#try and take the parts of two different things and see where they overlap to create a cohesive crossover

[kiame-sama]

Humans Are Extinct (Yandere!TWST x Fem!Reader) Monster AU pt 6

(Quickly running out of Monster men drawings to use as my chapter pictures. May be a hot minute until I get the next chapter out since my laptop can barely stay conscious long enough to draw another one and I want to only use the monster AU versions of the characters for this series.)

Warnings; multiple yanderes, platonic yanderes, romantic yanderes, monster AU, eating Humans mentioned, more AU history, Cater is not having a very Cay-Cay day, food is an excellent way to bring groups together, Fauns, Satyrs, Kelpies, Crow Fae, Unicorns, Water Nymphs, vampire bats, dragons, cervitaurs, Raiju, Mermen, Cecaelia, Gnolls,

~~~~~~~~

Lunch finally rolled around and you were surprised that Ace and Deuce had actually taken Trey's words seriously and accompanied you to classes. Ace had loudly complained about his volunteering for a little bit but once he saw how many students actually took an interest in you, he stopped complaining and started viewing the task as a kind of important role only he could do. Naturally, Deuce was far less irate about the situation though there were times he almost came across as a punk when it came to others trying to harass you. Both had adjusted well to being around you and come lunch Deuce was actually taking pride in explaining things to you.

"-and that's what makes Fauns different from Satyrs."

"So Fauns are the nicer version of Satyrs?"

"For the most part. Satyrs are known for being loud and always wanting to fight-"

Ace cut Deuce off, shoving an uncooked carrot into the Faun's mouth to silence him. You had seen the two interact and you got the distinct feeling that the Faun and Satyr had more of a brotherly relationship with one another. Where they both had different personalities, when they did agree on something it was practically a law to them.

It was fascinating to hear that these monster men had similar names to the mythical creatures from your world and you wondered why such an overlap existed. Maybe the Humans from your world did interact with this world in the past, or maybe it was just a coincidence. Still, it seemed almost too close to be mere coincidence.

"Anyway, now that Dunce here is done talking-"

"You know my name is Deuce-"

"Like I said, now that Dunce is done talking, I have questions for you, (Y/n)."

You almost laughed at the back and forth banter of the two Goats- Faun and Satyr respectively- as their voices fumbled over one another. Truth was, you had been expecting far more questions than the few they threw at you between classes, so now was as good a time as any to ask.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

"So, you don't have magic? Like, at all?"

"No magic whatsoever. Where I came from, magic is a myth and no creatures have magic."

"Okay. But how do Humans survive? No horns, no claws, nothing to protect themselves from bigger creatures."

"We make weapons. I know you all have bows, arrows, and knives, we have the same. Guns too, but I haven't seen any guns used here."

"Wait, what is a gun?"

"Basically an automatic bow that fires little pieces of metal using explosive powder that needs a spark which launches the metal through their target."

Ace seemed almost excited by your vague explanation of a gun, opening his mouth to ask you another question. His voice died in his throat as his gaze locked onto something behind you, prompting you to turn around to look at whatever it was that had unsettled Ace.

Standing not too far from you was the large figure of the Horse-man Trey. Ace told you he was a Kelpie, but you just couldn't make that connection seeing as he looked like a big white horse and not a water kelp-horse like Kelpies were supposed to be. He was clearly making good on his threat to check in as he approached you with a patient smile on his face.

"Hello (Y/n), have Heartslabyul's first-years been adequate guides for you today?"

"Yes. Grim doesn't even have to try half as hard to keep me safe now and I haven't been late to any of my classes other than the first one."

Trey gave a genuine smile at this, nodding his head as he was pleased to know his choice had been a good one. Seeing the centaur made you wonder about Cater and what may have become of the air-head student. In some ways, you worried asking would have a negative effect, but you were so curious you couldn't help but inquire about him.

"So... What happened to Cater?"

"He is being dealt with by the Headmage. He's lucky he isn't going to get expelled for what he did, but once the Headmage is done with his punishment, he's going to be turned over to Riddle."

"Is Riddle mad about all of this?"

"Well... I actually haven't told Riddle yet. He has a short fuse and isn't going to take Cater's actions well, especially since he asked both Cater and I to protect you if we happened across you. Odds are Cater is going to be collared and kicked out of his room for the foreseeable future."

This made you frown in contemplation at the prospect of the Red-haired student being punished too harshly. Though you were upset Cater took photos of you without asking and likely set several poachers on your trail, you didn't want harm to come to him. Sure, he was stupid and made a stupid choice, but he shouldn't be hurt or kicked out of his home for it.

"... If he is kicked out of his room, is there anywhere else he can go?"

"No. Riddle is very strict about rule-breakers being banned from the dorms so long as they have one of his collars on, and most other dorms aren't keen to house a student that isn't theirs. He's probably going to be sleeping in the Heartslabyul lake if Riddle doesn't ban him from there too."

The morality of the issue weighed on you and made you worry about the ditzy redhead. Though you didn't really trust Cater or his clearly impaired decision making skills, you still felt like he deserved basic decency despite his actions. You knew firsthand how the creatures that lived around campus were genuinely terrifying and dangerous, so you didn't want him thrown to the metaphorical or actual wolves.

"Can... can Cater stay in my dorm?"

Your question earned you several dubious looks from the Goats and Trey as if you had grown another head or said something unhinged. Even Grim had to pause his hesitant raw veggie medley- the only thing the cafeteria served today- to stare at you in surprise.

"You- you want Cater in your dorm? Why?"

"Well, it wasn't like he knew what he was doing was bad, and I don't think he should be left outside for his poor choice."

"(Y/n), do you realize how vicious poachers are in Twisted Wonderland? You will be hunted every moment of every day because Cater couldn't keep himself from posting you to that stupid Magicam app he is obsessed with. The second you are unguarded you will be attacked. The Headmage is even considering assigning Sam and Vargas to your dorm just to make sure poachers can't get in, or even moving you to Diasomnia so Malleus can protect you. I don't think you understand just how seriously we need to take your safety."

"I'm just a Human though, I'm not a princess or someone important. Why all the fuss?"

Your comment made Trey let out a long and exasperated sigh, his gaze leaving your confused form as he tried to keep in mind just how new you were to their world. Humans were never just Humans in Twisted Wonderland, and them simply dying out has made a far felt ripple in the history of every known species. For so long, so many species had adored and tried to protect Humans, but even they couldn't save the fragile species from the hunger so many magic users had for their very flesh.

Most things in the technological realm and cooking realm- pastries and phones included- only existed because Humans led the way to them being invented. Even now, technology has been mostly stagnant for over a hundred years with only the Shrouds having any aptitude as far as advancements were concerned. Trey himself had Humanity to thank for his family's bakery and the many cuisines local to the Queendom of Roses.

"(Y/n), Humans have never been 'just Humans' to us. Maybe to Sunset Savana, but never to the Queendom of Roses. Even Briar Valley had laws in place to protect your kind from everyone else. I get you may not understand it, but compared to most other species, Humans were better than most in the emotional and critical thinking department. It was Humans creating new inventions, coming up with unique ideas, and above all else, peacekeeping between the various species and races to the point they were called Beast-Tamers. Most wouldn't even speak to their Fae counterparts until Humans got the two to interact amicably."

You were somewhat surprised to hear all of this, having been under the impression that Humans were mainly pets to the other species. It was interesting to hear what Humans were credited for and that despite all they did to help, they were still hunted as food until extinction. The few from Savanaclaw you interacted with had been both sides of the spectrum of threatening you or being peaceful to you and it made you wonder just what kind of species were still keen to get a taste of your forbidden flesh.

"Honestly," Trey continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if several Kingdoms and Queendoms sent ambassadors to take you away from Night Raven for your own safety. I just know the international law makers are going to have a field day the moment it becomes common knowledge that you're here."

It made sense that Trey was stressed about this, you knew from your own home how aggressively endangered and near-extinct species had to be protected, but you still felt Cater shouldn't carry all the blame. If it wasn't Cater, it would have been someone else. Just because he was the fool to do it first didn't mean that others wouldn't have tried or succeeded in the same endeavor.

"Still, if he gets kicked out of the dorms tonight, will you at least tell him I will let him stay with me?"

"If you really want me to," he sighed heavily, "I guess I can tell Cater about your offer. I won't tell Riddle though, knowing how that Unicorn is, he will actually harm Cater for even thinking about taking shelter with you after what he's done."

~•§•~

"HE DID WHAT?!"

Riddle was beside himself with rage and even stomped his hooves against the marble floors of the Headmage's office, almost cracking the stone with his rage. Cater was trying to sink into his chair and hide from the Sophomore Housewarden who was beyond the point of furious with the water Nymph. Not only did he get a dressing-down from the Headmage, but he was going to be thrown at the mercy of his own Housewarden who was known for being an absolute hard-ass on rule breakers.

"It wasn't like I was trying to target her! I just-"

"SILENCE! YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO, CATER DIAMOND!"

The firm tone Riddle used made Cater shut his mouth and bow his head, trying to avoid upsetting the Unicorn further. There was no way he would be able to go back to his room at this rate and odds are he would be sleeping in the forest if Riddle had anything to say about it. Plus, he still had that essay to write for Trein that was due tomorrow.

"He apparently took a selfie with (Y/n) and posted it to Magicam with hashtags indicating she is Human. By the time I got him to delete the post, it had been downloaded several thousand times. Since then I have already received a call from the Royal Sword Academy Headmage to confirm a Human lives here now, and what we as the heads of our schools can do to protect her. No doubt representatives from Briar Valley and the Queendom of Roses have already been dispatched and will arrive on the island soon enough, not to mention how many poachers are likely on their way here as we speak."

Cater knew how upset Riddle was given the fact the Unicorn's horn was humming loudly with magic and the Unicorn himself was a bright red. Things really weren't coming up Cay-Cay today.

"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

~•§•~

You felt a bit more comfortable with the school as a whole by the time classes had finished for the day. Practical Magical Theory was an interesting class, even if you really didn't have the faintest idea what they were talking about. According to Ace, you were lucky you didn't have Flight Class because there was a high chance you wouldn't be able to participate in the class itself. Still, you were happy to have a moment to let things settle down for a bit.

Ace and Deuce walked you to your dorm, but had been called to Heartslabyul by a quick text from Trey, leaving you alone in the dorm with Grim. Despite the beginning of the day being an absolute wash, the rest of the day hadn't been too bad. It was around this time you decided you may as well start on making some dinner. You could hear Grim's stomach growling already as you both went to the kitchen.

"Are you gonna make something good like you did for breakfast?"

"I'm going to try to."

"What are you gonna make?"

"Well, I was thinking we have the stuff here for a really nice soup-"

You were promptly cut off by the Kitchen door swinging open with a loud bang. Clearly, you were going to have to tell the professors or even the Headmage Crow about securing that side door given how it had already been used twice by others seeking to get into your dorm. Luckily for you, those that walked through the door had at least two familiar faces in the group.

"Sorry for interrupting," Lilia called out, happily making his way over to you in an almost bouncy gait, much like a bird hopping around, "hope you don't mind I brought Malleus, Silver, and Sebek too. I heard one of the Heartslabyul students blew the whistle on you being here in NRC. Figured you could use a bit of extra protection in case any poachers try their luck. Besides, the nest here is just as big as Malleus' nest in Diasomnia."

It was then Malleus spoke, his voice a deep rumble in his chest as he looked over you.

"They will not lay a hand upon my hoard without paying with their lives for such a transgression."

It was clear the Dragon was not happy with the events that took place and he seemed to be quite content claiming you as one of his Hoard. When Lilia explained it to you last night, apparently the moment Malleus decided he was adding someone to his Hoard, he became extremely attached to that person and would even become violent in their defense. Given the way others talked about him, he must have been a genuinely frightening and powerful person to command such fear and respect.

"... So does that mean I'm making soup for all of you or..?"

"If you don't mind. I certainly want another bite of your cooking, (Y/n)!"

Lilia took his perch back on the counter and swung his feet, seeming rather impish and almost childish in his behavior. You just shrugged and nodded, gathering enough ingredients to feed the group several times over. Your hope was that there would be some left over for you to take during lunches. As nice as it was to have raw foods once in a while, you'd rather your meals be cooked.

Grim clearly only trusted Lilia and sat next to the Bat to watch you bustle around the kitchen. He even let out a soft purr when Lilia began to pet his forehead and ears. Where you would have scolded them for sitting on the counter, it wasn't like you didn't have enough counter space already. Starting the broth and preparation was rather simple for you and it was clear those standing around you were keen to watch you prepare the soup.

"(Y/n)," Grim meowed, "where did you learn to do all this fancy stuff?"

"Humans usually cook their food. So I just learned while growing up. Of course there are some things you can have without cooking, like a sandwich or a fruit salad, but most big meals are better cooked. Now, that doesn't mean every Human can cook well, but most are good enough at it."

"So does that mean I can have more of the food you cook?"

"Like a bigger portion? No. But you will always get to have some of whatever I make, okay?"

Grim purred loudly at this, his face lighting up with an excited smile. Clearly the little creature was pleased with your arrangement even if it meant he had to go to boring classes with you. The food was absolutely worth it and he got to sleep in a mountain of pillows and blankets after a long day. It was all way better than the hole in the ground he occupied when he wasn't actively running for his life before he met you.

