#Anyway I hope all of you are well and not being impacted too badly by any of these disasters happening out there

[dewitty1]

Saturday Six (Stuff - but on a late Sunday afternoon, oopsie)

This week has been terrible for our air quality. The smoke is so heavy from all the fires. It's awful that most of Canada is on fire, and there's still a fire 36 miles north of us. ・゜・(ノД`)

The market on Thursday was hot, windy, and smoky. But, I got to hold two kittens.✩⃛( ͒ ु•·̫• ू ͒)

There was an older kitten running around the Saturday market, but otherwise it was fairly uneventful too.(=^･^=)

Mom has given me permission to get a kitten if I want (not that I need it), even though the Dude @super-ultra-mega-kami-guru-blog says "No!" every time I bring it up.V(=^･ω･^=)v

Work is going well. One smaller project and a larger one in the works. ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)ᵒᵏᵎᵎᵎᵎ

Boots and Reggie are doing well! (=^-ω-^=)

[rhinestonz]

☆ YOU CRYIN’ ? ☆

Your hands played with the hem of your panties. You felt so guilty , so dirty , but maybe that was the appeal. Your phone unhealthily close to your ear as you had a sound you’d clipped, from a video sent in the group chat,… ON LOOP. A simple video . An innocent one. One in which your friend Satoru asked Utahime a simple and innocent question. 

Satoru Gojo x reader. Masturbation. Voice kink. Doggy style. Teasing , dirty talk.

“You cryin’?”

Fuck it went straight to your cunt. You swear the line was in your stomach. It made your cheeks feel hot. You wanted that sultry grain voice right next to your ear. You were kinda ashamed. Thighs squeezing together every time the sound looped. Biting your lip , practically squealing every time you heard it. Fuck how could words .. no, how could a voice do this to you? You knew voices had an impact on you for a very long time , but something about this clip set you off. 

You could still hear it. Even though your moans filled your room. Soft squeals of pleasure and groans of guilt. Your head writhing against your pillow with every circle you gave your hardened bud. You had cum twice already , simply from a voice. Your phone battery low. You looked over panicking , not wanting his voice to leave you. Staring intently at your battery as your finger moved inhumanely , chasing your orgasm. A race for time… and you lost. 

You almost cried. So close you flailed your arms in frustration. Hands grabbing your hair. Pulling a pillow over your face in hopes to scream into it. Your arousal now gone.. untill a sound hit your ears and cunt all together. 

“Aww~ you’re so desperate it’s pathetic…“ 

Faux sympathy never fails to have you dripping. Your face burned hot. Satoru leaned right against your doorframe. You could barely speak. “ Got no words for yourself baby ? “ Satoru asked, he took them right out of your mouth. “ well “ he started , walking closer to your bed , leaning over your frame, “ it seems you’d rather me talk anyway!” He grinned.

“S-Satoru~” you croaked out. Your stomach unbearable full. Too full. He was so fucking big. But by far the best part his constant talking. His teasing. His wording. In other words , his absolute abuse of your kink. “ Aww cmon baby , I wanna hear you too~” he coed, fist filled with your hair. Rips rutting against your ass dangerously fast. Your body being fucked further and further into your bed as your hands gripped the sheets for dear life. Your knuckles, turning white. Your eyes rolling with every kiss his tip placed to your cervix.  “ You're not the only one who likes voices , lemme hear ya scream baby~” he insisted , sly and teasing as usual. His sadistic eyes looking down on you ass he turned you over. 

Your back arched painfully , as Satoru pulled you flush against him. Your face towards the ceiling. This man was sadistic. Your back right against his chest, he brought his face to your ear. “ I can talk to you all day baby~” he started , his thrust so deep and forceful. Offering something you wanted so badly. “You like me being right in your ear ? I can feel your pretty pussy clench around me whenever I talk..” you could feel his smile as he teased. He nibbled at your lobe softly as he watched you shake. It was too much , too deep. Maybe even his voice fucking you better than his cock. His words echoing through your core , your body jolting with every hit of your gummy walls. Your eyes rolled and tears welled. Your orgasm hits like a truck , dripping from your cunt just like the tears from your eyes as the result of 3 words…

“ You cryin’ baby?” 

[hacash]

I know you’re a huge Nate supporter and love to talk about all the microagressions against him, and one I noticed when rewatching is that in 2x3, when ted tells Jamie he’s starting on the reserve, he’s immediately playful with Will (“Mr. Kitman! Hit me!”) and it got me thinking how badly Nate must have felt seeing the ringleader of his bullies come back and immediately be nice to his replacement. Sort of like, “oh so you were capable of being a decent human being to the kitman this whole time but you just chose not to”

I think there’s such nuance in the way the the team getting nicer grates on Nate, who put up with their bullshit for years, especially since no one ever offers him a real apology. I think he’s definitely crossed lines, but when you look at it from his perspective, it’s easy to see how he got there. Anyway I just appreciate your nuanced takes on Nate and I can’t wait to see nick mohammed pull off another stellar performance in season 3!

Absolutely!

To be fair, I think Nate's aggression from Will stems a lot from power going to his head and being a perfectionist in his work; I'm a big fan of Nate but my God, the man is flawed. However I also think Will is a walking, talking reminder of how the team used to treat Nate, simply by dint of how they don't treat Will. He comes to Richmond and immediately gets handfuls of cash from them at Christmas, he's included in their little bonding rituals, he's part of the gang...whereas we all know the treatment Nate got whenever he tried to help the team.

(And that only finished after a particularly brutal show of strength from Roy. Which, uh, certainly gives Nate an interesting impression of what tactics do and don't work with the footballers.)

So yeah, from Nate's incredibly damaged perspective, having poor Will around must be unbelievably frustrating. He's pissed, and though he handles it badly, it's obvious why he's pissed. It's the moment when Eleanor in The Good Place, seeing her emotionally abusive mum parenting a new daughter, tearfully says that if her mum was capable of parenting the little girl then she was capable of parenting Eleanor but just chose not too. It's the moment in How I Met Your Mother when Barney screams at his absent dad 'well, if you were going to be some lame suburban dad, why couldn't you be one for me?!' - because clearly the team were capable, they were willing to be nice, they just didn't want to be nice to Nate, it must be about him, how they see him, he needs to change to earn their respect, he needs to perform those shows of strength....

...Of course, an outside perspective would tell you that the team's change of attitude from Nate to Will has absolutely nothing to do with Nate, and everything to do with how Ted's philosophy has impacted the team. (If Will had joined Richmond at the beginning of S1 I've no doubt that pre-reformation Isaac, Colin and Jamie would have eaten the poor boy alive, and the rest of the team would have been egging them on or wouldn't have dared stop it.) But Nate's not in the right place to see that. And considering all the history between him and the team, I don't think he should have to just 'man up' and accept that; he deserves that acknowledgement and those apologies. Which I am very much hoping we get this season.

[campbyler]

BHDSDNSJDBKSJDK S OMFG OMFG I GIGGLED LIKE A MANIAC LIKE THE WHOLE TIME I WAS READING HOLY SHIT AHHHHHHHHHH THEY ARE SUCH STUPID IN LOVE IDIOTS "yes youre obsessed with me" HOLY SHIT THE SASS OH MY GODDDDDD I WAS LIKE WHAT IS HAPPENING IS MIKE TAKING HIM ON A DATE HOLY SHIT AND THEN HE WAS BUT I DONT THINK WILL KNOWS IT WAS A DATE SBDSKNKJS THE COOL COOL MOMENT SDBSHD JS BSFHBSJDBS WILL LIKES HOW MIKE DRIVES OMFGG THEY LIKE HOLDING EACH OTHERS HANDS IM LITERALLY GONNA START SQUEALING okay mike is so real for his oshawatt pin on his fanny pack also ngl i kinda forgor that will works at starbucks but also like of course he does i feel like thats just a fact that everyone should know OMFGGG THEY ARE BOTH THE MOST CLINGY BITCHES EVER NHJSBUBHJWSBJ "engaging in behavior usually reserved for amusement park queues" HELP WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS TRYING NOT TO LAUGH OUT LOUD SO BADLY THAT I GOT LIGHTHEADED AND ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY BED I AM NOT FUCKING KIDDING I WAS OUT OF BREATH AND WHEEZING FOR LIKE FIVE MINUTES AND HAD TO TAKE A BREAK FROM READING NHJBSHBDKS THEY ARE SO FUCKING CLINGY OH MY GOD the vulnerablility 🥺🥺 they are being do soft with each other 🥺🥺 mike is finally opening up 🥺🥺🥺🥺 i love his car shopping list and his reasons 🥺🥺🥺🥺 also jesus FUCKING christ ted is fucking crazy that makes me so angry that he would do that and that it made such a lasting impact on mike that all those years later he would be worried about that happening to him its not okay OMFG OF COURSE HIS PASSWORD IS KERMIT HE IS SO SILLY NSDSHBDSB BESBDNSNDDNKJSNDB HES GONNA TEACH WILL HOW TO DRIVE HIS CAR OMFG OMFG OMFG THAT IS PROBABLY SO INTIMATE FOR HIM TOO BECAUSE THE CAR IS SUPPOSED TO BE HIS BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE HIS CAR AND NOW HES TEACHING WILL HOW TO DRIVE HIS CAR JUST SBHSBDKSNDIJNSFS

