#i like the idea of them like. saying stuff without realizing the implications

[sillysnakebites]

sorry

[g3tj1nx3d14]

the people demand caitvi <3

usual warning, after warning is NSFW, pre is SFW may contain spoilers up to act three !!

SFW

• Caitlyn tends to call Vi really sweet things like “my love, darling, my Violet” and all that jazz. She likes that Vi’s not really used to that sort of elegant tenderness from anyone but her. She likes to whisper it in Vi’s ear as she hugs her from behind.

• Vi usually sticks to “baby, babes, sweetheart” with the occasional cupcake because it’s cute. But, she does find it absolutely hilarious to call Caitlyn the most strange, out of pocket pet names ever. “Sugar tits” is a favorite of hers, considering the wide eyes and loud “Violet!” it gets her.

• Vi can cook the basics very well. She thinks any fancy techniques are a waste of time, so she just sticks with what she knows. She’s never measured out loud a day in her life. She just knows.

• Caitlyn can make really good recipes, but it’s only recipes. Put her in the kitchen without a cookbook and she’ll be very confused. She knows a few familiar recipes from her family by heart, but if you asked her to make anything she doesn’t have a recipe for either on hand or in memory, she’ll definitely try! It won’t be edible, but it’ll be… food?

• Vi snores LOUD. Caitlyn has ear plugs loud. She also sleeps like she’s dead. Head back, jaw open, laid out. Caitlyn would check her pulse if she didn’t sound like a broken boat. She also sneezes SO loud, like a dad loud.

• Vi takes injuries well, almost scarily well, but she so gets man colds. You know the type- a fever of 101 and suddenly she’s laid out on the couch, covered in tissues, in four blankets, begging Caitlyn for chicken soup. “You wouldn’t get it, I really am dying this time!”

• Caitlyn has an extremely intricate shower routine. Thousands of dollars of soaps, lotions, scrubs, masks, all that. One time Vi got a long lecture after letting Isha (WHOS TOTALLY ALIVE AND HAPPY.) make potions with them.

•Vi likes to do a lot of the physical stuff around the house. Not that she doesn’t think Caitlyn is capable- hell, she really is- but she likes to brag about it and flex her muscles when explaining that she fixed something.

now it’s freaky time

NSFW

• Vi is absolutely a boob guy. She’s not exactly subtle when staring. In fact, she’s genuinely one of the least subtle people ever. She’s a big fan of just randomly giving Caitlyn a huge from the back and coping a feel.

• Caitlyn definitely likes to use toys when she’s on top. Intricate ropes, gags, lacy blindfolds- everything’s pretty.

• Vi is the type to be just a little insulted if there’s any implication there’s stuff she couldn’t do without her hands, mouth, and a lot of dedication, but she eventually relents and tries them. Caitlyn accidentally created a monster with that, as she realized overstimulation was certainly her favorite thing when she was on top.

• Caitlyn likes to play music when she’s on top. She really likes to play a specific few songs. Vi quickly realized that Caitlyn— definitely not intentionally— had accidentally gotten her to get randomly turned on when hearing the songs. Caitlyn didn’t go into it with the idea to do that, but she found it really funny once she realized what it did. “It’s not mean, Violet. It’s payback for the time you called me sugar tits in front of my coworkers!”

• I see a lot of people say that Caitlyn would get back in her intimidating dress up when she’s on top, but I raise you— Caitlyn has always listened to authority. It made sense; she was practically born to follow the rules. She has a bit of a complex about making people proud of her. So— Vi putting on something similar to the whole intimidating outfit. Caitlyn never imagined she’d be very into being bossed around, and Vi never realized she liked it either, but the first time Caitlyn ended up on her knees, addressing her like some authority figure (I know Ma’am makes sense gender wise, but just tell me Vi wouldn’t like being called sir.) while Vi was still in the whole dark outfit? It’s a thing with them now.

• On a similar note, Caitlyn tends to listen whenever she hears certain cues. Heavy boots entering a room, a snapped finger, all that. It’s a lingering annoyance from her time working under certain people. When Vi realized this, she tested it out- and realized she could accidentally get Caitlyn’s full attention with just a little sound. She (with consent) loves to use this against her.

• Caitlyn has a bit of a habit of reading filthy books. She enjoys them— although she claims, for her own ego, it’s for the plot. Vi likes to sneak a look at whatever smut Caitlyn’s been reading and take tips from it to see if Caitlyn will react. Caitlyn noticed, and now whenever she finds a really good smut book, she’ll “accidentally” leave it open to a page she likes. (Only where Vi could find it, of course. The idea of anyone else knowing anything about her sex life is terrifying to her.)

[jenoslutie]

bad idea, right? l l.dh

❥ Synopsis: You swear you've moved on, you swear you're happy in your relationship. But why is Donghyuck still on your mind? and why are you in his bed again

❥ Genre: Ex FWB!Donghyuck, Bf!Jeno, angst, smut, ??? with benefits au, she is toxic.

❥ Warnings: disloyalty, blackmailing, suggestive but no actual smut, just a whole lot of shitty behaviour from mc, even more implications to recording during sex jeno x reader, haechan x reader. not a happy ending.

❥ Word count: 3.8K

❥ a/n: hellooo angels <3 so uh, this is part 2 of is it casual!!! i KNOW this is not what u guys wanted but i fear this is how the story went!!! as always, feedback is much appreciated :P !! also THANK U TO @be-my-sunrise and @hanniesbrat for letting me yap to you guys about this odd ass fic LMAO

You hated the fact your boyfriend was roommates with the man that ruined you. You hated walking into your boyfriend’s apartment and seeing his face there, staring back at you as if nothing ever happened. You hated having sex with your boyfriend knowing he could come home at any time and hear you. You hated the fact that he still thought that your boyfriend was your friend and treated him like one. 

Jeno, your boyfriend, has been nothing but the best to you. He comforted you through all the late nights you wanted to spend crying, he held you through every moment you spent crying over that fucker until you realized how much you really like him. No man has ever treated you the way Jeno has. No love has ever compared to the love Jeno has given you and you wouldn't trade it for the word. 

“Jeno, I really don’t want to see him, can you just come over instead?” 

That’s how alot of your nights went, 

baby <3: donghyuck told me i need to move out baby <3: he fucking sucks  baby <3: he said i need to break up with u or leave because he can't stand seeing u around 

you: what the actual fuck  you: i'm so sorry  you: he actually sucks so bad  you: you’re welcome to move in with me in the meantime  you: or however long u want you: i'm so sorry for dragging u into this mess jen you: seriously 

baby <3: it’s not your fault baby  baby <3: we’re in this together. 

“You packing up your shit or what, loverboy?” Donghyuck smirked, leaning against Jeno’s door frame. 

“Use your eyes, Donghyuck.” Jeno scoffed, not sparing him a glance. He continued to pack his stuff into his boxes. 

“Oh, don’t forget to pack your girlfriend’s clothes! In Fact, I might have some in my room too, you want me to bring them to you?” 

“Fuck off, Donghyuck.” 

One thing you know for sure is Donghyuck fucking sucks. If he didn’t make that clear the first time around. You’d say you wish the worst upon him. However, some nights, you get deep in your thoughts and thoughts about your relationship with Donghyuck and you miss it. But one thing never changed, you always had Jeno by your side, every time, without fail. 

“Jeno, what if I never met you?” 

“Where’s this coming from?” He chuckled, pulling you in closer and kissing your head for reassurance. “I’m sure i’d find you one way or another, you're my person” 

It was little things like this that made you fall for him. You truly believe Jeno was the one for you. No one treated you half as good as he did. 

“I never want to leave you, angel. You’re mine forever” You smiled, cuddling closer to Jeno, you smiled to yourself when his scent hit you. He smelled heavenly, like he always did, the same comfort and warmth that drew you into him in the first place making you desire him even more today. 

unknown: hey unknown: i'm sure you know who this is unknown: we need to talk unknown: don’t tell jeno. 

Your heart sank. Donghyuck? It can’t be. 

you: who is this? 

unknown: [attachment: 1 video]  unknown: remember me? 

Your jaw dropped, clicking on the video to see you bent over the sink in a bathroom you could never forget, ever. Your hair a mess, you're deliriously calling yourself ‘his forever’. You fucking hated that he had anything to black mail you with such as this. You hated yourself for giving him that type of power. 

you: donghyuck. you: we have nothing to say to each other  you: dont try to contact me again

unknown: you’d be fine with me sending this to your boyfriend though, right?

Immediately, you called him. He was sick in the head and only got more and more out of hand. 

“Donghyuck, you’re not fucking funny” you spat, venom laced in every word

“Funny? Babe, who said I was trying to be funny?” He chuckled “I’m serious, did you forget your little boyfriend lives right next door?” 

You heard him knock on the wall, screaming out your boyfriend’s name.  “Jeno!” 

“Shut the fuck up!” A faint voice in the back. 

“Fuck off, Donghyuck.” And with that you hung up, falling back onto your bed with a sigh. 

“Jeno stop! They’ll hear us” You giggled, lightly pushing Jeno’s head away from his spot in between your legs. He’d been trying to get you worked up through your clothes the whole time youve been over at his apartment. This was the last week of him living here before he officially moves in with you and you both were ecstatic. Last week you’d have to see his face, last week you’d have to be in constant fear that he’ll overhear you and Jeno having sex and last week you’d have to even think about him.  

“We’re alone, baby” he pinned your arms down with one hand. “Let me eat you out baby, promise you’ll be good?” You gave in, nodding at the promise of Jenos mouth on you. 

“I’ll be good.” 

Jeno was talented with his tongue. His technique was unlike any other. He knew how to have you arching into his touch, begging for more, cumming within seconds. You’d describe him as a walking sex god. His way of having you craving more was unmatched. And you don’t think you’ve ever had anyone quite like that before. Not even Donghyuck. 

“Stop thinking about that fucker” Your boyfriend frowned, he could read you like a book and you genuinely dont know how he does it “He doesnt matter right now, it’s just you and me baby” 

‘I love you, Jeno” 

“I love you more than you can imagine, baby” 

He kissed you hard, taking your mind off anything you’d been thinking of before. All you could think of Jeno’s mouth on yours, kissing you with everything he had. Within a moment, Jeno had you undressed, laying under him in all your naked glory. Smiling your love drunk smile at him. Jeno trailed kisses down your body, all the way down to your pussy. 

“Jeno?” you called out, looking down at him with big, innocent eyes. 

“Yes, baby?” he smiled at you sweetly, starting to trail his tongue along your slit, “Pretty, pretty pussy” he mumbled under his breath. 

“Please fuck me already, I cant wait anymore. I need you in me” You pleaded, knowing your boyfriend would do anything but deny you anything.  

“God, I love you. Anything for you baby” He took no time before hovering over you again, pressing a soft kiss to your mouth. “My angel, all mine.” 

“She’s yours?” A voice suddenly interrupted you, a voice that was all too familiar. Jeno’s body hurriedly covered yours, protecting you from the eyes of the intruder. 

“Donghyuck, get the fuck out” Jeno spat. 

“No, If i remember correctly, she’s mine” 

“I was never yours,” You countered, pulling Jeno onto you closer. 

“Oh yeah? You want me to show you the video? As far as i know, your little boyfriend here still hasn’t seen it” 

You felt Jeno freeze, “What video?” Jeno asked you, looking at you with nothing but confusion in his eyes. 

Donghyuck kissed his teeth, “Oh, guess I shouldn't have brought that up right now. right, Y/N?” 

“Donghyuck, just get the fuck out.” 

Jeno pulled away from you as soon as Donghyuck left. 

“What video?” He repeated, looking into your eyes with the same hurt that you once looked into his with.  “Donghyuck recorded a video of us the last time we fucked, it was at his parents house on christmas, remember? Well, basically in the video he made me say I’m his forever. And he wont stop blackmailing me with it” 

Jeno sighed. “He's blackmailing you?”  

“Yeah, look.” you reached for your phone to find the messages Donghyuck had sent you the other day. You looked away from Jeno, feeling ashamed from the whole situation. Donghyuck apparently lived to humiliate you, never letting you catch a break from his antics. 

“Baby, I’m so sorry.” He hugged you, pulling your naked body against his own. “You could’ve told me sooner, I could’ve dealt with him myself” Tears were threatening to slip from your eyes, feeling overwhelmed by Jeno’s loving words and Donghyuck’s bullshit. 

“But i couldn’t, Jeno” Full on sobbing now, you let the tears fall freely down your cheeks. “I was too scared, he’s insane Jeno” Jeno just hummed, rubbing your back reassuringly. 

“You’re not mad?” You asked 

“It’s not fair of me to be mad, this happened before we were dating, it’s not fair for me to hold that against you.” He smiled, pulling away to look at your red, puffy, tear stained face. “My baby. Not his, I promise I’ll get us out of here as soon as i can” 

donghyuck: i heard u and ur little bf were on a break  donghyuck: i think i have some ways to make your break worthwhile babe

you: i'm not your babe. donghyuck.  you: plus, you’re the reason we’re on break in the first place. you: dont contact me again, please. 

donghyuck: you know you miss me y/n.  donghyuck: don’t you miss the way i made you go crazy?  donghyuck: remember the time in my car? after i caught you kissing that fucking loser chenle? donghyuck: you were on me like you needed me to breathe. you can’t even deny it.  donghyuck: now open the door baby, i’m outside. 

You were quick to open the front door, seeing Donghyuck standing infront of you with that stupid fucking smirk on his face. He knew that was your weakness. He knew he was your weakness. 

“Miss me?” You hated his cocky tone. You hated that you actually opened the door for him. You hated that you actually did miss him. He let out a chuckle at your silence, he knew how to read you like none other. Not even Jeno. 

“C’mon, let me in. You know you want to” You hated yourself for actually stepping aside and allowing him into your house, into your safe space. Memories of the endless nights you spent crying over him in the safety of your own house all blurry. 

“H-Hyuck..”

 “Oh? We’re back to Hyuck now?” 

“Is it bad that I want you to kiss me right now?” Your words were hushed but loud enough for him. 

“Yeah?” You nodded, looking down at your feet, too scared to look at him. “Why don’t you beg for it? Since you like to do that a whole lot hmm?” He smiled when he heard you whimper, inching closer to you slowly until he was close enough to wrap his arms around you. 

“Are you gonna beg or are you gonna make me wait longer?” Immediately, a sob left your lips “Hyuck, please kiss me. I missed your lips on mine so much” 

And without another word, his lips were pressing onto yours with the same intensity you craved, the same intensity that once drew you into him. You swear you almost fell for him again when he cups your face, tilting your head up and deepening the kiss. He began walking, lips still on yours forcing you to walk backwards blindly until suddenly you were falling back onto your couch where he followed suit. 

You pulled away, admiring the honey skinned man above you with a small smile. “I missed this” A soft smile mirrored the one adorning your face. 

“I missed you like crazy, no other girl compared to you”

“Why’d it take you so long to realize?” He paused, staring at you blankly. 

