#depending on the choices made on his route maybe you would get over it or something idk

[salem-xx]

reversed and upright ending for Sage & MC

So the final showdown with Mike happens and Sage turns but MC manages to change him back or something and they're about to take down Mike but Mike gets the upper hand and decides you know what i'm gonna actually kill MC and be successful this time and manages to kill them in front of sage and sage goes berserk and kills mike not before mike dies he's laughing and tells sage that MC basically died for nothing and that it still worked out for him bc sage went back to being corrupted

so then sage is filled with grief and corruption and tulsi and the group do what they can to try and pull him back, but sage is a master of alienating himself from the people who love him and he's so angry (imagine he never even got to say I love you until MC was dying in his lap IMAGINE THAT TO HEIGHTEN THE ANGST) and he decides he's gonna bring MC back (it's giving beginning of the whole damn story but i don't care) and sage goes to felix for help and felix and rime are like ummm don't think you should be doing that and sage is like i have to try so they tell him that maybe he can reach MC in the void if their soul is there. so Sage goes and is trying to find MC and finds them and tells MC his plan of trying to bring them back and MC is like no blah blah i love you blah blah the price would be too steep blah blah i don't want you to lose yourself and your humanity, you need to be with your family/friend (this would be an upright ending) and they have a final goodbye where they kiss and say i love you

in a reversed ending, the void works weirdly so maybe he has to leave before he dies for real and MC warns him against the plan but they don't get their final goodbye. in the real world he lies to rime and felix and says he couldn't find you bc he got lost and in that moment he decides he's gonna bring MC back consequences be damned I don't remember sage ever using magic in the story but say for argument sake he becomes basically the lord of shadows/rime in felix's route but instead he has to gather a shit ton of souls and trade them in order to bring back MC. so he goes around collecting souls (the logistics do not matter and I can't explain it) and finally he gathers enough souls and goes to where MC died and maybe the group had caught onto what he's going to do (time and felix had their suspicious that he had lied but felix was trying to give him space) and they're begging him not to

maybe they're about to fight him (felix telling sage not to and sage yelling at him like you got rime back why shouldn't I get MC back blah blah) bc they dont recognize this angry broken shell of sage (maybe he's even worse than when MC found him bc this time that mc "died" there was a body and the visual confirmation that they died and he blames himself partly) but sage manages to fight them and do the spell or whatever and he opens the void and trades ____ amount of souls for MC's soul and life force. he gets it and MC comes back from the void and MC is visibly different (they have white streaks in their hair or different colored eyes idk depends on what you would want your MC to look like) and everyone is stunned that MC is back

i've run out of ideas but MC is alive but asleep bc coming back from the dead is exhausting and the next day comes the angst, they're so happy to see sage and sage is happy too, but MC starts getting headaches and it all starts coming back in flashes--MC dying, MC talking to sage in the void, and then the coming back to life and (let's say sage has been hiding from them lowkey bc he noticed they didn't remember) eventually MC is just like uhhh what did you do ? and sage explains and angst ensues where MC is grappling with the fact that they're life was brought back at the expense of so many others and the fact that sage literally fell even more off the deep end and idk someone write this bc i cant write and MC grappling with the fact that they're basically an "abomination" and they try calling the astrolabe but realize they've lost their connection to it (so more angst)

#sage lesath #fictif sage #last legacy fictif games #last legacy #i feel mc and rime would bond over this like become besties bc they both now have white streaks in their hair from coming back #for some reason sage did not do what Felix did when he brought back rime if he even did bring him back #i don't know if los brought him back or if it was felix anywyas #the angst that would ensue ughhh #a once upon a time storyline inspired this and then an episode of Ben 10 because why not #HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA #this is giving asras route but darker™ #idk if sage would be punished or forced to live with the guilt but yea #this is like the once upon a time storyline where rumple tries to get his son back #also when emma tries to get hook back from the underworld and charmcaster tries to resurrect her dad in ben ten all rolled into last legacy #would MC still love sage ? most likely yes would they be so conflicted by what sage did ? depending on what choices you made in his route #depending on the choices made on his route maybe you would get over it or something idk

[apomaro-mellow]

Demon!Eddie 1

Steve woke up to someone moving about the room. He wondered why someone was in his room before last night’s events caught up with him. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed, it never happened. Eventually he’d find himself in his own house with parents that were just disappointed in him, not psycho cultists.

“Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty. I slaved over a hot stove for your breakfast. Come and get it.”

With a groan, Steve finally opened his eyes. In the light of the morning, he saw that the walls of the bedroom were covered with posters of people he didn’t know. A gray t-shirt and some sweatpants had been placed next to him. Eddie was nowhere to be seen.

Steve closed the door before undressing. He checked his palms again. Any sign that he had been sliced was gone. But his shirt was still ripped and there was still dried blood on his stomach. God, maybe he should’ve taken that shower after all.

He put the new set of clothes on anyway and left the bedroom. It took about one and half steps to get to the kitchen, where Eddie was sitting with some cereal and milk.

“Slaved over a hot stove, huh?”

“I turned the stove on for the coffee”, Eddie said cheekily.

Steve was distracted from the quip by the large soup pot of black coffee sitting on the stove. This man might really be the devil.

“Soooo”, he sat down across from Eddie, trying to ignore the warning bells. “What’s next?”

“That’s all up to you, remember?” Eddie pushed and empty bowl towards him, along with the box of cereal. “So what does freedom look like to Steve Harrington?”

He thought about the choices his parents had given him before. For his room, blue or green. For his major, business or law. They had always told him it was his choice before giving a very limited set of options.

“I...don’t know. I’ve never had this much freedom before.”

“Well, let’s start with something simple. Cereal or milk first?”

Steve’s expression pinched. “In my bowl? Cereal first, duh.” He grabbed the box and began to pour it.

“Aah, but what if milk is the main event for me and I simply want a crunchy garnish on top?”, Eddie grinned.

“I’d like to assume you’re being sarcastic but after seeing the way you make coffee I’m just not sure.”

“What’s wrong with the way I make coffee?”

Steve looked again to the pot. He wasn’t even a big coffee drinker, but sometimes the way a person did things told you so much about them. “Who raised you?”

“Technically? Your little country club did. Been a while since someone used that summoning spell.”

“Is that how it normally goes?”, Steve asked. “You just show up, burn a few folks, and then make off with the sacrifice?”

Eddie tapped Steve’s bowl with his spoon. “Don’t let it get soggy. And to answer your question, it depends on the wish and what they give up for it.”

“They’ve been worshipping you for...years I guess. Why did you betray them?”

“Would you rather I have taken your soul and given them what they wanted?”, Eddie asked.

“I just...don’t understand everything that happened last night.”

“The spell they used that whole thing they were chanting, it doesn’t call upon a specific demon”, Eddie began to explain. “That incantation is like dialing 911. You’re kinda rolling the dice with whatever demon picks up. And for most folks’ sake, I try to be that guy.”

“So you just go around snatching up sacrifices and leaving people with an empty bag?”

“That’s a good way of spinning it!”, Eddie cackled.

“And you let them crash here?”

“Not often. Most of the time they’re just caught in a bad group or made a wrong turn. I just give em an escape route or help them back where they’re supposed to be.”

“So I’m the first person who’s such a loser I literally have no other place to go.”

“Loser is just another way to say someone’s got a not so lucky life. And hey, it wasn’t all bad before that point right? Lavish parties, nice house, people bowing to you in hallways.” Eddie was twirling his spoon between his fingers as he spoke.

“I’d trade that for a box in an alley if I knew...if I knew they were going to do that.” Steve’s brow furrowed as he stared into his bowl.

“You could still go back. Try and mend some things, follow in dear old dad’s footsteps”, Eddie suggested.

Steve scoffed and pushed the bowl away, crossing his arms. “If they didn’t want me then, they’re not gonna want me now. And I could never be like them.”

“So you’re not going into business. What then? Health, education, entertainment?”

“Well there’s no way they’re footing the bill for tuition, which means college is out, which means my options are limited.”

“Don’t be so sure. Your wish was for freedom. And I aim to keep my promises.”

