#its simultaneously funny and really annoying

[mx-paint]

I think some of y'all have different definitions of what the word "realistic" means...

[dapper-comedy]

aaah my poor heart

[mochinomnoms]

Since PTM!Yuu has magic, does it mean they capable of flying on a broomstick? Do they have to take remedial flight classes since they wouldn't have been able to take the class in their first year? As someone who is absolutely terrified of heights, I know I'd be absolutely terrible at it and would probably need extra lessons to get anywhere with it lol.

Maybe coach Vargas gets Yuu to do some after-school flight workshops (i think thats what its called?) along with none other than Jade. I can imagine Jade trying to act suave and composed in front of them whilst simultaneously trying not to fall flat on his face on the broom. Maybe seeing him out of his depth and floundering will help Yuu see that there is more to this big bad eel than meets the eye 🥰

Yes! They can, but their classes vary by semester, like in a regular college. For the sake of story, I'm having the potions class be a two semester course for the sake of plot and looking at it the same way you would with a thesis or dissertation can sometimes be spread over multiple semesters. I also like to think about the more logistics about how NRC and its classes are run and have a lot of headcanons that I put in PTM.

But for flight, I like to think that flight class is one of those basics that all students have to take at least their first semester. Then they have an option to complete a sports club for the rest of their mandatory credits or continue with general physical education with Vargas, which included flight.

If you do particularly bad, such as merfolk in flight class, you are required to take a remedial class in that specific subject. In Jade and Azul's case, they both have to take a remedial flight class, but Floyd is able to get around it by being in the basketball club.

The remedial class is less about getting a good grade (it's a pass or fail class) but more about demonstrating that you are able to do basic moves and exercises on the broom. If you do, then you get a pass grade, which allows you to graduate. In the fic, I have it set that the remedial class is paired up with an advanced flight class, which is meant for students potentially interested in pursuing Spelldrive as a career. For extra credit or as an honors project, those students can be paired with one of the remedial students and tutor them.

With all that in mind, Grim tends to handle the magic bases classes in the canon storyline, or it's implied at least. I think that since they're in their second year in PTM, they have at least one semester for Yuu to catch up and make up for Grim's grades. So while they're not yet at the level that they'll need a remedial class or workshop yet (and for spoiler reasons the Nurse doesn't allow for them to participate in rigorous exercise), they might in the future!

What I do think makes for a fun scenario is Yuu needing to go to the class to take pictures, as is their job still. So they take pictures of the students in flight class! And imagine their surprise when they really pay attention to Jade and just how bad he is on the broom. He's always so elegant, it's so funny seeing how hard he clenches the brook and stares at the ground the moment his feet leave the ground.

It's almost cute, seeing him so nervous. He never lets anyone see him like this, but even Jade has his moments of simply being a person, rather than a perfect right-hand man. He even manages to get turned upside down at one point, though he's barely off the ground he's wrapped his legs and arms around the broom like is life depended on it.

Yuu can't help but laugh at him and his expression, covering their mouth to feebly hide their laughs. Jade is mildly annoyed that someone is laughing at him, until he realizes just who it is. Now he's admiring the cute sounds leaving their mouth and considering letting himself be the butt of the joke for just a bit longer. At least until his grip slips and he falls on his back.

[starmaniamania]

just wondering, what's your honest opinion on the Starmania fandom ?

[This got long and I apologize, but also I'm not going to cut for once, because the main points are really at the end!]

Hi!

I've been thinking about this one, I think it arrived just before the last weekend of shows and I didn't really know how to answer it.

Firstly because I don't know how to define "fandom" here, as "Starmania fandom" seems so big and also so small at the same time.

There's thousands of people in France who'd probably define themselves as fans of Starmania, and I've met some of them in concert venues and my opinion of them is often not amazing 🤣 (Lots of people who are rude, impatient, entitled, who missed or forgot the message of the show and complain it is "too woke now," who try to treat the show as their personal nostalgic karaoke, who don't care about the artists on stage and only want to compare them to their 70s albums...) But to be fair it's probably true of most large groups of people who attend a show, and not specific to Starmania at all. I'm also annoyed at the people who believe that 1978 is SACRED and "No one will ever sing the SOS better than Balavoine or Monopolis better than France Gall" (who didn't even sing that w- that's a hot take for a DIFFERENT TIME🤣)

And need I mention the Mogador fanatics? ���

But simultaneously, Starmania fandom as I've usually defined "fandom" (i.e., a community of fans who want to create, appreciate and discuss fanworks, whether that is meta, art, fic...) is TIIIINY. But it is a bunch of incredibly creative, talented, smart, funny people who I love a whole lot!

Honestly, my biggest "hot take" about Starmania fandom in the Tumblr/fanworks sense is the reason I've been going back and forth on how to answer this, because I don't want it to be taken the wrong way, but here goes... The truth is that I'm a little scared.

I see a lot of posts on wider Tumblr about how nowadays people move on from fandoms the second they end (usually talking about movies or tv shows.) The last episodes air, and a few weeks later the fandom suddenly dies because the critical mass of participants lose interest/find another new shiny object to focus on. This is usually paired with a comparison to "the olden days" when fandoms could survive for years after their canon was over, because enough fans kept producing enough new fanworks and having enough discussions to keep the thing alive even if a small-medium proportion of fans moved on.

And I worry that there's not enough of us to be able to do that, because we don't really have critical mass. For me personally, I worry that too many people are going to move on much sooner than I'm ready to let go (because I'm definitely not going anywhere for a while!), and that I'll go back to posting into the void.

I posted recently that this blog had reached its 100th follower but I consider a "hit" post to be around or over 8 notes. I think on AO3, we have 7 people who write semi-regularly, and the fics with the most kudos have 10. Those are starvation numbers in basically any other fandom, and they're our MOST POPULAR ones!! And it's not like we have, you know, that one author who just writes all day as a hobby and churns out 30k fics every other week, where everyone can just sit back and feel confident that new stuff is going to be coming no matter what.

(And that's why sometimes if I notice people discussing a fic in private, I'm like... I hope everyone involved in that discussion has let the author know they read the fic, because that could basically double the amount of feedback it got 😅😅)

So, yeah, basically, I just really hope that we collectively manage to support ourselves enough that it keeps feeling like a community, that it keeps living and maybe even growing. And that means everyone doing their share, me included, I'm definitely not saying I'm perfect here :p

And I know we all have busy lives and other things to do and fandom is a fun hobby and not a chore or homework. I'm not saying everyone needs to start making fanart (god knows I can't) or writing fic or posting essays or whatever, but let's make sure we interact with each other, with our fanworks, with discussion posts. Let's reply to each other!

And again, speaking personally (I hope this doesn't make it seem like I'm just using this post to whine haha) let's make sure to reblog, not just like posts. (FYI, it always takes me a little while to get to the posts I see, usually because I don't want to spam so I put things in the queue rather than rebloging them on sight, but they're going to come out eventually! Also feel free to send me things you think I missed!)

I'm not going to go into a(nother) rant about how "there is no algorithm on Tumblr" but you might not realize that every time someone reblogs one of the posts, I then see new usernames liking them! You guys have such an impact on spreading the Starmania lore/love -- I know I've gone into so many fandoms because I kept seeing a mutual post about them, and I would scroll past for weeks until one image hit me and I then *needed* to know where it was from, and sometimes that's how I found new fandoms!

So, yeah, I hope we can collectively bring in a few new people, and keep ourselves interested and happy for long enough that maybe we even bridge the "pause" and start getting new content again!!

So that's my answer. Congrats if you made it to the end, and tl;dr ILU ALL DON'T LEAVE OKAY? 😭

[svgvru]

. . . more biblically accurate gojo rambles! "i'm in love with a little blue frog."

𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 . . . he loves teasing you with them. he's always been insecure about them. his parents would never directly degrade him, but he could tell. they didn't like the way he looked. i mean—who would? three sets of eyes was not normal by any means, it was confusing for his parents considering he had curse-like features. my, my, the drama that occured. regardless, he never made friends. his face, paired with his immense power, made it nearly impossible for anyone to like him—truly like him. so he hid his face as best he could. bandanas, glasses, his hair, anything he could do to hide them.

and then he joined this choatic team which was led by yaga. suguru, you, him, and shoko. an unstoppable squad of the best new generation sorcerers. he was skeptical, then he got comfortable.

hed play with his glasses and accidentally flick them off his face, his bottom pair if eyes would squint at the sudden exposure to light as he searched for his glasses. he only paused when he realized the three of you were staring at him. specifically, his eyes. "ah shit—!" satoru desperately searched for his glasses before you calmly handed them to him. "you didn't see anything!" satoru huffs and crosses his arms, worried he's lost his first and only friends. the silence was deafening, more like, anxiety inducing for satoru—until you spoke.

