#i'm busy but i'm still planning things dw !!

[kunikidas-lost-glasses]

Bsd college!AU headcanons - Soukoku carpooling with Fyosiggol

TWs: Mentions of OCD/compulsions, Dazai-typical mention of suicide, mention of motion sickness

There is also one headcanon which includes Fyodor getting dizzy and light-headed while driving due to his anemia and Nikolai managing the situation. Nothing bad happens but idk if that's triggering to someone.

Obvioulsy thier mental health isn't as fucked as in canon here.

---------------------------------------------------

Chuuya and Dazai started to car pool with Fyodor, Sigma and Nikolai when they really had to go grocery shopping but their car was at the garage and ever since they've kept car pooling occasionally

Sometimes Fyodor, Sigma and Nikolai drive together with Dazai and Chuuya in their car but most of the time Dazai and Chuuya drive together with the other three in their car

It's a nice thing for both parties. They can save gas/money like that and they can spend time together. After all, Fyodor and Nikolai are Dazai's best friends since the three of them were teens and Chuuya gets along really well with Sigma and they enjoy chatting with each other a lot

Most of the time, both parties have to go grocery shopping and just join the others in order to drive to the stores together

When they drive with Fyosiglais' car, Fyodor is usually the one who drives while Nikolai sits on the seat next to him and while Dazai, Chuuya and Sigma sit on the back seats

Driving with Dazai and Nikolai in one car is quite an experience

They constantly babble about the most cursed things and there is rarley a moment of silence

The other three enjoy thier lighthearted chttering though. They would be concerned if Nikolai and Dazai would go quiet for a while

Nikolai is always in charge of the music and he plays literally anything which comes to his mind. Classical music, dark melanchonical songs, pop, TV girl (it's one of his favorite bands after all), the most cursed sons one can imagine, you call it. It's on his playlist.

Him blasting songs like "My Type", "Bimbo doll" or "Cpr" for shits and giggles is a thing

Dazai cheering upon hearing those songs while Fyodor is staring on the road, desperately trying to ignore the songs and being one inconvenience away from taking away Nikolai's aux chord privileges

Nikolai also always blasts the music at an immense volume (as long as nobody gets super uncomfortable). One can literally hear the bass of the songs outside of thier car then

Sigma and Chuuya happily chat the whole car ride

They understand each other really well and enjoy each other's company a lot so those car rides are always nice for them

They usually sit next to each other and either talk about thier day, college, work, their interests or show each other stuff on thier phones

Chuuya usually nudges Sigma and gives him a ressuring smile, when he sees the latter opening on closing an app over and over again, getting more irritaded and stressed with each second, snapping him out of it and showing him something on his own phone, shifting his attention away from any intrusive thoughts

Sigma on the other hand always helps Chuuuya a bit when the redhead is trying not to apply an immense amount of desinfetcion spray on his hands after touching anything his mind deemed as contamminated

Even though Dazai is mostly talking with Fyodor and Nikolai during the car ride and even though Chuuya is mostly chatting with Sigma, they still hold hands during nearly the whole car ride and occasionally caress the back of the others' hand when they sense that the other is getting nervous for whatever reason

Fyodor usually holds Nikolai's hand during the car ride but since he also has to keep his hand on the gear shifter, he usually holds Nikolai's hand, guiding it on the gear shifter so that Nikolai's hand is laying on it and that Fyodor's hand is on top of Nikolai's hand. Like this he can still use the gear shifter but also hold the others hand, keeping thier fingers interwinded.

Fyosiglais's car is super messy often while Soukoku's or better Chuuya's car is always clean and tidy

Chuuya hates it when someone eats in his car or gets in it with dirty shoes

Fyodor, Nikolai and Sigma are more chill about it

When they drive with Chuuya's car, Dazai sits next to Chuuya in the front and the other three sit on the backseats

Chuuya has an immense road rage so when they are driving during the day time when the roads are filled with cars, it's always an experience

He's also often scolding Nikolai for leaving crumbs in his car or for generally getting stuff messy

Them driving to McDonald's to get five happy meals which they eat in the car at after 2am bc they all are unable to sleep is a thing

Dazai asking Fyodor if he can crash the car on a particulary bad day and Fyodor just humming causing Sigma, Nikolai and Chuuya to glance at each other is a thing too

Fyodor then often changes thier route and drives them to a nice book store, knowing that Dazai loves going to book stores and knowing that the other three like bookstores too so they won't mind a change of their previous plans a lot

Nikolai always subtly keeps an eye on Fyodor when the latter is driving in case his anemia is making him feel drownsy, dizzy or light-headed so that he can get the others foot from the gas pedal and stop the car before something happens

Since they've started to car-pools this has only happened once though

Nikolai (and Dazai) had noticed that Fyodor started to stop replying to what they said or just answered with one word sentences and Nikolai saw that he was blinking a lot, trying to keep his eyes focused on the road, obvioulsy being in some kind of distress as well as that his driving became off so he quickly reacted and gently pushed his foot of the pedal and got his hands off the driving wheel before taking over himself and driving the car to the side of the road where he stopped it before taking care of Fyodor who was frantically looking through his bag, searching for his iron supplements (which he forogt to take that morning) and his water bottle

Dazai was lecturing him afterwards for forgetting something so important

Sigma hates it when they have to drive in the dark so Fyodor often reaches behind his seat and holds Sigma's hand then

Dazai asking Nikolai if he could blast Taylor Swift because he knows that Chuuya loves some songs but would rather die than admit it outloud is something which happens frequently

Of course the others know that Dazai isn't the one who absolutley loves the songs and that it's Chuuya but they don't say anything and play along

Chuuya always tries to hide his smile when Dazai asked once again and the music starts playing but fails miserably

Sigma often carries card games around with him so during longer car rides, Dazai and Chuuya play card games on the backseat (Sigma beats them mercilessly) and sometimes Nikolai joins them from his seat in the front too

Dazai suffers from motion sickness so when they are driving for a longer time or when they have to take a road with many curves they often have to take a stop right afterwards so that Dazai can get some fresh air and that he stops feeling sick

Nikolai on the other hand can sit curled up together on his seat and read books, no matter how curvy or bumpy the road is

Dazai regualry teases Sigma and playfully annyoys him just for the sake often it while Sigma threatens to throw something at him

Nikolai and Dazai often sing along with the songs loudly

Nikolai playing the song "Poker Face" to see Sigma's eyes lighten up and looking at him with a big happy smile is a thing too

Fyodor regualry asks if everything is alright on the backseats if Sigma goes quiet for far too long to check if the latter is alright

Chuuya usually sits between Sigma and Dazai in order to be able to chat with both of them, so that Sigma and he can show each other things on their phones without having to reach the phones back and forth and so that he can hold hands with Dazai and that he can cuddle with him

Nikolai is nearly always getting his shoes off to sit with criss-crossed legs on the seat or to sit in another comfy position with his feet on the seat

He always does this when the car ride lasts longer than 45 minutes

Dazai often dozes off on longer car rides, i.a. in order to sleep off his motion sickness (this only works when it's still only very light. If he closes his eyes when it's already more than just an uncomfortable feeling, it always gets even worse)

Usually he lies his head on top of Chuuya's head or leans his head against the shorter ones shoulder and tries to doze off

When he leans his head against Chuuya's shoulder, Chuuya often leans his own head against Dazais' with a soft smile

Nikolai has a bit road rage too and judges the most drivers with sarcastic comments

[griffin-girl-r]

Blackhill requests you say? Dw I got you covered!

Natasha and Maria are both happily married with an 8 year old daughter (r) when r’s dad enters the picture (r was conceived in the red room so he’s a bad guy who Nat had a one night stand with at some point idk)

She's mine

Created: 11.11.2023

Finished: 16.11.2023

Edited: 17.11.2023

Age: 8

Word count: 2,935

Warnings: Homophobia , Mentions of sexual assult , Abandonment , Misogyny

Anymore let me know

Request: Yes (Tumblr user) (@ravensinthedaylight)

Pairings: BlackHill, Natasha Romanoff x Lev Ilyin (Original!Evil!Character) (Past mention)

—

Natasha and Maria were quietly sitting on the couch in their living room, snuggled closer to each other as their 8-year-old daughter, Y/N, was sandwiched in between the two women.

'Lilo and Stitch', Y/N's favorite movie was playing on the TV and their little girl was absolutely fascinated about everything that was happening in it as if she wasn't seeing this movie for the millionth time.

Natasha had to buy 40 new DVDs with the movie, in the last 7 years since its release, because Y/N watched them so often that they quickly got scratched and, therefore, almost useless.

Natasha could only blame her wife for introducing their daughter to this movie.

Now, truth be told, Maria wasn't actually the other biological parent of Y/N.

Years ago, when Natasha was still a young mere prisoner of her own life, she was forced by the organization that had taken care of her training to have intimate relationships with a man she didn't even know.

More of like, being offered against her own will by the Red Room to one of their men but that is all in the past.

She was ready to keep living with everything that happened to her as long as the only good thing that came out of everything, her daughter, was by her side.

A knock at the front door interrupted Y/N's innocent giggles and the little family looked confused towards the door.

Who could be at the door at this late hour?

"I'm coming!" Maria shouted, carefully moving Y/N's sleepy body, who was using Maria as a pillow, away

"I'll get it." Natasha quickly placed her hand on Maria's arm, stopping her

Maria looked at Natasha for a second and the agent wanted to protest but the reassuring smile the redhead was wearing was too tempting.

"As you wish, my love." Maria smiled back

"I'll be quick." Natasha quickly peaked her wife's lips, then stood up, making her way towards the front door

—

Natasha opened the front door, unaware of the darkness that was lurking just on the other side of it.

A sickening smirk formed on the face of the man who was standing just in front of the red-headed woman.

"Hello, Natalia." He said "Long time no see. Did you miss me?"

Natasha froze in place for a moment as she took in the sight of the man she never thought she would see again.

Memories of a long-forgotten time had resurfaced in her mind.

She shook her head "No..." Natasha whispered "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you know..." The man began "I came to take back what's mine."

Natasha looked at the man, her eyes widening in shock.

"You are not going to take my daughter away from me!" She protectively declared

"Our daughter, my darling." The man corrected her "Oh, and what makes you think that I'm here just for our daughter?" He chuckled "I am here for you as well, Natalia. You are mine just as much as our daughter is." He stated as a matter of factly "How is she, by the way?"

The man took a step forward, walking uninvited inside Natasha's home, and looked around.

"I bet she grew up a lot in the time I haven't seen her." He added when Natasha hesitated to answer his question

"Leave her alone, Lev." Natasha raised her voice "She's innocent. She doesn't have anything to do with all this madness. I thought you were busy planning the world's dominance. How come you have come for us after all this time? How come that HYDRA let you leave their safe prison."

"How?" Lev chuckled "I was never a prisoner at HYDRA, to begin with, unlike you. I am one of their highest-ranked agents. Why do you think they offered you to me out of all people?" He explained "Now I am here to claim what's mine. And this time, neither you nor our little girl will run away. I will find you anywhere."

