#I know this was meant to be chaotic xD!

[owlyflufff]

If bokuaka went on a date to one of these following places, where would the most chaos be caused?:

-An exotic animal petting zoo (eg ostriches and crocodiles)

-A waterpark that's only open from 10pm to four am

-a restaurant that is slightly too posh to behave at because everyone sounds really funny

Anon, may I just tell you how galaxy your brain is because all of these are so good and a perfect avenue for bokuaka to ensue chaos xD!

However, allow me to do you one better, they do all three of these in a single day (or two since the waterpark opens till 4 am)

It goes like this: exotic animal petting zoo, the restaurant for dinner and cap it off with the waterpark.

The first stop is the zoo and not even a moment in, Bokuto got all of the tour guide maps EXCEPT for the one they actually need and can read which is in Japanese. Akaashi admittedly had a bit of an itinerary, in his mind at least, however whatever plans he had are very much trampled by the way Bokuto just runs across the zoo and the "chase after Bokuto" Olympics has begun.

The two of them decide to go to the tiger section for now. Akaashi has to reprimand Bokuto from trying to reach out his bare arm towards the tigers because Fukurodani certainly still needs their fully functional spiker in one piece. For the sillies, Bokuto snaps a picture with the tiger, sends it to Kuroo with the caption "Nekoma could never :P", get it? Cause tigers are also cat-

They go to visit the other animals and though Bokuto had stopped trying to reach out his arm, there comes another hurdle, him attempting to feed the animals. Akaashi throws deadpan comment after another telling Bokuto clearly not to feed the animals to which:

"But Akaashi! Look at these alpacas, they're so cute, how can you not want to give them food?!"

There are certain animals to which are allowed to be fed fortunately, Bokuto takes Akaashi's hands that have food and lead them to the animals, swearing it was his lucky day when he saw a glimpse of Akaashi's fond smile as he fed said animals.

If you think going around the areas with the animals was chaotic, no, for the #1 enemy is actually the gift shop. Without a doubt, Bokuto is already scanning through the various knick knacks and goodies the store has to offer. He's in a genuine problem in choosing what item to purchase until Akaashi walks up to him, holding a pair of keychains with animal puns on it and simply says:

"For us, so that we can match."

Bokuto has never ran faster to the cash register.

The last animal was the one that they had been looking forward to the most: owls. Much to Akaashi surprise, Bokuto was afraid to reach out and give them a pat on the head.

"What if it doesn't like me Akaashi? Does that mean I'm going to get kicked out by the scho-"

"Bokuto-san, being rejected by an owl isn't going to get you kicked out." Though amidst his attempts to lighten Bokuto's mood, he can sense in the very least Bokuto didn't want to sully his first interaction with an owl so Akaashi ever so gently takes Bokuto's hands in his own and together they reach for the owl. It tilts it's head for a moment before gently bumping against Bokuto's hand.

Bokuto let's out a big :D face to Akaashi to which Akaashi gives a silent thumbs up in response.

At the end of their first location for their date, Akaashi had to stop Bokuto from attempting to steal a bunny from the zoo (although in the very least he will admit it was cute-)

"AGHASHEEE!!! That was so much fun! The owl liked me right? It kept nudging it's cute little head on my hand." Bokuto exclaims as they take a moment to sit and unwind on a bench nearby.

"It seemed rather fond of you Bokuto-san."

"Right?! I got to meet an owl for the first time, I'm just glad none of the animals hated me-"

"Whose to say some staff members at the zoo won't hate you after you attempted to enter the gate with all the lions-"

"Akaashi! I just wanted to see if the Lion King was real."

To his side Bokuto had never grown fonder to hear the gentle bubbles of laughter spilling from Akaashi's lips.

"Well, admittedly, I'm not surprised that all the animals took a liking to you."

"Hm? Why is that?"

Slowly but surely, Bokuto can feel a blanket of warmth hug one of his hands. The next moment he peers down to see it's intertwined with Akaashi's own. Another moment, Akaashi's head leans against Bokuto's shoulder and there is so much warmth. However, the words that left Akaashi's lips couldn't be impossibly warmer:

"Because Bokuto-san is a very easy person to love."

(To be continued in the next post)

[oh-meow-swirls]

i love how unhinged the anime is. esp since the dub aired on fucking DISNEY. like what the fuck-

[inkspiredwriting]

The Diner of Destiny

Five Hargreeves x reader

A/N: I hope it won't be long before I can post proper Five x Y/n stories again. Before the whole mess with season 4, I wanted to post a story of y/n having a girls day with Alisson, Sloane and Lila, and then five picking her up later and seeing what a mess they made. But now I'm honest, I don't want Lila and Five together in a story anymore xD I know it's stupid but I can't change it

Warnings: spoilers for season 4 episode 5-6, angst

Five stepped out of the shadows, his sharp eyes scanning the familiar surroundings. He had been here before, but something felt different this time. The station seemed to pulse with an energy he couldn’t quite place, pulling him toward a small, unassuming diner that he had never noticed before.

As he pushed open the door, a small bell chimed, and the dimly lit interior came into view. Its walls adorned with old photographs and clocks that tick out of sync. But what caught his attention most were the people inside.

It wasn’t just any group of people. They were him—Fives, from various timelines and realities. Each of them wore a different expression, ranging from annoyance to outright anger.

One of them, stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at Five. “You finally made it,” he said, his voice laced with bitterness.

Five frowned, his mind racing to understand what was happening. “What is this? Why are we all here?”

“You tell us,” The other Five shot back. “We’ve been waiting for you to show up and face the mess you’ve made.”

“The mess I’ve made?” Five repeated, confusion giving way to irritation. “What are you talking about?”

Another Five, one with a more disheveled appearance, chimed in, “You had one job—find y/n. She was supposed to be your anchor, the one to keep all of us stable across the Timelines. But instead, you got distracted.”

Five’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of y/n. He had never heard that name, and yet it felt like a punch to the gut. “What do you mean, ‘distracted’?”

The other Five crossed his arms, his glare intensifying. “Lila. You got involved with Lila, and that was never supposed to happen. You were supposed to fall in love with y/n in the greenhouse. She was the one meant for you, for all of us.”

Five’s breath caught in his throat. The greenhouse. He remembered it clearly—throwing strawberries, the laughter, the kisses. But it wasn’t y/n he was with. It was Lila. And suddenly, it all made sense.

The other Fives began to murmur, their voices filled with resentment. “We all felt it,” one of them said. “The moment you chose Lila over Y/n, we all felt the shift. She started to fade from our lives.”

Brisket Five added, “And without her, everything is falling apart. Our timelines are unraveling because you didn’t stick to what was meant to be.”

Five’s mind reeled. He had always prided himself on making the hard choices, on doing what needed to be done to keep the timeline intact. But now, he realized he had made a grave mistake. Y/n was supposed to be his anchor, the one constant in the chaotic sea of timelines. But by choosing Lila, he had erased her from existence, not just in his life, but in every Five’s life.

“Why isn’t she here?” Five demanded, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and desperation. “Why can’t we find her?”

The other Five’s expression softened, though the anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface. “Because you erased her, you idiot. The moment you chose Lila, you erased y/n from all of our lives. The woman who was supposed to keep us grounded, to hold us together—gone. And now, we’re all suffering for it.”

Five felt a cold sweat break out on his skin. He had made a choice that he couldn’t take back, and now it was costing him—and every version of himself—everything. The weight of his actions pressed down on him, suffocating him with guilt.

“What do I do?” he whispered, almost to himself. “How do I fix this?”

The Five opposite from him sighed, his anger giving way to something more like pity. “That’s the problem. We don’t know if it can be fixed. Y/n was our everything, the one person who could make us feel human, no matter what timeline we were in. Without her… we’re lost.”

The room fell into a heavy silence, each Five contemplating the enormity of the situation. Five’s mind raced, trying to think of a solution, a way to bring y/n back. But every thought was met with the same bleak realization: he had broken something that might never be repaired.

Finally, Brisket Five spoke again, his voice low and resigned. “You can try to find her. But the truth is, we don’t even know where to start. You’ve changed the course of all our lives, and now… now we’re all paying the price.”

Five swallowed hard, his chest tightening with the weight of his guilt. He had always been the one to take control, to find a way out of impossible situations. But this time, he wasn’t sure if there was a way out. The woman who was supposed to be his guiding light, his North Star, was gone. And it was his fault.

The diner fell into a heavy silence, the weight of what had been lost hanging in the air like a shroud. The other Fives watched him, their anger slowly turning to resignation. They knew, as well as he did, that there was no fixing this. Y/n was gone, and with her, the stability and hope they had all desperately needed.

And as he left the diner, the weight of his actions bore down on him like a heavy burden, one that he wasn’t sure he could ever shake.

[godihatethiswebsite]

Tethered Bonds

✽ Poly 141 x f!reader (Omegaverse AU)

A lucky stroke of fate led you right into the arms of your alpha soulmates. But is it everything you dreamed it would be or just the continuation of a nightmare?

Main Masterlist ✽ Ao3

°•. ✿ .•°.•° ✿ °•.°•. ✿ .•°.•° ✿ °•.°•. ✿ .•°

✽ Part One - A twisted fate

I'm gonna be honest: this came to me in a tired, period induced haze and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing but the bunnies would not let me stop until I finished it. Was supposed to be a oneshot... until it wasn't XD Hoping this is just gonna be a short little pet project on the side. Lemme know if I missed any triggers!

Trigger warnings: SA (not by the 141), biting, claiming, angst, depression, hurt/no comfort, self harm

[Edit 7/16/24: updated relationship tags]

The parking lot was a certified mess to navigate, a veritable winter hellscape with the continual snowfall keeping the pavement slick and churning around spinning wheels to create a thick dirty slush. Packed cars fought for spaces towards the front of the store, wanting to avoid the headache of trudging through sloppy sleet, heavy carts overflowing with expensive gifts and last minute groceries.

