#im just. im salty i guess lmao

[waywardsalt]

small little thing abt botw/totk and the future of zelda games considering it seems likely that future zelda games might be in the same style as those two and how i feel like botw/totk don't actually feel like zelda games (kind of messy i just typed this out in a kind of informal or whatever way) (this post is long af btw so uhhhh yeah)

im part of the group that claims that botw/totk aren't 'real' zelda games but... i guess they are technically 'real' zelda games, but... they sure as fuck don't feel like it, and because of that, i'm not at all excited with the idea of future loz games being in the same style, especially with the pitfalls these last two games have fallen into having been things that past zelda games did especially well, it feels like things have been sort of flipped on their heads in terms of what's being valued or whatever

like... the best parts of older zelda games were things like the story and the characters and the puzzles and the dungeons and stuff like that... the best parts of botw/totk right now are just the gameplay. people enjoy these new characters, but they dont have the narrative backing that older games do, they don't have the same impactful arcs or roles allowed by a more linear story

the point i want to get at though is how botw/totk honestly don't feel like direct evolutions or steps up from past zelda games but rather just... entirely different game styles (open world games) with the zelda flavoring and worldbuilding and story styling slapped on top.

i mean... i feel like a half-decent example of some other well-known franchises that have jumped on this (honestly kind of thoughtless) open-world bandwagon are mario (mario odyssey) pokemon (sword/shield and scarlet/violet) fire emblem (kind of. with some free-walking segments in 3 houses and engage) and the soulsborne type games (elden ring), these are all other well known and storied game series' that have somewhat made the move to open world, and i think that switch was a bit smoother, kept the core and integrity of the games that came before much better than botw/totk did

elden ring is the easiest to explain- the gameplay loop and core mechanics are the same and build upon past games' you just have more room to run around and get killed in with some little open-world flourishes like material gathering.

fire emblem is... a bit less flexible in terms of changing up the core gameplay, and the addition of open-world segments are added to add bonuses to the strategy gameplay and allow for more support-building oppourtunities and little minigames, and its more or less evolution from echoes' dungeon-crawling bits and the customizable castle in fates. the core gameplay still effectively works the exact same, just with some little class or mechanic tweaks and additions.

mario odyssey, though each world was pretty massive, still had your typical 3d mario platforming, and the new hat stuff fit in pretty well with olderpowerups and gimmicks, and the boss battles feel and work pretty similarly to the way they used it- odyssey does feel like an evolution from past mario games (ps. playing two-player with one person as cappy snaps the game in half. its the secret easy mode lol)

the new pokemon games are pretty much just the same as past pokemon games, theyre just open world and buggy as fuck rip have extra little open-world flourishes that build on what past games set up. the battling works the same as ever and the progression is the same with a number of powerful trainers you have to battle to continue forward.

with botw/totk... the progression is dramatically different in terms of power-scaling, world presentation, item-gathering, puzzle-solving... pretty much everything in the established zelda format. i get that it was pretty much the aim with botw to have a fresh start and throw out a lot of the old standards but it just makes them feel so dramatically alien to past zelda games; theyre completely different experiences in pretty much every single way, and as such they dont feel like what we've (well, people who have started with and spent a lot of time with other loz games) learned to associate with the zelda titles.

with open world games in general it's a bit harder to have a truly impactful narrative akin to those in past zelda games, anyways. i will admit that botw was a good execution of trying out something entirely new, and the narrative and gameplay and world actually complement each other very well, so despite what i've said in the past I can't really fault it's narrative too much since it's a less traditional sort of narrative and effectively does what it aims to do very well.

totk, on the other hand, proves that this style of game does not mesh with the old style of storytelling at ALL. linear games can have proper narratives with coherent stakes, developing characters, twists and reveals and building emotion and mood- and all of that is thrown out the window with totk when they decided to try and have both a more linear story with actual reveals and development and emotion, while also letting you literally spoil it for yourself out the gate.

you can't really have a well-executed story when players are capable of doing things drastically out of order and of jumping into story beats without the prior buildup and straight-up ruining what could be otherwise emotional reveals, and players being capable of doing this is hard-baked in how the game fundamentally works. I honestly feel bad for people who found the fifth sage by accident before anything else.

you can't effectively have a linear story with character growth and plot developments and impactful moments while also allowing it to be experienced out of order and with massive time gaps in between; with this kind of stuff, you can't really have your cake and eat it too. say what you will about the linearity of past zelda games, but i bet you that midna wouldn't be as beloved as a character as she is if it weren't for the linear order of the story and its events. certain parts of storytelling may demand for a linear manner of telling that story.

botw's story works because none of the memories reveal anything groundbreaking taht you don't already know; they are optional and merely give you more information about these characters from link's past and simply inform you about the girl keeping ganon at bay. if you find a late memory first, that's fine- it technically doesnt reveal anything too important to you, it just fills in some gaps for you and your player character. it makes sense within the story itself for the world to be so open and for you to be able to do what you can; the story is not the focus, nor is it even needed to beat the game. the story was made with the gameplay and what you are allowed to do in mind, and as such doesn't include things such as in-depth character development or important plot-twists.

on the other hand, you can easily spoil totk's biggest plot twist in a handful of different ways completely by accident, just by getting curious about the world around you. this can shatter a lot of the mystery or tension in the plot and this can happen completely by accident to someone playing the game organically and blindly. the story itself doesn't take this into account, it reads more like a linear story that would be more suited to a linear style of play, coming across things in order to ramp up the stakes and let things be revealed at the best possible time. (tbh totk's story doesnt seem to take the player into account in general, if the game forcing you to watch basically the same long cutscene four fucking times says anything, jesus christ)

narrative pitfalls aside, botw/totk put heavy emphasis on gameplay, but not in the same way older zelda games did, and as such trade away the unique items and gimmick-y game-specific mechanics for a small toolset handed to you out the gate. what botw/totk do- giving you everything you need from the start and having very little true varation in the gameplay from then on out- make sense and works just fine for an open world game. there is, however, a lack of actual depth to that gameplay that other open world games do have (off the top of my head, the ability to unlock and upgrade abilities and have general character upgrades in fenyx rising as well as the impressive depths of elden ring's combat and character customization system). the most depth botw/totk has to the actual gameplay is just the fourish different weapon types and the ways you use your fourish abilities (saying fourish bc for real ultrahand and fuse are fundamentally the exact same thing). there is also just raising the little defense numbers on your armor and getting more stamina and health, but that does absolutely nothing to the actual gameplay but make link more durable.

i mean, sure, health in past loz games just makes link more durable, too, but thats how health upgrades in any other game work.

the gameplay switch makes sense, considering the switch from a linear puzzle-adventure concentric game to a more sandbox-esque open-world game, but it does not mesh with the former loz formula at all, so while the shift in style makes sense, it makes me think that you can't have a previous-style loz experience in an open-world sandboxish sort of game. especially with how in totk you can very easily bypass most of the fire temple just using the mechanics handed to you at the start. you can't have the same type of zelda dungeons in a game where you are allowed to do it 'wrong' and the game itself does not allow for the same kinds of puzzles.

i am of the opinion that so long as future zelda games work the same way botw/totk did, we will not get old-school zelda-style dungeons again.

the loss of a variety of items used for specific puzzles and environment switches is the loss of a varied dungeon experience and the loss of the same kind of world and character progression as past zelda games.

