#though its probably moreso in-between

[fruit-snacker]

Went into Joann's and left with -86 dollars and a full plan for a dress

[rassicas]

Hello Rassicas.

I am working on a video about Nintendo’s lgbtq characters. Of course when it comes to splatoon, there’s a certain duo that comes to mind, off the hook.

The problem I’ve been having is that it seems a lot of the information, wether that be the English/japanese bits of dialogue, interviews and other bits of lore, seems to be completely scattered around.

Considering you describe yourself as the “CEO of splatoon lore” I was wondering if you could help me compile any bits and pieces of those two gay cephalopods.

(My apologies if this is moreso something I should be asking in dms instead)

i think the ask box is a good place for this, i'm not as hardcore of a shipper as other people are (more of a worldbuilding enjoyer), but i know there is so much and I don't wanna dig for all of it. I'll share a few off the top of my head. pearlina fans reading this, please feel free to share anything else in the replies/reblogs. 1. Pearl interview from Octotune: its on my mind since i just brought it up in a previous ask I think the artwork in this interview has the strongest implication that pearl and marina live together. Also the question: Q17: What is the best gift you have ever received? Pearl: The chance to meet Marina. 2. Marina's manga, "Dear Pearl". a manga that, in-universe, is drawn by marina.

genuinely i think this is one of the gayest things there is in canon like theres hearts in that LOVE letter thats directed towards pearl COME ON (i consider it canon as its drawn by seita inoue, who handles splatoon's art direction and a lot of lore/worldbuilding). you can read it here

3. Marina's tagline on Splatoon Base calls her a 恋する乙女 "young lady in love". the word for 'to love' (恋する) is specifically romantic.

4. Off the Hook didn't fight against each other in the s2 final splatfest like the Squid Sisters did because they're on such good terms with each other.

I’ve heard people saying that since the final fest for the last game was a showdown between the Squid Sisters, this time it was bound to be between Off the Hook.

Nogami: I think that’s probably the obvious conclusion, but the development team don’t actually want those two to attack one another. Since the Squid Sisters have their own talents and abilities, even though they are a duo they are also kind of rivals, so we thought we would pit them against each other. Off the Hook, though, are much more of a unit and on good terms with one another, so we didn’t want to force them to fight.

5. Marina has a photo of pearl as her desktop wallpaper. the framing of the photo very much looks romantic and intimate. there is no heterosexual explanation for this

i'll stop here, there's definitely more and I don't wanna be here for hours. I haven't even touched on any in game dialogue. again guys feel free to make additions to this with sources. is there a pearlina masterdoc or something LOL i feel like thats something that deserves to exist (someone please make it because i wont)

[burrythebusy]

Hello hrkg nation...

So, I was on the htk tag (as one is) and someone posted this screenshot from the novel when Kagiura is saying the room feels a lot emptier without Hirano and... shout out to OP because that literally changed my brain chemistry. Idk why but it literally clicked a switch in my head despite me reading the novel before and that specific part numerous times.

Not to overanalyze but this brings up a greater point in my years of being obsessed with HtK that reminds me that these two already destroyed one of the obligatory boundaries of being in a senpai/kouhai arrangement, moreso hirano though, by foregoing the expectation of "im supposed to help my kouhai become acclimated and fostering a friendly environment between us so that you can rely on me when needed (while also maintaining a respectable distance between he and I so that he can grow independently and do the same thing to a kouhai next year)" by becoming addicted to the feeling of spoiling him and being spoiled in return with honesty, genuine gratitude and happiness.

And what makes me bring this up is, its not unusual to become close to someone in a semester or to even begin to really like someone in that time. What always gets me though is that the level of sincerity never wavered. The feelings were never surface level. They have a deep and crucial understanding of each other that I wouldn't hesitate to call love. This doesn't apply to just Kagiura though, but Hirano. Now I might be reaching HEAVY and im not sure exactly what I might be saying with this, and this is gonna be a hashtag Flaming Hot Take bc some people dont see it this way and that is A-Okay 0 hard feelings. But im so convinced (and almost always have been) that Hirano has been in love with Kagiura for just as long as Kagiura has veen in love with him. Let me preface that it is no more meaningful if this is the case but this is just something I've been sitting on for literal years and I fear it only took me this sentence to decide to believe it wholeheartedly.

(Screenshot from my e-novel)

Kagiura saying the dorm feels empty without Hirano (affectionate), and this being Hirano's (equally affectionate) reaction.

So, I've actually noticed this pattern with Hirano: when affection is expressed between him and Kagiura, his verbal reaction is something along the lines of "tiredness". As in, Hirano will give or receive affection to/from Kagiura and tiredness is deemed the reason. Now, i dont recall this ever being done with his friends so thats why im extrapolating this phenomenon to hirakagi only (if im wrong lmk). Anyway, here are the examples, other than the one listed. And there are actually more than i thought

Exhibit A: Volume 6 Extra

I think this is the first one we see at all, and its comedic and hes being kind of aggressive about it PLUS we wouldn't think much of it at all because Kagiura literally did NOT sleep since Hirano accidentally slept in his bed. But just note that Kagiura is basically getting a kick out of seeing Hirano embarrassed (which to me. Is affection because. This is Hirano and Kagiura) and Hirano is just like "get your ass to bed." This example is probably less of one than the next ones but 100% worth talking about since this is post Kagiura confession (not sure where in the timeline though) and it still follows the theme of affection/tiredness, as Hirano is recognizing it and deeming tiredness to be the factor making him say what hes saying. Just like in the screenshot.

Exhibit B: Volume 9 Extra (1)

(Definitely in a relationship here LOLLL) And for some reason Kagiura decides that Hirano is acting spacey, and Hirano AGREES. Like, to be fair, Hirano was acting pretty gay this whole extra but its interesting to me that Kagiura is all abashed by Hirano being all suave and congratulating him and his first reaction is, "So... you really ARE tired" (re: Hirano using him as a pick-me-up in the first place). Why. Is it because Hirano is being affectionate? I MEAN, YEAH kagiura clearly took it as such hence the blushing and acting all embarrassed and then proceeding to be like "you must be tired. Anyway youre not being confessed to are you."

What stumps me more is how Hirano agrees with him. We know Hirano will get defensive at stuff Kagiura says (throwback to "them's fightin' words, asshole") and idk the exact wording in japanese but the idea that Hirano just casually agrees to kagiura ascribing his behavior to being spacey and he has nothing to say to it... interesting.

Exhibit C: Volume 9 Extra (2)

Mere moments later on the train when Hirano says "you can be stinky with me bae 😍", Kagiura is embarrassed by this clear sign of affection and what does Hirano say? "Man, am I tired" Okay we GET it. Again hes making a point to emphasize his tiredness and for what? To excuse that hes saying crazy shit? Mkay

Exhibit D: Whatever the hell this is

This... this whole page. Man i don't even know where to begin. Hirano is straight up unabashedly giving Kagiura googoo eyes. I had a violent reaction to seeing this extra. The point here is that Kagiura looked at him, got caught off guard by this absolutely unmistakable "im gonna take a bite out of you in the next ten seconds" look and his question is "are you sleepy". And its like. Okay sure hirano looks a little drunk (in love) yes but. He also looks wide awake. But he does say "a little".

Okay hold on I have to add that I'm genuinely tweaking out over this extra like YES I've seen it before but after volume five and just. Everything i am genuinely aghast at how obvious this is. Like oh my god. Hes practically drooling. Im loosing the plot so bad. What i would do to have this voice acted. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka you absolute legend i KNOW you'd cook for this

Anyway so yeah. I also noticed with two of these examples that its Kagiura mentioning the tiredness and its Hirano agreeing, and with one its Hirano saying it himself, and with two its Hirano saying it to Kagiura. Idk if what im saying makes sense but here's kinda what im getting at (again this extra genuinely made me lose my train of thought happy pride i guess damn): for Hirano, maybe its some sort of code, or something hes experienced from someone else, or maybe its just embarrassment covered up that has become an inside joke, im genuinely not sure, but Hirano will disguse affection as him being tired, or Kagiura's affection as him being tired, and Kagiura recognizes this too.

Why this stuck out to me with the novel is that, so early on, so soon in their relationship with each other, Hirano is already recognizing this affection hes receiving from his roommate, one that is in the general sense no different than his usual honesty and sincerity when it comes to Hirano, and Kagiura himself at this point hasnt quite come to terms with being in love with Hirano at all, just that he HAS deep affection for him. And yet Hirano picks up this DISTINCT affection in a way we've so far only ever seen referenced post-confession AND when theyre in a relationship, that makes him say, "You must be tired".

In other words, we see Hirano, far before Kagiura admits his own feelings or even realizes the extent of them and far before Hirano can even consider his own feelings LOVE, use a phrase that we've only so far seen used in contexts in which the two are being obviously romantic in their affection (the only POSSIBLE exception being Exhibit A but the whole reason that whole thing happened the way it did was because of the romantic context to this otherwise embarrassing but negligible occurrence) and he doesnt even REALIZE it. Even if Kagiura was actually sleepy (and he was), and even if hes just being a little shy, the idea that Hirano's first thought was "dodge" and that dodging is something we see come up in such a specific, familiar way in such specific circumstances following what we would brush off as insignificant in the scheme of things just has me tapping my chin and then going EUREKA! Because Hirano loves him and has and its that simple. Hirano has always associated whatever feeling he had at that moment from receiving a particular flavor of affection with tiredness, with sleepiness, with someone saying those things because theyre not all there right now, they wouldnt USUALLY do that because if they did, it wouldnt make me feel this way, so here is a reasonable explanation. That same principle is then applied to himself; if im saying things that make me feel this way, that are a reflection of how i feel, in such a way that i would never actually do but here it is, just slipping out of me, I must be tired, I must not be all there, otherwise this wouldn't happen, I wouldnt say it.