Once you got most of the soup started, you knew it just needed to be covered and cooked, listening idly to Lilia talk with the others about the events of breakfast and the Gnoll that invited himself in. It was when you finally got this moment that you took a good look at the other two visitors who were either Silver or Sebek, seeing as Lilia didn't point out who was who.

Much to your surprise, one of them reminded you of the Kelpie and Unicorn you had met earlier but he had an obvious three point antler rack attached to his head. His lower half was that of a reindeer and was fairly fluffy compared to the short coats of the Kelpie and Unicorn. Part of you wanted to test if he was as soft as he looked, but you figured it would not be considered appropriate to pet him.

The second new face was an almost canine like man with pale green hair that was slicked back and spiked up at the ends. His eyes were intense as was the apparent scowl that held his features, two sharply pointed dog ears atop his head. Bright yellow-green eyes tracked your every move and regarded you with as much curiosity as you regarded him. The similar medium length tail fur swayed lazily as his tail slowly began to wag when you looked at him.

The soup was beginning to smell rather good and it was clear four of the five others in the kitchen were taking note as they occasionally sniffed the air. Lilia, Grim, Silver, and Sebek were clearly keenly interested in the scent but it was Malleus' behavior that caught your attention. Instead of sniffing or lifting his nose as the others did, his forked tongue slowly slid from between his lips like a snake as if he were tasting the air. You almost laughed at the oddly reptile behavior before his gaze suddenly snapped to the door of the kitchen.

Standing in the doorway was a curious looking man that seemed to have fins on the sides of his head. His almost scaled skin had a kind of faint green tint to it with intense blue undertones, his eyes being two different colors with the right one being a pale gray and the left one being a bright gold. Atop his head were tousled blue-green locks with a singular black stripe that crossed over his forehead above his left eye.

"Oya, it seems I'm not the only one with culinary interests. Apologies for intruding, but the lovely smell drew me in. Would you mind telling me what it is you're making?"

You were surprised to see the almost Fish-like man despite how polite he was being with you. Instead of hopping in to defend you, Lilia looked at you for what you wanted to do with this interloper. Malleus seemed rather keen to rid you of this newcomer's presence but you held up a hand to stop him from acting. Part of you worried this new visitor was dangerous, but because he was wearing a school uniform you figured he was just another student.

"Soup?"

"... May I ask what kind?"

"Only if you tell me your name first and what you were doing around my dorm."

"Ah, forgive me. It seems in my haste to get to the heart of the matter, I forgot my manners. My name is Jade Leach, I'm the Vice-Housewarden of Octavinelle. I'm going to assume from your appearance you are the highly talked-of Human now living on campus. Azul informed us that you would be remaining here for the time being. As for what I was doing, I am rather interested in the foods that grow wild above water, so I was out gathering some mushrooms to sample."

He lifted the foraging bag that hung over his shoulder, showing you the contents within. He was right in that he had gathered up a fair few number of mushrooms and there were several that you actually recognized. You were no master of mushrooms- of course- but you still recognized a few species that were safe for you to eat, seeing several button mushrooms among the many gathered.

Those would be great in the soup you were making, and it was early enough that you could add them right in and they would cook just fine.

"Okay, Jade. I believe you were at least out gathering mushrooms which is innocent enough. I'm actually curious if you wanted to trade for some of those button mushrooms you have, they'd go great in the soup I'm making. In return I'll tell you about it and you can have some to eat if you'd like."

Jade actually seemed to brighten up at this, his smile becoming less strained and his expression smoothing from the stressed way his brows had been pulled together. It was almost as if he had been wanting to ask for some soup but was far too polite to actually inquire. He nodded and set his bag on the counter, letting you pick out the little rounded white mushrooms from the selection he gathered.

"I'm quite partial to the cuisines the different kingdoms have to offer. Rare as it can be to find those who are masters of their craft, I would still like to sample the meals above the ocean waves. I would be grateful for whatever knowledge you can share with me. It isn't every day that someone adept at cooking graces this school."

"Hey," Grim interrupted loudly as you set to dicing the mushrooms, "that's my Hooman you're talking to! She only cooks for me, but I'm kind enough to share with all of you. Don't forget it, got it?"

Jade gave a rather patient simper to your primary companion, resting his right hand over his heart in an almost polite gesture.

"But of course. I'm simply interested in learning to make such meals for myself. I'm certain Azul and Floyd would be keen to taste such a wonderful smelling dish."

This seemed to satisfy your little companion as he nodded with a pleased smile, watching you add the mushrooms to the rather large pot you decided to make the soup in. Thankfully it was a cauldron type pot made for cooking soups over firepits. The fire so dutifully warming your meal crackled pleasantly even as you stirred the bubbling mixture.

"Do you want to ask them to come over, Jade? I made way too much. Honestly, everyone here could all have a bowl, a second bowl, and I would still have enough soup for the rest of the week. I think I went a little overboard in the food department. Should have probably started with a smaller pot, but we're already this far..."

Jade seemed surprised at this, but nodded respectfully and pulled out his phone. You were curious just what Jade was as you really hadn't seen many fish-men during your day, but you weren't going to ask him. If he wanted to tell you what he was, that was his business. Didn't make you any less curious though.

"If you're certain? I'm sure Floyd will be thrilled to have something new to try. He doesn't like some mushrooms, but I don't believe he has tried the ones you've selected, and he certainly hasn't tried cooked mushrooms yet. Azul may try to heckle you into a deal, however. He is always looking for new ways to improve the Monstro Lounge."

"Yeah, of course I'm certain. I offered, didn't I?"

He nodded and began tapping away at his phone, but Lilia seemed rather keen to speak up. The Bat had been listening keenly to the conversation and felt he needed to make himself clear to the notoriously crafty student.

"If Azul threatens (Y/n) or tries to force her into a deal, we will have more than a few problems, understood?"

"He is aware. Believe it or not, those of us from the Coral Sea are actually quite fond of the legacy of Humans. Even Floyd has been babbling excitedly about meeting (Y/n) here."

"That's right, Humans were popular among the various merfolk kingdoms. You all even have a famous story involving the mermaid princess falling for a Human and joining him on land."

"Yes. She struck a deal with The Sea Witch to gain legs she could use to dance for the Human man she fell in love with, too bad the deal didn't hide her gills or fins though. Still, the Human loved her."

You listened to the conversation as you stirred the soup, glad that all of the flavors seemed to be coming together rather well despite the large amount of food you found yourself making. Judging from the conversation Lilia and Jade happened to be having, Jade was a Merman of some kind and apparently Mermen were one of the 'safe species' for Humans to interact with. Though you knew not to judge an individual by the species, it did put you at ease to know he was one of the safer ones.

It was as you were taste testing the soup that the door to the kitchen once again flew open as another visitor invited themselves in. It was offical now, four times proved it was far too easy to get into your dorm through that door. Maybe Lilia would be able to fix it for you, or Malleus seeing as Lilia said it was the Dragon who had mostly fixed up your current abode.

"(Y/n), you're an absolute angel! I thought I was going to have to sleep in the woods once Riddle temporarily banned me from Heartslabuyl! He won't even let me sleep in the lake even though I'm a Lake Water Nymph because of what happened. You believe me when I say I didn't mean to put you in danger, right?"

Cater had thrown himself at your feet, holding onto your legs as if he were some abandoned pet seeking shelter from a blizzard. Around his neck was a thick metal collar that extended out to the sides in black and red colors, forming a heart-shape that locked in the front with a golden and black padlock. He was careful not to get in the fire that was dutifully cooking your soup even as he groveled at your feet.

"O-oi! What's the big idea with everyone coming in that door? It's dangerous to leave that thing unlocked."

"That's what I'm saying! So much for protected and safe with that thing in here."

You couldn't help but slightly grin at Grim as he voiced your own concerns out loud. Lilia simply regarded the door, snapping his fingers to close it as a large metal bolt affixed itself to the door before clicking into place.

"There. Now it can't be thrown open anymore. But why is Cater here? Cater, when did Riddle collar you and why?"

Cater seemed to realize there were others standing around you as he suddenly straightened up, clearing his throat and taking several steps back from you. He tried to play off the desperate display he had just shown and was failing miserably. Cater looked much worse for wear than you remembered him being and you genuinely began to hope the Unicorn hadn't actually harmed the ditzy redhead.

"Well... I may have 'accidentally' posted a picture that told everyone that (Y/n) was a Human and was on NRC grounds, but I totes didn't realize it would put her in danger! Honestly!"

Lilia's bemused smile almost instantly fell away into a glare as he regarded the man standing by your side. You added a bit of salt to the soup as you wated, watching the thick broth bubble and roil with vegtables and diced meat. There were a lot of things you could do in that moment, but something told you it was best to let Lilia handle this situation.

"And what did you think was going to happen, Cater?"

"Tbh, I thought that I would just get a follower count boost and everything would be fine. The Headmage and Riddle sure made it clear I was wrong for thinking that. Lessons learned!"

"It only cost us the safety of the last Human left in Twisted Wonderland."

"I said I was sorry!"

Everyone except Cater seemed to be exceptionally upset as they all glared at him, making him duck behind you as if you were the best shield from their rage. You just let the tall student try and fail to escape the ire of the others. For once, a polite knock came at the kitchen door, breaking off the aggressive staredown taking place.

"Hey, why are we here, Azul?"

An almost sing-song voice hummed from somewhere on the other side of the door, prompting Jade to walk over and open the door for who you assumed to be the two he was talking about. In strode a rather lovely looking man with snow-white hair and shining mauve blue eyes hidden behind thin framed glasses. Around his face were lovely and intricate black markings that reminded you quite a bit of the tentacles of an octopus. Behind him lumbered a rather tall man who almost looked identical to Jade if not for the swapped eye color and slight difference in height.

"We're here because Jade told me there is a profitable venture to be had and I am not going to miss out on this chance to make the Human's acquaintance, Floyd."

The shorter one hummed in a smooth voice and you almost giggled at the rather fact-of-the-matter tone that the white haired one spoke with. You felt it was safe to assume the rather lovely man was Azul and the near identical to Jade fish-man walking with him was Floyd.

Floyd almost made a show of sniffing the air, following his nose to where you stood in front of the pot of soup, watching him curiously. Once his gaze fell on you a wide grin overtook the slight frown he had been pouting with. You could see the way his eyes trailed over your figure due to the bright yellow of his right eye highlighting his pupil as it darted up and down.

"Ne ne, what is such a cute little Shrimpy doing this far above the water? You're so small I just want to squeeze ya."

He took a single step towards you and this seemed to be enough for the two- Silver and Sebek- to suddenly intercept him with swords drawn, creating an 'X' that blocked the tall Merman from approaching further. It was more than a little surprising to see weapons suddenly drawn, but maybe you shouldn't be all that surprised. Lilia did say he came over to guard you again and even brought the others for the same purpose.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt them, I just want a little feel on if Shrimpy is as soft as they look!"

"Floyd, that's enough. She was polite enough to allow me to invite you and Azul over and she is quite the rare specimen, you can't threaten her so casually and expect those guarding her to not be upset."

"I didn't threaten, I just said I wanted a big ol' squeeze."

"Same difference where you are concerned."

"Eh, you're so boring sometimes, Jade. Anyway, what is Shrimpy making over there? Smells good~!"

You were stunned at the almost aggressive behavior from Floyd given how calm and level headed Jade had been thus far. Maybe it was just a quirk of Floyd's to be a little more hands on than others. It honestly made you glad to know your self-appointed guards took their task seriously as they still refused to let the large Merman near you. Speaking of your guards, Floyd didn't seem put off by their aggression in the slightest and almost seemed amused by them as if it were all one big game.

Tension was thick in the air as the almost aloof Floyd smiled at you, watching you grab several bowls and begin ladling out ten total servings. You were not really all that surprised when there was still more soup to go even after you filled enough bowls for yourself and the ever increasing number of guests.

Maybe you were right to make so much after all. Hopefully your surprise guests had all shown-

"Why is the door locked? Hey, Human, I smell food in there! I already ate all the Dandelions from this morning! Can I have some of whatever you're making? Please? I'm starving out here."

Peaking through the windows to the kitchen was a familiar grizzled muzzle of the Gnoll you had met that morning. Ruggie was staring with those unsettling bright blue eyes and you were unsure if you wanted to laugh or scream. You scolded yourself in the back of your mind, remembering that animals would often return to places if they were given food prior and no doubt the Hyena man sought to do the same.

"Should I let him in, (Y/n)?"

Lilia asked, eyeing the lock on the door as Ruggie began to loudly whine and cackle for attention. You just sighed and nodded, knowing the Hyena wasn't going to leave now that he knew there was food ready and waiting just inside.

"May as well."

The Gnoll was quick to enter once the door opened and he happily grabbed one of the ten bowls, immediately scarfing down the soup without even glancing at the now large group of men standing in your kitchen. You didn't bother offering a spoon to Ruggie as it was clear he didn't need or want one. Despite the odd group that had gathered under your roof- technically it was the school's roof, but now wasn't the time for semantics- they all seemed keen to dig in when you passed out the bowls.

Getting yourself a bowl- seeing as Ruggie had taken one of the ten- you were able to finally take in the meal of your labors. It wasn't half bad and those button mushrooms added just the right earthy flavor that really brought the soup together. All of your visitors clearly liked the soup as well and Grim was the first to ask for seconds.

