#and if that is an influence i'm going to stare into the abyss

[jaqobis]

yeah i'm thinking about rand in the trailer / the fact that sanderson is consulting on the show again

but

if season 2 starts setting up for the (frankly absurd) sanderson dragonmount assertion that rand ~ starts going dark ~ because he doesn't care about other people ~ i am well and truly going to scream

[twst-drabbles]

Can I ask you and your following,what lines do or want to add to a fic but never could put in.This could be twst related or not.

'Of course, Everybody seems to forget I came out the coffin like the rest of you"

Oh boy time to dig into my notes! Okay okay, see whenever I can't get any prose writing done, I end up writing down a bunch of quotes and lines and other such things that I think could be cool but had to cut out cause it didn't fit anywhere. So I just have them stored away on a file until I find the opportunity to use them

To Vil, there is no such thing as a person born ugly. You are made ugly, by your own hand, by your own lack of care and recklessness.

Many of these lines I have are usually associated with the Eldritch AU, just cause I want that AU to have my best efforts.

Fire. A tall wall of blue flame, stoked up high as the trees planted around them. They enclosed you inside with the ink monster that had aided him since the start. “Of course. I feel invincible in this silent world. “See, exhaustion is a very human thing, and many creatures in my world fail to replicate it, especially when they’re singing. “For some reason, a lot of the monster’s I’ve encountered are usually tone deaf.”

Like, I have lots of them, it's kinda hilarious.

"so, for an impatient one like you, who wanted to pry into all my little secrets well before I would be willing to give them,“ you snapped the papers sharply against your palm, ”these precious treasures will forever be lost to you. “I would have, had you bothered to ask,” and yet, Azul didn’t. …Nothing more than simple paranoia. Not caution, not deliberating one’s actions, paranoia. He assumed the worst out of someone who barely arrived, however… “Y-you can hardly blame me for thinking such things when you consider just how many mysteries surround you. I had to practice caution, lest I let myself be exposed.” “What an odd way you show that caution of yours, Azul Ashengrotto. You were wary of me, that much I was certain, but you were more concerned in how you could possibly have me under you.”

The thing about me is the fact that I'm actually pretty good at writing dialogue, but I usually end up opting for little to none, cause it makes my drabbles too long. Beyond playing RPG's, I also play a fuckton of visual novels in my free time, so my writing has been influenced as such.

“Azul,” you relaxed back against the chair in the newly repaired lounge, “you started this game. You should have known better than to arouse my curiosity.” Stare into the abyss long enough and it shall stare back at you. And what are shadows to do but to hunt the light within your eyes? “Caution dictated that you would poke and prod to see what my role within all these strange happenings is. I can’t say I blame you for doing such a thing. But, you hold no respect towards me. You wanted me to be another tool, another link upon the chain you’ve built to seal away the vault of your weaknesses. And what am I to do, but to open that vault?”

Lot of them is just Eldritch Prefect honestly, though not all of them.

"Magic depends on imagination, and a lot of the time you can't imagine shit when you're panicking."

That line is said by the Janitor Prefect. Don't know the context for that one, I was just trying to get their voice right in my head. Sorta tired, sorta grumpy, but ultimately very knowledgeable on a lot of different subjects.

"'It can't be helped.' I've been told those words many, many times. 'This is just the way things are, you have to understand it. It cannot be stopped. It be like trying to stop the currents, to turn the sands into snow.' From childhood to even now, I've always been told this, but I knew what they were saying. 'Give up on your brother. On your family. You can't reverse your mistake.'"

As soon as I get around to finishing my current event, I think I'm going to be doing Valenio next. No choices to be made with this one, just a straight line of a story, but a story nonetheless.

Man I really wish I was good with art so I can make decent visual novels. Oh well.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

The horrible emails in a YouTuber's inbox

I have a public contact email on my YouTube channels, which of course means it gets scraped by absolute hordes of spambots and mailing lists for crappy mobile games.

That's okay though, that's what filters are for, and I'm not much bothered by it.

Sometimes, though, you also get Legitimate Business Emails from real, actual companies who want to do real business with you. They market various services, multi-channel networks (no fucking thanks), SEO optimization and all the rest of the industries that perch on the side of influencer marketing and Content Creation™.

Most of these emails aren't worth talking about, they're just business. They're usually couched in excessively cheerful "Hello! My name is Content Influencer Specialist Assistant Manager, and we here at Influencer Service Provider absolutely love the content on your [[INSERT CHANNEL NAME HERE]] channel!"-language, pretending that they've watched even thirty seconds of anything you've made. It's annoying, but inoffensive, it's just how this kind of business is done.

Today, though. Today, my friends, I received a motherfucking EMAIL. A promotion for a service which seems to be motivated entirely by spite and contempt both for my work and for my audience as a whole.

There are two things I want to especially call your attention to here. First is the absolute 24 karat solid gold INGOT of a throwaway line, "boost channel stats and income without wasting your time on new content creation."

If I spent a whole week workshopping ideas, I don't think I could write a sentence that more completely communicates contempt both for my work and the ethics of my job, but also a single-minded drive for money as the only metric of any real value.

The other thing I want to draw your attention to is EIGHT FUCKING STREAMS?? EIGHT??? Four plus four goddamn motherfucking CONCURRENT streams, running 24/7 on my channel, constantly regurgitating my videos for no other reason except to game YouTube's recommendation algorithm and make the line go up?

Further down the email, they helpfully link a helpful and informative article they've written, which contains further magnificent wisdom:

I have stared into the Abyss too long, and this email is the Abyss staring back into me. This is an omen, a prophecy of the monster I could become.

If I ever become someone who runs eight continuous streams of re-runs, and who regularly shuts down and restarts these eight streams of continuous re-runs just to force them to show back up at the top of the YouTube recommendations, I beg of you, take me out behind the wood shed and put me out of my misery.

I summoned all of my powers of professionalism and politeness, and drafted a response:

Presumably, this is just someone whose job is entirely metrics optimization doing a very, very poor job of writing an email to a person who actually gives a shit about their job from an artistic point of view. Presumably it's just bad marketing copy.

But it thoroughly derailed my mind from getting any real work done today, so I am taking revenge by writing a blog about it, and hopefully you have... well, "enjoyed" might be the wrong word; hopefully you have been mildly fascinated by this peek into the garbage that populates the inboxes of YouTubers.

I'm serious about that wood shed thing, by the way. Like, whack! Just a quick, decisive strike to the back of the head, make it clean.

[aw-shizz-here-we-go-again]

•|| On the Hunt ||• (Mermay 2024)

Prompt 2: On the Hunt

Featuring: Killer!

Ships: None.

Summary: Hunting down a fish.

Warnings: Fish-slaughter

Credits: Leviathantale and the Mermay Bingo I'm using are both by @skumhuu!

