#they obviously knew better they just choose a different route

[xxsakuragirlxx]

RAHHHHHHH! I WANT TO ACTUALLY TAKE CHRISTIANITY SERIOUSLY, BUT THAT MEANS I HAVE TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING I INVESTED MY TIME INTO AND STOP TALKING WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE, WHICH I WAS TRYING TO AVOID HAPPENING IN THE FIRST PLACE SO IF I EVER DO CHANGE, I DON'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH TROUBLE!

[the-ace-with-spades]

just wanted to say i would 100% read any hangster omegaverse you write there is not enough of it out there tbh. and also like truly whatever combo/dynamic you feel would be amazing but i would frankly die for some omega bradley cause i never see people take that route and it's such an interesting take on his character to me BUT ANYWAY like i said follow your heart and i'm sure it would be glorious if you do decide to write it

Hi! Thank you for the ask, I'm absolutely flattered ✨ I'm also happy to say that my cliche omega Bradley/alpha Jake mpreg fic has been planned out already - hope you don't mind me using this ask to ramble about it a bit 👉👈

As for the dynamics, we're going with:

omega Bradley and alpha Jake

alpha Mav and alpha Ice

(only mentioned but ) omega Goose and alpha Carole

so Bradley was raised mostly by alphas

omega Phoenix, beta Bob, beta Coyote

scent-wise, they're both on suppressants the majority of the time but when they aren't, they both smell like fuel and dust (Bradley loses it when he stops flying), but Jake's natural scent is dry, earthy one, kinda like straw and hot air on a sweaty day, and Bradley's is honey and vanilla/cinnamon; Mav smells like leather and jet fuel and Ice like cool mint and old paper

Not sure whether this is going to be written in my typical non-linear scene format (alternating past & present povs) just because I'm aiming to try and fit in 40-50k but the backstory/premise/whatever is well, this:

Bradley's experience growing up as a male omega was different than what most expected — most of his family didn't care about what the society said about designations and what was proper and what not. He was very much a stereotypical 'sensitive/soft' omega but he never thought that would hold him back, he literally was taught he could be anything and anyone he wanted. His mom was an alpha that choose to stay home, his dad was one of the first omegas allowed into combat, and after they both passed away, he was taken in by Mav and Ice, two alphas that by society's standards couldn't work out together, but did so better than most couples, and who tried to raise him to be his own person, not a designation. So he had plenty of ‘unconventional’ examples as a child.

That's why it hurt it so much when Mav said he wasn't ready and pulled his papers — it's like all he was taught about being whoever he wanted to be was a lie. Obviously, Bradley reacted by shaming himself out of being soft (to the outside world anyway).

Bradley and Jake met in flight school. They were only supposed to be something out of convenience, to spend heats and ruts together and nothing else. But then they were placed in the same squad after training and things continued and escalated and before they knew it, they were living together, they were each other's emergency contacts, they were each other's official heat/rut partners, on paper.

Jake'd never made him feel like any less because he was an omega and never doubted he was competent enough to be where he was in life — he was an asshole to him the say way he was to others, which was better than being undermined or coddled. Bradley felt like maybe he wasn't confident enough to be himself without care, yet, around Jake, but one day he would.

It was an unspoken thing on base — Bradley was Jake's omega and vice versa.  Unspoken because despite eight years together, they never bonded.

Bradley still has issues, about being an omega, that mostly strive from Mav's you aren't ready and the general opinions about omegas in the Navy. He was okay without all the usual stuff omegas wanted from alphas — couldn't be scented much because of scent neutralisers and suppressants he had to wear at work, couldn't make nests since they spend a lot of their time on deployments or trainings away on different bases and ships, he liked touch but it was both unprofessional at work and very omegian of Bradley at group outings (and he didn’t want the guys he worked with to think too much about him being an omega). 

At home, behind closed doors and in their own bubble, Jake didn't have a problem with giving him those things — what Bradley asked for, he got. Affection, nests, scenting, praises. In private, Jake never hesitated to fulfil whatever stereotypically omegian thing Bradley wanted and never held it against him. Jake’s family didn’t know about them, but given that Bradley wasn’t ready for bonding, that was probably for the best — he knew people could be nosy about when will you get bonded or married, when will you have kids, should you keep working in the Navy after bonding, etc. It bothered him a bit, especially when he had to leave their place and stay with Nat whenever Jake’s family showed up in town or stayed alone over holidays, but well, he never asked Jake for any of it to change and Jake never made the first move.

So Bradley hoped he wouldn't mind giving it all to him when Bradley finally did ask for it.

Then they just came back from deployment, after months on heavy duty suppressants, and his heat and Jake's rut synced up — something that happens only after bonding or after big big stressors — and then he found out he was pregnant.

He took a few to process everything and decided that he wanted it more than he was afraid of how it’d change their life and how people would see him, and he was going to ask for more from Jake and tell him.

Then he comes home and his nest is dismantled and Jake’s got two cans of scent neutralizer on the kitchen table and the first thing he tells Bradley is, “My sister is visiting for a week, gotta be fast because she’s going to be here tomorrow.” And Bradley isn’t so sure anymore.

(probably not the actual dialogue but the gist of what happens) "It's just going to be a few days and everything will go back to normal." "What if I don't want it to go back to normal?" “Look, you’re not exactly the type my family expects—” “So, how do you see us, in the future? Do you not want to get bonded, get married or—or have kids? Or are we just going to do all those things while sneaking around your family forever?” "We have a good thing, why change it? It’d all just be so inconvenient with our lives—”

And Bradley makes a decision again. Packs his stuff, tells him he isn’t comining back and leaves. He was fine alone, he’ll be fine alone again. He just needs some help first.

(gonna get short now, just not to spoil too much) Bradley goes to the only person he can think of — Ice. He moves in with Mav and Ice for the time being, things are awkward so Mav moves out to the hangar and Ice schemes so his two dumbasses talk and they forgive each other.

Fast forward, he’s six months in and the Top Gun recall happens, Bradley is currently Cyclone’s flag lieutenant, and ThingsTM hit the fan.

Scenes the dialogue is written down for (no promises on actual inclusion in the fic):

Jake being a dumbass and calling Bradley fat the minute they see each other in San Diego

The snow scene from the mission but with Mav and Jake arguing about who needs to come back home more

The beach scene with Bradley sitting around with Penny on the patio, drinking mocktails and being thirsty (the other kind)

Jake finally telling his mom

Bradley and Mav getting tricked into going to a doc appointment together (by Ice)

Bradley teaching (or ordering him around, more like) Jake how to do the flooring in the nursery while he sits on a bean bag and eats a whole box of strawberries

It's gonna be a while before I post the first chapter because I want to have at least dialogue written for the whole thing and will shuffle around scenes and plot points, but it's coming!

Thank you to you, anon, and to anyone who helped me figure out some stuff about this au fic 💙

[proton-selfships]

1, 2, 9, and 19 for Laurel with the self ship asks —Nic

Couples Questions

Thank you, @me-myself-and-my-fos!

1. Who makes the other blush all the time and who finds it adorable?

Usually, it's Laurel getting me all flustered and then acting all smug about how adorable I am. But when it's the reverse, oh man, it's the cutest thing in the universe when she starts blushing and looking down at the floor all sheepishly!

2. Who sings in the shower?

Laurel! There's nothing like hearing her sweet, childlike singing voice coming from the bathroom. It's positively ethereal.

Meanwhile, I just take my showers in silence. Gotta focus on giving my thick, oily mop of hair a good scrubbing and I don't want any soap getting in my mouth, lol

9. How did they know they were right for each other?

Obviously, we only really knew for sure after spending time living together in her family's old mansion, realizing we were mostly compatible and working on compromises for the ways that our routines weren't, etc. etc.

But the moment when we both realized that we were inevitable and that nothing could truly keep us apart was when she saved me from being completely subsumed by my own powers. Because for both of us, it represented us realizing how similar we truly were and consciously deciding that the other was worth saving.

In my case, I saw how both she and Tyler had been unfairly cast aside and ignored by the world in similar ways to me, and I wanted to stop them from harming anyone else but had no desire to harm them further; that was why I overextended my powers trying to fight Tyler without taking the easy route by snapping his neck or something. And then for Laurel, saving me represented her consciously and definitively choosing me over her past lifetime of anti-outcast programming, after dancing around the issue for so long when it was clear to onlookers like Tyler that she truly did have a soft spot for me all along.

Next to that? Tiny things like differences in what foods we like and other such disagreements that come up when you live with someone didn't take much effort to figure out. And we already knew we'd have plenty to talk about when it came to our respective interests we're passionate about! So yeah, soulmates. ;w;

19. Who's the better dancer?

I'm gonna say Laurel just because I hardly ever dance, so I feel like she'd have to be a pretty bad dancer to be worse than someone with near zero experience.

Though come to think of it, I don't think she'd have much experience given her life up to that point, either. But at least she'd clearly gotten more exercise given how much muscle she's got hiding under her sleeves!

[freshthoughts2020]

THE THREE WORDS I'D SAY TO MY 18 YEAR OLD SELF

THE THREE WORDS I'D SAY TO MY 18 YEAR OLD SELF'

February 5, 2024

I saw a meme today that posed the question, what would you say to your 18 year old self using only three words. I always love these type of hypotheticals.

I believe I made mostly great life choices thus far but like everyone you think about how you could’ve did somethings differently. I love how things panned out but if I really had the choice to affect something I would put me on my current path sooner.

So what’s the three words I would say to myself? I would say “Become a Lawyer”. If you know anything about my back story, you know I didn’t give a clown’s nose about becoming a lawyer. It was more logical for someone like my brother or my mother to become one. My brother because, my Grandma would always tell him, “Jay you like to argue so much you need to become a lawyer” (wait until she find we spend 90% of our time avoiding arguing lol).

I would say my mother because she worked years as a paralegal so if she ever decided to go that route it would make sense. But me? No it made zero sense. Nothing about my life said I would be a lawyer, I was a nerdy kid that loved the creative arts (and obviously still do). My grades wasn’t top of the top.

Honestly I was the average student. My art skills weren’t praised, my grades weren’t praised, the only thing that stood out for me was my personal style and my sense of humor. I was “average” on paper but never did I look at myself as “average” I knew I was extraordinary from the beginning lol.

I would choose those three words because my 18 year old self would’ve been smart enough to know that don’t mean stop the arts but it would’ve gave me a north star much sooner. I made the decision to go to law school in 2015, when I was in a corner financially and was lost career wise. 2015, I was one year removed from undergrad, with no job in my field in sight. I was thinking I cannot be a struggling artist I have to make something happen and then reinvest my earnings into my arts.