"you're so pretty, 'toru!" you comment and smile. huh? did his crush just call him pretty? with a gasp from shoko and suguru simultaneously, they both leap and ask. "wait—do you actually have six eyes?" satoru's surprised at your interest, taking a step back.

"can we see?"

"that's fucking cool!"

"they look like baby eyes, awww, oh my god!"

"why didn't we notice this before??"

"wait . . . THAT'S WHY YOUVE BEEN SO BITCHY OVER YOUR STUPID SUNGLASSES?" suguru shouts, his eye twitching as he recalls all of satoru's bitchiness over touching his glasses. "huh? yea . . . wait—y'all aren't weirded out?" you frown. "no?" you sound offended as you answer. "they look fucking cool, move your hair." you stand up and smile, pushing up his fluffy pale hair to see his whole face. "you're so pretty . . . " you mumble, locking eyes with his big set and smile.

ever since then, gojo's been getting quite comfortable not hiding himself (utahime and nanami almost ruined it though). maybe even perhaps too comfortable?

when he finally snagged your heart, you'd go on dates and occasionally sleep in eachother's rooms. the bad thing about that, is satoru is a living nightlight. if he doesn't go to sleep before you, there's six blue beams shining either in your face—or the back of your head. its mostly to annoy you, but—sometimes he just likes looking at you. one thing he does do constantly to irritate you? is manipulate the way his eyes move.

once he gained full control . . . it was over. one thing he does, is frog blink. he mostly does it to catch you off gaurd or distract you. for example, if you're in an argument . . . he will purposefully make his eyes blink at different times to throw you off. and it works, a lot. sometimes you laugh, sometimes you just get really confused, but eitherway your reaction is funny and there's no longer an argument!

it is really adorable when he cries though. his little eyes close in cresents and under them are bright red. they make smaller tears that join up with the big tears . . . and awwww. it was even cuter when he was a baby! tears rolling down his chubby with that cute little baby pout.

don't even get me started if the two of you are able to have a biological child! if his baby has his six little blue eyes? he'll cry—for a multitude of reasons . . .

number one: they look just like they're daddy!

number two: they might have to face what they're daddy went through.

and number three: those six-eyes on a baby look so cute!

because of his upbringing, he will never—and i mean never, fail to shower his kid with love. on their first day of kindergarten he kissed every single eye like you did for him and sent them off with an "daddy love's you." even if non-sorcerers can't see it, when they gets older . . . others will be able to see them. so he drenches them in love, gives them tips to maintain each eye, tells them how to hide them if they really want to. he's literally such a great dad, you love him sm.

bc ppl wanted more, i gave them more! tell me if you want more scenarios with six-eyes gojo or anything like that!

[nilsavatar]

DAY 9 - ACCIDENTAL STIMULATION

Parings: Rotxo x Fem!human

Genre/Warnings: NSFW/MDNI +18, no use of Y/N, SMUT, accidental stimulation, rubbing, fingering, sexual tension, olfactophilia (Rotxo turns on by smelling arousal) praising (baby boy/pretty boy/good boy), Aubree (reader) is slightly older, cursing, edging, sub-Rotxo, size difference. All characters are AGED-UP.

Summary: the research for an octopus-like species turns into a totally different search.

@acts-of-pastel you mentioned you wished for a Rotxo x human. I hope I have met your expectations☺️

Word Count: 3k

Masterlist - Request a fic

The ilu were funny. Prankster, playful creatures, and very affectionate, even with the few humans in Metkayina territory. They reminded her of dolphins in the way they behaved. In fact, just like dolphins, they had established a bond of friendship with the people of the reef.

However, Aubree had overlooked one crucial detail: the sticky skin.

The Ph.D. student had stood on the back of a Pandora animal before, but they had always been land creatures. So, her small size was inconsequential as long as she could grip tightly. The problem with the ilu lay precisely in that. No matter how much strength she put into her legs, she promptly slipped off the back of the mount. Did she press a little with her right knee? That’s when the left would lose its grip and her weight would unbalance until she fell into the water. Ditto if she did the opposite. Squeezing simultaneously with both was out of the question; she didn’t have long enough legs.

The only solution was to ride with an expert, and fortunately for her, Rotxo had been generous enough to offer to carry her himself. She could not have taken Ao’nung’s constant shenanigans. The woman was here to work, not to be ridiculed.

So here they were, on the beach, the salty smell of the ocean filling the air. Rotxo, already astride his ilu, gently extended a hand to her, while Aubree stared skeptically at the animal, wondering which way to mount.

“I’ve got you,” he repeated to her for the millionth time, his kind lips not losing their friendly smile for a second.

That boy was far too good and patient. An angel. The exact opposite of his best friend, she thought and wondered how on earth those two got along. She, in his place, would have gladly pulled off that annoying smirk with which he strutted around.

Really unbearable.

However, her thoughts were not consumed by her bitterness towards the future olo'eyktan. She had a mission: to take a sample of sagittaria ink.

Skuka, the local name for these 1.2 m nautilus-like creatures, had traits similar to terrestrial mollusks, octopuses, squids, and grinders. An incredibly unique species among the aquatic creatures cataloged on Pandora, but one about which very little was yet known because of its shy nature and the ease with which it camouflaged itself among corals and reef bottoms. Despite its bright purple hue, the skilled cephalopod expertly altered its color.

The similarities between Earth and Pandora were nearly overwhelming, despite their existence in separate systems. The universe was not meant to host life. To find it in its vastness, to receive confirmation that we were not the only ones, was a rarity; an exception that confirmed the rule. Yet, encountering the identical elements duplicated, albeit in a chaotic manner and frequently in colossal proportions to meet the tastes of a feeble human within an alternate ecosystem? It was awe-inspiring, a virtual impossibility.

Pandora's name had become synonymous with achieving the unachievable.

Sagittaria proved incredibly elusive, resulting in a scarcity of publications about it; near to zero. All that was known was the extraordinary special ability to oxygenate not only seawater, but also freshwater. However, just recently, Aubree had set eyes on it for the first time, on an unfortunate specimen caught by reef fishermen, inevitably ending up on the communal dinner menu. While cleaning, the woman noticed a black pouch that they saved to use as a condiment.

The animal’s defensive ink. 

This gave her an idea. If she could analyze the fluid secreted by a live specimen, they could find the answers they were looking for about this curious creature. By chance, the fisherman who had caught the previous octopus was none other than Rotxo, leading her to approach the young diver.

“We gotta go skuka hunting if you're still up for it. We don't have forever,” he said with a slight insistence, dirtying his voice. Her hesitation was making him lose his patience. And the man’s patience was infinite.

Aubree checked one last time that her scuba gear was working and, with a heavy sigh, approached Rotxo, who wasted no further time in lifting her by weight, putting her in the saddle, and anchoring her to his chest with one hand so large that it practically covered her entire abdomen; his thumb pressing on her sternum, placing it right in the middle of her breasts.

Rotxo’s nose curled, tasting a strange note in the air. His mind drew a blank, yet the familiarity was indescribable. It had the sweetness of a ripe fruit, with a touch of spiciness that intoxicated him and caused him to search for the source. He probed carefully. In Aubree's perspective, he appeared to be investigating the absence of predators, unaware of the information her body was betraying.

The completely accidental and unexpected gesture sent a bolt of electricity coursing through her entire body. Like a lightning splitting a tree in two. A thunderbolt that had started where his index finger had pressed on her left nipple (right at the level of her heart, now threatening to explode in her chest) and had ended in the deepest part of her belly. Here an immense heat had sprung up, she was sure had reached her cheeks as well. She never believed that the day would come when she would give thanks for wearing the full mask of the eco-pack over her face. Suddenly, she no longer felt the visceral chill of the ocean penetrate her bones. How could she when all her senses were exclusively focused on the huge man behind her?

When a stronger breath of wind hit them, a whiff of that smell hit him again, along with a scent he knew well.

The scientist’s sugar shampoo.

