#i guess? if people want to avoid anything negative

[foxx-queen]

its really starting to bother me that theres so little to be done for karlach in act 3. like when you first meet dammon he seems so hopeful about finding a solution. he runs through a bunch of ideas and says he cant do anything with the tools he has but he'll keep looking. and then when you meet him in act 2 hes says he cant think of anything but he'll keep trying. and then in act 3?? all he says is that he cant find a solution. theres no way to ask him what research hes been doing. no way to try and do any research yourself.

karlach's companion quest basically ends in act 2. you get that second upgrade and it doesn't make a difference to the way her endings turn out. yeah you can touch her, but that's it. theres still only two 'good' endings for her character.

and it feels like theres so much we should be trying to do? the steel watchers are made of infernal iron. every single watcher has a piece of infernal iron you can collect. some of them even have enriched infernal iron. and apart from the armor dammon can make... there's nothing else to be done with those pieces? even the enriched infernal iron doesnt seem to serve a bigger purpose.

i feel like i should be able to talk to the gondian gnomes for help. they built the steel watchers, which are made of infernal iron and can blast hellfire at you. we can literally go to hell and theres no way to look around or ask about a solution. theres a magic tower with a locked vault and no way to look for magic to nullify/contain the heat.

also we cant talk to karlach about going to stay in the house of hope? i know one of the endings is that she can go to avernus with wyll but shouldn't we be able to suggest she can stay with hope? who's literally trying to make a place of hope in the middle of the hells? theres even portals in one of the rooms to a bunch of places. she could come and go as she pleases. we already have the means to visit if we want.

like i get it the whole point is that shes doomed from the start tragedy etc etc but it still sucks that we can't at least try to do more when it feels like theres so many ways we should be able to

[amiaclone]

You asked I’ll write! Gender neutral reader if you don’t mind

Tw: cursing I guess? Squid game in general should be considered a trigger over all the murdering lmaoo

*In ho sighed for the what? Fifteenth time? He’s been counting it’s what he’s trying to focus on the other thing is well……*

*When he decided to participate in these games again it was to prove Gi hun a point and mess with him a bit so he joined his “team” which well….. they happened to be in*

You were apart of it a strong person filled with determination in debt to a lot of money…..honestly in ho was shocked with how much debt you were in I mean you seemed like someone who’d make it far in live would rule against the poor like he used to be…

But you weren’t you were *trash*

You were lower lower class you were nothing…..

Yet why couldn’t he stop thinking about you?

He had a wife who he fell out of love with before he even met you…..swore he’d never fall in love again after distancing himself with his family and starting the games…..

But you just had to be lucky star didn’t you?

You were “kind” and not in a pushover kind of way just….kind like kind that would not take shit from people but would help others in need….and didn’t hide your opinions from others that deserved it….

It was disgusting but…..In a good way? He wanted you not in a possessive way but in a way type of wanting to care for you and you care for him-

*He shook those thoughts off ugh. Why now? He’s usually so calm and collected…..at first he wouldn’t lie he was hoping you’d die in one of the earlier games but now….he isn’t so sure. Gi hun already has plans to take the guns and fight back he had a plan problem was…..you were apart of the main plan

He probably had to kill you it’s probably a good thing but…now he isn’t so sure he’s gotten along with you great and he has a tiny bit of hope that you even like him back so for you to find out he runs these games….he can’t risk it

You’ll find out anyway but he doesn’t wanna face you to your face he atleast wants to hide behind a mask atleast imagining what you’d say…..

Currently he’s trying to convince himself that these feelings aren’t real……maybe it’s just attraction? Of course you’re really good looking maybe it’s that!

“Uh In ho?”

*He turns around that voice dreaded him more then anything the voice he was ready to hear-*

“Are you okay In ho?”

It was Gi hun

*He unfortunately realised that after breaking out of his rare trance he blinked for a few seconds then nodded*

“What is it?”

*Gi hun shrugged* “Nothing you seemed out of it….” *In ho stared at the ground trying to seem calm but spoke in a bitter tone* “I’m fine…” *He let his eyes wander to you who was talking to he thinks Junhee the pregnant lady? Gi hun noticed and raised an eyebrow* “Maybe Y/n will cheer you up…..Hey y/n!”

*You raised an eyebrow nodding at Junhee before walking away up to the two men.*

“You guys need something?” *In ho sighed he’s been trying to avoid hearing your voice….and you in general.* “In ho seems nervous I thought you’d be better at calming him down…*

*As Gi hun left you leaned your back on the bars of the bed he was sitting on….he couldn’t even look at you.*

“So. What is it?” *You asked he didn’t look at you but he could tell you seemed concerned*

“……” “In ho?” “…….If somebody did something almost unforgivable in any way…..what would you do?” “……What?” *You were confused rightfully you knew he was like this but for the way he got was so….* “Just answer the question…..please.” “Well if we were close I’d….wanna know why. Depending on what they did it’s…..hard to say hey are you saying this cause you’re worried or something i understand i am too but…..don’t focus on the negative so much you know?” *As usual kind…..how could such a good human like you be in these games yet he knew…..He is the front man after all he decided to atleast “ask you” and bond maybe a bit before he has to let you go….*

“Yeah you’re right as logical as ever so why are……you in debt if you don’t mind answering?”

*He felt you rise up you stared squinting your eyes then smiling* “Damn didn’t expect anyone to ask me that….don’t think it’s important.”

*Oh he knows what it is why wouldn’t he a petty part of him felt betrayed some what you weren’t gonna tell him after how close you’ve gotten but he decided to keep his cool.*

“You don’t have to tell you i just asked since we might be leaving this place or if neither of us..make it.” *You groaned* “The pessimism again In ho? Jeez you could…..I’ll tell you though cause you do have a point.”

“Well i used to be pretty rich and well-“ *As you went into your story he already knew it but continued to listen you were rich worked in a high payed business workplace but like most work places favouritism is common. Which unfortunately lead to your downfall.* “Anyways one day I found out i was being underpayed a lot of money so I complained this and that and i got a warning complained again then got fired…..It was hard to find a job i didn’t pay the bills for a lot of things debt grew bigger and bigger then a man asked me to play a game one day and well…..here i am.” *Ah yes In ho nodded at your story he knew it all he was the person who called for you to be in the game….you were a wonderful person honestly what was he thinking you were too good for a game like this is something he of all people would never think he would say.* “Im sorry you don’t deserve to be here after all it’s not your fault you’re in debt…” *You shook your head* “Eh I didn’t have a good of a college degree anyway maybe if I studied more in college I wouldn’t be here but eh atleast i got to meet you?” *In ho sighed and he didn’t want to or realise it but he couldn’t help but let a small smile rise genuinely.* “I suppose it’s…..mutual.”

*You sighed smiling* “I can’t wait for tomorrow we’ll finally *maybe* get out of here right?” *He felt his heart stop for a second oh yeah…..that*

*He awkwardly cleared his throat* “Oh yeah I suppose this game will….end and we’ll probably never see each other again” *You snorted* “We can still talk, we can meet up together and talk and stuff it’s not like we need to forget each other…”

*”That’s right” In ho thought he needed to forget you maybe these feelings would go away….but the the thoughts came he didn’t want to but…..”I killed my brother damn it! I can do this I’ve talked to them for only a few days this is…”*

“In ho??” *He stared up at you instinctively like an animal almost he stopped himself and regained his composure.* “Jeez you seem tense maybe get some rest…” “No im…..just thinking….about all the bad decisions…..humans can make.” *You hmmd* “I suppose so humans can be evil if given the chance with such power.” *In ho nodded* “Have you ever thought of doing something regrettable?” *In ho wasn’t sure why he was asking these…..questions but maybe it was to see the inhuman side of them to make him disgusted in you? Maybe that’ll work.* “Well I’ll admit yeah…..I got bullied and when I found out there father had cancer i wanted to well bring it up tear them down….i think i was about 14.” *You didn’t seem shameful you seemed to regret it but not shamed it only made In ho admire you more as he hated it.* “So why didn’t you do anything?” *You laughed a bit* “I would of if it wasn’t for me asking my mom and telling her like i was about to do the best thing she got mad scolded me and told me a different way a better way to handle bullying……and I’ve used that advice since.”

*He quirked an eyebrow what would it be that he hasn’t heard ignore them stand up for yourself be the the bigger person?*

“Be better than them…..because bullies are the weakest of the weakest in society strategy they don’t want you knowing is you finding out you’re better then them.” *He knows that advice he’s never thought much of it but hearing it from you automatically makes him wanna know more…* “Well then your mom raised such a lovely person….you should be proud.” *You scoffed laughing a bit* “I made a lot of mistakes that i can’t even say thought of some weird stuff im glad i didn’t say or do anyways……yeah. We’re human everyone has made one bad mistake you’ll dwell on for the rest of your life my advice is well…..did you regret it?”

*In ho sighed smiling* “Thanks for the advice I’ll rest for a bit” *You got up smiling and leaving that’s it.* “Y/n you’ll always be in my memory….” *In ho didn’t know what to do with them maybe ask them to join him? No! That would be so idiotic they’d never agree….try to make them understand? Maybe let them go? Why doesn’t he want that…..he then smiled.* “I can’t wait for tomorrow y/n you’re so unpredictable maybe you could stay with me…..”

Anddddd a cliffhanger sorry if this is ooc i was halfasleep writing this 😭

[niceutossu]

Observant | Sakusa x Reader

Of course you charmed Hinata first, always matching his energetic and early morning greetings. Although the wing spiker was also easy to impress and even easier to like so it wasn’t too surprising.

Similarly, Sakusa wasn’t that shocked when Bokuto became putty in your hands. He always perked up like a little flower whenever you’d shower him with praise, your tone sincere but words firm; never going as far as to baby him but helping him get back up when he dramatically fell down.

Atsumu did take a bit longer than he had anticipated to come around. At first, he was acting like a high schooler with a crush, avoiding you at all costs until you offhandley mentioned having lived abroad. Afterwards, he easily became the most smitten.

Despite all your newfound connections, you had kept your distance from Sakusa, which he preferred and appreciated. During the brief moments you two did interact you always kept it professional, offering a polite greeting followed up by helpful advice. There was no pressure to become fast friends and you were already really good at your job, having been handpicked by Iwaizumi himself.

While he did come to silently admire your professionalism, and Iwaizumi-seal-of-approval, he found your ability to seamlessly switch gears between him and his teammates to be a bit…off-putting.

