#you opened the absolute floodgates my bad LMAO

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Ever since I saw that you like zhongtham... the idea has been living rent free on my head, thanks for build this roman empire in my brain lmao so...... TELL ME MORE, what are your thoughts on their relationship? how the people around them react to their relationship??

(of course, only if you want to, I hope you have a nice day!!)

oh god

ultimately i think what they both need is understanding? in the sense that- both have very specific experiences in their day-to-day lives that aren't exactly the common shared experience between most other people. zhongli is a fucking eons-long being and alhaitham is not neurotypical. like he's autistic, idk how else we want to put it, that's what he is. zhongli, meanwhile, by virtue of not being a human and not having a strictly human way of processing the world, cannot be autistic since- again, not human. but this does make him autistic-coded, if that makes any sense. my man despises slimy foods on the basis of the texture (yes, this comes from trauma, but what bothers him is still the texture. that's coding). he's not human so he has different sensory experiences, probably more acute than humans. he's been described as a blockhead. he seems like he'd have a very specific routine he follows. he's very exacting on his field of expertise. the whole 'haha no mora no wallet' situation comes from the fact that his brain is still logically thinking he can just make mora (which, given everything, is a perfectly valid thing to still be hung up on), and so he forgets his money because his mind insists the way of the world is that he can just make it - but he can't anymore, and for an arbitrary reason, too. he's the literal god of contracts: what are contracts if not a parameter of very logical pre-established rules you have to follow? and he doesn't bend on those contracts, because he's of the mindset that if you made them in the first place, you knew what you were getting into, so what's the problem. all combined, and added with the fact that he's not human, and you cannot call him neurotypical. because he just does not function to match human standards of what 'neurotypical' even is.

so like- we don't know that they've met in canon, but we have decent reason to believe it's a very real possibility. the same way you could say gaming and ganyu have probably either met or seen each other at least once despite neither ever mentioning the other or appearing together on screen, because- well, he handles a delivery agency, she works for the qixing, they live in the same city, they're both familiar with cloud retainer, ganyu moves around a lot and knows a lot of people, and gaming seems pretty social. you get what i mean, right? in that same sense, i think it's perfectly possible for alhaitham and zhongli to have met at some point. granted nowhere near as probable as two people actually living in the same city, but notable enough nonetheless: alhaitham knows twenty languages, for that quota to exist i have to assume that each nation has at least their own unique language (since they all seem to speak the same thing in-game, tho, i can only translate that as all nations having their unique writing script- which they do). idk how many languages you could pull out of regional dialects in teyvat, but the most logical and easiest and obvious thing to do here if you were told to go learn 20 languages to graduate is to first go for the main most spoken languages and then fill in the gaps w regional dialects or more obscure no-longer-spoken ancient dialects. so we stand to reason alhaitham must know liyuean (?) right? and unless he learned it from within the confines of sumeru (which is possible tbf), then he must've traveled to liyue in order to learn the damn language. with liyue having quite the decently-preserved history, he might've picked other regional dialects up since they'd be easier to study next to like- idk, an obscure old language from mondstadt or smth. so if you're a student in liyue on a quest for knowledge trying to learn the language and possibly other obscure dialects, who are you going to go after? fellow scholars. what do all fucking scholars in liyue do when people have highly-specific needs and questions? point to fucking zhongli. so you get where the idea comes from. you can't tell me its completely implausible (for a headcanon) for zhongli and alhaitham to have met at some point, not the same way i'd raise eyebrows at like- headcanoning candace and zhongli having met based solely on in-game info. or- ei and sigewinne. y'know?

so like- alhaitham needs to learn liyuean (+ maybe other regional dialects bc 20 sounds like quite a lot for 7 nations, 8 if you count khaenri'ah), he goes to liyue, he gets to learning and then runs into the roadblock of not many scholars being familiar enough with ancient dialects for him to become fluent in them from their input alone, so the scholars are like 'yeah dw we know a guy, he's super knowledgable' and so they point him to zhongli, zhongli is like 'yea sure i can teach you, what do you need?'. idk how long it'd take alhaitham to learn liyuean (+ whatever else), but i'd assume he'd bunker down in liyue for most of that time. so let's say like- 6 months, and it counts as like a 'foreign languages' course where haravatat students get given money and are shipped off to learn (bear in mind 6 months sounds like stupid little to become fluent in an entire language let alone possibly a few others, but we'll just assume alhaitham is a prodigy (he seems to be) + since it's not a whole language and just a script, then it can be done).

so he stays in liyue for a while. i'd guess learning from zhongli most of that while. they're two guys who like peace and quiet and reading and investigating and they're both rather knowledgable (the gap is obviously abyssmal but still). you can imagine them just- going to a tea house and sitting down with tea for hours on end in amiable silence and quiet grammar exercises. i cannot see them not getting along. alhaitham is practical and so is zhongli, zhongli has a lot to say but it's always with purpose and informative and for a reason, and alhaitham is just happy to absorb knowledge. alhaitham is effective and to the point and zhongli (a battle general) would probably be perfectly happy rolling with it and being effective and to the point in turn. maybe they start having lunch together some days (zhongli does seem to do that with acquaintances a lot so it's not strange of him) and alhaitham just doesn't want any stewy soups and zhongli doesn't question it bc he's the one asking chef mao to dice and slice his fish into oblivion. sumeru is big on spices so alhaitham would probably have no problems whatsoever w the jueyun chilli. he'd also probably pick up on using chopsticks easily enough bc he's a perfectionist. zhongli would realise like two seconds into their introductions that alhaitham can hear him perfectly loud and clear w the headgear on and never bother commenting on it at all. alhaitham would also probably clock zhongli's more acute senses two seconds in and be relieved he doesn't have to raise his voice around people for no reason all the time. catch the patrons at the tea houses being confused and mildly unsettled by the two guys on the corner table just mumbling stuff to the other with a pile of books between them lmao

i cannot see their relationship being like- exciting in the sense that big shocking things happen. i just think they're both too smart and good at communicating w each other that shit like that just wouldn't catch them off guard. alhaitham would probably hear about legends of the adepti throughout his stay in liyue and quietly figure mr zhongli might be an adeptus but never bother saying anything because why should he care about what mr zhongli is? it's not his business, and it doesn't make him not-mr zhongli. so it's whatever. i also don't think any drama would pop up 🤷‍♂️ again they're too smart and hypercompetent for any misunderstandings to appear. by virtue of both of them being non-neurotypical they'd also understand each other in particular ways, so they'd easily be able to figure out any stuff and sand off any rough edges. it wouldn't be an exciting ship, it wouldn't be a ship full of ups and downs and drama and twists and turns and spice and oh the romance of it all. they both strike me as ace af and if not aro then absolutely somewhere in the spectrum, alhaitham more than zhongli.

but i'm an absolute sucker for non-verbal comunication and quiet understanding and an almost telepathic camraderie that would be so funny from the outside so i just think they'd be a delight. like the perfect team. they get each other, they're both smart, they're both strong (again, the gap is abyssmal). absolute academic weapons the both of them. catch someone being an ass about a contract and zhongli just staring disappointed and alhaitham next to him equally disappointed but listing off every single reason why they're being stupid about it also. zhongli's a bit too nice to say any of that stuff aloud but you can't tell me he wasn't running a constant 'chat are you seeing this shit?' in his head during his first story quest w kliment. alhaitham knows he's already got the 'freak' reputation so he just goes 'well if you want to keep digging i'm happy to hand you a shovel'.

as for other characters' reactions to them- i'd have to sit and think about them? idk how the liyue gang would react bc idk how they'd work in a canon setting? i can't see zhongli leaving liyue and i can't see alhaitham leaving sumeru either. if i had to pick one, alhaitham seems more likely for like- leave sumeru for plot reasons. and then go 'okay fuck this' and go to zhongli like 'you're the only bitch i respect in this house'. but outside of plot contrivances, hu tao does send zhongli off on random errands? so maybe he could pop up in sumeru from time to time. idk how the liyue gang would get to meet alhaitham then but if there is one character that absolutely gets to meet zhongli is kaveh bc the man is almost everywhere alhaitham is + they literally live together.

i think it would be fucking hilarious. like alhaitham: oh yeah a friend is coming over btw. don't be weird about it kaveh: why would i be weird about it what are you on kaveh: ... kaveh: ... kaveh: a what alhaitham: a friend kaveh: what alhaitham: i don't think the bimarstan is open at this hour if you got something in your ear kaveh: what friend kaveh: you don't have friends kaveh: ...you can just say nilou alhaitham: ??? zhongli: hello kaveh: who- what. what- who are you alhaitham: a friend from liyue. the one i said was coming over. like five minutes ago kaveh: what zhongli: is he alright alhaitham: he's never been alright, dw about him. the study is this way

[meekahy]

Mascara Runs

HI, this is my first NHL fic! Please let me know what yall think! This is based on my roommates lmao and don't judge the order on how I put on my make up okay??? ALSO this isn't edited and I just spit out my thoughts. Sorry lmao

Requests are open!

Sitting in your bed, you grasp your phone in your shaky hands as you try to text your boyfriend, Quinn. 

“My roommates are being terrible again,” is all you managed to text him through a wall of tears. You tossed your phone onto your bed and rubbed your eyes as tears kept falling, waiting for the familiar ding of Quinn’s reply. 

After a few minutes, that ding sounded in your quiet room. Wiping your eyes one last time before unlocking your phone to see Quinn’s reply, “Oh baby, what happened?”

You typed as fast as you could, “They’re just putting me down about the things that I enjoy. And they are being very passive aggressive about me being here.”

“What did they do this time?” He responded.

“They invited me to dinner and then left without me, changing restaurants without telling me. I only know because of Life360. It’s so stupid. It’s like I’m being stood up. I hate this,” you sent Quinn with a large sigh.

“Let me take you out,” he quickly texted back.

“I have to redo my make up,” you groaned as you hit send.

You stared at the screen, waiting for him to reply. A beat later, he sent, “Baby, take your time. I’m going to change and then I’ll pick you up.”

A tear fell as you sent, “You’re the best. I love you.”

“I love you too. See you soon,” Quinn sent.

Wiping your eyes one last time, you got up and looked in the mirror. You groaned as black streaks flowed down your cheeks. Grabbing a make up wipe, you rubbed your eyes and cheeks to rid your face of the runny mascara. 

“I really should invest in waterproof mascara,” you mumbled to yourself. After wiping your face, you grabbed your make up bag and opened it revealing the plethora of make up products that you possessed. You snatched the primer from your bag and rubbed it all over your face followed by your foundation. After that, you put on a powder and blush. Then, finding an eyeshadow palette that matches your dress, you started to brush the powder into your eyelids, swiping colors across your eyes. When you we satisfied with the eyeshadow, you, again, put on mascara. After letting it dry for a bit, you put the eyelash curler up to your eyelashes to get that volume.

When you were finished, you heard the familiar ding of your phone. Smiling, you grabbed your phone to see the “here” message from Quinn. Quickly plucking up your purse, you slid on your shoes and ran out the door.

Quinn was outside his car, leaning on the passenger side door waiting for you to come outside. You bounded down the apartment stairs and right into his waiting arms. The smell of his cologne filled your nose as you breathed him in. Letting it be a source of comfort for you.

After a second, he whispered, “Let me look at you.” You pulled back as he held your hand making you twirl your dress around. “Absolutely beautiful.”

“Oh stop it. You’ll make me cry,” you muttered shyly as you looked at your feet. Quinn raised your hand and gave it a kiss before opening the passenger door for you. 