“Just– took me a minute..” with a sigh, he leaned down and kissed you again, trailing his hands under your shirt. Grazing your warm skin with his cold hands, sending chills through your body. 

“You gonna let me fuck you? Remind you how I'm so much better than your little boyfriend?” 

“He’s not my boyfriend.” 

“Oh? Last time I checked you were smitten over that guy” 

You hated where this conversation was going so you tried your best to change the topic, “You’re the one about to fuck me right now no?” 

“Shut u–” He was cut off by the sound of your phone ringing. 

Jeno. 

Jeno has given you space for almost a month now. Only sending you messages to check in on you occasionally. All to which you replied positively, ensuring him that you’ll be ready to get back with him soon. In reality though, you were nowhere near getting back with Jeno. You spent nearly every night of the past month in Donghyuck’s bed, either cuddled into him or you under him. Something about the way Donghyuck made you feel was unmatched and you’ll never get sick of saying that. 

You stepped into Donghyuck’s kitchen early in the morning, seeing him in just a pair of grey sweatpants with his back turned towards you. It didn’t take long for the waft of the pancakes he’d been cooking up to reach you. 

You gawked, “You’re making breakfast?” He turned to you, an unimpressed look on his face (though you could see him fighting a smile.) “Does that surprise you?” and you fought the urge to affirm that it does truly surprise you to see him doing something nice for you. 

Instead, you hummed, “No, not really.” With a small smile on your lips, you walked up to Donghyuck who had switched his attention back to the pancakes he had cooking on the stove, wrapping your arms around his bare torso. His skin was soft and warm under your touch. 

“Good morning, angel” He hummed, placing a hand over yours. The two of you swayed in a comfortable silence. This is how times with Donghyuck usually went, quiet and calm until he was suddenly kissing up on you, feeling up on you or begging to be inside you. 

“You wanna sit and wait at the table for me?” You chirped a “sure” and detached from him, making your way over to the dining table, sitting down on your favourite chair. 

baby <3: good morning angel baby <3: can i see you today?  baby <3: i miss you, wanna hear your voice so bad :( 

you: of course you can :)  you: actually, let me just call you right now. you can still come over later tho :P 

It didn't take long for an incoming call from Jeno to come through.  

“Good morning angel” You could hear his smile through the phone. A smile creeping up on your own face just from picturing the beautiful smile adorning his face. “Good morning, handsome” He chuckled, “You sleep well?” 

“You could say that..” You trailed off, thinking of the way you were cuddled into Hyuck last night, the warmth of his body keeping your own body warm. You slept better than you have in a while. 

“I miss sleeping with you” Jeno admits, the pout in his voice too obvious. You frowned, feeling the guilt take over you. 

“You can stay the night tonight if you want” You lowered your voice, hoping Hyuck wouldn’t hear all the way in the kitchen. 

“Oh, no, I still want to give you space! I think i’d be impeding a little if I were to stay the night” 

“I don't think so, you’re welcome to stay” 

You heard him sigh in relief, “Okay then, I’ll come by in a bit.” 

“See you soon, angel.” 

You bid your farewells and that's when you noticed Hyuck walking into the room. “Who was that?” He questioned, setting the two plates of pancakes down. You broke eye contact with him, focusing your  attention onto the pancakes in front of you. 

“I asked you something, you know?” 

“It was Jeno.” 

He hummed, wordlessly digging into his own plate of pancakes. You felt so guilty. This isn’t where you belonged. You belong next to Jeno, in his arms, under him, near him. You belong with Jeno. Someone who treats you like a proper human. But you found yourself running back to Donghyuck and you hated it. Worst part of it all? Donghyuck didn’t even know you and Jeno aren’t officially broken up. You’d been too scared to tell him, too scared of the possibility of losing Donghyuck in your life. So you’d decide it’s best if he doesn’t know your relationship with Jeno. It’s not even like it matters, right?

“What the actual fuck” Jeno gawked, looking down on his phone screen. He’d originally planned for today to be a rest day after the hell of a day he had at work yesterday but his peace was disrupted when suddenly he got a text from his ex roommate. 

donghyuck: hey jeno  donghyuck: its me donghyuck donghyuck: i know you might hate me right now but you might wanna see this.  donghyuck: [attachment: 1 video]  donghyuck: before you come for me, i had no clue you guys weren’t officially broken up at the time of this  donghyuck: im sorry jeno. 

Attached was a video of a girl, naked body on all fours as the person behind the camera (presumingly Donghyuck) pounded into her from behind. The problem? The problem was the girl had the same hair as you, the same body, the same everything as you. Even that little tattoo on your shoulder that read “delicate” in a beautiful cursive font that Jeno had helped pick out. Everything was you. 

jeno: donghyuck.  jeno: thanks for this… i genuinely can't believe it. 

Within a heartbeat, Jeno was pulling up your contact. 

baby <3: hi angel  baby <3: can i come over? i left my hoodie at ur house and i need it

you: sureeee thing!  you: let me know when ur abt to reach <3 

Jeno, furious, hurriedly grabbed his keys and got in his car. He thought after what you’d been through, you’d know how it feels to get your heartbroken like this. He’d expected you of all people to be better than this but no, you had to be the absolute worst of them all. He thought maybe you of all people would keep his heart safe but no, you clearly gave no fucks about him or his heart. 

He managed to calm down by the time he got to your apartment. Breathing in and out before ringing the doorbell. 

“Hi Jen!” You chirped, allowing him in. You were wearing an oversized shirt that exposed your newly tattooed shoulder. The same tattoo that was visible in the video. Jeno’s heart sank the more he looked at you. The girl he once gave his heart, his love, his everything to, is the one who he’s currently dreading speaking to. In other words, he hates you right now. Hate was one word he would’ve never imagined using with you. 

“You okay, love?” you frowned, wrapping your arms around him tightly, pulling him close into you. He hated the innocent look on your face as you peered up into his own. He had a soulless look in his eyes. “I’m fine,” He forced a tight lipped smile, peeling your arms off him. “I’m gonna– uh, grab my clothes.” 

You watched as he walked into your room and went straight for your closet, rummaging through to find his hoodie. 

“Jeno” You started, walking into the room behind him. “What’s wrong? Talk to me baby,” 

Jeno sneered, turning around to look at you with narrowed eyes. “What's wrong Y/N?” His voice raised, he wasn't yelling but it was clear that he was upset. “What’s wrong is while I gave you space to figure out your shit with Donghyuck, you went out and were fucking him. While continuing to lead me on. Isn’t that wrong, Y/N? Don’t you think I deserve any loyalty? Any love in return? While I sat here, impatiently waiting for you to come back to me, you were taking advantage of it and fucking the reason we were on break. Don’t you remember how we met in the first place? All those nights I spent being a shoulder for you to cry on, being there for you every step of the way. Don’t you think I deserve anything?” The hurt in his eyes was more than evident. You looked dumbfounded, eyes wide in shock as you stood frozen. 

“Jeno–” You cut yourself off, at a loss for words. Sighing in defeat, you gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I felt so incredibly guilty everytime, but something in me just couldn't stop. I hate myself for doing it and you deserve to hate me for it too but I’m so sorry.” 

“I loved you, Y/N. How do you think it feels when your girlfriend’s ex fling– or whatever he was, texts you randomly, telling you that your girlfriend had been fucking him the whole time you’d been on break? It’s not a great feeling, I’ll tell you that. Oh, and having to see a video of it? Even worse. I’m sorry Y/N but I don’t deserve this. I gave you my everything and you couldn’t even spare me an ounce of loyalty.” 

“Jeno, a-are you leaving me?” He felt like laughing in your face, do you seriously think he’ll stay after this? 

“Genuinely, do you think I’d wanna stay after the fact, Y/N? Honestly, I want nothing to do with you anymore. Consider us done.” He gave you that same, tight lipped smile, gathered his belongings and walked out your bedroom door. 

“Jeno!” You called out, he stopped in his steps, turning to look at you one last time “I’m so sorry, I love you.” Tears were threatening to spill from your eyes. 

“No, you really don't. Goodbye Y/N, don’t contact me again, please, for my sake.” And with that, he walked out your door, leaving you broken and in tears. You had no one to blame but yourself. If you hadn’t let Donghyuck in that day, you would have saved yourself from this mess, you would've still have Jeno in your life and you wouldn't be here, crying in your doorway. 

Filled with rage, you dialled Donghyuck’s number, he picked up on the second ring. 

“Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell me, Y/N?” He spat, you could tell he was angry. “You had me thinking this whole time, you’d broken up but in reality, you were leading on poor Jeno and still fucking me? How do you think that makes either of us feel? I know I did something wrong the first time around but this time? You fucked up, Y/N.” 

“Hyuck liste–” 

“Don’t call me, Y/N.” 

With that, he hung up. Your heart dropped, you felt as if you’d lost it all in the span of under an hour. All that you cared about in life had been ripped out of your hands with no one to blame but yourself. You hated what you’d done, hated what you’d done to these two poor men. Neither of them deserved it, especially Jeno and you had no way of going back in time and fixing it. 

[radicaldreemurrs]

ok you are going to have to elaborate on your transfem kris reading. like are they still nonbinary or are we making them a girl. bc if its the second one 😬

well, you're the one ascribing the binary of options here, you tell me.

obviously i'm not forcing them into a binary position, i too am a nonbinary transfeminine person, and also not an idiot. "nonbinary" is already an umbrella term with infinite depths of nuance (it has not been made clear if it's even one they identify with!!), and i think the only case in which kris would be "a girl" is being susie, who already has implications of nonbinary feelings going on with her, too!!

but kris is so, so visibly written to be read as having been coercively assigned male at birth. the chapter 3 egg sequence has signs that proclaim that "THIS IS A MAN'S WORLD", with one sign that feels almost hastily compensating: "NON-MEN ARE A-OK, TOO!" the way that noelle describes riding a ferris wheel with them as "forced", and how that hurts susie just as much (susie also has many implications towards being a trans woman violently alienated from femininity), is textbook internalized transmisogyny, with this idea that trans women are actually men preying on girls like noelle who can't fight back. NOT TO SAY NOELLE MEANS IT LIKE THIS, she probably doesn't realize how much what she's saying hurts and why it does, but her parents are not the most especially on the level with this stuff (rudy is kind of a misogynist even if he plays it off), so we can see where she gets it.

kris themself is also forced into a position of inflicting violence on monsters with a sword, a distinctly male role in older video games. the chapter 3 secret boss route elaborates on this a lot further, especially around their dysphoria based in being a human in a town of monsters, being someone who could quite possibly kill everyone in town without any difficulty, based on how humans are described in undertale. their struggles with identity are definitive to so much of the game, including ralsei, who as mentioned in a previous post is kris's gender feelings projected off of them and into their shadow so they can focus on the grim task at hand. but while having to deal with all of this, kris and ralsei have begun to develop apart, and kris is starting to see things they want to be outside of what ralsei is defined by, they're starting to break out of their old dreams and have new ones, ones about susie, dess, dogs. cool girls have an impact on them, they want to be something like that.

does this mean they have to be A Girl? no, there could be plenty of nuance to all of this, just like with anyone. they would still probably present androgynous, or at least like the cool older girl that wears flannel all the time. they might flinch away from wanting to be called a girl, and that would be completely understandable, because they are well within their right to have complicated feelings about it. don't just break it down into "are they Nonbinary or are they A Girl" as if that's not creating another visible binary. it's not so black and white. you can be many things. you can be a boy and a girl at once. no one can stop you from identifying however the fuck you want.

[signanothername]

honestly, both outcomes where either of the twins die are really interesting to me, yet NM dying and Dream inherenting all his stuff sounds better, somewhat. I mean, imagine Dream starts to heal and grow and the years pass by and he starts to fit into the true immortal role, perhaps even by his maturity starting to act like Nightmare in certain scenarios?

Fr fr same here, really love exploring these possibilities

And that’s exactly what I’m saying, and listen this may be a bit morbid to say, but I wholeheartedly believe that Dream can never truly start his healing journey (and eventually actually heal) until Nightmare’s dead

Cause in a sense, Nightmare is a walking living reminder of both the twins’ trauma and what became of them, and Dream can never truly rest until he stops worrying about the negativity and positivity imbalance that Nightmare’s causing, and once Nightmare’s gone, the balance of emotions is back on its track, and there’s definitely no bigger threat that can mess with that balance afterwards, and by extension, finally giving Dream the actual time to rest/relax, even if a little, considering Dream would definitely feel a bit anxious about the idea of “relaxing” (Dream will forever be a workaholic in my heart, plus his duty as a positivity guardian as well as the fact he’s incapable to stop being a people pleaser will forever haunt him)

But i can absolutely see him finally truly understand and view life in a more healthy manner, find his relationship with life in a way that’s actually meaningful to him, aside worrying about his duty as a guardian, I can see him actually and genuinely feeling what it is like to actually live and not just survive

And by god Anon you’re a fucking genius cause I can absolutely see Dream retaining some of Nightmare’s habits/quirks over time without truly realizing it, only for someone to else to point it out, and for Dream to find it heartwarming yet heartbreaking at the same time

The thing is, Dream becomes both the positivity and negativity guardian once Nightmare’s gone, and I can’t stop thinking about the spiritual implications of that, cause wouldn’t it technically mean Dream would feel his brother’s spirit throughout the negativity of the multiverse? Can Nightmare’s own negativity/positivity get extinguished really? When his memory and impact on positivity and negativity can never be truly changed? When Nightmare used to be a guardian himself? When Dream now has the other black apple half within himself?

Ok ok I’m stopping shhdhdh have another sketch cause Anon you have a big brain with the Dream starts acting like Nightmare idea

Dream doing the formal arms behind back Nightmare stand

Part 1 (technically)

Part 3 (kinda)

Part 4

[avelera]

So remember in season 1, Viktor has visions directly given by the Arcane and that's how he comes up with the idea of the Hexcore - and he also says that "the Arcane speaks through mages". So, even back in season 1, the idea that Viktor has been chosen by the Arcane was already alluded to! He was always on his way to becoming a mage, even before the Hexcore and the merge.

Do you think Jayce subconsciously felt it? Jayce, who was always so fascinated by magic that he was ready to commit suicide rather than live without it, who immediately told Viktor how "beautiful" magic was and then used that very word to describe Viktor himself in season 2 - did he realise that his fascination was always with Viktor in particular, do you think?

Oh man, Anon, there's SO many ways to answer this, where do I begin.

1 ) I wish we got more of what magic means to Jayce, because the tastes we get are so tantalizing and btw, I think the show gave us the right amount, it's for us to explore in fic and stuff after, but the implications are SO JUICY.

