#but like ... morphing it would def be possible

[ganondoodle]

link gets his arm "irreversibly" damaged

"omg!! does he get a cool prosthetic?? like the weird tentacle like morphing arm in the botw concepts?? shiekah tech arm????? that would be so awesom-"

its just. arm but grey. occasionally green. some jewelry.

"well, does he at least lose it or have some scarring at some point or at the end-"

deus ex machina. arm normal again.

>:C

[miraclemuncher]

phantasm

002. (do i wanna know?)

remus lupin જ⁀➴ fem.vampire!oc

summary. Remus Lupin is under the assumption Snape is a drug dealer and his biggest customer is Jubilation Delight

tags/warning. marauders era, remus is dumb as shit

notes. this chapter def needs some work but idgaf im posting it.

series masterlist → previous → 3. you try to be cool, you look like a fool to me

Weeks passed without the four boys continuing their detective work on the Delight Mystery Vial. Everyone was too busy; Sirius and James with quidditch, Peter with his knitting, and even though Remus didn't feel right knowing Junius was consuming whatever was inside the vial, he had the full moon to worry about.

He did his best to keep a close eye on Junius, Snape, and Delight whenever he had the chance, though. He was only able to see Junius during meals and the common room, even so he acted as sober as any twelve year old would. Then there was Snape. James and Sirius had lightened their load on tormenting him a while ago, but crossing paths with him was always inevitable when over half their classes were paired with Slytherins. He was boring and annoying as usual, showing nothing to be suspicious of.

With those two remaining stagnant, there was Delight. His only class with her is Transfiguration. As Remus calculated, she must be taking one vial a day because for the first four days, she was completely normal.

But after those four days? In this class alone she's lost her House 65 points solely from dozing off. If she's sleeping in her other lessons as much as she is in Transfigurations, who knows how many points that adds up to.

Remus was staring at Delight nodding off when Lily broke his gaze by whispering, "There goes your little firefly, Remus." He was lucky McGonnagall gave them assigned seating and it's only ever Lily who catches his staring.

Remus whispered back, "An owl, raccoon, and now a firefly?"

Lily's been comparing Delight to a new creature every week. Owls for being 'night owls', raccoons for Delight's growing eye bags, and now a firefly. He waited for Lily's explanation.

Lily pointed to the oblong windows perfectly lining up with the desks of students. Remus followed her finger to Delight. The sunrays were practically reflecting off her skin. She was absolutely glowing, just like a firefly.

"A firefly..." Remus muttered to himself.

It took Lily no time to launch into a mini firefly history lecture. Remus tried his best to listen, truly, but something about fireflies stuck out to him.

When he finally decided to tune into Lily's word vomit, she gave him the answer. "...and according to Ewe folklore, the Adze can morph into a firefly."

It all makes sense. Delight is obviously an animagi and she takes the form of a firefly.

Nah that can't possibly be it, logistically speaking. It still leaves so many unanswered questions. Well, it is the only lead Remus has got.

He looked closer at her glowing skin. In muggle science, it's called something like bioluminescence. Is it possible to take in traits of your animagus form if you spend too much time as one? Remus thinks back on James, Sirius, and Peter. However they weren’t the best examples considering they've always acted like wild animals before and after becoming anmagi. He refocused his gaze on Delight... Could it actually be possible?

Lily kicked his shin. "You're staring a bit too hard now..."

Seeing what she meant by her slightly judgmental expression, Remus jumped to defend himself. "The— Of course I wasn't looking at... I—" he stumbled, unable to find the words to defend himself.

Lily remained unconvinced. In attempt to sway his oddly intense focus on Delight, she changed the topic, "Did you hear about Myth Buster's next issue? They'll be debunking the Top 10 Common Vampire Myths, featuring Count Octavia."

Lily bought his interest instantly. Remus has been meaning to catch up on Vampire lore ever since everything studied about vampires was exposed as false by a mole in the Vampire Administration. It's an unbelievable phenomenon, imagine all the research from the past billions of years was falsified. On purpose too, mind you. Apparently a court of vampires from a lifetime ago decided to spread misinformation about vampires during the vile vampire hunts. It's speculated the dwindling vampire population rose from there on out.

"When's it coming out?" Remus nonchalantly asked, trying to disguise his eager curiosity.

Lily responded, "In two weeks—"

"Delight!" Remus and Lily jumped at Mcgonagall's outburst, initially thinking it was toward their hushed chattering. "Five points from Ravenclaw and another ten minutes to your ever growing. detention."

A Ravenclaw groaned. "Billie, you do this every lesson!" One roared. Mcgonagall didn't appreciate the shouting out and deducted another five points.

Lily frowned. "Every lesson? Do you think she's getting any sleep?" She said with sincere concern.

"I'm sure she's fine, Lily. She's probably just preparing for our seventh year like the rest of us." It was a small jab that they should probably focus on the lecture before McGonnagall catches whiff of their gossip.

About fifteen minutes later, Remus watched Delight bury her head into her arms, prepared to accept the consequences for a mere minute of sleep. In the time McGonnagall had her back turned, a rustic wooden bucket was shakily floating its way towards Delight. Giggles were suppressed as it got closer. Remus and Lily looked around the room, and who else would it be but Sirius. He wasn't even hiding it with the way his wand was clearly sticking out of his robes sleeve.

The bucket tilted over, testing if Delight would wake up over a few drops. She shuffled in her sleep, rubbing her neck where the droplets fell. Then in one swift movement, Sirius dumped the entire thing on her.

Instantly, Delight jumped out of her chair with a chilling gasp. Running a hand through her soaking wet hair as she shivered earned malicious laughs from the class. Lily had to elbow Remus in the ribs to stop his own soft chuckling.

McGonnagall said both Houses would lose twenty points if nobody revealed the culprit. Sirius was given up by the Ravenclaws in a heartbeat, losing Gryffindor only ten points. With James' prank against the Hufflepuffs during breakfast, losing the points hit hard.

McGonnagall ordered for Delight to head to Ravenclaw dormitory for a change of clothes and Sirius earned himself an even longer detention. Both consequences gave Remus a laugh.

"Mister Lupin." Remus straightened himself up and wiped off his grin when McGonagall addressed him. "Escort Delight to ensure she doesn't fall asleep on the way." More laughter broke throughout the class.

As his face dropped at the command, Lily's formed into a cheeky smile.

"Have fun with your firefly," she whispered.

[noctunis]

Hihi!!! 💞👐 my first time in the FF fandom and your stuff for sephiroth was the first thing that I saw, your writing and headcanons for him feel so accurate to his in-game self! If I may, I wanted to request maybe some hcs for a shapeshifter!reader x sephiroth 👉👈 im not really that well versed in the world and lore of ff, so I'm not really sure if a shapeshifter is even plausible in game :')

Maybe reader was an ex experiment of some sorts, made to be used as a weapon?

I just really want to annoy sephiroth as a cat or sumth (i think sephiroth deserves a Turkish angora to match with his gorgeous hair 🤲 despite being around puppies so often)

For a little angsty hcs maybe readers transformations can be painful at times or not even work out properly so they kind of end up looking messed up :') (or they just get something like a dog ear not changing back to a normal human ear after changing back into a human on a more silly note)

This also kind of opens up for more... naughty things, just change a limb into something, y'know. But I saw that you don't write NSFW in your rules so I'm perfectly okay with you leaving this part out! Feel free to ignore this request, I'm just having brain worms about sephiroth 💞💕 love love love your sephiroth stuff he is the best wife 🫶

A CHANGELING - SEPHIROTH

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀི₊ ⊹ notes - helloooo anon!! i literally loved this request sm thank you so much for sending it in and those kind words 💕!! i’m not exactly sure if it’s possible for a shapeshifter to exist in ffvii, as far as i’m aware the main source of the planet ( mako ) only really helps with like super strength and SOLDIER abilities? but if you look further into the games and you see the.. things.. hojo keep in those test tubes, i think the “used-as-a-weapon” circumstances are pretty doable in this situation :) feel free to send any more ideas if you have any!!

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀི₊ ⊹ warnings - intended lowercase, i talk about pre and post nibelheim seph, post nibelheim sephiroth being manipulative and psychologically abusive ( canon ), spoilers for crisis core and sephs origin story, at the end of the blurb he calls you a silly girl so fem!reader in mind although the rest is gn!reader, lmk if i missed anything!!

✧˖° SEPHIROTH with a shapeshifting reader— hmmm.. i think it depends on your attitude towards the whole situation.

✧˖° for example, if you’re more nonchalant about the situation then i suppose he would be, too. im sure he would be curious at first, but ultimately i dont think he’d care all that much. if you’re used in battle or are well known among shinra or some other organization and he ends up meeting you ( im starting off with pre nibelheim SEPHIROTH first lol ), then he’d definitely be fascinated by your capabilities and how far you can stretch your talents out.

✧˖° if we’re in crisis core era and its like.. before the events that transpired with genesis n all that— he’d wouldnt be as interested as one might think. he’d def be like, “ooh cool” but after the essential introduction then it’d must become normal to him. i think his reaction would also depend on how well you can control your abilities and how you use them to your advantage !! like— for example; if you can stretch one of your limbs or manipulate any part of your body, he’d wanna experiment with that and ask you some questions whenever you have time. if you can change your shape into an animal or another person though— he’ll definitely have a little more fun with it

✧˖° post nibelheim SEPHIROTH takes more advantage of your situation, especially if you can morph yourself or change into another being. if you can shapeshift into an animal or something small, he’ll have you scope stuff out for him or something like that. he will entirely and shamelessly abuse your power and will somehow make you think that you’re obligated to do this for him— especially if you knew him pre nibelheim and still stuck with him afterwards. you do want him to feel better, right? won’t you do this simple task for him? he promises that he’ll treat you well and will return back to normal if you just do this one thing for him :((

✧˖° i think his fixation on jenova and his own identity might even transfer over to you in some form. i feel like sephiroth believes things happen for a reason and so after his spiral, he often thinks that you were brought to him and that its a sign. he’ll use your ability and somehow connect it to his role in the lifestream and that it symbolizes versatility and you were brought to him with the purpose of your assistance to his goals n whatever blah blah blah post nibelheim SEPHIROTH is mean in his own way and i am sorry but i am not an apologist for this man’s actions !! i fully believe that he would manipulate you into becoming his little puppet to help accomplish his own ambitions.

✧˖° post nibelheim SEPH does care for you, and he’ll always tell you that— but i cant always say that he says it in good faith.