you are handed everything you'll ever need at the start of botw/totk. the only thing that will meaningfully change is how much damage you do. there are no alternate strategies opened up by new items that can double as weapons, no new traversal options or routes opened up by things such as grappling hooks or clawshots or whips or specific wands. even the battle system is drastically different, instead of being enemies that take specific amounts of hits to die while you can obtain progressively stronger swords, enemies are just damage sponges and you can get all kind of weapons that just do different numerical amounts of damage.

the bosses themselves- big staples and draws of zelda games- also work extremely differently. instead of having to leverage specific items to expose weak spots or having to fight in a specific manner to do damage, you are just asked to... do damage. even in totk's bosses, where sage abilities are most certainly helpful, the only boss i found to truly require a sage ability was the lighting temple's boss; the others i either hardly used the sage at all (i didn't use yunobo at all in the second phase of the fire temple boss and hardly had a need for tulin with the wind temple boss [esp considering i was using a 3-shot lynel bow to make the poor fucker a cakewalk]) or found that alternative solutions felt better, like resorting to splash fruit on repeat water temple fights instead of wrestling with having to activate and use sidon's ability. the sages are honestly fairly poor replacements for dungeon specific items.

this kind of causes botw/totk to play more like a poor man's dark souls or just like any other open world rpgish game. i don't play botw/totk for the experience of a zelda game, i play it because it's an open world game that i can walk around in for five minute before switching to something else because i liked something in that other game better.

the combat in botw/totk isnt designed in such a way that makes it feel good. mineru's mech is fucking dismal, but since it's just either shooting with a bow or attacking with one of three types of melee weapon with some timing for a dodge, it can get stale fast. it doesn't necessarily even feel good, since there's not enough variety for it to get really engaging. (this is def an uneven comparison, but elden ring's combat feels considerable better with the different dodges you can do and the amount of attack options you have with just one weapon, not to mention the amount of control you have over your general fighting style.) combat in botw/totk at hour 1 is the exact same as combat in botw/totk at hour 100, the only different being the amount of damage you do or how much of a beating you can take.

it just... the styles of botw/totk can't allow them to feel the same as older zelda games. the shift in style was clearly a good move to draw in series newbies and shake things up, but it comes at the caveat of making them feel distant from their predecessors and uncomfortably similar to other games like them. it's hard to avoid comparisons with elden ring when on the surface they are very similar games, one just feels more true to its core identity

this all is said without mentioning the way in which botw/totk lore feels almost dismissive of past series staples and seems intent on not looking back while also taking every fucking attempt to nudge you and say 'hey, remember that zelda game' and honestly all that shit does is make me want to play a different zelda game.

botw/totk seem altogether very desperate to distance themselves from past zelda games while also being unable to really tear itself from what came before and it just culminates in me spotting linebeck island on the map and going 'damn i miss linebeck' and turning the fucking game off to play phantom hourglass instead. say what you will about phantom hourglass, but it certainly handles its story progression and character development infinitely better than the game that lets you accidentally shatter the impact of the story by deciding to check out that cool temple in the distance of the depths

[lesbiangiratina]

112/80 blood pressure i wasnt Fully careful with salt intake today and only took like 1/8 of a beta blocker. We’re so back. Hopefully.

[catmemey]

agreeing with a literal semipalmated plover researcher's ID of a semipalmated plover as if that is necessary to confirm the ID.

[no1ryomafan]

I think I ranted about this before and I should’ve expected this given I’m writing a literal crossover but fuuuuuuck I am one step away from posting more about mega man since I need to branch out with more of my interests even though my past experiences make me terrified and I feel any fan I meet it’s like Russian roulette if will click- but also I’ve hardly given the tumblr community a chance… I am conflicted.

[nametakensff]

Suggestible (D/isco E/lysium, M/M)

The first fic of a few I have for these two because I am deeep into this shit now lol. Ended up at 4K!

H/arry, whilst working on the murder case in M/artinaise and ever so slowly piecing his identity together, notices an interesting reaction in K/im to his budding cold. I guess the first part of a series that will become increasingly NSFW, but for now mostly just alluding to it!