He had been groping her boob until that moment and, like an idiot, had not even acknowledged it.

With a sudden realization, his orbits split apart, revealing the shock on his face. What he had perceived were her subtle pheromones, barely discernable to most, but not to him. Aubree was ... aroused? For him? Right now, out of all the times. Why? Wasn’t it abominable for human to feel attraction to an alien? Perhaps she was into big stuff.

Great Mother, Rotxo, what the hell are you thinking?

It was a misunderstanding. It had to be. It didn’t make sense. And finally he noticed. Recorded the soft roundness under his palm and that he had held the whole way.

It will surely be embarrassment. He judged the trail of pheromones, not finding the courage to believe there really was more to it.

Not to upset her further, Rotxo slid his hand further to her side and pushed back a little, but this only caused the woman to slip back by the force of gravity, landing precisely on his lower abdomen.

Holding back from moaning was impossible; the parting line in Aubree’s bottom fit his growing erection wonderfully.

The woman was about to apologise by pushing further forward on the ilu’s back when a tight, burning grip on her side silenced her.

“Do not move.” The depth of his voice made her head spin, as if she were about to faint, a soft ringing filling her ears. She wasn’t sure of her voice when shakily she called out to him. 

“Do not talk. Just—,” he exhaled a heavy breath, his voice equally uncertain, “Just do nothing.”

With both palms, he smeared the human on himself — the action already tremendous for his willpower, as all her weight pressed deliciously against his lower abdomen —, then lowered his face to her head, until he buried his nose in her hair. He sniffed her like a cat examines a salmon mousse. Ravenous.

But that wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He needed more.

With trembling fingers, the diver found the zip of her wetsuit and tugged it as far as he could. She shivered, her back suddenly exposed to the cold, but she did not have time to register it, for her body was already in the grip of another kind of shiver. More intense and visceral, which went hand in hand with the hot puffs that escaped from the Na’vi’s nostrils as he explored her bare epidermis. As he did so, he glued her even more tightly to himself and her beautiful ass hit him again, now irrefutably erect, and Aubree missed a beat. Her head grew lighter and lighter, her body more and more uncontrollable. Rotxo’s moans went hand in hand with the dance of her hips.

Rotxo made her feel the outline of his canines on one shoulder, while his hand slid along the outline of her intimacy until he found her swollen clit. Sensitive and erect. She let out a whine. She felt him smile as he rubbed the thick, tight fabric, giving her a pleasant but insufficient friction.

Unsatisfied, Aubree levered the animal’s back to give herself a harder push backwards that made him blow something incomprehensible. His hand crept inside her wetsuit, happily surprised to discover her completely unclothed underneath as he pinched at her nipple, glancing up to catch the moan leaving her plump lips. 

So that’s what she liked. Sweet, filthy little thing.

Satisfied, her back immediately arched and his hands planted themselves on the one remaining on her pelvis. He smiled around her, thrilled to be right. She pushed her ass against him and he groaned, his cock stiffening more than it already was. Fuck, at this rate, he would probably cum through the loincloth, untouched, but he restrained himself. 

“Rotxo,” you mewled. A shiver snaked down his spine at the sound and couldn’t hold back another groan that made the girl look up at him with a racing heart. “Feels good,” she bit into her lip, thighs pressed together.

After more lapses, tugging at her nipple and a playful bite at her shoulder, he approached her face. His gaze fell on her lips, a little reddened and covered with her own saliva. Swollen, eager. 

Fucking mask. 

The other hand quickly found its way to her womanhood, leaning into her as he let her guide him.

He passed her clitoris, teased her fleshy folds and insinuated a fingertip towards the deepest part of her pussy, finding it already magnificently wet and wide. He wore the sensitive ring that tightened around his finger, as if it eagerly sought to trap him, causing a sigh louder than the rest. An unequivocal invitation that he was damned if he was going to refuse it. He pushed the first phalanx lazily to stretch her walls, helping them adjust to a size she had never experienced before. Then he reached for the knuckle and finally found himself sucked in whole. Each millimetre covered corresponded to a higher-pitched cry until Aubree became a whimpering mess.

He couldn’t help wondering how she would act when it was his cock’s turn to sink into her. She would be unconsciously transfixed on him. A dark laugh echoed in his windpipe at the mere thought.

“Put another one in.”

It took him a couple of seconds to register that she had spoken. “What?”

“Put a-another finger.”

“Do it, baby boy.”

“Syulang (flower), I don’t want to hurt you.” He actually wanted to, to be honest. If he hadn’t risked dismembering her, he would have shed his tewng (loincloth) and her diving suit long ago, and slammed her on his cock. But he had to constrain himself, prepare her properly. She was just a little human. Beautiful and fragile, like a crystal.

Shit, that pet name was all he needed to make his knees go soft. He could do nothing but succumb. With no little effort, a second finger took its place next to the first. The burning that pervaded her was almost unbearable, intense, yet addicting. Her mouth was dry because of time she remained wide open in a scream of both pain and pleasure. Small tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

“Right there!” The sweetness of her voice stimulated his excitement even more because every time she made a sound, a fresh wave of her perfume blanketed him. It was exhilarating.

He couldn’t help but let himself get a little cocky, smirking to himself, running his tongue over his lower lip. The obscene sounds coming from her cunt should have mortified her, but nothing of the sort came to mind as she felt her release coming up and teasing the surface. 

She tried to hide her loud moans by biting her lip until it bled, but watching his hand disappeared into her scuba wetsuit, his fingers pumped into her and his thumb twirled over her sweet clit made her head spin. Doing it in the middle of the ocean made the action even more naughty, wild. He was driving her crazy. She couldn’t recall ever being touched so sublimely. 

Sooner than she had expected, Aubree’s thighs trembled from the aftershock, trying to come down from the climax. She lay back on his chest and gasped, trying to catch her breath.  She stared at the sunny sky for a moment, her mind baffled by what had just happened. 

When she finally composed herself, she rose again to stare at him. Her eyes flashed with mischief. She licked her lower lip with excruciating slowness before biting it, giggling. “My turn.” She was still smiling, little smile lines at the corners of her lips and eyes, when she anchored herself to the saddle for support and began to languidly rub her ass against his covered shaft.

His cock was so big and heavy, she could feel it even through the fabric. Hard and throbbing. He let out a broken moan, staring at her with hooded eyes. Even without a skin-to-skin touch, it was absolutely incredible; the material gave that extra friction that made him fall into a spiral, and for a moment he considered not taking off his tewng at all.

As she approached the point where Rotxo needed her most, she moved her hands to support her pelvis. She imagined having him inside her. Ripping into her spongy walls in a deliciously painful way, before fucking her stupid. He was so big that she would surely cum several times in a row.

“Please don't stop.” 

Who would’ve guessed he was the begging type? Aubree smiled devilishly, giving herself a more mighty momentum, only for him to throw his head back.

“Relax, pretty boy.” He was struggling to hold it together. Just having her ass on him was enough. He couldn’t even imagine what her mouth would feel like. Him hitting the back of her throat, filling it with so many streams of seed, making her swallow every single drop of it. Fuck, and your pussy. Just at the idea, pre-cum dripped to patch the cloth.

She stooped a little more to change the angle. His aquamarine eyes were fixed on hers and a hand rested on her back to steady her. Or perhaps to keep him grounded. He groaned. She gasped in surprise when Rotxo grabbed her butt, keeping her there.

His dick pulsated. The veins were more evident than before. He was close. “Be a good boy and cum for me.”

“N-no,” he said, eyebrows coming together and lips parting. He looked away from her only to kiss her back, nibbling at the soft skin. 

“I know you need to cum.”

“I’ll do anything you want, but please, not like this. I can’t...” his fingers dug into the flesh of her bottom, moaning louder now.

“Don’t worry, pretty boy. Just let it go.”

His hips stuttered as he stifled a moan, no longer knowing where to put his hands. She rubbed herself against him faster and he gasped, moaning hopelessly, almost choking on his own saliva.

His long, prolonged wailing was because he had shot his sperm entirely into his tewng, like an inexperienced kid. His cock throbbed and twitched as he continued to empty himself, his thighs quivering. He used an arm to cover part of his face as he emitted low whines.

“Don’t make that face. I’ll pull another one out of you.” Her playful smile made him hard again. She was so... so alluring. Charming and seductive. He hadn’t planned to fall into her hands, but there he was. Ensnared by her mesmerizing stare, he couldn't break free. He was left speechless, grappling for something to say. Every fiber of his being yearned for her, an insatiable hunger that could not be denied.

