#I do NOT ship them but I do want to dissect them for science

[girlfromenglishclass]

Alicent Hightower and Criston Cole's friendship makes sense for a number of reasons, but the foremost is the fact that he has always taken her completely seriously.

Alicent's life can moderately be described as a series of indignities and humiliations. Not least becoming a child-bride, mocked by her husband, disregarded by her princess, and played by her father. All of this contradicts this fact that she is the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and mother of two princes and a princess. (Three if you count poor Daeron)

Fire and Blood notes that she is beloved by the people, which I imagine is a consolation. But in her daily life, she's mostly beloved by Criston Cole.

She's so disregarded as the Queen that she can be openly laughed at, but never by him. Obviously he's wretched, but that's not the point.

In the scene where he confesses to her, her every mannerism does not communicate the image of a powerful Queen, but he still treats her that way. She speaks with rigid formality, gives concessions to members of the royal family, prefaces her question that she would never question Rhaenyra who she holds "in highest regard." She even addresses her formally as "the Princess." She's even wearing the same clothes she wore as an unmarried lady in the court. She's acting like a child, not a Queen.

But Criston speaks to her with deference as his Queen anyway - because she is. He refers to her as "Your Grace," begs her pardon, and asks that she only kill him if she is "a clement Queen." Even in asking something of her, he puts her on a pedestal. This is entirely unlike her prior treatment, where she is an afterthought.

It is notable that her green dress scene, the moment when she symbolically embodies her power as Queen, comes after this revelation by Ser Criston. She starts acting like a queen once someone finally treats her like one. This is what she wears to spare him, earning his loyalty.

We see this respect again in how he treats her children. When he rebukes Harwin Strong for putting hands on Aegon, he says "you forget yourself; that is the Prince." He makes no concession to the fact that Lucerys, who Harwin has interceded on behalf of, is also a Prince, and ahead of Aegon in line. Criston is making no appearances to respect the illegitimate line, but acting as though Alicent is the true Queen, and her children uncontested heirs. Whether he is correct to do this is a less interesting question than what it means to Alicent.

This respect finally comes to head when he kills Beesbury, claiming he "will not suffer insults to Her Grace, the Queen." Obviously this act is barbaric, but it is also, twistedly, chivalrous. Beesbury WAS insulting her - accusing her of a regicide she, decidedly, did not commit. As her sworn protector, these are fighting words. It is only when Alicent, not his commander, tells him to yield, that he does.

Some explanations for this have been that his feelings are romantic. I disagree heartily, mostly because Alicent is not adulterous even with reason to be, but also because Criston is treating her as a Queen, not a woman, exactly as he should be, per his roles. When she says "everything you feel for me," it is pointedly followed by, "as your queen."

Many people pointed out his hypocrisy in saying that "every woman is an image of the Mother, to be spoken of with reverence" even though he curses vulgarities at Rhaenyra. And it IS hypocritical!! But it is also interesting. Because of the two of them, it is Alicent who reflects this image of the Mother, this "clement queen," that he reveres. He doesn't have to want Alicent to worship her. He lost respect for Rhaenyra because she disrespected his sworn chastity. It makes sense that he loves Alicent chastely.

This reminds me of a line in one of Jaime's chapters in which he remembers having to stand by while Aerys abused his own Queen. He protests that they're supposed to protect her too; she's also the blood of the dragon - they have to protect her. Ser Barrison replies "yes, but not from him." Criston takes this attitude with a bit more teeth. He protects her from everything, except him, also known as, everything in his power.

[ibelievewhatyousaid]

The Sinner’s assigned Abnormalities in L. Corp are very intriguing to me, as not being a general “resonance,” that Limbus uses with its current day Ego. But! They were assigned that for a given reason, even if only on a meta level, so I’d like to put my two cents into it as I love the Lobcorp Abnos so much. These are simplified summaries of the Abnormalities and speculation on how they fit said Sinner.

Faust - Forsaken Murderer

I do not believe she has an Ego Gift adored to her except the one for this Abno, so we can focus in on this purely; all being of Forsaken Murderer. (On this note, although I am not talking about the realization Ruina Egos, Meursault has Ego for this Abno as well) Forsaken Murderer in his original logs was said to have been a murderer in federal prison to have been sentenced to death. Before that could take place, a bunch of researchers decided to experiment on him. They wanted to prove an innate “evil,” existed and on a further level, they wanted to “cure,” him, although unclear what it really was they wanted to cure. Their experiments twisted out all of his penitence for violence, turning him docile, until he came to this belief of ringing in his head, that his head itself had became metal, leading to self harm against himself. Eventually a fatal accident happens, the researchers jump the ship and decide to simply dissect his brain, until the end he muttered, “ends, begins, ends, begins, end.”

NOW, this is hard to shape into Faust’s story, given how little we know about her on a deeper level, but, I think there’s already (shallow-ish) connections we can make. Faust has a lot of implications of science experiment (Child in a Flask, Telepole) whether we take this ‘literally,’ it’s safe to say either way Faustcord keeps her on a tight leash as being an “experiment” of a Faust who is willing to take a gamble. A lot of Forsaken Murderer focuses on the fact he is chained and tied up but “free as any other man,” we could take this as Faust’s expectation of being a skilled scientist and genius who is bound by those around her, to fulfill that role, yet “free,” at the sake of being all knowing. Faust is “omnipresent,” yet she is just another in a chain of command. In TKT she mentions to Vergilius that both of them “know their place,” despite how great she is, how “free,” of knowing she is, she is just another chain, in both the City and Dante’s contract to the sinners. We can also go deeper with this concept of “inevitably,” of the city, given to her by a predestined plan of fates, in every mirror world, how it all will end has already been put into motion. To know of how tied you are to fate surely must be a token of freedom as well, can’t it? He also seems to have a bit of an ego, a Ruina line of his being, “Don’t look at me with those eyes. You’re the most pitiful one here.” Which, fits Faust’s need to be above others, such as “Faust is brilliant, smart, Yi Sang is a genius.” An implication that Yi Sang had a cap on how brilliant he can be, something he must’ve lucked into, Faust was born to be great. Even if she is regrettably pitiful in every other aspect. An inability to connect to others or form meaningful attachments, this especially rears its head in events were her intelligence creates gaps between her and others, all of MotWE or Dante’s brush off of her in Canto 6 when she cannot given them an answer, or, even earlier, Sinclair accusing Faust and Limbus using the Sinners as compasses to boughs. In all situations it leaves her isolated and awkward, unable to answer, creating a larger, pitiful wedge between her and others, despite how great she is. She is still a thing to be “studied,” whether from an actual scientist or to other versions of her, or those around her, she is a spectacle.

Outis - Der Freishütz / Bloodbath

The story of Der Freischütz in Lobcorp was of a marksman making a deal with the devil, the devil proposed that the gun could shoot anyone, on the last bullet it would pierce the person the marksman loved, in return, the devil would gain the marksman soul in hell. The marksman thus went through all his bullets, killing off all his loved ones. The marksman traveled, simply doing good and bad deeds in impulse, no sign of an actual moral code. Eventually, he realized that the devil had long since stopped following him. He realizes that the contract had long been fulfilled, since the very beginning of him giving up his loved ones, did he fall to hell. And so, now a devil as well, the marksman continued to shoot anyone he wanted, forever.

Again, another sinner we’re left out in the cold for. But, to tap into Outis’ source, The Odyssey, the story follows Odysseus’ desperation to finally reach home, to his family. As the stories play out the more Odysseus gives up his morals. To sacrificing his men to no mercy, a king who was once gentle and kind, gives up all people around him to succeed in arriving home. Of course, from the start, Odysseus had given up his family, a mother who died alone, a wife left waiting for over a decade, a son who had never known him. Odysseus also makes many deals with Gods around him, something he pays greatly later for. Of course, none of this is a one for one, but I think it is to mimic Odysseus, or here, Outis’ slower decent into someone who hurts those who she loves (or should’ve) by her cruelty, once Odysseus had set off to war was the moment he was bound to lose everything. Which, is very similar to how Der Freishütz is, he had lost his humanity the moment he made the deal.

Bloodbath is a Abno based overtly on Carmen, but, to ease it into a more general baseless story, the Abnormality represents: “the pain of all those who couldn’t take their sorrow in stride.” A huge focus on Bloodbath is the guilt of love, of unable to achieve success, using “scars” as marks of failure. The bath mocks the person peering in with hands reaching out desperately, as if begging to be saved, or joined, in this misery. It’s a sign of endless despair, unable to ever reach the climax of this, the only outcome is to accept this wave of despair and let yourself accept it.

So, arguably this fits Outis really well just on the bases of the line: “Many hands float in the bath. They are the hands of the people I once loved.” This once again, is more of a line of thinking born from her source, but a lot of Odysseus’ guilt is haunting to him, specifically that of Penelope, but overall, he gives up many men, including people very close to him, to never truly “succeed,” I feel like this one is easier to connect to, given what I said of the previous Abno to Outis, so.

Don Quixote - Meat Lantern / Void Dream / Fragment of the Universe

Meat Lantern is quite.. obtuse, in its logs, both in Lobcorp and LoR most is left obscure. Which is terribly fitting. Meat Lantern, by your guess, is obviously not a tiny little flower. The logs say that it is gigantic, underneath the entire facility, always waiting, it lures people in, in L. Corp’s lens, it lures in employees by being a lantern, something shiny, full of hope, they haven’t seen stuck underground for so long. Any nature, any lights, something that wasn’t horrific or artificial has long since been lost to everyone there. It’s easy to feel it calling to them, to reach out, to touch, but it’s all a ploy to devour and eat whoever trusts it.

So, Donqui’s Abnos are actually what made me originally want to write about them. I had written out my analysis of hers a few months before, but it was too hinged on my own reading of her that it felt easy to write off as me sounding insane. But! With the reveal of MotWE.. this seems, pretty obvious. (Glad to know I’m not too crazy) Don Quixote wears a mask, one of “hope” something born from really just being .. silly, of something rare in the City. Someone who genuinely believes in good? In hope? Here? As “Don Quixote” stands as an ideal, a concept, “too good to be true.” and beneath that is a “reality,” no one’s has “really ever seen.” (as the log says about the “real body” of Meat Lantern) and then “devours” people. Yeah. I bet.

Void Dream’s logs follow someone who has Void Dream eat all their nightmares, giving them the best dream they could have imagined, the person they love had returned, even working in such a horrible company that is L. Corp was good. Everything was so, so amazing, a perfect ideal world for the dreamer. When waking up, the person was crushed by reality, when forced to confront the truth they became despaired. They tried to find those dreams again, in an obsession, but, they never did come back. The employee comes to the realization that Void Dream’s deal was too good to be true, that from the start, the Abno had set them up. And they had lost, unable to enjoy either sides of reality or dreams, they find their way back to Void Dream and beg them to eat all their dreams. Stealing away all their dreams, nightmares, hopes and despairs, virtually leaving them empty. When Void Dream is accused of leading people on, it brushes off the person, insisting it just wishes the best for others. The line, “a demon must change its shape to deceive others.”

Originally, I had read this purely as Don Quixote being put into the victim’s prospective, someone who “wakes up” from a perfect dream to be crushed by reality. And, I don’t actually disagree, I think this still 100% fits. But I think her fitting “as” the Abnormality makes perfect sense, too. Obviously, the whole “deceiving others,” line fits. To change one’s shape, a “demon” a Bloodfiend, to deceive others into seeing it as innocent, pure, true to the ideals it preaches. But, and this is a bit speculation on what we know very little of, “Don Quixote,” was given, or is a dream herself that a Bloodfiend wishes to dream, that Bloodfiend must’ve spun this tale, this “perfect” dream is an “act of kindness,” despite not being kind at all. Despite giving out this dream, not only to herself, but to others around her, does it lead to destruction and a harsher fall to reality itself.

Fragment of the Universe.. actually isn’t an Abnormality. At least, not traditionally, if the logs are true. The log mentions how it let itself be caught and studied, and through studying they declared it “intelligent enough” to communicate via language, thus, it learned more and more of humans and humanity. It became endeared and loved people. It reflected what it saw, leading to it looking like a kid’s drawings of hearts. When asked why it had came to interact with humans, it said it wanted to spread messages. One being its song, a song of the universe that drove people crazy, but also let them “finally see the stars,” and also to inform everyone that “there are no coincidences in the universe.”

