#this man has never solved a puzzle and its showing

[ovegakart]

warriors had said he could do this puzzle himself

edit: i realized i had spelled breathe wrong and no one said ANYTHING and it had been up for several hours!! so ive corrected it

[faggot-greg-house]

lets talk abt house and empathy. the general perception of house is that he's hypoempathetic and generally doesn't care about people. however i would argue very distinctly that he cares TOO much and feels TOO MUCH empathy!!

this is my second post in a row talking abt john house but THINK abt his childhood! they moved around constantly, so he likely never got a chance to make friends as a kid. his dad abused him and his mom let it happen. for a kid who cared so much about the people around him, that would kill him!!!! it's highly likely that he initially developed his "antisocial tendencies" as a protective mechanism so that people couldn't hurt him by leaving or by actually hurting him.

on top of that, he says that he became a doctor essentially because he saw a guy who was treated horribly and yet people still needed him when it came to medicine. it makes a lot of sense to me that a young greg house would feel deeply for that man AND see himself in him. he also talks about how the appeal of his job is solving puzzles - but there are lots of other jobs where that would work!!! he could have become a detective (acab but w/e), a computer scientist, etc etc. instead he chose a career where he SAVES people.

house doesn't talk to patients because he doesn't want them to become real to him, because then he'll care too much. a puzzle is a puzzle and a puzzle doesnt need feelings or morality, but when he has to come face to face with a patient, it becomes a situation where he can start to feel for them and care about them. this is commented on multiple times in the show but notably in the episode with the doctor in antarctica, who he cares very deeply about by the end.

i also firmly believe that house is autistic, like its nondebatable to me, and i think that he doesn't instinctively know how to read social cues, which is why he's so obsessed with patterns. he's memorized what emotions look like on other people, and he's memorized the typical behaviors of the people around him (e.g. wilson's ties, stacy's cross) and that's how he can read their emotions. if he doesn't connect to a patient he can't necessarily feel their emotions as strongly, he has no chance to learn their reactions!!

[angstics]

3.3k words summarizing queliot if you've never seen the magicians. or if youve seen it and you want to indulge in my insane criticisms. lord touch his mind

okay so the magicians was a tv show about a bunch of post grads learning magic in magic university then discovering that the fantasy world from a kids book series was actually real and the Beast of that world was out to get them. WHO GIVES A FUCK. the crazy people were focused on the relationship btwn main character quentin coldwater (depressed, heart on his sleeve, surprise sex maniac who is new to magic and loves those books) and gay best friend eliot waugh (substance addicted (big surprise!!), gay trauma, named after evelyn waugh oh you know…) they form a friendship and it’s weirdly touchy and close. eliot keeps trying to seduce quentin but it’s never serious. i dont even think quentin notices. anyone remember the “lets not talk” scene? he was about to fuck that sad man. anyway this tension was actually fulfilled by the end of the 1st season with a drunk threesome including the two and their best friend margo. they at least kiss and cuddle and MAYBE sucked dick if the ghost of his girlfriend who haunts him later is to be believed (which i do #cockinhismouthsunday).

at this time articles that were like “THIS SIFI SERIES IS PROUDLY BISEXUAL” were coming out which. lol. lmfao! quentin never had any sort of queer identity. not even a hint of it. the homophobia of the show started with the regurgitation of the “sad drunk lonely sex-crazed” gay man trope with eliot, then the “everyone is fluid but no one actually has same sex attraction” trope, THEN by sidelining and killing off almost every gay or trans character, THEN THE QUENTIN THING. and the quentin thing turned people insane. let’s see why.

so after the threesome, eliot and quentin continue having a good friendship. there is some tension that isnt present with margo which sure is a choice… but it is resolved by a heartfelt crowning ceremony nd hug. oh theyre kings of the magic land now btw. eliot and q are pretty much separate from this point on xcept for certain episodes/moments. it is strange they dont have any storylines together. but love finds a way. at some point a version of eliot sacrifies himself for quentin. if u look at the scene it is on instinct it is crazy. then they reunite at the end of s2 but it’s all business really. the show was really involved w its nonsense plot.

anyway season 3. hahaha. so like i said theyre separate most of the show past s1. this is true in this season xcept for episodes 305 and 313 (with some notable moments in between). the plot of this season is that they have to go on quests to collect keys. the creature that gives eliot this plot calls quentin his “brother of the heart”. ok! when they see each other for the first time in a while in 304, they hug in a very sweet way :) look at this photo from bts during that scene :) i have it framed

after a series of other quests, 305 turns out to be the Eliot and Quentin quest! finally a story with the two! the quest is for the “time key”, which is fabled to be given to whoever solves the mosaic puzzle in fillory (magic world). the puzzle? they have to arrange 100s of tiles in a way that depicts “the beauty of all life”. quentin is very excited about it. eliot is happy to hear him infodump. they eventually get pushed into fillory to solve the mosaic. turns out they were also sent DECADES in the past. there might have been a way out but they were dead-set on solving the mosaic and getting their key. so they get to work. they live in a cottage attached to the mosaic and they spend hours, days, months on it. just the two of them and the mosaic. this episode is called “a life in a day” which is so perfect you wonder why the writing couldnt be that good within the show.

at the 1 year anniversary, quentin kisses eliot. and eliot kisses him back. and you wonder woah what does this mean?! well keep wondering girl because this tv show does not care to explore any of that. it chugs on and eliot and q fight about “living their lives there” and quentin gets a Wife and has a child with her and then she DIES (leaving her as a narrative incubator rather than an actual character, which is very in line with the sexism of the show). and they grow up and decades pass and the child grows old enough to leave and it seems eliot co-parented him but (again) the tv show doesnt care to show you that. and this whole time theyre working on the mosaic. years and years. eventually they grow old. it’s just the two of them. until eliot dies. quentin goes to bury him in the mosaic plot and he finds a special little tile. he places it in the mosaic. he gets the key. the puzzle is solved. “the beauty of all life”. but quentin is alone. his life companion is gone. and that’s the last we see of him.

we go back in time til before they enter fillory. their friend stops them and she has the key through time shenanigans and they never live that timeline. UNTIL!!!!! they do. they remember it all. what does decades (50 yrs btw) of living happily together mean for them?!? FUCK ALL APPARENTLY!!!! because the next episode (306 if yr keep track) they mention it ONCE AND NEVER AGAIN. and there is so much beneath the surface with the looks and the line that mentions it (“go be life partners with someone else” eliot says jokingly in a manner that shouldve been the catalyst to quentin’s magic-induced suicide spiral later that episode).

ok quentin does mention it once more to his dying dad. but nothing about his Male Life Partner Of Fifty Years. Nothing. they dont even talk about it with their best friends, leading one to believe they just kept it a secret . which. okay.

okay. so theyre apart til the last episode of the season. and quentin decides to sacrifice himself by locking himself in a cage with a monster for all of eternity. he says the quest prepared him for it which is yikesss. eliot refuses. but quentin insists. they travel to the prison (he gets back together with his gf during this trip btw they had been apart that season after some shit. one of their worst writing decisions i hate this stupid ass cockroach relationship). quentin almost exchanges himself. then eliot shoots the monster. dooming them all.

so the monster doesnt die. instead he possesses eliot. and that becomes the story for season 4. at first quentin and co think eliot is dead. and it’s devastating lol. an interesting thing is that the monster was so. touchy with quentin. unbearably so. it’s such a perverse reflection of eliot’s touch. which is sorta pointed out by quentin in this quote (paraphrase) “i know it’s not eliot. but he has his face and his eyes…”

anyhow 405. hahahahahaha. so this episode it’s revealed eliot is alive but trapped in his own head. and to get out for a moment and tell his friends he’s alive, he needs to confront his most terrible most shameful memory. the whole episode is him trying to figure out what it is. meanwhile, quentin and co are setting up a plan to kill the monster. and quentin breaks up with his gf (lol). in a deleted scene that WAS shown in promo they argue about the monster. and quentin says “im team eliot”. lol

anyhow, eliot’s hit a dead end. he cant figure the worst thing that’s happened in his life. then his memory of quentin (theyve been hangin out) says he’ll “sacrifice” himself if he had to. eliot smiles and says “i know youre just a memory… but youre a very generous one.” and quentin says— (im reciting this from memory btw all of this has been from 4 years of NON STOP thinking about it) quentin says “well you sacrifice for the people you love” and he gives eliot a VERY pointed look. and then it dawns on eliot. and the guilt is instantly palpable.

hahahahha. hahaha. hahahahahaha. okay so eliot goes to the memory he knows is the worst thing he’s ever done. his most traumatic memory, after a lifetime of violent homophobia and bad choices. the person possessed before him described this memory as being “the day he left home”.

the memory? the day they remembered their past lives. did it happen? fifty years. it happened.

theyre sat under a wedding arch (that was the b plot of the episode lol). it’s beautiful. eliot watches the memory play out, standing in front of the seated figures. the guilt. the guilt.

outside, the tension is building. the plan to kill the monster is in motion. quentin has to coax him to a certain spot. he has to look at him as he kills his best friend.

eliot doesnt know this but he gets anxious watching it play out. there is a certainty that this is it. the first time viewer has no idea whats going on. we never saw the direct aftermath of them remembering. we always assumed there wasnt anything.

well a year after 305 aired, a yr after thinking THAT WAS IT, they recontextualize Everything.

it is worth saying here that in the promo interviews leading up to season 4, quentin’s and eliot’s actors were sussing it UP. quentin’s at some point talks on q’s queerness, saying it was the one aspect of his life he didnt feel anxious about.

well

what happens is that quentin asks eliot for a relationship. remember how it was quentin who first kissed eliot? it happens again. heart on his fucking sleeve. i can recite this scene pretty well so im going to fucking do it:

did it happen? fifty years. it happened. it was sort of beautiful. it really was. i know this is gonna sound dumb but … us. i mean we work. we know it cause we lived it. who gets that proof of concept? (eliot smiles uneasily) we just got injected with fifty years of memories so i get that youre not thinking clearly. no im just saying… what if we gave it a shot, would that be so crazy? (eliot looks down, worried and thoughtful. quentin smiles RADIANTLY it is BLINDING) why the fuck not?

editors opinion: quentin is such a beautiful person. to be so truthful about something so scary is unthinkable. especially in context of him being so hopelessly and quietly in love his childhood best friend, and his whirlwind romance with previously mentioned gf, and all the tragedy he endured with these two. but this is someone who loves with his whole heart. what was he supposed to do? contain it?

then eliot hardens.

i know you and you arent… whats the matter? dont be naive it matters. (pause) q i love you but… that isnt me and that definitely isnt you. not when we have a choice. (quentin looks away. he wipes his eye) oh. okay. sorry.

and silence. the real eliot, the eliot who isnt the memory, looks on. tired and angry, he speaks to himself:

what the hell is wrong with you? what the hell are you doing? someone Good and True… Loves you. yeah it was a little crazy but you knew. you knew this truly mattered. and you just SNUFFED IT OUT.

then he looks to the memory of quentin. soft as the clouds:

q. im sorry. i was afraid. and when im afraid i run away.

then he kisses him. and he hits you with the thesis of the episode:

if i ever get out of here q… know that when im braver it cause i learned it from you.

well

thats his most traumatic memory. he is granted passage to consciousness. what is the first thing he sees? quentin. the real quentin.

q? (smiles) q (laughs) it’s me. it’s eliot. ok come on no games. it’s eliot. i said no games. (eliot looks around, worried as all hell) fifty years (he walks towards q) who gets proof of concept like that? what? peaches and plums motherfucker (this is the symbol to their mosaic life) im alive in here. (eyes as wide as saucers, heart in his throat) eliot…

and he ruins their plans of killing the monster. “eliot’s alive.”

then the episodes keep rolling. “eliot eliot eliot. why do you care so much about him?” “because i do.” and “wow i love that plan. except the part where it doesnt save eliot.” quentin gets back with his gf for reasons only the devil knows. but fine ok whatever quentin and eliot will HAVE to talk post-saving. even if the writers ignore it once more they have some kind of relationship. and they do save eliot in the finale! you know who they dont save? lmfao

quentin dies. in a manner that many including myself found weird and unsatisfactory and suicidal. and he never gets to know how eliot feels. never. he’s just gone. their story means nothing 💯

editors note: this ending broke me. i was using the show as a depression crutch, so a fate so hopeless ruined me. cant blame the show for my mistake but being so technically bad certainly didnt help.

well when the show came back for its next (and final lol) season, they did attempt closure for eliot and quentin. for some reason this was all contained in 3 episodes, most of it in the third (503) but what the fuck ever. it has its moments.

the episode is basically about eliot and alice (q’s gf i dont think ive mentioned her name. sorry alice) going on a mini quest up a treacherous mountain for grievers to return a piece of quentin’s soul back to the underworld. their fights are soooo funny. toxic lover vs almost-lover.

alice at some point says “well he was MY boyfriend this is MY pilgrimage and you just TAGGED ALONG” and (blood obviously boiling) eliot goes “right, because he meant nothing to me”. and this highlights something so sneakily homophobic about this whole affair. quentin and eliot’s relationship never mattered to the narrative as much as all the other straight relationships, especially quentin and alice’s. like i said, they would separate for entire seasons. you will be happy to know that not 1 episode goes by without quentin and alice conflicting and making up conflicting and etc. i dont understand how quentin and eliot’s relationship wasnt important enough. they were best friends, they kissed multiple times and had sex AT LEAST once if the mosaic subtext isnt considered. and the mosaic… it isnt just that they lived together for 50 yrs and raised a child and were happy, something they couldnt quite grasp in their old lives… they achieved the beauty of all life. that is a monumental achievement that shouldve changed not only their lives, but their stories.

the thing about the confession is that it wasnt planted in s3. talking about 405, the writers said they came up with it while working on that episode. it was essentially a retcon. though its inclusion explains why they didnt talk about it literally, it doesnt excuse the narrative outright ignoring it. it DEFINITELY doesnt account for why it ignored the rest of the SAME SEASON it was ESTABLISHED IN. if this was quentin and alice, they would be talking about it nonstop. and guess the fuck what when they get back together it is *non stop*.

