#but yeah there's also everything else about him. the design... the personality... and of course the context of it all. eeehh. don't like hi

[hellaverse-critical-confessions]

I don’t really understand why Lucifer is treated like this sad tragic figure when it’s his fault all of humanity is evil and he gets to cry in his rich castle full of servants while his weaker human subjects are victims of genocide and abused daily

Neglectful ruler and neglectful father. The guy's all around pretty useless. /lh

[ari-ana-bel-la]

Hi love! Could you do Lewis with a teen daughter that always does his braids or his hair and is also kind of known around the paddock for her style/her own hair?

Braids

The sun glinted off the sleek, shining cars in the paddock as cameras flashed and fans cheered. It was a busy Friday at the track, the buzz of another race weekend filling the air. The usual suspects had already arrived—drivers, engineers, media—each adding to the electric energy. But nothing could prepare anyone for the wave of excitement that swept through the paddock when Lewis strolled in, exuding confidence and charm.

His hair, freshly braided, was styled with a precision and flair that had everyone doing a double-take. The intricate patterns woven across his scalp, sleek and symmetrical, highlighted his already striking features. His usual cool demeanor was accented by a sharp designer outfit—an oversized cream jacket paired with tailored trousers, accessorized with diamond studs that caught the sunlight.

"Whoa," Oscar said, nudging Lando in the ribs as they stood by the McLaren garage. "Look at Lewis. Fresh braids. Man's killing it."

Lando squinted, pushing his curly hair back under his cap. "Yeah, that's clean. Wonder who did them?"

The mystery didn't linger for long. As Lewis made his way through the paddock, reporters swarmed, eager to capture the new look. One particularly bold journalist caught his attention. "Lewis! Those braids are incredible. Where'd you get them done?"

A wide smile spread across his face, pride gleaming in his eyes. "My daughter did them," he said, his voice warm. "Yn's been braiding my hair since she was fifteen. She's eighteen now—practically a pro."

The crowd hummed with admiration. Of course, it had to be Yn. She was already a sensation in her own right. Known for her cutting-edge fashion and signature hairstyles, Yn had a unique flair that blended timeless elegance with modern boldness. More than once, she had turned the paddock into her personal runway, never afraid to experiment or push boundaries. It was no wonder her father's braids were flawless.

By the time Lewis reached the Ferrari garage, the internet was ablaze. Social media flooded with close-ups of his new hairstyle, captions unanimously praising Yn's talent.

Braids by Yn. The Hamilton genes are undefeated.

Forget the cars, can we talk about Lewis' hair? His daughter has hands blessed by the gods.

Lewis scrolled through the comments during a quiet moment, chuckling softly to himself. Pride swelled in his chest. He knew how talented his daughter was, but seeing the world recognize it too? That was something else.

The next day, just when the paddock thought it had seen everything, Yn arrived.

She walked in with her grandparents on either side, exuding effortless confidence. Her outfit hugged her figure perfectly, balanced by chunky gold jewellery and boots that clacked softly against the concrete. But it was her hair that stole the show.

Yn's braids, an intricate cascade of rich brown strands, shimmered in the sunlight. Small and delicate curles were woven throughout, catching the light with every movement. The patterns were even more complex than the ones she'd done for her father, a true testament to her skill.

As soon as Lewis spotted her, a grin broke across his face. He crossed the garage in a few strides, wrapping his daughter in a warm embrace. "You did these yourself?" he asked, pulling back slightly to examine the braids.

"Of course," Yn beamed, tilting her head to give him a better view. "You know I had to come correct."

He chuckled, reaching out to carefully take a braid between his fingers. "These are beautiful, baby. You outdid yourself."

"Wait until you see what I want to try next," Yn said, pulling out her phone. She swiped through her photo gallery, showing him a series of inspiration images. "This one's a geometric pattern—super sharp lines—and this..." She paused on a picture of short, shoulder-length twists. "I think you'd look sick with these."

Lewis listened attentively, nodding along as she spoke. He always loved how passionate she was about her craft. "I trust you," he said. "Whatever you want to try next, I'm game."

Just then, Charles wandered over, his eyes widening when he saw Yn. "Whoa, okay," he said, giving an approving nod. "The braids are next-level. You're making the rest of us look bad."

Yn laughed, bumping her shoulder playfully against her father's. "Can't help it if we're the most stylish ones here."

"Facts," Lewis added, his arm draping comfortably around her shoulders. "It's in the blood."

Their easy banter and undeniable charisma made them the most photogenic duo in the paddock. Cameras followed their every move, capturing moments of laughter, admiration, and love. By the time the day was over, the hashtag #HamiltonRoyalty was trending worldwide.

Later that afternoon, while Lewis prepared for qualifying, Yn sat in the Ferrari hospitality suite with her grandparents, chatting softly. Every so often, she'd glance at the TV screens broadcasting her father's on-track performance, a quiet pride blooming in her chest.

When he emerged after a blistering lap that put him on the front row, Yn was the first person he sought out. "Told you I'd deliver," he teased, pulling her into another hug.

"Of course you did," Yn replied, her voice soft with affection. "You're the GOAT."

As the sun dipped below the horizon and the paddock settled into a golden glow, the image of the stylish Hamiltons—father and daughter, side by side—lingered in everyone's minds. The world could talk about race strategies and lap times all day long, but nothing was as iconic as the bond they shared. And if there was one thing everyone agreed on, it was that Yn was just getting started.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♥︎♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Authors Note: Hey loves! I hope you enjoyed this story. My requests are always open for you.

-💙🦋

[spencessocks]

quiet moments

summary: after a tough case, you and spencer share a quiet conversation on a plane ride home.

pairing: spencer reid x reader

word count: 1.3k

the team had just wrapped up a grueling case and were on the jet back to Quantico. everyone was exhausted, including yourself. yet you could never sleep on airplanes, too many variables that made you uncomfortable. you looked around the plane—most of them had dozed off, but spencer was still awake, his knee bouncing as he stared out the window.

you got up, shifting into the seat next to him, setting down your lukewarm coffee.

“you know,” spencer started, his voice slightly rough from lack of sleep, “sleep deprivation can cause symptoms that mimic intoxication. cognitive impairment, slowed reaction times, even—” he paused, blinking sluggishly. "what was i saying?"

you bit back a smile. “something about being drunk without the fun part?”

“right,” he nodded, then yawned, rubbing his eyes. “also, did you know that octopuses have three hearts? two pump blood to the gills, and the third pumps it to the rest of the body. when they swim, that third heart actually stops beating.”

you hummed in response, more focused on the way his head was starting to droop to the side. “that’s fascinating, spence. why are you telling me this now?"

spencer blinked at you, his hazel eyes glassy with exhaustion. “i don’t know,” he admitted, voice quieter now. “i guess… i just don’t like the quiet.”

you gave him a small smile, shifting to get more comfortable. “well, lucky for you, you’re talking to the one person who can’t sleep on planes.”

spencer huffed a soft laugh, but it quickly dissolved into another yawn.

"why aren't you asleep anyway?" you asked, dawning on you that he was usually knocked out on the way back home.

spencer blinked slowly, like he was trying to gather his thoughts but kept losing them along the way. “dunno,” he mumbled, his voice softer now. “i think my brain’s too full.”

you tilted your head. “too full?”

he let out a tired chuckle, rubbing his eyes. “yeah. too many thoughts. case details, statistics, things i could’ve done differently. it’s like… my mind doesn’t know how to shut up.”

you frowned slightly. you knew spencer tended to overanalyze things, especially after a difficult case, but seeing him this exhausted and still unable to let go of it made your heart ache.

you weighed the options of encouraging him to open up or shifting his focus. in the end, you decided it was best to steer his mind away from it, saving the deeper conversation for a later moment.

“well,” you said, looking around, “if it won’t shut up, maybe you don’t have to fight it. maybe you just need to focus on something else.”

spencer let out a quiet huff, his fingers moving to your sleeve, absentmindedly playing with it. “like what?”

you thought for a moment, then shrugged. “like… okay, if you could be anywhere right now—anywhere but here—where would you be?”

spencer blinked, clearly not expecting the question. he glanced toward the window, eyes distant for a second. “florence,” he murmured eventually. “at the biblioteca medicea laurenziana.”

you grinned. “of course your dream getaway is a library.”

spencer's eyebrows bunched up, but there was the faintest hint of a smile there. “it’s not just a library. it was designed by michelangelo. the reading room has these long wooden benches, and the windows let in just enough light to make everything feel… warm.” his voice softened, like he was already picturing it. “it’s quiet, but not in a bad way. the kind of quiet that makes you want to take your time, let yourself get lost in the pages of something.”

you watched him as he spoke, the tension in his face easing just a little. “that actually sounds really nice.”

spencer hummed in agreement, his head tilting slightly against the seat. “where would you be?”

"see now me personally, i would be at home."

spencer blinked, his tired eyes meeting yours. “home?” he echoed, with a bit of disbelief.

you nodded. “yeah. and i totally thought that's what you would say too! not that your fancy library doesn’t sound amazing, but after a case like this? i’d want to be home. my own bed, my own sheets."

spencer considered that for a moment, his fingers absently tracing a pattern against his knee. “i guess that makes sense,” he murmured. “home is… safe.”

you smiled softly. “exactly. we'd be curled up on my couch, wearing something way too comfortable, eating something terrible for us, and watching a show we've already seen a hundred times.”

spencer’s lips quirked, just barely. “which show?”

you thought for a second, then smirked. “something I don’t have to analyze or think about—just background noise while I relax. maybe doctor who.”

spencer hummed in approval, his eyes fluttering shut for a brief moment before he forced them open again. “good choice,” he murmured, his voice thick with exhaustion. “did you know doctor who holds the guinness world record for the longest-running science-fiction television series?"

you grinned. “yes, spencer. i think that's the 5th time you've mentioned it.

“it’s an important fact,” he defended, but there was no real weight behind his words. his body was slowly giving in to exhaustion, his hands now folded in his lap.

you raised an eyebrow, amused at how determined spencer was to share his random facts, even as his eyelids drooped. "i’m starting to think you’re secretly trying to get me to memorize guinness world records," you teased.

he let out a small, tired chuckle. “well, maybe you’ll need them one day. what if you’re on Jeopardy and the final question is about doctor who?” his voice trailed off, and his eyes flickered closed again, clearly fighting sleep.

you leaned back in your seat, watching him struggle to stay awake. "spence, if I ever end up on Jeopardy, i think i'll have bigger problems than knowing the longest-running sci-fi series."

he blinked slowly, "you never know," he murmured. "it could be... the question." he nudged your shoulder lightly.

you grinned, nudging his shoulder back. "i’ll let you be my phone-a-friend then."

spencer took your hand in his, the simple sentiment warming his heart a bit.

spencer let out a sleepy hum of agreement, his head tipping toward you just a little as he tried to keep talking. "i wonder if there’s a record for... most consecutive hours spent talking about doctor who..."

you snorted slightly, "i think i know the guy it would go to, actually."

a faint grin tugged at his lips. "oh? do you?" his voice was soft, still thick with exhaustion, but the playful glint in his eyes suggested he was still hanging on to the conversation, however faintly.

"yeah," you said with a teasing smile, squeezing his hand lightly. "he's pretty cute."

spencer blinked slowly, the words registering a beat later than usual. his eyes softened, and for a moment, you thought he might actually be too tired to process the compliment. but then, his lips twitched upward in a cheeky smile, the exhaustion momentarily forgotten. "oh? he sounds like quite the catch," he replied.

you leaned in just a little, a smirk playing at your lips. "yeah, yeah! he really is. very knowledgeable... and, you know, he has this whole charming, slightly awkward thing going on."

spencer let out a soft laugh, but it quickly turned into a yawn. “seems like my kind of guy,” he murmured, the warmth of your hand in his still grounding him, pulling him just a little bit further out of his sleepy haze.

"you’re a little biased," you teased, squeezing his hand again, more gently this time.

a soft chuckle escaped his lips as he tried to stifle another yawn. “maybe just a little."