"Miss (Y/n)! This is a fantastic meal! I don't think I've had such flavors in anything I've eaten before! I would only think a meal from my liege could possibly taste better!"

"Sebek," the white haired one interrupted the shouting one, "you don't need to yell at her."

"I'm talking at an adequate volume, Silver. You dare say this meal isn't divine?"

"That's not what I said at all."

Lilia giggled as the two odd characters argued, hopping off the counter to serve himself another helping of the plentiful soup. Despite the absolute lack of respect for your personal space they all seemed to share, you couldn't help but smile as well. The many men you had met were odd and so unique in many ways but none of them actually seemed all that bad once they relaxed and got talking.

Maybe these monsters weren't as monstrous as you thought when you first met them. Hopefully their worries of poachers would just prove to be worries, but you knew you weren't truly safe yet and anyone could be a threat if they genuinely wanted to be. You just hoped there wasn't another shoe waiting to drop on your peaceful evening.

~•§•~

"Trey?"

"Yes, Riddle?"

"Invite (Y/n) to tomorrow's Unbirthday party. It has become rather clear to me that no one can look after her the way the Queen demands, so I will step up and take on that task."

"Riddle..."

"She will be safe with me, I will do whatever it takes to ensure it."

[transmutationisms]

Hi Caden don’t know if you listen to Ethel Cain but was wondering what u think abt her subverting the Americana aesthetic since I think she’s often compared to Lana, at least online. I do think she’s doing something different & to me more compelling than Lana, but I don’t really know how to articulate it.

yep i like ethel cain. i agree she and lana are doing very different things. like, i said before that lana uses american nationalism because she's playing off the fact that it makes/has an erotic appeal, and she places herself as the object of desire in that paradigm—tell me i'm your national anthem, etc. my read on ethel is that she's interested in the rural americana 'trad' aesthetic from a very different angle, where she's trying to connect the homestead and american rural social structures to the perpetuation of violence. there's some overlap here in the sense that lana is definitely also interested in sexual violence and sexuality-as-violence, but in her work the violent or abusive man is generally a specific figure who's aberrant from the norm, and a lot of the artistic interest for lana comes (i think) from her interrogating what it is about this man that's appealing to her and how she sees herself through his eyes. with ethel, on the other hand, she portrays violence as coming through the infrastructure of normal and normative social structures, like the family and the church, with abuse understood to be a feature of these and not a bug. family, church, etc are in turn understood to be part of the infrastructure of american rural communities, casting the critique she's making through the ethel character onto this entire social apparatus (& there is some implication here of how this is all a part of westward colonial settlement—which is a potentially fruitful direction to go in, the idea of expansion into the 'frontier' as a narrative of, or narrative prerequisite to, violence).

so for example this is partly why, for ethel, incest specifically is a mode of sexuality & violence that she continually uses and interrogates: she's invoking it as an intensification of the 'normal functioning' of the family, which means the whole family structure gets pretty ruthlessly questioned through the character of ethel and the violence she faces. she invokes the trad aesthetic and the idyllic family homestead, then shows you the brutality that creates and is created by them. for lana, the family is not a concern in this way and is not something she's questioning or challenging the way ethel does (the daddy/girl thing in lana's work is p far removed from even a pseudo-incestuous reading most of the time, even in her lolita references). there's a similar distinction with how ethel examines protestant theology and practice with the explicit goal of pointing out inherently violent aspects of it, whereas for lana, invoking god or christian imagery is generally more on the level of playing off the way that american nationalism resembles and uses rituals of religious worship. lana takes political phenomena like the appeal of nationalism, and expresses them through the erotic configuration of these relationships with older, dominant men. with ethel it's more that she looks at social structures and practices signified by the rural americana aesthetic, and pokes and prods at these structures until the violence inherent to them is glaringly obvious to listeners through the ethel character's story. it's a way of problematising these institutions and practices, not letting them hide in plain sight by presenting themselves as benevolent.

so yeah i can understand why people might want to compare these two artists, but i think they're actually doing very different things. i would probably not say either of them 'subverts' americana or signifiers of nationalism, which is not a criticism, i just think that concept is often poorly defined and less frequently applicable to art than people sometimes think lol. ethel uses her character's story to deconstruct and question the american aesthetics and institutions her work invokes; lana translates these aesthetics and institutions into explicitly erotic discourses and dissects them through the allegorical figures of the people and relationships in her songs. (this is not to discount the importance of erotics in ethel's work as well obvi but this post is already long :P)

[stinkysam]

Serge “Frenchie” - Regarde-moi.

Warning : nsfw, no protection, spit as lube, breath restriction, getting caught.

Genre : smut

Synopsis : “the boys are at some kind of mission at a gala or smth and someone of the guest flirts with frenchie or m!reader (doesn´t matter) and the other one gets like possessive of the other and is like that´s mine back off. like in general they get protective of one another and maybe some possessive fucking in the restroom or some closet.” Idea by @jadenisdead

Reader : male (you/yours)

Everyone looked so good.

You didn't really know where to look, shiny dresses made of gold, colorful suits, celebrities you low-key admired plus the flashes of the paparazzis blinding you partially, it was hard to focus on the mission. Luckily, you weren't part of the main act.

You watched as Annie posed as Starlight with the other supes and then with Hughie.

You tried to look for the others but your heart was beating heavily, so much noise, so many voices overlapping and you instead saw your favorite singer being interviewed with a tiny mic. You wanted to get closer, to listen to what they were saying but someone grabbed your hand to take you away from the path you had carved yourself. You harshly pulled your hand out of their crip before looking at who it was. Shit.

Frenchie frowned, partially hurt by the gesture but mainly concerned by what you were doing.

“Sorry.” You said, but with the noise, you’re not sure he heard you.

“Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?” He asked, leaning closer so you could hear. You looked around, trying to spot where the others were once more. Again, you didn't see them, meaning they were already far ahead, inside the building, only Kimiko was looking back at the two of you in confusion, not understanding what you were doing behind, waving at you to come.

“Je… euh… Je sais pas ?” You replied, turning your head to look back at Frenchie, voice barely audible, unsure. Your heart was still beating fast and with everyone moving around you, their shoulders brushing against yours and all the flashing lights, it made you struggle to look at him, your eyes darting everywhere to watch everything.

“Ça va ?” He asked loudly, concerned, placing both his hands on your cheeks to make you focus on him, successfully gaining your attention for a moment. He nodded at you, waiting for your answer.

Shit, even Frenchie looked good as fuck. He always did, but he rocked his black suit.

You shook your head ‘no’, too many things trying to grab your attention and succeeding.

“Let's go inside, it'll be calmer.” He said and you nodded. He grabbed your hand and pulled you with him toward the entrance. Kimiko smiled when she saw the two of you arrive. You entered the building and suddenly you felt the difference.

There was still attention grabbing clothes but people weren't talking as loudly as before, you could even faintly hear someone play the piano. And most of all, you had personal space.

“You okay ?” Kimiko signed and you grimaced in response. Could be better, but that'll do. It has to.

You got deeper inside, eyeing the supes and celebrities, your hand never leaving Frenchie’s, still feeling intimidated by your surroundings. You only let go when you felt more at ease and had thoroughly studied the path to the bar. Your mouth and throat feeling dry.

“I'll get us something.” You said close to Frenchie’s ear and he nodded. You walked away, quickly finding back your confidence, thinking about which drink to have.

When you turned to look at Frenchie and Kimiko, there was a woman with them, talking. When did she arrive ?

She looked about twice your age if not a bit more, her thin body adorning a striped black and white dress, a bit contrasting all the shiny, colorful and extravagant dresses that were around.

Her hand was on Frenchie's shoulder and Kimiko eyed her up and down, a brow raised in a judging manner. Then she looked at you with insistent eyes. You frowned at the sight, not understanding what was happening.

You decided to not pay them attention, turning back toward the bar and ordering your drinks. But when you were done and ready to walk back toward them, you noticed the woman was still there, her hand now on Frenchie’s back, whispering something in his ear.

Your eyes twitched, not liking how close she was.

You walked to them determined, dodging people passing in front of you and handed Kimiko her drink and gave Frenchie his. But right as you were about to say something, to ask her who she was, she turned her heels and walked away, her hand caressing Frenchie’s arm in the process.

He turned to you, eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Look, she gave me the spare key to her room.” Frenchie said, showing them to you, looking somewhat proud of himself. You smiled a bit baffled by the nerve of that woman.

You bit your tongue, not wanting to make a big fuss out of it right now. She was… gone.

Well, gone was a big word, you could still see her stare at Frenchie from where she was. Talking with her friends, never taking her eyes off of him, sipping her drink slowly, her eyes twinkling. Yours twitched again when you looked at her, growing more irritated.

Frenchie smiled at you, trying to reassure you and change the topic by thanking you for the drink. It didn't really work, leaving you in a sour mood.

“Don't worry, mon cœur.” He started with a smile, leaning closer, his free hand rubbing your back. “She's not gonna take me.” He looked at you before planting a kiss on your temple, slightly amused.

You hummed in response, far from sharing his amusement and focused yourself in finding the others. Surely she'll stop ogling him and would find another piece of meat to hunt.

“What a bitch.” Kimiko signed, looking at her.

“Yeah.” You replied, irritated.

You saw Annie and Hughie who continued taking pictures inside now -mainly Hughie taking pictures of Starlight with celebrities-, Butcher and M.M were still gone. A sign you still had time before having to leave the place.

You sighed, calming down, the faint sound of piano easing your nerves, slowly drinking your beverage before chugging it entirely when you saw the woman continue staring at him with a smug look on her face. She was still at it.

You looked at Frenchie, pissed, not knowing what to do before turning to Kimiko.

“Kiss him !” She signed. “Make her understand !”

“Je ne pense pas qu-” Frenchie started but you cut him off by pulling him into a kiss. Softly planting your lips on his, a simple peck at first, before growing more passionate, pouring all your feelings for him into it. You blindly handed your empty glass to Kimiko, who grabbed it and took Frenchie's as well, that was about to fall from his hand. He was quick to respond, kissing you back with enthusiasm. You continued like this for a few seconds, savoring each other, holding him close to you as he rested his forehead against yours, forgetting about the woman until you re-opened your eyes.

You saw her shrug at you, raising an eyebrow up, confidently unbothered as if to say “And ?”.

You bit your tongue again, annoyed, and took a step toward her only to be quickly stopped by Frenchie.

“Leave her alone, elle mourra rapidement avec un vagin aussi sec qu'un désert.” He said with a nod, squinting his eyes and you looked at him a bit confused by his words.

“I don't think you can die from a dry vagina. No matter the dryness.” You said, serious, but a bit saddened by the thought.

“She'll be the first then.” He smiled at you and you couldn't help but smile.

“She still pisses me off, though.” You turned to look at her once more, she still looked smug and self assured. That's when you got an idea. “Don't get drunk.” You said to Kimiko firmly, she nodded, confused, and you grabbed Frenchie’s hand as you skimmed the walls.

“Are you sure this is the right time for this ?” Frenchie said. He had caught on quickly on what you were looking for.

You couldn't control the scoff that left you.

“And you care more about this mission than fucking ?” You replied, turning around to look at him. He hummed and moved his head, acting like he was thinking. You rolled your eyes, waiting for his answer with a small smile.

“Okay, but only because we're not the main piece of this plan.” He said, squinting his eyes with a nod as if he had really thought about it.

“C'est ce que je pensais.” You laughed and continued walking, both looking for some sort of exit.

The door you were looking for finally appeared, behind it, a long white corridor leading to the cloakrooms. As soon as you pushed the men's door open, your hands were on Frenchie, letting the door close itself slowly. You pushed him against the lockers, kissing him passionately, holding him by the lapels of his suit.

The stubble on his jaw tickled your lips faintly as you moved lower, kissing his neck, nibbling and sucking his skin, making Frenchie let out little gasps and hiss each time your teeth pinched his skin too harshly. He'll definitely have marks later.

He quickly unbuttoned his suit, cursing when he saw more buttons on his shirt. You chuckled, helping him, though you just wanted to rip it open, you abstained, knowing you had to look presentable afterwards.

You let your hands roam over his body, feeling his hot skin on your palms. You captured his lips once more as Frenchie held you close, pulling you against him and one of your hands moved down until it reached between his legs, pushing and caressing his growing hard on before sliding inside his pants.

He cursed when you stroked his hardening dick, making him feel even more caged in his pants with your hand. You continued caressing him, playing with his tip, your thumb rubbing over the slit, then you pulled away, unbuttoning his pants and pushing them to his knees to continue jerking him.

Your hand moved fast on his length, his back pressed against the locker. Moans and sighs fell freely out of his lips as he watched your hand move mercilessly.

“Wait- Wait.” He stopped you suddenly, catching his breath. His slightly shaky hands going to yours. “I want your cock.”

“I don't think you deserve it.”

“And I don't think we came just for you to jerk me. No ?” He said, smiling.

“And I can leave right now.” You said, smiling back at him, pulling your hand away from his dick, ready to walk out.

“No, no, no, no, no.” He replied, quickly grabbing your hand to place it back where it was, knowing all too well you'd have no remorse in leaving him like that. “Please.”

