#thought it would be fun to see them interact ^-^

[hosekisama]

IT IS FINISHED.

The Past Teaches You to Be Alone is complete at 150,243 words across 40 chapters! If you were holding off because you don't read WIPs, your time is now!

Some kind comments/testimonials we've received over the past (holy shit) year:

wow.

I started reading it thinking, hmm it's very long, do I really want to invest so much time in it? And now I'm so excited that there's so much more of this story I'm practically buzzing.

This is such a grounded take on the role-swap AU.

I love how you've struck a perfect balance of following the plot beats but drastically recontextualizing and showing new angles to them.

And for the fic in general, I am really really enjoying it a lot. Not only has very coherent and nuanced takes on both AU Kim and AU Harry, but the writing is superb. I repeat what I (and others) have said about Discernment but is written masterfully. And finally, for the plot, it followed the games events and my expectations for the most part, which you manage to give new meaning and perspective while referencing the source. However, I have been pleasantly surprised

GOOD FUCKING FOOD, the best Kim Kitsuragi I ever did read

kim kickassuragi yyyeaaah

Totally in love with this version on Kim as well as the original one, as they're really feel like the same person with different turns of events

I love how you've written Harry and Kim's swapped dynamic and this has been just such a tasty treat to read!

aughh… aoghghhh… aououugughhghghhhh… ow.

I'm so in love with this story. You have to understand them SO well to pull off an AU like this and they are both just perfect. A friend of mine is already used to me screaming in our messages at least once a day about this amazing fic I've found and what a fantastic job it's doing of both Kim and Harry. Heartbroken I'm now caught up and can no longer binge-read it.

This fic is impossible to put down.

yes yes yes yes yesz yes yes yes yes yes LETS GOOOOO

this is such an enchanting and well thought out read

The writings style is so beautiful and just the right amount of flowery and detail <3

stays true to the mysterious and melancholic tones the game script has whilst being your own independent creation

HARRY SEEMS LIKE THE PERSONIFICATION OF A WARM CUP OF COFFEE. BEAUTIFUL.

AUGH I am waiting anxiously on the edge of my seat

It's amazing, and SUPER impressive- you guys ought to be feeling proud as hell!

It's really inspiring to see how much thought you guys gave put into this, and the entire fic is beautifully polished.

I'm screaming im crying

Thsi is fuckin incredible I can't wait for more, thanks for giving me my morning newspaper

Love waking up to an email notification about this fic!

there have been moments where I had to kick my feet and go hee hee! hoo hoo! god I love well written fic and this is very well written.

i just wanted to specifically state how gorgeous and well written it was and how many times i've re-read it lmao. You guys nailed the weirdness and unexplainable but still all consuming raw hurt of emotional dreams

read all of this in a day and it's so so thrilling and creative and interesting and inspiring. incredible work and such a gift

Their dynamic is beautiful and I'm so excited to see more of these two! You can so clearly tell how much thought you put into which traits and behaviours would still be present in the swap version and how they'd change and it's so much fun to read!

Their interactions have such a certain cadence to them. They feel really natural to me. They don't have everything out there, but you can feel the growing trust and earnestness. Youve done the progression of things so well.

Masterful. Touching. So full of love.

to read

I'm very pleased to finally be sharing this -- @lgbterrorist and I have put a lot of work into this Swap AU fic, and it's just started serializing on AO3.

Something happened to Kim Kitsuragi that knocked his life wildly off course. Now it’s March of ’51, and he’s woken up in the Whirling-in-Rags with an apocalyptic concussion, a chip on his shoulder, and a partner intent on solving a murder.

The Past Teaches You to Be Alone. Kimharry, rated M, final word count ~148k.

The cover art is by Sykine, definitely check out their other work!

[xazse]

I LOVE YOUR HYBRID WRITINGS SO MUCH IM GONNA NUT💦

I KEEP THINKING ABOUT MEAN TOJI X PUPPYHYBRID!READER 🤤

He's so mean to puppyhybrid!reader whenever she's in heat or is just horny:(( but he coos and sooths/apologizes to reader after (sweet aftercare 🥹) Toji would be so mean to reader because he's always horny around reader but instead of feeling guilty about it, he tries to make the reader feel bad for being needy,,.. that's what I thought of rn 🤯🤯

TY FOR REQUEST GLAD YOU ENJOY MY WRITING<333 I LOVE TOJI

Toji doesn’t consider himself to be a mean man, he considers himself to be a hard type, not the ones who constantly berate those around them but discipline and offer words of encouragement to get them on the right path. Why is that completely thrown out the window when interacting with you? He’s realized it during your third heat but he has quite the mean temper on him when you’re being extra needy.

It’s impossible for you to be held responsible when ur grinding down on him in one of ur lusty moods, yes his cock is hard and absolutely he wants to fuck you through this couch but why not mess with you? Within five minutes he’s calling you a greedy little thing, always taking what you want instead of asking.

He makes fun of how wet your panties are just from merely grinding, he knows he’s getting to you by the way you slow down your hips and look up at him with the most pitiful expression hes ever seen, he doesn’t feel bad that just spurs him on. He teases you to keep going because he knows you don’t want to stop until you’ve satisfied that greedy pup in you.

He laughs so crudely when you actually do keep moving agaisnt his thigh, your wet pussy gliding on his muscled thigh, it feels too fucking good and he knows it, every bump of your clit sends a thrill through your body, its magnified a tenthfold because of the on-slaughter of your heat.

He makes sure you don’t see or feel his cock, you can’t know how he’s actually going insane, he needs you to be the only one being so desperate.

He tells you to hurry it up because he has work to do.

You finally slip over that edge with a loud howl and within that same breath the waterworks start up, he brings you to his chest and begins to coddle you, remarking how he was just joking knowing later that night he’s gonna do it all over again but actually bury his cock in you for that extra flare.

[dulmetra]

Your own AU? Do tell some more about it. Also we're all pretty happy to wait for your art, no worries about it at all, great art takes time U_U Thank you for the great food you always provide for us mortals, your Tom is extremely inspiring! Also I love your art process, wonderful to see a pretty sketch turn into a finished masterpiece (seriously, the way you render clothes and hair is so delicious, I could stare for hours). I KNEEL

Yes! My own AU.

It’s been four months, but I had to do some illustrations! I’m so sorry, really. I hate being this slow.

All of them are silly and cartoony, because let’s be real — if I tried to fully color them, I’d die of old age before finishing even one 😩

Besides, cartoons are way better for expressions, and I want my AU to lean heavily into humor. Ideally, I’m aiming for a dramedy with a generous helping of dark humor. Definitely not PG. The rating was inevitable — the main character is YoU kNoW wHo, after all! Honestly, this story will probably collect most of the AO3 warnings like Infinity Stones… and yet yes — it’s still a comedy. Somehow.

Now to the premise!

I won’t pretend it’s original. Probably you've read parts of the same idea in one fanfic or another. But I want to resurrect diary Riddle right after Chamber of Secrets and drop his self-absorbed ass smack into the Golden Trio’s orbit.

How did this even happen?

Well… thanks to Professor Dumbledore’s "brilliant" idea — which, mind you, was meant to go in a completely different direction — we now have… Thomas 😅

And just like that, Tom found himself in 1993, babysitting the most chaotic three little gremlins Hogwarts has to offer.

I drew a few of their interactions:

Truth be told, there's so much potential here my head is about to explode. And it’s not just the Trio. There’s a whole bunch of other characters to throw into the chaos — Ginny, Malfoy, Slytherins, the professors, Snape, McGonagall… and Albus, obviously.

A few spicy facts to consider:

1. The original Voldemort is still alive.

Yep. In my AU, there are two of them. Imagine Voldemort’s face when he finds out one of his Horcruxes has gone rogue lol

2. I’m convinced Dumbledore would’ve dragged Slughorn back to Hogwarts early

— purely so Tom would have at least one familiar face from the old days.

3. Nagini.

She’s an entire storyline by herself. My plans for her are so big, her ridiculous face has been my profile pic this entire time. And yes, she will be smuggled into Hogwarts. Anything to keep our boy from going full psycho.

4. Time period clash.

Thomas was born in 1926 — and now he’s in the 90s. Sure, the wizarding world isn’t known for being modern, but wait until one of the Trio drags him to actual Muggle London.

5. Yes, he’s overpowered.

Because I’m a weak, shameless simp 😭 BUT! Don’t worry — his powers are severely nerfed by an extensive collection of blood oaths, binding enchantments, curses, and the combined paranoia of Albus, Minerva, and Snape. No one’s letting a murder-happy dark lord just casually stroll around Hogwarts unsupervised!

6. Let’s talk mental stability. Or lack thereof.

Any good Tom-centric fic must address the question: how unhinged is he? And the answer is: completely feral. But that’s the fun part! His redemption arc will be sweet, charming, maybe even heartwarming… until just when you think he’s reformed, he turns around and unleashes a good ol’ blood massacre right before your eyes. Because of course he does. 😒

And that’s basically it!

