#expect more ig bc i have another idea…

[carduelism]

‘On the Overtoom again, heading back into Amsterdam: Locksmith Sleutelkluis, Vacatures, Digitaal Printen, Haji Telecom, Onbeperkt Genieten, Arabic letters, lights streaking, it was like a nightmare, I was never going to get off this fucking road. Blood smear on my cuff. Big fat drops.’

close ups of the gay ppl vvv

[chaotictomtom]

whisper screams let me fucking sleeeeeep i beg of youuuuu

[2-wuv]

ok we got the Bare Ideas down for Chapter fuckin. 3 technically of New Task. and then tomorrow we start. writing it . and probably chapter 4.

[savannahsdeath]

hii i have a little ellie request. so can we maybe have an enemies to lovers where reader and ellie “hate each other” but in reality ellie just wants to be with reader and she ends up using the strap roughly bc reader didn’t wanna confess after years? (sorry this seems long😭)

i absolutely love this idea omg??

ELLIE WILLIAMS X READER

PART1ONE

part 2two

mdni please<3

warnings: 18+!! smut, 'enemies' to lovers, strap (r!receiving), mean!ellie kinda??, rough!ellie, reader is also mean at first !!

writers note: i love receiving requests like yall are so creative and idkk its just easier to write a req than my own idea🫣🫣 also this turned out to be longer than i expected (my longest fanfic yet!) but even the anon said it seems long so ig thats how its supposed to be🙏

It was another PE lesson you hate so much. It wouldn't be that bad, if not the fact that you're in the same team with Ellie. Ellie fucking Williams.

She would get mad at you for every little mistake you made. You absolutely hated her.

You had to admit she was... pretty. Especially when she had the mix of mad and stern expression on her face. Sometimes you provoked her just to watch her insult every little thing about you she could but you didn't mind. You just sat there with a smirk, sometimes making a mockingly worried face to piss her off even more. Sometimes. Sometimes you weren't in mood for that and you'd actually get offended. Sometimes even hurt. But you couldn't really blame her, that's how it works.

This day, you were literally rescuing your team. Every point was because of you. Every 'that was close' situation was only 'close' because of you. But your luck, or whatever made you win, had to run out eventually. You missed one time.

"What happened? Got holes in your hands? Tired? Not so good anymore?" Ellie asked you with that mocking tone.

Everyone ignored your interaction - they knew what's starting and they didn't want to get involved in that.

"I've done pretty much everything for this team, and the only thing you do is complain, Williams." You said and you could feel your temper rising.

Ellie didn't hesitate to respond to that.

"Well at least I don't do a half-ass job like you. You're really so full of yourself, aren't you? Why not just give up and let someone actually capable take over, huh?" She barked sarcastically.

The other team members didn't even try to hide their excitement now, they just sat back and enjoyed the show, even the teacher was having a hard time holding back the grin on his face whenever Ellie came up with a new insult.

And now, there was no going back.

"Oh, I'm sorry Williams, did your precious little ego get hurt from that? Are my skills threatening your so-called pride? Well if you don't like it, suck it up." You shot back.

If this kept up, you were going to end up with another detention for sure. Everyone knew that you two were like oil and water, but nobody really expected you to get into a shouting match over PE class. Especially, not this early in the morning.

The teacher finally decided that it was enough trouble, and he stepped between the two.

"Ladies, settle down! If you can't figure out how to work well together in a simple PE session, then you'll need more than one detention to figure it out. Go sit down." He ordered, and you two sat down, next to each other.

As if following a silent order, all the other students just went about their business and pretended like nothing had happened.

"You should learn how to shut up sometimes." You said quietly, nervously playing with your fingers.

"You should stop thinking you're so damn important." She snapped back, completely ignoring your advice as she stared at you with the same icy cold look as before.

The teacher came over to the two of you and handed you a form, which you quickly read over. "Maybe it's rough but that's what you both deserve after arguing in every single class. And if that won't help... I don't know what will. Someone will check in on you from time to time, so don't even think about anything, understood?."

In short, the file was saying you'll have spent a month after school doing little school works, like cleaning the gym, with her. It was a frequent way of dealing with problematic students in your school.

You weren't even surprised - the teacher was right. Your little bickers were the main gossip topic and there was no way they'll go unnoticed.

Still, you couldn't help but frown.

"You've got to be kidding me." You muttered under your breath. Spending a month after school doing odd jobs with Ellie was literally the last thing you wanted to do. You knew there was some sort of punishment coming, but this was extreme.

Ellie overheard your muttering, and she rolled her eyes. "It's just a bunch of cleaning, what's wrong, can't handle a little hard work?" She mocked.

"And why are you so happy? Maybe you wished to spend more time with me?" You chuckled, finally looking up at her.

Ellie seemed caught off guard, but she quickly recomposed herself. "Who said I was happy? Sure, I'll love to see you grovel and scrub floors while I sit back and relax." She replied in a sarcastic tone.

You decided to press your advantage, and give Ellie a dose of her own medicine. "Aww, is someone actually admitting that they like spending time with me? I'm so honored." You said with an overdramatized fake fluster.

Ellie didn't even let you finish your sentence before she cut in with her usual sarcastic tone. "Pfff, don't get so ahead of yourself there." She chided. Even then, you could hear some slight annoyance in her voice.

Ellie may have been a jerk, but there was something about her you couldn't help but like. You couldn't explain it, but you liked this banter between the two of you.

Oh, who were you trying to lie to? You liked her. You were just good at hiding it.

You were just about to open your mouth to respond to Ellie's last snarky remark, when you were cut off again.

"Enough."

You both turned to see the teacher staring at the two of you. He sounded more annoyed than before, and you decided it was better to stop your feud before you got in any more trouble.

"You two are already going to spend a month together doing odd jobs. The last thing we need is for you to add another week to that sentence." He warned.

You wanted to say something back, but you decided to shut up before the teacher had to make it worse. You and Ellie just looked at each other for a couple of seconds, before you rolled your eyes and got up from your seat.

After a few more classes, the time of  fulfilling your penalty came. You sat down at the gym benches, waiting for Ellie. You waited, and waited, but no one came.

Ellie was faster than you with getting up. She smirked and said; "Well it's not like you actually had anything worth saying anyway, so it's easier for you." With that parting jab, she walked out of the gym.

You expected something like that from her, so you stood up and a few minutes later you were standing in front of her room. You knocked to the door, patiently waiting for her to answer.

After a few moments, you heard footsteps, before the door finally opened. Ellie stood in front of you, her face as annoyed as ever.

"What do you want?" she grumbled, clearly not in the mood to be bothered right now.

"Uh, hello? We're supposed to be doing the clean-up, remember? You haven't forgotten, right?" You said, trying to stay as polite as you could.

She sighed and motioned for you to come in, clearly not ready to go just yet.

You slowly stepped into Ellie's room, your eyes taking in the decorations and mess. It was clear that this was Ellie's world, but you couldn't help but feel a slight curiosity towards her.

"So, why exactly weren't you at the gym?" You asked, finally breaking the tension. You didn't want her thinking you were here to start another argument.

"I had stuff to do." Was the terse response you were met with, nothing else.

"Yeah, of course." You rolled your eyes. "Your room could use some cleaning too."

Ellie smirked when your tone turned from polite to annoyed when she gave you her response, but you couldn't help but notice that she slightly recoiled when you mention how messy her room was. For someone with such a sharp tongue, she sure wasn't enjoying that same kind of treatment.

"Oh yeah? So maybe we should have you clean my room instead." She shot back.

"Actually, boarding school is still school, so that'd count too." You smirked, not so sarcastically anymore. You'd really rather stay in her room than running all over the building with a mop and dirty cloths.

Ellie raised one eyebrow at your reply, clearly not expecting you to just accept it without some kind of snarky remark or argument.

"Alright then." She replied simply, and she walked over to her bed and started to clear out the clutter. You couldn't really deny that her room was in a pretty messy state.

You explored the room, looking for something to start with.

Just then, near other scattered clothes, you saw feminine underwear. Clearly not hers.

"Um, Ellie..." You laughed. "Who's this?"

She walked up to you, not seeming surprised or embarrased at all. "I dunno. There's lots of girls visiting." She smirked.

You knew the smart thing to do would be just to drop the topic, but your curiosity got the best of you. Just who was Ellie Williams hanging out with?

"Really? And how many of them leave a pair of underwear in your room as a souvenir?" You asked, trying to keep a straight face, but you couldn't help but be amused by the situation.

Ellie just laughed, and you couldn't help but grin at her confidence in that moment.

"If you're asking if I'm dating someone," Ellie said, looking at you with an amused expression, "then no. I wouldn't call it dating."

You knew Ellie was always too stubborn and proud to just admit it normally, so you decided to push her just a little bit further.

"So it's not just a single person then? What's it? A new girl every day?" you asked with a smirk, knowing you'd hit a nerve there.

The slight flicker of annoyance on Ellie's face told you that you'd hit the mark.

"So what if it is? Are you jealous?" She teased in response, just adding fuel to the fire.

Now, she had the smirk on her face, and you just knew you'll regret what you started.

"Not really. Everyone knows you fuck every girl in the school anyways. Well, almost every." You suggestively pointed at yourself. "That's honestly sad. You should focus on one person, don't you think?"

Ellie took this as a challenge, she just couldn't resist it when you made yourself the exception.

"Oh, you think you're a special case? How cute." She snickered, and you couldn't help but feel somewhat pleased with that response after how much you two had been annoying each other for the past month.

"What do you think, should I consider dating you? It seems like you're interested, isn't that why you keep sticking around?" She asked, looking at you, knowing very well what kind of effect her words were gonna have on you.

"Me? Interested? You're the one finding excuses to talk to me every day, even if it's just another argument!" You shook your head and looked down, trying to hide that your smirk turns into a honest smile.

You felt Ellie's eyes studying your face as you tried to hide your genuine happiness, you tried to play it off, but you knew that it wasn't working in your favor. You couldn't even deny it, because it was true, you were interested in Ellie. Maybe not at first, but after spending time together, you grew to like her, her arrogance, her wit, the snarky smile on her face... and her eyes.

"Oh, so you do care!" She quickly cut in, sensing your weakness as your smile grew.

"Come on, don't tell me you've been enjoying this little game of ours, haven't you? Don't you look forward to it every day? Don't you love the adrenaline that kicks in when you're about to say something that's bound to start an argument?" She asked, taking a step closer to you and lowering her voice.

You could almost see the sparks fly as the two of you stared at each other, both feeling the tension in the air. You were almost tempted to take her up on the offer, but your pride got the best of you.

"You're just full of yourself, aren't you? Thinking everybody craves that attention." You said after taking a deep breath.

Ellie just smiled and walked straight to you, getting up close and personal.

"Well, I know you want it. So stop putting up a facade and admit it."

"I'm not like these sluts you fuck, Williams." You said, trying to keep your voice steady and calm.