She moved up, leaning forward to stretch a hand between his legs to reach his aching erection, taking its heavy length in her frail hand. He let out a shuddering breath, blinking as he felt her tease the tip of his cock. 

“Strip.” Fuck, he was about to lose it again. 

Her name sounded heavenly coming from his beautiful lips, his eyes already begging her to keep doing what she was doing.

But suddenly Aubree’s gaze changed. Her head snapped to one side toward the seabed, too deep for her to really see it. Yet something had caught her attention.

A purple blur moved sinuously but funny against the current.

The woman’s eyes glittered as she trudged back into her wetsuit.“Rotxo, a sagittaria!”

“What?”

“A skuka!” she sat back down, her back to him, ready to chase after the cephalopod. "Come on, now," she said, her tone laced with impatience.

“But, but…” He was so stunned that he couldn't find his words.

She threw him a wink. We'll finish this up later on. You'll get a sweet reward if you fetch that skuka for me.”

He couldn’t believe that between him and an octopus, Aubree would choose the octopus. A fucking octopus!

But with the tantalizing prospect of being profusely thanked later, he swallowed his huff and commanded the ilu to set off in pursuit of the mollusc. Already anticipating his prize.

Special thanks to @pandoraslxna for the prompt!

[twilitseas]

-> 5 min ships, GokuAle ver.

because @einsatzzz asked the other day! a decade and a half later these two finally have one of these dhfksj

its 3am and im too tired to shade forgive me-- anyway!! extras bc i can and some of the stuff might be like "???"

-> Ale was one of the unfortunate ocs that got their creation date as their birthday, so finding out they're only a week younger than Hayato is actually really funny shdjfk canon-ly, we'll say he likes to hold that over their head sometimes just to annoy them-

-> Ale is very much about PDA, and is definitely more physical/touchy than Hayato! He's more about words, and he'll get flustered sometimes when Ale gets too affectionate

-> "popular/charismatic" ... i think they couldn't care less honestly??

-> both of them can simultaneously either be "they both can cook" or "they both just order take out" at any given time. Ale doesn't like to cook, but they can. Hayato likes cooking, he just never has the urge to.

-> Ale's never had a relationship before, so self-explanatory there. I-- I hc that Hayato hasn't really either?? they're both just messes I'm sorry-

-> They've both gotten really good at telling when something is wrong with the other, without any overtly obvious signs -- like being able to tell when the other is upset when they haven't even said anything yet.

-> Ale confesses first, but Hayato is the one who proposes! Kind of like "you got us here, now I'm getting us further" kinda deal. Also Ale's constant "It's your move now~" comments eventually get to him LMAO

-> OKAY IVE MENTIONED IT BEFORE I THINK BUT-- THE "WHO DIES PROTECTING THE OTHER" IS ACTUALLY A BIG THING FOR THEM because Ale technically was supposed to die for him, but funny how Curses sometimes don't work out right ahahAHAHA-

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

hey if you feel comfortable

can you maybe explain the espave ship? like whats the chemistry? what makes you like them and see them working as a couple? (or not lmao)

HI ANON! first of all, it’s totally fine to be on anon for this but jsyk (and everyone else) i absolutely THRIVE on questions about my purple bisexuals. i’ve probably answered this a billion times but that won’t stop me from saying it again because i love excuses to ramble fkdkfkdisidsi

SO, in terms of canon stuff, i have always adored the chaotix and rogues as a group dynamic. WAY before idw did it too (and i personally think they did it very wrong. ian flynn on record states that he hates the rogues and doesn’t want to write them well but i’ll save that can of worms for another day)

anyways, espio and wave have very similar predicaments for their team dynamic. they’re both typecast as the “intelligent, voice of reason” who is often ignored by their (green) leaders which leads to a lot of passive aggressiveness. they’re both extremely arrogant, which is really hard to combat considering they’re both too intelligent to dismiss. wave is a mechamechanical genius who in certain fields, canonically surpasses tails and eggman, one of the world’s best extreme gear riders, brilliant at melee combat, translates ancient runes and artifacts, is an accomplished thief, and will verbally spar you to death. espio is a detective ninja chameleon who can turn invisible, run as fast as sonic and shadow, jump into computers, control the wind a bit, is fluent in 17 languages (which implies he learns a new one every year) and so on.

so like… they’re both OP as fuck while simultaneously ignored by their teams AND the fandom which is really funny (read as: annoying) for me to deal with

anyways, on a deeper level, wave’s neglect is… really sad. i talk about it a lot, both in-lore and in terms of how the fandom treats her, and the worst part is that it’s played for jokes. a lot of people interpret her as wanting to lead the rogues which directly contradicts the canon: she wants JET to be a good leader and puts all her energy and effort into mentoring him so he can lead on his own. hijacking the rogues wouldn’t do any good and she genuinely thinks he can grow into his position despite being so young. and yet… she’s ignored. she does so much for the team and really tries to be patient, but can you blame her for being so jaded and dismissive when all her life’s work goes shoved aside and played for jokes? that cutscene in riders really always upset me because she’s clearly giving a long speech with good intentions, and jet just… walks away. and her reaction implies people do this to her all the time.

cutting away to espio for a second, i’d like to point out that as the knuckles chaotix manual states, espio was the ONLY chaotix member to be a detective before they formed. long before we had the chaotix as a team, espio was already a PI who was on angel island to explore its history, culture, and suspicious activity. this was always who he is, because he is inquisitive and perceptive by his very nature. his name in spanish MEANS “i spy” and its also short for espionage. THIS IS HIS WHOLE LIFE! so yeah, espio loves to ask questions. it’s also noted he has a rivalry with knuckles because he’s jealous the echidnas have such a rich and extensive cultural history, considering he doesn’t. note that he eventually became a ninja as if to appear like he does LMAO

okay, so. we have a character with rich cultural history who is extremely intelligent and neglected, and then another character who is obsessed with rich cultural history who is extremely intelligent and loves to listen to people.

… see what i’m proposing here? LMAO

espio and wave, despite being on opposite ends of an affluent spectrum, are cut from the same cloth in terms of their team dynamics, and the cores of their individuality answer one another. you can even look at their chase for money as a compelling foil, while also taking into consideration the detective/thief dynamic.

espio, unlike most characters, would not only be very interested in everything wave has to say, he’d actually be intelligent enough (and a very fast learner) to actually ENRICH the dialogue. wave finally has someone to talk to, and he’s not exactly innocent, so she has an arrogant verbal sparring partner that’ll humble them both through their discussions.

it’s here i’d also like to point out that espio is taken for granted too. maybe not as much as wave is, as it’s very hard to find a character treated as poorly by her team while also getting no pathos, but espio is ignored in his own ways. looking past how he’s dismissed at times, espio is character-typed by everyone around him. yes, he’s a ninja, but that’s not all he is. yes, he’s the voice of reason at times, but he’s also extremely vain and reckless with canonical anger issues. people want to talk about how he could be some great shinobi warrior, forgetting that the only reason sega made him a ninja was because naruto was popular at a time 😭 i’m not saying he’s a poser and a weeb, but he clearly puts up this front of being a super serious guy… which works. too well. it fools most of the fandom LMAO. but espio is actually really funny, witty, cocky, and playful. dare i say whimsical? he likes CAMPING, GUYS! THAT’S ONE OF HIS INTERESTS, YET I SEE NO CONTENT OF HIM BUSTING OUT A PORTABLE GEORGE FORMAN GRILL IN THE MIDDLE OF MYSTIC JUNGLE, DO I? anyways, espio’s persona is a lie, and yet if anyone were to question it, he’d be more like himself. but no one ever does. they take his front as fact and never consider delving into who he is as a person, beyond the act he has on. and it’s not like he’s good at hiding it either, sonic x showcases how stupid he really is at times LMAO

okay, i’ve zig-zagged around a lot, but it’s safe to say i really love both these characters and think they could fix each other

… for the canon series. i personally like to have them make each other worse before getting mildly better, because it’s way more fun to write hehehehe. i’ll save that for another ask because this is already a wall of text, but do ask me more stuff if this hasn’t scared you off, because i love getting to do this!