"get some rest, spence," you whispered, pulling his hand into your lap.

his brows furrowed, like he wanted to protest, but his body was already betraying him, slumping further into the seat.

“just close your eyes,” you coaxed softly, letting your head fall to his shoulder. “pretend we’re on my couch, watching doctor who. nothing to think about, nothing to analyze.”

spencer let out a slow exhale, his body finally relaxing. his head rested against yours softly.

you let out a quiet breath, letting yourself relax too. you listened to his breathing for a while, hearing and feeling the way it got deeper as he slipped into sleep. your eyelids became heavy, and somehow, the pressure in your ears became insignificant.

if this was the closest thing to home you could get right now, you’d take it. your body sunk into the seat, and before you knew it, you were asleep, too.

[suzukiblu]

WIP excerpt behind the cut; "Tim's free cloning lab". (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“Red Robin’s commitment issues are his own problem, not mine. I’ve got a schedule to keep,” Luthor replies dismissively, then knocks back the last of his hopefully-actually-a-protein-shake-and-not-Bane-venom-or-something and gets to his feet, picking up his tablet again as he does. He does not seem concerned to be alone in a lab full of sharp objects and computers with two only negligibly-restrained Bats. Admittedly Luthor doesn’t tend to seem concerned during literal multiversal apocalypses, but Tim is vaguely insulted on principle. A multiversal apocalypse couldn’t do any worse than uncreate Luthor and everything he’s ever done in his life, after all. He could tank his stock prices and drive up all his insurance rates, and then make him have to live with it. 

A little respect isn’t that much to ask, is it? 

“Wow, called out by the supervillain,” Steph mutters to him under her breath. “The Metropolis supervillain, even.” 

“I do not have commitment issues,” Tim mutters back to her. 

“Yes you do, the issue is you commit yourself to somebody and then become an insane person about them but never actually mention the existence of said commitment to them,” she retorts frankly. 

“I do not–” 

“When did you go for the red and black suit again and how long did you stick with it?” 

“. . . we’re in a supervillain lair in Connecticut, I don’t have to answer that right now.” 

“Oh, so you will later?” 

“So anyway, new supervillain trap, how’s that going for you?” Tim asks Luthor. Steph snorts at him; he ignores her and all her baseless, ridiculous, baseless accusations that are definitely not currently reading him for absolute filth. “All coming together nicely, no tech issues? Because we could troubleshoot those for you while we’re waiting for extraction, no charge.” 

“The chemical breakdown of the necessary stabilizer you missed when you were cleaning out my old labs is laid out in file B-2.13, speaking of ‘troubleshooting’,” Luthor mentions, and Tim . . . pauses. 

“‘Stabilizer’,” he echoes carefully, and then glances around the sunroom lab. The sunroom cloning lab. 

The sunroom. 

Ah. 

That is probably a connection he should've made, like . . . literally instantly, yeah. 

“Oh my god, do you think you can actually convince Red Robin to make you another–wait, why do you even want Red Robin to make you another Superman or whatever, you did it better than he ever did,” Steph says, squinting in bewilderment at Luthor through her mask. Tim’s much more insulted this time, even if it’s objectively true that Kon is objectively–never mind. Luthor just looks dubious. 

“I don’t want another Superman, there are already far too many of those running around and being an issue as it is,” he snorts dismissively, waving her off. “And I’m willing to provide a useful little resource or two, of course, but it’s hardly traditional to have to make my own grandchildren, now is it. Besides, Supernova won’t be as annoyed about it if they come from you. Though I did include some potential design notes for your consideration in the C folder, of course. Streamlined the tactile telekinesis a bit, for starters. It really didn’t come out as effective as intended, unfortunately.” 

“Of course,” Tim echoes, perfectly aware of that one time that Kon took apart every single gun inside the exact city limits of Los Angeles and nothing else without even meaning to, and also that one time last week when he very much did mean to disassemble a bomb immediately after its trigger mechanism had been tripped, and did it so fast that it didn't detonate. 

So as politely as possible, that makes Luthor’s use of the word “effective” slipped in there a little mind-numbingly terrifying to consider. 

More than anything else, though, Tim really hopes that he’s just gone insane and hallucinated all this, because otherwise he’s going to have to write all this down in a report, and Steph will not lie for him about this one. 

Case in point: she is currently laughing her fucking ass off at him.

[jesterkoops]

I have a couple of things I mused about in comments around here that I feel like developing into their own post. Since this one's gotten too long, I'm going to split them in two separate posts.

Re: Mark & Gemma

There's a lot of debate/denial about whether their love transcended severance or not, and also linked to the question of when love does transcend severance and when it does not. I honestly don't know if this is an answer the show will ever give us, or is something that will always be left to interpretation.

But, for Mark & Gemma, it did not transcend. Not completely at least. Definitely not on Mark's side.

This is canon and repeated again and again both in universe and by Dan, Ben, and Adam. So there's no way around this. No "well, but he did grow attached to Ms Casey". Attached is a strong word. He was empathetic towards her as another fellow innie/human being, and wanted to help her. His sculpting the tree has to do with the pain/guilt he carries within him (and we know the body stores the trauma; also reason why they're testing this new chip on Gemma), and the love o!Mark had for Gemma, but has nothing to do with how i!Mark feels towards Ms Casey.

And I think the answer to why it didn't is two-fold.

I think one reason it did not transcend is because Gemma is fitted with a new generation chip that is designed to provide an even stronger barrier than the one currently in use and do things the current chips can't do, like sever someone multiple times. So just as it stops the trauma of the miscarriage when she has to dismantle a crib, it might stop any chance of love transcending once she's on the severed floor as Ms Casey. And Ms Casey is something else entirely. Ms Casey seems to be something Cobel was trying that was harnessing this new chip in some new way. While Gemma's testing floor innies are still a Gemma in a different environment with her memories wiped, Ms Casey seems to have more than just her memories wiped. It's like what was wiped was also that humanity that allows that human connection with other people. I think that persona would not be able to trigger any "muscle memory" of having loved her in Mark because Ms Casey is a empty shell of Gemma, not just a Gemma in a different environment. Contrast this with Helena who carries Helly inside her, and viceversa, and how that does permeate to Mark on the outside.

The second reason, and perhaps the most important, is something @maatdraws explained quite nicely already, and that is that Mark's love for Gemma looks like had already started to fade by the time of her 'death', as we see in 2x07. Like I said in a comment under that post, writers don't include details and content for no reason. Not to bring everything back to ASOIAF/Jaime Lannister, but it reminds me of people dismissing Jaime's boner in the bath with Brienne as "well guys get boners all the time, no big deal!". Yeah, except this is not a real person, it's a character in a story, and when the writer points your attention to a reaction or a line or a detail it's for a reason that is supposed to drive the plot. They did want to hint at Mark's investment in the relationship withering away, leading up to that "I said I love you" from Gemma before she leaves. That line they also gave Dr Mauer when one of Gemma's innies is about to leave the room in a clear parallel. And how it's clear in that scene that she her response is forced because she does not love him.

I don't obviously mean that Mark doesn't love Gemma the way Gemma doesn't love Dr Mauer of course. He does love her. But that that love had started to cool off. Maybe because that's the way it does end up being in many many marriages that start and develop through those same traditional check-boxes we saw them tick in 2x07 (and tbh he is just a pretty bad listener and rather apathetic, look at his dynamic with Alexa too - just like he didn't listen to Gemma about ants vs plants, he didn't listen to Alexa about her being from Montana and not Minnesota). Maybe also because he is someone who checks out when things get difficult.

Which also explains the way he reacted to her death. Suddenly things were OVERWHELMINGLY difficult, so what does he do? Quite quickly after her death he goes off and severs himself, so he can spend 8 hours a day turned off, and the rest drunk or asleep, with Gemma's stuff in the basement out of sight. He doesn't even try to mourn her. He doesn't even give himself time to say "I can't cope with the grief". And I think that a lot of that pain was guilt more than actual grief. Guilt at not going with her, guilt that he could have been better, guilt that the last thing he said to her was a distracted goodbye where he had to be prompted. But had she not "died", he would have probably just continued to drift away. Would this have led to a divorce? Probably not. But it might have just turned into one of many lukewarm marriages.

And I think this might tie in with what Dan's vision for the show has been since the beginning, and the ending he often talks about being unchanged despite the evolution of the show. That Mark was always meant to never get his wife back. I kind of started to put the pieces together while replying to comments under an anon I was replying to and thinking about the original outline - the one where Mark and Helly did not have a romance and Dan considered making Helly the wife, but then created Ms Casey/Gemma because Helly would have been too easy to guess. If Mark and Helly were not meant to be romantic, and Helly being the wife was a viable option, it might mean Mark's love with his wife was never meant to transcend severance. And once they created Ms Casey/Gemma, Helly became her own character and she was 'free' from the plans Dan had for an endgame and could become her own story. And her relationship with Mark could become its own thing. Again, it reminds me of GRRM's original outline for ASOIAF, where Jaime was supposed to be the 'evil king' character and then he split this character into Jaime and Cersei and each character became their own thing with their own arc.

But the endgame where the wife is concerned remained unchanged. If you combine it with so many quotes recently from Dan and Ben about this always having been the story of someone who becomes whole through accepting their pain and grief, it adds even more weight to this idea. Or the fact that Dan said he didn't have a clear plan for Ms Casey/Gemma beyond her being the wife and the Cold Harbor stuff. What pain and grief is there to accept for Mark now that his wife is alive? The pain of acknowledging he was losing her even before he lost her, and that the choices he made after she was gone mean he is going to lose her anyway.

And/or maybe... maybe Mark's grief isn't over Gemma, but over himself. He has to let go of the person that he was in order to move on and become a better man. That also fits with the theme Dan talked about of becoming whole through discovering new parts of yourself and embracing them. Maybe o!Mark's journey is to realise that Mark Scout is the past and he should let it go. And that he was not all that great after all. He said it to Reghabi that maybe he could have done things differently, and listened more, and Mark S IS doing better and listening more ("I'm a little nervous"/"Turn around and bend over" vs. "I am nervous"/"Me too. It's ok."). And that by embracing Mark S he can move on to a new, better version of himself.

[xiao-come-home]

stone faced anon (💫 anon if it's free) here; as someone who has a hyperfixation in IT and coding I also think it would be very funny if Boothill had an s/o who wasn't necessarily a mechanic but like a software engineer or just a real big nerd about coding or something. He'll be experiencing a malfunction or a memory leak and go "oh yeah this happens sometimes don't worry about it" and then 10 minutes later he's sitting down plugged into a laptop listening to his s/o rant about how terrible his code is (crack hc: boothill's code was written in javascript) and how it's a wonder he hasn't bricked* yet

Would also be mad funny if Boothill ever got hacked and his s/o basically says "no you're not" and uses a previously made system restore point or something because of course they would both use and design every feature imaginable to keep Boothill in control of his own body, can you imagine the stress that losing control would cause him?? Even better if whoever designed him originally intentionally left a backdoor incase he ever went against their orders and when they try to use it his s/o just goes "oh yeah I quarantined and encrypted all the old files related to that backdoor and whatever else you were planning on a partition as bait and personally rewrote every file and function involved since your code is *an actual crime against technology*. by the way i'm going to go ahead and format that partition i mentioned, boothill- we won't be needing anything on it now that we can trace whoever made it. trust me, this won't be happening ever again."

*(bricking is a term mostly used to refer to hardware that's been rendered basically completely nonfunctional and beyond saving by using it wrong, mostly by messing with system files. Kinda like how windows can't even repair itself if you delete the system32 folder. Though i guess you could still install it with a usb stick if you formatted your pc- i digress you get what I mean. also since this almost happened to me recently: if you manage to fill up a hard drive to the brim, with literally 0 bytes of space left, that bricks it. reminder to check your storage thoroughly and often!)