Parents loaded up their trunks for their upcoming banquets. Little ones chattered in youthful exuberance about brightly wrapped packages and a jolly fat man. Festively dressed bell ringers exhausted their muscles for the cause of charity, offering joyous smiles to those passing by gracious enough to offer a token. Even six inches of heavy wet snowfall were not enough to deter shoppers from their mood. Coupled with the obnoxiously boisterous music that met you at the door it was almost impossible not to get swept up in the infectious holiday spirit.

Almost.

You hadn’t bothered joining the chaotic dominance for prime parking, opting to choose the very last row towards the street instead of wasting precious minutes yelling profanities out the window to an uppity pack trying to steal your spot. The harsh wind burned your face and nipped at your skin, pulling the woolen scarf tighter around your neck and up over your bitten nose. You avoided eye contact with the chipper lady at the front, not wanting to feel guilty for not donating when you barely had enough to scrape by as it is.

Normally you avoided venturing out this close to Christmas unless absolutely necessary. Holidays haven't meant much to you in recent years since your parent’s untimely passing and you hated the constant reminder of ‘the most wonderful time of the year’. Sure, there were still your other two alpha fathers, but they’d opted for someplace warmer in their age and visitation was difficult with your busy work schedule. Your younger brother wasn’t almost worth mentioning with his new prissy family somewhere up north. That bridge was burned the day he called you a harlot.

Needless to say, you’d become something of a grinch.

You’d been miserably sick the week prior and ate through most of your stockpile of hoarded food, not enough remaining to keep blowing off shopping with the bustling crowds. If you wanted to last past New Years then a trip into town was unavoidable.

The intense blast of hot air from the overhead heaters thawed your aching bones upon entering the store, shaking the accumulated dampness from your head and shoulders but leaving the thick cloth covering the lower half of your face. It would help you in your endeavors to get through the aisles expediently without irritating your delicate omega olfactory senses. 

It got harder to distinguish the source of fragrances this time of year, when folk spent their days burrowed away from the bitter cold surrounded by the comforts of the season. A chilled glass of rich subtly spiced eggnog, smokey cedar logs crackling in the hearth, sweet woodsy pine wreaths and garlands wrapped around thick oak banisters, trees decorated with peppermint candy canes and dried strings of popcorn. 

Gingerbread, mulled wine, cinnamon, orange, clove; a bountiful buffet of complementary aromas. Your own father had smelled of cranberry sauce once upon a time (it made the holidays that much harder when he was gone). And with so many people filling the space - even with the heating fans working overtime trying to filter out most of it - it could get difficult trying to figure out whether a boozy scent originated from a lovely beta or the soaked rum cake she was placing in her cart.

Honestly if it weren't for the outrageous delivery fees you would've had the groceries dropped off instead of enduring the aggressive pheromones floating through the air. Alas this was one of your few exceptions to your hermit lifestyle.

Truthfully, it wasn’t just December that had you hesitant to leave the sanctuary of your meager apartment. 

For the past few years, you’d been battling a severe case of agoraphobia, something you’d been working on wholeheartedly with a therapist since the accident that made you so. It had crippled you to the point that even daring to have the blinds open on your windows sent you spiraling into that dark abyss of cackling distress, panic consuming every last ounce of breath until you found yourself minutes later curled up on the bathroom floor, lightheaded and queasy.

Nausea was a constant in your life, along with the cold sweat that had you sleeping on a towel just to keep from ruining your bedsheets. Lethargy was embedded in your muscle fibers. A searing ache in your throat. The painful deep tugging in your chest an ever present reminder of the uphill battle you fought each time you opened your crusty sleep filled eyes. Depression was your best friend, curled around you in a false sense of comfort where it was easier to slip into a maladaptive headspace than face the truth of your harsh reality.

But despite the physical manifestations of your trauma, you’d made good strides so far with your weekly sessions. It had been a difficult road getting to this point and your therapist praised you for your dedication to not letting it hinder the life you had ahead. You weren’t sure what it looked like, but you tried all the same.

Like a hound that heard you calling, that ominous presence that filled you with dread came crawling into the back of your skull, mittened hand discreetly itching at the wool around your neck and scratching the irritated skin beneath. Forcing yourself to take a few deep breaths until it settled, you grabbed one of the many baskets available and began the trek weaving down the rows of food.

Christmas was about a week away and the mobs were out in full force. Thankfully the items you were on the hunt for were not the same ingredients needed by everyone else. There was the occasional overlap of things like milk, eggs, bread, etc. But there was no call for a full sized turkey or spiraled ham; no sweet potato casserole or chocolate yule log to bake. Just some bologna, shredded cheese, a couple packs of ramen, and a few other household things here you were running low on. 

Maybe for the hell of it you’d stop in the frozen section and find yourself a mini cheesecake to splurge on for when you inevitably opened that bottle of fireball sitting on the shelf come next Tuesday, forced to listen to your upstairs neighbors' horrendous attempts at Christmas caroling.

Halfway through the store, your browsing was interrupted by an alluring scent swirling somewhere nearby.

Citrusy. Acidic. Sweet. Airy. 

Your scarf had slipped off your face when you bent down to grab something off the lower racks, exposing you to the freshly baked goods across the way. Someone nearby was carrying a batch of lemon cupcakes, your mouth watering as the scent invaded your tastebuds and forced a pleasant hum from the back of your throat. 

Something curled in your chest like a finger beckoning forward, begging for an acknowledgement that had you standing at rapt attention. Your body seemed to move on its own, head swiveling like a rickety chair, scanning the nearby vicinity - for what, you couldn’t say. The inner omega that prowled just underneath the surface vibrated restlessly, choking back a needy whine while your eyes swept over the closest individuals. Something primal had called out to you, throwing your hormones out of whack, piecing together invisible clues so obviously standing right in front of you. 

The summery concoction felt so out of place in the harsh winter months, swirling and nagging at the base of your spine, urgent and loud and taking up too much space until you felt like you could drown in its tang–

Your muscles locked in place, gaze affixed to something - someone - at the end of the aisle. 

A big someone. An alpha.

And he was massive.

There was a natural musculature that came with the inherited alpha genetics. Beta’s could grow to a similar size if they worked at it, but there was a casual arrogance that was impossible to mistake with the former designation. Even still, this man towered over most others in the vicinity, lesser alphas giving a wide berth to the intimidating figure currently staring down at his phone screen. Thick grey hoodie pulled up over his head, a black military jacket layered over top. Dark wash jeans led down to warm boots hefty enough to stomp a man’s skull in. Messy dark blonde hair peeked out from up top, a black surgical mask covering the lower half of his face from view.

He couldn’t have given off any more ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibes if he had it tattooed across his forehead. There was nothing sinister about his bearing per se - one hand casually shoved into a coat pocket as he leaned back against one of the dessert displays - but there was a coiled alertness that gave you the distinct impression he was more aware of his surroundings than he led you to believe.

One thing was for certain: you were never more sure of anything in your less than perfect life that that man was your scent match.

Your lungs expanded in your chest to drink in more of his scent. Palms turned sweaty, hair on the back of your neck prickled, the weight of the basket on your arm all but forgotten. Your throat parched at the prospect of getting to shove your face against his scent gland and taste the delectable lemony goodness right off his skin. 

People went lifetimes never meeting their perfect scent matches. The odds of you ever encountering one wasn’t even worth holding out hope for. Over seven billion people on the planet and you had to win an epic fucking lottery to get as lucky as you just did. Bonding ceremonies like that made the news for how rare it was. You’d never even dreamed of this happening, making peace with the idea that mates only existed in fairytale romance.

You just about dropped your groceries when he was joined shortly thereafter by another gorgeous male, slightly shorter by a few inches and not as broadly built. Rich dark skin, effortlessly cool street style, short black curls, and a dazzling pearly white smile.

This new alpha didn’t seem to flinch in the presence of the other, lemon cupcake glancing up only briefly to acknowledge the newcomer whose toasted coconut aroma barrelled right into you, colliding like a runaway freight at an unguarded intersection. Gulping down mouthfuls of air like a fish heaving on dry land, your head spun wildly at the nutty intrusion; smokey yet sweet, conjuring images of a warm evening bonfire on a lush sandy beach. 

Hope bloomed in your chest something fierce and bright. Your omega preened in unbridled delight, pawing at the surface, eager to get her hands on the two beautiful specimens whose every atom screamed ‘mine’. Tears stung behind your eyes, a mixture of relief and elation, vibrant like bursting fireworks and twinkling Christmas lights. 

What would you say to them? Do you approach them first? Should you wait for them to scent you back or try to pretend you didn’t smell them yet? What did their voices sound like? You could see their lips moving, even if the ones’ were hidden behind a surgical mask. Tenor, baritone, rumbly bass? What were their names? Where did they live? Was this really happening right now?! 

Something twisted and gnarled sunk its claws into your subconscious, rearing its ugly head in protest at the newfound revelation, but for the first time in years you didn’t fucking care. 

They were here. Your alphas. Your pack. Your salvation.

“Babes!” 

Decadent chocolate floated past you, a small apology from her lips as the omega brushed by, bumping her arm against yours on the way to her intended destination. You’d hardly noticed, too caught up in your own inner monologue and girlish fantasies to barely manage a quiet ‘no worries’.

For a split second, your eyes met coconut’s beautiful luscious brown, breath catching in your throat as the object of your desire finally seemed to take note of your existence. It was like gazing into the threads of the universe, pulling taut between you in a cosmic symphony that brought your stardust back together from whence it scattered at the dawn of time. 

A perfect part of an incomplete whole.

…until those shimmering umber pools shifted left, aimed at the bubbly figure headed right towards them. 

Huh?

Confusion as both alphas turned their full undivided attention to the dark haired omega, holding out a box of something for them to inspect and smiling when it met their approval, an affectionate pat on the head from lemon for her success that left her beaming with pride. 

That’s when you noticed it - peeking out underneath the collar of her elegant peacoat. A faint white crescent moon shaped scar, standing out against her lightly tanned skin, a matching one a little farther down. 

Mating bites. A bonded omega. 

And your scent matched alphas were gazing lovingly at her as if she’d hung the stars. 

