#This is a shockingly difficult task for some

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Muffin! It's ASP Inc, the conglomerate made up of the companies formerly known as Apple, Sony, and Pepsi-Co. Based on your credentials with prior projects, you've been conscripted again for another big budget Twilight media project! Probably the CEO is on drugs, but congrats on your $500m dollar budget.

Your task is to design a big-budget Twilight video game. "But I don't really play that many video games," you maybe say? Idk, the CEO doesn't seem to care and is maybe using this project for tax evasion, so your instructions are "Just make us a Twilight game with gameplay stolen from a popular thing like a Minecraft, Fortnight, Among Us, whatever the kids nowadays are playing. Maybe a Mario? Are Marios still a thing?? I played Oregon Trail on my mac once. Stick some story in it. Give it the Muffin treatment, kids like Muffins!"

Your project brief must include:

1) What non-story-based gameplay mechanic you're stealing ("It's like a Mario!") 2) What story set in the Twilight Universe (tm) you've decided is most game-able. 3) Where you're spending the big bucks.

Thank you and good luck! (I hope this is fun and not, you know, annoying)

That would be a very silly thing for them to do.

Caveat

Twilight already is a video game: it's a visual novel. You are Bella Swan, first person point of view, checking out hottie mchottie across the hall. You don't know it, but the wrong action you take, even if it's arriving in the parking lot late: you die.

It's up to you to find Bella's golden path to survival which is in fact the Twilight novels we know and love.

Ordinarily, I'm a big skeptic of medium jumps without much thought, especially to and from video games as they usually don't transition well. However, in this case, we're already there.

You don't even have to change that much of the narrative structure since it's all in first person and we have the visuals as we know exactly what everyone looks like down to what exact shade of red their hair is.

There's not much for me to do.

But That Will Never Fly/Isn't What You Asked For

It sounds like this merger corporation doesn't really understand Twilight or video games which is not surprising. So, I have to make a real person video game which is just like that thing the kiddos are playing.

And since I'm going to hell anyway: I'm making a Twilight game that's RDR/GTA styled and we're going wild.

You're Bella Swan going to high school but you can wander around the town of Forks/the world at large and do whatever the fuck you want. This often gets you killed horribly. You go to Mexico: you're eaten by vampires. You go to Alaska: you get fucked by vampires and have a wild time in their sauna. You go to Egypt: some guy named Amun locks you in a tomb where you hang out with Benjamin, Tia, and Amun's angry wife. You can take missions for the Volturi, which they never asked you to do, and every time you collect a bounty a Volturi member will give you a weird look and ask "what the fuck is wrong with you/why are you here?" but you'll earn in game rewards as they publicly shame you.

You can also get into affairs with your human friends and ruin Jessica's love life, go to Prom with five people, and so on and so forth.

You can also get involved in the La Push community where they stare at you for being this person who clearly doesn't belong and try to seduce Leah into a lesbian love affair with you. (This is a very difficult quest, Leah's not impressed and very confused and going through it with Sam right now). You get to hear all of people's drama that's going on in the side lines.

The actual plot is dating Edward, and somehow, he doesn't notice all your wild adventures because he can't read your mind and while he's been stalking you every time you leave the state he loses your scent.

Your missions are surprisingly difficult as you have to avoid death by Edward by saying the right things and avoid death by everything else in the universe by navigating Port Angeles correctly (shockingly hard as the rapists somehow corner you at every turn). You also get missions during the Hallucination Edward arc as you have to do increasingly difficult and dangerous things to get Hallucination Edward to appear at which point your player character gets sweet sweet endorphins.

In the online player mode, where you've probably become a vampire, you can engage in vampire warfare where the losing condition is you killed too many humans so the Volturi come to kill all of you.

And yes, of course, there is an honor system but you blow it yourself as Bella's honor plummets during New Moon when she has to endanger herself and others to see Edward.

The money's going into a) graphics b) the sheer open worldness allowed in the number of quests, the random events, and all that good points.

Conclusion

I imagine they ask me how I will market this game to Twilight's audience, who are presumably the only ones who will play this game, and I claim, "Young women love grand theft auto!"

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Ok ok ok so this is something I have pondered for a bit now that I have re-entered the Remadora fandom again for the first time for probably almost 15 years. As you seem to be the de facto keeper of some of the deepest headcanons of this niche topic, I am curious what your take is.

Question: How many people do you think know, at least initially/when it happened, knew Remus left?

Hear me out here. Ok so the book isn’t remotely clear how long he was gone because we only get an update in like Feb/March when Ron returns but the Pottermore bio that he was actually gone for like 3 days, which is still absolutely a dick move, but significantly different than being gone for *months.*

Now, most fics I’ve read at any point have included him *saying* in some form that he’s leaving, either in the form of a letter of sorts, or I do really like TauraNorma’s whole scene in Flying Colours in which it’s an in-person conversation, but beyond dissociated from reality on his part.

But, if I were in her position, I don’t know how much I’d divulge to others? It would certainly be a difficult position. If she did stay with her parents for that period, or after, (I do love Remus saying she’d safe at her parents’ house as if they didn’t literally just get tortured. Bro. Really?) she *does* have some plausible deniability of “he had to go to some Order business” to them to have some shield for her own embarrassment.

Maybe to Molly and Arthur as a “hey if my husband lands at your house or something, wanna shoot me a message?” but past that I’m not 100% sure how I land with others knowing. It seems very possible to me that when Ron is with Billy and Fleur, Ron, while listening to Potterwatch or something, offhandedly asks them if he ever went back to Tonks and them being like sorry wat. And Ron having the unfortunate task of regaling what happened at Grimmauld Place in August. I could definitely see it spreading from there and more of their acquaintances finding out from that discussion but obviously Tonks is like 8 months pregnant and they’ve been living together seemingly the entire time.

Ok I’m sorry this ended up shockingly long. I may not have been entirely sober when furiously typing it out the first time.

Ahhhh what a compelling ask, @millennihilism!

I'm honored you consider me the de facto keeper of the HCs on this, but I'll also be the first to say that there are a LOT of differing opinions on this one because of the lack of canon data.

You're correct that Pottermore says that Remus was only gone about 3 days. We have no idea what circumstances he left Tonks in. Letter? In person? Dashing away in the night without a word? Who knows.

From a close reading of DH, there's no indication of how long Remus was gone. You could say 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 8 months ... technically all canon compliant if you're not using Pottermore as a source.

That being said, my personal HC is no more than a week, and again, I know that many people would disagree with this assessment of Remus's absence, but I believe it's a shorter absence for many reasons, including an answer to your question of how many people knew that he left her.

Remus is a dick, but he's not *THAT* much of a dick. He's a coward, but he's not *THAT* much of a coward. Remus does have a good bit of kindness in him, and he's brave enough to do the right thing when push comes to shove. Harry literally shoved him. I think that put Remus squarely in his place and shamed him enough to return to Tonks.

Remus's support system is down to almost nothing. He presumably has the following people outside of Tonks: Molly and Arthur, Bill and Fleur. That's it. He thought he had the trio, but that wasn't true, given Harry rebuking him.

We know from Remus that he's been tailed by a Death Eater for three days before he came to Grimmauld Place. If he's been tailed by a Death Eater, where could he have been? Certainly not the Burrow, where they'd find him. Certainly not Shell Cottage, as it's under the Fidelius Charm, presumably. So that gives us an idea that if he was tailed by a Death Eater for three days (curiously, the amount of time Pottermore tells us he was gone for), and just now got to GP to talk to the trio, he's been on the go for three days by the time he gets to the trio.

Because there is nowhere to go for Remus, that puts him in an awkward position. I don't think that anyone outside the Tonkses knew he left her. I think that Remus left, and Tonks vacillated between being sure he was coming back and being really terrified and scared that something would happen to him. Oh, and anger. Lots of righteous anger. I can imagine she told her parents by way of explaining that she was living with them now. It's possible she told him he was on a mission, but they didn't believe her.

Because of the 3 day ordeal of being tailed by a Death Eater, this is why I do NOT think that Remus went to the Burrow or Shell Cottage before he came to GP, or after, for that matter. While we know that Remus knows about Shell Cottage - when he announces Teddy's birth in the spring - we don't know when that information was given to him. I don't think Lupin could've been gone for months and months because we do know that Ron was at Shell Cottage, and he didn't mention Lupin being there. It's possible Lupin went to Shell Cottage for a few weeks, but I'm also not buying that for other reasons.

Bill is the most lenient and understanding of the brothers, but there's a huge difference to me between Ron leaving his friends when times got tough and Lupin leaving his pregnant wife in the middle of a war. Plus, think of Fleur. Do you really think Fleur would be okay with Lupin crashing at her house to avoid his responsibilities? She gushes about how brave her husband is in the hospital wing scene. She'd look at Lupin like the tiniest and most miserable snail in the world if he dared use her home as a hiding place from his wife.

I also don't think that Bill and Fleur would be on Remus's side over Tonks. Bill was two years ahead of Tonks in school. Bill might have kinship with Remus after being attacked by Fenrir Greenback, but that kinship, IMO, is not going to be enough to defend Lupin's actions on leaving his wife. I also believe Lupin knew this, which is why I staunchly believe that Lupin NEVER went to Shell Cottage in his time away from Tonks.

So at the end of the day, who knew that Lupin left Tonks? Initially, likely only the trio and the Tonkses. Remus returns fairly quickly. I can imagine Ron sharing Lupin's arrival at GP to Bill and Fleur, who probably had shock and disappointment at Lupin's actions. But by then Lupin's back home so it's in the past. I assume Molly and Arthur would've been told through the grapevine, possibly Kingsley too, and everyone just keeps it under wraps because it's Remus having a moment of panic.

And for how long was Remus gone? I take the 3 day to a week position because Lupin had no viable places to stay without endangering other people, which seems to be his number one fear. I also take that timeline because he's being tailed and he knows it. He returns to the safest place, his home with Tonks and her parents, where they can be in hiding (forever furious Ted couldn't have stayed with them?? why did he die??? it makes no earthly sense except to give Teddy Lupin his name and have another orphan raised by his grandmother??)

At the end of the day, I will never ever ever ever buy the idea that Remus was gone for a long time. He does the right thing when push comes to shove, and he was shoved by Harry. He is a coward, but when the time is right, he does the brave thing. He also loves Tonks, and Tonks is forgiving and kind. That's why they work.

I hope this answers your questions!!

[zvezdacito]

Convo with my mutuals from the other day led me to making a list of Twisted Wonderland characters who possibly have ADHD/are ADHD-coded and what their symptoms and traits are (featuring art from me cause i just pulled this from my instagram story lmao)🔥

⚠️ Obligatory disclaimer tho so that the 'you make everything ""normal"" about adhd these days to feel special' and anti self-dx people don't come after me😭

Do not used this list to diagnose yourself, do extensive research before going to a professional to get officially diagnosed. I have ADHD and this list is from my own experiences + what I've researched about it, but it won't be perfect nor apply to everyone as every person is different. And as will be mentioned later on, there are many other neurological conditions, such as autism, bipolar, and even schizophrenia, that on the surface have many similar symptoms to adhd depsite having different causes. Getting diagnosed right is important to receive proper treatment and advice for coping, so people who get misdiagnosed usually end up in worse places than before because they receive the wrong meds of follow the wrong advice. Unfortunately, in women it is common to be misdiagnosed with other conditions before adhd, and also vice versa. You need a professional to get officially diagnosed, but there isn't enough research on many of these conditions, and many doctors are shockingly ableist and irresponsible and just conflate and interchange these conditions with each other😭

And for the flip side of people reading this, be considerate to self-diagnosers and ppl who just want to have fun with headcanons. As you can see, getting officially diagnosed is insanely difficult if you don't have the stereotypical presentation or you are a racial, sexual and of course economic minority. Minorities who come forth and try to get diagnosed are more likely to be dismissed or accused of just lying or being too paranoid. And your fave characters being headcanoned as not neurotypical isn't gonna hurt anybody😭 They can still be intelligent, scheming, charming and handsome even if they have adhd or whatever condition. Many of these HCs are because we lack explicitly confirmed, respectful or positive representation in media

Riddle Rosehearts

•needs rules and rigid structure, because without them he has no idea what choices to make and feels lost on what he should do

•hyperfocuses on work and duties usually related to these rules

•RSD, hates being criticized

•excessive talking and sometimes interrupts others, his impatience sometimes makes him not so understanding to the other party of the communication

•big dysregulated emotions, easily and extremely angered

•can be gullible and believe words literally like when he believed Trey's pastry recipe actually included oyster sauce (this isn't in the image but the way he implements rules can also be something that proves his black and white/literal thinking)

Azul Ashengrotto

•RSD, goes out of his way to take preventive measures against things he thinks will make people mock and criticize him again since the feeling of rejection hurts too much

•seems to also have had big emotions and cried a lot as a kid, probably just masking now to look strong

•hyperfocus during board games

•takes time and lots of planning to be able to bring himself to start/do tasks, rarely goes into things without a plan or two (this is why ADHDers procrastinate a lot)

•likes doing multiple things at once using his many octopus tentacles

•bit of a stretch, but it is possible that some of little Azul's "big appetite" was just adhd boredom. For ADHDers sometimes feelings of hunger and boredom are mixed up, and we eat not because we are starving but because eating is something you can direct ur focus and energy through, which makes not bored while doing it. This is why some adhders overeat and have higher vulnerability to substance abuse.

