#and doing so to his either kind of prickly boss or his boyfriend that he lives with 😭😭😭

[clown-eating-pig]

Somehow I completely missed the underlined portion of this conversation until just now 😭😭😭 he’s so funny when exactly was he “trying out” a middle name in conversation with Jon sksjdkcjmskxkskdmcjwjx 😭😭😭😭

[void-botanist]

It Blursday!! 🖤💜

WE’RE TAKING THE SQUADDIES TO EISENGARD!

You don’t have to fill all the roles, and they don’t all have to be from the same WIP, but who’s:

the Ring-bearer, entrusted with carrying the One Ring (bonus: funniest instance they use it to nope right out of reality)

the “Sam”, armed with a frying pan and a wizard of potatoes

Sean Bean, who dies in every movie — falls victim to their own hubris

totally crushing on Arwen and has a really cool sword

AND MY AXE

AND MY GLOCK BOW

Merry and Pippin the “package deal”, very concerned about missing second breakfast

the dude with a sick staff and a concerning amount of explosives, may or may not be an actual wizard

— @outpost51

you: You don’t have to fill all the roles, and they don’t all have to be from the same WIP me: personally, I think that is a lie. So I'm sending the AOM crew, which consists of:

Leon & Edith: human & bovan couple somewhere in their 60s or 70s (I haven't adjusted the Old Canon timeline back from when they were hundreds of years old. Either way Leon's hair is completely white). Adorable and weird about each other.

Horatio: L&E's adopted human son, Celia's adoptive brother. Also the florist Declan visits.

Celia: L&E's adopted ferasca daughter. Fat, purple, and down to clown.

Allison: Celia's shifter boyfriend. Six feet tall, hairy as heck, and pretty sure he should have stayed home today.

Sid: Horatio's human best friend. Traumatized (TM) but with a rainbow half-shave.

Sorian: Horatio's biological dad. Skilled magicarpenter and the one who brings snacks but otherwise kind of a sad sack.

Avis: Sid's weird aunt figure and Sorian's estranged wife (bet you can't guess why they're estranged). Abrasive, prickly, and competent.

Which brings us to:

the Ring-bearer: Horatio. Like, no one even argues about this. He is both difficult to corrupt and imbued with a universal sense of duty none of these other chucklefucks could manage. I feel like the Ring trying to tempt him would be like "just give it to someone else. Then you can go home and check on your plants. They're not dead but like what if they're dead you know what I'm saying?" (He left his friend Marcus in charge of the shop. Marcus is a pigment magician and knows how to manage plants but like. what would be worse, not dealing with this ring or his single Pergannom koertens dying?)

the "Sam": this fell into place too easily, lol, because it's definitely Sid, who is canonically a really good cook. And I know the question isn't actually saying that he's armed with a wizard of potatoes but if he was that would be sous chef Sorian.

Sean Bean: probably Celia, though she's not allowed to die. She really thought she was going to be a shoo-in to this combat thing because so many of the people she knows are 40% squishier than her by virtue of not being literal dragons. She also thought there was going to be a good opportunity to use her real weapon, seduction of the enemy. So far she's 0/2.

totally crushing on Arwen and has a really cool sword: Leon. The sword has a name like Dick Turpin too and I'm pretty sure in canon it hangs above his mantlepiece. Edith thinks it's funny that he's so enamored with Arwen. Avis can't help pointing out that "she must be almost your age" [cue Celia snorting in the background].

Axe: Edith. She has a real Millie (Helluva Boss) streak about her and honestly? She loves doing the battle couple thing as long as she doesn't have to gore people with her horns.

Bow: Sorian. In canon I'm not sure he's ever shot a bow in his life (though Edith also doesn't own an axe). But this man has waited thirteen years just to find out if his wife still hates him. He's a fuckin sharpshooter.

the “package deal”: like I said, Allison should have stayed home today. But Celia is going, and he doesn't want her to go to Isengard without him, even though he REALLY doesn't want to go to Isengard. (He also knows deep down that if he let himself lose control a little in his wolf form, he would be a force to be reckoned with.) There are a lot of other potential package deals, not least Horatio and Sid, who are probably more Merry & Pippin-ish, but my favorite runners up are Avis and Sorian, who will not admit under any circumstances that they even could potentially be a package deal, but they totally are.

the dude with a sick staff and a concerning amount of explosives, may or may not be an actual wizard: Avis. Honestly, in canon, she may or may not be an actual witch. She is known to coolly disappear at random times and then turn up later with the most ridiculous magic bombs you've ever seen. Leon is constantly almost touching her staff and she is constantly almost giving him a concussion with it. She also has protested too much that she's here because of the fate of the world or because Sid asked her to and no other reasons.

[magnetarmadda]

Mad. Mad. Mad. WIP game. I want them all. But pls. When you have a moment. Tell me about Martin following Jon to America and please share something about cat sweaters. I think cat sweaters came from one of the servers but I hunger for jontent

Cat sweaters IS from the server! I no longer remember if it started in the a tma-general channel or a bunnies channel, but either way, my outline includes lots of ideas from other people lol. It doesn't have much more than an outline atm because I'm just not sure what kind of tone I'm looking for yet, but we'll get there

Jon knits the sweaters for cats (Elian), takes photos of the cats in the sweaters (me), writes blurbs about their personalities and likes/dislikes (Elian), and spends one-on-one time with them (me) to help them get adopted

Tim is the volunteer and outreach manager

Sasha is the adoption manager and becomes the in-house tech support

Elias somehow works above Jon, as like a "regional manager" of the south of England's humane societies or something, idk yet i haven't looked into the structure of animal shelters in the UK yet

Rosie gets promoted to be Elias's assistant, so they hire a new receptionist and adoption coordinator

cue Martin (his first day goes v badly)

Gerry is a freelance photographer they hire to do photoshoots for the shelter (Dathen), and he does it v cheap because we stan jon&gerry in my house

Georgie and Melanie sometimes do voice acting for shelter commercials bc Georgie adopted The Admiral from the shelter around the time Jon started working there, and they become friends again that way

Gertrude used to run the shelter and the back office is a mess bc she never filed the paperwork properly, but damn did cats get adopted when she was there

Trying to figure out who the in-house vet/animal tech(s) should be, and then someone to be the vet on contract with the shelter (in the us at least, it's rare for a shelter to have their own in-house vet)

Eric Delano, Veterinarian (thanks be to Elian)

For no reason I can discern, my brain keeps going to Michael Shelley as the groomer they have on contract lol

Martin: "aren't cats just like, dogs you can't train and don't listen to you?" everyone slowly turns to stare (Jack)

and then there's a DOG in the CAT SHELTER

Okay SO the Martin follows Jon to American bunny is from last September in the writers' server where like, I dunno, a dozen? or so of us all started talking about this idea and I really don't know how many people all started WIPs, but there were so many different directions floating around. Mine is mostly going to be like comedic timing and shit and follows this idea:

Julia: you and your Little boyfriend need to get in the car right now

Jon (while Martin sputters): hey! He’s taller than me!

Martin: …

Julia: …

Jon: …

Martin: …

Julia: …

Jon: OH!

Basically, Julia and Trevor kidnap them, but while they're in the car, they're having a heart-to-heart and Julia is like "what the FUCK can't this WAIT" and Jon's like "NO THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED IT ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT"

Here have a snippet lol

Martin hadn't initially intended to join Jon on his American adventure, but when he got the phone call from Jon after he landed admitting he needed more statements, Martin positively bullied Elias into paying for Martin to take them himself.

Elias had relented eventually, but Martin thinks it's more likely because he'd gotten Melanie to agree not to try to kill Elias while he was out of the country. Martin owes her big for this.

Because, as much as he's trying not to freak out at this exact moment, being able to be with Jon after the Usher Foundation turned out to be a dead end and the exhaustion had hit on the ride to Chicago was worth whatever Melanie wanted in exchange.

Martin's crush has gotten a little out of hand by now. He can admit that. It's less a casual-if-awkward crush on his attractive-but-prickly boss and now a solid infatuation with a mess of a man who sometimes remembers he's supposed to give Martin work instructions. Between the kidnappings and the injuries and the deaths.

Christ, what has his life become?

But being with Jon through this has made Martin feel actually useful, capable of doing something instead of just waiting around and reading old, mostly useless statements. Making Jon eat and sleep and stop working for five goddamn minutes sometimes, Christ Jon, might not be actively stopping the Unknowing, but it is at least directly assisting the person in the best position to stop it.

Also, it means Martin gets to see Jon soften and something akin to relax. His gay heart can't always take it, but he files away every moment to pine over when he's back home in his post-Prentiss flat.

This moment, though? Yeah, he's going to do his level best to forget it.

Martin had thought he'd spotted someone following them about a day ago, and he and Jon have been taking turns checking every half hour or so. They've finally stopped to eat at a diner—a real American diner, does this appeal to your retro aesthetics, Martin?, Jon had teased when they walked in—but their meal is interrupted very abruptly.

[earnestly-endlessly]

Could you please rec cherik fics where they still have powers but being mutant is well accepted? (Kind of like the Daycare Verse by brillingspoons) THANK U SO MUCH YOURE INCREDIBLE

Hi anon, of course I have a list for you. I am so sorry for the delay. I have been super busy lately with work and home renovations, but I’m back and I have a looong list for you. Now, the nature of x-men as a parallel of the very real fight of minority groups for civil rights makes it pretty hard to find fics where everyone accepts mutants.That’s actually why I love the x-men, because they represent the fight of those who are ostracised. So, some of these might have some social commentary, but the main focus does not lie there. Also, if you love the Daycare Verse check out pocky_slash’s fics (who actually wrote the majority of the Daycare Verse). 

------

Cherik ´Still Have Powers Modern AU´ Fic Recs

irreconcilable differences (make for surprisingly good bedfellows) – pocky_slash

Summary: Tonight on The Evening Report with Malcolm Stevens, noted geneticist and mutant equality proponent Dr. Charles Xavier faces off with the infamous mutant rights activist Magneto in a live televised debate over the Genetic Nondiscrimination Act.

