#just... just allow people to think differently if they want to. That's all I ask

[icarianlibrary]

Oh yeah, some more for y'all (QUICK TW!! Literally all of these quotes are said by 12-17 year olds. They're gonna be unhinged, and some of them may be a bit offensive if you squint. There are also mentions of suicide, WW2, domestic abuse, & homophobia. None of it is meant in malicious intent, middle/highschoolers just don't have a filter)

Nico: "You aren't invited to my Serbia themed birthday party"

Will: "His weakness is being a liberal"

Nico: "They need to raise the price of monsters dawg I’m buying it every minor inconvenient assignment"

Leo: "It's okay, I can say that, my cousin's autistic"

Leo: "Yaoi is magic"

Piper: "I submitted five page Genshin smut to my creative writing teacher, got an A+, and said "I can imagine the characters saying this"

Leo: "I love Batman, he's my baby girl"

Percy: "Batman would adopt spiderman the MINUTE he found out he's an orphan with superpowers"

(The next three are from the same convo)

Leo: "God is always with us" 

Annabeth: "I thought you were a scientologist"

Leo: "Oh- Uh I mean our glorious diety, he is always with us. I mean- Uh They- They/Them is always with us"

Magnus (I know he isn't, but I feel like he would say this) "Oh yeah!! You thought, you thought you could discriminate against me because I'm straight"

IDK HELP??: "The people who weren't Nazis in Germany were the minority, and were they wrong??"

Random Hermes Kid: "I wrote the poem 'The Raven', and cut out the last two lines because my dad died, Edgar literally copied me"

Percy (Before his amnesia wearied off): "Who's Leo, who's Annabeth??? I'm a Gemini??"

Will: "That's like colonization, and that's kinda wrong" - *This was said in an actual PF debate in Speech & Debate)

Alex: "We'll like cut open their brains and go "Why is it rainbow in there??" - My friend watching me read Webtoon

Leo: "I am Kanye West's campaign president"

Leo: "What's it called? PRIDE and prejudice?" - My friend after asking what my book was about and I said "Gay people"

Alex: "I need her to get diagnosed with seasonal depression, it's BAD"

Lester: "There's no way anyone in this story is straight" - My friend talking about Jackson's Diary

*The next three are in the same convo)

Annabeth: "Nevertheless is a conjunctive adverb-"

Percy: "THAT'S SO GAY."

Leo: "Do you want to know the three most prideful words in the English language? Gay, Homosexual, Nevertheless."

Any demigod coming from a house with a different belief system: "I'm like a bisexual when it comes to religion"

Piper: "I was having social anxiety over Ao3"

Percy: "Burning question: do bi ppl exist irl?😭💀 or is it just me💀"

Leo: "And on the 3rd day, God created homosexuals"

Percy: "If I took AP or IB, which one would colleges think are more sexy?" - (I have to emphasize that this was TO A TEACHER.)

Leo: "Math is like a dystopian society"

Piper: "boys are supposed to ruin your lipstick, not you mascara”

Leo: *Touches his friend* "Now you have an STD"

Gabe: "I downloaded an AI girlfriend app and started beating women"

(The next two are in the same convo)

Leo: "Brodie, let's makeout together under the sunset"

Jason: "Stfu gay boy"

Piper talking about Percy: "Saw a guy earlier go to serve in volleyball and yell out to his girlfriend "this one's for you!" then proceed to serve the ball straight into the net"

Leo (Ifykyk): "He's in LOVE with superman?!? And I'm not judging, I am too"

(The next two are in the same convo)

Frank: "What's your 6th & 7th period?" 

leo: "Beatboxing" *Proceeds to beatbox so horriblly, eminem could make a distract to it*

Nico: "Never thought they could make suicide hot, but here we are"

Frank: "My birthday wish is being Amish"

(The next two are in the same convo)

Percy: "And you have crendle disorder" (Talking about the character from clarence)

Nico: "You're not allowed to say that word Infront of me anymore :("

Piper: "Literally every man in a 200 mile radius is the reason I'm not bisexual"

Some hermes camper probably: "Spider-Man makes me jerk"

PJO characters as stuff me & my friends have said

Piper: "I'd marry canes if they were a person"

Leo: "Dang it! I was crossing my d-"

Percy: "For the longest time I thought British people were a ploy to get us to be grateful for our seasoned food"

Jason: "Leo, we're not that stupid" Leo: "Well I am! I am stupidity!"

Reyna: "I am going to commit an Achilles." Nico: "Date Patroclus?" Reyna: "I was more thinking killing ten thousand Greeks, but that works too"

Leo: "Jason is alpha"

Piper: "LEO SUPPORTING WOMEN IS NOT OKAY"

Will: "Mr bean is a slay queen"

Piper: "Don't worry, Jason, I accept you and how gay you are for literally everyone in the MCU" [OG quote was about me w/ PJO…]

Annabeth: "Well in that case I love being manipulative?"

Hazel: "Henry Cavil is like 45 but I'd get on my knees"

Will: "Every fine guy is old"

Octavian: "How tf are you bi and aroace??" Leo: "With gods, everything is possible"

Piper: "Now I'm a homewrecker slut"

[ilovekittycats2]

Pretend

Pairing: b. barnes x ex!widow!f!reader

In which,

Bucky wakes to an unfamiliar stillness and realizes—for the first time in a long time—he’s not alone.

A/N: This is a short lil blurb for all my bucky girlies!! sorry for the inactivity recently! i am back for good! send reqs!

WC: 685

masterlist

They sit side by side on the edge of a rundown motel bed, boots off, bruises blooming beneath black sleeves. The lamplight is warm and flickering, casting long shadows across the walls—ghosts that neither of them acknowledge.

The mattress sags beneath their combined weight. The kind of sag that means too many people have passed through, left things behind. Blood. Sweat. Secrets. The kind of place you don’t sleep so much as collapse. The kind of place you don’t talk unless you have to.

Bucky hasn’t said a word in over an hour.

You haven’t pushed.

You’ve gotten used to his silences. Learned to read the weight of them. They aren’t hollow. They’re full. Heavy. Coiled tight like a wire stretched to the point of snapping. Sometimes they’re safe. Sometimes, not.

This one feels dangerous.

His jaw ticks again. Barely there, but you catch it—the twitch, the slow grind of his teeth, the almost imperceptible flex of muscle in his forearm.

"You keep clenching your fists like you're waiting to hit something," you say softly.

He doesn’t look at you. “I’m fine.”

You let out a quiet scoff. “Right. The famous ‘I’m fine.’ Works every time.”

He exhales sharply through his nose—almost a laugh, almost a warning.

You don’t flinch.

You lean forward instead, elbows resting on your knees, braid slipping over your shoulder like a weight you forgot you were still carrying.

“You’re angry,” you murmur. “You’ve got this... rage tucked so deep inside you, I don’t even think you know what it’s aimed at anymore.”

For a moment, he’s completely still. A statue carved from grief and restraint.

Then—barely perceptible—he flinches.

You don’t press.

Not yet.

“It’s okay to be angry with him,” you say, quieter now. “With Steve.”

That lands like a punch.

His head snaps toward you, sudden and sharp. Defensive. “What are you talking about?” he says, too fast. “You think I’m angry with Steve?”

You don’t move. Don’t blink.

“I don’t think,” you say evenly. “I know.”

He stares at you like you’ve just stepped over a line no one else ever dared cross. Like you’ve peeled back a layer he thought was buried too deep for anyone to reach.

“I’m not—” he starts, but the words hitch in his throat. He doesn’t finish.

You turn toward him slowly. Not to corner. Not to confront. Just to be closer. Present. Steady.

“You’re allowed to be angry,” you say. “He left. He chose to leave. You woke up in a world without him—again. And you’re angry. Because now it’s just you. Because he left you behind with everything you didn’t know how to carry alone.”

His shoulders rise in a shaky breath, then fall.

Still silent.

“You want to believe it’s the world you’re mad at. The government. The war. The people who don’t understand you. But it’s him, isn’t it?” you ask, softer now. “It’s Steve.”

And then, from him—barely audible, like a confession scraped raw:

“I don’t know how to not be angry anymore.”

The words hang in the air like smoke. Tangible. Bitter.

His voice breaks halfway through the sentence, and he doesn't meet your eyes. But you see the tremor in his hands now—resting on his thighs like they don’t belong to him.

You don’t hesitate.

You reach out slowly, carefully, like you’re approaching something wounded and wild. Your fingers brush his.

