#people talking about 'memes are funny because of the effort that went into them!!' is ai killing the meme industry...?

[evanatsuhi]

(looks around) i think no one on this site should be allowed to talk about ai or ai art anymore until they stop getting all their information from reactionary buzzword posts

[azuresage]

It gets talked about a lot but I still can't stop nerding out about Link's characterization in TotK. It's done through his many creative dialogue choices and his expressions of course, but it's also done so subtly through what he *doesn't* say. Notably, he doesn't talk about himself. And this is why nobody recognizes him unless they've already met him. Because he doesn't tell them when they've got the wrong impression of him.

The meme about Link having Tony Hawk syndrome is so real. People will look at him and straight up say, "Wow, you look exactly like Link!" without a hint of irony. Lookout Landing has a detailed picture of his face in their watchtower and the search party still doesn't recognize him. Penn works with Link for a long time and thinks he's unlucky that the Yiga keep "mistaking" him for the Hero (granted, Traysi asked him to deliberately keep quiet, but Penn still didn't put two and two together himself). I think the reason for this, aside from it being really, really funny, is that Link just doesn't talk about himself. He doesn't feel the need to.

Characterization isn't just about what we see a character doing, it's also about how other characters respond to them. Link is so unassuming and humble that he doesn't match people's expectations of what "Link" should be like. The three Gerudo ladies hanging out around Outskirt Stable are one of many perfect examples. Link stands in front of them carrying the Master Sword, but they expect the Hero to be taller than they are, with a giant glowing sword, so they don’t believe it's him. Obviously that's not the reality, but they don't know that. Link doesn't correct them, either. Again, he doesn't feel the need to.

This is also why many NPCs from BotW don't recognize or remember Link. To them, he was just a passerby that did them a good turn once 6+ years ago. Nobody's going to remember a person like that for so long after. They had no way of knowing he was the Hero, unless it came up for story quest reasons. When they hear stories about the Princess's Appointed Knight who woke up from his 100 year nap, defeated the Calamity, and rescued Zelda, they imagine someone larger than life. Then when they see what Link actually is like, they can't put two and two together.

This is true even during the Hyrule Restoration efforts. Link always follows behind Zelda as her shadow, which she notes in her diary, but the people in the stable investigation quests and in Hateno don't recognize him either, even though he went everywhere she did. Link is just that unassuming. He resigns himself to being a shadow, allowing Zelda to take the lead and do as she pleases but always staying nearby to support and protect her. He doesn't need to be recognizable to do his job. And we know from both BotW and now TotK that he's wholly devoted to her. He's content with this. Many people more eloquent than I have spent many paragraphs elaborating on this. I just wanted to focus on what it says about his character.

Link is humble and unassuming, so much so that nobody believes that he's the Hero unless they already know him. He's devoted to Zelda, so much so that he's willing to do anything to chase even a glimpse of her. He doesn't talk about himself or correct people who have the wrong impression of him. He doesn't need to do that to chase his Zelda. He is a person of great humility in spite of his station. I think that's so interesting and neat how the comedy of him being unrecognizable also tells us all this about him. It's also cool how this is only one aspect of him; all the dialogue choices and expressions he makes during cutscenes and actions out in the world show a whole other, lighter side to him that meshes with this. It's all so good. I am in love with it. It always kills me inside when people dismiss his characterization as being nonexistant or flat just because it's not spoonfed to them or when they say Link being unrecognizable is lazy writing instead of a deliberate choice. I am biting and gnawing and gnashing over him and his relationship to Zelda. I love them so much.

[daipeanutsaiban]

Hello! Um I know it's been a few months since you said people could ask you more questions on your tgaa thoughts, but I was hoping to ask about your baskerzieks and genshinxwife ones. Like how they met, or what their last in person convos went like before each couple separated/died, etc, bc I really adore your Lady B & Mrs. Asougi designs! They deserved first names 😭

Also I'd love to hear your genklint/ville thoughts too if you care to share those!

ALSO I wanted to say you're 100% correct that if Kazuma & Klint ever actually met good ending au Kazuma would think he's the most annoying person alive. It's funny if genklint is platonic or romantic too, it's like Herlock Sholmes is right there and instead Kazuma thinks his dad's bf (best friend OR boyfriend lol) is significantly worse. Something something hating your parallel

Anyway no pressure, and sorry if you aren't looking to answer more questions at this time!

HI i love to yap and to yap about dgs especially so you're good haha <3 i'm the kind of person who needs to be asked tbh bc i tend to be self conscious/doubt myself so questions are always super appreciated 🥹💗 this post got LONG so i'm going to put it under a break to spare anyone who's just here for art or trying to look at memes during their lunch break

TL;DR: klint and primrose were engaged as kids but it was broken off upon his parents' death, it was renewed when he earned prestige as a prosecutor; their last conversation was when primrose forced him to confess his crimes to her but she'd started having doubts months ago; in my favorite hc, gkv never pursued one another beyond dropping hints here and there but because i am bisexual i also want them to have fun; genshin and yukari met by chance as teens and genshin had to convince his father to let them marry each other after finding out she was pregnant; he could never say his last words to her because writing about the professor's identity could've endangered her and kazuma.

first of all thank you so much, it makes me so happy when people enjoy my designs and characterizations for lady baskerville and mrs asougi!! for clarity, i'll be calling them by the names i gave them in this post, primrose and yukari respectively.

klint and primrose's engagement was decided by their parents and they met as children- i think they were probably feeling awkward around each other for a while since children don't really care about such things (right..?) and primrose actually chose to spend her time reading when her father would take her to visit, and she might've even been more interested in talking/playing with barok because there wouldn't be the daunting idea of an engagement looming on the horizon lol. eventually, she and klint do grow closer and come to consider each other friends thanks to him putting in a lot of effort to make her feel welcome and also have more fun (she finds him boring- i characterize klint as having been a very serious and dutiful child, though he does play with and dote on his brother).

when the van zieks parents die in my hc, losing their life in a fire specifically, primrose's father chooses to cancel their engagement because he doubts klint can suitably provide for his daughter- a cruel but logical decision as klint is just fourteen years old with no backing or achievements. as an aside, the fire is declared to be an unfortunate accident but klint silently believes it was premeditated- this incident contributes to him considering prosecution as a career. out of care for his brother, he never brings up this idea to barok.

still, primrose is a very clever child who's acutely aware that her father's doting is a form of control (such as making her wear beautiful, white clothes to easily find out if she's been sneaking out, which i think i talked about before), and she insists on meeting klint either at his estate or in the city while they both (and occasionally barok) wear disguises/common clothes. the latter option allows them to meet people outside of their social caste, and to develop a sympathy for them from an early age which also contributes to klint's growing bitterness towards other nobles. throughout his struggle to be taken seriously by these men in spite of his age, primrose continuously encourages him and even spies on her father's meetings with other gentlemen to then report to him, and this continues in their adult life with her reporting rumors and "gossip" from other ladies about their own husbands (with perhaps dire consequences in the long run, haha...)

primrose has ambitions of her own, though, many of which are philanthropic in nature and stem from guilt at being born in a wealthy household to a father who does not care about people other than his own. they are difficult to achieve as an unmarried woman (or even as a woman in general), as her father would never greenlight her ideas, and as such she becomes enraged with klint when he allows the engagement to be dispelled due to believing she would ultimately "be happier with someone else" when it would effectively condemn any ounce of freedom she could have. from primrose's perspective, klint is the only candidate for marriage because he actually respects her and understands her as a person.

their engagement was eventually reinstated following klint's multiple achievements, chiefly when he made a name for himself as an extremely prolific prosecutor and primrose's father couldn't really object to it (ha) anymore. when i researched, i learned that men in the victorian era would commonly get married in their thirties once their careers were established, and i especially like that for this couple because it means that genshin could've attended their wedding. (it's also amusing to picture klint pitching him as the best man while primrose is firmly in barok's camp and they have a silly spat about that, haha. but ngl i prefer genshin as their best man because it was tradition that the best man would drive the married couple to their month long honeymoon directly after the ceremony so. he could stay behind a little while if you catch my meaning. teehee)

on the topic of genklintville, my ultimate preference/personal "canon" is that they never outright acted upon their romantic or sexual interests in one another although the tension was clearly there. but like any bisexual on the internet, i like to indulge a little bit, as shown in my previous paragraph hehe. i like to imagine a kind of kinship between genshin and primrose as they are interested in similar literature and share a similar sense of humor as well (chiefly teasing klint- in a deadpan manner for genshin). klint and primrose tend to dote on genshin in a way they think is discreet, because they can sense his loneliness at being apart from his family even though he generally doesn't voice it, but as we all know genshin isn't a fool and it leaves him quite flustered haha. genshin also relates to klint in the way that they are both heirs to something "greater than them" (the asogi clan/the van zieks heritage) and sometimes yearn to break away from it which might contribute to why genshin left for london if the first place. i'd like to add that if i draw genklint without primrose present, it's taking place with her knowledge and consent, though them being pushed to cheating due to increasing stress or suchlike circumstances is an interesting angle- it's just not something i see myself making at present. though now saying that has made me think about the ways it could be fun to explore the way klint's lying and gaslighting keeps piling up, so what's one more lie? so i'd be interested in reading a story that would attest to his guilt from committing the act and his gaslighting towards not only his wife but also to himself, hmm. the best way that i can put it is that if i'm to explore gk without the v, she must be a relevant character because i'm not about to discard a canon female love interest to focus solely on the yaoi lmao.

now for genshin and yukari, or genyu for short as i like to call it in my head (lol)... there's a lot to cover here too 😵‍💫 some of this, particularly the stuff concerning ayame, is still undecided on but i thought the more context the better!

to understand their dynamic, it feels important to state/repeat my headcanons about the asogi clan aka genshin's immediate family beyond her and kazuma, which were mentioned here. but to summarize, they are very patriarchal, strict, and the type to suppress their emotions. genshin is his father's illegitimate child, and his real mother is... hm, well, she won't ever appear in my art because it's suitable for her character, but she's a high ranking courtesan, aka "oiran", and therefore pregnancy/being a mother could bring shame to her and likely ruin her livelihood, because they are meant to project the image of being unattainable both in appearance.. and price. her disappearing for some months to a year wouldn't be all that suspicious as few men can even afford to meet her.

because the oiran brings the House where she works good money, they help her cover up her pregnancy and her son's existence by sending him to live with his father as soon as possible. once, genshin tries to visit his mother, but he is turned away. in short, his first experience was to be abandoned by someone who was supposed to love him. i think this backstory also serves to give reason to his name (written with the kanji 'shadow' and 'truth') because he is a truth meant to be hidden by the government. if you think about his father giving him that name, it becomes quite sad and implies shame for bringing his son into the world. i think it would also justify the personality i like for him, which is more reserved and serious than how i portray the rest of the visiting trio (with a boisterous but ambitious seishiro and a downtrodden but shy and earnest yuujin), and with a greater disposition for being suspicious... which is naturally a good thing for a detective.

genshin's father's wife lost her life to an illness some years prior to genshin integrating into the asogi clan, which is why he sought comfort from the oiran. to avoid unsavory rumors and to preserve both women's reputation, syoma (genshin's father) forbids his son from venturing outside of the house - paralleling primrose's childhood, which they could bond over later in life - until he turns a certain age. he's the dark sheep of the clan, to make it short. it's by sneaking out as a child that he meets seishiro, and then yukari who is accompanying ayame.

as an aside, i want to add that while syoma holds misogynistic beliefs, he still feels a sense of responsibility so he does eventually pay off the oiran's debt in the end- not that she's particularly grateful since he led her on and made her promise not to abort his child without ever planning to marry her. not a great guy, but def a fun character to write. those are things genshin deduces in his teenage years, and he swears to never become like his father.

as for yukari, her family history is also nebulous, and i don't know if i even want to establish her circumstances before meeting ayame and genshin because i like the meta irony of those details remaining unknown to us just as they were unknown to those around her outside of how she is tied to other people. ayame's friend, genshin's wife, kazuma's mother- never her own person. she reaches a breaking point during genshin's absence, but i won't go into detail about that for now because it's part of a long project of mine. what i can say about her is that she does housework for ayame's family in exchange for room and board, but she's not categorized as a servant because ayame cherishes her, a privilege that makes her feel awkward at times.

genshin fell for her due to her frank and joyful approach to life which was so different from the outlook he was raised on, and she piqued his curiosity with her unusual and often "silly", but free, behavior. he has the utmost respect for her, which is why as much as i like gkv and think it could work in a modern au with yukari's inclusion/approval + rapid methods of communication, i think realistically genshin wouldn't have the heart to start anything with someone else when she is waiting for his every letter so far away. he wouldn't be able to read the expression on her face, and she could easily lie about being okay with it.

in this wikipedia article about marriage in japan in the edo period (1600-1868), it reads: "Members of the household were expected to subordinate all their own interests to that of the [household], with respect for an ideal of filial piety and social hierarchy. [...] Marriages were duly arranged by the head of the household, who represented it publicly and was legally responsible for its members, and any preference by either principal in a marital arrangement was considered improper."

you might've guessed where i'm going with this, but genshin's father had already chosen a wife for him, and that person was ayame, who is from a 'good' family. obviously that marriage didn't go through with yukari becoming pregnant at 18 or 19 (!!), and syoma capitulated to genshin's request that he be given permission to marry his girlfriend which only further strained his relationship with his father further. as for ayame, she was fortunate that the man she was interested in was studying medicine, and therefore struggled less for her family to accept yuujin as her husband. but for yukari, although she knows genshin doesn't love ayame, there's always that nagging feeling that she was the "wrong" choice. after all, she has to witness the interactions between genshin and his family every day, and her presence is often the source of tension. her only rock after ayame's death and genshin's departure is her son, who starts rejecting spending time with her as he grows older because, well, he's a teenager (something i want to expand on in that project i mentioned).

in yukari's case, she was never able to read her husband's last words as even writing about the professor's identity could endanger hers and kazuma's lives, but perhaps genshin had promised he would briefly return at the half-way point of his stay overseas and then ended up having to break that promise by choosing to investigate the professor killings before eventually losing his life. yukari's feelings of helplessness were confirmed as the truth in her eyes then.

as for primrose and klint's last conversation, it's been sitting in my wips for a while LOL. i def think she had her suspicions, and when she finally gathered her courage to confront him, he broke down and told her the truth. i've revised this comic and especially its dialogue so many times that i don't even know if i like it anymore, please pray for me 😅

It's funny if genklint is platonic or romantic too, it's like Herlock Sholmes is right there and instead Kazuma thinks his dad's bf (best friend OR boyfriend lol) is significantly worse.

this made me laugh LMAO honestly kazuma would be so petty about it meanwhile i feel like he'd get along super well with the man's own wife 😂 i also think that as an adult kazuma would admire his father less and even be a bit of a tsundere lol, but yeah in a No One Dies/Good Ending AU(tm) he'd probably resent genshin a little for leaving him and his mother, whose struggles he witnessed firsthand for ten years. hell, maybe he does resent him in the current circumstances even if it's not the dominant emotion when it comes to his father, it of course being grief... still. lord van zieks get your paws off my dad!! 🙄💢 also if genshin starts reciprocating the attention kazuma might start killing LOL

...this answer is now well over 2000 words and i still feel like i'm leaving things out i feel CRAZY omg. autism diagnosis unnecessary atp lmfao.

also just found this in my #yukanotes i should've just copy pasted all this augh. i love yukari very much she is extremely dear to me. 😊💗

thanks again for your questions I'M SORRY IT'S SO LONG....... i DO love to yap 🥹🥹💗

[carboardserpent]

Next gen headcanons? 🤔

Like, Jackson, Cruz, Tim, Danny, Chase, and Ryan?

Oh boy, that's a few characters. Alright, strap in then. Probably also gonna throw in Bubba because he's my favourite non-main next gen <3

(Humanised, as always)

(Quick disclaimer for this one, none of these are supposed to reflect on the irl racers that gave their names and voices to them - I'm treating these characters as though they're entirely fictional and not based on/inspired by real people. I make my HCs literally just based on Vibes (and RPs))

Jackson Storm:

6'1 and fit AF. Clearly spends a lot of time in the gym toning his body and muscles. He is male model levels of gorgeous. Physically flawless black man <3

Short black dreadlocks dyed blue at the ends.

Aromantic (female-leaning)bisexual.

Autistic.

Ray knew he was autistic before Jackson even knew himself, and is the reason he even got diagnosed in the first place.

One of his most common complaints is still about the reflections of the sun glinting in his eyes. The loud noise of the track still gets to him occasionally, but he has special earplugs to help him deal with it.

Can usually be seen drinking a can of IGNTR's flagship energy drink before a race. It helps him calm down and focus in. His sponsors love it, for obvious reasons.

Any time he's on camera, he acts calm and cool but internally he's freaking out. If they ask something he doesn't expect, he visibly tenses up and flounders for a second as he tries to figure out what to say, even if it was a simple question.

Doesn't do fan meets or signings unless he absolutely has to. Even then he tries everything he can to get out of them.

His physical attractiveness makes his already poor attitude even worse. Doesn't know how to talk to people, but gets all the praise and attention he could ever want online.

Yes, he posts photos of himself on various social media. He wasn't sure at first, but Ray convinced him to start shortly after his debut race, hoping that it would help reassure him and give him a bit of a confidence boost. Naturally, it went a little TOO well...

He's a gamer through and through. In any downtime he gets, he's still topping the leaderboards on just about every popular racing game you can play online. He also enjoys the occasional game of CoD and will verbally rip anyone to shreds if they try to come at him.

DUBSTEP. He loves it. If his skull isn't rattling from absolutely filthy, grimy bass, he's not interested.

So, of course, he has to have an incredible sound system that's probably worth more than the average person's car.

He doesn't watch anime. (Stop asking him if he does) Most of his entertainment comes from Twitch streams.

He streams himself playing Super Corsa 4 any chance he gets. Which isn't often with the packed NASCAR schedule, but he tries his best. His user is UrStormChasing

Still doesn't get along with Tim after their rivalry in training and isn't very good at pretending he does either. Their crew chiefs have to make deliberate efforts to stop them from running into each other before they get into their cars.

