#it's mostly weird because it has indeed been quite some time

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Every once in a while I'm like. Well I should play Inquisition again. Prepare myself for dragon age dreadwolf (which doesn't exist and is never coming out). I barely remember what Solas' deal was shouldn't I refresh. Etc. Well that's the devil talking.

[abiiors]

under the cherry blossoms - george x reader ˖𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒✧💌˚.⋆🌿

a/n: this isn't intentionally a george birthday fic but i'm honestly very happy with the coincidence. happy birthday to my sweetie pumpkin pie sugar plum fairy boy 🤭🤍 cw: brief mentions of being sick, like vomit etc. and a lot of sappy fluff, some smut but not very detailed and explicit. this is sooooooo cheesy ugh wc: 3.3k

it’s hits him first when he surprises her with the tickets as a christmas present—tickets to japan for the coming spring. tickets to see the cherry blossoms that she’s been dying to see ever since george showed her a few photos of him and the band in japan, laughing under the cherry blossoms, surrounded by pink petals. 

her eyes go round at the sight of the tickets, lingering on the destination again and again until her brain catches up with exactly what’s happening. then she grins so wide that she can’t quite keep her eyes open and tackles george into a hug until he’s on the floor and she’s on top of him, kissing his whole face and mumbling thank you over and over again. 

george hugs her tightly and laughs at her excitement. 

it hits him then—he should buy a ring. 

for weeks he pesters matty about it, then ross, then adam. adam, naturally, seems to have the most credibility on this matter, he’s the only one of them who’s ever made it to the marriage stage. george has a million and one questions about it, and a million and one anxious thoughts that just won’t seem to go away. 

“what if she hates the ring!” 

“she loves you, she’ll love the ring you get her.”

“yeah but what if i blow it and say all the wrong things?!”

“have you ever done that in the past?”

“uh… no.”

and this is where adam’s patience runs thin. 

ultimately, george is told to calm down, breathe, and pick a ring he thinks she’ll like. george knows her like the back of his own hand—knows her likes and dislikes and pet peeves, knows the weird ribena flavours she prefers. he even knows that she is a little superstitious about broken mirrors and spilt salt but gets huffy when it’s brought up (mostly by george in a fond, teasing way)

suffice it to say, george knows her. inside and out. 

and so decides to get his shit together, and get her the most perfect ring he’s ever seen.

ring tucked safely in george’s suitcase, they land in tokyo three days before his birthday. 

now that he’s over all his nervousness, george can’t contain the fucking excitement he’s felt for the past few weeks—it’s been an almost impossible task to keep the ring hidden from her at home. the sock drawer is out of question, along with every other tiny nook and cranny in the house because george knows how thorough she gets about spring cleaning. he has to resort to handing the ring to adam for safe-keeping. 

and sure it’s mostly so she won’t find it by accident, but also because he doesn’t want to give into the intimacy of the moment and propose on a whim. 

he wants it to be grand—champagne and candles and roses (or well… cherry blossoms). he wants it to be memorable. 

they get the hotel check-in sorted—well george does anyway while she bounces on the balls of her feet next to him, too excited to care about any tiredness or jet lag. 

it’s blissful, it’s perfect—that’s how he’d describe the first two days they spend there. so far it’s been exactly what he wanted—relaxing and exciting. the ring burns a hole in his suitcase though. every time he grabs something from it, he can’t resist swiping his fingers over the velvet box stashed in the corner, almost like his brain is trying to confirm over and over again that the ring is indeed there. 

at night when she goes to bed, george rehearses his speech in his head. 

you’re the love of my life… no! too fucking cheesy, and he’s stating the obvious.

i’ve thought of marrying you for… no! he can’t bring it up in the first fucking line, not before he actually pops the question. that’s meant to be for the after. 

i love you, i love everything about you… yes, okay, yes! now he’s going somewhere. that’s what he should do—keep it sweet and simple and real. keep it genuine. and so he repeats all of it in his head over and over again, smiling wide each time when he imagines her reaction. 

his mind’s come up with a thousand different scenarios—outcomes of all the little details. would she cry? (yes) would she squeal and jump? (also yes)

would she say yes? (he really fucking hopes so)

his actual birthday is out of the question. george knows she’s a firm believer in not proposing on other special occasions—so no christmas, no birthdays, and absolutely not someone else’s wedding. 

besides, he just wants to have a good birthday without being all nervous and jittery about it. 

on the day of, he wakes up to balloons. tonnes of them. he doesn’t even know when she’s had the time to blow them all up and arrange them in the room and order room service breakfast in bed with cherry blossoms in a small vase but george feels warmth spread through his whole body. 

how did he get so lucky? 

“happy birthday!” she squeals the moment she realises he’s awake. her excitement is palpable, her huge smile infectious. george pulls her tightly into his arms and kisses her softly. 

he mumbles a quiet thank you too, murmured against her lips so he won’t have to pull away a lot. 

she’s the one who deepens the kiss, dragging her tongue over his lip and nipping at it until his fingers dig into her hips out of sheer desperation. she fits so perfectly against him, like the last piece of a puzzle. made just for him. 

she groans into the kiss and his hand travels down, grabbing and squeezing her ass until she wraps her legs around his waist and gets on top. all traces of sleep leave him in an instant. 

george sits up as much as he can. his kisses turn feverish as his lips move along the hollow of her throat, her collarbone. 

“my sweet, sunshine girl,” he smiles along her skin, words spoken in a low whisper that make her shiver and squeeze her legs around him. 

his mouth travels lower, ghostly kisses trailed to as much of her cleavage as her top offers. 

“george,” her fingers tighten on his shirt, “please, i need—fuck, need you.”

“anything for my girl,” he whispers.

everything about her amazes him—from the way she knows his body so well, to the way hers responds so perfectly to his touch. he can’t help but stare at her with adoration when he slides down on his cock, taking him inch by inch, face contorted in pleasure. he can’t stop staring at her when she falls apart, crying out his name. he only closes his eyes when his orgasm hits him, making his whole body tingle in pleasure. 

she falls on his chest after, body sweaty and slick and stays there until she manages to catch her breath. even when she climbs off him, she doesn’t venture too far, climbing back into bed and cuddling into his side once she gets some water for the both of them. 

“cancel plans for today? please?” he mumbles into her hair and she laughs. 

“we’re here, all the way on a different continent, and you want to spend the whole day in bed?” 

“please?” he tries his best at using puppy eyes on her, a trick that’s worked great for him multiple times before. and once again, she relents. 

“fineee birthday boy! only because it’s your day though.”

at the back of his head he kinda wishes it wasn’t, only so he could get the ring out right now and ask her. right here in this bed while she’s naked. 

he imagine what she’d look like with nothing but the ring on, the diamond glittering on her finger, messy hair, and a happy smile on her face. 

“can we at least have a birthday dinner for you? a proper one.”

“yes! i know just the right place,” he answers and kisses her deeply, teeth snagging on her lower lip until she’s wrapped around him again. 

tomorrow, he thinks. he’s going to do it tomorrow. 

and he’s going to make it perfect. 

the birthday dinner comes back to bite him in the ass. 

he spends the entirety of the morning after miserable on the bathroom floor, retching into the toilet, even after his stomach is emptier than it’s ever been. she sits behind him, stroking his back and getting him water whenever he needs it. she doesn’t move even when he repeatedly asks her to. 

“‘s disgusting,” followed by another gag to which makes her click her tongue. 

“it’s not. let me take care of you!”

it does bring him some relief to lay his head down on her lap in between rounds of throwing up so george doesn’t argue further about it. 

mostly though he’s upset about the whole day being ruined. he should be kneeling down in front of her! asking her the most important question of his life! and yet here he is, kneeling down in front of the toilet, face to face with disgusting, half-digested food. 

it’s like the universe has it out for him, ruining all his well thought out plans. 

fortunately, it passes an hour later, even though it leaves him feeling icky and disgusting. the only silver lining is that he gets to be pampered. she lets him sit in the bath, face squished into her stomach while she washes his hair for him. he groans every time a stomach cramp hits but she scratches his scalp as a consolation. 

it’s okay, he thinks, he still has a good few days to do it. tomorrow will be better.

and then they fight. 

well, it’s not a fight fight but it’s most certainly a little spat that leaves her all huffy and sour. and george knows it’d be a terrible idea to propose when she’s in a mood like this. it is, in part, his fault after all—he’s been distracted. 

and he can’t even admit to her why he’s been distracted, coordinating all the little details with the hotel staff and telling the old japanese florist exactly what flowers he wants where one party barely speaks english and the other speaks no japanese at all. 

it’s all stressful. it’s a slight mess. 

and he’s been on his phone a little more than he should. so when george looks up to see her, her hand on her hips, foot tapping in annoyance, he knows he’s messed up.

“is there something more important?” there’s a slight bite to her words which grates on him. 

george freezes, trying to think of an excuse on the spot. “just…matty.”

her eyes narrow. he knows that look, knows that she does not believe a word coming out of his mouth right now. but it’s not like he can spill everything. 

“there was a…holdup. sorted now.” he tries not to stutter but ends up sounding really curt. 

she gives him the side-eye, playing with the tassels of her top. george hears her exasperated sigh, her frustration palpable in the tension that hangs between them. “it’s always matty. how convenient.” 

george's jaw tightens, his own irritation flaring up. “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“well, you’re clearly being shady and using matty as an excuse!”

george panics. this is going south and if he doesn’t salvage this now and come up with a better excuse he’s going to end up with an upset girlfriend and absolutely zero chances of a yes. 

he opens and closes his mouth, stuttering out gibberish. 

fuck. 

“it’s fine, george,” she sighs and turns around, walking away without even waiting to see if he’s following. it’s upsetting that he can’t figure out what she’s thinking right now. it’s not like her to be upset with him so quickly. it’s not like her to just stop communicating. 

all george can do is catch up to her and kiss her head in apology. eventually she melts but he can still sense a bit of hurt in her voice every time she speaks. 

“fine,” she huffs, “you can stop looking like a kicked puppy now. i’m not mad at you.”

“you sure about that?”

