#figure out how to fit her into the story of that game because it was a war and she's not a fighter

[mxdotpng]

best part abt having an ff14 oc is creating side content for ur wol's character development, completely unrelated to the msq going on

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Also, place your bets on if you think the Sea Salt Family will be in KHIV.

[obsesssedblerd]

You look up from your book to see your husband standing over the bassinet with his arms crossed, his brow raising as he looks down inside of it with a tiny scowl. He stays like that for about a minute. You sit up in your shared bed, then call out to him. “Ryo.” 

“Hm.” He doesn’t look up. 

“May I ask what you are doing?” 

“The little brat is staring,” Sukuna says matter-of-factly. “I am simply staring at her in return.” 

Inside of the bassinet, your baby daughter coos. Her scarlet eyes—exactly like her father’s—glitter with interest. You hear her giggle, and you scoff lightly and return your gaze to your book. “She thinks you’re playing a game.” 

“I am doing no such thing.” 

You flip a page. “Put a hand over your face for a few seconds.” He doesn’t respond, but you know he listens. “M’kay, now lift.” There’s silence for a few seconds, then your daughter bursts into a fit of giggles. 

Sukuna rolls his eyes. “I do not understand what is so entertaining about that.” When you look up again, you see that he’s covering his face again, then revealing himself to get the same reaction from the baby.

“It’s called peek-a-boo. It’s a game most babies love to play.” 

The little princess babbles as she lifts her arms up, and Sukuna tilts his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

You snicker. “One: You’ll figure out what she’s saying the more you talk with her. Two: She wants you to pick her up.” 

He sighs dramatically, then reaches into the bassinet to pick up the small girl. Though she has her father’s eyes, she has your hair, the shape of your nose, and your ears. She also has your fearlessness, because she smiles directly in the face of the king of curses. Now at his eye level, she reaches her arms towards him excitedly. “What is it now, you brat? I’m already carrying you.” 

He looks over at you in question, and your smile grows. “She wants to touch your face,” you say. 

“Why?” 

“Because she’s a baby, and she’s curious.” 

Sukuna pulls her closer, and once in range, his daughter lays her tiny hands against his marked face. She giggles more, and you can see his eyes soften. “Hmph. You have your mother’s smile.” 

— — — —

The next morning, you walk into the kitchen where you hear Sukuna speaking with someone. When he turns to the side, you see your daughter nestled in the crook of one of his muscular arms, staring up at him as he concluded whatever story he was telling her. 

“...At the end of the battle, only I remained. Victory was mine.” 

The baby babbles excitedly, and Sukuna scoffs. “Ha, you will do no such thing. How do you expect to join me in battle when you aren’t even a year old, brat?” 

Her face scrunches in what looks like annoyance, and she repeats to him what he taught her the night before. “Hmph.” 

You burst into laughter, and Sukuna raises a brow at the little girl in his arms. “Great. Your mother’s smile, and her attitude.”

[cosmicbucky]

wallpaper

summary: bucky finds out how to change the wallpaper on your phone, and takes every opportunity he can to do so. until one day he doesn't have the heart to

pairing: bucky barnes x female reader

word count: 1000

warnings: fluff, nonspecific friends to lovers, this was just a dumb idea i had

《《《《 ♡ 》》》》

The first time Bucky changed the wallpaper on your phone, it was an accident - kind of. He sat on your couch, lazily scrolling through the photos of Alpine you insisted he looked at, because you simply couldn’t resist having a Halloween photoshoot with her while he was off on yet another mission, leaving her in your trusting hands. He was happy you were in the kitchen, because he would never let you see the smile he wore as he browsed the album, chuckling silently to himself over how elaborate these photos were. His mood swiftly changed when he swiped incorrectly, an array of different options suddenly presenting themselves to him. He swore under his breath as he tried to make them go away, but he only made it worse as the option to change your wallpaper came up. With an annoyed huff, he just kept tapping, figuring that eventually he would get it back to how it was. After a few more grueling seconds, he sighed in relief as he was once more face to face with Alpine sitting inside a jack-o-lantern candy bucket - how was he supposed to know that photo was now both your lockscreen and homescreen?

“Did you change my lockscreen?” you curiously asked when you finally sat back down beside him, taking your phone and checking it for any new messages.

“Did I what?” he asked in confusion, his head snapping up from his own phone to look at you with a scrunched brow. 

You could only laugh lightly, turning your phone to display the new photo brandishing your screen. The second Bucky saw it, his eyes widened almost imperceptibly as his face flushed ever so slightly. 

“I, uh- sorry,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to, your phone is just - it’s different than mine.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle fondly, your chuckles growing into more laughter as you realized it was also your homescreen. “It’s okay, Buck,” you assured softly, laughing quietly as you changed the photos back to their precursors. “It could have been worse, at least it’s not an embarrassing photo or something.” 

You were too busy fixing his mistake to notice the glint that sparkled in his eyes, a smirk growing on his face as your words gave him the most incredible idea he’s had in a while. 

The second time Bucky changed your wallpaper, it was very much not an accident. You left him your phone so he could look at the photos you took on your latest trip, unpacking your bags as he split his attention between listening to your stories and scrolling through a seemingly endless array of new pictures - which he truthfully enjoyed, but he was on a secret mission for the perfect, nondescript one to choose. 

“Again, Buck?” you giggled, flopping on the bed beside him as you took your phone back. 

“What?” he asked, just innocent and clueless enough to not raise any flags. 

“You and your fat thumbs, I swear,” you mumbled under your breath, changing the photos back once more, completely oblivious to his proud little smirk.

It took three more times for you to suspect that Bucky had started doing it on purpose, but your suspicions weren’t proven correct until he took a photo of you to display.

“Did you- when- really?” you stammered as you looked between him and your phone, half annoyed and half impressed because when did he even take this photo? 

He only grinned in response, laughing about how long he was able to do it under the pretense of it being an accident before running away in a fit of giggles, dodging the pillow you threw after him.

From that moment on, it became a game for him. 

Any opportunity that presented itself, Bucky snatched your phone and changed your displays to the most embarrassing and ridiculous photos of yourself.

A sunset was changed to you mid-sneeze. Alpine was changed to you post-nap. You partying with the gang was changed to an extreme close up of your face in that very photo. Louisiana docks were changed to you mid rant as you yelled at him to give you your phone back. A cherry blossom was changed to you passed out on the couch, wrapped up in a hoodie you stole from him and drooling all over the sleeve of it. 

As time went on, you stopped being surprised whenever it happened, and you grew to enjoy it. It was a silly thing, but it was a silly thing that only you and Bucky shared. It was a special thing, a cherished thing. It was your favourite thing.

Neither of you realized how the dynamic between the two of you started morphing into something else right in front of your very eyes. It was slow. It was gradual and complex and delicate and went unnoticed for almost a whole year. 

It was only noticed now, as Bucky took the opportunity to grab your phone as you slept soundly against his chest. It had been a while since he was able to get a chance to do this, and so he eagerly unlocked your phone, already running through different ideas of what picture to use. 

He was caught off guard when the picture staring back at him was from a few weeks ago. It was the day you finally convinced him to let you drive his bike after months of endless asking. It was a photo neither of you knew Sam took until later that night, when he sent it to both of you. 

It was you, sat in front of him on the bike and wrapped up in his arms, one securely planted on either side of you as his hands rested on yours, guiding you through everything as you both gleefully laughed at the fact that you actually managed to convince him to do this. 

For once, Bucky didn’t have the heart to change it. 

He couldn’t. 

It was his wallpaper, too. 