Read tags for notes.

It was quiet, almost peaceful, even. Sunlight filtered through the surface of the water with ease, glimmering upon a hundred thousand scales in a large school of fish.

One fish in particular seemed to almost glow brighter than the others under the influence of the sun's rays; its pride of the little shiny silver plates that decorated its body showed as it flicked its tail in an almost flaunting manner.

A cascade of bubbles suddenly washed over the fish as all of the other fish in its school abruptly darted away, leaving the one confused.

Why did the others swim away so quickly? What happened? What scared them...?

The water now felt colder, and the once peaceful silence now just felt... creepy. The fish couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

It spun around in a circle, trying to figure out what was wrong, and--

Oh.

Two empty black abysses stared back. Followed by a face. And a large shark tail.

The fish whipped around and fled, frantically swishing its own tail in an attempt to get away. It could feel a disturbance in the water as the monstrous beast gave chase.

Faster, faster, and faster the little fish swam, but its shining scales were like a beacon for the hunter to go after. Behind rocks, in seaweed clumps, even trying to blend into other schools of fish were all useless as the shark relentlessly pursued his prey.

He could almost hear the fish's pounding soul as it attempted to escape, but to no avail.

Maybe if the fish had swam just a little faster. Maybe if it had taken more sudden turns, or if it hid in better spots... maybe it would have lived.

But with a burst of speed and a snap of his jaws, it was all over. The fish had lost the race for its life.

.

.

.

Killer returned back to the trenches later, carrying his catch proudly in his mouth. It had been a fast little fucker who led him on a wild goose chase to catch it, but it was worth it!

As he set it down into the kill pile, he found that one of the fish's larger scales had gotten stuck between his teeth. He plucked it out, and he almost threw it away before he hesitated for a moment.

The scale truly was beautiful, all shiny and silver... maybe he should keep it to remember.

______________________________________________________________

Start

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Masterlist

[k00299539]

Animation Brief 02 - Re-Invention in Storytelling 02

Having finalized the character designs it was up to me to put together the finished storyboard. Me, Summer and Zu had already collaborated on the storyboard and knew what we wanted, my job was just to polish those ideas into something tangible. Being the slacker team, we were a bit behind going into the weekend and with Summer and Zu busy I volunteered to finish the storyboard myself.

This is also where a key flaw in my college career comes into play. I cannot fucking read. Or at the very least I can't communicate cause my idea of what the final animatic needed to be was way off of what was expected of us. Honestly for a long time I thought we needed to create a full, finished animation. And while that might sound like a humblebrag about working extra hard, the reality is a lot stupider.

If you have two weeks to create a polished animatic and pitch, you'll probably create a pretty great animatic and pitch it well. But if you spend half that time believing you need to create a full animation, not only are you going to rush the pre-production, but your priorities will differ massively. I don't really mean to sound too negative, I just want to note that while I greatly enjoyed the project and I'm happy with my work, my initial misunderstanding of the project was a mistake entirely of my own making and the overall quality of the project suffered as a result.

Anyway, here's the storyboard lol

Above: The abyss staring back...

Ultimately I broke the storyboard down into eight scenes and about 90 shots. The process was great fun, incorporating elements from all three previous boards and smoothing out the continuity with new scenes was exactly what I love about storyboarding; refining ideas and polishing them to as best a shine as you can.

As I alluded to above, I think had I managed my time better and actually understood the project from word go, I could've made something better. To me a storyboard is all about continuity, if you create a good flow of scenes you can refine the visual flair later in the rough or layout stage. There's simply an element of confusion throughout my storyboard.

In a way it's a lot like the last project with the mini-me and parallax background. I really learned the importance of pre-production, because whether you like your foundation or not, you're gonna have to live with it.

Anyway here's the animatic lol

Above: Now with music!

The music was a last minute request from Zu. I didn't have time to really sync it up all that well but I knew in general I wanted Night on Bald Mountain to open with for the villain introduction and inciting incident, then silence during the death of spoon, and a slow fade in on Bolero for Dish's journey. I think having put it all together, I've watched so many times now I can't see it objectively anymore lol, I need to rest my eyes for a week.

I could ramble for a long time about every shot in the animatic and the how's and why's of them but I might leave that off for another post when I'm less tired. If nothing else, these slides from our pitch should give you an idea of where my head was at when making the thing in terms of visual influence and overall direction.

I'd also like to give a thank you to Zu and Summer who were a great team to work with, and made the whole project easy and fun, where it could've been difficult and miserable. A lot of my work is directly visible in the final product but all three of us contributed an equal amount to achieve the final result. In a real sense I couldn't have done it without them.

[hdawg1995]

I got board and Ajax decided to bother me so heres a Ajax ficlet.

context: during the reawakening war Ajax tapped into his Thrall form to have a kaiju fight with Remthalas, resulting in him getting knocked out rather than killed.

Ajax watched the water as he helped the other four prepare their tackle and lures. His stomach churned uncomfortably- they weren't near Falconreach Bay where The Locker was, and Scalla had promised he wouldn't encounter *Him* again, but at this point its clear their timelines are drifting apart. After the Reawakening and the nightmares that Remthalas put him though Ajax was sure he and Scalla will begin to see each other less and less. The last time they spoke was after Ajax woke from Remthalas' dream. Scalla had changed, there was this air of resignation about her that made Ajax not recognize her at first. Part of him wonders if she is actually avoiding him, not wanting to know what the "good ending" of her war was.

Remthalas approached and set a hand on his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts. "You said fishing is supposed to be relaxing but all you've done is stand here watching the water..."

Ajax glanced at the abys elf- the one who is dead in Scalla's timeline, the one who transformed into a eldritch monster... the one Ajax became a thrall to save- and said "I'm just thinking too much. Surprised you're not nervous too."

Remthalas shrugged with a smile. "I have you, Notha, and the Avatar's champion, what do i have to fear?"

Kathool achoo came to mind. Ajax shivered at the thought.

And then it started to rain. it wasn't a big deal or much of a problem. But then the anglers started to vanish and as Ajax stared down the Johnnyfish, teeth bared and grip tight around his fishing rod, he knew this wasn't going to end well.

Arriving in the Locker he was glad to see everyone safe. Aquella was a welcomed surprise as well!

After hearing about the current state of the abys elves Remthalas seemed to freeze up. the others talked with Aquella about what to do, but still he was silent. Ajax gently took the elf's hand and walked him away from the conversation.

"Talk to me?" ajax asked.

the two were both victims of Kathool's influence- Ajax a bit more willing, but a victim nonetheless. After they both woke from the nightmare Remthalas had been staying with Ajax until he got his footing which... was difficult. He was a abys elf, he was drawn to the water, there were days where he was sick from the heat and air of falconreach, but being in the water for too long or going too deep sent the man gasping into a panic attack. Ajax figured out with Notha's help that if he got Remthalas talking- ranting even- he would start to feel better, start to become grounded.

