#wow am i over analyzing or what?

[erigold13261]

compton's daughter/sam and dogen's mother must have done something that was animal rights but went too far and got incarcerated as a result

I don't think that's a necessity, but it definitely is a possibility (also Compton could have had a son making it the father, it's not explicitly said that Compton had a daughter, at least not from what I read/remember).

From what we do know, Compton and Dogen have trouble with their blastokinesis, but Sam doesn't. We don't know if Sam had the same problem and overcame it (something Compton wasn't able to do) or if she just never had the blastokinesis problem to begin with.

In my opinion, I honestly don't think Sam ever had the problem to begin with because it would feel weird if a teenager was able to overcome something like that while both Dogen and Compton struggle with it. Like I feel Sam would have mentioned something about it and having tried to help the two if she was able to overcome that problem.

So because of this, I feel like the blastokinesis problem is a genetic problem in the Boole family that only the males get (or like, it's more common in males, like how color blindness is more common in males than females but it's not unheard of in females). And because we never hear anything about or mentioned of one of Sam and Dogen's parents also exploding heads (we actually get more information that the parents are actively trying to help Dogen, well "trying" might be pushing it because they are scaring the shit out of him with how they are going about it) then I believe either their father doesn't have the problem (if he's Compton's son) or the mother never got it genetically (if she's the dauther).

It could also be that the blastokinesis problem skips a generation. Or that it's not genetic at all (I do believe it's genetic though to some degree).

However, whether or not it is genetic, there is no proof of EVERYONE in the family having blastokinesis problems. Only Dogen and Compton. Those two could literally just be the outliers of the family and no other member in the family has this problem. I say this because the Boole family is not known for exploding heads, only specific members are known to do that. BUT! The family IS known for their Zoolingualism! So to be known for one thing and not the other, especially if the other has killed animals and humans alike, makes me think the blastokinesis problem is not as common as we might assume it is.

Could whichever gender of Compton's kid have also had a blastokinesis problem and done animal rights just as Compton did, sure! But I feel like it's more likely that they only had Zoolingualism and not the blastokinesis problem.

....

Okay, I reread your ask. You didn't mention anything about blastokinesis lol. So going back to that, I don't think either parent is incarcerated. We don't know if Sam is lying when she said she learned how to make pancakes from prison or her mom, but her going straight to "mom" and not "dad" makes it seem like her mom is still in the picture enough for her to immediately go to that one as a reflex.

Looking back, Dogen's campster description uses "family" and not "parents," but we know that Compton has been in psychoisolation for a long time and Sam seems pretty chill about Dogen's powers, so based on the campster description of the "family" yelling at Dogen when he took his hat off, it's safe to assume it's the parents (unless there are some uncles/aunts and cousins we don't know about). This would mean that the parents are active in Dogen's life and not incarcerated.

Now obviously there could be other factors at play. Such as the birth parent who is related to Compton was incarcerated and the other parent found someone else to parent the kids with, or they were incarcerated and got out at some point, or like they are under house arrest or something like that meaning they are still active in the lives of the kids but the kids have seen the inside of a prison most likely.

So like, long story short, I feel like Compton had a kid who did not have the blastokinesis problem (either male or female) but they were very scared of it developing or something. They could talk to animals but probably heard what Compton did and never went as far as he did. Then once that parent had Sam, their anxiety grew more thinking she would develop it, only to have that fear realized when Dogen was born. So no incarceration, at least I don't think it's likely.

[livvyofthelake]

logically i know that merlin was being made over ten years ago and that’s why it’s Like That but also i cannot help but be completely captivated by the Like That of it.

[daycourtofficial]

Gift Exchange

Summary: you and Azriel exchange solstice gifts in private, amazed at the thoughtfulness of each other’s gifts.

Author’s note: this is PURE FLUFF okay you could make stuffed animals out of this

At the end of the night, after everyone else went to bed, you went back up to your room to grab your gift for Azriel. You met him in the hallway between your rooms and invited him into yours.

You had asked if you could exchange gifts privately - citing the fact that Cassian would be very upset at the gift you got for Azriel and that the last thing you need this Solstice is another one of Cassian’s gift-related tantrums.

You hand Azriel the thick envelope, allowing him to pull out the contents. He analyzes the papers, then looks at you quizzically, “it’s blank parchment.”

You place your hand on the paper saying, “I am a nosy busybody” and when you pull your hand away, Azriel watches as ink begins staining the paper, creating a map of the house of wind. The map has all of the floors, even the floors in the library. All of the rooms are labelled, and looking he sees names on the map that are moving.

“You once told me that you hated going on missions because you didn’t know what was happening back at home, so I created an enchanted map for you to see. It shows all of us in real time - see here we are in my room.”

He looks at where you’re pointing and sees both of your names, except yours has a little heart next to it.

He’s shocked for words - this is the most thought out gift he had ever received. The amount of time it must have taken for you to create this is making his head spin. Not to mention when he told you he hated being gone, he was mainly thinking of you and being afraid something was happening to you.

“Um I also made two other maps - one for the townhouse and one for Feyre and Rhys’s new home. I know you usually leave some shadows behind to watch over us when you’re gone, so I figured this way you could have extra peace of mind that we’re okay.”

He can hear the nerves in your voice and he’s not going to correct you that he only leaves shadows behind to watch over you. He leaves one or two to watch over the houses, but he leaves about 5 or 6 who watch over you the entire time he’s gone. He had no idea you even realized he did that.

He looks into your eyes, watching you ramble before telling you, “this is the best gift I’ve ever received”. You beam with pride at this news - thrilled that he likes your gift so much.

“Honestly,” he continues, “this makes my gift look like rubbish.”

You shake your head. “No way, I’m sure I’ll love whatever you got for me.”

He had two boxes for you to open - the first one was a rare, first edition of a book that you adore. “This book must be over a thousand years old!” You exclaim, amazed the book is in such good condition. “I believe it only had one owner during it’s lifetime. Open it to the title page,” he tells you, grinning at your excitement.

“And it’s signed!” You exclaim, pure joy radiating off of you. “Thank you thank you thank you!” You exclaim, embracing him so tightly Azriel thinks you might kill him. There are worse ways to go, he thinks.

“You have one more to open,” he coughs, a nervous energy taking over him. You take the smaller box from him, removing the lid. Inside is a beautiful cobalt blue gem necklace and matching earrings. You’re stunned by how beautiful they are, even letting out a soft ‘wow’. You pull the necklace out of the box, and you realize the necklace is the same color has his siphons.

“How did you find something that matched your siphons so perfectly?” You ask, not taking your eyes off the necklace. “I didn’t,” he replies, and you realize then that he had parts of his siphon turned into the jewelry you’re wearing. You look into his eyes, about to ask him for more, but he speaks before you can.

“I uh, figured since you carry my heart everywhere with you, you might as well display it.” Your brain must be short-circuiting, because surely you misheard him. “I love you, and I uh hope that you might feel the same and want to carry me with you everywhere you go.”

You’re not sure what to say, you keep looking between his lips and his eyes and the necklace, when you figure out what to do. You turn around, handing him the necklace, sweeping your hair to the side. A gentle request: put your mark on me.

Azriel takes the necklace in his hands, guiding the chain around your neck, clasping it into place. Once secured, you turn around, and lunge for him, wrapping your hands around his neck and jaw, holding him in place, you press everything into the kiss. Every desire, every laugh between you two, every moment. He kisses you back just as fiercely, sliding his hands down to your thighs, prompting you to jump into his arms, wrapping your thighs around his waist.

You break away from the kiss to catch a breath. “Happy solstice,” you tell him, as he kisses down your neck. “I think you have one last present to unwrap!” You can feel him laugh into your neck as you bring his head back up to kiss him some more.

[noneorother]

The grand unified theory of Good Omens S2 hangs on - you guessed it - a double meaning (and art). *Part 4*

Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l The End?

This is major spoilers for season 3 territory. You have been warned. I'm also going to split this into parts because wow, I have so many ✨Clues✨! Friends, we have arrived at the prestige! Metatron come at me bro, catch these hands. Oh wait you can't, you always have your hands in your pockets...

People smarter than me have talked all about Aziraphale's magician outfits on this show, so I won't steal their thunder. Suffice it to say, The Metatron is wearing a weirdly dark coat and tie over his whole outfit. Which gives him a very only a white floating head look, but also keeps in the theme of ✨I am a magician✨. He's here to perform a trick!

I also won't talk a lot about him in the coffee shop because that's been done already. If we have learned anything from part 3, analyzing the coffee to death is what we are supposed to be doing, because He is distracting everyone with a benign object that we can inspect. So while he's waving this coffee around in the shop going "SEE I KNOW HOW EARTH WORKS" he's also doing something fascinating: Checking to see who recognizes him.

Weirdly, even though Aziraphael saw him in season one, and the angels all work with him, no one does right away. EXCEPT for Saraquiel and Crowley, who just saw his face not in person, but in a video tape of sorts up in heaven at Gabriel's trial by farce. And then something funny happens. Saraquiel is scared shitless and pretends to have 'forgotten' like Michael, but Crowley admits loud and proud that he does. Then Uriel gives THE BIGGEST SIDEYE I have ever seen on screen to Michael, as in "You don't recognize our boss? I am very afraid for what that means."

As far as I can understand, this is the reason the Metatron is here : "Are we in the version of events where I lose?" And the answer The Metatron gets after the question is : We are in the version of events where I have severely fucked with Michael, sort of fucked with the other angels, I have fucked with Aziraphale, and Crowley has seen me already in heaven. Now we're missing a lot of information as to WHY this specific answer is good for The Metatron, and how much Saraquiel knows, but it seems like he interprets this as an "I haven't lost yet, and I can still do my trick".

So now here we are, at the most important part of the episode, in my (and Aziraphale's) opinion. THE double meaning.

This line is insane. On the surface we have meaning 1) The Metatron is scolding over-zealous angels for meddling in this affair, and over reaching with their power, especially threatening to use the book of life on people. He's the good guy! But under the surface we have meaning 2) I HAVE THE BOOK OF LIFE and I have been using it on everybody in this room. If I don't get my way this time around, I will edit you guys again, and you will have done the right thing. And with that admission, Aziraphale severely twigs and becomes very afraid. From then on his voice shakes and he babbles, and he has trouble looking the Metatron in the eye. I'm willing to bet that this is the moment Aziraphale realizes what The Metatron just admitted: I am creating a version of reality as we speak where I change you and Crowley (and everyone else) so that you lose to me. A terrified Aziraphael goes off with The Metatron to have a chin wag. Now here's the trick.