Honestly wow I read it all and I'm a little bit speechless 🥹 thank you 💫 anon, it was great 🙏

Boothill would DEFINITELY appreciate a s/o who's a tech savvy in general! I think at some point, he'd be pretty shocked you're so knowledgeable and just sit there, listening to you rant.. and just letting you do your thing.

Don't get me wrong, he definitely knows a lot about his body, his system and the way he works, but once you start to get in the zone and explain stuff to him, berate his code even, he just sits next to you, plugged in to your laptop, leaning his cheek against his hand listening to you like he obviously understands everything you say.

His other hand begins to gently play with a stand of your hair, humming deeply when the soft clicking sounds of your keyboard reach his ears; he twirls your hair with his fingers and chuckles, "mmm, really now?" Boothill raises an eyebrow, "encryptin' this, encryptin' that... How about we do somethin' more fun instead?" And then you shut him down from your laptop (😭).

Jokes aside, he'd feel very secure with you especially when he first got his new body, just knowing you'll probably fix a lot of things that could possibly blow up his face in no time, maybe even improve his life even more.

[brodorokihousuke]

I finished Danganronpa 1 !!!

…Well, I did last night. But it was late so I didn’t want to make any posts or anything.

TL:DR is I enjoyed it quite a bit. I have gripes, of course, but nothing can be enjoyed without criticism.

Had a lot of fun liveblogging about it on my discord server (thank you to all who gave me pointers/watched me lose my mind!) but I kind of missed the experience of Tumblr liveblogging, so, now presenting… my Danganronpa sideblog, @brodorokikiyotaka (I’m very funny)! I know this is technically my personal blog so I can put whatever I want here, but… I like theming and organization, so.

Longer review under the cut for those who are interested. For everyone else, have this meme I might as well post somewhere other than my server.

0/10 Kiyotaka dies

Okay, okay, I’m being dramatic. I think him dying made me care about him more, anyway. Made me think a lot about how character death can be used more as a tool… Maybe more Ace Attorney characters should die lmao. Different setting/scenario, but still.

Anyways yeah, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Considering the only exposure I had to the first game (and the series in general really) was watching someone play the first two cases (and only remembering details from the second chapter for some reason) eons ago, it was really fun just… experiencing everything mostly blind.

The characters were fairly compelling, and I liked most of the dialogue. Oh, it was so refreshing to have characters be able to actually swear… Yeah, some of the humor is. Wow! But it’s so occasional that I didn’t really mind (and I’ll admit some of the raunchy jokes got a laugh out of me). It only really got on my nerves when I had to deal with Toko a lot but that was only really around the end of the game.

The gameplay itself was really engaging, especially regarding the trials themselves. It felt way more fast-paced than any Ace Attorney game, and getting things right first try felt incredibly satisfying. I think my only gripe is with the bullet time battles, which didn’t have a very clearly defined “beat” to hit in the songs. And I’m not just salty about having no sense of rhythm, I finished Hi-Fi Rush on hard with no rhythm indicators so I know I’m capable of it.

Speaking of the music, though… hoo. This soundtrack is incredible. And knowing how much music impacts how much I enjoy a given game, I know for a fact this OST cemented this playthrough as one of my more memorable ones. Not only do I love the more well known ones (like Trigger Happy Havoc), but even the like… walking around and investigation music (Beautiful Morning, Box 15/16, etc) is so good. 9/10 rating for the music alone, on par with aa1 honestly (for me. This is a subjective opinion don’t kill me)

The story was mostly followable by me and while my interest maybe wavered a bit as the end drew closer (especially regarding the heavy exposition Junko throws at you at the very end), it left me with an interest in future installments and a lot of thoughts regarding what the ‘before-the-game’ situation was.

The character designs themselves and the art was incredibly memorable and distinct, and left me wanting to try and mimic it (which I’ve already done at least once!). Some of the more ‘painted’ looking still shots look a bit odd - especially since a lot of them use plain black for shading, which is a questionable (though admittedly distinct!) choice - but I never really found it making my experience worse. Also, that pink blood aesthetic is fantastic and I love it.

Overall, I’ll give the game a solid 9 out of 10. I thought about an 8.5 but honestly with how much I enjoyed everything, putting it a bit higher seemed fitting.

[m4ple9x0x]

Sᵒᵘʳ Cʰᵉʳʳʸ

-Chapter VI-

Hyunin x fem!reader

WARNINGS: SMUT MDNI !! use of alcohol, mentions of Felix and Hyunjin kissing and Felix having an ex boyfriend, lmk if I forgot anything.

Genre: strangers to friends to lovers, smut, stalker!Hyunjin, yandere!Hyunjin, slow burn.

a/n: hi guyz!! i haven't been so active recently cus of exams, this chapter is more dialogue but i hope y'all will enjoy it anywayz! in this fic i made Felix bisexual, THIS DOES NOT BY ANY MEANS MAKE IT REAL IT'S JUST A WORK OF FICTION, if u have any feedback or opinions write it down in the comments, im open to some constructive criticism, also if u wanna get added to the taglist lmk!! <3 maple out~

dividers by: @cafekitsune <3

Previous chapter

This is how you’ve been trying to suppress your emotions and your growing feelings towards Hyunjin for a month now, “He’s just nice, he’s trying to be a good friend…”. As time went by, you, Joanna and Hyunjin got closer, but it was impossible for you to shut off any type of attraction that you had for the man, the little innocent crush that you had in the beginning was now starting to grow into something else. Weeks passed and you started bonding with Hyunjin over a lot of stuff, besides your shared love and appreciation for art, you both had a hard time getting along with your parents. You started noticing how he was getting even more open, dramatic and even more loud, and you loved it, but he also started being more flirty with you, started being clingier, more touchy, he always had an excuse to touch you somehow, and you were going crazy each time you felt his long fingers on your skin, your heart would race immediately. You didn’t pay much mind to it since you were always a clingy person even with Stacey, you loved hugging her and showing her affection that way. With that in mind you brushed it all off as Hyunjin just being really close to his friends, that and also the fact that he introduced you to his good friend Felix, seeing the two interact with each other was like watching a soap opera, they were always acting as if they were married, which was very funny, but also gave you a reason to believe that Hyunjin wasn’t actually into you romantically.

Next week was gonna be Hyunjin’s birthday, you, Joanna, Felix and a few more guys that the two men were friends with were planning to throw him a surprise party. You and Joanna were mostly in charge and gave tasks to everyone else, you already decided the theme of the party, thought about a cake design, decorations, you just had to pick them up in a few days. Everything was moving so fast, a few weeks ago you received the acting agency’s response, you got hired and you were already casted for an upcoming movie, it wasn’t a big role, but it was the beginning of something new and exciting in your life so you didn’t mind, besides, everyone starts somewhere. The excitement was eating you up, your friends were also very supportive and happy for you, life started having a meaning again, finally the sun was shining down your path again so you didn’t feel lost in the uncertainty and darkness anymore, you missed it so much, the feeling of knowing what to do next, the enthusiasm, the motivation.

You were on your way to the cafe, Hyunjin planned a movie night, he told you to meet him there so you could wait for Joanna and Felix together, before getting snacks and going to his place. You looked through the glass door of the coffee shop and you noticed it was empty, you opened the door, Hyunjin immediately got up from his chair behind the counter and smiled softly at you while waving slowly.

-You came…

-Of course I did, you were the one that told me to come here dummy. You say rolling your eyes.

-Well yeah, but I honestly wasn’t expecting you to get here in time. He says laughing while walking towards you.

-Oh? Sure make fun of my tardiness, for this you ain’t receiving a hug Mister Hwang. You say crossing your arms over your chest and staring at him with a sassy look on your face. He instantly drops his arms next to his body.

-What do you mean? You always give me hugs, this is so unfair, you should respect me, I’m older than you after all. He says rolling his eyes at you.

-Yeah, 3 years older, you gotta chill gramps, are you really that happy you’re old? A chuckle escapes your throat as you look up at him.

-GRAMPS?! I’m gonna be 25 next week YOU should chill young lady, before I put you in your place. This is exactly what gets you, and you’re sure he knows it and he uses this tactic each time he has the occasion only to get the filthiest reactions out of you, he’s testing you surely, but you never give in, you just fight back and tease him back each and every single time.

-Oh really? And how would you do that Painter Boy? Your hand travels on his work apron up to the collar of his shirt and you drag him closer. He gasps. His eyes were now fixated on your lips, he bites his lip and looks into your eyes. He grabs your waist with both his hands and pulls you closer, his face is 2cm away from yours, your heartbeat is going crazy you’re afraid he might hear it. He leans in even more, and whispers in your ear.

-Don’t play these games with me Y/N, you’re gonna get yourself burned. You can feel your face getting red, there’s no way this is actually happening. You put your hands through his hair and start tugging at it gently. A deep sigh almost like a whimper escapes Hyunjin’s mouth right next to your ear.

-Maybe I wanna get burned. You whisper in his ear. The grip he has on your waist tightens and his left hand starts brushing up your arm until it reaches your neck. He starts caressing the side of your neck as if he’s painting you with the tips of his fingers. You squirm at the feeling.

-I’ll burn you if that’s what you wish for Y/N, if you need it so bad you just have to ask nicely, and I’m gonna give it to you. You freeze in place when you feel his teeth on your earlobe, his tongue brushing against it slightly and then he moves his face in the crook of your neck and hugs you. You’re petrified.

-Cat got your tongue princess? You already know Hyunjin is smiling uncontrollably right now, there’s no need for you to see his face, you can feel it in the tone of his voice. The heat was unbearable, you push his chest and look in another direction when he stays right in front of you.

-Jesus, do I have to do this every time to get a hug out of you? I mean… I don’t mind it. He smirks and now the vibe shifted to a more casual joking atmosphere. You immediately throw a punch at Hyunjin’s arm.

-I was joking, you know, how we usually do, what’s up with you today? Why are you so shy, hm? The man says while rubbing his arm up and down to alleviate the pain.

-I’m not, let’s just see what Joanna and Lix are doing… You say hesitantly placing your hand on the nape of your neck.

-Okay call Joanna, I’ll call Felix. The man disappears to search for his phone and you can finally exhale relieved without feeling restrained by some invisible barrier.

-Joanna!

-Yes?

-Where are you?

-I’m pretty close to the cafe, why?

-You have to save me. You whisper the last two words as if you’re afraid the man will hear you.

-Save you? From what?

-Hyunjin. You whisper again, Joanna starts laughing on the other line. She caught up pretty early that you started having a crush on Hyunjin, ever since she told you that she knows about your feelings towards the man you’ve been telling her everything that went on between you and him, each time he flirted with you, every single small detail that would make you go crazy, Joanna knew.

-You gotta tell me what happened some other time, but I can’t wait to hear it.

-Okay. HURRY JOANNA! You end the call right when Hyunjin walks back into the room.

-So? Any luck with Joanna? He asks.

-Yes she’s gonna be here soon.

-Lix should be here any minute now too.

-That’s great.

-Yeah…

The awkward silence was filling the room, suffocating you, it was in Hyunjin’s character to flirt and be a bit touchy and clingy at times, but today he took it too far, you did too, without realizing, not that it bothers you, but you know he isn’t serious about this. If you’d start having more overwhelming feelings for him everything would be destroyed, you cannot fall prey to this again, it’s too tempting, but you have to hold back, otherwise your friendship would be ruined, you don’t wanna end up with 0 friends again.

Two hours pass, it’s already 8pm, you met up with Joanna and Felix and got some snacks and wine, you’re right in front of Hyunjin’s apartment building, this is the first time that you come over to his place and you realize something.

-Hey Hyunjin…

-What? You turn around and see how the tall man struggles to take his keys out of his pocket.

-Fun fact… I live right across the street from you.

-Huh? Okay that’s actually insane.

-Can’t believe you two are friends for a month or so already and you never went to each other's apartment. Joanna said, winking at you trying to throw a sexual innuendo your way, you frantically shake your hands at her to signal her to stop behind the two guys backs.