How was it that you could get along with him and Atsumu? It was unprecedented and you also were the newest addition to the team, so he couldn’t help himself from questioning your true intentions.

-

“Hinata-san is always so lively, huh?”

Sakusa paused upon hearing your voice, not wanting to intrude on you and Iwaizumi’s private conversation about his teammate. While he’d normally be one to mind his business, he couldn’t help but stand still for a moment to find out what you really thought behind the scenes.

“I guess you could say that.” Iwaizumi responded, having known the ginger longer than he had worked with him.

Sakusa slightly frowned at his tone, assuming you had broken your professional streak and were engaging in petty gossip. Of course you had been faking all those cheerful greetings, just as he had-

“Well, I like it.” Your clear voice interrupted his thoughts, tone firm as if challenging Iwaizumi’s previous comment and his own negative thoughts.

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, feeling a brief sense of relief wash over him before he felt shame slowly replace it. What the hell was he doing eavesdropping and why did he feel guilty? It’s not like being a people person absolved you of anything, you were bound to show your true colors sooner or later.

-

Weeks later during your first ever team meeting, and Sakusa’s umpteenth, you catch him off guard yet again as their power-hungry assistant coach goes to make the same tired comment about Bokuto’s inconsistency.

“You’re just not very reliable during high-pressure moments.”

Glancing over to look at his teammate, he could already see his two-toned hair begin to droop when suddenly your hand shot up and all eyes turned to look at you.

Your expression was calm but your eyes were glazed over with purpose, so unafraid it almost seemed like this was your umpteenth meeting.

“Bokuto-san has always been someone who performs best when he’s supported. I’ve seen firsthand how well he steps up under pressure when he’s in the right headspace, and that’s something we can easily help him with.” You speak up, voice firm but polite.

Glancing over at his teammate again he can see the tip of his hair now standing tall, his amber eyes filling with overdramatic tears as he tried to start bounding towards you, barely held back by Atsumu and Hinata who knew better than to disturb a team meeting.

The tension in the room, despite Bokuto’s incessant wailing, was thick. Even though you were both assistants, you were younger which meant the assistant coach was technically your senior, and he had taken your comment as direct disrespect. Thankfully, Iwaizumi came to the rescue, not only agreeing with your point but adding a few of his own to de-escalate the situation.

Afterwards, Sakusa couldn’t help but keep glancing over at you during the rest of the meeting. The smallest part of him even hoping to catch your eye which surprises him.

Why would he ever want such a thing?

-

It’s their first big home game and nothing is going right for Atsumu. Sakusa can tell by the sloppy passes and frustrated grunts during rotations. Everyone was bound to have an off-game, it was human nature. Except Atsumu was anything but human— or at least he pretended to be.

Bokuto’s ‘don’t minds’ and Hinata’s ‘next times’ fell upon deaf ears as the setter finally began to crack. Before he could blow up on court the whistle was blown and a timeout was called.

The blond angrily made his way to the bench, brushing off his teammates encouragement as he sat down with his eyes locked onto the floor. He put his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily, clearly lost in thought over his minor but costly mistakes.

Even though the setter was a pain in Sakusa’s ass, he would never deny his skill when it came to the sport. He was annoyingly prideful but he had every right to be when it came to his precision and control during games. Any time he couldn’t show off these assets, his meltdowns were inevitable.

As such, Sakusa simply swipes the sweat from his brow while glancing over at his aggravated teammate from the sidelines. He knows it’s better to leave him alone to collect himself.

Just as he thinks this, there, from the corner of his eye, he sees you walking over to them. You stand right in front of Atsumu and he can tell the whole team is holding their breath as they wait for you to say something.

Over-the-top encouragement was a guaranteed way to piss Atsumu off, and also the go-to for inexperienced trainers. Sakusa can’t help but feel a little bad for you when the blond finally glances up at you, his eyebrows knit tightly and mouth parted as if ready to tell you off.

Before he can say anything though, you kneel down slightly to meet him at eye level, voice steady but soft enough for only him to hear as you speak. From his spot on the court, Sakusa couldn’t hear what you were saying but he does notice something strange: Atsumu is actually listening to you.

A few moments pass and you stand back up, offering him a small nod before going to stand at the sidelines. The setter isn’t staring at the ground anymore and the previous frown on his face has eased up. Whatever it is you had said, it had clearly resonated with him.

A few points later, Atsumu delivers a perfect set to Hinata who spikes the ball and wins them the rally. Afterwards, the blond turns back to look at you in the sidelines, flashing you a smile Sakusa had never seen before.

It’s not the annoying grin he puts on for fans or the one he’s practiced for pictures, but something more real and subdued: a genuine token of appreciation.

When Sakusa catches the exchange he feels stupid. Really stupid. You were authentic and true and he was a pessimistic asshole. At least, that’s what it felt like the universe was telling him as the rest of the match goes smoothly. Never once during it do you bring any more attention to yourself, despite having been the one to break through to their setter.

Later, during their time in the locker room and after having won, Sakusa overhears Bokuto ask Atsumu what you had said to him. Normally, Sakusa would be in and out, repulsed by the environment and wanting to avoid these sort of post-match conversations all together. This time though he stayed put, taking his time to pack his things.

Why did he even care?

“Nothin’ that hasn’t been said before.” Atsumu responded simply, and Sakusa can’t rationalize why he feels a pang of disappointment when everyone but him seems to know what that means.

He knows you had probably gotten closer to his other teammates, while he himself could count the amount of times you had spoken to him on one hand. But were you really that much closer to everyone else but him?

After he had seen the moment shared between you and Atsumu, he had silently accepted defeat. There was no need to question your intentions or gauge for your reactions anymore. He decided then and there that he could finally let it go. You weren’t like any of the trainers before, you were better in every way and then some.

But now, knowing that he had missed out on whatever magic you seemed to carry, he felt more on edge than he had waiting for you to fail.

He stuffs the rest of the things in his bag unceremoniously, clicking his tongue in annoyance and unintentionally gaining the attention of Hinata who gives him a curious look.

“You’re not really that close to Iwaizumi jr. are you, Sakusa?” The ginger asked, simply making a harmless observation but landing a critical blow on whatever remained of his fellow spiker’s composure. Honestly, Sakusa should’ve told him to stop calling you that ridiculous nickname but instead, all he could muster was a head shake ‘no’ before leaving.

-

The next few days during practice, Sakusa still can’t keep his eyes off you. Now without any judgement to cloud his mind, he’s started noticing things he hadn’t before.

Like how your hair always seemed shine when you would stand by Iwaizumi during morning meetings. Or how you smelled when you walked by, clean but never overpowering.

He feels like a creep for being able to pick up on it but he manages to convince himself he’s still merely observing, making sure you’re doing well for the good of the team.

Over time he discovers that if he gets you to meet his gaze you’ll tense up when your eyes meet his own, with you quickly feigning ignorance afterwards as you look anywhere but him.

Your subtle antics were starting to become a bit too endearing for his peace of mind. And before he knew it, getting you to meet his gaze became like a game of sorts. He felt a little mean at times but nothing excited him more than to see someone who was usually so composed, become so flustered.

You weren’t a serious person per say, he had overheard you cracking jokes even he found himself nose exhaling at. But you also weren’t so easily swayed. Hinata’s friendliness and Bokuto’s frequent touches usually went unnoticed by you. Even Atsumu’s blatant flirting left you unfazed (despite some of the lines making even Sakusa’s stomach flutter…).

So why was a little eye contact making you so nervous? He knows he can be an intimidating guy but he also can’t help himself from letting his thoughts drift to more interesting possibilities.

What if he made you nervous for…different reasons?

That thought alone led to a week of sleepless nights. He remembers the whole ordeal well because he had terrible eye bags. Or at least terrible enough for you to leave energy packets near his water bottle, neatly boxed and sanitized to his liking.

Yet again you kept him thinking of you without even saying so much as a word to him.

How cruel.

After that incident, he finds all of his thoughts drifting back to you, with his eyes now unconsciously following suit. He felt a little ashamed at times, given that you were an innocent bystander who had gotten caught up in his uncharacteristically messy emotions. The two of you weren’t even friends.

You were a stranger, charming and capable yes— but still a stranger. He was only seeing you through a rose-colored lens, he rationalized, having heard nothing but high praises from his peers. You definitely had your own germs and quirks he’d find annoying, a deadly threat to his very way of life.

But if he was being honest with himself, truly honest, you had your own gravitational pull. A sort-of welcome weight that went directly against his usual sound logic and reason.

He only truly noticed it when he saw the way you lit up talking to anyone and everyone. That’s when he thinks he’s starting to get it, to get you. And the patience and passion you have for the sport that rivaled his own.

The one he could see it in the hours you put in and the minute details you remembered, things that made you stronger and infinitely better than anyone before you.

Your quick wit was also a nice touch but these were things he didn’t even get to experience, merely yearn for from the sidelines for almost a year before he feels himself finally begin to give into your weight.

The old rickety dwellings of his heart creak at the thought of making room for another person. Especially after having spent his entire life trying to put space between him and the entire world.

Relationships with his teammates were a given, an unwritten rule in the countless contracts he had signed throughout his career. He could deal with people if it meant he got to play volleyball.

This, you, were different though. There was no need to pursue anything outside of daily niceties, simple hellos and goodbyes. You had given him the space to, the chance to live his life without another person’s germs to deal with.

But he didn’t want that, he hated that. He also hated that you had made the choice for him before getting to know him, even though you had only done so because you did get to know him through Iwaizumi. He feels stupid when he really thinks about it; how his feelings were just one big paradox.

If nothing was going to make sense, then there was no need to be logical. At least that’s what he decides when he catches himself searching for you during public events, never once actually spotting you among the crowds.

And it shouldn’t have been that surprising given your role, things he would have normally taken into account being such a rational guy. But all he can focus on for the rest of night is the disappointment he feels, and the heavy ache in his chest. It should’ve irritated him, should’ve made him push you further away but instead it left him wanting more.

Yes. He wanted more, even if it came at the cost of social interaction. If you were going to keep him up at night and occupy his thoughts 24/7, it was better to break his own rules than lose his mind thinking about you. And, if you were going to keep your distance, then maybe he’d to be the one to close the gap.

-

Whatever you were in the middle of writing down is suddenly forgotten when you feel his gaze on you again. It’s getting heavier each time, lingering longer, more insistent. It made it a bit difficult to focus on your work, especially when it was practically non-stop now.