(At least, if they can stop flirting long enough to stay on topic.)

Words and Pictures – pocky_slash

Summary: When Lorna's powers manifest early, Charles Xavier's mutant picture books are the perfect teaching tool. Erik just hadn't expected the author to be so young. Or attractive. Or available.

For the Record – endingthemes

Summary: As prominent figures in the mutant rights movement, activists Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are pretty much household names. When a romance scandal between them breaks, their celebrity reaches new heights, and though the increased exposure is great, there’s a big problem -- the two of them are just friends.

Too bad no one believes them.

Runs in the Family – Anonysquirrel (chibirisuchan)

Summary: Alex knew his own reputation. Hell, he'd started some of his own reputation, because it kept some of the smarter thugs off his back. Everyone knew Alex's reputation. There was no way Hank didn't know his reputation, but he'd brought Alex into a house with some really expensive things and a lot of innocent little kids and his too-friendly, too-harmless dad.

But clearly Hank hadn't told his family anything about Alex, just like he hadn't told Alex anything about his family. At least, not about the brain-breaking parts of his family.

"I didn't know where to start," Hank said, for the dozenth time.

Featuring mpreg!Charles in a Kiss The Cook apron, overprotective!Erik in wet black leather, and baked goods. Lots and lots of baked goods.

(Another segment of this series is posted under the Cookie Cutter fic collection - thanks again, Takmarierah!)

Impulse Decisions – listerinezero

Summary: Erik wakes up in Las Vegas with a hell of a hangover, a telepath in his bed, and a ring on his finger. Now what?

You Show Me Yours - endingthemes

Summary: When Erik receives nudes in the middle of the night from an unknown number, he's confused and mildly amused. He doesn't expect it to turn into an actual conversation...with feelings.

As if that's not baffling enough, his friend's brother ends up crashing at his place, further complicating everything.

Some Such Place (The Big Screen Classics Remix) - Pocky_Slash

Summary: Erik's spent the last eighteen months having lengthy socio-political conversations and casual sex with Charles Xavier after seeing Monday matinees at a dingy little independent movie theatre in the Village. That doesn't mean they're friends. Or that Erik should have any say in what Charles is going to do with his future.

(At least, that's what Erik keeps telling himself.)

Into Your Tar, Honey  - tomato_greens

Summary: Really, Alex doesn’t know why he’s in the damn class.

(Or, the one in which Charles teaches an online Introduction to Biology course, and Alex reads more than he expected to.)

Heli Cases - Black_Betty

Summary: "Heli Cases" is a program on PBS whose aim is to educate on the rapidly increasing occurrence of genetic mutation in the general populous by breaking the complex science down into palatable, easy to digest pieces.

It is also the only thing that helps Erik get his fussy daughter to fall asleep.

(Featuring Dadneto, baby Lorna and the struggles of single fatherhood, and Charles as the host of a late night show about genetics.)

Bound - FuryRed

Summary: Is there anything worse than someone else’s wedding? Well, perhaps your sister’s wedding- where the groom just has to invite his boss and that man just happens to be your ex-boyfriend; a person you had an extremely passionate and tumultuous relationship with that ended badly.

Charles hadn’t seen Erik for a year by the time Raven had told him about the wedding. He wasn’t looking forward to the occasion, particularly when Raven explained that they would be celebrating the event with a two-week extravaganza at a luxury hotel, meaning that Charles would be forced to spend a whole fortnight with the man who he’d given everything to; the man who had ultimately broken his heart…

An Exercise in Frustration – ikeracity

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr's latest critically-acclaimed film Shame features a full-frontal nudity scene. His long-suffering husband Charles is really very peeved about it.

Eyes on Fire - Black_Betty

Summary: Every once in a while, fashion tycoon Emma Frost invites her favourite male models over to entertain her. And by "entertain", I mean she makes them have kinky consensual sex in front of her....Emma never touches herself when she watches, but she always has a glass of wine with her. Emma likes it best when they eventually forget that she's watching.

Charles and Erik meet each other through Emma...

(I've taken some liberties with the prompt, but all the sex is still there, and it's wholly consensual...and gradually, becomes more than just sex...)

Order Up - ikeracity

Summary: Charles has a terrible habit of multitasking, and that is probably why he absentmindedly tells the pizza man that he loves him when hanging up.

Then the pizza man says it back. And Charles is pretty much smitten from there.

Some Assembly Required - manic_intent

Summary: "Alex and Hank were two teenagers who frequently fight in school. One fight got so bad that the principal called in their fathers (as both came from single-parent families)/ guardians for a conference. This was how Charles and Erik meet."

Limited Release - rageprufrock

Summary: When Alex Summers broke out of supermax to rescue his stupid kid brother, he had no idea it was going to be so fucking complicated.

Math Reasons – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

It’s kind of our whole thing – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: After two years of best friendship, Charles and Erik thought they knew everything there was to know about each other. They're surprised, then, when their first summer as a couple reveals that they have a lot to learn about each other and themselves.

PART 2 of Math Reasons

A Nice Boy (The Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

apple season – pocky_slash

Summary: "You know," Charles says while they're sitting around the kitchen table reading the paper, "You should take Anya apple picking."

"Don't you mean 'we?'" Erik responds. The silence that follows is enough to make him re-examine his own apple picking memories a little more closely. Uneven ground littered with apples, tree roots, holes, and narrow passage between rows of orchard trees. "Oh," he says.

rooms/shares – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik is single, working a cube job he hates, letting his master's degree in mutant studies collect dust, and living on his best friend's couch. When she kicks him out, he's forced to trawl Craigslist for the least-offensive rooming option within his meagre budget. He never expects a response from the persnickety, high maintenance ad he replies to as a joke, but it's possible this too-nice apartment and mysteriously absent roommate might be the answer to all four of his problems.

Continue firm and constant – aesc

Summary: Moira hasn't seen her old partner in saving the world from threats human and intergalactic, Erik Lehnsherr, for a few years. When she finally does see him again, she finds a man different from the one who's been with her down in the dark and the dirt and the blood... or maybe he isn't so different after all.

Tough little baby telepath – aesc, pearl_o

Five Part Series

Summary: Teenage telepath Charles Xavier takes a job as a consultant, working with prickly police detective Erik Lehnsherr. Charles is used to being on his own and taking care of himself; he has no reason to think that his relationship with this stern, icy man is going to change any of that.

Frosted hearts – aesc, palalife

Summary: Emma Frost has 99 problems, but a date ain't one. Specifically, she has no time to play the dating game--which is fine with her, because she'd much rather run it instead. From a set of sleek, silver and white offices on Fifth Avenue and with her trusty, stylish, and silent partner Janos Quested, Emma has built Frosted Hearts into New York City's premiere dating service, built on the principle that money, and a sufficiently rigorous psionic scan, can, in fact, buy you love.

Somewhere in Frosted Hearts's server is one Charles Xavier, genius and geneticist, with the kind of nicely-starched good looks that sell well on brochures for New England prep schools. He's also a telepath who's decided to give up pursuing serious relationships and instead spend his thirties doing what he should have done as a teenager: have a lot of sex with random people. Fortunately for him, Erik Lehnsherr, metallokinetic and engineering executive, has absolutely no time in his heart or his schedule for anything more serious than... well, absolutely nothing romantic at all.

Mercy of the Fallen (the AirDrop Security Update 2.0) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik Lehnsherr feels defined by his past sins and after years of acting against his own moral compass, he's finally struck out on his own. He's his own boss now, and determined to work hard to help the mutant community and make up for years of doing someone else's dirty work.

Complicating this is Charles Xavier, mutant advocate, genetics professor, unfairly attractive telepath, and owner of the coffee shop below Erik's office. Erik may not think he deserves to be a part of the community he's thrown himself into helping, but Charles has other ideas on the matter, and he's determined to do everything in his power to make Erik see himself as a force for good.

you follow and i’ll lead – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: When Charles discovers how frustrated and self-conscious his best friend Erik is about his ignorance about sex, he's eager to volunteer to help teach him and practice. Charles might not have any more direct experience than Erik, but he does have a telepath's mind full of accidentally picked-up fantasies and memories, as well as knowledge of a few dirty books - and more importantly, he's been madly in love with Erik for years. This seems like a brilliant, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he can't pass up.

Now he just needs to manage to keep his feelings in check, and not ruin their friendship forever.

Snail Mail – pocky_slash

Summary: Alex isn't thrilled when his boss, Erik, starts sending him to hand deliver notes to Erik's husband up at the university--that is, until he sees the Professor's hot new TA, and suddenly, the notes can't come fast enough. If only Alex could work up the guts to ask him out....

this is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

Watching the Detectives – Clocks

Summary: Detectives Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are good friends and colleagues. However, when they go undercover at a Christmas party to nab a prime suspect, Erik keeps reminding himself to stay professional and ignore feelings of unexpected jealousy.

Student/Teacher Relations – PoorMedea

Summary: As a TA, Charles knows he can't get involved in all his students' lives. He needs to keep professional boundaries, to make sure that he's an authority figure. But when he accidentally finds out how complicated Erik Lehnsherr's home life is, he suddenly finds that distance hard to maintain.

Fill for the prompt: Erik is the teen dad of adorable baby!Lorna. I just want teen!Erik being a dad, with adorable interactions between him and his baby. Angst is good too since there's always going to be some in such situations, but mainly I want to see teen dad Erik being an awesome dad who loves the hell out of his daughter despite whatever else may be going on.

Conspiracy of Kisses – Alaceron

Summary: Seven-year-old Erik needs to keep his telepathic best friend Charles from finding out that he wants to kiss him. But that's okay, because he has a plan - he'll put on a tinfoil hat.

Favorite Mistake – endingthemes

Summary: Charles Xavier doesn’t think anything of it when he sneaks out without even saying goodbye to his latest one-night stand. What he doesn’t expect is to walk into his new position in the Xavier Industries marketing department and find that his latest hook-up is now his new boss.