So I thought I know I’ll become a lawyer, it then took me two years just to get into law school! Graduating in 2020, it took me until 2023 to become licensed! So that’s 8 years spent to gain the illustrious title of “attorney”.

If I was able to tell my 18 year old self “become a lawyer” my 18 year old self would’ve streamlined his life to make himself get into school any means necessary. Those three words would change so much, here’s how I imagined it would’ve played out. I still would’ve attended UAPB, but with those three words from Future me in my head, my major would’ve reflected law instead of marketing. I would’ve focused on gaining internships and working in a firm during school, which would’ve saved me from the agony of being a broke college student lol.

Knowing my infatuation with New York, I would’ve applied to every New York school possible. Also, I would’ve attended school immediately after undergrad, no breaks. I would’ve probably treated law school the same way I did in this timeline but having more knowledge about school in the alternate timeline, I would’ve had a bar prep program from the beginning lol. ( I never used one to get licensed but definitely would’ve did it in this scenario).

After passing the bar, would’ve been in New York licensed earlier, solving financial woes way quicker and enjoying success at an earlier age. With all that said I’m glad it did not happen that way. God made sure things happened exactly as they should. The endless L’s I took gave me much character growth and it makes me a better person everyday. These questions are fun because it make you think of endless possibilities but that is also the problem. Don’t get caught up in the “what ifs” and “what could’ve beens”, we’re in the now and God blessed us with the gift to be present. Make today count and avoid future regret at all costs, I know I will! #StayFocused

Follow me on twitter.com/onlyonejaevonn

visit gettothecorner.com

[wrightanatomyau]

Style of gifts

One of the many cliches in romantic movies is that when two friends like the same person their friendship will be put to test, these movies tended to end in two ways. In one ending their friendship broke beyond the point where they could mend it and the best guy ended with the love interest. In the other ending they are still friends by the end of the movie, but one of the friends realise by one reason or another that his friends like their love interest more and takes the L, and ends sad but also happily looking at the loving pair.

When Lucas came to know that the two people courting him were BEST friends, he thought about those chicles in movies, and he felt bad. He didn’t want to hurt either of their feelings, Ness and Paula had been nothing but kind to him. But he thought that if in his world those movies were so common then it was for a reason, and he started to prepare himself, because truth be told he liked them and he couldn’t leave them waiting for ever. He had to choose and correspond to their feelings accordingly. He had never been in a romantic relationship before anyway, his best guide were those movies, and he decided to trust them.

Lucas was a fool. He was in a whole other world. Heck he was in an alternative universe, and both knights would soon teach him the meaning of it. And they did, sooner than Lucas could have ever expected, he was proven how wrong he was not soon after the whole “courting” began. And because life likes to be funny it showed him how wrong he was with another cliche: a bouquet of flowers and chocolates for the love interest.

Not long after Lucas had settled in one of the many rooms of Poo’s Palace, Ness and Paula decided to meet up at the entrance of the Palace. They were wearing casual clothes, but both were in their best casual clothes. Casual, but fashionable all the same.

“Watches ready?” Asked Paula, Ness smiled and showed her three different watches on his right wrist. “A little overkill, but good”

Ness saluted and started to approach the main door to the palace, she did the same. “See you here in an hour and a half.” Said the raven boy with the overconfidence of the captain of one of the best baseball teams in the country.

“Just make sure to not get late.” She said with cordiality, the same one she used before importing justice into criminals. They were on the street and suddenly started to run in opposite directions. It was left unsaid, but they both left thinking ‘Just don’t cry when I come back with the best present!’

Ness turned around a corner and as soon as he was sure he was outside of Paula’s detection range he teleported to a hill full of wildflowers. He smiled and took a nice transparent paper from his pouch. Nothing better than natural flowers to show how much you love someone!

Paula ran with determination, she had planned the best route in advance.  All her preparations allowed her to arrive at her favourite flower shop in record time. She greeted the employee and took her book with the meaning of flowers. She was going to select every flower herself and show her love with a bouquet full of meaning! There was no better way to show love than this!  The employee approached and as soon as he saw the book he knew the deal, time to show why he worked at the best flower shop!

An hour and a half later they arrived in perfect synchronisation to the main entrance of the Palace. Ness’s clothes had a bit of dust, but Paula knew that only to the charm of a bouquet made with beautiful wildflowers. Ness looked at the obviously expensive bouquet, he couldn’t say anything tho, he knew that every single flower there had a very deep meaning and that Paula had probably spent all night planning her gift.

“Tch.” They said. Both gifts were wonderful in their own way.

They entered the palace and casually showed each other their box of chocolates, it was the same brand and the same flavour. They let their head fall, of course they would buy the same, both like the same type and brand.

They arrived at the main stairs and stopped for about 1.56 seconds. There was no warning before they sprinted their way up. Both gifts were great, the only thing left was to give them to Lucas first!

They reached the top of the stairs and went in opposite directions, the couple of friends were pridefully thinking the same thing. ‘Ha! I know the fastest route!’ They eventually halted in front of Lucas’s dorm at the same time, and in silence took time to recompose themselves. ‘How did they get here at the same time as me?’ They asked themselves at the same time. Once they recovered their breath and checked on their bouquets (that had somehow survived their crazy run) they knocked at the door simultaneously. They stood up straight and put on their best smile. When the door finally opened Poo looked at them utterly confused.

“Ah… What are you doing here?” Asked Ness, his voice carried no respect for the king. Who could blame him? He was here for Lucas, not work. Poo crossed his arms and gave him a date glare but said nothing and neither let them in.

Paula sighed. “Hiding from work again… your highness?” She made a dramatic pause, letting their friend and king know that yes, they respect him, but she was here for Lucas and she wanted to give him her gift.

Poo nodded and let them in, with sour expressions they entered the room, ready to get Lucas's whereabout from their king even if it meant getting in trouble. In the couch, looking at them was Lucas, the blond blushed a little at seeing them enter with flowers and their expression changed immediately. Eagerly the pair forgot everything about their king and walked towards the cute blond lawyer that swiped their feet.

“Lucas! I got you flowers! I went to pick them up myself!” Ness gently presented his bouquet.

“Lucas! This bouquet has a deep meaning. I know you wanted to learn more about our world!” Paula gently presented her bouquet.

Their smiles grew when they saw the blond faint grow exponentially to tomato red.

“I got you chocolates too!” They presented their chocolate box. Their eager smiles lived very shortly, as a worried expression took over Lucas’s face. The blonde looked to the side and then took a deep breath. He looked at them, blushing but clearly deeply troubled.

“I’m flattered that you got me flowers and chocolate, but… but I can’t accept them! I’m not sure… I’m not sure about my feelings yet.”

They left their gifts in the free space on the couch and smiled. Lucas was so cute and silly.

“That’s alright Lucas, we are courting you, so you fall in love with us after all.” Said Paula calmy.

“Yeah, we can keep doing this until you fall for us, no biggie.” Said Ness in a relaxed way.

Their reassurance didn’t seem to work, as Lucas seemed as troubled as before.

“I know, but… it doesn’t feel right to receive such thoughtful gifts when I can’t even begin to choose between you. I can’t do that, I can’t accept your love, if I will have to choose one of you and hurt the other!”

The lawyer ended up shouting, he closed his eyes and the cute blush on his face disappeared.

“Choose what now?” Said Ness, expressing the confusion for them both.

Lucas opened his eyes reluctantly, still deeply troubled. “Choose. Don’t make me say it out loud! It’s embarrassing.”

Paula cleared her throat and as gently as possible said. “Lucas, you may need to say it loud because neither of us are getting why you need to choose.”

They looked at each other, and shrugged, then they looked back at Poo. The king was drinking tea and shrugged, also unsure of what the problem was.

This finally made Lucas’s expression change, the blond now looked at them as if a second head had grown on each of them. They weren’t sure if this was good or bad.

“Maybe it’s a cultural difference.” Said Poo casually, used to deal with stuff like this in diplomatic meetings.

“You may be right!” Said Ness. He went around the couch, moved his gift and sat beside Lucas.

“Lucas, can you tell us how relationships are in your world?” Asked Paula as she sat at Lucas’s other side.

The blond looked at them a bit unsure, and after a moment of silence explained how people dated where he was from. The basics of it was that for century relationship were between women and men only (a couple of eyebrows were raised there, but they let continue), and for a couple of decades same sex relationship were finally (Lucas put emphasis in finally) accepted as something normal, so two men or two women together were accepted by society in general. Lucas explained them with patience and answered their questions, but what picked up their attention the most was that Lucas always spoke about relationships as something between only two people.

“Is there a reason why you only speak of romantic relationships as something for pairs?” Finally Paula decided to ask.

Lucas looked at her confused again. “What do you mean?”

And it clicked for everyone in the room what the problem was.

“We can date with more than one person here; you don’t have to choose.” Said Ness with the happiness of the man that states the most obvious and most simple answer to all problems.

“Indeed, we do mean it when we say we want you to fall for us both. We want you to love both of us.” Paula took Lucas’s hand in hers, hoping that the blond would accept their way of living.

Lucas blushed. “Like a harem?” Multiple images of sultans with various women crossed his mind, but in his head, there were two sultans, and he was the “woman” of the harem.

“What’s a harem?” Asked Ness.

Paula nodded. “You sure have names for everything in your dimension.”

Lucas, still blushing, explained what a harem was. By the end of the explanation Ness laughed. “I think Paula and I would think of you as this ‘sultan’ and us the harem.”

“Yes, we want to shower you with affection. I think you as the sultan it's more accurate.”

And with a R18 image crossing by his head Lucas decided to hide his blushing face.

“I don’t think you understand what you say, but I get it that here monogamy is not necessarily a thing. Just… just…” He put his hands down and decided to look them to the face. “Can you give me some time to think about this?”

They looked at each other and smiled, relieved to see that the crisis was averted, and that Lucas did not ask them to stop their advances.

“But of course!” Ness happily said.

“What Ness said.” Paula Nodded.

They spent the rest of the evening together, eventually Poo left to continue his work and he took the two knights with him. Mostly to give Lucas some room to think, but also, because the king was not the only one slacking today.

When they left the room the couple of best friends decided to talk about what they had learn today about Lucas’s culture and came to the same conclusion. They had to eliminate Monogamy to speed up their courting process and find this sultan to ask for relationship advice.

Later that night Lucas entered his room with two pots and gently placed his bouquets beside each other. Ness and Paula made his heart race. As he looked at the beautiful flowers, he took one of the boxes of chocolates and opened it. He was glad he had met the pair of knights, his stay here would be too painful otherwise. His mind inevitably went back to thinking about his brother, Claus, he hoped that Giygas’s threat had been in vain, and that his dear brother and Lil Marsh were alright. His mind was full of worries, but the flowers in front of him gave something beyond comfort, it gave him hope. He believed in Ness’s and Paula’s promise that they were going to find a way for him to go back home.

The End

Happy Luness! 🥳 The collective celebrates this monday with the OT3 of this Au, we left him a lit on the side but today we bring it back to celebrate! ~ヾ(＾∇＾) The collective hopes you enjoyed to see some subtle difference between Ness and Paula when it came to flirting ( ु•⌄• )✧♡

✨L✨

[randoimago]

fire emblem three houses for the ask game please

Got two people sending in requests for me to do FE3H so here it is!! I didn't add the fav headcanons to this one cause my brain is soup rn and I don't want to think

Ask Game Here

3 male characters I love: Ashe (my baby), Dedue (I married him🥰), oh god i'm limited to three Linhardt

3 female characters I love: Lysithea (I always try to recruit her, she's my MVP), Bernadetta (also my baby), Marianne

3 romantic ships I love:

Yuri/Bernadetta (childhood friends where one is an assassin that's supposed to kill the other?? I want more of that dynamic ngl)

Mercedes/Sylvain (the support these two have always makes me smile, they're so cute)

Dimitri/Marianne ("I would not trade our time together or the happiness we knew for anything." 😭)

3 platonic dynamics I love:

Annette/Mercedes

Sylvain/Felix (I know these two are shipped a lot and I like seeing them shipped too, I also just like them being brothers and supporting the other when they lost theirs)

Hapi/Constance (they're adorable)

3 favorite moments in canon:

I haven't played this game is so long so I'm trying to remember the different supports and canon events >.<

Flayn and Seteth's paralogue was so good. Idk, I'm a huge momma's girl so learning that they're Father/Daughter and visiting the mom's grave hit me in the feelings. (I also always like watching characters visiting the graves of those they cared a lot for, idk it's a small thing that I enjoy seeing)

As sad as losing Jeralt was in game, the fact that there were so many characters giving support to Byleth was really nice to see. Even if they weren't recruited, it was cute. (Bernie coming out of her room to visit the grave?? 😭😭)

Not really a moment, but I really did enjoy the cast of characters and how different they all felt. Like none of them felt like a copy/paste or lesser of other characters to me. It was nice. And while I might not have connected with some characters over others, I know that they still got their love from others.

3 least favorite things about it:

The DLC boss fight oh my god fuck that guy

Kind of unfortunate that there isn't a "Secret" route where everyone is united and they all fight together. I mean, I know they made the Warriors-esque game, but I'd like to keep playing as Byleth and recruit everyone and see the supports of characters that you normally can't really see supports of from choosing certain houses over others.

I really wish there could've been better supports/endings for some characters. I'm still upset Ingrid and Dorothea only got to B rank. They're best friends and Dorothea so very obviously cares for her and they only make it to B?? I would've just liked more romantic endings over "And they stayed best friends forever"

[sholmeser]

i was thinking a little more abt why i consider aa4 to be the best aa game ,….putting ramble under cut bc its kinda long orz

it basically just comes down to the fact that aa4 takes the classic, more basic structure of aa1 and improves upon it. u have the first case to introduce the protagonist’s mentor (mia and kristoph); this person is gone by the second case, which focuses on the relationship between the protagonist and his new assistant and fleshes out their dynamic (even if 4-2 isn’t focused on trucy like turnabout sisters is on maya); the third case sheds more light on the rival prosecutor (on the flip side, turnabout serenade revolves around klavier while 1-3 does not on edgeworth); and the fourth case is, of course, the Big One that centers on lore and character stories. the games are structured almost exactly the same, if you exclude rise from the ashes (which is dlc content anyways).

however, what makes aj different from jfa (which also does something similar) is that aj showcases phoenix’s story from an outsider’s perspective; though aa4 is, obviously, about apollo, phoenix is still arguably the protagonist of the entirety of ace attorney (through aa4 at least) and aa4’s story hinges almost entirely on his history with kristoph and zak. jfa, however—which follows this same structure—takes all of the characters that we knew from aa1 and does relatively little new with them. sure, edgeworth’s disappearance puts phoenix in a state of turmoil, and phoenix and maya’s relationship grows stronger when he has to save her, but this all happens in 2-4; 2-2 and 2-3 are basically irrelevant (besides the introduction of pearl and kurain village, which aren’t even that significant until t&t) and just largely feel like something you have to sit through to get to the grand finale. this structure works better in aa1 and aa4 because we’re still getting to know the characters, who have just been introduced, by aa2 simply can’t do this because the only new major characters are franziska and pearl; though pearl’s relationship with her family does shed more light on mia and maya’s past relationship, franziska is very, very distanced from phoenix and isn’t properly expanded on throughout the game aside from small moments in trials and her post-credits scene with edgeworth. aa4 works so great because it’s able to take that classic formula of “introduction case > dynamic exploration case > dynamic exploration case > huge loredrop finale” and do something completely new with it through the utilization of its fresh set of characters and creative storyline choice (they absolutely didnt HAVE to disbar phoenix and choose the route of a new protag in aa4—they totally could’ve just kept telling phoenix’s story as they had previously—but they did what they did and it went so fucking hard), as well as stronger writing due to the amount of time for which the series had existed, which allowed for the writers to get more comfortable and more unique.

furthermore, i feel like people generally cite t&t or dgs as being the best-executed ace attorney games, but i don’t think that’s necessarily the case. first off, while i think that t&t is definitely a very strong choice (because it deviates so sharply and so well from the aa norm with its first, fourth, and fifth cases) 3-2 and 3-3 (as much as i love the stolen turnabout…) unfortunately fall victim to not being incredibly significant and feeling like a bit of a waste of time, ESPECIALLY recipe for turnabout. where 2-2 at least let us know more about maya and her family and, in the long run, set up for dahlia and iris’ narrative, 3-2 and 3-3 do basically. nothing, despite being pretty fun play-throughs. and, as i’ve mentioned, this is different in the case of aa4 because entirely new characters and dynamics are being explored for the very first time, just like they were in aa1; however, as i’ve also said, 4-2 and 4-3 simply have better quality of writing than 1-2 and 1-3 because ace attorney was such a more solidified series at this point in time.

and second, the reason why i feel very hesitant to label dgs (both combined) as “the best” is because, while dgs2 is executed to near-perfection in my opinion, the entirety of dgs1 is very much so just setting up for it. dgs2 is very unique in that EVERY SINGLE ONE of its cases is part of an overarching storyline (even 2-2, albeit more loosely), and the reason why it’s so enthralling to play is that every case leaves you wanting more and more due to the sheer amount of unanswered questions that are dropped, which all culminate in 2-5. however, the game as a whole is ABSOLUTELY riding on the coattails of dgs1, because it hinges on the first game to introduce its characters, relationships, and important plot elements. dgs1 is essential to dgs2’s existence, but it’s just SO boring to play through on its own because it’s essentially one huge setup for 2-3 through 2-5, and the cases feel rather bland because of that. you have to sit through 15-20 hours of dgs1–which in my opinion does not expand NEARLY enough on the stories of its characters, especially susato and van zieks (herlock and iris are kind of different cases so they don’t really suffer from this in my opinion)—before u can reach the absolute brainexplosion (for lack of a better term) that is dgs2. dgs2 cannot exist without the setup that dgs1 provides for it, but dgs1 is uninteresting to play through because it’s unnecessarily long and its Big Case doesn’t have a any sort of significant, emotional meaning to any of the main characters like…every single other one before it did. which i don’t think is INHERENTLY a bad thing, but that makes it harder to appreciate the case for what it is and make a connection to it. i think that dgs is absolutely amazing, but its problem is that it needs two entire games—both of which are weak individually—to tell one story. D

tldr: aa4 good bc it repurposes the classic ace attorney formula into something new and exiting + its better than dgs and t&t because its more cohesive and does not fall victim to Useless Second And Third Case Syndrome. idrk what the point of this was sorry i was just thinking because i reeeeeallym really really like aa4 and also dgs and t&t but like i like aa4 more. anyways. Bye

[dumbledore-and-grindelwald]

not so sound like a grindelwald apologist but is gellert really that awful like aberforth claimed he was that summer? i mean yeah he was expelled from durmstrang but we all know newt and hagrid were expelled from hogswart as well but they are clearly not bad person. it's just... i cant really imagine albus fell in love with a person who willing to kill at the age of 16-17 you know. i mean yeah albus admit he pretend not to see how gellert really was, but can he really close his eyes to someone he thought is a murderer? obviously gellert is more brutal than albus but i dont think at 16-17, he was already a murderer. i think ariana accident is the first time he involved in an incident that result in someone being dead and he started become murderous and willing to kill at much later stage. of course at that time he and albus already shared hatred to muggle, but i dont think it's something personal like what happened to albus. i mean at the time, it's only around 150 years after the witch hunting period, i imagine the relationship between wizards and muggle world is still tense. i think gellert start being really radicalized around the time of ww1, a brutal meaningless war caused by muggle and clearly affected the wizarding world, and when he saw visions of yet ANOTHER muggle war that is even worse than the last, that's when he snapped and became really extreme because in his mind, muggle didnt learn and would never stop if there is no one stopping them. I mean i saw people claimed gellert lied in CoG and he is just a bigot who hates muggle and use ww2 as an excuse, well they coule be right we dont know until we saw gellert backstory but i think it would be a missed opportunity if that's the route they choose for him i hope it made sense, english was not my first language

I disagree with most of this. I’ll mention that Albus never hated Muggles. He simply thought that the Wizards shouldn’t be oppressed and living in fear. The two are very different things. It’s why he emvisioned a society in which the muggles DID have a place and the result would be for their own good too, as opposed to Gellert who never planned for them to have basic rights.

As for Grindelwald:

1) For starters, Aberforth never claims Grindelwald was awful that Summer in its entirety (at least the way I read it). He doesn't even judge him morally in harsh terms when he talks to Harry. He simply shares events:

-Gellert initially laughed at him and then accused him of not understanding that his and Albus' plan would create a better world, even for Ariana.

-He says that Grindelwald tortured him.

Both of these are events. I don't think he attributes to Gellert something that is not indeed there.

2) Hagrid was falsely accused and  Newt took the fall for something Leta caused. This is not the case with Gellert. Skeeter mentions that he did experiments that even Durmstrang, which was more tolerant when it comes to dark magic, could not ignore.

I’ll accept that Skeeter is trash so her information could be sensationalized, but in his letter, when Albus says that they should use as little force as possible, he mentions that THIS was Gellert’s mistake at Durmstrang. Albus’ source is Gellert himself so Gellert definitely did something shady.

3)Interestingly enough, Albus is a much harsher narrator than Aberforth is.because his perspective about Gellert’s actions is coloured by more emotion and he KNEW more. 

For example he paints Gellert as someone who at the age of 16-17 was interested and in having an army of dead bodies:

The Resurrection Stone – to him, though I pretended not to know it, it meant an army of Inferi!

Also, this is much more condemning than anything Aberforth said in my opinion:

Grindelwald lost control. That which I had always sensed in him, though I pretended not to, now sprang into terrible being.

Albus himself saw Gellert as someone with pent up anger who had a constant darker side. No one is saying that he was a murderer yet, but when Albus says that Gellert vanished with ‘[...] his schemes for Muggle torture’, it seems that he had a vague idea even then of Gellert’s disinterest in drawing a line.

_________________________________________

Now, we don’t know what drives Gellert. 

It could be that he was raised in a bigoted family, since he seems to come from old money.

It could be something deeper.

Gellet’s muggle-hatred pre-existed WWI. His and Albus’ summer was in 1899, more than a decade before the period 1914-18. 

BUT Gellert could see glimpses of the future. So the one ‘excuse’ I’ll give him is this: Since Gellert’s powers as a seer seem to be as natural to him as Queenie’s legilimency to her, what happens if a kid or teen who has not experienced violence starts seeing visions of violence, of war, of death and destruction? What kind of psychological effect could this have, what anger and fear could it create and how would such a person end up if they proclaimed themselves the savior of their kind and set themselves on a radical path and were convinced of their own righteousness and of the necessity of what they were doing?

I think that this would give depth to his motives without erasing the corruption of his methods.

[cuchufletapl]

For Edling Week 2022. Day 7: Fanwork of fanwork | AU | Crossover | Headcanon | Free

Sort of mixing two prompts together with a Miraculous Ladybug AU, because why not. Artwork instead of a one-shot fic this time.

Some further thoughts for this AU below the cut:

I'm not the best at coming up with original names so I'll go the easy route and have them be Fullmetal Bug and Hēi Māo (is that correct? I don't speak Chinese, I had to look it up. Feel free to correct me).

The ladybug yoyo is actually attached to Ed's metal hand.

Also, as a civilian, his prosthetics look different.

Regarding their superhero suit designs, I tried to base them off slightly their main canon outfits because obviously I'm very original. So, Hēi Māo keeps the loose pants and the strips around his forearms, while Fullmetal Bug keeps the iconic red coat (except on the back it's got a ladybug symbol instead of the Flamel).

It's set in modern-day Amestris.

They're trying to get the Peacock miraculous back from a creepy-as-fuck guy that calls himself Father as his villain name.

Unlike in the show though, instead of akumatising random civilians who are having a bad day, he always sends one of the same six minions to every attack (Pride, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, and Wrath; although luckily, only one at a time. For the first season at least).

It's reverse lovesquare! Fullmetal Bug has a crush on Hēi Māo while Ling has a crush on Edward. I just think it fits better that way.

Ling is still a royal (though Xing is a constitutional monarchy so he doesn't give that much of a shit about it) and he's actually an exchange student for a year. So his superhero persona is on a time limit to defeat Father.

Ed and Al live with Izumi and Sig.

And Ed is trans because he’s always implicitly trans in all of my fanworks even when it’s not mentioned.

Hohenheim gave them the miraculouses (in secret, like in ML canon). He was planning on giving Alphonse the Black Cat but some unspecified stuff happened, Ling ended up with it instead and he turned out to be a great fit.

Speaking of Al. When at some point Ed finds out that Hohenheim gave him the miraculous (and after the angry shouting, a punch to the face, etc), he gets to choose temporary miraculous holders—his first choice is obviously his brother. He gives him the Dog miraculous because Al is a cat person and he thinks it's funny.

Winry figures out both of their identities after a couple of months. She thinks the whole situation is pretty hilarious so she doesn't say shit to either of them.

Lan Fan always knew. She's the only one seemingly unaffected by the ML face blindness. She didn't say anything because she simply understood that it had to be a secret.

The Mustang Unit are police detectives and, unlike ML canon, are actually, actively trying to find out Father's identity and arrest him.

They collaborate with the superheros, but also it's a bit of a gray area since 1) technically Fullmetal and Hēi Māo are fighting outside of the law and 2) they're very obviously teenagers. So to work around this, the Central Police Department has Mustang keep and eye on them so that they don't do anything more illegal than what it's been agreed they need to do to defeat the akumas.

(Mustang doesn’t really care though. He mostly just ribs them from time to time. Hawkeye and the rest of the team keep tabs on them to make sure that they’re doing alright and to offer them an adult ear to talk to about their troubles if they need it.)

Later on Greed appears on the scene (OG Greed, with the Devil's Nest gang, although they're not chimeras here). He basically becomes Fullmetal and Hēi Māo's trump-card since he also wants to see his dad go down.

And that's pretty much all I have!

[sembrilliantstar]

From Jeffree´s Interview with Miss KL (June 6)

Impeccable makeup, big hair, and even bigger heels are just a few of the characteristics that embody the creative aesthetic of internet sensation and up-and-coming clothing designer, Jeffree Star. While most teenagers are researching colleges to attend and possible life routes to follow, Jeffree already had his career intact at an early age. From accidental musical artist, to not-so-accidental innovative makeup artist, this young entrepreneur has taken full advantage of the exploding opportunities that have come his way.  Get to know our June This Miss KL, and see why we've fallen in love with the down to earth, out-of-the-box individual that is Jeffree Star.

You were born as Jeffrey Lynn Steninger and now go by the name of Jeffree Star. Can you tell me a little bit about the transition? What exactly spawned the idea to change your name and image?

Well first of all, no one really knew how to pronounce my last name. But besides that, I really just created a character to escape from my past, and get away from the person I knew I wasn't.  You can't choose your family or parents, or the circumstances you're born into. I went through a lot of crazy shit in my childhood and I really wanted to transform myself into someone else and go the complete opposite direction of everyone else around me. 

How would you describe yourself as a teenager? How are you different now?

We all grow up. As a teenager I was really angry. I had a lot of animosity towards people. Now I'm totally laid back, but back then I would just be really mean to people who would look at me weird and give me dirty looks. But now I don't care what anyone thinks of me.  When you're younger, you're really insecure as a person, and I was just really crazy. I always feel old when I look back at being 16 after you've grown so much as a person. There's still a lot of similarities between now and my youth , I still like to scream at people for fun and actwild, but at least my makeup skills have gotten better.

What inspired your love for makeup artistry?

When I was about 12 years old, I began experimenting with makeup over the influence of my mother. I constantly had my nose in the pages of Vogue, and would start replicating some of my favorite editorial looks on myself. I was in love with the idea of being able to change yourself; the idea of being a chameleon and putting on a mask. In high school so many people would complement me on my own makeup. Not once did I get any negative comments.  It first started as a curiosity, and then I started doing makeup for other people at school for dances and stuff. It was just a really positive thing. It's kind of funny because not an interview goes by that I don't get the question, "Were you bullied as a teen for wearing makeup?"  That was never the case. People actually appreciated the way I looked.  I wasn't bullied until I started doing music and grew a following on the internet. Now I get bullied all the time. It's reverse. Back then I would have been more sensitive to the insults, but now I feel like I've heard every insult in the book.

How did you first get into making music?

 It was actually just kind of like an experiment that started when me and a few friends decided to mess around and record some stuff at a house. It was really low quality and simple…but we were just having fun. I ended up putting it on the internet and was super surprised to see that it received amazing feedback. I was pretty shocked at the positive reaction from everyone. Out of nowhere people started booking me for shows without me even trying.  I've never even played a show before, but the phone was ringing off the hook, and I was getting an overwhelmingly amount of emails. Obviously nothing was planned, and at the time I would just bring around my IPod with the music and perform that way. Then I started doing real tours, like Warped tour, and gradually started headlining my own tours. Traveled the whole world, and now I'm here. I'm now signed to AKONS label, and currently working on my next CD since my break. Not sure when I'm going to release the whole album, yet. I have a single coming out this summer, but the actual release date  won't be for some time. Art takes time.

What inspires you when writing music?

When writing new music, I usually like to take various experiences from my life and put them in the form of a song. It can be as simple as a crazy night out. For instance, in my single "Prom Night" from last year, we went to this prom-themed party in Vegas, where everyone was acting real ratchet and psycho, and for some reason that really inspired me to sit down and write a song about that experience. Just aspects of my life. The next album I'm doing is called Concealer which is much more serious and taps into my relationships and love life, which is stuff I didn't really touch on in the past.  I'm growing up, and I want my music to reflect that.

Is there an emotion or idea you want to get across to the listener?

I want them to feel more depth. I feel like most people think all I ever talk about is partying and sex, but even with my first album "Beauty Killer" a few years ago, half of the record was filled with serious music, like deep dark love songs, which is the path I'm looking to keep following. Life is not just all about sex and makeup, and that's what I want to showcase in this upcoming album. There's way more to me than that.

What is one memory you will never forget from touring?

There's just so many I can hardly choose, but I think the one memory I will never forget is getting the opportunity to meet the fans, and the people who have supported me since day one.

A lot of people my age can mostly recall first hearing about you during the Myspace era. How has social media (Myspace specifically) helped flourish your career as a makeup artist, model, and musical artist?

I really give the internet in general credit for just helping me START everything I've ever done. I couldn't imagine living in a world where I couldn't just click on something and show the world. I'm lucky enough that being myself just worked for me. It's crazy. A lot of people always ask for advice about how I did what I did, but there's really no blue print to it. I think just always being real and staying true to myself really helped me get to where I am. It's a lot of hard word. I know that people half the time think that sitting on the internet all day is a waste of time, but really, it's hard work, there's so many outlets and apps to use to update, and always stay on the new thing. When Instagram first started, no one knew how big it would get. Now when you walk into a restaurant everyone seems to be on Instagram. It's cool though. The internet changed my life, and I wouldn't be where I am now without it.

We live in a world that unfortunately judges people by their appearance. What is one assumption people mostly have about you when first seeing you/meeting you?

It's weird, but people usually assume that I'm really mean. I don't even know why. People have said that I look intimidating. I get that a lot. Maybe it's the eyebrows or the makeup, or the fact that I don't really smile in pictures (it's not really my thing. People get so mad when I don't smile). When people first meet me, I always get, "Wow you're actually REALLY nice!" and I'm like, "Yes, why would you think otherwise?"  I guess it's the vibe that comes across over the internet. I'm confident, and I think people take that the wrong way. I just get a lot of times, "You're way more down to earth" or "You're a lot nicer than I thought." People just see hair, makeup, clothes and tattoos, and think that I'm just this really superficial person, but my appearance doesn't dictate my life.

Who would you say the typical "Jeffree Star" fan is?

My fan base is 90% girls. I feel like they get confidence from me to be who they are but I think it's just people that get individuality and fun, and like fashion and makeup.

Where do you see your career expanding? Is there anything you'd like to accomplish in the next 5 years?

I'm really just an entrepreneur. I have my music which I'm getting back into, and now I have the clothing line which is just jumping off. I mean, my brand is going to be on the Warped Tour, we're killing it on Karmaloop - there's just so much going on right now. The next thing I want to do is work on the Jeffree Start makeup line which I think is a no-brainer.  People keep asking me about when I'm going to start my own makeup line, so I've been secretly developing that.  I would also love to do higher end shoes and clothes, candles, fragrances…maybe an adult toy line. I have so many ideas. There are so many possibilities. For now, I'm taking it one step at a time…who knows where you'll see me next!

[julietaxherrera]

INITIAL SIT-DOWNS: TASK 001.

         Julieta was one of the people low on the list of people to question about Greer’s disappearance. As a transfer student, she didn’t know Greer the way anyone who went to school with her would know, but she was still on the list to be questioned because of her social media. The Californian didn’t know if that was common knowledge yet. Hopefully not. Just because she was at the same place as someone didn’t mean they knew each other. Still the police had a way of making her feel uncomfortable and guilty. Julieta knew how to look innocent though. The scared look on her face was exaggerated as she sat down across from one of the officers. She looked down, trying her best to keep the innocent look on her face.

         “I don’t need like a lawyer or anything right?” she asked, innocence in her voice. Likely not, Julieta had never been in legal trouble before, but she would know if she needed a lawyer. Still, she needed the police to think that her lawyer was just one phone call away in case. She knew better than to make the questioning go down that route though.

         “No, we’re just asking all the students about Miss Morrison so we can see where we need to concentrate our efforts.”

         Read: who to concentrate on.

         Not on Julieta.

         “Right, she’s been missing for longer than like normal, right? What’s the probability of finding her?” Julieta questioned, tilting her head to the side and looking up slightly. Don’t act too interested in the investigation. Not that she was or anything, but she wasn’t right now. At least not right now.

         “We’re not at liberty to talk about the investigation. This isn’t meant to take long. Why don’t we go ahead and get started?”

         Read: no more questions now.

         “Right, sorry. Yes, go ahead.”

         “When did you last see Greer?” the one officer asked.

         “I don’t know that I’ve ever really met her.” She was a transfer student after all and there weren’t that many chances they could have met, though Julieta did meet her on the summer. “I mean sure there’s that one clip on Instagram, but I didn’t know everyone at that party. It was a sponsor thing, you know?” Julieta pulled up the photo and showed it to the officer. Better to be upfront on these things. Give them information and gain their trust. “That would have been the last place I saw her. Though like I said, we really didn’t know each other.”

         She watched the officer scribble notes and then looked up at her, no emotion in their eyes. They were making this difficult. “Do you remember speaking to her at the party?”

         “My entire summer was like that. Meeting people from different companies at different parties. I can’t remember speaking to her, but I can’t remember if it just wasn’t... you know, meaningful. There were a lot of new people that I’d never met before. So can I say that I remember speaking to her? Not really. But does it mean I spoke to her about anything important? No. And I wouldn’t have known her well enough to know if something was off.” Not true. “I really wish I could be of more help.” Julieta pretended to be sad. Obviously she wouldn’t want anyone to be missing, but this was a different situation.

         “You can’t remember anything from that night?”

         “Oh, no. I do remember it, but like I said, if we had a meaningful conversation, I might remember something. We just didn’t. It was a whirlwind night of me getting to meet people. She wasn’t the one of the people I was told to pay attention to that night. So I... I’m sorry, but I don’t think I have any information that can help you regarding that night.” She put a little bit of force into her voice because she didn’t want to seem like she was a push over. Choose another line of questioning, she thought. 

          “What prompted you to transfer to Ogden then?” 

          “That’s not really relevant, but my other school wasn’t giving me options I needed. There are a ton of different rumors out there though. Pick one. Are we done here?” she tilted her head to the side, looking at the cop. 

          “Just one more question. You wouldn’t have wanted Greer to disappear, would you?” 

          “Absolutely not! I just transferred to this school and we didn’t know each other. Obviously, it’s a great sadness. I’m sure her family misses her a lot. I hope they find her soon. I mean people just… they don’t go missing.” Julieta gave another innocent look at the officer. “I really hope you find something soon, you know.” She bit down on her bottom lip and looked back down at the ground. Of course she didn’t want anyone to go missing. Even someone who knew more about her than she wanted people to know. Julieta had reasons for wanting her to shut up, but that didn’t mean she wanted Greer gone. Still at least Julieta could fall back on being a new student. 

          “That’s it for now, Miss Herrera. We’ll be in contact if you need anything else.” 

          Forcing a smile as she stood up, Julieta walked out of the room, trying not to let her face betray how scary this was. Hopefully this was enough to get the cops off her tail for a little bit. And at least most of what she said wasn’t a lie. Maybe there was more to the story, but the officers needed to be more specific if they wanted more specific answers. 

[lyd-jms-lwrs]

Heads and Three Tales - Foundation Art and Design Final Project 2022

This is the story of my journey with this art project and how I learned to love my art. Enjoy.

PROPOSAL

Something I can say with a lot of confidence about what I have learnt on this course is that art is not that scary. I had a pretty traumatic experience during my art a-level, so much so that I became utterly terrified of art. It was only during the 2020 lockdown when I, and like a lot of other people, started enjoying old passions again and started to rekindle old fires within us. I took a year out to let the fire keep growing, and it did very slowly. I would say at this point it has become a giant bonfire. My original plan was to take two years out but I have a feeling if I did that, then my fire would still be relatively small. This course definitely threw gas onto the flames and I am very grateful for it.

This course has helped me gain interests in mediums that I didn't even know that I had, for example like lino printing. I had only done lino printing once during my first year of a-level and it was taught very differently (they never mentioned the lino needed to be warm for it to work). I also realised how much I enjoy the interactive route with my work – the more interactive the better. In past projects, I have noticed that I stick to a medium that I am comfortable in, my GCSE was practically only digital art that I had printed out and stuck in a book. I did that because it was what I was most comfortable with at the time. I don’t like surprises and I don’t like not having control – that's why other mediums scared me. But now, the idea of using multiple mediums only fills me with excitement.

When brainstorming this project, my first thought was immediately interactive again. I think since I want to make interactive stories in the future, I am always drawn to the idea. However, instead of doing a story again, I took a step back and looked at my other interests, one of them being games, the digital kind and the not digital kind. Since one of my interests is character design and it is something I enjoy doing in my spare time as well, I wanted to design three characters for this game that I wanted to create. Obviously, I do not have enough time to create a fully playable video game but I thought back to games I enjoyed taking part in and one that kept coming up in my mind was the choose-your-own-adventure book Romeo and/or Juliet. In this book, you have to turn to pages depending on the options that you choose and it is one of the best books I own. But, again I ran into the problem of not having enough time to write a full length choose your own adventure book, so I went back to the drawing board. I went back to the drawing board many times and came to the conclusion that a book format would be the best option. The original plan was to do a big flow chart, but due to me not researching how much space I would get at this exhibition, I had to do an emergency change to a book format. Also, when I starting typing my stories, I realised that if I wanted to do a flow chart, I would have had to remove nearly all detail and that would have just made the whole thing underwhelming. So, book it is!

I got my format, but now I need to get my concept. What is it going to be this time? I thought back to my last project which has a fantasy and mystery aspect to it and knew that I would be safe should I decide to take that route again. I would be safe but I also think that I would be bored. I began thinking about stuff that had happened recently in the world, or what is going to happen to the world and came to the conclusion that I was going to make an apocalypse themed project. Three apocalypses, three stories, your choices. I wanted to add an aspect of reality to this project, so two of my apocalypses are based around events that could actually happen one day: a nuclear apocalypse and a plague apocalypse. The third apocalypse will be a fantasy themed one.

I felt the need to include a fantasy themed apocalypse to make sure that it is not taken completely seriously. It is just a game after all. And people like zombie games! Think to Last of Us (2013) by Naughty Dog games has won many awards. However, like Last of Us I did not only want to focus on the zombie aspect of it all – that would just be boring to me. So, that is where the idea of creating characters that would stick with you came into play. I wanted to focus on the relationship you build with these characters in this dire situations and how that can change people.

The artists that I will be researching would be down the war art path, like Langlands and Bell who created the House of bin Laden interactive piece. There is also the book Unofficial War Artist by Peter Kennard. That book is very interesting since it used collages as the medium – a very different medium to what I originally planned but am definitely interested in incorporating. I also looked at choose-your-own-adventure video games, specifically ones that had choices that could affect the whole story instead of one character. Games like Until Dawn and Life is Strange. I also liked the idea of having to drive readers into a corner like how they do in these games – they force you to make decisions you don’t really want to make and that’s what makes them stand out.

The problems that I encountered weren’t severe but they did cause a couple hours of extreme stress. My teacher’s reaction did not help but it’s ok because I did it. The first problem was that everyone I explained my idea to, did not really understand what this would look like. It was only until I stood up and used a wall to explain how this would look (which turned out to be pointless because I changed the way that I would format this project anyway but it was something to learn from)

One of the big problems was to do with my original format. I was drawn to do a flow chart because I had convinced myself that it would be easier – just a few bubbles of text and a simple story line, how hard could this possibly be? Well, it turns out, extremely hard. I had ran into a problem when I has been told how much space I was allowed for my project and it was a lot smaller than I would have wanted. I was then told that I could use some wall space and I thought that that had solved my problem and I went about my day. However, the problem came crashing down on me again when I had started writing later that evening. I already had 1,500+ words in my document and I had only just met Box (I wrote her story first). In that moment I knew that I had to change my plan. If I wanted to stick to a flow chart then I would have had to cut out about 99% of the details and it would be so disappointing. I had called my older sister in panic and asked what to do. I knew what I needed to do, I was just incredibly intimidated by it. Fortunately, I decided it would be best to do the book format instead.