We've already established that Maggie and Nina are here as stage assistants to The Metatron, so they need time to work on Crowley alone. If they talk to A/C together, like they would have without The Metatron's appearing in the scene before, better communication might have happened between them. He made Aziraphale disappear from the scene!

This does NOT look like the face of someone getting good news. We never heard what the details were besides inviting Crowley to the job promotion, so who knows what he threatened him with, but

This looks like the face of someone caught in a trap. So we are now seeing the prestige! We don't need that coffee anymore, that cup is GONE BABY. Aziraphale has been removed from the Nina/Maggie confession like a dove, and placed in The Metatron's dark coat pocket. Now he just needs to make our angel reappear in the scene the assistants have prepared for him and let him fail, thus completing the trick (uhg I hate it. So cruel).

I'm going to turn the final 15 into it's own post because this is already very long. Let's skip it for now, but we know our lovebirds get separated by heaven, and Aziraphale leaves. The Metatron breathes a huge sigh of relief in the elevator as he thinks his trick has worked, and he has won.

So it's finished now, and there's seemingly no way out. Aziraphale now knows what The Metatron meant when he communicated "I am creating a version of reality as we speak where I change you and Crowley and everything else so that you lose to me."

BUT! ARE YOU READY FOR THIS SHIT? BECAUSE IT HIT ME LIKE LIQUID JET FUEL. And I think it hits Aziraphale right here, (when he makes the creepy face after being hit with a beam of light i.e. realization)

That means that in the original version of events before all the edits, Crowley & Aziraphale won.

------

If you've gotten this far, thanks so much for reading. I'd love to hear what you thought, or even reblog it with your ✨Clues✨! Want to read more about the timey wimey business that we're gonna see in season 3, and why all this changes the final 15? Well I have *part 5* coming in just a bit. Parts 5 and The End are here! Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l The End?

[dnpg-hiatus-survivor]

yall i had ANOTHER dnp dream

basically they were livestreaming undertale for some reason and phil leaned over and kissed dan. wow. so obviously i run my little ass over to phumblr. i am phreaking out to the highest degree. i am screaming through text posts, i am analyzing, i am making gifs. yknow, a normal reaction. and you wanna know what y’all phake phucking phans did? yall told me to calm down. y’all told me that it wasnt a big deal. y’all said “ooo theyre a gay couple of course theyre gonna kiss”. bruh

[deepestnightcolor]

Just imagine Elliot ranting to his friend (Reader) how he just can‘t really put the scene from his mind onto paper, the reader of course would love to help him…

turns out the scene was about a beautiful woman masturbating, that lands her on Elliots bed with him telling her how to touch herself (to get it as accurate as possible of course) with him so close to her, watching and analyzing her every movement while he takes notes for his story

(You can add as much to it as you want)

ᴀ/ɴ: Okay, anon, wow. What is your BRAIN! I drooled a little over this, honestly. And I was SO excited to write this. I hope I hit the right spots with this, because hehehe. Had my head go brrrrrr. Thank you so much for your time and attention and your willingness to request! <3

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: Elliott (SDV) x Fem!Reader

ᴡᴄ: 2007 words.

ᴍᴅɴɪ ✧ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: alcohol consumption, masturbation, making out, being watched while masturbating, finger fucking, teasing, pining.

☾ ʙᴇ ᴍʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴇ ☽

Usually, Elliott tried to avoid talking about his writing on Fridays. The reason for that was simple: Fridays were spent with you in the saloon and needed to be honoured.

This Friday was different, though. Something was bothering Elliott, and even though he tried not to show it, he did show it. On accident, of course. A dramatic sigh left his lips, wettened by the beer he was sipping, eyes looking out of the window wistfully. His whole body language screamed “HELP ME OVERCOME THIS WRITING PROBLEM”, and you just weren’t one to let your friends suffer.

“What is it, Elliott?” You asked, leaning your elbows on the table so you could take a closer look at the author. “It’s nothing,” he sighed, voice filled to the brim with drama and expiration. “You sure?” “Yesss, everything is finnnnneeee.” The stretched-out “fine” ended in a drawn-out sigh, hazel eyes looking up at you, just begging for you to ask again. You sipped your own drink, eyebrow cocked at him. “You suuuuuuureeeee?” “I mean, it’s Friday...,” Elliott began, his lips now pushed forward in a cute little pout, “I don’t talk about my writing on Fridays.” “And if I tell you that it really is fine?” “Well…Maybe I would be able to make an exception then,” he murmured, adding a quiver to your lower lip. Oh, Elliott. So cute, so dramatic, lying it on thick for you today.

“Alright, it really is fine for you to tell me about you-“ “There is this scene I am struggling with,” he quickly began, scared you could change your mind faster than he could get his words out, “and I think you would be the perfect aid.” You hummed, licking your lips clean from the stickiness of the alcohol. “Is that so? And what is that scene about?”

The shimmer of mischief in Elliott’s eyes should have worried you, even more so when it was combined with him lowering his voice to a hushed whisper, telling you how he needed to tell you at his shed. It wouldn’t work here, you see, confidential information would be shared with ears that shouldn’t yet hear it. So of course you agreed, following your friend to his home without even a seed of doubt planted in your mind. “You want what?” You asked, disbelief drenching your voice. “I know, I know, it must sound absolutely ridiculous, yet you must consider! I am stuck on this scene, and I could use a beautiful muse like you!” “So, and just to be clear I heard you right, you want me to masturbate in front of you!” Elliott gave you this awkward, pleading grin, head cocked to the side: “Uh…Yes. Though it would be professional, I promise! No words will be shed about this – I just… I just really could use it for my book.” His hands clasped together as if he was silently begging you, and yet again he pulled his face into that cute little pout. “Pretty please…It is one of the last elements of my book and I-“ “Fine.” Surprise flashed over Elliott’s face, and really, you yourself were surprised. Both of you had expected that it would have taken a lot more to convince you, yet who was Elliott to complain? “Great, great! Thank you so, so much, darling! How about you lay down and get comfortable already, and I will just get my pen and paper.” “You will take notes about this?” “Why, yes!” Well, that had answered it, hadn’t it?

You took a deep, shaky breath as you began to take off your top, the little skirt that you had thrown on for the saloon. After a moment of hesitation, you even discarded the bra that had been holding your tits up, allowing them to bounce free. With a glance in Elliott’s direction, you allowed yourself to slowly find a spot on his mattress, but as soon as your head hit the pillow, you were surrounded by his scent. It would have been a complete and utter lie if you had tried to say that this didn’t begin to turn you on; lying almost naked in your friend’s bed, surrounded by his smell. About to be watched by him. Goosebumps arose on your skin, your clit twitching gently at the thought. You had always found Elliott handsome, but he had always seemed to keep his distance; most often hiding himself behind his manuscripts. This…was incredibly raw and open.

The sound of a chair’s legs scratching along the ground caught your attention. Elliot’s flustered face appeared in your field of vision, leading you to blush as well.

“You look…stunning,” he whispered. There was no dramatics in his voice, no exaggeration. Only that sweet, honest compliment. You gave him a smile, biting down on your lower lip. He had taken off his coat by now and rolled up his sleeve; his hair tied back in a top knot. He looked absolutely delicious himself, the way he started to write his notes. Hazel eyes taking you in completely, just to scribble something down on the paper. He had lit up a candle on the nightstand, the flickering flame accenting his sharp features in a way that made you want to drag him onto the bed with you, but instead, you slowly let your fingers slip down your neck, to your breast. The movement caught Elliott’s attention, and you could feel his gaze following the dance of your fingertips. You, on the other hand, shamelessly focused your attention on him. Being watched like this had a thrill to it that you hadn’t expected, but now fucking loved. Your thumb was now caressing your own nipple gently, mind wandering to the thoughts ofhow it would feel if Elliott was the one doing it. The goosebumps that appeared in your skin weren’t solely because of the pleasure you felt from teasing your nipples, but also because you believed Elliott’s hands on you would feel much better.

He scribbled something down again as your hand travelled down further, catching the hem of your panties. You lifted your hips, slowly sliding them off your hips. Your lower lip was bitten as you felt the air brush your cunt, and the throw of your panties towards Elliott definitely wasn’t an accident.

His eyes lingered on your cunt as it was exposed, taking it in with a deep inhale. He wrote something down, then scribbled over it, running a palm through his hair while shifting on his seat. “Oh, yes,” you whispered as your thumb caught your clit, giving the bundle gentle flicks of your thumb. Elliott swallowed thickly, his feather scratching the paper in a newfound frantic. You pressed your feet in the mattress and spread your legs wider, your eyes slipping shut as the gentle waves of pleasure washed over you. You had only just started, but feeling Elliott stare at you like this…Yoba, it made you wet. As if to prove it to him, you allowed a single digit to run through your folds, only to suck it into your mouth. The low groan coming from next to you caught your attention, yet when you looked, Elliott was fixated on the paper, feather just barely able to follow all the words that were supposed to spill out of it.

You slowly allowed your hand to pick up the journey along the curves of your body again, slowly stroking up and down your thighs with quivering fingers. You knew a pair of hazel eyes were following each and every touch, and you easily began to rub your clit again. More warmed up than the first time, you let a moan of pleasure leave your lips, not even opening your eyes when you heard Elliott shift on his chair, his hot breath hitting your skin soon after. “Mhhh,” you cooed, arching your back in a little just for show, dipping a finger into your cunt, your perverted mind wishing it was the author’s dick instead.

The quivering gasp next to you was the first thing that caught your attention. Looking over at the man, you could see that his hand was placed firmly in his lap, eyes wide. “What’s wrong, Elliott? Got a little hard there?” You whispered. Pride that your looks turned him on so much filled you, making you add another finger. The brunet grunted, shifting in his seat again under the pretence of getting more comfortable, but the lustful expression gave him away.

“You just look so luscious,” he breathed, his hand now wrapping around his shaft through his pants with barely an ounce of shame. “So pretty for me,” he added, willing himself to at least pretend to write down some more notes.

You didn’t really care about that, your eyes were now solely focused on his hard dick, just barely hidden behind his hand. Fucking yourself with your fingers, you whimpered his name, causing his attention to snap towards you.