(No one asked but minus the overeating his presentation is very similar to my brother's😂)

Kalim al Asim

One of the characters people more commonly think of when someone brings up twst characters who possibly have adhd, because his and Deuce were probably written with the most purposeful intent to be based off that, and because they have the more 'stereotypical' presentation people default to thinking of

•very scattered with his thoughts, clumsy

•struggles to pay attention and concentrate

•hyperactive

•impulsive, doesn't think things through too much before deciding to go and commit to a project just because it seemed fun or exciting (he gets dopamine from the hype and fun basically). Despite it starting out like that he is genuinely passionate about the things he does

•emotional, easily excited or brought to tears

•gullible

•high empathy, strong sense of justice and always tries to help others

•if you look at this through the perspective of him having RSD, he also goes out of his way to take preventive measures from people getting mad or upset at him (form of rejection), by overcompensating with hospitality and gift-giving and other stuff

•didn't put this in the image but like Deuce he may also have issues with processing information

Deuce Spade

•deuce tries his best to mask for his mom and be an organized model student, but is also clumsy and scatterbrained

•gullible, literal thinker

•impulsive, this is likely what got him into so many fights as a delinquent

•might also have emotional dysregulation, easily going into intense rages during delinquent days and sometimes even now when he forgets to mask it

•struggles with tasks that require too long and too much of thought, he says himself in Chapter 5 his strength is in resilience and stubbornness instead of thinking things through

•in this monologue he also mentions how 'even if he tries to think and read over and over again, it's still no use', meaning he probably has issues in processing information.

He can't absorb the information presented to him even if he tries to take it in over and over again, because the problem is not that he didnt listen its the typical presentation of information is inaccessible to ADHD and other ND brains. In chapter 5 Deuce accepts this about himself as not inherently a weakness but just something that is unique for him

•struggles to pay attention and concentrate too

•like many ADHDers Deuce probably has co-morbid dyscalculia

Malleus Draconia

This one is admittedly more of a reach and self indulgent, because he's my favorite character, I have many similar struggles with him and I really like the AuDHD/ADHDtism headcanon of him. He is canonically more autistic coded.

> this is less of just adhd and more him being autistic with adhd

> I read that it is a common experience for autistic ppl with adhd to sometimes feel like they're contradicting their own wants, needs etc and not knowing why before finding out they also have adhd. Such as contradictions in wanting to stick to what is familiar to feel safe and regulated but also wanting to experience new things for the rush

> So kinda like Malleus being used to his usual routine and supposedly being somewhat fine with it staying that way for who knows how much longer, admitting in Glorious Masquerade he struggled to muster up the courage to change from it after so long and leave the Valley, but he still yearns for many new experiences and fun regardless so he's glad he chose to do it. Much like many AuDHDers solution of making small changes in routine from time to time to keep both conditions satisfied. Woah‼️‼️💯

Other than this Malleus also has:

•poor time management in planning how much time he wanders around and how much to prepare to go to meetings (he ends up missing most meetings)

•time blindness, which contributes to this

•easily spacing and zoning out

•instances of inattentiveness and distractability

•complains about being bored instantly in several voicelines if I remember correctly

•emotional dysregulation resulting in violent and intense anger affecting even the weather

•Impulsivity, not thinking through before he acts on things (Halloween 2☠️ there are several other instances of this but usually a character explains to him why it isn't a good idea and he should stop before he completes doing it)

Most of these are also presentations in autism so both can happen in a person and seem same from the outside, the difference in which presentation is which depending on the motivation/cause of it

TLDR🌟 Malleus usually needs his set routines and sameness for the calm and stability but also the thrills of new, fun and impulsive things from time to time for epic brain dopamine. He only learned and accepted that he also needs the second part later on cause he knew about his autism before his adhd👍

Lastly, Floyd.

I know lots of people including me also headcanoned Floyd as an ADHDer. Tho looking at it more, outside of the superficial and stereotypical symptoms of being quick to boredom and emotional dysregulation, he doesn't really seem to struggle with organizing and doing tasks compared to the others listed.

In canon, he is more intended to be coded with Borderline Personality Disorder, which also affects one ability to regulate their emotions. BPD can be a comorbidity to ADHD, so that and the overlapping symptoms are probably what make lots of people headcanon him as ADHD

Tho Floyd may not be comorbid and have just BPD, the act of starting and doing tasks itself is not what's hard for him, but rather the emotions that affect what he chooses to do stops him from doing things and prompts him to decide on doing other things. And in general he just ticks off more BPD boxes than adhd

Tho there is no harm in HCing him as adhd. I myself hc him as that cause it's fun😎 Just that it probably isn't as intentional or there as many ppl think

Ok that's all I think🌟 Thank you for reading and if you have anything to add or think I missed anything/any characters feel free to tell me or RB this with it🔥 OK rambling over goodbye

[amunisence]

Secret Admirer (Phobos x Reader)

Consider this a late Valentine's Day post. I've been working on this on and off since last year and decided to finish it up for February. Enjoy!

As a Science Tower intern, you love the opportunity to work on Project Nexus. This is despite the Director's high expectations. Due to your coworkers' gossip and overall stress from your tasks, your impressions of Director Phobos were negative before you had even met him. His reputation had truly preceded him.

It was your third day at the Science Tower when you first encountered the Director. You were being shown around the building by your superior, Dr. Christoff, as much as he could before returning to his tight schedule. This was out of courtesy since getting lost was rather common for you at that time (didn't help that everything looked the same to you)

"What are you doing?" a low commanding voice thundered from behind eliciting a small "Eep!" from you. You peeked over your shoulder to the tall grand figure that spoke just moments ago. You whipped your body around and scurried backwards away from the seething giant.

Christoff, to your surprise, was unphased, "I was simply giving the new intern a tour of the facility since the layout can be confusing for newcomers. Is that an issue, Director Phobos?"

That is Director Phobos?! You had seen the statues, but you had no idea the Director was this grand- he actuallywears the cape?!

"I can take it from here, Jebediah. Carry on."

You pondered what that meant as Dr. Christoff turned away from Director Phobos and walked off with clenched fists.

"You need not be afraid--it is only natural for such an awe-inspiring facility to intimidate a lowly intern such as yourself," the corners of his mouth tugged into a wide toothy grin, "That is why I shall personally give you a tour," Phobos said gesturing to himself pridefully, "Only a fool would refuse such a privilege."

You immediately caught on that Director Phobos thought very highly of himself. As if his regal cape wasn't enough, his manner of speaking more than accentuated his ego.

While you wanted to politely turn down his request, you're bright enough to figure out your tour with Dr. Christoff has been put on hold indefinitely. You needed someone to show you around. With a forced smile, you agree to allow the Director to give you the tour.

"Splendid! Wise choice," Director Phobos beamed. He proceeded to take you on a very long-winded yet memorable tour. Shockingly, you found yourself enjoying it. The Director would elaborate on the importance of certain sections (some you were sure you weren't allowed in anyway). You couldn't help but giggle at times when he would demand your coworkers to focus on their tasks despite causing a scene wherever he went. You found the stories he told made certain locations easier to remember; though you wondered if you even had the clearance to hear them.

After the tour to your own shock, your heart would start to pound relentlessly whenever the Director was nearby. For some reason, the special attention that he gave you that day left an impression on you. A very inconvenient one at that. These newfound feelings were difficult to manage alongside your work. That's why you decided to write Director Phobos an anonymous letter expressing these feelings and how they developed in hopes that it would help you move on. 

The first obstacle was getting this letter to the Director. You can't just waltz up to his office and slide a letter under his door right in front of security cameras! After all, who knows what could happen to you if he's displeased by your confession (especially from an intern).You even addressed it "God Emperor Phobos" in hopes of getting brownie points if he found out it was from you. Therefore, this task required a different approach.

For one week, you paid attention to any potential opportunities to slip your letter amongst his files without being detected. Before you knew it, the perfect one presented itself to you. After one particularly long and grueling meeting, the Director took Dr. Christoff aside and chastised him. While everyone else was preoccupied with leaving, you took a casual stroll past the Director's seat. You managed to slip your letter into his thick folder of paperwork undetected and escaped to the hallway. You breathed out while clutching your frantic heartbeat. You were positive your chest was about to burst any moment, but you had to continue as if nothing happened.

~

Phobos shut the door to his office. "How dare he." He about ended Dr. Christoff's life right where he stood back at the meeting. "Opposition to MY perfect vision?! Preposterous." Not only was he irritable from lackluster results on sleepwalkers, but now he had to snuff out a new growing "doubt" amidst his staff. In another fit of rage, he forced his bulky folder onto his desk with a substantial thud. An envelope slipped out from sheer force and landed before Phobos's feet. He knelt down and irritability nicked it off the ground. He didn't recognize the envelope. In fact, he didn't even remember having any mail that day. Assuming it was work related, Phobos grumbled and sat down at his desk.

"Hm?" he hummed in confusion as he glanced at the front of the envelope. There was nothing on it except for "God Emperor Phobos" written neatly in the center. It was rather informal looking to be work related. Phobos ripped open the envelope and slid out its contents. He unfolded the single piece of paper and found a hand written letter.

"To God Emperor Phobos,

My initial impressions of you were unreasonable, unapproachable, and insufferable. I have now, however, expanded my horizons and see there is so much more to you. Your zeal for the project is very admirable and motivating. Your grand presence fills whatever room you're in. The way you are able to give purpose to the most insignificant of us has given me a sort of pride I have never felt before.

Due to recent events, I have found myself thinking about you rather frequently. When you aren't occupying my thoughts, my heart pounds at the sight of you. Forgive me, I know it's silly to say such things in my position.

I do hope my words haven't troubled you or caused any issues. I've written this letter in hopes of moving on from these inappropriate feelings.

Sincerely,

Your Secret Admirer"

Phobos sighed out as he finished reading the letter with one hand partially covering his face. At first, he didn't know what to make of it. One thing he knew for sure though was that his anger had oddly vanished after reading it. Perhaps I read it too fast. He thought and reread the letter figuring its contents hadn't sunk in properly. Then it happened--he smiled. Genuinely. Nothing like the prideful grin he usually wears. He also couldn't help but laugh at the innocence of the letter's contents but in an endearing way--not from a stance of superiority. Phobos even felt his own heart skip a beat from his secret admirer's confession.

"Oh Secret Admirer, you flatter me and have made my day. But who are you? I simply must know." 

Phobos continued to ponder this into the next day. He had trouble focusing on the most trivial of things as if the letter had put him under a spell. In what little downtime he had, Phobos wracked his brain for any clues to who his secret admirer could be.

"S-Sir?"

Phobos broke out of his trance and found you in front of his desk with a fresh cup of coffee.

"Ar-Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes, yes, I was just... you know..." He didn't finish his sentence which felt odd to you.

"Well, I have your coffee. I'll just set it here." While placing the mug on a coaster near his stationary, you couldn't help but be flustered under his gaze. The letter hadn't helped like you hoped it would. Not only does your heart rate still increase in his presence, but now your face gets absolutely flushed. As your own eyes happened to glance over his desk, you stopped for but a moment. Your temporary paralysis was caused by the sight of your letter on the Director Phobos's desk. As brief a pause as it was, your whole demeanor had changed in a single moment.

A single moment that Phobos had unfortunately observed: your stiffened composure, your startled expression, and your hushed gasp. You quickly moved away from his desk and attempted to leave in an effort to preserve what little dignity you had left.

"How has your internship been so far?" Phobos asked you casually.

You think for only a few seconds before saying, "Like any job, it can be stressful, but I feel like I'm given a purpose here. Project Nexus has given me a sort of pride I-"

"-have never felt before. Is that correct?"

To your horror, Phobos, letter in hand, had used your own words against you. Everything inside you wanted to apologize profusely for the letter. However, you stayed silent bracing yourself for the worst with your head down in flustered embarrassment.