“Okay.” You moved closer, grabbing him by the dick. Frenchie gasped, holding your hand so you wouldn't pull. “Then why did you take her spare key ?”

“She put them in my hands, promis.”

You nodded before pulling on his dick, making him lean toward you, hissing and grimacing, half from pain and half from pleasure.

“Je te promets !” He quickly added, raising his hands in the air. “I'm all yours. Promis !”

You nodded once more, letting go of his dick, ordering him to turn around. He promptly obeyed. You rewarded him with a ‘Good boy’ before putting two of your fingers in his mouth, his tongue licking them thoroughly until you took them out to push them in his ass.

Frenchie groaned at the sensation, stiffening around you before slowly adjusting to the feeling. You pushed your fingers in and out quickly, drawing small moans out of him. Your other hand went to his dick, stroking him, teasing his tip, pre-come starting to glide down his length.

“Do you really think you deserve my dick ?” You asked and Frenchie nodded eagerly.

“Please, I've been good.”

“I didn't see you move away from her touch.” You pointed out, curling your fingers inside him, touching his prostate, drawing a loud moan out of him.

“I'm sorry. I- I should've ! Please, I really want-”

“I don't know if you deserve it, though.” You replied, both hands continuing to play with him, ripping sweet sounds out of his lips.

“Please, mon cœur.” He hissed.

“That woman really was into you.” You nodded, recalling the events. “Acting like you were all hers, touching you so comfortably.”

“But you know I'm not.” He turned his head to look at you. “Right ?”

“You're not what ?” You curled your fingers again to hit that sweet spot, making him moan and squirm at your touch.

“I'm not hers, fuck- I'm yours. Please. Je te promets, je suis à toi.”

You pulled away from him to unbutton your pants, pushing them down to let your cock free. Frenchie exhaled, catching his breath while you spat on your hand, coating your dick with saliva before pushing yourself inside him.

“You're right.” You sighed, feeling him tight around you. “You're mine.” Your hand went by the back of his neck.

Frenchie groaned, clenching around you the deeper you got. You didn't wait for him to get used to you, instantly bucking your hips in and out, ripping pretty moans and whines out of him. You pushed him against the locker, his front feeling the cold metallic surface, his dick rubbing against it.

Your hand was by his throat now, restricting his breathing, holding him against you. You could feel his Adam’s apple bob each time he swallowed. You tightened your hold, ragged breaths and moans leaving his lips as you continued to fuck into him, your tip hitting his sweet spot dead on.

“Fuck.” He whispered out, closing his eyes, as he began to feel light headed, his head falling on your shoulder. You released his throat, letting him breathe for a few seconds before starting again.

Your pace was quick and thorough, reaching deep inside him.

“Fuck, I'm close.” He warned, voice hoarse.

“Me too.” You hummed.

He breathed loudly as you released him, panting and moaning freely, your two hands now holding his hips as your pelvis slapped against his ass.

You were about to curse when you heard the click of the door opening.

“I'm busy, don't come in !” You yelled rapidly, still fucking into Frenchie, but it was too late. Your eyes met the stranger’s and you could see his face fall, looking at you two in frozen surprise.

“Dégagez !” Frenchie grunted, waving the guy off with a moan. He was so close to cumming and he was not going to let some random guy stop him. The man only slightly jumped, panicking as he turned toward the door and that's when Frenchie came, shooting ropes of cum on the locker and his stomach, a loud relieved moan leaving his lips as he clenched around you deliciously. The man had left on that, probably still standing outside the cloakrooms, shocked.

You continued bucking your hips against Frenchie, letting him ride his orgasm as you reached yours, cumming inside him. You sighed, resting your forehead on the back of his head before pulling out, your cum oozing out slowly. You grabbed a paper towel next to the sink to clean him up then yourself before throwing it into the trash can, forgetting about the cum splattered on the locker.

You pulled your pants back up and kissed Frenchie, helping him button his shirt and suit lazily.

He looked at you then at the door. You quickly understood what he was thinking.

The random guy.

You couldn't help but laugh silently with him before slowly pulling the door open, your heads poking out.

He was still there, looking all awkward and embarrassed. He really needed to get inside apparently.

“Merci.” You and Frenchie said as you walked out, holding each other's hand, cackling as you quickly began to run away, hoping the others weren't looking for you yet.

You hadn't missed how cramped it felt to be around this many people. You rapidly made your way back to Kimiko, seeing Hughie and Annie sipping their drinks with her before passing by the woman from earlier. Frenchie grabbed the key she gave him and dropped it in her glass of champagne, still holding your hand. You noticed, and pulled him close, whispering in his ear.

“We could've fucked in her room.”

“Maybe I could try getting it back ?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Don't push your luck.” You replied with a chuckle, your index hitting his chest as you pointed at him, now seeing the small marks on his neck.

You smiled, happy and turned to Annie and Hughie, not understanding what you were talking about.

“So, no news from the others ?”

Traduction - Translation :

Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? - What are you doing ?

Je… euh… Je sais pas ? - I… uh… I don't know ?

Ça va ? - You okay ?

Je ne pense pas qu- - I do not think tha-

Elle mourra rapidement avec un vagin aussi sec qu'un désert. - She'll die quickly with a vagina as dry as a desert.

C'est ce que je pensais. - That's what I thought.

Promis. - Promised.

Je te promets. - I promise you.

Je suis à toi. - I'm yours.

Dégagez. - Go away.

Merci. - Thanks.

[wolfhoundwitch]

A Guide to Graveyard Work

One of the earliest introductions I had to spirit work as a baby witch was graveyard work. In short, this practice involves building relationships with the deceased spirits of a graveyard, by communicating, leaving offerings and being mindful of their space. It is part of a wider practice known as death work, but this focuses specifically on how to enter and respect what is essentially the 'home' of the spirits you are working with. You can further build on your practice from this.

This is a handy guide to the different aspects of the practice, looking into the appropriate offerings and etiquette, written with a lot of love.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Graveyard Etiquette

There are rules you must follow in graveyards, whether for your personal safety, out of politeness, or following the law of your country. Sometimes these overlap. But sometimes, the rules you hear might be no more than baseless superstition, which there is a lot of concerning graveyards. There are way too many superstitions to list, however -

Some good rules to follow are:

Don't begin this work with the intention of taking from the graveyard or using the spirits in your practice. In the same way you wouldn't take from a stranger, it's important to build a relationship before you ask for things.

Try not to stand on graves where possible, out of respect for the dead but also those mourning them. Sometimes, graveyards are set up so that it is impossible to go anywhere without stepping on something, which is okay so long as you're not intending disrespect. However, do be wary that headstones can fall and the ground can shift.

Some people believe you shouldn't take any photos of the graves. I personally think that if the grave is old enough, it doesn't matter too much. If the grave is modern, it might be inappropriate for those in mourning to see you taking photos.

You can clean up trash, but be mindful of what might be considered trash. Obvious thrown-away food and drink packaging might be appropriate to clean up, but what if someone left a deceased one's favourite food at their grave? Or what if you decide to get rid of a toy or letter left there? Try to avoid cleaning up around the actual graves and focus on cleaning near the gates or in empty areas.

Don't trespass! If the cemetery has set entry times, enter and leave only within those times. Don't jump the fence, and don't enter any areas that are clearly gated or off-limits.

Leave an offering when asking to take something from the cemetery grounds. I don't feel it necessary to leave an offering each time you enter, especially if you plan on visiting often. But, if you want to take something like graveyard dirt or plants growing there, leave an offering for sure. And make sure to ASK. If you feel wrong, it's a no.

If you EVER find anything askew in a graveyard, such as vandalism, theft, or even dug up bones (it happens, I've found them before) PLEASE report it straight to the groundskeeper, associated church, or relevant authorities. It is not your responsibility to attempt to fix these things, or take things for yourself.

Offerings

You can leave offerings at the gate, or on specific graves if you want to work directly with that spirit. You don't always need to leave an offering, but it is a good thing to do when building a relationship and especially when asking to take from the site.

Some good offerings are:

Coins, especially two coins. There is a belief that the two coins are placed on the eyes of the deceased to pay the ferryman taking them over the river Styx. This has been maintained as a tradition.

Flowers. Even better if you look into Victorian flower symbolism for older grave sites and base your offering on this.

Origami. I would often fold multiple tiny cranes and leave them as offerings on individual graves. The best part is they are biodegradable.

I would be wary of leaving any kind of food or drink, as you might attract animals or even cause harm to the ecosystems living there. The same goes for anything made of plastic or that could hurt an animal.

Natural items such as seashells, feathers or stones are great, safe options for offerings.

You could also burn a candle or incense, but remember to stay with them while they burn and make sure they are extinguished when you leave.

Offerings don't have to be physical - you could say a few kind words, sing to them, or even just dedicating time to sit with the dead or talk with them can be an offering in itself.

Protection

I personally don't go into my practice thinking I could get possessed or followed by a demon at any given moment. However, I do think it's important to remember that graveyards can be full of a lot of upset, angry, and occasionally malevolent energies. Even if you don't intend to, these energies can attach to you or be taken home by you and can make you feel off.

Here are some ways you can protect yourself:

Cleanse yourself before and after entering a cemetery, even just by meditating and visualising or by using incense.

Check out my post on shielding techniques, and try to familiarise yourself with the visualisation techniques until you feel comfortable doing them.

Charm an item of clothing, such as a piece of jewellery, as an amulet to ward against negative energies that you can wear.

Find or create a protective sigil or rune that you can draw on something or on yourself.

You can pray to any deities you work with to ask for protection, especially if these deities are associated with death or spirits.

Communication

People who practice death work might communicate with the dead in different ways. They might be clairvoyant, use divination, feel energies or sometimes even just know what the spirits are saying. In any sense, spirit communication is a skill that is very much required in this practice. @koscheys-skull said it best here. You need good communication skills, in the sense that you are still talking to PEOPLE. And you need to go in with good intentions. If you are going in purely with the intention of using the dead for your own benefit, you won't get very far. If you can't talk to and actively listen with some semblance of empathy, you won't get very far. Death work is not an aesthetic, it is not for you to take your emo photos and be disrespectful. it is a serious, difficult and tolling practice that takes a lot of time and refining.

If you have gotten this far, I wish you all the best. It is a difficult but ultimately fulfilling part of spirit work, and if you are ready to dedicate the time and effort to it, you will get a lot out of it.

Thanks for reading! Please visit my tags for more guides, and feel free to reach out with requests for more information. Lots of love.

[tumbleweed-run]

Could Gale ever be Poly?

Situationally. Yes

Am I the person who wrote an entire post about Gale being a jealous (rightfully so) man? Yes.

But hear me out, in the aftermath of BG3, as long as we took everyone's "good" route. I could see him eventually agreeing to a 3rd. Not just any but very specifically Astarion. And while this is partially bloodweave brainrot I assure you I have considered it.

It wouldn't be easy for either of them, and realistically Tav. But Gale would start out as the main, Astarion and Tav are just BFFs. Astarion learning that love can be without strings.

They invite him to Waterdeep, away from the city and it's memories but also towards a potential Vampirism Cure/Day walking spell that doesn't involve becoming Cazador. Because Gale would be the most qualified to find that cure. And I bet his tower is easily traversed in the daylight hours without risk to Astarion.

It could just stop there, the three of them happy.

But we're discussing a triad.

I think the first crossroads towards romance would actually be Gale/Astarion. Astarion would still be himself and while his innuendo and flirting is generally accepted as just Who He Is and no one pays it mind. Maybe Gale off handedly agrees to whatever entendre that is proposed, as a challenge or just truly "yes I would agree to doing this dirty thing you've joked about." Astarion would be

at first. Mostly from shock but then he'd dwell on it. Tav and Gale aren't shy with touch, with each other or him. He's regularly hugged and cuddled, sometime's he's even the initiator. It's not uncommon for Gale to emerge from his study after hours to find them curled up on the same couch each immersed in their own thing.

Gale's probably the first one to be surprised by his own lack of jealousy when he happens upon the scene for the first time. But it just becomes the norm. And when Tav is off working on their own thing it eventually becomes common to find Gale and Astarion knee to knee in the study, each with excessively large tomes, leaning over one another because they're both working from BOTH books.

So that first time Gale is blatantly like "yeah lets do that" Astarion is struck by the fact that... he actually might want to. But he's reluctant because Tav's (and admittedly Gale's) friendship is unexpectedly more important that anything as fleeting as 'romance' or 'lust'.

But Tav is 200% on board when the conversation get brought up by Astarion (in the 'ahaha you wouldn't believe...' way). They love both these idiots, albeit in different ways, and wouldn't mind. Even if it was just Gale&Astarion.

But it would never be JUST those two because of how deeply both men care for Tav. Whatever they build to becomes normal. Maybe all three sleep in the same bed, Astarion position on the outside so he can sneak off when he's done resting. Maybe they just constantly find each other making overlapping decisions about future adventures or where to look for a rumored cure.

Part of the reason why this works is Gale and Astarion are not dissimilar. They face their trauma with different takes but it's deeply embedded in who they are and how they'll approach life forever more. While Gale is 100% willing to try and give Astarion more autonomy than he's ever dreamed of, believing that 'if you love something set it free' line. Astarion would spend a lot of time trying to get Gale to see and accept that while he made mistakes he was far from the villain in his story. Tav would spend most of that time trying to run around thwarting miscommunication and reigning in Astarion's god-killer urge despite also wanting very much to punch Mystra.

