#some sympathy would've been nice though...

[villainousundertones]

Feeling very much like everyone hates me rn 😕

[carlyraejepsans]

Technically speaking, he was a light sleeper.

Which was just hilarious for two different reasons. One, he topped at twenty pounds soaking wet—and that was after he'd reached for the towel. The joke basically wrote itself. The other reason was, of course, that nobody believed him. Honestly, he could kinda get it. It's pretty hard for irony to escape him, even on a bad day. The way he saw it, though, maybe he wouldn't take as many naps as he did, if he just managed to get one to stick.

...heh, nah. Probably not. Late to rise, early to bed, makes a man lazy or clinically dead, or however the saying went. Still.

The kid stiffened against his ribcage and that was all it took for his eyes to fly open.

The popcorn ceiling of the living room stared back at him through the darkness in all its tacky glory. Now that's another joke that writes itself. It wasn't a movie night at Tori's without some comment about her taste in decor. That always earned him a round of groans. Or a halfhearted pillow to the head. It was one of his favorite moodsetters.

His hand dangled in the air at his side. Not on the floor. Just a few months earlier, that alone would've told him he wasn't in his room, but oh boy, had things changed. He had a bedframe now, not to mention enough self respect for one. AND fitted sheets—that was a lifetime first. You had to be careful not to fall off, but all things considered, it was the fanciest bed he'd slept on since he'd tried using his worker bonus at MTT's. If he risked falling off the bed now, he'd risked never finding his way out then. Not to mention the guy in the other room calling for room service the entire night. He almost retired the midnight snacks bit on Undyne out of sympathy the next time she came over.

Almost.

The kid's head twitched.

Right. Popcorn. Living room. Springy mattress. He didn't need to smoke a pipe to realize he'd fallen asleep on the sofa. Didn't need a goofy hat either to see that someone must've thought he'd make a good pillow. Go figure. He'd gotten real good at making himself look softer under his clothes, but still, it wasn't exactly the kind of magic a guy could keep up with his eyes closed and a pillow behind his head. He just hoped they weren't too uncomfortable.

He must've dozed off sometime after Papyrus left the house and Toriel turned in for the night, 'cause nobody had stopped by to throw a blanket over him. Most nights that would've been fine. Nice thought aside, skeletons didn't really feel cold "to their bones", on account of lacking all the soft and fleshy stuff on top of 'em.

Yeah, well. Most nights. Most nights he didn't have a human kid sleeping on top of him, either.

Sans looked down. He resisted the urge to blow a strand of hair out of their face.

Most nights, skeletons didn't have hearts beating against their ribs.

Ba-dum—ba-dum—ba-dum.

He would've asked them if it felt any different, having it beat on the other side of their ribcage, if they hadn't already crawled their way inside his months before.

Heh. Not like they hadn't done the same with everyone else. Or ever asked for permission, the little freeloader. But he supposed that part came free with being monsters. The whole HOPE and compassion and everything nice kinda shtick. As a rule, they were, uh, very prone to attachment. It was hardwired into their SOULs or something. Of course, he knew better than anyone that compassion had its cost, and he'd ran low on HOPE for a long, long while, but...

There was a ray of light coming through the kitchen at night like he hadn't seen in an even longer time. The kind with a moon and stars hung at the other end of it.

Yeah. Maybe he could afford something nice for once.

Frisk stirred again. He kept as still as possible as they wriggled around, pushing themself off of him—trying, he assumed, not to shove their boney little knees somewhere unpleasant.

Then they flopped to their side and fell to the floor with a thud.

See, THAT'S the kinda issue you don't have when you have no self respect.

Slowly, the kid got to their feet again. They stood perfectly straight for a moment, then took an unsteady step forward. Then another.

To call it "walking" would've been an act of mercy. It was more of an ambling. Maybe a shambling. Sans watched their journey towards the kitchen mentally listing of adverbs. Stumbling. Fumbling. Trailing. That one didn't have a mbl in it, points for originality.

Mostly, he was ecstatic. Nothing made for fun breakfast stories quite like sleepwalking. And well, he hadn't had one of those since Papyrus turned fifteen and stopped sleeping entirely.

When the kid finally reached the fridge, they all but shoved their head inside it. He heard them do... something in there. There were definitely teeth involved. He was about to ask them to bring some goods back to homebase.

The door of the fridge clicked closed.

He didn't.

Then, he almost made a joke about forgetting their headlights on, but thought otherwise. He was glad he'd left his own off.

Besides, it was the taillights that were supposed to glow red.

Eyesockets dark and still pretending to sleep, he kept watch as the kid turned around and retraced their shambling steps to the living room like a miniature zombie.

Halfway to the sofa, they stopped, making a small sound like a grumbling of annoyance. For a second their eyes grew even more unfocused.

"Sleep," they rasped out in a low, halting whisper, "I saved you a crick in the neck."

It took him a second to register that the kid wasn't talking to him. Mostly 'cause Frisk didn't speak. To him. Or ever.

By the time they reached their starting point again, his excitement had died off into quiet confusion and quickly curdled into caution. They stopped at the edge of the sofa and fixed him with a stare, looking at where they'd been sleeping before. Sans waited.

"I am not doing that," they rasped to themself again.

Then they climbed onto the other end of the sofa and curled around themself as small as possible. So tightly it looked like they wanted to tuck their tiny body into a ball.

When they stopped moving, they didn't move again.

Sans didn't lift a finger. His brain whirred in his skull, ready to chalk up the past few minutes to the sleepwalking and forget they ever happened. Staring up at the popcorn ceiling again, though, he couldn't shake off a wave of uneasiness; like he'd seen something he wasn't quite supposed to put together.

Any man would've spent the night awake.

He cast a glance at the kid, huddled in their corner. There was no heartbeat against his ribs now: something about the silence felt foreboding.

Sans closed his eyes.

Ten minutes later, of course, he was out like a light.

[medusasea]

Touya's Reasons

Now, let's make this clear from the beginning. Endeavour was a bad father. His quirk marriage to father a child with a specific quirk in order to make them his successor is messed up. The way he handled Touya's was messed up. What he did to the rest of the family after Touya's supposed death was downright disgusting. But was his treatment of Touya really that bad that he would turn him into a murderer?

From what we see, Endeavour used to be very cheerful and nice during training with Touya. After Touya started getting burns he put an end to the training and he even did this peacefully. Some Dabi defenders point out that Endeavour pushed Touya to the side and that he should've started a different activity with Touya. I don't see it like that at all. We see Endeavour talk to Touya way more than he does to the rest of the kids before Shoto was born. It was only after Touya tried burning baby Shoto that Endeavour largely isolated Shoto from the rest of the siblings. Now, considering Endeavour wanted to train Shoto but not Touya, it is likely he would've spent more time with Shoto anyway, but Touya tried to kill or at least harm Shoto as a baby, way before the training started. The thing is, the Endeavour never trained Fuyumi nor Natsuo, who are younger than him. Enji never told Touya about his plans to get a successor, Touya found out by himself, but I don't know how. Since nobody told him about the plan and neither of his siblings got training at that point, what made him think his parents were trying to bring a child with a specific quirk into the world? Shoto was also just a baby. It is nomal for older siblings to feel jealousy, but Shoto was way too young to start the training and he was just a baby while Touya was around 10. He should've felt more sympathy for a defenseless baby. As for Endeavour starting a new activity with Touya, I agree that Touya needed that, but do you think Touya himself would've realized this? He was burning himself up to prove himself to his father, even though the latter told him multiple times to stop. Do you seriously think Touya would've been open for a new activity when he was so obsessed with becoming a hero? If your child is burning themselves, would starting a new activity really seem like it would help? Or at least it wouldn't be the first thing to pop into your mind. What Touya needed was first and foremost counseling and self control. I do not condone any of Endeavours actions, in fact they were very stupid, I just don't see how they would drive Touya to murder.

After Touya escapes the hospital he wants to return to his family only to see Endeavour being even more abusive than before with Rei and SHoto being his (biggest) victims and his family overall living on after his supposed death. This finally drives him to villainy. Except there have been 3 years since his family thought he died. They did not abandon him and they did not move on right away, Touya only didn't see them mourn because it has been 3 years since he disappeared and he knows this things. So he shouldn't have any reason to get revenge on them sans Endeavour and maybe Rei, since she was an accomplice in her husband's plan to get a successor and she didn't stand up for herself as much as she should.

I agree that his experience was hard. His father was very proud of him when they did gero training only for that to get stripped away from him once he got burns and his father not dealing with it in a professional way. However, he was getting burned. There is a difference between being stubborn and being desperate. I can still sympathize with his disappointment, but I can't sympathize with his obsession to the point of getting burned, even if the people in your life discourage you to and they still show you love and affection nor with his desire to murder, especially innocent people.

[thirddoctor]

Anyway, BG3!Sarevok thoughts.

The first time I played the game I found him to be one of the more repulsive villains (and I say this as someone who can find sympathy in my heart even for Cazador). The journal where we learn about all the incest stuff is super icky. I didn't really give him much thought after I killed him, but I had nothing but loathing for him.

