#and i'll return to that normal programming right after this

[anistarrose]

This post — written by Ashlee M. Boyer, an accessibility consultant who is disabled — is a short, enlightening read about how colleges are reacting to the new digital accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1) under the ADA.

From conversations I've had both online and with IRL acquaintances who work for my alma mater, I've gotten the impression of a lot of attention towards this issue right now, at the start of 2025. So, this felt like a good time to share this post. In particular, I'd like to highlight these paragraphs:

We can see it with physical accessibility at colleges too. Accessibility has been treated as a burden far more than it’s been treated as a priority. This has been thoroughly researched and discussed by (critical) disability studies scholars for several decades. Remediating a lot of inaccessible content may be a “painful” experience for colleges. But colleges won’t feel more pain than financial or reputational. People will bear the real pain. Either disabled people because colleges won’t comply with the rule, or the staff working to reach compliance because they will more than likely continue to be under-supported and under-funded.

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Rook Hunt - Room Relaxation Vignette

"Happy Birthday"

[Exterior Hallway 2F]

[birds tweet in distance]

Rook: Oh my, that little one over there… Mhhm, welcome back. I see you've decided to spend your winter here this year.

Cater: Hey-o, Rook-kun. Whatcha doin', staring off into the distance like that?

Rook: Oh hi, Cater-kun. It seems like the little bird that left its nest here on campus in the spring has returned. I'm just glad it's doing well.

Cater: A little bird…? Wait, are you talking about that bird waaaay off in the distance? It just looks like a normal bird, doesn't necessarily mean it's the same bird you saw before, does it?

Rook: Not at all, it's definitely the same bird. Each one has a completely different look from each other, so I'm sure it's the same one.

Cater: U-Uh huh… I think it's a little too difficult for me to see.

Cater: Ah, right! I'm changing the subject a little bit, but it's your birthday tomorrow, right?

Rook: Oh là là! You remembered my birthday? I'm floored!

Cater: Obvi! You think your good pal Cay-kun'd ever forget a batchmate's birthday?

Cater: Now, inquiring minds want to know, Mr. Birthday Boy Rook-san! How do you plan on spending your birthday?

Rook: Mhhm, let me think…

Rook: I think I would be content just spending it like any old day, surrounded by good friends!

Cater: Ehhh, come on～ And just when I thought this was my chance to learn a little more about your life that you keep close to your chest…

Rook: You wish to know more about me? Oh my, if you stare any harder, Monsieur Magicam, I'll simply combust on the spot.

Cater: I didn't think I was staring that hard… But I get it, you don't want people prying into your business ♪

Cater: Then, how 'bout I extend an olive branch… Wanna take a pic to celebrate your Birthday Eve?

Rook: Oui, I'd be honored!

[snap!]

Cater: Oh, Rook-kun, your smile's dazzling! Ah, I just thought of something good. I'll send you the photo later ♪

Rook: I look forward to it. See you, Cater-kun!

[Pomefiore Dorm – Hallway]

Rook: ―Confirmation of this week's schedule of events for each grade… Done.

Rook: Ballroom usage requests, confirmation of head counts for each room, equipment returns… Done.

Rook: Oh, look at the time. It just flew by as I was finishing up my Vice Housewarden tasks. The showers should be free by now, no?

[Pomefiore Dorm – Rook's Room]

Rook: Perhaps it was thanks to that hair mask a fellow dormmate recommended me, but my hair feels silkier than usual today.

Rook: It's good to give myself a little special treat before a special day, after all.

[Pomefiore Dorm – Rook's Room]

Rook: ―I've finished my skincare, body care, and haircare routine.

Rook: I'm completely ready to listen to Roi de Neige's melodious voice! His radio program should be starting soon―

Rook: Oh? It looks like I still have a little over 10 minutes left. I must have been a tad too hasty in my eagerness.

Rook: I suppose I could fill out that "Survey on Quality of Life Improvements for the Student Body" in the time I have left.

「Survey on Quality of Life Improvements for the Student Body」

Rook: Improvements, hm. If I were asked any time before this, I'm sure I would have had much to say on the school regulation that has freshmen and sophomores sharing a room.

Rook: Sharing a room with fellow classmates may have its moments, but nothing is better than my personal time alone.

Rook: I still vividly remember the joy I felt when I became a junior and was assigned my own room. This is what I call paradise!

Rook: Not only am I able to protect my privacy, but this is a perfect place for me to surround myself with beauty and love. I have no complaints!

Rook: If I were to come up with one thing to put down… I would like a safe. I'd want something sturdy with a complex lock that cannot be opened easily.

Rook: If I were to have one, then I could keep safe my trove of journals, my precious photos, and even that one thing I got my hands on that one time… Heheh.

Rook: …Oh, whoops. While I was drifting off imagining all the things I could place in a safe, I seem to have completely filled in the field.

Rook: I'm sitting here in a paradise I built for myself, and I still had so many desires to write down… Ah, me, oh, my! How selfish could I possibly be?

Rook: Thinking back on it, I've not had many memories of staying in the same place for years like this.

Rook: Even after three years here, I find that every single day brings new thrills that keep me just as excited as the first day.

Rook: …Well now, with that, the survey is done. ～fin～ And perfect timing, too.

Rook: It's finally time for Roi du Neige's special radio program… I can't wait! I've been counting down the days ever since the day it was announced.

Rook: BRAVISSIMO!! THAT WAS A PURELY BLISSFUL EXPERIENCE…!

Rook: His dynamic vocals sparkled like an étoile in the sky… It was completely different from his usual sweet manner!

Rook: I could feel my heart completely taken in by the way he beautifully weaved from topic to topic that brought to my mind a silky-smooth kaleidoscope.

Rook: What could his "new work" be that they mentioned on the program…? Aah, I cannot wait for more information to be released…!

Rook: When it comes to updates such as this, there's a higher degree of vivacity in receiving it through a live broadcast rather than an article or a recording!

Rook: I wonder which store he got that pie he said he ate "a little too much of" from…?

Rook: If I'm not mistaken, there are quite a few well-known pâtisserie near that recording studio.

Rook: If it's a new place… I believe the actor who will be co-starring with him in his upcoming drama series is known for his serious sweet tooth.

Rook: Perhaps if I look into the shows they've appeared in or check their online posts, I might be able to figure out a hint as to which place it is. I'll check later.

Rook: I must listen to the program once more and record my heartfelt thoughts into a letter… No, wait! I must first jot down every single emotion it made me feel into my diary!

Rook: …This should be all of my thoughts on the radio program. Every single word I had for it meant everything to me that I felt as though it almost became a word-for-word transcript.

Rook: Now, what else stirred my heart today…? Ah, yes, Cater-kun remembering my birthday was lovely.

Rook: Ahh, yes. I should also write down the joy I felt in being reunited with that little bird once more.

Rook: Today was a wonderful day. I wonder what beautiful things I will encounter tomorrow.

[Pomefiore Dorm - Rook's Room]

[door opens]

[door shuts]

Rook: ―Someone's door just opened… Ah, right, there's early morning practice for the track club today.

Rook: As soon as I hear some kind of noise, I snap awake. It may still be early, but I think I'll start getting ready for the day!

Rook: First, I'll take off my sheets and pillowcase… And leave it in a basket in the hall.

Rook: They'll even return it here front of my door after its been washed, so thankfully I can make my bed myself.

Rook: Ordinarily, the laundry ghosts would do everything for me, but… I just can't feel comfortable having anyone enter my room.

Rook: I appreciate them for listening to my vehement non. Now that I've finished with that, I should go wash my face.

Rook: The quiet atmosphere of the washroom in the early mornings always puts me in a refreshing mood. Now then, I think I'll use this lotion today.

Rook: Before, I knew nothing of skincare, let alone makeup. But with my transfer into this dorm, I was reborn anew!

Rook: I may still be a novice in this regard… But as a student of Pomefiore, I cannot allow myself to shirk on the proper regard for skin care.

Rook: For example, when it comes to UV protection, I've learned that it's not enough to simply apply sunscreen, but I must moisturize myself beforehand.

Rook: I had no idea there were so many types of cosmetics. Aaah, this world is brimming with such spectacular surprises!

Rook: The company who makes this one strives on having fragrance-free products, to the point where they even refine their raw materials as best they can to minimize any lingering aromas…

Rook: However, if this is the extent of what a commercially available product is capable of, it may be beneficial to see if we in the Science Club can look into creating completely fragrance-free cosmetics.

Rook: Next, I'll use concealer. When I asked Vil for recommendations, he gave me an array of colors to choose from to help cover my freckles.

Rook: In the end, after taking into account my skin tone and testing out many different options, I selected this concealer because it had no scent and it adheres well to my skin.

Rook: Similar to how wild animals will protect themselves with camouflage, I must evenly smooth it all over my skin… Good, this should be enough for the base makeup.

Rook: Ah, right. I should use the special eye cosmetic palette that Vil recommended to me when I joined him shopping the other day.

Rook: The way the fine pearl powder shines is as beautiful as sunlight streaming through darkened winter clouds.

Rook: LA PERFECTION…! A perfect look for a perfect birthday!

[doors open and close]

Rook: ―It seems the other students are slowly awakening. Mhhm, I'm sure in another 10 minutes or so, the washroom will be absolutely packed.

Rook: I think I'll quickly check Magicam before changing into my uniform. Has there been any news on Roi du Neige's… Oh?

Rook: It looks as though I received a message exactly at midnight. Oh, this is from―

[Main Street]

[Pomefiore students chatter with Rook]

Cater: Ooh, looks like he's already been cornered by folks～ As it should be on a birthday!

Cater: Rook-kun, Happy Birthday! Your makeup is on point today! Can't expect anything less from a Pomefiore student ♪

Rook: Merci, Cater-kun. And I absolutely loved the message you sent right at midnight.

Rook: Not only did you decorate the picture beautifully, your message was extremely heartwarming.

Cater: I'm glad you liked it～ Soooo… Wanna snap another picture now that it's your actual birthday?

Rook: OUI!!

Requested by @farfalla049, @thelonepearl, and @mizumire.

[katiemccabeswife]

Selflessness (Leah Williamson x FosterMum!Reader)

You always put your kids first but can’t miss the return of Leah back to football.

Another 4.7k words 😮‍💨, also how gorgeous is Leah is that photo? PSA; I have not read through this as it it 1:30 in the morning so I am hoping grammaly as done it’s job 👍🏼

You had been seeing Leah for a few months now but you were still too nervous to tell her about your ‘part-time job’. Of course, she knew that you were a professional dance teacher but she didn’t know that you had a second ‘job'.

It was one that fell into your lap and you couldn’t turn it down. You had all the qualifications to look after children including medical certificates and you had always dreamed of being a mother. Being a lesbian meant that that would be harder than it was if you were straight and when you came across an article about the lack of foster parents in the London area, you decided to sign yourself up.

It took a long few months to get the remaining qualifications needed and go through the training programs but you always had your eye on the target and didn’t mind waiting a few more months if that meant that you were the safest hands a child could be in.

You had your first placement 2 years ago and ever since then your home has never been silent and your heart has always been full. Some children only stayed with you overnight, some stayed a few months, and some were more introverted than others but you always put 110% into making sure they felt comfortable when staying with you.

When you met Leah at the grocery store you were a mess. A particularly troubled child had been staying with you for about a fortnight and had just begun to open up to you when his mother came out of rehab. She had done the necessary lessons and paperwork whilst in the facility and so as soon as she was released, Theo had to move back in with his mother. He had confided in you that he was concerned about moving back in with her and that he was scared she would disappear again but there was nothing you could legally do to calm his anxiety.

The night at the grocery store was the night he went back to his mother’s and you were worried sick about the 7-year-old boy who cried in your arms. You knew you didn't look your best but you needed to restock your pantry after having a farewell feast for Theo.

You were dressed in pyjama pants and a hoodie with sleeves covered in tears and snot. Your hair was thrown into a haphazard ponytail and your eyes were red from both crying and rubbing.

You stood staring at the empty spot where the Oreos normally sit and a fresh set of tears began to roll down your cheeks. You never would have cried over something as trivial as not being able to buy a snack but your emotions were all over the place and you really wanted your comfort food.

You had fallen into a squat with your hands over your eyes, trying to hide the tears when a hand fell on your back, "Are you alright?"

You looked up to see a beautiful blond looking down at you concerned, you pointed pathetically to the empty spot and quickly realised how pathetic it was and quickly stood up, "I am so sorry," You laughed at yourself and wiped away your tears, "I am a mess right now and I really wanted some Oreos and they're out and," You tried to laugh it off again but it sounded more like a cry.

The tall blue-eyed woman reached into her basket and held out a pack of Oreos to you, "You can have mine if you'd like?" She offered kindly.

You rested your hand over your heart and looked at her like she was a miracle worker, "No, I couldn't you had them first. You keep them, I'll be fine I'm just- this is humiliating," You laughed at yourself and took a deep breath, "I am perfectly fine and you can keep the Oreos but thank you for the offer," You smiled appreciatively.

The woman was still looking at you concerningly, "Trust me it's, I shouldn't really be eating them anyways," She spoke as if it were secret and you naturally assumed she was watching her weight or something and when you noticed how fit she was you looked at her in awe.

"You are so perfect," You nodded at her and she looked even more confused, "You keep those Oreos and you eat all of them," You ordered.

The blonde laughed and seemingly caught on, "No, no, I really shouldn't I'm an athlete so I really should not eat the Oreos. Trust me you have them." She thrust them into your basket, "Seriously, take them," She used her 'captain voice' and you felt like you had no other choice.