So while I think both men deserve to be 100% the center of someone's affections, I also believe they could eventually find a healthy trio dynamic.

(and also do whatever the faerun equivalent of an eiffel tower is to tav regularly)

[waxingrunes]

I’m seeing too much of this across all channels and I need to write a little something on my humble blog with my humble amount of followers, because how else am I going to get this off my chest.

Some of you need to remember that this whole world we created is pure, fiction. It’s based off fiction and we are building off fiction, forking off in different directions with characters we love.

The canon vs fanon debate is ongoing and quite honestly, mind numbingly pointless and you all consistently contradict and overlap one another with whatever discourse you’re riding that week. You lot wanna argue a point by saying, “these are my hc’s and I can do what I like with them stop taking everything so seriously teeheehehehe” then uno reverse that the next minute by screaming, “that would never happen *insert name* is this or is that” but fuck canon right? Fuck JKR? Or is it more, fuck the parts of canon I don’t like and I’ll take the parts I do so I can shove them down the throats of creators who represent these characters in an opposing light. The amount of posts I’ve seen floating around these sites that are people preaching to their audiences about how dumb they are (unless it’s meant to be satire, I’m not a brainless sensitive lump with no humour bone) for liking certain things, or enjoying certain things, or preferring certain aspects in a character is astounding. Take pause before jumping on your high horse over a fictional character and shaming people for moulding them into what they enjoy. Is this not the beauty of fiction, imagination; the ability to twist and turn over different traits and appearances within our palms and make them into our own little dress up dolls?

Here’s my two cents as a WOLFSTAR artist, not a Marauders— if I want to make Sirius into a teacup and Remus into a sea slug and have him curl up to sleep every night in his bowl, then I’ll do that with fine china detail. If I want to make Sirius someone who refuses to wear nothing but a specific shade of tangerine and Velcro strapped trainers, I will. One day I might throw Moony into a boxing ring and have him be a middleweight champion, stained by the blood of his opponent whilst his wolf is chomping at the bit to come out just before the full moon threatens to take centre stage. If I want to make Sirius 6ft tall and Remus 5ft1, I will. Why not draw an AU of them as the rocks from Everything, Everywhere All At Once? Maybe, they can be something as simple as a boy and a boy who look the way you want them to look, fuck the way you want them to fuck and fall in love and fight, and scream, and cry, and make up a million different ways.

Let’s get more specific as the seal’s broken. Why not make Remus plus sized and give him a beard or a dad’s bod at age 23. Or maybe because he’s lighter haired he doesn’t have dark hair like that and only has a smattering of it across the ugliest of his scars. Consider this— moony with softer hips but fuller sturdy shoulders. Or long, slender limbs with a deceptively hidden strength owing to his wolf, stronger than James though he doesn’t look it. Onto Sirius, try to tell me I’m not going to put him in thigh highs and fem the shit out of him whilst he holds a bat in one hand covered in the blood of someone who tried to disrespect his Moons. Alert the press when someone erases every single one of his tattoos only to replace them with hyperpigmentation. What about giving him a beater’s build and a long thick trail of naval hair that he likes to call his ‘seeker’s delight’. What about a hairless Sirius who has a soft life and likes to make herself pretty for her 6ft 4 boyfriend every weekend when he gets on the train to visit.

How about, I stick with my personal holy take on the boys and present you with a harmless middle ground where Moony is whatever the fuck I want him to be physically, emotionally, or characteristically but always a wet fucking cloth for Sirius. A grape, under a thumb, you could say. And a Sirius, who is too whatever I want him to be physically, emotionally, or characteristically but will always be Moony’s biggest cheerleader.

Stay with me whilst I offer you the brain stretching, risky, taboo thought for you to ponder on: stop trying to please people. Stop absorbing all these takes that pressure you into thinking you’ve got to include every fucking thing that shaves you down and boxes you into their squeaky clean little creator! Indulge in what you like. Make it public, make it known and make it as loud as you want. Feels good on this side of freedom.

Lastly, quick (none of this has been quick) circle back to myself being a Wolfstar artist, not a Marauders one. I will not be shamed into drawing the women in this fandom, I will not try to even out my art with equal parts women and men, in fear of being called misogynistic. I came here for Wolfstar and I stay for them; I get 95% of my muse from them and enjoy drawing these idiots nearly every single day when I can. I’ve a busy life, a job, the luxury of a family that love me and a couple friends I’d like to keep too. If and when I draw, it’s going to be what I want to draw and want to indulge in, not to check off your boxes of inclusion. I am not going to defend my choice of indulgence to you. I am not going to refute women or wlw ships and in fact, eat up stories or art where they’re prominent. Will I have muse or will to do a piece on them? Probably not. If I do, I will and if it’s not done to a standard deemed appropriate enough by the council, well shit I hope I get an honourable mention in one of your hate threads on Twitter.

Grow up. I am the type of person who has a more or less rigid taste on these boys and what I, enjoy representing them like and you runts will run your throats hoarse before I turn an ear. I am not the type of person to see someone who doesn’t like what I prefer and start slamming my keyboard and slap them with a red card. I’ll move on but appreciate the take in silence. Some of you really, come across like you’re stomping your feet in a tantrum, some of you sound like you’ve never been told to shut the fuck up a day in your life and some of you, some of you, really think you’re a messiah.

Fuck your canons, fanons and righteous attitudes towards people who are quite literally, not real. You are not a deity of the Marauders, you are a fucking loser offline just like the rest of us.

[indigovigilance]

When They Became Their Own Side

Can I just say that gif-clipping the scenes to make this meta broke my heart all over again so good job JF, NG, MS & DT.

Anyways.

I'm going to discuss the major contenders for "the scene in which Aziraphale and Crowley became their own side," and then tell you when I think it happened, below the cut:

Identifying the Third Side

By the time you clicked "Keep reading" you probably had a scene in mind. I'm going to predict it was this:

Which is an extremely strong contender, though frankly this entire scene is filled with character-trajectory changing lines (Satan bless you JF), so I'll take it as within-error-limits if you picked anything immediately adjacent to this.

The reasoning behind it is solid: Aziraphale knows, on a spiritual level, that he is not on Heaven's team anymore. He fully expects to go to Hell. He's ready.

But he finds out that he's not going to Hell. Despite Crawley's statement that nothing has to change, we know that everything has changed for Aziraphale. Neither truly a part of Heaven nor or Hell, he now knows that he occupies the liminal third space, a realm that has been home to Crawley for quite some time. Yes, it is lonely, but maybe a little less lonely than it was before, or would have been; where once there was only one, now there are two. By the end of this scene, they both know that they are on the same side, a third side, and the pain of separation that entails. But being and knowing are different things, and I would argue that Aziraphale was on Crowley's side before he realized it, which means we have to go further back.

The Revelation of Confluence

Maybe you thought of this:

...and this scene is a great choice, because as of this moment Aziraphale knows (and Crowley knows he knows) that they have a confluence of goals and morals. Every action in the rest of Book of Job is based on the common understanding and trust relationship they establish in this scene. But again, did they need to know that they were on the same side to be on the same side? Their moral compasses would still have aligned and they would still be working for common purpose even if Aziraphale had not uncovered the ruse. I would still say we could go further back.

Establishing Loyalty

Perhaps, trying to beat me to the punch, you went back so far that you went off the page, so to speak, to Before the Beginning:

A rare but solid choice, and entirely defensible. Aziraphale has just met Crowley and rather than ratting him out or letting him face the very just and deserved consequences that the Almighty would exact upon such a divergent, free-thinking celestial, Aziraphale gives him advice to keep him safe. He is protecting the Starmaker from Heaven, which seems to put him on the Starmaker's side in opposition to Heaven. Aziraphale's first loyalty is to his principles, stretching his proverbial wing over the Starmaker to shield him from the reign of the Almighty, and no, that wasn't a spelling mistake. We see as well that the Starmaker, quite explicitly, puts his principles first. In this way the two are similarly defective (in the sense that they are defectors), but their principles don't strictly overlap here. Neither of them are fully on Heaven's side, but it would be a stretch to say that they are on the same side.

More importantly, the Starmaker isn't really on anyone's side; the Starmaker doesn't even seem to be aware that there are sides! Just a project that would benefit from some suggestions, a fresh point of view. So they certainly aren't on Aziraphale's side. But the fact that Aziraphale has tried to protect them is important, and I will reference it later, so hang onto that thought.

Forming Trust

Maybe you're a real dreamer, and your beautiful brain lighted upon this scene:

Absolutely brilliant, tumblrite, because Aziraphale isn't even going to tell God that he gave away the flaming sword to a pregnant girl, in fact he'll lie about it to every angel he encounters until the end of days.

But he told Crawley.

Aziraphale puts his fate in this demon's hands when he shares this; after all, what's to stop the serpent of Eden from ratting him out and getting him into Big Trouble? But the thought that Crawley might betray him never seems to occur to Aziraphale, and it seems that his trust is well-placed, because as we know, Crawley will never betray this confidence.

Taken in combination with Before the Beginning, Aziraphale has both kept secrets for the Starmaker and entrusted Crawley with his own secret. This bilateral trust bond is the foundation that "our side" will be built upon.

Nonetheless, up on that wall, Aziraphale still wonders if he's done the right thing, and takes reassurance that yes, being an angel and doing the right thing go hand in hand. After this, Aziraphale will continue to make choices that betray his principles, opting to instead follow the Will of God (see: the Flood). He is on Heaven's side, and whatever Crawley may be, it isn't that.

I think we can safely say that as of this moment, Crawley (besides being head over heels in love), who is already on his own side, is ready to welcome Aziraphale into that space with him, but that Aziraphale isn't taking him up on the invitation yet.

So while it's true that they have a unique bond as of this scene, it still isn't a side.

When Aziraphale accepts the invitation to the Third Side

Sure, Crowley has been on Aziraphale's side since the moment he invented heart eyes in the Garden of Eden, but Aziraphale didn't join Crowley's side until this exact moment:

We were all a little too busy being pissed at Gabriel for this line to realize that he single-handedly brought together the greatest power couple above or below the Earth.

We are simply not stopping Hell.

What they do is up to them.

Aziraphale has exhausted all his options appealing to Heaven to save Job's children, and in this moment, he realizes (because Gabriel tells him directly) that if he wants to save them, he's going to have to go behind Heaven's back to do it.

Crawley and Aziraphale aren't even in the same room. But Aziraphale, at this moment, has turned his back on Heaven and joined Crawley's team.

Crawley just doesn't know it yet.

But Aziraphale is about to go down there and tell him:

A few other meta-analysts have written on the topic of equivocation: communicating in deliberately ambiguous ways so that the person across from you understands your meaning and any unseen spectators do not. (I personally learned this term from @cobragardens, in this meta, and @ao3cassandraic's discussion of kayfabe is a closely related topic)

We should interpret the ensuing scene (which deserves a meta all its own, like this one by @majortomyourcurcuitsdead) through that lens. "You don't have to" and "I know you" are all, on their face, harmless statements, but are all equivocation for:

We are on the same side.

Crowley is understandably wary, and isn't about to let Aziraphale know that he's been clocked. But whatever pretense that he was maintaining dissolves right about here:

Circling back to the top, yes, this is the moment that they each know they know. But knowing that they were on the same side was not a necessary condition of being on the same side. Aziraphale, when he made the decision that any further appeal to Heaven was futile, and that he must appeal instead to Crawley for mercy, had already jumped into the liminal with both feet.

Crawley will try to deny it, but they both know what's up:

In Summary

This distinction may not be important, but the theme of sides is so strong that this felt like a topic worth exploring.

The argument that Aziraphale enters and exits the third team is also a very defensible one; he will denounce and then rejoin Crowley across the millennia to come. But the first time he makes the decision that he will work with Crawley to collude against Heaven and Hell occurs at the very moment when Gabriel tells him that that is the only remaining option if he wants to do the right thing.

Which raises the question: was offering Satan a contract to terrorize Job, assigning a morally ambiguous demon to execute it, and sending in a renegade angel to thwart it all part of the Ineffable Plan?

I'll let you decide.

[yuurei20]

Jade and Floyd Info Compilation part 44: Each Other (pt2)

During Harveston Jade tries to memorize how to make a certain dessert that looks like takoyaki (Floyd’s favorite food) by watching a local vendor so that he can try making it for Floyd, and Epel offers to give him the recipe directly.

Jade says, “I like it best when Floyd’s in his element, enjoying things as they come,” and that they have very different tastes: their parents ask them what they want for their birthdays every year, and thus far their requests have never overlapped.

Jade will “reprimand” Floyd without apparently meaning to hold him back at all, which he does multiple times in the main story and various events and vignettes.

When Jade does give him a serious command it is not unusual to see Floyd obey, but he sometimes will not.

Floyd takes a moray mascot keychain with him to the first Vargas Camp, saying that he brought it with him as a stand-in for Jade, who wanted to go, too.

When Jade goes to Vargas Camp 2, he brings with him a similar key chain of his own.

It seems it is not unusual for Floyd to borrow Jade’s clothes: Floyd mentions using Jade’s scarf for his dorm uniform and Jade’s labcoat for class.