On the way to the restaurant, you went into detail about your roommates. About how they do little things to purposely irritate you or say things that make you feel bad about yourself. Quinn listened intently to you. He pulled up to the restaurant and opened the door to let you out. 

You both got sat in the back corner of the restaurant. It was quiet and secluded, just how you guys liked it. You were able to talk to each other and he wasn’t easily recognized. 

After eating a bit, you kept thinking of your home situation with your roommates and how shitty it is. Tears started to bubble up into your eyes. 

Looking up, Quinn asked, “What’s wrong?” 

You looked into his eyes at his question. The tears fell like a floodgate being opened. “I don’t want to go home. They don’t even want me there, that’s clear. It’s like I’m slowly deteriorating on the inside from how they treat me. I’m miserable,” you confessed.

“Oh honey. I’m so so sorry that’s how you feel,” he cooed at you, “I’ve been meaning to ask this for awhile.”

“Ask what?” you hiccupped. 

Quinn smiled, “Ask you to move in with me. I think it would be good. Good for me to be closer to you and good for you to be out of that living situation. What do you think?”

You sniffled and dabbed your cheeks, “Really? You want me to? You would be okay with me invading your space?”

He reached for your hand with both of his, “Yes, really. I would absolutely love for you to move in. You in my space would be the best. Please? I need you in my space.”

You heart fluttered at his words. You wanted nothing but to be included and wanted. “Okay, of course I want to move in!” you exclaimed.

Quinn’s heart jumped, he loved you with all his heart, and couldn’t wait for this next step with you. He leaned over the table to give you a kiss. You met him halfway, pouring all your happy emotions into that kiss.

[swiss-mrs]

bestie… what does clubbing with goth and/or post-punk steve look like in your eyes? 👀 i would like to know

BESTIE

Not you opening the floodgates to us sending back and forth requests 🤭

Fun Lil #Swiss Fact: Back in Summer of 2021 my friends and I were trying to club/bar hop in a city/state we weren't familiar with and after 3 failed attempts (including crashing some rando's all-white party [I was in head to toe black]) we stumbled into a goth club and had the time of our lives.

I was in my little big titty goth girl era, so I just so happened to be in perfect dress code LMAO. This request has singlehandedly removed me from my pop girly mode and straight back into 80s/90s alt girl.

Haunted Haus

Steve Harrington x Goth Club Owner!Reader

Word Count:

Warnings: Good Music ✌️🤪, Steve-isms (some bad flirting, not so discreet looking, but also some not well hidden nerves), a lil angst👀, a single, '90s reference (just ignore), Reader being an absolute goddess.

Reader/Unnamed Character Description: No Descriptions Beyond Clothing, No Mentions of Age, Race, Ethnicity, Height, Etc., No Use of Y/N, She/Her Pronouns, Mentioned as "woman" and "madame", Bodily Descriptions kept minimal/gn

Synopsis: Steve may be in a chokehold by the abundance of hot goth girls in media rcently and decides to indulge in the dark and alternative scene irl.

××××💀❤️💀💀❤️💀💀❤️💀××××

Steve sat in the driver's seat of his BMW, gripping and twisting his hands around the wheel. The car sits stagnant in the grassy parking lot as minutes pass. "Come on, Harrington. You got this." Steve says for the millionth time, this time finally releasing a hand from the poor steering wheel to reach up for the review mirror, abruptly adjusting it to make eye contact with himself. "You got this." He uses his other hand to point at his reflection. Steve drops his hands to his lap as his gaze is taken from himself and to the paper sitting on the passenger's seat.

It was a flyer he'd stumbled across, or more accurately Robin stumbled across.

"I found the perfect thing for you." She burst through the door, taking Steve off-guard. He gave her a skeptical look, shifting his weight to one side, not really amused.

"And what is that, I ask regrettably."

"Ooo, that's a big word." Robin quips back a little too easily, causing Steve to roll his eyes, but Robin pays no mind as she averts her gaze to the paper in her hand.

"Haunted Haus, Goth Night." She flips the paper around to shove the front side in Steve's face. He jerks back, just out of reach. "Found this little baby." Steve’s brows furrow as his eyes adjust to try and read the text on the paper being held far too close to his face. "This may be your chance to find you a Hex Girl." Steve snatches the paper from her grip and gives her an unimpressed look, but Robin remains unfazed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the counter with a smug look.

Steve props himself on one hand as he leans his weight against the counter with one foot crossed in front of the other. He looks down at the paper in his hands, reading off the provided information and address. "Isn't that the old creepy church looking building?"

"Yeah, the one right outside of town." Robin confirms. "I did a little investigating, and turns out someone bought the cursed thing and turned it into an 'unconventional' night club." She replied, lifting a hand to place air quotes. Steve huffs in response. "As far as I've heard, it's pretty underground but also pretty popular."

"Oh yeah? And who have you heard that from?" He raises a brow, looking over invisible glasses over at Robin. She scoffs in offense.

"I have my sources." She rolls her eyes at Steve's continuous skeptical look. "Look, you obviously still aren't having much luck here, and now that you've officially developed an interesting niche," Steve scoffs again and rolls his eyes at her subtle jab. "I'm just trying to help."

"Where did you even find this?" Robin stands up straight and shrugs.

"Sources." She replies nonchalantly.

Steve lets out a huge sigh before ripping off his seatbelt and throwing the car door open.

As soon as Steve's white nikes hit the field and he stood to full height, it was like the cool night sucked all the warm air from his lungs. He stares up at the gothic structure ahead of him. Even from the back of the lot, you could hear the music flooding from the open doors. It was quite shocking to see the number of people attending, at least to Steve. There was no way there was this many people in Hawkins who were into this scene.

Steve stepped away from his car just enough to close and lock the doors behind him, beginning his tread to the club. The closer he got to the front door, the more he started to feel his heart thump against his chest. He's no stranger to parties by any means, but all his experience was exclusive to house parties and school dances. Since graduation, he honestly fell out of the party scene almost completely. He wasn't in college, and the thought of attending a high school party after graduation made him cringe. This was an exciting new venture for him.

Just as he clears the last row of cars, he gets a good view of the small crowd just outside the doors. People who, outside of their clothing and makeup choices, seemed like unlikely friends. People of all races, ethnicities, and statures all gathered together. It was odd to Steve to see such diversity, but it was refreshing.

He suddenly became a little self-conscious by his own outfit choice. Though he was in the standard all black getup, he was severely lacking the accessories, leather, and/or face paint, and it became extremely obvious as soon as he cleared the lot.

Resting on the doors of the entrance was a scary looking man and a brutish, equally scary looking woman. The man leaning against the left door was tall, a whole head above Steve. His arms were crossed, showcasing the muscle on muscle he was packing. His unamused, grey eyes pierced through Steve with one simple glance. There was no telling how he was able to keep going, but the striking gaze didn't stop Steve's body from moving forward.

Just as his foot met the cement of the sidewalk, the lady on the right side, nearly equal in height to Steve, took as step forward and held her hand up. Steve’s eyes met her green ones. Steve stopped in his tracks, waiting for the woman to speak first. Before she uttered a word, Steve could see her eyes track up and down his body with a keen gaze. "You here solo?" Her deep southern accent through Steve off.

"Yes." He dares to glance back and forth between her and the guy to the left. Once Steve's eyes land back on her, he lifts his chin in fake confidence. "I am." The woman's eyes squint slightly, seeing right through his confident facade. Steve's eyes flit back to the man to find steel eyes staring back with their ever-present empty glare.

"You won't be causing any trouble now, will ya, son?" She asks, bringing Steve's attention back to her. He raises a confused brow. Why is he being singled out? His eyes nervously bounce around.

"No? I'm just here for the..." He trails, gesturing to the lively club behind them. "Why? Do I look like trouble?" His confusion slightly over taken by his sassy tone. The woman steps aside and gestures toward the club.

"G'on." She says before stepping back to her 'post' by the door. Steve stands in place for a few more seconds, still a little thrown off by the interaction. The woman gives him a look as if to dare him to test her patience, and Steve takes that as a sign to get moving.

Steve cautiously walks through the doors, side-eyeing both bodies occupying the entrance, the man's eyes following him. Steve begins to question what he's gotten himself into.

Once he's officially inside, the lights and music are quick to overwhelm his senses. It's dark within the confines of the building, but the red strobe lights cast an intimate, sensual, almost sinister glow over everything. "Nice hair." A voice just barely over the music brings Steve out of his trance. He looks towards the voice to find a short woman behind a pedestal with a raised brow. Her hair was dyed black with short bangs and curled wisps of short layers just above her shoulders. Her skin was as pale as the moon, and her nails were chipped and painted red. "$3.00"

Steve stared at her as he fished in his pocket for the cash. Thankfully, he remembered to check the entry price on the flyer before leaving home. He plops the bills into her outstretched hand before receiving a short nod as an 'OK for entry'.

Steve walks further in, stopping at the top of the short set of stairs that lead down to the main floor. Being slightly above gave him a slight vantage point to get a quick scope of the club. Again, what did he get himself into?

Steve took each step one at a time, pausing on each one as he looked around. There was nothing but black clothing and flowing fabrics on the dance floor, limbs moving in every direction to the mixture of synth, bass, and fast drums. A few years ago, Steve would've viewed this crowd as a bunch of weird freaks in a derogatory sense, but now, Steve just sees the opitome of freedom.

Steve cringes at the thought of his younger self. If only he was as carefree and comfortable to just be himself from the beginning, instead of being so judgemental and close-minded, maybe he could look back fondly at his youth. Well, no time like the present. He buried those thoughts and moved forward, deciding to plant himself at the bar for starters.

Moving through the crowd, he had to dodge arms and legs. Most of those dancing were doing so with their eyes closed, truly doing so as if no one was watching. His head was on a swivel as he walked, not only to make sure he didn't accidentally get hit but also cause he had this itching feeling of being watched.

Steve looked over his shoulder towards the door, but neither the 'security team' nor the wispy haired girl were paying him any attention. He continued to look around the crowd. Maybe someone from town was there and spotted him, but no. He couldn't find eyes on him anywhere.

Shaking off the feeling, he gets to the half empty bar and leans one elbow on the bartop. He looks over to a girl just a seat down from him with gel spiked bangs and a messy, half updo similar to Elvira's. Just as she's handed her drink, she turns and makes quick eye contact with Steve. He tilts his chin up at her with a slight grin, but it must've not been as smooth as he had hoped cause all it did was get him a once over and eye roll in return as she walked away sipping through her straw.

Steve doesn't drop his grin until she's disappeared back into the crowd, and the bartender addresses him. He orders his usual before turning away from the bar and leaning back on his elbows, scoping out the club again. He sighs.

"Just don't pull that same cheesy crap you try on the girls that unfortunately find themselves here." Robin says.

"Hey, it's not-"

"'That bad.' Yes. Yes, it is, Steve. It IS that bad, and quite frankly, it's just as hard to watch." She deadpans. Steve scoffs, offended, shifting his weight as his eyes look around, trying to find a rebuttal.

Steve scoffs out a short laugh, shaking his head at himself. He doesn't know how or why, but ever since Nancy, it just seems like he's lost all 'game', and that loss is really not helping when it comes to moving on once and for all.

The bartender returns, setting the glass down next to Steve, causing him to turn and rest his forearms on the bartop. They exchange nods before the bartender goes back to work, and Steve takes his first sip. Soon, Steve finds himself getting lost in the liquid contained within the glass.

