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chickenparm · 2 years

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Where You Willed The Moon - Part 3/End

happy scara-release-day, here's the ending of this little goofy thing as a celebration. mind the chapter tags for specific warnings :^) can you tell this chapter is just a love letter to scaramouche? is it that obvious?

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AO3 Link Prev Part

Scaramouche/Reader (reader is the traveler) reader in prev parts is F but this part can be read as GN 3,119 Words - NSFW Chapter Tags: Blowjobs, Crying, Confessions, minor Overstimulation Story Tags: Unhealthy Codependence, Enemies to Lovers, P in V, f!Receiving Oral, Thigh Riding, Mentions of m!Losing Virginity, Pining, Bullshit Sereniteapot Magic, sub-ish Scara when it counts :^)

Spoilers for the Sumeru story, disregards anything post-boss-fight.

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“You could try to be a little civil.”

“And you could find a hole to stuff her in and we could leave her.”

…

“Why do you need her, anyway? You’ve got me now. Surely I’d be a better guide than a flying lavender melon.”

“Well, for starters, Paimon isn’t a wanted criminal.”

“I doubt I’m wanted. The sages are unlikely to admit their folly, and the Fatui aren’t necessarily on anyone’s good side, even on their best days.”

“Paimon is my best friend. I think that’s a good enough reason to not leave her in a ditch somewhere.”

“And I’m your-”

“My what?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Think about it. We’ll talk about it tonight-”

—

Wangshu Inn is deceptively quiet. Such a central location, popular with travelers and merchants alike, should be far more bustling than it currently is. But the weather is balmy and warm, the sky is clear, the roads have been safer, so it’s no wonder if there are more campfires dotted on the horizon than usual.

It leaves you in blissful quiet, only the occasional conversation drifting from the walkways above and below, too muffled to really eavesdrop on anything of importance. That’s well enough for you - you’re alone, leaning on the window, breathing in of the slightly humid air that’s tinged with the dinner that’s being made in the kitchens below.

Scaramouche will be back soon - it’s hard to break the habit of calling him that, when you’ve gone so long. You’d never use it to his face, but you’ve given up on trying to push that away for now. It’s not a terrible name, the connotations having been changed in your heart the moment your consciousness touched his own.

With him comes Paimon - they’ve been arguing again, you can tell with how Paimon takes her food and disappears in a shower of sparks. She’s been doing that more often, her distaste for him well known despite your assurances that he’s not the same man that had been so hostile before. Conflicting personalities, you supposed. Like two pieces of sandpaper.

“You’re thinking hard.”

“I’m not thinking at all.” Your counter comes over your shoulder, given with a lazy smile and a shrug of your shoulder. The skin of your cheek sticks to your shoulder with how thick the air feels, Liyue’s Summer has been particularly unforgiving this year, so you’ve heard.

“Oh, so your head is just as empty as I thought it was.”

“You looked into it, remember? Saw my every thought?” Your lower back presses against the window frame as you turn to lean against it, watching as he settles at the low table and portions out food for himself. It’s unnecessary for him - food doesn’t provide him with anything other than an interesting pastime. Yet he participates anyway, and you’re not about to shame him for finding enjoyment in something so trivial.

At your questions, he lifts his gaze, unable to block his expressions with the hat that was thrown haphazardly on the bed you’ll share this evening. Without it, he seems almost vulnerable - like he’s lost a shield that protects him. The answer lingers for a moment, before he nods in an effort to forego something verbal. Your silence in return urges him to backtrack on that.

“I did. Everything - likely as much as you’ve seen about me, I’d say.” Violet eyes turn to his bowl, filled with only rice for the moment. He takes a second to mix it around aimlessly, steam rolling once his chopsticks break the surface. “I wouldn’t have killed you, you know. In our fight.”

“One hundred and sixty-eight times grows a little fuzzy, but… I believe you.”

The amusement in your tone seems to annoy him, and he fixes you with an unconvincing glare and a sharp exhale. “I mean it. When we connected, I saw your life. Where you’ve been, what you’ve gone through. You aren’t human - you’re immortal. You won’t-”

Leave me.

He doesn’t need to finish the thought, that mere insinuation making his cheeks color slightly as he looks you in the eye with all the bravery he can muster when he clearly wants to shy away. “I was confused but… a part of me believed you, when you brought up the prospect of losing myself. When you made it seem like you cared.”

“I did care. I do care.”

“I know that now,” he mumbles under his breath before righting himself, “but at the time, my thoughts were in the wrong place. I still wasn’t going to kill you, I wanted to-... to convince you to stay, I think. To convince you that if you joined me, I could help you look for your twin. As the Everlasting Lord of Arcane Wisdom, maybe I could offer enough to keep you.”

The leaves of Wangshu Inn’s tree rustle with the coming wind, filling the space with natural white noise and drowning out the sound of your heart breaking. He avoids you in favor of looking out the window over your shoulder, a stubborn set to his jaw as he cuts off anything further he might say to incriminate himself.

Unable to allow a declaration like that to rest, you push off the window to cross the room, only a few short steps bringing you to his side where you kneel close enough for your knees to brush his thigh. He flinches when you reach for him, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear, soft as ever.

“If only you could’ve known that it was what came before that which brought me to you, hm?” Playing with the ends of his hair, you twist them loosely around your fingers before letting that hand slide down his shoulder, then to his arm, then to his elbow where his skin is barely covered between his arm guard and sleeve. “Well you have me now. Everything happens for a reason, I guess. Maybe all of that was just a convoluted way to bring us together.”

Scaramouche’s head turns so quickly that it startles you, his face dangerously close to your own, his nose just barely brushing against yours. His voice wavers, his question is one you can almost taste on your lips if you were to run your tongue out to catch it.

“What am I to you?”

And the answer is so simple, so obvious that you wonder why he needed to ask it at all. But you’ve felt the need for reassurance more times than you can remember, and perhaps the situation with Paimon earlier had shaken his resolve in your dedication to him. Even after you’d given him everything, he greedily asked for more. As long as it was in your power to give…

“Everything.” A small smile from you, a look of astonishment from him that’s wiped away when you lean forward to kiss him gently. The featherlight touch lingers, leaving your skin tingling as you pull away just enough to watch the way his eyes snap shut to stem the shine of tears beginning to gather at the corners.

Scaramouche’s lip quivers, just before he draws it between his teeth to hide the motion. Giving him a small bit of privacy, you lean in to wrap your arms around his body, pulling him to lean on you. It’s a familiar motion, one that you’ve indulged in with him an innumerable amount of times. It’s as easy as breathing, as familiar as gliding had felt the first time you’d soared over Mondstadt.

Fingers dig into your back, clutching you as he seeks all the comfort you’re offering him. He nearly bowls you over with how he leans into you, selfishly accepting everything on display until his face is buried into your shoulder and his body shakes with the effort of holding back the emotions that want to run free.

“Don’t ever doubt how much you mean to me, alright? No one else can occupy the same space in my heart as you.” Gently, you kiss the exposed skin of his shoulder, lingering at your leisure as you watch a shiver raise bumps along his skin. Dragging your lips up to his neck, mouthing at the point of his pulse through the sheer fabric of his undershirt, you relish how he’s gone from limp in your arms to stunned tension. Anticipation colors him, even if you can no longer see his face.

“Can I tell you something? Something you didn’t get to see in my mind, something you haven’t learned yet?”

As if he would say no, but it’s not often you get to tease him without getting a taste of his barbed responses. Instead of his sharp tongue, you receive a nod that’s deceptively demure, his hair brushing along your cheek smoothly with the motion. Kissing further up his neck, along the soft skin beneath his ear, and finally to his earlobe, you murmur your secret just loud enough that only he could ever hear its first manifestation into reality.

“I love you.”

Everything falls silent. The heartbeat in your ears, the leaves whispering in the tree, the conversations that flutter in from outside. For the briefest time, you’re almost convinced that perhaps you’ve spoken some code words that cease the world from spinning altogether.

If you did nothing, said nothing further, would you be allowed to stay in this single moment until the end of time? Would that ending even come, so long as you kept so very still, your knees beginning to ache from the hardwood flooring? It’s a simple pain to bear in exchange for holding him like this, the burden on your heart lifted with the proclamation that’s been clawing to release itself from the very moment he’d crashed to the floor in that workshop so far below the city of Sumeru.

It’s not your doing that time begins to slip forward again. It’s his, where his shaking hands grow lax against you, barely hanging on with the friction between his fabric-covered palm and the back of your shirt. “Do you mean that?”

Scaramouche’s doubt hurts. Not because he second-guesses what you’ve said, but the entire reason he feels the need to do so in the first place. He’s been lied to, scorned, pushed away so many times that he can’t help but feel wary. So, you decide perhaps it’s best to show him. To ingrain it in his heart and his mind so thoroughly that he’ll never doubt your conviction ever again.

He doesn’t even fight you when you give him a push, pulling away enough that you can watch as he allows you to lean him back, further and further until he has to shift his legs to cage you in as his back hits the floor. The lanterns in the room set his face alight, showing the rose color of his cheeks and the wetness that begins to well up in his eyes once more.

One swipe of your thumb isn’t enough to wipe them away, but it leads him to lean into your palm that conforms to his cheek so perfectly. Like he was made for you to hold him in the sweetest ways, some divine form created for you to love as surely as you do in this moment.

The lithe muscles of his abdomen jump as your hands slide beneath the parted fabric of his kimono, warm palms pressing against his skin as you explore planes you haven’t given yourself nearly enough opportunities to indulge in. Beneath you, a shaking breath leaves him, catching in his throat as you untuck his clothing from his belt, then work at the knot keeping the remainder of his clothing cinched securely.

“What are you-”

“Showing you. Making sure you don’t forget, that you never question for a single moment ever again what sort of meaning you have to me.” He tenses as you continue to tug at fabric, untucking and parting until he’s just indecent enough for you to wrap your hand around his half-hard arousal. All it takes is that single touch for him to moan low and slow, appreciative enough for his head to roll back to rest on the floor with a dull thud. Any apprehension leaves him with a gentle stroke of your hand.

Leaning closer, enough that your intentions are obvious even as he can’t look anywhere but the ceiling rafters above, you speak close enough to his cock that your warm breath washes over it. He tenses, hardening in your palm as you hum, “I want to make you feel so good that every time you wonder how I might feel, you’ll remember this moment and your problems will go away.”

And the response in his throat dies as his cock finds a home on your tongue, from base to tip, dipping into the slit and tasting the beginnings of his release with a saltiness on your tongue. It’s far from unpleasant, and you find your lips wrapping around the head in search of more. There’s a scraping sound, grating in its insistence as his nails dig into the hardwood flooring. Both hands are straining, fingers shaking with the effort of keeping still for no real reason.

Scaramouche resists for only a moment as you use your free hand to reach for his, squeezing it once before guiding him into resting his palm on your head. An open invitation, one that he doesn’t quite grasp yet as your tongue swirls circles that leave his breath ragged and hitching. It takes a single bob of your head, a taste of what he could demand from you, before he puts pressure against your scalp in encouragement.

“Please…”

As if he would need to beg. All he’d need to do is say the word, make the motion, quietly demand anything from you and it would be his without complaint. It takes nothing more than that little push for you to follow his demands, the flat of your tongue dragging along skin that draws a high-pitched, needy groan from him that feeds the odd hunger you’re feeling. But you want more - need it - and let him set the pace of his cock feeding past your lips and over your tongue.

