#the gist should at least be apparent

[puppyguppy]

You've been down this damn aisle way too long. Despite not having actually checked the time, you just know it. You can feel it. You've seen others come and go; grab what they need, like a pillow or some new sheets, then leave. But not you. Since apparently, choosing a new mattress has solidified itself as a life or death sort of situation inside of your head. It shouldn't have been this hard -- wouldn't be this hard, if you hadn't seen the sale going on. They're offering the next size up for the price of the next size down. So, like -- you could get a king, for the price of the queen you'd come here for. You've almost always had a queen, at least since being a teenager. And a queen is fine, a queen is good, just enough space for you to roll around some, pick a cooler side if need be, with a corner or two left open for the pet you might actually own someday. All in all, a queen is perfect, so really, there's no need to upsize. You've never even considered it until now. It just seems kind of stupid to turn down such a deal. More comfort, for less? But then...you'll need new sheets. A new comforter. A new duvet. Hell, might as well just get a whole new set for the whole new mattress, right? And, it doesn't make much sense to put old pillows on a new bed, so -- "They never tell you that beds will be one of your biggest battles in adulthood." You jolt, startled out of your spiraling thoughts by a deep, rich mumble. You hadn't noticed the man you've been sharing the aisle with for...gods, you hope it wasn't long. Long enough for him to piece together the puzzle of your struggle, though. You shake off the little scare with a laugh, the feeling only lingering in the goosebumps down your arms. "It wasn't supposed to be this hard. I came here with a plan, believe it or not." The stranger hums, and while he seems to peruse the options, you take a quick few seconds to, well. Peruse him. Tall, dark, and handsome is the gist. Wavy hair thrown half up his head, like maybe he'd been in a hurry, or working out, or just woken up. A bit unkempt, but not unattractive. Stalky, scruffy, and decked out in all colors almost black despite the season. At least they seem loose, everywhere except for where his hands are shoved into his pockets, straining the fabric slightly, and you can't help but wonder -- "One should always have a Plan B. Even maybe C through Z." You laugh again, because really, this is ridiculous, and you should just grab the goddamn bed you'd come here for. Mattresses shouldn't require complex mathematics, an entire alphabet's worth of backup plans, or the entire length of the human emotional spectrum. "Yeah, yeah," you huff, now a bit embarrassed. You're a grown ass adult and yet you feel like you've just been scolded by a highschool teacher or something. "The sale just caught me off guard. I don't want to regret it if I just settle for a queen and miss the chance. Besides, if I get a king and don't like it, I can always just return it, right?" The man shrugs. "Or you could save yourself the trouble. It's not like your room is big enough for a king." You laugh for a third time, because oh, oh my god, he's right. Here you've been fretting and stressing (and honestly? sweating) over beds, when really, there was never a choice. There was just the illusion of choice. You got excited over a sale, about the possibility of an upgrade, and completely forgot about the very real dimensions of your bedroom. And why you've stuck with a queen. "Fuck, you're so right. I couldn't possibly fit a -" You stop. You stop and blink. Because he is right. The goosebumps from just minutes ago shoot straight down to your toes. You swallow, saliva thickening in your throat like cement. "...How do you know that?"

[donamori]

Please indulge me to speak at length about Don Quixote (post Warp Express Intervello)

Unfortunately, this will be riddled with spoilers, however, I'm not necessarily making this post to make any real predictions. I'm mostly just collecting my thoughts, crafting some theories, and talking at length about my thoughts on the upcoming canto, their possible themes, and to gush and wail about my most favoritest sinner ever. If you've finished Murder on the Warp Train then feel free to continue

Alright, end of the most recent Intervello, it was revealed (much to my surprise at least) that Don Quixote, our pride and joy and ever most excellent knight-errant, is in fact a Bloodfiend. A bloodfiend who apparently has their true form suppressed by Rocinante, the shoes Don wears that are named after the steed Don Quixote rides upon in the book.

This new reveal has millions of possibilities forming in my head for the upcoming Canto and here's the gist of what I've kind of formed and gathered from what we know so far in the world of Limbus and Project Moon as a whole, what I personally know about Miguel De Cervantes and his works, and the general thematic ties that are now unfurling within my noggin that I'm trying to spool together in this nice little indulgent post.

Let's start with Miguel De Cervantes:

For those who may not know, Cervantes is the author of Don Quixote, born in 1547, died in 1616. A few important tidbits that I think will be important in the upcoming Canto-

Something that has been known for awhile is that Don's battle sprite does not list her name as Don Quixote but as Miguel. For awhile now I had been wondering if within Don Quixote's Canto we are going to receive some sort of reveal that Don Quixote is actually Miguel De Cervantes. Originally the basis of this theory I had was a quote from Cervantes about how "[he] would not exist without Don Quixote." (Something that was expanded upon in a lecture about Cervantes and Don Quixote that I found on youtube). In fact a large portion of that lecture, which I will link here, contributed to this idea I had built up in my head about the relationship between Miguel and Don.

What this essentially culminates to in my mind is that the Bloodfiend will reveal that they are Miguel, but for some reason or another, they "became" Don Quixote. So, in many loose adaptions of Don Quixote, this connection is typically made. In my personal favorite adaption, The Man of La Mancha, a musical about the book, they present the story of Don Quixote as a play for prisoners after Miguel Cervantes himself is arrested. And who is the man that plays Don? None other than Cervantes himself!

(you should really give it a watch, it's a lovely musical)

Now, within the book of Don Quixote itself, our titular hero sadly perishes at the end. He loses to the Knight of the Mirror (who is actually the Bachelor Sanson Carrasco, a man hired by Don's family to bring him home) and returns home. He then dies in his bed after renouncing the name of Don Quixote and all of his adventures. Saying with much seriousness that he is not Don Quixote, but Alonso Quijana. He leaves money to Sancho and his estate to his niece and then soon passes (after a heartfelt appeal from Sancho to return to adventuring together once more.)

After his death, the book ends with the author who is detailing Don Quixote's history writing this final paragraph-

"For me alone was Don Quixote born, and I for him; it was his to act, mine to write; we two together make but one, notwithstanding and in spite of that pretended Tordesillesque writer who has ventured or would venture with his great, coarse, ill-trimmed ostrich quill to write the achievements of my valiant knight... And I shall remain satisfied, and proud to have been the first who has ever enjoyed the fruit of his writings as fully as he could desire; for my desire has been no other than to deliver over to the detestation of mankind the false and foolish tales of the books of chivalry, which, thanks to that of my true Don Quixote, are even now tottering, and doubtless doomed to fall for ever. Farewell.”

I've paraphrased it a bit, but you get the gist. While the author detailing Don Quixote's history is a fictional author made up by Cervantes, I believe it is a cheeky way of Cervantes to insert himself in the story and express his true feelings here.

Now, with Cervantes and Donqui being one and the same I believe the strong thematic thread tying this all together is one of dreams. It's now known to us this whole time that Don Quixote is in fact, both dream and dreamer. The monster that Don Quixote is sleeps while they allow for their true self to live, ever dreaming. But now that Dream is Ending.

I think we're going to see the 'death' of Don Quixote and some sort of joining of Miguel and Don. I think Miguel wants to keep dreaming. They are a bloodfiend, a horrible monster, one of the more powerful beings that are mentioned in Project Moon's games. But i think that Miguel doesn't want that. I think that Miguel wants to be cured. Something that has never really been done for a bloodfiend, an impossible dream, perhaps?

I think in Don's Canto we're going to see what we see within the book. Miguel/Don's family trying to get him to come back, to stop him, to get him to give up on this silly dream of Knight-Errantry. And I believe Dante will finally be able to help Miguel take the first steps towards realizing this impossible dream.

Some small little thoughts that I've had that i think push this a bit further.

Don Quixote was written by Miguel when he was 50 while he was in prison.