Ellie just smirked in response. "You're right, you're not like them. You're better than them. And maybe you are a little special, considering how much you manage to piss me off everyday." She took a step back and looked you up and down. "I kinda like it." She said, and you couldn't help but feel your heart rate go up a little when she said that.

You just stared back at Ellie, not really sure what else to say in this situation. Both of your egos were too big to give the other one satisfaction, and neither would be making the first move.

She finally spoke up; "Your turn to be honest now. Admit you're into me."

She was awfully close to you now, daring you to say something.

"Don't push it, Ellie." You told her confidently, and even though you really wanted to say it, your pride was holding you back from admitting it.

Ellie just smirked and moved even closer to you, until her face was just an inch away from yours. "Say it." She whispered.

You felt your heart pounding faster as you just looked at her, not able to break her stare.

You shook your head. "No way."

She just chuckled at your response. "I knew you'd say that. And now, I'm gonna make you say it yourself."

Before you could even comprehend what was happening, Ellie pulled you close, just enough to make your lips meet. You just stood there, completely stunned by how bold she was, but at the same time, the feeling of her lips against yours was so new and so good as well. You hadn't felt this type of rush before, and you didn't want it to end.

You couldn't stop yourself from letting out a gasp followed by a moan into the kiss, which made her even bolder.

"I'll show you how lucky those so-called by you sluts are." She whispered after pulling away from you, but not for long.

While Ellie's mouth aggresively covered yours, you felt her slowly pushing you towards the bed.

You were barely able to think now, as your adrenaline was pumping through your whole body. Your back hit the mattress, and Ellie continued to push you down as she climbed up onto the bed on top of you.

That's when it hit you.

You realized that your little feud with Ellie wasn't going to end after all, except this time you weren't fighting her.

Instead, you were just enjoying the moment with someone you could almost call a friend.

It felt like there was nothing else in the universe, just a rush of new sensations that you didn't want to end.

Ellie was the one in control now, as you felt her body pressing up against you, her lips pressing against yours, her hands moving around your body without hesitation. You weren't even thinking straight anymore, you just let her embrace you, letting her take control entirely.

You felt her break the kiss for a moment, just to whisper something in your ear. "Say it."

You knew what she wanted you to say, but you just couldn't bring yourself to do so.

Before you could answer, you felt her slowly undressing you. Her lips were tracing paths along your throat, not letting you let out a logical word from it - only little whimpers.

You felt every curve of her body as you felt her lips against your neck, every touch sending chills down your spine.

When you felt her hands move towards your pants, you felt your body respond in the only way you could.

You couldn't think of anything else but her embrace, her warm breath against your neck, and your body slowly being freed from clothing.

Ellie knew exactly how to push your buttons.

Before you could catch your breath, you were left shaking, as her hand slipped into your underwear, which was soon on the floor too. She was teasing your clit in almost painful slow way, watching you squirm.

"Speak up, babe." She whispered mockingly.

But you couldn't. Not because you didn't want, or because your ego didn't let you - you just couldn't. You even asked yourself 'What does this girl wants from me?' as you already forgotten her previous wish. You just weren't thinking straight.

"Come on, do this for me." She kept looking at you with overdramatic concern. You saw her fastening her belt and sliding of her jeans, revealing an obviously-way-too-big strap, which purple color didn't surprise you at all as you imagined it the same way in your dreams.

When you finally came back to your senses, you constructed a whole full sentence answer. But as soon as she saw you opening your mouth to speak up, she slid a few inches of her toy into your soaking cunt. Your planned reply quickly got replaced with another gasp.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" She smirked, her hips started thrusting. She had some sympathy for you, so she didn't make it too painful, but she wasn't also so merciful.

You cried out, at first clenching your thighs from surprise, but she was too strong for you to actually succeed.

You leaned your head back against the pillow, squeezing your eyes shut causing a few of your pathetic tears soak into the sheets.

She held your hips, so she won't miss your sensitive spot, but her grip was so hard you swore you can already see the bruises creating right beneath her fingers.

"Honestly, I'm really happy it ended like that. You have no idea how often I'd imagine you instead of some random girl. But it's good to have you really there." She chuckled, not slowing down but not speeding up either.

Your eyes opened wide at this confession. Before today, the nicest thing she said to you was 'what's wrong?', even though it was in an obviously mocking way. And know it turns out she liked you for a long time. Just like you liked her.

"W...Wh- What?" You managed to stutter out, leaning on your elbows to look at her before your vision turned blurry again so you fell back on the pillow.

"You didn't know?" She laughed. "I mean, you were always oblivious, so I shouldn't be shocked but... I thought it was clear." She was speaking slower than usual as every single word coming from her mouth was synced with the moves of her hips. While saying this simple thing, she pushed her strap into you at least twenty times. And she wasn't taking her time, oh, no. She was fast and rough, like you're just a sex toy without feelings. Did you mind? Hmmm...

When you started getting used to the size of her cock and your mind wasn't completely blank anymore, you remembered one important thing your PE teacher said. 'Someone will check in on you from time to time, so don't even think about anything.' None of you were either at the gym or putting up flyers around school. They're going to think you ditched it. Even though you'd rather get into more trouble than end whatever you were doing now, you felt you need to tell Ellie, just in case.

"El-s..." You moaned out and quickly realised it won't be easy.

"What is it?" She asked, seeming honestly interested in what you got to say. "Ready to admit you're absolutely obsessed with me?"

You clenched your fists, squeezing the bed sheets between your fingers.

"Th- no... We should..." You couldn't help but cry out again.

As soon as she heard the two keywords - 'we should' (and she hated when someone was telling her what to do, so that pissed her off) - she understood what you're trying to say.

"Behave? Fulfill our duties? Or...?" She chuckled.

You wanted to speak up, just to not feel so vulnerable as you really were. You only managed to mumble 'we' before one of her hands started rubbing your clit, just like at the start - painfully slow. The feeling made your thighs tense and move closer to each other, wanting to close the gap between them. But Ellie didn't let that happen as she quickly separated your legs.

Her hips also didn't stop moving, and all the sensations connected made you go silent again. Well, not silent - unable to speak. And that were two completely different things.

"I'd take that as a 'we should continue what we're doing right now'. Isn't that what you want?" Even though you're eyes were closed, you could feel her intense stare on you. Then, her mocking tone came back. "What is it with you being so quiet all of sudden? You spent a few of the past years yelling at me, and you can't even say a word now?"

"I ju-st..." You said but then she hit your g spot again, and again, and again... making you go silent.

Your stomach started feeling funny - probably because of how deep in it Ellie's strap was. At this point, you thought you can even feel it in your throat and that's what's blocking your words from coming out. But the funny feeling had a different origin - your release was getting awfully close, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"We're going to have lots of fun this month." She whispered, leaning in to stroke your cheek.

[okkotsuus]

PLEASE i need that dealing with ur ex as ur boyf but for barou cus i KNOW that man would GO OFF!

ex encounters (bllk pt.2) !

no because barou would beat the shit out of someone. i'm jut gonna include the rest i wanted for pt.2 with this <3

features: barou s. jingo r. rensuke k. meguru b.

contents: bad exes. ig hurt comfort. kind of comical. barou tries to fight someone. raichi actually fights someone. barou, raichi, and kunigami are physically imposing. bachira pretends to be cray cray (is he really pretending tho?). they're adults bc i said so. 1.9k words.

tw for the exes: copying you. light implied obsession. second choice. gas lighting. being physically imposing. cheating. implied love bombing. stage 5 clinger (derogatory). extremely mild stalking? (can't think of a better word for it).

pt.1 — pt.3 — pt.4

barou would be so bothered, he would verbally degrade the poor dude to tears. not to mention how physically imposing the man is, the ex would be SPRINTING away.

it all started about three years ago when you broke up with your ex, because you just didn't love him anymore and didn't want to keep him trapped in a loveless relationship.

you always felt bad about it, but never bad enough to get back together with him. especially not after barou had barged his way into your life, conquering your heart.

you were sitting on a bench in the park while waiting for him to come back from getting ice cream for the two of you. y'know, not expecting to see your ex, you were minding your business and scrolling though tiktok.

"y/n, hey!" you looked up to see your ex, at first you were confused because frankly, you didn't recognize him. he had changed a lot about himself, physically, dying his hair and dressing different.

part of you already had an idea where this was going. so, you just smiled at him and tried your best to be polite.

"oh, hello." yep, polite, but not nice so that it would lead him on. he stated blabbing on about how he had changed a lot lately, talking about things from the food he liked to the music he listened to. you noticed that it was all things that you had done or liked back when the two of you were together. it was kind of creeping you out.

"i guess what i'm trying to say is: will you please give me another chance. we should be much more compatible now-" you watched half in amusement and half in shock as a cone of ice cream was sat on his freshly coiffed hair.

your ex whirled around in anger, but immediately when dead still when he saw who did it: your boyfriend, barou. he was now holding only one ice cream as he stared down on your ex.

"you dare to speak to MY servant? begone from my sight, you filthy donkey." his words were spat with a venom as he threateningly stepped towards your ex who ran away.

he grumbled and handed you the ice cream he didn't shove on your ex's head, watching as you looked at him with stars in your eyes. he just huffed and ruffled your hair, looking away to hide the slight flush on his cheeks.

"he won't bother you again, but you better share your ice cream with me as a thanks."

jingo would swing on sight. i’m being so deadass he would sucker punch them and spit on them before looking at you all smiley and walking out while holding your hand.

while on a date with raichi, you had lost him in the aisles of the target that you had chosen to torment. you and him had been having a grand time while terrorizing everyone there with your boisterous cackles at any little thing that slightly amused you.

you had looped around an aisle to find him after walking too fast and he was no where in sight. at first you thought he was hiding from you as a joke so you jumped at the beginning of every aisle to try to catch him off guard. but no one was there.

well no one except your ex. because of course he was there. why wouldn't he be in this random target while you just happened to by separated from your boyfriend?

he wasn't a terrible person per say, but he just had a tendency to choose other things or people over you. that was just something that gnawed at you until you snapped which lead to this big fight, where he accused you of making everything up. that was the last straw for you so you broke up with him and never spoke to him, ignoring his calls until they stopped coming.

but here he was, standing directly in front of you, a wobbly smile on his lips that didn't match the look in his eyes. "hey, honey. how've you been? i've been really bad without you..."

you didn't answer and just stared at him while backing off slightly. he just continued, taking a step forward for every one you took back.

"i really miss you, you make me complete"

"you don't really mean that." the words flew from your lips before you could think, speaking the cold and harsh truth. he knew that as his expression turned in anger, taking a bigger step towards you.

but he was immediately thrown back by a fist ramming right against his cheek. he flew back and stood there stunned, taking in the sight of your boyfriend. his widened eyes, sharp teeth, and muscular form. raichi was cracking his knuckles as he growled at the guy.

your ex was about to swing back only to be punched straight in the nose, falling to the ground, being temporarily knocked out. raichi spat on him and turned to you, grimace turning into a sweet grin. he held your hand as an employee kicked you out of the store.