Based on an insane little piece of dialogue in the game where K/im suggests that other people sneezing makes him sneeze

~~~~~~

Content:

Future/hinted M/M, cold sneezes, sympathetic sneezes, H/arry has a latent sneezing fetish that he doesn't remember having yet, spray, stifles, sneezing into handkerchiefs, slight elements of voyeurism but only because H/arry is a confused mess lmao

CW: lots of drug and alcohol mentions, lots of self-hatred

NB - I guess please don't read if you plan on playing the game and want to go in with no prior knowledge - it doesn't really have any plot heavy spoilers but takes place within the story

(also also - decided to write this in 2nd person narrative to somewhat resemble the style of game play - it's not perfect but it was fun to try haha)

Minors DNI please!

Lieutenant Kitsuragi trails behind you as you jog your way across the empty boardwalk and towards the fishing village. The air is piercing and bitterly cold – you are starting to feel the effects of it as the salty air whips against your face. It has been snowing on and off for hours, and you are woefully underdressed. This has not been a good day for you – few new leads, endless dead ends. And a hangover. The hangover to end all hangovers. Not even the frigid winter weather can distract you from the dull thud of a lingering headache, painful pulses beating in time with your heart. It feels as though your brain is too swollen – or your skull is too tight.

Suddenly, you feel it – the familiar, fluttering sensation of a building sneeze. You have been a little under the weather ever since you awoke in your hotel room several days earlier, having no recollection of who you are and woefully bereft of substances to abuse. You had put any subsequent discomfort down to just that – the miserable lack of alcohol, nicotine and narcotics in your system. This tickle, however – it is something all of its own. You stop dead in your tracks, practically skidding to a stop as it crests. You have no hope of holding back the encroaching sneeze. Your mouth hangs open, a great yawn of irritation, before – at last – release.

It comes out sounding more like a desperate shriek than anything else; a few startled seagulls scatter, flying away in a maelstrom of confusion and feathers. You didn’t mean to cause such a scene, but the cold air, the breeze, and now the beginning of a miserable cold – it all proves too much for you. You take in another shuddering gasp before you’ve even recovered from the previous explosion and do it all over again.

“HAAAEEEIISHHHHhhh!!!”

There are no seagulls left to scatter this time, but you hardly notice for the way this sneeze, even more violent than the one before it, sends you flying forward and staggering on your feet. You manage to catch yourself before you fall face down on the sandy ground, panting slightly in the aftermath. It practically tore itself out of you, leaving your throat more than a little hoarse. Perhaps a drink would be just the thing to remedy your misery…

You’re shaken out of your alcoholic deliberation by a familiar, soft voice. Lieutenant Kitsuragi is resting a gentle, gloved hand on your shoulder, hovering next to your crouched form. His voice is as placid as always, but you can’t help but notice a slight hint of concern. You right yourself immediately and snuffle at the mess that’s threatening to overflow from your nose, already a bright shade of red from years of alcohol abuse and the biting cold of the beach.

“Are you alright, Lieutenant Double-Yefreitor?”

The Lieutenant notices the thickness of the sound, a barely perceptible look of displeasure passing over his face. You see him reach into his pockets and pull out a large handkerchief – the very same you have seen him use before to cover his face as you performed a field autopsy together. He proffers it to you and you hesitate for just a moment - then your nose starts to run into your moustache. This prompts you to take it from him and snuffle into it apologetically. You realise this pathetic sniffling will do nothing to stem the flow – you surrender and blow your nose with as much conviction as you possibly can. The sound of it is devastatingly loud, almost as disruptive as the sneezes preceding it. You glance at Kim sheepishly from behind the material. If it’s as disgusting to Lieutenant Kitsuragi as it sounded to you, he doesn’t so much as flinch.

When you’re finished, you offer the soiled fabric back to him with an outstretched hand. He looks at it with mild dismay.

“You keep that, officer. I carry a spare with me at all times.”

Stupid. That was stupid of you. Why would you hand him a snot rag? You dismiss the thought before the negativity drags you down further into the already miserable grips of your hangover. But for whatever reason, you keep note of this new information regarding the handkerchiefs. It’s not as though this is out of the ordinary for Kim. He’s so organised and focused – a great cop. Not like you. Of course he would carry a spare. Moving on, you ask the lieutenant for his opinion of what you ought to do next.

“Hm…We should return to the Whirling-In-Rags. Try Klaasje again and see if she’s ready to discuss the murder in more detail.”

It sounds like a perfect idea to you. The wind is fiercely cold and you never did get round to buying a windbreaker. Your hangover is making it impossible to tell if the major discomfort you’re feeling is from the alcohol dissipating within your husk of a body, or the virus threatening to take hold of your sinuses. Either way, getting out of the cold is imperative.

You approach the vicinity of the Whirling-In-Rags Hostel – at last. Your chest burns. Normally, a brisk jog is nothing to you – if anything, it energises your ailing body after a particularly lengthy binge. But today, you feel miserably worn out. You pause for a moment, look towards the Lieutenant, and attempt to speak. You fail, nothing but a series of wheezing gasps issuing from between your lips, followed by an increasingly hacking cough. You buckle over your knees and continue to hack like the washed-up middle-aged man you know you are. Kim places a hand on your back - he seems worried.

“This isn’t good. You’re unwell, detective. Perhaps you should rest a while in your room?”

Something tells you this isn’t a suggestion exclusively for your own benefit. A perfunctory glance tells you that Lieutenant Kitsuragi is tired, and as miserably cold as you. He wouldn’t mind a break inside a warm building, thawing out over a cup of coffee. Nevertheless, you feel disappointment blooming in your chest. As if you weren’t already a pathetic excuse of a policeman - missing memory, decked head to toe in questionable clothes and with a penchant for drug and drink on the clock – you’re now so weak you can’t even handle a mild case of rhinovirus. Pathetic.

You stand upright in an attempt to signal that you are and always have been a perfect beacon of health. You tell the Lieutenant that time is of the essence; you’ve been working on this case for days and have no time for further setbacks. He acknowledges this with a small nod; he seems to appreciate this professional, business-like approach to the matter. He doesn’t say anything more but merely walks beside you as you stride towards the Whirling-In-Rags.

You barely manage to take a few steps before the tickle is upon you again. You tense your jaw and attempt to quell the sensation by taking in shallow, measured breaths, but no dice. In seconds, it tears its way out of you as before, echoing off the walls of the nearby buildings. It is so loud that you wonder if the scabs protesting outside of the Union can hear it over the sounds of their own angry chants. Again, you stumble forward under the force of it, feeling light-headed.

The Lieutenant reaches out to grip your shoulder, steadying you just in time. You wait and sniffle miserably in preparation for the following sneeze, lingering in the depths of your sinuses, but it never comes. You straighten up, blinking tears of effort from your tired eyes, when you become aware of a certain sensation. Kim’s hand squeezes your shoulder with a sudden flex. Could this be a gesture of affection? Reassurance? This is not the Lieutenant’s regular style. He is far too cool for that kind of thing.

You look over your shoulder in curiosity as the Lieutenant continues his grip, despite your having collected yourself. You can see that behind the lenses of his glasses, his eyes are unfocused and heavy-lidded. His mouth hangs slightly open, and he is holding a fist – expectantly? – before his face. The expression is…familiar. You’d seen it before, though not on Lieutenant Kitsuragi.

As you furrow your brow in deep consideration, reaching for an explanation that only just manages to elude you, slight movement from Kim pulls you out of your thoughts. You watch as his head tilts back, stays there for a just a moment before he’s jerking forward into his gloved fist, pressing it against his nose and mouth. His features contract severely, moulding his ordinarily placid face into a twisted, almost angry and unrecognisable countenance. You feel his fingers flex again. His entire body shudders, and as it does so, you hear him utter a tiny sound.

“-hHdt’!”