“i promise, baby. i’m not. just…want a bit more of your attention?”

for the rest of the day he vows not to touch his phone, only taking it out once to cancel all the half-formed planned when he’s in the bathroom of a restaurant. the ring stays in his pocket, burning against his thigh.

by their penultimate day george is fucking sure he’s jinxed. the ring comes with him everywhere they go but then how is it possible that every time he tries to propose something or the other goes wrong? 

they have a hectic day of travelling and she’s too tired to do anything but order room service and sleep or he can’t find the right moment to do it, can’t think of the right words to segue into it. by their penultimate day he’s frustrated, huffy, silently stewing. so much so that even she can tell something’s wrong with him despite his best attempts to hide it. 

“should we…go for a walk?” she suggests just around sunset, a little timid. “there’s this little street by our hotel i saw yesterday, cherry blossoms on both sides. i think it would be nice.”

halfheartedly, he says yes and intertwines his fingers with her as they walk out of their hotel and onto the cosy streets outside. on any other day, this would have been one of the prettiest things he’s ever experienced—strolling down a beautiful street with the love of his life while the world is doused in golden light. but his frustration trumps everything.

“is something wrong?” she asks suddenly. her voice quivers. 

for such a pretty street, it’s utterly empty, devoid of any cars or people or even any occasional stray cats that she loves to stop and pet. 

irritation burns in his chest—not at her, at everything else, this whole trip, one silly situation after the next. “no.”

“no because—”

“can we not talk about this right now?”

she goes quiet at the interruption, eyes wide and confused. george is about to even apologise for it when her whole face changes, goes from confused to determined. 

“no, actually. let’s talk about it.”

“baby—”

“no! you have been distracted the whole time we have been here, something’s clearly wrong and you won’t tell me what it is!”

george gapes at her, but she’s clearly not done yet. 

“i know you’ve been here many times before but it feels like you’ve had a shit time with me—”

“what?! no—”

“because i can tell the whole time, you’ve been preoccupied—”

“oh god, i’ve been trying to propose!” he yells out in the middle of the street. a cherry blossom petal flutters down and smacks him in the face and george looks at his girlfriend’s stunned face. a pit opens up in his stomach. 

he just said that… he just fucking said that. 

the conversation he had with adam months ago pops up in his head. for all the misplaced confidence his friend had in him, george has just gone and blown it all up. exactly what he was worried about. and now that he has started, he can't even stop.

“i’ve been trying to ask you to marry me for days now but something or the other keeps going wrong and i—” he chokes and the rest of the words die on his tongue. 

all the nights he’s spent rehearsing his speech, all the time he spent trying to make it happen, all of it down the drain because he stupidly blurted it out. george stuffs his hand in his pocket and takes out the velvet box. 

“fuck, i’ve carried this everywhere with me and—”

“yes.”

“what?”

there are tears shining in her eyes and for a second he is so sure that this is about to turn into a serious fight. he fucked up, he fucked up deeply. 

and then she breaks out into the most gorgeous smile he’s ever seen, laughing through the tears. “yes. yes! are you kidding me? YES!”

“yes, you’ll…marry me?”

“if you’re still asking…”

he doesn’t even realise he’s crying until something wet hits his nose. there’s an entire storm of emotions in his chest—a whole mixture of nervousness and guilt and glee and oh god so much fucking happiness that he can’t help the wide smile that stretches across his face, can’t help the way a whole swarm of butterflies erupt in his stomach. 

more cherry blossoms flutter down and george laughs along with her. 

“this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. i had a whole thing planned, shit!”

“so do it. ask me!”

and that’s what he does. 

instead of the roses and lights and champagne, george kneels down in the middle of the cherry blossom-covered empty street in the dying light of the sun, and looks up at her. 

he opens the ring box. 

“i love you so much, you have no idea how long i’ve wanted to do this—oi, stop laughing at me!” to which she just laughs harder and wipes away the tears in her eyes. 

“fuck it,” george curses under his breath, “fuck the speech, just…i’ve been so desperate to hear you say yes. marry me? please?”

somehow between crying and jumping up and down in excitement, she manages to nod and that’s all the confirmation he needs to get up to his feet and kiss her deeply, kiss her till the air gets knocked out of his lungs and he has to step away just a little bit to breathe. but nothing and no one can wipe the smile on his face. 

quickly, he takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto her finger. it fits her perfectly, like it was meant for her and her only. 

yes. she just said yes.

she just said yes after the shittiest proposal in the world. how did he get so lucky?

“that was…utterly shit. sorry i’ve been such a shit boyfriend.”

“fiance,” she corrects with a big, goofy grin on her face. “and are you joking?! that was the best proposal ever. certainly the most memorable.”

“it was?”

she nods again, distracted this time, eyes trained at her ring. the fading sunlight makes it look even more perfect.

“i’d really like to hear it though, the original plan.” 

george shakes his head and takes her hand in his. his thumb swipes over her ring, drawing lazy circles around it until he memorises the feel of it on her finger. the precise shape and size of it. it’s perfect, he thinks. the perfect ring for his perfect girl. 

“let’s go back then,” he kisses the top of her head, “and i’ll tell you all about it.”

taglist: @scooby-doodoo, @partoftheairforce, @justgoatsbreakinghearts0855@beachesgetpeaches, @you-muppet, @mcabister, @alexmarie29, @at-her-very-foreign, @hfkait, @squishysoupy @sierraeslaprincesa @harrie-fic-center @alien-girl-violet @thereisaplaceintheheart @kennedy-brooke @lolidontknowanymore @theoriginalwhatsername@celestcies @sugarkane1001 @ari-turner @thewaywewereinsaigon @daphnesutton @beliefandsayingsomething @ros3chu @nothingrevealedeverythingdenied @zzzhealy @mattymybeloved @fck-off @indiaamars @sofaritsalrightt @k4tie75 @wondersecret @humptyhoran @indierockgirrl @hanbiior @moreyoulove-moreyouknow @rossgirly @if-my-heart-bleeds @little-lovely-darling @abriefnirvana @renitypoem @sinarainbows @lady-may-targaryen @love4agesss @angrylittlebaldman @oneluckygirl @sinarainbows @starvchaser @noacfapologyst @abouttofillhisshoes @tbhnotthatfunny

add yourself to the taglist

[ninjaturtlemaniac]

Part 10 Trolls Headcanons/ Theories/ Thoughts/ Ideas

This may be my last headcanons list, my friends. Will still do art and stuff but I am fresh outta ideas.

Part1 Part2 Part3 Part4 Part5 Part6 Part7 Part8 Part9

Enjoy 💕

Sub Tribes - KPop/Reggaeton/Yodelers/Chaz etc. there's not many of them around because they came from overseas.

King Peppy - Didn't tell Poppy about Viva because he was in the early stages of dementia. (Canon?) For a while he thought Poppy WAS Viva. By the time he realised his 'mistake', Poppy was already grown.

Vacay Island - the brothers sometimes help Bruce at his restaurant. They have name tags with funny 'work names'. Flood, Big Fish, Classy, and Big Brunch. Viva and Poppy have done the odd shift as well, as Pinky and Vista. 😝

Brozone - they became world famous, argued and left BEFORE the cage went around the Pop Troll Tree. (Canon?)

Brozone - there was a rumoured 'unfinished' Brozone song that was supposed to be released after that tour. John finally finishes it and the brothers offer to sing it for Poppy's bridal entrance song. Poppy immediately faints. In my head the song is 'Helpless When She Smiles' by The Backstreet Boys

Brozone - whatever the Trolls equivalent of the Superbowl is, I feel like Bruce and JD would be very into it. Jerseys and face paint and everything.

Bruce - cameras make him self-conscious. If he is in a group he can tolerate it but hates being the only one in the photo.

Bruce - has caught his kids trying to do the Brozone dance routines. He tries to stay out of it best he can and let them have their fun but then they ask him to teach them and doesn't he just melt.

Bruce - has a wedding ring but it is Vacationer sized. He keeps it in his hair mostly but will braid it into his hair like an accessory for special occasions.

Bruce - 100% certain Poppy and Branch's first born would be a boy. "We're a family of five brothers! It took Brandy and I thirteen tries to have a daughter. Trust me, I have no doubt your first egg will absolutely be a boy." *They have a girl* Bruce 😑

Floyd - can only sleep comfortably near an open window. Sometimes can only sleep sitting up.

Floyd - will randomly stare off into space or mutter to himself.

Floyd - *clears throat* I ship Floom! 💕🏳️‍🌈

Floyd - can't stick to new hobbies for very long, he hyperfixates for a week or two then gets bored. Macrame, candle making, soap making, jewelry making, photography are some examples.

Clay - his brothers collectively tried to convince him that he was the adopted brother.

Clay - is quite squeamish. The sight of vomit, open wounds and bodily fluids; Clay will absolutely pass out. Snotty babies make him very uncomfortable.

Clay - gets Viva to braid his hair out of his face only when something really serious is happening *cracks neck* "Viva?" "Yah?" "Braid me" "Yes, Sir." Shwoooop

Clay - Found out the Classical Trolls have a library larger the Pop Village. "Viva, they have a whole wing dedicated to tragedies! Tragedies, Viva!"

Clay - okay, so he and Viva have never been a couple, even if he ever considered it, their work came first and he didn't want to jeopardize what they had. Buuuuuuuttt the thought that another Troll could one day be Viva's person, that she would go to them instead of him for comfort or ideas or laughs or safety or hugs... it makes Clay feel... weird.

Clay - at some point is named some kinda Troll magazines most eligible bachelor. Bro was in a boyband, co-runs a society of survivors, runs a business, is close friends with royalty, has been knighted, has a license to practice accounting and was part of the only known Perfect Family Harmony. He's apparently a hot commodity now.

John Dory - takes night classes to finally get his highschool diploma. Is too embarrassed to tell anyone until he graduates.

John Dory - doesn't get sick often. But when he does, he keeps going to the point of exhaustion.

John Dory - has indeed crossed paths with Delta Dawn before. Both of them have very different versions of the story. "I serenaded her." "The fool was whining something from the inside of a jail cell."

John Dory - has been known to sleep with his eyes open. Freaks people out.

John Dory - will drink milk straight from the carton and put it back in the fridge.

John Dory - teaches Bruce's kids all the swear words and does in fact tell them his rendition of where eggs come from.

