#and overall the animation wasn't distracting

[vaugarde]

video game animations for me are like... not really the decisive factor to me, even if the presentation of a game is kinda bad i can tolerate it. but my bar is that i dont want it to be distractingly bad yknow? 

sadly pokemon fits into distractingly bad tho 

[sunnie-writes]

cupid's chokehold.

pairing: jax x cupid!gn!reader

tags & tropes: fluff, shameless flirting, fell first/fell harder

summary: you were absolutely confused because of two things: one, you got transported to a random dimension and became a totally different person, gaining the title of a cupid, and two, you had fallen in love at first sight with the most sarcastic purple rabbit man ever. well, at least you didn't felt like complaining on the second part.

tell me, sunnie!!: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA... anyways, hiiiii:3 i got a new fandom added to my brain, injected it into my veins and now i am addicted. so, this funky little guy didn't actually catch my attention at first but then i watched some edits and was like "HMMMMMM i mean yeah sure" and then i decided to check tumblr, stumbled on a fic of him and went "OH. OH." yk?? anyways, i hope you guys enjoy this bc i wrote it instead of sleeping and i have to wake up early tomorrow el oh el!!1!1!1!1

warnings?: kissing, suggestive(?) i mean it's just neck biting but idk........

first of all, you don't know how the hell you are... here, nor why you've been stuck in this place for two weeks already.

it's a colorful world, saturated to the maximum amount possible. you know, the type to burn your eyes if you stare at a specific spot for too long. it also looked like some kind of fever dream, with all the toys scattered and the way different people? characters? looked like.

not like you can say much, you have heart shaped pupils and you're wearing something that looks like an ancient greece tunic. also, sandals. you have these big feathered white wings that are a pinkish hue at the tip of every single feather. you tried pulling one out to see if it was actually real, resulting in a yelp from your mouth. it kinda hurts.

and that reaction caused a chuckle to come from someone who has your eyes dedicated to just admiring them.

frankly speaking, if you went back and told your past self that by putting those weird vr headset glasses on you would be signing up to falling for a tall and lanky purple rabbit with a yellow smile, you would probably just chuckle and still do it, but with even more determination than before. eh, what can you say? you've always been attracted to the weirdest characters anyways.

but this... this was real, he was real and he was talking to other real weird animated people. ragatha rambled next to you about... honestly, you didn't even know, too busy watching from afar a certain rabbit. this was the start to possibly one of your most frustrating crushes ever.

"[name]? are you okay? you seem more distracted today?" she worriedly asked, putting her hand on your shoulder, "you shouldn't think too much about trying to find an exit if that's what you're thinking about, you might get abs-"

"huh? no, i wasn't thinking about that!" you quickly hurried to give an explanation, trying to dismiss that idea from her, but your eyes darted again to the overall wearing guy and she followed your gaze.

she slowly moved her head back at you after seeing what you were so... distracted about. a smirk broke in her face.

"oooh, little [nickname] has a cruuush?" ragatha teased you.

"wha- no- that's not-" before you could continue, your flushed cheeks got even more red as you saw him approaching. you immediately shut your mouth and just looked at the floor, trying to quickly hide your face

"sup', what are you two gossiping about today?" jax spoke in a mocking, sultry tone that had melting down a drain... not literally though.

"oh, nothing. you know, just the usual!" ragatha quickly tried to hide that topic from him, trying to distract or something. play it cool!

"uh-huh, and why is little cupid over here heating up like a preheated oven?" you almost choked on spit before looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and slightly flushed cheeks.

"none of your business, jax, don't bring your teasing and mocking over to [name]!"

"aww, why not?" jax dropped his hand on your shoulder, "say, little cupid, i heard doll face over here mentioning a crush, who do ya' have the hots for?"

your mind instantly went to answer "you" internally z meanwhile, your lips just answered in an almost quiet sound.

"i'm not telling you."

"huh, and why is that?" he leaned in close, and suddenly you felt absurdly claustrophobic.

he looks so... absurdly attractive with that smirk. you wish you could wipe it off of his face.

"because..." it doesn't take too long to come up with an excuse, you're an overthinker who is always prepared for this kind of situation, "you would mock me for it, and i don't feel like getting bullied by a purple beanpole."

"gasp, you wound me with your hateful words!" he dramatically posed, meanwhile ragatha chuckled in the background. "how can a cupid, made of pure love, be this mean?"

you just lightly punched him in the arm at that.

---

night time seemed like a blur to you in this world. sleep? never heard of that.

it's been a month already and your crush hasn't faltered. instead, it got bigger each day, but to be fair, it was impossible for it to not grow. jax decided that, for some reason, he liked teasing you a bit too much since he found out you might have a crush on someone.

playful flirting seemed to be his favorite to use on you, since you just tried your best to not show how it actually affected you. honestly, you felt like some kind of cliche teenager movie where you're about to write his name on a notebook with hearts all around it.

and that felt too cheesy, even for a cupid.

---

oh my stars, he wishes it's him.

you know, at first when you arrived at the digital circus, jax paid no mind to you. i mean, yeah, you were probably the cutest person in this digital purgatory, but he didn't think that he could fall for anyone in here, this isn't some weird sitcom episode. but it was starting to get difficult to not let him lose himself in a romantic trance when you were around.

he wonders if you used anything on him that could've possibly made him slowly fall for you, hard.

in the second week, he began noticing things about you. for example, you laughed at his jokes and sarcastic personality, got irritated for his pranks but never screamed at him, just shrugging it off like normally, you didn't even care when he stole something from your room.

it was mind breaking to just try and see what could get a reaction out of you towards him. until it was revealed that you had a crush on someone in that place.

jax isn't dumb, he already caught you looking at him from afar just to fastly change your gaze and get flustered, how your hands trembled when you were near him, heart eyes expanding when he talked to you. so, just to test if his theory was real, he decided to leave a subtle flirt for you. and that was checkmate.

he thought at first that it was weird, that maybe he could just play with you a little bit and entertain your little crush on him. but then, the spell turned against him. you flirted back once, and that made him feel awfully fuzzy minded. now, he was the one staring at you from afar sometimes.

that wasn't in his plans, falling for you even harder than you fell for him wasn't supposed to happen. yet, it did anyway.

and now the realization dawned on him that, at some point, he's going to have to either confess or simply hide that for forever, since that's the time they're gonna be stuck in the same dimension together. how fun, isn't it?

---

your feet took you outside of the tent, as everybody was now sleeping comfortably in their own rooms. well, at least you thought they were. stepping onto the grass and breathing in some fresh air, you looked up, waved at the sun and the moon, who smiled back at you contently. then you finally sat down and layed on the saturated green ground, looking up at the fake stars.

you sighed heavily, trying to distract your worried mind that screamed about wanting to get out and at the same time never wanting to leave. it was downright confusing, and left you with pent up energy that made your brain go 100/mph.

you heard footsteps behind you, looking up just to meet with a yellow smile and cartoonish eyes. you immediately gulped as his smirk grew.

"heyyy little cupid, what are you doing here so late?" he questioned you with a lower tone of voice before sitting down by your side. you immediately sat up too.

"just... thinking about some stuff." not losing any chance, you tried to start a conversation. "what about you?"

"meh, just bored and couldn't sleep." jax then looked at you in the eyes. "what could you possibly be thinking about?"

"ah, you know... just the usual!" you tried to quickly change topics, you didn't feel like traumadumping on anyone today nor did you feel like telling him that he's the reason you didn't abstract yet.

"and, does the usual involve your secret little crush?"

your breathe hitches, "why are you so curious about who i like?"

"i just am, it's interesting to see your reactions when i mention them." he leaned down, holding his head with his hand as he still stared at you. "why don't you tell me who it is? i'm starting to get the wrong idea that it's me since you refuse to speak about the mystery person to me."

you think you just felt your heart stop. your eyes go wide and you can feel the heat coursing through your body, blood rushing and flushing your cheeks. you know what? okay then, since there is no escape from this situation, might as well finish the night with a bang before you leave to sleep.

"that's... not the wrong idea at all." you confessed, watching as his eyes went wide in a millisecond.

"what." he spoke before sitting up and grabbing your shoulders. "you're not fucking with me, are ya?"

you shook your head while embarrassingly looking to the floor, feeling frustration pooling in your head.

"no, i'm not. i like you jax, i like your stupid pranks, your stupid jokes, your mischievous smile, your ey-" you were cut off by lips meeting with yours.

as your current situation settled in your mind, you got yourself comfortable and closes your eyes, lacing your arms around his neck and pulling him even closer before you two fell back again, you under him. your stomach was doing backflips, breaking down at the feeling of being reciprocated.

when you finally broke apart, your heart eyes were absurdly big, staring at him while you panted for air. he chuckled at your face, giving a big smile while himself was actually melting at finally having you in his arms. jax laid his head on between your neck and your shoulder. you petted his head, until you felt something.

he was biting your neck, leaving love bites and hickeys behind.

first of all, you didn't even knew if he could open his mouth, but apparently he could (?). you couldn't think much of it, too busy holding back an embarrassing whimper. you held his head and tried not to close your legs around his waist as he continued to bite.

he pulled back, looking at you with a smirk and raised eyebrows.

"well, look what a mess i've done, darlin'. how do ya' feel?"

you couldn't even answer, feeling absolutely overwhelmed by his hand on your waist, the knee resting between your legs and your mind slowly losing it's control. instead of an answer, you just pulled him down for another kiss.

yeah, you probably were enjoying that, but jax? ha! in his mind, he was melting down a drain, patting himself in the back for the idea of deciding to take a night walk and accidentally seeing you. he grinned into the french kiss, feeling absurdly high at the moment.

he wasn't sure how everyone would react to you finally being his, not that he cared about their opinion, but he thinks if would be funny to see their faces. he can't wait for it to happen, but now it's not time to think about that.

it's time for him to think on how to calm his rapidly beating heart that might give you the hint that he loves you way more than you love him.

tell me, sunnie!!: AAAAA i finished writing this only the next day, sorry if it's too short btw!! i know it missed a lot and should have more things but it was rlly rushed bc i want to write more of him <\33 but yeah, thank you for reading sunshine!!

[alex-rambles]

For personality for someone into cryptid academia, I’d say the reader be almost like dipper but sorta different? Like keeps to themselves, overall loves walking in the woods. And also thinks like ford.

Also here are pictures

Thanks for the info! I like how there was a journal 3 in there lol. I did the Pines + Bill because i wasn't sure which characters you'd want

Gravity Falls characters with a cryptid academia s/o

Dipper

🌲Your aesthetic may actually have been what caught his eye to begin with

🌲He likes it a lot

🌲Would love taking walks in the woods with you, hoping to come across a supernatural sighting or two.