Cut to me playing the first two games and him becoming one of my faves. 😔

I'm really glad I played BG3 first, because if I'd gone from Throne of Bhaal to this without knowing how he'd be portrayed it would've sucked so bad.

One of the defenses I've seen of this version of him is that it's just following Forgotten Realms material outside the games that had him fall back into evil, but 1. I'm not trying to pick a bone specifically with Larian so it doesn't matter to me whether it was their choice or someone else's, I still don't like it. 2. In other circumstances, BG3 does try to some degree to preserve player choices from the previous games even when there's an established "canon" version--notice that Minsc and Jaheira never refer to Gorion's Ward by name or gender, even though Abdel Adrian is the canon protagonist (I really appreciated this, because I hate "canon" versions of game characters *coughRevancough*). 3. You can just not put Sarevok in the game. He doesn't have to be there. You can still have Orin be his daughter and/or granddaughter, but--bearing in mind my previous point--just keep details about him vague. The problem with including him is non-fans don't care (I sure didn't the first time I played) and fans will be alienated if they don't like his portrayal.

I've seen arguments that it makes sense for him to have ended up the way we see him in BG3, but I have two issues with that:

1. I don't think he actually feels especially in character. Obviously it's been a long time since Throne of Bhaal and people can change, but his portrayal here doesn't fit well with the person we saw in the previous games. He wasn't slavishly devoted to Bhaal--he wanted power for himself. His plan in BG1 was to take Bhaal's place. (He didn't grow up in the murder cult like Orin or Durge--he was meant to be sacrificed to Bhaal as a child, and was left to fend for himself after Harpers intervened; I think a lot of things about his character make sense in light of the fact he's been abandoned and powerless multiple times, and so seeks strength, power, and intimidation over others. A really nice little bookend to his arc is the fact that after Throne of Bhaal, he goes back to find Tamoko--someone who cared for him that he abandoned--and gives her a proper burial in her homeland.) I just struggle to see him being content to devote himself to Bhaal when he was ambitious and determined enough that a part of him was able to survive even after he died (and was rejected by Bhaal) and thus was able to be revived in ToB. That's not a guy who's just gonna sit around in a moldy basement doing Bhaal's bidding.

Over and above all that, he can potentially grows as a person in ToB and start seeing some of the errors of his ways as he listens to his half-sibling's perspective. BG3 does address this, but only to brush it aside--"Oh, yeah, he had a chance to become a better person and he rejected it."

Even if you accept that explanation and think his portrayal in BG3 makes perfect sense, that still brings me to my other issue.

2. It's just boring. This may be a little more subjective, especially since I'm a huge redemption arc fan, but look at it this way: You had an evil guy who was the big bad of the first game, who had a plot to take over Baldur's Gate and ascend to godhood. He then comes back as a companion who can potentially be redeemed, and who you can discuss your past with as you make important choices about your future. That's an interesting progression that expands on his portrayal in the first game. Then he's sitting around in a murder basement being generically evil again. He's not even one of the main bosses. How does that offer anything new with his character?

The fact that this happens with both Sarevok and Viconia, who can have some of the most interesting development in the previous games, makes it especially frustrating. Like, imagine playing BG4, and regardless of what choices you'd made in BG3, Shadowheart shows up as a Dark Justiciar who you have to kill. Or Astarion is an evil vampire lord. Yes, you could maybe do interesting stories featuring those outcomes, it wouldn't necessarily be out of character and they could make for cool villains, but it would still feel really reductive for players who watched them grow and change and make better choices.

I'm not saying Sarevok was nearly as fleshed out as either of them, or that his arc was that in-depth in comparison, but it was still one of my favourite parts of the first two games and it sucks to lose it and get something much blander in return.

Anyway. I never expected to care about Sarevok but here I am.

[ftlcamp]

Challenge 1: Investigation, Start!

Tuna: Alright everyone. I'm sure you've at least skimmed the memo.

Tuna: I'm in charge of the lot of you, try not to be too excited. Ha.

Tuna: The task is simple. Just gotta find and retrieve this light thing. Alive. Not quite sure how you'd even kill it, though.

Tuna: It was set to be part of some gameshow as a gimmick, but the show didn't even get to start production 'coz it went missing.

Tuna: At the very least, we know it made it on set before escapin' it's containment and bookin' it to who knows where.

Tuna: Reportedly, it was kept somewhere in the basement.

Tuna: Problem is, said basement is a buncha connected rooms full of random junk.

Tuna: You'd think the show's host would be able to give us a bit of guidance.

Tuna: It owns the building, after all.

Tuna: And was going to start production on a show soon.

Tuna: But-

A napkin is blown loudly. As in, like someone's just blowing air into it, and not actually blowing a nose.

???: HOW EVER AM I TO GO ON FROM THIS?!

???: My beautiful gimmick, taken from us too soon!

???: It was too young! How am I to make back the money I invested in all this?!

???: I'm too young! Too young to be so financially ruined! Woe!! Woe is me!!!

???: Just get out a shovel, dig me my grave! Gimme a nice coffin, I want it closed casket, spacious with little pillows…

Tuna: So this is the host, and our client, the Dark. Like, all of it.

Dark: That's my name! Don't wear it out! Please!! It's all I have left!!!

Tuna: It just keeps spouting unhelpful nonsense, and dressed up weird.

Dark: Am I not allowed to mourn?! I've lost it all! Oh, how am I supposed to face my wife and kids now!?

Tuna: … You're married?

Dark: ▪️ Absolutely not! No ring could could EVER hold me down! My love is solely for getting those ratings up and up!

Tuna: So you lied.

Dark: Err… Such harsh accusations to a mourning individual…

Dark: No sympathy at all? I thought this would work well… This test run is going so bad, what am I to do if I can't milk the viewer's pity into the delectable beverage of fame…!

Tuna: Don't say it like that.

Tuna: Ugh. It's yet to drop the self-pitying schtick and tell us anything useful. Potential whereabouts, what to expect inside the building, anything like that.

Dark: The answer is SIMPLE! I'm as CLUELESS as you!

Dark: I acquired this lot through an opportune company merger. Only learned after that this spot has been passed around shows like a hot potato for ages, and no one ever bothers to clean up after themselves!

Dark: To uphold such time honored traditions, I did not look myself. And the gimmick of my wonderful show, it was going to be GREAT I tell you. I would've SWEPT the competition right out of the water, it was so new and unique and other words for really good here.

Tuna: … Right. Great. Really believe everything you've said so far.

Tuna: So team, I'm splittin' you up into two groups. No need for fancy names, so you'll just be Team A and Team B. I'm giving you different priorities to focus on, but if you think you needa do a bit of the other task to accomplish your main one, be my guest.

Team A's prioritized task is to investigate the building.

Tuna: Who knows what you'll find down there. If that story about those basements being filled with a random gameshow things is true, proceed with some caution. You know how dangerous things on those shows can be.

Team B's prioritized task is to interrogate the Darkness.

Tuna: Surely it can say something useful to the situation at hand. Where it was at the time the Light escaped, how this could've even happened, whatever. I don't care how you go about getting information out of it, do whatever you feel is right. Just know, it likes to lie. A lot. Good luck sifting through the clear contradictions for scraps of the truth.

Challenge ends June 15th.

[obigem]

The ballroom building was eerily quiet as Matthew made his way up to the practice room.

He'd never been there on a non-practice day before, so maybe it was always like this when it was deserted. But even still, when he made it to the practice room, he didn't expect for it to be nearly pitch dark.

"Mother?" He called out as he entered the room. "Why is it so dark in here?" He then followed up under his breath.

Was it some kind of power outtage? He could barely see anything, but seeing as his mother didn't respond and she was often very loud, he figured she wasn't here.

But someone was.

He could just barely make out the frame of a girl, rather thin, long wavy hair, and a frilly dress.

He didn't need three guesses to make out who it was.

Unless he was simply imagining it. It's not as if he hadn't done something like that before, despite her looking solidly there.

He took another step in.

Her name was on his tongue, but rather than carelessly letting it slip out, instead he uttered a question that was on his lips.

"What are you doing here?"

At that, Cordelia turned toward him clearly startled and maybe a bit frightened having been left in the dark.

"Matthew?" In the dark, he was a little hard to make out, but after squinting and confirming it. "Oh, thank goodness. Aunty Di said you wouldn't be long, but then she also said she wouldn't be long either, and it's a little creepy in here all alone."

"My mother, where is she?"

"You can probably tell that the lights are out up here. Seeing as the lights aren't out anywhere else, Aunty Di figured they probably shut the power off to this room when it's not in use to save money. So she went down to the electrical room to flip it back on from the fuse box."

"That was a bit ago though. I wonder if she couldn't find it, or if she's lost, or—"

"I'm sure she's fine." Matthew reassured. "She shouldn't have left you up here in the dark though. It's irresponsible."

"Don't blame her for that! She actually asked me if I wanted to come, but I said no."

