#if we have a thread with someone not on this list don't worry about it

[reallyromealone]

Tenjiku x male reader x Toman part 7

Part 6 🌸 current 🌸 part 8

🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐

It had been two days of fending off alphas and Shinichiro was ready to throw in the towel when he heard it.

Emma had arrived.

The eldest sibling smiled and felt his body relax slightly, thankfully (name)s heat has subsided considerably to the point he was coherent and he could comfortably leave his sister to deal with the hooligans. The brothers looked on in horror as Emma walked with her two mates, elegant robes and delicately styled hair, pins in it making it look like a waterfall of flowers.

Yazuha and Senju beside her in less frivolous clothes, Senju in a more millantant approach and Yazuha simply preferring simple tastes "you two idiots have been harassing a poor Omega?! Thank goodness Shin kept him away or you guys would kill him!" She chewed them out and no one dare argue with the blond omega who was currently giving the two most feared demons absolute hell on the front steps to Shinichiro's estate, said beta checking in on poor (name).

The three pups perked their little heads up as they smelt the air, takemichi doing a little dance in excitement as he balanced on (name)s knee "Emma!" Koko chewed on his knuckles happily and (name) looked confused "Emma?" He asked softly and the tots smiled "she's our aunty!" And (name) nodded in understanding "can we go say hi?!" Takemichi asked loudly and excitedly and (name) was contemplating, the door suddenly opening with three knocks "not without this... Emma brought it" Shinichiro said kindly and (name) snapped his head up to see a collar with inscriptions all around it "it's one that demons can't snap like thread, it has spells written on it so if one tries to break it... It will cause them harm" he explained and (name) smiled "why don't you three go play and see aunt Emma while I help (name), alright?"

The tots ran off and the black haired demon smiled at them "my... My apologies for kidnapping your pups" (name) said genuinely apologetic and Shinichiro laughed "don't worry about it, an omegas touch is what those roudy pups need" he joked and gently helped (name) put it on, gentle but callused hands touching his skin "I'm also sorry that they dragged you into this, I'm sure "protecting an Omega from a bunch of alphas" wasn't even remotely on your to-do list..."

Shinichiro liked (name), not in a romantic way but... He was good company, hard working and despite it all genuinely did care.

Those idiots didn't deserve him truly.

"Well, I had a few outfits made for you to wear" Shinichiro stepped out and returned with a few boxes "no doubt you wouldn't want to wear the ones previously as those idiots scented it to death"

(Name) felt his eyes water up, never experiencing such kindness from someone who didn't want something back--- hell he wasn't even mad (name) scented his pups!

Never had he experienced this kindness from his village.

"T-thank you..." He managed to choke out between tears and shinichiro held him close, the demon understanding he had gone through great struggles and his brothers clans were absolutely not helping.

By time Emma finished tearing everyone a new asshole, the sun was high in the sky "now... Let me meet him"

Most omegas wouldn't dare speak to alphas like that but Emma was the one entity in this universe that her brothers and by proxy their clans didn't fuck with, parting way for her as she walked in the direction of the Omega "Aunt Emma!" Three little voices chimed out and the blonde smiled at the itty bitty pups "my my~ aren't you three growing like weeds" Senju teased and Yazuha smiled as little Inupi asked to be held silently, lifting the boy "come meet our friend! He's a little weird but he and papa are friends!"

The trio let them lead them through the grand palace Emma grew up in, talking about how "silly " their uncles were and the new game they invented "papa! Aunt Emma is heeere!" Takemichi said happily and Shinchiro smiled as the three women looked at the crying Omega "those idiot's..." Yazuha was tempted to go back out there and lay havoc upon them but held back knowing it would make her beloved Omega upset.

"Truly barbaric" senju shook her head "(name), this is my youngest sibling Emma and her mates" (name) felt at ease with another Omega, he didn't know why he felt so safe but he did and Emma offered him a reassuring smile "I'm so sorry about my brother's, they're idiots" she knew he wouldn't be able to just walk away but comfort is something someone needed especially at times like this.

Emma helped (name) get ready, Senju making him laugh and Yazuha spoke of their trip as the pups wandered off to go play.

(Name) sighed when he was finally left alone in the evening and sat in the gardens to breathe, parts of each clan having to return to tend to things needed.

He heard whispers of some moon, the demons tense as they spoke.

He hoped all would be well.

Mikey was antsy, watching (name) from a distance.

He didn't like his Omega being out of his line of sight for long, especially with threats and whispers in the air. The moon was high when he noticed (name) had fallen asleep on a stone bench in the gardens and decided to bring him back to his room, lifting him and cradling him close "Hmm?" (Name) mumbled glancing sleepily to the blond "don't worry... Go back to sleep" he said softly and (name) subconsciously snuggled in his chest and the smell of matcha and chocolate filled his senses.

[dirtydragonthoughts]

I'm finally getting around to reading Transformers: Exiles and

omg. It is so bad. Like, bad on multiple levels.

I read Transformers: Exodus a few years ago. It was... OK. Definitely not a great work of literature, and there were some "huh" moments in it, but it was fine. But now I'm starting on the next book. I didn't look at the TFWiki entry for Exiles until last night, but just the Errors section is absolutely sending me. (The idea that the book was panic rewritten by Hasbro just before publication would explain a LOT of the issues I'm seeing.)

As someone who loves the franchise, it physically hurts that this guy was paid to write this. It is completely phoned in. Now, I'm sure he was writing on spec, and was probably handed an outline or specific plot points/characters that needed to be included, but even with that limitation it could have been a LOT better.

Anyway I'm going to jot down some of my impressions in this thread because I want to make sure I remember why I didn't like this book, years down the road when I see the book still sitting on my bookshelf. (If I even keep it, that is up for debate.) I'll even keep away from the things mentioned in the Error section of the wiki entry, since that's low-hanging fruit.

(If you enjoyed this book I'm glad for you, but I am down to just hate-reading it now. Sorry about that.)

Impressions will be behind cuts in case you don't want to spoil yourself for this masterpiece. XD

I've finished Part 1 and some of the things that stuck with me have been:

There's a thing in fiction writing that's often bandied about, how you should show and don't tell. It's hard to explain to new authors what this means, and why it's a bad thing. Well, this book has about a million examples. Instead of showing how a character is feeling, it just tells us. Optimus was stressed. Optimus was worried. Prowl was irritated.

Related to the showing/telling thing, this book loves just giving a laundry list of things that happen, regardless of how important it is. For example, we got a whole paragraph on what happened after a race on Velocitron. None of these details mattered to the story in any way, but we still got a whole half page of detail about it:

We got a multi-page scene of Prowl cultivating an informant. He gets named (Armco). A few chapters later Prowl brings him in saying "Here's someone who can keep his mouth shut" and then IMMEDIATELY someone tries to blow up the Ark, and Armco falls out of the plot, never to be seen again. RIP Armco, we never knew ya.

Weird character note: The Autobots show up on Velocitron and discover there's a schism in the leadership there, with factions forming on both sides. While the Autobots are preparing to leave the planet, the "bad" leader says something relatively innocuous to Optimus, who then punches the Velocitronian in the face. This sets off a giant battle between the two factions, whereupon the Autobots dip and go through the space bridge. Brilliant.

More when I finish part 2.

[heartless-curr]

re-listening to tmagp ep 1. and i'm noticing some interesting things that i haven't seen a Lot of discussion surrounding?

1. during the red canary story, when it gets to the section about the moderator having locked the thread — in the background, you can hear the motif from the magnus archives [shared with tmagp!!] starting, only to trail off.

i dont know if any other episodes have this [i'll probably list them if they do, since i'm re-listening to all 7 rn] but i thought that this was a really interesting detail? also re-listening to the red canary statement after the introduction of needles is SO fucking funny because. holy shit.

2. someone had been either threatening to or actively doxxing red canary via anonymous dms the site didn't even allow. Specifically because redcanary Stole a box from the site.

is this going to be a new thing for the avatars of tmagp???? just fucking doxxing when they don't get their way??? sjdbdjdndkndnd??????

3. The Only One Colin Tolerates is ALICE.

You know. Colin "I AM SO FUCKING PARANOID ABOUT BEING FUCKING SPIED ON BY WHATEVER'S LISTENING IN VIA THE ELECTRONICS THAT I'LL LITERALLY JUMP A GUY OVER IT" "I cannot leave this place. One day this will kill me" Becher and Alice "I created you and I can destroy you" "I was born here and I'll die here" "Don't worry about the supernatural stuff Sam — ignore it. Tune it out" Dyer???? Are the two that fucking get along???????? Alice and Colin who both CLEARLY know more than they let on — especially opposed to Gwendolyn who has just. A sense of naivete to her?

4. I think this has probably been brought up but the fact that Sam was the Only Fucking One Who Ate The Chocolate Cake. Because Lena PRACTICALLY SHOVED IT DOWN HIS THROAT.

i'm genuinely to excited to see what the fucking deal is with the food. especially since, something i noticed, was that lena also said that she couldn't go to the pub alongside the rest of the staff. also.

5. I feel like we should talk more about the fact that Norris, Chester, and Augustus only showed up around a year ago? Sometime January 2023 in universe.

i'm ngl the "jon martin and probably jonah are in the computer" thing was something i only believed as a fun little joke at first but with episode 7 and revisiting this ep and hearing that i Don't Think I Only Believe It As A Joke Anymore.

[silverskull]

Chenford and The Rookie S6

This is a post where I vent my frustrations with The Rookie season 6 and the Chenford breakup. I will take questions, but I do not guarantee an answer. Retain the fact that this is a TV show I am mad at, not someone/thing in your personal life.

This month/few weeks haven't been great for me to absorb what happened in the last episodes of the season. Some of the reasons are listed below before I start sounding off.

-Unrelated but irritating:

Working 3 jobs, only 1 is paid. 

Crunch time at all 3 jobs

Visiting family expecting all of my time (same crunch weeks as work)

-Related and disappointing:

Cancelled cameo

Cancelled convention appearance

Sloppy SM and PR, frequently missing Melissa

Short S6

Late S7 renewal announcement

Delayed start S6 and extra-long hiatus before S7

Specifics:

Okay, so in 606 Tim lied - so did Lucy and Lopez. Why was there no IA investigation for them or concern about their honour? We were led to believe in 214 (Casualties) that everyone involved in an off-book mission could be compromised. So now why is the fact that Tim is lying more important than either woman compromising their career? Why is there no acknowledgement of THEIR discomfort? Lucy was already on shaky ground after he let her take the blame for SOME RANDOM SCENE COPS??!!? at the clown murder before her detective exam, but now I’m supposed to be worried about Sergeant Spotless-Record Bradford and his honour?! He could have just let that Ray guy go, or even fucking TOLD SOMEONE. He'd still have saved the Venezuelan, but it would have been above board.

