#yes I have adopted that for him. why ruin peoples fun

[causenessus]

binary stars

part 0.05. intros. OIKAWA'S EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GROUP

NOW FEATURING...

THE STAR AND HIS PLANETS ‧₊˚✩彡

oikawa tooru .°˖✧

seijoh’s volleyball captain and distant uncle of the team (most certainly not a co-parent). did not realize that what he felt for y/n was romantic until their first year in secondary school when she tried to distance herself and now he feels stupid. whenever he needs to be put in his place (e.g. after leading on another girl too much) he can always count on iwa to talk him down and remind him about how badly he’s messed up </3 currently pining after y/n without making it obvious because he’s scared of ruining what they have in case y/n doesn’t like him the same way back - follows y/n's private on his main and private in case she ever decides to give him a second chance </3 - known for unfollowing people when he wants to say something without someone in specific knowing (e.g. ranting about the one sided mental war he's fighting with kenma inside his head without kuroo knowing). once he feels that his point has been made, he'll delete the post and follow the person again so that they can see his private (y/n uses this and the picture he leaked as reason for why she's never letting him back onto her private when in reality they're just excuses to be able to indirectly post about him without him ever knowing)

FEATURING...

iwaizumi hajime & bokuto koutaro .°˖✧

iwa-chan

co-parenting seijoh with y/n. also their ace and vice captain. will have an aneurysm if neither tooru nor y/n make a move on each other. he loves y/n but he will only be able to handle oikawa for so much longer. maybe he’d be able to last if he got to go to y/n’s girls nights more but that’s kuroo’s role while he has to attend tooru’s boys nights as his best man. he’s feeling a little bit like atlas rn but he knows it’ll be worth it in the end (if they ever get to the end).

bokuto

FUKURODANI’S ACE !!! found his way into the solar system after a practice match between fukoridani and seijoh. he could tell immediately that something was up between their manager and captain. he had fun getting to know oikawa and felt like he had seen their manager before. bo talked it over with akaashi, asking him if he felt like there was something going on between seijoh’s manager and captain. akaashi nodded and then was shocked when he fully processed how socially aware bo was being. he then answered bo that yes, he had seen their manager before because she was good friends with kuroo. after that, he knew who to talk to in order to get the details ❤️ his entrance into the gc went as follows: oikawa: why was bokuto just added to the gc kuroo: he would like to speak for himself your honor bokuto: I KNOW YOUR SECRET

FEATURING...

matsukawa issei & hanamaki takahiro .°˖✧

mattsun

seijoh’s middle blocker and one of five third years. him and makki are just there for a good time, and watching essentially four people and a few more distant people try and manage the mutual pining of two idiots who might as well be blind qualifies as entertaining. he’s taken it upon himself to maintain the mental stability of the team whenever oikawa’s messes up and sends y/n through the five stages of grief--starting with setting up the net for the team

makki

seijoh’s outside hitter and one of five third years. is thinking that perhaps him and mattsun should get onto the trend of co-parenting and adopting someone. they’ve assumed the role of the grandparents that seijoh’s team has to put up with whenever y/n or iwa are out of commission LMAO both him and mattsun usually get oikawa’s side of the story but sometimes they work together to try and fit the vague, out-of-context tweets on y/n’s private into the puzzle of oikawa’s stories

not featured:

kuroo tetsuro </3

currently undercover for y/n but he can’t complain. is still good friends with oikawa and as a result hears about a lot of his feelings in their groupchat but when it comes down to it he’s on y/n’s side. neither oikawa nor y/n realize how much information both iwa and kuroo have because they’re good at what they do. kuroo’s trying his best to alleviate iwa’s stress as he continues to watch the disaster of miscommunication occur between his two childhood friends that's been happening since they were kids

full picture of what oikawa posted to his private bc unfortunately it's not an upside down dick </3

prev. | m.list | next

[nogenderbee]

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ 𝔾𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕔𝕖 ₊˚ˑ༄

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ @superstar-ethereal request: REQUESTS ARE OPEN LETS GOOOOOO

anywayss can i perhaps have wxs with an orange cat-like reader? (or to give a clearer descriptor: orange cats are stereotypically perceived as being energetic, airheaded, very friendly to everyone they meet, etc etc.) it's fine if not though! :D

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ YAYAYAYAS I love cats hehehehe

I also added some more characteristic hope you don't mind ^^ Just my own little experience with those damn ginger bastards cats~

Anyway! Hope you like it!!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ fluff

✧ there are times when Tsukasa has absolutely enough of your crazy ideas...

✧ in fact, he learned to yell "no" so loud your eardrums are ringing and you can't think straight anymore for next few seconds

"Hey what if I-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I'm deaf I think..."

✧ he still loves you tho. He just can't believe one person can store so many crazy ideas...

✧ sometimes this boy still has hopes that whenever he sees you waking up from daydreaming, you'll say something sweet and not something that'll make him question your sanity

✧ if he ever sees his locker, shoes, clothes or anything messed up, he'll immidietly call you, knowing damn well who's guilty for that

"... Y/N!!! WE NEED TO TALK!! Where is my- of course you're wearing it... C'mon, it's uniform. I need it or else I'll get detention..."

✧ despite you causing troubles constantly, he'll still get you out of those by either giving rational arguments to teacher or annoying them untill they have enough and let you out. Whatever happens, he still thinks it was the first one

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @wholesaleboi @yulikesminori @alicewinterway18 @hakulivesformusic @sucodelaranja86 - come get your future star!

✧ you get along with Emu pretty well~ She's most likely about to agree to your idea as long as you interpret it as a fun game

✧ you can literally offer most random thing and as long as you say it's "part of the game" she'll be excited to join you!

"Omg YES!!! It sounds so fun!! I'll be sure to win! Hehe~ Game... ON!" RUUUUN!!!"

✧ you two usually take the consequences together... if you won't talk your way out, she most likely won't succeed either...

✧ despite her whole family telling her you're "bad influence for her" she still won't stop hanging out with you and getting into some fun troubles!

✧ she's very social as well so she won't mind jumping around random people just to ask them few questions or even randomly adopt someone into your friend group you may be creating

"Target found!"

"Oh? That introvert? Let's go~"

"HaHaHa! Let's make a good and loud impression! Ready? WONDERHOY!!!"

✧ your dynamic is certainly one to be cherished~ You're definitely matching quite well!

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @hayillaaaaaaa @miguelito-maruti-blog @ravenmoon903 - come get your smiley girl!

✧ Nene sometimes wonders if she's more of a girlfriend or babysitter for you...

✧ whenever you wake up with sudden urge to cause chaos, she must be there to stop you before you ruin too many lives

"Don't do it! Leave the poor child alone!"

✧ she learned to just hold your hand so you wouldn't randomly run off without her noticing

✧ you also definitely made her socialize a bit more... since she usually comes with you on any hangouts just to make sure you'll come back home in one piece

✧ despite her trying to keep you away from troubles, she won't help you if you actually got yourself into ones... or so that's what she says...

✧ if you plead long enough, she may help you clean up but she's definitely NOT talking you out of consequences

"Nene!! Can you clean the floor at corridor for me?"

"Why?"

"I... ACCIDENTALLY spilled some chemicals..."

"You WHAT?!"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @bl4cktourmaline @ravenmoon903 - come get your shy gamer~

✧ Rui would absolutely love how bratty you are! It all just adds onto the playfulness and he's up for all of it!

✧ he loves how you're "all against world" and wouldn't mind honestly joining you

"Us against the world! Isn't that right, darling?"

✧ if you actually like to knock down things randomly tho, it's gonna make his heart jump MANY times tho...

✧ he keeps an eye on you all the time since he never knows what idea you may get the next second

✧ he also is biggest fan of your random ideas! Whenever he sees you drifting off, he stays quiet just waiting for you to wake up and tell him what you thought of

"... What if you we made jetpacks for penguins?"

"Fufu~ We can try~"

✧ you both are biggest troublemaker duo and kamiyama high definitely fears your next move...

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

@bleachtheidiot @akitosheart @yulikesminori @toyaswif3y @bl4cktourmaline @superstar-ethereal @stellas-starry-stories13 @alicewinterway18 @hakulivesformusic @sucodelaranja86 - come get your crazy inventor~

[thetarttfuldickhead]

If When Jamie is named England’s captain a few years from now and he’s asked about inspirational figures and captain role models, he will not stop singing Isaac’s praises. Just, the way Isaac runs a tight ship and won’t tolerate any nonsense but always has their backs and makes sure there’s a lot of fun, too, silly stuff that keeps the team close and happy and mutually supportive; keeps them feeling like family, almost. It’s Ted’s heritage, the seeds Ted planted, but Isaac’s nurtured and sustained them, tended to the garden and kept it in bloom, and added some vibrant saplings of his own.

Jamie probably names a couple of other people too, whoever was in charge when he played for Man City, someone from his academy days or England’s under-21s, people like that.

He doesn’t mention Roy. And no one asks about it, and no one thinks anything of it—

—except for Roy, who watches the interview with Keeley curled up against his side on their couch and who notices the omission with a wild jumble of hurt and wounded pride and shame and jealousy (all mixed up with the shocking, burning pride he feels for Jamie, England’s captain, fucking hell).

Because Roy knows he wasn’t a great captain for Richmond, yeah, and was a horrible captain for Jamie (though to be fair, Jamie was a horrible person to captain, and Isaac isn’t likely to have been able to handle him at full-on prick either, only Roy’s not fantastic at being fair to himself, so), but he’s still Roy fucking Kent, the best on any team he’s ever been on and Jamie’s fucking childhood idol and his fucking everything now, so to have the little prick not even mention him…

He sulks. He tries not to, because he knows it’s silly and it’s Jamie’s big day, isn’t it, and Roy’s not going to ruin it by having A Feeling, but the feeling(s) persist and he walks through the afternoon with his scowl several shades darker than normally.

“What’s the matter, babe?” Keeley asks, and Roy’s long since given up trying to bullshit her so he spills. Keeley nods and listens and gives him a hug and a kiss and tells him that yeah, you’re gonna need to let that go or actually talk to Jamie about it, because she has long since taken a stand on not sorting their shit out for them.

And she has a thing with Rebecca that afternoon (only it’s the first Roy’s ever heard of it, so he can’t help but wonder if she had a thing with Rebecca prior to Roy’s confession), so when Jamie gets home, bouncing through the door like a puppy on speed, it’s just Roy there to greet him and tell him how amazing he is and yes, of course Roy watched the announcement, your hair looked fucking fine, yes, Keeley saw it too, no, don’t worry, she’s just out for coffee, she’ll be back for dinner and let you know how very impressed she is, and it’d be easy to just let it lie, put the lingering regret away and bask in Jamie’s joy, but they’d said they’d try not do that anymore, not cover stuff up when there’s the chance they might fester, so when Jamie furrows his brow and cocks his head to the side and asks if he’s okay, Roy takes a deep breath:

“It fucking hurt my feeling when you didn’t mention me, when they asked about captains that have inspired you,” he says, and then adds before Jamie can reply, “I know why you didn’t and that’s… that’s fucking fair, innit, but. It also made me wish that I’d been. Better. A better captain. For you.”

“Yeah,” Jamie says after a long, silent moment. He’s wearing that slightly blank look he adopts whenever someone’s caught him by surprise and he’s trying to figure out how to react. “Um. Sometimes I wish I’d been less of a prick, too, you know.”

Roy nods. He knows. And it’s not absolution, and it neither erases or rewrites any of their past mistakes, but it eases the ache in Roy’s chest all the same.

“We’re better now,” he offers, to Jamie, to himself.

“Yeah,” Jamie agrees with a small sigh. He grabs hold of Roy’s hand, tugging him along as he sits down on the couch, and then he curls up against Roy’s side, same as Keeley did just hours ago. “You’re a great fucking coach, though” he tells Roy seriously. “Me favourite, swear down.”