Anger raised inside of Natasha just as much as fear built inside her.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She couldn't believe that after all this time, the man who hurt her and took advantage of her body was here to claim something he never took part in.

More specifically, in the raising of Y/N, which he had no right over.

"Just leave us alone." Natasha shouted

"You wish!" Lev laughed sadistically

From inside the living room, Maria's ears picked up on the raising tone of her wife's voice, and her instincts kicked in, telling her to go and check what was happening.

"Stay here, baby." Maria kissed your head "Mom is gonna go and quickly check if Mama is okay out there and see who is at the door."

"Okay, Mom." You replied distracted as your attention was fully focused on the movie

Maria stood up and with one last ruffle of your hair, she made her way towards the front door.

"Honey?" Maria called Natasha confused, as she took in the sight of the unknown man sitting in front of her wife "Are you okay? Who's is he?" She pointed to the man "Were you expecting someone?"

"So this is that so-called wife of yours I've heard about." The man smiled "Well it's nice to meet my replacement but we have to leave, Natalia."

Maria looked confused between Natasha and the man for a second.

"What do you mean you have to leave?" Maria asked "Babe?" She turned her head towards Natasha, waiting for her answer

Natasha looked up from the floor, directly into Maria's eyes and the brunette could see the tears that were present in her wife's eyes, causing Maria's instincts to heighten immediately as a surge of protectiveness overflowed her senses.

When Natasha begged Maria to help her just with one look, Maria pushed Natasha behind her with a swift move.

"I don't know who you are." Maria said, her muscles tensing "But I'll have to ask you to leave. Nicely." Se ordered the man through gritted teeth

"You have no right to tell me to leave." The man laughed "I am here to claim what's mine and you, weak woman, will never be able to make me leave."

Just then, Maria's brain clicked on what was happening and she understood who the man that was standing in front of her was.

"You monster." Maria whispered angrily "I know exactly who you are."

"Well..." The man raised his arms, proud of who he was "It took you some time to figure that out." He sang "I expected you to be smarter than this."

"This is the last time I am asking you nicely to leave this house. That unless you want to have some serious problems." Maria said once again

"Oh, come on." The man chuckled sarcastically "You don't expect me to be afraid of a woman and especially of you, don't you?"

"Well, I wouldn't say the same thing if I were you." Maria tilted her head "I am ready to do anything to protect my family."

"Your family?!" The man shouted "They're mine! I am going to take my belongings and leave."

"They are staying here." Maria protested "You don't even know how my daughter is named, let alone have any right over her. I raised her ever since she was a five-month-old baby. I was the one who changed her diapers, checked for any monsters under her bed, and loved her, not you." She hissed "And the same goes for my wife. She's mine for a reason."

From the corner of her eye, Maria saw some movement right behind her, and she saw the man's smirk growing wider.

"Aha, my sweet girl!" The man cheerfully exclaimed "I finally came home. Are you excited to see me?"

Y/N silently peeked at the man from behind her moms.

"Mama?" You called shyly "Who's that?" You pointed towards the man

"No one, baby." Natasha quickly tried to make you leave "Just go back to the movie, okay? Me and Mom will be there very soon."

"Mom?" Lev raised his eyebrow "There is no such thing as another mom. I am your other parent, sweetheart." The man tried to tempt you in a sweet tone "I came here so you could have a normal family. I am your Dad." He declared

"Dad?" You asked confused, looking up towards Natasha "I have no dad. I have Mama and Mom. I already have two parents."

"Well, your parents must be a mom and a dad, not two moms." Lev tried to turn you against your mothers

"But, I love my moms." You innocently declared "They love me and we're always having fun. And Mom always carries me on her shoulders and buys me ice cream, while Mama reads me bedtime stories and gives me the best hugs in the world."

But just before you got to finish your sentence, the man snatched you away by your arm and forcefully held you in place.

You let out a terrified scream as tears quickly made their way down your cheeks.

"Mama!" You screamed out in fear, begging Natasha to help you

"Leave her alone!" Natasha screamed as she tried to grab you back from the men, but she didn't manage to "My baby!"

"Leave my child alone!" Maria threatened "That's my daughter you're holding there. You just don't get it."

"These two girls are mine! And she's coming with me." He pointed towards you

"She's mine!" Maria shouted as she grabbed your other arm quickly and pulled you towards her with all her force, causing the man to loosen his grip on you "They are both mine!" Maria declared as she quickly shoved you behind her to shield you from anything, just as she has done with Natasha "I don't know what's the reason behind your actions and what your evil plan is, but you must leave right now!"

Lev, in a fraction of a second, lifted his arm and punched Maria in the face.

Natasha let out a horrified gasp, her hands instinctively flying to her mouth to cover it in order to muffle any sound.

"Mom!" You screamed, afraid that your mom was badly hurt

"It's okay, kid. Mom is okay." Maria reassured you as she looked towards the man "So, you want to fight?" She nodded, taking a deep breath "Alright then, that's what you'll get."

And just like that, Maria delivered a punch back towards the man and a fight started.

Natasha wanted to help her wife, but she also knew that you needed protection and reassurance as she took two steps backward, shielding you with her body.

Kicks and punches were thrown around from both sides and just as the fight was getting more violent, a blowing sound was heard and the door of their house was slammed open.

"S.H.I.E.L.D., get down!" A deep voice shouted as agents armed with weapons burst inside their home

—

"This won't end like this!" Lev shouted as he tried to fight his restraints, just as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents escorted him away

"We'll see about that, Lev Ilyin!" Maria shouted behind him before she quickly turned her attention back to her wife and daughter "You're okay." She said in a rushed but reassuring voice "Everything is okay now, my sweethearts." The brunette woman pulled you and your mama in her arms "No one's ever gonna be able to take you away from me, I'm here and I will always protect you, you both are mine and no one else's."

Your small whimpers broke both Maria and Natasha's hearts.

Natasha held you tightly in her arms "It's okay, baby, it's okay. You're okay." Natasha kissed the top of your head and you hid your face in her stomach

Your cries slowly turned into quiet sniffs as you basked in the protection you felt from both your mothers as Maria protectively held you and Natasha closer to her.

"You're both okay." Maria whispered "We're all okay."

Natasha raised her head and looked at her wife's face, a gasp escaping the redhead's lips.

"Masha, you're hurt!" Natasha worriedly looked at Maria's bruised face and raised her hand to touch her wife's cheek

Maria tenderly grabbed Natasha's hand, stopping her from touching her cheek.

"It's okay, my love." Maria reassured "It's nothing. I just need a little bit of care from you and our little princess and I'll be all healed in no time."

"I'm sorry." Natasha whispered on the verge of crying "I never expected to see him again."

"None of that!" Maria sternly declared "You have no fault in this. Okay?"

"But Maria..." Natasha began before sighing when she saw the look on Maria's face and the spy changed the subject "How did the agents show up just on time?"

"Well, I kind of activated the alarm I have on my bracelet and they were alerted when I realized who Lev was." Maria shrugged her shoulders as if it wasn't such a big deal

"You sneaky agent." Natasha chuckled, a gleam of proudness shining in her eyes

"Well, what can I say?" Maria tried to sniffle her laughter "I am prepared for any situation."

But just as they hugged again, the sweet moment of the small family of three was interrupted by Nick Fury, who walked inside the room holding a file in his hand.

"Agent Hill. Agent Romanoff." He nodded, greeting the women "I want to thank you for catching one of the most wanted criminals on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s list.

"Well, you know..." Maria turned annoyed towards Fury, angry that he disturbed their moment "He kind of messed up with my family. I had to do something about it."

"As a thanks, I have a very special mission for you both." Fury stated "I need your help and you have just proven to me that you're both fit for this mission."

Natasha sighed, rolling her eyes "I knew there was something about you showing up here, Nick, not just because of Lev Ilyin."

"You know me, Agent Romanoff." He stated unimpressed, extending his hand towards them, offering them the file "Ilyin is just another trophy to our collection."

The couple grabbed the file from his hand and Natasha opened it, looking at the name of their next target that was written on the first page with big, bold letters.

"Tony Stark?" Maria asked confused "Isn't he that annoying, reckless man who thinks he's smart just because he has money and who wears sunglasses at parties that take place at night?"

"You couldn't have described Stark better, Agent Hill." Fury nodded "That's why I need Agent Romanoff to infiltrate inside his company. You have all the information there. You're getting a new alias and your mission is to protect him as danger is too close to him right now. We need to take action or the next events will have a turn for the worst if we don't intervene in this." He explained before adding "For the whole globe, not just for Stark."

"Consider it done." Natasha nodded, accepting the mission

"I promise you both, you won't regret helping with this mission." Fury looked in between the two women

"We hope we won't, Sir." Maria squinted her eyes

And just like that, Fury turned around and left without adding any other word.

Maria peeked at the page where all the details about Natasha's new identity were and quickly scanned the page with her eyes, reading the important details.

"Well, I see he didn't think too much about a new name." Maria said teasingly "Come on! Natalie Rushman? He could do better than that. And you were supposed to be a model?" She chuckled "No way!"

"Oh, shut up." Natasha playfully smacked Maria's arm "Let's just leave the mission for another time, okay? I have enough time later to study this role."

"All right, Miss Rushman." Maria laughed, wrapping her arms around Natasha's shoulders while taking a gentle hold of Y/N's small hand "I think we had a movie to watch."

"Stitch!" You cheered excitedly

"Yeah, baby, Stitch!" Natasha lovingly smiled down at you as you all made your way back to the living room

—

That night, Maria lay awake in the bed she and her wife shared.

Natasha and their daughter were sound asleep as today's events drained them out of energy.

The brunette agent turned on her side with a sigh and scanned the faces of her two loves in the darkness.

"No one will ever be able to take you away from me." Maria whispered "I promise you both that we will forever be a family regardless of our past or of what other people might think about us."

Maria slowly leaned closer and kissed your cheek.

"You're so loved, Y/N." The brunette whispered in your ear "And so are you, Tasha." She also pressed a gentle kiss against Natasha's cheek "You're my blessings and I'm the luckiest woman in the world to have you both."

What happened today, helped not only Natasha and Maria, but also you, to realize how lucky you were to have each other and on how much love your small family was actually built on.

Maria vowed to fight until her last breath, just so she could keep you and Natasha safe, as her love for her girls knew no bounds.

And just as Stitch has said.

'Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.'

And a true family is built on love, not blood.

—

Permanent taglist: @lizlil , @mmmmokdok , @natsxwife , @lovelyy-moonlight , @observeowl , @froufrousnowman , @youralphawolf72 , @halstead-severide-fan , @daggersquadphantom , @circe143 , @ravensinthedaylight , @darkstar225 , @dannipotatoo , @justarandomreaderxoxo , @theunchosenonee , @cherlenovix

[astral--horrorshow]

Around-The-Clock Shadows

Platonic Yandere ROTTMNT x Reader

Info: This will be a full-length fic including multiple ROTTMNT characters, the main storyline revolves around the Mad Dogs.