You expect him to pull away.

He doesn’t.

You let your hand settle over his, gentle and sure. Not gripping. Not pushing. Just there.

“You don’t have to pretend with me,” you say, barely more than a breath.

The silence that follows is deeper than before, but it’s different now. Not coiled. Not waiting to snap. It’s full of all the things that have never been said. That maybe never will be.

His fingers, trembling beneath yours, turn—just enough that they can hold on.

It’s not much. It’s not enough.

But it’s honest.

And it’s real.

He doesn’t speak again. Doesn’t explain. Doesn’t defend.

He just lets you stay.

And maybe that’s the bravest thing either of you has done in a long time.

[jamiewrites-stuff]

Hypnotic

[002] [003]

WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE😭 WHERE DID Y'ALL COME FROM- Thank you for enjoying my fic so far, I'm overwhelmed-

Anyways, here's another one. I'll try to make the chapters longer but no promises 😗✌

Please make sure to comment on what you think so far, I love reading the comments, it motivates me to write more💕💋

Btw, I gave them names to this- well, I didn't come up with the names. Credit goes to: @filijester (I think? Please correct me if I'm wrong) , I just picked these because it seems like the names a lot of people agree on, plus I think it fits them.

Abby Saja: Beomseok

Romance Saja: Jae-Hyun

Mystery Saja: Garam

Baby Saja: Daeun

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They descended from the ground, their feet gently planting on the stone pavement.

Luckily no one was around to witness such a sight.

They didn't want to be bothered by the trouble of humans seeing them appear from the depths of Hell.

"This is.. much different from what I was expecting"

Beomseok muttered, letting out a small whistle as he looked around. It's been a while since he visited the human realm, its the same for all of them.

"What now boss?"

Jae-hyun asks in a teasing manner, leaning an arm against Jinu's shoulder.

The Leader of this little group stayed silent, eyes carefully observing the area around them.

The Tall buildings, the blinding lights, the loud noises. He was in unfamiliar territory.

He didn't want to admit it.

But he didn't expect to get this far.

He had a plan in order to defeat the hunters, but he didn't think far enough ahead on what they'll do in between.

"You'll need a place to sleep"

A familiar voice said, as the ground in front of them opened up a portal, a silhouette of a familiar woman made her appearance before them.

But she looked more solid.

More human.

She wore a Black suit along with a matching pencil skirt and heels, though some of the top buttons of her suit were open, revealing more of her cleavage.

Her eyes lingered at the group.

She did all that she could to improve their appearances, but she could tell that her work wasn't finished yet.

"What are you doing here?"

Jinu questioned, not expecting her to join them on the surface, especially in that outfit.

"I figured you needed a manager"

She smirked, making some eye glasses appear at just the flick of her wrists, calmly putting them on.

She had to look the part if they were gonna pull this off.

"And based on what I'm looking at, I'm right"

She stated, giving them one final glance before turning around, she snapped her fingers, gaining their attention as she walked on ahead.

"Come."

With one simple command, the group looked at each other hesitantly before following after her.

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They arrived at a Hotel, it seemed like it was the expensive kind based on the decoration.

They just walked right in, None of the guards didn't bother to question their identity and just allowed them entry.

Their appearances immediately caught the attention of nearly all of the people in the area, yet they paid them no mind.

Beomseok glanced over at a group of women gazing at him from the waiting area, he couldn't help but send them a little wink, causing one of them to dramatically faint into another's arms.

He smirked, getting the confidence to walk towards the counter.

"A room for 6, please"

He said, placing a hand on the marbled surface as he looked down at the person behind the reception counter.

She only gave him a look of unamusement, despite her coworkers practically drooling at the mouth at just the sight of him.

"Do you have a reservation sir?"

She questioned, moving her gaze down at her computer screen, typing away at the keyboard.

Beomseok's smirk faltered at her attitude towards him.

That wasn't right.

He couldn't understand.

Why wasn't she reacting like the rest.

He glanced at the others beside her, seeing that familiar desire in their eyes, before his gaze went back at the Woman, who looked at him with complete disinterest.

It took a toll on his growing ego.

But before he could say anything, he was pushed aside by their self proclaimed Manager.

He let out a small shriek at her rough push, making him stumble back until his group mates caught him just in time.

"Excuse him, he's new"

She chuckled, leaning her body against the marbled counter. Her voice definitely caught her attention as the Woman looked away from the screen to look at her.

The woman took in Y/n's appearance, how the suit hugged her figure perfectly, that seductive gaze, her hair perfectly in place, not a single flaw in sight. The receptionist's body tensed up a bit as a swell of sudden nervousness overwhelmed her.

"I apologize if we're drawing in unwanted attention.."

Y/n muttered, placing her chin against her palm, referring to the crowd that was beginning to form behind them.

"It was.. Never our intention to cause trouble.."

Her said, a soft smile appearing on her lips.

The woman's ears turned a light shade of pink, as she tried her best to keep her focus on her eyes and nowhere else that was deemed... inappropriate in the workplace.

She cleared her throat, fumbling a bit on the keyboard.

She couldn't afford to get distracted.

"That's.. Quite alright, but we still need a reservation Ma'am."

Y/n smirked, her hand reaching over to the computer, grazing her fingers lazily along the screens edge.

"Oh, I'm sure we do..."

She said, keeping the woman's attention purely on her, the computer screen glitching for split second before reverting back to normal.

Y/n smiled innocently, leaning back a bit as she tapped the monitor.

"Y/n L/n, care to type it in for me Doll?"

She instructed, sticking out her bottom lip just a bit in a slight pout, drawing the other woman's gaze for just a split second.

Before she grew stiff and awkwardly typed in the name.

As if by a miracle, her name appeared on the screen, assigning her and the group to the penthouse, located at the very top floors.

She cleared her throat, turning back to Y/n who was wearing a patient smile.

"Yes, I see that you have a room reserved"

She nodded, grabbing the room card and handed it to her. Ignoring how the moment their fingers brushed against each other, it sent shivers down her spine.

Y/n grinned, happily taking the room card key, while her little demons leaned closer to her to get a good look at the key.

"Thank you so much"

She smiled, subtly bumping her elbow against Jinu's stomach.

He stammers, glancing at their manager then at the receptionist, quickly catching on.

"Yes, thank you"

Jinu said, politely bowing at them with the rest of the group mimicking his actions.

Y/n glanced at him with a hum, it was good that he caught on fast, but not fast enough.

That needed work.

With that thought in mind she walked on ahead, the boys swiftly following close, stepping inside one of the Elevators.

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Once they were inside, Y/n lift herself off the ground and went to the couch, a large cloud of history formed around her body for a split second.

Changing her clothes into something more comfortable.

Jinu watches Y/n drift down on the plush mattress, now wearing a Bathrobe that loosely hung on her body.

He took off his shoes, placing them in the shoe compartment near the door before stepping further inside, the rest followed his actions, just purely by instinct.

"Why are you helping us?"

He couldn't help but ask, that question has been ringing in his ears for a while.

Why did she agree to help him?

He would've left the topic alone, if it weren't for the fact that she's here with them on the surface, instead of falling back into a deep sleep.

Actually going out of her way to become their manager.

Y/n flicked her wrist, letting a glass of red wine appear in her hand, she didn't answer his question right away.

She let's his thought linger, she lifted the glass to her lips and carefully drank from the glass, her body melting against the couch in utter relaxation.

"Ease up Jinu"

Jae-hyun said, patting their leaders shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, the others were already making them selves at home.

Daeun and Beomseok were raiding the kitchen for something to eat.

Garam quietly made his way to the couch, casually sitting down beside Her, staying perfectly silent as usual.

"You'll get wrinkles from thinking too hard"

Jae teased, placing a finger on the others forehead, pretending to smooth out the imaginary wrinkles.

Jinu scoffs, lightly slapping his hand away with a small glare, Jae chuckles before walking away to go join the other two in the kitchen.

Y/n sighed, still feeling the man's gaze linger at her for some sort of answer.

"I told you didn't I?"

She says with a playful smirk

"I needed some good entertainment"

She chuckled to herself, her eyes hiding a mystery to them that Jinu couldn't seem to solve, at least not yet.

Her eyes flickered to the side, flickering with amusement as she pointed the glass at the spot beside him, where a familiar Tiger with quite a derpy expression made his appearance.

On top of his head sat another familiar face of a bird wearing a cute Gat.

"I was also interested in that little cub of yours"

She says, cooing when the Tiger slowly made his way towards her.

"Sweetest baby"

She whispers, letting the large Tiger practically lay himself on top of her, he let's out soft purrs nuzzling his head against her chin.

The bird cawed at his companion, flying over to sit on the backrest of the couch.

His eyes glaring at the Tiger, silently judging him for being so oblivious to the obvious danger, who was currently smothering him with scratches.

Jinu raised an eyebrow at the sight, not knowing how to feel about his large cat getting swept away so easily. So much for loyalty.

Garam slowly turned his head to the side, watching how Y/n smothered the Tiger with pets and small forehead kisses, unintentionally covering his blue furr with red lip marks.

His lips twitched a bit.

She didn't even notice how he slowly scooted closer to her on the couch.

"You're just the sweetest little thing, yes you are~"

She praised, finding a spot underneath his chin that made his purrs grow louder. Oblivious to the fact that the Saja next to her was quietly trying to get her attention as well.

Jinu shakes his head, letting out a deep sigh before turning around

Quite possibly to find a room where he could plan more clearly without any distractions.

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Taglist💋: @gremlinartstudio @nisarelle @enerofairy @ajunoiseee @whodis-26

[crispys-records]

john walker's helmet-to-beret uniform change: a uniform analysis by a guy who frankly knows very little about marvel

as a reference, i never really read any of the marvel comics as a kid depicting john walker as either captain america or u.s. agent. i did NOT watch falcon and the winter soldier until after i watched thunderbolts which may or may not be an insane watch order. but the little things i do know give me the tiniest bit of confidence to make this analysis, because its got very little to do with him as a character and more in the way he is portrayed to other people.

still, im a little out of my league here, so if this is total bullshit, common knowledge, or both, you can... call me mean things in my ask box i guess

lets start with his first, captain america-esque uniform.

when you look at steve rogers, the star is in the center of his chest, and he has both red and white stripes vertically on his stomach. although with a little more embelishments, sam wilson has the same kind of set up, sort of hammering home the fact that he's following in steve's footsteps and carrying his legacy. on the other hand, john walker's initial uniform has the star on the right side of his uniform and there are only red stripes horizontally across his chest.

comparing the "real captain america" uniform to the john walker one, there are some pretty easy patterns i can connect here. for starters, the fact that the uniforms are different brings to mind john's hopes about being captain america--that he isnt there to be another steve rogers. he wants to be his own captain america, so obviously, he would have a different uniform. also, the fact that john walker, steve rogers, and sam wilson are very different people can also be seen in that.

going a bit deeper, let's look at the designs themselves. steve's, and sam's, uniform is more symmetrical, more controlled and neat. it shows a more level-headed approach to the title of captain america, and represents steve's nature. on the other hand, john's uniform is skewed to one side. when he faces the camera, the star is on the left, which is where your heart is. john is more emotional, less controlled and calm than steve rogers was. he loses himself to rage and emotion. and then he kills someone in front of the public, and now the blood that he spilled will be a part of his image forever. theres no white on his uniform to stain. theres only red stripes.

now, i didn't even realize this until i started watching falcon and the winter solider, but his uniform actually changes at the end of the series going into thunderbolts. he has white stripes now. and oh my god, am i going to unpack that.

the fact that there are now white stripes shows a change in character. john goes through this character arc in the show which kind of goes to shit in thunderbolts but thats just him getting the ghostbusters "every movie has to start with them at rock bottom even if things start looking fine at the end of the last movie" treatment. i think john, as he steps away from the mantle of captain america, starts allowing himself to be hateful. while before, it was more of a struggle to be "righteous", to be the government's golden boy. so imagine that now, hes not the governments perfect soldier anymore. hes a disillusioned mercenary, down on his luck and coming out of a post-captain america spiral, and obviously hes letting whatever kind of resentment he had boiling during fatws dictate him. it cements him as a human character, like steve. he's strong and hes righteous and hes just. hes also miserable and angry and an asshole.

also, notice how in the dark, the only thing you can see is the white stripes? how the red, which was brighter in his first uniform, is obscured in the dark? im cornplating, sorry

and finally, the thunderbolts after credits scene uniform which i had to scour many a john walker fan account and fan blog for (ty guys i love you all).

it hasn't really changed much, apart from the lack of a star (replaced by an A) which i think could signify his full seperation from the us government. theres no longer a part of him that glorifies it, not after valentina tried to kill them more than once. like yelena threatened when val announced the Avengers: they own the government now. he doesnt have to worry about being that perfect government pawn, although he probably still will worry about being perfect human, because all he has to do is say "no, i wont fight this country ending disaster for you" and the government is toast.

also, the helmets, which i just thought was so cool to think about.

in the beginning, his helmet is pretty much a near one-to-one replica of steve roger's helmet. its smooth, its hard. it covers up his face, shows the bare minimum facial structures: two eyes, a nose, a mouth. it shows only what people want to see, the A on the front, for America. this is not john walker. this is Captain America, a hero for the people. a hero meant to replace the one that they lost.

as u.s. agent, his helmet is still the smooth, undefining helmet, but its lost the A. because like valentina says, they don't need a captain america anymore. she just needs a soldier who can do the dirty work for her. it obscures the wearer, and takes away the definition, leaving just a nameless figure. because u.s. agent isn't meant to be a public hero, just a soldier.

for a majority of thunderbolts, john walker doesnt wear his helmet. the helmet was originally something to hide behind, but he's not hiding behind anything througout the movie, and it shows. his divorce, his spiral, its all out in the open for bob and the rest of the team to disect. hes not trying to pretend to be nice, he's bitter and miserable.

and then, in the post-credits scene, he's wearing that stupid little beret which is so cute. im giggling just thinking about it. the symbolism is kind of obvious here. val or john, or both, decided that they're done trying to hide john's true persona from the public. his whole thing is that hes not captain america, hes a shitty, grittier, worse thing. so instead of hiding his face, they leave it out in the open, but they dress it up a little so that he doesnt look like a total deplorable freak to the citizens of the us. its all a little pr.

for all the hate that the beret gets, i do kind of like how it ties up john's character arc.

if youve made it to the end of what is kind of a really impromptu essay then thank you... im very unlikely to write thinkpieces like this again until we get more new avengers content or until i watch something about one of the characters that makes me think, like Black Widow or rewatching Antman and the Wasp. anyways thanks for reading

[jjsanguine]

Not a sociologist but once again thinking too hard about this Swiss cheese world building.

Apart from Khanin's bio parents the mothers of the heirs don't appear to exist. So I'm wondering now if the lack of homophobia is because the heir's mother isn't important, only that their dad is a prince. Emmalian royals are horrifically classist so princess consorts are probably always nobility, but it isn't important enough to Emmalian royalty to bother with arranged marriage.

Emmaly is boring and enforced monogamy + heterosexuality seems to how they ensured the heir was actually the son of a prince, but now that IVF and genetic testing exist they can make as many 100% guaranteed heirs as they want with surrogates. They could even have been doing embryo sex selection instead of having the prince's kid be a girl and go "darn! I hope she's ambitious enough to petition for changed rules when she grows up!". People do that stuff even in places where no girls allowed isn't law, it would make so much sense for that to be the case in Emmaly.

What would be a bit more interesting that ask that though, is passing royalty down through the matriline. There's no doubting parentage when the parent literally gave birth to the heir. This actually isn't incompatible with Emmaly being so patriarchal — basically, the princesses of the various kingdoms give birth to the heirs, but the crown passes to the princess's brother (or uncle on her mother's side if she doesn't have any) if the heir wins.

This would make women only recently becoming eligible as heirs a bigger deal, since there's suddenly way more heirs, and more heirs means more possible disagreement among heirs on who should get the throne. Being raised differently from prince heirs would mean an entirely different set of alliances.

And I said way more heirs because they are constantly dodging assassination attempts and do not rule directly, so each kingdom should want a few backups. Lesser nobility or nouveau riche should be chomping at the bit to have a hand in raising the heirs as a way of gaining favour with the crown also. Not foreign nobles though. They find out this is how they pick head of State and they would not take the country serious.

All of the princes and heirs are conveniently only children in canon but if we were being a bit more realistic and each kingdom had multiple princes and heirs the tournament rules would have to be changed a bit. Well, I assume what I have in mind is different to canon because they actually haven't explained how the scoring works at all.

As mentioned, heirs would be able to chose who they give the crown to. In a patrilineal scenario it would be between their dad and paternal uncles. Matrilineal, it would be between their maternal uncles - they said women can be fighting heirs but nothing about directly ruling (rip). The princess could still get their heir to appoint a puppet king though, that could be spicy.

I'm either scenario since Khanin and Ava are rule breakers appointing Emmaly's first Queen could be something they become allies over. The cabin options for kind kind of all suck. Khanin high key doesn't care about keeping the horse kingdom in power but the king would probably throw Charan in the gulag if he refused to participate in the tournament, so helping a different Kingdom win just or of spite could be another motivation aside from finding out more about his foster dad's death (remember when he was doing that? I do 🫥)

I'm thinking the heirs do a round robin tournament. Each win is 1 point, draws are half a point, and the heirs within each kingdom get their points collated. The kingdom with the most points gets the crown. If the winning heirs agree on who should become king, job done. If they don't they have another round robin tournament, and the winner of the second tournament chooses.

This would give the Princes a bigger incentive to actually be in the heirs' lives. Like, prince Rachata only pops up in Ramil's life to beat Paytai every once in a while as a means of controlling Ramil, but he really doesn't need to since Ramil's only option of who to give the crown to is his dad. I mean, abuse isn't logical but Rachata would have another motivation besides sucking as a person to do all that if Ramil had options.

Heirs having even if the companions don't deserve as whipping boys it makes sense to have them though. Someone like Charan has basically been bred like a pug but for allegiance to the crown instead of brachycephaly and it is such a boon for and he wasn't even intended to stick around Khanin! The giant boon to the king's cause of keeping power with the assadevathins threat is Charan x Khanin was an accident when any royal really power hungry would be trying to engineer it.

But having the Charan bootleg be closer in age so they can grow up together. The heirs don't tend to have other friends even in canon because of the assassination thing so it's extra confusing that Rachata's the only one kind of on this.

What tf is up with Emmaly. Gay marriage is cool and arranged marriages seem entirely absent, but we still have whipping boys and suffer from "traditional" gender role disease. The competition only JUST allowed more balanced activities to be added for fairness. Like what the FUCK is this place?!

A sociologist's nightmare. Or dream, I guess. Depending on the sociologist.

[burningcheese-merchant]

When Burning Spice was introduced a lot of people made comparison with Capsaicin, and even thought they were related. You have any thoughts on that?

I do, and you're all probably going to be very disappointed lol

Not only do I NOT vibe with the idea that they're related, I'm actually really annoyed that it's as popular as it is lol. It doesn't even make sense. Burning Spice was in prison for thousands of years; when, where and how did he have a kid? At what point in time did this occur? Capsaicin is a young man. A regular mortal, outside of his "Spice Overlord" thing. I ask you all again: when? Where? How? WHY? Has anyone ever actually thought this through?

"ThEy LoOk SiMiLaR" okay, and? So fucking what? Neither of them own the concept of "long hair" or "muscles" or "sharp teeth". Pitaya has those too, and he has an arguably more substantial connection to Capsaicin because they're actually from the same fucking area. Happenstance. Lots of characters in this game have similar attributes, that doesn't necessarily mean anything

"ThEy'Re BoTh SpIcY" Refer to point A. Do you all think all the nut-based cookies are related, too? That's the logic you might as well be operating on. Correlation is not causation

"Blah blah both go 2 jail" you know how many characters in this wack-ass phone game count as felons, bro? How many of them SHOULD count as felons lol? The Cookie Run universe might as well be one giant Alcatraz with all the shit these little affronts to God get up to every day, I ain't making them all each other's relatives because of it

They're the wrong ages for them to be family. Burning Spice was serving a life sentence since long before Capsaicin was even thought of, he literally got out after the guy was already a grown ass man. They're not even from the same fucking CONTINENT! Capsaicin has probably never even HEARD of Beast-Yeast! Even that little comic the CRK Twitter account posted makes fun of all this shit!!! The Wild Spices mistake Cap for Spice from behind, and then get confused when he turns around because THEY VERY CLEARLY DO NOT KNOW WHO HE IS AND HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE! Wouldn't an army know if their general had a son, even if it was only mentioned in passing? Wouldn't THIS army have a vested interest in having their general's son around if he existed, and stop at nothing to bring him home should he vanish, to gain favor with Spice and because of how powerful Capsaicin is and how useful he could be to them?

I wouldn't be so bent out of shape about all this if it wasn't LITERALLY FUCKING EVERYWHERE!!! I cannot enjoy any content of Burning Spice OR Capsaicin without having to endure a fucking barrage of "hurr durr father and son" posts!!! I just want to ogle my hot, sexy, deliciously evil spice man BY HIM-FUCKING-SELF in peace, I never asked to have to hear the exact fucking same "hi son I came back with the milk" joke over and over and over again

I know I sound like a massive dick right now and I'm truly sorry. You are more than welcome to think of these two as related in some way if you wish. I am not your mother, nor your leader, nor your god, I'm just some cringe loser on the internet. Enjoy this game and its characters in whatever way you choose. I even actually like a good bit of the father/son art, a lot of it is cute and funny. I'm able and willing to say that with complete sincerity.

I just wish I didn't have to feel like it's being forced on me. That is one of the biggest issues I have with this fandom: how oppressive it often feels. You MUST ship this particular pairing, you MUST headcanon these characters as family, you MUST take this one-off joke that was clearly just a goddamn joke and preach it 24/7/365 like it's the gospel truth that Devsis themselves wrote on stone tablets and delivered from the top of Mount Sinai. And then when someone doesn't want to do that, everyone else descends upon them like a plague of fucking locusts. I actually saw a Dad Spice + Son Cap post on here with the person who made it saying something like "ok since everyone agrees that these two are family [...]" and I just got so fucking irritated. No, actually, not everyone agrees. Not everyone agrees on a lot of the fanon that's shoved down the entire community's throats on a regular basis. PLEASE stop acting like they do. I still remember when people would get flat-out harassed for not acting like Herb is Sea Fairy's son (old ass drama lol).

Say what you will about me, I'm just one person and you can block me or whatever dumb tags I use for my dumb shit. There is NOWHERE I can go to avoid this. Twitter? Plagued. Tumblr? Plagued. Even fucking reddit is on this nonsense (only in my personal opinion). But that's what I get for acknowledging Reddit in any capacity lol

I shall once again sincerely apologize for my harsh tone here, I am not attacking you personally or anyone who headcanons these two as relatives. I am just generally, profoundly frustrated and I need to get it out. I appreciate you taking the time to ask me an honest question, I hope you can forgive me for my painfully honest answer

[youandthemountains]

it probably is insane how much I wish I could express the thing about spones. the vibes about spones. Like there's the joking fun fandom vibes and I love them, I love to play with them, of course of course. but the THING. the CORE to me. i wish i could capture it and share it.

[ancha-aus]

Gifted Drabble - NewAgeAu - Q&A

As I said! I totally wasn't scheming :3 @spotaus

But i had to wait until you uploaded your drabble about very sneaky Cross to make sure I got more references and a better idea about his character :D

So... here we are :3 Also yes the name of the drabble is a very bad joke but i thought of it and it was too funny.

*------------------------------------------*

Cross just sits there... He is such an idiot!

Getting caught?! As quickly as he did? that must be a record on how incapable he was.

It wasn't as if Cross had an excuse. Dream and Blue warned him! Warned him that the Knights were very skilled and watchful. That he had to leave as soon as he got the information and plans. Do not linger!

That had been the mission!

Instead he was a coward and just. Took too long. He spend too much time trying to form a plan instead of just acting. And then He tried to solve mysteries himself instead of just grabbing and leaving as soon as he could!

But he just... Cross groans.

He hadn't found anything fitting the brief. He hadn't been able to find anything that spoke about hurting people or raising taxes to hurt the poor or anything!

In matter of fact.

All he found was plans to improve the infra structure. To tax the nobels more and lower the taxes on people who earned less. He found information on how the king had contact with farmers to work on more structures and installations to help farmers recover from the change in weather and to fully utilise the land without exhausting it.

Projects on testing mixed crop planting and stricts rotation schedules to make sure the soil itself wasn't exhausted from nutrients or risks infections or fungi growing which would hurt the soil and specific crops.

There was even this whole program about apprentices!! something about orphans and children and teens on the straights and a way to offer them schooling and housing and even training with the people helping them! That the crown would pay these people for helping those who don't have family to count on!

It is still in draft clearly as it had been covered with sidenotes in this very elegant and curve handwriting. notes about how to pay for it. where to start it. which people to ask for posibilities. but also notes about how to check the children. how to make sure the children and teens weren't use or abused or even worse!

And... well... not too shortly after that one of the Knights just... Sat in the chair and spoke casually... Scared the shit out of him at the time.

How was that dude so quiet?! or so strong for that matter?

How could his magic had backfired so badly?

Cross sighs as he turns to his side. He is an IDIOT. How could he have gotten so reckless?

Drema and Blue would have already been happy with him getting anything back from the king's plans... maybe he just couldnt see the danger in them clearly? Hell if he knows what the state in the country is. He knows nothing about this place.

Maybe the things he saw was a bad thing? Maybe there was some... weird way to make them look bad?

Like.

Maybe there was already little nature? Sure Cross saw a lot of it on his way here but hell if he knows? maybe there is little in the cities or soemthing?

Maybe the nobels are already being taxed a lot? maybe this will make the nobels all poor? and euh.... Cross isn't sure how taxing the poor less could be bad but maybe there is some way?

the farming thing... Well... Cross isn't sure... maybe the farmers don't want him to micro manage or soemthing? maybe the king is being too controlling about it? that works...

The children are obvious. those are vulnerable kids and teens! Who are being used and exploited!! Well... he would have to ignore all the sidenotes about the kids wellbeing... and the notes about banning child labor...

Cross groans. Why is it so hard to see the things he is doing as bad?! Dream told him that Nightmare is corrupted and the thing ruling now is evil and terrible and needs to be removed to save his twin!!

Then why are the plans good? Maybe he is faking it? But why? XGaster never bothered to fake anything... He was just rightfully the king and people should respect him.

Cross frowns as he turns on his side. Ignoring the guard standing well guard outside of his cell. He tugs on the magical blocker on his arm. Making him unable to use his magic to summon any weapon or try to take control over someone elses magic again.

Well... Not like he can try that with the guard guarding him again anyway. Seeing as it is Dust guarding him...

Cross tugs on it again and Dust speaks "Don't bother. Those things can't be removed by the wearer."

Cross freezes and looks over. He thought he had been sneaky enough. The one with the panther mask stares back.

Cross frowns as he turns back to the wall.

The Knight goes quiet again.

Cross tugs on the band one more time. Just to be spiteful. Before laying back and staring at the wall.

Fuck... He is going to die here? Isn't he?

Maybe they will just starve him...

Or maybe they will first torture him to figure out who he works for.

Cross is going to have to withstand it until he dies. He can't give up Dream and the fact he is planning a revolution.

He can't ruin another revolution that could save and help so many people.

He will have to be strong. Not give in. Not even an inch.

"I apologise I took so long Dust. Thank you for keeping watch."

Cross freezes at the new but familiar voice. Cross had heard the voice before. He had seen the owner walk around and had been getting information on him.

The king.

The fucking king.

Nightmare himself!

Why was the king here?!

Sure Cross had been spying and stealing information. But was that really such a big deal to get the king himself to interrogate him?!

Then again... Shed's tail had aparently been removed and used for cat toys...

He is so dead.

A click and the door to his cell slowly creaks open.

Cross's pulse is beating so fast.

Footsteps walking closer. before the door creaks closed. and is relocked.

He is so dead.

A few more steps and then silence for a moment as Cross tries to keep his panic at bay. He regrets staring at the wall.

"I know you are awake. Speaking will be a lot easier if we face each other."

Cross keeps laying there. What does he do?! He can't ignore him. Come on Cross. Be brave. You faced down scarier threats!

'But you had magic back then.' his mind whispers 'You had a way to defend yourself.'

Still. Cross sits up and turns around. Making sure he is glaring. He is not going to give in. "What is there to tell?" His voice holds the challange. He isn't afraid. He will not give in. He is not going to give this so-called king anything!

Nightmare tilts his skull slightly. intrigue clearly. Cross doesn't like the fact that he seems just so... unbothered by Cross. Cross is the enemy! He is sitting in the cell after Nightmare's forces found him snooping around, trying to steal information.

So why is this king staring at him with just intrigued! No rage? No disgust?!

Nightmare speaks again. Seemingly taking his time to think about his answers. trying to be actually truthful? or trying to think of an answer that Cross wants to hear? Wait... Is the king already in cross's head and mind? is Cross already being tricked?

Nightmare's voice breaks him out of his spiralled thinking "I think I disagree. there is a lot to talk about."

Cross tilts his skull upwards. stubborn energy in his soul "I won't tell you anything about who send me or why. No matter what!"

Nightmare looks slightly amused "I don't exactly care about who send you or why."

... what?

Nightmare continues, at his aparently obvious confusion, as he explains "I know there are people who wish to know what I am doing. I know people are scheming against me. It is nothing new. Even a spy as yourself is nothing new." he looks amused "The fact they even send you implies they know close to nothign about me, my land or my home. Or, that they don't care about you at all."

That.. that doesn't make any sense?!

Ngihtmare nods "I do apologise you swore your loyalty to those who know nothing of the target they send you to spy on. Otherwise they would have known that I am aware of what goes on in my castle and land." he smiles "they would have known that my Knights are everywhere and good at their jobs." he shoots Cross a look "They would know that i am aware of who is suposed to work where at which moment."

Cross feels his mind lock up as the information filters in... How... how hadn't Dream known this?

Ngihtmare waves a hand casually "You are a rather inexperienced spy. Not that it matters. As there is very little any type of skill could have done against me and those of mine. Either your employers know nothing of me which means they aren't much of a threat quite yet. Or they were willing to throw you away as some sort of test against me or you. Which just makes me unimpressed with them overall."

Cross just stares at the ground.

The Knight speaks softly "Way to ruin his worldview my king."

a moment of silence before "I apologise. I shouldn't have said those things. You did not deserve to hear those or have to worry about which case is true."

Cross snaps "Why am i not dead yet?!" He had heard about the terrible punishment this parasite of a king does. How he hurts people for jsut the hell of it... From Dream... form the guards working here... It makes no sense that Cross is still alive. Unless he wants to torture him of course...

A moment of silence.

Ngihtmare speaks a bit softer but still sure and confident "You meant no harm. You were here for a few days and no one was attacked. Neither myself, my knights, my servants or my people in the city. I do not see why i would punish you with death if you did not do a crime earning such a thing."

Cross glares up "And if i had hurt someone?" So he was just doing this own test?! this is just a test. That Cross can deal with. Cross can deal with someone trying to trick and test him!

The king chuckles and shakes his skull "It is very bold of you to assume you would have been able to hurt anyone. Just because we aren't obvious you were not walking around unnoticed or unwatched. If you had made a single move to hurt someone you would have been stopped and caught right away. I must admit however if you had tried that this conversation would be going very differently."

Cross frowns, wait... "If i moved to hurt someone? Anyone?"

Nightmare nods "Of course. The people who work for me are people who's safety i take very seriously. They are willing to work for me. in trade for their servitude i make sure they have what they need and want and more importantly. That they are safe to live their lifes." He sounds so certain and the answer is instantly.

He didn't even need to think about it.

Cross's mind is swimming as he tries to focus. This makes no sense... Why is he implying that he only punishes those who deserve it? That isn't waht others said. This... this is weird. This is the weirdest interrogation he has ever been part of. But he manages to find his voice again "What do you then even want to know?" It isn't like he knows anything.

Nightmare watches him "I am curious about the Lost Kingdom."

Cross flinches as he looks away. "It isn't called lost..." it isn't lost... it isn't! His... his brother- Nine is trying so hard to fix the mess Cross left behind. the mess Cross helped cause. It may be broken and a bit of a mess but it isn't lost. Lost implies there is nothing that can be saved from it.

A soft hum before he speaks again "I apologise. It is a name i took over from others." a moment of silence "I supose I am just curious what made the most loyal of knights of that land leave the country he was working on protecting."

Cross freezes. huh?

Nightmare waits for a moment but when Cross doens't answer he continues "It doesn't make sense to me. Your every move and motivation was from trying to protect the country you served. Yet here you are. Instead of there."

Cross looks to the side. He... he had tried to protect but he failed everyone. He always failed... He made the most terrible mistake of mistakes... How could he stay? they didn't want him to stay. He didn't deserve to stay after that.

Cross looks to the side and speaks "No one wanted the loyal dog of the tyrant to stay. so i left." there.

a moment of silence. "Seems a bit of a harsh name for someone who was loyal to the country."

Cross glares "I wasn't! I just did what the old tyrant wanted!" Like an idiot who can't think for himself. He just did whatever his father told him. Too blind and too stupid to see that XGaster was hurting others.

Nightmare continues to look at him "And you believed in him to make the right choices for the country. That is the job of a king. Make sure that what is done is done to improve the land. improve the country. improve life for the people. It is not your fault that XGaster didn't honour his rule. That he did not do what he was suposed to. What he was sworn into."

Cross can't hear this. Not form sometone who is suposed to be eveil but seems to know so much. Who seems to know what it means to be king yet who isn't suposed to care. Why is this thing who is possessing an innocent acting as it he cares? How would this thing know what makes a good king?!

Cross asks him as much. "Why do you care!?" it is more of a snap than a question.

Is it... Is it Nightmare? Influencing the thing brainwashing him and controlling him? Fighting back?

Dream would be happy to hear that.

Nightmare still thinks about the question. He looks ahead of himself with a tiny frown. Seemingly thinking.

Cross however can't help that notice how blue the cyan eye is. Clearly unnatural. Toxic even... Yet calm. There is no rage hidden that Dream warned him about. No edge of insanity or madness. Just calm and insightful thoughts. Control over his mind? but that makes no sense if he is brainwashed...

The body is not at all what Cross even expected to once see. Ngihtmare had this imposing presence. The fact his form was covered with a goop that had melted over one of his sockets didn't help. The way those tentacles on his back moved and idled. Seemingly without a single thought- wait... didn't octopusses have like... brains in each tentacle. Did that mean that Nightmare had five brains working and thinking for him?

Still... The corruption is so clearly... strange. Dream had told him that the powers given by the ritual was suposed to make a king and warrior of light. Of good. This form is proof that Nightmare wasn't suposed to gain this power. It is dark and moving and changing... But Cross can't help but think it doesn't look that bad, that the name corruption doesn't quite fit. It doesn't radiate any harm in anyway. Not like that time in the hall... Is... Nightmare able to control the presence it gives off? Why wouldn't he use it now? The slight magic he can still feel is potent and strong and unlike anything Cross ever felt before... But it isn't like other poisonous magics Cross had learned about. That he had trained to recognise. It is strange...

Cross decides to focus on the clothes he is wearing. It is clearly high quality stuff. not to forget the golden accents and actual bands around the tentacles. the clips with apple motifs. the detailing of branches like swirls in the same cyan colour as that eye, just less obvious because the fabric is slightly see through.

It makes for one intimidating image. One that the king carries with confidence and familiarity.

Nightmare speaks "I care because i wish to understand. We learn by understanding others. Even if i don't agree with someone doesn't mean i don't have to understand them. In matter of fact. the only way to truly disagree and be against something is to understand or at least know about the concept. When it is about why people do certain actions it is important to learn their motives and reasons. to understand why they did what they did before casting out judgement."

Cross can't deal with him... how is this suposed evil tyrant so understanding?

He is nothing like XGaster.

Nothing at all.

Cross can see that so clearly and so easily. This is someone who knows what he is talking about and who doesn't just say what you want to hear. Cross thought he knew what he was going into. He thought he would meet a man simular to XGaster.

Someone who manipulates. Someone who lies. Someone who turns every answer into a small insult. Someone who tells you how to think and why you are an idiot for not thinkinf like that from the start. Someone who believes himself to be perfect and not capable of fault.

Cross believed his father to be rightful in being this way and thinking that way for so long. It wasn't until after the revolution Cross finally noticed the cracks in the facade.

Cross thought... he figured he would be able to see through whatever mask Ngihtmare is wearing. Metaphorical of course. But he can't... he is failing. He can't figure this out.

Is... is cross being an idiot again? is Nightmare lying to him and is Cross still just unable to see it?

Or is there no mask to see through? no mask to spot the cracks in?

What does he do?

Nightmare waits and remains quiet until Cross actually focusses on him. When he does Nightmare speaks again "I wish to know what happened there. In your home."

His home...

"It isn't my home..." not anymore...

Nightmare nods and speaks again "Then what happened to the country that you used to serve and protect. What caused the downfall?"

Cross looks to the side "A revolution obviously..."

Ngihtmare nods and waits.

Cross glares "I was an idiot and could not pick a side. I couldn't fight my brother who lead the revolution but i could also not betray my lord. I ended up trying to help both yet messed everything up." he glares at the king "I made everything worse." all because he just couldn't pick.

Ngihtmare tilts his skull "Rather extreme. Thinking just one person can make or break a revolution."

Cross blinks.

Nightmare nods calmly "I am not saying that you couldn't have made it go better. That is always an option. However. A revolution... a rebellion. It is the same thing, and it is messy. it is dangerous. One person can not make things go perfect. that is impossible."

Dust coughs lightly into his hand. The king shoots him a look but nothing else happens.

The king turns back to him "You are not responsible for everything that happened. could you have helped? Yes. But... the choice that you made also enabled you to do the few things you could. the little bits you did to help your brother. If you had picked to defend the old tyrant. You would have had to hurt others."

Cross glares down "I know i should have helped."

Ngihtmare shakes his skull "That isn't what i am saying. the point i am trying to make is. You never know what you would have done in the other two situations. You could have joined your brother. but then you would have had to fight the very people you trained and fought beside before. The same people who know you through and through. who know how you fight and move." and he looks at him. "You helping them. either side of the conflict. would have meant you would have been at a different position at any given point. The things that happened wouldn't and couldn't have happened because your actions in this... neutral choice also had consequences and effect. It meant that XGaster stationed you as a guard. if you hadn't been available he would maybe have used two others to gain the same protection you gave him. You didn't stop the revolution when they got to you. instead there would have been two guards guarding the door." And nightmare give shim a moment to let that information sink in.

Cross stops... he... hadn't thought about... all he could think about is how he could have made things different. Thinking about how his skills could have helped specific moments... he hadn't considered that... him helping them from the start would have chanced everything...

and the moment where he could have helped... may never have even happened.

Cross shakes his skull "Things would have been better if i had picked a side."

The king considers it "Maybe it would have. Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe by not picking a side you were able to do enough damage control for both sides that enabled it to even be successful. Maybe not picking a side made it last longer. You can not know which choice would ahve been better as you never saw the options."

Cross isn't sure what is even going on anymore. He had believed... He had been sure that him not making a choice just made everythign worse. Everyone agreed. Everyone must have agreed or else they wouldn't have made sure to remind him about his mistake each moment they could...

right?

Nightmare nods before getting up. Cross only now notices that Nightmare had been using his own tentacles as a chair "But I think I have pushed you too far already with my questions. You need rest and time to process and calm down. Food will be brought to you later." he turns towards the cell door and exits.

The king nods to the guard and starts to walk away.

Wait...

Wait!

Cross jumps up and rushes to the bars "Wait!"

The king stops and turns back to him "yes?" and he waits.

Cross pants "You said... Way before... at the start... There had been others like me. other spies. Where are they now?" Dream said others had been send before right? Or maybe even other forces. That Nightmare killed them?

Nightmare tilts his skull "My knights or I myself spoke to them. Much like I am doing wiht you. Those who meant no harm and held no wish to hurt those here... They were offered a change of scenery. They mentioned they couldn't and didn't want to return a failure to their old leaders. There is always room and a need for people willing to work and help."

Cross frowns "And those who did wish to return home?"

Nightmare looks unbothered "After making sure they were no threat they were released at the border. With a warning to not return. Once is an happening after all, one people can learn from. However if it turns out they lied or wished to return to do harm after all they were punished for their crimes."

Cross looks down as his mind spins "Oh..."

Nightmare waits for a moment longer before nodding "Rest up. I will come back either tomorrow or the day after to continue our conversation." he turns and leaves.

Cross slowly lets go of the bars and goes back to the bed in the cell... He can't help but notice that it is actually rather comfortable here.

Sure there are bars and he is locked in and unable to use magic...

But there is fresh air. Some natural sunlight comes in through the barred windows. It isn't cold or wet. There are warm blankets and soft places to sit...

Even if it is a jailcell. It is comfortable at least.

Cross rolls back up on the bed and thinks.

His mind going over the past conversation and thinking about what he learned. For it having been suposed to be a way for the king to learn about Cross it was just Cross learning about Nightmare.

What had the king even wanted to learn? All Cross told him was how he thought about things and experienced it. Not even how the revolution happened or what events took place.

If Nightmare had wished to know those it would make sense. Then it would gain Nightmare insight to how the revolution managed to be successfull and what to defend against.

And yet...

and yet...

He didn't. All Nightmare wished to know was what Cross did.

It doesn't make sense.

None of it does.

It doesn't take long but eventually a maid comes along. a human and she bows in respect to the Knight before turning towards Cross with a smile "Hello there. I brought you some food. It are roasted potatoes and a salad." she puts it on the little opening to push it into his cell "Once you are done please place it back in this same area. Makes us able to clean it up which will leave your area a bit cleaner!" she smiles happily before nodding once she sees Cross paying her attention.

After that she turns away, bows to the Knight again,before leaving.

Cross makes his way to the food slowly but the Knight standing guard doesn't make a single move to take or mess with it.

Cross grabs his food and takes a seat on his bed again. He eats it slowly and feels his hand shake once he realises it is actually good.

It is taste and warm and filled with nutrients.

Why are they treating him so nicely?

Cross just... doesn't get it...

Maybe he can ask the next time Nightmare comes to him to talk?

Maybe he can get some answers after all...

*------------------------*

In case you guys don't get the title name. It is a joke. Because Cross is being interrogated but it is more a mutual Q&A...

I will leave now.

[illbringthechaosmagic]

@thenexusofsouls

The way that Xenos described it, how he could not only see her but feel her energy, it made sense to her in some odd way. Perhaps it was because of what had happened with the dome, since she felt as though they were connected in some way. "You feel my energy? I... I want to say that I can feel you too, though I'm not sure if it's real or not. It's like a pull, strong..." she whispered, "like I want to be near to you."

She had been a little confused as to why Stephen hadn't been able to break through, though as he explained that there was different magic, she realised that it made sense. If she thought of her own powers as some form of magic, though she was sure it wasn't, it was far different from Stephen's. "So do you think ours is compatible then? Or was it just luck that allowed for me to get through?" She asked, curious to see what Xenos thought.

"I won't let him." Wanda didn't want to think about that, didn't want to think of Stephen trying to capture Xenos because it only made her angry. She knew that it bothered them that Xenos wasn't in a cell, since they had no way of keeping him from running off, but she wasn't about to let them lock him up. "I promise you Xenos, I won't allow him to try. He wants to talk to you, he'll have to come through me first."

A smile soon appeared on her face as Xenos' smile grew brighter. "Of course I do," she replied, "you've been sweet to me, allowing me to get close to you, allowing me to touch you when you said that touch was overwhelming. I'm honoured that you have allowed me permission."

Hearing him laugh was like music to her ears, her own smile widening. "I trust you," she replied, her brow raising as he told her that he wanted to touch her face. A moment later, she was guiding his hand up to rest on her cheek, nuzzling against it. While it was cold, she wasn't all that bothered by it, finding that it was actually comfortable on her blushing cheeks. "I don't mind you touching... especially when you tell me first. Just so I don't jump.."

She nodded softly as he told her that she could touch, her fingers now slowly tracing along his arm. "I get that. People are so quick to judge what they don't understand," she commented, her gaze meeting his once more. "But trust me when I say that it looks good. That it doesn't make you look scary. If anyone tells you otherwise, you can tell them that they're assholes..."

----

Steve looked up from his food to see Stephen, a slight frown forming on his face. He kept quiet as the two men bickered back and forward, listening as they discussed just what Xenos was and where he had come from. Hearing that a cult had been the reason for him being here, he couldn't help but be slightly worried. After all, what if there were still those out there that followed this cult's teachings, despite them dying out.

"Containment might make him angry and then we could be looking at a repeat of what happened with his last handler," he replied, his gaze lingering on Stephen before turning to look at Tony. "He seems settled with Wanda. Do we want to risk trying to take them apart? After all, we've only seen a little of what he can do. And we know that Wanda's capable of destruction if she's upset. It's your call but... frankly, I'd be inclined to leave him with her."

what are you afraid of? (Xenos)

Xenos should never have come this close to this developed of a human city. Even wandering the suburbs of New York City had been a trial for him, with car horns blaring, people yelling, and a sense of too many things moving around him all at once. But once he'd reached deep into the city, he knew he'd made a mistake. There was a stark lack of awareness from the people walking around him. Some bumped into him without warning while others simply seemed to have no spatial awareness whatsoever. There were even more car horns, and more yelling, and Xenos felt his chest tightening from the stress of it all.

Soon, he couldn't breathe, and try as he might to get out of there, it seemed the more he walked, the deeper into the city he embedded himself. "Back!" Xenos shouted to someone who had bumped into him hard, pushing him away with one of his hands.

"Hey man, screw you!" the human said to him as he kept on walking.

He hadn't realized that he'd wandered into a roadway until he was almost hit by a car. It screeched to a halt and Xenos lifted his hands to cover his ears as the sound of the car's horn blared so loudly he thought he would die. "Get away!" he yelled, and it happened. His magic lashed out, creating a dome of isolation around him, encompassing the entire block. Everything went silent, for he'd removed all the humans from within the dome, leaving them outside its invisible border. Inside, he left the animals and insects for they did not bother him, but the cars, trucks and buses were now uninhabited, turned off, still.

The silence was wonderful, and he felt the tension begin to release him. The dome's barrier kept out the sounds of the surrounding city, as well as those of the angry and confused humans who had been moved from their vehicles, or who could no longer pass down the street because of the invisible barrier. While Xenos paced back and forth in the middle of the street, slowly calming himself, people outside the dome where already calling emergency services and police, angry and scared by what had occurred.

The Avengers were called in.

Xenos moved inside a building, where it was dim and peaceful, taking deep breaths as he slowly wandered around. This was better. Much better. He didn't care or even realize the disruption he'd just caused within a major human city.

Outside, people were telling tales of a strange man who had somehow made invisible walls in the city, not fully understanding what all had happened. When the Avengers arrived, they were met with a large block of New York City that looked... empty, uninhabited. Cars left abandoned, doors to buildings left open. It looked like something out of a zombie apocalypse... but where were the zombies?

Steve couldn't punch through the wall. Tony's repulsors couldn't penetrate it either. They couldn't even see what it was they were trying to knock down. But not all members of the team were as hindered by the magical barrier as the rest...

Xenos knew the moment someone had entered the dome, and he twitched with the sensation of his magic being disturbed. Perplexed, for this had never happened before, he walked to the door of the building and peered out. A human was there... but how? No human should be able to defy his magic. None ever had before. He watched her from afar for a bit, until it seemed that she was, either intentionally or inadvertently, headed right for him. Did she know he was there? No, no, she could not. Humans lacked such senses, he knew, especially in this time. The sorcerers of old were all but gone from the world now, or... or at least Xenos hadn't encountered any for a very long time.

Slowly, he stepped out of the building and onto the sidewalk, his body tilting awkwardly to the right as his head did the same, as though he was trying to size her up and see her better. When she spoke to him, he recoiled suddenly from the sound of her voice. He didn't take steps back from her, but rather only leaned back, his head snapping backward a bit as a dog or cat might do if they were startled while curiously trying to get the scent of something. He thought about her words for some time before responding.

"Not afraid," he said, but his voice was barely there. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to anyone to any real capacity, and his voice suffered from a lack of use. He didn't think it was loud enough for communication purposes, so he tried again. "Not... afraid." Xenos put up his hand almost as if he was making a wait a minute motion with it, but moved it up and down, as though pressing some imaginary buzzer in the air, his fingers outstretched. He was merely thinking of the right word, his head turning this way and that like the word might suddenly be floating in the air somewhere he could see. "Overwhelmed," he finally decided upon. "The city is... too much." His hands found his head and he swayed a bit, as thought he was in pain. "So I have expelled it... from this space." He then made a pushing away motion with both his hands, moving them out from his body.

But then Xenos' head tilted again, his face obscured by the draping hood of his long coat. "How...?" he asked, pointing back in the direction she came. "How... did you enter?"

[kalosian-woods]

Hello!!! I don’t know if your taking requests for snippets rn, but would you be able to write something about XY’s mirror world? It is tRAGICALLY underrated and I saw what YIU wrote for it a bit ago and loved it! Thanks if so :DD

Tysm, I'm happy that it resonated with you so well!!! :D It really is an underrated piece of lore from XY, which is part of anipoke's general weirdness about deep mythos that can get dropped but never really delved into, especially as it is considered a 'filler' ep. But hey, my goal is to delve into whatever I can get my hands on within Kalos and so here we are heh.

