#the one that only one person has actually seen but thinks it'll be enough of a crowd pleaser to justify bringing it

[entiqua]

I love your artstyle!! Do you have any tips for drawing?

thank you so much! i'm really happy you like it!!💗 as for tips, what i would say would change drastically depending on what kind you're looking for, but some very general ones:

draw what you love and want to see most, regardless of whether anyone else wants to see it. if you don't enjoy what you're drawing it'll never come out as good or genuine as something your whole heart and soul is in. i mean you'd think this would be a no-brainer but sometimes i've had to sit back and ask myself 'if no one was ever going to see this except me, would i actually spend time drawing this?' and i was surprised by the answer

that said, it is also completely valid if your motivation for drawing is to draw for other people! there have been plenty of times where i was too artblocked to draw my own ideas but was still able to draw commissions or gifts and enjoyed it simply because making other people happy with my art makes me happy.

don't get too caught up in having a consistent art style. in my experience this 1000% hinders you

having your sense of anatomy degrade over time without you noticing because you keep drawing the same types of characters is a very real thing! if this is a concern to you be sure to draw a variety

follow a billion artists that you like the art of and you will have endless inspiration injected directly into your brain every time you open social media

my favourite practical tip for those who draw at a desk: keep a small mirror next to you at all times. absolute game changer for quickly referencing hands

if you're drawing digitally, make the canvas huge! in my experience this lets you draw messier/faster and you can't tell at all when you zoom out. if you tend to get stuck spending unnecessary amounts of time micromanaging pixels (me💀) keep it zoomed out while drawing

related to the above point, messy drawings can have far more expressiveness in them than neat and polished drawings. nowadays i never do lineart and go straight from 'barebones stickman pose' to 'varying-levels-of-coherent sketch' and use that as my lineart. sweet freedom from the sketch-looks-better-than-the-lineart phenomenon

if your goal is to improve, then you really do have to scrutinize your art, figure out what you're not satisfied with, and commit the time to focusing on it. 'practice makes perfect' kinda rubs me the wrong way because of how much i've seen it interpreted as 'just draw everyday and you'll magically improve' but genuinely it won't get you very far if you don't actively think hard about what you're trying to improve and take the steps to do it. is this a hot take idk. also hand in hand with this, not every artist is trying to improve and you shouldn't feel bad for this! maybe you just wanna make a little headshot doodle of your fave blorbo and that's your only drawing goal ever. awesome. maybe you know your art has flaws but it's passable enough to convey what you want and you're perfectly satisfied with that. (this is the stage i'm usually at). also awesome!

don't hesitate to draw something because you think it's out of your skill level. the worst that can happen if you draw it is that it comes out terribly but you learned something and can always redraw it better in the future. the worst that WILL happen if you don't draw it is that you'll never draw it. and then it will sit in the back of your brain haunting you for years. it's not like i'm speaking from experience or anything aha

look up 'hand stretches for artists' and do them if you draw a lot unless you wish to summon the wrath of the carpal tunnel demons

of course, these may not necessarily work for you, and most importantly(!) these are coming from the perspective of someone who is primarily a hobbyist. some of this won't be practical for people who need to build an audience, maintain a consistent style for work, etc. these are just things that have personally helped me over many years of drawing :)

[welcometogrouchland]

Yeah man I got the sleepover essentials (three dvds- moulin rouge, the mummy (1999) and gnomeo and Juliet)

[leonawriter]

Excuse me while I basically make Azure Throne into a hakukai fanfic.

This got... really long, and veered off from what I intended for it several times, but is basically at heart as I said, a look at Azure Throne through the lens of "what if we work on the assumption that Hakuba knew it was Kaito from the start, and/or they're actually outright flirting."

Hakuba: Kuroba what are you doing here. Why aren't you even in a disguise- oh, I see. This is interesting.

Kaito: Oh god it's Hakuba he's going to see through me like I'm made of cellophane or something. Please don't call me out here. I am pretending not to know you. Shush. PLAY ALONG.

Kaito: Come on please let one of my detectives have SOME faith in me. Restore my faith in humanity. Take the fucking bait, Hakuba.

Hakuba: Oh, that's. That's... I see what's going on here. That does complicate matters. All right, fine. I'll play along. Because I want to find the truth more than I want you arrested.

Hakuba: [Merely pays more attention to the actual suspects]

Kaito: [internally shouting "THANK YOU."]

Hakuba: We need to know exactly where everyone is, what they were doing, and if you'll excuse me I am going to geek out over science now-

Kaito: Okay well watch me explain in detail how Kaitou Kid (who is Not Me, by the way, in case you needed to be reminded) got in here. And let's conveniently not bring up how no one knows how Shinichi got here and Kid left.

Hakuba: Oh, and I anticipated your entire trick.

Hakuba: Because I know exactly how you work and I also know exactly what your clothes are made of.

Kaito: Wow... you're creepy, you know that? This is why I try and send you off on a wild dove chase each time you're heading to one of my heists.

Hakuba: Isn't it funny how I planned to catch Kaitou Kid that way, and instead I caught you two. I'm sure there's absolutely no connection between either of you and Kid... is there? Kaito?

Kaito: Oh but you know you can't say anything until this case is closed. I know you can't.

Hakuba: This means you too, Kaito. I'll be needing your firsthand knowledge of the way things went, of course.

Hakuba: It'll be good to have another actual detective on board for this!

Honestly I can just leave this one be. Kaito is enough of a tsundere that "But, to think Hakuba came back... he should have just stayed and studied in London forever!" is accurate to what I think he'd be thinking right there.

It also matches with the several times (Dark Knight and Green Dragon especially) when he's personally redirected Hakuba away from the heist.

Plus, with his attachment issues (one parent he idolised is dead, the other is barely home), I think Kaito would have a very hard time dealing with Hakuba, who (like his mother) travels a lot, and is... barely there, really. :(

Hakuba: Now, I wonder if you can keep up as a detective when playing one?

Kaito: Oh yeah? Watch me! Uh... I just need a pointer. That's all.

The interesting thing here is that Kaito has played at being a detective in the past. He's even played at being Mouri Kogoro right next to Hakuba here, in the Twilight Mansion case. However... in that case he wasn't needing to play a smart detective, and in any other instance he wasn't technically a "detective" (Magic Lovers Murder Case, where Katsuki Doito is a medical student) or he knows that Conan is capable of solving the mystery if he gives the right hints (Four Masterpieces, when he's being Takagi).

There's also the time when he played Hakuba himself in the movie Private Eye's Requiem, and we don't know how many times he'd have done that, that we haven't seen.

Point is, though, Hakuba doesn't know how good Kaito's observational skills are as a detective and it feels kind of like... if he knows (and I'm sure he has a gut feeling from the start even if he doesn't have evidence) he wants to know- "I can keep up with you, on your territory, but can you keep up with me, on mine?"

With that in mind, the fact that Kaito's only relaying what Shinichi's telling him must be... frustrating, for someone who'd actually be curious what Kaito can do, and I'm sure Hakuba would want to push Kaito to be able to figure things out for himself as well.

But I digress. Moving on.

Hakuba: [Has just seen "Kudo" flirting and being sentimental with Ran, "his" girlfriend, in a way that Shinichi himself says is so spot-on its kinda pissing him off] Oi. Kaito. I thought you were interested in Aoko. Watch it. [Also kinda jealous himself.]

I freakin' LOVE these two panels. This entire sense of "Yeah Hakuba's got Kaito sussed and he's already got half of what's going on with Conan, and yeah the next thing he does is question "Are you really Kudo Shinichi?" it's because of a potential flawed deduction when Shinichi's supposed to be this perfect saviour of the Japanese Police Force.

And in posing the question in such a way, he's allowing Kaito - master of disguise! - to come up with a cover story. Which, of course, he does.

But overall? It's the sense of... actually, just as I said. Hakuba's going "Shh. I'm talking to [him]! Don't interrupt us, okay?" - He's going "I know you're helping him, but I want to know his capabilities. Not yours."

Kaito just calling his ass out like "Hakuba I know you're obsessed with me- I mean Kid- c'mon I know you better than that~"

Also the phrase "Rumoured to have his eyes light up at the mere mention of Kid" more like. Kaito you have seen that in person.

More like I look at it and I'm like, is this Kaito saying "I Know What You Are"?

I know that it's not just them, but it's this nice little touch of the two of them standing next to each other, while Conan is on the other side of the group, and they're both mirroring the other's posture.

Kaito's already thought to himself how he barely needs to change his voice, and it's easy to imagine him barely changing his behaviours but adjusting so that he's more serious and less playing the clown or showman.

In this case, he's fully paying attention to the case (just as he has in previous ones as a witness) and...

He and Hakuba are on the exact same wavelength, with Hakuba finishing Kaito's sentence here.

Again with the twinning. Kaito has a slightly more clueless look about him, I'd say, but that's because he is out of his depth. Other than that? He's just as much taking Hakuba's lead on the case as he is Shinichi's!

The sheer amount of "Kuroba, your alibi is slipping!"

Hakuba's not going to outright cover for something that might be noticed as a flaw later on, nor is he outright going to call Kaito's disguise out immediately when other things are going on. He is, however, going to tease him to hell and back, push buttons, you name it.

And, of course, Hakuba in hearing Kaito's alibi and seeing Conan back it up, will also know that Conan is on Kid's side here even more than before.

Small and simple observation: Kaito is behind Hakuba.

At this point Hakuba in canon and the Hakuba who knew from the moment he laid eyes on him both know that this is Kaito. It's Kaitou Kid.

The start of the case had the crime get pinned on Kid.

Yet - Hakuba's just fine with Kaito watching his back and/or fully capable of doing whatever he likes behind him, knowing full well that Kaito's a skilled magician who'd be able to hide his actions. The obvious point is that he trusts Kaito.

And then - we get to the Flirtening.

I call it that because in canon it's bad enough, with Hakuba clearly only started making moves on Ran to make Kid slip up.

But in a world where he knows it's Kaito from the start? In Hakukai Fanfic Land?

First off- I'd say that this is actually payback.

Earlier on in the case, Hakuba saw Kaito (as Shinichi) flirting with Ran. Thinking back to the very first set of cases Hakuba ever appeared in, and... he'd walked into class for the first time and seen Kaito being mean to a girl, to Aoko, who was clearly hurting, and then tried to be nice to her by saying, basically, "If he won't take you to the concert you wanted to go to, I'll go with you."

Going on him knowing that this here is Kaito? He'd be seeing Kaito flirting with someone who isn't Aoko, and getting very in character, and... basically going "watch it."