All of the other problems I encountered I could easily fix such as time management and how to use inDesign. Luckily, I used to play around on the Adobe programs a lot so I can easily figure out how to use them. As for time management, I just decided to be more strict on myself. No social media, no video games, get up at a reasonable time and take breaks when necessary. It surprised me every time how much work I can actually do if I just don’t let myself get distracted.

Probably the most important skill that I need to learn to be able to complete this FMP is time keeping. Yes, I have to do a number of things for this project to work but I am confident that I can bring this to life, provided I use my time well. My project will be a mix of mediums since I want to show a variation of techniques that I have learned on this course. I will use my passion for character design to bring the three main characters into existence, but I will need to use a mix of mediums to fully bring them to life. My work will be displayed as a big wall piece, separated into three sections, each showing a different story. I want the viewer to feel like they can pick whichever story they want. I want them to experience the fun of the game but also acknowledge the reality of the stories – this could happen to our world. Around the three sections, I wanted to add objects to create a sort of environment for the viewer to step into. For example, in the fantasy apocalypse, the viewer might encounter the antagonist – a psycho killer who wears a big, vintage dress and wears a cardboard box on her head who also happens to have a fascination for knifes.The viewer will know that she is the antagonist because around the area where her game is, there will be printed wanted posters of her. This is to try and bring some of the world to the exhibition.To evaluate this project and to keep track of what I have done, I will keep a reflective journal. I noticed that this helped a lot during this course and I could see how my opinions changed on certain topics as the weeks went on. I think feedback from teachers and fellow students would also help me develop this project.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LUNATIC PARADE ;; Kou Route ー Sub Scenario w/Subaru

–> In between the main route chapters, the player is taken to the area map of the Parade where you can freely roam around. There are four different places to visit, each with different mini games and sub scenarios to enjoy.

AREA: GLIMMER DARK STREET

CHARACTER: SUBARU

ー The scene starts in Reine de Aji’s store

Yui: ( I lost sight of Kou-kun. I wonder where he went...? )

Kou: No, it has to be this one, right? It’s not even a question~

Subaru: Che. Fuck off...It’s obviously this one!

Yui: ( Kou-kun and...Subaru-kun...? )

( Are they bickering, perhaps...? Oh no... )

ー Yui rushes over to them

Yui: What’s wrong, you guys!?

Kou: Ah, M-neko-chan! You arrived right on cue!

Subaru: Hah, exactly. We can just ask her directly now, can’t we? 

It’d save us some time...

Kou: Mmh, agreed~ Let’s do that then. ...Hey, M-neko-chan?

Yui: ...Yes?

Kou: Between this hair accessory which has a big ribbon attached to it...

*Rustle*

Kou: And this one decorated with a gemstone...Which would you prefer?

Yui: Eh? Hmー... Let me think...

( Both are lovely but...If I had to make a choice... )

...The one with the ribbon, I guess? 

Subaru: Kuh...

Kou: Hooray~!

I knew it! Didn’t I tell you, Subaru-kun~?

Subaru: Che...

Yui: Um...What is this about...?

Kou: Listen. When I said that you’d definitely like this hair ribbon... 

Subaru-kun suddenly insisted that the one with the gemstone would be much better for you. 

However, I had faith that you’d definitely choose the one I had picked out, you know?

Yui: ( ...Geez, Kou-kun... )

Subaru: Hmph. Have it your way then. I’m leavin’...

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah, Subaru-kun...! 

B-But...I thought the one you selected was very lovely as well!

Subaru: ...!

...Hah. Shut up! Just leave me alone!

*THUD*

Yui: ...Kyah!

Kou: Come on! Don’t suddenly turn violent, Subaru-kun!

Subaru: Che. It’s ‘cause you keep pestering me!

ー He runs away

Yui: Oh no...Seems like I upset him...

Kou: Ah~ He’ll be fine, trust me. You don’t need to worry about it, okay?

Yui: ...But...

Kou: I’m sure he just got flustered because you were trying to make him feel better? 

I’m sure he only kicked the wall just now to try and hide his own embarrassment~

Yui: Y-You think so...?

Kou: Yeah. I mean, you also saw how he had turned bright red all the way up to his ears, right? 

Ahーah. Subaru-kun is so easy to read, it makes it worth messing with him. 

Ah, actually, why don’t you put the accessory he chose in your hair...

and then the two of us can go after him together!

Yui: Eh...!? 

Kou: I’m convinced it’ll leave him bamboozled! Ahaha! I kind of want to see that!

Yui: G-Geez, Kou-kun!

( He’s really getting a kick out of teasing Subaru-kun... )

ーー THE END ーー

[rantrambles]

Ever get so upset you make a Tumblr account to vent?

I haven’t even listened to The Penumbra Podcast yet but it’s on my list because it’s insanely popular and the cosplays I’ve seen are hot as hell (A+ to all the cosplayers I’ve seen you’ve done great work). Now, with the recent news surrounding the podcast, I’ll wait till it’s done if I ever do get into it. I’m Asian and part of the LGBT community but I’m not nonbinary so I can’t say much about the trans represention in the art but I wanted to add my two cents on the matter as a person of color and someone examining the situation from the outside. Also, before I get deeply into it, I’m not the only person of color with opinions on this matter so if people have their own frustrations and criticism with the racism in The Penumbra Podcast and/or the new artist they hired, definitely listen to them too. These are my own personal opinions, and I’m sure other people will disagree and that’s fine. We’re all going to have different views on this so bear that in mind. Also, feel free to correct me or add anything if I’ve missed some information. Here’s a great breakdown of the whole situation for those that don’t know what happened. Finally, I was very hesitant to post this, but I felt it was important because I make a statement at the end on how race should be presented in a podcast format so if you are interested in making a podcast and want to have a diverse range of characters, please skip to the end to read those thoughts.

I’ll start off by saying, I’m not even that upset with the new artist that The Penumbra Podcast hired. I know that statement alone is controversial but I don't personally know them, and I’m not going to judge who they are as a person by a few pieces of art they’ve made. They are the least of the problems that I have here. Since the announcement and the backlash, I’ve been scrolling through the artist’s Instagram account and I can tell why people find the designs offensive, but I’m also comparing the designs to the artist’s other work, and I honestly believe that’s just their style. They’ve exaggerated the features of just about every character they’ve made, regardless of race or gender. From what I’ve seen the sharp angles and overly round curves in the anatomy that make some of the character’s features more jarring are how they prefer to draw. I’m sure they’re capable of drawing more realistic proportions but for the most part they’re art aims to call attention, be bold, and create distinguished features. Not inherently a bad thing on its own.

And yeah I’d understand the issue if this were a scenario where the artist heard how these characters acted in the podcast and thought “hey, obviously this character is a black woman because they are super strong and therefore must have big muscles, no other woman could look like that” or “hey, this character has to be Asian because they act super seductive sometimes better draw them as such.” But from my understanding the race was already decided by previous official artists and a general description of the characters were already generated by the audience, similar to how The Magnus Archives leaned towards drawing scrawny Jon with black, greying hair and dark skin. The new artists couldn’t really change those features even if those features aren’t described in canon because a depiction that strayed too far from popular fandom interpretation would make the character’s unrecognizable to the fanbase. 

I think the reason this became such a big issue for most people is because the new Penumbra artist used their exaggerated art style when making these characters and people of color and nonbinary folks already see themselves drawn as these exaggerated caricatures all the time (with those images being used to further discriminate against them). I’m sure the artist didn’t mean for their art to be offensive, but that of course doesn’t change how it was received. 

According to some, the poses and expressions the artists chose did not fully represent the characters entirely and only served to further perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and I’ll have to take their word for it because I still haven’t listened to the podcast so I have no idea how the characters act. But again much of the criticism is based on the one line-up and doing a deeper dive into the artist’s work I managed to find artwork that was much less offensive. Here some art where Vespa is depicted in a non-violent pose and one where Vespa is in a threatening pose but not an overly violent one. Here is Peter drawn in a non-seductive pose. Hopefully, the artist truly does keep the criticisms in mind as they work on the new official art. I’m just not the type of person that wants to get the pitchforks out and cause this particular person to lose a job they seemed really excited about over their old character line-up, especially when that person is also part of a marginalized group.

Again, that’s just my opinion on that particular artist. Those who are offended by their art are still valid in how they feel, and the artist should absolutely take their criticism to heart to better how they represent the characters.

What I’m more upset about is that I think The Penumbra Podcast should never have released official art for their characters in the first place and that’s their mistake that they refuse to own up about. They have made it clear that the story was never meant to portray characters of colors, a fact emphasized by the fact they hired mostly white actors from the start. They only started releasing art of the characters to get a profit. And the thing is they know what they did was wrong. All I had to do was search Penumbra Podcast racism and there is a note on their website saying that they archived some old official art.

“We have discontinued all Penumbra merchandise that uses the original character designs, and in the meantime, any profits on the sales of that merchandise will go to the For The Gworls project. We also realize that the depiction of these characters as POC, while not appropriate for us to use in our marketing and merchandise, has nonetheless become personally meaningful to many POC listeners. For that reason, and because we do not wish to distance ourselves from our mistake, we are keeping these images on our website for archival purposes. Though we do want to make it clear that many of the main/featured voice actors are white and that we did not write the characters to represent any specific POC experience, you are, as always, free to imagine these characters in any way that you like.”

I went to their shop and they still sell posters and pins with the character’s faces on them, but they are donating it to a good cause so hopefully that stays the same. However, I still find it a little uncomfortable that they are still selling character merch and have plans to continue selling character merch. They have no right to dissuade the fans that already found representation in the characters, but they also have no right to profit off the representation that was built, regardless if they made the story. 

Let’s compare this to another piece of popular media. I love Avatar the Last Airbender and, I liked the ATLA voice actors just fine but there should have been more people of color doing voice acting behind the screen too. The voice actors for that show were mainly white too, however, the creators knew that they would be making poc characters. That’s what makes the difference. Did they still choose to go with mostly white voice actors? Yes. Could they have done better and pay more people of color? Also yes. But I’m not as furious at them because they did their research on the cultures they were basing the ATLA world off of and intentionally gave us a show where Asians could see characters that looked like them represented on the screen. The Penumbra Podcast did not do any of that. Again, they openly admitted that it was never their intention to make the character’s people of color when they made the podcast so that goes to show no research was made to properly represent specific cultures. The color of the character’s skin in their official designs therefore became more of aesthetic choice rather than representation, and it wasn’t even their aesthetic choice to begin with!