And then, apparently the breakup happened over the aforementioned lying and Tim and Mark’s coverup of Ray’s misdeeds. We got no further clarification on this. And I really tried. I read deeply, DEEPLY into Tim’s reasoning (there are tumblr posts and twitter threads). I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I earnestly plead with people on twitter to give it time. But instead of that patience paying off, all we got was Tim trying to act normal, Lucy justifiably pissed, and generalised "things" opened up in (blackmail) therapy?

(Here’s where people have been coming at me too: I don’t really care about the therapy storyline. Honestly, if it’s not done well, I don’t know why we bother. I'm not out to get therapy, I just don't think it's working here. Just mention it and carry on like with Lucy after DOD, or show some scenes from the damn sessions. But turning the therapist into a blackmailer for Monica, who was selling to The Swiss?!?? or an Argentinian??? (I don’t even know and I do not care, and I will not listen if you try to explain, lalalalalala) How did we even end up here???)

And it PISSES ME OFF that we spent years building up the momentum for there to be turbulence in their relationship over Lucy going UC. We were ready. We were waiting. The traps were laid and baited. And they just went PSYCH! IT’S TIM’S ARMY DAYS THAT ARE THE PROBLEM, EVEN THOUGH WE LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE HE WAS WELL ADJUSTED BACK IN 214 WITH MITCH AND 311 WITH KATIE BARNES LOLOLOL

We have spent SO MUCH time on Tim's backstory. In fact, here's a list!

Isabel - wife -> ex-wife, UC drug addict, unfaithful

Tom Bradford - abusive father

Army - Let Mitch get his leg blown up; told Katie to let it go with a ladybird; unblemished record;

Cop Buddies - Wrigley -> lazy; Mack -> Addict;

Love Interests - Isabel, Rachel, Ashley

Family - Genny and Tyler (and some other nephew, and apparently a niece and a drunk uncle)

Here is what we know about Lucy:

Mother, Vanessa and father, Patrick, are psychologists and hard on Lucy

Mother had an affair with a patient (also named Patrick) who is Lucy's father, but - boo - he's dead. So is bff Jackson.

Aunt Amy and unseen Nana are nice.

Lucy's other love interests (206 ex, Emmet, Chris, TIMOTHY BRADFORD) have been assholes.

NOW WHOSE FECKIN BACKSTORY DO WE NEED TO SEE MORE OF???

(sorry to those of you who have heard all this from me before, I am literally typing my sporadic thoughts with you guys into longform)

Look, no doubt characters on this show need therapy, but if we’re just gonna make it a vehicle for some random side-characters to have an entire story arc, then WHY? And like, we were misled with the Bailan getting-pregnant storyline too, only to end back up where we started with fostering - because it’s only worth second place if your ovaries are geriatric. LIKE? SO. MANY. PROBLEMATICS.

It’s as if The Rookie plotters were given the outline to the exam questions… then tried to make the answers fit all the WRONG QUESTIONS (I may be speaking from experience). If the cards are laid out one way, don’t struggle to make a different answer fit. Just use what you’ve got, and use it wisely. Especially when it’s been working so well.

And another thing!!! Canon is not fiction - we all know that. We’ve all seen the ones who get carried away with fanon Chenford and ‘Lucy is vegan’-type imaginings that were never actually true. But saying if we don't like canon then we should just write or read fiction to deal with it is only serving to send people deeper into denial. There is a point where you are not crazy, and the writers did something stupid and you start understanding what ‘jumped the shark’ actually means.

Speaking of outdated TV lingo, I saw a really good tweet from Brian_Cronin :

TV showrunners accepting the "truism" that getting "will they/won't they?" characters together hurts the show, always citing Moonlighting, is because they like "rules" that remove their responsibility, as "Don't write the show poorly once they're together" puts the onus on them.

This goes for Chenford. No, Eric Winter. No, Alexi Hawley. We don’t need to see a breakup because it’s more like ‘reality’. Here’s a shocker: we come to watch a COP show, in this age of police brutality, global dictatorships, internationally ignored genocide, timelines full of dead babies and the constant looming threat of utter climate destruction to ESCAPE from reality. We are not watching a COP SHOW - A SHOW ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT, ABUSIVE POLICE FORCES IN THE WESTERN WORLD - for “reality”. Get your fucking head in the game. We supported you through pandemics and strikes, and you pull this season of SHIT on us.

I love all the characters, but I’m hooked for chenford. And I feel really badly treated.

If I was marking your exam, you’d get a failing grade.

“Started off well - linked UC storyline to previously-hinted relationship trauma. Dropped the plot entirely mid-way and brought in a host of unknowns. Tried to blame breakup on army issues previously marked as ‘resolved’, instead of UC drugs and unfaithful wife/abusive father? Reused names multiple times. Confusing and inconsistent. Fatally underused Chen character - inexplicably failing downwards, while Nolan character inexplicably promoted upwards. Use basic research next time."

[alexandraisyes]

question about ASPD!

so i heard there’s a stereotype that people with ASPD like attention and act out to get it

ofc that’s a stereotype so idk if it’s true

but the reason i’m mentioning it is cuz, i have a friend that is diagnosed with ASPD (they showed me your blog actually), and they have this mortifying fear of being perceived-ish(?)

it’s like- pretty bad?

i used to think they had severe social anxiety-

it’s the sort of thing where they’d rather be nothing more than a background character people would forget exist, in their own little bubble with the very few people they hang out with pop in every now and then

so like-

this example contradicts the stereotype, so i though i’d ask your POV(?) thoughts(?) on it

Heya! Attention seeking is not a part of ASPD at all, and someone who has that trait while also having ASPD probably has a comorbid disorder! Cluster B disorders can mishmash, I actually talked about it on my thread so hold on.

There's actually a whole list of ways the different disorders can combine by more or less being a weird mix and mash of two different disorders in the cluster B spectrum (For some reason narcopath is the only ship name disorder). Also most of these are the common use name for the specific combos rather than clinical ones bc the clinical ones kinda suck and cause controversy - Narcopath (Sometimes referred to as Malignant Narcissism): Anti-social + Narcissistic - Covert Narcissism: Borderline + Narcissistic - Dramatic Narcissism: Histrionic + Narcissistic - Dramatic-Emotional Disorder: Histrionic + Borderline - Dynamic Histrionic: Histrionic + Anti-social - Covert Antisocial: Anti-social + Borderline

I also talked about this specific stereotype the other day. It's less of a stereotype and more of a mix-up with NPD. The two disorders get mixed up a lot by the public.

People with ASPD tend to accidentally attract a lot of attention, from my experience and what I've noticed from others. We have a tendency for adrenaline-seeking behavior, which could put us in the spotlight. We're also very much surface-level people-people, if you know what I mean. Anyone we meet could be a potential ally, so we keep everyone on our good side as much as possible. That doesn't mean we're seeking attention, it just means we're a magnet for interaction because people love charisma.

I also have horrible social anxiety, and I'm a really paranoid person. I'm literally the kind of person that will cross the street to avoid a stranger, and my throat tightens up when I pass by someone while walking next to a road because I'm worried they're going to shove me into traffic. Paranoia just comes with the territory, most of the time, and I make it clear when I'm not willing to socialize. People tend to leave me alone because I am a walking "fuck off". The thought of being perceived is horrifying actually, and I try not to think about how large my fanbase is because that's also horrifying.

I'm just doing my own thing with my select group of people I interact with on a daily basis, and then a larger bubble of people I interact with less often. I don't have any desire to expand the smaller bubble, but I'm not against gaining more acquaintances should the opportunity present itself. But over all, I think people are tedious and they're all ticking time bombs because empathy makes you irrational.

[misc-obeyme]

THE THREADS THAT BIND

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MASTERPOST for summary/info/chapter list

a/n: We got some extremely brief appearances from Diavolo and Satan in this one. Otherwise, it's mostly angst because MC is having trouble taking the good advice they were given. Isn't that how it always goes.

GN!MC x Barbatos | word count 1,271

Warnings: just some angst, but otherwise nothing

Despite the good advice you had received, you spent an unfortunate amount of time avoiding Barbatos. You thought you could work up the courage to tell him the truth, that you could simply march up to him and say it, but every time you saw him, your gut twisted horribly. It was so bad that you found it much easier to simply stay away from him all together.

You just needed some time, you told yourself. Time to work through how you felt, what you would even say, what you would do when he inevitably rejected you.

You should have known that Barbatos would notice.

You were in the library at RAD where you were supposed to be studying with Satan. He had gone off to find some books and you found yourself staring off into space, contemplating the woes of your predicament.

When someone sat across from you, you assumed it was Satan returned. When you looked up, your heart clenched to see Barbatos sitting there instead.

He seemed as calm as he always was, the same pleasant smile on his face.

"Hello, MC," he said.

You sat up a little straighter. "Hi, Barbatos."

"I see you are studying for the upcoming curses and hexes exam," he said.

You looked around the table at your notes and books, the unkempt piles and stacks. "Yeah," you said. "Satan just went to get some more books."

Barbatos watched you for a long moment, the silence stretching between you. You found you couldn't look at him.

"MC," he said at last. "I know you have been avoiding me lately. I cannot say I blame you. After all that time you spent forced to remain by my side, I understand that you need your space. I only wanted to see that you are all right. I know this hasn't been easy for you."

You looked at him then, but only briefly. Because the moment you saw the look of concern, you couldn't take it, and you looked away again.

"I'm fine," you said. "You don't need to worry about me."

There was another silence because both of you knew that was a lie. What was Barbatos thinking? That you were lying to him because you didn't want him to worry? Or you were lying to him because he was the problem? You didn't want him to think that. This was your problem, not his. But you couldn't manage to say anything else. You weren't ready to tell him the truth. Not yet.

You were looking at the table, but you still saw the way he reached out, stopping short and pulling his hand back. There was a thud in your chest, like a door had closed on the hollow that had grown inside you, inaccessible to anyone or anything.