Roy snorts a laugh as he puts an arm around Jamie. “Better fucking be, considering how many blowjobs I’ve given you this week alone.”

“Mm, fucking mint, those,” Jamie agrees thoughtfully, then jabs a finger in Roy’s side. “Oi, this is the part where you tell me I’m your favourite player.”

And oh. That’s perfect, innit. “You’re not my favourite player,” Roy says, carefully not looking at Jamie.

The noise Jamie makes are equal parts disbelieving and outraged. “Um, excuse me, mate?”

“You’re not,” Roy insists, feeling a smile tug at his lips as he innocently adds, “It’s probably Isaac.”

And Jamie huffs a laugh against his neck. And Jamie says you’re an arsehole. And Jamie says you’re me favourite arsehole, though.

You’re me favourite everything, man.

And Roy holds him tight and breathes him in and, for the moment, believes him.

[ragdolls-and-such]

WHATS UP GUYS. H2G2 SWAP AU

alright so! roles and explanations and stuff. pretty please do not complain about how uncreative my names are for these guys i did Not want to think about it too hard. i just like my sillies + that is all Anyway lets go !!!

this is ford dent and he's having a really interesting time rn. guy who is just ITCHING to be up in the stars exploring all that madness gets beamed up into the air with his bestie and then realizes "hey i didnt realize Peril would be part of the equation. why's there so much of That" so basically he's in a constant state of conflict between the "this is cool as shit" and the "GET ME OUT BEFORE I DIE"

next up is arthur prefect (yes i know that ruins the car joke. forgive me). arthur left betelgeuse and was headed towards Somewhere for vacation. he ended up making a wrong turn, crash-landing on earth, and having to figure things out from there. unlike canon ford, he has Not researched anything in space, he just knows about it in passing, so he's just as clueless as his ford.

simply "zaphod." that's it. a personality prototype from the sirius cybernetics corporation, built to be as optimistic and friendly as possible, ended up almost completely oblivious to or uncaring of danger, and SO VERY FULL OF HIMSELF. everyone fuckin hates him basically but every time canon marvin's horrible tragedy occurs to him, he thinks to himself "well at least I'M here. at least i have Me." and slowly the feeling starts to fade as he realizes no one actually gives a shit about him as he's like. rotting away, half-sun-melted. fun stuff :)

TRILLIAN BEEBLEBROX WHO I LOVE SO DEARLY. former genius, still Sort Of a genius, maybe? she wanted to become president of the galaxy So badly. she wanted to make the milky way a better place and knew Exactly how she was going to do it. she worked relentlessly to be elected and . lost the election. realizing that the thing that kept her from being elected WAS the exact thing that made her Want to be elected in the first place - her genuine honesty and care for people - she just went "fuck it, i hate it here," and corkscrewed her brain. Ironically, ended up getting elected afterwards, because she became more "fun" as a result of this.

finally, marvin mcmillan. human teenager, about 17 years old, and was dragged along to a party by his friends. ended up meeting trillian there, who he immediately recognized as an alien (thanks to her constant bragging about it...) and he begged her to be taken away from this god awful planet. she basically unofficially adopted him but instead of adoption its more like . what do you call it when its a wine aunt + a weird angsty nephew.

that's all <3 hope you enjoyed

[otdiaftg]

The Raven King - Chapter Eleven

Day: Sunday, November 12th Time: 3:10 PM EST

Anytime the Foxes mentioned Andrew's upcoming sobriety or Andrew's name popped up in write-ups on the team's performance at games, the focus was on what a danger he was. People talked about his trial and how it saved them from Andrew. No one said what they were doing to save Andrew from himself. "You told me Cass would never hurt you and would have given you a good education, but you sabotaged your adoption. Officer Higgins came all the way here from the west coast to fix something from your past but you won't help him. You left juvie and killed Aaron's mother to protect him, but instead of fixing your relationship with him you keep him on a leash. You don't want Nicky's parents to hurt him, but you won't let him into your family either. Kevin promised to invest in you but you won't even try. So what is it? Are you afraid of your own happiness or do you honestly like being miserable all the time?" "Neil, look," Andrew said, and pointed up at his own face. "Do I look miserable?" Neil wanted to tear that smile off Andrew's face, but Andrew's obnoxious response wasn't entirely his fault. Neil was dealing with the smokescreen of Andrew's medication. Neither of them could change that, but knowing why Andrew was being difficult didn't make him less frustrating to deal with. All Neil could do was keep his temper in check. If Andrew got a rise from him the conversation was over. That was what Andrew wanted, so Neil wouldn't give it to him. "You look drugged within an inch of your life," Neil said, "and when you're not medicated you're drinking and dusting. When they finally take your medicine away, who are you going to hurt, really?" Andrew laughed. "I'm remembering why I don't like you." "I'm surprised you forgot." "I didn't," Andrew said. "I just got distracted for a moment there. I told her it was a mistake to let you stay, but she didn't believe me. Now look. Oh, for once I don't even want to bother with the 'I told you so'. You ruin all my fun." "Renee?" Neil guessed. "Bee." Neil's blood went cold. "What did you tell her about me?" Andrew grinned at the look on Neil's face. "Doctor-patient confidentiality, Neil! But don't make such a scary face. I didn't tell her your sad little story. We just talked about you. Critical difference, yes? I told her you're more trouble than you're worth. She was looking forward to meeting you, but she won't tell me what she thinks of you. She can't, you see. But I know she likes you. Bee has a thing for lost causes." "I am not a lost cause." Denial was automatic and a waste of time. Andrew put his hand over Neil's mouth to shut him up and said, "Liar. But that's what makes you interesting. It's also what makes you dangerous. I should know better by now. Maybe I'm not as smart as I thought I was. Should I be disappointed or amused?" The perfect retort burned Neil's tongue, but he kept quiet in case Andrew wasn't done rambling. The answer was there, right out of reach, close enough Neil could feel it, but too far for him to make sense of. Maybe Andrew felt it too, because even in his drugged haze he knew to shut up. The smile he flashed Neil mocked them both at that near-miss. He withdrew completely, leaving just the memory of his heartbeat against Neil's mouth, and spun away. "I'll find Kevin. He's too slow." Neil watched him go, then huffed in frustration and turned back toward the racquet.

Art used with permission by Aymmidumps. Thank you @aymmidumps!

[anonymous-dentist]

saw that you had some discussion about the pepito retconning and otipep. i was very surprised to see people hating it so much, and am disappointed by it being retconned.

i read the situation as pepito throwing a tantrum, because pepito is a small child and small children do stuff like that all the time. not pepito not actually wanting roier as a parent. little kids are dramatic all the time.

otipep does not exist and never existed, regardless of retcon. it was the explanation roier made to explain to himself why his child was having a tantrum because he wasn’t in a place where he could deal with it. it’s not reality, they’re not separate characters. it’s just pepito.

You see, the thing about Otipep is that he directly insulted the streamer, and he refuse to "Yes-And" with him, and that's the number one thing in any kind of improv storytelling. They were a different admin from what the audience and Roier were used to, and that's fine, we're used to it. What isn't fine is that Otipep refused to work with Roier and insulted him and ignored him and walked away every time ccRoier tried explaining what he and Admin 07's Pepito had been doing for the past few days. Call it a tantrum, that's fine, but it's also a dick move when it's your literal job to work with the streamers to tell a story. Look at the way other eggs have thrown tantrums, and then look at Otipep.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a Hispanic fan that actually liked the Otipep Day and that's because Otipep came in and immediately and actively destroyed days' worth of storytelling and wrecked a cc's attempts at a story to the point of the cc giving up on the rp for the day and going to build and even getting off the server a little earlier than planned because like? Okay? Sure, destroy yet another one of Roier's planned Lores, it's not like people have been doing that since the first week of the server.

The only people that I've seen defending Otipep at all have been English-Onlies who saw Otipep's English sign and bed basically screaming to the world "ROIER IS A TERRIBLE FATHER AND SOMEONE NEEDS TO ADOPT ME! PREFERABLY SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I TYPED THIS SIGN IN! NOT THE LANGUAGE ANY OF MY PARENTS SPEAK!"

And what happened after people saw that sign? Well, English fans all went "Well this obviously proves that Roier is a terrible father and that Bad should adopt Pepito instead. He's been a bad father all along, and he's just as evil and insane as Cellbit is." This, in turn, started the process of the Hispanic fandom yet again losing a character on the server; at this point, it's legit just Roier and Quackity because Pol isn't allowed online for Lore Reasons and qMaxo is dead and everybody else just doesn't log on as often. Do you see the problem here?

Roier describing Otipep to Richarlyson legit made Richas' admin go "WHAT????" because that was Not professional behavior on Otipep's Admin's part. And that's the biggest thing here, I think: the lack of professionalism at play when you're hired to play your part and work with people "in the spotlight" (aka the streamers) but you aren't cooperating at all. It's like going to work at a grocery store and being told you're working the registers that day and going "No, actually, I'm going to stock shelves". You don't do that at work, and you definitely don't do that live on stream in front of 10k+ viewers.

I work in childcare. I know a tantrum when I see it, and Otipep could be seen as one. But you have to keep in mind the meta aspects here and think, wow, this is fucked up from a meta perspective! Going out of your way to ruin the fun of someone else just because you want the story to go a certain way? Not to be tolerated in any kind of collaborative setting. My dnd groups have kicked people from the table for less.

It got to the point where Quackity himself has to say it isn't canon, and, well. I think we can see that there was a genuine problem.

[sohcah--toa]

bullet train/マリアビートル details ~

Hello!! I recently dug up the Bullet Train script (if you search it up, you should be able to find it relatively easily!! I'm not sure if it's completely reliable but it seems to be the first version) and listened to the soundtrack. (It's awesome, you should listen if you haven't already!!)

There's a lot of stuff here about マリアビートル, I hope you enjoy reading 🥳 (It's really ridiculous)

-- 1 ) LEMON'S CHILDHOOD // BACKGROUND(??)

I attached a photo for reference in the book!! :D (there's highlighter marks, I'm sorry) His backstory is tragic and aahh noo 🥹... I won't say much on it because we're all thinking the same thing. In the script, this is carried over when Lemon passes out because of the water. But apparently, in the final movie, this isn't shown a lot. In the book and movie, they aren't brothers and have a considerably colder relationship, so I can understand why the childhood scene in the cut is so much more wholesome. (Still supersuper cool though!!)

-- 2) "I'm forever blowing bubbles"

The original reason why this song was chosen for Bullet Train was because of Tangerine's West Ham United sticker (turns out, that's a football club). Hey!! But wait a minute!! There's a funny coincidence because Ladybug in the book was trying to become a football star. He has a quote that's like "my friend told me that someone like me could either become a footballer or a criminal, so I did both" and he says that his first crime was stealing a football.

The song delves into themes surrounding fortune as well!! I love their music selection 🙇‍♂️😤

-- 3) THREE ASSASSINS/グラスホッパー REFERENCES

Okay this part (in a way...) contains spoilers for Three Assassins, which is the first book of the "series"! ! The story revolves around a guy named Suzuki, who appears again in Bullet Train!! He kinda-sorta becomes friends with Ladybug and it's like 😊 they are so happy. To be completely honest, Suzuki's a bit traumatised but so is Ladybug, right?? Lovely friendship!!

It's also so interesting that he's reading a hotel buffet menu because his wife used to love eating at buffets and he adopted the habit of hoarding all the food as well. He's on the train to meet with his dead wife's family (which was extremely difficult for him after her passing).

-- 4) BULLET TRAIN REFERENCES IN THE MANTIS/AX

There's this other book in the series called The Mantis or AX for the Japanese version. This one isn't talked about a lot but if you like family stories, this book is so so soo good. It really pulled at my heartstrings when I first read it but I can't say too much without spoiling everything. Anyway, it makes a few references to Bullet Train and literally starts with the main character, Kabuto (an assassin), having a flashback to talking to Tangerine and Lemon during one of his missions, where they had the same target so they worked together. The Twins really respect him, actually, but find it funny that he's so careful around his wife (YES KABUTO, AN ASSASSIN, HAS A WIFE). Some characters reappear so.. :")) yay!!