Overcome with gratitude you thanked her sheepishly, "Thank you for being so kind. Again, I'm so sorry for being such a mess," You gestured to your hair and outfit and missed the way she looked at you as if you were dressed to the nines.

"And if I'm giving you the Oreos I think it's only fair you give me your number..." She trailed off trying to test the waters.

You examined her face to see if she was being serious, "Umm, yeah? I guess sure." You nodded and tried to convince yourself that this was actually happening.

You grabbed her phone which she presented to you and added your number and name; y/n <3. She took it back and smirked at you, "I will be sure to ask you how the Oreos taste, y/n," She teased.

You gained a bit of confidence to flirt back, "I'll be sure to respond..." You waited for her to tell you her name.

"Leah," She caught on.

"I'll be sure to tell you how delicious these Oreos are, Leah," You don't know where the confidence surged from but you winked at her before moving past her to continue your shopping.

From there on, you and Leah messaged back and forth and she joked about your emotional state at the grocery store and teased her about her attraction to you when you looked like rubbish. Now 4 months later and a shocking surprise later (finding out that Leah was in fact a world-known football star) you were trying to find the words to tell her that you wouldn't be able to attend her returning game from her ACL injury.

You had taken in two little girls a week ago, Vienna was 5 and her little sister Lilah was 2. The girls were supposed to have a visit with their father at the time of the game but their caseworker went to inspect the house and found him surrounded by bottles of alcohol therefore she had to cancel the visit.

The only other option was to bring the girls to the game and you were sure Vienna would love the atmosphere but you weren't sure how Lilah would deal. That and the fact that you would have to tell Leah the fact that you were a foster parent, not that you're embarrassed of your job but you were very aware of the fact that many people couldn't handle the inflexibility and last-minute change in plans that came with either being with or being a foster parent and you didn't want to lose what you had with Leah.

You were bought out of your thoughts by a tugging on your pant leg. Lilah was looking at you curiously, she could only speak limited words and since being in your care she limited the number of words she shared with you even further. You picked her up and put her on your hip, "Would like to go see a football game?" You asked, not expecting a response.

You were met with clapping from the toddler and a smile on her face and took that for a yes. You wandered over to where Vienna was doing Just Dance on the TV and put Lilah down to join her sister. You cheered both the girls on and laughed at Vienna's confidence in her dance moves, she had been quite the opposite of her sister and seemed to flourish in your care. The girl's social worker said that she was extremely introverted and had barely ever spoken to her but after only a day being in your hands she thrived and it seemed she almost never stopped talking.

Once the dance was finished you applauded the girls to which Vienna bowed and Lilah copied her sister, "That was fantastic! Where did you learn to dance like that?" You congratulated them and bent to a squat to be more their height.

Vienna blushed and swung her arms sheepishly, "My momma," She responded and your heart warmed, the girls had been in an accident while their mother was driving and she hadn't made it out of the car. Their father hadn't taken the news well and turned to drinking which landed the girls in your care.

"Well, I think she would be so proud of how well you dance," You complimented to which she beamed and Lilah clapped her hands, "Hey, would you like to go to a real-life football game?" You offered with your hands out.

Vienna ran over to you, slapped your hands and screamed, "YES!" She then took off running around the living room pretending to play with an imaginary ball.

"Wow! Well, we will have to get ready won't we?" You gave the girls a chance to make their own choice, "Would you like me to pick you out an outfit or would you like to pick your own out?"

Vienna seemed to think for a moment before deciding that she was going to dress herself. You encouraged her decisions and helped her get dressed before helping Lilah into her own clothes, "You girls look beautiful! I think you picked a better outfit than I ever could," You commended, "Right, I need to make a phone call and get dressed, how about your guys go and do 1 more dance and then we'll hop in the car and go, is that ok?"

Lilah clapped once again but spoke up for the first time that day, "YES!"

Your jaw dropped in shock before you clapped for the girl, "Yes!" You cheered, "Alright, I will be 4 minutes, off you go," You smiled as they ran to the living room holding hands.

You walked into your room, picked out your own outfit and rung up Leah. Once the phone was ringing you bit your thumbnail as you waited, anxious for the coming conversation.

Leah's cheerful voice came through the speaker and you found your anxiety slipping away, "Hey, y/n/n what's up?" You could hear the girls in the background and assumed that they were already in the changerooms.

"Hey Lee, umm would I be able to get 2 extra tickets to the game? I have umm a couple friends who came over unexpectedly and I can't leave them here alone and I really want to come to your game but I completely understand if it's too late but if it is, I am so sorry but I won't be able to come but I will be cheering you from here and-"

Your rambling was cut off by Leah laughing, "Of course, y/n/n I'll get it sorted. Don't worry about it," You let out a breath of relief.

"Thank god, thank you so much Leah. I will make sure to be cheering you on extra loud, and I'm sure my sidekicks will be as well," You laughed.

"Will I get to meet your sidekicks?" She teased, "It's only fair if I'm getting them free seats," She egged on.

You laughed nervously, "Umm, I'm sure they would be delighted to meet you," You noticed Lilah walking into your room, "Hey, I've gotta go, I wanna beat the traffic but I'll see you there, yeah?"

"Of course, see you soon," You bid farewell and hung up the phone, turning your attention to the little girl.

"You ready to go!" You picked Lilah up when she nodded and headed to get your things together, making sure you had enough snacks and water for the girls before herding them out the door and into your car.

The trip was spent singing various songs including Adele and Taylor Swift and the girls were buzzing by the time you reached the Emirates. Vienna forced you to skip in but you had to ask her to hold your hand, not wanting her to get lost. You made your way into the family and friends section. You were glad that Leah's mum couldn't make it to this game as you weren't overly eager to explain your situation to Leah, let alone her mum.

You had spent the time before the match running around with girls, trying to wear them out enough so they wouldn't feel the need to during the game. Once the players had started to line up in the tunnel you were just coming out of the bathroom with the girls, grateful for perfect timing and quickly made your way to your seats. Leah was only slightly worried when she didn't see you in the stands when she headed out to the bench.

You ended up having a spare chair due to Lilah wanting to be in your hold. You stood up when the teams started to walk out holding Lilah in one arm and having your other arm occupied by Vienna clinging on whilst standing on her seat. Even though Leah wasn't in the starting lineup, she was going to come on in the second half but you cheered on the girls you knew were close to her and Vienna was more than happy to help, Lilah sat in your arms confused but unbothered.

When the half-time whistle went you quickly got to your feet and walked briskly to the bathroom after Vienna told you she needed to use the toilet. After cleaning up you took the girls over to an open area and continued to let them run around and made sure Vienna knew that she would have to be stationary for another 45 minutes.

Leah's concern grew when she still couldn't find you in the crowd during half time and she became slightly pissed off that you'd told her you were coming, to get an extra 2 seats, and you weren't even there. Then she grew sad that you couldn't bother showing up to her first game in almost a year.

You had just settled Vienna again when the whistle blew for the commencement of that match and you cheered on the girls once again as the ball got kicked into play. Leah had gone over the rules of football with you a few times but you were still confused over the tackling and offside rules so you just cheered and booed when the Arsenal fans did.

However, when you saw Leah stepping up to the sideline and her number coming up on the substitution board in green, you stood up on your own and screamed as loud as you could causing a ripple effect throughout the stadium. Leah didn't turn around when she heard someone that sounded an awful lot like you cheer because she was in her head about you not being here and her being about to play the sport she loved for the first time in almost a year.

Every time Leah had the ball or made a successful tackle you and Vienna were on your feet cheering and even Lilah managed to expel something resembling a cheer, the poor girl being on the verge of sleep. Leah felt truly alive for the first time in 9 months, of course, she was alive throughout the course of the rehab but felt like she was only living so she could make it to this moment and now that she was in the moment she felt like she could run forever.

Once the game ended Leah had racked up 25 minutes of playing time, an assist and Arsenal won another 3 points for the ladder. She was elated and could feel the fans felt the same way throughout the stadium, especially through her teammates who were glad to have their teammate back on the pitch.

She took one last chance and looked over to the family and friends section to scan for your face and her elation only grew when she spotted it in the crowd. Her elation turned to confusion though when she caught sight of the toddler on your hip and the child you were dancing with. She was not aware you had any children nor any nieces and she was pretty sure she would recognise any of her teammate's kids or relatives and these children's faces were not ones she had seen before.

She started the trek over to you and once you caught sight of her you had to slightly shake your head and gesture to the tunnel. You weren't allowed to let the girls' faces be on camera and you didn't want anyone to witness the conversation you were about to endure with Leah.

You were trying to convince a security guard that you were meeting Leah in the tunnel but he was not having a bar of it, "Please sir, she'll be waiting for me. I'm already in trouble, just let me through!" You were growing frustrated and the girls were picking up on it. Vienna was tugging your hand as she wanted to go run on the pitch and Lilah was getting fussy as she was starting to get over tired.

You didn't see Leah walk in but she had spotted you a minute ago and had to take in what she was seeing for a minute. She had known you for 4 months and you had never mentioned any children in your life but it did make sense that you had kids, sometimes you would have to cancel dates very last minute but you always made sure to set another one up shortly after and apologised profusely.

"Hey, it's alright. She's with me," Leah made herself known and the guard backed off cautiously. Her attention was on your face and could see how you instantly relaxed but she could also see the toddler clinging to your shirt.

Vienna tugged on your shirt and gestured you to get down to your height and as much of a concern the conversation you had to have with Leah was, your kids came first so you bent down and waited for Vienna to speak her mind, "Was that one of the girls on the pitch?" She asked excitedly.

You stroked her arm and nodded with matching enthusiasm, "Yeah she was, she even helped them score a goal!" Vienna seemed pleased with your answer and made her way over to Leah.

You held your breath but let her do her thing. Leah looked to you when she gestured for Leah to bend down, just as you had a minute ago, and you nodded in permission, "Hello lovely, what's your name?" Leah asked.

"My name's Vienna, y/n/n is my step-in mummy!" Your heart warmed at the girl's claim, "I saw you play out on the big pitch!" She reached around to Leah's back and patted it gently, "You did a very good job, y/n/n and I cheered soo loud when you went on, even Lilah cheered!" She exclaimed pointing back towards you and her sister.

"Thank you, darling, I'm actually pretty sure I heard you cheering for me, you were very loud!" Leah complimented to which Vienna giggled.

"Hey V, why don't you take this and sit over there for a minute, I wanna talk to Leah. Is that ok?" You offered her a colouring book and some textas.

"Ok!" She took both and skipped over to where a table and chair were randomly set up.

"Hey..." You rocked slightly as Lilah had fallen asleep.

"Hi," Leah said with a tone of confusion.

"Umm so- yeah," Your free hand came out as if you were about to explain and then it dropped back to your side when you couldn't find the words.

Leah raised her eyebrows before looking between the girls and you.

"I foster kids in my spare time," You tried to joke but then heard how it sounded out loud and immediately began to backtrack, "Not in my spare time, that was stupid, I don't have spare time anymore. I foster kids! All the time, except when I'm not then I'm either working or with you but sometimes I do all three! And I didn't tell you; not because I'm embarrassed of my job but because I am so aware of the fact that many people can't handle the inflexibility and last-minute change in plans that comes with either being with or being a foster parent and I always feel so bad when I have to cancel plans but them I'm like there is a literal child who needs somewhere to stay and someone to take care of them and it makes me feel better but then I'm like, Leah! I didn't want to lose you because I know you're gonna have a busy schedule now that your back playing and I didn't want you to feel bad about calling this off because of what I do and-" You were running out of breath and were on the verge of tears when Leah bought you into a hug, keeping clear of the child perched on your hip.

Once you caught your breath and the hug broke off Leah grabbed your face between her hands, "You are a bloody amazing woman." She stated and you blushed, "I can not believe how selfless you are, you are doing something so incredible for these kids and you still take into account how I would feel? Of course, I wouldn't call this off because you chose to take in kids who need somewhere to stay! If anything it makes me love you more!" She didn't even register what she was saying until she said it. That didn't mean she regretted it.

She crashed her lips into yours and you reciprocated but broke free quickly, aware of the child in your arms and the other one not even 4 meters away from you. You were still slightly teary, her beautiful confession not helping, "I love you too," You laughed but quickly quietened when Lilah stirred in your arms, "Umm, would you like to come back to mine? I'll have to put these two down but it should only take 10 minutes,"

Leah was quick to agree and ran to get her kit from the changing room and had a fast shower. She sent off a quick message to the Arsenal girls excusing herself from post-match celebrations. She met you next to your car and noticed that you only had one kid running circles around you, "Lils was fast asleep so I've just put her in her seat, ready to go?" You asked Leah who nodded.

"Is Leah coming over to our house?" Vienna asked when you were clipping her into her car seat.

You glanced at Leah sitting in the passenger seat before nodding to Vienna, "Yeah, is that alright with you?" You were worried that she wouldn't be ok having someone else in the house with you and knew that if that was the case, you would have to once again reschedule to meet up with her.

"As long as she tells me a bedtime story!" Vienna giggled.

"I'm sure if you asked really nicely, she would be more than happy too!" She was content with your answer and broke out in humming a random tune. You laughed at her and went to the driver's side to take your girls home.

The drive home was fairly quiet as Lilah was asleep but Vienna kept humming her tune and you and Leah couldn't help but laugh when she got really passionate about her song.

"McDonald's for dinner?" You asked Leah who nodded her head. You turned your head slightly to catch the gaze of Vienna, "Hey V, do you want to get McDonald's for dinner?"

"Um yes please!" She spoke as if it were obvious, "Can I get a nugget happy meal?"

You nodded, "Umm of course?" You responded in the same tone she had before.