"That is good to hear," Barbatos said.

He was so masterful at hiding his own feelings. You knew him well enough by now to know that he wanted to say something else to you, something about how he could tell that you weren't fine. And yet his voice gave away no such indication. It was as smooth as it ever was.

"Thanks for checking on me," you said.

Barbatos stood up from the table and you felt you had to look at him then. "You know where to find me, should you need anything."

You smiled at him, but it was so forced it was almost painful. Barbatos bowed to you briefly before walking away.

You sat at the table for a while, staring down at the mess of papers in front of you, not thinking about anything except how much you were hurting.

In the midst of this wallowing, Satan returned to the table, dropping a stack of books on it with a heavy thud. A thud reminiscent of the one that had echoed through your heart. You forced yourself to push all that aside and focus on the studying at hand.

-

After that, both you and Barbatos seemed to be avoiding each other. The others must have noticed, but nobody said anything. The only indication you had that anyone thought anything about it was the way Arsenios sometimes gave you pointed looks from across the classroom. You would give him a brief, pained smile before turning away again.

The truth was that everybody had indeed noticed what was going on. Solomon mentioned something to Simeon, who talked about it to Lucifer, who then told Diavolo… in the end, everybody knew about it. It was surprising how well they all kept it to themselves, though. It had a lot to do with how they could tell bringing it up with you would cause you pain.

This didn't stop Diavolo from taking it upon himself to invite you over to the Demon Lord's Castle, though.

It happened after RAD one day, when you were about to head back to the House of Lamentation, that he asked you to sleep over.

"You haven't been to the castle in some time, MC!" he said as you gathered up your books. "Is there any way I can convince you to stay the night?"

You considered his offer. Part of you was suspicious. There was no way Diavolo hadn't noticed that something was up with his butler. Was he only asking you to stay over so that you'd be forced to be in proximity with Barbatos?

Was that such a bad thing?

You had to admit that things couldn't continue on this way. The pain you felt every time you accidentally met Barbatos's eyes, the way you always made excuses not to go to the castle, the empty hollow in your chest that never seemed to diminish. Maybe you could find some relief from these things if you faced the rejection, if you felt that acute pain instead of this throbbing ache. That definitive answer was what you needed in order to move on. And Diavolo was giving you the opportunity to do it.

"All right," you said, smiling at Diavolo.

Diavolo acted as though he couldn't see the way your smile was forced. He clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Then I will see you this evening!"

You took yourself back to the House of Lamentation, leaving behind some of your school things and packing an overnight bag for staying over at the castle.

When you arrived, dinner was already prepared. Diavolo was waiting for you, but Barbatos didn't seem to be around, which was unusual.

You didn't ask about it, just had a pleasant dinner with Diavolo, who chatted with you about many different topics. He didn't ask you about Barbatos or the curse or anything even remotely related to either of those things.

The Little Ds seemed to be filling in for Barbatos, bringing you refills of your drink and taking away plates to the kitchen. You suspected that Barbatos himself was in the kitchen directing the whole thing. Likely he couldn't stand to see you, after the way you had lied to him so blatantly in the library.

Diavolo himself brought you to the familiar guest room where you had spent so many nights. You thanked him for dinner and for his company that evening. He beamed at you as though this was all going exactly how he had intended.

You were confused as you got ready for bed. You had really believed the whole purpose of this was so that you would have to face Barbatos.

And yet, he had not made an appearance.

Conflicted, you decided to just go to bed and try to sleep. Perhaps he would be there in the morning.

masterpost | chapter one

chapter ten | chapter twelve

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[heckling-hydrena]

sorry but if you say that removing mass pings before setting up a viable replacement somehow won't affect the site's economy you have no idea what you're talking about. so many sub-communities Full of paying players rely on mass pings. like obviously I don't see the point of people going full doomsday "this update will kill the site oh god oh no"-mode, because I sincerely doubt staff will just throw mass pings into the void before improving the pinglist system, but if they did do that then they'd literally be shooting themselves in the foot. gem sales would slow down, at least until people found a good alternative, which could take god knows how long. and even if they didn't, killing a site function that a lot of players HEAVILY rely on is just a bad move. the site wouldn't immediately explode and die. but it would absolutely change for the worse lmao

and let's not forget that people don't like relying on mass pings. people aren't complaining because they just like off-site pinglists sooo much that they can't live without them. you think skin artists enjoy waiting 15 minutes for GASP to load in just to ping potential buyers? you think people like searching through huge sheets and trying to find + remove their name from a dom or g1 or swipp pinglist that they're no longer interested in? you think people like asking thread owners to add them to a list because sheets won't even fucking open on their device so they can't do it themselves? you think people like going through tens of pinglists one by one and changing their entry because they had a username change? you think people like dealing with others accidentally or intentionally overwriting their name on a list, or alternatively adding their name to a list they don't care about for shits and giggles? do you think people like knowing that if they open a spreadsheet while logged in to their google account their email can be tracked, and they can subsequently get fucking doxxed if someone is feeling malicious enough?? obviously not!

a more robust pinglist system would solve ALL of these problems. but we don't have one right now! and people are rightfully worried about it because staff announced that they're set on removing mass pings "at some point" before receiving feedback and subsequently improving on this new system. that's the problem. we know mass pings are on the chopping block. we don't know what kind of updates the pinglist system might have in the future, or if those updates could replace all those big, complicated, mass-ping reliant spreadsheets. to act like people are somehow being unreasonable when they voice their worries about this because "staff said mass pings aren't being removed yet" is just fucking absurd

like no these aren't the flight rising end times, but no this update is not a non-issue either. something can be a problem without being the Worst problem Ever. what a shocker!! 😵‍💫

[tleeaves]

The Fictional Crush Line-Up For 2023 and Beyond

Was going to do this sooner (as in a review on the year based on the new or resurfaced interests I picked up, with aforementioned fictional crushes along the way), but I wanted to collect art for them all too and then I also had to try and remember them all. But here we are. If I'm missing any, I'll either have to edit and or reblog to include them.

See if you can spot any common threads (it may get trickier as the list goes on, just be warned). This goes almost in chronological order. But order does not in any way reflect my level of brainrot and obsession with each.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER, BALDUR'S GATE III, AND ARCANE: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS (SPECIFICALLY REGARDING VIKTOR).

Consider yourself warned.

Victor Vale (Vicious by V.E. Schwab)

Victor and his revenge story are kind of responsible for kick-starting my journey of self-rediscovery these past twelve months, in a strange and roundabout way. He made me want to stick up for myself and what I wanted out of life. Sure, he's extremely morally grey in a concerning way, and yeah, we don't normally encourage revenge, but I found him a comfort at a difficult time. But also, I could totally fix him (no one can and it's no one's responsibility, yet the sentiment is still there). I'm not usually one for blonds (I am a liar) but his cold aesthetic is oddly pleasing. There's nothing I understand more than an awe that rots into resentment and envy while maintaining the same thread of fascination with someone. "Victor Vale was not a fucking sidekick" is just a, mwah, chef's kiss line. Honestly, I have less of a crush on this guy, more of an understanding that I appreciate. Also, I haven't even mentioned the chronic pain implications and canon uses of his powers. But that might be for another time.

Viktor (Arcane: League of Legends)

Another Viktor with chronic illness themes and whose (in LoL lore) regard for a partner in science goes sour over time as they pursue different objectives (not seen in the Netflix series yet, of course, it's too early for glorious evolution). This guy always comes back to rot in my brain, and I cannot wait for season 2 later this year to see what comes of his arc. I'm planning a fanfic involving him, Jayce, and maybe/sort of Jinx, based on a dream I had months ago but still have swirling in the soup that is my consciousness. There is something so pretty about this guy. If I was more confident in my sketching abilities, he'd end up being my muse way too often. Viktor's character to me is kind of a tragedy personified, and I love a good tragedy. Oh, and his voice actor?? Amazing. There's some debate over how authentic he sounds to Eastern Europeans, but the accent aside still, he sounds sooo good. I want to sit in on a lecture where he speaks about literally anything for two hours.

Kell Maresh (A Darker Shade of Magic; The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab)

Usually, I don't talk about Kell because of how silly I feel like my crush on him is. I identify with Delilah "Lila" Bard throughout ADSOM and even Threads, so I hate further mentioning how much I actually think about Kell because I'd have to fist fight anyone who said I only relate to her because of Kell when that's not the truth. And yet, there's still enough differences between Lila and I for me to be like "if I had to pick a woman in the Schwabverse..." But also, MAYBE I JUST THINK KELL IS GORGEOUS, OKAY? 🫣 Maybe I like that he starts as a somewhat naive prince who's had things both easy and rough in life (wanting to be loved by the only family you know and not feel like you're only there to protect your adoptive brother whom your parents tried to tell you both was not actually your brother and you should stop treating each other as such is VALID, argue with the wall, also he's the bodyguard and eternal worrier (yes, worrying) for Rhy and he's taken lives way too young). Maybe I like that he fell first and fell hard for Lila (okay, but if we're getting into the nitty-gritty, she did flirt with him first multiple times, but she would never admit to actual feelings), that he's the male love interest without reservations for once, leaving it up to Lila and whether she's open to love for once in a story. And yeah, okay, maybe I like that he's actually some kind of a prince charming, the sort you always secretly dream about, you know? Shut up. I like his stupid magic coat too. He's clever, but occasionally actually unbelievably dumb, he's funny and witty yet he knows when to keep his mouth shut (and is usually the one hauling others out of a scrap because of their own smart mouths), he cares too much about his family, AND DID I MENTION HE ALSO HAS CHRONIC ILLNESS THEMES THAT BROKE MY DAMN CHRONICALLY ILL AND IN PAIN HEART? I've said too much already, but there. He's a guy.

Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man: Across The SpiderVerse)

This is the one my sister teases me most about because she doesn't get it. To be honest with you all, even I don't know how to explain it. But this guy. Miguel. There is something about him that I just abdkjdjsdv, you know? Is it the tragedy? The moral greyness? The fangs? His insane height? Just his fanon self? The fucking muscles?? I don't know. But I will defend how interesting he is as an antagonist until the cows come home.