Was he ever really as 'smooth' as he thought? He never seemed to have such an issue with 'charm' before, but then again, he was never really himself back then. Not since her. He was always able to seamlessly put on this charismatic, flirty facade before. Everything he did was the same persona that won her over. When he let it falter, she left him, but now that he's trying that guy back on, it doesn't fit quite right anymore.

A part of him should be grateful that he's found a friend group that is willing to accept him for himself, all his good and bad, his true self, but when it comes to his love life, he can't help but wish he could be that guy again. He's been alone for so long now, and it's lonely.

He just wants someone again. In the beginning, that someone could've been anyone, but the more time he's spent alone, the more he's started to think he couldn't take that someone just being anyone. The idea of him 'peaking in high school' scared the ever loving shit out of Steve.

His fingers fiddle with his glass, spinning it round and round in his hand. He glances down at his fingers through the glass, metal reflecting through. Shit.

His heart suddenly feels heavy at the thought of his fallen friend. Steve retracts his hand slightly from the glass to stare down at the ring on his index finger, a thick silver skull. If only he could see him now. As if he could hear his laugh, Steve turns his head to the right. Out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he saw that cheesy grin staring back at him, but he's instead met with a row of empty seats. Steve furrows his brows. If Eddie were here, he would've loved this.

Steve lets out a humorless huff of a chuckle through his nose. He wants to laugh at the thought, but it just feels heavy knowing he's not here to actually enjoy it.

Before Steve can get too deep in his head, he feels an odd sense to look behind him, so he does. He turns his head to glance over his shoulder, only to be caught in awe. Just opposite from him was the woman of his dreams walking down a flight of stairs, staring in his direction. Jesus, you were gorgeous. He couldn't tell if you were actually staring right through his soul or just so happened to look towards the bar.

Adorning your body was a long black dress with a slit up the side, stopping at the top of your thigh. Your legs were covered with sheer black stockings that had delicate, intricate lace patterns. The leather of your black corest reflected the red lighting, absolutely sinful. Though your dress was lowcut, your neck, shoulders, and arms were covered in a black lacy fabric that flowed out at your wrists. Your red bottom, black heels topping off your entire look.

You stalked down the staircase with a dark elegance that could move mountains. You are the definition of the kind of woman men would go to war for. You must be the queen of the underworld if there is one, and God, did Steve feel some type of way about it.

Unlike Steve, the sea of bodies seemed to unconsciously part ways for you as your eyes locked in on Steve. Steve was the only one in this very spot at the bar. There was no other logical reason for you to be looking that direction besides looking at him, but he still left as if he was not the object of your gaze, not even when you were standing right in front of him.

"Nice hair." Steve scoffed. If he had a nickel for every time he- Oh God, you're on the move again. You maneuver to step around him and claim your spot next to him at the bar. Steve watches you place your 'usual', getting a 'Yes, madame' in response. Steve can't help but raise a brow slightly at the formality, but his face drops when you turn back to face him. "You're obviously," your up and down gaze burns through Steve's skin. "New."

Steve suddenly feels as if he was standing naked in front of you. He'd been 'once-overed' at least four times since he's gotten here, but your eyes make him question if he actually remembered to put on his clothes. When there's a bit of a silence between you two, Steve clears his throat to try and regain his voice. "That obvious?" He holds a slight grin on his lips, but his eyes bounce around nervously, a dead give away of his true inner turmoil.

You raise an amused brow, "Well, to be fair, we don't get many well-tailored suit jackets and non-distressed jeans, but the all-black is at least a start." A glass is placed at your side as you finish your sentence. You give the bartender a quick smile and a thank you before he nods and moves on. Steve's hand self-consciously goes to tug at the lapel of his jacket. He tries to think of a witty, charming come back, but you continue before his mind can catch up. "So, are you here to find a girl to fulfill a fetish, or are you finally coming out of the suburbian closet?" You bring the glass up to your mouth. Steve tries to answer but is too focused on your red colored lips around your straw.

"I, uh," he clears his throat, looking away. He hopes you didn't, but you definitely caught him staring. "The second one." You let out a small giggle.

"Well, that's better than the former, I guess." It's a little bit of both, but Steve would be damned if he admitted that aloud. "Let me guess. Popular boy in high school, couldn't be caught being 'weird'?" You tilt your head in a way that Steve couldn't help but feel was both a bit condescending and also adorable.

"Right on the nose." He leans his forearms on the bartop again, grasping his glass in both hands to discreetly try and cool his sweaty palms. You lean on the bar right next to him. The scent of you overwhelms his nose, replacing the stench of alcohol, evermore heady and dizzying. The fight against gravity had never been so tough on his knees.

"Cute." You state simply, bringing your straw back to your lips and taking another sip. Steve looks over at you, a bit shocked. He was completely ousted from the crowd around him. He's the outsider here. The one trying and failing to fit in. He didn't think this whole 'loser boy' thing would be what got him brownie points, but to hell with it. If it works, it works.

"So," He leans up a little bit to adjust himself to face you, leaning more prominently on only one arm. "Are you a regular here?"

Your brows raise, "Repackaging 'come here often', I see?" There wasn't much room between that sentence and the next, but it was just enough for Steve's stomach to drop to his stomach, already feeling the rejection incoming, but it didn't come. "You could say that." You shrug nonchalantly. "It is a nice space and all." You add. "I haven't seen you in these parts." You shoot back a bit more dramatized, fully leaning into the cheesy line delivery.

Steve looks around, nodding and fixing his jaw as if he got caught red-handed for something. "Touché." A smug grin grows on your lips as you take another sip of your drink. He turns back to look at you, you already holding eye contact. He swallows down the saliva that builds on sight. "This is my first time here, first time at a party type event in a long while, actually." He admits.

"Well, I'm glad I could be here for your first time." You reply seamlessly, fully aware of the innuendo. Steve huffs out a chuckle. His face warms both at the thought of what you're insinuating but also at the slight embarrassment of it all. "Tell me. Are you here because you like the music or is it something else?" The way you adjust yourself has Steve screaming 'something else' in his head, his eyes following your every movement as you turn.

"The music." He replies shortly, still checking you out. He blinks away, trying to control his wandering eyes. He clears his throat, "A... friend of mine was really into heavy metal, and one rabithole after another landed me here." You hum out a response, nodding to confirm your understanding.

"Too heavy for you?" You quip back. Steve scoffs out another laugh, shaking his head and looking down at his glass, a few strands off hair falling into his face.

"I guess you could say that. It wasn't bad, just wasn't quite my vibe." He glances over at you, finding your eyes oh so easily once more. "This fit me better." A genuine, intrigued smile slowly grows on your face.

"So, is your friend here with you tonight?" You already could tell he came here solo, but you couldn't help but ask for confirmation. As soon as you did, though, something in his eyes changed, that little glimmer that was barely there to begin with was stomped out like a dying ember. Steve pauses a second before responding.

"No." You immediately regretted bringing up what must be a sore topic. "He, uh, he couldn't make it." Your smile long faded, but you couldn't stop your brows from quirking up slightly in curiosity.

"That's too bad." You say with a slight kind smile, trying to lighten things up. "Maybe come back next Friday, Metal night." Your smile widens hopefully with your suggestion. It brings a small one to Steve's lips but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Maybe." And you both leave it at that. A few beats go by before you try and change the subject.

"Well, since this is your first time and all," you start, leaning in on the two words with a small brow wiggle. "Would you like to dance?" Your question seems to throw Steve through a loop. You just asked him to dance?

"I, uh, yeah! Sure, of course." He stumbles a little, but overall excited, trying to play it cool. His little 'nonchalant, cool guy' facade fighting with his seemingly more natural 'playful and charming' attitude causes you to squint with a knowing smile. It's a bit comical how you can see right through him.

You finish the remainder of your drink by omitting the straw and drinking from the glass. Once the glass is placed back on the counter and stained red with lipstick, you grab his hand and start leading him away from the bar.

You don't get too far before your path is interrupted by the towering, grey eyed man from the front door. Steve's heart weighs down on his stomach at the sight of the man. He just looks like he could kill. "Pardon the intrusion, madame." His deep Australian accent cuts through. Steve furrows his brows in confusion once more at the reoccurring formality. "There is a matter that requires your attention. It won't take up much of your time." You look up at the man who looms over you even in your heels. You sigh.

"I will be right there." You reply. He takes a step back to give you space, but maintains a close enough distance to lead you away once you're ready. You turn to Steve with an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry. Would you mind giving me just a moment?" Steve is a bit stunned.

"Yeah, sure..." He trails, confused. You give him a smile.

"Save me that dance, will you?" He melts at your smile, thoughts clearing of any and everything just at the sight. He nods mindlessly. Your smile grows in return before you release his hand and turn to follow that security guard who came for you.

Steve watches you leave and can't stop himself from looking you up and down. Once you're out of sight, Steve makes his way back to the bar, returning his grip back to his sweating glass.

×××

Just as you said, you wouldn't take long, but the few minutes Steve had to wait felt like an eternity until you arrived back beside him. "I'm so sorry. You ready for that dance?" Steve stood up straight and turned to face you. Every time you appeared, it was like a God sent. You were ethereal in a way that Steve couldn't quite put into words.

"Y-yeah." But he made no move to get to the dance floor. You close the distance between you both until you're toe to toe. You cock your head to the side, silently questioning him. His heart feels like it'll beat out of his chest, the air wafting your scent straight back into his brain. "Why does everyone keep calling you 'madame'?" He manages to get out. He's not sure that was the question he meant to ask, but that's what came out. You sigh, pouting like you've been caught.

"Fine, I guess that cat's out of the bag." You shift your weight to jut out one hip. "I'm the owner of this place." Steve's brows shoot up. He wasn't expecting that. Maybe a manager or something, but the owner?

"You're the owner?" He repeats the question outside of his own mind. You let out a soft chuckle, grinning proudly.

"The one and only." After a few stunned seconds coming from Steve's end, you reach out for his hand again, stepping back and pulling him with you, leaving his now empty glass behind. You gently guide him away from the bar once more before turning to properly lead him to the dance floor.

Steve's mind floods with more follow-up questions and conversation starters, but there you go again, 'walking away' though with him in tow. His eyes find themselves glancing over your figure again. He wants to continue a conversation with you, to get to know you and all other secrets you're hiding, but as soon as you're away from the safe haven that is the bar, music overpowers all other noises on the dance floor.

You settle on a good spot for you and Steve, ample room for the both of you, but also a safe spot to be experimental, not really knowing if he has any dancing experience. The look you give him forcefully removes the air from his lungs. You start moving and flowing to the beat effortlessly, keeping your movements tame and fluid. Steve's eyes follow your hands as they run up your thighs, your hips, your waist, and eventually in the air.

At first, he's left there just watching you dance, but the show doesn't last too long before he feels your hands on his, pulling him close to follow your movements with his body. He slowly joins in with gentle swaying of his hips with yours, leaving his hands where you placed them, at the base of your waist. You allow your arms to move freely, the fabric of your sleeves flowing along with them. You throw your head back, allowing the music to take over.

The whining of your waist and gentle roll of your shoulders sparks electricity through Steve as he stares down at your body in all its glory. He can't stop the heat from rising within him.

Eventually, your eyes return to him and force his gaze to meet them. You give him a look before bringing your arms down gently to caress the sides of his neck and face. Steve couldn't pinpoint if it was the dancing, the alcohol, or you causing him to sweat so damn much.