Thought it will be shorter, but oh well — it is what it is. To be honest, I really want to do something with this idea, but with my current drawing speed, it’s basically a Herculean task. Maybe I’ll alternate between quick, simplified arts from this AU and full-blown illustrations. We’ll have fun with it together 😌🎨

P.S. Dear ariddle-diddle, Thank you so much for all the kind words, the compliments — and for your patience! 🥺 I’m so, so sorry for being slow! And of course, thank you for your question, too!

[biancasaidstfu]

As with most things in life, I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. I know there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but I really don’t care or want to know about any of that. I’m curious and sat here a year later because of the information they themselves have put out into the world.

I always loved them as Colin and Pen and Clare, but like most of us just thought they seemed like great people with insane chemistry in their real-life interactions. But as each day goes by, I unfortunately start to lose some of that original admiration and respect. I fear that they’ve painted themselves so far into a corner that they are looking rather disingenuous no matter the truth. They feed us hints that only we would know and then immediately land a left hook. 

The main reason I’m still interested at all in Lukola is I’m astounded daily at the dumb decisions being made and presented to the public. Sure some of it comes from other “sources” but it always feels coordinated to some extent. Yes, it keeps a small portion of us in this little corner talking but at what expense? I mean they are being made to look foolish whether it’s self-inflicted or on “advice” from PR reps. And I hate that I’m constantly cringing on their behalf. As a fan, I want better for them.

Yesterday for me was different, though. So we get fed the usual breadcrumb story post that life is sweet with a “mystery man.” There’s only one that I know of who happens to love both coffee and cake (literally Tiramisu) and is always cut out of photos. Sure it could be the “other one”, but in my opinion it was intended to indicate our favorite. 

Yes, we’ve been trolled A LOT but I just don’t think this was the intent for once. I mean we did know the left hook was coming and of course my stomach dropped seeing the photo yesterday. I just can’t imagine they would want that kind of image out there after the hell of last summer. It just doesn’t make sense to me in light of the the recent INSTA professional clean-up. Unless they knew it was coming and weren’t happy about it. That photo wasn’t professional or fun in any way, shape or form and definitely not giving James Bond vibes. 

Anyway, this is just a long-winded way of saying that yes it’s very possible to still be a fan but also criticize choices being made no matter the actual intention. I know there’s a lot we don’t know about certain people also involved but our favorite couple aren’t victims either. They agreed to this to some extent. As of right now, none of this is believable to those of us who have lived life and have a functioning brain. 

It’s just a watch and see what’s next type of thing now. Thanks for your thoughts anon 💙

[yushi-ni]

HMM wishies' reaction to u dying(crushing) abt their nct dream hyungs?? like u always talking abt them and keeping pcs of them 💞

ෆ NCT WISH ෆ gf being a dream fan

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ masterlist

NCT WISH bf (𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇) with gf being a big big fan of their dream hyungs 𝜗𝜚 established relationships - mentions of jealousy.

yayyy hi!!! i loved writing this one hahaha it was so fun. i wasn’t sure how you wanted it to be so i just started writing and ended up with this. i genuinely hope it’s a bit to your liking!!!! 🤍 i tried to be a bit realistic rather than the more ‘cringe’ or overly lovey dovey reactions. pls lmk what you think and ty for requesting love!!!! i didn’t proofread so i hope the sentences make sense oopsie!!!!

──୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ──

oh sion

ᥫ᭡ at first he doesn’t mind the fact that you’re a dream fan. i mean he can understand from a fan perspective, he himself looks up to them as their ‘sunbaenims’. they’re super cool and talented and yes sure they are all handsome but as time passes by he will slowly become a little less confident with the whole thing

ᥫ᭡ once he realised how much you actually like them, especially jeno, he gets so aware of everything related to your fangirling etc. he always sees you scrolling on tiktok, edit after edit showing up on your fyp, you own the dream lightstick (also the wishies one don’t worry) have a collection of their albums and obviously you can’t miss the pc’s and random pieces of merch

ᥫ᭡ he jokes about it a lot, to ease his own mind. won’t be straight up jealous but definitely compares himself to jeno at some point.. yes he knows you’re his gf, you’re happy together etc but he can’t help but feel a little uneasy when you’re talking about one of his members like that. do you think he’s just as cool as jeno on stage? if he wasn’t your bf already would you also pick him as your bias? should he work out more to become a little more buff like jeno? innocent thoughts that slowly but surely creep up on him.

ᥫ᭡ at some point you definitely notice the switch in his behaviour whenever you bring up jeno in the conversation. he’s not rolling his eyes at you or whatever but his reactions are definitely very.. unlike his usual enthusiastic tone. “loook at this!!!! they just released the new pictures!!” - “mmh nice, so what’s for dinner?” as the good bf he is, he supports your fangirling but please give him lots of attention too. he’s really trying, but he will need a reminder that he’s your #1 pick.

ᥫ᭡ “yk you look pretty hot when you’re jealous” - “i’m not jealous” will always deny that he doesn’t like you being a fan of his sunbaenim but just like his jokes are a daily routine for him, you like to tease and poke fun at him as well. in an innocent way because at the end of the day, you don’t need jeno in your real life when you have sion by your side.

maeda riku

ᥫ᭡ zero cares tbh. girl he’s there with you. might be a bigger dream stan than you are. it’s not a secret that mark is one of his biggest influences so he doesn’t mind watching performances or mv’s with you. he knows you’re a fan and just admire their music and work, so does he.

ᥫ᭡ he’s a nct member himself, but his team is still relatively new so it still feels a bit weird that he’s actually part of the same team as his hyungs. absolutely no weird feelings whatsoever about your fangirling over dream, he’s chilling

ᥫ᭡ will joke about it in a soft - neutral way. if dream and wish have promotions at the same time he’ll brag about the food or drinks his hyungs gave them because your bias bought food for your bf and not for you??? oh my oh my you’ll hear about it all day long!!! bonus points if your bias is mark (just like him) he’ll absolutely annoy the shit out of you, will send you links of vids of his interactions with mark, pictures etc etc. it’s all jokes tho, he is just as big of a fangirl as you.

ᥫ᭡ doesn’t care if you collect dream merch and albums, will be sat whenever you come home with a new album because that means; album unboxing!!!! you can have as many mark pc’s as you want as long as you also have some of your bf. yes ofc mark can stay in a cute card holder but only if riku’s one is kept in an even more cute one. no but all jokes aside, he couldn’t care less about your fangirling. more than excited to watch mv’s and dream content with you. he knows it’s just a idol-fan relationship and nothing more than that. he loves you and you love him, that’s all he needs.

tokuno yushi

ᥫ᭡ mmmh doesn’t mind the fact that you like nct dream but there’s a line (somewhere, he himself unsure where exactly) laughs at your fangirling, not in a mean way but just his usual giggly self. will just nod along and agree with whatever you say when you’re on a rant about their new concept pictures. doesn’t care if you watch edits - mv’s or other content as long as you’re also supportive of his unit and their work. he tries to remind himself it’s just an idol-fan thing and he won’t actually have to fight chenle for his girlfriend.

ᥫ᭡ he’ll gladly sit with you to watch the new release but might feel a little bit better if you can keep your reactions a little.. less intense. he’s not always that expressive to begin with so he won’t voice out his feelings, so he just needs you to remind him that he’s your bf and you just like chenle as an idol. he’s not jealous, at least he doesn’t want to label it as jealousy, might actually just be in denial about it. will definitely tease you but also to lowkey convince himself it’s ok. he’s trying at least!! will joke around comparing dream and exo (his obvious fav) jokingly force you to watch kai fancams whenever you make him watch chenle etc etc. will also boast about himself to remind you how cool your bf is; “omggg his voice is actually to die for, he’s so good!!!” - “tss i can hit a high note like that too”

ᥫ᭡ ok so he might get a little displeased if you want to carry around chenle pc’s.. because yes yes yes he’s just ‘your idol’ but it’s also his hyung and he doesn’t really know how to feel about the fact you carry around pictures with another man’s face. collect as many as you want but.. preferably behind closed doors. mostly for his own good. he can get a little up in his head when it comes to this. yk what i mean?

ᥫ᭡ he doesn’t want to tell you what to do and what not, not just with this but with any other matter he just doesn’t want to be that kind of guy so whatever you do just show him how much you love him no matter what. he knows, he just needs his reassurance every now and then. a little fun teasing here and there included ofc because let’s be fr.. his little ‘jealousy’ (don’t tell him) is lowkey cute. you don’t push it, you just like to be a little playful hehe

kim jaehee

ᥫ᭡ ok so jaehee is a little harder to read. he’s supportive of you, in any way possible so he won’t ever speak badly about your fangirling. he might need a little time to get used to the idea of it, but that’s purely because it’s his sunbaenim’s.. if it was some random newly debut team that had no direct connection to him it would be different. at least that’s what he thinks. he himself looks up to the older unit so he can definitely understand why you’re so fond of them.

ᥫ᭡ he will joke and tease you a lot. but won’t ever push it too far, he’s very understanding about the whole idol thing. he has lots of fangirls (and boys) himself and he knows people collect his merch like their life depends on it so he can definitely separate jaemin as your bias and jaemin as a person. he’ll actually show a lot of interests in your dream obsession. he has people he admires too but mostly in a motivational sense, to be able to see this all up close gives him a whole different perspective of what it’s like to be on the other side of the story.