FotU is really intertwined to its love of humanity, even its design is rooted in this love for the species. Its aim to spread its song is to “relieve” people, as well, even if misguided or unable to be understood. I think Don Quixote, as a concept, is so terribly human. She’s overly emotional, she’s quick to action, strong morals, she’s clumsy and brave and fearful and determined. She is so very human that it backfires. Given Cassetti’s lines, “we are so, so hideous behind the mask.” and his dedication as well as other Bloodfiends to “run” from being monsters and Elena’s lines of her wondering if she was desperate enough to “chase after being an ordinary human again.” I think the Bloodfiend behind Don Quixote genuinely loves humans, and, most likely, wants to “be” one. And “reflects” what she sees, which is a habit Donqui has, mirroring Merusault in TKT, or wishing to “copy” other sinners from Outis’ wristwatch. Donqui also has a huge tie to stars, so, so many of her IDs have her mentioning them, not to mention her tagline. I think an Abno who knows far more than it lets on, powerful, letting itself into humanity, coming to love them, but never being one, is dreadfully fitting.

Yi Sang - Funeral of the Dead Butterflies

FotDB is an Abnormality born from the pain and suffering of.. Lobotomy Corporation, actually! It’s a mourner who is rumored to wandering the halls of the facility with a coffin for those who are bound to be lost, an early mourning for those who are destined to die, and an incomplete sorrow for those already gone, the coffin too small to fit them all, unable to fall asleep or escape. The ending of the log decides that there is no escape, these butterflies are damned to wait, because there “must be an end to every world.”

I think, just like with Gregor’s case, although the original Abnormality is directly tied to L. Corp, in a more general definition, it is about the pain and sorrow of those inevitable deaths born from things such as K corp, or the Smoke War. Cases of people’s lives being thrown away and devalued, not given proper burials, no home to escape to, a fate to dying here, leaving the mourning to the others in the same situation who simply “lucked out.” In Yi Sang’s case, an “ending for every world,” feels very deliberate to the “world,” in which he was locked up in a cage, passively awaiting the days for it to end, one way or another, only to realize he was able to walk out, that the door was never locked. Yi Sang’s grief and attachment to the League of Nine, the only person who seems to grieve over those loses, alone, carrying that pain wherever he goes. In that sense, “an ending to every world,” could also be turned into a guaranteed ending of things he loved as well. There is more to be said, but this one seems very obvious.

Ryōshū - Spider Bud / One sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds / Scorched Girl / Bloodbath / Big and Will be Bad Wolf

(Oh my God girl. Do you need that many???)

Spider Bud is an Abno that is deeply protective of her babies, quite literally her alternative name being “brood mother,” she reacts negatively and violent if an Agent hurts or steps on her children

Ryōshū has gotten this Abno thrice now. It’s gotta be important, and yeah, it is! This is born purely from her Source, but Yoshihide’s tragedy is losing his daughter, Spider Bud’s entire gimmick is being peaceful (as an Abno can be) unless someone hurts her children, she stalks and watches and exacts revenge against those people. I didn’t want to bring in Uptie stories, but Ryōshū’s uncharacteristic gentleness to the spiderlings who nip at her is really.. striking. Once again, this one feels kind of.. duh, so I won’t go much deeper into it.

One Sin is an Abnormality with the purpose of being confessed to, to relieve one of their sins, it’s tied to religion to Hell’s screen gimmick of.. Hell.. feels, yes, but I feel as though this is more general and disingenuous from One Sin’s connection to Christianity while Hell’s screen is about Buddhism’s hell. Instead this felt more interlined to Parallel Gebura. A lot of people have jumped on this for power scaling fun, but! I think it’s important to realize why Carmen would’ve said “At least similar in this regard,” my take is that a huge aspect of Gebura’s woes in Lobcorp was her unable to protect those she loved. Given Yoshihide’s tragedy here, unable to protect his daughter. I think that is the aim that makes the most sense right now with how very little we have about Ryōshū.

Scorched Girl is another Abnormality she’s already gotten, all in all, SG lives on a sense of angered revenge and self destruction. Her logs depict her to be torn in two from her desire of affection to one of wishing harm on others.

Her attempt at hurting others involves hurting herself, which lines up with Yoshihide’s ending, of his natural self destructiveness, how he makes his art and his death. Her rage also lines up with Ryōshū’s, a want to have back warmth, love she’s lost, but only able to be a match of destruction.

Bloodbath, we already covered this in Outis’ section! I think Outis and Ryōshū naturally align similarly, (Hong Lu, Mr. “Horrific family” isn’t ever the one getting cold or aloof to mentions of family or parents or children, it’s only ever these two!) A guilt of unable to succeed despite how much you gave up and sacrificed, including others And to lose those you love, the hands in the water being everyone you’ve ever loved, by your own faults.

Finally, Big and Will be Bad Wolf! The Abnormality is about being set up from birth being one way. From the way society sees you, you will always be what they depict you as. The Abnormality doesn’t feel remorse over the violence it causes, because it was “inevitable” he’d turn out this way. Who is he to blame nature? Regardless of nurture.

This one is the most hard to really fit without going “well, just a hunch.” I think this could be in regards to Yoshihide’s further and further acts of violence and pain to others around him, but unable to feel that remorse (until it is too late) because he was born with this way. He was “born” an “artist.” Who is he to defy things sacrificed for art? He is unable to be anything but cruel and vindictive, and he doesn’t try to be.

Well, that’s everything I could remember off the top of my head! Apologies if it starts to get a little weaker by the end, I’ve been typing for hours. In general, there’s more I could say or conclude, but, because of how loose Abnos are in concept, as well as how most of these Sinners (everyone but Yi Sang…) haven’t had their cantos yet, it leaves a lot of assumptions built upon their sources and short behavior ticks we’ve seen them display. I won’t say these are confirmed or sure fire takes but more so a jumping off point in fathoming these choices.

[whitelionspirit]

Been a minute but some thoughts about linguistics reader! In bayverse.

You met Optimus and the others during the beginning stages of working with NEST. While young you were one of the more skilled people in their arsenal as you took special interest in the ancient language that is Cybertronian.

Being the only human who could decode and understand the language you became crucial in communication with the Autobots as you gain the attention of Optimus who was very interested in your work and your grasp on understanding their language to any capacity.

As a being who cared deeply for history and science youboth got along swimmingly. It baffled everyone especially your superiors but they decided to use it to their advantage.

Over the course of the years working together the two of you developed a deep bond. One that was ripped away when the world turned on your friends.

It broke something inside of you when you thought they had been killed when forced to leave your planet.

Even when you found out they survived everything quickly changed and everyone had to flee. They tried to contain you to use you as a bargaining chip for Optimus but you were thankfully saved by Ratchet.

It put a target on everyone’s back and you soon found yourself being forcefully separated from the people who were your family.

For three years you were on the run constantly hiding until they finally caught up with you. Taken back to Chicago you were forced to work and be used as bait for Autobots.

It disgusted and devastated you to see humans experiment on Cybertronians as if they were just heaps of metal to dissect and create weapons from.

The day you were rescued was chaotic you were nearly fired on as you ran for safety in the lab. If you hadn’t been grabbed by Joshua and presented as a prized horse in front of the Autobots you probably would have tried to escape in the chaos.

You defended yourself explaining they had kidnapped you and forced you to do this.

They were shocked to say the least and from the look on Optimus’ face you felt the last of your already broken heart shatter. His last reigning hope had been soiled.

Even after leaving for whatever reason despite everything Hound scooped you up and carried you away from that hell of a place.

No one said a thing until you reunited with Bumblebee and the humans that they were protecting.

You nearly burst into tears at the sight of the yellow mech.

The talks of leaving and the revelation of Galvatron shocked even you. The questions turned to you to ask what you knew of this. You knew nothing and said so.

When Lockdown suddenly appeared you did your best to stay out of the way but got caught up in the fighting.

You and Tessa were taken aboard the ship. You tried to be a distraction for Tessa so she could get away as Lockdown spotted you and were forced from the car you had hidden in. He called you a rare prize indeed a human with the knowledge and history of Cybertron imbedded into your mind. Favored by the leader of the Autobots.

He tossed you into a cage near Optimus as if to taunt you both.

You didn’t speak at first but eventually you did not being able to bare the silence any longer.

“I’m sorry about the others. I didn’t want to help them but they forced me I didn’t know where you were but they knew just using me would attract them out of hiding.”

He was silent for a long time and it made you hate yourself more.

“It is not your fault my spark.”

The last of your sanity burst at his words as you began sobbing uncontrollably.

[triptychofvoids]

First things first, I love your head cannons and the way you draw it's very very crunchable, now the question, do you have any science party head cannons? That's all, thank you!! :3c

thank you i appreciate it!! and yes i have a few im normal about them <- foaming at the mouth btw

you know the drill theyre going under the cut in case it gets long

someone made a post about this already i think and i dont remember who but medic and engineer would be so good at parallel play. theyre both content to be in the lab or in the workshop doing their own thing just alongside each other, maybe occasionally dragging the other over to look at what theyre working on either to show it off or get feedback of some kind. they both find each others work to be fascinating even if they dont completely understand it, and on the occasion they combine their knowledge to work on something together it always ends up being Really Fucking Cool and fun for them, regardless of whether or not it ends up being something successful. thats their idea of a date. parallel play working on fucked up and evil science stuff

out of all the mercs, engineer and heavy strike me as the ones that would do most of the cooking. not that the others cant cook (although i think some of them would need supervision....) but most of the time they just dont really want to, and besides theyd both be very good at it. but anyway engie would know about medics sensory issues and him being picky about certain foods and hed always try to make meals everyone will enjoy. if there is something in a dish that he knows medic wont like then he will either mess with the recipe a bit in order to exclude it or will just make it on the side so everyone else can have some but medic wont have to deal with it.

medic uses a weighted blanket and likes to hold onto things in his sleep as well so anytime they share a bed engie gets compressed into a jpeg. this is sometimes avoided because it isnt uncommon for engie to pull an all-nighter or for medic to wake up freakishly early so sometimes medic will already be asleep and/or will get up before him but still, its like a hydraulic press in there

like i said about engie knowing about medics sensory issues and whatever else, sometimes on the battlefield if medic is starting to get overwhelmed he will fall back to a dispenser and engie will shoo anyone else off to go find a health kit instead so medic can get just a few brief moments of peace

they have the kind of relationship where neither of them ever get bored of each others company and neither of them ever run out of things to talk about. which is very cool and awesome for them and sort of boring and awful for anyone else who might get stuck in a room or a car with them for any extended period of time

medics love language, platonic or otherwise, can be best described as 'all of the above'. hes very affectionate and bitey and he isnt always very good at communicating that he cares but he tries to convey it through things like weird gifts (like how a cat brings back dead animals), surgery and medical evaluation, talking a whole lot and hoping it counts for something, acts of service but he can only kill and dissect, etc. and engie somehow has the patience to put up with it. engie is big on acts of service and words but it doesnt matter because medic saps up any and all affection he is given like an infinite sponge and then tries in his own deranged way to return it tenfold

also. i think shipping these two is so funny because at first glance it might look like medic is the feral one and engie is the responsible one but then you look again and the roles have switched. and then you look a third time and theyre actually both a little unhinged. anything in the name of science

[hot-take-tournament]

okay sorry i had to follow my cat to the end of the world

anyways we're not done because you know the wizard i mentioned? that fucker gets involved! originally starting out as a morally questionable supporting character in the toxic yaoi, but you see the thing is that the wizard is friends with both of them in canon!!

and one day as i was rereading the roleplay where the wizard and etb1 met, i realized. man. this is gay as hell? and ended up jokingly making it canon that the wizard found etb1 attractive.

which THEN gained fuel and spiraled into the wizard canonically having a crush on etb1. which then spiraled into "oh my god theyre gonna end up gay as fuck in cqnon because we're doing a roleplay with them and itd already so fucking homosexual and theyre both pining so fucking hard"

and now the toxic yaoi fanfic is being continued to make them all poly. and i dunno which ship is worse, twizzler or this, because on one hand you have two assholes who dont even like each other and wouldnt hesitate to kill each other but are also very just. ????. and on the other hand youve got two assholes who are best friends but one of them is also trying to dissect the other Nd they both want to perform unethical experiments on each other

oh and heres some more information:

etb2 has a fucking husband. and a kid.

the first time the wizard and etb1 met in canon, it ended with etb1 interrogating the wizard and getting purposefully injured by him since the wizard wasnt cooperating and etb1 wanted another sample of the wizard's skin. theres a lot of context here

currently in the etb1 and wizard rp, theyve both partially stripped for the other once ("for science") and etb1 had to talk the wizard into letting him stitch the wizard up because "why the fuck do you have 7 untreated stab wounds on your chest how are you not dead"

in one chapter of the elongated toxic yaoi, etb2 is having relationship issues and the wizard is like "oh easy! kill him. ^_^". this fic is on ao3 by the way

the wizard has the worst taste in men and i wish i made the wizard fully aroace because what the fuck/j

@elongated-tennis-ball @elongatedtennisball im pinging you both for this one too because im mean. theres your toxic yaoi lore my dear pollrunner

we are still talking about tennis balls, right?

doesn't the wizard look like this??

so what exactly do you mean when you say they stripped for each other?

because all i'm imagining is this:

[fisherrprince]

So how was stormblood? I know it's very hit or miss for people, so what're your thoughts?