SO. 503. they are on their pilgrimage. tensions build. eliot hallucinates quentin’s voice (it’s a soundbite from the mosaic when eliot dies which is depressing). they meet another traveller who is grieving his long dead boyfriend.

the traveller asks who theyre grieving and alice goes My Boyfriend and eliot looks away and says he knew him as a friend and it’s so sad it makes me want to die. why did they invent new exciting ways for gay people to be ashamed of who they love. i hate this show.

anyway the traveller talks about his boyfriend and how he was a magician who died young and how his dreams were haunted by him. and eliot is listening so intensely you want to jump hale appleman for being so good at this acting thing. alice goes to sleep and leaves the two alone. then they really start talkin:

(the traveller asks) have you ever had love? (eliot smiles small, hesitant) love…? yeah love. (pause) the friend we’re putting to rest. (traveller is delightfully shock) wasnt just a friend.

truly truly truly cant describe to you how much it physically pains me that it took 2 seasons and for one of them to die and a conversation with a stranger to get to this point. why wasnt this always part of the narrative. why does this only matter now after 2 yrs of fans badgering you about why this isnt part of the fucking show despite BEING PART OF THE FUCKING SHOW! it is dead obvious this was never the intent so even with something that should feel right feels wrong because the show never wanted it. it never wanted quentin to be in love with eliot. but it doesnt make sense if he isnt. i hate this show.

the convo continues 🙄:

does she know? oh god no. a torrid secret affair. (eliot looks away) no, nothing like that.

and i wish eliot was given a proper story. i wish i knew what was going on in his head through all of this. i wish i wish.

so it is revealed that quentin and eliot “had love” and that eliot is keeping it a secret (a revelation considering they werent intimate on screen past the 1 yr anniversary, they were only ever referred to as best friends by cast and crew, AND even what they were was obscured in the confession scene. and their feelings didnt matter past 405 fuck this world). this is huge. it should be huge. eliot’s first arc is about how he cant fall in love until he does and gets his heart broken. quentin’s stories are so wrapped up in alice that having another love interest should complicate that entirely. it doesnt.

the climax of the episode is when eliot expresses difficulty of letting go of quentin and alice says “he was your friend” and eliot replies (quick as if not meaning to) “he wasnt just my friend.” and wowww. how cathartic. the first time in the history of the show they talk about it. 5 seasons btw.

and eliot tells her about the mosaic and how “we loved each other for a really really long time.” and how he told him to fuck off and how he died for him and how he was never able to talk to him again. he just died.

and that part is supposed to be cathartic too. it feels cathartic for eliot the character at least. but to me the Viewer. i was sick of how they were trying to appeal to MY thoughts of what he should be feeling. as if trying to placate me. cuz if it was soo important it wouldnt just been solved after this episode. he DGAF about quentin after this. i dont get it. why cant they write a proper story.

well one line that stuck with me and i truly felt was this:

alice: he was pretty in love with you eliot: i wouldnt say that alice: .. i would

and then eliot looks at her the most devastated a man can look.

thats it. that’s quentin and eliot. a heartfelt and final fuck this show. the fic goes crazy esp the 2019 shit.

[irisintheafterglow]

HAND THREE - TWO PAIR

summary: in a season where you're determined to fly under the radar, newly-returned crown prince!touya todoroki has other ideas. in this hand, a date is had.

wc: 2.5k

cw/tags: royalty!au/regency!au, fem!reader, some swearing, banter and dialogue driven, fake dating, pining and tension, todoroki enji jumpscare LOL

note: the two wolves living inside me is one wanting to rush the hell out of slow burn and the other telling me to make it painfully slow. however, i broke a little and made the pining a little obvious in this chapter oops. one day i will achieve the emotional release of s2 bridgerton bee sting scene. hope you enjoy !!!!

likes, reblogs, and replies are appreciated <3

“Show.” 

“You first.”

“I’m royalty.”

“And I have the higher stack. Now, show,” you repeat and he scoffs, the corner of his mouth tugging upward and creasing the deep purple scars on his cheek. He turns his two cards face-up and, sure enough, you’d snatched another victory from the self-proclaimed Prince of Calculation. “I win again,” you smile and he begrudgingly pushes the pot to your side of the table, an amalgamation of garden pebbles, stray buttons, and a few gold coins you managed to produce. You were using whatever you had to gamble and the prince didn’t seem to mind. Touya, you remind yourself. You were supposed to call him by his first name throughout this whole charade, but it seemed as foreign on your tongue as a protruding third set of teeth. 

“You’re a much more dangerous woman than you give yourself credit for,” he muses with a clever glint in his eyes. Over the course of the last month or so, you’d accumulated an immunity to his unwavering stares and scalding eyes; lately, it actually seemed you found a certain affinity for his intense nature, even when you were its only target. His sweetly poisonous words were the latest test to your composure. “If we dressed you as a man for the night, we could relieve an entire club of their purses before the clock strikes ten.” His pretty fingers dealt another two cards and you peeked at them from the bottom of your vision. Queen of hearts and two of clubs. Not the best hand. 

“Hmm. How much of the pot would you use to bail me out for invading said club?” You lay out the first three cards, the flop, and flip the first over before betting a conservative amount. Four of diamonds. 

“Who ever said anything about bail? I’d just sneak you out. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time,” he answers, calling your bet, and you can’t tell if he’s kidding. It was another piece you were still trying to solve of the puzzle that was the prince of the Todoroki family, how he joked so casually about breaking laws and dodging authority. The nonchalance of his recklessness made your stomach turn, sometimes, but you couldn’t tell if it was from fear or intrigue. You flip the second card of the flop. Two of hearts. A pair, if all else failed. You just had to hope he didn’t have anything either. 

“For a royal, you seem to know a concerning amount about rule breaking. Do you have any intent to corrupt me?” 

“By the end of our courtship, possibly.” Jack of diamonds. Not what you were hoping for as the third card, by any means. A flash of excitement lights up behind your opponent’s eyes, too purposeful to be genuine. You mentally added his poker tells to the never-ending list of things to figure out about him, right under the number of crimes he’s committed against the government. Tossing in a few medium-value flower petals, you’re unsurprised when he matches your bet again. 

“Our courtship which, I’ll remind you, is causing quite the stir in the ton,” you point out while revealing the turn. Seven of hearts. You try not to let your disappointment in your current hand show on your face. The prince, you notice, looks like he’s trying a little too hard to contain his excitement. “You know, I suspect they might be rooting for us.”

“That’d be a new experience for me. Never received too much support in my endeavors before.” He places a high bet and you have no choice but to match it. If you were right about him lying, you would learn something new about his poker strategy; but, if you were wrong, you wouldn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the day. You flip the river and your heart stutters. Two of diamonds. You’re careful with your next bet, knowing that three of a kind wasn’t the best or worst hand you could create. The prince, however, pushes his entire hoard into the pot with a challenge in his eyes. He was trying to force you to fold. 

You match the bet and reveal your hand. 

Two pair versus three of a kind. The prince was bluffing, and you won again.

“At least this time, you’re not alone.” The admission is obvious but still catches both of you off-guard when you say it. You’re about to apologize for being too sentimental when that unreadable look passes over his face again, sudden as a lightning strike and gone just as quickly. 

“I guess you’re right,” he murmurs, relinquishing the remaining pot of knick-knacks to you. “Though I will say, having my ass handed to me in a card game was not a part of my plan.”

“A woman with intellect is never part of a man’s plan, yet she prevails all the same,” you conclude and he hums in agreement, collecting the remaining cards and slotting them back into their box. A concerning thought occurs to you and you glance around the secluded palace courtyard with new-found suspicion. His eyes follow your own, watching you keenly in a way that was both comforting and unsettling. 

“What is it?” 

“Will the servants not whisper about a woman playing a man’s game?” 

“They will whisper that you won, and that is what matters,” he states like a well-known fact. “Why? Is something bothering you about them?” 

“No, I’m just mulling over this whole arrangement again.” You wave him off dismissively and take another sip of lemonade from your teacup. A drink which, when you’d finally agreed to meet the prince at the palace for a day, he ordered presumably because you both shared a distaste for tea. “How odd it is and how people gossip so.”

“A lady beating the prince at poker is hardly a scandal compared to what transpired last week,” he recalls with terribly-hidden amusement, breaking off a piece of scone and smearing a glob of berry preserves onto it. “Wouldn’t you agree?” Your cheeks heat when you think of the memory and you snap your fan open to cool yourself and hide your burning face. It certainly wasn’t your proudest moment, to say the least. 

“Would you like me to retrieve a stick to keep your competition at bay?” You had jokingly asked, following his distracted gaze. It was your third ball of the season and your third public appearance with the prince; both you and your co-conspirator were forced to acknowledge the increasing number of interested suitors trying to pry you away. Dances, you found, were one of the few moments where other men weren’t climbing over each other for your attention. The only problem was being forced to share breathing space with him for an extended period of time. “Your Highness, why are you glaring like that?”

“I said to stop calling me that, and I’m not glaring,” he mumbled, very obviously glaring and avoiding your eyes. His hand stiffens around your waist, making your already-awkward distance from him more uncomfortable. It didn’t take long to notice that he was a fine dancer when he was with any other partner but you, and you figured it was because being in such close proximity was not part of your agreement. You raise a skeptical eyebrow, finally making him look at you when the silence indicates your displeasure. “Pay me no mind. I am only–”

“Moping like a kicked dog, that’s what you’re doing,” you interject and, in a blink, you’re back in another standoff with his intense stare.

“I don’t recall when you gained the right to comment on my behaviors so crassly.” Your eyebrows pinch, taken aback by his sudden hostility. His eyes were always burning, like embers in a fireplace, and it felt like the longer you looked at them, the less likely you’d be able to pull away. After a few moments of staring him down, you back off with a frustrated huff. You think you feel some of the tension leave him, too. 

“If we are to keep up this ruse in a believable manner, I suggest you confide in me from time to time, especially if it causes you to act in unfavorable ways,” you state simply, your irritation obvious. 

“You know nothing of my unfavorable ways.” The venom in his voice makes your heart sink, against your own judgment. His expression doesn’t soften, but his voice does. “Trust me. It’s not your burden to bear,” he says in a low tone and goosebumps spread across your arms, despite the fabric of your gloves and the sleeves of your dress. He meets your eyes and you could have sworn his gaze flickers to the neckline of your gown, but the action, like so many of his movements, is too quick to comment on. “So, let’s keep to our sides of the street, shall we?” 

“You’re insufferable,” you hiss, letting your politely smiling face slip as the strings conclude the dance. “Enjoy the rest of the evening. I feel a bit faint.” The muscles in his jaw clenches and you turn on your heel to beeline for an exit when a strong hand grabs you by the wrist and pulls you backward. Before you can register where you’re moving, your hand is placed firmly on his forearm and you’re a split-second from slapping him when–

“Touya.” Shit. With a blank mind, you remember to curtsy from pure muscle memory, dipping deeply toward the ground while the prince bends at the waist.

“Good evening, Father.” Touya’s voice becomes empty, devoid of all sarcasm, teasing, and charm. A glance at his face tells the same tale, blank and emotionless. The only indication of his true thoughts came the slight shake in his arm and how he unconsciously tugged you closer and closer to his side. You let yourself be pulled in and your free hand moved on its own, coming to rest on top of his and running your thumb over his knuckles. He exhales shakily. “Father, this is–”

“I know who you are,” he says before you could be properly introduced, making your nostrils flare. The man besides you bristles and you wonder how such a hard-faced, stoic man could make such a reckless and carefree son. You’d never seen King Todoroki except in victory parades and newsprints of his alliance with King All Might, but you could recognize the family’s flaming eyes from miles away. You decided that, no matter how irritating the prince was, his father was lower on your ranking of the Todoroki royals. “Should you marry, are you aware of the responsibility of being the wife of a king?” 

“I believe she is called a queen, Your Majesty,” you hear yourself say before you can stop yourself. From beside you, the prince makes a noise somewhere between a choke and a snort, and you direct your attention to the floorboards in hopes of surviving the king’s scathing reply. Despite the chatter of the party around you, it feels like your words were echoing off the gilded ceilings. The reprimand, however, never comes. The king turns back to his son with a look of suppressed wrath before turning and stalking away, a crowd of nobles crowing for his attention. 

“I can’t believe you just did that,” he whispers in disbelief as he hurriedly guides you out of the hall and into one of the manor’s gardens, still within sight of nosy mothers but out of their earshot. Your hand hasn’t left his arm, nor has he tried to pry it off. If anything, you click into his side like a missing puzzle piece, and you’re confusingly reluctant to let go. “That was the worst possible way you could have answered that question,” the prince continues and your stomach turns. 

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” you reply with poorly masked shame, lowering your head and letting him walk ahead. Your hand detaches from his arm and you’re struck by the sudden lack of warmth. He turns sharply to look at you, looks back at his empty arm, and then back at you before closing the few feet between you. His eyes were burning into you again but he said nothing, watching you watch the blades of grass surrounding your shoes. Your voice is as quiet as the swaying summer wind. “If I have jeopardized our plan, I understand if you–”

“Stop,” he commands, and it takes a moment to register his gloved fingers under your chin, gently but firmly tilting your head to look at him. Your eyes trace the jagged lines of where his skin meets his scars and the world around you quiets. “I am…the opposite of angry with your actions.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not an easy task, talking back to my father. Yet, you performed it as easily as breathing,” he explains with a soft awe in his expression that made your breath catch in your chest. 

“I guess I’ve had good practice, countering your arguments for the better half of the summer,” you agree hesitantly. What the hell was this feeling? For whatever reason, the world around you temporarily faded to static noise and blurred paintings, with the only decipherable images being the man in front of you. “So, you’re not unhappy with my behavior around your father?”

“I have never been prouder to be seen with you,” he reassures you and you finally crack a smile, his hand leaving your face and his feet stepping back to a respectful distance. “On another note, can you recall what we were arguing about before we were interrupted?”

“I can’t, unfortunately. I believe I was about to leave you alone on the dance floor to mingle with other suitors,” you joke and, though his expression remains relaxed, his eyes darken subtly. 

“I wouldn’t let them so much as breathe in your direction,” he declares, your breath becoming stuck in your lungs again. “Plus, you were saying that you required a stick to fight them off.”

“I did not say I required a stick,” you counter, lightheartedly bumping your shoulder against his while you make your way back into the manor. He merely smiles, a rare, genuine smile. “Though, I would like to apologize for my brash observations.” 

“You are forgiven.”

“Thank you,” you exhale, following him to the refreshments table.

“And…”

“Nevermind,” you backtrack, but he continues nonetheless.

“As reparation for insinuating that I act like an abused animal–”

“Which you do,” you retort quietly and he chuckles, shaking his head. 

“Next week, you will accompany me in receiving a visiting ally prince,” he says. “As it would be dreadfully boring to do alone and you, thankfully, bruised my ego, I will be dragging you with me on his guided tour of the kingdom’s market district.” 

“Must I really attend?”

“Who’s acting like the kicked dog now?” He smirks and you have no choice but to go along with his plan. Now, after several rounds of beating his royal ass in poker, it was time for you to leave and prepare for the social night between the Takami and Todoroki kingdoms. 

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[actually-a-fish]

the best supernatural episodes

according to an autistic person with a special interest and the ability to make a list.

if youre really serious about supernatural spoilers then maybe stay away :)

None of the season one episodes made in on the list but I will give an honorable mention to S1 E2 Wendigo.

S2 E11 Playthings - A classic, creepy girls in a creepy hotel. Special call out to Sam getting SLOPPY

S2 E16 Roadkill - There's a ghost haunting the highway. the Boys help the spirit move on. This is an early example of monster empathy

S2 E18 Hollywood Babylon - Dean loves hollywood. I love dean. this episode makes me kick my feet like a little girl and i will not defend myself.

S2 EP 20 What Was Shall Never Be - all I have in my notes for this one is "Dean Djinn Dream" which was enough for me to remember the episode and get misty eyes. This is SEASON 2 my son will never know peace.

S3 E5 Bedtime Stories -I had to check the wiki on this one, I think i liked it cause it referenced classic fairytales

S3 Ep11 Mystery Spot - "HEAT OF THE MOMENT" RISE AND SHINE SAMMY!

S3 E13 Ghostfacers! - Im a Facer through and through

S3 E16 No Rest for the Wicked - S3 finale and the Boys are facing consequences! Classic Dean, Sam and Bobby episode.

S4 E1 Lazerus Rising - First Cas Episode. That handprint makes me feel things.

S4 E6 Yellow Fever - What if Dean had anxiety (The Eye of the Tiger blooper is also at the end of the episode which gives it bonus points.

S4 E17 Wishful Thinking - Make a wish? was it for your teddy bear to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder? Well thats what youre getting!

S4 E17 It's a Terrible Life - Sam ~ the sales rep. Dean ~ middle management.

S4 E18 The Monster at the End of the Book - There are books about Sam and Dean?! Written by this guy who loves self insert character? Surely the entire show isn't about to take a tone shift?

S5 E3 Free to be You and Me - Sam and Dean are fighting again, but this time Dean has a new heavenly boy toy to play with instead. (Cas has no rizz yet it's actually a little painful to watch)

S5 E5 Fallen Idol - Okay the Wax People episode is on here for one reason and one reason only. Paris Hilton.

S5 E7 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester - Old man Dean and old man Bobby. This is also the episode for HH Husk kinnies.

S5 E8 Changing Channels - Dr Sexy MD is that you?!

S5 E9 The Real Ghostbuster - *in a grizzly voice* "I'm Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam. Have you experienced anything strange?" "Dude that was so good! Now we can go solve the puzzle" "Man you're breaking the immersion!"

S5 E10 Abandon All Hope - This is here for Crowley's first appearance and not because the end will make you cry.

S5 E12 Swap Meat - "uh... its Audi Nos". Freaky Friday starring Sam Winchester! An angsty teen and April Kepner from Grey/Sloan Memorial Hospital.

S5 E16 Dark Side of the Moon - The Boys lives flash before their eyes. Dean is pissed forever about Sams.

S5 E19 Hammer of the Gods - this is for all my pagans out there!

S6 E4 A Weekend at Bobby's - What do you think this episodes about idjit.

S6 E15 The French Mistake -  “For whatever reason, our life is a TV show.” “Why?” “I don't know.” “No, seriously. Why? Why would anybody want to watch our lives?” 

S7 E4 Defending your Life - consequences? for fucking people over? how about you stand trial.

S7 E20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo - The self insert character made for us :) Luv u 4ever Charlie XD

S8 E4 Bitten - found footage will always scare. this one reminds me that this show started as a psuedo horror.

S8 E8 hunteri heroci - Cas tries his hand at being a hunter

S8 E12 As Time Goes By - FINALLY THEY ARE CARVING TRAPS INTO BULLETS

S8 E17 Goodbye Stranger - verbatim here are my notes for this episode "Cas chooses Dean, but the way he handles Meg... Fuck Naomi"

S8 E18 Clip Show - If you only want to watch just one episode of Supernatural this should be it. It's not actually a clip show, theres a broment, bonding time with favorite characters and crazy plots that only supernatural could get away with.

S9 E5 Dog Dean Afternoon - Dean is finally a dog person

S9 E11 First Born - Another bro fight leads to shipping <3 SamxCas + DeanxCrowley <3

S9 E15 #thinman - the slender episode feat. GHOSTFACERS. You come away from this episode thinking "supernatural is so fucking gay why wont the boys kiss"

S9 E21 King of the Damned - my favorite crowley era change my mind. Also the way the Boys interrogate an angel is so funny

S10 E5 Fan Fiction - I would unironically fuck w a supernatural musical and if helluva/hazbin taught me anything the rest of you would too

S10 E6 Ask Jeeves - The Clue episode. (Pay attention to the improvised weapons Dean chooses. It brings me joy)

S10 E9 The Things we Left Behind - Cas is suffering a midlife crisis and his besties are there to help him repair his relationship with his daughter. Funnily enough, Crowley is also getting some family bonding in.

Okay, I'm all caught up on my list. Should I have stayed up late transcribing this with an 8am class tommarow?

Probably not but it did bring me great joy. Tell me your favorite episode! I'll continue to add to my list as I continue my rewatch :)

[sidekick-hero]

on the tip of my tongue, on top of my thighs

(steddie | explicit | 2.8k | @kinktober2023 prompt 'titfucking' | AO3)

Summary: Eddie may be a little obsessed with Steve's chest. Okay, drop the a little.

Eddie may be a little obsessed with Steve's chest.

Okay, drop the a little.

It's just that Eddie never really had a thing for chests. He's always been an ass man, and Steve's is gorgeous, round and firm. Perfect for biting and squeezing and spanking, with the way it jiggled at the impact, showing off a delicious red imprint of Eddie's hand.

Sure, back in high school, Eddie may have ogled the swim team more than once. He definitely noticed Steve's strong back and smooth chest, imagined them between his legs more than once as he lay in bed late at night. He's only human, after all.

But the sight of it hadn't made him almost delirious with lust.

So why can't he control himself when he sees it now, in all its hairy glory?

They only started fooling around a few weeks ago, so everything they do is new and exciting to Eddie.

He still thinks that touching Steve's hairy tits will never get old. To be able to bury his face in that thick patch of hair, to rub his cheek against it. To lick at them and scrape his teeth over every tantalizing inch before focusing all his attention on Steve's dusky pink nipples until Steve is a quivering mess.

It will never get old to have Steve on his lap, humping his leg while Eddie gets him off with just his hands and his mouth on his tits.

If Steve has noticed his obsession, he hasn't said anything about it yet. But sometimes he gives Eddie this calculating look, like he's trying to solve a puzzle, and it makes him feel like he's under a microscope, his deepest, darkest desires dissected.

He wonders if Steve likes what he finds.

Because Steve has his own obsessions, and honestly, it makes Eddie feel a little better.

Steve has an oral fixation if Eddie has ever seen one. He has to have his mouth on Eddie all the time, biting, licking, sucking every inch of him that he can reach. Eddie's skin is a canvas of bruises and bite marks most of the time and it gets harder and harder to hide them. Steve also loves to have his mouth stuffed, to lie there with his head in Eddie's lap and Eddie's cock in his mouth. Just holding it, sucking on the head from time to time until Eddie can't take it anymore. Until he snaps and has to fuck Steve's throat.

Today, Steve decided to put his mouth on a new, uncharted part of Eddie's body.

During their make out session, Steve had urged Eddie to move up on his body as he lay on the bed, pulling him higher and higher. For a moment, Eddie had hoped that Steve wanted him to sit on that gorgeous chest, the thick hair tickling his balls and giving him the equivalent of a beard burn between his cheeks as he writhed on it. Maybe even with Steve sucking on his cock until Eddie was ready, until his balls were tight and he could coat Steve's face with his cum. His neck and perhaps, hopefully, his chest as well. His cum trickling down, catching in the fur covering Steve's tits and matting them as it dries.