Elliott (Stardew Valley)

Oh... boy. Sometimes, I realise I have a type. It's pretty guys who are hopeless romantics that write novels and poetry. Maybe it's just this one guy. But wow, it works on me. I'm writing a fanfic about him because I need to. There's only 400-odd words to it so far. It was not long after I met him in the game that I decided I had to wife him up. I planted that pomegranate tree early, because it's his favourite fruit for those who don't know, and he loves receiving them as a gift. I got ducks so I could give him their stray feathers. I learned how and when to find lobsters and catch crabs because he loves those too. If I'm out of gifts, I go get a coffee for him because every writer needs their sustenance. Literally, by Spring of Year 2, we were married, and I wondered if perhaps I might have been a little too single-mindedly pursuing every one of those cut scenes when I should have been taking it a bit slower and making it less of a mission. Don't know what to tell you, I went crazy. I fully believe in the headcanon that he gets up early just to go through his haircare routine. Is he pretentious? Maybe. Does he lay it on a little too thick that he's scared of dying alone? Well, okay, yes. Does it bother me that as a househusband he doesn't help out more on the farm? Occasionally. But there's also no one else I'd rather be with (and I developed a sprinkler system specifically so there was less work for me anyway and so now I don't mind at all when he isn't helping). And I can't believe my sister ever introduced me to Stardew Valley because I am now mentally ill about a videogame character made of pixels. Yes, I make wine just for him too. Hush. I spoil him daily now that we're married. Our first child is a son named Ernest. I was debating between Ernest and Edgar, and honestly, I think I should have gone with the latter, but I chose the former. All the dialogue from Elliott is so frickin' cute.

Astarion Ancunín (Baldur's Gate III)

And do you know what the worst part about this one is? I still haven't actually played Baldur's Gate III. I know, I KNOW. A crime. I'm working on it. But you best believe I've watched every cutscene I can, every scrap of gameplay dialogue, all the choices, the different endings you can get with him (Ascended breaks my heart every time -- I don't care how hot he is, it's not what he would have wanted, he doesn't love you like he used to anymore, and he's not as happy as he could be), and I've listened to all the interviews with Neil Newbon and the writer for Astarion about him. This fruity traumatised vampire haunts me. I want to hold him gently and caress his face and tell him he's beautiful and what he looks like to me since he hasn't seen his reflection in centuries and I want to make sure he knows he's loved. I want him to bite me and drink my blood too, but that's not as important. Does it weird me out how much he reminds me of Prince Charming from the Shrek franchise and Preminger from Barbie: The Princess and the Pauper and then aesthetically Asra from The Arcana: A Mystic Romance? Yes. But Astarion's also his own character and I'm in love with his smile and goofy lines.

Settrigh "Sett" (Heartsteel; League of Legends)

This... might be the lowest point, actually 💀 My sister would agree. Because it's not enough to crush on book characters, show characters, and videogame characters -- while technically this guy is a videogame character and was part of League of Legends waaay before the music video, it was the PARANOIA music video that got me. So, even fictional characters made/involved in music videos are not safe from my heart. Because, as I understand it, OG Sett is a bit different from Heartsteel Sett, and I've found I usually prefer reading about the interpretation of the latter in fanfic more than the former. I mean, I still really, really enjoy fanfics where he's The Big Boss of the pits, and or his other background/lore is included, but I've read some where his old personality is a bit Yikes. The golden retriever energy is my favourite era of his if we can call it that (I still headcanon him as a part fox Vastayan, you can't convince me otherwise so go argue with someone else about it, not me). And honestly, I think I might have read more fics involving Sett in 2023 than I did any of the other characters on this list. Which is saying something since he's not as popular as a few of them. He's a pretty guy and I wish to bite him. Lovingly.

Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai)

Oh woman. Mizu is... is... she's basically my wife. I know she's all our wife, but like just let me dream a little here. As soon as I finished the series, I was opening up Tumblr, Pinterest, and AO3, my holy trinity of fandom. My platonic wife was sending me TikToks of our shared fictional wife. Mizu can wind up non-binary, male, female, I honestly do not mind because I am in love with any version she is/becomes (for now, I interpret her as a woman in disguise, but if that changes, I'll absolutely change how I refer to Mizu). She is a tragedy wrapped up in revenge because of a rotten love and unfortunate parentage and time period. I want her as much as I want to be her. Also? I go insane over her little smiles and smirks. I LOVE when we got to hear her laugh, even if it was mostly the flashbacks (do not mention Mikio near me; if he wasn't already dead, I would kill him). Also, who doesn't hate their British/white half, ahaha, oh my god, I know mixed ethnicity is a hot topic for people who do not want POC whitewashed in media, and I fully understand that, but I do appreciate seeing parts of myself in mixed characters like the conflict between trying to be more like one side than another. I'll also admit it: she does indeed look hot covered in blood and carrying a sword. I'll see myself out the door. I've been wanting to write a fanfic about her but I'm still stewing over ideas. Mizu is also probably my first truly major crush on a fictional woman (other than my childhood crush on Helga Sinclair from Atlantis: The Lost Empire). Vi from Arcane comes pretty close, but I see too much of myself in her that it gets weird.

We'll do some honourable mentions for characters from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim since I've gotten into that again.

Brynjolf, Hadvar, and Nazir, I wish I could mod my gameplay so I could marry you. The developers hated their men-loving gamers (I know the women-lovers complain about Serana, but she will never be as heartbreaking as Brynjolf, I don't care if she recognises proposals only to decline them). I mean, Brynjolf is the Tamriel equivalent of Scottish, he calls you "lass/lad", has got a smoothass voice, supports you through so much of the Thieves Guild questline, has a wicked sense of humour, and then when you finish the questline, it's all "sorry, lass. Got important things to do. We'll speak another time" 😭 You can't even recruit him as a follower. He says nothing when you wear an amulet of Mara. I play on a fucking PS4, I can't do mods to marry him or get more dialogue.

(By the way, on my most recent playthrough, Lydia died when I fought the troll on the seven thousand steps, and I am still mad about it. It used to be difficult for Lydia to die, that was why I brought her everywhere, and now I have to become Batman "I work alone". ESPECIALLY after Benor then died on the way up to Paarthurnax. I still can't believe that happened, I should have told him to stay behind and wait for my return.)

Also, every time I play, Derkeethus is so bugged, I can't even rescue him let alone marry the guy, which was disappointing because he seemed nice.

Argis the Bulwark, Vilkas, Farkas, Rayya, Aela the Huntress, and Marcurio, you are all marriageable and live in my heart always. Marcurio was the first I ever married, I think. Three guesses why I chose him (it's the sarcasm, wisecracks, and general sense of humour) (maybe the long hair too). Has anyone noticed how there doesn't seem to be marriageable options among the Khajiit characters?? Why do you think that is? I just checked the Skyrim marriage wiki and this is what it has to say in the trivia: 'There are no Khajiit spouses, however; since the majority of Khajiit in Skyrim are traders or travelers from Elsweyr, they probably have families back home. Additionally, Khajiit characters talk about home a lot, stating how much they miss it and how cold Skyrim is; thus, they probably do not want to marry and settle down in Skyrim.'

Heart-breaking. Oh well.

And that's the end of the line-up. If you read through this, Divines bless your goddamn soul. Psycho-analyse me based on them, I dare you. Or just judge me. I'd like to see either. And if you can find something in common about them all (you don't need to consider the honourable Skyrim mentions), please let me know, because I am personally at a loss.

[thebumblebeesystem]

Pinned post, introducing myself

(Edit 11/22/2023: This post is outdated and I have plans to make a new one when I have the spoons. But I'm leaving it for now since I'm too tired to do otherwise.)

I've been waiting to make a pinned post until I knew what to say, but I've finally realized I can make a pinned post in which I can say that I don't know what to say yet. 😅 I'll babble about myself and hope I say something of interest.

Edit: My non-ffxiv posts can be found at @bumblebeesystem, and a list of all of our system's sideblogs can be found at @bumblebeesystem-hub.

Hi, my name's B'Elarra. I'm tentatively trying out Bee as a nickname, but I don't know yet if it'll stick or not. I'm a DID (dissociative identity disorder) system. I'll find a link to put here explaining it for people who don't know what that is when I have the spoons to.

I'm non-binary. My pronouns are they/them both to be gender neutral and, as a system, plural. I'll sometimes talk in I-language, sometimes we-language, depending on what feels natural that day. I don't mind being spoken to in singular (i.e. "you"), but it always feels good if people refer to me as plural (i.e. "you all"). No worries if you don't, though.

I'm a Twitter refugee, but I haven't been on Twitter all that long. I joined it in September 2022 because I wanted to be a part of the ffxiv community there. It never really did feel like a good fit for me. Twitter is for talking short and I tend to talk long. I found it hard to condense my thoughts enough to fit there, even with doing threads. So while I'm not glad the platform has blown up for the thousandth time, and I'm not glad to see all the broken friendships as a result... I'm very glad to end up here, and to find so many others here as well.

I'm autistic and an introvert who likes being around people (with breaks to recharge) but doesn't know how to people myself. I flail and get all awkward when someone talks to me and I don't know what I'm supposed to do back. So, thank you to the emotional support extroverts that have adopted me. You're much appreciated.

I'm in my 30's. I live with my husband (he/him) and partner (they/them). We're polyamorous, but not a triad. The two of them are good friends with each other. We have three cats, a bunch of snakes, and a whole lot of isopods. (The reaction I usually get to that is "you mean those roly poly bugs? You can keep them as pets?" Yes, you can keep them as pets!)

As far as ffxiv goes, the characters and ships you'll see here will be varied. As a system, many of us have our own characters and ships, and who we'll post will depend on who is around. Here's some of who you'll see. I'll take different screenshots for this post eventually, but for now, I'm just re-using what I've already got. The pronouns I'll list are for the characters. The player is always they/them, though.

B'Elarra (she/her): Her polycule is B'Elarra/Aymeric, B'Elarra/Haurchefant, B'Elarra/Estinien, and Aymeric/Estinien. B'Elarra has two daughters that she adopted as a single mother. Haurchefant lives.

B'Elano (he/him): His polycule is B'Elano/Erenville and B'Elano/G'raha

Baylen (they/them)/Merlwyb

B'ayana(they/them)/Lucia/Maxima (triad, and Maxima is genderfluid)

Mireya (she/her)/Barthovieu, with his son Philipallais (Heavensward carpenter quest npcs)

Lyse/Hien

Luna (she/her and they/them)

Adria (they/them)

Merri (she/her)

I also like taking screenshots of locations sometimes.