"we're definitely banned, don't regret it though angel, there are other targets."

rensuke would be just annoyed. he knows what he looks like compared to most men and just stands behind you while looking at the guy, doesn’t even have to do anything.

you were sitting at a table in your favorite restaurant while kunigami went to park the car, wanting to optimize the time that it would take to wait for a table. surprisingly, it wasn't very packed so you were able to get one as soon as you asked the hostess.

so, here you sat, sipping on your water as you waited for your boyfriend to come back to join you.

what you didn't expect was to feel an unfamiliar hand on your shoulder, turning to see your ex. he wasn't anything special; the typical cheater. he was so sweet to you at the beginning of it all, treating you as if he was your world almost instantly. that really should have only clued to you that he was hiding something.

he cheated on you with not only one person, but THREE. so he was the furthest from someone you could get back together with. so when he started doing the same sweet lines that he had given you during the beginning of your relationship, a familiar sense of dread set in.

"hey there pretty, missed ya so much, why don't i join you here?"

you just shook your head as you noticed rensuke approaching from the front of the restaurant. you had stopped listening to your ex and you watched his form talk to the hostess.

she pointed in your direction, and you watched as his gaze moved upon you and the predicament you were in. he sent an apologetic smile your way as he walked with a slight haste you way.

"...and those are the reasons why we would be perfect if we got back together." he finished off a long spiel that you, frankly, weren't listening to. you just nodded, watching as rensuke settled behind the guy, waiting for him to notice.

"that's nice and all, it's just: i already have a boyfriend. plus, you cheated on me." your ex just sighed and began to start complimenting you, saying he was such a fool.

rensuke cleared his throat as he stood with his arms crossed, a brow quirked. he was kinda hot like this, to be honest. your ex just turned around and when he saw him, you saw his eyes widen.

your ex just looked between the two of you, acknowledging your loving gaze at the other man, he just sighed and left. rensuke snickered and sat across from you, flipping through the menu.

"can't take ya anywhere, can i, sweetheart?"

meguru would go like feral. he would start talking to the monster in front of the dude and just make him think he was batshit crazy. i mean, it worked, so whatever.

you were sitting with bachira on a bench while he idly chattered about bees. you just smiled as you listened to him list off all sorts of things that you couldn't understand through the jumbling of his words from excitement.

suddenly, your pleasant afternoon was interrupted by a voice shouting your name. you turned to see you ex running up to you with a smile. he never really left you alone, even after you had broken up. always happy to see you and insert himself into anything that you were doing. like a nosey dog. somehow, he was everywhere you were, like he knew you'd be there.

"heya! how've you been, missed you!" he went in for a side-hug but you scooted further into bachira's side, skirting away from it. bachira had long forgotten his beloved bees, instead scrutinizing your ex with a hollow, yellow gaze.

"hey..." you trailed off, lookng away as he sat down, squeezing into the two person bench, legs against yours. so you leaned further into bachira, relishing in the arm he draped over the back of the bench to rest around your shoulders. you also saw the glare your ex shot his way.

"just wanted you to know that i've really missed you, and i'm practically begging you for another chance!" his tone was chipper as his eyes glared harshly into your boyfriend, holding all but friendliness.

bachira suddenly burst into laughter, cackling like a maniac. he looked at the ground in front of the two of you, as if something was there.

"d'you hear the never of this guy? flirting with my partner right in front of me?" he spoke to nothing, it took you a little aback at first before remembering about his 'monster.' your ex just looked at him with wide eyes, clearly freaked out.

bachira nodded at the spot, mumbling agreements. he suddenly turned to your ex, looking him dead in the eye, piercing into him. his face was blank, eyes wide and empty, the only expression was a smirk on his lips.

"the monster in me says that the world would be better of without you... and i agree." your ex jumped up and muttered a goodbye to you before speedwalking away.

you turned to bachira and watched him shake his head like a dog, expression returning to normal as he looked at you with sparkly eyes and a genuine smile. your heart returned to normal as he kissed your shoulder.

"i may be crazy for you, sweet thing, but i'm not actually crazy. yet..."

okkotsuus 23

[noellefan101]

But miss noodle what if we did chose Scara <33

oh my oh my anon, you´re a feisty one indeed-... say less ig

Characters: Scaramouche x gn reader, Kazuha x gn reader

Warnings: yandere themes, killing/murder, suicide(more like murder disguised as suicide), kissing, modern au,

part 2-ish to this

Note: 'miss noodle' omg i love it, also imma work on something fluff next bc omg this is a lot for me, so yeah. i didn´t have many ideas for this, if you want though you can request something specific so i know how to do it(not shaming anyone btw, you don´t have to make it complicated or advanced). and my computer and charger finally works(i got a new charger), i love youuuu

You chose him, you finally chose him. You can´t choose Kazuha anymore anyway, he already made sure that you can´t.

He wasn´t expecting you to turn up to his door, ever, yet there you were in all your beauty and... crying? oh right he almost forgot how he made Kazuha commit "suicide", but what he didn´t think would happen was that you came to him for comfort. he was happy about it, of course he was, but he just didn´t understand, why him? but he could figure that out another time, right now you came back to him and that was all that mattered right now, you only have to worry about you and him for now.

He was quick to hug you tightly to his chest when he had gotten his thoughts together, not letting go until you asked him to or never. As he stroked your hair for comfort his thoughts started to go wild again, what if you found out it was him, would you then hate him again... he stopped himself before his thoughts could get any worse, you were never leaving him again, he´ll do anything to make you stay. make you stay with him. even if that meant killing the rest of your friends and family, so you only had him left, had him to go to.

He would give you anything you wanted, your favorite food, drink, plushy anything you needed or wanted he would get for you. he wouldn´t let anyone hurt you, and if they did... no he shouldn´t think about that now, you were safe in his arms, you are in his arms. you can´t leave him now, you already chose him, the better him, the one who won´t hurt you ever. now you can´t choose anyone else, just him. and he´ll do better than before, he promises he´ll try for you, just for you.

As long as you are with him he won´t hurt you, as long as you don´t question him for his actions, its all for your protection he swears it is. all he wants to do is protect you, protect you from the world, from the longing eyes of strangers, that he´ll end up killing if they look for too long.

He´ll make sure you´ll choose him forever, and only him. He´ll do anything to make you choose him, anything.

Thank you for reading, its not the best but i think its ok ig, luv ya-Masterlist

You are welcome to reblog and like any of my posts, but you CAN NOT translate, copy or hate on anybody for liking my posts

[madame-fear]

Hello darling! I have another idea if you are interested- So, Luke and reader just so happen to be very competitive with each other. A surprise to everyone at first bc these two are so sweet, but now they can clear rooms in a matter of seconds with their "battles". Today, they are locked in a very intense competition complete with trash talk. Its the ultimate game of....Rock, Paper, Scissors- best 2 out of 3. Loser has to do something very....*interesting* for the winner *wink wink* The stakes are high!

Luke cheats all the time *shhhh*

-Hands on Luke Anon :D <3

amira speaks! : I LOVED THIS REQUEST and i hope it was what you were expecting my beloved! I made this as an imagine because I thought it would fit better than a one-shot. Also, I thought it would be good if Luke courted the reader, hope thats alright with you <33

— pairing : lucerys velaryon x fem!reader — genre : mostly smut/sexual innuendos ig? nothing too explicitly written, but they are there.

Initially, Lucerys would be rather timid around you — barely daring to stare at you in the eyes, and being pushed by his mother to encourage him of talking to you.

But by the time he gets confident around you? Oh, he would be very cocky and competitive. The romantic tension between the two of you had always been notorious, always flirting with each other and playfully fighting even if your personalities often seem more introverted or shy. If he has the chance of courting you, expect this teasing to become a 100% worse just to play around.

Your competitions were always there, before and after courting. Everyone around you would never fight back a smile when seeing you and Luke doing silly little childish competitions, and they would quietly bet with one another about who will win whichever competition you are engaged in. Especially, when the trash talk begins.

“I could win this game blindfolded, pity you have to witness your own defeat!” “Defeat? Please! Your moves are more predictable than snow being on the North!”

They would be much worse than that, but they are often with a competitive-playfulness.

And oh, when he wins, he always asks sweet little rewards or favours from you. They are often innocent, but of course, there are time where he wishes more than mere innocent affection/favours.

I think you would’ve engaged in enough competitions, especially Rock-Paper-Scissors, to the point where Luke probably already knows your tactics, and which options you usually tend to go with first (whether you choose rock, paper, or scissors). So, of course, the young Velaryon prince always finds a way to discreetly cheat without you knowing.

A groan of annoyance would escape from you when you try 3 times to win, with the bst score being 2 out of 3, but getting 0 out of 3. A cheeky smirk would grow on the corner of his lips, with one or two ideas for his rewards. Of course, you always end with your face entirely flustered, nearly crimson at his rather dirty-minded cravings of a reward, denying your defeat. But he always gets to be the winner, or at least, most of the time.

Fortunately, most of the times you are alone doing your competitions, and he gets to choose whether he wants his rewards right there, or if he’s patient enough to await until the night arrives, and everyone is in a deep slumber. Don’t be surprised if most of the times you end on your knees, between his legs, using your pretty little mouth to satisfy him as a reward for winning in your competitions, and his hand would always be in the back of your head with his fingers interwined on your hair, controlling your movements.

Or maybe, you would even have to allow him to use his body as he wishes for his pleasure, and even, for your own (without doing anything that crosses your boundaries, of course). Perhaps even you would have no saying against the lovebites he notoriously leaves all over your body while pleasing you for everyone to know who you belong to, as you are forced to drown back your loud moans because he asked to.

You would probably even have to wear revealing clothing for him, or be tied to the bed as he does as he pleases — because its his reward! 👀

I just know the possibilities are endless when it comes to his needs, and the sexual rewards he would be interested in getting when he wins in your silly competitions. But you will find your way to pay him back the little times you win. 🤭

♡ taglist : ♡

@jjamieberry @anemicroyalcore @countsmoon @beeebo234 @manuholland6 @capellaadara @kyuupidwrites @tchatso @phantasyy @tasty-nutella @mstxdes @valeriecash @cookielovesbook-akie @zzz000eee @bellarkeselection @feliuuuksks @visenya-reigned @maria699669 @mariaelizabeth21-blog1 @sweethoneyblossom1 @jamiemydeer @snowprincesa1

[ladystardust-thinks]

you are in love - t.e.

taron egerton x fem!reader, fluff

request:

Hi hiii! Can I request a fluffly imagine w Taron Egerton where he's simping over the reader during an interview? Thank youu have a nice day!!!

a/n: Aloha! I'm scared of this fic not getting seen by the anon that requested it bc I thought I had kept another ask by them, were they talked about it being neutral, if possible, but turns out I deleted it (😭) so now I don't know if they see it. IF YOU DO PLS SEND ME AN ASK SAYING YOU SAW IT, I AM BEGING. Btw inspired by you are in love by taylor swift, I thought that was obvious though, kinda want to do a part 2 where you keep his shirt and he keeps his word, but it's just an idea

tags/warnings: not proofread at all, wrote it half-drunk idk if it's obvious lmao, language, mention of reader's hair, taron & reader swooning and dying and being obsessed with eachother, she/her pronouns, drinking, casual love confession, third and first person pov, i think that's all.

word count: no word count bc I was bored, but it's pretty long ig

dividers

"I think being unofficially adopted by Elton was inevitable on set. We've just recognised that only one could be the favourite."