You were close, you could feel the orgasm building up beneath your touch, but you just…you just needed a little more. “Elliott, kiss me? Fuck, please,” you whispered, a high-pitched moan leaving your mouth as you circled your clit again. Elliott’s lips pressed against yours in a captivating kiss; teeth clattering against teeth, tongues battling for dominance. Even though you had just asked him for a kiss, his hands automatically began to roam, finding your clit with ease and replacing your thumb there. Him rubbing patterns into the bundle of nerves while his tongue licked over yours sent shocks of pleasure up your spine, leaving your brain light and empty. In all honesty, Elliott couldn’t hold back anymore. His hips sloppily and greedily humped against your thigh while he rubbed your clit, sucking on your tongue with a tenderness you had expected from him, but also with greed that made your heat throb.

“El- Gonna-“

He didn’t let you finish the sentence, too busy to fill your mouth with his tongue again, his humping growing faster against your leg. The squeal that left you made him moan lowly, rubbing the bundle of nerves despite your orgasm already being torn out of you.

Your free hand reached for Elliott’s hair, tugging the long strands as you moaned, your body spasming at the feeling of your orgasm recking through you. Not even the tug caused Elliott to show any signs of mercy, his thumb steadily kept up its circling, with him only pulling away from the kiss to watch you shiver and squirm beneath his late touch.

“Elliott!” You cried out, eyes rolling back as you felt one of his fingers enter your sensitive gushing cunt, the grin on his face almost diabolic. “Are you going to cum a second time, my muse? It would be great for my story,” he whispered to you, working his finger into you while his thumb was still tracing patterns on your clit. His lips peppered gentle kisses upon your chest, making your heart thump against your ribcage.

“Elliott, can’t, oh, Yoba!” You tried to hold on to his wrist, but his merciless treatment of your slit didn’t even falter. “El! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Your body squirmed away and drew closer, like the tides at the beach, but in the end, he still pushed you over the edge. With a quivering cry you released, your hips snapping up to get the author’s finger knuckle deep within you, your legs spreading and snapping close – it was as if your body was malfunctioning.

As your back met the mattress, Elliott’s fingers on you began slowing down. Gentle kisses were casted upon your skin, attempting to calm you down. Your hand was still buried in Elliott’s hair as he came down next to you, one arm wrapped around your waist. In the bliss of two orgasms, you rolled around and slowly snuggled into his side, pressing your face into his chest.

“You know,” you whispered after a while, voice still hoarse, “I think your book really needs a sex scene…And I know just the muses.”

[sunny44]

All these years (Part 8)

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x Ex girlfriend Reader

Warnings: pregnancy test, mentions of sickness and things related to pregnancy

Summary: Separated by a disagreement, Charles and Y/n meet again after years apart and all the feelings they had repressed come flooding back.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Two years after the last chapter

I left work early because if I stayed there for one more minute, I would throw up.

I knew what it meant. Or at least I think I know what it meant.

It's been a few weeks since my period hasn't come down, but I blamed work stress for it because it wouldn't be the first time it happened. But I never had nausea with it.

After Charles moved here, we tried a few times to have a baby but it didn't work out, so we decided that when it happened, it would happen.

Since I left early and he would take a few more hours to come home, I decided to do a pharmacy pregnancy test in the laboratory bathroom, the same place where I would do the blood test.

I got there and did the test in the bathroom after filling out my form. Since I didn't want to know now, I put it back in the box it came in and placed it in my bag.

[...]

After doing the blood test, I got the number where I would check the result online and left. I got home before Charles, took a shower, and then came out with my hair wrapped in a towel, wearing only underwear and a top. I stopped in front of the mirror, analyzing my belly. It was slightly elevated, and if I didn't think I was pregnant, I would say it was just bloating.

I put on one of Charles's black hoodies and a pair of socks and after drying my hair, I left the room and went to the kitchen to do something.

Since the test would take some time to be ready, I needed to distract myself, not to mention that I wanted him to be with me to see the results together.

So, I decided to make vanilla cupcakes with Oreo frosting.

I made the batter, added pieces of cookies in the middle, filled the cupcake liners and put them in the oven. Then, I started making the frosting.

And after finishing and eating many cookies, Charles comes home and is amazed to see me there since I usually arrived after few minutes after him.

"Hi, love, did you leave early?" He takes off his shoes at the door and comes over to me, kissing me. "Wow, made cupcakes. Are you trying to tell me something?"

"I just needed to distract myself." He smiles. "Go take a shower and come back here afterward."

"I'm afraid of what's to come." He goes, but in the middle of the hallway, he comes running back. "You're not going to break off our engagement, right?"

"No, go take your shower." I said, laughing, and he kissed me once again and ran off.

In the meantime, the oven beeped. I took them out and placed them on the counter.

I was arranging them on a glass plate when I felt him hug me from behind and leave a little kiss on my neck.

"I love you, you know?"

"I love you too, babe." I turned to him, and he picked me up and put me on the counter.

"So, what do you want to tell me?"

"I felt sick at work today and left early."

"And are you okay?" He asked worried.

"I am, I decided I would take a test to confirm what I suspected."

"What do you mean?"

"My period is late." He still looks at me without understanding. "I might be pregnant, Charles."

"Seriously?" I nod, and he starts giving me several little kisses on my face, making me laugh. "And are you really pregnant?"

"I don't know. I did a pharmacy test and a blood test, but I didn't have the courage to look yet." I opened my bag, taking out the box. "Do you want to see?"

"Of course." He takes the box and looks. "Here it says you're not."

"Oh." He looks at me, and by now, I was almost crying.

"Hey, everything will be okay. Is the blood test result available?"

"Still a few hours left."

"Then I'll help you finish your cupcakes, and we'll go to the couch to watch a movie."

We put the frosting on, and then he picked me up, carrying me to the couch. I settled on him, and he tuned into a channel that was showing "Grown Ups."

[...]

After a few hours, we ended up falling asleep. Now it was 8:30 PM, and Charles was entering the code to see the result.

"Ready?"

"No." He laughs. "But we have to see."

He pressed enter, and soon he started reading what seemed to be there. He stood up, putting his hands on his face, and I saw tears in his eyes.

"It's negative, isn't it?"

"It's positive." He says in a whisper, and I get up. "We're going to have a baby."

"Are you serious? Don't lie to me because I'm very sensitive right now."

"Were have a baby, love, for real." He holds my face.

"We did it." He smiles.

"Yes, we did."

Bonus scene!

Yourusername Instagram stories

“Baby Leclerc on the way” tagged:@charlesleclerc

Charlesleclerc Instagram stories

“I’m gonna be a dad soon” tagged:@yourusername

Tag list: @formulas-bitch @nuggetvirgo @lndonrris @cmleitora @janeholt3 @coffeewhore18 @blueflorals @agentadhd @eviethetheatrefreak @honethatty12 @lec-16 @ariamox @boherahpsody @ssararuffoni @leilani13gc @alldaysdreamer @minmira95 @dessxoxsworld @dessxoxsworld @vellicora @meadhbhcavanagh @viramila @lightdragonrayne @morenofilm @millinorrizz @leclercdream @buendiabebeta @ironmaiden1313 @julesandro @ssararuffoni @sialexia @notleclerc @glow-ish @heavengirls111

[flamingpudding]

Fictober23 Prompt: 31 - "It's not your fault."

Fandom: DPxDC

Rating: T

Warnings: -

A/N: Based on the setting created through Prompt 14 and its Reblogs. Not necessarily to read beforehand but it might give a little context. I tried to go with a more Halloween themed short story hope that worked out.

"Damian this mission has the highest priority any mission or case ever had before." Dick was clutching a glaring Damians shoulders who was now raising an eyebrow like his elder brother had lost his mind.

"Richard, this is ridiculous." He commented, crossing his arms.

"I am serious Dami, we can not fail with this." The elder stressed more. If it were any other situation than this then Damian might have taken Dick more seriously but as it was. His elder brother was pleading with him, dressed in a ridiculous Vampire outfit after having forced Damian into an outfit that was clearly a mockery towards his old league gear. It was a simple ninja costume Dick was making him wear.

"Please Dami! You don't want to get black listed for a month like Bruce or Tim, right? Jason is going to do this if we ruin their first Halloween in Gotham!" The younger's eyes narrowed.

"Do not place me on the same level as Drake. I will not lose any rights towards my nieces and nephews like he did." He huffed as he looked away stubbornly from his elder brother. Damian was not foolish enough to repeat the same mistakes some members of his family have made. He was not going to let his nephews even touch coffee or any caffeinated drink in the first place.

Besides the incident with Jasmine and their father was a whole different matter. It was their fathers own fault for unconsciously challenging his niece and disregarding her talent in analyzing one's mindset, Todd had mentioned once.

"I just want to make sure! Jason has become so protective of the kids and I do not want to lose favorit uncle's privileges!" Damian's eye twitched as he shoved away his elder brother with his hand placed in the other's face. "You must be delusional Richard. I seem to remember that I was the favorite uncle of the twins."

Before Dick could counter Damian the front door opened and the two saw Jason enter the manor with the crime twins on either side of him and the toddler in his arms. The second eldest raised an eyebrow at them before glancing down towards the twins.

"Hey Little Wing, right on time! Where is Jazz?" Dick greeted them cheerfully, bending down a little to wave at Ellie that was blowing a raspberry in his direction. He was probably imaging it but it looked like the little girl was glaring at him.

"Already dropped her off with her school friends, I will pick her up tomorrow afternoon. It's her sibling free day, remember?" Jason only raised an eyebrow also noting the frown the twins were sporting at seeing Dick.

Dick nodded, turning towards the twins. Did he imagine it or did one of the boy's whisper fruitloop to the other. "Ready for your first Trick or Treat in Gotham? We gotta collect all the candy for you two that we can!"

"Sure." Dick was hoping for more enthusiasm from the boy's but maybe that would come once they got their first candies bagged. "You two look interesting, what are you going as?"

"Frankenstein." The two answered simultaneously before glaring at each other and Dick sweatdropped. One of the boy's was dressed like a mad scientist with a white coat and welding goggles strapped to his head as well as some broken medical equipment clearly made visible. The other boy looked more like a monster with ripped clothing, fake bolds glued to his neck and drawn stitches all over his visible skin that was coloured slightly greenish.