✧˖° but!! on a more positive note, i think ( pre nibelheim ) SEPHIROTH would be heavily amused with having someone who can alter their shape by his side. as anon mentioned in their request, i can totally see SEPHIROTH with a turkish angora or some sort of cat beside him!! i can just see you trotting over to him all of a sudden, hopping up on the back of his chair as you let your fur whoosh with every sauntered move you take. he furrows his brows, thinly arched and silver, before he realizes whose wet snout is pressed against the nape of his neck as he reaches a gloved hand up to run against your pristine ivory coat; earning a soft purr from you. UGHHHH i need this man so bad SEPHIROTH bae you know where home is

✧˖° if the process of shapeshifting is somewhat painful or it’s more abrasive on the way when you shift back, SEPHIROTH will always try his best to comfort you when it gets too difficult. he might be a little awkward, but the best thing he can offer is a reassuring hand on your lower back as he whispers in your ear that everything will be okay in the end. he’ll even try to make you laugh with his dry ass humor, it might not help because he’s so calm in this situation and you’re probably freaking out but he’s trying his best (╥_╥)

✧˖° something that i really like touching upon when i think about shapeshifters or people with the ability to alter their appearance is body and face dysmorphia!! i think it would be inevitable if you switched yourself up enough and would eventually develop some sort of insecurity within yourself and the way you look— perhaps thinking you looked some way when you didn’t or if everything just starts melding in your brain. i’m not sure if SEPHIROTH would know what to do in this situation but i’m sure he’d understand how you could feel this way, especially if you were treated as a weapon ( we’ll touch up on that next !!).

✧˖° i wrote a fic about SEPH feeling uncomfortable with himself due to the fact that it’s like— written in a setting where his wings are just sprouting, and i feel like that would happen at one point. if you wanna include that fic in this little timeline, then i feel like it’d give him all the more reason to come to your aid when you need it. i mean, if you helped him— isn’t it only fair that he does the same? he won’t tolerate any nitpicking at yourself or self deprecating comments, he won’t tolerate self loathing or anything of the sort; he is the there for you and whether you seek comfort in him is up to you, he reminds you.

✧˖° if you wanna include the ex-weapon part in this, i think SEPHIROTH’s heart would break— especially if it’s post nibelheim. pre cc SEPH is utterly baffled that you were treated that way, and is always cautious when addressing the topic or when talking about your feelings revolving around it.

✧˖° i think any decent human being would feel sympathetic when it’d come to a situation like that, but post nibelheim hits wayyy harder for him. after it comes to light that he was an experiment and only created to be the poster boy for shinra / the perfect SOLDIER, he feels for you even more. except, instead of like his previous self where he’d encourage you to work through it and let these feelings of sadness and emptiness pass along with letting go of your trauma, post nibelheim would have you use it and it only gives him more knowledge in order to manipulate you. he’d make it a case of using your resentment and all of these years of hardships to fuel your anger; to further develop these feelings of hatred towards humanity. it just gives him more to manipulate you with. but, you won’t have to worry about a thing when you’re with him, just help him take over and rightfully restore what’s his— what’s yours.

✧˖° now let’s end on a happier note, shall we? ^.^

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈ ｡ﾟ

with his mako eyes flickering over your sheen coat glimmering in the sun, SEPHIROTH watched as you cantered along the grass, soft flecks of dirt trapped under the light brown strands of your fur.

he softly chuckled to himself as he watched your small tongue loll out of your mouth as you panted, observing the heat of the sun getting to you ( or more so, your current body in the form of a dog ) as he sat in the shade, safe from its wrath. his eyes, slender and catlike, stayed fixated as he watched you roll around— your tiny body disappearing momentarily beneath the tall, tapered leaves sprouting from the ground.

sephiroth tilted his head up slightly, narrowing his eyes as he scanned along the knoll before he saw your head pop up from the green weeds, this time, coated with your real human hair and regular face. his lips quirked into a half smile while he watched you grin at him lazily, the sun draining you especially as you change your form. he reveled in the way your pink lips split open with your smile. he reveled in the way your eyes lit up when you saw him, even when you held those big, wet puppy eyes.

your hands slid from underneath you, shoulder with the part as you pushed yourself up from the dirt; ignoring the way it got stuck under your fingernails, reminding yourself that you’d have to clean them out later. putting your knee down, you pushed yourself forward and hustled towards him. letting out an airy laugh, you plopped yourself down on the raised hill where sephiroth sat. the tree above you provided shade that you instantly felt relief once you were under, the coolness of the obstruction healing your soon to be burnt skin.

“‘s hot out here, i swear. can nev’r get a break.” you muttered, placing both of your hands on your face as you leaned back into the foreign dirt behind you, uncaring of small bugs simply trying to traverse around you. sephiroth laughed, “i can see that.”

he turned his head to the side, scanning over your heated figure before he cocked his head in bemusement. letting out a small huff, you peeked one eye open out from underneath your elbow— even in the blistering rays of the sun, you could never get tired of sephiroth’s laugh; whether a wry chuckle or a cachinnation that was never intended to make it past his lips. you let out a small huff yourself, “what’s so funny?”

“one body part remains unchanged, dearest.” he lifted a leather clad hand up to his face, motioning towards his ear while his gaze softened; watching how your hands came up to flutter around the right side of your face only to find no ear. your brows crinkled as they met in the middle before you felt on the top of your head, the pads of your thumb and index finger fiddling with the folded ear protruding through your hair. lips forming into an ‘o’, you made an audible noise of surprise before you shut your eyes and let your head loll back again.

you applied pressure on the morphed body part, sephiroth watching in awe as you concentrated on fixing your error. your lips twitched upwards in a small smile before removing your hands and putting them at your sides, looking back at your beloved while he remained collected as ever.

a wider smile tugged at his lips— a rare sight indeed. he shook his head before mumbling a small, “silly girl.”

𐙚 taglist ; @snoopicle @ch3rryfiles

𐙚 requests are open — june nineteenth, 2024

[birb--birb]

2, 5, and 11 for dear Savrin!! <3

This answer has been sitting half finished in my drafts for so long oops😅 but thank youuuu I had so much fun thinking about all these little details of my smol Crow lad💜

2. How loosely or strictly do they use the word 'friend'?

Fairly strictly when it comes to his own relationships sadly! Savrin knows people, has a lot of acquaintances and some trustworthy sources, but very very few close friends. Someone he thought was a trusted friend fucked him over/sold him out during a contract in his 20's, which ended with him basically left for dead with a very mangled right arm. He's kept people at a wary distance since then, afraid they would find a way to emotionally manipulate him again. After all, every Crow learns to use emotions as a weapon at some point in their training, he just never thought it would be himself on the recieving end of said tactics. So, that kind of lesson impressed on you at a young age, and then having it acted out against you by someone you trust......it uh, isn't great for your psyche. It only got worse when he was given contracts where he had to gain someones trust and manipulate them for info. He very much shut down any idea of connecting with people because a) emotions can be exploited and WOW I have a lot of them I can't let people see this, b) I've been hurt by someone like this before, and c) I'm now doing said hurting to others so d) I don't deserve any kindness or sympathy. He took his anger and fear from the attack/betrayal and it morphed into "I can't trust others, and others shouldn't trust me because I have hurt others in the same way I've been hurt".

It wasn't really till that halfway point in Veilguard when he had to find a way to get the others to be open with him when he realized he needs to be open with them in turn. Bellara was a big help in this, her straightforward nature and openheartedness from the very start invited Savrin to trust her. It was with little things at first, but each time she responded with kindness, he was surprised. I'm pretty sure if there was a dialogue option for "why are you being so nice to me?" he would have picked it lmao In a similar vein, he and Davrin got along well enough, but after Weisshaupt when they had the "Grey Wardens have an expiration date" convo, Savrin was like "ooooohhh I know that feeling... if you trust me enough to share this, I think I'm safe to share the same back". They defs became good friends, trusted hunting and drinking buddies to the point that he was with Savrin during most of the end-game content.

(1000% they'd be partners in another life I'm like so certain of this, but in this timeline Savrin needed Davrin to be his friend, a solid, reliable person he could lean on that would be honest with him when he needed it. He was someone that helped teach Savrin to trust in people again........I'm also just realizing their names are literally one letter off each other asdkjdgfh).

I could write another 10000 words about how Emmrich showing Savrin the kindness he didn't think he deserved changed the way he thinks about people and friends, but oops this is already long enough😅 Emmrich being kind and empathetic to everyone without fear of it being used against him, and just being a genuinely good human without sinister motives or expecting anything in return was something Savrin forgot was possible. Emmrich made him kinder again.

5. Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

He used to be able to as a kid, was very handy to get out of trouble from guards when you're just a cute lil elf kid with big sad puppy-dog eyes crying about how his momma just got sent away and now he has to live with his big mean uncle (Viago) lmaooo. But as an adult unfortunately not.

11. If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

Oooh I've got two thoughts about this. I feel like as a Crow, he was likely taught to create a passcode/secret in case of an instance like this. An easy answer is to ask an imposter Savrin is "when did your mother die" because the real Savrin would angrily demand that she is NOT dead, he knows she's still alive, and he WILL find her.

A funny one is to ask how his magic manifested. He was like, 11 or 12 and woke up with the most static-filled bedhead, and everytime he touched something it zapped him, or he zapped whoever he was touching. He was literally like one of those electrostatic shock machines you see at science museums, it drove him bonkers! The zaps were annoying, the clothes sticking to him was annoying, and his hair was everywhere and he couldn't stand it, he was like 2 seconds away from shaving his head to get it to stop lmao luckily one of the older Crows saw him marching to a bathroom with scizzors and stopped him, instead teaching him different ways to keep his hair tied back to keep it under control. He had dexterous lil lockpick fingers so braiding was easy for him to learn. It's one of those super clear childhood memories for him hehe

[evilasiangenius]

I wrote a little bit about this sort of relationship in a fic!

This was a new CD, or at least it was, prior to Crowley spending what was probably anywhere from days to weeks in the dark bookshop staring at a glowing magic circle, and even the last time he drove to Wales it had already morphed into the Greatest Hits. He never had a chance to listen to the original CD, and he wondered what it might have been. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star or Blackstar by David Bowie? He couldn’t remember. Likely if he ejected it from the player, the CD could have been something that Aziraphale had recommended, an obscure remastered Japanese recording of the Brahms Requiem or Carmen in Russian for some unknown reason or maybe a recording of some Tchaikovsky concert that they had both been at together in the year before the Antichrist, sitting side by side in the Royal Festival Hall in London, both tense and unable to relax because somehow they had ended up in the same private box. He didn’t even get to listen to that fun transitional state when the original CD turned into Queen-covers-Snoop-Dogg’s-Doggystyle or the all-Freddie-Mercury-cast-performance-of-Die-Fledermaus-with-the-all-Brian-May-and-Roger-Taylor-chorus-with-backing-electric-orchestra-plus-one-bassoon. It wasn’t even Freddie-Mercury-reads-Victor-Hugo’s-Notre-Dame-de-Paris-in-Mandarin-(traditional)-book-on-tape. No, this was just Queen, entirely so, and Crowley thought about buying some new CDs. Crowley thought a lot about buying new CDs. The problem was not because he didn’t want to, but because usually by the time he got to where he was planning on going, he would forget that he meant to buy CDs. And the cycle would go on and on, until Aziraphale overheard him complaining about the music in his car and bought him a small stack of things he might like or things that he had mentioned wanting to listen to, interspersed with some things that Aziraphale too might want to listen to in the car. He should buy his own CDs, Crowley thought. And not burden Aziraphale with it. In fact, Aziraphale was probably already preparing him a stack of things to listen to and he had ought to jump the gun, and get his own. It wouldn’t be the first time Crowley beat Aziraphale to something fun, after all there was that time with Freddie Mercury. Aziraphale always insisted that the man had written “Killer Queen” based on him. And perhaps that was true but Crowley knew for a fact that the man had written “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy” about him and that Aziraphale had never actually slept with Freddie the way he had, quite thoroughly and acrobatically and on multiple occasions. After all, sleeping on the same bed did not count for quite the same. Besides, at that time in 1974 the angel had been wearing Italian eau de cologne and not French perfume or even eau de parfum. Which Aziraphale still wore and occasionally brought up as a new cologne because he did not remember that the cologne was new as of 1916 back when Aziraphale only wore it to perfume his pocket squares and handkerchiefs. That new cologne happened about the same time as Aziraphale’s purchase of his first jazz albums, a locally recorded "Down Home Rag" by the Versatile Four, then another "Down Home Rag" by Wilbur Sweatman, and a “One-Step” by the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Which Crowley never quite understood; with two feet, how was it possible to dance in a one-step manner?