But Steve has a different idea, because he wants Eddie to go higher, until Eddie has no choice but to get on his knees as he shuffles forward.

"On my face. I want you to sit on my face."

Eddie is very proud of himself for not coming right away.

"Are you sure?" He forces himself to ask, because as much as the thought turns his insides to molten lava, Steve's comfort is more important. He doesn't want him to do something just because he thinks Eddie wants him to.

The way Steve licks his lips with a look on his face that can only be described as ravenous tells Eddie that it's something Steve wants as well.

"Yeah, come on, I want to suck your balls so bad."

There goes his self-control. Grabbing the base of his leaking cock to keep himself in check, Eddie scrambles to his feet on the mattress. At Steve's questioning look, he tells him in a voice that's more breathless than he'd like to admit, "The other way around. I wanna touch you."

With that, Eddie turns and straddles Steve's face.

He's met with wet warmth, Steve's eager mouth open and waiting beneath him. His sack disappears into it and the heat rushing through him spreads from his groin up his chest and onto his face. Something about this position really gets to him, it seems.

He feels dirty and vulnerable, like he's exposing some secret part of himself to Steve. Like he's offering himself, hoping he's enough.

He seems to be, judging by the way Steve hungrily licks his balls, spit dribbling out and wetting the skin of his thighs, his taint, the crease of his groin. With his mouth full and his nose pressed against Eddie's taint, Eddie begins to worry about how he's even breathing. That's why he lifts himself back up onto his knees and carefully pulls out his heavy balls.

The protesting whine that comes from Steve at the loss will haunt Eddie in the best possible way.

"'m sorry, but as much as I love the enthusiasm, I was worried you were going to choke to death. And not in a sexy way. I mean, it would be in a sexy way, but it wouldn't be sexy, and I have no idea what I'm saying, so I'm going to stop talking now."

Steve huffs under him, tickling the wet skin of his balls, making his cock twitch, and why the hell did Eddie stop? If Steve wanted to choke Eddie, who was he to deny him?

Maybe he did it because he really likes having Steve in his life, breathing and nagging and teasing in a way that keeps Eddie coming back for more almost every day. Makes him want to be sweet, even when they're doing the nasty.

Maybe Eddie stopped because he was in love with Steve and wanted to be sure that Steve enjoyed himself as much as Eddie did.

"How are you even real?" Steve asks, his voice thick before Eddie hears him swallow the excessive spit in his mouth. "Did you really just stop me from sucking your balls? Because I might choke?"

He sounds so incredulous it makes Eddie's hackles rise. "I'm sorry for caring, it won't happen again," he almost snarls, trying to stand up all the way, only to be stopped by Steve's strong arms wrapping around his thighs from below.

"Would you... That's not what I meant. God, Robin's right, I had to fall for someone even more obtuse than me. I was trying to -"

"Fall for?" Eddie rudely interrupts whatever Steve is about to say. He doesn't care because his mind is stuck on those two words. Again he tries to stand up, to turn around and look at his face, but Steve's arms are like vices around his legs. Normally he loves how strong those arms are, but right now he's cursing them.

"Of course you'd focus on that," Steve sighs in defeat, and Eddie feels like they've skipped a few chapters in the book, from entering Moria straight to Gandalf the White.

"Uh, yeah, because just a few minutes ago you had my balls in your mouth, and then you were mocking me, and now you... you say that! While I'm still sitting on your fucking face. So forgive me for being confused."

Despite fighting a monster in another dimension, this may be the most surreal moment of his life.

Still hiding his face against Eddie's ass, Steve groans. "We wouldn't be in this situation if you'd just let me eat you out like I wanted to. But you had to go and be all sweet and caring and a total dork, so you can't really blame me for being in love with you, okay?"

Steve Harrington has just confessed his love to him while Eddie sits buck naked on his face, his hairy balls just inches from his gorgeous mouth.

He's not sure if this is the absolute best or worst story to be told at their wedding.

Not ready to spring his wedding plans on Steve just yet, Eddie settles for another confession. "The only thing I love more than your glorious hairy chest is you, so I guess you can't blame me for trying to be sweet, okay?"

It's not the most romantic declaration of love, nothing about it screams Hollywood romance. But it screams them, Steve and Eddie, in all their perfectly aligned asymetries.

"I knew you were obsessed with my chest, you're like that Gollum guy with his stupid ring every time I take my shirt off," Steve complains in mock indignation, the tension finally breaking and Eddie can't help but laugh, his hole body shaking with it.

"God, I love you, Steve Harrington."

Steve's dull nails dig into the flesh of his thighs at the words and something shifts in the air again. Suddenly he's being pushed from behind, still crouched on his haunches, shuffling forward until he's no longer sitting on Steve's face, but on his upper chest. Steve's collarbone digs into the flesh of his upper thigh and ass, his cock, still almost fully hard, hovers over the object of his obsession: the thick patch of hair between Steve's tits.

When Steve's voice comes from behind him, Eddie can hear the smile in it. "I figured we both deserve to get what we want. I eat you out and you can fuck my chest. What do you say?"

Eddie's cock twitches at Steve's words, at the thought of finally being able to rut against the coarse fur, of being allowed to fuck Steve's tits while having Steve's infamous mouth on him. "I say I don't deserve you. Can't believe you let me do this."

"Not exactly a hardship. Can't wait to taste you." The words are soft, almost sweet.

No more words follow, just Steve gripping his thighs for leverage as he lifts his head and places his broad, wet tongue against Eddie's hole. Eddie jerks at the sensation. It feels like a bolt of lightning running up his spine and down again to pool hotly in his groin. His cock is fully hard again, twitching at the way Steve's tongue laps over the sensitive rim, catching at the opening every now and then, teasing the tip to slip inside.

The sounds falling from his mouth are loud and he tries hard to stifle them. Not because he's ashamed, or because anyone might hear (not here in Steve's big and empty house), but because he doesn't want to miss the fucking filthy sounds Steve makes as he eats him out. Slurping and grunting like a man possessed. He had heard the legends about Steve Harrington's mouth, probably everyone at school had, but he thought the stories were greatly exaggerated.

They were not.

For a long moment, Eddie can't help but take it, sitting pliantly on Steve's chest as his soul is sucked out of his body through his asshole. It's only when Steve chuckles against the wet and sensitive skin he's all but mauled with that mouth of his that Eddie is jolted out of his horny stupor.

"My chest no longer does it for you, Munson?" Steve teases. Smug asshole, Eddie thinks, but when he looks down at his neglected cock he finds it straining at him, an angry red and so fucking wet for Steve. There's already a puddle of pre-cum in Steve's chest hair and the sight of it makes him groan. His hips buck of their own accord and he angles them down to push his cock right through the mess he has already made.

"Yeah, that's it, baby. Fuck my tits, I know you want to. How long you been thinking about it, huh?"

Jesus fucking Christ.

Eddie moans, loud and reedy. His hips stutter back and forth between Steve's eager mouth and the delicious friction against his cock.

"Fucking forever. Wanted to do this on the fucking boat when you pulled your shirt off and showed us your hairy tits. Monster or no monster, all I could think about was getting you on your back and pushing your tits together so I could fuck between them."

Eddie is so turned on by everything they're doing that his mouth is running away from him, spilling all his secrets, all his dirty fantasies. Steve eats them all up, licking them out of his ass and chasing them with his cock as it humps the air. Eddie vows to put his mouth on it as soon as he comes.

"Then what the hell are you waitin' for? Go on. Take it. Want you to."

It's all the invitation Eddie needs and he leans forward to grab Steve's tits and squeeze them together like he'd dreamed. The new angle allows Steve's tongue to go even deeper and just as Eddie begins to slide his wet cock between the hard flesh, Steve adds a finger to his tongue. Eddie knows he won't be able to last long, but it doesn't matter.

Steve loves him.

Him.

He's sure they'll do this again. Many times, if he had his way.

The friction of fucking between Steve's tits is amazing. They're not big or anything, but with the coarse hair scratching the sensitive head and the hard muscles pressing against his shaft, it's just... perfect. He wonders if he could write a song about this. Thinks he should. Steve's tits deserve a song.

The movement of his hips becomes more erratic as Eddie chases his climax, spurred on by the way Steve all but devours him. He's up to two fingers now, the glide eased only by his spit, and it burns so good, the way he spears Eddie open to shove his tongue between his fingers. Keeping him open, exposed.

Eddie has never felt more vulnerable. More loved.

The hair on Steve's chest is soaked with Eddie's sweat and pre-cum, and his cock is almost scratched raw. He always knew he was a freak, and the way he delights in the pleasure-pain of it all proves him right. He doesn't care, it doesn't matter.

Because Steve loves him.

It's that thought that makes him clench hard, a telltale sign that he's about to break. It's the way Steve twists his fingers just right inside him and bites his cheek that makes the coil inside finally snap, and he’s spilling in messy spurts all over Steve's chest, his hairy belly. A few drops even land on Steve's own cock and he moans behind Eddie at the sensation.

It feels like Eddie is coming forever, until his legs shake and tremble and his moans turn to whimpers.

Even as he tries to catch his breath, he notices how Steve keeps squirming and bucking, like he's chasing his own release but can't find the friction he needs. Eddie is happy to help, even though his shuffle forward looks like a young giraffe trying to take its first steps and he lands face first and with a loud huff on Steve's belly.

There it is, right in front of him, the glistening head of the most perfect cock Eddie has ever seen. Not that he's seen many, but he's sure that none looks as beautiful, as thick and veiny as Steve's. He takes the head in his mouth and begins to suck, little kitten licks at the slit before swirling his tongue around it. Opening his mouth and flattening his tongue, he sinks down on it, taking Steve deep into his throat.

Steve might not be the only one with an oral fixation.

He would be lying if he said it did not fill him with warmth and pride that this is all it takes for Steve to spill down his throat, already so wound up from having his tongue and fingers inside Eddie while Eddie fucked his tits.

Eddie pulls away from Steve's cock as it shoots down his throat. He lets it slip free, adding Steve's cum to the puddle that's already on Eddie's stomach.

Gathering all his strength, he swings himself off Steve and onto the mattress next to him. But instead of lying down, he leans over the mess he just made and begins to lap it up. Above him, Steve moans, exhausted and turned on in equal measure, judging by the sound of it. His cock gives a valiant twitch and Eddie wishes he could get hard again so quickly.

But he can't, so he leans over to Steve and feeds him their mixed cum with his tongue, looking forward to the next time they do this.

Judging by the way Steve's big hands roam up and down his back, pulling him down onto his body as he moans into Eddie's mouth at the taste of them, it won't be long at all.

God, Eddie loves him.

[furbygoblinxiv]

Ok now to be annoying about a completely different flavor of Zelda: That cartoon from the 80s that has aged so poorly I take psychic damage every time I watch it (which has been multiple times (I have problems)). A few months ago when rewatching and being sick of the Link's personality from the show (his best feature is how funny the "Well excuuuuse me, princess" line is) I was like "I wish the quiet kid from the games/art was here instead" and accidentally thought too hard and made an au/rewrite of the cartoon lmao.

Anyways Zelda cartoon au where cryptid boy Link saves the post apocalyptic Hyrule of loz 1 and chills in the castle with cartoon Zelda to defend the triforce pieces that they have while trying to find the last piece before Ganon can find it, stumbling across the sleeping loz 2 Zelda along the way lol. Hijinks ensue as he teaches Zelda the brawns to back up her girlboss and he gets an adventure buddy because its dangerous to go alone and Zelda with her boomerang and crossbow goes hard. I think a monster of the week style plot works for the earlier Zelda games, but an overarching plot could coexist with that since that is kinda how games work lol.

As per usual here are a bunch of slapdash barely related sketches of my ideas with my expanded thoughts below bc I think it'd be fun to share:

I look at the official art of Link being a quiet determined little dude with a backpack of tools and wish that that was represented more. Like look at him! What a guy! Imagine giving a quiet puzzle solving 14 year old a sword, lethal magical weapons, and a wasteland to explore! I would love a show about that! In terms of other characters, swap out that annoying fairy character, put in a Navi clone, at least Navi didn't have a crush on Link🤮. Ganon can stay the same so long as he was always a demon pig and was never a Gerudo man because unlike Nintendo, I do not want to imply that the only prominent man of color in the series has only one big braincell thats just screaming "EVIL" on loop. But! Keep Zelda the same, I love her so much in the cartoon, she's obnoxious in a slay girlboss way, maximum vibes. By virtue of not having a paper thin plot, most other characters that were fine get fixed by proxy.