Hirano loves him, and even if it’s not as AGGRESSIVELY as current Hirano, I think this was at LEAST the beginning of it. Hirano already killed the boundaries of their relationship in order to achieve a comfortable dorm life for both of them, and by doing so he created this situation between the two of them in which there is a very unique sense of closeness and understanding, and bond brought about because they are who they are individually and then with each other. Kagiura is honest about how he feels and before now he wasnt necessarily hiding his affection for Hirano, not in a way that matters. And then he tells Hirano that "Without you, it felt lonely" (with you, things feel whole, and right. if i had to choose, i would rather be with you (i wanna be with you (more than anyone in the world))) and Hirano feels this affection in such a way that creates a pattern in his behavior that he repeats in the future when he knows too that Kagiura is the person he wants to be with more than anyone in the world, where he gets to have that spot beside him, right where he wants to be, right where Kagiura wants him to be, and he says it now. "You must be sleepy." (Because it must be you, Kagiura—so earnest and honest, so much more so when you're tired that you would say such embarrassing things that no one would ever say to me—and not me, who feels each syllable in my chest and remembers the feeling each moment I spend with you in a future I do not yet know I had been wanting).

Also ignore every typo i am so sleepy and im gonna reread this tomorrow and go "burry was onto nothing 🔥🔥" but for right now we will Pretend

[tracklessreason]

Polygang but it's not purely romantic on all sides.

Fujiko and Jigen have a frenemies thing going on, they don't always enjoy each other's company and most certainly are not dating, although that certainly hasn't hindered any cuddle puddles or more spicy moments between the gang.

Lupin can proudly say he is dating the whole gang, though in vastly different ways:

Lupin and Fujiko's love is very cat and mouse, a relationship built on chasing one another moreso than having one another. A lot of flirting, a TON of teasing, but not as many intimate moments as one would expect. Any attempts to take it further would be ground to a halt by Fujiko's anxiety around settling down, which is disguised as her "wayward spirit".

Lupin and Jigen are practically married, though it would never be said out loud. It's just not their style to communicate that with words, and although that certainly slowed things down, by now they know each other well enough to know how to show love their way. Lupin is much more romantically inclined behind closed doors, where it doesn't make Jigen retreat into his shell. Make no mistake, Jigen can be a whole handful of emotion when hes comfortable enough to show it. These two love each other to death and beyond, and they're glued at the hips in every manner of the phrase.

Lupin and Goemon have a very quiet soft core thing, they're very much in the early days of their relationship, testing the waters and trying to find a balance. Lupin specifically struggles with his energy being to wild for Goemon to handle, but they find ways to share quiet moments.

Goemon and Fujiko probably have the fluffiest relationship of the bunch. They spoil each other a lot, Fujiko doesn't feel chased and so she doesn't run. A lot of kisses and simple sweet moments together. Goemon still blushes to no end with any of the gang, but her especially.

Jigen and Goemon share a solidarity that grew to be an appreciation. They aren't quite together, but there's certainly something there, if all the nights spent cooking side by side mean anything at all. Just parallel play at its finest with these two, they exist side by side in a tranquil manner, full of unspoken love that makes itself known nonetheless.

[exar547]

SUSIE REPLACES NOELLE IN THE PROPHECY (and that might be a bad thing for her)

a short, loose theory post based on some things i've noticed throughout chapters 1 through 4 so far!!

extremely major spoilers for Deltarune's story as of the 3&4 release, especially chapter 4, will be present ahead.

so, a pretty big theory has been spreading around since chapter 4's prophecies were first seen on the 3&4 release. if you've engaged with the Deltarune community recently as of late, then you'll probably have heard of the theory that originally, Susie's place in the prophecy was intended for Noelle. the biggest backer of this theory is this right here:

at first it looks like Susie, sure. you've got her basic silhouette, the hair is pretty clear, if you look at the torso you might see a resemblance to her jacket's shape. it isn't unreasonable to think this refers to Susie, it's what shows up along the prophecy listing the other two heroes when Susie creates a dark fountain and shapes a new Dark World based on what she wants it to include, and it's clear that the game wants you to think this IS Susie.

however, many people also noticed this about the silhouette: the torso shape can resemble a dress, like the one Noelle wears in the Dark World, or the skirt she wears in the Light World. same with the hair: it could be her's, too. this is further proven by other details in the silhouette; the lack of a defined muzzle unlike Susie, though Noelle definitely has a face more shaped to fit. and there's also, of course, the sword rather than an axe. if you didn't know, Noelle can actually equip some swords in-game during chapter 2!

"THE GIRL, WITH HOPE CROSSED ON HER HEART." can refer to Susie, but too can it refer to Noelle, even moreso i'd argue. Noelle is clearly struggling a bit with her life as we see: an overbearing mother, a father in the hospital, academic pressure and of course her lack of willpower to admit her feelings for Susie to her face. thus, the hope crossed on her heart i'd say fits Noelle more than Susie: Noelle is hoping her father recovers and leaves the hospital to come home, Noelle is hoping each day that her grades will meet the standards she must hold up to, and she is hoping to get closer to Susie.

overall, there's a lot of very strong evidence pointing towards the idea that Noelle was supposed to be the second hero of the prophecy. it's not hard to see why many support this theory, and so do i!

and this is what makes Susie so interesting, with the position she holds in the story. throughout the entirety of the game, Susie has made it a point that she doesn't bend to the will of some outer narrative, nor does she follow what she's told, only what she wants. it makes her more of a protagonist than Kris, at times.

...but what if i told you, that i think Susie's revolution could bring upon her downfall later on?

due to Susie accidentally taking someone else's place in the prophecy, things have begun spinning out of place. she's done too much that clearly wasn't meant to happen: she's befriended Lancer, who was clearly meant to be solely an antagonist, as silly as he is. she's become an antagonist herself for a short time, and multiple times she has completely subverted what Ralsei would have expected to happen, simply because she doesn't conform to a written story.

and unfortunately, this puts Susie in serious danger.

why's that? well, just as this theory begins with an image from the prophecy, so does it come back to that here... with this simple wording.

"LOVE FINDS ITS WAY TO THE GIRL."

this is one line that people have been theorizing like crazy over too, and it's no wonder why. you can take the literal meaning (and seemingly the meaning Susie interprets it in as well), sure, makes sense, a romance between Susie and Noelle has been brewing over the course of the game so far, and that's clearer than ever after visiting Noelle's house!

...but then, there's the theory of the player's SOUL, as depicted right in her chest within the silhouette. the very same spot of the body Kris reaches into to rip us out of themself.

if you've seen the consequences of the Weird Route from chapter 2 all the way over to chapter 4, you'll know that the implication afterwards was that a part of the player's SOUL was left implanted in Noelle after we forced the THORNRING on her in the Light World. this is quite clear, at least to most, telling by the red splatter when it happens, and the unnerving red dot that can be seen later on if you choose to focus on what Noelle is doing, instead of Susie.

if in the Weird Route, the SOUL's essence has been implanted in Noelle, what does that mean?

if LOVE finds its way to the girl, could that refer to our SOUL?

and if that IS the case, does that mean the Weird Route is truly just the player accidentally setting the prophecy straight?

and if LOVE doesn't find its way to Noelle in the "normal" route...

then what does that mean for Susie's fate?

my theory, as simple as it gets, is that one way or another we are going to have to either force our SOUL onto Noelle in the Weird Route, or force it onto Susie in the typical route, depending on our choices. and if we don't want to force it onto either of the girls, then Kris might force it onto Susie themself.

now, that sounds a bit odd, right? if chapter 4 (and a lot of other subtle dialogue outcomes) is any indicator, Susie and Kris are absolutely CHILL by now (pun not intended sorry noelle). why would Kris want to inflict their own torture onto Susie, someone that Kris clearly sees as a close (maybe best) friend and possibly even admires?

well, they don't want to. that's why someone is going to make them do it; and that could be either us, or the voice from Kris' phone.

in chapter 2, accessing the Weird Route, which would eventually lead to Noelle having the SOUL forced onto her in chapter 4, requires precise, manipulative tactics as soon as Noelle joins your party. you go back, you make her freeze enemies, and you continuously force her to do things she clearly expresses she doesn't want to do, simply by repeating, pushing her to just, in simple terms, proceed.

obviously, this ends with a lot of destruction of the Cyber World, and it's a miracle Berdly is alive at all after everything. but let's be real: the point of all of it wasn't to be spooky and violent and kill everyone and woahhh genocide so scary!!!

it was to weaken Noelle's resolve. to make her less likely to resist, to make her not fight you. and when you later reveal your presence to Noelle in chapter 4, that exactly happens: she fails completely to defend herself, and she doesn't run much beyond scooting away on the couch.

i think in a similar way, Susie's resolve will be weakened as well. not necessarily through forced violence or through intimidation, but through persistence and carefully picked words, exploiting Susie's naivety and her love for the Dark Worlds and the Darkners within them.

it's hard to say how exactly it will happen, but i have a strong feeling that it will. in fact, i think we're already seeing early signs of our SOUL having an affect on Susie, as shown by the way that we are able to watch her without the requirement of Kris' presence, once every chapter, as encouraged by Ralsei. hoo boy, have i got a lot to say about how much involvement i think Ralsei might have, but i'm writing this at 2AM so i'll stop that train of thought here.

point is, the girls are both in serious danger of meeting the same fate that Kris has already met; puppets to the player. regardless of what route is taken, it's looking like one of them will have to get hurt.

but i think we can still change this outcome.

if you accuse Gerson (the old man) of not liking prophecies after he breaks one of them, he makes a very, very interesting point:

"Well now, a fairytale is a pretty little thing."

