#I just think it would be neat. and funny if they all interacted with each other

[nataliekalen]

and if I said disgruntled Lumon employees cobel and milchick should team up with mark and reghabi would u believe me

[hexados-on-a-string]

the only reason hydron didnt live is bc if he was part of the brawler's interdimensional found family, that'd involve him getting a character arc on account of actually having a support system and also the fact that zenoheld is dead and they didn't wanna write that so they just killed off hydron. this lives in my brain though.

[melocreamsodaa]

🍰 ˚₊‧꒰ა my faves as your roommate ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

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fc: atsushi nakajima, akutagawa ryuunosuke, louisa may alcott, HP lovecraft, ivan goncharov, sigma, fyodor dostoevsky

cw: college au, ooc charas, pure fluff, g/n reader, reader is lowk awkward, mentions of overdose

a/n: wow.. first post (GEULPP) I'm nervous, I hope you guys enjoy this though!! <33

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♯ 🍓┆Atsushi Nakajima .ᐟ

The sweetest roommate EVER.

You have a buttload of assignments? He'll help you! You made a mess? He'll clean it for you! You're sick? He'll take care of you.

He's genuinely so nice it makes you tear up a bit..

Always trying to find a way to find a conversation with you, oh you like working out? That's crazy because he suddenly has a membership card a few days later!.. you like anime? His favorite is the same as yours!

Shares the most concerning stories about his past and brushes it off as nothing..

And then you just stare at him dumbfounded.

Gifts you stuff as his apologies! Mostly stationery stuff, or stuff that you like.

♯ 🍮┆Akutagawa Ryūnosuke .ᐟ

Never interacts with you.

Never.

Only talks to you when he needs something

That doesn't go the same for you though, you lost your keys? That's on you.

He's a light sleeper, so if you're cramming your studies in the middle of the night making a bunch of unnecessary noise, he's wide awake.

He really needs his sleep.

Only stays on his side of the dorm, if he dropped something that somehow rolled over to your side, he'll ask you to fetch it for him. (Who does he think he is)

If you're a quiet person, he'll probably tolerate you.

♯ 🥨┆Louisa May Alcott .ᐟ

Was scared of the idea of sharing a dorm at first,

Eventually you grew onto her, but it took like A LOT of time

Sometimes, you'd see her pass out on her desk while she's studying

So you cover her up with a blanket..! (this became a frequent thing)

Louisa always notices the blanket as soon as she wakes up and feels sheepish about it,

You assure her it's fine! But you're still concerned about the fact she just LITERALLY passed out.

Sometimes asks for you to leave the dorm whenever she's doing her assignments,

And you're like, huh???..???

You shrug it off anyways.

You invite her whenever you're going out!

♯ 🥧┆H.P Lovecraft .ᐟ

He's literally non-existent

Never talks to you, only talks when you start up a conversation with him first.

He's genuinely terrifying

His side of the dorm is practically empty, he sleeps on one pillow.

He genuinely does not gaf

Whenever you're going out, he'll sometimes sleep on your bed to see if your bed is more comfortable than his.

(it is!)

Overall, he's just there, doesn't really do anything.

♯ 🥞┆Ivan Goncharov .ᐟ

High-key low-key a neat freak

He mentally disturbs you sometimes due to how unpredictable his emotions are, since he's constantly happy all the time.

Usually talks about Dostoevsky to you.

Lets you wrap his head with bandages if he's feeling lazy, but he's like, VERY detailed on how he wants it to be wrapped.

If you're a messy person then he's gonna be a real pain in the ass

If the two of you were to share a bathroom, literally the whole bathroom would be filled with shampoo bottles or whatever thingamajigs he has.

Whenever you're going out, he ALWAYS asks you to run an errand for him.

“while you're on the way, can you buy me..”

You're his errand person.

♯ 🍪┆Sigma .ᐟ

A chill roommate

His hair does concern you.. like, what even is that?? A Christmas tree??..??

It does feel nice to braid it though, the white and purple strands go well with each other when it's tangled up.

Never lets you cook, like no trust at all

Insists that y'all should just get take out instead,

Rude, but oh whatever..

Do you think he's the type of guy to show you funny videos of animals

Idk man...

♯ 🥯┆Fyodor Dostoevsky .ᐟ

His appearance genuinely concerns you,

He definitely has a shrimp posture when he's sitting.

Definitely stays up until 6 in the morning.

Only drinks like coffee for the whole day,

You try to pursue him into eating more, but he declines everytime.

However if he WERE to sleep, he'd definitely talk during his prayer before going to sleep.

(his prayer would be 10 minutes long)

One time, you caught him drinking a pill in the middle of the night thinking he was overdosing,

Turns out he had just forgotten to take his iron supplements.. whoops.

Impossible to sleep around him, his screen is always blaring a bright screen on his computer. (Unless you somehow manage to sleep around that.)

[flickering-nightfall]

Watcher Thoughts

Spoilers for everything!

This is a shortened version of a much longer essay where I jotted down all my thoughts about the campaign. This is still pretty long, but hopefully it’s digestible enough.

Gameplay

Loved the initial twist. Was disappointed that we'd have another repeat with the siblings for a second. I love them but after eight campaigns, I was ready for something new. I'm not put off about not having another iterator (yet? I’m not counting Prince) either. It would have been neat, but exploring different stuff instead is good.

Got stuck a couple times, as I didn't understand what I was supposed to do to progress. I had fun exploring the regions, but exploring the majority of the first three with no idea of what to do next was frustrating. It wasn't even about story progression either - I just wanted to see more regions! But region and creature discovery felt very rewarding at least.

Portal placements were pretty wack and regions felt disconnected - you've probably heard it all already at this point. Some improvements like portal markers on the map will help (I'm certain that they'll either add it officially, or someone will make a mod). I avoided playing any region mods before this to keep things fresh, so I have zero context for any of these places. They're certainly very pretty at least.

Story

Droplets forming ripples in the water…? Yes there's a stray pixel in one frame. I made this from a spritesheet, it's not my fault, I swear

Although I would have preferred something different, I respect that the devs wanted to explore new and frankly wild routes. If it were me, I probably would have done a rare working transit system or something. Keep things grounded, group the new regions by theming so that you can at least connect them to each other. (Like Badlands + Rusted Wrecks + Torrid Desert.) I would have liked exploring ideas like scavenger societies or new biome lore instead of... rift walking through time and space madness. But I can't deny it was fun!

I really enjoyed Spinning Top (the echo), I think they’re very funny. I’m not bothered by them being able to move around - Two Sprouts, Twelve Brackets kinda imply they can too, at least enough to watch the tunnels of Subterranean. Maybe it depends on the echo too.

The decision to make a proper, repeated character out of an echo was interesting. Though I’m on the fence about the demystification of echoes and ascension. I do like Spinny’s arc and their story, and it gave me strong feelings to see them finally choose to move forward. I liked what they had to say, in terms of more lore for the ancients, their own character, and also in their final scene. 

Being tethered to the world by the sorrow of realizing you weren't loved in the way you should have been loved. Craving a warmth you can see but never feel again. The concept of peace after long-lived suffering. Able to move on because you had someone at your side, someone who cared enough to keep coming back to you, even if it was just a silent, peeping little creature. It resonated with me.

The purpose of the ending confused me at first. I thought Watcher playing with the toys was an example of their personality, maybe - distant, relatively unaffected by the events that just unfolded. And maybe that’s still true, but the emphasis on the spinning top in the campaign select screen… I’m not sure what yet, but playing with the echo’s namesake, their former beloved toys… there was something there.

I feel weird about Watcher being able to influence the world physically. I thought the point of echoes was that they were ghosts unable to interact with the physical plane. Only able to provide a bit of enlightenment for slugcat with their presence - stuck between one world and the next. Unless it’s all a dream (a trope I dislike and partially assign to Saint anyways), or Watcher is not quite an echo, in which case… hm.

Personally I'm tired of the rot, and I preferred it as a relatable and contained disease, rather than a sentient force that can corrupt worlds across time (and dimensions/timelines?). What they did with it was interesting, at least. You can explain it being Like That™ as a different strain of rot from Pebbles’, or it being because Watcher is a separate continuity. But it’s not about the explanation for me - it’s about the themes.

I enjoyed Prince as a character - I like the way they look, move and speak. But I didn’t get as attached as I could have due to my lukewarm feelings about rot stuff and Watcher’s rift powers in this DLC. Though, due to this campaign, I don’t know if I’ll keep headcanoning voidspawn as a lesser consequence (than echoes) of not being ready for ascension. The "stinging idiots" seem very intent on getting Watcher/echoes to finish crossing over into the next realm.