I understand why it’s hit or miss! It — to get to the point i would be straight up lying if I said I was an unbiased consumer because I’m not, I’m a coastal American mid 20s rando with a Lot of very current cultural baggage around concepts like patriotism and freedom. And Hamilton references. It all has a sweet and strong and very anti-occupation message (along with themes I very much enjoy dissecting like the constant assertion that it Doesn’t Have To Be This Way, or the expansion into You may not understand this person but you must be able to accept them,) but when combined with Stormblood’s shakier coherence in writing and dialogue and pacing, it comes off as A Bit Off. to me. And I think it missed ever so slightly just due to how it was all structured and set up with the characters we have and motivations we have because the stuff OUTSIDE or Adjacent to the main story, despite how out of place it could feel, was structured great!! Like the Kojin and the Ananta trial and the Kugane mishaps and trying to murder Zenos twice and the ghost ship. Could the main structure have come across very well yes absolutely! It does it on and off it succeeds in there often! But sometimes it doesn’t. I can see a lot of where concepts were promised and not fully delivered, pacing was a bit off, things just happened without really belonging there (despite how much I loved Susano, he could have been better structured. same with many instances and also I feel like the unethical science should have been MORE IMPORTANT THAN IT — maybe it comes back. Who is that scientist.), sometimes dialogue felt somewhat canned. I feel like in a consequences-heavy expansion, many things just didn’t have important consequences, which was very strange

HOWEVER! I cannot give the new gameplay features abd dungeons any crap they are all SO GOOD. And so PRETTYYYYY. And there were so many solo duties that ruled! Every dungeon in this expansion was like whoa this is a PLACE im in you know what I mean??? I’m in a place that’s big and there’s people and there’s NEW MECHANICS and active time maneuvers (??!!!!!!!) and unique fights! I can jump on the roofs in Kugane! And, mind you, when the dialogue was good, it was good. Lyse has a fantastic voice actor. Alisaie is my favorite girl elf creature in thw world. Estinien is like the best p- the guy ever. also m’naago is my new friend. The tower was a great part of sb to me despite my singular gripe. I think Zenos’— I know it’s controversial to some people because he does assume your wol to be a bit more murderous than some people would prefer their characters be and doesn’t take no for an answer, but his um speech did something to my brain a little bit

ON that note the ending was very fast?????? Or like — not FAST, but I wasn’t expecting Zenos or Shinryu to go down in one fight. Two co-op fights, right next to each other. I kind of wanted to beat him up myself. And when Zenos was so impossible to beat before. I was expecting both of them to be WAY harder. Though Shinryu is a COOL fight I’d do the royal menagerie again in a second. I was kind of expecting a three stage trial? Like Nidhogg? I love going into space hiiii big dragon where were you this whole time… u were shafted… but u could not be suffered to live so. Maybe if we’d gotten an instance of fighting the dragon alone after beating the trial?? Could have been Themes. I don’t know

anyways no I can’t quite pin it down, but I’ve said it before I think they had the outline for the story and then built it and went oh this is too much and not enough at the same time and got stuck writing the whole thing after getting stuck in the story they already had. A COMMENDABLE job for getting turned around like that, way better than a lot of video games stories out there, good gameplay and areas that didn’t feel too empty. glances at coerthas falcons nest area. I think the ways they did the exploration thing was good, having us venture further into occupied territory etc, but so much exploration stuff felt oneoff and not there to do much for someone who has been skipping almost all of the side content except stuff I’ve been told is good. It almost felt like they were Trying New Stuff a lot, and some of it succeeded some of it failed. Such is trying stuff!! Such is trying to imitate what you had while making something new and exciting! And I can’t fault them for that

so like — putting aside the fact that I haven’t done post-sb which is like missing 40% of the Thing according to past expansions and my thoughts very well might change, i would 100% do the fights again, maybe watch some cutscenes, but I don’t think I’d NG+ this one. where is that lady selling buuz it is a CRIME i did not get to have any buuz let me buy one yoshi p

[terrible-eel]

opinions on Jade Leech? :3

I got so excited to answer this that I didn't touch it for like 40 days sorry! This is probably going to be a little jumbled but here we gooo

But I think Jade Leech is kind of hard to understand. I think he’s both an extremely soft person who lives for his loved ones and is a ruthless bastard, maybe being the most capable of cruelty out of anyone in Twst.

His hobbies make me think he has an adoration for how things work but he doesn’t discriminate between the science behind his new ecosystem and the things that make people tick; he wants to dissect them all. He just seems like he’s always trying to understand the world, which is just really cute to me.

I also think that he’s developed this quiet and sometimes manipulative attitude from being Floyd’s twin. Floyd can’t help the way he acts, he’s very histrionic and Jade has been around that his entire life. I don’t think Floyd has traumatized or repressed him however. I think the two work in tandem and make up for each other’s shortcomings, understanding that if one is loud enough the other can move comfortably in the background, or if one is polite and civil it can subdue social situations that would otherwise turn into all-out conflicts. Jade and Floyd are really a perfect unit.

I also think Jade’s relationship with Azul is symbiotic. Azul provides him with enough enrichment and freedom to pursue whatever he wants while still being accepted by Azul.

I think the three of them really see each other in ways a lot of the other dorms’ interpersonal relationships don’t, which brings me to why I ship Jade and Trey so much. Trey thought he saw something of himself in Jade when they first met but he wasn’t completely deterred when he saw how Jade truly is. I think Jade represents a sense of freedom and honesty that Trey craves, meanwhile Jade sees Trey as an opportunity to watch a little secret evolution transpire that most people don’t know about; Jade can watch Trey sneak around and manipulate the people around them and be entertained by the way Trey functions. Also the two actually have a lot of interests in common. I think Jade is waiting for Trey to drop the empathy act and just be honest in his own hedonism.

I don’t think Jade sees ambition as worthwhile unless the ambition sparks joy, like in the case of Azul. He follows along with Azul’s plans and ambitions because he’s interested in the resulting manic joy Azul gets from his plans, along with getting to observe the effects it has on people. Floyd and Jade both are extremely hedonistic and comfortable in their hedonism. There are so many hints that they’re part of a mafia family so it makes sense. They have a very “Take care of your own and make sure nobody takes anything from you” reaction to any problems. They both seem like they give Azul the reins but they are both fully in control of satisfying their own needs and goals. They just agree that Azul’s approach allows them to have the most freedoms. I appreciate just how far both Jade and Floyd will go to protect their values. It seems like they’ve experienced enough ego death/revelation to say “Fuck it” and do whatever they want.

[citruslullabies]

hiii I see you do Soul eater requests :3

can you do

Spirit Albarn /Franken Stein Angst (go HAM!!!!! Pour your trauma, heartbreak and ANGER!! Into these two)

Coming out of the oven like a fresh pumpkin pie, sugar!

Trigger warnings: dog death, blood, gore

Romantic/platonic: romantic

Requested by: anonymous

Category: goddamn get out the bucket of ANGST

Ship (romantic or platonic): Spirit Albarn x Stein

Word count: 544

Glitter and guts

As a scientist, Franken had plenty on his plate. He was too busy for a love life of any sort, but it's not like that mattered. Science was far more important.

But he had a few.. run-ins with a rather dumb redhead, one who he could see anxiety in from a mile away when it came to just about anything. He hated to admit it but he found himself drawn to the other, opposites attract after all. It's just basic science.

But he had far too much to do, and found it easier to keep down when he discovered that Spirit Albarn had feelings for him too, as he saw an opportunity for experimentation. After all, why break his own heart when he could break Albarn’s right beside his?

He was dissecting a dog that he found on the side of the road on his table, humming as he inspected its insides and how it managed far differently from humans. He barely glanced up when he heard a knock, wondering who it could be. “Come in.” He said briefly before getting back to work. Spirit Albarn walked inside, flowers in hand as he took a deep breath before an anxious toothy smile appeared on his face. “Stein! Frankie, Steiny!” He said, immediately slapping himself mentally for that.

Spirit Albarn saw the dog on the table and the blood, shivering at the sight of its soul and its intestines all placed aside on a tray. Stein noticed the man's reaction and hummed. “Don't worry, I plan on putting it all back in. Now. What did you want?” He asked while inspecting the large intestine. Okay, gonna ignore the strange behavior of Stein. Just regular Franken behavior. Spirit Albarn scratched his head as he held the flowers out, hoping that Stein would accept them. “Here! I gotcha a little something, just to brighten up this gloomy place.”

But to his surprise; Stein took them, and set them to the side. “Thank you. I'll dissect them later, too.” He murmured while going back to the dog on his table, carefully placing his hand and tweezers back into his stomach. Albarn frowned and wasn't expecting that, a bit unhappy about that as he awkwardly did finger guns. “Heh.. not for dissecting, for decoration.” He said nervously, before walking over and pinching his nose at the stench. “You're very.. smart, y'know? A-and I like that you're smart, always curious about the world around you and-”

“Cut to the chase.” The scientist murmured, not taking his eyes off of the specimen In front of him. The redhead blinked and nervously gulped. “..right, always.. so straightforward. I uh.. I like you, Franken.”

The scientist was quiet, feeling his heart ache for the other. A strange feeling, one he wished to squash and see how it felt. He replied. “Good to know. Now please leave.” He said, bringing the other to confusion. “..what?” The slim man asked, looking at the white haired male with a frown, deeply hurt. “Not even a- a ‘i like you as a friend’? Nothing?”

Stein finally looked up at him, setting his tools down as he looked at him. “You know how I hate lying. What's the point in giving you false hope?”

“You're just.. another experiment.”

Thanks for requesting!

[nebulouscoffee]

Troisha and kiradax for the shipping ask game?

YESSS thank you for these picks!!

Tasha Yar/Deanna Troi- ship it

What made you ship it?

I always thought they were neat- they have incredible chemistry, and they really did come off as very immediately and obviously into each other lol. A lot of their scenes together are just Very Flirty! They also play off each other in ways that are quite fascinating, both in terms of personality and aesthetics.

But!! I am being completely serious when I say I only became insane about this ship after reading your 'Skin Of Evil' fic (link for anyone who wants to read it- it's very good) and all of our wonderful discussions and increasingly specific troisha AUs. So, thank you!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

The contrasts between them- and then, the unexpected similarities. The way neither of them have ever felt like they truly belonged anywhere (not even in their own bodies). The way they both see themselves as "broken" in certain ways (but not each other). The way they both fear loss. The way one of them basically grew up in poverty and has always been invisible to society at large, while the other is from an "aristocratic" family and has always felt overanalysed and dissected... In a sense, one of them joined Starfleet for a more comfortable life with better opportunities, while the other did so to escape a lavish life & suffocating "opportunities"- but fundamentally, they are both empathetic (in vastly different ways) and driven by the desire to help people. They both seek privacy; crave agency & space. Tasha was only around for one season, so I appreciate that they gave her relationship with Deanna importance- they stand up for each other, they admire each other's (very different) qualities and strengths- they even share a few giggles! Which is so wholesome when you think about how Deanna spent most of her youth feeling odd and out of place (being a mixed kid) in Betazoid high society, and Tasha had a violent childhood on a failed colony. I think the space they can give each other as two adults who never really got to be themselves as kids, to like- figure themselves out, and experiment with what all they can and want to do, is really lovely

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

... Is it unpopular to ship Troi/Riker/Tasha? I don't actually know enough about troisha fandom to answer this, sorry😂

Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys- ship it

Yayyy one of my favourite DS9 ships! I got kiradax twice, so I'm going to do Kira/Jadzia here, and Kira/Ezri for the other ask.