[revvethasmythh]

Reminded again, as I periodically am, that there's a fair number of people in the fandom that think of Nott the Brave and Veth Brenatto as two different characters, and not fundamentally the same woman. In the absolute literal sense, this is false: Nott the Brave, returned to the body of her choice and using her real name once again, is absolutely precisely the same person she was before Caleb cast Transmogrification on her. This is, incidentally, one of her main sources of angst towards the end of the campaign! A part of Nott must have both feared (and, in some ways, hoped) that when she was changed back into a halfling, she would also be a different person. That the person she became traveling with the Nein would be an easy identity to shed, which she may have hoped for because it would be easier to fit herself back into her home life with Yeza and Luc--and because it would be easier to say goodbye to the Nein if that were the case. And she feared it because she liked this person she became, no matter how transgressive society would label her for it. And she loved the Nein and didn't want those feelings to be altered.

But she didn't change. Veth Brenatto is Nott the Brave and Nott the Brave is Veth Brenatto. This was always the point. That's why it's an anagram. It's just that when she's Veth Brenatto again, she is much more focused on the why of what she's doing. Why am I still with the Nein? Why am I still adventuring? Why do I have this reticence to return home to my family? Why don't I long for that quiet, domestic life the way I once did? Her emotional journey becomes intensely personal, sometimes subtly/quietly told, and wholly about what kind of future she wants for herself and how her choice could affect those around her. Her two families become anchor points pulling her in different directions and she has to deal with that. Which is a different story than what she was telling when she was still Nott the Brave. Nott's story was much simpler--I am a goblin and I hate it and I would like to be a halfling again. I would like to be able to be with my family again. It's straightforward and it's achieved! But that's not where it ends, because she still needs to figure out a real, functional future for herself once her goal has been achieved.

All this to say, I think when people say they prefer Nott over Veth, it's important to remember that you are reacting to a certain story arc for the character, not an entirely different character. It may also pay to ask yourselves why you think they're so different. Was "Nott" funnier than "Veth" to you? Does her ability to serve as comic relief fundamentally change whether you like her or not? Did you appreciate "Nott's" themes more than "Veth's"? Or did you even notice the themes being explored in Veth's later game at all?

[cinnbar-bun]

Straw Hats- Reversed AU HCs

AU: In which YOU are the character of a very famous franchise, and they are regular people who are fans of your series.

Note: GN!Reader, crack, very unserious

Luffy

Thinks you’re neat! Super cool!

People think he doesn’t really “get” you and just likes you for your awesome powers and/or cool appearance, but he drops like an innocent yet profound tidbit about you that shows he really is thinking of you.

Honestly probably only has a bootleg figure of you courtesy of Ace. It’s goofy as hell but he adores it.

Maybe has one of those printed graphic tees.

Ace and Sabo joke about his love for you but then Luffy throws his slippers at them.

If he sees anything with you on it, he’s just gushing over it.

Loves finding funny comics with you online.

Zoro

Guy who likes you for your powers.

The same guy who is also a weeb in front of the mirror and tries to replicate your awesome moves.

Help his roommates caught him-

I think he’d get those compression shirts/shorts with you or a symbol of yours for when he works out.

Also the guy who’s working out to your voice like those ASMR videos so he can pretend you’re praising him and congratulating him.

Gets into fights with Sanji about who’s the bigger fan.

I don’t see Zoro as the type to “collect” things, but he’d probably have a keychain of you around his belt or something as a good luck charm.

Might even have an action and poseable figure of you like a Figma.

Nami

Likes you lots, but also recognizes your merch potential.

Works alongside Usopp to produce fan merch or zines for you to make money.

Has a unique piece of jewelry with your symbol/iconography to wear.

She’s not wearing “obvious” for merch, because she just isn’t about that.

Probably has a few very expensive figures of yours that are special edition or anniversary editions that she managed to get at a steep discount.

Reads a bit of fanfic but tends to mostly peruse fanart of you.

Tends to have multiple ships for you- she doesn’t really favor one over the other she just thinks they’re interesting.

Likes to do cosplays of your fits, though. She’s gotten very popular for her lovely cosplays. She tends to handmake most of her cosplays, but Usopp and Franky add to the amazing accessories.

Plays the gacha game for your series, and her amazing luck means she gets practically all your units easily.

Usopp

The artist of the group who has seen and had to do heinous things for a commission.

Unlike the others, he IS making a self insert and HE IS DOING ART AND COMICS WITH YOU AND HIM AS THE MAIN COUPLE!

Has made a name for himself of making doujins and art for you. His store has seen lots of purchases for his doujins.

Nami basically is his account manager and has made him raise commission prices many times in order to pay their rent and so he can realize how valued his work is.

He mostly just posts his work but does like answering questions from fans and posting about how awesome you looked in the new episode.

Always making art and stories from you.

Has done fanfiction for you but it’s mostly with his OC/SI and his artwork tends to be more well-known.

Always does special drawings for your birthday and various holidays.

Plays the gacha and has bad luck so he has to whale for your unit. He insists he prefers just regular console or PC gaming instead of gacha.

Sanji

Number one fan, he WILL get into arguments about you and inject you into everything.

All your figures, all your merch, all of it in one specific room dedicated to you. Sanji even has a lifesize figure of you in a cool/cute pose he religiously cleans (and prays to ngl) every day because AINT NO WAY HIS LOVE IS GOING TO GET A SPECK OF DUST ON THEM!!

His work as a chef makes him busy, but he likes to wear small things of you like a brooch or something on his uniform to cheer him up through the day.

Makes videos cooking things you cooked or dishes you liked within the series.

He sometimes shows off his collection and Zoro calls him a loser and they get into fights in the comments.

Commissions art of you (probably Usopp) to hang up in the (Y/n) room.

I feel like he would do a persona/self-insert but also I feel like he’d be like no!!!! I cannot sully my beloved like that!!! So he focuses on just you.

Blocks people who are fans of you and does not like shipping anyone with you, hell no his mellorine is HIS!!!

Has done fanfic, mostly self-insert, and that’s pretty much all he reads. No ships.

Robin

“Oh, (Y/n)? Yes, they are an interesting character. I like them.”

[1 Million word count fic series, tagged: slow burn, character exploration, heavy angst, found family, Book 4 of 7]

“I just think they’re neat.”

Probably the mother fic writer for you and/or one of your ships.

Doesn’t socialize much online, just tends to post and scroll through the fics for you and answers comments under her fic.

Likes to support her fellow creators so she does look into the art and projects other fans have made.

Does try to create her own aesthetics for her blog and fics, but sometimes she just commissions Usopp to make her things for her fics to fit her vision.

Is really into unique and often abstract or “dark” art of you.

Yes you’re her favorite character, yes she will still make you suffer in her fics and art for the ~development~.

It’s a running gag with her peers where they ask her how she will torture them next.

She finds the Nendoroids of you are quite cute, so she bought one to go on her desk.

Franky

Franky likes making garage set figures of you.

He’s also a bit of a dork, so he will often make you pose with a super sentai outfit or large gundam robots (since they’re also a part of his crafting hobby).

Makes videos showing off the new figures he made of you.

He loves you cuz you’re his hero, you just amaze him!

Printed a photo of the art your creator did where you guys were all dressed like super heroes or something- suuuuppper up his alley and he loved seeing it.

He likes collecting the manga/comics for your series and keeps them on his personal shelf.

Franky also helps Nami/others with specific cosplay accessories. Franky is known for his craftsmanship, so he’s made plenty of cosplay gear for others that are above and beyond.

Him and Usopp have collabed to create the original figures of you that Franky adores.

Does those videos where he takes cheaper/smaller figures of you and adds to the base and design to make it more “epic”.

What the hell is “fanfiction”?

Brook

Goes by the username “Soul King” and uploads his covers of your franchise’s music.

He really loves you though so he’s often rocking your shirts while he’s recording the music.

He does a lot of different genres for your theme covers- jazz, heavy metal, lofi, piano, music box- he’s done em all.

Whenever he’s not recording covers of his music and does streams, he very proudly shows his figure of you and a poster he has hanging up on his wall.

Also plays the gacha game, has pretty good luck but never with your units.