I've been wondering now whether this cell we see Donqui in within her base ego was actually some sort of representation of this. Don Quixote was born while Miguel was locked away. This looming shadow of Rocinante keeping the Sangre De Sancho locked away within this small starry-eyed girl <3

Nothing that I really have any like, evidence for, but based on vibes I think representing the specific sort of Spaniard from this time period as some sort of high class vampire is excellent and really fits thematically as well.

Cervantes has a bunch of quotes about the nature of oneself and death (bloodfiends are undead). Some that I think are quite fitting are :

“A Man Without Honor is Worse than Dead.”

“Take my advice and live for a long, long time. Because the maddest thing a man can do in this life is to let himself die.”

“I know who I am and who I may be, if I choose.”

“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”

and finally, to conclude this,

“All I know is that while I’m asleep, I’m never afraid, and I have no hopes, no struggles, no glories — and bless the man who invented sleep, a cloak over all human thought, food that drives away hunger, water that banishes thirst, fire that heats up cold, chill that moderates passion, and, finally, universal currency with which all things can be bought, weight and balance that brings the shepherd and the king, the fool and the wise, to the same level. There’s only one bad thing about sleep, as far as I’ve ever heard, and that is that it resembles death, since there’s very little difference between a sleeping man and a corpse.”

If you read this whole thing, thank you for indulging me. I greatly appreciate it.

[heybiji]

ialso love playign superhero ttrpgs can i ask what the Masks ttrpg is? i love finding neww hero themed ttrpgs ^-^ yay!

Ohhh!! Hey! i love getting to talk ttrpg stuff thanks for the question!

MASKS: A New Generation is a superhero ttrpg about teenagers all trying to figure out who they are in a world filled with people constantly telling them who they are and how the world works. It's less about the powers and the fights and more about the emotional journey of the PCs with mechanics that support that. It's a really narratively driven game!

tldr: try it out! it's fun! it's simple! and it's low-prep (apparently, just not for me, but i'm always just gonna do Too Much). you want a system with mechanics that revolve around telling a story? around your character's emotions and how they view themselves? this is the one for you! it's great and i've really been enjoying it!!

First of all, it's a fail-forward system, so the way your character levels (advanced) is by missing rolls. I like this a lot.

There are ten core playbooks that are essentially the classes you can choose from. They each come with their own powers, some intentionally more impressive than others, but it's not about the powers; it's about the core conflict that comes with each of the archetypes. Here are a few playbook examples:

The Delinquent: You've got these cool powers. But everyone keeps telling you how to use 'em. You know what they need? Someone to give them trouble, to make sure they don't always get their way. And hey! You're the perfect her to do it.

The Legacy: You're the latest in a storied heroic lineage, a family that shares a name and a cause. Now, everybody is watching and waiting to see if you've got what it takes to uphold that tradition. No Pressure, right?

The Nova: You're a font of power. Channel it, and you can remake the world into exactly what you want. Unleash it, and you can do miracles. It's wonderful... and terrifying. Lose control for even a second, and other people get hurt.

Your stats are your Labels. They're how you see yourself, and how others see you. The Labels are DANGER, FREAK, SAVIOR, SUPERIOR, and MUNDANE. Different stats help with different Moves/rolls, so for example a high DANGER stat helps you Directly Engage a Threat, while a low MUNDANE stat makes it harder for you to Comfort or Support Someone. Your Labels are constantly being shifted around throughout the game as your character's self-image changes (and that self-image changes a lot, basically the NPCs are just label shifting machines).

The mechanics are fun! Instead of traditional damage, the PCs have Conditions that they take on, and what conditions a character has affects their rolls. The Conditions are Afraid, Angry, Guilty, Hopeless, and Insecure. So if you're Angry you take -2 on your roll to do the move Comfort or Support Someone, if you're Afraid, it's -2 on Directly Engage a Threat, etc. There are multiple ways to clear your conditions but the most straightforward way is to take a particular action, so if you're Angry you have to hurt someone or break something important, and if you're Afraid you have to run from something difficult. These actions lead to some awesome and surprising story beats!

There's some other stuff as well, but that's the gist!

Coming from DND, it took me some time to adjust to something so wildly different in terms of the system, but I've been enjoying it! I haven't gotten to play it as a PC, but running it has been an interesting challenge. I think it's a pretty simple system to work with, and I at least hear it's low-prep (again not for me tho lol). It's mechanically looser than the only other ttrpg I've played (dnd) and requires a lot more decision making from the whole table, so I think in a way it asks more of its players in that way. And the GM role is constantly on in a specific way, because it's up to the GM to listen and call out when a Move is being triggered and a roll should be made based on what the characters are doing in any particular scene.

anyway I can always have more to say but MASKS has been fun. I recommend giving it a shot! And then you should tell me what you thought about it!!

[scuderia-hamilton]

I took a trip to the anti piastri tag to see what bullshit lando fans (because let's be honest it's a tag exclusive to lando fans) were spouting and I wasn't disappointed.

They're convinced it was Oscar's fault because he was also called to the stewards and lando didn't get a penalty so the blame should be at least equal, believe mclaren has an oscar bias and will send Oscar's girlfriend with him because she's an engineer working for them, also believe McLaren has brainwashed Lando to fully take the blame on himself, apparently he's held at gunpoint by Stella because their 'hug' seemed too stiff, are pissed oscar didn't apologise for causing a collision and him not doing so is showing his true colours breaking down his pr persona...... just to get a gist of how truly deranged Lando fans are and how it just gets worse every take

they have to be doing this as rage bait at this point 😭 interestingly enough everyone with a minimal understanding and knowledge of the sport can agree that it was Lando’s fault, except them. the whole world is against them it seems. 😔 i won’t even entertain the rest, they’re just simply delusional and can’t accept that Oscar is doing better than Lando.

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Hello! I've recently taken the plunge and downloaded Ridgeside village for one of my save files. I'm enjoying it so far and I am eyeing some of the romanceable candidates 👀.

So I was wondering, you know the ask a while back about the farmer being oblivious to all of the bachelor and bachelorette's being in love with them? Could you do the same with the Ridgeside characters? And maybe expanded?

Eyyyyy glad you liked the Ridgeside Village mod, dear anon ☺️

I've added both SVE and RSV candidates as well. Sorry if the headcanon came out a bit stilted (wasn't sure what the best format was lol). Thanks for the ask and enjoy 💕

RSV bachelors/ettes with oblivious Farmer:

After the young Pelican Town candidates failed miserably to win the heart of Farmer, who must be the most oblivious person in the world, the bachelors and bachelorettes of Ridgeside Village decided that their time had finally come. They're the ones who can get the Farmer's attention, aren't they? Oh, but they didn't, because they didn't count on two things.

First, there were still competitors in Pelican Town - it was just that the other residents hadn't immediately joined the "hunt". Although Sophia and Victor weren't even sure what was even going on, they just wanted to spend more time with their friend Farmer. Victor, however, tried to give a couple compliments, but the gist of the content of his words apparently didn't get through to Farmer. It's a shame of course, but both Sophia and Victor just get over it and just switch to their own lives (and maybe even each other). Claire also threw a loving glance in the direction of the eternally energetic Farmer, but due to uncertainty and constant fatigue she decided that she had almost no chance (it's not true, but *sigh*). Olivia, of course, could show all these young amateurs how to properly compliment and hint at the object of their affection, but feels it's not her age to go after Farmer. She will respect Farmer's choice, and may even push Victor toward Farmer a little bit so that her son will be more confident.

Second, Ridgeside Village residents doesn't really realize how painfully oblivious Farmer is. All the advances and compliments the Farmer (unknowingly) dodges like a spy film protagonist dodges enemy bullets and lasers. And Jeric and Blair will be the first to question their own flirting abilities. Maybe they should have been more.... assertive?

Standing nearby the restaurant, Corine, Ysabelle and Paula greeted the Farmer more flirtatiously, asking to spend time with them just a little bit more. The girls decided to play fair: to whom the Farmer would pay more attention - the winner. Except that Farmer thanked "their good friends for the compliments" and ran off on their farming business, leaving girls in shock. Paula at least laughed at the comicality of the situation.