from Chapter 19: CDs and Roses of Mistakes Were Made: Together

This is now my new favorite best friend duo

[leejenowrld]

When i saw that ask about the baby the first thing i thought was mark! Because listen... i love parallels. I think jeno es very capable of morphing into his father and repeat his mistakes. So its not a crazy idea to me that he could repeat what happend to mark and his mom. Jeno would stay with his fiancee, the easy comfortable choice. I dont think he's taeyong's evil asshole level yet but theres no chance in the world that he'll react with happiness and smiles about the pregnancy. Especially if its hidden 💀💀 yn girl get behind me you in danger. Also i see him responding to the situation with a baby on nahyun side lmao (writing this from my grave ughh). Back to the parallels, yangyang or jaemin def could be a father figure like doyoung and get the girl in my head. Look at all this ranting and maybe the storyline doesnt even have anything to do with this lmao

it’s not crazy at all to think that jeno might repeat taeyong’s mistakes. in fact, the fear of becoming his father is one of the loudest, most terrifying things living inside him and yet, in some twisted way, that fear is exactly what makes it possible. because when you spend your whole life running from a shadow, you forget to look at where your own feet are stepping. and that’s the difference between being like taeyong and becoming taeyong. it’s not the anger, or the ruthlessness, or the power. it’s the choice to stay silent. the choice to take what’s easy. the refusal to confront what loving someone really costs.

jeno’s not evil. not manipulative. not calculating in the way taeyong is. but he is tired. and raw. and reaching for a life that doesn’t hurt. so if a situation ever arose — say, a hidden pregnancy — and the version of him we saw at the end of chapter nine was still the one making decisions? you’re right. he would not react with joy. he would not rise to the moment. he would freeze. fold. default to the path of least resistance. and if nahyun was the one standing beside him, already there, already palatable, already part of the story he’s trying to convince himself is enough — then yes. he might stay. not because he loves her. not because she’s home. but because history repeats when fear runs louder than truth.

and that’s the tragedy of the mark parallel. because mark was the product of being unwanted by a man who chose someone else. who disappeared. who buried his guilt in a new family. and if jeno ever did the same — even accidentally — he wouldn’t just be echoing taeyong’s choices. he’d be writing himself out of the one story that ever mattered to him: the one where he got to be different.

as for yangyang or jaemin stepping up, god. there’s so many ways that could fracture the world even further. because both of them have shown, in different ways, what it looks like to love y/n without conditions. to show up. and if one of them ever ended up holding the space jeno abandoned, if yangyang became her softness or if jaemin became her shield, it wouldn’t just be about romance. it’d be about survival. it’d be about someone choosing her fully when jeno couldn’t even choose himself. and you’re right, maybe this doesn’t happen at all. maybe you’re spiraling for no reason. or maybe that’s the point. because jeno’s biggest threat isn’t taeyong. it’s the version of himself that chooses fear over love.

you’re not crazy. you’re just paying attention.

[glossgojo]

hold me across every state line

joel miller x reader | 3.7k words

part 2 here

cw: 18+ MINORS DNI, age gap (obviously let’s be real), AFAB reader, fingering, slight pervy joel, pet names, multiple orgasms, choking, oral fem receiving, lingerie, porn with some plot, non-canon compliant, joel has feelings <3

you had been traveling with joel and ellie ever since philadelphia and as hard as you and joel had tried to ignore whatever was going on between you two, he couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on you. you all arrive at jackson and feel like you can relax for a bit. it all comes to a head when you were changing and he caught a glimpse of fucking lingerie. joel miller feels like a teenage boy all over again just because of you.

a/n: def gotta a lil carried away, what can i say joel miller makes me FERAL. also beta version sorry i wrote this in a daze

it had been a month since you joined joel and ellie, you had grown fond of them both. your younger sister was ellie’s age before you lost her a couple years after the outbreak, it felt healing talking to her. ellie, in a lot of ways, was similar to you. unfortunately for joel that meant a lot more worrying than he admitted to. although he’d never admit it, he was quite fond of you and you were downright gone for the older man. it wasn’t like you had been single since the outbreak or before, but something about joel made your heart beat faster than ever and brought a smile to your face just from a mere thought about the grumpy man.

but you never labeled your feelings and neither did he, you both operated under a need to keep each other and ellie safe and that was it. ellie wasn’t dumb, she could see what was happening between you two. she also knew it was only a matter of time before you both gave in to whatever you were feeling. for now you three just acted out of survival instinct and that was enough. weeks morphed into months and winter was cruel to you three. you spent nights in joel’s arms, you both attributed it to feeling safer that way and for warmth of course. you never missed how sometimes you could feel his heart against your back, beating just as fast as your own. or when you would wake up before him and the sun shone down on his face, his expression would be relaxed and you could dream for a while about him looking at you like that. you hoped one day joel would let the pain he carried on his shoulders be lifted by ellie or even you.

when you all made it to jackson and joel reunited with his brother you felt like you could finally breathe again. although your body was always primed to fight and run, you couldn’t help but relax as maria treated you like a friend. she was kinder than anyone you had met since the outbreak, it all felt too good to be true. your suspicions were shared with joel and ellie. the three couldn’t relax even in the small condo tommy had given to you. maria had whisked ellie away to socialize with the other kids, saying how it would be good for her and far be it from you and joel to argue with her about it.

that left you and joel in a warm house with power and gas, feeling very out of place. the house had two rooms with two en-suite bathrooms, so naturally you and joel decided to share. joel was lying down on the bed, not fully asleep as he stared up at the ceiling planning the next steps in head. he had showered and changed into the clothes maria had dropped off, feeling like a new man. his mind raced at the possibilities of how to get ellie to the fireflies. you had spoke earlier about staying a little bit longer and collecting more information before setting out. he had disagreed, wanting to leave as soon as possible but you convinced him to stay, it would be better for ellie and especially him to spend more time with his brother and others. you also didn’t mind how relaxed joel looked when he was with his brother.

you were just getting out of the shower as you reached for a towel, drying off as you looked at the underwear maria had given you. you had blushed when you first saw it, clearly she thought you and joel were much more than friends after just a few minutes of interacting with her. you weren’t really sure why you decided to wear the lacy black panties and matching bra instead of the more sensible set, but maybe it was something about how maria had raised her eyebrow when you tried giving back the lingerie. you insisted it was nothing like that, but she had simply said, “are you sure because i think everyone else is?” instead of answering her you just snatched the clothes out of her hands and stalked back to the condo. you thought back about how you and joel interacted in front of her when you met.

“joel, say congrats.” ellie nudged joel in the elbow as you sat on the other side of him, making him move into your side slightly. joel looked to for you some sort of permission, you just nodded with a comforting smile on your face. you wanted him to know it was okay to be happy for his brother, that his brother still loved him and that his new life could have his big brother in it. joel’s hand that had been on your leg the entire dinner, squeezed your thigh in gratitude and as always you tried to swallow down the desire it shot through you. maybe you weren’t as successful as you thought in hiding the blush to you face, maybe maria had caught onto where his hand was and the reason behind your tinted cheeks.

you sighed and tried to shove the thoughts out of your mind, as you slightly opened the bathroom door and peeked through to see joel lying down with his eyes closed, a hand resting on his forehead, further obstructing his view. you took the chance to tiptoe to the closet and pick out some clothes to change into. unbeknownst to you joel had cracked his eyes upon the small creak of the floorboard and felt the air leaving his lungs at the sight of you.

joel had seen your body before, when rain made clothes cling to your skin or when you dipped into a clean river. but nothing compared to seeing your bare skin adorned in lacy black lingerie, a suggestion of fabric covered your ass and your breasts were pushed up as if to further torture him. joel felt all of his blood rush south and his heart beat pick up, he hated himself for silently peaking at you but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. he thought he was going a little bit insane when he watched you pull up a pair of jeans over your curves, jumping a little as they hugged your ass. his pants grew tight, his erection straining against the denim.

joel was on the precipice of losing his mind as you wrapped your arms around your chest and hugged yourself, your boobs pushing up and threatening his mental stability. joel had had enough at this point, his dick hard and heavy in his pants, aching to be touched. he sat up, making you flinch and wrap your arms around yourself tighter, not helping him much as you turned towards.

“how long does it take to choose a shirt sweetheart? do you need my help?” his voice was gruff and deep, you shivered at his tone noticing a clip to his voice. your heartbeat picked up as you raked over his expression, he looked more frustrated than anything else. and you didn’t miss how his eyes flicked between your chest and your eyes. it was now or never. you knew looking into brown eyes they were darkened by something you would see in your own.

“can you help me, please?” joel raised an eyebrow at your tone, like you were sure of yourself but still needed him. if joel were more confident in himself he would know that you were just as desperate for him as he was for you but he knew you could do better. you could definitely find someone younger and more suited for you. despite the rational part of his brain that knew better, he got off the bed and walked towards you. he didn’t stop until his chest was almost brushing against yours and he was towering over you. there was a slight flush to your lips and your breathing was fast enough to draw his attention to the rise and fall of your chest. he still let himself read into it, didn’t let himself dwell on the glossy look in your eyes or the way your lips were parted as if to take him in.

looking away from your gaze for a moment, joel pulled out a plain red t-shirt from the closet, meeting your gaze once again. you didn’t move to take it from his hands, just watched him expectantly and joel almost snapped the hanger in half from the hold he had on it. you wanted him to dress you. joel wasn’t sure if you were doing this to torture him or not but he sure as hell felt more desperate than he ever had. the last time he was this painfully hard from barely any stimulation was probably high school. he took your challenge instead, pulling the shirt off the hanger and flinging it to the side, he gently pulled the opening over your head, motioning for your hands to uncross and you followed quietly. you were practically drowning in the sensuality of being controlled by joel, exactly how you wanted. you had soaked through the thin fabric of your underwear as you gasped at the feeling of joel’s warm calloused hands against the soft skin of your arms. he pulled the shirt over your chest and you watched his darkened eyes travel over your body, his jaw clenching as he took in your curves.

“thank you.” you whispered, not wanting to disturb the air around you both. joel looked you up and down, as if assessing his work. he licked his lips as he remembered the sight from earlier, he felt himself leaking into his boxers, even more turned on from your small gasps and glazed eyes. you looked like a doe awaiting his shot, it drove him a little bit crazier. as much as you wanted to sink to you knees and take him into your mouth you wanted him to make the first move, wanted him to be as sure as you were that this wasn’t just one-sided. joel took one last look at your blown out pupils and glossy lips and decided that enough was enough, he had to make a decision right now.