🌲He adores pouring over The Journal™ with you, looking for creatures you should hunt for next

🌲Very happy to find someone who shares his interest in the supernatural and the outdoorsy stuff

Mabel

🌠Supports your interest despite not sharing them

🌠Def enjoys going on hikes and nature walks with you though, and likes to listen to their stories and theories about the supernatural

🌠Even though she might call Dipper a nerd for displaying some similar traits, you're her s/o so that sibling teasing does not apply to you

🌠When you're on walks she gets distracted by cute animals so you'll probably have to either let her stare and try to pet them or attempt to reign her back in

Stanely

💰Bro compares you to Ford constantly

💰Not in a purposefully mean way he just likes to tease you jokingly

💰You may end up developing a friendship with Ford after Stan introduces you to him

💰And then you and Ford continue talking

💰aNd STAN GETS JELOUS BECAUSE YOU'RE SO SIMILAR

💰So he tries to get into that stuff for you

💰And buys you the clothes the match your aesthetic (only the cheap ones ofc. If he doesn't have enough he either shoplifts or steals from Ford)

Ford

✋Like Dipper, your aesthetic probably caught his eye

✋He sees something of a "partner" in you

✋BIG BRAIN DUO

✋He could spend HOURS talking about the supernatural with you

✋You probs find his six fingers thing cool so he feels comfortable around you

✋After all, most people bullied him for it

Bill

👁Bill is the cryptid you were looking for

👁He will explain all about his home dimension to you if you find it intriguing. If it were anyone but you'd he'd give a vague response about "liberation something something," but you're you sooooo

👁You like hiking? He'll make a mindscape hike trail for you to do together

👁During Weirdmaggedon he'll force his henchmaniacs to let you study them

👁He might make one little area of the forest normal so you can hike in the real world and obliterate anything that dares step into the area

👁In the mindscape he likes to try to scare the shit out of you with eldritch-esque creatures, but it doesn't work because a) not real, and b) you want to sTUDY tHE tHING

[jester089]

(Romantic) Tadc cast x reader who's tail wag hard when near them pls

Puppy of a person

Autism brain strikes againnnn! I wasn't sure if you wanted just the tail or not soooo. I did just tail. Can be read with other animal features though.

Caine

He initially wouldn't get it. I mean I seriously doubt he has ever seen an animal in his life. It confuses him. Every time you realize he's in the room your pupils grow and your tail starts wagging. He patted you once and it was a blur. After enough time he brings it up with someone (hopefully not Jax. For your sake.) That's when he realizes what that means. And nothing changes. He might intentionally fluster you now but past that nothing is different. He still has a circus to run and a very loose grasp on emotions. But he at least knows it's a positive reaction so it brightens up his days a bit. And if he's had an extra bad day he'll do something nice for you just to see your tail turn into a blur behind you.

Gangle

She'll know what it means but outright ignore it. She's got some self worth problems and seeing your body start doing, that when she doesn't even do anything. It makes her all blush-y. So she tries to avoid thinking about it. Now if your talking to her that's another story. She can't just act like you don't exist. And all her ignored/bottled up thoughts pop up then. If you're able to get through a convo without her going pink, then start worrying cause that means she's had an abnormally awful day. If anyone can cheer her up thought it's you. Honestly just you giving her some attention and affection will brighten her right up. Do watch your tail though cause if it baps it it'll probably knock her over.

Zooble

Their are two ways this could go. 1. It annoys her because of the sounds it makes or how distracting it is so she'll ask if you can stop. All you need to do to make her take it back is pull some puppy dog eyes and she'll feel bad. 2. She finds it cute and uses it to tease you a bit. Only a bit though, she still cares about you. For this I'm going to focus on the second one cause it's cuter. You and her would be sitting in one of your rooms doing something chill when she hears the telltale sound of you staring at her. The little whap whap whap she hears behind her. She turns around and isn't surprised by your giant eyes staring at her. She's let out a little sigh then join you on the bed knowing she's going to be covered in fur and not let go for at least the next hour.

Kinger

Kinger would find it really cute. I doubt you're taller then him though so prepare to be at least a little condescended. He never means to. Your just too cute for your own good. He's also never startled by you. It's hard to be when you have a constant noise maker attached to you. He out of everyone would be the one to find all your little spots. You know when you scratch a cat at the base of it's tail and it gets incredibly overstimulated. Those. He'll find every single one. He also keeps a lint roller on hand now cause his impenetrable fortress and his robe always need them whenever you visit.

Ragatha

She strikes me as the kind of person who will try and hold your tail still. Then the physical touch and attention makes it wag even more. And you end up with her hair messy proudly holding your tail. She's still be gentle though, she doesn't want to mess up your fur. If she does mess it up without a doubt she'll brush it to help. She knows it wont stay brushed for long while you're with her but she's going to try. Overall she would love it. It's a little strange sure but she's a walking talking rag doll, this place isn't exactly normal. Every time she walks into a room, is relaxing in a room, or hanging out with you and she hears your tail beating against your legs or a wall it makes her smile giving her a little dopamine burst.

Jax

Oh poor you. Having a tail is basically just an easy target for Jax. But for this I'll chill him out a bit. He'll never admit it but it does make him happy. He's always thinking about how you deserve someone better or how you're going to leave him. But when he lightly yanks your tail as a joke and to get your attention. You spin around to yell at whoever it was but stop when you realize it was him. Then he gets to watch in real time your pupils expand and your tail start. It reassures him that you love him. He wont in public, but I unironically see him tying little bows around you tail then commenting on how pretty you look before switching back to usual. If you pay attention you'll notice he's kind of always staring at your tail. This can be for many reasons, wanting to mess with you, thinks it's cute, thinking about what it's like to have one. Up to you to decide which it is at any given time.

Pomni

Their isn't a universe where she doesn't find it at least a little annoying. I mean their's a good chance she's face level with it and gets whapped in the face every time you're together. Moving past that though because of her smaller height she can and will lay on it whenever she can. It's always all warm and soft, and she knows that it's connected to you. Makes her feel nice. I can 100% see her having a rough day and breaking into your room and without a single word flopping onto your bed and either you or your tail. I feel like she's one of those people who will half sneak up behind a cat or dog and start petting them freaking the animal out. She of course will do that with you too. She feels a little bad when you jump but gets over it when you turn around and realize it's her. Then she gets smacked in the face by your tail again and gets annoyed. She doesn't blame you though.

(Writing this used up my burst of energy so this is it for today. Hope you enjoyed it.)

xoxo, Jester

[paranormalactivity5]

LUPRICALIA

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Summary: Eddie leads you to believe he doesn't like valentines, when its quite the opposite, he even plans a whole cute day based on old pagan lupricalia traditions. Eddie munson x fem!reader

Notes: the reader is alternative my fics are x chubby!reader unless stated otherwise. Readers' hair is teased/messy in a cute way, please let me know if this makes the fic uninclusive. For the fit think Misa Amanes pink outfit with the heart but red and and one piece. Cross posted on tumblr and wattpad under paranormalactivity/paranormalactivity5g

A/N: sorry for bad writing english IS my first language. As a pagan and overall spooky girl you know I had to make this my Valentine fic. Although no magick occurs in the fic pagan rituals are discussed. Sorry i never post, writers block is pretty much my natural state

Warnings: none just fluff, but there are references to sexual acts and swearing ig, bad writing, loooong paragraphs sometimes, not proof read WC: 1.5k a shortiee

Eddie Munson was a very observant person, and he prided himself on that, but you didn't have to be observant to notice the change in his girlfriend. It wasn't anything bad just…..different than her usual attire. Instead when she walked up to the bench in the woods where they usually met, a red dress with a heart cut out on the chest adorned her body, a chain hanging loosely on the swell of her waist, paired with black fishnets, a black undershirt that covered her arms and had been torn perfectly, along with black go-go boots and teased hair. She walked up with a pretty smile painted on her red stained lips 

“Hi baby” you announced yourself, the boy got up to greet you bringing you into a tight hug and swaying back and forth “Hi princess” in his smooth yet grovely voice that always made your heart flutter. “So not that you don't look gorgeous….but, what's with the getup?”  “uhh it's almost Valentine's Day?” you replied as if it was obvious “And?” “And? What do mean and?” you said exasperated by him already “And how does it almost being valentines Day warrant this?” “Because baby it's a beautiful day, a day all about celebrating love, don't you wanna celebrate our love?” she went on teasily, looking at him through her lashes causing him to get distracted for a minute, his eyes falling on the small heart cut out on the chest, allowing him to see the tops of your plump breasts but as his eyes went back up they caught on your half of the matching guitar pick necklaces you wore and it reminded him of the topic, love. “I do that every day!” he protested “Fine, you don't have to love it, just let me have it.” you replied kind of disappointed, why could he not get with the of having a day about yourselves and your love? But oh he could and he was going to, you just didn't know it yet.

Eddie was trying to figure out how to surprise you on Valentine's while also making it more personal, not just store bought chocolates and a small bear when he was reading the Hawkins post and saw a column speaking of the horrors of an old pagan holiday lupricalia perfect. Now, while it was a struggle to find reliable information on it in the small conservative town of Hawkins he finally found some information he was immediately ecstatic at the idea. A lot of the traditions weren't doable, things like animal sacrifice and running around naked whipping women with animal hide, but the other ones, feast, and sex? Yeah, he could do that. So he took out some of his rainy day money, booked a reservation at one of the nicer spots in Hawkins, and began planning

Ever the overthinker eddies not caring replayed in your head for the last 13 days until the day before Valentine's. Did he really think celebrating love was stupid? If so could he not at least pretend for you? Meanwhile, it was absolutely killing Eddie to pretend he didn't care, he could tell it was bothering him, and knowing you were upset because of him hurt, hopefully tomorrow will make up for it.

You awoke at around 10 AM to the smell of pancakes, which confused you because Eddie is many things, but a cook is not one. When you got out of bed walking out of the bedroom into the kitchen of the Munson trailer you quickly corrected yourself, you were smelling burnt pancakes. You stood at the enge of the hallway looking at your man listening to his string of curses for making concrete pancakes until he noticed you “Baby!” he almost shouted as you startled him “Nooooo you weren't supposed to wake up until the pancakes were ready……or I made a second batch” he chuckled awkwardly at the last part but you didn't care about that, you walked up to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, gave him a quick peck and when you pulled back you told him “I dont care about that honey, I care that you tried…..and convinced me that you aren't just a heartless man who hates valentines” He giggled into your neck “well I hope I can do more convincing with everything I have planned today” when he said this you immediately kissed him deeply, something about him going out of his way to plan a day with you always seems to get you going “mmph” he groaned into the clip and then pulled away “as much as I love this…thats for later” “so, whats all the fun planned today?” you questioned “well, while we are celebrating i do think that valentines day is a little generic, i decided to make it a bit more personal” you nodded along, already loving this “so i found out the history of valentines day and it comes from a pagan tradition called Lupricalia, and i figure thats more fitting for us, so i figured out the ways they celebrated and fit it into our world” god you loved this man “So they used to have animal sacrificesand obviously we cant do that so i figured we can go see the new nightmare on elm street, seems horrific enough, and then we feast at the marriot on 34th street, and then the one thing that hasent changed, we have hot, passionate sex” he clasps him hands together and all you can think about is how much you love him “i love you so much Eddie Munson” the feeling overwhelmed you so much you just had to voice it.  the cutest smile splayed across his face “i love you too princess, now go get ready!” he spoke excitedly and swatted your body as you walked back into the bedroom.

You got yourself ready by putting on a black bustier top with lace trim, a red velvet skirt, and a belt with a bat buckle adorning your waist, again paired with your black gogo boots, and makeup done perfectly when you were ready about an hour later then Eddie and you walked out into the living room where he was sat, he just starred at you, which began to make you nervous until he spoke “god your so fucking pretty” his words instantly made you feel shy “like I wish you could like, be in my head and see you walk into the room,...it would change your life” he always managed to make you feel like a giggly little girl with your first crush “you look very handsome yourself sir” you walked up to him and laid your hand on his bicep, and his face immediately went up in flames, he knew you were easy to fluster, but you knew he was too. As you walked out the door he quickly walked in front of you so he could reach the old van first and open your door “Your chariot awaits madame” in his best British accent “Why thank you kind sir” you replied in your own

When you arrived at the theatre for the screening of Elm Street 3 you got your popcorn and made your way in. About 2 hours later you come out, the movie was pretty good, and while some would argue that it's not a Valentine's movie you think it was perfect. When you arrived at the restaurant it was a bit more on the fancy side, you wondered about the possible cost of this, Eddie could sense this and gave your hand a reassuring squeeze.