Jade comes closer to seducing Eliza during the Phantom Bride event than possibly any other suitor, but his efforts are sabotaged by Floyd pointing out that the flower Jade offers her is poisonous.

Jade does not try to backtrack, explaining that he has given her a highly toxic flower that would cause a person’s hand to break out if they so much as touched it, “but it doesn’t seem to have an effect on ghosts. I’ve learned something new today.”

Eliza slaps Jade for the offense and Jack blames Floyd for the failure. Floyd says, “I just didn’t like the idea of him sititn’ pretty while I’m stuck in slapsville.”

Twitter user kanna_tkrb points out that Eliza’s refusals of her suitors are the same throughout Phantom Bride (in the original game), with the exception of Jade and Floyd.

Eliza calls Floyd 論外, which is close to “completely out of the question,” and Jade “物騒” which is close to “risky/unsettling.”

Floyd expresses concern for Jade not eating properly in two events, once in Beanfest and once during Halloween, where he encourages Jade to sit down and rest while Floyd fetches him food. Jade explains that his “fuel efficiency is lacking” (low blood pressure?).

Jade is Floyd’s judge for Culinary Crucible.

Floyd adds a wide variety of ingredients that were not in the original recipe and, according to the chef ghost, doubles the size of the dish.

Jade eats the entire meal without issue, to the chef’s surprise.

Jade’s appetite seems to rival that of Sebek: the two eat enough food for five people (“and they’re still goin’!”) at a marketplace in Harveston, and then they go back for dessert.

Jade says that eating so much is why he is so tall (he is 1cm shorter than Floyd, whose eating habits we do not hear as much about, though Rook says he once saw Floyd looking hungrily at a school of fish).

[detectivestucks]

The Anbu Captain III

18+ content, Minors do NOT interact

Pairing: Kakashi x F!Reader

Summary: Kakashi, up to his usual mischief pays you a visit at your office where things get heated before your coworker shows up.

Warnings: NSFW, Nipple, Sensory, & Anal Play, Oral, Chocking, Dom kink, general smutty-ness

Word Count: 1.9k

Art Credit: @akirasukuna

Part 1 Part 2

It had been two months since the start of your affair with Kakashi. He had visited your home a total of four times between his missions. Each time he was just as ruthless and brutal with your poor figure as the last, leaving your body bruised and battered in the best way. Since he only visited after you were already asleep, you started to work the late shift hoping eventually he’d break into your home while you were getting ready for bed rather than already in bed. 

You were in the office late, as usual, having already said goodbye to your comrades. Tonight you were decoding an important scroll that was a combination of several languages blended together. It was exceedingly complex and you marveled at the mind who came up with the code. While writing down what you had translated so far, you sensed someone in your office. You slowly pull out a Kunai from your tactical pouch, twirling it in your hand ready to strike your attacker. When they leapt down, making their move, you brought the Kunai to their neck only for them to spin you around and pin your arm behind your back. With your other hand you grabbed a second kunai and swung at him full force as you turn facing them to land a swift kick in their gut. He dodged both your attacks at lightning speed only to grab each of your wrists and pin them down on your desk bending you over while standing right behind you. They squeezed your wrists hard. So hard it hurt. You felt the bruises forming under his strong fingers. Your mind scrambles to figure out the next move when you hear a tutting coming from the man.

“Drop them” 

Recognizing the voice, you comply

“You’re back…”

He doesn’t respond but you feel his erection pushed into your backside resting in the valley of your plush bottom. 

“You know normal people say ‘hi’”

“You’re much more feisty than when I left”

“Having you break into my apartment is different than having you break into my place of work. You could’ve been an enemy trying to steal the secrets from the scroll I was just deciphering.”

Kakashi hums in amusement. 

Pushing his erection into you harder he moves your wrists behind your back so that your forearms overlap. He pins them down with one hand while he twirls your hair into a ponytail at the base of your head, before shoving your face down into the papers on your desk. 

“There’s something so pretty about seeing you like this.” he says as he pushes down harder. You let out a whine of discomfort

You feel a masked kiss on your neck before he takes his hand out of your hair, pulls down his mask and grabs you by your jaw, manhandling you so  you are unable to turn around and see his face. 

He nibbled your ear before breathing into it “I’ve been imagining how pretty you look with me inside of you”

He licks your neck, making you shudder. Goosebumps spanning over the entirety of your neck and back.

“Replaying how beautiful you look naked with my fingers inside of you”

A chill ran down your spine

“And wanting to relive what it feels like to have those tight little walls around my cock”

You twitch with anticipation. As excited as you are to have him defile you once more, you’re very aware of the fact that you’re in public. Sure most people have gone home by now but anyone could walk into your office at any given moment. He wouldn’t actually do anything with me here, would he?

Just as you finish this thought he snakes his hand up your shirt and into your bra squeezing your chest. “Mmmmmm” he hums.

He feels your erect nipple with his palm adjusting his hand so he can roll it between his fingers. 

“Is this for me? Do you like being pinned down?”

You quietly whimper “mhm”

“That’s what I thought”

He removes his hand from your shirt to explore inside your pants only to find your slick was already seeping into your underwear.

“Seems like you know who you belong to, that’s a good girl.”

He unbuttons your pants with one hand then slips back under your thong to rub circles around your clit.

“Now you unbutton mine.”

Your hands that had been pinned behind your back wiggle their way down to his button and zipper, you free his hardened member from its constraints.

“Now pull down your own.”

With what little mobility you had you manage to grab your waistband and pull it down over your fleshy behind along with your thong. 

“Good girl…”

He glides his length between your thighs already wet with your arousal and pokes your bud with his tip. You shudder as he coats himself in your sweet juice. 

“You’re so very excited for me, aren’t you beautiful?’

You gulp before whispering “yes”

He presses into your folds, your gummy walls enveloping his entire length as he bottoms out inside of you. A sharp gasp passes your lips as he stretches you in a most satisfying way.

“Mmmm, that’s right, take it.”

Your eyes squeeze tight as he begins thrusting into you hard. Your hands now free, grab the desk for stability.

“Ah…ah…ah…ah” you sing with each snap of his hips. 

He hums in satisfaction watching you submit to him. 

“I heard you were a good girl while I was gone, waiting for me to get home”

He says, picking up the pace. 

“Ye.e.e.e.s.” You say having a hard time completing the word between thrusts

One of his hands around your waist, the other creeping up to your neck causing you to arch backwards. 

He licks your neck up to your ear before nibbling on it once more. 

The sensitivity of your skin causes you to throw caution to the wind as your moans become louder. 

He pounds you hard, his sack slapping your encouraged bud making you sink back into him. You hands that were clutching the desk  reach over your head aiming to run your fingers through his hair. 

He squeezes your neck, choking you “No touching”

“Yes, sir”

“Captain”

“Yes, Captain”

“Goooood girl”

Your juices run down your leg with the wet thud of each thrust. 

The hand around your waist creeps down to your bud. He coats his fingers in slick from your folds before he strokes circles around it. You twitch as you cream around his cock. 

He tisks at you, pulling your neck back so he can whisper in your ear “clean it up”

You turn around dropping to your knees as you open wide. Your eyes locking with his. He inserts his length in your waiting mouth as you attempt to lap up your cum. He pushes your head all the way down and you push your hands into his thighs trying to resist. 

“No. Touching.” he scolds as he grabs a fistful of your hair and yanks your head back.

You take your hands off his thighs.

“Put them behind your back.”

You do as he demands. 

This time, more forceful than before, he holds your head down on his length as you cough and gasp for air. He felt a rush of power as he held you there. You stared up at him pleading to let you go. Struggling to keep your hands behind your back as you desperately needed air. He finally lets you breathe before barking more orders.

“Turn around and lean back over the desk”

“Yes, Captain”

You do as your told. As you bend over, he pulls your pants down to your ankles and lifts one of your knees onto the desk, freeing it for your pant leg.

Gliding back into your needy hole with ease, he resumes his pounding now hitting your cervix with the new angle. Though you were louder than usual, he enjoyed watching you try desperately not to scream. Teasing you more, he had you lick one of his fingers before putting it in your ass. You always resisted when he did this but watching you give in was part of the fun.

Down the hall you hear the door open. Your shinobi reflexes causing you to react but he restrains you, keeping your leg pinned up on your desk as he pushes his leaking tip into your rear. You let out a guttural groan.

“I’m not done with you yet.”

The fear you feel as you’re about be caught fucking on the job begins to consume you making you tight. Kakashi sinks his teeth into your shoulder as he strokes quickly, finishing in your tight back hole leaving his sticky white ropes behind. At the last second he withdraws leaving the fresh bite mark behind as you hurriedly hike up your pants. 

You turn around to see one of your colleagues, Akio, timidly enter the room. “Oh hey!” You say nervously rubbing the bite mark while feeling Kakashi’s seed slip out of you, saturating your underwear. From the rafters Kakashi smiled at being the reason for your fluster. Having no idea he was there, you begin your conversation.

“Akio, what brings you by?”

Akio, admittedly, was a colleague you’ve had on and off feelings for. He was tall with dark thick brows and dark hair that was long and swept back on the top but short on the sides. The two of you had a lot in common, often sharing conversations about languages that no one else could hope to understand. He was warm and friendly with a kind smile. The complete opposite of the man who just had his way with you a moment ago. He brought out a succulent from behind his back that was planted in a decorative tiny white pot. 

“Is this for me?!”

“Yeah, I wanted to bring you this for your desk”

“How  adorable, I love it!” you say as you take the potted plant and place it on your desk. 

“I also wanted to see if you’d join me for dinner tomorrow night”

“Uh, dinner?”

“Yeah”

“Like a date?”

“Like a date”

“Gee, uh, I don’t know” you say as you feel another gush of kakashi seed drip into your underwear.

“Why, do you have a boyfriend or something?” He says with a charming toothy grin.

“We’ll no…”

“Come on, Y/N.” He pleads, grabbing both your hands in his. “Give me a chance. I’m going on a limb here asking the smartest girl in the entire department on a date. Throw a guy a bone.”

You pull your hands from his grasp and tuck your hair behind one ear blushing with your eyes downcast. You feel a knot form in your stomach as you agree.

“Alright, I guess” you say, uncertain about your answer. 

“Great! I’ll meet you at the end of your street tomorrow night. We’ll walk to the restaurant together.”

“That sounds great” you say with a soft smile 

Kakashi, infuriated by witnessing this exchange, leaves your office with a slight breeze headed to the training grounds to work out his frustration. 

You feel the air move on your neck as you realize you weren’t alone when Akio asked you on your date. 

Jealous and threatened, Kakashi splintered the logs at the training grounds. You were his. How could you accept a date with another man? It’s not that he ever told you that you couldn’t go on dates, only that you couldn’t have other men in your home. What if you were to realize you wanted a man who could be around more? What if this Akio-guy could treat your pussy better than he could? No. Pakkun will have to continue to keep an eye on you. If things escalate, Pakkun will let him know so he can intervene. Like hell another man will lay claim to what rightfully belonged to him.

Part 4 Masterlist

[miscmonstro]

I’ve been seeing a decent amount of “Amity gets scooped and plopped into dc dimension” style prompts so consider: Shadow Zone Amity.

Amity doesn’t appear out of no where in Illinois, in the dc world. It’s not near Gotham/Star City/Metropolis. Instead it’s inside of Gotham (bc batman crossovers remain my interest but any city could work). 

So. Idk how many people are familiar with Transformers Prime but the shadow dimension is a mirror of the real world but in muted colors and people in the shadow dimension can see and hear people from the original dimension, however, people in the regular dimension cannot see/hear/feel/etc. anything from the shadow dimension.

I like that idea but instead of it being the shadow dimension being a mirror it’s a copy of DP’s world and instead of a one way type of perception the dp and dc dimensions remain separate… kinda.

Amity absorbs parts of Gotham and makes a shadowy copy of various places. The citizens of Amity are like, “Well. There’s a new park/office building/street/etc. I guess.” 

Gotham, meanwhile, remains the same. Physically.

Sometimes people will appear in Gotham, walking, sitting in the park, etc. But they never acknowledge anyone and can disappear between one blink and the next. If there happen to be two and they speak to each other, it sounds like static. No one can’t touch them- Gothamites go through them. These ‘shades’ are Amity people in the Gotham areas that have a shadowy duplicate in Amity. None of the Amity people are aware this is happening. 

I imagine the Gotham side of things dubs the Amity people shades ghosts XD

Anyway, on the Amity side a major ghost fight has to happen in one of the Gotham sections and so the Amity people run. Some are screaming, all are frantically trying to get away. One problem though- Ghost Zone ghosts don’t render on the Gotham side. So the Gothamites don’t see Phantom nor whoever he was fighting.

So now the Bats are desperately trying to figure out what could have spooked all the ‘ghosts’ (Amity shades) so badly because, I mean, it’s Gotham. It’s going to pop up again and bite them, right? 

I figure Gothamites can get into Amity too. If one of them passes a threshold from an area of overlap where Gotham exists in the shadow zone then they can step into Amity, however no one from Amity can see them and no one can hear them. If they get back to a place of overlap they’ll end up back in Gotham.