[zayray030]

What are your thought on canon vs fanon type fics where they both meet

Or another example would be canon meeting genderswapped ver

Or canon meeting age swap/role swap ver

OR CANON MEETING RSA STUDENT VERSIONS where both side are disappointed in the other and there's a ton of rivalries just going on

Oh my god oh my god oh my god

Fanon vs Canon would be funny lmfao

If its the woobiwfied versions the entire cast is just DISGUSTED!! They are staring in horror whilst simultaneously retching at the sight. Oh my god if the other stutters!!! Bullying their alt version then and there they don't give a fuck

If its the yandere version of them they are just SO put off and annoyed by their presence and will try and strangle them lmao

Like floyd will try and punt his version because he'd just be so annoyed by their existance

Meanwhile Riddle and Ace are going through the 5 stages of grief rverytime they interact with their fanon versions

Vil is having an existential crisis about how the media perceives him

Kalim is lowkey annoyed by his version because it makes all those ugly feelings from Jamils overblit rise again

Cater is cringing so so so much at fanon him. Like, everytime he sees him he has to bite back a scream and just smile

Leona is so annoyed. What the actual fuck. He sleeps sure but he does so so so much more

Malleus is also really miffed. His one personality trair is not being lonely

Age swap/role swap is so interesting

A lot of the current dynamics we have u canon is simply based of their ages let's be honest.

If Epel was older he would not be dealing with Vil's disrespect of his accent and stuff.

Ruggie might struggle more if he was older and didn't have Leona's immediate protection

Riddle if he was tounger honestly wouldn't change much but he might get called out sooner or he'll just continue as is if he was older

Ace would either be more mischievous or malicious

Sebek might be a lot calmer since he wouldn't be in school fawning over Malleus

Malleus might actually be able to make it to events since he'll have Sebek lmao. And like he wouldn't be housewarden

A lot of these changes would change the fundamental structure of the characters interactions and dynamics and seeing them meet canon versions will cause some form of whiplash

Like let's say see have Vil and epel meets role/age swap. Like seeing how things could have happened must be humbling to an extent

RSA AND NRC RIVALRY LET'S GOOOOO

So I saw a bunch of RSA fanart before and I had a few ideas about RSA ace and NRC Ace swapping places and the chaos that would cause

But I can just imagine everyone cringing from their nice versions because it would just feel so SLIMY to them for some reason

I can just imagine them turning around and shuddering whilst making eye contact

They can't even have civil conversations because NRC keeps turning it into a fight because they think their RSA counterpart is trying to start a fight

[tiktaaliker]

my thoughts on the stuff ive listened to during work; note that im not basing my reviews on how good the actual book is, its based on how my personal experience was to listen to the audiobook while working in the lab

Animorphs books 1-3: i read this series as a kid but only once, so i was familiar with the story enough to not get distracted but i had forgotten enough of the details to be kept engaged. Voice acting was fine, tolerable to listen to, character voices distinct enough to differentiate without being annoying (albiet with at least one exception). Biggest issue is length- since my shifts are 8 hours, i got through the first 3 books in a single shift, and the specific version i was listening to was split up into a handful of short parts each book so i kept having to switch to the next video, which was way too much of a momentum-stopper (and work interruption) to stick with this series specifically.

The Witcher books 1+2: eh. was fine enough. once again this was something i was familiar enough with to follow without having to worry too much about missing details, while also being somewhat entertaining. i think i liked it a lot better to read than to listen to. voice acting was fine. biggest issue was that i had finally gotten used to the narrator pronouncing dandelion as dan-DIL-leon for the first book but in the second book he switched to pronouncing it as DAN-dee-lion and i had to stop partway through because of it

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: i remember enjoying reading it a lot more than listening. Ill be the first to admit that im kind of picky about audiobook narration and this one just didnt hit right, but was overall a good experience. Voice acting was fine, and the actual story was very entertaining as expected. Perfectly acceptable.

Discworld books 1-2: extremely good listens. Voice acting was great, character voices were fun and fit the characters really well, only skirted the line of being annoying. fantastic story, but not too complicated or unfamiliar, so i could still follow and be entertained while still focusing on work. Will probably continue the series at some point, but giving myself a buffer period before i start up again to avoid series burnout

Malevolent parts 41-44 (catching up with the podcast lol): man. theres just something about listening to a guy getting gutted and filled with maggots while working in the lab of a hospital. like broooo you are going to get sepsis!!! Very good listen, as expected, just kinda funny trying to keep a straight face while talking to coworkers and simultaneously listening to arthur's no good very bad day

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: probably the best one so far for what im using these for. The length meant i was able to spend like 4 whole shifts on the one audiobook. Footnotes were incorporated fantastically, narrator and voice acting was phenomenal, and its also pretty much my favorite book of all time. Ive read this SEVERAL times, but because of how fucking huge this thing is theres a lot of details i forgot about or misremembered. Only issue is that it was split up into several audio tracks, so i had to switch to the next one a few times per shift. They were each around 2 hours long however, so it wasnt too inconvenient. Also at one point i fucked up and accidentally skipped like 8 whole hours without realizing until after an hour in where they referenced an event i KNEW i hadnt gotten to yet lol

Catch-22: man they really went all fucking OUT on the voice acting here. All characters are EXTREMELY distinct, so im very easily able to tell who's talking even without speaking tags. One of my pet peeves in audiobooks is when the narrator whisper-yells when a character is meant to be screaming. That does not happen here. Narrator fucking COMMITS. Yelling, sobbing, laughing, all of it. Fucking fantastic. Phenomenal as an audiobook, i think i mightve even enjoyed it even better than actually reading it.

Slaughterhouse-five: man. this one is ALSO an audiobook that is fucking PHENOMENAL. biggest problem is that i got WAYYY too into it. I really needed to just sit down and soak it in, which was not very condusive to a workplace environment. I now have a self-imposed limit where im not going to be listening to any more vonnegut books from now on because i KNOW itll have a similar affect

His majesty's dragon: this one couldve been good, but the recording i found was not. The guy reading it did a big spiel at the beginning of each chapter and kept adding unneeded commentary like it was a middle school read along. Im going to be getting a library card today so i can use libby, so i might come back to this once i get access to an actual official audiobook lol

murder on the orient express: nope. barely lasted three minutes into this one

percy jackson and the lightning thief: see this is an example of something ive actually read too many times as a kid so i know the book too well for an audiobook to be entertaining. Dropped it after less than a chapter.

the kane chronicles: had potential, i remember liking the story a lot as a kid but i hadnt read it nearly as much as the pjo series, and i think it wouldve been at least vaguely entertaining. However, half the book has one of the narrator sdoing a really bad british accent for his sister's voicelines and i just couldnt do it. i didnt have the strength. Dropped after maybe 4 chapters.

Camp Damascus: the only audiobook of the lot that i actually bought, and the first one i got through that i hadnt read the physical book before. Interesting story, ok voice acting. Solid choice to listen to. Not quite what i was expecting, but pretty good story! Had some EXTREMELY gnarly descriptions of body horror thrown in at like. two points of the story maybe. Didnt really affect me personally but kinda threw me off in a 'this feels like a different story entirely' sort of way. Dont have much else to say here since these reviews are more talking about my experience with these as audiobooks specifically, and i havent read the book itself to be able to compare this one.

[honey-tragedy]

a least to most likely list of which of the robins would hide injuries

dick, is surprisingly the least likely to hide injuries. he got told sence he was able to walk and do stunts that improperly cared for injuries could not only harm him but other performers and thats stuck with him. add in being the leader of the teen titans and trying to set a good example for them, hes fully open with his injuries when hes hurt.

--dick has a spread sheet of injury and when he got them, he thinks it funny

tim is the second least likely to hide injuries, now this is only because in the first year or two of being robin haveing a infection or improperly cared for wound would take him out of the field and away from doing damage control with bruce. and now its just a habit too keep track of his injuries

---tim would hid older injuries that wouldn't effects his field capabilities (spleen spleen spleen) but not anything recent or pressing

up next is duke! duke as the leader of the we are robins thing has had to deal with idiots under his command hideing injuries and he refuses to add that stress onto bruce and alfred. he knows how annoying and worrying it is to have to wonder if your people are actually field ready or lieing too you.