“Unless you’ve got a bunch of jobs lined up willing to take on someone with zero experience-”

“That’s it!”, Eddie snapped his fingers and then stood up. “You want experience so you can make a decision. Take a shower, make a list and then we’ll get started.”

“Started with what?”

“Job hunting!” Eddie put his empty bowl in the sink and then went through a door Steve hadn’t noticed. “Be ready when I get back!”

He shut the door and then Steve was left alone. He wasn’t any less confused than he was before. But he managed to find the bathroom, wash himself up which did make him feel much better. He found a pad of sticky notes and a marker and started to write down some jobs.

He started with the kind of jobs he had when he played pretend as a kid. Policeman, doctor, zookeeper, firefighter, astronaut. Then he started thinking about careers he had a passing fancy in as he got older. Baker, writer, teacher, military.

When Eddie came through the door again, he had a wild smile on his face and Steve had a completed list.

“Let’s have a looksie”, he said, snatching it from Steve’s hand. He gave a whistle at the various jobs. “Hope you had your coffee.”

“Yeah, I’ll pass. What’re we doing with this list anyway?”

“Steve....have you ever heard of roleplay?”

The redness in Steve’s cheeks were immediate as he looked Eddie up and down and suddenly remembered the feeling of his tongue. 

“You...y-you mean where like people dress up and they um, they-”

“That’s right.” Then Eddie opened that mysterious door and Steve found himself in the middle of a precinct. “They play pretend!”, Eddie finished.

Steve looked down at himself and saw an officer’s uniform.

“You’re gonna live a day in the life until you figure out whatchu wanna do”, Eddie beamed, giving him a nudge with his shoulder.

Steve heard a clinking and saw that Eddie was handcuffed. Today was going to be a ride.

Part 3

Tag Team:

@michael-the-angelo @swimmingbirdrunningrock @flustratedcas

@estrellami-1 @weirdandabsurd42 @lololol-1234

@chaoticvictorianspirit @giopandaonice @marklee-blackmore

@blackpanzy @kacatshi

#apo writes #fanfiction #steddie #stranger things #kinda a short transitional chapter #bf we get back to the meat of it

[valve3nthusiast]

oh that post you made a while back about using decepticon pussy as a water bottle got me thinking so hard

so like, imagine a con who gets captured and they're expecting the usual; torture, imprisonment in a cell, the normal deal when one gets put into custody by the other side. they've heard stories about the autobots being a bit kinky than what most cons would have thought, but this bot for sure isn't expecting to be strung up in the mess hall, an energon dispenser routed through their systems and just sort of left there, like some weird decoration

i'm thinking of one of those water bottles you use to feed like a hamster just sticking out of their valve for the autobots to use whenever they need to refuel. hell maybe they've even got tiddies and one of the medics rerouted a few of their internal fuel lines to get them up and running, so now bots have a choice between the valve spout or energon straight from the tit

ough i'm thinking about a prewar high class party where some poor gutter mech (maybe drift~) spread eagle on a table, with little treats and snacks spread all across their frame and they just have to sit there, not moving as they're basically treated as just a piece of furniture. maybe the person who hired (or captured depending on how dubcon you wanna make this situation) the newly serving bot has used really pretty chains, covered in engraved flowers and crystal clusters to decorate their new platter and maybe they've even forced the mech's panels open, with a little container of sauce shoved in there for extra flavour

this is less like a food kink and more of a kink for being strung up and ignored, a mech being treated as nothing more than a piece of furniture for others to ignore

-burnt ice anon

Hello anon. this is a direct bullseye to my kinks. are you perhaps a mind reader

Hnggg I'm imagining they take the energon dispensary and route a fuel line to the top of the cons valve, and then seal his slit shut around a spigot... that way the autobots can have their plain rations flavored with his yummy lubricant

Of course his node and spike are uncovered, the autobots play with them to get sweeter fuel before they open the tap and release some of the pressure in the poor 'con's valve... an autobot that likes their fuel as sweet as possible, rubbing his node until he overloads, so they can get the most lubricant in their fuel...

A medic got the code to get his refineries up and running, now theyre sore and overful, hanging heavy down his chest... 'bots will squeeze one of his tits to squirt some frothy, milky refined energon into a cube, but some skip that and suck straight from his nozzles instead...

Also I love imagining cybertronian noblemechs doing kinky fucked up shit... I will gladly jump at the opportunity to put Drift in that scenario.

Completely stripped of his nasty dirty armor, bound flat to the table with nothing but jewelry and treats to hide his protoform... I love imagining stuffing his valve with food, yeah. Maybe there's a little tray of rust sticks next to him, and you can either swirl it in his valve or gently dip it into his drooling transfluid slit...

Maybe it's a party game to have a "serving platter" with an array coated in candy, the goal of the game to see who can lick it clean without making a mess by letting the platter overload...

#valveplug #mine #crossfaction #sticky fluids #drift #3nthusiasts inbox

[scarletslippers]

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about the curse and how much of how the curse works and manifests is really dependent on how we define love.

Part of love is feeling, chemistry, attraction, yes, but more importantly, love is action. Putting another's good above your own, wanting the best for that person no matter what. Love is making choices that help do that.

So to understand the curse, we need to take the perspective of how the curse caster understood love. AKA, Temperance. Diving in under the cut because it got long.

Temperance did not understand love. Yes, she seemed hurt and betrayed when she relayed that Cora Down turned Charity and Charity's father against Temperance, but I think the root of that was more that they were no longer hers to manipulate. Even her mother's love for her child was not unconditional and about Charity's welfare. She states that from the beginning she was only concerned about Charity as a means to an end.

"You made your daughter into a key."

"I gifted her with a destiny."

Temperance calls Beckett Dow a "pedantic drip" and shows disdain for Charity's feelings for him. But what Beckett did, was truly incredible. This man, as his wife lay dying, brutally separated her soul to keep her safe for eternity, and then turned himself into an immortal terrifying heart-freezing entity as an insurance policy to make sure that Charity was never harmed. The man lived 150 years alone in a cell awaiting the day he would maybe have to live that purpose. Nancy was right. "It's always been about love." Sacrificial love, that is.

Circling this back to Nancy and Ace, Nancy fully understands and employs sacrificial love. She tells Temperance, "I can't let you destroy Horseshoe Bay. No." She sacrifices her future to keep the town safe - which Temperance didn't see coming because Temperance didn't understand Nancy's love for Ace or for Horseshoe Bay.

"Blind spots, Temperance. I choose this."

And then we see it all over 3x13 and 4x01 where Nancy avoids telling Ace about the curse or her love because she's dying to keep him safe and the best way she knows how to do that is to keep her distance.

So let's examine the curse:

"It will kill Ace if you ever act upon your feelings for each other."

What does 'act upon feelings' mean? That's the big unknown, right?

Nancy chooses the no contact, no discussion route to be totally safe, but really, isn't choosing to keep him safe an act of love?

Not by Temperance's definition.

Nancy spends every inch of 4x01 telling and showing how in love with Ace she is:

"I can talk about a platonic friend who I have to keep alive by never letting him know that I'm in love with him so that we don't act on our feelings for each other and activate a secret death curse."

Asking Bess and George how Ace is every chance she gets.

Telling Ryan "It's like my compass is off. My sense of true north."

Writing Ace's name on a paper stuck in a bottle for a town tradition so that "lovers' souls separated in death can find each other."

And yet none of those trigger the curse or a curse warning. Because all of those examples are on the intellectual, sacrificial side of love - wanting him to be safe, making sure he's doing okay, mourning the loss of him as a partner and friend in a relationship where they make each other better.

It's only when Nancy and Ace physically act on feelings from the chemistry/attraction side of things do we get curse warnings - almost kiss one, almost kiss two, almost kiss three, shirt grabbing, nose brush, forehead touch, etc. These all fall under Temperance's definition of love. And really, by her definition, you can see why she thought love was weakness. She prided herself on being someone in control of herself, her emotions, and the world around her.

"Feelings make your blind spots bigger."

Being so out of control so as to almost kiss someone three times even though you know it means certain death for them? Yeah, that kind of seems like weakness.