The food was absolutely delectable and it got you wondering what dessert might be like “You know what sounds amazing?” you asked “What?” “dessert” “Ohhhhh…you know what sounds even better? Free desert.” you were confused for a moment when he started to slip one of your rings off your finger but when he got down on one knee, you got what was happening here “y/n l/n, my beautiful girl, my time with you has been the best of my life, you make me see the world in a new way. I love you in ways I never thought imaginable, every day when I look at you, I love you more, which I never think is possible but it always is, will you do me the honor, and let me be your husband?” you started fake crying, which some of it was real due to his words and got up from your seat with a loud yes then kissed him proudly. The other people in the restaurant clapped a little and within 5 minutes there was a slice of chocolate cake on your table. You and Eddie giggled to each other while eating the dessert until you looked up from the cake and saw him looking at you in which a way Aphrodite herself would point and smile “You know I meant every word and one day I really am gonna ask you, I mean there will be a lot more words and a lot more crying but one day…I’m gonna put a ring on your finger..if you’ll so have me.” “of course I'll have you Eddie” You both awkwardly leaned over the table and kissed. As you pulled back you noticed the mark your red lipstick left and went to wipe it away “Leave it.” he protested

When you got home that night and walked into the trailer you pulled him in by his belt loops “Thank you, Eddie, this has truly been amazing.” “no need to thank me, I enjoyed it just as much” You kissed him with all the passion and love that had built up through the night “Now..” you spoke softly “time for some of that hot, passionate sex you were talking about earlier” he grinned devilishly.

A/N: girl you sucked the SOUL outta him that night. Dw he sucked your soul too.

[nierly-amazing]

Nier Automata anime Episode 21 disjointed thoughts:

Spoilers, obviously

It had a few good moments but overall I was disappointed in this episode, more so than the last 2. I've been enjoying the anime, especially early s2 immensely but it's gone downhill so fast. It's extra annoying because most of the issues I have could have been fixed/avoided really easily.

The good bits:

THEY THANKED DEVOLA AND POPOLA! After all that time they finally thanked them! (Though I wish they had more small moments of them being dicks to them in past episodes).

FUCK YEAH JACKASS running the truck right into the room!

YEAH THE TWINS KICKED ASS TOO!

OH NO THEY KILLED JACKASS BUT that's probably how she wanted to go tbh

I do think the anime handled the whole fear thing being the machine children's downfall better than the game since they actually did some lead-up instead of Pascal dropping the info after they all died. So that's another good thing. Buuuut...

The not-so-good bits:

I knew immediately A2's idea to send the kids to the resistance camp was a stupidly terrible idea. Idk why they didn't try finding somewhere else to hide them but I expected them to simply lead hostile machines there rather than infect the camp with a ZOMBIE virus. Really? Zombies? Shambling groaning zombies? The whole reason logic viruses are so scary was how strong they make androids and how they'll just attack everything until they fall apart.

I get the narrative reasoning that Lily offering to shelter them ended up being everyone's downfall, but I ended up being more annoyed because of how dumb it was that A2 sent them there. Seems like an easy fix too, Lily could have called in end of last episode after the camp heard the explosions and offered to shelter them herself, then Pascal could have worried about leading enemies to them and Lily assured him they could handle it.

(me) ^

9S has basically no screen time anymore; we can't really feel his descent as well as we did in game. For the most part things are just happening to him rather than him actively doing things. Like, instead of dumping the 2E reveal in the first S2 episode they could have slowly fed it to us over the course of these episodes. They could have made it more fucked up by having the machine network torment 9S with bits of 2E hints or had the damage to his body scramble his mind in a way that he remembers flashes of his past lives/deaths. I think the game's definitely handled showing his mental decline in isolation while still being a sympathetic character better than the anime is doing.

(cymbal ism)

I sort of like how they put the flight unit in the god box and forced 9S to see it but I feel it would have been more impactful if they had a moment where he almost found it in the flooded city but passed it up because he was distracted and didn't realize it was 2B's unit. And oh look he passed out again.

No lunar tears no 2B memorial? Give him a chance to breathe and have some sort of positive or bittersweet interaction. In the game he still interacted with other androids and helped them but the only interaction we got in the anime was him slapping a flower from that one memorial quest guy's hand.

Pascal's 180 is still ehhh for me. The whole thing that made the Goliath fight in game so impactful was he was holding onto his pacifism till the very end until he had no other option. But in the anime he went berserk the moment there was even the possibility of danger. They didn't even know the hostile machines were a threat to the village when the pods told them. They had time to evacuate and it would have been a lot more fucked up (in a good way) if they were followed and picked off and then pascal went berserk when it was only the children left.

One child killed all the others in fear instead of it being a whole group fear effort. And then he bit pascal with a zombie virus? Pascal blew up when A2 wasn't even there??? And she barely even reacted when his arm shrapnel almost hit her. I get that they have to deal with the lack of player input choosing what to do but that could have easily been fixed with a scene cut right before A2 makes a choice.

They could have written it so it showed signs of them all trying to escape but were unable to. Maybe had one of them still alive because they failed to hit their core and explained what happened or had some sort of other visual hints as to what happened. maybe frantic carving on the walls or something idk.

But then again, patient 0 being the one 9S was extra suspicious about and almost hacked back in episode 5 is pretty interesting. Shows he was technically right all along about them being a threat, but for the wrong reasons. Still they probably could have merged the two ideas together to work better. I'd like to know if the machine network infected them on purpose or if it was their own fear that caused them to snap. If the latter then they could have also had the infected resistance react differently than being stereotypical zombies. They could have picked up on the fear and all went hysterical fighting and shooting each other because the virus overwhelmed them with fear and they were trying to put themselves and each other 'out of their misery'.

But then again again I don't really like how they made the disabled one the one that went crazy and ate everyone. Idk, they could have handled it better.

The whole resistance dying is definitely sadder than in game. They both work in their own ways so I can't really say one is better than the other. It hurt but I didn't hate it. I want to see what they have planned for killing everyone in this version before I make my final judgment.

I do hope they have a scene where 9S finds the village and feels bad because that was a nice bit in game to show he still cared about them despite going on his rampage with the other machines.

I really hope the tower episodes are good, I can forgive this fumbling if the next few episodes are bangers.

[mama-qwerty]

Thoughts on Prime S3 - Dread

So I binged Prime season 3 last night. Overall it was a fun ride--the animation was beautiful, the characters' expressions and movements were fantastic, and the voice acting was stellar.

But there were a few things I that poked me the wrong way.

Buckle up, folks. This is gonna get LONG.

Let's start with my beloved. Dread. Specifically, his 'redemption'.

We all knew it was coming. They weren't going to let a Knuckles be a manipulative, selfish, greedy, double-crossing asshole. This is a kids' show, after all, and all the characters have to do the right thing in the end. So his switch to help the heroes save the universe wasn't unexpected.

But the way it was handled gave me whiplash.

We have Dread being a magnificent bastard in season 2. Oh so ruthless and selfish and looking out for number one and eyes on nothing but his Beauty. So much fun to watch this guy be so un-Knuckles like and enjoy every second of it.

But then season 3 comes and he's just . . .

This.

He planted himself by the door and just . . . sat there. One of the most fun and animated and enjoyable characters of the last season is now set decoration.

So. Okay. I'm gonna do what I love to do. Deep dive into his head.

He's moping. He's depressed. He's lost his Beauty, again, and has no idea where it is, or how to get it back. That was his entire focus. He had it, he had it in his grubby little mitts, but lost it.

The first time he failed to get it, he lost his ship, his crew, his courage, and his confidence. He threw himself into denial, becoming a Party Pirate who only cared to be jolly and jovial and distract himself with fun every day. Any mention of his past made him testy. He didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to be reminded of it. He avoided fighting his past crew when they attacked, because he didn't want to face his failures, face his past. So he didn't. He hid. He ran.

But then Sonic gave him an opportunity. A chance to succeed where he'd failed before. And that greedy light was in his eyes again. The tunnel vision, the single focus, the obsession came back full force. And this time he managed to claim what he'd been lusting after for who knows how long. He finally got his Beauty, and it reinforced those feelings of obsession. Of possessiveness.

He manipulated his crew into thinking Sonic was the bad guy for wanting it, and turned his back on them the first second they no longer served him any purpose. His eyes were only for his Beauty.

Then the Chaos Council snagged it from him, and he latched onto their ship like a tick to get it back. He endangered himself, left his home, left behind people who were loyal to him (for whatever reason), all because he wanted the shiny rock back.

And then he lost it again when Nine and Sonic took all three shard pieces back to Ghost Hill. He fought with his urban counterpart, essentially cutting any possible ties of loyalty and help there, and was now stuck in a city he didn't know, with no allies, nowhere to go, and no Beauty.

So it tracks that he would be feeling pretty low. He failed to do the one thing, the only thing, he'd ever wanted to to in his life. He had it. And lost it. Three times.

He's not feeling bad because Nine has them and will use them to destroy everything. He's disappointed in himself for failing. He has no purpose now. Treasure was all that mattered to him--that specific treasure--and now that it's gone and outside of his reach, he feels he has nothing left to care about.

(And as an aside, I love his pose here. Boy just looks so defeated.)

So, okay, I can get that he would be feeling all "Poor Dread, lost me Beauty again" right now. And I think him refusing to go after the rest of his crew when Nine threatened them was also on point. He's still got tunnel vision--"No treasure, what's the point?" It sticks with the Dread that was established in season 2. Nothing in it for him, no treasure, no valuable shiny rocks, he's not gonna waste his time or risk his skin for it.

He has shown exactly zero loyalty in the past, so this fits with his characterization.

Now here's where I would have done things differently. Because very shortly after this, he's right there with the others when they decide to make the raid on Nine's encampment. No hesitation, no grumbling about how he'd 'better be rewarded after all this' or whatever. It's like he's a completely different person. The Dread from season 2 would NOT have done this of his own free will.

Let's back up to before Sonic and the Roses left to save Batten, Sails, and Catfish. Black Rose stopped to ask Dread if he was coming, to which he responded with the aforementioned "No treasure, no point." Rose simply said something along the lines of a disgusted "Some captain" and walked out.

But this was the PERFECT opportunity for a seed of redemption to be planted. Instead of simply walking out, Rose could have turned to him and said something like:

"No point? Look around you! Everything's coming undone, and there'll be nothing left if we don't stick together and stop Nine!"

"Then it shouldn't matter if I go or not!" he replies, shooting her a snarl. "Me Beauty be gone. I be a failure. There ain't nothing left f'r me."

"Ya know, you had people who were loyal to you. People who would have fought by your side until the end. That should have been what mattered to you. But you chose a shiny rock over them instead." She tsk'ed. "Some captain."

To which he would have been all "Sod off and leave me in peace" as they left to rescue the rest of the Angel's Voyage crew.

But the seed would have been planted.

