty, looking at me with those doe-like eyes and I just knew I had to kiss you. I was already head over heels in love with you.”

"And look at us now, three and a half kids later," you add laughing.

"Still head over heels in love with you," he grins and leaning over he steals a quick kiss that tastes like tomato and garlic mixed with old feelings that never went away, only grew stronger.

"Oh, and do you remember when you first met my parents?"

"You mean the time when I made a complete fool out of myself in front of your dad, pretending I knew anything about American football?" He huffs at the memory of how he tried to impress your dad even though your dad is not quite the scary type, he was already fine with Harry after he saw how happy he makes you. Still, Harry really wanted to make himself liked, but his plan went a little south. Your dad still teases him with that even though Harry has definitely educated himself more about the sport.

"I think it was cute," you smile at him, pointing at him with your fork.

"And what about that time we pretended that we were married in that little restaurant somewhere in Italy?"

"That was on our second anniversary, right?"

"Yeah. I loved calling you Mrs. Styles, already knew I was gonna marry you." He sighs happily. Even though you've heard it before, it still warms your heart to know he was just as into you as you were into him. You often worried you fell for him harder and you'd end up with a broken heart, but instead, you ended up with a ring on your finger, three beautiful kids and the most amazing man by your side you get to call your husband.

"So you still haven't regretted tying yourself down so young?" you ask with a smile. You married at just twenty-four, the tabloids didn't hold back about how it might had been a mistake, many were convinced you wouldn't last long. You're glad you proved them wrong.

"Never. You're my best decision I've ever made." He leans closer and kisses you sweetly.

You keep up the nostalgic talk through dinner, your plates emptying slowly as you recall your favorite memories from your relationship. Though Harry tells you to leave the cleaning up to him, you insist on helping him load the dishwasher. When it's all done, you move over to the couch with a box of ice cream he picked up on his way home.

"Mm gelato, is this Italian too?" You smile at him, having the first taste of the chocolate ice cream, eyeing the packaging.

"Yeah, thought I would stick to the theme of the evening," he chuckles, shoving a spoonful of it into his mouth. "Actually, this was meant to be the warming up to something I wanted to talk about."

"Oh, okay, I'm all ears," you hum, busy with the dessert but still listening to him.

"I was thinking that… maybe we could go on a little vacation before the baby arrives. We could take the kids for a week, your parents could come too and they could take the kids home and we would stay for another week. Have a babymoon if that's what it's called," he chuckles softly, watching your face to see your reaction.

"A babymoon? Is that a thing?" you smirk at him and he shrugs.

"I don't know, read it on the internet," he admits with a half-smile. “But apparently, it’s like a honeymoon for soon-to-be parents before the baby arrives.”

“But we are parents already.”

“Is this your way of telling me you don’t want to go on a vacation with me to Italy?” he huffs, pretending to be hurt, but you just chuckle, shoving some ice cream into his mouth.

“Of course I want to. We can line it up with fall break, so the kids don’t have to miss school,” you offer and Harry’s eyes light up right away.

“Yeah, that could work,” he nods smiling, stealing some more ice cream. “Now this way, all of our children will have been to Italy before they were even born,” he smirks to himself and as you think about it, you realize that he is right.

Ellie was conceived in Italy, as you learned later when the doctor calculated the time when it happened. He gave two dates and you spent that entire month in Italy so there was no doubt it happened there. Two years later, you were two months pregnant when you went to the Venice Film Festival, even walked the red carpet with Harry as no one really knew that you had two babies hidden under your massive dress that hid your already growing bump. Now you’ll take baby number four to this so-called babymoon, keeping up the tradition of visiting Italy while pregnant with all of your kids.

“Passing on your obsession as early as possible, Styles?” you chuckle as you pull him in for a kiss that tastes like chocolate after all the ice cream you both have eaten.

“Gotta start early,” he grins.

You run out of dessert soon and decide to put on a movie that’s not Pixar or Disney, and cuddling on the couch you enjoy the alone time and when the movie is nearing its end, Harry shifts his attention from the TV to you, kissing up your neck, the corner of your mouth, his hands wandering over your body and soon you end up on top of him, stripped from your clothes as you make love without having to keep quiet and worry about the kids. It’s just the two of you, like in the beginning, getting lost in each other and the love you’ve been sharing for so long, the love that brought three amazing kids into your life, a fourth one on the way.