Faye and Irene thought that the way to the Farmer's heart was through their stomach, so when the girls found out what were the favourite dishes of the daredevil of the entire Stardew Valley, they immediately began the preparation. The Farmer thanked them not with dates, as the two girls had hoped, but with... fresh fruit from the greenhouse. Shit. Okay, well, at least the fruit is delicious. Bryle, passing by, decided to tease Faye and show her the "real master of pick-up", since he himself had had his eye on Farmer for a long time. A complete fiasco, as you might expect, causing Faye herself to start laughing at her friend's failure. The two will then argue again (but will become a couple in the future, but that's another story).

Anton... Doesn't even look in the Farmer's direction. He wants to try, wants to give them at least one good compliment, but... Why? So that Farmer will be disappointed in him like his ex-fiancée? No, Anton won't risk their friendship for that.

Apparently Yoba itself (or other magical forces) are protecting Farmer from flirting, because there's no way they couldn't pick up on Daia's hints. The girl is almost directly flirting, proposing to become something more, trying to kiss and, pardon my language, "get them into the nearest bush for some fun." "Into the bushes? Maybe we'll find a cute bunny there!" ....Bunny, huh.

But that's at least some effort, though, because Jio didn't come up with anything better at all than to express his flirtation in the form of... completely ignoring Farmer. Like, the more he ignores them, the more interested they'll be in him. Weird logic, and then the grumpy will have a face like "Wait, that's illegal" meme when Farmer ignores his ignore (and Kiwi is now constantly teasing him).

Ian, Kenneth, Phillip and Shiro decide not to act without haste, but to learn from the mistakes of other candidates who have failed on the love front. Slowly but surely, they try to spend more time with Farmer without making any drastic moves yet. And honestly, even if they too fail to endear themselves to Farmer, a caring and loyal friend would be enough for them. Sean also wanted to take leisurely steps at first, but he didn't have the patience and so he heads to the bench with the other losers. Better luck next time!

Zayne is a rather well-mannered young man, and he is not going to impose his company on anyone without their desire. If the Farmers themselves approach him, then he will try to make small talk and apply all his knowledge of flirting. It's a similar situation with June, but he may be a little more stubborn as he, unlike the others, has limited time and will be less likely to do so when he goes back for two whole seasons.

Flor, Alissa and Maddie are pretty shy in that regard, so they'll leave the flirting and sighing heavily when Farmer walks by. It's just that Farmer is a very close friend to them all, and to demand anything more from them is somehow wrong. If only they would notice... *Sigh*

For Kiarra, the best way is to be herself: no intrusive flirting, no those innuendos. Just have a nice time with a (so far) friend and not worry about anything. And then - just ask Farmer straight out. Do they want to date? Yay, Farmer and Kiarra have become a couple. They don't want to date? Yay, Farmer and Kiarra remain best friends. It's simple.

Magnus, who decided to introduce Lance to Mr. Aguar, became unwitting spectators of an oblivious Farmer being chased by a crowd of admirers. It's a funny situation, really. Heh, maybe Magnus would have joined them, but he decided to let fate take its course. If he's meant to be with Farmer in this dimension, then so be it, but if not, well, just suck it up and move on. Lance, on the other hand, believes he's in charge of his own destiny, and his sly smile suggests that he'll take matters into his own hands once the competition has died down. He has a couple of trump cards up his sleeve....

...............

And somewhere nearby, the much-admired Lenny is sitting on a bench, eating popcorn and watching the whole thing like a favourite comedy show. "Huh, and they said there'd be no fun in old age!".

[momentomori24]

I swear to God, Twitter being able to accumulate so many brain-dead, malicious, pseudo intellectual low lives all in one place at the same time is a phenomenon worthy of being studied under a microscope in a science lab. And no, that is not a compliment.

Thankfully people have already spoken out against this bullshit-- the fact that people needed to is already maddening to think about-- but as someone who got the basic gist of what happened literally yesterday I'll also put my voice out there: Don't you fucking dare try to paint Hbomb as a murderer over this situation.

Somerton may be a lying, misogynistic plagiarist and conman, but he obviously doesn't deserve to die and while I do make fun of the guy, I genuinely hope that he continues to have a life after the dust has settled on everything. Not on YouTube or any social media platform for a long time at least, but just a life nontheless. I don't wish what he's potentially going through on anyone, and I hope that he makes it through this. But regardless of if he does or doesn't-- and God forbid he doesn't-- none of this is Hbomb's fault. It's not his fault, or Kat's fault, or Jessie's fault (because apparently there's people blaming her too cuz WHY NOT), or anybody's fault. All they did was call out his actions, hold him accountable for the harm he's done. They have done nothing to deserve having to carry this on their shoulders should the worst happen. They did nothing wrong. They didn't kill James (he's not confirmed dead yet either btw). They are not murderers. And to the people saying they are: say those words out loud, listen how they sound like, and re-evaluate. Just cease.

And to people like this:

''Oh I'm not blaming him for anything I'm just blaming him for what his audience did because according to HIM you're responsible for your audience'' Yeah, you people can shut your mouths too. Of course you're responsible for your audience, and that includes Hbomb too. However, your tiny, godless little monkey brain can't see why your argument is still rubbish even with that in mind. The difference between James, Internet Historian and Hbomb is that Hbomb never promoted problematic behaviour to his audience. If you promote problematic shit like harassment or misogyny or racism, then yeah, you're absolutely responsible for how your behaviour influences your audience. But that's not what he did. He made it very clear where he stood on those things, literally stating that ''if anyone were to harass Somerton on his behalf they are worse than him and will not see the light of heaven''. He's done his part in making it clear that harassment is wrong, so if someone went out of their way to go against that and harass James anyway that doesn't reflecf on him at all. Also, what the hell do you mean ''hatemobbed'' to suicide? I don't doubt there are people who went to extremes because those bad apples always exist, but most of the things I've seen are valid critisisms, memes and call outs about that guy. If holding people accountable for their actions and poking fun at them a little counts as 'hatemobbing'' (which has Filip calling his critics a ''lynch mob'' energy tbh) what the hell do you call actual hatemobbing then? Do we just let people continue being shitty because calling them out ''damages their mental health'' or ''drives them to suicide'' then? Is that a world you want to live in?

Same thing goes for people like this:

Criticing someone for their objectively bullshit content and wanting them dead are two seperate things. What the actual hell is wrong with you. The plagiarist in question is a person. Those ''harshest critics'' are still people. And because we're people, we care. I'd rather James pump out more plagiarised slop than commit suicide. I'd still hate him for it, but I'd prefer him being alive over the alternative any day. We all do. None of us would sleep easier knowing he's dead just because he wouldn't be ''committing the cardinal sin of putting out a 'pure content mill' video'' because someone taking their own life is horrific-- especially Hbomberguy, how dare you even try to imply that?

And this gets me to the reason I'm furiously typing all this out in the first place: Hbomb is the fucking victim here, so stop treating him like he isn't. He tried making things as right as possible by compensating those that were burned by James through a video where he revealed everything there needs to be known about the guy so that less people fall victim to his actions and lies. To just ignore the harm James was causing while he had the evidence to prove it and platform too big to threaten into non existence should he speak out would've been bad. So he didn't. He did the right thing by sticking with the people James had stolen from, giving them a voice and making them known after they've been scrubbed from the picture by decidedly being uncredited for their works or bullied into silence. He shouldn't have to deal with this for doing the right thing. He shouldn't be labelled a murderer for doing the right thing. He shouldn't have to have the death of a man on his conscience for doing the right thing. People claiming otherwise are obviously wrong, but I can't imagine what all this must feel like right now. Because even tho they're wrong, guilt isn't a rational thing, and I know that if I were in his position I'd still feel like a morally bankrupt individual were the worst to happen even if I knew that it was not my fault. This isn't a funny story. So to add to this dumpsterfire by using it as a prop to bash on a creator you don't like and immediately write Somerton off as dead even when he's not even been confirmed dead yet to do that shows how little these people actually care about the thing they're talking about. They don't care a guy potentially killed himself-- what they care about is using it to paint Hbomb in a bad light because they don't like him. Here they are, posting memes and ill jokes about this very delicate situation while barely a day since the news broke out had passed. It's opportunistic, it's sickening, and literally the exact thing he criticised in his video when talking about 'content mills'. Like, I know none of these clowns bothered to actually watch it, but have some self-awareness. And some shame too, while you're at it.