I think plot wise? It takes place a few years after the first game. Initially, Link saved the royal family and they started rebuilding that area of Hyrule, and Link traveled around to help people. One day, Ganon's minions start making attacks on the castle to steal the triforce pieces back to revive him fully, and a Zelda who greatly admires Links steps up to defend the place. Eventually, Zelda requests Link return to help defend the castle while they search for the mysterious hidden third triforce piece in order to combine the full thing and wish for peace in Hyrule. Link agrees and the hyjinks begin.

IIRC the og Link backstory was that he was the son of the hyrulean queen and the elf king or smth? In the manga? I didn't want him to be hylian royalty but I wanted to keep that cryptid vibe, hence why I have him related instead to the great fairy and the kokiri. He just leaves the forest/cave one day with literally nothing to go save Hyrule, what a chad. I think it'd be funny if people describe Zelda as feral due to how boisterous and headstrong she is, especially out on the field, but Link is the quiet version of wild that you don't notice at first. She is openly intelligent and snarky in comparison to "says 3 lines a day, bombs first and asks questions later, explore under every rock and bush" forest kid Link.

It would be fun though if "rushes into danger" Zelda resonated more with the triforce of power and "solves dungeon puzzles for funsies" Link with the triforce of wisdom, then they both resonated with the triforce of courage upon finding it. idk tho lol

I also think two different young Zeldas coexisting with each other after one awoke from a cursed slumber would be really funny. Like that's gotta be so awkward, especially if one has the fighter girlboss slay up to 11 and the other just woke up from a coma to her family gone and her kingdom destroyed and just kinda wants to read books and drink tea in peace. Imagine being the same age or older than your great (great?) aunt. Or imagine if the old lady Impa nursemaid to Zelda 1 Zelda was the young Impa nursemaid to the Zelda 2 Zelda. Wild.

If I wasn't incapable of remembering to finish writing wips I'd write that series lol. Alas, this is all I can pull for now.

I'd love to call this propaganda to go watch the show but maybe don't because its yikes. This is moreso propaganda for someone to make a Zelda cartoon show instead of the movie that I sense Nintendo is plotting to make. Also, if you've read this far, I should mention I also will probably be posting art from some of my actual long term Zelda aus beyond just expanding on the cartoon, though I may continue to do that if my train of thought continues on these tracks.

[pan-magi]

Anime and Manga Comparison (Encore): Amon

I'm back at it once more, and this time it's at the beginning. Not the very beginning, but close enough! This time comparing the first dungeon. I talked before on the specific humor compared to action we see with the slimes. Now, I want to focus on the design of the dungeon itself.

I love the intro dungeon in the manga. It's great. I do appreciate the comedic timing and framing of some Ohtaka's panels. The manga also shows Alibaba's problem-solving skills better. He has the moment in the anime showing he knows Tran and is well read and can lie pretty easily. But convincing a rich petty man that has never done anything by himself isn't saying that much.

Alibaba is able to deduce the proper way to go is the path left unmarked. Not something particularly hard in retrospect. It is a common tactic to leave some kind of marker where you've been to avoid confusion He is smart to break out of the in-the-box thinking he and Aladdin were stuck in. They thought the markings were something left by the dungeon itself as clues to progress. A good ol' dungeon puzzle. It wasn't though. It was merely something left by former adventurers to not screw themselves over and get lost. Taking a minute to go "wait a sec" isn't that easy, especially in a high stake location like being stuck in a dungeon.

I love the parts in the manga that didn't make it into the anime. It is great, truly.

But goddamn is it Amon generic as fuck.

Spikes in a death pit? Ancient language that you should know or else? Bland stone corridors and caves with multiple paths you have to travel through? Slimes as the common dungeon creature?

It's so painfully generic. I can't even, lmao.

I get the impression that Ohtaka did not know what she was going for in depth with the dungeons. I don't mean that as lack of experience or planning ahead, but more-so as just wanting to get her series off the ground so she went with common tropes she knew her readers would expect and probably enjoy. A safe bet to work her story out.

The rest of the dungeons once she gets around to them have so much character. The second you're in Zagan you can tell: this belongs to an earth djinn. Baal as the first dungeon in SnB feels more standard but has more stuff going for it. I love the creature designs inside a lot of Sin's conquered dungeons.

Belial is an absolute mindfuck and I love it so much. It's a psychological barrage of confronting your trauma and biases because Belial more than anyone else has to make sure he has a King's Candidate that has their shit together. Then it fails miserably. It has to be my favorite dungeon in the entire series.

Amon has nothing on any of that.

The anime in contrast?

From the outset, in a way in which your ass will be fried if you don't pay attention, the lesson is clear: this belongs to a fire djinn. Be careful or you are dead. 10,000 have gone in and very few had come out. It's great. The dungeon had such a powerful glow up in the anime. 10/10 will recommend for certain death.

A couple other things that don't really fit into the theme of dungeon design. In the manga, Aladdin sits around and waits because the time dilation is different for people entering the dungeon. Something that isn't really brought up in the anime is that people travel to and from dungeons separately and at different rates. Anime Aladdin could have been there for a while. I doubt it though as kid would have drowned and been burned alive of Alibaba didn't grab him and bolt out of there.

The bigger more subtle change is how Amon is summoned.

Manga: Story based on Aladdin and the Lamp. Cannot not have the imagery of Aladdin touching the lamp (or its stand-in in this case).

Anime: It's the moment when Aladdin chooses Alibaba as king. The magi has made his choice, and Amon decides that is a definitive time to come out. That isn't something that is clear on first watch. Odd that the room would suddenly light up when Aladdin helps Alibaba up. It is easy to miss the significance with not being introduced to the magi system until afterward. On rewatch it felt like a sledgehammer to me on how blatant they made it. When the anime hits you with the symbolism, it goes all out.

About wraps it up this time. Next, I'll probably try to tackle the beautiful mess that is Zagan's arc changes because BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS.

Mostly how it is surprisingly well done but so many people come out looking dumber in the anime. omg.

[crimsondestroyer]

Ryu Number: The M.C. from The Under Presents

Alright. I've done a few Ryu numbers in the past, but none as elaborate as this one, so for once, I figured I'd make my own post explaining the... elaborate, to say the least, path I took to get here. Several dead ends and a couple weeks of research later, here we are.

So. To those of you who don't know anything about the Under, hi. I'm crimsonDestroyer. One of my many hobbies is playing VR games, and one such game is The Under Presents, by Tender Claws, a game I play somewhat often and speedrun periodically. A while back, I wondered in passing if I could figure out a way to connect any of the Under's characters to Ryu, like, say, The M.C. This seemed like a simple question at the time, but, well, let's see.

To start off with, there's a fairly simple Limited route. One aspect of The Under Presents in the past was its live actors, in-game characters played by real people who would interact with mute player characters in the game's multiplayer areas. Unfortunately, the actor run has since ended, and though there's been brief returns of actors here and there, it seems to be mostly over. However, one such actor-played character was a skeleton going by the name of Amelia. As Amelia's lore would later highlight, she is, in fact, the one and only Amelia Earhart, prior to her death and entrance into the Under. There are many hints around the game's world that Amelia Earhart was in the Under in the past, but she herself is nowhere to be found - except for this live actor. Given this was, by its nature, a time-limited occurrence, this would give the M.C. a nice, clean Limited Ryu Number of 3.

However, Limited Ryu Numbers are lame. Can we do better?

One of the many locations you can visit in the Under is the Crob Pit. There, by solving a puzzle with some fellow players, you can summon a massive crab monster who will eat you, sending you to the Den, inside him. There, you can find an assortment of crab bones and other gruesome things, in addition to one peculiar fixture.

This is the only intact human skeleton in the entire game, within the stomach of an enormous crab. Now, given the fact that Amelia Earhart is mentioned excessively by props around the setting of the game, with items such as her plane and a banner for a show featuring her scattered all over the place, her physical absence within the Under is quite suspicious. Additionally, the actor-played character was created after the game released, and it's implied that the actor characters have some degree of the supernatural to them, meaning the existence of the actor in no way means that the character's physical body cannot remain elsewhere in the Under. Given the popular theory that Amelia Earhart's body was never found in real life because it was eaten by coconut crabs, this seems... intentional. If you consider this to be Amelia Earhart's body, the M.C. has a Ryu number of 3.

However, given the complete lack of any verbal confirmation or hints to this skeleton's identity, and this being solely based on context clues, I'm not confident calling it for certain, so let's keep digging.

One feature of the Under is the scripted stage shows, which play on loop on the main stage in the game's theater area. One such show features a man by the name of Sal Sisyphus. Sal's act consists of him rolling a boulder up a hill while giving a motivational speech that inevitably descends into nonsense after he slips and drops the boulder back down. That sounds quite a bit like traditional Sisyphus - endless torture, endless repetition, endless suffering, pushing a rock up and down a hill forever. Plus, as far as I can tell, the mythological Sisyphus has no second name given, so who's to say Sal isn't his first name? If you buy into that, the M.C. also has a Ryu number of 3.

But this one DEFINITELY felt pretty sketchy to me, so I went back to the drawing board once more.

Finding a way out of Tender Claws is... hard. See, Tender Claws has made three big commercially-released VR titles: The Under Presents, Virtual Virtual Reality, and Virtual Virtual Reality 2, all of which can be linked without much issue. A sentient skeleton named Tina works in both a stage act in the Under, and her namesake bar, Tinas', in VVR2's setting, Scottsdale. And, as a sequel, VVR2 features numerous returning characters from the original VVR. All you need is to find one character, just one, across those three games, and you have an out. There HAS to be something.

It was at this point that a friend mentioned that Elon Musk is in Virtual Virtual Reality 2, and I had to do a double-take.

Meet Elon. He's a talking onion. More accurately, he's an AI upload of a human consciousness who takes the form of a talking onion in the digital world. Between his name, his personality, his mannerisms, the fact that he was the second human to ever upload himself (after an extremely important character from the first game), and the fact that VVR2's virtual worlds are referred to as "metaverses", the implication as to who he is seems to be pretty obvious. I didn't know he existed, because I never finished VVR2 due to some technical issues. Regardless, here he is!

With a proper pop-culture figure in our hands, we can finally find our way out of Tender Claws. Elon Musk is still a relatively modern person, so there aren't many games with him in them yet, but with some clever googling and the help of TV Tropes, I tracked down an obscure little game called Good Pizza, Great Pizza, released for mobile and later ported to PC and Switch. In this game, you make pizza for an assortment of customers, real and fictional, which just so happens to include one Mr. Musk. From there, it was just a matter of tracing the rest of the way to Ryu from one of the other noteworthy characters who appear in the game. There was a tempting Dracula connection, but unfortunately, he's exclusive to a time-limited Halloween event. How ironic, that the first and last dead ends would both be time-limited characters. In any case, Albert Einstein will do the job of giving us our final two jumps nicely, passing through Mario's Time Machine, and finally bringing us home.

The M.C. has a Ryu number of 3/5, and a Limited Ryu Number of 3.

[cleomigadon]

LAWMANE FIC:

Just posted my fanfic, "Primary Instinct," on A03. This story has been sitting on my laptop for six months, and I finally had the time to proofread the first four chapters. The 5th chapter still needs some grammar care, but it's on the way. I have no beta reader yet.

Summary:

"Have I told you how beasts and birds fall in love when they share the same cage?"

Ryuzaki groaned. "Enough with the bird analogy, Watari," he scolded. He quickly shut the monitor. One glance at his reflection in the metallic floor told L all he needed to know. The gaunt face stared back at him with the same look of mild distaste that had been there since his childhood.

Misa embodied the untamed energy of a fireball he could never control. Dealing with mentally challenging puzzles had become his everyday routine. This was completely different. There is no puzzle he could ever complete, no case to solve that would offer the clarity and satisfaction being with her does. And he knew… yes, he understood he would be the one to mess it all up if she ever let him. If he had no choice but to fall, he would fall head-first and make it worthwhile. That's the reality when you reach rock bottom as someone unfamiliar with hunger.