“Wow! 5 Sugo-rares! Who are they- GOD DAMN IT IT’S JUST THE OTHERS!!! RATE UP IS A LIE!!!”

Brook is a menace though and I’m gonna keep that under wraps for various reasons.

Maybe in the future I might explain further.

Jinbei

Jinbei is classy, unlike many of the others here (we will not name names).

He’s more likely to “make” his own merchandise for you.

Handmade doll with a lovingly sewn kimono, for example.

Fancy tea set that is painted with your symbols but it’s so subtle and chic that some of his viewers don’t even realize it’s from some random franchise he likes.

He prides himself on his traditional and handmade crafts and you’re just an avenue to experiment with them.

He likes to design the kimonos and outfits with you in mind and the season. He shows the process of creating it in these calm and quiet BTS videos.

Really they are beautiful and the amount of love and skillmanship put into the work he does is fantastic, it’s awe inspiring.

Does not know what a fanfic, a gacha, or what a “fan edit” is. He’s an old man he’s got things to do, man.

[toggle1-mrfipp]

Something I really love about Elden Ring compared to the other Souls games is that its story is far more "present" than any of the others. In Demons' and the Dark trilogy, the world is tittering on the edge, all the big and major events have already happened and the major players are either gone or are something less than who they were by the time you show up, at this point you're basically just cleaning up. With Bloodborne, you get to Yahar'gul the first time and there's something off, there's this odd and tense atmosphere, you find this big locked gate but there's nothing you can do. Later you find out that while you were minding your own business killing werewolves, Micolash's people were conducting rituals and you then inadvertently help them pop things off by killing Rom. Seikro has a whole civil war going on in the background, everything Genichiro does is because of this war, but it is not in any way a concern for Wolf.

Elden Ring feels like the first time in these games where you feel like an active participate in the events of the story; yes Marika shattered the Elden Ring an age ago and lots of important things happen, but stuff is still happening in the present day, varying characters have their own goals and motivations that propel them forwards: Melina, Ranni, Morgott, Mogh, Rykard, Gideon, Goldmask Fia, Dung Eater, Shabriri, Gowry and so many other characters are all taking steps to push the world into the way they want it to be, and you are at the center of it. These plans living or dying depend on you and the actions you take, and how it fits in with your own ambitions. Even the background lore seems to be rather more connected than most of the other games because the relationships between all these majors characters and how they interact with one another is vital, which is different compared to how isolated from one another other lore important figures in the past games typically are.

It's why the Shadow of the Erdtree is maybe my favorite Fromsoft narrative; Miquella hasn't been in the Land of Shadows for an age and a half, he got there like a day or two before you did, and everyone is trying to figure out what exactly he's trying to do as he does it. Him leaving behind his Great Rune happens in real time, you can feel it across the map, and him dispelling his charms has changes in each of the characters who then pursue their own goals. The fight against Leda and her allies, a gank fight no less, is maybe one of the best fights in this series because it's the culmination of all these stories coming to head, of them all wanting something from this journey and fighting for it. It's the first time I think in this game that actual conversations happen, and I loved hearing Leda, Freyja and Moore exchange words with Thiollier and Ansbach because it cements that this was an active story.

God I love this game.

[mrs-k0zume]

~ 𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊 || 𝐊.𝐊𝐎𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐄 ~

ʚ ═══･୨ ꕤ ୧･═══ ɞ

“lipstick looks so good on you anyways.”

mtf! kenma x fem! reader

trans kenma, reverse comfort, intended lowercase, pronouns change within the story, slight mention of sex

synopsis : when kenma thought it would be funny to make a video about messing around in your makeup, but who knew that lipstick looked so good on him ~

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓 ~

kenma’s fingers held the tube of red lipstick as HE glided the smooth base over HIS lips. the red matte colored his lips a light shade of red, the color complementing the amber hue in his cat like eyes. his eyelashes fluttered with every blink from the mascara, and the eyeliner that he mastered with the first try made his eyes so much more beautiful and alluring that he looked like a walking siren.

kenma placed down your cherry colored lipstick and looked at himself in the mirror for a few seconds. he looked beautiful. he didn’t look handsome or manly. he just looked beautiful. kenma was born with feminine features and the makeup only complimented his femininity even more. kenma felt a wave of confidence wash over him the longer he stared into the mirror. it only left him curious to the point he wondered.

how would he look in one of your dresses? how would he look in a pair of your heels?

he just wanted a little something to complete the look because why not. kenma grabbed his phone to pause the recording so he can change his clothes. he reached in your shared closet and slid your black dress off of the hanger. the silk of the dress allowed him to slip the dress over his skin easily, fitting his figure perfectly. the pair of red bottom heels he bought for you as a gift, waited for him to slide his feet into. and again, the heels fit his feet perfectly. they were a little small but not too small, it was just enough for him to fit into.

kenma felt the best in himself than he ever could. he took a few steps back to look into the body mirror and stared in awe. at this point kenma forgot about the damn video. he had this strange feeling inside him that let him know that he was experiencing an astonishing moment right now and that he could no longer care about playing dress up for his ‘funny’ video he had planned. he was trying to figure something out. why he couldn’t stop staring at himself in the mirror.

it was because he loved it. this new sight of himself, he loved it. this was who he wanted to be but he never knew that until now. he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to even go by he. then he started to think about the what if’s. what if he went by she. what if he, a man, started dressing like a she, a woman. the thought overflowed him with a weird feeling of excitement, but also guilt. why was he feeling guilty if he felt happy? it was because he knew there were people out there who would see this as wrong. he’s a man. he should dress like a man. he shouldn’t be putting on makeup like a woman, he should go back to playing video games or working out because his best friend won’t stop bothering him to, like a man.

but that’s not what he wanted. no, that’s not what SHE wanted. it didn’t feel right for HER. but a thought went through her mind. what about what you wanted? what would you think of kenma, the man you fell in love with? you didn’t fall in love with a woman, you fell in love with a man. kenma could feel her eyes water from the tears that threatened to fall at the thought of you leaving her.

tears slid down her face as she looked up in the mirror once more. the eyeliner colored her tears black and stained her face as she looked at herself. she was scared. scared of losing you. kenma gave into how weak her knees felt and fell to the floor, never taking her eyes off of her reflection as she did so. “y/n…” she breathed out as her soft cries slipped out. kenma couldn’t stop looking at herself.

this is her. this is who she was.

~

cries could be heard from the room you shared with kenma as you were working up a batch of your homemade pudding for the both of you in the kitchen. the cries were so soft, nobody would know how you could hear them. yet you furrowed your eyebrows in worry as you placed down the spoon you were mixing with and slowly made your way to your room, the soft sobs getting only a tiny bit louder as you made your way to the room.

your hand turned the knob of the door as you pushed it open slowly. your heart broke at what you saw. your husband sitting on the floor, in your dress, mascara and eyeliner staining the color of his tears that colored his cheeks. “oh honey..” you wasted no time to go up to him and cup his face. you had no clue what kenma was doing in your dress, your heels, or why was he wearing makeup but you didn’t care. you just wanted to know what was going on since you’ve never seen kenma cry like this. or wear anything like this.

kenma sniffled and softly cried as she stared at the floor, too embarrassed to look into your worried eyes. “kenma tell me what’s going on.” all kenma could do was stay silent as she tried her best to avoid your gaze but the way your hands held her face made it hard to.

you suddenly had this feeling of what was going on after you connected the dots. kenma was wearing makeup, he was wearing a dress, and he was wearing your heels. but he was also crying, so it couldn’t have been a silly joke, nor was it a prank for a video because he wasn’t recording. he was just crying in your dress. and it all made sense to you. “kenma…do you want to be more like a…a woman?” kenma averted her gaze from the floor and to you as her eyes widened. her face was your answer. you hugged her head and ran your fingers through her soft but messy hair. “it’s okay my love.”