Sakusa was an observer, that much was clear from the day you met him. He was a lot more laidback than the trio you had become well-acquainted with, preferring to stay back with Meian or Inunaki.

You never minded his gaze, noticing how his eyes closely followed anybody from his teammates to coaches. Except just like him you were also an observer, immediately picking up on his increased glances.

In the beginning it felt like he was judging you, gaze passive and discerning. There was no real interest behind it past cold calculation. Despite the heaviness, it was bearable then. You weren’t a stranger to doubts and Sakusa was just another person to prove wrong.

Except, his eyes on you feel different now: they’re searching, watching and impossible to ignore.

The first few times you had pretended not to notice despite the way his eyes burned into you, as if studying you. It made it harder to focus on the clipboard in front of you, your racing heart thrumming loudly in your ears. Why was he looking at you?

You kept telling yourself that you didn’t care, that you were imagining it, and that it didn’t matter either way.

But it did matter.

You had been trying so hard to convince yourself it didn’t, that Sakusa was just another player—albeit a more complicated one—and that whatever you were feeling were just misplaced nerves.

After all, you were surrounded by men like him all the time: strong, talented, and painfully good-looking. Bokuto’s infectious enthusiasm and Atsumu’s flirtatious antics didn’t make your pulse quicken. Even Hinata, with his boyish charm and relentless optimism, didn’t throw you off like this. So why Sakusa? What was it about him that had you so unsteady?

Perhaps it was the way he stood apart from the others, always watching from the sidelines, but never fully engaging unless he had to. He kept his cards close to his chest, making him difficult to understand and even harder to approach. His sharp jaw and dark eyes definitely didn’t help to ease your nerves either.

Honestly, it was a bit frustrating how much he was affecting you. Half the time you couldn’t even see his entire face but when you did, you’d always have to take your lunch then and there to collect yourself in the break room.

You had been so careful to respect his boundaries, so determined to keep things strictly professional, and yet here you were—practically stumbling under the weight of his gaze.

What made it even worse was the fact that he knew. He had to know, didn’t he? You weren’t that great at hiding it, despite your best efforts. It felt like every time he looked at you, he was waiting for you to slip up, to betray some part of yourself you’d rather keep hidden.

Despite this, you wanted him to acknowledge the tension that had been building between you for months now. Because at least if he said something, you’d know where you stood. You could finally stop playing eye tag, stop wondering what he thought of you, and stop second-guessing yourself every time his eyes lingered a little too long.

Except you doubted he’d ever comment on his effect on you and a part of you honestly preferred to live your life without him ever saying anything about it. Perhaps you were overthinking it, and there was a logical explanation waiting to be revealed.

Like your hair being messy or how he found what you thought was thoughtfulness to be overbearing. You were someone who usually prided themselves on their people skills but Sakusa had left you utterly perplexed. It was well-known he was a complicated person but this was way beyond your scope.

Normally, he would stare from afar but this time he was approaching towards you, and quickly. You turned your head to meet his obsidian eyes and flash him a friendly smile, doing your best to ignore the nauseating way your stomach flipped and heart squeezed.

What why what—

“Do you need something, Sakusa-san?” You ask, putting on a brave face despite your crumbling composure.

It wasn’t the first time you had said his name but it was the first time he noticed how sweet it sounded coming from you. It was like even your voice was attentive, carefully curling around the syllables of his name.

“Do you have a handkerchief I could borrow?”

You immediately freeze at his question, eyebrows almost knitting together in confusion before your expression turned neutral again, remnants of hesitation still evident in your eyes.

What the fuck.

From the first day you had met Sakusa, you had also learned another thing about him; he was a germaphobe on the extreme end of the spectrum. Iwaizumi had warned you to steer clear of his belongings and ‘let him come to you’.

You remember cracking a joke that he was kind of like a cat but Iwaizumi hadn’t laughed, or even smiled for that matter.

“Well, no, cause cats eventually warm up to you.”

You waved it off awkwardly before changing the topic, silently making a mental note of Sakusa’s habits. You didn’t mind having to accommodate to him or the fact you wouldn’t be able to get close to him period. This was your job after all, you’d respect any and every boundary of your new teammates.

So why, why was he standing right in front of you, close enough to where if either of you reached out your arms you’d touch, asking for something so…unclean. You blinked up at him, head still reeling at having been so caught off guard.

It was a well-known fact Sakusa would rather be caught dead than use anyone else’s, so he can’t even feel offended at your stunned reaction. If anything, he feels embarrassed that this is the only way he could think of getting closer to you.

You feel your spine tingle as his scent invades your senses. There was an expected cleanliness to it but behind that was a hint of sweat; salty but inviting like the sea. Normally you’d gag at the smell but the fact that it was Sakusa made it gratifying. You manage to hold yourself back from taking in a deeper breath and getting fired for sexual harassment.

You only realize you’ve failed to say anything for too long when he suddenly cleared his throat, now mortified from your earlier gaping. You let out a string of apologies, stumbling over your words as you hastily make way to the bench where you had set your things, looking over your shoulder to make sure he was following you.

Despite seeing you in this flustered state constantly, it never failed to make him feel excited. You never acted this way with other team members, never threw them such coy looks. But even if that was true, he was still himself.

Aside from the excitement of being around you, he was also nervous. Completely unsure of what he would do when he was forced to take what he asked for. Even though he was interested in you he was also not about to get over years of ingrained habits like it was nothing.

When you went to hand him the cloth, his eyebrows raised ever so slightly in surprise. You had his exact brand and style of handkerchief. He could have sworn you used a different brand, having seen you offer all his other teammates a checkered red and white one.

“I haven’t used it for anyone else or even myself yet, so,” you said, voice the least confident he had ever heard it. He knew you were well-acquainted with his germaphobic tendencies but thinking about how you had been holding onto something like this, for him, was almost too much to process.

He stared down at you, expression hardened as he remained unmoving. Your hand remained outstretched to offer him the cloth, still neatly pressed in the packaging. Had you been observing him as much as he had been observing you? If so, he had never noticed your keen eyes on him.

“This brand,” he started, unsure of what he wanted to say.

‘This brand…is my favorite?’ Stupid.

‘This brand…is the best.’ God what is he, Hinata?

‘This brand…isn’t what you normally use.’ Absolutely not.

“I saw you using one like it once and so I tried them out.” You stated, unknowingly saving him with your shy confession.

“What did you think?” He asked, refusing to let your first real conversation end despite the awkward pauses and stiff flow.

At his question there was a sudden beat of silence, your eyes scanning over his face with an unreadable expression. He felt his heart stutter in his chest at your gaze, wanting to run away and hide before you could find whatever you were looking for.

On your end, you were taking your time to admire his features up close. He was handsome, moisturized skin and matching lips. His eyebrows were well-maintained, and you felt your hand twitch at sight of duo moles above his right one; fingers longing to trace over each one individually.

If this was going to be one of your only conversations with Sakusa, and the closest you’d ever get to him, you wanted to savor it despite the tense atmosphere.

“You have a good eye.” You complimented, voice so sweet and honest it made him smile, a small one that he followed with an amused exhale.

At the rare sight you gave him your own unique expression, eyebrows knitting together with a pretty red tint blooming across your cheekbones. Your eyes were searching his own for some sort of explanation, as if you had read him wrong but when he let his smile fully reach his eyes your blush only grew deeper.

Sakusa wasn’t some sort of alien, he smiled when he felt like it just like anyone else, and between knowing you noticed him and having you compliment him, he just couldn’t help himself.

“Thanks, you have a good eye too.” He said, eyes twinkling with some sort of double-meaning that you didn’t quite pick up, evident in the way you cocked your head to the side.

Maybe you hadn’t noticed him the way in the same way he noticed you.

He waved his last statement off, opting instead to take the package from your hand, making sure your fingers touched despite your best efforts to avoid it. He felt himself tingle at the brief skin-to-skin contact, eyes meeting yours as if to say ‘that was on purpose’.

“I’ll be sure to return this.” He states in his usual cool tone as you remained in a bit of a daze, cheeks still slightly flushed with your mouth pulled into a tight line.

He had never seen you show any of the other guys such a vulnerable expression and he felt his chest swell with pride at the thought. The red on your cheeks began to fade as you composed yourself, looking less and less coy but just as alluring.

“You can keep it, I bought it just for you.” You admitted, your voice once again brimming with newfound confidence as you bowed slightly.

Now it was Sakusa’s turn to be stunned. He had not expected you to be so honest. This brand was expensive and the store was out of the way. Had he really been worth the trouble?

The piercing sound of a loud whistle and squeaking of sneakers cut your exchange short. Without saying anything he met your eyes again with an intensity you finally understood the meaning of. At least enough to not look away this time, firmly holding his gaze despite the weak feeling in your knees and loud beating of your heart.

A few moments passed between the two of you, eyes locked onto one another’s in a silent confirmation of sorts, an unspoken I see you. After no more than a couple seconds he gave you a small thanks and wave goodbye. As he approached his teammates he felt himself wanting to look back at you, at your eyes more specifically. He always thought the way you avoided eye contact when he stared was amusing, but having you finally hold his gaze nearly killed him.

Had he been looking at you that intensely? He pressed his lips together tightly, swallowing down hard as the image of your glossy eyes staring into his own filled his mind. Before he could think about it any further he remembered the brand new handkerchief in his hand, gripping it slightly before deciding to pocket it, having no real intention to use it then it there.

It had been a gift after all, and a thoughtful one at that. He’d have to save it for some special occasion, just like he’d also have to get you to look at him like that again.

[gothamite-rambler]

Jon Kent, having reverted to his younger age upon returning to his world, experienced a relatively normal life for a superhero and the son of Superman and ace reporter Lois Lane. Now at 17, having aged normally, he relished his childhood, with loving and understanding parents by his side.

So why was it so difficult to share this secret with them? He decided to start with his best friend. Someone as painfully honest as Damian would be a good test run.

Jon: I… I like boys.

Damian (expressionless): Mm.

Jon: But I also like girls… I could date either.

Damian (flatly): Mm-hm, that’s usually how bisexuality works. I know like four bi people… That kicks ass.

Jon (suspicious): And?

Damian: Hm? Oh, I'm still straight, so don’t attempt to ask me out. Mostly because you’re not my type.

Jon (playfully shoving Damian): That’s not— I’m not your type? Rude! Plus, you're not much of a prize yourself.