Deeper and deeper, until your nose is brushing his pelvis and his fingernails are dangerously close to drawing blood against your scalp. It takes him a moment to gather himself, and when it does it’s with both hands on you - the one on your head, the other curled against your cheek. Craning his head, he looks down his body at you with a startling amount of reverence in his eyes, lips parted with the anticipation of words you’re certain you’ve been waiting your entire life to hear.

“I-I love you. I love you. So much-... ngh-... so much it hurts. I love you. So perfect, so beautiful, e-everything I’ve-” his words cut off sharply as his back arches, hips jerking enough that he buries himself to the hilt before letting you pull away. Every muscle in his body seems to shake with the effort of containing himself, the sensations manifesting as uncontrollable tears in his eyes that trail down his temples into his hair, matting it against itself.

“Pleasepleaseplease-”

Both hands are what you need to hold him still, pressing down on his hips until he can’t roll himself upwards into the warmth of your mouth, the softness of your cheeks and tongue in search of the pleasure you’re offering him. There’ll be more time for him to be greedy later, to use you in whichever way he pleases. For now, there’s a point to be made, and that’s only done by you holding him still and worshipping him like he demanded be done not so long ago.

“I-I’m going-... I can’t-”

Scaramouche throbs in your mouth, teetering on the edge physically and verbally. If he were any louder, you’re certain anyone would be able to hear him beyond these four walls. As the thought crosses your mind, so too does it strike him, as the hand on your cheek rips away in favor of slapping over his mouth to muffle the moan that accompanies him falling to pieces.

Holding your breath and pushing yourself to your own limit, you take him whole and feel his release hit the back of your throat in a handful of steady bursts that come in time with him bucking against your iron-tight hold. Even muffled, the sounds that leave him are akin to some celestial song, ragged in its desperation and beckoning you to suck him further. Moans turn to groans turn to whimpers, hand falling away as he all but begs you to stop.

You only do so when he grows soft on your tongue, his thighs shaking next to your head as his knees bend to curl in on himself. If you could get away with it, you’d hold him there and do it all over again, but a single glance at his face tells you that he’s spent. Red-cheeked, hair ruined, lashes thick with tears as he blinks toward the middle-distance lazily.

He barely flinches as you tuck him away, righting his clothes enough that he’s decent. Even as you crawl up his body, settling yourself between his thighs and resting your cheek on his sternum. On anyone else, there’d be a heartbeat thudding in your ears - but all you hear is the remnants of his labored breathing, your head moving with the rise and fall of his chest.

In a vain hope for the world to stop in its tracks, to give you a little longer in this moment, you murmur those magic words again. “I love you.”

Scaramouche doesn’t answer right away, though his hand does come up to curl around the back of your neck. He holds you there, fingers pressing gently against the muscles there, thumb moving in concentric circles that grow larger, then smaller. There’s no expectation for him to speak it again - once was enough. Once was all you’d need to hold on to for the sake of bringing yourself comfort.

But despite his greed, Scaramouche can be rather generous when he wants to be. His own proclamation flutters over you like dandelion seeds, like sakura petals, like crystalflies that dance along your skin.

“I love you. Centuries of life, and I’m convinced it was all meant for you.”

The years you’ve lived have been lost to time, their number far beyond your memory, especially after the tampering that happened while you slept for so long. But as he cranes his neck to press a kiss to the crown of your head, a subtle show of affection that holds immeasurable meaning, you can’t help but share the sentiment wholeheartedly.

#where you willed the moon #scaramouche #wanderer #genshin impact #scaramouche x reader #wanderer x reader #reader insert #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #mind the a/n for the content tags

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jay-marti · 8 months

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FAQ for this Blog and Power scaling in general

I realize the audience that makes up the Epithet Erased Fandom and people who are interested in Power Scaling is a small overlap(I’m the overlap) so I’m making this to explain the purpose behind this blog and to help those in the Epithet Fandom better understand what I’m talking about.

Q: What is Power scaling?

A: Power Scaling is the practice of measuring the power of fictional characters, especially in relation to one another and usually under the basis of a “who would win a fight scenario”.

Q: How does Power Scaling Work?

A: Power Scaling is primarily predicated on the concept of the transitive property, or simply if A>B and B>C then A>C, this translates practically to saying that if character A beat a character B who beat Character C, then character A beats Character, this also extends to feats, another important aspect of Power scaling and essentially just things the character has done that are relevant in a fight scenario. The third and final relevant aspect of power scaling is statements, In-world and official creator statements that comment on the potential power of a character, even when not shown (ex. Zora proclaiming she wasn’t even using a “tenth” of her power during the Western Arc)

Q: What does “Diff” mean?

A: Diffing is a term used by many Power Scalers including myself, it is a short version of the word “Difficulty” and refers to how hard it is for the victor of a specific fight to win, this gives the matchup a greater context and shows that not every win or loss is on the same level. The range of Difficulty ranges from Neg, or Negative Difficulty, where it takes more effort for the winner to not beat their opponent, to Extreme Difficulty, where the winner barely won out using everything they possibly had and could’ve gone the other way under slightly different circumstances, with no, low, mid, and high difficulty between the two.

Q: What is Prep Time?

A: Prep time is a condition occasionally added to fights in where one or both combatants are aware they are going to fight, this is usually applied to characters with high intelligence and resources who would normally lose without access to those resources or the time to formulate a victory strategy, the most common example being Batman. It applies particularly to Epithet Erased given the fact that 80% of the world don’t have superpowers and would normally be outmatched in a fight can have the time to plan out against an opponent.

Q: Why Scale Epithet Erased?

A: Epithet Erased is my favorite piece of media of all time, The Characters are phenomenal, The Story is intriguing, The world is vast and full of mystery, The emotion is enough to bring a grown man to a bawling mess, but what I’ve seen fall to wayside quite a bit in fandom discussions is the namesake of the series itself, the Epithets. The Power System is one of the many reasons I love the series and while I love all other aspects, this one is criminally under discussed, and so I’ve made this blog to be a conversation starter and a place where I can share my love of Epithets through Scaling, It’s going to be a fun little ride this blog, so I would really appreciate a follow so that I can share my thoughts and love for this series with as many people as I can, who knows maybe I’ll get some people who are more interested in fighting and power systems hooked onto the series, that’d be cool.

#epithet erased #power scaling #anime #anime campaign

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infintasmal · 11 days

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mun meme

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍!

★ NAME: Chai ! KC is also acceptable

★ PRONOUNS: she/they/unbothered

★ BEST EXPERIENCE: Def the relationships I've managed to forge. I've had some partners for years, those that I've become great friends with, with whom I owe much of my development as a creative toward. I've found a sense of community in rp spaces that I otherwise wouldn't have had access to.

★ PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: Any DMs are fine, discord or otherwise. I am notably bad at initiating or maintaining conversation, I struggle a lot in social settings even online so I am appreciative of those that have been patient with me. I'm trying to be better about it but I know it can be frustrating.

★ MOST ACTIVE MUSE: Botan on DeathBlossomed is at the forefront rn which is why I've been low activity here. However Ja'far is nearly always active and has remained a steady muse for several years.

★ EXPERIENCE / HOW MANY YEARS: I started in middle school (I'm turning 30 next month, so 2007/8) on Gaiaonline, writing real cringy stuff but it sparked a long standing passion. I moved onto tumblr in 2012/3 my freshman year of college. You can do the math bc it makes me feel old

★ RP PET PEEVES:

I tend to be pretty unbothered by most things, I've been here too long however I'll never like the active policing of other people's blog content that seems to have intensified in the recent years with the 'puriteen' wave. I think people really forgot fandoms roots with the "Don't like, don't read. Dead Dove Do Not Eat." disclaimers and could use a lesson in it. The whole 'proshipper' discourse is just exhausting and I'm simply too old to be bothered, y'know. I don't mean to be like 'you shoulda seen what was going on back in my day *shakes cane*' bc some of it was skeezy for sure and we had our fair share of problems, but I felt like most people were at least staying in their own lane.

I also take issue with people who repeatedly, publicly complain about not having 'any' rp partners or not enough interactions while simultaneously making no effort to reach out to others and show interest in anything beyond their own self satisfaction. It shows that you don't appreciate the current rp partners you have or have had by stating that they're 'not enough' and that you're only looking to satisfy your own needs rather than acting as part of a community. It sucks to feel left out but at some point you've gotta start taking initiative. If we all sat around waiting for someone to come to us, no one would ever communicate.

★ PLOTS OR MEMES: I find that memes are good way to initiate a first interaction, it kinda gives me a sense of who you wanna write with, what kinda things you're interested in, and sets up the relationship nicely. But I do like plotting out threads, but only as an outline or a starter point. Sometimes, we end up plotting a little too specifically and it's like, what's the point of writing it if I already know what's gonna happen, y'know? Like, tell me where I'm going but don't tell me what I'm gonna see along the way. I like to have a solid starting point and then go with the flow from there with discussions being mainly about major plot points.

★ ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S)?: Ahh, I'm sure if you look closely enough you can find some overlapping traits with some of my muses (like dumb & gay LMAO) but I don't think there's any one muse that I would say is really like me. I think I'd be a really boring character to rp as so I'll leave it for memoir writing x3

Tagged by: @quickdeaths (Ty !! I appreciate it ~)

Tagging: I've seen a lot of my dash do this so if you haven't had the chance yet, go for it bbs

#∞࿚ ooc.#∞࿚ dash games.

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crystalelemental · 20 days

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I feel silly asking you this, but can you do a characterization analysis for Trace? I feel silly asking because A: you haven't played Let's Go, and B: I think I know what you're going to say about most of his team members (Marowak and his starter are obvious, Vileplume and Rapidash are third in line for BST for their types among the original 151 behind Blue and Green's Exeggutor and Victreebel and Arcanine/Ninetales, but I can't quite grasp why Slowbro's there.

Sure. I'll do it. Honestly, let's see if I know anything I'm talking about.

Mercifully, Trace's team is identical between versions. I'm specifically using his rematch, because...prior, he only has three attacks. A Champion only has three attacks per Pokemon. I promise I will take no further shots at Let's Go.

The Lead (Pidgeot) What I really enjoy about this is that his mega is his lead. That feels very distinct from others, who would set their mega as their ace, or at least late in the game. Trace leading with the mega implies a sense of just going at everything with all he's got. There is no warmup, no assessment of the opponent's strength, it's just going full throttle out the gate, try to keep up.

That said, without knowing Let's Go's movesets, it's odd that his best STAB attacks are Quick Attack and Air Slash. These are fairly low BP, so despite that immediate presence at the outset...his approach is not particularly offensive. His moves are priority, flinch rate, and obvious coverage for Steel that would block him, with U-Turn to flee as needed. Which is quite defensive.

At least in my estimation, this is someone who is trying to show off, but isn't exactly reckless. He's aiming for a big display to put himself at an early advantage, but he's not leaving himself open to your counterattacks. He's cautious, perhaps even worried, about letting his opponent see past him.

The Ace (Raichu/Jolteon) It's interesting that Jolteon is the Eevee form he chooses. Makes my life easy I suppose. I know it's because he already had a Fire and Water type, but still. It's neat.