“lipstick looks so good on you anyways.”

kenma broke down as your lips met hers. she felt relief, she felt happiness, and she felt passion against your touch. this is exactly what she needed. you smiled against the kiss before you broke away to look at your wife. “you make a beautiful woman, my love.” you softly said caressing her cheeks. kenma smiled at you, her tear stained face still managing to break your heart. you couldn’t imagine what she could’ve been feeling in this sudden realization. “y/n…i love you” she said in an almost whisper, her breath tickling your lips as your faces were still really close. “i love you too. and if you’re really up to this then tomorrow, why don’t we go shopping? buy you some new clothes, some makeup, and maybe even some perfume?” kenma blushed as her head moved up and down to agree to your shopping spree tomorrow.

“…and…y/n i promise…” she squeezed your hand softly, her other hand holding onto your waist, and your hands never letting go of her face. “i won’t get any surgery…it’s just this, i promise.” you couldn’t help but chuckle a bit as you used one of your hands to let go of her face and tucked some hair behind her ear. “you know i don’t mind baby. even if you do get any kind of surgeries i wouldn’t mind. you’re still the same person that i fell in love with, regardless of this change. just please don’t do anything to your face if you do end up getting any kind of surgery done. you’re beautiful.” kenma’s lips formed a smile at what you said at the end and stared into your eyes for a moment before speaking. “plus i really see no point in getting bottom surgery…when two girls have sex doesn’t one girl end up using a strap anyways..?” you’re eyes widened at kenma’s question before you laughed a bit, pink dust spread across kenma’s face and ears.

“kenma…you’re funny. that’s kind of true i guess, but there are girls that don’t do that either.” you shook your head and laughed a little. kenma just looked away in embarrassment, his face fading into a slightly darker color. you saw her embarrassment and grabbed her face once more and kissed her lipstick stained lips, the lipstick smearing against yours this time as you shared a much deeper kiss before pulling away again. “kenma, i’ll love you no matter what.” you whipped more tears that fell down her face “i love you too baby…” you moved to whisper into her ear after kenma’s soft response. your breath tickling her as you spoke softly.

“now why don’t we go to bed? who knew you would look so sexy in a dress…and so pretty with lipstick.”

𝐄𝐍𝐃 ~

- word count : 1503

[thebowieconstricker]

Head Over Heels - Prolouge

(The Creature x Reader)

A Lisa Frankenstein (2024) fic

masterlist link

Alright, monster lovers, I’m gonna try something a little more ambitious: an actual fic. Constructive criticism welcome! Please be kind because I have no proof reader and I’m still learning how to write good stories lol. I’m also gonna be fleshing out some characters to better fit the narrative I have in mind for this story. I hope you enjoy the prologue!

Warnings: slight language, my best attempt at worldbuilding, and our gender neutral reader is an orphan, so discussion of that. Also, (N/N) stands for nickname!

~~~

1986, Brookview, Indiana

“Oh. My. GOODNESS, (Y/N)! You have to try a face mask! It’ll help you with those dark circles under your eyes!”

“But (Y/NNNN), pink is totally your color! Just give it a chance, your nails would look SO pretty!”

“You didn’t even jump! It’s like you’re built for these movies, (N/N)!”

Comments like these had already gotten old around- you checked your watch- two hours ago. You considered yourself a survivor of some ancient teenage girl ceremony. Saying polite “no thank you”s to Taffy and the rest of her much too perky friends was becoming quite the laborious task. Some may say you were being too stubborn, as they had treated you with nothing but kindness since you came to town, to which you’d argue that Tricia certainly seemed like she had a bone to pick with you. Along with her, you had unfortunately seen enough of the world to understand one of the most important rules of high school:

The popular girls were mean, and these girls were certainly popular.

You had no idea why Taffy had run up to you on your first day of school and excitedly introduced herself, her gaggle of friends confusedly following after her. You figured this was some kind of territorial power move, checking out the fresh meat before inevitably deciding to kill.

But then Taffy kept hanging out with you. And complementing you. And begging you to hang out with her group of gals.

You took it as some kind of elaborate bit, but hey, they were nice.

At least they didn’t look at you like you were a rotten corpse walking down the halls.

Your thoughts snapped back to your current situation at Taffy’s house. Her mother, Janet, had actually sneered at you when you walked in, but other than that, the night was shaping up to be your average “new girls first sleepover”. Grease had taught you well. That was, until the truth or dare game started.

Lori had brought it up, and it started pretty normal.

“Who’s your crush?”

“OMG, I’m not telling!”

“Come on, Misty! We won’t tell! Right, (Y/N)?”

“Uh, yeah. I mean, no.” You mentally cursed yourself.

This is how it continued for a while before you finally perked up.

“I dare you to go to the Bachelors Cemetary Grove.”

“WHAT??? No way, Tricia! There’s no way in hell-“

Your eyes widened in intrigue and you blurted out without thinking, “There’s a bachelors cemetery?”

The girls turned to look at you.

Tricia raised one of her perfect eyebrows.

“You haven’t heard about it? It’s like- uber haunted.”

That piqued your interest. Life in the foster care system had caused you to grow accustomed to the darker sides of life, and you had always had a special interest in the dead. Your own parents had died in a mysterious fire when you were just a baby, leaving you with no real memories of them. You believed that everyone deserved to be remembered, especially the average, unremarkable person.

(Mainly because you knew that’s how you would turn out, and you’d like to be remembered.)

Enough of that, though, because everyone is still looking at you, so you cleared your throat.

“Would I have to go tonight? Or like, right now?”

Tricia rolled her eyes. “I mean, I didn’t ask you-“

“Oh, shush, Tricia! She’s participating!” Taffy smiled widely at you.

Tricia shot you a look.

“Fine. Yes, tonight. And you’d have to bring back a vine to show that you actually went there. The place is full of them, so it should be easy for you.”

You detected a hint of challenge in Tricia’s tone, but ignored it. You wanted to do this to quench the thirst of curiosity that was bubbling in your brain. This seemed like the first interesting thing you had heard about in this boring town.

You stood.

“I’ll do it.”

Taffy cheered and Lori looked at you in amazement. Misty immediately began to try to talk you out of it, worrying about your safety, while Tricia went silent.

Your mind was set, though. Time to see what all the hooplah was about.

~~~

The walk to the gravesite had been much more peaceful than you thought it would be.

Taffy’s house was constant noise, light, color, total overstimulation. However, the cool mist that danced across your skin along with the eerie silence of the woods soothed you. It helped you clear your head.

After walking through the woods for what seemed like hours, you finally came across the old rusted iron gate that sadly displayed the text, “Bachelors Cemetery Grove”. You frowned, finding the disrepair of the cite pitiful. This place should be filled with respect, not to be forgotten by vines and leaves.

Speaking of, holy shit, Tricia was right about the vines everywhere.

Thick, bright green foliage covered every inch of the area, graves poking out here and there to display faded names. It was enchanting to see so much life growing in a place of death. You could have snapped off a vine and booked it out of there, but you were drawn to this cemetery. Careful steps led you deeper and deeper into its heart as you swerved this way and that to try and make out the occasional name.

Then, through a beam of moonlight that shone through a break in the trees, your eyes caught on a specific grave.

You walked closer and came face to face with the stoic expression of a handsome young man, carved in the same stone his grave was made of. He had a strong nose, with beautifully curved lips and hair that flipped upwards on the ends. He was looking slightly downwards, his eyebrows painfully curved upwards, as if to express a dramatic feeling of grief. Resting beside his bust was an arm and a hand, attached to nothing and slightly curled. He looked like a man that would recite beautiful poetry, professing his deepest desires and most intimate thoughts.

Your mouth was slightly agape as you admired him. Despite your more logical thoughts, you brought a hand up to gently caress his cheek, finding a raised texture chiseled there that suggested sideburns. A sigh escaped your lips as you realized the romantic-ness of it all. A man who seemed perfect, a lover, full of life and emotion, condemned to a permanent fixture in a buried world.