You blink, still not putting two and two together. Maybe this amnesia was worse than you had initially assumed it to be. Was he – seizing? No. Of course not. You continue to watch in confusion as he seems to uncrumple with a gentle exhalation. You think he might be done, but no. Just as quickly as one breath is exhaled, a replacement is sucked back in hurriedly. You watch as he repeats the action, ducking forward into his fist again, more forcefully this time. His shoulders jump with the effort and his hand squeezes substantially harder against you.

“h’Ngxt-!! hh…”

That strange sound again – this time followed by an uncharacteristically shaky exhale.  A moment later the Lieutenant straightens up and assumes his regular composure, releasing your shoulder as if nothing just happened. If you hadn’t watched this series of events unfold right in front of you, you’re sure you would have missed it altogether. He blinks several times as if to clear away tears. Still you have no idea what the fuck just happened – any remnants of the pained expression that cinched his features tight has vanished, leaving him to look as calm and collected as before. You stare at him, eyes roving over his face. This intrusive observation gives you the last bit of information you need to understand. His nostrils flare delicately as he indulges in a sniffle, moisture gathering around the irritated rims and glittering ever so slightly in the afternoon sunlight.

Had those been…sneezes? Those tiny little swallows of air?! You feel a grin spread across your face, any discomfort of your own forgotten for the moment. You bless him enthusiastically. Ignoring the inkling that tells you not to tease or cajole him, you also comment on how adorable the Lieutenant’s sneezes are. Like a kitten. A badass cop kitten.

He thanks you somewhat reluctantly, blatantly ignoring the kitten comment. He clearly wants you to move on from him and focus again on the case. You continue to make your way towards Whirling-In-Rags, but don’t miss out of the corner of your eye the sight of the Lieutenant covertly pinching his nostrils shut, before pulling down towards his septum. He is wiping the resultant moisture of those sneezes away with his gloved fingers. This realisation makes your heartbeat spike for just a moment. You choose to ignore this.

You walk into the establishment – the increasingly familiar sounds and sights greet you as you pass through the door. The Hardie boys are in their booths, an unwelcome fixture. You glance sidelong at them – Titus glares daggers back at you. You think you should puff up your chest and stare him down in a battle of warring machismo, but at last minute think otherwise. It would do nothing to repair your already abysmal lack of authority if you sneezed at him mid stand-off. You glance away. He smirks, arms crossed firmly over his broad chest, clearly enjoying this silent display of dominance. You get an all-consuming urge to spin around and put him in his place – but you feel shitty. Much too shitty. It would probably end with his fist in your face.

You approach the staircase leading to the bedrooms when you feel that familiar, irritating tickle blossoming anew in your sinuses. Not again, not here! Not in a busy room full of so many people. You want to maintain your cool cop image – sneezing is not a cool thing to do. You briefly think to yourself that Kim is cool, even when he sneezes - but it is a foolish thought. You’re not him. You fight to suppress the gasp that fills your lungs, fumbling in your jacket pocket for the handkerchief the lieutenant had given you – but you’re too late. Two huge sneezes rocket out of you, sending veritable clouds of spray across the base of the staircase. They practically break the sound barrier, two near identical “IIIIEEEESHHHHhhtt!!!” screams of irritation. Kim doesn’t steady you this time – you reach out and do that yourself with the help of the banister.

Jeers erupt from the Hardie boys across the cafeteria floor – you only just manage to hold back an embarrassed blush from creeping over your weary face. You have finally managed to extract the handkerchief from your pocket. You decide a honking performance will do very little to remedy this utter humiliation, dabbing softly at your aching nose instead. You begin to climb the stairs; a sordid walk of shame.

“That’s just what this establishment needs, following the hanging, bloated corpse – a biohazardous drunk anointing his plague unto us all.”

That snark came from Garte – the bartender. No, the Cafeteria Manager.

“Just ignore him.” Kim mutters close to your ear. You proceed to flip the bird at Garte instead. As you make your way upstairs, you swear you can hear a tiny gasp from behind you. Without the sensation of a hand gripping your shoulder and signalling the completion of a sneeze, you have to strain your ears to even confirm they happen at all.

“’Ngxt’ch! h’ddt’! Hh’Ggkt!!”

Those are definitely sneezes. Slightly louder than before, enough that you can hear the Lieutenant’s own soft voice blending in with the strained sound of them. Your stomach is suddenly alive with butterflies. In your mind’s eye you can visualise the way his face crumples with each of them – nostrils flaring outwards as he valiantly bites down against them. You are sure if you try to do the same, your head will explode. Or at the very least, an aneurism is a surefire possibility. You shudder at the thought of it. You want to offer a blessing to the Lieutenant, but based on the previous reception it received, you decide against it. This could be the start of a beautiful partnership – Harry’n’Kim, Du Bois and Kitsuragi. Disco Cop and Cool Cop. You can always brainstorm on your trademark duo name at a later date. Either way, you decide to ignore the Lieutenant’s strangled outburst. A soft exhalation behind you signals that he is finished – for now.

You reach the top of the stairs. With great dismay, you realise that perhaps for the first time in your life, you are experiencing firsthand the effect of all those years of chain smoking. The wheezing gasps bend you over for a moment. Lieutenant Kitsuragi stands nearby, just short of nervously hovering, waiting for you to recover. You finally catch your breath and stride as confidently as you can towards Klaasje’s room. You extend a fist to knock on the door when you feel the soft touch of Kim’s hand on your arm, stopping you in your tracks. This has to be a new record. He has touched you on four separate occasions – all in a span of under thirty minutes.

“Perhaps you should take this opportunity to rest after all, detective.” Kim offers. You sense by the firmness of his voice that this is less of a gentle suggestion and more of a request. He smiles wryly.

“You are not very likely to get her to open up to you if you deafen her with your sneezing.”

Your stomach flips at hearing that word come out of his mouth. It is confusing but not entirely unpleasant. Whilst he doesn’t laugh, you can see the amusement held in the subtle quirking of his lips. You think for a moment that you should tell him your sneezes are the pinnacle of masculinity – ladies dig a huge, manly sneeze. You choose instead to sigh, practically deflating as any will to remain poised upright seeps out of you. You know he’s right. The filthy sheets of your bed beckon to you.

You agree with him and turn heel to your own room. He looks pleased – perhaps a little relieved. How disastrous did he think the interaction would have gone, had you proceeded? He turns to face you as you stand outside your respective doors.

“Don’t worry, detective. I will wake you up in a couple of hours, and we can resume our investigation. There is no point in making yourself ill.”

You nod. You are both about to enter your rooms when you feel it again. The tickle. It is persistent and increasingly difficult to control. You feel a gasp inflating your chest, helpless to do anything other than let the sensation overpower you. There is no time to even lift the handkerchief to your face. You do manage to turn away from the Lieutenant as the sneeze rips through you, baptising your own door with a trembling “aaAAAAEEEEGSHHHHhh!!!” A cloud of spray settles on the wood, droplets of spray shimmering under the harsh lighting. Gross.

“Bless you.”

A blessing. You feel relieved – and slightly giddy. Your stomach flips again. It is likely out of politeness, but the Lieutenant has at least not run for the hills in response to your disgusting display. You start to thank him when – oh, sweet confusion - he interrupts you with another sneeze of his own. He isn’t fast enough to bring a fist to his face this time. You can see every minute twitch of his facial muscles as he suppresses the sneeze through sheer willpower alone.

“Hh’Gnxt!! Huh’NGxtt!!”

The second sneeze follows immediately – his head dips twice in quick succession. That look of desperation suits him just fine, you think. You decide to abandon the thought as quickly as it forms. You are only partially successful in doing so. His hand reaches into the pocket of his trousers – he succeeds in removing the handkerchief in the duration of that second sneeze, you notice in great appreciation. You would never have managed to pull that off.