Going to write up a snippet for you, but beware, very exposition-y. Might as well make the best of both worlds (lol).

__________________________________________________

“A mirror world?”

Ash bit his lip as he watched the ground, seeing a slice of his face on it. It’s strange, hearing her voice without any of the bite. One part of him wished it was there all the same. “Well, this can’t be my world. You’re all so… different.”

The sound of screeching and scratching reached his ears, and he cowered for a moment. This Clemont is more occupied with cold metal, bending it to his will with force that is nowhere on his face or tone, and that is strange too. Back in his world, his Clemont will always be tracking mud from some arcane spell or running race. His face will always be stuck in a proud grin, his mouth always running with some sort of retort or boastful explanation. Ash briefly wondered if his Clemont would believe him about this world.

“So, how are we like in your world, then?” And that’s Bonnie. Or at least, this world’s Bonnie. In his world, she wouldn’t really give him the time of day. She was proud of her role in orbiting her older brother, just as her older brother was proud of his strength and skill.

Ash stuck a finger on the ground, skirting around the reflective surface. “Well, you see, I’m just a new Trainer. I came to Kalos because I heard that I could get stronger there, and that’s where I met all of you.”

Some silence. Then, “So we’re all still travelling with each other in your world?”

I didn’t want to, not really, flashed into his mind at her voice, but Ash forced himself to nod. “You were a strong Trainer. You said you could help me. And, uh, Clemont came around too. He was tired of being in his Gym and wanted to see everything outside, so he took a break and came with us.”

“I did what?!” this Clemont gasped as Bonnie laughed beside him. Ash could slightly detect a sad note behind that.

He shrugged. The inventor, because that’s what he is, picked up the screwdriver he dropped and went back to work. Ash thought he was out of the conversation before he heard a tentative, “So, what kind of Gym? Were we still in Lumiose?”

“You always were.” ‘The perfect place for everyone to see my brilliance!’. “Ground Type. You were fourth in the Gym Challenge.”

“So the order is reversed?” She sounded interested as she sat back. “That must be interesting. Or, since that’s all you know…”

“That’s okay.” Ash didn’t even know what to say to that. It just came out, like instinct. He could feel that questioning look again, and he scratched the ground harder. “You were always interested in the Gym Challenge, even though you said it was too easy. You— I mean, the other Serena. My one. She was very strong. My Clemont said she could be Champion if she put her mind to it.” And some other choice words that none of them needed to know.

“That’s funny.” This Bonnie stuck her tongue out as she thought to herself. “Our Ash is very strong. He’s brave too, and so are his Pokemon, you know, and he’s always sticking around with Pikachu.”

“Really?” Ash couldn’t help it. He hears Pikachu’s name and its like his heart is opening, is open, is ready to receive that love in any shape or form as long as it is yellow and bright and full of electricity and sparking cheeks.

This Bonnie nodded. “Yeah! He’s the one challenging the Gyms here. He didn’t get to challenge Clemont though…”

“That’s because we made a promise!” this Clemont barked out, cheeks going red, and the three shared a small laugh as Ash thought to himself, legs drawn up but slightly lowering as the conversation flows on, fingers free from the ground itself. It was weird that Bonnie was calling her brother by name. Weird that Clemont wouldn’t take on any challenge head-on, and weird that they were all friendly like this.

“Okay, okay, what colour is the sky there?”

“It’s green.”

But it’s nice.

“What Pokemon do you have?”

“Uh, Froakie, Fletchling, and Hawlucha. They’re not really battlers, though.”

It’s warm.

“Then what do you do?”

“Nothing much.”

“C’mon! I’m sure there’s something you like. Oh, oh, can I help find it?”

“I guess…”

Maybe, in a different world, he would belong here. And maybe that version of him… will appreciate it as much as he does. Or at least he hopes so.

This world was so kind. Ash hopes that nothing bad will befall it.

He hopes that this world can keep going on and on, as beautiful as his other friends has made it out. And he hopes that this own world can learn to be kind too, and that maybe he can be kinder as well, and maybe he can be the one to start the change. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

(Clemont adds the final adjustment to the new machine he is building, and the mirror shines with all of their faces on one surface. Ash does not shy away. Even with her in the picture.

This isn’t his group after all. Over here, this is just Serena, and he is just Ash. No crybaby here.)

In a world with a green sky and a cave with jutting mirrors, a Pikachu stands and fights the invaders.

He knows that they are not the heroes of justice. He knows that they are twisted and wrong and bad, but this Pikachu has faced down titans and land-movers and Psychics with powers that no mind can even comprehend, so he will fight and he will not back down.

That Meowth, smarmy and with a backwater accent, calls out, “What’s wrong with you, Pikachu? Aren’t you going to run back to your Trainer?”

He briefly remembers those tears in those brown eyes. He shakes his head and roars, a sharp, scratchy sound, a sound that has cowed the creator himself. That Meowth winces, and the humans step up, glints in their eyes that betrays a hunger like no other.

“Who cares about the Twerp? Let’s just catch him now, while we still can!” The woman swings over the device, such a strange contraption for villains wearing the face of heroes that prefer action with their own two hands, and he slams it down with Iron Tail. They grimace, and then try again, and again.

Pikachu will not back down. Pikachu will fight, because his Trainer cannot do it alone and he is all his Trainer has left.

And so he attacks and attacks and attacks until he has no more.

And when they reach towards him, black gloves so foreign on their familiar hands, he bites and scratches and buys time. He will make it hard for them, because the world is hard and he is hard and his Ash is so soft, too soft, and so Pikachu will do anything for him.

Anything.

And so he does not give up the fight. Even as they push him inside the device. Even as they crow that his electricity will not penetrate it, because his powers has challenged skies and space and Pikachu will be with Ash and that is a promise.

And Pikachu does not break his promise.

[jorvikzelda]

mothers be normal about trans people challenge (impossible)

[widevibratobitch]

laalalalala another vent post because i have no therapist to pay for listening to my bullshit

[tommygotwrittenoff]

the implications of "guess all that company must have wore you out" is crazy. eddie knew about maddie's plan, he knew and he didn't want to be a part of it. if buck wanted his company, buck would come to him. and buck did

[starpros-sunshine]

I think the reason I'm so uncomfortable in conversation with cis men is because in my life the image I've grown up with is that from the American movies and while there's so much to be said about how women in those are basically objects or exclusively love interests or just Really Really forgettable I feel like there's also something to be mentioned about how most of these men are all the same pseudo-tough-guy character that's cool and suave and sexy and the only emotion he's capable of is nonchalant banter (it feels worth mentioning that the American movies I'm referring to are all from the last century I have no idea if that's changed in these last years but a gut feeling tells me no) and I also barely talk to the guys from my grade so the result of kind of growing up with that is that I just genuinely can not imagine real cis men with a complex inner emotional landscape. Maybe this is also an empathy thing but I genuinely can not imagine most cishet guys doing normal people things in their free time that aren't gaming or going to the gym or...idk. making music too I suppose. It's quite comical really but I just can not imagine cishet men with interests or doing stuff like having crushes and it's so strange because I know for a fact I am generally speaking not a sexist person but this little tidbit of apparently just not being able to view cishet men as normal people? Can't get that to go away even if I logically know it's silly. There's a point in this post about how toxic masculinity is a huge issue and affects even those not affected by it and runs really really deep or whatever but I'm too tired to coherently put it together. On the positive side now I get really happy when I see men online talk about how much they love their wives and all that because it's like "wow! Crazy you really are just a normal dude and not some James Bond knock-off like I thought every cishet man was supposed to be! Thank god!"

[senseiwu]

Just saw a video where someone mentioned reading the curious incident of the dog in the night time, and they thought afterwards they may have autism too. When they brought it up to their mum, she was like "you knew??" cause apparently she'd done that thing people seem to do where they keep an autism diagnosis secret from their kids

It made me remember when my grandma gave me that book to read when we were all at her place for Christmas. She said something like "I think you'll really like it", which confused me cause I was more into fantasy stuff than mystery novels. I mean. I did really like it. But it's one of the things that makes me wonder... did my parents do that thing too...?

[phagodyke]

ykw actually I am angry + disappointed w them. I've been pushing how I feel aside and trying to make it my own fault so it's all contained but I think theyve just been mean. and they really should know me better ik I try to pretend I don't expect more from them so I feel less hurt when they do things that upset me but we've been friends for years by this point. like come on.