It seems like they want to portray the void as a force, to which the rot is the antithesis of. Prince spoke of wanting all life to go on forever, never lost - and then a force opposing its own. And it seems like that force may have won. I suppose all things must return to the cycle, or come to an end, eventually…

You can hear a single whispering iterator voice as you walk up to Prince’s puppet for the last time. That voice disappears after the karma flowers take over. Patches of them now bloom across all the regions. But the rot continues to spread! So hm I dunno what’s up with that.

Since they're adding more content later, I feel like they'll probably be character-centric threads too. Spinning Top and the Prince are probably two chapters in a broader anthology. I wonder where they’ll go from here. (Maybe a way I can unrot my save file? Haha.)

Regions

The art direction is great in my opinion. Some regions that stuck out to me:

Badlands (minus the locusts, they should really not see you while you’re invisible). The vibes are immaculate.

Torrid Desert. I usually find desert maps boring, but the sand dunes were a refreshing break from geometric tiling. In general, I really like breaks from the tile-based geometry. The first time I saw a scavenger templar/disciple (don’t remember which one) was a neat moment. I find the implications of those guys existing quite interesting.

Shrouded/Stormy Coast. Something about the warehouse crates and hanging platforms really tickled my fancy. I think the scale of it all, as well as the color provided from the crates, contributed to it feeling so good to me.

Desolate Tract: Conversely to the wavy desert dunes, this place being so flat, not boring due to the uniqueness of that, and backdropped by the wind tunnel really made me curious about this place. I hope they fix the bug that makes your FPS tank here though.

Outer Rim: Rife with secrets, both left and right. The desert portion reminded me of Kingdom Hearts' Keyblade Graveyard. Against all odds the scavengers continue to survive, and like in Torrid Desert they have strange, powered garb. Void-infused clothing? It’s interesting.

Ancient Urban: Even if I'll argue about ancient scaling forever, the actual presentation of this place was amazing. I was eating it all up and now I really want to get around designing my ancient OCs. You think it was named this as a nod to the popularized fandom term? Haha. 

Unfortunate Development: The dead coral corpse of Pebbles 2 electric boogaloo. The void worm is weird and all (is it rot-corrupted or just a faceless facsimile the rot created?), but I enjoyed the environment more. The background was a tesseract-like frame that stretched on seemingly forever. That was what really spooked me.

Brightness and contrast adjusted for viewing ease. Where is your head?

What are Starcatchers? They look iterator-like. Maybe it’s an alternate dimension thing, just as Signal Spires has the pyramid concept art iterators in the background? They could be structures that aren’t iterators, a different build type of them, or an alternate timeline, I guess. Starcatchers probably perform a function related to their name, regardless.

I remember before this DLC, some people interpreted iterator bricks as cylinders instead.

In the files Outer Rim also has a curving sky and a placeholder background where the earth is crumbling at the edge. And it’s literally called Outer Rim. Could also be a floating landmass, or sinking into the void sea, if you wanted to try out some other explanation. But I think that flat planet Rain World theory has some more evidence with this one. (I don’t think I can use flat planet RW for my space-involved AU but it is still interesting)

At the edge of the world...?

Someone (I think it was a reddit comment, I've been brain blasted with so much Watcher stuff that it's all starting to mix together) pointed out that spreading rot in the past doesn’t influence their future versions, so alternate dimensions aren’t out of the question. (Unless all regions are separate places - I wasn’t sure if places like Stormy Coast vs. Shrouded Coast were supposed to be the same or not. Or if the karma flowers kill the rot in the past, only for it to crop up again in the future and die again, but that seems overly convoluted.)

Time and space riftwalking shenanigans were already a lot - timelines/alt dimensions feel like quite a step further. In this case you are not following just the one “thread,” as Spinny puts it.

Final Thoughts

Initially I had a poorer reaction to Watcher's story, but some of it was defensiveness over the tone and headcanons I had come to like about RW and DP. After a few days of it settling in, I find myself warming up to Watcher more. I may have liked something different more, but I can enjoy and appreciate Watcher for what it is. 

If people can differentiate the canons of the DLCs (...it might be a little easier than vanilla vs. DP, because Watcher is so fantastical), I think I can have a fun time with both. 

Speaking of headcanons, giant ancients are pretty inconsistent with a lot of the environmental clues about ancient size, even the new regions within the DLC itself. I’ll post some stuff about it with screenshots and drawings later. 

Here's a couple of them...

I think literal hand puppet iterators are a good reminder that an iterator is more than its puppet. I can really imagine them as a giant machine waving a cute toy on a stick, a form more palatable for their audience. (Although that does make Moon being stuck in the PoV of one feel a little weirder too.) It emphasizes the way ancients likely thought of them as well. The concept is just neat.

However, I don't know if I would have fixated on iterators so hard without seeing puppets as more of a proper body. The superstructure is fantastic - but the puppet avatar makes it easier to identify with them as people and characters. The puppet being completely toylike rather than closer to a body-like vessel makes that a little more difficult. 

For a lot of stuff I’ve already written, especially interactions between ancient and iterator OCs, the size discrepancy is too much. So I just won’t adhere to giant ancients or tiny everything else hahaha

In general I mostly see myself using the snippets of ancient lore, region stuff, new creatures. If possible, I'd like to see what secrets can be uncovered about the new regions. 

I’m not interested in using stuff like the sentient rot when it comes to the continuities I more deeply engage with. My opinions may continue to evolve over time, we’ll see. But these are my thoughts after a few days of processing.

[mushroom-words]

Hate Me, Waste Me || Tate Langdon

Fandom: American Horror Story Pairing: Tate Langdon x Fem!Reader Words: 1983 Notes: This has been rewritten and reposted from a previous account. It’s being posted from mobile, so I apologize if the formatting is weird. And, as always, if this sort of content isn’t your thing, simply don’t read it. I put warnings in for a reason, baby. Edit: I fixed the formatting on desktop. Warnings: Non-con. Pre-death!Tate. Loss of virginity. Blood. Reader is bitten, smacked, and spanked one time each. Unprotected. Creampie. Forced orgasm (just the body protecting itself). Tate is a possessive little bastard. I think that’s it, but if I missed any, please let me know. Summary: Tate refuses to share you with anyone else and reminds you that you're his friend—no one else's.

MONSTERS LIVED AMONG humans. They adapted to camouflage themselves—to hide under the pretense of being your teacher, your neighbor, your family, your best friend. It was a hard lesson to learn and not one that ever came easily.

You were an outcast at Westfield High. Maybe that was why you and Tate seemed to gravitate towards each other. He was a loner, but it also seemed to be by choice. Like he detested the social interactions and thus separated himself from them. The only person he bothered with was you.

It never occurred to you that there could be a darker reason behind his attachment. You were just happy to have a friend. Even one that wasn’t particularly fond of sharing you with anyone else.

Kyle Greenwell’s voice drifted over the phone line. “You have some neat ideas. You’re actually pretty smart there, (Y/N).”

A blush broke out over your face at the compliment. You’d been reluctant when you had been partnered with him for a project for your Government class. Kyle was the quarterback for the Westfield Wolverines and had recently received a football scholarship to Georgia Tech. He’d never so much as looked your way before being paired with you, but he was actually a lot nicer than you’d thought he would be.

Kyle Greenwell was the kind of guy who seemed to have it all—fit and athletic, intelligent and handsome, charming and funny. He was the kind of guy who shouldn’t have given you the time of day. But you admittedly had stumbled into the line of girls vying for his attention when he turned out to be the complete opposite of what you had expected.

“You think so?” You cleared your throat delicately, biting your lip against your smile. “Yeah, I mean—thanks. You too,” you rambled.

Kyle chuckled warmly. Heat bloomed beneath your cheeks. You held back a wistful sigh at the sound. But then your smile fell victim to confusion when your doorbell rang. The cordless phone cradled your ear as you started to make your way to the front of your house.

“I’d like to brainstorm some more with you, if that’s okay,” Kyle continued. “We could meet in the library during lunch—or we could always meet up somewhere after, if that’ll be better for you.”

You peeked through the window curtains and saw Tate standing at your door. “Yeah, that sounds good,” you told Kyle. “I’ll see you in the library tomorrow then?”

You unlocked the door and opened it for your friend. He smiled, and you returned it but held up a finger before he could say anything. His smile fell into a frown.

“See you the n, (Y/N). Bye.”

“Bye, Kyle.” The line went dead as you pulled the phone away from your ear and gave Tate your full attention. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

Tate’s expression had hardened from what it had been when you’d opened the door. The hairs on the back of your neck bristled. Your smile dropped uncomfortably. Instead of answering, he pushed past you to walk inside.

“So,” he said. “Who’s Kyle?”

“Kyle Greenwell. We’re paired for a project.” You frowned and shut the door. “We’re gonna work on it tomorrow in the library during lunch,” you added, carefully placing the phone back in its cradle.

With your back to him, you missed the flash of anger that crossed his features. You missed how his nostrils flared, the way his eyes darkened from aged hickory to burnt coal. You missed how his body went rigid.