-Well not all friends go to each other's places, for example I’ve been to Hyune’s place like a million times and he’s been to my place like twice or something. Said the blonde freckled man.

-True true. Joanna responded.

You enter Hyunjin’s apartment and start getting the snacks ready together, Felix brought homemade brownies, you picked a horror movie and Joanna planned a game for later. Everything was going accordingly, Hyunjin went in his room to change while you and the other two prepared the living room and got the movie ready to play on the TV. Hyunjin comes out of his room in a pair of shorts and a loose black tank top, you were almost salivating having a perfect side view of his abs. The couch was pretty big still Hyunjin was cornering you in the armrest, you initially didn’t think much of it, you were sharing a blanket with him while Felix and Joanna were sharing another one. The movie was rolling already for half an hour and the man sitting next to you seemed to not be able to sit still, not even for two minutes.

-Psst.

-What? Hyunjin turned his head to you.

-What’s your deal bro? You wanna steal all my blanket? You whispered so you don’t disturb the other two.

-No...it’s just my left arm, it hurts I don’t know why.

-Oh… you want me to massage it a bit?

-That would be great honestly.

-Okay then. You grab Hyunjin’s arm and start massaging it slowly.

-Thank you Y/N, you’re an angel. He says blowing a kiss in your direction.

As you run your palms over the man’s arm you also focus on the movie, you start adding a little bit more pressure and you hear low groans creating in his throat and evading, he’s trying to keep quiet, but your ears catch each and every little noise that escapes his lips. You know you shouldn’t but now the movie isn’t your priority anymore, he sounds way too beautiful, if only you could drink his moans like you drink the red wine in your glass, instead you studied the spots that make it impossible for him to not make a sound, you add more pressure in those areas. Your hands travel up to his bicep, you brush your hands over it and start massaging it hard, Hyunjin throws his head back, eyes rolling and his lips automatically parted, he’s quick to put his hand over his mouth.

-Want me to stop Hyun? You whisper in his ear.

-No no, please, don’t stop. He says with a breathy begging voice, his head still thrown back, he gives you a side eye, fixating you with his dark gaze, you were losing yourself in his eyes as if you were in a maze. You knew he was trying to get you again. *He just doesn’t stop, does he?*

-I don’t know, I think I massaged all the spots…

-Is this the payback for earlier in the cafe? He asks now turning his head completely in your direction.

-Maybe… You whisper in his ear laughing.

-I’ll be good, I promise princess, just help me please. That was it, he got you with those pleading eyes perforating through your skin, his whiny voice was making you feel things you never felt before, it was tearing you apart from the inside, you felt naked under his intense stare.

-Oh you’re trying to play nice now? You whisper again, the hot air leaving your mouth and landing directly against his ear, shaking all his thoughts away.

-C’mon… I assure you there are other spots that need a massage right now, I can surely think of one certain body part.

-Hm? Like what? He holds your chin up with his fingers and whispers in your ear.

-Don’t play dumb… you know what I mean princess. I’m all yours to play with.

-Hyunjin… let’s stop this…

-Why? I’m enjoying myself quite a lot, aren’t you too?

-I won’t answer that question Hyun, I think we need to draw the line you know? It’s all fun and games and funny, but I think this is enough.

-Who said this is a game princess? You look at Hyunjin dumbfounded. *Does he mean it?* You get up from the sofa and head to the bathroom, you slam the door behind you and lock it pressing your back against it and sliding down being welcomed by the cold marble tiles, you need to breathe a bit without him right next to you. You get up and take a look in the mirror, your face was red as a tomato as well as your ears, you splash some cold water on your face and a bit on your neck, take a few deep breaths and head back. Maybe it was the wine, but you had only one glass, it doesn’t make sense, this man makes you crazy.

As you sit back on the couch the ending credits start rolling.

-Just in time, we’re gonna play my game now! Joanna gets up and goes in the kitchen.

-I’m coming too, I have to bring the brownies, I put them in the fridge. Felix gets up too and follows Joanna.

Great, now you’re alone with Hyunjin again. *This is bad, this is really really bad*. You start panicking and breathing faster and faster, your heart pumping blood that felt poisoned, poisoned with his scent.

-Are you okay Y/N? Hyunjin asked holding your hand in between his palms.

-Y-yeah, I’m fine, just a bit tipsy I guess…

-So easily? You turn your head and see Felix coming back and placing a tray of brownies on the table.

-Yeah for real, you only drank one glass, where’s that crazy party monster Y/N from the Vday party in the club?

-It was so fun, you have no idea what you missed on Lix, Y/N literally downed almost 20 shots back to back and also had 5 cocktails before. Hyunjin said laughing, his eyes forming little crescent moons.

-Well I’m sorry that party was for single people and back then I had a boyfriend. Felix said rolling his eyes.

-Anyways, I’m gonna need that version of Y/N to come back because my game is a drinking one.

-Oh sweet lord…I don’t know if I’m gonna make it I might fall asleep.

-Nope, none of that Y/N. Joanna sits next to you and places 4 shot glasses on the table.

-This doesn’t look good...I’m in!! You hear Hyunjin screaming.

-Okay so everyone sit on the ground, let’s form a circle next to the table. Joanna instructs everyone.

-Yes boss! Felix gets up and sits opposite to the couch. -Aye aye Captain Joanna!! You say sitting down next to Felix, Hyunjin gets up immediately and occupies the place next to you, Joanna sitting between Felix and Hyunjin, opposite to you.

-Okay so let me explain the game, everyone has a shot glass, it’s gonna be filled at the beginning of each round with vodka, it is basically truth or dare but if you refuse to answer or do the dare you have to down the shot.

-Okay so it’s pretty simple.

-Yeah… but here’s the catch, if you down more than 4 shots you have to take off a piece of clothing. Joanna says smiling.

-Oh okay so the difficulty goes up. Felix looks directly at Hyunjin and they exchange a few stares and smiles.

-Well shall we start?

-Let’s go!!

You watch as Joanna takes the bottle of vodka and fills everyone’s shot glasses.

-I will start. Joanna looks around and smiles at Felix.

-Oh damn, I’m the first to go?

-Well we each have the right to ask anyone, we cannot repeat the person though, one dare and one question per person, for example I can ask Felix one question and also give him a dare the next round, but after that I can’t ask or give him any dares anymore, then I move to the next person and do the same, you get it?

-Yeah yeah, let’s start already. Hyunjin says impatiently.

-Also we are 4 so the number of shots is 4, if we were 7 we would’ve had the limit for 7 shots, the number increases or decreases based on the number of players.

-Oh that’s actually smart. You say.

-Okay so, Felix truth or dare?

-Truth, I’m starting safe.

-Oh sweetie nothing’s safe while I’m around.

-Should I be scared?

-YES!! You and Hyunjin scream at the same time.

-Okay, Felix did you ever kiss a friend, if yes what friend?

-Oh, easy, Hyunjin, we had full on makeout sessions when we were really drunk. Felix said laughing.

-Oh yea, that was so fun actually. Hyunjin starts smiling at Felix.

You and Joanna stare at each other dumbfounded.

-ANYWAYS, It’s my turn. Felix shouts.

-Chill toxic man chaser. Joanna said chuckling.

-TOXIC MAN CHASER? I feel deeply hurt. Felix says fake crying.

-COME ON Y’ALL!! Hyunjin shouts.

-Okay okay, Y/N truth or dare? Felix looks at you with a weird smile, you can’t quite make it up.

-Dare, momma raised no pussy!!

-Oh okay, play 7 minutes in heaven with Hyunjin.

Your face contorted with anxiety now showing only shock and surprise.

-I was betrayed by a literal angel, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME LIX, YOU WANT TO LOCK ME IN A CLOSET WITH THE LITERAL PRINCE OF HELL, THE DEVIL HIMSELF, THE FALLEN ANGEL!!!!

-And here I thought Hyunjin was the biggest drama queen I know… damn, you know you can take the shot right? Felix says. -I wouldn’t wanna waste my precious limited amount of shots, I don’t wanna undress.

-True, well then go on.

You look at Hyunjin it was clear as day, he was trying to hold back the biggest smile ever.

-I’ll set up the timer once I lock you guys in there.

-Also don’t worry we won’t be listening! Joanna screams and winks at you. You roll your eyes and feel Hyunjin’s big hand wrap around your wrist, dragging you to a closet on the hallway. You get in first then Hyunjin gets in too, Felix closes the door and locks it.

-Okay the time starts now, bye guys.

-USE PROTECTION! Joanna screams.

-Jesus… what’s up with her… You say breaking the silence.

-She’s shipping us, ain’t that cute? Hyunjin says patting your head.

-I don’t know…

-So how would you like to make the time pass faster?

-Maybe just talk I don’t know…

-I had a better idea though.

-What idea Hyun?

-Let’s play a game.

-A game in a game?

-I mean practically we are not playing that game right now, we are closed in the closet.

-Well go on I guess.

-So, the goal is to turn the other one on more, if I turn you on more than you turned me on I win, and the other way around.

-What type of game is this bro.

-A fun one, I mean obviously if you don’t wanna play we don’t have to, it’s just an option.

You shouldn’t, you know you shouldn’t but still…

-Okay.

-Hm?

-Okay, let’s play.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.

-I’m just warning you, I’m competitive, I won’t go easy on you.

-We should have some rules shouldn’t we?

-Well obviously we are not allowed to touch each other’s private parts or kiss on the lips, we are friends after all, I feel like that’s fair, right?

-Yea, I guess. *Friends... of course.*

-I mean… unless you wanna kiss me you know. It’s so dark you can’t even see Hyunjin properly but you know he has that shit eating grin on full display right now. The confidence of this man kills you.

-Just shut up and start.

-Oh okay. Hyunjin presses you against the wooden wall of the closet and starts kissing your neck slowly open mouthed, he goes up right under your ear kissing there too then he starts licking down to your collarbone pressing soft kisses there too, you cover your mouth, you can’t hold it in anymore he’s making it impossible for you to keep quiet.

-Tsk tsk tsk, what are you doing princess? Can’t hold back anymore already? I didn't even start properly. Not fair though, I didn’t get to feel your teasing. Why are you hiding those sweet moans from me? I wanna hear you, it will give you some advantage that will turn me on like crazy. *What is he talking about? Is he crazy?*.

-Come on give me those beautiful hands. He grabs both of your wrists and pins your hands above your head keeping you in place.

-H-hyunjin…

-What’s wrong princess?

-They are gonna hear…

-Shush, I don’t care, they put us in this situation, how could I hold back? How am I supposed to not go crazy when I’m locked in here with you? You’re gorgeous, I could literally be stuck in here forever with you and I wouldn’t mind it at all. Hearing all these words made you literally weak on your knees, even if they were a lie, they made you feel special, at the end of the day you weren’t ready for anything serious anyways. Hyunjin was kissing lower and lower under your collarbone, until he reached your chest that was half exposed by your crop top.

-Look at this… damn they are literally shoved in my face, how could I resist Y/N? You must be doing this on purpose to drive me insane. He starts kissing your chest, the part that was exposed, he practically wasn’t crossing the rules, but every single little kiss, the tip of his tongue painting you with his saliva as if you were his canvas, was making your legs tremble, you were already pressing your thighs tight together, you start squirming under his touch, he was still restraining your hands, you couldn’t do anything other than moan as silently as you could. You’ve been with guys before but not a single one of them has ever made you feel how Hyunjin does or moan from a simple kiss on the neck.

-That’s it princess let me hear your beautiful voice.

-Hyunjin…

-What?

-My turn.

-Hm? You break free from his hand and push him against the opposite wall you kiss his neck passionately, biting, licking, you start gently caressing the sides of his waist that were exposed by the tank top.

-Is it good Jinnie? You knew this was killing him, he just wanted to act tough, but this nickname and what you were doing to him, it was driving him insane. You were kissing his collarbone now going lower and lower, your hand is sneaking under his tank top feeling him up, his abs under your fingertips, you were pressed up against him, you felt it, he knew you felt it, you knew he knew you felt it. He was harder than a rock. You drop to your knees in front of him. He gasps.