All this to say, I think it's going to be interesting how we see this play out this season, given Kennedy's comment about Nancy and Ace leaning on each other like never before. It seems like the curse isn't wired to prevent emotional intimacy, and now that the feelings are all out in the open, I can't wait to see where that goes.

#nace #nancy drew spoilers #nancy drew cw #cw nancy drew #nancy drew meta #meta #don't mind me #I'll just be over here with my clown wig on sipping my established nace juice #the established nace agenda #if they are together without actually being together I will die #the angst. the emotional slow burn. the big payoff. #nancy and ace #my meta #i need a meta tag

[lilundertale-asatreat]

So I'm making this post because I saw a YouTube video the other day where the YouTuber made an offhand comment poking fun at people who don't think Chara is evil, and that was enough to annoy me, but also, it inadvertently brought up a good point for me personally.

I was originally firmly in the camp that Chara was maybe not the best person, but they weren't evil, and the Genocide route is an outlier, and I was upset because I didn't feel like they were considering any of the other routes at all (which they weren't), but it made me realize I was also completely discounting the Genocide route, and I can't just do that for the sake of an easier analysis because it's there for a reason. And I certainly can't get mad at this person for doing the exact same thing I was doing. So here is a hopefully as objective of an analysis of Chara as whole as I can get.

At first I tried marrying the two versions of Chara that we see in the game: the traumatized and suicidal child who wanted to sacrifice themself for the sake of freeing monsterkind and getting revenge on humanity which left them hurt on a fundamental level and wasn't really the best to Asriel, probably because they still hadn't unlearned mimicking the way they were treated and then never got the chance to, with the kid who actively encouraged the slaughter of all of the monsters in the Underground and then destroyed the world after killing Frisk themself and seeing what the connection was. And to be honest, I didn't really find anything.

Then I started thinking about Frisk instead because it was late and I couldn't keep my focus, but that turned out to be really helpful because, while Frisk is a player stand in most of the time despite being revealed to be their own person, there are things that they do by themself, either implicitly or explicitly, and if you try to analyze them to figure out what kind of person they are, you also get two wildly contradicting versions of them. And which version you get is entirely dependent on how you choose to play the game.

Because your choices have a lot of weight to determining what happens in the game, not only does it affect which ending you get, but it also effects how you get there and how you choose to tell the story. You get to choose what kind of story you want, and with that choice comes whatever characterization of Frisk would fit the most for whatever you are doing.

If you play pacifist or neutral without starting off with a genocide, when you first encounter Sans, it's implied Frisk laughs or at least has some sort of reaction, no matter how many neutral runs you have done without true resetting beforehand. Frisk sits through and humors Papyrus in all of his puzzles and japes even if they've heard the same joke or solved the same puzzle a thousand times beforehand. Mettaton comments on them looking bored at the beginning of the musical if it's not your first playthrough after true resetting, and he gives you the option to skip it, but he doesn't say Frisk looks hostile or anything, and in the fight against him, you have the option of just calmly flipping his switch to just get the fight over with. Sans implies either Frisk looks like they're really thinking about what they did on a first neutral run or they look bored and not particularly bothered in subsequent runs after that unless you do pacifist which he then comments on the fact that they were exceptionally kind to everyone and even when they ran away, they were smiling the whole time.

But if you do a genocide run or start off with a genocide run, Frisk doesn't react at all to Sans' handshake joke, they don't sit through any of the puzzles Papyrus has and they don't acknowledge him at all, they give you the option to just keep taking and taking snowman pieces until the snowman is dead, and they move on their own to walk toward whichever area boss you're up to at the time in a threatening manner and even move toward Monster Kid on their own to intimidate them. They're really into the killing people thing in these routes while in the other routes, they're a lot more into engaging with people or at least giving you a better prompt of being willing to spare them.

So if it's true that Frisk has wildly different personalities and goals depending on how you play the game, it must be true with Chara too. For the majority of the time, Chara was just a kid who loved monsters and loved their family and felt extremely guilty for accidentally poisoning their dad and didn't know how to handle it and probably guilty and unworthy of their love because they were human and weren't used to receiving that kind of care in the first place. But if you choose to play the game where another human who falls down and decides to kill as many monsters as possible, Chara will be another human who hates monsters, or at least, grew to hate monsters and was only concerned with getting more and more power as they woke up because that's the thematically appropriate characterization of them for that route and way of playing.

So they're both not evil and evil, but which one you get is entirely dependent on you.

#undertale #utdr #chara dreemurr #frisk undertale #undertale analysis #honestly though; it's a lot more fun to play around with the version of Chara that isn't evil in my opinion #I really love the narrator Chara theory; but I had to put that aside for a moment because it's not confirmed canon lol #suicide tw #chara #frisk

[vobomon]

Timelines and Clocks

It is said that there are many different timelines and routes that are possible for a single soul to take. it all depends on their choices in life and the decisions they make along the way. But what if the universe was locked onto one specific route? Despite all the millions of timelines that exist... what if a glitch occurred in the system? What would the universe do to erase this abnormality? 

His clock begin to tick down to his demise the moment he met the girl known as Meryl Stryfe. “Hello, I’m your new partner! Staring today we’ll be working together! I hope we can get along well!” 

At the beginning, they were close-- believe it or not. He called her Meryl from their first meeting. He was a good mentor and showed her the ways of being a reporter. She smiled and he would smile back.

And so, the universe killed him at Jeneora Rock. 

But he woke up again. He met Meryl again. He still called her “Meryl Stryfe” and inevitably walked his way to his demise at Jeneora Rock again. There came a point that he lost count of the times he had died at Jeneora Rock. It was always a different death that he couldn’t prepare for. By the time he had lost count, Roberto had taken his first sip of whiskey. 

When he had successfully survived past Jeneora Rock, Roberto began to relax again. Until they met the Undertaker. He shot him in the back; made it look like an accident. So he chose to not trust the Undertaker in the next timeline. 

The worst death was being digested by those god-awful worms. By that point, he started smoking cigarettes to ease his nerves. 

He stopped calling the girl as “Meryl” because he never knew how long he’d last in a specific timeline. He distanced himself. He became an alcoholic because it became too much... he was overcome by paranoia over each choice he made. 

Every step he took could spell his demise because the universe was quite literally against him. 

His clock continued to tick and when they found Vash the Stampede tied up in the desert, he felt a shiver go down his spine. Oh no, its going to happen again. And he couldn’t escape his fate.

He was very careful.

Ever so careful.

Each step along the way, he made with precision. 

By the time they got to July City, Roberto could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. He had never gotten that far before. And then--

“I was just unlucky,” He tried to speak through the blood in his teeth. Yeah, right. He had to be the most unlucky man in the universe because everything was out to get him and he knew it all before setting foot on this path.

Meryl cried, just as she always did whenever he died. But he couldn’t leave her with nothing. “Take it.” He handed her the gun. She was derringer Meryl; the universe knew this. So he had to set the record straight before leaving this timeline. 

“Follow your heart,” he smiled. “Meryl Stryfe.” 

It felt good to say her name again. Maybe in the next timeline, he won’t distance himself from her. Maybe she’ll like that.

He closed his eyes, knowing he’d open them again very soon.

See you soon, Meryl.

#trigun #trigun stampede #trigun spoilers #roberto de niro #meryl stryfe

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

By the very scientific method of "flip a coin", it was ultimately decided that today would be another Splinter Cell follow-up

Sig strode through the makeshift mess hall in the weapons factory with a confidence that drew eyes to him immediately. He swung himself up onto a chair and placed two fingers in his mouth to shatter the quiet with a piercing whistle. Instantly, he had everyone's attention.

"Listen up, rebels!" Sig barked, "There's been a change in operations! Jak’s just secured the backing of the Wastelander nation in this war."

A foreign ally? The motley gathering began to whisper amongst themselves. The majority had never even heard of Wastelanders having an entire nation. But they did know that Wastelanders had a reputation for finding rare treasures and selling them to the highest bidder. Having them fund the war against Praxis could either spell victory or trouble, depending on what they wanted in return.