-- 5) 777

Ladybug comes back!! He comes back in the latest book in the series; 777. So far, the Japanese reviews have been pretty positive and I think there's an English translation coming in November!! 🥳 I like how the title is 777; 7 like 7 tails in Nanao (七尾), car 7, his favourite number is 7 (if I recall correctly), 7 the "lucky number".

-- 6) THIS GUY

No one asked but I heavily dislike the Prince in the book. (to be honest, who doesn't...) He's just mean for no reason and likes ruining people's lives, makes fun of poor Ladybug (this really isn't that bad compared to the other stuff he does) and yeah, the list goes on. Also apparently he (heavily) tortures other schoolmates and it's not like he gets paid for it like the Twins or the other guys. He just does it for fun?? OK!! The premise of his character is amazing and it's great to see a villain that's actually just straight evil but since he's designed that way, we are validated when hating him ww. He talks about politics as well for some reason... keeps referencing historical tragedies.... man.

-- 7) ASAGAO/THE PUSHER

The Pusher is back too!! Weee~ (not really)

In the movie, it seems as though this entire part got cut out which, like, is reasonable. I attached a photo from the Grasshopper (2015) movie for reference hahaha. The guy in the black suit is the Pusher!! Yeah, he pushes people!! (not in the fun way!!)

He is in charge of protecting Wataru from the Prince's guy, although he's reluctant at first. He's obsessed with bugs and stuff. Whenever he opens his mouth, it's probably going to be about bugs. The Pusher's also strangely poetic. Maybe it's because he likes old bands like the Rolling stones? Oh!! And he gets mentioned in The Mantis.

And speaking of the Kimura family, Yuichi Kimura says something very true and it's:

"who do they gotta make the train toilets so nasty"

-- 8) LADYBUG IS COOL

This is very much a fact. In Mariabeetle, he gets kidnapped when he's 8 years old because he gets mistaken for a rich kid (after he lost a bet with his wealthy friend and had to wear his "rich person backpack"), then in the place he's being held captive, he escapes by HIMSELF since his dad isn't able to give the guys money for his son back (since they took the wrong person!!). But heyy he's resourceful and smart.

AND guess what?? He gets traumatised because there was this other boy being held but Ladybug didn't save him and it's haunted him ever since. This is also one of the reasons why he ends up helping the Prince even though he knows it won't do him any good.

Obviously, it gets worse from there. He makes it back to his family and they're pretty happy. Unfortunately, they're far from rich and Ladybug has to study extremely hard to get into a college. Spoiler alert, he doesn't. THE THING IS!! He studied so hard!! It's just that during his exam, some kid sneezed on his paper and he wiped it, smudging all his work and even his name!! Nanao! No!!

-- 9) TANGERINE BOOK RECS

To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf

"We perished, each alone."

-> He really loves that quote. A lot. Also he's a Virginia Woolf fan!!

2. Forbidden Colours - Yukio Mishima

-> He's also a Yukio Mishima fan... I wonder if he's ever read "The Sound of Waves". What would he think about it? Hahaha this will keep me up at night 😅 (<- SLANTED EMOJI!!)

3. The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea - Yukio Mishima

-> To talk about Article 41 of the Penal Code of Japan. (Mr Kotaro Isaka, the author, studied law, by the way!! It's interesting!!) However, here, Tangerine quotes Mishima on Article 41 ;)

4. Hemingway and Faulkner

-> Actually it's a collection so it's not really a book recommendation but these two people are real - Ernst Hemingway (the Old Man and the Sea guy) and William Faulkner. They didn't really get along, by the way, and even though they respected the other's work, they criticised more than praised. Sounds like the Twins.

5. Demons - Fyodor Dostoevsky

-> "Crime is no longer insanity, but simply common sense, almost a duty; anyway, a gallant protest."

I think the author is a heavy Fyodor Dostoevsky fan, just because he also referenced his works in Three Assassins.

6. Crime and Punishment ;D

-> "Science now tells us, love yourself before all men, for everything in the world relies on self-interest."

(CONT'D) yeahh this book was referenced in Three Assassins and one of the characters is obsessed with it. Glad to see that Tangerine is a fan too hahahaha.

-- 10) LEMON IS AWESOME

Opinionated text here but Lemon is plain awesome.

"Between the principal's name and Doraemon's gadgets, it was blindingly obvious which one was more important."

To each their own and I know he's a criminal but he seems like he has no enemies. Sounds very wholesome.

-- 11) HORNET THE MVP

She's in Three Assassins AND the Mantis!! Hypercool. In both books, the Hornet is a team of a male and a female. The female is eliminated (this word choice ww) by Ladybug but the male is still up and kicking, though Ladybug feels bad about it. They use poison needles, like the movie, but they trigger anaphylaxis, which is a really dangerous allergic reaction that causes body shocks.

-- 12) SUZUKI: PHILOSOPHER AND ECONOMIST

"If people knew that they might be killed by someone tomorrow, economic activity would grind to a halt."

... well 😅 take from that what you will.

(that's Suzuki!!)

Cela dit... that's all.... so long, I'm sorry. But thank you so much if you read until the end!! I hope you at least found it a bit entertaining!! :"))

[skayafair]

Part 40

Ok so I've slept on it and have a few thoughts now.

First, I'm glad HG decided to tone down the emotional intensity of drama and tragedy - I thought it's gonna be difficult to listen to the finale after some s3 episodes, but s4 was mostly ok and the finale turned out to be lots of fun! I was smiling widely for the most of it. It even made me somewhat like Kayne! A little bit but still!

Second, we didn't "see" Noel die - great, he lives until proven otherwise. Arthur survived a similar injury, people in this universe are surprisingly durable. Noel lasted this long with a neck injury and didn't die - if Kayne didn't yeet him to some wilderness or worse, he'll live. Possible to pol up later.

Third, I thought Arthur was robbed of all his newfound allies, but I was wrong. Daniel and Marie are still in the picture, so Arthur has human "anchors", he's not alone anymore.

Who Arthur WAS robbed of, are allies who can go with him. Oscar is in the hospital and is abandoned in general, Noel... who knows where, and the surprising newcomer in Butcher's face is obliterated. It reminds me of how a lot of official "uncanon" spin-offs of different show return to status quo in the end of he series because they need to keep the cast the same and otherwise the whole outline of the show may change a lot. I'm not sure if that's the case with Malevolent since... yeah, we had a full season of a wider range of characters, but they were concentrated in the same location, which was convenient. How would this work in other cases? Plus, Arthur and John wete going on a vacation trip without anyone else anyway. Also, damn you Kayne for ruining this! They deserve the vacation!

So all in all we're back to where we started, more or less. It was a neat wrap up of the season, together with the location, new characters, some side quests and even a few answers (wild, I know).

For instance, now we know Yellow actually WAS the King in person. Seems like John is rather a big piece of him if Arthur didn't even notice any difference in the entity at first. I kinda liked my idea that Yellow might have been Kayne's creation completely, a simulacrum just for funsies, because Kayne's idea of fun is cruel. So there would have been Arthur suffering from loss of his dear friend and dealing with this ye olde version if him, John suffering either in Dreamlands or in the Dark World, and Yellow, suffering from all the confusion regarding his identity. Imagine how painful it is after all the efforts to remember, to be what you think you were, just to find out that you never were in the first place. All the "I AM THE KING" gone sour and groundless. That might have broken a newborn consciousness of Yellow, his adopted identity. But he also could have explored it and become something new altogether. Man I'd like to read a fic like that.

But he's the KiY, which is why not, too. He has some new info to work with. New lasting impressions to process. I bet those little adventures in the human world and time with Arthur, time with Larson, short and heated but still... connected argument with John won't go without a trace. Damn I wanted them to talk properly SO BAD and now we're unlikely to get it, ever 😭 But at least there was John, clearly uneasy with the idea of killing Yellow. I don't think it's just his concern about himself vanishing as well. He souned rather sympathetic towards Yellow when they talked about him with Arthur. This warms my heart.

Right. There are 3 things related to this.

John's attitude towards Yellow and the King (Yellow still has amnesia so I can't consider him the King, the personas are different) in pt 40, towards the complete separation from them reminded me of going full no contact with abusive/toxic family. It's hard, and one would often wonder if they survive on their own. Arthur having faith in him didn't ensure anything but helped, I think.

The King and John are fully separated now, so John must be safe-er (if Kayne didn't lie) and his journey is more his now. It isn't even remotely perfect since he's still stuck with Arthur but it's still good news. And I believe they don't have to worry about the King anymore. If he regains his memories, he'll know John is of no use to him anymore, and there's no use to try and hunt these two down since they'll win SOMEHOW eventually, anyway. They have powerful patrons. *wink wink*

Maybe some time later, like, muuuuch later, they will be able to talk properly. Like equals. To exchange experience, impressions. The King values art and knowledge, and so does John. I believe his curiosity is an inherent trait they both share. C'mon. The King is too possessive to let such a chance go. GIMME THEIR CONVERSATIONS I NEED THESE

Also, I'm concerned about Larson. Sure he's half-dead (seriously, 3 gunshot wounds in the body - stomach and back, - strangulation, eye snatching, and he's STILL alive, can he just roll over and die please? As a treat?), but physical form has never been his forte anyway. He successfully brainwashed Yellow and tried to do the same to John (ahaha that was a funny attempt, well, would have been, be John not losing himself at the moment, but the outcome was still pretty much predictable and laughable), his power is in his mind. His words are poison, and he can still speak. I am NOT ok with that. With what he can do to Yellow/the King. What if he talks him into something terrible again. Leave my bby be ffs, Yellow deserves some peace and quiet of his home in Dreamlands. Seriously, Larson is terrible to children and I've said it multiple times that Yellow really reminds me of a rebellious teenager.

Next, I've missed the first 5 minutes or so, so I don't know if it's relevant, but CAN SOMEONE PLEASE explain to me like I'm 5 what was up with the Butcher? It was the most out of blue twist ever. Why did he agree to help? Why did he go against Larson when he was so persistent before? I understand maybe admitting defeat and a respect towards Arthur and Noel who caught him, but helping? Was he promised to be set free of smth? I'll relisten fron the very beginning but uh will it really clear thus up?..

Also. When I said "some answers", it was really just a few. We still have no idea what's up with the 3 soldiers, that woman in the woods, the stone. Is Kayne going to show something about that?

And do we just leave the ultimate purpose, the separation device, sitting in that underground place, just like that?

And I did NOT like how defeated, lifeless Arthur sounded when he agreed to go with Kayne. What's the big deal?? He KNEW John was hiding something, knew it was important, could deduce there was some lie due to Johns intense interest in white lies topic, and it wouldn't have been a stretch to assume John really DOESN'T LIKE lying to him if it can be helped and wouldn't harm them (intentionally). Which, it couldn't. All this, prior to Kayne's appearance. All that conversation did was fill in the blanks. Now Arthur has a clear picture. John didn't say anything that could put a blame on himself. If anything, his actions and behavior make so much more sense now. Arthur is WELL aware about the fact that being left alone in the Dark World is John's WORST fear that came true and lasted. It was one thing to end up there the 1st time. Terrible, traumatizing, but how much WORSE it is to be thrown there again after John learned what it's like to NOT be alone, to be himself? To have hope? Just to lose it all. He called to Kayne only after a long time, when there was nothing to hope fore anymore and he could stand it any longer. Did he hope for Arthur to find him? Even if just a little? Just for that to never happen? And then Arthur's words in the mines, about "let's find each other there". Damn, my heart 💔

I understand Arthur may be somewhat shoked and there was no time to process, but if he's gonna be bitching up bout ANY of that, I'll be angry.

It just. It's the only explanation I can find for why he sounded so... like he gave up. Like the backbone he was relying on betrayed him. When none of that actually happened.