You reach a hand up to run through the front of his hair, pushing his damp bangs out of the way. His eyes flutter to look down at your red lips, painfully watching the way they smirk. You tug on his hair, causing his head to get thrown back a bit. His eyes close, and his mouth falls open, and he has to fight the urge to moan at the feeling.

He continues to sway to the music with his eyes closed and head thrown back, just as you commanded, and as predicted, it had the exact effect you wanted. He gets lost in the music, lost in the moment.

Steve was instantly knocked into a state of bliss. He felt equally invincible and nonexistent. Nothing could hurt him. He was just here with you. Nothing else mattered. A weight was lifted off his shoulders that had been weighing down for so long he forgot it was even there. Now that it was gone, he felt weightless, like he would float away if you weren't there to ground him, if his grip on your hips loosened, if your hands on his neck left him. He was in pure euphoria.

Steve couldn't tell you how long you two stayed that way or how many songs passed, but suddenly, the tempo slowed, and the music quieted slightly. Your hands found their way to his cheeks, tilting his head down to no longer be thrown back. As soon as his head was facing forward, those pesky strands of hair flopped down again. Steve's eyes remained closed, so when you reached to run your hands through his hair again, the feeling of your fingers against his scalp felt like they were massaging directly against his brain. He felt lightheaded at the touch.

"What's your name?" Even through the ringing of his ears from the unknown stretch of loud music, your voice still flooded in as if you were speaking directly into his mind.

"Steve." He replies softly, not ready to leave his nirvana. You smile softly.

"Steve." You repeat. He was fine until you said his name. Now, he wasn't too sure how long before his legs gave out from beneath him. "Regrettably, the night is coming to an end." At this Steve's eyes open, though remaining half lid.

His eyes bore into yours, causing your soft smile to widen. You tilt your head as if trying to get a better look at his eyes beneath his eyelids. His eyes open up a bit wider at your small action. He looks away from you to let his eyes wander the room.

The dance floor has half the amount of people on it. The bartender is wiping down the bar top and glasses, and the two security guards are talking with the wispy haired girl towards the front doors. You move your hand higher on his cheek to grab his attention.

His eyes take in your face like it's the first and last thing he'd ever see. It causes your heart to warm. "Will I see you again, Steve?" Your voice melts through him. His lips part as he nods gently. His hazel eyes dance around your features with a small smile.

"I've never looked forward to anything more." Your soft laugh causes him to furrow his brows a little as he watches you.

"That was a good line." You approve. Steve scoffs, joining in with your soft laughs. He shakes his head, eyes bouncing around at nothing in particular before looking back to your eyes.

"It wasn't 'a line'." His eyes widen playfully as his grin widens, showing his teeth. "I mean it." His gaze goes from your eyes down to your lips. His head shakes again, hair bouncing as his small antic repeats itself. "You're quite honestly the most beautiful person I've ever seen, and I would really like to get to know you." You give him a genuine smile.

"You are quite the charmer, aren't you?" By now, it's only you and Steve left on the dance floor, the last stranglers leaving out the door, the music just loud enough to hear.

"Is it too much to ask for your number?" He raises his brows with a hopeful expression. You give him a big smile and drop your hands to grab his, leading him back over to the bar. You reach over the bartop to grab a napkin and a pen, writing down your phone number before slipping it into his breast pocket with a smile. Steve smirks, eyes dancing back and forth from your eyes to lips and back up.

A sharp whistle cuts through the venue, grabbing both yours and Steve's attention. The brutish, green eyed security guard waves her hand in a circle, signaling to 'wrap it up'. Steve turns back to you just in time to see your eyes roll in response. He bites back a smile, lifting an arm and offering his elbow. You loop your hand around his arm and begin walking with him to the door.

Just as you reach the entrance/exit, the three employees leave from their posts, heading to the bar to give you both some space. "You better give me a call, cool guy." You raise a brow, releasing his arm to turn and face him properly with your chin held high. He gives you one of the most charming smiles you've ever seen, resting his hands on his hips. His brows quirk up again.

"You better answer, gorgeous." You fight your flustered expression with much difficulty, ultimately failing. You roll your eyes to try and cover up your inability to hold eye contact with him right now. You shake your head, turning slightly back to the inside of the club. You look at him through the corner of your eyes. He raises another teasing brow, awaiting a response. A beat passes before you close the gap between you, lifting your hand to capture his face, dragging his face to yours and planting a kiss on his lips.

Steve's eyes nearly pop out of his head the second he feels your lips on his. His eyes just begin to blink closed as you slowly pull away from the short-lived kiss. Steve chases after you, not wanting the contact to end. He couldn't remember the last time he had been kissed. He didn't realize how touch starved he truly was until you graced him with your touch.

"Goodnight, pretty boy." Steve’s eyes open back up to find you've made your way back inside, hands holding open the doors as you bid him farewell. Steve’s mouth opens to say something, but nothing comes out, his eyes blown wide. All he can do is lift a hand to wave in response as you slowly close the doors.

"She sounds hot. Did you call her?" Robin asks, leaning over the counter with wide eyes. Steve scoffs with a sassy hand on his hip.

"Robin, I didn't get home until like 4am. I could just call her."

"Okay, well, that was Saturday. Today's Monday, and you still haven't called, dingus?!" She looks at him as if he's the biggest idiot in the world. He sputters a he tries to redeem himself.

"I'll call her today." Robin rolls her eyes, smacking her hand down on the stack of movies next to her before dragging them off the counter and into her hands.

"Whatever." She walks around the counter to get back to work. "It's the end of your shift. Clock out and give Morticia a call before I do." Steve's eyes follow her as she walks away until she rounds an isle and is no longer in view.

The entire drive home, Steve was racking through his brain thinking of different scenarios. "How was the rest of your weekend?... What's your favorite band?... How's owning a club like?" He talks to himself, practicing questions and answers. A part of him just wants to skip passed all the introductory questions and just get to the nitty gritty.

He craves to get to know you on a deeper level, on every level. He wants to share with you all his goals, all his fears. He wants to just spend more time with you. He yearns for your touch on his skin again, your hands on his neck, on his face, fingers in his hair, nails scratching his scalp, lips on his. He can't help but laugh at himself. He feels crazy. You've only met each other two days ago, and he's already aching for you.

He parks in the empty driveway, sighing. He's always been used to arriving to an empty home, but since graduation and his parent leaving him the house for his own, it has been even more lonely than before. He locks up the car and makes his way into the empty house. He hangs his keys on the hook by the door and makes a b-line to the phone.

Steve pulls out his wallet, taking out the folded up napkin he's been carrying around with him since Saturday. His heart races in his chest as he listens to the dialing, resting the phone between his cheek and his shoulder as he twirls the chord around his fingers. Just as he's about to give up and hang up with the phone, there's a distinct click of someone answering.

"Hello?"

×××

Hope you liked it, bestie☺️☺️😩 Not me making Steve a little hot and heavy in the club🥵

if it wasn't obvious, I'd do anything to run my hands through his hair 😩

💀❤️💀❤️💀❤️💀❤️💀❤️💀❤️💀❤️💀

[silverraes]

My Top 9 albums of 2023

tagged by @mysterygrl20 tysm <3

my taste in music is kind of all over the place so prepare yourself for a wild ride, although I also listen to a lot of kpop (I've kinda been slacking on keeping up with releases over the past year tho oops) and we definitely have some overlap in favorite albums

I apologize in advance for how long this post is going to become but you're really opening the floodgates by letting me talk about music lol

(it's been a very dry year for my favorite metal bands or this list would've been even more chaotic lmao)

1) Dear Insanity... by DPR Ian

while I struggled to rank most of these, there was absolutely no question about my #1 album of the year. I only just discovered DPR Ian in 2023 and he very quickly became my favorite artist ever. you might have even seen me talk about this album an unhealthy amount of times already lol. he's just such an insanely good artist and every single song on this album is just soooo damn good.

part of why I love him so much is also the story he tells throughout his music videos and just how insanely good all of his MVs look and how well the visuals fit the music so I feel obligated to link the MV to my favorite song off this album:

(some flashing lights in this one, folks, be warned)

2) The World Ep.2: Outlaw by Ateez

everything Ateez releases is immediately getting added to my favorites, what can I say. I didn't have the money to go to their 2023 tour but I did see them live in 2022... absolutely worth the one and only time I ever caught corona. not a single bad song on this album, they're all absolute bangers.

3) Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token

I only just discovered Sleep Token in 2023 but I absolutely fell in love with this entire album and their style in general. almost got to see them live but then I ended up getting surgery on the exact day of their concert... :')

4) OO-LI by Woodz

I am a Woodz stan first and a human second. I'm convinced this man is incapable of releasing bad music, everything he does is just so damn good and I love how he explores a bunch of different genres while still making all of his music just sound like him y'know

also honorable mention to Amnesia which is only a single album so it didn't make the list but if you like more eerie stuff and the general vibe of his music, definitely check it out, I love it so much

5) On My Youth by WayV

WayV will forever have me in a chokehold. they've been my favorite NCT unit since their debut and honestly also the only unit I managed to properly keep up with over the last year ashgasj. I just really love their style of music and how they've actually been sticking to it

6) The Name Chapter: Temptation by TXT

It's truly been a TXT kinda year for me, I've been listening to them a lot. there aren't many songs on this album but I still love it so so much, all of the songs are great and Sugar Rush Ride is such a unique title track

7) Dark Blood by Enhypen

honestly Enhypen are part of the reason why I might have to update my top 3 kpop groups to a top 5 lol. all of their albums so far have been great and this one was no different, I still listen to a lot of the songs on it on repeat

8) RUSH! (Are U Coming?) by Måneskin

well what can I say, Måneskin have had me in a chokehold ever since they won the Eurovision and I actually got to see them live in 2023! drove all the way over to Berlin for them and everything, great album with great songs. I love both their more rock-ish songs and their slower songs and this album has a great mix of both (although I wish there would've been some more Italian songs on here)

9) MONO by K.Flay

K.Flay has been one of my more underrated faves for a couple years by now and I'll take any chance to gush about her music. there's just something very unique about K.Flay's music and this album certainly didn't disappoint. honestly, the only reason why I ended up putting this one on the "last" place is that I haven't listened to it as much as the other albums on this list

Honorable mentions!

bc once I start talking about music, I just simply can not stop at only 9 albums and this list isn't quite chaotic enough yet to properly describe my taste in music lmao

ODD-VENTURE by MCND

this is a rather recent one so I haven't listened to it enough for it to make the list, but I love everything MCND put out and this is definitely also a great album! (plus the title track is yeehaw kpop which is incredibly creative of them and I didn't know I needed that in my life)

HAPPYPILLS by Utsu-P

and this is where I expose the true chaotic nature of my taste in music lmao. Utsu-P's music is the perfect clash of world's between teen-me's obession with vocaloid and current-me's love for metal. I didn't include this album bc I still haven't gotten around to listening to all of it, but the songs that I did listen to, I absolutely loved

Phantomime by Ghost

oh you thought you made it through an entire post of me talking about music without mentioning Ghost? Hah, fool. jokes aside, this is an album full of cover songs so I didn't include it but it's still full of bangers. I reached audio cap now but I'll include their Jesus He Knows Me cover bc this was an absolute treat to witness live:

if you've made it this far without getting whiplash: congrats!

tagging (as always, no pressure, feel free to ignore this): @negrowhat @fallsouthwinter @spicypussywave @thisisworsethanitlookslike @supanuts @buddhamethods @alienwlw and anyone else who wants to do it!

[finniestoncrane]

Hi for like the third time this week! (this is still the same anon who cannot stop sending you asks about Reeves!Verse Penguin). Your writing has me down so bad for this old man hnnngggg (I promise I will stop cluttering your inbox now!)