I absolutely headcanon (with evidence) that Jayce's evolution into wanting to create Hextech went like this:

Jayce as a kid: I want to be the mage who saved us! Look at my drawing of myself as a mage with a magic HAMMER just like my dad has, as the perfect fusion of everything I want to be when I grow up! :D

Jayce as a teen: I'm crushed to learn I have zero innate magical ability BUT I've still got this hammer and an entire upbringing as a member of a family of tool makers. What if there's a tool out there that would let me be a mage in another way? I will call it HEXTECH!! :D

Jayce as an adult: Now I have a degree, and a patron, and I have to be very careful about letting people know about Hextech because I'm from a city that was founded on a hatred of mages, so it needs to be presented to the world as TECHNOLOGY as meant for the BETTERMENT OF OTHERS. I can't be selfish, I have to draw inspiration from the mage who saved me by making magic about helping others. But deep down, part of me will always be that kid who didn't want to have to unlock magic with technology, who always wanted to just be the mage. Magic was secondary, the Mage was always the true first love, the true inspiration that changed my life, and I have been chasing that high ever since.

2 ) But one reason I wish we had gotten to explore this just a little more (cuz I'm an addict not because it would be a better story) is because I think there's a bit of an inherent tragedy to Jayce always wanting to be the mage and, in the process, falling in love with not one but two people who have the Arcane speaking through them?

Then you can also sort of loop it back around to a rather common queer awakening which is, "Do I want this person or do I want to be them?" and for years, Jayce thinking he wants to be the mage but once he's an adult, realizing part of that feeling was love, that he wants to be with the mage.

(And just to be super duper clear, Viktor rescued Jayce and then bounced out of there, immediately, I see Jayce discovering his feelings for the mage as being like a very early-days moment of inspiration that planted itself in his psyche and then years and years later, when he began to think about things like love for the first time, maybe then part of him realized that what he's mistaken as love for magic or Hextech was always love for the mage who saved him, on some level. I just want to be super duper clear that you can have an awakening moment as a child, something that will later define what you want out of life, without it necessarily being romantic at that point in life because I've seen some people be weird about it and I don't think that's what's happening there even if I think it's an element and now I'm rambling OK MOVING ON)

So Jayce has now canonically been in love with two mages and yeah, I think that is very much playing into my take and what we see in canon, he loves magic, but he loves the mage more, and maybe part of what worked as attraction for him was that he could feel the Arcane in them.

But I also wonder if spending so many years trying to find a practical, technological, scientific way to access magic obscured to Jayce the fact that it WAS magic? Like Viktor is right, they're treating magic like a tool, JAYCE is treating magic like a tool, because he comes from a family of TOOL MAKERS. To expand Hextech, they needed to think like mages. And Viktor is the first one to let the Arcane in, to let the Arcane set the course instead of them trying to bend it to their will (which maaaay have been a bad idea, I think the Arcane is way more complicated than that, yin-and-yang, requiring balance and they were actually meddling with forces they couldn't understand, clearly).

So to go back to your question:

1 ) Jayce thought it was the magic that was beautiful but it was ALWAYS about the Mage for him, and he got a fixation on mages after that which even HE isn't fully aware of.

2 ) I don't think Viktor was always destined to be the Mage, but that's a personal preference, I'm not a big fan of "magic genetics" in general and I vastly prefer systems where magic and fate is a choice. So I actually find it MORE BEAUTIFUL that Viktor becomes the Mage because of Jayce's love, because Jayce brought him in on Hextech, in the cycle of Viktor then taking the magic Jayce gave him to go back and save Jayce and inspire him with magic, like that's so tasty for me. But I also think sure, deep down, there was always a subliminal attraction to the Mage which could have played into Jayce's attraction to the person of Viktor, because they're the same person

[nonsscrapheap]

TFP: Universal Observations

AND THUS WE RETURN! you are not ready for this reaction, i wasn't. kind of, this premise has been on my mind for a while.

i'll be adding in the word count now! 4.1k words!

time for the revelations of the very vague polls! or at least one of them!

Optimus and Megatron Working Together (Wholesome) is... Actor Au.

WARNING! LONG POST!

ACT 1: Show Acting - I -

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

[ ENTER KEYWORD TO START UNIVERSAL OBSERVATION ]

Omega Outpost One

"Key word?" Ratchet hears Rafael murmur as he and the humans gathered together by Optimus' side.

The Prime still looked downcast, the look of horror on the mech's faceplate was something Ratchet never wanted to see ever again. He'd seen it before of course, each time was just as terrible as the last but there was just something even worse, knowing why Optimus had looked so horrified in the first place.

It wasn't everyday that you watched another version of yourself perform a horrible act that had taken a friend from you. That Optimus Prime, Evil Optimus Prime, was no Prime that Ratchet would ever have followed and Optimus needed to get it in his helm that despite looking similar to the mech on the screen aside from the obvious differentials, Optimus himself would never enforce Empurata on anybot. Not even the Decepticons. 

Then again, Ratchet could sympathize with Optimus' feelings on the matter. Although his own counterpart hadn't exactly done anything on screen aside from attacking Other Knock Out, the implications of his words and actions alone… It disturbed him to no end. 

The knowledge that in another world, an alternate version of oneself could be so different from you… It's a lot to take in. 

Another thing that was a lot to take in, was the existence and the function of the sphere. 

As far as Ratchet has come to realize and gather from what's obviously been shown, the sphere was nothing more than an observation device. A very powerful one, capable of showing alternate worlds and cataloging them for repeated use. 

If the sphere fell on Decepticon servos, Ratchet feared just what the Decepticons would see and how it would work in their favor. So despite its mysterious appearance, it was a blessing to have it show up in their base, but Ratchet still needed to know just where it came from and how it got into their storage without any of them knowing. 

It couldn't have been the humans, Fowler already had a catalogue of their Cybertronian tech and items since he was their liaison. The children obviously couldn't have been the culprit, seeing as they had no idea what it was…

But they were connected to it now. They were in control of the sphere, not completely though. 

"Okay so, remember how Miko said something about shatter and glass? That's what triggered the whole thing in the first place! So we just um, need to say words and see if it triggers something else?" Rafael exclaimed with shaky confidence, unsure about his own suggestion but it was solid in theory.

"Uh, Monkey? Apocalypse? Music!" Miko shouted, trying Raf's idea. 

.: Cybertron. Iacon? Racing! :. Bumblebee bleeped in offering as well.

"Uh… if that's the case, then it would have already taken in anything that we were saying by now." Jack said with a frown, watching the younger boy give a look of thought. 

"Honestly, I don't know if we should keep messing with it." Arcee admitted, looking at the sphere with obvious distrust and lingering unease. "Sure, the only function we've seen so far is what, looking into alternate worlds where the Decepticons are good while we're…" She couldn't finish, glancing at the still silent Optimus who grimaced at the reminder. "We should probably just- put it back into storage." 

"Aww, c'mon Arcee!" Miko exclaimed, hands on her hips. "Sure, the first world we saw wasn't- wasn't that good but like- this is an opportunity to see alternate worlds! Who doesn't want to see stuff like that?!" 

"I'm actually with Miko a bit here Arcee, this is- it's pretty cool. The world it showed us wasn't that peachy but like. Wasn't it really weird to see the cons acting like the good guys?" Jack laughed a bit awkwardly, and he had a point. It had been really strange to see the Decepticons act like—

[ KEY WORDS ; SHOW ACTING ]

They all glanced over to the screen in shock as it accepted two random words from what Jack had been saying. "Just what is with its intuitive parameters?!" Ratchet growled out, unable to make sense as to how exactly the sphere was parsing through speech to gain the 'key words'- Bumblebee and Miko had been suggesting things off the bat but it was Jack that triggered its function this time?! 

("It seems the Autobots have finally chosen something." Starscream muttered in disdain, eyeing the key words and wondering just what was going to be shown this time. Megatron said nothing, his optics narrowed and frame tense.)

[ The screen flared before catchy music played, the words 'TERRAN-TRON LIVE' plastering itself over the screen and then disappearing. A large femme was sitting on a couch with a human woman sitting beside them on a platform built onto the couch. "Good evening everyone! Welcome back to Terran-Tron Live! Your late night show interviewing celebrity guests and more. I'm Polly." The human exclaimed, wearing a suit and waving at the camera.

The femme smiled with her, waving as well. "And I'm Caster, and we're here tonight with some very special guests!" ]

All optics and eyes blinked at the sudden showing of two people, a Cybertronian femme and a human woman, that they knew nothing about. "What in the…" Bulkhead trailed off, confused as to why they were watching what seemed to be a late night talk show.

"A human and a Cybertronian? On television? Live?" Ratchet muttered, the implications of that was... Pretty positive, actually.

Optimus, though still a bit downtrodden, couldn't help but perk slightly and look at the screen with intrigued optics. 

Miko was practically jumping in place with excitement, "Oh! Since this is a talk show with both Cybertronians and humans then humanity must like, know about you guys now! You're famous heroes!" 

.: I guess? I don't think I'd like to be on tv though. :. Bumblebee said nervously, a bit self-conscious over his voice box. Millions of people, humans and maybe Cybertronians listening to him beeping? Half the audience wouldn't know what he was saying! He huffed when Raf patted his helm in comfort, the little human giving him reassurances that he appreciated.

("What exactly is this?" Megatron deadpanned, unimpressed by the showing so far. 'Terran-Tron Live', a cybertronian and a human working together like this? Reminds him far too much of the Autobots, not to mention the fact they were working with humans of all species…)

[ "Humans and Cybertronians, give it up for- the cast of Transformers: Prime!" Polly exclaimed, gesturing to somewhere and the screen changes to show four bots on a large couch. Two mechs and two femmes, on another platform close to the couch, there were three humans sitting on a smaller couch like Polly. All of them waved at the camera and audience, smiling. ]

Jaws were dropped at the sight of Optimus, Megatron, Arcee and Arachnid sitting on one gigantic, Cybertronian-sized couch while nearby, Jack, Miko and Raf sat on a smaller couch on screen. 

( "WHAT?!" )

Optimus' backstruts straightened at the sight of him and Megatron on screen, sitting close together in such an amicable setting- things were obviously different though. For one, Other Optimus looked more like Orion Pax instead of Optimus Prime. His frame was more civilian-like, but a bit bulkier than the data clerk had been and his colors were red and violet with silver instead of his own colors. Other Optimus was sitting back against the couch with his legs spread slightly, arm hanging on the back of the couch and had an amused smirk on his faceplate. He seemed so young compared to Optimus.

Other Megatron was so much more different, gone were the spikes that were the kibble for the warlord. Instead, standard kibble with a shinier silver plating. Gone were the scars and scuffs that Megatron wore with ease, and his optics weren't red nor were they blue. They were a honey-like gold instead, pairing well with the polite smile on the mech's derma. He too, seemed so much younger than he or even Megatron, his frame less bulky as well- not warforged, that much was obvious but still slightly bigger than Other Optimus. 

Other Arcee looked the most similar, but the sharp edges of her frame and armor were softened and instead of a mostly blue finish, there were sections of magenta and pink that decorated her plating.

Other Arachnid didn't look nearly as menacing as the Aracnhid they knew of, but nor did she look as gentle as the 'Shattered Glass' Arachnid they just saw. Her edges were softer, her extra legs were nowhere to be seen and the sheer fact she was just sitting there besides Arcee? Absolutely mindboggling. 

The children looked quite different as well! Jack's hair was a bit longer, and he was dressed in a more formal suit. Raf's usually untamable locks were brushed down, also in a formal suit, and Miko— they had all gotten so used to the girl's wildness, to Miko's signature pink-coloring on her head that seeing her hair curled and completely black actually made most of them do a double-take. Especially since Other Miko was dressed in a dress-suit combo in soft colors. 

[ "Go on guys, introduce yourselves to the lovely audience!" Caster encouraged, and the camera's changed focus accordingly. 

"Hey there everyone, I'm Orion Nox, I play Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots in Transformers: Prime." Orion said with a salute and a grin aimed at the camera. 

"Hello, I am Dion, I play Lord Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons in Transformers: Prime." Dion greeted with a smiling nod. 

"Hi there, I'm Cycla, I play Arcee, warrior-scout of the Autobots." Cycla winked at the camera with her arms crossed as she leaned back against the couch. 

"I am Venami, I play Arachnid, spider-bot Decepticon defector at your service." Venami said with a slight nod, chuckling when Dion playfully called out 'Traitor!' to her. 

"Hi! I'm Rumi Atsuhashi, I play Miko Nakadai, Bulkhead's human charge." Rumi said, waving excitedly at the camera.

"Antonio Garcias, I play Rafael Esquivel, Bumblebee's human charge!" Antonio chirped , seeming to be just as, if not MORE excited than Rumi. 

"I'm Jackson Darby, I play Jack Darby, Arcee's human charge. Yes that's my real name, no I didn't get it changed at any point of my life. I have always been, Jackson Darby. The only difference between me and Jack Darby is that I prefer to go by Jackson instead of Jack." Jackson said with a crooked smile, exasperated but amused, laughter was heard from his cast members, the hosts and and the audience. 

With each introduction, there was a brief clip from the show that showed them acting in Transformers: Prime as their respective characters. ]

"OUR LIFE IS A TV SHOW?!" Miko screamed loud and clear, eyes bugged out of her head as she saw herself- or well, her actor?? On screen? "OH MY GOD!" 

"I-I need to sit down." Arcee said, feeling more than a bit nauseous- not by the whole 'in another world our life is a tv show' thing though it was part of it, but by the sight of her and Arachnid- doppelganger actors be damned - just… sitting there. On the couch, not trying to maul each other to death. 

Even weirder; Optimus and Megatron were sitting on the same couch, looking much younger and different, very different in Megatron's case. Or, Dion? What the frag even is this world. 

The fact there were clips, clips of moments that had happened that showed besides each one… 

( Arachnid had no words, she simply left. Or tried to, but Soundwave wouldn't let her leave. All the other Decepticons, even Megatron, were trying to process what they were seeing. However, the warlord did give Arachnid a glare, remembering how her counterpart introduced herself. She grimaced, but said nothing. )

[ "Unfortunately we could only invite a few cast members here, some had conflicting schedules or other things to do and we only had a limited amount of room on set. Even with mass displacement, we'd get a crowd here going." Caster explained to the audience and onlookers, she turned to look at the actors. "Thank you once again for joining us here, it's a pleasure to meet you and an honor to have you guys on the show!" 

"Thank you for having us Caster, it's a pleasure to be here." Dion replied with a respectful nod.

"I've always wanted to be on a late night talk show- especially Terran-Tron Live! You guys are the best human-cybertronian night show hosts out there!" Antonio gushed, practically bouncing in place. 

Polly laughed, winking at Antonio, "The very first in fact, well, not really me but my ma. Bless her soul. She established the show almost forty years ago after the Cybertronian and Earth alliance. My ma wanted to host a show with a cybertronian the moment it was possible."

"And here I enter the scene." Caster preened, servos framing her faceplate before she waved her servo. "But enough about that, let's talk about you! And YOUR show- Transformers: Prime!" 

A picture was shown on a floating screen, of Optimus and Megatron posed for battle with several other bots in the background. Transformers: Prime was in blocky text above. "It's you!" 

"It's us." Both Orion and Dion chorused with amusement, glancing at each other. "Look, you can even see Cycla and Venami in the background." Orion called out, pointing to where Arcee and Arachnid were in the picture. 