What made you ship it?

Once again, the fascinating dynamic re the way they get along despite very apparent contrasts and differences (some of which may even seem irreconcilable- but they aren't, not to them!) Boosted of course by the insane chemistry. I mean, who was normal about that one drink scene from 'Dramatis Personae'? Not me🕺🏾

What are your favorite things about the ship?

*car dealer slaps hood meme* This bad boy can fit so many identity crises in it

Seriously, this pairing is so rich for explorations of both their inner worlds, and their fascinating relationships to their outer worlds! Kira, so fiercely protective of and devoted to Bajor- Jadzia, a joined Trill who never wants to go back home. Kira, aged beyond her years through a harrowing life as a child soldier- Jadzia, aged beyond her years via a 300 year old slug. Kira, the devoutly religious- Jadzia, the Starfleet science officer. Kira, the secret romantic who plays it safe- Jadzia, the unhinged xenophile who leads with her heart. Kira, the "traditionalist" who actually has a history of breaking the law- Jadzia, the "rebel" who actually constructs her sense of self so much around social structures and popular opinion. Kira, who deflects with anger- Jadzia, who deflects with humour. Gosh I could keep listing more and more and more but I don't want this to get too long so I'll just say their fire/water aesthetic thooo and move on hehe

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I understand (and appreciate) the desire to de-centre male characters in fic; especially given that canon was, on the whole, inarguably more invested in male characters & relationships- and it's also very true that once Jadzia/Worf and Kira/Odo got together, both women's screentime started to revolve around Worf and Odo more and more. I also firmly believe Kira & Dax deserved more screentime together in general, so I totally get the restorative value in doing this! That being said, some (not all- but still an appreciable amount of) kiradax content just doesn't feel quite them to me- and what I've realised is, this happens when fic just de-centers the men in their lives so much that now, they seem downright unimportant to Kira and Dax? At which point they start to feel ooc (to me). Like I understand not liking Kira/Odo- but a Kira Nerys that doesn't even think about Odo, like at all, not even in a platonic way, just doesn't read like Kira Nerys to me, you know? She cares about him so much! He's one of the most important and influential people in her life- and he was long before they got together. Same with Bareil, and Shakaar- I get that a lot of people find these characters and/or relationships boring, but they are hugely significant to Kira's arc- & those episodes reveal so much about her beliefs, her faith, her politics, the way she engages with the world, what makes her tick as a person. I feel the same way about Dax- the Klingon stuff is an important part of who she is. Idk, this isn't even something that really bothers me- I still happily read all the kiradax fic I'm vibing with even if it does this! But I have noticed kiradax fandom is not very fond of (or at the very least, indifferent to) Worf and Odo, and I just don't personally relate

[milqueskin]

Dr. Mort my beloved

CW: medical stuff, dismemberment (of dolls), blood

Full name: Mortimer Doulaire (Doulaire sounds like “douleur,” which means “pain” in French)

From a race of doll-people. I’ll make a separate post about them later, but basically, they’re made of stuffing and cloth. They don’t feel pain and are relatively hard to kill, compared to humans.

Weighs like 20 pounds since he is just a human-sized doll (easy to fling around).

Old. He was like 100 when he died (doll-people can't die from old age). He was able to study and practice medicine for a really long time, making him more skilled than any human doctor could be.

French accent (but I don't know if the T in his name is silent or not).

Chose to study human medicine because he’s fascinated by human biology. But in a weird way. He wanted a job that allowed him to dissect people for fun without it being illegal.

He mentored Dr. Heartfelt, and he helped shape his beliefs by being the kind of doctor Heartfelt absolutely DID NOT want to become.

Well-known for his terrible bedside manner. He’s unsympathetic, un-reassuring, non-communicative, and borderline dehumanizing.

People (sort of) tolerate him despite this because he’s a doll-person and he doesn’t fully understand things like pain or what it’s like to be sick. (There’s some truth in this, but he’s smart enough to know better.)

Also because they sometimes don’t have a choice. There’s a shortage of doctors in Candle Cove.

Doesn't care about medical ethics. As long as something sounds exciting and relatively safe, he'll do it. Experimentation is the foundation of science!

He’s known for this. If people want strange and illegal procedures done and are accepting of the risks, they see him.

Seems careless and risky, but he does take the safety of his patients seriously. If a patient dies, that means he’s failed, and he’s too prideful for that.

After he finished medical school, he moved to Candle Cove and opened a clinic.

Because of his extensive experience, he was regarded as the best doctor in the region. Sometimes the other doctors had to refer their patients to him, and they hated it (i.e. needing to condemn their patients to him and his inhumane treatment whenever they had problems too complex for them to fix themselves).

Inevitably got into legal trouble for malpractice. He joined the Tarantula Crew to evade law enforcement.

The rest of the crew didn't know this. I mean, they suspected it, but never asked about it.

Red Mary killed him first, dismembered him, and used his remains (stuffing) as kindling when she burned down the ship.

He’s affable and even kind outside his work. He asks people to call him by his first name. People who’ve never had to see him think he’s a good man.

He’s also fairly polite to his patients, but in a superficial way. Like, he says please and thank you, but it’s like, “PLEASE don’t scream so loudly while I saw off your leg without anesthesia.”

Somewhat prideful. He works for the satisfaction of it and thinks he can do anything (but is he wrong?).

Fears death. He was groveling and everything during the attack (to Mary’s amusement).

His hands and forearms are stained with blood (this is subtle enough to look like it’s just his natural skin color).

Uses his left shoulder as a pincushion for sewing needles. (Dr. Heartfelt does this, too.) (I headcanon him to be a doll-person as well, btw)

Skin-Taker has his button eyes sewn onto his cape somewhere.

Or, alternatively, Red Mary made earrings out of them.

[that-one-weeb-but-starwars]

Tech Talk

I want to shoot myself for that joke I just made.

Warnings: 18+ yeah homie I seen ur note this ones for you homie slice

*cough* @lizzowinkyface *cough*

Tech had been rambling again, and on a date no less.

"Tech."

He contuied to ramble, he was nervous extremely nervous, why? Well if she agrees to his consensual documents of sleeping with him, he'd finally be able to pamper her this time.

Was it hot?

Yeah all the sudden it got hot- no maybe it was cold.

"Tech! Hey!" Y/n stopped him.

"I- I am sorry." He apologized.

"Hey don't apologize." Y/n spoke reaching over the table grabbing his hand, "I find it adorable when you ramble you know that. But you seem on edge more. Are you alright love?"

Love. Love, small pet names like that made him completely melt as they came from her soft lips, discolored with darker patches, he remembers the first time she had claimed she forgot to cover it up:

"Oh. I- I'm sorry..." y/n apologized covering her lower mouth, "It's uh....just a bit of Vitiligo...I know its gross Im sorry. I usually cover it-"

"No!" Tech intruppted, "I- I mean well. Your a fine specimen to dissect."

Thats not at all what he ment, his science getting mixed in with his emotions. He had chased after her that night. Apologizing for what he said, he explained thats not at all what he ment, and that he really liked it on her- made her unquie something he said he didnt have alot of. She had chuckled lightly saying the both of them seemed quiet unquie inside or out, and it went from there.

He was so deeply in love, finally able to feel himself and less tense. Plus he finally got his scientific wording seperate from his emotions, finally being able to say that she was indeed: "the most beautiful woman he had ever seen".

"Tech?"

"Huh?..." Tech spoke still in a slight daze.

Y/n chuckled leaning over the table placing a soft kiss on his lips, snapping him out of his dwelling on the past.

"Are you alright babe?"

"Why wouldnt I be?"

Y/n cocked an eyebrow up, "Alright then. Its getting a little crowded, let's get going then?" Y/n asked.

"Yeah. I just have to pay-"

"Already did." Y/n responded.

"I told you I was treating you."

Y/n shrugged, "I know how upset you get with I pay it." She teased.

He rolled his eyes playfully as she chuckled, he got up from the table first, helping Y/n out as she pulled down her dress.

Her dress was beautiful, he had seen other girls wear it but compared to it on her, he felt like they were all wearing trashbags. It was black and fitting, a soft velvet as its fabric as she wore a red stoned necklace with it.

How bad he wanted to just lift it up and eat her out until she was screaming his name, he had made her peak so much that any other touch was like an orgasim in itself.

Y/n smiled at him as they started to leave, Y/n in Tech's personal space as he was even worried to touch her. She frowned at him.

"Tech? Come on whats wrong? You've been acting werid." Y/n whined.

Whining, she could be pinned down whining at his teasing, begging for him.

"Nothing. Just. Tried is all." He explained.

"Oh." Y/n responded stopping in her tracks, "we can go to a uh. Regular hotel or inn."

Regular Hotel or Inn?

"Did you rent a room somewhere?" Tech asked.

"Just for the night...since the ship needed some repairs and we werent leaving for a cycle or two..." y/n responded, "with my own saved credits. I promise."

"Its not the credits Im worried about." Tech spoke, "You said regular. What did you mean?"

Y/n flushed, "I know...we've been busy lately...but I thought maybe...a mood setting could lighten up our relationship- its stupid. I know."

Mood setting?

What was that suppose to mean? Oh it ment Red Light District, Love hotel.

It ment Love Hotel.

Hey atleast it wasnt expensive.

"I uh...rented a love hotel room..." y/n responded, "I promise it wasnt expensive...I used my own credits. I really do promise."

Tech quickly pulled her aside into an alley way, Y/n keeping her eyes adverted.

"You rented a room?" He asked.

Y/n nodded.

"Its no Cantiana fresher..." Tech spoke making Y/n flushed, some how some way, Tech and her always ended up there, Y/n riding him as she was usualy the dominant one, none the less those nights, morings, evening's whenever they were they were mind blowing hot and sexual, the smell of sex in the air as soon as one piece of chlothing was violated.

"Well..." Tech spoke softly, Y/n keeping her head down, her legs squeezed together, Tech softly rubbing her leg, just below her low cut dress, "do you want this? You know I can stop whenever you want just tell me."

Y/n nodded, "I know...but I don't want you to stop..."

Trch leaned in kissing her softly, she kissing back as his hand traveled between her legs, she groaned softly as he pressed his fingers upwards, about to tease her he stopped, feeling something with the feel of Silicone in her lscy panties.

"Hand over the remote." Tech told her as she lifted a leg up bending over slightly she pulled the small remote from the back of her heels, kissing her again softly he turned on the small vibrator remote as she bit her lip.

"Why don't we check in to that hotel?"

She nodded a small whine coming from her throat as Y/n attempted to take every short cut possible. Y/n was checking in as the vibrator intensified, covering her mouth she only nodded to the woman as Y/n squeezed her legs together, Tech enjoying the veiw of watching her try and cover what was happening, and Y/n's legs started to turn to Jelly.

Y/n was lucky enough for there room to be on the bottom floor, with no stairs for her to crawl up. She made it to the room, and on fukl throttle Tech changed the setting to max causing Y/n to moan loudly as she braced against the door, her legs shaking as she covered her mouth.

"Tech...please..." she begged.

Tech only chuckled, getting the door opened for her as she beelined it for the bed as she braced on it, her front half bent over the bed as her knees collapsed to the floor.

"F-fuck..." she moaned as he closed and locked the door.

Taking off his bag snd throwing his helmet down somewhere random he watched her beg for more.

"I-Im gonna cum! Tech! Oh please tech!"