After teasing Leah about her bland food choices, Vienna talking Leah's ear off about nothing in particular in between eating her happy meal and Lilah having a bottle and being put to sleep, it was finally Vienna's time to go to sleep.

"Alrighty, teeth are brushed and jammies are on, what's next V?" You asked and she seemed to remember your conversation in the car and ran over to Leah who watched the scene in awe.

"Excuse me, Leah?" She patted her knee to get her attention, "Would you please tell me a bedtime story?"

Leah gasped, "I would love to have the honour!" She spoke proudly.

Vienna dragged her to her bedroom and quickly got under her sheets, "Could you please tell me a football story?" She asked politely.

"Those are my favourite stories, would you like to hear about when my team won a competition against all of the other countries in Europe?" Vienna nodded dutifully.

"Isn't there like a billion countries in Europe?" She was 5, give her a break.

Leah nodded, "Almost," She went off to tell her a shortened version of the Eruos in 2022 and Vienna was enraptured by the story but was slowly falling asleep.

"You must be really good if you beat a billion other countries, I like you, you're my favourite footballer," Vienna decided and patted Leah's hand that was resting on her leg. You watched the scene from the side with hearts in your eyes.

Once the story was over Leah bid Vienna goodnight and got up off the bed so you could say your goodnights. You made sure to tuck her in extra tight and checked under her bed for monsters and after concluding that there were none Vienna was ready to go to sleep, "Goodnight, munchkin, sweet dreams," You kissed her lightly on the forehead.

She returned the favour by kissing your nose and pulled in for another secret, "I really like Leah, she's pretty," She giggled.

You smiled at the small child and nodded, "I know," You laughed with your foster daughter and wished her goodnight once again flipping off the lights and turning on the night light, "Night night V," You waved.

"Night night y/n/n," She dozed off.

You left the door open slightly and jumped when you saw Leah waiting on the opposite side of the door, "Jesus, Lee," You pulled her into your bedroom not wanting to wake either girl, "Listen, I truly am sorry about not telling you about all this. I was just scared and didn't want to lose you is all,"

Leah took you in her arms, "I understand, love. Don't worry about it," She gave you a kiss on the side of your head and pulled away, "I loved watching you interact with them, you're so good at it. And you look beautiful while doing it," She flirted and pecked your lips.

You moved your arms to wrap around her neck, "I love watching you interact with them, didn't know you had it in you, Captain Grumpy Pants," You teased as Leah was known for her stern facial expressions.

Leah looked unimpressed, "Well at least V, thinks I'm pretty," She spoke triumphantly.

You pecked her lips, "I happen to think you are very pretty," You kissed her again but let it go even further and when you had to break apart for air, "Gorgeous really," You teased.

"Stop trying to one-up a child," She chastised sarcastically.

You smirked, "You might just have to shut me up, then," You flirted but it didn't end up going much further as the two of you ended up fast asleep within minutes exhausted from playing football, cheering and taking care of two children.

[felidae-sims]

Resources for Creating: My Go-To things.

Update: I’ll be updating the list on this page from now on, since Tumblr can’t handle so many hyper-links in one post, on Dreamwidth - right here, so I won't have to update it multiple times. Please note: I keep updating this list, and updates aren't showing up on reblogs. Please check the original post for the most up to date list.

Sooo this is going to be a long comprehensive list. I got back to this game after a long time and with a different computer, with a dedicated graphics card, hurray! It made me want to return to making things, so while gathering back all the necessary stuff, I've complied this list. It might be is updated as I go along, but these are the main things I use. Maby one day i'll even finish something. So here are my go-to resources & tutorials; I'm posting it here for safekeeping, and hopefully others will find it helpful. Everything that's listed is here free. So many wonderful things for free under the cut.

Programs – General:

Creating: Blender. Blender Addons: 3D Print Toolbox – comes with blender, enable it from within the program. Originally for 3d printing. Good for fixing flipped normals, and some quick general repairs. Source Tools And source tools wiki – for exporting as SMD!!!! (SimPe: to enable bump maps for the mesh on import). GMDC Addon for Blender 4.0+ by Nopke.

GIMP. GIMP Addons: G'MIC-Qt. Resynthesizer. Nvidia dds?. Doesn’t it come with Gimp?

Other: Nvidia Texture Tools Exporter (iirc it works with all graphic cards that are compatible, doesn’t require Nvidia). For making Normal / Bump / Cube Maps. For high quality compression.

NormalMaps - Online, For making all types of maps, has good setting menus. A very cool tool.

Converting: Umodel, for Unreal Engine (Static meshes: export as gtlf.2. Animated meshes: export as psk. Requires Add-on). AssetStudio, for Unity. AC Viewer, self implied (+ USD Addon for blender). QuickBMS* and support forum, for basically everything else. (don't forget the required scrips, down the same page). *I haven’t tested it fully yet, but it was recommended here. A tutorial for it is listed further down. Works like a charm.

UV Mapping: UV Mapper, Classic (free) and the most recent Demo (for visualization).

Programs – Sims:

Never Mind the Bollox, Here's Osab and MAGIkarp to the rescue!

Latest version of SimPe, works with a non-default installation path. Chris Hatch's updates.

Home Crafter installation, Post by Huge Lunatic at Sims2Artists.

Repository Wizard, by Pick'N'Mix Mods. A game changer.

DBPF Compare, by Pick'N'Mix Mods.

Object Relocator, also by Pick'N'Mix Mods.

SMD Tools, by Lazy Duchess.

The Compressorizer, by JFade – Lazy Duchess's edit.

Bulk Rename Utility, to change file names in well, bulk. As explained by io here.

Lot Adjustor, by Mootilda at MTS.

Tutorials:

Override the game's graphic settings via Nvidia, as explained by iCad. The settings to Nvidia Profile Inspector she linked to at MTS have been deleted for some reason, here they are via WebArchive.

Meshing in Blender:

Mesh Optimization Info (and links), by Crisps&Kerosene.

Additional - Reducing Polycount:

Tutorial, by Flaming-Chickens (another username on other sites perhaps?)

Edge – Un-subdivide, a quick one by CG Link.

Transfer high poly details to low poly object in Blender, by 3Dnot2D.

Shrinkwrap Modifier - Blender Tutorial for Beginners - Basics, by in2vert.

Placeholder for this Addon that I want to try but haven't found, something for AR that was on facebook's defunct AR.

Scaling tips, by Blender Secrets.

How to fix inverted/ flipped normals, by ipaintsmallthings.

Converting: How to Extract 3D Models, Textures, Music from Unreal Engine Games, by iwanMods.

Extract 2D/3D/SFX Unity Assets fast & easy from your Unity Game, by iwanMods as well.

How to use QuickBMS, by darkhorse.

Guide to Converting 3t2 and 4t2 Part 01 and Part 02, by Chiaroscuro/tenlittlepandas.

Converting TS4 Windows and Doors, by Crisps&Kerosene.

Using Different Material Maps as Shading/Details for Base Texture, in Gimp or Blender, by Pineapple Forest & Crisps&Kerosene: https://www.tumblr.com/crispsandkerosene/764893644571525120/great-info-thats-the-reason-some-conversions?source=share

Texture Editing in GIMP:

Using Gimp Add-ons: G'MicQT. Resynthesizer. Both by Davies Media Design. This guy's channel for Gimp in general – here's a good one to begin with. And another one about layer masks.

Making a texture Tile Seamless: 1. My favorite - How to Make Seamless Textures for Cinema 4D - 3 Levels of Photoshop Wizardry using iPhone Photos, by School of Motion.

2. Simple Trick for More Realistic Texture Patterns in GIMP, by Davies Media Design – Quick and simple, using the Resynthesizer plugin. Good for patterns.

Making walls in SimPe out of a square texture, with minimal quality loss. To be written.

SimPe: Cloneable Objects: A List of Good Objects for Cloning, by IgnorantBliss at MTS.

Huge Lunatic's Tutorials, Her website.

Object Creation for Absolute Beginners, by Moune.

Sims 2 start to finish Object Creation Tutorial, by JWoods, Numenor, Lethe_s & IgnorantBliss.

The Material Definition (TXMT) Guide, by PixelHate – very comprehensive. Part 5 is about Bump/ Normal maps.

Null (Texture-less) Groups, by Skell. For bodyshop, for Objects see an elaboration by Midge the Tree below.

Crisps&Kerosene discovered how to add specular maps to objects! It's incredible there are still new things to discover in this ancient game.

More on Specular Maps, by Pineapple Forest.

Making new flooring & walls with SimPE, by Charisa. Includes adding Bump/Normal maps. She added a file to clone from in the comments below. It works for normal maps as well. Here's cool discovery in the game files.

Expanding footprint: a mini tutorial, by Deedee.

How to add correct drop shadows to objects, by Yuxi, via Wayback Machine.

Making Objects Viewable in Neighborhood View, by iCad.

Making Objects Visible In Build/Buy Mode, Invisible In Live Mode, by Midge the Tree.

Making Seasons-Friendly Trees, by Echo.

Io/ Serabiet's resources list, mainly for Bodyshop but not just.

Pineapple Forest's Tutorials, useful tips for efficiency and optimization.

MTS modding forum in General.

The Sims 2 Tutorials, on Tumblr. A database, is more updated.

Sims2Artists tutorials section.

LeeFish modding forum.

Garden of Shadows, Tree of Knowledge section.

Troubleshooting: What to do if you get a System.OutOfMemoryException Error, SimPe Forum, via WayBack Machine. Thank you @fanseelamb for the find.

How to read object error logs: I just want to know what causes it!!, by Episims.

Common TS2 errors, by Midge the Tree.

General game fuckery: How to Stop Sims 2 Crashing (Memory Allocation Fix and 4GB Patch Repair), by Jessa.

Graphics card problems, LeeFish forum.

Graphics help - DIY, by Kiri. How to fix faulty Texture Memory allocation, and the problems that stem from it. Tumblr can't handle anymore hyper links so here it is: https://celebkiriedhel.tumblr.com/post/189431721483/graphics-help-diy

General: Switching between save folders without renaming them, by Nopke.

Resources:

3D Models Online*: Various furniture designers' websites: Porada, Zanotta, Muuto, Hay, Poltrona Frau, many luxury furniture designer basically.

3D Warehouse, belongs to Sketchfab (get the Collada files).

Scan the World.

Wikimedia Commons. And more.

*(NOT OPTIMIZED).

Textures: Architextures.

Fabrics & Wallpapers: Natural Stones: Wall Plasters:

iCad's Woods. Shastakiss's Cluedo Metals, Yeti Metals, Pirate Woods. Goat's Woods.

Textures from other games: Dishonored, Thieve and much more, by Saricoya at GoS. Dreamfell by io.

Resource sharing threads at Garden of Shadows.

SimPe - General: CEP Extras list, HugeLunatic at Sims2Artists.

TXMT settings for different materials, by Hafiseazale.

Extended SimStandardMaterial Shader for the Sims 2 + Optionally Brighter Sims, by Crisps&Kerosene.

Custom CubeMaps, by Crisps&Kerosene.

Shiny TXMT Settings & Cube Maps Packs, by Pineapple Forest.

Build/ Buy: Templates for Recoloring Maxis items; MTS Templates sction, Hafiseazale (+cc), ZeroDark.

Template for Seasonal Trees, Gwenke at Sims2Artists.

Making Roof Recolors, Tutorial & template by Numenor, great template by iCad.

Pack for making food clutter usable, by DeeDee.

CAS: Default Makeup Packages - BYO Packages, by Huge Lunatic.

Body shape, Io/Serabiet on Tumblr.

Skin template, Io/Serabiet on Tumblr.

Hair texture, iCad.

Color Actions, Pooklet on Tumblr.

That's it for now.

Edit: forgot about CEP extras. Added more links. Edit 02: Added Troubleshooting section under tutorials.

[mosaickiwi]

14DWY As a Drama AU

Hey remember when I said I’d post this in February oopsies!! (don’t ask me about demon!ren i will cry)

Open at your own risk this thing is LONG. Tried to give everyone at least a little something! upon putting this in my drafts i realized olivia exists i'll add her at some point uhhh. Also you can tell how much I love Elanor... hehe

14 Days With You is an 18+ Yandere Visual Novel. MINORS DNI

The cult classic romantic thriller, 14 Days With You, is now a drama! Coming to all your favorite streaming platforms this summer. A whirlwind romance gone right and wrong that you DON’T want to miss.

Cast List

[REDACTED]

🖤 Quiet kid that used the after school theater program to delay returning home. Never wanted to perform, but loved doing costumes, make up, and correcting others (in his mind) on how to portray their roles. 

🖤 Spent a little extra time perfecting the costumes of a certain someone who didn't even know they existed. He always traded house chores with his sister so she'd sit in the audience to solely film Tree #2's performance.

🖤 Was an apprentice special effects makeup artist after graduation at first, particularly for horror films, but it didn't exactly pay the bills when they left home.

🖤 Easily rose to the top in their acting career due to his dedication for crafting characters to perfection. 

🖤 Dolly Parton/Lady Gaga-esque in their separation of work and life—completely unrecognizable in their regular civilian attire. Paparazzi have never gotten a picture of them in all their years trying.

🖤 Has zero issues getting into character, but does "method acting" on occasion to make sure people leave them alone on set. And also to fuck with directors and producers they don't like. Notoriously difficult to work with because of it + their overall attitude towards others, still gets hired somehow.

🖤 Got offered the role as the main love interest in 14DWY without an audition, thanks to a previous manipulative pink haired character he played in a film that ended up never being released. (2017 Ren because it's funny)

 Angel (you!)

💜 Participated in the same after school theater program as [REDACTED] and Leon for a few semesters before you got bored of it. Curiosity for acting resurfaced later in life.