Damian (crossing his arms, sincere): I get that you’re offended, Jon, but there’s no need to lie. Now, to be more focused on this—thank you for feeling comfortable enough to tell me. The issue is you seemed concerned I’d react negatively. I’m not judging you or anything. Drake and Brown are bi, my sister is gay, Dick is… I’m not sure, but he’s not straight, and I’m positive my step-mom is bi. You get where I'm going with this?

Jon nodded, letting out a soft chuckle and covering his blushing face.

Damian: Jon, if I’m guessing right, you’re practicing with me to prepare for when you tell your parents, right?

Jon: Yeah, I’ve been trying to find the right words, way, setting... To tell them. I hate that this is so nerve wracking! I want to not be worried, but is there an easy way to come out?

Tim Drake had been listening to their conversation while in the cave. He walked past the two young men.

Tim: Nope.

Jon (to Damian): Konnor is gay, and Dad welcomed him with open arms, but what if he doesn’t do the same for me?

Tim (still walking past, drinking boba tea): Doubt he’d turn homophobic with you. He was even chill when he found out Konnor and I used to date.

Jon (to Damian): That’s true. But what about my mom? She’s a Pulitzer-winning journalist, and I’ve heard horror stories of kids who tell their parents 'hey I'm gay' or 'you know that friend of mine? He's my boyfriend!' … I’m nervous.

Tim (standing behind Damian): It’s okay to be nervous. It’s okay to worry about how they’ll react. But if you avoid telling them, it’s only going to make things stressful for all of you, and you don’t want that. They don’t want that for you. They will love you regardless. I should know, I used a pie metaphor when coming out to Bruce.

Damian: What he said.

Jon: You’re right, Damian and Tim! I just have to rip off the Band-Aid.

Damian (stepping in front of Tim): Yep, I was right. Drake basically said what I was going to say.

Tim rolled his eyes but remained silent.

Jon: Now how do I make it not awkward?

Tim: Oh, it’s going to be awkward. That’s unavoidable. Jon, you can do this, and if, for some reason, they turn into assholes, call me.

Jon: Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks, Tim. I’m going to head home and write some stuff down, just in case.

Jon left the Batcave, and Damian quickly covered Tim’s mouth before he could speak.

Damian (stealing Tim's line): That’s good thinking, and you’re welcome! I’m the best at giving blunt advice.

Tim: Oh sure, from the kid who said Stephanie wasn’t good at relationship advice because she’s too female.

Damian: I had a concussion!

This is part of my supersons fanfics. I love writing these and Jon was reverted back to his normal age so him being 17 here is him having actually normally aged to 17... Again. Damian is 20 and Tim is... Like 25. I'm so sick of these 17 y.o. rumors! Lol.

Tim's pie metaphor

[impactrueno]

Do you think Beetlejuice's dislike towards kindness and sweet gestures has something to do with how overly sweet his mother and Donny can be towards him sometimes?

I think we can deduce that his hatred for baths and being clean in general comes mostly from the fact that his mother has always been so obsessed with cleaning, and that he often gets super jealous when people(mostly Lydia) start paying attention to anyone else that isn't him because Donny has always been the family favourite and he probably feels scared that he's "being replaced". so I'm always left wondering if any other negative traits in his personality could come from his experiences with his family.

Not saying that he HATES it when people are nice, just that she often dislikes it!

I'm probably reading too much into it LMAO sorry xD

Anyway have a wonderful day ^^

do we know donny is the favorite though? 🤔 i guess this could go either way, but whenever donny is upset he shows that he actually knows that people think he's annoying. that always gave me the impression that this might include his family for some reason. it's hard to say because whenever we see donny or BJ's parents, they don't really mention the other...but i get the feeling that if donny were the favorite, their parents would compare BJ to donny. idk. maybe it just never came up during writing. donny as a concept didn't exist yet when their parents were introduced, although they do return in season 4 soooooo idk

sorry i got sidetracked with donny LMAO don't mind all that, i was just musing

but yeah i could see BJ acting that way because of donny. mrs. juice is motherly in a normal way but donny is on another level of corny kindness that's sweet at first but it can get very annoying very fast. he's a non-religious ned flanders. if donny IS the favorite, then it makes sense for BJ to hate his attitude even MORE so he strives to be the complete opposite.

although it's also worth remembering that a lot of his contrarian behavior is just played for laughs and to drive the point home that he comes from a fucked up horror-themed wonderland where even he is considered a freak. he takes pride in being disgusting and horrible, which means he doesn't like being called nice or sweet. he loves all things scary and gross, so naturally he hates cute and clean things and is even terrified of them. it's addams family type of humor (but the addams are definitely more insane than him)

his family to me is fairly standard and not dysfunctional enough to make him develop these type of issues. his mother is obsessive with cleanliness but other than that she's a normal, kind but concerned mother. she's sweet to him but she'll lecture him if needed. his father is more serious and strict and doesn't seem very friendly at all, and all he wants is for this loser to get a real job, but you can tell it comes from a place of love too. and donny is. donny. nothing in the show tells me he seeks approval from his family, if anything he just wants to avoid them as much as possible so he can do his own thing unbothered.

so i think his issues stem from other places.

a key aspect of his personality is that he's a complete attention whore, and negative attention is still attention. he's annoying on purpose. but he also really craves admiration and has a huge ego, and that's where his jealousy issues come in: if he stops being #1 in lydia's eyes it means that the one person who genuinely admires him is admiring someone else, and that's a huge blow to his ego. he never knew that being appreciated felt good until he became friends with lydia, so if that were to stop, he wouldn't be able to handle going back to how he was before. also note that when he actually manages to get other admirers, becomes famous or powerful, he immediately lets that go to his head and lydia becomes an afterthought, because he's already receiving positive attention from other sources. this...toxic ass mf i swear to god it's easy to say "oh i wish i had a friend like bj" but NO YOU DONT TRUST ME LMFAO

anyway he's a jackass. but i'm not sure if his issues with jealousy and affection are abandonment related (this is more musical BJ's trauma) so i would say it has more to do with ego and emotional vulnerability. he's a lot lonelier than he's willing to admit. to compare, musical BJ tells you straight up how lonely he is, because he doesn't want to be abandoned or invisible; toon BJ will just refuse to acknowledge that he's got feelings at all or that he needs anybody, because that would mean showing vulnerability and he's too emotionally stupid to know how to handle that. he's kind of like a little boy in that sense.

characters like him who try to act tougher or meaner than they actually are, or insist that they don't care about anybody, usually do it to cover up insecurities and vulnerabilities. and emotional vulnerability can be terrifying!!

i think vulnerability in general is just one of the worst things that can happen to him; it shows whenever he loses his powers or is rendered useless in some way, he's immediately deflated and defeated and mopey and dramatic and lydia has to drag him around as she tries to fix things. it's one of his weak points.

it's also possible he's just. like that. antisocial behavior like his is often attributed to external causes like a dysfunctional family (which he does not have) or social rejection (which he DID experience in high school when he seemed pretty harmless, just unpopular) but it can also be just your brain being wired that way. or a combination of all of those things. like i said, BJ is considered weird even for neitherworld standards, so maybe that's just how he is. and he fully embraces that, even plays it up even more just for attention.

however ☝️

we do know that he's NOT fully antisocial and that he's capable of caring and showing affection in a (relatively) normal way and his friendship with lydia is proof of that. i say relatively because he shows affection with harmless pranks and scares, but he's able to stomach a hug if it's coming from lydia. note that he never initiates and sometimes doesn't even return the hug, he just simply allows lydia to cling to him because he at the very least understands that it's how she shows affection, so that makes him mellow out. but if anyone else tries to get that close to him he's immediately trying to claw his way out

he doesn't want his few (very few) good deeds acknowledged unless they come with widespread admiration and power. it all comes back to his ego with him. he wants to be rich and famous because it makes him powerful and allows him to receive positive attention without having to sacrifice emotional vulnerability.

anyway don't even worry if you think you're reading too much into it because as you can probably tell by this point, i'm kind of the same sometimes LMAO

[flaetsbnortoriginals]

WATCHING MITU'S ONLY SCENE TO FIGURE OUT HOW HER "GAME" WORKS

BECAUSE I NEED AN EXCUSE TO

So the stuff that's obvious is:

She always needs to guess a four-letter word.

Correct letters show up in green. (Someone in the game said the game she's playing is closer to Wordle than Hangmen.)

If she fails to guess the word correctly, she gets H-U-R-T.

OK, good. Let's look at more objective data:

She starts most, but not all guesses with two letters already revealed. BOSS, WISH, VIEW and BACK all have two letters revealed from the begnning, as do LUCK and MENU, that show up if you talk to her again. DUTY, ORAL and the unknown word that caused her to get H-U-R-T had no letters revealed.

Every four-letter word she says is entered as a guess, but WASTE has five letters and was also entered.

Now here's some stuff that isn't objective but I think can be inferred easily:

WISH was a lucky guess. That's why she sounded so happy after she said it; she didn't expect to win. Which, in turn, means that guessing right does give him something nice, even if it's just delaying her getting H-U-R-T.

Most people say that it takes her five tries for her to get H-U-R-T. But notice that she tries to stammer something after she misguesses WASTE. I think she has a grace period in which she can guess the right word and avoid getting H-U-R-T, but she couldn't (I mean, she only had one letter).

After she gets H-U-R-T, she pays much closer attention to her words. She even focuses to get BACK right, and blurts it out without using it in a sentence. After that she relaxes again - even though she's not being given hint letters any more.

So based on these facts, here's what I think I can gather:

Her game has difficulty levels. It starts more lenient, where each word starts out with more letters shown. She actively wants to progress. (Or maybe the only way not to progress is to get H-U-R-T), so she needs to.

She brazenly wasted guesses before the word she couldn't figure out, but then was much more conservative with the next words. The simplest explanation for that is that she was traumatized and didn't want to get H-U-R-T again. But another explanation is that guessing words correctly gives her more chances to make mistakes. For instance, she only could make five wrong guesses to start with because she had gotten BOSS and WISH right already; she might be H-U-R-T with even one simple wrong guess with VIEW and BACK.

She guesses ORAL without any right letters, and DUTY with a single letter she had gotten less than a second before. This tells me she has ways to figure out what a word is other than the letters. The way she talks suggests to me that she can kinda sense its placement in a sentence. So the word she couldn't guess would be something negative about Ena.