Viva - tries to hide sadder feelings from Poppy. Worried that Poppy won't want to hang out with her if she isn't fun.

Poppy - sometimes feels guilty, if things had been different, Viva would have been Queen. Viva tries to reassure Poppy that she is "The right Troll for the role." 👍🏻 Also Viva tries to argue that they both technically get be Queens now anyway.

Guy Diamond - Trolls have eggs when they have powerful feelings of love. Guy Diamond was able to have Tiny because he loves himself so much.

[bbanghiitomi]

| lukewarm.

synopsis: you're neither cold nor warm, neither mad nor happy. you don't hate minji, and no — don't get the wrong idea, you definitely love minji even if you tell yourself you don't anymore.

— nonidol!kminji × nonidol!vballplayer!fem!reader

ʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠º⁠ʔʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠º⁠ʔʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠º⁠ʔʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠º⁠ʔʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠ ⁠º⁠ʔʕ⁠ ⁠º⁠ ⁠ᴥ

"nice shirt, i noticed you have a lot of those." yeeun pointed out to minji as the tall girl pulled the hem of her shirt to fix the creases on the fabric. minji laughed and took a seat on the couch inside their friend's living room. "yeah, i do have a lot of these but i can't wear them for now." minji replied, looking down then scratching her nape with a sheepish expression.

"why not?" yeeun asked, leaning on the couch, hanni entered the living room with three cans of soda and placed it on the table. minji looked at hanni then to their classmate. "some of my clothes are still inside y/n's room." hanni laughed, covering her mouth. minji sighed as hanni tapped their classmate's shoulder. "hey, go on drink!" she said, pushing a can on the girl's hands.

"oh, i didn't know you two broke up." yeeun stated, opening the can as the sound of fiz rang inside minji's head, reminding her of the sound y/n's favorite drink makes.

"they did quite a long time ago." hanni piped in, looking at yeeun with the signature look on her face that said "can you believe that?" yeeun nodded but minji rolled her eyes and sighed. "not quite, it's only been two weeks and a half, remember when we presented our research? we've already broken up at that time." minji corrected.

"so it hasn't been that long huh?" yeeun muttered and chugged the drink. hanni shook her head and waved her hand. "well, that has to be at least the longest, because i remember when they broke up and it only lasted for like 2 days." hanni received a chuckle from yeeun and a groan from minji.

"you're so weird hanni." minji scoffed.

"but it's true, right? you act like you're not hoping to make up with her — but she's been ignoring you for days, on repeat." hanni nudged her friend, yeeun shrugged and spoke. "i did hear hiyyih mention that you once broke up with her and then got back up after a few days." yeeun remembered during one recess where hiyyih was talking with friends and mentioned your argument with minji.

minji nodded. "technically, that's true. but it's different now, it's not just a burst of negative emotions, she's serious this time. and i'm starting to think this isn't gonna get better anytime." hanni sighed. "well friend, guess what? it's not gonna be just her being moody, you can't just fix it with a date on a saturday morning."

"i never said i can. i literally saw her shitting on me on her twitter account — she even blocked me on her instagram." minji pushed her hair back and rolled her eyes. "that's probably what being sick of each other's faces gets you." she added.

yeeun looked at hanni then to minji. "well what happened? is that why you were moody after we got scolded during our presentation?" yeeun asked, placing the cold can on the table. minji nodded. "it's not really just that but mostly yeah, remember during the festival at our school?" minji asked yeeun.

it was the day after she lied to you about staying out at a classmate's house late at night for their class' stall. in reality, she was indeed helping out but most of the time was spent on drinking. she told you she was going home at 11pm and asked you to sleep — you were convinced because hell! she had you on a video call, showed you the surroundings, table and there was no fucking alcohol to be found, you even asked her classmates, specially the closest mutual; kim jiwon.

jiwon's answer was: "honestly, i don't really know — but they did go there to continue building our stall, i was informed by yeeun that they were there for a couple of hours."

so you were convinced, but it only took you two days to realize — you had a conversation with jiwon's friend during your volleyball training; naoi rei, she mentioned that she was tired from that night, that she had to come home at between 1am and 2am, they stayed over late because they weren't able to finish the stall up until 1am due to the fact they got drunk.

you were fucking pissed, you realized that was the reason minji came to school late that festival, was literally sitting behind their stall asleep, drunk 3 cups of coffee to stay awake.

and she even had the nerve to come to your class' stall and "support" you.

during the night before the research presentations, you had a conversation with her. that's where you poured out all the hidden anger you've been bottling up lately, you don't care how much she spent time watching you play volleyball — you know damn well she's doing that because she's done something stupid.

then, you started ignoring her — heck, even your homeroom teacher and hers had to get in between for the tea.

everyone, including her classmates and your classmates were surprised, you were the IT couple of the batch and it was all poured down the drain because of one stupid night.

"well, yeah. you got drunk the night before right?" minji slapped a hand on her face when yeeun mentioned it. "yes, and fuck she got so mad." yeeun scratched her head. "i thought everything was good, you even ate lunch with her the day after the festival."

"she found out i lied, and i seriously thought it was not that serious but she just bursted out mad at me." minji added, rubbing her face. hanni scoffed and hit her friend on her shoulder.

"you're lucky she just screamed at you, i would've punched you in the face, scumbag!"

yeeun laughed. "wow, no wonder she went out with wonyoung instead after they won the volleyball match."

"yeah and that's why i didn't ask you to watch, because imagine if she just spiked the ball at my face." yeeun couldn't help but laugh harder, hanni scoffed. "so what now, loser? her parents are still attached to you and the school ceremony for top student's next week, wouldn't that be awkward?" minji stared at her friend with a stone cold expression.

"i haven't even gotten my clothes yet."

hanni threw her head back and frowned. "but minji! you can have all the time to get those things back, we know y/n would return it but… dude does your parents even know what happened?"

yeeun winced. "ugh, that'll be hard."

minji nodded. "yeah, i don't think she's ever mentioned anything about it. her parents are pretty strict and care more about her education, i'm even shocked they let her be with me. i feel like she's only told them about our break up, nothing more than that."

"well good luck then." hanni stated.

minji sat by one of the chairs surrounding a round table, her eyes are on the people mingling around people, wearing smart casuals. it's the ceremony and her mom isn't somewhere to be seen, she said she'll be talking with the other guests and left minji. minji sighed.

you on the other hand preferred being with your friends, wonyoung and yoona. you really never expected anything surprising other than seeing the face of your stupid ex, you spot minji sitting beside yeeun and hanni, the two talked but minji sat there with a frown.

you snickered.

everything is supposed to be okay, until you saw your mother with minji's mom, they both approached minji and you couldn't help but wince, turning your back against the view, refusing to even get yourself involved on your mother prying over your relationship.

"minji! i haven't seen you in a long time." minji looked in front of her and saw your mother and her mom. she stood up quickly and greeted the older woman. "good evening,"

minji's mom laughed. "ah, minji's been busy doing her own stuff. by the way how's y/n doing?"

"she's joining the varsity for volleyball, i signed her up and she's getting more training than before. it's a shame really, minji would've been there to watch over my daughter."

minji laughed sheepishly. "y/n's a big girl already, don't worry i'm sure she can handle herself."

"i'm so proud of her! she's been excellent lately, i wish minji would join extra curricular activities, just to boost her qualifications for the future!" you have always been excellent, even before you had minji, even after you lost her — in the end, minji had to say it was her loss, never yours.

she had been distracted a lot after you broke up with her, meanwhile you used that as a motivation to be better than minji — you are just very petty.

she hated and loved that part of you.

so competitive.

"hey minji, visit our place anytime you can alright? we really miss you." your mom smiled at minji and patted her shoulder. "but what about y/n? it's awkward." minji spoke, scratching her nape with an airy laugh.

"don't worry about her! she's just playing hard to get, try harder maybe you can have her back." your mom winked at minji and laughed.

okay, maybe she should?

kim "idiot" minji

hey

hope you don't mind if i visit your place

i'm gonna go get my clothes and things i left

:(((

seen.

you rolled your eyes as soon as you spotted the familiar pair of shoes on the doorway, you entered and saw minji sitting on the sofa with your brother. you ignored them and walked your way to a corridor, then inside your room. minji saw you and stood up.

"hey, i'm just gonna fetch my clothes in your sister's room." minji smiled at your brother, and the younger boy shrugged. "good luck then."

it felt like throwing oneself inside a lion's den, as minji stood in front of your door, she didn't have any idea what she should say — she knows it isn't a great idea, but there are no ideas left, if she'll only be able to claim her things back, or if she'll have your heart — it would be better if comes home with both.

chances are slim of course, her image has been tainted, even with that one mistake — still, you didn't really know if your decision of breaking up with her is for the best; a part of you screamed for her to leave you alone — and the other part wished you could've had more time to get your shit back together.

you don't know whether it's too late, but you had her things already packed in case she comes back looking for them.

you heard a knock and you took deep breaths before stomping your way to the door. you found yourself shaking as you held the cold door knob, not knowing whether it's you or the air inside your room. why is it freezing cold? why are you nervous? you chose this path.

twisting the knob, your eyes met minji's round ones, her thick eyebrows that stood so prominent, catching your attention as it furrowed. minji cleared her throat. "hey, y/n… i'm sorry for barging in. i was just — i'm here to get my things that i left." you nodded at her and opened the door wider for her.

"go on, i already packed them for you." minji nodded and made her way inside. goddamnit, the smell, it hit her that she might not be coming back to this room anymore, the room she had been even before you became her girlfriend, and after everything. it's sad, she spotted her clothes, hoodies, even the notes she left packed in a box.

minji wished you hadn't done that, because first, even if you hated her, you're just way too nice — second because she wished she had more time in your room to get her shit together and think of something, just something to convince you to come back to her.

"what are you waiting for? are you just gonna stand there?" you asked. minji took deep breaths and closed her eyes before turning around to face you. "hey, y/n can we please talk about this more? i know i only came here for my clothes but — bro…" you wanted to laugh, but that'll be too mean.

you rolled your eyes and shrugged. "is there anything else left for us to discuss? i thought you said you're tired of explaining."

minji rubbed her face with her hands and groaned. "i know i did, i'm sorry that's so fucking stupid of me. but please, we were both mad and upset that time, if we were both calm, you know we can discuss it better, right?" minji pleaded, walking towards you, you scoffed — looking away from her.