She nods slowly and a grin forms on her face. Taron can't form more of a smile. His cheeks were in pain. Three minutes into the interview and still, not able to answer a question. That's a lie, actually. He could answer a lot of questions. What her favourite song is, the amount of summer fruit she eats in wintertime just because they look cute, the color her eyes have when she sits in front of the sun, every tiny little thing, but that'd be useless in a press tour.

His favourite questions though would be the ones he asked her. The ones about music. How much she relates to Vienna, the guitar solo from Killer Queen, what does she think of the cowboy like me lyrics. Anything she could talk about for hours, he could listen to for hours.

"My back hurts." She whispers to him during the commercial break he didn't realize they were in. "What?"

"My back hurts from carrying this interview. Say something. Otherwise I'm going to die the day Jimmy Fallon makes an interesting conversation point." She whisper-shouts and him.

"I mean it's pretty hard to be hated when you don't have a personality, isn't it?"

He shrugs and smiles at her.

"I feel bad, we're sitting here gossiping about our host. But yeah. True."

She giggles thinking of his joke again. He looks at her as he is trying to keep his smile from exploding. As if he'd laugh with all his teeth if he let go. He's looking at every part of her, his eyes following the curves of her hair, her cheeks with their smile lines, because of her wide beams throughout the years. His eyes going all over her, as if he was scanning her, as if he'd been memorising every little one of her characteristics.

"What's wrong with you today, did I turn into a ghost?" She asks him, smiling.

"What?" He laughs slightly.

"You look at me all the time with that dead fish face. As if you're constantly wondering about something."

"I wonder about a lot of things, I'm a very philosophical man."

"I'm pretty sure that's how Freud's mommy issues started."

"Stop it."

"You stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Being so distracted."

"Only when you stop being so distracting."

"I know, I'm gorgeous but get your shit together."

"You are." He turns to look at her and smiles.

Stunned, she pauses a bit, pursing her lips together. As if she wasn't expecting the compliment. As if he didn't look captivated by every little move she made, the fidgeting of her hands or the twitch of her nose when she was confused. She also turns to look at him.

"Thank you." She lets out a breathy laugh.

"You don't look half bad. Actually, no. You don't look quarter bad! I don't even know if that makes sense, but it felt nice to say." She feels something newfound. Something hopeful and surprising all together. She wondered if he could see it in her eyes, though she hoped he couldn't because it felt vulnerable. She wasn't at ease, she was just delighted enough to only fly right over her safety net. Just in case.

***

As a person I have a lot of qualities, whether people would argue if they're good or bad, I did and they were a lot. Sadly, being patient is not one of them. I have to be distracted from everything at anytime and be constantly stimulated. Sitting down on a makeup and hair chair to be Laura's laboratory animal was one of these activities. One that could bore me very easily, but I also loves doing. It makes her happy to try new things and it makes me happy to see it.

Scrolling on tiktok, I land on a clip from last night's interview, with Taron.

'Currently needing someone to look at me like Taron Egerton looks at his co-stars',

read the caption.

"You're a lucky ass girl." Laura howls seeing my screen from over my head.

I look up and grimace at her.

"You're invading my personal space."

"You are my best friend, I've been invading your personal space since we were 20 and you were crying in the bathroom of a bar because the little umbrellas the cocktails had were 'just too cute'. Get over yourself, he's as cute as the umbrellas, you were thinking it, I said it."

"I- Touché."

Is he?

I mean he's really nice and you'd probably call him charming. And he hears me, which not a lot of people do - including me - anytime i ramble on about... anything.

You could call him cute, yes. He can be funny aswell. It might be the british-ness, I'm not sure. Though, I do enjoy spending time with him.

He's also nice to look at. That sounds weird. He is objectively, and only objectively, really attractive.

"Laura." I say sternly and look up at her through the mirror.

"Mhm..." She's so nonchalant about this. I need some sympathy here!

"You think?" My eyebrows furrow and I tilt my head. I belive I was denying my thoughts more than I was questioning them.

"If you don't, I will. I guarantee you though, I won't be as successful." Her grin makes me frown in thought. At least this is going to be an interesting press tour, isn't it?

***

"I can't say something like that, she'd kill me."

"You smile like an idiot when she talks to you. If she were to kill you she would've already."

"I- I don't think I would mind. I mean, it's from her hands, at least I'd die a happy man."

Richard squints his eyes. "Yes... And you still can't find a way to say that. Uh-huh."

The backstage for their interview had an air, heavier than it needs to be for Taron to process. Variety interview, press event, after-party. That was the schedule for the day, as of 5 minutes prior. Five minutes, in which he felt actually, relaxed. All until we had to shove a 'Confess your immortal passionate love to your co-star (bonus points if she doesn't hate you)' in the To-Do list. Taron thought Richard might, could, maybe, possibly, ever in a million years, be a bit of help.

But he wasn't, he was just being a dick about it, no pun intended. 'Yeah, you're smitten mate.' as if he didn't know that! He didn't need a doctor's diagnosis to tell him he was absolutely and utterly in love. What were the possibilities he wouldn't be? How could anyone not be? He hadn't ever met a more genuine and caring and generous and sweet person in Hollywood. No, fuck Hollywood, his life.

***

Entering the venue hurt him physically. At least that's what it felt like. You cannot judge him, if you had her waving at you from across the room with this wide smile you would've understood. He purses his lips into an upside-down smile he couldn't hold, he would never want to disappoint her like this, but he couldn't wave back of course. He thought he'd faint any moment if he moved. Right, fun. What was he supposed to do, ignore her? Avoid her? That might aswell hurt more. His breath hitched when she began walking over to him. What was wrong with him? He is a confident grown ass man, why does she make him act like that, how does she manage that? Why can she walk in and make the room shine? Why is she so genuinely funny and interesting? How can she be so talented, but at the same time so understanding of others. If it wasn't her Taron wanted to confess to, he'd ask her for advice.

"Thank god you're here! The music is boring, the food is bland and the people are so rich I can't even comprehend if they're talking about their yacht, their Oscar or their villa."

She clearly wasn't doing any better. "Need saving?" he teases and she finds herself chuckling. That's a sweet thought. A nice way to put it. Need a knight to save her from the absolute dread of boredom.

"Yes, Romeo."

"Romeo? I'm flattered."

"You shouldn't be, you die."

"I die in love."

"You die heartbroken, have you read it?"

"Under love's heavy burden do I sink."

"Very well delivered, congratulations."

"Thank you very much."

She smiles and sighes, he's so stupid, it's kind of adorable. What's even more stupid is how stupid he makes her feel. She feels like a fool when she can't come up with a sarcastic comment. She feels like a fool when she notices looking at her and can't even whisper, if ever utter a word. She just smiles. It's annoying.

"Well Romeo and Juliet is pretty fitting, considering you look like you just escaped straight out of some fairytale." He had to gather all his courage and make this compliment, but at least she liked it. No, she loved it. She adored it. It was so adorable, it was so nice. It's a compliment you see being said in books and movies. Made her feel gorgeous, like she was the only one in the room.

"I- Romeo and- Sorry. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, not a fairytale." She wasn't sure what else to say and what she did already was supposed to come out way more confident, it didn't. Obviously.

***

I’m not certain how we did so, but we ended up in the backyard of somebody, who knew somebody, who knew somebody who had cheap wine and a good taste in music, but we did. I had a drink in my hand and I was going off about something, but the conversation was changed soon enough. When Taron asked me, how the hell was I single. I looked at him. I squinted and sighed. "Why wouldn't I be? I mean I'm fun and pretty and famous, but who does commitment with a cat lady?! Who would want something long term? Pffft nobody."

I don't think I realised what I was whining on about until I heard him speak up. He said 'Me.' He really said me! It was so foolish, and I was so drunk, but he did say it.

"You."

"Me."

"You're funny."

"Only when I'm joking."

"Fuck. Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"No like, would you actually?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, probably.".

"That's- So you like me?"

"No, I don't think so."

"But-"

"I love you, I believe."

I was just looking at him. I could not function. I thought about the cost of being hospitalised for possible heart abnormalities and cardiac arrest. Saying me too seemed cheaper and more beneficial, so that was what I went with.

"Are you joking?" I let out a breathy laugh, thinking his concerns were ridiculous. "This whole time? Oh my god. I just wasted all this time."

"All this time of what?" He asks and I wonder, how could he not understand? It was so painfully obvious that I wanted him. I craved to hear his laugh and listen to him every day, 'til I would die.

"All this time of not being with you."

His mouth was left a bit agape, but I could see a smile being formed slowly. He just looked at me. With that stupid dead fish face he'd done at first. Laura's gonna love this.

"Could you do me a favour?" I look at him and chuckle.

"What is it?"

"Could you say it again?" I smile, tight lipped.

"I love you."