But do you have any headcanons for our beloved Oswald? Like, not necessarily romantic ones, but like, how he views himself, random facts about him that you just absolutely hold to be true? As always, absolutely no pressure to answer, I was just curious!

(also, I didn't know there was going to be a spin-off with him??? is this true??)

Thank you for putting up with my endless Daddy Oz asks and for your absolutely wonderful writing!! 💜💜

you're not cluttering anon you're just lovely and sweet and giving me an excuse to think about him every day (even though i do that anyway)

BUT YEAH OK YOU OPENED THE FLOODGATES i have a whole like 2k words of headcanon notes that i keep meaning to find time to organise and write out properly, but i'd love to share my favourites with no particular sort of organisation i am so sorry lmao 💜

he makes his s/o and/or family go for sunday walks together but he calls them the "sunday waddles" because he's a dork

makes pasta like his grandmother used to make to a secret recipe and lets you taste it by licking his finger

insists on recreating the lady and the tramp scene with spaghetti anytime it's on the table in front of you

one of his favourite hobbies is bowling, he has his own specially made ball and matching gloves and shoes and shirt, and he holds your hips while you throw and is very keen to help you play

he'll use so many petnames for people, s/o and friends and goons, that he will forget people's actual names

he's the sweetest around kids, calls himself uncle oz and is always handing them $50 bills

he speaks italian when he's railing you

100% is in charge of the grill at BBQs and has an apron that looks like a tuxedo

he celebrates redundant anniversaries with too many gifts and far too much enthusiasm like the first time he saw you, the first time you spoke to him, the first time you spent the night, the first time you kissed, the first time you took a ride in his car etc.

i've named his kids i'm sorry he has two sons called lorenzo and walden and he calls them lolly and wally (for daddy oz i will be soft enough for kids)

he flirts with EVERYONE. wait staff, bartenders, the guy at the bank, his goons, your mother

you show him an old woman, he's got them swooning and calling him a precious young man while they pinch his cheeks, he is such a charmer

he has dogs. so many dogs. pomeranians and chihuahuas. and they're all named after pasta dishes. he cookes them steak every night and he'll be out on his lawn in the morning with like 10 leashes taking them all for a walk and they all sleep in the bed with him every night

he doesn't think he's particularly handsome but he knows he holds himself well and looks smart all the time

he thought he'd be dead before he hit 40 (shot, cigars, drinking)

he hasn't thrown a punch in action in over a decade because he doesn't need to anymore but he has a punching bag in his garage to keep himself prepared

[alt-bluesman]

Animal Crossing memories, part 1

New Horizons was my first Animal Crossing game. I recently picked it back up after about 3 years of barely touching my Switch and got into it again. The floodgates of memories and nostalgia opened far and wide. Just like in 2020, the game came at the right moment for me (and many others), but for different reasons this time!

... then my enjoyment was abruptly cut short by the Joy-Con drift, lmao. I used the console for less than 700 hours in total (so not even a full month), diligently keeping it clean and shielding from any damage. All in vain! My left analog stick started showing signs of the dreaded drifting within half a year of first use and soon after it got so bad that it rendered any game pretty much unplayable.

So I did the thing. I sent my Joy-Cons all the way to Czechia for free repair (there is no official Nintendo distributor/representative in Poland). I'm glad this is still an option because it is honestly the only right thing to do after the whole Joy-Con blunder. I hope they don't replace the hardware with the same trash parts they used the first time!

While I'm waiting for the controllers to come back, I may as well go on a little trip down the memory lane, just for the heck of it. I went through my gallery and found out I have almost 300 screenshots, holy smokes. I'm usually not this eager to save screenshots or clips, but I'm so glad I did it! Now let's jump right into it and pay a short visit to the island of Pan!

I went into the game knowing almost nothing about it. But everybody was talkin' about it, playin' it & lovin' it, so I wanted in! The first moments were enchanting, I was completely unfamiliar with the rules and mechanics, so having to figure it all out on my own was very exciting. That's how I like to approach my games - the less I know, the better. It's funny to look back at all the newbie mistakes you made. Huh? Well then... it's certainly funny to me!

(I used to think that writing board posts affected the game and your villagers could somehow understand what you wrote!)

Katt & Mac were my starters. Not the worst, definitely not the best. Then all the bird villagers began moving in and I was fuming. With few exceptions (and penguins! I love penguins), I find AC birds to be rather boring and unappealing in appearance. And Pan was full of them. Pompom the duck promptly became the main recipient of my rage. Now cue the examples:

She really didn't have it easy on Pan, haha. Looking back on it though, it was all part of the fun! Some of my my most memorable moments were born this way! Made the game sorta challenging too because I wanted to move her out so bad. I also had no regards for island theme or aesthetics at that time, meaning when there was a bird house, there was fire, trash and barbed wire. And poop.

Later I bought a bunch of fakemiibos and kicked Pompom out with Rowan. I remember being frustrated out of my mind at all the birds, but then moving out villagers with cards became way too easy. I still regret buying so many of them, I think I will attempt to sell them except the absolute favourites. Focus on villager hunting as it makes them a lot more precious!

Oh I'm sure you won't, you poor thing. You know what's crazy? I don't hate Pompom at all anymore, I kinda developed some fondness for her after all the absolute mayhem I put her through. I wouldn't mind her coming back to my island. May we meet again in the future, Pompom... you moron!!

I have almost no recollection of visiting Harv's Photopia, but apparently I did that a lot! Least favourite villagers versus villagers I liked. And Katt that fell somewhere in the middle. She got stuck with cleaning after us, but at least didn't have to put up with ominous death threats while wearing dumb clothes.

Visiting and inviting friends was so much fun. Touring their islands, seeing their progress, drawing on boards, exchanging items or DIY recipes and sending letters are some of the best memories I have! The loading screens were abysmal & the lack of mini-games was rather disappointing, but I still got a lot of enjoyment out of the multiplayer despite its limits.

One of my favourite things to do is arranging the villagers' yards based on their style, personality and hobbies. Those are old and outdated examples, though my decorating skills are still very modest compared to all the pro players - it's absolutely amazing what some people can pull off in this game. But even then, it's another fun thing to do. What else do ya need!

(Getting that first lily of the valley was a big moment for me, came unexpectedly & took ages)

Kangaroos are my most beloved species in AC. Sylvia was my fave for a long time, but I believe that spot belongs to Kitt now! I got Kitt from another player and based on what they told me, she was well loved on their island. All the gifted clothes she came with are so darn cute - especially the red bow she likes to parade in. I know she's just a fictional animal, but man, I just love my Kitt. I wish other kangaroos such as Marcy, Koharu and Valise were still in the game.

(Naturally, nothing could have stopped me from ruining Kitt. Nintendo has since censored "feck" and it's no longer allowed. FECK)

"Fatass" didn't get that kind of treatment yet! It raised to the rank of the most popular catchphrase on Pan. Along with, regretfully, "ketchup".

(It's a moment of triumph whenever my deranged ideas get sprinkled on whatever they say & the results turn out like this)

I love New Horizons to bits, but I have to agree with one of the main criticisms it received - the dialogue is overly polite and repetitive, therefore it feels rather lackluster. I didn't get to experience rude remarks nor Mr. Resetti's angry outbursts from the previous games. I feel like I'm missin' out! I wouldn't necessarily want to be constantly berated by fictional animals, but I wish this game made me experience a wider range of emotions. So sometimes I build those awful Snowboys just to get a small taste of what true AC veterans still fondly remember.

Credit where credit is due: I thoroughly enjoy the dialogue between villagers. It can be interesting, funny, witty and spicy, sometimes a bit mean too! I live for that stuff & always bolt towards them whenever I see them talking - it's one of the very best highlights of New Horizons for me that often appears to be overlooked by many other players.

_______________

End of part 1! I will share my final thoughts, favourite screenshots and future plans in another post because I reached the image limit in this one, lmao. See you soon!

[friendlytacosyumyum]

Hello! If you’re not busy, can you please do Izuku with Scarlet Witch S/O with her powers?

absolutely!

Izuku Midoriya x Scarlet Witch!gn!reader

warnings: mentions of fighting at the end

type: headcanons

a/n: I did headcanons for this one! hope you don't mind anon :) it was really fun to write!

- when izuku first met you, he was fascinated

- your quirk was interesting, don't get me wrong, but this was a borderline obsession

- he wanted to know anything and everything about your quirk

- how did you pick things up? how did the "mind control" work? could you "mind control" him? would it alter his memories? can people move when you show them their worst fears? does it take a lot of energy?

- eventually, you sat down with him for a quirk interview and you told him everything he wanted to know

- was actually really nice about it!! he even suggested some possible upgrades for your hero costume that would help your quirk!

- for example, he thought that you could test out using amplifiers to be able to pick up larger objects with less of a strain

- definitely introduces you to his entire friend group

- "guys this is y/n. they are the most badass person i've ever met."

- you were in the process of transferring to UA and when you finally walked into class on your first day everyone already knew all about you

- even bakugo looked up to see who deku was talking about this whole time

- "tch. that chick? what does she even do, lift things? boring."

- you beat him in training after that :)

- aizawa is also fond of your quirk, since it involves your mind. it's similar to his, but he uses his eyes instead of his mind.

- if using your quirk ever tires you out, the whole class is ready to wait on you hand and foot

- izuku is telling them what to do

- "they need more water! can we make the lights any dimmer?"

- you managed to get everyone to calm down after you explained it was just some overuse

- when midoriya actually asks you out for the first time, it isn't chaotic or full of ramblings (not as much rambling as usual, that is)

- takes you to your favorite spot! if you have a little garden or stream you like to sit by when you're alone, he's going to meet you there, little rose and note in hand

- gives you the rose, then the note before saying "you don't have to respond right away y/n"

- leaves after that to give you some time to think about it. ofc, you're dumbfounded, just staring at the note in your hand like ???

- inside is a new drawing of your hero costume and some notes on it, as well as a little love letter

- talks about his feelings for you, when they started, and ends it with a little i like you, y/n

- of COURSE you say yes

- everyone knows by the next day, izuku just can't keep your relationship a secret :( its not his fault! you're just so amazing and he wants everyone to know he finally asked you out!!

- even aizawa knows tbh

- trains with you even more, gives you more advice and tips on your quirk than before. it's obvious he was holding back so he didn't scare you off LMAO

- lets you cuddle with him after practice!! he likes being the big spoon most of the time but if he had a really bad day or kacchan was mean to him he'll crawl into your lap and press his face into your neck until you hold him properly

- helps you with homework! his whole squad has group study sessions and you're invited! everyone takes turns making snacks and drinks, 10/10 would recommend

- your first kiss was... interesting

- see, izuku doesn't have much experience, but he's seen a couple of rom-coms

- you teach him how! and eventually he does get better at it, he's very eager to please!

- doesn't tend to use pet names in public because he knows it might embarrass you. when you tell him its fine, THE FLOODGATES HAVE OPENED

- puppy, baby, babe, precious, princess, etc.

- will call you anything under the sun at least once

- my sweetiepoo? my coo-coopie?