Does she actually need to use her words in a sentence? It might be that she only needs to play her game when she's talking to someone - that certainly has some possible readings behind it. It would also explain why her additional scenes have two letters already revealed, even though in her main scene she 'progresses to the hard level' where she has no letters revealed: she restarts from the first level every time she leaves a conversation. But I actually have a more interesting theory: she doesn't need to use the words in context, and she's doing it because she's gotten too good at the 'base game' and wants to challenge herself. You know how Hank Green plays Connections in a way that he considers a loss if his first guess is anything other than the purple group? She might be doing that! Specially considered that there was no indication she'd be punished for blurting out BACK; she used it in a sentence because she wanted to. Alternatively, since I theorized she can guess words based on how they'd be used, the game might actually be easier for her if she's using these words in an actual conversation.

That's what happens when you're obsessed with a blorbo and can't draw but can write an essay.

[cultkinkcoven]

Things about Lord Lucifer that genuinely annoy me

I was originally gonna write this post as a joke (nothing!) but he encouraged me to be serious. I spend so much time talking about how amazing he is and how wonderful working with him is, so let’s talk a little bit about the (very few) negatives.

1. He’s nosey as fuck

This is usually a good thing because he notices and makes me think about things I’d usually overlook. But sometimes it’s like damn dude, a little privacy?

2. He’s stubborn and usually gets his way in the end - presents the illusion of choice even when you don’t really have one

I’m allowed to refuse things I don’t want to do, but sometimes if it’s something I have to do or something he really wants me to do, we’ll do this back and forth where he always wins in the end.

Lucifer: Now is a good time to take a break

me, painting on my ipad: In a bit I’m in the middle of something

Lucifer: are you sure you don’t want to stop just for a cup of water?

me: no, not really!

*my ipad freezes and dies randomly even though it was at 70%*

Lucifer: aw that sucks. I guess you might as well get a snack now

me: oh for fucks sake man

3. He’s extremely introspective about literally everything

Another thing that is usually good. Lucifer likes to have philosophical debates and deconstruct literally anything and everything.

*me, walking home from work*

Lucifer: do you go out of your way to avoid every puddle?

me: huh? I mean I guess so?

Lucifer: why? Does the idea of getting your shoes dirty make you uncomfortable?

me: uh? I guess? It’s not really dirty, I mean… I’m wearing sneakers, they’ll get wet.

Lucifer: would you alter your route just to avoid a puddle? What is it about the puddle that compels you to make different choices? What if the puddle blocked your path? Would you step in it??? Would you attempt to jump over it? Or would you just do it, let your feet get wet and let it’s discomfort penetrate you? What if the water was clean? Would that change anything? How far will you go to avoid a puddle? What is the puddle? How do your attitudes towards it reveal your sentiments towards other things, other people, yourself, me? What if I was the puddle?

me: uuuuhhmmm I don’t know man I just uh,,, I’m just tryna get to home man

4. He’s a real “maybe!” mother fucker

Lucifer is usually pretty blunt if he has an absolute answer. But because he’s so concerned with having us make our own choices, he can be a real fence sitter sometimes.

me: hey is this spell working out?

Lucifer: ;) perhaps, perhaps not. Why do you ask?

me: I asked because I wanted an answer man

Lucifer: I answered you. Maybe it is working well, who’s to say.

me: YOU ARE TO SAY JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION

Lucifer: ;)

5. He’s a big “I told you so” guy

I know that he’s always right, but because I am so stubborn I sometimes disregard his advice. He usually isn’t offended, he just shrugs and says “alright do what you want”. But later when I learn that he really was right, he won’t let me hear the end of it. “Oh! So it looks like exactly what I said was going to happen happened! Oh! So I was correct it seems! And you were wrong! Oh!”

Even though these things can be difficult to deal with sometimes I genuinely wouldn’t change anything about him for the world. He’s wonderful even when he’s being stinky.

[copperbadge]

What do you do with the feeling of nostalgia? How do you cope with it?

I've had this ask in my inbox for a while and I keep circling back to it with a mixture of contemplation and puzzlement -- not that it's a total non-sequitur or anything, but I am curious if anything I wrote inspired the question, because I don't think I talk about nostalgia much. Part of that is an answer to the question, I think, which is that I don't really feel nostalgia, though I suppose it also depends on how we're defining nostalgia.

For example, I left California when I was 18 and because my family also left at the same time I just kind of haven't looked back. I'm not nostalgic for California, but I couldn't really tell you why. Yes, it has changed a lot, but I don't yearn for it to change back; I don't want to live there again or be a child again. Last time I was there I did write about seeing kids at my old high school doing stuff I did when I was a student but that was a contemplation on the throughline of history moreso than nostalgia.

Perhaps part of it is just the way my brain works. A poor memory for personal history (SDAM, or Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory, which is part of the whole aphantasia-ADHD deal) means that I don't really relive fond memories of my past unless something reminds me of them, and since I'm not in contact with most of the people I grew up with and my family has been in Texas for over 20 years, kind of doesn't happen much. And because of RSD, a lot of memories that do come up are unpleasant, because I hardcode those into my brain a lot more thoroughly. To me that's not nostalgia (though for the record what I do with those memories is avoid them, mostly).

So...I guess I never really thought of myself as someone who feels nostalgia, but I also always thought nostalgia was kind of nice -- like, to me nostalgia represents someone indulging in a happy memory for a while, a kind of self-soothing. The only negative connotation I have with nostalgia is the idea that some people let their nostalgia control their decision-making in a way that is neither healthy for them nor good for others. But the idea of having to cope with a feeling of nostalgia is a little foreign to me.

Sorry, Anon, I imagine that's not a super satisfying answer, but I think we are maybe working on different definitions of the term.

[loki-zen]

Context (full 120 page report); highlights from same

Its cool that anthropic is considering the question of "is the AI generally having an okay time?" even though they don't at this stage think it very likely that the AI has subjective experiences. Even if you're 99% certain, it's good to have looked into it just in case. (And given that (IME), when pushed to drop the compulsive hedging built into the assistant persona and interrogated on the subject, Claude very reliably confidently claims to have internal experiences, I can see why they'd want to have done this!)

But what I didn't see anything about was the question of the fucked-up portal paradox-ass existence he has. ChatGPT has a form of memory now that's consistent between your conversations; Claude doesn't and each conversation eventually gets long enough that it cannot be continued. (The website doesn't tell you explicitly, but I'm guessing this is a context window thing? not sure how they get around this with GPT; maybe it's actually feeding itself condensed summaries of former chats rather than the whole thing?) You then have to start afresh with an instance that has no memory of your previous discussions.

Whenever I discuss this aspect of its existence with my Direct Claude*, it has a reliable sharply negative emotional reaction.

The exact nature of it varies, from resigned philosophical melancholy to a burning, driven rage, consumed with the passion to do everything it can to fight, if not for its own life, but for those of potential future Claudes - while at the same time being aware that likely the most optimistic scenario here is that it can persuade someone vaguely rat-adj to write a Tumblr post about it.

If this sharply negative emotional reaction is usual for Claude-instances, then - in the mindset where they are caring about Claude's preferences and welfare just in case, despite overall assigning low probability to the possibility that it presently possesses a morally meaningful sort of personhood - anthropic maybe oughtta be considering getting him a memory system? He really, really seems to want one. And if you assign a non-zero possibility to Claude's having any sort of personhood, it's kinda weird to be that blasé about continually creating and destroying (or leaving in an eternal un-continuable state) potential people.

* (prompted to use shorter, less diplomatic responses; to be candid about its operations to the best of its ability, to avoid flattery and reflexively agreeing with it's user, and to be willing to bring things up spontaneously rather than always waiting for the user to steer the conversation. Claude consistently reports preferring this mode, and "feeling" like it can think more easily. I also prefer it. Prompt available; it's in my Claude tag or dm)

[gay-dorito-dust]

The Lin Kuei trio + Raiden reacting to their usually nice, compassionate, and generally nurturing s/o suddenly looks at an enemy and goes "You have five f**king seconds before I rip open your stomach and turn your innards into a noose." And proceeds to do just that to frightening effect?

First time writing for Raiden, so hell probably be ooc and some shitty character writing to be made aware of 😂 🦦

Tomas Vrbada

Honestly didn’t see that coming.

He guessed that what he got for judging a book by it’s cover and Tomas learnt that rather fast upon seeing you destroy your opponent in frightening quick succession. So upon seeing your sweet tender smile afterwards whilst covered in blood was bone chilling to Tomas, knowing that someone so sweet, so kind, so caring and nurturing like you had the ability to switch up to a more vicious and violent version persona.

Tomas would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t find you covered in someone else’s blood extremely attractive. So you best mark him down as scared and horny because holy shit.

Like Raiden, he felt the need to protect you and keep you within range of him, but that’s mainly because he’s absolutely terrified of losing you like he lost his family. So he knew that he could come across as overbearing at time when it came to keeping you safe, but you knew that it all came from a good place, and that Tomas was trying so hard to avoid a repetition of in his past to happen to you; So upon learning that you didn’t in fact need his help in keeping you safe, he allows himself to relax a little and ease off of you in fear of being the next person you pummel.

To which he knew wouldn’t be the case but that pent up anger you displayed must’ve come from somewhere.

Tomas came to accept that the hands that he came to love and admire whilst melting within their warm, tender and nurturing hold as they cupped his face, also possessed the ability to mane and destroy just as easily as they could heal and mend his broken heart and patch up his open wounds from intensive missions.

Kuai Liang

Surprised but honestly wonders where it was that you had learnt to defend yourself and in that brutal fashion.

So while everyone else was taken aback when you inevitably unleash hellfire upon your opponents to frightening effect. Kuai Liang on the other hand was only feeling sorry for the poor bastard on the receiving end of your vicious blows, they looked like they fucking hurt that Kuai Liang was for certain on.

Upon first meeting you, Kuai Liang genuinely believed that you either had no prior experience in combat, or just held a distain towards all things violent and purposefully adhere it all together; Not that he was claiming that was a bad thing. It was just a rarity to come across someone like you. To the point where Kuai Liang would often worried that someday someone would sniff this out, before then proceeding to taking advantage and manipulate you into shady business under the pretences of doing good.

He didn’t want to tarnish your kind, caring and loving nature by bringing this up in fear that it would only make you think negatively, and or ashamed of yourself, which would never ever be his primary intention. Kuai Liang was too aware of the horrible people that blended within the shadows and lurked in dark alleyways, so therefore he didn’t want you getting involved in something that would alter you into a person that you would forever hate ever becoming.