Anyway. I plan for this blog to be primarily ffxiv, but other things will probably creep in as well. I'll get a feel for what tags are here and how to use them and such. Questions are welcome, but I ask that they be specific. Vague questions make me freeze.

Thank you for being here!

[stagefoureddiediaz]

I am so excited about the finale and what it could mean for Buddie. Eddie wanting someone to be there after a tough call.. But we know both Marisol and Natalia will be in the finale. Couldn’t it be that both Buck and Eddie will “sit” with them after the tough call? I mean, I know the couch is about the Buckley Diaz family. I just think it’ll be in season 7 when we get the conclusion of the couch theory. I don’t know, just knowing that they are there, makes me very careful about what I hope for in this finale.

I'm going to answer all of these together because I do not have the energy to rinse and repeat answer the same thing over and over!!

I am excited - very excited about tonights episode - so many things set up and so many things going on from what we've seen already.

first things first - I'm going to deal with Natalia. I genuinely don't think she's going to be about for more than this episode - I'm very much expecting some form of resolution with her - she is now tied into the sperm donor story as well as Bucks death story arc and from my position that is intentional - the contrast between life and death - Bucks choice is clear in this - he'll choose life because he is realising he has so much to live for and all Natalia has ever seen in Buck - really is his death. So I have no worries about her appearance - I'm simply intrigued to she how it plays out and how Buck goes about choosing himself and choosing life!

As for Marisol - I'm putting it under a cut because this got a bit long!

Firstly - where have you found confirmation of a stunt double listed for Edy/Marisol?? I've never heard of her having one listed anywhere and no one else has either - if she had one listed anywhere then 911bts would know about it and would've let us all know. You bringing it up is literally the first I'm hearing about it. So I think its safe to rule her out from actually being at the big disaster - there is already enough going on there, and with far more important characters in relation to the firefam for her to fit in those scenes. feel free to come back to me if I'm wrong, but personally I can't see it.

We don't have any context for her appearance, and that includes if there is going to be anything romantic set up with her and Eddie. for all we know they're setting her up to be a friend to Eddie (because Eddie really does see all women as friend shaped) My feeling is that the show won't go that far with them and will at most leave it ambiguous - its a season finale and the showrunners didn't know if this was going to be the final season of the show so the likelihood of them going big on starting something of a romantic nature is fairly unlikely - its far more likely that they'll leave it open and in more of an ambiguous place that is satisfying to viewers but leaves them enough wiggle room to play on it in season 7if they got the green light for said season 7.

911 has always been about leaving its characters in good and hopeful places at the end of all its seasons and that uncertainty around renewal would've been something they were aware of going into the writing of this script. That means they would've chosen to write a season end that was fitting as a series end as well - something that left enough threads in play that they could pick them back up again if renewal came, but at the same time wrapped things up nicely for everyone if not. this is something the show has been very good at doing as a whole - if you rewatch any finale episode from any season as view it as a last ever episode you will find all arcs have been wrapped up in a way that is both satisfactory if there were no further episodes, but also open enough that lots of seeds for future storytelling have been planted.

there are other things to consider here as well. This season hasn't really been about romantic love - its been about family, the changing dynamics of family, building and strengthening the family you have, actually understanding the family you have/have been building. that is what we have seen for all the characters all season long - Bathena figuring out the next stage for them as empty nesters and having grown up children. Bobby admitting he views buck as a son, his struggles with Wendell's death - his AA family. Athena dealing with her parents - when the child becomes the carer, and solving something that had haunted her family most of her life. Hen and Karen dealing with Hen taking on too much and neglecting her family as a result, having to deal with adding another parent into the mix as well as the exploration of how their family came to be in the first place. Madney - growing back together again, choosing to take the risk and be a family in everything, not just in parenting Jee, actually building a house of their own together - not one that was either of theirs from before, but one that is both of theirs from the beginning and one that allows them to take any next steps they want. the engagement whilst romantic etc is also about choosing family - something Maddie wasn't able to do with Doug because it wasn't safe, and something Chim never had with his own father - their engagement was as much about overcoming family trauma, learning from and healing from it as it was about romantic love.

Then we have Buddie - the family on paper (thanks to the will) even if they haven't figured themselves out yet or even talked about it. They sit in parallel to all of the other couples on the show in so many ways and that is very deliberate. For Eddie this season has been about his changing dynamic with Christopher as he grows up and seeks independence and who Eddie is if he doesn't have father and firefighter to hide behind - if he just gets to be Eddie. Its also been about him putting the ghost of Shannon to rest and being in a place where he can move on and create something new (even if he sucks at dating and has never actually questioned what it is he wants). While for Buck it has been about reckoning with ghosts and understanding that DNA doesn't make a family. Its been about Buck recognising which family is more important to him - the DNA family or the found family and choosing things for himself (which is why his new couch has to go) its been about him figuring out his place and where he's at peace (you know the place he can fall asleep as soon as he sits down - like Eddies couch maybe). The entire season has been spent building up Buddifer as a family dynamic and showing how much they all mean to each other and how much of a co-parent Buck is with Eddie. We've even had his relationship with Chris very loudly contrasted with the one Chim has with Denny just to make it extra obvious.

All this to say that the show hasn't been doing all this for nothing and I'm pretty convinced that they will send us into hiatus with all the pieces set up ready to build on in season 7.

Back to how Marisol fits into all of this - its pretty simple - the show is great at giving us lots of subtext - we just have to choose to read it. I've already answered an ask about how the name Marisol means our lady of solitude - the thing Eddie is feeling right now because he is focused on the concept of everyone dying alone and isn't quite in a place to look more deeply at the Buck of it all - he's getting there, but he isn't quite ready yet.

Then we have the construction aspect of the Eddie/Marisol dynamic - everything around them has been in relation to construction - but always about constructing something for someone else - Eddie goes to her house to help with repairs (with Buck and other fire fighters) - not something for himself. They meet again at a DIY store when both of them are looking for something for someone else - her for her brother, him for his son. The focus of their interaction was very much about other people and helping other people so there is something to be said about the idea of construction on sunset (a metaphor for Eddie thats been in play for a long time) and her helping him to figure out and fix whatever that construction is so that the road ahead is clear for his happily ever after (the sunset) - she isn't the sunset, she's just the construction worker - to help Eddie with the final piece of the puzzle.

The other thing to keep in mind is costuming for both Marisol and Eddie. We are pretty sure that one of Marisol's costumes tonight is an olive green and blue tie dye sweatshirt - literally the Buddie colours of the season, because we have a bts photo of Edy in what looks very much like a costume (her hair and makeup have also been done as Marisol).

Eddie is green and Buck is blue (Eddie has worn green 11 and blue 4 times this season and Buck has worn blue 22 times and green 7 times - far far more than any other colours they've worn except black for Eddie which he has rarely worn around Buck - except when in his widows weeds) , from the clothes they wear and the cases they have on their phones, the blue and green has been a very deliberate choice - Eddie is growing and Buck is water trying to find its level. Putting Marisol in a top that is a literal mash up of their two colours is telling me that whatever her scenes are, her role will be one that in some way brings Buddie together, not one that creates a wedge between them because up to now the costume department has been careful to steer clear of any Buck or Eddie related colours on either Natalia or Marisol.

That isn't to say that I don't think Marisol will feature in some way - I do and I think we will see her carry over into season 7, but there is literally nothing the writers (and all the other departments) have done that makes me think she is anything but someone who is meant to help Eddie get to a place where he is ready to see what he has already built - what is already in front of him - that Buck is the person who will always sit with him in the mess and make it his mess too.

Literally all the things the show is doing is pointing to Buddie and to expect it to happen and for them to go canon tonight is just foolish - neither Buck nor Eddie are ready for that, both have some more healing and growing to do before we get to that point and they need to have a conversation - a big massive conversation which tonights episode doesn't have room for because its a conversation that an entire episode will be built around. There is already some amazing Buddie related stuff that we've had in the sneak peeks and we will likely get more, all of which builds on all the things we've already spent this season discussing. Everything has been set up for Buddie canon in season 7 and it seems Marisol is part of helping us get there so if i were you (that means any of you) I would sit back and enjoy the storytelling because it all has a point and has been done with the intention of giving us Buddie - we made it through an entire season of Taylor Kelly and she gave us plenty of Buck growth in the middle of a slow and torturous spiral, so we can deal with a few episodes of Marisol who is going to help Eddie figure out that he isn't actually lonely because he already has what he's looking for!

If you choose to not learn how to read what a show is doing, and also come into peoples inboxes (who are actually doing a huge amount to help you read that information that the show is giving you by interpreting and discussing it) and behave negatively then I and others cannot help you because you've already chosen negativity and doom and gloom. I fully expect to have my inbox flooded with negativity, poor takes and dissatisfaction (and probably a fair amount of nastiness as well) after the episode tonight simply because the show had the audacity to have Eddie interact with someone who isn't Buck and is female - they will all be blocked and deleted - I'm over trying to explain to people who clearly don't actually read and think about all the things myself and so many others put out and I don't have the time to deal with it - I just want to enjoy my weewoo show and have fun with people on tumblr as we actually look at what we've been given in canon for all our firefam. So if you want to keep seeing what I post and my costume metas my advice is think before you type and press send on a message coming towards my inbox. I'm all for open discussion and I have lots of conversations with people who see things differently to me - but we are able to do it in a grown up and mature way, I don't pop into their inboxes and spew nastiness and hateful rhetoric.

This wasn't specifically aimed at you 5 nonnies I'm just using the opportunity to make people aware of how they will be treated if they try anything!

This got so very long 😳😳😳 soI'm ending here and I hope it all makes sense!

[writteninscarlet]

Please dont take this as hate, but this is some criticism and I like to think its constructive. You're ships don't make sense to me. I think they seem Out of Character. I think Wanda seems needy and weak. She's acting far too soft, and I don't think it'ss a way anyone would like or want from her. It seems to me like it's pushying the ships onto others, the way she acts seems overly flirtatious. People are just being kind.

‘Don’t take this as hate’ is always a good way to start things.

Everyone writes characters differently; for various reasons. I love the other Wanda’s out there. I think they all capture a great part of her essence, I’m sure I could direct you to others who are brilliant writers and love the character.

This is roleplay. We take what we want, remove things we don’t. We write the character as we see them. So it is very subjective.