- drives everyone INSANE but he doesn't care

- tries to avoid fights with you because they scare him :( but if you do get in a fight he talks it out with you as soon as he can because he doesn't want you thinking he doesn't love you anymore

overall, you have a really healthy relationship! 10/10 would date tbh even if i write him angst 99% of the time. give the broccoli boi some love for me <3

---

taglist:

@love-hashira-raine i thought you'd want to know about this one ALSKDMFALKEWF

[rollercoasterwords]

hi! no pressure at all, this is just my curiosity getting the best of me, but I was wondering if you’re planning to eventually write more in the atyd another perspective series? It’s feeding my soul hahah. also if you have any writing advice for people just starting out? thank you sm and I absolutely love all your work, the hand that feeds is consuming me atm!

hi thank u so much i'm so glad u enjoyed sirius's pov + that ur enjoying the hand that feeds!! 💖

i do still have a few oneshots that i eventually want to get to in the atyd another perspective series, but i honestly have no idea when i'm going to get around to writing them just bc there are other projects holding my focus rn, so i'm basically just considering it on hold indefinitely :)

and i've already talked a little about writing advice in this post, but i feel like i got very rambly over there so i'm gonna try and be more concise here:

(first - a disclaimer: i’ve never really studied english and am by no means a creative writing expert, so i’m not the best person to give advice about like...technical aspects of writing. the advice that i do have to offer has more to do with mindset!)

1 - no writing is bad writing! writing is just like any other creative pursuit -- playing an instrument, painting, drawing, etc. the more you practice, the better you’ll get. especially if you’re just starting out, try not to beat yourself up if your stories don’t come out the way you want them to. any piece of writing you create -- no matter how cliche or full of grammatical errors or boring or incoherent it might be -- is you practicing + learning + growing as a writer. focus on having fun with the process and try not to beat yourself up if you aren’t reaching, like, ~writing perfection~ (bc perfection in writing doesn’t exist anyway!)

2 - you’re not selling a product, you’re sitting around a campfire. i genuinely feel like that’s the best way i can summarize this point lmao

what i’m trying to say here is that i think it’s really easy to get into this capitalist-brainwashing-induced mindset that anything you create is a product for consumption. this leads to a lot of pressure to not only create at an unsustainably fast pace, but it means that if your audience doesn’t like the product, or if there’s not a large audience coming to consume the product, it’s easy to feel like a failure.

but that’s not what writing is about!! writing is about storytelling and the communities it can build and the joy of imagination!! good writing is messy and stupid and fun and driven by emotion, not capital gain (at least, in my opinion)! if there is even one person who wants to sit around the proverbial campfire with you and listen to your story, that’s so exciting!! if you’re at the campfire by yourself looking up the stars and hanging out with a bunch of funky little characters in your head, that’s so much fun!! this mindset shift has been the most helpful thing for me personally when it comes to writing, because in the past i really felt like writing wasn’t really worth the time unless i was working towards the ultimate goal of publication. now that i’m writing purely for the fun of it, and writing stories that i enjoy, regardless of whether i think they’ll appeal to a broad audience, it’s like the floodgates have been opened and suddenly writing isn’t a chore or a burden but just something that i truly, truly love -- and also something that has helped me plug into a community of other people who write for the joy of writing, and i truly think that is so special and unique in this day and age <3

[krisiverse]

if your tags mentioning disability infodumping a few minutes ago were genuine, then feel free to go forth and do so (publicly or privately, you can dm me if you want but idk how much later i'll be up)

absolutely genuine!! and im glad u asked bc now i get to open the floodgates

SO i have 3 illnesses (tm) that i get to deal with! all of them are things ive been dealing with as long as i can remember but all have them have gotten much worse in the past year. i have POTS, chronic migraines+light sensitivity, and some unknown joint problem

pots is short for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome! in laymans terms that means whenever i go upright my heart beats way too fast! this isn't actually a heart issue it's a problem with the blood vessels in my legs not contracting when i stand up like they're supposed to, so ALL the blood goes to my legs and feet and heart goes OH SHIT and works overtime to get it up to my brain cause i kinda need that to live

when i initially stand up this causes dizziness and my vision often gets covered with a grey blur, i have to take a moment before continuing. then if im upright for longer periods of time i start to get brain fog and its harder for my brain to process things- this includes sitting, depending on the day ill be able to sit for a couple hours straight to draw or play video games, with some effect until i lay down, the brain fog and also adhd make it so sometimes i forget to though and THAT'S always a Time, but basically any amount of standing IS going to make me lightheaded until i lay down and take time to recover

honestly pots has very little to do with the heart itself, im not sure why its called what it is

yall know what migraines are so im just gonna say im like. constantly having a headache. im very rarely not having a headache. as a kid i related to psyduck so much bc hey same and it gets REAL bad sometimes, everyone in my family gets severe migraines when theres high pressure weather, its bad BUT i have medication for it so its like. handleable

but the WORST thing is light sensitivity. technically linked to the migraines but not specific TO them, i get hurt badly by perfectly normal amounts of light, as in "sitting in the living room an hour before sunrise is too much for me" no amount of adjustment helps. none. i Have to wear sunglasses to leave my room almost all of the time, and it's not nearly as cool as it sounds, it sucks

the light sensitivity also comes side by side with other vision issues! i also have visual snow which is random noise across my vision like a blanket of static! and not only do i have that i also have misaligned eyes resulting in ZERO depth perception and double images unless i actively focus (imagine if you had to cross your eyes constantly to see stuff clearly) and while TECHNICALLY that and my nearsightedness are correctable by lenses, i have horrible sensory issues with seeing things in sharp focus so i can't even use that lmao! still means im not legally blind though and i may not use a white cane based on the laws in my state

and finally idk what the hell is going on with my joints. i think it might also be based on air pressure but sometimes theyll just ALL decide to hurt, all the time, for weeks on end and it sucks! idk what is going on here, they werent bothering me for a few months but now its baaaaaack ✨

ty for letting me share! this isn't really venting, im not looking for sympathy im just kinda like. man that's wild huh. it rly be like this.

[lizbotw]

Okay. I think I’ll finally confess, because I’m way too excited for us to have matching themes. (Also gonna put that you’re my “buddy” in my description if we are gonna match themes lmao👀)Since you’re favourite character is Reiner, mine is........

......

......

......

.....Bertholdt!!!!! :DDD You’ve guessed right this whole time but it was hilarious watching the entire progress of my keeping info away from you and leaving you in the dark😌ALSO PLEASE TELL ME YOUR THINKIG PROCESS AND HOW YOU ALREADY HAD AN IDEA OF MY “TASTE” WHAT-you have idea how hard it was to keep it from you without bursting into my endles compliments I have for this tall precious boy who deserves the world🥺 I’ve been having some ideas but also wanted to let you guess..however it was too painful to wait because you were RIGHT THERE ON THE SPOT but you still were unsure and thought it might be Marco or Reiner still aha, and none of this would’ve even been possible if I never mentioned the name because apparently you didn’t even remembered that he existed in the anime😭 So underrated.....Okay I was thinking of changing my quote in the blog name to one of Bert’s quotes and maybe you could do one too? Not to mention matching icons?🥺It sounds like so much fun but idk if you’re up for it..?? 😌Anyways you’re response to my ask was so soft, I’ll just go happily cry in a corner while doing my hw-

KRISTY ISTG I’M GONNA PUNCH YOU I FUCKING KNEW IT as soon as i saw him i was like “i just KNOW kristy is heads over heels for this fucking man” what other guy would you like!!! the answer is none of them!!! only him!!! okay the rest is under the cut because this was an entire journey and a half smh but you ASKED FOR IT

my thought process? whooo this is messy but okay. also if i say it now i won’t have to say it later so i’ll just unload everything here. much easier than ranting in ur dms. also you don’t have to like... reply, you can just read it because i am just delivering what you asked for

okay i’ll confess too, i wasn’t unsure about my answer AT ALL, that was just a cover up 😭 IDK AJDNSJAJ i was so SURE it was him, but there’s always the chance there’s someone else but also literally could not see you liking anyone else. i 100% knew it wasn’t marco bc um... he’ll be gone soon ❤️ idk when but soon. so he’s not exactly a good choice for a long-term fav, but i was like let’s just add him in for some ~mystery~ and also tbh you kinda exposed urself that it’s not him when you said a long time ago that ur okay with jean-marco matching icons but that you still really want me to figure out ur fav

i was trying to figure out how to say it ¿¿¿ as soon as i saw him i was like this is it. i’ve got to tell her. but i didn’t know how to word it AJJSJDJSJ “why do i feel like you like bertholdt 🤡” “ur in love with bertholdt aren’t you 😐” “bertholdt” (that’s right. just his name. and then i’d see how you react.) “him” “reiner’s bff... u like him don’t you” ALL OF IT and we weren’t as close then so i was like AJSJJSJDJ HOW TO WORD THINGS- the amount of times i almost said it but was like hmm... nvm let’s go back to discussing eren, that’s the safest thing to talk about rn. grrr i was just “it’s bertholdt, u like bertholdt u ABSOLUTELY LOVE BERTHOLDT I KNOW IT 🤡🤡🤡” like i could not figure out how to... convey. it was just 😐🤡😐🤡😐🤡 bc it’s HIM. but i was like ur gonna hate me if i say it like that but those were my emotions BC IT’S SO OBVIOUSSSSS

AND WHAT REINER????? nooo i absolutely KNEW you did not like him, plus you said you already had ur reiner phase smh kristy u are so obvious. SO OBVIOUS KRISTY IT HURTS but you also said you were being very careful and not giving me clues??? so i was thinking maybe i’m looking at things too surface level here. I AM NEVER SECOND GUESSING MYSELF AGAIN

i knew it was a guy even tho you kept saying “they” bc YEAH INTUITION 🧘‍♀️ only maybe i’d think you like christa or whatever but idk she’s like... not the first choice. hmm WAIT LMFAO ALSO YOU ALREADY SAID HANGE WAS UR FAV FEMALE CHARACTER kristy the things you say... the clues were enough to confirm my initial suspicions 😈 man me mentioning bertholdt = opening the floodgates for you YOU WERE SO EXCITED

let it be known that i was onto you from the start 😠 if you told me it was someone else i would be like “okay... lies” but in the back of my mind i would have known you must have an intense bertholdt phase at some point. it’s him. it’s always been him.

okay let me explain my relationship with bertholdt because i didn’t forget him ENTIRELY nooo don’t think that 😭 so he shows up with his buddy reiner and talks to eren ❤️ instantly is on my radar bc talking to my boy??? already am like “kristy vibes.” cut to jean existing 🥰 am only focused on him during trost arc bc eren died :( see reiner and annie together, so cute 💞 but where is bertholdt? i decide to write a thing about my thoughts on all the characters. i end up writing a paragraph on why bertholdt is sus bc he’s all but disappeared at this point 😐 felt bad bc it felt like i was slandering him unnecessarily and i knew i should be nice to him bc you like him and i didn’t want to hurt your feelings. i stare at the draft for weeks. decide to go back and look for bertholdt bc i felt like i had missed him (this brings us to current times). i see him, think he’s an okay guy, however seeing him also just leads to me gathering even more evidence that he’s sus. am panicking bc i want to share my thoughts but i don’t know how you will react. this leads to me tentatively telling you about how i think he’s pretty cool so you can see that i am NOT a bertholdt hater. slowly start mentioning my suspicions of a few different characters, etc. you know how it goes from there. i wanted to say it was bertholdt when i sent you that message but i chickened out idk so i was like “haha, this is NOT my official guess okay <3” 😍 grrr the fact that rn i was just going to be like “it’s bertholdt kristy. i know it and you don’t have to tell me i’m right because i already know i am” because i was like okay, we’re good friends at this point, anything i say will be fine <3 plus i was tired of living with this burden of knowledge AND NOW YOU’VE TAKEN THE REVEAL AWAY FROM ME that’s it, i’m going to find a new fav and not tell you about them and make you guess who it is. this is what you deserve.