Making his way over he turned down the intensity the slightest, sitting her on the bed he pulled up her dress to her stomach, pulling off her panties she bit her lip, forgetting about her heels he kissed her inner thighs, her pussy pretty and soaked.

Grabbing the small loop at the end he pulled the vibrator out she moaned softly as he held one of her legs steady.

"Tech...Tech please make me cum.... please..." she begged as he kissed her clit softly, biting her lip her head fell back groaning at the touch.

He teased her clit with soft kisses, ghosting his fingers over her the edge of her walls as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Please... tech..." she whined, pushing his middle finger in her she moaned loudly, eating at her clit she groaned.

Her stomach was in knots, as he ate at her, Tech thrusting his gloved finger in and out of her, curling in her tight cunt, which was the final breaking point.

She cried out in pleasure, her legs shaking as her chest heaved up and down quickly.

"Tech! Oh my maker! Fuck!" She cried out.

He pulled his fingers out of her at her release, rubbing her clit intensely as she squirted, soaking the sheets below her.

Tech stood up between her legs, leaning down and kissing her roughly as she responded with the same roughness.

He pulled away only to removed his armour and his blacks along with his gloves as quick as he could. She on the other hand pulled off her dress, leaving her completely naked as he climbed above her.

"Good my Cyare." Tech praised kissing her cheek as she bit her lip, he kissing down to her neck and then down to her breast.

"You ready princess?' Tech asked her softly, placing a light kiss on her chin.

"Yes." Y/n resoonded her tone as soft as his, "Please."

Pulling away from her he sat in between her legs, tessing her soaked folds with his tip he pushed in her softly, both groaning at the feeling as Tech slowly pushed his way in her, stopping only when he was completely in her. Her hands ran through his hair and her leg drapped around his waist.

Kissing her passionately she meweled into the kiss, and an expected but not unwelcomed thrust of Tech's hips made her moan into the kiss.

Pulling away from her softly he repostioned his hands as he started thrusting into her. Groaning louder she pulled his hair causing him to groan louder than he already had.

Taking a hint for the first time in his life he sped up his thrust, thrusting in her harder, resulting in him hitting into her G-spot perfectly. Crying out in pleasure Tech held her sides, running up them to her breast and giving them a soft squeeze.

Tech groaned feeling his climax coming on, "y-y/n..I'm- Do you want me too-"

"Yes! Yes! Tech cum in me!" She begged her voice loud and full of moans.

Tech leaned over her kissing her roughly as he thrusted in her for the final time, the need for air and to moan was the reason they pulled away from the kiss. Y/n's eyes rolling to the back of her head as her back arched, Tech still looming over her holding her waist making sure she wouldn't get hurt, once she laid down flat, he carefully pulled out of her, Tech falling on the bed next to her as they both panted heavily.

Looking at one another they smiled. Y/n kissing him softly as he returned it. Tech got rid of the dirty cover messily putting them both under the comforter.

"Thank you sweetheart." She thanked kissing him softly once more as he kissed back, holding her hip softly.

"I love you Cyare." Tech spoke as Y/n smiled.

"I love you too baby."

[grelleswife]

For the character ask game could you do Othello?? :)

Of course! Sorry for the late reply!

1. My first impression of them.

Some combination of, "funky little dude!" and "oh boy...another manga character involved with STEM who wears a lab coat 24/7 so we as the audience know without the shadow of a doubt that he's a mad scientist." 😂

2. When I think I truly started to like them.

Watching his friendly interactions with Grelle. Even in the manga, Grelle often contends with physical violence or snide remarks from other characters, so it was a relief to finally see a reaper other than Ronald who was nice to her. :')

3. A song that reminds me of them.

Although this is technically part of an anime OST rather than a song, "L's Theme" from Death Note.

4. How many people I ship them with.

Grelle and Ronald (either individually or as a polycule). I think he and Sascha could also make an adorable couple. He and Undertaker share a complex shared history and had an acrimonious breakup.

5. My favorite ship of them.

Grellthello! It's a fun dynamic—the sassy nerd who constantly banters with (and simps over) his powerful, glamorous girlfriend. ❤️💚

6. My least favorite ship of them.

Nothing really comes to mind? Othello doesn't receive as much attention from the fandom as characters like trash demon, but the silver lining is that we have fewer cursed ships for this geeky reaper.

7. A quote of them that you remember.

I'm not quoting verbatim since I've seen a couple of different translations for this line, but the part where he and Grelle confront Undertaker, and Othello smirks that it's time to get on with the renegade death god's "spanking/scolding." That dialogue coupled with his impish expression gave me a good chuckle...and do y'all see what I mean about the bitter exes energy he and Undertaker have? Also, what kinds of shenanigans did you and White hair-chan get up to back in the day, Othello? 👀

8. Your favorite outfit of them.

His cute bellhop uniform from that 2020 Black Label pop up store!

9. Your least favorite outfit of them.

Although I like his dorky outfit in canon, that lab coat bugs me to no end because you shouldn't stroll around the city wearing your PPE!!! That article of clothing is called a lab coat for a reason. Sir, are you really going to bring it back to your research space after it's been contaminated with God knows what?! 😭😭😭

10. Describe the character in one sentence.

A cheeky, eccentric, and somewhat mysterious reaper forensic scientist with a fearless penchant for munching licorice and wearing slippers with his socks on.

11. What's the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

His crazy hair! 😂

12. Sexuality headcanon!

Could be ace, aro, demi, or some combination thereof, but he definitely isn't straight.

13. Your favorite friendship they have.

His partnership with Grelle!

14. Best storyline they had; 15. Worst storyline they had.

The verdict's still out on these two questions, mainly because we just haven't spent enough time with him for me to compare his role across different arcs. We'll see how things shake out a few years down the line!

16. A childhood headcanon.

Othello was often bullied as a child due to his weak, scrawny frame and bookish tendencies, which caused him to turn inward and made it difficult for him to form close attachments with his peers.

17. What do you think their first word was?

"Ribbit," learned from when his mom was teaching him about the sounds different animals make (I headcanon that frogs are one of Othello's favorite animals).

18. How do you think they were like as a kid?

As mentioned above, I think Othello ended up a loner who read voraciously and developed a keen interest in the natural sciences. Much to his mother's horror, he was fascinated by death, and furtively dissected a few animal corpses (i.e. deceased cats he found on the side of the road) because he wanted to better understand how their anatomy worked. Kidthello kept several pet frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians, stealthily hiding them from his mama. He strongly preferred to wear loose, baggy clothing made out of soft fabric, for sensory reasons, and also had several quirks in his eating habits (i.e. lining up cherry pits in rows, pitching a fit if his green peas touched the potatoes on his plate, etc.). Despite his considerable intellect, Othello remained a mediocre student because he only applied himself toward subjects that piqued his curiosity, eschewing dull textbooks and rote memorization in favor of his late-night, amateur attempts at research.

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them.

Othello x Blavat Sky. They both have chaotic energy, distinctive character designs, and copious amounts of gender, but my short king deserves better than that smarmy fortune teller. 😤

20. A weird headcanon.

Othello is a pretty decent ventriloquist and freaked the other reapers out by bringing his dummy to an office party.

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

When he was given his own laboratory. Othello now had access to resources he couldn't have envisioned in his wildest dreams as a mortal, and centuries (if not millenia!) in which to explore the questions which intrigued him.

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

Immediately prior to becoming a reaper. I headcanon that Othello's backstory shares certain similarities with that of Shakespeare's tragic protagonist; namely, that he murdered his wife after a false, manipulative "friend" tricked him into thinking she had committed adultery when in fact she was innocent. Othello had been deeply hurt by this misguided belief because he'd truly fallen in love with his spouse, finally discovering someone who accepted him. Upon realizing his grievous error, the scientist was stricken with remorse and killed himself.

23. Future headcanon.

Grelle often takes Othello with her to attend Pride parades in the mortal realm, and they make eachother little bead bracelets using their respective pride flag colors. >w<

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they have never told anyone?

Othello curled up on his bed and cried for hours the night that he and Undertaker separated, only to put on a nonchalant act the next day and pretend like the relationship had never been that big a deal, anyway. He takes rejection hard but usually isn't comfortable admitting as much.

25. When do you think they acted the most OOC?

I don't think we know him well enough to say for certain yet.

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

While I suspect that he might be hiding something, my impression is that Othello doesn't give a damn about others' opinions of him and is unrepentantly himself, even if others judge his peculiar mannerisms and behavior.

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc., who would be the most fun for them to meet?

Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb. Oh, the glorious chaos that would ensue...

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

Eat licorice. I love you, king, but that stuff tastes VILE.

29. How do you think they would be as a parent?

Honestly, I think Othello would be much better off as the fun uncle who pops by every now and then to visit the kids and give them cool presents. While he would genuinely love his children, he'd probably be so absorbed in his theories and research that they'd inadvertently be excluded from his reclusive bubble, placing most of the burden of their daily care on his partner(s)

30. The funniest scene they had?

When he threw his death scythe at Undertaker...only for the "attack" to devolve into a comical failure! XD As Miss Grelle remarks (I see you breaking the fourth wall, Yana), it would have made sense for this moment to reveal a ferocious strength beneath Othello's unassuming facade. Instead, we see that the geek from Forensics probably shouldn't be wielding anything larger than a pipette! 😆😆😆

[iamanartichoke]

(This post was inspired by a recent post by @kayura-sanada​ that I was going to reblog, but my own addition became so long and, frankly, off-topic to the original post’s content that I figured it was fairer to create my own post. But theOP I’m referring to can be found here and is a good read.)

Okay, so: this is a wonderful analysis of Tony Stark, @kayura-sanada​, and I agree that it’s concerning seeing this written by a psychologist (although I think there has to be a little wiggle room in the fact that said psychologist is basing their diagnosis on their own interpretation, and - I would hope - it would probably change if Tony Stark were a real person who was their patient. I gotta hope that).

I agree with all of your overall points regarding Tony, but I wanted to reblog this specifically because this post is such a perfect example of a larger problem within fandom and fandom wank. The problem is that fictional characters can be interpreted any way you want, sure, but there’s a line between supporting your interpretation with evidence from the source, and supporting your interpretation with stuff you just kinda made up. There is a right and a wrong interpretation. 

Here’s what I saw happen with this post: your response to the OP is lengthy because it dissects the OP bit-by-bit; it responds to the claims made in those bits with evidence from the films that supports a completely opposite interpretation of the character. And the response you got largely ignores all of that evidence and analysis in favor of a surface-deep response about open interpretations and how it’s “all just fiction anyway.”

And I see the same pattern repeat itself over and over in fandom:

“Character A is Trait B and that’s why they do Actions C, D, and E.”

“Actually, character A is more Trait F, and examples of Trait F are shown in Action G, H, and I.”

“Okay, but when they do Action H, they’re responding to Event J, but with Actions C and E, they clearly demonstrate Trait B, along with Trait K and L.”

“Well, but, saying they are/have Trait K is kind of a reach, and when they did Action H it was out of character, because in the same situation in previous films, they responded to Event J in a different way. For example, .....” (long post)

“I’m not reading all of that, it’s open to interpretation, and it’s just fiction anyway.”

Later, rinse, repeat.

And it’s like, look, yes, you can interpret the characters however you want. Fandom is supposed to be a fun, engaging space where fans are inspired to create new works and discuss all aspects of the source. Headcanons exists because of open character interpretation. Shipping exists because of open character interpretation. Rarepairs and alternate universes and ‘there was only one bed!’ and lots of tropes exist because of open character interpretation. 

Without that open freedom to engage with the source/characters in whatever way makes you happy, fandom wouldn’t be what it is, and I would never want to discourage that. 

That all said, it is possible that someone’s interpretation is wrong. That the way they imagine the character or the way they’re interpreting the character’s words and actions is a contrast to what’s really supposed to be going on in the scene or with the overall arc. The wrongness can come from any number of things - interpreation being colored by personal experience, preferences, projection, whatever.

In the case above, the psychiatrist is viewing Tony Stark through a lens of what they already decided the character is: a case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. They took that lens and picked out (vague) examples of how the character portrays those traits.

This is fine. If that person wants to think Tony is a narcissist and that’s how they want to engage with the character and subsequent works (pretending that this was a meta post instead of a published article), then that’s their prerogative.