"They're still alive..." he breathes. Remthalas shudders and starts to ring his hands. "They're a live but there is nothing that can be done. A-All my effort- all my plans- Ajax what i put you and Notha though it was all- and did she just say we could GO and reclaim Abyssal territory? Did i hear her right?" his eyes had gone wide but not wild yet. Ajax patted his shoulder.

"Yeah thats Aquella for ya. strong, independent, and she even got her trident back!" he turned to smile at the water elf. Ash and Thursday growing up was one thing, but seeing the child who saved her people all grown up? He is so proud of her.

Remthalas seemed to catch on to Ajax's affection for the elf. "She was the child you mentioned, yes?"

"Yup!"

"the one you almost brought to Kathool?"

"We're not talking about that anymore."

Remthalas' laugh echoed in the water as Ajax returned to the group.

[decoythecreator-blog]

Hello Void.

I'm back again.

I do not wish to bother you with my complaints of life or struggle again, old friend.

But there is something on my mind, something I cannot escape.

Will I ever be happy? Will work ever feel like a joy? Will my life feel meaningful?

of course Void, I know your tone. "Create for your sake, don't atone".

But Void.. don't you see? When I make things, I wish for others to see!

I want countless people to sit and to praise my work, to find love and meaning in my words and pictures, to inspire and influence, to breathe life and love into the world!

and yet.. when they look upon my work, when they stare deep into my soul as i stand upon the naked stage.. why do I feel so.. alone?

Why do I hate the attention if I crave it so? Don't you see Void? my life is a mess!

If i make things, I feel anxious and under duress.

If I quit.. If i escape the countless eyes upon me, I feel alone and cold.. and without a reason to continue.

I wish to be a star, but I would vanish upon the first night I lay in the sky.

Don't you see.. Void, you are not I.

I want to inspire and generate joy.

but this world is ROTTEN and I can't help but feel like a broken toy.

I can't walk well void.. I can't dance anymore.. I lay in bed upon days as my family assures.. "You're just lazy" they say, "Get out of bed" I tell them I have issues and yet they pretend they don't hear what I've said..

I don't have the drive.. the OOMPH, the FLASH! the thing everyone seems to have.. I don't have the energy to keep lugging my soul around.. oh Void.. why wont you let me drown?

I don't wish to be here!! Not anymore! If I succeed or fail, IM ALWAYS THE FLAW!

If I shine bright, I'll be hated, even when loved!

If I fade, I'll be cold and useless from above!

I don't see the purpose... "life is hard" they say. Well I didn't sign up for this place.. so WHY SHOULD I STAY!?

If life is so hard, then let me QUIT. I didn't sign up for this horrible shit.

I didn't sign up to be bullied for my skin, I didn't sign up to be beaten by my kin! So WHY should I stay? If my work means naught

If I barely brushed a dozen souls, why stay? why fight?

I've been doing this for half a dozen years now Void.. and yet I'm still down.. im not happy.. or bright..

So much work.. so much fight.. if I keep going.. I'll break.. if I stop.. if I rest.. my mind will sink into the abyss..

SO WHATS THE POINT OF THIS POEM!? WHATS THE POINT OF THIS LIFE!?

IF I WIN OR LOSE, IM BEING STABBED WITH A KNIFE!

If I succeed and create! If I am BORN to be a star! Then why do I hate it so.. when people judge me from afar..?

If I fail.. and fade, I feel too cold.. I feel like stone.. sitting alone..

so what's the answer... "oh just do what you like"

but what if.. nothing.. is to my taste, void...

what if I do not enjoy drawing or writing or being alive? What if the pain i feel.. is because im simply alive?

This poem.. is too long.. and no one will read it..

I know Void.. I know I should beat it.. I should stop complaining, stop saying my woes

no one cares

and that's.. okay, in a way.

Not to me, I feel abandoned by humanity.

But to others.. who'll forget this poem in minutes.. in hours.. in days...

and soon.. the pain.. the light I once shone.. will be forgotten, like an old blaze..

And maybe that's okay.. for others I mean.. because they wont have to keep up with my countless schemes.. my ideas that fail.. my countless complaints..

they have their own lives

their own voids

their own ideas of escape..

So I leave you with this.. anyone who reads.. Goodbye, I think.. maybe.. who knows..

for if I quit now.. and tell you I will never return.. that would be a lie

because this poem has said, again and again.. that when i give up.. i feel like collapsing in...

and when i work.. to create something new? I feel a fraud.. I feel obtuse.. I feel so weak, my hands can't reach the pen.. so even if I wanted to create something.. It'll never happen.. not now or then..

I know Void.. you're tired of my words

tired of my countless repeating complaints

so I shall leave.. and maybe return..

or maybe not.. maybe rest in an urn..

do not worry, old friend.

for one day, maybe soon.

I'll join you...

[falsebooles123]

Finding the First Gay Kiss - Diary of a Big Ole Gay - 3/6/23

Hey Whores, How you been can't remember the last time we talked. Totally not staring into the abyss of fear and shitting myself. Hiiiiii.

(yeah I'm just trying my best right now and or going insane)

so I'm trying my best to get some hours this month so that I can in fact pay my bills and its been stressful. But it turns out that when I'm stressed I watch a lot of movies so heres what's been going on.

Victim (1961) dir. Basil Dearden

A spirtual sucessor to Anders die als Andern this is 2 hours of a crime thriller that just so happens to be about gay people. This film is part of British New Wave which tends to be very focused on british margenilized groups and Dearden manages to be surprisingly sympathetic for the time period. Sure this film features tortured gays who don't even get to fuck a twink but this is a lot better representation then most of the queer rep during the period.

Its important to recognize the effects that censoreship had on the time period. I still have to do some research on british censorship because it is different from american censorship but suffice to say, gays weren't meant to be depicted in a wholesome way so the Tortured Gay Trope stems from that influence. Gays who wanted to stick there dick in some pussy and be "fixed" was the story people could tell with gay people so it was the story they told.

Lust for a Vampire (1971) dir. Jimmy Sangster

The second in the Karnstein Trilogy (yes I watched all three), this one is only slightly lesbian. We have nubile women walking around with there titties out, we have pretty vampire lady being a little interested in the ladies and then .... she fucks a dude.

Yeah they no homoed this lesbian vampire. This is the last in the series that has any lesbian undertones as Twins of Evil is a lot more like a classic folk horror then a lesbian vampire story. There all alright films but I was also very sad when I watched them.

The Vampire Lovers (1970) dir. Roy Ward Baker

Oh Carmilla!