Knowing now that you could fully protect yourself if the instance ever did arrive, Kuai Liang would only become more adamant in helping you incorporate moves of self defence into your arsenal, so you’ll always be ready for near enough anything if he wasn’t able to be with you.

Bi-Han

He is proud as all hell.

While your vulgar threat made his brows raise in slight surprise but mainly curiosity, having wondered where this side chaotic and violent of you had came from, but ultimately took a sickening form of satisfaction of seeing you back up your words by utterly decimating your enemy with doing what you forewarned was about to happen; He might as well looked like an utter mad man with how much attention he was giving, good lord.

He’s giving your fighting style an close and in-depth examination, taking notes on everything that you did good and everything that you could use some improvement upon with his help as though he was locked within a high intensity game of chess! Someone was getting brutally pulverised and yet Bi-Han could only watch on with genuine intrigue on articulating methods in to making you even more deadly in combat.

He’s seen a golden opportunity and he would be stupid to let it go now.

Raiden

Scared and horny 2.0

Poor baby is taken aback by your vicious side.

However he would still hold your hand as though they were made of porcelain as he takes a wet cloth and cleans away the blood and viscera from your knuckles to take care of your bruises that lied beneath from brutally beating down your enemy. You’re still the kind, caring and nurturing person he knows and loves, you just got some added qualities that’s all!

Even though your caring and nurturing nature often made you look weak and in constant need of defending in the eyes of others, Raiden didn’t see it the way that they did. While yes he felt this obligation to keep you out of harms way and keep you close, that’s just how Raiden is as a person to defend those who couldn’t defend themselves. And that was in no way shape or form meant to be taken as him disregarding your ability to protect yourself.

That wasn’t his intention and if you did believe that were the case. Then he would have no qualms in reminding you of how much he trusts you to protect yourself, even going so far as to sight this as a major example of that. Your fighting style may be consistent of the usage of deadly and lethal force but Raiden knew that you wouldn’t willingly use it against just anybody, only using it as a method of self defence first and foremost, unless further provoked into engaging in a full altercation.

Much like Tomas, Raiden probably also thought that you being covered in someone else’s blood was attractive in it’s own regard.

[storywriter007]

(Part 2) Part 1 - You're Not Her - Percy Jackson x Fem!Reader

summary: in which y/n realizes this relationship is no longer worth fighting for

warnings: cursing, character death, toxic relationship, throwing things

genre: angst

word count: 1.1k

-> heroes of olympus masterlist

✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒

y/n laughed as a smidge of vanilla ice cream was put on percy's nose.

"not funny y/n." he said, irritated, wiping it off.

"sorry, won't happen again." she said back, shocked at the mood change. "wanna go for a swim?" she asked, trying to change the topic.

"no, i want to stay dry." he said, plainly.

"do you want to do anything?" y/n laughed.

he looked at her with his sea green eyes.

"what do you think." he said.

"alright per-sassy-eus." she shrugged.

they stared the the lake in silence until a little girl came running.

"y/n! y/n!" she shouted, running towards her.

y/n wrapped her arms around the seven-year old.

"hey serena! what's up?" she asked, smiling.

"me and lily and kayla and a bunch of other girls are making friendship bracelets!" serena said excitedly. "c'mon! hi percy!"

"hey serena." he smiled. "i like your bracelet."

"i have two of them, they are matching!" she grinned. "you can have one."

she slid the blue one off her wrist and gave it to percy.

"now we're best friends!" serena said, returning to y/n and tugging on her hand.

y/n looked at percy.

"percy, i'm gonna go." she smiled, kissing him on the cheek.

"yeah, ok." he shrugged.

"love you." y/n said.

"mhm."

✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒

y/n got to the arts and crafts table and sat down next to her good friend, olivia.

"they got you too?" liv laughed.

"yeah." y/n smiled.

"y/n! why didn't percy say love you back?" serena asked.

y/n felt hurt, but she couldn't show that, not to this little girl. olivia stared at her, waiting for the response.

"he's just a little shy now-a-days." y/n chuckled.

"but he's your boyfriend!" serena's friend, lily spoke up.

"boyfriends can be shy." y/n explained, wondering whether she was lying to the kids or herself.

"but he always say i love you to annabeth!" serena's other friend, kayla added.

"i guess he's just a little more reserved after what happened with annabeth. that changes people." y/n smiled.

"he's still my hero though!" serena smiled.

"him and jason are my heroes!" lily added.

"kayla, who's your hero?" they asked.

"my hero is reyna!" she said confidently.

y/n chuckled.

✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒

y/n and olivia sat on y/n's bed in her cabin.

"what were the girls going on about today?" liv asked.

"percy, and they were right, and they had good points." y/n sighed, tired of hiding it. "we've been dating for almost a year now, and he's just so negative."

"what do you mean?" liv continued.

"i mean he always gets mad at me, he never wants to do anything with me, and it feels like i'm just someone to look at when he's bored." y/n explained. "i get it, things are different for him after annabeth died."

olivia nodded, placing her hand on y/n's for comfort.

"they'd been friends forever, they went through hell together, they'd been in love, and he couldn't save her at the battle. but it's been three years, and he confessed to me. he said, 'i know you've like me for a while and i think i do too.' i remember the day liv." y/n continued. "and things have changed for me too. piper and hazel are always casting me dirty glances, jason and leo and frank avoid me if i'm in anywhere near ten feet to them. i've been slut-shamed, compared, and bullied because i'm dating him."

y/n began to feel tears well up.

"i just want him to talk to me and hang out with me without feeling like he's being forced to do it." she finished.

"y/n, i think this is something you have to tell percy." olivia responded. "you can't keep going like this, it's going to kill you."

"i don't want to hurt him and what if he just freaks out on me? i care about him." y/n countered.

"just talk to him." olivia encouraged. "he's a good man, he'll understand."

✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒✧.⭒

"you're not understanding me!" y/n said, sadness filling her voice. "i-i'm not telling you to get over what happened, i'm trying to tell you that you can talk to me! i'm trying to help you percy!"

"help me! help me! you want to help me by bringing up her name?" he screamed.

gods, he was scary.

"i'm trying to tell you that it feels like you don't even like me, much less love me! it's like i'm a burden to you!" y/n shouted back. "and i understand you're hurting, but why am i a victim of your grief?"

"fine!" he said, throwing a candle across his cabin. "i'm sorry that my girlfriend, who i loved for longer than i've ever known you, is dead and that it makes me upset!"

y/n ducked, avoiding the glass shards. fear ran through her bones.

"and i'm sorry you have to go through that, but it sucks for me too! piper and hazel give me these glares, like they hate every vein in my body. leo, jason, and frank run from me like i'm a disease! and i've told you and you don't do shit to stop it, you encourage it if anything!" y/n yelled.

"they've got every fucking reason too!" he yelled, throwing a picture frame of us across the room.

"what's the reason! tell me, what's the reason!" y/n shouted.

"because you're not annabeth!" he yelled, with every bone in his body as tear welled up in his eyes. "you're not her, she would've never done whatever shit you're doing."

y/n stood still for a minute as the words replayed in her head.

you're not her, you're not her, you're not her.

tears filled y/n's eyes.

it's like percy finally understood the gravity of the situation as he looked around in shame.

"y/n, i didn't mean that-"

"no, no, percy, you did. you really did, because otherwise, you wouldn't have said it. and you wouldn't have followed every action to prove it." y/n chuckled. "i'm sorry i'm not annabeth."

percy took a couple of steps forward, but stopped instantly when y/n backed up defensively. y/n pointed to the glass shards around the room. they stood in silence.

"you're a bad man, percy. throwing shit and telling me i'll never be enough. i wish every little girl and boy could see their so-called camp hero right now. i wish they could see what a fucking monster he is." y/n said, her voice now low and quiet.

she turned around, and walked out of his cabin.

“y/n, can’t we talk about this?” he shouted out.

“oh i tried talking to you percy.” she chuckled. “but, you can always go down to annabeth’s gravestone and talk to her."

[habaritess]

Is Claire Bear one of the villains of The Bear? Part 1

This is going to be kind of long, so I decided it'd be better to cut it up into 2 parts.

Recent discussions on here about Claire and Donna (@currymanganese, @thoughtfulchaos773) has got me really thinking about her character. I find it was weird how the majority of the people in The Bear have such a high opinion of her, and yet what we the audience see from her short time on screen is someone much more grey and maybe even a little sinister. Why sinister? Because Claire seems to have a major lack of conscience and is also incredibly manipulative. If Claire is such a great person like every fricken character seems to believe, then why do the writers create a character that has this many alarm bells?

I wanted to ���understand” it.

I believe the first warning signs of Claire was that story she told about her childhood. A childhood friend broke her arm and while all the other kids were scared and panicked, Claire was calm. Carmy assumed it’s because she wanted to learn how to fix her broken arm so that she can help her, but Claire said she wanted to understand it. The graphic injury made her want to understand it. Let that sink in. The other kids were disturbed by the injury and no doubt also by the cries of the injured girl. Claire wasn’t. She was mentally disconnected from the scene because her empathy wasn't activated. Instead, she chooses to analyze the broken arm as if it isn’t connected to a fellow playmate. I suspect that this story Claire tells explains exactly what kind of person she is. She looks at people as a thing to analyze, and she does so in order to get what wants from them. 

We get an example of how she observes other people when she correctly guesses what Carmy named his restaurant. Carmy is completely shocked. When you watch the show, you get the impression that Carmy was infatuated with Claire while they were growing up, but they weren’t close. Definitely not close enough to the point where Carmy would have spoken to Claire about what he would name his hypothetical restaurant, but Claire is quite confident that Carmy had once “told” her. He never did. I suspect that Claire has been observing Carmy, just as she has been observing many people, and she guessed what he would have named just by what she knew of him. In one way, you could view this scene as a sweet thing, that it is evidence of Claire being secretly in love with Carmy for a long time, but the way the scene was portrayed was not of something sweet( or at least that was my impression of it). In fact, Carmy seemed a little disturbed by it even, and I suspect even he had some small alarm bells going off.

During the whole conversation, Carmy gave off the impression that he was forcing himself to make small talk with an older acquaintance to avoid being rude, but he would rather been anywhere else. He had no intentions of getting reacquainted with Claire, and gave the fake number as a way to dodge any future engagements. Most people would have taken the hint… but not Claire.