So Saguru is a) defensive for Aoko, b) jealous because oi, why are you flirting with her, when he is right here, and c) using this as a means of poking a hole in Kaito's disguise, because sure he's more interested in the truth than he is in arresting Kaito, but that doesn't mean he's above making life hard for him.

In which case...

Kaito going "What did you say, jerk!!" is just as much "oh shit yeah I'm supposed to be being Shinichi right now" as it is "Hakuba why are you flirting with someone else?"

The reaction would be delayed because a) Kaito knows Hakuba's not interested in Ran, or not interested in girls in general, and b) the sheer amount of "what the fuck is happening. what is going on in front of me here" he'd be feeling.

Because for one thing, Conan's down there making attack dog noises, and for another- d'you think Kaito would just reflexively fall back into poker face if he saw the guy he likes/who he knows is interested in him just easily flirting around? I think that ordinarily Kaito would just be like "eh, that's just Hakuba being Hakuba" but I'm also aware of how fragile Kaito's social connections and relationships often are, as well as the rift between logic and emotion.

After this we have a few different things happening at once.

We have Kaito not having asked which cheek Ran had kissed Shinichi on and gesturing to the wrong one, which Ran instantly notices:

Note that the flashback isn't just for our benefit; we see later on that Ran realises probably in this moment that there's something Wrong with "Shinichi" because how could he forget which cheek she kissed him on?

This being relevant because right before that...

He'd told Ran to not "space out" - but with the weirdness going on between him, Hakuba, and Conan, I wonder if it was actually Kaito who knew he was kind of spacing out here! Like, sure, Shinichi's sending Kaito lines, but in terms of narrative and themes...

And in canon, this is where Hakuba first notices the mike and earpiece that Kaito and Conan are using to communicate. Even in a version where he knew it was Kaito from the start, this would still be where Hakuba realises "Hey, what's UP with that kid?"

Hakuba, in canon: Could it be... that those two...

My headcanon for that is that he was meaning to say "are working together," which is the easiest and most obvious/simple conclusion of his sentence.

Hakuba, in fanfic hc land: Hey, why are they working together? I know I didn't warn him I'd be here, but he could have been working with me. That kid already stole some of my reputation regarding going against you, and now this too?!

Honestly, sometimes I remember the times when Kaito has shown himself able to figure out a trick or even a murder trick more or less on his own or at the same pace as Shinichi, and I see times like this when he's shown as needing a lot more help, and I feel frustrated that Kaito's seeming to be dumbed down a little to make Shinichi look better.

But then, I think about how there's multiple times over the course of not just Detective Conan but also Magic Kaito itself, where Kaito is uncomfortable around murders and dead bodies.

Which then starts to make sense of the times when he relies more on his detectives' wits for things like this; if it's a logic puzzle trick that he can treat as one, then he can keep up. If there's blood and bodies and Someone Died Here, which they did - someone died before his heist could even begin! - then his mind has a hard time, skittering around the unnerving parts and not being able to give the trick the attention it needs.

I'd imagine his thought process goes kind of like "Okay okay so if I could think of anything that'd be really useful (but a guy died a minute ago I was out there and doing normal things and a guy died) yeah but if you don't think smart now it's going to happen again or they won't get caught (oh god what if I can't do it) I have to but-" and... so on.

And back to point, but - Hakuba hasn't really seen Kaito in the direct aftermath of him having seen someone die, when Kaito isn't pretending to be someone else.

Technically, he still hasn't here, because Kaito is Being Shinichi.

Dark Knight had Hakuba arrive on scene late, as Kid was already leaving the scene, and in Twilight Mansion Kid was Mouri Kogoro, so even if his reactions were touched with reality, no one could tell what was Kid and what was Kogoro. Here, Hakuba wasn't the first on scene, and he only sees Kaito once Kaito's had a chance to put his poker face (and a Mask of Shinichi) on.

I'd even say that... this being Detective Conan, we've had a chance to see an entire character development arc between Shinichi and Kaito, even if it is still one-sided and not the healthiest of dynamics. We know that Shinichi's not really going to hand Kaito to the police on a silver platter.

But Hakuba? The irony is that in MK canon Hakuba is KNOWN for calling Kaito with helpful knowledge about his opponent (Golden Eye, infamously) and withholding information that would put suspicion onto Kaito's civilian identity (Midnight Crow, at least). And yet in this heist, because we're a) seeing things from Conan and Kaito's perspective here, and b) we haven't seen what Hakuba would do in this sort of situation before, he seems... more of a threat if he outright found them out than if it were just the police (who they can trick) or Hattori (who Shinichi would be able to shush).

Personally, I believe that Hakuba WOULD have worked with Kaito to come to all of the same conclusions that they came to in canon with Shinichi as the POV. Hakuba's a good enough detective, after all, as we even see him doing this in canon, drawing the same conclusions without Shinichi having to whisper in his ear once.

Is Kaito side-eyeing Hakuba because he knows Hakuba's being a little shit over this but he can't say anything because he can't admit that he knows the guy personally as well as he does? Is Conan flailing because he feels like they've been sussed out?

Or is it more along the lines of "Oh, you think you're so smart, don't you? Soooo clever. Yeah sure, after you've been hounding me all case- but don't think I'll let you have the last laugh"?

And now, I'm thinking of Shinichi hearing some of the familiarity come out in their voices around now, if not before, and he's finally realising "Oh- okay so Kid knows this guy. Not just aware of him, he knows him. Oh. Oh shit."

Fun fact: we do not see Conan again alll the way through the explanation of the fireman's carry that Hakuba is doing with Kaito as his partner. The next time we see Conan, it's after they've pinned the criminal in place.

I find this interesting because... in spite of this being a case that Hakuba is starring in - the guy who is well known for asking "Why did you do it?" - it's the victim's wife who asks that, by way of her "But why did you kill my husband!?" and it's Conan who suggests a potential reason.

In a sense, they've both stolen Hakuba's thunder here, the wife by taking his catchphrase and Conan for taking the words out of the criminals mouth before the guy can admit it himself, in his own words.

(Ironically, Kaito would agree with Conan on this, probably, what with him having said "isn't it your job to figure [motive] out?" but as I've said before, I see worth in Hakuba asking for it in the criminals' own words.)

I feel like both I and other people have probably made all the jokes about the "I've got the stamina to keep carrying you for ages" part that I don't need to rehash it that much, haha.

But I DO have other observations.

Kaito: So, you figured it out, huh... Hakuba: Of course!

Like... even way aside from the fact that Hakuba's probably just internally going "you're SO lucky I like you, otherwise I'd have just pointed out that you just flattened your hair the moment I walked in" there's something this reminded me of.

In the translation here, Kaito trails off on an ellipsis, but... in a way, that's a question. It's literally "So, you figured me out?" except Kaito may well have been expecting it even in canon, so it's no longer a question.

What's the significance of this?

Well.

It brings to mind how Toichi asked "Will you be able to stop me?" and Yusaku said "[Yeah...] of course!"

And of course we know that whatever Yusaku was able to do, it was never enough to stop the legend of Kaitou Kid from growing - and we also now know that he almost certainly knew that it was his brother Toichi right from the start.

In many ways it's meant to show how Kaito and Shinichi have taken up their fathers' mantles and become each other's rival... but this moment of "You found me out?" "Yeah, of course!" shows that Hakuba is just as much Kaitou Kid's worthy rival. He is thematically and narratively Kid's rival.

(And this is where I get my post limit for images, whoops!)

So, yeah. Kaito then has a space of about three [3] panels between Hakuba saying "I know you're Kid" and then Hakuba trying to walk and finding his legs are cuffed together.

I'd also say that in terms of pranks that Kaito (as Kid) has played in order to get out of a Situation, that was... a lot more on the immature roughhousing side than a lot of what he does. So much of his DC appearances relies on... action movie stunts? Stuff that's actually really risky? Because he needs to rely on that. But with Hakuba he doesn't have to. It reads more like play fighting.

(Because Hakuba, he knows, isn't going to attack him with a deadly soccer ball or knock him out midair.)

A thought on why he cuffed Hakuba's legs together like he did even if they're on better terms would also be the easy "Kaito knows that Nakamori is there, knows that Hakuba wouldn't be allowed to carry him all the way to the station, knows that something would go wrong, and almost certainly by this point knows that he shouldn't go out in public as Shinichi. So he's just as much going "yeah nope, not doing that, bad idea on SO many levels" as he is "I don't fancy going to jail today."

And, for an ending note: Hakuba at no point seems frustrated or upset that Kaito got away. Not for one single moment.

If anything, I'd say he's just going "Ah, there he goes again. Look at him go." with a fond look in his eye.

[alessiathepirate]

Hannibal NBC

THE SIMPLICITY THEY SHOULD HAVE: Will Graham x fem!reader

Summary: She liked watching Will do things he actually liked to do. Watching him sit on the floor working on those boat motors was the sight she wanted to see everyday.

Notes: English isn't my first language. I apologize for any mistake I made while I wrote this short story.

So- I actually looked up an article about boat motors and about how to repair them, so I can describe it in a close-enough way, but in reality I've never seen a single boat motor in my life. So if it isn't desribed like it should be described - I'm sorry.

Warnings: references to Will's work, but surprisingly nothing more

•••

She liked watching Will do things he actually liked to do. The things that made him relaxed, but entertained in a good way.

It didn't only give Will a peace of mind, it also made her feel a certain kind of calmness and safety she's never felt when Will was out working on a case, trying to get into people's minds.

Watching him sit on the floor working on those boat motors as the muscles around his eyes and mouth tensed up from concentration was the sight she wanted to see everyday. When he isn't thinking about anything gruesome, when he isn't scared of nightmares or for her safety, when he is home doing what he likes with all his dogs around him being lazy - that was the sight she liked, those were the happiest moments she had about Will.

It felt domestic. It felt normal.

It felt like something they should have everyday.

The simplicity of it was the thing what made it so special - because otherwise nothing about their relationship was simple.

She was lying on her stomach in their shared bed, keeping herself up on her elbows. She was supposed to be reading, so she can finally finish the book she has started months ago but couldn't find the time to finish because of all the crazy, abnormal things that had been going on. This was the only normal evening they've had in months, the only truly relaxing one, yet the book isn't the real entertainment.

Will on the other hand certainly is.

"It's not very nice to stare."

His voice is truly entertaining too, especially when it's calm, relaxed and slightly teasing.

"I never said I was a nice person." she said, not even trying to hide her smile.

"Really? I thought was dating a nice person." he didn't look up from his work, his hands were still moving the screwdriver he was holding, trying to get a stuck screw out.

"I can be nice." she started, feeling her heart flutter as she noticed how Will's curls were messier than usual - God, he looked cute. "Just not when I have such a handsome boyfriend to look at."