"What's this gang-"

"Nation," Sig corrected.

"Yeah, that. What's their angle?" A woman named Kloe demanded.

Sig's eye glinted dangerously. "Payback. Praxis thought he could kidnap Wasteland kids and let the Marauders take the fall for it."

He slammed a fist into his palm.

"They're gonna help you shape up into a real fighting force. We Wastelanders will take point in any heavy firefights and strategic planning. You'll be crucial for intel and evacuation routes. We work together, maybe we'll bring down the Baron before he gets half the city killed with his stupidity."

Bran, a barrel-chested tailor, folded his thick arms and scowled. "And what happens when the war is over, eh? These Wastelanders planning to leave peacefully?"

"Fair enough," a youngster agreed from across the table. "That's how we ended up with Praxis in the first place, right? How do we know these people don't want to take over?"

From the side of the room, a new voice scoffed, "Oh you need not worry. I have no desire to rule this city again."

A grizzled man sat in the corner, arms folded across his chest. Half in shadow, he observed them all with keen eyes. On the scaffold above him, others in the garb of Wastelanders stood, feigning disinterest. Jak, Daxter, and Tess leaned against the railing, watching the man below with curiosity.

"I may not respect the choices you've all made in my absence, but I'll respect your rejection of the House of Mar."

He raised one brow.

"Personally, I disagree with the notion that a bloodline is what gives someone the right to rule."

Damas leaned back and let his eyes wander over the twenty or thirty individuals at the fold-out tables. The younger rebels seemed confused by his appearance. Those closer to his own age sat frozen, shock coloring their faces. They remembered him. They recognized him, even after 16 years of change. It was gratifying, in a way.

"If you mean to ask whether there is a "catch" to my aid, I will not lie to you," he said. "We are not helping you for free. But when the Baron’s head has been freed from his shoulders, you will all do with the city as you see fit, and we will return home."

One of the older members of Daxter's "Fight United" division stood up. Her eyes weren't what they used to be, but she could still operate a Titan Suit with deadly efficiency. Now she squinted across the tables to the corner.

"It really is you, isn't it?" she asked, "King Damas? Most of us were afraid Praxis had murdered you in secret."

"He would have," Damas answered bluntly, "but the Precursors have always taken a bizarre and not entirely welcome interest in the fate of my House, to the point of several Council members deeming it blasphemy to kill an Heir of Mar before the Precursors can do something absolutely ridiculous to them."

Above him, Jak choked on a laugh and hastily pulled away from the rail to hide his smirk. He knew there were enough devotees of the Precursors in the Factory Cell that laughing could step on some toes. Normally, that wouldn't have mattered to him. But since most of the devout were in Daxter's Titan Suit squad, he didn't want to make his best friend's life any harder than necessary.

Kloe leaned out from her seat, as little less confident now that she knew the leader of this foreign ally was the lost king of her own city. Among her generation, there were still a lot of mixed feelings about his reign. Most agreed that he'd been a failure as a leader during the Metalhead War, but sixteen years had softened blame into an acknowledgment that he'd come to the throne a boy, forced into manhood too soon. To throw the weight of an entire city of innocents onto such young shoulders without offering a hand in support had led to catastrophe. He hadn't been ready to rule, but after seeing the alternative, the older generation didn't blame him anymore.

"King- King Damas." Kloe swallowed her nerves. "You didn't answer my question. What's your angle? Can't just be payback, or you'd probably have assassinated Praxis by now. What is it you want from us?"

Damas didn’t take his eyes off the gathered crowd. He pointed upward, right to where Jak stood with Tess above them.

"Him," he answered bluntly. "I'm taking Jak."

The room burst into an uproar.

"You can't just "take" Jak! He's our best fighter!"

"Jak?! Why the heck would you want him?!"

"King or no king, we don't trade kids for favors!"

"What do you even want him for?"

"Dude, that's a bad idea! Have you seen what that guy is like?!"

"Sig, you're not letting him take our tank, right?"

Sig cut through the protests with another sharp whistle.

"Everybody zip it!" he shouted.

When the room had quieted, he stepped down from the chair and walked between the tables.

"I understand your concern. Nice to see y'all showing more concern for Jak than some cells. But let me remind you that, like a couple others of you here, Jak’s a kid. Not a soldier. When this whole mess is done, you rugrats deserve the chance to go where you want. See the world. Don't you think?"

Some of the younger members exchanged glances. Well. That was different, wasn't it?

Jinx ground his unlit cigar into the tabletop. "Bull. Prettyboy, you ain't cut out for the wastes, believe me. You really gonna go with them when this is all over?"

The boy looked away.

"Yes."

"Jak?" A round-faced teen from the Scout Flies division frowned up at him. "Are you...are you really okay with this?"

Jak was quiet for a moment, like he wasn't sure what to say. Then he raised his eyes, and with an almost guilty expression, he croaked,

"Yes."

"Jak, you can't-"

"Yes I can!"

The sharpness in his words caught them all off guard, himself included. He winced slightly.

"Look- I can take care of myself, okay? It's fine. We get the numbers and firepower to take down Praxis, they get me, and I get to go as far away from the Baron's labs as possible. Everybody wins."

It seemed selfish to tell them that he had always planned to leave once the Baron was dead. Not everyone in the Factory Cell liked him, or saw him as more than a walking weapon of mass destruction. But four weeks of operating as a splinter cell was enough to forge at least a sense of camaraderie. They were all wary of him, even the ones that liked him -- except for a couple senseless kids who looked up to him for some godforsaken reason -- but they depended on him. They had expectations of him, and knowing that he couldn't fulfill them turned Jak's stomach and tightened his chest.

He pushed off of the rail and swallowed.

"I'll um. I'll see you at the next briefing."

Phobos turned and followed him up the scaffolding, through a short antechamber covered in buttons and dials to what used to be a testing room. She wasn't wearing her wrap in her hair anymore: currently it was functioning as a sling to hold Mar on her back. Bored by the adults talking and talking and talking, Mar had fallen asleep until the shouting started. He blinked sleepily over his mother's shoulder at Jak, then dropped his head back down with a tired grumble.

"So you've decided for sure?"

Phobos frowned at Jak.

"I don't want you to feel that our help is dependent on you coming home with us."

Jak tilted his head. "Would you still help if I didn't?"

"We wouldn't wait for your cell to be ready." Phobos bounced Mar a little higher on her back and glanced back towards the hall.

"If this was the city you'd chosen to live in, Da- your- your father would already be on his way to kill Praxis without you, to make the city safe for you."

"Why?"

The boy spun on his heel and forced himself to look this Other Mother -- as if he'd even known one mother -- in the eye.

"You don't know me."

"Not yet, no. Is that a requirement for wanting you to be safe?" asked Phobos, with a hint of a wry smile.

Jak shut his mouth quickly. That was a hard question to answer. Usually, knowing him meant people started throwing him toward danger. Made sense that the strangers were the ones being protective if they just saw some random teenager playing soldier. Once they saw him in action, they'd change their tune.

"But Jak-" Phobos seemed to glide forward, reaching up to tuck a loose curl behind Jak's ear. "Do you actually want to come to Spargus with us?"

He leaned into her touch the slightest bit, like a skittish crocadog. If Sig was right, Phobos realized, he was likely starved for affection. What kind of life had this Other Mar led? What, exactly, had the Baron done? The boy had mentioned laboratories. The very word made Phobos's blood curdle.

What have they done to you, child?

She eased closer.

Jak's eyes darted this way and that. He opened his mouth, but the words faltered on his tongue. After a few false starts, at last he gathered himself and looked up. His resolve broke the instant he glimpsed Mar's curls over Phobos's shoulder.

Mar was safe now. But what about him?

"I have to get out of this city," he whispered, as if afraid of being overheard. "I have- I have to- to see the sky again. The real sky."

The words spilled out despite his attempts to stop them.

"I'm not- I'm not going to leave Mar. Where he goes, I go. Please- please don't leave me here."