“So you’re leaving me alone.” You didn’t miss the way his voice had tightened, the hint of darkness lacing between the words. Chills skittered up your spine.

Swallowing past the sudden dryness in your mouth, you turned to face him with delicately furrowed brows. “No? We’re just working on a project—”

His hand shot out to grab your chin. The words died out in a startled squeak.

“Stay away from him,” he seethed.

Your eyes rounded. This wasn’t the Tate Langdon you knew. The one you loved like a brother, the one you considered family. You didn’t know who this was.

“Tate—”

“No.” His fingers tightened against your jaw as he yanked your face closer. “Don’t you fucking go near him again. Do you understand me, (Y/N)?”

“You’re hurting me,” you protested. You tried to pull away, but he held firm.

“Fucking say it, (Y/N). Do you understand me?”

As you looked into his eyes, you were looking at an entirely different person. They weren’t the eyes of your best friend. They were black as night, dark as sin—you might as well have been staring into the depths of the devil himself.

Panic started to claw at your chest. You smacked your hands against his chest and shoved him with a desperate cry of, “Let go of me!”

He stumbled back a couple of steps with a swear but was quick to bounce back with what looked to be twice the anger. Tate lunged forward and drew his hand across your face. The sharp impact knocked you to the floor. Your head smacked the corner of the small table against the wall where the phone sat.

Your ears were ringing before the pain settled. Sharp and throbbing and pounding against the inside of your skull. A veil of fog disoriented your head as you blinked heavily through the sludge. You were only vaguely aware of the warmth your blood provided as it trickled from the open wound.

Tate crouched beside you, brushing aside some of the hair that curtained your face. “Y’know, you’re a real fucking bitch sometimes, (Y/N),” he mused.

Your eyes fluttered as you tried to regather your surroundings. His fingers continued to linger against your skin. A touch that once brought you comfort. Even through the daze, you shuddered beneath it now.

He smirked and cocked his head. “You’ve gotta learn, y’know,” he said before abruptly flipping you onto your stomach. His weight settled on you. “You’re mine.”

A quiet groan slipped past your lips in protest of his hips rocking against your backside. Tears slowly began to drip from your eyelashes. Your fingers curled into the polished wooden floor, nails scratching at the finish as you tried to drag yourself away.

Tate laughed again, filled with a twisted joy at having you completely at his mercy. “And where do you think you’re going, baby?” he said, pinning your wrists down by your head.

“Please,” you whimpered. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to your damp cheek in what could have been mistaken for affection. The vines of dread tightened around your chest.

He shushed you gently when another whimper fell from your lips. “You have to learn your lesson, (Y/N),” he murmured, dragging the tip of his nose along your cheek. “How will you learn if I don’t teach you?”

Tate lifted up and moved his hands from your wrists to trace the curve of your body. Then your pants and underwear were both ripped down to expose your lower half. You cried out as the cool air brushed against your skin.

Lifting your head, you tried again to pull yourself out from underneath him. You grabbed hold of the panic twisting inside of you to scream out for help. Your voice broke against the rawness of your throat, cracking as it bubbled past your lips.

He chuckled once more and planted his hand against the top of your back to keep you down. His fingers fluttered along the curve of your backside, tapping against the flesh in a taunt to the beat of his own depraved pleasure. Then he promptly lifted his hand and brought it back down in a sharp smack that made her cry out in pain.

Splinters jammed beneath your nails, drawing beads of blood from the sensitive skin underneath. You clawed at the floor when you heard him pull his zipper down. You sobbed, you pleaded, you screamed as loud as you possibly could.

Tate slipped an arm under your waist and lifted your body slightly. He lowered his head until his lips brushed against the shell of your ear, parroting, “You’re mine,” in a snarl that made your heart sink into the pit of your stomach.

Then he was pushing inside of you with no mercy, burying himself completely in a single thrust that utterly ripped you apart. He tore away your innocence like it was nothing. Your mouth popped open in anguish, but the scream that wanted to escape was rendered silent against the burning pain.

“Shit, baby,” he grunted, his hot breath puffing out to paint the side of your face. “You’re so fucking tight. Holy shit.”

Every thrust jerked your body forward. He yanked you back into him each time, his blunt nails imprinting crescents into your flesh. Your silence shifted into raw moans of despair—of disgust, of pain, of heartbreak. They mingled with his grunts and the muttered swears that fell from his tainted mouth.

Your stomach lurched upon hearing how much pleasure he was receiving from your suffering. Snot and tears and saliva coated your face in a display that was both shameful and pathetic. You hadn’t necessarily been saving yourself for anyone, but it was still something you were meant to give away—not have it ripped from your hands.

Tate nipped at the soft flesh between your shoulder and neck. You shuddered as his teeth grazed over the skin. Then he bit down, sinking those teeth into the juncture like a hot knife through warm butter. You cried out as blood—your blood—dripped from the wound. It curved over your skin and splattered in droplets on the floor. It was more than just a bite. It was a mark—a brand on his property.

You were his.

Tate ran his hand along your body and between your thighs. His fingers found your clit. He traced slow circles around it. The gentle touch was a stark contrast to the way his hips slammed against your backside. It wrenched another cry from your throat as you realized your body was reacting to it.

You knew enough about the female body to know that it would do what was necessary for protection. For survival. But feeling the slick between your thighs that did not come from the blood he’d forced from you made you sick to your stomach. You slammed your eyes shut and bit your lip hard to muffle the shameful little moans you felt clawing out of your throat.

Tate took great enjoyment in it. “That’s it, (Y/N),” he encouraged, chuckling breathlessly. “I’m not stopping until you cum. I wanna feel you submit to me.”

He rubbed in tighter circles, applying enough pressure to make your head spin. You sobbed out a pathetic whine as you felt the knot in your lower stomach pulse. It was building up to something strong, something depraved and sinful and wrong—oh, so very, very wrong.

You gritted your teeth against the coiling spring until it snapped. Tendrils of heat erupted from your center and radiated outwards in branches of liquid warmth. It shot through you like streaks of lightning in a stormy sky. Your entire body shuddered beneath him.

His responding groan was guttural, like it had echoed from the deepest depths of his chest. He snapped his hips quicker, harder. The arm barring your waist drew you closer as he stilled. He swore loudly and spilled into you, the new sensation bleeding uncomfortably between your thighs.

Tate slowly let his body relax. He slumped over you, dropping your body back to the floor, where you trembled in the aftershocks of what just happened. The disgust and shame and guilt. It cut you deeper than your spilled blood.

“You’re mine, (Y/N),” Tate panted into your ear, nuzzling your sweaty hair and kissing your cheek. “Fucking mine.”

[thottythoughtdaughter]

I’m a sucker for Porter unfortunately and a sucker for ANGST (double whammy)✌️😗. I saw you saying about asking for little prompts and was wondering how you think the interaction with Porter and treasure would be 👀👀. Would treasure have their laundry done or will it still be piled up on a chair (TOTALLY NOT ME ???)

(sorry idk if i understood the assignment but this sparked a little oneshot idea so! enjoy! i hope!)

DIRTY LAUNDRY. porter x treasure . angst/fluff . undetermined timeline

You folded a sleek button down with careful accuracy, creasing sharp lines with your fingers. It folded unevenly, skewing off the seam in a diagonal line, and your forehead wrinkled in a frown. You had never been good at staying on the line, doing chores, being an 'adult'.

It was what Porter had accused you of, essentially, in your most recent squabble.

"You cannot seem to make your own decisions, hm? That much is obvious. Are you really so codependent, you can't do anything without me there?"

It stung, even as just an echo in your head. Worse still was your response.

"As if I'd ever need you. An entitled, lording little peacock with nothing in his head but self loathing and apathy for anything other than your reputation! I'm not codependent, you're just fucking selfish!"

Your cheeks flushed with embarrassment and rage all over, heat prickling your spine. You were still furious, but your temper had cooled off enough to regret a lot.

You don't know why this kept happening, this back and forth. Some days were carnivals and midnight kisses. Other days were screaming arguments that pierced the walls of your shitty apartment.

The last argument had started because of the laundry. It was a ridiculous argument. You and Porter had been making out, ready to move it to the bedroom, when he slipped on your pajama pants and hit the floor hard.

He was a vampire, it hadn't hurt. What stung most, you saw instantly, was his pride.

It was in your nature to laugh. After all, it was a silly little spill. No harm, no foul. You should probably clean up your clothes. You admitted as much to him, offering a hand with a little giggle.

He had glared up at you, seething.

"So this is funny to you, is it?"

"Yeah, well, kinda," your smile started to falter. "You're okay, right?"

He had slapped your hand out of the way. You glared. He yelled. You screamed back. Fight, bicker, argue, and suddenly Porter's injured pride had turned into a debate about your sloppiness, your inability to act the adult, your childishness.