You could say it was love at first sight.

[nixmori]

Astarion x Wren

The Lovers Tarot: upright

A fun pass time for me is always thinking which tarot card fits the characters at different parts of the story, and the primary themes that govern them.

Wren (my primary Tav) is the reversed lovers card for much of her early story/game. She longs for connection but is met with a cold, detached world, resulting in mental imbalance and the absence of self-love. She’s lonely and insecure, fearing rejection. Her closest relationship up until the events of the game was with her patron—the capricious (but not malicious) Archfey Kol. He offered her power and the pretense of connection, but never anything real.

For Astarion, while I think another card represents himself (I’m keeping that to myself because I have another art planned around it!) I feel his struggle aligns well with the devil card. He is, of course, more than figuratively shackled to Cazador, but also to the years of abuse, trauma, and his own demons born of that time. The shackles depicted in that card are loose—showing they can be broken should the person choose to be free of their demons.

The lovers and the devil cards are mirrors of one another. The lovers shows security and balance, but also the temptation of the fruit and the snake that could lead to back down the road to self destruction. Alternatively, they are a reminder of what it took to come back from that to a harmonious state.

In my interpretation of The Lovers here, I’ve retained the shackles from Astarion’s devil card. He’s chosen a new path—one where he can be true to himself. The scars will always be there, but the chains are broken. I’ve retained the forbidden fruit as Wren’s crown, with the leaves too represent the personal growth of both characters while the berries (fruit) represent the temptations that would have lead them down a very different path (which I will leave out due to spoilers!)

Fun fact, the Angel in the original card art is Raphael! Very different from everyone’s favorite demon in the game. This Raphael represents physical and emotional healing. I didn’t think an Angel would fit the aesthetics of what I wanted so I replaced him with the moon and Polaris. The first reason has to do with Astarion’s spawn ending so I won’t go into it. The second is taken from the moon card itself, where the moon reveals one’s true self. Paired with Polaris, it represents the moon’s light as a guide, as both embark on their long journey of healing. It won’t be an overnight venture—something that can be fixed by a single entity, so the moon as a guide works better in this context, I believe.

As a personal addition, Wren holds a few nerine lilies—a flower that has been associated with freedom since Ancient Greece. They also symbolize unity, and feelings straight from the heart, which felt appropriate for a relationship where both characters started as strangers to emotional intimacy. (I used to be a florist, I HAVE to have my flower symbolism)

Finally, the clouds at the bottom started life as flames, which in the og tarot card represent passion. As the art took form though, they took on the appearance of smoke/clouds. I could have made it more flame-like but I really liked how this looked, but I also think it fits the slow burn the story ended up taking. There’s a fire, somewhere—but it isn’t the most important thing here.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my essay. I hope it was coherent!

[wildfey]

Thoughts on the new investigations official art as I suddenly realised I had some (also I really like it! I actually think it's one of the best of the big AA group portraits and clearly a lot of thought went into where each character is in relation to their role in the plot and to each other.)

Images are all terrible phone screenshots sorry but I'm on my lunch break at work

1.

This is one of my fave official gumshoe images of all time. Up there with giving pearl a piggyback and fishing with Maggey. Look at them. I love them. Gumshoe and his lil puppy. Also a real cute missile. But also this is Edgeworth's game and Gumshoe is Edgeworth's friend (one of Edgeworth's closest friends - and we get to see the origins of that in aai) so it fits that we get to see the loveable gumshoe that Edgeworth sees here, right behind him, with his dog. It's adorable.

2)

AHH my faves. First of all I just love seeing Shih-na looking very cool and mysterious whereas Lang looks cool at first glance and then you look closer and realise that his pose is actually really stupid. It's very them. And they are obviously next to each other as always - Lang in front but pushed out to the side, whereas Shih-na is behind him and slightly hidden but she's actually closer to the centre which is a nice little metaphor for their positions in the plot. She's also next to Kay which is a clever nod to what we learn in aai.

(Also maggey and lotta in the background are cute too).

No notes really just nice to see new art of team Interpol.

3)

Okay so this is the bit I really do have thoughts on because positioning! Obviously Miles in the middle, it's his game after all. But having Gregworth and MVK in the background is just a fun choice - after all, they are literally his background! They are facing away from each other, going in opposite ways and Miles is in-between them! Just a nice bit of visual metaphor considering how much a theme of the games is his background and upbringing, and how Miles has to choose between these two opposing influences in his life and find a path between them (and both appear more in the investigations games then they do anywhere else so their size and influence is really significant here).

4)

And finally, Fran! Only her 13 year old design is on this poster, despite the fact that she actually appears as an adult in the game more but that makes sense, this is advertising and this is a unique design for aai. But I like how she's also in the background, she's a figure from Edgeworth's past, but in a much more active pose than MVK or Gregworth are - she remains an active player in his story, unlike them. Also she's placed next to Edgeworth and MVK, which makes sense considering their relationship.

Also I genuinely do just like this design for Fran - I think one place where aai really works is its character designs which are almost universally really well done and nice to look at visually. I like that she's a horse girl and you can tell. I like that it references her trilogy outfit but with a far less adult silhouette. It's just good.

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

To Catch A Falling Star (Idia Shroud x Reader)

Inspired by a scene from Criminal Minds

Masterlist

Reader is intended to be female

If Idia had to describe you in one word it was unexpected.

He still remembers the day he met the magicless prefect who appeared out of nowhere in a fiery blaze of glory like some leveled up shounen protagonist about to fight the final boss, how Ortho had directed you into his room before he could stop him. And instead of being repulsed by the many, many posters, figurines and merch he had scattered around his room, you were in fact…elated?

“You’re an otaku as well?” you beamed at him, your starry-eyed gaze of awe rendering him speechless before he flinches as you yell, pumping your fists in the air, “Finally! A worthy opponent! Our battle will be legendary!”

Yeah, he does not have the energy to unpack that.

Anyway, he never expected you to appear in his world, and he never expected to find himself comfortable with you, his new gaming buddy and fellow animanga enthusiast. You never judge him for his tastes or his behaviour or less than ideal personality. You were someone he could genuinely call a friend andabsolutelynothingmoreOrthoIloveyoubutpleasebequiet.

And having you around a lot, both because of you just barging into his room or by Ortho’s multitude of invites, just felt natural, your chatter being something that he could call soothing. Which is how he found himself absolutely dominating his current multiplayer playthrough with you doing your own thing by his side.

After his team had won the game, he turned to you, ready to receive your subsequent praise, only to find that your attention was diverted towards a wooden toy thing, your face scrunched up in concentration as your fingers fiddled with its many vertices.

“What are you doing?” he asked and you paused your twiddling, looking up at him. 

“Oh I got this star puzzle in Sam’s shop earlier. It reminded me a lot of this thing we have back in my world so I thought that I’d try it out,” you look back down and resume playing with it, “it’s practically impossible to figure out. You’ve got to put all of these pieces together to form a perfect star. It’s a bit of a headache really but it’s got a really sweet backstory.”

“So that thing’s got lore?” Idia raised his eyebrows and held out his hand. You gently toss it into his open palm.

“Well, you see it’s this romantic story where a young prince wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land, so he climbed up to the top of the tallest tower in the kingdom and caught a falling star for her. But, since he was so excited to give it to her, he dropped it and it smashed into all of these small pieces. So he frantically put it back together again to prove his undying love to her and he succeeded and they lived happily ever after.”

“What a load of normie nonsense,” Idia scoffed.

“Excuse me?!”

“You can’t catch a falling star,” he deadpanned, “it would burn up in the atmosphere.”