"you're the only one who thinks that way, minji. and i don't have time in this world to accommodate your stupidity." now you're getting mad again. minji took deep breaths, you looked at her and frowned. "calm down—"

"shut up." you cut her off.

it was silent for at least 5 minutes, you were thinking, twice — if you would listen to her ramblings, give her a chance to redeem herself, you wanted to you just can't accept that you actually want to give her a chance because if you didn't want to, you could've kicked her out already.

you regained your posture. "say what you want to say then, before i get pissed and kick you out, throw your things on the road."

minji nodded. "thanks! i know i lied, i'm sorry, i know it hurt you, sorry for not trusting you because you really did trust me a lot and i broke it. i lied because i know that it was wrong, i was scared you might get mad at me now i learned my lesson! was there another time where i lied to you? if yes — i'm so sorry y/n please forgive me! i'll do anything just to have you back, even if i tell myself that i'm fine without you. i know i'm not! and i admit that it's my loss, that you can live a life the same way, even better without me — but it's the opposite for me."

no, minji has never lied to you other than that time — because you're a very petty person okay? you hold grudges for over a long time, minji knows that, you remember when someone did you wrong; you'll take that to your grave, swearing to never forget. maybe that's why it's serious for you, because she built your trust over the time, you loved her because you know she would never, and she had never lied to you; that time you found out, it didn't make sense because why would she lie?

"i know, you never lied to me other than that time — but that's why i felt that way right? i don't understand why you lied, because you never did before and there is no reason why you should! i can't explain it, because i never imagined you to be that type of a lover, so when reality hit me that if you got the chance again, you'd make me an idiot again. and i wouldn't want that to be my cycle." you had a lot of pride, because in all honesty, you can proudly say you have never lied to her.

minji knows your schedule, you always tell her what you are up to, your plans — when you stay out late, you exactly tell her what for! and when she demands that she takes you home, you allow her.

there's no reason for you to be scared of what clapback minji has; because she has none.

"i can still be your honest lover, i swear! and no promises, but you can always remember what i'm saying right now. i would never lie to you ever again. mark my words, kill me if i do again, i'll let you." you laughed, minji was serious — but you laughed, because you know you will seriously kill her if she does lie again.

"don't worry i will." you scoffed. minji smiled. "i'm sorry, babe?" minji didn't hesitate, you gave her a blank stare as she gave you those puppy eyes. you huffed and turned around, you had your bacm facing her you let her be as she embraced you in a hug, resting her chin your shoulder while gently rocking you.

"i'll get back at you okay? we can study together here for the whole month." minji pouted, you looked at her and shrugged, a blush creeping up on your cheeks. "whatever." minji chuckled and kissed your cheek. "i love you."

you sighed. "hmmm… yeah me too."

at the end of the day, you still love minji, even if she's a huge idiot, sometimes an asshole — you have to admit that you had a burst of emotion that night you broke up with her, you still think it's valid though. but yeah, minji is a good lover, you just hope she doesn't do something stupid ever again.

minji snuggled close to you, holding you with her big hands. you're still putting up a wall though, she's not gonna get the satisfaction of seeing you all over her again for a week or two.

you have to show her who's the boss.

and it's you.

[clatterbane]

While I am evidently on a ranting roll tonight, it also really fucking bothered me that the new endocrinologist that I happened to see for a routine yearly diabetes check-in a few weeks back, after the last one moved? She apparently decided that as essentially an ethnic minority of one here, I look weird enough that it might well be pathological.

(I would probably feel a little different about it if she weren't also from anothet ethnic minority--albeit one that is MUCH more common locally and in this country at large. It doesn't hit quite the same that way, but I still found it pretty damned offensive.)

It also didn't help that my basic build helped get me treated like garbage so much under the NHS--with definite racial undertones at times. I would just as soon never hear a single word about my meat form again, which is not very directly relevant to the issue I have come in over, and in a non-fatphobic way.

But yeah, I have ended up looking like a lot of my mother's family in middle age. If one of the thinner versions these days.

Shitty crop of me with my mom, 20 years and at least 50 lbs. ago.

We have big kinda flat faces with barrel chests and big shoulders--and our arms and legs also turn skinnier-looking by comparison to the big old torso as we get older. No matter how much meat is over it (and I am still fairly scrawny now!), you are still gonna be mostly shoulders and a ribcage which is NOT dainty. Mr. C half-laughingly backed me up that half my family is just Like This, and he hasn't even seen all the extended clan together.

And the (very) extended family resemblance kinda goes farther than that. (Thus the ethnic part being very fucking relevant.) I don't always necessarily like it, but that's just how we're made.

So yeah, that new endo decided to send me to be tested for Cushing's Syndrome, entirely based on eyeballing.

Look, it's me! Go off, I guess.

(She also asked some pointed questions like whether my freakishly skinny arms made it difficult to wheel myself around in the chair. Erm, NOPE, not at all. Absolutely no symptoms other than striking her as Wrong Looking. She also recorded in the notes which I can see online, that I was getting less exercise than I said I was--very possibly mentally filtering my actual answer through that Freakish Twig Limb perception.)

What gets me even worse is that I DO totally coincidentally have experience with Cushing's, from when I got that pituitary tumor in my teens. She knew nothing about this when she brought the subject up out of the blue.

As the first medical professional to ever do so over the past 30-odd years, I might add. Nobody who has actually been aware of that history has triggered on it either.

Cushing's is very noticeable and very hard to live with! I got extremely sick, gained like 80 lbs. over a year from it, and developed the actual corticosteroid moonface then! Nobody much wanted to listen to me at the time, likely mostly because AFAB teenager! But, I do know very well what that fucking feels like!

But yeah, that thankfully got fixed and I haven't experienced symptoms for like 30 years. That whole experience was also very freaking traumatic, which is probably not helping my reaction now with it getting brought back up so bizarrely and unexpectedly. (Also, could I somehow be secretly Very Sick now without realizing it?! I do very much rationally doubt it, but doubt still keeps nagging at me.)

I guess I had better play along for now. In a way, it is good to see another demonstration that they don't seem to do the same kind of foolish pennypinching here as under the NHS. They will refer you for whatever testing they think is necessary, even if that sometimes includes a labwork wild goose chase based on some terrible assumptions! I would rather have them be thorough, even when it's dumb as hell and kinda insulting.

I am indeed pretty confident that I just look like a middle-aged $SURNAME from another freaking continent, who is also recovering from malnutrition and still pretty scrawny. (Which the doc was aware of.) I am also still feeling some kind of way about this fact setting off weird alarm bells in some new doctor that I am stuck dealing with for the foreseeable future.

I could easily make some of my own unflattering speculations based on her appearance, which was very different from my own. Sorta Marfanoid, with buggy eyes possibly indicating thyroid issues? (Maybe there's also some wider ethnic thing going on there too, for all I know. I have seen a lot more folks from her part of the world than basically anyone here has from mine!)

But yeah, that really really would not go over too well. And it's not my place either.

[addie4ddie2005]

I see you need some Howdy requests °^°, I am here to provide!

I think it would be cool to see Howdy grow some kind of self-awareness much like wally. Its small stuff first, seeing a small thin crease line up where the sky is and he probably thinks its just his eyes playing tricks on him. Then it would start to derail to seeing the seems of his friends, and feeling that something is isnt quite right no matter how he twists and turns, his body doesnt feel like *his* now, and we're basically here to try to do some damage control because he draws attention to himself (wally side eyeing him heavily)

-🌼

:DDD here’s something like that!! Sorry if I didn’t hit everything,, when I start writing my own visions take over and I forget I’m filling out a request. Anyways,,, I think the concept of walk-around puppets in this universe is horrifying. Here’s my take.

GN! Reader / Ambiguous species

cw: horror and unreality

additional tags: hurt and comfort (you comfort Howdy!)

Also remember my guy has a Transatlantic accent,, so cool so swag. All that time watching Westerns has paid off for me.

<333333333333

When you step into the shop, you’re met with all kinds of pleasantries.

‘Howdy-hey! What’s the news today, sweetheart?’

‘Oh! You’re just in time! I’m having a special on jokes! This ones a kicker! Heard it from Barns himself!’

Not this.

The seven-foot-tall pillar of Home fiddling with his hands like they weren’t his own. If he weren’t your friend it would be grotesquely unprofessional.

“What’s got you down, Howdy?”

You tried to approach this like it was just another bit. Like he was going to announce that someone had picked up the wrong order and he’d send you on a quest around town to find the oblivious culprit. Hilarity ensued.

The look on his face told you otherwise.

No script this time. Just terror.

He shook his head, like some sort of thought was trying to come loose that he just couldn’t get rid of.

“Oh, ah, nothing to bother about. I just got a late shipment to fuss over… right before closing time, too! A shame. I’ll be getting home late tonight. Good thing my home is upstairs, ey? Haha!”

The change in demeanor was relieving, but you were still uncomfortable.

“Oh… I’ll give you a hand, in that case!”

Two hands found his cheeks, one flipped towards you bashfully. “That’s so sweet… you think I need six hands to get around here? By all means!”

You grinned, forgetting whatever your reason was for stopping by. You stepped behind the counter.

But then you paused. It hit you, that you had never been back here before. No one has.

Howdy looked at you happily, blankly. “Weird, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He headed towards the back. You took a second to confirm with yourself that neither of you were going to elaborate. At least not yet, you think. You followed him.

He did indeed have a shipment. All kinds of inventory. Fruit, snacks, cleaning supplies.

“Our little town sure goes through a lot.”

He was beside you with all four hands on his hips.

It was silent for a moment.

“Who brings you these?”

Howdy laughed with closed eyes. “That… I would love to know.”

The two of you worked quietly. Whether occupied with stocking, or just processing the events prior, you didn’t know. You didn’t mind the silence, but the air was heavy. Like there was something you two should have been acknowledging, but it was lost, or hiding.

You decided to stick around and help him close. Putting up food and taking apart warmers, mostly.

“I can’t believe you do all this by yourself every night.”