[bumofthewild]

what are your thoughts on the stormblood characters. did you like fordola at all

i wanted to organise my thoughts (oxymoron) on the sb chars actually so this is a good opportunity to start. none of my thoughts are positive though bc i think sb's writing is really bad so when i probably start to sound aggro during this while remembering this expansion i'm sorry.... i try not to be mean when criticising things but i have very little respect for stormblood. also this is about to be extremely long like im not kidding but i figure ppl expect that by now? i hope

i can't really talk abt the stormblood chars without mentioning how much this expansion worships whiteness. and thats even after playing heavensward????? with all of the stuffy white (though beloved) elves who love their white elf history??? fantasy rpgs in general ig. and from square enix. idk why i was so shocked by sb... its a fantasy rpg from square enix....that was truly my bad...................

but fordola isn't who bothers me the most anymore at least. while i was playing sb she used to be the worst sb character to me bc i just thought she was silly and hard to take seriously. initially i was just uninterested in her personality solely being a traitorous attack dog for the empire. that's not to say i don't think sellouts are interesting--i actually think characters like that are very interesting, hence why yotsuyu is one of the more interesting chars (but not by much). it's more that i dont think a single stormblood character was doing anything interesting enough for me to really appreciate, or if they were, it went nowhere or was so poorly developed that any new thing i learned about a character felt random. i feel like anything that could have been interesting in sb was squandered constantly. a lot of them had the potential to be interesting, but were instead so bizarrely flat and almost kind of cliche that i genuinely struggle to put it into words how sb managed to achieve this. possibly bc the story was so preoccupied with repeatedly driving home the same uncomplicated ideas about war and oppression (this would require a separate post) that any sort of actual personality was more or less lost? maybe because it didn't really have a foundation it was working from to keep itself focused? i feel like a lot of time would pass with the characters making the same realisations over and over again (we have to defeat zenos...!) and then when it came time for actual developments it had to rush, thus the feeling of being random. of course, unless, the character was from othard, which the game obviously gave more of a fuck about developing as a location.

like i think fordola's really serious and unwavering personality, the fact that she would do literally ANYTHING to accomplish whatever it is she wanted, could be interesting. if there wasn't so little else going on with her. and also that unlike her fellow ala mhigans she's white. i can't stress how ridiculous it was to watch her or lyse be presented as so important/be the more relevant ala mhigans and everyone else is brown and they're just white. but it wasn't only that she was white. there was just nothing else really going on with her whenever you saw her that provided any kind of intrigue or texture to her scenes. nothing about her character ever changed. until they reveal her motivations for joining the imperials (????)

ok anyone can correct me if i'm wrong, but her goal is to free the ala mhigans from the imperials.....?????? like i'm 100% sure that's what she said. but how does upwards mobility in an imperial nation that relishes in using the word "savage" to describe your people seem even remotely like how that's going to happen? i actually could not fathom for a long while that was what she had said. like i fail to find another way to describe this aside from idiotic, and i often try not to consider things in those terms, but i really don't know how else to describe this. like. this is what i mean when i say the backstory for the characters feels so poorly constructed it genuinely feels random. nothing about her behaviour to me suggested she gave a fuck about ala mhigo. it didn't turn out to be some grand farce when she had her skulls or whoever stomping on the brown guy who they collect dues from in the middle of the road the first time she was introduced. so i just have no idea why that's what her goals are or how i'm meant to believe that's what she wants. i have no idea why she would care about ala mhigo except that her father does or something? but that explained so little to me bc it was lazily done and she definitely does not demonstrate any resolve re that memory except for the one time you see it so okay

similarly, nothing suggests to me that she's deluded enough to believe this path she's on will lead to freedom, either. she didn't seem unaware of the cruelty of the imperials. she's actually meant to seem very capable and smart considering she's established her own unit amongst the other garleans and ends up getting the apparently desirable prize of being zenos' little pogchamp but then what???? why does she think that zenos will give her what she wants?? i literally do not understand what her angle is supposed to beeeee

so i considered the angle that what she said is actually not what we're meant to believe and we're actually meant to extract from the story that she's on a revenge quest for her father against the ala mhigans, and the best way to enact that would be to join the side that's oppressing them. except how she's expressed her motives and how the game makes it clear shes carrying on her father's beliefs for a better ala mhigo doesn't really imply that this is out of revenge either? also she'd be doing the exact same thing yotsuyu is doing, which could be possible bc this expansion can't write. but i just don't think that's it. i think if she truly believes that's what will help ala mhigo like her father did i don't care about it being wrong or right and whether she learns that won't work... but then it just seems so silly.......like girl there is literally no way..................... i am stumped trying to think of what this was supposed to mean or what insights her character could possibly be providing aside from the extremely banal "everyone deserves forgiveness" argument stories about colonialism are OBSESSED with trying to make. hmm i wonder why that is, square enix japan? why cant you properly research colonialism? why is media so obsessed with sympathising with colonisers and pretending its even remotely original to keep saying "if we kill this imperialist...we're just as bad as the people who have been systematically oppressing us for decades...." well...!!

im ngl i actually forgot about fordola until u brought her up bc post-sb really seemed to be gearing her up for the aforementioned redemption arc. but then i forgot how much ala mhigo gets pushed aside to put the spotlight back on doma. bc after she helps you fight sri lakshmi (another character who they just had to make white btw despite the vira/qalyana being brown bedlah babe snake women. they worship a white god. whatever i hate my life) she just vanishes. i thought that was maybe the most interesting thing they did with her character even despite my hatred for lazy redemption arcs for colonialists and cheap backstories about dead parents, bc i liked that she wasn't forgiven and that she herself didn't seem to know what was in store for her own life anymore, but stubbornly chose to help everyone fight and was still really driven despite all her L's. and then you just never see her again. as far as i can tell anyways, and i do not want to know actually bc im still in shadowbringers.

in a parallel world where stormblood is well-written i see myself liking fordola a lot. but this is not that world and i can't keep spending my time imagining a world where sb could be good. like... she just lacked a foundation that really made any of her actions make sense to me. was i meant to feel bad her dad got stoned for selling out to garlemald? i'm not being sarcastic i genuinely dont know if thats what the game wanted. i assume it is bc this entire expansion reeks of endless humanisation for white characters, but ive said the writing is so bad as to leave me genuinely confused abt its purpose many times already.

anyways the absolute worst waste of a char to me is zenos. i haven't had such a hard time taking a character seriously in a long time, and asahi gets introduced shortly after so competition was definitely fierce. i think part of it was that he was one of the few chars id seen fanart of b4 i got to him in the game which gave me the impression he was going to be insightful or something, so maybe i had given myself expectations. but ultimately i was left with maybe the most simplistic main villain this game has produced thus far. which is a shame, bc like fordola there's aspects of his char that i found really interesting, only for them to be routinely squandered with each new cutscene. initially i thought his disinterested, calmer demeanour was interesting in comparison to the other imperial chars, like gaius, who had a lot of thoughts about/passion for what he was doing. i like characters who feel a sort of existential boredom...like a real dead inside char who discovers a sort of esoteric way to live or regains meaning thru someone else--i love that trope! wanting to forever be locked in a cycle of violence with wol. sure. why not! i like that sort of thing! i was even willing to ignore the blonde hair and blue eyes (i wasn't) like i've done this before as someone who used to devote a lot of time to dimitri fe3h. this is not new to me.

but the thing is the moment zenos started talking about the thrill of the hunt i felt something in me wither and die. that trope is not interesting! i will never find it interesting!!!!!!!! if you do i'm happy for you but not me. his nihilism could have been interesting if it wasn't manifesting itself thru the subjugation of the fantasy brown people this game invented just to subjugate like...can we be serious. even just the scale of that was so beyond moronic to me. i had such a hard time suspending my disbelief whenever he opened his mouth... that i was supposed to care about this prince who was deathly bored of it all but somehow still gave a fuck about maintaining the occupation and fetishising the struggle? it was so hard to reconcile any of what he said with his actual apparent years of behaviour. like okay, i already know whiteness is synonymous with violence and ppl are unwilling to take that seriously, but seeing that realised in the sheer scale of colonial violence zenos apparently engages in and then for him to turn around and be like grr i'm gripped by such potent ennui and this is really deep. what about this was supposed to be complex or interesting or well-thought out. i genuinely have no clue

what made it even funnier (worse) to me was that before i got to stormblood i was back at home watching my dad play two separate video games where the main villain was a white guy with the exact same motivations: everything else in life now bored them except for this very specific (and not socially constructed at all apparently!) thrill of hunting real people/framing life as some social darwinist thought experiment that definitely has to be true bc look at how many ppl ive killed and conquered? what's left for me in this life now that i'm at the very top of the very real and not invented and not racist social pyramid.........? but it's not just a me thing humans are just like violent and actually love killingand i am very smart <- like how is this not just a blatantly normalised concept in life in general. nothing about zenos having this outlook reads as crazy or interesting to me, it actually just feels monumentally simple. he was just reading from the coloniser textbook. my sis actually told me while we were talking about the game that there's a book called "the most dangerous game" where i'm assuming this trope as it exists in media probably stems from, if not just the like usual racism/unfortunate fascination with imperialism over and over and over and over again. i just...that his thoughts on the consequences of his actions, the sheer amount of conquest he's engaged in, are largely due to some fatalistic boredom that comes from just being way too strong and too powerful and elevated above the savages. like okay dude.

i think if they had just removed that shit (except idk if thats possible the colonialism is so entrenched in this expansion bc ff couldnt conceive a non-white race without oppressing them) then his character would have been a lot better......maybe..? idk all that shit he says to you before he goes shinryu mode about violence or his being self-serving wouldn't have been original but at least it'd have been a lot easier to believe as his ideology without this nonsensical pile of bodies behind it that i literally could not take seriously. his final monologue was hard to sit through bc it all felt so random. my sis also pointed out that he doesn't feel relevant to the story, especially ala mhigo's story, at all, and i genuinely agree. i feel like they must have had a lot of ideas for him separately and then shoved him into this expansion because they needed a strong villain or something to keep their already thin plot running. with other villains you can see where they get their ideas from or why they're doing what they do and how their actions might progress the story. gaius for eg is a char i find really interesting bc i thought his opinions on primals in arr which is about primals was really interesting, and his conceptions of an ideal empire as well. like he actually has a leg to stand on and compelling things to say. nidhogg is also a good enemy to me, and i dont care so much for thordan but i still think he had interestingly selfish motivations and contributed ideas to the story. maybe that's because hvw didn't wallow so much in a simplistic good vs. evil like stormblood did...like hvw isnt just war its revising centuries of propagandized history and learning to change your own beliefs and going thru a lot of interesting discomfort (to put it mildly). stormblood i thought tried to be complicated at times when for eg meffrid (one of the only chars i liked in sb btw) would occasionally argue with lyse on what's "right" for occupied ppl to be doing during their occupation, like how a lot of ala mhigans wanted to keep their head down. you can see where that idea gets used throughout sb like in namia, but it never actually gets complicated into something worth thinking about bc again the chars are constantly reachign the same realisations over and over by the end (we have to kill zenos...! ANDTHEN THEY DONT EVEN FUCKIGN KILLGHI). like the ideas don't go anywhere, which might be for the best bc in my perfect world this game would not be writing about any of this. and now meffrid is dead bc ff doesn't give af about the ala mhigans or developing their thoughts/beliefs beyond the occasional potentially interesting idea on the map dialogue. atp i just feel blessed zenos doesn't have a backstory so that his personality isn't the result of some lazily done traumatic event. well i say that but the game couldn't even keep him dead so fuck my life. who knows what's in store for me. plz dont tell me.

all the thoughts i have are negative i'm so sorry but the chars i actually liked like gosetsu just get ruined by the time post-sb gets its evil evil hands on them so this expansion is genuinely just dead to me. i used to like gosetsu a lot, and i thought the shame he carried with him for abandoning hien a long time ago was a fun addition to his character. one of my favourite tropes is when a character just wants to die...like they feel like they've emotionally exhausted themselves and don't know what to do with the end of their life. i find that kind of thing really poignant. and i'm pretty satisfied w how they wrapped up his arc, actually, with him deciding to go on a sort of pilgrimage. it was just how they got there i absolutely hated.