What a pathetic plea. Jak cringed internally. Two years -- two and a half, now -- he'd managed without ever begging for escape. Not from his captors, not from his abusers, not even from the Underground. But after the glimpse of the Wastes Sig had shown him, after the possibility of freedom had been dangled before him, how could Jak ever go back?

He couldn't quite interpret the emotion in Phobos's eyes. But she opened her arms and held her hands palm up, where he could see them. She made no moves towards him, instead asking, "Jak, may I?"

No one had ever asked him that before. He either got hugged, or he didn't. Usually, with the dark eco running under his skin, he didn't like hugs. He was wary of sudden movement, and even when it was telegraphed, the eco made his skin so much more sensitive than it would be otherwise. Which often made tight squeezes unbearable. But ever since Mar's father had used the light eco on him, things felt more...more settled. Restrained.

Did he want a hug?

He wasn't a baby, or some helpless victim. He was a monster. A survivor. An ex-hero.

....a kid.

Just a kid.

"I...uh, okay."

Jak grimaced and sternly told himself not to look desperate.

The embrace lasted for only a moment or two, but for those brief heartbeats Jak wondered at how safe he felt. Was this how Mar felt when he carried him around after nightmares? How Keira felt whenever Samos used to hug her when they were kids?

Jak had told himself often that he had plenty of human contact in the form of Daxter. But now he wondered if Tess was right about that "touch-starved" thing she was talking about the other week.

Phobos released him gently and stepped back to hoist Mar higher on her back again. Sympathy lined her eyes, but Jak didn't feel pitied. He felt seen.

Mar yawned and Phobos clicked her tongue and hummed quietly. Nine notes, rising and falling, only a snatch of a tune, but it was familiar to Jak.

Stay with me, the seas are dark and wild-

"Mar hums that, too," he said.

Phobos looked up. "He remembers?"

There was just a hint of a tremor in her voice, but her eyes lit up.

"Er...I think so. I don't think he knows the words though." Jak shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Well." Phobos bit the inside of her cheek and reached back to run her fingers through Mar's hair. "I didn't always sing the words to him."

A gage on the wall began to click rapidly, startling them both. Jak banged a fist against the panel and a jet of steam burst out from the seams.

Phobos jumped back and raised her eyebrows.

"Is it supposed to do that?"

The boy shrugged. "I dunno. But it stopped clicking, right?"

That earned him a snort. Phobos shook her head.

"Oh dear. You really are just like Damas, aren't you?"

Wary curiosity crept into Jak's eyes. "Am I?"

It was something he'd always wondered about. Did he get his eyes from a parent, or share their need to explore? Was he an outlier, a freak even as a child? Or would he have been enough like a parent for people to know who he was?

Did it even apply when those parents came from a completely different timeline?

"Ohhh yes." Phobos chuckled and tapped experimentally on the gage. "Your father has a lifetime ban from the mechanics' corner of the city garages."

"What did he do?" Jak breathed.

The slight awe in his voice and eyes suggested that he found the idea at least somewhat inspiring. That was...mildly concerning. But at the same time it was a little poignant. In the two days since their meeting, Jak had been holding back around the Spargans, like he was afraid to let them close. This was the first time the lonely boy had asked them a question. He sounded tentatively hopeful, like he was desperately looking for some kind of connection to make between them. Phobos could empathize with that.

"I'll tell you what," she said, glancing around conspiratorially, "Why don't you help me get Mar settled for a nap, and that way I can tell you the whole embarrassing story without Damas stopping me."

A shy, crooked smile peeked out from under the boy’s tough facade.

"Fine. You, uh, you want me to carry him?"

"No, that's alright. I'm...I'm not ready to let go yet. Thank you, though."

Phobos nudged his arm.

"Not that I doubt you could carry him easier than me. Huh. That friend of yours is as big as Mar and you just carry him around on your shoulder!"

She strolled out of the corridor with a mischievous look. "Let's pretend you got that from my side of the family, for the sake of my pride."

#jak and daxter #splinter cell au #free day thursday #fic prompts #writing prompts #jak and daxter sig #jak and daxter mar #dadmas #king damas #jak's mother #captain phobos #jak gets bonding time with his mom #damas is not above theatrics. man was definitely hiding in the corner like aragorn For Effect #Jak is about to be the focal point of the custody battle of the century #lullaby is based on Stay With Me from Into the Woods because its been stuck in my head #and Mar still doesn't know what's going on

[gonzague-if]

Hmm the latest asks about Nevers made me think...

I like him a lot, but I guess since I've played the Patreon version I've had more time than other readers to just come to terms with what will happen I guess, but now I'm curious about things.

First one is... when will that happen? I mean, I'm assuming it's not that big of a spoiler to tell us when to expect the MC to kill him? At the very least an approximation. I'm curious as to how many scenes we'll be able to have with him and so on. Obviously, the more content we'll get with him alive, the more the players will get attached to him. But on the other hand, since it's one of the events that put the whole story into motion, I'm assuming it can't really happen very late on...

And the other one is about the ask answer you wrote in which you tell you consider him a RO even if it's a very sad story. And well, truth be told, ever since I played, I too considered him a RO - just not one I'll be pursuing (lucky me to have fallen for Peyrolles and not having to deal with the romantic side of the Nevers tragedy haha). With that being said... if a player picks Nevers as RO, just how much will that impact the rest of the playthrough? Like, I'm assuming regardless of romance we'll be able to determine just how much the MC manages to get over his death or no, and how much will they feel guilty. But I'm also assuming romantic feelings will be a whole different can of worms. So will players be able to determine if their Gonzague still loves Nevers and basically never stop, and have choices related to that even if he's dead? And will they be able to "pick another RO" after that? That sort of things! Thank you!

Hi! Thank you for the ask. :)

Nevers's death will happen early on, yes, since it's what starts the plot. I'm expecting it to happen in chapter 3, or even chapter 2, depending on how long things will be in the next chapter. I don't think there'll be another scene with him before that happens, the one in the game is pretty much a goodbye scene, the way I see it. I would love to sneak in another one before then, but I feel like it would be awkward and maybe lessen the impact of the scene that's already there.

And as for his romance, you pretty much summed it up! I'll put more details under a read more, in case people would rather keep it all a surprise.

Essentially, the route will be about MC grieving his loss and what they did to him, trying to come to terms with it and failing or succeeding, choosing to still love him or move on, etc.

Depending on MC's relationship with other characters, they might be able to discuss their feelings about him, get help moving on, and maybe fall in love with someone else along the way.

I also plan to explore their past relationship with Nevers through a couple of flashbacks, so you'll still be able to interact with his character through them after his death.

Of course, all of that is the rough plan, things could change a bit as I write, but for now, that's the goal!

#asks #gonzague spoilers #philippe de nevers #the murder

[pholiabanna]

Confession time; i kinda hate the st writers. They are the reason why the pride was ruined during the vol2 waiting, the reason why we face constant homophobia from mlvns and the ga for shipping byler and all bc they refused to break up mlvn and also included that shit ass monologue. Now we have to wait years to see the conclusion meanwhile ppl gradualy start lose their interest. They ruined Nick's career and reputation for no reason when his site was there for years. The way they say nothing against the apparent fandom homophobia even though it is not even a secret since ppl sharw homophobic comments left and right. The way they use Will's car scene as a memeable moment even though many queer fans were devastated when the scene came out. The way they write these characters. The way they treate Will. The way they treated Robin. I have so much spite and hatred bottled in me and i am only starting to realize it after a year. If byler doesnt become canon i hope all st writers and the duffers lose their jobs and never manage to write ever again. I would even support Netlix going full bankrupt. My respect for the writers all depend on whether or not byler becomes canon and i dont care if it makes me stuck with byler or whatever. After everything the writers pulled, yes, my respect all depend on this choice for S5.

Honestly I see where you're coming from, so your feelings are completely valid. I do believe that the monologue and saving byler for the last season makes narrative sense because of the way they've written the story and how best friends to lovers stories usually work (they normally won't get together until the end of a movie, and you have to think of ST as a 5 season long movie).