"You know, it was peculiar. When my disgruntled self returned to my office yesterday, I came across this letter haphazardly tucked into the folder from the last meeting I attended. When I read this letter, it turned out to be a confession from a secret admirer. At first, I was stunned. My anger had vanished, and I felt... elated," he paused and stood up.

"This letter had both flattered me and improved my mood. I was so tickled and delighted by this note that I decided right then that I needed to find my secret admirer and offer my gratitude." Phobos moved out from behind his desk and slowly approached your blushing figure. He placed a finger beneath your jaw and gently tugged your chin to face him. "Thank you."

[therealdisneyfan2319]

Can't Help Falling In Love Chapter 1: Hemingway

Synopsis: As Y/N prepares for his wedding, he receives an unexpected surprise from his bride-to-be.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Y/N

Characters: Y/N, Tony Stark, Laura Barton

Warnings: Mild language, mentions of alcohol, fluffy fluff fluff

Word Count: 1.5K

“Shit,” Y/N said as he yet again failed to tie his bowtie.  YouTube made it look so easy.  Fold this, make a knot here, add a loop-de-loop, push this end through that and presto!  The men in these videos, however, weren’t accounting for one thing: wedding day jitters.  Shaky hands and a lingering sense of anxiety and pressure made even the simplest of tasks all the more difficult.  He undid the floppy, lopsided bow and attempted to try again.

“You know, for someone who’s getting married in an hour, you look extremely unhappy.”

Y/N jumped.  He was so focused on getting his bowtie perfect (which it wasn’t) that he hadn’t noticed Tony looming behind him in the mirror.  

“Jesus!” Y/N exclaimed.  “Don’t do that!”

“Not too late to back out if you want.  Wait another hour and it’s going to get massively more expensive to say no.  Either way you’re a dead man, but it’s better to die debt-free than owing god knows what in legal fees.”  He was shockingly casual as he tied Y/N’s bowtie.  Y/N resigned himself to the indignation of being unable to tie his own tie on this wedding day, allowing his arms to hang limply by his side as Tony Stark tied his bowtie for him.

“Thanks…I think?”

“Thank me now, thank me later, all I can say is: you’re welcome.”  He straightened the bowtie and patted Y/N’s shoulders.  “Bit nervous I see.  Cold feet?”

Y/N sighed.  “No, not cold feet.  I mean yeah, I’m terrified, but I’m going to marry her.”  He smoother the front of his vest.  “Little late to back out now, isn’t it?” he chuckled.

“You’ll be fine.  Just remember, shoot me a nod and I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. create a diversion so you can slip out through a suit.  Either that or, gee I don’t know, I’ll think of something.  Drop my papers, throw the rings, object to the wedding myself.”

“Yeah, umm…I think we’ll be good there, Tony, but thanks for the offer.”

“Alrighty then, guess I’ll head out.”  He dropped his voice to an almost whisper.  “Told Laura I’d finish hanging the lights up in the barn before everyone got here.  Don’t want to upset the taskmaster.”  He motioned with his hand like he was cracking an imaginary whip.  “Need anything before I go?  Snack?  Dental floss?  Liquid courage?”  He pulled a small silver flask from his inside jacket pocket.

“Nah, I’m good,” Y/N said as he shook his head.  “Thanks, though.”

Tony took a swig from his flask.  “Oh well, more for me,” he grinned.  He leaned to the right and craned his neck to peer out the window.  “I don’t see her out there…hopefully she’s not looking for me.  But what the hell, no one’s gonna notice if there’s fairy lights or not, right?”  He turned and headed for the bedroom door.

“Hey Tony?”  Tony turned and looked over his shoulder, eyebrows cocked.

“Mmmm?”

“I, uhh, I just wanted to say, well, thanks.  Thanks for doing this.  It…it means a lot to me, umm, us.  It means a lot to us.  So thank you.”

Tony smiled.  “You might want to wait until after my speech at the reception to thank me because there’s a good chance you’ll change your mind after that.”

“Oh, I’m sure Wanda will be thrilled,” Y/N retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Absolutely.”  With that Tony left.  Y/N chuckled to himself, shaking his head.  Leave it to Tony to be his usual, quasi-annoying self on someone else’s wedding day.  His musings were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Must’ve forgotten some other quip he wanted to make, he thought.  But it wasn’t Tony at the door.  It was Laura.

“Hi Y/N!  Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Tony?” she asked.  She was already dressed for the wedding in a stunning green dress, but she vowed to work until the last possible moment to ensure that Y/N and Wanda had the most perfect wedding day ever.

“Yeah he was just here but he left.  I’m not sure where he was going, but he kept talking about avoiding both you and some fairy lights.”

Laura sighed as she brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.  “Yeah, that sounds about right…Alrighty, thanks anyways.”  She began to shut the door but stopped abruptly.  “Oh, geez, I almost forgot what I came here for.  Wanda wanted me to give this to you.”  She handed him a small white envelope.  He grabbed the envelope and looked at it quizzically.

“What is it?” he wondered aloud.

“Something you’re going to want to hold on to for a long time,” she said as she tenderly placed a hand on his shoulder.  “I’m really happy for you two, Y/N.  Today’s going to go by so fast, so just remember to stop, take a breath, and just live in the moment.  You two have your whole lives ahead of you.  And if there’s one piece of unsolicited marriage advice Clint and I could give you, it’s to remember that you are each other’s best friend.  The way you two love each other will change as you grow older, but if you remember that she is your best friend through it all you two will make it through anything that comes your way.  And have fun, have so much fun together.  You’re young, you’re in love, this is one of the best chapters of your life.”  Laura smiled.  “Sorry, look at me getting all sentimental,” she sniffled.  “But go read it!  We’ve still got an hour until the ceremony and I know you two want to do a first look beforehand, so someone will come get you in about half an hour, okay?”  Y/N nodded.  “Well okay, I’ll go find Tony, you go read that,” Laura gestured to the note in Y/N’s hand as she spoke.  She left the room, carefully closing the door as she exited.

Y/N sat down at the foot of the bed.  He examined the envelope carefully, looking at it with the wonder of a newborn baby.  Envelopes were common items.  He stuffed official Avengers reports into them on an almost daily basis.  Yet this was different.  It was from Wanda to him on their wedding day.  That made it different.  It was more personal, more intimate.  It was meant for him and him alone.  He smiled, thinking of how much love and care his soon-to-be wife poured into such a simple yet meaningful gesture.  Writing wasn’t something that came easily to her.  Feelings yes, but actually articulating those feelings on paper no.  Words, poetry, prose…that was more of his thing.  It’s not something that helped him with the Avengers, but Wanda found that side of him fascinating and romantic.  Taking extra care to not tear the envelope, he opened it and removed the folded stationery paper from inside.  Opening the note, he began to read:

Dear Y/N,

In a few short hours we’ll be married and headed off on our honeymoon as husband and wife.  I cannot believe this day is finally here!  It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life to marry you.  Even though we’ve been together forever we have the rest of our lives to go and I get to spend it with my best friend!  I promise to be yours if you promise to be mine.  I love you to the ends of the earth and back, my darling Hemingway, and I’ll never let go.

Love Always, 

Your Wanda

PS. I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be so cute :)

That did it.  That sent him over the edge.  Every single emotion he was feeling about finally marrying Wanda Maximoff was hitting him all at once.  He sobbed.  He was grateful he was alone and he continued to sob.  How was it possible to love another human being this much?  She was everything to him and so much more.  She knew that, of course, but he wanted her to know that right now.  He frantically looked around the room.  It was one of the guest rooms in Clint and Laura’s safe house in the middle of nowhere.  He spied the small desk in the back corner of the room which was nestled in between the wardrobe and the window.  Shuffling through the contents of each drawer he rummaged until he found an unused ‘Happy Birthday’ card, a matching envelope, and a green gel pen.  It’s not exactly what I wanted, but I think she’ll still appreciate the gesture, he thought.  Y/N sat at the small desk as sunlight and the muffled sounds of last minute wedding preparations poured through the window.  Uncapping the pen, he crossed out the word ‘birthday’ and wrote ‘wedding’ right above.  He chuckled.  He pictured Wanda reading the front of the card and giggling at her fiance's lack of preparation.  Pen tapping against the desk and leg anxiously bouncing up and down, he began to write to his beloved.

[grumpy-gurgles]

I did a drabble with a fandom I'm in, that being Twisted Wonderland. I have never written for this fandom before, I'm scared shitless that someone might recognize my OC's name and call my ass out, and I'm slightly less terrified of this being horrendously out of character.

You can ask more about my OC but like. I probably won't be fully name dropping him for the sake of exposure, and I'll keep this out of the main tags as much as possible. Safety precautions. If my legitimate main gets exposed outside of this tummy stuff, I will end it all /hj

Drabble under the cut

OC x Az.ul As.hengrotto, made this in like a half hour so it's bad fyi I just Had A Thought it's 1am I already regret this-

Valentin is notorious for overworking. Whether it be his schoolwork, his alchemy work, inventing things.. he's always difficult to get settled down. He only seems to legitimately take a break at the times he has to, which is when he's sleeping, or when he's in too much pain to do so.

This, however, doesn't apply with hunger whatsoever.

His stomach doesn't have a clock anymore. He eats when he thinks it's a good time to, which doesn't end up often. And it's usually quick things that he can get through the next assignment or gadget for, and then leave his belly grumbling for more. And due to the quiet, almost shadow-esque nature he has among peers, nobody would really notice. Even if his stomach was loud, it'd probably be ignored or put onto someone else.

However, there's an exception to this. Usually one exception, sometimes three. Valentin's fellow dorm members in Octavinelle, specifically(on most occasions,) Azul.

Azul seemed to have a similar issue with overworking. That's how the two ended up bonding, though initially begrudgingly on Valentin's end of things. And Azul had very quickly caught onto the fact that Valentin doesn't have the healthiest habits with eating, because of how often his stomach kept betraying him whenever there was food around.

As a food sensitive person himself, Azul found himself having an issue with that. He initially thought of some contract that would rope Valentin into a proper eating schedule, instead of forcing him to work at the Monstro Lounge on top of everything else. But that wouldn't happen; Valentin wouldn't touch a contract, barely even the Lounge or the VIP room, with a 10 foot pole. He was smart enough to keep his grades up, and he was guarded enough to where Valentin seemingly had no problems! He definitely had problems, but exploiting those for the sake of getting the guy to have a solid meal in his belly also sounded bad. Because that wasn't a good move at all, especially since Valentin would probably try and punch him if he did that. Sevens, he's hard to handle. No wonder he's like a shadow in comparison to many other students. Dealing with this was a difficult task.

But then Azul had his lightbulb moment; ask him out to a little cafe thing! Not on a date or anything, just something to take his mind off it all. Maybe a contract would come later, if Valentin had more trust. He just had to ease the boy into it!

Azul had to drag Valentin to the first time they did this. Shockingly, Valentin let him, instead he chose to keep insulting him. But nothing that was really a sore spot for Azul, like his weaknesses, insecurities, or weight.

"You're an asshole," was one of the frequent phrases that Valentin muttered as his stomach snarled at him from the smell of various food places. But that day was the first day that Azul had heard Valentin's stomach being content and full, instead of upset and practically starved. Valentin was quite embarrassed about how loud his belly was as it digested the coffee and pastry he put in there, but only let that show when they were away from people.

It was the first time, that Azul was aware of, that Valentin had let someone in his brain for a bit. And it felt good, knowing that it was him.

This continued for a few more times, before the Leech twins were intrigued by their boss suddenly putting a solid chunk of attention into this guy. They joined in a couple of times, but usually they left it all alone.

So whenever Valentin starts with his horrendous schedule again, of only eating to get by with a grumbly stomach on too many occasions, Azul is there. It was initially going to be some manipulation tactic, maybe. But maybe it was more of a flirtation tactic the longer it continued for the both of them.

[natasha-in-space]

Random Mystic Messenger headcanons that live in my head rent-free

Some are angsty, some are cute - it's a mixed bag

- Zen enjoys doing skincare with you. It's a shared process. He lets you put sheet masks on him and, more than anything, he adores the feeling of being pampered by you. You two have a separate case just for your skincare products. His job makes it difficult sometimes to spend time with you, so knowing that, at the end of the day, he'll undoubtedly get to enjoy your company keeps him motivated throughout his practice. It's his favourite time of the day.

- More than anything else, Yoosung wants to feel content. All the days spent in front of his computer or cooped up listening to a boring lecture he doesn't care about eat away at him slowly but surely. His back aches from spending hours in a sitting position and he often collapses into his bed, feeling utterly useless and drained. Deep down, he knows that he's just burned out, but these ugly thoughts are just too loud to overcome with common sense. He feels like he goes through life blindly like he's in a thick fog clouding his vision and slowing down his movement. He fears disappointing his family if he speaks up about the way he feels and the crushing expectations put on him for being a star student in his school years are just the cherry on top of the cake. More than anything, he wants to breathe freely, without feeling like he's slowly being crushed under the heavy weight of his grief.