This film is the most faithful to the Carmilla canon. Its a movie where Baker told the Censor board. But Hays Prude's!!!!!! this is based on a classic gothic story, the Lesbanism is like so important to the plot and she has to have her titties out to its like symbolism you know and one they like play with each others tits thats like super hot... I mean like double symbolism. We're respecting the source material.

Yeah this is a movie that centers lesbians for the male gaze and who doesn't like tittys but theres also some aspects that are just gross. Apparently the young coquette was told that her nude scenes would only be for the "Japanese Audience" and the Carmilla Actor encouraged her to go nude despite her misgivings. So its giving double predatory lesbian vibes.

I will say that this is very faithful to the plot despite the fan service and they make a point of making these vampires follow the original rules of the Le Fanu story.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) dir. Richard Brooks

Fuck I forgot how hot the two leads were. Fun Fact: This film was in color because the director wanted to show off how pretty the actors eyes were which is absolutely a good reason.

This is another Tenessee Williams play which I feel like I have a relevant quote here somewhere.

Yeah, so as we know local asshole, Will Hays, was like wah wah theres to many coke orgies in my movies about white supremacy myths, think about the children just not the ones in the mines. (yes I understand that it was a multi-person thing and this stamp licker was just the figure head I too have read Hollywood Babylon now shush), so everyone got together to write a wet blanket code to censor shit and some of that shit was THE GAYS. Thats not to say that that inherenetly stopped queer films from happening, (through the gayest Code Film I have is Slyvia Scarlet after that we mostly have a lot of queer subtext and foreign films like Clud de Femmes or the Orphic Trilogy), but as we get into the 50s and 60s the main we began to see films be more about the stigma of gayness. Theres a few different films that act out the pansy scare, (Tea & Sympathy, The Childrens Hour), were people are accused of being little homos, and these types of sexual repression films were if were lucky its something like Victim (1961) or Detective (1968) were these homos are actually gay they just hate themselves, (remember that the Hays Code was like you can have shit they just have to be villanized or shown that its a tormented lifestyle: See the Queer-Coded Villian), and at worse its just implied that this is the reason this person was sad and killed themselves. 

T-Billy plays actually work well on this front which is probably one of the reasons why so many got made during this time frame. The Hays Prudes were loosening the iron grip on queer depictions and T-Billy's Ouvre was already playing with like the specter of queer subtext so it was a match made in some prudes queer-erasasing heaven. I think that its also a testiment to the power of how gay Tenessee Williams is, that when you literally do a hachet job and try to rip out the queerness of his films. The queerness is just felt that more strongly. He was a master of somehow writting negative queer representation. Storys were the missing person in the room is on everyones mind. 

wow honestly I have been popping off with my reviews lately.

So put it simply this movie has a lot of queer subtext but they also take out all of the parts of the original play that was actually super gay. Its still an amazing film but it misses points in the queer catergory due to censoreship.

A Taste of Honey (1961) dir. Tony Richardson

so lets talk about british new wave. basically it was a lot of arthouse nonsense adapting plays about disenfranchise poor brits. This film is about a bunch of british people "That just didn't exist". Namely people like single mothers, interraccial couples and a singuler gay.

I've been writing out full reviews for the last couple films and I'm just been very mentally drained lately. so if you want a bigger description check out my Letterboxd.

This films gay rep is absolutely shitty. This man doesn't even call himself gay his gal pal just insinuates it. he doesn't have a boyfriend hes literally just this artsy domestic sort and it is very lazy rep in terms of writing. Don't get me wrong as a film this disserves the accolades it has but it doesn't get points in the queer films category.

It might explain why I've had a hard time with these films as of late. The 1960s are kinda the low point of the queer movie watchlist as we arn't dealing with the sexy queer subtext, (rebecca is iconic we stan) and we arn't dealing with the bright aggresiveness of New Queer Wave so this decade is like the Queer Truama Porn of Early Queer Cinema (yeah thats what I'm calling it now)

Everything Else I Watched Recently

The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Broken Butterfly (1919), Thelma and Louise (1991), The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), The Toll of the Sea (1922). Antonio da Silva short films.

Also been watching a lot of television lately

Junji Ito Maniac - Trash

Cunk on Earth - Iconic

28 Days Haunted - absolute trash and iconic.

I'm gonna try to finish watching the staircase at some point this week and I will try to keep up with my gay movie watching i've just kinda burned out on life right now.

[faunastanza]

Thread into Althar

Thread into Althar, by Azlyn, Razca, Yurayana, Yevelle, Myandery, observed by Shizukan Despite how insanely overinvested this whole blog is in this comic, I don't actually check on Floraverse that often since it updates so sporadically. Like I said some time ago, sometimes months or even a year can go by before an update happens. Imagine my surprise when I did a periodic check on it as usual and saw that there were TWO updates!! Wow!! I went to check Glip's twitter for further context as Charlie Brown approaches the football every time, and of course, I landed flat on my back. Glip did have a doc they wrote up about how they regretted keeping someone on their discord from committing suicide because they were annoying though. This isn't a new sentiment for Glip at all - they've previously told people they'd be better off dead several times. Their total unawareness of how bad it makes them look is a bit striking though. "You said you don't care about Glip's real life, why do you keep checking their twitter?" It's true that I don't care about Glip's real life, I just want to know what's going on in their insane webcomic because it has some kind of sick hold on me, but the annoying thing is that Glip's real life is constantly bleeding into their comic. Is this character an actual villain, or are they someone Glip was mad at in their discord? Is this a plot development, or a veiled metaphor for a callout about them? Is this a character or is it just Marl or Pengo or Sila again? You constantly have to ask yourself these questions as you read the comic. I suppose it does make for a unique reading experience. For fun, here's the recent info Glip posted that may or may not influence this update or future ones - one of the mods on their discord got outed for being a pedo and a zoophile and was banned. This seems to happen a lot on their discord for some reason, it's so weird!! They're also in a feud with someone who knew the pedo who made a zine about their discord being a cult and claimed Glip was trying to human traffic them. "Who cares, this is unrelated drama" IS IT?? IS IT REALLY??? You can never be sure!! You'll just have to keep it in mind whenever you read a Floraverse update from now on!! They apparently also have a podcast of sorts where they talk about "the truth" of what goes on in the discord and such but the episodes are like three hours long and I feel like listening to them is taking things too far. I already know I'm staring into the abyss, I've got to have limits. Also, three+ hours??? I already spend way too much time thinking about all this crap as it is. Anyway, this is "by" a bunch of people but it's just the characters that are in the RP. We know Glip and Pengo are in the RP but how many other people, I don't know. They have multiple characters running around after all. We're introduced to a dude in a sombrero and a Hot Topic looking critter.

and an unpalatable muffin

Sombrero's name is Myandery and the Hot Topic thing is Shizukan. Myandery notices that Shizukan has a little compact from Teslic Yard and asks if it's supposed to have that. In response Shizukan holds the compact out out to Myandery, who remembers that Shizukan can't speak. It takes the compact while Shizukan whirls its arms around to make threads, just like in the title!!

 buy me on a shirt

Shizukan whipping its arms around serves as a way to scene change via the compact, so we're going to be hopping around a bit. We see Azlyn/Orobas finally! She's asking everyone for help with a ritual to help someone "whose name was injured". If you remember way back when, one of the ways to protect yourself from an angel was to repeat your name and occupation over and over. I'm assuming that's related but it's not explained so, who knows.