“not sure about those pants though, doll.” your eyebrows knitted up from confusion, you looked down at them and back up at him. joel was endeared by the naivety in your expression, making good use of your confusion by looping a finger through the belt notch of your jeans and tugging you closer.

“i’d rather they were off.” he could see the words click in your pretty little head as the confusion was replaced by the desire he knew so well. you didn’t look away from his hungry gaze as you fumbled to undo the brass button of your pants. joel’s finger that was still curled into the notch, moved to cover your hand.

“let me, pretty girl.” you had to hold back a whine from his words, his gruff voice coupled with the pet name was grating against your sensibility, your underwear a complete mess from his words and presence alone. you were sure you would unravel if he touched you where you really needed him. joel undid your buckle with two fingers and pulled your pants down in one swift movement, causing you to yelp. he didn’t move as he watched you shiver from desire, he could almost laugh at how desperate you were. had you always been so gone for him? it wasn’t like he was much better though.

“j-joel please.” you choked out, you would do anything for him to touch you. you were on the verge of crying as he grinned at the pout on your lips.

“please what?” he stepped back, making a whine claw up your throat, you stepped towards without thinking.

“i need you.” joel nodded at the words, it wasn’t news to anyone, he needed you just as badly.

“come here.” joel moved to the bed, you followed obediently. when you sat down at the edge of the bed he pulled you by the hips, roughly moving you to lie down with your head on the pillows. he shifted himself to sit in front of your legs and your eyes widened as you realized what was about to happen. his rough large hands kneaded the soft flesh of your thighs, he took in the sight of your bare thighs and pretty cunt covered in lacy black material.

“did you wear these for me?” his hands were traveling up, parting your legs as they moved inwards. you loaned, back arching as you felt callouses rub your sensitive inner thighs. joel moved to sit down more comfortably, letting his thick thighs stretch you even more. he kept his hand on your left thigh, keeping you stretched wide. his other hand moved closer to your core, stopping when you didn’t answer his question.

“yes only for you.” you whined out, you had never sounded more desperate and foreign to yourself but you didn’t care you were completely lost to your desire. joel liked your answer, letting his hand tease the edge of your underwear, you twitched from his touch. he couldn’t help but scoff at how sensitive you were. he ripped a cry of his name from you when he pushed the fabric aside revealing glistening folds and a pool of liquid. he swore under his breath, wondering just how long you had been soaking through your underwear, sure enough he felt the fabric wet from your juices. joel wanted to deal this memory away, he knew he’d remember it any time his cock was in his hand. you squirmed from his gaze, whining for him to touch you, to do anything. joel snapped the band of your underwear against your skin, making you shut up.

“so fucking wet, is that all for me too?” joel didn’t think he could survive much longer without tasting you, moving to lay down between your thighs, you noticed immediately and it made you breath a little more rapidly.

“you drive me crazy joel, it’s always because of you, i’m yours.” you sat up on your elbows, looking at how his face was now hovering your hips. your words itched the part of joel’s brain that wanted you to be all his. he wasn’t proud of it but he wanted you to be his forever. without much warning, joel weaved his arms under your thighs and pulled you forwards, your cunt colliding with his nose. the small friction of his large nose against your clit made you moan out his name again. joel thought it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard, he loved how his name sounded coming out of your mouth. he wanted you to own it, wanted his name to be yours, he felt more possessive of you than ever. he rubbed his nose against your clit, breathing in the sweet smell of you, his lips and nose getting a bit wet just from your underwear. he kissed your cunt, ripping a strangled noise from your throat and he decided he wanted much more of those sounds as he pulled your underwear down, finally letting himself give in to his need to taste you. you were practically screaming his name as the cool air hit your clit.

joel didn’t waste time in spreading your legs wider and making them ache from the stretch, pulling your ass slightly into the air as he planted his lips right onto your core. his tongue licked one stripe from your clit down to where your arousal pooled. you tasted like peaches and heaven, and joel pulled you impossibly closer, he could barely breathe through his nose but it didn’t matter not when you tasted like everything he’d ever wanted and your ichor was painted on the back of his teeth. as much as he drank you in, the more you bloomed for him. you were squirming and screaming his name, begging for him to stop or keep going you weren’t sure. you could only think of his name, only feel him and only breathe him. his mustache and beard grated against your most sensitive parts, making you clench around him. joel’s tongue was inside you drinking you in like you were water and he was stuck in the desert for days. the sounds his mouth produced were obscene and they did nothing but drive you closer to your orgasm. you were rocking on his tongue, never having felt this good before. as you got closer, joel pulled out, his tongue still on your hole as his nose ground your clit. you cried at the feeling, fingers interweaving with his hair and tugging him against you. joel got the idea and brought his hand up to tease your clit as he went back to feasting on you. you felt yourself grow close, pulling his face against you, as you whined out his name. you came undone on his tongue, twitching into his mouth and joel drank in the wave of arousal it produced, never being satiated enough. finally when you were too sensitive for his tongue you tugged on his hair. joel removed his mouth with a pop and a string of your cum and his saliva connected him to you. his beard and mustache were glistening with your ichor and you felt arousal wash over you all over again, you still wanted to taste him, wanted his lips against yours and so you wove your hands around his neck and sat up to meet him halfway. joel climbed up, you wove your legs around his hips. joel’s lips were rough against you, but they tasted like you and you moaned into his lips. joel kissed you fervently as if he had not just tasted you, like it wasn’t enough and his facial hair rubbed against your skin. your cum was coating both of your faces by the time you pulled back for air. joel put more of his weight against you and you felt his clothed hard on press against your core, making you whine and grab at his shirt to pull him closer. “joel please, want you inside.”

just from what you felt pressed against you, you knew he was big and you salivated at the feeling. you were getting wet just thinking about having him inside you. joel watched your fucked out expression and puffy lips and decided against his urge to fuck you even dumber. he told himself he had time, you weren’t like the others, this was different you wouldn’t just disappear.

“next time, doll, can you come for me again?” you nodded, tears welling in your eyes as desire mixed with your need to be close to him. joel moved off of you, drawing a whimper from you, he interwove his fingers with yours, calming your nerves and you sighed contently. joel didn’t know how you could be so damn endearing and seductive at the same time. with his free hand he pushed you up the bed by your hip, until you were sitting up with your back against the bed-frame. he found his home between your legs, spreading one with his hand the other still holding yours. he used his knee to press against the inner flesh of your thigh, pinning it there and stretching you wide open. you whined at the feeling, although he was the one between your thighs you felt caged in. he was towering over your frame as your back pressed against the cold metal frame. finally when the whine left your mouth, he let go of your hand moving it south as he looked you in the eyes. his hand teased the seam of your cunt, he chuckled at the feeling of you so wet all over again. there was a bead of arousal at your opening, ready for him to please you all over again. he couldn’t get enough of you. without any warning he pressed two fingers into you, plunging them deep and feeling you clench around them. Your breath came out in a huff as you looked up to him with desperation in his eyes. joel curled his fingers facing his palm upwards as he felt for the spot that made you unravel and when he did you struggled against his grasp and pushed against his knee to close on his hands. you gasped out his name and joel laughed at the tears forming in your eyes. he plunged into your soaking cunt again and again. setting a brutal pace and just when you felt close enough he slowed down, he shut up your babbling with a harsh kiss to your mouth. it was teeth and tongues clashing against each other, but the desire and desperation you felt was reciprocated in the way he kissed you. you kissed until your lungs screamed for air and when you were about to pull away, joel plunged three fingers into, you gasped into his mouth. pulling away as your eyes rolled to the back of your head and joel littered your neck with kisses and bites. he marked you as he wanted, made sure everyone knew who you belonged to. you were gushing around his fingers, he added a fourth finger and you screamed his name. if the blooming marks on your neck weren’t enough, the whole community would hear your screams. you started begging when he abused the spot that made your mind go blank, all you could feel was intense burning desire and all you could say was “please joel.” like it was a prayer.

your prayers were answered when his thumb ground against your clit and you came on his hand. you slumped forward, joel catching you as he moved his hand from your thigh and brought his soaked fingers up to his mouth. he wanted to memorize your taste, licking his fingers clean before pressing a kiss to your lips. you let him kiss you, you were spent now and your mind numb from pleasure. joel helped you lay down and cleaned you up as much as he could, he put your underwear in his pocket, he had to deal with his hard-on after you fell asleep. joel combed his fingers through your hair, as you relaxed into the bed. you fell asleep breathing in the scent of his shampoo on the pillow-sheet and the feeling on his fingertips scraping your scalp.

[jujutsubabe]

(How the boys from jjk cuddle u 😌🌸)

Itadori

Itadori’s love language is touch so cuddling and holding each other all night is so nice

if you come anywhere near his bed he’s pulling you in for an instant cuddle

Will snuggle his face into your chest/arms and give you a bunch of quick kisses all over ur face cause he’s excited

He will talk and put kisses all over ur face at the same time.

You two would be wrapped up while he’s talking, “I’m so—“ kiss “happy I get to—” kiss kiss “see you.” Kiss

Whenever you talk expect him to wrap his arms around you and rest his face on your belly (he wants you to scratch his head as you talk)

(If you stop petting him for some reason, he will pick up your hand and put it on his head or look up at you until you pet him again)

Will pass away if you rest your head on his lap

He doesn’t know what to do, just worrying about where to place his hands, he accidentally poked your eye one time even though he was trying to gently pet your head.

He grabbed your face and apologized, squishing it way too hard for you to say anything back.

Megumi

Won’t admit that he likes being little spoon, but he gets happy when u can just… tell he wants to be held.

Very light fluttery touches, like he’s scared of messing up

Loves it when you grab his hand yourself and intertwine fingers

he doesn’t wanna seem clingy, but when he’s too tired to care, expect him to hold you like a koala and bury his head in your shoulder.

He’ll give you back hugs and hold you cause he just likes it a lot…

Gets flustered when you two hug normally, he usually looks down but when you grab his face he will! blush!!

Will watch you with the lightest smile.

Kisses your hand when no ones looking

He really likes to do secret kisses, like on your neck or the top of your head, he likes not letting you know where he’s gonna kiss all the time!

Comb through his hair and he will pass away

Poor guy, he doesn’t get touched enough, if you comb your hands through his hair he will sigh really loud and lean into your touch, but then get embarrassed for getting too relaxed with you.

If you embarrass him too much he stuffs his head into his pillow and groans until his blush is gone.

He whispers “I love you” when you sleep/ cuddle

I’m sure he’s cold too, so he’s always blowing on his fingers until you stuff his hands into your pockets.

If you both have cold hands expect the both of you to have a war on who gets to be warmed up first.

You would probably place ur cold feet on his back while he puts his hands on your neck❤��� the both of y’all need to invest in a heater

Gojo

This Giant yeti man will trick you into being big spoon.