you fr knocked this one out of the fucking park thea like full on grand slam, everyone made it to home and the ball went so far we couldnt even see where it landed i am very thankful that you guys take the time to write these chapters so well anyway happy holidays 🫶 (and merry july in christmas lmao)

AHHHH OMGGGGG SUCH A LENGTHY REACTION I HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED!! LET ME TRY TO RESPOND PROPERLY (picture me cracking my knuckles without cracking them ty)

i am loving this play by play of everything!! i do need u to know that this has been Exactly what my brain has been doing on overdrive since likeeeee. february or march when we first drafted the concept for ch9 😭😭😭 i loveeeeed including the detail of mike's fanny pack and it's def most of the reason why i really want to draw their outfits!! i think will's starbucks job has either only been mentioned once or has only been mentioned on this blog, but it's a very important part of the universe #2 #me 💚 ALSO HELLLOOO I HOPE YOU ARE ALIVE AND OK AFTER ALMOST FALLING OUT OF YOUR BED???

i will sayyyy the ted story was definitely a bit of projection teehee (thanks #mom) but i did think it fit superrr well and was a really strong reason for why owning the car would be so important to him! i was so excited to be able to have him open up this chapter as well :')

i did have to debate between using snoopy and kermit for mike's passcode but kermit won out!! also YESSSS U ARE HITTING THE NAIL ON THE HEAAADDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!

ty so so so MUCHHH for your kind words and huge reaction, i'm so glad you enjoyed!! happy holidays and merry christmas in july!!!

[chaoxfix]

hm. upon replaying frontiers. the cutscenes and character talks ... are. not as good as i remember. so im doing a belated frontiers review, focusing more on characterization than gameplay -- because i have very few complaints with the gameplay, except for chaos island. because fuck that volcano in particular smh

anyways -- for all my criticisms here, i still like the game, and i see the characterization as lightyears beyond forces, and its definitely doing damage control for about a decade of bad characterization... but... all i can still say for certain is that its a step in the right direction but definitely not without some flaws i really want to write out to get out of my head. because some of the conversations are kind of. hm.

anyways. im gonna go a little more in depth with whats rubbing me the wrong way about a few characters under the cut, ALONG WITH SOME POSITIVES, but if you don't want to see anything negative about frontiers, please don't read! i don't want to damage anyone's perceptions of the game if you love it. and i do stand by the gameplay being really genuinely fun, its really just the characterization that has a few things that are bugging me -- which is surprising because i really liked it the first go around. anyway, here we go.

okay so here's whats bugging me about the following characters: mainly amy and tails, and following them, in order of most to least 'off' to me -- sage, eggman, sonic, and knuckles. that being said, even the negative points COULD spin to a positive, and i'll end with the positives after i explain what's bugging me and why.

amy, the negatives:

she just seems incredibly melancholy. yes, the atmosphere of the game is overall mysterious and melancholy, but amy seems more affected than anyone else. it also feels like no one was quite sure what to do with her character in this game, and she has a moodness that she's never had in other games (other than crying over sonics literal dead body in 06).

the interaction with her and sonic and reuiniting the koco with its long lost love ... "would you really not help a person in need?" and i think sonics response was really good -- a gentle "no, but we need to prioritize XYZ first" -- ... yet we're meant to sympathize with amy? why? to me, the emotional impact of this scene with the kocos just did not land. it has the bones to be really impactful, but there are just some elements of the conversation between them that feel really, really off-putting. amy seems very pushy and defensive, and i don't feel inclined at any point to root for her, which is a shame, since sonic clearly seems to.

continuing with the kocos scenes -- amy asking the kocos to be careful when they finally reunite -- it feels really ooc and quite melodramatic. it makes me think they're trying to go with overprotective mother character for amy now, which i just really dislike, and doesn't quite feel like her. i hope they can make her more of the elements of her characterization that best suit her -- headstrong and protective, and inclined to do things herself, in her own way, even if she's taking too much control of a situation.

on that note -- agency. i get that she doesn't have agency in this game (none of the digitized friends have much) -- but unlike knuckles and tails, amy doesn't seem to try and do much herself. she asks sonic to do tasks for her, but it just seems that compared to the others, she's not putting in much work or taking much interest in her surroundings. knuckles tries to fight sage, and tails helps with a few tech things -- what does amy do? why was she written into this position -- no agency, and picking fights with sonic and attacking his character when he doesn't follow what she wants? i don't like this for her. i want her to be written well so badly but at every turn in the games, there's nothing to show what a well-written and compelling amy would even look like.

lastly, the scene where she says, "and i want to share that love with the world, no matter how far apart it takes us" -- i viewed every single side story and overanalyzed every detail i could find. this part still doesn't really track for me. what exactly does she mean by this? what type of love is she sharing and how? frontiers seemed like it was trying to set up side stories for all sonics friends, but... if amy goes on a solo adventure, what will it actually be about? how will it make her grow as a person? what will her character arc be? based on what she said here, i have no goddamn clue! right now, i feel like not enough seeds have been planted for her, unlike with some of the other characters. hers is the least clear set-up for a solo story beyond this, and i find that very disappointing. i hope she still gets one, but an amy-centric game will already have a difficult time selling given the niche market sonic fills in the gaming world -- she doesn't need even more sabotage to a potential solo-game by a poor setup.

overall, it just confirms that the amy i want to see most in a game, is an amy who simply has never existed. in sega canon, the only thing that's ever been consistent is that she has a crush. meanwhile, the fanbase might be pretty divided, but from what i can tell, fans; most consistent characterization desires for her are that we want her to be: extremely compassionate, maybe nature-focused, an incredible friend. protective and hot-headed, always taking charge even if she should probably think things through first. a girl with some growing-up to do, but she's always someone who takes responsibility for her friends' safety and will do whatever it takes to bail them out. she loves the world and everyone in it, and wants everyone to have a chance to find happiness and love. she's a huge romantic -- and yes, she has a crush, but it shouldn't be the most central thing to her identity. yet... i cannot point to a single game that's given us that, without an extreme level of gunk to wade through in-between decent traits. i want to love amy so badly -- but at some point, she has got to actually be written well again, or she'll be beyond saving.

tails, the negatives: (many of these are more minor, things that just really nag at me, and aren't as grounded and consistent as amy's)

this one kind of hurts me to even mention, because im really not sure how much was the script and how much was just voice actors not putting emphasis on the right words. but it kills me. in the like, very first scene with tails, sonic's getting cyber corrupted, and they have a back and forth that's EXCELLENT on paper, but the VA delivery really puts me off. to summarize the conversation, "[fancy version of] im digitized and the cybercorruption is super bad for you" "uh, in english?" "im fine, you're not, and i'm worried." "ill be fine! and i need this power to rescue you!" "you're always rescuing me, and... lets focus on the now. what do you need?" -- and ON PAPER, seeing it written, it's mostly fine, though could use a few more filler words in some areas to make it sound a bit more human. but tails's VA puts such weird inflection on the 'you're always rescuing me, and' part of it. it just doesn't make much sense as-is. for the effect it seems to be going for on paper, the last bit of the conversation should have been altered to be a heavy-sounding: "heh- i'll be fine! and I need this power to rescue you, anyways. don't worry about me, i can handle this." "yeah, but... you're always rescuing me. i just wish... for once i could... - nevermind. let's focus on the now. what do you need?" -- it doesn't change the substance of the conversation, but the tone would have been so much more compatible with the rest of tails's lines. i really wish they would've had more time to tweak the script and voice acting, because so much of this game could've been stellar, but it just barely misses the mark for me.