“All in a day’s work! ‘Sides, being busy ain’t too bad.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“It feels good to be good for something. Even here.”

The silence was back, but now you were looking at him.

“Less time to think, right?”

Howdy’s eyes widened, like the notion had been ready to jump off his head the whole time, and he couldn’t believe you put it in the air like that. And then his eyes sank in relief, because you felt it too.

“Don’t be shy to come around when you need to quit all that thinking. There’s plenty here to keep you busy.”

“I will.”

Work resumed, putting everything in its place.

“Be careful, darlin’.” He said, uncharacteristically quiet.

“You too.”

And he laughed, and you didn’t like that.

When all was said and done the two of you looked at the pristine store with some sort of pride, muddled by grief that you weren’t even contemplating before you stepped in. Hazy orange shadows coated the walls and floor.

“How about you stay the night? Wouldn’t want you out and about in the dark.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.”

But this wasn’t a sleepover of games and stories and staying up past bedtimes. You just needed to be there, and be real. As real as you could get.

Howdy was gazing out the window of his bedroom.

“Funny how dark it gets out there. You would think… I’m not so sure, actually.”

You scooted over to confirm. His window might as well have been a pitch black rectangle. You could just barely make out the outline of Home and their kind eyes.

You closed the curtain.

The two of you settled down for the night. Howdy’s sleeping routine involved spreading out a blanket and rolling himself up in it like a cocoon, or a burrito, and that was kind of funny. You laid right beside him and kept your eyes glued to the ceiling. A night light glowed softly to the side, shaped like a butterfly. A gift, probably.

Howdy didn’t have many qualms sleeping. He worked too hard for his mind to stay wired through the night.

But you sure made it easier, he thought. He imagined the hours rolling by a lot differently if he was alone with his thoughts. Thoughts of scary things, like the sky. The pitch black sky. Like a sheet had been thrown over the entire expanse of home. Everyone knew what the moon was. Where was it?

You shifted beside him, and his train of thought pushed the breaks, coming to a gentle stop.

Wally approached you the next day, casually, as you were tending to some plants.

“Hi, you. What were you up to last night, neighbor?”

You gave him an odd look, but you were used to nosy neighbors at this point.

“Oh, with Howdy! I had no idea I hung out till dark, so we had a sleepover.”

Wally hummed. “That’s sweet.” And walked away. You let out a breath of air when he was out of earshot.

You’ve been paying more attention to your caterpillar friend since then.

He’s been distant. On the occasion he leaves the shop, he’s always glancing around like someone was going to leap out of the bushes and tell him he’s been duped.

He’s always been suave, persuasive. A cool cat or whatever. With so many arms and hands and fingers you can easily spot the anxiety creeping into his form. Your friends noticed, too. Wally seemed especially worried. Poor guy.

You were at the shop one day, just visiting, checking up. Howdy’s demeanor was… upsetting. He kept all his hands in a ball, fidgeting.

It was well past closing and a little yellow figure was passing by the doors. Howdy ushered you to the back. You went along, albeit slightly alarmed.

“You good?”

Howdy rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah— you bet, you bet. Just don’t want any last-minute customers. Love em’, but they’re a pain to clean up after.”

You weren’t convinced. You looked back towards the entrance, but Howdy had taken your hands.

“Just tell me something.”

Unexpected, but this is the most you’ve gotten out of him about the whole conundrum in a while. You nodded.

“Alright. Now this will sound strange, but I need you to put your hands on my hands. Just feel em’.”

His two lower arms raised towards you, and Howdy was your friend and frankly you didn’t care about how strange it sounded, so you reached out and intertwined your fingers. Gave them a squeeze. Just like everyone else, they were soft and cushiony. If you pinched hard enough you could feel your fingers on both sides, but that would hurt. You looked back up.

“Okay.” He replaced those with his upper set of arms. Not having second thoughts, you took those as well.

And paused.

Solid. Completely. You could almost say they were warm. You looked up at him in alarm, still holding his hands, squeezing them, like if you held them long enough they would go back to being normal and you two could laugh about this, but you knew that wasn’t a possibility. Your thumb was on his wrist. It was beating, flowing.

“There is something terribly wrong with me.”

[enjoythesilentworld]

WILLE'S MONTH 2024

(intothelight / @enjoythesilentworld)

Day 1: Sandwich (G, 450)

Wille has a lot of feelings about sandwiches. (It's not about the sandwiches).

Day 2: Summer (T, 800)

Summer School AU where Simon is there to catch up before starting at a new, fancy school and Prince Wilhelm is there because he really can’t be bothered to pay attention in class, much less do his homework. (That is, until he meets Simon.)

Day 3: Literature (M, 1k)

“I thought you were a literature student?” “This is literature!” Wille is a very serious literature student, thank you very much.

Day 4: (Dance Dance) Revolution (T, 1.2k)

the gang celebrates. wille gets his first glimpse at normal.

Day 5: Cooking/Baking (G, 700)

Kristina finds Wille in the kitchens.

Day 6: Video Games (T, 1.4k)

Wille meets Simon at an open mic night. AU.

Day 7: Erik (T, 1.4k)

A story of siblings in three parts.

Day 8: Engagement (T, 1.5k)

Wille asks Simon to marry him. Simon says no.

Day 9: Riding (T, 900)

Wille really enjoys his morning.

Day 10: Secret (T, 2.5k)

3 secrets Simon can’t keep from Wille and 1 secret he can, until he can’t. An idiots to lovers AU.

Day 11: Future (T, 800)

Wilhelm writes a letter to himself. 

Day 12: Social Media (G, 350)

Wilhelm finally gets to run his own social media with no insight from the Royal Court.

Day 13: Lake (T, 1k)

The boys go to the lake. (Wille's POV)

Day 14: Mental Health (T, 900)

Wille steps down. Kristina steps up.

Day 15: Fashion/Style (T, 1.4k)

AU. Crown Prince Wilhelm finally meets his favorite artist, Simon Eriksson, at the Met Gala.

Day 16: Friends (G, 1.5k)

Wille and Simon are very, very good friends, indeed. 

Day 17: Joy (M, 1.2k)

Wille brings the pancakes to Simon. A joyous morning. 

Day 18: Soulmates (T, 800)

Wille, fully crossfaded and face down on the football field, sees some things.  Or, Wille sees his and Simon's lives laid out, intertwining across every universe. 

Day 19: Frogs (M, 1.3k)

Wille and Simon go camping. It goes better than last time. Mostly.

Day 20: Movie (G, 1.1k)

Simon makes Wille a home movie. Or, Wilmon Girl Dads return. 

Day 21: Family (Dinner) (T, 700)

A glimpse at the Royal Family’s dinner table over the years.

Day 22: (After) Party (M, 2k)

After meeting at the Met Gala, Wilhelm follows Simon to an afterparty. AU.

Day 23: Freedom (G, 800) 

Wille and Simon go out to enjoy a nice, summer day in town. Something is weird, though, and they can’t quite place what it is.

Day 24: Vacation (M, 1.4k)

Wille and Simon have different ideas about what “vacation” means.

Day 25: Hands (M, 1.1k)

Everyone’s been trying to get their hands on Wilhelm all his life. 

Day 26: Date (T, 1k)

Wille meets 'S' at a bar. They exchange a few notes. 

Day 27: Dream (E, 1.7k)

Wille has a dream. He very much needs to tell Simon about it.

Day 28: Birthday (T, 1.9k)

Wille gets a real kid’s birthday.

Day 29: Music (Room) (T, 2k)

Ex-Prince Wilhelm, hoping to escape the turmoil following the end of the monarchy, enrolls in university in New York City. He meets fourth-year music student Simon Eriksson in a music room on campus. AU.

Day 30: Fairytale (G, 1.7k)

The lonely prince finds a lamp with the power to fix all his problems.

Day 31: Voicemail (Free Day) (G, 800)

A collection of voicemails left by Wille.

[eleemosynecdoche]

Okay. Oil fire serious posting, huh? Now my friend @rlyehtaxidermist is a patient, forbearing soul, and I've been known to get a little hot under the collar at times. The language may get spicy. You have been warned.

Anyways, there are people apparently trying to do some kind of shipping war over this interpretation of Touhou 19 and of Sanae and Tsukasa. They level three basic charges- that there's no support for it, that it's a shallow sex ship, and that Tsukasa is obviously manipulating Sanae. Let's take it from the top.

1. No Evidence, Not Canon

Well, I could go and take screenshots and get the Japanese text and screenies of confirmed "sex isn't real in Touhou" people trying to puzzle out the parts of the Japanese text where Sanae and Tsukasa use very familiar language with each other. But I won't.

Why does it matter? Like, take it as a given that this is the case, that this ship is created from nothing. What would that mean? That people need to stop talking about it? Or restrict their posting about it to some kind of space for non-canon shipping? Is that reasonable?

Look, shipping characters on the basis of them being in adjacent stages has a history in Touhou. Some of them, like Parsee/Yuugi, got ZUN offering some support for it much later, through indirect means. Others, like Nitori/Hina, are kind of unpopular nowadays. People still make art and comics and doujin novels for those unpopular ships based on proximity. And why shouldn't they?

Some of my favorite doujin works- Ōkawa Bkub's "Charm" series, ALISON Airlines's drug-themed and mind-expanding works, Komaku Jūshoku's Ran-chama shorts- are far outside the boundaries of what ZUN produces. I think it's good that people take what ZUN puts down and run with it. I think that's a much healthier way to creatively engage with an artistic work you enjoy. It also gave us Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko When They Cry, Undertale and Deltarune, and other independent works where the influence isn't quite as obvious.

Anyways, all that freedom brings with it people being allowed to ship in ways you think aren't canonically supported, as part of being able to creatively reinterpret the work they're engaging with.

2. It's A Shallow Sex Ship!

Now let's be fucking clear here- what people are implying by this is pretty clearly "You're using this shipping to get off!"

Look. Do you really think that people are likely to be getting off to the idea of sex that's unglamorous and kinda mediocre, a bit awkward? If there is some kind of fetishist of that kind posting about SanaKasa, I'll buy them a drink to salute their extremely broad and abstract sexuality, which would be quite rare indeed.