He’ll act like he will hold you from behind, but as soon as you get into the bed his back is facing you. Turning his head to see if you’ll hold him

He likes it cause he feels secure, you have a good hold on him, makes him feel like a baby

Idk he will probably want you to pet his face/ massage it but will randomly stick your fingers in his mouth. :/

no one asked for that...he just grabs your fingers and rams them into his mouth and acts like he did nothing when he takes them out...

Wtf is wrong with him…

He wants you to hold him all the time

When ur cooking expect him to lean on you, wrapping you up.

Walking? His hands all around your shoulders, keeping you close

Working? Plz wrap your arm around his neck.

He’s so clingy, he’s the type of guy who needs to hold hands with you while you pee❤️

if you run your hands through his hair while you cuddle expect him to possibly go quiet. Take advantage of that silence, that quiet blissful two seconds where he stops talking…

Nanami

I feel like he would have sugar daddy vibes when you cuddle…

Like he loosens his tie, leans back with both arms on the couch, and motions for you to come by tapping the couch.

Will pull you in for a side hug and bury his nose in your hair

Forehead kisses? Forehead kisses.

Rarely puts his hands on you, I don’t think his language is touch but when he does I’m sure he’d rest his hand on your head or hips

He dips his head down when he kisses you, and very gently holds your jaw.

Whatever touches he puts on you are very gentle

Will fall asleep if you massage his back!! Like his head will go low and he’ll sigh

Will randomly hold your hand and press it to his lips.

Run your hands through his hair and he discombobulates!!! He literally feels amazing and he just falls asleep

He’s just a sleepy cuddler tbh….

Will lazily have his arm wrapped around you as you sleep.

Sukuna

idk maybe puts you in a chokehold

One time he tried to kiss you while he was just a mouth on Itadori’s cheek….

Bear hugs you from behind

Slaps your thigh and then grips it

Has you sit in his lap no matter what, it’s like a villain who has a cat in their lap all the time.

Definitely wraps his hand around your neck when you kiss😌

Hickeys.., I just…. I know he does so many for no reason

Squeezes your face until you pout at him, then he gives you a kiss

If you guys go on dates, he doesn’t hold your hand when you walk, he holds your arm.

Play with his hair and he’s so confused… like why do… your fingers in his hair feel nice??

Will tell you to stop, but when you do he asks why you stopped.

He lays on his back and opens his arm for you, pulls you close as he stares at the ceiling

You will wake up and he will be straight STARING AT YOU

Unblinking too just: 😐😐😐

is it a loving stare?? Angry one?? We will never know

*That one Junpei episode spoiler warning *

Mahito

First of all….He lives in a sewer so where r u two going to be cuddling🤨🤨🤨 def not on ur bed cause he has bugs.

He stuffs your face in his armpit

Touch his hair and your hands will be wet with grease….

What else do you want me to say….

Okay but he def lays on his back or stomach. If he lays on his stomach he wants you to use his butt as a pillow❤️🥰

Probably holds you around the waist as you two commit crimes together, Bonnie and Clyde style

He’s super ticklish… you guys can barley cuddle cause he’s kicking you off him

Once he gets the hang of holding you, he still lets out little giggles cause!!! It tickles!!

No kisses on his neck though… he will throw his head back laughing and knock you off of him.

Wraps his arm around your neck from behind

hickeys are too scary cause he will just bite you and not let go…. like he truly does bite you, I think he’s trying to eat you...

If you guys hold hands he talks about how quickly he could morph you into a rabbit….

Gives you quick pecks on the cheeks before killing Junpei 😐 you monster….

Idk even if u die he will still cuddle u dw….🧍🏽‍♀️

Getou

Yk how Nanami has sugar daddy vibes? This man has mafia sugar daddy vibes

Probably calls you pet names

Literally motions you to his side with the flick of his finger.

Gets close to your ear and whispers about how pretty you are

Strokes ur face and then dips in for a kiss.

When he sleeps he has you lay on top of him, he likes being able to hold you

He’s very slow with his touches and kisses, like you know he’s going to lean in but he stares for so long before he does so

Prolly grabs your thigh when you sit

When he holds your hand he kisses it and doesn’t break eye contact

[matan4il]

One of the reasons I'm still 95% confident in Buddie Canon is Ryan's acting choices. And I don't think they are just gonna be surprised one day like by the way here's next week's script you guys become a couple. I think since at least S3 they were given a heads up at least a bit. Also as someone who knows of shows where actors intentionally tried to get another LI by switching up the chemistry with other characters--- if Ryan didn't want to go that way he definitely could have sold Anna better. Not sure if that makes sense??

But we constantly for 3 seasons have gotten his subtle nods and sometimes I think we just don't appreciate it as much as we should. Ryan's portrayal of Eddie has definitely morphed into how petty he can be in the funnest way possible. With Buck its in the cute way he teases him, it reminds me of a boy pulling a girl's pony tale. With Taylor it's that subtle cattiness he adds to it and I love it.

I just really don't think Ryan would lean into it much if he wasn't given direction and wasn't aware where it was going.

Hi Nonnie! Thank you for the ask!

Oh, for sure there’s no other satisfying outcome for either Buck, Eddie OR Chris. That kid also deserves to have these morons working it out and getting together. Without a doubt, the possibility of canon Buddie has been talked about. I think Ryan mentioned back in s2 that he and Oliver talked about this and showed each other Buddie edits, Tim also mentioned discussing this in the writers room, JLH also came out strongly for Buddie during s3, so if it happens, it will hardly be a surprise to anyone.

TBH, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out Ryan and Oli have always been making acting choices with Buddie in mind. They indicated early on that they’d be on board with it, which is the most any actors can say in those cases where the execs hadn’t come out and stated anything concrete. I get what you’re saying about switching up the chemistry and it def happens on some shows. IDK about Ana, because if Ryan was explicitly told to sell awkwardness with her, I don’t think he would have gone against orders, but I do believe that between those early statements and also that one interview in s3 ahead of the finale where Ryan was basically, “Abby who? Abby’s been replaced with Eddie!” that this is exactly what Ryan would prefer as long as it’s up to him.

I think Ryan and Oliver both give performances where it’s evident that their characters couldn’t be more in love with each other. Every facial expression, every glance, every show of fondness and joy and contentment just to be together, even the way they’re physically so in sync on calls, but only with each other, we haven’t seen them portraying their characters being that in tune, that comfortable, that teasing, that happy around anyone else on or off the job... 

IDK if that means they were given directions on this, though I do think in s2 the show def deliberately wanted to set things up for canon Buddie being an option at some point, and I am as sure as I can be without any confirmation that if it were up to Ryan and Oliver, Buddie would be canon. Did I mention they freaking named our ship?

Thank you again, lovely! I hope you have a great day! xoxox

(I got an influx of asks, I WILL answer all of them, but it might take a sec. If anyone wants to check whether I've already answered theirs or to read my replies, here's my ask tag. Thank you! xoxox)

[batz]

Alternate timeline coomer and tommy who turned out to be the evil guys in the end

i remember in one of the commentary streams they mentioned that coomer and tommy could be potential Good Villains and honestly YEAH

itd probably be a bit different than the whole bubby and benrey thing tho. like, coomer is 100% the orchestrator to whatever fucked up thing happens to gordon, BUT its less out of spite (like with bubby n benrey) and more out of necessity? a situation where he thinks, and in some way is, the good guy in the situation! the games going to End, which means coomer and his friends are going to End as well, and coomer figures immobilizing gordon will make it way too difficult to win the game. if its too difficult to win the game, then the science team will Stay Alive, Live Forever! think The Trolley Problem, either kill one person to save many ppl, or kill many ppl to save one person.

coomer definitely doesnt Like being an antagonist, he was gordons friend after all! but what other choice does he have? tommy ends up being like,, a reluctant right hand man kinda deal, he's only w coomer bc hes scared of things ending bc what happens once the game shuts off??? he wants to hang out with his friends adn see sunkist snd drink soda,,, the possibility of things just. Ending. is terrifying. theres no books or wikipedia articles that say what happens to them once gordon leaves, and tommy doesnt like when something doesn't have a definitive answer. so he obv sticks by coomer bc coomer seems to Know what hes doing and Knows how to stop this!

bubbys 'never leave a man behind' mindset (that he apparently has??? lol) clashes with coomer and tommys mindset so he obv sticks with gordon and benrey. he kinda figures like hey if the games gonna end its gonna end like theres no use fighting it, we Shouldn't fight it. also being stuck in half life 1 forever sounds like super boring. benrey just kinda sticks by gordon bc hey wtf the script was changed why is he not the big bad anymore why isnt he the endgame battle???? realizing that bc of coomers choices it was switched around and now COOMER is the final boss, benrey just kinda tags along w bubby n gordon bc he wants 2 see what happens.

the final boss battle would be cool tho. big ol glitchy superplayfeature coomer. v much the same as benreys battle with the whole 'hey pls stop fighting bc i have no choice but to fight back'. less funny nonsensical lines and more shouting abt how 'theres nothing there'. maybe tommy has a change of heart and is on gordons side again bc he doesnt wanna hurt his friends, even if it means things potentially ending. now The Trolley Problem is reversed!!! now coomer is the One Person thats gotta be killd to save Many Ppl!!!! o shit what a twist!!!!

the scene where gordon gets shot w the portal gun and goes back to black mesa to destroy his passport has like, same circumstances, except coomer is Normal Sized and probably just calmly follows him to the locker room trying to convince him to like. Not Beat The Game. bc the science team may just be polygons n pixels to him, but they are very much Alive. and shutting off the game can only really mean one thing. everytime gordon tries to shoot him the bullets kinda just phase through coomer, who looks just, so disappointed in gordon. he rlly hates how things turned out..! pre-aware!bubby is the one that ends up opening the portal back to xen for him, even tho he rlly doesnt want to, bc it like, takez a LOT of effort and is super tiring like hes gotta use mind powers hes gotta use his brain to shoot a whole ass portal at a WALL like bruh but he does it anyway bc timelines or whatevr but he WILL complain while doing so

coomer is VERY glitchy and a lot more fucked up looking than benrey was when gordon returns, like hes just constsntly morphing and its suppper spooky! forbidden science evil moments!!!maybe coomer controls sunkist now too? sunkists got thos mspaint angry eyebrows and mspaint evil red eyes its SOOO spooky oOoOo. seeing that coomers got control of sunkist tommy goes full rambo on him like tommy is def the one that delivers the final punch n coomers eventually defeated!!! the ending scene is essentially the same, and the final speech is the same too! although a good portion of the speech is an apology to gordon bc. y eah. he def kinda deserves one. but he still mentions the science teams files being transfered, and Saved! he also makes sure to say that he Understands if gordon doesnt want to transfer over his file too, considering he did break the game. he just wants to make sure the rest of the science team gets to see the world bc they deserve it!!!!

tldr; if coomer and tommy were the villains itd be a completely different story and tommy wouldnt rlly be a villain fr long and coomer would be villain w grey morality / flawed morals n everyone is aware that its a game and its honestly probably a little bit more sad:(

[miloscat]

[Review] Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii)

I haven’t played many Kirby games, but that’s ok because this is secretly a Yoshi game! Also, it has co-op!