“Really?” you ask, unimpressed, “you live in a world that has flying broomsticks and magic mirrors and plants that can yell loud enough to kill someone - I really don’t think you can argue about the concept of reality when there are children here who are capable of breaking the laws of physics on the regular.”

“But still, it’s stupid,” he grumbles, “why does catching a star make you a shoujo manga male lead.”

“It’s romantic,” you argue, “he loves her so much that he would do the impossible for her. Besides, the point is that it’s impossible to do because you have to take all of these pieces and fit them exactly into the shape of a -”

You trail off, dumbfounded, when Idia smugly presents to you the completed puzzle, a small brown star sitting idly in his hand. 

“You were saying,” he smirked at your flabbergasted expression, preening slightly when it shifted to annoyed, “it doesn’t seem all that hard to me.”

“Why do you have to be like this,” you lamented, pouting as you grumbled about ‘high and mighty otakus who think they’re so cool just because they’ve beaten you in every one-v-one you’ve played’.

“Just take the L,” he said, not without a hint of condescension, as he turned back to his screen. Thankfully you were too busy wallowing to notice the magenta glowing along the edges of his hair. Why do you have to be so cute? You’re dangerous, you know.

Yeah, you’re a pretty unpredictable person. But that doesn’t mean that he can’t pull any epic gamer moves of his own.

[cantareincminor]

For the Sake of Appearances

It's obvious that Eden Academy is a superficial place, despite the efforts of Henderson and other teachers to uphold its educational mission. Like any elite institution, most of its students hail from rich families and don't actually need a degree from Eden to be more than comfortable in life. Most of them are there acting as proxies for their parents, to accumulate even more wealth and power, often by schmoozing with people higher up on the chain like the Desmonds.

Twilight of course is aware of the dynamics and rules of the game at Eden and is playing to win. He crafts an upper middle class cover that will fit in decently without being rich or powerful himself. He looks for a smart child. He looks for a wife. Because apparently only children with two parents can get into the school.

Throughout the whole story so far he has been concerned about his family's image, both so his cover won't be blown, and so that Anya will advance Plan A or Plan B. He is sensitive to Anya acting out of turn, like punching Damian, or falling behind academically and having no talents with which to gain extracurricular Stellas.

Back when the Imperial Scholars Mixer chapters came out (before I joined the fandom), I'm sure there was a lot of discussion about the moment Anya made her speech to Damian and said this:

The sadness around Anya not knowing whether her adoptive father even likes her dominates this chapter, at least for me. But on a second read I thought about Twilight's perspective here.

For someone who has been so worried about appearances -- making sure his family can at least pretend at cultured tastes and manners, somehow pushing Anya to get good grades or preventing her from failing (by breaking into the records room), and ensuring his own image is immaculate -- one might expect that Twilight would also worry about appearances here. His daughter just admitted to his chief target's son that she doesn't know if her father loves her. Is that not breaking the facade of a loving nuclear family, which he needed to project at the Eden admissions interview?

But, sadly, having a loving family isn't actually a requirement among the many appearances people have to keep up in the Eden crowd. Damian himself is exhibit A on that front. Both his parents hardly ever bother to visit him or talk to him, and as we see in Chapter 104, it's made him avoid going home except when none of his family members are there. From a utilitarian perspective, it may be good that Anya said this to Damian, so she could appear empathetic to his situation.

What is really interesting is that we don't get any of Twilight's inner thoughts about Anya's speech, probably because he's so focused on Donovan's arrival. All we see is an "Anya..." which could be Endo hiding any further insights on Twilight from the audience, or Twilight genuinely not knowing what to think, or Twilight turning off his over-analyzing tendencies for once and even forgetting to worry about appearances, because his daughter really got to him with that speech. If the latter is true, it might explain his behavior during the cruise arc where he tries so hard to please Anya, with the whole "I'm a normal father. A good father," piece. Bit by bit, he starts to care about more than just appearances or outcomes, and shows through his actions that he wants Anya to be happy. He doesn't tell himself that her happiness is for the cover or for the mission as often as before.

I really do hope that in some future chapter we get a callback to this scene in Chapter 37 where Anya was uncertain whether her father likes her. After 103, where we even got a brief flashback to their first day out as a family overlooking the shopping street, I feel a bit more hope that at some point Twilight will give Anya the reassurance she needs directly or indirectly.

Or maybe, Anya has already figured it out, from all the things he's done for her and how his behavior has changed gradually since that day in the courtyard.

[as-is-yours]

happy 2024 summer olympics!

some tog watching the olympics hcs for the soul because i love the olympics and i decided they do too:

andy competed in the ORIGINAL greek olympics. yes she did

with the guard being as competitive as they are, the olympics are a BIG deal in the safe house - it’s like the football world cup but all day every day for three weeks straight

it’s obviously too dangerous for the guard to attend the olympics these days with all of the cameras and media, so they hunker down in a safehouse and watch as much as they can on TV

they used to go most years though, nicky even told nile that he considered competing in olympic shooting back in the mid 1900s but it was too high profile to risk it

quynh was in the ocean when they brought back the olympic games as we know them today. her first olympics year back with the guard she asks andy why everyone is clothed and where the victors wreaths are

nile LOVES the olympics so she fits right into the dynamic when the first olympics of her time with the guard roll around

she was a little nervous about coming on too strong that first year, but when she saw how hard they roast each other and how much they goaded her into being just as competitive and aggressive as they were, she settled in easily

they would later regret unlocking that part of her once they realize how painful watching the olympics with an american is

nile keeps a scoreboard on the wall next to the TV where she updates the medal counts daily and reminds everyone who’s winning (the usa)

joe, quynh, and booker prefer the summer olympics while nile and andy prefer the winter olympics. nicky is just happy to make some money off of booker when france loses, no matter the season

“andy im getting us a peacock account to watch the olympics, they’re starting next week” “peacock account? what the hell is peacock? like the bird??”

there’s ALWAYS a bet going on. for the full duration of the olympic games there is never not a bet going on

nile will be doing joe’s dishes for a month after kaylia nemour beat suni lee in the uneven bars final

booker owes nicky €300 after italy advanced out of the first round of the women’s doubles tennis tournament (france did not) and another €1000 for italy winning the gold medal

andy stays out of the betting for the most part, or just picks the best athlete rather than one representing her home nation

“andy, that’s cheating—” “the scythians were nomadic. i don’t even remember where i was born so i’ll pick whichever athlete i damn well please, and you—” “okay, fine! we get it!”

andy found quynh wandering in a desert, quynh doesn’t really remember where she’s from either so she picks her favorite athletes based on vibe and which countries were her favorites to travel around with andy

there aren’t nearly as many north african athletes as there are italian, french, and american so joe starts adopting the athletes with the most heartwarming comeback/underdog stories as his faves

i feel like nile LOVES usa gymnastics having been a teen watching gabby douglas and simone biles!

that girl was SAT for every gymnastics event cheering on team usa like it was her job

andy has broken her neck attempting to pull off the stunts she sees in olympic snowboarding, gymnastics, skateboarding, figure skating, etc…. but sometimes she nails them. and it’s sick as fuck

nile is from the midwest i know she’s an ice hockey enjoyer. she pregames the winter olympics by making the guard watch miracle (2004) (nicky cries)

booker makes a drinking game for watching the games. he prints out the rules and pins them up next to nile’s medal count. take a sip when an announcer starts yelling, a shot when a random celebrity is shown on the broadcast, and finish your drink when a medalist cries

whenever great britan places below one of the guard’s countries, copley receives a very vulgar and unsportsmanlike text from them

no, quynh does not watch swimming events. thank you for asking

the couch is NOT a safe space. anything goes during the olympics. anyone who gets too mean (or whose athlete loses) can and will be pushed off the couch and exiled to the armchair

i will surely update this as the olympics continue and my friends and i get up to more hijinks. stay tuned and enjoy the greatest sporting event ever conceived

[t3a-tan]

Romantic and Hopeless (3/?)