creepy energy when sonic shows up looking visibly exhausted and injured and tails not only doesn't acknowledge it. but puts on a huge smile and grins and waves at him as he leaves? what the fuck was that about? putting on a brave face would be a great move but fr what is he trying to do here? sonics not even looking back at him, why is he grinning and waving when his brother's badly hurt?

overall i think i just had a few nitpicks with voice acting but i have way fewer problems with tails than amy <3

sage, the negative:

i. honestly do not like her character. her death was sad but for most of her screen time, she was just so needlessly frustrating to interact with, and ive never been a fan of "the conflict only exists due to someone purposefully withholding information." shes aggravating.

i did not like her song. it was mad funny which was not the point.

it implies eggman could be a good father figure. bite bite kill kill etc.

she worsened every single cutscene where she was watching from a distance. get out of here sage... im trying to watch sonic talk to his friends :(

dialogue just sounds stiff

if she JUST TOLD SONIC WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE FIRST PLACE.........

eggman, the negative:

father figure eggman??? in this good christian minecraft server?

sonic:

overall, i quite like him here! i think my main complaint is that there was clearly so much more planned that just was not implemented very well, so its sonic's story arc that suffers most

the amnesia storyline is literally SO juicy that i feel robbed that almost all of the dialogue is nearly impossible to trigger, and almost nothing comes of it in the main cutscenes.

i feel robbed that his cyber corruption was resolved with zero effort. i would have KILLED for a cyber corruption fight, or some cyberspace levels that were super fucked up and needed some outside thinking to beat and escape back into reality.

notice how all of these are mainly wanting MORE though -- his actual lines, characterization, line-delivery, etc -- i don't have a problem with any of what we got. my issue is i just wish we'd gotten to see the finished product that we all know the game devs were hoping to finish before they got crunched. :( amnesia sonic i'll love you til the day i die

knuckles:

hes a little stiff at times but i have literally no complaints hes great. knuckles sweep etc

no but for real i do have a few issues with how congested and stiff he sounds. there are also some really weird pauses in the middle of conversation? it was most noticeable with knuckles, but i did notice it with all the others. i think they probably should have edited the sound a bit better to make it flow more, like a conversation and not like VAs just reading lines one at a time in a booth

something about the way he interacts with the koco rubs me the wrong way but i can't put my finger on it.

i still don't love the idea of commander knuckles.

NOW FOR THE PART WHERE I TALK ABOUT THE POSITIVES.

Because believe it or not, most of the negatives can be re-framed, AND/OR, are intentionally left somewhat lacking to set up for a transitional period so that the best characterization doesn't come premature. as in, if the characterization was perfect, it'd be like "haha, let's just pretend the last decade and a half didn't even happen. forces who?" instead, this takes the bold choice to acknowledge it and say, "yep! that happened. it sucked. we're doing better, but like real people, you have to go through the period of 'sucking less' before you get to the holy grail of self actualization.

so here's some of what i think are the positives, and/or the hidden meanings with some of these characters. but first i do want to go with a quick theme because its something i certainly believe while watching/playing.

the koco theory:

the kocos that each of the friends latch onto are ones that specifically project their issues from forces. it's most obvious with tails, but knuckles and amy have the same thing going for them.

with tails, the koco was a hero's assistant/pilot/whatever who fell short when the hero wasn't around. not much to say about it -- the game makes it super clear. tails even directly addresses 'just like when i fell apart around infinite' (paraphrasing). but just because his is the most obvious doesn't mean the others aren't doing it, too.

with knuckles, the koco were in a war against impossible odds... and knuckles was forced into a sudden commander position and didn't end up physically fighting much -- just like in forces. in forces, we hope he was fighting behind the scenes, but from what we the player saw, he was just in a supervisory position. sonic makes a dig at him for this in frontiers -- and i think it was meant to be a playful jab in-universe, but knuckles clearly takes it a bit more seriously. it bothers him to be in a supervisory position, and he's clearly a leader who researches military tactics, because he would've studied echidna war maneuvers, etc. i think this was partly meant to forgive forces / explain the role he was put into, but also to apologize to him as a character. he likes fighting even more than leading; putting him in a position where he's too immaterial to fight is torture for him, and he's grateful that sonic can help when knuckles himself is unable.

and amy... the koco she sees are lovers who are separated in a war zone; one is clearly a high ranking soldier, and the other, their lover. they come back together and confess their love just in time for both koco to die. this isn't a perfect 1:1 metaphor, but bear in mind that everyone thought sonic was dead. for six months. to them, he died in battle, with zero warning. of course amy would want a reunion between lovers before it's too late and someone dies. i think she has some serious survivor's guilt and regret going on. i still feel less overall emotional impact from amy's, because i'm just not a fan of love stories in general and i don't love how pushy she is with her scenes. but i think even sonic can tell that there's something going on with the way she's reacting to the kocos.

with that in mind, i'll add in a few other notes for each character. because the kocos being trauma-projection maps doesn't perfectly fix everything, but it does offer some explanations for some of the gaps in the stories.

amy, the positives:

despite still not being an amy characterization that i truly and unabashedly like..., this is still leagues better than any characterization i've seen for her in. ages. maybe ever. there are no moments where i think she's a bad person or aggravating -- instead, she seems very melancholy and thoughtful. i wished i could like her more, but we do see that sonic cares about her feelings deeply, and that's a step in the right direction.

notes about amy being knowledgeable about nature -- this is a trait that amy hasn't always had, but between this and prime, im liking this direction for her as a nature protector.

amy having a knowledge of the arcane! it's back and i couldn't be more pleased! i just think it's a very fun characterization trait for her and i quite like it

for the more mellow conversations, she seems like quite a sweet and friendly person. neat!

tails, the positives:

oh my god every single scene with sonic

no listen. listen. we've been waiting years for this to happen. tails getting some more room to breathe and grow up a bit? legendary!

i actually thought he grew up a bit too fast; the fact that they gave him the 'im mature and independent now!' arc in the VERY FIRST 3D SONIC GAME is kind of why the rest of the games have slowly watered him down and chipped away at his characterization. they played that card too soon, and too far. now we get to have that arc again and a bit slower; we're setting up in this game to see the real thing in a future adventure, and i'm very pleased by that.

little bro / buddy -> partner growth? holy shit... i adore this sm

the way tails reaches for sonic to physically try and hold him up -- twice in this game. my heart.

his vocabulary feels about right. it's not so over the top that it's aggravating.

he and sonic play off each other quite well, and understand each other fine -- aside from one joke about "those sure are words you said just now" (when sonics actively weakened by the corruption), sonic is insightful and his IQ isn't watered down just because tails is using higher vocabulary. this is clearly a duo that talks to each other frequently and understands each other quite well.

tails and sage's discussion is the only time i liked sage. i liked the way they communicated; i liked tails's ability to get to her by saying, 'my trust in sonic is also backed up by a lifetime of data' which was also super sweet <3

tails clearly cares about sonic and worries about him in return; he got an opportunity to see sonic when he was clearly not at his best. but he ALSO has a hero's mindset for most of this island of not trying to be a burden. granted, he does still need multiple pep talks, but his focus is to be useful and efficient as much as possible. you can also see that sonic has rubbed off on him in that way; you don't have to wonder where tails learned to push through negative feelings -- but he's still young enough, and sonic's a good enough friend, to help him open up. (unlike sonic who remains rather stoic through the end -- but thats just how i like him)

sage, the positives:

im putting a bulletin here so you don't think i forgot her. yeah.

eggman:

the fact that all the Deep Lore are from eggman and in the big fishing minigame. holy shit. i was SO PLEASED to find that out. this was such a fun way to give lil sprinklings of lore

and the content of the eggman voice logs were all great! he was in character and very fun to listen to

sonic:

my sweet summer child this is the best youve been written in so long. i am kissing you on your forehead you sweet blue creature.