it just keeps going back to an inability to write. for eg, if what they wanted was to complicate gosetsu's character by demonstrating how someone extremely self-sacrificial and devoted to his country's cause could actually really want to indulge in something, they choose to do it by having him play an uncomfortable game of house with someone who's murdered an innumerable amount of their country's people. but its okay bc instead of giving that idea any meaningful thought, here's a throwaway line about how he had a granddaughter so it makes sense he's doing this, also we're going to age regress the coloniser so its okay she's basically a child now which isn't a total slap in the face for everyone involved including the player, and then we're going to play these scenes for laughs and everyone is totally fine with it and it's not lazy writing at all.

asahi too i thought was an example of just poor writing, bc why is a single almost zero-context scene of zenos saving him supposed to do anything to explain his behaviour. does that not just seem lazy? he doesn't like zenos for any other reason...? we don't see asahi's thoughts on zenos except for this one cut scene where the chars could be replaced with how meaningless it is and then from then on his suddenly passionate behaviour is just supposed to be engaging...? i personally thought he was a lot more interesting when he seemed to genuinely believe in the bullshit he was saying about the empire being gracious and forgiving and rubbing his hands obsequiously at wol and being overly flattering and just a sort of greasy spoiled bastard. but then of course this totally obvious reveal happens and he's just some "crazy" guy who just wants to be his coloniser's lapdog bc he's sooooooo strong. fascinating. post-sb felt like a bad tv drama. its like the ideas in somewhat isolation are alright but they just stopped caring

tbf to asahi i did like his moments with yotsuyu. if they weren't so steeped in like....the weirdest plot points ever (random-ass yandere behaviour and yotsuyu behaving like a child) i would have been a lot more invested in the punishment they enacted on their parents for grooming one to be an imperial officer and the other being sold off. yotsuyu's backstory is still kind of typical but i thought she was like. interesting enough. she was ok. i could believe in/enjoy their callousness a lot more readily than a certain other character ive already said too much about. i think their truly awful sibling relationship had potential. dare i repeat myself about what happens to potential in this expansion

i wish i had more to say about hien and yugiri and lyse but they kind of just...idk. they just feel kind of shallow......... i don't think they really get developed much, i mean i definitely have things to say but there's just nothing really there that inspires me to do so and this post is already way too long. maybe when i finally write like an essay on how mjuch i dont respect stormblood. i like yugiri though. her hometown is very cool but she just gets relegated to "dutiful ninja" that they use when something needs to be done that wol isnt going to do, and they don't go into much detail about what really pushed her to leave or how exactly she felt, they just kind of have her parents tell you thats what she did. i liked the part though where she was like WE NEED TO KILL ZENOS RN bc it suddenly seemed out of character almost but then well where did that go...ok. hien just feels genuinely evil to me like his vibes are so off and i could not tell you why but he's kind of just there to move the plot forward so i really don't have much to say about him. and talking about lyse would just make this post even longer and more hateful. i used to really like her too.

time for something positive...? i really liked the azim steppe when it wasn't being so randomly misogynistic. that was where i was most interested in what was going on bc it had less to do with the war, but then you bring the war to them so...*screaming*. like it's a shame to me that the xaela are still framed by a focus on war, but the dotharl's concept of rebirth and the other practices the different groups had were maybe the most interesting things to me in the entire expansion. also how gosetsu had that moment with one of the dotharl warriors who died without it being some weirdly ignorant clash of beliefs. i liked that part a lot. sadu and magnai and cirina arent developed enough for me to have much of worth to say about them rn bc like yugiri and hien they kind of just become channels for the story, but at least they have a lot of personality and there's a lot to work with. also its 2am. i'm hoping to have more ideas re the xaela when i get around to doing the sidequests in that area, which i think will help me round out their characters more. i called cirina having a thing for hien from like a mile away btw bc this game is so unserious. anyways i think there should be like a spin-off about sadu magnai and cirina and if it doesn't come to exist soon i will grow like ten extra hands and make it myself

[fatuismooches]

I'm coping so hard with the fact I'll probably have to wait ~2 years to see Pantalone bc he literally has no reason to leave Snezhnaya🙂💧

At the very least I hope to see Sandrone in Fontaine please, please, please

I heard theory that Arlie will betray the Tsaritsa (bc Childe said he'd do that and Scara called her "wolf in the sheep's clothing", plus in trailer she's surrounded by harbingers figures, but not a part of them). Maaaybe GI will finally add more morally gray characters in character rooster and Arlie will follow us (and become playable as a result) only bc of her own benefit (kinda like Yae Miko). One thing I want is - please, don't change her appearance, especially her clothes, she's perfect the way she is. Don't add her skirt or shorts with kneesocks, leave her her cool tuxedo😔

Another theory I heard is that her arms are black not bc she's wearing gloves, but it's a damage from using delusion. Which... Gives me a small angsty idea. As we saw in Inazuma archon quest, delusion drains vitality out of their user, as for Crepus - he was in such great pain from using it that Diluc had to kill him. So, imagine Reader being concerned for Arlie bc she's in pain after using her delusion, but she brushes it off, after all she's a high-ranked harbinger, maybe she'll even try to hide her pain from Reader as much as possible to not seem weak in their eyes

-can I be 🥀 anon if it's not taken yet?

LITERALLY SAMEEEEE 🥀 ANON IT'S LITERALLY NOT FAIR AT ALLL 😭 Pantalone really is chilling in Snezhnaya, controlling the economy and money flow ig 😭🚶‍♀️ I also can't think of a reason why he would leave, other than perhaps a Liyue mission, because Yelan does say he has his eye on Liyue. I do have a lot of faith that Sandrone will appear in Fontaine, so I'm very excited for her at least!

Yup yup I've heard that theory too! I think it's super cool, and I can really see it happening. But it also makes me wonder how she'll survive if she betrays the Fatui. The Fatui probably doesn't take traitors lightly so she might have a lot of people after her if she does betray them. Girl's gonna be on the run I guess. And now who's gonna run the orphanage? The Fatui are losing their top members hella quickly, makes me wonder how the fight against Celestia is gonna play out. And i completely agree, she needs to keep her tuxedo!! But if she does betray the Fatui, it'll probably end up getting changed a bit, just to cut off association with them.

I've been wondering for a while why her arms are black even though she's not wearing gloves, and that's actually a really interesting theory. I can see her as a person willing to do anything for her goals... even if that means she gets injured herself (though she's always ready to use someone else to take the fall for her.)

You did not need to be a fighter to know the dangers of using a Delusion. It could grant you unspeakable power, but also have drawbacks better left to the imagination. Sure, the Harbingers were capable of controlling it. But sometimes things don't always go as planned.

She was strong, extremely strong, you believed that more than anyone. But you couldn't help but worry, especially when she nearly burst into your shared room, making you jump from the unexpectedly loud entrance. It seemed that she didn't expect you to be here right now, not at this time. You were usually elsewhere in the mansion. And she was usually not home at this time. And you immediately knew why.

"You're hurt," you quickly stood up. Something almost unnoticeable flickered in her eyes as she rebutted your statement.

"It is nothing. I am fine," she replied calmly, brushing off your words. You furrowed your eyebrows at her dismissal.

"Arlie, please consider taking a break from that... thing. It simply isn't good for-"

"[Name]. You know what my mission is. What I have to fulfill." Her voice came off sterner than she intended it to be and she realized as she noticed your quietness.

"There is no bleeding," she stated, returning to a softer tone. "I truly am fine. You need not worry. I just came to pick something up for business." You didn't want to sigh in front of her. Though her face had no trace of pain, you knew she was lying. She was hiding it from you.

You knew better than to push the subject. So right now, the only thing you could do was let it go, as you walked up to your lover and slowly wrapped your hands around her from behind. Arlecchino was still stiff from the tension in the conversation.

"Just... be careful out there." Arlecchino didn't respond, but she brought her hands up to cup your arms. Nothing else was to be said as the two of you stood there, relishing each other's company.

But your heart still hurt when you saw the medical supplies and pills you left for her were used.

[swordmaid]

Someone surely already thought of it but I cant find it so: JB Howls moving castle (the book) AU???

Jaime preceded by tales of his beauty and his cruel reputation (this time as someone who eats the hearts of the girls he seduces), and Brienne finding solace in her curse bc no one expects an old woman to be beautiful or delicate (like Sophie does)? Pod as Michael? Anyone?

FUNNY that you being that up because I actually have a HMC au for jb! I’ve only done a couple of drawings though, mostly designs but I plan to draw some scenes too. I think once I manage to nail down a design for book Howl/Sophie I’ll do more of the hmc au because that’s what’s really is stopping me lol. anyway.

as per casting I had similar thoughts as you. Jaime would still be called Kingslayer though rather than heart-eater because both him and Howl have infamous reputations. In my au it’s more like there’s a rumour (which is half true) going around that the wizard Jaime killed the king of another kingdom, and now he’s on the run and he took his moving castle with him. And because it’s news spread by rumour, exaggerated gossip like him eating young girl’s hearts to maintain his beauty would’ve popped up too. (Which I think he’ll be very amused by it and he won’t even dispel it because it’s just funny and when Brienne finds out that that was a lie, and he knows it’s a lie, but he’s not going to do anything about it bc it makes him laugh she’s just like wtf is wrong with you)

Brienne in the other hand, eldest daughter of Selwyn Tarth (could still be a hat maker because I like the visual of Brienne sewing little hats ): ) who feels like a failure because all this time she’s been trying to live up to the role Galladon left behind but falls short. And unlike her two sisters Arianne and Alysanne, she has nothing going on for her besides running their little shop so she resides herself to that fate. And similar to Sophie, she finds freedom from the curse because she’s free from all these expectations. She’s free from that fate of the eldest daughter that has to lead and the daughter with no prospects. She’s simply herself and it’s a terribly freeing thing for her and she relishes in it (so I can imagine her being half terrified of the curse being lifted bc she gets a taste of this freedom, it will be difficult to let go of it.)

And per the book, Brienne is also magic. I think her being a blacksmith would also fit but I don’t really like it since it’s kind kind of obvious but on the other I also like the idea of Brienne creating her own magic swords instead of being given it

And Pod is definitely Micheal. Maybe Jaime picked him up along the way because Pod was lost looking for Tyrion. (And Jaime was like, well ok I’ll hang on to you until my brother comes back ig 🤷‍♀️)

[cheemken]

Everyone is already tired of Eepy after a month, mf is even starting to piss off Iris because he won’t listen to her

So imagine how defeated everyone felt when Iris came home with a Tyrunt , a Pokémon that likes to bite even more that Gible, and their bites are known to hurt like a bitch

Even Drayden is starting to think letting Iris bring home wild baby Pokémon is a bad idea, if the broken TV is anything to go by

I just imagine the lead up to that was just, Iris sitting them down on the couch and looking at them in the eye seriously

“I’m going into the next room to do some paperwork”

“Tyrunt!” “Ble!”