This long story short: I'm writing this to contribute to the narrative not getting twisted to make Hbomb out to be the villian. Same goes for everyone else. Don't let these people paint them as the villians. If I see another person pull this shit again I will literally bite you and shred you into salad and spit you back out because I hate you so much and I mean that wholeheartedly.

To Hbomb: you will never see this but if you do, take care of yourself.

To the asshats this post is about: Delete your account. Cease all together. Stop talking about this. Just leave him the fuck alone.

[hometownrockstar]

there's only one thing i can recall that is objectively "harmless" but which i reject as a concept and think is actually bad and removes from a piece of work, and it's when there's an alien world that is focused on and it's essentially a 1:1 copy of our world in terms of copying gender and heterosexual norms, emulating a car-centric designed usamerican landscape, you get the gist. I dont mean when its a metaphor for our own issues i mean when it is considered an essential default for a civilized species and is presumed to be how it should work. even if i don't think it's bad it still makes me instantly not like something since it's apparently so incurious about a world and societal structure different than our own. this is why i like animorphs, it still has gender but everything else about the aliens is at least creative

[misterier]

Hi! Can I request enemies to lovers relationship with Jack Marston and tall Male reader? (Or at least taller than him). It doesn't have to be long, head cannons are fine :)

oo yeah ofc!! I went for head cannons in storyish form so it hope it's not too goofy, also my dyslexic ass read john at first so sorry it took a bit

high honor jack marston is my pookie the idea of him with low honor hurts me so high honor it is

also sorry for pushing the charthur agenda but it's burned deep within my soul, I must release it

also spoilers ig for the first & second game but if your requesting jack you prolly already know all that

i grew up lovin' the marstons and they mean the world to me sorry if i get rambly and long with his hcs</3

Jack Marston<3

-With Jack, it's more rivels than actual enemies, and it likely starts when the two of you are teens; maybe you live in some ranch across from his.

-Your mothers or dads are friends, so they're a little concerned. As far as they know, two teenagers forced to hang out should be great friends.

-Jack is 100% a little mama's boy, so when he's not hiding out reading, he's helping her do housework and complaining about you. It's not like he's got a good reason to hate you either; he just doesn't like you.

-Abigail's heard, John's heard, Uncles heard, and even the dog has heard.

-The entire dinner table is tired of his constant whining about hating your 'annoying' ass.

-Hell, even his aunts have heard whenever they ask about his nonexistent social life, Mary-Beth seems to think it's a crush the way he gets so flustered, rambling on about how much he hates you, but he denies it in an instant.

-Equally, you hate him as well, bragging about your height difference. Every time you're forced over to his house to hang out with him in his room (despite his pleading to not leave him alone with you), you'll put his books on the highest shelves.

-His father was once given permission, and assuming some quality time together would fix your relationship, he takes the two of you fishing. (Jack, of course, complains, asking why he was stuck doing the two things he hates most, fishing and spending time with you.)

-During that trip, John warns you to look out for branches so you don't bash your head in. Jack prays you would so you'd shut up and stop looking at him like that.

-Whenever Charles is able to visit them, sometimes Jack will find him and his mother talking outside in the dead of night, speaking of a man he can only just barely remember the silhouette of--Jack sometimes is glad he can't remember those days when he sees how frustrated his father gets about his past—mostly when his mother mentions the man who had apparently been like his father's brother. It's a painful name to speak in their house, and he refuses to even ask anymore now that they hardly mention him anymore.

-The gist of you and Jack's fighting is just petty arguments and insults. His mother warns him about things like that, saying it's not healthy for a boy his age to be so bitter towards another who's done nothing to him, insisting he tries to make friends.

-He tries to listen to his mother; as much as he teases her, just like his father, he respects her greatly and looks up to her, and if she told him to do something, he'd do his very best to listen to her wishes.

-Jack does a bit better at keeping his insults to a minimum. The two of you are nothing near friends, but y'all slowly stop it with actual hurtful comments.

-Just like annoying ol' uncle grew on his father, he was beginning to tolerate your presence until he and his mother were taken by the government while his father hunted down his old 'family'.

-Once they're home, you're not around anymore, and neither are your parents. You moved due to fear of being caught up in all that, and he's bitter about it.

-The day John and Uncle die, your family sends their condolences.

-For as long as his mother is alive, he does his damnedest to keep the ranch alive and working despite her deteriorating health. Tilly visits a bit more when Abigail gets worse, and her husband tries to help—a respectable man even with his high class—though Jack refuses, wanting to take care of it all himself.

-The day his mother dies breaks him--the only blood family he had left.

-He enhatrets all his fathers' things, nobody to stop him from looking through it, he finds journals, and he reads the older one first confused by the handwriting that he was sure wasn't his fathers chicken scratch, but he reads it anyway, admiring each drawing and word, some even speaking about the writers conflicted feelings about still longing for a woman but beginning to feel himself crave a man, willing to let go of her if it means he has the chance to be happy again--queerness had never been something shamed upon or uncommon in his house, he'd heard of it from hangings and his parents speaking about it being wrong that they'd be hung for love--telling Jack that he shouldn't be afraid to love who he wants and to fight for it.

-The fancy writing nearly seems to abruptly stop when things begin to get dark. Switching to his father's writing gives him an appreciation for his father and what he's been through, but even through that, he can't help but crave revenge. He always was an angry young man.

-He wants to put Edgar Ross' death behind him, trying to be a functioning man of society as his mother wanted for him, though his hand still itched for his gun.

-The land was becoming too dry; there wasn't much he could keep alive, and he needed money, so he decided to try and find work. Not many would take him due to his father's name, so he usually hangs around the blackwater bar to sleep in the rooms above it, only visiting his home on weekends to take care of the house and the graves.

-Eventually he finds work, by some old fella speakin' about how desperate this man was for a ranch hand and how it was nearly sad how much they needed it.

-Late at night, he shows up on your doorstep, looking for work after all these years. You would have laughed in his face if it wasn't obvious how much both of you needed this.

-Similar to Bonnie and John's situation He lived on your property for a while, though there was enough room in your house for him, so he worked for you and slept in the guest room.

-There's no room to argue like you did as children. though only nineteen, the two of you are much more grown than you'd like to be with both of your families gone. Now it's only a few quips and jabs.

-There's no women working for your ranch, so you have to trade 'womanly' chores. Jack used to help his mother with hers, so he doesn't mind, but he forces you to help as well.

-You two become friends, despite still bullying each other a little. Him joking about you hitting your head when walking into the barn (you're tall, but not THAT tall), and you telling him his eyes will go bad from staring at those small print books all day.

-The closer friends you two become, the more possible your relationship is to become romantic. Neither of you are sure when you figured out you were in love with each other; it sort of just happened.

-You kissed his cheek goodnight once before you parted ways with him in the living room to return to your bedroom eary and it became tradition. For months, that was how the two of you parted. The next day, before he left to go back to his family's ranch to clean it up, he called you over to his horse—taller than you—for once and kissed your forehead before turning quickly and spurring his horse off.

-As socially awkward as he is, he's very open, flirting with you, not very romantic, but then again, you two aren't exactly romantic; if anything, your relationship is more of a mean friends with benefits kind of situation.

-If you genuinely want to call it a relationship, you'll have to bring it up to him, or he won't really notice or care.