Cycla laughed and pointed as well, "And if you squint really hard, you can even see the kids hiding behind that boulder in the corner." The picture zooms in to see Raf, Miko and Jack hiding behind a boulder with Jack holding Miko back from leaving the boulder. 

Antonio giggled wildly while Rumi and Jackson grinned. ]

Despite the boggling situation, a few of the team and even the humans couldn't help but snort at the sight of the bit with the humans- it was so like Miko to try and leave the boulder, and of course Jack was holding her back. 

Optimus in the meanwhile, couldn't get his optics off of Megatron and himself on the screen. Or rather, Orion and Dion. They looked so at ease with each other, sitting side-by-side with no care in the world aside from being interviewed. 

Seeing the Other Megatron had been surreal enough, that mech reminded him too much of the old Megatronus that Optimus still secretly craved to see once more. But this? This made his spark ache as it reminded him of the good times Orion Pax and Megatronus had together as close friends. Yes their frames were different, their names and even their mannerisms but the fact they 'played' Optimus and Megatron and looked incredibly liked them…

Not every world has us as enemies, old friend. Optimus thinks to himself in private, feeling incredibly emotional for reasons he cannot, would not, explain. A sense of aching relief yet bitter longing and resignation settled in his frame that he kept to himself. Struggled to keep from showing on his faceplate.

No one but Ratchet would be able to spot it, and luckily for the Prime, his medic was preoccupied with gawking at the screen.

( On a warship miles away, a warlord is assaulted with unwanted memories at the sight of Orion Nox. His thought process similar yet different, tinged with anger and contempt that hid the nostalgia and other emotions that he deemed unimportant and frivolous. )

[ "Question for the bots here- we've got two of the most infamous rivals in the show sitting right here. And both pairs have had histories in working together, tell me, is there an actual rivalry here in real life, like in the show?" Polly asked, peering at the Cybertronians sitting on the gigantic couch.

Orion laughed, "Not really, at least for Dion and I- we've worked together before in other projects and sure we've been casted as rivals as some but honestly we're pretty chill." He glanced over to Cycla and Venami, "Now Cycla and Venami on the other hand—" 

Cycla reached over Dion to smack Orion's knee, only to gasp in betrayal when Dion spoke up with an amused expression. "Oh there's definitely a rivalry going on between them. Not as bad as in the show but, they've been competing against each other for roles in other projects. I distinctly recall Venami being quite peeved when Cycla was chosen instead of her for one project." 

"Dion!" Venami exclaimed with annoyance, glaring at the silver mech who burst out laughing alongside Orion. ]

Was it incredibly petty to feel pleased that another version of herself, even as a bizarre actor in a bizarre world, managed to one-up the alternate version of the Con that killed one of her old partners? Probably, yet it didn't stop Arcee at all from feeling just the tiniest bit smug. She couldn't help it.

Just like how Optimus couldn't help but feel warm at how close Orion Nox was with Dion, and at the fact they've worked together before. Or at the fact, while still rivals, 'Cycla' and 'Venami' weren't fighting each other as Autobot and Decepticon. It seemed like neither faction existed aside from within the show. 

( A spider bot while not really impressed, couldn't help but be annoyed at her counterpart's failure of gaining whatever role it was that the other femme managed to get. A warlord stews in unsettling silence. )

[ "Question for the kids! How's it feel to work alongside your Cybertronian co-actors? Must be pretty exciting huh? Are you as close to them as you are in the show?" Caster asked, leaning forward to address the small beings who beamed at her and the camera. 

"It's been great!" Antonio gushed, "They've been so kind to Jackson, Rumi and I and the other humans on set too! They're really careful in making sure we're okay." 

Rumi nodded in agreement, smiling happily, "I'll admit, I was nervous at first since this is the first time I've um, I've worked with Cybertronians who are really, really big most of the time but it's been fun! I'd like to say we're as close to the bots on set as we are in the show?" She gave the metal giants a shy smile and they all grinned back at her with affirming nods. 

"Not just the 'Autobots' either, the 'Decepticons' are pretty great too." Jackson laughed, "My favorite Con is Pulsebeat, aka Soundwave in the show- they and their cassette Glider, aka Laserbeak, like to pick us up and hoard us sometimes because I think we remind them of minicons and cassettes. It's really funny." 

Dion laughed, "And here I thought I was your favorite Con Jackson!" He said playfully while pressing a servo against his chestplate in faux offense. 

Jackson looked back at him, "You thought wrong! I mean- just look at them!" Jackson gestured to the screen as it suddenly showed Soundwave, or Pulsebeat? Without their visor on, grinning widely as they cradled a laughing Jackson, a giggling Rumi in his servos while Antonio beaming as he hung upside down from a cable claw. Their bird-cassette was perched atop Pulsebeat's helm. Another picture showed Pulsebeat mass displaced, but still big enough to carry all three children on his frame while they all sat on Glider who was in the air. ]

.: I don't think I will ever get used to 'nice' cons. :. Bee beeped, both somewhat awed yet perturbed at the sight of the relaxed and joking 'Megatron' and the pictures of 'Soundwave' playing with the human kids. Not to mention the sight of Soundwave's face- or rather, Pulsebeat? It looked extremely similar to the 'Shattered Glass' faceplate that Soundwave had but at least… at least this time, it was happy and not… The yellow muscle car bot shuddered, shaking his helm and focusing back on the screen.

"You and me both, Bee." Bulkhead muttered in agreement, optics squinting. "And I don't think I'll get used to shy Miko." He added in with some mirth, it was bizarre to see the girl smiling shyly at the bots (two of which were Cons but they kind of weren't because they were actors??) and not being as energetic as his charge.

"I know right?! Still, she must have some Wrecker in her to play me!" Miko exclaimed, looking up at Rumi with determined and curious eyes. 

Raf looked over to Jack, still on Bee's shoulder. "Soundwave? Really?" There wasn't any judgement, just genuine curiosity.

Jack still felt the need to throw his hands into the air, "Don't ask me! Apparently other me likes Soundwave! Pulsebeat? This is just- too weird." Not to mention the casual banter that other Megatron, or uh, Dion? Had with Jackson. Jackson who was him, who still had his name but went by Jackson instead of Jack. 

How come Raf and Miko had other names while Jack was still just, Jackson Darby? Unbelievable.

( An ex-gladiator and now communications officer stayed silent, as always, but there was a relaxed air around him now. The warlord notices, does not comment, just stares at the screen with growing displeasure. )

[ "Question for everyone! Was the season one finale surprising to find out, film, just- anything? I understand that Transformers: Prime was an original scripted show without being based on anything aside from the old Autobot-Decepticon civil war on Cybertron eons ago but fictitiously set on Earth." Polly questioned, leaning in with interest as the bots and humans glanced at each other.

"Oh definitely! The show's original writer, Rung, a great guy, surprised us halfway through the season's filming to reveal to us all dramatically of what the season's ending was and I just- I couldn't believe it." Orion said, actually sitting up straight as his co-actors nodded in agreement. 

Cycla snickered, "Yeah! We're all just sitting there, reading the script, baffled with how our show's first season ends. Which really shouldn't have been THAT much of a surprise I guess? When you start off the season killing off Cliffjumper- Revmaul, Cliff's actor, would NOT stop sending me jokes about his character's death by the way so screw you Rev, stop that - and THEN revive him as a zombie bot—"

"Terrorcon." Venami interrupted, Cycla rolled her optics but continued.

"Terrorcon, and then the Dark Energon kind of persists throughout the season… Naturally I guess, it all leads to the natural conclusion?" ]

"Season finale?" Ratchet murmured, optics hardening as he immediately realized the implications of what was going to happen. If 'Transformers: Prime' was a show about their current life then… "Optimus." He said sharply, gaining the attention of the Prime who seemed to realize the exact same thing. 

"I know, old friend. Autobots, pay attention. We may be learning important information pertaining to our future." Optimus instructed with a hard look on his faceplate, his frame tense as he readied himself as to whatever was going to be revealed. A part of him was slightly interested at the fact that apparently in that world, while the Autobots and Decepticon war had existed, it had obviously ended long ago. Long before Cybertron made contact with Earth, long enough that someone, this Rung person- a Cybertronian perhaps? Had made a fictitious retelling of it, was interesting…

The fact that retelling was apparently all about their lives on Earth was encroaching somewhat dangerous yet hopefully helpful territory. 

His Autobot team tensed, and even the humans watched closely with somewhat anxious eyes. Especially when Cycla mentioned Cliffjumper, Arcee hissed between gritted denta, feeling conflicted at the grief as well as unwanted jealousy and unfairness at the fact that Cliffjumper over there was alive. An actor who's character had died. But for Arcee, Cliffjumper was truly gone… His corpse, desecrated and turned into a monster… 

Her servos curled into fists, clenching tightly.

There was a sense of tension in the air.

( The same could be said for the Decepticons on The Nemesis. The warlord quirking a ridged brow in obvious interest. )

Just what was the natural conclusion?

[ "The natural conclusion of Unicron, The Unmaker, Cybertron's version of Satan- being Earth itself. Or at least the core." Caster finished with a slight laugh, sounding somewhat but only a little bit hysterical. 

"Cybertron's Satan is the Earth's core, yeah." Jackson nodded with his fellow humans, "No one was expecting that." ]

No one was expecting that indeed.

Chaos came to the Cybertronians of both Omega Outpost One and The Nemesis.

[ ----- TP : UO -----]

WAHAHAHAHA i spoil tfp season 1 to early tfp season 1. what a way to go. hehehehe, i wonder how that'll all go- but at any rate! i hope you guys enjoyed!

brief ocs of Caster, femme show host along with her human co-host polly! fun fact; polly is the daughter of Caster's original co-host who started Terran-Tron Live!

the actor's names were somewhat random- orion nox and dion are a nod to another fic of mine, called Twice The Primes where there are two sets of Optimus and Megatron, kind of. The other set of Optimus and Megatron, O-14 and D-16 were recently, officially redesignated as Orion Nox and Dion, so i decided to do the same here for the actor au.

cycla is just, motorcycle, i couldnt think of anything else for arcee. venami, just- venom, spider's venom but anami.

pulsebeat and glider- on the spot alternative names for soundwave that wasnt just... soundblaster and something else- i wanted to give him another name for his actor.

rumi astuhashi and antonio garcias- just random names and i just thought itd be extremely funny if jack was still jack darby but he goes by jackson. it'll get funnier when it's revealed that orion nox has to play orion pax in season 2 XD like human like prime hm?? hahahahaha

and yes, rung is the show's writer ;)

but yeah, this is the Wholesome Optimus and Megatron working together choice of the poll! they get to be co-actors with all the kids :D

what's the Serious version? we'll get there eventually! whenever that's picked out anyway. i don't know how many segments i'm planning to do for the actor au, at least three??? but yeah, this is... this gonna fun

i hope you guys enjoyed!

[PREV][START][NEXT]

[alpaca-clouds]

That Awkwardness Among The Vampire Spawn

Something I am thinking about way too much in regards of Cazador's main spawn and also the 7000 souls is all that trauma - and how they are gonna deal in the "vampires spawns live, Astarion remains a spawn" ending.

Because we know two things about the spawn under Cazador:

Cazador made his seven main spawn torture each other at times to play out his power over them.

Some of those 7000 souls meant for sacrifice very probably have raped whoever went to seduce them, while they due to their commands could not fight back.

And I might be too much of a sucker for good whump, but this idea and the implications live rent-free in my head. Because how are those poeple going to deal with each other?

I mean, it is pretty clear from the interactions we get, that Cazador did the good old abuser tactic of trying to get his seven main spawn to work against each other. We know that this was more successful in some regards than in others. It seems Astarion was mostly austracized from the other spawn, and it seems that the others are not necessarily friends, but there are some among them who are closer with each other than others.

And yet, that is already something they gotta deal with, if they gotta stay together for now. Especially as they will have some trauma among each toher - and possibly quite a lot of unhealthy relationships in general. Especially if you realized that they most probably have tortured each other. Sure, it was not their fault, because bloody mindcontrol, but that does not lessen the trauma, right?

And then there is the other thing.

Like, one way or another basically any sexual interaction that the spawn had with their victims was sexual assault, because they were trafficked and unable to consent or say "no". This is something I brought up a lot more in Bound by Blood. Because... While some of the victims would have definitely have had sex with those spawn thinking it was consensual, there would be some who did not give a shit. And it was not as if Cazador cared, right? Be it stuff where the spawn had been forced into some sort of kink they definitely did not want, or be it just outright rape.

Meanwhile, of course, the other way around the spawn tricked those people into a situation where they thought those people were to be killed, while Cazador turned them into vampires without their consent, of course. And this led to them being half-starved in those dungeons. (Also: Let's face it, given how sadistic Cazador was, I would not put it past him to torture some of those 7000 just for shits and giggles.)

And all of that overhead... It will lead to so much pain, won't it? When they all need to learn how to deal with each other. There is just so much hurt there.

Like, how do you deal with a person who tortured you, even though it was not their decision? How do you deal with a person who raped you, when they thought it was consensual? How to you deal with the person, who raped you, because they fucking didn't care? How do you deal with that person, while also knowing that in the end they got put through hell because of it, even though you did not know about that until recently?

So... Yes, that is a lot, right? And it makes for a lot of confused feelings.

Admittedly, in Wishing Well (which is my story about Astarion finally meeting up with the other spawn a year after the end of the game) I do focus mostly on Astarion and Sebastian in that regard, I do bring it more into Bound by Blood, where Aurelia is dealing with several of those people.

I will also admit: I find it almost a bit sad how underexplored this topic is in fanfiction. I know, I know, I am one of the few who actually obsesses about the other spawn in the first place, but... As I said, I find it kinda sad.

[seinahirai]

『 Blinded Haze 』 Bada Lee x Reader

summary: bada’s been stressed lately, so you decide to surprise her.

word count: 1.6k

contents: smut, dom!bada, sub!reader, reader gets a bit self conscious, bada takes care of that, hickeys, blindfolding, sex toys, fingering, bada licks your cum off her fingers, implication of aftercare

disclaimer: the images are only for aesthetics and are not depicted as what reader’s body looks like ‼️

you know how stressed bada’s been the past few weeks, with the concerts and performances, on top of having to teach classes back at justjerk.

she was finally getting a day off tomorrow, so you figured, what better way to greet her than with lingerie?

bada herself said that sex with you always made her feel better, that feeling your warm body against hers while in a post orgasmic haze was like heaven.

that lead you to the idea of surprising her with some old lingerie you found in your closet and taking out your box of sex toys and leaving it on the bed so she could choose what she wanted to do to you.

you also know that her favorite thing to do after sex is cuddle and eat snacks, so you went out and bought all of her favorite snacks and left them near the nightstand for when you were finished.

now all you had to do was wait, which was easier said than done.

you had finished all the preparations about an hour before bada usually came home, which gave you a lot of time to think.

and when you have a lot of time to think, you most likely begin to overthink, which is exactly what you started to do.

the more time that passed, the more your mind began to flood with thoughts like “what if she doesn’t find me attractive in this lingerie” or “what if she’s too tired to have sex and i got ahead of myself?”

after a while, you were ready to just cancel everything altogether, when you heard the familiar sound of keys jingling and the door opening.

you froze in your spot, taking a deep breath before getting up to greet bada.

you made your way to the door, feeling a bit nervous as you watched her come through the door.

nonetheless, you smile and give her a hug after she takes her coat off and puts her stuff down.

