#i try to keep myself contained whenever this stuff happens because i don't want to annoy anyone somehow

[rebelband]

did you see...... scc merch soon....... i am so full of joy.

I ABSOLUTELY DID. i woke up this morning and i barely processed it i was just vgfh98(^)4853ig df ,AHH!!! even beyond the wonderful art as always and the possible stickers thing:

this has been one of my top favorite things ever for a while and i hope with all my heart that it actually is Some Thing because i'll be so ill about it

[strwbmei]

Matchup Event

Matchup for: @schendsal

Matchups: Yukong, Bronya, Eula

Contains: fluff, smut, male reader, breeding (Yukong), creampie mentions (Yukong), mentions of lactation (Yukong), breast play (Yukong and Bronya), marking (Bronya), semi-public sex (Eula), implied masturbation (Eula), blowjob (Eula)

A/N: Sorry for taking so long! Honestly, it was Yukong's part that took the longest because there was a bunch of stuff I had to confirm with the lore and then I ended up changing most of it by the time I was almost finished. Hope you like it, though!

Ask:

Congratulations on reaching 1,000 followers, I hope you continue to grow more and more!

Personality-wise I tend to be an ambivert.

Around close friends I'm the one in the group who's always cracking jokes or saying the most mind-numbingly stupid things. I do this to make them laugh and keep their spirits high, since I know that life can be pretty stressful for everyone. If that stress gets to be too much, then I'm happy to hear out their troubles and lend them a shoulder for support. I might not be able to solve their problems, but I want to be a source of strength for them at the least.

Outside my friend group I become a lot more closed off. Instead of goofing off, I'm told I become diligent and considerate of others. I like to make sure school assignments are completed ahead of time so my group can review it and help other groups if they become stuck. Though I usually end up as the group lead, I don't like to lead by force. Instead I prefer to let my team play to their strengths, and I'll make up the weaknesses as we go along. A happy team is a good team after all!

This doesn't mean I'm not without my flaws. I can be really immature at times, and I get depressed if I feel like I'm holding others back or can't perform at the high standard I set for myself. When this happens I usually close myself off from others and listen to music until I feel better. I can get competitive when it comes to things I'm passionate about, but not to the point of lashing out at others.

In terms of hobbies I have a few outside of games. I like reading, cooking for others, listening to music, and cheesy romance novels. I sketch a bit too, but I'm not very good at it, haha. I'm the type to take a lot of interest in my partners hobbies, and I'd probably bug them a bunch about it.

For the ask, I'd like a mix of SFW and NSFW with whomever I'm paired with. Sadly the only fandoms I'm familiar with are Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact. Grinding for those two eats up most of my spare time, so I haven't gotten to try the others. The scenario could be a festival date or comforting one another after a long day of work. But if inspiration strikes you, feel free to write what you please!

I'm a heterosexual dominant, so I suppose I wouldn't want to be paired up with any of the men. (Fine as they may be). Intimacy for me is more about the connection than being extreme with it, and I take pride in providing my partner with pleasure. For my own tastes, I am into breeding, sleepy sex, semi-public sex, oral (giving & receiving), and breast play.

Yukong

╰┈➤ SFW ;

: ̗̀➛ No one would've guessed that you two were in a relationship, especially with how you two act in the workplace. In fact, everyone thought Yukong disliked you due to the high standard she always held you to when that was only because she knew she could count on you.

: ̗̀➛ That said, your relationship wasn't a secret. Yukong wasn't exactly the type to be all clingy and affectionate in public, much less while on the job, so everyone dismissed it as a joke whenever you called her your wife. They just thought you were one of those guys who liked getting treated harshly. Safe to say they were floored when they saw Yukong giving you a kiss on the cheek before heading into the building.

: ̗̀➛ She may have been an ace pilot who could calmly conquer the battlefield in any situation, but she couldn't help but feel nervous introducing you to Qingni. Yukong was extremely relieved that the two of you got along. Though, much to her detriment, you bonded over pulling silly pranks on her when she least expected them.

: ̗̀➛ Domestic life with Yukong couldn't be any better. She's responsible for her share of chores and helps you out whenever she can. Both her and Qingni are also a joy to cook for because you can easily see the way their eyes light up once they take the first bite.

: ̗̀➛ Once a month, without fail, the three of you clear your schedule to have a picnic trip together. Most of the time, you're the one who cooks all of the food while Yukong is the one who sets everything up. Once you're done eating, the three of you often opt to fly kites or catch up with each other. Both activities give Yukong a lot of comfort.

: ̗̀➛ Your relationship with her feels like home. In a future full of uncertainties and doubt, you find respite within each other. You might have disagreements every now and then, but they only make your bond and trust in the other person even stronger.

"Dear, could you pass me the salt, please?"

"Mm. Here you go."

"..."

"..." It's been a little bit longer than an hour since you first got home. You and Yukong didn't fight or anything, but the awkwardness is killing you. It's obvious that both of you have had a tiring day, even more so than usual.

The dining room is filled with soft, yet sharp sounds of tableware, and you're the first to actually try to break this uncomfortable silence. "You know you can talk to me about anything, Yukong." She nods and sighs. "I know, it's just... I've never been good with words."

Annnnnd it's back to that same soundlessness again. Not another word from either of you until you're in bed together. "I apologize for always treating you so harshly at work." She suddenly speaks up, turning to face you.

"It's nothing personal. Besides, I wouldn't want to get special treatment just because I'm your partner. What brought this on?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing in particular. I've just been really stressed with work lately, and I don't wish to cause any for you."

"Not at all. I know you only do that because you trust me." You smile, brushing a stray strand of hair from her forehead.

"Because you're one of the few I can depend on. You're always doing your best, and I'm proud of you for it."

"Yeah. Thank you, Yukong."

"I just want you to know that you can depend on me too. You don't have to shoulder everything on your own."

"..."

"..."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

╰┈➤ NSFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Breeding. Breeding. Breeding. It's quite literally all that's on her mind whenever the two of you make love. You could say that it's because of her genes or heat cycles, but Yukong can't deny that she's always wanted to have little pups to care for.

: ̗̀➛ She doesn't even care if she cums as long as you promise to stuff her full by the end of it. Of course, you'd never be so cruel, but it just goes to show how she'll gladly do anything to get you to breed her thoroughly.

: ̗̀➛ To Yukong, it doesn't matter whether she's on top or bottom. While she'd be grateful if you did most of the work, she's also perfectly willing to put in effort to get what she wants. Whether it be in her career or in bed, it's a whole different feeling of satisfaction to get what you've worked so hard for.

: ̗̀➛ Yukong isn't very vocal in bed, but that doesn't mean she isn't feeling good. It's quite the opposite, actually. You know you've got her good when she's biting her lip, nails digging into whatever part of you she can reach as her cunt clamps down hard on you.

: ̗̀➛ Despite never actually have given birth before, Yukong has the ability to lactate. You don't even have to play with her breasts to get her to— she'll lactate a good bit just from having an orgasm. Playing with her nipples certainly helps, though.

: ̗̀➛ Call her vanilla, but Yukong dislikes using toys in bed. She thinks they're a waste of time and prefers to get straight into the action. She won't mind using them on you if you want her to, but when it comes to herself, she'd much rather you pound her silly instead of wasting your energy on vibrators and the like.

You're in the kitchen, on your way to start making breakfast. You woke up early, and what better use of your time to make Yukong a nice meal? Currently, she's in your shared room, getting some much needed rest.

Or so you thought until you saw her standing by the doorframe wearing nothing but one of your dress shirts. "Good morning, Yukong. What do you think of pancakes for breakfast?" You smile at her, on your way to grab your apron.

You're quickly stopped in your tracks when Yukong suddenly stumbles, almost falling to the ground. "Yukong! Are you alright?" She shakes her head. "My love... I need your help."

You're worried and confused for a moment before you look down to see her thighs sticky with her fluids.

Oh.

You gulp. "I understand. Don't worry, I'll take care of you." Your hands make their way to the buttons of her shirt, and you're able to feel just how hot her body is beneath it. Even more so than during her usual heat cycles.

You leave kisses along her neck, collarbones, and her now exposed chest, but it seems Yukong doesn't want that. Her mind is hazy, and her lust for you only worsens by the second.

She takes your hand, guiding it to her dripping cunt,and you can feel just how much she needs you. Yukong looks at you with dazed eyes, "There's no need for you to be such a gentleman. I'm... really not in the mood for teasing right now."

Bronya

╰┈➤ SFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Bronya loved being the Supreme Guardian. Truly, she did—but loving something doesn't mean she's always happy to do it. She was glad to help her people and take on their burdens, but the dark circles under her eyes spoke for themselves as did her obvious fatigue.

: ̗̀➛ Every day felt like an endless cycle of document after document until you came into her life. Everybody else felt it wasn't their place to try to assist Bronya with her duties, and you were the only one who made an effort to help.

: ̗̀➛ Seeing the cup of coffee on her desk with a small note always gives Bronya the strength she needs to push through the day because she immediately knows who it's from. The coffee is made just how she likes it, at just the right temperature. It's a secret that she won't tell even you, but she keeps all of those post-its you leave in a drawer and looks through them whenever she misses you.

: ̗̀➛ Even with a busy lifestyle, she tries to make as much time for you as she can and comes home into your arms as early as possible. Sure, fancy dates might not always be feasible, but can it really get better than cuddling with each other as you fall asleep?

: ̗̀➛ She doesn't want to reveal your relationship to the public until you're married, but everyone can clearly see that the two of you have something going on. The way she smiles when she's with you is completely different.

: ̗̀➛ Overall, they're just glad that their Supreme Guardian isn't overworking herself as much. Everyone tells her to rest, but you're the only one that she isn't as stubborn with.

Cocolia Rand, her mother. Cocolia Rand, the Supreme Guardian.

Since when did the line start to blur? Perhaps such a "line" did not exist in the first place. Perhaps she deliberately chose to ignore the undeniable signs of impending catastrophe. And yet, what did that lead to?

It's already been a year, but her nightmares repeat like clockwork all the same. Just when she thinks she's come to accept what happened, memories much too vivid come back to haunt her.

Bronya jolts awake in a cold sweat. She tries to draw breath, but air fails to enter her lungs. It feels as if they've closed themselves; as if this were punishment for her ignorance.

"Bronya... Bronya!" You call out to her. Seeing you has eased the aching in her heart ever so slightly, and finally, she can breathe.

Bronya hadn't shed a single tear since that day; she vowed to herself and to her mother that she wouldn't. Yet, without realizing it, a stream of them makes their way down her cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into me so suddenly..." Bronya sniffles, wiping her tears. You pull her into a tight hug, and she gladly takes the opportunity to hide her face in your neck. She doesn't want you to see her like this.

"It's okay. It'll all be alright. I'm here for you."

Just like that, something inside of Bronya shatters. All of the anger and sadness she's felt for so long, all at once. She bursts into tears and sobs into your shirt. "You've been so brave, haven't you?"

Almost an hour passes as you comfort her, and she finally starts to calm down. She pulls away, looking up at you with puffy, tear-stained eyes. "There's nothing left. I've lost everything." You muster up the warmest smile you can manage and bring a hand up to caress her cheek. "You're wrong, Bronya. There is still something left." "A chance to take everything back."

╰┈➤ NSFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Bronya is the most submissive person to walk this universe EVER. The human embodiment of the phrase "you tell me to jump, I ask how high." She'll do whatever you want as soon as you say the word because making you feel good makes her feel good.

: ̗̀➛ Considering the type of person you are, sex with Bronya is almost like a competition of pleasuring the other person more. She's very good at turning you on, but she's way too tired to do much most of the time. Bronya still tries, of course, but you always end up winning this little "competition" of yours.

: ̗̀➛ She's such a big baby in a way that just makes you want to spoil her rotten. Holding hands, hugging, kissing, you name it— she'll cling onto you every chance she gets. The sweet thing just has to touch you, and you could never bring yourself to deny her.

: ̗̀➛ Her moans are so pretty, too! They're drawn-out and breathy, growing louder as she nears her orgasm. She tries not to be too loud, but it just feels too good sometimes. One side of you wants to make her scream your name loud enough for everyone else to hear, while the other wants to keep her cute sounds all to yourself.

: ̗̀➛ Scratches a lot, but the marks aren't too deep thanks to her nails always being perfectly filed. She doesn't leave hickeys (much) as she's more of the type to leave soft, quick kisses wherever she can reach. Bronya can't help feeling guilty seeing the red lines she made on your back, though. There are many other ways she can mark you as hers, after all. She doesn't want to hurt you.

"My love..." Bronya sighs dreamily, feeling your hands trail up her body. Your warmth provided her comfort to get through the night, and truly, that was the only thing she sought from you before all of this began.

A kiss. That was all it took for lust to plant itself in your hearts.

She tilted her head, and you gladly took the chance to leave soft kisses along her neck. Your fingers traced her body; down to her her hips, back up to her breasts, and finally, they found themselves playing with her nipples.

"Mmh..." Bronya groaned, leaning into your touch. You hum in response, rolling the buds on your fingers. "Beautiful girl." A soft, yet sudden pinch makes her gasp and arch her back. "Love you so much..."

Your warmth was no longer enough. Bronya wanted more; wanted you. You made her feel like the greediest woman in Belobog, and for some reason, she loved it. "Please, I want you."

Halting your movements, you gently flip her over so that you're on top of her. You take the hand covering her mouth and kiss the inside of her wrist. "Then, you will have me. I'm all yours."

Is lust just another fragment of love or an impurity that taints it? Is Bronya your adored muse, or your most beloved sin?

Eula

╰┈➤ SFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Honestly, the two of you didn't quite get along at first. She wasn't outright uncooperative when the two of you went on missions, but you could feel how strangely distant she was being for seemingly no reason. You only broke the ice once you invited her to a drink to celebrate finishing a particularly difficult mission together.

: ̗̀➛ She's never had someone willingly accompany her, much less invite her to a bar, so she ended up talking your ear off as she vented her frustrations about the discrimination she faced just for her last name. While her family has done some messed up stuff, that isn't necessarily her fault. She's just a normal girl.

: ̗̀➛ No one could've expected it, but the first thing you discovered you had in common with the infamous Spindrift Knight was your love for cheesy romance novels. How you found out? You were both drunk. You started reciting the cringiest dialogue you could remember from them, and Eula continued the lines after you.

: ̗̀➛ Even though you first got to really know her while drinking with her, Eula only really shows her true self once she's alone with you. She's the gentlest, kindest, most compassionate woman you've ever met. You wonder if the rest of Mondstadt were blind to not see Eula beyond her being a Lawrence, but really, she's only this vulnerable when she's with you.

: ̗̀➛ Marriage in particular is one of her biggest fantasies. There's just something really romantic to her about being so... deeply connected to each other. Eula always thought it'd be impossible for someone like her, yet, here you are. You accept her and all her flaws with open arms. She's so used to blazing flames to the point that your gentle warmth feels so alien. It's not a feeling she's used to, but that doesn't mean that she won't cherish it.

: ̗̀➛ Speaking of marriage, Eula would prefer to take your last name. She's not running away from her family's actions; much less is she trying to clear their name. Eula knows that what they've done is unforgivable. A name is what makes up a good part of your identity. It's what people will remember you as and it's who you are to them. Bearing your last name makes her feel like she's taking a part of you with her wherever she goes no matter how much time passes, and that gives her indescribable comfort.

Eula never liked the Windblume festival. No, Eula hated the Windblume festival.

Why wouldn't she? Everything was so noisy. Even during the day, taverns were filled with drunks merrily getting wasted. There were fewer commissioners, which left more work for her to do.

It didn't help that the Windblume Festival also symbolized the downfall of the Lawrence clan.

Festivity filled Mondstadt's winds, and any form of participation from her earned nothing but more scorn from the townspeople she works so hard to protect.

Although Eula had you this time around, she didn't want to keep you from enjoying the festival just because she couldn't participate.

Alas, she forgot to consider one thing: It's you who knows her best. You know that she wants to celebrate just like everybody else. So if she can't go to the festival, why not bring the festival to her instead?

Maybe you can't exactly replicate the festive atmosphere and the little games, but that wasn't going to stop you. The essence of the Windblume Festival doesn't lie in high-quality wine and fancy ceremonies, but in showing your loved ones that you care.

Eula had her suspicions when you suddenly took her on a date saying you "knew a spot," but she didn't expect to see a secluded place in the forest filled to the brim with dandelions.

"So? What do you think?" You smile at her, pride filling you once you see how awestruck she is. It's not often she's so surprised. "It's... beautiful." Eula replies. The softness of her voice as she says this is one she shows only to you.

After a moment passes, you take a deep breath. "You're everything to me," you pick a dandelion, presenting it to her with a confident smile on your face. "more precious than the very air I breathe..."

It's her favorite line from her favorite novel. To other people, it might not make sense, but she remembers it vividly and she's glad that you do, too. She can't help but chuckle as she takes the flower from your hand.

"Or the chocolates I love." She continues. Honestly, it sounds more cheesy rather than romantic in real life, but she can't stop herself from smiling like an idiot. After all, she always viewed those books as nothing more than a mere fantasy.

"You'll always be my treasure."

╰┈➤ NSFW ;

: ̗̀➛ Great would be an understatement to describe your sex life with Eula. She's flexible, has seemingly endless stamina, and her hips work wonders. Not to mention she has the most attractive body you've seen and an even more attractive face to go along with it.

: ̗̀➛ Eula is neither dominant nor submissive. She does things her own way, based on whatever she feels like doing at a given moment. If Eula wants to ride you, she'll ride you. If she wants to give you head, she'll give you head and vice versa. Eula is just focused on making the both of you feel good.

: ̗̀➛ She's fine with mostly anything as long as she can see your face during sex. If not that, then at least to feel your hands somewhere on her. Eula might not look like the type, but she's inexperienced with all of this and she just needs to see that you're the one making her feel so good.

: ̗̀➛ Eula denies it, but she loves the risk of semi-public sex. It gets her heartbeat rising and adrenaline pumping. Everything about it from having to keep quiet to the chance of being caught in such an explicit act turns her on.

: ̗̀➛ She's surprisingly shy in bed though, especially during your first time. She becomes all cute and focused, trying her best not to mess anything up. Eula becomes more daring and bold as time passes, but hearing reassurance and praise from you is always appreciated.