[gardens-of-may]

ENTRY ONE - beginning to chap. 49

spoilers ahead

aves and jamie are lit so cute together 

what the fuck is their wager??

so confusing 

ok daddy 

i’m ashamed

ummm anyway…

what’s stick up his ass doing here??

POOKIE 😍😍

she’s traumatized 😣 

i feel so bad

i just want to hug her and cry with her

i’m gonna cry 

anyway what’s he talking about 😬

school 💀 

BITCH WHAT

people thought he got burnt alive?

no he just crisped up a lil

ohhh on hawthorne island…

hm

i already know the synopsis for tgg so hmph

SHE STARTED THE FIRE 🫢🫢😱😱🤯

what if… she was just a girl? 🎀

i kinda doubt it but anyway 

ANOTHER POOKIE 😍😍

what the fuck is this bitch planning? 🤨

eugh 

is that denial i sense?

oh her

THIS POOR GIRL

WHAT THE FUCK

why is he here?????

oh shit

what are they doing now??

I THOUGHT YOU WERENT SUPPOSED TO SAY ANYTHING 

i cannot handle mystery i swear-

another game fun

avery and jameson totally didn’t like almost die 

no

twelve…?

SO HE KNEW

HAHAHAHA

what the fuck

JUST GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER 😭😭

he was a bad boy he did some bad things 

pookie don’t stare at him

omg he’s a poet

ugh bro ruined everything 😒

NO BABY NEEDS HER BEAUTY SLEEP

i want libby’s pajamas 😤

what is “mrs. laughlin” yapping about??

no thea

i’m confused again

pookie 👹

THEY CAN DO IT I BELIEVE IN THEM YES 

WHO IS S AND Z????

oh i’m stupid

i’m too stupid for these books

ok smarties

WHAT DID YOU FUCKING READ MISS???

ohh takes the you’re adopted jokes too far

IS TOBY AVERY’S DAD????

no

might have js spoiled it for myself BUT I DONT CARE 

i’m going to CRY

she’s serious now

i’m terrified 

wow he told what she already knew 

hmm

i think she likes him

oh my gosh hehehe 🤭 

OH MY GOD

oh poop not stick up his ass

i can’t handle this

beatdown?

they’re such boys

stop they’re actually fighting?

i hate them so much

nvm they’re sweet

what the fuck

i wouldn’t have survived that 

nash is one of the best brothers 

i feel so bad for avery

THIS BITCH IS ABOUT TO BE FUCKING DEAD

alisa gets it 🤭

what is this game????

POOKIE IRL??

what

STOPPP

libby…

he probably like staged his death

LIBBY

avery! 

JENWND

have we found another father??

NEESHWJSDHDHS

DHHDJEK

THEY KISSED SJSNENW

i’m lowk kinda jealous BUT IT DOENT MATTER SKDNSN

jennifer when i catch you-

JS LET THEM HAPPY

stick up ass is jealous 

i love xander 

tensions are high and it’s too casual so i’m ending this here

end of chap. 48

[aloeverified]

i’m curious do u have any headcanons abt wayne and raj… they are the characters ever

yes 💪

their fullnames are raj kapoor & wayne graham (the most candian name ever for the most candian character ever).

wayne was always way taller than raj growing up, but now they're roughly around the same height. it's just not obvious to most people since wayne wears boots and raj sticks with his trusty converse. raj is just pushing 5'10 and wayne's a little over 5'11.

raj has two younger siblings who are twin brother and sister and are much younger than he is. wayne is an only child, but their families are so intertwined that they basically consider him their older brother too.

they're juniors in high school (assuming that's how it works in canada, too lazy to google it rn) and are about seventeen. they don't look or act super young, but they still got the "when i'm older" type of vibe that most people who are right about to graduate don't really have.

they've been best friends for a while, but not quite childhood best friends. i think they met during gym class of sixth grade and just instantly hit it off due to their shared interests in sports and humor.

raj's parents are first generation immigrants so they're not completely fluent in english and have a bit of an accent when they talk. since his moms raised him to be the most highly of gentlemen, wayne asked raj to teach him a bit of telugu so he could make polite conversation with them whenever he came over without all the pressure being on them. that was his first step to almost being immediately adopted by them.

this actually caused them to both realize they really enjoy studying languages. they continued studying telugu together, with raj tutoring wayne. wayne also decided to take up french classes early, and raj had his parents sign him up to learn the basics of other southern indian languages they knew. they both view this as a helpful skill for when they're international hockey stars, of course.

they live in a decently smaller-sized town, so despite not being neighbors, they still find a way to be at each other's house every other day. they switch off depending on what they're feeling, and their parents learned to accept that they're a package deal that comes and goes whenever they please.

since his parents discovered he was gay through the show rather than raj actually coming out to him, they — along with wayne's moms — thought it would be funny to turn his coming home party from the show into a coming out party as well. raj realized this when he cut into the cake and it was rainbow inside.

his family was very adamant about showing raj how supportive they are. he wasn't sure why, as their best friends were a lesbian couple and his best friend was the son of said couple, but they still repeatedly told him how proud of him they were and how much they loved him. the only pushback he received was his nani complaining about how he wasn't allowed to date until he was thirty and that this bowie boy was ruining that.

teacher hate these two. they never shut up in class, will ditch their assigned partners to work with each other, never get their work done, and yet still manage to have good grades (because they know they won't be able to play otherwise). no one understands how they do it.

they always have the most over-the-top cartoony outfits for spirit weeks. even the asb and student council kids find it embarrassing how much school spirit they have.

besides their accidental menace behavior, they never actually get into any real trouble at school. the only time they've ever gotten suspended was when wayne wanted to test his new padding gear and rammed himself into the lockers at full force and nearly killed himself while raj recorded.

because of their ridiculous stunts they like to post, wayne has a bit of a following on social media. he doesn't really do it to be an influencer or for attention or anything, he just likes being able to look back on all the fun moments he and rajie have together. that's one of the reasons they were so eager to be on total drama, to showcase their awesome friendship and have the tapes of all their fun challenges together.

they work part-time at the local ice rink, where they were able to land jobs due to their skills on the ice. they even work the same shift most of the time since they have the same availability hours, although they switch off between standing behind the counter and supervising on the ice. sometimes they both get to help out with the little league hockey teams, though, which they both really enjoy.

[myths-tournaments]

Awful Characters Round 1 Part 1 (6/8)

Propaganda under the cut!

DIO BRANDO

why i like him: he’s evil, he’s funny, he’s a vampire, he’s a dick for no reason, he’s British, he’s bisexual, he stops time, and everything bad that happens in the series is his fault why he deserves to be in: LITERALLY kicks puppies, that’s his THING. Ruins adoptive brother’s life just because he’s Mean and Evil. Kills people. Kills animals. Does weird horrible things to people for literally no reason. Turns people into zombies. Kisses women without their consent. Brainwashes people. Seduces lovers and sucks their blood while a weird old lady watches in the corner. Ruins generations of lives even after his ass is dead. can you be cancelled by twitter users: yes absolutely

BELIAL

Belial is the primal beast/angel of cunning, and one of the main antagonist of the side story "What makes the sky blue". He's the very first primal in existence and had a profound romantic and sexual devotion for his creator, Lucilius. So profound that he commited all sort of crimes to get Lucilius's love and approval, and only got worse in worse when Lucilius only showed distate for him. Mind you those were crimes Lucilius wanted him to do, but Belial was just never enough compared to the second primal beast, Lucifer, the angel overseeing Evolution. List of crimes includes: -Provoked like 3 attempted apocalypses -Organized a group of rebel fallen angels in order to make them Lucilius's experiments subjects later, torturing all of them for thousand of years. -When Lucilius was beheaded by Lucifer, Belial vowed to bring Lucilius back to life…. By organizing Lucifer's murder and beheading him in order to use Lucifer's corpse to sew Lucilius's head on it -Also managed to blame Lucifer's boyfriend for Lucifer's death because "well it's your fault he died since he was trying to protect you so he wasn't fighting at his full strength :/" -He is also extremely sexual and is constantly talking about wanting to orgasm on the spot, or engage in sexual intercourses with anyone he encounters -Also the type of person who kills his one night stands after he's done with them. -Calls torturing people for fun just himself indulging in his SM side. -He's spoken a lot about his goal to Fuck Lucifer's Corpse, in front of Lucifer's boyfriend. -Also is constantly doing sexual remarks to said boyfriend. -He's torn the wings of the one person who was still loyal to him (technically to save his life but he lied that he was doing it just to torture him) -Also he lies all the time and backstabbed everyone we ever see him make plans with -Guilttripped the protagonist by faking his suicide -Helped the protagonist at the last hour during their fight against Lucilius in order to be locked into an interdimensional prison for all of eternity with the man who hates his guts, out of love for him, while the guy couldn't think of a worst way to spend eternity. -But by helping us i mean "gave us a ship, and then we learnt that he left a bomb on that ship, nearly killing us" -Has been appearing in MC's dreams regularly to manipulate them into embracing a magic that will make MC his puppet -Managed to mind control MC for long enough to have MC try to kill their soulmate. -In the spin off fighting game he mind controlled a lot of people in the same way to make them his puppets and force them to try to kill their loved ones. -He's described in the game as "Just, The Worst". -Has this for theme song and we're supposed to think it's normal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2MHUJTciRg Personally i like him a lot because there's Layers to his depravity, mainly also that the horny feels a lot like an act some of the time, and that he's ultimately a man with intense inferiority complex and self destructive because he wants the love of his uncaring creator at all cost.

He's fairly popular in the fanbase but i've somewhat also seen a LOT of takes about how you're a bad person if you stan him. Mainly i've once seen a call out post saying all fans of Granblue Fantasy are bad because "Belial is a pedophile" quickly followed by "but i never played granblue". Like. The dude's a canon necrophile why did you need to add a crime he didn't commit on the list. (pretty sure it was on the list since he's an immortal guy who's two thousands years old who flirts with mortal people so there is Always An Age Gap but didn't he commit worse than that by now.) I've also seen some people hate him for how clingy he is to Lucilius and how he's earned all the abuse he recieves from his creator, but i don't know if those groups sweeped as low as to call his fans bad for it lmao. Oh right and once he was trending on Twitter and a lot of catholic people started to cause an outrage because "how could the youth worship the demon Belial by making him an anime boy, you're all going to hell", it was fun! There's a lot more problematic characters in the franchise that would honestly fit more to this prompt, but Belial is the only one who's popular enough to have people, even outside of the Granblue fanbase, make judgement on people who like him because he's Terrible.

pollrunner's note: belial's propaganda was all from one person and is supposed to be one big quote block but tumblr didn't like that so I had to split it up a little bit

[lexosaurus]

Emergency Contact: Part 4

read on: [ao3] [ffn]

Also check out the incredible art for this chapter by @ravenatural-art

Characters: Lancer & Phantom Tags: Hurt/Comfort, found family WC: 5219 Summary: When William Lancer answered the phone that day, little did he know that he would go from an average literature teacher and cat-dad to now the emergency foster parent of a very injured teenage ghost.

Part: [1] [2] [3]

— — —

“Really? Again?” Phantom said.

“Yes, we need to make sure the dough won’t crack.”

Phantom held up his sheet of misshapen pasta dough. “Why? Isn’t this soft enough? Look, no cracks!”

William raised an eyebrow, putting down the fork he had been using to stir the spinach into his ricotta cheese and egg mixture. He leaned over and pinched the dough with his fingers. “Fold it in one more time and then you can adjust the setting on the pasta machine.”

“Yes, Chef Lancer!” Phantom rolled his eyes but nonetheless complied with William’s harsh demands.

“What’s wrong?” William teased. “I thought you said you knew how to cook.”

“Yeah, like, regular pasta! You know, the kind that comes in a box!” 

“Fresh pasta is always better.”

“And more annoying.”