It is honestly always a fear that I push ships onto people. But I hope I’m not doing that here and frankly I think I could list just on one hand the ships Wanda has. She’s a ‘friend’ or ‘mum’ figure in lots of things, a constant friendship type person. But that’s fine. She’s more than a ‘love figure’. I love exploring relationship of all kinds. But even if all my threads were romantic? Maybe that’s just how it goes! If someone personally feels I’m pushing Wanda onto them (and this I guess the reason I’m answering this?) please just let me know. I don’t bite and I know how to back off. Honestly, I enjoy ships. I also worry now because this is like the fourth or fifth ask I’ve had about this and I don’t really know… like what to change?

She IS sweet and affectionate, she can also be tough and stubborn and arrogant. Wanda is a big family/friend person. She will be soft. As in real life softness, politeness, and friendliness doesn’t always equal flirting. And I feel like the ships I do have are built up. They come from threads, memes, talking ooc… I love to chat about Wanda and sometimes things grow from that.

My Wanda is my Wanda and I’m not sure how else I would write her.

[ghost-type-writer]

Alphabet Writing Tag!

Ty for the tag @theeccentricraven

Rules: give a sentence for each letter of the alphabet! (Can compose or get from your WIP)

Most of these are from my wip Mage of Hearts, and two other projects I haven't named yet.

A - A girl looked down on the lands of Awen through a curtain of frozen breath.

B - "Because you lied to me." she spat through grit teeth. "That place ate my sister and you told me she ran away."

C - Candle light was the sole comfort in the stone room, it's faint warmth her only distraction as the vines sucked her life away.

D - *Did it know where they were?* Eran held his breath as the sound of footsteps on the roof stopped above them.

E - "Encore!" screamed the shrimp as the crabs clapped their claws. It was quite the queer sight, a crustacean's applause.

F - "Forget your fears my dear." the old woman said pushing forward a cup full of purple smoke. "And you never have to fave them."

G - "Grasp tight all the threads that make you, you." he said leaning in as if to share a secret. "You wouldn't want to get unraveled in a place like this."

H - "Hani, I've known you my entire life. I'm not going to fall for one of the lines you feed to merchant's daughters."

I - "I don't mind. It's rare I get a chance to speak with someone my own age." replied the prince.

J - "Just now I was enjoying the view." she candidly replied.

K - "Kill the kid. We don't have anymore time to waste."

L - Like her aunt all those years ago Kenzie squeezed through a crack in the world and fell into a great shifting void.

M - Maybe it was the blood loss, but all he could think about was the way her lips had felt.

N - Now had passed, and now was never. Yet another door closed forever.

O - "Outsiders are beings comprised of pure mana. Your assignment this evening is to list the names of the inner and outer elemental variants."

P - Potatoes stand at the top of the vegetable kingdom.

Q - Quarrel not with quails, a Brachan saying which reminds one not to worry about small problems.

R - Ronald McDonald, beloved fast food mascot, has just been arrested in relation to a series of violent home invasions carried out over the past few weeks. More at 9.

S - "So what all are we cooking for this prince? asked Hani.

T - The tall man laughed. "And who's gonna make us leave, some runty tavern wench?"

U - Using the man's forward momentum Hani twisted and threw him over her shoulder onto the hard tavern floor.

V - Vengeance is a hollow prize.

W - "Was he handsome?" Wendy shamelessly asked.

X - "Xibalba is lovely this time of year. You simply must visit." said the bat.

Y - "You can take your man here and leave, or I can teach that same lesson to whoever's next."

Z "Zahir has always had the heart of a wanderer." Sari said with a fond smile.

Tagging: Noone. I'm new here :p

[stormblessed95]

Stormy, let’s gist for awhile

I have two questions in which I need clarification:

1. When jiminie posted those beach pictures last year… I read that he captioned it implying that he was alone. He was obviously with at least 3 members. What was the point in him feeling the need to put it out there that he was alone which was easily debunked when others posted the pictures? I was offline during this period so I didn’t know the story behind those pictures but I recently came across a thread on Twitter which brought this question back to me. I guess he doesn’t want us to know right?

2. I checked your master list and I couldn’t find this particular discussion… jimin’s vlive back in 2020 when he randomly called jin. Do you really think that was JK’s voice? I’m hoping you know the vlive I’m talking about. These two questions have been on my mind lately as I’ve been going through jikook past contents lately. Thanks in advance 💜💜

Hi!

1) Jimin posted to Weverse in November photos of him at the beach and a video of him with his feet in the water. Original posts/translations linked here for you

Hobi made comments on each post/moment on Weverse, talking about how Jimin knows about vibes, and about how "he told me he almost died because of the cold" on the feet in the ocean video. Lol

And then a week later, on Twitter, someone (hypothesis of ARMY is that it's either Tae or JK, but possibly Jimin too - doubted though since Jimin always claims his twt posts with his hashtag, so 95% likely its either tae or jk who posted) posted the maknae line photos at the same beach. Caption "I want to go back there"

Hobi also posted at the beach too on Weverse with a video, armys claimed to have seen him there since it was earlier in the day though and that he was alone with staff at the beach

So ultimately what this comes down to is that people made lots of assumptions and we don't truly know. We have options. Either Jimin went alone the first time and it was just him and his staff/bodygaurds and he posted about how quiet and peaceful and alone the beach was. And so therefore he brought the members back with him on an additional beach trip because how nice to go somewhere and not get stared at, photographed, videoed, whispered about, etc etc and just get to fully relax at the beach. (Because yeah they aren't going to go without staff and/or bodygaurds at a minimum in a foreign country, lol cmon).

Or he was there with the other members and when he stated how alone and quiet the beach was, it wasn't him lying at being alone (because again, staff too) or that the members weren't there, but rather a commentary on the lack of the general public on the beach and how it was time to him/themselves. And he just didn't feel the need to mention the others because the point of his posts was HIM relaxing at the beach. Not him trying to trick anyone either way this went.

And for Hobi, he clearly also went alone at some point (with staff/bodygaurds) and perhaps joined the maknaes too for their beach trip (either Jimins second one with the other members or his first and they were all there the whole time)

Regardless, it's all clearly the same beach lol. And they all clearly loved it and loved having time out and about in public ALONE, together and/or separately. And not having to worry about everyone and everything else watching their every move. And we never would've known about these late night beach trips (minus Hobis) if they hadn't told us. Jimin even made one of his photos from that night his wallpaper! They clearly had an amazing time. And I love that they got to have that private time together out and about.

Ultimately, does it matter if Jimin went alone once and then again with the members... or went with some of the members each time he went? Or if they went 8 times during the week and we only know of a few times? I don't think so. But I hope that helped a little even if all it really comes down to is "who knows and who cares, it's really nice they did it!" Lol

2) idk where you checked on my masterlist for that post, but it was under "vlives" topic lol, I'll link it here for you

Hope the post is helpful too! Hope everyone has a good day!

[ijustkindalikebooks]

I really hope I don't read a life changing book in the next three weeks so this list is out of date, but this is a list of twelve books that have been dwelling in my head for the last year.

I quote them, I think about them, I think "holy cow someone wrote that" often about these and I can't wait to either the read the next one or the next thing that comes from this author (or both). I really hope you've had an amazing year of reading and I can't wait to see your own lists from 2023.

How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu - A sort of slow burn book that has dwelled in my brain since I read it back in April, How High We Go In The Dark is a dark exploration of humanity connected by short stories that have a common thread through the book. The rollercoaster story lives in my head rent free, and not in a good way, it's a little bit disturbing, but I think we live in a dystopia more than we believe we do and maybe there's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel - Another book that connects via short stories, this is quite common for me as I love that sort of thing, reflecting on my list of books. I think Mandel writes so poetically and brilliantly throughout this book, she delivers on pathos and emotion to really deliver stories about people, about people in different timelines connected by a strange portal moment of magic. If you love fantasy but in a more contemporary delivery, I do recommend this book to you.

The End Of The Affair by Graham Greene - I am a collector of books as much as a reader of them and this year I've been trying to read my bookshelves a bit more as I just am buying books to make myself look clever at this point, which is just lame. This was one of the first books on my shelf, and though not perfect, and damn did she deserve better, this book delves into obsession and love and what it actually means to people. It's a weird book.

Another Day In The Death Of America by Bryan Younge - I am not American, I have never seen a gun in real life in the hands of a person I know (some police have them near Parliament, well they did once I think) so I don't understand America and their passion for ammunition, but this book should not make you proud of it. This book is a gut punch through every chapter as the author details the young lives lost to guns in 24 hours. A brilliant and sad book.

Tower by Bae Myung-Hoon - My passion for Korean Literature does not abate (I am not a Koreaboo, don't worry). There's a way Korean writers write books like their objective observers on a scene that I particularly enjoy and Tower is another good example of this. Tower again is short stories tied together about a building that is it's own country and the people who live and want to live in it. The Elephant chapter hasn't left my brain since I read it and I recommend it (unless you like Elephants, then don't, cos it's again fucked up).

Beyond The Story: 10 Years of BTS by BTS - Ahh BTS, since 2017 I've known this group and their impact of my life and music taste is so ridiculous, I feel like something's walk into your life for a reason and wow, did they. The story of the rise of BTS from a lucky break on Mnet's music show to Grammy nominations (robbed!) is incredible to read and even if you don't like them it's a fascinating insight into a group that made their name in a country that was dominated by three big music companies, and they weren't on any of them - Hybe now supercedes all of them. An incredible underdog tale.

Lirael by Garth Nix - Where has this man been all my life with these books? I'm embarassed, be embarassed for me. This series is so good so far, I'm going to read Abhorsen next year which I believe is the next one and I can't wait. I would also recommend the Booksellers Of London series too by the same author, which is every bit as good and set in 80's London/Bath. Fantastic fantasy that makes you think where is the next one, give it to me now.

The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman - Y'know, this series is so British, it should come with teabags and digestive biscuits, but I love it all the same. A series about a group of pensioners who solve mysteries, The Last Devil To Die is the fourth book in this series and it's probably for me one of the best. The storyline with Stephen is devastating and the plot is incredible with characters that come to life every time this book is opened. I can't wait for whatever this author does next and those who voted for The Housemaid on Goodreads, I'm judging you, to be honest.

Hortus Curious by Michael Perry - Plants, people. Plants are incredible, insane, incredible. There are plants who eat living things, but that's just the start of their madness. This book is an incredible exploration in fantastic plants you would think you'd only see in a Herbology classroom but here they are in real life, killing people and eating small animals. Fantastic book, if you love nature and weird stuff, this is for you.

Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria - I think the white women were in the house so much from this book. How women were protected in their plantations as people were treated abysmally who were just another intersection from them. I think we all need to work on our biases, prejudices and judgements we make and this is a short and brilliant book that could help you do that. I consider myself a feminist, and to be a good one you also have to shut and listen to people who don't look like you, make spaces intersectional my friends.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang - The only romance book for me with rights this year (I keep being recommend books about hockey players and I am, that's just not going to happen). The representation of autism is fantastic and the sexy times are sexy if you need that and the characters, the characters are impeccable. I really recommend all of her books to be honest (and Talia Hibbert too, actually) as they make such great books with fantastic rep.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - John Green on Crash Course said about this book 'the thing about this dystopian book is that this dystopia has already happened'. Charlotte was told by her doctors to quit all her hobbies and stay in a room and do nothing and it drove her to a deeper sickness, she wrote this book during that time of recovering from her ''recovery'' and it makes for powerful reading. The whole story is easily found online for free and I highly recommend it, probably one of the first psychological thrillers.

I apologise if some of these are a bit grammatically weird, I am working on it, I only just found out I'm dyslexic hence my difficulty with small text and need for audiobooks (smh, sometimes it's so obvious it makes me shake my head).

Please let me know what your favourite books of 2023 were.

Vee xo

[venus-is-thinking]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 13 - Venus)

Recap: Yul's Elimination (8/9 pts)

Total Points: 8/9

Well, I sure did rank those powers! Not bad for a first week, I think. Yul's elimination was pretty obvious, but I did think it was possible to likely that we'd set up some other plotlines with some other characters BEFORE getting rid of Yul.

Instead, the Yul plot thread is over, and other than the Alec/Riya kiss, we don't have that many active plot threads. We're probably gonna start some new ones this episode! The scary thing is that if we're starting the plot threads next episode, I have, like... almost nothing to go off of for this week's power rankings. I'm not even good at trailer analysis like Accirax, soooo... good luck to me, I guess.

Anyways, here's my best shot! I fully expect this to be my worst week this season!

1: Gabby

I really struggled with where to put Gabby. She and Grett just completed a major friendship plotline, so like... where to?

I don't really think either Grett or Gabby will go down this episode, just because I think it'd be nice to have a full episode of them getting to be friends without Yul being there without one of them getting kicked out at the end. Sacred space. Plus, if you roughly assume the heroes are still working together, as are Alec and Riya, Gabby and Grett might be swing votes. I assume they'll be working together, but there's reason to believe the pair might go in either direction. That gives them power, at least in the short term.

2: Grett

However, unlike Gabby, I think Grett is more at risk of going home. Grett's arc this season is clearly about breaking free from needing Yul's approval and finding a genuine friend in Gabby. I think it would be sort of fucked up to have her realize Gabby is the friend she always needed and then IMMEDIATELY cut that friend out of the game, leaving her alone again. Plus, I'm not sure exactly what Gabby's arc is, whereas Grett has pretty clearly completed hers.

That being said, I'm only barely putting Grett in the bottom half. I still don't really think she's going home for the reasons I mentioned in the Gabby section. I could definitely see her going soon, if she's not intended to be an end gamer, but I definitely also think she could be. Grett as a final 3 pick with Gabby on her bench feels really viable to me. I even think she could win, if they wanted a pretty thoroughly redeemed villain.

3: Jake

When in doubt, hopefully my winner pick is safe.

I just feel like Jake's been set up to have more character to arc! He's definitely getting better about working with other people and not being incredibly paranoid and all that, but he's still got some room to go until he finishes his arc.

It seems like he's fighting with someone (could be literally anyone lol) in the trailer for this week's episode, which also means that he's not above bickering or anything. He's still Jake.

Basically, that's a long way to say that it seems like this season has big plans for Jake, and I don't think they'd take him out with little enough setup. I do worry a LITTLE bit putting him so high, just because there's probably a lot of people who'd be willing to vote Jake, but I just don't see it happening from a narrative perspective.

4: Alec

My list, my rules. Alec is GOING to go further, trust me bro.

In all seriousness, I don't think Alec would go home this upcoming episode. He's spent a lot of the season being a successful mastermind, and it seems like last episode kicked off his cringefail loser arc. I think it'd be sad to only give him two episodes to be a cringefail loser, plus it might be a little unsatisfying if he just... leaves off there. Obviously there'd still be the losers' motel; similar to how Ally and Hunter wanted to work things out off screen, it could make sense if, say, Alec and Riya got to talk without the cameras being on. Still, I think Alec's got at least a few more episodes in him.

Obvious cons: Alec is a super big threat (he won like 3 challenges in a row and probably only lost last challenge because he didn't claim a superpower) and is running short on allies. I'm kind of assuming the villain/hero dichotomy is largely dead after last episode, and I don't know how much loyalty, say, Grett and Gabby would have if they're not bound by the alliance. Alec is also seen talking to both Connor and Riya in the trailer, which could be a good way to tie up some of his loose threads.

Whatever, he hasn't failed me before. Just win immunity again or something.

5: Connor

Still cannot shake the unshakable feeling that Connor has More To Do. He once again wasn't super important last episode, so everything I said last time about him needing to do more to justify being the returnee still holds. This time, he's at least talking to Alec, which probably means development for both of them. He'll also probably be very cringe in the seemingly TikTok themed challenge, so there's that.

As with the two above him, I'd be a bit worried about Connor pulling votes again, given that he was the previous target of the villains. However, I don't REALLY think anyone heroes side would vote for him, meaning that he shouldn't pull a majority of the votes, at least.

Additionally, I think it's very possible he'll be a major part of Alec's way back into the game (possibly mixed with some kind of redemption arc for Alec?), which means that he'd need to stick around a little longer. I definitely feel like we're about to enter the Connor plotline zone, which means he really should have a couple more episodes in him at least.

6: Ally

I still don't really know what to do with Ally. I continue to put her third from the bottom, just because there's less reason to actively put her higher in my mind, but there isn't really anything that pushes her towards the very bottom either.

I am excited to see what Ally's up to this episode, because if the challenge does have to do with social media, I'm expecting it to be something along the lines of "whoever gets the most likes wins the challenge." Based on her obsession with whether or not the viewers like her, that certainly seems like it'll do something.

I also have this crack theory I only half believe that Ally could join up with Riya and Alec if she sees that, like, the villains are more popular on social media or something because they're taking the game more seriously (which I'm pretty sure was what she got criticized for not doing last time). That would help capitalize on Riya setting that up earlier while also giving Alec and Riya a way to not necessarily get straight swept. If that's the case, I'd bet on a Riya immunity win, which further highlights the popularity of the villain character she portrays.

I don't super believe that theory, though, so who knows what Ally's doing! I just want to record it on the off chance that it's how the story actually goes.

7: Aiden

In my mind, Aiden and Riya are both in danger as people who made the finals in their original season. I feel like either of them being a losing finalist again wouldn't have much spice to it, and I don't really expect either of them to win. Additionally, Aiden and Jake seem to have fully made up at this point, their collective immunity win last week serving as a good symbol of that, so I could see Aiden getting cut.

My vision for the next couple episodes is that we're transitioning from the midgame to the endgame. As a result, the people who will be in our top 5 or 6 or so and have plot significance as the finalists are being picked will be getting new plotlines, and people whose plotlines are already more or less resolved will be at risk of getting eliminated, just kinda because. Aiden definitely feels like he could be cut in that group to me.

The big thing with Aiden is just that I'm not sure exactly where the votes come from. I do think it could be nice to take out a hero, just so that it doesn't feel like Alec and Riya are both doomed, but it's also obviously possible that one of the two of them will go down and the other will have to play in isolation for a little while.

I think the most likely way for an Aiden boot to happen is either a clutch immunity totem from, say, Riya, who would probably want to eliminate Aiden or Connor if she has her full shot, or if Ally does flip to join Alec and Riya. I think Ally would probably rather target Jake, but whatever.

8: Riya

I am by no means confident in a Riya boot, but when I assess the cast, it makes the most sense to me by far.

I think both Alec and Connor are going to make late game (if I had to lock it in right now, I'd say the final 5 are going to be Alec, Connor, Jake, Ally and either Gabby or Grett, meaning that one of Gabby/Grett, Aiden and Riya will collectively make up our next 3 boots). However, leaving Alec, Connor and Riya around is just... a large percentage of people to remain in that group. Similar to how Tom got eliminated when it was about time to cut one of the Aiden/Tom/Jake trio, I think Riya is the most expendable of the Alec/Connor/Riya trio.

She could easily get a lot of votes if we are in a weird in-between period of alliances, just because she is pretty problematic and a lot of people would be willing to vote her out. It's true that Grett might still be somewhat aligned with her, since Riya defended Grett from Yul, but I don't think that's something she can bank on, at least.

I also think it would be interesting to see how Alec and Connor move forward alone, as two people that Riya rejected romantically in favor of the game and her camera appearances. Assuming Riya refuses to budge on that for the rest of the season, which I am, I don't think she has much to say to Connor, and after talking to Alec this episode, I can believe she wouldn't have much room to grow in her relationship with Alec with the cameras on, either.

I definitely think Riya could win immunity here; I honestly think that timeline I discussed with Ally is probably her best bet. Though, barring anything weird, I still think she's the most likely so far.

[kades-rp-lore-hell]

i'm planning on recycling oliver's blog into something else soon, since that blog served it's purpose and then died, like i expected. (arguably the blog wasn't really alive in the first place, haha.)

but i wanna make ultra super duper sure that the oliver and sylvan reunion remains intact and stuff because it's important lore, so i'm pasting the whole thing here. if you've already read the thread where oliver and sylvan meet at vernon's house, this is just that again.

'Amarena' stands at the door of a house he hasn't seen in many years. Despite the vague sense of dread tugging at him, he knocks on the door. Here, in his hometown, his internet persona is dropped. Online, he's Amarena, but in the real world, he's...

"Oliver!" A man says after opening the door.

"Vernon." Oliver replies dryly.

"Come on in."

The two men enter the house and sit down in the living room.

"It's... good to see you." Vernon says. "How have you been?"

"Fine." Oliver replies curtly.