I think most of those things you pointed out are more of a fandom problem, like Will crying in the van becoming a meme- I believe it was portrayed very seriously in the show and it was a certain sector of the audience who decided to memefy it. Also, the homophobia would happen even if byler became canon in season 4, sadly homophobes are everywhere in every fandom. I also believe a lot of those things you pointed out are more of Netflix's fault, because using Wills scene as a meme was something accounts like Netflix, Netflix geeked, Netflix UK and other did, but I don't recall strangerwriters doing that (but I may be wrong so please if I am let me know). Their executives were probably the ones who decided to split the season as well, and having vol 2 come out right after pride month (being a terrible coincidence because of the byler-Milkvan storyline and the homophobia that subsequently came from maloobans). If I remember correctly, the writers account has stated a couple times that everyone should be allowed to ship whoever they want. But as you pointed out, sometimes I feel like they could do a little bit more. They tanked Nick's reputation (which I can understand up to a certain point if they are trying to protect the show they are working on from getting spoiled, but maybe they should have made a less vague and incriminating statement), and they definitely could address the rampant homophobia in the fandom more frequently.

It sucks that we need to wait so many years to prove we were right, but think about how satisfying it will be once the season comes out and you watch all of those people have a breakdown, and hopefully you see interviews from the duffers explaining how that was the intention all along. If that's the case, then I'll be happy, but as you said, if all of these was for nothing and byler isn't endgame, I'll definitely consider it queerbaiting, because they have built up romantic feelings for Will on Mike's side, even if some people want to deny it. So yeah, queerbaiting in 2023 sucks, and it's totally valid for you to feel like you won't respect them anymore if they go that route. I think more people need to realize this is not a matter of whether the couple I like ends up together over the couple other people like, it's a matter of whether queer people get a respectful and deserved treatment or not. And if they don't, then they're terrible writers, because if the way they fucked up that storyline, and terrible people too.

But hopefully not. Right now, I'm really convinced byler is endgame and they know what they're doing. We have to deal with crazy Melvin stans meanwhile, but the wait will be over before you notice and they'll get really quiet and embarrassed once they realize how wrong they were. But I'd like for them to address some of the homophobic comments online a little bit more often.

#byler #byler tumblr #stranger things

[marshmallowprotection]

I feel like in yoosung's route a lot of his growth comes from having his mc rely/depend on him. Mc is an external reason for him to step up and address his problems, without talking down to him. He wants someone he can be a good man for. How would yoosung respond to an mc that's very independent or who gets frustrated with his perception of gender roles? If I were in that situation I would easily bond with yoosung over video games, school, and the deeper issues of trauma, but I would get annoyed with his need to protect me and I would try so hard to go to mint eye with seven and yoosung

Yoosung feels like he needs to fit into a role. It’s not quite his fault that society puts this expectation on young men that says they need to be a certain way. He does get inspired by MC, but to say that it’s only MC is not right, either. It’s not just MC he wants to protect. All of his friends are being stalked and harassed by the hacker and the organization that stands with him. He doesn’t want to see the world he loves get destroyed by the hacker. He says that himself.

Maybe it’s sort of hard to see that when he does smile at you through the phone and say that it occurred to him that he wanted to be brave to protect you?

But, this is about more than you. Yes, he wants to protect you and he wants to keep you safe, but there’s more to it than that. It’s about trying to help his entire found family as best he can. He wants to be brave like the rest of them, and he is inspired by them to be a bolder person. He wants to protect his family in any way possible. The RFA is his family just as much as it is becoming that for you.

You are the catalyst that made him want to feel confident, yet, you are not the sole reason. He wants to be brave and capable for more than this. He wouldn’t discount your fears or let you think you’re incapable of protecting yourself in a tight space. He isn’t the type of person to do dangerous stuff like this, either.

Seven told him that he’s risking a lot but Yoosung consented to it. He knows the risk factor. If you wanted to go with them, he wouldn’t have stopped you from the attempt. He isn’t your boss. He isn’t in charge of you. He loves you and wants to protect you from danger, but he’ll never tell you to stay put if you don’t want to do that. You are your own person. So is he. You just went through that lesson as it stands about his grief over his cousin. He learned that.

Why would he repeat it again?

There’s a lot going on in his life. To Yoosung, it’s about the fact that everyone thinks he’s a child who isn’t capable. Yes, Yoosung is insecure about himself as a man. But, to him, it’s less about being stuck in this place where he needs to a lot of stuff to be considered a man. He hates being seen as a child and wants to be seen as the adult he is. This is about being seen as a child by everyone in his life. Nobody wants to be treated like a child at the age of 20.

Why would he ignore your calls to be seen as capable? He wants the exact same thing that you do. Sure, Yoosung might be a little clueless when it comes down to certain roles in society, but that’s not something that can’t be changed. You just need to talk with him about how you feel and what you feel. That’s all it takes to work out respect and boundaries and choice with him. Just because he wants to protect you doesn’t mean he expects you to be something you’re not. He wants to be a good boyfriend to you, yes, that’s right.

However, Yoosung doesn’t want you to feel like you have to be something you aren’t. He respects you. He admires you. He loves how you stand up and say what you mean. You are strong and capable in your own right. You’re the person he wants in his life forever if he can help it... and he wants to learn how to be the best partner with you. He wants to learn, grow, and experience life on the same level. If that means going to Mint Eye together, so be it. He can’t tell you not to do something.

He can stand by your side if you choose to go... just as you’ve stood by him throughout his grief and helped him to see what he really wanted out of life. If he can protect you, you should be able to protect him. This is about being partners, not someone being more than the other one, and a healthy relationship comes to life when everyone involved work to make sure everything is balanced for the love involved. Shake his shoulder if he does something you don’t like and trust that he’ll listen. Expect him to do the same.

You can’t make progress if you don’t talk about your needs.

#ask #anon #mod kait #yoosung kim #kim yoosung

[squirrelno2]

ok so Slick can’t be the only clone who ever thought like that. There’s millions of them and no group is a monolith, and the clones I write tend to run the gamut of possible feelings about the Jedi in general and the ones they know in particular but like. what about clones who feel betrayed by other clones, too?

someone who grows up hearing about how they’re all siblings, all fighting together for the same goal, how they can depend on each other - the stuff Domino struggled with in Clone Cadets, about not leaving a man behind, and then the very real fact that in the war we see, that isn’t actually how it goes. there are a lot of times where they have to leave clones behind, and other times where they didn’t necessarily have to but there was something else their leaders wanted to achieve more. (sometimes it’s tactically sound choices that are horrible to make, sometimes it’s like. anakin being anakin. clone wars as a show never really thought through its implications but you know what I look at something that’s not that deep and go “my house now” the nasty implications are my sandbox)

anyway made up a clone called Roadkill, as one does, and I’m thinking he’s very much like Slick. probably passes information to the Separatists. maybe he’s subtler than Slick or more sparing with details so his commanding officers never realise, maybe he just goes undiscovered bc he’s so far away from the chain of command that they don’t realise the bad luck is something more. because this is a clone who resents the Jedi, yes, and the Kaminoans, and the Senate, and sees them all as slavers equally deserving of his scorn, but also this is a clone who’s watched officers - clone officers who told him they were in this together! - walk away from clones they could have saved for the sake of the war. “it’s bigger than all of us” people tell Roadkill, but if they don’t have any personal loyalty Roadkill can see, why should he?

and then there’s Pip, who’s got the brotherhood brain in spades. He sees Roadkill, who never makes friends and who everyone agrees hates everyone, and goes “ok this is my new best friend, I can fix him” and has no idea that Roadkill is out here betraying him every day. it’s the sunshine-grumpy dynamic but the grumpy one genuinely hates it, and Pip is too hopeful and loving and forgiving to really get that Roadkill is doing everything he can to push Pip away. Pip keeps saving Roadkill’s life. He is the only one who puts effort into that, really, and he’s the first example Roadkill ever has of someone saying “no we need to go back for a clone” and maybe Roadkill does eventually soften but

I don’t think Pip ever fixes him. I could go the love conquers all route and have their friendship be the thing that makes Roadkill realise what he’s done is wrong, but also I’m feeling violent with my oc creation today and I think that Pip dies because of something Roadkill does. He never really looks at Pip as a friend, let alone a brother, and then after it happens he keeps catching himself looking for Pip because he knows Pip would have something to say. he can’t back out now from the life he’s made. the separatists have too much power over him. he won’t desert because if there’s one thing about his upbringing that stuck it’s the idea that all he’s good for is fighting.

so he just quietly keeps sending information that never really changes the outcome of the war anyway, until the day it stops mattering.