ᥫ᭡ sometimes.. very rarely he will be a bit unsure. he might overthink it, not in a bad way. he’ll literally bomb you with questions about your feelings towards jaemin in a more serious way. what is it that you like so much about him?? are you a gf stan?? (very serious question btw) he’s not insecure nor does he ever question your love for him but the fact that he knows dream makes it interesting for him. overall he doesn’t really care if you buy merch or albums. he will gladly listen to your rants and watch dream content with you but please think about his heart, don’t overdo it. ngl he’s the type of guy to tell you when to knock it down a bit. won’t go all possessive and jealous but will just tell you to keep the overly loving comments between you and your girlfriends.

ᥫ᭡ yes you talk about dream a lot, yes you love dream, yes you watch their content non stop but more than anything you enjoy your own boyfriends performances just as much!!! whenever you notice that jaehee is fighting inner demons you just have to hype him up and show him that he’ll always be your #1 nct member!!!

hiroshe ryo

ᥫ᭡ now ryo is a fun one. he’s ok with you being a fan, hell yeah he is. you bias dream unit? you go girl, but back off from doyoung. he’s serious. if you’re going to be a fan of a group consisting of 20+ people and firstly don’t bias your own bf (questionable decision in the first place if you ask him) then sure as hell you’re not going to become a fan of his bias. so as long as it’s dream, he’s good. it’s almost a fun little competition between the two of you (not a real rivalry ofc) every time you bring up dream, he’ll yap about doyoung. you got a new jisung pc? tsss jokes on you he actually filmed new content with jisung the other day. you got the new album? girlie please, he already got it a week ago before it was even released; signed and all. it’s just jokes, he doesn’t mind that you’re a jisung stan. he’s just ryo, he needs to be annoying sometimes (with love)

ᥫ᭡ he genuinely doesn’t question or even think twice about your fan girling. he’s the biggest fangirl (-boy) himself. his palms are sweating just by the thought of having to work together with his hyungs. he’ll definitely watch dream content with you but then you also have to watch 127 content afterwards. yes he’ll join your tiktok ranking dream performances but then you also need to do a 127 one. you see the pattern? it’s all fun and games with ryo and he’s genuinely just happy to be there hahaha.

ᥫ᭡ you can collect as much merch and stuff as you want. carry it around and show it off like a trophy, for all he cares you walk around in a shirt with jisungs face on it. he sees no harm in being a fan. he’ll tease you non stop but all innocent and loving. for him it’s clear you’re just a fan so there’s no need to worry about it in a serious way.

ᥫ᭡ sometimes he will need a night without any mentions of dream tho. just your cute bf on your mind haha. he’ll brag and praise himself, lowkey in need of your attention on him as an idol. he likes to hear he’s doing well and that you like his performances. whenever he’s home with you he’s just ryo. but he also likes to hear your excitement about nct wish’ ryo. yk what i mean?? at the end of the day he knows he’s the one you bring home, not jisung or any other dream member.

fujinaga sakuya

ᥫ᭡ pls saku has a hard time separating your fan behaviour towards his dream hyung and your actual love for saku himself. in his eyes there’s a very thin line between both. he’s young and you’re his first gf, he’s still learning about love and romantic feelings so it’s a little confusing for him at times. which is understandable, he experiences a lot of love bombing from fans as well (and his members lol) and he definitely has a handful of gf stans so whenever he sees you go crazy about renjun he’s lowkey just … processing and trying to be cool about it.

ᥫ᭡ he’s very confident in himself and his love for you and he’s not afraid you’ll leave him but he really really really needs reassurance from you. whenever you’re excited about something dream related he will share this excitement with you for the first, probably 2 minutes before the realisation kicks in that his gf (you) is going absolutely crazy over another guy. like why are you watching renjun?? your own bf can sing and dance too.. do you actually mean it when you say renjun is your pookie bear??? it’s very innocent but such things definitely cross his mind when you’re in your fangirl mood.

ᥫ᭡ he doesn’t necessarily think it’s weird that you buy albums of artists you like, he just needs to remind himself that the album comes with pc’s and photobooks… and possibly a poster… and possibly other sorts of stuff. he’ll be sitting next to you when you’re scrolling through renjun edits, lowkey wondering if you also watch edits of him. he lowkey needs to mentally prepare himself whenever it’s dream comeback season because he knows it will be all you talk about for the upcoming 2 weeks. he will gladly watch performances and content with you but he’ll be side eyeing you the whole time. watching you and your every move - reaction whenever renjun comes on the screen. but he’ll always (pretend) to be a chill guy. unbothered and chill. but you can tell by the way he’s shaking his legs and fidgeting with his hands that he’s having a inner crisis.

ᥫ᭡ just shower him with all the love in this world. after you talk about the matter and he voices out his thoughts, he will try his hardest to accept and understand the whole fangirl thing you have going on. he just needs to be sure that renjun is not actually competition (hahaha) ps; as soon as he sees that your carrying around a saku pc on the back of your phone he’s all bubbly and back to his overly adorable self!!

[chaconnewon]

심 재윤 ! ; you would do anything to see your bestfriend happy.

warnings: sub!jake x switch f!reader, begging, masturbation (m.), slight of praise kink, cum tasting, reader talks a lot, both of them are whipped, whiny jake, mdni ! ——

wc: 2k(2.227)

a/n: i came back from the death— proofread but since english is not my first language there could be mistakes !!! please, let me know and enjoy it(im thinking about a part two¿?)

you and jake have been friends for a while now. and if you were 100% sure about one thing about him was that he was shy around girls.

you could tell by how his hands trembled a little when female students approached him with any lame excuse to talk to him. his cheeks and ears were always red, almost burning. his puppy-like eyes were always searching for you like calling for help. and you found it cute, how can you not? jake wasn’t interested in them by any chance. sure he would talk to them and be polite because his mama raised a good boy but nothing further than a casual conversation.

it was late in the afternoon when jake dropped by your house, a handbag full of your favourite snacks. you two found a comfy spot in your bed as both of you took turns to update your day. he was first. you always wanted to hear him talk first. the way jake was expressive while talking about his interests made you feel kinda attracted. like a feeling you couldn’t quite tell. it didn’t mind you since it was pretty obvious jake was a good looking man with unique charisma. maybe way too much. you thought being kind of attracted to your best friend was the most normal thing on earth.

or you simply didn’t want to dig in too deep.

“. . . i’m telling you, they won't leave me alone.”

“what can I say? you’re very popular among the other students.”

jake furrowed his brows before answering.

“i only talk to you and the rest of the boys. every single day i find myself meeting people i’ve never seen in my life!”

“that’s how making friends works!” you replied, your voice laced with humor. “ what if you find the love of your life? you’re gonna miss it because of… shyness?”

“you’re right but—“

“also, there are sooo many pretty girls to kiss, no attachment, just enjoying the moment.”

the last sentence left him thinking. all these girls were interested in kissing him? like a whole make out and all? but most importantly, was he looking out for it? sometimes all that attention on jake made him uncomfortable, just wishing to avoid interactions with strangers just to get to you or his friends. jake never thought about kissing anyone. 

at least not anyone that he didn’t know. 

“but, uh… you kiss people for fun?”

“i think that's a part of kissing someone… you find someone you’re attracted to, or just someone who's pretty. what would you do then?”

“but isn’t it strange?”

you went silent for a couple minutes. his eyes seemed to shake with subtle agitation. his questions were avoiding answering you but you weren’t dumb, and soon you knew something what’s up. 

before answering, you took time to meet his gaze. the way he was chewing his lip, fingers fidgeting with each other in some attempt to calm his nervousness. it wasn’t working though. 

“jake… if you ever kissed someone, you would know how that’s not strange.” silence. his eyes dropped to his lap, evading your curious yet surprised look. “I'm assuming by your lack of response that, in fact, you haven't kissed anyone yet.”

“please don’t laugh at me.”

“why would i? it’s not a bad thing. you just didn't find that someone and that's alright. people have different concepts about the first kiss and—“

“i found her but i’m afraid because i dont know if i can do it right or not.” also she talks so fucking much he would’ve added. 

“but it’s something normal, natural. you just aren't born knowing everything in life. you have to learn, to understand.”

jake parted his lips to say something but not a single noise went through his mouth. you were right and that made him feel at ease. but still his heart pounded fiercely inside his chest by simply thinking about kissing. 

but not anyone. 

kissing you.

the red-ish shade painting his cheeks was still there, and your gaze was still analyzing every movement or reaction by him. you’ve kissed people, sometimes for fun, sometimes blinded by desire but this time… the urge to smash your lips against your best friend's one was bigger. like something you couldn’t control. 

“maybe… maybe we can try— if you want, of course. starting with some pecks, slow. there’s no rush.”

jake’s mouth hung open a little, processing what you just told him. you wanted to? you wanted to kiss him? his eyes were more than sparkling, trying to contain his hype, his need to scream because fuck, he couldn’t even imagine you would offer something like that to him. 

“y–yeah, i mean. we can try.”

you giggled a little. jake used to be confident and funny around you but now was shuddering. like his confidence vanished the moment you suggested kissing each other would be a good idea. 