"Wow you both did a good job! The monster looks just like in the movies." Dick tried in hopes

"I see. So Daniel is Doctor Frankenstein while Dante is Frankenstein's monster." The twins looked up towards Damian, the glare lost for a moment before they turned on each other again.

"See Uncle Dick said it! When someone says Frankenstein they think of the Monster, twerp!"

"Nuhu! Uncle Damian got it! He knew I was the Doctor and not the monster!"

"And Jazz just got them to stop arguing about that shit." Jason muttered with a glare towards Dick before the twins could devolve any further into their argument Jason stepped towards the side where Alfred had appeared and was heading over the now bubbling little girl that was making grabby hand towards the butler. He then turned towards the boys.

"Okay you two. Remember today's rules." He clapped his hand for more effect and to get the two to look at him. Which sort of worked as they still gave each other side eyed glares but nodded regardless. "Good and remember no crimes today, enjoy your fun and do not stuff yourself with candies."

"Okay Dad." The twins answered in sync before Jason literally pushed them towards Dick and Damian and out the Manors front door. They were the ones taking the twins out for a Trick or Treat run as their first Halloween in Gotham. Jason was going to hang back with Alfred to take care of Ellie.

Dick had volunteered doing this for his brother a couple weeks before Jason had wondered what he was going to do with the kids for Halloween. Dick had also instantly volunteered Damian for it two. Their youngest brother wasn't that much older than the twins yet and they surely would feel more comfortable with two known family members around.

An hour in and Dick was moments away from admitting that he made a grave mistake.

"Dami! Have you seen Danny?!" Jason was going to murder them if they lost one of his kids. So Dick was rightfully slightly panicked. He had taken his eyes of the boy for only a moment to check something on his phone.

"You have lost Daniel?" The youngest Wayne looked miffed at him and had a slight glare before though Dick noticed something else in his eyes too. "Damian, where is Dan?"

The younger clicked his tongue and Dick paled slightly. Okay no big deal, they temporarily lost the crime twin. He had found and followed Danny before, surely he would be able to find the boy in the crowd of disguised children too. Danny went with a mad scientist costume. How many of them were running around? It would be more difficult to find Dan, he had spotted a couple of different Frankensteins already.

"Jason is going to blacklist us, isn't he?" Dick muttered his eyes wandering over every child he could see going from door to door for candies. Damian doing the same even watching other adults and parents in case one of them had the idea to snatch his nephews from them.

"It won't be as bad as Drake and father." Damian commented as a form of consolation to his elder brother but knew it probably would. Jason blacklisted Tim from watching the kids for the caffeine incident for a month and their father was still blacklisted until Jazz felt like talking to the man again, the twins in solidarity to their sister doing the same.

"Should we split up? But what if they are looking for us? Oh good what if one of the rogues snatched them up? Or worse, some leftover guys from that damned organization?" From the corner of his eyes Damian saw how his elder brother was getting worked up and even though he wasn't showing it, he too was worried. This certainly was not how they had hoped the boy's first Halloween with them would go.

In a decorative street tree on the side of the path Dick and Damian were on sat two boy's one munching on a licorice stick while the other was nibbling on chocolate. Both were invisible just in case their uncle decided to look up.

"Fake blood next?" Danny asked as he watched Dick starting to pace.

"Not yet. Did Dad mention anything about the firecrackers?" Dan asked in return as he bite of another piece of his licorice stick.

"Not that I remember, tho Jazz said to go easy on Uncle Dick." Danny hummed tilting his head slightly with a frown. "But he lost that privilege looking like the fruitloop. You got one of Dad's fake guns right?"

"Why? Didn't you say you wanted to 'fake' stab yourself with the broken syringe?" Dan raised an eyebrow as Danny gave him a feral grin. "You recovered your shape shifting power, right?"

Dan returned the feral grin with one of his own understanding what kind of prank Danny was hinting at. "For once, I like the way you're thinking, twerp."

"Would you stop calling me that! We are the same age now!" Danny pouted as he stuffed the last of his chocolate in his mouth and prepared to jump off the tree.

"Never!" Dan quickly answered with a laugh as he took the lead and jumped off the tree and disappeared into the crowds first as he let go of his invisibility. Danny quickly followed doing the same. They had after all a lot more pranks planned to play on their uncles.

The evening ended with Dick and Damian making their way into the Manor through the bat cave entrance so that they could get to the Medbay before Jason saw the twins. Both looked rather disheveled and like they had gotten dragged through mud. What they didn't expect was Jason, being in the cave and looking at them with raised eyebrows. Dick was holding Dan who was literally growling as Dick was pressing a bundle of tissues against the boy's nose. There was a ripped strip of his vampire costume tied around Dan's arm, a line of dried 'blood' going down the arm.

Damian was holding Danny. The boy looked dizzy, holding his head with one hand while he whined about everything being to bright, the goggles of his costume were cracked and the white coat now had red 'blood' strains, the shirt he was wearing also appeared to be soaked in 'blood' and there was a tried spot of blood below Danny's nose like he also had had a nose bleed like his twin.

"What happened?" Jason's tone sounded neutral and Dick laughed nervously.

"It looks worse than it is…" He tried to salvage, maybe they could still save their nephew watching privileges.

"Really?"

"It's Richard's fault. He lost sight of Danny first." Dicks head whipped around towards Damian who just decided to throw him under the bus. A look of betrayal crossed the eldest face at the narrowed stare Damian was giving him. "The situation spiraled from there."

"No wait! Damian lost Dan! It's not just my fault!" He tried to defend himself as Jason's eyes narrowed on him. But before he could come up with any more reasons why it was not just his fault and that they should not lose any of their uncle privileges because of that…

…Jason started laughing, wheezing out a "It's not your fault."

Confused Dick blinked before Dan jumped out of his hands the same time Danny jumped out of Damians. Suddenly the kids appeared like nothing was wrong as they rushed over towards Jason. Hadn't Danny been dizzy until now? And Dan had complained and growled at him about a headache?

He glanced at Damian who was watching the twins with narrowed eyes.

"Well looks like you two had a lot of fun." They watched how Jason patted the twins' heads grinning at them as the boy's sported proud looks, like they were pleased with themselves. "Your Auntie Babs is making a highlight reveal for the entire family later. Till then go wash up and bug one of your other uncles or aunts."

"Can I go bug Uncle Tim! I got an new invention idea when Uncle Dick got chased by the dogs!"

"I want to find Aunt Harper."

"Sure both should be in the Manor by now. Just wash up first." With the boy's sent away it left the two adults and teen in the batcave. One of them gabbing like fish, the other glaring with narrowed eyes and the last of them still chuckling.

"Todd." Damian hissed and Dick knew that tone. Damian was promising revenge on Jason.

"Light up brat. The twins needed an outlet and Jazz suggested they could pull some pranks today, I just told them that with you two they could go all out."

Dick wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or be slightly mad at his brother for that but eventually he decided to go with relief. "So we are not losing uncle privileges, good."

"You two are still getting blacklisted for two weeks."

"WHAT?"

"I demand a reason."

"You tried taking them with you on patrol and you gave them blade training. They are six."

[hunieday]

Iori, Yuki, Touma 2024 Shuffle talk RabbiTV Episode 3

Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3

Please note that I am not a professional translator and I'm only doing this to share the side materials to those who cannot access them, if you notice any mistakes please let me know nicely. Enjoy!

Yuki: ...I thought we were supposed to take a bus to the flower field…

Izumi Iori: We came by bus to the foot of the mountain. We've only been walking for about ten minutes.

Inumaru Touma: Well, a little stroll ain’t so bad, is it? We'll be there in no time if we chat in the meantime!

Yuki: Yeah, if we chat... So then, tell us something interesting.

Inumaru Touma: Huh!? Interesting...!? That's too sudden!

Inumaru Touma: Um, well let me tell you something that happened backstage the other day...

Yuki: You came up with something pretty quick for a sudden request.

Izumi Iori: Indeed, Inumaru-san's responsiveness is impressive, but is it appropriate to share that story here?

Inumaru Touma: Ahaha! It's fine, don’t worry! I just wanna say that we’ve never seen our manager laugh so hard before.

Inumaru Touma: So, I tried my best to show off my weirdest face but everyone recoiled... Do you wanna see it?

Yuki: Yes I do.

Izumi Iori: Your reactions are quick too...

Yuki: I forget because Momo does it quite often, but I think idols making funny faces are quite rare.

Izumi Iori: Hmm... I don't quite understand, but I am certainly curious about a weird face that makes people recoil.

Inumaru Touma: Alright, here goes! ...Gyuu!

Yuki ＆ Izumi Iori: ...!

Izumi Iori: What on earth happened to your facial features...!? How is it even possible that they’re all concentrated in the middle like that...?

Inumaru Touma: E-erm, please stop inspecting me from this close...

Yuki: …pfft, hahaha... Touma-kun's weird face and Iori-kun analyzing it on top of it is hilarious…

Inumaru Touma: T-Thanks for praising my weird face! ...Phew. Can I stop now...? Izumi...

Izumi Iori: I'm sorry. I have witnessed the wonders of the human body.

Yuki: Alright, your turn Iori-kun. Do something entertaining.

Izumi Iori: I refuse.

Inumaru Touma: Quick reaction!

Izumi Iori: Unfortunately I do not possess such talents.

Yuki: Even though it's your senpai's order...

Izumi Iori: ... I won a "Seasonal Vegetable Assortment Set" in a lucky draw the other day. Would you like to come over and eat some? Nii-san will be cooking something delicious for us.

Yuki: I'm in.

Inumaru Touma: Yuki-san is bribed with vegetables...!

Yuki: Mitsuki-kun's cooking is delicious. Touma-kun, why don't you come over too?

Izumi Iori: By all means. There's plenty to go around.

Inumaru Touma: Seriously!? I'm so happy! Thank you...!

Yuki: Oh, look, you two. A flower field!

Inumaru Touma ＆ Yuki ＆ Izumi Iori: Wow...!

Izumi Iori: The view is magnificent. There are hydrangeas in shades of light blue and pale purple as far as the eye can see...

Yuki: It truly is like a "carpet of flowers". It must feel amazing to lie down there.

Inumaru Touma: I'm glad I came here...!

Staff: Congratulations, everyone. Mission accomplished!