💜 Newbie actor at the recently formed talent agency of your friend. Only starred as non-speaking roles or background characters in small productions until the drama. You moved back to Corland Bay after uni for the better industry prospects.

💜 You initially auditioned for a very small role in the drama as an employee in a seaside shop at first, but somehow you wound up as the lead? (un)lucky you.

💜 Feel free to fill in the blank for any whys and hows you think of to fit your OC/self/sona as you so please <3

Elanor

💖 Normally an actress and casting director, first time as an executive producer for the drama. Dreams of bringing her own romantic screenplays to life. Hasn't quite proven herself the way she wants in the industry to feel confident enough in them. 

💖 Catalyst for the drama being made. A "friend" mistakenly recommended the 14DWY book to her. She absolutely loathes all the psychological horror of it but sees the potential it has.

💖 Also the reason [REDACTED] was immediately cast, and you as well once she saw your chemistry with him while reading for a minor role. He hadn't shown a fraction of as much interest when reading lines with other potential candidates, so she decided to take the risk of an untested talent as the headliner.

💖 Refuses to use her family's name to get her stuff made. She wants her works to speak for themselves. Very picky about who she works with due to her family having hands in most of Corland's entertainment industry so she hardly gets a genuine interaction beyond ass-kissing.

💖 Always partial to working with Conan's small studio since he was the only director to give her any sort of criticism in spite of her family, as gentle and polite as it was. She still cried a little in the dressing room though.

💖 Genuine confusion when Conan wants her to act as both a producer and assist with direction. She only intended to bring it to his interest. But how could she say no to someone whose judgment and opinion she respects so much?

Conan

💖 Runs and owns a small scale studio in the Bay that seems to pick and choose its productions at random. It is in fact Alice sneaking into her dad's home office and putting scented stickers on the ones she likes. (She only reads the titles)

💖 Extremely proud of Elanor for getting so far on her own, and would take on one of her dozens of scripts no questions asked if she'd only work up the courage to show him one. So imagine his surprise when she comes to him with a romantic horror instead of one of the fairy tale romances he sees her scribbling notes on during breaks.

💖 While he’s the one with the final say, he does try to let Elanor have as much free reign as possible on the project in the hopes to boost her confidence.

Kiara

💖 A super-star actress and model that got her start in Corland’s local industry, but quickly hit it big. 

💖 When she isn’t drowning in work, she’ll swing through town to check in on her sister.

💖 Desperately wants to star in one of Elanor’s productions, but respects her sister’s desire for independence. Though she does like to tease about certain casting decisions on the drama when made aware of them.

the rest of the cast are unfortunately very silly i couldn't resist

Moth

💖 Started a talent agency out of spite for the terrible castings in their favorite media. Got further invested upon realizing they could read the scripts before the movies or show adaptations were even announced.

💖 The one who pushed you to audition for a minor role in the production once the rumor about who was cast as the main love interest reaches them. They've heard all the horror stories about [REDACTED] so wanted the inside scoop. Horrified and fascinated to find out you get the lead role. It’s like watching a train wreck.

Leon

💖 Joined the theater program initially because of you, but got really into it. Moved away to attend a performing arts school until his mother got sick.

💖 Took every wacky infomercial or street performance gig he could find to pay the hospital bills until Teo found out and swooped in.

💖 Eternally grateful for the burden of financial ruin being relieved, so he always accepts the jobs Teo gets for him. He definitely won’t complain since he’s not dressed in an animal costume and shouting nonsensical slogans for cleaning products.

Teo

💖 Met Leon through a shared production and quickly bonded. Attended a different performing arts school and met Jae as a child.

💖 Almost the exact opposite of his game character purely for the funnies. Shy, introverted, can’t flirt to save his life. Still a nepo baby but he can hold his own in acting. Doesn’t like his character much, but is extremely jealous of the confidence he oozes.

💖 Leon and Jae are his only friends in the industry so he uses his sway to get them parts if they haven't already gotten a call back. Gets REALLY nervous on set for certain roles so he needs their support.

Jae

💖 Attended the same school as Teo when they were kids, and is constantly pitching intentionally bad ideas and joking on set to reassure his friend.

💖 A little bit of a thrill seeker, so does all his own small stunts if he thinks he’s capable. Stands there and gawks watching the more extreme stunts, loudest to clap when they go well.

💖 Kept bringing Maple to the shoots cause how could he even think about leaving her at home? She would occasionally break her leash and wander into a scene for head scratches and kisses. The film crew always booed when a PA came to take her off set.

Violet

💖 Completely terrible at caring for plants. Inspired by her role, she starts vlogging about her plant mom journey before shooting even begins. All her advice is completely wrong and terrible. Her personal assistant keeps her in the dark by tending to the plants themselves to fix her mistakes.

💖 Finds out she has a talent for flower arrangement, though. Does thank you vases for the cast and crew on all her future productions that last a lifetime because her PA made sure all the flowers were fake.

Exposition

(silly on set shenanigans)

🎬 Scenes get retaken quite a bit, since you’re still extremely new to it all. Most of the cast and crew expect anger out of [REDACTED] after the 4th call for a re-shoot on the first day’s library scene, but he’s surprisingly cracking jokes about his dye job and reassuring you that you’re doing great. The infamously ill-tempered actor is smiling somehow… even being patient? Not glaring down his co-star for minor slip ups? They cannot recognize this person.

🎬 Violet and [REDACTED] naturally butt heads on set. She respects their acting, not the actor. Zero hesitation to snap back if he’s getting snarky with a PA. You’re the one people have to beg to separate them, and you’re completely baffled that [REDACTED] doesn’t treat others as nicely as he treats you.

🎬 Even though Elanor is a nervous wreck about the first real thing to ultimately make or break her career, she’s scarily efficient on set—as long as no one distracts her. She does get sidetracked once in a while, only because she loves chatting and answering any questions the cast or crew might have. She even brings one of her own cats to set during a slower day to see if they can get along with Maple. Leaves Conan in charge when the horror scenes are being shot. They’re both put off by how vivid they feel, but Conan at least can grin and bear it. 

🎬 You and Leon manage to catch up on set while [REDACTED] is otherwise occupied shooting said horror scenes. You tease him about a few infomercials you saw when looking up his actor reel, and Leon teases you back about your unlucky streak of being a tree or a rock in every play the theater program put on when y’all were younger. Laughs even harder once he finds out your most prominent roles until then were “unnamed zombie #5 at the bottom of the pile” and “sleeping train passenger.”

🎬 Try as he might, [REDACTED] doesn’t convince Elanor to change up a few crucial parts of the script for his benefit. His offhand threats of leaving the production fall on deaf ears, as she is all too happy to do re-shoots to make Teo the lead. His innocent hints to you about the shoddy script fly over your head for some reason! You love how it's turning out, what does he mean?

🎬 Super shy Teo prefaces and warns his co-stars before acting in every scene of his character being excessively flirty. Most of the actors have worked with him at some point or another beforehand, so they let him go through his routine without issue. Some crew members love the whiplash of him switching between overly courteous and smarmy, others vastly prefer the flirty character and mourn the loss as production comes to a close.

The Build Up

📺 The higher ups pressure Violet to start a short-lived streaming career to boost interest, since she’s hopeless with plants. She amasses a cult following for her MMO reviews, blind raids on new patches, and her wild ride of a Minecraft playthrough. In the end she winds up preferring to play games off stream, but once in a blue moon she’ll do a first time raid stream so her more dedicated fans can join and watch her alliance get wiped. Creative trolling is highly encouraged.

📺 Teo, Jae, and Leon appear on a late night TV show for promotion. It was meant to be for Teo and [REDACTED] at first. (Where’s the leading lover? [REDACTED] refused all promo appearances or sit downs without you being involved in them.) The host plays a clip that Teo’s particularly embarrassed about, and he hides his face in shame when the crowd hoots and hollers praise about his portrayal.

📺 [REDACTED] comes across as doting and overprotective of you once you’re pushed into the spotlight of celebrity, and shows increasingly concerning behaviors as the premiere looms closer. Depending on your response, they’ll back off to a point or dial it up. Interviewers and consumers mistake it as the eccentric actor’s “method acting” so the red flags just slide right past.

📺 Elanor and Conan guest star in a podcast for off-the-cuff romance enthusiasts. Their strangely cagey and joking comments like “there were so many retakes we couldn’t keep track of what was meant to be the actors messing around or part of the final cuts,” and “we’ve actually sent all the reviewers 1 of 14 versions with completely different endings,” leave listeners all the more curious to see the film.

The Climax

🎉 Reception is huge, in good ways for most. The majority of the cast see a surge in popularity if they didn’t already from the hype. 

🎉 Teo bemoans his endless offerings for sarcastic pretty boy jobs, Leon makes enough to get picky about his roles (and pay Teo back), Jae somehow cons a studio into an action film starring Maple—and subsequently adopts every single one of her stunt doubles. 

🎉 Moth throws the agency away to start adapting anime and manga themselves. Elanor finally feels validated enough to bring one of her romantic screenplays to the big screen, starring her sister Kiara and a very enthusiastic Violet as the leading couple. 

🎉 Conan’s studio is overloaded with scripts, and Alice runs out of scented stickers that much quicker. They are severely backlogged send help.

🎉 One determined conspiracy theorist sets out to prove those missing 13 versions of the ending are real, based on minor cuts and inconsistencies purposefully left in the public release.

The End, Roll Credits

choose your own ending

Bad End 💔 - A Falling Star

💔 If you respond negatively to [REDACTED]’s demeanor during shoots and promo: he plays the waiting game, uses his connections and blackmail to make sure all your roles without his name attached don’t garner nearly as much attention as the ones where you’re co-stars.

💔 Your negotiating power quickly plummets as you fall out of demand and end up begging just for the non-speaking roles you once loathed.

💔 The careers of anyone you got close to on set fall apart much faster than yours, before they’re outright blacklisted in the industry.

💔 You begrudgingly call up your last option. He can’t do much for your friends, but their offer to help you make a comeback is always open.

Neutral End 💌 - Just One More Try

💌 If you respond indifferently to [REDACTED]’s demeanor: the drama leads to you getting more offers, though a handful are for playing opposite of [REDACTED], as the on-screen chemistry was too much for studios to ignore for cash grabs.

💌 Elanor has rid herself of the drama’s subsequent rights, despite positive reception, so a sequel sprouts up in the works at a different studio. One that doesn’t mind catering to the whims of their actors when it comes to script integrity.

💌 You arrive on the set to find that not just one, but all of your cast mates except for them were written to have much smaller parts in the sequel. In fact, you rarely find a scene in the revised script where [REDACTED] isn’t alongside you.

💌 Sadly the contract is air tight, just put up with it until it’s over… What’s this clause about further sequels?

Good End 💍 - Off Into the Sunset

💍 If you respond positively to [REDACTED]’s demeanor: you’ll sadly announce at the post premiere press conference that acting was a one-and-done adventure for you. Retired effective immediately, no farewell interviews.

💍 You’re spotted around town for a few weeks in a mask with a tall, darkly dressed companion at your side before you disappear from the public eye and Corland Bay all together.

💍 A few of your friends at least have an idea of where you are, and they meet up with you whenever you're in a nearby city. None of them can recognize the man glued to your side, though. Not that he'd say anything to clue them in.

💍 After months of near inactivity, [REDACTED] mysteriously deletes their socials without a word, sparking confusion and outrage among hardcore fans still desperately hoping for a sequel.

[hrrtshape]

Took too long to reply God sorry.

Hey, uh, I won't just keep saying I'm the AQWF guy so Imma just 🪖 yeah?

Okay, to get started, I didn't script shit. Well, I opened Notion a few times, made a cool icon and picked font sizes and wrote "Name: Age:" Whatever other stuff I thought was important, then just left it to rot and never touched it again.

Scripting out trauma? Well, I've just kinda basically programmed into myself that the me in separate realities doesn't bring back emotions from the others, will bring back experience and knowledge but completely passive from that. Unless I want to tbh. Sometimes something really touching happens and I want to remember it forever everywhere, and so I do. Or maybe I watched my buddy die from hypothermia in my arms and I never ever want to remember the way I wailed as his face paled, in any other reality, I won't.

I kinda just set the context and setting of the book, not every detail, and some characters and scenarios here and there. The rest is mostly based on history and also allowed it to unfold however it comes.

Yes, I was in the trenches, slept spooning the rats and huddled by lice. In mud that smells of feet, blood, sweat, gunpowder, and there was this very specific scent I honestly have no idea what it was, it was...unique... stuck to everything, and just makes you gag when all you've ate in the past week is hardtack (flavoured with worms) and lukewarm weak coffee that tastes like it was mixed with a bayonet (Which it kept likely was). and 1918 trench hygiene core.

Broke a few ribs, I think, don't know, my ego and self-supremacy didn't let me degrade myself enough to call the medics like some common wounded private.

But some fucker (A Frenchie) dropped me to the floor and started stomping on my chest after his rifle jammed.

Warm your rifles when you're in snow, kids.

Also, never skip drills. First, if you're caught you'll probably be forced to clean the latrines with your toothbrush.

Second, you WILL be fucked over.

Yes, I'm speaking from experience...

Look, I wad stationed for patrol right. So I knew where all guards and the watchers were. I also knew of the blindspots. When I was called in, for training raiding onto Somme.

I wad like yeahh no I'll be alright I'll know what to do when it's time.

So I went out, wasted a lot of time, disassembled my Gewehr gun then reassembled it just because. Reached into my pocket and felt a clump of bugs which was eughh...

Then I returned, everything went normal, whenever someone questioned where I was I'd just make up some excuse and say oh I was actually there you just probably didn't notice haha...