--he would only hid injuries if they came from civilian life or for a stupid thing like triping off a roof or swinging into a wall, but like tim he wouldnt if it was something big or would affect his capabilities

steph is next up, were edgeing into would definitely hide shit, steph does not see bruce as a parent and barely sees him as a boss. shes a latch key kid with a terrible dad and a try her best but not get mom, no way in hell would she come out with injuries outload but she would let alfred treat her if it came up. prefers to go to Leslie cause she trusts her more, and as such bruce usually only hears about her injuries after the fact.

---steph fully mocks bruce that if he was the worlds greatest detective he would know when shes hurt, goes to Leslie or alfred if its really bad

this was a toss up, but damian is next, assassins dont really lend them selves to being good people to tell that your injured, even the ones ment to serve you. damian is basically allergic to telling anyone anything is actually wrong with him ever, unless its him and bruce one of one. bruce is essentially the only person he trusts enough to admit hes injured.

--getting damian to admit hes injured is like trying to give a feral cat a bath, no one likes doing it but its necessary sometimes

jason!! second to last on the list, jason would actually fully chew off his own leg then tell the bats hes injured ever. not only because he doesn't trust 90% of them not to use it to fuck him over, but also because bruce will become simultaneously the most helicopter parent and the emotional brick wall the second he knows Jason's hurt, its honestly worse then being shot to see him try and ground jason like hes still a child, while also being full emotional brick wall batman mode

--jason has pushed tim down the bottomless pit in the cave before just so he could bolt before bruce could quarantine him in the cave cause he got hurt, jason would fully fist fight his way out of the batfam then ever admit hes hurt

and to round it off cass! cass will slink away to hide and lick her wound and you would never know shes hurt unless she lets you. raised as a weapon i dont think David cain was the kinda person to treat an injury with anything other then disappointment, and cass still sees her own injury as failures in her training. shes fully capable of doing most of her own medical care and useing it to her advantage in avoiding telling anyone her injuries.

--cass broke her arm once and as soon as it was put in a cast no one saw her tell it was fully healed. not even bruce is sure where she was or what she was doing during those months

[punkrockmlchael]

Matchmaker Roz, please make me a match 💫

My name is Lee (they/them)

My favorite movie is Mamma Mia, I watch it at MINIMUM 3 times a year. My favorite song is Sarah by Alex G (honorable mention is Doodlin' by Dusty Springfield. IT'S FUNNY OKAY) I've had a lot of Green Day, Devon Again, and The Go-Go's on repeat recently. I'm proudly an "i listen to everything!" type of annoying person. I collect teapots, I'm at 9 right now but its only been a year since i started. Also I have a strange affinity for teeth, idk. I wear my brothers wisdom teeth around on a necklace (he hates it. Giving me his wisdom teeth was the greatest gift he's given me and simultaneously his worst mistake) Lastly, I have pretty bad noise sensitivity. I have a small dent in my head from where my headphones sit since I wear them everywhere i go lmfaooo. But I blast my music at crazy loud volumes so..... duality of man I guess?

Im so excited to see what you do with this!!

✨️🧡⭐️🫖🌙🍊☀️

leeeeee! hii, my friend! thank you thank you for coming to my matchmaking services and for trusting me with your matches!

Your best friend match from Corroded Coffin is Freak (Grant). You both are a "I will listen to everything!" type of person when it comes to music and because of that, you two click. It literally doesn't matter the day, if one of you is feeling music that you wouldn't normally listen to, you just sit there and listen along to it without judgment. He is always down for those long car rides sharing new music you recently discovered.

As for your lover match from Corroded Coffin, I’m feeling Eddie! He secretly loves your little habits of collecting teapots and don't even get him started on the necklace with wisdom teeth. He really thinks that's the coolest shit ever and honestly, he's kind of upset that he didn't think of it first. (Careful, he will steal that necklace if you leave it unattended). He loves sharing new music with you as well, since you'll listen to just about anything. You actually met at a record store! He was looking for some new metal music to listen to and you were literally just browsing for anything that caught your eye. He wasn't paying attention to you and ran into you, apologizing immediately after. You two started talking about music and when you said you were looking for something new and that you'll listen to anything, oh he had so many recommendations to share with you. He invited you to his house to show you his music collection and well, the rest is history.

want a match? -> Corroded Coffin Matchmaker

[atamascolily]

Thunderbolt Fantasy ships, summarized

Lin Xue Ya/Shang Bu Huan - The inherent eroticism of fucking your narrative foil--simultaneously your opposite and complement. More importantly, it's about sexualizing that old man and annoying the hell of out him at the same time.

Lin Xue Ya/Sha Wu Sheng - These two have everything: history, chemistry, betrayal, graveyard drinking dates, and a promised rendezvous in the afterlife. Also, bird themes.

Lang Wu Yao/Shang Bu Huan - If "I would go to the ends of the earth for you AND kill anyone who looks at you funny" makes you feral, this is the ship for you. Bonus: Ling Ya as the sassy wingman.

Lang Wu Yao/Lin Xue Ya - The man who never talks and the man who can't stop talking. Rivals to hatesex to a threesome with Shang, what's not to like?

Lang Wu Yao/Mu Tiang Ming - Is there anything sexier than a duet to the death? I thought not.

Mu Tian Ming/Shang Bu Huan - Lang clearly thinks this is a thing, but IDK?? Make it a threesome and everybody wins.

Shang Bu Huan/Wan Jun Po - The Xi You Hot Dads Squad and old man yaoi at its finest. The inherent tragedy and drama of two morally upstanding people ultimately driven apart by whether the ends justify the means.

Dan Fei/Juan Can Yun - Canon. I'm not the first person to make this joke, but it's true: "She's everything. He's just Ken." Utterly adorable.

Dan Fei/Xing Hai - A cleric dedicated to fighting evil and a demon necromancer whose greatest wish is to crush humanity like a bug. A crackship with surprising potential. Please, tell me more!

Lin Xue Ya/Xing Hai - Technically canon in the light novels, where he tricked her into falling in love with him before humiliating her. No wonder she hates his guts--he's the ex-boyfriend from hell who shows up on her doorstep to ask for a favor.

Xing Hai/Juan Can Yun - This may have actually happened in S3 and neither party is happy about it.

Lou Zhen Jie/Seven Blasphemous Deaths - Another canon ship, this time between a nihilist ex-monk and his evil sword wife. I love that this show asks "Would you really love her if she was a worm a sexy demon lady?" and LZJ's response is "HELL NO". They deserve each other.

Lin Xue Ya/Xiao Kuang Jun - These two fucked at least once in S2, I don't make the rules. How else am I supposed to read Xiao pinning Lin to a bed followed by an immediate cut away, and him leading Lin around the countryside on a leash? There was motive and opportunity, and it's a punishment for both of them for wildly different reasons.

Lang Wu Yao/Xiao Kuang Jun - Remember, Xiao was the one to "discover" Lang and was his first patron at the Xi You court. Make what you will of this.

Lang Wu Yao/Chao Feng - Adding sex to their canon relationship would change almost nothing, but since when has the yandere murder princess ever cared about ethics and boundaries?

Lang Wu Yao/Xing Hai - A crackship for now, but you never know… they were last seen in each other's company.

Xie Ying Luo/Therapy - This woman is not ready for a relationship right now, she needs to find herself and make better life choices. Talking to Di Kong does NOT count!!

[becauseplot]

Last night I finished Ordem Paranormal: Calamidade Episode 2! A five hour episode---lots of things to think about lots of things to talk about, hooooo boy.

Second set of characters! Second set of characters! More little guys for me to rotate!

Going into this season, I already knew that there was going to be another team of players/characters moving through the story, but this doesn't make it any less of a delight! So happy to see Luis, Triz, and João back in action, and now we have a couple new players, Mount and Zero. Exciting!

I suppose this is what Cellbit meant when he said at the beginning of the season that even he doesn't know how this story will end. Since we have our "good guys" team and "bad guys" team, the success of their respective order's missions is going to depend directly on the players' actions. The fate of the story has been almost entirely put in the hands of the players. And now whatever happens, happens.

This episode wasn't particularly plot-heavy: mostly just a bunch of fights one after the other. But that's not to say this episode wasn't without its moments. And it certainly didn't feel like it was lacking on the character-front, no sir. It was a pretty fun episode for me, because I love watching fights---not as much as I love watching character moments, but the fights are fun as well. And they can also lead to character moments!

Depicted: the Escripta crew demonstrates all five stages of grief simultaneously as T-Bag takes 38 damage in a single round from Signore Leone.

Alright let's go down the list.