You didn't hesitate to turn the tables, either. Porter was a dick, self-aggrandizing, cold, callous, clearly using you for a good time and nothing else. He didn't really care for you, and you spat that directly into his face.

That had been the moment he walked out, sealing all your suspicions in a neat envelope.

Except he was back. He was sitting in the kitchen, stirring a mug of black coffee with a pensive, brooding expression, while you finished up your laundry.

You decided the button down shirt was better off in the closet, and slung it on a hanger.

Porter padded into the room, leaning against the doorframe. You looked up, pairing socks together.

"Yes?" you said quietly.

"I wanted to... apologize," he said the word tentatively, as if feeling its edges. "For what I said to you."

You raised an eyebrow. "Mhm."

"I spoke out of line. You are not childish, and I was out of line to accuse you of such."

"Thank you. I accept your apology."

You knew he meant it, but something in you was still unsatisfied. You forgave him, certainly, but you wished he would say something more. Reassure you, comfort you. Anything beyond this cordial, impersonal apology.

It was silent as you folded a pair of shorts and tossed them onto a folded stack, lopsided with clothes. Porter fidgeted, fingering the handle of his coffee mug.

"And--" he began.

"You--" you started hotly.

You both stopped, staring at each other.

"You first," he conceeded, dipping his chin with that swanlike grace.

You shook your head. "No, sorry, you weren't done. Please."

Please say something more.

Porter looked uncomfortable, and you imagined that if he had blood in his veins, his cheeks would be a furious red. Instead his eyes darted back and forth, as if trying to snatch words like butterflies out of the air.

"I-- For the record--" he began haltingly. It came out in a rush. "I do care for you. Immensely. And I'm sorry I never made that quite clear enough to you. But I-- I'm not good at care. I am not a nurturing person. And you are. I mistook that for weakness, for naivety. And I apologize."

Your heart was racing, pounding way too hard in your chest. Faintly, you realized he could probably smell it. You stood up, stepping over the laundry.

Gently, you pressed your hand to the side of his face, cupping his cheek. He shuddered, leaning into your touch, cold breath gusting over your face.

"I care for you too," you said quietly. "I really wish you would show it more. I feel stupid, always chasing you."

Eyes closed, he held your hand to his face, nuzzling into it. "I'm sorry. I am trying to unlearn this... this apathy I have. But without it, the things I've done, the people I've been..."

You drew his head down into your neck, cradling his head. He leaned into you, his weight heavy and comforting.

"You can just be you, Porter," you said softly. "But I want you with a heart and a mind and feelings of your own."

You felt something hot and wet track down your neck. Was he crying? You stroked his hair, rocking him gently.

"I'll try," he vowed. "I will try for you, Treasure."

You pressed a kiss into his dark hair.

It wasn't enough. But it was a start.

[alilobsessive]

If vtuber reader is bad at video games I just picture them having full streams were they're unable to even complete tutorials sometimes 😂

How often do you think each family member would watch their streams? Like is there someone who has seen every public and members stream, and owns ALL the merchandise? Or are they mostly casual viewers?

Omg it actually happened, I got a ask because I talked about not getting any asks. Maybe I can do this again for other Readers I want to bounce ideas around with? Hmm… that’s In idea for another day.

I could see them not knowing how to crouch the first time they played Little Nightmares when it first came out. A surprisingly common issue from what I remember. There probably one of those people who keep playing games above there skill level. Like a Dark souls game that they can just barely get through, Cuphead taking weeks if not months to get through just the first few bosses. Rage quitting Lobotomy Corporation only to come back a week later and Rage quit again, beginning a cyclical cycle of playing, rage quitting and then playing again. A part of there charm is how determined they are to win dispute being shit at most games. They have a several year long series of botw, it’s the exact same save file, they just keep getting lost or sidetracked. It’s been going on for like 4 years and they only have 2 of the divine beasts not even half the shrines and they accidentally got the master sword the first try. They didn’t even know the number of hearts they needed, they literally just lucked out and had barley enough to get it.

Now I don’t think most of the family is even aware of there Vtubing. Tim and Damian are the only ones that are. Tim because Bernard introduced them and he started watching for shits and giggles. He doesn’t watch them to much because he finds watching there gameplay more frustrating then funny, when he does Reader is usually background noise. That’s when there funny, not when he’s watching fail the same easy jump 3 times before finally getting it right. He’s actually the one that discovers the Vtuber is Reader! Damian on the other hand is definitely a bigger fan, not a super fan but he definitely has a handful of march that he keeps tucked away with the rest of his “secret” anime collection. He isn’t an OG like Tim technically is as Tim was around when Reader had about 1k subs. Reader got on his radar when they started doing collabs with other Vtubers he fallows. So around 15k-20k subs? But Reader was definitely doing collabs with different people before then. He probably has two pushes, one of which is of the Vtub model in a brand appropriate animal onesie, kinda looking like the substitute doll from Pokémon. He also has a handful of keychains. Like I said not a mega fan but definitely bigger then Tim.

I don’t think the other Bats even know that much about Vtubing. Alfred and Batman definitely don’t know what that is outside of Damian liking it. Stephanie watches that ‘here’s what happened in Vtubing this week’ guy but has never interacted with anyone he talks about. Cass and Duke have absolutely zero interest, Jason thinks it’s cringe but will never tell you that to your face and Dick would just go ‘hu neat’ and move on.

[zluty-spendlik]

WAKFU REDESIGN SERIES PART 3 - ADAMAÏ

Hiya, Im back lmaooo - took me long enough

I have been struggling with Ad's and Am's design so much. I dont know why. With Amalia, Im going to have to start over- again- 4th times the charm Im sure - but I finally finished this little guy!

ADAMAÏ IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER GUYS IM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS I LOVE HIM SM

But anyway, here is the final (human form) design:

Im aware he has multiple forms since hes, you know, a shapeshifter, and Im going to add them i promise but im like super tired and burnt out from the rest of my mortal life rn

Anyway, to the DESIGN.

Honestly, Adamais og design kinda sucks. Im sorry (not rlly). He doesnt look similar to Yugo at all - YES I KNOW HES A DRAGON - which bothers me a lot, even his color scheme is a lot different from his literal twin...

In my version, I wanted Ad to look deer-like at first, since I gave Yugo deer features, but then I drew him over and over again until I got this fusion of a moth and a lamb or smthing..

I don't know, but I really like it!

The outfit he's wearing is actually what I plan to be an official eliatrope/dragon robe? Both Grougal and Qilby will be wearing it and - potentially - Yugo in season 3. It has some portal imagery (the spiral on the back), and I don't know I just think it's neat!

ALSO WAKFU FRECKLES-

Season 1

Ad has been raised by Grougaloragran (least complicated name ever, wtf Ankama :3) and with Eliatrope/Dragon traditions, so hes very knowledgable of the now dead culture and values it very much. He loves talking to Yugo about it (he gets almost bored sometimes, but he would never admit it to Adamaï).

He, just like Yugo, is extremely curious and loves studying the way Wakfu works and its limits.

And mainly, he loves Grougal, whom he sees as an idol and a father figure. Which is why hes so hurt when he gets killed by Nox.

It feels like the whole world is collapsing on him. His mentor, care-taker, father, LITERALLY THE ONLY OTHER "PERSON" HE EVER INTERACTED WITH AND THE ONLY OTHER DRAGON ALIVE, is gone.

Adamaï has noone. Well- almost noone. Theres this little 12 year old Eliatrope, his only hope, his only anchor.

And he asks you: "Uh, sorry, whats your name again?"

Season 2

HAHSHA LETS TRAUMATIZE THE BOY!! (Even more than he is) Like I said, Adamaï values his culture and people very much, so I assume he would get very, I mean extremely attached to Yugo. However, Yugo is not actually interested in the same things Adamaï is interested in, which makes him a little bit more avoidable of Ad than he should be, given his emotional state.

Not that we blame him. So instead Ad seeks out a new anchor, a new mentor, a new... idol. Who is that you may ask?

Well, it's Qilby of course. Now here's where the funny trauma part happens, because Adamaï starts blurring the line between Grougal and Qilby.

Qilby's mistakes suddenly don't matter as much because Adamaï cares about him as much as he cared about Grougaloragran even though they don't know each other that long (which is the core of the problem).

Anything he'll be does that is morally questionable suddenly isn't bad, because that's not the mentor that Adamaï was raised with ‐ he trust Grougal completely, so why should Qilby be aby different?

So when Qilby betrays him, Adamaï is all the more surprised and hurt. It doesn't help that he really doesn't want to hurt Qilby: Even though he finally realizes that Qilby is a bad person, Adamaï still sees him as an anchor. He might be bad, but other than Yugo he's the only other person Adamaï has.