#also they're 501st i'm thinking so. roadkill might end up in the march on the jedi temple. fuck me #this is the second time today i've pondered the deaths of my ocs hello what the fuck is going on in my brain #star wars #clone wars #clone ocs #nothing makes me wish i could draw more than whatever the fuck is going on in this post #i wanna do like. these two looking happy bc pip's having a great time and roadkill's pretending and also. this whole post. an ironic caption #Roadkill (oc) #Pip (oc)

[pentition]

Today Pen said this during a date when asked about his past;

"The moment I knew what I was doing, I was already learning how to fight. Poor kid, I don't mind though. In this world of ours, the strong rules over the weak. So you need people like me to shield the unfortunate and dish out justice!"

So maybe there is some sort of hope for redemption with him basically saying he is a child soldier. Or they are going the route that even though there is a fucked up backstory some things cannot be forgiven. He's an asshole don't get me wrong, but I've been known to collect assholes because in fiction I find them very funny.

Spoilers!!

I would love a Pen redemption arc and the more I am here, posting Pen content, the more I want that over cementing him as a villain.

I don't want a redemption arc that entirely absolves him because I think Pen's sincere passion for violence is a vital part of his character. I can believe it was conditioned into him by his environment as a super soldier experiment and child soldier. Regardless if he actually likes it or if it's something he adapted into liking for survival purposes, I think either would be interesting.

The murder of Logan's father is fucked up but I can see that being anywhere between a full truth, a partial truth or an outright lie depending on story and character direction. Either way, I can see it less of being a choice and more of him doing what soldiers do, following orders without question. Does it make it okay? No. But how that subject is approached and the things that factor into it determines how it can be judged and perceived.

I think Pen is a messed up asshole. I don't think he needs to be fixed. I think he just needs to have a choice for once on what he wants from his own life. Little moments in his dialogue where he acknowledges his situation (vaguely) with self-awareness just tells me there's emotional intelligence there that he has kept to himself. Maybe he doesn't know what to do with it beyond punching things but that doesn't mean it's not there. Maybe he just needs redirecting so he can do some introspection on himself.

Pen being an asshole is so fun. I do have a weakness for asshole characters most of the time. At least, ones that either have or potentially have layers as to why they are like this - and hint that they don't operate solely on an asshole spectrum but are capable of more. Being an asshole can be a personality trait but it's also a choice, which I always find interesting and have to ask why.

I'd never change Pen being an asshole. I'd just like to see development of his assholeness potentially coming to benefit Sandrock. Or the facts surrounding Pen aren't all what they seem. Because all I can think about is now that he got caught, Duvos may view him as a failure and that completely jeopardizes things for him. Maybe Duvos will come after Pen now too for failing. Maybe he's at risk to be eliminated or sucked back into whatever program made him into what he is.

I'll always find it fascinating that he considered his work for Duvos as his 'second job'. It's little wording like that that makes me hope being Sandrock's protector because his #1. And his asshole personality + soldier mentality is struggling to allow himself to keep wanting that. And for people (like me) that have romanced him, the lack of addressing the whole situation in game is frustrating. From a narrative standpoint though, if he is struggling, it becomes a little more interesting in terms of trying to forcefully distance himself by not acknowledging any of it.

Oop there I go. Sorry for the text wall. sdgdfhgfjhg Either way, I hope there is too. Thanks for the ask!!

#pen #musings

[atopearth]

Which Hogwarts Houses do you think all the Asahina brothers from BroCon are in?

Honestly, it’s been a very long time since I read Harry Potter so I don’t really remember too much about the qualities of each House, but I’ll try my best! Spoiler warning for their routes!

Gryffindor - Tsubaki, Subaru, Yusuke

I think Gryffindor’s core quality was bravery or something, but I feel like when it comes to Gryffindor, being able to stand strong when facing against adversity is what I think defines who they are, which I think applies to Tsubaki, Subaru and Yusuke. For Tsubaki, even though he felt inferior to Azusa, he never gave up on his dream of becoming the voice actor he wanted to be, and instead kept working hard to get the role he always wanted. Subaru also goes through stuff like slumps but he faces them head-on and overcomes them knowing what he needs to do to achieve his goals. As for Yusuke, he may be clumsy, shy and can make mistakes, but he always faces forward in whatever he’s doing. He admits to his faults but never shies away from them and will always do his best to become better rather than wallow in his weaknesses. So, I guess what I think they all represent for Gryffindor is that spirit to always face their problems head-on no matter how difficult they may be to deal with.

Ravenclaw - Ukyo, Iori

Ravenclaw is where all the intelligent and smart people are, so I think Ukyo and Iori fit it well. They’re both people who do well in their studies, great at taking care of people around them, and are basically seen as “perfect”. However, their strength is also a form of weakness for them, because even though they are capable when it comes to stuff in books, they can be weak to things that relate to emotions. For Ukyo, his ex-girlfriend’s betrayal is like the only thing that makes his perfect façade break, and I think even though he logically understands how he shouldn’t let it get to him, he can’t help it because emotions are emotions.  I haven’t finished Iori’s route yet so I’m not too sure what exactly his problems may be, but I assume it’s related to something like lacking passion because he seems rather apathetic to everything? So I think maybe his problem of being too good at everything makes it difficult for him to decide on what he wants in the future because he has too many choices but not enough desire for one particular thing. 

Hufflepuff - Masaomi, Azusa, Natsume, Rui

I think the core values of Hufflepuff lie in kindness, empathy and just generally being a peace-loving person. I did a Harry Potter quiz back in the day and I’m a Hufflepuff apparently haha. But I think one of the biggest parts of being a Hufflepuff is being accepting. I think I remember in the books that “leftovers” that didn’t really fit in other Houses would go to Hufflepuff as well, so I believe Hufflepuff in general is a very chill group, in which all the brothers I’ve listed are very much that imo. Masaomi is like the nicest big brother ever that just hopes to protect his brothers as a doctor and care for them. Azusa probably tries his best to create harmony because Tsubaki is chaotic lol, and having to watch over Tsubaki has probably also made him more considerate of others, Natsume seems to love the ideal simple everyday life and thinks that a simple life is a happy life and I think that’s very much what Hufflepuff wants out of life as long as you’re happy haha. For Rui, the slow paced life where everything is peaceful and he can do what he enjoys in his own little world seems to go with the House well haha.

Slytherin - Kaname, Hikaru, Fuuto, Wataru

For Slytherin, the House seems to be mainly full of sly and “evil” people, but I feel like it’s full of people who are unpredictable. They could be good, could be bad depending on how they are influenced by the people around them. For Kaname, his flirty and teasing personality where he loves getting cute reactions from Ema makes him very sly, but at his core, he is a nice guy who would change his job to properly take care of the one he loves. For Hikaru, the way he gets a kick out of teasing his brothers and everyone around him feels like Slytherin, but also the fact that he’s willing to do whatever he can to get what he wants (e.g. crossdressing to get better info out of people) shows that he’s someone who doesn’t let anything get in the way of his goals imo, and that sounds like Slytherin? Haha. For Fuuto, his mischievous personality and bossy attitude is like a snobby Draco Malfoy in a sense lol, yet when he’s honest, he can be a pretty good guy. I haven’t done Wataru’s route yet but I feel like considering his antics, he seems to be rather possessive and also seems like the type to do whatever he can to get Ema’s affection and attention.

Anyway, I really didn’t intend on this being so long but I felt like I needed to explain why LOL. Thank you for the question, it was interesting trying to think of which House suited which brothers haha! 