Harry doesn’t stop until you’re completely worn (fucked) out, cuddling on the couch naked, his hands gently rubbing your stomach, the baby slightly moving around under his touch.

“Do you think it’s going to be a boy or a girl?” you hum, eyes closed as you nuzzle against his chest.

“You’re way better at this guessing game,” he chuckles, making you laugh. It’s right, Harry said Ellie would be a boy, but you knew it was gonna be a girl from the beginning. The twins were believed to be two girls in the beginning and Harry believed it without a second thought while you kept telling him there’s no way they are both girls. Two weeks later the doctor told you that you in fact had a boy in there, he was just hiding his bits last time you checked in on him.

“But I want to know what you think,” you grin at him. He breathes out long, narrowing his eyes as he thinks about it, chewing on his bottom lip before he gives you his guess.

“I think that… we’re having another boy,” he slowly says, watching your reaction.

“Yeah? Is that your final answer?” you giggle.

“It is, now tell me if I’m right!” he demands laughing.

“We find out the gender next week! I don’t know it either, just like you!”

“Oh come on, you always know it! Just tell me what you think we are having,” he begs dramatically, giving your hip a gentle squeeze. Pushing yourself up you throw a leg over him as he sits up straight, helping you to settle in his lap comfortably.

“I think that it’s gonna be a boy too,” you tell him, biting your smile back and you see as his face lights up.

“Do you really or are you just pulling my leg?” he narrows his eyes at you.

“I do! I think it’s a boy. I have the same feeling when they were telling us the twins were both girls. I just know it’s a boy.”

“Another boy, that’s amazing! Maxie will be so happy to have a little brother!” he muses as you brush his unruly curls out of his face.

“Two girls and two boys, it would be perfect,” you hum in agreement. “God, we just do everything so good!” you say grinning, though it’s just a joke, of course, however he gladly joins in on it.

“Right?! We’re just the absolute best! No flaws at all!”

“None! No one does it better than us!”

“Fucking perfect!” he laughs, pulling you closer for another kiss, giggling against each other’s lips before it grows into something more heated and soon enough you take it up to the bedroom, making the best out of your time alone at home.

Thank you for reading! Please like/reblog if you enjoyed!

[pocket-dreamer]

SPOILERS AHEAD -- What happened to the villains in NWH?

In case you didn't see the title, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

I haven't seen a lot of content for this question, and tbh, the multiverse is in full swing with its branched timelines, so this means that every villain/Peter that went back to their specific timelines caused a branched timeline. Here's what I think happened in each of them.

Also, a quick note before I start, I've seen many people question exactly when everyone was pulled and when they returned. Some people believe it was literally a five-second window in the other movies, others believe that they were gone from their universes for the full 12 hours. I will try--with my albeit limited knowledge--to figure this out.

I can't really say what happened to Peter 2 and Peter 3, but I think that later movies will address that. For now, let's go with least to most complicated.

Sandman

Flint will go straight to his daughter, regardless of how much time has passed. Judging by how he rushes to Peter's aid in NWH, I assume he was pulled after Peter 2 forgave him. I hope he finds a good, not-at-all-potentially-villainous doctor to help his daughter and lives a quiet life outside of New York.

Lizard

Dr. Connors gets arrested either way, I think. The only change I can think of--especially depending on when Connors was pulled--Captain Stacy might live in this branched timeline. Would that save Gwen's life along the way? I'm not sure.

Electro

Max is easier because we at least know where he was pulled from--the moment of his death. If he's put back during that moment, then he's definitely a dead man. But if he was put back 12 hours later, it would be easy for him to quietly blend back into the crowd, but with the confidence he needs to get noticed.

Unfortunately, Max had nothing to do with Harry's reckless actions after he was injected, so Gwen would still end up dead. But, I think that Max would end up becoming an advocate for Spider-Man after Peter 3 disappears to grieve. And after Spider-Man returns, I bet Max would take Oscorp to court, and with Spider-Man as a witness, would at least get money for the damages. Sure, Oscorp might be in shambles by the end of the movie, but there's still someone running it behind the scenes, right?