Snippets:

What a cruel, unfair world... and Misa could do nothing but bow and hide her contempt. In her mind's eye, she was picturing Ryuzaki, his thick, raven hair framing his sharp face with that void of a leer and surprisingly beautiful lips curling into a sardonic smile. And in the fantasy of her mind, she slapped that face with all her hatred, causing his head to snap aside, wiping away that knowing grin.

***

Watari showed his disagreement through a head shake. "By no means. You lack awareness of this tool's immense power and lethal nature."

L gazed at his hands for an extended period before redirecting his attention to him. "Any ideas on how to stop it?"

Watari paused and looked thoughtful. "You can't stop it. It cannot be reasoned with; once it takes hold, it cannot be suppressed or eradicated. You either embrace it or be crushed by it."

L knew the older man was speaking the truth. "So, what's your advice, Watari?"

"You can either continue to deny its existence, which could be dangerous," Watari replied, "or you can explore these emotions and learn to use them to your advantage instead of letting them rule your decisions."

[criciuma]

wrote about 'i saw the tv glow'.

not long ago, i found out there is a way for you to access every search you've ever done on Google — or rather, every search since that fateful day in August 2005 when you created a Gmail account. digging through these digital footprints, this kind of computational archaeology, these little clues that you've always had a soul is an experience that starts out fun, but slowly becomes a puzzle that you don't necessarily want to solve. at some point in 2006, perhaps trying to find cars, i found the website carros.com.br. the following year, several visits to the address wii-brasil.com.br, an inexhaustible source of information about Nintendo's latest releases in the late 2000s. in 2007, i really wanted to know the most interesting world records in the world on the Guinness website. on May 26, 2009, a tuesday, at 9:46 pm, i arrived at the website iamtransgendered.com. one day you discover that something is wrong

I Saw the TV Glow is the third feature film by Jane Schoenbrun, non-binary transgender director. their first feature film, A Self-Induced Hallucination (2018), is a massive compilation of hundreds of videos made by amateur YouTubers about the phenomenon of Slenderman — a tall white man who terrorizes amateur YouTubers far more often than it does the general population. i watched A Self-Induced Hallucination earlier this year, during a vacation afternoon, in a dark room with closed curtains. their second feature film, We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021), is a story about the internet. online spaces. a blue whale, in a way. do you remember what you did on the internet when you were a teenager? were there Discord servers or did you spend your nights on obscure forums? i watched We're All Going to the World's Fair at some point in 2022, on a quiet day without many work demands in the press office of the university where I was interning at the time. i was 26 years old and had started my gender transition a few months before.

I Saw the TV Glow is about that. any transgender person who talks, discusses, analyzes, writes about the film will bring an absurdly personal perspective to the table. of course, each person in the world has individual experiences, but feelings of alienation, isolation, detachment from the world around them are always a constant. you will feel this until the moment you understand what you are feeling, and maybe you will understand eventually and do what needs to be done, and maybe you will understand eventually and deny that you understand it, and maybe you will never understand. they are all real possibilities. things can be better, and someone can tell you that, but the big trap is that you need to accept it alone. no one can do that for you

The Pink Opaque is about that. the fictional series within the world of I Saw the TV Glow guides the story as if it were a non-existent Buffy the Vampire Slayer — every Saturday, 10:30 pm, on the Young Adult Network. the construction of this universe is very reminiscent of a creepypasta you'd find on 4chan's paranormal forum at some point in your adolescence — lost television shows, horrifying antagonists, fake memories. you know that pirate show we watched when we were kids? for some reason they never stopped screaming. watching The Pink Opaque was a sin, watching Braceface was heresy, watching Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, what are you doing? this is a show for girls. it's as if any female representation is intrinsically negative, something to avoid, even if there is a man made of ice cream in the way. even if the moon screams at you

everything in I Saw the TV Glow feels like a dream, or several dreams, or several long, dark nightmares. at its core, this is a horror film, but you won't be scared by any monster from a 90s sitcom that terrorizes the protagonists — at least if the lights are on. the real terror is within you. it's what can happen to your life, it's about the consequences of a lack of action, it's the fear of building a family, my God, i don't want that. it is an existential terror, a terror that settles within you. a pestilence, a plague, a panic. will it be like this forever? i can't want more? I Saw the TV Glow is about wanting more.

without wanting to attribute anything to a film that perhaps isn't even seeking any label, I Saw the TV Glow can be described, if you wish, as extremely important. a trans narrative produced by a trans person who doesn't try to play to the crowd — if you're a cis person and didn’t feel in your soul what the film is saying, that's okay. if you found it boring and slow, that's great. it was not made for you and has no claim to have been made for you. maybe you believe you are cis and the film made you understand something. in that case, I can even tell you something, but you need to accept it alone

I Saw the TV Glow, thank God, is a trans story that doesn't start with “i’m sad about my gender” and much less ends with “now i’m happy with my gender ”. it's a mature trans story, without stereotypes, without obviousness, at a level that only a few visual novels on itch.io and posts on Tumblr have managed to reach. I Saw the TV Glow is the FAQ tab on iamtransgendered.com. it's following a gender transition through posts in a closed Facebook group. it's about any stranger on the internet who knew the real you years, decades before your family, friends or co-workers. it's about a dress. masculinity is a prison. of course it is. I Saw the TV Glow is about the little signs that you always existed

[shirefantasies]

Congrats on 300 followers! You’re definitely one of the best blogs and best writers on this site so well deserved! I wanted to ask if I could get a matchup, I have no preference for lotr or The Hobbit and I don’t have a gender preference either. I have short blonde hair, green eyes and I’m leaning on the chubby or curvy side. I love to create anything and everything, drawing, jewelry making, even tried knitting. I love puzzles, riddles and trivia games too. Besides all that I love to have a special cup of tea at the end of everyday.

I hope you recover well from your surgery and have a wonderful day! 🍄

OMG thank you so much for your amazingly kind comments 🥰 I love being here but words like these are definitely a big part of why I stay. Writing is truly a passion of mine so I’m so happy to hear that!

Also sweetheart I had to match you up with…

Bilbo!

This hobbit never expected to find love outside of the Shire…or at all! But fate has its own plans for us all, hence the hobbit choosing to take the adventure of a lifetime. Maybe after all more than one 😏 Gandalf hadn’t just enlisted one player in the big burglary after all. You were well-studied, clever, crafty, many things needed on a journey like Thorin Oakenshield was embarking on. Bilbo wasn’t looking for love, but when you pulled out your knitting needles what else would you expect?

You’re like a figure from a great Shire tale he’d read with that golden hair and those bright green eyes. Hobbits love curves, too, so you know he is blushing around you! His first questions are anything but forward, though, just wondering where you came from and how you know the grey wizard. Cue stories of the man’s fireworks bursting over the lake! You’ve never visited the Shire, but with every word Bilbo speaks your beautiful eyes widen in wonder and you gush that you’d love to see it and before he can help himself he’s blurting out that he could always show you around there after this whole mess is through. He even finds himself getting quite protective of you, snapping at the dwarves if they say anything that remotely upsets you and finding the courage to draw Sting the first time he sees an orc look your way.

Because you both enjoy riddles and puzzles, whenever you have free time or need to decompress on the road the pair of you find yourselves solving any you have and swapping them back and forth. When Bilbo plucks up the courage, he tells you how much of a comfort you are on this journey; he's spent all this time missing home and yet now he feels like he's found a new one. Somehow even being out in the woods is not so terrible! Your jewelry making is fascinating to the hobbit, so expect lots of questions about the process ranging from is it dangerous to what your favorite gemstone is. Perhaps he is secretly fantasizing about purchasing you a piece for you to keep...

The fact that you both love tea! Bilbo one hundred percent commits your special tea to memory, it does not matter how specific the blend is or if you put an odd amount of anything in it. Both of you could make each other’s perfect cup of tea in the dark. If your tastes are quite different, expect some tittering and head-shaking and general teasing, but you will get what you request every single time.

The look of deep concern in your eyes when the hobbit returns, the way you take him by the shoulders and tell him you thought he was lost, well…let’s just say the emotions get the best of you. Before the orcs catch up the dwarves whoop at the kiss you two yank each other into! When he does use the ring, you can sense the panic striking him when he returns and you go right to him, which he appreciates more than anything. One time you even noticed he looked a bit cold, like all the color was drained from him, so you wrapped him up and let him share in the warmth of one of your handmade scarves…and yourself, of course! He often uses the ‘you look cold’ excuse on you so that he can take your hands!

When the journey is up, all you want to do is go to the Shire, the desire burning in your heart stronger than anything, and who is Bilbo to deny what he also wishes? Years can go by and you never fail to make Bilbo’s heart flutter. The way you pull him into your kisses by his suspenders, the illustrations you add to his maps and letters you surprise him with, inspiring him to do the same. Having a wonderful and creative partner means he can have a cozy life at home in Bag End, yet it is still an adventure every day!

Taglist: @mossthebogwitch @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @kilibaggins @pirate-lord-of-narnia @ibabblealot @joonies-word @stormchaser819 | Reply/Ask/Message to join!

[thefuzzzz]

Jasico Week 2024 - Day 3

Words: 2,002 Rating: General Audiences Type: Oneshot

Description: Jason Grace, ever aloof praetor, asks the new ambassador to spar with him. Nico isn't sure if this is a weird mating ritual or if Jason is going to murder him, but he has fun either way.

Sidenote: This fic was written for @jasico-challenges Jasico week 2024 event!

Full fic under the cut!

In Nico’s opinion, Camp Jupiter was pretty boring. Considering all the things he’d seen at Camp Half-Blood, this was a walk in the park. They were more organized and put together, which was both appreciated and vaguely disappointing.

One day, as Nico sat bored in a meeting with all the other senate members, he found himself zoning out. He rarely attended meetings but had been asked to be here. He probably should have paid attention, but gods this was lame. 

His attention was dragged away from its sharpened stare on the floor by a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around, instantly going into fight or flight. 

His shoulders dropped as he realized who it was. Jason Grace. The praetor. 

Jason flashed him a smile that looked more like a sad attempt at showing all his teeth. “Hello, ambassador,” he said. 

Nico shuffled awkwardly in his spot. “Afternoon. Praetor.”

Jason pointed to the seat beside him. “This spot taken?”

Nico shook his head, slightly less startled now that he realized he wasn’t in trouble for zoning out. Still, Jason freaked him out. 

Nico was well aware that he himself was a pretty scary guy. Jason, however, rattled even his nerves. 

He was just so untouchable. Nico often wondered if he had some kind of inordinate amount of human-to-god ratio that no other demigod had. 

He knew Jason was nice. He had experienced his kindness multiple times throughout his days at Camp Jupiter, but he just looked mean. 

Nico couldn’t blame him. He’d heard many stories about Jason’s upbringing, and how it was mostly done by Lupa. He’d probably be weird too if he was raised by wolves. 

One of the senate members started going on a rant that no one quite knew how to stop. Most people just quit paying attention. 

Jason leaned over. “Pretty boring meeting.”

Nico jumped again but recovered from his startle. “Yeah,” he agreed weakly.

Jason looked him up and down quickly, accompanied by the unabashed confidence only a man in his position could acquire. Nico yet again shuffled awkwardly, not sure what to do with himself. 

“Spar with me,” Jason said suddenly, eyes flipping back to Nico’s face. 

Nico sputtered before getting himself together. “Excuse me?”

Jason looked away. “You’re excused.”

Nico couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped his lips. “That’s not what I meant. It’s a figure of speech.”

The praetor’s head turned back to Nico, eyes settling on him with the same intensity of the sky before a storm. He raised an eyebrow, leaning forward just slightly. Nico resisted the urge to shy away and lean back. 

“What did you mean?” Jason asked. 

Nico took a beat to let his eyes wander over Jason’s face. “I meant ‘What?’” he explained. 

“I want you to spar with me,” Jason repeated, eyebrows furrowing. 

Nico couldn’t help but laugh again. He got that this guy spent the majority of his life so far either in the company of wolves or being trained for war, but come on. He also couldn’t help but notice the way Jason’s face softened when he laughed. He didn’t take time to ponder that, though. 

“No, no. I understood that part. I meant ‘why?’” Nico corrected, now aware of the few people looking at them, telling them to shut up. Oops. 

Jason lowered his voice. “Why didn’t you just say that?” he asked quietly. Upon Nico’s shrugging, he explained. “I’ve never sparred with you.”

Nico looked at him quizzically. Jason was like a puzzle no one but Reyna could really solve. He didn’t know much slang aside from what he heard every day, and he rarely felt the need to explain himself. Talking with him could be a task, but Nico always left their interactions feeling slightly—oddly— endeared. 