Demir and Boris! Lumping them together because I. I'm sorry I don't have any major feelings about them right now. They exist! They seem to be twins! They had a brother whose name I can't quite remember but presumably died to something to do with the Devil, if I remember correctly. All the more reason to want to do away with the paranormal. Could they be the same brothers that the previous case was about? Probably not, but interesting that we have some characters with a direct history with the Devil. I just really think it's funny that this is the second time Luis has played a character with a "body double" if that makes sense. I don't quite know how to articulate it but out there exists some sort of Venn-Diagram between Damir and Luci/Fer with a non-zero middle part.

Anyway very interesting combat strategy they have, with Damir using rituals to buff Boris' weapon and defense for combat. They both care deeply about each other, as is obvious with the ways they try to stick close and protect each other. They're not just siblings, they're a functional duo! Also I believe it was Demir who said, when "the Devil" showed up, "This is not our fight." Something like that. Do I sense a hint of reluctance to fight for the Escriptas? To lay down your life for them? Why join in the first place? Is it better to cut your losses? Incheresting... (I could also be completely making this up, but I'm too lazy to go back and check.)

T-Bag! The rabid feral dog of the team! Auto subs hated whatever the hell he was saying about killing his dad but I'm convinced that 50% of what was coming out of his mouth was unhinged nonsense so it's...alright, I suppose. I find it infinitely hilarious that this guy has one of the largest sanity stats of the whole team. Yeah he might be crazy but he's not crazy, you know? His craziness is not a detriment to him, it's just how he is. Just a hungry little cannibal guy <3 Just looking for his next meal <3 Eating Artemis' possum for a snack to tide him over <3

Artemis! Firstly her personality is. So funny? Whenever shit is going down she always seems annoyed, like, "Man, now this is happening? Come on. 🙄" And meanwhile the "this" that is happening is a bunch of people are beating the shit out of each other and trying to murder her. When Gal (we'll get to him a second don't worry) sat down on that table in the front room to do his typical postering bullshit, Artemis just rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the way so that she could level her sniper on it. And that endeared me to her immediately <3 So sorry Triz's little possum friend got eaten two seconds into the season. 2 for 2 on dead animal friends, I'm afraid. Funny to think about how the Marcados are (theoretically) connected to each other by their players, and Triz's characters unfortunately inherited the link of "Animal friends who perch on your shoulder get their necks snapped." Sorry :T

Oh yeah and she's a cannibal too! Diversity win! There are two cannibals on the team and they are very different people who come from clearly very different walks of life and have a different style of cannibalism! That really caught me off guard. When she started to eat the dead body beside T-Bag I was shocked and absolutely delighted. Oh, she's a little fucked up too! And she can shape-shift, apparently! Artemis always kept me guessing this episode. Love her <3

Teammates <3

And of course, we now come to Gal. The bastard. The melodramatic sadistic motherfucker who's been here since the beginning of this shitshow. I've said this a billion times in the discord but GOD I love how João plays him. João's performative playstyle is absolutely perfect for a performative, arrogant character like Gal. Ever since his first appearance in OPD, João has put his heart and soul into making this character fucking rotten and wrong and sick, and it works. so. well. Like I said, you LOVE to hate this guy. Gal is a fantastic character, expertly crafted to be the perfect villain. Even on a meta level---João will sometimes go as far as to interrupt Cellbit just to keep being evil (cutting off the closing narration of OPD ep 6 to continue describing how Gal goads at Joui and co about Liz's death, to keep counting up his dice on the attack on the first Leone even after Cellbit has told him the guy is dead) and even goad the players (OPD finale, at Guaxi: "Might want to start thinking about a new character, eh?") to make sure that you hate this guy's putrid shriveled guts. No joke, when João showed up on the screen and Gal's little icon appeared on the tabletop, I just about foamed at the mouth.

My genuine reaction on discord.

GOD I love Gal. I want to rip his throat out with my bare hands. I would do unspeakable things to this character and I do NOT mean in the sexy way.

But! We got to see a little more of Gal as a person this session, which I really loved. Seeing him outside of combat and interacting with his subordinates was so much fun. He's fond of some of the Escriptas under his command (when they're not annoying him), especially his "son" Dagan. The way he treats Dagan is almost pet-like and sickly sweet, emphasis on the sickly. He ruffles his hair, brings him gifts, smiles fondly at the thought of Dagan having fun murdering a bunch of people in the rooms upstairs. Honestly it's kind of cute? In a fucked up way to be sure. Still cute though. That's Gal's little guy! Everyone needs a little guy!

I think at the heart of Gal's leadership style is that he has no patience for dealing with people who he thinks should know better. Otherwise, he's chill with you---or as chill as this sadistic bastard can be---and will even try to care for you.

POV: you have to explain to your stupid lackey for the second time that the evidence needs to be translated because you don't speak Italian.

Because on some level, he cares. It shows in how he treats Dagan, it shows on how gently he treated that one soft-spoken girl with the dyed hair (whereas Damir just snapped at her for not making eye-contact when she was talking to him, the dick), it shows in how he tried to do something stop Signore Leone from advancing when Signore Leone used his lionhead mace to throw Artemis against the wall, and it shows how when "the Devil" showed up, Gal looked to Kian and said, "Don't let them [the Escriptas upstairs] die." Even if he knows that all of them will have to die in the end to achieve Kian's goal of destroying the paranormal, some part of him still cares about his team. Sure, it could be that he just wants to make sure that they maintain enough man-power to see the job all the way through, but...no, it's not entirely that. There's something under the surface there, as twisted as he may be. He is not immune to giving a damn.

Kian. This guy. Fucking nerd. I don't dislike his character but I don't have any super strong feelings about him, probably because we haven't seen him as a character very much at this point. His reasoning behind destroying the paranormal is still some whack-ass shit. Over 4000 years to come up with a plan and THIS is what you arrive at? You're kidding. For a guy who """knows everything""" how could you POSSIBLY miss the detail that massacring thousands of people would, I dunno, CAUSE AGONY AND FEAR, which would, I dunno, WEAKEN THE MEMBRANE AND THUS MAKE THE PARANORMAL INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD WORSE. Chopping heads off hydras is what he's doing. Idiot.

It's talked about during Gal's conversation with Signora Leone in the office upstairs. Interesting for a character to understand and possibly even sympathize with the Escriptas' motivation. Signora Leone wants the paranormal to end too! She would do anything to rid the world of it---anything, that is, that doesn't require murdering thousands of innocent people. Gal tries to justify the mess downstairs as "it's the paranormal that's killing your family" like no bro I'm pretty sure that was you?? I get what he's saying, but if the paranormal no longer exists, or if the world was somehow reformed so that it's like the paranormal never existed, who's to say that the Leone family still wouldn't be involved in some sort of dangerous, non-paranormal dealings? It's such a subjective argument. Second grade level of critical thinking. Guess that's what happens when you get indoctrinated into a cult. "Kian sabe" oh please Kian doesn't "sabe" shit.

Anyway, that's about all I have about this episode. The NPCs were cool, watching Gal babysit his gaggle of weirdos was fun, and I liked the part where they nearly blew up T-Bag by firing a bazooka into a (closed) safe. They're so good at this.

Huh, feel like I'm...forgetting something...

OH WAIT.

JOUI IS BACK! MY BOY! MY BESTEST FAVORITEST BOY IS BACK AND HE IS PISSED.

Good lord. I actually screamed when this happened. I just. Okay how do I manage to take the chanting of jouijouijouijouijouijoui in my head and turn it into something intelligible by other human beings.

Let's start with the fact that I LITERALLY posted my Joui sword OPD rambles when I was less than an hour of episode away from this fight. I was over here angsting over the loss of Joui and missing him and talking about how fucked up it is that Mascara-Joui still has his sword, and then I get hit with this. I just. Okay! Sure! Why not!

To be clear: yes, I had seen Joui's OPC character miniature online before, both with and without the mask, and I knew from friends on the discord that Mascara-Joui had a stat sheet and he was STRONG. But, I figured that because Joui is still technically hanging around, it would make sense that maybe he could be like, a fight-assist NPC that would show up at some point to help the Ordem crew. Still an NPC, still emotionless, still masked, still not really Joui. So to see Luba return and play a version of Joui that CLEARLY retains his Joui-ness had me falling out of my chair. It was the last thing I expected. I really thought Joui's fate would be final, a no-going-back deal, since that's a pretty common theme with Ordem---permanent, inescapable consequences. I really thought that everything that made Joui Joui would be lost forever.