I'm being mean. The more likely thought process here is that social assumptions around whether anyone would use direct and somewhat crude language about weird sex without being aroused at that moment or being some kind of perpetually-horny sex pervert are shaping how people react to seeing posts where a foxgirl's tail is used as a proxy for her having an erection.

So set that aside. I'm gonna talk about why the sex posts are meaningful to me personally.

I'm not an old hand of Touhou fandom, I came to it as a grown adult with the period between Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom and Hidden Star in Four Seasons as my entry point. But what I learned very quickly is that there's a lot of Touhou stuff, posting, art, comics, fanfics, where people offer up sexual content that I find deeply unappealing (mostly because it's dull, het, and not infrequently invokes sexual violence). And then, eventually, I realized that there was a kind of reaction to this state of affairs.

This was the sense that Touhou fandom was divided into bad sexual stuff and good desexualized stuff. And sexual stuff from a lesbian or WLW perspective was lumped in as part of the bad, with an assumption it was made for men too. And so if you wanted to enjoy the lesbian overtones of Touhou, the Touhous better not be having sex!

This is in turn correlated, I think, with the sense of Touhou as the whimsical side of the "cute girls having tea parties" media metaconcept. All of this ties really heavily into a broader social understanding of sexual desires between women, between nonbinary people, (or even between men much of the time) as intrinsically predatory and needing to be desexualized to be acceptable.

But Touhou isn't a series about cute girls doing cute things at tea parties in the text. In the games, it's a bunch of rude women threatening each other with violence in erudite ways, then engaging in elegant examples of that violence, and finally going drinking together. There's intrinsic sexual tension to all of that. It's people flirting with each other, showing off their stuff, and then getting to know each other at a bar.

Touhou's gotten more explicit about the sexual side of things. Tsukasa, who's drawn with what are instantly recognizable as sexually charged expressions, lidded eyes and insouciant gestures, whose outfit loosely resembles both short pajamas and a romper dress with the skirt cut away to show off the built-in bloomers, is a noteworthy chunk of that, and then she gets treated both in the fandom and in UDoaLG by powerful beast youkai as, essentially, a born slut.

But the sexual aspects have been there since Perfect Cherry Blossom at the latest. The implicit flirtatiousness, the women with extremely close relationships. So what talking about Tsukasa having bad sex and falling in love means to me is a couple of things- it's an acknowledgement that sex is going on. It's also a way to engage with Tsukasa as a character who's engaged in what is only barely subtextually survival sex work, and offer up the possibility of love in a very normal and unglamorous sense, for Tsukasa to be sexual and yet loved and fully worthy of love.

Making them both transfem or transfeminine-coded (i.e. Tsukasa probably didn't transition, but her penis is still effectively a trans woman's rather than that of a cis woman who shapeshifted in terms of how characters understand her position and body) is in turn an extension of that, of how trans women's bodies are fetishized (especially in sex work). And taking these bodies we, as a group of people, have, and treating them as sexual, but in a more naturalistic way yet playful way. And so for me it's just a matter of being truthful- this is describing the situation in terms of the world as I know it, within certain specific boundaries of Touhou I like to use.

This humongous nerd can have a loving, fulfilling relationship while not being good at sex and having to figure that out. This poor little kon kon can be loved without it being transactional, without having to try and become purified and sweet and "More tea, Miss Sanae?" Even bad girls (in several senses) can love and be loved. If you're gay enough with your cringe girlfriend, a miracle will happen.

All of this is of course my hyperprecise sexual fetish. Every last word of it.

3. All According To Tsukasa's Keikaku

"Tsukasa's just manipulating Sanae!"

Why is it important that Tsukasa be an undefeatable schemer and manipulator?

Let me put it this way. If Tsukasa can manipulate everyone equally well because everyone has weaknesses in their heart or whatever, that's blandly cynical. It makes her out to be some kind of overwhelming malevolence. If Tsukasa is really really good at manipulating powerful, perceptive, and forceful women, but completely unable to affect naive, slightly gullible, says exactly what she's thinking Sanae beyond marginally? That's funny! The one person that should be a cream puff to manipulate is beyond manipulation!

It's thematic! Someone who's open and honest and not trying to manipulate other people can't be manipulated in turn, because she's rejecting the game. It's relevant to Tsukasa's character! UDoaLG makes it clear that tube foxes are despised, that they're seen as weak and unable to fight like real women do. Tsukasa has to manipulate people because it's her only way to keep from being crushed, or so she thinks, because she's immersed in that reality.

Sanae isn't manipulatable, but also doesn't really try to crush her. Sanae offers a relationship between equals, even if they have different power levels.

It even plays into neurodivergence and mental illness- think of Tsukasa as someone unsure if she's manipulating people or not. Sanae being autistic and not manipulatable provides a reassurance that she's capable of doing better.

None of which means she's going to start being a saint or even a decent person, just that she's an awful person whose awfulness is hard to separate from her situation, but she can be in a better situation without having to become good first. She can stay malicious and kinda sucky and we know she's doing it on purpose now! We can say, "you are yucky disgusting, babygirl" and squeeze her into a Pringles tube without guilt. With minimal guilt.

Also, abilities are self-declared and Tsukasa's method of manipulating the other polycule members in Unconnected Marketeers mostly seemed to be encouraging them to do what they wanted to do already. Similarly, she can manipulate Aun in UDoaLG by playing on Aun's desire to be helpful and the dangers of the situation, but Aun also knows it's safe because her other body is back at the shrine. She's not, frankly, massively strong. In demonstrated "power levels" she's a step below Yachie "failgirl" Kicchou. Think about that.

Made it all the way to the end? Congratulations! Imagine a Touhou ending slide where I'm (whatever you think I look like) holding up Tsukasa and Sanae sock puppets.

[raccoonfallsharder]

But wait! If Rocket is still watching our movies from Earth, what is he gonna think when he finds Guardians of the Galaxy?? What if the next movie he watches is about him?!

this is a phenomenal question. what if, indeed? put that in season three

i feel like it would be a struggle to decide whether or not to tell rocket about the movies — to point them out. you couldn't be sure he wouldn't get mad about them — or worse, get weird about them.

maybe you finally decide to tell him, or maybe you hesitate too long and the decision is taken out of your hands when he finds them on his own — but either way, it's rocket, so he's definitely gonna find out at some point.

i think he'd demand to watch them all immediately. he'd have a curling snarl on his mouth for at least the first half-hour of each movie, and it would return to his lips whenever he remembered that he's supposed to be looking disgusted. but rocket either doesn't realize how much his ears and tail give him away, or he thinks you're too much of a humie to interpret the data. so even when he's trying to look all disgruntled and annoyed, you can tell that he's alert, interested, tailtip flicking as he focuses gleaming red eyeshine on the screen. he leans forward like he wants to breathe in every pixel. occasionally he scoffs — that ain't how that happened — but mostly he's just fascinated.

because, well, rocket's always been good at fitting things together. broken bits of a robot cellmate to create the firearm that would save him and his new friend groot — screws and bolts from the milano to make a moon-destroying hadron enforcer. batteries to make a bomb, and scraps of stolen metal and magnets to make a key.

but the one thing that rocket has never been able to make fit are all these disparate shreds of loss and anger and pain, piled and stitched together as clumsily as his broken body.

and now he's watching the cornerstones of his life played out in a narrative, like there's some kind of meaning to everything he's been through. like someone loosened the stabbing-wire threads holding together all his cobbled-together things, and gently restrung each one into a strand of stars and amber beads. even when the movies aren't accurate, they're still — benevolence. empathy.

absolution.

he probably cries quite often during the movies — i think rocket would definitely be a crier. he'd be weeping silently beside you on the couch, in tandem with his film-star counterpart, and even more times besides. after the last end-credits scene rolls, he sniffles, and then scoffs, and starts riffling through a list of inaccuracies.

clearly these morons don't know how jump-points work, he says, and the collector was actually way more insufferable in real life, and wow, pete ain't that much of a jackass, and nat wouldn't say that shit about me. wait, did she?

but you're pretty sure, judging by the watched history in the disney+ subscription you're sharing with four other households, that he's rewatching them after he goes back up into space. more than once, from the looks of things. and he hasn't said it in so many words, but you think he's found a strange sort of comfort in watching these stories play out through another person's eyes, and that understanding fills you with relief. you'd been worried, but there's no anger, and there's no weirdness.

until a week-and-a-half later when the comm he left with you crackles to life, and he's demanding you tell him what the fuck fanfiction is.

[utilitycaster]

Hi, first religion anon (NOT the same as the second religion anon). My main complaints are with TUC (mostly s1 but the ‘Jesus is real’ thing in s2 really bothered me) and the way that Laudna and a few other characters engage with the gods on CR. I have 0 complaints with Sam, I think his engagements with religion as both Scanlan and FCG are fascinating. I think things like ACOC and Kristen on D20 are done fine, but when they move outside of Christian allegories they tend to stumble. I know Brennan and Ally have philosophy backgrounds and Emily has a religious studies background, but frankly I’m not super confident in American universities’ ability to make people deconstruct Christian hegemony, and things like Emily using the phrase “Judeo-Christian” aren’t super encouraging to me.

thanks for clarifying, I was wondering about the second anon bc I was like "the first anon came in being fairly normal even if I don't agree and this feels...bad and also just a hunch but it feels like it's coming from a Cultural Christian who is not American. (also I did get your follow up question and I want to answer that one separately bc I think it's a good but separate point).

I know it's not terribly popular to say but being weird about the term "Judeo-Christian" feels like one of those things that Jumblr and other people in Jewish Millennial/Gen Z spaces online made a big deal about and I'm like "uhhhhh this was a thing my actual Jewish middle school teachers said sometimes; it's not the best term, no, but it was the go-to term in a lot of contexts until quite recently to the point that yeah, Emily going to school in the 2000s would probably hear it even from Jewish profs, and so it's not so much a red flag as a sign that she graduated before 2010."

I also honestly don't mind Jesus being real in TUC 2; at some point if you've decided all other mythology is real why not Christian religion. It feels, in a way, far more Christian-centric to treat Christianity as something that cannot be incorporated, as too real, as compared to say, Norse or Greek myths or Golems.