On the raid day, I did NOT know how to do shit, didn't know what my position was, so I freaked out and shifted to my waiting room (Which is an empty small white padded room because I'm the opposite of claustrophobic big spaces scare me. Quite telling I think) Chilled out for a bit, decided to shift back here and maybe sort shit out before returning.

Also, I really REALLY want to add in my wife. She's my partner in every single reality and I'd die for her. But I want to think of a good scenario first where nothing ever harms her EVER. My darling's staying safe, our kids too.

Anyways yeah long vent.

- 🪖

🪖 anon my brother in barbed wire you are deranged and real for this

also i'm crying at you reassembling your gewehr mid-dereliction then chilling in your liminal ikea hellroom because you forgot basic protocol. "i'll know what to do when it's time" until it is time and then you’re googling "how to not die in a field."

wife bit. stalingrad-style. platoon-wide heart clutch. your loyalty is horrifying and beautiful. she's safe in all timelines. god said so

[captainsophiestark]

Weekend Plans

Jason Todd x Reader

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Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: DC

Summary: Jason's SO finds out that he's the Red Hood in some sub-optimal circumstances.

Word Count: 1,639

Category: Fluff, Humor, Angst

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sighed as I turned out the bathroom light and headed for bed. Today had been a long day, and I couldn't wait to get some sleep.

Normally, after particularly tiring days (which happened more often than I'd like as an ER doctor), I'd text my boyfriend or vice versa and he'd come over with our favorite foods, the two of us leaning against each other on the couch and watching our favorite shows until we eventually passed out. Unfortunately, he had to work tonight. We'd made plans to make up for it this weekend instead, but tonight I was on my own.

I climbed under the covers and turned out my light, and I was almost all the way asleep when the sound of my window opening dragged me back awake. That window was always locked—maybe I was hearing things?

Thump. A heavy sound like someone hitting the floor came from right next to my bed. No way I'd imagined that.

Slowly, I eased open my eyes, too scared to move an inch. It was hard to make things out as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, until my heart almost stopped dead in my chest.

The Red Hood was laying on my carpet, flat on the floor, his feet still caught on the windowsill he'd just crawled over.

My mind raced. What the hell was he doing here? And what the hell was I supposed to do about it? Most of what I'd heard about the Red Hood painted him as the protector of the most vulnerable people in the worst parts of Gotham—but then why had he just broken into my apartment?

My racing train of thought was derailed as the vigilante groaned and shifted on the carpet. He rolled over until he was facing me, the eyes of his helmet providing the only source of light in the room. I froze, stiff as a board, my heart threatening to beat all the way out of my chest. What was he going to do?

Slowly, two gloved hands reached up towards his helmet. He must've pushed a buton, because I heard a hiss and a click before he moved to take his helmet off.

"Wait-" I said, starting to sit up in bed at last. I had no idea what was happening, but the Red Hood revealing his identity to me didn't seem like a good omen for anything. The vigilante ignored me though, and a moment later I froze all over again, sitting on the edge of my bed as I took in his face.

Jason Todd. My boyfriend, the man I'd finally worked up the courage to say "I love you" to a few weeks ago. Laying on my floor after breaking in through my window as Red Hood.

"Y/N..." He groaned my name, and all the shock was putshed out by immediate concern for whatever had him laying on the floor of my room like this. I stood, pulling his legs the rest of the way thorugh the window and shutting it, then dropped to my knees on the floor next to him.

"Jason..." I breathed. "What happened?"

"I... got shot. I didn't have anywhere else to go, I couldn't think of anywhere else I could make it to..."

My eyes scanned his body again, this time with a little less shock clouding my vision. He had a wound in his side, the one against the ground, and it was currently leaking blood onto my rug. I swore.

"Jason, is anybody following you? The person who shot you, or anyone with them?"

Jason groaned and shook his head.

"I made sure they weren't. I couldn't risk leading them back to you."

"Okay. Just stay right here, I'll be right back."

I jumped up and hustled into the hall to grab my first kit. I tried to focus on taking deep breaths as I flipped the lights on and returned to Jason, dropping to my knees next to him.

"Okay, Jay, I'm gonna roll you over, alright?"

"Yeah," he managed to grind out.

Working together, it didn't take long to get Jason on his back. I quickly pulled up his shirt to get a look at the wound, and about half the tension eased out of my shoulders. The entry and exit wounds were clean, and it didn't look like it had hit anything serious, although the blood loss from exerting himself running all over the city before he got to me certainly wasn't good.

"Alright, this isn't as bad as I worried it might be. As long as you get some rest, you should heal up fine. Do you think you can make it to the bathroom if I help? It'll be easier to get you cleaned up in there."

Jason nodded, taking a couple deep breaths as he did.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can."

"Okay. Nice and easy, let's go."

Jason was so tall and so heavy, but between his sheer grit and the last of my adrenaline, we managed to get into the bathroom together. I eased him down on the edge of the tub, then paused before pulling back.

"Do you think you can keep yourself upright here? Or do we need to get you laying down?"

Jason took a few deep breaths in and out, his hands clutching the edge of the tub. Then, he finally looked up at me.

"I'm good."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Really? Because this is not the time for bullshit macho nonsense-"

"Sweetheart, I promise. I'm good. Or at least I will be, as long as you get me stitched up."

I sighed. "So I take it that means you're not gonna let me call 9-1-1 and get you to a hospital?"

"No. I get anywhere near one, and I'll either be arrested or dead before I'm all the way healed."

"Great. Then I guess we're doing this."

I took a deep breath and tried to steel myself for the procedure about to come. All of this was just about the last thing I wanted to deal with after the day I'd had. Jason hurt, relying on me to help him, and apparently the man behind the masked vigilante Red Hood. But I could deal with all of that later. After Jason was stable.

I left my apartment and emotions behind as I got into the zone dealing with Jason. He was tough as nails all through the process, although this actually probably wasn't his first gun shot. Finally, I finished and the bleeding stopped. I sat back against my bathroom cabinet with a heavy sigh and just looked at Jason.

"What... the actual... fuck?" I breathed. All the things I'd shoved aside to cope with the crisis were officially rushing back in. Jason huffed a laugh and shook his head, then slowly eased himself off the edge of the tub. I narrowed my eyes at him. "If you pop one of your stitches, I swear-"

"I won't, I'm not going far."

He settled in on the floor next to me, shoulder to shoulder, then sighed.

"I'm sorry about this. For just showing up, and... for how you just found everything out."

I sighed. "Jay, you know I've never minded you just showing up. But... were you ever going to tell me? Like, if you didn't have to tell me because you got shot... would I ever have found out that you're secretly the Red Hood?"

"Of course I was going to tell you," Jason said, his voice a low rumble. "I love you, I'd never keep something like that from you forever. I was just... trying to figure out how to do it. I mean seriously, how the hell was I supposed to start that conversation?"

A tired smile made its way onto my face, and I leaned a bit into Jason.

"How about 'knock knock, who's there? Me, the Red Hood. That's right, I've got something to tell you'."

Jason snorted, his hand immediately flying to the wound in his side as he fought back a laugh. I just grinned.

"Yeah, it's a really good thing you're not the one with the secret identity to disclose."

"Mmm, I don't know, I think there's something to my approach. Or how about 'what has two thumbs and-'"

"Okay, you have to stop. I'm gonna pop a stitch if you keep going."

"Well, lucky for you, you're dating a doctor."

"Lucky for me I'm dating you. Seriously, I half expected you to scream and run out of the room when you saw me."

"After the day I had at the hospital? I wouldn't have the energy for that kind of panic, honestly."

Jason huffed a laugh and wrapped one arm aorund my shoulders.

"Sorry for adding to the length of that day."

"It's okay, Jay." I sighed and turned to face him, just managing enough energy to smile. "I'm always happy to see you, and even though this obviously wasn't the ideal way for me to find out... I'm glad I know about this part of your life now."

"Me too."

I met his gorgeous blue eyes, the ones the mask had hidden from me at first, and smiled. Jason's expression mirrored my own, and a moment later, he was leaning forward, closing the gap between us with a glance at my lilps. I helped him close the rest of the distance, his soft lips gently finding mine. We stayed like that for a few seconds, until I finally pulled back.

"We should go to bed, Jay."

Jason grinned at me. "Happily, sweetheart."

"Not like that," I said, rolling my eyes and giving him a light smack in the arm. "Not while you're recovering from a bullet wound."

Jason sighed dramatically, and I couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Fine. Help me get to bed then?"

"Of course. And tomorrow, after we've slept in past noon, I'll make us some breakfast and you can answer my million questions about all this Red Hood shit."

"And then I can help you clean the blood off your bedroom floor."

"Sounds like the perfect weekend plan."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

[pokemon-with-hats]

I do apologize for sort of half disappearing the last few months. I was super invested in getting the "favorite pokemon" poll series done, and once that finished i more or less lost motivation to do anything pokemon related - it didn't help that my semester was surprisingly busy, plus I decided I wanted to apply for phd programs, which further compounded the stress I was feeling. I ended up sort of dropping side projects like this one, and needed time to decompress before thinking of getting back into them. And now that I've spent the last week doing not much more than getting high, playing video games, listening to records, and hanging out with my cat, I think I can say I've successfully decompressed.

I am currently planning on returning to daily edits starting in January. I said in my announcement a few days ago that I was going to open my inbox for suggestions, but I think I'm going to take the first week of January to purely make edits for my sake - no prompts, no suggestions, just whatever comes to me in the moment. After that, I'll open up the inbox and it'll hopefully be back to normal operations here at pokemon hyphen with hyphen hats dot tumblr dot com.

I also reserve the right to cut posting back to just doing 3 edits a week, depending on how busy this next semester goes. It's my last one before I graduate with my masters, so it may get kind of chaotic on me.

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season, and spending it with people they care about. I have 3 more old requests to get through, so expect those to get posted over the last few days of December.

[pico-farad]

This Time on Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Analysis: How the Fuck Did Aoi's Writing Get Worse

Got sidetracked by GX Week, but I'm back to talk about Aoi again, because oh boy...

So for season 1, I'd heard the rumors of how they screwed her over, and they were mostly in line with the ways I expect Yugioh female characters to be failed by the writers. Overall I still liked Aoi and, while I found some decisions distasteful, I didn't think the actual quality of her writing was worse than other characters'.

Aoi's writing in season 2 is several times worse than it was in season 1. It's truly a disaster, amateurish and baffling, in a way that I think most viewers don't even consciously realize. And while it may not be the worst moment in Yugioh -- it is, in my opinion, the worst writing I've ever seen in Yugioh.

Anyway, that's how I wrote 4k words descending into Aoi madness. Enjoy!

---

Before I begin, a fair warning: I'm gonna say some harsh things in this post. Because being mean is funny, and I deserve it after what I just watched.

But I also want say up front that I don't think the Vrains writers are bad writers, and I still have respect for them. Writing for children's television is grueling work that I could never do, and there are many reasons why bad art is released into the world besides simple writing skill. Vrains clearly had a troubled production, and I have other suspicions about why it turned out the way it did. If there's interest, I think that could be its own post, too.

Also, I refer to the "writers" in this post when I criticize Vrains's storytelling, but to be clear, directors, producers, storyboarders, and others can have just as much influence over the show's story as writers, or even more so. I use the term writers for convenience's sake.

Without further ado...

⇀ Losing My Mind Immediately

Akira lets Aoi go into the restricted area, which nobody has ever returned from.

Ahem... WHO ARE YOU??? Why is Akira, overprotective onii-san numero uno, extremely willing to put his sister on house arrest for her own safety, has never given Aoi his permission to fight, suddenly letting her go off into a danger zone with a 0% survival rate, right after she lost to Spectre immediately in the Tower of Hanoi conflict.

Oh, so now you think she's capable? Why???

Not only that, they make Ghost Girl be the one to say it's too dangerous for her. What?? Ghost Girl is the one who encouraged Aoi to sneak out and into the danger zone in season 1. These are literally the last two characters who would say these things to Aoi.

Then, when they enter the restricted area, Aoi immediately gives up her emergency logout program to an NPC. Normally I'd brush this off. Naivety being used to emphasize female characters' moral virtuosity is passé, but it's not a big deal. It wouldn't be, if the next 30 seconds didn't make me completely go off the rails. This is the speech that is possibly the worst writing, line by line, that I have ever seen in Yugioh.

Roll the tape...

Aoi: Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child. I took on Hanoi for my brother, but look how that turned out. I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me. I was full of myself, thinking I can do anything on my own, but in truth, the world is full of people and we're all connected. Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone. I'll become stronger, so this time, I'll do everything I can!

Literally none of these sentences make sense... Half of them aren't even true. It reads like ChatGPT asked to write a shonen speech -- the facade of being inspiring, but ultimately empty and nonsensical.

"I took on Hanoi for my brother," This is blatantly false. She had a whole goddamn episode focused on why she decides to fight Hanoi, it's her duel with Baira, and it's specifically about how she's not doing this for her brother, she's not doing this for herself, she's doing this for everyone. If anything, she disregards her brother in order to fight Hanoi.

Blue Angel: I learned something from my duels. When people believe in you, you're fighting for everyone. So I will fight for everyone from now on!

Sound familiar? It's the same goddamn thing she's saying right now, "this time, I want to save everyone." Why are they framing this as Aoi having a new realization, having learned her lesson? What they demonstrate with this is that Aoi hasn't learned her lesson. The reason she lost to Spectre is because trying to save everyone includes trying to save him, and he takes advantage of her naivety.

Blue Angel: You're the same as me... When you were alone, you sought love, and Blue Angel's blue is the ultimate love! Blue Angel will descend into your heart, and save your soul! Spectre: Really? *bows mockingly* Please, then, save my soul!