Maybe overtime the merging gets better/worse and things start interacting more. Roads appear and disappear on either side. Buildings clipping in and out of reality, the Amity shades being able to interact with Gotham by like tripping on things that exist in Gotham but not Amity, the Amity people seeing items move that Gothamites are moving around in their dimension, etc. I don’t know. But listen.

The court of owls needs to have one of their 13th floor shindigs and just. Amity shades everywhere. They take over all the 13th floors, making the owl associates terrified because why are all these ‘ghosts’ suddenly haunting notoriously cursed floors?? They begin to believe their own stories. Bonus if the Amity people take the coffee and that’s the only thing they can interact with from the Gotham side 13th floors so now the owl court is supplying the ‘ghosts’ coffee so they can still use the 13th floors as their meeting places in ‘exchange’. The coffee offerings are appeasement. Meanwhile Amity side people are convinced there’s a coffee ghost somewhere because these brands don’t actually exist and where else is it coming from?

The Nasty Burger and Bat Burger could overlap. Someone walks into Nasty Burger and orders Nightwings. Someone at Bat Burger walks up and asks for Nasty Sauce.

Vlads lab and the batcave could merge sometimes. Imagine one of the bats running an analysis and suddenly theres a different computer with cloning info or detailing how to cut off a ghost’s circulation to control them more effectively? Or Danny sneaks into Vlad’s lab and theres a stack of adoption papers and foster stuff for various situations (that belong to Bruce, unbeknownst to him) and is utterly horrified at the level of detailed scenarios that Vlad’s got adoption contingencies for.

[scribz-ag24]

your grovyle and dusknoir pieces matter so much to me because you capture the very essence of how much the green gecko bastard and his 7.11ft tall ass ghost-guy-that-was-sent-to-kill-him-but-whoops-something-happened matter to each other and just how they change the other while still being all awkward at certain times because they are in a situation that involves feelings in which they are both not used to (grovyles emotional tendencies where he pushed down things and thoughts that would otherwise doom the mission he was on and dusknoir just being completely foreign to them because he strives from a world where kindness and love is seen as a vulnerability so he just strayed far from things that will inevitably stab him in the back) and how they try to navigate it while having to bear the annoyances of the other but still viewing them in high regard nonetheless. i dont go here too much but i figured i may as well say it because i think you're cool and because you draw those two annoying little studs so well. have a good day scribz

Waaaa thank you!! I appreciate you stop by here to be so lovely! This made my entire week 🥹🥹 I always love to see you when you tag, youre so thorough in everh post you reblog, it's a delight to see ^^

They are sooo important to each other, I don't think we appreciate enough how pivotal they are to each other's development, especially grovyle to dusknoir's. Still cant believe the ghost's parting word and thought was a a most thankful message to his old enemy, thanking him for giving his life meaning, for helping him not regret having truly *lived*, not just survived. I wish Dusknoir got some more dialogue after coming back to life, but those being his last words, in addition to him constantly referencing grovyle's speech, just goes to show how far he's internalized grovyle's words.

And the way Grovyle genuinely sees and reaches towards Dusknoir's inner goodness, *while* he's actively being betrayed, is beyond words. Grovyle loves his friends deeply and by this point he's clearly gone far enough to consider Dusknoir close to that status. Maybe Dusknoir protecting him from a blow hit too close to home and changed the dynamic in his eyes from "temporal ally" to just "ally". It can't be a coincidence that Grovyle opens up and explains his motives and ideas after Dusknoir takes the attack for him.

You just can't get one without the other in my mind, it's how they contrast and mirror each other, it's how the game switches the tables and flips their alignment so seamlessly. The thief-captor dynamic turning on its head once you see their true colors. How dusknoir appears more mature and put together thanks to his charm and social skills, only for him to end up learning and looking up to Grovyle, whose more developed life philosophy and selfless objective end up convincing Dusknoie to fight for something beyond himself.

Special Episode 5 is one of rhe best pmd chapters/story out there, and it's the most basic premise of Grovyle and Dusknoir working together. The writers developed them so well in conjuction that they can't be separated in my head.

But even then their contrasting personalities makes them so fun to put them into situations, despite the ares wjere they might overlap. they're both great but they belong together. And celebi just adds even more flavour to the mix by adding someone so radically different from them in her view and approach to things (seeing as shes one of the onlu characters explicitly in love, maybe even in priorities outside world-ending cataclysms xD). Future trio in post-canon is simply too rich, even the crumbs from PSMD links them together and that's enough for me.

(And also just in general the vibes are so good, we make fun of dusknoie for the "looking nervous having your back exposed to me" but grovyle's "you cling to me beyond expectation" and "i surrender, do with me as you will". BESIDES ALREADY THINKING ABOUR DUSKNOIR WAY MOEE THAN ANYONE ELSE.

he goes up to partner during the sunrise and goes "thinking about dusknoir?" whilw it turns out partner is thinking of how much they love the beach and their friend 😭😭 and then grovyle says in his letter "hey watch out for dusknoir bc he WILL BE BACK I KNOW HIM" and hero and partner jusr go "oh yeah that guy. remember that guy??" like THEY DONT REMEMBER WHO TRIED TO KILL THEM A DAY AGO?? 😭😭 why they dgaf lmao)

So yeah. I care about them a normal amount xD.

[sirenlulls]

satellite → r. keating (b. skeetz)

pairings — robert keating x fem!reader

summary — what bobby skeetz would be like as your annoying boyfriend <3

spinning out, waiting for you to pull me in. i can see you're lonely down there. don't you know that i am right here?

i feel like you'd be a long-term relationship (like teenage years long term)

ik they went to some fancy all boys school so let's say you went to an all girls school near theirs that would often go on trips together (pls tell me that wasn't just my school that did that)

either that of you'd meet through extra curriculars or overlapping friend groups

EITHER WAY met when ye were young (13-14) and got together when ye were 16-17

tbh most people thought you'd only last a few months bcs it was a teenage relationship after all but you're so chill with each other that it became very clear very quick that ye were just different

major "my girlfriend's my best friend" vibes

because of that, every inhaler fan knows you

you're no longer referred to by your name

you're just "mother" now

it's low-key a problem

like in any of your instagram posts or cute little tiktoks, at least half of the comments have a silly little inhaler pfp and are calling you mother

anyways

he's so annoying

definitely a very playful relationship

mocking eachother and all that

telling anyone else (outside your friendgroup) to fuck off if they do the same

he himself wouldn't be very public with the relationship

like you wouldn't be the face of every instagram post but you'd be in a story every few weeks and you'd pop up in the middle of a photo dump here and there

the inhaler_on_tik account however....

fans play where's wally with you in the tiktoks

usually hiding in a window reflection or the hem of your jacket poking into frame

enough to know you're there

you'd be best friends with all the fans

gigs are your opportunity to make new friends

they all adore you

so many fan tiktoks from gigs just have you dancing away with them

they'd bring you flowers <3

but yeah even if bobby himself doesn't post you a lot, fans would get pictures of you two together and they'd be so cute 😭

most of them are taken before gigs when he's helping you out of the bus or ye're walking into the venue together

but someone got a picture of you two once at some silly little market in spain and you were looking at flowers and he was looking at you

they posted it to tiktok and you asked them to send it to you

it was your lockscreen for a bit x

BIRD BINGO!!!

if you're ever traveling without him, you'd take pictures of any birds you pass and send them onto him

i really need to make sure it's known that he'd be annoying

like imagine you're just lying in bed, reading or on your phone, and he just bellyflops on top of you

no warning

no escape

you're trapped

i said the same in my eli headcanons but i don't really get spooning vibes from him

no matter what way you fall asleep, at least some part of him will be touching you

whether he's full on wrapped around you or just got an arm thrown over your torso

it helps him sleep better

you're best friends with the band ofc

i mean, you practically grew up together

you and rob never have a moment of peace with them on tour

you could be curled up in bed, and all of a sudden, elijah's busting down your door and lying down beside ye to tell you about a new song idea

you finally think you're free for a moment having a smoke by the back of the bus? nope, ryan's there now purely because he wanted to annoy ye

josh is nice on ye though (not really) (he makes fun of ye all the time) (he's my little pookie bear angel) (he can do no wrong)

they love having you around

and even if you leave the tour bus to get some snacks and come back to them trying on your dresses and robert doing josh's eyeliner you love having them around too

you're starting to get the mother thing

they do feel like you're hyperactive little children

bobby skeetz, the man that you are, you'd be a great boyfriend

[doctorvictoria10]

A stressful admission: Part 2

Tags - ED admission, nervous patient, slight cardio, slight ageplay, medical trauma, comfort.

It felt like her heart jumped out of her chest. A flash of different emotions quickly cycled through her, firstly fear, then shock, and then embarrassment.

“Um, yeah, come in.” She spoke timidly, unsure of who was on the other side of the door. There were several doctors she worked with who she definitely didn’t want it and to be, only maybe one or two that she would actually feel comfortable with. Maybe this was all a terrible idea and she should’ve stuck with the rushed ED doctor. A tall, broad figure poked his head around the curtain and she was so surprised - it wasn’t who she was expecting at all.

“Chloe!” The familiar voice called out gently. “I’m sorry you’ve been waiting so long. I only just got the call to ask if I could come and assess you. All of the OB doctors were busy - a few are off sick so they’re covering each others clinics too! I know we don’t know each other that well but we cross paths every now and then don’t we!” He spoke cheerily.

It took Chloe a while to take it all in. Doctor Jack Canning, a pediatrician, stood before her. She’d been at emergencies where he was there before, he liased closely with her department as there was often an overlap between their professions. He was always smiling, calm and composed, but she’d never really had a proper chat with him before, or gotten to know him.

“Oh, hi. Um, thanks for coming!” She spoke timidly.

He took in her anxious energy and worried expression, she didn’t look her normal self at all. “Are you okay?” He asked seeming genuinely concerned.

She let out a light laugh “Yeah, apart from a case of extreme embarrassment at this whole situation, I’m fine. I just, I collapsed and got brought in. And then I woke up and two people were planning to poke me with needles, and I really hate being a patient, it all got too much and I guess I freaked out.” She admitted shyly, trying to explain why he’d been called out of his day looking after babies to deal with his 26 year old, definitely not a baby, coworker in ED.

He nodded slowly. “May I sit?” He gestured to the bed. Chloe nodded her consent. “Chloe, you don’t need to be embarrassed. I read your notes, I saw you told the doctor before that you had medical trauma from when you were a child. Your reaction to waking up and hearing plans of IV’s and finger pricks and all sorts is completely understandable. It’s scary for someone who hasn’t had the experiences you’ve had, let alone someone who’s also worked in the medical field and knows that not all professionals are kind and patient like we are.” He spoke seriously, and it made her feel validated in the strangest way. She nodded slowly, agreeing with everything he was saying, and she let her fake smile she’d forced herself to wear to downplay the situation slide away. And left was a scared little girl who was terrified of being put in the same situation as she was in seventeen years ago when she was rushed to emergency surgery in agony and fear.

Jack let her sit with that for a moment. Then he continued in a serious but gentle voice. “I agree with the plan the ED doctor has made, the tests and treatments he wants done. But that doesn’t mean you have to accept them, you have a choice, if you let me look after you or not. If you let me look after you, we can take it slow, do it at your pace. We can see how we can maybe make things easier for you. If you won’t let me look after you, I can get you a self discharge against medical advice form and you can sign that and leave whenever you want. It’s up to you, but I’d strongly advise the former option, and I think you know it’s for the best.” He spoke, so gently it was almost soothing. His words resonated with her and seemed to calm her right down. This was her choice, she was an adult now, not a little girl, she could leave whenever she wanted. Jack saw all these thoughts running through her head, her eyes focused.

“I can see you're getting lost in your own head there. Come back to me.” He said quietly. Her eyes met his and she was snapped out of her chaotic thoughts about the situation.

“Isn’t this weird for you? I’m sorry I’ve pulled you away from your work, you must think I’m really weird and silly. You work with babies and kids, and I’m just an adult who’s stressing out about something that I really should be able to deal with.”

Chloe blurted out, blushing in frustration at herself and her inability to keep her anxiety under control.

He pondered what she’d said, and then began slowly. “Looking after babies, they need constant attention and kindness. Precision and accuracy is imperative. I care for them, make them better and I nurture them. And I’d love to do the same for you if you’d let me.” He held her gaze.

Chloe looked at him shyly, she felt herself retreating inwards again, feeling cared for wasn’t a feeling she was used to, her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She felt so embarrassed at the situation she was in. He sensed her embarrassment and hesitation, so he continued.

“Don’t you think this is a little too unlikely? You’re here, sick. You have medical trauma from an emergency surgery when you were critically unwell as a child, and now you’re sitting here with another pediatrician who wants to help you not only in the present, but maybe I can help you heal that inner child, that scared little girl at the same time too.” He smiled gently.

She thought for a moment, this wasn’t a likely situation, and he did seem to genuinely care. The knowledge that she could leave at any time felt safe and reassuring. Slowly she nodded. “Okay. Yeah, if you think it’ll be okay.”

“I think it’s a great idea, and I’m really glad I can look after you and hopefully get you feeling better. Just keep communicating with me okay? I’m not going to do anything without your consent, so you let me know if you’re not feeling comfy and we can reassess together.” He promised.

Chloe nodded at him, and he nodded back.