"Ain't it nice to believe a glimmer here and there…?"

"I jus' think, those words shine a bit too bright."

"A path so blue, it's all you can see."

"So I say… why don't we go between the lines?"

"It's darker there… Geheh… geheheh!"

and i think, more than anywhere else, this exact point that Gerson makes works the best when applied to Noelle and Susie's unfortunate positions. their so-called fates, as demanded by the prophecy. in fact, i think this line works so well with their situation, that it is actually foreshadowing.

i think THIS is exactly what we're going to need those Shadow Crystals for. to save both Noelle and Susie, rather than harming one in favor of the other.

Seam better cook up something good with those crystals.

and with that, i rest my case. feel free to reply with your own points and/or counter-theories, i'd love to debate this or just hear what others think of my theory!

[lemurmate]

I finally looked at that soulbonding strawpage so it's time to disprove it. Feel free to link this if this discourse ever comes up over there I don't really care

This is also highlights why you really shouldn't trust anything presenting itself as an informational resource that doesn't have sources. Don't worry everyone, I spent way too long going through websites that were made for a monitor the size of a shoebox to get them

so the reason is moreso that the term system wasn't known to the soulbonding community at the time and it's a case of two separately developed communities. Think like otherkin and therian developed separately but started to share terms later.

Unfortunately, LiveJournal was being a bitch, and the soulbonding LJ was not archived well. Thankfully I did find a mirror that let me search, and here are the earliest results.

The most blatant one is sourced 08.07.03: "(I have SoulBonds, and one could say I'm part of a multiple-ish system. It's *not* DID, though. I guess most of you know about empowered multiplicity and SBing anyway.)"

You can find a lot more references to soulbonds as systems from around this time too! and nothing really saying they aren't systems (even in early accounts of discourse).

You also have this essay, likely from around that time, that discusses directly this combining between soulbonding and multiplicity.

"If you look through the annals of history, you'll notice that much of the soulbonding community thought itself very far removed from plurality, and the multiple community out there didn't even address soulbonding at all. Recently, all of this has been changing very quickly. Now, you don't have to look very hard to find multiple systems who admit to soulbonding, or soulbonders who have acknowledged themselves as multiple."

(Also "Hopefully in a year or two, we'll be writing another essay called 'Our Thoughts on the New Friendship Between the Multiple and Soulbonding Communities.'" BUDDY I AM SORRY-)

I also actually found a comment on Psych Forums, a DID community, that discusses soulbonds in 2010 and having soulbonds with alters, which was very interesting.

But anyway either way it seems like when soulbonders learned about the term system and multiple, they started using it.

Similar to what happened with fictive actually but that's a whole other topic to explain.

I wasn't going to acknowledge this because I don't know fuck all about tulpamancy, but stuff about the overlap kept coming up in other sources so here you go.

From Soul Whispers in at least 2004 (context being a semi-conscious creation element to soulbonding): "This theory also has its own basis in ancient spiritualities; there is a belief in some Eastern religions, such as Tibetan Buddhism, that people can create and shape "thought-forms" that take on a spirit-realm life of their own as animals, mythological creatures, or other people."

From Living Library in 2015: "Still other soulbonders deliberately set out to create a soulbond (which often overlaps to some degree with tulpamancy, the practice of deliberately creating new consciousnesses as mental companions)"

So like there is a known overlap, but I couldn't give you anything super insightful on that.

Not inherently, no. This personal essay from Soul Whispers earliest archived in 2004 points out how complicated soulbond theories are, acknowledges psychological theories ("One theory that once used to be popular, and probably originated from the old Multiple Personality Disorder idea (or else was just suggested because it seems simple and obvious), is that a SoulBond is just you personifying a part of you which you refuse to acknowledge or which might need an outlet"). While it acknowledges the multiverse theory, it also concludes with an imaginary-created world turned real theory against the multiverse theory.

This essay from 2000 also highlights the early writer/muse focus that the community has.

The spiritual-focused view was popularized by From Fiction. I don't have a source beyond "system joined the soulbonding community in 2016", but if you look up anything from them, it is very spirituality/multi-verse focused, and that can also be seen with their fictionkin stuff.

If you want a newer example, Living Library's site from 2015 directly acknowledges this: "Some soulbonders see soulbonding in a psychological light, whether by considering their soulbonds aspects of their own personality or as conscious psychological entities like themselves."

Also from experience, some of it came from other systems seeing the term and assuming soul = spiritual.

You can see the above essays and sources to see that that's not a universal view that all soulbonders have. Actually a few of those acknowledge the view that soulbonds might be a part of the host.

Though that is true that soulbonds can be anything!

This is another yes and no thing. If you're coming at this from a strictly multiverse view, yeah, but again not all soulbonders view it like that.

It can also get a little muddy if you have a soulbond who doesn't really acknowledge you as a headmate (i.e. seeing you as just a headvoice on their end).

From what I've seen personally, the divination thing is relatively new in the community, and I think came from the overlap with reality shifting and that bringing in more spiritual beliefs? At least looking through the LiveJournal archive I couldn't find jack shit for divination and soulbonding.

Interestingly I also see this a lot more with the self shipping overlap, which seems to be reinforced by the StrawPage including links for that, but I don't know anything about self shipping culture or yumeship.

Likewise this is genuinely the first time I've seen it compared to deity worship.

I have seen it compared to pop culture paganism sometimes, but from our experiences having some spiritual soulbonds and pop culture deities... not really? I can kind of see it though? But I wouldn't say it as a universal thing. Cool if you experience it like that though!

Anyway all that aside, the only other terms they have being like self shipping focused is a little annoying, especially since soulbonding actually does have a lot of interesting terms that's developed within it

[filurig]

its been a while but new pareidolia creature!! ive been thinking of making these for a while. in case u don't know what an älgfrode is (a bit more of a niche nordic mythology creature), an älgfrode (or elgfróði in icelandic) was mentioned in hrólfs saga kraka, one of the old norse hero sagas. while the context for that was one specific character i just wanted to make moose people..

more info abt my creatures below the cut...

they wear more clothes than in the ref this is just to show their anatomy LOL. clothing is actually very important to them and textiles will almost always have a role in any tradition/significant social event. their textilework is very renowed and is one of the trades that cause some other vättar to want to trade with them as mentioned in the ref!

one potential reason for their high level of defensiveness is that their species suffers from a higher than average infant mortality rate - with time, this mortality rate has lowered from what it used to be, but when the species first appeared, it wasn't unusual for a mother to have to give birth to many calves before one even made it to adulthood. this rooted a deep set vigilance in them - even now that the rates have stabilised a bit. the high mortality rate was probably due to the affected "shift" gene sometimes activating improperly which could result in stillborns. with time and selective pressure new gene mutations would arise in the species that "counteracted" the instability of the first initial one and made the infant mortality decrease. it is, however, still a little higher than usual for similar species, and so it is traditionally encouraged to have many children.

gender roles for älgfroder are interesting - there is a strong sense of "equal strength", or "laorhgr" in älgfrode, which is important. while males are usually slightly larger than females, there is emphasis on the importance on a pair being able to stand their ground both physically and emotionally to the other and a relationship can only go ahead if a spar between two älgfroder is fair. this extends to an interesting dynamic that involves polyamory. älgfroder can be both monogamous and polyamorous, however polyamorous relationships often only arise when there is a big physical differential between two parties. the belief is that if one party is stronger than the other, that strength can be equalised if the other party is accompanied a second partner of similar strength - usually this happens between one strong male and two females on the smaller end. that way the resulting relationship has achieved "laorhgr". this ofc varies as everything does but ya. basically if you are a big strong älgfrode dating a small petite älgfrode it's seen as shameful and barbaric. there is also a bias to heterosexual relationships as it is seen as an important social duty to at least successfully raise one calf.

dhukohr are the more commonly occuring intersex condition in älgfrodar, but there is an equivalent to it for "males" where they fail to grow antlers and have very small dewlaps due to low testosterone levels - those are usually referred to as kvikohr. they are often recognised as their own gender respectively however there are many that identify as men/women too. some of these dhukohr/kvikohr are actually moreso trans than intersex - simply having utilized faerie dust in order to transition. this can be a bit of an ordeal though because usually this requires being administered it by a tomte which, depending on the settlment, can be a tense negotiation, although individuals usually have a less hard time with that.

älgfrodar and bäckahästar can hybridise and do sometimes produce fertile offspring! i would have to think more about this though erm. but i think it does and can happen. there is a sense of rare camraderie between the two species in many cases but especially so between älgfrodar and bäckahäst communities that choose to spend more time as their faun shift than their base shift - in fact a few of these bäckahästar choose to integrate into certain älgfrode settlements, but this is more of a rare occurance. most bäckahästar that possess "unishift" clothing have actually had them made by älgfrodar, or at least had the fabric sourced from them

[pangaeaseas]

Thinking about jily hcs and I sorta love the idea that Lily was more radical than James…

First off I find the order a very interesting organization, people have brought up before that it’s not exactly a radical organization that pushes for social growth and change but one that protects the status quo. I think that description fits pretty accurately for the 2nd order, and I feel that it fits for the first order as well. The goals of the order were to be a resistance group to the growing “racist/classist” movement, that usually took the form of combat. The Order was disbanded after the war, and most of the members just went about their regular lives, sort of proving it wasn’t a long lasting movement for social progress, possibly just a reactionary one (though to be fair a good number of them did die, but still). This isn’t to say I think the order was bad or detrimental to their society, just that it wasn’t radical in its ideology. I do think you could make an argument that they were radical in their actions to an extent. All of that being said lol, I don’t think the average order member was a raging leftist socialist or whatever, and I never remotely got that impression from James potter. Lily however to me has potential for this. I love examining jily through their political growth together (I think it’s one of their main pulls towards each other) BUT I think it’s sooo fascinating to see Lily going farther than James! You could go so many ways with how this would play out too! Would it cause tension? Would he think she was doing too much? Would she think he wasn’t doing enough? Would there be doubt on either side about their own beliefs? Something else entirely? Idk! I just like it

Also it’s fun for me to imagine the ways she’d be more radical. Would she be against the statute? Would she want to abolish elf slavery? What’s her view on goblin rights? And where would James stand on these issues? Again does it cause tension?