"Why would you've said that?"

"Because…if we both went and you showed up when we were gone, then you would've had to wait in this room, alone, in the dark. It didn't seem very nice, so I offered to hang back so when you showed up you wouldn't have to be alone."

Her honesty always took him aback.

For no reason at all, she was always so…nice to him.

No underlying motivations just barefaced honesty for the sake of it. It was always so foreign.

"The only reason I'm here is because my mother asked me to come, but that doesn't explain why you're here."

"Aunty Di didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Well, maybe it makes sense that you wouldn't know exactly, but when I bumped into her downtown she was so upset, so I guess I just assumed it was a torrid family affair that had you all distressed."

"Torrid family affair?" Matthew's suspicions grew. "What did my mother tell you?"

"Oh, well, she said it was a matter of your place in your family. She refused to ask me for it, but I wanted to, ya know, help if I could, so I offered—"

"Stop." Matthew interrupted. "Whatever my mother told you, it was a lie. So if you're here through some garnered sympathy, you can save it."

"I don't need any saving."

"That's…not why I'm here."

"Isn't it though?"

There was a pause that cut through the darkness.

"Do you….want me to leave, Matthew?"

"What?"

"It just seems like you don't want me here, so if you don't…" She trailed off.

"When it comes to you….what I want is—"

For just a moment, the honesty in her pulled at something deep within him and shook it loose. Allowing him to think that maybe he could be honest maybe just this one time.

As his mouth readied to form the words, a flash of light warmed and filled the room, the darkness dissipating.

[woodchipp]

just wanted to say i appreciate your omori analyses a ton and they've been pretty eye-opening! i haven't touched the game in a few years and came back to it on a whim, and parts of it definitely didn't hold up the way i thought they had my first time around. you have a lot of insightful commentary about it and i've enjoyed reading what i have so far.

honestly, after going through some of your omori-centric posts, i'm so stuck on the "how?" part of the truth. like how did basil and sunny actually think stringing up mari's corpse to hide the truth was okay in any possible way. if both of them love mari so much (which is told to the player numerous times), how would either of them think it's okay? or, at the very least, why would basil have the idea in the first place? you propose the idea in one of your posts that it comes across as a premeditated plan as the convoluted nature of the plan is... way too much to be something thought of on the fly, regardless of how much thought was put into it. it's also not possible for it to be sunny's plan as the files explicitly point to basil being the one to suggest going through with the cover-up. it's just way too cruel of an idea, to me, for basil to have thought it up without some animosity and yet the game doesn't give any reason as to why he would other than to cover for sunny. hell, if they actually went through with it being an accident and tried to save mari, there might be a legitimate reason for them to be forgiven and have sympathy! (at least for basil, not so much for sunny.)

this is also ignoring other problems, such as...

wouldn't someone see/hear what happened, be it sunny and mari's parents hearing the fight or their neighbors seeing the two in the backyard? while it's not unusual to leave young teens alone in the house, i highly doubt that no one else was around especially on the day of the recital. wouldn't at least one of their parents make sure the two were practicing, had nice outfits to wear, that they'd have enough time to do [xyz] before leaving home, or something?

how strong even are these two? nothing implies that basil and sunny were unusually strong at age 12, but clearly both must've had some pretty impressive muscles if sunny was able to forcefully push mari down the stairs and if both were able to carry her up and down the stairs, out of the house, through the backyard, and finally hang her. even if a majority of it was done together, i doubt it would've been easy (especially the hanging).

you already answer this in one of your posts, but the fact that there'd be clear evidence that it wasn't a suicide. outside of the clean stockings, mari's body would've most likely been bruised and battered from falling down the stairs, and i highly doubt that much injury could be excused as something else if she had an autopsy done.

granted the reason is that it's poor writing, but i'm curious if you have any thoughts if there could even be an in-universe answer to any of these. if not, no worries! i started to spitball in your inbox here, so excuse the rambly nature of it.

you have a lot of insightful commentary about it and i've enjoyed reading what i have so far.

Thank you ^^

I'm really glad to hear I gave you a different perspective on this game! That's a pretty big reason why I continue to write posts about it in the first place, opinionated about its poor writing as I may be lol

i started to spitball in your inbox here, so excuse the rambly nature of it.

You have nothing to apologize for. I only welcome such discussion :D

if both of them love mari so much (which is told to the player numerous times), how would either of them think it's okay?

Great point. Makes their actions all the more disgusting, doesn't it?

Sunny and Basil loved Mari. They didn't care about her much when all was said and done, though. All Basil cared about was covering for her brother and all her brother cared about was appearing innocent. They didn't pause to consider the impact their lie would have on their close friends, either.

Such good people they are.

(also both of them are, to use the fandom's favorite expression, literal 12 yo children. realistically speaking, they would have either spent the rest of the day in shock so severe neither would be able to talk, much less do anything, or their idea of a "cover-up" would be something like haphazardly shoving Mari's corpse into the nearest dumpster outside and hoping no one notices)

it's just way too cruel of an idea, to me, for basil to have thought it up without some animosity

That's an interesting idea, but I don't think it makes sense given what we know about him.

wouldn't someone see/hear what happened, be it sunny and mari's parents hearing the fight or their neighbors seeing the two in the backyard? while it's not unusual to leave young teens alone in the house, i highly doubt that no one else was around especially on the day of the recital. wouldn't at least one of their parents make sure the two were practicing, had nice outfits to wear, that they'd have enough time to do [xyz] before leaving home, or something?

Another great point! Honestly, I just assume the parents were at work because them being home that day would break the plot even further lmao

...actually, even if nobody noticed the two in the backyard, how come nobody saw the hanging body in there?

clearly both must've had some pretty impressive muscles if sunny was able to forcefully push mari down the stairs

Personally, I reckon it's just additional evidence Sunny wanted to hurt her. There's no way he was already stronger than his 15 yo sister at 12, especially given how scrawny he's shown to be even back then - such an amount of force denotes an intent to harm.

With that said, yeah, you're right about everything else.

hell, if they actually went through with it being an accident and tried to save mari, there might be a legitimate reason for them to be forgiven and have sympathy! (at least for basil, not so much for sunny.)

And that is why what they did is, to put it bluntly, unforgivable.

Had Sunny and Basil tried to be honest, the rest of the group could've understood that Sunny didn't mean to harm Mari, maybe rationalized the whole thing. Maybe. It wouldn't be a clean process.

But by the time they spent four years believing Mari hanged herself? Thinking they failed her and were horrible friends? Having to contend with the idea they will never know why she left them the way she did? Yeah no they'd cut the fuckers out of their lives for good.

[xshiny]

Some very needed bromance

2:30 in the morning. It’s raining. Hard. How pathetic. Keegan kept his head slouched between his shoulders as he walked down the street. Him and his girlfriend had fought. She cut the relationship and sent him on his way. He fumbled with his phone, trying to call his friend, Mantis to come and rescue him. He felt so helpless and stupid. Finally, his friend picked up. He sniffled from the cold.

“H-Hey.�� His voice stuttered from the cold. “I really need you to come get me…” he muttered.

"Mm...Keegan? What's up, man? It's two-thirty in the morning, whatcha need?" Mantis groans as he answers the phone, rubbing his tired eyes.

“It’s raining and I uh…” Keegan sniffled and then tried to swallow before beginning. “I just had a really bad fight with my girlfriend. She broke up with me.” He paused on the sidewalk, looking down for a moment. Tears ran down his face. He wiped them away quickly. What a pussy.

Mantis sighs, and gets up from his bed. "A fight, I see..."Putting his coat on, Mantis grabs his car keys and slips his shoes on before getting to his car. "Where you at? I'll pick you up"

“S-S…1322 East Maple Boulevard.” Keegan replies, trying his hardest not to break down. He hated everything in this moment. He hated asking for help. He hated feeling so stupid and pathetic. He hated this shitty weather. He just wanted to be back in his bed in his own apartment with his girlfriend…

Turning the car on, Mantis drives down to the location. "Aight, I'll be right there"

Keegan waited out on the sidewalk as the rain continued to fall. He was shivering cold, wishing desperately that his friend would hurry up already. He felt so exposed under the pouring rain. Finally Mantis pulls up and Keegan walks over to the passenger side door.

“Man…thanks for coming.” Keegan says in an ashamed tone. Mantis looks at Keegan with sympathy.

"It's no problem, man. Just doing it for my friend" Mantis smiles, and drives back to his place. Mantis opens the door to his apartment, and offers Keegan a towel to dry off.

"You want some tea? Something to get you warm?" Mantis says, already getting the tea kettle on the stove.Keegan nods through teary eyes. He looked down at the ground and then up at Mantis. His friend was his saving grace at this point.

“That…that really sounds nice.” Keegan mutters. “Could I borrow a change of clothes too? I’m soaked and freezing and…I just want to get out of these clothes.”