“Okay then. Let’s get started!” He lightly clapped his hands together. “Can you undress and put this gown on for me?” He held up a pale blue hospital gown. Jack sensed her apprehension, “I’ll need to run some cardiac tests, and palpate your abdomen, this’ll make it easier for us both!” He explained.

Chloe slowly and groggily reached for the gown. She felt so weak still. She dropped it beside her on the bed and started trying to shimmy out of her dress.

“Would you like me to help you?” Jack asked her, seeing her struggle with the fabric in her feeble state.

He was going to see her top half bare anyway, if it was now or in five minutes, did it really matter? Chloe internally questioned herself. “Yes please.” She spoke quietly, lifting her arms up for Jack to assist lifting the dress over her head. He quickly had her in the gown and she was laying back against the pillows soon enough.

“You feel cold Chloe, can I get you a blanket?”

“That would be great, it’s freezing in here!” She rubbed her arms. With a gentle smile and nod, Jack was heading out of the room. He returned quickly with two beige blankets in his arms.

“These are from the warmer!” He draped one around her shoulders and one over her body. The warmth felt so comforting and she felt herself relax into the bed. “Now Chloe, where would you like to start?” He asked carefully. When she didn’t reply and just stared at him with wide eyes he offered, “If you’re happy for me to take the lead, I’d like to get an IV in so we can take bloods and get the results processing whilst we do the rest of the exam. I can also be giving you some fluids and if you like, a relaxant for your nerves?”

Chloe nodded slightly, eyes still wide. He watched her, concerned but also interested.

“Chloe, I can see you’re retreating into yourself, and that’s completely okay, but I’m going to need a verbal confirmation before I do this. I’m going to put in an IV, take bloods, start fluids and give you a relaxant medication. Once you’re relaxed, I’m going to check your blood sugar, assess your heart and feel your tummy. I’m going to look after you throughout, I’m not going to cause you any unnecessary discomfort or upset, I’m going to be as gentle with you as I can. Can you say ‘Yes, that’s okay’?” He looked at her for a long moment.

“Yes, that’s okay” Chloe spoke quietly, in a voice that wasn’t quite her own. It sounded childlike, vulnerable. Her little space caught her off guard. It was usually controllable, she could choose when to drop and when not to, but this situation and Jack were pulling it out of her.

Jack gave her a knowing look and smiled softly. “Okay then, let’s begin.” 🖤

[rin-and-jade]

Who am I.. : A post about being blurry

I got a few things to talk about here, while some of you are already aware of its struggles and have experiences around it, i’d love to add on more about this (it’s a long post) so don’t mind if i do;

To reiterate, being blurry means you’re in a moment where identifying who is out (at front) and who is currently talking (in co-con) takes huge effort or near to impossible in resolving this cloudy situation,, as well as having hazy + worser memory and lastly, bad internal communication that may occur.

There are some factors that are not limited to:

Exposed to stressors

Exhaustion

Lacking restful sleep

Dissociative mechanisms

Being overwhelmed

etc..

People may have different tolerance level and frequency that also could be out of natural reasons and lifestyles (as well as periods of alertness, yes, it shifts in different hours of the day), when having this once in a while its not a prob at all.. but what if it became more frequent than usual? Do you know what to do? If you do please reblog your own approach so it can help others. And for those who don’t i do have my own and i’ll give some of my approaches after i tell some potential effects that can happen when being blurry:

Having inconsistency in portraying outside

Dealing with confusion, can cause conflicts inside

Harder time in deciding or responding

Trouble around communicating with parts effectively and clearly

Memory gaps and losing track of time

These things aren't lovely, not even a bit.. so i have two ways to deal with it depending on context and situation,, Solve or Adapt. Solve is where you want to end the blurriness for good and Adapt is when Solve does not work or can’t be bothered to at first place.

Choosing Solve:

Using list of alters (especially pk bot) and go through each of them, seeing which one resonates.

Same thing but with music, make sure its the songs you know they (your other parts) listen to or from the provided playlist already.

Pay attention to a distinctive trait that pops out from all the meshed stuffs going on (specific way of talking or thinking or vibes, anything else)

Think of what clothing style you’d like to wear? Then check that with who would dress like that.

Choosing Adapt:

Give up with demanding tasks (unless if it’s important, just use your energy efficiently) and consider relaxing. This helps keeping mental load at bay.

Feeling unsure about who you are can be uncomfy, doing some comfort activities might do the trick.

Prepare a notes app and jot everything down to keep track of chores or work to do or remembering important things, don’t take it lightly because memory won’t be as helpful as usual.

Keep workload and stress at minimum, if it can be done later then put it aside, if not,, try breaking it to easier bits and commit to it with breaks if needed.

Last thing i want to tell is that I’ve seen my friends being blurry but not wanting to resolve it either due to not having enough mental capacity to deal with that, or having brain fog which makes it harder, or having way too much overlapping traits/identities that is beyond confusing which demotivated them, or not cut for it due to not enough understanding yourself/others to discern at the first place.. and thats okay, because im here if you need some help (or you can ask your trusted friend) and i hope this post is informative, stay slay guys.

- j

[oddygaul]

Tunic

Tunic is clearly inspired by, and aims to recreate, the sense of mystery you have when playing games as a child - you don’t quite know the rules of the medium, you believe anything is possible, and you approach the world of the game with a mindset of curiosity, learning, and awe.

Wonder is a tricky emotion to capture in art; you have to strike the perfect balance of revealing enough to pique a viewer’s curiosity, to get their mind racing to try and fill in gaps and explore possibilities, but not revealing so much that you set hard boundaries and begin to limit the space. I think this is especially true for games. As a child*, games are a land of endless wonder, because you simply haven’t played that many of them. As far as you know, anything is possible: you’re not thinking of things like invisible walls, skyboxes, AI routines, limited possible player actions - you just feel like you’re exploring a virtual world. As you get older, unless a game is really pushing boundaries, or you’re dabbling in a genre you’re totally unfamiliar with, your brain starts to apply time-tested heuristics to understand what you’re looking at: what was once a vast, sweeping city teeming with life, residents and lit-up windows becomes a bunch of big empty rectangles which you know likely can’t even be entered. Now, part of this seen-it-all sensation is likely also due to games as a medium maturing, and certain techniques and design philosophies becoming standards rather than innovations; mostly, though, I think it’s getting older, having more experiences under your belt, and the loss of novelty.

*As someone first getting into gaming, I should say, whenever that may be.

All that to say, it’s an incredible feat when someone can create something that inspires those feelings in even a hard-hearted 30-year old, and Tunic joins the hallowed ranks of Outer Wilds and Return of the Obra Dinn in succeeding in that task for me. There’s a lot of overlap in the techniques these games use to accomplish this feeling:

A lack of overt directions / instructions on where to go and what to do

Trust that the player will pay attention, take time to think about what they’ve seen and read, then draw their own conclusions and make their own decisions

A more open-ended game structure that allows for a player to follow up on what interests them most

Perhaps most importantly, as mentioned before, that exact balance of knowledge and mystery to set a player’s head spinning, while leaving them hungry to explore & learn more. Each of these games has different solutions that create this information gap. In Obra Dinn, it’s the passage of time leaving you only able to pick up the pieces of what happened; in Outer Wilds, it’s the passage of time combined with the vastness of space. In Tunic, it’s not being able to fucking read.

As someone who’s spent the past 15-odd years more and less successfully trying to learn Japanese, Tunic’s manual system perfectly nailed how it feels to bumble through a piece of media that’s not in your native language. Particularly, Japanese has a weird thing about it where one of the alphabets (katakana) is primarily used for loanwords, and it’s perfectly phonetic. This means that as soon as you learn that set of characters, even if you know hardly any Japanese vocabulary or grammar, you can often pick out one or two intelligible words from amidst the sea of kanji - and usually end up more confused than you were before, because the English that gets used for loanwords is often fucking wild. If you haven’t had that experience but have played Tunic, it’s literally the exact feeling as opening a page of the manual and seeing: “?????, ??????????????. ????? THE POWER TO DEFY DEATH ?????, ??????!” or “???? ????? ?????? THE HEIR ????, ????????. ????? HOLY CROSS ????, ?????.” Just say ホーリークロス!  ザ・エア!! in your best JoJo voice and you’ve pretty much got it.

Of course, Tunic’s real strength is that it manages to provide that sense of wonder from a multitude of fronts, with clever design and storytelling around every corner. Some of my personal favorite touches:

When you first get (well, figure out how to use) the warp ability, and it immediately lets you warp to areas you have no context for, like the Heir's arena with the giant floating sword, or the closed-off chamber in the Ziggurat

The repeated iconography that you don't question when you initially see it, but which becomes more unsettling with each new instance. The first time you see a Here Lies the Hero gravestone, it makes sense; this must be where the fabled Hero was interred. After seeing like, the 4th gravestone with the exact same statue and epitaph, though...**

After spending hours in-game searching across the entire map for the RGB keys, you trek back to the temple in the overworld, slot them into place, the vast rings sink down, and... nothing happens, the world around doesn't seem to react in any way, and nothing pops up to indicate where you should go next. Love it.

Getting to the Cathedral, seeing the sacred carvings of what appear to be eldritch tentacle monsters, and having no fucking idea how that ties into anything - if that's not a Bloodborne reference, I don't know what is.

**I had a similar ominous, growing feeling with the decoy items that look exactly like your little fox. At first, due to my Gamer Knowledge™, I didn’t question it - surely this is just using my character’s design to make its gameplay role clear, right? By the time I was at the Ziggurat, though, walking through chambers full of writhing, captive foxes, it didn’t feel so harmless finding a little me-shaped doll locked up in a chest.

I think it’s great that even after beating the game and seeking out all the secret content, you’re still left with lots of questions and just enough answers for your own headcanon to start coalescing. Personally, my conclusion is that the denizens of this universe learned they were in not just a simulation, but a game, which is why all of their religious iconography looks the way it does. The obelisks, with their RGB symbol prominently featured, indicate the nature of their reality; the Holy Cross is a technique developed by devotees and scholars that found a way to alter the fabric of their own plane using the sacred geometry of the controller's d-pad. Sure, at its core it’s basically a video game becoming aware it’s a video game - which, you know, has been done a thousand times - but the supremely cryptic, desolate nature of this story just makes it hit different.

I certainly had my issues with Tunic from a gameplay standpoint. Design-wise, it bothered me that a lot of the level knowledge you learn in this knowledge game is map shortcuts and hidden passageways - only for those shortcuts to be removed in the second half of the game, i.e. right when it would actually be useful again. Also, I was not a fan of the combat. I dunno how to explain it other than just bad gamefeel. Your character’s controls feel relatively loose and clumsy, yet all the bosses can leap across the arena with no endlag, all while having five times your reach. At first, the unforgiving nature of the combat managed to make the world feel hostile and alien, like in a good Souls game, but by the halfway point I was just fed up with the overly punishing fights and wanting to get back to the parts I actually enjoyed. Fortunately, the game does have accessibility options, so I just turned the combat slider down and didn’t look back.

Anyway, while those slight misgivings stop it from being one of my all-time favorites, Tunic is still an incredible game. Years from now, I’m not going to think about my frustration with the lazy boss gauntlet - I’m going to remember the night I spent with my partner decoding The Golden Path, frantically scribbling on pieces of paper like lunatics and awed at the secrets that had been sitting right under our noses since the very beginning.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for trying to let a girl down easy?

I (20m) met a woman who I'll call Ruby (23f) through my job. I met her soon after I started there but we worked in different departments. She seemed nice, if a little childish sometimes, but overall a nice friend. Her and two other people from her department, "Mary" (18f) and "Bella" (21?f) all started hanging out with me every break and lunch for the few minutes that overlapped. I thought it was fine, and nice to meet cool people who were happy to chill.

After 2 months of working there and seeing each other on lunch/break, I kind of got the idea that Ruby had a crush on me. I wasn't strongly attracted to her but I did like her as a friend, and I thought if something happened I'd be happy to give the potential relationship a chance. When Pride rolled around I talked about my plans to go because I was excited. Ruby said she had never been before and Mary started chanting "take her!" over and over. So I offered to take her and she accepted.

Well the day came and she told me first thing that crowds made her anxious and I offered my arm. It turned into handholding as we walked around town. She started talking about how she's never had a real partner before and basically assumed that because I had offered to take her and held her hand, that we were together. She also told me she had a crush on me since she saw me, 2 months prior, and that the group hung out with me at work because she wanted to be around me. It became clear she liked me a lot and for a long time, but I didn't know and I didn't feel the same way.

Here's the asshole part. Swept up in the rush of it all, I did kiss her twice and played along with the dating thing. But as I got to know her more, I liked her a lot less. She only liked to complain about her problems and couldn't have an adult conversation about anything other than how much her life sucks. I tried to back off slowly and say hey, I'm not in the place for a relationship right now. That's absolutely true, I am not in a spot where I could be a loving and attentive partner to anyone. But I said we could be friends, and I haven't lived up to that. She started texting me every day to ask if I had got home safe, and crowding me on my breaks and lunches at work, constantly wanting my attention to talk about her shitty days both over text and in person. I told her I needed space and I stopped texting her back as much. I don't want to be close to her because of how stifling she is.

A note: the time period between Pride and telling her I needed space was a week, though it felt like longer.

So, tumblr, AITA for backing out of this the way I have?

What are these acronyms?