Staff: Thank you very much for your hard work even in this hot weather. There are benches here, so feel free to take a break and enjoy the scenery!

Izumi Iori: Yes, thank you very much.

Inumaru Touma: I feel a great sense of accomplishment...

Izumi Iori: ...Indeed. I've discovered how invigorating mountain climbing can be.

Inumaru Touma: No matter how tough the journey is, all the hardships will blow away if there’s a view this beautiful waiting for you!

Yuki: ...Sounds the same as being an idol.

Inumaru Touma: Oh, maybe! Even if we're struggling with lessons and work every day, seeing the smiles of our fans makes us feel like we can keep going the next day!

Izumi Iori: Speaking of mountain climbing, have you heard this phrase?

Izumi Iori: "Life is like climbing a mountain. Once you've climbed it, you have to come down eventually. If you keep climbing without descending, then you lose."

Yuki: ...It’s hard for people to maintain their spot when they achieve something and reach the top, they have to come down eventually to aim for the next peak.

Inumaru Touma: ...That's deep...

Izumi Iori: Yuki-san mentioning that it sounds like our job reminded me of it.

Inumaru Touma: Does Re:vale ever have a thing called going down a mountain?

Yuki: Of course we do. But it's not about descending the mountain. It's about not resting on our laurels and continuing to strive to create something great, one song at a time.

Yuki: Isn't that true for you guys too?

Inumaru Touma: …! Yes... I want to challenge myself more and more with us four in ŹOOĻ.

Izumi Iori: It’s the same for us in IDOLiSH7. Each member's composition and choreography skills are improving, but we still haven't seen the end goal yet.

Yuki: Fufu, that's scary. Re:vale can't just sit back and relax when we have such strong-willed children.

Inumaru Touma: I'm really glad I came here.We were able to talk about the future together because of it.

Izumi Iori: We'll be rivals again tomorrow.

Yuki: Can't we be friends for today? I don’t think I can go down this mountain without Iori-kun and Touma-kun.

Inumaru Touma: Haha! Of course! Let's talk as we go down!

Yuki: That's good to hear. Then I wanna see Iori-kun's weird face on our way down.

Izumi Iori: I-I thought the vegetables were enough...!?

Izumi Iori: ...I'll have to resort to my last trick. How about looking at a photo of Nanase-san's weird face instead?

Yuki: Wait. Even the concept is already funny. I really wanna see it.

Inumaru Touma: You guys take photos of each other’s weird faces!? That's awesome...!

Izumi Iori: They were sent by my brother during a party.

Yuki: Thanks. I think we can still have fun thanks to you two.

End of Episode 3.

[papercranesandpride]

Can we talk about The Giver by Lois Lowry from the perspective of a loveless person?

I'm going to start with a passage that runs through my head all the time when I think about my lovelessness, because it resonates with me in pretty much the exact opposite way that it's supposed to.

"Do you love me?" There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then Father gave a little chuckle. "Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please!" "What do you mean?" Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated. "Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it's become almost obsolete," his mother explained carefully. Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory. "And of course our community can't function smoothly if people don't use precise language. You could ask, 'Do you enjoy me?' The answer is 'Yes,'" his mother said. "Or," his father suggested, "'Do you take pride in my accomplishments?' And the answer is wholeheartedly 'Yes.'" "Do you understand why it's inappropriate to use a word like 'love'?" Mother asked. Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly. It was his first lie to his parents

I agree with Jonas' parents here. You aren't supposed to agree with them, because they're expression the views of the average person in this dystopian society where love has been eliminated. You're supposed to think "wow, this is a really fucked up society if parents don't love their children." More importantly, you're supposed to think "wow, this is a really fucked up society if no one feels love at all." But I agree with them. "I enjoy you" is a vastly more correct and useful thing for me to say. I do wish people used more precise language instead of the term that's been diluted to meaninglessness. I would love a world where we say things like "I'm happier when I talk to you" or "it's cool to be able to say I know someone so talented" instead of "I love you." That's exactly what I'd like.

I just... As someone who grew up to be loveless, it scares me how much I loved this book as a kid. I grew up to be the kind of person this book views as missing an essential part of the human experience. Lois Lowry thinks that being like me is dystopic. It's not fun to realize that about a book I read over and over, and then read again in school as the first book I really, properly analyzed for English class. Some fundamental part of me was formed when I wrote my first very angsty fanfiction about it for a school project. And this book looks at me with revulsion.

Lois Lowry is just wrong. I used to feel love and then stopped feeling it (and I need to post about that sometime, because all the loveless people I see talk about never having felt love and so I want to voice my own experience). I don't think I'm missing out. I have no desire to get it back. To be clear, I don't think I'm better off without it, either. It's a neutral thing. Some people feel it, some people don't feel it, and neither group is worse off. I wasn't any happier with it than I am without it.

I don't really have a point, except just that it sucks that the whole origin point of the teen dystopia craze that formed all of YA during my peak YA-reading years sees lovelessness as bad. But you know. Of course it does. So does the rest of the culture.

[mixelation]

writing some dumb reborn au dialogue this morning

ninjacon 3!!!! (the one with X, a yellow flash cosplayer who is. very hot. in a hilarious way)

*****

“So,” Tori said, suddenly making direct eye contact with Minato, “were you into him?”

“...what?” Minato asked. Kakashi noted he still hadn’t taken a single sip of the drink in his hand. 

“X,” Tori clarified. “Were you into him?”

Kakashi would admit it. The scandalized face Minato made at these words was hilarious. 

“Why would I be into him?” Minato asked, sounding like Tori had just slapped him. 

“We were debating your type,” Itachi said very matter-of-factly. Kakashi choked on his drink. “Since you made multiple comments about X’s attractiveness.”

“I’m married,” Minato said firmly, although his grip on his cup had tightened enough that the plastic was denting. “And your boss. Why are you talking about that?”

“You said you were off duty,” Itachi pointed out at the same time Tori said, “What does being married have to do with it? Kushina-sensei told us all about your hall passes.”

Say what you would about Team Disaster; their teamwork was terrifying. 

“Hall passes?” Kakashi repeated. 

“It’s a list of people a couple makes as ‘exceptions’ to their otherwise closed relationship,” Itachi explained, and Minato took a long, desperate sip of his drink. 

“I know what it means,” Kakashi said blandly, even as he found himself unable to wipe the grin off his face. “Sensei, why have I never heard of your hall passes?”

“Why was Kushina talking about it?” Minato asked, sounding borderline panicked. 

“It’s like her third favorite ‘girl talk’ subject,” Tori said. “You know about girl talk, don’t you?”

“She said girl talk was sacred,” Minato said in an oddly desperate voice, “and private.”

Kakashi had no idea what ‘girl talk’ was. He said this outloud. No one explained it to him. 

“Tori didn’t tell me,” Itachi said. “I only know because girl talk is sometimes… loud.”

“He’s a horrible eavesdropper,” Tori said primly. 

“Wait,” Kakashi said, louder this time, in an attempt to get the conversation back on track. “Is his list… consistent… with X’s appeal?”

“Not really,” Tori replied. “That’s why it’s weird.” She turned back to Minato, whose face was gradually turning pinker. “Well?”

“No,” he replied. “I just understand when cheekbones are beautiful, that’s all.”

They all took a moment to acknowledge that X’s cheekbones were, in fact, gorgeous. 

“So what is your type?” Itachi asked in his unemotional Itachi voice. 

This was truly a one hit KO. Instead of answering, Minato made a face like he’d been suckpunched and then took another long drink. 

Itachi turned to Tori. “Then what’s the pattern?” There was a long pause. “Pale?”

“Pale?” Kakashi repeated. Who the hell was on this list?

“No,” Minato said. 

“Are they all pale because he they’re redheads?” Kakashi asked, brain buzzing for memories of things Minato had listed about Kushina’s best traits. 

“Please stop,” Minato whined. 

“Now, now, Sensei,” Kakashi said, wagging his finger. “You said so yourself. This con is a safe space for bonding experiences, and we all want to know.”

Well, Kakashi wanted to know. He didn’t think this would be a strange thing for Minato to disclose to him, in private over drinks. It might be weird to tell Tori and Itachi, but they apparently already knew and had been analyzing it. 

Minato buried his face in the hand that wasn’t holding his drink. He mumbled something. 

“Sensei?” Kakashi repeated, now struggling to hold back laughter. 

Minato leaned back against the bedframe, looking truly defeated. “Tobirama and…” he sighed. “Ame no Konan.”

Tori raised her eyebrows, expectant. Minato had left something out, Kakashi gathered. 

“She already told you?” Minato asked, looking ever so slightly betrayed. 

“I guess she thought it was relevant to my interests?” Tori hedged. 

Minato groaned, his cheeks going pink again as he turned to Kakashi. “I recently added Akasuna no Sasori.”

He then tipped his cup back and finished it off. Wow. 

The list was honestly only surprising to Kakashi in that he was surprised there was a list. 

“He just likes strong people,” Kakashi told Tori and Itachi matter-of-factly. Next to him, Minato choked on the last of his drink. After a beat he amended, “Who are also hot, I guess. Except maybe Tobirama.”

“Tori said she would put him on her list,” Itachi said. 

“Itachi,” Tori warned. 

Minato grabbed for the bottle of whisky. Kakashi passed it to him. His dear Sensei could face down any physical threat, but this conversation apparently required alcohol. 

“It’s good for couples to have conversations about things like this,” Minato said in an obvious attempt to shift the conversation back into his control as he poured way too much whiskey into his cup. “I’m glad you're communicating about your wants and needs.”

“So why add Sasori now?” Kakashi asked, and Minato shot him a very sad, very betrayed look. 

“I didn’t realize he could… pose a challenge in battle,” Minato said slowly. 

There was a very long silence in the room as Minato opened the soda bottle next. 

“And he’s a redhead,” Minato added. 

“You didn’t realize the guy who destroyed a country could pose a challenge in battle?” Kakashi repeated. 

“It’s only a country on a technicality,” Minato said, waving his hand dismissively. “It was a city-state with a large civilian population. I never really got why everyone thought that was so impressive.”

There was another very long silence. Then Tori burst into laughter. 

“What?” Minato asked, face going into an expression Kakashi might categorize as pouty. “I just like people who are on my level, physically and intellectually.” 

“Why are your standards insane?” she wheezed. “You're so lucky Kushina-sensei likes you back.”