-If you want to be lovers, he'll accept it. You two still have separate rooms, and yet you fall asleep in his most of the time.

-Even if you can read, he likes reading you, with his back against the headboard and your head on his shoulder. he likes feeling taller than you, though he obviously isn't.

-This man tried nailing broken boot heels to his to make him taller and ended up twisting his ankle and falling flat on his face.

-Learns to deal with and accept the fact your taller, though hes unnaturally bitter.

-Everytime he heads home, times becoming less frequent now. He sits at the foot of his mother's grave and talks about you and his life; he brought you once but never did it again, he prefers his visits to his family's graves to be private.

-Even years into your relationship, he won't stop praying you'll bash your head on the doorframe. The day you do, he marks it on his callender and calls it the day he became a happy man, ignoring your unofficial anniversary and calling it a close second.

[dseval]

What are your thoughts of CrossDust? What dynamic you think they have?

Permission to yap about CrossDust??

Short answer: funny i like both of them they should kiss

...Long yapping ahead (there's yapping about my Murder Sans interpretation, then there's also CrossDust. It's long.)

I'd like to first clarify that my interpretation of Dust may be different compared to many (I think, at least). Since I base his character on the canon information from Ask-Dusttale and fangames— particularly Evan Streblow's Dusttale (if you don't know, it's the one with the psychotic HAHAHAHAHAHAHA and "We're gonna have a MAD time!")

I also slot in some headcanons (and self-projections, can't help it) and some character adjustments because I think canon Murder is extremely difficult to work with, especially in the context of shipping and anything else this fandom does with him in general.

But just the gist of it so you all don't have to read that much (I can go on for ten more paragraphs. I'm obsessed with this guy):

I'll use the names Murder and Dust interchangeably and within different contexts. I like to think Murder is a front that Dust puts on— an apathetic murderer who finds emotions difficult to feel, someone who always lies to get his way, a sociopath. While Dust is quiet, honest, and more contemplative. It's mostly Murder who interacts with others.

Murder and Dust aren't necessarily two different people. Ultimately, Dust directly influences Murder's choices, and Murder may disappear one day once Dust feels content.

His hallucinations aren't only Papyrus, he also hallucinates about others although Papyrus is the most often. And these hallucinations speak different things according to the state he's in. Murder's hallucinations would encourage him to hurt more. While Dust's would induce guilt.

Murder is a very focused person, not afraid to take the lead, and he hates it when nothing happens. Dust on the other hand is content just doing nothing.

Murder finds love absurd. Dust too, but he entertains the thought of it.

Murder and Dust both think words are silly, insincere, and can change meanings, so they are more action-oriented.

He's demisexual. That's a headcanon.

And if anyone has any different interpretation of Murder/Dust Sans, that is absolutely okay and amazing. Dusttale is a very hard AU to actually get into (all the informations are scattered). Plus, there is nothing wrong with fanon. I think it's great, I like fanon. I sometimes like fanon more than canon.

Now CrossDust.

For their general dynamic, I think it's very difficult for them to get together. They just go back and forth between something and nothing. They have like... The slowest of slow burns.

I'd like to implement the entire Underverse thing. Remember how Cross stole Classic's soul? Apparently, Sanses across different alternate timelines can share a memory. So Geno knows Cross stole 'his' soul. Killer also acknowledges this and says to XChara that they stole 'his' soul.

So technically to Murder/Dust— Cross also had stolen 'his' soul (And Murder would've had felt all Cross's pain while at it, too). I think Murder would find it hilarious that Cross brought literally every single innocent AU into his problem. Dust would feel like Cross's plans are ridiculous, but since it's XChara's plan, and XChara is the human, Dust wouldn't even question it.

In a way, they share SOULs once, even if indirectly. Murder/Dust knows probably a lot about Cross. But Cross didn't know who the hell this guy is. Either way, with that in mind. Murder probably didn't have a good first impression of Cross. Dust might empathize with him, since Cross also committed a genocide in order to 'make things better' which is also Dust's reasoning. Cross might learn about Murder's actions later— but cannot judge Murder/Dust for it.

They are very similar. Kindred souls in a way. They went through similar struggles but they turned out to be completely different people. Because Cross in his entire life is under control, while Murder acts on choice. Because Cross knows what he did is horrible and he'll carry that sin to the grave, while Murder justifies his actions.

Cross is too trusting (he doesn't trust easily now), too seeking for approval, he doesn't know what to do if no one orders him. Murder thinks he himself is enough, Murder thinks he is the hero, he doesn't need anyone else.

Cross thinks Murder is a bad person, an absolute jerk. Murder likes to toy with him, probably also uses Cross to his advantage. Murder can either try to hurt Cross, or will try to win his favour. But can Cross judge him? Not really, hell, I don't think Cross even noticed if Murder did manipulate him. Low-key toxic these two.

But then there's the private moments, the intimate moments where Dust shed the front that is Murder. Where Dust is sincere; he doesn't talk, but the way he gazes and acts towards Cross is honest. And although reluctant, maybe Cross desires to bring that side out of him more.

It's both difficult for them to trust. But eventually Dust will learn that Cross cannot lie— Dust will trust words again. Eventually Cross realizes that he's not the only one hurt, and he can find a home in others, he can choose to find a home.

Cross will find it frustrating how Dust shuts himself down. Dust would find it frustrating how hard Cross tries for him. But eventually, Dust would learn to no longer front himself up with Murder. Cross would need a signal from Dust that what he's doing is okay and perfect before they can advance further.

They'll care about one another.

Eventually, they'll trust each other.

In a relationship sense where they're both happy and recovered, though. I think both of them like cuddling. Dust still had a hard time with words, but he knows how much it means for Cross to have words of affirmations, so he would praise Cross a lot. Cross knows Dust is as restless as he is, so he makes sure they both have a full schedule with a lot of things to do.

All in all, they're comfortable with each other. And that's enough, really.

(i almost yapped for ten more paragraphs but I think this is enough for now sksksksk)

Dust Sans by Ask-Dusttale

Cross Sans, Underverse, & XTale by Jakei

Mentioned characters: Killer Sans (by Rahafwabas), Geno (by loverofpiggies/CrayonQueen)

[blackdigitalrose]

Wed - Smile Pretty Cure! - EP 13 -15

^^; I feel like I've been saying this a lot lately but some weeks it just can't be helped, will have to keep it brief.

EP 13

Just Reika casually checking out swords in the background, Precure certainly has its moment or more so Reika, I'm starting to have some questions....

After an impressive combo save, that really is some bad luck. That proceeds on to a second day and while a funny response, it isn't a bad idea. Miyuki crushing on Peter Pan makes a lot of sense though.

And it turns out the show agreed... and they purposefully but that image in there.

This ep got a chuckle, even the bad guy of the week was laughing at her misfortune. After the first few mishaps, I was concerned it'd be slaptick cheap laughs at Miyuki's expense but it all came together rather nicely in the end.

EP 14

Pork and soybean? Either that is translation error or that's one of the strangest soundings sweets I've ever heard. Yet, once again, how convenient that the tv has an ad that just so happens to be showcasing something in the exact same area as the Precure girls are going.

Talk about a wild goose chase of an ep, either this lot was suppose to be the bridge between two groups or there is a recurring joke that is completely lost on me? A bit iffy that they kept showing up everywhere they went though. Not the joke that the two who should be worried are having an easy time of it all and enjoying themselves while the other are missing out and exhausted. (Still, this is a 2012 series, you'd think they would have phones?)

Equally so, I've never understood this logic in shows, yes you get a higher view point but at the expense of them being able to see you, which would be much easier on the ground and even if you do spot them, by the time you get back to the bottom from the top, they could be anywhere. Even more so in this case, you know the destination is the Zoo, just go and wait at the entrance for them to appear >.< !?

There's got to be a catch to this aside an extra ep counter because this series is not 25 eps long and this is counting down the big bad? With very little resistance, something has got to give?