That made Will look up, finding her gaze and making eye contact, abandoning his work for a while. She almost giggled at how his cheeks turned into a slight pink shade at her compliment. She rarely saw Will blush, very rarely.

"Such a charmer."

"I try my best." she smirked. " 'Everything alright with the motor?"

"Yeah, the screw's stuck but it'll be fine." he looked down at the boat motor, then back at her. "So, you abandoned the book again."

"Yes." she answered shortly and then continued: "I found something much more entertaining."

"That's a very nice book." Will voice carried a teasing edge.

"Yeah, well I just decided to enjoy the moment." she lost the smirk and the teasing, and used a sincere smile and honesty instead. "We rarely have a calm evening these days. I'd rather spend it watch- admiring you and talking to you, than look at words my mind can't comprehend right now anyway."

Will lost the smirk too and the small, happy smile he sent her way was truly the cutest thing she's seen him do so far. It wasn't anything big, sure. It wasn't a surprise date, it wasn't a gift she wouldn't need anyway - it was something she really wanted to see: a honest smile. A smile what told her everything and a smile what didn't hold anything back. He was comfortable, well rested and happy - the only thing she wanted.

"Come here." he said those two words softly, there was nothing rude or demanding about it.

She got off the bed and walked toward him. When he patted the floor next to where he was sitting, she understood what he wanted. She sat down next to him and crossed her legs.

"Would you like to help me?"

It was rare that he asked for help - no matter the context.

He trusted her, he loved her - she was sure of that. For a second she was too scared to open her mouth and speak, not wanting to ruin the softness of the moment.

"Of course." she swallowed; she was unable to hold back a smile. "What are we doing?"

"We'll try to remove the propeller so we can replace it with a new one. Then we'll try to find out why the battery is dead and if the spark plug needs to be changed." he explained it slowly and patiently, taking a look at her face here and there, making sure she understands what he's saying. "Sounds good?"

"Yeah. How can I help?"

"If you could get this screw out so we can take the propeller off, that'd be awesome."

"I can try."

She took the screwdriver from him as he turned the boat motor towards her so she can get to work. The first time tried to remove it the screw didn't move at all. That's why the second time she tried it she used more force - and to her surprise the screw moved.

She looked up at Will for a second with a grin. "It looks like that's something only women can do."

"Right. Thanks." she could hear that he was smiling, his pride wasn't hurt like any other man's would be.

"What now?" she asked as she took off the propeller.

"Now we'll take a look at the spark plug..."

And Will started to explain everything. He told her how to take the spark plug out, he explained what the most common problems are that can kill the battery in seconds. He spoke and then let her do the work, praising her when she did something right and chuckling when she messed something up. He corrected her and then watched her work with a smile.

She had a feeling that he likes to explain it to her, he likes the thought that he can teach her something new what isn't criminal profiling or basic self defense stuff.

By the time the motor was taken apart her fingers felt numb and she felt herself getting tired. Will must've felt it too, because he took the wrench she had in her hand.

"Is that all?" she asked.

"No, but I think for today you've done enough."

"Enough good stuff?"

"You've done a wonderful job with this for a rookie." Will's smile was genuine - so was hers.

"Yeah, no surprise you're a teacher. You can explain how everything works really well." she rested her head on his shoulder and even if Will tensed up a little from the sudden affection, he didn't push her away - he pressed a soft, barely even a real kiss to the top of her head.

"I think you should go ahead and lie down. I'll join you in a second."

"No. I'll wait here with you."

And she waited.

She waited until he put the new propeller on. She watched as he checked on the oil. She watched as he started to clean up the mess - putting different tools into the toolbox and cleaning the floor with the rag he had close by.

At some point they changed their position. Maybe it was because of Will moving and turning while trying to not move to far away from her - she didn't know for sure. But she was hugging his shoulders from behind while she rested her chin in the crook of his neck and her legs were wrapped around his waist.

It was a comfortable position for her - and must have been a pretty uncomfortable one for Will.

But he didn't complain. Sometimes he brushed his hand along her shin or knee, or took one of her hands and held it. And it was Heaven.

She couldn't really believe in anything good in this world, not after she saw what the world is like and how bad it actually is. She saw it all through Will's work and night terrors - but one thing was for sure, in that moment she felt like they were both in Heaven. They were home, they were close, the dogs were lazily lying on the rug around them.

It felt safe.

It felt normal.

It felt nice.

"Sweetheart?" she was half asleep when Will finally spoke up, his voice wasn't more than a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go to bed, okay?"

"Sure." she answered, but stayed still for a moment. "Will?"

He hummed and she felt the noise go through his whole body.

"I like these evenings. The calm ones."

Will didn't say anything. He didn't have to. She knew he felt the same way. She knew it because he took her hand and pressed a kiss on it. She knew it because he carried her to bed. She knew it because that night he didn't wake up from a night terror.

She liked watching Will do things he actually liked to do. But she liked it more when he slept calmly.

[transmascissues]

sorry about the out of nowhere ask but i thought id note something minor ive seen around: a lot of the time (especially on reddit) theres a lot of positivity for specifically trans women, and very little for trans men. and if a trans man/transmasc person tries to comment on that they get ridiculed for it. but then if someone posts transmasc positivity at all, people in the comments of that post will talk about how there "isnt enough positivity for trans women" despite the fact that most of the positivity posted is for trans women. i dont know, just something weird (it could also just be because reddit is kinda really different, environment-wise, but considering theres been similar things pretty much. everywhere else. yeah)

i do think a lot of this has to do with demographics – from what i've seen, reddit tends to have more trans women than trans men, so it doesn't surprise me to see more posts that are geared toward trans women there.

tl;dr because this got super long: people are right to say that there isn't enough positivity for trans women, but there also isn't enough for trans men. the fact that so many of us are ridiculed for trying to put more out there is the real problem.

at the end of the day, there really isn't enough positivity for any trans people because most of the world either hates us or wants to forget we exist. we have our little pockets of community where we support each other and lift each other up, but until the rest of society gets on board, it'll never be enough. so even in spaces where there's more positivity for trans women than for trans men, they're absolutely right to say there isn't enough positivity for trans women! and that's why i don't inherently have a problem with spaces like that – trans joy and positivity is always a good thing and always needed, and spreading that for part of the community doesn't take away from the rest of the community, it just means there's some of us are bit closer to getting the kind of love and support they deserve than they were before, and that's a good thing! you can't make everything for everyone, but if we all work at lifting each other up, eventually it'll all balance out and we'll all be better off for it. so if you happen to find a space that's for all trans people but tends to be more geared toward trans women when it comes to positivity, instead of getting caught up in how much positivity for trans women is already there, i think the best thing to do is to add positivity for trans men! we're the ones who lift each other up, so if we see a gap in the support, we're the ones with the power to step in and fill that gap.

and i can honestly understand why trans women in those spaces might get defensive or upset if someone points out the amount of positivity for trans women as if it's a bad thing, even if what that person is actually trying to say is just that they wish there was more for trans men too. i can't really blame anyone for that defensiveness because i feel the exact same way when people point out the amount of positivity for trans men&mascs here as if it's a bad thing, even though i know a lot of them are really just expressing in an imperfect way that they wish there was more for other trans people as well. wanting to defend those sources of joy in a world that offers us so few of them is only natural.

now, all of that being said, what i absolutely DO have a problem with is when that defensiveness gets to the point of attacking trans men's efforts to add positivity for ourselves as well. it perpetuates these false ideas that 1) there's only a finite amount of trans joy that can be expressed and we have to fight over it, and 2) trans men are currently hoarding that finite resource and are obligated to give it up entirely so that other trans people have a chance at getting it. obviously, both of those statements are deeply untrue – one part of the community getting support doesn't take anything away from other trans people because we should all be aiming for more support and positivity, not just redistributing the inadequate amount we currently have to more "worthy" subjects, and it's impossible to quantify how much support each part of the community gets because that's so dependent on the individual spaces you're looking at as well as what you're counting as support. and as much as i can understand feeling protective of our spaces, when that protectiveness leads us to turn on each other and push each other out of spaces that were supposed to be for all of us, that's taking it way too far.

and i also do think there's an attitude in a lot of trans spaces (and in more general queer/feminist/leftist/activist spaces) that trans men are a more acceptable target for that kind of ridicule because we're men and people in those spaces tend to already be very settled into this idea that there's never a bad time to tell men to sit down and shut up, even when the men in question are marginalized and trying to fight against their own oppression. if someone says "ugh there's too much positivity for trans women here," that's going to be met with a lot of people (rightfully) saying "hey, what the hell, man, that's super transmisogynistic." but if the same is said about trans men, those same people have no problem saying "i know, right? men love taking everything for themselves, it's the worst."

and that kind of attitude even extends to trans men simply creating positivity in spaces that don't have as much of it, even if they don't comment at all on the other kinds of positivity that might exist in that space. especially if we dare to add specific mentions of trans men onto an existing positivity post (which isn't actually a bad thing at all! adding more good to a good post doesn't take anything away from the original good!), we're met with a chorus of "wow, why do men always have to make everything about themselves, can't women have anything?" it's a perspective that groups us in with cis men as this privileged horde that talks over everyone else and seeks to dominate every space it enters, completely ignoring the fact that the image of loud domineering men they're invoking is based on cis(het white abled) men who've spent their whole lives being told they're the most important people in every room, which is very different from trans men who were brought up being taught to make ourselves small and be of service to more important people. they forget (or simply choose to ignore) that when we're loud about our needs and experiences and even our joy, it's not because taking up space was a practice passed down to us by our manhood, it's because we had to learn to be loud when we realized that staying quiet meant making it easier for the people who hate us to dispose of us without the rest of the world even noticing our absence.

all of that to say, i absolutely do think you've hit on a real issue here, i just don't think that issue actually has to do with the prevalence of positivity for trans women. it's a lot less about who gets more or less support in any given space, and a lot more about how those spaces react when the less represented groups start making their presence known. and yeah, a lot of trans spaces have some pretty damn awful reactions to trans men who literally just want to lift each other up and feel supported by our community in return.