Cruz Ramirez:

5'5 with an athletic build. She is a Latina woman with visible abs and she deserves them gdi.

Side-parted brown hair a little shorter than jaw length, perpetually kinda wild looking.

Chaotic lesbian hours!

ADHD

Literally cannot sleep at night without a big, milky mug of coffee.

It's not normal to wake up and go for a run before even having breakfast?

She's teaching Lightning to use social media more regularly (for better or for worse). His homework is to send her a funny meme or video that he found that week.

The result of this can sometimes be catastrophic. She'll never be able to unhear him uncertainly attempting to use outdated slang.

Almost every race, there's someone complaining about how she doesn't weigh enough and it's unfair to the rest of them. So she forces them to watch as race officials put extra weights in her car.

Has cussed Danny out in Spanish across Pit Road and will do it again if he carries on-

Is probably the only person on Team Dinoco that is actually nice to Cal and doesn't try to tease him. They get along well.

Tim Treadless:

6'0 with a broad frame and light muscle tone.

Tanned skin and tousled brown hair.

Straight ally.

Just call him Mr. Charismatic, everyone loves him.

Everyone except Jackson, that is. Jackson is the only person who brings out his anger to the point of wanting to throw hands.

Has a wife and a baby, bc of course he does.

One of those guys some people hate for being irritatingly perfect. Usually people that don't actually know him.

Has type 1 diabetes and a bad nut allergy.

Was pulled out of a race at the last minute when he went into anaphylactic shock - the entire race was almost stopped when people started to whisper that it was foul play. The race went on, but the only reason for Treadless' absence was that he had to be pulled for "unforseen medical issues".

Some of the other racers still blame Jackson, who actually had nothing to do with it.

Danny Swervez:

5'10 and fairly slender. Not a lot of bulk to him.

Tanned skin (he's Latino) and short black hair.

Cishet male.

This man is FULL of himself. What an attitude.

Genuinely a good racer, but not many people like him.

He's not a good guy. He's given Cruz some trouble for being a woman, though after she embarrassed him by publicly cussing him out in Spanish, he's learned to keep his unpopular opinions on her to himself.

Isn't exactly what we would call "faithful".

But hey, at least he doesn't cheat on the track (smh)

Has just as little respect for the older racers as Jackson, but is less vocal about it.

Is very bitter about Jackson and Tim being more popular than him, yet still does nothing to change himself for the better.

Has at least attempted to physically fight with other drivers that messed with him on the track several times.

Chase Racelott:

5'9 with a build somewhere between Danny and Tim.

Pale skin and dirty-blonde hair.

Straight ally.

Generally a pretty likeable guy. Not as well-loved as Tim, but he has a good amount of pretty dedicated fans.

Makes jokes about being single/available.

Has pretty average performance on the track, not great, but not poor.

Fairly high energy, he gets along well with Cruz.

Probably one of the best with kids. Has a lot of younger fans because of how he interacts with them during meets and signings.

One of the few who will try not to leave until he's spoken to every fan who wanted to meet him, no matter how long it takes.

Often seen hanging around with Ryan - the two of them cause some pretty good natured trouble together, often involving pranks on the other racers.

Ryan "Inside" Laney:

5'11 with a broad build similar to Tim.

Mixed race (¾ Caucasian, ¼ African American), with short black hair.

Closeted bisexual.

Friendly, but not really a standout character as far as the fans are concerned.

Kind of cocky, but in a cool way.

Has a girlfriend who travels with him.

Agent of chaos when he spends too much time with Chase. Don't turn your back on him.

Bubba Wheelhouse

Absolutely massive 6'2 gentle giant

Another gorgeous black man (fight me), his skin tone isn't quite as dark as Jackson's

Closeted homosexual

Has a fake relationship with a lesbian woman who's actually just his best friend (the racing world is scary and the US South probably wouldn't love an openly gay driver)

Kids ADORE him. Him and Chase are the drivers with the most kid fans.

Throws a football around with fans over the catch fence during rain delays (this one is based on the real Bubba Wallace bc its wholesome af)

Gets asked all the weird gay questions by everyone in the friend group. (Ex. "Is it gay if...?" "What is X actually like?")

Legit just trying to mind his own business, he doesn't want any part of drama or rivalries.

Occasionally finds himself roped into girl talk if the guys have their S/Os around. They're very excited to include him. He's too polite to decline.

[heyheyitsjae]

So the trailer for The Minecraft Movie (sorry, “A Minecraft Movie”) came out a couple days ago. I had a lot of thoughts upon seeing it, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, and have been combing through other people’s takes the last few days, so I’ve been itching to talk about it. The trailer is currently sitting at 500,000 likes vs 900,000 dislikes, so obviously it hasn’t been received well. Even the official Minecraft channel hasn’t uploaded it, only linking to WB’s upload. I thought I’d go back to the beginning and give my thoughts on progress as stuff from the film came out. 

So the first major red flag for me was when they announced the film was going to be in live action. I could not for the life of me fathom that decision. Minecraft has such a goofy and stylized world that it would only really work in animation, and we’ve had plenty of excellent Minecraft animations over the years to prove that. The Fallen Kingdom Pentology, Villager News, Cas van de Pol’s shorts, Kelpilox’s memes, Hapico’s stunning 3D shorts, and of course the official update trailers. Time and time again Minecraft has proven that both hilariously funny and epicly badass content can be made in its world, often by the fanbase. 

And yet, they chose to make the film in live action. The only way I could possibly think of this working would be if they entirely ditched the blocky aesthetic, and made it a high fantasy like Lord of the Rings, The DnD Movie, or even The Princess Bride. There’s plenty of fantasy elements like Creepers, Endermen, and Piglins that could keep something like that grounded in Minecraft’s world, even if it would be an odd choice. 

Then the birthday short came out. For those of you that don’t know, as a part of the 15th anniversary of Minecraft they put out a short on YouTube and Tik Tok of Jack Black and Jason Momoa cutting a cake and wishing Minecraft “happy birthday.” The actors weren’t even wearing any sort of outfit or costume for the film, and their acting felt very strained and terrible. I had my fingers crossed that they just cheaped out because it’s a promotional short, but it was still a bad sign. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2f0fPzZNPWw 

Then concept art started to leak for the film. While there were a couple of designs I did find cool like the Spider and Elytra, others like the Pig and Villagers concerned me and looked pretty doofy. These were obviously created by a variety of artists, so there was no telling who’s vision they would go forward with, and I saw it as a bit of a coin flip. 

Then the actual trailer came out, and… oh boy… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE2YZhcC4NY&t=1s 

For a start the opening shot didn’t seem all that bad to me. Yeah real life Minecraft is still a weird concept, and that archway looked unnatural, but at least some level of effort seemed to have gone into it. 

And then the actors showed up and all hope dropped. Their implementation into the film felt really awkward and lazy. Every shot they’ve got an awkward glow around them, either a result of being poorly green screened or needlessly backlit. They often feel out of scale with the environment and there’s a decent amount of shots where they don’t even cast a shadow. They feel so unnatural in this world. It makes you wonder, if all the backgrounds and mobs are gonna be done in CGI anyway, why not make the humans CGI and the whole thing an animation from the get go? 

The wardrobe of these actors is also a strange one. One that stands out as odd to me is Momoa has blonde hair, a brown beard, AND a pink jacket? At least make his hair and beard the same color it just looks awkward. 

And of course the king of awkward stand-outs is Jack Black as Steve. They didn’t even try, they just threw a blue shirt on him and called it a day. They could have at least trimmed up his beard. It’s especially odd they went with Black given Jason Momoa is right there!? Momoa has the perfect skin tone, right beard shape, and roughly the right amount of muscle mass to be Steve. The only thing that doesn’t really line up is his hair is a tad long, but if they were gonna put him in a wig anyway that’s not a hard fix. 

Most of the delivery in the teaser also feels pretty stiff and none of the jokes land. So far it’s got a strong “gulp, he’s right behind me” vibe that I’m not digging. 

Before we get to the moment you’re all waiting for, a couple of little side complaints on minor things. 

Something I noticed in the trailer that super bugged me, but I’ve only seen one other person mention so maybe I’m overreacting, is the logs on the scene where they meet Steve. For some reason the bottom railing has the logs rings facing up toward the crenelations or sideways into each other, but the crenelations have the logs facing sideways toward the camera!? Not only does it look really bad, but that’s the kind of thing that would take a lot of extra effort to do in-game, placing and breaking two extra blocks for each bump, only for it to ruin the build. 

And then there’s the crafting table. This scene was a bit quick, blink and you’ll miss it, so I didn’t give it much thought on first viewing. I just assumed Mamoa put two buckets and a chain on the table… but he didn’t. He threw like, six iron ingots and five cobblestone, onto the table and it somehow worked. The items on the table weren’t even lined up with the crafting grid. It’s the literal fucking name of the game and they couldn’t get it right!? HOW, HOW DO YOU FUCK UP THAT BADLY!!!

Okay now we’re on to the REAL bad bit! The mobs in this film are a train wreck. They are a shining example of what I mentioned before, either you make this film entirely animation or entirely live action. This awkward halfway point just creates an uncanny valley feeling that’s disturbing to look at. Most of them feel A.I. generated. 

The Sheep and the Llama are obviously the worst contenders. They look like something a parody YouTuber would throw together for a grossout short in 2013. I’ve heard some people try to defend this movie by saying “it’s just for kids, don’t be so hard on it.” I can’t think of a single five year old that would piss their pants crying in fear if they saw this thing pop up on screen. They are horrendous. 

Then there’s the Wolf. The Wolf doesn’t look as bad in comparison. There’s something off about its lips and hind legs, but I think obscuring it in shadows is saving us from the brunt of whatever the hell could be going on. 

And then there’s the Creeper, which is an… interesting choice. A lot of people have complained that it’s fuzzy, but looking at the poster it seems a bit odder than that. It looks like its skin is made of a dirt like substance and its fir is grass, which is… a choice. For those that don’t know, the original description we were given of Creeper skin was that it was “crunchy like dry leaves.” This has led to basically everyone assuming Creepers are plant-like creatures, with most people giving them scaly skin. I suppose grass fir fits with being plant-like, but it’s not scaly or dry at all. To be fair, a lot of fan theories have suggested Creepers could be made of peat moss, and it looks a little like that, but it’s still off. 

That then brings us to the Piglins who… honestly don’t look that bad. I think a combination of smaller eyes, less fur, and not being based on a real life animal makes them a lot more digestible than the other mobs in the film. I also like the use of Ghasts as airships. That was a concept we saw in one of the Fallen Kingdom songs that Minecraft almost implemented into canon with Minecraft Legends. While these Ghast airships are nowhere near as cool looking as either of those examples, at least it’s something. But there’s a lot of stuff to talk about with the Piglins aside from their appearance, so let's get into it. 

The first is a common complaint I’ve seen people make: how they’re able to breathe in the Overworld, when normally this causes Zombification. We *might* have an answer to this. In Minecraft Legends the Piglins tried to invade the Overworld. They brought with them huge Nether Spreader devices that spread Netherrack and heated the air, while the Horde of the Spore bred and spread mushroom fungal spores into the air. The spores made the air breathable for Piglins, and the heat presumably killed off the virus. 

Now that made sense for Legends, but doesn’t really make sense here. After the Piglin Invasion, the Horde of the Spore was hit hardest by the war. While survivors of the Horde of the Hunt remain in the Crimson Forests and the Horde of the Bastion remain in the Bastion Remnants, Piglins have since abandoned the Warped Forests, with Hoglins even developing a fear of the Warped Fungi, leaving the Horde of the Spore extinct. 

During Legends the Piglins had giant machines and an entire third of the army dedicated to making the Overworld breathable, while this trailer seems to show the much smaller modern Piglin army, so I have no idea how they are keeping alive. 

The other big issue that rises with the Piglins being here is… why? In Legends the Piglin Invasion at least sort of made sense. In the base game we had the Ruined Portals revealing travel between the two Dimensions was once more common, and the Bastion Remnants hinting that Piglins were once more populous and militaristic. Legends answered both of these by implying that the Piglins once tried to invade the Overworld, but after their four abusive kings were killed the few survivors split up and determined the Overworld not worth their efforts. 

The Piglins went from a militaristic and imperial force determined to conquer, to a small band of tribes that, while territorial, are ultimately friendly. They’ve become far less united and greedy (assuming they even were that greedy, Legends is a story written by the victors after all.) Based on the outfits, and Steve being alive, it seems the Piglins in this film are the *modern* Piglins. The chill dudes that give you enchanted boots for gold and compose fire mixtapes. The whole turning an entire race in your story into mindless evil monsters for Legends was already something that didn’t sit well with the Minecraft fanbase, especially with how adorable Piglins are, so using the friendly version of them as the bad guys in the film is an odd choice. We already have a group that raids villages, the Illagers, and a group that's yet to get the story spotlight, the Undead, both of whom would’ve been more logical and interesting villains for the movie. 

That brings me to another minor point that I think is worth bringing up here. I’ve heard some people complain about the portal at the start and while I agree it shouldn’t be blue, it's not for the same reason they do. A lot of people claim the portal should be purple, which is actually not true. Purple is the color of the Nether Portal yes, but we know from Minecraft Story Mode and the Infinite Dimensions April Fools Snapshot that that portals in this world can be basically any color, with each Dimension getting its own color, so the idea of the human world not being purple makes sense. 

But I think this shade of light blue is a bad choice, for one simple reason. The plot of Minecraft Legends was: Piglins decided to invade the overworld, so heroes from a far off land were brought in through a light blue portal to fix it. So far, the plot of this film seems to be: Piglins decided to invade the overworld, so heroes from a far off land were brought in through a light blue portal to fix it.

We’re just doing Legends again, which I cannot fucking fathom. Why the hell would you make a “Minecraft” movie and then base its plot on something exclusive to one of the sequels. Where’s the logic in that!? It’s especially baffling that Legends of all things was the one they decided to go with. Filming for this film didn’t start till earlier this year, sometime after February, meaning that things like actor schedules, lot rentals, and creating props probably weren’t set in stone until like, last August. 

That was well after Legends was the biggest critical and financial flop of any Minecraft spin-off (sans maybe Earth, but that never really came out.) This film had already been delayed time and time again, presumably because the script wasn’t up to snuff, so one more delay after it had been proven that people didn’t want to see that story wouldn’t have been that big a deal. Then again, Legends wasn’t officially canned until a couple months before filming and Black and Momoa probably have busier schedules and had to be booked further in advance. But it still feels like a poor choice that they had time to course correct on. 

Although there is ONE thing that sets this story apart from Legends. It appears to be going down the Jumanji route. Now while you could argue Legends already was an Isekai story, at least in that case it was someone traveling from a Minecraft world to another Minecraft world. Here we’ve got another fucking instance of a bunch of people being sucked into the videogame world. 

As people have mentioned before, having Jack Black in here is automatically giving Jumanji vibes, but even ignoring that I’m so damn sick of every single videogame movie being an Isekai. It is so annoying that game worlds aren’t allowed to exist as their own thing. The protagonist always has to be some outsider from the real world sent to this strange and kooky realm, and it’s just annoying. Videogames are fun when they have rich, fleshed out, and lived in universes, and reducing that to either “I’ve been trapped in the game” or “I’m unfamiliar with this world at tall” robs them of a lot of their wonder. The Mario Movie did it, the Monster Hunter Movie did it, the Sonic Movie did the reverse of it. We need more Detective Pickachu type films, where we explore people from a far out place in that far out place. 

Now let’s shift gears into less of aesthetic annoyances and more into potential spoiler territory. 

Something that I didn’t notice while watching the trailer, and I’ve only seen one person point out, is that The Seer from Minecraft Legends shows up at one point, surrounded by a crowd of Piglins. Now I would assume this movie is non-canon (it’s not made by Mojang and previous stuff not made by Mojang, like Story Mode, have been non-canon.) But if it IS canon, The Seer being there has interesting implications for the series lore/timeline. 

First and foremost is the idea that the Seer and Steve are alive at the same time. Steve is in both the base game and Dungeons, both of which were agreed to happen in a similar time-frame anyway. (Dungeons has both statues of the Ender Dragon being alive during the Arch-Illager’s reign and statues of her getting slain.) But Legends is agreed upon taking place hundreds if not thousands of years prior to the events of the main game. None of the ruined and abandoned structures of modern Minecraft are in it and it depicts the origin of most of the series main races/factions. 

In order for The Seer and Steve to be alive at the same time it either means The Seer is immortal and has been hiding in the background for a while, or Steve is both immortal and MUCH older than we thought. Of the two the first seems more likely, and creates interesting potential for The Seer. They’re the only major antagonist from any of the three main games to not either be befriended or killed (I’m sure someone in Story Mode survived I’m forgetting about) and so their story is unfinished. They also serve as a great explanation for the Piglin army.

The Piglins only attacked during Legends because they were ruled by tyrannical kings who borderline enslaved their people and had a might-makes-right mentality. With all these kings dead, and no army left to maintain their rule/order, of course the survivors would become more independent and less militaristic. It was a logical way to transition from how they’re depicted in both games. If anyone was going to revert the Piglins to their old ways, it would be the ancient hag who advised that cruel council, the only one their violent king showed an ounce of respect or fear to. Seer’s reinstating the old ways, the only question is why now? What took them so long to strike? 

But there’s another potential wrinkle in this plot that could make it more complicated, in an honestly annoying way. Throughout the trailer we see the main kid in the red hoodie is holding a strange glowing blue cube (that totally isn’t just the Tesseract from Marvel.) What this device is hasn’t been explained, but I’ve seen two popular theories going around. 

The first is that it’s a Beacon. In which case, sure, whatever. The other is that it could be the Orb of Dominance and this is the Orb’s origin story, of how it became an all powerful evil artifact. That would make this film a prequel to Legends, establishing how The Seer got their hands on the Orb and got their good standing with the Great Hog’s council 

I… don’t like that. For two main reasons. The first is that this would just exacerbate the Steve is immortal problem, you’re really gonna tell me he was there for EVERYTHING!? The second is that it really drags down the Orb of Dominance’s cool factor. The way it's depicted and talked about in Dungeons implies it's some sort of manifestation of an eldritch entity hellbent on destroying or conquering everything it comes into contact with, who has been vying for power since the dawn of time. Now it’s… something(?) that the humans brought with them. While still mysterious, I suppose, it sounds a lot less cool now (although let’s be honest, it was always a little dumb.) 

Also slightly off topic but I just want to mention, PhoenixSC made a video reviewing the teaser, and WB copyright struck him and forced him to mute a portion of the audio. Now you might think “oh well they own the trailer they’re allowed to do that” but no, it wasn’t anything from the teaser they took down. You know what it was? A couple minutes of a fanmade Minecraft short-film Phoenix was praising for being better than the official thing. Not only is that footage they don’t own any right too, but reviewing things is well and truly covered under fair-use. 

That’s an absolute scumbag movie. Combine that with the recent controversy Jack Black is getting into and I say please, just don’t watch this film in theaters. It’s clear not an ounce of care or love went into making this. It already looks like such a by the numbers and cheaply put together thing. They can 100% do better and we 100% deserve better.

[mieczyhale]

@deanspillowprincess and @penguinsandpanthers are my best friends in the whole entire world, universe, dimension, every life, etc. they have been for the last 14 years and (for me, i wouldn't presume to know other people's thinking) that has never and will never change.

i met rachel right here on tumblr and through her i met colleen. they've been to my house (rachel more than once), we went on vacation together (unfortunately i was sick and miserable all week. not because of the company, that was a treasure, but bc god forbid i make sure my shoes fit comfortably before wearing them to walk through disney parks all day for multiple days) and it looks like in 2025 i'm going to get to go and visit rachel where she lives for once!!

there's no real point to this post, i started writing it over a week ago and then stopped (pretty sure i was in bed on my phone, pretty sure i was in a weird headspace. not that i don't mean what i said, but i'm not in the business of making sappy posts typically

i guess i just wanted to put it out there, into the universe or whatever. that i have had the blessing of meeting them and knowing them and i wouldn't trade that for all the money in all the worlds.

also to show that tumblr can be home to the greatest people you'll ever know. it's a silly dysfunctional site - search doesnt work right, tags dont work right, images dont always load on the app, staff makes a mess of things sometimes trying to force new useless features - but it also has memes and never-ending jokes and we make fake movies together, there are so many positive posts, we share places to donate and send positive chain asks and scream / cry / throw up over the things we love. there are absolutely bananas group efforts put towards anything we all care about, or anything we all find funny. our sense of humor is warped, we turned simple polls into something silly, something creative, something fun, and i'll never look at vanilla extract without smiling again.

it's stupid and it's the best.

your experience here is entirely determined by your own attitude and actions so make choices you can be happy with, interact with the posts you come across that you like or love, talk to the people who share your interests or headcanons, etc. approach this hellsite with an open mind, an open heart, and good faith interpretations and you can have the weirdest and best time of your life with people you'd engage in shenanigans, tomfoolery, and maybe even a heist with.

everyone deserves friends they can be in cahoots with

and tumblr gave me mine 14 years ago

god fucking bless this trash can (affectionate) of a site

[strawbrygashez]

If all da pdudes went to high school together …

P1

• Shy & quiet type but very smart. Gets good grades.

•Has multiple interests that would be seen as nerdy.

•Metalhead but also enjoys grunge.

•is a furry but you wouldn’t know unless u asked him or saw the inside of his sketch book.

Redux

•Calls himself P1s alpha wolf. He’s extremely protective of P1 even tho p1 never asked him to be. He basically glued himself to p1 bc he has a crush on him.

•Is honestly almost a bully to other people but no one takes him super seriously because he wears one of those clip on tails.

•He’s the type to write gruesome lyrics on his notebooks & draws demons and whatnot.

•P1 doesn’t hate him or anything or tells him to stop being ‘cringe’. He just is like •_• all the time. He’ll at least thank him tho if redux scares off someone who was picking on him.

•Redux hates P3 so much. He tries to make P3 uncomfortable or scared but it doesn’t work bc P3 just laughs at him. P3 can’t take him seriously.

P3

•Is dating P1. Redux wants to rip his throat out over it but Redux knows P1 would hate him if he did something to P3 so P3 just has to deal with glares.

•Is only somewhat a furry. He only has a fursona bc he asked p1 to draw him as a furry just for fun once. He’d happily accompany redux & p1 to a convention tho.

•Still obsessed with memes like normal P3 Dude is. All he does during class is gather memes to send to the group chat later. He has terrible grades.

•The type of guy to cuddle up with P1 (and redux if he wasn’t edgy) in the hallway.. he doesn’t really care when ppl say they almost tripped them. Just a “oh sorry :)!” With a wave before focusing back onto p1 (he makes no effort to get out of peoples way)

•Talks loudly & eats messily at lunch. (Redux can not understand what P1 sees in him at all and makes it obvious he thinks this by the way he looks while watching P3 try to eat and talk about YTPs he watched at the same time)

P4

•Hangs out with them all sometimes because he has nothing better to do and they are all funny to watch.

•Is surprisingly good at giving advice to any of them when needed.

•He’s quick to pick up on when something’s wrong & when something happened between any of them (He could tell Redux likes P1 like after a couple of minutes of hanging out with the two)

P2

•If he wasn’t a loner he probably would have picked on P1 and Redux but.. he has his own mental issues & whatnot so he’s ‘stuck with them’.

•Close to P4.

•Complains about his ‘bitchy’ girlfriend all the time.

•He invites them all to hang out around the trailer park with him or go spend nights at his uncle Dave’s house.

•There’s a weird thing between Redux and him where Redux thinks he’s just like P2 because P2 is genuinely cool and mysterious and whatnot but P2 cringes when Redux acts like they are totally the same. (Redux ‘he’s just like me frfr’ moment)

(I will add on to this with more maybe later 💀)

[lloydfrontera]

How do you feel about the scene where Arcos bullies the viscount after being granted the title of count, and feeling good about it? And did it exist in the webnovel?

ashdka i thought it was funny! i think it was a bit ooc but like not by much and i think he deserved to be a little bitchy. as a treat. i also do love the idea of lloyd's pettiness being contagious, like he's just the "i can make them worse <3" meme personified. so as with many other scenes in the webtoon i think it's a bit ooc but it is for hilarity's sake so i can let it pass.

but it is one of the scenes that was completely rewritten from the novel 😅. it kinda exists?? but it's totally different. in the novel arcos does make a corny joke to make the viscount a bit uncomfortable but it's just a "congratulations for your promotion" "thank you! i actually called you cause i wanted to be congratulated :D!" "really?" "no, i'm just pulling your leg, my son wants to see you :)" plus him pointing out that the viscount seems really nervous for some reason (which is because he literally couldn't sleep remembering how many times he'd humiliated arcos in the past and being completely terrified of what the retaliation could be)

and it's actually lloyd that does all the bullying as usual. he does all the intimidation and passive aggressiveness and the cheerful small talk preceding the absolute pettiness he's about to engage in lmao

so they basically gave lloyd's talk with the viscount to arcos which,,, sorta changes arco's character??? but it's not so bad i'm actually upset about it lmao

i also just noticed they actually went easier on the viscount in the webtoon lol in that scene not only does lloyd ask for people, he also increased the water bill three times and threatens him to tell the queen he's going against the efforts to rebuild which could get him branded as a traitor. but like they make up for it in later chapters so it's fine i guess askjdhakjd

[bananahkim]

Lucius likes telling Julia whatever's on his mind. (How his day went, how much he wants to fight Boscha, his love life. He saw The Golden Guard today! Isn't that interesting? He was beating the shit out of some criminals! What a dreamboat)

He also likes bringing snacks and games over to her place. (He constantly invites himself in because he's Lucius and he does whatever he wants!)

Wahhh... Harley and Rissa... He would be really encouraging towards her and overall just wants her to do what makes her happy :')

Bee would meet Delphinah and then introduce her to the sparkly, over-enthusiastic Lucius. I think their duo would be really funny because they're so different hdkshs (Delphinah probably first sees Lucius squaring up to Boscha and really just wants nothing to do with them)

Ask meme

Julia usually doesn’t have the patience to listen and react to all the things Lucius says to her, all that information makes her overwhelmed, so they end up snapping at Lucius. They feel really bad for doing so(it reminds her of all the times she got yelled at for talking to people. Also she doesn’t want Lucius to feel bad) and asks(as nicely as she can) him to continue talking to her. She’ll make an effort to listen and understand Lucius’ mind, which is like having to watch a fusion of a sappy romcom and a blockbuster movie in her opinion.

She isn’t the tidiest person in the boiling isles, but there are some nice rooms for guests in her mansion she never uses(honestly it’s a mystery how these rooms remain clean when she never dusts them). When they’re in a relatively good mood they’ll take Lucius to one of those rooms and make some tea, made with her non-toxic plants, to go with Lucius’ snacks. They’ll even play games with him! She’s obviously going to be confused about the rules since she never had the chance to play games with someone else but hopefully Lucius will be willing to explain them to her and she’s a quick learner. She’ll enjoy the games with Lucius.

Aaa Harley being a big brother to Rissa… who never had the chance to be a kid… Rissa genuinely being happy for Harley instead of looking down on him like she does to most people… :,)

Delphinah sees Lucius and Boscha fighting each other and goes welp. Not My Business. He’s an interesting guy and doesn’t seem to have bad intentions, so she wouldn’t mind getting to know him when she wants to. Surprisingly, once Delphinah gets used to Lucius she would be cool with his boldness. Like yeah whatever. Slay boy. Slay that boscha bitch like a champ-

[autumnfangirler]

3, 25, 31 for ocs of choice for the couple's meme 👀

Sure! you are witness to a rare occasion where i actually make a choice (and you get to see who my favourites are)

3. By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a concious realization of "I love this person," but a moment that had them like "Oh...I adore them..."

Caine- caine finds the most value in the small moments, little things they get to notice and appreciate about the people they love. for ortega, it was back in the sidestep days, after some big fight they won that had ortega smiling like the sun. they didnt realize it then, but he loved that smile, and subconciously started to help the rangers more often just to see it. as for chen, theres a line in the game that goes like "he sounds amused in the way he does when spoon does something funny. no intent hiding behind it". i think it was the first time that happened. caine rarely got to see chen without a layer of distance or suspicion, so the first time he truly got to see him happy without the mask, they couldnt help committing it to memory

Cyrus- thats so mushy and stupid. he's going to throw up on you. hes also pulling out an alphabetically arranged and growing list of tidbits about daniel he absolutely adores. i dont think there was a specific moment that made him develop his crush on herald, it was more things he noticed that built up over time. his determination for his cause, his soft yet firm insistence of what he sees in cyrus, and of course his sweet little smile all made cyrus fall for him. the moment he realized "oh shit im in love with him" though, was the regene reveal. being seen and accepted for what he was when he only expected condemnation was such a novel prospect to him he really went "well i cant NOT fall in love with him"

Cynthia- she's such a hopeless romantic, if you asked her when she fell in love with ortega, she's say the first time she saw her smile. in actuality, it would be at some point braiding her hair. cynthia and ortega would tend to talk to eachother while cynthia worked. sometimes itd be silly stupid banter, and other times itd be...heavier, but either way, she learned a lot of what she does about ortega this way. she also gets to see ortega relaxed and honest in a way she never is around the press or her team, and it makes her super soft to know thats a privilege that gets extended to her. its also part of the reason she was a little sad to see it gone after heartbreak (altho cynthia does have longer hair than she used to in her sidestep days, so role reversal is definetely possible 👀)

25. They accidentally hurt or upset their partner. What happened? How do they respond? What do they do to make their partner feel better?

oh man, what happened indeed. the answer drastically changes depending on whether its a reveal or if its a natural disagreement or such, but ill answer for both

Cyrus- if its being revealed as puppeteer? uh. doubling down 💀 sorry danny, but youre really slowing down the whole villain and being evil thing, so he might as well use this as an opportunity to cut the chord completely. in his head he probably sees this as a good thing for herald anyway, because he doesnt have to be bogged down by feelings for him. a clean cut for the both of them. if its a natural disagreement, its probably more along the lines of cyrus making fun of something daniel likes. hes used to teasing and making fun of things with ortega, i dont think hed account for the fact daniel might take it to heart. when he does realize it, i think hed take the time to sit down with him and apologize. hes not the best with emotions, so itd lean more to explaining his reasoning, but he does promise to take an effort not to do that again. he doesnt want to ruin anything over something as stupid as that

Cecilia- argent already knows shes the villain so that doesnt apply lmao. she'd get into an argument with argent, but over what im not sure. in any case, neither of them like backing down or admitting theyre wrong, so apologizing isnt exactly ceci's go to option for making up. she'd more likely go for the asian mom route and get her some snacks instead. use it as an opportunity to talk about what happened, and if she really thought she was in the wrong, apologize. if not, shed likely ask to mutually drop the topic, agree to disagree basically. it depends on what argent does after that, but even if she doesnt want to drop it i think ceci would be more for civilized conversation by that point

31. What little thing do they find incredibly (though harmlessly) annoying about their partner?

Cyrus- i have a personal hc that a lot of the rooms in daniels apartment are actually rather haphazardly arranged at best(yes this stems from the scene where chen complains about herald not doing the dishes). cyrus doesnt mind a mess, but he does mind it when the other person is an artist who happens to paint from time to time. hes probably ruined a lot of good clothes wandering around the rooms and accidentally stepping on/tripping over paint. it has been cause for many a complaint, but hes tolerating it because he likes watching daniel paint

[violentivy]

Survivors guilt

My family had a bit of a rough year as far as the holidays. I mean, my family of origin.

See, my brother caught Covid and tested positive on Dec 23rd. My Mom tested positive yesterday, (Merry Christmas I guess.)

My brother was all over his socials talking about how he felt bad for anyone who couldn't spend time with their families this holiday, and that he understood how hard it was.

The gesture felt empty. I hated that he suddenly had ALL THE SUPPORT IN THE WORLD for people separated from their families the moment he can't see his kids for ONE holiday.

I get that he's autistic and empathy might be a bit of a stretch for him, but I TOO am autistic, and I have spent my life being overly empathetic to make up for my siblings complete and utter disregard for anyone but themselves. It's kinda funny, I mean, funny isn't really the world but I lack the right one. I've been unable to spend Christmas with all of my children for 9 fucking years. If you think about that in time lost, the memories I will never be able to make with my kids, how I am grateful to get to kind of be there through a twitter thread now.

When I was their full time parent, I made sure that all of them knew I would never abandon them. From the moment I first held them in my arms. Then to have them ripped away because "You can't read social queues." feels awful. I too, am autistic, and I just wish I had a chance to have a "normal", real family.

I never saw one meme, one expression of care or concern, nothing before yesterday.

As a matter of fact, the first holiday after the kids were taken, I went to my Mother's house she called my terrible mood her fault in an effort to try to guilt me into feeling better. Maybe that worked when I was a kid IDK. It doesn't work now.

I stopped going to her house for Easter after that. I usually spend the day home by myself.

I understand in a very real way that I am on my own. My family is just some people I'm related to and I've never belonged with them. I keep them, just as I keep all acquaintances, at an arm's length. I do not even permit my sister to message me. I do this for my survival.

Just as I spent yesterday. I sat at home for 18 hours just playing video games all day and it was glorious. I didn't have to share the controller, I didn't have to get off of my computer to help someone, or make a huge meal. I didn't cry too much.

My upbringing was pretty terrible. I understand my parents were doing the best they could, but their best was fucking awful. I've found since I've started reparenting myself, and encouraging myself to take off my mask more and more, I feel better.

When my boss "corrects" my behaviors, he says he wishes someone had done the same for him. I just want to shout at him "wait, because you're neurodivergent and lack the social queues?"

See, I lack the social queues, too, but believe it or not, I feel pretty ok in my being terrible at it.

Nothing in my life currently follows convention.

My husband and I had had our holiday on the 21st with his kids, and I expect to visit my daughter and granddaughter on the 28th. He worked a 12 hour shift yesterday during which he made more money in a day than I make in a pay period. That's all true. However, my husband also does a lot of the household work as well. I'm glad because I lack the spoons to do so, as well as just the ability, but he can't see mess.

So, I point out things and he deals with them. It's hard to call oneself interdependent when your partner does so much. It feels like leaning but then I have to remind myself that I am the one who sees the things and points them out, so that he can do whatever needs to be done.

And I'm not like, completely helpless either. I'm disabled. That's ok. 40 hour work week takes all the spoons I have and then some.

I am able to cook sometimes. I can sometimes remember to do a whole load of laundry. Sometimes, I even remember I could be folding the laundry while I have a streamer on the television to essentially body double with me. I try not to get annoyed at how many times a day I trip over shit and fall.

On the 21st I was running down the hallway, caught a shoe, tripped and fell hard enough that I slid when I fell. I still have carpet burn on my knees.

I brushed it off, but I just wanted to sit, cry and feel sorry for myself. But my mother taught me that you can't do that in front of your kids. They need to see you as untouchable and unphasable.

That ISN'T correct, but since also poorly regulate, it's been necessary for my survival. I try not to wail. I feel a wail in my throat often.

Because that's GRIEF that is trapped inside, and I feel like I always carry it. It also feels as though no one really gets it. Like I am some delusional woman who believes she used to have children, but doesn't in reality.

Except the one that does constantly stay in contact, who pretty much gets a hold of me daily asking for some money, or some form of heavy emotional labor. An emotional labor I HAVE to do because I parented her poorly, because I too was a child when I had her.

But I have to do it before her brain fully solidifies. She needs to understand she isn't a bad kid. She's always been so good, but she also has always been under her father's thumb, and that nothing was ever going to be good enough for him.

Me? I'm pretty easy to please. Just let me to my own devices and reach out when you need advice. I'm just, automatically proud. You all were little wobbly pieces of sentient meat who turned into less wobbly pieces of sentient meat. And those meatsuits you currently wear are capable of amazing things like making music, or creating art.

In my head, I laugh and say "I made that meatsuit.". The fact is, I did. But ya'll gave it life.

And THAT is why I'm proud of you. You gave yourselves lives and dared to dream bigger than I could muster as a heavily emotionally abused little girl.

I'm still that girl, yes, still the same meat mech I've always had, but through your lofty dreams, I'm able to see beyond the faulty programing, and the crappy connective tissues that just don't stay in place the way they should.

However, it is also terrifying because as you dream big, I realize I have to help create a steady foundation for you to jump off of into your adult lives. And as a kid when I asked for that kind of foundation my parents told me I was being resource intensive. They told me I asked for too much and being self made was better than being just... Made.

It's called GENERATIONAL wealth for a reason. You're supposed to spread it. You're supposed to share it.

As if by some miracle my other 2 sons find this blog post, I'm sorry. I know you think I'm evil. You can think that if you'd like. You'll make your own conclusions someday. I love and accept you no matter what. My littlest one, I want you to know that you associate food with me. That's why you over eat. I was trying this new method with you were I fed you every meal so that you'd have a healthy association with food. The thing is, we didn't get through that entire program.

And my middlest one, you have my heart. As much as you all look, think and act like me, you may be the one who does that the most. Keep being your weird self. Keep asking those macabre questions and keep making it uncomfortable for everyone. Someday, someone is going to try to stop you from asking uncomfortable questions and revealing uncomfortable truths.

Don't. Don't stop ever. You're right to question. This world ain't gonna fix itself and in order to make it better for everyone, we gotta ask those questions.

I stopped because someone beat me repeatedly for it.

And for my other 2, who likely won't see this post. I am so, incredibly proud of you. You are living your dreams and even if it makes me nervous, understand that I am still proud. I am just fighting a lot of internal programming.

We'll all be together someday. Until then, I'll keep playing video games on holidays by myself and dream of spring, where you all would run around your grandparents back yard and hunt for eggs while the rest of the family enjoyed the warm of the springtime sun.

[jellifysh]

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things (part thirteen)

Or, Namjoon falls back in love with his ex (and his boyfriends do too)

Ot7 x reader (slow burn, roommates au, fluff, picnic :) )

A/N: taglist closed! omg guys I'm so sorry, I'm so swamped 😭 the next drabbles are going to take a while to come out. I'm working on them, I promise, in fact the next ex-fiancees au drabble is almost finished but the spy au one is half done and the college au one is not started yet. First and foremost, I will make sure that above all GBIST always comes out on time because I promised myself and you all that I would never miss an update, and the drabbles are side stories, not my main focus so unfortunately they will have to suffer 😔 With that being said, enjoy the chapter <3

A week went by in no time, Jimin keeping you guys posted and sending you videos of him behind the scenes while people touched up his makeup and clothes, and you all sent back videos of you doing stuff around the house, like when Jungkook did a backflip off the balcony into the pool after Taehyung dared him to and the lecture he got from Jin after he found out, or when Hoseok tried to teach you some of the choreography he was doing with his students and your shoe flew off and hit the ceiling.

Actually, they had added you to a bunch of group chats now that you had your phone: one that was all eight of you, and one that was just maknaes and you, one that was just the hyungs and you, plus one with you, Hoseok and Jungkook that was made to make fun of the others for not liking mint chocolate chip ice cream and ended up being a chat for you all to send memes to at three in the morning.

You also had a group chat with Soobin, Kai, Taehyun, Beomgyu and Yeonjun, and talked to them often, but they were super busy. Apparently, they were training to participate in an international dance competition and ran a YouTube that they had all their practice work on. They were super popular and really funny, doing vlogs and dance covers and everything.

But, right now, you were making food for the picnic planned before Jimin left, making mini sandwiches and strawberry shortcake slices with extra whipped cream, as well as chocolate dipped cheesecake bites, a recipe you had found late at night while scouring for apartments and fighting midnight cravings. You even found a cute little picnic basket Jin let you borrow, packing the containers onto the soft fabric lining the basket.

You were leaving for the picnic soon, placing the basket off to the side and going to your room to get ready. It had been rainy and cloudy for the past week after Jimin came back, confining you to the house, but now rain had left perfect weather. You stared up at the dress that had been bought for you, still thinking it was way too gorgeous and classy for a smile picnic, but you took it off the hanger anyways, musing on your newfound friendships, especially Jimin's now that he considered you to be close to him.

Jimin's friendship was an interesting one to receive, to say the least.

Now that Jimin was no longer wary of you, he seemed to be trying to make it up to you entirely through cuddles, snuggling up to you on the couch and bringing you everywhere he went, even if it was just down to the kitchen for some water. Since he's been home from his trip, he hasn't spent a second alone and recommending a movie marathon where you all lay around and catch up with each other, making smores and hot chocolate. And with Taehyung there it was twice as bad, hands playing with your hair and laying next to your other side.

You had definitely grown in your friendship with both of them, Taehyung especially making an effort to include you in as many things possible now. He and you started a tradition of movie marathons, where you would bake something and then eat it together, while discussing the movie you were watching and everything you loved or hated about it. He'd pull you along to the couch randomly, saying something like, 'come watch this movie with me, it's one of Jungkook's favorites,' and sit hip to hip with you like there was no space. Music listening was another hobby you shared, and he would often go to you with song recommendations, gently placing headphones into your ears, and playing music for you while telling you, 'I think you'd really like this song.' Once after you had washed your hair, starting to dry and style it, he helped you, taking a brush and gently combing knots or tangles out of your hair. 'Let me play with your hair, it's so pretty,' he had said, doing cute styles like space buns and ponytails, twining pretty ribbons and clips into it.

Jimin had also brought gifts like he promised, souvenirs and more things, more clothes and more jewelry. He had come into your room the first night he was back and emptied out a bag stuffed with clothes he'd brought for you onto your bed, helping you put them away and pick what you liked, all the latest fashions of wherever he was modeling in. He had also bought home for you a bigger jewelry box already filled with gold bracelets, silver necklaces, diamonds earrings, things so shiny it almost hurt your eyes.

It was becoming more and more obvious that he liked sharing things with you and buying things for you, getting you some matching outfits and letting you borrow some of his stuff or even raid your closet-- full of clothes he'd bought you in the first place anyways. He seemed to like sharing jewelry, getting you both a pair of earrings to share. He'd taken one dangly diamond earring out the box and handed the other to you. 'This way, we always have something to remind us of each other,' he had said then, insisting that you wore it when you went out together, arguing that it'll let people know who you're with. You pointed out that people don't usually pay that much attention to earrings but he just rolled his eyes. 'People pay a lot of attention to me when I go out, so this way they'll pay a lot of attention to you, too.'

It's become quite obvious that the boys liked to show affection with gifts and favors, like Yoongi offering to fill up your cup of water for you so you don't have to get up, or Namjoon giving you a book he thought you'd like, and Jimin even more so, showering you in things he found that reminded him of you while he was gone, like the fancy necklaces and shoes he brought back.

In these cases, you figured it was better to just take it rather than put up a fight like you used to. If they got joy from giving you things, why turn them down? You did like the things they gave you and at this point turning them down to be polite would upset them more than anything. You had trouble thinking of yourself like a friend, used to being a burden to most people you came in contact with. You tried to make yourself small as to not bother them, but it seemed like they kept trying to pull you out of your shell, wanting you to be as loud and active as them.

A knock sounded at your door as you stared at the dress on you, as dreamlike and pretty as it looked when you found it. It made you look like something out of a fairytale, like a princess on an adventure, you couldn't help but stare. "Come in!" You called out, still admiring yourself.

It was Jimin, of course, vibrating with excitement. "Hey," he said, coming in and looking at you in the dress. "You look so gorgeous." He smiled, looking in the mirror while standing behind you.

You smiled back, still too stunned for words, and he hummed, a sneaky smile coming onto his face. "You know, I think I have the perfect necklace to go with this." He said, taking your hand and pulling you to the door. He led you down the hall to his room, digging through a bag until he pulled out a black velvet box.

"Here," He placed it in your hands. "Open it." Jimin said, looking up at you with eager excitement. What could be in this box? You had no idea what would make him so excited, even when he was giving you the gifts he wasn't this anxious. You flipped open the top.

You gasped, seeing a familiar sight. The pink diamond necklace from the shop all that time ago. You plucked it out carefully, holding it gently as you lifted it from the box and looked at Jimin again, your eyes filled with happy confusion. He started to explain, rambling nervously, "I bought it then when we first saw it, but I figured I'd wait until you would actually accept it from me." He had a sad smile on his face as he tried to figure out how to phrase his words. "I've never dealt with anyone like you, but I'm glad I have. Knowing you has been... different. In a good way." He quickly reassured after you didn't say anything for a second.

You listened quietly as he spoke, looking at the warmth in his eyes, directed at you. It was really true. Jimin had accepted you as part of his inner circle, he had regretted what he had said to you and he wanted to have you around and do things for you.

You smiled, wobbly and watery, and placed the necklace down. "Jimin, this is... I don't even know what to say." You wrapped your arms around his neck, squeezing him into a grateful hug. "I forgive you, I can't imagine it was easy to have me around, but thank you for trying to be nice to me, and thank you for all the gifts and things. We had a rough start, but you've more than made up for it."

He squeezed you back tight, smiling in relief. "Thank you princess, but I have a long way to go before I can make up for anything. I hope you're ready for more presents, because I'm not letting you say no to gifts anymore."

"You never let me say no to gifts in the first place," You teased, pulling back so you could look at him. "I still need to put on my shoes," you added trying to step away, but he held tight, pulling you back to clasp the necklace around your neck and then grabbed your hand.

"I'll come with you." He said, walking with you back to your room.

"My room is just down the hall."

"Sure, but things are more fun when you do them with other people." He said, swinging your hands back and forth.

Entering your room, you picked up the shoe box, you hadn't taken them out because they looked to so pretty and white, you were worried about staining them. However, taking them out the box one handed was a struggle and putting them on seemed like it would be even harder. Luckily, Jimin took them from you, ushering you to sit back on the bed.

"Here, I'll do it." He kneeled before you, sliding it onto your foot and tying the straps around your calves.

"This is just like Cinderella," you giggled, and he smiled up at you, moving onto the next shoe.

"Does that mean I'm the Prince?" He joked, standing up again as he finished. "I guess we know what we're doing for Halloween."

You both made your way downstairs, seeing Jungkook and Taehyung standing by the door with the picnic basket, then looking up as your footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"Woah," Jungkook breathed in awe. "You look incredible! If I knew we were getting all dressed up, I'd have worn something fancier." He scratched the back of his neck bashfully, but you shook your head, surveying his outfit.

He actually looked really good, wearing a white button down casually rolled up to his elbows and jeans, but he made the outfit so much more classy just by wearing it. Taehyung and Jimin looked good too, but that was a given, both of them wearing comfy looking sweaters fitted to their physiques, Taehyung's warm tan and Jimin's jet black.

You patted Jungkook's arm in reassurance, replying earnestly. "You look fine to me, Kookie, don't worry about it."

His eyebrows shot up in shock, meeting the messy wavy hair over his forehead. "Did you just call me--" he cut himself off with a laugh and turned to Taehyung smugly. "I got the first nickname! I told you!" Taehyung groaned as he gloated and you looked between them confused.

"The first nickname?" You inquired, blinking owlishly.

Jimin explained, laying a hand on your shoulder, "They made a bet over who would get a nickname from you first. Tae thought it'd be him and Jungkook thought it would be him, so we all bet fifty dollars over who would get it."

Taehyung was sulking as Jungkook laughed in his face, and rolled his eyes, marching to the car. "Whatever, I'm still her favorite."

"No way!" Jungkook immediately argued. "I'm her favorite! You two have only been friends for like, a week. Me and Y/nie have been friends forever!"

"Well, I don't see you with a personalized playlist." Taehyung shot back.

"You made him a personalized playlist?"

All the way to the park, Taehyung and Jungkook bickered over what makes them a better candidate to be your favorite while you and Jimin held back giggles. Eventually they turned to you, asking you to settle it, right there and then.

"Why don't we ask Y/n who her favorite is?" Taehyung asked turning to you expectantly. "Just because you got a nickname first doesn't mean you're the favorite." He said to Jungkook who rolled his eyes playfully.

"Doesn't Jin technically have first nickname?" You deflected.

Jungkook scoffed. "No, everyone calls him Jin. That's different--"

"Oh look, we're here!" Jimin announced, driving up to the entrance of the park. The park rolled into view as you looked out the window, bright green on a perfect sunny day. Jimin parallel parked on the curb, all of you hopping out.

You looked over the park, mostly empty with a few people milling about or jogging in workout clothes. You subtly clutched the skirt of your dress, feeling overdressed until Taehyung took one of your hands. "Let's find a good place to sit." He suggested, squeezing your hand and walking you onto the path.

For once, you looked dressed up enough to match the boy's stunning appearance. They attracted attention easily, now you didn't look so out of place like usual. A part of you imagined always looking like this, dressed and attracting attention with them and not just fading into the background behind them, being with them and being seen with them, but you shook that away. You were friends, to want more from them would be draining, they were already giving you so much.

"Let's head over there!" Jungkook pointed at a patch of grass under a tree, sunlight streaming through the leaves. You would have to walk off the path though, through the grass and dirt. You frowned and lifted your leg, preparing to untie your shoes.

"What are you doing?" Jimin asked, watching you with slight concern. "Do the shoes hurt?"

"No, I just don't want to get them dirty." You replied, and before you knew it, you were swept up, Jungkook's arms wrapped around you and carrying you princess style.

"I've got you." He hefted you easily over the grass towards the tree, and after Jimin rolled out the blanket, he placed you gently down. Jimin quickly stole the spot on your right and Taehyung sat on your left, making Jungkook roll his eyes as he settled across from you, the furthest away.

"Let's see all the tasty treats Y/nie made for us." Taehyung cheered, unpacking the picnic blanket.

"Oh, I'll show you!" Yoi chirped excited for them to see the things you made for them. You took out the trays of food and bowls of fruit, showing them off one by one. "This is the strawberry shortcake, these are the finger sandwiches, these--" you heard a click as you held up a bowl of raspberries with honey drizzled over them, seeing Jungkook aiming a camera at you.

"Don't take pictures of me," you tossed a napkin at him and he simply laughed.

He raised an eyebrow, lowering the camera. "Oh, come on the whole reason we're out here is to take pictures."

"Of, like, flowers and stuff. Not me." You pouted and he acquiesced, though his smile didn't make you feel confident he would keep his promise.

"Fine, no pictures." He replied, eagerly grabbing the paper plates out the basket, passing them out. "Let's eat! I'm starved."

You all dug in, the boys praising your cooking and you beamed happily, glad you could do something to make them happy. You watched them eat until they noticed you weren't taking anything.

"You aren't going to have any?" Jungkook said, noticing you didn't take a paper plate.

You waved your hand dismissively, refusing, "I had some when I was making them, you all can eat the rest--" Taehyung pushed a bite of sandwich into your mouth while you were distracted, feeding you himself off his plate.

"You should still have some." He said. "You worked so hard to make these, you should have an extra treat."

"And you should definitely have dessert." Jimin added, holding a chocolate bite up your lips until you ate it. He watched the way your lips parted to close around it with a little too much interest, but you hardly noticed.

"And this whipped cream is delicious!" Jungkook chimed in, holding a bite of shortcake on a fork up to your mouth and watching you lick it up. You didn't even realize how perfectly you were posed, wiping some whipped cream off your face with and licking that off as well, your lips wrapped around your finger just so. You were walking art and you didn't even seem to realize it.

You let a small giggle, being bombarded with food, as you heard another click. You turned, seeing Jimin with the camera now and you held your hand up to block him. "Stop!"

"I don't do anything," he lied with a innocent smile, handing it back to Jungkook. "I was just testing it."

"Sure." You huffed. Most of the food was gone now, so you sat back again, letting them eat the rest now that they weren't spoon feeding you anymore. Jungkook quickly stuffed his mouth with the rest of his slice of shortcake then stood eagerly.

"Let's go take pictures now." Jungkook held out a hand to help you up and scooped you into his arms again. "These losers can stay here and keep watch over the stuff." He stuck his tongue out at them, carrying you away to another stone path you could walk on without dirtying your shoes.

"Where are we going?" You asked as he set you down and led you forward.

"There's a botanical garden here," Jungkook explained, holding your hand as you walked. "They have flowers native to this region and butterflies fly around there all the time."

You looked around as you entered, white stone archway and vibrant tall green hedges marking the entrance. Sunlight filtered in spots through the leaves, and butterflies were perched on colorful flowers, blues and purples and pinks mixed with green.

"Wow," you murmured quietly, slowly stepping up to an orchid. As you stared, a butterfly landed on it, blue wings opening and closing as it rested. You heard a click and looked over to see Jungkook taking another picture of you. "Seriously?" You scoffed as he grinned playfully.

"What? You look pretty. See?" He held the camera out so you could see the screen, a profile picture of you and the butterfly haloed by the sun, the dress making you look angelic.

"You really are talented." You commented. For him to make you look so good so easily, he must really know what he's doing.

"It's not hard to take pretty pictures when you have a pretty subject." Jungkook replied, murmuring low as he approached you. He wrapped his arms around you, putting the camera into your hands and holding them, focusing on the flower in front of you. He continued, shaking into your ear over your shoulder, pressed closely to your back. "You use this button to zoom in, this dial to focus, and this button," A click sounded and then a picture of the orchid with the butterfly fluttering off appeared on the screen. "To take a picture."

You looked up over your shoulder at him as he smiled softly down at you, then stepped away slowly. "But that's just the basics. There are more settings you can play with, but for now," He held his hand out to you. "Let's see what your phone camera can do."

You handed him your camera and he started going into detail about it, most things that went in your ear and out the other, but you found it hard to retain anything as he spoke, confidently and swiftly, you getting caught up in how cute he looked when he was excited and rambling about something. His nose scrunched up slightly and his smile had a charming slant.

You shook yourself, breaking away from that train of thought. No thinking about your new friends as cute. They were gorgeous, anyone with eyes could see that, but you would not allow yourself to catch feelings and ruin this. You focused back on what he was saying, taking the camera and snapping pictures around the garden like he showed you.

Jungkook leaned against a tall tree, watching you interact with the things around you. You gently touched flower petals, ran a finger over smooth leaves, watched butterflies flutter with wonder in your eyes. Everything about you was so amazing.

He lifted the camera again, snapping a candid photo of you standing still so a butterfly could perch on your finger. He would have to make sure to transfer these photos later, maybe post them on his Instagram or Twitter. He wanted to share these photos with a the world, let as many people as possible know that he knew you.

"Are these good, Kookie?" You asked, soft voice echoing slightly in the quiet space. You looked up at him, waiting for approval and he took the phone looking at all the pretty pictures of flowers and plants you took. You were skilled indeed, it seemed like you were a natural. He complimented your work then looked up at you, smiling wide and proud of yourself and had to hold back from kissing the cute swell of your cheek.

"You know, I'm glad you feel that we're close enough to call me Kookie," He started, handing your phone back and stepping closer, watching your eyes widened as he stepped closer into your space. "But I think you should call me Oppa instead."

Your eyes twinkled, pushed into half moons by your smile. "Really? Why? Because you're a couple months older?" You teased him back, smile curling smug and alluring, Jungkook being drawn in and leaning in more towards you, absolutely awestruck.

He continued, voice growing lower as he focused on you in front of him, spots of sunlight making your skin and eyes glow. "I'm older so it still counts."

"Sure." You replied mockingly and he rolled his eyes, but secretly he loved how playful you were being. It was a sign that you had truly adjusted, that you felt comfortable enough to tease, that you wanted to connect and laugh with them.

"You're going to be mean to your Oppa when I showed you how to take good pictures with your camera? How ungrateful." He crossed his arms in mock indignation and he could see your teasing attitude melt.

"Okay, okay." You placated him, deciding to humor him and said again, more genuinely, "Thank you, Oppa."

His heart fluttered and he whooped, scooping you up again and running with you back to the picnic blanket, your laughter filling the air. First nickname and the first one you called Oppa, he thought to himself. He was definitely your favorite.

Shortly after, you all had headed back home, folding up the blankets and packing everything back into the car. When you reached your room, you carefully removed the dress, hanging it back up carefully and placing the shoes back into their box. It was a miracle they didn't get dirty today, you were sure that the dress needed to be dry-cleaned and you didn't have the money for a place that could properly take care of your dress.

Speaking of money, you picked up laptop, deciding to use the rest of your day to search for jobs and apartments. You had applied to a couple jobs in the area already but none had responded, so you figured you might apply for more.

Moving through the living room to the back porch, you encountered the rest of the boys settling on the couch in the living room.

"We're playing video games, wanna join?" Jungkook offered, flashing a video game case at you as he set up a console on the low table. Mortal Kombat 11, you appraised. "We're playing story mode and everytime someone loses a fight, we pass the controller."

"Which means Namjoon and Hoseok won't be seeing a lot of play time." Taehyung teased, a pillow getting tossed at him by Hoseok and an eye roll from Namjoon who seemed mostly invested in a book.

You shrugged, explaining. "I was just going to sit outside for a bit."

"Sit in here, you can hang out with us." Jin waved you over and you say in the seat next to him, his arm laying on the back of the couch behind you as the first cutscene began to play on the screen. "I've been meaning to ask if you wanted more stuff to decorate your room with. You know, different furniture, repainting, anything like that."

"I don't think that be a good idea." You declined, logging into your laptop.

"What's the harm?" Hoseok interjected over the sound of Jungkook already beating up the first opponent. "I'd be nice for your room to have a more personal touch, right?

"Well, I don't want to use up any of your money when I'm going to be moving away." You remarked casually, turning your laptop so they could see the apartment listing you had been looking at, but the room hushed, all attention turning to you.

"Who said anything about you moving?" Jimin replied, trying to be casual but couldn't help the slight wariness in his tone.

"I just..." You blinked owlishly, confused at the tense reaction. Isn't it good that you'd be leaving? "I'm gonna move eventually. I can't live with you forever. I already have a few apartments I've been looking at and when I get a job, I'll have my own place to decorate."

"You wanna leave?" Jungkook asked you, character on the screen long past defeated as he stopped playing, feeling his heart gripped with cold at your words.

"I can't stay forever--"

"Yes, you can!" Taehyung insisted, cutting you off before you could finish.

"What Tae means is... we wouldn't mind if you did." Jin placed a warm hand onto your shoulder, looking you in eyes, brown eyes serious but comforting. "You're far more than just a housemate now, if you want to stay, we won't kick you out."

"You mean it? It doesn't bother any of you?" You asked, looking around the room and being met with heads shaking no.

"Good." Jungkook said, looking around at everyone. "Everyone's okay with it, so you're staying." He announced an air of finality to it, turning his attention back to the screen.

"Unless you want to leave..." Taehyung looked at you, sadness tinging his tone. It hurt to think about but he had to address it. It was only fair to you to have the choice.

"But you don't. Right?" Jungkook looked back at you, eyes piercing yours as he searched for an answer in your face. No way you were leaving, over his dead body.

Yoongi met eyes with you, silently observing and encouraging you no matter what you chose, and Hoseok seemed to be sitting this one out. The last thing he wanted to do is force you to stay or make it seem like you had to stay for their sake. Namjoon was looking back and forth the way he always did when you interacted with the boys, analyzing the way you acted with each other as your relationships evolved. It was interesting to watch, especially in times like these when he could tell how close you had gotten with everyone. Usually they had to convince people to get away from them. Asking someone to stay and live with them was definitely new.

"Kookie, she has to have the chance to refuse." Jin said, his own tone sounding reluctant. Even if we really don't want her to, went unsaid, but it didn't matter much. In the next moment, your eyes brimmed with tears and you slumped into Jin's chest, hiding your face and letting him hold you.

"You mean," you began, voice wobbly as you slightly peered up at Jin, eyes wet and wide, still pressed to him. "I can stay? With all of you for as long as I'd like?"

"Oh darling, of course you can." His arms held you tight to his chest, squeezing you like it was this hug that would keep you home with them. "Besides, I need my cooking buddy or else I'll lose my mind."

You giggled, it sounding like magic and twinkling chimes after the tension of the moment. "How could I ever let that happen?" Everyone, consciously or not, let out a breath of relief. Jin held you to his chest for what was probably way longer than typical for a hug but you weren't pulling away and he sure as hell wasn't either.

"Anyways, Jungkook lost, so it's my turn!" Taehyung snatched the controller out of Jungkook's hands. "I'll show you how a real pro does it."

"No fair, I wasn't even paying attention!"

"You snooze you lose."

----

The next day, you were laying in bed, your bed in your room, like you've been doing more often with Taehyung cuddling you all the time (you had a feeling you'd never be done paying back those cuddles), and Jungkook using you as a pillow while he played video games. You were starting to think that you were just a fancy pillow to them, with how comfortably and constantly they'd lean into you or against you.

This time though, it was Jimin, head on your stomach while you laid on your back on your bed, watching funny videos on your phone and trying not to drop your phone on your face. Seeing movement out of the corner of your eye, you glanced up at Jimin. He had the front camera of his phone angled towards you, taking a video and zooming in on your face. "Stop," You pushed it away laughing, both exasperated and amused. Jimin seemed to have a penchant for capturing moments on camera and lately he seems most interested in you.

You weren't in the habit of taking pictures like the other boys, always updating and keeping their followers engaged with whatever content they uploaded, but it didn't seem to be an issue. Every photo of you they uploaded, including the pictures from the picnic and the festival, they tagged you in, causing people to wander over to your Instagram page. You had noticed more followers, people following you out of loyalty to the boys probably, fans who were curious about you asking about you in their comments, not that they answered. While they seemed to like showing you off, they didn't answer any questions about you. Maybe they were respecting your privacy or maybe they just didn't care to interact with their followers but you noticed they all liked the comments people left calling you pretty.

After seeing the photos, Beomgyu and the boys followed you too, messaging you about how they needed to take pictures with you too and you promised them you would meet up eventually.

Though, it didn't seem like that would happen soon, the maknaes keeping you busy all the time with stuff they wanted to do, movies and video games and TV shows. You and Jimin had recently started binging some TV series with a bunch of seasons that you never had the chance to watch before until Jin had to literally pull you away from the TV in the living room after you sat in front of it for almost twenty four hours. Jimin had laughed about it the whole time all too delighted.

"You're a bad influence," you had told him then after getting scolded by Jin for the first time. He only smiled more mischievously and whispered, "There's a TV in my room, let's go finish the episode."

"I'm gonna go cook with Jin," you wiggled out from under Jimin and he pouted, rolling off the bed and following you to the kitchen.

"Ah, look who decided to join us." Jin announced from behind the sink. He and Jungkook were wearing their matching aprons from the first day you met them. So much has passed since then, you thought, and so much has happened in these last couple months.

As if proving your point, Jimin slinked past you, pressing against your side as he walked like a cat would rub it's tail against a person's leg. He kissed Jin and Jungkook steeping over to the stove. "What's for dinner?" He asked, peering into a pot.

"Beef stew and rice, with some grilled pork belly on the side. We already finished making it, it just has to finish cooking now." Jungkook explained, tossing a dish towel aside as he dried his hands. "Which will take another couple hours for the stew."

"And since you were late to the party, you can take of the dishes." Jin said to you, and Jimin scrunched up his nose.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Jimin said, quick to leave you to wash dishes alone. "I'll set the table."

He stepped into the dining room and you put on dish gloves and turned towards the sink, picking up the sponge to start washing. Jungkook stirred the soup over at the stove making sure it was cooking properly.

"You two seem closer." Jin murmured to you, voice low as Jimin was in the next room over. He leaned against the counter next to the sink. "Did something happen?"

"What do you mean?" You asked, scrubbing at a pot and looking at him out of the corner of your eye.

"I mean, you were talking to each other before, but now you're all cuddly. Jimin usually only gets like that when he's really comfortable."

"What do you mean? Isn't he just the cuddly type?" You asked and Jungkook let out a scoff.

"Jimin? No way, he hates touch from anyone he doesn't like." He answered, turning to you with a bite of stew for you to try.

"But he's always all over you guys?" You said, eating the bite of stew and pulled the curry powder out of the spice rack, indicating it needed another dash.

"That's cause he calls us the pieces of his soul." Jungkook replied, adding the curry powder and mixing it in, preparing another bite for you. "He's comfy with us. And now with you, I guess."

"I guess so. I hadn't really thought about it like that. You're all so... different around each other. Seeing that for myself is new."

"Well, you've been officially indoctrinated now," Jin joked, taking a spatula and tapping each of your shoulders with it, pretending to knight you. "Welcome to the family."

You laughed, but it really touched your heart, feeling warmth bloom in your chest. It made you want to reach out and hug everyone, made you feel just as cuddly as Jimin had been acting.

"We're all so close now. Its like you've always been here." Jungkook commented, feeding you a bite of grilled pork belly, Jin telling him to stop picking at the food. He laughed and continued talking, putting the fork down. "I couldn't imagine you leaving. Y/n even made Tae a playlist a couple weeks ago." He spoke that last sentence to Jin.

Jin had started to rinse the soapy dishes you set aside, and said, "I didn't know you were making playlists, where's mine?"

"I don't what kind of music you like." You shrugged.

"But you knew Taehyung's?" Jungkook raised an eyebrow.

"It was a guess."

Jin spoke, "It makes sense, Taehyung and Y/n have been glued at the hip lately."

"Whatever. I'm still her favorite," Jungkook scoffed. "Right?"

You didn't respond, just smiling.

"Y/nie, I'm your favorite right?" He asked more insistently, seeing your smile and the way you avoiding his eyes, leaning so he was in your vision still.

"Oh please, she doesn't want to answer because we all know it's me." Jin argued.

"There's no way!" Jungkook disagreed, the two of them starting one of their dramatic mock arguments.

You felt a hand on your back, rinsing your hands and turning around. Jimin was standing there, hand trailing into yours. "Y/nie, there's a festival at the beach an hour away." He gently pulled at your hand, urging you forward. "I'm going now, Wanna come with?"

"Sure," You nodded. He smiled widely, voice dripping to a whisper. "Great. Let's go while they're distracted."

Sure enough, the two men were still arguing over who was your favorite, and you and Jimin slipped away from the kitchen, the two of you giggling once you were in the car.

The ride was pretty fun, Jimin playing songs and you had a pretty similar music taste, the two of you singing the whole way there. As you got closer and closer you could smell the salty air, crossing a bridge over the water with ocean on both sides, making you excited as you realized you were almost there.

Soon, Jimin was driving over sandy road, the sea in the background you approached a small town on the coast, sea themed stores called things like Joe's crab shack or Robbie's Board Shop. You could see flags in the distance and banners proclaiming the location of the beachside festival.

Walking around, it was similar to the one you had attended the other week, stalls with sea themed art, large canvas tapestries that resembled waves and sunsets, smoothies of tropical fruits and grilled kebabs.

"We have to buy some tacky tourist clothes!" Jimin insisted, pulling you towards a store with Hawaiian shirts and neon bikinis. The air conditioning washed over you, cooling you from the heat outside and refreshing you.

Jimin had beelined to a rack of Hawaiian shirts, grabbing ones with the sunset illustrated in blues and pinks. "Grab some souvenir for our boys!" He told you while walking over to the flip-flops.

Looking at the various collectible items they had, you grabbed some basic key chains, one of those singing wall fish for Jin, a shot glass for Yoongi with a little painting of the beach on it, and some beaded bracelets for Tae and Hoseok.

Exiting the store, now decked out in tacky shirts, flip flops and oversized sunglasses, you moved around the rest of the festival. Jimin was beaming the whole time, laughing about sinking into the sand while you walked and pulling you to take pictures with him everywhere. He looked insanely good in the beach clothes, unfairly so, the Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to the top part of his chest and the majority of his arms on display, his hair pushed back by the sunglasses in that messy fashionable way that made stray hairs frame his face.

"What?" He asked you when you went quiet staring at him. "Is there something on my face? Cause you're staring pretty hard." He teased, leaning in towards you.

You scoffed, looking away from his intense gaze, and pretended like you were dusting sand off his shirt. "I was just looking at that store behind you. There's a pretty pink scarf in the window."

Jimin turned, looking at the scarf and nodding when he saw it. "Oh yeah. Did you want it?"

"No, I just--"

But Jimin was already pulling you towards it, entering the store and getting goosebumps from the A/C again. It seemed like another tourist store, but with much less tacky decor. They had scarves, as well as bandanas, handmade dresses, knit bags, shirts with the store logo emblazoned on them, and personalized jewelry and mugs with random common names on them.

Jimin got the pink scarf, attention caught by the initial necklaces off to the side. He picked up two, his initial and yours and bought those and the scarf.

"Aren't those a little too tacky for your sophisticated style?" You remarked as he came back to you, tying the scarf around your hair.

"I'm literally wearing a ten dollar Hawaiian shirt right now." He replied, handing you your necklace. "This is the least tacky thing I'm wearing." He put on his necklace, looking at the both of your reflections in the mirror for a moment.

"You know what? I think this would actually look prettier on you." He said, draping his initial necklace over your neck and clasping it.

You raised an eyebrow at his weird idea, watching your mirror self copy you. "But it's your initial, and it looks weird if I'm wearing two initial necklaces and you're wearing none."

"Mm, you're right." He hummed, unclasping your initial and putting it on himself. "There." He smiled in satisfaction, grabbing your hand and pulling you back outside.

"Now let's go get another mango smoothie, it was so tasty!"

The sun started to set, the two of you settled at the coastline, the water rushing up to cover your feet and back again in waves, the two of you slurping at your smoothies and checking your phones. Earlier on, Jimin sent out a text to the group chat saying he took you out for a trip to the beach and shut off his phone, avoiding the wave of texts complaining about how he didn't bring them. This trip was for you two only, he decided, shooting a glance at you playing with the water with a cute smile on your face as you slurped at the stars of your smoothie.

He posted the pictures he took with you today, the boys instantly liking them and whining about how much you were having without them. Jimin laughed to himself, then almost choked on his smoothie looking at his feed.

"Xolani is having an exclusive fashion show!"

You tilted your head, looking over at his screen. "Who's Xolani?"

"Xolani is this super famous fashion designer, all her stuff is incredible." The post had sneak peeks of colorful, innovative designs that would only be displayed at the show. "I wanna go so bad." He groaned.

"Xolani Knight?" You asked again, face something Jimin couldn't decipher.

"Yeah," Jimin replied, a bit confused. "That's her full name, but her label is called Xoxo. Do you know her?"

"Oh my god, yeah, we went to school together! Good to see one of us made something of ourselves." You sighed, half happy for your friend and half downcast. Jimin laid a reassuring hand over yours on the sand. You shook your head, signaling that you were fine. "It's okay. She was always super talented. She was getting internships in her first year, everyone knew she'd make it big."

You were interrupted by buzzing, now that your phones were on again and Jimin had posted those pictures, the messaging was coming back tenfold asking when you'd be back.

Jimin looked at the horizon, basically almost fully sunk by now. "Mm, it's a little late to head back now... I saw a good hotel nearby, let's check in there and stay the night, hmm?" He suggested, already firing off a quick text about what you'd be doing to the group chat, shutting off his phone again. He stood, holding a hand out to help you up. "Besides there's really fun second part to the festival tomorrow where they bring in a bunch of cool foods, I saw it on a flyer, let's stay!"

You nodded, taking his hand as he walked you back to the car and drove all the way to the hotel, checking in at the front desk and getting room on a high floor, overlooking the sea.

"Gosh, that day was so much fun!" He cheered, opening the door to your hotel room, the card reader beeping and glowing a cool green. He pushed it open then stopped in confusion as he looked into the room.

"There's only one bed?" He stared in disbelief. "I thought I made sure-- they said a double queen suite." Jimin stared as if another bed would appear if he just looked hard enough and then groaned. He pushed you in gently, closing the door behind you both.

"Go ahead and sit down, I'm going to see if I can figure this out." He pulled out his phone to call the front desk quickly, striding out onto the balcony and waiting for someone to answer.

The room was nice, extremely classy actually, a large queen bed in the middle against the wall with a flat screen tv directly across. The walls were a soft beige and the carpets a jewel toned red that was plush and soft under your feet. There were modern artwork hung on the wall, splashes of color and shapes, and gold accent ran through out the room, lacing the blue and white sheets on the bed, lining the paneling on the wall, the wooden dresser having gold knobs. It was everything you had never had before. The doors on the wall went to a walk-in closet and a large bathroom complete with a jacuzzi, a separate round bathtub and shower unit.

The balcony Jimin was on overlooked the city, separated from the main bedroom by glass so clear it didn't even seem like it was there. You poked around, looking at the couch, moving the pillows and cushions. To your delight, it was a pullout.

"Apparently, double queen suite means 'a room with one queen bed and an occupancy space of two'." He scoffed. "They should've made that more clear." He looked at you, standing around awkwardly. "You can go ahead and lie down on the bed, I don't have the energy to change rooms now."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Oh, no, I'd rather you take the bed then have to sleep on the couch. I'll take the couch."

"Who said anything about taking the couch? If anything we'll just share." Jimin gave you a confused look, walking closer to you to gently usher you towards the bed. "It's been a long day, princess, lay down and try to rest, okay? You've been up on your feet for too long."

"But I don't have anything to sleep in."

Jimin rummaged through the bags you had with you, pulling out his sweater from earlier in the day and handing it to you. "Here, change into my sweater. I stole it from Namjoon so it's extra big."

He whipped off his Hawaiian shirt, just in his tank top and shorts, setting up his side of the eyed to sleep, plugging his phone into charge. You were stock still, hyperfocused on the definition of his toned arms. You had gotten a sneak peek with the shirt but it was different now, glimpses of his back and his side and your chest, your initial still dangling between his collarbones.

He smirked, feeling your stare. He bit his lip to try and hide his smile and moved to lay down. You looked away feeling creepy and fiddled with the sweater. You felt the bed move from where Jimin was settling under the covers.

"You having trouble putting on the sweater?" He drawled, obviously having fun watching you get flustered.

"I'll just go into the bathroom and change." You squeaked, standing and rushing towards the bathroom, hearing his giggles.

When you came back out, the sweater draping down to your thighs and slipping off your shoulder from how big it was, you tried to quietly walk back into the bedroom, seeing that Jimin had turned the lights off and wasn't moving. You slowly slipped onto your side of the bed, your back facing Jimin.

The A/C was blowing way too hard, cool air reaching you even under the blanket. You tried not to shiver too much, but Jimin spoke up, "Are you cold?"

"Just a little," you said, an obvious understatement with how your teeth were practically chattering, and you expected him to turn the A/C down. Instead, you felt the bed move again, strong arms pulling you closer to the center of the bed.

"How's this?" He spoke into your ear, warm breath brushing your cheek as he melded his body to yours.

"It's fine," you whispered, voice losing all strength being so close to him. He giggled again.

"You sure?"

You nodded, knowing he could feel it. It did feel nice, you liked cuddling even if you weren't as used to it. He squeezed you tight, holding you around the waist like you were a stuffed animal then sighed.

"I really am sorry."

"Hmm?"

"For everything, I mean. I was a jerk to you for no reason and you're so incredible, I just--" He paused, the humming A/C filing the space. "I wish I could take it back."

"You've apologized a thousand times." You replied.

"And I'll apologize a thousand more." He said back. "Every minute you show me that you weren't worth the way I treated you."

He groaned playfully, breaking the tension. "It's embarrassing just to think about. I was a mess."

"No, you weren't," you insisted but he shook his head. You turned around, looking at him through the moonlights streaming in through the window.

"Just, how would you feel if you found out your boyfriend had an ex who was apparently super special to him that you never heard about and now they were living in your house? On top of that you're like super pretty and nice and genuine, and he totally still has--" Jimin cut himself off before he said something he shouldn't.

"Has what?" You blinked unknowingly, eyes innocent and wide.

"Uhh... he, you know," Jimin back-tracked, figuring this wasn't his secret to tell or the time to do it. "We still have so much room to grow in our relationship, I guess I was scared you would throw that off." He corrected, hoping you wouldn't notice.

"Jimin, I would never do anything to jeopardize your relationship." You said, firm and honest. Your hair spilled out on the pillow case underneath you as your cheek pressed against it. You looked sleepy and adorable and Jimin wanted to laugh. How had he ever thought you'd be anything but a gift?

"I know, princess." He smiled softly at you through the darkness. "Now go to sleep."

--

Taglist closed: @sunshinehobissunshine @pb-n-juju @bunnyrhe @7soulsbts @tinyoonsblog @royalchickens @urvirtualgfteehee @tazzi-baby @deathincarnation @alngelias @jinswifeyy @not-all-are-the-same @btsizlyfe @justsomoneliving @purplelady85 @just-me-and-myselfs @thinkaholicer @kookstempo @kosmicbomb @squishyturtle @bunzom @fuckinglittlekitten @canarystwin @scuzmunkie @stupendousliteraturewritingoaf @sugarrush-blush @bt21chim @maries110911 @bjoriis @creatorspalace @highinhopess @little-dark-empress @onlythebest-106 @cestlabellemort @rapunzel76 @kamen-tenshi @totallynoanalien @singukieee @gingerupset @sunshinee0-0 @avadakadabra93 @lvrseok @musicismyoxygen @missinggot7 @silscintilla @jcrml @chosovisionaries @hwa-loves @placeoftime @embrace-themagic

[siryouarebeingmocked]

TumblrInAction is dying.

A big TERF subreddit got banned. So the TERFs flooded TIA, because we criticize trans SJWs sometimes.

Yesterday, the frontpage was something like 75% anti-trans stuff. 

It doesn’t help that the mods know Reddit’s admins have it out for them, and have just decided “screw it!” So they aren’t enforcing the rules about personal info and articles, which means the TERFs get to flood the subreddit with low-effort tweets and article headlines. They’re often not even funny, just outrage-bait. The mods aren’t even restricting trans-critical stuff to one day.

They admit they don’t care and think we’ll be banned anyway. 

This also means regular posts suffer. If you make a post critical of feminism or radfems or just plain ol’ sexist women? It’s very often downvoted by 33%*, often with concern trolls defending it in the comments. They also regularly break the “Don’t be a dick to other commenters” rule. The mods will delete those comments if reported, but nothing more. 

IMO, loads of these ladies have earned a ban several times over.

Earlier this spring (2021) the Superstraight meme was big on the sub. Which lead to posts talking about men (gay, straight, or bi) pressured for sex by trans people, and lots of the radfems in the comments were talking about how lesbians were pressured into sex from trans people. They didn’t even transition into women, then lesbians, they just went straight for it. Didn’t even pretend to acknowledge the male victims. 

Because radfems hate to admit men can be victims.

Some of them claim that lesbians had been dealing with this issue for years, but nobody cared until it happened to men. II’m not part of the scene, but I’ve heard claims that gay dudes have been dealing with it for a long time too. And of course radfems can’t even pretend to care about straight women and trans men. In fact, they never seem to talk about trans men at all. 

Ironic, considering how much radfems claim they want to protect women. It’s almost like they only care about themselves.

It’s very, very frustrating to see a community I love** die because the jannies can’t be arsed to do their job. Especially after multiple warnings from the site admins. I’m not even the only frustrated user.

I have TIA  partially blocked to limit my doomscrolling, but it looks like I won’t have to bother soon.

And I don’t want to chase them to another website if the femcels are just gonna follow and stink up the place.

* This is ironic, considering how much radfems hate ‘libfems’.

**  And got so much karma from.

[mewberii]

Streamer!Scaramouche [2]

thanks for all the support in the first part! i wrote a second part where scaramouche plays genshin + the reader comes in (i tried to make it as gender neutral as possible, so let me know if there’s something off!). you’re a close friend of scaramouche and also a voice actor!

i had been planning this since i wrote the first part, but because i was busy and uninspired i couldn’t finish it. but here it is and it’s actually pretty long (over 5k words...)! i hope you guys will like this!! obviously he’s a little nicer than he is in game but,,, for the sake of the plot + it being a modern au, it had to be done sjnfdskjf

He was selected to play the beta for genshin because of his popularity and tbh he really wanted to play it

The game hadn’t really caught his eye all that much when he first heard about it but he saw how everyone online went crazy over it (plus other streamers who also were selected to play it in early access kept talking about it) and he became more curious to know what it would be like and if it’d live to everyone’s expectations

However he couldn’t really play it until it was officially released because he had a very busy schedule, and when he saw other streams of people playing it he was,,, lowkey jealous because it did look fun

When it was finally released and the game finished downloading and installing, he went live right away

And since so many people were looking forward to seeing him play plus the game was getting so popular so fast, that stream of when he first played hit his biggest milestone of live viewers ever

ANYWAYS skip forward to further into the game

when it comes to the gacha,,,

we’ve established that this boy is loaded. he won’t hesitate to throw some big amounts of money at the game to get every single character and weapon he wants and get their constellations to the max

i feel like he’d make little bets (and it works as a way to thank the chat for the support) like “if i get (insert newest character) in the first 50 pulls, i will gift 50 subs”

he’d be SOOOOOOO LUCKY it’d make everyone who doesn’t play think that it must be very easy to get the 5 stars or that the drop rate must be very high,,,

so in the end he’d have to gift the subs and it’d be funny to see the chat go absolutely crazy because everyone is commenting at the same time trying to see if they got lucky too and got the sub

but the chat goes so fast that they can’t even see their own comment after they send it sNDJGDJSK 

he’d end up turning subs mode on for a while because it goes crazy

and that’s when he’d see people going “I GOT THE SUB-” all excited and he can’t help but chuckle and congratulate them for being one of the lucky ones

probably another game he can use to play with some subs once in a while! they could play co-op and when he’s a very high level he’d go to the worlds of some of his subs with lower level to help them with whatever they need

SO, LITTLE SKIP HERE

this is where i want the reader to slide into the picture

you’d be a voice actor, and also you have been a friend of his for a very long time

he met you even before he started streaming and you were always so supportive of him, as he was of every and each of your dreams

in fact, he would have invited you over more than once to stream with him

people don’t say anything bc they’re afraid of scaramouche banning them (it’s happened before) + they understand it can be disrespectful... but…

some people lowkey ship you two a little bit,,,,,, you didn’t hear it from me. scaramouche don’t ban me----

so one day he’s making another livestream playing genshin (sponsored by mihoyo to promote the newest update and event) and they’re going to release a new character 

AND he has told everyone that you are the voice actor of the new character, who will be introduced in the event and is also getting their own banner

so everyone is very curious of what they’ll be like, if scaramouche will try to get them (obviously he will, he has every single character…. the amount of money he has put into the game…. just thinking of it gives me the heebie-jeebies) 

could he even,,, main them,,,,

spoiler: he won’t because he’ll stay honest till the end (and no hard feelings) but there are other characters that he has built up to the max just like them and still work better with the way he plays but he’ll still find a chance to use them often

he didn’t know anything of what the character you voiced would be like because you wanted to keep it a surprise and he knew his audience would enjoy seeing his first reactions

I think the character you voice in the game would have the role that Scaramouche has in the actual game, and their design would be fairly similar (maybe similar color palette) to the design fans made for him as a genshin character (the one i mentioned that he uses for popup notifs of subscriptions and all!)

needless to say he’d absolutely love their personality and the charisma you showed in their lines

of course when he finally gets them he shows everything about them including all their voice lines and he compliments y/n’s voice acting… that was the first time people suspected that....

mayhaps… scaramouche….

has feelings for you....

it’s in the soft gaze in his eyes,,, the gentle smile on his lips,,, his soft voice when saying “I think this one is my favorite line of theirs”

and just how BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL his laugh sounds when someone comments he should invite you and ask you to do that voiceline live for him and everyone else

he’d jokingly reach for his phone and be like “should i call them? i could” 

(but he wouldn’t because he doesn’t want to disturb you, you may be busy, considering you still hadn’t replied to the messages he sent to you before he started the stream a few hours ago)

if anyone dares be mean to you saying you got the chance to voice act for genshin just bc of scaramouche

or implies that he did something to get you there he’ll get quite mad even tho he won’t speak up about it (he might if enough people say it) 

people can see something shift in his gaze,,,, and he bans them permanently right away

it’d be kinda funny when he does those “reading unban requests” streams and he goes past immediately rejecting people who said those kind of stuff, not even reading the apologies JSNKJFNDSJKGNSDK

some people say he’s too strict about it but literally his stream his rules. people who don’t like him should just not watch him

and people who like him should NOT speak badly about you or doubt your talent and effort, which is what brought you that opportunity in the first place

one day he’d be streaming playing the game, he had been using your character and gathering materials to get their last ascension

and at one point he’d grab his phone and look at the screen for a second before putting it back down and saying he had planned something else for tonight besides playing genshin for a while

then, the doorbell would ring (before he could even close the game-) and it’d be heard from his setup room so people in the chat heard it and they’re all like???

it’s definitely not takeout because scaramouche never orders takeout when he’s on his own, he usually cooks for himself and just orders it when he’s with friends and they all feel like eating something different

actually, offtopic, but i have a feeling he’d be very responsible when it comes to food and like he’d cook himself proper meals all perfectly balanced and all- he could afford having someone cook for him but his house = his privacy and personal space so he’d rather do it himself

it’s like, past 10pm, so no way it would be a package or mail at that time

and then he says “we have a visitor tonight”

and then the chat goes crazy saying “CHILDE” “HARBINGERS” but mostly “Y/N!??!?/PLEASE LET IT BE Y/N”

AND IT WAS YOU!!!!

and omg you brought takeout--------

it had been a while since they had seen you in scaramouche’s stream and you didn’t have your own channel (even though there were many people who encouraged you to open one)

SO everyone was very excited

i feel like scaramouche wouldn’t be the biggest fan of eating on camera so you guys would put the food away so that you can eat it later on your own without an audience

and you two would just spend a while talking to the chat, watching videos

AND reviewing fanart and fanmade content together!! it’d be so cute especially fanarts of the two of you together, little animatics or comics of funny clips or memes from his streams of you two,,,

someone made a little felt plushie of the genshin character you voiced and the way you COOED because it was SO cute

only those who were truly paying attention were able to notice the soft smile on scaramouche’s lips and the way he looked at you as you gushed over how cute the little plushie is and how talented the person who made it is!!

also you’d tell him you saw signora make a stream where she talked to some of her fans on discord individually to give them advice on their life/problems (nothing too serious) and it was very funny and you wanted to do that with him someday

and he’s like “that… could be a huge mess. people could say some crazy stuff” and you’re like “NO but i talked to her about it and she said she got her mods to talk to them first and approve them before they moved them up to the channel where she was to talk to her”

and he’s like “still…….. what if people lie and then when they get to talk to us they say something-”

and you’re like “BOY!!!! DO YOU NOT TRUST YOUR FANS *GASP*” and everyone in the chat is also going “GASP” “HE DOESN’T TRUST US…” “IS THIS YOUR IDOL…..?” “SAY SORRY” (all good fun, obviously he’d love to talk to everyone if he could make sure there won’t be anything disrespectful said)

SO!!!!! you two say you’ll plan to do something like that soon and everyone is very excited, they can already tell it’ll be both super cute and hilarious

before he ends the stream, you two watch some videos together

some are about some upcoming videogames and he talks about them and what he knows and explaining things to you... he is.. so knowledgeable…

the way you look at him as he goes into a little rant about it… cinematic parallels with the way he looked at you before

ONCE AGAIN, people aren’t blind. they notice. but they keep it to themselves bc scary scara (the way i had to resist overusing this one joke with his name-)

so the stream ends and you two walk out of the setup room to go to his living room and eat the takeout you brought while watching something on tv

he apologises because the food is cold now, but you brush it off saying it’s ok, you had missed being on his streams and you two can just heat up the food again

he doesn’t look at you in the eyes as he mutters that you know you can join his streams whenever, and instead just says it as he makes his way to the kitchen to heat the food

you join him in the kitchen soon after and tell him you also bought something for dessert and put it in the fridge already before

and honestly he didn’t know how much he wanted to eat that dessert until it was in his fridge, so he can’t stop himself from sighing and saying “god, i love you”

there’s silence for a second, right as the microwave beeps as it finished heating the food

it feels eternal to him, but you immediately started laughing and said jokingly “of course you do! you’re welcome!” 

he’s happy you took it as a joke because that’s not how he planned to confess (he didn’t plan to confess anytime soon in the first place) but at the same time ?? he’s lowkey offended inside because? you took it as a joke?? is it so unrealistic that you wouldn’t even think that he meant it romantically?

it’s at that moment that he realises that if he didn’t want to confess before, now he does.

he wouldn’t want anyone to know about how he let that slip because he’s sure no one in you two’s friend group even knows he likes you

but you,,, actually,,,,, were actually caught off guard too because scaramouche wasn’t precisely one for words of affection and he showed his care for everyone with his actions

in fact, you had never heard him say those words before but well- it was kinda nice- if only he meant it as you feel it- but he couldn’t, right? who’d confess their feelings so casually while looking at a dessert in the fridge with desire-------

that night, it gets pretty late and to be honest he’s a little too tired to drive you home as he usually would, so he asks if you’d like to sleep over

it wouldn’t be your first time doing so, not even the first time you stayed unplanned, and he had a couple guest rooms that you could use so you accepted

also, staying for longer meant you could keep watching some more of that series with him without worrying about it getting late

or,,,

“actually” you said in a low voice, almost a whisper, since it was getting late and you two had been in complete silence while watching the series “i lowkey still wanted to stream some more”

he scoffs but then lets out a short chuckle, replying in the same volume

“it’s past 2am, who’s going to watch me stream now?”

“i would” have mercy for his poor heart- “but i’d be the streamer too this time so it doesn’t count” 

“what even would we do”

“can we play that co-op game you played with childe? it was so much fun” 

had you not brought it up, he wouldn’t have offered that ever because? if he had recently played it with childe he didn’t want to stream it again and make it feel repetitive for his audience 

(jokes on him because when genshin came out they put up with it being the only thing he streamed for over a week. they’d rewatch any game if it’s you two playing it)

but to be honest, he didn’t really want to stream anymore that day and just wanted to be with you, just you and no one else

he got up from the couch and walked towards the hallway, making you look up to him in confusion for a second, but then started getting excited knowing this meant he was going to let you play it with him

“i don’t really feel like streaming anymore today, but we can still play it. let’s go”

the next day, you two wake up around the same time and make breakfast together

scaramouche i feel is not very talkative in the mornings 

in fact, i feel like he’s just not the most talkative in general. he’s more the type to listen, but it’s different during his streams because he’s doing what he loves and talking about what he loves

and when it comes to you and he talks more it’s because he’s talking to who he loves----

before you’re going to leave and you’re standing at the door about to say goodbye to him, he suddenly speaks up before you can

“do you want to go somewhere tomorrow?”

you raise your eyebrows in curiosity from the sudden request, but then smile at him and nod

“yeah sure! what do you have in min-”

“it’s a date” he said, interrupting you, which was weird enough of him (since he would never interrupt you), but his words were even weirder-

“h-huh?” you felt the heat rising to your cheeks, and scaramouche just repeated his words

on the outside, he looked so casual and just, confident- bUT INSIDE he was actually panicking a little bit 

but just a little bit.

After a moment, you smiled at him again, this time somewhat more shily but also excited for your date!

“I look forward to it”

Just with that, you two knew you had made the first step

You weren’t just friends anymore

You two had hung out on your own many times before, in fact and as it was mentioned before, you two had even slept over at his house or yours many times before

but it had all always been purely platonic, and you guys had never even questioned that aspect of it even after realising you had romantic feelings for each other

he’d spend the rest of the day thinking of what you could do the next day, as if he hadn’t been brainstorming for ideas all night either

i feel like he hasn’t gone in many (if not any--) dates before

solely because he has never been interested in romance plus he had never liked someone or at least, not as much as he liked you

and even when he found out he felt something for you, he just always told himself he was okay with how things were, because he’d never experienced anything beyond friendship and didn’t feel the need to try and maybe ruin the friendship

SO he didn’t have many ideas of what a good date could be

he definitely didn’t want a cliché corny date, but he really didn’t have any idea of what was good enough for a date

(and if for future dates you want something he’d consider a “”cliché corny date”” he’d do it for you and actually enjoy it)

the last thing he wanted was to have to ask you what you could do for your date

1- because he didn’t want to show you any side of him that didn’t look like he always has everything under control and he’s always composed (as if you wouldn’t want to see every side of him, even his most vulnerable sides- you’d have to work on that with him when you two become official)

2- he… kind of wanted to surprise you…..

but it really got to the point where he really didn’t know what you’d like the most (or what he’d like the most too) and what he wanted most over anything else is to not disappoint you in you two’s first date

SO he finally texted you asking if there was anything special you wanted to do (and therefore indirectly admitting he……….. just really wanted to ask you out. so much he did it without thinking of what he’d do if you said yes--)

you didn’t seem to mind, and in fact you were happy he asked for your opinion 

overall, scaramouche was very independent so he wasn’t one to ask others for advice, opinions or anything, much less for help regarding anything

“how long has it been since we last went to the arcade? we could go there! i heard from childe that they added new games!”

and he’s like !?!?!?? THAT…. is…….. the perfect idea

“that actually sounds perfect” he admitted, and the message brought a big smile to your face 

“just don’t get mad at me when you lose at all of them” he sent right after, teasing you, and you couldn’t help but let out a laugh out loud

“the last time i won in your favorite game” you reminded him, and even after he read your message, he took a little bit to reply

(he needed a second to put the pieces of his pride together SJNFKJDS)

“don’t get used to it, it won’t happen again”

“we will see about that” the more you two joked like this, the more excited you got thinking about tomorrow

scaramouche was sure now that it’d be a great first date that you’d both remember forever

the next day, it was almost the time for the date and scaramouche was going to pick you up at your house

i feel like scaramouche would be very fashionable and even in his style he doesn’t try to hide that he’s loaded…

not that he cares about buying cheap clothes, literally he’d say if he likes it and it’s good (aka it’s not cheap because it’s made of something that won’t make it last longer than 3 weeks) he’ll get it

but it just so happens that many times… the clothes he likes most are from famous brands…

AND THIS DAY!!!!!! he’s putting together one of his favorite outfits because it’s a special day

it almost hurts me just how nonchalant he’d look on the outside, making it a little hard to know exactly just how much this date meant to him (because as i said he’s not one to be very vocal about his feelings or even his thoughts)

BUT i trust that you… since you know him well…. can see past all that and you know that this is not just anything casual to him. this is special.

STILL!!!! he’d try his best to not let the blush rise to his cheeks and show, as well as to not let his voice shake when he complimented that you looked very good

ANYWAYS i think i think Scaramouche wouldn’t be one for big pda

the most he’d do where anyone can see is hold your hand or put his arm around your waist

WHICH IS WHY he’d try to be all smooth (and he would manage) reaching for your hand and lacing his fingers with yours

he wouldn’t make eye contact because then he’s sure it’ll show on his face that he’s getting somewhat flustered, but he’d still ask if you’re okay with it, to which you said yes

the area where the arcade was is always somewhat crowded so when you two were getting there, scaramouche would tighten the grip on your hand a little bit to make sure you wouldn’t let go and you’d be pulled apart by people trying to walk past however they can

you know that if you two got serious about your relationship, he would want to be the first person to share the news with his fans

BUT since he was so popular now, you two lived in a pretty big city and now were at a popular area (+ scaramouche wouldn’t be the type to try and hide his identity because he’s never had people make a fuss when they recognise him)

you were a little worried someone would see you two and maybe take a picture and post it online and it’d go viral before he can admit it himself

because of that, you end up throwing back to him the question he had asked when he held your hand 

“are you sure this is okay?”

your question confused him because he didn’t know what you mean, so he finally looked you in the eyes and waited for you to explain further

“it’s just- what if somebody sees us and recognises you?”

he looked away from you and back at where he was going, taking a few seconds to answer before he just shrugged

“i don’t care”

you softly let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding as you waited for him to say something, and almost missed the way he whispered

“as long as it doesn’t affect you”

for someone who seemed and actually tried to seem to self-sufficient, who appreciated his friends but was also okay on his own because he was absolutely comfortable with himself, he was actually…

more selfless than people would ever know, especially when it came to you

you two would have SO much fun in the arcade, trying every single game many times

this time though, scaramouche won in his favorite game so he lived up to his words

you two won so many tickets you literally didn’t even know what to do with them once you got the couple prizes you were interested in

you bumped into a couple fans of his, so you talked for a while

once again, you were met with suggestions of opening your own streaming channel, and even scaramouche said “i’ve told them that many times too, but they always say they think their streams won’t be fun enough”

and the fans are like “NO!! literally everyone thinks you’re super nice and fun!! of course you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but we’d love it!!”

one of the fans (exaggerating a little as a joke) said “i’ll be your number 1 fan i swear” and the three of you laughed, except scaramouche who just scoffed and smirked 

“i am ALREADY their number one fan. but good try” <- scaramouche in his head. say it outloud u coward.

but at the same time it was a joke scaramouche chill pretty much everyone knows you’re their number one fan……. even though you think you’re so smooth………. they just don’t say anything 

they were very nice and fun to talk to and you knew scaramouche and you didn’t really want anything else from the prizes, so you offered you two’s tickets to them

“we don’t really need these anymore so maybe you’ll have more use for them!!”

they got SO excited, the way their eyes lit up :( scaramouche is convinced you’re an angel but he’s also very happy to see how joyful his fans got because those were more than enough for the prize they really wanted-

so after that cute little interaction and having used up your energy for competition, you two leave and think of buying some ice cream or a milkshake or something to end the date nicely and to enjoy while you walk back home

the arcade was not exactly very close to where you two lived (it was far from your house, but even farther from his-) so he asked if you were okay with walking back or if you two should get an uber or something, to which you said you were okay

walking back with him meant!! a little more time you could spend with him

and he was happy you said that because he was feeling the same way and still didn’t want the day to end

we’ll see more about the kind of things he likes and dislikes if he’s released as a playing character BUT FOR NOW i really get this vibe that he’d LOVE boba tea

i even think he’d?? enjoy tea in general??? classy boy…

SO you two would end up going to get some boba 

it was very touching how, when reading the flavors they had that day, he suddenly and casually went “oh, they have your favorite” and you looked at the one he was pointing at and !!! indeed it was your favorite!!!!!!!

he remembers this kind of details very well

you take the chance to talk some more as you’re walking home

scaramouche asks about your job with voice acting and you tell him that you actually have been recording some new lines for your genshin character lately because in the next update there’ll be an event involving them

he’s looking forward to it but he teases you a little asking if it’s okay for you to spoil him with such information

but it’s okay because it’s not like he’d tell anyone, especially knowing it could get you in trouble

when he drops you off at your house, he has a hard time saying goodbye

literally you’re standing at your door and he’s in front of you, a couple steps away, looking away from you

you don’t say goodbye either, mainly because you know scaramouche is working the courage to say something, and you can also sort of guess what he wants to say

you think of saying it first, but then think that it would make scaramouche proud to be honest about his feelings and confess first

“i’ve liked you for a long time”

you can’t help the smile that makes its way onto your face, unconsciously reaching a hand up to slightly cover it

“i feel the same way” you replied to him in a soft voice

he took a deep breath and exhaled it softly, finally lifting up his gaze and making eye contact with you

it was already dark outside, so you couldn’t appreciate the faint rosy blush on his cheeks well

“can i kiss you?”

your eyes widened for a second, not expecting him to ask and if anything, thinking he’d just step forward and do it

so you were a little embarrassed and caught off-guard to reply properly, so you just nodded and put your hand down as he took the last couple steps and his face was right in front of yours

he’d cup your cheek in one of his hands, feeling the warmth of your skin

you closed your eyes, and he looked at you for a second longer before he finally leaned in and closed the short distance that separated your lips

at that moment you both knew that you had been missing on so much more when you two just settled and were content with your friendship

but!! that was about to change now, so it was all worth it

after that, scaramouche would make clear that this would be the first day of your relationship!! and even if he didn’t say it with words, you could just feel his happiness!!

so!! after that, because of work you two got a little busy the next couple months so dates weren’t very frequent 

or at least, they weren’t dates like the one you first had

but still whenever you two were free he’d go over to your house, or you’d come over to his to play, stream together, or literally just spend time together doing anything

he wouldn’t let people know you two had started dating straight away (if anything, only his other streamer friends -aka you two’s friends in common- knew)

but the day he said it, he wanted you to be there

SO one day you two were streaming and you were currently reacting to one fanart of you two together

so he looked at you and you made eye contact and it was like you two spoke with your eyes like

“do we tell them now”

“let’s tell them.”

so scaramouche would clear his throat and without closing the fanart, he’d say he has something he wanted to announce

everyone was excited thinking it’d be some new project, maybe involving you

maybe some merch??? and the fanarts had reminded him of it???????

BUT THEN he straightforwardly said

“y/n and i are dating”

and everyone goes aBSOLUTELY CRAZY

amidst the chaos, you two catch a comment saying “will you unban the people who shipped you two” and you laugh

and you look at each other like “did you read that one?” “yeah”

and scaramouche is like “yeah, i guess i will have to unban some people”

and when some get unbanned they’re like “fREEDOM!!!!”

and jokingly they’re all like “APOLOGISE!!!!!!!! SAY SORRY!!!” so he just laughs and you join them being like “!!! apologise!!! you banned them for it and!! look at you now!!”

so he ends up trying to hold in another laugh as he mutters a halfassed ‘sorry’ and everyone starts commenting claps and hearts and celebrating that he apologised. now justice has been made.

the rest of that stream suddenly feels livelier and brighter!! you two are laughing a lot and so is everyone in the chat!! 

and also the new genshin event would’ve already just been released that same day so you can talk about some of your experiences with recording or what you thought of it

and scaramouche would let you play it yourself!! (he still hadn’t played it) and it was also the first time you played genshin live!! you’d show people the characters you have and everything and tell them some anecdotes

people would be SHOCKED because you!? don’t have the character you voiced!? D:

and you’re like “yeah… i pulled for them and used up all my primogems and… didn’t get them”

and your banner is back because of the event, so scaramouche won’t let this slide!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL GET YOUR CHARACTER.

your luck is terrible compared to his so at one point you’ll literally feel bad for how much he’s spending for you to get it

but he doesn’t mind at all and everyone is having fun so!!

and once you finally get them you’re sO HAPPY and everyone in the chat is celebrating

and you think it’s over but scaramouche is like ???? what are you doing?? open the wish page again. you’re going to get them c6.

and you’re like oh my gOD PLEASE NO DON’T SPEND MORE MONEY ON ME FOR THIS

but he won’t listen and he’ll do it

so!!! he’ll always do his best to be the best boyfriend he can be for you!! so you better give him your heart!!!!

[kojinnie]

With The Exception of You

I dislike everyone in the room.

Pairing/Character: Reiner x Reader (she/her), Porco Galliard

Tags: SFW, fluff, college!au, Reiner Braun is a jock who is tired of his own friends, secret relationship

WC: 3.2K

Summary: Reiner had agreed to be in a discreet relationship with you, but after six months and with the arrival of Porco Galliard around you, he couldn’t help but to mark his territory.

Reiner couldn’t seem to fathom the butterflies wreaking havoc in his stomach. It came out of nowhere, as it often happened to be. Once in a while, he could feel his guts twisting as his chest filled with overflown emotions at odd times. Reiner hated it when it happened, because as much as he wanted to convince himself that he wasn’t self-aware of his image, those feelings could potentially strip himself off of his cool guy status.

Reiner had come to realize that such strange feeling often occurred caused by the sight of you.

It could be anything. Things so mundane, so simple. Like the way you twisted the pen in your fingers, the way you squinted your eyes at the blackboard during a lecture, and how you hastily scribbled things on your leather-bound notebook.

Or maybe it’s the way you sighed deliberately loud when someone uttered a dumb, sexist remark in class with no trace of shame, after they tried to debate your sound, well-researched opinion, and how you’d resolved it with a sarcasm that could disintegrate a man’s ego. Reiner sat on the corner of the classroom, disguising his chuckle by clearing his throat, finally coming to experience what they had called butterflies-in-your-stomach all along. 

At that point he had found himself painfully and helplessly in love with you.

He was well-aware of how different the two of you were. Reiner was the athlete, admitted to the uni through football scholarship, and you were the hard-working academician that mostly kept to yourself – hard to approach, hard to tame. Reiner hated how stereotypical he was – tall, buff, blonde, jock, with cheerleader exes and a DM full of thirst trap from his assembly of admirers. Reiner once wished he was anything but a cookie-cutter of everything you had been appalled of.

Reiner could feel every ounce of confidence he had ever had shriveled around your presence. It’s the way the two of you almost collided to each other at the campus hallway, and the way you threw an acknowledging, formal smile at him before striding away that made his heart ached. He wished you’d run to him and shriek his name with affection, but Reiner realized you were not one of his cheerleader exes, and not that he wanted you to be one. You were an anomaly he had yet to understand. A misplaced figure sticking out of his history of penchant for conformity.

“I really like you.” one day he finally said. Never had he been weak on the knees for a confession to any girl before, but this one occurrence? He did.

He didn’t know how he mustered the courage, but after hours, days and weeks he had spent trying to know you – learning your favorite song, accompanying you for book hunting, baking your favorite muffins, texting you good morning and good night – he finally got you alone, in the campus library, only five minutes before closing time.

You laughed at first, because the confession sounded ridiculous to you. The last thing you needed was a horde of girls sending you anonymous hate comments on Insta because you took the campus’ most eligible hunk off of the market. But he didn’t laugh along, and that was when realization hit you.

“So, is that why you’ve been following me around?”

Reiner furrowed his thin, almost non-existent brow, “What do you think?”

“I thought you were just bored with your jock friends,” you scoffed, “because you know, I’d be bored out of my ears too if all I ever heard all day is insecure men constantly praising themselves.” you glanced at Reiner, trying to discover even the slightest amusement on his hardened face to no avail.

“Reiner, are you serious?”

He sighed, couldn’t believe his ears. The first time ever Reiner caught you being stupid beyond recognition, “For the millionth times, yes.”

“You’ve only said it once, though.”

“For fuck’s sake,” the jock grunted, but there was a slight smile arose from his face, “I like you, really much. Times eight hundred ninety-eight thousand.”

“And?”

“So would you be my girlfriend?”

And you said yes, after three minutes of hesitation, you said yes. With a laughter. Because the absurdity of you being with someone like Reiner was lurid. Yet still, you were in no capacity to lie when his good morning text had been the most unsubstantiated text you looked forward to every day.

You wondered why? It’s just text. But maybe, you tried to convince yourself, it’s because of the effort he put, of trying to wake earlier before you every morning although he was hardly a morning person. Or it’s the way he listened to your kind of music although he was practically tone deaf, and returned to you the next week with his analysis on why your favorite band’s first album was their masterpiece and that sadly they never outdid it with any of their following albums.

And maybe, it’s the sight of the topless Reiner in the football field, after a home match. The way he was quick to run to the side of the field with his Captain instinct, lurching himself towards the start of a brawl between the two teams’ players, heated by animosity over the match result. Reiner was strong enough to break at least ten muscular jocks apart from throwing punches at each other, and with his deep, stern, authoritative voice, he commanded them to “Stop it. Fuck off.” You remembered immediately leaving the bleachers and found the nearest toilet because you needed to breathe and that you felt things simmering in your nether area. You never felt like that before to any of your exes.

Reiner knew the mutual pining between the two of you was evident, and so he was left puzzled when you said, “But please don’t tell anyone yet.” He asked why, but you only shrugged your shoulder with an answer that gave very little explanation, “I just don’t feel like having people talk about us.”

Reiner trusted you, because at first, he thought it was for modesty, you were not a fan of the limelight, evidently. Or it’s for practical reason, you don’t want to be burdened by society’s expectation on how two adults in relationship should be. Reiner could make 1,000 excuses for you that would justify your terms and conditions, so he went with what you wanted, because he was so hopelessly into you.

Nonetheless, still he enjoyed holding your hand in the dark alley of the campus – away from all the prying eyes, or the girls that’d giggle walking past the beautiful giant. Still he liked to have you sleeping naked in his embrace, making lazy circles with his calloused digits on your small back, at the emptiness of his dorm room when his roommate was home early for Christmas. Still he enjoyed teasing you at unassuming place, at the quiet library, studying together in silence for the upcoming exams, he’d be sitting next to you, leaning to his chair and slithered his right hand underneath your sweatshirt, to playfully and quickly unclasped your bra, only for you to smack his stomach in annoyance. He liked you, and he liked how you scurried to the restroom to fix your bra. He liked to be with you, no matter in silence or in noise.

However, after six months, questions started to throb incessantly inside Reiner’s mind. Even after all the time you had spent together, why must still he go alone to the football team soiree? Why would you let his team mate thought that Reiner was single, and promised him chances with girls, left and right? Why were you unfazed to see the girls sliding into his DMs? And when you put on that tight, backless black dress on New Year’s Eve, why would you put it for your friends’ party, and not for his eyes only? Why would you color your lips with the blood red Chanel lipstick Reiner gave you, and smile at other people that’s not him?

Reiner could not make sense of you. He pondered, he wondered and he became jealous. He’d look at you intently and see whether there was any trace of other man on you that he had not recognized? He’d become quiet and his friends thought he had gotten sensitive over nothing. The captain had become agitated, irritable and his head was hardly in the game – all with seemingly no reason.

Reiner began to think that he knew the reason why. He thought it’s the boy you’d met at the Academic Writing class, with stupid name and equally stupid undercut. Porco Galliard, you said his name was. In an instance his name had become a staple in your conversation. When Reiner asked you out for a dinner, it’d be like, “Ah sorry babe, I got this assignment with Porco.” A trip to the zoo? “You know, Porco have this funny experience with apes.” A night out in his dorm? By the point Reiner had a half-boner forming already seeing you in your lounge shorts, you’d be giggling and stayed busy with your phone. Reiner asked, “What’s so funny, babe?”

“What’s so funny, babe?” he asked again, because you didn’t seem to hear the first time he asked you. Distracted, you showed a stupid meme on your phone, “Porco sent me this.”

Porco here, Porco there. Reiner was sick of hearing that dumb name.

He had tried to look up for his background, and he hated to find that all that ever came up about him were amicable. His friends knew him, said he was chill, said he was smart as fuck, said he had a cool family, said he turned down a track and field scholarship for law school. Porco Galliard is a cool dude, they all said.

At certain point Reiner had grown to be furious, and the more your text messages became sparse or the more you spent your Saturday nights without him, the more he set his mind to do something about the two of you. He had become so sick of hiding and he wanted the whole world to know that you were his. Especially that guy with a name that sounded like her mother hated giving birth to him.

So came that day. You hadn’t been replying to his texts since morning, and only did so after chains of messages he left.

[you | 11.35] oh my god reiner!!! I’M SO SORRY, i left my phone uncharged all morning. i’m heading to cafeteria rn, it’s muffin tuesday 😵👅

[reiner | 06.37] good morning baby

[reiner | 07.49] you awake now?

[reiner | 08.15] sleepyhead 😪💤 see you today pretty

[reiner | 10.23] i got practice today until late. see you tonight? my room?

[reiner | 10.55] are you in class rn?

[reiner | 11.36] wanna go together?

[you | 11.45] haha noo a lot of people there

[reiner | 11.45] who r u going with?

[you | 11.55] with pockooo haha we got class together after lunch

Pocko. Is that an endearing term you came up with for the jizzhead? Reiner thought, pissed off beyond compare. He paced restlessly in his room, trying to figure out what did Porco have that he didn’t have? Thinking of how his undercut made his head looked way bigger for his neck, just like sperm; and it made Reiner mad angry. “Fuck you, Jizzhead”, he hissed, kicking the pile of dirty laundry on his dorm room.

The cafeteria was bustling busy when you arrived with Porco. The two of you immediately joined the line for lunch and the muffin. The man was busy babbling about yet another stupid thing that he had done back in high school, but your mind was darted on the muffins that were sold off fast. You looked around and almost everyone you disliked were present – mostly Reiner’s jock friends and their girlfriends. The prospect of one day going public with Reiner and having to spare days in your life to socialize with these loud people made you squirm. Not that you were completely against it, you were just… enormously reluctant to do so. Also, what would they say about you? You barely existed for them, evident by how they just greeted Porco with huge affection, yet pretended like you were invisible despite the fact that you were talking and standing close to him.

Your mind was elsewhere, between eyeing the muffin and managing your detest towards the it crowd, you weren’t even listening to the small talk that Porco was having with some of the jocks, until the mention of your name spilled out of Porco’s mouth, “Hey, have you guys known ___ before?”

You blinked with surprise, and they looked at you unenthusiastically, “Ummm, no?” one of them said.

Porco stared at them in disbelief, as if not knowing you was a big sin, “Get to know then! She’s cool, she’s really into—” but even before Porco could finish his words, they averted their attention elsewhere, pulling out their phone like it was the most important thing in the world, and talked amongst themselves. How fitting, because the first thing they talked about as an excuse for ignoring you was to talk about Reiner, “The captain’s been grumpy. Haha. That man. What’s up with him?” You cringed, because you knew there was no weight in talking about Reiner that must be done at that time, that moment. They just wanted a reason not to be roped into talking to you, obviously because you didn’t think you were cool enough or some other shit excuse only them and their bobbleheads understand. So, conveniently throwing out Reiner’s name was an effective way to basically say ‘haha look at us talking about the coolest guy in the campus so you know we’re in this cool clique unlike you’. You read them too well. You couldn’t even be amused anymore.

Porco looked embarrassed, he smiled at you awkwardly and stayed silent, until one of the girls threw their attention back to the man dirty blond undercut, “Anyway, Porco, do you know Reiner?”

“Ah, I haven’t had the chance to.”

The girl frowned rather dramatically, “Oh my god, we all should totally hang out together with Reiner, right? He’s like—super cool.” her question was obviously in exclusion of you. You rolled your eyes and turned away to see new text from Reiner appearing.

[reiner | 12.15] im going there

[you | 12.16] convenient. right in time. your cool friends are all here and you can sit with them and be cool with them or whatever I guess haha

You immediately pulled your phone to your chest; you could feel your heart thumping. Is this it? Is this it? The question became menacing in your head, because you were not sure on what Reiner was planning to do. The line to the muffin was still far away, and it would be stupid to run away.

[reiner | 12.17] idgaf about em

[reiner | 12.19] i want u

You could hear the girls were still talking about Reiner. Reiner this, Reiner that. You were nowhere to lie that you could feel your chest heat up with annoyance. The way their squeaking voice praised Reiner’s body, Reiner’s personality, Reiner’s wit. For the first time, you knew you were experiencing jealousy, vibrant and up-close.

“You know what? One time, Reiner thought that the way I did my hair was so cute that he wanted—”

Just in time, one of the boys raised his voice, “Oi Reiner!” and in unison the jocks erupted, welcoming his arrival like they were in some goddamn party.

You could see Reiner walking towards the line you were in, his face was hardened and his walk was swift. You immediately turned away to look at the opposite direction, not wanting to see him.

“Yooo Reiner! Where have you been? We’ve missed you dude,” one of them said. You cringed at how they all tried so hard to sound cool, “have you met Porco, by the way? And his friend—”

“—hey, what’s her name again?” one of the girls chimed in, asking Porco instead of asking you directly, as if you were not there. At that point, Reiner was standing not too far behind you, and you pretended like you were too busy with your phone, hoping the floor would engulf you instead.

“Is she like, deaf or something?” the girl whispered to Porco with a jeer, before getting back to Reiner, “So, Rei, I’ve got this party—”

“—yo Capt, do you know that—”

“—have you heard about the news, dude? Like—”

The way all these people tried to suck up to Reiner was so pathetic and incessant, they all chirped like hungry birds all in a matter of couple of seconds. You hated them and you hated the situation.

“—come on, Capt, that would be awesome—”

“—oh my gosh, Rei—”

“—you must try it, Rei—"

“Shut the fuck up,” Reiner said. Rather abruptly. His voice was cold and deep, like he couldn’t give a damn in this world about any of them. Surprised, they all dropped quiet in an instance. You looked over your back at him. Reiner was staring at you, and at you alone, not even at the Jizzhead he had grown to hate so much, “you all talk too fucking much.”

You snorted, suppressing a laughter to escape from your mouth. Clearly, it was too audible, that the girls were now looking at you with complete disdain.

“Babe,” Reiner said, staring at you, while you were still facing the opposite direction, “babe, what are you doing with this Jizzhead here? I can bake you muffins remember? If you want it so much.”

Your surrounding fell deep in silence. Everyone was either confused or surprised. Murmur started to sweep over the crowd, most audible was: ‘Who is Jizzhead?’

You scoffed, finally turning your back, although still closing your mouth trying to prevent the laughter and the embarrassment to display itself.

“What the hell?” one of the girls asked in dismay, obviously she was one of the girls sliding into Reiner’s DM and sending him bikini photos by the pretense of ‘Rei, you should join us for summer holiday!’ when all she wanted to do was to show her tits.

“Shut up,” Reiner said to her, baffling the girl to complete silence, “and stop sending me your beach photos. They’re ugly.”

An uproar of restraint laughter was heard throughout the cafeteria.

“Babe,” Reiner said again, this time extending his arms toward you, gesturing for you to come closer, “now you know why I need you, right? My friends are fucking whack.”

Few laughter was starting to break. Yet Reiner was unfazed.

“Reiner, what—”

“—yo dude, what the hell?

“—who is she?”

“—are they dating?”

“And listen here, you hag,” Reiner now turned his attention to the girl who called you deaf, “she’s got a name. Her name is ___, and she’s my fucking girlfriend.”

Embarrassed yet amused, you finally let out a small chuckle, “Reiner, please you’re humiliating me.”

“Whatever,” he shrugged off. Reiner now turned his attention to Porco, “and listen here you, Jizzhead. You can be nice to her but keep in your fucking mind, she’s mine.”

Without hesitation, Reiner pulled your hand and yanked you closer to him. You stared at him for a second, eyes broadened and heart thumping, “Reiner, what are you gonna do—”

“—shut up.” he said, cupping your face with his gigantic hands, and pulled your face roughly to him, before landing his dry, chapped lips to yours. He had gone sick of pretending, and doing things in secret. So there Reiner Braun was, hungrily, longingly, sloppily devouring your lips with his mouth, so deep, so thirsty of your taste. He finally showed the world who the true owner of his heart was. You.

[writers-worst-nightmare]

say could I have you take on how Juno, Legoshi and Sheila reaction lets say human are from a totally different galaxy and they came to the Beastar world and Juno, Legoshi and Ellen know that on the human world there are animals like them but not them and thy befriended a human S/O who is from an animal sanctuary so S/O too them to the sanctuary and thy see all the feral animals and S/O takes them to see their wolf buddy and thy meet a big white wolf with yellow eyes that looked intimidating but S/O Gives the big white wolf lots of pets and says "This is Tina she was the runt of the litter and was rejected by her mother so I raised her and look how big she has grown"

Juno, Legoshi, and Sheila reacting to having a human s/o who is from another galaxy but that isn’t important to the story because there is a hot wolf:

A/N: this was a LITTLE confusing but after a lot of hard work and a Mother Mother playlist I figured out what you meant (again, if I got this request wrong just like re-send It or explain it. My little brain cells are srsly being fried)

Request are always open!

Warning(s): N/A (please correct me if wrong though)

JUNO:

- when you first arrived she already was pretty shocked and honestly just clung to Legoshi

- but when she saw YOU

- oh God I hope you are ready to get spammed with a bunch of questions

- I will DIE on the head canon that Juno LOVES to learn about new things and ask a bunch of questions whenever a new topic is introduced to her

- like I think that would just be super cute and funny

- idk honestly

- when you explained everything to her she realized as fast as she could and was actually the one who suggested they went to the place where you worked at

- I know what it is but I have dyslexia and it is like SUPER hard for me to spell it out I am so so so so sooo sorry

- once you took her to the place she was honestly afraid

- I mean, she wasn’t far from the animals there themselves either

- so whenever you said that you where going to take them to the wolf section Juno got REALLY nervous

- she feels self conscious as she walks over there, feeling her energy going down the drain as she stares at the wolves in front of her

- then you guys got to the biggest wolf their probably (although she didn’t pay attention to size that much)

- she was pretty afraid

- this was a white wolf so she was already small compared to them

- but when she saw HER

- the strong teeth of the wolf that looked like he could bite her head off without even trying to

- and don’t even get her STARTED about the yellow blazing eyes that looked like a warning on it’s own to not go NEAR that wolf

- she hid behind you as everyone went up to the wolf

"This is Tina she was the runt of the litter and was rejected by her mother so I raised her and look how big she has grown"

- you said as you bent down and petted the white wolf on the head

- Tina wagged her tail and lolled out his head slightly to the left

- you bent down and scratched the wolves ears, the wold looked away in embarrassment but still secretly wanting more

- she instantly felt bad that she thought Tina was a big bad wolf

- and honestly she felt selfish

- I mean if anybody looked at Juno they would guess that she is feisty because she was a wolf

- and because of that she did not have a lot of friends,

- so she went up to Tina and head butted with her

- Tina looked taken back for a moment before a big goofy smile played on the wolves face

- the piercing and once cold yellow eyes seemed less of a warning and more of a welcome sign that you would see on somebodies door mate

- Tina and Juno stood their for a while before Juno howled out loud as in a celebration of welcoming somebody in the pack

- Tina jumped up and down with excitement before joining in

- You also got the hint and joined in as well

LEGOSHI:

- “Is there a book about this..?”

- Legoshi would whisper as you drag him to the place you work at

- let’s say you took everyone to meet Tina (omg why did that autocorrect to Tian so many times) different times so the white wold didn’t get stressed

- Legoshi isn’t one to judge on looks so in his spare time, while everyone was looking at the birds and other animals he did some research for the white wolf

- he learned quiet a few interesting things

- a lot he didn’t need to know, but still it was nice to read it

- another head canon that I will die on is that Legoshi likes to research

- like he does research in his free time, he does research when he is suppose to be doing homework

- he does research EVERYWHERE AND ANYWHERE

- that and reading classics

- BUT THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT THAT NOW IS IT!?!?

- he found out the best ways to approach a white wolf and how to get the old acquainted with you

- so best be prepared when you called Legoshi’s name for him to see the wolf, he wasn’t that surprised when he saw how Tina looked

- I mean, she looked like any other regular wolf

- however—even he had to admit—the wolf did look more scarier in person then in pictures

- and the yellow gleaming eyes didn’t help either

"This is Tina she was the runt of the litter and was rejected by her mother so I raised her and look how big she has grown"

- you explained as you gave Tina some pets

- Legoshi nodded his head then literally plopped on the ground

- he read somewhere to keep your distance and look them in the eyes

- Legoshi tried to look this wolf in the eyes, but he couldn’t

- leave him alone, best boi tried :(

- Tina had to come to Legoshi and give him a few licks

- Legoshi would laugh breathlessly

- and that was the first time you saw Legoshi smile

- he usually never smiled because of his sharp teeth but now, his has kind of forgotten that he was wolf

- You smiled warmly as the two greeted each other with smiles and hugs and affection

- Legoshi’s head would be basically exploding he wouldn’t know what to do

- and what he ended up doing

- was crying

- for the first time, it hit him like a train,

- what hit him like a train? You might ask

- well it is…

- that nobody could love him if he didn’t open up and expose his trauma

- he has closed his doors and kept up his walls for so many people

- but this wolf, this wold, didn‘t know anything about boundaries

- all Tina knew was hunt, eat, sleep, love, repeat

- and that

- that made Legoshi cry tears of joy

- this wolf would never face the dangers that the world had to offer because she was with you

- and that was all it took for Legoshi to cry while smiling

SHEILA:

- I honestly have no idea what to do for her, she is such a side character oml

- POOR GIRL WAS SO CONFUSED

- “won’t there be like…herbavore’s there…?”

- she would ask as she shifts her feet in discomfort

- “not for now…although I do plan to open it to both herbavore’s and carnivore’s!”

- you cheerfully boasted as the cheetah looked at you through narrowed eyes

- “I don’t think we should mix with the—“

- “for the love of God, shut the hell up!”

- she gets very worried when she goes through the butterfly section in fear of hurting the precious creatures

- you had to calm her down and actually go through the steps with her on how to not hurt a butterfly

- she mostly spent her time with the cheetah‘s and butterfly’s so she got a little pouty when you said it was time for her to meet the wolf

- I mean she didn’t even LIKE wolves so why did she have to put up with one!?

- but when she got into the area her blood ran cold

- right in front of her was the largest white wolf she had ever seen with menacing yellow eyes and long sharp teeth and matching razor sharp claws that could most certainly kill a butterfly AND her with no effort whatsoever

"This is Tina she was the runt of the litter and was rejected by her mother so I raised her and look how big she has grown"

- you stated as you started scratching Tina’s ears

- Sheila calmed down almost instantly when she heard the soft whimpers and the way Tina positioned her head so she wouldn’t accidentally bite your hand off

- that was actually really nice of Tina

- so once you got done petting Tina Sheila started to gently soak Tina’s back

- the swipes where soft and filled with meaning behind every stroke

- she ended up sleeping with the friendly giant on her lap like she was a puppy

- and you of course took pictures so the Drama Club could see that Their amazing club meme bear had a soft spot for Tina too

- and it got on the first page of the News