: ̗̀➛ Riding you is her favorite thing to do. The position you're in gives both of you just the right amount of control. She doesn't have to move much for it to feel good either, just feeling your cock grind against her walls has her biting her moans back.

"I understand that I'm attractive, but do you always have to be so... easily roused?" Eula looks up at you, a shade of pink spotting her cheeks and eyes full of annoyance.

Okay, maybe this was partly her fault since she's been putting herself in provocative positions in front of you, but she only expected a bit of fun once you got home.

She certainly wasn't expecting to suck you off in a random alleyway where you could easily be caught.

"Eula, you really don't have to..." You sigh. Admittedly, this whole situation was really turning you on, but you didn't want to force her into doing anything she didn't want to do nonetheless.

"You really think I'd let you walk home with such an obvious boner?" She glares. She did have a point— ignoring it would just bring both of you embarrassment. "Just... make sure to finish quickly. This place reeks..."

Nimble hands work to quickly undo your pants and free your aching cock. Eula would much rather take her time in the comforts of your home, but the situation just doesn't allow for that.

Not even a second later, you can feel her lips wrapped around the tip, working its way down your length eagerly. Every inch that isn't in her mouth is being carefully handled by her hands.

It takes all of your strength to keep quiet as she moves her tongue exactly how you like it. "Fuck... Eula..." You groan. When you start softly tugging at her hair and bucking your hips, she knows you're near your orgasm.

What really brought you over the edge was the sight of Eula grinding on her own hand as she sucked you off. Warm cum fills her mouth, and she swallows all of it. "Geez, you're gonna make a mess..." She complains.

Seeing the wet patch on her shorts, you know that you'll have to finish what you started.

[ante--meridiem]

if at some point you have the time, I'd love to learn your zettelkasten secrets for studying maths.

for context, historically when I studied maths it was always in the form of a course and followed a clear sequence. the structure of my notes was pretty much like a textbook.

now I am learning it in a spottier way, where I'm like, "okay I need a somewhat high-level knowledge of the main concepts in this topic for now (as background for something else) but some things may end up being more important later and I might want to come back and fill in some details".

this seems like it would benefit from a more non-linear approach, but I don't really know how to even start with that. any tips?

I'm really sorry that the helpfulness of what I'm about to say almost certainly won't justify/make up for the amount of time it took me to answer but I'll do my best.

What you're describing wanting to do is in fact the main use case for my zettelkasten (which is currently about 70% maths, 20%-25% the kind of thing you'd tag as ref notes, and the remaining 5%-10% miscellanea). I did actually start out trying to build up the maths linearly and it worked great when I had time but once I started the masters courses it just wasn't realistic to keep up. That said I'm nonetheless having a hard time coming up with advice specific to this beyond what's already in my zettelkasten tag (if tumbr search is broken I can fetch the main posts for you), so I'll just say as much as I can about how I do things maths wise. I do not promise this is the best way to do things, much of it isn't even very considered and just how it ended up happening.

What I do now is whenever I'm going through an article/lecture notes/etc I make a placeholder zettel as I go for any definitions or big theorems that come up. Details can be added/improved later, what's important in the moment is to have the bare bones easily referred back to or linked to. Definitions are especially important in the initial phase as it's very likely you'll need to link back to them for your new zettels that use them to make sense. In the interest of efficiency I've had to give up on my desire to have something mathematically complete where everything used is clearly defined and proven elsewhere. If I'm familiar enough with a concept and find it basic enough that I probably won't need a reference for myself when I use it, it doesn't get a zettel until/unless I have more time to spare. Proofs are generally filled in later, the most important thing in the first step is just having an interlinked structure of all the claims and the main definitions and lemmas they use.

Regarding adding proofs, formatting proofs in the zettelkasten is my biggest challenge with it tbh, because the idea is for each zettel there should be one concept being expressed, but proofs contain a ton of granular concepts that can't really be broken up and each given its own zettel. When it makes sense, I try to break then into lemmas and have the main theorem page contain basically an index of lemmas with linking steps between them. When this doesn't make sense I can sometimes still split the proof up into sections that each get a contractable heading so I can hide the bits that aren't relevant when I don't need them and avoid being overwhelmed by the amount of information.

In terms of adding other kinds of details, generally once I've got the main stuff down I can go back to zettels I already have, find concepts I mentioned but didn't explain in them, and make a new zettel for that which I link as I'm making.

[cursed-elo-images]

INCORRECT ELO QUOTES PART 4

This version contains three quotes featuring Mr. Blue Sky and Mr. Night because I have no idea what I’m doing with my life anymore!!!

p.s.: I should make it clear that these incorrect quote posts are not going to contain an equal amount of quotes as I cannot count that many of them as it’s too time consuming, but I do try to have a good amount of them in a post and that each post has roughly a similar amount of them.

*Melvyn sends more than 5 messages in a row*

Jeff: I ain’t reading all that.

Jeff: I’m happy for you tho.

Jeff: Or sorry that happened.

Jeff: So Mel, how did your first time cooking dinner go?

Melvyn: Pretty good if I do say so myself.

Jeff: Oo! Okay, what are we having?

Melvyn: Alright, so for appetizers, we have a potato.

Jeff: A whole potato?

Melvyn: Yes. And then for the main course, we have grilled cheese sandwiches!

Jeff: These just look like big slabs of black.

Melvyn: Because that's what they are!

Melvyn: And then for dessert, we have chocolate.

Jeff: These are just chocolate chips?

Melvyn: They sure are!

Melvyn: And then for drinks, we have toast!

Melvyn: *lifts up a glass of blended toast* Bon appetit!

Jeff: Bev...

Bev: Oh no, 'Bev' in B flat.

Bev: You're disappointed.

Bev: Jeff, what are you doing?

Jeff: *shaking a cat shaped piggy bank* I’m just trying to figure out how much change I have inside.

Bev: You could always take it out and count it.

Jeff: Where’s the fun in that?

Bev: If there are no questions, we’ll move on to the next chapter.

Jeff: I have a question.

Bev: Certainly, Jeff. What is it?

Jeff: What’s the point of human existence?

Bev: I meant any questions about the subject at hand.

Jeff: Oh.

Jeff: Frankly, I’d like to have the issue resolved before I expend any more energy on this.

Hugh: Uptown Funk would've made it into the Shrek Soundtrack.

Bev: That's the truest statement I've ever heard.

Jeff, on the phone: I better go…kay, call me later… byeeee!

Bev: Friend of Yours?

Jeff: Nope, wrong number.

Bev: ???

Bev: Caffeine no longer keeps me awake while I work, so instead I have Jeff periodically send me texts saying ‘we need to talk.’

Bev: It gives me the right amount of adrenaline and fear I need to keep going.

Jeff: Hugh, I need some advice.

Hugh: You need advice from ME?

Jeff: Yeah, frightening, isn't it?

Bev: Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Hugh: *sighs* That’s true…

Hugh: But two negatives make a positive!!!

Jeff: I wouldn’t put it in those words exactly.

Bev: Why not?

Jeff: Because I don't know what they mean.

Bev: I made tea.

Jeff: I don't want tea.

Bev: I didn't make you tea. This is my tea.

Jeff: Then why did you tell me?

Bev: It's a conversation starter.

Jeff: It's a horrible conversation starter.

Bev: Oh, is it? We're conversing. Checkmate.

Jeff: Hugh, no.

Hugh: Hugh, yes.

Mr. Blue Sky, Hugh & Jeff: *screaming*

Mr. Night: *runs into the room* What's wrong, Jeff?!

Mr. Blue Sky: Wait, why are you asking Jeff that when Hugh and I are also here?

Mr. Night: Because Jeff wouldn't scream unless it's an emergency. You two scream whenever you have the chance.

Mr. Blue Sky: Shh, here comes Mr Night!

Jeff: Quick, Hugh, start talking about boring nerd stuff!

Hugh: You know, nerd culture is mainstream now, so when you use the word “nerd” derogatorily, it means you’re the one that’s out of the zeitgeist.

Jeff: Yes, that’s perfect. Just like that.

Hugh: Where is Mr. Night?

Jeff: I'll do you one better, who is Mr. Night??

Mr. Blue Sky: Here's a better question, why is Mr. Night?

Bev: So you're looking for information on this thing, huh? Well, I feel like it must be from far away.

Richard: What makes you say that?

Bev: If it's something even I don't know about, then I'm sure nobody else must have a clue. So it's gotta be from some faraway place. Impeccable reasoning, isn't it?

Richard: Bev... You don't have a clue about this thing, do you?

Bev: *screams in anger*

Richard: What's that?

Bev: Chocolate.

Richard: What's chocolate?

Bev: Candy. Do they not have candy where you're from?

Richard: Yeah. Grapes, nuts.

Bev: No wonder you're so bitter.

Bev: Richard is not a morning person. Or a night person. There’s really only about seven minutes a day you are fun to be around.

Richard : The best part is you never know when I’m coming.

Richard: Well Bev, I have to say, I'm really disappointed.

Bev: Well, you didn't HAVE to say it. You could've just thought it.

Richard, to Bev: Well, one of us has to be wrong and it’s not going to be me.

Bev: Are you busy?

Richard: Yes.

Bev: Cool, listen to this...

Bev: Just so everyone knows, don't ever try to climb a tree at night carrying a strobe light, owls DON'T like it.

Richard: ...what happened?

Bev: I made a VERY bad mistake.

Bev: *walks to cabinet, removes oreo box, takes half a sleeve, throws empty box out* Hi!

Richard: Hey- what are you doing-?

Bev, shoving an oreo into his mouth: I am saving space :D

Bev: Oh, hey, I didn’t see you come in! You should have come by and said hello!

Richard: Oh! Yeah, I uh...

Richard: Didn’t want to bother you.

Richard: Or talk to or listen to or be around you.

Bev: Man, it smells like wrongdog out here.

Richard:

Richard: Bev, are you alright?

Bev: *sobs*

Richard: Can we talk? One 10 to another?

Bev: I’m an 11, but continue.

Richard: Where did you get that tomato soup?

Bev: It’s actually a bowl of ketchup I just microwaved.

Richard, answering the phone: Hello?

Bev: It’s Bev.

Richard: What did he do this time?

Bev: No, it’s me, Bev. It’s actually me.

Richard: What did you do this time?

Richard: You believe me?

Bev: Richard, you’re the last good person on this planet. I‘d believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning.

Bev: Any tips on how to make someone like me?

Richard: Try to make them laugh all the time.

Bev: Oh, wow! You actually help me for once, and it's even good advice!

Richard: Yeah, the more they laugh, the more time they spend with their eyes closed, so it'd be easier.

Bev: I literally cannot believe I let you talk me into this.

Richard: I literally said “I have an idea,” and you just went along with it without question.

Bev: Who's in charge here?

Richard, shrugging: Usually whoever yells the loudest.

Richard: Whatever happened to the concept of less is more?

Bev: But if less is more, then just think of how much more 'more' will be!

Bev: Come to think of it… You’ve always been nice to me.

Bev: I mean, you listen to all my problems-

Richard: No, Bev I just simply stand here while you talk, there’s a big difference.

Bev: I made this friendship bracelet for you.

Richard: You know, I’m not really a jewelry person.

Bev: You don’t have to wear…

Richard: No, I’m gonna wear it forever. Back off.

Bev: This is getting embarrassing.

Richard: Getting? We’re already there!

Bev: So uh, for this party and everything, do you, uh...

Richard, sighing: You don't know how to dress for this, do you?

Bev, panicked: WHAT IS CLOTHES???

Bev: I taught my dog, Pongo, a new trick. *throws ball* Fetch!

Pongo: *just stands there*

Richard: He didn’t do it.

Bev: I taught him to ignore social conventions and think for himself.

Bev: COMPANY IS COMING! I WANT THIS PLACE LOOKING LIKE DISNEY ON ICE IN ONE MINUTE!

Bev: RICHARD IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE YOUR BED THROW IT AWAY IT'S TOO LATE TO MAKE IT NOW!

Bev: GET RID OF THE COUCHES, WE CAN'T LET PEOPLE KNOW WE S I T !

Richard: Wow, it sure smells like wrong dog in here!

Bev: Oh buddy...

Richard, already sobbing: ASK.

Richard: Hi, I'm Bev's emergency contact.

Counter Woman: You're here to pick him up?

Richard: I'm here to remove myself as his emergency contact.

Richard: Can I have some?

Bev, mouth full of cheesecake: It's really spicy, you wouldn't like it.

Richard, to Bev: Well, one of us has to be wrong and it’s not going to be me.

Richard: I don’t even have time to tell you how wrong you are.

Bev: Okay?

Richard: …

Richard: …

Richard: Actually it’s gonna bug me if I don’t, so—

Bev: Let's all agree that going up the stairs on all fours is actually the best experience on earth.

Richard: Conversely, going down the stairs on all fours is actually the most terrifying experience on earth.

Hugh: I will beat all of you in Rock, Paper, Scissors. You go first.

Richard: Rock.

Hugh: Paper.

Hugh: *Pulls a glass a water from out of nowhere*

Richard: Where did you get that?

Hugh: My pocket.

Richard: How do you keep a glass of water in your pocket?

Hugh: Skills.

Hugh: .. .----. -- / … --- .-. .-. -.-- (translation: I'M SORRY)

Richard: What's that?

Hugh: Remorse code.

Richard: I'm even angrier now.

Hugh: Why are we friends?

Richard: Poor decisions on your part.

Hugh, acting tough: You guys don't want to mess with me.

Richard: Yeah, Hugh will straight up cry in public. Don't try him.

Hugh: Exactly, I will straight up-

Hugh:

Hugh, tearing up: Richard, why would you say that?!

Richard: Hey, what’s the name of the guy who lives down the hall?

Hugh: His cats' names are Walter and Rose.

Richard: That's not what I asked.

Hugh: That is all the information I have.

Hugh: Go big or go home!

Richard: Please, for once in your life just go home. I'm begging you. Go. Home.

Hugh: I'm going big!

Hugh: Are you busy?

Richard: No.

Hugh: Want to do something?

Richard: Why would you try to ruin this for me?

Hugh: The Ocean is a soup.

Richard:

Richard: Do elaborate.

Hugh: What are needed for something to be a soup?

Richard: Erm... Water, salt, some form of vegetation, and personally I prefer some meat in mine.

Hugh: *Tilts head*

Richard: The Ocean is a Soup.

Hugh: The Ocean is a Soup.

Hugh: *walking around disappointed after visiting an aquarium*

Richard: Hugh, what did you think a tiger shark was?

Hugh: So, I've been thinking Richard-

Richard: That's dangerous.

Hugh, T-posing in the doorway: Greetings, Richard.

Richard, not looking up from his coffee: Good morning, problem child.

Hugh: I regret nothing!!!

Richard: I regret everything!!!

Hugh: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free: pouring river water in your socks!

Richard: Why would I do that?

Hugh: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free!

Richard: I called you like ten times! Why didn’t you pick up?

Hugh: *remembers dancing to the ringtone*

Hugh: I didn’t hear it.

Richard, throwing a pokeball at Hugh: Hugh, I choose you!

Hugh, not looking up from their book and catching it: You need an Ultra ball to catch this Legendary Pokémon.

Hugh: Advice of the day kids, if you ever meet someone who calls Gatorade flavors the actual name of the flavor instead of just the color then they are a certified nerd.

Richard: Yeah but you have to specify, frost glacier or cool blue? You can’t just say blue because there’s more than one blue.

Hugh: Blue and light blue, nice try nerd.

Hugh: And if you have any suggestions, please put them in the suggestion box.

Richard: That’s a trash can.

Richard: Just say when.

Melvyn: When.

Richard: I-

Richard: Now or later?

Melvyn: Oh.

Melvyn: *is visibly upset*

Richard: Melvyn, what happened? I haven't seen you like this since you found out candyland wasn't an actual country.

Melvyn: Hey.

Richard: Hey?

Melvyn: I can't sleep. :/

Richard: I can. Goodnight.

Richard: Melvyn, say aluminum again. It's the entire source of my serotonin during these trying times.

Melvyn: *sigh* Only for you, buddy. Alyoouminnieeum.

Richard: We need a plan to beat them.

Melvyn: Okay, listen up. First, we fill their shoes with wet cat food.

Richard:

Melvyn: Judge me all you want, I get results.

Melvyn: I just got the best idea I've ever had in my entire life!

*Later*

Richard, to Melvyn: That was the worst idea you’ve ever had in your entire life.

Richard: *trying to get five seconds of sleep*

Melvyn, poking Richard’s arm: Richard Richard. Richard. Richard.

Richard: WHAT?

Melvyn: …We’re out of Capri Suns—

Melvyn: Everything’s fine, Richard.

Richard: Melvyn, I know your relationship with the english language is strictly casual, but you- I- *deep inhale* ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU WHAT’S NOT FINE.

Melvyn: I’m not being weird. Am I being weird?

Richard: Yes, and that’s coming from me.

Melvyn: You might not know this, Richard, but I am a flawed person.

Richard: I do know that.

Richard: State your name, rank, and intention.

Melvyn: Melvyn, Melvyn, fun.

Richard: *Turns on the kitchen light*

Melvyn: *Sitting at the table, eating bread*

Richard: It’s four in the morning.

Melvyn: Turn the light back off.

Richard: Am I right, Jeff?

Jeff: I’m almost certain you’re not, but to be fair, I wasn’t listening.

Richard: I ran into Jeff in the kitchen at 1 AM last night and when I asked him what he was doing, he just shrugged, said “these are my roaming hours,” and wandered off, strumming vaguely on his guitar.

Jeff: Don’t be sad!

Richard: Why not?

Jeff:

Jeff: I don’t have a good answer.

Richard: What’s the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?

Jeff: “Stalagmite” has an “m” in it.

Richard: Everyone knows that Santa is an invention designed by the big five corporations to sell tinsel and video games to an unsuspecting public.

Jeff: The whole “childhood wonder” stage just blew right past you, didn’t it?

[recurring-polynya]

How do you go about planning out your writing? Additionally, have you ever gone into something expecting one or two chapters and ending up with 10+?