Race isn’t a color you can just throw onto the character because you feel like it. So I want this to be a lesson to anyone that wants to make a podcast: if you want to include poc characters please do some research into the cultures you plan to represent the way you would with any other form of media. Just because the audience can’t see the characters and just because it’s harder to smoothly introduce the character’s appearance doesn’t mean you’re allowed to be lazy on how you present the characters. Do research before you start writing the first episode and take the time to hire poc actors. Hiring poc actors is actually the least that can be done to show representation. Also, since the audience cannot visually see the race of the characters on a podcast and it can’t typically be described the way you would in a book, you’ll have to be creative. It’s not my job to say how, but my suggestions would be, before the fans come up with their own image of the character, you need to establish race in the first few episodes or release character profiles on a website so that the fans know you canonically intended the characters to be of a certain race even if you aren’t able to mention it in the actual podcast. If you are unwilling to do any of these then the best route is to avoid stating race at all and allow the audience to build their own representation into your form of media. However, once this happens, you are not allowed to profit off popular fan interpretations. You lose all rights to create official art or images of the characters. You cannot use “we have a diverse cast of characters” when you market your story. It doesn’t matter whether you created the content or not, you did not create the representation for those minority groups.

It’s one thing for fans to build their own inclusivity into a form of art like a podcast, but it’s another thing for the creators who never worked to make the representation happen to take advantage of the representation that the listeners built for themselves. Thank you for attending my TedTalk.

[cuddlesslut]

Part FOUR : Chance Encounters

Atsumu x fem reader, Suna x fem reader, Hinata x fem reader

Tags: slight NSFW, Heavy Angst.

A/N: so this will NOT be the last chapter there will be more. Just like there are more choices now lol, don’t be shy to tell me who you route for. Also let me know if y’all want more NSFW I’m chill with writing it . ALSO slight canon divergence the timing on when Hinata comes back from Brazil is different, obviously in the Manga he’s only gone for two years. In this story it is longer. Hinata isn’t on MSBY yet. Also we are only caught up on 5 months since the dreaded birthday.

Part Three: Memories

Part Five: Friends

You spent your birthday in some hotel room. Sitting on the plush bed still in your dress not bothering to change your curl in to a fetal position as sobs raked through you. Your whole world crashed down on you everything you knew was a lie. Your phone lit up with one last birthday message from some distant relative. You see the time it’s now one in the morning you’ve been laying here for hours you can’t understand how you have any liquid in your body left to cry but still tears trail down your cheeks as you look at your lock screen. It’s a photo from three Christmas’s ago. Atsumu held you close from behind as you pose in front of a festive Christmas tree. Your eyes are shut tight from laughter as the setter places a kiss to your cheek bone, his arms wrapped tightly around your waist. This was your favorite photo of the two of you, it always showed the realness in this candid shot. You remember laughing so hard from some cheesy joke he had just whispered in your ear. Your heart twists at the photo, a moment of anger slices through you. Was any of it real? You fling your phone at the wall effectively shattering the screen. You scream into the pillow. You wish you could feel numb to all of the emotions. But no ones that lucky. You aren’t sure when you feel asleep but you wake to find the remnants of tears stuck to your face. You move to the bathroom. You look like death. Your face is pale and eyes swollen and red. Your body aches from the fitful sleep you had. You grab a quick shower before putting on your comfiest pajamas and lay back down. All the energy is drained you look for your phone before remembering your fit of rage last night groan. You switch on the TV for some form of distraction but the gods must really hate you as it opens to a sports channel and you see him in all of his intensity standing on the volleyball court. Part of your brain pleads to change the channel but you must be a masochist as you watch him in all his usual glory. He commands the stadium as he goes up to serve. He looks perfectly fine like you hadn’t just walked out of his life. Like he hadn’t just ripped your world to shreds. You're finally turning the television off sitting in the silence thinking of the memories of your home. You ordered some takeout trying to settle the ache in your stomach. The food tasted bland, everything has lost its edge. The bed offers no comfort. The sunlight offers no warmth. It’s not long before you fall into another depression nap.

Waking up late in the evening you can’t stop your mind from making a stupid decision. But you miss him. You just want to see him. That’s how you end up outside of the door that leads to the home you shared with him. Trying to work up the courage to enter. His car was in his usual spot so you know he's here. A bitter thought run through you at the thought that while you were here he couldn’t be bothered to be home before two am at the earliest, yet the first night gone and here he is at home at ten o’clock. Silently you open the door. It was a mistake. You don’t make it even completely through the threshold before you hear the obnoxious moan and grunts, the sound of skin slapping. It makes you sick “OH Miya-San!” You hear some woman bellow out. You feel nauseous. You hurry out the door trying you best not to cause any noise to interrupt the activities in the house. You bend over you feel as though you’ll throw up right there on the spot. After calming yourself you make a way to a convenience store picking up a bottle of wine before heading back to you hotel room. There’s no way you’ll make it through the night sober.

The next morning you clean your self up before heading to the bank and clear out your joint account. Normally you’d feel bad taking the money but this cash was saved for your wedding and that would never happen now. You stopped by the phone store getting your own account not wanting anymore strings attached to the player. You spend the rest of your morning looking for a small affordable apartment. Luckily you were able to find one with in distance of your school and a reasonable price. It’s now the afternoon and you have to rush not wanting to be late for your class. Although it probably wouldn’t have made a difference if you had missed today, you barely pay attention. You find yourself back with the hotel walls.

You feel completely and utterly alone. You want nothing more to call your best friend or stop by Samu’s shop and cry on his shoulder while you eat some comfort food. But there is hesitation Suna was Atsumu's friend before he was yours, and you'll probably break down in tears just looking at Osamu he was his damn twin for heavens sake. What were you to them you wonder. You only got close to them because of the setter. Part of you wanted to believe that they cared about you and all of those friendships would still be there but you couldn’t. How could they want you around. You really question your place in their lives. It’s hard to trust in anything you had also believed Atsumu loved you and would never hurt you, yet that much was proven untrue. It's hard to trust in anything you feel or know. Another reason is your afraid of all of the memories you shared with them Atsumu ever present in those moments. You don’t want to think about him any more. You don’t want any remnants of that man In your life. While you want to believe Suna would be there for you, that he’d choose you. It was not a risk you were ready to take. You don’t think you could survive another heartbreak. It’s better to leave things as is, to cherish the good memories and not risk tainting them with pain.

It’s been two months since your birthday. You’ve moved into a quaint apartment. You got a job working at a little cafe to pay for rent. Between work and studying for your degree you try to keep yourself busy. It’s hard being on your own. You try to distract yourself with the things that brought you joy. Some days are better than others but all in all everything still hurts. Graduation is only a couple of months away so at least there’s something to look forward too. There are moments that come quite often that you miss your friends but you can’t bring yourself to reach out still untrusting. You look back sometimes and wonder where the lies stopped. You avoid everything that has to do his Atsumu Miya. Even the sight of a simple volleyball brings distress.

Three and half months later the cosmos played another prank on you. It was just another Friday afternoon and you were working in the cafe. You had just helped a young beautiful woman at the counter. She seemed so familiar but you couldn’t quit place it. You could see a puzzled look on her face. Then it hit you. You knew exactly who this woman was. She was the one with your ex fiancé at the restaurant that fateful night. The realization must have struck her too. Her eyes grew wide with worry. Although you weren’t expecting what she did next.

“I AM SO SORRY,” she basically yelling as she bows in front of you. “ I’m so sorry for the part I played in your pain.” She continues. You can tell she is really distressed. You coworkers and a few costumers look at the spectacle. Hating all of the attention now directed toward the both, you beg her to please stand.

“I need you to understand I had no idea, I would never have gone for a taken man.”

You sighed and sent a look to your coworker that you were going to take a quick break. “Would you like a cup of coffee,” you ask her. You never thought That you’d be sitting having coffee with the mistress of the only man you ever loved yet here you are. There’s an awkward silence for a moment. You don’t rush things you can see she’s also having a hard time trying to figure out where to start. You take a sip of your coffee as she finally speaks.

“My names Yuki,” she states.

“YN ,” you offer back.

“Well, umm YN I just want to say I am so sorry for wh-” you cut her off holding up your hand.

“You said you didn’t know, correct?” You send a glance at her raising your eyebrow. She nods.

“Are you still with him?” She sits up straight.

“Absolutely not,” she states with conviction “after you left I asked him what just happed and he explained who you were and I left.. well not with out dumping my drink in face" she gave a little giggle.

“Ha! Oh I wish I could have seen that,” you laughed picturing him drenched in the restaurant. “In that case you have nothing to apologize for, you are a victim of Atsumu’s selfishness as well. I’m sorry he put you through that.” She gave a sad smile you could see she was hurt too. The two of you spent a few more moments in each other’s comfort discussing the facts of his affair. It hurts to know that he had a legitimate relationship with Yuki but a part of you was glad to know. It was a small piece of closure to know how deep his transgressions ran, knowing it wasn’t just sex hurt even more. But it furthered your stance that he didn’t love you and if he had at one point the love had faded on his part some time ago. You spent the rest of your shift plagued with thoughts of you past.

After your shift you went home to change before heading out to your local bar. In your time alone you had taken solace in drinking with strangers. After dressing in an appealing yet comfortable outfit you headed out. You wanted to feel comfy and relaxed but that didn’t stop you from wanting to look nice. In your past visits it wasn’t uncommon for men to try and talk you up and while you did indulge in the compliments none had succeeded in getting you to return home with them. There had yet to be a guy who fully kept your attention away from your former lover.

You found your favorite spot at the bar, just far enough from the blaring music and smokers. You smiled at the bartender before ordering your usual. You sat there letting the liquor relax you as you listened to what music the DJ was playing tonight. Normally you stick to just drinks but after the day you had you need something to take the edge off. After downing a shot of tequila you notice a presence next to you.

“Is this seat taken,” the man smiled at you. You had never seen him here before and you know damn well you would have noticed him before. Although he wasn’t a giant like most of the men you knew in your life, he wasn’t excessively short either you could tell he’d still stand taller than you. You couldn’t lie the man was extremely defined and muscular, you swear his tanned thighs that you saw peeking from under his khaki shorts were bigger than your face. His skin was tanned you can tell from pleanty of time in the sun. He had strong jaw line but his most prominent feature was this bright mop of orange hair he tried to hide under a ball cap. He had a bright smile that reached his alluring brown eyes. It was safe to say he was very handsome. He tilts his head to the side a little smirk reaching his lips. It then you realized you had never responded and just been sitting here gawking.

“Um no it’s not uhh go ahead,” you stammered out feeling a blush creep on to your cheeks at your response. What is this feeling why are you acting like a school girl.

He takes the seat next to you ordering a beer then turning to you reaching out his hand. “ Shoyo Hinata,” he states.

You accept his hand giving it a light shake. “ YN LN,” you responded. “ I’ve never seen you here before Hinata-San,” you prod wanting to know about the stranger.

“Just Shoyo is fine,”he gives you another dazzling smile. “I actually just moved back to Japan,” he states “this is my first time at this bar , but with customers as beautiful as you I’ll definitely have to come more often.” Ohh hes smooth you think. You let out a light chuckle at his compliment although it’s fairly simple compared to some of lines you’ve heard it definitely has the desired affect on you.

“Well then Shoyo where are you traveling from?” Question not wanting the convo to stop.

“I just got back from Brazil,” he mused that signature smile never far from his face.

“Wow Brazil! That’s so far was it hard to be so far from home?”you questioned.

The conversation with Hinata flowed effortlessly. Pleanty of laughes shared as he told you countless stories of his time in South America. Being in conversation with him is like talking to the sun it’s so bright and happy. He does eventually mention playing beach volleyball and for a moment you mind thinks of your ex but it then you realized it was the first time since Sho made his appearance that you had thought of the setter. It felt nice to finally have your mind clearing from the twin. As of recent at any mention of volleyball you would have ended the convo making an excuse to leave, yet you didn’t want to, plus beach volleyball is completely different than regular volleyball you reason.

Time passes by as well do several drinks. You are by no means drunk just a little tipsy. Over the course of your talking the space between Hinata started to narrow. Right now you were so close you could smell his cologne and the slight minty scent of his breath. His hand caressed your elbow. Your breath hitched when he finally leaned in “do wanna get out of here?,” you can see his iris’s darken ever so slightly. “We can go back to my place,” he continued.

Several thoughts ran threw your mind in that moment. One, you were nervous, you hadnt been with anyone other than Atsumu. Two, you were sure you weren’t ready for a relationship but it was just sex it’s not like he’s asking on a romantic vacation. And three you wanted nothing more than to feel his lips against yours. “Absolutely.”

That’s how you got to where you are now. You barely made it through the threshold before Hinata had you pinned to the door. You were locked in a searing kiss. It was like he was stealing the air from your lungs. His hands roamed your figure before slipping under your blouse. “You are absolutely gorgeous,” he breaths before pressing a kiss under your jaw trailing down you neck. You place you hands on his shoulders trying to ground yourself. You let out a loud moan as he gives a bite to your shoulder while grabbing a hand full of you breast. He smiled into you neck with pleasure from the sounds you made. The two of you stumbled a bit as you started making your way to his room shedding clothes left and right. The door closed to the bedroom and you were ready for a mindblowing night.

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[diavolosthots]

DARK DECEPTION CHAPTER 14

READ CHAPTER 13 HERE

Warnings: none

Pairing(s): Lucifer x F!Reader, Michael

“Michael.” The name left your lips as if you had known him for forever, but the almost weird look he gave you meant that you did not, in fact, know him forever. He wasn’t mad, per se, but he wasn’t happy either. Maybe that’s just his face, though? God you hoped it was because if not then you feared this was all your fault. Lucifer’s grip on your waist tightened momentarily before he wrapped his coat tighter around you, almost protectively. He didn’t trust Michael and he hated that he needed to ask him for help, but it’s worth it if it meant you’re safe. “Yes, that’s my name. I assume Lucifer told you all about me.” Oh Lord no. You almost wanted to laugh at that assumption. Does he even know Lucifer? The guy would rather keep everything to himself than ever spill anything. Maybe he wasn’t like that as an angel? Was Lucifer that much different back then? You truly wondered. “He… didn’t say a lot, if we’re being completely honest. It’s still nice to meet you though.” Michael still gave you that expressionless face and it almost calmed you. Maybe it truly was just who he is. “Likewise, but sadly I’m not here to talk over tea.” Who would’ve thought. 

Lucifer looked at you and gently pushed you off of him and stood up from his chair, “stay here. Don’t go anywhere. We’ll b--!” “no. She can stay, after all, it concerns her as well.” Oh he didn’t like that at all. The plan was to keep you out of it as much as possible and yet, Michael seemed to completely disregard that. “The Devildom isn’t happy about their Queen being gone.” You wanted to roll your eyes, really. Their Queen? You never even said hi to those people after the wedding. You didn’t even meet most of the people at the wedding! “Well they can get used to it.” Lucifer whipped his head toward you and if this wasn’t such a serious matter, he might have found you cute in his oversized coat right now, pouting, no. Frowning. Even Michael managed to crack a small smile, “I’m afraid it isn’t that simple. Diavolo declared war and although I doubt he knows exactly where she is right now, he’s sure to figure it out. You need to stop him. I’m not putting the celestial realm at risk.” Lucifer knew that much. He knew this would only be a temporary solution but he still hoped to avoid that. Even now, Diavolo did help him a lot after the fall, after everything, and although their friendship never meant as much to himself as it did to Diavolo, Lucifer did choose this route and he didn’t calculate the consequences. Well, he did, but he wasn’t, shamefully admitted, prepared. 

“I know, Michael, and I’m not asking you to. I just need you to keep her safe.” No matter what. He’s trying to be realistic here, he has to be. Seven brothers against an army of Demons and their strongest fighter, their King, is almost laughable. Can you even imagine it? Lucifer has to prepare for the worst possible outcome and sadly, the chances for it far outweigh the good outcome. Michael knows that, too, which is why he made Lucifer an offer earlier, one he never declined or accepted, “You know what I said, Lucifer. It’s all up to you.” All up to him. He’s used to that; he deals with that every day. All his brothers, in one way or another, rely on him. Everyone relies on him. And yet, he doesn’t like that this decision weighs on his shoulders right now. He doesn’t want to think about that scenario, but it’s also so, so hard to be optimistic. “I know. Thank you. I’ll… prepare.” Because that’s all he can do. “We still have your armor, if you want it.” His armor… so many bad memories circle around that thing and although he used to wear it with pride, it will never be like it once was. “Thank you, Michael.” Does it still fit? Still protect him? Will it keep him safe long enough to do what needs to be done?

You watched the two men in front of you, confused and scared. Obviously there’s a lot of history between them, history that you will never understand; could never understand. You didn’t dare speak until Michael left again either, glancing at you before turning on his heel, “Lucifer?” Your voice was soft and it almost hurt his heart. His head turned to look over you, cozy in his coat which didn’t fit the bright room at all; just another reminder that this isn’t where he belongs anymore. “I’m sorry, Darling… I know this is confusing.” Confusing? “Diavolo just declared war and you think that’s confusing me? That’s the clearest part about this! Don’t tell me you’re thinking of fighting after I just got you back!?” His eyes said everything and it was enough to make tears form again in yours, threatening to spill over. His eyes went wide after that and he’s quick to pull you into his arms, pushing your face into his chest. It hurts to see you like that and he knows you’ll be worried. He knows it’ll kill you even if it doesn’t kill him. 

“I have to… I’m not letting you go back there, (Y/N).” “You don’t even have an army!” You wanted to punch him, to scream at him, to pull at his hair until some type of sense entered his brain, but you didn’t. Instead, you pulled away to look at him with anger and sadness and hurt, “I can’t lose you, Lucifer….” “You won’t.” “You don’t know that!” You’re right… he doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know anything, and unlike Barbatos, he can’t see the future, which is another part that worries him. “Maybe Michael knows something….” it was mumbling, meant so more for himself. He forced a smile, cupping your face and leaning down to kiss you softly, “I’m going, (Y/N). I have to. My brothers are down there and I’m not sure how long they can last without me… You’ll be safe up here. Michael promised.” He better keep that promise too. That’s the only time Lucifer begged and the only thing Lucifer ever begged for. You shook your head, beating your fists against his chest, but he only leaned in to kiss your head. “I’m getting ready… help me?” 

If you weren’t so caught up in the potential of losing him, you may have paused in shock at his request for help, but you can’t just let him run off! “Lucifer!” He let go of you to walk to his old closet, staring at the double white doors, adorned in gold. For the longest time, he just stared, almost too scared to open them, but he needed to get over himself. Gloved hands reached out for the knob, opening them both. Immediately, he was met with his old clothes. White and gold, like everything else. Pure. Elegant. An image of his past. And then there it was, his armor, pushed to the far end of the closet. It was pure gold and heavy, usually worn over his usual white outfit, but protecting. The chest plate would protect him from any immediate danger, the heavy boots would keep his feet light and energized; perks of celestial magic. Vambraces would keep his arms protected and, of course, there was a sword. He hated that thing, honestly, and he’s almost sure whoever invented this just put it in for decoration, but it might come in handy today. 

Pulling it out almost felt too foreign. He only wore it once; that one time he fought for God and with the angels, but he trained in it often enough to know what it feels like. He stared at it, almost sadly, before taking all the pieces and laying them on his bed, shifting into his demon form. Even now, even up here, he felt more comfortable in this than he ever did as an angel. “Lucifer… stop.” but he didn’t listen. He took off his long coat and anything else that might come in the way, putting the chest plate on first and then attaching the back to it. His wings fit in perfectly still, although the middle holes aren’t being filled anymore and he knew it. He could feel it. He hated it. “Lucifer!” Once again, he ignored you, putting on the boots that would cover him up to his knees. This definitely looked better when he wore white and his black pants are more than weird-feeling with these. Next were the vambraces, which thankfully still allowed him his gloves, and last but not least… “(Y/N). Give me the Sword.” You shook your head, holding the golden weapon tightly and off to the side when Lucifer reached for it. 

“No! You’re not leaving!” “(Y/N).” “This is a suicide mission Lucifer!” He knew that. He knew that all too well. “I can’t let him win, (Y/N).” “W-we… we can figure it out! Don’t go! I’m sure that Michael--!” “(Y/N)!” He raised his voice, stern. He wasn’t mad at you, he knows you’re hurting, but he can’t waste anymore time and it at least got you to stop. He reached for the sword again, taking it out of your grasp and clasping it to his belt. “I’ll be fine.” He may not be but he won’t admit that. Your eyes were wide in shock; he had never yelled at you, no matter how mad he was. “Lucifer….” “It’s okay.” He pulled you back into him, kissing your head again before just resting his cheek against it, “I love you, Darling. I’ll be back before you know it.” You pulled back from him, the tears spilling again as fear rushed through you, “promise… promise me you’ll be back…..” His eyes were expressionless, searching yours before kissing you once more and finally stepping back, heading toward the door with only one thing left to say.

“I promise.”