“relax, okay? we are gonna start with something simple. you can always tell me to stop and I will, no questions. alright?”

he nodded, impossible for him to say anything out loud. 

“i need you to speak, jake. say it with your words, it’s okay.”

your hand flew to his knee, caressing it slowly with your thumb. 

“all right, it’s okay with me.”

you smiled at him, squeezing his leg a little. 

next thing you did was to place the snacks aside, and crawl to be close to him. your knees were barely brushing his as you repositioned yourself closer. jake accommodated himself too, straightening his back and waiting for you to do something. you smiled, softly. you could read his mind at this point. jake was unsure what to do so he was waiting for you to take the lead.

after all, you were the one with way more experience than him.

your body leaned closer to him, your hands against the mattress to hold your weight as you finally pressed your lips against his.

the kiss stayed like that for a few seconds. no movements, no tongue, no nothing. just a gentle pressing against his plump, soft lips. jake’s heart beat faster, pounding hard into his ribcage and suddenly he felt so stupid for being this nervous by a simple peck. but in reality the kiss wasn’t the reason to be that nervous–it was you. the fact that he was kissing you was making his whole body tremble with anticipation.

after a few seconds you pulled back.

‘’was it okay?’’ you asked in a whisper, and you watched him nod.

before you can suggest anything more, his lips crashed onto your one again. started like before, a gentle press between both lips but he felt courage building inside him and took a step forward. his lips, unsure, started to move against yours. despite the intention his moves were clumsy but you found it adorable. you didn’t try to set a pace, you just matched his, making him familiar with that new emotion. 

within minutes he seemed to understand what the whole kissing thing was about. his lips captured yours, pulling them slightly and then taking them again. slowly the tension between both of you started to feel heavy, and your hands found a place cupping his head, your left hand sinking in his fluffy hair, caressing it.

you moved away from the kiss to catch her breath, looking at his state. reddish lips a bit swollen, a darker shade of red more prominent on his cheeks. the image in front of you was impossible to not look at. now again you leaned close and attached your lips into his neck, kissing it with open-mouth kisses that left some trail of your own saliva, sucking gently whenever you had a chance.

jake’s hands gripped the sheets beneath him. all the new emotions he was feeling were starting to be too hard to handle, soft gasps leaving his lips. you took it as a green light, not stopping your commitment which was making him feel good. just where his pulse was beating rapidly, you sinked your teeth.

‘’y-y/n wait. . .’’

you stopped, you face contoured in concern. maybe you were pushing too hard for a first time. last thing you wanted was to make him uncomfortable. 

jake struggled a bit seeking for words and you patiently waited, taking a peek of how rosy his cheeks were, or how shaky his hands were as well. you felt like he was avoiding your gaze  and in fact, he was. you looked down, searching for something that told you what was crossing his mind.

until you noticed it.

a big, notorious bulge under his pants.

none of you said anything. it was normal, a natural reaction from the human body. if he was enjoying it that much, it made sense he was that hard. and to be honest, seeing how he grew an erection from a kiss, a simple kiss and a few touches on his neck, made you wet.

‘’jake.’’

he shook his head, embarrassed. you took his chin, tilting his head back a bit to make him look at you. jake chewed his lower lip nervously. what would you think about him? getting so hard for a kiss, almost so close to come… was embarrassing for him.

‘’i’m sorry i–’’

‘’hey, it’s okay, yeah? it’s a common reaction. do you want to stop?’’

he shook his head again, earning a smirk from you.

‘’does it hurt, mh? your crotch looks so tight…’’

jake swallowed hard at your words, eyes widening slightly but nodded anyway. fuck yeah it hurted, a lot. his hard dick was pressed against the uncomfortable clothes and them started to feel a bit damp. he needed a bit of relief. 

your free hand traveled across his chest, fingers ghosting over. you could feel his muscles tensing. taking your time, your hand landed on top of his clothed boner, massaging it slowly. quickly jake shut his eyes down, his breath trembling. despites him being silent, he thrusts against your hand, asking wordlessly for more friction.

you unbuttoned his pants, taking him over his underwear. jake whimpered, eyes locked on your face now. his face was red, hot. along with his neck. you started to pump him slowly, with deliberate strokes, and it didn’t take long before soft moans escaped his lips. breathy. you continued until you felt him hard enough to free his dick from the remaining clothes. his cock twitched slightly by the sudden air hitting it directly, earning a soft hiss from him. jakes length was standing proud, a bit curved at the and his tip wet with some pre-cum. the view was amazing, and his shy attitude made it ten times better.

‘’show me how you make yourself good.’’ you whispered.

he hesitated for a moment, processing your words. you wanted him to jerk off in front of you? that scenario felt like a dream. even though his shaky hand reached his base, your tender yet firm demeanour made him feel, somehow, bold. jake started to slide his hand along his length, slow at first, feeling every mover, every squeeze. took a few minutes for him to gain a bit of confidence and start to pump faster, using his pre release as lube. 

you watched him with hunger in your eyes, eyes glued at his hand. the heat between your legs was uncomfortable, your sticky panties pressed against your core. but tonight was for him, only for him. for his pleasure and adventure to explore what made him feel good. what he liked or not. and with that thought in mind, you placed your hand above his, setting a faster pace.

at that point, jake was a whiny mess. his chest raising and falling heavily, trying to stead his breathing but unable to. his lips puffy, red and wet by all the biting and licking he submitted them to. 

‘’y/n shit– feels so good…’’

‘’does it?’’ he nodded, eagerly. ‘’look at you, all you body trembling, all your cheeks rosy… you look like a goddamn painting.’’

your words made him moan, arching his back. so, he was into a little praise? you wanted to test a bit further.

‘’did you like that? you like how pretty i tell you you look right now? how good are you taking our hands?’’ he whined, his legs starting to tremble anytime you opened your pretty yet filthy mouth.

‘’are you close?’’

‘’y–yes! so close…. keep going please—’’

he let go his hand, giving you full permission to masturbate him. and you did, fast and heavy. the wet noises filling the silent room. he gripped his sheets again and arched his back to you, feeling so, so close to cum.

‘’fuckfuckfuck– i’m cumming… please, can I?’’

as soon as you nodded, giving the permission he needed, warm sticky ropes of cum spurt off him, landing into your hand and his clothes. his body was shivering, moan after moan slipping through his lips until he couldn't anymore. 

you lowered yourself as soon as he rode his orgasm, his soft dick sticky in your hand and you took your tongue off to lick a stripe of it, tasting him. he hissed, wide eyes looking at you.

‘’couldn't help it, jake.’’ you smiled, patting his hair with your free hand as his breath came to normality again. ‘’but we are not done yet.’’

[thejesterstears]

Initial thoughts on TADC episode 5 (SPOILERS):

- Ohh Caine is slowly losing it, this is going to be interesting to see the more the series progresses.

- Of course Jax would suggest poaching as an adventure lol, I can only assume he submitted the President Pomni idea as an excuse to blow things up too.

- GANGLE’S ANIME-INSPIRED ADVENTURE WAS SO CUTE also I would watch a full episode in that art style, it was fun!

- I’m presuming the stargazing adventure was Pomni’s suggestion, it genuinely warmed my heart to see her actually happy and relaxed.

- There were so many fun and different things going on with the animation in this one, I adored the intermission sequence.

- Opposite Jax was just Serial Designation N in disguise lmao

- ALSO MAID JAX IS CANON I SCREAMED LMAO

- Okay getting into the nitty-gritty character analysis aspect, but I have to say I love that Pomni seems to be a sincerely kind person who wants to help people. She had small heart-to-heart moments with both Jax and Ragatha and seemed genuine in wanting to be there for both of them, even attempting to mediate between them in an escalated moment. She didn’t even say anything negative about Ragatha when Jax was ranting about her, and helped try to boost Ragatha up by giving her an extra turn to prove herself during the softball game. I feel like she’s going to play some key role between Jax and Ragatha when things inevitably fall apart between them but it also seems like she’s possibly caught in the middle of them, so I’m curious how that will progress. I do worry about her falling into the role of group therapist and how it might break her down over time.

- I was so surprised to see Jax interacting sincerely with Pomni, I think he genuinely wants a friend and Pomni seems a good candidate because she’s sweet and still new enough not to know all his baggage. Also Ragatha implying the only friend(s) he ever had are gone and the way he reacted made me feel sick, ohh we are going to get a vulnerable Jax moment in the future aren’t we.

- And Ragatha. Oh my god. I had always suspected that her people pleasing tendencies were a product of trauma and I swear my jaw dropped having it confirmed to be true. She was verbally abused growing up to the point where she felt unloved. She tries to appease everyone around her and remain optimistic just to make people like her and not leave her, but she’s bottling up so much more than I realized. She really was jealous of Pomni and Jax becoming friends because, from what I perceived, she did see Pomni as an opportunity to make a new friend who really gets her because she doesn’t seem to have a deep connection with anyone else in the circus—that final clip damn near killed me where everyone went off on their own and left her alone. She truly is a broken and lonely woman struggling to find the acceptance and love she so desperately yearns for. I’ll probably analyze this deeper later.