There are two kinds of fanfic: some fanfics fit entirely in my head at once, and I can just write them out and do no planning whatsoever. This is the ideal state of writing, the dream. This is generally fics with <10k words, although Portions for Foxes (28k) was written in this manner, and my only excuse was that I was in the grips of hyperfixation.

This almost never happens to me anymore, so I gotta go down the other route, which is to plan everything out with my engineer brain. It goes like this:

I have an idea. Occasionally, the idea will be a very specific scene or a first chapter, and if it's very clear in my head, I may just let myself write it.

Otherwise, I spend a few hours to a few days free-thinking about the concept. What kind of story can I make out of it? What scenes does it include? Will it be fun to write? Do I get more excited the more I think about it, or does it feel like a pain? ->If it feels like a drag, I don't write it ->Sometimes there's just one scene or so that feels fun, so I just write that and throw it in my short story anthology

If it feels like it has legs, I start an outline. The outline must contain the story arc in broad strokes and it must contain a beginning, a conflict, a climax, and an ending before I start writing in earnest. Any time I have tried to start writing without these things, anguish has resulted.

I also often write down notes about character motivations and themes and other stuff I want to remember not to forgot, or that I can go back and look at when I feel like I've lost the thread. I keep all of this in a separate document from the main story, and over time, I also add stuff like links to useful websites, kanji for names of characters or places that I've picked out, useful facts, timelines, etc. Whenever I have a bit of writing I have to cut from the story, I save it and put it down at the bottom of the planning document under a section called DISCARD. Yeah, this is kind of a mess after a while.

Once I have this much, though, I start writing. As I am writing, I often get ideas for things to happen down the line, so I add them to outline. I try to start from the beginning of the fic and write continuously, until I get stuck or don't want to, and then I skip ahead to the next thing I feel like writing. When I run out of things I am excited to write, I refer to the outline, and fill out one of the bullets that I haven't done yet. This is sort of an iterative process of writing scenes and adding to the outline, and the fanfic goes from being a skeleton to getting gradually more fleshed out. Sometimes I write a scene and I'm not quite sure where it goes, so I guess.

(There are sometimes bad times, where I realize that my outline was a joke and my story is a mess and I roll around on the floor for a bit. After that, I do some combination of making new outlines and making new documents where I cut and paste the scenes from the old on in until they make sense. Usually this works eventually. Once, I had to do this, like, three times, and make a color-coded spreadsheet about it.)

Around this time, I will usually make an additional, chapter-centric outline. This lists every scene in the fic, in order, with some formatting to show the ones that still need work, or haven't been written at all. I will write out word counts for each chapter (sometimes for each scene). I can now see the places where I need a connecting scene, and also how big/how much stuff is in each chapter. The scene at the end of a chapter connects to the next chapter in a different way than scene-to-scene. I sometimes use two or three rotating narrators, and this also helps me make sure the POVs are balanced.

I write all the scenes I didn't want to write earlier, but now I have momentum because I can see the end.

I finish the fanfic. Joy returns to the land.

As for the question about have you ever gone into something expecting one or two chapters and ending up with 10+, the answer is no, because, as you can see, my process is specifically designed to gate off that possibility from the beginning. My fanfics regularly overrun their predicted length by 25-40%, but the decision to write a short or a long one is always one I make consciously and with care.

[steamworksfairy]

For the fandom ask thing: 1, 15 & 16 🎤

Thank you for the ask!!! 💚

1) Otp?

Verde/Everyone

I'll be real, I don't have a true otp for khr. I like too many characters, and Verde never had enough interactions with other characters for me to gravitate towards someone in specific. I do enjoy a lot of Verde/Arco content with Skull/Verde being a tried and true classic. But Reborn/Verde is also so good, and Fon/Verde-

You see what I mean? If I had a true second favorite character, this wouldn't happen. Amano made too many good characters!! But yeah, if you mention a Verde ship to me, chances are I ship it.

15) Have you noticed your style change over time?

I'll answer this for both art and writing!!

The simple answer is yes to both.

Art wise---I've seen so much improvement! I'm actually trying to actively develop an art style. Turns out learning anatomy really does help. Which is crazy because I've only been trying to improve for a year, and the growth I've had is phenomenal!!! I've actually noticed that I'll do this thing in my head where the right way to draw a line so I can draw x thing will just come to me. And I've developed an art beast!!! Whenever I doubt myself, this guy will pop up and tell me,'Shut up, keep going,this is good shit!!!' It's actually more aggressive than that, but I love that I'm developing something to combat perfectionism.

Writing wise---I went from terrible to omg I'm a genius to I'm rusty as hell...so there's definitely been some change lol 😅

I know I'll get to a place in my writing where I am satisfied again. I just need to start writing more. On the upside, I am writing something that I find to be really fun. I keep spaming one of the servers I'm in with my live blogging of it because I can not contain how insane I am over what I'm working on right now. It's so good!!!

16) Do people irl know you participate in fandom?

They do! My family knows I write fanfics and draw fanart. I don't share any of my writings with my family (I'm too embarrassed lmao) but they have seen my fanart. My mom, in particular, has said she wants to see my original stuff again. She says, and I quote, " It's better than whoever designed what you're currently drawing." She went on to give the tried and true mom response of 'My child's art is the best thing in the world. No one compares.' And then asked me to draw my ocs again.

And she's right. I really should, but Verde has a hold on me and refuses to let go. Maybe one day I'll be able to draw ocs again. Maybe one day.

[nimue-hidden-lake]

Oh god I can't handle today. Ever since seeing that smile I am just driving insane and Hokuto is on my mind for hours now. He is not leaving my headspace. Ah god my legs may as well become weak whenever seeing him smile.

At first it was like 'sure, whatever' or 'cool' but ever since my goddamn neurons awoke I have not been the same about him. It's like almost anything coming out of his mouth is making me squeal, I can hardly keep myself together! No, seriously, I am trying so hard but I can't do it. It's like he has me on some sort of chokehold.

I wanna be close but at the moment I feel like I would just squeal uncontrollably around him and he would probably just wonder what is wrong with me (understandably so). I'm blushing without self control, I just cannot contain myself here! He's too much for me! Once I actually imagine or write the confession down I will be a squealing mess who needs a break every five minutes or something.

Not to mention when having to picture and write a bit more intimate stuff eventually... I can't see it! Not in a sense of 'this will never happen' but in the sense of 'oh god this is too much if I picture it'! Because if I do, I am just a blushing madness and I cannot handle anything at all! Am I thinking like some silly high schooler here who's experiencing their first crush!? I don't know! This is just... I really don't know! I am in shambles! It's like he's too much to handle for me!

I... I dunno! What am I supposed to do!? He makes me turn into this, literally!

This guy is way too much on me and I don't know how to feel. How did it take me an entire year to develop a crush on this guy? One that is this bad in fact!? Was I sleeping for one whole year or something!? I just want to scream into a pillow or something! I don't even know where I was going with this! I just rambled without any structure whatsoever! How down bad am I for this guy already!? And how much worse can it get!? Augh...

[egg-emperor]

Julian I'll never understand why so many anon's come out of nowhere to harass you. You seem like a chill guy and you always tag all your posts appropriately, especially if they contain potentially graphic/violent/offensive content. If these people are genuinely offended by your posts/headcanons , they would block those tags

yeah me neither :((( I wish people didn't become so toxic and violent over stuff like this, I don't understand why they think their real life toxicity and violence is justified over someone who just wrote it into a story. they think it's matched but it's not the same. they don't have to like it but that doesn't mean they should punish me and try to shut me down and ruin my passion and reputation over it.

I do always make sure to tag things appropriately when I remember. I have tags for violence and abuse etc themes in this series that I analyze and discuss and create involving these things and people can search them up on my blog to see that I do indeed do that. whenever I can remember, I make sure to add all the needed tags for people to filter

there are times I can admittedly forget because I have so many tags and it's hard to keep track, and of absolutely all the themes included in my posts but I try my best. for the times I've slipped up and gotten backlash, I always make sure to fix the tagging as soon as I realize but people still say I messed up on purpose and did it to hurt people and that's upsetting to me

I'm only human, there's gonna be times I mess up and don't remember everything but I should be sensibly corrected and asked to tag it, not harshly punished over it. people who are against me and tried to make me look bad have proof in DMs that I'm considerate of their comfort, as I asked them to tell me whenever they want something tagged if needed.

but just because I slip up or fail to consider everyone in the world could possibly react to my post and every single possible theme and tag should be applied, doesn't mean there's malicious intentions behind it. yet they assume it despite all my behaviour and even words said to them directly saying otherwise. then some have problem with me creating it at all, as if I should hide it and repress it

I mean there's even cases where I don't realize that the concepts I'm discussing are inherently abusive themes until people reblog it and tag as "abuse tw" and I'm like oh shit then immediately add that tag to my og post. it's because of my trauma and personal experience of receiving that behavior as the norm in my life and forgetting that not everyone goes through that and that it's even considered abusive

but yeah, I may slip up at times but I ALWAYS fix it ASAP if I realize or I'm requested to, no matter what it is. I'll always do things for people's comfort on here so they can filter it out. all they have to do is ask me if I've failed to do it first. it hurts when I'm accused of bad intentions or told that I should keep my creations to myself just because they aren't all wholesome and pure

they shouldn't accuse me of being a horrible person and warning others about me as if I'm a genuine threat before they even talk it out with me and ask me to tag what's making them uncomfortable. yet that's all that seems to happen as they never sensibly talk it through with me in private first before they make me an enemy and add me to block lists

anyway,- I'm very grateful to all of you that see my true heart and stick by me, it means a lot along with all of your feet sweet support. I'm very happy that I come off as the chill guy that I hope to to you and that I can bring posts that you enjoy! 😊💜

[benefits1986]

Subject-Background Alignment

Snipping photos and vids more intentionally is making me more alive. Always. Sometimes. Never.

December 2023 is peppered with a lot of snipper mode when it comes to photos and vids. While I try to stay away from my phone, truth is that, I can't help but bring it out and snap away. I guess, this is me, paying homage to mother dragon's weird tradition --taking crappy photos of me to keep me sane. By crappy I mean, awkward and really candid ones. Since films are not cheap, she just made sure that the flash worked each and every bloody time. I grew up shushing this tradition because I felt that she does not have any creative gene, both recessive and dominant. But, mom did not care at all.

She was too caught up in freezing time and stories with flashes. When our compound back in Pasay was in the middle of a fire across the street, she unapologetically toted my bike and my photo album along with my feeding bottle. She told me to hold her hand and never ever sneak around for once. I was so young then, but I could still feel her clenched hand around my frail hand until now. I didn't cry because mom was full on dragon mode. She was super pregnant that time and we had to pass by the tiny alley sideways. My dad who had a super hard time finding us after the fire was averted almost whacked my mom's face. He's not abusive physically. He was just so worried about us and he didn't realize mom can walk very far from the fired up street. Mom shared that she plainly told dad that all she wanted was a place where we'd be totally safe. Dad knew mom was bleeding still so he didn't want another encounter with miscarriage.

I've told this story a good number of times, but this time, it hits differently. While nostalgia bears pain, I guess, I'm now coming into an alignment with it. Finally, this year, while I still don't want my photos taken as much as possible, I'm finding my lights and shadows bit by bit. The flash is no longer that much of an eye sore and a heart break. The trigger is no longer too haunting. The sound of the click is a bit more bearable to hear. The film dream in more than 50 shades of black and white and beyond is finally ready to be in the dark room. Or is it because one of the things I'm gonna hunt down in Japan 2024 would be my dream camera and a decent prime lens? HIHIHIHI.

I'm still learning more and more about un-CTRL + ALT + DEL my feelings. It's always a work in progress. In fact, yesterday, I saw my cousin posted a series of photos with my Tito Taurus, the OG Berdugo who's the first to make me his passenger princess with food trip sa tabing-daan on his proudly curated cars -Jeep, L200, Civic, Pajero, Musso and Patrol --all in black with tinted windows (except for the Jeep). It made me cry for a few minutes. Dad comforted me saying that he worked too much so he died too soon. He even added that I should be finishing off my deadlines so that I can have a real leave after so many things that happened especially in Q4.

Towering Tito Taurus taught me to pray even when his sins screamed in scarlet. There were so many times when I stared at him as he touched the rosary on his rear view mirror. I knew he was no saint, but he knew that he is paying for his sins like road rage and hitting the gas pedal too much. His roadtrip indulgence: Going at 180 kph without seatbelts and overtaking huge ass container trucks as he sneered and eventually step on the break. He also pushed me to my limits even when his schedule was too busy. In between his morning coffee, cigs and his daily broadsheet routine, he checked on my progress or the lack of thereof. Until now, his presence and his absence keep me on my toes. Whenever I'm faced with shit stuff which centers my career, I find myself asking: What would Tito do if he was here? I often remember him saying that while he knew I looked up to him, he told me to do better. Choose more wisely. He never mentioned about going after money or status; and I guess that's what I liked best about him. Instead, he told me to make sure I nail down negotiations. At a young age, I was dumbfounded. LOL. But, what I vividly remember are the countless times that he'd trigger debates around topics I don't give a fuck about like world news. I always lose; but he kept these nasty bonding moments coming. I tried running away from these especially during weekends, but Tito would lure me into roadtrips that I would always say yes to. LOL. Gala po talaga ako e. E gala rin Tito ko.

While mom would tell me: Saan ka na naman pupunta at sino na naman kasama mo? Tito would just wink at mom and the rest is history. For the record, I don't have hidden skeletons about my Tito. However, Tito's carino brutal vibe is not joking at all. While driving, he'd find my cheek and kurot to the max. 'Yun lang talaga maambag ko e. I remember telling him to stop a lot which he did, but seeing him find some sense of lessened stress is me compromising my comfort. When I no longer budged, Tito started upping the ante of pinching my cheeks and he wondered why I'm no longer triggered. I told him that I'm totally fine. Later, he outgrew this lambing and told me that I'm no longer a kid and that I have to look after myself better as the big world is coming soon. I didn't know what he meant then. 'Wag daw ako papaapi kahit kanino, kahit saan, kahit kailan. I was dumbfounded yet again, but, said okay. Noted. He told me that should there be any trouble, big or small, he'd be ready to show them who's the real berdugo. Syempre, takot ako kasi Tito shoots na, init ulo pa lagi and protective of me.

If there's a Time-Turner right now, I guess, I'd go back to the days where he asked me to join his work force. LOL. Even for a couple of months, I'd pray and slay it with him. Hug ko pa siya IRL with lambing. LUH.

Naunahan lang talaga ako ng pride and ego because he'd put me right beside him agad. Wala ng explanation. I knew he got more than butt hurt during his official invitation before I graduated which I vehemently rejected. He didn't budge and tried again many times. I saw his eagerness and hatred. LOL. I wanted him to pay for his scarlet sins so badly and so graphically. HAHAHAHA. But, I had to make a choice which is to look after mother dragon. I guess, this is the part I didn't open up to him. He kept telling me that it's time for me to be under his wing so that I can have a career path that's better than him. Sabi pa niya, 'wag ako mag-worry kasi 'di naman same last names namin, so it's easier for him to maneuver his way for me. Truth is that, I purposefully rejected his really logical and generous offer because I wanted to choose more wisely. I knew he hated it and that I am off to a grandiose silent debate with him. If I remember it right, he told me one time: So, diyan ka na lang talaga sa bahay? Ganyan ka na lang talaga? I said yes, flatly. No explanations. (Wala pa kasing WFH option back then. LOL.). Side Note: I had another job offer which was my then dream job so, ego pasok. Kung dream job ko nga, I rejected without mincing a word, siya pa ba? Tabi. Sorry na agad. Mom ko prio ko sa universe ko noon e. I could have been more intentional instead of disproving my Tito with more than one towering white horse with rancho pa at mga lupain. I could have told him that this is me making him proud even when things at home, especially finances and cheating mom's death are too big of KPIs for the newly adult me. I guess, I failed at aligning with him to the core.

That said, may this 2023 and 2024 be bound by intentional alignments. May I choose more wisely without pride, prejudice and of course, my seven-foot ego. May I try to make more stories happen instead of vehemently and creatively rejecting them just because I'm in deep fear of the unknown and my favorite, tabula rasa. May I allow myself to make things better be it weekdays or weekends, too. May I permit the lessons I've graphically learned to take me to places and spaces that would make epic roadtrips and food trips as I carry with me the badge of mother dragon and Tito Taurus. Kaloka. Sana maggawa ko coz, it's time, yes?

[prince-les]

I didn't expect so many people to want to hear about my theory ramble lmao

But here you go, I honestly tried my best to make this as tidy and as easy to read as possible ngl.

As usual, trigger warning: A lot of cursing, I'm getting a little into it, kinda, mentions of biological experiments, mentions of death, and honestly dark stuff in general.

Theory about how Sky Kid are possibly just a current of energy keeping the broken Kingdom 'alive':

So my theory came from the discussion about the experiments that are happening in the Abyss area. I was discussing about how the 'Scientist' there were perhaps trying to biologically modify light creature to unbelievable sizes.

So then I ask myself, "Why would they even want to make mantas bigger?" Which loops to an idea that I heard once, where apparently the Kingdom have been using light creatures as sources of energy. So it would make sense if they have an entire laboratory to research, grow and experiment on light creature in general, right?

Then the talk about energy made me think about the small, diamond shaped trinkets that Sky Kid collected throughout the season. Those are worth a treasure, right? Then I ask myself what the hell are those things anyway?

When you look at the shape it's definitely a diamond, right? And diamond shaped stuff like that are often used to power things up, (door, the elevator in vault, etc).

So then I suddenly remembered this one guy in Sky discord server that said Diamond in general are symbol of power in the Sky Kingdom, like how we use bolts as a symbol of electricity and stuff.

And then THAT got me thinking, aren't Sky Kid's wings are diamond shaped in default? Don't they have a slight, diamond shaped outline around their 'heart'?

So that got me thinking, what if Sky Kid is just a being of 'power'? Not power as in strength that they're really powerful, power as in energy.

What if Sky Kid is a creature of Energy?

What if they're, and the shiny boys (wing lights) are just energies? What if wing lights are the energy and Sky Kid's body are just.. The thing that can contain and carry this energy?

So where does the Sky Kids take their energy to? To the Diamond in Eden.

What happens after they give away their energy? They came back to gather more. What came after they get more? They gave it away again and they get more before giving it away again.

Then my thoughts went back to a few steps back: Electricity.

What if Sky Kid are just energy current used to keep what's left of the Kingdom alive?

What if they're just a current of energy, surging through a specific path, to a specific direction, only to act as a spark of energy to keep the empty world alive?

What if Sky Kid are just fucking batteries made by.. Whoever it is that made them to keep the world running?

Are they alive out there just watching these children running back and forth to face death nearly everyday to keep the remnant of their world alive so that they can return whenever the hell they want after they deemed the world suitable for living?

Then there's also this question about whether Spirit's are actually alive or not. If they're dead, how come their Spirit can interact freely with the Sky Kids? Hell they even ask for their help and stuff and GIVE them more power if Sky Kids reached certain level.

Look I get that they probably doesn't have a say in the whole thing and that they can't really do anything to help the children but.. The whole idea that they CAN'T do anything just made this whole thing more depressing.

I don't know, the thought that these supposed adults just watching children died repetitively to keep their world afloat while they just spectate up there from the Orbit, giving Sky Kids pretty accessories they used to wear when they're alive as a form of 'entertainment' and 'compensation' because they're children just sounds a lot messed up for me.

Don't forget Willy (the giant dark dragon in the Abyss). He was an experiment, possibly an amalgamation of mantas and dark dragon itself that gone rogue. He was put inside an aquarium with observation chamber for God's sake, these are the equivalent of trying to recreate fucking.. Manticore, stuff.

Don't get me started on the possibility their God damn messed up science experiments —

[the-flowercrown-prince]

Ranboo lore from 'Making it feel like home | DreamSMP' - An Extensive Recap

This is a compilation of everything you need to know from Ranboo's stream, prepared by yours truly! It skips over the revival part, since that's been already covered by other people. Enjoy!

Basic summary:

- Once Ranboo, Phil, Eret and Tubbo are back from their mission to get the totems, they all part ways

- Ranboo tells Phil that he'll go to another woodland mansion and get even more

- Upon learning that it's harder than he thought, Ranboo decides to bring Enderchest back from the panic room instead

- On his way he stops by the crater, remarking how he's always been right

- He says that he can't trust Fundy and opens the memory book for the first time this stream. Fundy is in the 'STAY AWAY' section

- He says that he trusts Enderchest a lot

- Soon after Ranboo enters the panic room Dream's voice shows up

- Dream tells Ranboo that he's part of him, and that there's two sides to Ranboo. Dream keeps convincing Ranboo that he was the one to blow up the Community House

- Eventually, Dream tells Ranboo to mine part of the wall. It reveals a hidden chest with two pieces of TNT in it

- Dream tells Ranboo that he also helped Dream with the TNT to blow up L'manberg, and that Ranboo handed Dream his memory book. He tells him to try and remember why

- After Dream's voice leaves Ranboo freaks out, trying to remember. He accepts Dream's words as true, checking the chest

- The screen goes dark and an enderman noise sounds. Soon, an image with Dream's smiley face and Ranboo's crown appears

Here's some more detailed info, split into parts.

Memory book:

'Friends:

There are no changes made to the memory book on stream. Ranboo shows what's inside the book once, and we can see that Page 2 is different. It looks like this:

Phil

Techno

Unsure:

Tubbo

Tommy

STAY AWAY:

Niki

Fundy

Conversation with Dream:

Quackity'

Here's a transcript I made of the last part in the panic room (note that I'm not a professional, so it probably contains mistakes). Dream talks like this and Ranboo talks like this.

Transcipt begins at 03:42:40 and ends at 03:51:53

"Hello"

"Y-you're back?"

"Well, I mean, I never left"

"What do you mean you never left?"

"Well, I mean, I'm in your head, I'm here all the time"

"How long have you been in my head?"

"I mean, forever, I'm just you"

"But... that- that doesn't make any sense though, because why- why now, all of a sudden? Did you just, randomly appear?"

"Well... I mean, you're looking at your book, you're looking at a smile, you're thinking about Dream..."

"Yeah"

"You think about Dream a lot"

"Yeah, I do, because he's the reason why everything is going wrong. He's the reason why there's conflict on this server"

"Mmm... do you really believe that?"

"I mean, yeah. He- if- if it wasn't for Dream everyone- there really wouldn't be that much- like there wouldn't really be one power that everyone would go against"

"Well, what are some of the bad things that Dream has done?"

"I mean, well you- you- or Dream, fights against Tommy and Tubbo all the time, starts wars, blew up L'manberg, the Community House..."

"Well, you blew up the Community House, but Dream- Dream blew up L'manberg but Techno did too, and so did Philza, and you're not complaining about them"

"Well... but the thing is they wouldn't have need- L'manberg wouldn't need to exist if you didn't... you didn't do that, and I didn't blow up the Community House, I know that I didn't do that. Cause there's no way, there's no way that I could've... done that, cause you know that I'm not that type of person"

"Yeah, I know- I know you're not that type of person, but- but you- you did do it. I mean, I'm- I- it's... your memory is just poor"

"But- but, my memory is- my memory is interesting, I remember big stuff, I would've remembered if I blew up the House, I mean-"

"Well, you- you do remember, this is- this is you"

"But- no- y-yeah, but... How? How come you remember stuff that I don't?"

"Well, I think it's- it's complicated"

"Yeah, definitely is"

"Your brain is a funny place"

"Yeah"

"I mean, there's- I see two sides of you"

"No, no, there's no- there- no- I'm- no. You're just- you're just what happens whenever I- whenever I just like panic- this is the panic room, and I've only, I've only talked to you here. So it's obvious that you're not- you're not- it must be- it has to be just something with my past, on why this is happening, there's no way that- you have any reason to be here. But I don't- I don't like- I don't like you here! I'm gonna be honest, really-"

"Well, I'm- I- I'm here all the time, it's just you never open your mind to me unless you're in the panic room. You don't let me talk unless you're in the panic room. You don't listen to me. Even if I scream, you don't listen. Unless you're in this room."

"But I don't- I don't- I don't wanna talk to you. You- you tell me things that you- that you- apparently I did, but I don't- I don't think that I  did those things, I mean- what else have I done, Dream? Because... apparently there's more. There must be more if there is an entire, just-"

"Well, I mean, you helped- you helped Dream with the TNT that he used to blow up L'manberg. You helped Dream blow up the Community House. You helped Techno, you know- survive L'manberg. And he blew up L'manberg as well. And these are some of the things that you're blaming on Dream"

"So I've been... I've been helping Dream?"

"Yeah, you've helped Dream all of the time!"

"No, no, nnnono! I- there's no way that I've been help- Why would I help Dream?"

"You tell me"

"I- Dream is the reason why there's conflict, Dream is the reason why my friends aren't able to just be happy, why would I be helping him this entire time?"

"That's- that's something you should ask yourself"

"I- But- I mean, I am asking myself, if you're- if you're part of me, then I am asking myself right now!"

"You're asking the wrong part of yourself"

"But-"

"Mine the wall"

"Mine the wall? What do you mean mine the wall?"

"Just mine the wall"

"Okay... What is this? What is it? What is this? I-"

"Open it"

"No, no, this is- this ca- no! There's no way that I helped with this! My friends aren't able to be happy, because of- because of Dream, there's no way that I've helped him!"

"You're friends with everybody. You're the one who said you don't want to pick a side"

"Yeah, but- I mean, there's a difference between just- not being on Dream's side- not- I can- I can be on Dream's side without helping him blow up things"

"I mean- you didn't help him, you did it yourself"

"Wait, so you're saying that I did these things- just solo?"

"Well, no. You did the Community House solo."

"But- but why would I just randomly do that? Cause I mean- obviously, I must've been- if I did that, then I'd be working with Dream, because... there's no way that I would just do that on my own"

"I'm sure you had your reasons, but... you don't remember them now. I mean, how did- how did Dream get your- get your memory book?"

"I don't know. I- I can't remember why"

"I can tell you why. It's cause you handed it to him."

"Why would I do that...? I- I wouldn't do that, but- Why would I give him the book to my own demise? Cause... they all see me as a traitor now. They're always gonna see me- even though they know that- even though if they say that they don't see me as a traitor, they're gonna remember. They're gonna remember that I'm a traitor- why would I give him the book that makes everyone turn against me?"

"You just have to try and remember why. You have to think. You have to remember. Just remember. Remember. Remember. Remember."

"Can't- I can't remember. I can't, I- I don't know how to remember, I don't- I don't- and he's gone again. And he's gone again. I've really betrayed everyone. There's no way that I could've done all of that. I've betrayed people more than I think. I can't remember. I can't, I- come on! Think! Think! Please! Just think, just think! No, okay- well- No, that was just- that was- that wasn't rea- That wasn't real- No, that wasn't- that- It couldn't be real, it couldn't be real. No, I didn't- I didn't do that! Come on, think! Think! Think! Please! Please just think, just think! Come on, please, please! Think! Why can't you think? Why can't you think right now?! Please!"

The ending:

Once Ranboo stops talking there's an enderman noise. After a while 'Fallen Down' from Undertale's OST starts playing and keeps playing until the stream ends.

Then this image appears and covers the entire screen. It flickers and animates, wavering slightly. After a bit text saying 'Thanks for watching :)' is placed under it.

In the last 15 seconds Ranboo comes back and says that he'll see the audience in the stream tomorrow. Then it ends.

[fragileizywriting]

bad day blues

pairing: Luka / Marinette (Viperion / Multimouse) word count: 10,418 chapter: 1/1 rating: E summary: “How is it that I can sling myself across rooftops for years, day and night, but I can’t even walk in a straight line once I’m out of my suit and end up spraining an ankle?” “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Mousey. That’s not good for you.” “I wish I wasn’t such a klutz.” “You’re not.” Luka kisses the top of her head as a punctuation to his words. “You just had a bad day, that’s all.” “One of the worsts in a while,” Marinette nods into his shirt. “Luka? Could you make it better for me?” He laughs. “And you call me the insatiable one, little mouse.” Her eyes sparkle. “Who was the one that jumped me when I was going to go shower after my pool trip with my friends? One look at me in a towel and suddenly my boyfriend’s hands are all on me— sounds pretty insatiable, if you ask me.” AO3 | Start Here To Read The Whole 'Out of The Closet' Series! | Previous Fic in Series | Next Fic in Series

Here's some more Lukanette! Don't worry, there's plenty more incoming, too. This series is so wonderful to write, I'm having so much fun!!! Especially since Luka is my favorite character 🥺

Enjoy <3

She’s having a bad day.

Like, a really bad day.

There is that whole cake ordering business that her parents live off of, that she helps out with. She’s rolled so much fondant out that her arms hurt, and they’re barely attached to her body when she’s rushing out of the door to get to her class when the second bad part of the day happens.

She spills coffee all over herself.

Well, it isn’t her coffee. Her dad’s been getting into the habit of walking around the bakery and the pantry with his mug she got for him for his birthday, a delicate piece of ceramic that is absolutely dwarfed by her father’s large hands. She’d knocked into him while scarfing down some breakfast of her own, where she’d tried to get bits and pieces of it into her mouth while rolling out fondant for that particular eight-tiered cake that is surely going to be the death of her that she still has to pipe and decorate when she gets back from class.

Her blouse is stained, and it’s warm. It doesn’t seep far into her shirt, because her dad presses his apron right on the stain to soak up as much moisture as possible, but she yelps anyway out of sheer instinct.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“I’m fine! I’m so sorry for making you spill your coffee, baba. Are you okay?” She waves him off with a little smile. These things happen, it’s okay. Besides, smelling like coffee isn’t the end of the world. It isn’t the smell of a particularly expensive perfume, but she can hardly say no to smelling like coffee when she’s lived at a bakery for the entirety of her life.

“I ran into you, sweetheart, not the other way around,” Her dad shakes his head. “Go change your shirt while I get you some packed food to take with you to school for you and Mullo.”

“Thank you! I’ll be right back.” She kisses him on the cheek, making sure to stay clear away from his mug. She rushes up the stairs, trying her best not to accidentally tear her skirt, but isn’t as delicate to her blouse as she could be. The side rips open. She squeaks while getting it off. “Oh, no! I just bought this!”

“Oh! Is everything okay?” Mullo peeks out from the little cubby Marinette’s made into her own little room.

“Yeah— I’m okay! These things happen, don’t worry. I’m just going to change my shirt into something better and then we can head out, okay?” She snaps open a drawer, tossing her soiled top into the laundry bin near her desk. She’s not opposed to wearing other shirts with this particular skirt, but… she really likes wearing that peter pan collar. This is fine. A normal button-up will go fine with the skirt, even though now she looks a lot more formal than she wants to be.

It’s a good thing her bra is nude-colored. She’s already in a rush as it is.

She hasn’t learned a single thing since school was at a walking distance, clearly, because she’s rushing to get to the metro, running back down the stairs, tugging her backpack over her shoulder with Mullo zipping into the pocket of her skirt, and kissing her dad goodbye and thanking him for the food— all the while trying her best to go over the list of things she needed to do before heading off to class.

Feed Mullo, though the little mouse can definitely go scavenging for blueberries whenever she wants. And yet… Mullo starts to whisper that she’s hungry the moment Marinette makes it down the stairs of the metro and goes pawing for her metrocard. She’s grateful that she’s placed a small container of fresh blueberries inside her backpack, with even a portion of small chocolate chips in the screw-top compartment of the container, just for the little mouse— and the small kwami is giggling and back to being happy before Marinette can even blink.

She looks for her metrocard. It’s on the inside of her phone case, which is good, so she’s able to go through the ticket booth with no problem— thank goodness. She doesn’t need another stressor for the day— but she needs to make sure she repays the bill for her monthly pass before the next month arrives so that she isn’t late trying to pay for it the day of, and hopefully she can remember this thought for long enough to write it into her agenda so she doesn’t forget during the week.

Oh, gooseberries. Hopefully she’s not late.

She checks the time on her phone once she’s safely situated inside a subway car, only to look at the turned-off screen with a confused noise. She tries turning on her phone but blinks with so much confusion when the black screen refuses to light.

Wasn’t one of the things on her list to make sure that her phone was charged last night?

What in the world happened to her phone battery?

She tries to think about it, pinning down that the only real reason it would be out of battery would be if Mullo wanted to use it to watch videos or listen to music while Marinette was asleep.

She makes sure to unzip her bag, peering down at the little mouse kwami with inquisitive eyes, trying to understand why her only communication device isn’t charged, speaking in a hushed voice to not alert anyone in the subway car with her. “Lolo, did you watch videos last night?”

Mullo is asleep. At least she remembered to put the lid back onto the container, which is some good news. Marinette can’t feel too upset, looking at the little creature. It’s a good thing she packed her bag and made sure to grab her portable charger— it’s not often that Mullo gets in the habit of overusing Marinette’s phone— but she’s always prepared, just in case. Mullo likes texting Sass, too, though all their texts look like gibberish to her and Luka whenever they try to reread it.

She opens the front pocket zipper with the cute little mouse charm attached to the handle and freezes.

This isn’t her school backpack.

She’s not sure how it didn’t dawn on her before, but this isn’t the right backpack at all.

The only thing it has is a plastic bag with her swimsuit she’d used during the weekend— it’s not exactly dry, given that it’s been in the baggy for at least four days since she’d come back from the pool with her friends. That’s strange— she’s not one to just drop her bag off to the side and not put away her stuff— so, what gives? She chews on her nail while she thinks about what could’ve possibly distracted her from hanging up her swimsuit and letting it dry, and stopped her from putting away this particular backpack, and squeaks to herself when she remembers.

Oh. Right. That’s right.

Viperion had shown up in her room just as she was going to go take a shower— having completed patrol on his own because he wanted her to have fun with friends and go swimming— and since her boyfriend is somehow allergic to learning how to swim, he’d happily shoved her out of the house with the pretense of keeping Paris safe while she relaxes for once in her life— no wonder she’d been so distracted and completely forgot about the backpack.

He’s so insatiable, nowadays, wanting to spend so much time with her that it’s completely pointless to try to keep clothes on around him. He’d taken one good look at her while she was making her way to her bathroom tucked into her towel and had decided to wash her himself— joining her in the shower without even taking his suit off.

She knows that their hexleather is water-resistant— but she didn’t know that it’s enough to keep water from completely entering his suit.

He’d cleaned her inside and out— pressed her up against the bathroom tiles, hopeful that she would keep quiet, as Viperion slicked two fingers inside of her.

The hexagonal grooves on their suits had never been something she’d even considered until now— it was obsession at first touch, in all honesty.

Her back is filled with love bites and possessive teeth marks that make her toes curl in her shoes when she thinks about it more, or remembers it whenever she brushes up against her shoulders. Not to mention she feels a comfortable full-body ache when he finally slips away to go home— she’d spent the rest of that afternoon in bed, curled up, dreaming of the day the two of them can always wake up next to each other.

She shifts in her seat, feeling damp and uncomfortable. She misses him already.

But all of that means… her school backpack is still at home. And she’s carrying nothing except her wet swimsuit, instead of her agenda and planner and notebooks and sketchbooks and pens.

Oh, sugarcubes.

It’s fine, though. These things happen. Sometimes no matter how much she plans and prepares, the universe sometimes throws her for a loop, and that’s okay. A good planner knows how to plan for things going wrong— even if she doesn’t want it to happen in the first place.

In all honesty, this is probably not what Luka meant when he said to let things flow and don’t let things bother her, but it is kind of hard to stop her tendencies to want to plan for the worse.

Okay, so how does she fix this?

She has a lecture that starts in about twenty minutes that she can technically skip out on and go back home to grab her things, assuming she switches subways at the next stop. Since she’ll be late, she might as well change out of her clothes, too, into something much more suited for her. She doesn’t like wearing button-downs— especially since, oh, gooseberries, it looks like she’s missed out on about three buttons and gotten her neckline skewed. There’s no point in even fixing it, as long as she’s able to tuck her miraculous back underneath her shirt without someone seeing it.

What else does she need to do?

Well, she definitely needs to make sure she gets the right backpack the next time she slips through the door. Make sure to bring another container of blueberries, too— she never knows when there’ll be another Akuma, and of all things to not be worried about, this is something she’ll never stop.

Everything will be okay. No worries. The lecture wasn’t that important, she’s sure of it.

The moment she makes that same thought, the subway car slows to a crawl. The lights in the car flicker, and she looks around to the other passengers, hopeful to see anyone who has any idea of what’s going on.

Everyone looks nonchalant. They probably assume it’s an Akuma, at this point.

“We are having technical difficulties,” The subway car emits a tinny, metallic little noise from the speakers near the doors. “Please stay calm and wait while we fix it.”

Marinette groans. Okay, maybe she’ll be late for a lot more than just her first class. This is fine. Things happen. Things like this just happen— she just needs to relax about it. At least it’s not an Akuma— and it’s not like she can be blamed for the subway being stuck.

There’s just nothing to entertain her, though. No pencil, no pen, no paper to doodle and keep her occupied. No phone to listen to music or keep her busy. Just her, the plastic bag with her swimsuit in it, a sleeping kwami, her breakfast, and half a container of chocolate chips. She might as well start eating now, since there’s nothing else to do— eat and think about her boyfriend’s pretty blue eyes.

-*-

She has— well, had— a pop quiz in her missed lecture.

Worth twenty percent of her grade.

She stumbles into the classroom after everyone’s starting to clear out, looking for the professor and her continuously bored glare she gives to the class on the regular. “Uhm, excuse me— sorry, I didn’t attend class today because of the metro—”

“You can’t make it up.” Her professor says, collecting a thick stack of paper into her briefcase. The only professor she’s ever met to actually use a genuine briefcase— it makes her look more like a lawyer and less like an introduction to fashion history professor.

“Make it up?” Marinette blinks, confused. “Make up— make up what, exactly? I wasn’t in class.”

“The quiz. Twenty percent of the grade, of course, because no one in class was answering my questions today for some reason.” Because Marinette’s the one who usually answers for everyone, of course. No one stepped in, probably, because they were most likely too comfortable with her answers to actually come up with one of their own. “You missed out on the quiz. You can’t make it up.”

“Oh.” That’s fine. Things happen. Sometimes the universe just throws curveballs— her grade in this class won’t suffer. “Uhm. Is— is that all I missed?”

Her professor gives her a good look. There’s something in her dull, tired eyes, like she registers who Marinette is in the class— and what she brings to the lecture hall. “I’m going to give you the homework, even though I technically shouldn’t. You’re a good student— you’ve never been late to class— and definitely never missed an entire lecture. And today, without your questions, it was completely and totally quiet.”

“Oh.” She repeats. “Th— uhm. Thank you.”

She pulls out another stack of papers, handing her a stapled group of paper from the top. It looks ridiculously thick— as in— maliciously thick. Maybe at least thirty pages. “Here’s the homework. Make sure to finish it by next class.”

One week to finish the assignment. No problem. She can do that.

“Of course,” Marinette breathes, slightly overwhelmed, looking over the title of the assignment. She has no idea where to begin— the lecture today must’ve been all about it. Maybe she can find one of her classmates and ask about it? Although, she’s never really made a friend here before… “Thank you very much.”

“Don’t make it a habit to skip,” The professor calls out to her as she leaves through the door.

“Understood,” Marinette mutters under her breath. The strap of her kitten heels breaks when she runs her foot too close along the doorframe as she leaves behind her. She trips, falling into her second person with a coffee today, spilling all over her shirt again. This time, it’s cold— it’s an iced latte, of course, and ice cubes fall down her collar and into her shirt, and pain blistering up her ankle.

She tries to walk it off, she really does, but it ultimately just collapses back onto the floor the moment she tries to put pressure on it. Mullo comes out of hiding when she makes sure that there’s no one around, asking if Marinette’s okay— and all she can do is just smile at the little kwami, trying her best not to wince.

Today just isn’t her day, is it?

-*-

By the time an Akuma actually comes around, and tries to do damage in the city of Paris, Multimouse is running on fumes from how close she is to breaking down.

She’s weaved and dodged most of the attacks, relying on her rope to get out of the way. Her ankle doesn’t hurt as much when in the suit, of course, because the magical properties of the miraculous make it so that they focus on the fight first than anything else. She can put her weight on it, which is the good news— and that’s enough for her to walk and run and jump rope when she needs to.

Seeing Viperion is such a blessing. She hasn’t been able to text him much all day, aside from the vague ‘good morning’ text she sent when she finally managed to get her phone to turn on— she’s been too busy to respond to all of the texts he’s sent throughout the day.

Hopefully, she can talk to him after the fight is over. She needs a little bit of downtime.

But she can’t exactly focus on how thankful she is to see him when she’s in the middle of weaseling out of the Akumas grabby hands. She tucks and weaves, snaps her rope out like a whip when she needs to, and does her best to roll out of the way of the Akuma that falls into their trap using the Liberty that sends him spiraling across the city with it. Viperion is nearly on the other side of the city taking care of the sentimonster when she feels her ankle start to blister in pain again, indicating that she’s putting far too much stress on the ankle for even magic to make it stop hurting.

By the time they’ve got the Akuma purified, the sentimonster dealt with, and the victim is in safe care with the social worker from the workforce that’s been assigned to assist people who have just been Akumatized— Multimouse can barely stand up. She chooses, instead, to keep sitting down on the lip of the sidewalk between a couple of parked cars, her legs spread out in front of her, trying her best to seem like she’s just out of breath. She keeps her right boot completely straight, hopeful to not put any more strain on her ankle, but lets her left boot sag against the asphalted road, and tries her hardest not to hide her face in her hands.

Viperion makes his way back to her after he’s done talking to the social worker.

“Mousey?”

“Hi, Vai,” She speaks into her gloves. Some battles are just too difficult for her to focus on, and trying to keep herself from doing something just isn’t worth the effort anymore. “That was a tough one, huh?”

He sits down next to her, shoulder to shoulder. There’s probably not enough space for him in between the cars, since his shoulders are wide, but he makes the effort anyway. Besides, if it’s truly that bothersome, all he has to do is give a gentle push to the car next to him— the miraculous suits give them extra strength, after all— but even without the suit, he’d probably be able to push it forward. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” She leans into him. “I missed you so much.”

“You didn’t text me today like you usually do,” He murmurs into her hair. He’s a thick wall of heat right next to her, and she’s so thankful for him like usual. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is— it’s fine— I’m sorry. I forgot to charge my phone last night, and Mullo was watching videos while I slept, so my phone just went kaput.” She smiles in her hands when he makes a noise meaning that he understands exactly what she means. “I only got to text you when my phone was back on. I’m just tired, really. I’m not having a good day.”

The road is going to be populated soon with whatever foot traffic it usually has, now that the Akuma’s been taken care of. They need to probably get up to higher ground before the people of Paris come out to ask for autographs or selfies— and, okay.

She wants to give everyone the best treatment possible, of course, but she’s in absolutely no condition to do that like this. Definitely not like this.

It’ll be better for everyone’s comfort if she doesn’t stay around to listen to what people have to say about the fight— she’s Paris’s sweetheart, she knows, but if anyone says anything remotely negative in her direction, she’s pretty sure she’ll start crying.

Not to mention that if she hears anything bad about Viperion, she’ll start crying while beating civilians off with a ten-foot pole. She’s not in the mood at all to continue behaving like the sweet little Parisian Princess today— she can’t do it.

“Are you stressed out?”

“Yes. Very much. Ironically, the Akuma was my break from stress. Imagine that?”

He laughs. It’s a loving noise, usually, but there seems to be an edge to it this time. “Do you want me to help you with that? I think I saw an alley over there. Let me help you relax.”

She steams red behind her gloves. Oh, she knows exactly what he means— and, well, the answer is always yes. “Yes— but maybe not here. People are going to show up, soon, and I’m already in pain as it is—”

Viperion looks at her. She can tell because her face starts to prickle underneath her gloves. “Pain?”

She takes a deep breath, looking up at him. His hair is starting to curl around his neck, it’s so lovingly him that she can’t help but comb her fingers into his hair and smooth it back. The confusion on his face morphs into contentment as she takes her time brushing his bangs back, getting a good look at what the top of his domino mask looks like. “Nothing’s wrong— things are fine. Everything is fine. Sometimes things happen, and we can’t control all of it.”

Liquid golden eyes look back at her when she’s done petting through his hair and, he— he smiles at her. Really smiles at her— he knows that she’s trying to repeat the quotes and virtues that he usually says to himself. His smile makes his domino mask crinkle, the scales on his hexleather shimmering turquoise and green, and it’s not exactly a front when she smiles back at him. “That’s true. Sometimes things happen that we can’t control, even if we really try, but sometimes we can fix whatever is hurting us. So what really happened, Mousey?”

“Just a bad day,” She uses her left foot to brush against his, taking her hands back from his hair to follow the scale pattern on his chest. The muscles underneath are no illusion— he’s truly that filled out. She likes physical contact with him, just as much as he loves physical contact with her— and she finds a certain kind of sweetness in the way he leans just slightly into her touch as she traces his collarbone. “I’m not kidding— I’ve been having a really bad day.”

“The Akuma didn’t help all that much, huh?”

She cups his cheeks with her palms. She can’t feel him, because her fingers are covered in protective hexleather, but it means all the same to her when she presses their foreheads together, smooshing their bangs against one another. “I don’t know about that. I’m getting to see you, after all— I love being able to see you, Vai.”

His eyes twinkle as he laughs, giving her a kiss. “Stand up for me? I want to check if you’re missing any body parts.”

“What? I’m not missing anything.” She finds herself laughing at the strange request. “See? Look: I have my two arms, my two legs. Tail is still here, and so is my miraculous.”

“I don’t know about that,” His face is oddly serious, even as she continues to giggle. “Wiggle your fingers for me so I know they’re still there.”

“Vai,” She makes a face as she laughs. When he implores her, she rolls her eyes, twiddling her fingers in the air. “Told you.”

“All ten fingers?”

“I think so,” She breaks into a grin. What is this man on about?

“Let’s see.” He takes her hands in his, bringing every single finger up to his mouth so he can count them with a kiss. “One. Two.”

“Oh my gooseberries. Vai,” She giggles hard enough for her shoulders to shake.

“Don’t make me lose count, Mousey, this is important. Three, four—”

“How did I get so lucky to have you?”

“I think it’s the other way around, honestly. Five, six— how did I get so lucky to have you?”

“By treating me like this,” She can’t help but bite her lip when he makes it past seven and eight. “By treating me so sweetly.”

“Sue me, little mouse. I like treating my girlfriend well. Nine, and ten.” At the tenth finger, he kisses where her fingernail would be, then her knuckle, then the back of her hand. He kisses up her arm, too, all the way up to her shoulder as she snorts and giggles, until he tilts his head and kisses her against the jaw, finally completing his quest and kisses her softly on the lips— she melts. He keeps the kiss soft, though— and if her ankle wasn’t rolled, she’d honestly climb into his lap for more than just something so chaste. She deserves it, after this horrible day— and he always makes her feel loved and comforted. “I think your hands are okay.”

“You think so?” She feels a little dopey from the kiss.

“Move your feet, too, so I can figure out if your legs are still attached.”

She moves her left foot only, letting her right boot rest. Instead, she pulls up her right leg, hoping to look like she’s just switching up her sitting position, but that’s enough for Viperion to break eye contact with her and look at her knee. “See?”

But he’s smarter than that. “Ah, there it is. So you did injure yourself during the fight?”

“No. I— uhm— no. Not during the fight.” She’s not lying, but her smile dies down as a quiet contemplation morphs on his face. “It’s— I’m fine, Vai, honestly, I’m okay. My ankle will be fine after some ice, I’m sure—”

“Oh, Mousey.” He looks hurt for her, immediately swiveling in his seat to look her over. He grabs gently for both of her legs, lifting them up to place in his lap, and gently starts to move her foot at the ankle back and forth.

The first leg is the good one, so she barely even reacts— let alone blinks— to him swiveling her ankle around and testing the elasticity. But her bad ankle— oh— it’s enough to make her start to squirm.

His eyebrows pinch when she continuously flinches, her half-sentient tail batting against the asphalt behind her as she tries her hardest not to cry out in pain. He supports the back of her ankle with his palm, and doesn’t let her foot rotate when he puts her leg back in his lap. “When did this happen, baby girl?”

“It happened at school,” She hides her face back into her gloves. “Just the cherry on top, honestly. I fell and twisted my foot. I thought I was okay, but— I can’t walk in my civilian form.”

“School? And you fought the Akuma while injured? Oh, Mousey— I’m so sorry, I wouldn’t have let you stay alone with the Akuma if I had known. What else happened? Tell me what’s wrong.” She feels the gentle pressure of his thumb against her calf, even through the hexleather. “Maybe I can help you. I sure want to try, at least.”

Why is he so gentle with her? Why is Viperion always so sweet and soft to her— kind and loyal?

She knows why— there is the whole ‘they’re dating’ part of the answer— but honestly, how did it get this way? When did Viperion become the boy she fights crime with, day or night, live or die— to the man who snags her just before her showers, who makes it a habit to make her toes curl every time he sees her, who is happiest when she cuddles and routinely hides in his bed with? How in the world has she gotten this lucky?

How? How did she get so lucky to have a man so conditioned to care about her?

Why did he ever fall in love with someone like her— someone who needs everything to be in its place or else she has a nervous breakdown? Someone that loses her demeanor when there’s even a slightest mistake, because everything needs to be perfect or it’s not worth doing at all and— and— why would he even stay with someone like her like this? Why? She’s completely the opposite of him— so— why does he stay and deal with someone so completely different than him in every single aspect?

The thought is enough to make her cry— and— oh— that’s it, really. That’s what makes her push over the edge and start hiccuping into her hands, tears falling down her cheeks. “Oh—”

“Mousey, it’s okay. Shh. Your ankle will get fixed up in no time, okay? We can fix this.”

“I’m sorry,” She says, more to herself than anything else, gesturing to her leg before hiding back in her hands. She sags against him so easily when he pulls her onto his lap. “I’m sorry— I’m so sorry, Vai. It’s not just— just the ankle— I’m just—”

“I know.”

“And— such a bad day—”

“Breathe, Mousey,” He traces circles against her back.

She gasps for breaths between sobs. “And I just— I really did try to not let it get to me— I really tried—”

“You did very good. You are doing very good.”

“It really hurts, Vai, I’ve never rolled my foot before, it’s so painful— and I know I’m going to be in more pain when I’m out of the suit. I’m so exhausted, Vai— today has been so difficult.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Where does she begin? “So much coffee on my shirt, I smell like an espresso machine—”

He listens to her ramblings, even if they don’t make any sense without the full context. He’s gentle when he shifts her even closer, making sure that her foot doesn’t hit up against the car next to them, tucking her in next to his collarbone and letting her cry it all out. His chest is so warm against her. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

“And then the subway— and I don’t have more blueberries for Lolo right now because she ate them all already, even after I went back home and refilled her cup—”

“We can get more in my house, it’s okay. All the blueberries Mullo could want.”

“And I was also stuck in the subway for two full hours with just a swimsuit—”

“You went on the subway with only a swimsuit on?” He makes a face. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“In my bag,” She explains, even if it doesn’t make much sense, sniffling around her gloves. “I mean— I picked up the wrong backpack— the wrong bag— before leaving the house and it was just my swimsuit in there— the subway got stuck and I thought it was because of an Akuma so I was just—”

“Take a breath, Mousey.”

She sucks in a breath, trying to fill her lungs in all the way, before the inevitable fresh wave of tears that she continues to border on. “And I— I couldn’t— even text you. I couldn’t, because my battery was out— and I was underground— and— oh, sugarcubes, I was so bored— I just kept coming up with more and more ways to sneak off the train without being seen because there was nothing else to do and I ended up overthinking everything.”

Everything. All of it. Every single thing. If she’s doing well in school— if what she’s trying to get a degree in is even worth it— if she’s wasting her time not focusing on defeating Hawkmoth— if Viperion even finds her necessary in fights. After all, most of what she does is just a distraction for him to get close and defeat the Akuma— but there’s not really a genuine need for her since all he has to do is move his ouroboros miraculous over to the side and turn back time and do whatever needs to be done, right?

“I thought about how you’re so much better without me during Akuma battles— I thought how much of a klutz I am— I thought about how I always have these nervous breaks whenever something goes wrong and you always just deal with them and I wish I could just stop worrying about every little thing without making it into a thing— and— and—”

Gentle hands make it to her wrist, and she looks up, sniffling and biting her lip. Viperion’s smile looks soft on his face as he wipes away her tears— golden eyes looking at her like she’s the most important thing in the world. He kisses her forehead, her cheeks— her nose, too— all in favor of getting a smile back onto her face. “None of that is true, okay? There’s no need to overthink about any of it anymore. You’re okay, you’re here— exactly where I need you to be. You are the entire reason why Paris is safe every day— I’m just here to keep you company, in all honesty. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known, little mouse, and I absolutely cannot do any of this without you.”

Amazing woman? Has he met his own mother before? “But— what about your family—”

“I’m aware of what I’ve said,” He smiles. “I don’t deal with your problems, we deal with our problems. You getting worked up about something is something we both work on together— I’m not going to let you suffer alone when you’re nervous about something.”

She blinks slowly at him, her lashes damp and full of tears, only being able to offer him a watery and a heartful: “Oh.”

He nods, encouraging her to smile back. “Everything’s going to be fine, just like it always is, okay?  You’re not a klutz. You’re doing great. Everything is going to be fine.”

“But—”

“Breathe, Mousey. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

She looks at him in the eyes, her breath slowing down, looking around them to see just how empty the street is. It’s an unpopulated street to begin with, so there are only a couple of shops at the corners, nowhere near them where they sit in between the cars, catching their breath from the battle. “I’m— I’m going to be okay. I am okay.”

“You’re okay.” He nods, smiling gently, taking her hands in his.

“I’m— I’m fine.” She takes another breath. She still feels watery, still feels like a wet sponge, but it’s a little easier to breathe. “Sometimes days just don’t go my way, no matter how much I plan for it.”

“Good, good— but you’re forgetting the second half of that.”

“The second half?”

“For every day that it happens, whenever your days don’t go right, I’ll be right here for you to cry on because you and I have always been a team.” He kisses her bangs, smoothing his gloves at the back of her head, behind the buns in her hair. “As much as I don’t like seeing you cry, baby girl, I know that I’d rather see that, than have you bottle it up inside.”

She sniffles, giving him a little smile when he pulls away to gauge her reaction. “Thank you, Vai.”

“I love you.” He kisses her on the lips again.

“I love you, too.” She ducks her head as a blush stains her cheeks underneath her domino mask. “Oh, I’m— I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For crying on you and turning this into a mess.”

“My girlfriend seeking out comfort from me— what a scandal, little mouse,” He teases with a flash of his fangs. “How dare my Mousey want reassurance from me.”

She has the reflex to giggle, even though there’s a bit of tears still trying to make its way down her face. “It’s probably not what you had in mind for today, huh?”

“All I had was work today,” He wipes at her cheek again. “The Akuma is always unpredictable, but it’s not like your parents don’t know why I have to leave the register when our phones start to ding with the Akuma notification, right? And I’m always thinking of you, so, in a way this is sort of what I had in mind.”

She kisses him. It’s not as quick as it should be— it definitely isn’t as innocent as it has to be, given that they’re in public and they haven’t technically told the public yet that Viperion and Multimouse are more than just a duo, not to even mention that they’re a lot, lot more than a duo now, if her wandering hands are any indication— but she breaks away just before she has the urge to shift her position on him, laughing softly when he narrows his eyes at her. “We should— uhm— probably go back, right? Your mom is probably calling your phone right now, asking why in heaven’s name you picked the Liberty for the trap location— Alya will be here any moment now to ask things for the Ladyblog.”

“Hmm? What did you say? I was too busy living in the moment of hearing you laugh again. Such a sweet melody.” He looks back up to her from looking at her ankle. She has no idea what’s going on in that head of his— and it bothers her, because she so desperately wants to know, even as he gives her a wink and a smile.

She’s so thankful for this man. So ridiculously thankful.

She bites her lip to stop herself from smiling harder. “We need to go. Out of here. And I need a favor.”

“I’ll do whatever you need, Mousey. What is it?”

“I need you to marry me.”

His eyes widen, completely caught off guard. “What?”

“I mean— I mean carry—” She gasps, hiding her hands behind her mouth. “Oh gooseberries— I’m so sorry. Sorry! I meant carry, I promise! Slip of the tongue, oh sugarcubes— I’m so sorry— that’s not what I meant at all.”

“Breathe, Mousey, come on.” He snorts so hard that he has to hide his face behind his hands, shoulders shaking in mirth. “Obviously I’ll carry you. That’s without question— I’m not letting you walk like that. Come on, let’s get you back home.”

-*-

Marinette’s finally sleeping by the time he’s back into her room.

They’ve wrapped and bandaged her foot, kept it elevated and out of the way for her. She sleeps soundly, even as he struggles with her trap door to not make any noise. He’s not good at being quiet when he really tries— the universe is always out to get him whenever he tries to do something quietly. Or maybe he just gets too self-aware of himself.

“How’s she doing, Sass?”

“She’s been sleeping for the whole time since you brought her home,” The little kwami answers just as softly. There’s a couple of doll-sized lounge chairs on her nightstand, as well as a small little dining table with a couple of cushioned seats— it looks like a playset, in all honesty, but they’re the perfect size for the two kwamis to sit and eat away at their food.

Sass looks like he’s finished with his eggs, which is good to see. Mullo is still working on her blueberries, chewing through each one almost anxiously as the two kwamis watch Marinette rest. He’s never known just how many blueberries is enough for Mullo, so he’d grabbed a heavy container full of it and put it in a small basket to keep her entertained.

“Is her foot going to be okay?” Mullo squeaks out.

“She’ll be fine,” Luka sits on the floor to be at eye level with the kwamis. He takes a couple of berries in his hands to snack on in order to have something to do. “She’s never hurt her ankle before, so it’ll heal up fast. Master Fu wrapped it up for her, after all— her uncle wouldn’t lie, would he?”

Both kwamis nod in agreement.

“I feel like this is all my fault,” The little mouse makes a face. “I should’ve helped her today, I shouldn’t have been quiet the entire time. Maybe things wouldn’t have gotten this bad. Maybe I could’ve told her she was taking the wrong bag— or maybe I could’ve remembered to plug in her phone. I fell asleep watching videos on mermaid history, I’m pretty sure— I don’t think the videos were worth her twisting her foot.”

Sometimes kwami and holder are really alike, huh? Even the face that Mullo makes is so reminiscent of Marinette, it’s incredible— he tries his best not to smile lovingly but can’t help himself. “It isn’t your fault at all, Mullo. There’s no point in thinking about what you should’ve done— all of it has already happened. It’s okay.”

“She’s never gotten injured like this before for as long as I’ve known her— and you said earlier that she hasn’t torn any muscles since I was given to Luka. Her ankle will heal before you know it.” Sass is quick to pet his friend’s arm. “But until then, she definitely won’t be able to act should an Akuma arrive.”

The room goes silent again as the three of them settle back into what they were doing. Sass is curled up, of course, enjoying the luxury of the little doll chair that is stuffed to the brim with cotton and sewn expertly shut. The dollhouse furniture looks well-loved, though— he’s under the assumption that Marinette most likely bought second-hand miniature sets for Mullo to play house in when she had first been given the mouse miraculous. There’s no dollhouse in sight around anymore, but the bookcase near Marinette’s bed still has two cubbies empty in favor of a little curtain pulled open to reveal two fake little rooms.

There’s a little closet rack full of little clothes. There are hats lined up against the bookshelf wall with two slits on the sides to make space for Mullo’s ears. There’s a doll bed with a blanket and a cushion— there’s a couch and potted plants all made out of felted material in order to decorate the space. A rug, too, underneath all the furniture.

All of these little trinkets and toys, so loved and cared for by a young girl and the love she has for her mouse— now something cherished by a young woman. “You know, I’ve always wanted to ask— how long have you two known her?”

“The Cheng family has always kept the miraculouses safe,” Mullo bites into another blueberry. “We’ve been passed down for generations.”

“Well, usually. Master Fu is the guardian right now, but he’s making sure that Marinette is the next guardian.”

“I know that, yes— but I meant Marinette specifically. How long have you two known Marinette?” He turns to her, wondering if she’s in any pain. The inflammatories must be working well in her system because there’s nothing on her face that indicates that her foot’s been wrapped and bandaged to stay still.

“We’ve known her ever since she was little. About eight years old, maybe? All of the kwamis loved playing house with her— the little princess was always so sweet and lovable. Growing up an only child was really lonely for her, so we played with her whenever we could.” The dollhouse furniture makes a lot more sense now. “You name it, we played it. Hide and seek, dollhouse, tea time, dress up— princess and the knight, too.”

Of course Marinette would’ve made them little clothes, how could she have resisted? The idea is adorable.

“Kaalki would frequently run away from Master Fu’s place in order to come play with her. Who could blame him? I for one loved it when it was tea time. Princess always made deviled eggs, just for me.” Sass slips his eyes shut to sleep. He always gets tired after eating his share of eggs following an Akuma attack— Luka’s thankful he works at a bakery, where eggs are plenty.

Sass is out like a light.

Mullo giggles to herself, holding a giant blueberry between her two paws, turning to him in her little chair, speaking as quietly as possible. Marinette may be asleep for longer, but Sass’s hearing is always so sensitive— they don’t want to wake either of them up. “I just ended up being the lucky one that got to stay with her. All of the other kwamis were really upset when they heard that I was her permanent friend— especially Kaalki. They all loved playing with her. We’re sure that Plagg and Tikki will love her, once we find them again.”

So much history between Marinette and the kwamis. No wonder Sass was so happy when they’d finally revealed their identities to one another. “Hey, Mullo— how come she didn’t tell me about her ankle?”

“She didn’t want to worry you.” Mullo replies in her soft, tiny voice. “You both needed to focus on the Akuma first.”

But in the end, she’d hurt herself. What he wouldn’t give to second-chance her ankle back to normal— but it’s been hours, not minutes, since it happened.

He takes his time eating the handful he’s picked from Mullo’s basket. The blueberry is sweet in his mouth, and tasteful, and something quiet to do while he looks at Marinette’s sleeping form. She’s working herself too hard, isn’t she? Trying to keep up with all the things at university— and trying to keep up with everything at home— and definitely trying to keep up with Akumas on top of it all. They haven’t technically even been on dates together, if that’s something she even wants, because her life is so full. It’s commendable, but watching the girl of his dreams get pulled in all different directions makes him understand entirely why a multitasking miraculous is the perfect one for her.

“You should rest, Luka. It’s getting really late.”

“I don’t know if I should— I don’t want to accidentally wake her up.”

“She’ll be more upset if she wakes up and you’re not in bed with her,” Mullo argues. He smiles, because he can’t help the humor at the sincerity of her words. “You should join her.”

He’d have to take off his jeans, and go pawing for one of his shirts she’s stolen from his room in order to not get flour all over her bed, but it’s doable. Her parents already know he’s up here, after all— he’s said he was going to check up on her once his shift ended. Her parents had let him go without barely any warning gaze— in fact, Mrs. Cheng had implored him to spend the night and make sure Marinette didn’t attempt to run off, in case another Akuma were to pop up.

They trust that he’s a good person and will actually stop her from leaving the house. And he doesn’t want to disappoint.

The last thing he wants to do is go back home and listen to the absolute earful he’ll be getting from his mom about using the Liberty as bait, so he’s going to camp out in Marinette’s room after sending about a billion and one heart emojis to Juleka, hoping she’ll try to keep their mom out of trouble.

Maybe it’d been a bad idea to tell his family about his identity— just his family in general. It’s safer this way, now that his family knows, so there won’t be any nasty revelations down the line and his family won’t turn into Akumas (and if he has to fight Reflekta or Captain Hardrock any more times in his life, he’s going to quit) but now there’s the added bonus of his mom knows why he disappears all the time.

So.

Heart emojis sent to Juleka it is.

“And what about you? Won’t you be going to bed?”

“I’m still hungry, so I need to dip downstairs and get some more food, if that’s okay. Or, better yet— do you want me to take Sass downstairs with me when I go?”

He raises a brow. Surely she doesn’t mean to imply… “She’s— Marinette— come on, Mullo. She’s injured.”

“I’m not sure she needs her ankle for that!”

This doesn’t top the weirdest conversation he’s ever had, but this is definitely up there. “And she’s asleep— I’m not comfortable with the idea.”

“She’ll wake up soon. You should ask her then, obviously.”

“Mullo.”

“You’re two aren’t our first holders, you know, we’ve done this so many times before.” Mullo giggles behind a paw. “So, do you want privacy? If you don’t, I’ll stay right here. Mari likes to tell us that we’re as scary as actual dolls, sometimes, with our beady little eyes.”

No one has to tell him that. He learned the hard way when he’d woken up the first time with Sass looking straight at him. Beady little eyes indeed— it’d scared him shitless and almost caused him to scream at a bleary five in the morning. Sass is a terrifying little creature when he wants to be.

“Maybe it’s a good idea to give us a bit of time.” He tries not to blush when Mullo tilts her head in acknowledgment. “I don’t think she wants anything except sleep, but, who knows.”

“We’ll give you all the time you two need,” The little mouse nods. She grabs Sass’s sleeping form by a paw, taking one last bite out of the remaining blueberry, before the two of them phase through the floorboards down below. Sometimes kwamis are weird little creatures with all of their powers, honestly— he’s gotten used to Sass appearing out of thin air in his attempts to scare him, but it’s always so concerning to see it happen without that context.

He lifts himself up from the floor, peeling open some of her drawers in search of one of his shirts. She’d taken his pleading to heart, and now has a steady collection of his clothes starting to grow and multiply in her closet— he’s running out of his own clothes, honestly, but he can’t say no when she smiles at him like she always does before squirreling away a new shirt into her bag when she wants to keep a piece of him with her.

He should probably take some of these shirts home with him, though. If the point was for her to smell like him, well, he should probably make it happen.

He folds his shirt and jeans. Marinette doesn’t have piles of clothes everywhere unlike him, so he makes the executive decision to stack his clothes on her desk chair. By the time he’s going back up the ladder over to her bed, Marinette’s shifted onto her side, facing him— she wakes up the moment he tries to shimmy his way under the covers with her.

“Oh. Hi.”

“Hi.” She has pieces of her hair catching in her eyelashes— he brushes it away, shifting closer to her. Her entire bed smells of faint traces of lavender, what a nice scent. “How are you feeling, Mousey?”

“A lot better,” She’s quick to smile, even as she’s groggy from sleep. Adorable. “Probably because of the amount of pain killers I’m on right now, though.”

He laughs. “Master Fu told me you don’t usually take painkillers. You must just completely relax under it, then, since your body isn’t used to it.”

“I don’t think I tore anything, did I?”

“No, I don’t think so. Your uncle said you’re fine, after all, but you should just stay out of commission for this week until you can put weight on that foot again.”

She looks so disappointed. “Where’s Lolo?”

“Downstairs. She’s probably eating through your entire pantry at the moment.”

“And Sass?”

“Went with her. Mullo took him to give us privacy. Are you okay?”

He should’ve known better than to relax his guard around her. The moment he’s completely at ease in bed, she grabs for him, pulling him so close to her that they’re perfect puzzle pieces. “How is it that I can sling myself across rooftops for years, day and night, but I can’t even walk in a straight line once I’m out of my suit?”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Mousey. That’s not good for you.”

“I wish I wasn’t such a klutz.”

“You’re not.” He kisses the top of her head as a punctuation of his words. “You just had a bad day, that’s all.”

“One of the worsts in a while,” She nods into his— hers?— shirt. “Luka? Could you make it better for me?”

He laughs. “And you call me the insatiable one, little mouse.”

Her eyes sparkle. “Who was the one that jumped me when I was going to go shower after my pool trip with my friends? One look at me in a towel and suddenly my boyfriend’s hands are all on me— sounds pretty insatiable, if you ask me.”

How can she blame him? She has such soft and delicate skin. Everywhere.

He loves touching and feeling her up whenever she lets him and asks him to. Not to even mention her ass— god— he could write so many songs just about it— he likes biting her everywhere he can, and he’s sure he’d done exactly that while sneaking his way into her shower box. Marinette always takes to bruising really well when it comes to him teething at her, she blossoms into hickies whenever he has his mouth on her. Not to even mention just how excited and turned on she was when he’d finally fingered her to completion.

“I don’t believe you were complaining, were you? Besides, I was just giving my girlfriend what she likes the most.”

She snorts and giggles. “And what is that?”

“Word is around here that she really likes Viperion. Has lots of fantasies about him— and, hey, I’m a pretty understanding guy. If my girlfriend wants to call out his name instead of mine, I get it.” He loves it when she laughs this hard— it’s always so much better to hear her laugh than it is to hear her stay quiet and in her thoughts. “It’s a good thing he likes helping out, too. The guy’s taken a real liking to my girlfriend, even though I’ve heard that him and Multimouse are a thing.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She smiles against his mouth. She’s feeling a lot better now, he can tell, because her hands disappear under his— seriously, hers?— shirt, teasing all of the skin available to her. Her fingers are ticklish against his chest and abs— she’s just as handsy as he is, most of the time.

“Insatiable,” He kisses her before pulling down the covers.

Her sleepshirt is soft and stretchy in his hands, and it’s easy to pull it up enough so he can kiss her stomach and hip at the waistband of her panties. He’s careful with her leg, of course— he doesn’t want to move it, just to make sure the wraps on her ankle don’t come undone by accident. He helps her out of her underwear slowly and gently, pulling the cute panties off so he can get her completely bare.

Such cute underwear. But then again, he’s always a little biased to anything green or blue— and the mint green color is adorable on her pale skin. The cut is cute, too— he doesn’t know enough about women’s underwear styles, but these are a lot cuter on her than he’d imagined. They rest just at her hip, with a pretty little scalloped edge that is just a smidge too Marinette for him to reasonably handle.

But he likes her better naked, of course.

“You’re already this wet?”

“Don’t tease, Luka.” Her hands disappear under her shirt. He doesn’t get to exactly see what she does underneath with her fingers, but it doesn’t take much brainpower to recognize the arching of her back like she always gets whenever he’s pinching at her nipples.

He follows the line she’s made with her body with an appreciating gaze, kissing up and down her thigh so slowly that she makes a frustrated noise. “Awh, don’t be like that, Mousey. Tell me why you’ve soaked through your underwear, I’m curious.”

She groans. “I thought of you the entire time I was in that stupid subway.”

Oh, did she? “No wonder you’ve been so tense today.”

She makes eye contact with him after a little flinch and a little exhale— she must’ve pinched herself just enough to make it count. “I was thinking about what you did to me in the shower. You’re such a glutton, Vai.”

He grins at her. Oh, he loves it when she calls him that. “I’m not so sure about that.”

And gives her what she needs.

He takes his time licking between her legs, even though she’s wet enough that it wouldn’t take much effort at all to slip his fingers into her. He likes this part, personally, even to the point where he shifts his hips down into the mattress to alleviate some of the pressure building at the base of his spine, starting to get desperate himself. It’s always so satisfying to go down on her— the noises she makes are always so attractive, and he loves making her come without much regard to himself. Marinette isn’t loud when she vocalizes her likes and dislikes, but not because she doesn’t want to be— she always hides her mouth behind her hands— and it always feels like a contest.

Today is no exception.

Her ribs heave under her shirt as he licks and licks, swirling his tongue at the place she loves the most. Her sighs are soft and sweet, even as he pulls her good leg up and over his shoulder, burying his face into her cunt as she makes a noise halfway between an exhale and a laugh.

“Who’s the glutton now?”

He makes a humming noise, not exactly interested in answering her question— he’s more in favor of showing. He’s glad to help, after all— pulling noise after noise from her when he licks his way into her, digging his tongue in as far as he can possibly reach. Her hips lift, using his shoulder as an anchor, and she moans— but still, again, it’s so soft and nearly quiet like she doesn’t want anyone to know what they’re up to. Always so considerate of others.

Cute.

By the time he’s got two fingers dipping into her, she’s wound up tight already. He can tell by the way she twitches, how she bites the fleshy part of her thumb— and how she bites harder when he uses his free hand to cup her ass and give her a squeeze. Soft. Soft soft soft.

God, so deliciously soft.

“Luka,” She whispers, trying her absolute hardest to stay quiet as he curls his fingers into her. Her free hand makes it to his hair, brushing it back so sweetly— she’s more cuddly this way, than an actual sexual deviant, like she’s desperate for reassurance. “Please please please?”

He loves it when she starts to beg for more and asks for more physical touch whenever he makes a home between her legs.

“Easy, Mousinette. Take a breath,” He kisses her thighs, liking the way how her thighs get sticky and messy with it. She sucks in a breath at his suggestion, looking at him with her hazy, pretty eyes. “You’re almost there, aren’t you?”

“Yes—” She cuts herself off with a particular sigh that makes him piston his fingers more into her. She reaches down with the hand that was in his hair, gesturing for his hand underneath her to join her. “Could you— oh— please—”

“There you go. That’s it. Come whenever you want, baby girl.” He intertwines his fingers and clasps hands with hers, giving her one last swirl and flattening of his tongue, before he feels her start to come on his fingers.

“Luka—” He doesn’t let up once he recognizes the exhale, or the squirming— especially not when he feels the attractive fluttering of her walls. She squeezes and squeezes, milking his fingers desperately.

He can deal with his erection later. For now, he slowly eases his fingers out of her, and kisses her thigh again when she complains about the loss of his hand between her legs. “How are you feeling, Mousey? Better?”

“Always am when I’m with you. Sex or no sex.” And— oh— if he wasn’t so desperately hard in his boxers, he’d fall in love with her on the spot all over again. She’s always so honest with him— it’s always such a shock, even when he knows that’s just how her personality is. He watches her eyelids struggle to keep open, even as she raises her hands up in an attempt to coerce him to bed— barely clothed, with a sleep shirt that covers nothing except her chest and her shoulders at this point. “Come cuddle? ‘M tired. I want my boyfriend.”

“Probably not a good idea. I’m going to end up dry humping you— I’m so fucking horny.”

“Vai…” It’s so heartbreakingly cute that she tries to be stern even while falling asleep. “Cursing.”

“Sorry,” He laughs, gesturing to himself even though she’s not really looking at him. “I’ll be right back. I should probably go take care of my di— uhm, I mean, this— in your bathroom, and wash my hands too.”

Her face unpinches. “But what about cuddling?”

“I will after I clean you up,” He kisses the lines of her abs— pulling her shirt down enough to get comfortable. “If you fall asleep can I still towel you off? You know I don’t like it when you’re left messy.”

“Always take good care of me.” She mumbles, completely oblivious to the way he hides his steaming face behind his hands. She nods a confirmation, patting the spot next to her. “And then after cleaning come cuddle. Please.”

By the time he’s made himself orgasm while thinking of her, and washed his hands clean of her, and made sure that she’s no longer sticky between the legs— Marinette is still bravely putting up a fight with sleep. He helps her put on some new underwear, making sure that she doesn’t move her ankle as much when he does it— but he’s completely caught by surprise when she pulls him in for a hug— and, honestly— he should know better by now.

He loves it, though.

So much.

AO3 | Start Here To Read The Whole 'Out of The Closet' Series! | Previous Fic in Series | Next Fic in Series

[itjazzbicch]

Splitting Hidden Thoughts

Pairing: Mike Sydal x Fem Reader   

Summary: The reader and Mike Sydal are best friends, but one thing Mike doesn't know is how the reader truly feels about him, in more ways than one. While watching one of Mike's matches, the reader is having a private conversation with one of her friends, explaining some of her feelings, Mike's brother Matt overheards, making sure Mike knows...

Warnings:  SMUT!!!! (18+ ONLY!)

Requested by:  Anon (Whoever you are, I hope you enjoy!)

Word Count:  2595

Tag List: @demonqueen29 @jessiebean00 @new-zealand-chic @crowleysqueenofhell @justamess44 @thatpanpal @hungmanhorsecarriage @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch  @linziland13 @yungbludjazz360  

I DO OWN THIS GIF

"Is Matt going out there with you?" I asked, staying by Mike's side while on our way to the guerrilla.

"He's going to stay back here and watch," Mike sighed, getting serious, "I want to establish that I can also be a singles competitor just like Matt did."

Mike did make a very good point and I couldn't argue about that. As his best friend, I will always respect and support his decisions. We had been friends for as long as I can remember, from when I was a rookie. Matt, Mike, and I have wrestled all over the world together and it was a good time.

"Understandable," I noted, trying to make him smile, "We all know you'll go out there and win, Mike. I'll be here rooting for you with Matt."

I put a bright smile on Mike's face, showing his appreciation by putting his arm around my shoulder till we got to the guerrilla, greeting Matt.

"I went ahead and grabbed your things for your entrance," Matt smiled, handing Mike his stuff.

"Thanks, man," He smiled, one of the crew members telling him that there were thirty seconds left. With little time left, I hugged Mike, smiling:

"Here's your good luck hug. Go win that match."

"Won't let you down," Mike promised, returning my hug.

After that, Mike was off and just a few ways from the guerrilla, Matt and I were watching the match, another one of my great friends, Kris Statlander joining us.

"Your man is on," Kris murmured to me, sitting down next to me and her words made me a bit nervous, about making me blush.

One thing I just couldn't get out of my mind is how much I wanted Mike. I wanted to be more than just friends and he could get my gears turning just with a look. Kris knew that she was the only one I believe and whenever I watched Mike, I just couldn't contain myself. Kris and I would joke around about it a little and I wasn't afraid to tell her about my feelings and she found it funny how I would make some adult comments, just admiring Mike with any given chance.

Preventing myself from biting my lip was such a hard task while watching him making his entrance, doing that famous split that always drove me wild. Watching how flexible he was, that amazing tush he had bouncing hard whenever he hit that mat. I had to put my legs together, my brain filling with wild thoughts.

"Contain yourself," Kris whispered to me, noticing how I felt.

"Trust me, I'm trying," I whispered, lowering my voice more, "You know that drives me crazy. I wonder if he could bust a split and park that Mack truck in this little garage."

"Oh my god," Kris blurted, trying to stay quiet, burying her face into her knees, "Why did you have to make that reference?"

"Leave me alone," I giggled, then just barely whispering, "Besides, I know he's packing a mac truck in there."

"You just need a pull a move and get that parked you know where," Kris responded, trying to encourage me to pull a move like usual.

"Believe me, it's tempting," I sighed, leaving our conversation at that, Mike's athletic abilities sure making it an entertaining match.

Kris had to slap my leg multiple times to pull me out of my hypnotism. Mike's flexibility, that amazing body, handsome face. How did she expect me to not be crazy about him? Not only that, the only person who probably knew Mike as I did was his brother Matt.

Mike was seriously the man of my dreams.

As expected, Mike put on a killer match, winning and when it was over, we all went back to the guerrilla to congratulate him on his victory.

"Another beautiful match," Matt smiled, hugging Mike whenever he came down the steps.

"Thanks," Mike huffed, arms opening up to me when I offered him a hug.

"You sure know how to put on a good match. Couldn't keep my eyes off that TV the entire time!" I smiled, Mike, giving me a little squeeze to thank me too.

"Let's go get you cleaned up so we can all head out," Matt commanded, taking Mike and heading off to the locker room, "Y/N, we'll meet you at the car. Sound like a plan?"

"I'll see you guys there," I sighed, going off to and getting my stuff ready.

We have always been traveling buddies too so we had a routine down that we followed religiously. Like always, we were all right on time and headed out to the hotel so we could call it a night, but something was off.

Our drive was awfully quiet which wasn't normal for us. In the back seat, I just zoned out with my earbuds in, but I noticed Matt and Mike talking quietly. Due to the music, I couldn't hear and even when I turned the music down, I still couldn't hear. I hated the fact that I couldn't read lips.

The only thing I could make out was that they were talking about me. Both of them looked up to me quickly in the review mirror multiple times and that made me beyond nervous. I stayed quiet the rest of the time, just getting my suitcase and heading into the hotel to get our keys.

Matt had his room and like usual, Mike and I shared one. Matt's room was on one of the lower floors, so he got off the elevator first. Once Matt was gone, there was nothing but awkward silence, Mike being the first to break when he asked:

"Everything alright, Y/N? You've been quiet."

All of the nervousness was beginning to come back, swallowing it down whenever I mumbled, "I'm just tired."

"That bed in our room is calling my name too, believe me," Mike chuckled, trying to provide some relief and it did make me smile.

When I got to our room, the first thing I did was take a shower, playing some music softly, trying to tell myself that nothing was wrong and the anxiety was nothing. After showering, I threw on my robe, ready to brush my hair and all, but I realized I left it that in my suitcase in the room.

So, I went back into the room, my suitcase right next to the dresser. As I bent over to reach into it, I heard Mike let out a deep breath, shirtless, scooting to the edge of the bed.

"Want to hear something pretty great that I heard tonight?" Mike smiled at me and I thought it was something about wrestling, very curious.

"You get a big match or something? If so, that's awesome!" I assumed, but I got quiet and listened carefully whenever he chuckled, looking away for a moment.

"I'm trying to remember the exact wording," Mike sighed, looking back to me, smiling, "Something about busting a split and parking that Mack truck in a little garage."

Gosh, I had never felt so embarrassed, also ready to kick Matt's butt. I forgot that he was in the room whenever I was joking with Kris. Matt must have good hearing because Kris and I were just barely whispering, like how could he have heard us? That's when I also realized that's what they were talking about in the car.

I just stared at Mike, completely frozen. My brain had nothing, no response, no way to get around it.

"You have always been good at keeping your composure and not letting anyone realize what you're thinking, but I know you best and I know, Y/N," Mike made clear.

The embarrassment grew even more and finally, I said something, standing in front of him, trying to make up for it, "Mike, you do know me best and I'm sorry that I made some inappropriate comments,"

I was going to continue, but Mike caught me off guard, my heart racing whenever he laughed at me, standing up tall, his voice growing into a sexy tone when he said, "Don't be sorry. Let me tell you, I am very good at keeping my composure and I have certain thoughts of my own."

His tongue darted across quickly while looking down at my silk robe and I just couldn't believe what was happening. I thought that I would never have a chance with Mike, but it was happening right now, making my heart going even faster.

"I'm sorry I brought this up so suddenly, but I think we both can agree that it's time to stop fighting our thoughts and express our true feelings," Mike sighed, still smiling at me, seeing how overwhelmed I was.

Mike was right. I was so tired of fighting my thoughts, wanting them to just take over, expressing my feelings by telling him, "Allow me to express mine first."

I just lost control, pull him to me, and kissing him hard. Kissing him, the sweet contact of our lips, it was better than I ever imagined, taking the time to forever remember each touch, even letting my tongue slip in a little.

Goosebumps formed all across my body, the coldness from my robe mixing with the heat steaming off my body when Mike's hands found my hips, smoothly sliding down to my ass, cupping it while he continued to return my kiss, giving a little spice of his own by biting my lower lip, hands coming back up, finding my breast.

"Someone's excited," Mike snickered, thumbs stroking my hardened nipples that were showing through my robe.

"I think I can say the same thing about you," I smirked, lifting my leg between his, sliding against his erection slowly.

"Still want me to bust a split below your equator?" Mike smirked, making a little joke of his own.

"I'm sure you're flexible enough to do it," I giggled, kissing him again, slowly untying my robe.

"You're about to find out," He whispered against my lips, my eyes drifting down to see his hands at his shorts, letting him drop to the floor.

One thing I was right about was that he was packing, biting my lip as that gave me another big rush, my adrenaline starting to pump a little like I was about to head into a match. Next, my robe fell to the floor. Mike's reaction to my body was a sight to see, not fighting his temptations whatsoever when his hands pulled me by the hips and turned me, putting me onto the bed.

At first, we took our time, wanting to explore all over one another, skin on skin while another steamy kiss began. His hands covered my breasts, giving them a good squeeze then began to fall and when they latched onto my hips, that's when I knew the real fun was going to begin.

He slowly placed me on my side, that sexy smile reappearing on his face while lifting my leg, between the two, kind of like a scissor position, but hooking my leg over his shoulder.

"I know you're flexible too," Mike smirked, tapping my ass, pushing my leg up a little higher, "Let me give you a better view."

If I wasn't turned on enough, Mike was giving me, literally what I said, picking himself up off his knees, jumping on the bed a little, and doing his split. His crown was perfectly aligned with my entrance, when he landed, it was stroking it softly, not wasting any more time when he slowly pushed into me.

"Damn, Mike," I whined, looking down to see for myself, seeing every inch slowly push into me till I was full.

"I'm just giving you what you asked for," He smirked, pulling back and then giving me a quick thrust, filling me again.

"I know," I whined, my moans growing while he continued, making sure his hips kept rolling, the tempo getting faster and making all of the pleasure add up quickly, "I love it."

I had to give him a lot of credit, he gave me exactly what I wanted and I was very impressed that he could do all of that in a split. He exceeded my expectations, it made me more curious to see what he was capable of, but with all of those quick thrusts that grew a little rough, that's all I wanted to focus on.

I'm sure he didn't mean to be rough, it was just the quickness, his hips smacking into mine. It made me feel like I was on fire with all of my nerves going nuts and I had never felt so good in my life. He always knew how to make a great time even better, his hands all over me again, teasing my breasts and nipples, soft smacks along my ass, his fingers adding to the pleasure, making my walls clamp up hard by getting my clit wet with my slick, rubbing it up and down, then in circles.

"Mike," I tried to say, but moaned his name like a prayer, giving him all of the praise with moans and babbles, my brain still trying to process everything meanwhile my body was just being poured and overloaded with pleasure.

"Am I better than you thought?" He smirked, knowing that's exactly what I thought, taking my hand while my body was just going crazy, doing whatever it wanted because the pleasure was so much, back arching and all.

"You're so damn good," I about cried, squeezing his hand hard, "You're like a god or something."

My comment made me laugh a little, "I'm just that damn good."

I never wanted this to end, but my body was about ready to give way, my lungs gasping for air. My heartbeat could be felt in every part of my body, the sound echoing in my head, the pulse in my neck and temple throbbing just as hard as my walls were.

"Oh my go-" Mike huffed, letting out some noise of his own, my body showing him how close to the edge I was, "You just want me to go even crazier huh?"

"Go crazy," I encouraged, moaning out salaciously, closing my eyes tightly, "I'm so close to cuming, Mike."

"I can tell," He panted, doubling his efforts, "Squeezing me like that, I already knew."

I took a handful of the bed sheets with both hands when Mike held my thigh hard, using it to revert to the super quickened pace, making sure he smacked my sweet spot every single time, the sound of wet skin slapping growing.

"Mike, I-" I began, my voice giving way, spots forming even with my eyes closed, like stars in the night, feeling all this moisture, it gushing out a little while he was still feeding me thrust, making me whine and moan even louder when I felt him bury himself, adding to the heat that already had me on fire.

We both needed a moment to breathe and recollect ourselves, Mike trying to relieve some of the tension in my body by massaging my leg and side, it helping a lot.

"If I knew what you were truly capable of, I would've made that comment right to you," I giggled, making him laugh too, letting my body relax more whenever he withdrew, slowly putting me on my back.

It felt like I was melting into the mattress, but able to pick up my head with a smile, returning Mike's kiss when he whispered, "I must god-like, as you said."

[bearpillowmonster]

Horizon Zero Dawn Review

The game that critics have been raving about for years and I just haven't played. I heard a lot of people say "this needs a movie" but they say that about any game that dares to be a little bit cinematic because I personally disagree.

That first part is rough, the story seems so in your face, predictable and bland but I think the problem is that it didn't know how to put in its exposition. I think it naturally builds up as it goes on, getting bigger and broader, it's just those first experiences that can be a slog because you're pretty much learning what style you're going to play in.

I got more or less everything I expected, crafting, a skill tree, various weapons. What I didn't expect though are dialogue options. You can choose normally up to four paths, an intelligent one, a compassionate one, and a straightforward one. You don't have to worry about the stress of trying to reach a specific ending because there's really only one, the only thing that affects it is the amount of people that are in it. So does that make the choices irrelevant? Yes and no because there are different dialogue options and like I said, which means that you can get certain characters to like you more given the option you choose but not in the same way that relationship points work and I definitely felt the draw to do that whenever I came across my first side-quest.

Side-quests are interesting, I love tracking things in games, though it's rare that you actually get the chance to do it and here you have a good amount of opportunities. Is that all though? Far from it. I actually found myself searching for side-quests because the first two were so satisfying. It really only began to show its hand a bit more after those quests. As I mentioned, there are a lot more RPG elements than I first imagined but it starts to send you on scavenger hunts, especially that Dreamwillow one, that one I actually laughed out loud at every time I was turned away. It also starts to gatekeep to where it recommends that you be a certain level which is...odd? I mean at face value it looks like you could rock basically any combat situation that isn't context sensitive. Leveling up gives you abilities but they're more like Deus Ex on that front, where it's just for preference and upgrading, not necessarily strength. The only thing you improve on offense wise basically boils down to having the right materials or units to buy weapons then a matter of finding modifications. Other than that, leveling up seems to just increase your health. It really just depends on the quest too because I'll play one above my level and be fine then play another that's actually under my level and feel stuck.

Now I only played it on normal mode so something like "Ultra Hard" is bound to be more demanding but as far as actual side quest content, I feel like they have potential but just need tweaked, give me more stuff for major characters that affects their standing with me. Rather than having each quest be contained in its own story, have it affect you later in the game, let your actions be shown, give it rewards and consequences. There are some really great side-quests but there are also some crappy ones, it doesn't pass that threshold that most RPGs fall under or anything. However, I did find myself doing side-quests at my own free will and the ones that I didn't like or couldn't do at the time, I just skipped and focused on something else, I felt a lot more freedom with this game, like I didn't feel forced to grind or do a certain number of side-quests or really do anything. It encourages you to explore and play the way you want to play and I respect the heck out of that. Maybe it's different for other players though.