-Y/N... what are you doing?

-Turning you on.

-It worked, you can stop.

-Oh no, these are the consequences of your own actions sir, accept it. You bunch up his tank top in your hand.

-Y/N?

-Hold this up and shut up pretty boy. He does as you told him, his tank top is now lifted up leaving him exposed to your wandering eyes and hands. You start kissing and licking all over his abs, *it’s working*, you think as you observe how he throws his head back. You start kissing lower, licking a long line on his v line. He goes crazy, he bites down on his tank top while keeping it lifted up, looks down at you and grabs your hair gently, pressing your lips right above the waistband of his pants, you can feel his bulge right under your chin.

-Fuck this, I can’t hold back anymore Hyunjin. You start undoing his pants. -Okay guys, time’s up, are you decent? You hear Joanna outside of the closet. -You gotta be fucking kidding me. You whisper and you hear Hyunjin groan in frustration too.

You get out of the closet and see Joanna jump around full of enthusiasm.

-Wow I didn’t think you were so happy shipping us. Hyunjin said laughing at the blonde woman.

-It’s not because of that, MY TINDER DATE JUST CALLED ME IMMA HAVE TO DITCH YOU I’M SORRY BUT THIS GIRL IS MY DREAM WOMAN!!

-OMG JOANNA GO GET THAT!! You say as you start jumping around the room with Joanna.

-They are lunatics. Hyunjin said looking at Felix.

-Agreed. Felix responds.

Next chapter

taglist: @lezleeferguson-120 @hwangjoanna

[stupidlittlespirit]

What got you into gravity falls in the first place??

It's kind of sad and grim but I don't mind telling you haha. Just tw for personal abuse and mental health stuff!

I got into Gravity Falls when it was airing, just at the start of the second season. I was about 19, I think? History is really fuzzy to me because of ptsd and stuff, I have a hard time pinning time down for sure so give or take.

I had been kicked out of home by my mother and was very lonely and low. I had a lot going on in terms of abuse at home and estrangement/distance between me and my younger sibling. I'd also just started noticing symptoms of BPD on top of everything else. So, as you can probably imagine, I was not in the best of places.

It was around that time that I started watching movies and tv shows constantly to drown out my thoughts. I've loved movies since I was a child but I was always controlled on what I was allowed to watch, whereas at that point, for the first time in my life, I was free to find what I wanted. So I started picking stuff up just because I could. I only had a tiny little old samsung phone because it was all I could afford at the time, but I would watch stuff on it 24/7.

I can't remember exactly how I heard about it, but I think it was via tumblr? I was already on the site and had been for a while at that point (in the Sherlock and X-Men fandom), and iirc I think I saw a few posts about GF on my dashboard. People were raving about it and I thought it looked fun, so I found a way to access it because I could do that now, I could watch whatever I wanted. And I did.

Given what I was going through at the time, I expect you can understand the impression that it left on me. I had absolutely no one and this show acted as a faux family for me for a little while. Here was this loser uncle who really loved these kids despite them being 'naughty' (realistically they were just being kids, but to me, I was taught that that behaviour was bad). There were lots of lessons about it being okay to be weird, which was something I was badly treated for by my own family, and this shared bond between siblings which I had lost/was losing. I was also super into cryptids and monsters, and I'd always wanted to be a cryptozoologist anyway haha!

My life experience at that time was running eerily adjacent to Stan's. It would continue to do so, but it struck me very deeply in the moment. I saw this guy who went through everything I was going through, and he was still kicking and people still valued him. So, I thought maybe I should take a leaf out of his book and keep kicking back as hard as I could. Maybe one day I'd find someone who loved me the way the kids came to love him or the way his brother inevitably would.

So, I would wait every week for a new episode and I would watch it in bed on my shitty phone at fuck o'clock in the morning (because the episodes were uploaded really late at night for me in the UK) and for about twenty something minutes a day, I didn't want to die.

I felt very familial about Stan and the kids, and then when Ford was introduced, I fell head over heels LMAO. I started writing fanfiction for it which developed into me exploring more through drawing/art, and into me creating worlds of my own. Although I never went because life had other plans, I even got into an art course because of it! I actually also wrote this huge AU for Ford with an OC. It never came to fruition, but I had a huge sketchbook filled with plans/layouts/architecture/character designs/story lines for it. I lost it in a move a while ago and I'm still sad about it, but I was so obsessed with it that I remember most of it anyway. It was the first time I ever created a full, fleshed out world in minute detail and it really started a fire in me for it.

So yeah.... It meant a lot to me and still does.

[tokiro07]

Ichi the Witch ch.26 thoughts

[Literal Tourist Trap]

(Topics: worldbuilding - Kagami, speculation - Bakugami)

...Yeah, shoulda seen one coming

Of course Ichi charged in instead of formulating a strategy, that's what he does, and we love him for it

So this chapter was mostly for expositing the history and relationship between Bakugami the Magik and Bakugami the country (which I'll refer to by its old name of Kagami to avoid confusion going forward). This didn't make for a particularly exciting chapter, but a necessary one for setting the tone of what's to come

The Bad Ol' Days

Ten years ago, Kagami was undergoing an economic crisis due to the rise of magic item production in neighboring countries, a practice which Kagami used to have a monopoly on

Kagami being a land of magic item crafters goes a long way in explaining Gokuraku, as it means that his capacity to create and graft magic items onto his body didn't come from nowhere, and is instead a skill with likely deep personal meaning to him as a family legacy. It also gives a small glimpse into how Kagami may bounce back after they inevitably lose Bakugami, as Gokuraku's methods are likely extremely advanced compared to the rest of the world

It was also mentioned last week that Bakugami raised Kagami from underground, but there was no direct acknowledgment of that in this chapter. However, I did notice that until Kagami becomes a tourist attraction, the sky in the flashback is never actually shown. There are a couple of shots where you see something that could be the sky, but it's colored in either solid gray or white as opposed to how it's usually drawn with clouds and some gradation. Every other panel though is either indoors or shot from a birds-eye-view, cleverly obscuring the skyline

Kagami being an underground country was likely by design, as it helped them both forage for material and keep that material away from others who might steal it. Once the bubble burst, however, it merely isolated their people from any other economic opportunities that trade and agriculture would have provided for them. Worse, it means that there's no fresh air, which may have helped disease spread among the populace, and no sunlight, which definitely contributed to their malaise

I don't think that Nishi is trying to keep it a secret that Kagami used to be subterranean considering that it was literally in the script last week, but I think that the original Japanese might have been a bit more subtle about its intention and that it is supposed to be somewhat of a surprise when we learn it

Either way, knowing that Kagami was once the premiere magic item country, we also get a bit more context into the mines: they were undoubtedly mining a special ore that facilitated crafting magic items. I don't know what properties this ore has, but it's most likely the stone or metal that Gokuraku has embedded in his spine, and is probably also what his armor is made of, just differently refined

If I had to guess, this ore is going to be a major plot point sooner or later, whether or not Bakugami has any knowledge of or interest in it. Personally, I would expect that it was a contributing factor in his decision to make Kagami his base and eventual victims - either that ore has some kind of positive effect on him and has been helping him become stronger faster, or he sees it as a threat to himself and the World Hater and is trying to eliminate it

That, or he was just attracted by the country's sadness as a perfect snack for him and everything else was a coincidence

Long Con Meal Prep

While the exact mechanism of Bakugami's ability hasn't been elaborated on yet, it's made explicitly clear that he's effectively eating peoples' sadness and growing bigger from it

This is likely why he stopped growing a year ago, because the country is too happy, and the number of sad tourists coming in to unload their sadness onto him is likely too small to contribute to him getting any stronger due to the entry fees. This may or may not be why Bakugami has chosen now to wipe out the people of Kagami, as he needs to turn all of their joy into despair at once to get any more value out of them

Or, again, that's just a convenient way to achieve the goal of sacrificing them to his idol. It doesn't really matter either way, but it is very likely that his method of destroying the country will involve manufacturing a new reason for them to be sad and then absorbing it

What's really interesting to me though is what would happen in that scenario. After Richia hugged Bakugami, it wasn't like her mother came back, she just felt way happier as her sadness disappeared. This implies that the emotion itself was gone, like Richia wasn't capable of being sad about her mother anymore

Not only would this give a clear explanation of why Gokuraku calls Bakugami a parasite, stealing important emotions from people to survive, but it also would explain why Richia seems somewhat apprehensive about the advent celebration. I think Richia might have some idea of what's going on here, like she realizes that she's now missing a fundamental portion of her self even if she doesn't know exactly what is missing

So if the people lose their sadness when Bakugami feeds upon them, what would happen if he personally gave the entire country a reason to be sad and then took away their feelings? I envision it as Bakugami rising above the people, forcing them to look on in horror and despair as he declares his intentions, only for them to all suddenly be cheering and celebrating their impending doom instead

All of their will to escape, to survive, lost in the euphoria of their deity's "salvation." They may even justify it as the price of their joy, and decide to give themselves willingly to pay for all that Bakugami has "given" them. From there, they would just be lambs to the slaughter, offering no resistance as their country meets its end

I could go on about the philosophical implications of that sort of false joy, but I think I'll wait until the narrative makes its own statements on it before I start throwing my own into the mix. I don't want to make too many assumptions about the messaging before Nishi has even said anything!

Until then, let's enjoy life!

[jellazticious]

Do you have any recommendations for art references and or video's that might help me improve as an artist? Your art style is really inspiring to me and I'd love to get better at drawing because I haven't been on that grind recently of doing so!!!

Honestly your best bet is learning the RULES of art instead of the process, at least that's how I did it

I find it easier to NOT do the things that make it wrong than to learn ALL the things that make it good

There's like a million different ways to make art appealing but a lot of them typically avoid the same mistakes. It also makes the learning process customizable for you

To anyone else other than Gongus, I wanna say first that this post is heavily catered to cartoonier art styles but the links are for general art. I will also be laying down a lot of the things I learned from college (multimedia arts course)

Alright, first of all try to dabble up on some character design rules, here's a video that teaches it and a channel that has a series with critiquing people's portfolios

(she's not really insulting the portfolios btw, the thumbnails are just click baity)

Then also learn about the 12 animation principles because it can still be applied to non animation art like comics and stuff

Get yourself some line of action crammed in there. Regardless of art style, a lot of people struggle with stiffness, line of action is the counter attack to it

Optionally, if you're gonna learn line of action then you're gonna be doing gesture drawings to practice it. I suggest going to @adorkastock for reference images

Next up, color also have rules so here's the basics

I only linked that so you can smoothly transition here wjsndndm

But YEAH color fuckery is an underrated art cheat, you can get away with art that looks good without shading if you know how to toy with the colors right

Trouble making thumbnails?

Photography as an art form has got your back. Composition techniques can be applied to the drawing sort of art

Here are my personal tips now skskksks

1. Use your inspirations as reference. I got a sense of solidity when I saw the reference sheets for Wander Over Yonder and copying stylistic aspects from DST, TF2 comics, Clone High, and Pizza Tower.

SPEAKING OF TF2, I also wanna throw in this video about it's character design and other visual aspects (you'd only wanna watch the first half, the rest talks about the characters writingwise)

2. Another thing I do with references to make it easier is draw it at least two times. First time to trace it (directly or eyeballing it. You can also do with skeleton sketch or not but preferably give it a skeleton), then the second or third or fourth is to make it slowly morph into your style.

This will give you a sense of solidity, teaching your hand the traits that should be kept or exaggerated

3. If it looks like ass or you don't like it then that's okay. You DON'T have to post EVERYTHING you make. Sometimes you will feel like you draw a character you've always drawn wonky and that's because you just need to do warm up doodles.