Ok that’s it haha

I love all of this! and I agree that Lily would be more radical. I tend to make the order pretty radical when I write it just because that's interesting to me and because of my worldbuilding lol but yeah the weight of canon evidence mostly suggests it's not super anti-system just anti-Death Eaters. Which is also super interesting to think about! Because it creates tensions between characters who want to restore the status quo and characters who want to burn the status quo down. and I could see Lily being one of them. In part because being a Muggleborn coming into a whole new society and then the end of her friendship with Snape fores her to reevaluate her life principles in a way James, though deeply committed to his values to the point of dying for them, doesn't have to because he was raised (most likely lol considering soooo much of their lives is personal headcanon or extracanon) with pretty Dumbledore-aligned values and never has to change his basic assumptions about the world. So I could see her becoming more radical while James is more pro-status quo. Though it must also be stated that James goes above and beyond for his werewolf friend so you can make a case for him as radical too. OR that his politics are like his son's: based on individual and not systematic cases of oppression.

Also it would be fun to see radical Lily come into conflict with totally-voted-for-Thatcher Petunia....

It's also interesting to consider how Sirius comes into this! I also see him as someone who'd be really politically radical: moreso than James and Remus (who desperately wants to fit into the status quo and is probably more conservative than James lol) in part because of moral conviction in part because of having also had to reconsider his entire life. though probably more in theory than in practice: like in theory he'd be anti house elf enslavement in practice we see how he treats kreacher. it'd be really interesting to see Sirius gravitating towards Lily out of a shared anti-establishment sensibility and how this might bring them into conflict with James.

[aroaceleovaldez]

random question, you mentioned a bit ago that the PJO fandom has a lot similarities with old anime fandoms. i’m interested to hear more about that if you want to elaborate? thanks :)

Of course! The main aspect is just fandom crossover - generally book fandoms are their own sort of isolated fandom "bubble" so-to-speak, so most of the audience crossover is within that bubble (book fandom-to-book fandom crossover). Back in the day book fandoms actually had their own version of a "Superwholock" composite fandom which consisted of (but was not limited to) primarily PJO, HP, and The Hunger Games, but also frequently included other major book fandoms at the time like The Maze Runner, Shadow Hunters, etc etc. It even had its own little symbol thing! But so you have the book fandoms "bubble," and then anime fandoms are their own "bubble" as well and there's not always a lot of crossover between them. You might get some, but they're largely their own spheres (there's definitely more crossover now than there used to be, but still). You can kind of think of it like how there are separate conventions for stuff like anime, comics, furries, etc and they were all born out of the sci-fi community. There is crossover between them, but you're largely going to see one main subject in its designated space.

PJO fandom back in the day was an outlier though, because we had notable amount more interaction with anime fandoms back then than most book fandoms. I'm not sure why, but I have a couple of theories. (under the cut cause this post got long)

One of the primary ones is that PJO has a HUGE overlap with "Western Anime" fandoms, primarily Avatar: The Last Airbender (and eventually also Voltron: Legendary Defender). Obviously these fandoms are going to have a LOT more crossover with actual anime fandoms (a large amount of formerly-PJO, at-the-time-VLD fans moved to My Hero Academia fandom during the last two seasons of VLD for example) particularly moreso than other western cartoon fandoms. Most of the overlap just kind of arises from the generation growing up on PJO (when it was new in the States) was also growing up on A:TLA at the time, and may have also had minor interactions with anime in the states in the early 2000s like your 4kids animes and such. It could also be due to the PJO movies causing a huge influx around 2010 (alongside a couple of the other major book fandoms also having movies around this time) and a lot of those new fans getting into the books/fandom from the movies probably had a bias for visual media versus text-based media, so they're more likely to be in anime fandoms versus other book fandoms (and the general prevalence of anime fandoms circa 2012, when a lot of those pjo fans were getting into fandom for the first time due to being like, 12 at the time). Also, a lot of pjo fans are big into fantasy, action, and coming-of-age genres, all of which anime has plenty of (see: shonen animes).(This is actually what I attribute to why VLD fandom failed so badly - VLD was a mecha show with a fanbase not very interested at all in mecha genre, because you had a large percentage who were pjo and adjacent fans more interested in other genres.)

One of my other theories is crossover with Homestuck. While PJO doesn't have a specific unique fandom crossover with Homestuck, Homestuck was just so ubiquitous with fandoms of the late 2000s/early 2010s that crossover is inevitable. It of course was also formative to many big name fans of PJO that you probably recognize, like Ikimaru, Indigonite, Fuocogo, Elentori, and etc. Even Viria (the original post is gone but reblogs still exist) and Velinxi were also Homestucks. Nearly every old PJO BNF (and some current ones) are or were a homestuck, and BNFs have a large influence on the fandoms they're in (hence the name). Homestuck itself heavily referenced many animes and had large crossover and interaction with anime fandoms, alongside just generally being a ubiquitous internet fandom in it's own right back in the day. So it figures that PJO fans who were also Homestucks would either pick up the anime influences through Homestuck and its fandom or enter anime fandoms popular at the time through Homestuck fandom. (There used to be a joke about "Homestuck is my favorite anime" due to how just lumped in Homestuck was with anime fandoms despite being an American webcomic, but this makes sense given again the anime influences on the comic). (We're actually kind of seeing this again with The Locked Tomb, another book fandom that has a lot of overlap with anime fandoms, but hilariously Locked Tomb started out as davekat fanfiction so it all loops back around to Homestuck, LMAO). In general these overlaps make sense - Homestuck and PJO are similar genres of story and both involve a lot of mythology and pop culture references, and a lot of the anime that were popular in PJO spheres were in similar genre categories or adjacent at least to the same demographics. Especially a lot of your big 2012-ish animes. And also Homestuck. Also, Homestuck fandom (and a lot of anime fandoms at the time) had very large and vocal queer fanbases, which the PJO fandom was also starting to have at the time, which wasn't as common (or at least as vocal) in other book fandoms.

Regardless of how it happened, PJO fandom behaved a lot more like anime fandoms than book fandoms back then. For one, our fandom was very heavily art-focused. A lot of book fandoms lean more text-focused for obvious reasons, so you'll find a decent amount of fanfiction but not a lot of art (and the art you will find won't usually have a large anime influence like how PJO fandom does in its fanart) (there are other book fandoms that are more art-heavy - like Warrior Cats - but those often involve other overlaps. WC has HUGE overlap with furry fandom for obvious reasons, which is also an art-heavy fandom). Anime fandoms obviously have fanfiction as well, but also have a much larger visual component. Also cosplay - anime fandoms are big on cosplay and have been for ages. Book fandoms usually have very little cosplay. PJO fandom has always had a very strong cosplay community, which is atypical for book fandoms, especially older ones. There are a lot of other little intricacies that are difficult for me to describe, especially since anime fandoms have also shifted over time, but if you compare PJO to other book fandoms even now (but especially back in that like 2010-2015 era), you can really see the sort of in-between space PJO occupied.

It's especially interesting to me because - and I was actually just having a discussion about this the other day - the anime fandom crossover that PJO has still exists, but it's very directional most of the time. Like, if you see a crossover au, there's not a lot of anime crossover AUs in PJO fandom, and many that exist are either older AUs or from older fans. On the flip side though, there's plenty of PJO aus in anime fandoms, particularly in anime fandoms that have a large percentage of PJO fans like BNHA. It's an interesting little exchange.

PJO is a mainstream fandom, so it does get a little funky cause we have a lot of what I call "passive" fandom or "new" fandom which generally doesn't engage or partake in the same ways that "old" fandom did. It's that kind of "consumerist" fandom atmosphere you hear about sometimes, and it largely exists because of that mainstream aspect - these people are largely young and aren't very far into fandom, this may even likely be their first and/or only fandom, and they're basically totally unfamiliar with what fandom is supposed to look like. Their concept of fandom comes from pop culture and mainstream media, which often presents it as very source-focused and consumerist, so that's how they behave in fandom versus the "old" fandom style of community-focus. So within the main PJO sphere you get a lot of people who don't interact with fandom the way you might expect like in "old" fandom. But if you look into other fandom spheres that are less mainstream (which happens to include a lot of anime fandoms by nature, at least in western spheres) you're not unlikely to run into fans in those spaces who, for example, a.) are familiar with pjo due to it being mainstream and b.) interact with fandom spaces in that "older" sense, and so are more likely to make PJO aus for other fandoms (or do other crossover aus or other general "older" fandom things). The newer fans or "passive" fandom people are a lot more likely to stay within the bounds of canon and less likely to make crossovers overall. The younger fans in general aspect also plays into it - a lot of them obviously haven't interacted with those older anime fandoms, and they're less likely to interact deeply with anime fandoms in general just cause of how mainstream anime has gotten in the west, so they don't need to seek out specific communities for it like older western anime fans used to have to.

But yeah. Lots of interesting stuff!

[shnowyfox]

Okay so u ppl like the horseformers it seems heres some more designs :D

swindle isn't even rlly in the story tbh but here he is. he should NOT have an insignia because this is moreso a civilian swindle. he's a strong and resiliant little feller but really probably shouldn't carry all that shit around on a battlefield. i just dont feel like going back and fixing it. also! combiner teams uhhh they exist! but i think maybe instead of combining they're just in a herd together like soulmates but its besties u know what im sayin. heavily taking from his wfc design (why he has cloven hooves... i love his silly pedes) since we don't get any CONFIRMED visuals on him in tfone..

considering changing jet wings to "feather" wings? and making megatronus prime a griffin because the seekers are griffins.. The two chains across the chestplate btw are like a motif in his court. Megatron, Ironhide, and the high guard all fall under his court

and a d-16 :) dont mind why he looks so judgmental.. this was supposed to be a comic. giving arcee the side eye... glad i focused on the designs first i fucking love his shin guards he's so pretty

griffin seeker! specifically starscream here :) there is lore reason why they get a mane and organic wings btw

hound! under liege maximo's court, and like megatronus' chains, liege's court has a motif in the horns. again, no cogged form so i had to kinda blend his cogless one design with his idw and foc designs? i really like his funny chestplate in g1. forgot his insignia but he is a decepticon in this one he was one of the first teehee

still going between horse and lion for optimus. heres pax though with victory leo's body as his lower half :) he was born under alpha trion's court and also all the lions in the japanese continuity?? forgot his insignia but maybe this is also civilian era (drops my head on the table and screams) also theres no reason for him to have a halberd he doesn't use one i just.. put it in his hands.

and alpha trion these last two admittedly arent great because i drew them just now when i woke up. way too top heavy but i'll fix it later when i start finalizing everyone's refs (this fool thinks he'll be interested long enough to finalize designs).. forgot hsi fucking autobot insignia too </3 also might give those under his court a cape which would mean i could give orion pax a cape too teehee.

ty everyone for encouraging me btw i was straight up about to redesign them to not be centaurs (cringe) but i kept them as centaurs and i'm figuring out how to make it work in the story (based)

[pillowbugs]

so uh. that poto au i did just over a week ago.

was playing around with some ships to figure out who would fit the roles of the other characters, and landed on airplaneshipping for christine and raoul. preferably ignore all the plot that would have to happen to lead to this point. (the scene where the phantom shoots fireballs, except in the pokémon universe it's a full on battle against the phantom and his chandelure. for an added bonus, look up the name of the 'song' sung during this part of the musical.)

unmasked ver. (additional design notes under cut)

elesa:

christine's dress in this scene is light blue, which is a colour that is indeed present in elesa's design (her bw2 outfit moreso). elesa not wearing any yellow felt wrong though, which is why the layers underneath are yellow-tinted.

went with her bw1 hair colour because christine was blonde in the original book.

her cloak is mostly based off her bw2 jacket in shape; it's black with a red clasp, which makes it not only similar to the cloak donned by christine in the musical but also retains the same idea of the cloak being a visual representation of the phantom's (who wears mostly black) hold over them. (+ the other colour ingo is most associated with is red.)

however, because of the lighting, said cloak appears yellow on the side closer to skyla - more similar to her canon design, and being close to skyla in a way rids her of the darkness.

she gets to change her hairstyle as a treat.

skyla:

it wasn't common for women to wear waistcoats at the time (1900s), but sapphics in history quite famously fucked with a lot of gender norms.

actually both of these lovebirds are blue now. sets up a colour contrast between the lighter, friendlier blues of the couple and the darkness and reds of the phantom. (blue = friend and red = foe like it's fire emblem)

the way swanna is placed is intentional, to set up a more angelic imagery mirroring the phantom's darker version (more on that in a bit).

both women wear matching white roses in their hair. something something flower symbolism. but skyla does also have feathers in her hair, for obvious reasons.

swoobat because hearts :D

ingo:

was debating on whether to make him actually more deformed in this au, but didn't really feel in the mood to sit down and design it in detail for this piece.

there isn't much i can say about his outfit design given it's literally just mashing his usual uniform together with his butler alt from masters. though upon actually looking up the phantom's outfit, the end result is actually surprisingly close. not surprising given both wear victorian suits and primarily wear black.

my original concept for the au was that he still works with the subway, he just does it from the shadows instead of being a public figure - hence he still wears a train conductor's hat. though since the battle subway isn't a thing (or at least not in the form we know it) he doesn't have its logo.

his cloak is intentionally flared up in this scene, for a few reasons: 1) it looks cool, 2) it resembles gliscor (albeit it isn't present here) and 3) mirrors skyla with a darker angelic imagery - the original musical had the whole "angel of music / death" thing.

i actually went through quite a few variations of his mask before settling on this one, and even then i'm not entirely satisfied with it.

version 1: exactly the same as the one used in most advertising for the musical - decently terrifying, but considering ingo's main 'issue' is his mouth, which this (and the one actually used within the musical) doesn't cover, this would be completely useless aside from probably hiding his identity and especially his resemblance to emmet.

version 2: leaned more into the angle of trying to alter his expression, particularly to be smiling instead - to be more similar to his brother. also suitably unsettling, but this specific style wouldn't work if you looked at him from any angle besides this one though. also, from this angle, because his actual mouth is obscured, i was worried he would actually be mistaken for emmet instead (given generally fandom tends to make emmet the unhinged one - let ingo have some fun too, guys).

version 3, the one i went with: has patterns at the cheeks simulating the edges of a smile (and also has the black-on-white contrast); his actual mouth is hidden but visible through the cloth.

why is there a litwick on the gravestone? good question!

in all honesty, this was part me drawing blorbos into an au and part me conceptualising what the pokémon universe version of POTO would look like.

[oncewhenalongtimeago]

I want to shut Hiccup up with a kiss when he's upset about something.

End of the statement

Thistle, Scout and Scottish Bluebells pt 3

Pairing: Grumpy!Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III x Modern!Fem!Reader

Words: 1,942

You need some cheering up.

Tags:  httyd 1, aged up, au, time travel, bitter reader, bitter hiccup, cheery reader

<Previous -

You stared down into a shallow bucket, eyeing the slimy, slightly smelly body of a small fish as it bobbed with each one of your steps. It looked almost sick, nearly scraps, made slightly warm by the rising sun’s heat. It also smelt; its scales were flaking and somewhat muddy-looking, though you knew it was mostly clean- cosmetically, of course. For you, parasites were a constant worry.

  Your hands, now much more calloused than they ever had been, clutched at the thin, metal bucket’s handle. One of your sleeves had gotten stuck there as you trudged your way back from the docks and the one measly fish stand there. Getting it untangled was proving to be quite the task.

It was an old world that you’d been sent to, with untamed mountains and riled seas. It was unpredictable and dangerous, just as emotionless as every facet of it raged and roared. Each toil was made herculean, long and arduous not just by the times but by the sheer might and mystery of everything.

There was safety even in the dangers of the modern world, because at least the dangers were known, if not expected. More explored, less left up to the imagination- the untamed world was cruel, the might and anger of the ancient man even moreso.

As interesting as the loðinn-something-or-others were -or the Hairy Hooligans, as it was- they were a cagey, brutish people, even starved, or perhaps especially because they had been starved. 

The inhabitants of Berk were sparse and few in between, plagued by famine. What Vikings hadn’t been picked off by the dragons had been killed by the outcasts and thrown into the very literal fires by their very own brothers-in-arms.

Now, most of the huts were empty, some with the wood obviously burnt and rotting everything from the inside out.

You leaned over your knees, sitting on an old, unbalanced stool.

Their names were all stupid, anal- fitting, for a guy like Hiccup, but perhaps you were biased.

You heard the sound of shuffling leaves and dirt from outside right before the front door of the shack was pushed open, creaking and scraping against the dirt floor.

You knew who it was, marching inwards with semi-soft steps, muttering darkly to himself. You weren’t sure you’d ever heard him so stormy. It made you apprehensive, a tight grimace pulling at the corners of your mouth. 

You listened as the sound of footfall migrated from soft ground to harder ground. You were even able to make out a stray ”-eta-leg-” something, which might have had something to do with fish. You almost thought to ask, but he was quite typically very apathetic towards most of your colloquialisms. 

There was a pause. “...What are you doing?”

“Making, ah, dinner.” You said, glaring up at him defiantly, your hands falling downwards.

“...Right.” he said, eyeing the sloshing water-bucket.

You grimaced. He could probably smell it- so deep in the woods, the hollowness of salt against the bark, mulch and scattered leaves was probably strong. Bringing water along was also perhaps not so good for the dead fish. Damp things rotted faster and made already smelly things that much worse.

How else were you going to boil out salt, if not with seawater? You weren’t sure if it was going to work but now was more of a time than any to try.

He grunted as he slung the heavy pack of whose-whatsit off his shoulder and dropped it heavily onto the ground, lanky shoulders flagging as he then dropped himself onto the wooden one-blanket-ed frame of his own bed.

He would sleep, maybe, until the next day. You weren’t very versed on his schedule. To you, it seemed to be odd and erratic. He didn’t do much besides slog his way to the forge and back and be an ass.

It wasn’t as if there really was a reason to go into town.

“The arena.” You announced, after a moment of hesitation, into the dark silence.

You’d been into the forge maybe once, leafing through haphazard papers like office files, parchment mostly blank and slightly scribbled over, hard to read in the darkness. Desperate. Hurried.

It wasn’t too different from the one in the woods but there were a few more stall doors and also it was surrounded by huts, which, in a way, made it all the more eerie.

 Out the forge window, briefly, you’d spotted a man, handlebar mustache, not unlike the kind you’d expect on the face of a biker with prickly cactus-looking scruff littering the round dip of his chin. 

You shifted, minding slightly dry, already wilted plants. They had been hastily shoved into your pockets. Modern seams had torn quickly, forcing you into shambled hand-me-downs. 

Hiccup grunted.

You huffed, looking up at him from downturned eyelids. You spoke, “You’re bringing me there.”

He walked past you and stopped just before his bed on the far side of the shack behind, much too long at the legs and the wooden supports at its base much too far apart. He also lacked anything to cover the holes between them, meaning that if you laid at the wrong angle, your bent elbows would dip between the boards. He grunted again, slinging one arm over his face irritatedly, “Do it yourself.”

You smothered a brief spike of irritation, forcing down a scowl. Do it yourself.

Soft highlights made up of the waning sun-glow bounced off nearly imperceptible hairs on the back of his hand. You kept quiet for a moment longer, deep in rumination. It was quite odd to notice something like that- most particularly because you wanted to pick all of them off and then punch him over the head.

Since the beginning, you’d been forced to learn how to cobble up your own dinner, your own bedding and everything else. He hadn’t helped, not really. Everything you had was your own doing, besides maybe the odd repair shack repair or so.

You really only existed under the same roof. If he tried to kick you out, well…

The only thing that had held you together was the idea that maybe, if he hadn’t been born and raised there, or if he hadn’t become so jaded and heavily disillusioned, he might have been good company, or maybe that was just pity talking. You didn’t know much about him, nor had you seen anything clever or brave and bright come from him yet. 

Optimism was a hard thing to carry, and in times like thesis, where you had nothing more than frustration to buzz at the tips of your fingers and an empty belly, you found that all your faux goodwill was crumbling. You felt it deep in your chest, nestled right where all your spine’s nerves speared into your heart.

Saying ‘it felt like a dream,’ had never carried the right connotations- it couldn’t fully encompass all of the things you felt or the way you needed what you were sure wasn’t even real; a place where hard ground was limited to the outside, where you had a soft mattress to cater to the line of your back, the way bumpy asphalt felt beneath your sneakers or the way an old, hot car bounced over ancient potholes in abandoned roads- something deep in you reached for it, and yet all of those solid things passed through your fingers like hot smoke.

Your real life now was much colder. You hadn’t known who he was at first, or even for weeks after. If you had been told about any of this beforehand, you might have expected him to look like a cartoon, but with the uneven stubble at his chin and the not nearly as aesthetic a shape to his face, he really was just a man.

You opened your mouth to speak as he turned away, showing his back to you as he faced the wall, but then you caught yourself. You were going to call a name, any name, but he didn’t like those, not really- he was quite snappish when it came to those, in fact.

Names were tricky things, of course.

You felt that you were walking a thin line, at times; balancing over a tightrope a million miles up from the ground like you’d been thrust into some stupid, old, gaudy cartoon. Which, you had been, and it was just as inane as you imagined.

Instead you listened to the sound of white noise and fabric-on-fabric as the slow rumbling of the forest faded into something that was almost silence. You heard yourself as you breathed and the bucket and the legs of your chair rattled under you. You heard your feet digging and making low noise against dirt.

You ignored a very pointed rock of the bed frame as he shifted. 

 You made a lot of noise, to say the least. You didn’t care, though you could practically feel the air grow stiffer as you struggled.

Finally, with a hard jerk, you were able to tug your sleeve out from the handle and the bucket. You could hear the sound of fabric tearing as you sat back just above the sound of shifting over the threadbare sheet behind you.

Feeling wholly satisfied with yourself, you grabbed the tail end of the fish, pulling it off the bucket with a splash. You pulled it into the air, listening to the sound of water sloshing as it settled, water sliding off bumpy skin in rivulets.

It was nasty- it felt nasty, as most fish did, and as if you could drop it at almost any moment. 

There was a small spit set up in the middle of the room like a rig, a shoddy smoke hole framed above it in the roof. As you shifted towards it, by accident, you kicked over your bucket, cursing under your breath

Your hands shot back down to the corners of your stool, calloused palms scraping against wood and scale, fish still clutched unpleasantly in one hand, wetting the edge of your sleeve as it rolled itself back down.

There was a heavy thump behind you, the sound of boot meeting ground and the loud, frustrated creaking of wood. It startled you as you stood and whipped around, your grip loosening- the fish flew out of your hand with  what was probably a lot more force than you expected, meeting Hiccup nearly lip-to-lip. 

Stubborn coughed and spat, fish slime glistening against the lower half of his face, “Can you- stop?”

You weren’t sure of any of the things that made up his voice and those rolling tones. Was it Scottish or Gaelic something, Norwegian, Danish or having something to do with the Swedes? Or was it a mix of all of the above?

All of their vowels were deep and hitting a sort of hard to reach tenor, Hiccup’s voice especially grated with all the nasal and grumpy worn-ness of all the burden of having to live in such an old time. 

Compared to the voices of everyone else, his was sort of high. It was not what you expected, watching an animated face through a gaudy screen. 

The berth of everything you lived through now made everything you’d known seem so much bigger. It made you sad… And angry. To say it lightly, you didn’t feel pity for… A lot of people. 

Seeing him choke on salt water and slime -If he’d ever made out with Astrid, whoever she was, here-  there was a joke to be made there, something about ‘macking on’ and mackerel. It made you happy.

“No.” You said, voice sounding not-very-dead or particularly serious.

[theallianceofcelestials]

Could we have a small drabble of ETD Ruin meeting SEA Mirror! Solar, and SEA Eclipse?

I feel as though the interactions might be intriguing.

I'm not gonna lie, I really love this concept.

So as set up, Eclipse and Solar know each other and are in shared custody between the two SEA fams, so they're technically brothers even if they don't refer to each other like that. And Ruin is already back on the mainland with his Eclipse, and they're living the life, but he's also taking over rigs still

"It's fascinating for me how much more you can handle. Me leaving this place was the best thing in my life"

Eclipse raises a brow, eyeing Solar quite obviously. The other animatronic scowls at him and punches his shoulder lightly. It's probably moreso because of his condition than any kindness towards Eclipse.

"Maybe you are just a snowflake"

"And you are a shortie, but you don't see me antagonizing you over it"

They glare at each other for a bit more, only to burst out into grins.

It's good to have someone to be a dick with

"But really, I could swear my experience with this place was cursed, what with getting torn apart and damaged and all that, but you seem to have it much bette-"

The floor disappears from under them, and the only reason he doesn't scream is because he's too busy grabbing at the damaged animatronic beside himself. With their luck the poor sod might just break his legs apart, and his Moon is terrifying.

The world breaks apart, rebuilding itself in rapid colours and sounds, and then they're landing with Eclipse taking the brunt of the impact.

He groans, wheezing when his technically brother pushes himself up on his stomach, and he doesn't exactly realise why the fucker is freezing at first. In this moment, all he knows is this piece of shit crushing him

And then something fleshy touches him, and he jumps, knocking Solar off of him.

When he turns to look, he freezes too. He doesn't know how, but some sort of primal fear overtakes him.

They're on some sort of oil rig, but that's not what has him start shaking. That would be the towering wall of glowing, pulsing flesh monstrosity that's crawling up towards the sky.

"What the fuck"

He barely hears the other animatronic beside him, too busy staring at this-this thing

"Eclipse- Eclipse it's moving!"

He snaps back to attention, noticing a tendril like thing that's too close to them raise itself, others following it. It doesn't take a genius to figure out they're going to grab them if they don't run

But where the fuck are they supposed to run? It's everywhere!

"My, oh my, I did not expect visitors to fall out of the sky!"

Is that fucking British?

"And especially not a version of my dearest treasure! Ah, but the other one with the pretty, rosey cheeks is also familiar!"

Wait a minute

"Ex-fucking-scuse me?!"

"What!?"

This thing, still in that same British accent, which might just give him malfunction on the spot, chuckles, and then from the tentacles a more animatronic like form manifests, one that reminds him of their family with its clothes. Only, this one doesn't really seem to want to know if he's a solar, or a lunar model

"How lucky can one be? Not one, but three Eclipses in the same world? I'm being spoiled!"

His brother shifts next to him in discomfort, and Eclipse bears his teeth in a grin. Mismatched red and blue eyes flash at it, especially when he stands up finally, towering over the much smaller avatar.

"Don't call him that"

The being's head tilts, and it holds its hands up in surrender.

"My apologies, what are you called then dear?"

"Why don't you start?"

That surprises it, but its face breaks out into delight, and it cackles. When it looks at him again, it's with a hungry look that makes his casing crawl

"You are feisty aren't you darling? But very well, my name is Ruin, and it's a pleasure to meet you"

That name doesn't spell anything good for them

"You seem to know my name pretty well"

Solar has since gotten to his feet, but Eclipse can see his knees are trembling, ready to give out at any moment. The fingers on his left hand seem to be spasming, and he winces in solidarity. That looks painful

"I'm Solar"

Ruin nods, continuing to eye them heatedly. He does seem to get himself back under control once he notices the same issues Eclipse is seeing. Something in his expression shifts to cold

"Is everything alright with you dear?"

"Just a malfunction"

One that's not going away. But this thing doesn't need to know that

"A malfunction caused by humans mayhaps? Are there people you need gone dear?"

Eclipse can't help it, he snorts. The horror's attention is on him immediately for it, but he doesn't care.

That just reminded him a bit too much of their family

"Like a human could tear him apart! Nah, it was something more like you.'

"Something... like me?"

"Yepp, anomalious, unexplainable for humanity, that sort of gist. Maybe not something exactly like you, don't have too much access to eldritch horrors, but close enough"

Glowed hands grab onto him for support, and he reaches up to give one a squeeze. Solar takes it as invitation to lean more on him, and he doesn't mind.

Even if he can feel a couple dents on himself, he's fine. He's had worse than a bad landing.

"Is that why you two seem so calm? You've seen something like me before?"

Ruin prowls closer to them, and Eclipse eyes him distrustfully. He doesn't trust the flirty attitude, the playful winks, the nothing. It honestly makes him want to gag.

"Buddy, my job is to study the anomalious. As was his before he moved into the wilderness with his family"

One of those tendrils sneaks closer to them, and he backs away. His claws are itching to exit their housing, ready to tear into soft flesh. He feels more on edge the longer they're here.

"Oh? That's interesting! Say, don't you want to... learn a bit more?"

He doesn't like how that world is emphasized. He doesn't like how that predatory look is back. He doesn't like any of this. His involuntary shudder of disgust is second only to Solar's.

"Ew, I'm not into that, thanks. Also, romance is not my thing"

"Same. You go have fun with yourself tho!"

And then Solar begins dragging him backwards, towards a door, and the eldritch horror lets it happen with an indulgent smile.

"Those are more than fine my dears! But I'm here if you want to study!"

Eclipse slams the door shut behind them, ignoring how they're still surrounded by those glowing tentacle-tendril things. At least whatever this is doesn't bring its avatar out again.

"So ugh, how likely it is that your family will get us soon?"

Given how it's shopping day today, how Moon fucked off to work on some invention and how Sun's doing the big cleaning right now-

"Almost zero"

Solar groans, flopping down uncaringly onto the floor, hiding his head against his knees.

Eclipse wholeheartedly agrees with his annoyance

[thesharktanksdriver]

(English learning anon)

Can't wait to see interactions between Nero and Honeypie and what thoughts other characters will have about it. I have a feeling that the first one who will see and hold grandchildren is Honeypie.

Dante teaches Honeypie how to play on guitar he has at Devil may cry so they could use Nevan later.

Honeypie not on purpose proving Vergil that humans are not so weak as he thinks by getting their own devil arm. V probably will ask where they got it

Also about that devil arm, will it be willing or unwilling? Like in first case scenario demon will give them respect because they, an ordinary human, defeated him/her, a powerful demon.

(This one is more like suggestion) Dante and Honeypie had got separated before latter faced that demon so they will defeat him/her themself without any help.

Honestly I can’t wait to write Nero and Honeypie as well! I think Nero would initially be shy and embarrassed about viewing Honeypie as a parental figure until they accidentally refer to him as their son and suddenly all his insecurities are gone. After that point he 100% lets them ruffle his hair or treat his wounds whilst complaining because he wants felt this level of care before beside Kyrie.

I’m debating if at some point Honeypie legitimately adopts him or if it’s just kinda something they both don’t need a pice of paper to acknowledge.

I’d say most characters think it’s really sweet, but Dante is kinda having his devil side loosing its mind because “kin! Mate is taking care of kin! Must give them the heads of enemy’s to show love-“. Trish finds him bashing his head against a wall half-devil triggering and arguing with himself. She just pats him on the back and leaves him to deal with that himself. Mostly because that gives her ample time to slide right beside Honeypie and attempt to woo them.

And absolutely 1000% if Nero has kids (besides the ones he and Kyrie took in after fortuna) Honeypie is the first to know about them and is the first relative to hold said kid. He doesn’t trust Dante to not do something stupid.

If Honeypie didn’t know to do guitar before they certainly learn from Dante. I’d say it isn’t even for the sole purpose of being able to use Nevan but moreso because Dante just really like spending time with them and indulging in hobbies together.

It makes him feel closer to Honeypie, not just physically as he sits behind them and guides their fingers but also emotionally as they both take the time to enjoy something that the other enjoys as well. I think he’d find something like this more intimate than just about anything he does with honey, mostly because theres something about just enjoying and sharing hobbies with someone that feels more touching than just physical contact (though he very much enjoys that as well)

Though onto Nevan (because I love her) once she meets Honeypie she’s very much enjoying this soap opera unfolding in front of her lol. I think she just instantly kinda likes Honeypie because of all the drama plus they’re just plain and simply a cute human. A cute human who has been accidentally blue balling several powerful demon hunters for years and a cute human who while using her in battle pause to make sure she’s ok.

Their a cute little thing and honestly she’s glad that of all humans it’s this one that has caught so many people’s attentions

Partially because it gives her unlimited sexual frustration she can feed on and because genuinely their a good person who has people who’d fight tooth and nail for them

…also maybe because they also let her watch shitty tv while not being actively used lol.

lol Honeypie really do be accidentally proving Vergil wrong by stumbling over themself. First it was warning him that the tower might not give him what he wants and now it’s being able to get devil arms by complete fucking accident not knowing that making an offering would gain some weird status goddess’s interest. By the time V is around and at their apartment he’s kinda just gobsmacked alongside shadow and griffon who’s watching Honeypie use their dmc1 devil arm plus whatever other devil arms they’d collected up to that point. Not to mention Agni and Rudra plus Nevan chilling on the couch watching TLC.

Once Vergil is back he’s probably trying to justify his feelings for them as “see! They aren’t just a regular human! Their powerful and have proven themself to be a suitable candidate. Their just not like the other weak humans-“ meanwhile Dante’s just “mmmmmm their hot when kicking ass and dragging me across the floor”

As for your question the devil arm that Honeypie receives is willing but there’s a complication with it when the transfer happens. It’s hard to explain without spoiling but let’s just say the devils soul died during the transfer but because the transfer had begun it still became a weapon even if it’s consciousness hadn’t carried on its will did.

As for your suggestion I’ll have to think on it. Dante being apart of that fight is important due to his devil arm (you’ll see eventually) and it causes a realization, but I could potentially have it so he throws them into the fighting area as he tries to get in to help Honeypie.

During that section I might write the pov of the demon to better give an explanation as to why the change of heart happened. That boils down to trust, mostly because Dante trusts Honeypie and treats them as a partner and not a pawn as Mundus does to all his servants.

I’m probably spoiling too much already lol so I’ll leave it there.

[tyrantisterror]

Wife Goals: Hexadecimal

Hey fuckers. It's February, my Seasonal Affective Disorder is at its peak, and romance is on my mind whether I like it or not. So I'm going to ramble/gush about some of my favorite female characters in fiction, in a painfully honest and deeply cringe way, because fuck you that's why. We live in a post-Muncher society, you can't fucking stop me.

We're beginning with Hexadecimal from the 90's early CGI cartoon Reboot. I feel like most of tumblr's userbase was too young to watch that show. A lot of you were probably born after it aired. God I'm old. I'm so old and alone. Fuck.

Anyway, the premise of Reboot was that there was an entire world within your computer, with every program and file being people who lived inside the big city that makes up the computer itself. The city everything takes place in is called Mainframe, the main character was a security program, most of the citizens were shaped like 1's and 0's (binary code, get it?), everyone talked about things taking nanoseconds because one of the other conceits is that the people inside the computer experience time differently than humans, etc.

The villains of Reboot, at least initially, were computer viruses. One, the primary antagonist, was Megabyte, an evil overlord who wanted to take control of Mainframe by force - sort of the picture of a Lawful Evil villain, in D&D terms. The other, his sister, was Hexadecimal, the self-professed Queen of Chaos, who is more of a wicked witch (get it? Hex-adecimal!) that existed to cause mischief and mayhem for the sake of it. The Chaotic Evil to Megabyte's Lawful Evil, if you will - though as the series went on, calling Hex "evil" became more and more inaccurate.

Reboot was one of the first fully CGI cartoons, and it used the limitations of that early technology as a jumping off point to get creative with its setting and character concepts. Hexadecimal is very much a case in point for that - rigging face animations, especially on a humanoid face, is complicated and time-consuming, which is why there were very few humanoid characters in the first season of Reboot (and hence most of the case being made of 1's and 0's). For Hex, they decided to get around this by giving her a gimmick: Hexadecimal doesn't have a true face of her own, but rather dozens upon dozens of masks that she switches between with a wave of her hand. The result is that 1. the animators didn't need to work on in-between frames for her change in facial expression, saving a good bit of time and money and 2. Hexadecimal's mood changes are really, REALLY weird and unsettling to witness, selling her as some sort of supernatural monstrosity. She is magical in a dark, spooky way, even when just expressing feelings, and the result is a visual that really sticks with you - one that never would have been done if not for the limitations of that early CGI.

Of course, one of the other reasons Hexadecimal might have stuck out is that she was, uh... well, sexualized qutie a bit. Look, I'm not going to mince terms, there were some horny bastards working at Mainframe Entertainment (the company that made Reboot). These are the same animators who reportedly based Blackarachnia's design in Beast Wars after a stripper they saw while going out after work one night. In the first season of this show Hexadecimal full-figured and prone to walking in a very sultry way. When the show got dropped by ABC and picked up by another network, they put her in a full-on dominatrix outfit. Hex was always intended to be sexy.

And, like, ten-year old me didn't fully understand that when watching this show. But I do think that it was at least part of why my pre-adolescent brain because very obsessed with Hexadecimal, moreso than any of the other Reboot characters. She was interesting, for a lot of reasons, some of which I understood (funny scary monster villain lady) and some that I didn't understand but, like, vibed with intensely in ways that were formative and probably life-ruining.

Thankfully Hexadecimal was also just a very well-written character, perhaps the best in all of Reboot. Her first episode establishes the base components of her characterization that the rest of the show would build upon. Hex unleashes a computer bug using code from a paint program, which turns everyone who encounters it to stone. She specifically unleashes it by hiding it in a package and pretending to guard it, which makes her brother/rival villain, Megabyte, think it's some important mcguffin that he should steal. He does, and ends up the first victim of the medusa bug, which then spreads through all his minions, and then through all the different ways he has to sneak into the heart of Mainframe city, eventually infecting almost every citizen.

Already we establish several things about Hex: first, her schemes aren't about conquering people, but causing mayhem and havoc for the sake of it. Second, despite her chaotic nature, she's smart enough to make proper evil schemes. Third, she's a good judge of character in her way, as she figured the easiest way to get Megabyte to take the bait was to pretend she had something valuable for him to steal. Fourth, despite also being "evil," she's not on good terms with her brother/rival villain, and in fact wants to take him out first before anyone else. Fifth, holy shit she is SO much more powerful than the main bad guy, it's her first episode and she already almost won!

Almost. Of course, Bob, our hero security program, goes to Hexadecimal to try and stop her, at which point we find out Hex has something of a manic crush on Bob (as she articulates later in the series, "Oh Bob, I don't know whether to kiss you OR KILL YOU!"), and is actually willing to hear him out when he comes in doing his hero routine. Luckily, Bob is clever too, and decides to beat Hex the same way she beat Megabyte - he tells her that she should be proud of how orderly she made Mainframe. After all, with everyone turned to stone, nothing will change - it'll all be the same forever, quiet, calm, peaceful, and boring. Hexadecimal, the self-professed Queen of Chaos, immediately realizes she's made a nightmare for herself, and undoes her evil scheme with a wave of her hand before letting Bob go out of gratitude for keeping her from making a horrible mistake.

Which is the most important thing we've learned about Hexadecimal in her debut: she values freedom. Oh, she calls it chaos, yes, but Hexadecimal's biggest belief is that people should have the freedom to make their own choices, no matter how violent and destructive they may be. She's an anarchist first and foremost, and she values freedom so much that she'd gladly admit she was wrong and undo a successful scheme if someone correctly points out that said scheme goes against her ideals.

Especially if that someone is the guy she likes.

Hexadecimal is a supremely powerful villain who can't really be overpowered, but can be reached and defeated emotionally. As the show goes on, dealing with Hex increasingly becomes focused on building a relationship with her, and for most of the runtime Bob is the only person who is both brave and compassionate enough to try and give it a shot. While he doesn't share Hexadecimal's romantic feelings, he nonetheless feels there is something good buried deep beneath her mania, and that she is worth reaching out to.

And we in turn see that is is 100% correct. For all her supervillain antics, her ranting and raving, her violent outbursts and maniacal schemes, Hexadecimal is at her core an intensely lonely person, someone who craves affection but drives off almost everyone who gets close because of her psychological instability. She deeply wants people to love - she dotes on her little cat-like follower, Scuzzy, and she's also kind to nulls, creatures made from broken programs in the computer world that most people regard as vermin. And there are so many times when Hexadecimal's latest scheme is something Bob just... talks her out of.

Given the nature of serialized storytelling, Hexadecimal's vast strength did not stay insurmountable, and there were several times where she was humbled to show how great the new threat in the story was. Perhaps the most important was when Megabyte finally managed to get one over on her, literally shackling her with a control collar like she was a rabid dog and forcing her to be a living power source for his weaponry. Eventually Hex broke free (as she says, "Chaos will always triumph over order! It is the way of things!"), but at the cost of breaking herself further, which is visually represented by a crack forming on her mask. Bob, who'd been away for some time at this point (watch the show to know why), finds her and helps her fix her map - and this act of kindness, of care, of healing allows Hex to express emotions without swapping her mask for the first time, and, in the process, express herself with more self control. The children's cartoon show equivalent of finally getting this poor woman the meds she needs.

Unfortunately, most of the other characters weren't willing to forgive Hex for her past actions, and she spent the final season regarded with suspicion and coldness by all the other people of Mainframe even as she tried to turn over a new leaf. And while Bob cared about her, he didn't love her, a fact she had trouble accepting. The tragedy of this came to a head when the main threat of the fourth season, a new virus named Daemon whose plot was even more apocalyptic than anything Hex came up with in her villainous prime, unleashed a doomsday infection that could only be stopped by another virus - and even then, that virus would be sacrificing their life to pull it off. Hexadecimal willingly chooses to do it, happily even, with a smile on her face - because while she was going to die, the people she cared about would live, and perhaps think a little better of viruses like her as a result.

I think that is what made Hexadecimal stick with me more than anything - more than the cool mask, the awesome villain antics, or the 90's cartoon age-inappropriate sexy character design. Hexadecimal, more than anything else, is defined by her love for others and her desire for them to be free to live their lives as they choose. That means they can choose not to love her, not to forgive her, not to include her. They're free, that's their choice, just as it's her choice whether or not to love them in spite of it, and her choice to die for their freedom and happiness. She loved so, so deeply, and the thing that sticks with me, the thing that broke my heart as a kid and breaks it now, is that no one ever loved her back.

Yeah, she was creepy and maniacal and almost killed a bunch of people a lot of times, but she was also so full of love, and all she really needed was for it to be reciprocated! She needed people who were willing to care for her, even just a little bit - and she deserved people who cared a lot more than that, because if she was willing to do so much good for so little, imagine what good she could have done if someone loved her as much as she loved them.

Anyway, while I had many precocious crushes before Hexadecimal, I'm pretty sure she's the reason why my "type" seems to be "women who are made entirely out of Red Flags." And maybe that's ok.

...

no it's not ok why am I like this

[tunastime]

Hey if your still doing the comfort fic thing can you do collection of hoodies with Ranchers? (You don't have to)

HI!! Took me a little to get to this one! Kind of based on the prompt rather than directly verbatim, but I hope you enjoy!

the collection of stolen hoodies (758 words) (x)

The slightly sticky, summer breeze blows warm across the rolling hills of the server. Despite the humidity, the wind offers a much needed reprieve from the still, stagnant air of the mines, and, shaking the water out of his hair still, is managing to dry Tango off as well. He easily rinsed a majority of the soot and grime from his hair and along his exposed arms, scrubbed black soot from his cheeks. Now, stripped down to his cargo pants and socks, Tango lies in the grass, his and Jimmy’s laundry out to dry. He’s spent a large portion of the afternoon clipping it carefully to the hastily constructed clothesline. It waved in the breeze, casting a shadow across his vision every now and again.

Despite this, Tango lies comfortably in the midday light, eyes shut. At some point he turns to dry his back, feeling the heat along his spine and the base of his tail. The grass is soft here, clover and fescue and dotted wildflowers over the hill, stretching further than what Tango can see with part of his face crushed into the soft earth. He lets his eyes shut for a moment, letting the wind and sun dry him off the best it can.

After a moment, Tango stretches, feeling his muscles pull as he twists his neck and pillows his arms under his head. If he’s going to get anything done today besides napping in the sun, much to his rancher’s chagrin, he should probably collect their laundry and give it a good shake before bringing it inside.

Peeling himself from the grass, Tango stands slowly. He stretches his arms above his head, twists back and forth to relieve some of the tension in his back. Scratching dully at his hair, strands still wet between his fingers, he wanders over to the clothesline, still padding barefoot through the soft grass and stepping stones. Most of the clothes are thoroughly dry as Tango begins to tug them from the line, but, notably, his sweater is damp at the fringes and the sleeves where chunks of shade block it from the midday sun. The humidity’s certainly to blame too, making the air ever so slightly damp as it blows through.

Tango frowns. On the line is Jimmy’s overshirt. It’s dry at every edge, and aside from being stiff from its line dry, it’s in perfectly good condition, and much too large for Tango to worry about stretching it out. Tango runs a thumb over the seam at the bottom, worrying the hem between his fingers. A good shake would get the stiffness out. Surely Jimmy wouldn’t mind if it went missing for a part of the afternoon at the behest of Tango’s decency, right? 

Plucking it carefully from the line, Tango tugs the shirt around him. It keeps some of the wind off his back and the sun even moreso, despite the fact that he’s more littered with freckles than he’d ever though he would be in his life. It also smells, still, a little like wheat and grass and smoke, and Tango sighs against the shoulder he’s brought up to sniff and closes his eyes. 

He’s addled for a moment with the idea of Jimmy trying to fit into his sweater in retaliation, and blinks his eyes open. The image of him trying to weasel his big arms in and stretching the fabric out. Tango was by no means tiny, but Jimmy was. Broad. For lack of a better term. Fitting into Tango’s clothes would be a feat deserving of an award. Tango snorts, rolling his shoulders. Maybe one day he could make them a sweater that fit both of them. Which really meant it would fit Jimmy first and Tango by extension—but regardless. It could be theirs. He could make a whole collection of them. Then they could really be set, and Tango could live out his life stealing clothes from Jimmy whenever he wanted to. Yeah. That sounded like a good plan.

A cheesy one, but one he was letting himself have, because, hey, he was feeling sentimental, and Jimmy had finally come to visit, and he was allowed to be happy to see him again, just as he did anyone else. Sighing to himself, Tango folds the rest of the clothes over one arm. Satisfied with the state of their dryness, he takes them, and himself, inside. He should at least give them a good shake and a nice fold before he started thinking about making any new clothes.