Yes, that expression was… pouting. 

“They don’t have to be able to beat me,” Minato defended. “I just want to have to actually try.”

“Maa, you’re still lucky,” Kakashi drawled. “Name one other person your age in Konoha who fits that description.”

Minato stared at his drink. Kakashi swiveled his head to make eye contact knowingly with Tori. 

******

i keep wanting to make a joke about how tori keeps referring to konan as "my wife" but idk how to do it without the vibe being like..... weird?

tori: i would put konan on my exceptions list too ngl

itachi: you said those lists were people where it would be unrealistic for you to actually hook up with them

kakashi: itachi, she's not ACTUALLY married to konan. you know that, right?

itachi: (dead stare) right.

[chlorinecake]

ੈ♡ “do you actually hate me? so, enemies to lovers?”

🧩 N.RK 🐈‍⬛

pairing: flirtatious!stranger!riki x tsundere!fem!reader 🍵

synopsis: after calling the mysterious airport boy’s phone number, you’re left to make a decision that could quite possibly change everything between you two

cw: language, mentions of food, lots of teasing, crack, ft. riki’s big sister [Konon]

wc: 1.9k — part 1 ✈️ & part 2 💌 & part 4 🥟

You stared at the yellow sticky note in your hand, reading Riki’s letter for what felt like the hundredth time. By now, you had fully memorized his number, but you still glanced at it as you typed the series of digits onto your phone.

Boop, the dial tone sang eerily.

“Hello,” the cheerful speaker said from the other side of the phone.

“Hey, this is ____ from the airport. I just wanted to say thank you for returning my…item,” you chuckled.

“Uhh, I think you have the wrong number, ma’am.”

“Oh,” you almost frowned, “then who is this?”

“This is Café Royale on Olive Street. Wait, what did you say your name was again?”

“____.”

“Ok, cool! We were told to expect a call from you! You have a table for two reserved at 8:30am with Mr. Riki N.“

“I do? I mean, is he there now?” You asked, looking at the time that currently read 8:19am.

Ding.

“Yeah, he just came in,” the call cut out.

After getting dressed in casual apparel, you arrived at the café around 8:35am, spotting Riki and the female cashier chatting things up. He whipped his head at the sound of the door bell chiming, smiling at the sight of you.

“Wow,” he remarked, taking in your frame.

“Skipping straight to the corny stuff, I see,” you teased, sticking your hands in your pockets.

“No? I’m just surprised you actually showed up,” he said as the waitress made her way over.

You weren’t too sure why Riki wanted to meet with you so soon. Though, it surprised you how much thought he put into arranging everything.

“Hello again! Feel free to check out some of our options and see what you like before ordering,” she chirped, looking back and forth between you and him. “He’s my little brother, by the way, so don’t try anything fast unless you wanna be scalped,” she snapped, passing you a menu.

You didn’t really know how to respond to that, so you just stayed quiet, following Riki’s lead as he guided you to the reserved table by your hand.

His grip was protective yet gentle, you felt like you could hold his hand forev-

What am I saying, you thought to yourself.

He pulled out your chair before sitting beside you, propping his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers.

“That’s Konon, my older sister. She wasn’t trying to threaten you. Just think of it as a friendly warning,” he nodded as if accepting it himself.

“I understand,” you smiled, analyzing the menu. “You two look very alike. Do you have similar personalities, too?”

He giggled, “We have similar interests, but different character’s. She’s obviously the cold type when it comes to meeting new people. I’m more…”

“Flirty,” you answered, meeting his eyes.

“So I’ve been told,” he hummed.

The waitress came over to your table with a note and pen in hand, “Alrighty, kid’s. What can I get ya?”

“I’ll have a matcha boba smoothie,” you answered plainly, suddenly becoming shy in front of his sister.

“And for the gentleman?”

“I’d like a matcha latte, with a sharing platter of chocolate filled shortbread cookies…and maybe a few breakfast bagel bites… ooh! With fresh strawberries on the side, microwaved please.”

Konon didn’t bother writing down his order, tucking the notepad in her apron pocket. “Fantastic! I’ll be back with your order in just a few minutes,” she said sarcastically, side-eying Riki as she walked away.

A different waiter brought out your order, placing a wooden platter down on the table, along with a few napkins.

“Thank you,” you and Riki said in unison, bowing his head slightly.

You immediately took a sip of your boba, a few drops of the sugary green liquid dripped from the straw, seeping through your top.

How lovely.

“Uhhh,” you looked down at your chest, the imprint of your bra starting to show.

“Looks like you’ve got a hole in your lip,” he teased, moving a thumb to wipe the drink from your mouth and then tasting it himself. “Hmm, she never makes it that good for me,” he pouted, using a few napkins to wipe at your chest.

You could feel your face growing hotter as he continued to dab at the stain, your mind still stuck on the image of him tasting the tea from your mouth with his thumb.

What was this boy doing to your heart?

“Gosh, Riki, maybe if you stopped thinking about my melons, the universe would stop drawing attention to them!” You raised your voice at him accusingly, swatted his hand away from you. Luckily, Konon had her back turned and didn’t notice the commotion.

“I can’t believe you just called your boobs melons,” he judged. “Did you give each one it’s own name, too?”

“You’re a foreign breed, Riki,” you said, failing to get the green out of your shirt.

He sighed, “Here.” Looking up to face him, your eyes darted to the view of his abs that poked from underneath his shirt. “What’re you doing,” you asked, trying to mask how you were literally just checking him out.

He took off his hoodie, revealing the white tee he wore underneath. Running a hand through his bleached hair, he handed you the hoodie to cover your stained shirt.

“Riki, you don’t have to do that.”

“No, it’s alright,” he smiled, snaking your head through the hole.

You still had to get used to his strange personality, but you were growing more and more fond of it with every second that passed.

“What do you think?” He asked, sitting back down before flashing you a shit eating grin.

“What do I think of what?”

“The way I smell? I’m sure you took a whiff. Weirdo.”

Ouch. You never would’ve thought getting a taste of your own medicine would be so painful.

You paused in thought, “Well, it smells a little off, actually. Like reptilian eggs and ear wax, but I’ll get over it, I guess,” you teased back, eliciting a fit of laughter from him.

He was hysterical, hair tussling all over his head as his body followed the sounds he made. It’s not that Riki found your joke all that funny, but it was how small you looked in his hoodie that really tickled him. He let out a sigh, reattaining his composure.

“Can you pass me a few cookies?”

You nodded, handing him three.

“Excuse me? I’m a cookie short, ma’am.”

You scoffed. “What’re you talking about?”

“I asked for a few cookies? You only gave me three.”

“Yeah, because a few IS three.”

“Okay, everybody knows a few is four. A throuple is three”

“Throuple sounds so dumb. And for the record, a couple is two, a few is three, nobody knows what four is, and a handful is five, because you have five fingers.”

“I’m sure I could hold a lot more than five cookies in one hand, just saying.”

“That’s not the point, Riki!”

“Whatever, ____,” he shook his head, taking a bite of the crisp cookie. “Words aren’t a valid way to measure numbers anyway.”

“Change the subject or I’m leaving.”

He rolled his eyes, dipping one of his cookies into the warm green latte. “Have you ever experienced a ghost poop before?”

You choked on your boba. “A what?”

“A ghost poop. It’s when you feel the urge to poop but you don’t actually have to poop, so like, it’s just your butthole going through the motions of pooping but you’re not actually pooping? I know you know what I’m talking about.”

You shook your head in horror, offended that he brought up such a thing while you were eating. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What? You told me to change the subject!” He defended, picking up one of the mushy strawberries before savoring the tartness in his mouth, reaching to add a cookie to the mix.

You blinked at him. “I hate you.”

He moved the biscuit from his face, “Wait, like… actually?”

“Yes, actually.”

“No, I mean like deadass?”

“Actually, deadass, for real, no cap, whatever,” you exaggerated, picking with a loose thread of his hoodie.

He finally bit into the cookie, munching and nodding at your response. “Hmm. So, enemies to lovers?”

“I’d rather die.”

“Woah, that’s a pretty big step, ____, but if you’re ready for that kind of commitment, so am I.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, a smile wavering over his features. “Can I call you ���baby’?”

“I don’t think you should order caffeinated drinks anymore.”

“As a soon to be legal adult, I’m allowed to enjoy as much caffeine as I please.”

“So- wait, how are you qualified to work as a tsa agent if you’re a minor?” You asked curiously, trying one of the cookies yourself.

“Don’t you know my last name?”

You swallowed, “Obviously not.”

“Well, my father owns the airline organization you went to the other day. I’ve been working as an agent since I my sixteenth birthday, but before, he had me on window cleaning duty a few days a week. He says it’s his way of making me into a ‘good-for-something man.’ Working with him has its perks though.”

Riki Nishimura, you pieced together in your mind. A name that sounded so lovely on the tongue and so fresh in the mind. Why was he so dreamy?

“Does he pay you?”

“Pfft, no. He lets me travel once a month, instead.”

“No way. Where’ve you been?”

“Uhhh, the Philippines, Japan, of course, because I have relatives out there, Australia, Spain, South Korea, Brazil, Poland, Canada-”

“Paris?”

He paused for a moment. “No, actually. I was never really captivated by the place. Not until I met you, that is.”

What the? That was such a direct comment! Does he find you “captivating?”

He dug into his leather shoulder bag, pulling out an envelope and handing it to you.

“You’re really the old fashioned letter and notes type, huh?”

“Yes, and you love that about me,” he winked, “among others things, I’m sure.”

You scoffed, “Like what?”

“Well,” he began, leaning back in his chair with folded arms, showing off his toned muscles. “I’m mysterious.”

“Mysterious?”

“Mhm,” he nodded confidently, “And attractive.”

You rolled your eyes.

“I always say silly things that you find endearing.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Rik-”

“You’re in love with my name.”

You wanted to kick him for how flustered you suddenly felt.

He continued from your silence, “You say it all the time like you’re scared to forget it. Like I’m gonna walk away if you don’t keep calling me.”

You dusted a few crumbs from your hands over the table. “Would you?” you asked, meeting his piercing eyes.

“Would I what?”

“Walk away.”

He leaned forward, looking down at the empty mug before him.

“Maybe if you were to reject my offer,” he finished, gleaming at the sealed envelope that sat on your side of the table.

Biting a lip with anticipation, you tore an end of the white rectangle, revealing what was inside:

A plane ticket.

To Paris, France.

With Riki.

Tomorrow!

You shook your head in disbelief, meeting his desperate yet patient features.

“I… this is… Riki-”

“See? There you go saying my name again,” he set his hand over yours, “I’m right here, ____. All you have to do is say yes.”

You took a deep breath, trying to rationalize between your heart that screamed yes and your mind that howled no. It’s not like you didn’t trust him, but you still weren’t sure how you felt about him yet, and something like this could change everything between you two. From a cute stranger that gave you hell at the airport to potentially travelling the world with him.

What do you say?

ᴀ/ɴ 𓂋 I hope you all enjoyed reading this piece as much as I did writing it! ~ love always, @chlorinecake 🎂

☆ ☆ ☆ taglist: @microwvdstrawb3rri3s @yngwife @fanficfactoryfoxxx @ashgonedash @wzy3ka @j-wyoung @stinkoscope @cloudylino

[keirawantstocry]

First off, your writing is incredible! Second, could I perhaps request a continuation of poly morning crew? Maybe something Valentines related where Fit and Pac each do something for Tubbo and he just Panics because, like, oh god, they’re dating, why are they giving me gifts?? Am I cheating?? Is this cheating???

And meanwhile Fit and Pac are like, ‘wow, what a nice Valentine’s Day, we’re such good partners to Tubbo, we gave him such a nice day!’ and just have No Idea that Tubbo doesn’t realize they’re all dating. Bonus points if an actual conversation about their relationship status happens as a result

awww thank you up and ofc you may! <3 

Tubbo woke up incredibly grumpy on Valentine's day. This would be a surprise to absolutely no one. What would be a surprise was what came only minutes after he woke up. 

There was a knock at the door. He pushed open bleary eyes to roll half heartedly out of bed and open the simple door. Outside was a bouquet. Of roses. He stared. 

His brain short circuited. He stared for longer. So long in fact that Sunny came looking for him. She tapped the back of his leg and he finally started to move, turned back to her with a blank stare. 

“Sorry what's up Poppet?” 

“Where did those flowers come from?” 

He stammered. “Well, um… yeah probably a prank.” He laughed dryly. “A stupid fucking prank.” 

She squinted at him but didn't question it any further. 

He kept the flowers. 

-

The next surprise of the day was lunch. Fit and Pac showed up at noon. 

“Don't you have some romantic shit to do with each other?” he snarled as soon as he spotted them. 

Fit laughed. “We have a lunch reservation.” 

Tubbo rolled his eyes. “Get to it then.” 

Suddenly a hand was on each of his arms and they both were pulling him out the door. “We are!” Pac said cheerily. 

-

They fed him lobster, steak, everything on the damn menu. Truly wined and dined him. He didn't understand any of it. Why the hell were they choosing to be with him on the day practically dedicated to their gross love. They should be making heart eyes at each other over some stupid meal, not… staring at him while they all ate. 

Tubbo frowned, glancing between them, trying to analyze the look in their eyes. He couldn't place it. The deepness of their stares. It was something he was sure he had seem before but he couldn't figure it out. 

Pac smiled at him. “It's good right?” 

Tubbo nodded, pushing away the tons of thoughts. “Yeah, it's delicious. Thank you.”

Pac beamed. “Obrigado!” 

-

Finally, finally, Tubbo thought it was over. He was home, laying in bed, safe from any more surprise attacks of affection. 

This unfortunately did not turn out to be true. Because Foolish took one look at the two men smiling at their door and let them right in. 

Tubbo sat straight up in bed when they walked in, eyes glancing between them. “What are you guys doing here?” 

Fit dropped a handful of blankets on the bed beside him and Pac dropped down on to the bed. “Sleepover! Have to end the day right!” 

Tubbo watched in stunned amazement as they both settled in around him. Then Pac was taking his face gently in his hands and kissing him. His lips were soft and so gentle as he slipped his tongue in Tubbo's mouth, pressing his body back against Fit's whose arms came around to hold him while his boyfriend kissed him. 

Pac pulled back and gave him a sweet smile. 

“I'm sorry,” Tubbo gasped out. “What the fuck is happening?” Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes and he didn't know why. 

Pac's eyebrows dipped in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

“Why are you doing all this with me?” 

“Because we love you,” Fit said from behind him. 

“We love you,” Pac agreed. 

Tubbo's stomach rolled in agony at the word. “But you're… a couple. I'm just some guy you keep around for a reason I-” his voice broke on the syllable. “I can't figure out.” 

Pac took his face so gently, looked into his eyes with such deep… love. Tubbo felt like puking. 

“It's… not just us. It's the three of us,” Pac tried to explain. “We both like you, did you not… not know?” 

Tubbo shook his head and Pac's eyes softened. “You really didn't know? Tubbo, we thought you were our boyfriend. We thought you knew that. We took you on a date today for God's sake.” 

“That was a date?” Tubbo asked incredulously. 

Fit's laugh rumbled agaisnt his back. “Yes, you dumbass. We buy you flowers and take you on dates. Hell, Pac just kissed you. How dumb can you be?” 

Tubbo stammered. “Uh, um.” Then he was being picked up easily by Fit who spun him on his lap to face him as he put him down again and kissed him. The rush of being picked up so easily made the kiss ever so sweeter. Ever more intense. 

Pac laughed lightly at them. “Calma, you guys. We need some rest.” 

Fit pulled back for a moment to say, “I want to kiss him more,” before diving back in. Pulling Tubbo close, hands around his back, as he kissed with insistent lips and fervous intent. 

Yeah, Tubbo thought half delirious. Bedtime can wait. 

[cecilioque]

VOLO’S OUTFIT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BAD. And here is why I think so...

To begin, we are not talking about the Ginko guild design, we are talking about the “final boss” fit. We all know that Volo’s outfit is dumb, but I’m mad because it  was actually thought out and VERY symbolic in the sense that it essentially represented things Volo said/wanted.

I, like everyone else looked at this outfit and went “wow, that is dumb” and then hated on it.  Although it is not the most appealing or cool outfit, there was actually a lot of thought that went into it. I could be really over analyzing this, but here is my interpretation.

To begin with, the concept art is a lot more revealing about the intention of the design then the actual game play.  On a surface level we see Volo in what I can only assume is a Arceus gijinka cosplay.  So the hair, the stars, and color scheme are all elements of Arceu’s  design.  Cool. Good job especially since Volo had in fact never seen Arceus before.

To fully understand this outfit we have to go back to Hisui and the remains of this so called “ancient civilization”. In the Pokemon world, there is this general idea that the ancient culture was either Roman or Greek inspired. We see evidence in Legends of Arceus by the obvious column heavy architecture and use of Greek Doric columns ( one of the earliest styles of columns used for temples) and in the ruins and temple. 

The Temple of Sinnoh is obviously based off of the Parthenon. It’s funny because game freak went as far as to even mimic both Ionic and Doric styles in the Temple of Sinnoh just like the Parthenon. I will go as far to add that the Sinnoh temple is much simpler than the Parthenon due to the fact that it was not embellished with an elaborately carved frieze or any decoration on the exterior for the most part.  Bizarre when even the broken ruins have evidence of some sort of ornamentation. It makes complete sense why the game developers chose this style seeing how is is know for being very simplistic.  But it also dates it in context.  It makes the Temple of Sinnoh the first temple that was build and the others that followed were build as the civilization grew ( thus more elaborate but we can only see the crumbled remains).

I will be ignoring the Snowpoint temple because it is a weird combination of styles and almost seems alien and out of place which very much fits the Regi theme.  It is also based on the early game design which was limited and blocky for game space sake.

Ok, heavy Greek and Roman influence. Back to Volo and his obviously Greek and Roman fit.  Volo’s name itself means “I wish”  in latin and could possibly be a reference to the phrase “volō, ergo sum” (I wish, therefore I am). Very in character since it is the wish for more” and he did everything he could to achieve that.

The actual influence for the design is more Roman in nature. This bothered me because we can see that research and thought went into it, but they just simplified it. And this actually has a point.

To begin with the obvious stuff, we see that volo’s shirt is definitely toga like. It even goes so far to be decorated with a Fibula (brooch)in a way that indicates a higher rank or status.  Cool Volo, we get that you think highly of yourself. Color choice is also same as Arceus, but we also know that white togas were also used by senators and high political officers.

Next , the shoes.  These are just the basic stereotypical Spirit Halloween Greek god/goddess type of sandals you can get at your local costume shop.  This was actually the most disappointing part of the outfit for me. But it makes sense they went with the most simplified and recognizable style.  They wanted us to look at this outfit and go “ Wow, Volo has been studying his myths and recreated an outfit”. This is what you could expect someone to create with just a written description of the clothing used during that time.

The necklace is interesting because it stands out so much compared to the gold colors. I am no sure what they were going for here by making it so prominent, but it brings us to an interesting thought.  If they necklace does have meaning, it is related directly to the design/shape.  The waterdrop could be the Greek symbolism for "tears of grace” or in a sense “gods grace”. The idea that the tears of god water the harvest and provide life. Alternate interpretations could simply be water as a source of life, or a symbol or sadness a mourning.  If it is a symbol of of mourning, this might be a clue to why Volo might desire to rewrite the world so much.

Last but not least, the pants. I think we can all decide this is one of the worst parts of the outfit, and to me it is just straight up confusing for two main reasons.  For starters, the color green is so prominent when green is an accent color on Arceus.  So maybe the color has meaning itself.  But if you look at the image above, the color mainly refers to life and “the harvest” (possibly like the necklace).  It has a weird connections to life and creation itself, which probably is why it was included in Arceus’ design and makes sense as Volo essentially wants to become the creator of life in a new world.

But this isn’t the part that gets me the most. The second thing that confuses me is the fact that the Greeks and Romans did not use pants.  This was because pants were associated with non-Roman/Greek cultures (the Germanic tribes and Vikings) who they looked down upon. On top of that, the Greeks thought pants were feminine and silly.  This could also just simply be a design choice because they didn’t wanna draw Volo in a full toga and accidently make him look like Christ. But this leads to my final point of the physical outfit itself.