[ampblamp]

AU: Here's How Billford Can Still Win

(part 1: make that triangle miserable)

tl;dr: i want bill to have his ability to live in denial about what he did shattered by several important figures from his past BEFORE he can enact weirdmageddon. this way the yaoi can be messy and toxic (at first) but NOT doomed. it's self indulgent for sure but i'm doin my best to keep it IC as i can 🫡

this first post is just me figuring out how i think things would have to go down on bill's end for billford to have any chance of working out. take my hand. come away with me to my autism world

i'm still figuring out all the details of what would have to change to like. weaken bill's mental defenses enough because he HAS been able to shove his guilt down for so long. i do think everything with ford would be one of the key factors cause he had never connected so much with any of his prior human partners and obviously things souring fucked him up enough to have a turbo breakdown. (i know it's also because of the amount of times the plan has failed but i think he's also feeling rejected by so many humans not liking him lolll)

i think his breakdown after getting wasted at o'sadley's would happen like in canon, save for its repercussions. once bill starts thinking about his mom and everyone else from euclydia around when he's about to be arrested, maybe it would open the door for thoughts of them to keep slipping through his defenses. and suddenly thinking about weirdmageddon and hearing himself and other people talking about it could have a chance of triggering him.

i know personally that trauma can jump in and completely drag you back in time regardless of any logic, and i think him having that kind of episode sooner might be the key to getting him to face that he doesn't want to keep repeating what he did to euclydia because it's never going to be enough to convince the small, small voice in his head saying 'stop'.

because that's just the thing. bill has forced himself down a path of destruction to Prove to himself that its actually for the best to tear down "miserable reality" and replace it with his own vision. his drive and impatience to get weirdmageddon going is BECAUSE he wants to permanently cement that narrative in his mind with the ultimate "proof". because if the narrative fails, not only will he not be able to mentally cope (without help) he'll completely fail the henchmaniacs, who he promised a new home, and look vulnerable and weak, which he's TRAINED them to view as what should be destroyed.

i think the o'sadley breakdown and my proposed worsened repercussions of it would destabilize him, but it wouldn't be enough to stop him. what would push bill over the edge in this hypothetical would be several powerful entities from bill's past like the axolotl, the oracle, and time baby working together to somehow target his mental weak point. cause remember, time baby canonically KNOWS bill's weak point.

also like. To Me. the axolotl and the oracle are people bill was close to and has seen himself in at one point* but they matured and he didn't, and that's why he's SO hostile towards them.

*the oracle being an ex-henchmaniac is canon but i say this about the axolotl because of xolotl. look him up, it'll freak your bean.

alsooooo... ford not being as immature and vengeful as bill hoped he was is probably why bill broke down so hard - because it reminded him of the axolotl and the oracle. all the people who he actually connected with on a deeper level have left because of the same reason. but bill was always too terrified to confront everything he's done, which would be necessary to follow them.

so ends part 1... next, i think i'm gonna try to figure out how ford and bill would meet again (haha). ford is sucked into the portal right after (maybe even during?) the whole o'sadley's deal iirc sooo... fun point in the timeline to play with!

also hopin to draw stuff for this AU in the future :]c calling upon the power of my newly aquired ADHD meds lmao

[sunshine-jesse]

The Incest End is Not The Bad End, Part 3: The Only End I Know For Real

Alt title: We're roleplaying the endings, not choosing them.

I've focused a lot before on how sickly sweet the chemistry between Ashley and Andrew is and how unproblematic their relationship would actually be under different circumstances, mostly societal ones. I mostly did so to counter the idea that the incest end was primarily a bad end and bring up the assertion that it was the one with the most hope. In doing so, I basically interpreted all of the text within the game in a very positive light, giving off the impression that I think it'll be all sunshine and roses. The reality couldn't be further from the truth? While I think it's the end with the most hope, I ALSO think it'll be incredibly difficult for everyone involved.

As a matter of fact, I think the Questionable end will be the most difficult one to navigate through for Ashley herself.

"But wait," you say, alarm bells ringing in your head, "doesn't she literally fucking die in the Decay ending?"

And I don't think it's that obvious.

First off, why do I think the Questionable end will be difficult to navigate through? After all, Andrew is calm, collected, and Ashley is just a little bit nervous about how he's changing. She also has that ultimate leverage over him, knowing that he's sexually attracted to her and she can use it to keep him by her side. There's little for anyone to worry about, right? Well, no. Not really. As another analyst has pointed out, in the Questionable ending, Ashley has no OTHER leverage over Andrew.

The trinket? Shown to be only situationally useful to them. The future visions don't always show danger, sometimes the demon can just troll them. Sleep? No, he no longer needs Ashley for that. A scapegoat? Not even that. In the Burial ending, he starts to take responsibility for the violence he inflicts on others and has no need to pin the blame on Ashley.

Outside of sex, Ashley is more or less useless to him now, at least in her own mind. Truthfully, Ashley is still the most important person in the world to Andrew and doesn't seem to need a reason to keep her around anymore, but Ashley doesn't realize that; it's part of why she's so confused and uncertain. Their dynamic is changing, and she doesn't like it. But in the Questionable ending, all Andrew has to do is not have sex with Ashley (easier said than done if the fanbase [myself] is any indication) and she'll have nothing left. She'll likely have no other choice but to look inward at this point, especially if Andrew doesn't give off any of the usual red flags that make her think he'd leave her.

There's a good chance at this point that their dynamic will flip entirely. Ashley will be the one who needs comfort, and Andrew shows every indication of being emotionally stable enough to provide it. We'll see some Real Mental Illness instead of Possible To Infer But Maybe Problematic To Do So Mental Illness. Whether or not she changes for the better or worse will likely determine the ending we'll get.

…

Except probably not.

Sane vs Questionable can't be THAT different, or we'd be getting 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D instead of 3A and 3B. And, y'know what? Now I'm gonna start reaching really hard into theory territory rather than just analysis. So, hear me out here.

Both dreams are canon no matter the ending. The only difference is whether or not Andrew sleeps or not; if he does, the vision he gets is for HIM, and Ashley only incidentally sees it. It's much more important to him than to Ashley, because Ashley doesn't get a clear vision like she did in the motel. If them fucking was actually relevant to Ashley, she likely would've seen it no matter the ending. Her reactions reflect this; at first, she appears weirded out, maybe uncomfortable. Then she finds it hilarious. She considers it as a means of manipulation, sure, but the writing is on the wall: She won't NEED to do so no matter what.

Unfortunately, due to her not being able to open both doors, she won't be able to realize this. Oops!

At this point in time it's basically impossible to ascertain what her own personal vision means. I've given my interpretation before, but I ultimately have my doubts that the specific sequence of events is all to relevant. Most weird dream metaphors are clear parallels to past events, but the dream seems to be a metaphor for what the future will hold. The most relevant part is not the ghosts, but instead how Ashley reacts to what is clearly Andrew's soul. She jokes about trapping it in the bottle, but it being as a joke more than anything is a far cry from how desperate her attempts to keep him normally seem. So what gives? What does this mean?

I think, funnily enough, the Decay ending holds the answer.

My most-distanced-from-a-literal-or-metaphorical-reading-of-the-text-but-is-relatively-easy-to-accept theory is that the choices we are given in the game aren't asking us what we want to see from them, but rather, how we see the characters and their relationship. People are distracted by the idea of choice, but the reality is that we're being asked to roleplay (this is an RPG after all) as the siblings and do what we expect them to do. This isn't about choice. This is about BEING them and DOING WHAT WE THINK THEY'D DO.

Here's what I mean.

If we interpret Ashley as having trust in Andrew and his judgment, then it makes perfect sense she'd trust him with her parents. She might be a little worried, but it's pretty clear that her overwhelming desire to keep Andrew by her side is underscored by genuine love and trust. From there, if we interpret Andrew as having genuine love for his sister and a desire to take care of her, then it becomes everyone else's problem that they can't be together; not his. In killing their parents, he comes to terms with this and self-actualizes. He's willing to take responsibility for the violence he inflicts on others and has no discomfort with dismembering them.

But if you interpret Andrew as viewing Ashley as a burden and a problem, he can't bring himself to save their parents and have a better life because he views himself as too far gone. He hates himself as much as Ashley hates herself for being unable to break free from her influence. He still feels like she's his responsibility, but the love that exists there is greatly muted and overshadowed by his sense of responsibility and a carnal, physical desire for her. Knowing this is likely part of the reason he hates himself; part of the reason he can't let go.

He, crucially, also squanders Ashley's genuine display of trust. It's HIS fault that things break apart, which is why the skull appears over his head when you accept the mom's offer. Ashley genuinely, seriously loves Andrew and wants what's best for him. She's posessive, but her care is a lot less selfish than Andrew thinks, and he can't see that because he's too blinded by his hatred and (partially sexual) frustration to see who she really is.

On the other side of things, if you view Ashley as being a primarily toxic influence that views Andrew as more of an object than anything, she doesn't trust Andrew to deal with their parents and it's HER fault that things break apart, as the skull appears over her head. She sees him as an object, as a child or toy. She sees him as Andy, not Andrew, and can't process the fact that he can change. It's very overbearingly maternalistic, and I believe this specific choice is the only one where Ashley is actually more like their mother than Andrew, eye colors be damned.

In Burial, she wants to share the vision with Andrew, and he wants to share it with her, because their feelings are genuine and mutual and they want to share the experience (because they might get two visions from it, sure, but the principle isn't that much different) But in Decay, she keeps it to herself. She doesn't trust him or his input, either because she doesn't view his feelings as important or because he either almost squandered her trust (if she was listening in), or because he was generally hostile and disincentivized her from wanting to share.

There are other examples too, like when we're allowed to control Andrew to kill the hitman. If we view him as unprepared or unwilling to kill, we empty the whole clip because he's nervous and doesn't want to do this. If we view him as prepared, calm, and in control, he kills in one clean shot without much of an issue. Washing the [REDACTED] out of the shower drain? We basically get to see if Ashley is actually all that competent at housework or not, and if we don't know the right order, neither does she.

This comes to a head in both of the endings.

In the Questionable ending, we're shown that Andrew slept through the dream. We see what he really wants and the depths of his true feelings. He has very obvious romantic feelings for Ashley, and it's not just physical desire. Ashley's very obviously obsessed with Andrew still, but the fact that he can be present in every painting shows that she ACTUALLY views him that way. She's not just seeking validation; her feelings are real, and she knows it.

Remember, this dream is SHARED. We are seeing how BOTH of them feel.

In the Sane ending, Andrew isn't present, and Ashley is never given a chance to view their relationship as anything other than platonic. We don't know how Andrew feels, and we're arguably never given a view into Ashley's true feelings either, because that would-be revelation is cut off by a vision (indicated by eyes). We're just shown what she should do, needs to do, or will do.

Because we don't view their relationship as romantic, light is never shone on the reality of their dynamic. We never see how obsessed Ashley really is (if anything, we're being misdirected by being shown the opposite), and we never see that Andrew has romantic- if buried- feelings for Ashley that can't just be passed off as carnal physical desire. But since it's still the Burial ending, the dynamic still clearly exists; the endings would be too different otherwise. We CHOSE how we see their dynamic in the basement scene.

In other words…

Without love, the truth cannot be seen.