I have SO MUCH sketches that I haven't posted and will never post because they're warm ups. Y'all think Pepperman is hard to draw? Y'all think I draw him good? I have good news for you, I fumble his face more often than not AND THATS OKAY

4. ANOTHER niche technique is to learn the keyboard shortcuts and other functions of your art program. Do not underestimate how much time that can spare you. It's gonna be tricky to find or get used to but it's gonna be so worth it

I learned you can alt+G on Krita one day and it makes a folder for your layers, total game changer. I can move layers at once instead of the old one by one with precision

5. Final note is to do the opposite of everything Vivsiepop does, it does not matter if you like her shows or not because time and time again critiques of her art and writing style breaks SO MANY RULES without UNDERSTANDING why they exist in the first place.

Art is like architecture, you need to know how to make a basic house before going straight for the fucking manor from Hello Neighbor 💥 or else you're never gonna figure out why the living room collapses everytime you flush the toilet

Anyway eeee, that's about everything I can teach, hope these help and if there's anything else to ask or add on, please do so!

[multifandom-nerds-blog]

There's not much I have to say about 202 actually, mostly because it's wednesday already and most things have already been said. However here still my 5 unoriginal cents:

Ikari the creep is finally dead! Yey! (And was apparently a man and not a buff woman this whole time? Lmao)

Sakamoto doing the wildest shit once again to save the day. I really wonder how tf he even gets those idead (as well as Suzuki themselve).

Another Taro where his glasses got forgotten! And again in the water, lol. They're just such a part of his design that he always looks kinda of without them. But also sorta cat like (like Shin :)

And of course the end of the chapter was absolutely devestating. The way that Andos instincts won in the end and he tried to stay alive as long as possible for Shin to talk to him. Or to at least know that Shin would make it of the cruise. (I still think Ando is a terrible guy. Being nice at the end doesn't change anything about that. He's not redeemed, only turned out to be more complex. I still think that the guy is probably mentally unstable in some way.)

Shin somehow thinking he's a terrible person, despite giving up his last chance to talk with his dad somehow? (And possibly get more answers about why he did, well, everything he did.) Giving up on the only thing he was trying to do for 4 years since he left the lab? (And probably before that already. But before getting his powers he still felt wanted in the lab so his desire to look for Ando wasn't as big.) And to safe someone's else child that he doesn't even know? Please Shin, a bad person wouldn't care about a strangers life like that.

Ando telling Shin to live? (The reason he sneaked Shin out of Al Kalmaar.) And Taro watching all that. He really does know what kind of person Shin is, after all he spend most of that flashback with Shin trying to get to his father. Taro saw him giving up his only wish at the time, and while they stayed together for a while after that until Shin quit, Taro probably had no idea how to help Shin cope with that whole situation. (Honestly, who would?) He really knows Shin in a way Shin doesn't even know himself, because Shin is so disconected from emotions in some ways. The ones from others and his own, even though he can read minds. Shin never had a normal childhood at any point, never had proper socialisaition. He never had any contact with other children to learn how to deal with his own emotions in a healthy way. (And why he's sometimes so childish as an adult. Sure, Lu meant it as an insult, but it's obviously some sort of coping mechanism. After reconecting with Sakamoto in chapter 1 he finally has a chance to catch up on many things. He gets to have fun with Hana, celebrate new years, go to an amusement park, go to school or simply be petty about Lu stealing his apron. The more we learn about Shin the more so many of his actions and mannerisms just lead back about finally having a family where his inner child can live out and wanting to protect that family. TT)

Now. I hope Taro can talk some sense into our boy when we get back to the prison arc. And take him home where Aoi can make him a hot chocolate before putting him under a weighted blanket so he can sleep for 3 days straight.

So. Uhm. Yeah. My unorganized thoughts. If you read all that you're probably as crazy as I am.

[rafeysvenicebitch]

🦢005 masterlist

The evening was approaching, and the country club was buzzing with excitement for the charity gala. The air was thick with anticipation, everyone eager to raise money for a good cause while indulging in a night of luxury. As much as you wanted to focus on the performance ahead of you, there was something else on your mind—something much more exciting than any charity event.

The night before, Rafe had told you he was going to take you shopping for the perfect dress, and as you stood in front of the mirror, running your fingers through your hair, you couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement.

Lottie and Nora were already at your place, bouncing around with excitement. They had been helping you pick out outfits for hours, offering opinions, and acting as your personal stylists. You had a closet full of outfits, but tonight needed something special. Something that made you feel like the star you were becoming.

Lottie jumped on the bed, her grin wide. “I swear, girl, I think you’re gonna turn some heads tonight. You’re gonna look so good in whatever you pick!”

Nora, perched on the arm of the couch, raised an eyebrow. “She’s already perfect. But yeah, let’s just make sure we find something that screams ‘I’m here for a good time, but I’m also here to take over.’”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “Alright, alright. Let’s get going. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can focus on the performance.”

As soon as you were ready, Rafe showed up, looking effortless in a tailored suit. His hair was messy in the way that drove you crazy, and the cigar dangling from his lips made it impossible to ignore him.

“Ready to go, darlin’?” he asked, eyes glinting with something playful behind the usual guarded exterior.

You grinned up at him. “Of course. You sure you want to come with me, though? It’s gonna be a lot of shopping.”

Rafe chuckled, taking a long drag from his cigar, his eyes never leaving you. “Darlin’, I’m fine with whatever as long as I’m with you. Just don’t expect me to carry your bags.”

You held out your hand. “I’ll manage.”

And with that, the four of you headed to the boutique. The store was high-end, tucked away in a corner of the shopping district, filled with glimmering dresses, high heels, and bags that could empty a bank account. The instant you stepped through the doors, you felt like a different person. The atmosphere was pristine, the lighting perfect. Everything about it screamed luxury.

Rafe stayed close behind you, the scent of his cigar filling the air as he puffed lazily, seemingly unfazed by the elegant surroundings. The women in the boutique glanced at him, clearly uncertain about the cigar, but no one dared speak up. Rafe wasn’t exactly someone you corrected.

“Ladies,” you greeted the sales associates with a smile. “I need something… statement-making. I have a charity event tonight, and I want something that’ll make people stop and stare.”

The woman who approached you had a sharp eye, quickly ushering you to a section of the boutique that boasted pieces from the finest designers. You could feel Rafe’s eyes on you as you moved around the racks, taking in the intricate designs and luxurious fabrics. It was a world you hadn’t quite been a part of before, but with Rafe by your side, everything felt like it was within your grasp.

After much deliberation, your fingers brushed against the luxurious fabric of a Vivienne Westwood dress, its rich red color and bold design standing out among the rest. The fabric shimmered just slightly, reflecting the light in a way that seemed to add an ethereal glow around you.

Lottie raised an eyebrow. “That’s the one. You need to try it on.”

You grinned, the excitement building as the saleswoman ushered you to the dressing room.

As you slipped into the dress, you caught Rafe’s eye in the mirror. He was leaning against the wall, his cigar hanging from his lips like a sign of authority. There was a hint of admiration in his gaze, but you could see that he wasn’t about to say anything.

“Alright, darlin’,” he drawled after a long drag, “you look good enough to eat.”

You smirked, stepping out to show him. Nora and Lottie stood by, their eyes widening in approval.

“I swear, you could break a few hearts tonight,” Lottie said, impressed.

Nora nodded in agreement. “Rafe’s gonna have to keep his eye on you.”

You laughed, spinning slowly to admire yourself in the mirror. The dress hugged your curves just right, making you feel powerful and seductive all at once. You’d never worn anything like it before, but now, it was hard to imagine ever settling for anything less.

“I’ll take it,” you said, grinning. “Wrap it up.”

Rafe raised an eyebrow. “Thought you’d be harder to please, darlin’. But I’m happy to spoil you. Don’t mind me, just keep doing your thing.”

The saleswoman smiled, ready to ring up your dress when a new employee—an overly eager young woman—stepped forward with an air of authority.

“Excuse me, sir,” she said, her tone stiff as she gestured to Rafe’s cigar. “We have a strict no-smoking policy in here.”

Rafe didn’t even glance her way, his eyes fixed on you. “Not interested in your rules, sweetheart.” He took another long drag, exhaling the smoke with an air of superiority.

The saleswoman froze, clearly caught in an uncomfortable position. You could practically feel the tension rise as the young woman’s face grew pale. But before anything else could happen, the manager of the boutique came hurrying over, her heels clicking against the marble floor.

The manager’s eyes widened in horror as she saw Rafe and his cigar. “I… I’m so sorry, sir,” she stammered, her voice full of panic. “Please, don’t mind the new employee. She’s just learning the ropes.”

The new employee’s face turned red with embarrassment, but Rafe merely smirked. “It’s fine,” he drawled. “You can let me do what I please. My girl’s already decided on the dress. So let’s get this over with.”

Lottie and Nora stifled laughs, and the tension in the air began to dissipate as the manager apologized profusely, leading the way to the register.

You caught Rafe’s eye once more, a playful smile tugging at the corner of your lips. “I think they’ll remember you, Rafey.”

He chuckled darkly, throwing a wink your way as the dress was wrapped up. “Good. Let ‘em remember. It’s a damn shame if they don’t.”

You loved when Rafe spoiled you.

Taglist: @strawberries-and-lots-of-kisses @vogueprincess @faistingmymike @greengoblinswifey @whinyangel @blackynsupremacy @rafesbabygirlx @memoirofasparklemuff1n @cameronsbabydoll

[nymph-ette111]

hiii I saw requests were open so I wanted to know if you could write a ben with a clumsy (breaks everything and bumps against everything) and orange cat type of gf please ? <33 also a really touch starved and cuddly reader that likes to do embroidery please ??

Of course take your time with it and feel free to ignore it <33

Take care love 💕

(♡) Authors note; my first request in awhile!! I was genuinely so happy to see this :') sorry it took a little while but I LOVED WRITING THIS :3

୨ৎ

-BEN is a pretty chill guy. and by chill I mean high as fuck 24/7.

-on the rare occurrence of being sober, he'd match your energetic and chaotic personality!

-he tends to stay in his room all day traumatizing people on the internet and drinking ungodly amounts of energy drinks (his room is actually disgusting please help him clean it) because half of the mansion hates him for being an annoying little brat. except for Jeff tho, he somewhat tolerates BEN's antics.

-your energy and overall demeanor always helps him let loose and have fun instead of hiding away all the time.

-spending time together whether it's in or outside of his room always ends up being a disaster (in a good way)

-creeps just KNOW you two are up to no good whenever you're seen together.

-you always gotta end up in trouble. even if you attempted to do the simplest tasks such as...making a fucking sandwich. all of the sudden the toaster is somehow burnt, cheese is on the ceiling and about 25 cups are broken.

-which brings us to your clumsiness :) uh yeah he fucking loves it.

-laughs his fucking ass off instead of helping you. well, he does eventually, just let him finish being a little bitch and he'll half-assedly bandage any wounds or injuries you got.

-only if they're minor injuries!! if it's something major he'll be rushing you to EJ. also yeah anything that can't be fixed with a sonic bandaid is major to him.

-the good thing is he covers up for you if you end up breaking something so you wouldn't get in trouble. so there's that.

-he actually starts carrying around bandaids more often in case you get hurt which is sweet (Jeff teases him for it)(he's jealous he doesn't have a cool relationship like you two have)

-ALSO...IF ANYONE DARES TO MAKE A COMMENT ABOUT THE WAY YOU ACT HES GOING OFF...

-now as for the clingy part, he'll try to act nonchalant and unbothered like yeah sit on his lap or whatever (hes never been happier, on the verge of fucking tears)

-he quickly breaks from that act and immediately reciprocates your affection even if he's a little awkward about it.

-you're his first girlfriend, please be patient he'll get used to it eventually.

-he's down bad and it's painfully obvious.

-the first time you told him about your little embroidery hobby he legit took his pants off for you to embroider a cool design on it.

-mans stood in his boxers watching you like a hawk.

-even if you weren't carrying your tools with you, you WILL bring them whether you want to or not.