“Oh, come now, it’s not that hard.”

“I still don’t see why we couldn’t have just used the box stuff.”

William would never admit that he had spent the morning scrolling through adoptive and foster parent forums looking for bonding activities he could do with Phantom now that the child had healed enough to walk around freely.

“I’ve found success in cooking with new foster kids. Especially more hands-on dishes like homemade pasta. It allows us some time to get comfortable with each other, it’s fun, and it gives us a tasty reward!”

Well, if VioletsRed432 said it worked for her, then of course William immediately went to the grocery store for the necessary ingredients. 

“It builds character. And it tastes good. You’ll see.”

Phantom turned the dial on the pasta machine, narrowing the opening for the dough to travel through. 

“So, other than boxed pasta, what sorts of things do you like to cook?” William asked.

“I don’t know. It was always sort of a necessity for us. My um—my parents weren’t very good cooks. My…sister was the one who cooked for us most of the time.”

William kept his gaze fixed on the mixture in his bowl. It was the first time Phantom had offered any sort of information about his past, and like Dante’s Inferno was he going to ruin it.

“Well, in that case, what sorts of things did she make you?”

“Um…easy stuff. You know, like pasta, chicken, rice. That sort of thing. She…she was always really into ‘healthy adolescent development,’ or whatever you call it. She wanted to make sure I got all my nutrients.” The corner of Phantom’s lip quirked up. “Not that it really mattered. But she was nice like that.”

William wondered if she had also died along with his parents. Maybe their family had been in an accident of some nature? 

Why else would Phantom avoid them? Why have William come to the hospital instead of his sister?

Although…now that he thought of it, it wasn’t like there were many people who reported corporal, deceased relatives visiting after the funeral. Maybe it was somewhat of a taboo for ghosts higher on the ectoplasmic scale to go back to living relatives, then?

Not for the first time, William wished there were some more prominent ghost experts on the field who had more amicable one-on-one interaction with the ghosts outside of their captivity. Though he had been digging through papers since the beginning of Phantom’s tenure at his residence, he had hardly gathered any useful information. Maybe he would just have to begrudgingly accept his role as the new pioneer in ectoplasmic adolescent psychology.

Him, Mr. Lancer. A high school literature teacher.

Wasn’t that a depressing thought?

“Your sister sounded like a very kind person,” he said, attempting his venture into uncharted waters.

Fortunately, unlike what the “expert” papers suggested, Phantom didn’t explode into a violent light-show at the mere prod into his past. 

“She was…is, I don’t know.”

William knew he failed to hide his reaction at that. But just as he had opened his mouth to say more, Phantom’s head jerked up.

“Car.” Phantom pointed to the window where a black Chevy had pulled into the driveway. “You sure it’s ok that I’m out here?”

“Absolutely. As I’ve said before, Laura already knows that you’re staying here with me. If she wanted to turn you over to the government, she would have done it two weeks ago.”

“Okay.” Phantom exhaled a long breath. “Okay, got it.”

William set his fork down and made for the door. As always, he could hear Laura before he could see her.

“Jesus, Will, you feeding your chrysanthemums steroids or something?” Laura yelled from his walkway.

William opened the door, a smile involuntarily adorning his lips. “Laura, always a pleasure.”

She stepped through the threshold and peeled off her jean jacket to reveal a plaid shirt underneath. “Seriously though, how the hell are you getting your flowers to look like that? Mine keep dying on me.”

“Irrigation is a marvelous work of science.”

“Maybe I’ll try that next year.” She set her jacket on a coat hanger in the closet and kicked off her shoes as if she were in her own home. And well, she may as well have been. For the past twenty years, she had been a constant in William’s life. Their friendship may have begun with fast food and movie nights in William’s first dingy apartment, but through the years they had grown thicker than thieves, as Laura’s wife Cassandra put it.

“So…” She started in an attempt to lower her voice. Although, even she had once admitted that the skill of an ‘indoor voice’ was something she may never master.

“He’s in the kitchen,” William finished quickly. 

“Got it!” Laura welcomed herself into the house. “Something smells good in here!”

There was a clatter from the kitchen, and William hurried over to see a flustered Danny Phantom hurriedly picking up a few utensils from the floor.

“Sorry! Sorry,” he said. “I—uh—my bad.”

Laura, who was no stranger to nervous teens, didn’t hesitate to move over to the mixing bowl. “Wow, you're making fresh ravioli? Gourmet cooking!”

Phantom stood back up, awkwardly straightening out his oversized hoodie. He glanced between William and Laura as if they’d each grown a second head. “Yeah. Uh, glad to impress?”

“I hope Will isn’t giving you too hard of a time in the kitchen. He can be such a tyrant!”

“Oh please.” William plucked the now-dirty utensils out of Phantom’s hand and plopped them in the sink. “You can hardly say that with a straight face.”

“Ha! You know I love to tease.”

“Well, I believe introductions are in order. Laura, this is Phantom. Phantom, Laura. Although, you may know her better as Ms. Tetslaff.”

“Oh, he needs no introduction.” Turning to Phantom, she said, “I see you enough meandering in our halls!”

If it was even possible, Phantom’s cheeks burned an even brighter shade of green. “Oh—uh—” he spluttered.

Laura tilted her head back and laughed, her voice booming in William’s quiet home. “Will, I like this one!”

“Glad to hear as much. As you can see, we’re not quite done here. Would you like to help us fill the pasta?”

“Happily!” Laura grabbed the sheet of dough from the table. “Nice and soft! Perfectly done.”

Like a spell, the awkwardness snapped from Phantom’s face, replaced with his teenage indignation. “That’s what I’ve been saying! But no, Lancer said it needed to be worked more!”

“Did I not give you the okay to roll it thin?”

“Yeah but that was after like twenty thousand other times folding and cranking it through your rusted machine!”

“Oh, and which one of us has cooked pasta before?” William asked. “You? No? That’s what I thought.”

Phantom rolled his eyes so hard, William thought they would disappear straight into his skull.

Laura barked another laugh. “Teenagers! Always in a hurry, huh?”

“You’re telling me.”

As if to prove William’s point, Phantom threw his hands in the air and huffed, “Whatever!” 

Even with Phantom’s outward indifference, when it came time to fill and seal the raviolis, William couldn’t help but notice Phantom’s eyebrows knitting in concentration as he perfectly spaced out his fork imprints around the edges. When he and Laura held a competition to see who could make the most immaculate ravioli, William noted the way Phantom’s eyes lit up with pride as he presented his pasta, the way he flashed his teeth in a wide smile when he won, the way his aura brightened and his feet left the ground.

Phantom was finally setting in. And all it took was a dinner night with his old gym teacher. 

“Alright now cooking them is actually quite fast. The tricky part is being gentle with them so they don’t burst. Would you like to try it for me?” William hovered in front of the pot of boiling water, offering Phantom the ladle.

It was fascinating how the same teenager who jumped straight into battle against ghosts twice his stature was so quick to cower away from a mere ladle. 

“No, it’s fine. You can do it.”

“Suit yourself.” 

“So Phantom, or should I call you by your first name?” Laura asked, leaning against the counter.

Phantom rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh—um, you can call me Danny.”

“Alright, Danny. So what do you do for fun around here? You know, when you’re not out catching ghosts?” 

“Um…” Phantom’s eyes flickered over to Lancer. “I don’t know. Normal things I think. Like watching movies and playing video games.”

“Another gamer? You know, Will here is a bit of a gamer too!”

William’s cheeks heated up. “Laura, I’m hardly—”

“He’s lying. He plays Doomed like every weekend.”

Phantom’s eyes bugged out. “Seriously?”

William sighed. “Yes, although I know it is hard to believe, teachers do in fact have hobbies too.”

Laura failed to stifle her chuckle. That conniving little…

“I love that game.”

William nearly dropped his ladle into the pot of boiling pasta.

“My friends and I play it all the time. I’ve been stuck on level nine forever. One of my friends is really good at the game. She apparently joined just to troll me and this other guy—she’s crazy good at video games—and then ended up getting hooked on it.”

“Great, now I’ve got two nerds in my vicinity!” 

But William could hardly pay attention to Laura’s friendly moaning because something tight in his gut had begun to unravel. And then he realized what it was.

It was that little barrier separating William from Phantom. That thick wall Phantom had constructed so perfectly to give others the semblance of his personality without actually revealing anything.

But here it was: another facet of Phantom’s true interests outside of ghost hunting. A taste as to what was behind that glowing aura. 

And William was ecstatic. 

Phantom had mentioned enjoying space and astronomy. And while William had secretly checked out a book on his Libby app regarding the history of NASA and was planning on getting to it this weekend when he had downtime, this was perfect. This was an interest he knew about, something he could hold a conversation in.

And so he couldn’t help himself. “I have six of the seven keys.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the way Phantom’s jaw dropped.

“I’m sorry, you what?” Phantom exclaimed.

“It’s true,” William said, spooning the ravioli out of the water. “I’m on level thirteen. Just need to beat this to get the seventh key and then I can beat the game.”

“You what?!” 

“Oh no, Will, you’ve broken the kid!”

And William stood there, his facial skills acquired from years of working in education fully invoked as he gazed innocently over to the boy who’s shock was still mounting. His eyes sparkled as he stared at William with awe and wonder. And maybe this was a trick of the light, but William could have sworn his aura was glowing just a little bit brighter.

Phantom’s mouth moved soundlessly before finally letting out a, “But how?”

“As I said., teachers have hobbies outside of school.”

“Yeah but Doomed?” Phantom’s legs formed a tail as he snapped over to William, hovering behind as he finished putting the cooked pasta in a bowl. “I figured you’d be into something like knitting or whatever English teachers do when they’re not reading.”

“Kid, you are too funny!” Laura said.

“I don’t know!” Phantom’s face flushed green. “I just never figured you’d play video games!”

“Phantom, I assure you that I’ve been playing video games since before you were born.”

“Clearly! Freaking level thirteen—dude!” 

William didn’t think he’d ever get tired of seeing that boyish wonder in the child’s face. “We can play together sometime. I’ll show you all my tricks.”

If possible, Phantom’s eyes grew even wider at that. 

“I don’t think he wants to,” Laura quipped. “Sounds like he’d rather spend the day with my class reliving his teenage memories of running the mile—”

“Gross, don’t even joke about that!” Phantom said, although his words had little bite to them. He grabbed an empty plate and began serving himself. 

It was nice to see, for once, the boy acting comfortable enough to get food in William’s home without a second thought.

“Coming from a dead person, those tests are torture.”

Laura followed Phantom’s lead, taking her own plate and scooping pasta and salad onto it. “Not much of a runner, are you?”

“Flying’s a lot more fun.” 

“How does that all work?” Laura asked.

William hadn’t breached into too much of the ghost-biology territory so as not to scare Phantom off, but he had to admit he was curious as well.

Phantom’s tail morphed back into legs and he settled down in his seat. “What do you mean?”

“Well, that, for one. Flying and everything. How does that work?” Laura asked.

“Oh…” Phantom tilted his head. “Flying? I don’t really know. I just sort of do it. I think it’s an ectoplasm thing. I don’t know enough about science or ectobiology to know for sure. But I’m sure there’s some paper or something out there that explains it.”

“I wonder if the Fentons have something,” Laura mused.

William couldn’t help but notice the way Phantom stiffened at the mention of their name.

“Probably,” he said, forcing his eyes away from Phantom as he sat down in his own chair. “But there must also be scientists in the Ghost Zone, right?”

Phantom relaxed once again. “Yeah! Actually, I’m friends with one. This guy Frostbite? You wouldn’t have heard of him. He stays in the Zone.”

The name Frostbite rang a bell, but William couldn’t place where he’d heard it from. 

“He’s a scientist ghost?” Laura asked.

Phantom took a bite out of his pasta, and his eyes immediately lit up. He took his time swallowing before he answered, “Sort of. He’s the leader of one of the Zone’s ghost civilization islands—I don’t really know what to call them. It’s a bunch of yetis, basically. Their whole thing is science, though. They’re really cool. I stay with them a lot when I’m in the Zone.”