Doctor Octavius

Now, this one is probably the most complicated, because if he was put back at the exact moment that he had Peter by the throat, a lot could have been avoided. Otto came back with the arc reactor, so he might be able to utilize it to neutralize his machine without any casualties. He'll probably accept jail time and comply with the police's demands. I don't know how prison works for a supervillain, but if he's released at all, I think he'll use the arc reactor to fuel more of his experiments, for a better cause, of course. Heck, he'd probably be able to successfully run the city on renewable energy just like he wanted to--maybe even in the same way. But instead of the tritium, he'd use the arc reactor, and it would work.

He'd fix the arm that the Goblin broke, maybe upgrade all of his arms with new and better tech over time.

He'd probably help Peter and Harry out in the final battle against Venom and Sandman--which would be pretty cool, ngl. I think Venom would be defeated a lot faster thanks to Otto's versatility, and with someone else to watch out for Spider-Man and MJ, Harry might live through it.

Otto would definitely become a mentor figure for Peter after that, maybe even offer him an apprenticeship/internship, and Peter would study under him until he sets out on his own. Aunt May would get an apology too.

If Otto is sent back 12 hours later, then this is the worst-case scenario for everyone. Either Peter replaced Otto and drowned with the machine, or Peter was able to get Mary-Jane to a safe enough place before the machine gets well and truly out of hand. In which case, the city might collapse, or the whole world might.

I assume Peter would have figured out a way for none of this to happen, but Otto would probably be put right back where he was...which would either be underwater or in the middle of a burning sun. Unless he can use those arms to swim somehow, the future's pretty grim either way.

Norman Osborne

Ironic how Otto's branched timeline was probably the most brutal...I think Norman's branched timeline would be the best thing that ever happened to Tobey's Spider-Man. And there's a LOT here, so let's unpack.

Norman's death in the first Spider-Man movie caused a chain reaction that resulted in Harry's bloodlust, his amnesia, his revenge, and his eventual death. By extension, that nearly destroyed Peter and Mary-Jane's relationship as well--the only confirmation that it worked was Tobey's dialogue in NWH.

Also: it's heavily implied that the Goblin is just a super distilled amalgamation of Norman's worst traits--one of them being his neglect towards his family. We never got to see the version of Norman that truly loves his son because the Goblin was in control for most of SM1.

So. Here we go: If Norman is put back during the final fight with Peter (it's implied that that's where he comes from in the first place), then it would be easier for Norman to convince Peter that the Goblin is gone, especially since Norman and the Goblin don't share memories. Norman also was put back without the glider, so imagine being in Peter's shoes, seeing Norman disappear for a few seconds and then appear in a modded suit, bemused, and probably confused as to how Peter suddenly seems fine "after being stabbed" (unless Norman remembers literally nothing because of the second spell's effects, then nix that last part). And I think, if Peter believed him, it would be easy for Peter to get Norman home without anyone noticing.

Now, aside from Peter, no one else knows about his alter ego. So as long as Peter keeps his secret, Norman basically gets a new chance at life. Without that familial neglect, he has the chance to actually be a father to Harry, maybe even ceding Oscorp to Harry out of both love and guilt (after all, the board of directors was vaporized). I wouldn't be surprised if he developed some form of PTSD and doubts his own actions for a while after despite being cured.

The second movie would not happen. Or rather, Otto's research would not be funded by Harry even if Harry did have control at this point. If Norman remembered the events of NWH, he would shut that mess down before it even started. And even if he didn't, Harry would have no reason to hate Spider-Man, so Otto still wouldn't get the tritium unless he took it by force.

However, the main event of the second movie could instead be Harry discovering Norman's secret vault behind the mirror. Harry might have a mental break, run away, Peter would reveal his identity to Harry to convince him to come back, and Norman would finally have to own up to his mistakes. But that's a headcanon--I have no idea what would happen here realistically.

However, I do think that Norman would play a pivotal role in the events of the third movie--specifically when it comes to Venom's influence over Peter. You can probably see where this is going. Along with Harry and Mary-Jane, Norman would witness the symbiote's effects on Peter's personality, maybe even how brutal Spider-Man becomes, and would look into it because it seems way too familiar. Norman and Harry would investigate the symbiote with Oscorp's resources, separate it from Peter, and kill it before it did any harm to anyone else--which means Eddie wouldn't die and neither would Harry. And Peter would forgive Sandman faster, so there would be no need for a final fight at all.