Jason watched him, waiting for an answer. Throughout his eager staring, the meeting was adjourned and people began filing out of the building. This included Reyna, who shot a curious glance toward Jason before shrugging and walking away. 

Nico decided that was enough explanation and nodded. “Sure.”

Jason smiled, slightly scary and slightly sweet. His smiles always were confusing, but it looked like he was really trying this time. 

“…right now?” Nico asked, standing. Jason nodded, just as eager as before. Something shone in his eyes, something Nico wasn’t used to seeing on him. 

Nico let him lead him out to the training area, following awkwardly. 

“Aren’t we, like, not supposed to be out here this late?” Nico asked, tilting his head to see the side of Jason’s face. 

Jason shrugged, though the act looked foreign on his stiff shoulders. “I’m a praetor,” he said as if it explained it.

Nico decided to let it go, following him onto the packed dirt of the coliseum. He pulled his sword from its hilt, standing in wait. 

Jason flipped a golden coin, which transformed into his own sword. Nico resisted the urge to say “That was cool,” deciding Jason already knew that. 

There was no warning or countdown, just Jason suddenly swinging his sword. Nico panicked and shadow traveled behind him, sweeping his leg under Jason’s to trip him forward. He poked the tip of his sword into his back as a sign he had accidentally won. 

“I didn’t say powers were allowed,” Jason said, though there was a hint of humor in his voice as he pulled himself up off his knees. 

“You didn’t say they weren’t,” Nico smiled back. 

Jason mimicked his smile, for once flashing one that didn’t look too threatening. Nico tried to keep his eyes from lingering too long, but he couldn’t help but notice how pleasant the setting sun looked on Jason’s face. 

He passed that off as admiration and let Jason come to his feet, readying again. He lowered his stance. Nico, again, couldn’t help but notice how good concentration looked on him. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts as he got into his own battle stance. 

“Powers?” Nico asked, not looking forward to a fight without his. 

Jason shrugged. “Go ahead.”

Nico let Jason advance again, shadow traveling behind him once more. Jason was able to anticipate it this time, swinging toward him. Nico blocked, forcing him to step out of the column’s shadow he had been standing in. 

Jason smiled, a cocky kind of smile that Nico would’ve been mad about if it was anyone else. However, he couldn’t seem to mind how the scar on his lip moved with his grin. 

Nico was forced farther into the light as Jason continued his advances. They were two skilled swordsmen, but without his powers, Nico often faltered. 

Jason had now figured out the trick to Nico’s powers and was about to show him his own. 

Electricity gathered on his arm in little bolts before shooting down his sword and onto Nico’s. It wasn’t enough electricity to actually hurt him, but enough for him to drop his sword and stumble. 

Jason held his weapon to Nico’s chest. Nico smiled, rubbing the elbow he’d fallen onto. 

Jason outstretched a hand, letting the gathered lightning fade away before offering it. Nico took his hand and stood. Their palms brushed for a second longer than they needed to. Nico tried not to think about that. 

They assumed their positions yet again, both formulating plans behind their eyes. 

Once Jason decided they were both ready, he advanced. Nico was not ready, but let it happen anyways, sword raising in defense. 

This time, he shadow traveled to Jason’s left. Just as he was about to kick him down, Jason shot electricity through his leg, effectively zapping Nico. 

Jason attempted to herd him out of the shadow again, but Nico knew better and evaded. He attempted to block another hit but was just zapped again. It seemed the two were at a crossroads. 

Well, until Nico decided shadow traveling above him would prove more successful, and set him up to do just that. 

He managed to push Jason to the ground with that method, catching himself mid-air to shadow travel just beside him. Nico had dropped his sword in the process, so he couldn’t officially end it. However, he stood triumphantly, taking the thud of Jason’s body against the dirt as clear evidence of his win. 

Before Nico could notice over his gloating, Jason reached out with his sword and zapped the back of his leg lightly, making Nico fall forward. He caught himself on his palms, one by Jason’s ribs and the other by his neck. His knees hit the dirt with a thud. 

He couldn’t help the laugh that fell from his lips soon after, kneeled over Jason. Jason laughed too, though his was more of a refined chuckle than Nico’s out-of-character cackling. 

When he collected himself enough to realize he was currently on top of the praetor, he pushed his hands off the ground, kneeling beside Jason with flushed cheeks. Jason sat up, rubbing the back of his head. His cheeks were equally red. 

Jason tugged himself to his feet, outstretching his hand. Nico, yet again, took it, tugging himself to his feet. 

“I’ll walk you to Temple Hill,” Jason said, dusting himself off. Nico usually used the easy access to the underworld in the Pluto temple to his advantage but wasn’t aware that Jason knew that. 

Nico took some time to dust off his clothes too. “Thanks.”

He knew Jason was just doing it so he didn’t get in trouble for being out past curfew, but it still felt nice. 

They walked silently for a second. However, the silence seemed less awkward than before. 

“What do you call that, by the way?” Jason asked, clearly wrapped up in his own thoughts.

Nico looked up at him, noticing swiftly how Jason didn’t meet his gaze. “Call what?” he asked, eyes lingering on the hints of embarrassment on Jason’s face. 

“The teleportation,” Jason said, footsteps beginning to fall in line with Nico’s. 

Nico considered. “I’ve always referred to it as shadow travel.”

Jason nodded. His eyes traced over Nico’s hands, they were paler than usual—nearly transparent, really. He realized he might have used that ability a few too many times. 

“Is that a side effect?” Jason asked, pointing to his hand. 

Nico held it up to let Jason see. “Oh, yeah. Don’t worry, it’ll go back to normal in a bit.”

Jason placed his hand under Nico’s to pull his hand closer to his face. Nico quickly looked away in a desperate attempt to hide his red face. ‘Gods, does he have any boundaries?’ Nico thought to himself. 

Jason ended the scrutinizing of Nico’s hand, dropping it. Their knuckles brushed in a way that was far from coincidental. Nico decided to focus his gaze on the ground. 

“You’re talented with that sword. What is it? I’ve never seen one like it,” Jason said, focusing on the sky. 

Now that they had their silent agreement of not watching each other very obviously blush, Nico felt confident enough to answer. “Thanks. It’s Stygian iron.”

Jason nodded, seemingly very focused on a cloud. “Interesting. Any special properties?” 

“It can evaporate ghosts,” Nico said, a little too casually. 

Jason nodded again. This dirt was really interesting. 

They found themselves at the Pluto temple. Nico was tempted to ask Jason if he wanted to come in but recognized that they probably shouldn’t go bending any more rules. 

Jason put a hand on his shoulder, flashing him the closest thing to a smile Nico had ever seen on him. “Thank you for indulging my curiosities, ambassador. I have enjoyed getting to know you.”

Nico nodded, doing his best to smile despite his fluster. “No problem. I had fun.”

Jason nodded. He looked behind him, looking at the setting sun. 

“Well, enjoy your night,” Jason said, starting to walk away. He didn’t give Nico the time to say, “You too,” so he mumbled it to no one. 

Nico disappeared into the dark temple and made a very sudden and awful realization. 

He had a crush. Godsdamn it. Not again.

[satoshi-mochida]

Boyhood’s End launches in Early Access on September 6 - Gematsu

From Gematsu

Episodic science-fiction horror adventure game Boyhood’s End will launch in Early Access for PC via Steam on September 6, publishers WSS playground and PLAYISM, and developer Bukiri Clock announced.

The Early Access version of the game features about 20 percent of the full story. The game is planned to have five chapters, with each chapter releasing one-by-one during Early Access. Once the story is complete, final adjustments will be made based on conversations with the community and a full version will be released. The Early Access period will last for around 10 months.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

When does childhood end? Both humans and the inhuman will find the answer at the end of a cycle of fight and flight. Solve puzzles and explore the world, depicted in hand-drawn pixel art. Watch beautifully animated conversations between the main characters. Join a young boy on his adventure and experience his story set in a hardcore sci-fi world. Boyhood’s End is a juvenile science fiction horror adventure game, in which the world is ruled by a mechanical overlord “R. Karellen.” Every aspect of every person’s life is rated with a “human score,” and R. Karellen decides everything from academic and professional careers, romantic interests, to one’s daily meals. The protagonist, Giovanni, has the lowest human score among the entire human race. Every day, he receives “special treatment” for everything including his meals and classes. On top of that, he gets bullied relentlessly by his classmates at the School, both in real life and online. But one day, everything and everyone in the school starts attacking Giovanni, trying to “remake” him and raise his human score by making him “more human.” A senior student, the famously eccentric genius Campanella, reaches out to Giovanni, and they hop onto (and take over) a driverless train on the galactic railroad. And so, Giovanni gets swept up in a journey to find the “Crimson Southern Cross,” located at the farthest edge of the universe. On their journey, the boys will meet great leaders of the past and pull reckless and destructive “pranks” on them all. Through their encounters with the history, twisted mysteries, and various horrors of the world, they will eventually have to confront the end of their own childhood. Oh, did you hear that? The boys are (pointlessly) sounding the train whistle. Looks like it’s time for the galactic express to depart.

Characters

-Giovanni

“Shut up! I couldn’t care less about your twisted logic, but here’s the thing, I’m a human! And you’d better start treating me like one!”

Has a wanted criminal as a father and the lowest human score in the universe. Gets treated like trash by other people and even the system itself. Has a cynical personality and a sharp tongue, but has a soft spot for his family. Always has to earn money to pay his sister’s hospital fees. Although he lives in an age where humans haven’t had to write programs by themselves for generations, Giovanni knows the ancient craftsman technique of writing his own code from scratch. He frequently uses his coding skills to do shady side gigs on the dark web.

-Campanella

“Come on, show me! Show me the true potential of humanity! Show me something unpredictable, something that could ruin the world as we know it—something a man-made thing could never do!”

Has the highest human score in the Gymnasium, and very talented in everything from academics to sports, but also has the highest total score deduction in the Gymnasium due to his frequent eccentric behavior. Talk about extreme. Campanella holds “humans” in high regard, and acts arrogantly around the inhuman and artificially intelligent R. However, many claim to have seen him chatting and playing around with R for no reason in particular.

Watch a new trailer below.

Worldview Trailer

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[mischievous-marchie]

An anon requested BTAS/TNBA Dork Squad meeting their spouse from the future who saves them from a fatal accident. I was trying to fix the tags when Tumblr posted the edit as a reblog which I deleted. Only to find out it WAS the original post so. It's gone now. 🙃

This is my best attempt at redoing it. I was thinking of the BTAS version when I wrote it, but I think it could work for TNBA as well. I am so sorry for the inconvenience, Anon.

EDWARD NYGMA

His life flashes before his eyes. To think he would die so young.

Or not, as a mysterious(rather attractive) stranger comes to his recue at the last moment.

When you tell him that you're his spouse from the future, he's more than skeptical.

In fact, this man laughs in your face. "Pull the other one."

At your insistence, he decides he'll humor you. "Prove it," he challenges. "Tell me something about myself that no one else would know."

You actually give him a few examples.

His childhood stamp collection. The one that 'accidentally' got thrown out when his father 'mistook it' for trash.

The faint scar he has on his thigh. Result of a cat he once had digging its claws in too hard as it sprang off his lap.

The fact he talks in his sleep.

He didn't expect to get even one example out of you so... Consider him a believer.

We've seen how BTAS Eddie reacts when someone shows interest in him. He can't flirt worth a damn and now that he knows this is real, he's awkward and shy.

He already found you attractive, not to mention the fact you risked your life for him. Knowing that someday, you'd be his... He just knew you had to be special.

He does manage a quiet, "If you're what my future holds... I'm very lucky."

He insists that you don't give him any more details. He's afraid that knowing too much too soon would alter the future and doom your relationship.

When he finally meets your present self, he wastes no time in asking you out.

He's a flustered mess about it. Fortunately, you find his awkward demeanor endearing and accept.

As time passes and he gets to know you, he slowly becomes more confident in his approach. Soon enough, he's romancing you like a pro.

Just under a year of this culminates in him approaching you with a puzzle box. You solve it, discovering a diamond ring inside. "You always were a bright one," he compliments. "Will you marry me?"

You say yes.

He spares no expense to give you your dream wedding. Anything you ask for, he's on it.

Decorating will utilize each of your favorite colors. If you share his taste in colors, it will be a very green wedding.