Never Take Biology for Granite – ikeracity, pangea

Summary: Charles is an internet celebrity who garners his fame from posting educational, in-depth videos about a different animal every week, though for some reason his viewers are always more interested in his sex life with his geologist husband, Erik, who happens to frown heavily upon all living things.

Except for Charles, of course, whom he's missed these past couple days while attending a geologic convention--though considering the subject material of Charles' newest video, he's wishing he would've stayed away longer.

This Is Not Comedy – baehj2915

Summary: Written for amarriageoftrueminds' prompt for a Cherik version of Louis CK's tangent about the fuckability of Ewan McGregor.

Naturally the similarities end there. I made this about Erik's full on public lust-filled gay revelation, and the chaos that spirals from there.

Snowed In – dedkake

Summary: Charles and Erik have a one night stand, but a blizzard traps them in Erik's apartment afterward.

[unwiltingblossom]

Code: Realize Route Review - Van Helsing

Round two of the Code: Realize routes/character reviews. This uses information from the main game + extra scenes in the main game. I have the first sequel fandisc, but I haven’t played it yet, so that content isn’t included.

Abraham Van Helsing

I have determined Van Helsing is the correct/expected second route. Similar to Impey, his route doesn’t spoil anything, but it does hint at Germain’s route and sets up Victor’s. (Victor’s route will spoil Van’s)

Van Helsing got the immediate VA boost, which was good, because his introduction was the first jarring experience of making a choice that meant nothing. “Come Out/Stay Hidden” has no difference except a couple paragraphs of dialog and which people get affection points. That’s to be expected in a free mobile game, but for a game with a $50 price tag (even considering the bundled fandisc) it’s pretty unforgivable. The lack of animation and repeat backgrounds/misc CGs also show through in this route whether it’s your second as is likely to be expected or especially if it’s third like mine was.

Not to go on a tangent, but the fact that the boys don’t even get unique bedrooms despite each of them getting at least one scene in their bedroom is a travesty.

Anyway, back on topic. Van is a fun little tsundere route, but the trouble with his route is that you spend most of it waiting for a payoff that barely happens, due to the plot they decided to go with. Transferring tsundere into manpain makes for a rough route when it’s the same length as everyone else’s.

It’s interesting that this route departs from the others where it has multiple villains that Van has to go through before the final villain, instead of just sending endless waves of Twilight mooks and giving one big boss at the end. Unfortunately, if you’re a fool like myself and first played Victor and Impey before him, you’ll be disappointed that Cardia isn’t really ‘shaped’ by Helsing. Despite the focus on self defense and martial arts - which will come in handy in other routes - Cardia’s role is pretty similar here as in Impey’s, minus engineering stuff: stand back, let Van Helsing be awesome, worry about him.

I found his bad endings easier to avoid in general, except against Jack the Ripper. Mostly because the choices were again pretty weird. You can kind of guess ‘don’t resist’ is the correct choice from his lessons about when to surrender (if you forget that it’s literally Jack the Ripper, and you don’t let Jack get near you with knives) - but good luck if you’ve done Germain’s route before this, because like with Impey and Victor’s routes, the same dilemma has the opposite answer in Germain and Van’s route. The second bad end Jack can give you (because what’s more fun than one bad end instantly after you start a route? Two!) is just some serious BS, though, I’m calling it right now. “Do you stay and try to get the door open or abandon it and look for another route” is absolutely a ‘damned if you do or don’t’ dilemma, because either route can and will result in death in a horror movie...but when you stack on that the narrative says “This is a dead end with only one door that has faint light behind it” before giving you the option to decide whether you should keep struggling with the door while Jack closes in or abandon it and look elsewhere is just unfair. (Spoiler: it wasn’t a dead end, she could have kept running and does so)

On the bright side, the story does eventually let Cardia be more violent in Van’s route compared to others, as the climax of the story has her grab a man’s throat with her bare hands specifically intent on murdering the heck out of him if necessary. But man is there a lot of ‘just stay out of Van’s way’ up until then.

The route’s really slim on romance, but it has lots of angst and feels in its place, and it’s the route Delly gets to be more than just ‘that kid who pops his head up and sasses sometimes before he goes back to house-sitting or something’. Even in Lupin’s route, Delly barely gets to do anything onscreen. Since Delly is glued to Van’s side, he basically fulfills a role somewhere between little brother and son to Cardia through the route and it’s pretty cute. Even in the ‘normal’ ending, Delly is the one who’s there.

The only iffy moment isn’t much of one, because it’s a pretty weak trap. You’re supposed to stay and help Delly in one scene - failing to do so will just get Van injured - while in another, staying and helping him will get you a bad end. That said, it’s not so bad, because the former doesn’t give you a bad end and in the latter case you should know the flow of things well enough to know you should chase after Van. (Weirdly, in Code: Realize, it’s basically never that a bad end results in a boyfriend dying, even when it would makes sense)

Speaking of bad ends, Victor’s normal end isn’t a sucker punch choice designed to mess with you, as Impey’s feels like...but man is his lazy. His isn’t the only route that does it, sadly, but nothing feels quite so much like they wrote the True Route first and went ‘what if we just MESS WITH them for the Normal End’ as Van’s. It’s tedious because you have to track through a bunch of identical stuff for a microscopic amount of change pre-epilogue, whether you started with Normal or True End (but especially if you start with True End, the only reason you’d bother with Normal End is to see epilogue Delly. Maybe two lines of writing is even any different at the Normal End cut off point, compared to just playing through True End and seeing ‘the rest of the scene’)

Overall, Van Helsing’s route is extremely thorough in exploring both Van and Delly, because it’s extremely plot relevant to know basically everything there is to know about Van Helsing in it. It’s really great for getting the player to fall for Van. It’s very weak on romancing Van Helsing, though, because when you get into a tsundere route your expectation is that you’re gonna break through to the dere, but that really doesn’t happen. You wanna see Van Helsing’s dere? You can see it from Isaac’s lab all the way up until Azoth appears. Most of that time Cardia isn’t with Van...and in Germain and Lupin’s route it’s confirmed Van behaves pretty similarly when Cardia goes ‘missing’ in those, so unless the game is implying everyone falls for her no matter what (which sometimes I think it is), it’s not that helpful.

Van’s love of Cardia isn’t secret to the player - Azoth immediately calls him out about it, which is what makes him push Cardia away for her safety, when Cardia almost dies to save Van they have a sweet moment, the final choice in the route has his anguished declaration of ‘you’re important to me’ in the rain, and the climax of the route has Azoth using Van’s unspoken love for Cardia against him, resulting in Van attempting to kill himself to protect Cardia. Unfortunately...that’s all you get until True End, extra scenes, and sequel fandisc stuff.

My main criticisms of the route are these:

1 - Cardia’s training under Van Helsing doesn’t come into play, and she’s instead expected to stand back and let her boyfriend be awesome like with Impey’s route, but she doesn’t get to be an engineer on this one, so it’s all her running from danger or through it to get to Van. Arguably, the scene where Cardia has to sneak through a fortress full of Twilight soldiers to help spring Impey from his cage in Impey’s route would have fit better in this route (with Van captive) than his - and to support that, you have to use one of Van’s lessons to succeed in that! To know the answer for one of Van’s bad end choices, you need an answer Lupin provides, which is impossible to have on first run.

2 - Van’s route is very slim on actually romancing him. If Impey’s route has him CONSTANTLY confessing and having Cardia refuse to accept she’s in love with him because it’s embarrassing, Van’s is the opposite where he refuses to accept he’s in love with her but Cardia is incredibly determined.

3 - The Normal End, although so easy to avoid you pretty much have to get it on purpose, is nonsensical in its cause-effect relation to the choice you actually make to trigger it (unless it’s really triggered by overall affection points, like Lupin’s is) and is extremely lazy, just cutting off the True End at a point that would make the story end sadly instead of happily

4 - Just screw everything to do with Jack the Ripper’s section except the moment when Van Helsing finally manages to rescue her and looks cute. It was an awful section, Jack’s design is ugly, and it overall makes no sense. Sholmes doesn’t solve an easily solvable criminal case we later learn he’s tracking extremely closely, Azoth wants a crazy woman killer to capture and keep a woman without killing her, Jack goes from ‘I won’t kill you’ to ‘Nevermind killing time’ without any real reason to it, and the choices you’re given seem designed specifically to bait you into getting the bad end first. ALSO - we later learn that Azoth expected Van to kill Jack and this would have hurt his psyche for some reason, when killing a serial killer in the midst of actively murdering women doesn’t really seem like something that would at all harm a soldier’s psyche. And he set up a bomb in the room with his recording anyway.

5- NOT EVEN ONE ‘FAKE’ KISS. NO KISSING. NO TOUCHING. Because Cardia neither removes her poison, nor has it weakened temporarily in his route, no one gets to touch her. Because Van pretends he isn’t in love with her the whole time, he never even does the Lupin hat kiss thing. No kisses. No touches.

Overall the route is good, though. Its big twist is 100% ruined if you play Victor’s route first, because nothing Van can say will change the fact that Aleister causes two bad ends all on his own in that route, but it’s still a fun route to play through and the lack of Van Helsing fluff can be fixed in the fandiscs. By the epilogue and the extra scenes, Van is full dere in his slightly sarcastic and prickly way, it’s just a shame we couldn’t get more of that.

[fanfic-scribbles]

Lunch Buddy: Chapter Seven

Masterlist

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Overall Story Facts:

Fandom: MCU Captain America/Avengers

Story Summary: Steve Rogers makes a friend. A prickly, generally people-averse friend, but they’ll both take what they can get.

Quick Facts: Friendship (/Eventual Romance) – Steve Rogers & Reader (leading to Steve Rogers/Reader) – Female Reader

Story Warnings: Reader-insert that verges on OFC, written in 1st person past tense

Chapter 7: Bi Association

Chapter Summary: An accidental assumption leads to an emotional conversation. Being disasters is both a good and terrible thing to have in common.