And there could have been a scene, a quick one, where, when Sonic's talking about giving himself up to Nine, Dread has a devious look. "If we go to the fox, he'll have me Beauty. I c'n sneak in and get it back while the others be busy." And then he'd chuckle to himself because he's oh so smart and clever, before standing and joining the others with a boisterous "Let's take the fight to him! We'll teach that no good landlubber t' mess with us!" or some such piratical speech.

So it would appear he's all gung ho about joining the fight, but he still has his selfish reasons that would have stuck with his season 2 characterization.

And then, during the looong fight, we could have had little glimpses of others coming to his aid. Ren specifically, and when his urban twin saves him, he'd look surprised, because they didn't exactly part on good terms.

"Ye . . . saved me?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I thought ye didn't like pirates. Me specifically."

Ren shrugs. "We're all in this together, right? You're here helpin' now, ain't ya? 'Sides, I hate the world endin' more than I hate you. C'mon. Less yakkin', more punchin'."

And that would make Dread think. Just for a moment. Another seed planted. Then he'd blink and head back into battle.

I would even keep the whole 'Jack appeals to Dread's greed' scenario. Because Dread still has that mindset. So he heads in to go for the Prism, sinking back into the Gollum-esque obsession again. But when he sees Black Rose in trouble, that's when those seeds really start to take root. What she said comes to mind again, and he remembers every time they'd helped him. Maybe different members of the crew had jumped in when he was overwhelmed in the fight. He sees other variants helping each other, or helping members of the different groups. How they're putting their lives on the line for people they don't even really know. Helping each other. Saving each other.

He thinks of Ren, who saved him regardless of their last meeting.

With one last look back toward the Prism, Dread jumps down to save Rose.

It could have been handled so easily, with just a few extra seconds of show. Cut out some of the extraneous fight scenes and add some more character interaction/growth. It would have made Dread's redemption seem more genuine, and less of a "Let's just throw away all the characterization he had last season to get to the end."

Love me some Dread. I just think he could have been handled a lot better.

[magicaljarofbeans]

ATLA Live-Action Series

So.

I just finished the season, and there are some good things, and... some bad things :|

I have purposefully not engaged with what the rest of the internet think about it since it came out so keep that in mind. All I know is that it's not been well received and people hate the acting (all from other people telling me in person rather than me looking it up).

Let's start with what I consider the good bits:

Sokka is funny

Iroh is amazing as always

Zuko is pretty good, but specifically amazing with Iroh

Admiral Zhao is even more detestable

The bending looks pretty good (minus the ice sledding)

Iroh's backstory made me cry like the animated series (it's the goddamn music ok!)

The cabbage man makes an appearance

Firelord Ozai is cast and acted well

Suki is great

Ok, I think that's probably the extent of the actually good. Now for the absolute wreck that is the issues:

The removed Sokka's misogyny, a key aspect of his character development

Aang isn't running away from his duties as the Avatar (and doesn't at the start either), despite it being a key character trait he works through. However, everyone is gaslighting him into thinking he has been?

Katara and Aang are simply not acted well. They are the youngest cast members, but it's incredibly forced and not really written well to begin with.

Katara has become Gandhi. Well, is trying to be. She just keeps blurting out inspirational messages and not saying much else.

THEY CHANGED THE ORDER OF EVENTS. This doesn't have to be an issue, but it is when it's done in a way where story-lines no longer make sense. i.e. Sokka meets Suki before they go to the northern water tribe and meet Yue. Basically Sokka kinda cheated on Suki and just doesn't care. (There are several more examples of this)

Aang literally doesn't bend a single drop of water himself. As in, NOTHING (giant water monster doesn't count)

Katara and Aang don't end up getting trained at the Northern Water Tribe. Like. At all.

Katara is labelled a "Master Waterbender" and now has to train Aang???? Ummm, what?

Aang can just fly now. Glider don't glide, it fly. It woosh over continent in a single day!

That brings me to, WHAT EVEN IS TIME. Apparently going from a small village in the middle of nowhere to Roku's temple in the middle of the Fire Nation takes a day by glider (Katara and Sokka were just sleeping and weren't for long enough to worry about food or water)

Ozai is happy to sacrifice half his navy to "distract them while we take Omashu". Which is so far away from the Northern Water Tribe that the distraction wasn't needed.

It's Book 2 with Book 1's ending?????

The old people are clearly young guys with old age makeup. Apparently they can't get older guys anymore? (Except Iroh :)

Aang keeps talking to the previous Avatars but not actually getting anything out of it.

Apparently he has to be at a temple to talk to the past Avatars now.

Azula is introduced prior to the Northern Water Tribe fight

We see Ozai's face. It removes the mystery and power behind his presence

What is up with Jet? He's now a bomb placing terrorist. Not too far from accurate but still

Oh and his base sucks. Literally only like 2 meters off the ground at most.

I'm sure I have forgotten some atrocities, and there are several things that are ok that I haven't mentioned (Momo and Appa look fine) but overall, it's fine, I've watched worse shows, but it's not that great. Just watch it for Iroh.

[my-my-my]

what if sosuke caught their darling smiling on their phonee? ty!

Sure thing anon! I got this request a couple of times, so thank you, anon(s) for your patience.

TW: none! Just silly fluff.

Sosuke watched you with curious eyes as you kept glancing at your phone, smiling to yourself. Sometimes you would giggle, but put your phone back as you went back to the novel you were reading.

The two of you had an evening together - a night where you enjoyed each other's company but occupied yourself separately with your own individual hobbies. You were catching up on the many books you purchased over the years, while Sosuke was editing a manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal.

It was overall, a quiet, uneventful night, but Sosuke was amused by how often you kept glancing at your phone every time it lit up.

Sosuke leaned back in his seat as he placed his glasses on the table. Your phone lit up again, and another smile crept up across your lips.

"How far along are you with your book?" Sosuke asked, chuckling as you slightly jumped in your seat.

"Oh! Um… not that far along." You answered, sheepishly.

"I can see that. You seem more interested in your phone." Sosuke replied, keeping an even tone to his voice, although he was curious as to what was grabbing your attention. He fully closed his laptop as he saw your expression change to a guilty one.

Whenever Sosuke had his glasses off, you felt a bit nervous. His gaze was intense, and you knew he could read you so easily. Lying to him wasn't something you made a habit of, but this was so innocuous, you thought.

"It's nothing, Sosuke! Just a friend sending me memes." You explained. Another smile appeared on your face as you suddenly remembered sharing memes with Sosuke the first time in the early stages of your relationship. He didn't have social media, so funny tweets, animal videos and bizarre TikTok's and Instagram reels were beyond him, but something he appreciated that you shared with him.

At the same time, you felt that he was above memes, so you didn't try to send or share him as many. Your time with Sosuke was precious and you didn't want to fill it with small things like that.

"I doubt it's nothing if you keep checking your phone." Sosuke rationalized. He wasn't angry in the slightest, but he was amused by how jittery you were in your response.

"Honestly! It's just something silly my colleague sent me. It would be a waste of your time. You have better things to do." You answered honestly, glancing back at your phone.

A frown appeared on Sosuke's face as he walked towards you, sitting next to you on the couch. "I'm not saying this because I'm jealous" he explained, as he gently placed his hand on your thigh, "I don't want you to feel you need to hide things from me because you think it isn't worth my time. I love knowing what's making you happy. Besides me of course."

You chuckled, climbing into his lap. His arms instinctively wrapped themselves around your hips. "Ok, since you asked, Sosuke - and don't say I didn't warn you!" As you pulled up the video.

Sosuke shifted you around his lap, with your back towards him. You pulled the conversation you had with your friend, and the youtube video you two were referencing.

Sosuke watched the video play out on the small screen, with occasional glances at you. He could see your soft smiles and little giggles as the video played through. Your laughter was infectious, and the video's contents were amusing he had to admit. Sosuke let out a small laugh as the video kept going.

Once the video was over, you turned around to face him, "so… what do you think?" You asked.

"I can see why you were distracted. I wouldn't be able to concentrate if I were you." Sosuke said, lightly kissing your forehead.

"You? Distracted?" You laughed, playfully poking his chest, "I doubt that! There's nothing that distracts you." You teased.

"Really?" Sosuke feigned hurt. "I guess you don't know me as well as I thought" he sighed dramatically, running his hand through his hair as he leaned into the couch, bringing you closer to his chest.

"Huh?" You were surprised, "I'm serious, Sosuke. You're probably the most dedicated, concentrated and patient person I know. I doubt you're ever distracted."

Sosuke smirked as you replied honestly, "my dear - you are the only distraction I have. One I gladly submit to anytime."

"Oh shut up" you blushed as you kissed him on the lips. Sosuke laughed, returning your kiss.

-----

Thanks for reading! This is the video they're watching.

(STOKELY!)

[queenofanime]

Can you do kouha ren headcanons with his wife but she’s pregnant

Why of course I can! (Secretly one of my favorite characters. LOVE that little psycho)

Photo uploaded by Anime Icons on Pinterest

Kouha Ren x pregnant wife reader

Kouha has always been and will always be protective. He was protective of his mother, of his outcasts, of his brothers and sisters, so it's only obvious that he will be protective of you. 

Honestly, I don't believe the pregnancy was planned. Kouha wasn't trying to prevent it, but he definitely wasn't trying to conceive either. 

After he finds out about it, he doesn't react the way you would have hoped. In fact, he doesn't react at all. The old Kouha would have probably been ecstatic and excited. Now, he feels detached from the situation. 

His aloofness makes you wonder if he has lost interest in you (believe me, that is far from the truth). That man adores you! He loves you all the way to the moon and back. It's just that sometimes his head can get in the way.

After everything that happened. Hakuryuu, the betrayals, the execution, Kou, Sinbad. His faith has taken the hit. He feels a bit of a failure, and he doesn't want to keep failing, failing you.   

You'll have to confront him about it. And save the poor guy from his own demons. 

Throughout the whole pregnancy, Kouha will be leaning on you more than he should, but I mean, you did marry a toddler. 

Once your belly starts showing, the reality sinks in, and the emotion in his eyes will return. He already treated you as royalty (technically, you are), but as the months progress, Kouha will treat you like porcelain. 

Kouha never thought about all the things that could go wrong in a pregnancy. Therefore, he is visibly distressed when you're in pain but he makes up for it. The best at cuddles and comfort. Him, talking about everything and nothing, helped you get distracted.

Won't ever say what gender he wants out loud, but he secretly wants a girl. He would spoil her rotten (lucky thing). He even came up with the nickname 'pineapples' and has his heart set on calling his daughter that. 

Very goofy when he feels the baby's kicks. Can't stop looking at his hand all day, reliving the sensation.

The doctor said the baby would arrive on April 29. That gave Kouha a chance to organize his thoughts and have time to prepare. That plan, however, goes out the window when you go into labor at 26 weeks. 

Kouha will never forget your scared expression. When the baby is born, it is so small and fragile that the doctor tells you not to keep your hopes up. Premature babies rarely survive. Your spirit might be shattered, but Kouha isn't giving up on his child. Truth be told, pineapples survives. (That's not how you name your child, don't worry)

After the scare, Kouha will never be seen without his daughter/son.   

We all know he loves fashion, meaning he chooses the clothes, you don't. Also braids hair so don't worry if you suck at it.

Overall, he becomes a more attentive husband and dad (something you didn't know was possible). He always tries to make you smile. 