optimistic and driven. focused on helping his friends. not stupid -- but he will follow the only lead he has, because what choice does he have? even then, he's not antagonistic towards sage, because he wants to have the bigger picture. he clearly doesn't completely trust the weird sky voice, otherwise why would he keep seeking out sage's information? he knows not to put all his eggs in one basket, it's just a pity that sage refuses to share information

RESILIENT LITTLE PUNK. i love him so much. he gets put through SO MUCH this game, and i really liked seeing it because it just drives home that he's an actual hero. this is doing damage control from forces, where he was allegedly tortured (yeesh) and was suuuuper chill about it, to the point that he has no reaction whatsoever when being freed. in this game, he's thrown through walls, shot missiles at, chased by giant buzz saws, keeps having to start titan fights without the last emerald -- and he presses on. we get to SEE him struggle. it's not heroism without struggle, and by seeing that it can be actually-difficult, his story is more impactful, and he's more interesting as a character.

his dynamic with each of his friends is unique, but he remains consistently characterized. it's fantastic. he's confident and devil-may-care while being a good friend and genuinely caring about each -- but with amy, there's a sweeter and more earnest undertone, with knuckles there's a clear rivalry and 'holding each other accountable and picking up the slack where the other fails' dynamic. they care but they're also both extremely stubborn about it so their affection is shown through tough love, and it's great. and sonic and tails's interactions are all gold. siblings, yes -- but sonic being tails's primary caretaker, there's a lot of responsibility there, even if it's largely masked by friendly banter. they care about each other, but it's clear who the older brother who's giving the pep talks is.

love that he continues to follow his views of right and wrong, without it being too in your face. it's not that he's stupid about sage -- but he knows she knows something he doesn't, so he won't antagonize her as long as he thinks she might crack and change sides -- he's seen it happen often enough, y'know? he's not the most patient guy for some stuff, but he's persistent when he needs to be

loved the voice acting in general. very fun sounds when running, especially the chuckles when you kinda miss a jump. he just sounds like he's having a blast on this adventure

loved all the mentions of the landscape etc as he's running. gives personality to both him and the area around the player.

no clue what sonic's doing after this game -- if all his friends are on solo missions, i hope he gets another one too. i know everyone wants him to house-sit for everyone else but i still love sonic going on adventures. i think he could have a fun solo adventure too :( storybook part 3 when? take sonic through a counseling book and make him fight all his demons from forced lol. by that i mean make him kick infinite's ass. kidding. mostly.

knuckles:

loved all his feelings about the architecture

he's definitely going through something and i love it

his friendship with sonic really shines here. yeah they're rivals but clearly they have a deep respect for each other. they also call each other out on shit which i think is important for both of them.

i liked his 'i think i'll have my own adventure after this' spiel best out of the 3 of them. yes even more than tails's. very well set-up. him and sonic sitting on the ledge just chatting felt like the most natural friendship in the world, and i get why knuckles is jealous.

that scene where the ruins are about to be destroyed. it got the perfect balance of 'deeply upset and worried' and 'can't express strong feelings well' ... beautiful

i loved so much of it but i actually don't have a lot to say specifically about him -- ares island was very atmospheric and i just liked him and his interactions with the landscape and sonic and the ruins.

overall?

more positives than negatives, truly. yeah, the characterization does still feel off in a few ways, and i don't like sage, and the cutscenes still aren't quite as good as i remember on my first run through. i think i wish they'd zoomed in a bit more, or made the digitized faces clearer, to show more feeling. i think i did also wish for deeper conversations than we got... especially with amy. but aside from some stiff conversations in some of the ruins-chatting, and some VA nitpicking where i wish they'd tweaked the lines or had lines closer together (there are some really awkward pauses in a conversation thats meant to be flowing) ... or done a few more takes of some things ... overall, i still don't dislike the characterization. it has room for improvement for a lot of these characters... but, there's officially positive trajectory now. i hope that these characters will continue on their upwards journey!

and bear in mind that i believe almost all of these could have / would have been fixed with a bit more time -- but that's sega's fault for rushing their franchise-saving game. the gameplay is a lot of fun, sega -- but everything else could've been even better if you just gave your game developers TIME. fuck's sake.

[edge-oftheworld]

no but i can't get over how actually well done the last few days were. announce a surprise and not 48 hours later we find out that 1) tour movie, the same thing taylor swift did a few months ago and now everyone wants plus we know it's a show they worked super hard on, 2) it's free, excellent for anyone who couldn't afford to go etc (we've all been there) and out literally right now on a (mostly) free platform (the very same one that they got started on but anyway) and perhaps most notably, 3) it's free with the hopes that you might instead of paying for it donate to gaza, and the links are right there.

like they could've charged us $20 each for the show and sent all their profits there themselves (with the hope that we believe they're being honest that it's 100%, for them of course we would but i know others have lied about similar). but instead they gave us autonomy over our donation just like. encouraged it. like cmon who wouldn't listen when ashton tells us to donate to something if we can? (also did anyone else say so, i'm not the best at keeping up with social media so lmk if there's more of them to give credit to here). anyway we gotta talk about it more. how perfectly this was done: we get a gift!! be it for christmas if you celebrate or just in general, that we expected we'd have to pay for. now we get asked, hey, if you have any money could you send it to these people who Really Need It So Badly if you can? I know not all of you do so we won't stop you from watching the movie if you don't but

also this is a really clever way to show their support for gaza. like they are (deliberately i think) trying not to be leaders in an area that they aren't experts in, and there has been a lot of misinformation around, a lot of misunderstanding, like yes they did stand up for ukraine last year but the media was a lot more black and white for that one (or should i say blue and yellow) but when it comes down to it they're not stupid and they're not fooled by whatever the country they currently live in is pushing and they've actually taken their time to not say shit to save face prematurely but actually do something that's, even if not big or dramatic, gonna be impactful? they've not put themselves out there campaigning for a ceasefire, yes, but they've posted links that are. they've not guilted us into donating but please tell me you're not at least feeling some obligation to. it's simple, it's actionable, it's right there in the caption and takes like 20 seconds. and if any of us in the fandom (global family or whatever they're building) are leading in the ceasefire decolonisation space we have our little encouragement to see that yes, these musicians we love aren't gonna sit there and do nothing. it's not monumental, but it's something.

and tbh i wouldn't be surprised if this was all planned like a week ago in a zoom call between australia and the usa when ryan texted to say that the film was done. like it was in their random spontanous lightheated style. i also think we can learn something from the fact that it's okay to not jump on everything the minute it comes out but actually every lasting impact is a long-haul effort that you've gotta sustain yourself for by doing what you love as well. and also sometimes the right opportunity to do something about what we care about comes and you just take it, don't think too hard, don't wait either if you don't need to, if there is a cause that needs your effort whenever you get an opportunity to give it will always be the right time. hopefully they've set a precedent for something--i have no idea if any artist has done similar but i'm really proud of them.

and that's why i don't get the fact that we've been talking about how horrific this genocide is and then going right to which songs they cut or kept. like i would like a live version of you don't go to parties! but i would like an entire fandom to donate to aid for gaza even more and be thinking about why we need a ceasefire and maybe doing something about it even more. i've been unwell yes and under financial and other stress yes but i'm not starving or freezing to death and so i'll take that L and i won't go home. i won't stop talking about what's important. i'm starting to find my voice again and this has been a big inspiration for it between all the discouragement.

have we not figured it out? they're not just dumbasses sometimes they do something towards a cause we really care about so let's give them credit for that. heck they even filmed bad omens in ukraine in 2022 have we forgotten about that? they don't put themselves out there as influential figures in any way but that's sometimes the best way to humanise the people we care about (and i think honestly they just do this naturally because when you're not chasing clout and you're trained to recognise talent and potential talent in even the worst situations, you'll automatically think like that). it's small in the face of everything going on, yes. so am i! and if i learned anything over the last 24 hours it's that small things can be meaningful. this has been to me and i don't doubt to the recipients of the donations of (i hope) an entire fandom.