She says that his name was very important and that without it, we "lost him" for a while, but if they give him a new one, he'll come back. She says that we can find a new name for him with enough love, since love is about reaching out and inviting in. Azlyn says that Gaap is asking for letters of love, condensed into glyphs (Andre can't read, remember). She says the first part is writing out the letter, not just imagining it in your head but writing it for real. She says that she wrote one, but it's a little unorthodox.

Her letter is clearly about Amdusias, although she doesn't remember her apparently. She says that she knows her voice and her face, but when she thinks about it they disappear, like notes to a song she can't remember (Amdusias taught her a song and told her not to forget it, but she always does). She talks about how important Amdusias is and how she matters to her, and that even if she can't remember/doesn't know who she is, she knows something's missing and she mourns not being with her, whoever she is. She wonders how they'll meet and what binds them together so strongly that she remembers shadows of her even now, without fully knowing her. She gets teary, wondering when she'll meet her and that all she can do is wait. She then says she's a fortune teller, and a side effect of that can be prophetic dreams, so this letter is for someone she hasn't met yet.

Where this is on the timeline is unclear, and we're possibly in another frequency entirely so shrug!! We last saw Amdusias having nightmares or something on Trebol and when she woke up Orobas wasn't there, so who knows. I like this scene though and getting glimpses of Orobas and Amdusias again. Reminders of a simpler time and better characters in this comic's history...

where is my big-handed girlfriend

We cut to a brief glimpse of the Worthworm on the Andre painting, then Shizukan shifts the scene again. We meet a dude who looks like a cross between a snake and a mantis. This is Razca, one of the heads of the other religions. She talks a bit differently and capitalize random nouns. She's heard about Gaap's request for letters and want to address her congregation about it.

beware the heart tail Razca says that it might be hard to think of a good feeling to send out for Gaap's request, so she wants to talk about her own feelings in hopes it'll inspire their congregation to think about theirs and decide if they want to do Gaap's request or not.

Razca talks about loss and deaths in her family and how it feels to grieve and miss them every day. This is also well done and genuine, which makes me suspect someone other than Glip wrote it.

it sounds like she's talking about death but it could just be someone who left but eh, negligible difference Anyway, Razca says that because she wishes she could have that person back so much, the chance to bring someone back is very precious, so she's going to help Gaap as best she can. She says that some believe that people who've died should be allowed to rest, but she sees it as a chance for a new beginning and that if the ritual works, she wants to be part of it.

We get a brief shot of Andre when he burned Beleth to death, although in this shot he's burning an open door. Shizukan then cuts to a white uniqorn somewhere. A dog comes in and says that the Synemetrics are on the move, and asks the uniqorn if he has thoughts about Gaap's call for assistance. Turns out that the uniqorn is in charge of Psia'ago, or Pengo's religion I assume. He says that if people in Pengoism want to help out Gaap then fine, it's their call.

looks kind of like a mouse

The dog asks if Yevelle is also going to help, but he say he's hesitant to talk about love, and he thinks talking about love for a ritual is disrespectful. The dog, whose name is Hilo or Milo but the font is so weird I can't tell, let's go with Milo, asks if it's because Yevelle is afraid of being hurt. This question pisses Yevelle off as he says no one can hurt him. Milo is unimpressed, so Yevelle asks if saying "I am afraid" would please them. Milo says they just want to know what Yevelle is actually feeling.

Yevelle says he's asking his people to help constructively if they do decide to help Gaap. He hopes that the people of Althar will respond with love untainted by malice, as love tainted with malice can be hard to unravel if sweetened enough. Glip's mentioned malice a few times before, in particular saying it was what broke the Mask of the Sun and led to all those insane mspaint VNs a while back. Could be related, could not be related. Just making a note of it.

Milo turns to leave for their nightly rounds, as Yevelle instructed. Yevelle comes over to put their hood up for them, chiding them not to do anything he wouldn't do, and Milo jokes back while calling them Vel, so these two are either friends or an item. My money is on the latter.

We get a brief cut of Nuez looking at Phesund in her ugly fullbody paintbrush tail form. Shizukan tries to move the scene again but something wrong happens and there's static instead. We then get a goofy news report on the whole business from an unknown person. They call Gaap the "high priestident" which I kind of like ngl. The newscaster, a sun looking thing with a goofy face, says that the Payayan temple is near the Synemetric one, saying it's an eyesore, and brings us inside. There's a stripey cat walking around.

seems like they have consistent trouble with the word "president"

The cat tells Belnono (lol) to knock off the fake newscasting. Belnono is this ridiculous looking "dog" made out of leather straps and what appears to be a flat sundial for a head.

what

The cat's name is Yurayana and she is proportioned a bit like a triangle.

tapering up to a point Belnono has a moon counterpart called Belauna because of course. An unknown figure says something to Yurayana but we don't know what. The two dogs bicker about correlation and causation as Yurayana continues down the hallway. Yurayana tells them to knock it off since she's trying to focus. They ask if she's going to send a glyph, with Moondog sure that she will since she's good and kind and loyal, and Sundog expressing skepticism. This makes Yurayana snap at them angrily to be quiet, which scares them. She walks off in silence and the dogs follow her.

We get a brief shot of what looks like the plague doctor from last time approaching Nuez but she has a lot of weird wingy things around her.

no eyes and fire? lame

It looks like she might be protecting Phesund (birdform) from the plague doctor. Shizukan seems to regain control and switches everything back to Azlynobas. She talks about how to turn your letter into a glyph. Basically you think about your letter and then draw whatever shapes come into your mind.

The screen goes dim and Myandery asks if Shizukan came out all this way just to show it this. It tries to move its strings around but nothing happens, so it nods. Myandery says that the faces all looked familiar and asks if Shizukan knew it'd see familiar things. Shizukan shakes its head, then nods.