Fic Summary: You sure are likeable, aren't you?

《Chapter 1》

Chapter 2: Juice-Induced Short-Circuit

Characters: Donnie, Leo, Raph, Mikey

A/N: Chapter 2 is here! I'm going to try to write a bit more to get chapters out faster, (dw i'm not burning myself out, i literally sit around at home most days) so ya'll have that to look forwards to!

Tbh I did my most productive writing while listening to video game fan music, maybe it just has magical tendencies from good it is.

If you want to be added to a taglist, just say the word! If you want to draw fanart or make anything based off of this, I would be literally honored. Please don't be shy, I will love whatever you make! If you have any questions about the fic, feel free to ask!

TW: Stalking, kidnapping plans, toxic relationships, Donnie has a bit of an ego, ruining of clothing

I do not condone any of the behaviors found or done in this fic. This story is purely for entertainment purposes. If you or someone you know is being treated like this, please contact the authorities.

Please Reblog writer's work!

Chapter Summary: Donnie gets rid of a tracker in a way that Leo doesn't like very much, and Raph goes over a plan with his brothers.

Word Count: 1176

☆~☆~☆

"Don't let me hear the robins sing above,

What good's their song if I've no one to love?"

You leaned your head back against the porcelain of the bathtub, watching the steam from the water curl up towards the ceiling. The silky-double vocals of Leslie Gore crept beneath the door and echoed throughout the tiled bathroom.

You leaned forwards and pulled the plug to the drain, watching the water swirl into the pipes.

"Don't let that dreamy moon come out, come out tonight,"

You lifted the needle off of the record, slipping it back into its case and strolling back to your bedroom. You snuggled under the warm covers, your wet hair dampening the pillow. Your eyelids were getting heavier with each second, warm water always did make you sleepy.

A hand landed on the outdoor windowsill, pulling the body attached to it upwards, revealing Donatello. He froze for a moment when you stirred in your sleep, but relaxed again when you merely turned your sleeping face to the wall.

Donnie pulled open your window, and slipped inside almost silently. He scanned around the room, before the spot of red light he was looking for pulled him to the jacket it was coming from.

He plucked the tracker the Purple Dragons had planted and glared at it with distaste. How dare they disrespect your privacy like that? He knew that they didn't care about you, not like he did. He wants to protect you, they want to use you. He wouldn't let that happen, over his dead body. Donnie's trackers are for protection purposes, so you need them. You need him, you need the rest of your new family to protect you from people like Kendra.

Now, what to do with the tracker? He obviously couldn't bring it back to the Lair, but he didn't want to leave it on you. He couldn't place it somewhere else, there were still things to prepare for your arrival and they would still see you at school, much to his displeasure. He thought it over, finding no good options even within the deepest depths of his intellect.

Suddenly, he thought of the most intelligent idea. He would spill something on the jacket, so you would throw it in the wash! The tracker would be destroyed! Those horrible, deceiving nerds wouldn't suspect a thing! He applauded himself in his mind, basking in his own intellect.

He was so busy praising himself in his mind that he didn't notice the electric blue portal materializing out of thin air behind him until Leo was right behind him. Donnie jumped nearly a mile out of his skin when Leo's hand landed on his shoulder.

He jerked around, expecting you to have woken up somehow and discovered his presence, but deflated when he saw that it was just his brother, and glared at him.

"What are you doing here, Leo?" Donnie said, crossing his arms with an annoyed look on his face. He could believe that his brother could do what he was doing, but he really wished he wouldn't.

"I'm visiting, of course," Leonardo flipped the ends of his bandana over his shoulder like it was hair, "Also, Raph sent me to look for you. You didn't come back after you left."

"That's none of your business."

"I think it is. If you're here, then it's all our business."

"You'll just do something rash."

Leo put on a half-mocking, half-serious pout, "Nuh-uh!"

"Scoff."

"If you don't tell me, I'll tell Raph and Mikey something is wrong."

Donatello clenched his fists and teeth, glaring even deeper at Leo. "Fine. The Purple Dragons placed a tracker on them, and I'm going to get rid of it."

Leonardo brought a hand up to his chest and gasped dramatically like a woman in a black-and-white movie, his eyes widening. "No!" He said it less like an exclamation, and more like a woman gossiping with her friends.

"Yes. Like I said, I'm going to get rid of it. Now go away."

Leo sassily put a hand on his hip, "No. I'm going to stay here and look after them."

"Fine," Donnie snapped, "But if you wake them up, you're going to regret it."

He walked to the kitchen, taking a carton of juice out of the fridge before returning.

Upon re-entering the bedroom, Donnie gritted his teeth yet again upon seeing him sit on the edge of your bed, his three-fingered hand gently petting the top of your head.

“What are you doing? Get off of there before you wake them up!” Leo pouted at his brother’s demand, but sat up anyway. He cocked his head in curiosity upon seeing the juice in Donnie’s hand.

“Juice?”

“Yes. This is how I’m going to get rid of that awful tracker.”

Leo launched forwards, attempting to grab the juice. “Don’t do that! You’re going to ruin a perfectly good jacket!”

Donatello jerked his hand back before Leo could grab it. “The whole point is that they’re going to wash it, dumb-dumb.” Upon hearing his brother’s plan, Leo didn’t try to grab the juice anymore, but put a hand on his hip again. “And what happens if it stains?”

“I’ll buy them another one,” Donnie turned back to the jacket, screwing the cap open.

Leonardo made no further attempt to stop his brother, but looked away as Donnie poured the liquid over the fabric. In his refusal to watch him disfigure clothing, he looked over to you, still sleeping soundly even with all the noise they were both making. You really were a deep sleeper, how cute.

“Done,” Donnie announced, interrupting Leo’s thoughts. He turned back to him, trying not to focus on the stained fabric on a hanger behind him. “Let’s just go,” Leo said, sulkily. He didn’t want to leave you so soon, but he couldn’t stand another minute in the awkwardness of the moment. They both walked to the kitchen, checking on you one last time to make sure you were still sleeping soundly. Donnie put the juice back in the fridge, then stepped into Leo’s portal.

☆~☆~☆

The Turtle Tank sped throughout the backstreets of New York City, leaving scattered papers and humans in its wake. Raphael pulled the tank into an isolated alleyway, beckoning his brothers to join in a circle.

"Okay," Raph said, putting his arms on the backs of Leo and Mikey, who were next to him in the circle, "We have everything prepared? Donnie, you have the tranq gun?"

"Of course I do, Raph," Donnie said with a slightly exasperated tone, "We've been over this."

"Okay, fine. Everyone knows the plan, right? We sneak in, get them, and take them home, like a boss!" Upon saying his catchphrase, Raph pumped his fist in the air, hyped up.

His energy spread to his younger brothers, and they put in their words of excitment and encouragement. Raph drove the vehicle out of the alleyway, and sped towards your home.

☆~☆~☆

A/N: Apologies if this chapter drags on a bit! I wanted to focus more on staying on one scene because of all the jumping back and forth in the first chapter! Also sorry that Raph and Mikey aren't very active in the story right now! They'll be a lot more starting in chapter 3! The first two chapters are more focused on the stalking aspect, which I tend to assign to Leo and Donnie. Raph and Mikey are more caretaker-esque, which you'll definently see very soon!

Taglist <3: @yandere-toons @yanteetle @ssak-i @oleander-nin @averagerottmntsimp

[distortionposting]

Shirts And Skins

Jared Hopworth x Stranger!Danny Stoker

Running a gym is harder than expected, but especially when unpleasant clients start causing trouble.

TWs- homophobia (dw it's some rando but queer is used as a slur once), internalized homophobia, canon typical flesh and stranger content (body horror and implied cannibalism)

Also I'm American and know absolutely nothing about gym culture so don't come at me, I just wanna write gay stories lol

------

"What the hell is that tiny twink doing in here?"

The question caught Jared off guard as he snapped out of his daze. He had spaced out while sitting at the reception desk, like he typically did when things were boring. His gym may have been a front to feed on fear, but he still had to run the place like a proper business, boring or not. It had been a longtime dream of Jared's to own a gym, he just hadn't expected running it to be quite so... dull. At least something seemed to be happening now?

"What's going on...?" Jared rumbled groggily, punctuating his question with a yawn. He hadn't sensed any change in the insecurity levels permeating the place, so it wasn't affecting his fear farming. No decreases, so he didn't need to mess with the lights or the music, and no increases, which meant one of the plentiful victims was ready for "harvest." Things were just... blah.

"Are you fucking stupid? I'm asking you what the hell this guy is doing in here!" The irate man, whose biceps were the same size as his shiny bald head, gestured toward a slender figure on the treadmill, wearing a shirt with stripes on it. He wasn't sure what it was, but Jared figured it was some kind of pride flag. He had a hard time keeping up with which one was which, so he never bothered with it. Gender and sexuality hardly mattered when everyone was a walking meat slab. (Though he did admire the dedication some had in the quest to obtain the perfect body.)

Jared watched the stranger jog for a moment, saw no immediate issue with his form, then looked blankly back at the client making the nebulous complaint. This guy's steroids were probably affecting his brain. Clients did get easier to persuade into new shapes after a while of using the stuff, though, but that also meant their tempers got worse and worse... Which meant Jared had to keep them in check.

The man stared at Jared expectantly, gesturing toward the treadmill once again, a little more rude this time. Without a beat, Jared answered. "Well, it looks like he's getting a better leg workout than you. Should work on that too, you look like you've skipped a couple leg days." The swell of self-consciousness coming off his customer made Jared grin. This guy could be sent over the edge from client to victim soon, Jared could practically taste it. These types of gym bros had such frail egos, which made it so easy to mess with them. Essentially, with lax gym rules, they flocked to this place like a fly to honey. It was like working at a fear buffet, and so long as he kept the lights on, he'd never have to worry about his next meal again. Those meatheads that ditched him for the ritual didn't know what they were missing. Not to mention he thought the whole ritual plan was stupid in the first place, a meat hole lacked any kind of imagination. It's like they didn't even try.

A shout from the other side of the room pulled Jared out of his residual anger regarding his recent abandonment, and he quickly realized that the guy he was mocking a second ago was about to go full 'roid rage. Lax rules or not, a fight would attract unwanted attention. Annoyed with the whole situation already, Jared hoisted himself out of his seat and pushed past the growing crowd of gym rats. He was fully prepared to wrench the tinier man from the larger patron's grasp, but to his surprise, the smaller of the two seemed to be holding his ground. This could get interesting.

In this very moment, Danny was facing down the goliath who had unceremoniously turned his treadmill off, pulling the plug at the source. At first he had assumed it was some sort of emergency, like a small personal object had rolled underneath the track, or even an electrical fire, but this was not the case. No, this asshole was just looking for a fight. Danny was hardly bothered, though, he'd been confronted by men this size before and thrown them for a loop, easy-peasy. The big lunk seemed awfully cocky too... Danny decided that a quick stretch wouldn't hurt, especially while this asshole was trying and failing to intimidate him.