VOLO’S OUTFIT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD. IT’S SUPPOSED TO LOOK DORKY AND BAD BECAUSE IT WAS FLAWED! This is based on the real world cultures it was based on. And although Volo may have done a lot of research, he still didn’t completely understand ancient culture.  It’s bad because Volo made it himself. His outfit was flawed just like his ideology. It is his own interpretation of a culture that he had idolized without truly understanding that this great and ancient culture crumbled. And based off of the architecture of the ruins and temples, it never even reached a prime before it fell.

But Volo thinks its correct/cool/accurate. He is being a fool about it because he didn’t understand the bigger picture and had become consumed with this desire for power and control.  This as an idea is really cool and I find it funny that you can also wear the outfit. Its essentially mocking him. If we look at the outfit in this light, the design was a success in getting us to dislike it and evoke this distaste. We didn’t know why, but this is why.

SO IN SUMMARY, OUTFIT WAS BAD ON PURPOSE. It wasn’t thoughtless, in fact there was a lot of research behind it and yet that seems to be thrown out to simplify the design in a way that looks like someone hand made it based off of what they had put together themselves.

But this isn’t my favorite part  of the concept art.  My favorite part is the hands.

Look at his hands. Why are they in those positions? Wouldn’t it have been easier to create more standard poses?  To me the hand gestures here are just too specific. So I started digging around for what they could be on a Art history level.  I looked at Non Christian art first and then Christian symbolism within their mosaics, illuminated manuscripts, and paintings. And I found some verrrry interesting similarities.  I am not trying to make this religious. I just found some interesting similarities between old Christian art and Volo’s design.  Which makes sense if we go back to this Greek/Roman influence because these cultures eventually converted to Christianity.  And Arceus is kind of a weird goat god Jesus.

The left hand is where the biggest symbolism is.  Basically, this hand gesture has been used to indicate “the hand of god” or the “hand of justice”.  Christ sometimes is draw with a similar hand position and could be a sign of the cross, but this would also refer to some sort of divinity.  I will also note that Volo is in no way making the classic “blessing” hand gesture.

As for the right hand he is making what I assume is a Greek/Roman orator (speaker) gesture. This would mean that Volo is calling for attention. Note, that I didn't’ compare this to prophets. That’s because orators speak for themselves and prophets for god.  And Volo thinks he is god.

Under this context, in the concept art Volo is essentially saying “I am God”.  If we add the symbolism of his outfit, it only further solidifies this idea.  Volo’s outfit/concept comes together and screams “behold, I am god , the hand of justice. I will be the creator or the new world”. Which is so freaking clever because that’s literally what he tells you. 

Sure his hands are switched and lowered compared to actual real world art examples (thank you Game freak for not throwing in actual religious symbols/gestures), but I think the intention is still there.  It’s so good that I am mad.  So as much as I hate this dumb outfit, I cannot deny that it was well thought out, that the character was well thought out.

To conclude, these are my assumptions. I am not an expert on art history or religion.  If you have further insights on this feel free to share. I’d be interested with what others had to add.  I the end this could all be wrong and just crazy for overthinking the designs of a pokemon character, but it just seems too intentional to be carelessly thrown together. This is just one possible interpretation.

Though its just more evidence in my mind that a lot of love and care went into developing Legends of Arceus. Despite their limitations and resources.

[historicity-was-already-taken]

History Blog recs

One of my Very Specific interests over the last...idk 10 years, has been reading blogs about the A Song of Ice and Fire series, by historians. I'm not sure what it is about those books: the complex, multi-layered narrative, the author's claim to work creatively with real world history, the micro-arguments contained in every arc, or what, but historians have the most FASCINATING shit to say about those books.*

I've learned so much about the logistics of civilization, the intellectual history of leadership theory, the history of subsistence agriculture, the type of agriculture needed to sustain societies of a certain size, the evolution of military theory, etc from this very specific, Historians Engage With ASOIAF and its Television Adaptations genre of blog.

There is, of course, the late great Steven Attewell's @racefortheironthrone, but I recently discovered this gem: A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry by Dr. Bret C. Devereaux. I just finished his series analyzing, problematizing, and ultimately debunking George RR Martin's claim that the Dothraki "were actually fashioned as an amalgam of a number of steppe and plains cultures… Mongols and Huns, certainly, but also Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes… seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy."

In Part IV, he writes:

... declaring that the Dothraki really do reflect the real world (I cannot stress that enough) cultures of the Plains Native Americans or Eurasian Steppe Nomads is not merely a lie, but it is an irresponsible lie that can do real harm to real people in the real world. And that irresponsible lie has been accepted by Martin’s fans; he has done a grave disservice to his own fans by lying to them in this way. And of course the worst of it is that the lie – backed by the vast apparatus that is HBO prestige television – will have more reach and more enduring influence than this or any number of historical ‘debunking’ essays. It will befuddle the valiant efforts of teachers in their classrooms (and yes, I frequently encounter students hindered by bad pop-pseudo-history they believe to be true; it is often devilishly hard to get students to leave those preconceptions behind), it will plague efforts to educate the public about these cultures of their histories. And it will probably, in the long run, hurt the real descendants of nomads.

Which just. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. Y'all know how deeply concerned I am a. with the outsize influence the entertainment industry has on memory; and b. how little that industry gives a shit about responsible use of its own power. So like, this is my shit. I'm still exploring this blog and it is a TREASURE TROVE.

*I do not include myself in that grouping. My thoughts are like: BUT WHICH ONES ARE THE JEWS DANY IS MY UNPROBLEMATIC QWEEN/AZOR AHAI/PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED/STALLION THAT'S GONNA MOUNT THE WORLD/ETC I CAN'T WAIT TIL SANSA SHOWS HERSELF IS DANY GONNA BURN IT ALL DOWN AND EMERGE FROM THE FLAMES LIKE THAT ELMO GIF IS ARYA GOING TO RIDE A WOLF WOW I DON'T CARE ABOUT BRAN I THINK THE RHOYNAR ARE THE JEWS WHERE IS THE GODDAMN FUCKING WINDS OF WINTER

**Also, I never watched more than 2 episodes of the show. I hated how it added in sexual violence and nudity for no reason when there was already PLENTY of that in the text, most of it with narrative purpose. But then I read the books because it was 2012 and I wanted to keep up with pop culture.

[belovedblabber]

Ok time to make my hopefully coherent adjacent post about the whole ‘John made Alecto look like Barbie’ thing. Also this goes out to @opticor and @2impostors​ for the interest in my semi-coherent thoughts on this topic. 

I’ve seen people reading it as like ‘wow John took the soul of the earth and made her look like Barbie what a typical dude thing to do’ and personally I don’t at all vibe with that reading of it so now I am turning some rambly tags I made into a proper post. 

I’m going to start by posting a crappily highlighted passage, as is my wont:

I think one aspect of this that people misconstrue is “I wanted to make you the most beautiful body I could think of.” I think a lot of people are taking this as  beautiful=sexy=John is super gross and wanted to make the earth a sexy hot Barbie body. 

However, I very much read this as John, who loved the earth so much, wanting to make a beautiful vessel for the earth’s soul. I don’t think ‘sexy’ is the right way to interpret this one. There’s a big ol’ gulf between that ‘beautiful’ and the way people seem to be reading it as ‘sexy.’ Now is there a lot to unpack and think about in all of this? Yes. Is it ‘John is gross and made Alecto sexy because he’s gross and gave her the classic sexy lady body of Barbie?’ No. 

And also very key here is “Most of what had made me John had gone somewhere else. There were a few little thoughts left...a handful of things that made me me...”

I think it’s really worth keeping in mind here that in this moment John was barely holding onto anything of himself and thus turned to one of the few things he had left to grab at, aka a childhood memory of playing at his grandma’s house. And more specifically of playing with his mom’s old Barbie:

He was eating the soul of the earth and barely holding onto his own identity and personhood and turned to one of the few scraps of himself that remained. His memory of playing with his mom’s old Barbie as a kid was one of the few things he had left in that moment, and that was what his fragmented mind reached out to and grabbed onto as something beautiful. The way he talks about the Hollywood Hair Barbie is also very deeply not in the realm of like, ‘wow Barbie is so sexy and I wanted to make the earth sexy’ sdfghjk. He talks about her “little gold outfit and her long yellow hair.” He thinks she was “the best,” and “got to have all the adventures.” Sorry but this really doesn’t read as ‘ah yes Barbie, the sexiest of women. A doll I lusted over’ asdfghj. 

In a moment of almost completely losing his personhood and identity, John reached out to that memory and that very childlike love for something he’d found beautiful, and that was what his mind held onto. 

John is also very notably defensive about the fact that this was what he chose for Alecto. He seems to view this as something embarrassing. He’s not bragging about making a sexy body, he’s sort of self-consciously trying to explain why his torn to shreds mind grabbed at that form. 

When he made Alecto he wasn’t thinking in any coherent fashion. His broken mind was grabbing at his most basic, simple memories to find something beautiful. He wanted to give her a vessel that could have pretty yellow hair and have all the adventures. 

Also ngl I really don’t see ‘I loved playing with my mom’s old Barbie and having her go on adventures and I loved her pretty hair and her golden outfit’ as a typical dude thing. 

Like there is certainly a lot to think about vis a vis John’s view of himself as creator, and in how he also compares her to a Christmas tree fairy, a Renaissance angel, Adam and Eve, and Galatea. He evokes all of these when describing her, not just Barbie (and he also calls her “Frankenstein’s monster with long yellow hair.”) I think there is a TON to think over and discuss with all of that. (The relevant passage for those comparisons is on pg. 409 of NtN for the record). But yeah, there is a lot to analyze in the things he evokes in describing his act of creation (for one I find it interesting that  not all of them are ‘female,’ so to speak). There’s a lot to think about in terms of how he gave parts of himself to make her ( “I ripped half of my ribs from my body and made you from dirt, my blood, my vomit, my bone.” (pg. 408), and in him choosing to frame himself as creator, and as creator in a distinctly biblical way (the ribs being an obvious call to this). The reference to Galatea is also its own interesting thing. But anyway, John made her body from himself and oh boy is there a lot there but okay this paragraph is threatening to become too long, so I need to leave this topic for now and come back to it later in its own post sdfghj. 

ANYWAY, all of this is to say that I really think interpreting John’s creation of Alecto’s physical form as a ‘typical dude thing, he wanted to make her sexy and picked Barbie, the most basic ideal of womanhood’ is a reading that really misses the mark. 

Annnnd that’s all from me tonight, time to go to bed.