Myandery says their former teacher was in there, someone who used to be known as Andrealphus before Myandery came here (to Althar I assume). It says it knows that Andre is an important figure in Synemetricism and that its friend said Andre was an Arch Magni. Myandery then says that its friend used to be an angel (you can cure that??) and was responsible for "asking a question" that put us (not sure who the us is here) in Undertown, where angels hang out. It's where Glip and Pengo had that talk but I'm not sure if its where all the mspaint vns happened or not. Who knows.

funkopop coming soon

Myandery says it saw Dr. Curse (the plague doctor? but I thought it was that tv thing) and Nuez, who it says helped it with the ritual that "put intentions" into the collar around Shizukan's neck. It then apologizes if the collar is hurting Shizukan. Shizukan gives it a few looks and then waves goodbye and leaves.

We cut to Mel's house sometime later, and it turns out Mel was the beecat. They're with some kind of bizarre looking bird thing and a big egg. They say a synemetric came by talking about the ritual. The bird is TALwire- what??? Why is TALwire a bird??? WHat???? What???

if i open my mouth too wide my eye hurts When did this happen??? Oh, right, in the RP no one got to see I assume. Great! Great. That's great. Mel shows TALwire a glyph and says that they said stuff that sounded like "what you saw" but the paper has more details. They give a bunch of dates that's just when the RP starts. She refers to Andre as the "to-be-named one" and basically explains what you have to do to fill the RP prompt of writing a letter/glyph to Gaap.

Mel then says the bees were acting different and they got a weird feeling from them. They say the dance the bees did reminds them of when they left a fire on when they didn't mean to for a few hours. The fire didn't hurt anyone but it could have been worse. They say it also reminds them of when a Zweitru came to the door which reminds them of ANOTHER fire that sparked and scared them. They thought a lot about fires and the importance of ponds and water. Deep stuff.

The Zweitru came back later and told them about a Zweitru turning into an angel, but the Zweitru were annoyed everyone was making such a big deal about it, like it didn't matter much to them. They figure that they felt like people were more eager for an excuse to be mad at Zweitruity than worried about the new angel. You'd think the incredibly stupid name would be enough of an excuse to be mad but hey.

Mel then says they've been rambling and asks if they should go to Razca for help. TALwire says sure. They bring the egg. And then that's it! That's the end!!

What about all the Mesund Phesund Phesomme Deca stuff from the last VN? You fool. We'll never know. Glip mentions in the description that this has a glimpse of Teslic Yard (where? where myandery and shizukan were?) and again begs you to join the discord in BOLD. PLEASE JOIN!! PLEASE JOIN!! You can talk about the update too!! You don't have to RP!! PLEASE JOIN!! PLEASE JOIN!!! (don't join)

[originalfireemblemscenarios]

[Character interaction thingy with Yuri! 🍹 fem!reader /c with a fake dating plotline near the ball!]

"Is that to say that you don't want to spend the entirety of the ball with me, Yuri? You wound me," said Y/n with a teasing smile, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the pillar that they were hiding behind to have this clandestine conversation. "You'd be surprised at how quickly gossip can spread around Garreg Mach. These are teenagers, after all." And even though some were getting ready to become knights or politically significant lords, there was nothing like a school environment that perpetuated a culture of gossip and cliques. Though, it was probable that the incident in the Abyss had only gone around so quickly because Yuri's enormous influence was actually known there, in comparison to the surface where he wasn't even a student, much less on anyone's radar.

"You know, it might just be easier if you accept the Professor's offer to join the Blue Lions," she remarked. "Join as quickly as you can and we expedite the dating process a little. Say that it was a match made by the goddess, or whatever lovestruck phrase you'd like." But that also meant that they'd have to be convincing in front of people; rather than just making a relationship out of thin air, they'd have to act out the birth of it as well. "Or you could make up a story of our initial meeting if that suits your fancy more."

I don't remember if we mentioned it- so uh ig we're going with male Byleth?

Also I know I just made an announcement that I'll post a bit of the interactions rn but I had a draft and kiiinda didn't hit to post it xD

I'm no longer accepting starters, right now I'm only writing continuations!

~💘

He thought about that background on your feelings "Hm then how about I say it like this" he prepared himself to sound more dramatic "Fate has graced my life with yours. With feelings so strong there was no need for a proper story to be told of our first meeting" he laughed it off. But his joking around didn't end "Oh but I hold you so dear it pains me to be away from you, my love! You're right, I shall accept the invitation to the blue lion's house right away" he might've said it a little bit too loud, but nobody should overhear his harmless joke...

And it turns out that the very person he wanted to avoid just walked pass you as he exclaimed it "Oh, so you made up your mind?" the teacher stared blankly. Turns out your conversation wasn't as private.

Yuri felt like today really wasn't his day, usually he doesn't slip like this often especially within such a short period of time. He was going to accept on his terms but Byleth's presence did surprise him.

[hot-wiings]

The One Where You're Stuck At A Work Christmas Party, But At Least You Have Your Cute, Charming Coworker At Your Side.

Edited: 12-8-2020

"Would you like to pay for that upfront, or at the end of the night?"

“Isn't this an open bar party?”

You stared at the bartender with confounded and bewildered eyes and she nervously shifted as she stood, her eyes looking at the counter, occasionally glancing at other people at the bar avoiding your eyes. You took one strong whiff in her general direction and you could get a good reading on her aura, her feelings.

Molten Cheese; Anxiety. Rotten Eggs; Nervousness. Formaldehyde; Fear. 

It was your quirk that gave you such access to her vibes. You could smell emotions and feelings, provided you were within smelling distance then you could release your on pungent scents and alter someone's emotions, however, the stronger the emotions of a person then sometimes it would alter your mood. When you were younger you couldn't understand it, you didn't understand these feelings you felt or why you could smell people so strongly, as you got older you realized what each scent meant, the more pungent the stronger the feeling, the more floral meant someone was in a positive mood, and the more putrid meant they were the latter. 

“I’m sorry ma’am, this is not an open bar.  I can make a tab for you...”

You had to roll your eyes. Your company was probably the only company not to spring for an open bar for a Christmas party. You knew it was to discourage drinking, but they had to understand, as a hero, you dealt with a lot of things on your average day. The people you don't save, the countless lives that were waste and killed, children and the elderly, the horrors you saw on the battlefield. Sometimes you needed to let loose from all it, and whom more responsible to drink than a party full of heroes? Your bosses would digress.

Of course, none of this was the bartender's fault, and you felt slightly bad for getting upset after you smelled her aroma. She was young, obviously new to her job, and nervous to be dealing with alcoholics and tipsy people for the first time. Even if everyone here was probably a hero, it could still be very daunting. You never knew how someone would react under the influence, especially someone you didn't personally know.

“This is your first day on the job isn't it?”

“Is it that obvious? It's not just my first day, it's my first job.”