"Are you even listening to me?! I said I want you outta my gym, fucking queer!" The man snarled, attempting to shove Danny back mid-stretch. Fortunately, Danny found it all too easy to evade his touch by purposefully dropping to the floor like a rag doll. Not far from the truth of the matter, he thought, contorting himself to be standing on all fours. It was in that very second that Jared realized that he had a Stranger in his gym, and that things were about to get weird.

The instigator stared at Danny in pure shock, and Danny seized the opportunity to have a little fun.

"I'd be listening if you had anything interesting to say!" He twisted his torso around a full 180 degrees, his legs following as if it were an afterthought. At this sight, a handful of the customers bolted out the door. "At least you noticed something right, big boy~" Danny winked at the man, laughing as his opponent's face got redder and redder. Jared wondered if the man might explode if his blood pressure got too high.

Unable to hold back panic and rage any longer, the man attempted to punt the Stranger in front of him, only managing to graze Danny as he deftly somersaulted backward and subsequently skittered up the shelf holding the hand weights, like some sort of feral animal. Danny goaded him on, throwing his head back and laughing between moments of making kissy noises. The man wasn't having any of that, and before anyone else could stop him, he hurled one of the benches in Danny's general direction. Unfortunately for Jared's wallet, the man missed his intended target and knocked down an entire row of exercise bikes, which fell with a terrible crunching noise.

"Alright, everyone get the fuck out of here." Jared bellowed, sending whatever bystanders were left running. They had seen Jared mad a handful of times, and knew better than to stand up to him. Jared was an enormous man, towering over even the strongest power lifter among them. Those who stood against him either disappeared completely or were hospitalized with severe injuries. Danny, however, knew no such fear, and continued his reign of chaos by launching himself directly onto his foe. The man attempted to avoid the sudden blow by turning away from his attacker, only for Danny to cling to the straps of his tank top like a maniacal little rodeo clown. The man scrambled to pull Danny off his back, but was unable to get a proper grasp on him. Bodybuilding came with an unfortunate price: his arms were so swollen that he could no longer reach the small of his back.

Jared attempted to pull the man back toward the office, but lost his grip when the man threw himself backward against the wall instead, desperate to get Danny off his back. Danny didn't seem to be in any distress at all as he was slammed repeatedly against the bricks, but in all fairness, he was gathering a good amount of fear from this nonsense. Jared cursed under his breath, pissed about what he was about to do, but there wasn't enough time to hesitate. The longer this fight went on, the more likely someone was gonna call the police. It had to be shut down RIGHT NOW.

With a single fluid motion, Jared ripped his baggy t-shirt off as easily as if it were made of tissue paper. What might have appeared as a beer gut beneath his tee (though he was not slender by any means) was actually a well hidden second set of arms, equally strong as his openly visible set. Mourning one of the few shirts that fit him decently well, Jared threw himself into the scuffle. His lower set of arms deftly grabbed the instigator's wrists, while his right hand gripped the man's throat, pinning him firmly against the wall. The remaining left hand pried Danny off the man's back as if he were a scruffed kitten. This was done with far less force considering Danny hadn't started this whole incident in the first place... and because most of Jared's strength was being put towards holding the bigot down.

Danny looked Jared up and down, the momentary peace finally giving him the chance to actually see the gym owner up close. Ripped, shirtless, and real handsy, Danny thought, realizing it was an excellent chance to shoot his shot.

"Finally!" He exclaimed, "A man who knows how to handle me!" A sly grin crossed Danny's face as he spoke. "You can handle me anytime. Nice grip."

Jared went bright red, his grasp on the human tightening out of surprise, the tendons in his hand bulging out. The suddenly strangled man gargled in protest, all the while Jared stared back at Danny, mouth hanging open. Girls had tried fawning over Jared a thousand times before, but this felt different. He couldn't figure out why, though... maybe it was all three of his hearts fluttering in unison. He tried desperately to ignore it, which was a little easier when the man he was holding down was trying to escape not one, but two monsters.

"Stop being so annoying, I'm trying to--" Jared growled as the man beneath him thrashed, to no avail against Jared's iron grip. "You know what? Fuck this."

Jared set Danny back on the ground, pointing at him, and then the front door. "Go lock the door and flip the closed sign for me while I shove this jackass in my office. I want a word with you." Danny saluted in response, which elicited a snort from Jared. The little guy was pretty funny, he couldn't deny that. Once everything was properly settled (aside from the muffled screams from the guy locked in the office), Jared sat down on one of the benches, gesturing for Danny to sit next to him. He tried to ignore his racing thoughts regarding the seating situation as well, shaking the idea and his shaggy brown hair out of the way.

"Sorry about your gym," Danny started, idly kicking his legs. "I didn't think I'd cause a scene so soon. I thought I was gonna mess with you, actually."

An abrupt half-snort, half-laugh escaped Jared's lips. Him? Scared? Impossible. "Yeah? " Jared challenged, grinning mischievously at the circus geek next to him. "What were you gonna do, huh?"

Flirtatiously walking his fingers up Jared's massive arm, Danny laid on the classic Stoker charm. "Oh, you know~ Wait until closing time, make you come over and tell me to leave, and just when you're about to tap me on the shoulder..." Danny suddenly let his upper half go slack, his neck hanging at an unnatural angle, like a marionette that suddenly had its strings cut. The surprise of it all made Jared laugh. It definitely wouldn't have scared him by any means, but it was still well executed.

"Hey, that's pretty good, man. The dead-eyed look sells it. Woulda scared the shit outta someone who didn't harvest organs for fun." Jared lightly elbowed him, prompting Danny to pull himself into a more natural position, giggling all the while. Man, that laugh was infectious.

"Do you want any of our extras? I mean, we try to use every bit at the Circus, but even Nikola doesn't really know what to do with a spare gallbladder-- Anyway, I could bring some to you as an apology for wrecking your place? Say... tomorrow at closing time?" Danny looked up at Jared with wide, sparkling eyes. Maybe a little too wide, revealing a sliver of the plastic that kept his frame together.

Jared didn't know what to say. Nobody had offered him anything before. In his life so far, if he wanted something, he had to get it himself, regardless of how legal it might be. It took clawing tooth and nail to get his gym, and he committed plenty of murder in the process. Yet here this Stranger was, wandering directly into his hunting grounds, and apologizing for causing trouble. To say it was a touching gesture was an understatement. Blinking in complete shock, Jared managed to blurt out an astonished "Yes??"

Danny squealed in pure joy, throwing himself against Jared in as big a hug he could give the man. It ended up closer to Danny face-planting himself against Jared's bare chest. Jared blushed again, staring at Danny momentarily before awkwardly giving him a pat on the shoulder. Were all Stranger avatars this touchy-feely? It wasn't that he hated it (though he'd never admit it), it just so happened that Jared wasn't used to this kind of contact. When his ex-friends were still around, the most positive contact he would get was a slap on the back. All of this was so new.

It took a moment of skin-to-peeled-skin contact for Danny to suddenly realize that Jared no longer had a shirt as a result of all the mayhem that had occurred mere minutes ago. Sure enough, the remaining shreds of it laid pitifully on the floor. The idea coagulated quickly in Danny's mind, and he gave Jared's chest a firm, friendly slap. Damn, this guy was solid as a rock under all that muscle.

"I can get you a new shirt too! The Circus is very good with a needle and thread, see?" To prove his point, Danny held his arm up to display his seams, which were almost impossible to see unless you were looking extremely close. Jared had to admit, it was pretty impressive.

"That'd be great," Jared confessed, "Pretty hard to find stuff I like in my size. Or anything in my size, really. Liked that shirt, too."

With a sense of determination, Danny picked up what remained of the shirt to keep as a template. By god, he was going to make things up to this man. "Then it's settled!" Danny announced triumphantly, "I'll bring you dinner and some new clothes tomorrow night, sound good?"

"Er- uh, yeah, sure." Jared stumbled over both his words and emotions, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "And, uh. You don't have to worry about seeing that guy ever again, I'll take care of him." A skillful press to his chin urged a sharp set of teeth forward, tusks much like a boar's erupting from his lower jaw. A crack of the neck, a shake of the head, and Jared looked like a new man.

"On the same note, wanna thank you for finding me an early lunch. Meat is meat, y'know." Jared chuckled and gestured back toward his office, where the locked door was being rattled desperately by the man trapped behind it. His fear was already delectable, but there was nothing like sinking your teeth into a nice, juicy cut of muscle and sinew. Something of a rare treat these days.

He had already thought Jared was particularly attractive, but the sharp teeth stopped Danny dead in his tracks. Sure, he was playfully flirting with the Flesh avatar before, but that smile had him falling hard and fast. If he had a heart, surely it would have been beating in double time. How was he hotter as a monster?! Danny was so doomed. He didn't even know if this man liked guys! Hell, they hadn't even exchanged names yet!

Fuck it, it was now or never. Danny awkwardly stuck his hand out to Jared for a handshake. You know, the most normal thing to do when you want to date a guy. He was already mentally kicking himself, but it was way too late to take this back now. "You can call me Danny."

"Jared," he grunted in reply, his enormous hand engulfing Danny's as he gave a firm shake. "Names don't mean much to me these days, so it's whatever." This made Danny giggle, perplexing Jared in the process.

"Sorry, sorry!" Danny continued to giggle, "It's just, you sound more like the Circus than I do with the whole name thing. My name's the only thing that sticks with me. Nikola says I'm a special case." He shook his head bashfully, letting his arms swing idly at his sides. "You're uh, you belong to Viscera right?"

"That's a real big word when all you gotta say is Flesh. That's me though. The Boneturner." The way Jared enunciated his title could have given Danny the shivers. Why was he so hot??? Even if this guy wasn't interested in men, his looks were going to haunt Danny's thoughts for the rest of his existence.

The electric lights buzzed around them as the tension grew thicker. There was definitely something blossoming between them, though neither could put it to words so soon. The door behind them continued to shake as its occupant tried to free himself.

"You, uh, you should probably take care of that guy, huh?" Danny gave an awkward smile, fidgeting with the t-shirt fabric in his hands. Jared nodded in agreement, feeling the hunger beginning to gnaw at him. The anticipation of a good meal practically had him drooling.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then...?" Jared trailed off, barely able to tear his eyes away from Danny as he spoke. It was so odd to see a Stranger with such an athletic physique, and the very concept was intriguing to him. Hopefully he'd learn more about him under less hectic circumstances.

"It's a date!" Danny beamed, bouncing on his toes as he made his way toward the door. "Maybe next time you can meet me at my place for gymnastics rehearsal! Bye, handsome~"

And before Jared could protest with so much as a 'no homo', Danny was out of the building. The thought of it festered in the back of his mind as he closed the gym up early. He thinks I'm handsome, was the first concept to sink in, offering a considerable ego boost. Danny saw him passing as a human and a bit of his monstrous form, and it didn't change his opinion a bit. The last time he heard that was from his surrogate mother, Angela, and mothers were basically obligated to say such things, even if she wasn't his real mother. She was just the avatar who helped him get back on his feet again, that's all.