You know you marry one of the good ones.

Hope this is okay. I really enjoyed writing it!

__________________

If you enjoy my writing, even just a little bit... can you follow my insta?

I'm trying to grow my newly created art account: nena_rpa

Your support would mean the world to me :)

[raveneira]

Will Boruto knowing about everything Sumire did for him changes the way he looks at her? I mean as of now he does know that Sumire is unaffected but he doesn't seem to have react much...or maybe he has a lot on his plate right now and simply has no time for romantic thoughts. I'm just curious how Boruto will fall for Sumire if they were to be endgame...what would be the trigger and how would it start?

Well for Boruto what we've seen consistently in both the anime and manga is that Boruto tends to have a strong reaction towards Sumire being in danger, despite acting casually with her for the most part, Sumire's safety is when he reacts differently.

In the anime when she got hurt in an explosion he freaked out and ran to her in the hospital immediately, in the anime he bowed to her and apologized and blamed himself for what happened while in the manga it says he actually cried in that moment. Metal Lee also got similarly hurt but Boruto didn't really react at all, but for Sumire he almost had a full on panic attack.

During the whole Nue conflict Boruto threw himself in danger for her sake multiple times, he got between her and Mitsuki despite her trying to blow up his village, he followed her to Nues dimension despite Mitsuki saying its dangerous, he once again stopped Mitsuki and Sumire from fighting and getting stabbed in the arm in the process, and he refuses to give up on Sumire no matter what she says and wouldn't leave until she took his hand, this is also the first time he ever calls her by name instead of class rep to show his sincerity, which was the final push that undid the Gozu Tennou.

Afterwards when Sumire is facing consequences for what she did, Boruto was furious when he heard Inojin saying Sumire wasn't coming back, he even did something he never does and actually went to his father for help, even though during this time he was on really bad terms with his father, he set aside his pride to beg him to not punish Sumire. In the end Boruto was happy when Sumire was allowed to come back, even though he was too shy to go celebrate with everyone else, he still flashed her a supportive smile to let her know he's glad she's back, which moved Sumire to tears and is most likely when she fell for him.

During the Jugo arc Boruto was furious when he saw what Suigetsu did to Sumire and said he wouldn't forgive him for hurting her

He had a similar reaction when Kawaki kicked the tray of food away and knocking Sumire back

In this case he actually physically hurt Kawaki and had to be stopped, that's how mad he was at him for hurting her that he didn't even realize he was hurting him.

He holds a grudge against Kawaki again for hurting Sumire a second time.

In the manga he hasnt had many chances to interact with Sumire unfortunately but that's not much different than Naruto's lack of interactions with Hinata, who he is now married to with 2 kids so that really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Even so we see in the manga that he still has the same reaction in regards to Sumire's safety specifically. He only cared about Ada mentioning Sumire and had no reaction to her requesting Sarada also, just Sumire, and he also only checked in with Sumire to make sure if she was ok with it, he was even nervous about her being alone in the room with Ada and Sarada.

Not to bring BoruSara into this because their irrelevant, but I gotta briefly mention them to make the point.

In TBV Boruto has had no different of a reaction to Sarada than he has Sumire, he treats Sarada with the same stoicism and apathy he does Sarada, the only times he's smiled so far have been to Mitsuki and making fun of Sarada for hugging him which is just his usual personality, but overall he's remained serious and focused on the task at hand without getting distracted.

Its SARADA who has to make the first move, not Boruto, if she didn't hug him then Boruto would've continued to keep his distance and explain the situation, as you saw after the hug he just sat down on a bench in silence waiting for one of them to speak.

This is why Boruto makes fun of her for hugging him, because it was unexpected, he came there to explain what happened to her father and what the new threats are, a 'touching reunion' was the last thing on his mind, so it surprised him when Sarada hugged him rather than letting him finish, which again explains the awkward silence afterwards that Sumire had to break.

Now getting back to Boruto and Sumire, just like Sarada, Sumire is the one who has to initiate, which seems to be a pattern with Boruto in the timeskip currently. Boruto at the moment has total tunnel vision, his focus is entirely on freeing Sasuke and everyone else, defeating the new threats, and reconciling with Kawaki.

Romance, affection etc is the furthest thing from his mind right now, which is why I must mention again that he made fun of Sarada for hugging him, because even he thought that was weird given the current situation, its not like he didn't appreciate the affection, but Boruto's focus is just on an entirely different goal that's way more important. (As you see after teasing her he goes right back to being serious and focusing on the task at hand)

So thats why Boruto doesnt have much reaction to Sumire either, as poorly written as it is for him not to be even a little surprised at her being unaffected, but his lack of reaction is consistent with his lack of reaction to pretty much everything up till this point, his mind is somewhere else, he cant think about catching up with old friends when there's way more important things that needs dealing with, it doesn't mean he doesn't care or cant/wont develop feelings for Sumire, it just means he cant think about that RIGHT NOW.

As much as I hate comparing Sasuke to Boruto even a little bit, Boruto and him ARE similar in that regard, their goals are more important than their potential love interest, it doesn't mean he has no feelings for her or wont have any for her later, he just has his priorities somewhere else right now.

So to answer your question of how do I think Boruto will fall for her...well tbh I think he already has some spark of feelings towards her that he's just unaware of atm, his strong feelings of anger and worry when it comes to Sumire's wellbeing that he doesnt show towards anyone else is a pretty strong hint that his feelings for her go deeper than the rest.

Even if he doesnt have feelings for her yet, then I believe the turning point will be him seeing Sumire badly hurt by these new threats, which may end up happening soon since shes going to the battlefield and Boruto is on his way there as well. If he sees Sumire in danger or badly hurt, then we should see something similar, but not exact, to Naruto seeing Pain 'kill' Hinata in the Pain arc.

Now I could be wrong and that doesn't happen but lets assume it does, then we're going to see Boruto snap somehow someway, his karma has already begun to react due to Kawaki's resonating with his so he's already on the brink of losing control, if he goes there and sees something happen to Sumire then he might lose it, but that's all speculation.

Im sure others might argue this might be what happens to Sarada since her tree dad is targeting her and Boruto would react that way to her instead and yea, fair, its a possibility, I mean if you had put Sakura in Hinata's place Naruto would've reacted the same way too, but the key thing is author intent. Just because another possibility CAN happen doesn't mean that the author intends the same thing, if Kishimoto was really trying to push NaruSaku endgame then he would've 100% made that moment happen with Sakura instead but he didn't, he specifically had it be Hinata because that was his true intent, so the same applies to Boruto here.

It doesnt matter if Boruto would have the same reaction if it were Sarada, he'd react the same to Mitsuki too, the key is the authors intent, and if they're trying to push BoruSumi then they will have a snap moment over Sumire. Thats not to say he cant ever snap over anyone else but again, the key is the authors intent, and you will always see the difference in the framing and execution of what the author intends to be endgame and whats the red herring/platonic.

For example, Naruto snapping for Gaara and Sasuke was totally different than how Naruto snapped for Hinata, the executions and framing were completely different despite the conclusion being the same, Naruto going semi Kurama in a fit of rage, but you can tell by the framing and execution of each one which is platonic and which is romantic.

Naruto snapping over Hinata comes right after she confesses her love to him and tried to fight Pain to protect him while he was helpless to stop it

Naruto snaps over Gaara because the Akatsuki killed him and he related to his pain as a fellow jinchuriki being hunted the same way

Naruto snapped over Sasuke because Haku 'killed' him and Sasuke was willing to die to protect him despite always being at each others throats, seeing Sasuke truly cared for him and was willing to give everything up to die for him made him snap

All of these involves someone close to Naruto 'dying' and him snapping because of it, but only one has clear romantic connotations, so the same will apply to Boruto here.

Whether he snaps for Sarada or Sumire is irrelevant, what'll matter is the framing and execution of it, will it be a platonic scenario or a romantic one? we don't know until we see, so Im placing my bet on that for the time being.

They already copied the Pain arc in the first 5 chapters with the invasion, MC beating the big bad while everyone else stays back and tends to the villagers, unexpected hug by the FMC as the love interest watches, so it really isn't far fetched that they'd copy the snap moment from that arc as well.

[simplysedusa]

PPG Headcanons I Plan On Incorporating In My Fics

Elmer is albino, and he still has his glue powers. He's done quite well keeping it under wraps thanks to Professor Utonium and his pen-pal, Dexter.

Ms. Bellum is Princess Morbucks' maternal aunt. Penelope (Princess's mom, Sara's sister) and Sara were close as could be from a typical middle class family. That all changed when Penelope started dating Roy Morbucks. Ms. Bellum never liked the guy but her parents could be happier. The final nail in the coffin was when Penelope announced their engagement, and the two haven't spoken since her wedding day.

Prior to moving to Townsville, Mr. Morbucks had business in Townsville; some of it legal, but most of it wasn't. With the Powerpuff Girls being the beloved superheroes, it'd only be a matter of time until someone hired them to look into Mr. Morbucks' establishments and discovered his criminal underbelly. He decided to take Princess and enroll her in the very same kindergarten as the Powerpuff Girls to be her eyes and ears. He didn't expect her to become a supervillain out of spite, but he decided to fund her endeavors as a distraction.

Mitch has a tumultuous family background. His mom is dead, his dad's an alcoholic whose constantly in and out of jail with a different girl of the week living with him in the trailer, and his grandmother is hospitalized. Once Professor Utonium learned of this, he allowed Mitch to spend the night whenever he felt the need to. The constant exposure to the Powerpuffs allowed him to become friends with Blossom and Bubbles, closer with Buttercup, and a nicer person overall. He's still rather rebellious but he's no longer a bully. His interests are motorbikes (or any kind of car) and animals, surprisingly. He helps the volunteers to look after Twiggy during the summers on Monster Isle, who helps keep the monsters away from Townsville.

The Gangreen Gang (minus Ace, obviously) are a few of the aforementoined volunteers. Much to Buttercup's chagrin, Mitch and the reformed Gangreen Gang are on good terms.

Beebos are outlawed in Townsville, Farmsville, and Citiesville. All of them have been relocated to Monster Island. Mitch also helps keep an eye on the population and their feeding habits during his volunteer work over the summer. 

I can't decide if I want one of the Rowdyruff Boys or the Gangreen Gang to illegally have a Beebo, but one of those former delinquents definitely has one and are trying their hardest to keep it a secret lmao.

I've spoken about him here but Barnaby Mayer (aka "the Mayor") had been embezzling money from the city of Townsville for years. He came from a rather poverty stricken background and originally wanted to become mayor to help change Townsville for people like him. His newfound greed got to the better of him, and a certain someone close to him who I don't want to spoil just yet only helped push him further. Deforestation only allowed the growth of Townsville's infrastructure, at the expense of Fuzzy's property. Bribes from rich corporations in Townsville allowed the Mayor to turn a blind eye to wherever they dumped their toxic waste, which affected the Gangreen Gang and mutated the Amoeba Boys as their part of the city became the city wasteland. Sedusa's own court case was even rigged in the research lab's favor as a deal; the Mayor offers them funding and in exchange, they keep quiet about what he asks of them (future questionably unethical Chemical X experiments to extract a weakness against the Powerpuff Girls, silence on the ozone layer of Townsville and the radiation/pollution from monster waste, the Antidote X handcuffs, testing other animals which lead to the creation of the talking dog, White Kitty, and Roach Coach, etc). Most of Townsville's infamous villains link back to him (I got the idea from this post in particular, I just expanded on it).