But upon closer analysis, the original interpretation kinda falls apart. The contrasting analysis takes a deeper look at the material and says, I don’t think what you’re saying is going on here is actually what’s going on here, and this is why.

But people don’t want to be told they’re wrong, especially in a fandom space, especially with something they hold dear to them (as interpretations can be intensely personal, and I know this). When the two interpretations clash, and one interpretation doesn’t really hold up to closer analysis, then suddenly, being critical of the source equates to disliking the source, and analysis is reduced to people just being negative and wanting to find things wrong with the source. Disagreeing with someone’s interpretation is taken as a personal attack. People get offended personally. The discussion devolves into ugly rhetoric, insults, or simply dismissiveness (”that’s nice but whatever,” “it’s just fiction,” etc).

And you might say, well, if you think someone’s interpretation is wrong, why are you trying to rain on their parade? Why are you trying to prove them wrong? Let people enjoy things! Let people fandom how they want! Let people write and create and be inspired in their own way!

To which I say, absolutely! Please, continue to enjoy the Thing and your interpretation of it. Continue to create through the lens of that interpretation. Create what makes you happy, fandom however you want to. I am a big proponent of “fandom and let fandom.” What other people like and dislike makes very little difference to me, and I’m certainly not under any illusion that everyone must see things the way that I see them or else they are Doing it Wrong. Nor do I take it personally if someone doesn’t agree with my take. 

None of that is my point. My point is that it becomes an issue that splinters and fractures fandom spaces when criticism and discussion are discouraged, when long analysis posts are mocked, when threads are hijacked, when it gets to a point where disagreeing with someone’s take on a Thing cancels them - to you - as a person. Because you miss out. You miss out on discussion, and on engaging with creative fanworks, and widening your fandom circle.

Instead, the circle just narrows, and there’s an underlying sense of hostility that colors every interaction you have. And it makes it not fun for anyone.

People need to be more open to the idea that there is, in fact, a right and a wrong side to most arguments. They need to be willing to defend their argument in a way that holds up and, if they don’t want to defend their interpretation, that’s fine - more power to you - but they need to then stop making fun of and being generally shitty to those who disagree.

People need to stop pretending that analysis and critical thinking don’t matter. They need to stop pretending that “fiction” is this vague concept that has no bearing on the real world and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Fiction shapes our world, and art imitates life. Being unable to think critically about fiction indicates a larger issue of being unable to think critically about the things that do matter in the real world, like science and poltiics. 

Just look at what this country has become. Each side believes it is the correct side, the “winning” side, but one of them is supported with verifiable facts and evidence and one isn’t, and when the one that isn’t is confronted with the fact that they are wrong, they either dismiss the argument entirely or go and find “alternative facts” from unreliable sources they can point to and say, see? A, B, C, D, and E may say I’m wrong, but F says I’m right, so fuck you.

I’m certainly not saying that fandom should be taken as seriously as politics, but I am saying that if people were more amenable to changing their minds or even just recognizing that criticism isn’t an attack and it’s not personal if someone dislikes a Thing that you feel passionate about - or vice versa - then maybe we’d have a better fandom space for all to enjoy. 

And I do try not to be a hypocrite. I am open to changing my mind on positions I’ve taken in fandom - if the analysis and the evidence convince me that there’s another way to look at it. If someone is telling me I’m wrong, and they tell me why it’s wrong (yes, in detail), then I’m more than happy to take a second look. Maybe it will change my mind; maybe it will simply be something I’m cognizant of while I continue to enjoy the material in the way that’s most fun for me. Either way, I’m not trying to hold fandom as a whole to any kind of standard I wouldn’t also expect myself to meet. 

That being said, this post is 90% me venting. Ironically, I don’t expect this to change anyone’s mind. I’m not saying there’s any one solution that will work for everybody or even that everyone sees a problem that needs solving. I’m just saying that I don’t enjoy fandom as much as I used to, and this particular pattern of "wank” (for lack of a better word) is the reason why. 

[unholyhelbig]

Title: Robbing a Dead Woman

Ship: Beca Mitchell/ Chloe Beale:

Prompt: "Why are you robbing a dead woman?" "Why did you die rich enough to rob?"

The first thing Beca Mitchell realized, was that the ground was still frozen. Even though it was well into May and a subtle sweat was dripping its way down her back, it seemed as if the soil in St. Joseph cemetery didn’t’ get the memo- and if it did, it had been swiftly ignored.

She had almost fallen over, sticking the tip of the iron shovel just below the grass before balancing on its wings and nearly toppling into the marker that was just to the right of the one she had positioned herself on top of- and really, Beca Mitchell wasn’t built to rob graves. She wasn’t built to do anything except for curl up and sleep.

It was well past three am and her exhaustion was still clinging to her just like the scent of freshly turned dirt filled the air. And this was stupid, truly, it was. Because the last thing she ever wanted to do was dig up the grave of some old bat because her gold-plated watch had a gold-plated map on the bottom that would lead to even more gold.

Someone else had probably, probably dug this up before. But the coordinates that she stumbled upon on the campus library had an unbroken seal. So, she thought that maybe it was possible that the famous Beale treasure was still here, still hidden, and still buried under feet of half-frozen mud.

Beca got the first layer of mottled dirt and grey grass away from the opening before she decided to catch her breath. Her shoulders ached and she was sure that a splinter was wedged into the palm of her hand at this point. Her exhale clouded in front of her.

Gravediggers had some gull, she decided, to do this for a living. But she was also sure when no one was watching they brought out a machine that did this for them. It was horrible work- horrible needless work. She was a history major, a stupid history major that just got into cryptography because of an undergrad, and fell into a deep dark hole of lies and codes and deceit.

The Beale family really was at the center of it all. Their names were on several of the buildings on campus and there was an ominous oil painting of Mr. Thomas Beale in the science wing. He wore a lavish blue coat that must have been a fortune in those days and scowled down at the students hunched over different mixtures.

She had already committed some… crimes, or vandalism when she snuck into the dark hallways and took a pocketknife to the back of the dusty canvas. She didn’t’ press hard enough to break into the layer that faced the world, but she hoped vainly that whoever dusted around it next didn’t hold it up to the sun because there would be a very precise square missing from the middle.

The map in the book had led her to the painting and the painting had lead her to Chloe Elizabeth Beale’s grave, which she was now more than halfway through. She could smell the wet overturned soil and her own sweat, and the blood from the blisters on her palms.

A golden light swept across the campus cemetery and Beca didn’t’ waste any time dropping into the hole in the ground that she had just upturned. She held her breath as if the person wasn’t just a passing stranger in their car or some students leaning into one another with the smokey stone park as a backdrop.

She was on her back, trying to ignore the prospect of worms squirming under her clothes. She watched the light and fought the urge to drift off because the dirt was shockingly comfy and warm after a while. The lull of the nearby engine was enough to seduce anyone.

“Why are you robbing a dead woman?” A voice whispered.

Beca shot her eyes open and a scream threatened to form in her throat before passing her lips. But before she could a hand clamped over her mouth, strong and cold and also tasting of soil. She breathed in thickly and darted her eyes towards her left.

For all intents and purposes, Beca Mitchell figured that she was alone in the graveyard. She had been alone while digging and alone while researching where to dig. More importantly, she had been completely and utterly alone while she ducked and flattened herself on top of the soil.

But a woman was next to her, so close that she should be able to feel body heat and she should be able to notice something other than her stunning, ghostly, looks. Her red ringlets of hair and the way little specks of black sludge against rosy, white skin. There were freckles, soft and subtle ones that would be void for not the fleeting headlights still shining through the markers.

“You shouldn't do that, I don’t know who’s in that car but they won’t take kindly of you robbing a dead woman. Why are you doing that, by the way? Robbing a dead woman?”

The girl frowned as if she realized Beca couldn’t answer with a hand over her mouth and pulled back, her breath was just as cold as her skin, even as it pushed against Beca’s collar bone and made her hair raise.

The historian made an uneducated leap. “Why did you die rich enough to rob?”

She had never seen valid photos of Thomas Beale’s wife, but it was only rational, or irrational, to figure that this was her. She hadn’t even hit wood yet and ghosts… ghosts weren’t technically real, not that she could prove or disprove.

But this woman, beautiful and dark and light all at once, didn’t disprove her theory. In fact, she smiled as if it were more than just assumption. Her white teeth were glistening under the moonlight as it mingled with the rest of the world.

“Oh, you know you’re not the first person to attempt this?” She said, turning from her side so her dark blue eyes faced the sky and the stars within it. Beca was torn between watching her and watching the constellations but figured they were the same thing- really. “The whole grave robbing thing is a bit barbaric though. Started in the nineteenth century when medical students stole bodies to perform dissections.”

“History buff, are we?” Beca asked, trying to gauge the engine of the car turning over again.

“Thomas didn’t think women should be able to learn but I spent most of my time reading regardless. He was quite barbaric too.” She scoffed “Liked to make people fight for their next move. Did he hide treasure, then? No one has ever gotten this far before.”

“Other’s have tried?”

“Plenty. You got the painting, though. Smart. I like smart.”

Beca grimaced and tore her eyes away from the sky. She found that Chloe Elizabeth Beale stared at her now too. They didn’t’ say anything, not for a few moments. She didn’t look dead or dying, she looked preserved, she looked captivating.

“What killed you, then?” Beca asked despite herself, curious “If I’m to rob a dead woman I might as well know what made her that way.”

Chloe had a bit of a smile to her voice; it was a soft sideways grin and it made Beca warm in a cold grave. “Consumption. They said it was consumption anyway, with it’s blood and mass destruction. But it never lined up for me and by the time I had enough sense to refuse the whiskey’s that Thomas poured it was too late. Arsenic really has no taste. Did you know that?”

“Can’t say I did,”

“Thomas was always one for his riddles. He thought it would be poetic to hide the next clue within a cage, buried under dirt and a gold wedding ring that was much too weighty to carry. Once some poor fool got all the way to my finger and figured that was the treasure.”

It was Beca’s turn to smile. “Oh? So if I ever get a chance to clear the dirt, there’s going to be something more?”

“mm,” She hummed, breath not showing as Beca’s did in the slowly dimming night “Maybe. Let me know if you ever get the chance. I’d love to know if there’s any truth to the myth. The legend… something worth dying for.”

[escapismnotfound]

Some more little nightmares HC

It’s a very long read and yes spoilers are in here!

All of this is mostly based in my little nightmares world.

I’ll add more if I can think of any

-when crouching 6 has her feet completely flat to the ground. Mono can sort of do that but struggles.

-6’s favorite colors go from yellow to gold to green. Purple replaces green when she gets to the Maw

-Mono can’t taste spicy food. But 6 can and she hates the spicy stuff.

-Mono has a beauty mark on the back on his knee that forms a perfect heart. He also has one close to his navel.

-6 has a beauty mark on her shoulder blade. Right next to the scar she got from falling one day.

-RK has double jointed fingers.

-RK actually hates the color blue (he associates the color to the time in prison) his favorite color is actually orange.

-RCG is polite not really nice. (After all she closed that door on 6 in the mobile game)

-everyone feels okay about Mono. They think he’s a bit odd but he means well.

Everyone feels iffy with 6, she’s adorable but morally grey.

-6 likes to cuddle but refuses to let anyone else know. (She shyly explained it to Mono one night when she struggled to sleep)

-Mono is new to physical affection (hugs, hand holding, cuddles) and gladly feeds into it via 6

Who is somewhat new to it but not really.

-RK likes to hug, especially the nomes he finds but he HATES hand holding

-every kid wants a night light of some sort. Expect 6, whose slept in the night blindly before and scoffs at the others

-6 would own pet insects if given the chance. Mono a rabbit. RK a bird and RGC a cat.

-6 visits the Nest often with her family. Unfortunately meeting Pretender and hating the younger girl. (All thanks to 6’s mother oc)

-RGC meet 6 when both were trying to escape. 6 then thought murder was the best possible answer and well; you know.

-Janitor loves and cares for the kids, he swears on it

-The Lady is just older 6 who unfortunately got bounded to the Maw and now runs the ship

-The Geisha was the one 6 ate and stole the power from. She knew of 6 thanks to 6’s mother.