So of course he loses the fight, of course he gets captured – he doesn't actually want Qilby to get hurt.

Season 3-4 (5?)

Okay let's make one thing clear, I'm a bit of a hater.

Like I genuinely really dislike season 3 and what it has going on with making Adamaï a villain? I really don't think it fits his character, and I would much prefer for the story to have Yugo and Ad grow closer and revive their culture despite all the horrors and terrible things that have been bestowed up on them - But the writers have decided to go the obvious evil twin route which honestly makes my blood boil..

so I don't think I will be even considering rewriting season 3? I think to make it likeable for myself - as this is a self-indulgent project - I would just have to make my own season 3?

If that makes sense?

Art dump!! (Seriously my sketchbook is filled w this lil guy, these r hand picked) And- woah, is that Cleophée redesign? Maybeee~

@saturnyukaa i was looking forward to ur reaction 👉����

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

Ohohoho, I see more stp related character ask games. In which case, thoughts on Hunted? Could always use more Hunted content out here

(Ooooo Hunted!!! The silliest of fellas)

(And as I’m writing this my appreciation for him just skyrockets ten fold. He makes me. Let’s just say. Feral.)

(Ask is here!!! vvvvvv Sorry that it looks like this, I’m on IPad🗿)

(Also the reply is getting too long (again), sooo gonna put a cut somewhere here…)

FAVORITE THING ABOUT THEM

Probably how reliable he is in general. I feel like he’s probably the voice that is the most loyal to Quiet alongside Hero. He just really doesn’t seem like the type of character to have any hidden agenda underneath his actions. He’s just, when he thinks of something, he’d just do it instinctively. I love how he just focuses on the now and what’s happening around him, and doesn’t rely on what he sees only. He’s a really simple guy and all he really wants is safety. And I really like that about him. (The contrast between him and Oppy is glaring here)

And also despite the fact that instinct is a big part that makes him “him”, he’s not completely feral and still holds that humanity inside of him. I think he’s pretty darn neat.

LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THEM

It’s how little he had appeared 😭😭😭

He needs more chapter 3 appearances aside from his own

Both him and Skeptic need more chapters actually.

(And honestly I don’t have much “””bad””” stuff to say about him. He’s just overall a very likeable character to me)

FAVORITE LINE

“Does a cat lie to a cornered mouse just to play with its freedom, or is it acting out its own nature?” (You’ll see this line again)

“The Look. We’ve all used it.”

“Looking at her makes me sad.”

BROtp

Gotta say Hunted and Witch. Hunted pairs well with many other voices and vessels, but the thought of two semi-feral characters interacting with each other is kind of adorable to me. Just. Similar brain wave signals. Vrrrrrrrr. Y’know.

Witch would just sniff Hunted and be like “hmmm he doesn’t smell like a liar to me” and she would just be chilling with him with half an eye closed and half of it open. Just in case. And Hunted just sees her as someone who’s gotten hurt. And had to fight back like a scared animal. So I think he would empathise with her. Idk.

Stubborn and Hunted is a good one too. I could imagine Stubborn and Hunted just sparring with each other whenever they could. The battle always ends in a stalemate though, since Hunted just dodges Stubborn’s attacks most of the time. And by the time Hunted is tired dodging Stubborn is tired as well. But knowing Stubborn he would try to throw a punch at him anyway. And then failing cause they have bodies now. Stubborn takes it as a challenge and is thrilled to see what other stuff Hunted could do. Unstoppable force vs Immovable object.

And the mental thought of Stubborn throwing Hunted like a Pokeball and be like “Hunted I choose you” is just so funny to me. And. Just. Hunted riding on Stubborn’s shoulder. So cute.

OTP

He honestly pairs well with a lot of them tbh, so I don’t think I can choose an exact one.

NOtp

I have none hehe

RANDOM HEADCANON

He would sometimes bite the other voices to show affection. If he is feeling really bite-y that day he would just find something to chew on just so he won’t accidentally hurt the others.

Also, the current smaller form you see of him is not his full form. That’s just him holding back his more feral side, and hence why he looks so tiny. He’s way taller and stronger than he looks.

(Sneak peak of his feral form!!!)

A more antsy head canon I’ve got for him is that a part of him always have this urge to consume the other voices since they are technically parts of the same guy. He feels really guilty about feeling this way. When that feeling is too strong he would lock himself away from the flock until it passes.

UNPOPULAR OPINION

(This is becoming less of an unpopular opinion and more of a ramble as I’m writing this, but I’m just gonna keep this here because I think this is pretty interesting)

I feel like he would take an integral role in helping the other voices in fighting against their nature, since he is so used to doing that himself. Many of the fics I’ve read where the voices are starting to become more complex and more than their nature often doesn’t mention Hunted at all. He would definitely take a role in helping the voices manage their own urges in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone, knowing how he empathises with Den despite everything she has done to them.

He shines the most when he is paired with Oppy regarding this. Oppy embraces his own nature, and often times to his own detriment. Hunted wouldn’t trust him, but he would still protect and look after him anyway since he is still a part of the flock. If Oppy ever shows an ounce of genuine interest in fighting against his urge to betray people for his own benefit, Hunted would be one of the first ones to help and encourage him.

“Does a cat lie to a cornered mouse just to play with its freedom, or is it acting out its own nature?”

Nature vs Nurture baby!!!!

SONG I ASSOCIATE WITH THEM

Butcher Vanity, specifically him in Den where he goes completely feral

And also Kaibutsu/怪物. It can be a shared song between Hunted and Oppy, but mostly Hunted.

FAVOURITE PICTURE OF THEM

(I love it when I just draw him like a fu@king creature)

(He’s so derpy-looking here)

[tapwater118]

tpot 17 spoilers here's what i thought of it lalalala

overall very good episode!! not the *best* ever episode but not every episode can be. it was very silly and fun and also what the fuck is happening

this eliminations played out how i most expected it to, i like pillow and yellow face is alright i guess but it was definitely their times to go. love how pencil freaked out for a hot second over having the most votes (again) i knew they would do that they are so evil for it. I LOVED BOTTLE'S LITTLE DOODLES of course she draws 2018 cute boots and mouth good for her

speaking of bottle was such a fun host! the "everything she does takes literal days" thing was a bit overused but i'm glad they stopped doing that once the challenge started. nice little subtle bit of character-building for four given how he was seemingly happy with bottle taking over. bro cares more about cooking than hosting now i can respect the growth and progression

the challenge itself was a very neat idea, splitting up the teams like this is a very good way to get new groups of characters to interact who wouldn't have otherwise. i thought for a second when bottle shuffled everyone around that we were getting ANOTHER team swap and nearly screamed lmao. but yeah super funny how the eating contest objects where all chill with each other (for the most part) but everyone else was at each other's throats the whole time lmao

pencil. oughhhhh pencil. i am ill. i dont really think pen was the best choice to talk to her at the end but to be fair the options were pretty limited given that everyone else was either MIA or book. the bookcil scene was awesome yes girlie get ANGRY unleash your RAGE. i think it would have been a bit more impactful if they didn't have fanny going basically "erm, awkward!" right in the middle of it but yeah good food i am fed

oh my god what has happened to one's room. has gaty torn through there like a feral animal or something or was this all the product of one's own frustration. given how she fucking mutilates donut i wouldn't discount the latter possibility. also six is plot relevant what, and purple face is gonna lead them to the EXIT and then (theory time) one's gonna use that group to get three out of the fourtress for. something. idk yet but things are happening

individual challenges lightning round go! circus circumstances is amazing i love slasher tacks, love evil tv arc they should have him Kill more. ferris wheel was kinda whatever but i love how they're bringing back snowball's old relationships with certain characters, particularly gb and pen. THE FOURSE IS BACK I LOVE YOU FOURSE not much else to say i didn't already cover in the previous section. eating contest was fun they leaked price tag's search history (and loser got cancelled lmao). winner felt appreciated i need to kiss them what who said that

wow i had a lot to say about this one huh, forty minute episodes will do that to ya. elimination predictions: grassy is almost certainly out, the team 2 votes (aside from icy's) were really close last time so it really depends on where the icy voters' votes will go now, and just by fandom reaction i can tell you it will not be grassy. for 🎼 i'm less sure but i can certainly say bottle and pen are safe, they were all over this episode they got so much to do. i think it might be liy or tb as much as i hate to say it, they kinda got sidelined in their challenges

ok uhh tpot 18 or 19 will probably be a meetup episode so i'll be able to see it before the rest of you HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[idontactuallywherepjs]

pt. 1

So. I started reading The Rangers Apprentice last night, and I only got up to chapter six i think (Will's just arrived at Halt's cottage for his first day of training and Halt remarks that at least he's on time and already had breakfast). And. I'm in love. Im buying the first three books today.

Anyways, assorted thoughts.