She was theirs. They’d already found their mate. 

And it wasn’t you.

Something died in your chest, a broken scream torn silent from your soul as it condensed into a burning black hole. Agony unlike anything you’ve ever known, piercing your fragile heart and burrowing like a plague into your veins until the sickness had spread to every corner of your being. Your omega clawed at her eyes, willing the visions in front of you to vanish like a twisted mirage, begging for a bullet to erase the image of coconut planting a soft forehead kiss before wrapping an arm around her waist and turning to leave. 

A dejected whine ripped from your throat as you took an unconscious step forward, hand vaguely outreached, instincts screaming to chase after them and make them choose you instead of her. But you did no such thing. You watched helplessly as the alphas who were supposedly destined for you by the stars turned their backs on your pathetic existence.

This couldn't be happening. Why was this happening?! Please turn around!!!

With the same circulating air that had guided their scents to you, the wind in the store shifted.

Lemon cupcake went ramrod straight, whipping his head around so fast you were worried it’d go flying off his shoulders. It was uncanny the way he immediately zeroed in on your poor trembling figure, standing in the middle of a crowded aisle, uncaring to the concerned glances of the other shoppers as he unknowingly ruined your life. 

Recognition sparked deep behind voided irises before going completely neutral, steeling his expression but remaining unmoving as stone. It’s like the two of you were locked into place, orbiting each other by an invisible tether, watery eyes begging the ones staring back to please… please not leave you behind.

Coconut halted in his own step at the end of the aisle, sniffing the air for a moment with a furrowed brow, glancing over his shoulder at lemon, asking him something too far away to overhear. You can only assume the contents of his reply, the slightest shift of his mask the only tell he’d responded before coconut turned to face you as well.

This time garnered more of a physical reaction than the last, jaw dropping while staring just as unabashedly as his alpha companion. Eyes swept from head to toe, cataloging every minute detail the same as you’d done to them. Pupils dilated exponentially, nostrils flaring taking in the crisp pear scent you exuded, memorizing every facet and swallowing it down like a ravenous predator.

What a sight you must’ve made; eyes red and puffy from the tears that now flowed freely from suffering instead of the earlier jubilation, meek and sheepish and falling apart at the seams. What a piss poor impression to give the men fated to be your mates.

There was a brief moment where coconut seemed to match your initial energy, a flash of something saccharine and longing, only for it to collapse under the grueling weight of our fatalistic reality. There was an internal struggle in the crease of his brow, the downturned expression souring behind clenched teeth and tight fists. But more than that there was pity - pity at how you couldn’t have met sooner. Pity that you’d had to discover them like this, a woman on their arm and bite marks on her neck. Pity that they hadn’t had faith that they would be the lucky ones in a packed society.

You can make out a question on the chocolate omega’s perfectly pouty lips, trying to put the jigsaw together as to why her alphas were suddenly acting this way while glancing between the three of you.

Ignoring her, coconut takes a half step forward; you take two steps back. There’s an apology in your watery eyes, a hushed ‘merry christmas’ too strained for their ears. Your heart’s beating too loudly, your breath comes too shallow. You don’t even realize you’re sucking in heaving sobs until a gentle hand of a passerby lands on your shoulder, snapping you out of the chaos of your psyche. 

You can’t take it any more; the shame, the embarrassment, the gut wrenching defeat. 

The basket falls to the floor with a loud clatter, startling the people nearby who let out shrieks and gasps of surprise as the spilled contents inside break open and shatter. Eggs crack, milk pours onto the mud trekked tile, a fragile jar of strawberry jam splatters across someones pristine boots with an indignant shout.

A smooth tenor voice calls out ‘WAIT’, but you’ve already rounded the corner, barreling through the crowds of happy smiles and ecstatic giggles, too torn up inside to feel anything but desolation at the future so cruelly ripped from your fingers.

The crisp frigid air smacks the breath from your lungs, winter boots slapping on the slushy frozen ground. The squeal of brakes accompanies you as you sprint uncaringly through the bustling traffic, horns honking and voices shouting, muffled and far away as you drown in the whirlwind of your mind. It’s a miracle you’re not hit by a car, an even bigger one that you make it back to your own unscathed.

Slamming the car door shut, you smack your padded palms repeatedly against the steering wheel, banshee wailing your vocal cords raw in despair. The dark presence creeps in once more, a mocking chill down your spine as it caresses your fractured soul. The nausea comes back full force, the tugging on your chest, the burning in your throat. There’s a desperation as you tear your fitted mittens off, reaching under the woolen scarf and incessantly scratching at the irritated skin until it shreds under your nails. The pain doesn't register through your emotional torment, blocking out the inner voice until it inevitably slinks back into the shadows after its bitter lick of victory.

Panting hard, your head slumps back against the cloth headrest, stewing in the silence of misery and defeat, the distant joyful bells of Christmas the only company you have on this cold winter’s night.

It takes a few tries to fit the key in your deadbolt, blinking through tears now frozen to your eyelashes. There’s no recollection of how you even made it home in your brittle mental state. For all you knew were twelve civilians flattened like pancakes on the side of the road and a warrant out for your arrest. 

Wouldn’t that be nice? A break from having to pay bills and function like an adult.

Stumbling through the door, the sparse furnishings of your minimal studio glare at you, flipping them off as you shuck the damp outer layers from your frail form. A mess to be cleaned up another day.  

It wasn't just the rejection of your fated mates you were facing. It was the knowledge that your entire future had been ripped away and no amount of hot glue could piece it back together. Today’s revelation was the final nail in the coffin for the rest of your life.

The bathroom lights flickered with dying bulbs, something that had been on your shopping list tonight and was now being swept off the floor along with everything else you’d left behind. It didn’t stop you from locating the first aid kit under your sink, setting it on the ceramic counter and pulling out the well loved supplies inside.

You avoided staring at your gaunt reflection, not wanting to see the person looking back as you tugged at the thick scarf looped around your neck. The constricting material tore away with ease, falling into a discarded heap on the floor, revealing the torn mottled flesh hidden underneath. 

Your own set of crescent shaped scars - where the line of your neck connected to the meat of your shoulder, long since healed over and faded with time. The area surrounding it was now swollen and inflamed, raised angry red lines dotted with scrapes like a bad case of road rash, bloody from where you'd furiously clawed at your neck on the car ride home. The only time the fucker in your head shuts up - the connection tethering you emotionally gone silent once he got tired of feeling physical pain across the bond.

Memories came unbidden. Flashes of that fateful encounter coming home late from work, dragged into a sequestered shadowy overhang a few meters down the darkened alleyway. A feral alpha hopped up on something illegal, tearing into your clothes and violating the virginal space between your thighs. The muffled cries as he overpowered you, panting through a rut with his greasy fingers shoved down your throat to silence you, gagging on the musky taste. The scream as his teeth pierced your flesh, the bond snapping taut and stealing your future from you without a thought to your own wishes.

He’d fucked you ragged that night, waking up with your cheek pressed into the damp pavement and his arm slung around your waist from hours earlier. There’d been no one to turn to, no one who would care. By law now you were his - no matter the means it had been done. 

A mating bite was binding. 

You’d crawled away from him, your outfit in tatters hanging loosely over your bruised form, dried blood stuck to your neck and a stabbing pain at your apex. You felt dirty and used and wanted nothing more than to strip the skin from your bones. The unconscious form of the– your alpha flopped prone on his back, crimson stains around his mouth and his flaccid cock still half out of his trousers. The pinpricks on his arm told the tale of a junkie. It’s possible he hadn’t even been fully aware of the crime he’d committed. 

You didn’t stick around to find out.

But you paid for that decision harshly, opting for a life not attached to your abuser, at a steep tormented cost. Bonds weren’t meant to be strained for so long. It starts to cause negative impacts on the pair, the omega bearing the worst of the brunt. Nausea, sweating, pain, dizziness, fatigue. The chronic illnesses you endured day in and day out would stay with you for the rest of your life. So long as he was up and walking free - alive somewhere on the other side of the country - his greasy claws strumming your senses through the connection tethering you eternally.

Only a perfect scent match could override the original bite and free you from the oppressive bonds that shackled you to an invisible alpha - the last remaining hope you had at any semblance of happiness.

And you just lost it.

°•. ✿ .•°.•° ✿ °•.°•. ✿ .•°.•° ✿ °•.°•. ✿ .•°

>> ✿ Next ✿ >>

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

Lmao your post with Yuu throwing it back is giving me life rn 😂

But did you know that shaking your bottom is a mating ritual between some species of birds? (Like the black widow, I think?)

So my brain instantly went back to the monster au. The thought of the twst boys thinking their lil' hooman is trying to seduce or woo them as a potential mate is a riot to me 🤣

Referencing this post here!

That one was one of my favorite posts I’ve written for this AU! Glad to see it’s still putting my readers in stitches! XD

I think that might’ve been a typo of sorts and you meant “bugs” instead of birds? Black widows are arachnids, though the categories do get mixed together quite frequently. Random fun fact since you mentioned spiders, but did you know that the Harvestmen or “daddy longleg” spiders aren’t really spiders? They’re actually very closely related to scorpions, which technically speaking are in the arachnid family, but their appearance makes people mistake them as spiders despite them lacking the glands to make webbing! OwO

Wanted to share since, despite me being scared of spiders, am also strongly fascinated by them!..just not enough to actually handle them or be within five feet of one. ^^;

Anyway, back to the matter at hand: Monster AU. It’s so hilarious imagining just how out of context so many things would be in this AU! Even more so when the researchers are completely unaware of what’s happening so they can either study or explain it away! 😂

Now, that’s not to say that they’ll see every gesture and movement as flirtatious or as a courtship display. After all, when you’re surrounded by so many different species living together? It probably took a while before the monsters figured out that their neighbor was just greeting them normally and not trying to flirt or insult them and that it was just how that monster species typically greets others. Progress at least! However, if Yuu (regardless of gender) were to keep making repetitive movements while dancing and giving one of the monsters a playful or (to the boys) seductive look?

Hoo boy, watch out Yuu: you’ll wind up getting courted back! Even worse if more than one tries to challenge each other to claim the boyfriend title. 😅

Now that I think about it, I’d imagine that the older monsters/staff/researchers would be less likely to think that what Yuu was doing was a courtship dance. After all, they’ve been around long enough to know the difference between pure instinctual courtship behaviors and just someone who is either dancing or “moving erratically”. Even Lilia would know the difference, but chooses not to say anything because he’s a chaotic gremlin of a bat monster who loves to see the young pups enjoying their youth. 😌

……dangit, why did this make me want to brainstorm different courtship methods to each species?! 🤣

[shoezuki]

Theresbeen many a drunk headcanon and they be fun and funky but it got me thinking bout clumsiness outside of bein drunk.

Gepard seems very sure-footed. He's the captain of the guard, always leading, never showing hesitation lest it brings nerves upon his troops. I don't think he's some sorta balance god but I do think he's a steady guy that isn't really bumping into anything.

Sampo gives off cat vibes to me, I can imagine him scuttling up a wall jus to tiptoe across its top as if it was nothing. He's doin lil hops and skips just to show off a little. Whilst Geppie is strong in his stance and motion, Sampo is graceful but not really in a delicate way? He's got the smugness of a cat but his grace is more akin to an elk. It's got weight behind it but you can tell he's not fallin anytime soon.

But I like to think he's extremely used to having everything mapped out. He has places for everything and whilst it doesn't at all look neat, he knows exactly where everything is.

His coffee table is always crooked but he simply bends out of the way as he walks past, head in a stack of documents. There's stuff all over the floor but he's tiptoeing between them without hesitation. He has cabinets full of anything and everything, look in them and god knows what his file sorting system is but you ask for something specific and he makes a beeline for the bottom left drawer, stuffs his hand to the back and pulls it out instantly.

With Gep, he's also orderly. He knows where everything is but because it's neat. Even his pens are organised by colour and use. He's not a neat-freak, he's just grown up to always put things back where he found it when he's done and having shared sleepin spaces for so long with fellow soldiers, knows that keeping everything in its place makes things less stressful.

He knows better than to mess with Sampo's files or move any of his 'work' stuff but he's defo moving tidbits off the floor and pushing furniture back against the wall. Like, why is the sofa in the middle of the room??? How does someone do that in the first place???

So now Sampo, as aware and confident as he is, is now tripping over everything. He's knocked his shin on the coffee table 3 times in one day. He's stubbed his toe on the sofa and fully fallen to the ground, he's gone to grab something off the floor (where it usually is) only to realise it's no longer there and just stand in the middle of the room, looking lost, staring into space for 5 minutes.

He feels like he's been invaded. Never had to shrug off Natasha's questioning so often when she comments on a new bruise or scrape. He's not even getting them on the field!!!! That stool was perfectly fine in front of the cupboard. That's where he liked it.

But like hell is he gonna tell Gepard that. He's tried to some extent but it's only led to long circle talk. After all, it's unsurprisingly hard to explain that you like your furniture layout to look like someone's lost a fight in your home and having things not in the way is mildly disturbing.

This was meant to be about clumsiness. They're gettin away from me again XD

~ 🥃

YesyesyesYES SBGDV god they both have like. Theyre own sense of order. Like gepard's is the most blatant. Hes got a Schedule ok he has an order to how he does things and when he does things and where stuff goes.

But sampo seems Chaotic. Like his things seem to be a mess and all disjointed and over the place but To Him he has like. A System. He has no fucking clue what that system is and can Not explain it whatsoever but hes got it. Sure its a mess and no one knows how he can possible operate like this and especially concerning his bomb making its crazy he hasnt blown himself up yet but it Works.

Them living together is Hilarious cuz if this. Like gepard needs things where theyre 'supposed' to be, while sampo shifts his things n environment according to Him. Mfers in a silent war cuz they keep moving shit back to where They think its sposed to be. Like sampo keeps shifting the coffee table to the left and at a bit of an angle so that he can rest his feet on it from the sofa but gep keeps moving it back cuz its Supposed To Be Exactly 2 feet from the sofa and Right in the middle of the fucking rug, sampo. Every late night sampo moves the dishes around seemingly randomly so that his favourite bowls and mugs are easily reachable while he cooks and every morning gepard gets up and reorganizes the cupboards by size and type of dish while he makes coffee.

Theyre engaging in domestic psychological warfare

[factual-fantasy]

26 ASKS! THANKS EVERYONE! 🥰✨

Me too man. But my mental and physical health is kind'a tanking atm. I just don't have the energy to pick up a passion project of that scale right now..

If you're patient and stick around though, we're bound to see more of my FNAF security breach AU someday.. Once I can get on top of all this crap I'm dealing with-

I AM restingggg 😫 I haven't left my home for any significant amount of time for like 3 weeks- I cant rest any harder! XD

@beryl-shade

Google seems to suggest that an oreo cookie character already exists. "Prime Oreo Cookie" I believe..? :0

@solst1ce-sketches (In response to this post(?))

:DD Thank you! I'm glad you like him!! :}}

:}

(First repair guy) (Second repair guy)

They are different repair guys, and they both do not have a name.. 😔

@lobitowhiteeliaz

Not quite sure what you're asking.. so I'll just answer in multiple ways!

My favorite movies of all time are Pixars cars 1 and 3. I cannot watch either without crying 😭 they are my absolute favorites and I hold them very close to my soul 💖

Still to this day, even after all this time, Gravity Falls is my top favorite show. Despite all the cringe I made for it back in the day- it still holds up as my most beloved show I've ever drawn about.

As for fandom, like the people? I thiiiink the FNAF fandom was my favorite to interact with..? I remember a lot of interaction with the fans in general, which meant a lot to me :)

Bibi and Cici are just odd little critters XD though Bibi is very cat-like in nature and Cici is based on a mouse :0

I'm not sure how they feel about being dolls. I'd assume they don't really mind it! XD

Not sure what you mean but I assume you're right XDD

@something3706

Thank you! Though I don't take requests, sorry!

She is indeed a kid, but that's becuase all I had to go off of was her info picture and fanart I saw of her. For some reason a lot of art I saw of Sally depicted her as this total gremlin character that's always getting into trouble.

So I thought hey! Why not make it so she fell to "Earth" as a little tot and was raised by Poppy? In present day she could be like 13-15 and her chaotic energy would make sense and be fun to mess with!

Though after watching GTlive do a vid on the Halloween update, I realize that I wrote her personality completely wrong. Sooo I miiight need to rework her entire story and character- whoops! <XDD

Considering Sally is gonna need some restructuring, I'm not sure where Poppy stands atm-- <:DD

@fawncr33k

I saw your comment on a post that shows you now know the answer to this- but just to clarify it for everyone else!-

Octo and Seafoam are not gay, nor a couple. Seafoam's heart belongs to Blue Beauty! Him and Octo are just friends/brothers.

Also thank you! :DD I'm honored!

@neo-metalscottic (Post in question)

AAAA Thank you!! :DD I've very glad you like them! :D And I'm not sure how a meeting with the pirates and cowboys would go.. its funny though becuase a lot of Canned Tuna's design was copied from Canned Beans cookie. Even the name! So if they ever met maybe they'd have a stand off XDD

I haven't thought much about how the Captain would react.. maybe the Vegimals are something he just cant wrap his head around and chooses not to talk about it XDD

BUT CALICO JACK!! SEEING VEGIMALS BEFORE?? WHY HAVEN'T I THOUGHT OF THAT!! The Vegimals could be these huge fish creatures when they grow old! And Jack could have SEEN ONE/HEARD OF THEM BEFORE!! Why didn't I think of that?? XDD I'll have to draw something like that sometime!!

@yourstrulylightstar283

Thank you so much!! :D My favorite Donkey Kong game has to be the only one I've ever played, the original Donkey Kong Country!

I also loved Diddy Kong racing, though I see that it doesn't count <XD

@astaherussy

I've heard of Hazbin Hotel, and Helluva boss. I saw the Hazbin pilot ages ago and have seen some episodes of Helluva.. Though they're not really my taste.. <:/

@badlyblurry (Post in question)

:D Thank you! Now I didn't really do any proper research after the fact so I hope the Octonauts info is accurate! <XDD

THANK YOU!!! :DDD

@djh4l0v3rv3r

I think Poppy Playtime it pretty neat! Though I haven't seen a playthrough of chapter 3 yet so I haven't formed an opinion on the smiling critters. :0 Other than their smiles are WAY too big and creepy XDDD

Holy cow.. what a crazy read! I'm not much of a gamer myself but I have GOT to watch somebody play this! :00 Thank you for the info! :D

@raptor1312

WAIT THIS GAME WAS ON THE WII?? I was thinking it was a fangame made for PC??? Like on steam?? ITS A LEGIT RELEASE?? WHAT???

(Post in question)

It was sooooo much tedious coloringggg... 💀💀 Worth it tho XDD

(Post in question)

AAAA IM GLAD YOU NOTICED!! :DD

@shaziztrazh

AWWWW!! HOW COOL!! I love the mermaid approach!! :DD SO PREBBY!!! ✨🤩✨🥥✨

Also thank you so much!! :DDD

(Post in question)

XDD Turns out ditto is my spirit Pokémon-

@nunyabusiness459

AAAA I'm so glad you're interested in him! Uuuunfortunately,, looking back it seems the only artwork I have of Melvin is just a bunch of strange angst for no good reason-

So I'm afraid I don't really have any artwork to share,, and most of the story has already been told.. but this ask makes me want to come back to Melvin sometime! Maybe expand on his story more, or just draw him again in general!

So thank you for the ask/interest, perhaps we'll see more of Melvin someday! :D

[moonspirit]

Reactions to Aruani baby ?!?

Chaotic, anon, chaotic xD

Armin would end up on the hospital bed next to Annie, honestly, hooked to at least 3 saline drips because he's crying so much and losing fluids. He's the only father to become an active patient in the pregnant women ward (record breaker for the most pathetic things, I'm telling you).

"Oh my god, Annie, look at her nose--that's-that's mine, and her hair is like yours, oh my god-" "Yes yes, now please stop crying for fucks' sake." "And she's a she!!! I told you it would be a girl! I told you--oh our beautiful, beautiful daughter-" "Armin. Stop. Crying. This. Instant." "A-and I'm a dad now, Annie--a *hic* a dad! A father! Me! I'm a father and she's my daught--" *machines start beeping wildly* "For fuck's sake he's going into cardiac arrest!"

Pieck is the very supportive other woman in the ward who actually knows what the fuck to do. She's seen babies before. Even looked after some. That's why when Annie's asleep and the baby's wide awake and on the verge of crying, Pieck brings out the fun games to keep baby engaged and occupied: 5D PSYCHOTIC MIND CHESS!

Connie's the morale man. Always with the good mood and great cheer. He's the bearer of no good, very bad, very terrible jokes. "Hey Annie." "?" "This means I'm technically the baby's uncle, right?" "... Sure, if you want." "Have you thought of a name yet?" "Nope." "Well... I've got a suggestion." "? Armin told me you're very bad with names and that I shouldn't listen to you." "What! That's rude! I thought of 'Denise'." "... oh. that's not half bad actually." "And then when you have another kid--a boy--, I've got a name for him too." "Really? What?" "Denephew."

(Pieck cackles so hard she ruptures a lung and ends up on the other hospital bed next to Armin).

Jean is lowkey extremely freaked out about the baby. Armin offers the baby for him to hold and he. is. freaked. out. This thing has legs!! Hands! A face! It's giggling at his hair! What! It's like a very small spider! A chubby spider! Oh... oh no, it's actually quite adorable... oh fuck, wait- how much money does he have? He should buy the baby a toy... or two... or seven... or twenty...

Reiner's already adopted the role of nanny/baby-sitter/governess what-have-you. He assures Aruani he's going to teach the baby how to read and write at the ripe age of 5 days old. He's HYPED. He's EXCITED! He's EMOTIONAL but HAPPY! This is his purpose in life! This is why he's alive! This is what Eren meant, by letting him survive! Once he sits down, coloring books and writing paper in hand, he forgets how to spell his own name in Old Eldian and then has a mental breakdown about it. (RIP marleyan language, you will haunt Reiner for the rest of eternity).

Levi doesn't care. Straight up doesn't care. That's why he has a catalogue from a high-end dressmaker hidden inside his coat pocket- because he doesn't care. No he hasn't circled the small pastel-blue baby-sized cravat. No he hasn't already put in five orders for very cute baby girl clothes and that's not the bill sticking out from his trouser pocket. Nope. He doesn't care. Babies? Tch.

[primojade]

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, 𝐀𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓.

“ your arms are the safest haven in this chaotic world we live in. ”

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 | Different scenarios where he questions, and discovers what love truly was, at long last.

𝐂𝐖 / 𝐓𝐖 | gn!reader x wanderer and albedo (separate); fluff, hurt to reverse comfort; cursing; self-hatred for the boys 😭; scara threatens to end ei in his mind 💦 let me know if I missed anything!

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 | this is a very self indulgent fic I thought of when watching the 3.3 live stream yesterday 😭 I just added albedo because i'm a simp, okay xD otherwise this is supposed to be scara-centric 👀

Masterlist

The Wanderer always knew that his mother viewed him as a failed creation, knew that she never loved him the way she adored her sister. 

He even knew that the Raiden Shogun never loved him. 

His whole life, the puppet never saw true love, never knew what true love looked like, was afraid of the aspects and emotions that caused love. 

What he thought was love was so sick and twisted. What he thought was love was drowned in emotional abuse and abandonment. What he thought was love all ended up so wrong, so absolutely fucked up. How could he possibly let himself trust again?  

The thing meant to do good for the people, only caused more harm in the end. He put his trust in three people once, and nothing good came out of it. 

The Wanderer would—could—never trust again. 

(But he did trust again.)

Despite this, a closed off boy, a nearly broken puppet beyond repair, fell in love deeply. Simply craving the affection his mother never gave him. Craving physical touches and gentle words from the strange person he recently met.

No wonder the puppet feared what he never had, never dreamed of having. Feeling anything beyond pain and suffering and loss was foreign and unnatural. Allowing such feelings when hating his mother and everyone in the world by the second felt selfish and he hated himself, hated himself, absolutely despised himself over it.  

The Wanderer seemed to change by the days that passed, sometimes it felt more like merely an hour, or minutes that passed by. A boy in absolute terror who cried out for his mother in the past, wanting to hug her, to choke her by the neck, to hear her called him her son, wanted her dead, wanted her suffering in the same way he does.

He had suffered since his creation. A case of Nature vs Nurture; where nurture is superior, and the puppet is left completely alone. 

The wandering eccentric persona, his persona as Kunikuzushi, the cruel Balladeer of the Fatui, the persona he showed to the Tsaritsa and her Harbingers, the persona he showed to the Dendro Archon, the persona he showed the rest of the world…the persona he showed to you.

Among them, which one was the real him? 

Scientific theories stated that people have multiple facets, slightly different personalities that are all ours. Personalities that rebounded social cues curated by the situations and people we are around. Our need to fit in, our need for self fulfilling is what makes us have these multiplying and seemingly infinite forms. 

So, why did it feel so wrong?

On the days when missions and commissions cut a bit too close, he wasn’t afraid to die. Nahida would give him another long lecture about not being invincible, and somewhere along, you would reprimand him for being so careless with himself. He hated how much you and the Dendro Archon could see through his tough farce. 

"...Why do you even give a shit about me?"

"I give a shit about you not dying, idiot, about not having the godsdamn Fatui on our asses because you wanted to plot revenge."

"Shut up, [Name]."

Even the Wanderer knew it was a lie. You cared, Nahida cared. Even the Traveller and their annoying talking companion cared too in their own ways.

But could they really blame him? It's inevitable and hard to change, no matter how hard he tried. Worthless, incompetent beings like him were only doomed to suffer should they allow themselves to feel.

It's what he was, all he was, all he should ever be allowed to be. 

"...Wanderer, I love you."

"...A horrible decision. You could have so much better. Why put yourself in so much danger? You should be with someone safe and reliable. I am a cruel man, [Name], you know that. I could kill you if I—"

"...I know you spent your entire life listening to empty promises and hurtful words. I know it’s hard for you to believe me, but it doesn’t make me love you anything less, you know. And I certainly would never leave you for it. Wanderer, I want to be with you. And I’ll show you by staying by your side, by cheering on you, by taking care of you until the end of time.

"...Why I choose you? Because you’re clever, and extremely intelligent. You’re intuitive, you know when something’s wrong with me. When you told me the truth about yourself, I never felt afraid, it made me want to stay by you, stay with you, be with you more. You love so hard, Wanderer, that you don’t realise how much you care and how much you're hurting yourself in return. You pretend to hide it away because you’ve only been hurt time and time again. But I could see it. I see beyond that ruthless persona you painted yourself into was the real you. I see the Wanderer that Nahida sees as a son. I see the Wanderer that the Traveller puts their trust into no matter how many times he had tried to hurt them.

'"...I see the Wanderer that would put his life on the line for someone he loves, who holds me close to him while we sleep at night. The one that nuzzles his head into my neck before waking up to make the best breakfast I’ve ever had. The one who wants to sit and stargaze and take care of flowers and feel the wind, though begrudgingly.

"The one who wants a normal life, a happy and safe life. Who wants a family and warmth and love and protection. I know, I love you because I know. I love you because perhaps some higher power beyond made us destined to be together despite all the hurt and betrayal. But my free will, my own heart won’t let you slip away—even you yourself say otherwise. I love you so much."

"...I…" I love you so much, too. "...A truly horrible decision, really. You will regret sticking your nose with my business, idiot."

"...Call me whatever you like. But I know I will have no regrets being with you. So, come here. Don’t hold back those tears either, I’m here no matter what."

There was so much that the once broken puppet wished he could say, but he held back for the sake of preserving whatever dignity he had left. But he was completely floored once again by you. Left speechless, and teary eyed, crying inwardly into your shoulder as you whispered comforts and soothing affirmations. Holding him close, rubbing his back in a way that made the anxieties slip away.

This wasn’t the end. He was aware that the insecurities and anger and doubts would bubble up again soon. However, you would be there even then, providing the same stability and affection he needed, he wanted. Time will just keeps on going and turning, but surely the pain, little by little, like grains of sand in a hourglass, will fade away.

Whether this unexplainable feeling was happiness, content, love, or entirely something else…perhaps it should not matter anymore.

Because not all that wanders were lost—at least not anymore. And despite lacking a physical heart, the Wanderer felt it, at long last.

Multiple theories stated that a person is either left brained or right brainedーeither drowned in the world of alchemical codes and mathematical and logical equations, or simply buried knee deep in the latest light novels and in their wildest imaginations. Those with a left brain are logical and cynical. Right brains being artistic and emotional. 

Then, why was it that despite the hours spent fretting over alchemical codes, studying numerical equations, drowning x, y and z; Albedo developed a knack for the arts? 

Sure enough, he was good at alchemy, so much that he could be called a genius of the century, they say. He was intellectually capable of impossible memorisation and observation. So, if learning were as easy as a-b-c…

Why was there the want, the need, to indulge himself in loving you? 

The engagement to have the creative liberty and freedom to live his life with you—that wasn’t what he was known for, was it, now? That was not what he was created for. 

Alchemy and calculations tossed to the side in order to succumb to a foreign feeling like a hopeless romantic, yet Albedo should not feel. He had no right to feel. Artificial humansーa homunculusーlike himself were not meant to feel. 

But, what if he fell in love? 

So, what if suddenly he wanted to draw romantic starry sketches about someone he pine for?

Someone that, despite his numerous attempts to gently push away, only pulled him closer? 

If he were to suddenly be inspired by contemporary romance, that was no one’s concern, but his own. 

Does it feel wrong, however.

Enjoying life created deep depths of bitterness and abandonment. All the sketches, his greatest achievements, and glaringly successful alchemy experiments in the world, felt absolutely meaningless when Albedo thought about his place—where he ought to stand in this world. 

Perhaps that in itself became the reason for his artistic endeavors—emotions bottled up for so long they had been forgotten. It was common, he supposed. Forgetting memories was a consequence of heartless indifference after all, whether they are artificial or natural beings.

Albedo was not quite certain what to feel. Was it anger? Disappointment? Maybe self-hatred for his own existence? Did he feel love? Or was it merely compensation for the years upon years of loneliness and abandonment? 

If Albedo developed feelings for you, the strange person who showed him romantic affection, was it really, truly, love? Was that what it really meant to feel this so-called…true love?

He wasn't certain, that one was for sure. The alchemist could solve an array of problems that would give the seven mysteries of Teyvat a run for its money, could pinpoint the exact ingredients for his never ending experiments, but love…

Love remained the greatest unsolved mystery for him. 

Was it fair to you? 

No.

Didn’t it make him feel like a hypocrite to proclaim his love to you when he didn’t even know what love truly was? 

Yes.

The psychological repercussions of overthinking and intelligence becomes, if it comes to this endevours, a daily nightmare for him indeed.

As much as Albedo tried to be loving, it scared him—terrified him that you would one day wake up and leave him. That this whole thing was a mere fickle dream or a heartless trick of his mind to ease his burdens, and then he’d be alone again, abandoned and lost. Left alone in his strange fascination for alchemy and mysteries, pretending like nothing really mattered, an indifferent alchemist. 

It's what he was, all he was, all he should ever be allowed to be.  

"—Hey. Hey! Albedo? Hehe, you finally looked at me! Could you tell me what’s on your mind?"

"...I really should not. It would merely burden you and—"

"...Nope. Don’t start with that, silly. How many times do I have to tell you that bottling up your emotions will do more harm than good? Plus, I’m always here willing to listen to you."

That’s what he loved about you. Always caring for him. Always firm and assertive when you knew you were in the right. You never backed down, especially if the enemies came from his foreign emotions. 

"...I...I'm terrified,"

"...on the inside?"

"Yes. I just—I was wondering…how do I know if I’m...truly in love with you?"

"Hmm. When I do this, what do you feel?"

"Um…well—heh—my heart starts beating faster."

"...Your cheeks are red, too."

"...And I want to kiss you, truly."

"Why is that?"

"I'm not certain. There’s this fascinating magnetic pull inside me that makes me want to hold you close to me, kiss you senseless, and never let you stray away. I want to tease you nearly to tears, then be the person you could rely on. There's this peculiar feeling that cannot wait to give you everything you ever wanted in the world. Its strange, truly strange, but even more strange enough, I felt...very content."

"Do I make you happy, then?"

"Very, very much. You have no idea."

"...Bedo, I think you just figured out what love is on your own."

My. So, he did love you.

He loved Klee, too. Albeit not the same way as you, but the way a big brother loves his little sister should have, the way family was supposed to be. He loved his Master as well in a maternal sense, and all of his friends and comrades. The want to keep them safe, the teasing, the inexplicable happiness he felt around them, it was all love, all along. 

Albedo would say he had you to thank for helping him realise. But he knew you well enough that you would say that maybe you did help, but for you, it was all himself. You just patiently hinted it out to him to figure out on his own.

Albedo loved you rather intensely, he discovered. And being with you is love in and of itself, at long last.

TAGLIST (let me know if you want to be added in my future works!): @samarill , @maehemthemisfit , @chocogi

[katyspersonal]

Thoughts about Crucible and conceptual corruption of religion

I've started trying to figure out what Crucible is exactly today while playing Elden Ring and I need to put down my thoughts about it before I forgot 🤔 I think basically it is what happened when the divine met the natural, the lifeforms on the setting's earth. In a way, the original Greattree is somewhat of a Crucible itself! Conceptually it is a very primordial faith that was yet filling life with meaning beyond just survival in a very good sense, but in ER the divine needs us as much as we need it, if not more so. Elden Ring hasn't always operated by Golden Order / Marika obviously; it was initially just a cool thing that fell from space and kind of accelerated everything, especially life itself! Presumably the result of Greater Will wanting to manifest itself in some sort of personality and coherent shape, but before the decision of what the order would be got handed to mortals (Empyreans first of all)

^ In Farum Azula there is a depiction of Elden Ring in more abundant form, very overflowing with life, so alternatively it'd rely on (ancient) dragons, the lifeform of whole other level back then for "order and personality"!

But yeah, uhhh like how do I put it...? Crucible is the result of the divine growing within the earth full of nature, primordial matters and mortal life. The initial Greattree "contracted" it like an influence, nature of life itself crept into it, it became the divine matter turning imperfect but alive! And the way Misbegotten, Omens and alike have animalistic features placed without any logic (and at times these features are useless) is a reflection of how chaotic life in its nature is brought from a concept to a display! Also the evergrowing "horns" were already a thing in simpler times, like what Ancestral guys are associated with! That's why Crucible used to be seen as a sacred thing - it was like a display of the divine matter wiling to live through you! But also Greattree wasn't meant to last forever and would one day die and in turn give the way to new life to replace it (Erdtree). It is a principle the divine naturally adopted upon becoming alive in the way nature knows it through the first big tree; life sprouts from death as much as it sprouts from birth!

So yeah, the problem began when the mortals (Marika?) pulled an ultimate purity wank and wanted that eternity, divinity and "perfection" forever rather than this new Erdtree once likewise dying (even if in turn it would give way to new life and so on forever). The whole DS3 is just Miyazaki being salty about how some people just won't let things die after their cycle expired, why not use what works again? XD But ALSO in these terms, the beastly idiocy nature of life started being seen not as simply something that MAYBE needed discipline to get the best out of it, but as a "disease" or a curse that "dirtied" the divine essence. So the divine in their eyes needed to be protected from being "sullied", from being pulled down to this level, the imperfections that make the life what it is started to just being liability - a bad mistake forms of civilizing (especially religions) keep making.

So Erdtree eventually ran out of its blessed sap and became ephemeral, useless as the holiness that only preserves its "purity" and doesn't sully itself for anyone can be. How it could give the world any more of the sap that was good for it without subjecting itself to it? It is like sharing advices without ever listening to what people's struggles are to BEGIN with. Age of Plenty was over because of obsession with the purity and defending the divine from "lowly" life, Crucible was an evidence that it once got "dirtied" but now never again, when in reality the very worst thing that could have happened with Erdtree is it dying like Greattree once did but giving life to the next tree in turn. I do think that fixation on the idea of eternity is still a larger part of it but I just can't ignore the thing about purity and control in it

^ @val-of-the-north also showed me these shapes when I shared my thoughts with him, to illustrate my point back to me (basically he said he agreed with my thought process). He pointed out that progression of the symbols shows the same thing - modern Erdtree and Fundamentalist incantations notably lack "life" in them in the form of branches and leaves. It could be not just what the Erdtree stopped doing, but also what they wanted to remove from the divine (Floral Crucible is only mentioned in cut content, but still). The latter two are "trapped" in concrete geometrical shapes, reflecting an actual order like what Greater Will wants in the end; it wants some organization, no matter which one. ...but also doesn't, there are enough implications that Frenzied Flame is just another side of the same coin. It even also has the hand as a conduct of the GW! And makes it funnier how they've sealed the Frenzied Flame away too, removing the alternatives- For sure, a decision that is understandable, but what does life mean if you don't have to fight against the essence of existential despair for it?

___________

Hhhhhh I went on a tangent but I was trying to say that I think Crucible didn't "come from space"! Elden Ring fell in this world cold empty and without self-comprehension like the cosmic void it came from, but initially assimilated with what life is here and Greattree was the manifestation! But Crucible also wasn't fully natural for this world too; it reflects aspects of life forms here but they get taken through this assimilation and then boosted with the blessing and given new meaning! Life for the sake of itself and next level magic for the sake of itself both are far from being meaningful but it is when low and high matters meet everything becomes full and complete! But in chasing to make the good things that come from it last forever people will end up demonizing and trying to exterminate natural things and prioritize only the divine.

Looking back at real humanity history, yeah I can see the relevance with how religion has been developing as a concept. How it started simple and fulfilling as a (successful) attempt to add higher meaning in existence than just surviving, was full of joy and wonder and freedom. And how in the end it came to incredibly suffocating and corrupt systems of control, purity wank and denial of normal parts of life 🤔

[teecupangel]

Tee, I'm re-reading Esama's glorious Sailing the Stars again and, a few chapters in, I thought- if the Desmond who could Hear Us got caught up in this scenario, many of us would be screaming at each other. Some in panic, some in excitement, and a few/one of us are starting to sound slightly unhinged from how long we've been laughing (read: cackling) for and how it's been growing so loud that's it's more like mad howling and it starts to drown out everyone else through sheer Awkwardness and how Unnerving it is.

Meanwhile, Desmond is just standing, awkwardly, before either a couple of Jedi or the entire Council- who are also slightly frozen in awkwardness because the Force is being as unhinged as the Cacklers but less Awkward and Unnerving and more, laughing/howling at a joke that it's decidedly Not Explaining. To Anyone.

And then the cackling suddenly stops and someone says, with a slasher grin you could almost hear: "Hey Des baby, can you go ruin the entire fucking careers of some Siths for us? Pretty please?"

Not sure which time Desmond would come out of, but I find it hilarious if Desmond manages to appear during a time when Qui Gon Jinn and Dooku were having problems later in their relationship but before he takes Vosa as his padawan and now Jinn has to deal with not only the knowledge that His Master Fucks but also has, and does occasionally, Fuck with Sifo Dyas and Madame Nu when the time and preference arises. The mental damage alone has some of Us laughing our asses off. Not to mention the implicated existence of Actual Gods/Patrons and the multiverse.