After that, my best guess is that Oscorp might become what Stark Industries was to Peter 1. Peter 2 could have his escapades funded by Oscorp, and Harry might still go vigilante as a sort of heroic take on the Goblin, helping Peter 2 here and there with crime-fighting. Overall, not a bad ending.

So what do you think? I haven't seen the Raimi/Webb movies in a while, so heaven knows I've missed something.

[daughterofadeadman]

Double Sided

Pairings: Alec x Stiles

Warnings: Drinking, fluff

Description: The one where Lydia drags Stiles to a party and he runs into Alec, literally. College AU

Word count: 1468

"Whose party is this anyways?" Stiles asked clambering out of the car. It's not like he actually cared, he was just trying to delay the inevitable.

"Lightwood, you don't know him. He's totally your type though, tall with black hair and brooding basically a young Derek Hale by all standards. Now if you're ready we can go in." Lydia said making a show of throwing her hair over her shoulder.

"That is not my type. I'm more of a strawberry blond type of guy if you know what I mean." He said completely ignoring the comment about his stalling.

Lydia scuffed at his words, "You haven't been a strawberry blond type of guy since sophomore year. Now shut up and come and party with me."

Stiles sighed but gave in while slightly trudging through the neatly cut grass. It wasn't that Stiles didn't like to go to parties, he had lost his virginity thanks to one Junior year, it was just that he wasn't in the mood to be dumped. Lydia always left him when they went to parties together, merely because they attracted different crowds, and it always put a damper on Stiles night. Tonight would be no exception and he knew better then to think it would be.

The music vibrated through Stiles body like an electric shock the closer they got to the house. The two had to park down the road because of the excess of party goer's vehicles lining the street on both sides. "This guy most be known for throwing some great parties." Stiles thought looking at the number of people dancing on the lawn which was already littered in plastic cups.

Once Lydia and Stiles breached the threshold of the house red solo cups were thrusted into their hands. "Cheers." Lydia said tapping her cup to Stiles before downing half the cup.

"Cheers." Stiles replied taking a small sip. A look of disgust painted his features once the substance hit his taste buds. "Gross."

A laugh escaped Lydia's lips as she pulled Stiles to the dance floor. "Come on let loose." She yelled over the pounding of the base. Taking another gulp of her drink she began to dance to the music's beat. Stiles rolled his eyes but did as his bestfriend demanded.

Within a few minutes Stiles had finished his drink without throwing up. He did not enjoy beer, he was more of a whiskey guy like his father. If he was going to be honest he thought it was more enjoyable watching everyone get drunk then it was getting drunk, but he was doing this for Lydia.

The sassy girl had it set in her mind that Stiles needed a night out, and he wasn't going to take that away from her, not just yet. It wasn't until they both began dancing with other people that he slipped away to the kitchen.

The kitchen was really only separated from the dining room by a bar, which was covered in crushed or fallen cups. The great oak table was being used for beer pong and the counter held a couple being a little too intimate for Stiles liking. Rolling his eyes, he headed to the back of the kitchen hoping to find somewhere to sit down and wait out Lydia. Making his way through couples making out in the hallway he found himself in a smaller sitting room.

What he wasn't expecting was for a tall, dark, and handsome guy to bump into him on his way to the couch.

"Hey watch where you're-" The guy said before cutting himself off. His eye's met Stiles and a smile graced his face. A tattoo poked out from beneath his black tee shirt causing Stiles to wonder what it was.

"I haven't seen you at one of these before. I'm Alec by the way." He said before sticking his hand out, a red cup in the other. The smell of alcohol hit Stiles in the nose as he gripped the other boys hand.

"Stiles."

"Stiles." Alec repeated as if tasting his name. "That's different."

Stiles nodded as he watched the other boy bring the cup to his lips for a drink.

"Yeah it's a nickname." Stiles replied, eyes still glued to the plump lips in front of him.

"Stiles." He said again. "I like it."

"I'm glad that I have your approval." Stile sassed before he could stop himself.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he raked his fingers through his hair. Why was he being so rude in such a short amount of time? It must be a new record, even for Stiles.

Alec on the other hand smiled even wider. "Who is this Stiles kid?" He wondered taking another sip of his drink.

The two stood for a few seconds longer before either of them spoke up. "How are you enjoying the party?" Alec asked.