Now that was curious wording. Based on how happily Phantom spoke of this ghost, it didn’t seem like he was the source of Phantom’s lacerations.

So then why hadn’t Phantom gone to him? If he wasn’t home—a place where Phantom could no longer go—then why had Phantom stayed with William instead? 

Unless…

Unless this Frostbite character was too far. Unless Phantom’s home was on Earth. Unless Phantom didn’t have a home in the Ghost Zone.

And the realization hit William like a train because now it seemed only too obvious how often Phantom was spotted in the human world, why he was so protective over Amity Park, how he ended up in Amity General Hospital at all.

It was because Phantom lived here. In Amity Park.

His home was in Amity.

So then where the hell was Phantom living? Who was he with? Were they humans? Were they other ghosts?

How did he get so hurt? 

Thankfully, it didn’t seem that Phantom nor Laura had picked up on the whirlwind of thoughts running through Wiliam’s brain. They both sat at the table now talking animatedly about other facets of the Ghost Zone, seemingly oblivious to William’s existence. And this was perfect because William suddenly felt faint.

He tried to think back to the few articles about ghost sociology and psychology he’d stumbled across over the years, but he couldn’t remember anything about powerful ghosts habiting the Earth. He remembered reading about weaker ones—usually, they were so weak that they could only be detected via ectoplasmic scanners. 

So to hear Phantom imply that he, a stronger ghost who could easily have his own nook in the Ghost Zone, actually resided in Amity Park? Well, that was unprecedented.

He wondered if that was part of the reason why Phantom seemed to tense whenever the Fentons were mentioned. Maybe they suspected so much and had been trying to track down Phantom’s home? Maybe they had already found it?

William wished he had a way of asking. Although with the current state of that family and the CPS calls that he was going to place if he didn’t get a response to his latest email, he didn’t think he would be in their good graces for too much longer.

Well, maybe at the rate he and Phantom’s friendship had been blooming, he might get an answer from the source himself.

But not today. Not right now. 

“...so that’s why Amity’s such a hotspot for ecto-activity?” Laura was asking, a piece of ravioli dangling off her fork. 

Phantom nodded, his face sunnier than William had seen him in a long time. His freckles glowed, dotting his skin like constellations, and a small fang poked out of his grin.

“Will it move? The point where the two dimensions touch?” 

“I don’t know,” Phantom said. “I don’t think it’s always entirely linear, either. The GZ’s made of ectoplasm, and I don’t understand the physics behind it at all. I grew up on human physics, not ghost physics. Like, Frostbite’s people are also time travelers. They usually don’t take other ghosts along with them, but I went with them once and learned that Ancient Greece used to be a hotspot for ecto-activity.”

“Maybe the humans need to start teaching about ecto-physics,” William mused, rejoining the conversation.

“Well, you should tell some of your academic people to get on that!” Phantom said.

“Maybe the Fentons should do that lecture on ectology,” Laura said. “I know the administration’s been talking about it for a while.”

William tried to make his glance over to Phantom not seem too obvious. “Considering their assembly on ghost safety ended up with a student drenched in ectoplasm and the fire alarm pulled, I don’t think the PTA will approve of that so soon. But others in the field are experts too. We might be able to pull one of them in.”

“I can vet them!” Phantom cut in. Then sheepishly, he rubbed his neck and added, “You know, if you want.” 

William could have sworn he recognized that little shy quirk from somewhere. But whatever was on the tip of his tongue refused to come out.

“There’s no better vet for a qualified ectologist than a ghost.” William offered him a thumbs up. 

Phantom beamed then turned his attention back to his nearly finished plate of food, eating with more gusto than William had seen from him. 

And thank goodness for that. He may not have been an expert on ghost biology, but it was plainly obvious that Phantom needed the calories.

“There’s plenty more if you’d like. Help yourself.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Laura grabbed her now-empty plate and stood. “This meal is delicious! Who knew you would make such a good sous-chef, Phantom?”

Phantom blushed that adorable bright green. He ducked his head before peering up at William, a soft smile on his lips. “Thanks. You know…for everything.”

“Of course.” William wasn’t sure if he failed to hide the warmth that overtook him to his core. “My home is yours, okay?”

“Yeah.” Phantom’s eyes turned glassy, and he hid under his bangs. “Still, thanks.”

— — —

The telltale sound of crackling ectoplasm came first. Danny sprang up, hairs on his neck commanding attention before the shuddering breath of his ghost sense left his lungs.

“Hiding, are we?” a sultry sweet voice said, stepping out from the portal.

Despite the burning in his chest, Danny whipped into a snarling defensive stance without a flinch.

Plasmius’ eyes swept over him, his lips curling into a signature smirk. “Or are you ever planning on leaving this dreadful place?”

Danny wanted to snap at Vlad, tell him to shut the hell up and get out. But his mind was moving a hundred miles a minute and all he could blurt out was, “How did you know?”

“You’re going to have to be slightly more specific, Little Badger,” Plasmius purred.

“How did you know I was here? Do—do my parents know?”

“Your parents seem to be rather…occupied at the moment, dear.” Plasmius tutted, then made a grandiose show of floating over to one of Lancer’s many bookcases and leafing through the titles.

Danny's hands dropped to his side and curled into a fist. He so badly yearned to punch Vlad in his stupid, ugly face, but he resisted.

“Their poor son was so viciously killed by a ghost who then took his place, you see. How dreadful! What a horrible, horrible creature that ghost must be, hmm?”

His fists tightened. “Shut up, Vlad. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Oh, you don’t?” Vlad turned back to face Danny, his expression morphing into faux sympathy that melted back into amusement a second later. “But I haven’t even gotten to the good part, where they strapped that horrible ghost down to a table and—”

The blast left Danny’s hand before he could stop himself.

Fortunately, Vlad had the reaction time to absorb it with a shield before it could scorch any of Lancer’s books. 

“Careful! We wouldn’t want to hurt this gracious teacher’s home, not after he’s been so kind to nurse you back to health! After all, what do you think the man would do if you dared hurt his…” Vlad plucked a book out of the shelf. “His signed copy of The Kite Runner! Daniel, you savage creature!”

“Shut UP!” Ice crawled up his sleeve. “If you just came here to be a dick, then you can fucking leave already. You have no idea what happened, so just fuck off, Plamius.”

“Oh Daniel, I may not have been there, but it doesn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to know how dear Maddie and that bumbling idiot ended up in the emergency room. Nor you, actually. How’s the chest?”

Rage shook through his body, and on instinct, he hugged his arms into his torso. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“Oh trust me, my dear boy, I know everything.” Vlad gave him a scalding grin before turning back to the bookshelf. “My, my! This is certainly an impressive collection. An original printing of Crime and Punishment? That’s quite impressive indeed.”

“Did you really just come here to make fun of me?”

“No, though that’s always such a delectable treat. No wonder Miss Spectra loves you so much.”

A wave of nausea rolled over Danny, and he shrunk in on himself. “Stop feeding off me, you creep.”

Vlad snapped the book shut. “Then stop being such a blaring beacon of a restless spirit, child. Do you even understand how easy it was to find you? I’ve known you’ve been here for days now.”

“Because you’re a fucking creep who tracks me!”

“I was hardly trying! You, on the other hand, obviously have no regard for your own personal safety, even after that little stunt you pulled in your parents’ lab. Sending them both to the hospital with third-degree burns might have been a bit excessive if I do say so myself. Well, for Maddie, anyway. The oaf can burn in hell for all I care.”

“Shut up, they’re my parents!”

“Were your parents. They stopped being your parents the moment you stupidly revealed yourself to them.”

“You have to be a total moron if you think even for a second that I was trying to reveal myself to them on purpose!” Danny bit back. He raised a glowing fist, and a part of him deep inside that he loathed cheered at how much light was emitting from the concentrated ball of ectoplasm. “Besides, what I do is none of your fucking business.”

Vlad responded in kind, leaving the bookshelf to float high above Danny’s head. He flashed his fangs and heightened his own aura. “On the contrary, my dear boy, the reveal was as much of a threat to your own safety as it was to mine. Even if they don’t know that half ghosts exist, they’ve connected the dots between your portal accident and the disgusting creature that you’ve become. Now they know that ghosts can fully disguise themselves as regular humans. It’s only a matter of time before they start snooping around me.”

“Then that sounds like your fucking problem.”

“And what of you, then? Your core acted in self-defense, decimating your lab and turning the rest of your home to rubble. Have you even seen what’s left of your parents’ greatest creations?”

The light in his fist sputtered out.

Vlad hovered closer to Danny, and his smile widened. “It’s all gone, thanks to you.”

Guilt clawed through his stomach. “I didn’t mean to hurt them.”

“Too little too late, I’m afraid. Though thankfully, Maddie looks just as radiant as always, even with the scarring on her forehead.”

“I fucked up.” Danny lowered his feet to the ground and pulled at his hair with his gloves. At once, everything he’d been holding in for the past two weeks came splitting to the surface. “I can’t—I fucked up, Vlad. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Please, you have to understand, they caught me by surprise. I didn’t see them waiting in my room when I detransformed after patrol. I had—I had no idea.”

Danny remembered the sickening inhale of breath from his mother. He remembered turning around, he remembered seeing their horrified faces.

He remembered his mother whispering, “Danny?”

He remembered the flash of light that followed.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut. “I never wanted this to happen.”

“Well, it did.” Vlad’s tone shifted to one uncharacteristically soft. “Jasmine is worried about you.”

“Jazz?” Danny croaked.

“She was staying with me in my mansion. Her parents and I felt it was the best arrangement until she was able to return to them.”

Her parents, echoed in Danny’s mind. Her parents, not your parents. Her parents.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s unharmed if that’s what you mean. But she’s worried. About you, Little Badger.”

Danny jerked his head away. “Well, tell her I’m fine.”

“Ah yes, because I’m sure a simple ‘Danny says he’s fine’ from me will really do so much to ease her worries.”

“Shut up,” Danny said, but the fight had already left his voice. Though he refused to look, Danny could feel Plasmius slowly creeping toward him. His aura crackled in warning, but he knew his efforts were futile.

“Daniel, come home with me.” 

It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t an order. It was a simple statement of fact.

Still, old habits died hard. Danny couldn’t help the reflexive growl and the “no” that escaped his lips.

A hand fell heavily onto his shoulder.

Plasmius’ hand. But for once, it didn’t claw into him. 

“Come with me.”

“I’ll never do that. You know I’ll never do that.”

“Please, child. You’re not safe here.”

“I can protect myself just fine.”

Vlad scoffed, and Danny couldn’t blame him. The bandages on his chest suddenly felt tight, and he was all too aware of how feeble his stance was, how his shoulders curled in to offset the pain of the wound on his chest. 

“You know that’s not true. Especially now that dear Maddie knows who you are. You think you’re safe here? With a high school literature teacher?” A stream of snark began returning in Vlad’s tone, and he pulled his hand off Danny’s shoulder, brandishing it high like an overzealous quill ready to strike the paper with all its theatrical might. “Because when Maddie returns with her bazooka, I’m sure all these books will provide such an excellent shield!

“I don’t care, I’m not going with you.”

“Yes, you are, Daniel, because you never think. And that’s your greatest downfall.”

Danny whipped around. “I am thinking! I—I’m finally happy. I’m with someone who likes Phantom. I can protect us from my parents. They got me because I was surprised, but they won’t get me again.”

Vlad simply tilted back his head and laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. And let’s actually think this through for once, hmm? Because I doubt dear Lancer truly wants a ghost permanently haunting his guest bedroom.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“Oh, I think I know more than most. Tell me, child, do you truly think that your high school teacher wants you here? Last I checked, you were failing his class. What is your plan, just hide out as Phantom forever? What do you think will happen if you accidentally slip back into human form in front of him? Your own parents didn’t accept you, what makes you think he will?”