“hey, baby.” she says, giving you a kiss on the lips before stepping back to fully look at you.

that was when she realized what you were wearing, and when she did realize, she did nothing but stare for a few seconds.

realistically, it should have been obvious that she was admiring how beautiful your body looked, but with your previous session of overthinking, you couldn’t help but feel even more self conscious.

“fuck, you look…”

“i can take it off if you’re not in the mood.”

you say quickly, avoiding bada’s gaze as you fidget with your fingers.

at that, bada gives you a confused look before stepping closer to you and gently pulling you in by the waist.

“baby, i’ll always be in the mood for you. i told you this already.” she leans in to kiss you, and you wrap your arms around her neck to deepen it.

after a few seconds you pull away, still avoiding her eyes.

“i know, it’s just…you’ve been really tired lately, and it’s been a while since you’ve seen me in lingerie. i guess i just got a little self conscious…”

bada chuckles a bit at that, bringing a thumb to your chin and lifting it up, making you look at her.

“baby, you’re absolutely stunning with or without the lingerie. truthfully, you didn’t even need it to turn me on.” she says, pressing soft kisses on your neck as her hands begin to explore your body.

“do you know how many times i’ve had to excuse myself to the bathroom because i’ve gotten horny at just the thought of you?” she whispers against the skin of your collarbone before pressing a few more kisses there.

you sigh softly, tangling your fingers in her hair as you lean your head back to give her easier access.

she begins gently sucking on the soft skin of your neck as one of her hands begin to grope one of your tits, her thumb flicking your nipple through the thin material of the lingerie.

you let out a whine, gasping softly at the feeling of her hands on your tits.

after a few more seconds of bada sucking on your neck, she pulls away and admires the sight of your neck now covered in hickeys.

“how about we take this to the bedroom?” she says, and you only nod, letting her lead you to your shared bedroom.

when you walk into the room, bada seems amused at the sight of your box of sex toys sitting on the bed.

“you can use anything in there on me tonight.” you say, and she looks down at you with a smirk on her face.

“anything?”

you nod, taking her hand and guiding her to the bed. “i wanted to surprise you.”

bada scans through the box, looking at all the different options before her eyes stop on one thing in particular.

the blindfold.

she’s never used the blindfolds on you before, so she saw this as an opportunity to do so. she took the blindfold out, her eyes meeting yours as if to confirm that this was okay to use on you.

when you give her a nod, she smiles and beckons you to come closer, which you do quite eagerly. she gently ties the blindfold around your eyes, double checking to make sure it wasn’t too tight.

it does feel slightly strange to not be able to see what bada’s doing, but you trust her with your life so it doesn’t bother you too much.

you hear her take something else out of the box before moving it to the floor.

“what else did you get?” you ask, your head turning in the direction of the noise.

“you’re blindfolded for a reason, princess.” she says, and you can imagine the smirk on her face as she says it.

you pout slightly, but mumble an “okay” as you lay down on the bed.

you feel bada spread your legs apart, chuckling softly at the sight of your dripping cunt. “your pretty pussy is already so wet for me.”

you whine pathetically, her words only making you even more wet.

“don’t worry baby, i’m gonna take good care of this pussy.”

she begins kissing your inner thigh, her lips leaving the same marks they left on your neck. after a few moments, she looks up at you through the opening of your thighs (not that you could see her lustful gaze).

“you ready, baby?” she asks, pressing one last kiss to your inner thigh.

after you nod eagerly, you hear a noise that sounds like something being turned on, but before you can think anything of it, you feel a vibrating sensation on your clit, making you moan out loudly as you instinctively close your thighs at the sudden pleasure.

bada quickly forces your thighs back open, pressing the vibrator to your clit once more. “don’t run from it, baby.” she says, smirking at the way you squirm around.

bada reaches her hand out to yours, letting you squeeze it as you moan loudly from the pleasure. the fact that you couldn’t see anything only seemed to make you more sensitive.

your hold on bada’s hand only becomes tighter when she turns up the setting on the vibrator without warning. you let out stuttered moans and whines as she coos softly at the sight of your pussy clenching around nothing.

“aww, does my pretty baby wanna be filled up?” she pulls her hand away from yours, and before you can whine about it, you feel two fingers pushing into your pussy, making you gasp in pleasure as you dig your nails into the sheets.

bada immediately begins thrusting her fingers in and out of your sopping cunt, not giving you any time to adjust to the penetration.

“good girl, taking me so well.” she praises, and it only seems to make you even louder.

you feel the familiar sensation of your orgasm approaching, but you can’t form the words to let bada know. luckily, she can already tell from the way your walls tighten around her fingers.

“are you close, pretty girl? here, let me help you.”

bada’s fingers press up against the spongey part of your pussy while her other hand turns the vibrator up onto the 3rd setting.

you cry out pathetically as your orgasm washes over you, your thighs trembling your hands gripping the sheets tightly.

bada continues the move her fingers, fucking you through your orgasm and the overstimulation of it all brings you to tears.

when bada notices it looks like you’ve had enough, she slides her fingers out of you and turns the vibrator off, bringing her fingers to her lips to clean off your cum and wetness.

“you taste so good, baby.” she says, bringing her face to your cunt to lick up all your cum, making you whine loudly.

bada chuckles and lays down next to you, taking off the blindfold and smiling at your hazed expression when you open your eyes.

“there’s my pretty girl.” she says softly, grabbing your cheeks and kissing you deeply before pulling you into a hug, wrapping her arms around you tightly.

she sighs at the feeling of your bodies against each other, having missed the feeling of intimacy.

after a few minutes, you mumble something incoherently, nuzzling your cheek further onto bada’s neck.

bada giggles, finding you adorable. “what’s that, baby? i can’t hear you.”

you repeat your mumbling, but bada can faintly make out the words “snacks” and “nightstand”.

bada glances over to the nightstand next to your bed, smiling softly when she sees the bag full of snacks. she had completely missed it earlier.

“aww, baby. you’re so sweet.” bada coos, kissing you on the cheek once more.

“i love you, bada.” you whisper, giving her a lopsided smile.

“i love you more, baby.”

[fulcrums501st]

the issue with Burt and Irv’s ending(?) isn’t that that was the ending or that they didn’t kiss or that it’s tragic. the issue is the screen-time ratio.

(this is written under the assumption that this is how the show is planning on sending off these characters. I am still holding out hope that this won’t be the case, after all the finale hasn’t aired yet)

but the issue is that we skipped over seeing just HOW the love transcended severance with them. we go from Irv awkwardly asking Burt out after an awkward dinner with his husband to BAM ominous car ride, and theyre talking to each other like they’ve met many times since the dinner but we don’t get to see any of that.

plus like now irv has now walked away, but supposedly he was fighting/investigsting against Lumon. and that was clearly important to him cuz he was painting the door over and over again. so his trust and connection to outtie burt must also have reached the same level of significance to him for him to do what burt says and get on that train, but we don’t see that develop. and if the show revisits Irvs implied corporate espionage them like cool, but it does as of now feel like irv is being written out. but still him getting on that train is like Irv abandoning all the implied corporate espionage without us even being cued in onto his corporate espionage and is not seeing his relationship with burt develop, the thing that convinces him to abandon the corporate espionage.

there should have been something in between where burt and irv meet up alone, and despite not knowing each other they still have this sense of familiarity that motivates them to keep going back to one another. like let’s see them realizing that this connection does in some weird way transcend severance. we don’t need to see them falling in love all over again across a season the way we did in s1, we could have just seen a couple moments of them seeing each other and hitting it off cuz the feeling and connection is still subconsciously there. we should have seen the complexities of their love transcending severance, instead of skipping it over and POOF now they’re saying goodbye and it’s unclear how much time they’ve even spent with one another, how deep the connection went, and how we got there in the first place. cuz theyre clearly talking in ep9 like they’ve grown closer since ep6 but I have no idea how. it is lwk left up to speculation.

meanwhile the markhelly stuff this season has no major skips or cuts in their development. we see the fallout of mark and helly being violated by helena and them overcoming that. and yes, they bang. but that’s not what annoys me. I didn’t need burt and irv to kiss or fuck cuz I agree theyre more reserved and the longing and the fact that they cant is a huge part of their dynamic. plus I hate when kissing and sex is just thrown in to make up for lesser romantic chemistry (markhelly cough cough). so I didn’t need burt and irv to kiss cuz there was the love.

but I needed their relationship to be treated with an appropriate screen-time ratio for their development, which markhelly gets, while it feels like burt and irv fell like they have scenes missing. so in the end the writers chose to show more development of the straight couple on screen while the gay couple feels like it has missing scenes. that’s why it feels rushed. thats why, despite the beautiful parallels and the beautifully tragic implications of their love transcending severance, it’s frustrating. cuz it largely happened off-screen, while markhelly was full screen, and after burt and irv got sm development in s1 the difference is noticeable.

love may transcend severance, but major missing beats in storyline threads and character development don’t transcend off-screen into the audience.

[glittersums]

When the brainworms are so severe you listen to one good song then boom you wrote a whole AU idea, drew a poster for it, and watched the whole animatic of it in your head.

Additional little drawing: "The aftermath"

Under there I talk about the AU (lots of words):

It's an AU that might be a bit silly/cheesy or whatever it's just fun if you just read it lightly like a fairytale lmao so

They are in different cities, so they don't know each other. Stan&Kenny are at Colorado while Kyle&Cartman are at New Jersey.

Stan finds a battered up rose thrown in an alley next to the flower shop Kenny's working in to get some pocket money.

He absentmindedly picks it up, then does what most people do when they see a rose, he checks if it smells.

Then the rose suddenly disappears and instead there is another boy in front of him. (Rose changes form into Kyle)

Kyle is panicked and frantic and feels he's being attacked (due to reasons I will specify later)

So without thinking he shoves Stan to one of the walls of the alley, Stan shoves back on instinct and when Kyle's about to throw a punch he recognizes that Stan isn't the person Kyle assumed. He does a double take, he pauses and his fist falters.

In that instance Stan takes in how Kyle looks. His beaten up form, split lips, bloody nose, bruises, scraped fists, utterly terrified and outraged look in his eyes. (Like the battered up rose from before)

After a while of doing nothing they calm down. Kyle does an awkward nod and steps out of the alley.

After he's out of sight Stan puts a hand to his chest bc he was, well, pretty scared.

When he steps out of the alley as well he finds Kyle passed out from relief and exhaustion just a step in.

Feeling sympathy for Kyle, Stan decides to take him home, put him in his bed and nurse him back to health. (Very sensible very cautious decision. He most likely was reminded of stray animals he took care of.)

When Kyle regains consciousness he's scared as hell again, then Stan explains the situation. Though Kyle doesn't say much in return. (He himself doesn't clearly understand his predicament, and it's kinda a sore subject, but before all he can't talk about the curse in true fairytale fashion)

Like he suddenly finds himself in a city he doesn't know, with no money so that he can go back home. He's at a loss, doesn't know what to do. However those feelings quickly let way to rage. So he doesn't accept Stan's offer to just get him a bus to take when Kyle says that he's supposed to be in New Jersey. Kyle wants to take his time for once to plot the perfect revenge, so he doesn't contact his parents as well bc he knows they'd come right away. He also feels indebted to Stan somehow, and he seems to want him around. (Stan is just curious lmao)

So for a while Kyle stays at Stan's, secretly because they just can't explains this to his parents. So while everything is unfamiliar, Stan becomes something Kyle can factor as a constant. In the mean time they spend time together, get used to each other, play around joke around, the cute stuff.

At some point they realize they've grown fond of each other, some sort of infatuation. (Sorry this is the obligatory falling in love part of the story)

One day they're taking shelter from the rain, bc they were out too late. It's dark and the shops are closed.

While they're just staring outside waiting for the rain to stop, the conversation steers a bit to a direction that sets Kyle on alarm, like one of them are going to confess to something.

Panicked, he pushes Stan towards a wall again bc he knows there is romantic tension, and Kyle wants to dissipate that since he's scared of his feelings.

Before Stan can react, he raises his fist, not to actually hit, but then loosens his grip when he thinks he sees a hint of betrayal and fear in Stan's eyes. He knows Stan wouldn't want to hurt him. Stan sees his eyes getting teary and sad sad expression as Kyle lowers his fist. (As the implications of Kyle's curse really registers in his mind.)

Kyle then gives in to whatever's built up between them, tells Stan something vague like "Want to know what actually happened?" to avoid the curse, and kisses him instead.

The instant he does he disappears.

Stan opens his eyes back tentatively after not felling or hearing or sensing Kyle at all. Feels confused when he can't see him either. No footsteps to indicate he ran away. He puts a hand to his racing heart as he looks around to find Kyle, calling out to him when he snaps out of the shock.

And when he looks down,

The rose.

The same broken rose stem, but in a way better condition than it was before.

So the tea is that,

Kyle, with his spectacular luck on his love life, gets cursed.

Like he was just living his normal life, then someone unjustifiably gets pissed off at him or maybe he was just caught in the crossfire of something that wasn't even about him.

Regardless someone curses him to turn into a rose whenever someone kisses him.

And y'know how the spells are all about "whatever you state in words" the only condition really for it to work is the contact to the lips. With or without love it doesn't matter. Bc it wasn't specified in the incantation.

So it kinda diverges itself from the classic fairytale narrative.

Trigger warning for this part? Might make you uncomfortable.

What really sets everything off is that Cartman hears the rumors about it and of course makes it all the more Kyle's problem.

So he tries to activate it just to mess with him. Tries to close up and of course Kyle resists, he understands what Cartman's trying to do.

But Cartman is way bigger in size and fights smart when he really wants to so Kyle still can't do much in the long run when he gets cornered. But until then he does a great fight. They do one hell of a tussle and Kyle justifiably beats the shit out of Cartman. But in true south park fashion Cartman is the one who gets what he wants first.

He turns Kyle into a rose then puts him to one of the trucks that transports flowers to some other flower shop. And since the rose is all beaten up (bc Kyle's original body was) the rose is kinda thrown away haphazardly (ik that's probably not what they do sorry flower shop owners) and that's how Stan finds it.

Kyle thought that Cartman turned him back human just to mess him up further when he first came to be so that's why he attacked Stan, all enraged and stuff

So at the very end, Stan understands that the rose is somehow linked to Kyle, he takes the stem and like starts to frantically search for ways to keep it alive as long as possible until he figures out how to turn him back. Bc before all this all he know about flowers was that when you receive a bouquet you put them in a vase of water until they wilt then you throw them out.

And Kyle can't die.

So he plants the rose into a filled pot hoping it will be enough. Makes sure to water it and whatever else.