Chapter Warnings: Talk of coming out, mentions of homophobia, mentions of past Steve/Bucky and past Steve/Peggy

Chapter Word Count: 3669

A/N: So at the beginning of the story I warned Reader/OFC is very definitely bisexual and that really comes into play here. I think this chapter was one of the ones that pushed me to keep OFC as an option for this story because coming out (or not) is a really personal thing. ‘Not all bi folk’ and whatnot. Otherwise, please enjoy these two doofs being terrible with real actual Emotions.

    Job hunting was annoying, but surprisingly fruitful.

“Are you sure everything’s all right?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. Why?” I asked and looked at him.

“Your playlists are a little…” He gave the next word a lot of thought. “…Heavy. Lately.”

Poor sweet summer child, I thought. Apparently Lamb of God had taught him nothing. “You said you like Rise Against.”

“I do.”

“So we’re branching out,” I said and went back to my doodling. “Slowly but surely, we’ll get you to branch out even more.”

“I guess– wait. ‘Slowly?’”

“How about you?” I asked, focused on my crummy little tree. “You’ve been a little out of it this week.”

I thought he’d brush me off. Instead I got silence. I lifted my head again and did a double-take at the way he stared at…well, nothing that I could see. After a few seconds he shook it off– literally. “It’s nothing. I’m fine,” he said. “Don’t you have to go soon?”

I frowned at him. “If you don’t want to talk about it it’s okay; you don’t have to–” I caught sight of my phone and the clock numbers thereon. I jumped up. “Fuck!”

“I’m just trying to help,” he said calmly, and he held onto the rickety table while I threw my shit together. “It seems like you’re more reluctant to go back to work these days.”

Of course he noticed. But then, it was hard to be subtle when I dreaded ever seeing my boss in fear of him asking about how ‘It’ was going. I sighed, slung my bag on my shoulder, and faced Steve. “Work is…work. It gets like this sometimes.” I shrugged like it was nothing. “So if you’re ever looking for someone willing to be chucked at an evil alien or something…”

“I have your number,” he said, smiling at me, and I saluted and ran out.

~

There wasn’t much smiling over the next few days. For either of us. On at least two of those days I was setting up follow-ups and moping about being rejected from the perfect job. And on a day after that I went through most of my lunch break before I noticed that I had hardly spoken to Steve at all.

I then noticed that he was abnormally silent. He sat with his back even closer to the wall and had his sketchbook tilted up so that he was ensconced in his own little world. I watched him for a while. He ignored me and showed an unnerving lack of emotion. No concentrated frown or unhappy scowl, just…nothing.

“Hey,” I said gently. His hand slowed to a stop and after a deep breath he looked at me. Under such a dead stare I almost floundered– was it really my business?– but I managed to spit out, “Are you…okay?”

I should have asked him how he was but that was a mistake I realized too late. “Yes. I’m fine,” he said and went back to his dead-faced drawing.

I didn’t know how to follow up and it was very blatant that he didn’t want me to, so I went to put my second earbud in.

“But…thanks for asking.”

I hesitated but Steve showed no physical sign of having said anything. But just the words, even flat as they were, made me breathe a sigh of relief as I put my headphones in. Something was better than nothing.

~

We went through the same routine for the next several days. The next time I came in after that, though, he was sitting with a book, his sketchpad shut and sitting next to him, and at least an inch between his back and the wall.

Still, I was wary. “Hey,” I said as I sat down.

“Hi.”

He sounded…not normal, but not bad. Not exactly. Distant, sort of, in a way that I didn’t know if talking to him would be bothering him. But then his eyes flicked up and I tried to think of something to say. An apology for staring would have been nice, but a coherent string of non-creepy words didn’t make it from my brain to my mouth.

“I, um…” I held back a sigh and tried to think, damn it. It took me a bit but Steve waited patiently for me to spit it out. “I know I keep asking how you’re doing, and I-I don’t want to be annoying, so I’m– I’m fine to keep asking, if that’s okay with you, but…but it’s okay if you don’t want me to keep asking. I won’t be offended.”

He gave that some thought. “Is it selfish that I like being asked even though I don’t really want to answer?” he said at last.

“Personally I don’t think so,” I said. “But I also don’t think it’s bad to be a little selfish sometimes.” If he did, I didn’t know why in the world he ever associated with me.

His smile was small and sad. “I’m more selfish than most people want to believe.”

“Everyone is,” I said. “I know it might not be comforting, but…at least you're not alone?”

“In some ways,” he said, staring at his sketchbook. He rested his hand on it, slightly curved and gentle fingertips moving over it with short, light, absent strokes.

I was curious but I didn’t want to ask. Well, not directly. “Are you working on a project?”

He glanced at me and then looked back down at it. And kept looking.

“If you want to tell me to butt out–”

“I don’t.”

I shut up. Steve looked around the shop like he was checking for lurkers and eavesdroppers, but there was no one even close that I could see. He beckoned me to come closer so I hopped over to the chair next to him and scooted in.

He opened up his book to a portrait that was downright breathtaking. A man’s face was lovingly rendered in a mix of pencil and ink, and while the style was similar to Steve’s other drawings, it was so incredibly different just in the obvious amount of time and care spent on it.

“James Buchanan Barnes,” Steve murmured, moving his hand to rest right next to the sly smile and fondly shining eyes. “Bucky. He was…my best friend; he was…”

The thing was– I was not completely ignorant of Steve’s past. He had been a very important figure in history: medical miracle, war hero, and walking tragedy. He had never caught my attention because the textbooks always made him sound so noble and red-blooded American male and boring. But I’d had a classmate-kind-of-friend who had been obsessed with him for a period of time and so I knew some things just by osmosis.

I had thought that, at least, but I really should have considered the source that information had come from. Anything school had fed me had gone in one ear and out the other but my sorta-friend had, at one point, gotten my attention with an aside about Steve likely being involved with his ‘best friend’ Bucky. I hadn’t thought much of it at the time beyond ‘good for him’ but years of being (lurking) in certain communities on the internet had really made it seem like a true-but-generally-unspoken thing. That, and the fact that he had said nothing because he was too busy stroking the drawing, made it pretty damn clear to me.

So I thought nothing of it when I tried to fill in the blank with, “Your boyfriend?”

It was…the absolute wrong thing to say.

Steve’s head snapped up and his face changed through expressions almost too fast to name– shock was one, anger was another, then–

“What did you say?”

His voice was not stern, or scolding, or panicked. It was…chilling. I didn’t know what the hell to make of it, but it scared me. I couldn’t even swallow, my mouth was so dry. “I–I’m sorry; I didn’t–”

He leaned in close. I leaned back, but I could only go so far. “Where did you hear that?” he said low and glanced around the room.

I became vaguely aware of the world around us and, thankfully, we were completely unnoticed. I breathed a sigh of relief but I still felt shaky. The guy could give a death stare like no one’s business. “It’s okay, no one heard–”

“Where?!”

I didn’t know how to answer that, though I scrambled to try, only to be cut off by the buzzing alarm on my phone. I cringed and tried to shut it up. I’d rather be late for my crappy job than leave things like this. “I– S-so I–”

“Go.”

Steve’s voice was dispassionate and calm and he sat back in his seat. He kept his eyes on the table and his hand lay flat on the sketchbook’s cover. I was frozen, stunned by his coldness, but he ignored me. I packed up, feeling sick and miserable, but before I left I stopped and tried to apologize. He glared at me with eyes that looked full of hurt, so I tucked my tail between my legs and ran.

~

It was evening and I was just settling in to be sad and pathetic and rue the day I ever spoke to anyone ever when my phone alerted me to a message. Only one person texted me without calling first, and after going through my work day in a state of constant near-tears while I replayed that moment over and over in my head, I was too fucking tired to deal with him just yet.

My phone buzzed again though. And again. On the way off-chance that it was my boss with a work emergency, I reached out from the Blanket Pit of Misery to grab my phone from the coffee table. I almost wished it was my boss when I saw Steve’s name.

However.

Steve: This is going to sound forward Steve: But can I come over? Steve: Or can you come to my place

I raised both eyebrows. Thankfully, the next parts came quick.

Steve: I’m sorry for today Steve: And this conversation shouldn’t happen in text Steve: Or public

I sat up and stared at the screen. On one hand: ‘I’m sorry’. On the other hand: an in-person conversation. Ugh.

Me: I don’t want to fight

His response was immediate and came in a flood.

Steve: We won’t Steve: I promise Steve: I didn’t mean it; I panicked Steve: And I’m sure you already figured out why Steve: But I need to explain it Steve: Please

I was really tired. But I knew that panic.

Me: How the hell do you text so fast

I sent him my address and spent his travel time trying not to freak out. When he knocked, I started to freak out about the mess. I shoved the blankets to the corner of the couch and grabbed empty cups to dump in the kitchen sink on my way to the door. I then stood there for a second to give myself a once-over– lounging clothes, but clean, and I was mostly decent, so I opened the door before I could chicken out. Steve’s eyes were cast down and he was hunched over into his usual brown leather jacket. He lifted his head in my general direction but didn’t really look at me but for occasional glances. He looked about how I felt.

“I guess misery doesn’t love company,” he said lightly.

I rolled my eyes and stepped back so he could step in. “You're not nearly sadistic enough to know,” I said and shut the door behind him. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No thanks. I think I’m going to throw up.”

I had been going to the fridge but at that I stopped and turned to face him. Steve was still hunched and seemed to be shrinking more with every second. I took a step forward and stopped when he flinched. “Hey,” I said gently. “It’s not the 40’s anymore; I’m not going to turn you in.”

“Don’t joke about that,” he muttered.

“I’m not!”

I hadn’t meant to be so loud– even Steve looked surprised enough to have a spark of life again. But he was standing up and I had his attention, so I ran with it. “I wasn’t making a joke of it before and I’m not making a joke of it now,” I said, because I had to make him understand. Somehow.

“I know you weren't joking before.” He fell back onto the couch, which creaked. “It made it…worse.”