The big thing that stands out to me is Thunder. Thunderbolt is the more conservative effort, compared to Thunder, and is what you'd expect for someone leading with such a defensive play. Their coverage also includes a really risky move, in Iron Tail/Pin Missile. Brick Break/Shadow Ball are more standard, with Quick Attack being priority, despite being so naturally fast. ...do his starters have the same boosted stats thing your Eevee/Pikachu do? I guess not because they evolve.

As the finisher, this feels, to me, a bit more like desperation. It's aiming for clean OHKOs but risking everything on that swing missing. It feels more "nothing left to lose" than someone aiming to make a safe comeback. It's a sensible choice when you're down that far. When you're on your last, swing with all you've got, and keep every advantage in your corner you can. Yeah you're super fast, but if you need to get a sudden shot in, Quick Attack will do it.

Offensive (Rapidash/Marowak) Marowak is the more obvious one. Earthquake standard, Fire and Thunder cover the typical Grass, Ice, and Water weaknesses of Ground types, Brick Break is just a lot of super-effective coverage.

Rapidash has Flare Blitz, which is self-sacrificial, but its coverage is super awkward. Drill Run and Poison Jab aren't...intrinsically bad, but they're not necessary for Rapidash, they don't do anything for it. Its weaknesses aren't hit any easier, nor does it hit things that threaten it. And again, there's a Quick Attack in there.

Marowak is your most direct, perfect coverage offense. And it's slow. Rapidash has whatever's biggest, but is super fast. I think, taking all of this together, suggests that Trace is someone who's going to push really hard for an early lead, roll the dice when he's down to the wire, but his core is someone balanced. Rapidash fills in what it can because it's quick and can get first strike, while Marowak considers its matchups and tries to cover what it would need to cover. Offensively, these are about as good as we get, without putting some special attacks on Rapidash and aiming for Sunny Day strats. Which would be better offensive coverage! But the lack of that kind of effect suggests either simplicity, or that he's considering a bigger picture, given his Water type, and his Grass type would be even worse off. Although...

Defensive (Vileplume/Slowbro) Vileplume is an excellent choice, 10/10. Don't know how he got that version exclusive in both games but sure. Its defensive backbone is Reflect, which is a fun means of protecting the team at large from physical attacks. The rest is offense, including Sludge Bomb, Dazzling Gleam coverage, and...Solarbeam. Buddy. You should've run Sunny Day on Rapidash.

Slowbro has Light Screen as its defensive support, alongside Surf, Psychic, and Blizzard. Interesting to note, neither heals. Which is...odd. Boost defense so you can't be beaten down easily, but nothing to sustain yourself. I read this as someone who's not about to keep trying at something that isn't working. There's no point to healing and keeping in if you can't beat them, getting caught in The Loop. Just push your way through. He's willing to play his cards directly and make his move, but he's not going to languish on it.

Fun to note: both use the shield that boosts their worse defensive stat. Vileplume has better Sp Def, while Slowbro has better Def, so they're using the right shield for their weaker defensive stat. And it's here I think we can make an assertion.

I've done a lot of competitive in my day, and one of the hardest things I have to think about sometimes is your team's role. Specifically, I am someone who aims to balance defenses in this way. Sometimes it works. But often, you get more mileage on a defensive backbone by playing to a strength than a covering a weakness. And this feels like what Trace is after here.

Final Thoughts Trace is someone who aims to be balanced, and to make each individual Pokemon as good as it can be. This can come at the cost of overall team cohesion, however, as his consistent offensive Pokemon are slow and have no defensive merit, while his fast Pokemon are wasting coverage on ensuring they can drop priority. He runs highly inaccurate moves at times, sacrificing consistency for risky throws that may not be necessary. He aims to take an early lead, but by lockdown rather than ruthless offense. He aims to stick a finish, but through risky plays that could easily seal his fate. He's almost entirely offensive, only playing defensive for the sake of shields that prevent damage, but won't aim to heal off what he takes or extend the fight in a way he can't win. He's a simple, direct boy whose focus is pushing through and doing his best on an individual basis. I just think...well...

He's a worthy successor to Red. He has really strong picks, he has a generally sane approach, but counterpicking him is pretty easy. It's mostly raw offenses, a couple defensive tools, but ultimately, a lot of inconsistencies as a cohesive unit, in favor of maximum individual potential. The risks he takes are calculated, but man is he bad at math. Which is a little unfair, he is run by AI and AI doesn't switch. So maybe he's making the better call after all.

#ether-gearhead

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incendio22 · 1 year

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FOR THE HOPE OF IT ALL

Pt 2 Chapter 5: Desperation

Sebastian's POV

I lean against the walls in the Undercroft that I seem to know all too well by now. My fingers trace the walls and I recognize every single buckle and imperfection. It's kind of soothing to know something that well. Before my 7th year I had spent many evenings here. With Ominis, with Anne, with Y/n. But none of it mattered now that she wasn't here.

I promised her that I'd wait, so this is how I spend my nights. Waiting for her to come back. The last year, when I was in misery, she was the one being there for me. And in the end, I was never really there for her. I understand why she left. She must have felt so alone in our relationship, and I cannot imagine anything worse. Feeling lonely when you're with someone you love. Of course I knew she loved me, but maybe that was the problem all along. That I was always too aware of her emotions, which made me take them for granted. It's an easy thing to do, but even harder to recognize when you're actually doing it.

Someone enters the Undercroft and my hopes go up. I turn around and see Ominis, which is not a disappointment but not what I expected. Our relationship had been icy ever since he came back from his family dinner this spring. He had forgiven me once, but I struggled to find a way to make him do it again. Honestly, I cannot even remember what I did right the last time.

''Do you ever leave this place?'' Ominis asks in a cold voice.

''I'm waiting for Y/n,'' I tell him in a low voice.

''I remember one thing from last year,'' Ominis starts in a very serious tone. ''I remember you and me, here in the Undercroft. And I told you that if you broke her heart, I would never forgive you. You broke her heart and here we are.''

Ominis is staring me down. I avoid looking at him because I feel ashamed.

''So,'' I begin. ''That's why you're upset with me? Not because of... What happened with my uncle?''

Ominis looks at me for a good moment and I feel like I might sink through the floor out of embarrassment.

''Well, that event was very unpleasant. But since I seemed to have forgiven you once, I have let that one slip. Again.'' His voice is harsh. ''But you swore to stay away from her if you couldn't make sure you would break her heart.''

''I apologized...'' I tell him, holding my tears back.

''I know you're not stupid, Sebastian. But I have to ask you, how dumb can you be?'' Ominis voice is getting more and more upset.

I start tracing the walls with my fingers to calm down. I feel as if I might break any seconds.

''This isn't going to be okay by a simple sorry,'' Ominis tells me. ''You need to show her why she should choose you over herself.''

''And how do I do that?'' I ask Ominis. My tone is hard, but my intentions are genuine.

''For starters, waiting for her here in the Undercroft won't do it,'' Ominis says and looks as if he's almost holding a laugh back. ''You need to do something. Make her smile, make her feel like you add something good to her life.''

''She said she despises me,'' I tell him in a sad tone.

''Isn't it only reasonable that she feels that way?'' Ominis asks curiously. ''I mean, she finally gave in for you and you smashed her heart into pieces. I certainly don't blame her.''

I look around, feeling embarrassed and unsure what to do. There is something in what Ominis is saying. I can't just wait here, waiting for her to show up. I need be there for her and make efforts for her.

''She's going on a date with Garreth Weasley,'' Ominis breaks the silence with his calm voice. ''This weekend. If I were you, I wouldn't interfere with that. Let her choose. She's a smart girl. In the end she will choose whoever brings the most good things into her life.''

I knew I had seen some sparks between them before. A wave of jealousy flows through my body, but also sadness because this would never have happened if I didn't screw things up completely. Of course, how could he not be into her. She is the most fascinating person to have ever existed. She's clever, kind and compassionate. No one could ever compare to her. Which is why I was a fool to let my feelings get the best of me. And to not tell her that I messed up sooner. I pushed her away and I hurt her to push her away even further.

I head to the library, devoted to find a way to make Y/n forgive me and to even consider being more than friends with me. However, wizarding books related to love are very limited and even though amortentia passes through my mind, I quickly reject the thought. I see Poppy sitting alone with a pile of books. We were never close, but I know she's a friend of Y/n's so I decide to talk to her.

''Poppy!'' I say in a light voice.

She looks up from her book, but quickly looks away.

''Hi,'' she says in a short tone.

''I know this is a bit awkward, but I need your help,'' I admit as I sit down next to her.

She looks up again, looking slightly intrigued.

''What is it?'' she asks.

''I need to do some big romantic gesture to get Y/n's attention,'' I tell her, feeling my cheeks flush.

''Ooh...'' she says in a surprised voice. ''Didn't you hear? She's going out with Garreth.''

I need to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Of course I knew. And the thought of her with someone else is killing me.

''I know,'' I tell her in my calmest possible voice. ''Which is why I need to make a move quickly.''

''Why should I even help you?'' Poppy snaps, which surprises me. ''She is one of my best friends and you broke her heart. Give me one good reason.''

''Because I love her,'' the words slip out of my mouth before I even have time to process what I just said. Poppy looks shocked.

''Oh,'' she says in a nicer tone than before. ''Do you, though?''

She gives me a curious look, as if she's implying that I'm not speaking truthfully. I nod carefully.

''I make no promises that you will get her back,'' Poppy starts and I nod to tell her to go on. ''And if you break her heart again I will send my venomous tentacula on you.''

She looks dead serious, which scares me.

''You need to show her that you love her,'' Poppy tells me in a sincere voice. ''You need to show here that you love her and that you're willing to give it your all. But you also need to make sure that you've got your shit together. If you're not entirely sure that she is the one, I suggest you stay back. Or I will make you.''

I never knew Poppy too well, but I do realize why she's a Hufflepuff. That loyalty is astonishing and frankly, I find it inspiring.

I head over to the Great Hall for dinner and that's when I see her. She's sitting with Ominis, laughing and looking happy. I'm unsure whether or not I should join them. I would never want to do anything to take that smile off her face, but I need to try. I sit down next to them and they both go silent.

''Hi,'' I break the silence. They both nod to greet me. ''So, I heard you're going on a date with Weasley.''

Y/n looks intrigued and makes a curious face.

''Yeah,'' she says whilst nodding. ''He's really cool.''

''He is,'' I admit, even though the thought of the two of them together is killing me. ''What are your plans?''

''Butterbeer,'' Y/n says in a short tone, but she seems to enjoy the fact that I'm asking her questions about the date.

''Oh,'' I say. ''So, does this prove my thesis that butterbeer is a romantic activity?''

I see a small smile forming on her lips, but it fades just as quickly.

''Depends on who you're drinking it with,'' she argues.

I love it when she's in her argumentative mode. She's so clever and witty, which always makes me light up with joy inside.

''That's a solid point,'' I sigh to admit my defeat. ''I guess you're right.''

''Oh?'' she looks surprised and intrigued, as if she's been starving to hear those words. ''Say it again.''

I get flashbacks from our happy times in the Undercroft, me kissing her and asking her to repeat things she said. I'm wondering if those moments ever passes through her mind. I roll my eyes, making sure that she sees that I'm hesitant.