Reader who is in the know: "…hey wait a fuckin' minute" Me: "MOVING ON"

At some point- probably early on- the Sane and Questionable endings have to converge. Andrew and Ashley will have to have the nature of their dynamic laid out for them in a way they can't deny, and the likely only difference between Sane and Questionable will be whether or not Andrew is surprised/embarrassed, or just goes "I guess that dickhead demon wasn't just tricking us after all" and then the route will proceed as normal. Whether or not they have sex will likely be determined by your choices in Chapter 3 itself rather than Chapter 2 with this in mind. Either way, I think Ashley will go through most of the chapter confused and uncertain and will be forced to develop as a person, for better or worse.

In the Decay ending, as said, we're shown that Ashley doesn't even attempt to share a vision with Andrew, so we get to see a vision where Ashley's frame of mind isn't one driven by mutual affection. In this route, we see Ashley constantly running from -something,- and given dreams are metaphors, I think it's reasonable to assume that it's showing us that Ashley is primarily motivated by a fear of Andrew. Fear of what, exactly, isn't really clear; we know for a fact that she's afraid of losing him, but she's also afraid of the violence he can inflict upon her. Either way, she runs away, we can see the demon say "hmmm how interesting," and then we get a vision of the future.

But it's important to note, that vision is a metaphor, not a literal vision of the future. It takes place in the dream world- unlike any other vision, which takes place in the real world- and there are no out-of-frame eyes in the CGs like there are in the Questionable route. Also, (albeit less convincingly), all the eyes are in the background rather than on the map themselves, like they are when we see the hitman vision. The eyes only exist in the background in the Sane vision too, further adding to the idea that they're a metaphor.

So. If it's not a literal depiction of what will happen, then what exactly is it a metaphor for? Okay. Hear me out. This is my wildest fucking theory yet.

It's a metaphor for the Burial route. Or rather, the kind of event that happened in the Burial route.

What we are being shown in the metaphor is a reconciliation of their relationship, where their true feelings are laid bare. We are put in a situation where they are forced to decide how they feel for each other once and for all. If Andrew holds all the power in the relationship but has no control or awareness of his feelings- represented by whether he was composed enough or not to unload his entire clip-, he unceremoniously kills Ashley. Without that awareness, Ashley cannot even defend herself. She has no control because she isn't dealing with someone who has any either.

(Whether he actually kills Ashley or just some abstract representation of Leyley isn't clear, but it doesn't matter much for the purpose of analysis.)

But if Andrew does have that awareness of his feelings- represented by only shooting one bullet- they can negotiate. Because Andrew is in control, Ashley is also in control, and she can make one of two choices:

She can choose to save herself (and either maintain the status quo or just fucking kill Andrew depending on how literal the vision is). With this choice, she lets her fear overtake her and discards Andrew- the cause of her fear- like trash. He is an object that only exists for her sake, after all, and she can discard him just as easily as he seemed like her could discard her during the strangulation scene.

She can choose to trust and accept Andrew. And given a heart appears over her head, she can choose to love him, and overcome her fear, even at the cost of either her life or their prior dynamic (once more, depending on how literal it is).

Decay is asking us if we think Ashley is primarily motivated by selfish fear or genuine selfless love. But both exist either way, and their relationship must be understood and reconciled at some point; this route might honestly be their only hope for a platonic good ending, but it's going to be dismal and painful either way.

So with that in mind, why is the gun not relevant to the Burial route (yet) if it's such a strong metaphor?

Because the reconciling event WAS the basement scene.

We had to make that same choice there. Was Ashley too afraid of Andrew's interaction with her parents to let him handle it? Or did she love and trust him enough to make that choice? In choosing yes, the ball in Andrew's court. If he chooses to care for her needs, their relationship evolves. If he or Ashley refuse make that choice, that can is kicked down the road, and their relationship continues to deteriorate.

Or decay, as it may.

But in Burial, with that reconciling event having happened, the ball is in Ashley's court. With Andrew having come to terms with many of his feelings (minus his sexual desire), most of his arc is finished. There's probably still a lot of him to unpack on the Burial route, but in the Decay ending, as long as Ashley shows love for him, the final choice always falls on his shoulders. And with his final choice having been made in Burial, all that's left is Ashley's.

And what final choice will she have to make?

I don't know, I'm not a prophet.

But either way, she'll still have to make the choice of whether or not to be ruled by her fear of losing him, and desperately try to grasp for control she no longer needs, or cast aside that fear and allow for genuine, mutual love to flourish. Think about it this way: When you see a corpse, how do you react? If you don't care for the corpse or fear it, you stay away and let it decay. If the corpse belongs to someone you love, you tend to it and bury it.

And what do I think the best case scenario is? Well, I've made my opinion obvious, but I think there's one final thing I need to emphasize:

You don't claw at someone's back like a wild fucking animal if you're not really into it.

[batneko]

I'm forced to listen to Christmas music all day at work, so here's a Last Christmas bowuigi idea for your enjoyment featuring everyone's favorite* trope: misunderstandings!

*(lol nope)

Bowser has unintentionally achieved "friendly rival" status, and is invited to a big lodge to go skiing and snowboarding for a week. He still feels awkward around everyone, but they're all pretty welcoming, and he's not even the only former antagonist invited. Still, he's not quite willing to mingle with the whole crowd, and finds himself spending more and more time with fellow wallflower Luigi.

Luigi is a good listener. So good, in fact, that Bowser finds himself opening up a lot more than he meant to. So good that even Bowser realizes he's been dominating all their conversations. By the end of the week he thinks they're getting along well enough that he might actually call Luigi a friend.

Then, on the last day, he gets a note from Luigi asking him to meet in private. He's happy to do it. Looking forward to it, even. Maybe he can make things more balanced between them by listening to whatever it is that's so important. It had to be preceded with a note.

Then Luigi confesses that he has feelings for him. And Bowser doesn't believe it.

He's certain that this is a prank, and furious that Luigi would toy around with him like that. So he tears into him, breaking down all the reasons he would never even consider a relationship with him. He gets mean. He gets personal.

By the end both of them are heartbroken and convinced they were wrong about each other.

A year passes. Bowser is still sort of kind of friends with the others, and still gets invited to things, but he doesn't talk to Luigi at all. Bowser doesn't know who else was in on the "prank," so he's back to being cautious about who to trust.

Luigi and Mario are close, but they don't tell each other everything about their dating lives, so Mario doesn't press when a depressed Luigi says he got rejected and he'll get over it eventually.

He does, mostly, but seeing Bowser doesn't help, especially since the crush never quite goes away. There's a part of him that knows - even if he thinks it'll never happen - that if Bowser changed his mind Luigi would jump at the chance.

Next winter there's another trip to the ski lodge, and Bowser is invited, and Luigi resolves to put it all behind him and move on. Ask someone else out. Someone... safe.

But Bowser sees that Luigi has his eye on somebody else, and all the anger he thought he'd gotten over rises up again. How dare he act like nothing happened? How dare he think he can just have a normal holiday fling, as if he didn't use that exact premise to shatter Bowser's heart last year?

So Bowser starts blatantly flirting with Luigi whenever they're in a group. Compliments, playful teasing, one or two double-entendres. Whenever Luigi tries to talk to Bowser alone, Bowser walks away and refuses to say a word, but the rest of the gang think that Bowser is Staking His Claim.

The plan works, and Luigi's hopes of a new relationship are dashed before they can really start. The worst part is that the first time it happened Luigi had almost fallen for it. If he hadn't seen the glare Bowser shot him when nobody was looking, he might have done something foolish. Like flirt back.

It's a week of torture, but finally on the last day Luigi manages to corner Bowser and confront him. Ask him why he's doing this, why he feels like he needs to ruin Luigi's chances.

"Are you kidding? After what you did to me last year? You think I'd just forget?" "What I did to you?" "You didn't think I fell for that, did you? I don't know if you were recording it or if someone was waiting to jump out and laugh at me, but-" "You thought it was a prank?" "Yes! ...wasn't it?"

It takes some time (and some more yelling) but eventually Bowser accepts that Luigi wasn't lying, and they both have to re-think the entire last year... as well as what they know about each other. Bowser realizing that he was right the first time about how nice Luigi is, and that he could have had something great if he hadn't jumped to conclusions. And Luigi realizing that if Bowser thought a genuine confession was a cruel joke he's probably not nearly as confident as he acts.

"Give me a second chance," Bowser blurts out. "You're interested? After everything you said about me last year?" "I was mad, I was ranting, I don't even remember what I said." "I do." "Give me... a third chance."

Luigi says he needs time, Bowser (reluctantly) says okay, but also says he will do anything to make it up to Luigi. Favors, public humiliation, anything.

"If you still think I'm the kind of person who wants you to publicly humiliate yourself, you really don't understand me at all."

Neither of them sleeps well. In the morning while everyone is packing up, Bowser sees Luigi step into a quiet corner with the person he'd been planning to confess to this year. He's practically steaming from jealousy, but Bowser forces himself to stay away. He's not going to get a fourth chance.

But as he's about to leave, Bowser is stopped by Luigi. He hands him a scrap of paper with his phone number, and beckons him closer.

"Kiss me." "You sure?" "My brother is watching. So is the princess. You know what it'll mean if you do it, so..."

Bowser doesn't have to be asked twice.

He does get punched thirty seconds in as soon as Mario puts everything together, but it's worth it.

[comicaurora]

How would you personally suggest getting into/staying in shape? I do regular walks, which is nice and all, but I have a feeling that will not be as good as like, going into a gym?

As I understand it, regular walks are actually one of the absolute best ways to stay active and baseline in shape. "In shape" looks and feels different for everyone, but the general rule of fitness is Use It Or Lose It. Your body adjusts to whatever level of exertion you're regularly putting it through, which is why the first time you try a new kind of exercise it'll be tortuously difficult and the next time you try it there'll be shocking improvement. The first time I tried jogging of any kind I could only make it about two-thirds of the way through, but when I tried again a few days later I did the whole course that had kicked my ass so hard the previous run. It's just how your body adjusts.

Walking is great for general full-body fitness and has the general benefit of not being in an enclosed gym full of people, which is good for both social anxiety and covid reasons. I'd also recommend a little ten-minute yoga stretching routine to compensate for long periods sat at a desk and generally keep up flexibility.

Beyond that, "working out" is really a matter of picking the poison that works for you. Some people run, others lift, others climb - it's a matter of what you enjoy, what you can stick with and what you want to be able to physically do.

That's a huge part of exercise that I think gets glossed over, because "being in shape" is seen as this weird moralized baseline of being a Good Person and therefore people don't think of it in terms of its actual benefits - giving you a body that can Do More Stuff You Like.