Speaking of Sedusa's court case, I spoke a great deal about her here. Her real name is Annalise.

[spookybokchoy]

I got inspired from other ppl doing redesigns of Hazbin characters and wanted to give a go at it. I don't watch the show but I know info about it from the internet because it's kinda hard to avoid it with it being everywhere. Like most ppl I like the fun idea of their designs but there is much left desired when taking account animation and how they stand out from one another in the background. I focused on character design in college so I'm looking at it through a designer's pov. I feel I know enough about the show to give design feedback. Even so you can still disagree with me/challenge me and be valid. Critique is how we grow as artists! We need to know how to give good criticism and how to take it ourselves :) I'll say the strengths and weaknesses of each original design and go over the changes/why

Charlie- Her original design in the show's cute but I thought she was a clown, not a demon at first. Already has a "demon form" with horns+ tail so I added those built in already. Wanted her to feel optimistic but unsure of herself. Lucifer- Original suit tells he's an over the top king, added gold shoulder pads matching the crown piece and exaggerated his shortness so now he has a Napoleon complex and takes pride from being short. Him and Charlie keep the mostly red yellow white color scheme to signify their royalty. Vaggie Vega- Unique hair shape, good for recognition. Changed name to Vega/Vegatha, sounds strong willed, better fitting for her. "X" over hair distracts from her face, put it underneath. I also made her a bit darker in value to subtly show she's a fallen angel Husker- Eyebrow game is strong, got a unique face from your typical toothy big-eyed citizens. Too many symbols that look pretty but don't make sense in his character. He's a sulky hard ass who doesn't want attention but he's got a design that's very eye-catching. I made him look lower class since he used to be an overlord and is fighting a gambling addiction. 180 color change too so you know he's a cat with owl features.

Angel Dust- Iconic floofy hair swoop. Darker suit to bring out face with a heart choker bc he's a feminine fellow after all. On that note, more pink leaning color scheme. Added abdomen for more spider theming. Dr. Pentious- His Victorian steam punk theme is fun & quirky though you can't quite see it in his design. You can't really see it in my design either cuz I was more focused on filtering out all the eyes and extra details. I would want to take this back to the board and do it over. His original top hat face distracts from his actual one so that had to go. 2 front fangs to appear more snakey. Alastor- His design works for the 1930s the decade he passed. I don't get the correlation to radio and voodoo though. The whole discourse with him being creole is messy so I scrapped it and made him a white American broadcaster to not deal with that. I made him blind with supernatural hearing abilities leaning into the sound aspect. It feels chilling knowing he hears your every move, emotion and heartbeat like the warden from Minecraft. Deer and orange fox themed for a dual nature. Vox- This idea of a tech savvy con man is super fun. Made his persona charming and eccentric, being able to appear friendly while being sketchy as f. His body is made of wires too with his teeth resembling the shock waves on his hat. Kept the pinstripes for a wirey feel.

I also did some Helluva Boss redesigns too! I think Helluva designs deliver pretty well (besides Queen Bee) so I more or so redesigned them based off my own head cannons. I used to watch the show but fell off around halfway of S2 bc I wasn't vibing with the direction of the story. Octavia- Young entrepreneur, takes after her father and mother being snobby and looks down at lower classes who she sees as less intelligent than high class. Very creative in problem solving. Millie- I like her og clothes alot. Those overalls are chic. This outfit is what she'd wear out in the field when she's working for IMP or at the farm. She and Loona fight alot about who works harder and Loona having an attitude problem towards everyone. Sallie Mae- Not much change other than white hair and removed eyelashes. I might want to make her shirt dark muted blue instead. I gave her a backstory how she ran away from toxic masculinity parents and eventually gets hired at IMP as a spy.

Loona- Emo to the extremo. She's originally goth but I got emo from her I'm sorry she just doesn't look goth. She's very lax when it comes to her job and slacks off constantly. She still does it well despite not working as hard as Millie, Moxxie or Blitz. She's strict but means well and cares for ppl around her. She also gets adopted at age 14 in my head cannon.

Bee- 180 change completely. She's a thick queen! Made her black coded with more stripes cuz she's a BEE. I don't get why Vivienne didn't give her stripes bc that's a design thing she uses so much and she doesn't use it in a character whose name is BEE? What??? anyway her design is still complex but simplified and uncluttered for animation so the animators can have pleasant dreams. She's the child of Beelzebub and a hell hound. So that's my take on Hazbin/Helluva character design! This was fun re imagining not only the characters but the story itself. I may write a fan fiction but i dunno right now. I respect the original source material which is something I feel everyone needs to acknowledge when they do a redesign of anything. There are things I don't like about the original and that's ok! That's part of why I did the redesigns. That being said I don’t support Vivziepop or her actions. I encourage everyone to be critical and respectful of the thing they are analyzing when it comes to media.

[lordgrimwing]

Illness #03

Fëanor thinks he's saving his siblings.

Finarfin started crying. He flailed his little fists and wailed in frustration as he squirmed on the blanket his mother left him on. Indis usually carried the baby in a sling, but she'd injured her back last week and Finwë insisted she had to take things easy until she felt better. Finarfin did not like the new arrangement and fussed miserably most days until someone finally held him.

Indis closed her eyes. She stood in the kitchen, cleaning a chicken for the family's dinner, her hands greasy with the bird's fat. Maybe this time, if she just waited a few minutes, he would finally give up and come to terms with the new arrangement.

"I'll get him."

Indis turned around as the back door swung open. To her surprise, Fëanor came in from outside, bits of straw stuck to his overalls and hair. At fifteen, Finwë's son from his first marriage wasn't the easiest boy to get along with. He quarreled with his parents and the oldest children and was prone to flights of fancy that at times left his father grumbling about the state of his sanity. The last several days were particularly challenging. Despite all that, Indis could see how much he loved his littlest siblings, especially baby Finarfin.

Fëanor hurried through the kitchen and over to his little brother. She watched with a faint smile on her lips as he cued at the chunky baby and scooped him up in his arms, blanket and all. Finarfin quickly quieted as Fëanor bounced him across the room in his arms. 

“Thank you,” Indis said, but the pair were already out the door, the black-haired boy paying her no more attention now that he had the baby.  

She sighed and turned back to the chicken. 

***

Two hours later, with a stew simmering above the fire and the sun dipping down toward the trees, Indis opened the kitchen door and stepped outside in bare feet. 

“Lalwen!” She called.

Her youngest daughter went out earlier to see if any of the chicks hatched yet, but she suspected she’d gotten distracted playing with the animals or following her brother around as he did chores. Indis indulged the five-year-old and left her to whatever distraction she found (all the better if she was with Fëanor so she could help keep an eye on little Finarfin while their big brother worked), but it was time for her to come back inside and do her own chores. Finarfin was likely ready to nurse too.

“Lalwen!” She called again. “Fëanor!”

The yard was quiet.

She frowned. Finwë left a list of things for Fëanor to do while he took the next two oldest into town with him for the day to show them the finer points of selling horses. It was a long list. She’d looked at it while he scribbled instructions across a page from his leather-bound notebook and commented on the length. Her husband insisted it was about time his son learned more responsibility with managing his time, or else he’d always be falling behind and never make something of himself. He’d softened his voice after that and admitted these were mostly small projects around the homestead that always managed to be less important than something else but still needed to be wrapped up before the season changed. He assured her it was a reasonable day’s work for one person. 

“Fëanor!” She yelled, brow furrowing. 

He gave no answer.

She frowned, she stepped down into the dirt, the path to the barn so well worn that nothing grew in the tracks left by many feet. She walked into the barn. The air tasted thick with dust left from when Fëanor swept and refilled the hayloft. She sneezed. Beyond that sharp sound, the barn was silent, the horses turned out in the pasture further out in the clearing, and the broke yearlings in town and hopefully not coming back. She saw no sign of her children.

She turned away and went to the chicken coop. She thought perhaps she’d find Lalwen there, but there was no sign of her other than a hen with ruffled feathers irritably guarding her new chicks.

She hurried to the far side of the house next. There was a basic forge and blacksmithing shed used for repairing equipment when there wasn’t time to take broken things into town or when the damage was so mild it didn’t warrant a trip. Finwë mostly left that sort of thing to Fëanor once it became clear how eager the boy was to use the forge. Of all the places where he might get distracted and not heed his parents’ calls, the forge was most likely. 

A cat looked up from its perch on the paneless window and mewed when she entered but otherwise, the shack stood empty, the forge cold. 

Indis turned in a circle, surveying up to the tree line for any sign of the children. Worry began to simmer in her belly. She ran around the front of the house and found only more of nothing. She shouted and only her own voice answered, bounced back by the trees. 

There was no sign of Fëanor or Lalwen or Finarfin in the late afternoon light. The children had seemingly vanished. 

***

“I’m hungry,” Lalwen complained, kicking her bare feet against the dirt floor of the hunting shack in boredom. “Mama’s making soup. I want soup.”

Fëanor looked up from where he was trying to coax Finarfin into eating some of the hardtack gruel he’d boiled over a low fire in the rusted cast pan pot left in the shack. He’d swaddled the baby tightly in his blanket, but still, he squirmed and cried and refused to eat. “We don’t have soup tonight.”

He’d tried getting a cottontail rabbit with his sling when he filled the pan and his canteen in the nearby stream. He’d thought he’d catch something earlier, while they were riding on Annie. She was the gentlest of the mares, surefooted on the mountain, and let the kids ride her bareback whenever they wanted, but she didn’t foal the last three years and he knew he had to get her away too. She was outside now, tied with a long line to a tree near the stream so she could graze and drink.

He’d thought that from her back, Lalwen riding in front of him and Finarfin sleeping in a sling, hastily made from his blanket, on his back, he could hit a rabbit or a few of the plentiful squirrels that usually chittered in the trees this deep in the forest. He had good aim with his sling and a pouch full of stones, yet the small animals stayed frustratingly hidden. It wasn’t until he’d gone to the stream that he finally spotted a rabbit, her whiskers bouncing as she chewed on the lush plants bordering the water. He’d set the pan down silently, exchanging it for the leather cord and a medium-sized rock. He’d swung and thrown and he was sure his aim was true, but the rabbit, scared by some change in the wind or his small movement, fled away into the brush, leaving him again with nothing to feed the children or himself.

He shouted at the rabbit, cursed her keen senses, cursed her quick legs. Then, he fell to his knees, weeping and beating his frustration into the soft ground. This wasn’t how things should be going, he was better than this, he’d snuck away to go hunting with his sling dozens of times and never had such ill luck. Why did everything become so hard now?

 After a minute, he pulled the fractured bits of his pride together, collected the water, and hurried back to the shack, cursing himself for leaving the children alone for so long while he wallowed in self-pity.

So, no, Lalwen couldn’t have soup tonight, none of them could. The best he could do was crack open one of the old cans of hardtack left in the shack and boil a handful of biscuits until they were edible, stirring occasionally with a stick. The resulting gruel turned out as appealing as it was bland, but he made himself choke down three handfuls in hopes that that would convince his little sister to do more than prod the cooling sludge. It was still hot enough to hurt his throat as it went down. She did eventually take a tentative lick, only to make a face and throw it away in disgust. Even hungry Finarfin was turning his little nose up and refusing to let him put any in his mouth after the first try.