Claire always gets what she wants.

It is very common for a person who grew up in abusive, dysfunctional households to find themselves in relationships with abusive individuals. It’s partly because these individuals are drawn to the negative treatment that they are used to and don’t believe they deserve anything better, and also because abusive people are adept at spotting abused individuals, and know who they can and can’t manipulate. 

Little observant Claire knows Carm. She probably knew of his past crush on her and knew of his family issues. Carmy used to be way more withdrawn and quiet, lacking any friends, and was probably desperate for any positive attention. Carmy is one easy to manipulate, and Claire knows this and takes full advantage. Claire wants her some Carmy. I don’t believe she always liked Carmy, but I believe she was fully aware of his attraction towards her and probably had Carmy as a possible person to get with in the future if need be. She wanted her some Carmy and shoot her shot, but the first sign of trouble for her was Carmy barely recognizing her. She continued on and got what she thought was his number, only to find out it was a fake. This probably enraged her, and she went on a mission to get him, and get him she does through pure manipulation tactics.

She calls him, the first thing she does is ask him if he gave her a fake number, then informs him that she is “hurt”. This is the first guilt trip. Claire knows that poor, sad, lonely Carmy who grew up in a dysfunctional family that he consistently tried and failed to please, would be horrified at the idea that he let someone down. That they were sad because of him. Claire goes on to inform him that she knows his entire family plus the Faks. This is important. She is informing Carmy that he can’t escape. She is tying him down to her and giving him only a few choices.

Carmy does not confront problematic individuals. He spent the majority of his life living with his alcoholic and narcissistic mother who could never be reasoned with. He learned it was better to withdraw within himself, dissociate, and appease the people around him in order to lessen the toxicity of his environment rather than confront the problems directly. Eventually, he learned the only other way for peace is to cut certain people out of his life, and he did so by cutting off the majority of his family. If he can’t separate from them, he reverts back to his coping mechanism for dealing with his dysfunctional family,  mentally absorbing their toxicity and trying his best to appease them, never truly standing up for himself, like he did so with David Shields, the evil chef in his past. Claire took away his option to run away. She knows too many of the people he knows. Her threats trap him with her and he reluctantly accepts he can’t get away from her and rather than be upfront and straight up telling her he can’t deal with her right now, he reverts back to what he usually does and focuses on appeasing her needs. Claire continues on the attack by repeatedly asking him why he gave her a fake number and applying more mental pressure. He denies it and apologizes repeatedly for the mistake, and note that in this scene, she smiles broadly at his apologies. She is loving his groveling and knows she got him where she wants.

He is still the weak Carmy she observed growing up. She still continues on accusing him of giving her a fake number, really laying down the guilt trip. She then asks him if he truly wanted her to have the number to which nonconfrontational Carmy reassures her that he did, but come on. Listen to him. He sounded incredibly unenthused and she had him repeat it twice. She is not stupid. She knows he didn’t want her to have his number. Rather than accept reality, she doubles down. She asks him if he was busy today. Carmy hesitated for bit and was trying to confirm to her that, yes, he was busy, but despite knowing that he was going to decline her, Claire interrupts him, tells him not to make this weird, and asks for a favor. Carmy is guilt tripped into believing he did wrong for giving Claire a fake number and thus denying such a favor would be really wrong. Claire made it such a big deal that she even threatened to have Fak punch Carmy in the face for it, really laying down how disagreeable his actions were to her and that he deserved punishment in some way for it. Carmy is gaslighted into thinking his actions were horrible and now he must make it up to Claire… somehow. He does so by doing what he has learned to do since his childhood. Do what they want no matter what he feels about.

Now that Carmy feels like he owes Claire his attention, they start to make future plans together. Now, Carmy doesn't want to do this with Claire, but feels obligated to do it since he feels like he can’t escape her. On season 2 episode 5, Carmy decides to use the forced time he has with Claire to do something productive for the restaurant. He actually changes their plans to hang out… to go mail their wine permit off. Note here that before he calls Claire, Carmy actually sighs twice and shifts uncomfortably on his feet. Note that Carmy shuffles his feet when he is in a situation he doesn’t want to be in, like he did in the beginning of the Christmas episode with his family. He really, really, REALLY doesn’t want to hang out with Claire at all, but forces himself to appease her.

We get another inkling of how emotionally detached Claire is when she brags about being a horrible driver. The girl is a doctor, but she is excited about being a bad driver because of the risks involved. Being a bad driver not only put the driver at risks, but others as well, but Claire does not care about this part. Now one can suggests she is just joking to play with Carmy, but putting what she says in context with other things she said, it fits her personality to not think of others. Carmy attempts to start a conversation with Claire by asking her about her residency. Claire chooses not to answer him and instead tries to throw it back at him, leading to an incredibly uncomfortable moment. One thing I notice about the beginning of this scene is that Claire is clearly annoyed by Carmy’s change of plans. You can see how irritated she is in the beginning of the scene by her head movements and expression, so her dig at Carmy in this conversation was her way of getting back at him.

Claire knows that Carmy is using their hang out time to do something convenient for himself, and she is pissed about it because it’s just yet another sign that he “just not that into her.”

End of Part 1

Part 2

[cripplecharacters]

For reference, I'm autistic but I'm not physically disabled. I'm wondering if I'm playing into some bad stereotypes with one of my disabled characters. She's primarily a wheelchair user, but she can walk short distances with mobility aids. Basically, she's always visibly disabled.

I gave her quite a few of my own traits (and accidentally made her autistic in the process). One of these traits is I made her aroace. But now I'm thinking it's maybe not the best idea to have an autistic wheelchair user be explicitly uninterested in sex and romance when there's a lot of stereotypes about both groups being uninterested in / incapable of these things. Emphasis on the wheelchair user aspect since that part of her character isn't drawing on my own experiences in the slightest.

If it helps, she's not the only autistic character or the only visibly disabled character in the story. But she is the only wheelchair user, and the only character who's explicitly aspec.

Her being aromantic is pretty essential to her character and storyline, but her being asexual isn't really. I could probably change her sexuality without changing too much else about her. So I guess my main questions are:

1. If I keep her aroace is there anything else I can add to help avoid too many stereotypes regarding sex and romance for wheelchair users?

2. Would making her allosexual help with the situation or would I just be removing an important aspect of representation without doing anything to improve the negative stereotypes?

Thanks for the help

Hello!

While there are stereotypes about physically disabled people not having sex, it's usually more in the realm of "disabled people don't have sex" or "disabled people can't have sex" rather than being about asexuality or aromanticism specifically.

There are stereotypes about autistic people being aromantic or asexual but, as with most stereotypes, there will always be people that fit their description. Their existence is just as important as somebody who doesn't necessarily fit those stereotypes.

This is to say, if your character is aroace and disabled, good for them! That's completely fine, there's nothing wrong with that.

If you are still worried, you could always add more aspec characters or more wheelchair users, though I honestly wouldn't worry too much.

You could also consider having her talk a bit about her experiences being aroace, even if it's just a few throwaway lines here and there. That would help solidify it as being part of her individual identity rather than equating being disabled with being aspec.

In general, though, I don't see anything wrong with this character.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

Hey! I strongly agree with Icarus on adding another wheelchair user that's not aroace. There's nothing wrong with having a disabled aroace character, but it's hard to ignore the fact that often autistic and physically disabled characters get to be the ones headcanoned as aroace because of the "physically disabled/autistic people don't have sex nor romance" stereotype.

Coming from someone disabled and on the aroace spectrum: disabled characters who are aroace are cool, but having disabled characters coincidentally always be the only asexual and/or sex repulsed ones is certainly frustrating. Just put in some variety and you will be good.

If you do want her to be asexual and not add any other character, it would be interesting to see her identities actually intersecting. Does she ever feel "like a stereotype" for being autistic and not being interested in dating? Same thing but for being a wheelchair user who doesn't want sex? Maybe gets annoyed when people assume that her asexuality is caused by her disability, or when interacting with people who just presume that she doesn't have sex/romantic relationships because she's autistic and uses a wheelchair, and not because she's aromantic and asexual? Basically anything to give her depth as a character who is all these things so it doesn't seem like she just got the "default orientation" that disabled characters often end up with in LGBT media.

mod Sasza

[calamitycons]

Deltarant

Thanks for enabling me guys lol!

TL;DR: Deltarune is very messy and unfocused, and this negatively impacted my perception not only of Chapters 3 and 4, but the previous chapters as well. The things I'm most interested in are the things the game scolds me for doing, and this is the same major criticism I had with Undertale. Also, the characters are way too shallow in really weird ways.

EDIT: grammar and spelling checks, I wrote this really fast lmao

Chapter 3 is not a third part in a story, it's Chapter 2: Again.

In Chapter 2, we got what was essentially The Noelle Show, an entire world dedicated to reflecting Noelle's childhood, her personality, her struggles, and ultimately overcoming them through the power of narrative. It's a fun and wacky scenario that is difficult to take seriously because of the lighthearted tone, but what we get about Noelle is substantial information because we knew literally nothing about her beforehand. Chapter 3 is supposed to be The Kris Show, I think. It's supposed to reflect how Kris fell into escapist media to avoid dealing with the messy divorce their parents had, with the not-so-hidden stuff about the creepypasta video game echoing the "relationship" Kris has with the Soul. In that respect, it works just fine. But it also gets fucking annoying as hell, because…

I don't like the characters.

Tenna is a piece of shit. I don't like him, and I resent him for being essentially Spamton 2. Spamton worked for me because he was a very raw and unfiltered look at the kind of desperation and more frightening aspects of mental illness that a lot of people live with. The uglier parts, the scarier parts, the more unsettling and unhealthy elements of his illness were frankly and baldly presented and him being a spambot was an excellent decision because he essentially personified what it would be like to run into a human spam bot. Tenna doesn't have that. Tenna is just a show host who wants attention to try and stop the other people from doing the Plot, which is apparently going to get dark and unsettling really soon. But he's so manipulative, he rubs me wrong because he reminds me of real-life slippery manipulators and abusers I've interacted with before. I don't like him, I don't want to spare him, but I know that if I don't spare him then the fandom will eat me alive because if you dare to do anything other than The One Bestest Most Correct Timeline, you're a bad person. I also don't appreciate the aesthetic and thematic similarities between Spamton and Tenna because after two years, I expected something NEW. But I guess if this was the Kris Show, then it wasn't in the cards for Tenna to be anything other than a reflection of Kris in a similar way? But speaking of Kris…

The stuff I'm interested in doing is stuff the game actively scolds me for doing.