-he'd be so happy, jumping up and down, kicking his feet, gawking at the desgin you made for him.

-from that day and on he'd bring you whatever clothing item he has so you could do a little something to it :')

-might even consider letting you teach him a thing or two. only simple stuff or else he'll get frustrated.

-in conclusion: he finds you very cool and he's happy you two are together, you genuinely impacted his life positively <3

[lemmeurs]

okay. here is my 1600+ words essay on raphael. if anyone would like to adress anything from it, please do but keep it civil! i am so damn invested in this topic, i wanna hear everyone's thoughts

raphael rant

(DISCLAIMER: this essay was not written in order to justify Raphael as a character or any of his actions or intentions. i am completely skipping any point of morality, whether my own or just in general, i simply wanted to somehow try and write my feelings and thoughts down while looking at the whole thing from an objective point of view, analyzing the design of the game, the plotline and his whole persona and just.. idk i wanted to see whether anyone else felt the way i do because i have been going INSANE over this for the past few days)

hi. i have come here today to express my thoughts and feelings on Raphael the cambion and "his final act". this is being randomly and spontaneously written in my notes app so please excuse the absolute chaos that this essay will be (no i won't be rereading it, fuck it we ball) (CONTAINS BG3 ACT III SPOILERS!!)

first of all — i am so beyond devastated that he gets killed. and not just by anyone, he gets killed BY US. THE PLAYER. WE AS THE PLAYER DELIVER THE FINAL BLOW THAT ENDS HIS EXISTENCE. not only is that very upsetting (because come on, hot devil man, obviously i don't wanna kill him??) but it also makes me feel so.. awful. like, everything about this is wrong and i hate the fact that there is no other option.

because let's review the course of the story in the house of hope:

- we barge into his house unannounced, uninvited, while he is absent

- we invade his privacy by entering what's his own personal space (yes, i know he stole it from Hope in the first place but that is not the point here — whatever his devil business is, it's still HIS, you know?? like he is a devil, this is the kinda stuff they do and honestly? i didn't want to stick my nose into it. but obviously i did because tHe sToRy etc etc. but still, it was his own thing that basically doesn't affect the player in any way so TECHNICALLY you dont have to free Hope. you can, if your character's moral compass advises so, but it doesn't affect the main plot.)

- we then proceed to walk around his house freely, lie to his archivist in order to look at the stuff we're already planning to steal

- we meet his personal incubus whom then we have the chance to either use or kill (i fought Haarlep so that's the point of view i'm looking from at this here, in which case i also robbed their corpse) and we rob his safe. and his whole bedroom actually. we read his journals. we use his bath.

- then obviously we go and rob his entire archive which includes all of his most precious possessions

- upon stealing, we slaughter every single creature in his house, fighting our way through to get to Hope's prison

- we then kill the two spectators he has guarding her (they were probably super hard to obtain??) and we just. free his prisoner. because yeah, that is the right thing to do, IM NOT SAYING THAT'S WRONG, but let's say we skip morality for a second, let's just focus on the fact that we have no ulterior motives in freeing Hope. we just wanna mess with HIS business because why not since we're already ruining all of his plans.

- and then we have the audacity to try to leave before he comes back and act like we were never there while his entire house is turned to shit.

now let's look at this list again but this time keep in mind the fact that at that point, he hasn't done A SINGLE THING to us. like, he has never harmed us, he treated us with (let's call it) "respect" and politeness, he was fine with our hesitation towards his deal and was willing to give us time. he was never aggressive towards us, he was never "the enemy".

and now you can say - okay wtf is wrong with you, that man literally admitted his intention of conquering the worlds, enslaving all mortals and basically becoming the tyrant of all while also most likely stealing everyone's souls for his own pleasure.

yes, he did, and yes, that's bad. but just because those were his intentions does not give us the right to do all that shit to him AND THEN KILL HIM. AS IF WE HAD THE RIGHT TO SERVE JUSTICE HERE?? YEAH HIS PLANS ARE EVIL BUT IT IS NOT UP TO US TO DICTATE HIS CONSEQUENCES. HIS PLANS WOULD ONLY SUCCEED IF WE GAVE HIM THE CROWN IN THE END, SO JUST- DON'T?? LIKE DO YOU GET WHAT I MEAN. IM NOT TRYING TO JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS OR INTENTIONS, BY ALL MEANS. i'm just trying to express how weird this all made me feel because not everyone decides to play as the selfless, lawfully good hero of all, protecting the world from all evil, ever! this is roleplay, afterall!

and them obviously he comes home. he is furious, as he should be. but mostly he's betrayed because, as weird as it may be, he trusted us. he admitted to growing "quite fond of us, in his own way". he thought we were some weird sort of.. acquaintances? friends maybe? (again, i know most of our relationship with him is mostly just him manipulating us but still, it's quite clear he wasn't expecting this betrayal) and we just barged in there and disrespected him in the worst way possible. so obviously he wants to kill us now and obviously we can kill him since he's just a boss in a game. and that's what we do. and then.. that's it. we're the good guys. we ruined a man's whole career because we needed one of his toys, murdered him in his own house and just left. and we're supposed to be the good guys.

i think the source of my problem is that Raphael is never introduced as evil. we don't meet him as the big bad villain that we know we'll have to kill at some point. i swear to god, at the beginning of act 3 i trusted that man way more than i trusted the Emperor and i was so close to agreeing to his deal just because i felt like i could trust him and he would keep me safe (for some reason, let's blame it on those wonderful eyes of his).

we meet him so early on in the game and he follows through all 3 acts, making it feel like he's gonna be some key character that will matter in the end - turns out, no! we were just supposed to rob and kill him. and that's literally it. talk about wasted potential.

when i first met him i got the "unofficial narrator" vibes from him, as if he was only supposed to seem intimidating and "evil" but you could sense there was so much more to him and i was dying to see how his story would unwrap. i was so ready for a redemption act, a plot twist, anything. man was i disappointed. because how cool would it be if he turned out to be a part of the "gather your allies" quest?? imagine having him as an ally and an ACTUAL friend in the end??

and don't even GET ME STARTED on what the orb in Helsik's shop shows you after you kill him. the fact that he's not even dead yet but ABOUT TO BE DEVOURED BY MEPHISTOPHELES. ABOUT TO BE DEVOURED. BY HIS FATHER. HE. WHAT. THATS THE ENDING HE GETS. and we are the ones that served it to him when he got RIGHTFULLY pissed at us for doing all that shit to him. and im supposed to just be fine with it?? i'm supposed to feel like this was the ending he deserved and i did the right thing??

god what i would give for a different way. idk. striking a new deal with him. saving him from Mephistopheles afterwards. REDEMPTION ARC?? ANYTHING?? NO? THATS IT THEN?

now i know that you dont HAVE to kill him, you can either agree to his deal or just ignore him and the house of hope altogether. but that just defeats the whole purpose of this character?? agreeing to his deal and giving him the crown at the end results in a pretty bad ending and ignoring him means that yeah, you don't have to kill him but you also don't get anything else from him anymore. like he has no other endings, just either death or his big evil plans. and for a game with so many choices and so much branching, it just feels almost weird that that's all he is there for. then why do we meet him in act 1? why does he follow through to act 2? (yeah, astarion, i know, but i cant help but feel like they could have put a completely different way to read his runes there if they didnt want Raphael specifically to help us) WHY ARE WE ALREADY SO USED TO HIM BY THE TIME HE PRESENTS HIS DEAL? if the whole hammer business is the only thing he's in the game for, then we may have as well been introduced to him only in act 3 during the whole Voss quest. but we knew him already and he felt like some sort of a.. friend lets call it? idk. this just does not make sense to me and makes me genuinely so sad.

as i'm writing this, it's the third day after ive completed the house of hope and i literally can not think about anything else. like my mind is just going on and on about this and i cant get over it!! im actually GRIEVING a fictional devil and i dont know what to do with all these.. thoughts.

so now i actually genuinely MISS THAT MF. I MISS HIM. GIVE HIM BACK. I WASN'T DONE AND NEITHER WAS HE. PLEASE PLEASE LARIAN I CAN FIX HIM—

okay i think thats it for now. idk i wrote this so chaotically i already forgot what i said and didnt say. im just. im feeling so many things. im so fucking sad and mad that this is how it ends. rest in peace hot devil man i will never forget you.

[goldenfox3]

Now since I just did this for Falcon of course the question of top/bottom dom/sub Stewart is at the forefront of my mind now LMAO. This one kind of went into some tangents about Stewart's attitude towards relationships in general but. Here we go again, canon and hc-based analysis of the all-important question of:

Would Dr. Stewart be a top or bottom, sub or dom?

SNES

Just like Falcon I think Stewart is at his most cocky here. Brash bleeding into arrogant seems to be a common personality for pilots, no idea why /s. Stewart in the SNES comic is bold, flamboyant, unafraid to heckle his rivals…and also perfectly confident declaring to the world that he's racing to honour beautiful women everywhere. LOL. This lends him the image of a bit of a player, specifically the bored rich boy type since he's fresh out of his surgical career at this point (age 31). The concerns of making money or saving lives aren't at the top of his priority list right now—he wants excitement, thrills, something that will actually give him a challenge. Because apparently he was so godly at surgery that it became ho-hum to him. LMAO. Although SNES era means Stewart is also fresh after his dad's death and racing in the vehicle his father left him. It never explicitly says whether Kevin was a pilot himself (it wouldn't be in F-Zero, but something else) or whether Kevin was just a scientist who designed mach speed vehicles, but carrying on his father's legacy is something deeply important to Stewart and another reason behind the sudden career change beyond simple dissatisfaction.

With all that in mind, I think Stewart at this age would definitely have a lot of sexual experience, though more on the end of short-lived flings vs committed relationships. He's out looking for a good time and isn't ashamed about it. If he finds someone attractive he'll shoot his shot. I see him as both adventurous and flexible in terms of what he'll get up to in the bedroom. He's an adrenaline junkie with a thing for danger, there aren't many kinks he won't try though he definitely has his own preferences. Top or bottom isn't really important to him and would mostly just be based on what he's feeling like that day or if his partner has a stronger preference. He's a switch he's not picky. Though I do notice I have a tendency to write him as a bit of a size queen lmfao. He knows what he wants and he's not afraid to go after it, whether it's racing or sex. He also knows he's hot and he's not afraid to show it LMAO whether that means making someone beg for his cock or shaking his ass at them and getting railed into the mattress or just pushing them down and riding him and taking what he wants for himself.

SNES Stewart absolutely has a dominant personality both in and out of bed though lmfao like whether he's topping or bottoming he's gonna be demanding. He's gonna be fussy and hold you to his high standards because why waste time with subpar sex when there's better ways to get the pleasure he's after? I don't think he'd like walk out in the middle of something but you wouldn't be seeing him again after that. In terms of domming yeah I really believe he does it easily. He's already demanding normally but he can also be a more gentle dom if the mood hits. Even outside of him being in the medical profession I see him as a gregarious and caring person who likes to look after others (some would call it being nosy). So yeah he can be the type of dom who whips you and calls you names or he can be the type of dom who pets your hair and coos that you're such a good boy. Or both at once. Honestly I feel he's more dominant with men and more submissive with women and as for those that are neither it depends on their specific dynamic. I can also see him being a (very) bratty competitive sub with men on occasion, while with women it's easier to get him to submit because he really does have that old fashioned gentleman feel to him with the roses and everything lmao. As for domming it's a stricter sort of dom with men and a gentler sort with women, but the women would have to ask him to do so first because he really would be out here looking to get his ass kicked by a big beautiful amazon LMAO.

Once again plugging my own work here lmfao but I have a specific mental image of Stewart in riding gear that really drives my mental vision of him as a dom. It's GX Stewart which I will get to later but. Behold.