“Because…because…” Danny tried, but he could feel his own voice failing.

Because Vlad was right. His parents didn’t accept him, they tried to kill him in the most brutal way possible. There was no way a virtual stranger by comparison would accept him when his own flesh and blood hadn’t.

“That’s right, child. He won’t. Being both dead and alive is an abomination, a taboo of science. Normal humans can’t wrap their heads around it. So of course, he won’t be able to accept you; he won’t be able to truly care about you.”

Tears pricked behind his eyes.

“Just come with me. You can’t stay here, you know this. I’m the only one who truly understands, child.”

Danny hung his head, whispering, “Okay.”

Because what other choice did he have? 

A heavy hand fell onto his shoulder, and he looked up to see the faux compassion in Vlad’s face overshadowed by his smug grin. But he didn’t have it in him to be angry at seeing Vlad so triumphant. He didn’t care anymore.

He had no one left. His parents wanted him dead, his sister was too young to do anything about it, and he couldn’t hide forever with his English teacher who definitely hated his human half’s guts.

“Good boy,” Vlad said. He raised a hand, and another portal was created. “After you, my child.”

Danny took a shuddering breath and looked around the cozy room with its high bookshelves one last time. He tried to find Poe—just to say goodbye—but the cat was nowhere to be seen.

Not that Danny blamed him for hiding.

His bottom lip trembled and his hands shook, but still, he stepped forward.

The swirling mass of green accepted him, and then he was gone.

— — —

<prev / next>

[motheatenscarf]

I've been working my way to getting all classes leveled up for Talia because... I'm insane and love to set impossible goals for myself. I haven't been talking about too many of them bcs I have nothing to say about most of them, but since I've played through 9 now

Here is a quick summation of my thoughts, ranked from least to strongest reactions I've had;

Paladin: This is boring. I'm bored. I don't care about any of these people or their dumb problems, let me kill class enemy lalafell.

Astrologian: I don't care about these people or their problems, I already know from MSQ and better job stories that Ishgard sucks. These outfits DO rule tho.

Dancer: Huh, that dance to cure people of the morbs turned out surprisingly relevant... too bad it didn't matter! Oh well. Who are these people? What are their problems? Nevermind, I don't care. Dancing scenes are pretty at least.

Red Mage: These outfits rule. But wow, I don't care about these people. I actually weirdly hate this amnesia girl? Not for GOOD reasons, just for like. Trope reasons. Not her fault, but still, I hate when she's here.

Samurai: I don't care until suddenly for 2 minutes at level 60 it stops just being fun Samurai movie homages and tropes and gets REAL with Musosai trying to suicide by WoL. A momentarily beautiful moment that reincorporates and recontextualizes a silly moment from earlier in the story, describing atonement through having to LIVE and make amends, arguing that remorse is what separates good from evil, and wow! This was great! I legit loved- oh, they immediately ruined it with the Stormblood quest to uphold the status quo of a corrupt regime and made Musosai's student morally in the right thus making his death and guilt meaningless.... well, I hate this! Least favorite class story now.

Reaper: I love a mean old battleaxe so Drusilla is rad as fuck and this is some fun lore on Emet and Garlemald in general. I choose to care about this because I headcanon that my own WoL is from Garlemald and this is relevant.

Ninja: This is boring and kinda sucks, but Karasu is here and I love him. An eccentric theatrical weirdo here to test the hero and cause problems for drama? Yes, I DO love trickster figures, thank you. Oh wait, he's not a villain, just a decent dude trying to get out of a bad situation and being cagey to cover his own ass and help you so you can get him out of this jam? Rad. But why can he control bats as his Children of the Night if he's not evil? ... Don't worry about it! I don't know if he's a GOOD character, but my god is he a FUN character. That's all I care about. Look at how much I love Zenos; I DON'T need depth to have a good time. That said;

Dark Knight: I am WEEPING inconsolably over Fray and Myste, chortling over Moogles and Sid, and Rielle is but one of my many, MANY adopted kids from this game. It is perfect. I could talk about Dark Knight for hours, I lost an entire day of progressing through story just having to be insane about the reveal that Emet Selch was a Dark Knight, perhaps the FIRST Dark Knight, because OF COURSE HE WAS. Dark Knights are about LOVE and grief manifesting tangibly, and oh my god, everything ties in together as a coherent whole. I'm not normal about Dark Knight. I'll never be normal about Dark Knight. It invades my brain and gives words to the Things I'm Trying To Say about characters and what I want out of stories. Finding out that the woman who wrote Dark Knight took over as lead writer got me through the worst of how much I HATED base Stormblood and thank god it did because it meant I stuck with this game long enough to play Shadowbringers and Endwalker and didn't consider Heavensward just a fluke. Dark Knight saved this game for me. Dark Knight is incredible. Dark Knight has more to say about storytelling, motivation, and a player's role in and relationship to a story than anything I've ever seen from a SINGLE PLAYER RPG, let alone an mmo. Dark Knight is fucking transcendent.

Fishing: This is the dumbest story so far and I fucking love it. I love traveling the world with this lunatic who took up work as an ASSASSIN to fund her fishing hobby. She has her priorities in order, she is the most correct about the point of this game and I love her.

[arcplaysgames]

PICTURED: Reverie moments before burning down Futaba's uncle's house.

I love how this game has flipped me from "i'm not cool with killing Kamoshida" to "i'm gonna slash tires of everyone who even looks at Sojiro funny"

AND THAT IS A PRACTICAL LESSON IN WHY PERSONAL JUSTICE IS FLAWED, TIP YOUR WAITERS

Morgana has a dream/nightmare/vision of his Shadow Self, who is also cat-shaped. Which, one, Morgana popping a Shadow right now would make so much sense tbh given his issues.

Two, he is so fucking distressed about this.

THIS IS SO FUCKING SAD. Morgana, I am on your side, bruh, this sucks so much. Morgana is trying to keep cool but is asking probing questions about if Reverie would still accept him if he was some kind of creature and just.

I feel for Morgana so much, idgaf, come at me.

/breathes out slowly

almost done with Moon. almost done. one more level up and we're DONE with Mishima.

OH. BEE TEE DUBS.

Mishima adds a feature to the Phansite where people can nominate victims for the Thieves. And yeah I said victims, because this is absolutely fucked eight ways to sunday, this is so beyond the pale, why are you SUCH an idiot, Mishima?!

if the Thieves end up hitting someone purely bc their won a popularity poll on the fucking site i s2g

MY PATIENCE FOR RYUJI

IS LITERALLY

AT ZERO.

I cannot fucking deal with how much I want to kick him out of the group, I am screaming inside. If there was a summary of "bad reasons to be a vigilante" he's using it as a fucking checklist.

it is only the process of Reverie being adopted by the Sakuras that is getting me through the darkness right now. Sojiro, I formally apologize for making fun of you at the start of this liveblog, you and Yusuke are the only people I can rely on right now. Please yes I would like some sushi, can I have a tekka don.

THAT IS MY LITTLE SISTER FOLKS

playing this fucking game is like being beaten with a whiffle ball bat and then being handed one (1) treat, over and over

Futaba did such a good job at the beach that she.... does what all people with weird brain stuff do, and we take one victory and immediately overexert ourselves and fuck up the next thing. Like, FOR REAL, relatable, I have BEEN THERE, i was there in the past TWO WEEKS baby.

So Futaba needs back-up in her journey to relearn how to exist int he world, and Reverie is raring to go.

I love her.

lmao the cut to Sae like "HM REPORTS CLAIM THAT YOU ACQUIRED A OLDER BROTHER-LY DEMEANOR BEGINNING IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST. CARE TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF???? BITCH?"

yeah obvsly

back in My Favorite Confidant Link, Kawakami actually calls Reverie in to tell him the exciting news, that she stood up for herself and told the Takases' she wasn't going to pay them anymore and was going to quite her side job to return to her passion for teaching.

Which: thrilling. So happy for her.

AND THEN THE TAKASES SHOW UP.

yanno. it's interesting that the game flat out says "sex worker" I was not anticipating that level of clarity about Kawakami. and given even modern standards and attitudes towards SWers, I'm relieved to see that the Villains of this story are the ones trying to use her status as a sex worker to ruin her life. Because, yeah, that's villainous behavior, Persona! I'm glad we agree on this.

Yeah fuck subtlety tbh, let's wreck these fools. They'll be lucky if Reverie only steals their hearts.

ALSO:

I THINK SHE KNOWS

i also think sojiro knows but that's neither here nor there. Sojiro has proven he can be extremely subtle.

oh the Big Bads are gonna kill the principal aren't they

they're gonna do the mental shutdown on him for being a failure, that's why he's so scared huh

bye bye i guess??????

[mrfeenysmustache]

Mother Moon 🌙

Chapter 6

A.N.: Inuyasha grows a little more between each chapter. In this one, he’s roughly three and half by human standards, which is why he talks so well. Also, I never meant for this to go nearly a year between updates!!!!! My deepest apologies 🥹🥹

Summary: He was left on her doorstep, orphaned on the night of his birth, and something inside her compelled her to keep him. There would be gossip; there would be slander; there would be violence and attempts on her life and on his. But the Lady of the Moon had decided: he was hers. Adoption AU

Also read on: AO3

—————————————————————

Inuyasha woke up as he always did, sprawled across his bedding with a painfully empty stomach and eyes that just did not want to open yet.

Maybe a few more minutes of sleep?

Surely he wouldn’t starve to death if he just rolled over and shut his eyes again.

And his dreams had been so nice! Endless cloud fields to run and play in, and big brother Sesshomaru chased him from one end to the other but he always got away.

‘You are much faster than me, Inuyasha. A great Inuyokai, indeed,’ he’d said before pulling several sweet treats from behind his back, and they’d sat and eaten them until they were sick.

It was his favorite dream to have, especially since his Big Brother wasn’t quite ready to have fun like that yet.

But Inuyasha could tell it was almost time.

Maybe after he fell back asleep, that field would still be there, and Big Brother Sesshomaru would be waiting to play again, and they could have another picnic with all his favorite foods and desserts!

It was so lovely and warm there, endless summer sunshine and cool water to drink from a sparkling stream that ran through one side. And sometimes mama would show up to play, too! Those were his extra favorite dreams, when all three of them were free and having fun and no one ever needed to leave or spend time in boring offices with boring papers or with people who smelled sour when they saw him.

Yes, he decided, slipping back into dreamland was just the perfect choice, and he could feel the sweet touch of slumber creeping around him like a hug when a loud, sharp growl rang out inside the room, right from his stomach.

His eyes popped open, and he sat up when he heard a giggle from his doorway.

Nanny Kasumi covered her mouth to hide her grin, but her yellow eyes danced like they always did when she was laughing, and that she was laughing at him made him grumpy.

His lip poked out and he crossed his arms with a HUMPH!, which only made Nannu Kasumi laugh harder as she strolled into the room and scooped him up off his bedding.

“Come now Little Lordling, let’s put on a happy face to get dressed and go see your mother!”

“Where is mama?” He asked as his Nanny carried him to his wardrobe.

“She had a very unexpected visitor this morning so sent me to prepare you for breakfast! Now, which color would you like to wear today, Lord Puppy?”

“Hm….” Inuyasha said, tapping one little clawed finger against his chin. “Dis one!”

He pointed up to a red and white set of silk clothes and his Nanny retrieved it with a knowing smile.

“It will look perfect on you. Now, let’s go get your hair combed.

“Awwwww, do I hafta?!”

“YES.”

—————————————————————-

His hair had been tugged and pulled to get out all his sleepy tangles, so the happy face he’d put on right after waking was once again gone as he made his way to the dining room holding Nanny Kasumi’s hand.

She seemed to be in very bright spirits but how could she be? And how could she expect him to find a smile when his good dreams had been ruined, his Mama hadn’t been able to wake him up, and now he’d have to eat quietly while she entertained another stuffy visitor who wouldn’t want to listen while he showed them his collection of cool rocks he found in the garden?