At least they ticked one thing off the bucket list but could apparently only afford one between the five of them? That Takoyaki must have carried quite the price tag. Yet no apologies for separating or being mad at them just a-ok instantly. Still a 2-parter is a quirk.

EP 15

I swear... this is beyond coincidence at this point, it is becoming a flat out pattern, is Smile just Yes take two? Just this time the mother related episode is for Mothers day but plays out the same... Still, Miyuki's mum's VA has a thing for parenting roles it seems, that's also Msaru's mum from Savers XD.

Surprising timeline connectivity, guess she went back to get some in the end.

Sheer chance I ended up watching them side by side but by doing so, it's just becoming rather awkward now. On the other hand, why are the other four even there? Shouldn't they be at home with their own Mum's doing stuff? They haven't even handed their gifts out yet.

This was a nice little segment (same message as before though, "it's the thought that counts" guess there's some messages they like to recycle, even if it isn't a bad one) and some quick thinking off Peace. Also, isn't this the first time they've tried throwing down with one of actually villains? It was a really good fight, lots of momentum and teamwork to it.

Hold up, so Nao is the only one who inherited the green hair off her mum? So all her siblings just so happen to look like their dad then? Those green genetics are in a serious losing battle.

See, this panned out exactly like the Nozomi ep, different theme but the gist is the same and just done slightly better and not being told by an external mother figure.

A decent trio of eps, the Smile team are actually coming together quite nicely, they even have some nice combo's forming. Nao and Akane look like they have the potential to be quite the tag team. If anything the villains are holding it back because something has got to give with that clock and those decors. I suppose we'll find out when we hit ep 20 ish.

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

Idk if you’ve heard yet, but apparently the miraculous writing team released a commentary about the s5 finale, and in it they said that Chat Noir not being in the finale was their plan from the beginning (like 2014/15) so they could use the Bug Noire powerup with Marinette. Since you’re working on LoA, I’m curious for your thoughts 😬

i have been off tumblr for a few days but the gist of all the discourse seems to be a disfavorable attitude toward this decision!

"kill your darlings" isn't just about killing characters - it's about killing things that you personally really want in your story if they don't work. personally, i think they could have made bug noire work. there's a lot going against adrien already that he felt chat noir couldn't have helped in the final battle. he didn't need to have a dream about destroying the world; ladybug could've told him about it, and it would have been narratively satisfying to her arc of secret keeping. even moreso, because by chat noir not being present at the battle, ladybug lost and gabriel made the wish. then she could've started season six with reason to think she can't tell anything to adrien, but to chat noir too. and if chat noir had a little breakdown about his chat blanc past, it would have justified ladybug not sending that text to chat about gabriel's identity (in that moment). she probably wouldn't have wanted him to know he'd basically killed gabriel, too.

it just seems like bug noire is a darling they were determined to keep and paid the cost of more coherent narrative decisions to get there. it seems also like adrien remaining in the dark is also a darling the writers wanted to keep. sure, they're getting to tell the story they wanted, but not in the most cohesive or coherent way. but you know what, at least it invites a lot of fic ideas for how the post-wish world should look! and that's really what me and noodles are doing in lies of attrition.

[booksandmemes]

Thoughts on Flashback while I read it:

The light vs darkness themes are strong with this one (and the COVER 😍). Also, they already mentioned the word flashback once.

Was it a mistake to read the Keefe pov scene before starting?

DEX AND TAM

TBH I'm starting to get bored of Sophie's internal conflict in every book, I'd like a POV change or three.

Ah yes, the elements. Water, Earth, Fire, Wind and... quintessence and shadowflux apparently.

I feel like the part with several pages at once describing their medicine can be skipped over... which is what I did.

Why do I keep forgetting how shitty these two are \/

I love how the echo things are forcing Fitz into some anger management exercises. God knows he needs them. That said, I still don't get why people hate him so much??? He's a cool kinda-deep character with flaws and problems, just like Keefe.

The fact Fitz is willing to check on Grizel but not his parents is wild. Tbh, Alden and Della ARE sounding kinda desperate.

I WANT THAT SHADOW THOUGHTS TUNIC. AND THE LEGACY ONE.

I'm torn between how likely it is that Alvar goes back to being evil (or at least annoying) and how hilarious it would be if he didn't and Fitz just went crazy over it.

I also got to the Chandelier part. It's giving Jason Grace x Brick

Marella's annoying. She's always guilt-tripping Sophie when Sophie mentions someone/something closer to her than Marella then going "Relax, I know you're-"

Like, y r u mad she was talking to Keefe about THEIR OWN silly bodyguards?? Why are you mad that she wanted to catch up on training after WEEKS of bed rest?? Why are you mad you weren't included in the near-death experiences and don't need 5 different people trailing you everywhere??

Anyway, hear me out, Wylie and Linh besties 💅 You'd think Tam gets jealous, but no. He and Wylie also become besties (polar opposites my beloved).

Fitzphie ain't that bad actually I'm here for it, but I also don't want to get attached in case Keefe is preparing smth even bigger. I guess it's a win-win for me anyway.

I swear... If the climax is just Silveny giving birth... I'll give up on this series for good. Can the Neverseen come and fuck something up pls? I can't read this. (K nevermind, they did.)

I'll be honest... I skipped several chapters but I got the gist.

WOAH okay, Fitz got some serious issues. Slow down bro. And honestly, maybe he should go to therapy before proceeding with Sophie :/ she has enough on her plate.

Imagine being bitter that your parents 'decided to have more children' like it's personal offence to you as an 11-year-old and as a 28-year-old.

NOOOOOO TAMMMMM

ISTG this series has a way of being mediocre at best for 90% of the book then leaving me shocked out of words at the end. This escalated VERY quickly and I hate the fact that it also made up for the rest (just like Nightfall 😭)

8/10 Pls let Legacy be consistently good

[rainbowheart324]

Family curse - Chapter 29 - Rainbowheart324 - Cookie Run (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

chapter 29

It was rather hard to wake his child this moring. It made him feel slightly bad as well. His son did need his rest right now and he clearly wasn’t feeling up to much. Not even eating considering how he treated that bowl of oatmeal.

That by it’s self was a rather big issue. Dark choco was still losing weight on his current diet and he could tell he wasn’t feeling sated on the broth alone. Maybe he could get him to eat a broth that had been thickened in to a thin gurl by the addition of some flour.

Maybe. It would be worth a try at the very least. It could also be that dark choco was stressed by having another ritual today. He would have to think about this more heavily later. He needed to keep an eye on his son during this ritual right now.

Sitting down in the ritual space is no different from last time. With the extra security measures in place he should feel better but in truth he wouldn’t feel like this was safe at all unless his child was siting in his lap where he could easily react before he could do any real damage to himself.

Despite his growing sense of worry the ritual continued on. His son put on the thick mits willingly and he drank the tonic as well.

Dark choco seemed to be very more put off by the brew given to him this time as he stumbles about and makes the reconable sound of gagging. His son doesn't throw up but it's a near thing. He eventually crash lands on the pillow and for a moment fear takes hold that his son just died.

Then dark choco started shifting a bit. The fear in his heart retreats a bit. There is a few minutes given to dark choco to maybe try and get back in a siting position but nothing happens and so the real meat of the ritual starts.

 Affogato starts speaking. Which dark choco clearly doesn't not like as he starts mumbling no’s under his breath.

This clear distress is only further heightened by what affogato says next. “ Why do you think your father hates you?”  He feels his facial muscles stiffen a bit as he hears this.

He doesn’t quite like where this is going as dark choco starts rambling in short thoughts spliced together.  He wished he picked a slightly closer spot it hards to actually make out everything dark choco is saying. He can still make out enough for him to understand the direction things are going however.

When reading in between the lines it becomes clear that while he might have forgiven dark choco he had come nowhere near forgiving himself. To the point of perhaps seeking out some kind of punishment to right the perceived wrong.

He is going to have to go over that with his child. Maybe he should have gone over it more before.