''You're right,'' I tell her with a smirk.

Once again there is a smile forming on her face and she stands up and walks away. Her two braids are falling perfectly on her back as she leaves. I was always fascinated by them and couldn't help but wonder if she did them by hand or magic.

''What was that?'' Ominis asks and starts laughing.

''I don't know,'' I admit as I burst into laughter. ''But Merlin, her smile.''

''She did sound pretty pleased,'' Ominis says in a calm voice. ''I'm warning you, Sebastian. Don't mess it up.''

I stand up, walking fast to catch up with her. I see her in far distance, so I jog.

''Y/n!'' I yell.

She turns around looking curious. Her face looks relaxed, something I haven't seen in a long time. She looks so beautiful with the yellow leaves and the sun that is starting to set behind her.

''What do you want, Sallow?'' she asks in an almost annoyed tone, but for some reason it sounds forced.

This is the first time she doesn't call me by my first name, which is to my surprise. I'm unsure whether it's a bad thing or not.

''Do you remember when I took you to The Three Broomsticks last year? And it was a complete disaster, so we snuck into the Forbidden Forest after?'' I ask her.

I hope that she hasn't forgotten. It was the night we first kissed. She looks as if she's thinking really hard.

''Oh,'' she begins and forces a clueless face. ''I must have repressed it. What happened?''

She gives me a daring look, very much aware of how uncomfortable she is making me.

''We went for some butterbeer, it was a disaster. So we went to the Forbidden Forest, found an astronomy table and...'' I say as I squirm, and I hope she doesn't make me say the last part of the story. It was one of the best nights in my life, but given our situation I'd rather not bring it up.

''And then..?'' she goes on, still smirking.

She's doing this to mess with me. I know it.

''Well,'' I begin. ''We kissed.''

''Oooh,'' she says as she starts to laugh. ''I think I remember parts of it.''

She looks at me for a good moment, looking almost devious. What's going inside of her head?

''You can take me out,'' she finally says in a calm voice. ''But if you don't make me feel something, that will be our last date. You have one chance.''

She looks incredibly satisfied, but I also think I'm able to see that her cheeks are turning slightly red.

''Oh, and don't forget,'' she says in an even calmer voice than before. It's giving me chills running through my spine. ''I despise you. So I'd say your odds are pretty low.''

Then and there I don't care about my odds, all that matters is that she said yes. No promises, no hopes, but simply a yes. As she turns around and walks away I do a little happy spin on the courtyard, heading back inside feeling like the luckiest man on the planet.

#sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow x you #hogwarts legacy #fanfic #slytherin #fanfiction #ominis gaunt #for the hope of it all

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free-chozo-hrt · 1 year

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The Metroid game most badly in need of a remake:

Bear with me here. I've got some Ideas about this game.

Metroid Prime Hunters is, for sure, one of the black sheep of the Metroid series. Its premise and game structure are pretty different from every other game, since it puts a large focus on multiplayer in a series defined by isolated single player experiences. It's hard to get a hold of, and it's not as fondly remembered as the rest of the Prime games. But why?

Admittedly I haven't personally seen all that the game has to offer, so don't consider this a full review. However, I have a copy on DS, and I've played enough to develop some insights about the game:

Hunters must be driven primarily by its multiplayer gameplay. Though I never got to experience it, I've heard good things about the pvp combat from those who have.

The game does have a pretty significant singleplayer campaign, but it feels very half-baked. Maps are supposedly borrowed straight from multiplayer arenas, making the layout of some parts of the game a bit unintuitive and confusing to navigate. Upgrades are also borrowed from multiplayer, and come in the form of alternate arm cannon weapons... and not much else. The adventure on each planet you visit is pretty repetitive. It didn't offer enough original material to keep me engaged until the end of the game, so I never finished.

The game is severely held back by its original hardware. For a full 3D adventure game where it's important to recognize details in your environment, the low resolution of the DS screen makes that task difficult. The aiming system using the touch pad is creative, but holding your DS in that position can be hard on the hands for long play sessions.

The game has plenty of shortcomings, so what good do I see in it? Well, Metroid Prime Hunters attempted some really unique ideas, and I'm intrigued by what would happen if they were executed better.

For starters, like I mentioned, the game's competitive multiplayer is well remembered. This isn't the only time the Metroid series has attempted multiplayer experiences, either pvp or co-op, but none of them are particularly well received by fans. That's understandable given the nature of Metroid games, and what we come to expect from them. But I'm fascinated by the possibility of a full-featured Metroid competitive shooter with a lot of effort put into it.

That brings me to my next point: the characters. Any good competitive shooter needs a diverse cast of player characters to choose from. And oh boy, the characters introduced by Metroid Prime Hunters are probably my favorite part of the game. It's the first game to put forth the idea that Samus shares the galaxy with other bounty hunters like her, and it gives us a whole gallery of freaky aliens for the roles, all with unique backstories and abilities. And then they never get used for anything outside this game! Wasted potential! I want to know more about them!

Let me lay out my ideas for a dream reimagining of Metroid Prime Hunters:

It needs to have fantastic online pvp. I'm no expert on the genre myself, but something in the same team shooter vein as Splatoon, TF2, or Overwatch is what I'm envisioning. You need to be able to start matchmaking and get right into a fun, well-balanced match whenever you want.

The characters need a wide range of abilities with very different playstyles to suit everyone's tastes. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to give them some personality too: voice lines would be welcome. Samus, of course, would take her place among the playable cast.

Because I want to have my cake and eat it too, this game should have a great singleplayer campaign. It doesn't have to be too long or complicated, but it should at least be creative and dynamic the whole way. It would star Samus, of course, but imagine the story potential if the other hunters were allowed to be more than just boss encounters, and actually contribute to the narrative in their own way.

So, what do you think? Do you think the ideas behind Metroid Prime Hunters have a lot of potential? Do you want to see how they could be executed on modern hardware, with a bit more care and ambition? Do you think Metroid is the right choice for Nintendo to branch out into the more mature competitive shooter genre? (Can you tell this idea excites me?)

#metroid #metroid prime hunters

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takiki16 · 1 year

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so what’s the deal with your new blorbo? assume 1. i know how football works (used to actually watch) but not how/why some players get famous; (2) i know nothing about messi except that he. exist; (3) feel free to go bananas to your heart’s content if you decide to answer this.

fuuuuUUUUUUUQ ME. Can litchrally any Argentinian, any FC Barcelona supporter, ANYONE who has followed fuutyball for more than *checks watch* TWO WEEKS spot me for this one?!?! I am GROSSLY underqualified to answer this question Cunningham's law is about to hunt me for SPORT.

Okay. LIONEL MESSI. I can't summarize everything about this Guy who is currently one of the Main Characters of the most watched sport in the world, but I CAN summarize how he has started cooking my brain!!!

(that is him!!!! my guy!!!! HIM JUMP)

I have been trying to read a book with @rhaeneystargaryen for at least a couple years now, but somehow never had the spoons or the right overlapping interest. And then she told me that she was reading this:

I figured I would give it a try! I wanted something low effort, low investment, something I didn't care a whole lot about that I could put down at any moment bc work has been hell lately. And then I hit THIS line in the introduction, and I could literally FEEL the cursed hyperfixation key in my brain start to turn:

GUESS WHICH ONE IS MESSI!!!!!

I'm not a twitter stan, I swear. I am AWARE there is a media layer here. These people are real, actual human beings with documented flaws and mistakes, I am WELL AWARE that they are ungodly wealthy pro athletes and not "stars who are just like us!!! ✨✨✨." It's also obviously reductive and unfair to view anyone solely through a comparative lens - no living being could live up to the marketing hype that has been generated around Messi, Ronaldo, or indeed any pro athlete in the elite leagues.

BUT GOTDAM IF THIS FUCKER DOESN'T MAKE IT HARD!!!!

Bare bones: Lionel Messi is a football player born in Rosario, Argentina, who at 13yo moved to Spain to play for FC Barcelona. He joined the adult team at a whole ass 17 years old. Ensue absolutely RIDICULOUS teen prodigy meteoric rise, with both Messi and Barcelona winning all the Best Football Awards ever and Best Individual Sports Achievements in Everything. I have spent the last two weeks spending FAR too much time reading football books, and all the gotdam graphs look like this:

People talk about Messi being the player who made them fall in love with "the most beautiful game," and I can SEE WHY!!! HERE I AM!!!! A CLOWN!!! ALSO FALLING IN LOVE!!!! I am googling sports highlight reels of his plays like a CHAD FOOTY HOOLIGAN!! WHO AM I, I AM HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS. It is just so much fun to WATCH him! Listening to commentators screaming "Eight, ten, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY DEFENDERS THERE HE GOES THROUGH THEM!!! MESSI GOAAAALLLLL"

youtube

What makes it WORSE is the whole fukken rivalry business the book was about. Cristiano Ronaldo was another super-gifted player who debuted at about the same time and had a similar prodigy teen genius rise. He signed for a rival club in the same league at the same time Messi was playing with Barcelona. The story reads like a gotdam Hollywood sports drama, on both an individual and a team level!! I cannot IMAGINE what it was like watching this unfold as it was happening!

For starters: on an individual level, they were constantly thrown up against each other for every award imaginable. The Ballon d'Or awards list, which crowns you King of Soccer for the year, has looked like this since 2008:

(there is obviously talk that Messi is up for an EIGHTH award this year, but I don't think about the future bc it is bad for my cooked brain 😊)

On a team level, there was (and IS) of course the clubs. I am ABSOLUTELY not qualified to get into the weeds on this, but the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid has deep, deep political, historical, and cultural roots going back (among other things) to Catalonian oppression under the fascist Franco regime in Spain. Josep Suñol, then-president of FC Barcelona, was shot in 1936 by Francoist troops.The matches between the two clubs and the two players with their drastically different teams and styles at the time were super-charged - an ACTUAL QUALIFIED Barcelona supporter is going to have to get in here and explain the history and emotion behind the Clasicos bc THAT IS SEVERAL BOOKS IN AND OF ITSELF!!!!!

The whole point of THIS particular book was not, in fact, a blow-by-blow comparison of the players. The point was that by being WHO they were and WHEN they were, Messi and Ronaldo changed the shape of the game forever in terms of marketing, branding, team strategy, finances, etc etc etc. It's an interesting read (if not entirely unbiased on all points), if you enjoy the absolute blood and oil-soaked clown show that is professional football money!

But ANYWAY.

AFTER I finished the book Messi ended up cooking my brain bc (1) all of the context above re: rivalry in league football, and (2) his PERSONALITY. Someone made him in a lab to ruin my life!

I mean, the club loyalty gets me. For his entire professional career, Messi has played for exactly two teams - Barcelona and his homeland Argentina NT. He only left Barcelona in 2021, VERY much against his will (per him, his agent, his friends, his family, AND FC Barcelona) due to an absolute hot mess of a league financial situation that is apparently still sorting itself out. I don't know how common it is for pro athletes at his level to move around, but I feel like it's more common than that!!! THE CLUB LOYALTY gets me, the HOME LOYALTY gets me!!!! Especially as he's gotten better and better, and there's been more and more pressure on him to keep delivering even in the absence of anything else!