"Of course, let me go get some clothes for you" Mantis says, and disappeared into his bedroom. A minute later he comes out with a full set of fresh clothes; a hoodie and sweatpants.Keegan takes the clothes from Mantis. They smelled fresh, clean and the exact opposite of what he was feeling. He pulled off his wet hoodie and then changed into the clothes. His hair dripped to his face, but the clothes felt comforting and cozy. Keegan looked up at his friend with gratitude.

"Thank you so much." He said. "Why are you awake by the way? It's two in the morning."

Mantis shakes his head, chuckling softly. "I wasn't up. You woke me up." Mantis then goes to pour the hot water into a mug, and sets a tea bag in it, handing it to Keegan. "It's a good thing I picked up the phone though- you'd be freezing if I didn't" Mantis jokes softly, trying to alter the mood.

Keegan chuckles with relief. Thank God his good friend picked up his phone in the middle of the night. He didn't want to think about what would've happened if he didn't. His warm tea cup heats his hands, bringing a bit of comfort to his cold and shivering body.

"Yeah...it was cold and really wet out there. I would've been sleeping under a bridge if you didn't come to get me. I owe you big time...this all just felt so stupid."

"No no, you don't need to owe me anything" Mantis disagrees with Keegan. He doesn't want his friend to be in debt. This was just a thing for friends to do. Help each other out.

"Besides, your girlfriend broke up with you, right?"Keegan nods and takes a sip of the tea.

"Yes she did." he sighs. "She cut things off with me a few hours ago. Everything was going so well, yet suddenly she decided to end it." He shrugs. "Things have been shaky for a while. I think maybe it's been a long time coming...but I didn't expect it to all just...end like this".

Mantis puts a gentle hand on Keegan's shoulder and gives him a reassuring squeeze. "I've never been in a relationship, but I'm sure you'll get over her eventually- you always do. Maybe she just wasn't the right one"

Keegan nods in agreement, yet he could't help feeling like he had lost the love of his life. He felt so stupid for falling so hard for her. He looked down at his tea cup for another long moment, before finally looking at his friend.

"I really do hope I get over her. I really had something special with her...it's just the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with." He takes a long sip of the tea again, still unable to shake the feeling of utter defeat within. Mantis smiles softly at Keegan and pats his shoulder one more time before turning around.

"I'll set out some blankets and pillows for you on the couch". He then goes and collects fresh blankets and a clean pillow, setting it on the couch.Keegan looked as Mantis set up a makeshift sleep area for him. It was such a generous and kind gesture. He gave his friend a weak smile.

"Could I...ask for one last thing?" Turning around, Mantis raises his brows.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Could I...stay with you tonight? Please? I just really don't want to sleep alone tonight...it's too quiet and too empty right now." Mantis tilts his head, as if confused.

"What do you mean? Like, you want to stay over, or...sleep with me, as in sleep in my bed?"

Keegan blushes. "S-Stay over...like share the bed. You know, just to comfort each other." Keegan stutters. He didn't want to come off as weird or anything, but he just really didn't want to sleep alone. He wanted someone to hold right now.

Mantis slowly nods in understanding, and then gestures for him to follow. "Alright, I guess so". Mantis leads Keegan to his room, which was dimly lit with blue LED lights.Keegan walks into the room behind his friend. The blue lights cast a soft glow over the room, it was an interesting choice for lighting. It felt calming.

"This is really nice." Keegan comments. "You have such an interesting room, so comfy..."

"Thanks" Mantis chuckles softly. "I try to keep it a calm mood in here. Do you want the door open or shut?" Mantis says, standing by the door.

Keegan hesitates, rubbing the back of his head. "Do you mind if it's closed?" His words come out in a squeak. He doesn't want to sound too needy, but being alone is just driving him mad. He needed the company.

"I don't mind" Mantis says, and shuts the door softly, then makes his way to his bed. "I think there's room for the two of us" Mantis mumbled, peeling back the sheets so that they could get in. Keegan follows his friend, his hands trembling in nervousness at what was about to happen. He has never shared a bed with another person before. His girlfriend was his first real relationship and that ended so suddenly. He took his shoes off and then got into bed.

"You're not...mad at me for asking you this, right?"

"I'm a little weirded out by this, but...you know, you're feeling down, so I'll do it for you" Mantis says, taking his own shoes off, and took off his jacket. Mantis sets his jacket in his chair by his desk, and climbs in the bed with Keegan.

Keegan blushes hard. He hated that his friend was uncomfortable, but he was so grateful for his act of kindness. He was feeling so low and his friend was his saving grace tonight. He scoots closer to Mantis, scooting to the opposite side of his friend and laying facing away from him. "Sorry if this is weird for you...I just can't stand to be alone right now." He muttered.

"It's alright, just try to get some sleep" Mantis yawns, and closes his eyes. "Good night, Keegan"

Keegan scoots a little closer and wraps his arm across his friend's back, holding tightly.

"Good night..." Keegan utters with a sniff. "And thank you..."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

A/n: ...

I sleep with my door open-

Also, I used my oc's name for this...not really a Keegan x male reader now, is it 😅 oops...

[coconurt]

WOOOOO MISSING SCENE TIME!! Wow, I haven't written anything since august, bout time, huh?

Yes, yes I very much know this is how it starts: I watch a new show, I lose my mind a little bit, I write a little drabble, and it's all over for me for 6 to 9 business months /pos

ANYWAY! VOL 9 BRAINROT, BABYYY >:D

(spoilers for rwby vol 9. obvi)

~~~

When the dam burst, it burst catastrophically.

Ugly words poured out in a torrent, aimed like bullets straight for her teammates. At the time, it had felt… well, not good, exactly. More like release.

"No time, right? Gotta get home. Gotta help Jaune. Gotta find someone who isn't just going to screw everything up."

When Weiss shrank back, she turned her anger on her sister. On her sister's partner.

"Gotta stay positive, right? Smiles all around!" She advanced on them, slowly, and Yang placed herself protectively in front of Blake. On literally any other day, that small action would've broken her heart. Not then, though.

Right then, she didn't care.

"Maybe even finally get our feelings sorted out." Something like a corrupted sort of jealousy surged in her chest. "Good for you, by the way—we're all

so

happy

for you."

"Hey," Yang had warned, her voice sharp. But Ruby had already moved on.

She made the mistake of bringing a grieving Jaune into it, then. He lashed out. Struck the killing blow, blamed her for the five of them getting stuck there, and that was it. There was no more for her to say.

She was empty. Empty of momentum, empty of words, empty of hope. Empty of everything except the overwhelming hurt threatening to tear her apart in front of everyone she loved.

So she left.

~~~

This leg of their journey had been quiet, which was a nice change of pace.

Sort of.

Good in the sense that it gave the five of them a well-deserved rest. Bad that it gave Ruby plenty of time to think about things.

About everything.

Something she really did not want to do.

And it must've shown on her face, because—

"Out with it, Rubes."

Yang's voice startled her out of her thoughts. She whipped her head to the side just in time to catch the tail end of the Look (patent pending) her sister was giving her right before she turned her attention back to the road in front of them.

She blinked, feeling like a deer that had just been spotted by a hound. Her mouth felt oddly dry, all of a sudden.

"G- uh. Out with… what?"

Yang shot her a second, even less impressed look. "Come on. I can tell when you've got something you want to say. You've been fidgety all day and silent for the last couple miles. So out with it."

Her stomach plunged, and an icy feeling spread through her chest. Biting her lip, she worried the edge of her cowl between two fingers. Now or never, she guessed. Might as well take advantage of the moment of quiet while it lasted.

They wouldn't be mad at her for bringing it up, right...?

"Well, I… I've been thinking… about the thing… about what I said. The… I just… I didn't mean it, any of it… I was just…"

"Deeep breath," Yang drawled. "Start over."

Blake peeked around Yang from where she walked on the blonde's other side. "It's okay, Ruby. Take your time." Her face held nothing but kind concern. "You know you can talk to us about anything, right?"

Ah. There that was again. She'd been hearing that a lot after their escape from the Ever After. She knew they were just trying to help. Turn over a new leaf, take some of the burden of everything off her shoulders instead of letting her carry it alone. It was sweet, but… it was taking a bit of getting used to.

Ruby released the breath that had gotten lodged in her chest. She closed her eyes, did as Yang asked, then reopened them and turned to face the other two.

"I didn't mean what I said. Back at the paper village. I'm sorry."

Blake got it right away. Her ears drooped with sad sympathy. "Ruby—" she started.

Yang gave her a strange look, just for a moment. She tilted her head, then realization dawned in her eyes.

"Ruby no, you— don't apologize. We put way too much pressure on you, and—"

"—you were just venting…"

She held up a hand to stop them. "Maybe. But it wasn't fair to bring you two," she gestured to their clasped hands, "into it. You make great partners, and you're gonna make a great couple, too."

We are happy for you. All of us. I'm happy for you." She offered them a small smile, hoping it was enough. "I mean it, this time."

Yang returned the smile and opened her mouth to say something, but Blake suddenly ducked in front of her and lunged toward Ruby, wrapping her into a tight hug. Ruby caught her with a small oof. Yang wasted no time piling on, easily enveloping the both of them.

Ruby almost melted into the embrace. Tears pricked her eyes. "Does this mean… we're good?"

They only hugged her tighter, and that was all the answer she needed.

[waitineedaname]

I really like that Bingmei tries to empathize with Bingge by the end of the first chapter Recognition of the Self. She dealt with a lot of self hatred for a long time and on some level takes it out on him by picking at him (which he deserves most of the time). He reminds her of the worst version of herself that she can be. Still, it’s nice she can also see the same places they’ve been hurt and reach out to him, even if he brushes her off for now.

yes!!! this is exactly it, I'm glad this is something you enjoyed <3 bingmei absolutely sees bingge as the worst version of herself, which is something she identifies in the text! I'm forever thinking about the bit in the extra when bingmei says "is the reason 'I' became like that because I didn't have you?" and "I don't want to become like that." so in this fic, bingmei has had a few years of stability and self-growth to become confident that she won't turn out like bingge, but she's still very aware that she could have turned out like him. he's all her worst parts amplified and picking on him is kind of a way of externalizing some of that self hatred. at the same time, though, she's getting to know him better and is realizing the reason why they're so different. she had opportunities for growth that she didn't have, and because she can see those differences so clearly, she's got some sympathy for him. she can easily see how painful it would have been if her suffering on qing jing peak had gone on longer, and she can see how much it would've fucked her up because that fucked up version of herself is standing right in front of her now. it's a little late, but the least she can do is offer that olive branch now

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 10

Spoilers for GW up to Ch 10 below.

STORY

Now Claude's taking Ls in the Kingdom too.

I love how much they always try to drum up sympathy for Randolph when the man's only character trait is "I want to murder people to gain personal status." And then he also has the gall to act like he's better than the people defending themselves when he goes to kill them.

I never really put that much thought into him before, but yeah he's kinda just a piece of shit, isn't he? Low key one of the worst human beings in the game.

They should've made it Fredinand or like Linhardt's dad or someone likeable.

Funny seeing Claude play Edelgard like a fiddle though. His army is fine, and hers is crushed lamo.

Haha, Fleche is back to her vengeance act. It's gonna be funny if a tiny girl child is a final boss.

The same conversation with Jeralt and Bylethas I saw elsewhere, I think. Yeah, here comes the sword again.

I love how they make Rhea out to be such a big deal, but literally no one gives a shit that they declared war on her. Like, pick one, game. You either have Claude be an unpopular ruler or Rhea actually be a problem.

Raphael called it right. Commoners don't give a shit. So Edelgard getting everyone killed over noble squabbles.

Hilda kinda seems like the Kingdom stan here. She's always the one upset about it.

Claude is such an idiot. I cannot take him seriously. Claiming he wants to spare lives moments after sacrificing Randolph and wanting to wipe a church no one gives a shit about off the map. Am I supposed to take this seriously?

Haha, Arval said he can think for both of them when I had Shez say she's more brawn than brain lamo. And Shez believes it too, omg. Shez is great. I need a comedy show with them.

Oh, nice! Looks like another single-battle map. BC, honestly, I got Spiritfarer for Christmas and I'm DYING to play it, but need to finish this first.

BASE/SIDE BATTLES

Lamo, Arval just said trying to unify different people under one king is dumb, won't work, and looks forward to the day humanity moves beyond it.

LORENZ/IGNATZ/RAPHAEL PARALOGUE

So is this the paralogue that's going to rewrite it so Lorenz's dad did nothing wrong? Given the description, I'm betting it's that.

Ignatz is being awkward around Lorenz now that he's been promoted.

Gloucester evades all of Lorenz's questions about these bandits.

And now Lorenz is demanding Raphael do what Ignatz did and is upset he's so casual lamo.

So are they making it so his dad wasn't the one who ordered the hit that killed Raphael's parents? Lol. This game really likes whitewashing some of these guys, but Glouster's probably the worst offender.

Let me take a wild guess. TWSITD.

It's really a shame that Raphael is such a one-note character. It would've been interesting if he had more in-depth conversations with the rest of the cast who were unable to move beyond trauma.

IGNATZ & LEONIE B SUPPORT

Their one and only support.

They're hunting and the deer only has one arrow. So they try to figure out who successfully shot the deer.

They both hit the same place. Mystery solved.

LORENZ & CONSTANCE C SUPPORT

This one should be better.

Constance is challenging a cat to a staring contest. Yes, this one is already better.

Lamo, he says he would've considered her as a wife if she restored her house. But withdraws because she's a weirdo. (I mean, no loss?)

Constance gets back at him by saying she'd never consider him lol.

Now they're arguing over who's house is more noble.

Much more entertaining.

SHEZ & RAPAEL B SUPPORT

It's about food.

It's nice to see Raphael actually have passion about something instead of just repeating "meat!" over and over.

SHEZ & IGNATZ B SUPPORT

You know, going through supports has made me realize that Golden Deer probably has my overall least favorite cast.

Ignatz has an older brother. He likes his brother at least.

Ignatz is finally talking about how he doesn't love being a knight. He really didn't have much of anything going on removing that conflict.

It's nice to hear Ignatz have his own convictions to become a knight. He's getting more sides to him, which is good.

SHEZ & HOLST B SUPPORT

Holst sneaks with Shez into enemy territory. He's doing it because scouts are going missing. Shez is impressed someone of his status is doing that.

LYSITHEA & RAPHAEL B SUPPORT

Lysithea studied too long and is out after dark. Gets scared by noises. She runs into Raphael and they talk about strengths and weaknesses.

The weird noises she heard wasn't Raphael.

MARIANNE & HILDA PARALOGUE

Marianne needs help from Shez organizing because she sucks at it.

Wow, Hilda not only volunteered to help Marianne clean up the mess, but also to do the scouting mission they were supposed to go on all by herself. It's love.

Hilda doesn't show up for awhile, so they get worried and go to check on her. Given that it dumps me to prepare for the battle next, I'm thinking that was a good call.

Not my favorite paralogue. I had to fight Ingrid :(

They talk about Marianne's typical issues.

It has very "safe" shipping dialogue throughout.

MAIN BATTLE

I don't want to invade the Kingdom. Especially since it makes no sense for Claude to do so.

Hahahahaha, lamo, you deserve it Claude. Fleche raised an army to fight him. Seeing this tiny girl as the final boss is going to be hysterical.

Oh, Arval and Shez stuff. I almost forgot Arval existed. They've got bad feelings. I'm guessing it's because Byleth is fused with Sothis.

Ok guys, I restarted this chapter over and over trying to recruit Byleth, but Claude just stands there in one seized area and won't move until Byleth reaches him - even when no one else is around.

I really just want to be done with this playthrough to be honest (there are so many other games I want to play right now), so I'm not going to bother with recruiting Byleth. I'll try in SB, but the only one I'm going to put any real effort in is AG.

Seeing Fleche as a final boss is funny.

I'm guessing we don't fight Jeralt if you recruit successfully. Got a cool cut scene for not bothering though!

So Byleth doesn't join you because you kill Jeralt, I'm assuming. Though, Byleth doesn't seem to have any issue joining Edelgard when she plays a role in that lamo.

Also, gotta say, I love how there's a chapter you can't use the lords. And for Edelgard and Claude it's because they randomly just don't fight that chapter. For Dimitri, it's epic story reasons lol.

Aw, shit, did Byleth just kill Judith?? That sucks. Oh well. Not restarting. This 3 route thing is too much. I just want to play this again, but one route only.

You know, after Claude's dumbfuckery throughout this route, he kinda deserves this lamo.

So who is it in SB and AG that dies?

Byleth so callous about Jeralt's death. Far cry from the crying in Houses, a bit sad actually.

It's kinda funny that Judith died because Fleche went on another rampage. I'm going to miss seeing her around though.

Is whoever dies in AG bad enough that I should push through and recruit Byleth? I may look that up to give me the proper motivation, but that could backfire if it's someone I don't care enough, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a single character I don't care enough about. Even like Sylvain's dad would make me too sad for Sylvain and I couldn't do it.

Aww, Arval is upset for Shez.

So is Sothis and Byleth merging merging or something?

xxxx

[pearlsephoni]

Spiking Heartbeats: Deals and Promotions

Can also be read on AO3!

Rating: T

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Relationships: Platonic Karasuno First Years, pre-relationship Tsukkiyama (Tsukishima/Yamaguchi), pre-relationship Kagehina (Kageyama/Hinata)

Characters: Shoyo Hinata, Hitoka Yachi, Tadashi Yamaguchi, Kei Tsukishima, Tobio Kageyama

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary:

"What the hell?" Kageyama grumbles. "Tsukishima, did you know about this?" Tsukishima rolls his eyes and scoffs, "Of course I did." "Then why the hell didn't you tell us?" "You never asked."

Some shocking news at the hospital reveals an even more shocking secret.

A/N: Written as part of a collaborative series with @/r0mantic-era of Haikyuu Hospital Playlist AU fics, featuring the Karasuno first years as the 99s! Originally published on AO3 on April 8th. Further author's notes can be found there.

🩺

The chairman of Ohyama Hospital dies in the middle of the night. Hitoka is the first to get the call, but it doesn’t take long for her to let the others know.

By the time the funeral begins later that morning in a special wing of the hospital, she's sitting at a table with Kageyama and Tsukishima. Hinata is in the middle of operating, and Yamaguchi…

"What the hell?" Kageyama grumbles. "Tsukishima, did you know about this?"

Tsukishima rolls his eyes and scoffs, "Of course I did. You think I haven’t met his family? We've been friends since middle school."

"Then why the hell didn't you tell us?"

"You never asked." Tsukishima's voice is bland as he helps himself to some takoyaki. "You knew his family was loaded anyway."

"Not 'son of the chairman' loaded! I thought he was broke these days, the way he keeps mooching off you."

Tsukishima's apathetic wall cracks as he shoots Kageyama a sharp glare. "He's not asking you for anything, so why do you care?"

Kageyama glares back and his lips twist, but he says nothing. It's Hitoka who quietly pipes up, "Still…it would've been nice to hear it from him. I didn't know he was keeping a secret this big from us."

As always, Tsukishima's gaze softens a bit on the trip from Kageyama to her. "It's not that he didn't trust you guys. He just didn't know how to bring it up, and he didn't want it to change things."

"Change things how?" Kageyama grumbles. "Did he think we'd ask him for money? A promotion?"

"No." Hitoka and Kageyama jump when Yamaguchi suddenly sits at the head of their little table. He looks drained, like he's been scooped hollow with grief and exhaustion. "I don't think that would've even occurred to you, Kageyama."

"How're you doing?" Hitoka asks gently, just loud enough to cover the sound of Kageyama's grumbles.

"Been better. It's just…a lot to take care of." His smile is tired, even a little bitter. "It doesn't feel fair, having to take care of so much when the grief is so fresh."

A hum of sympathy runs around the table. There's a moment of silence, before Tsukishima peers at Yamaguchi and carefully asks, "Have you thought about what you'll do?"

"I'm not taking the position over," Yamaguchi scoffs. A wrinkle forms between his brows at the thought. "I don't care how many times Father asked, it's not happening. I'm trying to convince the board to vote for Kitagawa-san over me, but I'm not sure if it's working."

"Well, if anyone can convince them, it'd be you." Tsukishima's voice is ever-so-gentle, and the weary stress on Yamaguchi's face melts away in gratitude.

"Thanks, Tsukki."

A wry grin tugs at Kageyama's lips. When Hitoka shoots him a questioning frown, he only mouths, Simp.

🩺

"You're what?"

The entire group flinches at Hinata's shriek, his shrill notes bouncing in the empty room. Hitoka sends a silent thanks to the universe that the VIP ward is currently unoccupied.

"The late chairman's son," Tsukishima snaps, rubbing at his ear closest to Hinata. "God, King, you didn't tell him?"

"Sorry, it didn't 'come up.'"

"Okay, alright!" Yamaguchi exclaims before Tsukishima can say anything, holding his hands up as though he could physically hold back an argument. "Yeah, Hinata, he's my dad."

"But you're not taking his position?"

"No."

"Why?! You could make enough money to stop mooching off Stingy-shima!"

"Why do you two care so much about him borrowing my money?"

"I didn't become a doctor to be stuck behind a desk, taking care of administrative paperwork." The threat of bickering again subsides at Yamaguchi's words. "I do this job for the patients. They're the ones who matter to me."

Hinata immediately looks abashed, his grimace lined with understanding as much as embarrassment. It's still not enough to fully silence him. "Then…why the meeting?"

Yamaguchi brightens at the reminder, his eyes settling into the cool focus so distinct from his warm, sometimes-nervous smiles. "I spoke with Kitagawa-san regarding the VIP wards once he agreed to take the position. We managed to come to some more agreements, but he said I would be responsible for ensuring the ward is staffed with the best of the best."

"And that's…? Ow!" The sight of Kageyama's shoulder moving and Hinata rubbing at his ribs tells Hitoka all she needs to know. "Alright, I get it!"

"What if we don't want to work for the VIP?"

Yamaguchi doesn't look surprised by Tsukishima's pushback. Hitoka isn't surprised either, not once she looks to her side and sees a small grin and a challenging glint in Tsukishima's eye. "Don't be so quick to say no, Tsukki."

With that, he unclips his messenger bag and produces four packets of paper, earning a groan from Hinata and a sigh from Kageyama. "I still don't know how you two made it through med school," Tsukishima sniffs.

"Yacchan."

The unified answer brings a flush to Hitoka's cheeks, even as she shoots a small frown at the pair. "Give yourselves more credit than that!"

"Or don't," Tsukishima snorts. "They're not wrong."

"'Duties include coming to the hospital and performing procedures at the request of Party A, including during holidays and weekends,'" Kageyama reads off the second page, ignoring Tsukishima in favor of looking through the contract. "Who's Party A?"

Hitoka skims through the contract and can't help letting out a soft laugh when she finds the answer. "It's him."

The other three follow her eyeline back to Yamaguchi. "Wow," Kageyama scoffs, "what're you trying to do, make us your slaves?"

Hinata nods in furious agreement. "Yeah! Why would we agree to something like that?!"

"You'll get paid twice your annual salary."

There's a beat of silence, broken by the sound of rustling paper and clicking pens. "You should've put that on the first page!" Hitoka laughs as she signs every dotted line.

"Does anyone have an inkpad? I should sign this with my fingerprint," Tsukishima mutters.

"Hey, Yama—?"

"No."

Hitoka and Tsukishima look up in simultaneous bewilderment. "What do you mean, no?" Yamaguchi asks, affronted.

"I mean, no," Kageyama repeats, unwaveringly meeting Yamaguchi's bewildered stare.

"You too, Hinata?!"

"Yep!"

"Why?!"

"We want something besides extra pay!" Hinata declares stoutly.

Yamaguchi stares at them in silent deliberation, before offering, "You'll get your own parking spaces and private offices."

"What?!" Hitoka squeaks.

Hinata and Kageyama continue staring at Yamaguchi in a rare moment of unified silence.

"...and private labs with grant assistance."

"Yamaguchi, you traitor."

"I don't wanna do more work," Hinata tuts, looking entirely too satisfied with himself.

"Then what?"

Understanding, dread, and amusement clamor in Hitoka's chest when she sees the duo exchange a grin. "Oh, no."

"No," Tsukishima declares, "no, I already told you two, I won't do it. I'm way too busy for that, we're not in college anymore!"

"Then we won't sign!" Hinata's demeanor is casual when he leans back with his arms crossed. "It's not really a VIP ward without an obstetrician or a general surgeon, huh?"

"Shoyo, come on," Hitoka tries to gently cajole him. "We don't even have enough for a team."

"Sure we do!" he cheerfully corrects her. "We've got enough for beach!"

"Where the hell—?"

"Hinata found a gym in the city with indoor beach courts." Kageyama's expression finally cracks with a smug grin at Tsukishima. The way Hinata puffs out his chest with pride would be sweet, if Hitoka couldn't easily read the smug triumph in his warm eyes.

Yamaguchi is silent the whole time, eyes flickering between Hinata and Kageyama. He only speaks up after Kageyama mentions the gym. "It's just for fun, right?"

Hinata blinks. "Huh?"

"You want to do this just for fun? No tournaments or championships or any of that?"

"Oh! Right!" Hinata's smile could rival the sun. "We just wanna play volleyball again and spend more time with you guys!"

"But mostly play volleyball," Kageyama adds.

"So if we agree to play volleyball, you both will sign the contracts and work for the VIP wards?"

"Yep!"

Yamaguchi nods slowly, almost setting a beat to the gradual descent of horror over Tsukishima's face. "Yamaguchi…Tadashi, don't you dare."

"...Fine."

Hinata whoops with triumph, and Kageyama wears a broad grin that conveys the same amount of excitement. Tsukishima, on the other hand, shoots to his feet and drops his pen onto his contract with a muffled clatter. "No, no way," he declares, "I gave them my answer and I meant it! I don't have time, and even if I did, I wouldn't want to spend it diving into the sand with these two!"

"We're right here," Kageyama reminds him, grin unwavering even under Tsukishima's withering glare.

"You two can go choke on sand together, but leave me out of it."

With that, Tsukishima storms out of the room. Hinata chases him to the door, where he shouts behind him, "We don't need you anyway! Yacchan can play with Yamaguchi!"

"Um," Hitoka pipes up, trying and failing to keep her voice from shaking with suppressed laughter, "if I have to play instead of referee, I don't think it's fair for you and Kageyama to be on a team together."

It's a little sweet, the way both Hinata and Kageyama's faces fall. "...Fine," Kageyama sighs. "I'll play with Yamaguchi."

Hinata forces his face into a bright smile that Hitoka can see straight through. "You'll be a beach pro before you know it!"

Ah, well. She'll just wait until later to tease him about ruining his clear plans to get closer to Kageyama and badly matchmake Yamaguchi and Tsukishima.

🩺

That weekend, ahead of their first set, Kageyama and Hinata's receiving lessons for Hitoka are interrupted by Yamaguchi's arrival. To everyone's shock, he's not alone.

"What're you doing here?!" Hinata squawks, pointing an accusatory finger at Tsukishima's beetred, glowering face.

"Ah, Tsukki was easy to convince," Yamaguchi chuckles, slinging an arm around Tsukishima's shoulders and tugging him down the small difference in their heights. "He just needed a reminder of all the fun we had in Hawaii."

"...Shut up, Yamaguchi."

[oopswrongreview]

Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023) dir. Rachel Lambert

This was a nice foray for me back into indie films. Happily getting into using different resources from the library, I found Sometimes I Think About Dying on Kanopy and decided to give it a go.

I was really pleased to see the use of film language, as opposed to through dialogue, in the expressing of the feeling of depression and suicidal thoughts, through long takes and stationary camera shots, as well as the use of montage and editing. Like I really liked the shot of Fran staring out her window at work and seeing the crane being cut with shots of her feet lifting out of her shoes in tandem with the lifting of the crane. Another sequence I really like was when she was imagining herself getting into a car accident, the blow of the glass on impact and the papers in that room beneath the office flying up at the same time. This rapid succession of work, dying out in the forest, being in the car at the moment of impact, and then ending with her just gripping the wheel and staring blankly ahead...like girl I've been there and I see you and I stand with you.

It was also really refreshing for me, visually, to see a film shot on location. I was so geeked when I started it because we had literally just been to Astoria, and I kept thinking "Wow this looks a lot like Astoria." But I didn't want to just assume it was, maybe it was some other coastal city somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, or maybe even in the northeast. But I looked it up and I was right, which marks another thing I think about a film and turn out to be correct. (The other notable one was like 5 minutes into Throughbreds I thought to myself this feels like a play, and lo and behold, it was in fact based on a stage play.)

It really looks and feels more grounded in reality when not everything is on (what is clearly a built) set, or set on green screen. There's a tangibility that I think makes the viewing experience more seamless.

I enjoyed Daisy Ridley's performance as Fran. I liked how she found how to make Fran this loner type with a general aversion to getting close to people, without making that aversion based on a dislike or hatred of people. Like with my own depression, it's more about this shame around myself and my personhood (which is also evident in the writing, like when she asks Robert if he wishes he can unknow her even though, as he states, he doesn't know her). Not wanting, or perhaps being afraid or unwilling, to burden someone else with these feelings. And it was nice to see the slow and subtle changes in her character over the course of the film, I think it could've been disingenuous to be too happy and changed at the end. It would've been incongruent with her character.

The other performance I really enjoyed was the woman that played Carol, Marcia DeBonis, who I know I've seen in other things. Carol is warm and generally well-liked in the office, and is kind and speaks to Fran just like everyone else, despite Fran's cold demeanor. Which I think Fran takes to heart, because when she see's her towards the end of the film, even though it's been some time since they've seen each other, Carol still treats Fran like a friend, or at the very least a cordial colleague.

Marcia brings an up-front openness to her character that is in direct contrast to Fran, but in a way that shows Fran that even though they're not close per se, Carol can still be open and Fran doesn't feel affronted by it, and is instead sympathetic. I really liked the line where Carol tells Fran about her husband's stroke and Fran obviously feels sad about it. But then Carol mentions that it's ok that she didn't know because Carol didn't tell anyone. People can't know about your pain or hardships if you yourself don't say anything about it.

My one gripe with the film is the casting of Robert. I think a different (or better?) actor could have brought a little more nuance and sympathy to the character, but I chalk it up to maybe a lot of the casting budget going to Daisy and Marcia, and perhaps some relationship with Dave Merheje and someone on production.

Other than that, I really enjoyed this movie, and love getting back into films that remind me of a freer version of myself, that just wants to make weird little films that aren't necessarily Oscar-worthy or anything. Just quiet little films that I feel like need to exist for me and no one else. Art for my own sake.

[oblivious-aro]

For the character ask, Robot from Dicey Dungeons? Also mayhaps Maya from Ace Attorney if you'd like a bonus!

Robot:

How I feel about this character

I can’t help but feel bad for Robot. It’s very genuine, and obviously trying its best, but has very clearly missed some important memos. It wants to compete a second time?! Robot, even if you don't know just how sinister Lady Luck's setup is, you've gotta at least figure there's no way you'll be able to earn two prizes at such a high value.

Robot's got decent intentions, but it's also kind of out of touch with reality, and I feel like someone could easily take advantage of it.

Considering its desire was to eliminate the need for sleep, I'm also a little worried it's not prioritizing itself properly. Robot, I ask this with concern, why exactly do you feel the need to be so efficient all the time?

Robot makes me a bit sad and worried. I hope it has nice friends, and maybe takes a bit more time for itself.

I could be projecting a teeny bit here maybe…

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Ew, cooties.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Robot & a therapist.

(For a more real answer, I feel like Robot and Inventor could do some powerful things together. Nerd power!)

My unpopular opinion about this character

Hmm…kind of hard to have an unpopular opinion about Robot.

I don't think I really found them that hard to play as? Just stop rolling when you get close to jackpot, use all or most of your dice, then keep rolling. It’s been a minute, but I remember that usually works pretty good if you want to play it safe.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I want the contestants to have that brunch, and I want to see Robot unapologetically enjoy it’s meal. Like, it's ordered a stupidly tall stack of pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles or something.

Maya Fey:

How I feel about this character

I quite like her. Her upbeat attitude is a good balance to Phoenix's “I'm so tired and want this to be done” energy, and also really charming.

She's very interested in the world around her and wants to push all of the shiny buttons. As someone who's tasted the water in a sensory deprivation tank (don't do this), I very much respect and relate to that attitude.

Also love how unapologetic she is about her personality and interests. That's probably a big contributor to why she's so emotionally stable despite…everything that's happened in her life.

On the one hand I'm not sure the writers took this side of her character seriously enough, but I do like that she's handling her shit. It would've been nice if Phoenix had showed her a bit more support/sympathy, but I like how the two of them are shown to be on a relatively equal level of importance and competence. Given her situation, I feel like “Phoenix being saddled with the burden of taking care of Maya on top of everything else, but she's useful every once in a while to reward him taking care of her” could've been an easy trope for them to lean into, but they avoid that and I'm glad.

That being said, I love how they dig into Maya's insecurities in the first game. Yes she's competent, but she's also 18 and trying to help a lawyer despite having had no legal training. Even the one special skill she was supposed to bring to the table, she's been struggling with, so it makes sense that she starts feeling insecure about her place at the agency. I gotta say, seeing a character who's typically outgoing and confident express insecurity hits a lot harder than a shy character who's always insecure express insecurity. I genuinely felt bad when she asked Phoenix if she was actually useful.

It is kind of disappointing that she gets relegated to damsel in distress for the climax of the 2nd and 3rd game, though.

She does appear in the sixth game, and she doesn't really have an arc, but I love that she's obviously matured in her time away. She seems much more capable of leading her village and had mastered the channelling technique she struggled with in the first games. And she still unapologetically loves nerdy stuff. It's great <3

I like her spunk, I like her strength, and I like her unapologetic nature. Kind of sad the original trilogy never gave her an arc as good as the one in the first game.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Honestly I'm kind of getting some aro vibes. I might be biased tho… (don't super remember where I picked up these vibes :/)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Boring answer, but Maya and Phoenix are pretty classic for a reason. They're two very different people bonded by sharing very specific experiences and have really grown to care for and appreciate each other deeply.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Fanziska/Maya is very much just she was a girl, and she was a girl. If you want a sapphic counterbalance to Wrightworth, Lana and Mia are right there. Please I need some Franziska animatics that aren’t ship focused. Please please please they’re scarce enough as it is.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I feel like we could've had more serious moments with Maya. Maybe we could've seen her leaning on Phoenix for support a little? Maybe have a small breakdown or two? It wouldn't have to be anything huge, Maya's actually a very strong and mature person, but she is still an 18 year old living on her own, she just lost her sister, she's the next in line to lead her village, she's trying to juggle her spiritual training with an incredibly involved office job, and is kind of sort of suddenly responsible for raising her small cousin. I wish the writers acknowledged the weight of her resonsibilties a little more. It really would’ve strengthened her characterization and her relationship with Phoenix if she came to him for support more, even if it was just emotional (cuz sometimes just that's all you need).

Ooh! What if one time they're in the middle of a big case, and Phoenix notices Maya seems off, and when he asks her about is she's like “we're doing more important things right now”, and he’s like “what? No Maya, you're just as much a priority as this case!”, and then sge vents and he reassures her, and then either she's way more energetic and helpful after, or she takes a break and Phoenix does the next part of the case alone (or with someone else), until Maya returns in time for the trial with a noticeably clearer head. (I just kind of thought of this scenario now, but I love it).

It also would been great if she'd found out Edgeworth watches Steel Samurai. To be clear, they would absolutely not be fan buddies, Edgeworth would go into hard denial and/or pretentious mode, while Maya would be exploding with overwhelming fangirl energy. The other characters are too scared to intervene. Unstoppable force meets an unmovable object type deal.

[prophvtics]

people didn't usually go out of their way to interact with arlo, not unless they felt pressured into doing so out of some kind of pity. he wasn't left out in class but people didn't seem like they were being friendly with him because they genuinely wanted a connection with him, it was more accurately because they saw him sulking by himself and pictured themselves in his shoes. it was a pitiful thing, people only wasting their time on him because they felt they had to. he would've much rather been alone, that way he knew he wasn't to blame for bringing down anyone's mood. he didn't entirely believe fern as she claimed to not mind spending time with him in the kitchen, swapping awkward banter that would ultimately amount for nothing but he forced a smile anyway and nodded as though he were agreeing. in his own way, he felt the same. he still would've preferred to be wallowing in solitude but of all the people to have found him, he supposed she was at least one of the few who wasn't treating him with outright sympathy. "i-i know that." he shrugged away his own embarrassment and instead forced himself to act a little cooler than he had preciously. even if he never spoke to fern again, he would've liked for her to have at least somewhat of a positive memory of him to look back on, even if was only once before he inevitably became just another face in the countless others she'd met at parties. it took him a couple of moments to gauge whether or not she was teasing him once again as she continued to compliment him, at least that was what he thought she was doing. was being called a puppy a good thing? it might've been the first time anyone had made any direct comment about his appearance to his face, at least since he was young and hit his first growth spurt which made him significantly ganglier than the other kids around him. his cheeks continued to flush a dark red and he swallowed back the desire to run away. "thanks." a stiff response, though he thought it was better than going and curling up in a ball under the table like his brain was willing him to do. "i am, yes i-i, uh... i don't really know what i'm doing, honestly." in every aspect. in his life, at college, everything he did felt like such a big decision to make and he was convinced that he was consistently making the wrong choice, whether that be his major or what kind of bread to buy at the supermarket. it must've been nice to be older, to have made all the big and important decisions. sure, the possibility of choosing wrong was still there but at least all there was to do was live with them, he was tired of worrying about what he would regret. "i'm just... getting through it, i guess."

given her background in psychiatry, fern knew full well that this was the sort of person she should tread lightly around. even without her education and work experience, it didn't take a mental health professional to see that he was incredibly anxious, the sort who struggled with even the most basic of small talk, let alone any level of banter. he might've been hoping that she'd grow bored of his shyness and leave him to his own devices so he could at least try and relax, but fern was convinced that being pushed a little outside of his comfort zone would do him good. it seemed counterintuitive, forcing oneself into uncomfortable situations for self improvement purposes, but that's exactly what exposure therapy entailed. hopefully after this interaction, he'd be able to walk away and look back at it fondly, seeing that it hadn't gone as poorly as he feared it would, and that might give him the confidence boost to socialize more openly with others in the future. "not that i'm complaining, i mean," she was quick to try and backtrack once she'd released his slightly clammy hand. "this is probably the most comfortable i've felt all night, actually." not that she was having all that much fun just standing there drinking, but she did feel a whole lot more at ease around him than she had around the rest of the party goers, and besides, a casual little ego boost couldn't hurt. fern was willing to bet that he didn't have the highest opinion of himself, likely for completely irrational reasons, and getting a hint of how other people actually perceived him could help begin to dismantle those deep seated insecurities he must've been harboring. the bright pink hue his cheeks had taken on wasn't lost on her, a charmingly predictable response to her teasing, and the knowledge that she was so easily able to bring him to this flustered state left her feeling warm and tingly all over— a physical response she chalked up to the wine, of course. arlo was far too young for her to have any sort of interest in beyond that of a polite acquaintance, and even if he wasn't, her separation was still too fresh for her to even think about a new connection, no matter how frivolous and fleeting. "i'm just teasing you," she reassured him. "that was inappropriate, i'm sorry... i didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. you just have a very puppy dog look about you, y'know? it's the eyes, i'm sure. very sweet eyes. i bet you're a joy to have in class." she could only imagine how it'd feel to be standing at the helm of a lecture hall and lock eyes with him midsentence, those earnest brown hues gazing at her with reverence as he hung off her every word. "are you a psych major, then? or just dabbling?" she asked after another hearty swig that left her glass almost empty.

[circe69]

𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌.

simon "ghost" riley x reader

repost from a few days ago, i fixed it up a lil' and am putting it back out there again. "you look slutty as ever, y/n."

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

Previously this morning, you had a very important mission that required your services as being the bait, essentially making yourself as desirable as possible to obtain whatever information your boss needed, even if it was the smallest of knowledge. Your tight, velvety, black dress and strapped heels weren't your usual attire, of course, but the rest of the task force knew the reason you had been hired, so it wouldn't strike them as strange when you greeted them.

You walked into the dining area to find your whole troop congregating around the round tables placed randomly along small room. Some were talking to each other, laughing, making jokes they were too old to make, others were eating, keeping to themselves. Your eyes scanned the entire room before taking a seat yourself, the metal screeching on the tile as you scooted in.

"Look who it 's," a voice came from across the room, bouncing off those stupid ugly walls. The unnaturally low voice came from none other than Ghost himself, perhaps the most annoying man you'd ever had the pleasure of engaging with. He sauntered over to you, splitting the waters of men paying close attention to where he walked, watching one muddy boot stomp in front of the other.

You stayed silent. Even as he neared you, you refused to look up. You glanced over to the granite counters, finding the dozens of hot coffees you had bought for the whole team. Sure, most of them were unbearable, but you were feeling nice this morning. There was something so refreshing about doing something for someone else with a genuine purpose. It was exhausting, throwing yourself at old, creepy men and pretending to be in love for even a sliver of understanding about your enemies, when you were quite the opposite.

You felt Ghost's eyes on you, never lingering in one place but instead traveling the entirety of your body. His eyes being like lasers, you felt the sting of every exposed inch being singed. "You look slutty as ever, Y/N." His body bended down to your level, his head slightly cocking to the side as he spoke. You stayed quiet still, even though your head was reeling with heavy-toned remarks and insults that would make the man before you grovel in embarrassment. You took a sip of your latte, and carefully set the cup back down on the table before making direct eye contact with him.

You hadn't ever truly enjoyed Ghost's company; you weren't sure if anyone did. There had been rumors of him having a terrible past, terrible childhood, and maybe if he had been nicer, more charming, you would've had sympathy.

Your eyes burned into his, it was the only place they could burn into. Everything else was covered, and you liked to imagine his mask of more of a security blanket than anything. Ghost, the all-knowing and powerful, deadly monster needed a mask on at all times to appear mysterious and aloof. Maybe he really did just like the masks, maybe he liked the attention, maybe you needed therapy for always imagining the worst of everyone.

You opened your mouth, "Yeah, well this slut just bought you coffee."

The chair screeches and gasps from your teammates harmonized as you stood abruptly, forcing Ghost to blink at your sudden movement.

"I've had it with your inappropriate, unoriginal remarks. It's highly unprofessional for a man of your talent and reputation to go around calling your fellow soldier something of that manner."

He smiled that deathly smile, you swear you saw the fabric glide across his face, and you hated how much you liked it. "Rather predictable of me, right? Isn't that what you said to Price a few weeks ago when you were spilling your secrets to him?"

Your knuckles were white, out of embarrassment or rage you weren't sure. All you knew was that getting under people's skin was Ghost's specialty, and you were no exception.

"Quite the opposite, sir."

His hand slammed on the table, making your drink spill onto the floor. Your body reacted in a way that was somewhat embarrassing, you knew just how much flinching out of fear encouraged him to just scare you more.

"Don't talk to your Lieutenant like that." His eyes grew dark, and as uninviting as they were, you didn't dare to break from them to watch the troop leave quietly.

You took a step closer to him, your black, blood-stained stiletto hitting the marble floor inches away from his feet. You leaned up to whisper in his ear, "I won't waste one minute to reciprocate how you talk to me. I'll do it well," you paused to stomp on his toes with your heel, forcing a pained groan out of his mouth, "and I'll enjoy it too."

You crossed your arms as you watched his seemingly indestructible body writhe. He sat down in a chair and whispered curses under his uneven breath.

He slowly looked up at you and didn't fail to notice your magnificent posture, your heavenly glow beaming from your face only got brighter when you inflicted pain on someone who needed to be taught a lesson. Ghost calmly stood and as his height grew, your eyes stayed glued onto his. You always hated how much taller he was than you; his ego was tall enough. All the sudden, Price walked into the room, followed by a few of his new trainees.

Ghost took a step forward and slid a hand up your thigh, only to rest it on your hip and leaned down to whisper in your ear,

"Meet me in my room."