He can’t let such pain full doubt and guilt fester alone for any longer. That was if this ritual did not clear up the matter. His thoughts were taken to a new place as was dark choco said shocked him slightly.

This new information just made him feel worst.

His baby was not a burden; he was sick but would get better. He would make sure of it. One of the first things that needed to happen for that to be however was for such a toxic view point to be discarded.

 Thankfully affogato seemed to share his point of view. As his words seemed made to try and dislodge this faulty train of thought from his son's head with his reasoning.

“ Your father forgave you for what you did under the curse did he not”  This apparently upsets dark choco so much that if the mits were not there he have likely lose his other eye. He want’s to stop the ritual for a moment but it seems dark choco has already worn him self out.

He payed no attention to what his son spoke when he was trying and failing to hurt him self again but what affogato speaks next tells him the gist. 

“ You wouldn’t call the cookies resting in the infirmary a burden would you” He is starting to doubt any words will actually get through to dark choco at this point. And what dark choco says in reply is only reinforcing that idea.

For once dark choco answers in a complete sentence instead of rambling a small bit of related words. It is a rather heart breaking sentence to hear however

 “The sick cookies in the infirmary didn’t massively mess up there attempt to make them selfs deserve there station.”  

That was a rather twisted way to think. He held no doubt that he was guilty of the same reasoning before but there was a difference between a young adult making a mistake following what he knew and Himself who was older than every cookie combined in this room with centuries to build up wisdom and experience.

Did he accidentally infuse this type of thinking in to dark choco while rasing him. Is he the reason for so much of his child's distress?

Affogato seems to try a defuse this line of reasoning “ At least a few of them got hurt trying to prove them self with rather stupid actions that they should have known better than to attempt” 

While those words were true he didn’t think that would be the best way to try and convic dark choco from his current line of reasoning. He is clearly holding himself to a higher stander to live up too. He listens closely hoping his own line of thought is wrong and those words really do start to reach his son.

Dark choco descends into mumbles and short phrases again. He picks up a few i ruined it. I’m sorries. And that he needs to be better.  From there it’s clear his son is descending in to a rant of some kind. 

One where he is repeatedly putting himself down dark choco is too quite for him to hear everything but the over all message is clear. He is not sure how and when his baby became so obsessed with strength but it’s clear that this had been brewing for a long long time. Long enough that he should have noticed at least a few signs of it by now.

What ever affogato hears has left him stunned. Things might have been even worse than what he has picked up on. How did so many issues go unnoticed for so long. He should have noticed at least a few signs of this before everything came to a head so why is it only coming to light now.

 Affgato ask’s another question “Why do you think that” He is pretty sure he is looking for more information to try and tear a part the belief with logic.

Dark choco is too quiet answering this for him to hear what he is saying. It is only when he hears affogato ask another question that he feels his heart break a little. 

“Why is your duty your worth” He must have messed up somewhere rasing him sure he was always doing his best to fulfill the role of the dutiful prince but he didn’t think he would take it that far.

Dark choco is loud enough for him to hear his answer again. He is not sure if he wants to keep hear this however. 

“No one really interacts with me if it is not about duty. “ That surely can’t be true right surely. He trys to interact with dark choco as much as possible and sure he was always on a time crunch so he had to combine it with.. Oh he see the problem here. He’s messed up. He has messed up so much.

Affogato seems to be of the mind that dark choco is forgetting something here. But he know dark choco trys to make him self as busy with his own duties as possable. “Surely there are some cookies you talk to when not going about your duty.”

Dark choco is mumbling againg. He picks up the word carmel arrow and little jaunts followed by combined with training.

His last few words are far more clear however “Just as father had showed me.” This entire issue boiled down to him messing up rearing his son didn’t it. He’s such an awful father. 

Affogato seems annoyed as he speaks “Lets try a different train of thought,”How did you feel under the cursed influence of the sword”

Darks choco calm entirely disappears when this is spoken.  It seemed he had fallen in to a at least semi comfortable rythmeth of answering questions and this completely broke it. 

He could see dark choco trying to scratch at his face again and even with the thickness of the mits he worried about the barely closed injuries reopening themselves under the assault.

Never less the ritual continued and he gets even more foresight in just how badly he has managed to raise his child. By the end of it all it’s starting to look like the cursed sword was merely the spark that had lit the barrel of gunpowder and a breakdown was always going to be coming. 

Perhaps he even got a bit lucky with the sword as he was able to use it as an excuse to avoid having to exile or execute dark choco. Which would have been the only two options he would have if the sword had not been cursed.

As he looks at the thoroughly distressed form of his child the ritual comes to a close affogato come to him and out right says he has no clue how to fix this. That wasn’t was he directly said but it was clearly what he ment.

 That was alright it was his mess he would have to find some way to clean it up him self.Carrying dark choco back to his chamber for him to rest his mind was filled with plans of what he should possible do to fix this.

Only to find he really had no clue what to do.

Maybe just maybe he could write a letter to hollyberry explaining his situation.She raised her own child and they have turned out very well a bit anxious but he was still able to run the hollyberry kingdom.She even has some baby grandchildren now too. Of course that relied on her answering him which she hadn’t done in years. But she was the only one he felt he could actually reach out to. 

He decided that was his next action he would be taking on his path to geting his son well again.

He needed to send a letter to her but he currently had no clue where she was. Maybe he could send it to the hollyberry kingdom so her family would have to know her general location right.

He looks down as dark choco starts twisting and turning in his arms. The stress of the ritual must have made things worse for his illness. That was fine he would be back in bed soon. He wouldn't be forced to leave the bed anymore either. 

There would be no more rituals held while he was so sick. There would only be more in the future if dark choco decided he would like to try and go thought with them him self.

Getting to his chambers he tucked dark choco in for some hopefully good sleep as he turned towards the normally unused desk.

He has had paperwork delivered to his chambers instead of his officeHe use to do this in the past sometime but he found he would get very upset staying in the same place for so long.

That was yet another mess up on his end then wasn’t it. His poor baby didn’t even have paper work or a set deadline for when he would be free. No wonder he was so miserable to the point of hurting him self to try and get out.

He sneaks a sad look at his sleeping child. He still thrashing and still clearly upset. 

He walks toward the bed and gets in it right beside his baby. He starts gently petting his hair The paperwork can wait a while longer till dark choco is sleeping soundly.

[rev-wrath]

As I forewarned in our dms, have some meta about Tommy and Vitka's story. (I am tired, and I am sipping mint tea with honey)

I searched up the pagan wiki for a gender neutral clergical titles for Scandinavian pantheon and saw Vitki. I am kind of embarrassed to admit that Vitka was a typo but the 'a' ending sounds better now that I look at both again.

Vitka gets their right eye hurt similar to how Odin supposedly offered his up in exchange for his wisdom. Tommy's left side/shoulder-neck-jaw gets burnt to complement Vitka's own injury. They're opposite sides of the same coin.

I was planning on giving Tommy the Zuko treatment, but as I said before, I couldn't bear to mar Cillian Murphy's pretty face.

The thing about the name and Vitka's introspection came entirely from you, beloved. And it was so much fun to write. Kissing your hands in thanks.

Tommy is such a dick. Vitka will most probably traumatise him back, and prod at his own trauma. I think the next chapter or two will be Tommy-centric in that part.

I'm so fond of comic Five's gazelle quote, and I think it fits into the fic and the scene well. Also, out of all the Brellies, I think I chose to put more aspects of the comics into Five's character (light brown eyes, the lack of the Handler and having only Carmichael, him being modified to be a true killer) than the others. Klaus is also heavily influenced by the comics, although his personality is more akin to the show.

The quote that Five shouts is from the Odyssey. ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι μέν μίν φημι ἅδην ἐλάαν κακότητος! translates to Aye, but even yet, methinks, I shall drive him to surfeit of evil. Or in layman's terms, "I’ll give that man his swamping fill of trouble!". And that he will do. Five is going to be the bane of the Shelbys' existence, especially after Vitka and Tommy become lovers.