My spouse and I played Yoshi’s Woolly World a while back, and this is what directly lead to Good-Feel getting that gig. YWW seemed like the natural next step; this game oddly opens by immediately removing Kirby’s iconic sucking/inflating/copying abilities, replacing them with an inexplicable extendable tongue-like tether, which can turn enemies into projectiles. The interactivity of the game world feels vaguely Yoshi-esque, and there’s even a bunch of transformations and an end-of-stage spinning prize ring.

But anyway. In other respects it’s Kirby-like: overflowing with cuteness, a gentle and forgiving experience that gradually ramps up the difficulty, and of course Dedede gets brainwashed. The key feature here though is the art style. As the title implies, yarn is everywhere. I would call it more charming than “epic”, though...

The world and everything in it is made of wool, buttons, zippers, and various other craft materials. It’s unendingly endearing, and shows what a fully followed-through art direction can achieve even in standard def. The game is gorgeous, and is accompanied by an equally lovely soundtrack (and a narrator with a deep, soothing British accent). Even the animations of Kirby and his new friend Prince Fluff are adorable as they become little cars when dashing, or morph their woven forms into parachutes for a slowed descent. In this and other ways, the fact that everything is crafted also informs the gameplay (and the plot), so it feels nice and integrated.

Although things get hairy (or fluffy) at times, with intense sections that throw a lot at you, you never lose too much progress from a mistake. The worst that can happen is losing a bunch of beads (the common collectible), which only affects the colour of your medal at the end. Well, you do need to score well in a boss fight to unlock some bonus levels, and beads are also used in the hub plaza to buy furniture for a little decorating side-mode, which is tied to a neat little set of challenge missions.

Woolly World offered some extras to mitigate what challenge it had, but they hadn’t thought of that yet for KEY apparently. Playing in co-op is a boon though, especially if you’re hunting for secret collectibles, as players can grab and throw each other, or jump on each other’s heads. Sometimes this means you can get in each other’s way or cause fumbles, but more often it helps, especially when a lagging or less conifdent player can “bubble” themselves (a Rayman Origins-derived term for us) at any time to go to the other’s position.

This game is just so wholesome, and made for a perfect co-op experience. It’s even available digitally on Wii U, so there’s no excuse for all you GamePad enthusiasts out there. There’s a 3DS port too, but... well, the even lower-res screen seems to lose some of the joyous detail, and the extra modes apparently rather miss the point of the game’s original vision. You’re probably better off playing the original on a big screen with a friend if possible, but it’s just as enjoyable solo. Poyo!

[prole-my-tariat]

Long post about American politics -specifically California and how we are fucking up.... it’s a good read, just a lot.

Okay, I just want to remind everyone of of few things as we draw closer to a legit recall vote on Gavin Newsom.

1) This movement stated as (and still emplofies) a calling for the worst kind of people - This began with a group of people who just haaaaaaaad to go outside because they were over participating in basic human decency. Then, billionaires used the vaccine debacle as a jumping point to get taxes lowered. Please don’t think they care about wether or not we get vaccinated. They just don’t want to pay taxes.

This has morphed into a call to arms over CAs vaccine response. They are hiding behind a legit issue to push their anti worker narrative.

We need to stop seeing every problem as one sole persons fault. This is a product of late stage capitalism and white supremacy. We are so fixated on “American individualism” that we oft forget that these things don’t happen because of one individual person. Corporations use this against us constantly!!

Newsom is not perfect. He was an idiot to go to that dinner and he rolled over and ended the stay at home order like a fucking idiot. BUT CA has so many more issues that were always going to make a vaccine rollout hard:

- we have the largest state population in the nation.

- there are not enough medical workers for our population.

- many people in our state are undocumented and we can’t and should not leave them behind. They are often skeptic of any database that might take their name and age (and most likely ask for a social). But without adequate medical personnel, getting into each county can be difficult.

- people are still not following covid guidelines!!! We have had huge spikes in hospitalizations and deaths. How can the health care workers we do have give vaccines if they are over worked at hospitals??

- I would not look at other states already vaccinating 20 somethings(outside of high risk) as a win. This means that the vaccines were not distributed with the population in mind. This is such a theme in our country and it goes back to individualism. State individualism. States just don’t have to care that NY and CA have higher populations because it is just not their problem.

- those states are also showing a world wide failure. Young people here should not be getting vaccines, while elders in the developing world are dying because their countries can’t compete with 1st world buyouts.

-vaccine costs. Fuck Bill Gates. He convinced companies to patent and sell the vaccine rather than donate. A fucking asshole.

This brings me to my next and most important point:

2) WE CAN NOT HAVE CHANGE WITHOUT SOLITION!!!

As leftist, I see this trap all of the time. Change is good and needs to happen, but if we let certain things happen without solution, we leave a vacuum for fascism. We cannot let a dangerous group have the answer.

Let’s consider the current candidate to replace Newsom, a tech billionaire. He promises lowered taxes, higher pay for teachers, and a $2000 payment for ever child in California. Pretend everything he says is not full of shit and he is actually going to pay every teacher 70000/year (and not break it up by income in each county....as he def would) and that he will pay $2000 for every kid (will this extend to our undocumented children, probs not).

Please please understand that the lump sum payments we are offered will NEVER amount to the money we loose by not taxing billionaires adequately. This supposed higher pay will not stop teachers from having to use their own money to provide supplies for their classrooms/kids. It won’t change the ridiculous housing market. It won’t fix our school buildings. It won’t provide after school programs. It is a eye catcher, not a solution.

If we really want to provide more funds to schools, we would repeal prop 13. That prop is the fucking biggest joke and hold up of our state. We are allowing huge corporations, such as Disney, to pay property taxes from the fucking 70s!!!!! Property taxes are supposed to fund k-12 schools. But we are not receiving that money, so our schools go underfunded.

Though it gets worse, we supplement a lot of that dispenancy using state tax. This takes away from infrastructure, social programs, affordable housing supplements, etc...If that and sales tax are cut, we loose that funding too. It’s a downward spiral with only one group in a good position. The 1%.

“But these companies are threatening to leave to Texas/Florida, where there are little/no taxes!”

Fucking let them try. We don’t have higher taxes in our state for the fucking hell of it. We have higher taxes because the current capitalistic structure requires a lot of underpaid skilled workers to keep these corporations going. Withthis work force comes families, Schools/education, housing needs, medical needs, shopping, dining, etc.... the social programs needed to barely keep the working class breathing are paid by taxes. The programs created to make it possible for the work force to live an hour away from their under paid job requires taxes. You need large infrastructure, room, accessibility. Taxes go up when corporations go in. Texas and Florida will not remain tax less or low on taxes. They will have to compensate the workforce that comes with these billionaires.

Billionaires know this. If they didn’t they would have jumped ship long ago. They want their California homes and they know they need the working/undocumented class in this state. AND specifically the infrastructure built around and for these working working class peoples (it also keeps the working class away from them). They are going to do everything they can to bleed us dry, while keeping their fourth beach house and their new offices.

We are hyped right now due to the GME stonks “revolution.” We need to keep this energy going. The one percent do not flourish without us. And I am done just barely surving.

Be wary of any promises to cut taxes, they will never benefit you and lump sum payments are created to keep us quite.

The other two candatites I’ve seen circling are Uber right wing jokes. They spread Q bullshit and use really deragatory language.

Don’t. loose. your. fight. They are getting scared because they have had to accept that the masses aren’t stupid. That’s another reason for them to push to open the country. The working class has never been less intelligent, they have just had less time. We have time now. Use it to show that this system can destroy them too.

Thanks for reading. I’m going to end up writing a paper on the danger and destruction of American Individualism, but message me if you want to discuss it.

[wild-aloof-rebel]

I'm curious when/how/why you started compiling information through such detailed spreadsheets. I'd like to be more like that because I'm sure it'd help me keep track of things a lot easier but I just CANNOT get myself to think in terms of columns and rows and formulas. I'm assuming your brain is just naturally very analytical/systematic, so was this something that just happened organically or did you sort of have to teach yourself? Was it something fostered through school/work?

let me start with the why, which i think is really a three-fold thing...

1) i like making lists. i’ve always been the kind of person who makes to-do lists to keep me on track when i really need to buckle down and work. i make lists of things like my favorite movies for the purpose of being able to compare and rank them. (those bias sorters that were going around for a hot minute and the tiermaker thing that’s been going around more recently? very much my jam.) and the kinds of spreadsheets i make are basically just complicated lists. my fic spreadsheet, for instance, is essentially just a list of every fic, but because of how i decided to track things, it’s also a list of every fic where david and patrick are married, a list of every fic that includes twyla, a list of every fic with fake dating, etc etc etc. it’s like list-ception lolol. lists upon lists, all combined into one easier to use format than having all those things be their own separate lists.

2) my brain always wants to Know All the Things. i am the ringer for my local trivia team for this precise reason. if i decide i want to learn about something, i want to learn everything possible about it. like for sc, i didn’t start out knowing alllllll this stuff about the fashion on the show. someone asked me a question about it once and i went, huh, idk but i’ll go find out. and then that just tumbles over into, okay well now that i know that particular thing, what else can i learn? and eventually i just... learn all of it lolol. i mean obviously not all because where does that even end, but basically my brain is just like, we will not be satisfied until we are an expert in this in some way. and while i do truly remember lots of what i learn (e.g., i can def rattle off who makes like 95% of david’s clothes from memory), a) it takes a while to get there and b) there are some things i don’t care about remembering quite as much (e.g., i’m never gonna truly memorize who makes every pair of shoes alexis has ever worn because i’m just not as invested in that). that’s where the spreadsheets come in. they’re a good reference for things i don’t care enough to remember (or things that are just too impossibly large to memorize, like every fic in the fandom) but still want to be able to easily access, and they’re essentially a study guide for the things i just don’t remember yet.

3) if we’re using a sensory modalities learning model, i’m very much a visual and physical learner, and spreadsheets satisfy both of those modalities for me. they’re basically like a visual map of data, but one that i can also physically manipulate when needed. in a non-spreadsheet example, i decided several years ago that i was gonna learn all the world capitals. to do that i made flash cards and laid them out in an approximation of their place on the world map. then i set about memorizing them through repetition, the same as you would with any flash cards, except that now there was an added visual component to it which becomes part of the learning process. so now when i think something like what is the capital of burkina faso, picturing where burkina faso is on the world map gets me to the capital is ouagadougou. that mental image of where that flash card was helps me recall the information that was on it. and my spreadsheets work largely the same way. i certainly don’t remember every fic on my spreadsheet, but often when i can’t recall an exact title, i do remember things like which sheet it’s on and the general area it’s in on that sheet, which at least helps me find it faster. formatting can help with that too--on some spreadsheets i can picture what color the cell is that’s associated with the data i need, etc.

so that’s the long why of it all. the when and how is basically just i slowly started doing it as an easy way to keep track of simple lists and over time it morphed into the somewhat more complicated lists i now keep. but that’s really still all they are--lists.

yes, there’s sometimes math and formulas involved now, but really those kinds of things only come into it when i want to play with the data that i’ve collected. like okay i’ve got this spreadsheet full of fics; if i then want to look at each author and see how many fics they’ve written of each rating, i can use a pivot table to do that. if i want to know what the average length of a fic in this fandom is, i can use formulas to do that. if i want to color code new additions by word count, i can use conditional formatting to do that. 

i’ve taught myself about those kinds of features over time just because they give me new ways of looking at the data i already have (and pretty much everything i know about using any of that is stuff i’ve just learned by googling it and then the trial and error of applying it). but all of that is really just window dressing laid over a whole lot of lists. 