Anyways on the emotional end Stewart doesn't necessarily associate sex with attachment or romantic feelings, as long as all parties are consenting everyone's just here to have a good time, no strings attached. He can get romantic if he wants to but at this age I don't think Stewart is looking to settle down. It's not that he's incapable of it, I just think that he'd be unaware or perhaps even purposely avoiding it. The death of his father affected him very deeply and is something that weighs on him even in GX 11 years later. I think he knows on some level his response isn't "normal", that his grief is bogged down by the guilt of not being able to save his father regardless of whether or not it was even physically possible for him to (I hc his father died in an accident when Robert was otherwise occupied). He keeps things light and casual because he doesn't feel ready to throw himself into that deep of an attachment to someone and have them vanish from his life again. I'm not saying he had some kind of complex about his father, but rather that that degree of emotional closeness is something he's not yet ready for here. Maybe, subconsciously, he does want someone to hold close and come home to. Maybe he does want someone to impress and show off for and shower in roses and affection.

But he's afraid to have it. The very idea of settling down is something that seems antithetical to the risk-taking daredevil who left the stability of his prestigious, high-paying career to careen around the track in a new sport with a high risk of injury and death and no guarantees in terms of fame or fortune. Thirty-one isn't old at all but it also isn't fresh into adulthood young. Maybe his friends and peers are starting to think about settling down now, but he hasn't left the wild fervour of his youth yet. It's too early to call this a midlife crisis but in a way it sort of is lol. He's close to my age at this point so I feel like I can speak a little about the age-related sentiments he might have here. Clinging to the freedom of youth while you still can, wanting to shake up the monotony of the life you've found yourself living for the past decade or so. Not being prepared to give up that freedom, trying stubbornly to be independent.

To get Falcon/Stewart flavoured again, if Falcon is someone who wants to be kept, Stewart is someone who wants to do the keeping, but both are afraid of just that. Falcon afraid of being tied down (figuratively) and losing his freedom, Stewart afraid of driving the other away. Stewart would love to have someone to coddle and spoil and dote on, someone to hold close and keep safe, someone he can have faith isn't going to vanish from his life. At the same time he is deathly afraid of admitting this to both a potential partner and to himself. He wants to maintain the cool and suave persona he's got. Emotional vulnerability doesn't come easily to him despite how willingly he supports it in others. Admitting he has that sort of vulnerability would be like "losing", especially in a situation where he knows (or at least thinks) that the emotional desire is one-sided and his partner isn't as invested as him and would be driven away by such a thing. This is the thrust of the main conflict simmering beneath the surface in Living in the Fast Lane lmao.

What does this have do do with domming/subbing? Well I feel like his usual domineering personality would become more submissive and/or tender in the face of someone he cares for this deeply. Stewart likely isn't really used to being the one looked after, he's the one who does the saving and the looking after. So to have someone return his affections and even take care of him would get him a bit flustered. To have someone express that they want to keep him or be kept. This is especially noticeable in the case of Falcon since Falcon is the younger partner.

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X

Ten years later post Huge Accident, we've got a Stewart (age 41) who seems more muted but also more settled. He's been doing this for a decade now, he's surer now about his passion and about what kind of image he wants to put off. After saving so many people in the Huge Accident I think he's got more pride in who he is now—someone who may have left the surgeon profession to pursue his own passions but hasn't completely left the path of saving lives. I also think this is where his social network really opens up lmao like so many different people owe him their lives now. I like to think he's got a bunch of weird friends of all kinds of species and statuses who wouldn't be caught dead in a room with each other but they're perfectly friendly with Stewart alone. This is where you start to see the kind and charismatic surgeon that just naturally charms people versus the more try-hard aura of his younger self.

I don't think he entirely stops being a flirt but he's definitely calmed down a lot on the sexual activity since his SNES days lol. The brash cocky attitude has mellowed into a more quiet confidence. He's still a man who knows what he wants and will go after it, but he doesn't have as much need to posture. He does still like to show off a little and that's why I still think he leans more towards dom than sub—I think he'd be very proud of successfully playing a scene through and giving his partner(s) the time of their life. Still a switch, that's something that never changes. The demanding high maintenance side of his younger days isn't prominent anymore, he's got more of a mature and laid back aura now, but he still does have standards lmao. Subpar sex is still a personal affront to him, he's out here to blow minds and won't stand for merely giving or getting a "satisfactory" experience.

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GX

This is furry Stewart /not joking. Ok for real though he always had the Golden Fox but now he's really leaning into the fox theme with his kitsune no me and his fox point hair and everything lmao you cannot tell me that man is not at least a bit of a furry. I don't think he like fursuits or actively thinks about having a fursona or anything or involves it in the bedroom but yeah Stewart we all know you have a special interest in foxes. Besides that I think his receiving end kinks are like being bound and/or gagged, mild painplay (whips/crops/paddles/spanking/nipple clamps), being stepped on, maybe CBT, edging, basically stuff that gives him a little thrill without permanently injuring. On the giving end he will also do everything I just mentioned along with like. Prostate milking. And begrudgingly slutty nurse/doctor/whatever medical roleplay although he will be salty and complain about it LMAO. Only giving also he will NOT be on the receiving end of medical roleplay he will literally just snark and criticize the entire thing it's already enough of a concession getting him to de-professionalize the doctor persona for the bedroom. He's still very much the same thrill-seeking daredevil he was at heart though. I want to make a joke about this manifesting in him going after "bad boys" here but it's not really a joke LMAO. I toss Sword and Scalpel at you which (for once) is Goroh/Stewart—despite how bumbling Goroh is portrayed as, the danger he presents is real and I think the constant threat of that would be something that pulls Stewart in. As well as being able to be insufferably smug about how he "tamed" such a dangerous person. And of course Falcon is a mysterious bounty hunter with many enemies who becomes a near god. Danger!!!

Besides that though he's still a switch and still leans more towards dom than sub. In fact I would argue that despite being less adamant about being a dom here he's even more suited to being a dom at age 42 than at 31. Mostly because I think the weight of years lends his dominant aura more intensity I think lmfao. It's the quiet confidence of a more mature man who's completely sure of himself and his role. The absolute certainty that his commands will be followed backed up by years of barking orders in the operating room. Yeah he's been out of it for a long time by GX but like the genial demeanour underlaid with a spine of steel just projects the aura of "can and will dom you into a shivering mess" better than swaggering hotshot SNES Stew ever could. He'll still sub if his partner desires it but I don't think it's something he just naturally falls into, now more than ever.

A note on his emotional state again: at 31 or 42, Stewart is still very attached to his father's memory. By GX he's had the time to mourn properly and come to terms with it more, but he's clearly still not "over it" if his constant comments about his dad and interview response about talking to his grave regularly are anything to go by. He knows that he should've maybe moved on a bit more by now, but he's mostly accepted that this is just how he is, regardless of whether it's "healthy" or not. The guilt still lingers, but it's something he doesn't really think about much anymore beyond a faint regret. However, it's absolutely something that still subconsciously affects his behaviours around getting into committed relationships.

He has a lot of friends and spends time with any of them on a regular basis. He listens to their troubles and offers advice when asked, and he even talks about himself as well. His deepest, darkest feelings though, the possessiveness driven by a fear of abandonment…I don't know if there's anyone he's told those to. They're buried deep within the years, and he probably is aware of them at least on some level and is afraid such ugly, controlling, demanding urges will drive away whoever he ultimately gets the most attached to. That's something he hasn't grown out of and the one area he feels less than confident in. This is what's happening to him in Thousand Five atm and something he's having to come to terms with more in regards to the growth of his possessive feelings towards Falcon scaring him ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

By this age he's not the same as the (in his opinion slightly embarrassing) person he was in his younger days. He's kind, understanding, respectable, and above all someone who wants to hold his most precious person close and never let them go off into danger or at least not without him by their side to patch them up if something goes wrong. He doesn't want to know what the guilt of not being able to save a loved one would feel like a second time, regardless of if it's beyond the realm of possibility and responsibility. And he's still surprised to be the one looked after rather than the one doing the looking after. I think by this point he's not really into the casual flings much if at all anymore and like still holds confidence in his good looks and scintillating companionship or whatever but having someone return the same depth of affection as he holds for them would still fluster him.

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ANIME

Anime Stewart is more of an overt "nice guy", less smug and a lot mellower than his mainverse counterpart. He doesn't have the same drive for thrills and danger, nor does he have the same baggage over his father's untimely death. This Stewart is just out here vibing lmao he's one of the most well-adjusted characters in the series, though I will argue that when it comes down to it the claws and steel spine can pop out. So with that in mind I say this Stewart is a switch also, though leaning towards bottom. And on the spectrum of dom/sub I'd say he leans more towards sub. The only reason he ends up being a top/dom often in A Thousand Fiery Stars is because Andy is an even bigger sub/bottom than he is. Although Stewart has these tendencies, he's very adaptable and can slide into whatever role is desired of him in the bedroom. It's the getting him there first you gotta think about because his sex drive is pretty low unlike mainverse Stewart lmfao. I think he probably experimented a bit in his med school/cybernetics graduate school days and then didn't really bother much with sex after that. It's nice but it's not something he really needs in his day to day life when he has other things occupying his time.

Despite being the vice commander of an elite special ops force, Stewart isn't very domineering and snapping out orders like Jody does isn't really his style. He's the team dad to Jody's team mom, with her being the strict parent and him being the gentle one. He's deeply nurturing and caring at heart. We actually get to see him at people's bedsides here, yelling at his team to abandon him to die to save themselves, holding Clank close as Clank sobs his eyes out, and throwing his life to the mercy of their greatest enemy on the slim chance that someone who wasn't even his direct responsibility (Roy) could be saved. Not to ramble about Andy/Robert again but this is why I'm so fond of that pairing lmao like. You have Andy the caregiver. And you have Rob who is going to determinedly override his guilt and protests and care for that caregiver.

He may not be domineering, but Robert is a lot more stubborn than he might seem from his laid back demeanour, once again bringing up the example of him going to Dark Million's base against his team's advice when usually he's the calm and level-headed one. He also stubbornly tried to solve the whole Blood Falcon deal by himself (unsuccessfully) because he considered it his fault and his failure. Despite the outward softness, it's this Stewart and not the mainverse one who has (maybe) killed people and is prepared to kill again. He also has hints of smugness flash through however briefly, like the time he had that smug little smirk bragging about his S-class booster while passing another vehicle lmfao.

All this is to say that while anime Stewart is someone often content to stay on the sidelines and play support, that doesn't necessarily translate to him being submissive in the bedroom (for example, Ryu most definitely is NOT content to stay on the sidelines and play support and he is definitely world's biggest sub/bottom). I feel like anime Stewart has more bite to him than the "generic nice guy" one might think he is in the anime compared to his mainverse self. It might not be as overt, but it's still there. We don't see him get riled up very often in the anime, but from the way he was mouthing off at Black Shadow when he was completely at his mercy makes me suspect that it's possible to rile him up enough to be less gentle of a dom than he normally would default to or more snarky of a sub than he'd normally default to. It's just a matter of riling him up ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Speaking of defaults, in terms of being a dom his default is gentle and caring as he is outside the bedroom. He's there to be kind yet firm. He doesn't necessarily need physical punishment to let you know when he's disappointed, he'll use his tone, words, and expression instead. If his sub gets things right, he'll heap them with praise, affection, and physical touch as a reward. He can be a little bit stricter if pushed but it doesn't come naturally to him. As for submitting, he isn't really one to be bratty or whiny or needy unless he's pushed into it. He'll beg if asked but it takes work to make him beg on his own. He's not a naturally demanding person and this comes through whether he's domming or subbing lmao. And I think also that sex is something very emotional to him, not purely physical, so if someone he loves is teasing him, winding him up, purposely goading him and making him desperate for it…yeah he'll get needy, greedy, becoming a carnally driven mess when the lust clouds his mind, all the stuff that the upstanding doctor wouldn't be in his public daily life. Similar to Andy it's really just fun to take a really unsexualized "clean" upstanding character and imagining them reduced to a pathetic lust-dazed puddle of goo. Do you understand my vision!!!