But no. Despite everything, Joui is still here, and he is not empty---he has his hate.

So many fucking questions. Most important of all: how is Joui here? He seems to have retained his memories from before he got masked (some of them, at least) but doesn't recognize who Kian is, mistaking him for Luci/Fer. I've got...one theory. Bear with me now. We know that the Devil is some sort of big-shot paranormal entity thing* who seems to thrive off of making pacts with humans. So, the Devil would not be too happy with people who are trying to stop the paranormal. This would include both the Order and the Escriptas, and especially the Escriptas since they're seeking to end the paranormal for good. So, perhaps the Devil used its power (made a pact with Joui somehow?) to restore Mascara-Joui and send him after the Escriptas. The Devil HAS to have something to do with this, considering the walls began to bleed when Joui showed up upstairs---something we know from ep 1 signals the arrival of the Devil---and the mention on the radio of someone claiming to see the Devil (perhaps it made a brief appearance before leaving Joui to it).

*A correction to the previous journal post: this is not the first time we have encountered a seemingly sentient paranormal entity! The God of Death from OSNF was clearly intelligent as well! I have other thoughts about this but they're kinda meta so I won't put them here.

Also, Joui is a very Death-coded character: his pensiveness and the fact that he often thinks back on what has happened when he meditates, the motif of death hanging over him since that night in the graveyard where his friends died, being frozen and helpless to the inevitable as Liz was killed in front of him, his dead-set motive to kill all of the Escriptas following said death, his fate being taken out of his hands and sealed when he made the deal with the Mascaras (more inevitability) and being in a downward spiral trying to kill himself in combat over and over leading up to the deadline. There's probably the more, but that's the gist. I do believe Joui's NEX is well beyond 50%, and he's got to be Death.

Here, though, I see both Death and Blood. Death is in his single-mindedness in this fight. He's like a force of nature, unstoppable, inescapable, inevitable. Given enough time in that fight, he would've killed them all, there's no doubt about it. Blood is in the hate, the sheer hate, he has for Gal and the Escriptas. It is potent. Death is often distinguished the absence of emotion and the inconsequentiality of the flesh, so the hate and violent rage Joui feels cannot be from Death. It has to be Blood, and the Devil I'm sure would be happy to help fill in those gaps. Joui's hate and anger brewed for a majority of OPD, so the Devil has plenty to work with. I love to see my boy cranked up to an 11.

And the fight. Needless to say, it was incredible. Every line out of Luba's mouth was a banger, every attack and action he did had me losing my mind. What I loved the most was how Cellbit, Luba, and João worked together to make Joui Jouki the scariest motherfucker ever. Both João and Luba can be pretty descriptive with their character's actions, so they complimented each other perfectly. João's RP skills really shone here, playing into the choices that Joui made and making it clear how affected Gal was by this fight. If you've got the guy who revels in pain fleeing from the fight, you know it's serious. When Joui cut off Gal's arm and Luba apologized to João ("sorry, friend") João just smiled, nodded, and respected it. God that is. PEAK RP right there. Genuine appreciation for other players' decisions, even if it's at the expense of your own character.

And actually---who says it's an expense? Gal has clearly been shaken up by this fight. Like João said, he's in shock. He lost his arm, the Escriptas are being slaughtered all around him, and Kian has seemingly abandoned him. There's plenty for João to work with here. I'm excited to see what he does with Gal, now that Gal's façade has finally cracked.

A final note about Joui... He really has changed, hasn't he? Yes, the anger is his. As I said, it's been brewing since OPD, but here, he is just out of control. No more of that self-discipline. He doesn't care anymore. He's angry. His hatred is beyond words. He has nothing but fury living inside him. Maybe that really is all he has left. I love the detail that his sword now heals people, but heals them wrong: a painful, twisted scar, leaving the flesh "rotten." That's what Joui kind of feels like now. A scar that healed wrong. A man restored but twisted by his pain and anger. And he will kill them all, one by one.

[FOLLOWING CONSTAINS SPOILERS FOR QUARANTENA]

And to finish it off: Joui tearing Hanna apart, limb from limb, furious, not reveling in it but dead-set on making her suffer just as he has before finally, finally killing her. Not really Nidere-core (Nidere definitely reveled in it fhdsk) but it is in my heart. Ouppy <3

[marenreviews]

TAROT

1.5/5⭐️ / 31.5/100

SPOILERS BELOW CUT

— The monsters and designs really interested me, so I was skeptics when the hate train exploded last May when this came out. After putting it off for 11 months, I finally clicked play… I’ll save you the trouble, the first 20 minutes is ass. No monsters to save them, just the shitty characters. Disappointing and frustrating. If you watch it with the right people, it could be funny… hopefully.

- Characters : 1/10 - Everyone except for Ned(forgot his name already) and Avantika(Paige?) was annoying. Would’ve taken a whole movie just about them and no one else.

- Plot : 3/10 - Very interesting, but poorly executed. The lore to it was… fine. It could’ve been pushed to be less predictable and stereotypical, and definitely could’ve used something to link the characters to the deck instead of pure stupidity.

- Cinematography : 4/10 - I enjoyed the creative shots and the colour grading… if only I could fucking see it. Tell me why the whole thing was barely visible, even with my brightness all the way up. Trash fire of a production.

- Script : 1.5/10 - A script is only as good as its characters, and with such awful characters it’s no surprise it felt aimless, slow and exhausting.

- Acting : 3/10 - Avantika ate this the hell up. Everyone else felt like they were acting out of their ass just for a paycheck. No passion at all, at least one of them is a good actor.

- Pacing : 1/10 - Simultaneously too fast and too slow. It takes real talent to something so ineffably bad.

- Music : 2/10 - Despite personally being a fan of rap, I am not a one at all of rap in horror. Maybe I would be if they used it well, and one thing about tarot, is they really didn’t.

- Special Effects : 7/10 - I am impressed with these monsters. The designers for them were absolutely fantastic and definitely one of the few good things about this movie. Points docked for being so underutilized and invisible due to the shitty lighting.

- Advertisement : 4/10 - Not much creativity but… I mean, it worked on me. The concept was carrying this whole project on its back.

- Ending : 5/10 - 10 points docked for the blonde girl and her idiot boyfriend surviving. Five points added for Ned surviving the way he did. If this was a horror comedy…. I would’ve ate this up, they showed they know how to do that with Ned?? But for the sake of popularity, they threw away their only chance at a tolerable, possible cult classic movie.

SPOILER THOUGHTS : Avantika’s death was vile and I didn’t like how we only got a chickenshit blood splatter and no views of the bodies afterwards. It wasn’t creepy enough for not seeing the impact to work, especially with it already being in the trailer like that.

[aliensunflower-fics]

Considering what happens in the finale, do you feel awkward still writing Adrien salt fics?

Not really.

If anything the ending just made me more annoyed at the way they chose to write Adrien. The whole reason I started writing salt and fics was because I hated the writing choices the staff made. Because its a story idea with genuine promise. But…

Marinette was written to have her life revolve around a boy while her genuine trauma was ignored. Alya was a flip floppy bad friend good friend with missed potential. Nino was just forgotten about.

And dont get me started on the mess of Kagami, Felix and Luka’s writing.

For Adrien I hated that he was simultaneously the object of Marinettes life while also somehow being underdeveloped??? His obsession with Ladybug was just as bad as Marinettes with Adrien and his reactions to rejection weren’t funny but rather frustrating and awful. Also hes related to the villain and a senti-being ect ect but hes so under utilized and instead is just held up on this pedastal as this sad tragic perfect precious baby!!!

So when I saw the show finally get him and Marinette together and gearing up for the Finale I thought “wow maybe they will do something with him? Maybe he will get character development and it will fix all my issues?!” Thennnn they locked him in a box and said no no! Adwien is a perfect angel baby! He cant be made to fight or grow or be challenged! Mawinette has to pwotect his pwecious innocence.

It infuriated me. It made me want to write salt like I’ve never written salt before. (Mostly Gabriel salt but still). Anyway then I went outside touched grass and realized this is a kids show written by a narcissist creep so whatever. Point is il continue writing salt and if that upsets people thats fair and they dont need to read my content. But as I’ve said before my library of content features both Adrien salt and sugar so im a flexible gal who writes whatever I feel at the moment