He looks through sources to learn how to keep him alive, I guess roses could grow roots from the stem it'd be ok?? But flowers are fickle, as far as Stan knows they wilt damn easily if that doesn't happen.

I guess there is some subject of mortality here. Stan feels paranoid whenever he sees wilted flowers unrelated to Kyle. If he could he would carry the pot around everywhere. People around him wonders why he's got a rose in a pot suddenly and why he's so damn overprotective of it. But Kyle can't die.

So days go by like this. Stan does his best to keep Kyle alive and thankfully he doesn't wilt away.

But that's all what's left for Stan. He can only wait for Kyle to come back.

Bc he knows the rose is Kyle but still can't be sure what makes him switch. Since when he smelled the rose he didn't realize his lips were also touching it. He tries to find commonalities but not much comes up.

At some point he wonders if he's made it up all on his mind. There isn't much to prove Kyle's real existence anyways. Or maybe he's scared of what will happen when Kyle comes back. Maybe he will just leave without anything. All kinds of cynical thoughts begin to form, but there still is a part of him that trusts Kyle, so he keeps on.

I'm not sure if Kyle dies in flower form or that Stan figures it out and turns him back.

But if he does, there's now a new time difference between them. Stan already invested so much of his time into Kyle while Kyle was just in a limbo, the whole thing is like a time leap for him. So when Kyle first returns to human form, he'd be tentatively hopeful but Stan is just endlessly relieved but so tired. His mind already tired him thinking that it'd be easier for Kyle to let go and go back to how things have been without Stan, like it's just a one time thing for him.

So maybe for that moment to never come, Stan might wish things to stay that way, but he immediately dismisses the thought as soon as it came, an intrusive thought, he knows he doesn't mean it. Just in a sad and lonely mood.

And it feels like something is unresolved? Like his life as well took a pause the moment Kyle kissed him and disappeared. Something unfinished just keeps him stuck to the rose's side.

Y'all this is not normal. The amount of stuff I wrote for this silly thing. If this doesn't make sense at all, alas, we ball.

[altraviolet]

hey so i was scrolling through the comment section of TEG and i saw a comment saying RIP TFP Ratchet?? What happened my boy? :'(

heya, he was the victim of worldbuilding, I'm afraid

cut for length!

so the logic of the comics states that 2 of the same thing can't exist in the same universe (specifically in proximity, but probably also in general). there are lot of finer details there that I could get into but basically I took that rule and put it in the fic like this:

the Lost Light cannot jump into any universe where anyone aboard who is currently living is alive. no living mech can go to a universe where there is already a living version of them.

so the logic goes: TFP Soundwave can go to 0001 because 0001 SW is dead, but TEG Rodimus cannot go to 0001 because 0001 Rodimus is still alive

because the LL successfully jumped to TFP SW's universe, the implication is that everyone aboard has died or never existed in the TFP universe. which means that TFP Megatron and Ratchet and Ultra Magnus are dead

now. did I do this purposefully? no xD and I didn't realize TFP Ratchet would be dead until I got that comment. and I went "oh. dang." because that hadn't been the intention.

when I first started the fic, I didn't have everything about jumping sorted out. I didn't even have a solution to the question "are they duplicating every time they jump?" until way into the fic. and I really was not at all concerned with any TFP character except SW, because SW was jumping onto the LL and leaving the TFP universe forever. the other TFP characters weren't relevant to anything I was working on

so yeah. I don't have an answer for what exactly happened to TFP Ratchet because it wasn't relevant to the fic. if it ever becomes relevant, I will figure it out, though

side note: this ties into "do you write the whole fic and then post" or "do you post chapter by chapter" in a way because the TEG you're seeing is the first draft. I posted chapter by chapter, and I've never gone back to make any major developmental edits

I don't know how I could've done the story without that worldbuilding rule, and I'm not sure how I could structure it so that TFP Ratchet is still alive [without some major eye rolling contrivances, like being reborn a la Megatron -> Galvatron, or something]. if it helps, if there were a way I could get around the rule and it didn't ruin the story, I'd do it xD you may have noticed from the lack of death count that I'm not really a fan of killing off the characters. it was nothing personal to TFP Ratchet u u

super side note: I feel like I shouldn't even be admitting this, but the thing where I hadn't reasoned out that TFP Ratchet would be dead when the LL went to TFP universe also happened with 2938 Megatron. when I realized that I went "oh shit" because I'd already established 2938 Megatron existed. and the little mention of him was one of those times where my brain said "hey write this, it sounds cool, and we might be able to expand on it later." I had NO IDEA 2938 Megatron would be so important to the story when I first wrote his mention. the mention was merely to bring a little extra detail to the fic and some intrigue to Mirage. my brain seeds stuff like that in the fic all the time, and then later when I need to problem solve plot stuff, it goes "hey remember Thing? connect that here." and that's what happened to 2938 Megatron. he got a cool mention, then I realized he shouldn't exist [I had Aquafend mention this in the Irradion chapters, lol, which was partly to inform readers but also partly me pointing out my own seeming-plot hole so I'd be forced to correct it later]. 2938 Megatron ascending to a godthing so divorced from his metal coil fortunately fit into the worldbuilding rule

so basically my brain does this:

-> set up a rule

-> write a bunch of stuff

-> put random details in

-> oh no problem where the worldbuilding seems to contradict the world

-> uh

-> refer back to random stuff

-> expand on it

-> tie it all together

-> write more

if you would also like to write this way, I'm afraid I have no advice other than to read a lot and practice writing a lot

so ummmm in conclusion, TFP Ratchet is dead or changed so much from his original form he cannot be recognized*, or, if you'd like to be really optimistic and out there, has somehow jumped to another dimension**. I didn't do that on purpose, but it was the natural result of the fic's worldbuilding.

thanks for the ask!

*the horror interpretation of this is really interesting actually... 👀

**I suppose another dimension hopping Lost Light, which has lost its Ratchet, could jump into TFP universe and snatch him up. I feel like TFP Ratchet wouldn't like LL Drift very much (especially since he'd be living the hell of the gray years every day in this instance) and would have a hard time adapting to the crew and new circumstance. I will write this fic for $50,000 cash sent through the mail

[respectfullytrash]

AGGHHH I SAW YOUR RECENT NORTALICE DOODLE YESSS!!!

Do you have any headcanons for them in general? I’d love to hear, I’m starving for content of them 🙏

Lmao. Im kinda assuming this is the same anon from before, but incase im wrong; Here’s the last Nortalice post i made about the initial ask and then some angsty dynamic i came up with on the fly.

But headcanons for Nortalice huh…

(This might be a little ooc considering the affection system and general future and upcoming content might turn out but were just gonna roll with it)

•In AOM, Norton has this way of pulling the rug out from Alice’s feet when they first meet. Norton’s personality kind of clashes with Alice’s sophisticated and private lifestyle, so Norton reacts by treating Alice with as little respect as he reasonably can because he perceives Alice’s behavior as someone snooty just trying to get something out of him. While Alice is struggling to figure out a way past Norton’s blunt and off putting nature, without going completely broke in the process.

Eventually Alice realizes that in order to get anywhere with Norton, she has to take down her own walls first and actually get personal with him. Which kind of in turn throws Norton of his game, where initially he felt he was running circles around this rich lady who has no idea how the world really works, but is now finding her relatable(?) and possibly an exception to his view of the privileged.

Now actual couple stuff

• Alice is not very big on PDA and doesn’t want to put an official label on their relationship. Whenever someone asks about the two of them she’s very private and tries changing the subject or answers with something extremely vague. It’s not because she doesnt feel very strongly for Norton or she’s embarrassed. She just thinks it’s a little too personal for her liking to talk about her relationships, even with friends, and it just isnt anyone’s business.

Norton’s pretty fine with having no official label but is pretty clear with the other survivors (especially the males * cough cough Kevin*) that him and Alice are exclusive and she is off limits to any romantic or sexual advances.

• Norton might be more possessive than Alice is but i think they’re both pretty equal when it comes to jealousy, which usually goes like this.

Alice is more openly affectionate with her female friends, touching and sharing compliments in public since that’s more appropriate for women of the time to do. It isn’t very appropriate to do with a man your not married to however, which makes Norton a little jealous. And when Norton lets loose and hangs out with some of the other guys, Alice gets a little insecure since she’s usually the one that gets Norton out of his shell.

• Alice doesn’t use pet names. Maybe when she’s especially sentimental or in a teasing mood, she’ll slip out a “darling” or “love”, but it’s just not really her thing.

Norton doesn’t really use traditional pet names and will instead sometimes call her “Goldie”, or “Ally” (this is just mostly my habit of shortening peoples names and sticking a y at the end though)

• This is both Alice and Norton’s first relationship ever. They both have zero experience so they make a lot of mistakes together. And their different upbringings and social status leaves them with different ideas and expectations of what dating or “courting” looks like.

(Slight NSFW implications) Alice also wants to wait until they leave the Manor and get married until they have traditional couple bedroom fun. Norton is pretty disappointed at first until he realizes that Alice isn’t saying no, just not yet and that she expects that they’ll get married.

Ive also got some ideas considering Fools Gold but… Someones gonna have to send me another ask so I know the people want to know about my silly little ships. I love to talk, i just need to know if people care or not before i yap away

[wisteriasymphony]

Warning im gonna ramble: I’m happy someone is saying it out loud! This is always a trend when it comes to feminine men I think- I’m not a man, nor have ever been one myself, but when it comes to deconstructing male mental health and how we view femininity, I think making Adrien transfem/genderswapping them only works in a context where they are slowly regaining agency or are the ones regaining autonomy! More of marinette’s role in the narrative if that makes sense. And while it can be funny, I dislike it when it’s portrayed that Marinette will be the one to realize that they’re trans tbh. Like??? This guy is oblivious, but he’s also always stuck in his own thoughts? Let him be the one to analyze himself and conclude her own gender! This is true for any genderfluid Adrien tbh, even transmasc. I know ur a deathnoter, so I’m gonna draw on a death note fic here; “I think I was born blue” by anon (it’s fantastic give it a read if u want!). That fic has a lot of the repression that I think Adrien would struggle with esp as a trans person. Throw the sentimonster stuff in there and there’s no way in hell he’d confront it unless he had truly mentally reclaimed himself from the order to be his parent’s perfect boy. Same also applies to cis-swapped Adrien! When you make her a girl, you also have to appropriately grapple with the implications! (This is also ignored with Kagami, if to a much lesser degree.) If your female characters existence survives on the idea that she cannot live for herself and your story still claims to be centered on promoting feminism, that’s weird! I like knight princess yuri a lot, think rev girl utena, but the princess cannot just stand there and be a doll! The princess must also have thoughts! Also- how come Adrien gets this the most? I know it’s partially bcs he’s a “feminine pale boy “twink””, but even when you suggest characters like Nathaniel could be trans, it rlly just doesn’t pick up! I am a certified fudanshi and love yuri, but I need ur yuri to allow both female characters to participate in being people with a mind! TLDR: I love transdrien and I love yuri <3 (kiss ur girlfriends ppl), but analyze why one specific guy gets the fem beam! Analyze why a guy can’t show “feminine” traits and still be messy and masc and not get hit with the purity beam! Analyze why when a person is without agency why they are seen as a perfect partner! And if ur gonna write transfem Adrien, pls be more creative with names y’all! “Adrienne” is lame she would name herself either something simple (Marie idk) or smthing cool af ( Ysée). Ok thank you for the soapbox I will be back if that’s fine :3

You're welcome! I think some of the people I've talked to tend to say that Adrien would keep the name "Adrien" regardless of identity, which I think is cool as fuck. "Adriana" is also popular but I'm not a fan of it because it's so transparently just "Adrien + a" (as in common feminine modifier in English names). Like, come on guys... At least Adrienne is French.

I do think going the route of examining how repressed Adrien is and directing that towards transfem Adrien is an extremely cogent interpretation and also super valid. Like you said, it would just have to coincide with some self-reflection that the show only lets Adrien have in breadcrumbs.

I don't know, I'm aware that calling these things into question can be seen as trying to "debunk" theories or headcanons and I don't want to ruin anyone's fun, which is why I am so hesitant to discuss it. That's never been my intention. I just want people's ideas on them to be good and thought-out. That includes picking up on the implications and broader context.

God. Okay I'm finally over this I don't want to discuss it again. Every single time I feel like an awful person for bringing it up

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[Spoilers below cut]

oh my spaghetti gods.... they actually made the episode

Ha ha, I love that for them honestly. I figured that the Team would put out one of these after WOTFI, it would be either a regular silly episode, a "Mario Reacts", or a Remaster.

...OMG I haven't clicked on the episode and I just realized something: you know how at the end of WOTFI, Four proposed the idea of taking some of the abandoned stuff in Puzzle Park and bringing them to the Showgrounds? He can now have the teacup ride

that was slick as hell

(the following is my live reaction:)

of course, you GOTTA present the WOTFI merch

also james and luke just goofing around gives me serotonin :)

Mr Puzzles: "...Now you're 5% less disgusting to look at." :0 that has so many implications but I'm not gonna say it

ANYWAY That's-a so nice!

THE TEACUP RIDE

Alright, everybody who drew baby Four, we gotta get on it again

sorry,,, just them :)

also, Three, it was your idea dude

THE OATS "Now with less fun! :)"

just the way Four hid behind Three [*head in hands*] chat, I'm not going to make it by the end of this episode

The Star Trio (TM) everyone

...wait, does Three actually smell like peanuts or is it just for the meme? [*writes that down*]

Four: "My only suitable parental guardian!" Four, Karen's right there

I can't believe the retirement home is in America smh (like no seriously)

AY there's Old Man Hobo

this reminds me of that one scene from the "You Used to Be Cool" episode

(if you couldn't tell, Three's one of my favorite characters)

PFFT HAHAHAHA THEY KEPT THAT IN I'M DEAD DUDE

Three, why do you need medicine? you just got turned into an old man

MASTER OF DISGUISE

PINEAPPLE ON PIZZA?! MARIO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, ITALY IS GOING TO REVOKE YOUR ITALIAN CARD

the nurse jumping out the window... [*thinks back at Mr Puzzles' Clubhouse when Max jumps out of the window*] sorry WOTFI flashbacks

anyway, they're adorable

huh i guess prison-UH I MEAN- the retirement home has a basketball court, who knew

HE DROPS THE SOAP I'M SO GLAD THEY KEPT THAT IN

...wtf is that slop?

also blue goo- [*loud airplane noises*]

Three: "Meggy? Is that you? You look uglier than usual-" DAMN well, it's good to know that you're still Three

The two frames-per-second running animation, ah a classic

BINGO NIGHT (no no Ink, bingo night was last week) (aw man)

Three, it was your idea bruh

also you're in the SMG4 universe for how many years? plot convenient devices are the norm, Three

HEY SWAG

Hal's here too!

they do be scheming

...wait [*DRAMATIC GRASP*] THE SONIC X THEME SONG!!! 🎶ROLLIN' AT THE SPEED OF SOUND (MAKE TRACKS) QUICKEST HEDGEHOG AROUND, GOT OURSELVES A SITUATION, STUCK IN A NEW LOCATION WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION, NO TIME FOR RELAXATION-🎶 [*gets shot*]

despite everything, it's still you :)

if I had a nickel for every time an old guy says "No Mario, don't", I'd have two nickels. It isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

THE OATS CAME BACK FULL CIRCLE BABY

Frof the SnOATman :)

"On that day, the FBI learned the true meaning of Christmas: oats" SOMEONE MAKE THIS INTO A MOVIE

wait, FBI, you JUST noticed Four and the getaway car?