I opened my mouth but he held up his hand. I waited, but when he took longer to compose himself I slowly walked over and perched on the edge of the other end of the couch. I felt so stiff I probably would have been more comfortable if I had remained standing, but the silence was so absolute that getting up would be too disruptive.

“Some people knew,” he said, so softly that I leaned in closer on instinct. He raised his voice a little. “Nobody talked about it. Ever. We were…as careful as you possibly could be when you love someone that much.”

He didn’t look at me. I didn’t move. I wanted to…reach out, put an arm around him, do something, but I didn’t know if we were quite there yet. Or if he was okay with being touched at all.

“Peggy definitely knew,” Steve said, staring at the floor but obviously not staring at the floor. “And after Bucky…fell…she–”

Steve turned his face away and wiped it. I scooted closer and put my hand on his arm. He didn’t pull away, so I stayed, but I was stock-still, afraid that if I moved an inch in either direction he’d push or pull or run.

He faced forward again with a dry face and his throat pulsed with his swallow. “I loved her too,” Steve said. “I could have– if I had made it out, we could have been happy, you know?” His smile was sad and wistful and his eyes shone just a little too bright. “I like to think so, anyway. Peggy was never disturbed by it. Sometimes even made some comments that, I think, if we had all made it out…”

He shook his head and got to his feet. “Bisexual,” he blurted out. He kept his back to me and barely glanced back. “I like that; it– it suits me. I think.” He turned to face me. “But I’m not…out. Obviously.”

I nodded. My heart was racing and the more he stared at me the harder it hit my chest, the harder it was to say something. But he took a slow step back, said, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have–” and then he stared to leave and I couldn’t, I couldn’t leave that there. No matter what it meant for me.

“I’m not out either!”

He stopped right at the door. I was almost not breathing when he looked at me sharply, but apparently having very obvious heart failure attested to my earnestness, because his eyes widened and his hand slipped from the knob. I swallowed and sympathized with how he’d had such a hard time with it. I felt like I was swallowing an egg-sized rock. But then he was utterly silent, so I asked, “Well? Does misery love company now?”

He flinched. “That’s not something to be miserable about.”

I shrugged, because that was easy to say, wasn’t it? He shifted from one foot to the other and looked extremely uncomfortable. It took me a moment to realize why that might be. “Yes,” I said and he nearly jumped. “We can be closeted bi besties.”

“I didn’t…mean to make you come out. I just–” He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. “I’m sorry. I’m a mess right now.”

“Just right now?” I asked. He actually made a sound that was kind of like a laugh. I sighed. I felt almost completely drained, but at least the hard part was done and over. “Take off your jacket and sit down,” I said and went to the fridge. “I don’t want you to break down in a cab or something.”

“I drove.” But Steve shrugged off his jacket and threw it on the coffee table as he sat back on the couch. “Motorcycle.”

“Even worse.” I brought back two water bottles and set one in front of him before I dropped onto the cushion right next to him. “I’m not gonna be the last person to see you before you wrap yourself around a pole.”

“I’d survive it.”

That was way too flippant and I couldn’t be trusted to touch it without also getting darker than I felt comfortable with. “Well, I’m sure you have a nice bike that doesn’t deserve that.”

We both sat in awkward silence. He picked at the paper wrapping and I chewed on the bottle rim, occasionally consuming some water by accident just because the damn thing was so full. “I’m sorry,” Steve said quietly. “That could have gone better.”

I put the bottle down. “Coming out is always awkward.”

“Even for you?” he asked and lowered his voice for, “Even now?”

“There’s always going to be someone, always,” I said. “And some that do it because, uh…they care, and they think it’s safer if you just… But– the times I’ve come out, I don’t regret it. Even when it blew up in my face. I never– I just don’t trust people, and sometimes I’m scared of what that makes me, of how detached I get, in the interest of keeping myself safe. I’m glad that, sometimes, even I can still trust people. Even if it’s just a little bit.”

I didn’t really expect anything, but of everything, I really didn’t expect Steve to turn his body and hug me so suddenly I went “oof!” He didn’t hold tight though, so I crossed my arm over to my shoulder to pat his hands awkwardly. And then, because he was hugging from my side and I couldn’t really return the gesture, I slipped my other arm around his back.

“Me too,” he said and let me go. “I’m…glad you can trust me with that.”

“Same,” I said. “Even if it was unintentional. I’m sorry; even if I was right I shouldn’t have said it like that. I know how that heart attack feels, so– I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you,” he said. He still sounded utterly miserable though.

I nudged him. “I promise I won’t say anything. It’s no one’s fucking business, right?”

He breathed. “In theory,” he said. He lifted his head and stared at nothing. “I’m going to have to make it be, though.”

Considering the guy couldn’t come out to defenseless old ‘tries not to talk to anyone else ever’ me without freaking the fuck out, coming out to the world seemed like a leap. “Why?”

He didn’t answer at first; he just sat there clenching his jaw so hard I was afraid he’d break his teeth. Then he stood up and paced, but from the marching motions it didn’t look like it helped much. Granted, my apartment was only so big and he couldn’t get a good stomp going, but still.

“I wasn’t going to,” he said and stopped. “I thought I could get around it, brush off interview questions and just act stupid. But then…” The muscles in his neck rippled with his swallow. “I was talking to this kid one week. They were so sweet, and they had a– a rainbow flag pin on their bag. I wanted to compliment it, but they saw me looking and covered it up. Then they made some excuse and left.”

He just stood there, but when I tugged at his shirt he plopped right down next to me. “They didn’t want to know,” I said softly, because as much as it sucked for him, I could really sympathize with that kid.

“And I hate it,” Steve spat like he was full of bile. “I hate trying to skirt those questions, I hate that the people who would have beaten me to death before the war look at me like they think I’m on their side; I hate that anybody like me is afraid to ask anything other than ‘are you okay that I exist.’” He sighed. “Most of all, I hate that I’m such a fucking coward I haven’t just said it yet. I need to, for my own sanity, but it’s…terrifying.”

I wished there was something I could say, something smart, or comforting, or even just kind. However I had a big load of nothing, so I just kept my arm around him and hoped it was enough that I was there. I hoped that he knew I understood.

He sat there, silent, but he didn’t leave, and eventually I got an idea. “Hey,” I said and got up. “Since you’re here, come on; I’m gonna show you how to play a video game.”

He didn’t protest, and even let me tug and shove him around until he was sitting on the edge of my bed and holding the controller in his ridiculous bear paws. “Fuck, your hands are big,” I said and eyed them. Maybe this was a bad idea. “You’ve got a gentle touch, right?”

He looked at me and made his lips a flat line. “You’ve seen me use tablets and phones.”

“Okay, point,” I said and settled in as the system loaded.

“I mean, I broke a half dozen of each before I got the hang of it, but I’m sure it won’t take me that many this time.”

I glared at him and he smirked, the little shit. As the starting screen came up I sat back. “Well,” I said. “At least if you break my controller you won’t have to worry about that pesky ‘coming out’ bullshit.”

He laughed.

It was probably good that he thought I was joking.

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[ambroseffxiv]

LFRP - Ambrose

special thanks to @crimsonfluidessence for the edited lfrp!  NOTES: most of initially mentioned notes on how Ambrose’s ability ties to Arcanima/works (in a simple sense) can be found on his Carrd profile found under the cut.

Overview

- Report from The Supreme Sacred Tribunal of Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine -

The Metaxas creature is a violation of not only the laws of Her Holy See of Ishgard, Her word within the Enchiridion, as well as the laws of the recently reclaimed Stone Vigil, Darkhold, and outposts of Camp Dragonhead, Whitebrim Front, Rosehouse and others, but a violation of nature herself. We are to do whatever within our power under Halone’s guidance to bring this creature to justice for the Greater Good.

NAME: Ambrose Metaxas PRONUNCIATION: Am-Bro-S Meh-Tax-Us RACE: J Tribe Miqo'te/Plainsfolk Lalafell Mix GENDER: Male (Trans, fully transitioned) AGE: 19 BIRTHPLACE: Ala Ghiri, Gyr Abania, Tailfeather, Dravania CURRENT RESIDENCE: Ren Huang’s Goblet apartment or personal apartment in the Lavender Beds PLACES THEY FREQUENT: Ul’dah, Gridania, Dravania DISCIPLINE: WAR/SMN(/DNC?) OCCUPATION: Retainer: gathering specialty in botany, combat specialty in WAR, botanist (specialized in seedkin)

SERVER:  RP MAIN: Balmung (Crystal) and MOSTLY CONTENT: Jenova (Aether) Different Data Centers=Different Universes, so treated as different instances

Personality

AT A GLANCE: Prickly, like a cactuar. Ambrose isn’t that hard to open up, but you have to be a certain type of person. He’s known to be stoic, cold and barely reacts to small attempts to garner his attention. BELOW THE SURFACE: A child at heart, he collects toys and dolls, and enjoys being able to play when he can in-between work. He’s also bubbly and energetic once past his initial walls, happy to lend a hand if needed. MOST DEFINING TRAITS: Extremely loyal to a fault, and when you do gain his trust, Ambrose will trust that person equally to a fault, unless proven otherwise with strong evidence, and even then, unless they are against his personal morals, he may follow without question anyway.

Motivations and Beliefs–––-

Worshipper of Shiva 

Dislikes the Twelve, but knows there’s a distinction between what the Twelve teach to how people may interpret it.

Seeks some revenge everything that happened to him. Passionately hates the Ward and Ishgard for everything that was done to him and the people he loves for years, and Garleans for robbing him of what he had and putting him in a prison when he tried to escape.

Despite everything that’s happened to him, Ambrose maintains a relatively kind and cheerful demeanor towards people, and despite his want for vengeance, wants to help make the world a better place through kindness as well.