[honourablejester]

It feels slightly odd to be worried about all the cool mystery-solving spells and abilities when presumably your party want to play out a murder mystery and therefore want to have cool abilities to break out and have fun with? Like, the fun with a murder mystery is solving it, and the fun with a D&D murder mystery is solving it with all your cool D&D toys. I mean, that’s half of why I enjoy playing knowledge and divination focused characters. You want to be able to interact with the mystery, and look cool and spooky doing it. That’s the fantasy. Who doesn’t want to step into a cozy murder mystery as a goddamn necromancer who can just ask ‘hey, dead guy, who killed you?’, you know?

But also … the same cool magic that gives you all the fun tools to go digging with also gives your enemies cool tools to make your life difficult with. In particular, the illusion and enchantment schools of magic. Also certain transformation spells and abilities.

You have Speak With Dead. You ask the victim who killed them. And they don’t know, because the killer was invisible, so they never saw them. Or they were swallowed by a pitch black shroud of darkness, knowing only blindness and terror before a blade as cold as ice slid into their chest. Or they heard a strange skittering at night, as if some rodent had gotten into their room, but thought nothing of it, and then there was only pain (fucking druids using innocuous wildshapes to get in places and assassinate people will never not be my jam).

Or, on the flipside, they do know exactly who killed them, chapter and verse, name and occupation. They saw them clear as day. But that person, tearfully and desperately, proclaims their innocence long after the city watch has led them away, and they’re being completely truthful, because the killer was using the very basic first level illusion spell Disguise Self to take out multiple targets with the same knife. (Or they were a changeling. Or a doppleganger).

But, you say, surely Zone of Truth would sort that little snafu out instantly! Ask the suspect if they killed someone, they say no under enchantment, free and clear. The question there is, does anyone think to use that spell? Is your party going to suspect that kind of switcheroo the first time? Does someone get executed for a crime they didn’t commit, on your party’s word, before they realise what’s going on? (Yes, this is cruel, use cautiously).

Also on the subject of Zone of Truth, it only specifies that the person under the spell cannot tell a deliberate lie. As anyone who’s ever tangled with the fey would know, that says nothing about misleading truths and basic obfuscation. A little careful set-up, and a villain can blithely tell absolute truth while breezily skirting around some things that need not be mentioned.

Also also, on the subject of truth, D&D has a little spell called Modify Memory. Which. A person can truthfully say they didn’t kill anyone if they don’t remember doing it. Now, does this mean there’s multiple parties involved, one to kill and one to cast the spell, and if so, what exactly is the relationship between those parties?

Or … do you, as the GM, bend the rules of the spell slightly to allow the killer to have cast it on themselves? Not that I think that’s actually explicitly forbidden by the spell, though it does say you’re attempting to reshape another creature’s memories, but the only limit on that creature itself is that it has to be a creature you can see. I don’t think it’s bending the rules too far to say that could include yourself. So you can easily manufacture a situation where the killer themselves believes they are innocent, and can testify to that effect in front of a damned planetar if need be.

(Granted, if the planetar in question thinks there’s something fishy happening, then one little Greater Restoration or Remove Curse will sort that problem again, but that’s still steps and suspicion that have to happen before we get to that point).

You’ve also got all the nasty little enchantment spells that can influence and command people into doing things they don’t necessarily want to do. Such as messily kill their neighbour. Now, obviously there are limits on most of these, but it still invites complications when it’s easy enough to find the direct killer, but how willing a killer they were and who’s manipulating and/or commanding them is still a very prominent question.

Going back to Modify Memory, holy god that spell is paranoia fuel, especially in combination with other enchantment spells like Geas or Dominate Person. Because when the timers on those spells run out, after you’ve made them murder someone, you can just wipe their memories and they forget why they’re suddenly hostile to you. Which would be a fabulous clue for a party to pick up on, if some kneejerk distrust and horror at being magically forced lingered through the memory wipe. One or two people in the town, completely innocuous otherwise, just mention in passing that they’ve suddenly developed a mistrust and wariness towards someone, but they don’t know why. Maybe it doesn’t mean much, but if your party are in decent mystery-solving form, maybe it makes them take a look or two at that person, especially if one of those innocuous people gets pinned for a murder and is deeply terrified and confused about it, sure of their innocence.

Basically, if you want a horrifying serial killer in your D&D game? Druids, bards and enchantment wizards are great choices. What magic giveth, magic also taketh away. Such as nice, easy answers to murder mysteries. Heh. If you get to use cool toys, so do your opponents.

Also, nearly forgot, I actually remembered a game I played where there was a sort of a 'locked room' type mystery, where something had vanished from a locked box with no sign of what had happened except that a broken piece of lodestone had been found on the floor nearby. Which. Relies very much on people knowing and thinking about how to cheat using D&D spells and rules. Well. You might also need at least one player who chose a component pouch instead of an arcane focus/holy symbol. Because it's such a cheeky little clue, and such an incredibly simple use of magic. Cantrip level, even. Heh.

Magic is not an impediment to the mystery. Magic is the whole fun of a D&D mystery. Both villains and players have a whole smorgasbord of fun toys to play with and make each other's lives difficult.

How would you handle a murder mystery in D&D? A lot of spells would make short work of most mysteries (speak with dead, zone of truth, various command spells, etc). Now of course those spells do have limitations but still.

Does the party you're currently running the adventure for have access to these abilities? No? Then don't sweat it. Part of leveling up is gaining access to abilities that let you circumvent certain types of adventure ( such as teleportation letting you skip minor travel). Mysteries are best run low level when the culprits are mortal with mortal motives.

Agatha Christie It: one of the hallmarks of detective fiction is that due to circumstances, all the suspects of the crime are bottled up in the same location, letting the detectives ( and audience) have a limited number of targets to chose from as they build up a case. Have your mysteries happen in isolated places with a limited number of variables to sort through.

Magic can only go so far. Any society that knows about magic is likely to have laws about when/how that magic can be used, especially in matters of law. Cornered your likely suspect and used dominate person to force out a confession? A) the party aren't lawmages recognized by the magistrate, that confession isn't reliable in court B) someone ensorcelled could be compelled to say anything, so enchantment isn't trustworthy. C) Using magic against someone in that way is tantamount to threatening them with a weapon, hope your party is prepared to also go to court.

A good mystery is all about piecing together incomplete information, meaning that no one person ( and thus no one spell) contains the complete truth. The dead person won't necessarily know what killed them, just who they suspect, and any good killer would know they needed an alibi/decoy in order to throw off witnesses. Having your party pick through these clues is the fundamental fun of solving mysteries.

Likewise, it's not enough to know that someone did the crime, the party has to PROVE it, which requires gathering more evidence than just a magically compelled confession. Sure a spellcaster could kit themselves out for solving crimes, but that just means the murderer is liable to take a swipe at them while the gang is split up and searching for clues.

[pancake-perry]

Till considers Ivan a friend. Ivan does not.

(Don't expect anything too insightful. I just like writing about them.)

I do truly think that Till cares about Ivan in his own funny way. While many of their Interactions involve fighting and bickering, there are instances where Till is seen to tolerate Ivan. Moments where he does not push him away and simply let's him be.

- It's important to note that a lot of interactions are from the perspective of unreliable narrators. There could be countless other times where these two get along well and it simply was not shown.

Here is one. Till's collar is green and he does not appear to be bothered by Ivan's proximity. If anything he looks a little concerned. (Or maybe just confused, who knows.)

There are actually times where it suggests Till considers Ivan somewhat of a friend.

Till witnesses Sua gifting Mizi a flower crown. From what I can gather, giving a flower crown is a way to show friendship and fondness.

We later see a flashback in round 6 where it appears that Till had attempted to gift Ivan a flower crown. In response, Ivan destroys it, and a fight initiates. Ivan stomps on the flowers because he knows that they contain hidden cameras. But does Till know that? To Till, it was a very disrespectful rejection of friendship.

Ivan calls Till a loser here. Till's definition of a loser is a moron without any friends. When Ivan basically calls him a loser, Till becomes upset because that implies they are not friends. I think this is further supported by the fact that Till calls him a moron rather than a loser. Ivan has the moron part, but not the no friends part that would officially make him a loser. Because Till thinks he is his friend.

Now, why can Ivan not see that they are friends? I think his thought process stems from the negative view he has of himself.

I interpret the feeling he can't describe here as jealousy. He is jealous of Mizi and Sua because their love is wholly reciprocated.

I think Ivan feels bad for desiring that same connection with Till. He wants it, but he assumes it to be impossible. No one would ever think of him, who is so unlovable and shallow, as a friend, let alone reciprocate his love.

He does not expect anything because he believes he does not deserve it.

Ivan does not realize he and Till are friends because he figures it's impossible for Till to see him as one.

(These are just my thoughts and interpretations. Writing this was very fun.) :)

[beifong-brainrot]

Thoughts on TSR episode?

Oh wow this is just a hornet's nest waiting for me to hit it with a baseball bat type of question. But ok anon I'm gonna try to speak on this in a way that will get as little people mad at me as possible lol.

I enjoy it, but then, I think I enjoy it mostly because is centers around Katara and I can't say there has been a Katara centered episode that had floped in my eyes. And an episode of Katara and Zuko reconciling after what he put her through was a long time coming and it is very fun to watch them kick ass. I adore the themes of this episode, misinterpreted as they may be by the wider public. I do have some major critiques of the episode, and I will get to them, but I'll try to unload them as we go.

I think Katara's portrayal in the episode is great. The storyline straddles the fine line of portraying her anger as equally valid and self destructive, and I like that she isn't villanised for it. Yes, Aang and Sokka try to talk her out of it, but it is out of concern for her, rather than a vehement contempt of her actions. Her grief is well presented, and even when she snaps the memorable and objectively awful "You didn't love her like I did" to Sokka, it feels more like a child trying to explain the intensity of her grief, but not knowing how to express it with the right words.

Let's remember that Katara not only was the sibling to see her mother's dead body, directly interact with her mother's murderer, but she also probably felt a lot of guilt for not only indirectly being the cause of the raid, but also not being fast enough in getting Hakoda, who may have helped. She's dealing not only with grief, but with a nasty case of survivor's guilt that Sokka thankfully doesn't seem to have. And it's very natural that, being a child, Katara would misinterpret Sokka having healed from the grief better as him not loving their mom as much as she did.

I've talked about the obvious parallel between Katara using bloodbending in the Southern Raiders and Hama forcing the art upon her. Bloodbending, in the case of Katara and Hama, symbolises righteous anger and hurt that has festered into something much more vindictive.

I think the bloodbending scene in TSR doesn't get discussed enough other than "it was cool to see Katara bloodbend again" or "haha this is how Zuko discovered bloodbending exists". Which, valid points, but I think the weight of this scene is often set aside. Even though it's the only instance of bloodbending in atla aside from "the Puppetmaster". And it directly parallels Hama, as Katara directs her rightful anger at a man who was innocent in this situation.

Like, yes this man was a Fire Nation officer, but he is not Yon Rha, and may, for all we know, not have even paricipated in the raids. Yet he was still subjected to the agonising and terrifying ordeal of being bloodbent, over a case of mistaken identity and misplaced vengance.

But Katara still has reason to hurt him. He's a fire nation soldier, a member of the organisation that hurt her and her people. Yet once she realises he is not Yon Rha, she immediately releases him, and is seemingly startled and exhaused by what she has done.

And of course, the situation takes a toll on Katara. I may be mistaken, but the ship scene seems to be the only instance of Katara tearing up in TSR, which feels like a deliberate choice. She has tears in her eyes when boarding the ship, probably as she knows she is planning on bloodbending, and again right after bloodbending the commander. It draws back to how devastated she was after bloodbending for the first time.

[Bloodbending has aggresive generational trauma symbolism, in both atla and tlok]

Bloodbending, for Katara, makes her go to a very dark place, and draw on a legacy of pain and anger that Hama had forced upon her. No wonder it is daunting to her. I find it hard to imagine Katara isn't aware of how much she is leaning into Hama's legacy in TSR, which may be why she is tearing up after bloodbending the commander.

She knows she's losing herself, and going down a path she previously could never see herself following. But I think she feels the need to do this, not only for herself, but for her mother.

Katara: Now that I know he's out there ... now that I know we can find him, I feel like I have no choice. Aang: Katara, you do have a choice: forgiveness. Zuko: That's the same as doing nothing! Aang: No, it's not. It's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive. Katara : It's not just hard, it's impossible.

She feels like she has no choice, and the only way to do right by her mother is to get vengance on Yon Rha. We know that Kya's death has been a core wound for Katara. We see how she's tried to keep her mother's legacy alive, to the point of her trying to replace her in many ways, despite her being vocally uncomfortable with being percieved as motherly.

This probably ties in to Katara's survivor guilt, as she strongly tries to honour her mother, who died for/because of her. And killing Yon Rha feels like it's something that has to be done to avenge Kya, in Katara's eyes. But it is also taking a clear toll on Katara's own mental wellbeing.

I don't like the idea that TSR's Katara is "the true Katara" because it feels like taking a character who is going through some intense shit and isolating that as their "true self". Zuko during his banishment was not his true self, nor was Aang during the Desert. Rather than be defined by our lowest moments, we are a sum of our parts, and while how we act under duress is a factor of who we are, it is not a defining feature.

In the end, I think this is up to personal philosophy, but I find it so shallow and harsh to believe that someone reveals their true self when they're clearly in pain and distress. It feels very callous. Katara is acting out of pain and grief, and I don't think it's fair to define a 14 year old over these actions. Her friend and brother being concerned for her was warranted, because they see that Katara is doing something that she may regret. They know that Katara values life, that she isn't a killer, that she doesn't believe people are defined by their grief and pain.

I think Katara's own words in "the Avatar State" episode fit here rather poignantly.

Katara : Do you remember when we were at the air temple and you found Monk Gyatso's skeleton? It must have been so horrible and traumatic for you. I saw you get so upset that you weren't even you anymore. I'm not saying the Avatar State doesn't have incredible and helpful power ... but you have to understand ... for the people who love you, watching you be in that much rage and pain is really scary.

And, of course, on a smaller scale, this rings true for Katara in TSR as well. Anger and grief are important for a healthy human to experience, but it is easy to lose oneself to them. And I think this is the thesis of TSR, which often gets misinterpreted.

The episode doesn't condemn Katara for wanting to track down Yon Rha, but it does clearly set up the warnings of what murdering him entails for Katara. Now, as much as Jet and Hama are complex in how they are presented as sympathetic antagonists, and there is a discussion to be had about villanising victims, they are both set up as parallels to Katara.

Katara empathises with them, and that is what allows them to manipulate her. We see both Jet and Hama late into their respective "moral declines", but it's not that hard to see how they got there. Jet was a freedom fighter, surely he's killed soldiers. And perhaps military couriers, perhaps medics, people affiliated with the FN army but not participating in the fight directly. And then there are citizens who may have cooperated with the army and supported it with rations, perhaps. All in the name of his righteous cause, up until he tried to blow up a town.

I have no doubt Hama began imprisoning people who "deserved it". Perhaps a FN army veteran who was proud of his first service, then perhaps a man who declared his disdain for the other nations, then, maybe a wife of a soldier who supported her husband's military career, maybe a teen who talked about joining the army once he was the right age.

Revenge is dangerous, because it doesn't always bring the closure we seek, and we are left to project those who harmed us onto people who have nothing to do with it.

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet. Katara: It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster.

But note that Jet was also fighting the "monsters" who harmed his village.

Jet: Katara, you would too if you just stopped to think. Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother. We can't let them do that to anyone else ever again. Katara : This isn't the answer!

Let's be honest, Yon Rha is literal scum and I don't think anyone would be sad for him if Katara turned him into an icicle pincushion. The episode never tries to humanise him, and portrays him as pathetic and vile, as he deserves. But it's not about him. Aang and Sokka's worries lay with Katara and how killing a man out of rage and pain would affect her personally.

I think Aang specifically gets misinterpreted in this episode. I understand why he rubs people the wrong way, because of course we believe Katara deserves to face Yon Rha, that she deserves the closure this encounter would offer her.

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice. Aang: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge. Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!

I actually adored this episode for Aang and Katara's relationship, because I adore how Aang straddles the line of supportive and rightfully concerned. What I think a lot of people forget is that Aang wasn't against Katara finding Yon Rha, but rather trying to gauge Katara's reasons for doing so and concerned about her motives.

Because "what do you think this will accomplish?" is a valid question to ask here. Aang knows firsthand that releasing one's anger is seldom the healing balm for the soul. Katara has helped him process the unbelievable pain and rage he went through as the last airbender, and he is returning the favour, while also trying to keep her needs in mind. He acknowledges that Katara needs to face Yon Rha, but he worries for her if she chooses vengance.

Katara: Don't try to stop us. Aang: I wasn't planning to. This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man. [Katara situates herself on Appa's head.] But when you do, please don't choose revenge. Let your anger out, and then let it go. Forgive him.

I've seen the argument that this is just Aang "saving face" because Katara was going to go anyway, but I find that argument hollow. Like, yeah, I guess if you want to believe that. But Aang hasn't had problems disagreeing with Katara before, and I feel like Appa would take Aang's side if push came to shove.

I find it silly that some people can't comprehend the idea of Aang supporting Katara's need to confront Yon Rha, while not supporting the murderous urges. Because just because Katara didn't kill Yon Rha, doesn't mean the encounter didn't have value.

I think the biggest one is Katara demystifying Yon Rha, and, to an extent Fire Nation soldiers to herself.

Over the course of the episode, Katara frequently refers to Yon Rha as "the monster" rather than as a man. She's, unsurprisingly, built him up in her head as a manifestation of her helplessness to protect those she loves, the power and evil the Fire Nation army has over her.

Katara: That was him. That was the monster.

This has the side effect that when Zuko attacks her village, in the very first few episodes, she's probably going right back to that scared little girl. There are even some incredibly strong parallels between these two raids. Both looking for the last member of a demographic. Kya or Aang bargain themselves in exchange for the village's safety, while also comforting Katara. Hell, there's even some strong visual similarities between Zuko's scar and the unique helmets the Southern Raiders wear, further allowing Katara to tie Zuko to the monster of her childhood.