(also if you don't mind the tag @littledrummerangie i know you were talking along a similar vein a few weeks back and i'm keen to hear if you want to, if you found this as satisfying as me)

[pwurrz]

IDK WHAT YOURE TALKING ABOUT¹ BUT I HOPE YOU HAVE SO MUCH FUN & SURVIVE <3

¹this is an invitation to tell me abt it LOL

HIIII OH MY GOD OK UMMMM

eoos is like. my favourite fic of all time EVER. it’s got over 300k words and 28 chapters so explaining what’s going on is like. impossible (believe me, i tried summarizing it chapter by chapter bc i wanted shay to read it so badly but they don’t read long fics and i just. gave up after chapter 2 lmao) BUT BASICALLY it’s a genshin impact fic where ajax gets transported into the genshin world and is like assigned to be character tartaglia. tartaglia is a villain in the second chapter of genshin but things go a little differently in the fic version. aka he dies in this version. anyways!!

so basically ajax looks at the fate he’s been given and decides “uhh no thanks fuck that i’m gonna romance zhongli instead” because he spent all his time and money in the real world being a massive zhongli simp and honestly i cannot blame him.

since ajax is now a character in a video game he gets assigned like. a helper?? that basically acts as a system that keeps record of all of his achievements, relationships with other people, goals and main missions (very important!! if he does not complete them on time he will DIE for real) inventory and other stuff like that. he nicknames his system AR (but we LATER find out that AR is actually the spirit of the original tartaglia (who was killed when ajax entered the world and took over his body) but he didn’t know that for the longest time so basically he’s just babysitting this gay trainwreck (ajax) that now pilots his body. their dynamic is fun i love it)

ANYWAYS. anyways for the longest time this fic was about ajax fucking around and being a massive dork who’s hopelessly in love with zhongli, and how their relationship evolves over time. since ajax arrived like 2 and half years before the main missions were to take place he had lots of time to spend taking zhongli on dates and sightseeing with him and making meals for him and serenading him every night before bed, they’re so adorable. and zhongli is very much in love with him too!! this fic is great because the chapters alternate between being written from ajax’s perspective and other character’s perspectives (like zhongli) so we get to see how they feel about each other and. ugh it’s so cute. it’s so cute how zhongli basically immediately took a liking to ajax and was like ‘this one. this one is special to me. he is my little priest and i shall cherish him’ (because he’s a dragon and also a god and childe is like. his biggest fan basically. so he’s zhongli’s priest. it’s cute).

they go on lots of cute dates and they flirt with each other all the time and ajax is such a gay loser he doesn’t even realize he’s in love with zhongli and zhongli is head over heels for him until like. he basically proposed to zhongli. meanwhile zhongli is over here being like ‘ah yes. childe. my boyfriend of over a year. the one i share my home with and spend 90% of my time with. the most important person in my life. and soon to be my husband <3’. they are engaged like ajax definitely proposed to him and he didn’t even realize but they’re totally engaged

AND THATS LIKE THE FIRST 75% OF THE FIC UNTIL EVERYTHING GOES DOWNHILL BECAUSE REMEMBER THE MAIN MISSIONS AND SHIT?? AND HOW TARTAGLIA WAS ORIGINALLY A VILLAIN IN THE GAME?? yeah well SOME PEOPLE still want him to experience the same fate he did in the original game and they’re doing everything in their power to make sure that happens to him. so just when you think ajax and zhongli can finally retire and live happily ever after BAM childe’s under arrest for terrorism and attempted murder and BAM suddenly there’s courtroom drama and OH SHIT zhongli’s gonna reveal he’s a god to everyone to defend ajax’s honour but he CAN’T do that because that goes against one of ajax’s main missions so if zhongli reveals that ajax will DIE and there’s a counter counting down to his death basically so he has to do something to stop it and he’s already dealing with intrusive thoughts from genshin’s version of hell and the only thing he can think of is to STAB ZHONGLI TO MAKE HIM STOP. and it works of course but the ajax gets knocked out and he’s all alone again because AR got suspended during all of this and all of his friends know that he almost destroyed liyue harbour (because he had to. it was part of his main mission) and he doesn’t know if zhongli’s gonna be ok and HU TAO (OH MY GOD I DIDNT EVEN MENTION HU TAO. BEST AUNTIE AND ALSO THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WHO GOT ISEKAI’D INTO GENSHIN LIKE AJAX DID. SHES REALLY IMPORTANT HOW DID I NOT MENTION HER) comes along and is like “ok boyo it’s time to fake your death!!” so NOW zhongli and everyone else thinks childe is dead. and that’s where we left off.

so the next chapter is gonna retell those events from zhongli’s point of view and i am not ready to read about how ridiculously in love he is with ajax at the beginning only to be stabbed by him and have no idea what’s going on and then think he’s dead. my heart burst into a million pieces just reading the last chapter and thinking about how he was going to react and now i get to read it and-

anyways this is an EXTREMELY loose summary of what happens and is basically just the ramblings of an insane person but yeah. i’ve been following this fic for like 2 years?? so i’m along for the ride of emotions whether or not i want to be LMAOOO

[silversiren1101]

Failure, ghost & secret for Mino??

Thank you for the ask! I hope you don't mind such a delayed response (My brain hasn't existed in months)

[Questions are from this ask game]

Minovae

failure: What's your OC's greatest failure? Have they been able to move past it? Does anyone else know about it?

Mino's life can be defined as moving from key, defining failures that've shaped her, honestly. The biggest is obviously her role in facilitating House Thrune's rise to power; she genuinely considers it her and the Hellknights' at large greatest failure, and has complicated feelings about letting Regill convince her to not ally with the Pyre + other dissenters. It would've surely led to her death in the war, but knowing she was complicit in the rise of such great evil haunts her, and has led to personal harm against her and her loved ones.

Other failings that have severely impacted her include:

Camellia: literally everything about her. Trying to get her help, keeping her alive because she thought she really could help her, and then having to cut her and Horgus down anyway at the very end. Mino thinks about Camellia and her fate often, of that little girl kept locked up in her room... whether or not things could have gone different if she'd only had someone to love her.

Nurah: If only Mino had noticed sooner Nurah's traitorous streak - and had spoken to her. Much like Curl in Seelah's quest, some people are driven into the arms of the enemy because the people that should be their allies are worse.

Her Fall in the Abyss: she did a lot of awful things down there and afterward. They live in her conscience constantly.

Her foundlings: described in the next question.

+ so many more but will keep it more brief.

She's been able to move on from all of them, but not in the sense they no longer rear up like ugly shadows in the corners of the room at night when she's least expecting it. She's not debilitated by them, but she remembers, and they hurt. Not a constant thing, but like grief, the littlest things can remind her of them.

Regill knows all of them, but most others are known by her dear companions as well.

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

The ghosts of her murdered foundlings live in every interaction she has with children, even her own daughter. Snatched up by House Thrune on the streets of Egorian and sacrificed in a diabolic ritual, she found their bodies too late to save them. The oldest was only 14. She only cared for them for maybe four years at max, but they were still her kids.

It's the kind of grief that only time has dulled. She lives because they cannot, and how many other children and people would she fail by her no longer being around to stop such evils from happening again?

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

What happened in the above answer, actually! She's of the mind that what was so horrible that she can never burden anyone else of the knowledge that it happened at all. She never tells another living soul until her companions see it in her dreamscape for themselves, and even then she can't really speak of it. Words die on her tongue and she just starts to choke and cry. Even as softly they try to convince her she needs to talk about it and it'll help her, she just can't.

She doesn't want anyone to know because she's ashamed of how badly she failed them, but because she couldn't bear anyone else having to bear what she does every day.