"dig a hole...poison the guards...KILL the the witness."

The hole, the poison, the old man being the "witness". Wow, Three's plan actually worked! Well, except for the "kill" part, the old man still lives. BUT STILL!

this part was actually emotional wtf

"Good to have you back, SMG3! ...SMG3?" aw 💙💜 (i ask for so little)

Three: "man, I think that was my dad..." Four, once again knowing they came out of USBs: "...ok"

CARNIVAL YAY you better not drop something on me bc (1) it's too soon and (2) you Team like to torture me

PFFT just putting Four's regular head on a baby body is everything

ferris wheel jumpscare

and AY james got to be credited for the writing (i mean, obviously)

And congrats to ggf0ur for having your art in the end credits 🎉

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

Another fun and silly episode, just what I needed after school work and WOTFI. Still can't believe they made it into an actual episode haha! Having the Star Trio in an episode is always a blast! I truly enjoyed this one.

As much as I find it funny that Four needed Three as a parental guardian to be on the teacup ride, it would be a bit better if the reason for the age gun was that they never got to be actual kids, unlike the rest of the crew. Then we could've gotten baby Four and Three, oh the possibilities. Maybe that's just me idk, but I'm happy with what we got.

And the Ferris wheel in the Showgrounds again, at this point it's a sign. I have to gather my thoughts together for my "Ferris Wheel Wedding" idea.

Fun Fact: for those who are wondering, the WOTFI website is surprisingly still up! Ofc you can't put submissions in anymore but I find it hilarious.

Fun Fact 2: the guy who made the faces for Mr. Puzzles has a proper Twitter now (link)! Go and show some support to the Team! I do want to bring it up because the Team may have made some editing/animation errors (like the subtitles having SMG4 instead of SMG3) and people are getting upset about that, but it's literally not a big deal. I know the Team is trying their hardest to bring out episodes every week. Besides, mistakes could go under the radar, it simply happens.

Now, if you excuse me...

DON'T BLINK, DON'T THINK, JUST GO GO G-G-G-G-GO GO (n-n-n-n-n-na, n-n-n-n-n-na) SONIC'S ON THE RUN, SONIC'S NUMBER ONE! SONIC, HE'S COMIN' NEXT, SO WATCH OUT FOR SONIC X! GOTTA GO FAST (SONIC), GOTTA GO FAST(SONIC)! GOTTA GO FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER- [*gets shot again*]

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

in which lunch is had, old stories are told, and a misunderstanding is cleared up.

part five of the post-marineford portion of the near miss fics! (1, 2, 3, 4) if you have no idea what i'm talking about but would like to read a shanks/buggy story about kissing in disguise and then having to deal with the emotional fallout of doing that, click on this link, that's the tag for the whole thing in chronological order. (plus some complaining about writing, one inspirational improvised musical number, and a snippet of shanks pov) if you do know what i'm talking about: my intense examination of the cover to chapter 581 and frustrated googling of phrases like “oden cart curtain name” has finally paid off! also, i’d apologize for where this part ends, but that would be an enormous lie, i’ve been planning on ending this part on that line from the very beginning. >:3c enjoy!

With heavier topics taken off the table, the flow of conversation became smooth and easy.  Shanks asked about Buggy’s crew, his recent travels, his plans for the future; Buggy asked about the best places Shanks had been, who he’d met.  At Buggy’s request, Shanks devoted a full twenty minutes to a detailed description of his meeting with Rayleigh; to Buggy’s delight, it turned out Rayleigh was in Sabaody because Shakuyaku, the former Amazon empress, lived there.  Buggy had always been impressed by her, if a little privately judgy of her taste in men, so hearing that the two of them had semi-retired together made him smile.

As did the revelation that Shanks had first seen a wanted poster for Buggy the Clown—his earliest one, actually, before he’d perfected the crossbones and had still been experimenting with lip tints—when Rayleigh pulled a copy out that day.  “He keeps an eye on all the newspapers, from the four big seas and the Grand Line alike,” Shanks explained, digging his toes into the sand. (Buggy had gotten tired of his push-pull relationship with the tides and insisted they move further up the beach.) “I think he’s found and kept a copy of every one of our bounties.”

Buggy tried not to be obvious about how much that meant, but he had never been good at holding back the waterworks when he got emotional.  Sniffing thickly, he said, “That stupid old man… your bounty’s gone up so many times over the years without the picture ever looking different!  What a waste of his space.”

One of Shanks’ eyebrows went up—probably, Buggy realized a moment later, at the implication that Buggy had also been keeping track of Shanks’ bounties.  Ah, well, in for a penny… “Seriously!  It’s bad design!” Buggy insisted.  “If the only changes someone like me ever noticed are that you grew that shitty little beard—”

“Shitty?”  Shanks pouted, running his thumb along his jawline.  “It’s not that bad, is it?”

“It’s worse without the mustache,” Buggy said bluntly.  Shanks played up his shock, gasping and grabbing at his heart like an elderly man.

Buggy rolled his eyes.  “As I was saying: if all I ever noticed was the beard and that your hat disappeared at some point, your average citizen’s not going to realize the Marines have released a new poster and the bounty went up!”  Jabbing a thumb brazenly at his own face, Buggy said, “At least I had something new going on each time.”

Shanks cocked his head at Buggy.  “About that… do you change your makeup style so often for fun, or are you still searching for the perfect look?”

Buggy scoffed.  “There’s no such thing as perfection when it comes to art, or fashion,” he said.  “There’s just advancing your craft.  Every time I change my look up, I’m incorporating newer and flashier techniques, and better supplies.  The makeup I had access to fifteen, even ten years ago would never have lasted a day in Impel Down, let alone weeks.”

“That’s true,” Shanks said thoughtfully, hand on his chin.  “The stuff you have these days is much—” He cut himself off, glancing over Buggy’s shoulder.  Buggy turned to see a cluster of men in ragged prison uniforms standing maybe forty feet away, staring at them and then glancing away awkwardly when they met Buggy’s eye.

“I told them not to bother me today,” Buggy grumbled, giving the group a half-hearted glare.  They visibly quaked, knees knocking, but neither moved nor explained themselves.

“I guess our presence is interfering with their shore leave,” Shanks said, slipping back into his sandals.

Looking past the men revealed the beach had gotten crowded while Buggy wasn’t paying attention—save for a fifty-foot ring of emptiness centered on him and Shanks.  These men had only approached them because there wasn’t anywhere else to be.  Sighing, Buggy stood up, brushing sand off the seat of his pants.

“Lead the way, then,” he said grimly.

With a polite smile and a wave to the former prisoners, Shanks walked back up the beach.  Buggy gave them a glare, and a threatening slice-your-throat gesture (made more emphatic by the way Buggy separated his neck as he sliced) to encourage their silence before following Shanks further inland.

The terrain got a bit jungle-like as they went on, but there were neatly trodden paths between the trees.  It was a civilized corner of nature, and Buggy found he didn’t mind walking through it with just Shanks and his questions for company, even when those questions started getting a bit specific for Buggy’s tastes. (What did Shanks need to know about his plans after he found Captain John’s treasure, anyway?  Was he trying to go after Buggy’s next prize while he was still busy with the current one?)

It was the middle of the lunch hour by the time their jungle path led them back into town, which was almost suspiciously convenient timing.  Buggy glanced at Shanks, trying to figure out if he’d planned this or was just aimlessly wandering.  Well, either way he’d better lead them somewhere soon—Buggy was hungry!  He wanted to eat the kind of food he couldn’t get back on the ship—nothing a typical chef in a typical kitchen could manage.  He wanted something that involved a deep fryer, or another equally specialized device.  Something that would be too much of a hassle to make on a ship.  Something…

“Hey!”  Shanks turned to grab Buggy’s attention, pointing at a yatai on the opposite street corner.  “What about that?”

Buggy spotted the word written in bold white letters on slate gray cloth and started to laugh. “What are we, on a themed vacation or something?”

“You’re the one who put the idea in my head!” Shanks said defensively, grinning.  “I know it’s out of season, but…”

“No, you’re right, we have to,” Buggy said, and led them to the oden-ya.  “I’m just going to look like I’m obsessed, is all.”

Ducking under the bamboo noren curtains, they found themselves in a cozy space, with three stools set up along a polished wooden table the same length as the cooktop.  A gorilla mink stood behind the partitioned oden pot, rotating skewers of fishcake in their niches within the steaming broth.  He glanced up at their entrance, a friendly customer service smile spreading across his face.

“Welcome!  Looking for oden this afternoon, or just something to drink?”  He gestured to one side, where beautiful little sake flasks and other bottles of alcohol were arranged on shelves that took up the whole side wall of the cart.  “I’d be happy to warm a flask of sake up for you on the stove if you’d like.”

“We’re looking for both, thanks,” Shanks said warmly, stepping up to the counter.  “I don’t suppose any of your sake is sourced from Wano?”

The mink wrinkled his nose thoughtfully.  “I may have some in storage, but that stuff tend to run a little pricier, given… well, if you’re asking for it, you must know.”

“Of course you have expensive tastes in booze and nothing else,” Buggy said with a smirk, bent down to inspect the sake that was actually meant for sale.  “Come on, look, they’ve got some West Blue stuff, you were always a sucker for your home ocean.”

“Oh?”  Shanks leaned over Buggy to get a better look at the stock, and a prickle of heat went up Buggy’s spine.  “Ooh, I do like that stuff.  But I really had my heart set on something from Wano…”  Turning back to the mink, he said, “Sorry to trouble you, but can you bring out what you have from Wano?  I promise the price isn’t an issue, and I won’t have any problem drinking a flask of each.”  The mink ducked around back without complaint.

“More like a couple flasks of each,” Buggy muttered, but he didn’t mean it cruelly.  Shanks liked a drink, he always had—and rumor said the last time he saw Whitebeard before all this he’d matched him cup for cup.  Whitebeard-sized cups, too, which meant he had to have a crazy tolerance these days.  Good for him.  Buggy wasn’t quite as capable, but he could hold his liquor.  He wouldn’t be any kind of ex-Roger Pirate if he couldn’t.

“Guilty,” Shanks said, sing-songy, reaching over Buggy’s shoulder to snatch one of the larger bottles of shochu.  “Can you grab a flask or two of the West Blue sake for me?”

Buggy rolled his eyes, grabbing two.  “One of them’s for me.”

“We can share,” Shanks said mildly.

Buggy snorted. “If by ‘share’ you mean I get one cup and by the time I’ve finished it the flask is empty, sure, we can share.”

Shanks laughed.  “Am I that bad?”

“You’re just too fast about it is all.  I like to linger over a drink, really savor it.”

“Oh, you like to take your time, do you?”  Shanks’ smile, already suggestively wide, spread wider still when this comment flustered Buggy.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” he snapped.

“No?”

Why do you sound disappointed, Buggy was tempted to ask—except no, no he wasn’t, he did not want to know why Shanks might be disappointed Buggy hadn’t intended to be suggestive.  He had already decided he wasn’t going there.  “I just mean you rush things a bit.”

“…do I?”

Once again feeling like Shanks was reading things into what he was saying, but this time not at all sure what deeper meaning Shanks was taking from his words, Buggy averted his eyes, setting the pair of sake flasks down in front of the stove top.  “Yeah, I know you like getting drunk, but there’s such a thing as pacing yourself, you know?”

Before Shanks could respond to this—with who knows what kind of misinterpretation of Buggy’s words this time—the mink returned, a crate of sake in flasks and jugs of various sizes in hand.

“Here we are!”  With a soft grunt of effort, the mink set the crate down in front of Shanks.  “Let me know if anything catches your eye.”  He spotted the flasks of West Blue sake Buggy had set down and quickly made room in a pot of steaming water for them to sit and warm up.  “Now, were any items looking especially appealing today?”

Buggy glanced sideways; Shanks was occupied with intently inspecting the sake.  Well, if he wanted something specific he could ask for it later.  “Two bowlfuls of whatever the chef recommends, for now.”

The gorilla nodded.  “Coming right up!”  And he was as good as his word, quickly throwing together a wide, shallow bowl of savory golden-brown broth with a skewer of fishcakes, an egg, and a few slices of daikon for each of them. It looked wonderful, warm and familiar, and it smelled even better.

Before Buggy could take a sip, Shanks had flung his arm across Buggy’s chest, blocking the spoonful of broth from reaching his mouth.

“Hang on,” Shanks said, weirdly serious.  “You have to have this first.”  He held out a small flask of Wano sake, tilted just far enough to encourage Buggy to grab a cup and accept the pour.

“Not warmed up?”  Shanks expression didn’t so much as twitch.  Buggy huffed.  “Fine, fine... you and your expensive tastes.”  He accepted the cup, swirled it for a moment to breathe in the aroma—they really did make it different in Wano; was it something in the water, or the rice?—and took a sip.  Then blinked, goggled at the half-drunk cup, and slung back the rest with a warm floaty feeling in his chest.

Setting the cup down, he breathed, “Is that...?”

Shanks grinned.  “Special pure rice brew.”  He spun the flask around to reveal the maker’s mark.  “From the Kuri region of Wano.”

Buggy snatched the flask away.  Looking it over, he said, “Seriously?! From the same brewery?”

“And you wondered why I was so insistent.”

Buggy shook his head, laughing a little in disbelief, and poured Shanks a cup of the stuff.  He glanced up at their host, politely not bothering them even though he had to be confused, and said, “This exact same sake was the first drink the two of us had, back when we were—what, eleven? Twelve?”

“Something like that,” Shanks said, watching Buggy with a pleased smile.  “Stolen out of Oden’s rooms on a dare—”

“—you’re the one who dared me!” Buggy snapped.  Thinking back, he added, “And he must have let us take it, we weren’t sneaky enough at twelve to get past Oden—”

“—oh, definitely,” Shanks agreed.  “Bet he thought of it as a rite of passage, stealing your first drink from under the nose of your honored elders.”

Buggy snorted.  “Definitely,” he echoed.  Giving Shanks a look, he passed this flask along to the mink as well.  “This stuff isn’t so fancy heating it will ruin the taste, right?  Might as well try it the way it was meant to be had.”

“Of course,” the mink said with a gracious smile, adding the flask to the steaming pot on his stove.  He watched the two of them dig into their bowls—delicious, of course—without comment, but as he carefully retrieved the first of the West Blue flasks from its bath he said, “Now, I haven’t thought about this in a long time, so I’m afraid I can’t quite recall… which of you is Shanks and which is Buggy?”