First / Previous / Next

---

Ever since Oscar learned more about the truth of his soulmate's situation he had been doing nothing but thinking of how to help. He wasn't the type of person to sit back when someone was suffering so now he had been restless in his search for a solution. He thought about contacting the police, but he didn't want to break Rabbit’s trust.

So it all came down to him. He had been skipping school every day, spending his time searching online for whoever Zorro Ryker was. Thanks to it being a unique name it was easy to find results, but actually trying to figure out where his soulmate might be being held was a different story. In passing conversation she mentioned something about being underground, but that didn't really narrow the search.

He even spent money on some sketchy sites in order to get a hold of more information about the man… at first his results were pretty normal and uninteresting, but he noticed that by looking deeper into the darker sides of the internet, the name ‘Ryker’ appeared more often.

Zorro Ryker was a man who ran a launderette that was a surprisingly short distance away. At the same time, Ryker was a man with various connections on the dark web.

Isn't it a thing that launderettes are often a front for shadier businesses? He decided he would just go check it out, even though he was extremely nervous. The launderette was not open for 24 hours, and so he decided to wait for Sammy to say hello again to go inside, since that meant Ryker wasn't there.

He was eating at a place opposite the launderette, sitting at the window as he ate, occasionally glancing towards it.

“Hey, Fox.” There it was. Oscar's heart fluttered at the sound of her voice, feeling even more determined to go ahead with his plan. He doubted he would find her this easily, but at the very least he would get closer to doing so. Ryker might have left clues to her whereabouts after all.

Oscar glanced towards the launderette, seeing a man closing up. He fit the description of Ryker exactly, and Oscar's fist clenched at the sight. He looked away after a moment, to finish his food and to not call attention to himself.

“Hey yourself, Rabbit. Still holding up okay?” He asked as he clasped his hands together in his lap. I'm gonna get you out of there. I promise.

“Yeah. As much as I can anyway… How's your day been?” She asked back. For the past few days Oscar hadn't told her anything about his plan; not about his research or about skipping school.

“It's been alright. Mum hasn't gotten back yet, so… we'll see. Freddo came over to play some video games— he just headed out like…half an hour ago.” He responded, still not letting her in on the plan because it might just stress her out. He watched as a car pulled out from the street, seeing that Ryker was the one driving and that he was leaving fully.

I'll wait five more minutes.

He spoke to Sammy for a bit longer, before getting up from his stool and leaving the fast food place he had been waiting in, heading towards the launderette.

First, he was checking for security systems. This wasn't his first rodeo— when his mum went away for a long time when he was younger he had broken into a few Tesco Expresses at night for food. He scoped out the outside, mindful of cameras, before beginning to pick at the locked door towards the back of the shop.

Once he was in he laid low, just looking around for some kind of backroom where Ryker might be keeping information. After finding what seemed to be an office he entered, moving a bunch of books and papers around…. Until suddenly, the floor began to move.

Oscar yelped, stomach dropping as the part of the room he was standing on seemed to turn into an elevator, eyes wide with alarm. Oh god. Oh god. A secret elevator? Should I really go down?

He was nervous, mostly because of the mention that Ryker owned a gun, but he took a deep breath and stayed determined. I have to find something. She can't just stay there forever.

As the elevator arrived at its destination, Oscar walked out, looking around at the oddly high tech surroundings. It looked like…a lab. And not the meth kind. He looked around, using his phone flashlight to see and being careful not to make too much noise or leave much evidence that he had been there.

“Wait. I think he's back.” Oscar bristled as Rabbit's voice registered in his head, instinctively looking towards the elevator he came from…but it was still there. Open. Unless…she can hear me?

“Do you hear him, or see him?” He asked. No response came. She's worried she'll be heard. But is she actually here somewhere?

The lab was big, with multiple rooms, some of which were just full of files and papers, and another that had a lot of intimidating looking machines inside. He felt an odd sense of dread looking at all of it— there was something about the odd devices that felt almost alien. Some parts of them even seemed to glow in the darkness.

Most of what he tried to read was written in a language he couldn't understand, using a script he couldn't recognize. Maybe it's a cypher..? How paranoid is this guy? He sighed and threw the papers back down onto the table, continuing to look for clues.

Finally he found something that was written in English. He flipped to a random page, flicking through.

However, it's not usual that I get to have a full conversation with either of the children, so I'll take what I can get.

Children? Rabbit and her brother maybe? Oscar's gaze drifted upwards on the page to find the context.

Subject 2 has a surprising amount of agility; a finding that developed when I found him out of containment whilst I had left the lid off. He was afraid of delving further about his talents. A pity. After Subject 1 incurred her most recent injury, I notice he's been a lot more restless and anxious. Due to her infection I have been keeping them separate for now so she can heal in the best conditions, but I understand that humans are social creatures, and children especially so.

Oscar raised an eyebrow at the detached usage of the word ‘humans’, but ignored it and continued.

I allowed him some roaming under my supervision in the hopes that this would allow me to observe his agility properly and that it would cheer him up. Subject 2 is usually very quiet, clinging onto Subject 1 like a parasite, but it took a surprisingly short amount of time for him to start talking today. He told me that his favourite colour is purple, and even attempted to engage with me and ask my own. It didn't take much prompting for him to tell me why exactly purple was his favourite colour, recalling a memory from before. I was disturbed to hear that Subject 2 can no longer remember his own parent's faces. However, it's not usual that I get to have a full conversation with either of the children, so I'll take what I can get.

Reaching the part he had first read again, he paused before looking to the next page, continuing the journal entry with furrowed brows. Subject 2… Is that Rabbit's brother? This must have been written before he… He took a deep breath and continued.

It's times like these that my resolve feels the weakest. I find myself wondering; if I had just given up my research, what would they be doing now? Is what I want to achieve really worth it? It's been so long now that the fiery anger I felt and revenge I swore feels cold and ashen. I cannot stop now though. I've gone too far. I don't expect forgiveness, but I hope the children will one day make peace with what I've done. Tomorrow I believe Subject 1 can be taken off of antibiotics. She will recover, I can only hope it's swift so she and Subject 2 are not apart for too much longer. I should avoid speaking with him alone too much lest I become soft. Empathy is something the enemy lacks, and so I must too be devoid of it.

Oscar frowned as he closed the journal and set it back down where he found it. He's a bloody lunatic. Really, what situation could ever warrant kidnapping children? At least there was a hint of remorse, but Oscar couldn't fathom a sane man getting to that point in the first place. And what enemy is he even talking about?

He swallowed nervously but continued exploring the lab quietly. So far there was no sign of his soulmate.

He entered the next room, and his attention was immediately caught by something to the left of the room.

A singular glass enclosure sat on the table. Oscar slowly approached, curious to see what pet Ryker was keeping…only for his gaze to fall upon a tiny girl. She was protecting her eyes, and Oscar realised he was still pointing his phone flashlight directly at her so he lowered his phone down, mouth agape.

He could barely make out any of her features in the dark, but what little light his phone provided from it's new position told him that she had dark skin and darker hair that was cut messily to hang around her ears. At first she had been squinting against the light but as she took in his appearance her eyes suddenly widened and she scrambled back.

Is that…?

“Rabbit…” He breathed, still staring down at her from behind his sunglasses— which really weren't doing him any favours in this room. He took them off so he could see better, before crouching down to peer through the glass better. “Is…is that you?”

He received no response, but Oscar was more preoccupied with the surprise of seeing someone so small. After a few moments of staring, his soft green gaze trailing up and down her tiny form, he finally registered that he was only making the tiny girl, who may or may not be his soulmate, more nervous by the second. He bit his lip.

“Well… If you aren't her, I'm still not gonna leave you here with that monster. You'll be okay, I promise..! Not gonna hurt you…” He reached down, carefully removing the lid of the enclosure and setting it to the side. Then he began to reach into the box prison, only to pause when he saw the girl scramble back away from his hand in fear.