Alfie and Vitka will get along super well. They're both chaos aligned people, and they know to predict the unpredictable when it comes to each other. They will both very gladly stab each other in the back, but they are too aware of that so it's like. A mutual destruction thing that leads to a friendship.

I was quite literally waiting for this. Is this how you feel when I say there’s a pakige on the way? (Perhaps you should go to bed early tonight.)

Vitka is very nice. The name also means life in Latin, to conquer in Slavic. It’s also really similar to Viktor and apparently Viktor is related to the Slavic Vitka. Which is extra fun in this scenario where Viktor takes that name when becoming himself and Vitka takes it when they’re reborn.

Tommy dealing with Vitka regarding the whole name thing was really fun along with what they had to say about it.

I’m not entirely sure where the gazelle quote comes from but it is interesting. The comic bits mashed with the show bits really do show (to me, at least).

Google translate did not translate that one to that. It got the gist of it at least. I am rooting for Five so hard. He’s me in this one. I am him, he is me, and Tommy’s a fucking bitch. And I’m rooting for Vitka to fuck with him back. The Tommy-centric chapters are sure to be interesting though.

And I love that for Alfie and Vitka. Vitka probably needs a friend, outside of the Hargreeves who are more family now. But it seems he’s also crazy so he’ll fit right in.

[ae-nar]

GET TO KNOW YOUR MUTUALS

thank you for the tag :) @kenobifitz

its my first time getting one of those, im so excited!!!!

What's the origin of your username?: uh, basically a name i chose, though i do have a fun story for it! basically i was researching names, remembered one and then years later decided to use it, but couldn't find it. like i thought i went insane and just made it up but no. i simply forgot the spelling - the original one was einarr, but i like this spelling better so yes.

OTP(s) + ship name: oooh there are a lot, lets see. barisi, buddie (9-1-1), newthomas (maze runner), zukka (avatar). okay not that many apparently i enjoy more gen and found family type of stuff

Favorite color: green!!!!!! second favorite is blue!

Song stuck in your head: noize mc - ты не считаешь (you don't count), which really is just amaro's vibes from my barmaro to barisi pipeline vers!

ненавидеть проще, чем прощать, как ни крути // а я заебался выбирать сложные пути // хочу опять уметь засыпать раньше пяти утра // и не думать о том, чьим болтом занята твоя дыра

to hate is always easier than to forgive // and i am fucking exhausted of choosing the difficult ways // i wish i again could fall asleep before five am // and not think about whose dick is in your hole now

Weirdest habit/trait: uhh. probs my awkardness around ppl? im really bad at reading social clues so sometimes im too loud and stuff?

Hobbies: oh, uh, gaming, watching movies/tv shows/youtube/tiktok, reading fanfiction. basically anything that amounts to escapism. i like board games but my friends either don't want to play or are constantly unavailable :c

If you work, what's your profession?: im heartbrokenly unemployed! but i do have a job interview this sunday!

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?: linguistics professor, but id need to not flunk out of uni for that

Something you're good at: following orders ig. i can do some stuff but im mediocre at best at it all: cooking, drawing, singing...

Something you hate: myself ehem uhh the state of the world? i am just a silly girl [gender neutral]

Something you collect: personality disorders! i have two!

Something you forget: my meds? a lot of stuff, tbh, i had problems with memory for the longest time and they only became worse lately

What's your love language?: touch, words and time.

Favorite movie/show: oh, now u r in for a ride, lets see. svu, supernatural, 9-1-1, house md, pacific rim, [anime] zankyou no terror, avatar (the boy with an arrow on his head, not the blue ppl), tmnt, [manga/anime] noragami. think thats the gist of it

Favorite food: depends on the mood, but i think one of the safest things is green apples

Favorite animal: prolly cats

What were you like as a child?: meek, overachiever, lonely. somehow still happier, possibly because i did not comprehend all of it at the time

Favorite subject at school: english, history and social studies

Least favorite subject: literature, geometry and chemistry

What's your best character trait?: uhhhhhh people pleasing?

What's your worst character trait?: ...people pleasing?

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?: my mother prolly. tell her that she should not have children. the other answer would be me, but id say a thing no therapist would like to hear

no pressure tags are not happening because its my first time and im terrified sorry :c

[moralesmilesanhour]

I'd love to hear what fundamental issues you have with spiderverse... 🎤

Hm I'm just gonna rattle off a few from most to least important before I forget (note: some of my issues with spiderverse are less about the concepts or characters themselves but more about how the writers or producers chose to handle them, or even just exploring the possibilities of what could've been. I still think it's a really excellent movie and complex story.)

If you're someone that skims through longer paragraphs a lot, I've also put my most important points in italics so that you get the gist of what I'm saying :)

Making Miles' story about everyone else but Miles. I understand that Miles' whole thing in Spiderverse is that by defying the odds, he inspires the people around him. But there's a certain point where the story become *about that* and the other characters more than him and his interiority. In its efforts to focus on his growing into the mantle of Spider-Man, the films only kind of allude to the fact that he has a life outside of the mask. His mental health and relationship to his community are pushed to the wayside so much that even Ganke is only on-screen for a few minutes at most.

(This is a long one sorry) Spiderverse as a movie doesn't seem to know for sure whether it likes cops or not. It presents the literal police and policing as a concept as something that is inherently neutral, likening it to the mantle of Spider-Man where they simply have power that they have to use responsibly, and that there are just "bad apples". But the way that Spider-Society operates quite closely parallels how policing and criminality work: you have a bunch of spiders go out and detain people and send them where they're "supposed to be" under the guise that a) the order of things will essentially fall apart if you don't, and b) there is a specific way that your story is supposed to go, and you should be willing to sacrifice lives to maintain that status quo. There's also the categorization of those who break those rules as an Other (anomalies), and the fact that Spider Society reacts to the presence of the anomalies instead of addressing the thing that created them (the collider. HELLOOOO). With all that being said, Miguel and the rest of Spider Society are clearly framed as anatgonistic forces by the film and even has a punk anarchist character calling them out and being right about it. The movies simultaneously critique policing metaphorically through Spider Society while trying to justify it in the real world.

Girl where is Pavitr. His character is literally perfect for Miles to interact with, but we don't see him again until the very last scene. Same thing with...literally everyone we just met. The movie is over two hours long, where did all that time go--OH WAIT

Gwen and the scene with her dad take up wayyyy too much of the movie's runtime, I'm sorry. We spent the entirety of the beginning of the film learning information about Gwen and her dad that could've been quickly conveyed in much less time. Not to mention that, apparently, Mr. Stacy literally gets fired in the comics for letting Gwen go, so that whole plotline didn't even need to happen. Why change that? To say he's a 'good cop' that does his job? The trauma of losing Peter would've been present in her story either way.

The art style. No, this doesn't mean what you think it does. I do not have an issue with the 3D and 2D hybrid style of animation obviously. Spiderverse has literally revolutionized the field, but there are some limitations to it that were made especially clear once TMNT:MM came out. You may or may not have noticed, but isn't almost everyone in Spiderverse...kinda gorgeous? Hear me out here. Someone has pointed this out before me, and it really changed the way that I look at aesthetics in animation. In Spiderverse, everything from the environments to the way that things are shaded and colored is extremely stylized and pushed quite far...until you get to the main characters. Yes, there is diversity in features the likes of which we haven't seen 'till recently, but I'm purely talking about the style in which they're drawn. Compared to everything else, they look closer to something Disney or Pixar might produce. This is not inherently problematic or "bad", but I do wonder how much cooler and cutting-edge and comic-y we could get if it wasn't so pre-occupied with beauty. You can disregard this one, it's just a thought. Apparently the idea that not every cartoon character you see on the big screen has to be hot makes people very angry.

I think those are all the big ones. I'll reblog with new additions if for some reason I come up with new things to complain about lmao