- Jaehee has shockingly good leadership skills! If push comes to shove, she can somehow manage to make even the oddest group of people come together to complete a task. When she gets in the zone, she has this natural charisma emanating from her, and you can't help but feel deep respect for her abilities. She just believes she's in no position to take the leading role most of the time, and it's only when you share your amazement for her skills with her does she first starts to reassess her own image of herself.

- Jumin's kisses are the gentlest touch you have ever felt in your entire life. Most of the time, he's so afraid that he's dreaming when he gets to kiss you like this. He's so terrified that he'll wake up in his bed all alone the next morning, only to realize that you were not real. He's incredibly tender when he presses his lips to yours, his thumb caressing the soft skin of your cheek to reassure himself that you're indeed right here, next to him. It's like he's wordlessly begging you to stay by his side, too afraid to speak those vulnerable words out loud.

- Saeyoung adores it when you let him rest his head on your lap. The feeling of your fingers lazily combing through his hair, as the warmth of your soft thighs beneath his cheek lulls him to sleep is heavenly to him. He feels so loved and safe pressed up against you like this that he actually cried the first time you did this for him. Whenever he gets nightmares, you offer him to rest his head on your lap as you hum soft lullabies to ease his worries.

- Jihyun is a huge fan of classical music. It's to the point where he barely listens to anything else. You'll have to introduce him to other genres of music yourself cause he's so stuck in his ways. This man is an old soul through and through. Though, it's not so bad when he sweeps you into a sweet waltz in the middle of a kitchen. He can create a fairytale like setting with such ease that it takes your breath away.

- Ray is a highly empathetic person without even realizing it. That's why he tries to avoid big crowds whenever he can. He feels so incredibly overwhelmed with all these different emotions clouding his mind and he has no idea where they're even coming from. It scares him and he feels like there's something inherently wrong with him. Still, that's why he can just know when you're feeling unwell. He comes into your room and instantly reads your mood without even having to ask. He can also tell whenever Rika's feeling disheartened, but she brushes him off whenever he offers to comfort her most of the time.

- Deep down, what Suit Saeran longs for the most is to be accepted even if he's not the strongest. He's not at all as confident as he presents himself to be. He can't get a single night of restful sleep without nightmares of his past haunting him. If you, somehow, get him to sleep next to you, he'll bury his face into your hair or back, crushing you in his arms. He'll never let you see his face. His mother is something he fears and hates the most, he despises the fact that she keeps torturing him even now when he tries so incredibly hard to be stronger. He feels so insecure whenever he berates you, tries everything that comes to mind to put you down, and you just look him straight in the eye and refuse to break. He wants you to cry, to get angry, to do something. Prove to him that you're that weakling he wants you to be, prove to him that you're not a good person. Because if you are a genuinely good person that just wants to help him from the bottom of their heart... what in the world is he doing? And what does it mean for him? He's desperately trying to keep his facade of animosity together, but you can see the terrified boy begging to be acknowledged underneath. He realizes he can never let you go when you see this weak side of him and still refuse to give up on him. That's the moment he realizes that he'll do whatever it takes to ensure your safety.

- GE Saeran's kisses convey all of his feelings for you. He doesn't hide anything from you, and you can perfectly feel it through his touch. He tends to break away from you to whisper soft 'I love you's onto your skin over and over again. There's no more darkness clouding his mind. Everything feels perfect, like this is where he was always meant to be. He pulls away, breathless, and smiles. He loves you. He loves you so much.

- VAE Ray's favorite time of the day is around 2-3 pm when everything is still warm under the sun and all you want is to curl up in your room for an afternoon nap. Especially in late Spring or early Autumn, when it's not too hot or too cold. His scars are still quite sensitive to harsh weather, so he has to spend a lot of time indoors whenever the temperatures get too high or low for his comfort. He finds respite in short naps he can enjoy tucked in next to you on those days. Nightmares rarely bother him during the day, so he enjoys this peaceful slumber he gets to experience, while feeling your scent surrounding him in a cocoon of safety more than anything else.

- Unknown actually loves emoticons. That is, once you taught him how to use them properly. He has a bunch of them saved up in his notes so he does not need to go searching for the ones he needs. It's surprisingly hilarious cause he loves using them whenever you get on his nerves and he just does not want to waste his precious energy on typing out his responses. You just get a single: '(⁠눈⁠‸⁠눈⁠)', and that's how you know you're in trouble. Uses happy ones as a threat. You never knew seeing a notification of '◉⁠‿⁠◉' on your phone could make shivers crawl up your spine, but Unknown somehow manages to do exactly that.

- SE Saeran loves going out shopping with you. He rarely ventures outside for something like this alone, but with you, it's different. He can focus on your company next to him, and the world around him does not feel as overwhelmingly suffocating as it usually does. He still has a lot to learn about the modern world and that's what these trips to the convenience stores are meant for. You never once judged him for not knowing something basic or feeling confused by mundane details of day-to-day life. He's free to ask away and learn about the world around him, and that's exactly what he does. It's nothing big, and he does not want to do anything super exciting that will exhaust him at the end of the day. Simply taking a walk hand in hand through the local stores in your own pace is more than enough for him.

- Rika has incredible reflexes. Something could fall off the balcony while she's taking a walk through the garden with you, and she'll catch it without even taking her eyes off you for a second. It's practically impossible to catch her by surprise. She's so used to paying attention to every little detail in the environment around her that it became an autopilot for her. While it amazes you at first, you can't help but wonder what kind of life she must have lived to develop such high awareness of possible dangers both to herself and those around her. Your heart clenches in your chest at the thought.

- Vanderwood listens to a ton of rock and heavy metal. Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Aerosmith... Those are their go-to. They're very protective of their interests, so if they're willing to share their earbuds with you? Consider that one of the highest signs of their trust in you. It's so cute how they're glancing your way from time to time, as if to check whether or not you're enjoying the music. They'll gladly listen to your favorites as well. Music is something that helps them a lot whenever everything gets too hard to bear, so it's way more personal than it may seem at first glance.

Bonus round for my oc's!

- Natasha took a very long time to talk as a child. Her mother even considered taking her to the hospital cause she was getting highly concerned for her daughter, but, thankfully, things never turned for the worst in that regard. She was two years old when she spoke her first words and it was 'gobble gobble', cause she was watching a programme about turkeys at the time. She was running around gobbling like a tiny turkey for a good week or so after that.

- Chaewon's favorite fruit is pomegranate because she thought that the top part looked like a beautiful crown as a child. She even tried wearing it on her head once only to fail miserably. Rika's the only one who knows about this childhood story of hers and ever since learning it, she started brewing pomegranate tea whenever they have their meetings in her quarters.

[siriannatan]

Unexpected Gift - TangoJimmy / Rancher Duo

Hope all rancher-heathens (affectionate) enjoy it :}

Jimmy could feel a headache building up as soon as Joel asked him if they could up. What could his charming brother-in-law want this time? 

Wings puffing up and spreading slightly as Jimmy readied himself for an argument. Lizzie was nowhere nearby to stop her partner's idiocy. "What..." Jimmy froze in his approach to the other demon. "What is that?" he asked glaring at an unconscious blaze hybrid in Joel's arms. Depending on the answer he would absolutely punch him. And then tell Lizzie so she can punch her dumb husband as well.

"A gift," Joel grinned and before Jimmy could protest the blaze was in his arms. He wasn't as warm as Jimmy would expect someone with blaze-blood to be, possibly because Joel did to keep unconscious until he got him to Jimmy. "Have fun, I'm off to annoy Grian," Joel added with a grin and was gone before Jimmy could even try to murder him.

"Joel you can't just... ugh," Jimmy tried stopping him but in the end could only groan in annoyance. What was he supposed to do with the blaze-hybrid now? He didn't need company no matter how much everyone insisted he did. But he also couldn't just leave this guy all alone and unconscious. He was a demon, not a monster. 

With another heavy sigh, he took the blaze home. Worst case scenario he can wait for him to wake up and then take him home. Though, since Joel was involved there likely wasn't a 'home' to take the man in Jimmy's arms to. How unfortunate. Maybe a place simply far from demon lands would suffice? He certainly would not force them to stay with him. Forcing anyone to keep up with Jimmy's boring life would be torture in itself.

Speaking of torture - the walk to his carriage saw several demons nearly stared to death before they smartened up and looked away. Jimmy might have been the weakest of the lords on the council but he was still there and it had nothing to do with Lizzie and Joel's relationship. He was of course careful with his surprise guest, not wishing to cause more harm than he needed to. During the brief as it was ride as well.

"Anyone who says anything or harms the guest is as good as dead," he warned his staff as soon as he walked in. They were smart enough to not go against his word most of the time. At least those who worked for him long enough to see what happens to anyone who annoys him - long, long torture. Punishing those who broke the law of the demon empire - went against what the Council of Lords said - too publicly to be dealt with silently. It happened shockingly often. With the staff warned Jimmy took his guest to his own room. He didn't have many guestrooms ready for any guest, and could just stay in one for the brief time the half-blaze stayed in his custody.

He didn't leave after resting the still sleeping hybrid on his bed. Just what did Joel do to knock him out for that long? Jimmy was half expecting him to wake up during the ride back. He didn't want him to wake up alone and confused. That could only lead to him hurting himself and Jimmy could not have a guest get hurt under his care. Unless said guest did something to deserve being hurt while under his care. Then Jimmy would personally hurt them a lot. He'd have something to do while waiting so he grabbed some prisoner files to do some work.

Focusing was a rather difficult task now that he had a better look at the hybrid. Soft, golden blonde, darker than Jimmy's hair. It likely would turn to flames when he woke up. Luckily Jimmy's bed was fireproof since burning down was part of what he did. Mortal's legends of phoenixes were actually about the kind of demons Jimmy was. Back to the hybrid. It was a he, subjectively speaking a very handsome he. Shorter than Jimmy but that was not a hard feat, Jimmy was a rather tall individual, and looked to be strong. Some scars were peeking from under his messy, sooty clothes.

Well, there was only so much staring he could do so eventually he managed to focus on and even get lost in his work. Torturing traitors was a very serious job. At least to Jimmy since it didn't involve leaving the demon realm. Mortal's realms were so boring, cold and simply unpleasant. Why would anyone want to live somewhere that wet and windy? And the sun? Why have a ball of fire in the sky when you can have lava and brimstone?

Jimmy got so lost in planning the best torture for all the 'criminals' on his list he nearly got startled into setting himself on fire when his guest sat up with a loud groan. He luckily managed to gather himself into his usual composed, when not startled, self. "No need to sit up, I'll understand if you don't feel too well," Jimmy spoke as softly as he could. Appearing friendly and harmless was his speciality. "I won't harm you," he promised with a fake, friendly smile. He had no idea how to smile sincerely anymore.

"Where am I?" the hybrid asked. And oh, his voice was cute, and his hair was on fire now. "Who are you? Where's that demon?"

So he did remember Joel. Good, maybe Jimmy could learn where he found this poor hybrid. "You're in my house. My lovely brother-in-law thought it'd be funny to give you to me as a gift," Jimmy explained and got up. "I apologise for his likely terrible behaviour, I have no idea what my sister sees in that man," Jimmy sighed. "I can take you back to wherever he got you from or anywhere else you want to go after you recover. I have no clue what he used to make you sleep as long as you did but couldn't have been anything good." His friendly act seemed to work pretty well. The hybrid stopped trying to force himself to sit up and lay down, visibly relaxing even if just slightly. He was still eyeing Jimmy warily. He wasn't a complete fool.

"You would?" the hybrid asked as Jimmy rolled his shoulders. He might have only managed to go through three 'cases' but those were long cases.

"Of course," Jimmy nodded. "I have no reason to force you to stay here," he added and yawned, stretching his wings to almost their full width. The chairs in his room were made to pile stuff on, not sit in for extended periods of time.

"I... I'm not taking..." 

"Don't worry I have other beds, just didn't want you to wake up alone after what you were likely through," Jimmy cut him with a nonchalant smile. "They might not be as fireproof as this one," he laughed. It was a fake laugh but Jimmy was good at faking emotions. 

"Fire... proof?" the hybrid blinked up at him. Jimmy shot him a grin back and raised his hand just to set it on fire.

"Some fire demons need to set themselves on fire from time to time," he explained as he waved the fire away. "Do you think you can manage a bath? I can lend you something to wear and get the kitchen staff up to make something for you?" he offered, mainly to get some time when he didn't have to smile. His cheeks were starting to hurt from all this nice he was doing.