The girl nervously chuckled while she scratched the back of her neck, still nervously avoiding your eyes. You tapped your foot against the floor, her strong nerves beginning to affect your mood, and take over your nervous system. This was a great quirk to use on the field, especially in hostage situations, it helped you understand villains and easily sway their decision to harm people, but your mood was so easily affected by other negative emotions. It was so draining to try and change someone's mood to stop you from being affected, you changed one person, and soon three negative auras replacing it.

“That explains a lot, you're perfume is so pungent."

"Oh! You're the smelly hero, oh gosh- I- uh..."

Her eyes lit up as she realized who you were and she smiled, but the smile quickly faded as she realized what she had called you. It wasn't the first time someone realized who you were and it wouldn't be the last but never had someone so horribly botched your hero name. Maybe it was the nerves, the anxiety, the embarrassment, and every strong negative emotion she was feeling being absorbed up into your mood, but you felt completely mortified. You felt embarrassed with her and suddenly, you were crossed with the anxious thought about whether that's what your coworker called you behind your back. You wanted to cry. It was so irrational, but that's what her vibes were making you feel.

Christmas Cookies; Joy. Pine Trees; Relaxation. Candy Canes; Energetic.

The new smells engulfed you. They surrounded you as if you were inside a bakery. They entered your lungs, with each breath out and each new intake of oxygen it was there, you couldn't escape it and you didn't want to. It was distinctly joyful, distinctly happy and laidback, distinctly him. No matter how his smells changed on a day to day basis, you would recognize his scent anywhere. It was so pungent, so strong, and you could smell a lingering scent of the ocean. The smells wrapped you up and shifted your mood, they took away every negative emotion coursing through your body and replaced it with those of positivity.

You looked over your shoulder with a smile on your face as you spotted him. The Stun Gun Hero: Charge Bolt. He had a grin on his face as he sauntered over to you at the bar and occupied the barstool next to you.

"Sunset rum for the lady, on me."

The woman scurried away to make the drink with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. You turned to Denki and smiled. You didn't know if it was purely lack of brain cells, or what, but the man was always grinning. He was always smiling, he was always happy. Even on bad days, even when battling villains he seemed to reek of dopamine, serotonin, happy endorphins. You didn't know how he did it, but you were grateful for it. On days when you were stuck in the office doing paperwork or studying up on the villains you were tracking down, your coworkers seemed to bring you down. So many negative feelings from different people took hold of you, sometimes you couldn't handle all of them at once and you needed to escape it all.

That's when you discovered Denki Kaminari, a faint scent of happiness among the abyss of dark emotions. Sometimes you found yourself craving his scent, sometimes you found yourself just standing outside of his office door, just breathing him in. You were sure he'd find it weird that you stood outside his office door trying to get a whiff of his smell, but it was so much more than that. He helped you feel good, he helped the bad feelings go away and he didn't even know.

"You don't have to pay for my drink."

"But I want to, besides, I can tell you've had a pretty rough day."

“I'd rather be at home, management said I had to come, apparently I'm not social enough, and I need to strengthen my relationships with the other heroes.”

“What a pain. I came for the drinks, didn't realize they weren't free.”

The bartender set down your drink in front of you and you took a swig from it, letting the alcohol wash over your senses as you turned to Denki again. It was a strong drink and you could already feel it taking its toll, but Denki had paid for it, and wouldn't it be rude not to drink it?

“Fuck work parties, am I right?”

“Well, they're not all bad. The foods free, and I'm sitting here with a really beautiful woman.”

A blush makes way across your face, dusting your cheeks a pink color as you turn your gaze back to your drink. You thought about how to reply to his blatant flirting as you swirled the liquid around in your cup. He always threw comments like this towards you. After a training session, after you'd taken down a villain together, when you were stuck in the elevator, and even by the coffee machine. If it was anybody else but Denki, you would've filed a sexual harassment charge, but Denki was so kind and so nice about it. His smell wasn't hostile or putrid, it was always sweet. He never threw these compliments your way when you were alone, he always did it in the presence of others. He did that to avoid making you uncomfortable by giving you flirtatious attention alone, but you always took it as ungenuine feelings, but he did it so often, and so kindly, perhaps he did mean his words. Maybe it was his feelings affecting yours, or maybe it was the alcohol, but you flirted back in your own coy way.

“True’ and I have the pleasure of having the company of such a charming, handsome man.”

Denki lightly chucked at your words, flattered and surprised you flirted back. Through all his time knowing you, you just blushed and thanked him for the compliment. Truthfully, he was ready to give up on his attempts, but you had never told him you didn't like his subtle advances. His chuckle only increased the blush on your cheeks. You brought your cup up to your lips and emptied the remainder of the contents down your throat, letting the liquid courage wash over you completely, enhancing your sense of smell and making you slightly tipsy. You always had been a lightweight, and how were you to know sunset rum was eighty percent alcohol, that's sixteen times the amount of the average beer.

“So I- Are you okay?”

Your eyes were closed, making you look asleep. Leaning closer to Denki, trying to get a better whiff of him, you were practically falling out of your barstool. Denki stood up from his stool and gently pushed you back into yours so you wouldn't fall, but instead, you gripped onto his jacket and pulled him closer to you.

“I’m fine! You just- God! You smell like Christmas!”

Denki would have blushed or laughed at your words, but your tone had gotten louder and your words were slightly slurred. You were obviously drunk, or at least seriously tipsy. If he had known you were such a lightweight he would've ordered you a lighter drink. 

“Ma’am, can I have water?”

“Sure.”

“I don't need water, I'm not drunk.”

“Right, you want to jump my bones sober then?”

Your hands were still gripping Denki's jacket and your nose was in his neck, practically hugging him. In your defense, he was the one who made the first move by pushing you back in your chair. 

“I’m not trying to jump your bones! You just smell so good, you always smell good.”

You whined your words out and a deep blush came across Denki as your words entered his ears. Denki would never admit it to anyone, but the real reason he came here tonight was because he heard you would be there. Over the years of working with you, he had developed a small crush. You were so admirable, so amazing. You dedicated your career not to just saving people, but using your quirk to save the criminals, to understanding them and taking them down using pathos rather than violence. 

“I always smell good?”

“Yes! God yes. I love the way you smell, it makes me so happy and warm. Sometimes I walk by your office just to steal some of your serotonin.”

Your confession made Denki smile as the bartender set down a cup of water in front of you. Embarrassment flooded your body as you realized what you had said to him. When you were tipsy you could say some honest things, but this was a deep secret you'd been harboring.

“I shouldn't have drank, I can't believe I said that. I- I should go home.”

You stood up from the stool with your bag in hand, tripping slightly as you went. Denki quickly grabbed onto your wrist and tugged you towards him. Still buzzed, you didn't fight him and tumbled towards his chest. 

"Don't go, you're drunk. If anything happened to you, I wouldn't forgive myself. Have a glass of water."

"This is embarrassing. I'm not being creepy, I swear. Your happy mood, it helps calm me down."