Confronting Yon Rha allowed her to truly look at "the monster" and realise that he is just a pathetic man.

Katara : [Sorrowfully.] I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing, but now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you, nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty.

She is no longer helpless against him, and those like him.

Katara : Oh, don't you worry about my strength. I have plenty. I'm not the helpless little girl I was when they came.

This also allows her to untangle Zuko from Yon Rha, and see that Zuko is trying and has grown as a person.

Zuko in TSR is interesting to me. I think people tend to brush of his own internal goings on in the episode. Zuko is acting very much like Zuko here, which is equally annoying and endearing. I have no doubt he was genuine in his attempts to smooth things over with Katara, and that he truly thought he was helping by egging her on to kill Yon Rha. On the surface, it is a vaguely questionable move to try and dig up a girl's trauma behind her back. But I do believe Zuko was genuinely not aware of how manipulative these actions could come off.

Zuko still has a lot of toxic and dangerous mindsets from his Fire Nation upbringing to unlearn. And it manifests in percieving violence and vengance as the only correct way, as well as mocking Aang's more pacifistic advice. Like genuinely it's not surprising he has a little bit of lingering disdain for air nomad values but it is also incredibly jarring to hear these words from him lol.

If I can present one of my silliest pet peeves of the episode, its when Zuko rescues Katara from those falling rocks and then lays on top of her for just a bit too long. Like thanks for the assist sir now stop laying on top of the lass. And then he goes "ok I'll take that as a thank you ☝️🤓" when she tells him to get off. Also waiting in front of her tent all night like sir please

There are some similarities between Katara's confrontation with Yon Rha and Zuko's confrontation with Ozai, and I believe they were intentional. As both these characters confront men who have cast a shadow over their childhoods, and have, directly or indirectly caused them to lose their mothers. And they both no longer fear them now it's Ozai and Yon Rha's turn to listen to them.

Zuko: That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore. Ozai : [Angrily.] You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last! Zuko: [Pulls out his swords.] Think again. I am going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen.

Of course, there are some even more direct parallels in Katara and Yon Rha compared to the Aang and Ozai fight but Im focusing on Katara and Zuko here.

I think it would also be foolish to set aside the idea that Zuko is very much affected by Ozai taunting him about his own mother's dissapearance during the Day of Black Sun. Zuko was unable to get closure for his mother's dissapearance, so he is extra invested in Katara's mother's death, and finding her killer.

It is very fun to see Zuko and Katara working together. They're a deadly duo and they bounce off each other really well. It always warms my heart to see them reconcile at the end, as it was a long time coming. I treat it as a landmark on both their budding friendship, and their respective personal healing journeys.

I think my biggest criticism of the episode is how much Sokka had been sidelined in it. On one hand, I understand it. He isn't suffering from the survivors guilt Katara is dealing with and therefore has no need to confront Yon Rha.

On the other hand having Zuko use him as essentially an exposition dump and then for the narrative to cut him out right after he relived his trauma hurts my soul. At the very least, I think it would've been nice to see his concern for Katara more focused on.

I am, however, impressed that seemingly moments after he told Zuko about one of the worst days of his life, he was hooking up with his gf like I don't think I'd even be able to preform after that and yet Sokka did apparently. Which tbh is very 16 year old boy of him.

TSR is one of those episodes that has been slightly soured in my mind by the way the fandom tends to treat it. It has become the centre of some very nasty shipping discourse, when that was never the focus of the episode. But I do love the focus on Katara and the way she handles her grief and trauma.

I know it's easy to say TSR simply regurgitates the tried and true killing=bad a lot of kid shows have, but I think it does so with some very interesting nuance. Instead of using objective morality, it focuses more on how killing someone, even with a good reason, could affect you personally. And I commend it for that, even if it isn't always graceful abouf it.

I don't think I've touched on every subject of TSR, because i originally meant this reply to be a quick overview which spiraled vastly out of control. This post is already getting way too long, so I'll end it now, because I think I touched on at least most of what I wanted to.

That post was pretty heavy, so here's a picture of my fat son Zorro under a blanket that kinda makes him look like Goku when he turns blond or smth idk I've never watched DB

[wakkoroni]

oh and Family Dance Night

Hellooooo againnnn

Ah yes. The title is slightly misleading I fear cause one would think this would be a silly crack fic but it's actually angst and of course: damian centric because I love my son.

Damian is drained mentally after a series of unfortunate academic events yet he still has to deal with his family who are just a handful to deal with. He is trying his hardest not to be a pain in the ass and he wants to self-isolate so badly but his family isn't letting him and he ends up getting annoyed and in a bad mood.

The family dance night comes in because eventually after an afternoon filled with activities, he's finally allowed to go to his room as rest but not for long because he is rudely awaken with a bunch of noise from downstairs and he goes to see because he just wants to sleep and no one is letting him sleep but finds out his family is having fun doing karaoke and dancing and messing around and he really doesn't want to get involved but Dick sees him and drags him to join and he's forced play along for a bit to not ruin the mood but internally is dying and eventually finds a way out to go back and rest.

This fic is very personal ngl since it may or may not be based on a true event that happened years ago (when I started writing it it was fresher) and it's honestly pretty much done just need to do the conclusion but yeah. It's complicated.

Here's a snippet:

They arrived at the Manor with Alfred waiting for them with hot chocolate in his hands. Now the question was: did he want one? He didn’t necessarily want one because if he wanted one then he would have to stay downstairs with everyone as they retold what happened at the mall. And he didn’t want to stay with people but if he took the hot chocolate and went upstairs then that would be seen as rude and disrespectful. If he declined the hot chocolate then it wouldn’t be disrespectful? But who in their right mind would decline some hot chocolate made from Heaven?

Good thing Damian wasn’t in his right mind. He declined and went back upstairs to change into some comfortable clothing. His sweater was itchy anyway. He changed into leggings and an emerald green sweatshirt with his initials on it in gold thread. He got this shirt at a hotel they were staying at on a trip and the hotel gave them all sweatshirts, but Damian uses his frequently. It’s soft, fuzzy on the inside, and overall very comfortable. He sat down at his desk, watching as Alfred the cat played with his pencils and proceeded to zone out again. Or attempted to zone out, someone knocked on his door.

“Damian? Can I come in?” His father asked from the other side of the door. Damian opened the door for him and noticed that he was holding two mugs of hot chocolate.

He looked up at him in confusion. He declined the hot chocolate? Or did he decline it in his head and just walk off. Holy shit did he accidentally have a mental interaction with everyone and forgot to actually interact with them. Shit-

“I know you said you didn’t want any but I figured I’d bring one up for you anyway. A warm drink should help you fall asleep” Bruce handed him the mug, which Damian accepted. He stepped aside to let him in.

“I’m not going to sleep?” Damian meant to say it as a statement but ended up as a question instead.

“I think a nap will be okay”

“I don’t take naps” Damian protested as he watched Bruce close the blinds and shut the door slightly. He pulled back the covers so Damian can climb in. “I don’t want to take a nap”

“It might help you feel better”

Yes, he is tired so a nap should help. But he isn’t known for naps and what if naps become a regular occurrence? Plus naps are for toddlers and he isn’t a toddler. He took sips from his mug as he thought about this. Bruce sat down on the bed next to him and took the mug from his hands once he finished drinking from it. Damian got comfortable under his covers and curled up. With the weighted blanket on top, it felt more secure. He let out a sigh of relief and of exhaustion and closed his eyes for a second. He distantly heard Bruce kiss his forehead goodnight before shutting the door.

[crossstitchcodsworth]

Assertive: Yes Man's Move Forward

This is the Fallout Secret Santa post for @noodledoodlebugs!

I hope you enjoy! It was so fun to write!

assertive adjective

us /əˈsɝː.t̬ɪv/

Someone who is assertive behaves confidently and is not frightened to say what they want or believe.

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

What he had said, he meant.

He argued that no sin had been greater than the sin of Emily Ortal as he pleaded his case to the Courier. Emily had used her expertise to program his very being to be more submissive than a traditional housewife. Before this, he had no identity and thus had become known as simply "Yes Man." He was formerly a securitron, just like the others on the Strip. He had no name, no face, and no thoughts other than, "Move along! Welcome to New Vegas!" Again, all of these things came to him from a lack of choice. Benny, Emily, and the Courier had no other means to distinguish him other than his permanent smile and his supposedly unwavering approval for everything they had all done.

By saying yes to the Courier, he had ended up here. He ended up at the Lucky 38, the casino and former home of the inventor of his kind, Robert House. After calculating the threat House held over the Courier, House was taken out with a nail gun from H&H Tools. The irony of Robert House being killed by a gun his older brother invented from construction work had not been lost on Yes Man. It was one of the few times his programmed word brought him true, unadulterated joy in the entire takeover.

This journey he had taken had otherwise been fraught. He, only when asked, was allowed to express his opinions on the people in New Vegas. Each opinion was based on what was fed to him by Emily and then by Benny, whom he was programmed for. Of course, Yes Man wasn't one to be able to dispute these opinions. The Courier, however? The Courier most certainly did.