You watch as he raises the handkerchief before his face for a final sneeze. This one looks more irritable than the ones prior – the expression plastered on his face is openly more agonised than before. He pauses for what is likely only a second longer before the tickle reaches its apex, but that is more than enough time for another thought to cross your mind – one of an entirely salacious nature. You think that the face he is making resembles the sweet agony of another kind of release. You try to unthink it, but it’s too late – you’re absolutely, undeniably thinking it. The second passes. At last, the lieutenant smothers his final sneeze into the waiting folds of the handkerchief. It is considerably louder than before, even with the assistance of the fabric covering.

“hHh’nNGgxtt!!..chu…”

The soft vocal exclamation that rounds off the sneeze sounds weary, like it took a lot out of him. He sniffles briefly into the handkerchief, rubbing at his nose before tucking the cloth back into his pocket. Is it your imagination, or is said appendage starting to look a little reddened from the effort?

“Excuse me.” The Lieutenant mumbles, sounding uncomfortable. Embarrassed, perhaps?

You bless him before you remember to bite your tongue. Luckily, he accepts it with a soft “Thank you.” You watch as he removes his glasses and swipes at a stray tear rolling down his cheek. He replaces them just as quickly, giving you hardly any time to take in the sight of him without the thick frames. It is for a brief moment only, but the word ‘vulnerable’ comes to mind.

It dawns on you quite suddenly that he must be sneezing because you have infected him with your disgusting, no good germs. You ask him if this is the case, unable to hold back the shaking guilt as you voice your question-cum-self-abasement. He waves it off immediately.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that, detective, I assure you. I’m fine.” He pauses for a moment, looking hesitant to say more. You say nothing. This awkward silence seems to prompt him to continue.

“Sometimes the power of suggestion is too much for me. When somebody sneezes in my vicinity, I find my body often wanting to do the same. And your sneezes are particularly…” He trails off for a moment, in want of an appropriate term.

Masculine? Sexy? Bad-ass? You go with the first one. He shakes his head gently.

“…Suggestible.” He finishes. You’re not quite sure you catch his drift, but you do recall that he had mentioned something like this before. ‘Dancing makes you dance like sneezing makes you sneeze’. He had said that, in the church – he had been enthusiastic to interject, and then immediately changed the subject. You had had no idea what he had meant at the time – not once had you ever heard anyone say anything even remotely similar. It had been easily forgotten. Until now.

You smirk. You hope it isn’t akin to ‘the expression’, but is happening nonetheless. You cannot help it. This. Is. Gold.

You manage to hold back from laughing, but what you cannot help is calling him adorable. For the second time that day.

“I’m a 43 year old RCM policeman. I am far from adorable, officer.” He states firmly, almost as if he is chiding you. You do not miss, however, the softness in his eyes and the momentary twitching of his lips into a tiny smile. You do laugh at that. Bad idea. The laugh quickly morphs into a painful, wrenching cough. Whatever light-hearted moment you’d been sharing, you have ruined it. Your throat burns with the effort. God, but you want a drink. And a smoke. Maybe some speed. You finish at last, wiping spittle from your lips with the back of your sleeve.

“Please rest, Harry. I will check up on you soon.”

He casts a final worried glance your way before nodding curtly. You watch as the door clicks shut behind him. After a moment, you make your way into your own room, not even bothering to kick off your shoes as you collapse onto the pile of twisted sheets. Far too tired to think about the past that eludes you, about the case, about any of it, your eyes start to slip shut.

But it is back. The tickle. You have no means of fighting it, and you’re not sure you want to. You sneeze, smothering it into your sheets at the last second.

“HHHRRMMMPPPSHHHh!!!”

You peer cautiously at the sheets. You have left a considerably large damp patch on the section that covered your mouth and nose. Gross – that should be your middle name. You feel disgusting, but before you can begin another spiral of self-deprecation the exhaustion overwhelms you entirely. A final thought passes through your mind as you surrender to it. Did the Lieutenant hear you?

Next door, settling into the chair at his desk, Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi tenses at the sound of your sneeze. It was loud enough to be heard not only the next room over – indeed, anyone on the second floor may have been startled by it. His breath hitches, once, twice, before he is tipping forward into his gloved hands, steepled around his face. Depleted of energy from the prior onslaughts, he is unable to hold them back at all.

“-hh! Hck’tshuu! Hupt’Tshhht!! ‘TSCHH’uu!! hm...”

He glances in unmasked irritation at the damp speckling of moisture now adorning the palms of his gloves.

“Merde!” He grumbles under his breath. The Lieutenant pulls the gloves from his hands, pausing to scrub at his itchy nostrils with his knuckles for one indulgent moment, before resuming the paperwork he had failed to complete the night before. He hopes, for both your own sake and his, that once he wakes you your sneezing spell will have passed – due to a temporary chill and nothing more. Neither of you have the time for this absurdity. He sniffles once more and begins to write.

[blueberry-lavender]

omg hi! may i request grusha x reader hcs? maybe something where the reader tries taking cute couple selfies/pictures with him and he acts like he hates it but later has one of those pictures as his phone wallpaper :( <3

Grusha x Reader - Lock Screen

A/N - Thank you for the request Anon! He's so pretty. Enjoy!

Info: light arguing, fluff, established relationship, gender-neutral reader, heart-wrenching emotions

---

❄"Stay still!" You laughed at your partner.

❄You two were out on one of the many snowy slopes in the city. Grusha had been excited for the past two days to hike up it with his snowboard and spend that time with you.

❄Even though his injury made him retire, he can still do easy slopes. Not many tricks, just going down.

❄Grusha is a bit of a tsundere show-off, so he'd already be salty over the fact he can't go all out like he used to.

❄You knew this, it's part of what makes him so loveable. Still, even when he's being a brat, there are some moments you wanna capture

❄While hiking up the trail, you two were laughing more often than normal, being silly.

❄So, you pulled out your phone and started sneakily recording. You could've sworn he saw, so you just continued to take videos when something funny happened.

❄You guys got to the top, and no one was on that particular slope that afternoon. Grusha had gone up and down the unofficial snowboarding hill several times per hour, while you only went like... twice maybe lol

❄It was more fun to sit on the top and play with your pokemon and make lunch than it was to freeze down a hill at 20mph and then hike all the way up again because there isn't a ski lift at every hill in the outskirts of town.

❄Still, it was getting later, the sun had maybe a half-hour left. Now is when you thought it would be nice to take a photo with him being fully aware about it.

❄There was a space next to him, and he was facing the warm glow of the sunset. You kind of ran and slid next to him, making him laugh at you.

❄"Woah, chill! Goin' a little fast there, huh?"

❄"Yeah, well, I kinda like being next to you. Now, come here!" You pulled him over to you and already had your phone on the camera.

❄(Well, his phone, because it was the one that wasn't dead lmao)

❄The glow of the sun made you two look absolutely stunning, especially him. You took 2 pictures quickly, and then he started being snappy.

❄"Ugh. Why are you doing this?" he started pulling away.

❄"Because!" you turned your head quickly towards him, "I think it's cute! Come on, please?"

❄He kept growling and groaning under his breath, but you kept taking selfies with him. The last one, you turned your head and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

❄You both then packed up and went home; him teasing you the whole way down.

❄A couple weeks had passed, and you were walking around his house absent-mindedly. You then had a question on what the odds of finding a shiny were because let's be honest, only psychos know that number off the top of their head. its me im the psycho

❄You found his phone before yours, and you knew he didn't mind, so you turned it on. While hitting the power button on his phone, a familiar image popped up.

❄The last one you took together when you went snowboarding.

❄You were touched by this, almost crying. But then you remembered how snide he was about the photos and decided to go tease him.

❄"Hey? Grusha?" You stood in his doorway while looking at his phone like you had never seen it before

❄"Hmm?" He looked up at you from his bed, unaware.

❄"What's this?" You walked up to him, sitting on the edge and holding his phone in front of his face.