I loved rock climbing as a kid and wanted to get back into it, so I looked up bouldering gyms and took a crack at it, and once I confirmed that it was indeed still fun (but also that my forearms were NOT prepared) I looked into doing it more. I've never had endurance for distance running, favoring sprints, so I've started looking into training up longer-distance jogging to build up stamina. I found I legitimately enjoy the feeling of swimming, and as a happy benefit it's also one of the best low-impact full-body workouts you can find. I like the strength and flexibility I had as a whippy little gymnast, and while some of that just doesn't work at my post-puberty height and weight, I can still make sure I stay flexible enough to keep tumbling on my skill list.

Some people stay in shape running, some people do fencing, some people lift weights, some walk dogs, some frequent a gym, some kickbox, some swim - but the ones that stick with it are the ones who find some part of it that they actually enjoy. If it's a chore and it feels pointless, it'll be damn hard to work up the motivation.

[circeyoru]

Is the Collector capable of feeling romance? Sorry if you've already answered this or something similar😅

I know it's our choice, but i would like to know from the writer's perspective.

This is for {Collection of Overlords}, check MASTERLIST for the work

If it's something similar... I think it'll be the ask about if the Collector/you are ace or like Alastor when it comes to romance and relationships, the main answer is here and the add-on is here.

But, in my perspective, the answer to your question is yes. You're capable of feeling romance and do feel such things. Now why it was never explored in the story up until now is because you take your standing into consideration.

After Part 7, you're set up as one of the sides of the universal balance. So pretty OP (overpowered), just not a top-of-the-world type of deal since you share this same title with Trick. BUT you are the top person in Hell, so yeah.

The closest 'romance' you have of feeling is towards Alastor. Remember you healing him? Yeah, you didn't need to show yourself to him to heal him nor do you need to make your appearance known in the hotel. You being out in the open is a way of showing that you care. I mean, you even stayed and started a new project of yours. Your favouritism is 'love', but I didn't show it as obviously because the focus group this time included other Overlords.

Your love language here is Acts of Service. If it's not obvious enough. Cause you treasure your collection and their uses. You'd be in love with what they do in your name, like someone is killing for you or growing strong for your attention. Are you a narcissist? Not really. You're not that self-centered or arrogant, nor do you lack empathy and consideration for other people. You're just more selective in your care and attention. That's how you got your collection in the palm of your hands.

Yet you can't help but give more favouritism to Alastor because of his over-the-top devotion to you. But, not sure if anyone noticed, Alastor's not the only one to submit to you as quick, Zestial is the other one. (a bit of lore here) The reason why Zestial and Alastor got along was cause they have that in common. Now why you favour Alastor more? Because Zestial is not as active as Alastor when it came to his services.

While Alastor hunts down unworthy and self-proclaimed Overlords for you, Zestial collects information and assesses the situation with his wisdom. See, Zestial doesn't actually do much to be frank. He as the oldest in the Collection is good to you when it comes to teaching new souls that enter your collection, that's all. Not to mention, he holds unspoken power when you aren't present in meetings. Like in episode 2, everyone quiets down, listens, and agrees with Zestial. It's cause Zestial is seen as another you.

Why not Alastor? Because he's just seeking your attention, he doesn't care for leading the group on or helping the others, he doesn't care about others or giving them a chance to gain what would be his attention and favour from you. Alastor is well aware that the collection has such a variety of demons and personalities because you want demons with different talents and focus. Most of the other Overlords knew this too, there's a hierarchy that I won't explain here.

Oh, Alastor's not the only candidate for your 'love'. There are bits of romance towards Carmilla and Rosie, if you prefer that. Otherwise, see it as platonic~

These are my thoughts. In the end, you're the one interpreting the story and 'you'.

[maximotts]

rereading ph and i was wondering…what would happen if like one of them went too far? like they actually scared/hurt the reader like very seriously?

Interesting that you ask such a thing! I have draft currently where someone asked something similar and it's got a scenario where Nat goes too far with Wanda, but I have yet to approach the subject with reader involved.

I apologize, this is going to be a bit long, but I guess it's more of a set of headcanons than a fic so uh.. bon apetit, hurt/comfort situation lovers

private hire au masterlist.

Honestly, it would depend on a lot of things: how close Wanda and Natasha are to reader when it happens, where they are (i.e. is it a public scolding that's more emotional or is it something in private/the bedroom), and who it is that actually hurts them.

Assuming they're in the current place ( game night ) when reader gets hurt, Wanda and Natasha would care a lot and want to right it as best they know how. Which.. is still not always the healthiest.

If it were Wanda...

Say she was tearing into you so harshly in front of other people that maybe you break down and cry or even just run away depending on the setting because really, who wants to cry in front of strangers, she would feel terrible.

Devastated honestly, Wanda's much more afraid of you pulling away than Natasha is; she needs you to see her as a constant safe space for anything and always wants to be the one you run towards, never from.

If it was during a meeting she couldn't immediately leave, Wanda would handle everything as quickly as possible, but in the meantime she's getting someone to check on you. Preferably Nat, but if she's too far, most likely it'd be Bucky or Sam. Anyone who she knows would keep you out of harm's way, but continue to keep an eye on you for her.

Because you never really have a chance to slip away.

As soon as possible, Wanda'd get to wherever you fled, putting on her gentlest demeanor, hoping you're not upset enough with her that she has to apologize.

But when she sees you're shying away from her, Wanda's heart breaks.

Again, we've seen it before a bit in forgive and (don't) forget, but Wanda hates thinking she's upset you enough to push you away.

She'd get you the world if you asked, anything to coax you into talking to her and helping her understand where she went wrong because she needs to fix it. It'll eat away at her if you don't at least start to forgive her by the end of the day.

But then if you get hurt during sex with her...

She's apologetic instantly, but much more in tune to your physical and mental state than if it was just verbal like above.

Wanda's such a touchy person she'd want to hold you so bad, but understands if you need time to come back to reality.

There's tons of reassurance though, especially while she's cleaning you up and getting you into a cozy space, "You did so well, dove. I should've checked in earlier."

And there's not a second where she lets you try to take the blame; she won't hear of it.

Speaking of blame, even if it were a pure accident Wanda would take on so much guilt. She struggles a lot with knowing whether or not she's making the right decisions (as best you can as a mob boss) and tries very hard not to hurt anyone.

Seeing you hurt by her own hands makes her lose so much trust in herself. So much so that she might not trust being around you without someone else around.

Wanda would only get close with Natasha around and even if both of you try assuring her you'll be okay in time, she's terrified that she hurt someone she cares so deeply about.

For Natasha, it's a bit of a different story...

Nat says hurtful shit all the time, it's just a part of dealing with her.

If she's the one who notices you upset, she'll ignore your reactions easily, knowing you're not brave enough to outright leave. Even if you did, she's tracked down much worse targets than a young girl with nowhere to go.

She'll wait it out as long as she can, hoping you'll give up and leave your room once you calm down so you can both move past it.

But god forbid, Wanda talks to you while you're still upset because then Nat knows she's in for it and now not only does she have to apologize, she has to deal with her angry wife.

Part of her apology entails her awkwardly telling you to brush it off because you know she didn't mean it and even though what she said still hurts, you've got to nod and say okay. Nat's not going to give you a better apology than what she's already offered.

Natasha sees you shying away from her just as quickly as Wanda does, but it doesn't bother her and she'd rather wait until you judge her as harmless yourself instead of coaxing you back to her like Wanda does.

If it's a physical incident...

Natasha tends to be notoriously terrible with words, but when it comes to actions, she'll make sure to right her wrongs.

Not much horrifies her besides hurting someone helpless and removed as she can be with you at times, Nat cares for you a lot and she's well aware of how much power she wields over you.

Consequently, when you get hurt on her watch, by her own misjudgment, she's the most protective you've ever seen her.

She'll bandage any wounds, even ice bruises you shyly insist you don't mind, shushing you each time you even try to diminish the pain you're in.

Because you fully expect her to tell you to brush it off like she does when she says something mean, even speaking up to tell her you're hurt is a struggle, having been scared she'd advise you to suck it up.

And Natasha hates that. So much.

After that, she tries her hardest to be gentler to you. Helping you along as you recover, fetching you whatever you happen to mention you need even faster than Wanda can... the whole nine yards.

Anything to show you she never relishes in causing you real harm.

This doesn't really mention how much it'd affect Wanda to see you hurt, but she'd be livid with Natasha, her own possessive nature wanting to huddle you away from her wife while she nursed to back to health.

But after some persistence, you convince Wanda to let Natasha help which does honestly surprise Natasha given how attached she knows you are to the brunette.

Even just that little bit of reassurance renews Natasha's confidence that she hasn't completely fucked up her relationship with you which yes, is something she worries about whenever accidents happen.

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

Hiii, I really love your fics and hc’s! Would you ever write a little something with gun- and/or knife play? With Cooper on either end of the action, because I feel like he’d be into it either way🫦👀

Much like with the primal play kink ask, I have plans to incorporate more knife/gun play into future works (I had a lot of fun with the bit of knife play that features in "Working Girl"), but I love this ask so I figured I'd give at least some flavor as to what I think you could expect from him.

Cooper Howard/The Ghoul Gun & Knife Play Headcanons (NSFW)

Most of the knife/gun play I've seen written for Cooper, at least personally, features him as The Ghoul, and I totally see why. I'd like to throw my hat in the ring, however, and say that I think he'd be almost equally as into it pre-war. Like many of the more "exotic" kinks he would sometimes fantasize about, it wasn't really Barb's thing, so he didn't explore it much during their marriage, but he'd be very agreeable to trying it with a new partner. Brings it up like it's a joke, but he's feeling out every aspect of your reaction to see if he thinks you'd be agreeable to trying it. He's patient and willing to start small; buying you nice lingerie and then slowly, adoringly slicing it off with a small foldable you both picked out together, sitting you in his lap and showing you how to clean/maintain one of his guns while the two of you rub against one another.

Doesn't really have a preference for whether he's the one wielding the weapon or not. In fact, I'd say pre-war Cooper likely leans towards preferring to be the one being "threatened"...stick the barrel of a pistol in his mouth and tell him to suck like his life depends on it and you're gonna get quite the enthralling performance.

Prewar!Coop's a curmudgeon for safety, especially if his partner is on the receiving end of whatever's being done. No live weapons, no very sharp blades. No weapon play at all if anyone's been drinking or partying in any other way. He may find the idea of doing it "for real" titillating, and it may sound amazing when he's drunk and he knows there's a hunting knife or a small pistol in the house, but not enough to forego the additional safety that comes from pretending a bit and waiting until you have a clear head. He'd never forgive himself if any harm befell his partner because he didn't take enough precautions. Besides, can you imagine the headlines...?

As The Ghoul, that concern for safety isn't entirely gone, but I'd call it "front-loaded". And, honestly, he isn't truly all that worried about anyone getting hurt; he trusts himself to have the control to not do you any actual harm, provided he isn't all fucked up. He has steady hands. No, his worry comes from the fear that you'll reject him for even asking, that it'll make you see him as the threat he is. The reaction he got from Barb the few times he playfully brought it up long, long ago is still bouncing around somewhere in the back of his brain. The fact that you like and trust him enough to sleep with him to begin with (and vice-versa, frankly) is a huge deal to him; he doesn't want to press his luck and send the only person he's really cared about in decades running away screaming because he struggles to fend off that primal desire to exchange a little violence.

Before, he may have been able to figure out a smoother way to say "It would really turn me on if you'd let me hold this gun to your head while you blow me." or "I want to hold this knife to your throat while I fuck you from behind.", but now he has so little room for error when it comes to keeping interactions pleasant and sexy. You'll probably have to bring it up first if the two of you don't experience some sort of perfect moment for him to do so, but he'll create opportunities for you to do so. Offers to teach you how to improve your shooting and hand-to-hand combat with mostly good intentions. When one of you gets the drop on the other, try to ignore the glint in his eye...and the bulge in his pants. He'll insist neither means anything.

Considers his desire to be the one being played with long put to bed, but he's lying to himself. In truth, he doesn't trust anyone enough to even have vanilla sex with them for a long time, and when he meets someone he does, he's still too afraid of the level of control he would have to cede to you for it to work. It would be hard to get him to agree to letting you brandish anything at him, even if you pointing a gun at him in seriousness (because let's be real, basically anyone this man has ever met has had plenty of reason to point a gun at him) makes him so hard so fast that his head swims. If you get him in a particularly tender moment, and maybe a little more intoxicated than usual, he might spill the beans a bit.

[ballinandcantgetup452]

Terry McGinnis is the only person who can be the next Batman

I don't normally make hard statements like this. I typically hate it when somebody makes hard statements like this, but hear me out.

No prior Batfamily character can be the next Batman. I'll keep it brief and explain why going person by person (obvious headcanon warning)

Dick is definitely a likelier candidate than most. He can cover for Batman if the need ever arises. But I believe that Dick Grayson hates the idea of actually becoming Batman. He can play the role. He was a circus kid and he's got the heart of a theatre kid, he can play the role all day long. But he was the first. He arguably saw Batman at his natural worst. He and Alfred, anyways. I'm going to drop some OP lore to further elaborate. My dad's a pastor. He's a really good pastor. He's a good man, and he may be an ass, but that's because I know him as "dad". For YEARS, people would tell me that I was just like him, and for a long time, I wanted to be him. It's what boys do when their dad is at the very least decent. But, as I got older, I saw the tapestry and saw the flaws. I saw how tired being a pastor made my dad. I saw how much of his life being a pastor was taking up. I would never tell my dad to stop being a pastor, because that's him. That's his calling; and if he was anything else, then he'd be a soulless, husk of a man. But I've seen what being a pastor does to you, and I don't want that. I want to be better than that. Dick Grayson has seen what The Batman does to a person. He's seen Bruce do things that Dick would never do, and the idea of being the next Batman is something that got soured to him. And it definitely doesn't help that that's what a lot of people used to do to him. So yeah, traumadumping aside, Dick would never STAY Batman. Even if he doesn't know it.

I honestly think it's best if Jason stays as far away from the idea of The Batman legacy as possible. Jason's at the best possible spot right now. He's taken his trauma and has turned it into his empowerment. I don't care what Three Jokers says, that's dumb. Joker's an ass, we don't listen to him. ESPECIALLY if he's swapped out his gun for a crowbar and has a no-kill rule, Jason could be Red Hood until he's 90 and it'll be narratively fulfilling.

Tim is one I see get thrown around a lot. However, I believe that The Batman would absolutely DESTROY him and he would be too stubborn to acknowledge it. One common denominator I believe every Robin goes through is the realization of "oh wow, Bruce is not okay" and trying to be better than that. While I do believe that Tim went through that, I also believe that Tim is arrogant enough to believe that he's better than that. Even putting all of the "alternate Tim evil gun toting Batman" futures aside, I think that Tim is obsessive enough as is. Giving him the mantle of The Batman would cause him to obsess even more to be like Bruce thus causing ANOTHER evil gun toting alternate future Batman. Tim is best as Red Robin. An independent agent that can go well with ANY Batman to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Babs is best as Oracle. No I will not be elaborating. If you want her to be Batgirl, then say that she can Batgirl every once and a while but doing it stresses out the microchip in her back.

Steph is best as Spoiler. She backdoored her way into the Batfamily by being competent enough as Spoiler. I honestly wish that she could be like Batwoman and establish herself as Batfamily adjacent and have her own supporting cast and such. If she does have one, then I'm sorry. Cassie is kind of a blind spot.

Sadly, Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, and Harper Row are even bigger blindspots of mine. From what I've seen of them, I can't think of any reasons they couldn't be Batman. However, I can't think of any reasons why they especially should be Batman.

Damian Wayne is my personal vote for becoming the next Batman out of everybody pre established. Not for any birthright reasons. That's dumb. Admittedly, DCeased really turned me on to the idea. I think that the idea of Damian being the child raised by Bruce that turned out the best is a really good idea. In retrospect, I guess the idea of birthright is technically why I'm choosing Damian. BUT, understand I'm doing it with the caveat that Damian is fully developed as a person and as a character. That is the END of his arc.

HOWEVER, Terry McGinnis takes the cake for me in terms of Batman successor. This is going off of the idea that he isn't a Bruce clone. I don't know how canon we've made that, but canon is relative, so I'm saying it's not for the sake of argument. Terry is an outsider. He has no baggage with the idea of The Batman. He's just a guy working through some grief with The Batman being used as a vehicle. He doesn't know any of the Bruceisms. He never had to explain to his friends that his dad is crazy and he's sorry he made contingency plans for all of them. Terry McGinnis gets to make Batman his own. And, luckily, he gets to have a fully realized Bruce to guide him along the way. I also think that it opens so much more story potential. It's essentially a soft reboot for The Batman as an idea. Everybody else can be out doing their own thing. But I think this works in the same way that Miguel O'Hara can ALSO be Spider-Man. I believe that every intimate Batfamily member would follow Bruce's footsteps by making Batman an UNHEALTHY obsession. Terry would be different, he'd lead the pack by turning The Batman into something HEALTHY.

Or maybe I don't read enough comics and all my interpretations are super surface level. Let me know. I'm willing to be wrong.

[z0-ne]

Siblings!(Platonic! Goku x ¡Sister! Reader!) Chapter 2

(I decided to actually make this a story! I'll try to keep updates constant when not busy with school <3)

Sitting in the spaceship with your "long lost half-brother" right beside you, its still weird to get use to how much he looks like Bardock...

He asked you if your father was evil, but even though you knew he was. There was still a part of you in denial.

"...I haven't known him long enough to say that he is or isnt." You say as you lean back in the seat, looking at the ceiling you look at the engravements. Its unlike anything you've ever seen. You aren't particularly familiar with technology, considering your people don't use it.

"Oh..." Goku trails, unsure of how to continue the conversation any longer right now, its not awkward, at least not to him it isn't but be feels like he should say something. He has so many questions to ask!

"Hey how old are you?" He suddenly asked and that question actually caught you off guard. It's not like you don't know how old you are, its just you have no idea how he's gonna take that.

"Well...my people may age...differently than yours. On my home planet I'm 324, we age by months." You quickly explain to him, considering how his jaw nearly dropped to the floor when you said your age. He can't even do the math in his head but he does sputter out his own age.

"Three hundred and twenty-four?! I'm only twenty-five! Man, you look so young!" He shouts in disbelief at how old you are, honestly you should find that odd yourself. You were raised on a planet where you age by months, but you take his age surprisingly well.

"Oh? How odd ,you're practically still an infant!." You say with a light giggle, maybe it was because his reaction was amusing but you found yourself ignoring your own past in the moment. Just for a temporary moment.

Goku was such a different man than your father, and so different compared to those snobby people on your planet, looking down at you with disgust while he instead looked at you with interest in what you said.

Still, he is a reminder of your father, a constant reminder. While it may be wrong to do so, you want to fight him, if not to just see what was so impressive about him that it made your father just abandon you for so long.

"How about you show me your abilities first, and then I'll tell you more stories, does that sound good?" You question, regardless of your conflicted feelings towards your father, you don't want to be a jerk to the one person who's shown you kindness since your grandma.

When his eyes lit up, and his mouth turned up in a toothy grin as he jumped up and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I wanna see yours too!" He says, excited to see just what your made of after catching a glimpse of your power earlier, he just has to spar with you!

Caught off guard by his enthusiasm, you take a moment to collect your thoughts and then you smile and nod. Getting up, the first thing you do is request a bigger space for this and Goku happily leads you to the training area.

Once you figure it'll do for now, you remove your jacket and toss it to the floor, it lands with a loud thump and leaves a large dent on the floor, Goku looks at it for a second before he turns to you and speaks with that goofy smile.

"You wear weighted gear too!?" His question makes you tilt your head to the side in confusion. Weighted? That's just how your clothes were made from birth up to now.

"Weighted...Gear?" You begin to say but before you can even finish Goku stripped himself of his shirt and under shirt, claiming it would be more fair if he took it off too. His were... noticeably less weighted than yours.

When seeing the difference, you were surprised Your people may not be very strong but they are durable, however you didn't think that other races didn't compare much in terms of your durability.

"Oh my, You're mistaken, my entire outfit is like that jacket I placed on the ground." You explained and that seemed to dull Goku's excitement as he then says.

"Well that's not fair, if it's gonna slow you down..." He trails but you cut him off with a chuckle, his assumption amused you. Holding a hand up you shook your head, dismissing his concerns.

"Slow me down? No...I'll be just fine." You say, a cocky tone to your voice, a bit unlike you, but a little like your father. Goku's excitement returns as he gets into a fighting stance, one you haven't seen before, but to be fair you've only seen your father fight once or twice.

You made up your own stance, taking pieces from your grandmother when she would stand around, and incorporating it in your own fighting technique. Standing as if you have no defenses, you wait until he's practically in front of you.

His speed is unlike you've ever seen, but it is dull in comparison to yours. You step to the side before he can land his hit, feeling the air from his swing alone, you could tell it might've stung but not actually do any damage.

He tried again, this time throwing a strange blast of light of some sort, you were lucky to dodge that and as he rolled over to you all you had to do was jump over him.

This time he jumped up and charged at you head on, swing after swing, kick after kick, and you were dodging them like it was child's play. It's not that he isn't strong, no you can tell he is, its just he's slow in comparison to you.

One attack however, caught you off guard. He duck down and aimed a hit straight to your stomach, but you dodge just in time before you instinctively react to him trying to uppercut you once you took that step to the side. You grabbed his hand and swung your fist back, before slamming it right into his nose, letting his hand go so he'd slide across the floor.

It was weird how he got so close to hitting you, maybe you had gotten too cocky. You walked over to him, to make sure you didn't hit too hard. Once you bent over to see his face, you saw you broke his nose... blood gushed from the wound but he seemed fine, stunned, but fine.

He then spun off the ground into a seating position, wanting to know just what you did, how you could teach him too, and more questions about life on your home planet.

Honestly, at first you were shocked at how quick he recovered, but then you could only smile and nod as you sat on your knees beside him, and you talked while he listened.

From the differences in foods, and cultures, you told him how your planet would harvest different foods of all sorts and have a big feast to celebrate everyone's birthday since it was difficult to pick a specific date for that many beings.

Not once had you expected you would ever have the chance to share this with someone, a supposed family member nonetheless, even being lucky enough to tell him of the tall tales the elderly liked to tell the small children.

However, what was more shocking than telling him the stories was when you turned in his direction, only to see and hear him snoring away. Practically curled up on the floor beside you, it makes you somewhat understand how your grandmother must've felt when she got you to fall sleep with one of those tales.

Chuckling to yourself lightly, you turn away from him and get up. Thinking it would be nice to explore the ship while also looking for a blanket to wrap around him.

[aurumacadicus]

I haven't read much 616 comics-wise (I have read lots of fan fiction tho 👀) BUT I do write a lot of omegaverse so tell me if this is anything:

Tony isn't ashamed of being an omega, really. Life would be easier, certainly, if he was an alpha or even a beta. But he's done well for himself despite a lot of alphas in business thinking he's cute. He's pretty proud of the respect he's earned, even if he is a little bitter that that respect is just expected for alphas.

So he has no idea why, in the Iron Man armor, he tells Steve he's an alpha. (He knows a little. He's afraid of being kicked off the team for a multitude of reasons, not just being an omega. Being Tony Stark would be reason enough. Tony Stark isn't a hero, after all.) The armor is well-insulated, not just to protect him from hits, but to smother any scent that might tip someone off. He could have just left it vague.

It's fine, he figures. Steve likes have a fellow alpha to spend time with. He knows that Steve doesn't actually mind hanging out with others, but he's expressed that he's nervous around 'the more delicate sexes,' especially with the serum increasing his strength. So. He likes that he can put Steve at ease like that. He likes to be helpful. Besides, with the suit, he's basically at alpha strength anyway! It's not really a lie. In the suit, he's more physically alpha.

Anyway something something villains.

Steve is dosed with something that sends him into a rage, and the only person there for him to take it out on is Iron Man, who is locked in the room with him. (This is not a coincidence, I imagine villains want Steve to 1) suffer the guilt of killing his best friend and 2) thereby be easier to control, in theory.)

He's tearing the armor apart, and quite frankly, Tony's terrified with the anger naked on Steve's face. Steve is normally a very private person, even when it comes to his emotion, and he's never seen him even angry. Annoyed, sure, maybe, but even then, it had been good-natured. This is something else entirely, ugly and vindictive. He knows, logically, that this isn't Steve, not really. But Steve's torn one of the gauntlets off, nearly broke Tony's arm in the process, so he's got to figure something out before Steve really does kill him.

Perhaps foolishly, he reaches up to take the helmet off, fumbling with the catches as he lunges out of Steve's way. He doesn't make it far enough--Steve grabs one of his boots and yanks him back, lifts a fist so he can bring it down on the catches at the knee. Steve will break his leg if he finishes the move, Tony realizes, finally getting the catches open and shoving the helmet up, off. He can't help the gasp that he sucks in as the cool air hits his face, the scent of Steve's rage rolling across his tongue bitter and acrid.

"Steveit'sme," he says, and this isn't how he wanted to tell Steve, never how he wanted to tell him, but he knows, deep in his bones, that if Steve kills him without knowing who he's killing, it'll just hurt him even more. If he dies now, hopefully Steve will be angry at the villains for making him do it, making him hurt someone who can't even hope to hold a candle to his alpha strength, let alone his serum. Maybe Steve will focus on revenge instead of guilt.

Steve freezes, sort of, knuckles hitting the armor and then stopping abruptly. Tony feels a twinge, but he's relieved that it's only that. His knee will be fine. So long as Steve doesn't decide to kill him for lying, he thinks, biting his bottom lip between his teeth to keep from apologizing. He's not sorry he hid his identity. Maybe he shouldn't have lied about his orientation, but Steve had showed Jan cautious behavior that she'd had to scare out of him. Now Steve knows that Iron Man isn't just an omega, he's Tony Stark and the friendly but distant team benefactor. Maybe Steve needed the distance, Tony thinks, swallowing thickly.

It takes Tony a minute to realize that Steve's eyes are locked on his throat, and he has no idea why until he swallows again, watches Steve's eyes track the nervous up-and-down of his Adam's apple, sees Steve's pupils dilate even wider than they had been. He bites deeper into his lip to check if he's really seeing what he is or if it's just wishful thinking.

Steve's eyes dart up to his lips, and when Tony lets out a soft puff of breath, mouth dropping open in shock, Steve starts to lean in, looks angrier for a second, then turns his head away with a distressed grunt, hands flexing on Tony's armor until it creaks, and Steve lets go when he whimpers.

"Okay," Tony gasps, reaching up to wrap his arms around Steve's neck. "Come here. Come here. We'll get through this, Steve."

"Tony," Steve whispers, shaking with the effort of not moving. "It's you."

"Come here," Tony urges again, pulling down around his neck. "I've got you, Steve."

"Please," Steve whispers, and it's the most scared Tony has ever heard him, the rage and aggression giving way to despair, heavy and discordant after the terror Tony had been inspired to. "Why you?"

Tony will be hurt later, he figures. He never wanted to disappoint Steve. But Steve is still clearly feeling the effects of whatever they dosed him with. He figures he's lucky Steve didn't punch him when he showed his face. "It's okay, Steve," he tells him as kindly as he can manage, and Steve makes a hurt noise, or maybe a sound trying to negate what he's saying.

But Steve kisses him back when he finally draws him down, hands slowing as he mentally shifts to peeling Tony free instead of trying to bust in, and he pushes the hurt to the back of his mind.

[monosanimegenericzone]

yknow what fuck it.

manga speculation time as the october release draws ever closer.

but read it how you want bcs this can be taken in or out of its context.

who can actually handle hisoka in the instance of a 1v1 in the phantom troupe.

hisoka knows the abilities of 7-8 members of the troupe by the time they part ways in yorknew city. four of which are already dead so he knows at least 4 more. information to hisoka is basically like an instant win unless you discombobulate him enough with overcomplicated strategy like Chrollo did.

the only four safe from hisoka's intel are: Bonolenov, Nobunaga*, Kalluto, Feitan.

*Nobunaga is a question mark because we dont know if he has a fully realized hatsu or not. and if he does we dont know if hisoka knows about it or not.

so in order:

Chrollo: YES, I think Chrollo is in more than a good enough position to kill hisoka for a second time. with Contagian running wild and so many assorted nen abilities to choose from, he technically has enough bandwidth to limitless nen abilities. will he do so while hunting for hisoka? that depends on if he gets in contact with team phinks or not. but i think he has a good shot of a round two.

Nobunaga: MAYBE, i think nobunaga is the only one in possession of an ability to cut bungee gum, but i only say that because we've never actually seen anything attempt to cut bungee gum. if he can't then he's most likely fucked XD. this also depends on if he has a hatsu or not because as it stands right now, he's very much not ready for this fight.

Feitan: YES, i think its very likely at least. it's not gray enough to be a maybe, but it's leaning towards the very likely. he just has to endure at least one blow from hisoka and its basically over. but even base feitan has a good shot. he has several tricks in his funky lil umbrella that i doubt hisoka knows about and a lot of speed. on top of all that. there are higher forms of pain packer that hisoka is more than capable of unleashing if he decides to play with his food.

I WANT THAT BOAT OBLITERATED BY A NEUTRON STAR. FORGIVE ME BUT I WANT TO FUCKING SEE IT.

Machi: MAYBE, this one i cant be sure about. hisoka is aware of machi's abilities just as much as she is aware of his. It'll come down to what each has prepared for the other and their respective reaction times. personally im rooting for machi in this fight but who knows.

Kalluto: NO, as he is right now, that's a no if hisoka genuinely tried to kill him. he has a get out of jail free card with Illumi being on the team, but with the way hisoka is right now who knows how much value that has.

Phinks: MAYBE, hisoka knows about kaiten, which is a huge disadvantage for phinks. however, phinks can easily get on par with blows equal to uvo if he has enough set up time. which he may or may not get in this hypothetical. hisoka might just straight up rip his arm off which- who knows if that will actually stop him- is Not Good(tm)

Shalnark: YES, honorable mention because i will not let him go. im coping so hard. Autopilot shal has a good shot, it just might end up with both of them dead instead of just one.

Franklin: NO, with his current set up no. unfortunately guns and long range aren't a good counter to hisoka unless theyve got a hell of a lot of power behind it

Shizuku: NO, shizuku herself said it, i dont gotta say shit. but also yes, she'd have to use gyo through the entire fight just to make sure she isn't grabbed and she'd be stuck on the defensive. Unless he bleeds, then she can stay at maximum range and vampire drain him. but he has a hard counter to that so yeah shizuku solo is very much fucked.

Bonolenov: YES, i disagree with bono on his self analysis. Battle Cantabile is a nen ability i haven't talked about much because it's 100% speculation on my end. but as a music nerd i just have to put this here: i think jupiter is part of a suite.* Therefore, i think bono has seven planets at his disposal and i will elaborate more in another post. that and hisoka doesn't know about his abilities, so he has extra upper hand.

*suite being a form of music composure of multiple movements, usually led with a prologue

I REPEAT. I WANT TO SEE THAT BOAT GO D O W N. I WANT IT SUNK I WANT THAT THING EXPLODED SO BADLY.

Illumi: YES, just because hisoka wants to fight him. illumi is a wild card so i cant say for sure. in a 100% all out fight, they have enough knowledge about each other to understand how each other work.

thats my two cents anyway. in the situation they're in right now, its impossible to tell who would win purely because of the number of eyes on any number of them, therefore a fair 1v1 is out of the question.

i enjoy thinking about these funky fellas and please im coping so hard before togashi inevitably rips my soul to pieces.