The other phrase took a bit longer to grapple with, It's a date. Jared wasn't completely sure if Danny had meant it in a romantic sense or not, but considering the handsome comment that followed, it seemed pretty damn gay. Was Danny flirting with him? The feelings around that were incredibly murky. On one hand, it was just the two of them who knew, and nobody would ever find out... on the other, if it ever got out, his reputation could be destroyed in an instant, like his father would say. He never quite understood why his father hated queers so much, but the countless news stories and videos of the violence towards them were frightening enough that Jared had tried very hard not to be anything like that. He had wanted to make his father proud.

Granted, he had been kicked out for the weird magic bone book instead. The fear was still there, though.

You know what, Jared suddenly decided, This is too much to think about on an empty stomach or three. He had left his meal stewing in fear for long enough, it was high time he had a bite. This doubt was due to low blood sugar, surely that was it. Yeah, he'd be fine, the gay thoughts would go away if his head was clear. Definitely.

Forcing himself to relax, the crackle of bone could be heard beneath layers of muscle. The sharp edges jutted out of Jared's skin deliberately, just as artfully as he had intended. The perfect form was never quite complete by design, but he always did feel better appearing precisely how he wanted in the moment. He was bone-chilling, threatening, and no one in the world would ever dare touch him. Even better, he'd be able to show off the truly terrifying look to his latest victim.

Bon Appétit.

[jay-wasreblogging]

No idea what the ettiquette is for things like this but I adore your brain esp with Sherlock and Mycroft. pLEASE share any of your thoughts/hopes/expectations for s&c Mycroft (and his + Sherlock’s dynamic) 🙏

I swearrrr all of yous in the Sh&Co fandom are so sweet!! 🥹

As for my thoughts/hopes/expectations, It usually comes up randomly in my head but I would say...

Thoughts:

Mycroft hasn't been mentioned (except by the writer's that there isn't a voice actor for him yet) and this fits in with the surprise John and the audience will get when he is introduced. I'm excited for that but tbh I don't have any other thoughts, when he does appear DW I'll tag you in my post of thoughts :))

My hopes/expectations is that:

Mycroft is not slim. LISTENNNN LISTENNNN OKAYY, often hes portrayed as slim due to medical/mental issues which I still love btw (the approach to his character with these are some of the most powerful fics I have ever read) I just want a Mycroft that is a big boy and I hope he is.

Mycroft doesn't worry about Sherlock that often due to seeing him online with John now, he also follows the podcast, twitter account and is definitely on their patreon. That's why we haven't heard of him so far because there's no need for him to contact Sherlock. He's going to make a comment about the podcast and the detective career when he's introduced though.

Lestrade and Mycroft actually keep in touch quite often- not just due to Sherlock but cause of Lestrade being the DI and Mycroft being the government would mean they would cross paths more often than not. Especially true in hostage negotiations and/or terrorists attacks!! Lestrade would have to be present as it's all hands on deck and Mycroft may just be needed for 'cleanup' afterwards. They both could be introduced at the same time or within episode of each other. If not, they will know each other soon!!

Mycroft and Sherlock will do their iconic back and forth deduction but with both Mariana and John present. 👀

Mycroft doesn't drink alcohol nor consumes anything that wasn't made then tested - can't risk being intoxicated or poisoned when he could be called up at any moment, there's no time for resting. He does throw caution to the wind when he eats at Sherlock's though, hoping for a scene where they are having dinner together.

John will have direct contact with Mycroft just like Lestrade after they meet, this allows Mycroft to be a reoccurring character (FINGERS CROSSED MY GUYS!).

Mycroft is going to have a one on one conversation with John off the record about the case of The Greek Interpreter and John will definitely record it and then later plans to delete/censor it but Sherlock says not to and just publish it raw because why not. It be funny lol.

Further head-canons (some are also hoped or expected) because now I'm lost in the sauce and can't stop:

Mycroft has never worried about himself too much outside of work reasons, he was too busy taking care of Sherlock + the estate and handling incompetent politicians and global political leaders to ever care.

Sherlock was and is a danger to everything alive or objects - including himself!! This especially when he was a child doing any sort of experiment because often touch and tasting is the first thing done, so Mycroft aged like 20 years when Sherlock was a child in his 'i must grab and put this foreign thing in my mouth' phase. One time he wanted to touch and taste the insides of his bee plushie - it was just cotton tho (and a heart attack for Mycroft).

He is the reason Sherlock has expensive tastes and was unable to lean him off it due to having the exact palette as well. He's the reason Sherlock is spoiled about his groceries but don't say that to Mycroft because he did his best...not really but he likes his branded sweets okay.

Mycroft (as he is a big boy) needed suits that were custom made for him and up to his impeccable standards so he got them commissioned and had the designer he found to also create sensory friendly clothing for Sherlock. 🥹

Mycroft likes John Watson and Mariana a lot, they both love his brother and that's the only thing he could ask for.

Mycroft is a tank!! He is more than capable of neutralising someone if needed - whether hand to hand or by weapon/s - but just like how he isn't a detective, he isn't his own bodyguard nor hitman because he's lazy and that's why you have employees.

Mycroft thought that Sherlock and John are more than friends but gets even more confused when Mariana is there? Then decides it's none of his business really, he needs to focus on easing tensions between the King and the Prime Minister.

Mycroft and Sherlock not only had deduce-offs but also regularly fought one on one hand to hand combat for fun. Mycroft was scared asf tho when Sherlock started to have intense interests in swords, no thank you.

Mycroft unlike his behaviour at work being that of an ice man whose looks could kill, is awkward and shy when it comes to Sherlock. There's not much to talk about when you're siblings whose work requires the utmost confidentiality, can easily deduce what the other did and with one's work famously being published and the other's influence clear in every political news!!

Now that's all I have, I'm sure my brain will come up with some more stuff later on and i'll be sure to tag you in them from now on!!

[vexx-ation]

Account Update (mostly music project stuff)

Hi all! Just wanted to give a quick update on my music project (dw it's still going). I just started medical school, and while I love it, there's a lot less time to fool around and listen to albums than at my last job (alas.). Luckily I've backlogged everything until December 15th, so I'm not in danger of missing a day, but this does mean I likely won't be able to extend the project into next year while keeping the daily format. I do plan on reviewing every album sent to me, and eventually want to make it to 1000 albums, but after 2024 the reviews likely won't be posted daily anymore. That being said, because the backlog is so long and I'm so busy, please know that if you send in an album it'll likely be months before I actually post the review. Just wanted to say that I appreciate the recommendations more than I can say, and feel kinda bad it looks like I'm ignoring yall with how long it takes to post anything. Feel free to keep sending them-- there's no such thing as too many recs when I'm trying to get to 1000 albums!! Also, feel free to Truly send anything, the more niche the better. I've found some of my favorite albums that way :)

TLDR for this part: Daily album reviews for 2024, then switching to a looser schedule. Keep sending recs if you have them, I love what yall have sent so far! <3

In terms of other projects, especially daily ones, I do have another that I'm gearing up for 2025. I love taking photographs (landscapes almost exclusively), and plan on queueing up those to post daily starting in 2025. I'll also be posting reviews of things that I read, listen to, or watch, but those will be more sporadic and of varying quality

Final note: Thank you SO much to every single one of my followers and people who interact with my posts. I post some really niche concept and love to yap, so to know that people are reading it, finding new music, and sending in recs because they like my stuff means the world. I don't really browse tumblr much (I only really post) so if you have a project you want me to check out or promo on my more popular fandom blog (it literally has over 10x the follower count of this one lol) hmu!! I love seeing people's projects :)

Sorry for the wall of text-- I hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

[starlightswordfight]

PLANET HEADCANONS TIME. WE ARE NEVER GETTING OUT OF HERE

can't wait for the garden site to update while I'm not looking and immediately debunk EVERYTHING that i'm about to write

ALSO THESE FIRST FEW MIGHT BE A LITTLE HEAVY. REFERENCES TO REAL WORLD ISSUES (ENVIRONMENTAL, WORK CLIMATE, ETC) EVEN IF IT'S NOT THAT EXPLICIT. I WILL PUT WHERE IT GETS MORE LIGHTHEARTED AGAIN!! IT WILL BE IN BIG TEXT LIKE THIS

it's (mostly) nothing you'd see that isn't already in pikmin lore somewhere but better safe than sorry

– that all said, karut is a very small planet. I don't have a lot for this one. the population just is very low!! tiny. and knowing that it's a sister planet to koppai canonically makes things a LOT more interesting

– my personal hc! is that civilization on both of those planets was initially only on karut. the climate or the living conditions on karut may have been extreme enough for most people to leave for koppai instead. were things always like that? no. dw about it

– and the resources present on koppai are so much more plentiful! and the environment is still perfect for life! and for hundreds of years they thrive there!

– until they don't

– as karut restabilizes, slowly, with those who stayed behind completely changing their tactics and becoming very heavily focused on planning now, koppai begins to deteriorate in some aspects, the most glaring issue being the rapidly impending food crisis. the people responsible for managing those resources (govt, anyone directly involved in resource management jobs) are still working off of centuries of nonrenewable practices, including a complete Lack of agriculture where it matters

– all this to say that pikmin 3 was already subtly making the case for "hey! you guys wouldn't have had to do this if you just relied on renewable methods of using the things you need for survival!!" which I was so genuinely going to do my ap research project on when I was in high school but I never did the class because I failed seminar

– basically karut is to koppai what earth is to mars and you can't run from an issue that you exclusively caused and it's gonna follow you and Boy Did It Follow

– genetically koppaites and people from karut look very similar also!! rounded ears, lightweight suits unless you're Player Character in the rescue corps, things like that. they also have similar styles and forms of expression, with minor differences!

– the h in hocotate is for hustle culture

– going to interpret hocotate as another criticism of similar environmental issues just from a different angle. I am certain that the writers were Not going for that whatsoever and I'm reaching so hard my arms are falling off but I don't care

– hocotate is already implied to be more heavily industrialized in some places, judging from the scenery we see. i don't know if it's exclusively corporate heads like the freight president that have such an intense focus on profit over all else (though in that case specifically there HAS to be because the company is in DEBT) (but also olimar sees managers as soulless but i digress), but i could easily see there being a heavy consumerism thing going on over there

– environmental studies, or careers, or the environment itself, is valued, but not considered as important as business and the advancement of civilization by the people in charge of those businesses that could actually take big steps to preserve it, and much faster. blame is, of course, put on hocotatian citizens when things start getting bad

– bringing previous hcs into this! this is why olimar is not a biologist or in a similar field despite knowing so much about it for a freight employee by the way. job outlooks are lower, or at the very least the positions are HEAVILY discouraged because they aren't as steady anymore as some others. it wouldn't be a stable source of income like the one he has now would be, and he basically got stuck. I mention this because it happens to a LOT of people here

– there are ongoing discussions and movements around it now, and around the work culture of the planet that causes predicaments like olimar's and louie's to happen so fucking much, but it was BAD before and definitely still has a long way to go. it's kind of at that point where people there are just now realizing that "oh, hey, this is like. fucked. to be honest"

– ocobo's storms, specifically, involve water-centric natural disasters. it is hurricane central in that bitch. the other florida of the pikminverse

– planet tagwa is actually near ocobo, and their orbital pathways are similar! kinda like Another sister planet deal perhaps

– both planets have several moons and let me tell you high tide gets CRAZY

– life is adapted to be more aquatic in nature; think like splatoon but not as obvious maybe (I have never played or watched someone play splatoon once in my life). marine species that the person is similar to depends on the region of the planet they live on. this applies to ocobo and tagwa

– they also have similar struggles with water quality, with slightly varied causes. tagwa's water supply is undrinkable due to the salinity levels being too high, as a result of rising global temperatures. meanwhile ocobo's constant storm problem make it incredibly difficult to regulate the water there, despite how much of it they have. this issue is worsening Also because of rising global temperatures. this is not either of their faults, it is just Happening

– pnf-404 has a big dent in the earth. just a good chunk taken right out, adventure time style

– past unsustainable human activity violated the majority of its planetary boundaries, and this led ultimately to the ending of human civilization. whether it resulted in travel somewhere else or in dying off is up in the air

– nature, as it does, regulates itself in every system. once harmful input from people on a mass scale stopped, it was able to bring itself back to working and even thriving conditions, though this took a very long time

– the new life has adapted around formerly very hostile conditions, which is the reason it's so strange and unheard of on other planets, even to those with biology interests such as olimar. things that previously could not be even dreamed of from the wildlife are now not only possible, but the norm

– many many plants adapted to gain consumer-like traits, and vice versa. the pikmin are bizarre when comparing it to real life species or to other planets in pikmin, but on pnf-404 they're actually completely ordinary

– sea urchin pikmin are real too !! sea urchin pikmin that I NEVER FUCKING POSTED expect that soon maybe

OKAY WE'RE NORMAL AGAIN NOW. DISCUSSION IS MUCH LIGHTER FROM HERE OUT

– sozor is one of the least industrialized planets, if not the least, by a long shot!! there is no major "separation" from wildlife (things like wildlife bridges/crossings and designated protected habitat areas are abundant), and its environmental protection policies are very strict.

– EVEN STRICTER NO GAMBLING POLICY DON'T ASK WHY DON'T EVEN WORRY

– the culture is not a collective one. people on sozor are very individualistic, which I adopted from that one giant post that compiled the information we know about the castaways and the planets which I will link here somewhere [I CAN'T FIND IT BUT I'LL ADD IT WHEN I DO]

– ohri is either the florida or the australia of the pikminverse planets and you are just going to have to trust me when I say that

– one day the environment is going to reclaim it and they will have no one to blame but themselves

– the climate can be hard to predict. ohri is really really good at not being the expected temperature in a given season, and it just does this whenever it wants to be so honest. it gets a little hectic

– it's referenced on the garden site that ohrians tend to be tougher and I fully think that it's because of the environment. even socioculturally, a lot of facets of life like academics and work are a lot more intense or high-stakes. people on ohri on average are said to go above and beyond, setting records galaxywide, but the planet also reports very high levels of stress, right up there with hocotate

– on the opposite side of things! ooji's population is considered one of the happiest!!

– ooji gets a lot of its income through agriculture; it's what's been holding the economy up. research into other prominent fields such as environmental studies and botany have encouraged those working in agriculture to shift to more sustainable practice

– giya is a melting pot. a good deal of different people end up there at some point for one reason or another

– this is especially true for koppai! and given the abundance of koppaite text utilized by the rescue corps, which started ON giya, I Think there's a deeper correlation there but I could not for the life of me work that out for you yet

– okay so the colony canonically has? walls?? but WHY?? DOES IT HAVE WALLS????? is evil shadow skull out there waiting to get their asses or something???? climb up to the top to see what's out there and Ope, Here Comes The Lich

– if any of you have watched adventure time I'm picturing this as like an islands scenario. like a "oh, the place is mostly safe, we just uh were Not allowed to leave for a very long time though." safety vs freedom was probably historically something that got grappled with a lot while the planet was still being settled on, and while people CAN and actively do leave and come back now, the walls are still there

– also dogs are everywhere it is inevitable very awesome no escape

– why is everyone on nijo bird coded why is everyone saying this WHAT is HAPPENING around here

– summer and winter stretch out very long for that planet, and look vastly different. summer has very little dark nighttime, and in winter you will rarely see the sun

– the gravity on nijo is lighter on average than it is in other planets! this allows for less force to be needed during takeoffs for flights, however it also causes reduced friction, so pilots on nijo have to be more careful

– the reduced weight of many objects also implies that architecture and general tools are made of different material than we have, with a density that won't allow it all to just float off. these things when taken to other planets are MUCH heavier there

– temperatures on siguray are extreme in every way they can be, not unlike most deserts. when it's hot it is scorching and when it's cold it is frigid

– day and night tends to cycle like that

– wind, uh. wind would be a huge problem. sand everywhere

– due to how hectic the weather can get on such a short notice, many who do not Have to be out and about are encouraged to stay inside. alternatives to schooling, for example -- remote learning programs -- are prominent on siguray for the people's safety

– there is such a focus on material objects with people from siguray (treasure collecting, geology, archaeology) because those types of studies and businesses and the like are heavily normalized on a planet like this. there isn't far much else happening in most areas, so it's not only normal to have a sort of interest and expertise in that, but it is expected that you do

– koppai and siguray have a consistent trading relationship. certain koppaites in particular will especially trade out treasures for food items (dobbs) (dobbs in particular)

– koodgio's culture is art and expression-centric, though artistic voice has been dwindling more over the years and becoming more commercialized. art by some is viewed as product rather than passion, and this has a detrimental effect on the artists there

– ogura has a lot of water on it!! marine biomes are heavy in this world. yes I'm doing this exclusively to write for an oc do not even worry about it

– ogura also has two moons because I think that's awesome

– the brightness, in comparison to earth, would be around what it is on pluto! ogura's light is a lot gentler and dimmer due to a greater distance from their respective star. the mellow light is easy on the eyes, but also makes the planet colder on average, and everyone bundles up far more as a result. buildings got more insulation or whatever it's called

– this has the very unfortunate effect of BLINDING EVERYBODY when they go to OTHER PLANETS

– both the research task force HQ and the interstellar federation main location are on mihama

– mihama is at the closest point to the center of the galaxy. not that the other planets "orbit" it, I don't think that's possible, but the varying solar systems IN that galaxy tend to lap around and be at a point around mihama in some way

– when I picture mihama I picture it to be very dark. could not begin to tell you why. daytime is dim and short

[yawnderu]

I can't lie, I should be studying but I'm actually really bored so I'm gonna pester you instead.

Would u be interested in writing something smutty with they/them pronouns? Anything, I'm not fussed.

Being a trans dude, I don't often find fics where they/them pronouns are used in conjunction (big words innit) with female reproductive system and men. It's a tiny bit upsetting sometimes when the word "girl" slaps me in the face when I'm reading smut, not that I don't like your fics- I love them and they r amazing.

Love from your hubby <33

PS. What are your plans for the day? (is it day? idk what time it is for you)

Extra PS. Do you have any tips for writing? Every time I sit down and wanna write, the sentences don't wanna flow. Like I'll have great ideas and they will play through my head but won't translate well to words, y'know?

HAHAHA U DON'T PESTER ME DW

For today I'm just working (busy day again :( ) and might just honestly sleep and play games with friends later in the day, maybe practice my makeup for tomorrow's party :p

I could try!! most of my stuff if not all is honestly self-indulgent BUT I could try to make a gender neutral smutty fic for u!! What character would u like? :3 <333

As for tips for writing... honestly I'd recommend simply writing short ideas of the things you're thinking about. I have hundreds of pages in my notes with small ideas/scenarios of what I think about, and eventually use some of those when I'm inspired enough. Sometimes even phrases from stuff I read online inspire me, or even listening to music can help. I just recently got back into writing after like 5 years so I don't have a lot of tips just yet buttttt I'd say there's no shame on finding inspiration from sources online, and even just making rough drafts of what your ideas are will eventually turn into nice writing! Small progress is still progress

[oogaboogaspookyman]

lambitchqueen: hey dude! just wanted to check on u!!

sunshinecat: Hey Laura! I'm okay, albeit a little bored, i don't do well on the weekends 😅

lambitchqueen: that job at the dumb theme park kept u busy huh? man thats kinda shit tbh idk why you even wanted to work there

sunshinecat: I actually quit!

lambitchqueen: deadass?? when???

sunshinecat: You remember that time i was talking to Leshy on break, in the break room, and Narinder decided to make a scene? I quit that time, i didn't wanna work in a place like that

lambitchqueen: damn good for u i hated that place anyway

sunshinecat: Yeahh... Speaking of which, have you heard it shut down? Like years ago?

lambitchqueen: it WHAT

sunshinecat: It shut down! Bankruptcy but knowing you and the things, i bet murder was another reason

lambitchqueen: THEY FUCKING WHAT

sunshinecat: Was that not part of your plan?? It drove the company to shut down the theme park and it's been abandoned ever since

lambitchqueen: i missed out on SO MUCH WHAT THE HELL..... no it wasn't part of my plan to get people killed i just hoped they would get caught and revealed to be spooky shits but KILL??? when did they kill???

sunshinecat: I didn't say they killed, more like i bet they did...

lambitchqueen: oh........ oh okay thank fuck i never meant for THAT to happen jesus fuck

sunshinecat: Sorry! I shouldn't have said that i'm very sorry 😔

lambitchqueen: its cool dw. that being said i do wanna see the place now that its abandoned n all cause like. my curiosity be high now lol

sunshinecat: Are you sure about this??? Those things could still be there y'know???

lambitchqueen: ehh ill be fineee dw bout me im a strong independent woman! i dont need no man u know me

sunshinecat: Yeah i know you 😏

sunshinecat: But seriously can i at least come with you? I don't wanna leave you alone in a place like that, you're my best friend y'know??

lambitchqueen: teehee alr you can come with me romeo but just know were gonna have fun then if you come along

sunshinecat: Bitch don't call me Romeo ewww!!

lambitchqueen: lmaooooo

[ajulisz]

Some of my headcanons for Sevika x Reader x Renata

(there's also some SevikaxRenata and Sevika/RenataxReader and 2 NSFW even tho they're not WOW, its tagged dw) OH, and there's a bit of angst in the end, enjoy :)

Renata is domineering with you both, she is the only one that can put Sevika in her place actually;

Sevika moves a lot in bed when she's sleeping. Renata doesn't. So if you move a lot too there will probably be days that Renata will be pissed at you both and go sleep in another room or even in the sofa;

If you have a sweet tooth almost every time Sevika goes to the upper city to get some business done she will buy you some fancy candies;

Renata probably pays one of those air balloons every time she goes on a date. Doesn't matter if its only with one of you or you three. That woman wants comfort and privacy;

If you don't know how to defend yourself or see yourself in a bad situation you can't get out of, you have permission to use the "I will tell my girlfriend" card, that scares everyone and if it doesn't, they better run or Renata and Sevika will find them;

If you study at the piltover academy, expect Renata and Sevika to send someone to walk you home and the person have total permission to beat up some upper class that makes any weird or suspicious look at you.;

You all probably have an open relationship because Sevika still goes to the brothel and Renata probably has some pets around;

But I have the feeling they wouldn't mind cutting those relationships in case you didn't liked the idea or felt uncomfortable at some point, and even with that aside, I think that what would happen is that they would keep this other people more to use for favors, especially Renata;

Ignoring the fact that Silco is dead. I think Renata and Sevika try not to talk a lot about their jobs at home because when they do they probably have an argument, and their discussions are not pretty because they both are really close and strong minded with their ideas;

Even tho they get together when it comes to the "LETS DESTROY PILTOVER" idea, Sevika working for Silco while Renata is the one who wants to be the ruler does not help the case;

But I'm pretty sure if Silco dies and Renata puts Zaun on top of her priorities, or lie about it, because we know she wants the Solar Gates, she doesn't really mind Zaun burning in the process (but Sevika doesn't need to know that... Right Renata?) Sevika will be the number one by her side to put the power in her wife hands;

(NSFW) If you think you are a dom in this... are you really a dom... or are you just so much of a sub that you do whatever your girlfriends like?;

(NSFW) I don't want to speak about sex here cause I think we all know Renata would not be an easy dom much less let's expect Sevika to do that role (unless you ask them nicely), but I'm pretty sure a lot of praise will be present in the aftercare if that's your thing;

Renata is trying her best in all this years go slow to make sure everything go as she planned to...

There's a reason to it and a reason that kills me (thank you brain)

Renata is not a liar, she just... omits some of her plans from you and Sevika because she didn't want to catch feelings in the first place and somehow you both conquered her heart, and she knows it will HURT like hell if one day she really needs to bury all of Zaun and let everyone suffocate down there, but not because of the people that live there, much more because Sevika will probably never forgive her and you... she doesn't know what to expect from you after you see Zaun destroyed because of her.

[shopwitchvamp]

I just got the midi matcha skirt and I love it!!! So of course I immediately tripped and fell in a mud puddle the first time I wore it (dw I'm able to wash it out but it was still very much a orz moment). I have really sensitive skin so I'm really excited to have a skirt that doesn't make me break out in hives.

I want to ask: do you guys have plans to expand into more clothing items beyond skirts/pants? Like dresses or shirts? Or is that a secret for now?

Oh no!!! Not the mud puddle attack (relateable as a disaster prone clumsy person 😂) So as for future expansion, it's no secret but it's more just like there's nothing in particular solidly on the horizon right now. And thennn some of it is also that we've actually cut a bunch of stuff over time to where we almost only have skirts/joggers. Like we used to have all-over print tshirts using the same patterns that are on skirts/joggers, but I stopped selling them after the pandemic hit & I was no longer going to cons. Lots of cuts are due to "no longer going to cons" really, 'cause online it's just skirts and pants that sell. You can expect some more random small misc. drops this year tho. Like last year we made some hats & I also worked with other small businesses to stock a few fun things like soap, tea, candles, etc. that went along with the theme of a big new collection drop. I think the next most likely thing is beanies 'cause I have a couple ideas for those. Maybe tea and tea strainers again this fall because those two items actually sold really quickly for a side-item, and I the shop I worked with before has a perfect blend for my fall collection. Beyond those I'm currently looking into a collar supplier. Oh and one thing I can say for sure that we *won't* be doing that I get requests for a lot is button up shirts. For so many reasons... I'm sorry to say to everyone that's asked, I'm 100% not intested in getting into making them. 😅 What else.. Well I don't think I've said this before but I've got a pile of plain white cotton jean jackets that I want to dye/paint/put spikes on/etc.etc. So far I just haven't found the time or energy to do all that, but maybe hopefully I'll get around to it soon.

[aita-blorbos]

(pokemon oc)

AITA for taking an old pokemon to competitives?

So I (16 F) finished my school course a while ago, got a broad team and became a champion, but I tended to stick to casual fights, wasn't too interested in competitives and i don't plan on dedicating to it.

My cousin (18+), on the other hand, they are a battle league trainer. They train pokemon for competitive use and all, but they also watch over their health. They have this "retired" one- let's call it V- that they said is too old for competitives, but is still energetic and still likes fights, but they're too busy to put actual dedication on taking care of V and taking him to easier combats or long rides. So they sent it over to me, that way it can be taken care of and taken to adventures and all that stuff and overall get a nice retirement. (This was something we talked beforehand, dw! we love him and agree that he's too good to be sent to the box)

So recently I was admitted for an academy, and of course I took V with me alongside with my main guys.

it's a good one, I still can go to the wild to explore and take V with me, some classes actually take place out there. Here's the catch, though, students here are BONKERS about competitives, they carefully plan their strats and all, and have clubs dedicated to competitive battling. I ended up joining one myself, plus we're all just students so it's not like i thought we'd be able to take it TOO far. I learned about strategies, team matching, and even gave my team some better training and new additions so that I can make my own atrategies. Of course, V, already being trained for these kind of battles, is a BEAST at these. I got it an assault vest and taught it flare blitz and extreme speed.

Now this is the point where I'm starting to think I'm TA. First, extreme speed is a move that absolutely requires the pokemon to react fast and move even faster, though V can pull it off well despite being an old guy. Secondly, flare blitz is a move that harms the one attacking, so even if he obliterates the foes he still gets some damage from it. And thirdly, sometimes the more dedicated trainers can have pokemon with moves that can OHKO him, like hydro pump or stone edge, though so far V hasn't shown sign of not wanting to fight. Fourthly "not being in competitive fights" was the core of this decision of him being sent to me but these are not the big leagues?

I told my cousin about all this and they were Livid, they said that V is bound to getting seriously hurt during these, and that I should forbid him from fighting in here, but V looks pretty ok to me, and I'm starting to think that my cousin might have misjudged him and these are not bad for him at all, he's still with me as trading long distance is forbidden in the academy. (Plus I don't wanna give him back)

Part of me thinks I'm doing the right thing, trust is an important part of being a trainer and I trust V, and I'd hate to leave him aside and continue with him out of my team. But part of me is worried that they may be right and I should trust their judgement over V's. I still take him to our comppetitives and nothing really has changed, V might aswell not actually be too old for serious battles, but still, AITA?

Extra info: V's kind is too rare to actually for sure know his livespan. I've considered switching either extreme speed or flare blitz out of his moveset but it just isn't the same.

[mewmewchann]

Not midnight for me yet but new years art!! Yippee!!!!!

I had a lot of fun drawing this so I hope you guys like it ^v^

ok time for the part where I get sappy under a readmore

Well this year has been. Interesting to say the least

...Well for starters I officially have a voice now. That's interesting right? Being a voice actress has always been something I've wanted to do, and that dream is now a reality! I'm currently involved in a number of Fangans/Project Sekai fandubs/just other random things which has been a lot of fun so far, and has helped me meet so many new friends! While most of the Fangans I'm voicing in still are yet to release, I'm still hyped to show you all nonetheless! I'm also involved in some Fangans as an artist and a writer which I am also excited to promote to people ^v^

And!! I am running my own fandub project of one of my favourite pieces of media in the past few years! Which is fuckin sick if you ask me I never thought in a million years that I'd be directing a project like this so being able to do this is so awesome (if any of the Orbit ALNST VAs are reading this ily all you are soso cool <3) We hope to have another release soon so keep an eye out for that :3

oh and ofc Memento Rosa and Hope's Chains have had some major developments that I've been looking forward to showing you all for such a long time. Both of these projects mean a lot to me so being able to write these and have y'all enjoy it means the world <3

As for next year! Obviously I'll be busy with my VA stuff and the Alien Stage dub, but my hope is to get Memento Rosa's main story and DFTH finally finished (I know y'all have been looking forward to it, dw I've not cancelled it I do plan on finishing it trust me). I do also at least want to start Hope's Chains chapter 4, and I guess starting Memento's event stories is a want but Idk if that's gonna happen yet But! Big things are planned!! Trust me!!!

Anyway, thank you all so much for sticking with me this year! It means so much that you guys are all here so...Idk what else to say other than thank you and peace and love hahahaha

Anyway! Here's to next year being hopefully as if not more decent than this one!! <3

[dilatorywriting]

hello ~ hello ~

Hope you're feeling better! I, personally, have been a bit dead to the world since late April. This past May was kinda odd, honestly. I think everyone I know and know of just. died for the month. Collectively. At once.

I actually wanted to slide in here and pick your brain about your ongoing Monster Mayhem stuff, if you're up for it? Just like a general status overview question, since I feel kinda out of the loop 😭 And also because I know that I tend to like talking about my feelings on my current wips, so I figured maybe you might too? If not, dw!

I'll put these in bullet points since it's kinda easier for me to organize my thoughts that way

Jack: I remember you saying awhile back that you expect Part 2 to be the final part. Is that still holding up, or does it feel like it'll be longer?

Rook: From the pacing, I'm getting the vibe that this one might be another 4 part story? mayhaps? Or maybe Rook isn't like the other girls TM and gets something different.

Vil: I haven't read this one yet, but I'm excited to sit down with it soon! What's the overall length/number of parts you're planning for at the moment?

I'm pretty sure this was asked at some point before, but what's your stance on epilogues? There has been... discussion. about a Leona epilogue before, I recall, but are you considering epilogues for all of them, or only specific characters?

What's like. your vibe, rn? With each of the stories? Like in terms of "I'm really feeling this, so I'm working on it and it might be posted in the nearish future, assuming no disasters" to like "I plan to continue this, but not rn. I've got a different worm chewing on the brain lettuce atm". Ik you literally just answered an ask similar to this, and said Leona part 4 & Vil part 2 are the one's you're focused on, so I guess this is more so geared towards the Jack and Rook ones? Or other stuff you're secretly planning. I have a vague memory of a "forgot your birthday" scenario that was on a poll a few months back

I'm honestly just curious, really. Back from the dead and wanted to catch up

Also I. have a third Monster Mayhem Azul brainrot. It's not a fluffy one. If I can wrangle it into something more coherent, I may send it your way. Not dissimilar to the fashion of throwing a pebble at someone's window to get their attention, but accidentally putting a hole through the glass, and taking off running.

-Reaper

I'm gonna put this all under a little cut thing just because I feel like there's quite a lot! So here we go~

Jack -- It would still only be two parts I think! I only had short plans for that going forward, and it's currently at the bottom of my bucket list so to speak, not for any big reason just because Jack isn't one of my favorites so he falls behind on what I actually want to write.