“Promise me that you’ll behave by yourselves until I’m done”

“RuntRunt” “Gible!”

“Ok, I’ll get this done as fast as I can”

And not even five minutes later does Iris hear a crash. Girly is really contemplating whether she should let Drayden find the mess first or just go clean it up herself

On the bright side, Eepy finally stops biting them 24/7 and instead bites Tyrunt when they play together

REAL😭😭🤣

No bc in the first ask you sent me I was gonna add like, a small bit of Eepy following Iris during the league meetings and ofc, he's there biting her, and ofc it was expected of Cynthia to say that's normal for Gible bc when her own Garchomp was still a Gible it wouldn't stop biting her too, it still has a habit of biting Cynthia really (Iris hopes and prays everyday that Eepy won't keep that habit when he evolves, please Arceus just this one good thing), but also Diantha saying how it reminds her of her own Tyrantrum when it was still a Tyrunt too, and Iris was just "really? I mean, doesn't your Tyrantrum have Strong Jaw??"

"yes, he broke my bones back then"

"WHAT"

And that's how the Champions found out that Dia took a year off from completing the Gym Challenge bc her Tyrunt bit her arm hard enough it broke her bones lmao

And that in mind, when she found her own Tyrunt, well, she's glad at least that it's Eepy he bites, not her, bc she'd rather not want broken bones too lol

But also now it's Eepy and Terry, im gonna call him Terry bc of Dinosaur King I love Terry so much he's so cute, causing trouble in the league, Caitlin's chambers is off limits now like she legit put up a psychic barrier so the two lil shits won't be able to disturb her while she's sleeping hahaha

Imagine Eepy and Terry just following Iris to another league meeting, Hilbert just gives her a look™

"no."

"Well, I can't just leave them!"

"yes you can!! Why don't you leave them with Bianca?! They listen to her more!"

"because I'd be a bad parent and partner if I just leave them with Bianca all the time! Plus, she has her own meeting"

"Okay how about this: give them to trainers!! To Dragon trainers! Can you at least do that?!"

"and you think I haven't tried??? These little shits wouldn't leave!"

On the bright side, at least y'know, Eepy and Terry just bite each other and their toys now, not them which made the meeting a bit more bearable lmfaooo

But y'know imagine it got to the point Iris has to beg Bianca to train Eepy and Terry not to bite anyone bc she's the only they listen to, and ofc, Bianca agreed, saying she'd have more time with her lil darlings, Iris still doesn't understand how Bianca's not tired of em, Eepy especially lmfao

The downside of that is that while Bianca did train them to not bite anyone, they would legitimately listen to only Bianca now, like Iris is their actual trainer but they won't even listen to her cjkdjdb hahaha now they follow Bianca around so at least she has more company when doing field work, plus, Eepy and Terry doesn't bite people much anymore so that's an added bonus ig hahah least the league wouldn't have to deal w Terry and Eepy anymore hahaha

[rescue-ram]

hello pleaseeee i need to know all ur thoughts on bunny/andrew i literally saw the one post u had on them yearsssss ago and i became so invested with the possibilities and i think ur the only other person who is also invested in it? literally every other person ive talked to about the charioteer doesn't get it like not really and theres no content dor ot out there zero nothing idk i think it has sm potential but ig no one else sees it (i think i might be kinda out of it rn bc im just realising this sounds a bit insane but god. i rlly do want to talk about andrew/bunny with wnother person)

Oh my GOD HELLO!!!

So fair warning I am going to go absolutely bananas at you because I have zero faith in my ability to be coherent about this ship, but PLEASE let me know your thoughts on Bunny/Andrew, they started as a laugh but now they're the OTP and I would love to know your thoughts

(Me explaining the layers of Bunny/Andrew)

So insane statement number one: what I love about Bunny and Andrew is how dialectical they are. Pure perfect yin yang of a couple, mirror images in every way.

While Ralph and Andrew are often described this way, I don't think that's entirely accurate- they are actually extremely similar characters, both physically (blonde, light eyed) and in bearing, both are 19 when Laurie first kisses them. But where Andrew is young and seemingly untouched by life's troubles (SEEMINGLY, he is very much touched), his clear eyed pragmatism becomes cynical pessimism in Ralph, who's been beaten, isolated, and damaged.

Where Andrew and Ralph are continuous, bleeding into each other in Laurie's narrative, Andrew and Bunny are polar opposites. Andrew is not consciously gay, pure, virtuous, honest to a fault. Bunny is overtly self-consciously gay, indulgent, gossipy, mean spirited, totally willing to fight dirty. If Andrew is untouchable, Bunny is getting his handprints all over him. And the way they come together!! Although Andrew and Laurie have kissed and begun to talk about things, it's Bunny storming up to Andrew and yelling "I FUCKED YOUR CRUSH WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT" that really makes it real, that brings blood into it. Andrew awakens to his sexual identity through his love for Laurie, but it's jealousy of "Ralph"/Bunny that pulls the trigger!

Just excerpting the part of Andrew's letter that deals directly with Bunny's interaction with him.

I want you to know it is true if he says that when I hit him it wasn’t even self-defense. There is a belief, which I expect he shares, that a pacifist who has behaved like this must see at once his ideas were wrong. I should have thought there could hardly be a better way of proving they were right. But if that were all I had to tell you, of course I could have written days ago.

...Well, about Ralph. He isn’t like I imagined, so I found it hard to picture you and him as great friends. When he told me it was much more than that, I felt—I don’t know a better way of expressing this—as if I’d had an anonymous letter. I got one once, after my Board. It is like something from another world, but it has touched you, and the touch is real. So then he said why did I pretend to be shocked when I was only jealous; and that was when I hit him.

He didn’t hit me back, he just laughed and walked off. He had a right to. I knew before he was even out of sight that there could be only one reason for what I did. What he had said about me was true. He wanted to see what I would do, I suppose, and I did what he expected. But it taught me something. The thing you want to kill is really in yourself. That is why people become cruel in war, because they are doing what I did.

Screaming, howling, recognition of the self through other, etc. Me fighting the sleepies to elaborate on these thoughts, that essentially come down to the lack of animus Andrew holds towards Bunny, despite everything, and the insight suggested here that Bunny's bad behavior is driven more by jealousy, fear, and loneliness then malice.

Anyway anyway ANYWAY the insane Andrew Epic I AM still working on it WILL be done one day has really come to focus on Bunny/Andrew in resolving what does it mean to be faithful?

Ok, so starting at the beginning of the outline- Andrew is working as a stretcher bearer in London during the Blitz. He runs into Bunny, who he still thinks is Ralph, and attempts to reconcile with him. Bunny is still bitter and heartbroken, and continues messing with him, ultimately culminating in Andrew losing his virginity in a very awkward hook up Andrew is wrestling with the very serious question I will purposefully phrase humorously, "How do I have gay sex in a god honoring way?" and Bunny is driven absolutely apoplectic by the perceived hypocrisy of this, and by Andrew continuously coming back to him no matter how catty he gets. As they start to build a real relationship, Bunny starts to realize he's in too deep and worries if he reveals he's not really Ralph Lanyon, Andrew will leave him.

There is a LOT of middle plot I have outlined and partially written- Andrew goes on the front lines with the ambulance service as he writes about and loses contact with Bunny for a time (Bunny gives him a whole song and dance about censors and military intelligence, rather than trying to explain why he can't address letters to Ralph Lanyon), they reconnect after the war and try and make a go of it, but it gets way to real and intense for Bunny, who gets skittish and walks out without telling Andrew anything. Andrew freaks out, fearing that "Ralph" has been arrested or killed, and encounters homophobia when he tries to file a missing person report on his "roommate". After talking with Dave, he goes to serve in a mission hospital in Kenya (fun facts, there are more Quakers in Kenya then anywhere else in the world, and I am actively debating how much to get into about the late colonial atrocities that occured there at this time period).

In 1950ish, Andrew once more runs into Bunny, and is so relieved to see him alive and well that it shocks Bunny, who assumed he'd be furious if they ever saw each other again. Bunny successfully dodges questions, continuing to pass himself off as Ralph- at first justifying it to himself by saying he doesn't want to ruin Andrew's relief or his memories, that he wants to let him down gently this time, etc, but he keeps putting off either breaking off with him or telling him the truth because he likes the escape from being himself, likes the way it feels to be loved by Andrew, tries to pretend he's not in love himself. Bunny is genuinely frustrated by Andrew's increasingly public role as a peace/nuclear disarmament activist, the potential scrutiny it could attract, the judgment he feels compared to Andrew's high moral standards, etc. Andrew is genuinely annoyed with "Ralph"'s caginess, his refusal to commit or meet Andrew's friends or introduce Andrew to his, etc.

In 1960, something genuinely bad happens to Bunny- he's outed in some way and is arrested/fired, I'm working out the details. He has nothing left but the half-life he's been maintaining with Andrew. At this point it comes to a head, and Andrew finds out the truth. He's initially completely broken by the news and is heartbroken and furious that the man he's been in love with for almost 20 years has never once told the truth, has never even told him his name... But then. The reframe. Andrew has always expected things from Bunny, but Bunny just wanted Andrew to be himself. Andrew has been living his own life, regardless of how it made Bunny feel, while Bunny willingly gave up his entire identity to be with Andrew. Is Andrew a hypocrite, or does he love Bunny unconditionally, regardless of who he is or what he's done? Who is really the faithful one, Andrew who has only ever had one lover, or Bunny who kept coming back, trusting in Andrew even though he had no reason to?

As Andrew tries to articulate this, Bunny things he's given his lover a nervous breakdown and sticks him in the bath with a glass of whiskey and calls Alec to calm him down.

At that point they're able to have a real, honest relationship. Andrew brings Bunny to the meeting and comes out- he gets disfellowshipped for his troubles, but takes it sanguinely because "God knows I love you." The notoriety he gets here puts him in touch with "like-minded" Quakers, I have a reconciliation between them, Ralph, and Laurie, it'll be cozy.

But yeah, these are all the thoughts about Bunny/Andrew I can gather tonight. Normal people project normal trauma onto their blorbos, I've got an unpublished word doc that is half gay sex half narrativized commentary on the Letter to the Romans 😂

But please please PLEASE let me know your own thoughts- the TLDR about all this blathering is I love the contrast between Andrew and Bunny, the potential for drama, and how Andrew in canon is most himself when faced with adversity and the natural challenges Bunny would bring would depend and mature his character, while I think Andrew could be an affectionate, patient lover who could be really good for Bunny's insecurities. What do you think could draw these two together??