Perhaps my favorite actual side thing was the Cauldrons for those who actually played this, you'll know why. For those who didn't, just know that it's cool and let it be a surprise for when you go to one. You might expect these big set-pieces and bosses like Uncharted or GoW, but it's not really like that. I genuinely think that this is more video-gamey than it lets on which certainly takes up its runtime. One addition to side-quests that I would like to see is one where you don't know it's happening. For example, in this game, you'll come across random hunters who are attacking or being attacked by machines but rather than just going on about your day and them going on about their's, I want to fight off the machine and the person say "You saved my life, my name's Jara, I live in the town nearby and want to repay you." so you go there and there's trouble so it starts up a side-quest. Now don't get me wrong, there are PLENTY of instances of people getting attacked actually being a mission but most of the time someone in town will just tell you "I haven't seen this person in a while, can you go check on them for me?" It's the art of subtlety and also just doing a good deed and getting rewarded for it. It's a conscious choice and split decision rather than just another checkmark on your list to complete.

Now I won't bother listing the characters and rating them but there's a certain aspect that has me really enthused So, Aloy is an outcast and a lot of these side missions and scenarios reflect her, you'll see the way she can relate with other characters, making it almost poetic in a subliminal kind of way. Then they add this tribal and futuristic setting to it where Aloy acts as the medium, there are parts of the game where she questions the tribe because they cut themselves off from technology and just don't know any better and we as a viewer know that but having the main character view things in 'our' lens is pretty genius. To top that off, they give her enough personality to be her own character while giving us enough power to influence her so that we ourselves can REFLECT WITH HER. It's not her character that I'm impressed with, it's the layout of the story.

So, how is the main story? It's kind of like the Flood scenario in Halo if I'm being honest. I'm not going to spoil anything but it's passable, like I said, it's not like an Uncharted and it's not like a movie. The visuals just look good at times (I took all the pictures in this review myself and so much more!). I'd call it a futuristic/tribal mix between Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Skyrim but I see elements of a lot of things. (Also since it's post apoctalypic, you find items that we see in modern day, like how they call keys, "chimes"! They think they're windchimes because there are no more cars! I love that!)

It actually does a pretty good job at being an open world considering that there are tons of things to do on your routes as well as collect but it's not so much so that it seems unfeasible, as I said, I found myself doing a good chunk of the side stuff just because it was fun to do and I'm not even close to a completionist for any game. If you mess up, healing plants will still be there. As long as you save, enemy parts will still be there. A place can be cleared out and conquered so that enemies don't come back. The actual towns are peaceful so you can't get mangled by any bots outside of scripted instances.

The graphics are pretty good but I can see some error here and there, nothing necessarily game breaking but the animations and AI are definitely janky at times. It's pretty obvious from the get-go but I'll do my best to specify and give constructive criticism on what I found wrong with certain aspects of the game. Rost is slow, like slower than walking speed but that's not to speak for all NPCs, some run, some you don't need to follow, it was really just him. I've had NPCs who fight but miss every single time on simple enemies (that might not be a bug, that might just be a funny bit that someone decided to add in). Sabretooths have jumped through walls (granted the walls were kinda broken but I'm not sure if those big boys can fit when they can barely find the entrance) I found myself jumping to a ledge or on a rope but not land it and just drop (it really boils down to loosening the hit box for that). Which to add on to that, I would like more places to climb and jump to in general (other than stupid mountains). I felt like there wasn't really enough that I could climb and the places that I could, could've been a bit more obvious that I could, maybe even make it viewable with your focus if you don't want it to be visually outstanding. There's a day and night cycle and while I like that, I found some of the contrast to be annoying because I could be staring a ladder right in the face and not even know it sometimes because it would be so dark. I'm not going to complain too much about it because I didn't turn my brightness up, I just left it at default and I would assume the PS5 version fixes some of those little things.

Now, this one is kind of a gray area: Hiking up mountains. Skyrim, Fallout, and Death Stranding went too far and gave little to no barriers. They had you looking for sweet spots that weren't there in order to cheese your way through an area either on or off a beaten path. But I would compare this to something like GTA where it's not as bad and does have its limits but might need tightened up some more because I can certainly get to places that lead to nowhere.

I've made headshots that don't make contact or damage while using precision. Part of that problem was that they could be high up in a tower (which have spikes sticking out) and I would hit ABOVE the logs, to make a headshot but since it was in that vicinity, it registered that as the spikes' hitbox so it wouldn't cause any damage and just alert the enemy (same if I was in the tower, looking down). Input lag where I hit up button on the D-Pad to regain health and I have to keep pressing it. If I had to guess, you have to meet the requirements of not taking damage, staying still, etc in order for it to actually work but it doesn't really have a reason to do that and it doesn't "tell" you that those are the requirements (as far as I know).

During the final boss, one of the enemies hit me into a rock wall, trapping me inside of it and the boss was already half health so I really didn't want to have to restart (I also didn't know how far back the checkpoint was) so I kept shooting stuff and eventually the boss destroyed the wall, allowing me to get out (timed section, by the way). There have been a few times where a tree or leaf or something is obstructing a cutscene and sometimes there will be a mech in the background screaming over the NPC talking, which I'm sure is due to the cutscenes being real-time which is still pretty impressive. Now are these errors all the time? No, not at all, I'm just pointing out that some times these things happened and that I felt it needed ironed out but I wouldn't call this half baked or an unfinished product or anything, it's nowhere near that level. I get that there are so many NPCs that it's hard to account for them all with facial animations but whenever they're talking, it seems pretty static and sometimes the lips don't line up. There's this one guy who says that he got lost in a sandstorm but he's standing in snow. Again, little nitpicks in an otherwise great game.

Now, I got this game for free as a Playstation promotion but that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be great, I played a little bit of that Ratchet & Clank reboot that was offered and I wasn't impressed, I quit after the first few worlds and was glad I didn't buy it at launch, (despite being a classic PS2 R&C fan) but we're not here to review that. I also played Abzu and loved it but it was short so it was definitely worth a play but maybe not 60$ (I actually think it's 20$ at this point though). With this game, it's the whole complete edition with DLC and everything, it has the length, so it really just boils down to "Would I have spent money on it otherwise?"

I think I would've if I knew more about it because I think it just got better and better after that first part of the game. It's marketed a bit differently than what I ended up getting but I found myself pouring hours into this game and loving it for one reason or another. I actually bought Shadow of the Colossus along with it (which is considered a cult classic) but I liked Horizon so much better, definitely worth its full price in my opinion. (So your promotion worked on me Sony, congrats) It has its problems but the potential is there and I feel like a sequel would probably iron out a lot of my troubles with it, so it's definitely a franchise worth investing into.

If you're interested in what I thought of the DLC alone (if you didn't get the Ultimate edition and are wondering if the extra content is worth it) I have a separate post that goes into that here.

[thetonecontrol]

Interview with Electronic Audio Experiments

Righteous Ryan: When did you decide to become a builder and what motivated you to do so?

Electronic Audio Experiments: Even before I taught myself how to play the guitar I was always interested in what makes instruments work, so naturally I was a pedal nerd as soon as I learned what they were. After studying electronics for fun on the side (took a couple extra courses during undergrad and then read books on my own) it became a natural progression of my interests to start tinkering with my own. I did a few tagboard clone builds before I realized I wanted to have more control over the design process. And that's still my primary motivation: I love the design process with all of its challenges and room for artistic decisions.

EAE as a company formally started in approximately winter/spring of 2015. In February of that year, Boston was slammed over 5 feet of snow. I spent a lot of time in my crummy basement apartment eating frozen pizzas and breadboarding what would eventually become the Longsword V1. I used it on a couple records I was a part of (Perfect Moments by Tiny Fractures and the Native Wildlife s/t - both on bandcamp, for the curious) and that generated enough interest to do a release that summer. The rest has been a whirlwind!

RR: What motivates you to create original circuits?

EAE: Short answer - it's really satisfying to me, basically my favorite pastime.

Longer answer - I love the challenge of making something from scratch that hopefully lets my personality come through. I should qualify; I am not reinventing any wheels here. Designing "from scratch" is like building something out of legos. You can't really design new pieces (which leads some of the more cynical folks out there to say there's nothing new under the sun) but there are lots of building blocks and lots of ways to arrange them. The artistic merit is in the details, and the fun is in the thrill of the chase. It's an obsessive process but endlessly gratifying.

RR: Are you currently working on anything new?

EAE: Oh god, too many things. Here's a sampling:

Halberd - this is a drive which started as the preamp block of Sending, but heavily mutated into its own thing. It features pronounced treble attack/clarity, stupidly high output, and a strong second harmonic response. Been "finalizing" it for a while but I'm trying my damnedest to release it this summer. (If you want to hear a rough demo of an earlier iteration, check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpGgzl3lOgs)

Sending V2 - I'm trying to add some features while I do an SMD conversion - mostly modulation and CV control over delay time. Currently on the back burner while I get the Halberd sorted out.

Hypersleep - this is my weird multi-tap chorus/vibrato/reverb-ish thing (nb: this is also in Ian's video linked above). It's also on the back burner while I get the Halberd sorted out. I really want to put it to production but it depends fully on whether I can source enough MN3011 BBDs to make it happen. If I can get enough to build 50 I'll do a limited run, but I'd really prefer to do 100 if at all possible... so we shall see what happens.

Super secret collab with Electrofoods Pedals - stay tuned, I am very excited

Surveyor - IVP side of the Dude Incredible, will be released later this year. It's ready to rock.

Various contract designs - Caroline Somersault (just wrapped up), Caroline Megabyte (working on the second round of prototypes), Dunable Eidolon (close to done, just needs some code fixes), another 2 or 3 projects all TBA.

RR: What is your design process like?

EAE: Whenever I design something new I have to answer two questions. 1) does it exist already? and 2) does it address a need or want in my own sonic pursuits? For instance, drive pedals will reflect my tone in whatever band I'm currently in. If it's already been done I can go buy it. If it hasn't been done then the work can begin.

If the design is simple or contains simple building blocks I often go straight to the circuit board layout and if necessary, debug from there. I can often turn a project around pretty quick if that's the case. If I'm not sure whether or not a building block will work, I can try simulating or breadboarding. Circuit simulation is extremely powerful but requires interpretation of the results, which also sometimes differ from reality. Breadboarding is great for audible characterization of a new idea, but the added parasitic capacitances can dramatically alter the frequency response of a circuit - especially a high gain drive or something with lots of complex filters. So there's usually a loop of steps where I move between a breadboard, circuit simulations, and a working prototype until everything works out. Sometimes I just have to resort to plain old math to get what I want.

The first pass of design is a go/no-go check. Does it work? Once it does, I refine it until it can produce sounds I truly like. This is also the step where I do the most work to address noise, oscillation, unwanted artifacts, etc. The final step is to identify which controls I want to keep, and then I determine the tapers/ranges of those controls.

Once there's a working prototype I do extensive beta testing with friends, local musicians and engineers, etc. When testing at home I can lose sight of how good (or not good) a prototype sounds. So a sanity check helps! Once this feedback is incorporated into the process we can go to production. At that point we get the artwork done and start working with our local SMD shop to get boards going.

RR: What's your setup (guitar, amps, pedalboard)?

EAE: I've been awful about maintaining a static setup. I realized that when you're not in a band you can just buy whatever sounds good instead of worrying about serving a song or particular mix. I have a wide assortment of guitars and amps that I use to test pedals during the R&D phase but listing those won't really tell you a coherent story. BUT I started a new band and we're tracking a record (we just did guitars + drums at GodCity) so I can tell you all about the gear I used for that. It's a post-metal sort of outfit so there are lots of heavy sounds but lots of unique mid-gain tones as well. This is also a great chance to plug some work by my friends...

Guitars - Travis Bean TB1000S, which is essentially vintage correct after some restoration work at Electrical Guitar Company (new bridge + pickups). Sounds like a piano. A very angry piano.

My very heavily modified Classic Player Jazzmaster with EGC JM500 pickups and a Robot Graves neck. It can do pristine, chimey cleans or a savage clang depending how much gain you use.

Amps - Traynor YBA1 MKII - Basically a marshall-ish amp with really big transformers. I modded the preamp to roughly superlead specs, but it's got way more bandwidth than a typical marshall.

Traynor YBA3 - not mine, lives at GodCity. Was extensively modified by my friend Scot from SnK pedals, who is also a gifted amp tech. It's loud and clean with a sound that's almost like an ampeg.

For cabs we mostly used an emperor 6x12 with an assortment of speakers. The mic was placed on a Texas Heat.

For my own use I have a pair of Joe's TL806 cabs (Thiele 1x12 design) with EVM12Ls.

Pedals - Halberd proto - great for slamming tube amps!

Electrofoods Oprichniki - the highest gain big muff variant around. I don't even know if it should be called a muff variant because of how twisted and souped up the circuit is. It is an absolute beast.

Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler - another extraordinarily high gain fuzz which sounds like absolutely nothing I've ever heard. It's a nice contrast to the more scooped flavor of the Oprich.

SnK VHD - a high gain distortion, used extensively for lead parts especially. Super tight and clear.

Sending V1-ish prototype - also has a tone control. It works ok I guess. Still very much a work in progress!

Lastgasp Misty Cave - weird drone-y reverb/flange thing? Hard to describe. Sounds heavenly.

Hypersleep proto - for room-ish reverb

Red Panda Tensor - Used for a particularly glitchy "solo"

Dirge Slowly Melting - I saw the end of the world, and it was terrifying

Lots of other stuff - I forgot!

Other - Yamaha FX500. The ultimate digital pad machine.

Roland RE-501 Chorus Echo - my drummer owns this, holy hell it is magic

My modular synth - a whole goddamn mess of its own

[astrxlis-archive]

While it's still on my mind, i hope that,, you don't mind me assuming what vision probably fits you? :3 i would like to share my thoughts about it ★~ (again, there is no need to reply to my asks immediately 😤 i understand the feeling of tiredness when writing/replying to asks so don't force yourself, okie?? :3

You give me cryo and/or anemo (with a lil bit of pyro!) vibes. How do i explain this,, 😂 hmm let's say that Cryo people are actually those kind of people who also love the most? (I am not sure if you are described to be aloof by others, but what i think is that you warm up gradually to people you like and so you are very kind and open to them!) Cryo because i would relate it to your hesitations about reaching out (this is intended for positive context!;) and the quite shy nature (i was also thinking of ganyu). Cryo because (this is only my thoughts >< so tell me if i got smth wrong xD) i think you're nice, cold and soothing like a glass sculpture, full of magnificence yet when angered you're like a sharp and pointed icicle, guarding the soft frozen waters of your heart.

Anemo because there's a heavy load of responsibility on your shoulders (especially that you study medicine, which is quite a core career in terms of taking care of other people or saving lives) + the busy schedule 😂 (yes if you don't notice, this is... just like jean's situation). It also seems to me that you have taken a liking to the anemo boys?? :3 please correct me if i'm wrong ok? :D Despite the heavy responsibility, you still try to breath and loosen yourself from time to time, plus anemo wielders tend to be caring towards others too, no? :3 You also give me a breezy vibe, where the air is clear and refreshing— it feels like being gently carried by the wind.

Pyro for your warm nature and passion about the medical field !! Pyro, not maybe because of high energy, but because of the flaming potential that you contain inside, untouched and still steady even if flickering at times :D The flame in you still keeps going no matter what!! (especially when you wanna relate stuff to your medical learnings!!)

Was also 🙈 when i found out Dan have seen our interactions here,,,, i feel so shy 🙈🙈 but it's nice to let her know solidly that we def are getting along well <333

Rest well whenever you can!~ 🥰🥰🥰

I swear there's really *something* compelling me to always write you long asks,,, i hope you enjoy reading them tho 👹👹👹

— Wishing you the best of luck, 🍰.

hello 🍰❣️

i don’t mind at all!! actually i think it’s sweet of you to give this so much thought, i’m flattered 🥺🥺 thank you so much for sharing with me!

about cryo: while i don’t get described as aloof, i do get described as quiet and hard to get to know 🥲 but it’s true, i love a lot and very easily, which makes me very prone to get hurt, so i just,,, shield myself. i also have cold hands and feet lmao rip my patients. when i’m angry though… i think you’re spot on. while i’m hard to truly anger, i’ve been told my words and the way i present myself can be as sharp as a knife. or an icicle, ig? i've never seen an icicle irl

about anemo: at this point i think i’m collecting anemo characters isgt it’s not even intentional - i see a character, i like them, i find out their element is anemo djklasdjal ANYWAYS. i’ve accepted i’m a jean kin at this point, thank you for opening my eyes hehe also thank you for the way you described me?? it made me feel so good about myself 🫣🥺🥺

about pyro: ...i know you probably didn’t mean for this to happen, but i promise you it’s not bad. it made me cry. maybe that’s why i was so reluctant to reply to this message, because i always came back to it. i really don’t want to be sad on main or worry you, but this past month has been one of the hardest i’ve faced and honestly i’m surprised i’ve survived it. the steady/flickering part is so so true, and reading it just gave me really warm feelings. with my whole heart, thank you ❤️

also, dan saw our interactions?? my gosh sklajdsklajld not that i mind but sometimes i forget other people can see the way i interact with people and the world and everytime i’m reminded my brain goes “wait, you exist to other people and they can see you”. mental illness at its’ finest ig 🤪😂 and true!! it really is nice, and i’m grateful that we are 💕💕

if you don’t mind, i’d like to share my two cents about that visions i think fit you too! because i’ve been thinking about it as well ehe

geo: you’re solid and steady, much like what the element represents. you’re also constant, even when/if things wear you down - sure, they may shape you, and sometimes the weight of things may seem like it’s too much, but you always come through, and you come back better from them. you’re also constantly learning, and much like rocks are the bed for all things, you’re capable of nurturing and uplifting things and making them better. honestly i kinda wanna associate you with dendro, but the only character we know so far with a dendro vision is baizhu, so this is something i’ll keep in mind to see if you fit or not. :3c

pyro: it may seem like a given, but you’re warm. talking to you always gives me that feeling of sitting around a bonfire and talking with friends, laughing and truly just enjoying the moment. and even when things become quiet, there’s always that lingering feeling of being comforted and content.

please let me know if any perception i have of you is wrong LMAO 💝