If you thought his Riddler suit was fancy, wait'll you see what he's wearing to the wedding. Still green, of course.

He never does tell you about that fateful first encounter with your future self. Not until you've lived the experience.

Again, he doesn't want to risk altering the future. He's still afraid he might lose you as a result.

JONATHAN CRANE

He always knew he would go out like this. Well... Not exactly like this, but he expected it would be violent.

He's ready to accept his fate when a total stranger comes to his rescue. So... Who are you, exactly?

You explain, but he doesn't believe you. Not even for a moment.

If you try to prove it to him, he's not going to listen. Best to just cut your losses and go back to your own time. He'll come around on his own. Eventually.

You can bet future!Jon is retroactively apologizing to you for his brusqueness that day.

It's a few months later when Jonathan meets you again in the present day.

You're a new server at the diner he goes to for his evening coffee.

He recognizes you almost immediately, but... No. You're clearly younger. You can't possibly be the same person who saved his life that day. Can you?

Out of curiosity, he decides to approach you.

He's not going to broach the topic of that first meeting. He knows it would make him sound crazy(not that he's exactly sane).

He just wants to talk to you and confirm his suspicions. If you're appearance wasn't enough, your voice and mannerisms tell him all he needs to know.

He's not going to be weird about it. But seeing as he's a regular here anyway, he knows he'll be seeing you again.

He must have left a positive impact, because you recognize him from your first(his second) meeting. After a few visits, he quickly becomes a favorite customer of yours and you, his favorite server.

Oh. Oh no...

He's actually developing feelings for you.

Fuck it. There's no sense beating around the bush. He shoots his shot and asks you out. You accept.

It's a slow burn from there, but he develops a kind of bond with you that he's never experienced before.

It's a crisp, Autumn evening when he proposes.

The absolute madlad has trained a crow to bring him the ring on his signal. Yes, really.

Naturally, you agree to marry him.

The wedding is very... Goth. Probably held on Halloween and you're both dressed in black. The decorating is just as dark with some red for a splash of color and jack o'lanterns for lighting.

Wedding dirge.

He does tell you about the encounter with your future self. He doesn't know what effect it might have on the timeline, but he loves you and wants to be open with you. He's taken aback when you believe him without question though.

"You've never lied to me before, Jon," you say. "Of course I believe you."

JERVIS TETCH

It isn't fair. He'd lived a lonely, miserable life and now here he is facing a violent, miserable death.

That is, until his mysterious savior arrives.

He can't think of a time anyone had put themselves on the line for his sake. And yet here you are, as if from nowhere, in his direst moment. Curioser and curioser.

That said, he's still in shock, almost in tears. The near death experience has left him shaky.

When you explain to him that you're his spouse from the future though, the residual terror starts to fade.

Unlike Ed and Jon, he chooses to believe you right away. He's overjoyed!

The mere thought a future where he's happy and loved by someone like you fills him with a kind of hope he hasn't had in a long time.

He bombards you with questions, eager to know all about your life together.

You give him a few small details to sate his curiosity.

The majority, however, you stay quiet on. "Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," you say with a coy smile and a wink.

The day he finally meets your present self, he approaches you right away. What reason does he have to be shy? You two are destined for each other!

He'll keep that little detail under his hat though, so to speak. You might not believe it as quickly as he had.

You find him... Odd, but his theatrical introduction entertains you. Charms you, even. So you decide 'why not?' and agree to go out with him.

He kisses your hand before he leaves. "Until then, my dear."

When date night arrives, this man woos you. We're talking a huge bouquet of roses, expensive chocolates, reciting poetry... All a bit much for a first date with a man you just met, but you find yourself enjoying the attention.

Before long, you're just as enamored with him as he is you. You guess this is what they call a whirlwind romance.

You're the eccentric couple. The type people stop and stare at on the street.

You don't care what any of them think though. You're happily and unapologetically in love.

The day he proposes is like something out of a fairytale.

He drops to his knee, declarations of love falling from his lips. At the end of it all, he produces the ring with a flourish and the most dramatic, "will you marry me?"

You agree.

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He's planning the wedding immediately.

Oh, how he wants to marry you right here and now! But, no. The big day must be perfect.

A Wonderland wedding. Wall to wall red and white roses and a long table with the most beautiful spread for the after-wedding feast.

The venue itself is gorgeous. 'But nothing, nothing,' Jervis thinks, could ever be magnificent enough to distract from the true jewel of this wedding. His betrothed.

He tells you about the day your future self saved his life. When he decides the time is right.

Imagine his relief when you believe him.

"It makes sense, actually," you tell him. Now you understand what made him approach you with such fervor so quickly.

[lutiaslayton]

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

ＰＡＲＴ　１３

〚ＦＩＲＳＴ〛〚ＰＲＥＶ〛〚ＮＥＸＴ〛

Disclaimer: This is a fan-translation for the Japan-exclusive novellisation of the movie Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. The original novel was written by Aya Matsui under the supervision of Akihiro Hino, and belongs to Level-5.

This translation only aims to be a pleasant read for non-Japanese fans, nothing more: I made a few deliberate changes while translating in order to get the writing style closer to what is usually found in English fanfictions, as the Japanese storytelling can sometimes be different than what we are used to.

＊ Puzzle n°004

As I went up to the black castle’s courtyard with the professor and Luke, the participants who had arrived earlier turned toward us in unison.

Mr Starbuck chuckled. “How did you survive? I thought you guys had been fed to the wolves.”

Luke stepped forward to protest, but the professor quietly stopped him and shook his head. His gentlemanly attitude, his tendency to avoid conflict… This was just like him, alright.

The man’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Let us now move on to Puzzle n°004. From where you stand, four towers are visible. Look closely below you, and let this courtyard lead you to the right one.”

Luke instantly exclaimed: “Professor, there are letters on the floor!”

Indeed, four letters were painted on the floor: ‘H,’ ‘I,’ ‘K’… and ‘G.’

“One of these four towers is said to have once housed the king’s bedroom. Now, you must find the path leading to the king’s room, and enter the correct tower.”

And there was the puzzle.

“H, I, K, G… Ah, what could this mean?” Mrs Raidley uttered in a confused, yet also flirtatious tone.

“Tower… king… tower…”

Everyone was trying to solve this puzzle.

“We’re so close… Eternal life is so close…”

Mr Starbuck was muttering to himself. He truly did love football. For him to believe that obtaining eternal life would heal his leg and let him play again…

“I’ve got it, Professor! This has to be it!”

Luke’s excitement brought me back to reality. He walked up to the professor and me, and showed us a diagram that he had drawn in his notebook—a diagram of the courtyard, with its corridors and its letters.

“We are looking for the king. It’s spelled K-I-N-G,” he explained. “And look, if you put ‘IN’ between K and G…”

And he did just this, writing down the letters on his diagram…

“…then we’ve just written ‘KING,’ haven’t we? In other words, the correct answer is the entrance between K and G!”

With that, he looked up at me with a proud, innocent smile. How adorable… He was still very small, but Luke was evidently quite skilled at puzzle-solving already.

“Amazing work, Luke,” the professor said with a smile.

Luke replied to his praise with a timid laugh. Looking at him renewed my resolve to protect him. He was such an intelligent and brave boy.

They started conversing in quieter voices, and I could no longer hear them. I decided to leave them be and move away. The only words I was able to make out were…

“Maybe the goal behind this game is not eternal life after all.”

I wonder if he had solved this mystery… The mystery of what ‘eternal life’ truly was.

Luke walked up to me with a serious frown, very far from his earlier innocent smile.

“Let’s go, Janice.”

We walked together through the entrance between the letters K and G, soon followed by Amelia and Mr Brock.

The path led us to a quite ordinary bedroom… I saw no sign of immediate danger. Luke’s answer must have been correct.

But no matter how long I waited… Mrs Raidley, Mr Starbuck, and the professor never came.

What was the professor doing? He knew the right answer…

“It’s alright, the professor will be back.”

Despite saying this, Luke did not look any less worried than I was.

We were all startled when a metal fence came down from the ceiling with a rattling sound. In just a matter of seconds, the four of us were found trapped between the fence and the wall.

“Wh— What’s going on!? This is supposed to be the right room!” Mr Brock yelled.

I heard someone arrive from the balcony, and the silhouette of a man emerged through the curtains. It was a masked man in a cloak…

“It’s you…!”

Luke’s angry voice startled me.

“Luke, you know this man?”

Mr Brock asked: “Who on Earth are you!?”

The masked man smirked, then introduced himself:

“I am Descole. A… scientist with high aspirations, you could say.”

He bowed with a condescending attitude, and his henchmen appeared from behind him. What were they going to do to us…?

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, the organisers wish to bring the game to a close here.”

This came as a shock to all of us.

“Shouldn’t the rule be that only the last one to win gets eternal life?”

“What are you up to, Descole?”

Luke and Mr Brock were glaring at him and his followers, but he paid no mind to their words.

“Amelia, come here.”

Amelia!?

“W-what?” She backed away, startled and confused.

Some of Descole’s men unlocked the fence and entered.

“What are you going to do with her!?” Luke yelled.

No… I could never let him have Amelia. I rushed to the henchmen who had their hands on her and grabbed on with all my might… But I was easily shrugged off.

“Janice!”

Luke was able to catch me and break my fall. But my inability to help terrified me… I had to protect her! I couldn’t let this happen again!

As I could do nothing but watch Amelia leave with Descole, I swore that I would save her.

If only the professor could be here…

Luke, Mr Brock and I were led down into a corridor by Descole’s henchmen. We had no idea where we were headed or what would await us down this path… But my thoughts were elsewhere. All I could think of was Amelia.

I glanced at the men behind me, then shared a knowing look with Luke.

And… Now.

Luke nodded, then suddenly cowered on the spot and whimpered in pain. Just as intended, this drew the henchmen’s attention to him; I seized this moment to attack the man behind me. Simultaneously, Luke hooked his leg and knocked the other one down.

“This way!”

We both started to run at full speed. I prayed in my heart that Mr Brock would follow us too.

I knew where we needed to go. Amelia was likely going to be there as well! We had to hurry…

Unfortunately, a fence once again descended from the ceiling and blocked our path, as more of Descole’s henchmen arrived. Looking behind me, the others we had knocked down were closing in on us as well. We had nowhere to run… But we had to hurry!

At that moment, Luke rushed towards the men…!

“I will protect you, Janice!”

“No, Luke!”

He was only a ten-year-old child… He was learning how to be a proper gentleman from the professor, and this warmed my heart. With all his might, Luke confronted one of the henchmen and repeatedly unleashed punches and kicks at his opponent. But this man was so much bigger than him… He had so much courage. How could I ever protect him…?

Eventually, he was thrown off into the air—! But before I could react, a woman in yellow appeared out of nowhere and caught him effortlessly.

When Luke looked up at her, his expression changed to happiness. “Emmy!”

Thank goodness… This seemed to be someone that Luke trusted.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Assistant Number Two.”

Luke protested to her teasing words with a childish huff.

“It’s Apprentice Number One!”

As they were talking, another man appeared.

“This is Inspector Grosky of the Yard! You are all under arrest!”

Before they had time to respond, Descole’s henchmen fell one by one at the hands of Emmy and the inspector.

Inspector Grosky was already strong, but I could only watch on, stunned and amazed by Emmy’s strength. I knew of no other woman who could fight so effectively.

In no time, all of the henchmen were defeated… And soon, a familiar voice resounded in the distance.

“Is everyone alright!?”

“Professor!”

Thank goodness, he was safe…

He was holding Melina’s hand firmly as he rushed toward us. Upon seeing her, Emmy’s eyes widened.

“Nina!” she exclaimed.

Luke repeated her name with confusion.

Nina… Was this her real name, then? So she was not Melina, who would have gained eternal life…

“I met your mum and dad,” Emmy told her, and Nina’s face lit up at her words.

“Mum and Dad?”

Her voice expressed none of the anger that she had shown before. Truly, I was so relieved…

“Professor, Descole took Amelia!”

The professor needed no further explanation. He simply nodded, then looked straight at me. As I stared back into his eyes, I felt confidence spreading through my body.

“Alright, let’s hurry,” he said as his hand reached out to me.

I did not need to be told anything more. The professor truly had solved the mystery behind eternal life… It had not been a mistake to write to him.

With heartfelt trust and gratitude, I took his open hand.

　⇚　　　　　　　⇛