-Mono lives in the Tower with The Broadcaster. He just wants a life free of any work his dad is preparing him for.

That’s why he escaped to the Hunter’s forest.

-the Hunter just wanted to live a normal life but then the signal reached his home and invaded his safe heaven.

6 is also affected by this since it morphed and mutated her throat and lungs plus stomach.

-RK does NOT get turned into a nome instead he is turned into one of those shadow kids instead.

-6 is mathematically smart and English mart but her history and science is lacking. Until the dissections start.

-RK’s eye color is blue but he doesn’t know it.

-RCG struggles with speech.

-Mono is colorblind. (Think of the old TV’s that had limited color; yeah :)) )

-RK is left handed and RCG is both right and left handed.

-6 is right only and so is Mono.

-Mono is a loose vegetarian and 6 is strongly a carnivore.

-RK enjoys fruits the most

-Mono sends out bottles to the sea in hopes that older 6 will receive them. They have letters in them and 6 only gets one or two of them really.

They say simple things but always end with ‘I hope I see you again.’



[kinktae]

bitchin’ || (M)

↳ PART OF MY REWIND SERIES

The 80s were a time of choices. Which perm was right for you? What color neon would you wear next? None of these choices, however, were more questionable than a certain deal you made with Jeon Jungkook.

pairing: fratboy!jungkook x reader

word count: 4.8k

genre: 1980s au, eventual smut, e2l

warnings: multiple smut scenes, science talk, banter, jealousy, alcohol & LOTS of colorful 80s slang lmao

A/N: Bitchin’ is a multichapter fic, surprise!! This fic was inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Thank you to @junqkook for letting me use her likeness and helping me with Yara’s character overall.

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10

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PART ONE

12:16 pm.

The time on the clock was glaring at you, a silent caution that today's lab was going to totally suck.

You could feel irritation start to eat away at you. You and your best friend, Yara, had a deal. She would show up to the dissection today and, in exchange, you would gladly do all the work. But given that class would start in four minutes, you had a sneaking suspicion that Yara was going to in fact skip class after all.

You let your chin sink down into the comfort of your open palm, eyes flickering once again towards the black and white clock that was perched up above the classroom's blackboard. Usually, you could hear each small tick of time, but seeing as this lab was more exciting, every student in the room was currently chatting amongst their peers, covering the clock's sound.

You considered for a moment making conversation with your professor. That idea was quickly squashed once you realized that he too was preoccupied – his attention set on the clock as well, allowing the minute hand to make its final journey before beginning the class.

Suddenly, you realized that not only had Yara left you alone, but she had also left you without a partner to do the dissection. You glanced around the room, frowning as you saw that every other table was evenly numbered, meaning you would be forced to join a random pair to make a group of three.

Wicked.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Mr. Kim began, pausing to take a swig from his coffee mug. "I hope everyone read the email I sent out yesterday in regards to proper attire. If anyone isn't wearing actual shoes, then I suggest you beat it unless you're particularly amped at the idea of losing a toe when someone accidentally drops their scalpel."

A few isolated giggles rang out, but no one made any move to leave.

"No one? Radical. Feet are gross anyway–"

The sound of the classroom door suddenly being pushed open stole away everyone's attention. The late boy that walked in froze momentarily, clearly not expecting all eyes to fall onto him, but quickly regained his composure as he flashed a smile.

"Sorry I'm late, Seokjin." He apologized lazily.

"Better late than never, Jeon." Mr. Kim acknowledged briefly, raising an eyebrow. "Although, if you call me Seokjin again then you'll be the next thing I have the class dissect."

The threat was empty and pulled a shared laugh from the students, including the one it was directed at.

You hardly had time to laugh yourself because before you knew it, the boy was headed towards your table.

Not wanting to hold eye contact with the tardy student as he made his way over, you let your stare fall onto your lap. The worn-out denim of your jeans wasn't distraction enough from the sound of the boy taking a seat beside you, his bag being thrown carelessly onto the floor.

Glancing at him from the corner of your eyes, you watched as he began to rummage through it.

Jeon Jungkook.

You had recognized him the moment he had stepped in; the two of you had attended the same high school after all. Not that he knew that. You were reasonably sure that the two of you never crossed paths back then. Well, unless you count the time him and his asshole friends tore down the pep rally banners you and the party planning committee had spent so much time on.

You were well aware of the fact that he was in this class as well, but this was by far the closest you had ever physically come to him.

Jungkook was the kind of guy people noticed– muscular build, dark, messy hair with an attractive smile. Not that any of that interested you, of course. As far as you were concerned, he was still the same disruptive tool that he was in high school

Oh, god. Please don't let him be your partner.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Jungkook spoke suddenly, heat rocketing through your body as you realized you had yet to pull your eyes off of him.

"S-Sorry!" You stuttered out, turning in your seat so that he couldn't meet your eyes, horrified that he had caught you staring at him so openly.

Jungkook clearly didn't think much of it your total social faux pas, as a boyish laugh escaped him.

"Don't sweat it." He shrugged, dropping a sheet of paper and a pen in front of him. "I'm Jeon Jungkook, by the way."

"Yep." You nodded absentmindedly.

He seemed taken aback at your response, noticeably confused. A nervous giggle escaped you, realizing how incapable of communicating you had become.

"Uh! I just meant–– I know who you are. We, like, went to high school together." You admitted, leg bouncing anxiously under the table. "I'm Y/N."

Jungkook cocked his head, clearly surprised. "Oh shit, did we?"

You let out a noise of confirmation.

Mr. Seokjin suddenly began speaking to the class, and you turned your attention to your professor as he started to introduce the lab.

"Who was in your circle?" Jungkook asked as if he didn't even hear his professor speaking.

You offered him a sparing glance, "What?"

"Like your friend group. You had friends, right?" Jungkook teased.

"Yes, I had friends." A serious tone on your tongue, trying to somehow still listen to what your professor was saying while Jungkook conversed with you. "I just… don't think you'd know of any of them."

Jungkook seemed unsatisfied with your response, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Did you do something? Like were you on any teams or anything?"

For a moment, you contemplated telling Jungkook to bag his face, that you were actually trying to hear what Mr. Kim was saying as you genuinely cared about passing this class. But seeing as he was sitting beside you, it was probably best not to piss him off.

"Well," You began cautiously, keeping your voice low, "I was a member of mathletes–"

Jungkook cut you off immediately.

"Woah, hold on. Mathletes? Like math?"

You turned towards him, fighting back the urge to roll your eyes. You weren't at all surprised by his reaction. You couldn't imagine someone like Jungkook who spent the majority of high school cracking out jokes from the back of the classroom giving a single shit about academics.

"Yes, like math. I was also in our marching band." You offered as if that would make any difference to him.

"So... you were a loser. Gotcha." He mused, causing you to frown slightly.

Alright, asshole...

"No." You countered calmly, trying not to reveal how offended you were. "We just had different interests."

"Like totally different." He grinned stupidly.

"Yep." You responded dryly, turning away from the dark-haired boy. You were also student body treasurer, but frankly, you no longer cared enough to tell him that. Your self-esteem wasn't fragile enough to be shattered by some asswipe calling you a loser, but it certainly didn't feel good.

"Alright, so with that said, go ahead and pair up. Coats and goggles are in the back of the room. Don't let me catch you doing anything stupid and have fun." Mr. Seokjin's words caught your attention, luring out another sigh from you.

Sliding off your stool, you tried your best to avoid the stare that Jungkook was pressing against your skull, walking into the crowd of chatting students who were making their way over towards the back. Surely he had friends in this class that he could partner up with. You'll just join someone else's group.

You were just beginning to button up your white lab coat when a towering presence made its way over to you.

"So, nerd." Jungkook's voice called out, reaching around you for a lab coat. "Are we doing this thing or what?"

'Or what.' You could feel yourself wanting to answer back almost immediately.

You turned away from Jungkook to glance over the room, feeling your shoulders sink as you realized everyone was partnered and you were undoubtedly stuck with him.

Jungkook stood there, an amused look on his face as you gave him a skeptical one as if measuring him up.

"Fine." You answered begrudgingly, grabbing a pair of goggles of their rack. "But I'm taking the lead on the dissection. You can take notes and observe what we find."

Just because you were agreeing to partner up with him didn't mean you were willing to sacrifice your lab grade. And if Jungkook didn't like that then… well… he could go find someone else to annoy all class.

At your words, Jungkook let out a laugh of surprise, clearly not expecting such an authoritative tone.

"Damn, you got it, Captain. The geek ship is all yours." He joked cheekily, holding a hand to his head as if saluting you.

You sent him a tight-lipped smile, already collecting a few choice words you'd be gifting Yara the second you saw her.

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"God, gag me with a spoon." You grimaced, a foul odor attacking your nose as you bent over to get closer to the preserved frog you had laid out on your tray. You picked up the scalpel, trying to prepare yourself for the first cut mentally.

Jungkook's eyes flicked towards the creature before letting out a noise of awe.

"Oh, gnarly! One of its eyes is stuck open!"

"Don't say tell me that as I'm about to cut into it!" You squeaked out, gripping your blade. "That's not exactly a comforting observation as I'm about to expose its insides. Besides, I need you taking this seriously."

Jungkook raised his hands up by his chest, waving them defensively.

"Sorry, sorry. Happy cutting." He apologized, resting his chin in his palm.

The dissection wasn't particularly hard, in fact, if it had gone as you envisioned it – you cutting and describing what you saw with Jungkook writing down notes – you imagined it would go by rather quickly. Unfortunately for you, Jungkook had a constant need for small talk and very little desire to help get this lab completed quickly.

"Let's give him a name." He called out after maybe two minutes of uninterrupted silence.

"No."

Jungkook tutted in disappointment, "Why not?"

"It's dead, Jungkook." You reasoned.

"Doesn't mean he can't have a name." He pointed out. "I'm gonna call him Bernie."

You shut your eyes, stilling yourself as took in a deep breath.

"Jungkook... please. I'm just trying to do this lab. For the both of us." You responded, pulling away from the dead frog.

"And I'm trying to pass the time. For the both of us." He mocked, an attractive albeit irritating smile on his mouth.

You set down the cutting utensil, letting the metal clang against the tray, your temper finally catching up with you.

"Has anyone ever told you you're kind of insufferable?" You said pointedly.

You weren't usually this outwardly direct to people you hardly knew, but holy cow something about this kid pushed every single damn one of your buttons.

Annoyingly, Jungkook didn't even seem to notice your change in tone, a laugh escaping him.

"Well, you certainly wouldn't be the first. Definitely the first of your social status, though." He smirked. You let out an exasperated huff.

"What the hell is your damage?" You snapped.

"What do you mean?"

"I know a loser like me probably isn't your usual company and that you clearly don't give a shit about the fact that this lab is worth twenty percent of our grade but I do. All I want is to get this lab done so we can get the hell out of each others' hair. So if you have a problem with me or something that you want to get off your chest, speak now."

There were a few silent beats where the two of you just stared at each other, Jungkook looking pensive while your chest rose and fell slowly as you tried to control your angry breaths.

"Okay." He spoke finally, catching you off guard.

"Okay?"

"My girlfriend left me for another guy today. It's why I was late. I'm just trying to get my mind off shit, I guess. I'm sorry I keep calling you names, that's just how I joke around with my friends. It probably doesn't translate well with strangers who don't know me. So, I'm sorry. I'll stop." He explained softly, a foreign expression on his face.

You blinked.

"Oh. Uh, well... Apology accepted." You replied, awkwardly.

When you had gone on your little rant, you had been hoping that it would make Jungkook feel just uneasy enough to shut up and focus on the lab. You weren't expecting anything of substance to leave his mouth, so you really had no idea where to go from here. Especially with the way he was looking at you like you had just kicked him.

"I'm sorry... about your girlfriend."

Jungkook shrugged, "Shit happens."

"Did you, like, know the guy?" You asked cautiously in a weak attempt to comfort him.

"Yeah, he's one of my brothers." He nodded.

"She left you for your brother?!" You exclaimed, your jaw all but dropping. Immediately, Jungkook flinched, eyes flickering across the room where a couple of students had turned towards the two of you in interest.