Vernon sighs. "Y'know, I... I'm real sorry about how things were between us when you were a kid. You were under a lot of stress, and I was supposed to be the adult, I shouldn't have stooped to your level so often."

"'Stooped to my level?'" Oliver responds, glowering.

"That's... not what I meant. I just mean... you were the kid and I was the parent, and I should've acted like it."

"You're not my dad."

"I know. But I agreed to act the part as well as I could... and I didn't do very well."

"Fine, yeah, whatever. When's Heather getting here?"

"Sylvan."

"Sylvan. When's he getting here?"

"Soon. I don't know when exactly. How about we watch some TV or something while we wait?"

"Fine by me."

Not much time passes before Sylvan arrives at his father's house, N by his side. Sylvan knocks on the door and then sighs nervously while he waits for his father to answer.

"I'm getting a sense of deja vu..." Sylvan remarks.

N smirks amusedly. He takes Sylvan's hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over Sylvan's. Then Vernon answers the door.

"Sylvan! Good to see you!" Vernon says. "...And you brought N."

"Yup!" Sylvan replies, grinning.

"Why...?" Vernon asks.

"Hello to you, too..." N grumbles.

"Moral support." Sylvan answers.

"If you say so... You two come in."

The three of them walk inside and make their way to the living room, where Oliver is waiting.

Sylvan and Oliver make eye contact, and within a split second Oliver is on his feet and eagerly enveloping his younger brother in a tight hug.

"Oh—" Sylvan says under his breath, taken off guard by the sudden embrace.

"Sylvan!" Oliver cheers. He backs up to look at his brother. "My, how you've grown, mon frère!"

"Uhh..." Sylvan is rendered somewhat speechless by this encounter.

"How old are you now, anyway?"

"Um... Twenty-three."

"TWENTY-THREE! Oh, it's been far too long!" Oliver once again pulls Sylvan into a hug. "I'm so sorry... For everything."

"Uhh. Yeah, um... don't... don't worry about it, man."

Sylvan mentally stows this away in a list of things to talk about in more detail later. It'll come up at some point, right...?

In this moment, Oliver and N catch each other's glance. Oliver stands up straight, eyes widened slightly.

Sylvan, confused, looks in the direction Oliver is staring.

"Oh!" He says. "Uh, Oliver, this is my partner, N!"

"Nice to meet you." N says.

Oliver's eyes have widened even further.

"N Harmonia!?" Oliver exclaims.

"Um." Sylvan says. He and N look to each other.

"Yes?" N says, looking back to Oliver in sync with Sylvan.

"Mon dieu!" Oliver gasps. "You're dating the king of Team Plasma?!"

"That's—" Sylvan starts.

"What?" Vernon interrupts sternly, raising his voice.

Sylvan and N freeze.

"You!" Vernon shouts, quickly approaching N. "I knew I had seen you before! What do you think you're doing hanging around my family!?"

"I— You don't understand!" N asserts.

"Damn right I don't understand! I don't ever want to understand someone with a warped mind like yours!" Vernon says.

"That's—"

"Shut up!"

N flinches away when Vernon gets in his face. His bravery in the face of this father's explosive anger seems to give out and he panics, faintly muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"You BETTER be sorry, you—"

"Dad, back off!" Sylvan says, attempting to come between the two of them.

"And what do YOU think you're doing, dating some Plasma scumbag?!" Vernon asks his son.

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Sylvan responds.

"Oho, oh yeah, tell me all the reasons he gave you that explain why he's not a bad guy!"

"What happened with Plasma wasn't his fault!"

"Oh, is that so?" Vernon asks in a demeaning tone.

Sylvan silently glares at Vernon, knowing he isn't being taken seriously.

"What other lies has this insane freak told you!?" Vernon continues.

"SHUT UP!" Sylvan yells, his anger boiling over and his fist flying towards his father's face.

...But then he's stopped.

In a split second, Oliver inserts himself between Vernon and Sylvan. One hand pushing against Vernon's chest, and the other grabbing Sylvan's wrist.

"Both of you need to calm down before you do something you'll regret!" Oliver declares.

"YOU'RE the one who started this mess!" Sylvan hisses at Oliver.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm a little surprised Vernon didn't already know this, though?" Oliver muses.

"We didn't wanna tell him 'cuz I knew he'd freak out about it! Sylvan says.

"Who wouldn't freak out about that?!" Vernon retorts.

"Okay, okay!" Oliver shouts. "You guys need to, like, go into seperate rooms or something and cool off!"

"Hmph. Fine.” Sylvan says, yanking his wrist out of Oliver's hand, though he's only able to do so because Oliver releases his grip.

Sylvan looks to N, who's clearly still shaken. "I'm going outside." He says. "You coming?"

N silently responds by taking Sylvan's hand and following him outside.

Sylvan sits down outside. He pats the ground next to him, inviting N to sit. After doing so, N tilts his head towards the sky, taking in deep breaths of the outdoor air. It's silent for a moment, both of them trying to soothe their pounding hearts.

"Are you alright?" Sylvan eventually asks.

N shrugs slightly and says, "I could be worse."

Sylvan nods solemnly, replying, "...I don't know what to say. Um... I'm- sorry about... you know, my dad."

N shakes his head. "You don't need to apologize."

"You didn't need to either."

"What?"

"When we were inside. What on Earth were you apologizing to Dad for?"

"I don't know. I... I guess I just panicked..."

Sylvan wraps an arm around N's waist, and in turn N rests his head on Sylvan's shoulder. The couple go silent again, their minds individually wandering. A minute or two later, N breaks the silence.

"I just don't get it." He says.

"Get what?" Sylvan replies.

"Two years ago, I was able to confront Ghetsis while he had the power of Kyurem on his side. But just now... I practically cowered in fear when your father got angry at me. It doesn't make sense."

"Ah. Well, it's— just... the brain's inconsistent like that, you know? It's a weird meat blob, it's not always logical."

N laughs slightly. "Weird meat blob..."

Sylvan smiles, glad his silly remark was able to make his partner laugh. Then he thinks a little more.

"Maybe part of it was about like— preparation?" Sylvan ponders.

"Hm?"

"Like, back then, we came to Unova knowing you'd probably have to face Ghetsis, and it most likely wasn't gonna be pleasant. You, like, had time to be ready for it. Or... as ready as you could be for something like that. But you didn't come with me to meet my brother today knowing my dad was gonna scream in your face."

"Interesting theory... It does seem to make sense."

"Anyway. I wonder how things are going inside."

Meanwhile...

"...And uh, yeah. That's the whole story, I think. Thanks for finally shutting up and letting me tell it." Oliver says, idly tapping his fingertips on the dining room table.

Vernon sits across from him, deep in thought. After a moment of thinking, he speaks.

"That's fucked up." Vernon says.

"Yeah." Oliver replies.

"To be honest, I didn't really know much of anything about Team Plasma, except that they were running around taking people's Pokémon. I didn't know about... all THAT."

"Why do I know more about Plasma than you? I haven't lived here in years. Literally none of what I just told you has affected me in the slightest."

"Ah, I guess I just don't pay much mind to the news nowadays."

Oliver rolls his eyes. "You can say that again, sheesh."

Vernon sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I really made an ass of myself, huh?"

"Yup. Good thing you're about to apologize." Oliver says assertively. He gets up and heads towards the front door.

"...Hey. When did you get so good at breaking up a fight, anyway?" Vernon asks.

Oliver glances over his shoulder at Vernon. "I'm a bartender." He says. Shrugging, he continues, "It's part of the job."

Oliver continues to the door and opens it. He peers outside, Sylvan and N turn to look back at him.

"Hey." Oliver says. "We're ready for you guys inside."

N and Sylvan look at each other with a bit of hesitation in their expression. Then Sylvan looks to Oliver, nods, and stands up. He then offers N his hand and pulls him up as well. Everyone goes back inside and sits at the table. Vernon sighs.

"So. It seems like some apologies are in order." Vernon says.

"I... I'm sorry to both of ya, for blowin' up at you like that. And N, I'm sorry I insulted you and such. Oliver filled me in on what happened with Team Plasma... showed me how much of an ass I was being."

"Thank you." N says.

"So, am I forgiven?"

"...I don't know." N says, brows furrowed. "You haven't treated me well today, and you didn't treat me well last time I was here. So I suppose it's just a little hard to take you at your word."

"I gotcha. 'Actions speak louder than words' and all that. I'll keep it in mind."

"Good."

"...Sorry for trying to punch you in the face." Sylvan says to his dad, who shakes his head.

"Don't worry about that. No harm done. And I kinda had it comin', haha!" Vernon responds.

"Ha..."

A somewhat uncomfortable silence falls over the group, no one entirely sure what to say next. But then, Oliver gets an idea.

"Hey, Vernon, do you still have our old board games?" He asks.

"Uh... as long as Sylvan didn't take them, yeah." Vernon replies.

"Didn't touch 'em. Kinda forgot we had them." Sylvan says.

"Excellent!" Oliver says, before getting up to retrieve a board game.

In the midst of playing the board game Oliver chose, Sylvan has an epiphany.

"Hey, Oliver..." Sylvan starts.

"Yes?" Oliver responds.

"Why do you call Dad by his first name?"

Oliver looks confused for a moment, before looking to Vernon.

"You didn't tell him?" Oliver asks.

"...It never came up..." Vernon replies, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"What never came up?" Sylvan asks.

"Vernon's not my dad." Oliver says bluntly.

"...Huh?!"

"I was eleven when Mom and Vernon met. I'm not his kid."

"But— you— your eyes! You have similar eyes!" Sylvan says, pointing at his own eye for emphasis.

"And Laelia had similar hair. Mom had a type, I suppose."

"L-Laelia's not...?"

"Laelia's not my kid either." Vernon says. "It's... part of why your mother and I split up."

"I... I'm your son... right?" Sylvan mutters.

"Yes." Vernon replies. "My only son."

"Okay." Sylvan says with a slight nod, though he's clearly still distressed. "Okay... I guess this doesn't— change things that much."

Sylvan looks to Oliver and continues, "I mean, you're still my brother. And Laelia's still my sister."

Oliver nods. "Of course."

"Alright, I... I guess I can process all that later. Whose turn is it?"

"Yours, sweetheart." N says.

"Oh! Right." Sylvan responds. "Let's see..."

With that, the game continues. The group talk, joke, and share stories together... and their worlds quietly grow bigger.