I will say that I agree that Ally and Marisha do tend to be a bit more limited in how they engage; I actually don't mind Laudna's frustrations with the gods from a "I think this comes from Marisha's personal feelings" perspective more so than a "could we...actually explore this as a throughline rather than a bunch of random-ass statements." I do think that Ally does tend to pull from their own experience; understandably so, but yes, it's very different than my experience as someone not raised Christian let alone strictly so.

I guess, and this might just be difficult to do as an anon ask thing, that I am looking at this very holistically. I am looking far more at what the GM is doing than an individual player, and I haven't had issues with Matt, Brennan, Murph, or Aabria's portrayal of divine forces. I find that Worlds Beyond Number has been explicitly very not Christian (and indeed, heavily influenced by Shintoism and pre-Christian Irish religion) in how the spirits are portrayed, and while I think Matt does tend to draw a lot from Catholic architecture and imagery and vibes, the way the gods engage with the players does not feel exclusively Christian (notably in Campaign 2; none of Fjord, Caduceus, Yasha, nor Jester's experience feel inherently cultural Christian beyond the fact that Travis mentions he doesn't feel like he can connect with the Luxon because 'it's a shape'). So it means I'm not looking to Ally for example for an exploration of religion that is as accessible to me, but I do find that actual play on the whole feels fine. I find a lot of the claims do feel like they get really hung up on specific details (eg: the Santa jokes in Chetney's backstory) instead of the overall feeling (eg: the fact that many of the deities have a very open, fluid, and at times intellectual form of engagement; the fact that the general message is that suffering is not purifying but rather simply sucks; Melora death domain traditions and especially Caduceus's philosophy which is very much outside American Protestantism; the polytheistic society of Vasselheim.)

[asteria-argo]

Do any of the Greyhounds play D&D in TATBP? And, if so, will they ever get to play with the Cool Kids (the teachers)?

Hey so I hope you don't mind but I have decided to use this ask as an excuse to talk my nerd shit.

First and Foremost to answer the question: Do I think any of the greyhounds play dnd? absolutely yes. Specifically I think Bumbercatch, Jan Maas and Colin play dnd.

Colin got into it when he was a little kid and a massive nerd before he grew up and started desperately trying to be cool. He was really embarrassed about how much he liked it for a long ass time but he's come to embrace it over the years as he's gotten older and stopped giving a fuck! He hasn't played much since he was a kid, but if he's ever given the chance too again I think he'd take it.

Jan Maas and Bumbercatch were both Weird Kids and found deep enjoyment in the game as a result that they carried into adulthood for entirely different reasons. Bumbercatch liked the choas of dnd and all the shenanigans you could get into, whereas Jan Maas was a big fan of the mathematics and rules of it all. Jan Maas is a rules lawyer but in the Siobhan Thompson from D20 way where he fucks DM's over by reminding PC's of cool shit their characters can do that the DM was banking on them having forgotten about.

Despite the fact all three of them like dnd, none of them actually realise this and have never played a campaign together, which might be for the best. There would be tears.

As for if The Cool Kids and playing with them? Maybe! I might write a one shot about it or mention it vaguely in the actual story but I'm pretty mindful about not putting too many of my nicher headcanons into an already very niche fic.

Now this isn't a question that you asked but I'm going to answer it anyway! How did Jamie himself get into dnd? easy! Skye dragged him into it kicking and screaming. Which is sort of a joke but not really.

When they were in university Skye really wanted to go to some board game club but she didn't want to go alone so she took Jamie with her. Jamie was just there to be a good friend, but when Skye made some new friends that wanted to play a campaign with her, she once again made Jamie come along because she wanted to have someone she knew better than these three randos from a board game club she'd been too once with her. And because Jamie while he was in university was on a journey of self discovery trying to figure out who he was without football, he said yes and ended up enjoying the game quite a bit.

He and Skye have been playing half elf siblings in the same campaign for years. Their names are Pin and Misty. Jamie's character is a Bard, Skye's is a ranger. When they started working at Clarence Hill and met Kareem, who was also a nerd, they learnt that he was a forever DM so they invited him to join them and their uni friends for the campaign where he could be a PC. The rest was nerdy ass history.

Jamie doesn't think or care about it half as much as Skye or Kareem do, but he enjoys watching them argue about it. He's mostly just there for the vibes.

Also fun fact; the rest of The Cool Kids dnd group is actually comprised of Skye's bandmates, because I have decided that she is indeed in a band. It has a name and a logo and everything. I'm committed to this being a thing.

[elbiotipo]

Dime más del delfín porfa! Did someone in specific genetically modify Pancho or is it like an automated process at this point in history, what other ocean life is sentient like him? Does he ever feel alienated from his human friends? ::(( I'm guessing there are places the might go that he can't. How does he deal with that?

I will try!

Starting for Pancho as an individual/character, he's quite a weird one because he spends so much time with humans, which means a physical (while he has a suit, it's the equivalent of a human wearing a scuba or space suit, a very intensive activity) mental (learning human languages and cultures) and psychological (dealing with porteños) toll. The fact that he does it almost everyday is something that he gets teased for by his family even. He does have a genuine friendship with the rest, but there are many things where they don't "click", not only because he's a dolphin, but also because of his philosophical mentality.

As for where did they come from, that's a part of the backstory I'm still working on -his species might be the result of a rogue biopunk project- , but he's not the only one. All Franciscana dolphins are protected by Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and considered persons. Cetaceans in general are considered persons all over the world, with some even creating their own goverments, like the Barrier Reef Republic of mostly bottlenose dolphins, and others remaining far away from "civilization", like orcas and most baleen whales. This all gets into human politics, too, as cetaceans, being undersea citizens, can also be used as an excuse to project state power over the oceans, ongoing legal actions against former whaling nations, the nature of citizenship, nationhood and equality in a world were humans are no longer the only sapient species, or were ever they?...

Besides cetaceans, there are lots of other sea creatures that have been artificially evolved into inteligence, including octopi, seals, sentient sea sponge "computers", and a few others. There are also several kinds of "merpeople", humans who adapted themselves to water living, and a lot of floating sea settlements, or like in the Paraná and Río de La Plata, treebuildings drifiting by the rivers, also in Lake Maracaibo, the Amazon, and all over the Atlantic coast of South America... Undersea living is less common except in very shallow seas, but there's always rumors that things are lurking down there; indeed, it was submarines in hiding after WWIII that kept attacking long after the war was over.

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

If the leaks are true and I'm sure they are because we're talking about HOTD by Ryan and Sara, I really don't understand what the critics talked about when they said Aemond was one of the best written characters because his screen time is tragically short and they barely gave him any development, they prefer writing a thousand alicole scenes. And someone wrote about Aemond's gentleness in the end of the first half of the season, what? Did they send people different cuts of the episodes? And what was Ewan talking about when he said Aemond has more shades of grey this season and people may like him? Did they cut him saying he feels bad for Jaehaerys' death or something? Because the scene was weird, he only said he is sorry for Luke and that guy took his eye... Anyway the show is an absolute mess, the writers decisions are just the worst I've probably seen in a TV series in a while. And it's sad to see people wanting to quit the show and their fan accounts, but it's really that bad. I feel like there is nothing interesting or compelling for me anymore, they ruined everything.

Hello!

The thing is, we might never know what scenes that were filmed didn't make it to the final cut. And indeed, seems like the actors do not know it either (until the premiere, that is), at least judging by the fact that when season 1 aired Matt Smith wasn't even aware that Daemon didn't say a word during the entire Crabfeeder fight scene. So, sometimes during the promo they might unknowingly mislead the audience in some way - and stick with it for the time between the premiere for the press and one for the audience (to avoid creating suspicion or for some other reason). As for the reviews, the only part I'm willing to believe for now is one about acting. I'm not saying that each and every critic who said something positive about season 2 is on HBO's payroll - but I remember the reviews for season 1 and the way the actual show didn't live up to them.

And yes, the writing for this season has been mostly atrocious so far - and that is why I find today's leaks about episodes 3 and 4 believable. I still prefer to wait and see what actually happens but right now I'm really, really disheartened.

[avelera]

may I ask if in your 1589 fic, despite all the messed-upness of it and the hate sex and the consent issues, if there is some underlying love/care for the other (not necessarily at the beginning! but maybe as they keep seeing each other?). I only ask because I really really care about dreamling and while I love the more hardcore kinky stuff I can't really stomach it if there's no caring for one another at all at least buried deep somewhere in there with a pairing I care about so much.

It's totally okay if you don't wanna say/it's spoilers, I'll deal ^_^

So at the risk of spoilers, I will say short answer: yes, there is genuine care and love for one another (eventually on Dream's part but from the beginning on Hob's part) in this fic. It's not just vicious hate fucking and indeed, there'll even be some moments of angst and pathos mixed in around this point.

Long answer below the cut:

This fic has at its root a few deeper emotions beyond kink and hate fucking which emerged while I've been writing it.

From Dream's POV, it's not just that he hates Hob for being a vulgar materialist, it's that he hates that 1489 Hob who saw such wonder in the world and who had picked up a trade in printing books had pivoted to being a vulgar materialist. This genuinely hurt Dream's feelings for reasons he does not dare name, like his burgeoning crush on Hob. He wouldn't be this angry with Hob if he didn't deep down care that Hob disappointed him this much with his choices.

There's also a running thread of Dream not really believing anyone can actually stomach him if they knew him. He's got trauma from Nada, Killalla, Calliope, and Alianora sloshing around in his head in this fic and we're going to address all of it through the challenges he throws at Hob. Because really, deep down, this competition quickly becomes Dream trying to prove that if Hob really knew him, darkness and all, he'd never actually want to be with Dream. Hob surviving and indeed seeming to enjoy inexplicably all these challenges begins, slowly, to give Dream the barest hint of hope that maybe he underestimated Hob in truth and, maybe, Hob really is someone who can withstand even the worst parts of Dream.