The gotdam STOICISM also gets me!!! Call it shyness, call it humility, call it down-to-earthness or reservedness or whatever you want - what everyone kept mentioning about him in the books (and what certain French marketing departments are still probably saying about him) is how QUIET he is. Journalists would complain about how he "made it to age 30 without ever uttering an interesting sentence in public." A Nike exec who lost a bid with his agent for a sponsorship waved it off by saying "Imagine how much trouble we would be in if Messi had a personality." Relative to his peers in the elite football world, he doesn't have a flash lifestyle with a huge entourage. He doesn't do a lot of press. He doesn't try to push a personal brand, even though it's a big chunk of income for wherever he plays. Even though he obviously COULD, he doesn't go around talking about Greatest Of All Time (TM). When he DOES give interviews he doesn't even talk super loudly. He keeps to his immediate family and his closest circle of friends.

AND YET. AND YET. ON THE PITCH, HE PLAYS LIKE HE DOES. He creates not just for himself, but for his TEAMMATES the way that he does! I realize that NO ONE gets an award for being a team player in a team sport, or for "not being as much of a dick as you could have been," but HE STILL HAS HIS HOMETOWN ACCENT!!! He dedicates his goals to his GRANDMOTHER! He met his wife when he was FIVE YEARS OLD, he has never had a relationship with anyone else ("It has always been Antonella, for me"), he has three beautiful kids, his teammates keep apparently falling in love with him and doing Intricate Rituals, I AM ENDEARED I AM ENDLESSLY ENDEARED

Did I mention he is also very short? Allow me to mention that. 5"7 / 1.7 meters in pro-athlete world is PICK-UPABLE SIZE. Multiple reels out there of his teammates celebrating goals just by PICKING HIM UP it MAKES ME SO FOND

(on an Intricate Rituals note, Messi's size and his evasive style of play has caused a lot of opposing team's strategy to be "make a cage, kick him as soon as you can and tackle often," which has in turn prompted a lot of specific protection strategies for him as a forward and also over-protective teammates :)))). WHICH OF COURSE COOKS MY BRAIN EVEN MORE YOU KNOW HOW IT IS.)

And that isn't even STARTING on his saga with the Argentina NT, which reads like YET ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD SPORT DRAMA that I cannot believe actually happened!

Again, I am begging ANY Argentine to jump in here, I AM GROSSLY IGNORANT as to the history of this sport I got here two whole weeks ago how is this HAPPENING to meeeeeeee

My very basic understanding of the situation is that Messi has played for the national team ever since 2004, whenever he was on break from Barcelona. Over the years since then, Argentina (with Messi) has tried again and again to win the World Cup (and the Copa America), but consistently failed despite regularly advancing to finals. BECAUSE Messi was on the team, Argentina routinely and perhaps unfairly got billed as "favorites" to win, with criticism in the press being focused disproportionately on Messi when they didn't. I don't know how bad the situation in Argentinian media got, but even the western English outlets were picking it up. "Messi plays better for Barcelona than for his home country, Messi isn't Argentinian enough, Messi keeps too much to himself and doesn't sing the anthem,etc etc etc". Maradona famously commented that Messi was "a great person, but had no personality," and that it was useless to try to make a leader out of him because he caved under pressure (referring to Messi reportedly being sick from nerves before the world cup games).

(note: gotdam rivalry. Of the people named who would be better and more stylish leaders, Cristiano Ronaldo was up top )

The pressure DID get to Messi in the end - he issued a statement in 2016 saying he would retire from international football, but there was a huge home campaign to get him to come back to the team. Argentina still didn't win the 2018 World Cup (players of opposing teams said that their strategy against Argentina was not letting them pass to Messi). And so on, and so forth.

AND THEN!!!!! 2021!!!!!

I THINK I HAVE POSTED FAR TOO MUCH ALREADY about the current Argentina NT for someone who, as I said, JUST ARRIVED AT THIS GOTDAM SPORT, but I'm going to make everyone look at these quotes again. These are quotes the team has given ABOUT MESSI HOW IS THIS REAL????

Argentina would go on to win the Copa America - and then...well 🥰

I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE EXPLAINED THIS ADEQUATELY!!! I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE SUFFICIENTLY REPRESENTED THE DEGREE TO WHICH MY BRAIN IS COOKED!!! Did that mean anything to anyone???? I don't know!

HELL

#my posts #football #lm10 #i am WELL aware this is extremely embarrassing #i give you my solemn word i am not going to become a twitter stan #but also it is BIZARRE to read books about either him OR ronaldo or them BOTH that were written before the world cup #sports journalists who do longform about Messi had this way of writing about him like he was already dead #like this wasn't a real live human being who is going to show up in gotdam Ligue 1 Uber Eats next week #actually you know what it makes me even MORE nervous that he's still out there playing sportsball #it FEELS LIKE there was this perfect cathartic triumph to the episode but you look at the buffer bar #and there is way too much time left for something ELSE bad to happen #lm10 will be a free agent come june 2021 WHERE WILL YOU GO WHAT ARE U GONNA DO.#this was the literal worst decision of my life i hate sports #@Gallifreyburning i know i owe you a volley i SWEAR i am working on it #did I just say 2021 I meant 2023 this is what I MEANNNNNN

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countlessrealities · 1 year

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🔥 any subject you want, go wild lmao

Unpopular opinions || Accepting !

[OOC] Let's talk about a very common and very general issue, which is the foundation of pretty much all the problems in the RPC (at least in my opinion, then hey, I could be wrong, but this is how I see it).

People use the excuse "RPing is a hobby" to act like selfish assholes towards the people who are not their besties or favourites or whatever.

I could write a whole essay about this, but I'm gonna sum it up because I doubt that anyone wants to see me going on a 2k words rant on dash xD

Taking care of your mental health, assure your comfort and prioritise your issues is legit and valid. Everyone has the right to do it because yes, this is a hobby. Real life comes first, and I'm a firm believer of this.

However, this doesn't give you the right to enact a certain series of behaviours because that's not creating your safe space, that's being a self-entitled JERK. Here's some example

Letting OTHER people do all the work when it comes to initiate interactions. And this include: coming out with plot idea, writing starters, sending memes, reaching out in general

Linked to the point above, sending a meme takes literally five seconds, so there is no excuse for NEVER sending one to people. I'm not talking about interaction memes, because if you don't want extra threads, that's completely understandable. But mun memes, HC memes, things that can be left as a one-shot, etc? You should spend those FIVE SECONDS to send something in. Especially if the other person does it with you

And that leads me to a more general point: taking people for granted. I don't know where this idea comes from, but a lot of RPers just assume that their mutuals / followers will keep on feeding them stuff without them having to raise a finger in return. That's NOT how it works. RPing is a two-ways street and sooner or later people get fed up and leave. And then said people wonder why no one wants to interact with them -insert long eyeroll-

Crying for attention on main and trying to guilt-trip people. Guilt-tripping is ALWAYS wrong, no matter the context. It's a fucking asshole move and that's were people should shove it. That said, feeling down about low interactions is normal, we've all been there. But how about actively looking for them instead of sitting on your ass and waiting for them to fall in your lap?

Posting replies always and anyway at your convenience, without giving a shit about people who OPENLY SAY that they are struggling. You wanna get that particular draft done? Cool, your free to do it, nothing against that. But instead of dumping it without a care in the world, how about scheduling it so that it posts in a week? It's not that hard.

...I could go on, but I want. Instead I'll put down what I think are easy basic rules NOT to be a selfish asshole: pull your weight, try to match people's efforts, keep your mutuals' biggest needs in mind, show interest.

And the most important of all: DON'T BE A FUCKING ASSHOLE.

#[ ooc :: mun scotty on comm ]#[ ooc :: scotty's big cup of salt ]#sinruby #[[ thank you for the chance to rage x'D ]]#[[ it took me a while to pick because SO MANY THINGS ]]

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mencnfire · 1 year

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♦ ☀ ✂ ❣ ❧

ilyilyilyilyily

the salty af munday meme

♦ What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

being kind of lowkey stalked? or at least, i assume as much - by someone i've had to block across blogs. i just don't understand that? i've always been open about saying, like, if you wanna ask why you've been blocked - go for it. but block evading by following me on alts is bizarre? i don't understand the end game there. idk, mildly annoying but not like...awful. just a little strange.

☀ What's your rp pet peeve?

i'm very much over those blogs that are aesthetics with zero threading / character interaction. every post is either an ooc ramble or a little 'my character likes x lol' - i feel it defeats the purpose of rp. i've been mutuals in the past with someone who would constantly post interest calls, starter calls, inbox calls and then ooc posts / these one liners about their muse. what got me was that every post felt very baity. like, these short posts are, ultimately. they're an easy way for likes / comments without putting in a tonne of effort.

i guess, i'm just not a fan of the low effort style. & this is coming from someone whose head hasn't been in the game the last few weeks.

i think i just feel that people can run their blogs however they want but, they shouldn't expect everyone to like it.

✂ A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting?

resident evil. 500000000000%. and it's a shame because there are a lot of very nice people /in/ that fandom. i feel, as individuals, the fandom is lovely but as a group - it feels a very hostile and anxiety-inducing environment. like, i've never joined a fandom and immediately felt scoffed at - but that fandom made me feel that way.

there's this vibe of like 'if you don't write a character a certain way, you're not valid' and it's beyond gross. certain portrayals are treated as gospel, while other - just as good - portrayals are shunned and scoffed at. it's a very gross environment. i've had conversations with multiple people from the fandom who feel the same thing & it's just a crying shame that so many re lovers will be disuaded by a small group of people.

my re mutuals here are the lovely ones - like, i've had nothing but good experiences with them and i /adore/ their portrayals. we're all resident evil lovers and we embrace it. others in the fandom? not so much, the elitism is genuinely saddening.

❣ How salty are you feeling right now?

a little salty. i've not been feeling too hot the last week & it's making me antsy - you know the feelin', i'd hit you up to rant but i want u to be taking it easy cause i think ur cute.

❧ Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

nah. jealousy's a gross thing i don't waste time on - i admire a lot of people & always try to see the best in people. people i don't like very much i just ignore. but nah, jealousy's never been a thing for me. even in my relationship, i don't do it. it's not worth the energy & is way better to just be happy for peeps

#(answered)#(ooc)#(saltymeme)#me just @ing the re fandom like wot u gonna o about it dslngkndg #for real tho theres a lot of goodness there there is just this subset of people who have put themselves on a podium and literally #the way they treat others is eye rollingly gross #i dont mind people having cliques and mates but theres this mentality of like #you ARE the only chris/jill/leon etc #and if you dont fit that mould someone else sets for you 'youre not goodenough'#and the thing is i wouldnt be super salty if it was just me #for me i just find it shitty #BUT ive had multiple people tell me the same and feel the same and /that/ annoys me #(ooc) | your right hand comes off

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ourflagmeansgayrights · 2 years

Text

so like. gotta preface this by saying that i DONT ship steddyhands. but ages and ages there were a whole buncha posts (proabably more than those three) where i jokingly whined abt how all the steddyhands content i see gets stede's characterization wrong. and out of silly, petty, joking, well-meaning spite over a harmless fandom disagreement i was like "im going to write my own summary of a steddyhands fic of how it SHOULD go." but then bc i do not like izzy and i do not care about this ship i forgot about it for a long ass time. but i was clearing out my drafts and slapped a few more paragraphs onto it and now here's this fucking monster

this is by no means a completed fic. but by god is it way longer than any fucking summary should be. like it's literally 5k. this is a 5k summary of what would probably be like a 100k fic. someone kill me

———

so for starters, this would have to be THE SLOWEST of burns (and there's no way i'd put that much time and effort into a fic for a ship i don't even like, so that's why this post is all i'm gonna write). izzy has to go through so much change before stede would even think about izzy as anything more than "that asshole that ed keeps around for some reason" (and also before im comfortable with ed being vulnerable around izzy haha "i shouldve let the english kill you" conversation my detested)

izzy would have been in love with ed since they met (but he doesn't know it). he doesn't even let himself admit he's attracted to him. ed always knew that izzy was interested, but he didn't want to be wanted the way izzy wanted him (he's not gonna be izzy's daddy dom, basically). stede and the gang have stolen a new ship and have been chasing them down. meanwhile, the vibe on the Revenge has been mostly just... sad. not gratuitously violent or a living nightmare. they do raids and stuff, but everyone still surrenders at the sight of blackbeard's flag and ed is bored. he sits in his room either crying or drinking. the rest of the crew do normal boat stuff. izzy is like... aware that the energy is low. but he has no idea what to do about it so he pretends everything is fine.

so the story starts at the reunion. stede and his gang finally catch up to the Revenge while ed and his crew are getting their asses handed to them by some european navy ship, the french or spanish or something idc. stede's crew is able to turn the tide of the battle. in the middle of all the chaos, stede and izzy run into each other. stede demands to know where ed is, izzy says ed doesn't want to see him. they fight, both physically and verbally. lotta insults are thrown on both sides while they wave swords at each other. at some point they have their swords crossed and faces close, glaring and growling homoerotically at each other, but then they hear ed shout in pain. he gets shot or stabbed or something, and instantly izzy and stede are both working in sync together to save him. stede uses his new sailor muscles to carry ed while izzy clears a path to get back to the Revenge. ed, barely holding onto consciousness and delirious from blood loss, sees stede for the first time and is like, "you came back..." stede, of course, replies, "never left." ed laughs and calls him a liar. izzy is dying inside.

they get ed and everyone else back onto the Revenge, the crew reunites, lucius is alive, roach stabilizes ed's condition.

while ed is unconscious (which lasts like 2 or 3 days), it's unclear who is running the ship. izzy is ed's first mate, but stede's crew outnumbers ed's. the crew tries really hard to get stede to just throw izzy overboard, but jim (who's struck a weird friendship with izzy since the marooning where all they do is practice fighting and never talk abt their feelings ever), is like, "ed might be mad if he wakes up and we killed his first mate." and stede (even though it's clear that he also kind of wants to throw izzy overboard), is like, "ugh, i suppose jim is right... and he did help me save ed. let's wait for ed to wake up first before we make any rash decisions."

so izzy, realizing how precarious his situation is on the ship (and realizing that if ed wakes up and wants nothing to do with him, he's doomed), starts acting like a cornered rat, hissing and spitting at everyone all the time (except for jim, who keeps training with izzy in stoic silence). he's especially harsh to stede, talking abt how much ed doesn't want to see his face and insulting stede's masculinity and trying to get stede to leave before ed wakes up. stede snaps back a little bit, but mostly he just rolls his eyes and ignores him bc he's just focused on worrying abt ed. stede spends the nights sleeping in a chair next to ed. izzy tries to sneak into the cabin at night to kill stede at some point, but jim stops him and reminds him that everyone is just looking for an excuse to chuck him overboard

when ed wakes up, he and stede kiss and make up. stede initiates family therapy where the whole crew and ed air out their feelings about the marooning and have a heart to heart. touching dialogue is had. izzy is in the corner glaring and scowling and also freaking the fuck out the whole time, but he doesn't say anything. eventually the crew heads out to go. do pirate stuff idk. and then ed asks for stede and izzy to stay for a second.

he thanks izzy for saving him, then he's like, "listen izzy, we both know that this hardly the first time you've saved my life. you and i go way back. we were good mates once. do you think we could be mates again?" and izzy, through gritted teeth, watching stede out of the corner of his eye, is like. sure, boss. whatever you say. and ed is like "i want you two to get along. you're both important to me," and stede and izzy (glaring daggers at each other) are like. okay.

then ed is like "okay now just izzy alone" and stede is like "are you sure?" but eventually ed gets him to leave. and then ed gets more serious and he's like "izzy. if you kill stede. you will never see me again" and izzy is like "youre not gonna feed me more toes?"

and ed is like "no. i will leave you at the next dock. and then i will burn the whole world down. i will bring hellfire straight to london and wage war on that shithole of a country. i'll slaughter every naval soldier who tries to cut me down. and when im finally overrun, i will go down in a blaze of glory so spectacular that they'll tell stories of it for years to come, until the sun burns out at the end of the world. and you will have no part in it. you will be stuck on some tiny island here on the other side of the world and nobody will know or care who you are. that's what's going to happen if you do anything to stede."

izzy is shaking. he's like. alright. anything else? and ed's like "yeah. i'm sorry about your toe. won't happen again." and that actually makes izzy almost cry. that there's nothing he can do to make ed look at him like that again, all attention on him, putting him in his place. there's nothing he can take from ed to make ed pay attention to him. if he wants to be close to ed, he has to give something to him. something less tangible than his own toe.

(and izzy thinks what he gives to ed is his sword and his undying loyalty to his captain, to blackbeard. he doesn't understand, just yet, that ed already has a sword, and that ed doesn't want loyalty to blackbeard. izzy doesn't get that giving ed a break is more than enough for ed to want to keep anyone around)

so yeah. this threat works. izzy gives up on trying to kill stede.

so ed is still in recovery for like a month. he's not able to move around a lot, so he's just kinda lounging around the Revenge being grossly in love with stede. he's always in a robe + leather pants combo, tits out and vibing. the crew raids some ships, including a naval vessel that was caught off guard. ed doesn't go on the raids, obviously, and stede stays behind with him, and the rest of the crew members don't trust izzy enough to let him join them. the crew pull off a bunch of weird fuckeries and have some very successful raids, but every time they come back with furniture and books and fabric and stuff, izzy rolls his eyes and grumbles some shit about "real pirating."

during all of this, izzy keeps trying to get ed alone. his new strategy is to try and be buddy-buddy with ed and peer pressuring him into tough masculine pirate violence (which always worked for jack whenever he came around), and also just hope ed gets bored of stede. but stede is like, at ed's side 24/7. the only time that ed is alone is when he's taking naps in the captain's cabin (bc again, he's recovering from Ambiguous Wound With Vague And Innaccurate Medical Properties), and stede literally makes ppl guard the door to let ed sleep. when izzy runs into stede alone, stede tries to initiate friendly conversation for ed's sake, but eventually izzy says some shit like, "i've been by ed's side for years before you, and i'll be by his side for years after. he'll get bored of you, eventually." and also he insults stede's masculinity a bunch, obvi. stede just sighs and is like, "well, i tried," and then he just gives izzy the cold shoulder from then on out

one of the nights when he's training with jim, izzy just keeps getting his ass handed to him and eventually jim is like "goddamn, i get your heart is broken but you're really sloppy tonight" and izzy is like. WHAT. how dare you. i don't have feelings. and jim is like "buddy you haven't slept in a week." and izzy's like "how can i sleep when everyone on this fucking ship wants to kill me!" and jim's like, "i don't want to kill you." izzy rolls his eyes but he's like "thanks," then jim's like "yknow, if you stopped being such a dick they'd probably stop wanting to kill you" and izzy is like "oh so i should just do what all you guys do? sit around braiding each other's hair and having group therapy sessions and spilling my guts to everyone while i'm all wrapped up in a silk gown?" and jim is like. "buddy, do you see me spilling my guts in group therapy or wearing a silk gown?" and izzy's like, "okay, but you're not like the rest of them." and jim's like "you're right, i'm not. just like lucius isn't like the rest of them. or how the swede isn't like the rest of them. or fang, or ivan, or frenchie, or anyone else on this ship. we're all different people, man. we don't have a problem with differences. we have a problem with people who do have a problem with differences." izzy is like "the fuck does that mean." jim is like "yeah, i can tell you're gonna have a hard time wrapping your head around that one, so im just gonna go to bed now. same time tomorrow?"

the next night, ed doesn't come up with stede to listen to the bedtime story. while stede is distracted, izzy sneaks downstairs to finally talk to ed alone. ed is like. trying to prepare some kind of horny surprise for stede (lingerie, probably. something that's kinda feminine), so we get that avatar scene where zuko goes to talk to sokka and sokka thinks suki is the one who entered the tent (only ed is like, almost entirely naked and in the middle of prepping himself), and ed greets izzy like, "oh babe, you're back early! i was going to surprise you, but you can come here and help me finish getting ready~" or some shit idk. izzy is incapable of human speech for several seconds, and when ed realizes that this is not stede he very nearly dies of embarrassment. he covers himself up while izzy is just. choking on air. overcome with rage/lust/jealousy at the sight. he stands behind a chair to hide his absolutely raging boner

when ed's got one of stede's robes on he's like. haha. heyyyy buddy. haven't seen you around much. how have things been? and izzy is like. things have been great. super. im trapped on a boat full of people that want to kill me. ed is like, oh no, they're still going on about the killing you thing? maybe we should have stede mediate another group therapy session, i know laying everything out in the open really helped me get—

and izzy cuts him off like "how the fuck are you falling for this?" ed is like. "?" izzy continues, "you're letting everyone see you at your weakest! they're going to kill you!" ed is like ok they could've done that literally at any point while i was feverish in bed. or at any point since then, really, i'm not exactly at the top of my game right now. izzy's like, "they're gonna turn you in for a bounty!" ed is like bro they literally had the opportunity when we raided that british naval ship two days ago. izzy just starts working himself up into a frenzy while ed is like, calmly pointing out where izzy's logic is flawed, until eventually izzy says some demeaning shit about ed's masculinity, and ed's face cracks for a moment, then suddenly stede (back from storytime) literally APPEARS FROM NOWHERE and just. DECKS izzy. wrecks the little man's ENTIRE shit. breaks his fucking nose.

izzy is like. in shock. so is ed actually. (both of them are also. very turned on.) and stede is like "i've let you say this shit about me. but you do not get to say that shit to ed" (but like, better written and more in character, lol). stede then gives a whole speech where he is just letting out every bottled up response to all of izzy's insults for the past few weeks, talking abt "how dare you speak to ed that way, the only reason you're alive is because ed somehow still has fondness for you, even though you've done nothing to earn that fondness. if you really knew ed as well as you say you do, you should be happy to see ed opening up and becoming more comfortable with himself and his crew. ed enjoying fine things doesn't make him less of a pirate, he's still just as much the brilliant sailor he's always been. even now, while ed is recovering from his wound, he's been helping the crew read the weather and predict storms and plan raids, and all you've been doing is sulking around and making everyone miserable! i'm not going to have my men kill you, izzy, because ed still, for some reason, cares about you, but if you don't stop being such a prick, you can get the fuck off my ship the next time we head to port. now if you'd kindly fuck the hell off, im going to make love to my co-captain, who looks really good in that lingerie."