This day was turning out to be a terrible, awful, horrible day.

“Alright Princeling, here we are! Have a good breakfast!”

She bent down and pressed a kiss to his chubby cheek and then shooed him along, and he wiped it off with a ‘feh!’ while she giggled again and walked off to see to other duties.

With a scowl he finished his trek into the dining room, his little golden stare landing on the “unexpected guest” that had kept his mother from him, and his eyes widened in shock.

“BIG BRUDDER!!!!”

He took off and launched himself across the dining room, and Sesshomaru had just enough time to scoot back from the table to give Inuyasha enough room to land in his lap without making a mess of the plates and cups.

“I haven’t seened you in FOREBER!!!” Inuyasha cried, wrapping his arms around Sesshomaru’s neck.

“It has been three weeks. Hardly forever. Your grasp on the passage of time leaves much to be desired.” His brother responded, and though his words were flat and his face was serene as usual, a bright note of something sweet bloomed through his scent.

This was how Inuyasha knew his brother was happy to see him, even when he didn’t seem like he was on the outside.

“Inuyasha it’s not polite to cling at the breakfast table. At least let your brother eat, first.”

He turned big sad, round his on his mother, who pointed to a spot next to Sesshomaru where a little plate covered in food sat waiting.

“Okaaaaay. But I will sit really close to you, okay Big Brudder? So you won’t be sad.”

Sesshomaru cocked one brow, but Inuyasha could see one corner of his mouth trying not to curl up, and he smelled like someone had said something funny.

“Hn.”

Shimmying out of his brother’s lap, Inuyasha settled in front of his plate and finally started filling his very empty tummy.

“No greetings for your mother then?! I’m raising a very ungrateful pup indeed!”

“Sowwy mama! But I see you evwy day, and Big Brudder is never here. And I’m weally weally hungwy.”

“I wouldn’t say never….” Sesshomaru mumbled.

“You could stand to visit more often,” their mother replied, and Sesshomaru snorted, picking up his tea cup and taking a sip.

“There is too much to do. Father’s actions still cause ripples of unrest in even the farthest corners of the West. You would not believe the scum I must stomp down who believe themselves mighty enough to turn against our house. Their misjudgments are easily rectified but the mess they leave in their wake of false promises of revolution take much longer to clean up. Father neglected much more than you and I in his final years. I have much to put to rights.”

“I see. Well, I’m sure you grow tired of hearing how much we miss you, so I will not say it again.”

“I….. do not begrudge your sentiments.”

Inuyasha didn’t understand a lot of what his mother and brother were saying, but he did know that his plate was clean, his belly was full, and he could sit in Sesshomaru’s lap again before he inevitably had to leave.

“Alright I done!” He declared, hopping back up into Sesshomaru’s arms.

“Your appetite grows more and more each time I see you,” he said, “you are growing stronger.”

“Yeah I am! I gonna get real big and strong and I gonna keep mama safe from everyone.”

“That is good. I cannot be here to offer my own protection, so you must train hard to take my place.”

“Where you always goin’ Big Brudder?”

“I must travel far across the West to make sure you are safe,” Sesshomaru said gravely, and visions of adventures hunting down and fighting bad guys danced around in Inuyasha’s head.

He leaned in really close and looked directly into his brother’s eye.

“I wanna go wiff you nest time. I help.”

“Hnnnn…” Sesshomaru said, resettling Inuyasha a more comfortable distance from his face. “You are currently too young to make such travels…. But soon you will need to learn to hunt…”

“I can teach him.” Mama said, but Sesshomaru’s eyes went distant, and Inuyasha thought he smelled a little sad.

“No. I will teach him. I will teach him what father never deigned to teach me.”

“Sesshomaru-“

“I understand his duty to his land far outstripped any other duty he shouldered, but I believe more firmly in balance. Inuyasha,” he said in a deep, commanding voice, and Inuyasha felt helpless to do anything but meet his brother’s hard, golden gaze with his own. “At the start of your fifth year, your training will begin, and will be undertaken… by me.”

“Weally?”

“Yes.”

“Oh fank you Big Brudder!” He said, once more leaping up and wrapping his arms around Sesshomaru’s neck.

His brother wrapped his arms around his back and held him there, even has his voice went even colder.

“This is supposed to be a serious and monumental moment in a pup’s life…”

“But you’ve just made his entire month!”

Glancing down at the silver head nuzzling up under his chin in such excitement, Sesshomaru let his mask slip- just a little- and smiled softly.

“Hn.”

[legendofmorons]

How to get adopted in ten steps (or less)! Part 2

Pairing: platonic Myrah (OC) &Chain

Rating: G

Summary: Myrah takes the time to share about her past with the boys- Wind asks about the actual calamity and realizes how many wounds are still healing.

Warnings: Some grief

Other: Let me know if I missed anything

-------

Breakfast is a small affair, the cahin being dropped off at Myrah's while Twilight and Wild head off to collect more food supplies.

The boys find themselves asking about the past of the land- history if you will.

"What about the great sea?" Wind asks, helping Myrah water her garden.

"I don't know much about that, but they say a hero came out and saved it. It's not well recorded - nothing is. But I've always figured they meant the sea that lurlein touches."

"There's a sea?" Warriors asks, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, lot of good fish that way."

"And what about the war across ages?" Warriors asks.

Myrah laughs at that, "I don't know about that. Do you mean Gannon and the hero?"

"No."

"I don't know much about it then. But there might be a story about it in a ruin."

"Huh."

"Tell me, what stories did you grow up hearing?" Time asks.

Myrah looks up, still kneeling in her garden. She looks so calm.

"Well... I remember hearing stories about heroes, probably about you guys. There was a hero from a sea that spread most of Hyrule. I also heard about a hero of twilight when I was young. They said he was a shifter. There was also a story about a hero who had healing magic."

Several people gasp, surprised by that.

"I always figured the stories had some truth- but I also figured they got fucked up by time."

"Any other stories?"

"My family always told me about a boy who eared entrance to gerudo town. Something about proving himself. They say the boy earned our respect."

"Yeah?" Time asks.

"Yeah."

"So... tell us what growing up was like for you?" Sky asks. Always interested in how things changed.

Myrah laughs softly, "It was- crazy."

"Was it?"

"Yeah, between me, my cousin, Mipha, and Link- it was a lot."

"Was he always wild?"

"We were wild children. I remember him teaching me how to make a grass whistle... And he loved Gordon spice so mich- his mom had to hide it."

"I wish we could hide it." Legend huffs.

"Oh- it's easy to hide." Myrah says as if she's dome it before. More than once.

"How do you even know that?" Sky asks, sounding exhausted at the thought.

"I was- a very petty child." She says with a shrug, "And then April fools was always fun. But that's not worth telling really."

"And what is?" Wind asks, fishing for dirt on Wild.

Myrah laughs, shaking her head.

She stands, brushing her hands on her dirt stained pants.

"You know he and my niece are an awful duo. Just too many seal jokes."

"Too many what?" Hyrule asks.

"Seal jokes. I swear if I'd known what introducing them would bring upon me I'd have just wrestled Vah Naboris to the ground myself."

"Vah na-hwat now?" Sky asks.

"Vah naboris, the divine beast piloted by my aunt. Also known as the lightning cameo of fucking death."

"You must really hate that thing."

"I do. But that's for a different day. One if you had asked earlier about the moon?"

Wind grins, "Yeah do you like the moon?"

"Fuck no." Myrah says with disdain second only to Time's. "That botch revives the monsters every week or so!"

"Why do you all hate the moon?" Legend asks, "It lights the night."

"So dies fire. And fire dosen’t resurrection lynels." Myrah says firmly, "I'd fist fight the moon but I don't think I'd win."

"You wouldn't." Time says evenly.

"So- you hate the moon, you hate Vah whatever, what fo you like?" Four asks.

"Hm- cooking, gardening, sparring, teaching. Normal things. I love exploring. "

"Sparting?" Twilight asks.

"Yeah, it was a bonding then growing up. My dad loved to soar, and so did Li- so did James. So I'd spar dad and uncle James and Wild."

"Uncle James? Was that Wild's dad?" Wind asks.

"Yes. But he died a long time ago."

"Oh."

"He would have liked you though, you're a lot like someone I used to knkw."

"That can probably said about any of us." Warriors says evenly.

Myrah just laughs, her eyes bright. "They're back."

"What?"

Wild shoots forwards, launching himself at Myrah only to be caught with a louder laugh from the woman.

Twilight trails behind Wild, shaking his head.

"They're back." She says, "You couldn't hear?"

"No."

"I got some hearty bass do you have the radishes?" Wild asks.

"Yes."

"I'm gonna go grab them." Wild says before detaching and going into Myrah's house.

"He got fish?" Time asks, eying the exhausted looking Twilight.

"He used bombs."

"Again?" Myrah asks, "I told him whistling worked better."

"Oh Goddess." Sky says, setting his face in his hands.

"What?" Myrah asks, sounding genuinely confused but her eyes give her away.

"You're why he's such a menace. Aren't you?" Legend accuses.

"I just encourage him."

"You're the reason I never sleep." Legend says again.

Myrah laughs, warm and pleased. Her head falls back a little. "I only taught him what he wished to learn."

"Ypu sound like ypur super old sometimes. Anyone ever tell ypu that?" Wind asks.

"I am old for a Hylian." Myrah says with a soft smile, "And yet I am not the oldest of my lifespan."

"What does that even mean?"

"Oh just wait until you meet Purah. She's older than I am."

"Should she have guests?" Warriors asks, sounding concerned.

"Oh she's fine. She's physically like- ten now."

"But-"

"Physical age lost it's meaning years ago." Myrah says matter-of-factly.

"Huh."

"Are you older than Time?"

"Physically? No."

"Mentally?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. That's for him to know." Myrah says with a smile, "What does it even matter?"

"Just thinking. "

"That's dangerous." She laughs again, "Don't think too hard."

.......

Wind is helping Myrah with the laundry of the group when he really understood just how old she is and what it's done to her.

"Did you lose many people in the calamity?" He asks, curious.

Myrah turns towards him, her golden eyes dull as she says a simple word. "Yes."

"Oh..."

She smiles something bitter as she continues. Her voice empty but strong all at once. "There were too many deaths that night to count. We tried to anyways... It was easier to count those left alive."

"What- was it like?"

"The monsters wouldn't die. Malice seemed to run through their very blood.... I remember- I think the shadows moved that night, but with the adrenalin I'm sure I was just seeing things."

"That sounds awful... Where were you when it happened?"

"The castle, training with other knights- Captain Troy had been running stamina drills all day... Then the calamity hit and we all ran to keep the monsters away until Zelda and Link got there."

"But they didn't. "

"I woke up in Link's bed to his remaining family three days later. There's only so much I recall."

"His bed?"

"Yeah. I remember crying in it after I was told what happened. I- was one of the only three to survive the swine that night."

"Sorry... I probably shouldn't have asked..."

"It's okay. I'm not upset."

"What about Wild's family, you said some of them lived."

Myrah smiles, softer this time. More genuine. "Yeah... They died of old age about twenty seven years ago or so. Math is a little hard."

"Myrah, how did you stay so okay?"

"I didn't. But I learned from Impa better coping. And I found reasons to love that weren't just revenge."

"Do you think they'd like who Wild turned into?"

"Yes and no. Our families would be so proud. My ex would still dislike him."

"You're ex?"

"Revali- the rito champion. He never got along with Wild. But my Avanta- she has always thought Link brave."

"Huh."

"Aryll would be so glad that he has taken to traveling."

"Aryll?" Wind echoes, confused.

"My adopted sister." Myrah says.

"My sister is named Aryll."

"That's crazy! Maybe your sister reincarnated?"

"Maybe."

"What's your hyrule like? I'm sure it's very different. "

"It's a huge ocean!"