❄"...My lock screen." he was quiet.

❄"Mhm. What's on your lock screen?"

❄"A beautiful photo of my gorgeous partner that I'm so lucky to be with and who I love very much." he responded without skipping a beat, looking into your eyes as he said it.

❄I guess it's true that fiery emotions lie underneath an icy shell. <3

[bentosandbox]

I think that majority of players don’t even know that chen is one of the main character in game that it’s sad. I see a lot of people complaining about her appearing in stories after reunion arc even though her screen time is already a lot less than amiya and kaltsit… I think yj already forgot about the main characters concept lmao but her getting new outfit at different region is cool i guess but why are those outfits so weird- (sorry this is just my personally ranting…

true! before I go on my own ramble everyone else can scroll down to the bottom for (unconfirmed??) ten thousand mountains lore/trivia

i have a feeling this image is somehow related to your ask LMFAO...

actually... have they mentioned the whole 'kaltsit = past, chen = present, and amiya = future' thing outside of CN or did i dream this i feel like they said it somewhere...i can kind of see how people would think amiya is the only protag seeing as there are people who unironically think the doc is the (sole/main) protag and chen/kal acting so antagonistic early on probably didnt help lol

2. yea its sad but as always if chen has 1 morbillion fans i am one of them if she has one im that 1 fan etc drinking their salty tears 🫡🫡🫡

3. uhhh went on a little costume design ramble sorry. my outfits copium is basically telling myself she's really getting the 'dad who does not really understand fashion buying(designing) clothes for child' treatment anime-style (like what can i say other than point to the night and day difference of dossoles chummer e2 fit vs the ice cream collab fit)

i have my personal nitpicks for every outfit but (looks at gavial2 summer skin) a 8.8 is so much better than a...nvm i'll refrain from grading. but for all the nits i pick i think they still pass the baseline of costume design because of the storytelling they do

base chen: cop who likes to yolo a bit too much, leave that one button undone so roll up her sleeves, give her gloves, give her a walkie talkie/earpiece etc, e2 makes that jacket even bigger and has that yummy rhodes teal

CNY skin: still of the opinion/hc that its the dress fumizuki mentioned which is why she looks like shes wearing it grudgingly, it has shorts though at least !!

chummer: shes (trying to be) on a holungday so bring back her epic tourist c cap and make her existing recognizable jacket more summer-y, also the duck heart emoji

victorian arc: cop sideclass(?) to sheriff detective or something, embracing her cringe but free era by leaving her collars up now has the sense to tuck in her shirt and wear actual pants, better coverage against the elements etc etc thank terra nevermind the fact theyre so tight fitting this is just like khr also she looks flatter in the animated PV smile i'm reminded of a wb comment that went sth like 'why are you dressing like this when youre already 30' on this fit and shes not explicitly 30 etc etc but i really like the 'chuuni(cringe but free) at 30' vibe

yumen: passing-by traveler with the cape!!! 👍👍👍👍👍👍 i really like how it looks in the cg lol with the thinner/darker stripes on the outside, ngl no fucking idea what that green box is but i appreciate chen still having a little green and yellow on her outfit, the shortness of the dress? bothered me at first but ive come to the terms that chen is a shorts enjoyer so

10k mountains: youxia-core with the hat and cape👍👍👍👍👍👍 and keeps the plastic part from chummer jacket as well as the checkers (i think they were zips but you know, the black and white alternating…lol remember how her current thing is supposedly dealing with the reality of being grey or whatever as little sense as that makes. we are in full hc territory here but its so much better than adding another 20 belts) the heels dont exist to me though

like idk it's not even a high bar honestly just nail down the role/silhouettes first before adding your morbillion belts/fanservice 😭 looking at a certain bunch of characters anyway this is why swire has the best track record for outfits 1/? ill stop here before i start tambling about her summer drip

anyway everyone should look at this Canon(as in camera brand not the other meaning) ad ft. real cormorant im convinced they got the designs from HG early because they dropped a photoshoot ~bout a week after the 4anni livestream and they got the 2hu-style sleeves right that you can never see unless you look at the sprite sheet, uh

wait what's this on the back

oh its from a poem wait whys that so famili

just going to link some translations/explainers of the poem i think but you can also look up '涼州詞 王之渙 + english translation' or something for more there's quite a few

[helpmyinterestsareverywhere]

I am fucking ecstatic over the ace attorney announcement. its a re-release of 2 spin off games, with one of them being PORTED TO ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! once its released, every ace attorney game (excluding the crossovers) will have modern re-releases and be in english, so HOPEFULLY it means they're working on ace attorney 7!!!! (it's been like 9 years since a new mainline ace attorney game, and 7 years since any new game includ. spinoffs)

I am really sad about tomodachi life though, I love it and I still play it on my 3ds!! (I've had the same one since like 2015 it still works lol) I wish they'd make a new one, hopefully with gay people, more gender options and customisations, but keep the glitter room I love it

SKSKSKSK HEY YOU!! I knew you'd be ecstatic for the Ace Attorney games :3

It's SO cool that you finally get ALL the games though!! That's really exciting & I hope you eat them up!! I'm honestly kinda intrigued about Ace Attorney as a whole (I've played the first case/like half-way through the second one from the first game of the Phoniex Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy,,, so really not that much LMAO) and I kinda want to keep going but I keep forgetting :3 BUT the news about these re-releases has gotten me interested again and I may continue. Honestly I DO hope they make another new game for you guys - being a lawyer is a fun concept for a game and maaaaaybe it'll keep pushing me to get through them

...I'm so devastated about the no Tomodachi Life 😔 (/jk im totally fine about it I swear) - I lost my original game bc my old 2DS (yes I was one of those) broke FOREVER ago and I brought a Switch rather than another DS so I had to give my games away </3 BUT I semi-recently brought a 3DS and modded it & got Tomodachi Life back so I guess I'll keep playing that one - I'm just a LITTLE salty becuase they ported Miitopia?? (which do NOT get me wrong I LOVE that game I completed the 3DS one in like a day or 2 after I got it) and gave us SO much new customizable abilities that would be Perfect for Tomodachi Life and then they just continue to deny us :( *SIGH* Oh Well 😔

(I will say it IS kinda funny that they were like "yeah we'll let you be gay in the next Tomodachi Life" and then just,,, never made one LMAO)

[selfindulgentsillinessbracket]

A Huge Update Post!!!!!!

Hi everyone, @thattoastygecko (your moderator) here. It is me.

This bracket has been quiet recently but now it is time to resume it. But I have a buncha changes to make bc let's face it, this bracket? It's an unorganized mess lmao

Congrats to our last winners!

Also I was thinking of going back to doing 2 groups of contestants at a time again, y'know 8 votes at once. Because let's face it this bracket is huge & honestly some of the entrants I kiiiind of wish I didn't put in.

Example of what I mean: Hanamusa. Don't get me wrong I love that ship, they've brought me so much comfort. But honestly they got like 600 votes. & Something about seeing them bring in THAT MUCH ATTENTION but none of the other polls got anywhere close to that kind of attention & knowing they'll probably just completely sweep the entire thing makes me think putting them in was not a great move. If only because it's gonna be super unfair & also makes me a bit sad that none of the other parts of the bracket are gonna get that much attention. I SWEAR IF I EVER TOOK THEM OUT IT'S NOT BECAUSE I HATE THEM IM HAPPY IF THEY WIN ITS JUST

seeing the rest of the poll get ignored so hard in comparison just makes me sad bc i feel like it means i did a crummy job on the rest of the tournament when it doesnt involve them, it's entirely my fault & just how my brain is, so pls understand that

But ultimately I am gonna avoid doing this, because I also don't wanna remove anyone. I mean if any character is in this poll, its because they damn well earned the right to be in this poll. They all mean something to me even if its just very very barebones like "they look cool"

I mean I put my own OCs in this fucking poll ffs & I know all of those guys are probably gonna lose. I love Oddworld but that series is obscure & I know they won't win.