“You know, my flirting isn't meaningless. I think your quirk is neat and special, I think you're neat and special. If smelling me helps you calm down, then by all means, next time come into my office."

You took the glass of water and took tiny little sips to help sober yourself up. A blush spread across your face again, Denki had just indirectly confessed to you. You thought his flirting was meaningless, you thought he didn't really like you like that. You had such a fear of rejection around him, scared he would find your smelling habits weird, but he didn't. You leaned up to Denki again, this time was not to smell him drunkly, but to place a quick, sweet, chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Think you can say all of that to me tomorrow when I'm sober?"

"Depends. Tomorrow's Christmas, do you want to see me tomorrow, or are you going to regret tonight? Regret accepting my drink, regret spending the evening with me."

Denki bit his lip, and a new scent came from him. A foreign one. You had never smelt such a thing coming from him. He had always been so happy, but now you could smell fear, anxiety, everything the waitress reeked of earlier. It appeared you were not the only one with worries and fear of rejection. Lacing your fingers with Denki's, you reassured him the only way your inebriated mind could think of, by using a pickup line.

"You wanna know what I told Santa I wanted for Christmas?"

"Hmm?"

"Told him I wanted you."

[bnha-almost-a-hero]

Can u write a part two to game over 😭😭 I'm still recovering from the heart break, maybe a lil happier ending 🥺🥺

a/n; eeep— my first request! tysm and of course I can write a sequel! I was actually planning on tying up the ending because I can’t handle rough angst! apologies for the long wait! also my tags are fixed, yay!

⋆｡⋆☂˚——RESTART.

ft. shigaraki tomura. ᵖᵃʳᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ ( ʳᵉᵃᵈ ᶠᵒʳ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉˣᵗ ): game over. ᵖˢᵈ: ☄️. ˢᵘᵐᵐᵃʳʸ: you come back. ʷᵃʳⁿⁱⁿᵍˢ: slight! manipulation, slight! angst, slightly! ooc? fucked up formatting, thanks tumblr.                                           ‧̍̊˙˚˙——shigaraki tomura. The sky's dark with the dim swirl of storm clouds. Splashes of rain adorned your clothes, soaking you through to the bone, leaving you feeling sticky and wet. The droplets run down your hand, trace along the bones and the flesh to finally pool at your fingertips and splash down onto the rocky concrete of Kamino Ward. His hideout seems like any old office building, with its windows tinted black and the sleek, dark foundations. Given his rich benefactor, it was no wonder he could afford such an estate. Yet, as you bask in the moon's reflective glow on the building, you can't help but feel the stinging of your eyes and the subtle bucking of your legs as you stare up at it. He'd always bring you here after a day of gaming in the arcade or perusing the shopping centres. You'd spend a second staring up at the building, then envelop your hands in his. Your thumb would trace the bony expanse of skin and you would plead for him to take better care of himself and eat more. He'd scoff and murmur that you were 'getting soft' and then plant a kiss on your plush lips. You had lost that opportunity. Lost that life. Lost his love. A tear slips past the indent of your tear duct, spills forth to drop onto the concrete. The tear runs off into the city grates, the abyss of dark sorrows swallowing it whole. Ice freezes your clothes taut to your skin. The chill wracks through your bones, they rake against each other, rattling through your body. You reach a hand up, rap against the door five times. You prayed it would be Toga who would answer; someone who would listen to your plea with open ears and without glaring disdain. You needed him to hear you out; to open your heart to you once more. Tomura was emotional—you had known that when you had first petitioned to join his League. Now that you had left, you came to realise that the League went hand-in-hand with himself and, in turn, his ego. If you really wanted to keep your relationship with him without being directly involved with his League, you had to change your strategy. And Tomura had taught you many things about strategy—he had taught you to think about life as a game. The people you flashed past in the streets were NPCs, each with their individual lines of code dictating their every action. Spec into charisma and you could influence them and their decisions. Fail a speech check and you would be locked out future dialogue. You had been locked out of Tomura's dialogue now, and, all you could do was press Restart. The door to the Kamino hideout swings open gently and golden, Felidae eyes stare back at you, narrowed with a cheeky playfulness. "Oh, hey, [First]-chan!" Toga greets, her fangs flashing as she smiles. It's as much a cute greeting as it is a warning. "Tomura's been so grumpy without you, please come cheer him up." Your lips move without you thinking and the words sound so foreign to you. "I just want to talk with him... In private, if that's okay." You see Toga's brow lift and the shadow of realization pass over her eyes. "Oh! Sure, he's in his room." "Thank you, Himiko," You dip your head her way, offer a genuine smile and step inside as she holds the door open for you. "You're such a sweetheart." You pass the speech check and she beams at you, then skips off to bother Spinner. As you close the door, you take an opportunity to glance over the hideout. It's mostly empty, no-one is there except for Toga, Spinner and Kurogiri. They don't take notice of you and you're grateful for that. You run upstairs, too quickly for any thought to register, but slow enough to not trip. Your feet hurt, heels aching, toes twitching underneath your shoes. Still, you keep on, navigating through the twisting hallways and towards the cold door of Tomura's room. You take a deep sigh, look up towards the ceiling and prepare yourself for a mental lashing. I'm fine, you think as you angle your shoulders backwards and push your chest out, I am fine. 

You close your eyes.You knock on the door, press 'Restart'.

You can see the glaring lights of the machine of life; just as you see the flash of Tomura's consoles from the slits underneath the door.

You can hear the cooling whirr of the console as it shuts down and restarts; just as you hear the pitter-patter of Tomura's feet.

The console powers on again, displaying the main menu. 

Tomura unlocks the door and you open your eyes once more, staring at his crimson eyes. You gulp.

"You—." He sneers, as he surveys you. "Who let you in—? Fucking useless NPCs..."

"Tomu, I—."His arms move to shut the door on you, but you lunge forward past the threshold and into his room proper. 

His hands reach to push you back, but they stop inches away from your face. His eyes flash darkly and his arm collapses to his side.

"Get out—."

"I'm sorry!" You stammer and you thrust your body up against him, breathing in the dull must of chips and cheese dust. "I'm so sorry, just let me speak, please!"

He doesn't say anything. 

"I don't want to be a member of the League, that part's true," You start, brushing your hands down his hoodie. "But I want to stay with you, I want to help out around the hideouts, I just don't want to go on missions." 

You look at him, a tear slipping out your eyes. "Please, please let me restart." 

He looks away, but you cup his cheek and force him to look at you. "Please, Tomu, don't run away again. Let's solve this together."

You can see him working out the pros and cons and all the factors and divisors before he sighs, "Fine, but don't expect me to forgive you just like that after that."

You press a soft kiss to his cheek. "I wouldn't have it any other way."