[lisired]

it's 5am and i just finished going through every human emotion possible (a.k.a. reading 'wish i never'). you really outdid yourself with this one because i think this is the closest i've ever been to tearing up reading a fic. you just hit the mark so well on that feeling of just loving someone so badly but not being able to have them, for whatever reason. (spoiler alert!) the part where they're both just saying hurtful things to each other because it makes it easier to walk away was so... yeah... y/n hitting a little too close to home with her running away. also, what always impresses me about your writing is how descriptive and vivid it is. your vocabulary is so broad and expressive. you're such a gem of a writer, it's not everyday that i learn a new word from a fic but it was so funny how at one point i had to stop mid-feelings of grief to google "verklempt meaning". i was indeed quite verklempt in that moment ;) p.s. that author's note: i hope you're doing alright now :( sending you warmth and wishes of happiness. i obviously don't know you but you have a beautiful mind and deserve a love as beautiful as the ones you write about (minus the painful parts).

please this is oh so very very sweet and kind. when i originally answered this tumblr crashed and didn’t save it so i’m upset about that but it’s fine. Thank You.

anyways i love expanding people’s vocabulary via my writing because reading is the biggest way that i’ve done the same thing with my own and it’s so fun???????? sorry that’s the Nerd in me. an important part of writing is realizing that the language you use has the power to influence what and how your readers will feel about the scene. so that’s diction, prose, etc. something i think there’s still for improvement in cause sometimes i just be writing to write but if people can enjoy it nonetheless im happy with That Much i need to stop ranting about nothing and get back to 👉🏽 THE POINT.

actually connecting that to the point… it’s literally exactly what heightens all of the tear-jerking impact the story has on a Reader, and im super glad people could read WiN and be like “woah. this kinda hurt.” LIKEEEEE I LOVEEEEE when ppl tell me they actually Felt things bc of me 🥹🥹🥹

and btw i’ve been in a happy relationship for over a year now Lol. we’ll be celebrating our second anniversary over the summer so it’s safe to say that i’m in a much much better place now. Thank you for your support and kindness and everything it means a lot 🩷💓💘💗💞💞💖

[wallflowercrow]

Some thoughts on Kanej this season (Spoilers!!)

First of all: I loved Kanej in this season. I understand that a lot of fans didn’t like that so many events from Crooked Kingdom were adpated but I personally see the show as an AU that freely includes scenes from the books. I, personally, can live with that because I think they really got the character dynamics . Kanej is still a slow burn and I love it.

They showed how Kaz tries to come close and then pushes her away. They showed Inej having hopes about them but tries to supress them to not get hurt. They both have their armors up and they will need so much time to figure that out.

That dream sequence with Inej realising that it could not be real… that broke my heart. Because she wanted it to be real so badly. And also, the way Freddy and Amita acted in the „I will have you without armour“ scene… my heart. You saw how much they want each other but can not be together yet.

But Inej knows what she deserves and I love that. It hurts to be pushed away all the time. For me it totally makes sense that she leaves at the end of the season (even if it doesn’t have the huge impact it has in the books, imo) and she will not settle for his crumbs.

However, I didn’t like the Tolya/ Inej moment. Not only because Kanej is the one and only for me but also because I am scared now. Will they ignore Inejs trauma over that? Like, it makes sense that she might enjoy some affection/ attention that Kaz is not able to give her yet. And a Tolya/ Inej dynamic would also be interesting to explore (in a friendship way HAHA) because I think they have a lot in common (and Tolya is an amazing character. Really, I love him). But I don’t want a love triangle, not with Kanej and not with Tolya, who is implied to be aroace in the books. And with Inej having flashbacks because of hugs or scents in the books, I really don’t see her just flirting with a guy she barely knows and everthing is fine and easy about that.

Aside from that I don’t want Inej to be focused on another man right now. The whole point of her going away is to be her own person and about her purpose.  Not her being focused on another possible romance thing (even if it is just flirting / teasing which I think it will be. Because, I mean, who gets in the way of KANEJ?!). Anyway, if they do that I hope they use it as a chance to explore Inejs trauma more deeply and for her to realize that she also has a lot of healing to do. That could be a possibility.

I also don’t want Kaz to be motivated by jealousy. Everthing he does for her is about setting her free, about her happiness.  At the end of the season it is heavily implied he wants to fight for her. Please don’t throw that away and make it about his ego.

Well, we will see what will happen for them (if we get another season and / or a spin-off). I don’t think they will throw away Kanej over that. I am just worried about this being an unnecessary subplot that will not do any justice to the characters. (Not that Tolya wouldn’t treat Inej very well, like he would. But still. I don’t want the Kanej dynamic to be ruined. They just mean too much to me. And I would also be happy about some ace representation.)

(Sorry, for the chaotic thoughts and also, English is not my mother tongue xD But I would love to hear your toughts about that! 😊)

[fizzingwizard]

I've been wanting to react to the new!Nightcrawler!origins! buuut instead I fell asleep every night. anyway I haven't gotten to read it so I'm going by summaries.

Overall impression: Way too convoluted. Even though Mystique/Irene parentage was what I wanted as well, they lit had to tie canon into pretzels to get there. But what does X-men canon even mean anymore? Well, that's the other half of my impression: Why even bother, since someone can sweep in ten or twenty years from now and undo all of this the same way they just undid The Draco? lol

Not that I'm not dancing on the moon because The Draco is gone. That is vindictive dancing though. I don't like that one of Kurt's few biggish storylines is kaput now... except also kinda not??? like i said convoluted. And that has a ripple effect on nearly every other storyline he's had since The Draco too, because so many of them have been linked to Azazel/the afterlife. You can worm about to keep the parts of them you like, sure, if things are already this messy then why not let them be even messier!

But what motivation is there for a reader of X-books to care. X-books are so short-sighted these days that nothing means anything anymore. Things I wanted to see happen so, so badly when I was in high school could happen now and would have like a tenth of the impact, because everything is just forgotten/erased when the writing staff changes and the new staff isn't interested what the previous guys did.

Back to the origins themselves. There should be some appreciation for the inclusion of so much pro-gender fluidity. On the other hand, it's Mystique, lol. I'm not sure how to feel. Mystique has been many things over the years, and since much of it has been a messed up psychopathic sex idol, it's been nice to see them giving her a lot more nuance a la Claremont. OTOH, this is all just because of Jennifer Lawrence isn't -__-; That Mystique is the most boring incarnation of her ever. I really don't want to see Mystique that way in the comics. She needs to tread the line that never comes too close to angels. But that does make it tough for her to represent a marginalized community... since she's also a serial killer, I mean.

Irene's part is fine. I don't really have complaints except it's again just so involved.

The Azazel bit is incomprehensible. Whut.

And last, this is very much just my personal feelings... but I just don't think Nightcrawler should be this Shining Light Hero. He's always been my favorite X-man, and yes, I always wanted better storylines for him. But IMO it is always stupid to parade before a character with drums and trumpets, shouting "He's the good one! It was prophesied!" I was already side-eyeing the Hope Sword REALLY HARD and now you tell me Irene manipulated things so Kurt would be raised by Margali instead of Mystique? AND this was SO important that they even got Xavier to wipe their minds AND HIS OWN so none of them would remember what Nightcrawler really is? Whyyyy???

I know every time they change something people complain so. What can you do. To me Nightcrawler will always be the best supporting character with main character energy. ALL the X-men are both supporting cast and main cast at the same time. There should never be one front and center X-man who hogs all the limelight *cough* and is Teh Special One *cough cough* because it's X-MEN not "Wolverine and the X-men" *WHEEZING COUGHING UP A HAIRBALL*

The summaries seem to suggest - though I'm not completely sure - that Irene... wanted Nightcrawler to suffer? So he'd learn compassion, I guess??? As if being a blue, demonic-looking monster from birth didn't already guarantee that... I'm hoping either I or the summary I read misunderstood that bit bc it really makes no sense to me. But her leaving him with Margali to protect him from suffering doesn't make sense either, all things considered... I can only assume Irene was thinking about Kurt Darkholme, who was raised by Mystique, or maybe that one What-If where Mystique kept him upstairs and wouldn't let him interact with the outside world at all, and he ends up fusing with Rogue...

It's hard because I WANT to like this retcon, but I'm so damn wary of what they're going to do with it! It's just as scary that they might actually go through with whatever they're planning for Crawler as it is that they might NOT, since they almost never make good on anything they promise... Like what the fuck is up with his missing soul is that whole storyline still a thing or not!?!?

But I'll end on a positive note: At least he's not lusting after Stacy X, encouraging mutant strippers to morph into female friends, or any of the other lad fuckery Austen tortured us with. Also bye bye Draco, yay.

[masonshine]

Hi Kao!!! I see the Infamous brainrot has you too haha :) Can you tell us more about Salomé? She looks so very cool 🥰 Hope you're doing well!!!

Hello PD! I'm doing good, thank you 💕 Hope you're doing great as well!!

LOL yeah, there's no escaping the Infamous obsession. I played it sometime late April and i haven't been able to think of anything else since lol It's already shaping up to be one of my favourite IFs.