[risingsouls]

Conversations: 3

[Part 3 of what should def just be called my self-indulgent and soon to be shippier bs. The shippy isn’t REALLY there yet but the chemicals are reacting, as they say.]

“I have another question.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Vegeta eyed Nabooru from across the campfire, usual frown twitching a touch lower. The flames danced in her gold eyes. Had it not been for the dinosaur steak roasting over the fire, the offered view of the flame’s glow illuminating her against the early night sky might have been pleasant. “Well, go on. I’ve indulged you every other time, why should now be any different?”

The Gerudo reached out to turn her dinner for an even roast. Considering their last encounter, how the train of conversation intensified to a point that felt as though the slightest movement would trigger violence, she almost didn’t expect him to let her follow through. A whole week passed before he returned to the wasteland for a spar and, while she tried not to dwell on it, to accept that she pushed too far and overstayed her welcome, or, harder to swallow he didn’t consider her a worthy sparring partner any more, it had bothered her more than she cared to admit aloud or to herself. When she hit the low point of considering finding him herself or showing up at his place of residence--a tidbit of information she picked up at the tournament if she couldn’t sense him--she threw herself into her own training. A good long span of survival training without the use of her ki helped clear her head and consider ways to move forward with her growth on her own once more.

“This one might be personal.” She snorted at the raised eyebrow he gave her and amended, “In a different way. Like about your body sort of personal.”

“What?” His expression morphed into a scowl. Heat soared into his cheeks and he glanced away to keep her from noticing it. “What the hell would you need to ask about my body?!”

It took a second too long for her to realize why her words caused such an indignant reaction in the prince. “W-wait! No, I didn’t mean it like that! I’m not--!” she sputtered, trying to regain ground. “Ugh, I’ll just ask. You and Nappa are both Saiyans, but he has a tail and you don’t. Did you have a tail at some point, too?”

Vegeta felt the blush flee from his face and his heart rate slowly returning to normal, but her inquiry did nothing to quell his sour expression. He turned it back on her. “Of course I had a tail. All Saiyans are born with them.”

Had. Considering the tidbits of his past she knew, she feared the worst. Frieza was obviously a racist bastard that feared his kind. Had he taken it? If so, why hadn’t he lobbed Nappa’s off? A warning? Another sort of message? Nabooru pulled the steak from the fire and extended it to him. A peace offering, a silent apology. A way to cool him off and keep talking if only for her own curiosity. “What happened to it, then? Or is yours special and invisible?”

Snatching the proffered meat, sharp canines tore into it. He ignored the burns to his tongue and the roof of his mouth as he chewed. “Got cut off,” he rumbled around the bite before taking another.

Nabooru failed to stop her eyelids from lowering and the corners of her lips dipping downward in an unamused frown. Rolling her eyes, she popped up to her feet and strode over to the carcass a few meters away from their camp. “Should I ask you how or why?” She considered summoning a ki sword but instead pulled one of her dual blades from her hip, if only to strike back by annoying him as he was her. When he found her earlier that afternoon training with her trusty blades--the weight welcome in her hands, the technique of wielding them so embedded in her muscle memory she lost no time delving into her old routines and toying with new ones--he had made it plain he didn’t care for such weapons. She brought it down in a swift arc, slicing another steak from the beast’s tail. Noting that he was halfway through the one in his hands, she hacked off another for insurance. “Or would I be wasting my breath?”

Though the rage from that particular day had long since dulled to a weak summer thunderstorm when given half a thought, Vegeta avoided considering it. A successful endeavor so long as his mind cooperated and no one reminded him of it. The day his life was upended and flipped upside down, never to return to a proper orientation even after all these years. His whole understanding of himself, his place in the universe, his strength and prowess as a warrior...all of it ripped to shreds and uncertain. Sometimes, it all still felt like an extended nightmare and he would wake up in his pod on some new planet to conquer with Nappa and Raditz at his side. Such moments were fewer and further between these days, but he once more found himself on precarious footing with no clear goal for himself. No clear desires. A murky identity despite his best efforts to conceal just how lost he felt through declarations of his princely status to a dead race.

Their last conversation had reminded him of it and, as he tended to do when he needed to feel like he was accomplishing something and forget the world around him, he trained day and night until exhaustion forced him to rest. Then he awoke a fee meager hours later and did it again. He lost at least a week this time, if the last message Nabooru sent and he replied to and her off-handed comment earlier was any indication.

"A fat man cut it off," he began between bites of meat. He swallowed, watching her prepare the next steak on the spit. "Never saw him again after. Best for him because I'd have killed him if I did."

An empty threat, likely. He had promised the others there that day the same fate but failed to enact any of them. A waste of energy, he told himself. But deep down, he simply knew it was a death wish when he still tailed Kakarot in power. And though back then he wished and sometimes still considered if he would have been better off sharing the same fate as his people, obliterated to space dust to forever float among the cosmos and join them in Hell, his fire to reclaim his honor and place as the most powerful Saiyan kept him alive.

Nabooru knew her follow up question was predictable, but if he found it annoying, he could easily amend it by filling in the proper details without prompt. "A random fat man just cut off your tail?" she asked, tone devoid of humor despite the image parading through her mind. "Seems rather random."

"It wasn't." Her steely gaze pinned him to the spot, full lips thinned and an eyebrow lifted. A chuckle rumbled in his chest, and he could imagine--almost feel--the missing appendage in question flicking in idle arcs of amusement. He finished the last bit of meat slow, relishing the taste and her mounting frustration over the game he played. "Our tails are what allow us to transform into the mighty Oozaru. He cut it off to return me to my normal form.”

“Another transformation? Like your Super Saiyan thing?”

“No, not exactly. During full moons, Saiyans transform into giant apes capable of leveling planets. Hence why our talents were in demand for someone like Frieza and his family.” He wiped his mouth with his arm. “Plenty of us could do it without the transformation, but using the Oozaru form was typically faster and more difficult for enemies to strike down.”

Nabooru whistled low, fascinated by the idea. She leaned forward and twisted the meat to the other side. “Mm, so then cutting off your tail was actually strategic of this mystery fat man?”

“You give him more credit than he deserves,” the Saiyan huffed. “Kakarot and his friends got lucky the first time I touched down on this damn planet. The clown was dead to rights, and had those idiots not shown up to our battle…” He trailed off, unsure of how that would change his fate and certain she could fill in the blanks herself. Where would he be now had he destroyed Kakarot and his friends that day? Still serving Frieza? Ruler of his own empire like his father promised him? Dead?

She opened her mouth to respond, pointing out that technically Goku hadn’t defeated him that day exactly by that detailing, but reconsidered. Another sore spot that, if she understood right, sparked his rivalry with the other Saiyan. His need to surpass him and defeat him in battle. She could understand that; she wouldn’t care for such an outcome either, and would crave a proper rematch. She suspected the blow to his pride ran deeper than just the need for a rematch, however. Like her, his warrior status was intrinsically tied to his identity, and the loss to Goku had shaken that, the reverberations of which he still obviously battled with.

“Why is it that I’m the one always answering questions, anyway?” Nabooru glanced up from the flames at her company. His muscular arms were folded over his broad chest, and he watched her with narrowed eyes. She blinked, and when he didn’t amend his inquiry, she replied, “Because you’ve never really asked me anything?” She lifted a shoulder. “I never talked much about myself because I figured you weren’t interested. I didn’t think you would like such a breach our quasi-master-student relationship or really care to listen.”

“And all of your questions didn’t do that already?” He sneered when all she offered was another shrug in response. He had no one to blame but himself on that front. If he really took offense to her interrogations, he could have ignored her. But the ease of conversing with her lulled him into blathering on about his past. And, if he wanted to know more about her in turn, a possibility he tried to deny due to its futility, he had no reason to doubt she would answer in kind. Her being a warrior as passionate as he was about improving herself had piqued his curiosity at her tournament, and her final words that all but ended their tense conversation a week before haunted him, further prodding the desire to uncover her past. His reasonably cynical mind deemed it pointless, an effort to form an unnecessary bond, and, until outwardly admitting it moments ago, he had conveyed such a mindset to her successfully by not partaking in asking her his own questions. But a part of him he could not pin down--simple curiosity? Loneliness? Hope of finding someone who could even remotely relate to him in more than basic ways and that didn’t annoy him too much?--begged him to ask similar questions to those she asked him and learn more. With his outburst, he had little choice but to follow through.

Another huff blown out through his nose. “Fine. You said you didn’t get to kill your Frieza. Who was your Frieza?”

Nabooru hid her surprise in his follow through by casting her gaze to the steak and turning it slowly. Habit and buried bitterness made her want to question his sincerity in asking: did he really want to know, or was he just trying to get back at her for all of her inquiries? She didn’t usually share her experience with anyone, and most were too caught up in themselves or completely unaware that she and her people hailed from a different planet and would never think to ask such questions. She kept most at arm’s length outside of the Gerudo to not only shield her emotions but to, perhaps, better cope with the past and the loose ends she left behind. It’s success felt questionable most days. 

“He was the King of Hyrule,” she said, deciding at length that Vegeta wasn’t the type to bring something up if he wasn’t genuinely curious. “Well, really the monarchy of Hyrule. Perhaps the whole country in its own way.” Gold eyes flicked up to him, assessing. “It’s...a long story. It would take a bit to help you underst--”

“Try me.” A challenge issued out of both his undeniable interest in her tale and annoyance that she tried to deflect his question when he answered all of hers (nevermind that it took some coaxing on her part). “You and I seem to have little more than time, so get to explaining. Not so fun being on the other side, is it?”

She chewed her lip and pulled the meat from the fire. She turned it over, once, twice, then handed it over to Vegeta instead. “Well...as I’m sure you guessed, the king and his people were not very fond of mine. Decades of friction from how we fought the longest and hardest in the Civil War, and likely could have won if our supplies and numbers had held up. In the end, we surrendered and joined the other nations in signing a treaty of unity, but the spoils were tactically skewed against us. It offered a semblance of peace, ensured our sovereignty as long as we played by their rules. It did not, however, help us secure better lives for ourselves in expanding outside of the desert for farmland nor did it open up the trade that had been restricted. Though they blocked every request, despite our people dying from the war draining our supplies and a desert not being the most hospitable home, we did our best to find ways to survive while trying to play their games of diplomacy and peace. It was hard not to see it as an orchestrated, slow strangling and punishment for our near success in the war.”

Nabooru paused, the next portion of her story lodging a lump in her throat and igniting a furious flame in her belly. She still struggled to talk about certain bits, the memories painful and the feelings of shame stilling her tongue. Perhaps another time she would illuminate Ganondorf’s role and her betrayal in more detail. For now, she could work around it for the most part.