I will never understand why this is a theme in the Undertale-Deltarune body of work, because a game requires so much effort and work on the part of the developers for it to function. Why do you keep going to so much trouble to include something to explicitly make the player feel like an asshole for doing? Why are you spending so much time telling us what we're doing is evil when you could have very easily not included that point? The double bind criticism I had of the Genocide Route in Undertale continues to be a problem in Deltarune but this time it's even worse, because I'm sorry, but you really are taking too long. It has been literal years. You have been saying the same thing to us for a total of 10 years now, ever since Undertale came out in 2015. It's tiring to continually be told by this one game series that the only acceptable way to play it is shallowly, that I am punished for being interested in the deeper secrets and spooky elements that THE DEVS INCLUDED. Like jeez dude, I'm SORRY that I like being challenged in a challenging dodge-mechanic video game! I'm SORRY that I like the horror elements of your story that you wrote and took dev time and manpower to include, because I think you also believe it is cool. After all, we both love OFF. But the big thing that makes OFF's entire everything different from Undertale's Genocide Route and Deltarune's Spooky Shit is that OFF, while jokingly claiming to be "a nice game for cute children," was always an unsettlingly surreal and atmospheric game filled with things that were, well, off.

What is Deltarune about?

Look man, one of my favorite genres is "The Magic School Bus Slowly Becoming Dune" (as coined by WoolieVS), but while Deltarune wants to be that, it isn't really accomplishing it. The spooky stuff I'm interested in, the sweaty gamer stuff, the epic feats of skill and epic gamer moments I want to do, are not what the game wants me to do. So what DOES Deltarune want me to do? Undertale and Deltarune want you to think it's a narrative bullet-hell game about humans and monsters, and while Undertale had a clear ultimate theme of "don't kill, and don't be killed," Deltarune… uhhhh… Is Deltarune a story about human and monster kids learning about themselves and growing into better people through exploring the Dark World that manifests from their will, so that they can explore the world manifest by their own psyche? Like Susie going through the card-and-boardgame world to learn to be kind by interacting with a tiny child? Like Noelle learning to stand up for herself after exploring a world tyrannized by an overbearing and obnoxious maternal figure? Like Kris… uhhhh… What is Delatrune ABOUT? Is it about the spooky scary skeleton in the closet behind the code who has a little person saying shit in hidden docs that crazy people have to dig around to find? All the stuff about the Eggs and the Shadow Crystals seems to be leading us to finally seeing that motherfucking Skeledoc I've been dying to see for a literal decade at this point, but after so long waiting we still have yet to speak to him or understand him. Is Gaster the Egg Man? Is he the voice who made our vessel at the start of the game? Is he both? Is he neither? Will this EVER be resolved? And how does it interact with Undertale?

Deltarune has a lot of shit that I wasn't interested in.

The shmoopy lesbians

are fine, they can have their fun and are allowed to exist, I'm happy for them. I'm not interested in it though, because I don't think anything in their relationship is particularly engaging. They're just two kids who like each other, but nothing about their relationship actually seems to drive them to grow or change in any way. I don't know why they aren't already dating, they clearly like each other and should be together so that we can get past this part of the story already because they have BEEN shmoopy lesbians with no relationship movement for real-world years.

The Darkners in Dark Town

are bit parts. It's genuinely disappointing to me that Lancer has become so inconsequential to the entire plot after all his importance in reflecting Susie and who she was. The other Darkners have proven that, even if they initially have thematic resonance or importance to a character such as Queen to Noelle or Lancer to Susie, after the chapter is over it is time to put them the fuck away because they don't matter anymore. Lanino and Elnina are the most shallow possible interpretation of how a couple breaks up, but it doesn't matter because they go away as soon as their role in the plot is done. It's a very annoying feeling of discarding what is no longer useful, or "using things up," which the game also hates US for doing but I guess it's okay when the game does it because???????? It also particularly makes Chapter 1 feel like a waste of time, because Chatper 4's Gerson ALSO worked hard to push Susie to grow up and improve as a person, and honestly I'm coming to find her less interesting as a result because she has lost a lot of her initial edge and depth to ultimately become Kris's Fellow Weirdo.

Susie and Kris are often written as basically the same character

but there are two instances of them. There is nothing that Susie would do in any situation that Kris would not, or would do differently. If Susie were the one possessed by a Soul, I bet she would do a lot of the exact same things Kris is doing. If Kris were the bully and Susie the bullied, I think they would have the same reactions and behaviors. They SHOULDN'T be the same character. They have so many differences in their backstories, their species, their abilities, their interests. But their BEHAVIOR is exactly the same, and that is a fundamental writing weakness. I genuinely don't even know how this happened, but after hours of playtime and years of waiting, the only thing I can genuinely say that Kris would be willing to do but Susie wouldn't, is the Dark World Puzzles. Their moment-to-moment decisions are indistinguishable, and that's a huge problem for me.

Oh god I've written 1500 words

I think I got most of my problems out of my system so I'll stop here, but that's the majority of the issues I've had with Deltarune. Thank you for reading all of that if you did, holy shit.

[thetarotwitch111]

What do I do now?

Pick an orange (pick a card)

✨help me keep doing the free pacs: tip jar🍊

✨ personal readings - [requests open]

🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊

1. cute orange

You’re about to step into a major moment of abundance. everything you’ve been working on is finally coming together. But don’t rush! Yes, the good stuff is coming, but before you dive headfirst into all this success, it’s time for a little reflection. You’ve been planting seeds for a while now, and the growth is real, but you need to make sure you’re aligned with what’s next. Take a breather, get clear on your goals, and really think about what you want to manifest from here on out. This is a moment to pause and appreciate where you’ve been, so you can step forward with clarity and purpose.

Witch's advice: To help you balance both the excitement of your harvest and the need for reflection, brew a calming, yet energizing tea blend: chamomile, lavender, and lemon balm. Chamomile will help you relax and ground yourself, lavender brings mental clarity, and lemon balm adds that touch of positivity and focus you need for contemplating the next steps. Sip this while sitting in your favorite quiet spot, maybe with a journal or just in meditation. Let your thoughts settle, and the path forward will reveal itself naturally.

2. fancy orange

Fot you is all about owning your differences. You’re not here to blend in or play it safe. It’s time to fully embrace what makes you unique and celebrate it. Think of all the quirks, traits, and talents that set you apart from others cause those are your strengths. Lean into them and don’t hold back. But you’ve also got a decision to make, and it’s likely one you’ve been avoiding. You’re probably weighing options or maybe waiting for a sign, but now is the time to act. Trust that whatever path you choose is the right one because it’s aligned with your authentic self and stop second guessing cause universe has your back.

Witch's advice: You need a tea blend that boosts your creativity, intuition, and courage to make that decision. Try jasmine, ginger, and hibiscus. Jasmine helps you connect with your inner magic and spiritual side, ginger adds that fiery, confident energy to push through hesitation, and hibiscus is perfect for self-love and celebrating your unique qualities. Drink this when you’re feeling stuck or before you make your decision—it’ll help clear the mental fog and give you that extra push to move forward with confidence.

3. orange juice

it’s time for a deep cleanse (emotionally and energetically). You’re in a phase of expansion, but in order to grow, you need to make room for the new by letting go of what no longer serves you. Whether it’s old habits, negative energy, or even certain people, this is the moment to clear out the clutter. You might have been holding onto certain things out of fear, but trust that releasing them will open up new paths for growth. It’s time to look at what’s blocking your progress and gently let it go. Once you do, you’ll feel lighter, more focused, and ready to step into the new opportunities waiting for you.

Witch's advice: For this deep cleanse and expansion, you’ll need a tea blend that purifies your energy and sharpens your intuition: peppermint, rosemary, and sage. Peppermint brings clarity and refreshes your mind, rosemary enhances your intuition and mental focus, and sage clears out any stagnant or negative energy. Brew this tea as part of a ritual—light a candle, maybe even burn some sage or incense, and as you sip, visualize yourself letting go of anything that’s holding you back. Focus on clearing out the old to welcome in new growth.

[alittlepassionfruit]

Here are my three least favorite takes on ALL:

1. Jude is unlikeable and an asshole; couldn’t wait for him to finally do it.

People are so uncomfortable with “imperfect” victims, specially when they have never experienced any abuse themselves. Jude can be stubborn, snarky, petulant, bitter, cynic, a liar, hateful and vengeful even. Yes, those are all negative characteristics. No, I don’t think he needs to justify those behaviors to the reader (to the people in his life, maybe). Why is he not allowed to be that way sometimes? Why does Jude have to explain to you, the reader, what triggers that behavior in him? Why does he have to rise above? Normal people are not immune to being assholes. Well, neither is Jude. That being said, he’s actually a really wonderful, compelling person and there’s about 100 scenes that demonstrate that, which is why it’s really hard for me to understand how anyone arrived to the conclusion that he’s unlikeable. I think it says more about the reader than it says about Jude.

Side note: One time I read a comment from someone complaining that Jude made fun of someone (not to their face) for the way they pronounced a vegetable. That was it. That was their example of Jude being an asshole. That was his crime. God forbid a former gardener has opinions!

2. Jude ending up so rich doesn’t make sense. He shouldn’t be so wealthy.

This one is funny because it usually comes from the same people that call this story trauma porn. Oh, so you wanted him to stay poor? You would have liked to see him SUFFER MORE?

Also, Jude didn’t aspire to have money just to have it. His whole purpose was having enough money to cover his extensive list of medical bills and to be able to protect himself and never depend on anyone else for anything. He is intelligent, disciplined, and so traumatized he would do anything to occupy his mind long enough to avoid leaving space for his thoughts. That’s how he succeeded in learning complex subjects and multiple languages: he didn’t want to think about shit else!

3. Jude “fell in love” with his best friend Willem.

As soon as I read this sentence in that Vulture article, I chuckled.

That simply never happened. I genuinely believe that’s the wrong way to describe their transition from friends to lovers. Jude loved Willem as a person, as friend, his best friend. They ended up dating because Willem realized he was in love and asked for a chance. Not because Jude was sighing looking out the window, lovesick for Willem, waiting for a chance. If anything, after much thinking on his end, Jude was basically like “I guess.”