(Also I headcanon Bunny's name is Barnaby Botts. Horrible name he refuses to go by, Barnaby shortens to Barney shortens to Bunny, AND I initially picked Barnaby just for the connection to Bunny but then I remembered if means the son of comfort or in Greek son of the Paraclete and the part of my brain responsible for drawing insane religious parables all over these two had a field day with that.)

[theremina]

I fully expect to get shouted at for saying this. I still think it’s worth saying. ❤️‍🩹

The amount of reasonably well-off white people I’ve observed losing their entire shit over crappy AI theft these past couple months is… well, it’s completely understandable, of course.

But let’s unpack the fervor pragmatically.

As a classically trained full-time professional musician who has been honing their own craft since early childhood, and as someone who is used to being taken for granted, undervalued, even exploited, by folks who literally have no idea how much work and expense goes into doing what I do, I keenly relate to frustrations concerning algorithmic AI theft.

That being said, never have I ever observed a single one of the most reactive, aggressively angry white professional artmaking chums lashing out blindly over this problem come anywhere close to the same level of agitation regarding far more brutal atrocities: systemic racism/sexism/transphobia/homophobia, the climate crisis, Roe being overturned, anti-science / antivax rhetoric, etc. Yanno, shit that’s literally, directly killing people and the planet.

Some of the same dudes screaming “unfriend me if you’re going to post that garbage, and btw FUCK YOU” at the world right now are the same men who’ve opined in the past that I shouldn’t “get so worked up” over various systemically violent, directly life-threatening issues faced by millions, even billions of us.

Listen, I’m not saying artists don’t deserve to be concerned or upset. I don’t use any art generating AI myself, in large part bc I’ve seen how much needless pain and stress it’s causing a lot of my loved ones. For me, personally, it’s not remotely worth it.

That said, a lot of the same white, predominantly male artists we’re all watching yell at Cloud right now use Spotify, right? No judgement. I do, too! And a lot of you enjoy music with synths or samples that reproduce piano or string or drum or horn or choral vocal sounds? And you’ve probably watched a bootlegged television show or two in your day, yeah? Or resorted to 12 foot dot io?

Meanwhile, you’re out here literally damning random non-artists to hell for making corny-ass AI selfies? That’s the hill you’ve decided you wanna die on? Okay…

OR! Or, hear me out, what if you allowed your personal frustration over this issue to radicalize you less selectively? Mebbe? Could ya try showing up with a fraction of this passion to support reparations for Black Americans, or the safe and legal reproductive rights for half the population, or combating climate crisis, or disability rights, or universal income, orororrr, etc?

Look, I dunno. We live in an abattoir. Times are only getting tougher. Maybe before you decide to have another Totally Normal One that involves howling directly in the faces of disabled and low-income folks who aren’t in the fine arts or commercial arts industry and probably can’t afford a boardwalk caricature right now, let alone a $1K commission for you, you could try hitting the pause button, take several deep breaths and ask yourself: “am I picking healthy battles?”

(This is the exact same advice I try to give myself every single time I get worked up about something that isn’t literally life-threatening. I do not always succeed, of course. My shit stinks, too!)

Butt. Maybe next time you observe a friend getting excited prompting images for their own personal pleasure by using AI, consider restraining yourself from calling them a “lazy thieving scumbag”? Remember, not everyone can afford decades of training and school. How is your Facebook buddy who’s happily making endless Beksinski/Moebius/Ryden-derivative computer doodles for their own personal satisfaction managing to trigger your biggest, scariest threat response?

There gotta be some middleground between “woo this AI fad is fun and harmless” and “my barista friend sharing Meitu-lookin cybercosmonaut selfies on IG is stealing food directly out of my family’s mouth” worth exploring.

Sincerely, I get why folks are upset. But maybe don’t bring a nuke to a knife fight.

I promise you, this is a lesson I have personally learned the hard way. Maybe it doesn’t have to be so hard for you? Or —and this is my main concern, tbh— so hard on people who don’t deserve to be your punching bag.

I dunno. I’m just a bit shocked at how emotional some of you are able to get about this specific issue when your chosen line of work is largely run by rapists and racists and robber barrons. (Oh my!)

[crackheadass]

quick rant

madre wants me to do another illustration for her buisness bc she "doesnt wanna fork out 100$ to some random designer" or some shit which is fine and dandy by me, i already did a shirt design for her and it got great reviews. my problem is her attitude bc.

like any commission im asking questions about what she wants, is this good, what kind of pose do you want, what style do you want, ect. and shes just getting mad at me? her attitude being that of "just do it" do WHAT GIRL?? I NEED DETAILS!

for the style she chose a chibi character bc when she walked in to ask me to draw for her i was already drawing some chibs and the idea of a small character kinda fits with her buisness name i guess?

but the issue is im not sure thats what she really wants? she showed me another buisness example and its more corporate and simplified and when i brough that up like are you sure you want this cutesy style she got frustrated with me for questioning her but like.

she specifically said she wanted it to paste onto her buisness images like a logo or watermark, that it would get shrunk down and have her buisness name next to it, when i brought up that the chibi would seem more like a mascot than a logo she stormed off and wouldnt listen to my reasoning.

reasonig being, whats the point of drawing a complicated cutesy and detailed character if its going to become a tiny pixalated mess superimposed onto other pictures? wouldnt it be better to work out a seperate watermark or logo instead and use the chibi for like marketing or something??

idk i guess im just frustrated and annoyed. she doesnt want to cooperate with me and talk out what she really wants, yet she expects me to just go and pump out the drawing for her like. okay ig.

theres also like a whole confidence issue i have when it comes to my art, especially when shes the one whos going to be posting it but thats a whole other thing i dont want to get into. gah.

[palms-upturned]

Sorry for the wall of text in your inbox but your last DE post got me thinking and like. We don’t get an absolute ton of info about what Kim was like before the events of the game but it feels to me that by the start of it he’s tried to mask any and all of his actual opinions and feelings behind a veneer of indifference/objectivity. (How successful he is is up for debate) and I definitely think that at the start of the game the only reason he tolerates Harry is because he’s expected to work with him. He brushes off your self-deprecation and ignores your faults because he wants to get the case done. If you’re doing a run where you’re an asshole he’ll still begrudgingly stick by you until the very end unless he’s physically taken out of the picture because he feels like that’s his job. However if you take the time to befriend him I think it does change. He starts to open up a bit more, it becomes less of “I have your back because this case and wider cop culture obligate me to” and more “I’ll stick by your side because I want to, because I care about you.” and for both of them it can become the most genuine connection to another person they’ve felt in a long time. Like don’t get me wrong I think you’re absolutely correct that the only reason this could happen in the first place, the reason you’re given that chance at all, is because at the start Kim feels like he has to tolerate you. But I do think (or at least like to think) that if you do go the route of having Harry start trying to be a better person, the city and its community impart itself and it’s love on both of them. There’s something there about how the friendship they foster is founded on and expanded through the genuine humanity they see in Martinaise over the course of the game. That the only reason they are able to have a genuine connection (that’s not just a sense of obligation) is because Martinaise is a city that’s been all but abandoned by the police state and doesn’t adhere to the status-quo they’re familiar with. It’s true that the post-game outcome is most likely tragic. That despite this being the case, they’re never able to recognize it and never break free of being cops. But I also think it’s interesting to explore other, more hopeful routes. I think this game can be extremely pessimistic, but there’s a fragile optimism it has woven in it’s core. And I like the idea that this relationship, only started out of a sense of obligation and adherence to the status quo, is also the very thing that drags them out of it. (I apologize if this reads as word salad I have a lot of thoughts and don’t know how accurately I’ve conveyed them here)

UR GOOD SJSHDJDH when it comes to DE all I have is word salad… but yeah, I agree w all this, that’s kind of what I was getting at abt how their friendship would never happen if Harry wasn’t a cop bc Kim wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye to some of his… antics… whereas within the force it’s customary to do so, esp for someone like Harry who’s considered a “good cop.” If he weren’t a cop, he’d be considered as much of a public nuisance as Leslie and Burke, if not even worse than them 💀 And then there’s that moment of Kim admitting to Harry genuinely that he’s considering doing speed to improve his job performance like… jdxgsjcb man. Idk. Cops. 😔

I do think it’s good to explore hopeful routes for them to change, ig for me the thought that interests me more is less whether it’s possible and more what would it take for them to get there. The fact that the player doesn’t have an option to quit being a cop does not bode well (neither does the fact that one of the endings involves recruiting Cuno… eugh) but who knows, as someone else pointed out it’s implied that there’s massive upheaval just on the horizon and they’re not gonna be able to sit on the fence anymore for long.

The thing I keep thinking about is the quote from the mural, “TRUE LOVE IS POSSIBLE ONLY IN THE NEXT WORLD — FOR NEW PEOPLE, IT’S TOO LATE FOR US.” There is no true love in a police state bc all of our interactions with each other are warped by the need to cling to what little individual power we have to survive. (I think that’s exactly what Kim, for instance, is doing by being a police officer. He openly admits to being disenchanted by moralism and that it’s pure sentimentality to think that the RCM serves the people of Revachol and not the coalition, but still chooses to “believe in the RCM” because it’s all he’s got. It gives him a sense of power and control in a world that increasingly feels doomed and pointless to live in.) And that doesn’t change no matter who’s doing the policing.

Kim’s love for Harry/the player is still warped in a way by the fact that they’re both cops, and that that’s the only reason he was able to look past your drug habits and neurotype and genuinely connect with you as a person. The fact that his takeaway from being a juvie cop for 15 years was that kids like Cuno aren’t worth trying to deal with is just… damn. Doesn’t bode well. But I think that if Kim lets his experiences w Harry and the people of Martinaise expand his worldview and start to be able to conceptualize a “new world,” he could also choose to be a “new person,” same as how you can reinvent Harry and his politics (to an extent). The question ig is whether they would be able to accept that it truly is, to an extent, too late for them, and that they’re going to have to be okay with laying the groundwork for change that they probably won’t live to see. Kim has that line that’s like “The moralintern is a fact. I try not to have opinions on facts. Unless they change. But… I don’t think they will in our lifetime.” If he wants to be able to be a new person and experience the true love he glimpsed in Martinaise, he’s gonna have to stop resigning himself to the “facts” of life. I don’t think it’s impossible, esp with what’s implied to be right on the horizon, but I do think that the fact that the game tells you that the week in Martinaise wasn’t enough by itself is just… sadly real. 20 years, 6 kills, and a dead(?) partner is a whole lot of sunken cost.

But that’s kind of what I like about DE’s particular brand of fragile optimism tbh. The fact that it openly is saying “we are destroying the world and the ending feels like it’s right on the horizon, and that we’re never going to make it to the new world in our lifetime, if we ever make it at all. But we’ve still got something to fuel our infernal engines and push us to try anyway. Even when it’s too late, it’s never really too late. The new world starts in our imaginations, and imagination starts as hope, and hope starts as love.”