The pounding of the next songs base kicked in just as Stiles was about to speak. If he was going to be honest, he hated parties. They were just filled with drunk teenagers who would probably get themselves killed by the end of the night. He only came tonight because he cared about Lydia's opinion, and because he was ignoring one very grumpy twenty-five-year-old.

"I'm not." Stiles said before explaining how he felt leaving out the bit about Derek Hale. "I feel bad for the guy that through this party though. Even though I'm not enjoying it I wouldn't want to be him. People are totally trashing his house and I even think someone puked in the drive way. If I can find the guy I might even offer to help clean up after words if he isn't to trashed himself."

"Someone puked in the drive way?" Alec asked his voice taking on a strange note to which Stiles nodded.

"It's kinda gnarly."

"Oh god." Alec moaned wiping a hand down his face.

"Yeah like I said wouldn't want to be that guy." Stiles noticed the way Alec shot him a glare before shaking his head and smiling again.

"Yeah, me neither."

The pair began to talk about everything and anything in between, no topic was off limits. Stiles told him about how his mom past a few years back and how his dad was the Sheriff of a few towns over. They talked about Lydia, and how she is honestly so hot but terrifying at the same time. Alec told Stiles about his little brother Max passing away last year and his adoptive brother Jace who was totally around here somewhere. They talked about Izzy and how she got all the hot genes, something that Stiles wouldn't believe until he saw proof, and about how Alec's parents were off on business quite a bit. They even somehow started talking about Derek Hale and how he and Stiles were no longer a thing, part of the reason Stiles was forced out tonight.

"It's alright. Uh Magnus Bane, do you know him?" With a dismissive shake of the head Alec continued. "Well we were sort of a thing to so I know what you mean when you say you needed to get out."

The pair didn't stop there.

"What do you mean you have never seen Star Wars? It's like a national treasure! It's more important to this county then the next president. No this can't stand, next Friday you are making popcorn and I am coming to your house with the best movies seriously ever and were watching them."

"Stiles you've never had tres leche cake? That's insane, I'll have to make you some. Izzy absolutely loves it I swear it's great."

"Alec no you can't think that Bateman stands a chance against Superman. No, this totally makes you less hot, stop."

"Stiles, Stiles slow down I can hardly understand you."

"Pepsi is so much better than coke shut up."

The night was still long, and Stiles no longer regretted coming to this totally trash party because of Alec. The boys had positioned themselves against a wall, seeing as the couch was occupied. Stiles repeatedly pushed himself from the wall to emphasis his ever-changing points and Alec regarded his spastic actions with a smile. The two were content in their little bubble until Lydia popped it.

"Stiles there you are!" Lydia yelled over the music grabbing Stiles by the wrist. "I lost you forever ago, but I see you've been in good hands. Nice party by the way Alec."

"Nice party?"

A nervous chuckle escaped Alec's lips. "If I remember correctly you said you'd help clean up?"

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

ANGST KAZUMAJI ANON AND WOOF. FUCK. GOTTA LISTEN TO THOSE SONGS AFTER WORK. EXCITED. Your idea though OW. I haven't seen Y6 yet (I watch playthroughs don't have the console and my computer laughs at me trying to run the games) the streamer thats playing it finally got to Y6 and I am Refusing To Watch It. My heart can't take even starting the VOD.

You’re welcome for the music cc: 

A LOT of people haven’t seen 6 yet, so I did my best to get through that without spoilers ^^; Hope I haven’t ruined anything for you. And I feel that, my laptop and I have constant arguments and I’m not a good gamer anyway ^^; I should try Kiwami 1 someday though... I have it, I'm just Nervous about Being Bad ^^; 

Nice, following one streamer, well done c: I just hopped around to different playthroughs on youtube ^^; My wife and I binged all 7 games in I think 2 months, max. ^^; She crazy tho and a bad influence on me xp She likes to just sit and binge things and I am, understandably, weak for my wife <3 

6 isn’t so bad, I promise. You can do it c: It’s very pretty, you get to stare at Kiryu’s juicy ass the entire game, there’s lots of cute minigames of Kiryu with a baby, uh... *running out of nice things to say about 6* ...did I mention it’s very pretty? Fuck... Listen, I have... Feelings about game 6, but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone ^^; Everyone’s allowed to experience things in their own time and form their own opinions and I don’t want to deprive anyone of that. Please watch it and when you see it, feel free to come tell me about it c: 

And as a reward for all that, another angsty idea: 

The Nishikiyama Opera! 