Backstory–––-

- Further documentation from The Supreme Sacred Tribunal of the Halonic Inquisitory Doctrine -

The Metaxas creature is said to originate from the Dravanian Forelands, though it’s appearance begs a different origin for it. [Further investigation under way.] No hunter of Tailfeather has been suspected of heresy, however, the Metaxas creature has been reported in both the Dravanian Forelands and the Coerthan Western Highlands.  Following the initial sightings of the Order of Black Lotus, the Metaxas creature was first witnessed from a scouting group from Falcon’s Nest, seen making a large explosion of fire in what is believed to be a summoning of Ifrit. Other sightings were by other creatures similar to the Metaxas one, such as the Macelle creature, Clefier creature, and Gealionne creature.  After the elimination of the Order of the Black Lotus, the Metaxas creature was sighted in the Brume of our fair city, likely feeding on the innocent children of the poor. He went missing shortly after, sighted only years later.. Halone knows where or what he was doing before sightings resumed.

more under the cut!

Significant Relationships–––-

Vacho Vesucho - Father

J’nhakso ??? - Mother

Liloki Loki - Older Sister

Moh Ehs - Teacher and old friend

Oohr Seih - Old friend

Balmung

Esredes Rosemond - Adoptive father Leader and boss

Ren Huang - Boyfriend (? still complicated but not as much)

Akai Ikigomi - Friend

Additional Trivia

PATRON DEITY: Nymeia, the Spinner HOBBIES: Gardening, organizing, collecting dolls and toys to play with. Also collects miniature porcelain chocobo statues. ABILITIES: The ability to summon primals and aspects of primals into himself at a heavy physical cost, a higher level of aether within himself to manipulate and use. LANGUAGES: Dragonspeak, Old Elezen/Ishgardian/Landlord, Eorzean/Common (spoken only) FEARS: Excessive amounts of fresh blood, red on snow, large fires, the smell of burnt flesh, people who have an affinity with flames, excessive amounts of blood and gore on the color white, various other things that he won’t name. SEXUALITY: Homosexual HEIGHT: 4′11″ BUILD: Ambrose is a muscular yet soft looking man, trained to be a warrior, and be able to protect his fellow test subjects if necessary. The latter was fruitless, but gave Ambrose a routine to follow, and with how intensive retainer work can be, he kept himself in shape for a long time to be able to keep up with all of his clients. Nowadays, he’s much more soft, but still easily able to do heavy lifting and fighting, but for much less time. Otherwise, he has soft curves and larger than average thighs, and an overall curvaceous figure for a young man of his age. He is not uncomfortable with himself at this point in his life. (Reference NSFW) (See: Deviations from ig model ref for SFW references) DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Stripes, massive fangs that don’t seem to fit his mouth, but cleanly fit behind his lips, tiger ears, paws on his legs, unnatural eyes. COMMON ACCESSORIES: Cactuar earring on right ear, two rainbow colored earrings on his right hand. DEVIATIONS FROM IN-GAME MODEL: The paw legs, ears, teeth and much of his stripes, his tail is also much longer. Pupils are also white, and are less like slits, and moreso akin to plainsfolk eyes. (Reference art by elizastarkart, Reference)

Things you should know about my character: I play him how I play him. He might be an absolute ass to you, and walk out on a scene. I am not responsible for the trouble he gets into icly. Additionally, if you want to interact with him but want nothing to do with his primal side, I have no intentions to push anyone to have to be involved with anything with his primal side. That being said, if i make you uncomfortable, that’s different. Please say something so that I can fix it! I like to think I’m very adaptive to what I’m given, so don’t feel like you’re bothering me. But if him walking out because your character pisses him off and you get pissed off with me oocly for it, I’m gonna bring this up. Gets along with: Anyone kind to him initially. He’s immediately fond of people who will be willing to be nice right off the bat, and tends to favor them most. Otherwise, if you respect him and his ways, he’s inclined to like you more. Could go either way with: Anyone who doesn’t follow either extreme. He’s had to deal with other people most of his life, and most initial reactions are him being relatively shy or at least closed off, refusing to answer anything personal, even vague.  Unlikely to get along with: People who have no sense of morality whatsoever, people who treat him like a child simply due to size and age, and, of course, those who are aware of who and what he is, and intend to act because of it. 

possible hooks –––-

In Need of a Retainer/Interest in his ASSets

The last part is a joke- But he does have a nice ass. Ambrose is a retainer, and has many clients all over Hydaelyn, so long as it isn’t Ishgard/Coerthas. Ambrose serves adventurers, nobles, anyone who’s up to having a retainer, though non-adventurers will need to pay his salary themselves. He does not take ventures for his services at least, and accepts meals in return for work. Currently trying to save up for a place of his own.

Primal Summoning

Ambrose is a summoner, his brand is.. Complicated, but something definitely interesting to anyone who is invested in primals, Allagan summoning with egis, or arcanima in general. To summarize Ambrose’s summoning briefly, he has various etchings in arcane ink on his arms and legs, stemming the flow of primal energy when he summons them into himself. His summoning is akin to how both Shiva and Tsukuyomi were summoned, and so long as Ambrose can form an idea of what they look like, has the will for it, and is at his full aetherical capacity, can summon any primals that do not need a catalyst (Zantetsuken, the three kojin artifacts, and Tsukuyomi’s mirror, are all catalysts.) This would mean that you would need to know that Ambrose is.. Who he is, however. This hook means a lot more talking about meeting.

Botany help

If neither of those are your cup of tea, Ambrose is a botanist trained under Fufucha, guildmaster of the Botanist’s guild in Gridania. He originally picked up gardening as a hobby through his love of flowers, something he didn’t see for a long time after the Calamity hit Coerthas. His love for flowers eventually manifested in him caring for many once he was attempting to sign onto being a retainer, and was accepted into the Botanist’s guild in the meantime. He still is connected to them, and does some jobs for them if they request it.

Veteran of the Dragonsong War?

This one is a little complicated, but a hook I’ve been meaning to add. Ambrose was deeply steeped in the Dragonsong War for as long as he was able to- At least 4-6 years, depending on how long you see ARR and HW taking. He was not anywhere near Ishgard during Stormblood, instead being held in a cell in Ala Mhigo. Ambrose, being a heretic of Shiva and frequently taking on his own missions, could be a familiar face to anyone who slayed dragons for years, or simply served their time in the Ishgardian military. A strange Miqo’te with unnatural eyes said to cannibalize those who drew too close, and rode on dragonback. Subsequently, if you have any heretic background, you may know him simply as Ambrose by word of mouth or through some of his more distinct features.

Mystery Man

If this wasn’t already a little clear, Ambrose is appealing in more way than one. If you feel your character would have an interest in Ambrose simply because of his looks, I am not going to stop you from using that as a hook! If you do, however, you would hear some rumors about a mysterious pony-tailed retainer coming out of nowhere to rescue people from thugs in alleyways, before disappearing into the night without a word. Considering Ambrose is muscular, he somewhat fits the description.. But he’s a bit short, isn’t he?

what I’m looking for ––––

I’m looking for long term stuff! And no, that doesn’t just mean ships. I really want Ambrose to have more friends and connections, ships are just a nice bonus if they come too.  When it comes to friendships, the only real requirement there is is an ability to break past Ambrose’s prickly exterior, or have a desire to. It is relatively easy if you have the right personality, but does take determination for others. Ambrose has a habit of stalking as well, and being okay with that ooc is important to me, and if you need me to stop, I will.  For ships, I’m not picky, but we have to at least RP once before I’ll consider it. I also am picky with ERP, so if you’re going to come into things with the intention of just becoming Ambrose’s fuckbuddy, I have bad news. On Balmung/Crystal he is now in a monogamous relationship in canon, and they’re in the courting phase of things. I am open for AU romance and side timelines, but main timeline Ambrose is not up for romance. I am not looking for any ooc romance, and will stop talking to you if you make clear intents for it.

oocly, I am ––––

I am a perpetually sleepy 20 yr old trans dude with a boyfriend and likes coffee and drawing thighs. I have terrible handwriting and equally terrible taste in music, and I draw a lot. Throwing ideas with me is an invitation for my art. I prefer being explained a character than reading (ironic i know) or learning about them through rp. I get very distracted very easily, and on discord will either spam you forever or be too shy to talk initially! Please be patient with me.

you can contact me via ––

Twitter: @miqosabotender Tumblr (Main): @senorsabotender Discord: satan#9018 carrd: eikon.carrd.co <-also contains full background, more hooks and other information worth knowing In-Game: Ambrose Metaxas

[shamelessly4shameless-blog]

Nickovich (pt 8 - nsfw)

“How long are you gonna leave him waiting?”

“I dunno. Until I clear you outta smokes most likely.”

Mickey shrugs and grabs another card from the pile. Nicky rolls her eyes and lightly tosses the rest of her pack into his lap.

“There. Congratulations. Now go do whatever it is that you guys do. Go claim your man.”

“He’s not my man.”

Mickey snaps, toying with one folded corner of silver foil at the edge of the box. He’s been playing cards with Nicky for nearly four hours and he knows that Ian has been at the hotel for at least three and a half of those because that was when the first text arrived telling Mickey the address, the room number and the fake name to use.

“Oh no, definitely. I think Trevor might be the one for him. That’s most likely why he booked a room for you two within minutes of you telling him to, dashed across town to get here and has been calling you constantly.”

“Fuck off.”

Mickey mutters but his heart isn’t in it. Truth be told he’s actually just really nervous to go in there and face what he knows is going to be the final show down with Ian Gallagher. Either they will work their shit out and make this thing official or they will go their separate ways and most likely never see each other again.

“He’s gonna be pissed as Hell that you’ve left him waiting so long in there.”

Nicky sing-songs her voice in that annoying way that Mandy used to use on him when they were playing video games and Mickey musters up a pretty good glare.

“Let him be fuckin’ pissed then. Like I give a shit! Asshole deserves to sweat it out.”

“Yeah but what if he sweats too much and decides he needs a cooler climate? Quit being a tropical bitch and go in there before it’s too late!”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I compulsively take care of others when I can’t take care of myself.”