Ahh thank you so much, you're too kind 🥰 Kinda struggled to decide how i wanted Salomé to be and what i wanted for her but i'm satisfied so far with what i came up with. Tho some things are still subject to change and others are in progress.

So sorry in advance because this got long and also for my messy rambling!

Salomé Jackson is her real name, which she also uses as her stage name. I know i want a middle name for her but i still haven't found the perfect one. Her mother is latina with middle eastern roots and her father white american (french and irish origins).

Salomé is the frontwoman of Fatal Flaw. She is an avid reader and was always interested in Greek Mythology so that's the reason she (and Seven) chose that as a name. Plus it just sounded cool lol

Fatal Flaw's an alternative rock band, think The Neighborhood, Willow Smith, Arctic Monkeys, Beabadoobee, L'Arc-en-ciel (a japanese rock band) type of songs. I have not come up with their album or most popular song names yet, although i have some lyrics written down.

Even tho she's really into it because she loves music and singing, she also enjoys being loved and recognized (she's... love starved thanks to her parents, so the celebrity life kinda gives her the love she longs for) and she's working hard to make a name for her band.

Seven is her ex and she's absolutely not over him. The fight and the breakup impacted her BADLY. That was like such a turnpoint in her life. Seven really was her everything; she loved him so much and thought he was her forever, so him not being around anymore completely turned her life upside down. It also increased her abandonment issues which were already there thanks to her parents again, and as such she's become more wary of hurting ppl she loves and actually started trying harder to please everyone, specifically her band members which she considers family.

That's one of the reasons she's been trying her hardest not to make the band about herself, and actually let the others get their shine too. Also one of the reasons she chose to share the bus with Soft Violence, for Rowan's sake (the other reason being her somehow still wanting to be in Seven's vicinity even tho that would do nothing but hurt her). I don't wanna call her a ppl pleaser per se but...

Salomé also has a crush on her role model Griffin Reign. It's just an innocent (for now) crush one might get on their fav celebrity. Absolutely no worries of it becoming smth more, not at all. It would be wrong... and well, she just could never like him that way (lies).

Salomé smokes, drinks and does drugs. I wouldn't say she's addicted to any of the three but her using depends on her mood. It did increase after her breakup with Seven (tho she only got into drugs after it) but she's been trying to pace herself lately with her participation in BOTB. She needs to be responsible about it and doesn't wanna screw things up for her band.

So this is basically it? Maybe i forgot smth important? Anyway if you wanna know anything, don't hesitate to ask 😊

[littleteacupdragon]

For your touch prompts! If it so pleases you could you do head on shoulder with Intrlogical or maybe ever so loved cuddle trope of 'touching in anyway whether it be a foot on their lap or a hand on their wrist or ankle' with IntrLociet?

All good if not just If anything sparks insipration! 💖💖💖Adore your fics!!

Hello!

I must admit, I didn't expect to get another prompt for this series. For one, you know how everything gets buried on tumblr (you actually made my day by all the kudos and reblogs - and then even sending in a prompt!), and for two, I haven't interacted with this fandom since, well, I'd say since the game-themed episode that left us on a cliffhanger (I can't even remeber the title now). So this may be both the preamble and an apology in advance; it was so long since I wrote those characters that I'm still worried I've forgotten how to do that. Still, you sparked inspiration alright, I haven't felt this compelled to write in a long while. So, here's to hoping that you won't be disappointed :]

As per usual, please excuse any mistakes that went past my brief check, you're more than welcome to point them out.

Oh, and just the slightest warning for Remus being Remus for literally just one line of dialogue!

-

(Not so) Quiet

In some circumstances, quiet is peaceful. Quiet means serenity, a deep breath taken after being in the noise for too long. A moment to relax, a moment for oneself, a moment to just be. Simple, non-demanding, easy quiet.

In other circumstances, it’s the quiet that caused unrest; it’s a source of worry. Quiet means calm, yes, but when it is not a norm it becomes suspicious. Concerning.

When it came to Remus, each prolonged silence immediately became a warning sign, a literal calm before a storm, so when both Logan and Janus realised the prolonged absence of sounds, they looked at each other almost at the same time. Call it a hunch, call it intuition. Whatever the name, it made them listen carefully, giving it a bit more time, just to make sure.

The loud bang, quickly followed by an even louder cackle made both of them raise their eyebrows, Janus huffing out a scoff, returning to his book with a shake of his head, while Logan couldn’t help a small smile from appearing on his lips. There it was, the sound breaking the tension. And judging by some other, quieter but more typical bangs that followed, all was well, nothing and no one was harmed too badly.

Logan’s eyes lingered on Janus for a second longer before he, too, returned to his reading, raising the book he unconsciously lowered once the unrest got the better of his brain.

They were sitting close on the couch, with a comfortable amount of space between them, but after a few more minutes Janus scooted the rest of the way to press his shoulder against Logan’s, a sigh leaving his body, one that Logan felt rather than heard. A simple comfort, such a casual touch. Neither of them were too grand with affection, sometimes smaller gestures speaking way louder than words screamed underneath one’s window; and for Janus, what other people would barely consider an invasion of personal space was often just the thing he needed. It was, in a way, the most reassuring kind of contact, one that carried the message of no need to go out of your way to show you care, and that was something both he and Logan understood and could appreciate very much. And the fact that Janus was seeking out such comfort meant only that the brief scare did, in fact, impact him, an easy guess for someone who knew his tells.

It was nice, knowing that Logan could provide such comfort, albeit he was far from the only one that could. At times he did feel as if the others are keeping their distance, even in distress, for which he did not blame them – there were others that a person may need more in a certain headspace – but sometimes he couldn’t help but search for other underlying reasons. Being the one to be leaned on in such cases was bringing him comfort as well.

Logan sighed as well, shifting very slightly to be turned that little bit more towards Janus. Neither of them commented on their position.

A chapter or so later, there was this longer quiet again, not enough so to cause worry, though, as it took only a few seconds for the door to be loudly shut and skipping footsteps to be heard advancing towards them. Skipping turned to a run, Remus flew past them, barely managing to slow down enough to just hit the wall instead of impersonating an impressive human-shaped splash of paint (an occurrence that may or may not have happened on more than one occasion, several of which did, in fact, include actual paint). He still almost bounced off the wall, landing on his behind gracelessly, letting himself fall to his back before cackling with genuine joy and lifting himself to a bridge with the intention of crawling somewhere like a typical demonic child from any horror staple.

“Remus.” Janus’ voice was stern, even though he didn’t lift his eyes from the book. There was usually no need to see what Remus was doing to correctly assume such tone was warranted.

With a pained groan, Remus wiggled himself up, in the process practically throwing himself on top of the empty part of the sofa. His body was slanted, his shoulder blades dangling uncomfortably past the armrest in a way that was far from comfortable (so, the most comfortable). Soon enough his legs followed, swung up with more energy than required, but they landed across Logan’s lap with surprisingly little force.

Remus was many things, but the embodiment of gentleness he was not. Still, it didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of some amount of it, which Logan greatly appreciated in that particular moment. With Janus leaning on his side, he was reluctant to let go of the soft blanket of serenity that could exist even in such chaotic environment.

Speaking of which…

“If I cut my foot off and eat it, will my breath smell of blood or of feet?” Remus wondered aloud, righting himself enough to be able to look at his feet. “Smelly, smelly feet.” He smiled impishly.

Before he could raise those same feet to Logan’s face, Logan’s hand moved to just rest on his ankle, keeping it in place with minimal force. Although right now there was no foul smell in the air, Remus surely could, and would, find a way to change that if given a chance. Neither Logan nor Janus wanted to see the process, not to mention the aftermath.

Once again, Remus almost wailed, mock-grieving not being humoured, but he relented and let himself slump half-off the sofa again. Logan didn’t move his hand, and Remus didn’t stir much afterwards, just humming to himself. Judging by the regular breaks for giggles, the song must have been something either horribly brutal or extremely explicit. Or both. It didn’t matter and nobody in the room would question him.