he’s always been vaguely on my radar but anyway the point is i kept trying to figure out where he was but i’m blind so therefore i assumed he was up to no good. now that i have looked for him and seen him, i still believe he is up to no good (I MEAN THIS IN A NICE WAY PLEASE DO NOT HATE ME). omg i have things to say about him but i still don’t want to be mean 😭 he must have redeeming qualities bc you like him??? but. he gives me certain ~vibes~ LIKE LITERALLY LOOK AT HIM just standing there with reiner (speaking of which reiner is not off the hook either)

gahhh okay i should really just show you the theories thing okay it’s not so much theories now that i look at it but more so my thoughts on the characters i wrote bc slowly it’s becoming more and more irrelevant the more we talk so like... give me a sec and i’ll show you. ugh you know what i won’t even bother to edit it, you’ll see my RAW thoughts 😭 they haven’t really changed much anyway because i haven’t watched much aot lately. just use ur intuition and you’ll be able to tell which thoughts have changed for me 💆‍♀️ (read as: anything i say about “where is bertholdt” = he was there all along but i accidentally ignored him) he’s so endearingly cute tho... i am infuriated because i cannot love all these characters. this show... how does it do this to me. also you said you really hope i like whoever it is and i feel like for all the other characters it’s very obvious i’d like them bc they’re all so AKDKDKDK. plus i talked about how much i loved most of them anyway, he was one of the few i barely discussed my feelings about 👀

when we were talking about him i just KNEW you wanted to scream about how much you love him. i was like “do it kristy DO IT prove me right” but ur self control is unmatched, i could never. like you sprinkled in some praise for the other characters but i knew who you were REALLY thinking about ;))))) I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE YOU TOOK AWAY THE CHANCE FOR THE REVEAL AWAY FROM ME this is the equivalent of instantly knowing the answer to a question as soon as the teacher says it but then someone raises their hand faster than you 😐

hhhggg this is getting long but you wanted to know your type as i see it? (okay i just noticed you said “taste” actually but whatever, same thing) dude, bertholdt is the BLUEPRINT for all the guys you like rn. so sweet... like ur suga selfship. it’s so clear. potentially will do something i don’t want to say evil buuuuut, like hello??? DABI. there’s more but you get the point. the day you tell me you don’t like someone like bertholdt is the day i give up on eren. HAHA THERE’S SUCH A PATTERN plus the fact that bertholdt is legit all of those qualities rolled into one??? perfection. also before i even watched the show i saw pictures of him and he looked like someone you’d like so i kind of had that idea in my head from before to look out for him but i kept forgetting his name bc i can’t spell so i was like “who was that guy again” AND I COULDN’T SEARCH HIM UP BC I DIDN’T KNOW HIS NAME... oops? wowww if i wasn’t so shy and scared of you telling me i was wrong and then never talking to me again we would have been done with this whole thing a looooong time ago damn

matching icons yes omg reiner 🥰 he’s all mine now 🥰 damn wait i just changed my icon and i kind of like the vibes it gives off for me. hmm tbf i’ve been meaning to change up my theme and make a new header but i’ve been lazy. it was going be a cute dark blue/purple halloween theme but </3 yeah. i even had the pictures ready and i just had to edit them akjajsjsj. so if you have a bertholdt quote that means i should have a reiner one right? 👀 well he’s said eren’s name before right? so i’ll just keep my current title 🥰 JKJK AJSNSJAJJA i’ll go look for something. hhhggg wait okay can we do them for november? i know i’m going to want a change when november comes 😭 it’ll be like cleanse from october bc man is life kicking my ass rn. plus if i do it rn i’m going to be obsessed with making the new theme PERFECT and i just Do Not have the time to be busy graphic designing my blog 😭 I’M SO EXCITED FOR THEM TOO but ahhh man i love designing things like this so i’m going to be so focused on that. the fact that i briefly considered changing to an eren icon at one point but then i thought you would judge me </3 yes i have a problem with my obsession, what of it also we are more than just buddies, we’re practically aot soulmates at this point because we keep liking the different halves of all the iconic pairs. jean/marco, reiner/bertholdt... um okay well only those two but yeah i’m just kidding, buddy is good hehe that’s so cute omg pls use that 🥰

okay i hope ur happy, i have just exposed all of my thoughts. this is what you deserve for your precious boy so here ❤️ also i was feeling bad and was about to ask you if it’s okay to be sus of bertholdt because he’s truly a cute baby to me plus he has ur heart so maybe he’s truly good :( but then i remembered you like the villains in bnha so i wouldn’t put it past you to like someone who may or may not do something... suspicious. so i will be deciding myself who’s sus and who isn’t 😠😌 no criticism allowed this man is UP TO SOMETHING it’s always the quiet ones

ALSO I WAS GOING TO GO BACK AND LOOK FOR HIM EITHER WAY I SWEAR not just bc you mentioned him!!! 😭 he was always in the back of my mind ❤️ well i didn’t know exactly who he was but i was vaguely like okay the tall soft one... need to look out for him for kristy’s sake. okay maybe you DID influence me in some way to go look for him because technically i only ever even considered him bc he stood out as someone you’d like. but ur right, so underrated 😭 lo siento bertholdt u are actually too cute for this world and i am a dummy for not realizing that sooner :(

anyway now back to our regularly scheduled program of me talking about the armored titan ❤️ whoever you are mr. armor pls hmu ily ❤️ poor reiner watching me be unloyal rn. so weird that i’m going through a phase for both of them but here we are. this stupid titan is the only thing i’m looking forward to in the rest of the trost arc and if he doesn’t show up i’m going to wail pls,,,,,

mwah yes do ur hw kristy very good. i will not do mine but that’s okay ❤️ ur the responsible one out of the two of us also the fact that you said my response to your last ask was soft and now here i’m boderline yelling at you about bertholdt... duality please talk to me about how much you love bertholdt now or else ❤️

[dragonofyang]

why do you love eridan so much??? hes a little shit murderer

Ohoho anon you just opened the floodgates for exactly why I love that he’s a little shit murderer so buckle up

He, much like I, has a flair for the dramatic, as well as just a very striking character design with a very pretty shade of purple so visually he’s right up my alley with all the gold and purple and a motherfucking cape. I adore that shade of purple and have for years before reading Homestuck, I’ve owned lipstick that color for ages now, so getting into fandom and cosplay and such just makes my appreciation for appealing character design that much stronger. I could go into detail of why I love the aesthetics of all the trolls so much but that’s a topic for another post lmao but if you wanna know which other characters I love for their visual interest it’s (in no particular order) Kanaya, Feferi, and Nepeta as far as the post-scratch trolls go. Ancestors are always my fucking jam aesthetically, too but then again what don’t I love about them.

But looking at him from the perspective of an English major he’s very interesting as a character. He’s rounded and has a concrete history both in life and in relationships with the other characters, as well as having just a very striking personality. If I were to read him in a book, I would not forget who the fuck Eridan Ampora is precisely because his characterization wouldn’t let you. Granted, this applies to pretty much any of the main characters of Homestuck, so why does he strike more of a resonance with me than some of the others?

Excellent question and one that I can only theorize has something to do with his design but it also has something to do with what I discussed just a paragraph ago: his personality and his relationships. The full argument is under the cut so this is your TL;DR, anon.

His most key relationships we see as far as canonical romantic ones are Feferi and Vriska, so it’s through his relationships to them I’m going to analyze his character, as well as his relationship with his ancestor Orphaner Dualscar. As a character, we see that he’s a megalomaniac and has his head so far up his ass he’s talking around his horns, but we also see that he’s a historian, a tactician, a sailor, and extremely inventive, as proven by his doomsday devices and the detritus around his hive that show his nightly life. Granted, this alone just makes him sound like a bad 80′s sci-fi villain complete with the douchebag cape, even with all the potential to show off his battle prowess and tactical skills, which we see somewhat but not to the extent that we see him be, as you put it, “a little shit murderer”. He’s also one of the physically strongest trolls, being able to ride his lusus without holding the reins and not falling off when he fires Ahab’s Crosshairs, which I find interesting purely because Equius is cited to be the strongest of the trolls, but the others aren’t really ranked by strength. Then again, Equius is an outlier who arguably can’t be counted for an understanding of typical trollian strength, a topic which has been discussed to death.

But what do we get when we put this master tactician and egomaniac together with other characters? We get *drum roll* ROUNDED OUT CHARACTER AND DEVELOPMENT.

Let’s start with Vriska. Vriska is his kismesis. He despises her and sees her as his rival in many ways and often tries to think of things to outfox her craftiness. She antagonizes and mocks him and spurs him to create doomsday devices, and essentially highlights the worst ways he can utilize his skills in the murder trade. She also is the wit to his brawn in a sense, preferring mind games while he prefers more physical devices, again: doomsday devices and killing outright (his orphaning) rather than maiming somebody via a proxy (Terezi) or tricking them into being nearly killed (Tavros). So together they’re the tag team of all the ways they can fuck your shit up, but he also is fairly gullible because he falls for Vriska’s shit, then gets mad about it which I feel makes his otherwise-terrifying abilities and undercuts them with his obvious inability to not take things seriously.

However, the gullibility doesn’t much showcase how insidious it is as a flaw for Eridan than when he’s around Feferi. While Vriska doesn’t hide that she loves tricking him and toying with him, Feferi, whether intentionally or not, also uses Eridan for her own means. Feferi is where we get a more tender side of Eridan, because where Vriska exacerbates his worst traits and how they’re expressed, Feferi tempers him and shows more of his emotional range as a troll. Through her we see that he has a capacity for empathy and that he’s also a whiny little bitch when he’s not shooting whale lusii out of the sky or plotting the apocalypse over tea. Feferi herself is conflicted with killing lusii to feed G’lbgolyb, she has a sea animal rescue for the cute critters (of which is a whole other essay on the ethics of cute conservation that I’ve seen analyzed before but can’t remember where). But because Feferi herself is conflicted with her duty as an heiress, she passes the burden of orphaning trolls across Alternia to Eridan, who accepts. You could argue that he takes the job because he’s just that murder-hungry, but you have to also consider this: Feferi is the troll closest to him. She is his one confidant and he cares for her as a moirail. It’s his duty to be there for her and to help ease the burden of the cruel Alternian environment and society, so he takes on a grueling job of immense physical and emotional tax so that she doesn’t have to do it herself. Arguably this is her shuffling guilt onto Eridan because “hey, I’m not killing them” and therefore using him, but Eridan takes on the task of murdering lusii and does so knowing that it’s not his place in Alternian society. So as much as he’s an Imperial loyalist and a hemocasteist, he also is willing to shuck certain roles aside if it’s for the well-being of trolls he cares for, which lends some absolutely delicious conflict to him as a character.

By taking on the role of orphaning trolls, Eridan cements himself firmly to the reader as the next Empress’ right hand. This puts him in the role of executioner of the throne’s will, as well as echoing the role and footsteps of his ancestor, Orphaner Dualscar. Eridan looks up to Dualscar, effectively his better in every way (both to him and in record), but Dualscar also falls prey to Serket mind games which ultimately leads him to his not-so-humorous death at the hands of the Grand Highblood. Eridan is ironically following exactly his footsteps, which only truly get thwarted by entering the Medium in their SGRUB session. In the Medium, we get more proof still of Eridan’s prowess as a young military leader, as well as see just how ruthless a highblood raised to be the cream of the Alternian crop can be as he mistakenly kills all the angels on his planet.