“Our king...he lost patience with them and staged a coup on his own. He was captured before he could get too far and...imprisoned, likely to be executed. It only fueled the hatred Hyrule had for us, as well as their fear because they assumed we would pick up where he left off.” She stabbed the spit through the remaining stake with unnecessary ferocity. “Whole groups, including people of the court called for our complete eradication. It was considered radical at first, niche groups popping up here and there, but it quickly gained traction, and the king nor his lackeys ever denounced it all, despite the peace treaty and our insistence to uphold it. I had taken over as leader and tried everything I could to convince them, to stave off the growing violence and once more try to save my people and give them a sustainable life. To play their game like they wanted. It did no good. I was laughed out of every meeting.

“Back home, we were split. We were all angry, desperate, and many called for war, even though we could never win with hardly the supplies to sustain ourselves in peacetime and being horribly outnumbered by the rest of Hyrule. Others suggested we take our chances with the desert before they storm our gates.” She swallowed, staring into the fire, reminded of the torches they bore and how it glinted off their steel as they swarmed their home. “We didn’t get the chance to make the decision. Soldiers and civilians alike stormed the fortress en masse. We fought as long as we could, but we had to make the decision to flee into the desert. Only those that made it here survived.”

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Tears of mourning, of shame as a warrior who was forced to flee rather than face her attackers and die a warrior’s death or come out victorious with the King’s head on a pike. No matter how reasonable, no matter how she had helped save at least some of her people and helped them flourish in another home, it felt cowardly. Unfinished business never set well with her, but, at the same time, she wasn’t entirely sure that, given the chance, she would go through with making the dreams of storming Hyrule and leveling it with her newfound power a reality any more. The fleeting satisfaction it would bring didn’t feel worth it.

Somewhere during her story, her fingers had woven into her ponytail to glide through the crimson tresses. She snatched her hand out of them as if they had burned her and burrowed both hands into the space between her crisscrossed legs. “While I took down plenty of those who attacked us, I didn’t get to kill the king or his court or anyone else who wished me and my people dead. That’s why I said what I did. I understand that yearning for...well, I don't know what to call it. Justice? Revenge? Closure?”

Vegeta had slowed the pace of his eating as she spoke, nibbling on the hunk of meat rather than tearing chunks from it. Many of her people were killed out of fear of their might and potential--as warriors and in what they might do--and they were forced to flee because of it. He could easily see why his own history resonated with her, the parallels uncanny. And she was their leader for a time, a fact he could have guessed at considering the others still seemed to turn to her for guidance, likely out of habit, and the way she carried herself among them. They both understood the pain of failure, of helplessness to change anything due to lacking power or sway to do so. She at least didn't grow to resent the survivors of her kind, or shove them away because they were weaker or deemed useless. She had the chance to learn to be a proper leader. His only guidance in that department was Frieza. 

He grit his teeth; he hated when he realized just how similar to that bastard he had been. How many of his habits and practices he picked up unintentionally just to survive.

“All three, I suppose,” he mumbled at last, choosing to stare at the meat in his hands than make eye contact. “Maybe someone else got vengeance for you and your race.”

His words didn’t make her feel better, but she suspected they weren’t meant to. “Mm, somehow I doubt it. People like that always live longer than they deserve to.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and turned her steak. “You still wish it was you, then?”

Vegeta popped the last bite in his mouth and chewed it slowly. He didn’t miss the bitter hope in her tone. Her gaze finding his despite his best efforts to avoid it. For what, though? Someone to understand? For someone who was anything but “normal” to validate the hollowness of a vendetta not claimed? 

“It should have been me. But the universe thought Kakarot had a better stake to the claim than me.” He didn’t mention his own son cutting Frieza to pieces like he was nothing and, to add salt to the wound, did it as a Syper Saiyan as well. “But...yes. I suppose I do. Not so vehemently as after the fact, but I will still say he was mine to kill after all the shit he put me through. After all he took from me.”

Nabooru remained silent for a while, offering only a nod of agreement in answer, the crackle of the fire and the howl of a coyote in the distance the only sounds. Though the ache remained, they had both figured out how to manage. Perhaps not in the healthiest of ways but maybe they could help each other with that. The thought surprised her; did she really expect this sparring arrangement and conversing like this to be long term with no real indication that it would continue even the next day? Once more she had to contend with her potential want for his company, not just anyone’s. A confusing revelation, since the last decade or more of her life had been spent consciously avoiding creating such bonds and pretending she didn’t want them outside of the few Gerudo she had already established them with. 

"Hey."

The Saiyan returned his attention from a lizard scaling a nearby rock to the woman with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

Nabooru bit her lip, a smile tugging her lips. "Want to spar? The night is young."

He stared at her, confusion still present on his features. "What about your food? You need to eat or you won't have the energy to make it worth my time."

"What are you my mother or just scared?" She rose to her feet and smoothed out her pants, kicking sand onto the fire. "If you really want to play that game, you obviously need to get more sleep. I could see the bags under your eyes from a mile away." 

"Scared of what? You maybe landing a decent hit?" He scoffed and rose to his feet. He didn't care to be nagged about his extra erratic sleeping patterns of late, and the prospect of a spar sounded more enticing than delving into their bloody pasts and regrets for much longer. 

She stepped toward him and rested her hands on her hips. "So, are you going to fight me or what?"

He smirked, feet leaving the sand. "If you're so eager to get beaten,, then let's go. We're burning moonlight."

[ato-matsuri]

The Tiger King -- Ruler

I'm so sorry.

Joe Exotic has got to be a Ruler, without a doubt. You may be expecting me to say that he ran for Pres and leave it at that, but there's more to his tale -- as we likely all know at this point.

So, when he's inevitably sworn into the Throne, what will his skills look like?

Why Ruler?

Putting aside the obvious (that he ran for Pres), let's look at what he did for a living.

He ran a 'tiger reserve' of a sort, where he'd stuff a shit ton of tigers into a zoo and feed them shitty meats. If it were just this, yeah, he'd probably be a Rider or something.

But there's more to his tale.

As you may remember, he had a group of people under his control. A small group, perhaps, ran by tigers, meth, and marriage. But it was a 'kingdom' of a sort, if a small one. These people followed Joe's command, by their own will or begrudgingly, running this place with almost comically bad rules with comically awful reasons to stick around.

It also helps that he had a long-standing rivalry with another 'ruler' in his eyes -- Carole Baskins, that would ultimately culminate in a murder-for-hire. The battle between the two was legendary (read: kinda boring, really), with Joe himself providing most of the anger between the two, fully convinced Carole killed her husband.

From this, I can conclude his best class is that of a Ruler -- though Avenger could also work, with his anger towards Baskins that he truly never forgot, or Rider, drawing from his Tiger King title. If you guys are masochistic enough to want more, I'll try and do writeups of them, too.

Passives

I imagine Joe would have some degree of Madness Enhancement. A Ruler simply can't have Avenger or any related skills for obvious reasons, but ME is theoretically possible. I'd stick him at EX, to be honest -- as his madness isn't always there, but comes out in full force with his mild obliviousness to reality, and his endless hatred towards Carole.

Apart from this, I don't quite think he'd have any passive skills, apart from perhaps Riding D. As a more modern human, he'd lack Magic Resistance, I imagine.

Active Skills

Charisma E - While I can't say the guy's a rallying master, he knows how to get people to do his thing -- even if it's a small group of people. The morale in the zoo wasn't all that great near the end of its cycle, and apart from the relationships, I can't recall him being much of a moral support.

Mana Burst (Rage) - Joe, as we saw with his rants and general hatred of Carole, quite likes his violent outbursts -- and his liking of weapons quite accentuates that. Personally, I see the Throne morphing that into a form of Mana Burst, letting his anger run wild for a short time, and letting him come in guns ablaze.

The Tiger King's Men EX -- What's a proper SSR without a personal skill? I like to imagine that this would be a 3-turn Buster buff to everyone on the field. As a strange offensive support character that he's turning out to be, he'd be able to strengthen everyone's punching power.

NP -- G.W. Zoo -- Hear thy Name, Baskins

The very zoo that Joe had created -- his life's work, sublimated into one existence.

As a Ruler, his violent nature isn't capitalized on as much here -- however, a pure support NP wouldn't make much sense for someone like Joe.

I imagine it working a bit like Sanat Kumara and Saint Seiya!Roma -- as the GW Zoo wasn't exactly a very safe place, I see it netting a decent deal of damage. An ATK buff on all allies could work, but I'd think that instead, the 'Tiger' tag would be placed upon everyone on the battlefield. Those with the Tiger tag on your side would be gifted with an ATK buff for each tag they had, while opponents with the tag would be hit with another DEF down for each tag they had.

Overall, an NP that winds up over time for a massive punch to the face later -- arguably, kind of like Joe's story was, what with the climactic ending of a murder-for-hire that went south.

(1/2)

[teawiththegods]

Hey! I was thinking of getting into makeup, as I am now 20 and am going out a lot more with friends than I used to in middle & high school. But, I have no. Idea. How to start. I have to sift through all kinds of different products (what's the difference between toner, bronzer, BB cream, concealer? Ahhhhh), different brands with different formulas and histories (some are problematic, apparently?) And I don't know how to apply and "create looks" and I am internally screaming. Please help.

The fact that I come across as someone who has any idea about makeup is a huge compliment! lol! 

Since you’re starting out, I wouldn’t really bother with any of the high priced stuff except maybe for foundation. But even with that you might want to still stick with the drugstore or lower-priced brands just to figure out what colors work for you.

Some good non-problematic (at least as far as I know) affordable brands who are also cruelty-free are

Colourpop  

Elf Cosmetics

Covergirl

NYX

BH Cosmetics

Essence

Stick with the basics in the beginning, some kind of cover up which depending on your skin could be a tinted moisturizer or full coverage foundation, neutral eyeshadow, a nude lip or lip gloss, mascara, and some blush. Maybe some eyeliner also, start with a pencil or gel liner. But that’s it for now. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Take it one step at a time. 

Use Youtube to learn what certain products are and how to apply them. 

And also make sure you’re actually practicing! You’re never gonna get better or learn if you don’t actually keep trying. 

As you get better you can start adding new steps like concealer, bronzer, contouring, highlighters, etc. But for now just learn how to give yourself good base and how to do a nice neutral every day look.

As for problematic brands, truthfully it’s up to you to look into it to see if you feel what they did or didn’t do warrants not supporting the brand. The only one I would urge you to stay away from is Kat Von D. She hasn’t owned up to any of her shit, makes bullshit and nonsensical excuses for them or flat out doesn’t even address it,  and honestly, from what I’ve been hearing (bc i don’t support her brand anymore) her makeup sucks now. So she’s just not even worth it. 

I also really wouldn’t bother much with Morphe. They are kind of shady, supports shady people, and from what I’ve heard isn’t that great. 

Oh and def don’t buy anything from Jaclyn Hill. And don’t go to her channel. 

As for Mr. Star, that one is def up to you to decide. However I will say that there are plenty of other brands you can support that haven’t done what he’s done (and continues to do) that are just as good and possibly better. Soooo....but like I said that one is up to you. 

I watch a lot of commentary on the beauty community so I know way more about the controversy and the drama then I do about the application of makeup lmao! But I hope that at least gave you a starting point!