Sometimes quiet was serene. Sometimes there was peace in the complete lack of sound. But sometimes, it was a tonelessly hummed melody and soft huffs of irritation coming from the other side that made Logan’s brain at peace. Sometimes it was a gentle pressure of another person at his side, he himself offering something similar in exchange, being at disposal and somewhat in control at the same time.

Sometimes peace isn’t equal to quiet, Logan thought after a while, when Remus sprung from his position and off to do heavens-know-what the moment Logan lifted the hand anchoring him to turn a page. Janus, sighing with resignation, closed his book at that, also standing up and nodding once at Logan, knowing full well that Remus staying still for more than two minutes came with a price, and it would be better if someone was there to supervise.

Yes, Logan thought. Sometimes peace couldn’t be farther from quiet.

-

Read more of my touch-based prompts fics

[temporalbystander]

Well that didnt take long... Sure Marinette has a bit of a panic attack realising how much of a badass she was there but...

We've cut back to Kagami and her mother, which I can only assume is going on at the same time as Marinette's talk with Gabriel otherwise it takes a very long time for them to get home, and Felix has just landed on the roof. Anyway Tomoe is not at all being subtle here about what houses Kagami's amok and I can just tell this is going to get worse before it gets better.

... I'm sure she's going to explain it but surely she recognises the contradiction here right? "You need to be your own Master so shut up and do as I tell you regardless of your desires." Either that or she's talking about matters of the heart shouldn't rule the head which, while somewhat logical, is also completely stupid when talking about relationships. No matter what the next line is going to be stupid.

... yeah, no... I was right... WHAT? How does that make any sense? Sure she still has feelings for Adrien but the dude does have a choice in this, regardless of the whole master plan the two parents have set up. In fact, forget we are talking about Adrien here. How is being gracious in defeat, backing off and admitting someone else is a better match, in any way being a slave to her emotions? It's being completely and utterly logical to the point it hurts. It's more than the other girls have done.

Okay, skipped a bit here. Felix kidnapped Kagami, Tomoe put on a bunch of Alliance rings, and now we have Matagi Gozen. I'm guessing the multiple rings means she plans on getting multiple powers but can I point out the major flaw in this statement? And the ones like it these two always keep using? "My child has a destiny that is exactly what I've planned for them." Umm... You two do know what Destiny is right? Something that was going to happen no matter what? Something nobody could influence? Despite your actions the two of you aren't gods, you can't impact Adrien and Kagami's destiny anymore then they can.

Really? Any power she wants and she picks super smell? Is that not what the giant dog she's riding is for? Also she got Pollen as well which is apparently the kwami of action so I can only assume her arrows are going to be the venom. (Action and paralysis? Still makes more sense than elation and bombs.)

God I hope her response is "don't be so sentimental" because this is just making me sick. It's ridiculous. How can they both be this insane? Anyway she also got Mullo and Kallki as well so not only can there be a dozen giant warriors freezing you in place with their arrows, but they can teleport too. Although I do wonder whose power is being drained here? Monarch's or the Akuma victim themselves? (Also, despite having two rings in each hand, the show just replays the animation of zooming in on her left index finger. I'm not an animator but surely it shouldn't be too hard to just rotate the model? Right?)

Wait... He didn't say the thing. Do you not need to say the thing? I've spoken more to the Kwami's than the majority of the holders yet not a single one mentioned not needing to say the thing. Sure we never spoke about their powers or transformations but still! Since when is not saying the thing a thing?

... I swear to god. If he is pulling some manipulative heartstring thing here, I'm going to hurt him. Badly. Alliance be damned! (I am now imagining Faybon cursing that he activated someone elses ring and is telling it to shut up.)

Oh dear lord I think he might actually be serious. Also Duusu is just floating there not really interacting. She seemed so hyper when Nathalie had her. Now? Not so much. Still... Wow this has gotten long. Next post!

[t-lane-writes]

Happy Blorbo Blursday! For the Blorbo of your choice:

What is the bravest thing they have ever done?

What is the worst injury they’ve ever had? Alternatively: what was the closest they’ve ever come to dying?  Has it had a long-lasting impact on them?

~Morri🗡️ (@memento-morri-writes)

Aaaaa! I can't just do it for one Blorbo! You expect too much...

I really want to do it with three of them, but I’ll restrain myself to just two. :)

Noel Anaher [The Specters]

The bravest thing, I’m afraid, will happen in the final climax of the story. He will allow his best friend to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Before the story? I think taking responsibility for his little brother at the age of... I don’t remember... twenty? When the brother was about eight? Don’t remember the ages now, but it was a big thing. Maybe not brave, per se, but definitely a very grown-up thing to do. And difficult, and requiring a lot of sacrifice also.

The worst injury. Or the closest they’ve come to dying. Yeah, it’s the same thing in his case. When he was four yo, his father did a reckless thing and put him in danger. I actually wrote it as a short story, and you may read it here. I won’t go into details of the danger here, enough to say that it was an encounter with a magical being.

As a result, Noel’s lungs got severely damaged. But because it’s magic, this damage didn’t affect his development or strength all that much, at least not to the extent you might expect. It causes him a lot of pain, though. And because of that pain, it affects the way he communicates -- he rarely speaks, instead he falls back on sign language.

He will come very close to dying once more, during the story. :D

Kenaed [Black Wings]

As for the bravest thing... Again, I’m not sure if it was brave, per se, but for the opposite reason than Noel. He participated in the rescue operation after the event later named The Flood (it was really a bombardment of the settlement from space). He was pulling people out of the rubble, alive, injured, very often corpses. Many, many people participated in this effort. It was a necessity, and neither of them would say they were particularly brave. It was their duty.

It is also the event that caused his injury (not the closest he came to dying, though). During those rescue attempts, he hadn’t slept for five days. And before that, he had been directly involved in another very dramatic incident, which had actually caused the bombardment -- so there was that additional guilt as well.

Anyway. As a result of all that trauma, his brain got a little fried. And by “a little” I mean “a lot”. He had severe PTSD for about two years, then he slowly started emerging from that black hole. The story happens ten years later. He’s still not speaking to either of his sisters, whom he badly hurt (not physically -- emotionally) during his worst days. He’s still not sleeping well. He’s still struggling, but he’s finally ready to try and rebuild his life and his happiness.

That’s at the beginning of the story. You may imagine it doesn’t go as smoothly as he might hope...

.

Thank you so much for that ask @memento-morri-writes.  It was great fun to talk about it. *grin*

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Not much of a question but I'm really thrown off by this min hee-jin/ador/hybe controversy, like did not expect this sudden collapse. Really hoping this doesn't affect these young girls too badly and, honestly, that they get mhj the hell out asap. I know she wants ador independence but I hope she never gets it. She may have carefully crafted nj's brand, but I'm hoping they'll be able to continue without her. Leaking artist info? Having a meltdown bc another group also made a chill minimalistic song and had a lot of success? Just bizarre. I wouldn't say I'm a nj fan but I don't want them dragged down with her, and mhj seems like the type to try to take people down with her. What do you think about what's going on?

I don't know all the details, but good riddance. That woman is trash, so good for her for sabotaging her own career. It's hard to think of her getting out of this unscathed, but she might find success elsewhere - for some reason, she has an entire cult behind her.

Also, it's funny people were okay with her being a creepy pedo, but it's her greed and audacity to fuck over a billionaire conglomerate that does it for people, smh.

Reddit being Reddit is defending her "creativity", saying this will negatively impact NJs. She is not unreplaceable. Maybe their next cb won't be as good (it will certainly be the most anticipated), and Hybe might fumble the bag initially, but they have enough money to keep NJs at the top. It's not like people wouldn't get tired of this Y2K crap eventually, and who knows if MHJ wouldn't have failed to transition them to a different sound. She was at SM for a long time and, as far as I know, none of the groups she worked with fell off after she left...

All in all, I'm happy they're getting rid of her, and not worried about NJs. Not to sound heartless, but I don't give a shit about the group and they have Hybe and millions of fans rooting for them so I doubt they won't be okay. I hope MHJ didn't brainwash them too much - she certainly seems the type to.

Anyway, I'm sure it will all end well for Hybe and NJs.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry if I sound unsympathetic to NJs. I'm biased against them tbh. They're all everyone talks about and I don't get it. Their outfits and concepts creep me the fuck out, they're too young, MHJ is a pedo, etc.. Like, yeah... sorry.