#this got way longer than i planned

[xiphiaarts]

you’ve been mentioning various skelies and how they act with a love bug, any you find particularly cool or interesting? i don’t wanna be like ‘how do they all act?’ because that is a lot, so dealers choice. i’m just over here liking my lil legs wanting to hear anything you got

I HAVEN'T BEEN THINKING ABOUT THEM AS OBSESSIVELY AS I SHOULD BEEE, (I'm going to cry Thankyou so much for letting me infodump)

The only ones I really have are classics and swaps! The others aren't even really lose ideas jus fuzzy images in my mind , here's what I have!

Classic sick!Sans is still a laid-back, pun loving skeleton! He's least likely to impede a bonded's plans or actions, he's too lazy for that. He is however a practiced stalker and hacker. He'll have access to all of his bonded's technology, social accounts, bank information medical records, he's obsessive and everything there is to know about a bonded he will find out. He's everywhere his bonded is, without warning or because he's blatantly following them around like a lost puppy. On top of them constantly, if they're sitting down he's sitting on them, if they're standing he's got a hand around them, if they're working he's somewhere laying around watching them with an unnerving closeness. His attention can be distracted by trinkets like rubix cubes or even videogames or movies, but you've got an hour tops before he gets hungry again and starts wondering where his bonded is

Classic sick!Papy CRAVES attention, and will be as loud, flashy and constant as he has to be to get it, he doesn't have to stalk because if he had it his way, he and his bonded would never be apart. He's incredibly generous, and LOVES to give gifts, and is determined to keep his bonded alive and functioning properly. This includes feeding them, keeping them at full hp, enforcing a strict sleep schedule, he's alot more likely to impede on a beloveds autonomy than sick! Sans is. Despite his overbearing nature he can also be a huge pushover, he forces his beloved to eat but will get them only what they want, forces them to sleep but let's them watch a few episodes of their favorite show first, Esspecially if they ask really nicely and offer up some of their delectable affection, how can he say no to that? His bonded earns an obsessive caretaker, all for the low low price of every ounce of their love and attention. (I can also see him using he/they pronouns)

Swap!sick sans is a suave, manipulative mf, who always finds a way or a reason to be in the same room as his beloved, always comes up with a reason for his beloved to need his Assistance. While he comes off as helpful at first, it won't take long for his bonded to realize he's just a control freak, he needs texts every hour on the hour regarding his bonded's condition if he's not in his beloveds field of vision, if he doesn't get them he will show up at his bonded's doorstep to offer them a friendly reminder to keep in touch with him. He wants to know what you ate, when, who you talked to, why, if you still love him, if you think he's as pretty he thinks you are, etctec. Despite his confident persona he needs aLOT of reassurance before a bonded even has a CHANCE of getting him off of their back. If you want him to go away distract him by bathing him in kisses, trying to take care of him (feed him, put him to bed, etc), and running away before he can get wise and attach himself to you like white on rice once again. He does have a tendency to fall asleep on his feet, as his parasite doesn't even allow him to try and sleep unless his beloved is around, which is why he very much insists on having sleep overs, constantly.

Swap!sick Papy is just a big goof! He loves to see his beloved laugh and smile, most especially when he's the one causing such happiness. Like classic!sick sans he's an excellent stalker and loves to follow his bonded around, To keep them safe and to keep himself from experiencing his odd form of speration anxiety. He hates to be away from his bonded, not just because he gets hungry but because he's not around to keep any danger from coming to them, or to keep someone from trying to steal them away from him. He isn't the most confident and his parasite can read that, and uses it against him, insisting that if he isn't hanging over his beloveds shoulder constantly like a ghost then someone better and more capable will come along and snatch them away from him. Like his brother he needs aLOT of constant reassurance and communication to quell him of such fears. He's absolutely weak for his bonded, they can point and grunt for something and he'll rush to retrieve it for them, a good way to keep him occupied and away is to give him a list of stuff you want, he'll be gone for hours finding the perfect things for you, nothing less than perfection will do, it's the least he could do when his bonded puts up with him all day, Everyday. A way to keep him from whining and complaining when he isn't directly touching his bonded is to put on his clothes, he feels like it's close enough, and his clothes will smell like them after, and his bonded will smell like him (doesn't understand scent marking is not a thing humans do, but his sick mind doesn't really care)

[cosmicallyavg]

the master saying “if i cant be the doctor, neither can you” is so raw because he literally tried to become the doctor before, as missy, through actions - being “good”, saving people, etc etc. ultimately the past caught up to her and she regressed back into her old ways (but in the end, she did help the doctor, the doctor doesnt know that). 

then the master found out about the timeless child, realized that his devotion to the time lord empire has all been for nothing, because it was built on lies, built on the pain and suffering of the doctor. that a piece of the doctor is in him and he wouldnt be who he is without the doctor, which in a way has always been true, but never as true as it is now.

revealing all of this to the doctor should break her down to his level, right? telling her all about the lives she never knew and everything that was done to her/the child would ruin her own perception of who she is, because there are so many memories lost. to him, the doctor is the doctor because of everything she has done, the past defines who the doctor is. with so much of her past hidden, how can she continue to be who she’s built herself up to be?

but he’s wrong. the doctor isnt the doctor solely due to the memories. the doctor is the doctor because she helps people, does good where good can be done. even if her definition of “good” isnt absolute, the point is that she tries. 

he thinks he has brought her down to his level when theyre in the matrix, and shes threatening him with the death particle. he wants her to pull the trigger, wants her to kill them both. its what hes always wanted, isnt it? their deaths together. “become death, become me” 

but she cant. she cant bring herself down to that level. in a way, maybe he has broken her, trying to get her to make that decision, you can see the way she almost pulls the trigger, up until he says those four words. its then that the doctor realizes it would give him what he wants, the ultimate destruction of who the doctor is at her own hand. its then that she falters. 

the master then takes it upon himself to destroy the doctor at the very root of it all. he brings some of her old companions back, tries to pit them against her, he wants to become her in the most literal but also metaphorical sense in order to ruin everything she has ever stood for, to ruin her reputation. because if a piece of her has been in him since the beginning, he can never get rid of her in a physical sense. her death wouldnt erase him of her completely.

he takes her identity, becomes her. he plays into the role of the doctor the best he can, wants to have a companion, wants to travel the stars and get into mischief under the guise of the doctor. he doesnt have to worry about trying to become good for the doctor’s sake, he can continue on has he has done and there will be no doctor trying to stop him. 

her friends come together to undo what hes done. the universe needs the doctor. the doctor is the doctor because of the friends shes made along the way . the doctor is the doctor because of love. and the master doesnt have that, cannot have that. “dont let me go back to being me” the master loathes who hes become, after everything he had built his identity around was destroyed, he had nothing to fall back on other than his hatred for the doctor, his jealousy of the doctor. 

if the doctor couldnt become him, maybe he could become her - he doesnt want to be the master anymore. so then if he couldnt become the doctor, then she shouldnt be the doctor either. it ultimately comes down to him wanting the destruction of the both of them and going trough any means to make it happen. in the end, this time, it did happen. for them, its a neverending cycle of death and betrayal and their friendship and their love for each other but also the hatred, the animosity, they always find their way back to each other. but perhaps not this time.

because the means he went through to make it happen, i doubt the doctor is ever going to forgive him.

[haloguyfttp]

Finally caught up to and completed Penacony's main story.

SPOILERS FOR PENACONY

Enemies: Fucking great. I like the new enemies and hope they stay this way instead of whatever the hell they did with Aurumatons, both the main ones and those Spiritcaller (I think that's their name) ones. Speaking of which...

Bosses: Completely split on this one. The "Something Unto Death" has a fantastic build up, an amazing BGM that I'd put in my top 3 for HSR, and is just supremely cool in all it does. I love the mechanics, the style, everything.

And on the flip side: Stellaron Hunter Sam. This was someone I was excited for mainly 'cause he looks cool. His build-up was decent if too obvious from the first corpse. That being said his fight was... underwhelming. My primary team consists of Bailu and Preservation MC (I do not have enough DPS no matter who I use so yes this is extreme tank to compensate), and he was incapable of doing any damage to me. On the other hand, due to his gimmick of "Hit me with 5 skills to do anything", it took goddamn ages to kill him in turn. This made the fight go from interesting to really boring once I realized what I had to do. Besides that, he just felt lacking in animations, music and sound design.

Penacony: I will not say much on the exploration as I am still searching for all the goods, but what I have experienced is good. The perspective-related stuff being a theme is fun and interesting, and the puzzles are okay. Unfortunately puzzles are still way too easy, which is a shame since some of the later puzzles in the Luofu were actually decently tough. Maybe I just haven't found/unlocked the harder ones yet. NPCs are interesting thanks to the emotion stuff but god is the place way too damn big. Not looking forward to combing these maps for things I missed, especially the ones that let you walk on walls.

And finally the elephant in the room, The Story.

I am extremely divided on this. Let's start with the most stand out part of the whole thing that frankly I made this whole post to rant about, Firefly's death. This was a really good moment. And it's something I've said about Genshin and even more so in HSR, Hoyo is really good at making good story moments. Everything leading up to this is great. Finding out she's still in the dreamscape, we're still thinking about what her true motivations are, we're worried for her, and then we reach her just in time for it to be - ironically - too late. This cutscene, the way the "Something Unto Death" killed her and immediately escaped like an assassin, the MC rushing to hold her corpse and not even being given that much, the fact that MC throws away their bat just to get to her body at all, forgetting all semblance of self-defense just to reach her, and the immediate moments afterwards are painful in the best way possible. And unfortunately, that's where my praise ends.

After this scene, her death becomes almost meaningless. I mean they immediately launch into normal story stuff. Search the area, look for information, find Sam and fight him, get dragged before Aventurine, and of course the Robin reveal which feels like it's designed to make you forget about Firefly.

MC was clearly super close to Firefly. And yet as soon as the "Firefly Mourning Section" ends, it's as if she got deleted from memory. All of MC's frustration and sadness disappears into the wind, and no one acknowledges this. I know Black Swan got us to calm down, but she didn't do anything beyond talk to us (and if she did, the writers/animators didn't show any hint of such). Now I can excuse this part. After all, maybe MC's way of grieving is silence. From what I remember, we do not, or at least barely speak from after Firefly's death until we meet Sam.

And speaking of, Sam's arrival should have been a key moment. We found it he was using her as bait, she died because of his "plan", whatever it may be, he's right in front of us, frankly MC should be chomping at the bit to kill him, but instead we get none of that. Even when Black Swan betrays us and brings us to Aventurine, MC at that moment should still have something. But no. At this most crucial of times, MC turns into a bland silent protagonist who calmly goes along with anything that happens.

And as previously mentioned, they end this section on the Robin reveal, which is... bad. This moment at this time completely falls flat to me. We haven't met her beyond 2 extremely short conversations, and we know nothing about her beyond "Important Performer and Sister of Sunday". All of this is setup to make whatever happens in the next patch more hyped up but for me... it's just a sad attempt at building more hype when frankly letting it end after Firefly's death would've been painful enough.

(To elaborate on that point, IMO the best way would've been to end it on Firefly's death. The cutscene plays, the "Something Unto Death" leaves, you get teleported out and that's when they hit you with the "Wait for next update!" message. Then next update when we return, let's be honest everyone's gonna remember exactly what happened last time, and the switch to this silent protagonist stuff feels less jarring if some IRL time has passed since the moment. For future players, they won't have to wait, but they'll also have the rest of the story to play through instead of a bunch of unanswered questions.)

Also, being forced to follow Aventurine for the "big reveal" is really annoying, since the whole build-up before Penacony and even in the intro w/ Acheron had to do with Choices and Freedom. A thing I really liked about HSR was how much actual choice you got in quests. Sure you still had to clear most of them, but they were still infinitely better than Genshin's where your dialogue changes nothing. Hell Kafka's quest, the one where choice and shit are most important, lets you straight up leave early and not help her in the slightest. Being greeted with this forced Aventurine shit is super irritating because of that precedent.

As an aside, the Express Crew disappeared from existence. Aside from the intro, the crew has done absolutely nothing together. Getting Black Swan to rescue us is the only thing they actually did. Besides this, the rest of the story was fine. The early Garbage King section was funny, the whole dream stuff was interesting, etc.

But seriously the execution of the entire ending from Firefly's death onwards was just awful. That's really soured my opinion on Penacony, and I can only hope they redeem themselves in the 2nd half (God I hope it's only split into 2 halves).

Anyways that's my extremely long Penacony rant complete. If you've read this far, then holy shit I'm so sorry. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

[anantaru]

cw. prone bone, fem! reader, dom! pantalone, rough!!!!!

prone bone with pantalone, and, oh, who would‘ve thought? he has you where he wants you to be, without lifting a single finger. face shoved into the pillows and your pretty cunt apart, so you could take him— fragile below his entire weight, your poor pussy jammed and crowded, dripping with arousal— he mouths a line over your dewy neck while exploring the premonition of your body under his hot lips, coaxing out a shrill cry and his cock stirs at the vibrations of your sobs.

but— the shallow, guttural noises stumbling over his lips kept you drawn to him, spasming strong on his erection as another low groan eases right into your ears. pantalone tumbles into you with another rough push forward, his velvety tip nudging over your spongy walls way too perfect— way too, calculated.

"hmm, so that‘s where you want it?" pantalone cocks a brow, licking over your neck and shoulder until pushing himself off you, eyes glued to where you‘re constricting around him— drizzling wet and filled up, the sheer amount of your arousal that had been smeared and dried on the insides of your thighs and around your folds only indicated the evident— that the insatiable harbinger had been having so much fun with you, for an incalculable amount of time.

"a-ah, yeah," you fervently nod into the dampened pillow, mind foggy with lust, eyes criss crossed and lashes soused with tears, "right there, h—hah!" and stammer your fists into the mattress as you felt a sudden heavy weight forcefully push down on the back of your neck, closing his fingers around with just the right amount of strength to drive you into the bed.

"what a shame, it appears like you’re getting way ahead of yourself again."

pantalone clicks his tongue and you listen to him, ears pricked up, but he feels how you're nervously guzzling down the large globe of saliva in your mouth— eyes pressed together and your ass obediently perked up, "— because i didn‘t give you permission to speak." his roughened voice had made it impossibly more difficult— because it turned you on, so fucking much and you're shimmying your hips into his groin— impatient — squeezing him, walls hugging him, so he could please please please fuck you still.

©2023 anantaru do not repost, copy, translate, modify

[swordmaid]

i am wide awake thinking about that post canon jb au again when I should be sleeping …!!! such is the nature of the jbrainrot…

[thyandrawrites]

On "dream doping", or the lesson to be learned from despair

Alteratively titled: why breaking up with your high school sweetheart is vital for a career in soccer (with or without said sweetheart. Signed: Ego Jinpachi)

buckle up, this is a long one

We know that Reo went into this match with several hungups as to why Nagi would leave him behind, even going as far as asking Chigiri and Kunigami why they'd pick him

And his voice shaking (notice the wobbly speech bubble) as he repeats the validation, like he doesn't quite believe it to be true anymore. And then during the match he kept alternating between talking himself up and trash talking Isagi with increasingly frantic urgency. He needed to test his worth against Isagi and come out victorious to prove that he was worthy of being the genius' partner, yes, but one important factor is that he did all of this specifically seeking Nagi's approval. He needed to hear it from him, because it's Nagi's departure that crushes Reo's confidence in the first place. Before that moment, Reo was self-assured and cocky, even looking down on other players he felt were beneath him. But we could argue that confidence was born from a shaky foundation—the idea of staying a team with Nagi until the world cup and their eventual victory together for Japan.

I think a factor that doesn't often get brought up in Reo commentaries is that Reo derives a lot of his winning self-image from tag-teaming with a genius

And it's from "borrowing" his talent that Reo feels he lifts their collective value to genius level

And in the process, Reo also tends to undersell his own skills by comparison, and letting them stay an accessory to Nagi's brilliance,

despite how it's been remarked that Reo's a bit of a genius in his own light. If he honed that potential, he could be a big threat, too. Alone.

This is by design, of course. He foils pre blue lock Rin for this reason, too. Reo and young Rin are similar in that they both consider their soccer partner the true star of the show, subordinating their own skills as just a fancy accessory to make their partners shine and become world's best with them right at their heels.

The unfortunate consequence of this is that they end up internalizing that their dream is not achievable without their partner(s), because they ingrained being a sidekick so deep into that plan that they simply see themselves unwilling or unable to chase it on their own.

Hence why, for the continuation of their dream, it becomes vital to have their partner's approval. They just don't see the point in going on alone. Losing the partnership means losing the reason to play altogether.

Now, of course this mindset is incompatible with blue lock. Nothing really new there. Reo was always framed as the delusional oddball for signing up for the program with the intended goal of using it to make Nagi the best, rather than himself. In other words, for trying to bend the system into accommodating his dream rather than accepting Ego's philosphy and playing by Ego's rules. And of course, that plan was bound to be put to the test when Reo&Nagi got the first taste of "despair".

The series posits that despair is the feeling you get when your dream doesn't measure up to reality and threatens to crash and burn. Ego posits that there's only one way out of it that doesn't involve self-destruction. And that's avoiding the trap of the so-called "dream doping".

But what does "engraving despair" even mean in simple terms? I think Ego's point is that after experiencing a crushing, frustrating defeat, some players (the normies, or those who don't go very far) simply think "next time we'll win" without putting any active energy into changing their playstyle and rebuilding it anew to face the growing challenges and "devour" them along the way.

Think of Barou, and how he managed to come back after Isagi and Nagi made him effectively useless in the field. What Barou did was evolving into someone even more chaotic and unpredictable, and devouring them right back. Barou himself cites the despair he felt during that match as the catalyst of his growth and winning goal. In other words, instead of dream doping, Barou adapted and survived in a battlefield that would've otherwise left him in the dust.

But not every player has the presence of mind to pick themselves back up as the match is still unfolding, and when the defeats rolls around, they fold under the weight of that despair. We see this in action. When Sae evolves so rapidly in Spain and eats Rin for breakfast during their 1v1, Rin's reaction to despair is dream doping (at least at first). So is Reo's when he loses to team white. Faced with opponents that had an explosive soccer growth, they struggle to keep pace, and then refuse to face reality and admit they also need to change their playstyle to keep staying in the game.

In Reo's case, he even goes as far as saying he doesn't have "the courage to let himself be destroyed and reborn." And that defeatist attitude is what leads team white to choose Chigiri instead. A real egoist doesn't think "I cannot do it" but instead keeps fighting tooth and nail until the end.

But Reo isn't there yet. If you analyse his body language at the end of the match, it's clear he expects a rejection before it even comes. Notice his posture

Having just had a taste of the limits of his skills against strong opponents, his reaction is resigned. His stance is defensive and closed off. His arms and legs are crossed, he's the only one on the ground, his head is hung in defeat and avoiding Nagi's eyes. Even the camera angle looks at him from above, like he's already doomed himself by deciding to stay on the ground, not picking himself up. Remember, it's Kunigami who lifts him from his collar. Reo doesn't have that strength alone.

This transition here also shows it well imo. True to fashion, he only shows a reaction when Nagi's directly addressing him. A part of him is still wishing for things between them to mend, to go back to how they were. There's hope written all over his face in that second panel, but the moment he hears what Nagi has to say, it abruptly morphs into pain.

Nagi echoes the words Reo wanted to tell him when they split, but to Reo it doesn't come across as the approval he was seeking. Rather, as the opposite: while Reo couldn't bring himself to encourage Nagi to go ahead in fear that Nagi wouldn't look back (that is, in fear Nagi wasn't as attached to him and their dream as Reo was)... Nagi says them easily enough. And to Reo, that's more crushing than the loss itself because he misconstructs it as indifference towards their promise.

It all circles back to Reo's insecurity. While Nagi just showed him he's able to change even without Reo as his partner, Reo is insecure about being able to do the same because he sees them as his biggest weapon, not anything inherent to Reo alone. Thus, once Nagi mines the foundation of Reo's confidence (their team up), any step Nagi takes in an effort to get them closer to the world cup in Reo's eyes is just another step away from it (and from him). Reo always assumed they'd crossed that finish line together, that he'd build Nagi up into the world's best striker. He wasn't prepared for a path where Nagi teams up with other people, leaving Reo powerless in the sidelines—their combo (and thus himself) a weapon that outlived its usefulness.

Much like Rin declaring that he'd lose his reason to play soccer if he can't chase his dream with Sae the way they had agreed to, Reo metaphorically sees his future as the "abnormal monster duo" crumbling away (notice the decaying effect on the square with his internal narration). Instead of taking steps towards ensuring their dream still has a chance of happening in the future, he sees it as already doomed.

The thing is, Reo isn't ready to give up on it, though. He doesn't want to. I could be wrong about this but him seeking out a clean cut from Nagi came across to me less as if he was blaming Nagi for leaving, and more like he seeked a fight as self-punishment for his thoughts during the match. In the previous chapter, he tried stifling Nagi's potential and then resented himself for it. Now, his internal narration is almost goading Nagi's anger. I think it's still up in the air whether he was lashing out because he was overwhelmed by his conflicting feelings or if he was seeking out Nagi's rejection because he hated himself for not measuring up to his own standards during the match. Maybe a bit of both.

Point is, Reo is refusing to face reality. By saying "then pick me", to cite Ego, he's denying that he was powerless in the match, and putting the entire brunt of his loss onto Nagi's shoulders for not choosing him. Simply put, he's relying on Nagi to open up the door to go further in blue lock instead of growing into the player that gets to choose who to pick.

And Nagi recognizes this and feels hurt by it, cause if Reo refuses to evolve, switch up tactics and try new things, he's also implicitly refusing to go further in the program. From Nagi's perspective, it's Reo that's breaking their promise by being unwilling to put in the effort to keep staying in the game. Remember, the consequence for failing blue lock is no longer being allowed to play professionally for Japan. If Reo quit putting up a fight, his dream would be over for good.

And the story tells us, the measure of a great striker is how they react to the challenges thrown in their path. Nagi's growth happens specifically because he doesn't tie his success to Reo, but knows when to throw in other variables and when cooperating with Reo makes them stronger. In Nagi's eyes, their dream is not reliant on their combo, but their combo is a weapon that makes their dream achievable. Whereas Reo based his plan to get the world cup around his partnership with Nagi, and let his own skills lay dormant and underdeveloped cause he always defaulted to passing to Nagi to score.

But when Nagi leaves the equation for good, Reo's forced to address where his own strengths really lie and how to weaponize them to avoid elimination. That's why the chameleon awakens for the first time. It gets roused by Reo's despair, which gets "engraved" only when it dawns on Reo that their combo is not an option anymore, and it's on Reo and Reo alone to fight his way back up, evolving and devouring rivals along the way. And much like Nagi's talent for trapping, Reo's stregth was also inherent, and never just reliant on them being a team.

[deoidesign]

I've been... Busy 👀

Trying to get all 4 arcs from season 1 into books!

(not available for sale, these are print proofs. I'm planning a Kickstarter early next year!)

[teruel-a-witch]

5.20/1.20 Hiking Date Turns Murder Mystery

One of those glaring occasions when a Mcdanno trope/storyline/date is repeated with a straight couple later. Looking at the episode numbers you can't tell me this isn't intentional. To add insult to injury it actually illustrates that Steve and Danny have a healthier and more loving/lasting relationship vs actual married people but sadly will never be recognised as such by canon.

A husband not screaming his wife's name was one of the main reasons Lou was suspicious about his distress not being genuine. It happens so fast yet Danny screams Steve's name 5-7 times at least. Unlike Clay, Danny actually loves his spouse partner.

So Steve and Danny are 5 times more married than the actual marrieds via the show logic. Just a typical frustrating case of the disconnect between Show vs Tell, where the writers keep telling us Steve and Danny are brothers but showing them behaving like canonical spouses.

[tinystepsforward]

i also realise there's people who are gonna be like "you expect me to believe that tony tinystepsforward is 29, disabled, a sex worker of nearly a decade, worked at automattic for six years, and someone who does as much organising with local trans and prison abolitionist and sex worker spaces as they seem to imply" and frankly you can believe i'm lying if you want, that's your right, just block me or w/e you don't have to be here. but yes i do in fact both work to eat and work for a better world. i just happen to be the kind of person who really struggles with inertia and is always doing a million things. kiasu, as my singaporean friends still call me, though i don't think i fit the classic archetype there at all — it's not a fomo thing as much as a having poor judgement about the feasibility of the ways i want to be generous with my time and energy and skills. i'm working on it. i would like to learn how to rest.

[tashacee]

Mask Wild 💃 for the ask game!

Oooooooh Mask!Wild loves clothes. The prettier and more elaborate the better. Weird, outlandish, dazzling - they all delight him. He's collected more clothes than he knows what to do with, and has every kind of jewellery he could buy in Gerudo, with every kind of stone set into it.

That said, he's too nervous to actually wear most of his clothes. It's not just the more revealing ones like the barbarian set or the tight ones like the rubber set. He owns several beautifully cut doublets, surcoats with the most incredible embroidery, and half a dozen intricate abayas from the gerudo that he just... doesn't wear.

They're so beautiful. He loves them so much. But he's afraid of looking silly in them. He doesn't want to be judged, and hates drawing attention to himself, so he keeps them folded away and only brings them out occasionally to look at and wish he had the courage to wear them.

-

"Hey what's that?" Sky asked, wandering across the camp.

Most of the others were away from camp, fishing or foraging or up to no good (wind and spirit), and Sky and Wild were the only ones left behind. Sky had been sleeping until a few moments ago, and it looked as if Wild had decided to sort through some of the contents of his slate.

Wild jumped at his voice and shied away, hurriedly bundling up whatever it was he had on his lap.

"Nothing." he signed, but Sky was not to be deterred. He saw how his brother's hand lingered on the embroidered fabric, gold thread against pristine green.

He smiled and sat down beside him, careful not to get too close. Much as his brother was settling into the Chain, he still had strict boundaries and Sky didn't want to push him, not now. It was a day for relaxation, after all.

"That's really pretty." he said. "I love embroidered fabrics like that. It reminds me of back home, though we don't usually wear things that nice unless we're going out somewhere special."

Wild's mask dipped for a moment before his hands came up, the signs small and uncertain.

"I've never worn it." he admitted before slowly, reverently spreading it out for Sky to see.

It was a thing of beauty. A tunic made of forest green silk and heavily embroidered with stylised horses and trees in gold thread. Sky looked at Wild first for permission before running a finger over the threadwork, in awe of the garment.

"It's beautiful!" he gasped. "Why haven't you worn it?"

Wild shrugged, retreating in on himself. "Not really my thing."

Sky frowned. "But... you own it? And you were admiring it just now?"

His brother shifted where he sat, uncomfortable. "I'd look silly in it." he said. "People would laugh. It's better i don't."

"It would be pretty hard for them to laugh," Sky said mildly, "With my fist in their face. Wild, you should totally wear it! Legend would be so jealous! And everyone would love it! And you'd love it! I know you like pretty things!"

Wild hummed, not sounding convinced, but he reached out and ran a wistful hand across the tunic.

Sky leaned in. "Go on." he breathed. "At least try it on. For me."

That did it. Wild's eyes flicked up and Sky would swear he was smiling. He nodded.

"Okay." he said and then gestured to Sky to turn around.

Obediently, the Chosen Hero returned to the fire and waited until he heard Wild's soft footsteps approach. He turned, and grinned.

He looked incredible.

The tunic fitted him perfectly, not too tight but clearly well enough tailored that it sat comfortably around his waist and then hung down to his knees. The neckline was a little lower than he normally wore, showing scarred and pitted flesh down to just below his collarbone, and the sleeves cut off halfway down his forearms, but it looked good. Sky didn't find himself looking at Wild's scars, for all that they were more visible. The tunic looked fabulous on him, and that had his whole attention. He'd even swapped out his mask, exchanging his normal blue one for a matching green edged with swirls of painted leaves.

The effect was glorious.

"Wild, you have to wear this more often." he gushed. "You look amazing. The others are going to love it."

Wild bowed his head, shifting from foot to foot. "Really?" he signed.

Sky nodded emphatically, grinning. "Really!"

Wild looked up at him, and once again Sky was certain he was grinning.

"Thank you, Sky."

[mirai-desu]

I agree with this article 💯, as Rachael New et al. are now undermining the entire premise of the show, and I want to highlight and comment on a few parts of this excellent take:

We're losing a central character whose emotional journey we were invested in and a vital piece of the primary reason we were told to watch Miss Scarlet & The Duke in the first place. Whether you want William and Eliza together romantically or not, the show was always predicated on and grounded in their relationship, and to pretend otherwise is to deny the original premise behind its very existence.

Exactly this. "Miss Scarlet" might be considered more lead than him, but he was still a titular character, and we were invested in his journey as well as hers. Their bond is the foundation of the show. The teenage flashback episode in particular proves this to us--and proves William’s importance to the greater story. But even before that, it's been there all along:

And, honestly, the official description of Season 1 is blunt about what’s happening: “Eliza and The Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship that will crackle and smolder with sexual tension as they team up to solve crime in the murkiest depths of 1880’s London.” So let’s say it as plainly as possible: No one planned to tune in to this new program simply because it promised a crime drama in period dress. The series’ hook, apparent from its first marketing materials, was this unique relationship at the show’s center. The real story of Miss Scarlet and the Duke has always been just that: Miss Scarlet and the Duke. 

While RN et al. can dig in their heels and claim that the story has always just been Eliza's, but we know better than that. Since Day 1, the promotion and the interviews all catered towards the UST. As time wore on, Stuart really began championing the romance in earnest, and it was a logical next step. He was not wrong to do so. What was actually happening on screen was heading that way, as part of a beautiful slow burn.

After literally years of dancing around the rarely mentioned but blatantly obvious feelings between them, this season finally pushed their relationship forward. We got a whole flashback episode dedicated to how they first met! There was a kiss! William said the L-word! The genuine forward relationship progress that so many fans had been waiting for was finally happening! [...] What makes this even more painful is that Season 4 finally felt like the show was moving forward, at last, at least where its central relationship was concerned. Yes, William left, but it was for a good reason: to give Eliza the space and opportunity to decide what she wanted from their relationship on her own terms. (That, as the kids say, is growth.) But if he was never coming back, why bother with most of Season 4?

While we know that in part we got some of the romantic moments in S4 due to Stuart's requests, but I think ultimately, RN's reluctance to move things forward with Wiliza is what put Stuart at odds with her, as she likely did not take too kindly to him suggesting his own input (even when he became an EP) and perhaps felt like he was telling her what to do with her own show. And her goal is to keep it stuck in a cynical pattern; one that William wanted to resolve, and one that Stuart had to remove himself from, because RN favors rinsing and repeating, versus actually diving deep into longer character arcs. That's how she think she can keep the "longevity" of her show, or so she thinks.

Because look, I love Eliza. But I realize it's really because of the potential of who she could be. William never returning prolongs her characterization being stuck. She was supposed to spend the year thinking about what changes she needs to make so they could be together. If he never returns, then what's the point? The catalyst for change is gone. William staying on the show should have actually forced her to grow, not kept her stuck. Removing William entirely reinforces the patterns versus ending the cycle. Especially if he is just replaced with a new love interest, who just flirts with Eliza to keep a "will they / won't they angle" that's never moved forward.

Any writer worth their salt would have Eliza grow in interim and have major development upon William return. But that would end the "put them together / pull them apart." Which is not what RN wants, hence why she refused to put them together. She thinks these patterns are what maintains the show vs spending time on actual storytelling. And this is also why I cannot believe the party line, and truly feel that we haven't gotten the whole truth on why Stuart's exiting.

Thinking about the scenes in the flashback episode of William and Henry, and how important they were, it makes me sad that apparently in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter to RN. And it's sad they keep trying to paint it that the two most important people to Eliza were “overshadowing” her all the time.

I fear is that this new retooled version will just ignore and erase the importance that William has had on her life. At least in the S4 finale we saw how his words still affected her, even when he wasn’t there, encouraging to reopen her own agency. But I can’t see them continuing that, when clearly they want to reboot the show without him.

I had been working on my post S4 fanfic before the news of Stuart's departure hit, and I looked back on how I was developing Eliza from where we left off and how I wrote William's return. When I was outlining it, I was thinking about how RN only just barely has touched the surface of Eliza's psyche. I wrote her as torn up about William leaving--and how he left not long after he almost died. Eliza should have grown from the trauma of almost losing him and we seemed to be on that path in the show, with her at his bedside, and having him recover in her home. We could have dived into how the lost of her mother at a young age affected her, and how Henry's death still was painful. At her father's funeral (which mind you, is in the very first episode) she talked about being alone, and William wiped her tears away. And now... Eliza has lost another person close to her. Literally, it's not William's existence stopping Eliza's development--it's RN's lack of talent, I'm afraid. And who knows, maybe that statement that she cannot be developed while he is around is just a cover to explain his exit, as it's clearly not an actual reason.

Likewise with William, in addition to dealing with his feelings for Eliza, there's so much they could done with him leaving Scotland Yard and the trauma he survived. He didn't have to have PTSD, but he's already had a pretty traumatic life and survived so much (which again… why show all that in the flashback if they were ditching his character - Ben, not RN, wrote that episode so maybe that was a sign). But he held onto the identity of being part of the police, because of how he came get that job (i.e. Henry) and get off the street, and they could have explored what would it be like to shift away from that identity. There just was so much potential and so much richness that could have been written, for a man who came from nothing, but wanted to belong, and wanted to be loved. And maybe Stuart was just so very aware that the show was refusing it take it there. He took William as far he was allowed to, but not as far as the character could have gone, if written by the right people.

Frankly, both William and Eliza deserve better. Stuart deserves better, and we the Wiliza fans do as well. Ultimately, regardless of what (and at what point in time it) really went down between Stuart and RN, the series should have ended with S4, but with a happy conclusion. All signs pointed to William joining Eliza at her detective agency, but now we just have to imagine them there, working together as equals and in love.

[omegalomania]

So Much (For) Stardust 10 Day Countdown Challenge ↳ March 20th: Heartbreak Feels So Good

[wellthatschaotic]

chronic illness/pain is like. you have ants in your house. but its not a big deal its just a few ants right? and one day you're talking to someone and say something like "i hate when the ants eat the ingredients of a meal i was just planning to make, cuz then i can't make the meal unless i substitute something weird aha" and your friend goes "...ants?" and apparently most people Don't have ants in their house constantly. like occasionally they do, especially if they leave sugary foods out or never clean or something, but it's not Normal, maybe you should talk to someone about it

so you go to a bug exterminator and he says well did you try cleaning? are you leaving any food out? are you sure all the windows and doors are all the way closed? and you say yes they always have been, you don't know how or why the ants got in. and he says well maybe just clean more.

so you find another exterminator, who has more experience with ants, and he recommends a pesticide, so you go back home hopeful. and maybe for a day or so it works, but then the ants come right back, and now the pesticide is starting to make your lungs hurt and shit. so you to back and say hey it didn't work. and he goes okay fine. and gives you another one. and now you're still hopeful but not as much as before. so you spray the pesticide and maybe for a day or so it works, but the ants still come back, and this one makes your throat hurt and your eyes water. so you go back to the exterminator and say these pesticides aren't working, and he says maybe it's a different problem, maybe it's the house, why don't you talk to an architect?

so you go okay fine and go find an architect, and at this point the ants are getting worse and worse and you feel like you're constantly running out of food and feel dirty. and the architect says no the house looks fine, i don't see a place ants could get in. and you say i know, but there are ants. and he says well have you tried just cleaning more?

so you go to a yet another exterminator, pretty exhausted at this point. he goes well are you sure you're cleaning? and when you say yes and it's getting harder to clean because of all the ants. and he recommends a pesticide and you say you've already tried that, it didn't work and made your lungs hurt. and he says well if there's nowhere for the ants to get in and the pesticide isn't working, there must not be ants. maybe you're making it up. and you want to beg him to look closer but he doesn't.

at this point ants are invading everything. your food, your bed, your bathroom, you can't do anything without ants present. and you ask around for help or answers, and the responses you get are "well have you tried cleaning?"

and now it's getting harder and harder to clean. and one day you see a cockroach. so immediately you go to an exterminator and say hey, there's cockroaches now too. and he goes where are they coming from? have you tried this pesticide? and you say i don't know where they're coming from, pesticides don't work. and he says have you tried cleaning?

so you try another architect, and you say surely there is somewhere these things are getting in. and he glaces around and says no, i don't see anything, there must not be ants. and you go how can you say that, they're right there, eating my bread. and he goes have you tried cleaning?

so now you have an ant and a roach infestation, and feeling worse and worse every day. and you look online for help. and the answers you get are "have you tried cleaning?" and "try this special homemade pesticide!" and "avoid dairy!" (and briefly wonder what dairy even has to do with anything)

so you keep scrolling and find "ant infestations aren't real" and "uh no one has ants AND cockroaches, you're clearly lying for internet points"

at this point, people in real life are noticing something is wrong, you're acting weird and gross all the time, what's wrong with you. and you tell them. and they say well have you tried cleaning?

until finally. you see someone else talking about their ant infestation. except...lightheartedly. it's a meme about ants stealing bread. so you dm them and say hey, uh, why are you joking about this. and they say well if i'm gonna have ants, might as well crack jokes about it, right? and you say how can you possibly do that, it's miserable. and they say they've found things that help. and you're bracing yourselves for "pesticides" or "cleaning". but they say have you tried sealing your food up, or having a hanging pantry? it doesn't fully stop them, but it helps. and they give you strategies that finally, actually help. and you start to feel like you can breathe again, even though you wish someone had listened to you sooner, before it got this bad.

and now you have the ants relatively under control- they're still there, but there's less and they're manageable, save for a few flare-ups once in a while. except now you also have cockroaches. so you go to your internet friend and say how do you deal with the cockroaches? and they say pesticides. and you say those don't work. and they say yeah they don't work for my ants but they do work for the cockroaches. so you go to another exterminator and say you have ants and cockroaches, and he does indeed recommend a pesticide. so you give in and spray the pesticide and a few days later...they're gone. maybe only a rare handful cockroaches left. finally.

and someone says "all pesticides are bad!" and "pesticides just mean you're dirty or bad at cleaning!" and the cockroaches are gone so you think well, i don't need the pesticide anymore, and you stop applying it. and the cockroaches come right back. they were gone because of the pesticide, you have to keep applying it to keep them gone.

and people start saying are you sure you want to live the rest of your life spraying pesticides? and you say well, i wouldn't be able to live in my house much more without them, so yeah. and their pity is just annoying at this point.

and whenever you complain about ant or cockroach flare-ups, the answer you always get: "have you tried cleaning?"

but at least now you have an online support system, a group of people who finally, actually understand, and even relate. and you've even found people in real life who understand, or at least are compassionate and patient. and you think yeah. maybe i can cope.

[seth-burroughs]

The last thing you see before you fucking die. That or you're just Makoto.

Yomi birthdayposting..... part 2!

[jigencaps]

[localwebslingers]

@inhcritance liked for a starter

------

Things weren't going quickly but they were definitely progressing.

Multiversal travel was not a thing Peter expected to have completely worked out and understood in just a few short days. Not if it was going to be done right. Which it absolutely needed to be, to be able to make sure not only was it successful, but was safe and got to the destination that was needed. In this case, Harry's home. There was progress though, they'd had a pretty solid start once they got going and enough still possible theories to fine tune and really nail down the issue.

...he wasn't sure Harry was sleeping, though.

That wasn't the only thing that had Peter worried. The other seemed to be wearing out faster, not even from working for long periods without rest, just in general at that point. At least twice now his own reflexes had moved to catch Harry and steady him from stumbling, from falling. At first Peter was willing to chalk it up to exhaustion, had just tried to convince Harry to take a break, get a couple of hours of rest in. Even just one hour because this kind of work on no sleep wasn't going to make it go faster. He knew that, but he was willing to blame it on the desire to go back home and general stress.

Maybe it was just denial, because the first time he'd noticed the tremor in Harry's hand? That was when he really knew something was up. He'd seen it before, faintly and mostly concealed, from his Harry. Back when he'd first calle for help. When Peter first learned that his best friend was dying, and just before he mentioned wanting Spider-Man's blood. Peter's blood. He'd seen the shake in Harry's hand, and the sick, wary sense of dread settled in with it. The green flash in his eyes and now this...

Two questions were stuck to the roof of Peter's mouth and he was stubbornly refusing to spit them out. Didn't know how to, instead he stood in the doorway of the lab and eyed Harry before going to put his stuff away. He'd been out most of the night as Spider-Man and was actively battling his own exhaustion, one of his shoulders still messed up from the fight he'd been caught in. The counter next to the workspace was used to set the bag of food and drinks down, "I brought coffee, and take out. I wasn't sure what you wanted so I sorta just got what I knew was good and could afford." which wasn't much but he did what he could.

Peter glanced over again and went over by Harry, tapping the table, "Har, seriously, take five..." the old nickname slipped out before he could catch it and he paused before letting out a soft breath, "Look if you're not going to sleep, at least let me make sure you're eating now and then, okay? Besides it's not going to be nearly as good cold."