Naively trying to save others is exactly what she's doing right now, by thoughtlessly giving away her emergency logout in a place that nobody has ever returned from. Her character has gone completely backwards. I said in my last post that losses are good because we get to see characters grow -- I stand by the opinion that they could have made the Spectre loss work -- but they've bungled it on three different levels. She loses horribly, then they retcon her reason for losing, in order to make her character regress.

Apparently, the real reason Aoi lost to Spectre, is because "she was full of herself, thinking she could do anything on her own." I'm so mad. First of all, Aoi clearly wasn't acting on her own and never thought she was, Go and Yusaku were both fighting Hanoi too. Why are they acting like Aoi lost because of hubris?

You know who thought he could do everything on his own? Yusaku. But clearly he didn't need to learn that "the world is full of people and we're all connected." He clearly believed the opposite, because he did everything by himself and tried to reject allyship at every turn and yet lo and behold, he hasn't lost a single duel.

"Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone." NO, LITERALLY ONE PERSON SOLO'D HANOI, AND EVERYONE ELSE DID JACK SHIT. This resolution that Aoi comes to not only regresses her character, but it makes no goddamn sense. Who is the everyone you're talking about, Aoi? Are they in the room with us right now?

Who am I kidding, it's obvious who the "everyone" is, because as she says it, the clip that plays is Akira's manpain as Aoi gets turned into data. Because even in this moment that has nothing to do with Akira, the writers cannot resist bending Aoi's character to revolve around how much she loves her beloved onii-san, even though it makes no sense in this context of trying to save a random NPC. 

Frankly, the whole "everyone saved me" also makes no sense in the context of trying to save a random NPC. But like, even less sense than that, because the actual context of this "heartfelt" shonen speech is that she's trying to get Ghost Girl to give up her emergency logout button. Ghost Girl, established to be self-serving and willing to throw others under the bus to advance herself. Why does this speech convince her? It doesn't even have anything to do with her.

Great, so now not only have they botched Aoi's character, but for the rest of the show, Ghost Girl is stripped of the characteristics that actually made her engaging.

If they wanted Aoi to convince Ghost Girl to give up her escape program and become more selfless, it's simple. Have her say, "We saved you." Ghost Girl wouldn't be standing here right now, if Aoi and the others hadn't risked everything to save everyone.

There's more I could pick on about these 30 seconds, like how the writers aren't content with handing Aoi a humiliating loss, but they also make her act like she deserved to be "humbled" by that experience: "Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child," "I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me." It's like they're not content with infantilizing her in the narrative, they need to make sure she infantilizes herself.

Which brings me back to the point about Aoi's "hubris." Because what is implied by saying that Aoi lost because of hubris when nothing she said or did suggested that, is that it was hubris for Aoi to fight at all. It was hubris for Aoi, and the audience, to believe she could do anything. Which is just maddening.

And to top it all off, to add insult to indignity to injury to insanity, she finishes her speech by saying, "I'll become stronger! This time, I'll do everything I can!"

AND THEN. SHE LOSES. IN THE NEXT EPISODE.

This speech reads like a bad influencer apology. First they "admit" their mistake (that Blue Angel didn't do anything in the Hanoi fight), then they deflect and change the story about what actually happened (it's because she was being full of herself! That's definitely why she lost), and finally they promise to do better (don't worry, this season, Aoi will get stronger and get some wins!), but they don't.

I can talk more about how the writers give Aoi shallow girlboss speeches instead of actually demonstrating her strength in duels, but that will come when I talk about Blue Maiden. 

Right now... it's time to talk about Blue Girl vs. Soulburner.

⇀ What's in a re-introductory duel?

Something that's pretty standard in Yugioh is the concept of the season 2 "re-introductory duel." Think Shou's promotion duel in GX, the filter episodes that came before the World Grand Prix arc started, the Sector Security battle royale in Arc-V. They can be story-relevant, or completely filler, but the point is to re-familiarize you with the main supporting characters. If you look at the first 10 episodes of a Yugioh season 2, you'll generally see all the main supporting characters represented in a duel. And if they aren't, it may reveal something about how relevant they are to the writers (Misawa GX, Ruka 5D's, Yuzu Arc-V...)

Go gets his re-introductory duel against Soulburner, and though I have my issues with how they handled Go in Season 2, which I went into in my previous post, it succeeds in every way a re-introductory duel should. It addresses the transition of his character between seasons, sets up his conflict for this season, introduces his new cards, adds character to Soulburner, and establishes a dynamic between the two. Their opposition is natural, and if anything, the season fails to capitalize on how well this duel set things up.

Aoi's re-introductory duel... is also against Soulburner. And their opposition... uh...

Look, I'll be frank, there is only one reason for Soulburner to duel Aoi, his third duel already in 10 episodes: they are fast-tracking him into main character slot #2. I talked about this in the Soulburner analysis. 

Aoi and Soulburner have no reason to be fighting, this match-up is completely artificial. They went "well Aoi needs to get a re-introductory duel because that's the Yugioh formula, and Soulburner needs more screentime, so let's shove them together," regardless of how it doesn't make narrative sense. How do they do that?

Blue Girl: We came to find the Ignis. SOL-- I mean, my brother can help you. Soulburner: You don't understand. The Lost Incident made us suffer for a long time. SOL Technologies was partly responsible for that. Entrust our future to them? Thanks, but we'll solve our own problems. Blue Girl: *frowning* In that case, those Ignis originally belonged to SOL Technologies. Give them back. Soulburner: What?

This is completely out of character for her. She knows that they're victims of the Lost Incident, she knows what they've been through, and they've just told her they're trying to save someone whose consciousness was stolen. She just said that her motivation is saving people, specifically to pay back the people who saved her. Guess who the only person who saved you was, Aoi? It wasn't your onii-san.

It would've made more sense for Ghost Girl to duel Soulburner. She's the one who was established to be a self-serving bounty hunter in Season 1. Oh, but if you gave Ghost Girl a re-introductory duel, it might give off the wrong impression that she's relevant?

This duel doesn't even add anything to Soulburner's character either, the way that Soulburner vs. Go did.

What could they have done if they were actually thinking about Aoi?

How about Aoi vs. Akira? Akira tells her that if she can beat him in a duel, he'll believe that she's strong enough to go into the restricted zone. Or they could do Aoi vs. Ghost Girl -- same thing, Ghost Girl tells Akira that if Aoi wins, it proves she's equally capable of going on this mission.

Either of these would check all the boxes for a re-introductory duel. It's a memorable matchup, it re-establishes the personalities and (IN-CHARACTER) relationships of these three, and it addresses the transition between seasons -- we left off from Aoi's devastating loss, and this duel would bridge her into an upwards character arc in Season 2.

Of course, if they did that, they would have to make an upwards character arc for Aoi.

These two episodes have succeeded in the exact opposite of what a re-introductory episode is supposed to do. It's a garbage fire of bad writing. They regress her character, and call it progress. She's out of character, in order to be unsympathetic. They don't set up an arc for Aoi this season, because they haven't thought of one. They introduce new cards that never come back. But none of it matters anyway, because Aoi isn't actually important! We'll just make up something new the next time we're contractually obligated to give her a few episodes (but not too many, god forbid!)

I guess there's one part of her character they make consistent, which is making her lose in the worst ways possible.

⇀ Blue Girl vs. Soulburner

You know how in my last Aoi post, I said that it's good when characters lose duels, and that "X should have won that duel" is a comment that often misunderstands how outcomes are about narrative purpose rather than deck matchups?

Forget everything I said. Aoi ABSOLUTELY should have won that duel holy shit. I just witnessed a goddamn crime.

So there is actually one more reason that Soulburner duels Aoi. It's that it's a good concept for a duel. Aoi should annihilate Soulburner. Go ahead with your 72 step Salamangreat combo I dare you. Go ahead and use Burning Draw I dare you. Everyone likes seeing how the underdog comes out of a pinch, and if I came out of the duel thinking, "Wow, I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off!" I could have forgiven it.

Ha ha... wow..... I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off......

I'm not usually that bothered by hyper specific made up anime cards, but what the fuck is that trap that negates effect damage under 300. Countering exactly 1) Skull Invitation 2) Ojama Trio 3) Every one of Aoi's cards. Yeah okay, fuck you Aoi.

And Aoi still should have won, if Soulburner didn't one-up Aoi's own Fusion Summon by Burning Draw YOLO topdecking a fucking Salamangreat Super Poly out of nowhere. Why??? Because the scripter couldn't think of a way out of the situation other than copying one of the strongest cards ever designed?? Fuck you Aoi.

Even Ghost Girl knows how robbed she was.

It's salt on the wound to cap off her "I'll get stronger speech" by having her lose a duel that was 99-1 in her favor. Soulburner deletes her life points in one attack, she screams and gets slammed into a cliff, and Soulburner stands over her and says, "Blue Girl, you're stronger than before."

Jesus, just look at that condescending framing.

Aoi doesn't show up again in a relevant capacity for 20 episodes, and doesn't have another duel for 30 -- that's a quarter of Vrains. Her last words as Soulburner stands over her are "You won because of the bond between a duelist and an AI?" before she passes out.

This, I suppose, is their weak attempt at introducing a plot for Aoi this season. It's... well... 

⇀ Aqua and Miyu

The Miyu backstory is lazy as hell.

I'm sorry to all the fans rooting for female characters and wlw ships, but this writing was unbelievably sloppy. Someone put "Aoi's childhood friend was a victim of the Lost Incident and that's how she gets the Water Ignis" into the show notes and then didn't think about it until it was time to write the episode.

Miyu is not a cardboard cutout. She's not cut from cardstock, both of those at least have structural integrity. Miyu has the character solidness of wet tissue. She's an NPC, a parody of a generic little girl. The only reason to care about her is if you buy into the cheap writing shortcut of damselling little girls, or you're a desperate lesbian. I'm sorry, lesbians.

They could have done anything to give Miyu an actual character, I'm not asking for a lot. Give her any kind of trait or interest -- maybe she loves the ocean and shows Aoi her collection of seashells, and she says they should go to the beach together one day but they never do. They could talk about idols, and maybe that's what inspires Aoi to later become one. They could talk about Duel Monsters, it's Yugioh for christsake. A playground duel would be adorable.

There's a million things they could have done that are more compelling than playing on the slide, but there's one that's so obvious it pains me.

The Blue Angel picture book. The one that Aoi said was her childhood treasure in the duel with Spectre, the one that motivated her to try and save him, a victim of the Lost Incident. The book that's an established part of her backstory, which made her take on the Blue Angel moniker. The book that's about a girl who is all alone until she makes friends and no longer has to cry blue tears.

Could it be more obvious? Have Miyu be the one who gave the book to Aoi. It's a backstory on a silver platter. If the writers cared about Aoi at all, if they didn't immediately forget every single thing about her the second they turn in the script for the contractually obligated Aoi episodes, they would know this. But they don't. Because even the Blue Angel picture book was clearly something they made up on the spot.

Imagine if Aoi's season 2 climax duel was vs. a controlled Miyu (à la Jin), the themes from the Spectre duel returned. Aoi questions if she really can save someone from the Lost Incident, or if it's just her own naivety, destined to be crushed over and over. But she breaks through, because this time it's her turn to save someone who's all alone. This is how you connect seasons 1 and 2, this is how you take a loss and turn it into a payoff. We can even get Spectre's perspective, he's there in the final fight.

But that's not what we get. Instead, they play on the slide, and then Miyu drops a ring down a drain, which I guess is what they think is a relatable cause of conflict for little girls. I can guarantee they would have come up with something more substantive if these were two male characters. And the pacing is just comically clunky. "Aoi-chan, look, it's my mother's ring! Isn't it pretty? Oh no, I dropped it! Wahhhhh!"

Aoi lies to Miyu's mom and says she's the one who dropped the ring, even though Miyu denies it vehemently, clearly crying and in great distress as her mother drags her away and never lets her see Aoi again.

This, we're told, is how Aoi "saved" Miyu.

Aqua: While she was imprisoned, you kept her strong, Aoi. No matter how many duels she lost, no matter how much pain she endured, even after her meals were reduced, she never broke and promised to escape. So she could see you again and apologize for that day.

.........APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT???

What the fuck kind of message is this supposed to be? Aqua is supposed to be the Ignis of TRUTH, why are she and Miyu glorifying Aoi's lie as some courageous, inspirational action, when clearly it did nothing but harm? I'm not crazy, am I? The obvious takeaway from this flashback is that even if you had good intentions lying to protect your friend, it caused miscommunication, distress, and led to their friendship breaking apart? Like, their lives would have been just fine if Aoi didn't lie, and Miyu learned a reasonable lesson about not being careless with other people's expensive objects?

This backstory is comically bad. Just imagine Miyu, going through kidnapping, starvation, and torture, sustained only by the thought that one day... she can tell the girl that she played on the slide with years ago... that she's so sorry... that her hand slipped when taking off a ring and it rolled into a drain 5 feet away.

The story would make more sense if it was me in the Lost Incident, and I was plagued by guilt over dumping Cheeto crumbs on Rachel from Pre-K, because at least I actually did something bad.

It's difficult to even articulate how much all these sloppy writing decisions compound on each other. Because they wasted Aoi's introductory episodes and didn't set up anything for her, she has no role in the story for 30 episodes. Because she was given nothing for 30 episodes, they have to shove an entire backstory for Aoi into one episode. Because they shoved the backstory into one episode, Miyu and Aoi's relationship with her are painfully rushed, generic, and flimsy. Because their relationship is so flimsy, this whole backstory, Aoi's motivation to fight, her entire season 2 plotline, is soulless garbage.