izzy leaves. is having a hard time having coherent thoughts. by chance he runs into jim, who's like, "hope you're ready to put up a better fight than you did last ni-hooooly shit what happened to your face?" and izzy is like. what? and jim's like "bro im getting roach stay here." and izzy just sits in the rec room (or wherever they are) until jim comes back with a very sleepy-looking roach, who takes one look at izzy's face and bursts out laughing. that's enough to get izzy to stop staring blankly, and he tries to snarl at roach, except that when he moves his face it hurts like fucking hell. and roach is like, "alright, alright, hoo boy! wish i could've seen whatever caused this." then he's like, "so i need to pop your nose back into place. it's gonna hurt like hell though, so i should probably go get some laudanum–" and izzy's like "no it's fine just do it." and jim's eyebrows raise and roach is like, "uh... are you sure?" and izzy's like "just fucking do it!"

so roach does and izzy screams through gritted teeth. then roach cleans his nose with rum or something, bandages it, gives izzy the rest of the booze, and goes back to bed, leaving jim and izzy there alone. izzy starts drinking. jim sits next to him and holds their hand out for the bottle, and then the two of them just drink in silence until the bottle is gone. then they go to bed without saying anything.

then izzy proceeds to have The Most Confusing Wet Dream Of His Entire Goddamn Life. he keeps seeing ed in lingerie, stede's face twisted in righteous anger, random flashes of stede fucking ed, izzy fucking ed in the lingerie, izzy wearing the lingerie and getting fucked by stede, izzy calling stede daddy, stede and ed fully clothed asking izzy to talk about his feelings, stede slapping izzy and spitting into his mouth.

izzy wakes up with the worst case of morning wood he's ever had in his life. he proceeds to have a very frantic masturbation session. as he's laying there afterwards, he keeps thinking abt ed in lingerie and stede breaking his nose. and he absolutely cannot wrap his head around the fact that ed bottoms. this is also the first time izzy's ever consciously thought about having sex with ed. he's literally been so repressed that for years he would just jack off to like, remembering the smell of booze in ed's beard or some pathetic shit like that. he'd think about, like, fighting with ed and getting pinned down and being totally at ed's mercy. but now when he thinks of those old fantasies, instead of ed pinning him down, it's stede?????

izzy stays in bed the whole day. nobody comes to check on him. he hears the sound of the crew going about their day, stede's voice calling out commands on the deck. he jerks off again at some point in the afternoon. night falls. he can't make out the words, but he can tell from the cadence of stede's voice at what point he starts reading to the crew, and at what point they all go to sleep. he waits for ten more minutes to pass, then he heads to the galley to get food.

jim is waiting literally right outside his door. izzy is not spooked at all (this is a lie).

jim's like "hey man, we never got to spar last night. let's go." izzy's like, "i haven't eaten anything all day." and jim's like, "so you're saying you can't take me?" and izzy snorts and follows them to go practice murdering people

jim very much goes easy on izzy, but izzy is too hungry and tired and confused (and horny) to care. they fight or whatever, jim wins every round, then they're like "man im starving, let's get a snack." the two of them go get food. after a while, jim's like, "so, what'd you say to piss stede off so bad?" and izzy's like, "how did you know it was him?" and jim laughs and says, "the knuckles on his right hand were bandaged up today, and he didn't seem too worried about you spending all day hiding in your room."

izzy takes a long drink and doesn't respond for a while. then he says, "you're dating the guy with the hat, right?" jim's like, "i'm the guy with the hat." and izzy's like, "you're a guy?" and jim goes, "ehh..." and tilts their hand side to side. izzy, deciding to move on, is like, "i mean the one with the orange hat. and the blue earring." and jim's like, "it's teal." izzy's like, "whatever." and jim's like, "yeah, we're dating. why?" izzy takes a minute before asking, "what do you like about him?" and jim is jokingly like, "dude, the whole reason i hang out with you is so i don't have to talk about feelings" and izzy, instead of laughing with them like he usually would, just kinda snaps, "would you just answer the question?" jim looks at his face for a long moment, assessing, then says, "i like that olu's kind. he cares about people so easily, i don't know how he does it. he's patient with me, even when i'm being difficult. he tells me when he's upset, but not in a mean way, just in a, like, 'i don't want to be mad at you, help me fix this' way. he can be really clingy sometimes, but he'll hold himself back if i ever need space. he just... accepts me. all of me. even the parts i don't accept."

and izzy is like. staring into space. and after a second jim says, "also he does this thing with his tongue where he–" and izzy is like "OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH THANKS." jim laughs at him a little bit. and after another long pause izzy's like, "you know they almost made him captain?" and jim smirks and is like, "yeah, i heard about that. when they almost threw you overboard?" and izzy's like "yeah. then." and jim says, "yeah, i'm not really surprised. like i said, he's good at caring for people. he'd make a pretty good captain." and izzy's like, "are you mad that he's not captain?" and jim shrugs and is like, "eh, i'm not one for politics." but izzy presses, like, "but he'd be in charge of the whole ship. he'd be the one telling everyone what to do. he'd have all the power here!" and jim's like, "hey man, i don't really give two shits about 'power.' im just trying to get by in this world. all i want is to hang out with my partner, throw knives at stuff, and sometimes watch my crew put on talent shows." and izzy, getting kind of frustrated, is like, "but doesn't it bother you that he's weak?"

before izzy realizes, jim has a knife against his throat and is glaring directly into his eyes. "i let you say a lot of shit to me, pendejo," they growl, "i let you talk shit about this crew, about my captain, about how none of my friends are real pirates. but you do not get to tell me that olu is weak." izzy's eyes are wide at first, but when jim finishes, he snorts and says, "look, he's not as bad as lucius or stede-" but jim cuts him off. "there's more to strength than having power," jim says. "there's more to being strong than just making everyone afraid of you. and whatever it is that you think makes stede and lucius weak" and izzy is like "i fucking knew you'd turn on me too. now everyone on this stupid fucking ship wants to kill me" and jim just gives him the flattest, most unimpressed look before just walking away. they say "get over yourself, izzy" as they go.

izzy goes to bed. has another wet dream. and when he wakes up he's like. fine. fucking fine. i'll try and find some way to live on this stupid fucking clown ship full of shitty pirates.

he apologizes to jim. jim just stares blankly and walks away, but then later is like "we're gonna spar tonight, right?" so izzy knows he's forgiven. he gives the most uncomfortable, gritted apology of his life to stede, and stede's like "oh, it's not me you need to apologize to. go speak to my co-captain." so izzy goes to the captain's cabin and ed is in his usual leathers and izzy is like. trying so hard to make himself apologize but he can't get the words out and eventually ed's like "it's fine, mate. i'll tell stede you apologized, okay?" and izzy's like. alright. thanks. and ed's like "you did kind of have a point, about if the crew wanted to mutiny" and izzy perks up like yes we're going to start running this ship the way real pirates do but then ed is like "yeah, stede wouldn't stand a chance. im still recovering, can you give stede sword lessons for me?"

izzy. does not want to give stede sword lessons. but ed's like "alright i guess i'll tell stede you didn't really apologize and you can get off at the next port. or you can just apologize for real." and izzy really has to think about it but eventually he's like. fine. i'll train your stupid fucking boyfriend.

ed watches for the first half hour of their first training session but someone's gotta captain the ship so from then on out it's just stede and izzy sword fighting in the jam room for a couple hours a day. this leads to angry sexual tension that builds and builds until they angrily make out. and stede is like freaked out bc he loves ed and he would never be unfaithful so he of course goes to ed and tells him about it thinking ed is gonna be heartbroken. but ed is like "i mean, it doesnt really sound like you want the same thing with him tho?" and i guess ed is like "wait if you top izzy i think that'd be kinda funny actually. also that sounds pretty hot. do you wanna top izzy? can i watch?"

so next time they do sword fighting practice ed watches and it escalates to horny shit and then when izzy's like trying really hard to hide his boner, stede is like "what do you say, darling?" and ed is like "pop the question, babe." and then they ask izzy if he'd be okay with stede fucking him while ed watches. izzy tries to bluster his way out of it but then ed is like "damn, was looking forward to it" and izzy is like. ok. fucking. fine.

and then it's really hot and everyone's into it. izzy hates that he's into it but for several days he keeps coming back for more (he tells himself he's only doing it bc it's the only time ed pays any attention to him but like... it's not just that). they do that for like a week or a week and a half. ed gives commentary the whole time, mostly just talking about how hot stede looks. the most he ever says about izzy is stuff like "yeah izzy doesnt he feel so good stretching you out" or whatever

until one day while stede's fucking izzy ed says some shit about "who's the namby pamby now?" and then stede freezes and is like. ed. did izzy say that to you? and ed is like uhhhhhhhhhh maybe? and then stede pulls out of izzy and is like "get the fuck away from him" and izzy (who was having a fantastic time) is like "daddy no" and stede is like "i am not joking get the FUCK out"

and idk. ed tells stede about izzy threatening to kill him while he was heartbroken over stede. and stede is SO fucking mad. maybe stede didnt even know abt the robe era he just thought ed came back to the revenge and went full kraken right away. and this actually makes stede feel more guilty abt leaving bc the thought of ed crying in a blanket fort and eating all his marmalade because he hurt him is even worse than thinking ed just got angry and painted his face. and the fact that izzy said that shit to ed while he was heartbroken like that makes stede SO fucking angry.

and then stede's anger makes ed realize that actually that was really fucked up and he actually finally tells stede about the toe thing and stede is like "i wouldve done the same!!" and they cry together. and then stede and ed dont talk to izzy for weeks and ed starts to emotionally heal from all that. he had stopped wearing stede's robes after the night izzy walked in on him fingering himself but he starts wearing them again. and then he starts actually trying to form a cohesive Look and they steal fancy clothes for ed now and stede pampers ed and takes care of him and ed gets to relax and not worry about people depending on him or on how people perceive him. and he and stede together get to be more confident in themselves than theyve felt in forever

and in the meantime i guess izzy just starts acting like a normal crew member and he very much hates it and the crew is very much giving him shit (someone makes him swab the deck through the entire night) and he wants to be mean to them so fucking bad but like, he knows one wrong move and he's off the boat forever and he doesn't want that. so idk i guess eventually the crew lays off him and invites him to sit and drink with them and stuff. izzy doesn't really get any of them, but jim will sit down next to him and drink next to him and izzy decides that actually maybe this crew isn't entirely useless. they still get on his nerves tho

then one night crew is also like "so uh... why are the captains not fucking you anymore" and izzy's like "YOU KNEW??" and theyre like "buddy you were SO loud. we all heard you call stede daddy" and izzy actually almost has a panic attack but idk someone (lucius?) is like "dude nobody is judging you. it's okay."

and izzy realizes theyre right. nobody is judging him. they want gossipy details but they don't actually care. and that's a big "oh" moment, that he could do things the wrong way (get fucked by someone less masculine than him, maybe even talk about his feelings) and these people wont judge him for it. so izzy gives them a very censored version that basically boils down to "they remembered what an asshole i am and they want nothing to do with me. and they're right"

and uhhhh maybe izzy and lucius hook up too. and then izzy starts crying after and lucius is like "oh god what's wrong" and izzy's like "i miss them. i miss ed. i miss bonnet. why the fuck do i miss bonnet??" and lucius is like "aww did izzy the spewer catch feelings?" and izzy's like "fuck. fuck. i fucking did jesus fuck." he also admits to himself finally that he's been in love with ed for years. (the feelings izzy thinks he has for stede are just His Cock Feels Really Good In My Ass)

and. idk. i guess weeks after all this character development has happened for ed and izzy and stede, izzy jumps in front of a bullet for stede. which leads to stede and ed both thanking him when he wakes up. which leads to izzy apologizing to ed and being like "you dont have to forgive me." and i dont think ed totally accepts the apology but he and stede do start talking to izzy again. ed more than stede maybe. i think stede is a huge prick to izzy and izzy sometimes snaps back but mostly he just sighs because like, yeah. that's fair.

and then i think ed and izzy happen first this time like i think they're reminiscing about old times and ed is like "do you realize how unhappy i was though?" and izzy is like "i didnt before, but i can see it now. you look younger than you have in years. i'm glad you found someone who knows how to love you better than i do" and ed's like wait WHAT. and izzy's like "? what?" and ed's like "you love me??" and izzy's like "yes?? obviously?????" and ed's like "i thought you just wanted me to fuck you!!!" and izzy's like "i mean THAT TOO" and ed's like "do you still love me??" and izzy's like "god only knows why, but yes! obviously!" and then ed asks "do you still want me to fuck you?" and izzy's like "yknow, that's actually a harder one to answer! i dont really know!! i just know that i love you and youre hot!"