“I wanna go home,” Lalwen whined over the crying baby. “This isn’t fun anymore.”

“We can’t go home,” Fëanor said with sudden passion, clutching Finarfin tightly and smearing gruel across the blanket. His chest seized at even the thought of going back to what awaited them at the house. 

Finwë will do terrible things to them.

He flinched.

Lalwen looked at the fussing bundle in her brother’s arms. “Ara wants to go home, too."

"We can't." An air of desperation slipped into his tone. "It's just us now."

He took Findis and Fingolfin away with the yearlings.

The little girl frowned, her round face scrunching down in worry. "We’re lost?" She whispered, eyes growing wet. 

"No, no I know where we are," He said, moving Finarfin, still fusing, to one arm so he could open the other to Lalwen, inviting her to settle next to him. "We're going to be okay."

Keep them away, hidden, safe. Don't let anyone find them.

She snuggled into his side, tears quietly falling from her chin to make a damp spot on his shirt. She reached her hands out for the baby, and he gave him to her carefully, helping her wrap her arms around the bundled blanket. The baby squirmed and cried as he got jostled about. For some reason, Finarfin quieted when he looked up into her face. 

A worm of jealousy corkscrewed in him at the way his sister succeeded where he failed.

Horrible boy with horrible thoughts, his father’s voice mocked.

“I’m scared, Fëanor,” Lalwen admitted from the safety of her brother’s arms.

“Go to sleep,” He directed. “Everything will look better in the morning. We’ll go riding on Annie again.”

Outside, a horse whinnied. Annie, also wondering where her herdmates were, no doubt confused by why she was spending the night out here instead of in her comfortable stall. He leaned his head back against the rough wooden wall. Everything would look better in the morning. He closed his eyes.

Another horse whinnied.

His eyes shot open.

***

Finwë reined his horse to a stop next to the narrow stream. The missing horse, tied on a long rope that was just waiting to get tangled around her legs, came over to greet her herdmates. Just a bit further through the trees stood a dilapidated shack. Built by some bygone hunter, it saw too little use now to remain in good repair. Moss and vines grew over the sagging roof and walls. Darkness hid the holes chewed by rodents and rot that made the crumbling structure only nominally better than the open woods during a summer night like this.

“Stay here,” He ordered as he dismounted, Fingolfin following him down from his own gelding. “Get that mare untied and ready to go.”

“Okay,” The twelve-year-old murmured as his father strode quickly for the small hunting shack. 

Finwë could guess at what was in that shack. With his missing horse tied up outside, Fëanor must be inside, hiding from whatever he'd done this time. But if the children weren't with him or if they were hurt. . . 

Fingolfin didn’t need to see that.

They’d ridden hard across the mountain for many hours. The light was already fading when he got back from town, Findis and Fingolfin equal parts excited and worn out from the day’s labors. They’d expected dinner. Instead, they found Indis with four fresh horses saddled. She said Fëanor and the two youngest children disappeared several hours ago. She’d searched for them in the surrounding woods, going so far as to set loose two bloodhounds from the kennel and put them on the children’s scent, but even the dogs couldn’t find their trail. It was as though they disappeared into the mountain.

He took charge of the situation immediately. People in town might have suspected some kind of animal, a wild cat perhaps, got them, seeing as they live so far up the untamed mountain, but he knew these lands and more importantly, he knew his oldest son. There was something not quite right in Fëanor. He had no doubt that the insolent teen ran off with Lalwen and Finarfin. The only question, or at least the only one they needed answered as he directed Indis and Findis to follow the stream running past their home, was where. He’d taken Fingolfin and the two best horses and headed up the mountain, suspicions for why already heady on his mind.

The light was too low for tracking, so they rode to the places he thought Fëanor might hide the children: the ring of fallen trees, brought down for some forgotten reason decades ago, to which the boy used to sneak when to avoid chores; the thicket he’d found when he’d scrambled under the thorny bushes after a wounded rabbit and discovered no one else was willing to brave the thorns to make him come out; and many more such places, each taking the searchers further and further up the mountain in the waning light. Finally, they found Fëanor, and Finwë prayed to whoever would listen that Lalwen and Finarfin wouldn’t be far away.  

The shack itself looked quiet and deserted, but the lingering smell of woodsmoke assured him that this was where the runaway stopped. No sounds came from inside. The door was a flimsy, rotting thing, and it hung half broken from its hinges after he threw it open.

The horses whinnied behind him.

Inside, the shack was just as dark as the forest, but he could clearly see his missing children. The vice on his heart loosened. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if Fëanor had abandoned them somewhere, or hurt them. His two youngest were asleep, Finarfin in his sister’s arms, and both of them curled up against Fëanor’s side. Or they were, now the teen was scrambling to his feet, overalls falling off one shoulder, looking up at his father with wide eyes.

“Come here,” Finwë said from between clenched teeth as he stared down his son. 

Fëanor made no move, only looking at him from across the small room, chest heaving beneath his shirt.

Finwë reached out to grab his arm and pull him away from the children. His fingers brushed the shirt sleeve and Fëanor jerked away, stumbling back from him toward the opposite corner of the shack.

“Don’t touch me!” The teen screamed, his voice high and piercing. 

Finwë could deal with him later, all that mattered now was that he wasn’t standing over the small children. Finarfin, awoken by the noise, began to wail and twist in his blanket, causing Lalwen to stir. He crouched and reached out to scoop them up in his arms.

“You’re alright,” He hushed gently, soothing a hand down his daughter’s hair and then the soft fuzz on his youngest’s head. “Come to Papa.”

A flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. Then Fëanor threw himself against his shoulder, knocking him off balance. He fell back, grappling with the wiry teen.

“Don’t touch them!” Fëanor screamed. He kicked the back of Finwë’s knee, dropping his weight and pulling his father down with him.

They landed halfway out the door, Finwë on top.

“Pa?” Fingolfin called nervously from the other side of the shack, worried by the yells and sounds of fighting.

“Stop this,” Finwë snarled at the writhing boy under him. 

He was big enough to keep Fëanor down, but that wasn’t stopping him from trying his best to get up. The teen twisted his shoulders and bucked his hips, trying to throw the other off of him. All the while shrieking nearly unintelligible words, spittle flying from his lips. Finwë caught one of his hands as it clawed at his chest. The other hand scratched a painful line up his neck to his face before he caught it. Fëanor continued to struggle frantically.

“Pa?” Fingolfin said, his voice laced with fear as he rounded the edge of the shack, too worried to wait any longer.

Fëanor twisted to look at his brother. “He’s gonna hurt them!” He babbles, the force of his writhing weakening. “He’s gonna kill you all too! He’s gonna kill you all like Ma!”

The younger boy stood frozen in place, watching.

Taking advantage of his distraction and the way he’d half turned himself to face his brother, Finwë rose up and flipped him over the rest of the way, so he was lying on his stomach instead of his back. He sputtered on a mouthful of decomposing leaves and dirt. The screaming finally stopped, though now he could hear the two frightened children still inside. 

“Give me your boot lace,” Finwë said to Fingolfin as he knelt on Fëanor’s back to keep him down, pinning his hands above his head with one hand. The teen’s breath rattled out of his chest. Finarfin wailed from the shack. He held out his hand impatiently. “Now.”

Fingolfin sat down and obediently unlaced one boot. Trembling fingers made him fumble several times. As soon as he freed the long cord, he stood and brought it to his father, looking down at his wheezing brother with fear. Relieved of his burden, he drew back, loose boot scuffing in the dirt.

“Bring the horses up here,” Finwë directed him and he gladly fled back the way he came.

Finwë adjusted his grip, prepared for a fight as soon as he moved Fëanor’s hands so he could bind them behind his back. The fight, though, appeared to finally have gone out of him and he lay unresisting in his father’s hands. Deftly, he bound his arms tightly behind him before climbing off his back.

Fëanor gasped in a ragged breath and coughed.

Finwë stooped down and pulled the boy’s ankles toward his hands, securing them with a quick knot to keep him down. He did not trust him to not run the moment he was left alone. Satisfied the boy wouldn’t be going anywhere quickly like that, he walked back into the hunting shack.

“Papa!” Lalwen exclaimed, tears running down her face as she ran into his arms.

Finarfin cried where she left him in the bundled blanket, distressed by everything and no doubt hungry as he hadn’t eaten since noon. 

“There now,” He said, kneeling and holding her tightly to his chest, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her head. “I have you. Don’t cry, papa has you.”

She continued to cry, as any small child would after all that happened. 

“He said we have to go away and we would play and everything would be okay,” She said, hardly intelligible through the tears. “But he said we weren’t lost but you couldn’t find us. And I just wanna go home!” She wept.

He picked her up, her skinny legs automatically wrapping around his waist and arms clinging to his neck as she buried her face in his chest. He hushed her, keeping a hand on her back as he stepped over to Finarfin. He let go of her so he could scoop up the baby. He soothed both crying children until they both quieted, Finarfin even falling back to sleep despite his hunger. Only then did he go back outside.

Fingolfin waited with all three horses, the mare Fëanor stole wearing a makeshift rope halter and tied to the saddle horn of Fingolfin’s horse. They stood a few yards from his brother, still lying on his stomach, though he’d turned his head to breathe easier. His eyes kept flicking down to the older boy, clearly struggling to not stare at him. He looked up when his father appeared, his features relaxing when he saw his siblings.

“Lalwen, Finarfin,” He whispered in relief. 

“Let’s get going,” Finwë said gently, nodding at his son to get on his horse.

Fingolfin climbed up and looked down again at his older brother. “You aren’t,” He asked hesitantly. “Leaving Fëanor here?”

Finwë shook his head. “I’ll deal with him once you three are home and in bed.” He looked down at Lalwen. “You and Arafin are going to ride with Fingolfin.”

He handed the baby to Fingolfin and then lifted Lalwen up and sat her in front. Once she was settled, he helped the twelve-year-old turn the blanket into a sling so he could carry his little brother against his chest, leaving his hands free to guide the horse and steady his sister. 

Noticing the trepidatious look on his face, Finwë said, “Just focus on keeping them safe. We’ll go down the easy paths.”

The boy nodded.

Finwë turned and strode over to his eldest. He crouched and untied his feet. “Get up,” He said.

Fëanor refused, staying limp on the ground.

He grabbed the boy’s hair, laced with detritus from their struggle, and pulled his head up. “Get up or I will drag you.” He hissed.

Without a word, Fëanor twisted and worked his legs under himself so he was kneeling, face pressed against the ground. His back tensed and his shoulders twitched, but try as he might, he couldn’t raise his head. Finwë grabbed the back of his overalls and pulled him up enough for him to stand on shaking legs. The rich dirt had turned to mud on his face.

“Move,” He ordered, keeping a tight hold on his forearm and marching him over to his horse. 

Fëanor kept his shoulders hunched and eyes downcast, refusing to look at anyone.

Finwë mounted first, keeping hold of the loose end of the cord binding the teen so that he could not run away. Fëanor made no move to follow his father up.

“Come here,” He said, looking down on him. “Or I will drag you all the way home.”

With a jump, and a yank on the back of his overalls to pull him further, he had him draped over the front of the saddle, his legs dangling over one side and his head over the other. He wrapped the free end of the cord around the saddle horn to be sure Fëanor could not slip off and run away. The position looked uncomfortable, but he frankly did not care.

“Let’s go home,” He said to the others, nudging the horse into a bouncing walk.