Nicky winks at him and reaches over to take a cigarette from the pile at Mickey’s feet.

“And because it’s like living in a TV show. You love him, you hate him, you want him so badly it’s gonna kill you if you don’t get him … shit. It’s primetime worthy, man.”

Mickey flips her off and stuffs a few of the cigarettes in the box before grabbing his beanie, which is really Nicky’s beanie, and his dark glasses.

“Probably just want me outta here so you can flick your bean all over everything anyway.”

“Oh yeah, I’m gonna use your stick shift to get off and wipe it up with YOUR favourite vest for a change.”

“That’s what you get for leaving your shit all over someone else’s van. Anyway I already said I was sorry.”

Mickey shrugs, his eyes flicking guiltily to the little scrap of black vest that Nicky had fished out from behind the make-shift shelving.

“Still gross. Now please go away and remember, I want a blanket, a shower …”

“Pillows and tiny soaps … yeah, I got it.”

Mickey hates being rushed but Nicky’s quip about Ian leaving has made him prickly.

“And be gentle. You ever watch Beauty and Beast as a kid?”

“Yeah … I guess. That the one with the fuckin’ rose?”

“Yes and the talking teapot and candlestick. I’m the teapot, you’re the beast and he’s …”

“I know.”

Mickey says flatly, his heart already fluttering at the thought of emerald eyes and gorgeously freckled skin.

“Right. And the teapot tells the beast to be gentle because that is what beauty responds to. Be gentle, Abe.”

Nicky squints through the spy hole and then rests her hands on Mickey’s shoulders.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

Mickey gives her a very small smile and shoves the van doors open. He crosses the parking lot quickly and enters the hotel. It’s basic, clean and discreet and once he gives the name Ian has supplied he is offered a worn keycard, an easy smile and pointed toward the elevator.

*

Mickey makes an effort not to fidget too much in case he draws attention to himself but his fingers drum nervously against his thigh and he realises that he is making a sort of low humming noise at the back of his throat.

He exits the elevator on the fourth floor and stares down the rows of identical doors. A little gold edged sign states that room 409 is to his right. Mickey hesitates outside the door. Gentle. How the fuck is he supposed to be gentle? He’s never been the most patient person in the world and after this morning … shit. Well they’ll just have to figure it as they go because if Mickey waits any longer he’s going to bail.

He removes his cap and glasses, swipes the key-card and pushes the door open. There is a furiously snarled question that Mickey doesn’t have time to process before a familiar fist wraps in his shirt and drags him into the room and he is launched unceremoniously across it and sent sprawling onto the bed.

*

“What the fuck?!”

Mickey shoves himself up out of the rumpled quilt and glares around at Ian who is looming over him, fists clenched at his sides.

“Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been waiting for hours! I was fucking worried about you, asshole!”

Mickey rolls himself off the mattress and lifts a nonchalant eyebrow at Ian.

“None of your damn business where I’ve been.”

The redhead is all blazing eyes and jutting jaw and Mickey’s dick is pressing painfully against his jeans, inappropriately but completely aroused by the larger man’s fury.

“And you lay hands on me like you did just now again and I’m gonna break your fuckin’ arms.”

“Oh fuck you. You’re lucky I tossed your late ass on the bed not into a wall.”

Ian snaps and Mickey’s heart flutters gently, out of rhythm with the thick waves of adrenaline coursing through his body. Ian was never afraid of him, occasionally cautious, but never afraid and he still isn’t and that fact pleases Mickey more than he is willing to admit.

“I thought you got caught or some shit.”

Ian’s words are clipped and short, each one like a whip-crack in the lightly fragrant air of the room.

“Well clearly I didn’t.”

“So where were you? I lied to my boss, took off from work ...”

“Like any of that’s my problem, bitch.”

Mickey scoffs, picking up the TV remote and turning it over in his hand as if considering turning the device on. Predictably, Ian lunges forward and snatches it from his hand, throwing it across the room in absolute fury.

“I swear to God, Mickey ...”

“What? What the fuck are you gonna do?”

Mickey looks Ian up and down, his eyes raking over the planes of his body as his lip curls in smugly and Ian narrowly resists the urge to slap the shit out of him, deciding to try a different tact.

“Look, I am sorry about today. About Trevor. I know you must be pissed …”

Mickey gives a small humourless laugh and lets his head tilt forward until his chin touches his chest.

Gentle.

“And I know I didn’t handle it well. I shouldn’t have frozen like that …”

Gen-fuckin’-tle

“But it was kind of a shock. You’ve been away a while Mickey and I wasn’t sure what to do…”

Mickey is biting the inside of his cheeks hard enough to raise little blisters in the delicate lining, his body going almost unnaturally still and the more he doesn’t react, the more Ian’s mind spirals and his temper, already high, frays even further.

“Jesus. Are you going to speak at all? If you want to vent about him…”

Fuck it. Gentle is overrated.

“It’s not about him! It’s about you! Last I fuckin’ checked you were gonna wait for me, not shack up with some curly haired little prick with creepy boy-band fluff on his chin.”

“We’re not … It’s not like we live together or anything. He’s just … we hang out and stuff …”

Ian fumbles for an explanation and Mickey sucks his teeth contemptuously.

“And fuck too?”

“Yes! Okay, yes, he fucks me!”

Ian hadn’t meant to say that but feels a grim satisfaction in watching Mickey’s jaw drop as he stares at Ian in open horror

“He … You let him put his dick up your ass? Since when are you a damn Bottom?”

“It’s … complicated. Trevor is Trans so it’s not like … I mean … Wait. Why am I telling you this?”

Ian stammers to a stop with that confused and earnest look on his face that used to make Mickey want to kiss him right on his stupid frowning face but right now it just make him roll his eyes.

“Because you got a big fuckin’ mouth and are shitty with other people’s secrets. Jesus. So are you Bi now or something?”

“No! … well I guess I did have sex with a woman but ...”

“Ugh. You know what? Stop. I don’t wanna know.”

“Fine. But you really wanna try and tell me you haven’t fucked anyone else?”

Mickey hesitates. He fucked a few dudes but not that many and it was mostly just to prove a point to some uppity little prick or another who thought Mickey might be easy to turn into a bitch.

“I mostly got along with my hand. Cleaner and tighter than most of those jail-skanks anyway. And it don’t come whinin’ for favours later either.”

Ian snorts and then juts his chin out realising that his question has not been answered. He has no right to be jealous but he is. In that moment, he is jealous of everyone who has even dared to look in Mickey Milkovich’s direction.

“So there has been no one? No one at all?”

“No chicks or chicks with dicks or any of that freaky shit! And no one I started calling my boyfriend!”

Mickey snaps and Ian folds his arms defensively

“Well it’s different for you. You hate labelling things you never …”

“What? What do I never do?”

Mickey can feel his temper slipping as the little voice inside his head that always told him that somehow he was the reason everything went to shit, begins to awaken.

“You never want to box yourself into anything.”

Ian’s tone is soft, almost kind and it takes the fight out of Mickey a little as he shrugs and rubs the back of his neck self-consciously.

“Not with other dickheads, no, I don’t! But I don’t mind that shit with you. I’d have fuckin’ married you if you wanted it.”

Ian’s head snaps up and he looks at Mickey in an entirely new way and it irritates the Hell out of Mickey instantly.

“Don’t look at me like that! I told you already – in sickness and in health, richer and poorer, all of that. I told you and you were the one who didn’t fuckin’ want it.”

“I didn’t know you were serious.”

“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?”

Mickey doesn’t yell but only because there isn’t enough air left in his lungs to do it. Black spots appear in his vision around the edge of Ian’s head and Mickey pinches the bridge of his nose, looking down at the floor and fighting the urge to sit down on the bed and bury his face in his hands entirely.

Ian realises that he’s said completely the wrong damn thing and panic bubbles in his chest, pushing past all the rest of his emotions leaving only the thin, desperate knowledge that he doesn’t want Mickey to shut him out. No matter how much he deserves it, he doesn’t want to be shut out.

“I thought you were just tryin’ to stop me breakin’ up with you!”

Ian’s natural Southside drawl comes out more when he’s agitated and Mickey notices that his hands are shaking, large knuckles vibrating against each other.

“I fuckin’ was, asshole! But that don’t mean I didn’t want it anyway! Jesus, Ian! You’re a good fuckin’ lay but you think I would have put up with half your crazy shit if I wasn’t in it for the long haul? I could have found another guy with a monster dick just like that!”

Mickey snaps his fingers at Ian and runs a hand roughly over his face in frustration.

“Maybe not a red head but something, I could have found something …”

“I know you could and I appreciate everything you did for me back then. I really do, Mick.”

Ian doesn’t know if it’s allowed or not but he reaches out and cups Mickey’s jaw lightly in his palm. Mickey jerks backwards and Ian steps with him, moving until they come up against the bed and Mickey turns his head, glancing down at the mattress.

“You still want me, Gallagher?”

It is a softly asked question but it hits Ian like a blow and he blinks a couple of times before nodding

“I’ve always wanted you.”

He hadn’t intended to say that but the words feel right and he finally feels as though he might have said the correct thing at the correct time. Mickey’s lips pull upwards in a reluctant little smile and he presses his hand flat against the tight fabric of Ian’s shirt, stroking his thumb over the hollow of Ian’s ribcage, feeling the heavy pulse racing beneath it.

The thought of tasting a little blood, his or Ian’s, is seriously fucking appealing and only a couple of minutes ago, Mickey was more than prepared for a fight. What he isn’t prepared for is the feel of Ian’s lips against his, Ian’s tongue forcing its way into his mouth with a possessive urgency that Mickey hasn’t felt from Ian since before the bipolar tipped everything on its head. Since Ian wanted him so badly he was willing to do anything to get him.  

The atmosphere has shifted and taken any ambiguity about their intentions for this hotel room with it. They both know they are going to fuck, the only question is how to find their way to it through all the other shit. But Mickey knows the answer. It’s not gentle but it will work and that is what they need.

“What about your boyfriend?”