Rook -- Was a bit more up in the air in terms of what I wanted to do. Had started writing a third part for it, but Rook's in particular felt very like, episodic? If that makes sense? Rather than an overarching cohesive arc. So I could write so much more little random side stories! But aside from a bit I had sort of planned regarding Riddle, there wasn't too much specific I had in mind.

Vil -- Probably one or two more parts to wrap up what I wanted with him; most likely one of the same length as the first. But that one of all of them may get a separate little piece because I am such a sucker for mermaids/sirens soooo that may get some special love

Epilogues -- bit of a mish mash. Really depends how I'm feeling tbh. If I want to write something, I'll word vomit like no one's business, but if I'm not overly invested then I probably won't bother writing one. But again

Vibe Check -- I’m absolutely wiped. Not with these stories, because I do genuinely love them. But like, back to back tough placements on top of illness is a trip. So I’m a bit more tired and less motivated than I normally am, just because most of my brain is chewing on actual school work and case reports and trying to not make myself look like an idiot every time I’m asked for a diagnosis list and go “uuuuhhhhhhhh.” But! I have some brain worms. Right now — big thing I’m working on is the second half of a very long commission. Which is loads of fun but also there’s so much to chew over there, so that takes a lot of my brain. On the side, I was really also writing my Vil Siren Part 2. Because that’s also a lot on the brain and it’s very different Vibe to the commission, so like it’s a good one to go back and forth between depending on what mood I’m in. Jamil is also very On My Brain right now oddly enough. I think because I read a short little Naga piece a while ago and it reminded me how much I love them. So that's on my brain a lot. As for the others, Jack has sorta fallen to the wayside admittedly. Mostly because I adore him as a Bro, but he’d just not usually a character my brain swoons over, so he’s sort of just… existing. I also wasn’t entirely sure where I wanted to go with that other than just “oh wow we fixed it together!” And that’s a factor too. As for other things, the birthday one comes back and forth depending on my mood, but idk if that’ll ever go up. I have lots of it written, but not enough to post or really toss together straight away. If that makes sense

[yume-x-hanabi]

Concubinage Behind the Scenes - ch.9

And finally a new one :)

It's been so long since I started this bts series, never mind updating the actual fic. I'm in a good mindspace for it atm tho, so maybe??? Soon??? But I'm not keeping my hopes up too much because I have lots of work things pending, so we'll see if I can maintain my fandom drive this time around...

(chapter | DW post | previous posts)

So, chapter 9...

This is the start of a sort of "filler" arc (if this were an anime lol); not much plot advancement, but character moments and development. This one is about Arst and Lin's improving relationship in particular, and also an excuse to extend the setting beyond the castle grounds, for once.

My mental image of the part of town they visit is inspired from Kyoto's Kamogawa river banks. In fact, ancient Kyoto and Chang'an are my main sources of inspiration for Xian Yang in terms of urban structure and architecture, though Xian Yang has a large river splitting the city in two, with the castle in the middle of the river. It's a completely different vibe from the towns we get to visit in the game, but the worldbuilding of Auj Oule being made of different tribes, plus the endless possibilities given by spirit climes made me want to develop other kinds of environments and structures.

(No but seriously spirit climes are such a brilliant worldbuilding elements. It's such a good excuse to have a town with hotter climate close to other mountainous and super cold areas XD Man I love Xillia's settings so much.)

Anyway. It's kinda funny to write Gaius going sight-seeing or leisurely eating ice cream at a terrace, but this is what fanfiction is for ;) That's especially something I love about this fic, it's that it's a more... "mundane" setting than Gaius' actual backstory. At this point of the story, he's just busy being married. That's it. Domestic life with a sprinkle of political intrigue: the fic. And there's nothing I love more than portraying characters in situations we don't get to see in canon x)

There's been a short time jump since the previous chapter, and in the weeks since then Arst and Lin's relationship has started improving a lot. They're still awkward around each other at times, but they're getting to know each other, are communicating, and are spending more and more time together. Of course, it's not all perfect yet, hence their discussion about trust (as an aside, the fact Arst is openly talking about it is a huge improvement in itself).

I didn't want things to be too smooth for them once they start getting along, because there's a lot of heavy baggage behind them. And this kinda reflects their canon backstory in reverse: Wingul was the one who used to see Gaius as an enemy and had to learn to trust him. Here it's Arst who has a lot of reservation about Lin and doesn't give his trust easily. This sort of "role reversal" from canon is also a major underlying theme of this fic.

And Arst, it is totally a date :p

Their talk about city defense is very Gaius and Wingul, though. Here I'll admit something: I haven't actually planned yet how they're going to take control of the clan. I have a number of ideas in mind, but I haven't decided yet. I think that's something that'll come more naturally when I get to that part of the story. So Arst's "strategy" to take the city could be foreshadowing... or not lol. If they go the "conquest from outside" way, I'm definitely keeping this bit in mind as to how to plan it. But it could also be a "take from the inside" thing. Or more like canon. As I said, haven't decided yet :p

The token thing is kinda inspired by MDZS/The Untamed (which I was very into at the time lol) and how the Gusu Lan clan uses jade tokens to enter/exit the Cloud Recesses. Here they don't have magical properties, and serve a bit as ID cards in a way; Arst gets the ones reserved for concubines, but there are actually many other types depending on the person. Servants have their own (though their uniform is usually enough for the guards, but if they want to be diligent they should check it's not just a disguise), as do courtiers or council members, official suppliers etc. And for everyone else, there are visitor tokens distributed at the entrance if their visit has been approved. Long Dau family members don't need one ofc, and could technically bring anyone in without handing them a token (though they should, but again, for all the security measures, they've become quite lax and complacent in some areas).

Concubines not being allowed to leave at will is not an Arst-exclusive thing in this case, they're all bound by the same restrictions. Gilded cage and all that...

Lin letting Arst hold on to his is a big thing. As much as he wants his respect and friendship and love (tho not yet atp), he doesn't entirely trust him yet either. After all, Arst does have a reputation as a troublemaker. Plus at this point of the story Lin is still very reluctant to go against clan rules. But this is a sign that he's already changing under Arst's influence: where he used to be passive and go with the flow before, he's now starting to make his own decisions, and this is one early significant example. He's looking at the future here, a future where he and Arst have a good life together. And that future won't come on its own, so he has to plant the seeds and nurture them. So this is his move.

Not being familiar with the system, I don't think Arst fully realized just how significant this was for Lin to do, but he does appreciate the gesture.

Last point, I don't know if readers noticed, but the narration (which is closely following Arst's POV) stopped referring to Lin as "Prince Lin" in this chapter. This shows the difference in Arst's view of him since the previous chapter. "Prince Lin", when not derogatory, was neutral/polite but distant. Now that they've become closer, he's started seeing him as just "Lin", a (tentative) friend. Of course, protocol still had him use his title when speaking to him, but in his mind he'd already dropped the "Prince" part, hence why he slipped at the end out of enthusiasm. And Lin welcomes this of course. It's a big step in their relationship.

At the end, Lin's totally changing the topic to hide a blush ;p

[manonamora-if]

December Check-In

I promise I didn't almost forget :P Even if I definitely forgot to do the weekly devlog last Sunday... To be fair, it had been a week...

Recap of last month’s progress

IF Events in the Next Month

Plan for the next month

Still long post ahead. If you want a mini version, head over to itch.io!

November Progress

Still play more IF and maybe review. ✅

Finish the edits of Harcourt Ch5 ✅❌

Fix one of the semi-completed games: ❌either the Egg parser or TRNT (and make it a proper parser)

Finish that darn SugarCube Guide: ❌there aren’t much left in the guide to cover, but there are a few things to fix.

Again, I knocked the first one out of the park. I reviewed all inkJam, EctoComp, and Bare-Bones Jam entries (which helped me get on the main page of the IFDB). It was nice to play shorter games again - it makes reviewing pretty quick... Now that the IFComp is also over, I kind of want to go back and check out the entries I didn't manage to play.

As for the rest... It's been a bit of a hell of a month, and it's not looking like it's ending any time soon. Still, when I had some free time I managed to:

Finish my portion of the edits of Harcourt (and MelS was almost done with it... before he ran into computer problems - dw the file is safe!)

Assess the damage with The Roads Not Taken and come up with a plan to fix all of it. I also started on this one, but there is truly a lot of damage.

Make a bite game in binksi, Tower of Sleep, for the Two-Button Jam

Make a One-Button prototype, Don't press the Button, to test some JavaScript/jQuery (half-failure)

Make a zine for the first time: An Ode to Pissaladière

Make a new code template: the Character Creator

Submitted a bunch of seeds to the SeedComp!

Does it look like I got distracted by a shiny new thing instead of finishing my projects? Yes. Do I care? Nope. It brought me some joy and amusement in some weird months... Banging your head against the desk because code is not working is... not, obviously.

What’s happening in December?

A bunch of jams are happening on itch, because end of year means maybe some free time, and also, you might as well do something for the sake of saying you've made something.

The ShuffleComp (@neointeractives) has started, though the entries won't be available before January. You can listen to the kickass full playlist in the meantime!

The Sprouting Round of the SeedComp! (@seedcomp-if) has just started. There are 99 new seeds available for use to make a game! Deadline is March 1st.

The Deck-Month has just started, to make a game with Decker.

The PunyJam #4 ends in about 2 weeks (if you have the time to learn Inform w/ the Puny extension...)

and of course: la Partim 500 numéro 8, for those who want to do the Neo Twiny again... but French!

I'm probably gonna pop-off a Partim. I did it last year and it was fun :P

The PLANtm for December

December is a busy month for me, which includes a lot of time offline, full days travelling, and lots of planning. So I will take any free time I have and do fun stuff if I can!

But if I have space for IF, I'd like to:

Play more games! Well... I already am, just not really IF. My Steam Library is crying for attention. I would like to knock down maybe a dozen more IFComp entries if I can. There were a lot of good games, a lot of loooong games.

Code Ch5 of Harcourt. That will be MelS dependent - well, MelS's computer dependent...

Finish fixing The Roads Not Taken. I have a plan, I have the notes... I just need to sit down and re-code (and re-test).

Finish the Guide for real! I know SugarCube 2.37 is coming soon, which will affect the state of some pages (and maybe require more pages). BUT I've been working on fixing old pages (typos - re-explanation - clearer examples). So, this is likely to be done sooner rather than later...

~

Taking the list of TO-DO from August…

To-Do not require much of new stuff:

translate Escape Goncharov! into French. ✅

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (ongoing - translation unlikely)

fix the formatting of DOL-OS + translate into English ✅

update LPM with the missing content + translate into English ✅

No change this month :/

The rest of the To-Do pile was:

Finish The Rye in the Dark City (and maybe translate?)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (and try to translate)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (translation unlikely, current gameplay too complex to port for French)

Add a chapter to CRWL + fix/reopen the blog

Re-working TTTT to its originally planned state (lol, not likety)

Re-working SPS Iron Hammer (samesies)

Coding TTATEH (MelS dependent - shooting for end of year)

Emptying my inboxes (they are not all answered tho)

Honestly, this pile probably won’t get done this year…. Maybe TTATEH has a shot...