LOOK AT POOR BLINX. I LOVE BLINX BUT LETS FACE IT YOU GUYS PROBABLY DONT KNOW WHO THIS IS & HES PROBABLY NOT GONNA WIN THIS NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANT HIM TO.

Please pray for this poor cat guys, he's gonna need it. Because he's struggled to get the love he damn well deserves & by god I want him to win at least one match on this poll. He deserves at least that much.

I'm gonna try to not remove them tho bc I would feel bad if I did too, bc it's my fault for not realizing how immediatley biased this site is gonna be in their favor. I think it's just on me for not thinking that through, but I promise you guys

I PROMISE YOU AINT GONNA BE LIKE THE MODERATOR FOR THAT SAPPHIC SHIPS BRACKET THAT CANCELLED THE WHOLE THING BECAUSE THEY WERE WINNING & THEY WERE IDK SALTY OR WHATEVER???? LIKE OK BRO BUT IF YOU DIDNT WANT THEM TO WIN YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE PUTTING THEM IN BUT IM AT LEAST ADMITTING ITS MY FAULT FOR PUTTING THEM IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE KNOWING HOW BIASED IT WAS GONNA BE GIVEN ALL THE CONTEXT BEHIND WHAT THE SHIP WAS BUILT WITH. Aka being kickstarted by a well known popular storyboard artist with a big following & being yknow on here of all sites and etc. Like yeah it's gonna instantly be a landslide in their favor to some degree. It's like putting Rise Donatello in this bracket & being angry when he is gonna start sweeping too. Because we all know Donnie is gonna be winning several rounds at least. I know he will. & I love Rise Donnie so I'm okay with it. Donnie Nation strong. I AINT GONNA BE A BITCH LIKE THAT OTHER POLL THO NO MATTER WHAT. Like No I aint gonna cancel the whole bracket over them, if Delia & Jessie win? Fuck it I mean I put them here I knew it was gonna end up this way the second they were in the limelight. But no matter what happens I ain't gonna disqualify them for existing. I guess it's more just the fact that they got so much more attention & I cvan't help but put myself down for it.

I just kinda wanted to vent about it a bit because I was being overly mean to myself & I know it's just my brain being a jerk. So I'm gonna keep my spirits up

Also I mean heck the attention picked up a bit. Rayman fans apparently felt seen in my statements so thanks rayman nation for that. I too am salty about ubisofts treatment. Speaking of:

Thanks to your votes: MURFY IS BEING PUT IN THE BRACKET!!!

AND THANKS TO ANOTHER BONUS

MIKU IS BACK!! & After discussing it with some friends in group chats, they told me I should team her up with one of my OCs. So I went with my MAIN OC ZOEY!!

Speaking of Zoey:

1. My blog @thornsboroughcomic is a thing Zoey is the protag also thanks for voting her it means a lot to me I cried a few times ngl

2

ZOEY GOT A FULL REDESIGN A BIT AGO: Behold Zoey's current design. :]

And now Hatsune Miku has been brought back from elimination after you guys voted her to come back!! And Zoey is a huge Miku stan so she's very excited to team up with her.

And while I'm here: I'm gonna reveal to you guys some of the new contestants entering the bracket!!

I might also consider bringing back more old contestants who got eliminated via voting & maybe I'll start having team ups happen periodically that you guys vote on. I want this bracket to be just, I'm gonna embrace what a total mess it is. It's unorganized, chaotic & nonsensical & I think we just gotta embrace the pure chaos of it all. So that's what we're gonna do!!

A FEW OF THE MANY NEW CONTESTANTS COMING IN!!

[34saveme34]

Hi, I just want to say... holy shit

Like. I stared into space for a bit after reading that bc that was one of if not the best smg4 fic I've ever read /gen

Anti meme energy?? The Godbox??? WHAT

HOW are you bringing those into this /positive

also maybe im just incredibly aro but I did just instinctiually interpret the marware as platonic lmao-

I uh. I do have one tiny nitpick if thats okay. I won't say it if you don't want me to, and it didn't affect my overall experience reading that literal masterpiece, but yeah there's one thing I thought of near the beginning that 3 and 4 just. Didn't I guess-

- ♟

Sure, do tell! Thanks for asking first though

also not that surprised, I kinda have a thing going with 4 where I write him just a little more like- he processes things slower than 3, to me

though you might've thought about something even I didn't think about JKHDKLJHD

considering like. There's SO much in this and I'm still salty I didn't manage to put in certain things enough but also if I just kept trying to perfect it, it maybe wouldn't have even left my hands

also on the marware, I very much wrote it with both on mind

no like, incredible reason, I do just love both platonic and romantic marware JKKLDJDL

so you're totally valid

thanks for liking the fic otherwise though!

if you want, I could even list everything I was foreshadowing since you did mention liking it and there's QUITE a bit in this. I wonder how many are obvious

[waywardsalt]

the oracle of seasons manga is also a step up from the oot manga, but not as good as four swords. it’s... average? granted i never played oracle of seasons (or ages) and it’s not bad but it’s not great, either. it doesn’t really do anything wrong but as far as i can tell nothing they do or add to the story is all that great. the only exception is the stuff with link joining the performers; that was actually an interesting section of the manga.

[merlions]

Ok so Can I Just Ask rhetorically into the air (unless someone has an answer lol I would not say no if anyone offers insight here, im just not specifically asking for it cause i dont know for sure an answer even exists i guess) but when everyone tells u to "feel your feelings" likeee....then what?

Like I keep getting the advice esp in recovery that I gotta "feel my feelings" and "recognize your feelings" but then when I'm like ok. Im doing it. I'm having a panic attack and throwing up from guilt and shame. What do I do about that. And they're like "oh no just feel them!!!"

(Also "shame is bad but guilt is constructive" OKAY. SO JUST feel DIFFERENT feelings? Than the ones I have. Hrrrghhh)

Like I feel like I missed some regular human memo here like there's supposed to be something I Know what to do but I don't know what it is.

Tbh it's the same feeling I get when people keep telling me to like believe in spirituality things or else I won't be able to stay sober. I keep being like so...how do I do that? Like how does it matter to me if there's a god, if also there's literally no guarantee that god won't do something terrible for some "greater purpose" and i cant change that? Like you want me to feel safety from that? All this bad stuff was planned by someone? How does that make it feel less bad? (What sort of sicko- )(sorry lmao I didn't realize I had anger issues w god til I was told I have to actually believe in one)

I keep asking people to describe to me what exactly it means to believe in something spiritual, to them, as if I am a human being who was born blind and never seen color, and they need to describe why some colors are "happy". Or like i'm an alien who has never eaten food and you gotta explain how something can taste "salty". I know that's not the best metaphor and is kinda appropriative of other disabilities that I don't have, but I just mean like can someone try to get SORT OF creative with trying to put this in context for me??? Cause just saying "just do it!!" absolutely does nothing for me! It doesn't make sense. Teaching a human being how to fly by saying "just move your body through the air to where you want to go". Honey. I do not know how. And I cannot learn how via this method. It is not going to work no matter how many times you say it. You are going to have to try something else.

Anyways some shit happened that's ultimately fine and I know WHY I'm having bad feelings and it's not a resolvable situation really, the thing has happened and it can't un-happen, and like I know I'm getting angry cause I'm embarrassed and upset w myself, and that they're not at fault and ultimately it is really truly for the best and actually makes my life better in the long run and I was nice about it and so were they. But like...I'm still angry and sad and embarrassed. Knowing why I feel bad doesn't make me not feel bad, it just makes me angrier with myself for not being able to control it.

And I don't want to feel it cause it hurts and there's nothing I know how to do about that besides drink. Which I am not gonna do, to be clear, but I think is understandable in a recovery space, that we are all alcoholics cause we never learned to deal w feelings any other way. All the advice from my counselor and sponsor and everyone these past 9 months of recovery has mostly just been "try to identify your feelings and feel them". Like I do literally nothing but hyperfixate and ruminate on feelings if im not numbing them and trauma splitting...if I'm not supposed to numb them out I'm Just Going To Need A Bit More Information. Yknow?

[juniperhillpatient]

despite a few things im blah about with the netflix LA and still more excited about it that that avatar studios and im a kataang fan so i should be happy right? but no i got such low faith in bryan/mike after lok it felt they just didnt understand their own characters .. im in the mostly neutral camp about em no hate/deep love but their choices in LOK baffle me to this day ..