***

Indis waited in one of the chairs by the fireplace. 

Finwë returned almost an hour ago with her tired children. She’d hugged and kissed all three of them, even Fingolfin, though he protested and complained that he hadn’t been lost. She knew it was only a token protest made by a boy who thought himself too old and grown up to need such reassurance from his mother but who still wanted it. She took them to their rooms and tucked them all into bed, hardly able to bring herself to look away from the two youngest. If only they were all still babes like Finarfin and she could hold them all in her arms again and never let them go. But they were too big for that now and she had to leave them in their bed to sleep. Even little Finarfin was so exhausted that he hardly stirred when he was set in his cradle. 

The fire cast its flickering light across the room.

Another shrill scream breaks the quiet night. The cry is faint, coming all the way from inside the barn, but still sharp enough to make her squeeze her eyes shut and rub at her temples. How she hated the sound. She hoped it would not be enough to wake the children from their needed sleep.

The backdoor opened. Finwë walked inside, his footsteps heavy, worn down by all that happened today. He paused for a moment when he noticed her waiting for him, then came over and sat across from her.

“How are they?” He asked, looking into the fire.

“Asleep,” She answered, looking at the stress lines around his eyes and mouth.

“How’s your back?”

“A little sore,” She said honestly. Running through the forest and then spending several hours on the back of a horse had not done her any favors. “But I’ll be alright.”

He nodded, his hands squeezed together in his lap. 

“And Fëanor?” She pushed. 

She’d seen him tied and slung over one of the horses when they got back. Silent and unmoving, apathetic to his family’s reunion. Finwë led the horses to the barn while she took her children inside. 

He leaned back in the chair, releasing a harsh breath. “He could have killed one of them.”

Her eyes widened. “He would never—” She began.

“He might,” Finwë interrupted, his voice rising with emotion. “Even if he did not mean to, he could have killed them. He has no idea what he’s doing. He’s in there,” He threw an accusing finger toward the barn, “screaming at nothing. He’s babbling nonsense and cannot see anything beyond his own delusional beliefs!”

She stared, wide-eyed. “He’s,” She could not go on.

“He’s mad,” The other supplied easily. “He hasn’t been right for years. We saw it! We saw it and let him be and now look at what he’s done. He’ll kill one of them next time. I know he will.” 

“But he loves them,” She protested weakly.

He stood and began to pace. “I’ve let this go on far enough. Your love for him stayed my hand time and time again when he showed this madness. My own love for him and his mother clouded my judgment too, but no longer. We were lucky today. He might have killed them. This will go no further.”

“What do you mean?” She pleaded, clasping his hand between hers and he walked by. “He’s our child.”

“He’s mad!” He spat but did not pull away. “He’s dangerous, and he cannot stay here. There is a place in Rawlings, a lunatic asylum, that will take him. We’ll go tomorrow.”

“No!” She said, standing to face him. “He is our child. You will not send him away to be minded by strangers. We are a family. We look after each other.” Her voice shook.

“Can’t you see how dangerous he is?” He said, taking her by the shoulders and holding her in place. “He is like a wild animal and it is only a matter of time before he strikes out again. We cannot trust him.”

She put a hand on his chest. “You cannot give up on him so quickly. There is a problem, yes, but we see it now and can watch for it so that next time it does not take up unprepared.”

His chest heaved beneath her hand.

“We cannot give up on him before we even try.”

He looked down and sighed. She knew he was calming down from the fierce emotion that had gripped him at the thought of his children being hurt.

“You’re right,” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I am being hasty. I spent so much of this night worrying for Lalwen and Finarfin. I should not make such decisions while I’m like this. Thank you for speaking reason into me again.”

“Always,” She said tenderly, touching his cheek.

“We will sleep, and tomorrow I’ll see if he’s ready to be any more reasonable.” He took her hand in his, pulling it slowly from his face.

They walked together to their bedroom and changed into their night clothes. Under the covers, he held her close and buried his nose in her hair. She curled into his chest and tried to ignore the screams.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.23 thoughts

[Mamaaa! Didn't Mean to Make You Cryyy!]

I guess if any episodes had to be the best episodes, it's appropriate that they be the end of the season, but god dammit, why wasn't every episode this good???

The animation, the music, the emotional weight, this episode was a real all-rounder. Even with how comparatively little action there was, it was great!

I actually feel like there's nothing for me to say, it was so good. There weren't any big reinterpretations of the source material for me to latch onto, mostly just little details like the pages crumpling under Sean's feet to convey his presence or a subtle Easter egg when Rip cut off Anno Un's arm. The coolest detail was definitely that Akira couldn't narrate the preview anymore now that we know who he is, but I get the feeling I wouldn't have noticed that if other people hadn't pointed it out first

If we're lucky, maybe that'll mean there's no recap next week...

Something this episode did help me realize, though, was that Yuki Yase's style really lends itself well to dramatic weight rather than pulse-pounding action. As we saw, the latter is still possible, but I think the thing that killed the pacing for the season as a whole was the insistence on pregnant pauses and atmospheric shots over a consistent flow of events and ideas. The dark lighting and zoomed-out shots are both pretty indicative of this, and were definitely my least favorite elements of the season. Those moments that reduced visual clarity to presumably focus on what was being said were, ironically, very distracting for me, as I always found myself trying to figure out where the cast was (though I think they were usually hiding behind Hulu's garishly huge subtitles) instead of focusing on what was being said

As near as I remember, though, this episode didn't really have moments like that, and if it did, they went by quick enough that I didn't really notice them. I remember this episode being very bright with the exception of the brief moment of sepia with Akira sitting next to his grieving mother, which was extremely poignant without the directorial style I was complaining about. If I had to guess, aside from the amazing moments of sakuga, this was the biggest reason this episode left such a good impression

I'm not really good at understanding this sort of thing, but I hope to learn at some point who was in charge of what in each episode; Yuki Yase is the director of the series as a whole, not individual episodes, so it's possible that he's not responsible for most of my gripes this past half year, but it's also possible that his overall style overshadowed everyone else's decisions, so he may well be responsible either way. I hope that someone like Totally Not Mark will cover UU down the road so I can get insight on this from someone who's good at hunting down that kind of information and comparing one bit of an artist's works to the rest. I may not like researching that kind of thing, but I do love hearing about it!

With that, we have one final episode to go. Will it be up to snuff with the last two episodes, will it miss the landing, or will it go above and beyond and convince a million people to sit through 20 episodes of recaps just to see how it gets to this point? We'll find out next week, and I can't wait!

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

saw that one post of yours titled "his gaze softened" and fell in love with it! i was wondering if you would mind making a version with Haley, Claire and Daia instead? (my favs from vanilla SDV, SVE and RSV, respectively). if not, that's alright.

have a great day!

Of course! Have a great day too and enjoy 💖

Haley:

Click, click, click, click...

The clicking had been going on for more than 20 minutes, as Haley couldn't get a perfect picture of the forest lake with her camera. Such a beautiful summer atmosphere: sunny weather, birds singing, fish splashing, flowers fragrant - the girl was ready to sacrifice the cleanliness of her new stilettos in order not to miss and capture such a perfect moment in the forest on the photo tape.

But the blonde girl still couldn't pick any photo - none of the photos fits, everywhere there is some object spoiling the whole picture. Deciding to take a break for a couple minutes from the endless clicking of her camera button, Haley noticed that just as the "that" farmer came out of the door of the Marnie's Ranch. The same Farmer, who still continued to be friends with Haley, despite the fact that in the past she'd made some less than tactful, and at times even rude, comments about their clothing. She would have said something about it even now, to be honest: their worn blue overalls were covered in dust, earth, and grass. However, Haley had been annoyed by this scruffiness at first on the first day they'd both met, but now she thought there was some charm to it. Though it would seem - what charm could you find in a dirty farmer's clothes?

The Farmer held a lump of something white in his hands, and a small basket of sunflowers hung from the bend of their elbow. It wasn't until a few seconds later that Haley realized that the "something white" in their hands was none other than a little cute lamb. Oh, so adorable!

Not realizing what she was doing, Haley took a quick picture of the Farmer while they were playing with a farm animal they had purchased. Noticing a flash not far away near the lake, Farmer took a quick step toward Haley. The girl was only slightly startled, thinking that the Farmer didn't like the hidden camera taking pictures without their asking. But they only bestowed the girl with their snow-white smile, gave her a sunflower (her favorite...), and let her play with the lamb for a bit.

After they finished talking and the Farmer headed home, Haley started looking at the pictures she had taken earlier, and stopped at the one where the Farmer, in a straw hat, smiling toothily, was playing with the cute lamb. Her gaze softened at the sight of such a happy person, her friend, her... secret object of adoration?

Okay, she got distracted, still need to take pictures of the landscape. And that picture of the Farmer... Well, she would keep secret, away from prying eyes.

Claire:

Today Claire was lucky that there weren't many customers in the Jojamart, or else her manager would have made her miss half the break time again, because "customers need to be served, and rest can wait." The red-haired girl headed towards the small pond outside the store, the only place that wasn't lined with huge vans and crates with the dull logo of Joja. Just the quiet splash of water, a couple of trees, and silence... She could quietly enjoy a break and delve into reading her favorite book.

No sooner had Claire found a bench to sit down on than she noticed a figure not far from the pond. Birds of various colors were flying noisily around the person. Sparrows, titmouse, snowbirds - the very ones that don't fly south, staying in the Stardew Valley during the winter. The feathered lumps chirped happily around (as Claire noticed after a moment) the Farmer, perched on their shoulders, arms and head, gratefully and eagerly eating the bird food the Farmer had generously scattered. The cashier raised her eyebrows in surprise, amazed as she watched the smiling Farmer and the noisy little birds.

The birds seemed to trust them enough not to be afraid of them at all. Oh, how funny the Farmer looks when the little feather lumps, even after a hearty meal, were unwilling to leave the Farmer, perched on top of them. And how the Farmer pretended to be grumpy that they was going to stay here for a long time, but was nevertheless glad of such attention from the birds.

How Claire's gaze softened at the sight of the fondling birds and such a kind person for remembering to care not only their farm animals, but for the others. And the way her cheeks flushed slightly when the Farmer spotted her and waved a hand in greeting, and Claire could have sworn that the birds that perched on the Farmer also chirped happily as they greeted the red-haired girl.

Daia:

"You'll never catch up to me!"

"I am speeeeed!"

"Hee hee hee!"

The children's laughter filled the entire Ridge, not intending to end anytime soon. After all, Keahi, Trinnie and Blair had just gotten into the flavor of the game when they, squealing with joy and merriment, ran away from the Farmer who had graciously agreed to play catch-up with them. Naturally, the Farmer runs as fast as a cheetah and could have caught someone a long time ago, but that's no fun.

After an hour of playing, they dramatically fell to the grass, and the children immediately went up to the Farmer and fell on the grass too with them, celebrating their victory.

"Hehehe, we overtook you! I told you I am the speeeeed!"

While all four of them were lying on the grass and laughing, not far behind a tall poplar tree stood Daia. A noise in the forest caught her attention and the curious ninja decided to find out what was going on. Her gaze softened and her heart filled with mirth when Daia realized that it wasn't evil spirits that had managed to crawl out of Ridge Forest, but just local kids and that 'cutie farmer' from a nearby town. Oh, she wished she could join the game too!

It was a shame that grumpy Jio would be all over her about the abandoned post, so Daia just smiled again and disappeared into the mist.