So I composed the entire thing on a car ride with my wife last week and it’s WILD. Y’all ever see opera? If you’ve never seen an opera you SHOULD, they’re fucking Great. Operas are all about being The Most, comedy or tragedy, they’re all horny as shit and everyone is extra as fuck. If you living for the drama, you HAVE to get your ass to an opera. I’m lucky enough to live somewhere with a relatively robust opera community. And anyway, my point is, The Nishikiyama story? RIPE for an opera adaptation! 

First, you gotta know some of the opera tropes. There are two categories of opera, comedies which are kinda rare and tragedies which is... constantly. And operas are pretty good at telling you almost immediately which one they will be. There’s also a lot of meta about the voice parts themselves: 

Soprano - heroine, ingenue, beautiful. Will win if this is a comedy, will die if this is a tragedy. 

Alto - mothers & witches. Not the heroine. Will probably die regardless of comedy or tragedy. Unless she’s the villain, then she lives in a tragedy. 

Tenor - hero. Given the sexiest parts to sing. Sometimes unbearable. Everything is about Him. 

Baritone/Bass - fathers & villains. Gorgeous voice, never utilized properly. 

Knowing the vocal parts and what they classically represent is key to knowing who will win and who will die in the opera. For example, in Carmen, Carmen is actually an alto, not a soprano, and Don Jose is a tenor. This immediately tells you that shit’s fucked. Tenors are supposed to fall in love with sopranos, never altos. So this story can only end in tragedy because he’s interested in the wrong kind of voice part. There’s even a counterpoint of a soprano who is madly in love with him, and the baritone toreador for Carmen. They’re given their proper voice partners, but Don Jose still pursues Carmen which is a ginormous mistake by operatic tropes. 

So, opera education over, picture this: 

ACT I  Kiryu (soprano) is the loveliest yakuza in all the land! He’s just delightful. The Chorus sings his praises and he demonstrates his impeccable fighting ability. (Forgot to mention, any opera worth its salt has a Chorus and I will die on this hill.) The Audience is assured of his might and grace. 

Kiryu, obviously, does not want for admirers, but has not chosen to court anyone formally. 

Here enters Kiryu’s brother, Nishiki (bass). The Chorus explains that Nishiki is second to his brother in strength, but is formidable in his own right. Nishiki explains to the audience how he longs for Kiryu, how he covets him, his strength, his beauty. How after a lifetime together, affection has turned to love. Nishiki must have him. 

Kiryu hears none of this. Nishiki approaches to make his case when Majima (tenor) sweeps onto the scene. Majima is brazen and glib. The Chorus tells us to beware his charming smile, he is as dangerous as he is flirtatious. Majima has heard of Kiryu’s reputation and calls him into the street to defend his title. Kiryu responds and they do battle. 

In the midst of the battle, Majima finds himself won over by Kiryu’s skill and grace, his kindness and strength. Majima is bursting with love and there and then makes a proposal to Kiryu, offering his whole heart. 

Kiryu is stunned. Majima is not a weak fighter, he is not a braggadocio, despite appearances. He was a real challenge and Kiryu was not expecting the fight to take this turn. He is so surprised he cannot make an answer and politely, but quickly, leaves. 

Nishiki has been watching the entire time and finds his heart gripped by jealousy. He plots to claim Kiryu for himself and hates Majima bitterly, despite the fact that Kiryu has given no answer. Nishiki believes he knows his brother too well not to know that Kiryu returns his affections even if he won’t say. Nishiki leaves, concocting a plan. 

We find Kiryu at his balcony, lamenting his situation. Majima may have been exciting, but Kiryu’s no fool. He has no proof that Majima’s feelings will not waver in time. Majima steals into the garden beneath Kiryu’s balcony and professes his love once more. 

Kiryu is startled and makes to flee, but Majima sings so sweetly, entreats so gently, that Kiryu is compelled to stay. Majima doesn’t even ask again, just sings of his feelings. Kiryu, in his heart, is wooed by this. He may have been ready to answer when Nishiki interrupts. Majima quickly hides in the foliage. 