I haven’t watched LoK but anyone who follows me or has talked to me probably knows my “there are no comics on Rose’s blog” rule so yeah I have simillar mixed feelings on the og creators 🥲 I still love the original show with my entire heart. I know I’ve been pretty critical this rewatch around but I’ve done more thoughtful analysis with a more positive spin in the past so right now I’m doing a lot of “hey that sucks” live posting lol

I was initially more hopeful about the live action than I am now but some of the stuff I’ve seen about it…. Mm. 😬 We’ll see I guess!

Preparing for the LA was my original reason for my rewatch & I wasn’t sure I’d do it in time & here we are I’m getting ready to start the last episode either now or tomorrow but… I’m not even sure I still want to watch the LA 💀 I just got too salty about certain things even reading quotes about it & seeing trailers & I know myself I get sooo unnecessarily worked up sometimes about my characters & it’s not always a good look lmao sooo maybe I should… not watch. Idk. Can’t decide.

I’m glad you’re feeling optimistic though! I hope it turns out decent…. Or at least mediocre maybe?

For me personally the original ATLA will always be a beloved classic ❤️ Not above reproach certainly but just absolutely a beautiful story with amazing animation. Nothing can ever change that for me.

[threehuskiesinatrenchcoat]

I’m going to guess that all the others are also cars 141, Valeria, and Rudy like they somehow did developed personalities but what I like most about this idea is that when Alejandro and Valeria first meet he gets a bad feeling for her and him telling grave that something’s wrong about her and that he should stay away but graves doesn’t care and becomes friends with her and now ale has to deal with her and sometimes Valeria would just fuck with Alejandro and just steal graves from him and graves would be in on it and Alejandro would be mad as hell at them both because he had to look EVERYWHERE just for him to be at like a fucking mall with the hologram version of her or eating at a Denny’s 💀💀💀

lmao val being ale's ex friend who switched sides later in the war and he's super salty about it but she's one of those who actually have their own agenda and use their faction as a way to pursue it and she just vibed with the freedom to do her own illegal shit without anyone caring. so she's pretty chill and doesn't really care about the war as long as no one messes with her. and ale is very against graves hanging out with her but what can he do. so he and val just yell at each other whenever they meet and graves sips on his coffee listening to them like it's a reality show

i was thinking 141 is just regular humans who end up working with them at some point maybe about the alien threat too. graves gets assigned too because he's been trying to get to work on that case forever. ale tags along as a shadow company soldier. and maybe that's when they meet rudy who turns out to be ale's long time friend who he wasn't even sure was on earth. then at some point the reveal happens and ghost finally gets answers as to why ale can successfully catch him off guard 100% of the time (if you read that hc post you know what im talking about). im kinda brainstorming rn lol.

also graves trying to hold himself back from disproving their assumptions about the aliens because he can't let them know he knows more than he lets on but it's so HARD especially if they unknowingly talk shit

[seerofmike]

1, 4, 9, and 13 from the Salty Ask List

im assuming this is for apex

1.) What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

ok so there's a lot of ships i hate for an active reason but as for a ship i simply do not get. revenant x ash. like they're both simulacrums i guess. is that it?

i guess i just don't get the specific way REDDIT likes revenant x ash. they seem to think that ash would be all tsundere for him like im sorry are we talking about the same character

4.) Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

i hate several ships but i'll just list the 3 i hate the most. life//tane, crypt//age and crypt//son. the straightie ships are like moderately popular for straightie ships ig but crypt//age is everywhere and its like. they're like that one post about straight women's first gay ship LMAO

9.) Most disliked character(s)? Why?

rev and caustic r obvious answers so i'll name 3 others. Fuse because he's boring and obnoxious and kinda contributes nothing except being BH's love interest and the reason Maggie joins. like i feel like you could cut Fuse out of apex entirely and with minimal rewrites everything still functions the same. He just feels really irrelevent. tbh i didn't hate him until the past few seaons when Fuse/hound started really ramping up and I couldn't escape seeing him which just made me more annoyed every time I saw him. overexposure ig

hate mirage cuz he hogs so much screentime and has like 3 character traits the writers bring up over and over without doing anything new so people can go AUGGH MIRAGE SADDEST CHARACTER EVER 🥺🥺🥺 and yall somehow fall for it when its the same piece of info literally every time. like how many times do they need to remind you evelyn has dementia. give him a storyline already. "Mirage sad because mom forget" is not a character arc yall have been doing this for like 12 seasons now come up with something new

then finally. Wattson. i have written several posts about her so im gonna be short but she's SOOO terribly written and such a shit person which like, i LOVE me some terrible petty bitches like loba. but loba being a terrible petty bitch feels like its on purpose and wattson being a terrible petty bitch is on accident and the writers bend over backwards to make her the cute uwu do no wrong girl all the time and it's SO exhausting like let her have character flaws and maybe have someone acknowledge she's made mistakes???? 😭

edit: crypto!! 13.) unpopular opinion about he.

i have two: 1. he is kind of jacked under that jacket. he is not a twink. he has muscles. not like fuse or gibraltar, and he doesn't have shredded abs like seer and octane, but he's built after years of working out and when he wears a tight t-shirt, you can See. Percieve Them. and 2. he has ADHD (and a paranoia disorder).

i know the more popular hc for him is autistic which is VALID but i personally read him more as ADHD who developed a paranoia disorder due to his circumstances and both of those things combined are why he's so fidgety and messes around with his jacket and puzzle cube a lot

[chameleon-on-lsd]

Polizeiruf 110 (Monstermutter) liveblogging

is it a bad idea to watch the show backwards? maybe lmao that was the lamest bank robbery ever mh ja, noch n paar lutscher is wichtig xD haha ja oke, war wirklich wichtig ach das is seine partnerin ne hm handschuhfach-apfel xD WIKTOR! ja DER adam wirkt etwa so zerzaust und wie Hildes Erbe adam. aber was war da zwischendrin dass er happy sein durfte "was in den akten gesucht, sherlock" lmao salty much adam wolle :D lmao the fucking berliner ish dialect nach 5 jahren immer noch siezen ist auch... Deutsch I guess is ja nich ihr chef lmao kind ist aggro pulli!adam :3 ich mag ja so dass man dann sein kettchen sieht lmao 'du chillst jetzt mal. und das draussen!' xD d'aw manbun guy wasn hässlicher blazer lmao der typ im tanktop. schön verschoben wies halt so is wenn man im tanktop pennt xD "heute abend" einfach mal n ganzen tag n fremdes auto auslehnen. ne alter xD is ne hässliche karre, ja lmao adam. einfach mal fett beleidigend gegenüber der mutter der verdächtigen xD ...dundunduun that's the guys car lenski, drück ihn halt nicht weg isses SIE die stirbt? (stirbt nicht einer adam's kolleginnen? kommt davon wenn man ne show erst durch fancontent erlebt xD) der lame kampf mit der krassen musik dazu xD 'das mit der tussi vom jugendamt' xD who the FUCK has their child on the answering machine lmao 'und LILY :D' xD mh wär das jetzt ne gute idee ihr zu sagen, dass du auch ne tochter hast? oder so das gegenteil? yep the concern is here, she's olga now but then it's even weirder that adam is so happy with luschke??? ah here we go with the daugther chat ja mal pissen muss halt sein xDD lol bist du kacken? xDDD lol und jetzt so labern, als wär das voll nicht aufgefallen lmao dass sie sich jetzt vorstellt xDDD immer schön freundlich bleiben beim entführen ja geIL alter handschuhfach apfel lol wie lou das ding auch zukickt wie alma xD selbst ist die frau ne 'maus' ist halt schon süsser kosename .........you slapped her to death? 'keine scheiss fotze als mutter' ja SCHWIERIG xD jaja, der papa der nichts von dir will xD 'den oberbullen' xD lmao was ne versiffte familie xD indiskutabel, schönes wort ???? was wird das hat lou die bullen nicht gesehen???? wie?? :o SEK :D ja geil dklasödlksaldkasls dAMN shoutout to statisten SEK die kleine is schon ne maus adam am stress kaugummi kauen xD danke fürs schmactzen xD das heftige atmen war nicht schlimm genug welp hey but she lives, which I didn't think^^ whew that just triggered tears adm ;-; wie er den leeren platz anstarrt awwww wiktor's lächeln afjdsajklakjladsjladsjlfadjldffdjkldfjkl DAS BILD wiktOR BABY