Buggy blinked dumbly up at the gorilla, his mouth full of radish.  Next to him, Shanks was pulling a similar face.

Hastily swallowing his mouthful, Buggy cleared his throat and said, “You know… both of us by name? But not well enough to know which is which on sight?”

The gorilla smiled sheepishly.  “I wasn’t sure until you brought up Oden.  That’s Kozuki Oden, isn’t it?  Which means the two of you must be Shanks and Buggy, they were the only other young people on the boat in all the stories I heard.”

“What stories?”

“‘The only other young people’…” Shanks lit up.  “Do you know Dogstorm and Cat Viper?”

Buggy nearly smacked Shanks.  “Seriously?!  Not every mink knows each other, Shanks!”

“Heh, actually...”  Buggy stared up at the gorilla mink in disbelief as he shrugged, making an embarrassed expression.  “The truth is, I only learned how to prepare oden at Duke Dogstorm’s request.”

“Duke Dogstorm?”  Shanks whistled.  “Somebody’s moved up in the world.”

Buggy jabbed him in the side with a free-floating elbow.  “I don’t want to hear that from you, Emperor Shanks!”

Shanks winced—an exaggerated gesture for the benefit of their audience—and leaned away from Buggy.  “Oh, come on,” he whined, “it’s not like I meant to become an emperor or anything.”

“Oh, of course not,” Buggy said, rolling his eyes and shoving a piece of tsukune in his mouth.  Eyes shut, he declared, “I’ll bet I can tell you exactly how it happened, too.  You had a meal with some mediocre pirate crew and made friends. Then some shitty Marines started beating the hell out of them; they could’ve just arrested the crew, but they decided to torture them for their own amusement.  Well, you could hardly let this abuse go unchallenged, could you?  So naturally you had to step in, and sent the Marines running with their tails between their legs.  And it was only natural that the pirate crew was thankful to you, but you never dreamed they’d all vow to follow you forever, forswearing their own flag in favor of yours.  Not daring to call themselves true Red-Haired Pirates, of course, but Red-Haired Pirates adjacent.”  Rolling his wrist, Buggy concluded, “And then that happened another twenty or thirty times, because you never learn.”

Opening one eye a crack, he glanced at Shanks.  “How’d I do?”

Shanks, red-faced, his fist pressed to his mouth to hold back laughter, nodded weakly.  “Well, uh... you’re not wrong,” he wheezed out.  Taking a drink to clear his throat and calm down, he sighed.  “Though you make it sound like far more of a foregone conclusion than it felt like when it was first happening.”

“That’s the benefit of an outside perspective,” Buggy said snippily.  “And also hindsight.”  Waving a hand in Shanks’ face, he said, “But enough about you!”  Jabbing the pointer finger of that same hand at their host, Buggy said, “What’s this about you learning to make oden for Dogstorm?”

The gorilla mink smiled, his eyes wide, and Buggy suddenly remembered hearing once that gorillas didn’t actually smile, but instead bared their teeth as a threat against potential enemies.  He pulled back his hand as casually as he could manage it.

“Do you really want to hear the story?  I’m told I can be a bit long-winded,” the mink said, fishing one of the Wano flasks out of its water bath and offering it up.

“Yeah, let’s hear it!” Buggy said, pouring a cup for Shanks, then handing over the flask so Shanks could do the same for him.  “I don’t know about Shanks but I haven’t heard anything from Zou in years, I’m dying to hear what those two have gotten up to.”

Closing his eyes, Buggy took a sip of the warmed Wano sake, not knowing Shanks was doing the same thing at the same time.  They set down their cups and sighed in unpracticed unison.  Suddenly aware of their double act, Buggy scowled at Shanks, who ignored him and made an encouraging gesture to their chef.  “Please, go ahead. I’d love to hear news of Dogstorm and Cat Viper.”

A sad expression washed over the gorilla’s face.  “I’m afraid I can only give you news of Duke Dogstorm.”  At the looks on his guests’ faces, the gorilla threw out a hand and said, “Not to say—please don’t misunderstand! Lord Cat Viper still lives! It’s just that I have not met with him since he and Duke Dogstorm first returned to Zou.  They... keep separate courts, and hours, and my service has always been to the day.”

A wrinkle appeared in Shanks’ brow.  “They don’t talk anymore?”

“It always turns into a fight.  Often one with devastating consequences for their surroundings.”

Buggy frowned.  That didn’t sound right.  Well, not the destruction—that sounded like those two—but fighting so badly they couldn’t even share waking hours... “What happened?”

The gorilla sighed.  “As I understand it?  Kozuki Oden died, and neither could forgive the other for failing to save him.”  A moment later, he gave Buggy a concerned look.  “Oh, are you hurt?”

Buggy blinked.  Staring down at his hands, he realized he’d snapped his chopsticks in half.  “I... no, I’m okay.”  The gorilla carefully plucked the broken shards of wood out of Buggy’s grasp, along with a splinter or two that had tried to wedge their way into his palms.  Thankfully the Chop-Chop fruit could handle any kind of stabbing, from needles up to legendary meito, so Buggy really was fine.

While the gorilla disposed of the pieces of wood, Buggy clenched his jaw, feeling Shanks’ eyes on him.  “I can hear you thinking.”

“…it makes sense,” he said quietly.  “What else could come between those two but the loss of someone who was as important to them as Oden?”

Buggy shot Shanks a narrow look out of the corner of his eye.  “Pretty sure I told you this morning that I was done talking about sad shit,” he warned, and Shanks raised his hand in a placating gesture.  The gorilla confirmed that Buggy wasn’t hurt, pointed out the extra chopsticks sitting in a cup to his left, and at their insistence told his story while they returned to their meal.

Dogstorm’s court sounded like a sight worth seeing.  Minks of countless animal forms, musketeers and attendants! To think Oden’s retainer had retainers of his own now!  And to think that he acted like a guy with such noble dignity, after the way he used to behave.

As the gorilla reached the end of his story—having made the closest thing to oden as could be produced with ingredients native to Zou, with Dogstorm pleased by the effort but quietly unsatisfied by the taste, the gorilla had left the court making a vow to learn the secrets of the oden-preparing arts, promising not to return until he was confident he would be able to put a true smile on the duke’s face—Buggy nudged Shanks in the side.  He glanced at Buggy, a half-eaten skewer of fishcakes sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

“Can you believe,” Buggy said with a shit-eating grin, “that the noble, wounded Dogstorm this guy is talking about is the same one who tarred and feathered Mr. Rayleigh?”

Shanks nearly choked before starting to laugh.  “How did I forget about that?!”

“I’m sorry, Duke Dogstorm did what?” the gorilla said incredulously, staring between the two of them.

“Wait, wait,” Shanks said, before Buggy could start to tell the story.  “If we’re sharing stories of mutual friends, you have to share a drink with us too.”  He grabbed a clean cup from a stack to one side and handed it over to the mink.  Shanks gave Buggy a pleading look, and with a magnanimous smirk Buggy chop-chopped a hand to swipe another sake flask from the water bath and pour for both of them.  “So—”

“Don’t you tell it!” Buggy snapped.  With a grin and a wave of his hand, Shanks metaphorically turned over the reins to Buggy, and took the opportunity to return to his sake and his meal.  “So,” Buggy said to the mink, “the first thing you need to understand about Dogstorm and Cat Viper is that they acted like respectful little attendants when Oden was around, but when it was just the four of us?”  Glancing at Shanks, who was grinning around the skewer in his mouth, Buggy cackled.  “They were just as bad as we were.”

Buggy went on to describe the prank in loving detail, alternating bites of fishcake with the reactions of the crew (mostly hysteria, especially from Roger) and the multiple attempts to blame the prank on someone else (Dogstorm nearly succeeded in pinning it all on Buggy, but forgot himself and corrected Rayleigh on where the tar had come from).  Shanks followed this up with a reminder of another time the four of them had been absolute nightmares to the crew of the Oro Jackson, and the story Buggy told about that day brought their host to literal tears of laughter.

They went around like this for over an hour, topping off their bowls and drinks all the while, recalling old times with the golden burnish of nostalgia softening the edges, easing the hurts and offenses of youth.  Gradually, the last of the fear Buggy had been clinging to all day faded.  It was hard to think that your childhood dread mattered much when looked at from so far off, in so fond a way. It was easy to smile at someone who so readily smiled back.

Eventually the broth pooling at the bottom of their bowls grew cold, and the flasks of sake they’d bought ran dry.  Not a soul had tried to enter the yatai while they were present, and Buggy felt a fleeting burst of pity for the gorilla’s business… until he saw how well Shanks tipped. With a light heart, Buggy waved a slightly drunken farewell to the mink—he’d paced himself pretty well, but a half-dozen bottles of sake split between two men were still going to have an effect—and ducked back out into the wider world.

The air outside was not exactly cold, but it lacked the cozy warmth of the oden-ya’s atmosphere.  It set something within Buggy out of alignment—or maybe back into place?  He stood just outside the noren with a hand pressed to his chest, trying to place the feeling, when Shanks made his own exit and nearly ran into him.

The proximity of Shanks at his back, with the last traces of that soup-warmed air drifting in his wake, sent a burst of longing down Buggy’s spine so intense his knees went weak.

Shanks’ hand went to his shoulder.  “Careful,” Shanks said, hoisting Buggy fully upright, the flat of his arm firm along the breadth of his back.  “You alright, Buggy?”

Fuck.  Even though it was the wrong arm, something about Shanks putting an arm over Buggy’s shoulder made his stomach flip and his heart kick into high gear.  Stupid, loyal organs didn’t have the sense Buggy’s brain had been given, to recognize that feeling feelings for Shanks was a very bad idea.

“Fine,” Buggy croaked out, taking a few careful steps away from Shanks to confirm he was steady enough to make that lie truth.  He shook himself off.

“Your tolerance not what it used to be?” Shanks teased.

“My tolerance is normal,” Buggy insisted, not looking back at Shanks.  “Yours, on the other hand...”

“Yeah, unlike you I’m actually fine,” Shanks said, picking up his pace to match Buggy’s stride.  Glancing around, his back straightened involuntarily with recognition.  Nudging Buggy’s shoulder with his own, he said, “Here, there’s a park nearby where we won’t be bothered.  We can sit down, let you sober up a little before heading back to the ship.”

Buggy drifted in Shanks’ wake on some old instinct.  It was only mid-afternoon.  “There wasn’t anything else you wanted to do?”

Shanks glanced at Buggy over his shoulder.  “What?”

“I dunno, some... sight you thought I should see, or a shop you like or something?”

Shanks blinked.  “Buggy, I’ve never been to this island before. I asked the locals for recommendations yesterday so I could have a good time with you.”

Buggy’s face went hot.  “You—stop saying shit like that!  Don’t you know how that sounds?”

“How it sounds?” Shanks echoed. He led Buggy through a tall, metal gate, into a walled-off plot of land with very little to it, just rock-paved paths, plaques underneath oddly colored trees, and the occasional bench.  Closing the gate behind them, he spun on Buggy.  “How does it sound?”

Buggy scowled and stormed past him.  Like Shanks didn’t know.

“If it sounds like I’ve missed you—well, sorry, Buggy, but I have.  I thought I’d been pretty obvious about that.”  When Buggy turned an incredulous look on Shanks, the corner of his mouth turned up, amused.  “Obvious to everyone but you, I guess.”

“You—you didn’t miss me,” Buggy said, insistent.  “You missed—” he gestured vaguely between the two of them. “—someone knowing you, without you having to say anything.  You missed having a history with someone.”

Shanks shook his head.  “I would love to see many people from back then again, but I’ve never missed any of them like I did you.”

“Oh, come on!” Buggy spat, “what was there to miss?  A greedy little brat who couldn’t decide if he hated you more than he was jealous of you?  A coward who ran and hid from every fight?”  The memory of Shanks leaning in close, a hand on his face, shot through Buggy.  Resisting another stab of longing, he blurted out, “Some stranger’s pretty face?”

“I missed my best—” Shanks’ face screwed up in confusion.  “A pretty face?”

Buggy hadn’t meant to say that.  He grimaced.  “You know.”  Swiping a hand across his face, he chop-chopped his nose off for a moment, hiding the gap behind his free hand.  “This one, that you liked so much that time.”

Understanding lit up Shanks’ face.  “Oh, the gorgeous stranger with stunning eyes.”  A sheepish expression coming over him, Shanks looked away, askance.  “Can I tell you something embarrassing?”

Buggy blinked.  Not the response he’d expected.  “Uh, sure?”

“I only thought those eyes were so stunning because they reminded me of yours.”

Buggy’s jaw dropped.  “The hell they did!”

“They did!”  Shoving his hand over his eyes, Shanks smiled self-consciously.  “Oh, I felt so ridiculous later.  That poor guy, I thought, was deserving of more than my secondhand affections.”  Dropping his hand to look at Buggy, he said, “Though that’s nothing compared to how ridiculous I felt the other day.”

Buggy swallowed, mouth dry.

“I’m sorry, Buggy,” Shanks said after a long, silent moment.  “If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

Buggy blinked.

Well.  Of course he wouldn’t have.  That went without saying.

He stepped back.  “I know that.”

“You do?”  Shanks frowned.  “I… good.”  Shoulders hunched, he turned to peer down at a plaque mounted beneath a pink-leafed bush.  “That’s good.  I don’t want there to be any more misunderstandings between us.”

“What’s there to misunderstand?”  Buggy spotted a bench and sat down.  He immediately felt clearer-headed.  Maybe Shanks was right about his tolerance.  “I get it.  You kiss strangers, not old friends.”

Shanks paused mid-step.  “Are you…” He spun to frown at Buggy.  “Are you deliberately misunderstanding me?”

“Hm?”  Buggy had just gotten comfortable, hiking one knee over the bench’s arm.  What was Shanks talking about now?

“Buggy.”

Buggy craned his head back to look up at Shanks.  He looked tall from this angle, and taller still when he leaned over Buggy, resting his hand on the back of the bench.  Shanks’ expression was unreadable, but intense.  Buggy’s mouth felt dry again.  Oh, this was bad.

“I was not apologizing for kissing you.  I was apologizing for kissing you wrong.”

“Kissing me wrong?” Buggy echoed bewilderedly.

“If I’d known that stranger was you, I still would have kissed you, if you’d let me,” Shanks said bluntly.  “I’d kiss you now, if you’d let me.  But it wouldn’t be like that kiss, it would be different.”

Buggy blinked, dumbfounded.

Shanks… wanted to kiss him.

Not the stranger he’d taken him for back then, but Buggy himself.

Had wanted to kiss Buggy then.

Still wanted to kiss Buggy now.

Would kiss him in a different way from a stranger.

“Different how?” Buggy croaked out.

For a long, agonizing moment, Shanks stared blankly at Buggy.  A furious heat rushed into Buggy’s face—there was no way to take a sentence like that back.  He couldn’t pretend it was simple curiosity.  He couldn’t pretend he wasn’t eager to be kissed.

Slowly, Shanks grinned, infuriatingly smug.  “Would you like me to show you?”