Mickey smirks, closing his eyes as Ian’s lips trail down his neck, biting softly at the pale flesh.

“Shut up and get undressed.”

Ian pulls away just long enough to shrug out of his jacket and shove Mickey backwards onto the bed. He wants to taste Mickey’s skin and feel the curve of that sweet ass pinched between his teeth. He wants to hear the sobbing breaths wrench from between those perfect lips as he sheaths himself to the hilt again and again until they are both lost.

The continued manhandling coupled with burning kisses is almost the undoing of Mickey, but he manages another smirk and takes his time unzipping his hoodie and slipping it off his shoulders. Mickey wants the sex, he wants it so badly it is painful, but to admit that, to give it without a struggle, without being overpowered, just feels too weak. He wants Ian to take charge of him and knows he will if Mickey can prod him there firmly enough.

“In a rush, Gallagher? You gotta get back to him, huh?”

Ian tugs his shirt over his head and gives Mickey a meaningful look that makes Mickey’s stomach knot in anticipation but he presses on, determined to push Ian beyond endurance.

“Is he gonna be pissed about this or is the freak house some sort of hippie commune for queers?”

Ian knows that this taunting won’t stop until Mickey gets what he wants and in a weird way, he is really glad about it because it is fuelling something within Ian as well. Something that Ian hasn’t had the opportunity to be in a long time. Dominant. Not just a little bit rough but actually in control and obeyed without question by someone who not only wants it, but fucking needs it.

“You want to call him? You can use my phone.”

Ian looks down at Mickey and his heart squeezes. Blue eyes are looking up at him and to anyone else they might just look pugnacious, maybe a little aggressive and definitely derisive but Ian sees beyond that, he is still, through some damn miracle of adoration, allowed to see beyond that.

Ian bends down and wraps his fist in Mickey’s shirt, dragging him upwards and pressing his knuckles beneath Mickey’s chin, putting them eye-to-eye, his face close enough to feel Mickey’s breath on his lips and kisses him softly, once.

“I know what you need and I’m going to give it to you, but one more snarky little comment like that and we’re done here. Do you understand?”

Mickey’s eyes narrow as he licks away the feel of Ian’s kiss on his lower lip.

“Fuc...”

Ian silences him with another kiss, this one hard enough to bruise and Mickey blinks up at him, his smirk a little less certain as he begins to yield himself.

“You wanna play rough like that huh?”

“I do. And I bought you some things ...”

Grabbing his bag, Ian rummages inside and tosses lube and condoms onto the bed followed by a pack of smokes, a joint and a clutch of Ben Wah beads and Mickey gives a startled laugh.

“Holy fuck, Firecrotch! You planned a whole fuckin’ perverts picnic!”

“I figured you wouldn’t have had … you know … the stuff you like for a while.”

Ian sounds almost shy at the admission of his own thoughtfulness and Mickey almost gives himself up right that second because Ian is right, he has not had the stuff he likes for a while. He hasn’t had it since the day Ian was dragged away by the MP’s. All the same he isn’t some whiny bitch looking for a pat on the head and he forces himself to stay cool.

He cocks his eyebrow and lets his gaze drift lazily away and then back to Ian through half-lidded eyes, his tongue rolling against his lips as if it is too large for his mouth in that arrogant gesture that Ian has loved since the first time he saw it.

“You’re bein’ a little fuckin’ presumptuous! Maybe I just want a decent night’s sleep. How about you shove those beads up your own ass, huh?”

Despite himself, Ian laughs and then hastily bites his tongue to silence it. He’d forgotten how hard it is to rattle Mickey. If he’d acted like this with any of his other lovers … well … he just wouldn’t. None of them would understand this side of him, the side that was born on the streets he grew up on and nurtured in the language of his home.

“How about you shut your mouth unless you’re gonna do something useful with it.”

He quips back and Mickey smiles at him, a genuine smile that makes Ian want to cradle him to his chest almost as badly as he wants to pound him into the bed and leave him gasping.

“Now I asked you a fucking question, Milkovich: Do you understand?”

Mickey doesn’t answer, just holds Ian’s gaze steadily. It is everything either of them need.

“Get undressed, Mick.”

He says more softly and slowly but surely, Mickey complies.

Ian pauses in taking off his belt to glance up questioningly and Mickey meets his eyes with a small smile.

“You want me to keep hold of this too?”

Ian asks softly, holding the worn old leather out for Mickey’s inspection. Mickey considers it, pinches his lip between thumb and forefinger, and then shakes his head. He can take a lot, is hoping to take a lot, but some things need to be built up to and he isn’t ready for that yet.

“Not tonight.”

Mickey presses his lips together as soon as the words leave them and busies himself with unlacing his boots, keeping his eyes on the task at hand. Despite the almost desperate longing, Mickey refuses to look up to see what effect if any those two words have had on Ian.

Ian smiles softly at the back of Mickey’s head and closes his eyes. He knows he isn’t completely forgiven for Trevor, but the possibility of forgiveness is there and that is something. The rest they will figure out. Together.

[lemedy]

HOLY SHIT, LEMEDY’S FINALLY PLAYING SPIRIT OF JUSTICE: CASE 2, PART 1

The second that Trucy was up there on stage I thought ‘I am calling it, I am calling it right fucking now, baby Wright girl is going to be accused of murder because frankly, she hasn’t had her turn yet. I WAS RIGHT. BABY WRIGHT GIRL IS ACCUSED OF MURDER.

This game is dragging me, kicking and screaming, into the Gramarye family drama again and look, I love and adore Trucy but I do not give a single shit about the Gramaryes and their fuckery. I realise that Capcom is trying to recreating the Fey clan drama that spanned multiple games, but the trick with that was that the Feys were actually INTERESTING, I gave many fucks about Mia, Maya, Dahlia, Iris and Pearl. Infinite more fucks. Jesus, please spare me from more ‘I WILL MURDER FOR THE ULTIMATE MAGIC TRICK’, we’ve done this before, and I’m legit disappointed we’re going here again.

(If the game is revisiting the Gramaryes to finally reveal to Trucy and Apollo that they are siblings, all will be forgiven)

Athena and Apollo going to Trucy’s show!! Supporting her!! Cheering for her!! I love this little trio so much, and I am very happy and greedy that Capcom is giving this to me. Athena and Trucy teaming up to eternally pick on Apollo is just. JOY. IS WHAT IT IS.

Also appreciate the kids talking shit about their boss behind his back: ‘TROUBLE’S DRAWN TO HIM LIKE IRON FILLINGS TO A MAGNET’. Harsh, Apollo. NOT UNTRUE, THOUGH.

TRUCY CRYING BECAUSE SHE’S SCARED AND DOESN’T KNOW IF SHE RUINED EVERYTHING AND ACCIDENTALLY KILLED A MAN. It fucked Apollo up, it fucked me up. Because it’s so well-established that the most important thing to Trucy is to always keep a smile on her face, so her breaking down? SHE IS NOT DOING SO WELL. PLEASE, APOLLO AND ATHENA. SAVE TRUCY.

Robert Downey Jr is freaking me the hell out.

EMA’S BACK. And I got really fucking hyped to see her interact with Athena, even if it was only a little bit. And as much as I loved cranky jaded Ema in AJ, it’s legit nice to see her happy and smiling and finally, a forensic investigator. SHE GOT THERE. GOOD JOB, EMA.

(I will also sell part of my soul to hear her talk about Lana. HOW IS LANA DOING)

Interesting little bit about Edgeworth ‘reorganising the prosecutors’ office’, and getting rid of corrupt prosecutors. Not sure if that’s a throwaway line that’s there just to give a reason for the new prosecutor to show up, or if that’s going to be an actual plot in the game.

(Another thing I would sell a bit of my soul for: wacky times in the prosecutor’s office. Edgeworth, Simon, Klavier, Fran. All disasters. All together. FUN FOR ALL).

Okay, so with ‘Bonny’: I’d convinced myself immediately ‘she is either the murderer or in on it’, but then we talked to her and she seemed legit nice and caring and helpful. But then we overhear her and Robert Downey Jnr talk and she’s kind of terrible and evil and PLOTTING AGAINST TRUCY, THE GREATEST SIN OF THEM ALL and….I’m not sure why the game decided to reveal this hand so early? I’m not sure if I would have rather seen her inevitable breakdown on the witness stand before she reveals her true colours, so….idk. Not sure if I love the whole ‘eavesdropping reveals she’s evil after all’. Unless there’s some other plot twist coming.

APOLLO DOES NOT WATCH POPULAR TV, HE’S TOO BUSY READING MANGA AND DOES NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAME OF THRONES, YOUR BACHELOR, YOU’RE THE WALKING DEAD.

(Not see: that one season that Klavier did the Bachelor. It was weird time).

Apollo is scared of heights and Athena holds his hand like the bro she is. Good job, Athena. Protect the baby chicken lawyer.

‘YOU GET AWFULLY PRICKLY WHEN IT COMES TO GAVIN’…Apollo is being awfully catty about Klavier. I can only assume that Klavier drank the last of this morning’s milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge, or forgot to clean the cat’s litter box, or left the iron on. Apollo is a cranky boyfriend today.

‘YOU’RE LOOKING UP MICROAGGRESSIONS LATER, APOLLO’. ATHENA, I LOVE AND ADORE YOU. THAT’S RIGHT, DON’T TAKE THAT SHIT FROM BABY CHICKEN LAWYER. EDUCATE HIM.

And then there’s a legit nice moment between Apollo, Athena and Nick (WHILE THEIR OFFICE IS BEING REPOSSESSED), and I tend to have a slightly darker view of the Phoenix/Apollo relationship a lot of the time….but a nice scene is a nice scene, and I do like seeing that Boss Lawyer trusts his kids enough to not only run things, but also to take care of his daughter. A good moment.

(The dad nearly getting executed in Make Up Foreign Land, the daughter being arrested for murder. GOOD TIMES IN THE WRIGHT FAMILY. MILES, WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH YOUR HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER).