#this is definitely an interesting aspect that i never really put a lot of thought into but you know what? i might spend some more time

[freezethebeez]

bit weird, but how are funeral practices different in the catalyst world? Because I feel like there’s an untapped angst potential in vampires turning their dead loved ones into soup. What’s more of an expression of grief than lettting your beloved’s dying cells become your cells, to convert a part of them to you and let them live on in all the parts of you forever? To one last time feel the warmth and flesh of your dead friend or lover before their bones are buried?

dead dove: do not eat? more like dead partner: turn him into soup but specifically the soup that your mother made and the one that he liked the most and have the most insane mental breakdown of all time while you eat it ^_^

[ooffmlsorry]

One Piece Men Take You on a Nice Vacation

A/N: Well I did a poll and y'all definitely wanted this! Let's be serious so did I. I so desperately wanna go on vacation and leave my cares behind for a week. Alas, my imagination is all I've got 😔

Characters: Monster trio, Law, Koby

ZORO

Vacation? Did you forget who your boyfriend is? Zoro is the epitome of "No days off 😤"

I think what's more likely is y'all ended up getting lost together and it turns into an impromptu vacation

But that doesn't mean it isn't nice to essentially go camping together

You're incredibly lucky, there's a nice waterfall and river, the weather stays beautiful and the nights are crisp and clear

Once you convince him it's better to stay put and wait for the others to finally find you, it becomes a really relax retreat

Zoro still insisting on training, but that's a given. You probably train with him sometimes since you're dating, but otherwise it's the longest uninterrupted peace you've had since joining the crew

Just imagine sitting together with your feet in the cool river water, fishing in comfortable silence. The two of you wade in the stream together and splash each other, cook what you caught, cuddle around the campfire, and look up at the stars at night just talking

The privacy is perfect because it allows you two connect without worrying about any of the your crew mates

Zoro's even admittedly a little surprised by how much he enjoys being alone with you (it definitely gives him thoughts about what your future together could look like)

It's something the two of you look back on incredibly fondly, and if you happen to get lost on an island again...maybe for once Zoro did it intentionally

SANJI

This man is so serious about taking you a vacation, it's the time of your life

He's such a mom though lol. He cooks a shit ton before he leaves with you so the crew can reheat it and still have nutritious meals while their cook is away

He owes Nami so much berri, but since it's for a romantic vacation with you, the interest isn't too bad 🤭

I'd imagine it's somewhere with lots to do and lots to see like Gran Tesoro or Sabaody (*ignoring how fucked they are in context of the story, I just mean a place like that)

Unlike something impromptu accidental like Zoro's, he's planned out everything. A spa day, mani/pedi, sightseeing, shopping, really nice dinners.

You dance around together in your hotel and watch the fireworks and the city lights at night. Not to mention Sanji looks extremely handsome in the glow of it.

He absolutely spoils you! All in the name of how much he appreciates and loves you

And for what it's worth you don't let him forget how much it means to you...whenever you're not utterly speechless. It's more like the two of you spoil each other lol

The two of you have a lot of fun together, living in your own rose-colored world

As much as this is about you, you Sanji sometimes wishes he lived in a fairy tale world and this is it. It's just the breather you both need.

LUFFY

You kind of have to explain to him what a vacation is at first because he thinks you're just asking about going on an adventure with him🤭

Once he does understand the concept, he's pretty gung ho about it! Well, the "relaxing" part of a vacation sounds kind of dull to him but going somewhere just the two of you sounds awesome!

He kind of just springs it on you. You mentioned it once in passing and then a week later you're on a random island together and the Sunny is sailing off to pick you guys up in a week

It's not really a vacation spot, it's just a normal island he's never been to before (because he still doesn't quite understand the difference between a vacation and an adventure) but it's nice. It's somewhat reminiscent of Loguetown or Mock Town

You still have a great time with it's charm and the fact that there's little to no Marines around means you get peace in that aspect

That's the only kind of peace you get though lol

The two of you go all over the place, trying different food, poking around the jungle and in shops, and possibly getting into a little bit of trouble

Every night the two of you crash and sleep in as much as you want, wake up whenever you want and eat as much and whenever you want

It's kind of like a long sleepover with no parents around to keep you in line

As fun as it is you'll probably start to miss the routine of living as a Straw Hat and Luffy's itching to get back to the open seas!

LAW

Law pales at the thought of a vacation, but he's not above it for the people he loves

It's absolutely not his idea though...He was trying to think of something nice for your birthday and the crew told him how stressed you've been lately (plus have seen him? He needs a damn break and they also want him to relax)

He has everything planned down to the minute. When you're going, where you're going, what you're doing, when you'll be back. This man has a whole goddamn itinerary prepared tailored to your wants.

I feel like you guys would go to a place reminiscent of Dressrosa or Water 7 (*again ignoring the in-story horrors lol), something with really beautiful architecture and lots of history.

That plan turns more into more like a rough guideline no he's not upset about it look away but it's okay because you both needed the rest and a little less rigidity does Law some good

It's okay to stumble into a bookstore and get lunch two hours later than you planned, you swear

You two mostly avoid the tourist traps, except the historical ones because they're pretty cool and you learn a lot. Walking down the streets, hand in hand (yes, you get Law to hold you hand in public, it's the small wins okay?)

He can't stop working entirely, but that gives you time to do a little exploring on your own...not to mention you're completely surprised by how he pulls you into his lap as soon as you return

Being alone together makes him realize how important you are to him. There's not nearly as much crowding his mind when he's on vacation and all that free space up there is filled with his love for you

He's also kind of surprised how much he likes you outside of the Heart Pirate's rigid routine. Seeing you dressed up and not prepared for the sea, but rather a nice dinner, is a shock to his system. The fact that you're pretty much two normal people and nothing is falling apart surprises him. Maybe, he thinks, the two of you should do this more often

KOBY

A/N: Koby is literally my baby boy, cuppy-cake, sugar plum, pumpkin. He's so precious. Just a perfect lil guy 🥹💞 if Law is my husband, then Koby is my son

Oh lord, he's sweating lol

You? Wanna go on vacation with him? Alone? He's so flustered! Such a big step!

But he's really happy and super excited!! He definitely has a little countdown going on on his calendar

I could definitely see you guys having a beach type vacation, somewhere with a pier/boardwalk with all kinds of games and maybe a few cheap rides too

He'd absolutely win you a prize, and even better if you beat him and win him a prize

The photo booth pictures you end up taking are so cute and he keeps them forever

You hang out on the beach and build a massive sand castle, y'all probably get a terrible sunburn or at least Koby does 🤭

And at night you take nice long walks, listening to waves and collecting shells that catch your attention

The vacation is good for you, but it's also good for him to be out of the Marine environment for a minute

He gets to enjoy the results of all of his hard work and it makes him incredibly grateful that you're by his side, and when he tells you as such it's a long stuttering speech but he makes it through

Don't be surprised that he's awake at least 2-3 hours before you but that just means he gets time to think about what you're gonna do and be completely captivated as you sleep beside him

Those photo booth pictures? He keeps them in his jacket now. Whenever he gets overwhelmed or feels homesick he'll either look at them or pat his pocket to remind himself of those moments with you

[three--rings]

You Should Watch The Spirealm/致命游戏

What is it?

A 2024 cdrama based on the danmei webnovel Kaleidoscope of Death. It's a censored version of a BL novel, with thriller, mystery, and horror aspects, 38 45-minute episodes.

What's it about?

A young man accidentally gets drawn into a virtual reality video game that involves passing tests in a series of doors. Once you start playing, you cannot stop and if you die in the game, you die in real life. He meets a frustratingly mysterious, competent, and attractive man in the doors who recruits him to be part of his game solving team. Well, specifically to be his partner. Lots of gay subtext ensues as they fight through door after door seeking to get to the final door in order to end the evils of the game. (The book is a little different, as it's more supernatural.)

So basically it's a infinite flow deadly game situation, with m/m romance.

Main Characters:

Lin Quishi/Ling Juishi (novel/drama versions of his name)- Our protagonist. A smart graduate in computer science, good at games. Well meaning but a little naive to start out.

Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Lanzhu - Our love interest. In the novel he crossdresses often and he presents as a woman for the whole first arc. Super intelligent, expert at the game, extremely flirty but reserved at the same time. Got one look at Lin Quishi and said That One.

Other Characters, aka the Found Family:

Ruan Nanzhu's team consists of a pair of twin brothers (one young and dumb and one uptight), a hot doctor vet, a woman whose main job seems to be cooking dinner, and a not-so-stable dude.

Then there's Li Dong Yuan, a rival player who becomes reluctantly-tolerated friend, and his cute female assistant. And Tan Zao Zao, an actress who hires the team to help her in the games and also sticks around persistently.

They're pretty much all delightful and some may start off silly/annoying and end up breaking the hell out of your heart.

Okay, but what's the VIBE?

Big Guardian vibes. The team of lovable scamps investigating weird supernatural (?) type mysteries? While the boss and the guy he fell for have a situationship? Totally. This definitely has more of a horror feel than Guardian, though, even though they tone things down from the novel.

Each door is its own setting, and some are more scary than others. So one is a mental hospital, one is a traditional village, one is a gothic manor, etc. Lots of tragic female ghosts who have been wronged and are getting revenge. The one that really creeped me out was the one with the children with the eggs. It does a lot of creepy rather than really horror. It's not truly gory at all, as it was made to air on Chinese TV and they have strict limits to violence.

The camerawork and set decor is really nice, actually. It looks great most of the time and a lot of the effects seem to be practical. It looks a lot better than Guardian is what I'm saying, if not quite to a film level.

How Gay is It?

Oh MY GOD. Okay look, this show was NOT supposed to be released, but thank whoever put it up for that two hours. It's really incredibly blatant, like really as much as Word of Honor was, although because the plot is focused elsewhere it's maybe not quite as in your face. But the actors UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT and there's so much longing and SO much implication. After a while, everyone basically just treats the main couple as a couple even thought it's never talked about.

I mean episode one there's Only One Bed and at the end of their first meeting Ruan Nanzhu gives Lin Quishi a RING. I mean, the flirting is also BLATANT. I also just find this a really romantic show, despite the Not Talking About It thing.

Is it a Happy Ending?

So, It's Complicated. I'm trying not to spoil anything and this show is pretty easy to have spoiled for you. There's definitely a good bit of tragedy in this show in general. Characters die and it's really sad. Like, this is a plot with stakes and if no one we liked ever died, it wouldn't be the same.

I will say I consider this show to have a happy ending, but you do go through some pain first. Essentially the main couple does have a separation, but there is a reunion before the end. There's also a scene that will give Guardian fans fucking PTSD, but the show does a fix-it on its own, okay? I do feel that I have to warn for that, though.

Where can I watch it?

The show is legally available on Viki with a subscription. Obviously there are other ways to find it as well, and links went around before it was picked up by Viki so check tags if you need those.

I really hope this encourages some people to watch this show, as it's really well made and a great time. It's one of a very small number of danmei adaptations we've gotten, but a lot less people have watched it since it's modern and had a weird release. Honestly, it's well written and acted and filmed and you should give it a shot.

(All gifs by @ruanbaijie, thank you very much for allowing me to use them. Check out their blog, there's such gorgeous stuff there!)

[keiriiz]

Chrollo Relationship/Romantic Headcanons

Now for these headcanons, this is where my opinion might really differ from the rest of you guys. Of course this isn’t all but just some of my favorites. I will be putting a clear NSFW warning for when I start to talk about him in bed. 🔞

I do want to add that some of my headcanons would change depending on his partner. If they’re a Nen-user or not, exactly what their ability is, if they’re in the Phantom Troupe, and how long he’s known them, etc. These are just as neutral as possible haha. Even some of what I say here contradicts how I’ve written him in certain ships because I knew exactly how he would act for those specific love interests.

✥ Right of the bat, Chrollo is bi-romantic, having very little preference of gender when it comes to his s/o. And sexuality wise, he’s definitely on the demisexual spectrum.

✥ Chrollo never really planned on being in a long term relationship or ever settling down with someone when he created the Phantom Troupe. It was just another aspect of life he was prepared to sacrifice. So giving a genuine relationship a shot he’d have to really love the other person.

✥ It would take forever for Chrollo to actually recognize he was feeling romantic attraction to another person as the entire thing is foreign to him.

✥ This man’s charisma goes out the drain when trying to flirt with someone he’s genuinely interested it. Tapping his fingers as a stim while he awkwardly flirts. It’s painfully adorable.

✥ Before making things official, he may do extensive research on his s/o. Background checks, verifying friends and family members, overall borderline stalking. It’s a safety measure. He doesn’t want to risk falling for someone who works for an opposing group or who might betray him.

✥ In a relationship, his s/o would be a source of comfort, especially if the relationship is long term. He’ll relax in their arms after a heist or cuddle up to them when he has a nightmare.

✥ I said in my last post but I’ll say it again here. Chrollo is a little spoon!

✥ It’s not too often Chrollo will verbally tell someone he loves them, his main ways of showing affection are quality time, and gift giving. And for his special someone, he wouldn’t just give them random things willy-nilly, he’d put thought behind each one. Say his partner mentions needing new shoes because their current ones are really worn out. You bet next time Chrollo sees them he’s bringing two pairs of brand new shoes.

✥ He loves to be able to lay his head in his s/o’s lap and have them play with his hair while he reads. He might even purr if given the right setting.

✥ Chrollo can be touch avoidant in general. If anyone touches him and he hasn’t given that person mental permission he will move away, shudder even. So if he’s actually allowing another in his space it really is a sign of fondness.

✥ This man definitely takes notes from romance novels he’s read when it comes to dates with someone he’s head over heels for. It can be cheesy.

✥ Chrollo isn’t a chef by any means but on occasion he’ll attempt to cook for his s/o when staying in. Might as well put some of his cook books to use after all.

✥ The times Chrollo is with his partner, things can be quite pleasant. However he can still be emotionally distant. He often wonders what he did to deserve all of this. To be able to love and be loved. It’s a mental battle he might struggle with quite often in the relationship and he wouldn’t be too open to communicating that, leaving his s/o confused. Just some general reassurance could go a long ways.

✥ I feel like a lot of people go for the idea that he’d like others with similar interests or are like him in general, and I could see potential in that mindset however I much prefer the “opposites attract” trope. I think Chrollo might have a bigger interest in someone different than him who can really show a different perspective on certain things. Or even test his mindset and show him new interests.

✥ He’s protective of his s/o, knowing with the life he has, anyone might try to hurt them to get to him so Chrollo wouldn’t be one to really “show off” his partner unfortunately. They relationship could be pretty private.

✥ Assuming his s/o isn’t in the Troupe, Chrollo may ghost them while he’s away on the job. He’ll let them know he’s working, but no calls or texts while he’s away. He won’t even give a location. He wants to keep his personal life separate and doesn’t want to risk revealing to an enemy his relationship or possibly get distracted.

NSFW BELOW ‼️

✥ Before the relationship, Chrollo didn’t really like sex (as I mentioned him being demi), he viewed the act as a chore used on jobs to get information and didn’t find it all that gratifying.

✥ With his s/o, Chrollo much prefers to make love as opposed to casual sex. He likes the intimacy of being with someone he truly loves and not just an act of pleasure.

✥ He prefers bottoming though is open to being a verse. Acting as Boss all the time he really just likes to relax in his personal life so in all honesty it wouldn’t be rare to catch him being a pillow prince in bed.

✥ Chrollo’s not the biggest cock wise, probably just reaching average. He’s uncut being from Meteor City but trust and believe he keeps that shit clean with his pubic hair trimmed.

✥ He’ll almost never out right ask for sex, he’s honestly fine if his partner doesn’t have any interest in the act either. Though if they make a move he’s more than happy for a session.

✥ He’s got VERY sensitive nipples. Give them a little tug with your teeth and he’ll mewl.

✥ Aftercare is always a given between him and his s/o. If Chrollo just got done bottoming, cuddles and praise are a must. He’d especially melt if given a massage.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Easier When Unknown

Summary: Danny could have imagined his life would be interesting after everyone learned his secret, but he didn't think it would be this different.

Author's Note: A phic phight fanfiction! Here are the two prompts:

AU where no one knew Danny was Phantom until PP (or some alternate big reveal of the author's choice). Sam and Tucker are sure that a famous hero like Danny Phantom is too cool to be their friend again, especially since they haven't talked since before freshman year of high school. Danny just wants to be part of the trio again and has no idea how to ask.

Danny finds out that Sam's been being bullied at school and has been hiding it from him and Tucker out of embarrassment.

...

Danny’s life definitely didn’t get easier after his identity was revealed, but it didn’t get that much harder, which was good.  Right?

Or, well, that was a little bit of an oversimplification.  His life definitely got harder in a lot of ways.  People stared at  him wherever he went.  Suddenly all of the popular kids at school wanted to be best friends with him, like he couldn’t see through that change of pace from a mile away.  There were news stations constantly vying for the first interview with the half-ghost kid who defeated the Ghost King.

But his parents stopped hunting him.  And they were going to try to work things out.  And Jazz revealed that she’d actually known for a while now, and that made her more ready to adapt to everything, and she didn’t treat him like anything had changed.

And all of that kind of evened it out, at the end of the day.  Even if he wasn’t exactly sure he was ready to go from town’s enemy to world’s hero.

Because that was another part of this: word of Amity Park, ghosts in general, and what he’d done had been spreading like wildfire since he’d put Pariah Dark back in his coffin.  Suddenly everyone was talking about him, and everyone knew him, and, as stated with the aforementioned journalists, everyone wanted to talk to him.  He woke up every day to see news trucks that were local and ones that were very much not right outside his house.  He’d flown intangibly to school every day for the past month.

Ancients, all this fame needed to die down soon.  He wasn’t sure how much more of it he could take.

He was often so caught up in everything changing all at once, however, that he didn’t have much of a chance to think about things he might want to happen.  Which was why he was a little caught off guard that morning.  He was running from the daily mob of screaming girls who wanted his autograph (which was never something he thought he’d get sick of), and after getting at least a little bit of a lead on them, he turned intangible and dove through the door to the janitor’s closet, then turned back to normal and rested his hands on his knees, panting slightly to catch his breath.

“Uh,” came a very familiar female voice, and Danny’s head shot up.  He found standing on the other side of the closet the one part of his life that hadn’t changed.

And for a long, long moment, he and Sam and Tucker just stared at each other.

Danny’s feelings about Sam and Tucker had never been more mixed.  They really were the one aspect of his life that stayed the same post identity-reveal-to-the-entire-world, and he couldn’t decide whether to thank them for the consistency or be pissed at them for the audacity.

Because he hadn’t talked to Sam and Tucker since the beginning of Freshman year.

And then his secret was revealed to the entire world.

And he still hadn’t talked to Sam and Tucker since the beginning of Freshman year.

“Uh,” Danny said finally, because they couldn’t just all keep staring at each other.  “Hi.”

“Hey,” Tucker said.  Sam nodded in acknowledgement.

Really, guys.  Work with him a little bit, please?

“Are you hiding from people too?” Danny asked, pushing himself up using his knees.

“Yeah,” Sam said.

“I didn’t think you’d be hiding from anyone anymore,” Tucker said, and Danny didn’t miss the tinge of bitterness in his voice.

“Um,” Danny said.  He didn’t seem to have any more words for Sam and Tucker than he had a year and a half ago.

“Danny!” came from outside the closet, and Danny whirled around instinctually.  “Get back here!  What makes you think you can run from me?”

“Hey you mind if I hang out here for a bit cool thanks,” Danny said, moving across the closet until he was right across from Sam and Tucker.  A second later, the door handle started jiggling, and Danny turned intangible, even though he could feel Sam and Tucker’s stares.

The door swung open and Paulina poked her head in.

“Oh, it’s just you two,” she said, disappointment obvious in her voice.  A second later, she perked up.  “Hey, you haven’t seen Danny, have you?”

“No,” Sam said, crossing her arms.  “Would you back off?  We’re trying to hide in a closet here.”

Paulina laughed.  “Sure, okay.  Have fun, losers.”  She slammed the door after herself.

Danny dropped the intangibility as soon as she was gone with a sigh of relief.  “Thanks,” he said to Sam and Tucker.

“Don’t mention it,” Sam grumbled, and leaned back against the shelf behind her.  “I’m surprised you didn’t want to see her, though.”

“Honestly, yeah,” Tucker agreed, giving him a weird look.  “Never thought I’d see the day you’d turn down Paulina.”

“It’s not that,” Danny said.  “I mean she… she’s not…”

The warning bell rang, and all three of them looked towards the door, where they could hear it outside.  For a second afterwards, none of them moved.

Sam did first, pushing herself off the shelf.  “Bye,” she said, starting towards the door.  Tucker followed her closely.

Danny tried not to make his deflation obvious.  “Yeah, okay,” he muttered.  He turned intangible again, and slipped through the floor, rather than try and go past them.

It was only when he actually made it to his homeroom that he realized he still had no idea why Sam and Tucker were in that closet.

…

“Hey, Fenturd— I mean Fenton!”

Danny heaved an internal sigh and looked up from his tray of food to find Dash and Kwan walking up to his table.

“Are these seats taken?” Dash asked with a grin, gesturing at the as-of-yet empty table around him.  He’d gotten to lunch early in order to try and hang on to one.

“Yeah,” Danny said to Dash, leaning over to rest his chin on his hand in what was intended to be a representation of how little he wanted them here.  “I’m holding it for all of the ghosts that are going to show up during lunch and blast you across the room.”

“Ha, you’re a riot Fenton!” Dash said, completely ignoring Danny’s tone and face and sliding into the seat next to him.  Danny cringed and didn’t bother to hide it, sliding as far away from Dash as he could.  Unfortunately, Dash just slid right down after him, which resulted in Danny nearly being pushed off the bench and Dash not noticing.

Kwan followed his lead and took the seat across from Danny, meaning Danny was forced to look in boredom to the side to avoid both of their gazes.  He waited a couple extra seconds, but eventually it became clear that neither of them were going to move.  So, Danny sighed, resigned himself to his life, and picked up one of his terrible school-lunch chicken nuggets.

“So, we were both thinking that maybe you could come watch one of our practices!” Dash called, slinging an arm around Danny’s shoulder.  “The football team’s, I mean.”

“Why would I do that?” Danny asked, making his shoulder go intangible just long enough for Dash’s arm to fall through.

“Well I mean, it would be neat to have you there,” Dash said, glancing across the table at Kwan.  “Right Kwan?”

“Totally,” Kwan agreed with a grin of his own.  “And I mean, you’re pretty good with athletic stuff.  You know, when you’re a cool ghost fighting superhero and not a weak dweeb.  Maybe you could come as Phantom, you know, show us some tricks!”

“Gee, that sounds great,” Danny deadpanned.  “So am I just supposed to ignore the insults in there, or…?”

“Hey,” came Paulina’s voice, and Danny turned around to see her walking up behind them all.  “Can’t you two leave him alone?  It’s clear he doesn’t want to be bothered by you.”

Danny blinked in surprise.  He really hadn’t expected Paulina to pick up on that.  Maybe she actually—

“He’d clearly rather be sitting with me!” Paulina said, reaching down and pulling Danny up by his arm.

“Okay, that’s it!”  Danny went intangible again and slipped out of Paulina’s grasp, then grabbed his lunch and walked out of the room, straight through the doors without bothering to open them.

He made his way out to the front steps of the school and sat down, and managed to get through at least a couple bites before he remembered the reason eating outside was also a bad idea.  The reminder came in the form of a reporter and a camera man leaping out from what he thought was a normal van sitting across the street.

“Mr Fenton!” called one of them as he ran up towards the steps.  “Or would you prefer Mr Phantom?”

“I’d prefer solitude,” Danny snapped, leaning back and away from them both.

“Oh absolutely!  Just a couple of quick questions first of course, you wouldn’t mind.”

The door slammed open behind them, and Danny prepared himself for Dash or Paulina again when, to his surprise, Mr Lancer stepped down the steps and stopped right in front of him.

“You’re on school property,” he said, crossing his arms.  “You have two minutes to get back in your van and drive away or I am calling the police.”

“Sir, can I ask, how long have you known that one of your students is dead?” the reporter asked, shoving a mic in Lancer’s face.

Lancer raised an eyebrow and pulled out his phone, then started dialing 911.  Thankfully, the reporters turned and ran back across the street before he could finish.

Lancer turned back around as soon as they were gone.  “Are you alright?” he asked, casting a concerned look down at Danny.

“Fine,” Danny muttered, picking up his tray and climbing to his feet.  “You know.  Great.”

Lancer looked at him for another second, then said, “Mr Fenton, come and eat your lunch in my classroom.”

“What?  Why?”

“You can sit out of view from my door,” Lancer said.  “It’ll give you a break from the crowds.”

Danny felt a knot in his chest loosen.  “Really?”

Lancer gave him a sympathetic frown.  “I can’t imagine it’s an easy thing to deal with all the time,” he said.  He opened the door again and gestured for Danny to go first, so he did.

And for the first time in a while, he ate his lunch in silence.

…

He wasn’t expecting to see Sam and Tucker again that day.  Most of the time his time at school was spent avoiding every single person he possibly could.  The morning incident in the janitor’s closet had been a once in a blue moon event.

But, as fate would have it, there was a ghost attack during the last period, and after going and taking care of it (just the Box Ghost showing up as an irritation), he landed behind the school to find Sam and Tucker leaning against the wall and talking.

And while he’d originally come back here to try and avoid all of the cheers he’d get going right back into class, he was sort of regretting that decision now.

Sam and Tucker were clearly deep in conversation, but they noticed when he landed right in front of them, and then they all got to do a lovely repeat of that morning’s staring at each other.

“Hiding again?” Tucker asked eventually.

Danny nodded.  “You too?”

Sam nodded.

Danny gave them a curious look.  “From what?”

“Danny!”

Danny groaned audibly this time, as Star ran around the side of the building and straight for him.

“That was so cool the way you just flew off like that!” she called.  “Not a second thought to how you might be putting yourself in danger!”

“Yeah, thanks,” Danny said, already starting to fly away.  “Make my excuses in class, will you?  Got to get this really dangerous ghost back to the portal right away and send him through to the ghost zone.  Great thanks bye!”

He flew off maybe a little bit too quickly for the given situation, but he couldn’t stand another second there, and school was basically over anyway.  He made it home pretty quickly, and thankfully wasn’t stopped by any news outlets on the way, though that was likely because he made the whole trip while intangible.

But while he made it inside without any fuss, as soon as he flew down to the lab he was greeted with his parents working on what looked like a weapon of some kind.

He winced.  He was never quite able to stop the touch of fear that came with his parents working on a ghost weapon.  After a second, though, he floated down to the ground anyway and changed back from his ghost form.

Both his parents startled and looked over at him.

“Danny,” his mom said.  “You’re back early.”

“Yeah uh, ghost fight in last period,” Danny muttered, heading over towards the portal and attaching the thermos to it.  “School was already basically over, so I just came home.”  He hit the button on the side of the portal and sent the Box Ghost flying into the portal, crying out dramatically all the way.

“Well that’s nice,” Mom said, the tension in her voice obvious.

“Yeah, uh, anyway I have homework,” Danny said, starting for the steps.  He had a feeling flying up through the ceiling wouldn’t be a great idea right now.

“Will we see you for dinner, Danno?” Dad asked.  “We were hoping to all eat together tonight.”

Danny tightened his grip on the railing of the stairs.  “Okay.”

He considered asking what they’d be having, but given the tension in the room he really didn’t think he could spend much more time in the lab.

So instead, he just said “See you later,” and headed upstairs.

It’s not that his parents had reacted badly to the Phantom news.  They’d done the important stuff, they’d given him a huge apology and stopped actively hunting him.  But none of them seemed to really know where they stood with each other anymore.  Danny didn’t logically think they were going to hurt him anymore, but it was difficult to get rid of that fear response that for the longest time, it made sense to have.

But at the same time, he could tell it made them feel guilty to see him be scared of them.  Jazz said it wasn’t his fault, and she was probably right.  But he still hated it.

He started first for his bedroom, and made it part of the way through the living room when the front door opened and Jazz sprinted in, slamming the door shut on nearly a dozen reporters.  Danny could still hear their voice through the door after it shut.  Some were asking how it felt to be the brother of a hero, some were asking how long she’d known and how she’d found out, and some were asking how it felt to know her brother was dead.

Jazz heaved out a breath, though all of the reporters were still easily heard through the windows.  Then she looked up and met eyes with Danny.

“Oh hey,” she said, clearly still exhausted.  “How was school?”

Danny didn’t respond, instead gazing out the gap in the curtains to the people shoving cameras in it.

“Sorry,” he said to Jazz.

“Oh, don’t you dare,” Jazz said.  “I know you hate them as much as I do.”

Danny sighed and looked down.  “Yeah.”

“Are you doing okay?” Jazz asked hesitantly.  “I’m sure it’s… a lot.”

Danny snorted.  “Understatement.”

Jazz smiled a little.  “Yeah.”

Danny turned to face her more directly, chewing on his lip.  He’d avoided the topic with her so far, mostly because too much was going on, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been desperately curious.  “Can I…” he said hesitantly.  “Can I be like one of those awful reporters and ask you how you found out?”

Jazz rolled her eyes.  “Don’t be ridiculous.  You’re not a reporter, you’re my brother.  And I know if I tell you it’s not going to end up on the 5:00 news.”

She paused, and turned and glanced out the windows for a moment.  “You want to go upstairs, though?”

“Yes,” Danny said immediately.

So they both ended up in Jazz’s room, sitting next to each other on her bed, with the curtains drawn tight in case the helicopters came back.

“I found out during the Spectra thing,” Jazz started.  “I spotted you transforming.”

Danny nodded, thinking about that.  “Okay,” he said quietly.  “And… why didn’t you say anything?”

“I wanted to wait until you wanted to tell me,” Jazz said.  She sighed, and glanced towards the windows.  “I guess that didn’t really work out.”

“No,” Danny muttered.  “But… I appreciate the sentiment.”

Jazz turned to look at him, concerned.  “Are you doing okay?  I mean, obviously not, just… you know.”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Danny said, rolling his eyes.  “I always hoped that everyone would learn my secret in the aftermath of an exhausting battle when I was definitely not prepared for them to learn, and then I’d be hounded by literally everyone who suddenly feels entitled to my attention and my time.  Dream come true, this is.”

“I’m really sorry it turned out this way,” Jazz said quietly.

Danny sighed.  “Me too.”

“Is there anything I could do to be helpful?” Jazz asked.

“Do you know if anyone’s figured out time travel yet?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Dammit.”

There was a moment of silence, and Jazz said, “I mean it.”

Danny shook his head.  “There’s nothing you could do that you aren’t already doing,” he said.  “You’re not looking at me different.  Like your entire worldview’s been flipped on its head.  Which, I mean I guess for a lot of people it has, but… still.  It’s nice that you’re not.”

Jazz was quiet for a moment, and then she reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.  And despite how totally lame it was to hug his sister, Danny did the same back.

“Still, if you want me to stand in between you and anyone, just let me know,” Jazz said.

“I wouldn’t ask you do that,” Danny said, pulling back, though he was smiling a little.  “I can just fly away from the news vans, and go intangible to get away from the helicopters.  And Lancer already gave me permission to hide in his office during school hours if I ever need to.”

“Good,” Jazz said with a nod.  She paused for a second, and Danny got the feeling she was about to ask something delicate.  He was proven right when a second later she said, “And what about Sam and Tucker?”

“What about them?” Danny said, glaring away.  “We’ve said about ten words to each other since everything happened.  And about half of them are ‘um.’”

…Okay, so maybe he’s a little more bitter than he realized.  He sighed.

“I can’t expect everything to suddenly change,” he said, turning back to Jazz.  “Our falling out had nothing to do with Phantom.”

Or, it technically did.  Their falling out had been because he constantly ditched them and left mid-way through hangouts.  Because he was Phantom, and had to go fight whatever ghost had shown up.  But they didn’t know that at the time.  And it had been over a year since they’d talked.  They had probably moved on.

“You should still talk to them,” Jazz said.  “And I mean really talk to them.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t see much of an opportunity for that in between getting interrupted every ten seconds, either by classmates or reporters,” Danny said.  He paused, and turned to look at Jazz as a realization struck him.  “Hey, how are you doing with all that, by the way?  It doesn’t look like the reporters are leaving you alone.”

“They’re definitely not,” Jazz said.  “But I can handle myself.  Besides, they tend to leave me alone as soon as they see you.”

Danny smiled a bit.  “Glad I can take that off your shoulders for you.”

“Oh yeah, if anything you owe me,” Jazz said with a smile.  “After everything I did for you?”

“I think I’ve saved your life three times now.”

“Do my dishes for a month and we’re even.”

Danny snorted.  “Sure, you got it.”  He took a deep breath, feeling lighter than he had when he got home.

“Hey, thanks, Jazz,” he said, looking over at her.  “You’re surprisingly easy to talk to.”

“Anytime,” Jazz said, smiling warmly at him.  “I mean it.”

…

The next day didn’t start much better, with flying invisibly to school and hiding in various places until first period starts, but Danny found himself in a better mood despite it.  Talking with Jazz had helped, and knowing he’d have a quiet place to eat lunch helped too.

He still didn’t love being swarmed in the halls on his way to his first period after the warning bell rang, though.  Maybe he could use his well-established reputation for being late for everything and just hide until the halls were empty between classes.

…Or would that not work anymore because everyone knew the reason?

Well, he’d give it a shot anyway.

First period was uneventful, thankfully, aside from everyone spending the period staring at him while he was trying to focus, which was nothing new.  He could tell it was irritating both him and the teacher, however, because eventually he set his chalk down from writing math equations on the board.

“Anyone who doesn’t stop staring at Mr Fenton loses an entire letter grade on the next test,” he snapped.  “This is school, this is not your free time.  Mr Fenton, thank you for at least trying to pay attention.”

“Anytime,” Danny deadpanned, because he wasn’t about to turn down a compliment from a teacher, and he really was trying.

Apparently the threat of losing a letter grade was only enough to sway a couple students, though, likely the ones who hadn’t entirely given up on their grades like he had.

(Although maybe the administration would go easier on him now…?)

Either way, he managed to get at least some of the notes down by the end of the class, and going up to the teacher to ask if there was anything else he absolutely needed to have written down seemed to put him on his better side.  Being a teacher’s favorite was also something he wasn’t used to.

And as a second bonus, staying behind and finishing the notes resulted in a late pass, meaning he could wait until everyone had filed out of the hallway.

Or at least, he thought that’s what he was doing.

Instead, as he turned a corner towards his next period, he stumbled across Dash shoving someone inside a locker.  And instead of adding him to the bunch like he used to, when Dash spotting him he brightened.

“Fenton!  You want to help me stuff these losers in here?”

“Not really,” Danny said, starting over towards them to help out whoever he was bullying.  “You know, if you’re really trying to get on my good side, you might try—” he stopped as he reached the locker.

Well, apparently Dash really didn’t care about getting on his good side, because staring back out at him were Sam and Tucker.

“Uh, hey Danny,” Tucker said, waving at him from inside the locker.

Danny turned back to Dash, raising an eyebrow in what hopefully came across as “are you fucking kidding me.”

“Aw, come on, you’re not trying to say you still care about these losers,” Dash said, like the very idea was ridiculous.  “You can hang out with anyone you want now!  By the way, you’re still coming to football practice later, right?”

“Probably not,” Danny snapped.  He held a hand out to Tucker, who grabbed it.  Danny turned him intangible and pulled Tucker out until he could stand on the floor.

Tucker looked a little off balance after he let go, but Sam still grabbed his hand when he offered the same to her.

“Okay,” Tucker said as Danny set Sam down.  “A little warning next time maybe?”

“Sorry,” Danny said.  He glared back over at Dash.  “Beat it.”

“Aw come on Fenton, you know I didn’t mean anything by it, I just—”

“Beat it or I tell everyone about that time you wet your pants after I saved your life from the Box Ghost.”

Dash went pale, and then quickly left.

“Wait,” Sam said.  “Really?”

Danny snorted.  “Oh yeah,” he said, turning back to face them.  “I could tell you stories about what Dash is like when he’s in danger.”  He paused, looking at them both in concern.  “Are you guys okay?”

Sam glared away, crossing her arms.  “Fine,” she muttered, a note in her voice that Danny couldn’t read.

“Thanks for the help,” Tucker said.  And then they both turned around, clearly about to leave.

“Wait!” Danny yelled after them.  “I— please.”

They both turned hesitantly back around.

“We’re late for class,” Sam said.

“I’ll tell them you got caught up in a ghost attack,” Danny said.  “Just, please can we talk?  Just once, and then we can be done.  Okay?”

They both exchanged a glance, and seemed to say something to each other with their eyes that Danny couldn’t read anymore.

Finally, they turned back to face him, and they both nodded.

“Where?” Tucker asked.

Well, eventually the bell was going to ring, and then the hall would flood with people who wouldn’t leave them alone.  And if they went outside, they’d be met with a similar problem, just with the news crews instead of students.  And if they were going to pretend a ghost attack happened, they should probably go somewhere to make it at least a little more believable.

“How do you feel about the roof?” Danny asked.

“Uh,” Tucker said.  “Have you been there?”

Danny nodded.  “It’s… quiet.  Sometimes.”

They were both quiet for another moment, then Sam nodded.  “Okay.”

Danny started over to them, glanced at Tucker and said, “This is your warning,” and then grabbed them both by the arms, transformed, and flew them all up through the ceiling and onto the roof.

Tucker stumbled a little as Danny let go of him.  “Okay,” he said.  “Needed a different kind of warning there.”

Danny smiled a little bit.  “Be glad you’ve never fallen through the floor in your sleep.”

“That’s not really something I’ve ever thought would happen to me,” Tucker said.

“Tell me about it.”

There’s a couple seconds of silence, and Tucker and Sam exchanged another glance.

Finally, Sam turned back to him and crossed her arms.  “So,” she said.  “You’re Phantom.”

Danny sighed.  “Yeah.”

“Can I ask…” Tucker started.  “I mean what— like how did you become— it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” he added quickly, holding up his hands.  “You don’t have to.”

Danny looked at him for a second.  It was definitely the same question he was sick of getting from other classmates and the reporters.  But Tucker at least had given him an out.  And if this really was going to be the last time they talked, he wanted them to know everything.

“You remember the portal in my parent’s lab?” he asked.  “How I told you it just started working one day?”

Tucker nodded.

“That’s… not actually true.  I turned it on.  From… from inside.”

Tucker’s eyes widened.  “Dude.”

Danny gave a short laugh.  “Yeah.”

“What happened with the ghost fighting?” Sam asked.  “I mean did you get pulled into that, or…?”

“What?  No,” Danny said.  “I mean, kind of, sure, but someone had to do it.  I wasn’t going to let people get hurt.”

“But— you got hurt,” Sam said, gesturing at him.  “All the time.  We talked about it around you.  Back when— when we were still talking.”

Danny shrugged.  “I can take it.  Normal humans can’t.”

The phrasing seemed to throw them off, which was fair, but he didn’t take it back.  He wasn’t a normal human anymore.

“Still,” Sam said finally.  “You should have told us.  We could have helped you.”

Danny’s shoulders slumped.  “I know,” he muttered.  “I— I really didn’t want you to find out like this.”

“On the news?” Tucker asked.  “Along with everyone else?  Like we weren’t any different from them?”

Danny winced.  “Yeah.”

A pause.

“If I knew everyone was going to find out, I would have told you first,” he added.  “For what it’s worth.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Sam asked.

“It just… it felt so big,” Danny said, shaking his head.  “And I didn’t know how you’d react.  And… I’m sorry.”

Neither of them said anything for a minute.  Danny wasn’t sure what exactly they were waiting for, but eventually he had to help fill the silence.

“How long has Dash been bothering you?” he asked.

Both of them immediately looked away.

“Oh, come on.  You can’t make this conversation entirely about me.”

“We can’t?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow.

“No.  That’s not fair to me or you.”

Sam glared away again.

“Pretty much since everyone found out,” Tucker said a second later.  “I guess he figured he couldn’t mess with you anymore so he moved on to easier targets.”

Danny clenched his fists.  “Asshole.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tucker said.

“No, I just mean,” Danny gestured vaguely with his hands, not sure what he meant.  “God, I’m so sick of him.  Of all of them.”

Tucker gave him a look.  “You really don’t like all the praise?”

Danny shrugged.  “I dunno.  I guess it beats being hunted.”

Tucker and Sam were both silent for a minute.  Danny looked at them for a second and saw slight horror on their faces.

Oh.  Maybe they hadn’t quite realized that part yet.

“You could have told me about Dash, you know,” Danny said, trying to stop them from thinking too much about that.  “I would have helped.”

“We… kind of didn’t think you’d care,” Tucker said hesitantly.

Danny blinked.  “What?” he asked.

“I mean, you are kind of a big deal now,” Sam said, gesturing at him.

Danny crossed his arms.  “I’m sorry?  Did you miss the part where I didn’t want to be?”

“No, I just mean—” Sam started.

“Yeah, I should go hang out with Dash, huh?  Or start dating Paulina?  Wouldn’t that be just great?”

Sam blinked at him.  “Would it not?”

“Of course not,” Danny snapped.  “None of them actually give a shit about me.   They all just think it’ll get them something if they’re best friends with Phantom.  They still don’t like Danny.   I don’t want to be friends with people who only ever see one side of me.  That—” he looked away.  “That already didn’t work.”

“Oh,” Sam said quietly.  “Sorry.”

Danny sighed.  “It’s okay,” he muttered.

There was another long stretch of silence.

“That wasn’t the only reason, you know,” Sam said.

Danny looked up at her.  “What wasn’t?”

“That we didn’t tell you.  Or— I guess I can’t speak for Tucker.  But it was just kind of embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?”

“I meant it when I said I noticed you were getting hurt all the time,” Sam said, looking down at the ground.  “You’re fighting actual ghosts, and I’m supposed to come up to you and say ‘hey Dash is being mean to me?’”

Danny stared at her.  “Sam,” he said.  “Don’t be ridiculous.  I would have put the ghosts on hold.”

“I don’t want to call you for backup every time I need help,” Sam snapped.  “You’re not like— my bodyguard.  Even if we had spoken in the last year.”

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment,” Danny said, because he did.  “But you— I hate it when you guys are hurt.”

“We hate it when you’re hurt too,” Tucker said, looking pointedly at him.  “It’s why we didn’t exactly love it when you pushed away while you were so obviously dealing with something.”

Danny winced.  “I’m sorry,” he said again.  “I should have told you.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Tucker said.  And then all of them stood there, none of them saying anything.

Tucker broke the silence again, this time with a sigh.  “But for what it’s worth?” he said.  “Thanks for saving everyone all the time.  And for recently, with that weird ghost king guy.”

Danny nodded.  “Anytime,” he said.  He didn’t have to tell them the part about how he thought he was going to die.  Again.

“And, you know, for what it’s worth?” he said instead.  “Thanks for trying.  While I was being an idiot.  Sorry I didn’t let you help me.”

“How about this,” Tucker said.  “We’ll be there to help you as Danny and Phantom if you kick Dash across the football field once or twice.”

Danny blinked, confused.  “Huh?”

“That sound good to you, Sam?” Tucker asked, glancing at her.

“Yeah, I wanna see that,” Sam said with a nod.  “And I’d like to learn how to kick some ghost butt.”  She smirked over at Danny.  “Maybe I’ll start with yours.”

“Wait, I thought,” Danny said, looking back and forth between them both.  “I thought we said we’d be done after this.”

“Are you kidding?  You think you’re getting rid of us again?” Sam asked.  “Now that we finally know what’s been going on with you?”

“Sorry, you’re stuck with us this time,” Tucker said, crossing his arms with a grin.  “Like we’re gonna let your total loser half go unacknowledged.  You can’t be Phantom all the time.  Sometimes you have to get teased for how much you like NASA.”

“Or get your butt kicked in Doomed,” Sam chimed in.  She raised an eyebrow.  “Sound good?”

Danny didn’t try to hide his smile at all, and instead he closed the space between the three of them and wrapped his arms around Sam and Tucker in a hug.

“That sounds great,” he said, meaning every word.

[mythicalartistx]

I know now without a doubt Kingdom Hearts is L—

No actually I think Kingdom Hearts is honestly purposely censored.

I used to be like well I don't think it's inherently the translators faults, Japanese is a tough language for people to know what it's referring to and likes to Americanized certain things like adding heteronormativity and romanizing things. People like romanticizing thingz so I can't exactly blame them it's part of westerners.

Like when you think of relationships most think of straight relationships so that probably what they thought of it's probably about even though the relationship doesn't really develop that much.

A lot of Action movies have the same problem when there is a male main character, there is always a forced romance with some side girl character when it's not a developed or good relationship it's just there to mark of the love interest category.

But now realizing how much Kingdom Hearts censors things, maybe they had an idea.

Some lines are WAY off from the original made to romanticized so much when the original wasn't even anything remotely like that or about a character in that way. And some scenes take out movements and edit it.

They change the entire meaning to censor things for American Audiences.

Nobody knows why.

And all I can think of is to make it have things that American Audiences would rather enjoy having romance in places unnecessarily or censoring things to be "safe"

I made a post about the Dream Drop Distance scene which gotten a crazy amount of attention only on the first few days it's at 300+notes, but the post was essentially about how when Sora was sleeping he tells Donald and Goofy it's his job to keep him on his toes and he puts his arm down in a fist. Then Riku moved his arm slightly to the left and put it in a fist again?

But the scene actually had Riku telling Donald and Goofy how he slapped Sora awake whenever he fell asleep on the beach and it shows Riku moving his hand in a slapping motion, not whatever that awkward motion was.

The thing is DDD was one of the side games and I thought they didn't pay much attention to the censoring in those. And given how gay DDD is and it wasn't as censoring their dynamic.

However, it got censored and it's like why? Did they think Audiences couldn't handle it?

Like it just seems like a silly thing he would do. It's kinda like how some people would pour water on someone to wake them up.

Like a teasing thing which he does A LOT and it probably wasn't that hard.

And other times I heard about how the language had some swearing or words that could be translated that way but of course since it's Disney the western version had to censor that.

The novels and manga actually still have more language in it.

And I think the main problem is Disney. They censor things a lot now.

They used to be more open to this kind of thing, but now they are soft and never take risks. I also heard how their team would edit things that would be in their original movie to tone it down for KH players.

It's kinda sad because there is definitely a lot of meaning to KH that is lost in translation. The battle with Vanitas is one in particular I had realized it's meaning is a bit more than the western version. The western version also simplifies things and tries to condense aspects as well. Xehanort's reason for everything is also worded very differently in the western version.

One of the reasons I look at fan translations is because it gives more meaning to certain events, not only because of dynamics and possible ships that are lost, but also explanations that are no longer there.

I'm so grateful for everyone who tries to retranslate things accurately and sometimes I use a site for certain things I'm curious but by no means do I speak their language and I get translation is hard, I really hope their future installments don't do this especially with KH4 and ML coming up in the next several years.

[heart-heart-heart]

Incomplete transcript of Nick Marini's Beacon AMA

Spoilers, typos (both mine and his), also Discord was messing up so a lot of the questions didn't load. I didn't copy every response either, mostly focused on lore

Q: Do you have any headcanons/conspiracy theories about Exandria (or more specifically) the ending of the Calamity? A: I definitely think that the Dawnfather does not like the Divergence but accepts it as necessary both for his family and for mortals. All of his domains are so hands on. I think he is much more comfortable leading by example and actually doing, as opposed to directing from behind.

Q: Choosing to play Ayden as a kid was an insane choice (in the best way possible). What drew you to that? Would you have still done it if you played a different god? A: Having Ayden be 15 was definitely a reaction to the Dawnfather’s name. I liked it both because it subverts the expectation of him as the patriarch and also I think he would have waited until the last possible moment to take a mortal incarnation, as his domains are so fundamental to the wellbeing of Exandria. He is hands on and the thought of stepping away from that is tough. Had I played a different god I would have been more around that 30 mark for sure!

Q: What was your inspiration behind making Ayden view the Dawnfather as his father instead of being the Dawnfather in disguise? A: I really liked the idea of the Dawnfather sending his hope to Exandria in the form of Ayden. Yes he is the Dawnfather, but he is not the entirety of the Dawnfather, nor has he had the time to reconcile his divinity with his mortality the way the others have. Ayden is both brand new and ever constant, the young aspect of an ancient whole. He does not have the baggage the Dawnfather has and maybe disagree’s at times with him/himself. He is not old enough to know that some things are beyond even the gods and miracles. He is the Dawnchild filled with he hope of a new day. Sun deities have often been described as being reborn each day and so there is this journey of youth to age they experience each day. Having him be the Dawnchild felt like it put him in conversation with how many sun deities have been described, as well as allowing him to literally be in conversation with himself Dawnchild to Dawnfather.

Q: Was there a confrontation between another NPC or PC that you wish you would have been able to see or gotten more time at the table? A: I thought it would have been really fun to talk with the Lawbearer herself more. As the god of agriculture I think we overlap in some interesting ways. Civilization after all stems from agriculture. We also had really different views on the way Aeor should be handled and Ayden had never seen a city before so I think that would have been my choice!

Q: what location/area in exandria would you most like to explore ? A: Whitestone would be awesome to check out! That’s my favorite tree!

Q: ? A: Oh Jeez that’s tough!. As a player watching Slitch and the Ars Elysia was so fun! Also I love rp with Bren and him screaming at me was amazing. Everyone just absolutely killed it though so its hard to choose a fave I feel like everyone had such great moments! Noshir saying “little lies are okay” was absolutely heartbreaking and I feel like he put on a masterclass of patiently choosing your moments.

Q: As mentioned in the 4SD, once you all shed your mortality there seemed to be a shifting of the Gods' views on mortals and mortality as well. What was your behind-the-scenes take on that moment and what would Ayden think about his father after the fall of Aeor? A: I think for Ayden this experience was part of growing up. Sometimes even the pure of heart or those with unassailable conviction have to realize that the world is a messy place and not everything can be truly solved, rather we are always in a constant state of trying. I think he gave it his best shot and came up short, as the Dawnfather knew would happen. But part of parenthood is sometimes letting them try and loving them as they fail. It’s important to try. I also think about how the Gods do not have an afterlife, so for them death is something they fear on a much deeper level. Ayden wants to save them, the Dawnfather knows not everyone can be saved, he wishes Ayden was right, it’s why he had to send him, but eventually the Dawnfather has to step in.

Q: If the Dawnfather had a chance to speak to Ludinus, what would he say?

A: "I am sorry that the lesson you took from the fall of Aeor was that tearing things down is the only way to solve them.

Q: During the 4 Sided Dive, Brennan mentioned how you were a player that combined the best of both mechanical & narrative elements to do really crazy and insane builds. How do you come up with these concepts, and for anyone wanting to expand in these areas what would be your advice to do so? A: I think I touch a little on this in the Adventuring Academy ep he and I did a while back. For me I feel that mechanics help inform the narrative and vice versa. The classes you choose can really tell a story. And the story you experience can really shape what classes you choose! A cool idea for a build doesn’t necessarily translate to a fun character to play and a cool character idea might be boring to actually play mechanically. I like to choose one thing I really know I want to explore and go from there. So for instance with Ayden I knew he was going to be a cleric of the Everlight and I knew the 6th level Peace Domain was a really fun mechanical ability I wanted to play with. Ayden grew very much from that foundation. Having a plan and being open to changing it is key! In our home campaign I played a knight who by the end was taking wizard classes because he realized that no matter how good a knight he was he could not teleport to a place in need, so he started taking wiz levels which I never expected and he did so even though he never got to cast teleport.

Q: What fun multi-class combos or ability interactions did you not get to show off at the table due to time limits? If you and Emily Axford shared a table would Brennan just instantly self-immolate? A: Ayden could have tanked quite a few spells with his insane spell defense and saving throws. I almost used the Divine Prowess to make a persuasion check to convince the enemy wizards to target me but I had already take so much damage from warding bond that I didn’t. If Emily Axford and I ever play in Bren’s table I want to build like twins or something who combo together to immolate him if he refuses to self-immolate

Q: ? A: I was reading a Dragon Magazine that had a 3.5 variant for Druid called Sidhe Scholar. It is basically an academic who while studying the fey accidentally draws their attention and they begin to mess with them. I loved the idea and Bren’s brother was running a low magic campaign at the time with a nation that had given up metals in an ancient pact with the fey who in turn gave up the magic to end the war between the two. The Sidhe Scholar has a animal companion who only is friendly to the druid so basically he was out studying one day and then a magical hawk wouldn’t leave him alone and he got branded a witch by the locals and had to flee the country. I want to play him more.

Q: How collaborative was the character building process for Downfall? Did any of you have overlap in gods you wanted to explore? A: TI went first it theSession 0 and pitched what would become Ayden. There wasn’t really any overlap and people had such interesting takes on the different gods that it all sort of fell into place nicely! I thought about but didn’t pitch the Changebringer, flipping a coin to decide to destroy Aeor seemed so sad. She would have likely been a rogue or bard or maybe ranger. I did pitch the Crawling King as a sort of recipient of all pain and suffering who was using this brief time of some semblance of sanity to beg the primes to restart creation because only he knew how much suffering there was in the world. He would have been maybe similar to Ayden’s build but like Zealot Barbarian subclass and no Paladin or something. Just soaking up all the damage he could. There were definitely parts of Zaharzht that were similar but I would have taken Tishar’s advice and not been a tortle!

Q: when Trist looked at Asmodeous, she saw her husband. Who would Ayden see?

A: I think that the Dawnfather sees his brother clearly as he is, tragic beauty and all. I wonder if Ayden also would have seen his true form? I don't think there is anyone outside of the divine family that Ayden would have been thinking about, so perhaps he would have seen his brother not as he truly is but rather as he wishes he could be?

Q: ? A: I don’t know! I think both Dragons were flying around and Stormlord was doing his thing. As for the other I’m sure they were standing by ready to pounce!

Q: Which parts of the Dawnfather and of Ayden’s personality came easiest to you? Which parts were the hardest? A: I will say it was kind of intimidating having my first big actual play be Critical Role and playing the Dawnfather no less! Ayden felt like he came pretty easy, he is the inner child of the Dawnfather and I think protecting your inner child is worth it. The detached nature the Dawnfather has had at times was difficult but I think it stems from the way he was forced to detach himself from Exandria.

Q: Which parts of the Dawnfather and of Ayden’s personality came easiest to you? Which parts were the hardest? A: The concept came pretty quick when I started looking at the Gods of Exandria. I just liked this unexpected view of the Dawnfather that so many thought they had pegged. I think I sort of saw him differently than I heard people talk about during my research. I spoke with Bren a few times for sure and I think he ran it by Matt but honestly Matt just trusted us all to do this which is just a testament to him and his incredible generosity with this wonderful world.

Dawn is also something that I have always had a very personal connection with. My first tattoo was of the Great Eastern Sun, which is the rising sun. I drive an VW Eos, named after the greek goddess of the Dawn. The day of our first shoot I woke up before dawn and watched the sun rise over the Santa Monica mountains as I began a new journey at Critical Role. Dawn represents new possibility or rebirth, its something I deeply appreciate and wanted to bring to the Dawnfather and myself.

Q: First off loved every moment of the Dawnchild, When designing Ayden what made you choose a softer interpretation of Pelor's personality than we've seen in previous CR content A: One of my favorite quotes is, “Don’t let your shield become a cage.” I think the Dawnfather’s experience with his concept goes a step further. He had to cage himself behind the Divine Gate in order not to cage the mortals he sought to shield. It changed him. The light of dawn is soft. He once walked among the mortals and taught them, fed them, gave them light, showed them how to tell time and change with he seasons. He was a present father who was forced to be distant. I wanted to take that journey.

Q: Huge props for your performance at the table, such a profound joy to watch you play. What do you think the Dawnfather’s biggest regret about how he “created” Ayden was, and what moment do you think he felt the most proud of Ayden? A: I appreciate that so much. It was a profound joy to play with such amazing people so I’m thankful that translated! He would have been most proud of how Ayden protected his family. Especially Trist who he was in part sent specifically to watch over. I think he regrets that he had to create him at all and especially that he, to some extent, had to sacrifice that aspect of himself and leave it in Exandria while he sequesters himself behind the divine gate.

Q: ? A: Ugh I’m so glad it wasn’t Ayden that would have shattered him but it had to be done. He has one family and he has to protect it.

Q: During 4 Sided Dive, Brennan discussed the Dawnfather after mortality and his return to divinity, to the 'harsher and sterner' image we get in modern Exandria. What was it like to experience and create that transition of a hopeful and longing God, to a more hardened God? Did you block or pre-meditate any of that or did you just go with how you felt he would have reacted in the moment? A: I for sure premeditated the setup. I really wanted to take that journey and show us a different side of the Dawnfather. I didn’t know how it would end up or what the journey would actually be but I did intentionally set up the juxtaposition. This is to my knowledge the only time we get to see the Dawnfather on this side of the Divine Gate which I think makes a big difference.

Q:? A: I wanted those wizards to target me more!!! I had absurd spell defenses. Spell rolls agains me were at disadvantage, I got advantage on saves, had 11s and 17s on all my saves, and I had resistance to spells. And AC 23. Turns out casting Warding Bond on yourself negates all that lol. But I did get a lot of my buff spells and abilities off!

Q: ? A: I love dogs! I think part of the reason Gilly the dog was in the first episode was because Ashley and I talked a lot about our pups when we had our zoom talk!

Q: You had some of the most quotable moments (like the "do not lie to me!" scene) Did you write down any ideas of what to say like some of the more profound things such as "Why must it always be like this?" or is it all improvised? A: Thank you! The only thing I’d been considering word for word was a quote from the opening line of Tycho’s song Sunrise Projector, “Civilization stems from the simple act of placing seeds and plants into the ground.” I was saving it for my talk with the Lawbearer and then she sent the Emissary instead!! When I said the line about the sun being blotted out I was thinking about my question in ep 1 where I asked if the sun was visible from the sky city. I had been thinking about how the stars weren’t visible and though that was important somehow and ended up finding it in that moment.

Q: ? A: Lovely question. I think as an actor you are always looking at what similarities and differences you have with a given character. It can be both lovely to explore something similar or exciting to delve into something so different from your own experience. In terms of rpgs I think I often play things that are of interest or in my thoughts at the time. For Downfall recently I have been thinking a lot about hope, both how important it is and how painful it can be, knowing in your head what your heart cannot yet accept. In that way I do think there was a lot of Nick in Ayden.

Q: what atmsophere did you think the dawnfather needed to have? What were your thoughts on how he carried himself and how he interacted with the world around him? A: The Dawnfather desires to be in Exandria most of all! I think he believes he knows best but also wishes to help mortals. He is very hands on so the Divine Gate is a real bummer.

Q: If the Dawnfather/Ayden had the chance/opportunity to live out a full, well lived mortal life after the events of Downfall, how do you think that ultimately would've looked like? A: I think he would have traveled extensively and mostly in rural places where he felt more comfortable, doing what he could to help others. I think he might eventually settle down and start a family. He is destined to be a father after all. He probably would have valued education in honor of Trist and found any opportunity to see her.

Q: When the Dawnfather told Asmodeus not to lie to him, what future did he envision where the gods again lived in harmony? How would such a reconciliation happen? Absolutely loved your portrayal, hugely meaningful. A: Thank you! I think the Dawnfather knows that future may not exist. “Do not lie to me” was as much a command as a plea. It doesn’t need to be like this. I don’t think reconciliation can happen while Exandria exists unfortunately which makes their love for each other all the more tragic. Ayden was the part of him that hoped it could but the Dawnfather knows it cannot be.

Q: ? A: In a way yes. He was growing up. I don’t believe that hope is only for children by any means. I think hope is powerful and necessary. I do think that some hopes are painful and that some hopes we have to grow out of in order to move forward. Ayden hoped beyond hope that he could save the mortals and reconcile them and perhaps even the gods. The Dawnfather has to shed that hope so that hope for the mortals and thus Exandria can continue and so that he can do what is necessary to further that goal.

Q: Ashley mentioned on 4-sided Dive that you guys built a lot of backstory for Ayden and Trist. Could you maybe tell us more about that? A: Ayden was found in a meteor crater by a nomadic tribe far from civilization. He taught them agriculture and was a prodigy at reading the stars, outshining their oldest druids. He was to be initiated into the tribe but his skin would not receive the sacred ink marking him as a member. Instead he was given to the charge of an elderly knight who had had some dealings with the time in the past. The knight taught him as they traveled and brought him to a school where he could learn before passing away. That school was Trist’s. He spent maybe 3-5 years living with her and her family, playing with her children and dog, helping the other children with their lessons and learning from Trist.

Q: ? A: Oh my gosh what an incredible scene that was! I think the Dawnfather would have been amused. I didn’t expect to like the Archheart as much as the Dawnfather did. I think the Angel stuff would have dampened his mood for sure though!

Q: ? A: Thank you so much! A rollercoaster it truly was! Before we shot I woke up before the dawn to watch the sun rise. Before we played I was a little nervous but Noshir wanted some help with his character build and I was so thankful to have something to distract me! I could not believe how tired I was after filming. Active listening is the name of the game and its way more of that in actual play by a mile than the traditional film or movie sets I am used to where we are stopping every few minutes. After it was all over Abubaker, Noshir, and I all just hung around while they finished the announcements, we didn’t want it to be over. After we left Bren and I had a nice little midnight snack to just catch up about the incredible experience that it was! It can definitely be hard sometimes to let go just because the experience can feel so magical. Fortunately because of my time at the Wayfinder Experience where “de-rolling” is a thing we very much talk about, so I sort of have been trained to be able to separate back to real life after delving into fantasy!

Q: How much inspiration did you draw from the relationship between Jesus and God / The Holy Trinity? A: Let me preface this by saying I have seen some questions/thoughts about this and I hope I can answer this thoughtfully and respectfully, because anytime we are dealing with something of this nature we need to be conscious of all the different beliefs that our communities may have, and lead with love. I do think we it can be discussed positively and with good intention and (no pun intended) in good faith.

I would encourage a broader view of Ayden/The Dawnfather than just this parallel, and it certainly was not my primary inspiration, though I think it is a natural association to make and is not necessarily wholly incorrect. It is simply something many (westerners especially) are most familiar with and therefore most likely to see, a natural and understandable confirmation bias. Sun deities of many pantheons have long been associated with the son and father dynamic and rebirth/renewal. Horus and Osiris of the Egyptian pantheon for instance. While my education and background makes me obviously deeply aware of the stated similarity, my hope is, that by broadening our view to include many ancient religions and sun deities we can see that there is much more to it than that, and that they are all informing and in conversation with the Ayden/Dawnfather relationship.

Q: ? A: I think Ayden’s expectation were very unrealistic.That is part of the fun of playing in a tragedy. You have to set yourself up to be emotionally devastated! Yay :’( I think though he hoped that them working together after all these centuries might make a difference. SPOILER it did not.

Q: What was up with Ayden's shield? A: It was given to him/he took it from the knight who brought Ayden from the tribe that found him to Trist’s school. It is a Spellguard Shield which is very good. Also the marking on it is this name in Ogham. Ayden kept taking it and the knight told him it wasn’t his because it didn’t have his name on it. Oops who knew this 6 year old could scratch his own name into a magical shield. Well now its his I guess? Divine children what you gonna do?

Q: When did Ayden decide or realize that it was time to use Sunburst and bring the dawn to Aeor? Had you considered using it at any point before? A: So Ayden regularly would not have had access to it. Once we unlocked Divine Magic it became available. With that surge of divine power stemming from the the wards being destroyed by S.I.L.A.H.A. I felt like there was a moment where Ayden lost much of his agency and the Dawnfather began to exert more direct control. It was very much me looking at 9th level spells and then moving downwards to see what would be a cool spell now that I had access to them.

Q: Brennan mentioned there being mood boards for this game so everyone knew the vibe, did Ayden have one and if so, what was on his? A: He didn’t have an explicit mood board but I did make a playlist. His association with he Everlight made me want to go for sort of an Quaker vibe which is why his clothing is so simple and he never directly attacks someone until the divine magic surges into him and he casts Sunburst. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2cJMThISPIUAfflOiZqi9B

Q: When speaking to Acastriel, you stated "You and I will have words". How were you feeling in that moment? … A: Very disappointed in him! Also I felt like I didn’t even need to deal with him at that moment. We will talk in my divine realm and he will be dealt with there. I felt like sort of ignoring him was honestly more devastating than giving him the time of day after that one line.

Q: If Ayden could talk to the future Exandrians who ill watch the events of Downfall, what would he say to them? A: "I tried."

Q: How does Ayden and the Dawnfather's views differ on their relationship to the other Gods? Particularly in relation to the Everlight and the Lord of the Hells? Does Ayden treat them differently then the Dawnfather would and vice versa? Also, silly side question: How close did Ayden get to punching Father Milo in the face? A: I think they are generally pretty close. I think Ayden is less likely to directly oppose the Betrayer Gods by virtue of him being sent to work with them. The Dawnfather knows better. I think both Ayden and the Dawnfather share a deep love of the Everlight and I think it was both of them talking when I spoke about her being the bravest of us. And very very close hahah, I think he sort of thought the whole priest of the Dawnfather was funny as long as he didn’t think about all he people Father Milo probably poisoned the minds of in his name.

Q: ? A: Dawn has always been important to me so maybe the Dawnfather. I think in a world where divine magic is provable I’d be much more likely to put my faith into a specific place or entity. The Platinum Dragon or the Everlight might be candidates too. I do think though that the Knowing Mistress is cool and honestly in a pantheon I’d probably shout out different gods for different things!

Q: ? A: I think there is some truth to that, though I don’t think Ayden would have been aware of it. Having someone else to care for, but who also reminded her of her real family was enough for the Dawnfather without having Ayden need to be cognizant of it. I really liked the idea of the Dawnfather being concerned with the Everlight the most because she has been so betrayed by the Lord of the Nine Hells and her followers and temples destroyed. They also share a divine realm so it just felt like he needed to look out for his sister. He also knows she is the most likely and also currently has the most potential to just decide to be mortal and forget about her divinity and the Dawnfather doesn’t want to lose her. I’d like to think Trist would have understood but it could have been a pretty powerful moment if she felt like she was being deceived by even him. That would have been heartbreaking.

Q: What rarity of magic items were you allowed to take and how many? A: We were granted 2 magic items. One very rare and one uncommon. For my uncommon I chose a cloak of resistance, a parting gift from the tribe that Ayden could not join. This upped my saves to 11s or 17s and took my AC to 23. For his very rare magic item I took a spellguard shield, inherited from the knight who brought him from the remote tribe to Trist‘s school, giving me advantage on saving throws vs spells and magical effects and inflicting disadvantages on spell effects targeting me. Combine that with resistance to spells from Aura of Warding and that’s a nasty nasty combo v wizards.

Q: You’ve mentioned going back and watching the Dawnfather’s appearances across previous campaigns, which were your favorite moments and what did you focus on from them to inform Ayden? A: I loved that he planted the Sun Tree in White Stone. I really was trying to get the big picture more so than look for moments that stood out. I did keep coming back to the fact that we never see him on the Exandrian side of the Divine Gate and that all his domains are so hands on. I think that really informed Ayden. That and the fact that he shares his divine realm with the Everlight. It just spoke to a Deity that I felt like had more depth that I saw the prevailing opinions about him recognize.

Q: ? A: The Everlight but don’t tell the others even though its pretty obvious. I think canonically least fav is the Chained Oblivion but I’m not even 100% that that is one of our siblings!

Q: ? A: yes I cried after I used sunburst because I fell prey to the allure of power!

Q: What do you think is the biggest difference between Aru the light being and Pelor the god? A: Aru was so much more! and was himself protected the Dawnfather now protects

Q: ? A: I think he knew pretty early actually his early life was in many ways much more divinely evident that his teens

Q: What were Ayden's thoughts to Asmodeus having betrayed them all? A: I belive he was lying about never loving us which is whats so sad! The fact that he betrayed us was dissapointing but unsruprising and I was mad that the Everlight got hurt again

Q: Were the gods always aware of their true selves within their avatars/were they unaware? A: I think Ayden knew from a young age but also had a lof of agency

Q: Is there abook, film, or other piece of media that has informed a lot of your storytelling or the types of stories that you are drawn to?

Q: Love the last Unicorn. Personal faves are ANimated Hobbit, Flight of Dragons, Black Cauldron

[ihavenothingtodo10220]

Jeong Jungkook NSFW reading

Quick PSA: I'm still going to do all the requests, this post is just kind of a test drive for a new format I want to try since the other really isn't doing it for me. So, yeah. Usual disclaimers to be added.

Position Overview

Many people say Jungkook gives off submissive and breedable boyfriend vibes from his chart, but with Jungkook's Libra Venus being a Cardinal Sign, he likes to be in a position of power in the relationship, or at least likes some kind of aspect of power play. And then with his Scorpio Mars, he definitely likes things to be done his way, playing more into the position of power thing. And then his Virgo Lilith definitely gives me the vibes that he's very playful in all aspects, including the bedroom. Though he's hard to hold onto, and with his heavy Virgo influences in general, leads me to leave he may have some fuckboy tendencies. Playful and hard to hold onto? I dunno.

His Virgo Sun definitely makes it so he'd try anything once, but if he doesn't like it he'll be very vocal about that. He'll also be brutally honest and critical, even in bed. Definitely vocal about thoughts and opinions even if balls deep in you. (Or the other way around who knows? Not me.) But he'll also tell you his needs, how you're doing, etc., etc. He also needs to make sure things are clean and you're clean. In more ways than one. I'm talking he needs to make sure you have recent tests for STDs before even TOUCHING you.

Heavy on his Scorpio Mars, as that indicates he'll have a high sex drive. Most definitely rearing to go almost always, and insatiable in a way though not as much as an Aries Mars would be. Has a lot of intensity and depth sexually. Definitely enjoys power and wants to break a lot of taboos. He's probably willing to do almost anything and enjoys full-body pleasures. On the flip side, he may show his need for control by being unavailable and just not having sex at all for long periods, definitely making you beg for it and giving in only when he thinks you deserve it. Whatever his nature, he will have a way that promises commitment and intensity in bed. He'll be provocative but private, and most definitely will never kiss and tell. Sex is intimate and personal for him, but his fantasies are full-ranging. Out of this world.

With his Libra Venus, he takes a lot of care to please his partners. He needs to make sure he's getting everything right, and giving just as much as he takes despite enjoying servicing you. Definitely into role-play, and most definitely likes learning and improving in the bedroom. Learning new things, changing, and growing sexually? Count him in. He'll definitely be very very picky and particular when it comes to the mood during sex.

Now, he has a Gemini Eros. Very very sexually. He likes to be knowledgeable in sexual matters and is probably turned on by words in all forms, whether written or spoken. Definitely writes letters to the person he's with, and is definitely a fan of sexting and phone sex. Because it is difficult for him to turn his mind off even sex, there is a voyeur within him during sexual expression, and it may be difficult for him to let go. Definitely enjoys talking, and being talked to, during sex. He puts a lot of weight into communications. Definitely a fan of full communication and very clear boundaries and consent during sex. Consent is sexy, especially with him.

So, with his Libra Venus, definitely likes asses. I'm talking about spanking, just squeezing the ass, etc., etc. Asses are the Libra erogenous zone. And with Scorpio? Literally everywhere on his body is sensitive and ripe for the taking. A few touches and caresses here and there will definitely get him going. And then his Virgo Stellium makes his torso especially sensitive. Especially his stomach and waistline. And then his fucking Gemini Eros means he also is sensitive at the arms. Kind of like light touches. Ghosting your fingers up and down his arms is a sure fire way to pique his interest.

His Virgo Mercury definitely means he's very focused in bed. Also very efficient and methodical when it comes to communication with his partner when it comes to sex. Always saying things like "Is this good for you, baby?" "Does this feel good?" "Keep going, just like that..." Essentially, he's going to communicate very straightforwardly, very bluntly, and very efficiently. He's going to make his opinions known, and he's not going to sugar-coat SHIT.

With his Aquarius Jupiter, he definitely can detach when it comes to sex, even though he'd prefer a strong emotional attachment. He can also view sex as a way to help build that emotional relationship and intimacy with someone. In relationships, he will also be prone to using sex as a way to communicate. Having problems? Sex. Basically, expect a lot of makeup sex, angry sex (From arguments), etc., etc.

With his Saturn in Aries I definitely see a lot of impatience. Now, not to say he would just breeze through foreplay and get down and dirty as soon as possible like an Aries Mars would, but that he want to at least start foreplay as soon as possible. Definitely can be very whiney because of it when mixed with his other aspects. This also makes him the type to take risks, especially in the bedroom. Do with that what you will.

House Placements

So, the eighth house represents emotional bonding and intimacy sexually. With his sun and moon in the eighth house, and his sun representing his core personality, sense of self, basic preferences, romantic compatibility, and just in general how he goes about the world, and his sun being in Virgo, this can mean he needs to know people on a much deeper level to be able to be with them sexually. He needs knowledge on them, so definitely more he wouldn't have flings but would have casual friends with benefits. There also needs to be a level of care. His Virgo moon in the eighth house confirms it. There need to be deep, intense emotions in that bond. Also, someone he can understand well.

Aspects

So, with his moon octile Venus he definitely needs a lot of communication, and will both be very vocal and would like a very vocal partner. He also needs someone he's comfortable with. Though...I also feel his purely sexual relationships are superficial and to boost self-esteem, even if he still needs that intimacy in them.

With his Mercury Novile Venus, he's very charming and courteous, including in bed. Definitely still the type to shower you in praise in bed, charm the pants off you and they're already on the damn floor. He also makes sure you're enjoying it too. Especially because it's a Libra Venus and Virgo Mercury. If it's good you'll sure as hell know it's good.

So he has a Venus semi-sextile Venus. Definitely need to watch out for sexual manipulation. What's the masculine version of Femme Fatale? Homme Fatale? THE POINT IS. Just...Watch out. Preferably.

With his Mars sextile Sun, he's definitely into any type of position or opportunity to show off how strong he is. Fucking you while standing? Thigh riding? Fucking you nice and hard? That's that good shit. He's also very competitive so he will MAKE SURE it's good for you. And if it's not? Well, he'll amp it up times one hundred. He's definitely got good stamina, meaning he can go for A WHILE. He also is good at controlling his desires, surprisingly. Mostly because his outwardness and his sexual desires are connected.

And then there's the Mars square Jupiter...Mars square Jupiter natal supplies strength, enthusiasm, courage, and sexual attraction. But he needs an outlet for this high energy. Usually, in the manner of fucking and fucking and fucking. Otherwise, restlessness can build up into aggressive, impulsive, or risky actions. But. this also needs to be safe, with a balance between caution and bravado. Definitely good in bed, I'll tell you that much.

Mercury sextile mars...Mmmm...How do I put this? He's...Fast. Fast as in, fucking jackhammering into you with the speed of the fucking flash and the strength of a battering ram from his other aspects. Definitely feisty. He'll have a fucking TONGUE on him let me tell you. He loves praise, but he'll sure as hell mix in some degradation in there because he can't not. Also seems the type to bully the hell out of you if it's not good. So there's that. Like absolutely demolish you verbally.

Moon conjunct Mercury definitely leads me to believe he's the type who can fall harder for someone during sex. Though again, he wouldn't have sex with someone he doesn't already have an existing emotional attachment to.

With his Sun conjunct Moon, again he has a lot of charisma. But he also has expectations that are high as hell, which is amplified by his Virgo stellium. Definitely expects the most from you in all aspects, including in the bedroom. The sex better be GOOD AS HELL or it won't meet his expectations.

Sun conjunct Mercury AGAIN makes him more dominant. Naturally wants to lead. Also very good with dirty talk, once again.

[whisker-biscuit]

Sonic Big Bang 2024

Close Encounters of the Grim Kind

Rating: Gen

Summary: Sonic did end up telling his friends about the Shatterverse, but it’s clear to Tails that he's still hiding something. In an effort to find answers and with Shadow’s reluctant help, he uses the Paradox Prism to create a device capable of jumping dimensions. When he sends it out, however, what was meant to be a one-way trip returns to him with a cryptic greeting from a stranger who seems interested in researching the dimensions with him.

Now, Tails finds himself trying to solve two mysteries - why Sonic is acting so weird around him, and who this unorthodox, anonymous cross-dimensional pen pal really is.

It's a lot harder than it looks.

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 1

The day Sonic finally told his friends about the Shatterverse and all that entailed within it, Tails had no idea how significant it would truly end up being.

He, his brother, Amy, and Knuckles were gathered together at the beach. The fox was in the pilot seat of the plane, adjusting some of the inner controls, while everyone else lounged about. They all listened with rapt attention as Sonic described the disaster that would have happened had he smashed into the Paradox Prism – the disaster that had already happened, if events were to be believed.

Frankly, it wasn’t very hard to go along with the idea. Weirder stuff went on in their lives at least twice a year; dimensional and/or timeline shenanigans sounded like par for the course.

“A bunch of miniature dimensions, huh?” Tails drummed his fingers against his screwdriver, thinking about the logistics of such a thing. Alternate universes were an aspect of quantum physics that he’d never delved very deep in.

“Yep! There was a pirate dimension, a jungle dimension, and even a dimension with five Eggmans!” Sonic shuddered and stuck out his tongue. “I always thought ours was bad enough, but then I met an Eggman baby. That’s one memory I’ll never be able to get rid of.”

“Did you kick the Eggman baby’s butt?”

“Knuckles!” Amy scolded.

“What?” The echidna asked defensively. “It’s a valid question! If that version of Eggman was still evil, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t also teach him a lesson.”

“Oh, trust me, he was definitely evil. Kicking his butt was extremely satisfying.”

Knuckles folded his arms with a self-satisfied smirk he tossed Amy’s way. She huffed and rolled her eyes, gesturing for Sonic to continue his story.

“There weren’t just other versions of Eggman, though,” he said with an excited gleam in his eye. “Every dimension I visited had new versions of you guys! Even Rouge and Big and Froggy!”

“Ooh, really?” Amy clasped her hands together. “What were we all like?”

“Well, the pirate versions of you all talked with these funny accents and were on a ship’s crew together. Knuckles was your captain but he was a big bonehead.”

“Hey!”

Tails smiled, going back to the wiring in the Tornado as he listened to the hedgehog tell them all about this strange new adventure that he’d found himself in. One eye he kept on his work, the other he kept on Sonic to show he was still paying attention, tuned into the rhythm of his brother’s storytelling just as much as the words themselves – and that was the only reason he caught the stumble.

Sonic was in the process of telling them how the Chaos Council had put the entire Shatterverse in jeopardy by punching holes between dimensions using shards of the Paradox Prism, and that he, Shadow, and an alternate version of Tails had stolen the shards back and were planning to put the prism back together. Then he paused, very briefly, and sheepishly admitted that they were unsuccessful before the Council had caught up.

That pause had been barely half a second long, but for the hedgehog it might as well have been a full minute. Tails stopped working as Knuckles began teasing Sonic for letting any version of Eggman be faster than him. He watched his brother carefully, noting the tension in his quills that the fox could only see from his place in the cockpit above. To the others, it seemed like Sonic was embarrassed about his failure, but Tails knew that wasn’t what it was.

Embarrassment was fidgeting in place and wanting to change the subject immediately. It was not standing rigidly with fingers twitching like they wanted to curl into fists, nor was it too-loud laughter at the ribbing his friends were giving him.

The fox quietly placed his tools in his lap and turned his full attention onto his brother.

When the teasing finally stopped and Sonic got back to the rest of his story, it felt different than before. More pauses, shorter descriptions of events, and vague answers to questions about how the Shatterverse was saved from ripping itself apart. The hedgehog’s expression was tight with sadness as he told them of the goodbyes he’d shared with all the different versions of his friends before he and Shadow found their way back to Green Hill.

“Don’t get me wrong, I was so excited to see you guys again – the real yous instead of those weird ghost holograms – but I also knew it was a permanent goodbye for them. All those different versions of you…they were still their own people, with their own goals and dreams and lives. I got to know each of them, and it was hard to walk away knowing I’d never see any of them again.”

“It’s not like you to dwell on goodbyes,” Amy said gently.

“I know. I just…” Sonic glanced up at Tails, then looked away immediately before their gazes could properly meet. The fox narrowed his eyes in confusion. “It was really bittersweet, in the end. I wish you all could have met each other.”

As Amy pondered over what her “sisters” might have been like and Knuckles pointedly declared that the other hims would have probably just gotten on his nerves, Tails’ namesakes curled around each other in a slow mimic of his flying movements. It seemed like the hedgehog was simply melancholy over the loss of his new friends, but it still felt…off. Like there was something he hadn’t told them, or even something that Tails had missed, that was obscuring the whole picture of his experience.

He briefly considered asking Sonic outright when they were alone later, then immediately nixed the idea. His brother was open about nearly everything right up until he suddenly wasn’t, and then pulling information from him was just as hard as convincing Knuckles to part with the Master Emerald for more than a week.

“Do you think the other dimensions are still out there even though you put the Paradox Prism back together?”

Everyone fell silent as they all looked up at the fox. Sonic’s mouth pulled sideways like he wasn’t sure how to answer.

“I mean, I assumed they are. Don’t really like thinking of the alternative.”

“I’m sure they are!” Amy was quick to reassure. “You can’t just unmake a bunch of worlds once they exist, right? And you said it yourself, Sonic – the Shatterverse collapsing only happened because the Eggmen misused the Prism Shards. All you did was make them whole again.”

Tails tapped the end of his screwdriver twice against the Tornado’s steering wheel. An idea was starting to develop in his mind, formed from a swirl of thoughts and his admittedly shallow knowledge of Quantum Physics. He kept it to himself, however, as he continued to study his brother’s body language and the tension still present there.

Just a few days later, that particular tension was gone from Sonic but the idea was still firmly in the fox’s head. He took every physics book he had that touched the subject, plus several that were “liberated” from one of Eggman’s laboratory libraries, and began researching. It didn’t take very long for him to conclude that no matter what theories he read about, or potential blueprints he began to draw up, he wasn’t going to make it very far on speculation alone.

If this idea was to become tangible, then he needed the Paradox Prism. And achieving that, Tails remembered with a grimace, would be more difficult than any mathematics he puzzled through.

He could only hope that its keeper would be in a good mood.

-------------------------------------------------

Contrary to popular belief, Shadow was not particularly difficult to find. He was a creature of habit, much like Sonic. The real issue was that those habits tended to seem erratic at best and completely nonsensical at worst to anyone who didn’t know them well. To the average person, Sonic was flighty and never settled down in one place for long, and Shadow just couldn’t be found to begin with.

But Tails was not an average person, and he had a lot of experience in tracking down speedy hedgehogs.

There was a large waterfall in Green Hill that overlooked an even larger lake. It cascaded constantly down from a giant cliffside that was difficult to climb and get down from. Sonic avoided the area entirely unless absolutely necessary, but Tails loved to practice his aerial maneuvers there. It was for those three reasons – his many visits, the general seclusion, and the consistent lack of Sonic – that the fox knew how much Shadow preferred the place, too.

It was here that he looked for the black hedgehog first. He started at the base of the cliff, shielding his eyes against the sun as he peered up past the waterfall while lake water lapped just a few inches short of his shoes. After a minute or so of squinting and scanning, Tails caught sight of a dark figure standing at the very top of the cliff, arms folded and looking out at the scenery.

Excited, the fox began to fly up towards him, making his presence known as obviously as possible so Shadow knew he wanted to talk. He felt the moment those piercing red eyes snapped over to him. The fur on the back of his neck prickled by instincts honed from years of Eggman battles before settling down immediately afterward, recognizing the gaze as non-threatening.

That didn’t mean the hedgehog was happy to see him, though. Irritation was visible in every line of his face when Tails touched down a few feet away from him.

“Is Sonic with you?” Shadow asked, in a tone of voice that suggested he was going to teleport at the first syllable of a ‘yes.’

“No, he doesn’t know I’m here. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

One black-furred eyebrow rose in mild surprise. He tilted his head the tiniest bit forward to acknowledge he was listening.

Tails took a deep breath and took the plunge without wasting another second. “I know you have the Paradox Prism. I was hoping to run some tests –”

“No.”

The answer came so strong and curt that it made Tails’ mouth click shut before he even registered what was said. He blinked, caught off guard by both the reaction and the way Shadow’s entire body seemed to tense. It almost looked like he thought the fox was going to attack him, which was as bizarre an assessment to make as the realization that Shadow saw him as a viable threat.

“Why not?” He asked, thoroughly confused. “I didn’t even tell you what kind of tests I’d be conducting.”

“It doesn’t matter what kind; the answer remains the same. The Paradox Prism isn’t something to be tampered with.”

Tails resisted the urge to let out a huff. “I’m not going to tamper with it. I just want to learn more about those other dimensions Sonic was talking about.”

“Then ask him about them and stop wasting my time.”

The hedgehog turned on his heel and began walking away. The hum of his hover shoes coming to life threatened only a few seconds left before he disappeared entirely. Tails knew his one and only chance was slipping out of his grasp.

He didn’t think; what came out of his mouth next was pure panic.

“I think something’s wrong with Sonic!”

Shadow froze mid-step. The fox blinked and then suddenly they were an inch apart. That unreadable glare seemed twice as potent now as it searched his face for any kind of deception.

“…Elaborate,” the hedgehog finally said in a quiet yet uncompromising demand.

“W-Well, he told us about the Shatterverse, and you guys trying to get home, but I feel like he’s…omitting things?” Tails paused, thinking over the last week or so. “He’s been clingier, too. He wants to hang out with everyone more than usual. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him plan so many get-togethers before now.”

Bringing everyone together had usually been Amy’s or Tails’ idea, and Sonic always popped in at the last minute or stumbled into the group in the middle of a run. Now, he was asking them all to hang out so often that Knuckles had threatened to slug him if he didn’t leave him alone for at least a day.

“And then, yesterday…he got really upset when he couldn’t find me.”

Tails remembered it vividly. He’d made an impromptu trip to the nearest junkyard in search of parts for his idea, forgetting to leave a note for potential visitors because of how short the excursion was, and had come back to his workshop in disarray and one agitated hedgehog looking ready to tear down the walls in search of him. His brother had grabbed him in a tight hug without any words, visibly shaking, and had stayed with him in the workshop for hours afterward. There hadn’t been any explanation; Sonic had remained tight-lipped in embarrassment and so Tails had assumed it had to do with the brief loss of his friends during his Shatterverse adventure.

But putting that odd encounter alongside the clinginess and simultaneous avoidance now, it was starting to paint a much more concerning picture. The fox wanted to kick himself for not connecting the dots sooner. Hyper-fixating on a new invention was no excuse.

Shadow was still watching him. Tails took a deep breath and spread his hands out in an honest, pleading gesture.

“I’m just really worried about him. I think there’s stuff he’s not telling me, and I don’t know how to approach him about it.”

“What makes you think studying the Paradox Prism will help with that?” The hedgehog’s voice was flat but no longer as harsh. He had a funny look in his eye that was impossible to place.

“I want to figure out whether those other dimensions are still out there. If they are, I think it will perk Sonic up. But the only way I’ll know for sure is with the Prism’s help.”

Silence floated between them for a long time. Tails swallowed the urge to continue making his case, and instead waited as patiently as he could for Shadow to come to a decision. A myriad of emotions flitted across the other’s face, all small and fleeting and unreadable.

“…Fine. I’ll let you look at it.”

“Really?” The fox gasped, excited, but Shadow held up a hand before he could say anything else.

“On three conditions. One: that I’m present the entire time you’re with it. Two: that you do exactly what you told me you want to do and nothing more. No using it to power machines unless it’s explicitly for finding other dimensions, no tampering with it or trying to break it apart, and no additional investigations. I don’t care how fascinated you are with it.”

“Okay, I can do all of that. What’s the third condition?”

“That you don’t involve Sonic in your studies.”

Tails frowned. “Why would I involve –”

“Agree to all the terms, Fox, or you’re not seeing a hint of that crystal.”

“I agree!” He replied, quick as he could before the hedgehog changed his mind. “You’ll be with me the whole time, I won’t mess with it, and Sonic stays out of the process.”

“Good.”

With the deal struck, Shadow nodded once before walking off again. The fox watched him, uncertain, until he threw a glance over his shoulder.

“Are you coming or not?”

Tails didn’t need to be asked twice.

-------------------------------------------------

And so, two hours later, they were both back in Tails’ workshop with the Paradox Prism floating innocently in the middle of a containment chamber. Shadow leaned against the closed garage door – which he had demanded stay locked while they were working – eating out of the can of raw coffee beans he’d requested when Tails had offered food. It would have been quite the sight if he wasn’t already used to the bizarre black hole of a stomach that belonged to his brother.

Maybe liking weird food was just a hedgehog thing.

The fox, meanwhile, was in the middle of making complex calculations as he studied the Prism, adjusting for energy levels and power output with every spike that appeared on his scanner. He was quickly realizing that developing technology that could reliably run on this energy was going to be a careful balancing act; it fluctuated sporadically in seemingly indecipherable patterns, and every sudden jump was volatile at best, downright dangerous at worst.

If not for all his research into chaos energy, handling the Prism would’ve been infinitely harder. Their properties weren’t all too dissimilar, now that the thought crossed his mind, and it took a lot of willpower not to get sidetracked by that line of theorizing. The promise he’d made to Shadow was one he intended to keep no matter how painful it was for his scientific mind to ignore every other possibility.

“What are you doing now?”

The hedgehog’s question broke the melody of furious pencil scribbling. It was a common occurrence while Tails worked; he barely even glanced up when he answered.

“I think I’ve finally isolated the most benign wavelengths of energy the Paradox Prism is giving off. Using that, I can power the interdimensional device without risk of it exploding.”

“What is this interdimensional device for?” Shadow asked, suddenly right behind him.

Tails absolutely did not jump, but the grip on his pencil went tight as he pulled back from his blueprints a bit to blink owlishly at his suspicious companion. “I told you already – it’s to determine whether those miniature dimensions still exist.”

“How is it going to do that, exactly?”

The fox resisted a great urge to sigh. “It’s just going to be a probe. If prism energy is capable of making things jump between dimensions like Sonic said, then even a tiny amount will make my invention cross the theoretical inter-dimensional barrier and hopefully tell me what’s out there.”

“Hmph.” Shadow’s eyes darted across the schematics laid out on the table. It was hard to tell how much of it he understood, but Tails had a feeling it was more than most people usually could. “Remember: only for this function.”

“Loud and clear, sir,” he mumbled with a roll of his eyes before he could stop himself. The hedgehog’s glare sharpened considerably, but he went back to his place against the door to finish off his coffee beans without another word.

Now that Tails had successfully found a safe power source from the Prism, it was time to actually build the device that would make use of it. He wasted no time getting to work – grabbing scrap metal and wiring and as many tools as he could carry, then starting the process of putting together his newest invention piece by piece. Just like with anything powered by the chaos emeralds, the probe couldn’t simply be built and then pumped full of Prism energy. Every aspect and every addition had to be tested for durability. If it could channel its power source without issue, then he moved onto the next section and repeated the testing process. If it couldn’t, then he had to rework his calculations completely until it wasn’t at risk of frying from a single jolt of energy.

A tedious endeavor, but one he enjoyed wholeheartedly just for the way it occupied his mind. The fact that success meant a new, fully-functional invention was just the icing on the cake.

When at long last the fox was satisfied that his interdimensional probe wouldn’t blow up the moment he turned it on, he swiveled in his chair to hold it up triumphantly. Shadow, to his credit, had not made another sound nor moved a single inch through the hours it had taken to complete the device. He peered at it with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

“Are you going to send it out, now?”

“Yeah, but first…”

Tails turned it around in his hands to reveal a tiny screen and keyboard on one side, pulled straight from Knuckles’ most recently-busted flip phone. He typed in a string of code and watched with a satisfied snicker as a message appeared on the screen in response.

– Hello Worlds! –

“What is the purpose of that?”

“Tech joke.” He placed a solid metal cover over the keyboard, but left the screen visible. “I doubt anyone is going to find this, because it’s supposed to only travel through the space between dimensions, not actually visit them, but it’s funny to think about.”

“Hm.”

If Sonic were here, he probably would have told Shadow to lighten up. Tails, on the other hand, was much more aware of the precarious state of their arrangement, so he didn’t do that.

Was definitely thinking it, though.

Before turning the device on, the fox double checked that its connection to the Miles Electric was strong and secure. Sending it out without a way to relay information back would have been a silly mistake to make. Confident that there was nothing else to be done, he flipped the single switch on its underside, and they both watched as it hovered out of his hands for a few seconds before disappearing in a flash of rainbow light.

Shadow eyed the spot where it had just been, expression tight, then lifted the Paradox Prism’s container with ease. “Keep me informed on what you find. I’m…curious, as well.”

“Okay.”

Their gazes locked for one brief moment before the hedgehog also disappeared with his charge – in a green flash instead. Tails let out a long exhale. He was exhausted but in a good way, like running a marathon and beating your best time.

He checked the Miles Electric. Nothing yet. That was to be expected; interdimensional travel was probably not as instantaneous as Sonic made it out to be. All he had to do was wait.

So, he waited. And waited.

And waited.

A week passed with no signal. Not a single, shallow blip on his radar to show that the probe had survived its attempt at escaping the barriers between their dimension and whatever lay beyond. Disappointed but not entirely surprised over the possible failure, the fox stopped checking for it as often. Every hour dropped to a few times a day; a few times a day dropped to only once per day. As yet another week began creeping by with nothing to show for it, he finally took the Miles Electric off his desk and put it away to make room for other, more pressing projects.

The device might have ended up a bust, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways to confirm the existence of the Shatterverse. Tails began sketching up tentative ideas for his continued research. He didn’t have any Prism energy left to work with, though, and Shadow probably wasn’t going to be as generous if he asked for help again. The power to cross dimensions was going to be the biggest hurdle.

Just as he was debating whether chaos energy would work as a potential substitute, there was a sudden flash of rainbow light to his left. The fox startled, whirled around with his hands up in preparation for a fight – and stopped.

Stared.

There was his device, hovering in the air. Tails’ ears twitched as the Miles Electric suddenly let loose a muffled cacophony of sounds from within the desk drawer; the familiar, loud pings that meant a probe had been successfully connected to. Stunned and unable to think of doing anything else, he slowly reached out to stop its hovering and hold it instead.

From the way he had grabbed it, the little digital screen was visible. Tails looked down at the message and felt his heart skip a beat.

[ hello stranger ]

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A/N: Several months ago I joined the Sonic Big Bang event, and today is the culmination of that event where we flood the fandom with fics and art! We are Sonic Fans and we cannot be stopped lol. Expect a chapter release every day until the fic is finished!

The fantastic artists paired with my fic are @currantlee, @phantom-howl, and @dewdropdraws. I'll link their artwork when it's all posted, please please check them out cause they're all wonderful! Thanks so much to @sthbigbang for hosting this and letting me participate! I had a blast!

[sweetestpopcorn]

Hello!! I know that aside from Daemon/Rhaenyra, you are a fan of Baelon/Alyssa. I just wanted to ask, what is your opinion on Viserra, or on the whole Viserra seducing Baelon after Alyssa’s death? Do you think Baelon might have been able to save Viserra from her fate if he had agreed to marry her (even if he didn’t love her)? What is your opinion on this pair?

Hi there :)

Yes, after Daemyra Baelon and Alyssa are definitely my favourite Targaryen couple.

About the rest of your ask, I don't think Viserra fans will like my answer, but I don't quite care for Viserra. I have talked about it in the past that I see Saera and Viserra as very shallow characters with almost nothing to them. They were written as mean girls and that's about it, besides being Targaryens and physically very attractive, I don't actually see any redeeming qualities in them.

Saera at least you could argue was sort of funny, in a heartless, sociopathic Cersei kind of way, and I did admire how she later on in life wanted nothing to do with Westeros or the Iron Throne saying she had her own kingdom was a cool moment. But regardless she was cruel, unnecessarily so (e.g., Tom the Turnip anyone?), and worse with someone much weaker than her which also makes her a sort of coward. Like I said she had many sociopathic traits, and her behaviour itself is very congruent with a sociopathic personality type.

Viserra is a bit better in that regard in the sense that she was not needlessly cruel to anyone weaker than her for fun, even if she poked fun at young men who lusted after her, sometimes in quite dangerous ways (e.g., when she dares them to put their heads inside a dragon's mouth, I think the prize was her V card if memory serves right). But like Saera is mean and cold for the sake of being mean and cold, Viserra is ambitious and cold for the sake of being ambitious and cold.

We are both shown and told she wanted power and to be queen and F feelings and all that, but we are never really given a proper reason as to why. I would guess that being child #10 in a very large family would make you starved for attention, likely importance as well, since her only selling point in that family was being the most beautiful of the sisters. It was (VERY) unlikely she would ever be queen, so maybe because of that it became an ambition of hers? There was also something arrogant about her because of her looks, thinking that that would be enough to just give her what she wanted without having to rely on anything else. In that sense she has no depth, what you see is pretty much what you get and neither is very good or particularly compelling.

So, no, I wouldn't want her to marry Baelon, nor for Baelon to be interested in her. In fact, I loved that he wasn't and that after she spoke in such a nasty way about the sister she thought herself so physically superior too that Baelon gave Viserra a cold hard dose of reality of he's Baelon Targaryen, not a failed Baelon like Tywin Lannister.

Sure that some people find love again in life, and I am all for it. But some people aren't like that, and I found a lot of beauty in that aspect of Baelon's character, of how devoted he remained to the memory of his lady with the mismatched eyes. I would have hated for that to be ruined, especially in the name of such an ambitious and empty character like Viserra. If he was to marry her, whatever the reason, he would not be Baelon because that was a central aspect to his character.

All this aside I did feel bad about how Viserra was treated by Alysanne, almost like she was the final boss Alysanne had to defeat. I think this is a great example at times of George's incongruence with how he writers characters in F&B. Pretty much their end is decided so he just does whatever he has to to get there, at times with little regard with what he previously established. Are we supposed to believe that the same Alysanne who still loved and wanted to forgive Saera, even defended her, would be so cold and mean to Viserra? Sorry, I don't find it the least bit believable. Like show us on the doll where Viserra touched you Alysanne. Regardless of her not deserving this or her cruel fate, I still don't really care about Viserra nor think she had any redeeming qualities.

And that is my take.

Thank you for coming to my Tumblr Ted Talk!

Much love to you <3

[tcvsfiredemon]

Platonic Narumayo and Romantic Tension

I was originally gonna post this as a twitter thread, but it started getting really long and that toxic sludgepit doesn’t deserve that kind of effort. Get yourself a snack or something, it’s gonna get rambly.

I think people who go out of their way to shut down the possibility that there could be any romantic attraction between Nick and Maya are missing out on a really cool aspect of their platonic relationship.

There’s a lot to be said about the many facets of the Narumayo friendship, from their bonding through shared trauma, to their building a found family with Pearl, to their effortless ability to trade off being the straight man of their comedic duo. But I think a lot of people miss how much of their friendship is informed by the fact that they both kinda want to kiss each other.

First off, Maya is constantly teasing Phoenix, and often in a weirdly flirty way. Just a few examples off the top of my head. She says Max is dreamy with stars on his face and immediately suggests Nick put stars on his face. She acts like a spurned lover when Phoenix is talking to Adrian, specifically in an attempt to get him flustered. She explicitly compares Phoenix rescuing her from being kidnapped to the DeLites’ love story. 

There’s quite a few moments like this throughout the games, and coupled with a lot of Maya’s actions and reactions, I get the sense that we’re supposed to believe that she has a thing for Nick. Maybe that’s just the shipping goggles talking, but it really does feel like the intended subtext. I mean, look at that what she instinctively drew when she was in 

(You’re probably wondering when the platonic part comes in. We’ll get there.)

But even if Maya does have a crush on Phoenix, does he return it? Obviously she’s very important to him, but is that really as a romantic interest? We often see him get flustered or stunned into silence whenever people assume he and Maya are dating(which happens a lot), but I feel like that can easily just be read as him being uncomfortable with people assuming he’s in a relationship with his assistant.

In general, Phoenix’s feelings for Maya are fairly ambiguous and probably not something that he’s thought through too much himself. That is, of course, until the waitress scene. That scene, in my opinion, is the single hardest thing to justify if you’re trying to deny any romantic tension within Narumayo. I’ve seen people say that it’s just Phoenix giving a compliment to his best friend/sister figure, but is that really the tone that’s being conveyed there? 

That initial comment on her voice. The pregnant pause when he sees her. The weird pick-up line that probably just came out of his mouth without any thought. That’s not the actions of a guy innocently complimenting his friend, that’s the reaction of a guy who just realized that he finds his friend hot. I’d argue that the case can’t even proceed the way it does unless Phoenix thinks Maya is attractive, because that’s what gives him the idea to try to get her to seduce information out of Kudo.

So between Maya and Phoenix we have two best friends with a lot of chemistry who are probably into each other, and whose friends definitely think are already togeyhet, but we never actually see them take that step into romance. And you know what? It fucking works!

(See, told you we’d get into the platonic stuff eventually.)

One of my favorite movies of all time is When Harry Met Sally, and while the titular couple does get together in the end, most of the film is about the two of them navigating being best friends while obviously having romantic feelings for each other. It’s a beautiful story of these two people building a wonderful platonic relationship and then very nearly ruining it when they try to turn it romantic. 

That’s the dynamic I see between Phoenix and Maya. They love each other and are probably in love with each other, but they insist on keeping things strictly platonic because to change that could mean to destroy what they’ve spent years building up. It’s an underlying tension that underscores a lot of their actions.

It’s the dynamic that the two of them still have almost a decade later in SoJ, where they find immense comfort just being in each other’s presence, investigating cases like old times. And no matter how much Phoenix gawks at Maya like a sun fish, no matter how many times Maya teases Nick while they’re investigating a wedding-based case, no matter how much they may or may not want to kiss, they’re so happy just to be friends.

(Not that I’d be mad if they did end up kissing…)

Obviously there’s nothing wrong at all with seeing Narumayo as siblings or as purely platonic friends who would never in their wildest dreams be romantically interested in each other, but I do feel like something is lost in that interpretation. 

Like, I’m not the biggest fan of romantic Narumitsu, but I don’t think you can truly appreciate their friendship while ignoring that those guys have a weird pseudo-romantic tension going on. Without it they’re just two dudes who used to be friends and don’t have a whole lot of chemistry but would still for some reason die for each other. Once you acknowledge that “oh, they’re kinda in love, aren’t they” it all makes perfect sense.

I don’t think platonic Narumayo exactly falls apart if you ignore their romantic tension. They still have all that other stuff I talked about, but their relationship loses a lot of richness if it’s reduced to just “besties” or “siblings”. Even the games themselves took a little time to explore the potential romantic tension between Phoenix and Maya, and I think that’s been pretty instrumental in making them one of the coolest male/female friendships this side of When Harry Met Sally.

[imnotevenusin]

Explaining some placements in my Natal Chart

1. Taurus Mars: Honestly, I am kinda slow to taking action on most things. Usually, I don’t get that defensive, and I’m more comfortable with letting things slide; I don’t have enough energy for confrontation sometimes.

- squaring Neptune: Mars square Neptune is my worst aspect imo. This placement makes it hard for me to feel motivated; daydreaming is my go to, but I’m “working” on trying to knock down my goals in a realistic manner. I think this also makes my actions misconstrued by others - I always got in trouble and perceived as suspicious by others.

2. Mercury in Leo 11°: My laugh is contagious. A Leo Mercury gets attention from the way they communicate or laugh.

- opposing Neptune: Fucking terrible. All my words come out so wrong and jumbled together. An unhealthy amount of daydreaming too. I’ve always been a creative writer tho.

- conjunct Saturn: This one is annoying too. I do feel like my comments or opinions get ignored sometimes. And I gotta talk slowly to get the best sentences out. In general, Mercury-Saturn eventually makes you smart and well-educated; Saturn takes out what isn’t necessary and makes you think about something longer before you say it.

3. Aries Moon: I’ve definitely witnessed my Mom taking the leadership role in the household while growing up. She’s always wanted me to be more militant and confident. Even when I think something isn’t a big deal, she’ll take it very seriously. I’ve also heard of the Aries Moons having big foreheads-trend.

I think this is the most sensitive Moon sign, because the Moon is such a vulnerable planet and Aries feels everything so fast. Whenever I face emotional problems - or discomfort, I like to work out, or listen to loud music. Its like this weird energy rush.

3rd House Moon trine Mercury: Mind is racing constantly. I like to write out my feelings and thoughts to feel better. I can accurately analyze my emotional state. I’m a good student too—not so much with homework—and I can easily pay attention and participate in class.

-sextile Neptune: I can express my emotions through poetry and music. Neptune makes me a little more empathetic.

4. Libra MC: Throughout school, I’ve always been known for having nice outfits. My biggest aspirations involve artistic things: screenwriting & music.

5. Sun in Leo 29°/8H: Theres a lot of enjoyment in Astrology—which is also rules by the 8H—for me. In school, I had a list of everybody’s birthdays for some reason. I’m heavily interested in the subconscious mind and how it controls you—your behavior and how it affects the decisions you make. I’ve always been more interested in everything under the surface.

6. Saturn in Leo: I never really felt my Leo energy like that. I’m more reserved tbr. For some reason, I feel guilty and annoying for enjoying myself and simply being creative - even when it’s not bothering anybody.

7. Capricorn Rising: People usually tell me I look older than I am. I feel naturally awkward for some reason. Since the 1st House deals with the relationship we have with ourselves, it took me a while to get comfortable - Saturn rules Capricorn.

8. Chiron in the 1st House rX: Honestly, I never really put that much importance on my height, until other people started commenting on it. And there’s always unneeded comments on my appearance. Since its in Capricorn, I’ve had teeth problems growing up, and now I have braces.

9. Pluto in the 12th House rX: The 12th House is separated from everything and everybody. I’ve always been existential since an early age. There was always a fear of being separated from people. I do like to dig deep into my subconscious mind and figure myself out more; I’ve realized how powerful the subconscious mind was and why I was acting the way I was. Detaching from everything also seems to give me less burdens. Sleep Paralysis issues too.

10. Saturn in the 7H: Suckkkksssssss. Growing up, I was definitely the late-bloomer when it comes to relationships.

11. Uranus in the 2H sextile Ascendant: Definitely felt like an oddball growing up. I’m not the only person that listens to Rock, but I definitely got weird looks and reactions for enjoying it. I do get self-esteeem from being different, even if it alienates me. My appearance and interests surprises people.

12. Mars/Aries in the 4H: WWE matches in my household/family.

[izzyspussy]

and one more thing. i like thinking about what if mickey was - depending on your definition - a virgin before he was with ian. it's really not much of a stretch tbh.

he's 16(?) their first time together

he's DEEPLY closeted

he may or may not be in denial, i go back and forth on this (and yes i know that extra-canonical sources have said he is, i don't care about the council's decision whether it's a stupidass one or not)

so like my thought is. he's pretty young. i know shameless has literally everybody fucking casually by the time they're fourteen but that is absolutely one of the most unrealistic aspects of the show lmfao. so anyway, he's pretty young. so there's that.

if we say he's in denial, and we take into account that he later is shocked by and very against the idea of pegging, it's pretty unlikely that he would seek out or ask for penetration even from women. and even in denial, it's not unbelievable that he wouldn't try rounding bases with women more conventionally either, although of course some people do. it might just not occur to him, or it might be too off-putting to go through with when he isn't being forced.

+ i kind of think that if mickey is in denial by the time of canon, it's the "i have more important things to worry about than getting a girlfriend" flavor, rather than a more "i am definitely into women and i can prove it" flavor. just because like. he really does have more important things to worry about. his one parent seems to be in jail more often than not and his siblings don't seem to have a collaborative relationship like the gallaghers do. mickey must have to spend a lot of time and energy on getting his basic needs met. if he has no interest in women, there's a readily available reasoning that has no relation to his sexuality (meaning he never has to think about it at all).

if he isn't in denial, he still can't hook up with anyone in his neighborhood. ian does while still closeted himself, but he's not as paranoid about someone telling on him as mickey is - not to mention ian doesn't care if other gay people know he's gay, why would he? but mickey doesn't just not want to be out, he doesn't want to be gay. just as much if not more, he doesn't want to be vulnerable. so he's not about to tell some kid at school, even if he knows for sure that they're gay too. he needs everyone around him to only know things that make him intimidating. so first of all, he needs to be bullying that kid. more relevantly, he needs to be seen as untouchable, which by necessity means he needs to be untouched. or at the very least not touched in any kind of way that involves even the remotest genuine intimacy, and a shared secret certainly is that - not even getting into the intimacy of doing something you have some type of Feeling about that can only be done with another person.

so if he did want to hook up, he'd have to go Somewhere Else to do it. but now there are so many active steps he has to take, so many times he has to choose over and over again to go Be GayTM, some of which are already GayTM in themselves. he has to decide he wants it enough to do it. he has to decide how far away is far enough. he has to look up and find a gay bar. he has to figure out how to get there. he has to pick a date and time. he has to earn and save enough money for transportation and at least one drink. he has to make up an excuse to have ready if he gets questioned when he leaves or gets home. he has to actually fucking go to a gay bar. he has to actually go inside a gay bar when he gets there. he has to order a drink at a gay bar. he has to stay at a gay bar. he has to look at other men gayly. in person. on purpose. and be seen doing it. if no one picks him up first, he has to pick up another man. he has to communicate in some way to another man that he wants to have sex with him. he has to pick somewhere immediate to do it, because no way is he going to share enough time with this guy to get to a secondary location. and only after all of those steps, many of them likely to require several attempts, none of them easy, only THEN can he finally have the sex. AND!! even then, he still has to bring himself to Be GayTM enough to get involved with the guy's dick. it's easy enough to rationalize later that a mouth is a mouth and the gender of the person it's attached to doesn't really matter; it's much harder to say that about penetrative sex. less so if you top, but still.

so. in my professional opinion. it's very believable that before ian, the "furthest" mickey had gone was receiving a blowjob. and of course he would have skipped right over kissing. (like obviously it's also believable that he would go through all those steps; a teenager will go to the fucking moon if they're horny enough and ready + there's plenty of text to support mickey being the type of guy that if he's gonna do it he's gonna do it all. and it's also believable that he might have been sexually active or at least not completely inactive with women despite not being attracted to them, with textual support for that too. but that's not what we're talking about rn!)

so okay. sure, all that. but then why ian?

well. there's text to suggest mickey maybe had a little crush on ian already. constantly making a nuisance of himself at ian's workplace. staying long enough to put on a little (non-violent) show about it when ian's there, as compared to efficiently hitting and robbing kash when ian is absent. calling him an arguably flattering if crass (and it's mickey so flattering but crass is... just flattering) nickname that directly references his pubic hair - *katya voice* UN-PRO-VOKED!

ian is good looking, obviously. he's got the red hair, which is a preference i like to think mickey had before that being with ian just compounded. perhaps exponentially lmfao. ian also has a personality we can reasonably assume is attractive to mickey even before he knows him that well. he's assertive and brave enough to challenge mickey directly, and especially with kash to compare to ian is definitely a Big Tough Man (even if that's more in attitude than in body at that particular point). and the fact that he's not afraid and not overly aggressive either gives at least some measure of impression that he doesn't have much need or desire for the upper hand - nonthreatening without being weak, wimpy, or boring.

now. not all bottoms are subs. this is true. and not all subs like it rough, and some people who like it rough aren't subs even if they are bottoms. all true. i implore you to look at mickey. now look into your heart. now look at mickey. you know these disclaimers are, in this case, only disclaimers. as such, you KNOW that fight - and ian being the one to start it, even if he didn't win - got mickey so so fired up.

so. ian's hot. he's mickey's type. mickey is teenager horny generally, and now also horny situationally. they are in mickey's bed. mickey is in a mild state of undress. they are touching. ian is between mickey's legs. he's not taking advantage of mickey's hesitation - and he only threatened and then defended himself, never actually getting more aggressive than necessary, i.e. he won't hurt mickey if mickey gives him physical opportunity. the vibes say ian won't use knowledge of mickey's sexuality against him afterward. it's possible mickey already knows he's gay (he seems to, but i always took the potential indications as a continuity error since there's really no sub/textual reason why he would and there are many other such cases).

he's right there, right now, and mickey wants him, and he's safe. bada boom bada bang, baby.

and. one more thing. i like to think about. if mickey hadn't had sex before ian. and we accept that he was lying about having sex in juvie (which we do). and we accept that he was lying about having sex with angie (which we do). and we discount the 3.06 incident with svetlana, since it wasn't consensual (which we do). and we accept that the trucker lady he used to humiliate himself but didn't actually have sex with was the only sexual contact he had while ian was away because he was too miserable to want any, as seems pretty strongly implied (which we do). and if we accept that the show was tragically canceled in the s4 hiatus (which we do lol).

then. in that case. ian is not only mickey's First Time (depending on your definition) and First Kiss, but in fact his only "all the way" sexual partner and only kiss. (and also first and only given bj.)

like, don't get me wrong, i don't believe in or enjoy the First, Last, & Only thing in a purity or like one-true-love way, that shit sucks. however. in a possessive way? pretty sexy. and i know ian would agree. he told me so himself.

(i also just kind of like the idea for mickey specifically. like he fully believed that he would never ever in his whole life ever have the kind of intimacy he has with ian in the end. that it was straight up impossible and there wasn't any point in even so much as thinking about it. and then... he gets it anyway, on his very first try.) (disclaimer again: yes romantic and sexual relationships aren't the only intimate relationships, no monogamy and/or long term commitment aren't inherently more intimate than other dynamics nor are they mutually necessary, yes relationships that end have equal benefit and value to relationships that don't. post not intended to be representational or reflect a widely applicable worldview it's just about this one specific guy etc etc, brought to you by a polyamorous aromantic wejustdon'tknowsexual believe me i get it i know it i live it.)

[prince-liest]

I just wanna gush bc omg I love the 666 series so much. I think it made me realize I might be... furry-ish? adjacent? I just find it so satisfying how you go into detail about the unique body features of both of them, the way it feels to have deer ears or kiss a TV and just generally how much thought is put into the way their bodies work, and I've realized that my interest in that kind of idea is a pretty good reason to partake in more explicitly furry media lmao. Anyways

I'm also really in love with how you maintain the balance of each of their personality traits. Vox is simultaneously so pathetic and cringefail (also your dialogue for him is perfect, I can hear it crystal clear in my head) but also he has vastly more emotional intelligence than Alastor, no doubt at least in part because he has to deal with Val, and he's able to marginally calm down with his obsession to deal with sticky situations, but even then he still retains his personality and bumbles things sometimes because of the flaws in said personality! It's great. I also really appreciate the balance you've struck with Alastor, I feel like often Alastor is either written to either soften up so immediately that it feels disconnected from his character or is written overly mean and heartless for my liking and the way you've written him is such a delicious balance between softer aspects such as the prey instincts or moments of vulnerability and his untouchable and manipulative self, and also the way this side of him is neither written as wholly a front or wholly his real nature and the complex ways this makes him struggle with his increasing vulnerability. TL;DR arghgr your characterization is so good it makes me go a little feral

Also while I'm here, I'm curious whether you can give an answer to the degree to which Alastor is touch-averse. There's obviously a lot of ways in which he fundamentally dislikes touch but it also seems like there's at least some kinds of touch where he doesn't dislike the touch itself so much as he's afraid of the way it brings about feelings of caring and/or enjoyment being cared for. I'm curious how much, in general, you would say his touch aversion comes from either cause and possibly what kinds of touch do/don't provoke those flavors of aversion

Omg, what a lovely ask to receive. Honestly, everything you said that you enjoy about how I characterize these two is very much what I've been actively gunning for, so it's an absolute delight to see it outlined back to me. Success!!! Thank you so much!

And ahaha - I'm not a furry but I fucking love inhuman characters. Being raised in the pits of Homestuck fantroll RP made me enjoy the whole "they're bug/fish aliens" thing and it definitely rears its head again any time I encounter characters with inhuman qualities. I love writing Vox's TV/computer-ness and Alastor's deer and radio bits, and integrating them into who they now are as people.

As for Alastor's touch-aversion: It's funny that you ask about this, because the next chapter of 666 is going to dive into it a bit. Specifically into the fact that it's not, like, a set of boundaries that is consistently defined, and I write him that way on purpose. The very first time he and Vox sleep together, Alastor bottoms. He becomes significantly less amenable to touch after he goes through an uncomfortable rut cycle that gets sexual. By the time Vox convinces Alastor to fuck him, Alastor would never let Vox do that again and frankly only agrees to topping because Vox gave him an option that didn't involve getting his dick out. Then in the next episode, they're having clothes-off sexual contact. So, what gives?

Things that play into Alastor's willingness to touch and be touched as far as Vox is concerned:

How does he see Vox at that point in time? Disgustingly entitled (ew)? Hilariously beneath him (haha who cares)?

Does he care about what Vox thinks of him? Does Vox touching him draw his attention to positive or negative assumptions he has about Vox's perspective on doing so?

What value has he attached to this particular touch in the power balance of their relationship? Is he humoring Vox? Does he assume Vox thinks he's owed this? Does he perceive it as something Vox is genuinely doing for him?

Has he tried this particular kind of touch before? He's pretty willing to experiment, but that doesn't mean he'll do something twice without a compelling reason if he didn't like it the first time.

Is he getting off on this situation sexually? If so, is it fully willing (read: not a byproduct of uncomfortable hormones) on his part? That only really happens when he's in a submissive role and Vox is hitting a few very specific kinks, a major one of which is basically CNC tilted 30 degrees to the left.

Is he enjoying the touch in platonic ways? How does he feel about that? Is it a vulnerability to want something? Is it feeding his ego to be catered to? Is he worried that what he enjoys platonically is being read into in ways he doesn't like?

Is he fucking drunk? Things that bother you when sober often seem like a non-issue when you're not, both on a physical and emotional level.

How much touching has been happening recently? Has he hit his limit? Did he deliberately put himself into a situation earlier to have his limit be hit and surpassed, and now he's in the aftermath?

He does have a certain fundamental purely physical dislike of touch, but it's something that is really affected by how he perceives each individual situation as well as his relationship with Vox at that time, and his previous experiences!

[animeyanderelover]

Hello🎀Can I request Hashirama,Tobirama,Madara,Itachi,Shisui,Sasuke,Tsunade,and Obito with a darling that has a bunny quirk?Like mirko from my hero Thank you 🧸

I wish Mirko would have gotten more screentime in the recent season of Mha. I ended up mentioning the holy thighs a lot because damn~

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, stalking, manipulation, blackmailing, delusion, sexual harassment, abduction

Darling has a Rabbit Quirk

Madara Uchiha

🌑 Initially Madara is rather judgemental when he sees his darling for the first time after having heard all the amazing stories surrounding them. Bunnies aren't exactly the most intimidating animals and your rabbit ears and round tail are the talk of his clan as they make fun of you. Madara shows himself as slightly suspicious, even if your muscular thighs do tell him that you have power in your legs. It isn't until he actually witnesses you eradicating a training ground with your strength that he changes his opinion slowly. He'd definitely be interested in training you with the main focus on taijutsu considering your abilities, although he'd go out of his way to train you in ninjutsu too since he considers you worthy of his time. Watching you fighting in is already a treat in itself since he starts considering your thick legs as rather attractive, he's probably staring at them quite a lot. Needless to say, he's the only one allowed to look at you that way though so if he catches anyone else ogling at you because of your appearance, he'll remind them quickly that you don't belong to them. He's most likely already busy arguing with the eldest to take you as his spouse.

Hashirama Senju

🌳 He's somewhat flustered by your appearance when meeting you for the first time too as your ears, tail and your thighs catch him off-guard but he's not judging you for it. Hashi is open-minded and welcomes you warmly in his village. You're quite unique due to your interesting skills so you end up in his center of attention a lot thanks to the influence of his clan. Honestly, he thinks that your ears are really adorable and secretly he wants to really touch them, not to mention your thighs. He can't help but keep on glancing at them and besides wanting to lay his head on them really badly, sometimes his thoughts wander in more unholy spots much to his embarrassment. He's a worshipper so you can expect him definitely praising your skills and your looks a lot, star-struck whenever he is able to watch you in action as he stands there in a daze, watching you destroy the ground with your legs. He's aware that your looks can be the attraction of negative attention though so he reacts very sensitive when someone tries to pull you down because you have ears and a tail. Even if his darling is chill with it, he gets a bit mad on their behalf since he loves them too much to just sit back and say nothing.

Tobirama Senju

🌊 He does his best attempt to keep his composure although even he can't help but be slightly stunned when he meets you for the first time. It isn't everyday he sees someone with bunny ears and a tail but Tobirama is just as aware of your incredible skills in taijutsu so he tries to ignore your appearance and instead focus on your talents. He's probably so embarrassed and in a hard state of denial in the beginning as somehow the aspect of falling in love with someone who has rabbit features seems under him. Despite that now he can't help but focus on your fluffy tail, your long ears and especially your thick thighs and you caught his ears going red when he stared at them for too long, most likely due to his thought process. He's just as much aware that he's probably not the only one thinking like that and that instantly puts him in a sour mood so he often questions you whether or not the shinobi on your missions ever give you secretive glances or talk dirty about you. Because if they do, you'll never be teamed up with them again. He puts you eventually on his own team to keep a better eye on you, snapping at everyone who gives you a wrong look. They should learn to respect you because you're going to be his future spouse.

Tsunade Senju

🐌  Tsunade is very worried about her s/o being the victim of sexual harassment since they have some rabbit-like features, even if she's fully aware that you're technically fully capable of dealing with any lecherous people yourself. Still, if someone ever dares to make one wrong comment about you in her presence, they'll be personally send into the hospital by her. The woman likes to fawn over your cute appearance herself though when there's no one to anger her. She is very, very sceptical to send her s/o on high-ranked missions out of paranoia that she might lose them too, especially if they have a similar attitude and mindset as Mirko. The council and Shizune constantly have to convince her since you're one of the best that the Leaf Village has to offer. You're tough when it comes to injuries yet Tsunade will still make a big fuss about you anyways when you return with wounds after a mission, personally caters to all injuries. Jiraiya might have some interest in you due to your look but if Tsunade realizes what he's thinking, he's probably going to have another near-death experience thanks to her.

Obito Uchiha

🔥 There will definitely be problems if you're not up for an abduction but the best of luck anyways dealing with this paranoidand delusional mess of a man. Obito certainly won't let you leave once you've captured his heart but it's alright, he could never be really mad with you. Your appearance is misleading in a way for him as he connects bunnies with something soft and innocent, tends to ignore the fact that you could easily crush him in between those legs of yours. Maybe he secretly wants that...He's up for admiring and worshipping that body of yours too, he loves your ears and loves laying his head in your lap, it helps him calming a bit down. He's down bad and very trigger-happy so if he ever finds out that there has ever been someone who insulted you, mocked and bullied you because of your special abilities, he'll definitely go on a murder spread and avenge you. Honestly, if there really are cases of bullying due to your rabbit-like appearance, he'll only feel more validated for wanting to keep you away from the world and only to for himself. The world is so cruel and unfair after all, they will only use you and push you down for your special powers.

Shisui Uchiha

🍂 He's one to contain his slight astonishment upon your unique appearance better as he knows that the Hokage trusts in your abilities and for that he wants to respect you too. Shisui is from the very beginning someone who warns people to not make fun of you or underestimate you because of your special jutsu you've developed. Most such comments calm down if they themselves witness your strength, speed and keen intuition themselves and there's a sort of smug feeling whenever Shisui realizes that they've become more careful around you, slightly scared of you now. The Uchiha treats you like he would everyone else he admires and respects, does his best to never stare at your ears or your legs or tease you for having such bunny features. His obsession is quite well-contained, although your uncanny intuition might just tell you to be a bit cautious around the talented, young man. He has zero tolerance for anyone who sexually harasses you and attempts to touch your tail or your ears and oftentimes his grip on their arm is so tight that they beg him to let go because otherwise their arm will break.

Itachi Uchiha

🍡 Similar to Shisui, he won't judge his darling for having certain bunny-like features as he's aware that that is just part of their powers. At times he finds it rather adorable when your ears twitch or you indulge in your favorite meal which ironically happens to be carrots. It is saddening to see other people shaming you for your appearance and for your strength though as you're an outcase in the village you live in. Especially if you have lots of experience with bullying and sexual harassment will Itachi make all the more effort to treat you like a normal person, although still slightly wary in case you decide to attack if you recognize his robe with the red clouds. After an abduction he'd probably have to be very careful if he ever plans to take you into a village since you just stand out with your long and pointed ears, your round and fluffy tail and your huge thighs. If he ever hears someone still making lecherous and inappropriate comments about you though, his eyes grow cold with silent fury. I do feel like if his darling and him get along well even after an abduction, he'd be generally less worried about leaving them alone because even if they might be found and attacked, they'll be more than capable to defend themselves.

Sasuke Uchiha

💙 He thinks of you as a joke the first time he sees you in Orochimaru's hideout only to be slightly humbled after a training session with you where he isn't able to keep up with your speed and barely avoids being crushed like an egg by one of your kicks. Not that he'd ever admit it but he definitely treats you with slightly more respect after that day, although he can certainly still be mean. Sometimes your appearance bewilders him though as his eyes awkwardly run back and forth between your eyes, your thighs and your ears. Sasuke finds himself growing jealous and possessive the moment others marvel over your appearance and reach out to touch your ears if you allow it. Not like he ever allows others to do so, he always stops them with a dangerous glare and a painfully tight grip on their arm, yanking the hand away that was previously about to touch your fluffy ears. You draw in general a lot of attention to yourself and Sasuke just isn't a fan of it so no wonder he isolates you as much as he does. People who flirt with you or make suggestions because of your bunny features always end up hurt because Sasuke doesn't tolerate anyone thinking like that about you, except himself of course.

[sshadowritestoriess]

Hi! Assuming you're not like, dead since you've been inactive for 5 months, would you do headconnons on what Ramattra, Zenyatta, and Genji would do for Reader's birthday? I ask because mine is getting close.

Crawls out of my grave… it’s definitely been a rough few months, hello ^^ I’ll do my best.

Ramattra on Your Birthday

Ramattra is the type of omnic that wouldn’t say a word of your birthday as the date fast approaches. You might think he’s forgotten, if the clever ravager was capable of such a thing. But he’s had the date saved ever since you had mentioned it in a long-forgotten conversation

He’s the materialistic sort. Numbers and data mean everything to him - yours in particular, as one of his closest (and last) companions. Ramattra knows exactly the things you like, crave, and want. Some things he’s exceptionally, and unfortunately, quite good at poking fun about; be it because it’s a unique interest or not very well known

But he knows you enjoy that sort of thing, so he’d find a way to acquire it in some fashion : clothing, cosmetics, merchandise, a book or pad, a signed t-shirt, food, tools, tickets… or maybe just a well thought-out playlist he put together just for you. Whatever kind of item he could possibly find that hits as close as possible to that thing that means quite a lot to you, he will have it ready for your birthday

It might just be one thing, possibly two if he couldn’t decide between which you might like the most. He’d have this gift ready just a couple months in advance, just in case you lose interest.

What he does not do is wrap it. Maybe a gift bag if you’d expressed disappointment in that sort of thing - but there’s never a tag or card or anything that would let you know who it’s from. It might just appear at your doorstep like a regular package, or he’d have another bot deliver it straight to you.

Ramattra does not wish anyone a “happy birthday”, unless appropriately prompted to. He might not even have a clear enough schedule to see you that day if you had any plans - a human custom he doesn’t have much interest in partaking in (perhaps because all omnics have the same “birth” day, all thanks to Aurora), but the gift-giving is a meaningful enough aspect he would take advantage of.

He expects no thanks, nor to be treated the same. But if you came to him happy about your gift, that would be entirely enough.

Zenyatta on Your Birthday

This monk is most definitely more of the ‘experience’ type. When it comes to any celebrations or occasions, he tends to lean toward going out to be part of the world.

He’s absolutely asked you just shy of a dozen times what you might like for your birthday, if you’d like to celebrate it early or on the weekend, if you’re hosting a party or just having a day to yourself. All the important things so he won’t accidentally intrude on your special day

Zenyatta likely provides much smaller gifts as compared to his brother - things that might compliment your appearance or home, or represents something about you that he really likes. You’re more likely to learn something about yourself with the kinds of gifts he has to offer

If permitted, he would be joyous to treat you to lunch or dinner. Something made by him, anything you have to request? Or he’d be elated to surprise you with a meal you haven’t tried before, but goes along with the things you normally like. He’s normally spot on, and you just might discover a new comfort food

But if you especially had nothing planned, or just wanted to spend the day with your dear Zenyatta, he would absolutely have something in mind that he would have reserved or set up for weeks in advance. A night at a gala? A local street festival with games and music? A convention full of things you might enjoy - or a wonderful hike through nature. Maybe just a day with a couple of activities he knows you really like; skating, an arcade, shopping, movies, racing - just enough that isn’t too overwhelming, but lets you know he pays well attention to the things that bring you joy.

Whatever the plan is, Zenyatta would have it and be there for it, and be happy just to spend the day with you. His patience is unfathomed - he would make sure that everything you partake in is an experience he knows you wouldn’t turn down. Your smile at the end of the day is all that matters to him.

Genji on Your Birthday

This man is pretty big on surprises. With Genji, you get to start off your morning with a rose and a note on your bedside table.

Perhaps the sneaky cyborg had a treasure hunt set up for you throughout your home, the Overwatch base, or wherever you reside. Or maybe the note tells you where to meet him when you wake? Certainly one of the two, and he’d have quite the elaborate map set up for you

He’d have an array of gifts hidden in places, some that don’t make sense and some that you definitely favor more than the others (a cheap electric kettle versus a brand new hoodie in your favorite color? What was his thought process on these?) but regardless of their individual quality, it’s obvious he’s been very excited to get these to you. And somehow, his best gifts were probably bought just yesterday.

And it doesn’t stop there. Next thing you know, he’s got a blindfold in hand and he’s cautiously leading you to where there is, no doubt, a surprise party he’d set up with friends. (Apologies to those who aren’t big on celebrations with multiple people - Genji would be sure to grovel for your forgiveness later)

If you’re particularly introverted and have greatly expressed a dislike for those kinds of occasions before, then similarly to Zenyatta, Genji might have a few quieter activities reserved just for the two of you. It could even be as simple as a day in playing video games - if you don’t mind getting your ass kicked in the more competitive franchises.

The birthday dessert was definitely something he had made himself, and you could tell. The way it was poorly plated, decorated, and just a tad malformed; inexperienced hands that lack a creative means of decoration certainly took liberties on even writing your name only half in cursive. He would present this as his final gift with a false sense of pride - easy to see in his eyes the shame he felt for being ambitious with frosting.

Genji aims to hear you laugh, and if he could manage being the source of that at any point in your day - then your birthday was a success in his eyes.