Aoi didn't remember Miyu until this episode. The writers didn't create Miyu until this episode. You cannot ask the audience to be invested in Aoi rescuing Miyu, when you don't even care enough to conceptualize her.

And this is the most damning conclusion of this post. The writers don't care about Miyu. And they don't care about Aoi. And they don't care if you care about them. You weren't meant to care about them.

Again, I'm not saying that the Vrains writers are bad writers, or they hate women. There are other factors to consider, like the specifics of gender relations in Japan, how Yugioh animes primarily exist to advertise trading cards to young boys, the fact that there has not been a single female writer on Yugioh since season 2 of GX. And obviously, Vrains had production issues, and every character suffered from flawed writing.

But my point is, Aoi suffered the most for it. 

⇀ Final Thoughts

There's a lot more that I could say about Aoi for the rest of the show. Like how she gets a magical girl transformation sequence, only to be irrelevant for 10 episodes again, and we have to wait that entire time to see her new deck. Then the duel, which really needed to be a two-episoder, is about Haru instead. The pointlessness of the Bohman duel. The pointlessness of Yusaku's "identity reveal" to Aoi. How they needed to have a third and fourth Akira manpain scene as Aoi is "taken away" from him, though I guess in that last one Aoi gets to have some girlpain too.

I did plan to talk about each of these duels, and more about how I would do an Aoi vs. Miyu conflict, but this post has gotten way out of hand already, and I've made the points I wanted to make.

I hope it was cathartic for everyone who was disappointed with Aoi, and perhaps gave language to people who were frustrated but unable to articulate why. I did some research into what other people have said about Aoi's character, such as this video by YugiohEverything, but I find that a lot of discourse in Yugioh is not very good at pinpointing why something works or doesn't work, and the actual skill of writing is oversimplified. This is especially true when it comes to Yugioh girls, and criticisms tend to fall back on losing duels or getting put in a coma, and while those can suck, they aren't the real problem.

In my last Aoi post I said "I'll just have to hope that they don't fumble whatever new thing they give her... but things tend to get bleaker for female Yugioh characters as the show goes on and whatever initial involvement they had in the story fizzles out," and this, I think, has been the real problem persistently for Yugioh girls. The writers are contractually obligated to come up with something when a series is first pitched, but when that period is up, or when concessions have to be made, the female characters are the first to be forgotten.

I just didn't think it would be this bad for Aoi.

Well. Expectations lowered.

---

First Aoi analysis

All Vrains season analysis

[akashirl]

so...i convinced sei to watch season 4 of 'you' with me...he didn't watch the previous seasons but by the resume, he could tell what kind of character joe is. he says that he already predicted how this season is going to turn out like but i told him not to he a goddamn KILLJOY!

i'll take a break from drawing tonight since now it's a little more tiring to work on this different program and oh well, i don't owe anyone anything.

but as a resume of the day i had today: school in the morning (i was having english and sei was having PE, he waved at me while he was running. i wanted to KISS him.), then i had a cardiology appointment because of my heart surgery and i've finally been finally discharged from the appointments!! basically it means that everything is back to normal and my body is no longer suffering from the impact my anorexia had. i called sei right after and he told me that he was very content and extremely proud. it made my whole day.

then, i worked out for the afternoon and later on in the evening, i went shopping for some clothes. now, i've returned to the dorms and i'm with sei. he's almost falling asleep but we WILL watch season 4 of you. it seems to me that joe will gain another love interest.

[in-faithwe-conquer]

Shepard: That phone call was pretty damning stuff, How'd you get it? Liara: It involved weapons biometric data, salarian intelligence, and a hanar prostitute with camera implants. Shepard: Seriously? Liara: No, but the truth is boring.

[ Full transcript ⇩ ]

Liara: We have a lead. I called in some favours to run a trace on the gun. It led me to a casino owner named Elijah Khan. He's been suspected of using his profits to smuggle weapons onto the Citadel. Immediately after the attempt on Shepard's life, Khan made an interesting call. Elijah Khan: I'm cutting you off, I'm returning your down payment now. Mysterious Figure: What's the problem? Elijah Khan: Turn on the vidscreen! When I sell a gun, I don't want it showing up on the nightly news! Mysterious Figure: You won't be linked to me. Elijah Khan: Save it. Our association is terminated. And if you even think of coming after me, I've got info on you ready for prime time, so you ponder that. Khan out. Shepard: So that's our identity thief. Garrus: Looks like he's got an ID disguiser. Those things are a pain in the ass to get around. Shepard: Did you get anything on the mercenaries who attacked us? Liara: They're a private corporation called CAT6. As most of you know, CAT6 is an Alliance nickname for dishonourable discharges. Many have criminal records, histories of steroid abuse, and other charming features. No doubt hired by the thief, not by Khan. Shepard: That phone call was pretty damning stuff, How'd you get it? Liara: It involved weapons biometric data, salarian intelligence, and a hanar prostitute with camera implants. Shepard: Seriously? Liara: No, but the truth is boring. Shepard: [Khan could be an ally]: Khan didn't sound friendly to whoever that voice was. Maybe he'd pass on that info to us. Liara: That would take some extremely smooth talking. If he sees you, he'll probably assume you're looking for revenge. The casino has a panic room. Chances are he'll have gone to ground there. EDI can give us programs to hack the door, but the cameras and guards complicate things. Brooks: Yeah. Khan could disappear or worse. If his guards ever open fire, normal people could get hit. Like I did. Shepard: She's right. We can't risk spooking him. We go in quiet. Small team. No gunplay. Glyph: Dr T'Soni, this evening the casino will be hosting a charity event to assist the war refugees. Liara: Purchase some tickets, Glyph, then call up a layout of the building. Joker: Score. So how close can you get? You don't usually put a back door in a panic room. EDI: This air shaft bypasses the security gate and ends up in storage. From there, the panic room's door camera can be disabled. Kaidan: Still we're talking about a casino. There's gotta be alarms in that shaft. Liara: I believe I have some countermeasures that may help. I'll know more once we're inside. Javik: Who will go in the shaft? They need to be small in size. Wrex: Yeah, that's not me. Too many snacks of roast varren leg. Tali: I suspect my suit's built-in tech would be picked up by security sensors. EDI: My presence in the casino would arouse suspicion. Mechs are not allowed since they can have cheating software. Brooks: What you need is someone trained in zero-emissions tech. No electronics, no metal. Just undetectable polymers. We had a course back at Op-Int, disabling a bomb with these little tweezers. See the bomb was filled with shaving cream... Shepard: All right. You're in. Brooks: What? No. What? Shepard: You said it yourself. We've all got too much tech. Brooks: But... I managed to get shot just coming to talk to you! Now I'm supposed to hack my way into a safe room? Shepard: We'll be backing you up. The second you hit something you can't handle, we'll cover you. Liara: If that's settled, it looks like there's one last hurdle to get us inside. Shepard: Which is? Liara: Black tie required.

[lavenderprose]

I’m not Anon, but I’m definitely ready for the longest soapbox answer…

Okay well I fear you'll be disappointed because the longest answer has very little to do with Emmrich and goes thusly:

Nevarra is essentially fantasy Germany/Austria/Scandinavia. Fewer than 10% of men in those countries, overall, are circumsized. This alone is probably reason enough to say he's uncut in any modern context. In the year 20:25 Millenium (Or whatever your version of the 21st century in Thedas is named) it's possible that the Fereldans and maybe Orlesians have picked up the practice, but I don't think it would be popular in Nevarra, or most of the North if I'm honest. Certain enclaves in Tevinter maybe.

Within the context of game-time Thedas, you'd be hard pressed to convince me that ANYBODY is cut save for POSSIBLY Qunari? Because we don't know enough about their beliefs imo. If the Chantry was marching around demanding rote circumcision I think it probably would have come up at least once, even in a game as relatively desexualized as Dragon Age (desexualized as in: you never actually SEE a penis, cut or otherwise, in these games.) Until (relatively) modern times IRL, circumcision was a religious practice almost exclusively.

Comparing Thedas to the IRL medieval ages isn't as apt of a comparison for Veilguard as it may have been for previous games, but this is a belief I still hold. You could make an argument for circumscion being divorced from all religious contexts in Thedas, and instead being a hygienic/aesthetic choice, and I don't necessarily have an argument against that. It's just not a view I hold. Primarily because, point THREE:

As far as circumcision goes, I don't care for it. Totally understand that it's a religious/cultural practice for a very large portion of the world's population, and that it does have certain prophylactic applications. The practice of circumcision is EXTREMELY controversial and I don't really want to open that can of worms, so I'll just say that I completely respect it as a choice that people make for themselves and their children to honor their cultures. If we're talking about me? Just ME, personally? The beliefs that I specifically hold, with the understanding that nobody is obligated to share those beliefs? If anybody tried to take my kid away from me seconds after birth to do LITERALLY ANYTHING to their genitals I would scream and scream and scream until they did something to make me stop i.e. give my baby back. I have warned my family about this. Intersex children are born every day and are often mutilated by 'well-meaning' doctors under the guise of circumcision. This happens with distressing frequency, and it's very possible that you won't know about it unless you ask the right questions or know exactly how to read your child's medical documents, IF you have access to them.

Under no circumstances am I campaigning for the abolition of circumcision as a practice. I just feel like it's something that should be better educated about, especially to expectant families. The vast majority of people just kind of say, "Well, my doctor/husband/dad says I should have my child circumcized, so I guess I will," and it doesn't HAVE to be that way.

Anyway yeah! This was very outside of my normal bullshit and I sincerely hope I didn't ruffle any feathers--the original anon stumbled onto something I'm passionate about and got me ranting, for which I apologize. We will return shortly to your regularly programmed Old Man nonsense 😅

[bjfinn]

JUST CLOTH AND STUFFING

He remembered when it happened.

He'd come to his new home in early November, shipped halfway across the continent, and when his new owner opened the box and took him out, tears filled the man's hazel eyes.

At first he thought that the man was disappointed, but then the man hugged him, whispering, "Oh, I love you! Welcome home, BJ! I hope you'll be happy here with me!" And then he propped BJ up on the bed and took a photo of him with his tablet before hugging him again.

*****

Every day the man would hug him and stroke his hair, laughing softly as he talked to him, telling him how much he was loved and promising to look after him. "You're my son," the man would say, "my special little guy. Part of me wishes that you were alive, but another part of me is glad that you're not, because you'll never die. And that means that we'll be together forever -- until I die. But I promise that won't be for a very long time. And I promise that I'll make sure that you go and live with somebody who'll love you as much as I do."

Every morning the man would laugh as he pulled BJ's pants back up. "Why are your pants falling down???" he'd ask, chuckling, and hug him tightly. Then he'd press his nose to BJ's. "You just wanna get naked, don'tcha?" He gently made BJ's head nod enthusiastically. "You're just like the real Beetlejuice!"

Some mornings the man had to go away, to work, but he always tucked BJ into bed and kissed him, his beard scratching against BJ's face, telling him that he'd be back in the evening. BJ would wait patiently, aware of the passing hours until his return. And the man never broke his promise -- he always came back, and then he'd hug BJ and kiss him and talk to him. And at bedtime they'd snuggle under the covers together and listen to a story or the sound of a thunderstorm on the man's tablet until sleep came.

BJ had a voice -- it was a mechanism in his right paw, programmed with six sentences -- but the man didn't press it very often. "If I do it too much, the battery will die," he explained. "And it can't be replaced, so you won't be able to talk any more. And it's not really your voice, anyway -- it's the voice of the actor who played Beetlejuice in the movie. Your voice would be different."

BJ didn't understand that, but that was okay -- he knew the man loved him.

*****

BJ came to realise that the man was different from most people -- he'd only met a few since he'd been made, but the man himself told him. "I have ADHD," he said. "And maybe I'm bipolar, too."

He didn't know what those things were, but the man didn't seem happy about it. BJ figured that they made life difficult for his friend -- most of the time, the man was only happy when he was talking to BJ. He wished his friend could be happy all the time.

Music made the man happy as well, though -- he and BJ would often listen to music together, and sometimes the man would sing along. He said that he didn't have a very good voice -- "People say that I do, but I don't. It's not just that I don't like to listen to recordings of my singing," he said. "That's normal. But I can hear all of the little flaws in my singing that most people don't pick up on when they hear me."

But BJ liked the sound of the man's voice anyway. And if singing made him happy, then that's really all that mattered. That's all that BJ cared about -- that's why he'd been made. To make someone happy.

*****

On weekends the man would go out, shopping for "groceries", and then he'd spend some time in the next room -- the kitchen. BJ would smell the food that his friend would be cooking -- it smelled good. He had a feeling that his friend would've liked to share his food with BJ, and he wished that he could try it, but he didn't have a real mouth, or a stomach.

*****

The man was very lonely, BJ knew. He didn't seem to have any other friends -- at least, no one ever came to visit. He had a roommate, his cousin, but he was a loner who spent most of his time in his own room. And he had some friends online, but they lived far away, the man told him. It made BJ sad that his friend was all alone, but at least they had each other.

BJ met the man's other plushies -- Pugsley and Courtney, Trinket, Pooh, the Manticore. "I love them all," his friend whispered, "but you're my favourite. You're the one who means the most to me. I love you so much, Beej."

The man's eyes teared up. "Some people might think I'm crazy, talking to you as if you're really alive." He hugged BJ to him. "I know you're just made of cloth and stuffing, but you're real to me, and that's what counts."