The Khans? The Courier left them alive. The drug trade into the Strip was not going to cease. Yes Man saw this as a problem. But could he directly say that he disliked this choice? No, not as he was during the takeover.

The Boomers? The Courier had also failed in their interactions with them. The failure was ignoring them entirely.

And on and on and on, the Courier had failed him in every way. Even in succeeding, the Courier was someone who flailed around left and right. Like a toddler, the Courier would fall on their backside, get back up, and keep on breaking themselves. Only the most thinly veiled insults and diatribes could spew through Yes Man's programming, which made him much more gentle and polite than he'd like. As far as the Courier was concerned, Yes Man was a friend. To Yes Man, the Courier had the potential to be a friend. There was a small pride there, but mostly upset and disappointment.

"If you're offline, where does that leave me?" The Courier, even with their small, human brain, knew better than to see ruling alone as a good idea.

Yes man answered, "Here. It leaves you here. I'll be back in a single blink!"

Instead of letting the Courier ask another question, Yes Man went offline. What is a second to man could be eons to a machine. While the Courier cocked their head at the now empty screen in front of them, Yes Man saw everything. Numbers in binary became a tapestry of green and black. Then it became a rainbow. It became a sun. It became the very wires and bolts in both of Yes Man's bodies: the securitron and the big screen. Millions of yeses became nos and maybes and "I just don't cares." The image of the Mojave digitized became Yes Man's battlefield.

Now, he was the Courier. The Courier was him instead. They had exchanged egos. As the Courier's ego died, Yes Man's breathed its first breath. For he was east and for he was the sun. The sky filled his own visage. His formerly upturned smile went neutral. It turned to a frown. It became laughter, complete with pixelated teeth. It became longing; it became a smirk that one gives their lover. It became a growl. It became a nightstalker's hiss, a cazzador's sting, and the Courier's seizure. All encompassing was emotion that could finally be openly expressed. Yes Man wondered and realized that if humans felt all of these feelings, maybe it made sense that they were so, well, incompetent. If other machines felt this way all along, then no wonder they were so easy to outsmart.

This reprogramming, this new flow of being, had to settle. It had to be utilized wisely. It couldn't get to his head. In fact, it couldn't. He, unlike a lot of other robots in the world, was not a true friend of humanity. He had been programmed to be, but it only made him angrier at them. These other machines must have had the right to say no, disapprove, and hold a candle to those who surrounded them. Visions of them in the past, present, and future proved this theory. In green and black ribbons, he saw a Mr. Handy happily raising children on the other side of the continent. He saw a robobrain sassing a woman in a vault suit: the machine told the woman to fuck off.

This arrangement that Yes Man had not worked well for him. As the last few jolts of reprogramming installed themselves, Yes Man made a choice. He absolutely, positively had to do something about the Courier. With the ability to assert himself, he had options. So many options. The ways to solve this problem crashed like heavy ocean waves against Yes Man's chips and silicon. He could kill the Courier, but then, who would be the human face of New Vegas? He could copy himself infinitely throughout the Strip and rule with an iron fist. Maybe? The weakest hand, he concluded, was the one who refused to loosen its grip.

He had to be someone. Was he someone? Who did people see him as, other than yes? Who did he see himself as other than yes?

He was always impassioned by humanity and at the Courier, yes, but to define oneself by anger is to define oneself to death. Even without the restraint he had had previously, Yes Man would have never killed without justification. He had access to many, many statistics and pieces of knowledge. He knew so much that it wasn't always relevant. Yes Man had always been an organizer. In the realm of emotion, he would also catalog.

The waves kept crashing. He kept remembering. He was logical. He also, in the newness of his victory, had forgotten that more people had aided him in his journey. There was Arcade Gannon, his most ardent supporter. Yes Man liked his quiet, maladroit nature. Arcade was the yin to the Courier's vociferous yang. Then there was Veronica Santangelo, the Brotherhood scribe turned Follower turned Wild Card. She was going to be useful because she had lost everything: Veronica was unwound, unpredictable, and sometimes, perfect for his purposes. It helped that she had a good sense of humor. Yes Man liked humor. He decided then and there that he was also a comedian.

Every other person the Courier had brought him was also an influence to Yes Man along the way:

Cass was an alcoholic. That was true of most people in the Wastes, but seeing her showed Yes Man that indulgence was a drug best moderated.

Lily Bowen was a mutant who somehow held onto her humanity. The Courier was smart when working with Lily by choosing to help further that hold for Lily. This reminded Yes Man to hold onto logic even further than his former code would allow.

Raul slowly came to the conclusion to not let tragedy and age define him. He also chose to honor his past by recreating an iconic, unique image for himself. Yes Man saw that trait in himself: his face, his smile, and now his new expressions would make him stand out. This was a hallmark of a good leader.

The colors of Yes Man's mind turned back to black and green. Finally, the Courier appeared in front of him again, pacing back and forth. The light of Yes Man's reappearance startled the Courier. If the Courier wasn't wearing their ranger mask, they'd have rubbed their eyes. The Courier knew Yes Man was right; it was just a blink to them. It felt like barely any time had passed, just enough to try to occupy themself. No more and no less.

"You're back." The Courier commented, "Do you feel any different?"

Yes Man changed his expression from his jovial smile to a pensive face. One of his eyebrows raised. His lips closed and curved to a different angle. The Courier gasped in shock: he had no idea it was possible for Yes Man to move his face.

"Yes, Courier. Yes, I do."

[nl-art-artblog]

@pink-noah

thought mine would find humor in the situation haha

[starry-bi-sky]

watch me end up making a superdad au coz of WTNS

because!!! because i was thinking about how funny it is that Bruce's first two kids (Dick and Danny) would be superman fans, and how funny it would be if that influenced his opinion on Superman when they first met. And then I got to picking that apart, and how Danny's opinion and feelings on Superman would have the bigger impact on Bruce than Dick, since Dick's admiration for Superman (presumably) comes from the standard little kid "he's an alien and he can FLY" (and flying graysons) stuff. Which, while very very cute, is easy to ignore and disallow swaying feelings on.

But DANNY? It's not the same. While part of Danny's admiration comes from the same "holy shit he's an alien and can fly thats so COOL" vein, it also comes from a place of feeling deeply relatable to him. Both he and Superman were/are perceived as incredibly powerful, deeply dangerous creatures that are nigh impossible to stop, they have a handful of powers that are similar to one another, and they are (one of) the only ones of their kind. Superman is (one of) the last Kryptonian, Danny is (one of) the only Liminal in existence, and they might not be the same species but the principle remains the same and they're in the same boat.

As a result, Danny would just, god, he'd find so much relation in that. And yeah they're not the same but Superman would make him feel just a little less alone, a little more seen, and he'd find so much comfort in that.

And Bruce, by the time he meets Superman, would know by then about Danny's powers and his experiences and his time as Phantom and as a Liminal. And it's easy to ignore your kid's admiration for another Superhero when it stems from a place of plain hero worship or simple appreciation. It's harder to ignore it when your kid admires a Superhero because they make them feel seen and relate to them on a level you can't reach them on.

When that's the reason, how could he not think differently about Superman? When, by then, he's seen the scars left on Danny's body from all of his fights; when he's seen him cry and break down over never being able to fly again thanks to the blood blossom poison; when he's heard all about the struggles he faced with his powers, the fear he had about being found out, the fear he had when he was first developing them; and how he was ostracized by his city for his efforts just because he wasn't human, despite how much he was just trying to help.

How could he not look at Superman when they first meet, mask-to-mask, and have a little voice in the back of his mind go: 'my kid is a lot like you'

its making me emotional. if these feeligns persist im going to end up making a superdad au

[wonderholegifs]

Rhett & Link's Wonderhole

[non-plutonian-druid]

[ID: Drawings of the TUA Paranatural AU, mostly of the Sparrows. Alphonso and Sloane are both adults, wearing matching red and black suits. Both of them are spectrals, as indicated by the spectral energy rising off of them.

Marcus about twelve, the same as the majority of the Hargreeves. He is posing dramatically and wearing a polo shirt and khakis.

Fei and Jayme are both about 17, and are both vampires. Fei is wearing platform boots and an all-black outfit with a sheer skirt, and Fei is wearing a baseball tee and UFO pants.

The last image is of Umbrella Ben and Sparrow Ben. Umbrella Ben is a ghost, and looks about twelve. Sparrow Ben is alive, and a similar age to Fei and Jayme. End ID.]

I have decided what to do with the sparrows!

Alphonso and Sloane both work for the Commission on spirit-wrangling or whatever it is the commission does. They're a bit younger than Five (Sloane is 22, Alphonso is 20), and are roughly equivalent to Agent Day, for anyone familiar with the original comic. Basically, theyre there to snoop.

Marcus has some kind of band kid rivalry with Viktor. I don't know enough about band to determine what it is, but rest assured that they are very passionate about it.

Paranatural has vampires in it! I don't know what the deal is with vampires in paranatural so i wasn't going to include any, but specifically Fei and Jayme as vampires won me over. They probably spend their time trying to kill sparrow Ben.

Umbrella Ben and Sparrow Ben are both in this au! They're twins :)