"I... I think I do," the hybrid said, slowly sitting up. He seemed to be recovering faster than anticipated. Good. "Oh, I'm..."

"Never tell a demon your name," Jimmy stopped him with maybe a bit too stern of a stare. "I'm sorry, I maybe overreacted there," he chuckled. Usually, his nice act would have ended long ago and turned to torture. That was much easier to manage than feelings of being half scared of him hybrids he wanted to keep alive. "Giving your name to a demon is very dangerous, that's all."

"Oh... thank you for the warning," the hybrid said offering Jimmy a smile. He didn't look all that convinced.

The demon nodded against the urge to just shrug it off and went to his closet to look for something the hybrid could wear until Jimmy dropped him as far from there as he could. And as soon as he could, he did not need him getting attached just because Jimmy was a little bit nice to him. 

After grabbing some old clothes he didn't really need anymore he came back and helped the hybrid to the bathroom. He was still a bit unsure on his feet after his magic-induced nap. Once sure he could manage to take care of himself Jimmy went to the kitchens. Glaring at any servant unlucky enough to be anywhere near him, looking for a reason to hurt something. Unfortunately, good staff was hard to get so he couldn't just kill them off because he was in a foul mood. Maybe the cooks would mess up and warrant some punishment...

Tango was more than confused. Demons were supposed to be all mean. The one who conquered his home village certainly fit that description. The blonde, dark-winged demon he was apparently given to didn't try to hurt him once (yet, there was still a chance it would happen), bah, he gave him a bed (his own bed) and seemingly cared if he was feeling better. The bath was nice and all but the perspective of food was not as much. His head was still spinning slightly and his stomach didn't feel too well. And he was still damn sleepy even if he was asleep since he was caught - given as tribute when the village gave up to be more precise. Maybe he should tell the nice demon about it.

That could come after the bath. Right now he tried to gather his thoughts. Apparently, the nice demon was willing to let him go. Tango had no idea where he could go. Certainly not home. They pretty much threw him out. And he didn't really know many other places. He briefly considered offering to help the demon around his house but he likely had enough servants already. And it wasn't like Tango was good with stuff like cleaning and cooking or whatever house chores he could possibly help with.

Speaking of the demon. He was unfairly pretty. How was Tango supposed to focus on anything with someone like this around? Tall and slender with soft-looking, slightly curled golden hair. Long lashes and the prettiest blue eyes that flasher red - redder than Tango's own when he used his flames. And his wings. Wide, dark feathers, looked so soft and... Tango wanted to touch them so badly.

There was no way he'd be interested in a plain little Blaze like Tango. He wasn't even a proper blaze. His rods never formed a rare condition among blaze hybrids. An annoying one that made him overheat far too easily and often. If not for his hair and eyes he'd look like some boring human! No way someone as pretty as the blonde demon would ever be interested in a defect like him. He was lucky he was still alive when no blaze rods materialised once he woke up. At least his hair was working as it should.

But on the other hand, he was allowed to stay in the master bedroom. At least until he recovered even if it was in case he burned anything. Or so that no one else who could wander around killed him. Why would the demon even care if Tango was alive? For some reason, he didn't want to kill him. Was it because Tango was a gift from his sister's partner? Husband? Whatever demons called that. That still made no sense. He'd think about it later. For now, he needed to not fall asleep. If only that could go away he could appreciate the temporary comforts he usually would never have the opportunity to experience. The bed he woke up on was exceedingly comfortable. The whole room was very nice. And the bathroom, and the huge bathroom. He never even saw or imagined things like that.

It was unfortunate he had to finish his bath but it could not be avoided. He absolutely didn't want to cause any more trouble than he already did. Falling asleep in a bath would no doubt cause trouble. And even the clothes he was lend were so much nicer than anything he's ever experienced. He barely stumbled back to the bed when the demon returned. This time with two smaller, scared looking if Tango recognised it properly, demons. They quickly left, leaving behind what could only be called a feast. The golden haired demon stayed, it was his room after all.

"Umm... I'm not sure how much I can eat... I don't..." Tango tried to properly describe how he was feeling.

"It's fine, eat as much as you think you can," the demon almost seemed to shrug as he returned to whatever he was reading before Tango woke up.  It looked important based on the thick leather covers. "Anything else feels off? And tell me if the food's bad."

Tango nodded, doubting anything the pretty demon's cook made could be bad, and explained as well as he could how he was feeling. As expected the food he slowly and carefully enjoyed was very good. The demon didn't look too bothered - or shocked - that Tango was feeling off. And said he'd bring in a doctor if he still felt bad and tired in the morning, even repeating it to the smaller demons as they cleaned up once Tango decided he's eaten enough.

The blaze looked a lot better after the bath and some food. He ate less than Jimmy would like he did but that was fine. Better than eating too much and just puking it all out. At least until he had Shelby see him and say just what in the hell's sake Joel did to him. He stayed with the hybrid a bit longer, just to make sure he was sleeping properly, before retreating to the closest guest room and getting ready for the night. He could invite Shelby over in the morning. No need to worry her if it was nothing big. She was unfortunately rather emotional and nice for a demon.

At least, luckily for Joel, his guest rooms were very comfortable. Just in case Lizzie decided to stay over. She never did but Jimmy would rather be prepared and thanks to that he had no trouble sleeping.

At least until he felt warmer than he should. Usually, if he needed a reset it was fully planned that he'd be burning himself. Nothing particularly annoying has happened to make him burn outside his own control. With that, it was logical that he pushed away the source of the extra heat and scratched at it for good measure. A loud yelp had him snapping out of sleepy shock and realise two things. The blaze hybrid was on his bed. One bright red eye opened wide in shock, the other with a scratch matching Jimmy's usually hidden claws.

"Why would you sneak up on a sleeping demon?" Jimmy asked, forcing his claws away. He was not going to be nice any...

"I have no idea. One moment I was asleep and then I'm here," the blaze quickly explained himself. 

Part of Jimmy was giddy at how he curled up. And the sight of blood. He wasn't listening to that part of his brain. He was busy with the part that realised that the thing he was sure was not the case has actually happened. Joel knew the hybrids name. It would not be much of an issue if it were any other demon. Unfortunately, Joel was a dream demon which meant he could control the blaze when he was asleep. It also explained his constant sleepiness. "How big is a chance that my darling brother-in-law knows your name?" he asked just to make sure.

"It is possible he was told then my village offered me as a tribute..." the hybrid confessed, curling up even tighter. "Is it bad? I never told him what it is..."

It was bad. Jimmy couldn't just let the blaze go. Joel would likely either kill him or drag him back to Jimmy no matter how far he'd take him. "It's really bad. We can stop him from meddling with you in your sleep, but that practically means you're stuck here, with me," Jimmy sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "Or I can just kill you."

The blaze paled at the second option. "The first would be?"

"The first option would require me to mark you making you mine until you die," Jimmy shrugged. What a waste of time, he should have just killed the blaze. Save himself playing nice. But now he might as well offer him an alternative. Make it a bit less of a waste of time. "Being marked by a demon is a painful experience," he added with a wide grin. Maybe having a cute blaze around would not be that bad. Mess with him and bite him whenever he's bored.

For now, he looked positively terrified. "Is there really no other way? Won't me telling you my name help?" he asked, clearly not liking any of the options he was presented with. Understandable. And rather cute. Jimmy loved seeing people scared and in distress. 

"Nope, he knew it first, after all, it's mark or death, unfortunately. I really hate doing what he likely wants me to do," Jimmy sighed eyeing the reaction from the blaze. He absolutely avoided looking at Jimmy. Likely due to noticing he was shirtless once the initial shock wore off. "I can try to make death painless," he offered just to get a different reaction. He was not expecting the blaze to blush even more than he already was.

"Does the mark have to hurt? I... I don't really want to die..." the blaze mumbled, shuffling nervously in place.

"There is a way," Jimmy hummed, thinking how far he was willing to go. "Name's Jimmy might as well say it now," he decided he didn't really care how far they went.

"I... I'm Tango. And what could make the mark hurt less?" the blaze was back to looking scared.

"Direct contact, the more direct the better, or whole twenty-four hours of suffering, either is fine for me," Jimmy shrugged. He happened to like hearing people scream and beg him for mercy. And Tango happened to have a cute voice.

"Um... we can... like hug it out then?" Tango asked, looking anywhere but at Jimmy. That would not do anymore, as cute as it was.

"You have to look at me when you're asking for something, Red," Jimmy hummed and forced the blaze to look at him. "Now, what was it that you wanted? Remember, you're talking to a Lord, not some run-of-the-mill demon, proper manners, dear," he grinned. Tango's eyes were really pretty up close. Especially since the scratch was still bloody and very obvious. Jimmy didn't fight the urge to kiss it anymore.

"I... can we please go with the mark?" Tango asked with tears welling up in his eyes. And how could Jimmy say no to a picture this cute? "Ah... where..."

"I'm not doing this in a guest bedroom," Jimmy scoffed as he carried Tango to the master bedroom. "One word of warning," he announced after just dropping Tango down. "I like to bite," he grinned and bit at Tango's hip.

Tango screamed almost instantly just to be cut short by a hungry kiss. Dark wings blocking everything but Jimmy. Not that he had it in him to look anywhere else. The bite hurt a lot and he could swear he heard something tearing, likely a shirt he want to sleep in...

The torture scheduled for the next day was all delayed due to Jimmy being busy with his newest toy. 

[baladric]

For the ask meme, I want to know more about Cala and Csevet's wagers that we see in and in thy eyes i see (marnis marnis homosexual). Still deeply delighted by their silent conversation about Thara and Iäna in that fic and I want to know who else they've been speculating about.

i know this isn't in theme with the meme (drum sting) but i hadn't actually thought about this deeply and now that i am, i need you to bear with me bc i think i'm about to accidentally write you a ficlet

*

The wagers, Cala would admit only in the mist-shrouded depths of his own mind, had been a mistake. Only it was shockingly dull to be a nohecharis—oh, yes, he loved his Emperor, and his dear, dour partner in vigilant monotony had grown on him like some sort of inauspicious mushroom, or, perhaps, a tumor, but still, it was boring. A life spent in study, a book or five always to hand, a pen, a problem to tease out, none of it had prepared him for standing still, marshalling himself to the peculiarly difficult task of staying present and aware of his surroundings for hours on end.

He was bored, plain and simple, and as the saying went, boredom breeds bedlam—or, well, so said his grandmother anyway.

And so, when Csevet Aisava had proposed the first wager, Cala had seized upon the intrigue like a terrier with a stick he has deeply underestimated.

"He must know how transparent he is," Csevet had said, showing the first signs of actual life in the entire ten minutes during which he and Cala had shared the small corner table in the Alcethmeret's kitchen.

Cala blinked.

"Who?"

"Lieutenant Telimezh," Csevet said, rubbing at his forehead. He was plainly exhausted, worn thin in shirtsleeves and a decaying chignon at this least godly of hours, Cala had at the time still suffered a lick of shock whenever he was granted the gift of seeing Csevet look anything less than pristine, and so he was doing a truly piss-poor job of keeping up with the conversation.

"Forgive me," he said. "What about Nazhiris? Are we discussing his very overt Deret Issues?"

Csevet gave a most ungainly snort.

"Not at the moment, no," he said, "But we can if thou hast an answer more interesting than a troubled relationship with an absent father or very dry hero worship."

"I think the issue is more in line with a lost elder brother, but thy point is taken," Cala said.

"Fraught models of masculinity all fall under the same column," Csevet said, tossing the next word away with a graceful flick of his fingers. "Boring."

Having never known his own parents, father or mother, Cala had very few horses in that race.

"Fair," he said, sipping his tea. "Pray then, tell me what we are talking about?"

"Oh, surely thou hast seen him—" Csevet paused with a flicker of a frown. "Though I suppose thou'rt rather low on occassion to see thy counterparts in idle moments."

"Rather," Cala agreed, dry enough to elicit rolled eyes from the other man.

"Well," Csevet said, pulling his own tea closer. There came an odd little twitch of his ears that Cala would eventually mark as a tell for a certain excitable cattiness particular to Csevet in his looser moments.

What had followed was a lengthy exegesis on the many hues of Nazhiris Telimezh's apparently vibrant blush reflex when exposed to the presence of one Aïnu Mishenin. This would have been a non-issue had Min Mishenin worked, perhaps, at the pneumatic station, or the kitchens, as either of these would put her much less in Telimezh's line of sight—but, alas, she was one of Csevet's most prized undersecretaries, and was thus frequently found at various corner desks of various rooms in which Edrehasivar was ever so tenderly holding court. Cala himself knew her by both face and name, which was becoming less noteworthy of an accomplishment, but still bore mentioning.

And Min Mishenin was, it seemed, driving Telimezh to distraction.

Impropriety! spake the Deret Beshelar that lived in Cala's head in the vanishingly rare moments in which the man himself was not in evidence.

And though it saddened him, Deret's ghost was right.

"Oh, the poor little bugger," Cala said. "Stuck standing there in eternal pining. Can't even send her a cheeky little love letter, can he?"

Csevet raised one slim eyebrow.

"Can't he?"

With no small feeling of explaining the color of the sky to a flock of michen, Cala said, "He is nohecharis. Dalliance is among the first things we swear off."

"That hasn't stopped you, has it?" Csevet's use of the plural you sent a thrill through Cala. Something about secrets and Csevet's sharp, seeing eyes; something about the sense memory of Deret's yielding, Deret's sighs, Deret's—

"That is different," Cala said, and felt at once a brutal sympathy with Telimezh: The awareness of a blush on one's cheeks only worsened the problem unto hilarity.

Csevet looked smug. Cala wished fervently that the man's face was even a little less symmetrical, in the hope that the edge of meanness in the expression would be less attractive—though considering the depth of the circles beneath his eyes and the ruin they should have wrought, it was very likely that there was no helping the situation. Csevet was lovely, and Cala was annoyed.

"A wager," Csevet said then, coy and terrible. Cala really should have known better—but, again, he was bored, and if he told himself that he was helping his friend by supplying some spice atop his professional efforts to work himself to death, well, we all commit our own fallacies.

Cala had lost ten zashanai on that bet, if only on a technicality—a letter was, indeed, snuck to Min Mashenin, and the only reason for Telimezh's failed dalliance was, in fact, his own decision not to go through with it—and the pots had only gone up from there:

Twenty zashanai on another of Csevet's secretaries and Ebremis's comely apprentice (Pot to Csevet, mostly because Cala did not quite care enough about it to make a case)

Fifty on Deret finally losing his head and snapping at Csethiro Zhasan (Pot to Cala; Csevet overestimated Deret's control over his emotions when the subject in question was someone he trusted—a common mistake)

One hundred and seventy-five on Avris and the world's shyest hostler (Pot to Cala, for Csevet's one and only vote against romantic intrigue because, "The man's had dirt under his nails for the last three years together—I can guarantee thee, Avris would sooner take a seam ripper to Maia's state robes than bed down with him.")

Twenty muranai on Csethiro Zhasan and Aizheän Tativin (Pot to Cala for guessing the extremely specific circumstances of the union)

Thirty muranai on the Zhasan's burgeoning penchant for threesomes (Pot to neither, since they had both failed to imagine that Maia would ever want to participate in such a thing—which was, in hindsight, extremely stupid of Cala in particular, who was privy to far more of His Serenity's sex life than the average bystander perhaps ought to be, and thus, he truly should have guessed)

The list went on, encompassing an increasing variety of issues, anything from Maia's choice of summering location, or if Othala Thara Celehar even knew how to smile anymore, and naturally involved a certain degree of meddling from the both of them. Which was really where Cala's privately acknowledged mistake came in—for while, in centuries past, dachenmazei had been rumored to be minor gods, a god had nothing on Csevet Aisava's social acumen and strategically batted eyelashes, or his most subtly delivered threats, or that very specific smile of his, all surprised delight.

Cala had lost a tremendous amount of money to Csevet—but then, Cala had won a tremendous amount of money on the one wager to which Mer Aisava had not been privy. It would have been spectacularly unfair, after all, to permit a person to wager on their own eventual tumble into the sheets (and, more importantly, the heart) of His Imperial Serenity Edrehasivar VII.

[leafwritings]

HELLO! Your fluff promps are so good! I'd like to ask you to do number 6 with: Ruggie, Lilia (idk why, just thought of him), and Cater ( he doesn't like sweets but maybe he can enjoy some with us! 🤭) . Ofcourse you can choose only one of them if three is too much.. honestly I would love it anyway~!

Thank you so much!

*muah*

This took me way longer to do than expected but i finally was able to get it done and posted

Ruggie Bucchi:

"Oh God not again..."

Another lunch rush, you are not sure how much longer you can handle rushing to the food hall just to see a swarm of rowdy male students fighting against each other just to be first in line for a measly meal. It is almost routine for you to walk into this chaotic mess on a customary basis.

A huff left your lips as you watch the crowd tiredly and question if your life is worth a sandwich and bag of chips. But, before a decision could be made a fluffy paw landed on your cheek pushing into it repeatedly. "C'mon (Name), we have to hurry before they run out of the good stuff!" Grim shouted on your shoulder while looking off into the crowd. The group only grew with each passing moment and you knew you were not going to make it out unscathed.

"Grim, I'm not going in there."

"Meh?But why not?!" Grim shockingly shouted louder.

"Because I'm not trying to be put in the infirmary again this year." Just the thought alone makes you groan in fear of another journey there.

"But I need you, how am I going to be able to get all the good food if you're not there!?" The monster leans against your shoulder to stare at you with a slightly pleading look, but it is not enough for you to budge. "Sorry Grim, but you are on your own with this one." you said. Grim could only mutter small complaints while hopping off your shoulder. "Fine, then I'll have Ace and Deuce help me then!" He growls before bounding off to find the disorderly duo.

Now with one less monster hanging off your shoulders, you turn on your heel and walk out of the cafeteria toward the courtyard. Needing somewhere to be to clear your head from the unbearable amount of students packing up in the hall for lunch in time. Walking in the same direction for the next few moments, you take a turn and reach the courtyard. Carrying yourself for a few more steps and plopping your rear on the grass. "Ah, Finally!" moaning out relief.

Eye closed, you listen to the sound of the wind passing through the courtyard giving off a soft whistle in the breeze. Things have been difficult lately and there wasn't much time for you to unwind. If it's not Crowley weighing more tasks for you to do then it's Grim getting into more trouble than you can overcome. Either way, you were going to enjoy the moment while you still can.

"Shishishishi~ well aren't you all cozy."

Oh, that giggle you know so well. It almost makes you smile every time you hear it but it can never get old for you, not with a boy as cute as him. Your eyes flick open as you stare upwards, looking at the hyena hybrid who gives you a sharp smile. Amusement dances through his features while giving off another howling-like giggle. "Hi, Ruggie." You could only muster up a simple greeting toward the beastman. "What are you up to Prefect?" The hyena said while still giving you a smirk. "Just trying to get away from the cafeteria, it's way too crowded to even try a get a meal from there." Ruggie looked at you with understanding. "I know how ya feel, it takes me a claw and a tail to get Leona's Sandwich each day. But luckily slipping through is no trouble for me!" Ruggie giggled as his mood struck back into a sly smile. "Good for you then..." You looked down toward the grass, playing with the strands like they were the most interesting thing in the world. Ruggie looked at you as you fiddled with the grass, starting a moment longer until turning to pull something out of his pocket.

A donut.

Ruggie broke the donut in half taking the right piece in his and holding it out to you. "I don't like sharing much but, here." You let go of the grass and looked up. Gazing at the sweet treat in his hand before skimming it with your fingertips and then grabbing it. While staring at the piece, the hyena sat down right next to you taking a bite out of his donut piece. "Well, ya going to eat it or not? Wouldnt wants to waste a good snack." He chided. You glanced at him once more before looking back at the treat in your hands. 'Wouldnt want to waste one bit' Smiling, you took a small bite. Savoring the sweet dough with a hum.

Ruggie watched as you chewed on the donut, fondness shown in his irises as you ate. He never knew why but when he was with you, smiling, joking, or even teasing you it was a period of genuine peace for him, like the moment with you was all his and his alone to keep to himself. He never really likes to share his food, but with you, he never minds.

The hyena looked at his bitten piece, and a small blush crept to his cheek. "Y'know.. " he started. "I've always liked donuts since I was little and like how the flavor stayed the same. Nothing could change the shape or the taste of them." He stops. "But with you..." He gives a flush sigh then turns to meet your gaze. "This taste much Better with you.~" You turn to him while you swallow the current piece in your mouth. Not once has Ruggie ever spoken about how he feels, especially not to you. It almost seemed like a joke but the look on his face says otherwise. You blush a great deal as you process his previous words as they come back to your thoughts, then fade into a pure crimson the more you process them.

"W-w well I-" you start. "Just don't tell anyone, wouldn't want the whole spell drive team. to hound me about it Shishishishi~" he snickered. Giving tranquil smile, you lean against him, resting your head on his shoulder. The hyena jumped at the contact before stilling his body, tail giving minor wags of acceptance. "As long as you don't tell anybody I liked it too." The hyena smiled, resting his head in sync with yours.

Cater Diamond:

Cater Wasnt one for Sweets. The taste alone leaves a sugary sweet aftertaste that becomes sickening after a few nibbles. He was never the one to enjoy sweet and still to this day declines to do so. That was until he met you.

Another day at Heartslabyul, it was a turbulent day in which the dorms fall into disarray as the Dorm Head bounds through the halls shouting at every mistake or miscalculation that catches his eye. But to Cater, it was a perfect chance for him to Magicam everything to get some good likes. "Smile, Riddle-Chan~" his camera flashes, saving another picture into his phone. " Cater. I demand that y-" The red-headed leader puffed, ready to tell off the second year only to be interrupted by another dilemma coming from the lounge area. He grumbled before leaving the blonde behind to deal with whatever commotion is going on in the other room.

Cater turns to watch him leave before giving a light chuckle and walking off to find a certain green-haired man to disturb. Cater strolled down the hall and into the kitchen, lending out a greeting. "Heya Trey, what you doing?" Trey turned to greet Cater. "I'm working on some new treats for the next unbirthday party." Trey sighed "I have a lot to do but luckily (Name) came to help." "Hi, Cay-Cay!" You greeted him, holding a mixing bowl in your hand. Cater gave a bright smile. "(Name)-chan!" He ran over and angled his camera towards both of you. "Smile~" sticking out a piece sign the camera clicked, adding another photo to Caters Growing album.

Cater tapped away at his phone.

"#hangingwithmyfriends#unbirthdaypreperation #bakingparty and post!" Carter mumbled. You giggled at his antics. Cater was such a social butterfly, talking and tagging anyone who piqued his curiosity. But you also knew he had some monsters in his closet, things that Cater hides behind his happy-Go-Lucky personality. He rarely speaks about it, but when he does you listen to every word he spouts out. Every past problem and future emotion he feels. You couldn't help but love him for it.

"(Name)-chan~" You snap out of your thoughts when he called for you. "Whatcha making?" "Oh, some chocolate. It's one of my favorite recipes and Trey allowed me to make some for the party." Cater's face scrunched with a repulsed look that you would have thought would fold into himself. But he was quick to recoup back to his media-savvy self.

"Well, I'm sure it going to be delish!" He commented.  You know he didn't truly mean it but you appreciate that he was trying to be nice about it. With nothing else much said, you get back to working on the chocolate delight. Cater stood there awkwardly scrolling through his phone, occasionally looking up to watch you both work with precision and accuracy on each dessert.  Watching as you carefully pour the mix into each mold, wiping an excess that spills off the top. Staring when you pop it into the freezer then pulling it back out moments later down to the last detail of decorating the chocolate with a pink sprinkle finish. And honestly, they look good! They're not perfect for sure but they still overall look nice enough to eat. Even to Cater, but did not want to admit that himself.

You huffed in solace, glimpsing at your finished product in delight. "Those look great." Trey complimented. "Thanks. I'm just hoping they taste as good as they look." Baking wasn't your best skill- or skill at all you were good at but as long as people ate it and didn't hurl on the spot you were satisfied. "But for safe Measures, I'm gonna have Adecuce try this for me." Referring to the two as Guinea Pigs for testing your sweets. 

Plating the chocolates, you were ready to take judgment from the duo until Cater piped up. "Do you mind if I try?" you nearly wanted to drop the plate out of refined shock. Cater- The Cater Diamond- who would forego any type of sweets wanted to try chocolate. Your chocolate to be precise. Trey looked at you with some similar surprise, lifting his brows with curiosity. "Mine? A-are you sure?" you pitched to protest. "Yeah! Anyways they look totes adorbs~" Cater pointed. At first, were hesitant. He wasn't doing it to make you feel better was he? He didn't need to, but his look told you otherwise. You look at Trey to see if he was in on it but he only shrugged and turned back to his current task. You wanted to fight yourself on it but you gave in in the end.

"Alright then, give them a go." holding the plate out to take. He took hold of a piece, examining every detail of the chocolate in unhurried glances in his hand. The chocolate was dainty but cute and the maroon shell shined as it twirled on his fingers. It was almost perfection, but he knew the taste would be bitter to him. Yet, why not give them one try? Cater bit into the chocolate and chewed in a sluggish place to savor every bit that shifts in his mouth.

And honestly, he didn't like that strongly, it was too sweet for him. The flavor didn't match his pallet well and felt overwhelming on his tongue. But no matter how much he griped in his thoughts he couldn't bring himself to hate it. It was something you made and worked hard on, watching you toil on each piece, deeply focus as you stuck your tongue out. It made his heart flutter and stomach churn. He couldn't help but think of you more and more with each bite. You were something he adored and couldn't find but to adore your chocolate too.

"This tastes yummy!" suspicion clouded your judgment in an instant. "You're not lying to me are you?" ready to catch his lie. "no honestly, it's not as bad as I thought." He quickly defends himself. "But if you want me to be honest then..."  his cheek dusted in a pink shade. "Truly, this taste much better with you." he winks.

You blushed at his praise, feeling like a middle schoolgirl with a crush. He didn't have to try it but yet he did and it made you fall for him a little more. "But I know what would taste even better~" he teased. You gaped at his remark while shoving his shoulder. "Your such a tease! Not when Trey is here!" You Whisper-shout, trying to hide your embarrassment. But all he saw was your cute expression. He grinned and laughed as you continued to reprimand him with a permanent blush on your cheeks.

His sweet perfect, and the only sweet he will ever enjoy!

Thank you so much for reading! It took me a long time to post because tumblr was having issues with me but luckily i got it up and going now!

Please don't forget to request, my inbox is open!

[londonhalcyon]

Right, screenshots and commentary. I promised screenshots and commentary. Since I played the Gathering of Old Friends and Hogsmeade Festival quests back to back, I’ll tackle them together: a little about the former, most about the latter. Screenshots first, comments throughout, critique at the end of the post.

A Gathering of Old Friends

Lily isn’t surprised anymore. No one should be surprised anymore.

This is heartbreaking, what the heck.

That’s it for the first one. Those are the only two moments that motivated me to capture them.

Hogsmeade Festival

This is the funniest thing she could have said. It’s probably intended to be a threat, but the ambiguous tone makes it so much better. Five bucks say the writers are also poking fun at themselves.

What is this duo? How do Jae Kim and Felix Rosier know each other? Why are they meeting in the most disreputable establishment in the village? What is going on? I have so many questions.

Penny. Ben, Penny, and Andre only tagged along for the drama, and I am here for it. They helped a bit, but mostly—drama.

Whoever wrote this quest has to have siblings.

Distracted by this wonderful line, I am just now noticing that Ben had to get an extra chair because the tables are intended for two. This means he let Penny and Andre have the cushy chairs while he took the wooden one. Background details on point, wow.

This. This is what makes the ending of this quest so good. Their relationship isn’t fixed, and it wouldn’t be. A single day isn’t going to fix years of bitterness. Everybody isn’t happy again, but there’s potential for progress. Family is complicated, and this quest handles the nuances of it shockingly well.

*cue evil laughter* Oh, Rosmerta, you have no idea what is going to happen in six years. None of you do.

Alrighty, critique. I’ll try to be brief. These are just my own opinions, so if you had different experiences with these quests, that’s cool! Don’t let me influence what you enjoy.

I didn’t enjoy the Gathering of Old Friends quest, primarily because it had so much potential and fell just short of it. The pacing was off: most of the quest was devoted to building suspense, but when the “big reveal” happened, all that tension fizzled out by having Penny run off too soon (straight into an 8-hour task). I would have liked to see them hold that moment longer, play into the shock of Scarlett’s return from the dead more, then have Penny run off. That reveal also happened too close to the end of the quest. The shock and anger Penny did show was good, but she accepted Scarlett’s return too quickly, likely because there wasn’t any time left in the quest. I would have preferred some of the earlier tasks be cut (looking at you, “review Petrificus Totalus”) in favor of devoting more time to handling the aftermath of that reveal.

Overall, the writers tried to do too much in too little time, making suspension of disbelief difficult. This was worsened by much of the dialogue sounding off to the point of characters bordering on OOC. So, yeah, not the worst quest (Torvus and the Troubled Forest sets a low bar), but not my favorite either.

The Hogsmeade Festival quest, on the other hand, had to have had a different set of writers. The pacing was significantly better. Far fewer tasks felt pointless—the typical “talk to Flitwick” task actually involved more than a simple spell, and the whole “calm the matagots” situation was relevant later on (major points for that one). Despite being 90% certain who the saboteur was (and 100% correct), I was fully engaged with the mystery in the beginning, especially because Ismelda’s lines were written well enough to have me second guess myself a few times. All the dialogue in this quest was so much better than the last one, and I genuinely laughed at many of the jokes. There were a lot more dialogue options too, which was fun.

And the ending. I already said it above, but I loved the open ending. The Murk sisters didn’t fully forgive each other, they didn’t fix their relationship, but they opened the door to progress that may or may not happen, which is the best, most realistic direction this quest could have gone. Out of all the recent quests, this one is definitely my favorite.

…I didn’t keep this brief. If you made it to the end of this post, thank you! You get a gold star for being such a lovely follower.

[coolman229]

What the fuck did they do for the Finale? I'm almost scared to ask

Shockingly little happened in the finale but everything was really dumb.

So somehow Reva goes from being stabbed in the chest and barely able to move on that one planet that group of (maybe) rebels was on to inexplicably being fully healed and teleporting halfway across the galaxy to be on Tatooine hunting Luke because that con artist who stuck around for some reason and Obi Wan gave his Direct To Bail Communication Device to and then dropped it randomly so Reva could find out that there's a boy on Tatooine. Now she's out looking for Luke and despite her only knowing that there's a boy on Tatooine but now she knows that he's Vader's son, is in the care of Owen, and that he's at the Lars farm. Despite her wanting to get revenge on Vader for killing Jedi and younglings (and contributing to that very thing for years) she goes after 10 year old Luke to kill him.

(There's a lot to say so I'm putting it under a read more)

Now Owen wants to leave with Luke and Beru because he was warned from a friend because Reva was walking around Tatooine using the Force to throw people around looking for Owen, but Beru wants to stand and fight... so Owen bends to Beru and tries to fight an Inquistor with some stashed guns they have. Reva decides to wait until nightfall to attack the Lars homstead... for some reason (probably because it's sooooo dramatic to have her walk around with a red lightsaber in the dark oooooh scary). Owen and Beru actually put up a fight against her and she doesn't instantly kill either of them because she only uses her crazy Force powers after Owen starts beating her up but still doesn't kill them despite being on a murderous rampage. Then Luke runs away and Reva chases him but isn't as fast as a ten year old boy. Seriously though catching 10 year olds in this show is the most difficult task in the universe because everyone acts like a bumbling idiot.

But she manages to catch up to Luke who gets knocked out and she's about to kill him but at the very end stops because she realizes that killing a child is actually probably bad but only because she saw herself in Luke not because killing a child in general is bad.

Oh and by the way Obi Wan never told Owen and Beru he left Tatooine and didn't do a thing to help Luke be defended and just left the boy he was sworn to protect completely unguarded this entire time.

This stuff with Reva is cut between the other plotline in the episode. Which is just Obi Wan fighting Vader... again.

So the ship Obi Wan is on is being chased by Vader in a Star Destroyer and Obi Wan decides to go off on his own to lure Vader away, but not before borrowing Leia's little droid for some sort of purpose. Now you would think that Vader would go after Obi Wan himself and have his men follow the ship. No Vader diverts the whole Star Destroyer to Obi Wan and breaks pursuit of the main ship.

Then Vader gets into a smaller ship and goes after Obi Wan

So yeah Vader is just stupid but we're just getting started.

They go down to some nearby planet and they start to fight in a really awkward and badly choreographed fight. It's just the first fight they had halfway through the show but now Obi Wan is kinda fighting back now. We see more of the lightsabers bouncing off of stuff like the prop rocks so it looks really bad. Vader ends up overpowering Obi Wan and using the Force to create an earthquake that drops Obi Wan into a hole then throws dozens of giant rocks on top of Obi Wan who manages to hold them all up.

Then Vader leaves content that Obi Wan is dead even though he can literally sense him. and Obi Wan thinks back to Leia and all the time he's spent with her and she inspires him to use the power of friendship to get a +30 boost to Force power and also there's one shot of Luke from the only scene of Obi Wan looking at him so he's kinda there but it's mostly about the one kid who actually matters which is Leia. Obi Wan effortlessly lifts all the rocks off of him and chases Vader. Then he effortlessly beats Vader. And by effortlessly I mean Obi Wan attains Rey Status and becomes a god and effortlessly lifts up dozens of giant boulders and throws them all at Vader without even moving because after being portrayed as so weak in the Force he could barely move a small object across a table a couple episodes ago he's now amped up with the Power of Friendship and just curbstomps Vader.

He beats Vader in a fight and after awkwardly swan diving and attacking Vader they literally rip off the Ahsoka/Vader fight in season 2 of Rebels. Obi Wan slices part of Vader's mask off and you can see one eye and when he speaks it's a mix between Hayden Christensen's voice and the speaker on the suit.

It's literally the exact same thing they did in Rebels.

Vader has been beaten so badly his suit is damaged, he can barely breath, barely stand up, and Obi Wan has him at his mercy. They talk and it's just a worse version of their dialogue on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith with about the only halfway decent line being "You did not kill Anakin. I did." but other than that it's not very good. So with Vader so weakened and easily beat Obi Wan has a chance to rid the galaxy of one of the most powerful Sith alive.

So of course Obi Wan just leaves.

Naturally they want to pretend this is canon so neither of them can die but because they contrived all these events to make this happen and broke every bit of canon surrounding these two to make this fight happen it comes off as totally insane that Obi Wan doesn't finish Vader off. They need to wait until ANH for them to actually fight where Obi Wan can die but in the context of this whole show it's even more contrived that Obi Wan just leaves Vader.

Then Obi Wan senses that Luke is in danger and this is the first time Obi Wan has been even remotely concerned about Luke since the first episode and I feel like it's only happening because someone talked to the writers and was like "Hey maybe Luke should be involved in some way" so they crammed him in to the finale. Now remember that there's a Star Destroyer above the planet. But Obi Wan doesn't need to bother with it because when he leaves the planet it's just gone and he hyperdrives his way to Tatooine in like 2 minutes and plops down exactly where he needs to be near the Lars homstead. It's at this point Reva comes back carrying Luke crying about how she's a mess and Obi Wan tells her she's actually a good person and really amazing and should be glad that when she had a choice between killing an innocent child who did nothing wrong and not killing an innocent child who did nothing wrong she chose not to kill him. Obi Wan praises Reva and comforts her despite her being a complete psychopath who cannot be trusted which is probably setting up her spinoff show no one will care about. She dramatically buries her Inquistor lightsaber in the sand like Rey and Reva is actually a good guy now. Yay!

It's a good thing Obi Wan didn't need to actually bother protecting Luke. Cause if Reva didn't have a last minute change of mind Obi Wan's decision to leave Tatooine could have had some really bad consequences.

So Obi Wan leaves in his ship (btw he now has a ship which he shouldn't have since he needs to find a ship in ANH but Disney doesn't care about canon) to go to Alderaan and literally the only reason Obi Wan took Leia's droid was so the writers had an excuse to have Obi Wan go meet Leia again. It's cheap writing at its finest. So Obi Wan talks to Bail and Leia and informs Leia that all of her traits are from her biological parents implying nothing about her is from Bail and Breha Organa while they're standing 10 feet away. Way to be a dick to the people raising Leia Obi Wan.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention Obi Wan gave Leia the blaster holster Tala had and Leia wears it now because she's going to be a Fighter not one of those lame politicians. Remember that Disney wants to get away from Princess Leia and focus on her being General Leia. But Leia's mom who was uptight in the first episode is now totally cool with the holster and wants Leia to be free despite Leia running off being the main reason she got kidnapped in the first place. I don't think being kidnapped would make an uptight parent less strict. But they try to make it all seem so emotional and then Obi Wan goes back to Tatooine and packs up his stuff in his cave to move, presumably to his house he has in ANH.

Then while on his space camel he runs into Qui Gon's ghost who, while played by Liam Neeson, doesn't really sound like Qui Gon and doesn't talk like Qui Gon. The dialogue is not good. And it breaks canon because Qui Gon didn't have a Force ghost. He could speak to people but he couldn't appear as a ghost because his never got that far in training to be a Force ghost. Lucas firmly established that. The only other time he appeared as a ghost was on Mortis which is incredibly strong with the Force but also was vague enough that it could have been a dream or a vision shared by Obi Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka so that's not an accurate comparison. Obi Wan finally, after ten years, starts his training to become a Force ghost and then credits roll.