For his part, Hob's pathos comes from the fact he's actually quite scared of getting married and/or falling in love again only to have lovers die on him over and over. Yes, his reasons for proposing are a bit selfish on this front, but he is sincere in his desire to share the fruits of his labors this past century with Dream specifically, since he sees Dream as his patron, muse, and inspiration. And if Dream accepts, then Hob never needs to worry about getting his heart broken again. Dream takes a dim view of this, thinking Hob's motives are entirely selfish, but over time we see how Hob really does care about Dream, darkness, sadism, bitchiness, and all. He really is, genuinely, into all the weird kink stuff Dream throws at him becaue Dream paying attention to him is his real kink, deep down, and this is what Dream can't possibly fathom. That anyone, much less Hob, would want Dream so badly that it doesn't matter what he does, they just want to spend time with him is incomprehensible to Dream (and, arguably, exactly what he needs: a partner as crazy and obsessed as he is).

This is MOSTLY a smutty comedy so I'm not going to say to expect "Giving Sanctuary" levels of pathos, but I will say that lurking beneath the surface of this story is how two genuinely awful people fucked each other to the point of becoming slightly better people, found out that they're kink-compatible, and fall in love despite Dream's best efforts. Because that's hilarious to me.

[pb-dot]

For the ask game, I'm sending Rakal Vild, a minor character in my space sci-fi, just because I'm wondering if it's possible for him to get on well with anyone.

Rakal (he/they) is a criminal who when we first meet him in the story has been sentenced to forced labour for an evil space empire. He's an...uh, mostly masc-presenting nonbinary person?...of few words, most of which are sarcastic. Their humanity is treated as somewhat questionable in the setting because they're the (naturally born) child of artifically-created engineered humanoids (think Blade Runner replicants, though without the short lifespans). They're actually considerably more intelligent and competent than any of the Imperial officers we encounter, but they're deliberately doing their job as badly as they can get away with, so it's not immediately apparent. Rakal's resting expression is a death glare and his default attitude to people is suspicious and resentful, to the point where he spends half the story resenting Si'tak when the two of them really just need to unionise (he does eventually get over it), which is why finding a character to get on well with him might be a challenge...

Rakal was also basically born to be a mall goth even though I don't think he has ever seen a mall. Admittedly, black is the empire's uniform colour for nonhuman troops (which they consider him to be), so that's not by choice, but I also picture him as someone who'd steal some black nail polish if he got the chance.

Also, his nickname is "Rat", but no-one who calls them that survives until the end of story, so... maybe don't risk it?

Hmm, this is indeed quite the puzzle. For a while, I considered to pair him up with Felipe, resident cocky Olympian fuckboy because Rakal seems like they'd be right up Felipe's alley partnerwise, but considering Felipe Isn't Very Good At Relationships right now, that might just be seeding future cataclysms, be they interpersonal or physical.

No, I realized. If anyone were to get along with Rakal, it'd have to be Lex. Lex Chlebek is an acquired taste to say the least. They're a Polish enby self-declared mad scientist. Granted, with a MSC in theoretical physics that garnered international attention they have some claim to the title, although they, to their eternal frustration, still haven't gotten into a PHD program. This is in part because of their disdain for academic politics and in part because their weirdness isn't an easy sell, even in the relatively diverse world of academia. Lex is rather short and slight of build, and seems to revel in the particular brand of pixie-ish androgyny that has them saying "everyone's a little bit gay for me" in a tone that either indicates impish playfulness or slight frustration depending on the day they're having.

Like the rest of the protagonists in Thereafter, Lex went to a magical realm where time flowed faster than on earth in their late tweens. Lex' adventure was to the Magus College in the land of Aurol, where the recent murder of its believed-to-be-immortal Dean and founder had the place in quite the messy state. Messy, however, fit Lex like a glove, and they went on to solve the whodunnit (in reality a whydunnit, as the death turned out to be a suicide) as well as learning way more magic than a twelve (and a half) year old is believed capable of handling.

Lex speaks of these days in the tones of the bored and frankly over it, but even through the layer of ironic distance, it's clear that the magical adventure did better than the rest of their childhood at providing appropriate challenge for their nontraditional but clearly brilliant mind. Getting into academia was about a given for Lex' personal brand of smart, but they decided on Physics by flipping a bunch of coins and then making a gut feeling instinct after they got tired of messing with coins.

So, how's Lex as a person? In a word, Horny. In Two Words, Worryingly Horny. Now, that might be overstating things, but Lex is very open about sexuality and sexual desires. If this is how they flirt, it's not exactly working out for them, but if it's not, it gets somewhat hard to explain their frankness. Lex likes strong people, and strong fem-presenting people in particular, but has also stated to be "A gourmet of doing the nasty in all its wonderful forms." Besides all that, though, Lex is a person who values openness, integrity and curiosity. A willingness to "yes, and" their jokes is also a big pull, but Lex is also content with a well-executed "No, because," as they say "it is with humor as it is with fucking. Many right ways to do it."

So would these two get along? Perhaps. I could at the very least see them as a decently funny duo act as long as they could unite against a shared enemy, preferably someone with as little sense of humor about things as possible for maximum comedic potential. There's also every chance they'd wind up fighting to the death, but if that were to happen I hope Lex will die the way they lived, strange, brilliant, and wonderfully unwilling to compromise.

[thormanick]

So let me throw in my five cents on Skirk's design,

because I have Thoughts TM (TLDR: it confuses me)

WARNING: this post CONTAINS Skirk's image which might still be spoiler-y if you haven't seen the livestream!

First of all, if you like it and if this is how you envisioned her to be and this design speaks to you - great!!! I'm very happy for you! I'm glad that the character you found interesting for so long without any visual details being available for so long delivered on your expectations. (Depending on how the rest of her outfit works I might join your camp lol)

Second of all. Character design. Let's talk a bit.

When you do character design, there are some aspects you ideally want to incorporate into the final look. Character design ideally should hint at the role the character plays - either have allusions to their archetype or have easily identifiable details/signifiers which could then create associations with the role they're supposed to fulfill in the narrative. At the same time, the design of the character may also reflect their nature (once again through the associations) (and I guess my impressions are mostly informed by the archetypes I encounter in primarily western media); symmetry and light colour often oppose asymmetry and darker colours, thus creating "visual" conflict between the characters that are narratively supposed to be in conflict. Yet another thing to remember when working on the character design is character's individual past and how it affects their present, as well as the environment they've grown in and are living in. Are there any specific trinkets, patterns or materials included in their outfit? If so, what is the reason behind them? What do they signify to the character and how in turn it speaks to us as someone observing them in the context of the story? etc., etc., etc.

All this to say, there are even more steps to this process when done in-depth/professionally (I only go off my assumptions): character should be recognisable, easily identifiable, preferably have very individualistic silhouette, etc. So, when we think of Skirk's design, I think we must first and foremost try to understand how it works together with the information that was already known about her.

Skirk is an warrior who dwells in Abyss, fights Abyssal monsters, someone who can be a good mentor figure and who is very skillful at what she does (fighting).

This is where I am a bit confused with what we see. Mind you, it doesn't mean that I have any strong positive/negative emotions about it yet (I'd need to see the full design to properly collect my thoughts), I'm just really, really confused so far.

My confusion stems from several key aspects of the design: chosen colour palette, chosen clothing design, chosen accessory design. Let's dig in.

I will start with clothing design. Now, I've seen some people note that a) Skirk's outfit seems to show a lot of skin, which is impractical; b) that her armour is not complete (top is separate from bottom as I understood it). When looking upon what little we currently have, the armour seems to be complete (there seems to be a connecting piece going over the mid section of the body, however it remains to be seen if it like this from the front view). However, skin exposure is indeed something I do not completely understand as a design choice for a warrior-themed character. I would understand it if it happened naturally (through tears from past battles, for example. Maybe there are patched-up claw-tears or something similar. That would instil air of fear and respect towards Skirk and show that she has been through a lot.), but current setup seems to be too deliberate and more guided by fashion choices, which in my eyes renders it quite impractical. At the same time I want to note, however, that there are weird fin-like structures growing out of Skirk's back (they are briefly visible when she turns). Depending on whether she uses them or not and if she has more of them, then the open skin on the back can be kinda-sorta explained.

Next, I would like to address the accessories. They mostly confuse me because they seem to be very flow-y and etherial. Etherial aspect works in Skirk's favour, because she is someone who should be very different compared to the average character from Teyvat. Their shape (specifically the hairpiece) reminds me of fins and butterfly wings, which can have diametrically opposed effects in term of tone in this instance. Butterfly wings seem more royal, aesthetic, unbothered by the worlds, while fins might hint at the connection of Skirk to the place (Abyss) and to her own nature (the fin-like things on her back). (Together with the loose hair, however, there seem to be lots of flow-y lines in the upper part of her design, which creates air of relaxation about her that I don't find particularly applicable to what we already know of her as a character).

The last but not the least, the colour palette that surprised me the most is something I need to highlight here. Skirk's colours are rather pale/pastel purple/lavender(?), with accents of deeper purple, blue and underlying structure of black. I think it confuses me mostly because it seems to be so non-threatening, when I expected quite the opposite. However, despite confusing me, it kinda works. One of the points of character design is to reflect the surrounding nature of the character/play on it, and current colour choicrs kinda do the job very well. All the colours that Skirk wears are the colours surrounding her (endless space), and is also kinda related to the palette Abyss technically uses in Genchin and where Skirk comes from.

This is where I need to go off on a bit of a tangent. I think normally when we think of Abyss in Genshin we think of Spiral Abyss, which contains lots of heavier, darker colours (very dark blue, dark purples, some silver, black, maybe red); however, the Abyss we've seen (or some parts of the Abyss we've seen) can be quite whimsical and use slightly lighter shades of blue and purple. What I mean to say is that Abyss seems dark, but not always threatening, and so Skirk may embody this trait of Abyss. At the same time, given her current design, she seems more at home in the space the Space Whale TM and Primordial Water comes from, which, once again, leaves me with more questions than answers.

Finally, given that she seems at home in a place that is connected to Primordial Water and the Whale and seems to have fins and fin-related elements incorporated in her design, I wonder if this is supposed to be her natural place of dwelling, and if she is as disconnected from Abyss as she seems to be from Teyvat.

Something like this. I will need to see the rest of her outfit to reach a more final verdict, but for now I am cautiously hopeful and kinda optimistic. Still kinda confused (because expectations were quite different from reality)

P.S. Thank you for reading through this if you did, I'm sorry for rambling for so long.