Is this really Rabbit? Surely Rabbit would know I'm not a threat?

“No no no— I'm here to help, see? I'm not…like that guy keeping you. My name is Oscar. I'm gonna get you out of here…” He was hesitant to actually grab or touch the tiny person whilst she seemed so afraid. As nervous as he was, and as much as he wanted to leave as soon as possible, he had no idea what this tiny person had been through…but if it was like Rabbit, then he could understand why she was so afraid.

“Shhh…come on. I can't stay here… I know you're scared, but that monster isn't going to touch you again. H-here uh…” He turned off his phone flashlight, bringing it into the enclosure so that it was flat beside her. “You can climb on this so I don't have to touch you? You'll have to go in my pocket though when we leave the building.”

Slowly, and clearly with a lot of willpower, she climbed onto the back of his phone. Oscar could see her shaking from here and his heart clenched with sympathy. He had no idea what this person had been through, but it must have been a lot for them to get so small. Is this really Rabbit? She's not saying anything… she could be in shock.

“Easy…” He lifted the phone slowly, bringing it towards his chest pocket and holding it steady. “Hop in, and then we can leave. It's gonna be okay… I'll help you.”

It felt like his heart was beating out of his chest with anxiety as he waited. Every second that passed could be a second that Ryker would return. So far, if this wasn't Rabbit, Oscar had seen no other sign of her or clues to her whereabouts.

He watched as the tiny girl slipped into his pocket, marvelling slightly at how she disappeared entirely within it. He turned his flashlight back on, putting on his sunglasses, and began to walk towards the elevator again.

“We're in the elevator now, okay? Almost out. I'll take you back to my place for now, but I promise I'll help you find a way to get back to normal.” He assured, fingers tapping anxiously at the front pockets of his jeans as he waited for the elevator to reach the launderette again.

He didn't lock the door behind him, simply focused on getting home so he could fully focus on and speak to the tiny person he had found. She understandably wasn't very talkative for now, but he hoped when she realised he was safe she would be more willing to speak. He still needed to find out if she was Rabbit or not.

The winter air was cold and Oscar shivered slightly before looking down at his pocket.

“I'm gonna put my jacket on, so it'll get dark, okay? Still not gonna hurt you…” He explained softly as he started zipping his jacket up. Hearing no protest he zipped it the rest of the way. “It’s gonna be okay. Almost home.”

He placed his hands into his jacket pockets, fidgeting anxiously with the seams inside as he walked, looking around every now and then, worried he was being followed by Ryker. Once he was certain that the monstrous man wasn't there at all he let out a sigh of relief, his breath visible in the cold evening air.

You're gonna be okay. I promise.

[internetskiff]

I've sometimes seen this sentiment, especially among reviewers, that SOMA's WAU ""monster plot"" contributes nothing to the main game's story, and that the storyline would infact benefit from the WAU's removal. If you ask me, that couldn't be further from the truth. The WAU is at the root of everything. Frankly, it's the main reason the game's moral dilemmas are.. well, dilemmas at all. If the WAU wasn't making monsters, wasn't there to warp the life around Pathos-II as it saw fit, the game wouldn't have even started. Pathos-II would've just remained dormant forever. Simon wouldn't be there, and neither would any of the obstacles he faces on his journey to preserve humanity. The main reason the WAU isn't directly beneficial to Earth is exactly because its understanding of "life" is so skewed. Its not just bringing things back - its bringing them back incorrectly. Every single "monster" we meet builds a case both against and for the WAU's continued existence.

The Construct shows the WAU's failure to understand humanity in the physical sense, shoving a Human brain scan into a misshapen robot body and calling it a day, leaving it to babble to itself as it aimlessly wanders the halls of Upsilon.

The same could be said for Carl Semken and the other Mockingbirds, though to a lesser degree - though capable of speech, they're still very delusional and oftentimes end up going insane. Still, in some ways you see the WAU's understanding of human psychology progress with each new mockingbird - they become increasingly coherent and increasingly sane, Catherine and Robin Bass being great examples. While the Construct has lost so much of itself you can no longer tell who it used to be, the other Mockingbirds have their sense of self intact. With the WAU's unreliable nature cemented, we move on to its attempts at preserving humans physically, with Amy Azarro being the first proper example Simon gets to witness.

She's kept alive in what seems to be a perpetual state of discomfort, and judging by the structure gel slowly overtaking her I believe the WAU may be slowly converting her into one of the Fleshers. Its keeping her alive, yes, but its doing so at any cost necessary - it doesn't matter if she's in constant pain as long as she doesn't flatline. Its treatment of actual organisms is practically an inversion of its treatment of the Mockingbirds - instead of prioritizing the mental wellbeing of the subject, the WAU prioritizes their physical wellbeing with little to no care for the mental state its "patient" is in the entire time.

Fleshers live and breathe, but they seemingly aren't "all there" at all. The lights are on, but no one's home anymore. All they do is wander the ruins of the CURIE and lash out at anyone who enters their territory - the WAU has basically reduced them to animals.

Terry's been driven insane from all the structure gel infesting his insides, and though his goal was "technically" benevolent (putting everyone into a permanent dream state where the WAU could make them live the best possible versions of their lives), he achieved it through incredibly violent means, conducting what was basically an attack on Theta and causing its downfall. So far, its attempts at preserving humans physically have simply resulted in increasingly grotesque and violent monstrosities - but I would argue you see that begin to change when Simon reaches Omicron.

When you reach it, you see the aftermath of a particularly gruesome procedure WAU had carried out - everyone's blackboxes have exploded, turning their heads to mush. We find out that one of the employees, with the help of someone particularly close to the WAU, had figured out how to poison it. They have been receiving "visions" and "messages" from a comatose Johan Ross - the WAU's "AI psychologist", someone it desperately tried to restore from a comatose state by manipulating structure gel with electromagnetic fields. Either the WAU deliberately retaliated when it figured out the poisoning plot, or it had simply overdone it when restoring Johan Ross - sacrificing an entire station's worth of lives to bring someone back. Either way this shows a tremendous amount of intelligence on the WAU's part - and also paints it as either exceptionally cruel or exceptionally empathetic depending on the perspective you view it from. Either it considered Johan so important to it that it was willing to sacrifice most Omicron staff, or it was willing to violently retaliate in order to preserve itself. Either way, Omicron houses what I believe to be a sign of the WAU's steadily improving understanding of humanity - Dr. Johan Ross.

He has been restored with both his physical health and mental faculties (relatively) intact. He isn't violent, and he perfectly understands what condition he is currently in - but despite that he doesn't seem to be physically suffering. He is still driven to eliminate the WAU, but it seems to be less out of personal suffering and more out of fear in regards to the suffering its other creations may go through. I believe he's an example of a semi-perfectly restored human - both him and Simon himself. They're both cases of, as Catherine puts it, "a sound mind in a sound body". But although the signs are there, there is no outright definitive proof that the WAU's creations will only continue to get better.

And that's what makes the game's final moral dilemma so compelling to me. The whole game has been providing us with both evidence and counterevidence towards the WAU's idea of restoring humanity. Now, it's up to you to act as its jury and executioner. By killing it you either stop it from torturing the memory of humanity, or you doom humanity to extinction in all senses of the word. By keeping it alive, you either doom the remnants of humanity to an eternal torturous existence, or you give the WAU a chance at creating something new. There is no way of knowing what choice is correct - because you don't know what the WAU is thinking. You never get to. You don't know its plans, you don't know if it even has the capacity to actually learn from its mistakes, hell, you don't even know if its capable of thought - but here it is. Making things. Terrible things, but there's a chance that it'll only get better with time. Simon himself is evidence of that chance. It has already managed to make what could be classified as a "complete" person. And if you kill it, Simon's going to be the last "complete" person it managed to bring back.