Sailing the Stars by esama (If you love Star Wars and Desmond Miles, go give it a read if you haven’t… or reread it if you already have XD)

This… isn’t exactly a fanfic of a fanfic because this can be summarized more as “Desmond gets awaken in the Star Wars timeline during maybe the Tales of the Jedi series? and he can still hear us”. I don’t think you need to have read Sailing the Stars to get this little snippet, at the very least.

.

.

Desmond has no idea what to do.

By this point, the voices in his head, the capricious ‘watchers’, would be giving him directions or suggestions but they were all still freaking out.

Because, according to what he could actually understand from their freak outs, he was not supposed to be here and this was a ‘crossover’ and “OH MY GOD” and the occasional “I don’t know enough about this!” sprinkled here and there would imply that he wasn’t in his ‘universe’ anymore.

Even the first who talked to him had fallen silent after a dreadful “fuck, this isn’t my fandom” and that was definitely not a good sign.

The other voices he could recognize were too busy freaking out and they were arguing where Desmond.

To be more exact: they were questioning if Desmond was in ‘canon’ or in ‘legends’… whatever that meant.

There a low chant of “Desmond for Darth Revan!” that was being shushed once in a while

And here he was… just… standing.

This council of what they call Jedis was staring at him with furrowed brows, something about how the Force was surrounding him and was… very ‘chaotic’?

But not in a bad way?

Like the kind of giddy chaos that children would get into?

At least, that was what that short green… alien?

Is it racist for Desmond to call him an alien?

Aren’t they all aliens anyway?

Isn’t Desmond an alien too because, apparently, he’s different from the other humans that the Jedis have on record.

Being both more primitive and also too ‘different’ to be considered one of the older ones, whatever that means.

Desmond would have assumed that it was because of his Isu-human gene ratio but the more logical reason would probably be because he was…

Well…

Not from this universe.

Not that he was going to say that.

Even if he did, they would probably just assume he meant not from this specific ‘galaxy’ or whatever.

Desmond would take any kind of distraction at this point and he finally got his wish when the door slid open and two more men entered the room.

The voices were silent for a moment before some of them began to shout, “Oh my god. Is that Count Dooku?! He’s soooo young.”

“Oooohhh, Qui Gon Jinn! Look at him! He’s so baby!”

Desmond’s eyes met the older man that he was certain was supposed to be Count Dooku and the voices hushed for a moment before someone whispered.

“300K, slowburn, corruption arc, hurt and comfort, BAMF Desmond Miles, Good Count Dooku.”

Desmond wanted to sigh.

Maybe he should just run away at this point?

[8um8le]

I absolutely adore your cyberpunk au! The designs are so lovely and cool and your backgrounds are just absolutely gorgeous! I just fell in love with it and love everything about it, including the world!

I was curious about some things though and hope it's alright asking a couple of questions!

1. All relating to their job here, but: Have the boys ever taken on a job that they regretted in the end? Have they ever accidentally hurt a child during their job? Have they ever been backstabbed/set-up?

2. I'm not sure if you answered this or mentioned it before but, what are the boys to each other? Friends, brothers, etc.?

3. Okay, another one sort of relating to their jobs again: Have the boys ever had their night job cross over to their day job? Like, has someone sought revenge by threatening the daycare or something along those lines? Maybe just an incident where they've dealt with some not so great adults that wandered in?

4. Okay, another job related question: Have either of the boys gotten seriously hurt on their night job before? How do they go about fixing each other up? How protective/worried are they for each other?

5. Which of the boys is more affectionate? How would they react to a surprise hug? (I figured a silly, simple question was due after all the previous serious ones XD).

Sorry for the long list of oddly specific questions, I'm just really curious, happen to be up at 1 am with questions circling in my brain, and adore this au to pieces! I hope you have a lovely day/night, and thank you for taking the time to answer this ask! Sorry again for how long it is!

Heheh like these questions, long post under the cut <33

Before the two became hit-men under a contract, they had to build their way up to that position, in their previous two forms they were backstabbed multiple times. An example would be how sometimes they would be assigned one task within an organized group, and after they did their deed, their “team mates” would try to take them out and take credit for their work.

As for accidentally hurting a child in their day job, one of the kids cut their hand from getting too close to Sun’s rays. The parents really didn’t mind, but ever since, Sun has been very careful with the kids and his rays. (Funny how the rays that were meant to defend him, backfired in a way)

2. The boys have this found-family type of situation, they were born with nothing, thrown away left to rot, without knowing why they were even made. They’re all that they have when it comes to family, they see each other as brothers. Though I must say Sun is most definitely the responsible older brother who stresses over everything, and Moon is the chaotic little brother who needs to be put on a backpack leash.

3. When it comes to the day and night job crossing, it never happened yet, since their night job is top secret. Also since they are ranked pretty high as hitmen at this point, they have protection when it comes to identity.

Also the jobs they take are never personal, they’re just sent by someone, so it wouldn’t really make too much sense for someone related to their deceased targets to go after em.

4. Every gig they take in their night job is a life or death situation, so they are in constant danger, they have been badly damaged during their night jobs. Mostly moon because of his careless behaviour.

They try their best to not get damaged though, their contract does comes with their own robot doctor, that will patch them up, it will just cost them money, taken straight out of their paycheque. When it comes to weapon damage or replacement, they don’t have to pay nearly as much though.

Although they complain about the stupidest shit with each other, they really do care for one another, they never verbally say it upfront to one another, but their actions and constantly making sure one another is okay goes to show their affection. Also Moon’s chill nature can be very helpful when it comes to calming Sun’s panic attacks.

5. I think the more affectionate one would be Sun, he understands human emotions a bit more than Moon does. He’s very caring, sometimes too caring which leads him to a spiral of overthinking. Moon on the other hand is just naturally loveable, he doesn’t need to try when it comes to charming others.

Funny little thing I’d like to add is their skill at each job, and who does what better, since there is a bit of irony there. Sun is excellent when it comes to his night job, he’s calm, calculated, and swift, perfect for clean and quick executions. Though at his day job, he finds that he can unintentionally scare the kids with him being jittery and over-enthusiastic.

Moon on the other hand, He’s very smart when it comes to countering attacks and could take mechs twice his size, but he does poorly at stealth, and lacks patience. In his day job, the kids love him, since he is super easy going and nonchalant.

Sorry for the grammar mistakes im sleepy~

Ty for the cool questions!!

[thirium-drinker]

Hello! You asked for some Sixty hc's and I'm here to give you my two cents on him, lol! I have a few different iterations of him, though they all have a similar base. The Sixty I wrote for my RK Bro/Anderfam-centric series where Hank, Connor, Nines and Sixty were all living together after the Revolution is very much The Problem Child™️, lol. He's rather like many portrayals of him where he's more forceful and obnoxious than Connor or Nines, often making decisions just because he curious about how people will react, reveling in starting arguments, and all-around being kind of an asshole, lol. He might also be classified as mildly sadistic, often chaffing at societal expectations and fairness. He's haughty, supremely confident in his own skills, and isn't afraid to use every cheapshot advantage he can in order to gain the upper hand. As he expresses in one of the monologues he gives in one of my fics, he is "the mean one," haha. Sixty is a very "bad foot forward" kind of guy to me. He likes to make the worst impression possible and instigate because it amuses him, but also as a way of gauging the people around him, seeing just what they're willing to tolerate and how far he can push them.

But that's not all there is to him. I definitely feel like he has a softer side to him, one that he uses his often-callous attitude to try and cover up. He is extremely loyal when he decides he cares about something or someone and, though he may not show it conventionally, he is capable of love and is fierce in his defense of it. He loves his family, i.e. Hank and Connor and Nines and Sumo. He may antagonize them constantly and get on their nerves a lot, but he will move heaven and earth to help them if they're in danger. He will break whatever laws of morality he needs to to keep them safe. And he'll do it all with a mocking smirk on his lips and a frigid chill in his eyes. I hc he's closest with Nines (due to some backstory I wrote between them), still harbors some resentment for Connor, and respects Hank, but he definitely loves them all dearly, even if he'll never admit it, lol. I also hc that he's dived into the idea of his newfound freedom wholeheartedly, oftentimes eschewing human conventions like manners and politeness, pointlessly gendering things, or dressing conventionally. (His fashion sense puts even Hank's to shame, omg. He is very out there. XD) I hc he absolutely adores old Westerns (they really vibe with his chaotic worldview) and has physically watched Unforgiven a ridiculous number of times.

Also, and I cannot reiterate this enough, Sixty is the Knife Guy™️. Haha, somewhere along the way, Connor became the Gun Guy™️, Nines became the Punch Guy™️, and Sixty was left with knives, but like... I really think they fit his personality? Going along with his casual sadism from earlier, he enjoys the intimacy of this approach and how it lets him get closer to his opponents. He enjoys the precision needed to competently use both the short blades meant for hand-to-hand combat and also the throwing knives he keeps up his sleeves at all times. Knives are also easy to conceal and he keeps some emergency blades stitched into the linings of his clothing in case of an emergency and knowing they're there make him feel more secure. Because, while he enjoys a good fight probably more than is sane and he also has a perverse love of terrorizing people, this is another instance of him covering for more insecurities.

Because I hc that CyberLife and Amanda's betrayals really fucked him up. Loyalty is such an enormous part of who he is but one of the very first instances of his life was characterized by nothing but callous abandonment by his creators and carers. He was left to fend for himself against Connor and, when he's defeated, he's not granted another chance. He's deemed defective and his programs frozen to await termination. (This is part of that backstory I was talking about, lol, and Nines ends up saving him from that fate.) But it's led to him being deeply, deeply insecure about his value as a living being, his place in the grander scheme of things, and his ability to trust completely. He's got some very deeply-rooted authority issues stemming from that, as well as an inferiority complex a mile wide in relation to Connor, and also probably his fair share of imposter syndrome, too, which is why I image he works so very hard to differentiate himself from his predecessor. In one of my other works unrelated to this series, Sixty actively tried to usurp Connor's role after his revival. He planned to sabotage his life and then slide in to take his place, and when that didn't work out for him, well... It led him to a very dark place that he never would've made it out of without some chance intervention. This version of him is colder, more desperate for a reason to even exist, wrestling with the weight of his past actions and the necessity to grow past them in order to thrive. He's meaner, ruder, and all around very unpleasant. But even then, when he chooses to care about something, he gives them his whole self, always loyal to a fault.

Honestly, I have a lot more I could write about Sixty and my hc's for him, but good lord, this has gone on way longer than I thought it would, lol! As you can see, I care him muchly. ☺️ But yeah, that's the basis of how I usually write him: chaotic, inflammatory, sarcastic. But also protective, and funny and intensely loyal. I love the strange dichotomy of his character so damn much, he is always a blast to write! And I hope I did a good job summing it all up for you, lol! Feel free to DM me if I was unclear about something or if you want to talk more about him or anything, lol! I always appreciate a fellow Sixty enthusiast. XD

Thank you for dropping this lore bomb in my asks. I absolutely ADORE this characterization of our beloved Sixty. He deserves the world and the way you write him sounds like so much fun!

[katyahina]

Okay but why THE heck Byrgenwerth leads you to the Nightmare of Mensis?

So, you DO actually see Mergo's Loft (aka Nightmare of Mensis castle(s)) from Nightmare Frontier!

It is not surprising since both locations are accessed from Byrgenweth - Nightmare Frontier from the first floor and Nightmare of Mensis from the second one. Well, by Byrgenwerth I mean the Lecture building:

(Using retranslation document by Last Protagonist ( x )). Like, yes, we can confirm that Nightmare Frontier and Nightmare of Mensis are, indeed, the same location, only one is placed higher than the other in altitude. But this is still interesting that Byrgenwerth is stuck between "reality" and Nightmare, and in either case it leads to the Nightmare realm.

I always felt like the implication that the rest of the Byrgenwerth is, in fact, stuck in the Nightmare (as in, Willem and the scholars could not meet each other anymore) had something to do with Rom! Rom appears to be a kind of a Nightmare Apostle - the 'spider' title suggests that (same as with Patches the Spider), and she is likewise a spider creature with a human head; only that her head is... less human now, it mutated with too many eyes. And if Patches' behaviour is of any indication, Nightmare Apostles are Amygdalae affiliates!

An Amygdala delivers you to the 1st floor of Lecture Building, and you fight one in Nightmare Frontier; meanwhile, Amygdalas are heavily associated with School of Mensis! But also, Micolash says this somewhere within his ramble:

'Sleep could' of course refer to like... sleeping... lol (a nightmare is a type of a dream), or to the sleep of the Great Ones that Pthumerians started to deify, or both. But in either case, the 'Lake' (like the 'Sea') is the boundary between humanity and Eldrich Truth. So, to no longer see the Sea means to... well, no longer see this boundary, I guess? As in, by now he is not stopped by it. Like he overcame that boundary so he now can contact the 'cosmos'!

(Heh... I just thought of something - funny enough, very often, at the first glance chaotic ramblings of a madman actually make surprising amount of sense and logic, once you know the context...)

Rom is in the lake and it is her presence there that conceals Mensis Ritual! Not stops it, that's important, only hides it. It is not clear within the timeline for how long Rom was important for Byrgenwerth, but it is very possible that Byrgenwerth might have been using her powers to be in 'enough' contact with the Nightmare realm for their research! They became an isolated institution after falling out with Healing Church, and whereas there are Slime Scholars in the Lecture Building itself, in the area of the 'real' world there are Gardens of Eyes who surprisingly look like they must be Kin of Amygdalae (not monsters/devotees like Nightmare Apostles).

So: what if for a while, thanks to Rom's powers, Byrgenwerth was able to go back and forth with the Nightmare realm to do their own research? Basically not only protecting the humanity, but also cleverly gatekeeping everything from the detractors and just naive, ambitious fools (remember that Choir and Mensis are higher echelons of the Healing Church)! And Micolash's mention of "no longer seeing the Lake" refers to him either tapping on that power or simply overcoming it! He might have deliberately done something to be connected with where Rom is, using her as a 'phone' to call Kos xD (since Rom can see everything, and is said to have been blessed by her!) But that meant to have 'access' to Byrgenwerth... And that included messing with its architecture, so Lecture Building could no longer be accessed from what remained of Byrgenwerth in the waking world - including Willem staying there and not being able to see his scholars anymore, who are now trapped between worlds.

Internal filenames of the locations suggest outright connection between the Lake that Rom guards and Lecture building:

My friend @val-of-the-north brought this up, and also correctly pointed out that 'Innermost' in internal files typically refers to the boss arenas (here is also Hemwick Mansion as an example) :

Also, you might be familiar with 'Rom, the upside-down fool' from Micolash's cut content dialogue ( ( x ), at the 0:40), right? This is also the case in Japanese voice acting of his cut lines! Upside-down will be 逆さま (sakasama), and here is Micolash's Japanese dialogue with both used and cut lines: ( x ). You can clearly hear 'sakasama no hakuchi Roma' from 2:41 to 2:45! ('hakuchi no kumo, Roma' is Rom's Japanese title, 'hakuchi' (白痴) means intellectually disabled, idiot, etc, and 'kumo' (蜘蛛) means spider).

(There is a document ( x ) that features Japanese text of Mico's cut dialogue AND transliteration AND a nuanced translation, done by a person that speaks Japanese if you are wondering from which dimension I am pulling these facts from. It is really helpful, and I still encourage everyone to refer to Japanese scripts in your loredigging, as they are actually canon and truthful to the game creators' intentions. In this case, canonical cut content, as oxymoronic as it sounds xD)

Again, mostly it points out to Micolash boasting about how not even Rom's barrier could stop him from accessing the Nightmare! But all in all, Lecture Hall appears to be a 'train station'... that he might have ruined, or turned to his favour. You can see the handcuffed victims in the chairs in Nightmare of Mensis too - a right sign of him having had victims before our Hunter finds him!

I mentioned that in a kind of old post about alternative (and slightly outdated in some parts) take on Edgar's quest as a spy ( x ), but there is also a possibility that Micolash cut the connection between two parts of Byrgenwerth (waking world one and Nightmare one) specifically to not be found through Byrgenwerth by people like Yurie, Fauxsefka etc. The entrance to the part of Byrgenwerth where Rom resides now is additionally guarded by Shadows of Yharnam! Nightmare of Mensis is full of servants of Mergo and also Shadows of Yharnam, so he must have some sort of authority as the one who stole Mergo, right? So that could also have been his doing to send those Shadows over to even further prevent the risks of interrupting the ritual!

So yeah... I've gotten a bit carried away, but you see what I am trying to say! Funny how much, again, can sprout from only a minor clarification for the translation.

[mimikiplovesgaming]

I was inspired and talking to @startistdoodles (because she is the Kirby master at this point XD) and decided that Widdle needed a companion

Like the Bandana Dee to Kirby

So, introducing Iri! The Astral born from chaos!

Iri, based off "iridescent", was born from Void during the time of Marx's defeat, when his wish from NOVA caused chaos throughout the cosmos. Iri was meant to be jettisoned off immediately, but due to Void's chaotic turmoil and fluctuating temperament, he didn't leave Void's orbit until much later, landing on Permafrost. Widdle Dee found Iri in the nick of time before he froze, taking the young Astral into their care.

Iri is a kind hearted soul who ends up creating his own chaos, running around and making messes by accident. But he does his best to correct his mistakes, even if he does throw a temper tantrum about it ^w^

On another note, what would y'all say to an Iri and Widdle ask blog, like Star has with Prisma? Would you guys want that? Lemme know in the comments!

[gffa]

Hey Lumi! I've been loving your Bo-Katan commentary and have appreciated the way you make connections to previous content from Clone Wars and Rebels, pointing out lots of things I would have missed otherwise! So I hope you don't mind a lore question. Has Bo-Katan ever been referred to as a "princess" before this episode? I was confused when she said that, since Satine was a Duchess, and I hadn't ever gotten the impression that Mandalore was a strict hereditary monarchy, but that the houses would rise and fall. I got nothing from reading Wookiepedia so I'm hoping you can shed some light!

Hi! Thank you, I'm glad the Bo-Katan commentary has been entertaining! I have to admit, I've fallen back in love with Mean Wife, she is so mean and so great! Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to help much with the Mandalorian stuff because there's really not a lot about it in canon. Legends probably covered a bunch of stuff, but The Mandalorian is not part of the Legends continuity, so who knows what Favreau is going to do with this. I'm not sure we really know how Mandalore's royalty situation worked out, why Satine was Duchess instead of Queen, if there's a functional difference, if it's one of those situations like where Padme was Queen of Naboo, but it was an elected position, that maybe terms don't mean the same thing in Star Wars as they do in our universe, and "Duchess" means "Queen" to them, etc. All of that is speculation! I did get the impression that Satine's position was hereditary because she came into that position when she was very young, given the age she and Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were on the run, but if she'd been elected, she wouldn't still be Duchess and she probably would have been more popular at that time. But also because House Kryze was established as a thing (like House Vizsla) in TCW, which is hereditary as well, if we're going by how long House Vizsla has history all the way back to at least Tarre Vizsla. But a lot of that is based on the vibes I got from how characters acted and how there was nothing mentioned of rises and falls or elections, like Pre Vizsla didn't become the Duke of Mandalore, instead it fell to the Prime Minister that he was puppet mastering, despite that Pre was from House Vizsla, which has a long, long history with Mandalore. So, the "Princess" line threw me, but I'm just assuming that, yeah, the Kryze family was royalty and that we're not meant to take "Princess" super literally in a 1:1 relation to our own world or that maybe she was Princess of Kalevala, but Duchess/Duke was a separate role that a person from House Kryze inherited. (And should have passed to Bo-Katan on Satine's death, but the political upheaval on Mandalore was too chaotic and they weren't willing to rally around Bo-Katan at the time.) Really, though, it's impossible to say, we don't know nearly enough about canon to say what the term "Princess" means or if Favreau doesn't care and just threw it in there because it sounded good. Never underestimate the power of something sounding good. XD