This whole show is a dumpster fire.

[hectormcfilm]

Scene recreation plan- FINAL DECISION

Recently my group had a meeting to decide on what film scene to recreate, we went in with 3 potential ideas we all thought were strong and achievable. Each of the three options had pros and cons:

BEFORE SUNRISE

This scene was definitely in a close second in our options and was nearly the option we went for. This is a very nice and wholesome scene which would mean recreating its effect would be simple enough but also engaging for the audience as even though it is only a two minute extract viewers can get emotionally attached to the quirky characters. This would be perfect for casting actors as the characters are close enough to our age we could use acting students at Napier university. The costumes are very simple, Ethan Hawke just wearing a grey T-shirt exemplifying that. The shots are mostly just shot reverse-shot of the two characters speaking which is good to replicate authentically. The main issues we ran into would be the location, we would not only need to find a restaurant that would allow us to film but also one with similar if not the same soft sequined chairs. We would also need extras int he background which requires more actors. We thought of maybe green screening the background, adding the extras in post as when analysing the scene more it feels like the extras are fake and not actually there, there's a weird uncanniness and blurriness to them.

SE7EN

This was more of a wild card scene as we hadn't put much pre-planning into this idea before pitching it to our lecturer. The scene seems simple enough with three actors chatting around a dinner table however there are some VERY complicated aspects. Shockingly the shaking room itself isn't the most difficult part. The vibrating effect could be created partially in post, especially on the close up shots. In wide shots we could definitely have multiple crew members under the tables or behind the doors simply shaking the props in a very guerrilla filmmaking style. It would b difficult but would look very impressive if achieved successfully. Costumes are all simple but unique and different, Morgan Freeman's character standing out in formal attire. However, the difficult part of this scene is the production design, to start with we would need to find a house with a similar layout like the glass doors, then we would need to set the table with lots of food and drinks, costing the crew quite a lot and requiring tedious detail of where everything is on the table. Finally the background details of the desk and lamps in the next room would probably have to be green-screened.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

This is the scene we ended up deciding on as a group for a few reasons. To start off with we feel it has the clearest atmosphere and feel to replicate. The most important priority of the task is replicating the atmosphere and the tense but manic energy of the Lighthouse will not only be fun to film but hopefully clear to the audience. The location is mostly obscured with blacked-out windows and mostly tight mid to close-up shots. We will need to make the window out of black cardboard and buy a plant pot and lamp without a shade for set dressing. We will attempt to use pool noodles painted black for the bed frame and throw a cover over a cardboard box which will hopefully create the illusion of a bed. The main difficulty with this scene is getting an actor of the age and gravitas of Willam Defoe which may be a struggle. We also need to find a good location with wooden flooring and walls, we have some options but need to narrow down to the best and most accurate.

[agentnico]

Battle Royale (2000) Review

Was watching a video where Quentin Tarantino was ranking his favourite films that were released between 1992 and 2009 (don't ask why specifically between that period but hey ho) and Battle Royale was on the top of that list. Naturally, I had to check it out, and also boutique Blu-Ray publishers Arrow Video had a snazzy special edition of it available, so one thing led to another, the old bank account was squeezed a little and here we are.

Plot: 42 9th graders are sent to a deserted island. They are given a map, food, and various weapons. An explosive collar is fitted around their neck. If they break a rule, the collar explodes. Their mission: kill each other and be the last one standing. The last survivor is allowed to leave the island. If there is more than one survivor, the collars explode and kill them all.

The best way to put it is Battle Royale is the superior version of The Hunger Games. In fact, judging from the latter being released more recently, Hunger Games straight up ripped off Battle Royale, and shamelessly so. However, Hunger Games, for its big budget and all is actually relatively primitive and bland looking compared to its inspiration. Apologies for the upcoming Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequel, but I shall not be tuning it for that obvious Hollywood cash-grab, no matter how adorable Jason Schwartzmann's puppy-dog face is.

Battle Royale isn't an expensive-looking movie. In fact there are a lot of cheap shots and simple set pieces, and even the performances from many of the cast come off as over-the-top and corny, however, it is the collective package that makes it pop. It's a film that features such a shockingly taboo subject, yet because it doesn't shy away from this premise, it results in a very successful Japanese thriller. The hypothetical idea of one of the most traumatic things that could happen to a bunch of teenagers - needing to kill one another in the name of survival. And seeing each character's personality and their response to this awful situation is actually pretty fascinating. There are naturally those who blatantly refuse to partake and, like regular innocent minds should, simply cannot contemplate the idea of wanting to take another human being's life. Then some seem to find the transition into becoming murderers as simple as clicking your own fingers. I say that, however, my fiancee seems to struggle with clicking her fingers part so maybe it can be a difficult feat for some, but for most of us clicking fingers is an easy task. Heck, it's nothing compared to whistling. Now how the hell do some people do that? That's just a whole new level of.... but I digress. Looking at our modern-day youth, with the chavs and whatnot, to be fair seeing them resort to killing someone isn't all too far-fetched, and that is terrifying. However, in the film some of the murderers have their reasons to be so, like for example the class-loner who at school was ignored and bullied, so naturally this situation allows her to free herself and take control of her life. There's also the factor of how the film plays out as a social commentary piece on Japanese youth culture, and as such isn't a surprise that at the time of release, it was hit by a huge backlash from the government who feared riots and that it would incite mayhem from its populace.

As a fan of Tarantino, naturally Battle Royale was an enjoyable watch for me, and you can tell that Quentin himself was inspired by this and other works of director Kinji Fukasaku, as evident from Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2. There were plenty of exciting and shocking kills, and loads of blood and gore that looked like paint, but it was stylistic so that's cool. There were plenty of ace sweeping shots of the island and the waves triumphantly hitting against the rocks, and all this was accompanied by a superb classical score, that added that feel of magnificence. Speaking of music, it was strange how throughout all the gore and brutal madness there were still moments of tenderness accompanied by piano music, and in those moments it was as if I was watching a Studio Ghibli animation, not that I was complaining. There's also a self-aware element of humour, through the way certain characters act to the situations that transpire, it's as if the movie is fully aware of its ludicrous premise and fully plays up to it.

Additionally, in these kinds of films where everyone needs to kill one another, its very common to for there to be a lack of care for any of the characters. However I must say that the movie does go out of its way to make you sympathize with some of them, and I found myself actually caring for some of them and getting upset whenever one I was rooting for bit the dust. Overall Battle Royale is a film that works due to how much it is unafraid of its own subject matter and has no fear of being limited to what is or isn't taboo. And again, if you enjoy Tarantino films then this is right up your alley - an over-the-top violence fest that features artistic filmmaking balanced with moments of cringe. It's a great time and a stand-out amongst Arrow Video's collection.

Overall score: 8/10

[greentechnewsme]

Climate-friendly Purchasing Strategies and Tools in the Middle East

 The Earth is biting the dust — The effects of these four words are felt by nations and their residents the same. From floods to dry spells, a dangerous atmospheric devation, and ice sheet shrinkage, the world has been compelled to manage the outcomes of man’s activities on The planet.

There is a requirement for a reasonable answer for Earth’s concern. Nations in the Center East have looked for arrangements by utilizing environment buying systems and devices at the outskirts of giving arrangements. This article analyzes some environment buying methodologies executed by nations in the Center East.

What is Environment Amicable Buying

Environment well disposed buying is just the purposeful course of procuring environment agreeable materials that are less inclined to inflict any kind of damage or harm. Environment agreeable buying might be integrated into an association or country’s creation cycles or approaches. It is a splendid method for relieving environmental change for an enormous scope.

What are the Environment Accommodating Buying Techniques and Devices in the Center East?

Reusing and Reusing

The message of reusing and reusing has been for some time taught, and there is by all accounts no closure. Reusing is an extremely financially savvy method for diving into environment well disposed buying. It saves materials while really battling contamination and environmental change. Center East nations are turning out to be extremely mindful of the significance of reusing. The locale has persistently endeavored to make compelling reusing through a few reusing projects. Inlet nations’ states have additionally communicated their desires to accomplish premium reusing ability come 2030.

Digitalization

Expanded computerized change accompanies various advantages. Shockingly, environment benefits are one such. Environment Well disposed Buying should be possible by just selecting the digitalized other options, where accessible, of toxins. Nations in the Center East have tried to do this over the long haul. For example, the UAE has presented a paperless visa and one more related confirmation plot. On its own part, Saudi Arabia has been hoping to execute a paperless court framework. A few other Center East nations have likewise endeavored to go the method of digitalization

Substitute Energy Utilization

Tragically, non-renewable energy source creation and use are significant reasons for environmental change. The Center East is known for its serious weapons in the bleeding edge of fossil oil exportation. The area without a doubt has a difficult, but not impossible task ahead ozone harming substances. It has endeavored to search for options in contrast to Petroleum derivatives for contamination decrease. Choices, for example, sun based and wind energy are practical in relieving petroleum derivative use. Luckily, a few nations in the Center East have started projects for fostering these other options.

Supportable Arrangement

A supportable strategy (Green Obtainment Strategy) This arrangement is an assertion of a nation or association’s expectation to procure materials, supplies, administrations, and items stringently subsequent to considering their ecological and wellbeing influence. While certain nations in the Center East have proactively laid out certain strategies and objectives, the locale needs to have a to some degree bound together feasible methodology with reachable objectives.

Conclusion

Albeit the procedures for environment well disposed buying might have inconsistent advancement in various nations in the Center East, there is no question that every nation is having its impact in lessening environmental change. That, by itself, gives consolation that the Earth can be in a tenable state for people in the future.

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[the-infinite-jukebox]

The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta (Album Review)

(Review #422, September 16th [2022]) It has been a full decade since The Mars Volta released their last studio album with 2012's Noctourniquet. The group behind classics like Frances the Mute and De-Loused in the Comatorium went mostly AWOL for a solid decade sans a couple of singles and bits of unreleased music coming to light. It was always going to be a difficult task to live up to the more iconic records in their discography. However, The Mars Volta's self-titled album is shockingly even more disappointing than it initially seemed destined to be.

As any extended period of time between two releases from the same act may promise, The Mars Volta sound extremely different hear than they did years ago. If anything, this self-titled record is the single most accessible things that The Mars Volta have done in their entire existence. The artsy pop rock aesthetics that they adapt to here will likely be unfamiliar to pre-established fans of the band. With this comes the inevitable question of whether or not The Mars Volta are capable of doing this style well. The answer is that they are, generally speaking, not. While they theoretically could have made something interesting due to their history as a fairly forward-thinking progressive rock band, they simply lack the necessary passion to really stand out from a number of younger alternative bands doing relatively similar music to much greater success. The point of The Mars Volta's latest studio album was to appeal to a larger audience, and it is painfully obvious. The experiments that they do take are mostly fruitless. The Latin influences displayed via Willy Quinones' drumming are too insignificant to play any sort of integral role. The semi-electronic style that is presented on "No Case Gain" is obnoxious above anything else, and the faux balladry on cuts like "Shore Story" add nothing to the listening experience beyond mild throwbacks to sounds that belong decades in the past. This isn't to imply that The Mars Volta are the risk-taking types on their self-titled album. However, it is to state that the handful of times they dip their toes into the pool, they accidentally slip, fall in, and drown. The album itself feels almost pathetically thin in nature. This is a descriptor that goes many ways. The mixing from Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez does little to allow the individual instrumentalists of The Mars Volta shine while still ensuring that Cedric Bixler-Zavala sounds muffled. Bixler-Zavala's lack of enthusiasm in his performance certainly doesn't help. Even conceptually, The Mars Volta's latest album feels about as thoughtless as it gets. There is an air of certainty of what the band want to do here. Unfortunately, they never fully flesh out many of the ideas they compose. These leads to an album of songs that, despite their obvious status as complete, feel unfinished. In conclusion, the Mars Volta's first album in 10 years fails to live up to even half of its many expectations. Sure, you could certainly argue that it was never going to live up to what people wanted it to be. After all, the Mars Volta are certainly a legendary band, and that is something that is undeniable. There is a lot of hype surrounding any talk about them releasing new music. With that in mind, the Mars Volta's self-titled studio album completely fails in virtually every regard, and does not at all sound like anything that a band like the Mars Volta should be pointing out this far into their career. Between adapting a new sonic aesthetic that just doesn't work out and a handful of weak, thin, and failed experimentations, the Mars Volta have managed to disappoint in just about every way that they possibly could have with their first album in quite some time.

Final Rating: 1.5/5 (Awful)