However, the brunt of his conflict and my point of interest remains with how Feferi juxtapositions him and shows the reader just how much emotional potential there is for Eridan. Eridan’s flushed feelings for Feferi grow, and he’s so hesitant to admit his feelings to her for fear of rejection (an understandable fear, especially at that age), but here’s the kicker: his ego and his hemocasteism set him up for the most ultimate of failure because he refuses to accept Sollux as the better choice because of his massive flaws of being a classist bastard. The two of them had always been at odds in the comic for a whole slew of reasons that gets the fandom hot and bothered for that pitch ship, but it comes to a head here where Eridan is proving his selfishness by trying to get Feferi to jump ship and join Jack with him. As much as he cares about saving himself, he still cares for Feferi enough that he feels he can bargain her safety if she comes with him, even though there’s no proof or guarantee he could spare even himself from Jack Noir. He fights first to try and protect Feferi (albeit his reasoning/methods are at odds with his goal) and then he fights for himself and his perceived status as a highblood being usurped by a lowblood competitor, ultimately culminating in his death.

So why do I love him so much? The answer is so deliciously simple but so complicated all the same. I love him because he’s full of contradiction and drama and because we can get such a full picture of him. I love him because he is the result of being one of Alternia’s best and brightest, without the moral complications Feferi faces or the hemocaste complications of the other up-and-coming trolls in the cast. He is, at least in part, what Alternia is and what it does to its citizens and neither he nor the writing pull any punches. He’s a well-written deuteragonist who you’re not meant to feel sympathy for or have his villainous actions excused by his past and without the moral complications of being a hero in the story. His actions ultimately paint him as an antagonist, but by the gods he leaves with as much flair as he comes in and remains one of the most striking characters of the comic to me.

So he might be a little shit murderer, but there’s a reason you remember him as being a shit murderer.

And by God if that isn’t wonderful writing.

[megbox]

hello tumblr blog :) i interrupt reblogs of shitposts and memes for a personal update on my life that i’m sure anyone who stumbles upon this cares very much about. 

Ich lerne Deutsch! Es ist sehr schwer und ich kenne nur Grundlagen. Aber ich lerne... langsam aber sicher. I’ve been continuing to study the German language after I realized I knew more of it than I do any other language, and it helps me relax while maintaining this “must... always... be... doing... something” attitude that plagues me. It’s very hard. And mein Grammatik ist sehr schlect (very bad). I practice mainly by taking orders at work in German. Listen in English, write on my notepad in German, and make note of any words I don’t know. This helped somewhat but now I just know a lot of words for different meats and vegetables. But I chat with Felix and he’ll type to me in half German/half English to help me learn new words. And he’ll correct me when I’m wrong. It was especially awesome this weekend in Banff running into some German tourists at the bar and explaining to them, in German, that “Ich bin ausgegangen ein Deutsch Junge und er mich geholfen einige Grundlagen lernen” or... I dated a German boy and he helped me to learn some basics. AND THEY UNDERSTOOD ME. Side note: I really enjoy that Felix and I still stay in contact and chat as friends and like keep one another updated on our lives and it’s not like a romantic thing anymore even though we flirt lmao but it’s more just like hey look I think I may have made a lifelong friend :) Funny how die Erde funktioniert. 

School is back in full force. I am having difficulty getting into work mode after Christmas break given that Christmas break was a profoundly wonderful experience. This semester is full of group projects and I’m actually quite excited about them. My work for the semester entails: 

Designing a program of our choice to serve the needs of our community, creating a presentation and proposal to outline what this program does and why it deserves to exist. Our group came up with the idea for a specific program to assist children under the age of 13 in grieving for a loved one by explaining death, finality, chronic illness etc. in an age-appropriate manner and assisting them with coping. We tied it in to Calgary by referencing the opioid epidemic. 

Planning and simulating a group session! Our group has chosen to research and plan out an introductory mental health education group for youth 12-17 diagnosed with bipolar disorder to help them prepare to manage a chronic mental illness and connect with existing community resources. 

I have to write a grant proposal! Just for an assignment, not to actually be submitted, but I have two massive ideas that I need to grapple with. 

And conducting a 1-hr workshop on an assigned topic for Practice with Communities. My assigned topic - I really lucked out - is “working with the media.” HELLO. Going to slay this. 

So yes social work is busy and challenging in many ways. Somewhere amongst all of this I must obtain a practicum placement. What even. 

What else. Oh. Lately I have become a voracious consumer of the art form known as the podcast. I have always been a fan of podcasts mainly through my brother but lately... my god... the floodgates have opened. I started taking public transit everywhere to save myself money both in gas and parking tickets and these bus rides/train rides/waiting for the bus moments have become these wonderful, quiet sacred times when I just turn on a podcast and fucking LEARN ABOUT SOMETHING. Right now I am obsessed with one called “This is Actually Happening” in which people tell stories of extraordinary, absolutely unbelievable things that happened to them in their lives. I listened to one today about a guy who, after experiencing a dark period of addiction and general fuckery, moves to the west coast of the US and ends up joining a psychedelic therapy cult and he talks about his experience moving through a group who depends on drugs and talks about how they chase experiences... I listened to it today and it blew my fucking mind. HIGHLY, highly highly highly recommend. Some random other recommendations: My Dad Wrote a Porno (honestly so funny. My entire family listened to many episodes on our drive to Saskatoon over Christmas... we were all dying laughing), and Jake and Amir’s “If I Were You.” I also love Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People. AND the crown jewel that is “Guys We Fucked: The Anti Slut-shaming Podcast” There are so many good ones. God fucking damnit. Get out there. LISTEN TO PODCASTS. 

Aaaand my manager gave me five shifts next week which is like... too much but I think it’s only for next week since another coworker is on vacation and ugh whatever I’ll have to make it work for a week but wowowow I am busy and I go to bed at like 10:00pm (10:30 if I’m feeling extra spicy) and life is busy but I’m happy and fucking thriving honestly. Bring it the fuck on. 

[randomstarmuffin]

You are???? an absolute gem????? And I'd be happy to talk to you whenever!!! Tell me more about what you liked about rune factory! Who did you marry? Did you marry one person or a collection of people (and if you did marry a collection of people, do you have a favourite??)

Omg????? I am not entirely sure when you sent this but I am so sorry I didnt see this until just now!! Ahhhhhh thank you so much???

Uh ok. Well, you asked and you shall receive - beware of a loooong post incoming lol. I could talk about RF for days and no one I know plays it so you’ve really opened the floodgates here haha

So full disclosure I’ve actually only had one rune factory spouse thus far and it was Doug! I got… a little too attached the first time I played (4 was my first rune factory game!) So I decided to try to complete the shipping list in my first save file (still have not accomplished that…) and played for just. Hours and hours and hours. And never actually got around to a second playthrough. When I first started, I had thought I might marry Vishal bc hes just so sweet but then Doug ended up stealing my heart (what can I say, hotheaded redheads/dwarves with a heart of gold and a tragic backstory are my weakness). So yeah, he’s definitely my favorite bachelor in 4. I also dont think it’s necessary for my enjoyment of a marriage option but I really liked how his whole deal was connected to the plot. I went into the game totally blind on the whole thing aside from having looked up the basic profiles on the bachelors/bachelorettes and I somehow didnt notice on my own so I had no idea that his FP was locked by story events until after the fact, but I loved how the plot was tied to him allowing himself to open up more. In a matter unrelated to the plot, and definitely dumbly cheesy, I found out about how some people had trouble with getting the random events and stuff required for marriage right around when I was getting ready to officially decide who to pick (tho it wasn’t a hard choice for me at that point) and I literally got all of Doug’s events so, so easily. I didn’t have to do any of the dreaded reloading tricks or anything, and even though I was also technically dating Vishnal and Arthur, Doug was the first one I got all the events for and the first marriage event to just happen naturally in-game, so I’d like to think it was just meant to be (lol). I’d love to someday play through as Lest as well and finally romance one of the girls, maybe Forte or Dolce… or Xiao Pai… these games have TOO MANY great characters in them I swear, it makes it hard to pick just one!

I have played a good portion of 3 as well, but I wanted to get everyones events done, esp the wooly reveal events, and I’ve just been so focused on other things, I guess, that I still havent finished it - heck, I havent touched it in like 7 months :( I should really do that actually… Anyways, 3 is going to be hard for me to pick a spouse bc, again, there are so many good characters. I think I’m leaning Raven not necessarily bc she’s my all around favorite but because weirdly I ship her the most with Micah? I’m not sure if that’s how you’re supposed to play these games but one thing I really value with the Rune Factory series in particular over, like, Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, is that the protags get to BE characters, and not just cardboard stand-ins!!! I know they’re mostly written fairly neutrally so you can play how you want, but they all *Definitely* have their own quirks and I absolutely love that. Theres certainly a time and a place for self inserts but honestly I personally tend to find myself more drawn into a game when the protagonists have their own stakes in the world besides I, The Player, Am Playing A Game In A Fantasy World That I Do With As I Please. Even if it’s just in what sort of dialogue choices you’re given or something, which HM/SV also dont really have as much of. (Cough unless the game in question is Animal Crossing. I guess they’ve really got me there. Cough) So, not that I dont like Raven in her own right, but I just really love their whole plotline together? RF3 does a really great job with character growth that, coming from someone seeing the series in reverse, I think RF4’s system of town events kind of mitigated, with the whole randomness factor meaning they couldnt link as many characters to any one overarching series of events. And I really love how Raven and Micah’s events go and i think ending them in romance is just super sweet. It should also be noted that I AM a sucker for a quiet-badass-who’s-sort-of-sassy-in-a-blink-and-you-miss-it-way x literal-sunshine-and-everyone-loves-them-and-they’re-always-in-everyones-business dynamic, for sure. As far as my actual favorite rf3 bachelorette, I think maybe Marian might take the cake? She’s so wacky and out there but her whole insecurity thing really touched me. That might change whichever way the wind is blowing on the day you ask me, though. To be quite honest with you, I fell hard for the whole town of Sharance and I could probably write essays on every single one of the marriage options in 3. Also though, I ended up shipping like all the bachelorettes with each other, sooo… my bad, Micah, my bad, lmao.

I also own Tides of Destiny, but my Wii started freaking out not long after I got it and I usually prefer to play handheld games anyway, so I started it but I never got too far. Someday I’ll play it. (I’m really hoping to get my hands on 2 sometime soon though because the idea of marriage rivals is SO up my alley - I’m sure it’s a pain to program but I wish more dating sims would do that!!! Maybe it’s just bc I’m someone who loves to ship just as much if not sometimes more than to see my own playable character have their romance play out, but I think it’s a super fun idea and makes the whole thing more grounded in the setting, that things can happen and relationships change outside of the protag’s involvement, too.)

So yeah. GREAT questions, my friend. I do love farming sims and non-NSFW dating sims in general and add onto that dungeon crawling and monster taming??? Plus it has a plot (even if it’s an albeit fairly simple one)?? Rune Factory really has it all, man. BUT if I’m being totally honest I think the best part of Rune Factory for me has always been the characters. I dont know how they manage to make the towns feel so alive and balance out all the personalities so well but they’ve really got it down. Maybe they have a secret formula somewhere… I’d love to see it :P

And!! I’d love to hear YOUR favorites as well??? Thanks again for the ask! I dont get a lot so I dont check super frequently and I really hope this hasn’t been sitting in my box for too long. You’re more than welcome to talk to me whenever too! :)