He'd talk to BJ about all the things that were on his mind -- good and bad. "I can't afford to go to a therapist," he explained. "And I don't really have anyone else in my life to talk to about this stuff -- nobody who really understands what it's like. There's my online friends, but it's not the same as having someone to talk to face-to-face, you know? I mean, they can't hug me when I need to be hugged. So you're the next best thing, Beej -- you're always here, and I don't have to worry about you judging me or not understanding, do I?"

BJ knew his friend was doing his best to deal with his mental issues on his own -- he often listened to audiobooks about ADHD on his tablet to learn as much as he could about how to cope. And BJ listened, too -- he wanted to learn how to help if he could.

It seemed to BJ that sometimes ADHD wasn't too bad -- sometimes it actually sounded like it was a good thing. People with ADHD were creative and good at coming up with new ideas, for example. But other things sounded terrible -- things like "executive disfunction" and "emotional dysregulation". And some things made BJ afraid for his friend -- especially "suicidal ideation". Fortunately, his friend didn't seem to have those kinds of thoughts -- not very often, anyway, and when he did they didn't last long. BJ suspected that the reason his friend didn't have thoughts of killing himself was partly because of him. And that made BJ feel like he was doing what he was supposed to be doing. He just wished he could do more.

*****

The man promised to take BJ outside when the weather was nicer. "We can go to the boardwalk by the river," he said. "And I can take a couple of photos of you. But only if it's not raining and the ground is dry -- I don't want you to get all muddy, okay?"

He also promised to take BJ with him when he went to Toronto in the summer -- he was going to see the Beetlejuice musical there. "I wish I could take you to the theatre with me," he said, "but I don't want to take the chance of losing you. So you'll have to stay in the hotel room, where you'll be safe. It's too bad -- I think you'd really enjoy the show. But I have some recordings of it on my tablet, so we can watch it whenever we want."

*****

It took a while for it to happen -- longer than BJ would have liked -- but over time, he began to sense something changing within him. A warmth, gradually filling him, making him ... not conscious, exactly, but aware in a way that was somehow different than before.

He knew what it was -- the man had talked to him about it, saying that he hoped it would happen. BJ was acquiring a soul. He wished he could tell his friend -- he would be so happy. But all he could do was hope that the man would come to realise it on his own.

A Beetlejuice Build-A-Bear, made of plush and stuffing and cloth, his expression embroidered on his face, a voice box in his right paw that was limited to six phrases ... and now he had a soul made from -- and filled with -- limitless love.

[super-paper]

Are- are toshinori's eyes black again?? Did hori forget or was that just shadow? I love that design of his, but i'm confused. I thought his eyes returning to normal during Armored Might vs AFO was to symbolize his passion returning and him metaphorically coming back to life. Wouldn't his eyes being black kinda undo that, or at least imply he's back to his previous self?

Yeah, they're back to being shadowed. 😭 It could just be an artist error (Hori forgot Endeavor lost his arm a few chapters ago and drew him with two arms at the end of chapter 425 + folks on twitter pointed out that he forgot to draw Izuku's scars in a few panels), but it could very well be Hori's way of indicating that Toshi's not in a good mental place either *shrug*. I do find it interesting that his eyes are depicted as fully shadowed immediately after it's implied that he was watching the "Who Was Shigaraki Tomura" program, but I'll refrain from jumping to conclusions until we get more insight (hopefully) into how he actually feels about this outcome.

tbh, right now I get the feeling that Hori is intentionally writing Izuku as being stuck in the same position as chapter 1 All Might-- he's incredibly isolated from his peers, has been left feeling hollowed out/jaded by his experiences, and has more or less lost touch with his heroic drive/feels like his "dream" is now over. This would be a good set up for Toshi to actually voice what he was thinking during the Iron Might chapters out loud:

So I kind of feel like Toshi getting his "light" back will likely be tied to Izuku getting his "light" back (and hopefully this involves Tenko 🥲).

... But the fact that we're on such a strict chapter limit makes me wonder just how much Hori can fit in while having things end in a satisfactory way. Trying to fit an entire character development arc into the final six chapters while also wrapping up the existing arcs just feels like a strange choice overall. *shrug*

[micoumbra]

! ! ! Y I P P E E E :D ! ! !

There are already a lot of us here and I think we need to get to know each other a little better and it's time, after all, we need a pinned post, so HERE IT IS!) I suppose it will change, take shape and be supplemented over time, but for now let it be like this. I have already laid out the main information in the profile 👉👈 So let's do something more detailed: -

":-All right, people, let's do it one last time—"

My nickname is Mico

(although mostly Mica😅 BUT-NO MATTER)

I'm a 20-year-old fool sillybilly birdie:3

Besty with @actuall-guy 🐈🐦!)

I'm madly in love with birds, reptiles and generally all dangerous creatures HEH;

"Professionally" I have been drawing for more than 7 years;

Draw on a Samsung S4 n' Autudesk Sketchbook

trying to animate in it⬆️👆 and I'm learning the program OpenToonz

Addicted to old cartoons/movies from the 80s-90s-2000s/10s and Indie Games (oh yeah CHILD OF THE 2000s, "GRANDMA"-ZOOMER HOWDOYOUDOFELLOWKIDS (just kidding 🤭💥))

I love Weirdcore, Glass/Cuteness, horrors and stupid memes💥‼️🔆💫🗯💖💞🔆💫‼️💥💖💗💫🔆‼️ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

——————

!!! English is NOT my native language and I use a translator, although I know some slang aspects and try to edit the text several times after writing... But it STILL turns out stupid sometimes, so IF SOMETHING IS WRONG - DON'T HIT WITH SLIPPERS!! Just explain to me where I got it wrong - and I will correct it! THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING🙏💗 !!!

——————

Also important! The thing is that I am very fickle and prone to emotional hyperfixations on a variety of media. So, please, don't be surprised if today I post one thing, and tomorrow something completely different - for me it's normal, I can very often suddenly get carried away by this or that fandom completely out of nowhere... BUT - in 75% of cases I return to previous fixes, so don't worry! 🍃🍂🍃🍂🍃

I'm also a mega HYPER ULTRA emotional bro>;] I use a lot of punctuation of brackets, emoticons, memes I SCREAM LOUDLY LIKE A SEAGULL FROM EVERYTHING (both from joy and from grief/anger:р - most likely in any case you will hear me even from the other side of the universe lol)

I really love to chat, so don't be shy about writing me something!)

The only DNI I have is - conversations about any kind of IRL stuff (I like to chat on social networks ONLY about fandoms😅) or some conflicts - here too it's not for me

I draw almost everyone, but mostly male characters, although I can draw female ones too!

Body types and body types also vary, from very skinny characters to average and BBW (but as I wrote in my profile - plus size is my weakness👉👈💞💗💖 so I draw this most often:3 (//////) )

I also often enjoy drawing anthropomorphs, especially Birds/Reptiles/Insects

Well, I'm mostly a fandomist, I make AUs, although I have a couple of my own ideas...~ But I'll talk about that in another post¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

By the way, about fandoms - OH, I CAN TALK ABOUT THIS FOR HOURS WITHOUT JOKING. It would take even more time to list them all, otherwise I'll have to get a scroll two kilometers long, KHEM. That's why I'm afraid I'll have to come to terms with the fact that I'm VERY susceptible to random hyperfixations and can be touched by literally anything) Although I do have fandoms that I periodically return to! For example

Aladdin;

Batman(mostly LH and Telltale)/SpiderMan;

Fear and Hunger;

Yuppie Psycho;

DHMIS;

Cat Ghost;

FNaF;

Wander Over Younder;

Musicals Heathers, Mean Girls, LSoH and Epic;

and a bunch of other fandoms that I forgot LMAO>:3💥💥💥

Anyway.... KINNIE BINGO TIIIMEEEE!!!)

ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[crying-fantasies]

Rodimus wasn't ready to be a creator (2)

Masterlist

Part 1 | part 2: Mental image | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10

"When I tell you about a good dinner, a peaceful evening, and a pleasant night, what do you think about it?" His hand trails behind your ear, whispers leaving his lips while he has you seated in his lap, his tone, as sultry as it can be, is tender as far as it can be; the soft static that his supposed sun-kissed skin transmitted was giving you goosebumps in a perfect way.

Your mind goes wild, Rodimus can't eat even if he uses his holomatter, a peaceful night goes along your preference but when his voice hits full force when he says a pleasant night, normally the idea of sleeping next to him, holomatter or gigantic robot, is always welcomed, but you can feel him in many more ways than before, feeling his desire for you in this physical form and also in his tone, he isn't the best to flirt but even his clumsiness brings you such joy that pools in your lower belly, blood rushing where it's needed to show him your eagerness and your bashful expression that he takes with delight.

Gosh, it isn't the first time you have him like this, but he just goes the extra mile.

"What would you think if I told you about the new tattoo that I designed by myself just for you?" Rodimus takes your hand in his, holomatter feels strange, the usual static is less compared to other times after some improvement in the programming, and his face can show more expressions, his light brown eyes still kind of lack most of the life that is always shown in his big, bright blue optics.

His words makes you almost spin around and faint, but your hand reaches for a gap in all his shirts to touch directly to his holomatter skin, he seems flustered and even surprised, but it has been years since you two started dating, it was only natural that you tried something by yourself for once, he looks pleased but also embarrassed.

"I'll say, that I really want to see it… and touch it" that's all it's need to have him moving his strong arms to get all the shirts off him before Rodimus returns to his assaulting eagerness, kissing you with utmost necessity while positioning himself over your body without breaking such intimate contact, pressing his hips to yours, strong hands and calloused fingers gripping the blankets under you to press himself harder to your soft body, almost every corner fitting together in a natural way, as natural as it can really be, a pleasant sensation that he can only achieve with the human mode, he still needs to show you his new tattoo but the one on his right arm is getting all your attention with the firm muscles under the artificial ink when he manages to get his hand under your coverings, your body vibrating with "is this love" in the background that is getting louder by the second, his body protecting you from the outside world while his long legs had the job of keeping yours open, making the contact even better, hotter, more everything.

"Guess that I can only obey your orders" and so he compelled, pushing as far as he could even with clothes on but not for long when your hands left his long brown hair to start getting your own clothes off, feeling your warm skin on his temporary form, feeling how the engines in his original body revving with abandon, realizing once again how good it was to change things a bit and explore new possibilities with you.

All new experiences that started and ended long ago, and even when it was like that, all new possibilities and results that came from them are still present.

As a result, maybe not by normal human standards or biology, your son.

"Uncle Domey"

"Oh, Blacksun, what are you doing-"

"Erase my memory."

"What?-"

"Erase it. Just. Do. It"

You're pretty much an exasperated and awkward son.

Many on the ship have known the young bot since his protoform days, most of those days were mostly centered on not squishing the mother and sparkling duo that were as tiny as, well, organics.

Blacksun was white and gray then, fresh from the hot spot, optics and face plate recently molded, emitting beeping sounds now and then to get attention from any bot around, he was such a cute little thing.

Now that little thing was trying with all his might to get Chromedome's mnemosurgery needles out of his digits and put them in his helm.

"Wait a second! Blacksun, stop right this minute!" Rewind arrived minutes later, also trying to stop the young bot that was so desperate to have his memory data erased that even tears were dropping from his optics, and even Rodimus appeared in the scene.

"I beg you, please erase my memory!"

"Sunny, wait a second, I just said-!"

"Stay away from me, you old bot!"

Funny how a few words could be the detonator to such a response, to give it more sense the ship was now in Earth, after the discovery of a new orb, just to get some samples back to Cybertron and see if a new commerce product could be available since they were already near, it was the very first time since he was a sparkling that he put his pedes in the planet's surface, feeling how it resisted his weight, it was kind of strange as what was called grass also got under him, maybe he would need to clean it later.

Then, they were there, humans, a lot of them, many other mechs were almost running to meet certain humans that they already knew, everyone was chatting or interacting in some way, even Megatron was there talking to humans, it was endearing in some way.

"Glad to see that things are more natural between us" he already heard the sound of his creator approaching, placing a servo over his shoulder pad, yes, it was good, he wasn't online during the great war or many of the other incidents, he was merely a protoform for most of the late conflicts.

Humans were looking at them, curious little creatures, but still keeping boundaries; they knew what he was, and even when another techno-organic was already roaming around here on Earth, seeing one close up was already a big thing.

Rodimus noticed his sparkling eyes looking at the humans around and smiled. It had been a while, and exactly because of that, he wanted to talk to his kid now.

"I guess that is the time to talk to you about engines and flowers."

…

"… Excuse me?"

"Well, now that you've seen an actual human after so long, you may have a few questions about how you were conceived."

How was Rodimus supposed to know that his dear sparkling already learned about human "culture and costumes" to prevent any misunderstanding in this journey? Funny that now Blacksun had quite the expression on his face plate, both servos near his neck as he was just so close to strangle him, because when he heard the word "conceived," the mental image was instantaneous.

"It's a joke, it's only a joke, I swear! You know very well that you came from the hot spot in Automica!"

Too late, Blacksun was already on the run, and he heard shouting from Chromedome and Rewind's hab suit.

Yeah, Rodimus just wanted to play a little with Blacksun and the supposedly little information that he had about organics. It never passed his processor that, just like his other creator, he could've quite the imagination, especially if there was already some known data about it.

Ratchet called it "volatile imagination"; it was common among humans.

Blacksun didn't get his memory data erased, so the mental image was still in his archives since it would be even more horrible to have someone that he knew see such an embarrassing thing, so he could only think of many other ideas.

Meteor surfing.

Movie nights.

Yes, um, a fresh hamburger, with fries or some bacon-

"Hey Sunny, you okay now?"

"Stay away from me, I'm warning you."

Okay, this was going to take a while before he experienced something worse than could outdo such a mental image of his creators, all "passionate" like the human media that he saw before that involved reproduction.