And Then They Make Out

and this one is a harder convo for ed and stede to have, not because of the infidelity but stede is like "you remember how he hurt you though?" and ed's like yeah. and im not ever gonna forget that. but i think i can move past it. and stede's like okay fine but i have one condition. he has to watch you bottom for me first

so they do that. bc stede is like "i need izzy to know that the way we make love doesnt make you any less of a man." and izzy is into it obviously, this is not how he ever imagined ed would enjoy sex but he can't deny that ed looks good, and suddenly the "you look younger than you have in years" makes sense. like he can tell ed is loving this and suddenly trying to connect this man with the version of Sexy Blackbeard that izzy was pining after for years just doesn't make sense. izzy can no longer picture ed doing hardcore kinky bdsm dom shit to him.

also izzy's been on the receiving end of stede's dick so he's like, yeah, i get it. but then weirdly even tho this was supposed to be about izzy accepting that ed doesnt want to be the aggressive daddy dom izzy always wanted him to be, izzy (who is first and foremost a huge bottom and the world's biggest sub) is looking at how good ed feels and all he can think is i want stede bonnet in my mouth so fucking bad oh my god.

and then he's not looking at ed at all he's just looking at stede and is like oh shit oh shit oh shit. and ed nuts first and when stede pulls out izzy is right there like "please please please finish in my mouth please daddy" (<- sentences that killed me to write). and stede and ed are both like. oh.

this leads to them falling back into something like their original arrangement where stede and izzy are hate-fucking except now ed is getting in on the action. so like the sex dynamic is that usually ed is either being a pillow princess or a power bottom for stede, izzy is a bratty sub to stede, stede is a service top for ed and a daddy dom for izzy, and then ed and izzy trade handies or oral or whatever when it's all three of them. sometimes stede and izzy team up to pamper ed, or stede and ed team up to torment izzy. ed and izzy by themselves usually dont do anal but when they do izzy usually tops. ed and izzy having sex isn't the sappy passionate lovemaking of ed and stede but it is still very sweet. these sex dynamics aren't set rules or anything, sometimes ed tops stede and sometimes izzy isnt being quite so submissive and etc etc, but that's usually the vibe. ed never doms izzy tho.

as for the emotional dynamic. ed and stede are in love obviously, we all watched the show. with izzy and ed, i dont think ed is in love with izzy at first but he falls into it gradually. stede is maybe a little jealous of this at first but 1. he cant deny anything from ed and if ed loves izzy then fine, ed can love izzy, and 2. he can see that it happens in a different way than how ed loves stede, so he eventually gets over it. and then with stede and izzy it's basically just this post i made where one day while they're fucking it suddenly out of nowhere gets really soft (ed is sitting out for this one but he's there watching) and afterwards stede and izzy are both so mad about being in love. theyre angry at themselves and then they play chicken about it until stede gets injured and izzy says i love you and that completes the steddyhands injurty trifecta so i guess that means the story ends and i'm freed from this post and i can finally get it out of my fucking drafts. jesus fucking christ.

#ofmd #our flag means death #our flag means gay #ofmd fic #steddyhands #izzy hands #dizzy izzy #stede bonnet #stede fucking bonnet #edward teach #edward teach born on a beach #steddy hands #anyway. i hope this is the last time i make a post talking about how izzy would get together with ed and/or stede #txt #mine #og #my fic #for the record. the mischaracterization of stede is not my only issue w steddyhands #but it's the least important issue i have. mischaracterizing stede to be nice to izzy is annoying to me personally but it's not harmful #guys i rlly just. dont like izzy at all actually.#i love to study him like a bug. and this post was a fun exercise in trying to make him get better without completely breaking his character #also sorry abt casually throwing the daddy kink in there i just had to bully izzy with it #if that's not ur thing imagine him saying something else idk.

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vampireonastick · 2 years

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Hi, do you think Mori is involved in any way in the whole conspiracy? Much of what he's been doing since Cannibalism Arc started is rather sus tbh....

Hello Anon! Thank you for the ask!!

I’m assuming by conspiracy, you mean all the mindgames and planning going on during the DoA arc?

Because if so, then yes, I absolutely believe Mori is involved, and I completely agree with you Anon, Mori’s behaviour throughout this entire arc is suspicious as hell.

I figure Mori is most likely one of Dazai’s allies, with Dazai likely being the one doing most of the planning, and Mori providing assistance and resources as needed.

(more under the cut)

The main reason I suspect Mori is involved in Dazai’s plot, at least to some degree, has to do with all of these suspicious behaviours of his.

For starters, Mori has demonstrated multiple times that his outlook when it comes to winning conflicts is “he who strikes first wins.” But throughout the whole DoA arc we haven’t actually seen him doing much.

He sends Chuuya in a helicopter to help the ADA escape from the Hunting Dogs directly after the live broadcast, shelters some of the ADA members for a few days, and Tanizaki and Kenji say that he came and found them to let them know it was time to reunite with the other ADA members. We also know he sent Tachihara to fight Fukuchi after learning he was a double agent. So while he is taking some action, it’s sly, and detached. It feels less like he’s ‘striking first’ and more so that he’s ‘moving the pawns to the right places’.

Of course, Mori’s reasoning for laying low throughout this whole situation could be simply that he views this as ‘the ADA’s issue’, and is thus not something worth his time or effort. But I don’t think this is quite true. After all, this is Fyodor we are talking about. Just a few months ago, Fyodor came after both the ADA and the Port Mafia. Mori himself was a direct victim in the cannibalism arc. Therefore, you’d think that Mori would find any signs of Fyodor’s resurgence a threat, even if Fyodor isn’t directly targeting him or the Port Mafia.

And Fyodor is directly targeting the Port Mafia. Ya know, considering the fact half of the Port Mafia’s most powerful members are currently vampires, Mori hardly seems concerned at all, which is a little odd.

Mori’s nonchalant attitude when it comes to the vampire infestation is half the reason why I believe Dazai already knew the vampire outbreak would happen before he even went to Meursault.

If Mori and Dazai are working together, and Dazai had planned around the vampire outbreak, then that could explain why Mori is so calm and distant throughout the arc.

I think Dazai and Mori working together would also explain one certain plot point near the start of the DoA arc that has confused me since first reading about it.

The deal Mori made with Fukuzawa.

Choosing An ADA Member to Join the Port Mafia

In exchange for Mori sending Chuuya to help the ADA escape the hunting dogs, he asks Fukuzawa for a member of the detective agency as compensation. In my opinion, this deal is the most suspicious thing Mori has done during this entire arc so far.

On the surface, this sounds like it would be a great deal on Mori’s end. He barely has to lift a finger in order to fulfil his end of the bargain, and in return, he gets his pick of any member of the agency (except for Yosano), many of whom have incredibly powerful abilities. But in my opinion, this whole deal is meaningless, and would cost Mori much more than he would actually gain in the long run, which is something I think Mori is well aware of.

The Port Mafia runs on loyalty. And no matter who Mori picks from the ADA, he will never have their loyalty. Loyalty is not easy to force upon another person, especially when they already have a place they would much rather be. Throughout the series, we have been shown people join the Port Mafia out of desperation and lack of better options. But considering the whole ‘living in the light’ plotline we got with Kyouka, and the entire concept of Beast, the ADA is portrayed as a much better option than the mafia. So, I really don’t see Mori being able to get any use out of any agency member beyond a trophy piece, especially if he can’t have Yosano. With the ADA’s morals in their head, how many agency members would actually participate in mafia activities? Perhaps if they are literally forced to, but I don’t know… It just doesn’t seem like it's worth the effort imo. Well… There may be one agency member who would thrive in the mafia’s environment, considering he spent a great deal of his teen years there. I’ll talk about him in just a moment.

So why would Mori offer such a deal when there really isn’t much for him to gain from it? Well, it could have been a cover.

If Mori had just called Fukuzawa out of the blue and offered to save and shelter his employees without a catch, Fukuzawa would have likely found that behaviour to be highly odd and suspicious.

I think the more likely scenario is that, in exchange for Mori’s help, resources, and cooperation in Dazai’s master plan, Dazai agreed to rejoin the mafia once this situation with the Decay of Angels has ended. We know Mori wants Dazai to rejoin the mafia, so I’d say this would be a pretty good incentive for Mori to comply with all Dazai’s orders and plans.

I think Mori made this deal with Fukuzawa to trick the ADA into thinking Dazai is only joining the Mafia because Fukuzawa agreed to Mori’s deal and that he has no other choice.

If Dazai were to up and leave the ADA of his own will, he would have to face backlash from his friends and colleagues, which would be a pain. So, by Mori offering this deal to Fukuzawa, Dazai now has an out. Mori can ‘pick’ Dazai fair and square, and Dazai can make good on his end of the deal with Mori by rejoining the mafia without his colleagues believing Dazai betrayed them, or trying to stop him from leaving. Dazai leaving the ADA will be Fukuzawa’s burden to bear, not Dazai’s.

So in a sense, the deal Mori made with Fukuzawa was actually just a way to get Fukuzawa to unknowingly agree to a deal Mori and Dazai had already made between themselves. That’s what I believe, anyway.

So yeah, I’d say it’s highly likely Mori is somehow involved in the behind the scenes planning and execution of Dazai’s plans during the DoA arc. (But this is all just a guess, of course)

=============

I know I didn’t go over all of his odd behaviour, but these are the main points that stuck out to me. Thank you again for the ask Anon!! I had actually been thinking about this concept a few months ago, I had started writing a theory on who Mori could be working with during the DoA arc, but ended up never finishing it. So this gave me an excellent opportunity to expand on and post some of the thoughts I had etched out in that old document.

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd manga spoilers #bungo stray dogs #you have no idea how much this series excites me #the amount of different directions the plot could be taken in and all of the different things that can be revealed makes me so happy

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