Nishiki counters with his own confession, his own proposal. Kiryu is shocked and saddened. He begins to sadly tell his brother that he cannot accept. Nishiki flies into a rage, demanding if there is someone else, someone else Kiryu prefers. Kiryu hesitates, but answers honestly that he has always seen Nishiki as a brother, regardless of any other feelings. He cannot accept Nishiki on the grounds of their previous relationship. 

Nishiki was expecting this. He reveals a vial of poison and threatens to drink it unless Kiryu will marry him. Majima gasps. Kiryu pleads with Nishiki not to be rash, but Nishiki only demands his answer, the vial nearly at his lips. 

Kiryu swallows back tears and collapses to his knees. Sorrowfully, he agrees, unable to bear the responsibility of his brother’s death, and the act finishes to the sound of clamoring wedding bells. 

ACT II The lights come up on Kiryu and Nishiki in their home. Nishiki is pacing the floor and making increasingly outlandish suggestions for things to do. Kiryu says yes to all of them, gently and politely. Nishiki’s frustration and annoyance increases with every yes. Eventually he snaps at Kiryu, demanding why he won’t fight him, demanding why he will give no more reaction than a placid yes. Kiryu shrugs helplessly and tries to soothe his brother, but Nishiki won’t be soothed. 

They have been married less than a year and it has been like this the entire time, getting worse by the day. Nishiki can see the pain he’s causing his brother, but can’t stop himself. He loves him too greedily to stop. He departs, hoping to take his mind off things. 

Kiryu is left alone in the house and sings a longer, sadder version of his lament from the balcony. Distantly, we hear strains of Majima’s love song, now broken and echoing. 

The scene changes and we see Kiryu sat down in a busy cafe. At first we assume he’s alone, but people move and we can see he is sitting across from Majima. They do not touch. Their careful, polite space around each other is conspicuous. 

Kiryu is tired, he looks wan, almost sick. Majima sings heartbrokenly, telling Kiryu he needs to take care of himself. He is desperate to take Kiryu away from all this, and asks several times, but Kiryu always sighs and shakes his head no. Majima knows Kiryu will not break his word once given, he is too good and honorable for that. But he cannot help singing for him all the same. He cannot touch, he will not permit himself to touch, but he can sing. 

Kiryu eventually cannot take the heartache anymore and departs sorrowfully. Majima looks after him, just as sad. Nishiki is revealed to have been spying on them the entire time. He confronts Majima, furious and accusatory. He insists that he and Kiryu have been having an affair. Majima simply looks at him and shrugs. Nishiki screams for Majima to admit it, to admit that Kiryu loves him, has always loved him, this whole time. Majima only says that Nishiki knows Kiryu best. He will not confirm or deny anything Nishiki says. Shaken and stymied, Nishiki flees. 

We return to Kiryu’s balcony, where he sits, silent and pale. Nishiki storms in and begins to berate Kiryu with his accusations. He is half-mad now, not seeming to hear Kiryu’s denials. Kiryu professes over and over that only Nishiki is his husband, that he loves only Nishiki. Nishiki cannot accept this as true. Nishiki screams that Kiryu ought to ask him for a divorce. Kiryu cannot claim to want a divorce. He gave his word. Nishiki reveals that he had been watching them in the cafe, that he knows all, the secret contents of Kiryu’s heart. Kiryu manages some resistance at last and asks Nishiki for proof. What proof of his indiscretions? What proof of adultery? What has Kiryu done that has angered his husband-brother so? 

Nishiki has none. Kiryu has not done anything wrong, not in word, not in act. Whatever thoughts he might accuse Kiryu of having are ephemeral and will never be real. Still... Nishiki saw how they looked together and his heart was sore. He knows he has stolen Kiryu from what was rightfully his. Moved to regret, Nishiki withdraws the vial of poison again. 

Kiryu gasps and tries to prevent his brother. 

Nishiki swallows the poison quickly, insisting this will set things right, this will free his brother. He says he did it for love. He falls. 

Kiryu collapses next to him, sobbing. 

The final scene is Nishiki’s funeral. Kiryu kneels next to his brother’s grave, all in black. He sings of his regrets, of his sorrow. Majima stands close by, but still not touching. He does not look at the grave, only at Kiryu. His broken love song is the last thing we hear. 

The End. 

...this opera was a tragedy ^^;