I really like the dynamic all of the wards have with each other. Like yeah these are kids who grew up together and love and get on each other's nerves in equal measure.

Will and Alyss being the only two who don't remember their parents is both heartbreaking and makes perfect sense in a weird way? I don't really know how to explain it but it just fits.

It also makes them confiding in each other about what craft their aiming for that much more impactful.

But it's also infinitely funnier to me that Alyss didn't look up. They've known each other their entire lives, literally, and she didn't. Look. Up. Comedy gold.

I just about cried at Will's reasoning for battleschool.

For whatever reason, Martin reminds me of a rat. I want to hit him with a frying pan. He's delightful.

I loved all the Craftmasters. Yeah their personalities and descriptions aren't groundbreaking or anything but they still seem neat.

Chubb's wooden ladle.

Jenny and Chubb's entire interaction. Him hitting her on the head. so great.

Will being able to feel Halt's eyes on him is so good. Like yeah! He's a natural! (I hope he falls on a face a few times while training but I love the detail that he was chosen because of his potential, not because he'll be perfect out the gait, and I like that his potential as a ranger is in obvious to him.

Will's pranks and mischief is so good. I love that detail. And the bunnies oh my gosh. I was laughing with Lady Pauline.

The second that paper was mentioned in knew what Will was going to do.

I did however think that the paper would be blank.

Will just causally doing. All of That. to get up the tower. Holy shit. Horrifying. scaling the wall especially.

I hope someone told the guard on duty what was happening right above his head i think his reaction would be funny.

My heart stopped when Halt grabbed Wills hand. Like I could tell it was coming there was no way he wasn't getting caught but i was still startled for some reason.

I hope nobody told the guards outside Baron Arald's office anything about what happened that night. Let them be confused.

Baron Arald is the funniest character so far and nobody laughs. "This time, use the stairs." Hilarious! that was so funny. poor guy is taken way to seriously i love him.

I really like the pacing so far. just something ive noticed. I takes it's time and lingers on certain scenes where other books would jump ahead. I like it.

I think ive forgotten how much i love this part of a story. it's the beginning. Ive just met the characters. I've got no idea what happens next. The plot hasn't really kicked off. The big bad is just in the distance. It's nice. It's relaxing. I love it.

[allykatsart]

What do you think the vees powers are in a fight I would imagine vox is electricity and valentino is poison gas like chemical warfare but how would velvette fight

With Words

Velvette isn't an actual fighter, that's why she's teamed up with both vox and Val. They make up for each other's weaknesses. Vox is business savvy and very good at campaigns/management. Vox has the underworld connections, the guns, the violent gangsters, the addictive substances. Velvette has social manipulation, an incredible insite into social media, and can lie lie lie like the sun don't shine!

Velvette's first line of attack is her fans. She's in touch with the hottest streamers, giving them tips on when to look out for new drops or when some juicy gossip/drama might be around the corner. She's the one posting at the most opportunistic times, hitting the tags just as they're trending. She pays people for dirt on her enemies, finds convoluted ways to make herself the victim, creates fake accounts on top of fake accounts.

The people around her are instruments in an orchestra, and she is the maestro. She has to be. Because if Velvette doesn't control the narrative she will become its victim. She's the youngest overlord and in Hell, the older you are, the more respected you are. If you're young, like her, you have to play the game to get any sort of respect.

Which, to her credit, she has! She's stepped on everyone and everything she can to push herself to her station! Velvette is very good at what she does and to the uncaring crowds of hell, she's a popular, hot, respectable overlord. But to the other overlords, particularly Carmilla and Zestial, she's nothing but an upstart making noise.

Which is why I find the idea of Velvette interacting with Zestial very interesting!

Cuz imagine a scenario where Velvette has a show lined up and has everything set for posting about it. She's going to get several hundred thousand likes on it at least. But then, the day of the show, Zestial finally makes an account and starts old-man-posting, blurry photos and all! Everyone's freaking out about that instead because

It's funny as hell

Oh my fuck it's actually Zestial WTH??????

And Velvette just gets so sosososo salty about it and starts a whole ass rivalry over Twitter. And Zestial is just amused by her antics.

I just think that'd be neat XD

[just-some-sorta-person]

Can I ask, who are your top 7 favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc (can be canon or non-canon) and your top 10 favorite characters ever from any media? Why do you love them all? Thanks if you want to answer....

Sure!

Ships (in rough order)

Nagireo from Blue Lock

my current obsession, going on strong for like more than a year by now. Also the first ship where I actually interacted with fandom meaningfully for a prolonged people of time instead of mostly ghosting. They’re really special to me! I think something I like about them is how core their relationship is to their story, and exploring their characters. It makes fan content and AUs really interesting and fun. In my opinion, a lot of their issues would still exist without blue lock, and they’d have to work them out in any setting, and I think that’s neat.

Satosugu From Jujutsu Kaisen

my past obsession, I spent a great deal of time with them as well before moving on to nagireo. Something I think of when it comes to stsg is the idea of an unfulfilled love that’s not lesser or weaker by virtue of being unfulfilled. I really like the idea that Gojo’s last words to geto were “I love you”, said for the first time at the end for this reason. Well, I am an angst enjoyer. I also enjoy the concept of love not being enough. Gojo and Geto’s individual relationship to power and agency is pretty cool to dive into too, the roles they had to fill in society and such. Their diverging paths. A good ship can’t be made with bad/uninteresting characters after all and I like all the character study fics out there.

those're kinda the two big ones.

Yuudai X Taisei from Sakana

Read sakana here right this moment its very special to me

Ah yes the awkwardness of drunk kissing your coworkers bestie that you're certain is way too good for you. I love love love them so much. They're just very comforting to me. Anxious eel and silly octopus (all of the cast of characters have assigned aquatic organisms). The comic as a whole deals a lot with anxiety, which is really cathartic, but I think in general its really nice seeing Yuudai opening up to people. I also like Yuudai's pessimism and skittery abrasive personality being balanced out by Taisei's optimism and cheerfulness. They also just make for some funny interactions that I've really liked reading heheh

Vanoe from Vanitas no Carte-

It’s the great gatsby vibes, the sunshine character and the deeply traumatized character who doesn’t see themselves as lovable, etc. I really love them and may or may not have made a slide deck presentation on Vanitas no carte for powerpoint night with my friends and 1/3 of it was centered around them.

Ludovica X Luck from Tiger Tiger-

Since this isn't an anime/is probably more obscure, here's the link to Tiger Tiger! Independently published by the artist and free to read, though you can also buy the first book to read in bookstores and such. I genuinely recommend it so much.

Ludovica and Luck are just so funny together, I love them so much. It's an eldritch doomsday god and the hyperfixated-on-sea-sponges mad scientist said being wants to impress. what is there not to like? its chaos x chaos but 2 different flavors. Also the source material is great, and very queer. #stealing your brother's ship to study sea sponges and getting caught up in doomsday. Also him and his 2nd mate are in love but dont realize bc reasons. Its great.

Bachirin from Blue Lock-

grumpy x sunshine always gets me. Plus their parallels and the whole loneliness thing. It’s a great ship- though what really sold me was reading fics like The Sun Will Come up. They really have so much potential.

Kide X Coel from Project Novos

another comic free to read here except this one has.. been on hiatus since 2022.. cries. I think the author has mentioned getting back to it though. Project Novos fulfills my childhood friends to enemies that dont actually hate each other to lovers dreams. The plot follows a government conspiracy and uprising but the story centers around Coel and Kide's relationship, which I do expect to be carried out romantically despite not being explicit so far (in part because it is not a mainstream manga).

This too, also follows the more optimistic character x a more pessimistic traumatized character trope... I have a type ok

... the ship list kinda turned into a bit of a rec list, but with some exceptions, my enjoyment of a relationship tends to do a lot with my enjoyment of the story its in unless I get fixated so...

hmm other ships ive liked... narumi x hirotaka from wotakoi.. hualian from tgcf, bingqui from svsss.... wait actually, there's too many lets move on.

Characters

Let's limit it to one character per show/series/etc to make this easier and avoid me just being like "the whole cast of sakana" or "the whole cast of tiger tiger" or "These characters from Dungeonmeshi..." too many options...

this is in no particular order. Also you might notice a lot of these characters come from the ships above

Yuudai Tanaka from Sakana

I like seeing characters suffer from anxiety, especially in a more ugly way, because I suffer from anxiety, and while I'm a lot nicer than Yuudai, I get frustrated when anxiety is portrayed in a way that may seem "cute" because it really doesn't feel "cute" hahaha. I mean, being anxious can mean being shy sometimes, which I can understand finding cute, but it can also mean being avoidant, skittish, or less friendly.