"Pipe down, okay? I don't need everyone knowing my business, damn." He frowned, throwing you a glare.

"Sorry, I'm just... that's gonna be one awkward family dinner." You scrunched your nose.

"What? Oh no, not my actual brother. He's in the same fraternity as me. Frat brother." Jungkook clarified.

"Ohhh." You nodded.

His... fraternity brother. Of course.

You bit down on your lip.

Jungkook eyed you for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Go ahead."

"What?" You cocked your head in fake confusion.

"I already know what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

"You're thinking that me being in a frat just confirmed the fact that you think I'm some sort of meathead." He continued, rolling his eyes.

A sharp laugh fell through your lips and Jungkook's eyes widened at the sound. It was the first time he had made you laugh, he realized.

"Psshh, not even." You lied through your teeth, trying and failing to suppress your smile.

"Even." He countered, playfulness in his tone. The both of you held each others' eyes for a moment, mutual grins exchanged.

"Anyway, I'm sure she'll be back soon enough." He continued calmly.

"Oh, so you're gonna try and win her back?" You asked.

"Hm? Nah, we've always been on and off, she'll come back eventually."

You frowned, "And you're okay with that?"

You weren't typically one to judge others' love lives given how you currently didn't have one, but you couldn't help but marvel at Jungkook's words. He shrugged in response.

You shifted uncomfortably, "Have you considered moving on? Or at least doing something to get her actually to stay with you?"

"Like what?" Jungkook laughed, clearly not taking you seriously.

Great question. You weren't particularly skilled with knowledge when it came to romantic relationships; you had only ever had one boyfriend, and while it was fairly serious, things had ended amicably enough.

You thought back to your sisters at that moment. The twins were older than you and had both gone through a significant number of breakups. When the three of you were growing up, they usually relied on one another when it came to boy troubles, but that didn't mean you didn't get an earful late at night. Your bedroom shared a wall with theirs and, well, Rosa and Lia had always been loud people after all.

"Give her a reason to regret letting you go... become a better man and whatnot." You responded after some contemplation. "Show her what she's missing."

"Oh, she knows exactly what she's missing." Jungkook smirked, eyes flickering towards the front of his jeans. "Why do you think she keeps coming back?"

You blinked.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth."

"Dick this good doesn't come around that often." He continued seriously, wagging his pointer finger from side to side.

"Incredible. I just did it again." You deadpanned, causing Jungkook to snort.

"Seriously? I'm what's grossing you out in this scenario?" He mused, looking down at the frog you were previously dissecting. You let out a hum, nodding.

"As much as I appreciate the 411 on your dick, I've got a layer of fascia to cut through."

"Fine. Why don't you try and make conversation then, since your baggin' on everything I bring up?"

"I don't have anything to talk about." You shrugged, moving over to the frog, beginning to cut.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow, "Really? Nothing exciting happening in your life?"

"Yes, actually. I just located Bernie's trachea." You revealed. Jungkook walked over to your end of the table, eyes wide with disbelief as he leaned in for a closer look.

Your eyes widened as his shoulder brushed itself against yours, his sudden proximity unexpected.

He smelled like cologne, clearly wearing enough to make itself known past the stench of formaldehyde and you found yourself taking a step back, slightly flustered.

Sure, Jungkook was just a dumb frat boy, but he was an attractive one and it was just a little bit daunting.

You watched his profile as he marveled at the revealed insides of the frog, even reaching for a pair of forceps to pull back the flap of skin to get a better look.

"Actually, there is something I'm excited about."

"If it's his heart, I'm already one step ahead of you." He quipped back, not looking up from the frog. You shook your head.

"I want to throw an event on campus."

Jungkook's eyes flickering towards you was your cue to continue talking.

"It's to encourage more women to pursue careers in science and engineering. I've planned the whole thing and even made flyers."

"Well… it's no frog heart but that's certainly something." Jungkook smiled, causing your heart to pound.

You nodded, suddenly growing excited.

"All I need a sponsor. I can't afford to throw it myself– not to mention the fact that I'm not even sure people would even show up. I just think there are so many opportunities in STEM fields that more girls would thrive in if they were just encouraged enough." You continued, eyebrows furrowing as you began to think.

"Do you know that just a few years ago we made the first-ever artificial heart. A heart, Jungkook; a man got to live an additional one hundred and twelve days even though his original heart was nearly ripped to shreds. And just a few months ago, a child was born through gestational surrogacy. The woman who birthed her was literally just a human surrogate, she didn't pass down any DNA to the child. None! I mean, babies can be born from Petri dishes! We are literally changing the boundaries of fertility and sterility as we know it!"

Jungkook was grinning as he watched you speak. He couldn't help it. Here you were, decked out in your lab coat and goggles, scalpel in hand as you rambled on about science. It was kind of endearing, he noted... in a dorky way, at least.

"So, uh, yeah. Sorry, I just…" You came back down to earth eventually, noting the way he was staring at you with amusement. You hadn't meant to get so caught up in your thoughts. "I realize that probably isn't as exciting to everyone as it is to me. That was my attempt at making conversation."

Jungkook had a dumb look on his face, and you weren't surprised at all with his reply.

"You know... I bet there's someone out there that finds all your science talk really hot."

You let out a deep sigh, shoulders slumping down in defeat.

"Not everything is about sex, you know."

"No, but everything interesting is." He grinned lopsidedly.

Jungkook had this unusually natural composure about him. As if he could shrug off any inconvenience with one stupid smile.

How frustrating. It made it increasingly difficult for you to stay mad at him for very long.

"Come on, meathead. Let's get this over with." You rolled your eyes, nudging your shoulder into his muscular one.

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"Y/N!" Jungkook's voice called out, halting you mid-stride.

You let out a sigh, forcing a smile onto your face as you turned around, watching as an expectant looking Jungkook jogged over to you, his hair bouncing with every step.

"Hey," He breathed out as he reached you, "you left so fast I didn't get a chance to say goodbye."

Yeah, and you thought you had gotten away with it too.

Jungkook wasn't a bad kid; he was funny and didn't take things too seriously– even if those qualities about him were slightly frustrating. No, Jungkook was alright you supposed, but that didn't mean the two of you were suddenly best friends. You didn't care much for formalities, especially when all you wanted to do was go back to your dorm, shower, and take a nap.

"Oh, right. Sorry." You recognized, adjusting the strap of your bag over your shoulder.

Jungkook merely smiled at you, and you wondered if he was gonna say anything else. Realizing that he wasn't, you pressed your lips together awkwardly.

"Well... bye." You nodded stiffly, already moving to turn and make your exit. A warm hand wrapping around your wrist stopped you from getting any further, however.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

You stared down at where Jungkook's fingers touched your skin, your eyes wide in surprise. He must have noticed the way your body tensed because he let go of you as quickly as he grabbed you.

"I've, uh, actually got something I want to talk to you about." He grinned sheepishly, the same hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck.

You cleared your throat, pushing down the way your stomach was doing nervous flips, unfortunately, affected by the unexpected skinship. You tilted your chin up silently, urging Jungkook to continue.

"This is gonna sound sudden... and I know you don't really know me..." Jungkook began, causing your stomach to drop in horror.

Oh, God. Was... Was Jeon Jungkook going to ask you out?

"Spit it out, Jeon." You ordered, voice spiked high as your nerves began to rack.

"Would you mind dating me to make my girlfriend jealous?"

You blinked dryly, taking a moment to replay in your head just exactly what Jungkook had asked of you.

Okay... so not quite the love confession you were anticipating...

"Would I mind– What?" You gaped in disbelief.

"It wouldn't be for, like, too long. Probably just for a party or two." Jungkook shrugged as if anything he was saying was making any sense.

You shook your head, "Wait– Seriously, time out. What on earth are you asking me right now?"

Jungkook slipped both his hands into his jacket, which you had only just now taken a moment to admire. It was a brown leather bomber jacket with a few military patches sewn into the sleeves that you assumed must have come with the jacket as Jungkook didn't seem like the crafty type. Most of all, it looked warm and it reminded you that every second you stood here talking to Jungkook was a second you could be spending warm in your dorm under your covers.

"I was thinking about what you said. About showing my ex what she's missing." He explained.

"And you thought that was me auctioning myself off to be your fake girlfriend?" You laughed.

"Look, I know her, okay? If she were to think that you and I were a thing, she'd want to get back together."

You let out a sigh. This relationship of Jungkook's was revealing itself to be suckier and suckier as time went on.

"Why me?" You pressed. "I don't even know who your girlfriend is and I doubt she knows me. Is she in a sorority by chance?"

"Well, yeah–"

"Great! Get with one of her sorority sisters then. Give her a taste of her own medicine." You actually weren't usually one to promote revenge but, hell, if it meant it would get Jungkook off your ass then you were all for it.

"No can do. It's gotta be someone new and that Kiri doesn't know otherwise she won't care." Jungkook tutted.

"I'm not following." You admitted, truly not understanding why Jungkook was asking you of all people. You had only spent two hours with the guy. What about you in a lab coat and reeking of formaldehyde had told him that you were fake girlfriend material?

Jungkook suddenly took a look around and you followed suit, growing even more confused when Jungkook stepped closer and dropped his voice low.

"Kiri... she's president of her sorority; pretty, social, popular, you feel me? If I get someone like her then it just looks like I'm trying to replace her. But if I get–"

"If you say 'someone like you' as in implying I am neither of those things, I'll sock you in the nose." You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

"–someone smart and independent, things that she's not, then she'll think I'm trying to forget her, which is what will get her attention. She'll be pissed, it's perfect." The dark-haired boy concluded, looking smug as if he had said something profound.

"Wow, you really are prince charming." You mused dryly. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble but I have no interest in being used as a pawn in your love game so..."

"You wouldn't be a pawn." Jungkook shook his head. "You'd be rewarded for your services–"

"Isn't that prostitution?" You cut off cheekily, causing Jungkook to roll his eyes.

"–I can help you fund your event." He continued.

At his words, you froze. Your head cocked to the side cautiously as you stared back at him, trying to decipher his sincerity.

"You can?"

Finally. This was the first time Jungkook could tell he had actually piqued your interest enough to really listen to him.

"Beta Tau Sigma. Our frat gets a monetary grant every semester in exchange for helping out in the community and helping fund an event for education sure would make us look damn good. While I'm not on the finance committee, one of my closest brothers is and I can totally pitch hosting your event to him."

"Holy shit..." You breathed out quietly, his words clearly making an impression on you.

If Beta Tau Sigma were to sponsor your event, not only could you afford to throw it but there was a real chance that people would actually come. Greek life was everything to your university and there weren't many significant school events that a frat or sorority wasn't behind.

Hold on. Why were you seriously considering this right now?

"But, I mean, you don't want to get involved in my love life, right? It's cool. See you next class, Y/N."

Jungkook shrugged coolly, spinning on his heel as he began to walk away, dismissing you with a simple gesture of a hand.

Your mind was racing. You had poured so much time into planning this event... Could the solution to finally getting it standing on its own two feet be found in some cocky frat boy? Was your pride that dismissable that you'd pretend to date him just to get what you wanted?

"Jungkook!" Was your inner conflict's final decision.

The boy paused his motions, his knowing smirk hidden as he had his back towards you.

"Hm?" He feigned innocence as he turned to face you.

"If you can seriously get your frat to sponsor my event, then..."

You took a step towards him, words trailing off.

Jungkook took a moment to look you up and down. You were dressed in jeans and a black knit sweater, the outline of a small kitten embroidered on it with white thread. It was an amusing juxtaposition given the nature of your personality.

Your hands were clenched into small fists, a shining, determined gleam in your ardent eyes.

"Then?" He mused smugly.

"Then I'll be the most bitchin' fake girlfriend you've ever had." You declared, a wide grin crawling along the length of your mouth.

Jungkook said nothing at first, just staring at you in silent reverence. He knew he hardly knew you but something about the resolve in your tone had him believing every word.

He extended a hand out towards you, catching you by surprise.

"So, do we have a deal? Partners?" There was mischievous timber to his words, the kind that made you feel as if this would all later come back to bite you in the ass.

Pushing that pestering thought away, you took his hand into yours, holding his eyes as you gave it a firm shake.

"Partners."