Ludovica Bonnaire from Tiger Tiger

She's chaotic, she's sweet, she's adorable, she's remarkably intelligent, she's fixated on sea sponges and wants to learn more about them! I really love Ludovica. She feels really refreshing as a character- a woman of science who's bubbly, excitable, and chaotic. She's kind of naive, but not at all dumb or incompetent. She falls into the mad scientist category without it defining her character. She doesn't let anything stop her but isn't somehow perfect, and she's incredibly funny. She's just great!

Nagi Seishiro from Blue Lock

Just.. look at him. he has a cactus, that's like plus 20 points

I have a soft spot for characters that are more subtly lacking in life and struggling, but aren't conscious of it. Also characters that discover that there's more to life than they first thought. Nagi seems fine on the outside, but if you look at some of his habits, they're actually rather concerning - subsisting off jelly packets, thinking life is a pain, getting a cactus to practice talking to people because he hadn't TALKED in so long. One of the nicest/most meaningful things his parents said to him that made him happy being "Don't die".. I also enjoy his disconnect from other people, and how he doesn't really understand the world around him.

I also like the space he occupies within the blue lock canon as a “hidden path”, and the contrast he presents in comparison to the other characters. I think Nagi is made more interesting by being a side character to Blue Lock than if he was the true main character. Idk if that’s a controversial take to have about your fav haha but really I think being the main character of a spinoff is the best place he could be. His situationship with the most important person in his life that he met 6 months ago is great too.

Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist

I LOVE the concept of the friendship is magic character being greed itself. I like the idea of interpersonal love being related to greed. Greed is wanting things, and it is often villainized, but wanting things is the basis of so much more than what we usually associate with greed - and in fact, some of our deepest wants are related to love - in all the forms it takes. Anyways, Greed is very special to me.

Vanitas from Vanitas no Carte

I just love a character who hates themselves so much that they won't let themselves be loved, but they don't have a gloomy exterior to reflect that (making it harder to tell).

Geto Suguru from Jujutsu Kaisen

I think I just love a guy who put so much pressure on himself to torture himself doing the right thing that he crashed out and did all the bad things. I see it as kind of the downfalls of needing everything to be simple and solvable. Geto preserved his sense of control and the livability of his own life, at the expense of becoming a bad person. That's something to explore, to me.

Him being gay (for his bff) is also a plus

Hirotaka Nifuji from Wotakoi

I have a tendency to like characters I find relatable. I haven't watched Wotakoi in awhile but I remember really resonating with Hirotaka. Because I haven't rewatched in awhile it's kinda just a vibe rn tho haha I can't really explain it.. But maybe it has something to do with the muted/quieter way he tends to express himself, despite still having his own inner world.

Anya Forger from Spy Family

I don't really relate to Anya at all, and I don't have any complicated reasons for this. She's just a cutie patootie who deserves the world

Laios Touden from Dungeon meshi

I love Laios and its definitely because I find him relatable. His difficulty connecting with people, his fixation on monsters, his appreciation of food... And I really like how his difficulty connecting with people and him being a weirdo is paired with a genuine desire to connect with them, and do good, as well as leadership skill.

I wanna eat living armor too...

Mafuyu Sato from Given

Given actually got me through a really hard time at one point, so its really special to me. Mafuyu's journey in general is very special to me, especially as someone who has had trouble expressing/processing their feelings before too.

[gio-cosmo]

Hi here’s me rambling endlessly abt strega and how they were handled in reload for a bit ⬇️ (heavy spoilers)

Strega is a trio of antagonists that I often see overlooked completely, frequently described as “forgettable” and “non-threatening”. You’d think that an antagonistic group responsible for one of the main characters deaths would hold more weight, right? I think the main reason that this is such a common mindset is because of Strega’s critical lack of screen-time, and also the fact that their backstories / reasoning behind their actions are explained in a very rushed manner. Despite this, I think Strega is an incredibly interesting group of characters, and I think it’s a shame Atlus didn’t bother to flesh them out more.

Main issue: Lack of screen-time. Why the rush?

Atlus made a point to act as if Reload would give Strega a plethora of new content, but in reality, we barely got anything extra at all. Is it a step up from Portable/FES? Absolutely, and I’m very grateful for that. But even still, this was a golden opportunity to really show off Strega’s intricacies, and to throw away such a perfect chance was a pretty lousy move, in my opinion. There was so many opportunities to show Strega’s viewpoints and have it flow well with the story, but these chances were rarely taken — because of this, their presence in the story is weakened substantially.

Lack of group interaction - when having an antagonist group, it’s important to have them be…well, you know. A group. We barely get to see them interact together, and when we do, it’s either for very quick moments, or it’s when their talking to someone else (in which, it’s usually just Takaya talking on behalf of all of them)

This falls along with how their lack of screen-time is the biggest issues — there’s no chances to see them interact with each other if their barely given the chance to be on screen to begin with.

Lack of individual interaction - where the hell is my Jin hangout event? :(

If they can figure out how to give Takaya one-on-one conversations with the MC to let the player get to know his character more, they could’ve certainly figured out how to do so with Jin and Chidori as well. They could’ve had you talk with Jin through the assassination request site and Chidori by finding her at the bench she’s always at when she talks with Junpei. See how that took me approximately five seconds to think up? You’re telling me nobody in the development room was like “hey guys maybe we should actually give ALL of our main antagonists some one-on-one interactions so we can see how they function when away from each other. Oh, I guess we don’t really show them interacting as a group that much either so we should throw that in as well lmfaoo whoops” Like guys come on. I’m sighing so heavily right now and also shaking my head in dismay.

(You could argue that we already get to see Chidori interact solo with Junpei so it wouldn’t be necessary to see her interact solo with the MC, but I still think it would be a neat addition. All I know is that there is absolutely NO reason that Jin shouldn’t have gotten some sort of hangout event :(

Missed opportunities - “let’s all be able to shift and not tell Chidori!”

We don’t get a single trio fight in the entire game. This is so ridiculous to me that I get irritated every time I think about it. “Let’s have a antag trio and not let them fight together haha” yeah real funny man I’m having such a good laugh over here ��� it doesn’t even make any sense either. Chidori’s solo fight genuinely should’ve just been a trio fight. “She told us to wait inside lol” damn she’s not even letting you spectate??? 😭 developers wanted them off-screen so bad they LITERALLY had them wait outside the door standing there doing nothing. Atlus. Come on now man.

Common misconceptions — “Strega doesn’t care about Chidori.”

WRONG INCORRECT BUZZER 🚨🚨🚨 They do, actually, they just have roundabout ways of showing it because of the whole “caring about people is a weakness” mindset that they so desperately latch onto. I’ve seen lots a people say that they believe Takaya truly does not care for his teammates at all, and while I guess in technicality it’s all up to personal interpretation, I do strongly disagree with this standpoint. The last thing Takaya is saying while watching Nyx approach is that he wishes Jin was with him, and gets visibly and vocally distressed when Jin falls in battle before him. In the Persona 3 manga, what stops Takaya from killing Junpei is the sight of Chidori’s spirit. If he truly didn’t care about Chidori, why would that stop him in his tracks? I think it’s clear that Takaya is stuck in a mindset that formed when he was an angry and mistreated child, and because of this he’s convinced himself he is incapable of feeling attachment towards anyone, and voices this constantly while seeing it as a weakness. Despite this, I do think he cares about his teammates deep down, but refuses to admit it. This extremely ingrained hypocrisy is something I wish was more expanded on.

Misconceptions continued - “the fact that the members of Strega aren’t ridiculously overpowered makes them bad villains.”

…No! For Strega, using their Persona’s is a very taxing endeavor — it wouldn’t make canonical sense for them to be extremely powerful. You might be thinking, “well, the fact that their battles aren’t immensely difficult is why they aren’t payed much mind as antagonists.” I disagree. The reason is the criminal lack of screen time. Now, I don’t think it’s bad to want more difficult fights, to each their own and all, I just think it’s a bit silly when people use that as their main core reason for hating them, considering it really wouldn’t make *sense* for them to be super powerful. Anyways. Moving on.

Things that would’ve strengthened Strega as characters:

- More scenes

- A more fleshed out work-together event (teaming up with Takaya was cool, but also a bit random? Should’ve been expanded upon more)

- Backstory flashbacks (this could also have been used as foreshadowing for Ikutsuki’s betrayal instead of making it seem so abrupt)

- DLC (being able to play AS them for a bit would be awesome)

Frankly, I think that The Answer should’ve been included in base-game, and Strega should’ve gotten a DLC. They would really benefit one, and they could make it really informative and interesting, explaining more about how they were experimented on as kids & how it affects them, etc.

I also think it would’ve been beneficial to make Strega have more influence outside of the Dark Hour. In the later parts of the game, they do gain popularity when the cult starts up, but it’s all incredibly abrupt and there’s barely any lead up to it. It would’ve been interesting to see a gradual lead up to it all, slowly seeing their influence spread as the game continues, and having tension rise as they ensnare more people into believing their set of ideals. Having them suddenly gain influence so rapidly seemed just..generally unrealistic, I guess.

There’s for real even more I could go on about but this is already so long that I’ll go ahead and cut myself off here. Anyways. I love Strega <3

[4ddi3addie2005]

Rambling abt how the TADC cast would get along w the Welcome Home crew 👁️💛🎪🐛

First of all I have NO idea how they’d even interact LOL ummm pretend their electromagnetic TV waves collided or sum idk

Kinger would ADORE Frank and Eddie. I don’t even have to tell y’all the parallels between them and Kinger/Queenie. Him and Frank would bond over bugs and I can totally imagine him patiently trying to align the conversation back in with the subject when Kinger gets confused. Eddie has a habit of formality and I could imagine him being like “Your Highness!” or sum every time he sees Kinger lmao. They both talk like that in pure sincerity, with Kinger calling him “his most loyal subject.” 

Pomni would HATE Wally. That little freak. All the standing around and staring would fray her nerves. I think Ragatha would be the only one the least bit comfortable with him because he has the likeness of a little kid. She’d baby him like the family idiot and he would be none the wiser.

Also I think it would be funny if Wally scared the heebie-jeebies out of Caine. Like he tugs on his boot to get his attention and Caine is like “Can I help yo—AHH!” and Walliford gets punted like a football. Like y’all get it?? Caine is going to pick up that Wally has very different energy from everyone else and treat him like a roach. This is not acknowledged by Wally. 

TBH, Wally likes high-energy people and I can see him imprinting on Jax. Wally would not mind the violence one bit. I think he would love to watch things unfold in wretched ways he’s never seen before. He’ll do what he always does: stare in sleepy fascination. Would Jax like him? Idk, but he might get used to the presence and start talking to him just to voice his thoughts. Maybe after a while he’ll throw in a “did you see that?” Ragatha tries to shepherd Wally away because Jax is a “bad influence”. 

Howdy would like Jax. Even if the edginess goes over his head a bit, he can respect anyone with a quick wit. I can imagine them bantering instead of bickering if you know what I mean. Howdy has thick skin and can take anything past a harmless joke, and I think Jax would like having someone to bounce off of in a new and neat way. It’s also kinda funny, someone calling him a “no-good punk” instead of a bitch or whatever Zooble says.

Barnaby would struggle the most making friends. I hate to pick on him, but he lives off an engaging audience. He needs people to either laugh dramatically or sigh dramatically; any reaction is a good reaction. I think he’d make the “humans” uncomfortable. Jax especially would ignore him. Ragatha would laugh politely, but he isn’t too thrilled by phony feedback. Nobody would know what to do with him because he’s only a comedian by cartoon standards. He’d still have all his neighbors, but now his best buddy has a new friend. Is it so bad to say that Barnaby likes being Wally’s only friend? (If we’re going by evidence that the neighbors are a little weary of him…) I imagine that with Wally following Jax around and Ragatha doting on him all the time, Barnaby will start feeling a bit useless. Zooble would like him. They wouldn’t at first, but after a few bad jokes and a lot of persistence they’ll come to roll their eyes fondly at his presence. To them, Barnaby is like an innocent version of Jax. They’ll appreciate actual harmless pranks, and eventually I think everyone else will too. 

Howdy and Caine would click. They have similar personalities, always actively trying to “sell an idea” y’know. I imagine him calling down Caine and being like “a circus this big and there isn’t a laugh for miles! I haven’t seen a depression this bad since the laughing-stock crash of 63!” and they would plot very business-like on how to put some humor back into the bigtop. They’re super respectful of each other and Caine would enjoy being officially recognized as the ringleader. Honestly I think all the neighbors would consider Caine an actual authority. They call him The Mayor lmao. 

Julie and Ragatha!! They’d be playing dress-up on their first meeting. Ragatha def likes that Julie is a safe person to gossip to hehe. I think once Pomni gets used to her energy they’d be buddies too. Julie is a bit too much for Gangle tbh…

Gangle and Poppy would eventually be besties. I think their combined nervousness would terrify each other, but there’s a mutual understanding from day one. I think once they realize they both like tedious little tasks like drawing and baking, knitting or whatever, they’d chill out and spend time together doing their thing. I think they’d help each other be brave. Like how when your friend needs you to ask for ketchup and suddenly you’re the biggest baddest girl in Burger King? Yeah. Gangle would like all the neighbors because they would NEVER call her a crybaby and would always recognize when she’s being picked on. They’d react with pure sorrow whenever she breaks her comedy mask. Whether they could seriously help her work through her issues, idk. 

SALLY AND CAINE. I imagine plotting an “adventure” is the equivalent to plotting a play and she’d insist on her involvement. They’d butt-heads CONSTANTLY over their opposing creative visions. Sometimes the stars will align and they’ll properly collaborate, and it’ll be the best adventure they’ve ever had every time. Tears and bowing and rose-throwing. Y’know. 

[seventeenlovesthree]

Just a funny little thing I dug out by accident yesterday in terms of... Digimon Adventure ship teasing.

First of all, I found a YT channel that has all three "Digimon Adventure Character Song + Mini Drama CDs" sorted into neat playlists, which is a great resource in itself!

Digimon Adventure: Character Song + Mini Drama 1 (feat. Taichi, Sora & Jyou, published November 5th 1999) - Onkei Translation

Digimon Adventure Character Song + Mini Drama 2 (feat. Koushirou, Mimi & Hikari, published December 3rd 1999) - Onkei Translation

Digimon Adventure Character Song + Mini Drama 3 (feat. Yamato & Takeru, published January 7th 2000) - Onkei Translation

The character songs are really endearing - and handled very differently too. Taichi's song is the only one the audience hears IN the TV series; Sora's and Mimi's (and kiiiinda Hikari's) songs can be heard as background music in a lot of scenes they are in (and Sora's song was even played DURING "To Sora"); Yamato's song is a pop version of his harmonica tune; Jyou, Koushirou and Takeru got entirely original songs that are never heard in the TV series. The translations can be found on TheDigiLab too.

The dramas are rather comedic and feature a TON of fourth-wall breaking, inside jokes and pop-culture references, so if you're not Japanese, you may not be able to grasp everything upon hearing/reading these for the first time. The characters are also rather snarky towards each other and make some interesting meta-jokes that may or may not have been picked up by the creators while stumbling over comments/fan letters/the general perception of the series and characters.

What I found interesting was that I was CONVINCED these dramas came out AFTER Adventure had already aired, but all of these were published DURING Adventure's original run time. For example - the first drama CD came out (November 5th 1999) RIGHT after Hikari was officially revealed to be the 8th Child (October 31st 1999).

... Which leads to speculation as to why Tailmon wasn't on the cover of the drama, even though Hikari was. It's absolutely possible that when that art was commissioned, Tailmon wasn't even chosen as official partner for Hikari yet - and I'll definitely want to look for sources about that.

The second drama is even more interesting - especially when you consider it while taking the first drama into account. At the end of the first drama, the following dialogue occurs:

Again, at this point in time, Hikari was BARELY revealed yet, thus she hadn't interacted much or at all with ANY of the other Chosen Children ASIDE from her brother.

Koushirou and Mimi being teased here is absolutely no surprise, as they had been pretty popular as a ship from the start (and most likely fueled by their interactions in episode 10 - which had aired on May 9th 1999, so people definitely had months to get used to and hyped about them). However... Hikari had absolutely not been part of the equation yet. So they may ACTIVELY have speculated on the possibility of not only teasing their audience about one of their most popular ships (= Koumi, "who have gotten a lot of fan requests") and a POTENTIAL rival ship (= Koukari) that didn't have ANY LEG TO STAND ON at this point whatsoever.

Again, all the dramas have to be taken with a grain of salt and the infamous "love letter drama" is incredibly meta - still, it's impossible for me to believe that they didn't take note of how shipping was perceived among fans and that's why they chose to make a love triangle a central topic of an audio drama. Because... Of course this stuff would generate attention. Again, finding sources on this is tough and the subtext of the drama leaves a lot of room for speculation IN GENERAL, but... I cannot help but think that members of the production team may just have hoped for Koukari to actually have a basis in the ongoing series (and they kiiiiinda do, but only if you squint) and that's why they came up with this idea. It was only teased VERY lightly btw, but it was at least implied (on Mimi's behalf).

The drama itself was published on December 3rd 1999 and thus in the middle of the VenomVamdemon arc...

... So the only semi-real interaction between Koushirou and Hikari at this point was him telling AtlurKabuterimon to save her (which is also an ongoing theme between him and her - and Mimi too).

Long story short, EVERYTHING is to be taken with a grain of salt and it's also possible it was all just a lot of ado about nothing.

However, if you haven't listened to the love letter drama yet, please do, because it's hilarious, silly and adorable.