#thoughts

[wheel-of-hyperfixation]

Every couple of months this concept for a fic (a whole damn series tbh) pops back into my mind

I really want to make myself write it. Reasons I should give it a shot (this list is kind of just for me, lemme convince myself)

I used to start writing stories as a kid (many a few pages that I started but never continued) and even though I never finished them, it made me so happy. I think I'd like to explore the storyteller in me from a new place; not as a dancer.

All the writing that I end up doing now is for school. I'm typically not one to boast but I will say that my written responses and essays are reallll fucking good. And even with fighting my own brain trying to write for those assignments (anxiety, depression, adhd yall do NOT make it easy) I still Love writing those essays. I have Fun writing those essays

I say I don't have free time but I do manage to find time to rest. Usually though resting just ends up being laying in bed all day watching some show on my laptop. And then I feel shitty (physically and mentally) that I haven't done something more productive. Not productive like "you should've deep cleaned the entire apartment on your first day off in three in a half weeks" but like "hey girl could you just maybe do something that involves some healthy brain stimulation? pls??" I think this would be a good outlet yk healthy for my brain and my body

I'd really like to be able to share something of mine with the folks here I admire

Going off of #4, I have such a hard time sharing my art online but sadly my career path kind of depends on my ability to do that. I have yet to a really clean, simple answer of how to overcome that--at least they haven't been routes I've felt I could make myself do (I'm very stubborn). This however might be a good way for me to practice and build this skill, in a place where my career, My Dream isn't at stake.

_______________________________________

so the plot..

Eddie Munson x (lemme be self-indulgent and also add to our minimal representation on here) BlackFem!Reader

Will the upside down be a thing that happened? I'm guessing no. But if it is then ofc this man survives -as he should as he should-

Eddie has finally graduated ('86 baby <3). He has another 6 months-a year afterwards working every moment he can and saving every penny. He finally leaves Hawkins (would need to write some sad shit with leaving Wayne ofc but yk maybe in a later chapter as a little flashback) for [SOME BIG CITY - i have some choices but it depends on details about Reader i haven't given thought to yet]. He's trying to get into the music scene-- make friends, find some footing, get a consistent gig somewhere if he can. There's a rock night at a local bar he sees a flyer for and there he meets this percussionist who's drumming with a band playing that night. BAM! They're instant friends. IMPORTANT: i headcanon that Eddie also managed to learn to play drums sometime in late middle school/early high school, he doesn't have formal training but can work his way around a drum set. Plot things plot things plot things -> New best friend percussionist has a job with this proffesional dance company as an accompanist; they play for classes and rehearsals and has recently been in talks with the director about their upcoming season because of a new work one of the choreographers will be building. It'll be a lot of workshopping but just conceptually it seems great. The other two accompanists who usually work with the company don't drum though and the choreographer really wants a musical focus on percussion. BestFriend calls Eddie while he's still at the studio speaking with the director and choreographer :)

WELCOME READER!! I'm not sure who exactly she'll be yet but currently mulling over some possibilities: a friend of this choreographer from a previous job who they've asked to help with the choreography? a brand new company member? someone who's danced a couple seasons with the company (corps dancer) and is getting her first larger role? Lots of possibilties but the point is that she's part of the new work too.

And they meet when Eddie comes for his first day-- it's company class in the morning and rehearsal begins later after their lunch break (again it's lots of workshopping, collaborative space, freestyle amongst the dancers as they just get to play around with the music). Eddie is a little entranced by Reader the whole time, and Reader tries to not get flustered and distracted in the middle of learning these movement phrases when she catches him watching her specifically.

Pretty, lovely, dream-like things ensue for them <3

_________________________

That "quick rough summary" turned into a word-vomit brainstorm with a lot more detail than I anticipated. Cool.

#wheel-of-hyperfixation diary

[carlosbakery]

What Are the Benefits of Choosing Custom Cakes

When it comes to cakes, there are lots of options out there. You can buy a premade cake from your local bakery or supermarket and enjoy it on your special day. However, there is another option that you might want to consider: custom made cakes. A custom-made cake is one that is specially designed for you and your loved ones by a professional baker at their home business or in a local cake or pastry shop. There are many benefits associated with choosing this route over buying an off-the-shelf piece of confectionary.

 Below will look at some of these advantages so you can better understand why they make such great choices:

You Are in Charge

You have control of everything: You can choose the colour, flavour and design. You can also choose the size and shape of your cake. If you want a three-tier wedding cake then go ahead! If you prefer tea cakes or cupcakes for your baby shower then go ahead! And if you’re looking to impress someone with a unique birthday cake then go ahead! With custom made cakes there is no limit to what can be done for your special occasion.

Variety Is Key

There are so many options available when it comes to custom made cakes that there really is something for everyone out there! Perhaps try some exotic Flavors like raspberry cheesecake, passion fruit curd or tiramisu? Or maybe something sweetly nostalgic like teddy bear cupcakes? Whatever style of cake floats your boat, we will work with our suppliers and our clients to create exactly what they want without compromise on quality or freshness.

Quality And Presentation

Your custom cake for birthday, will look just how you imagined. Because it was made from scratch, with the freshest ingredients, it will be incredibly delicious and flavourful. Your cake will be made to your specifications. You can choose your favorite flavour, design, and colour combination for a unique cake that is all about you.

Custom Cakes Are Unique

There are many benefits to choosing custom-made cakes. One of the most obvious ones is that you can get a cake that is unique and one-of-a-kind, which makes it special for everyone involved. You can choose the design, colour and flavour of your cake. You can also choose how big or small you want it to be as well as what type of cake topper or accessories you want on top piped flowers, edible figurines all according to your taste.

Custom Made Cakes Are Made Just for You

When you choose a custom-made cake, you get to choose the design. You can choose from many different designs that are offered by the bakery. You can also have an original design made just for you.  You get to choose the flavour of your custom-made cake. The bakeries have many popular Flavors that are always available but if there is something special that you have in mind then make sure before ordering because most bakers will not be able to accommodate any special requests after placing an order!

You also get to choose what size and shape of cake would be best suited for each event whether it’s just a family gathering or something more elaborate like a wedding reception! It all depends on how big an area needs to be covered so make sure this has been taken care of before ordering anything else out first place because otherwise things may start falling apart later down road when everyone begins eating too much dessert.

BUDDY VALASTRO is a fourth-generation baker born into a business owned & operated by his parents. Countless hours were spent in the bakery where his father, Buddy Sr., a master baker, taught Buddy everything about baking and running a business. Carlo's Bakery bakes wedding cakes, specialty cakes, and delicious Italian pastries which have become a household name. Contact us for more information on the best birthday cakes near me.

#Custom Cakes

[robininthelabyrinth]

Now that NHS revenge quest of the past decade is over, he wants friends again. He decides to start with an equally lonely person, Jiang Cheng, who does not have a say in the matter.

ao3

“We’re not friends,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Aren’t we?” Nie Huaisang asked. He didn’t show any shame at having unexpectedly come to visit or at being turned away; instead, he just tapped his fan against his lower lip. “Really? I hadn’t the slightest notion.”

Jiang Cheng felt a shiver go down his spine, which he hadn’t really expected. It was Nie Huaisang, after all, and even if he’d somehow turned out to be a lot more than anyone would’ve expected, well, how dangerous could he really be?

“And to think! For all these years, I’ve been giving you the friend discount.”

Jiang Cheng stiffened. “The…friend discount?”

“Yeah! On all of the trade between our sects, or which our sects enable. All those trade routes and merchants, the tariffs and taxes, the cultivation base materials, the food…”

Jiang Cheng felt cold. Qinghe under Nie Huaisang wasn’t the cultivation powerhouse it had been under Nie Mingjue, but it was still incredibly powerful, a full-on Great Sect, and moreover one of the most practically minded ones: they had their fingers in every merchant’s guild, every serious artisan’s house, every major farm…and loans, of course. Nie Mingjue had been very generous, and set very favorable terms for both trade and repayment all the way back when Jiang Cheng had been rebuilding his sect, and Nie Huaisang had never altered them.

Jiang Cheng’s yearly budget depended on those terms.

“Such a pity,” Nie Huaisang said, and sighed. “Well, it’s all right. If we call due the notes on your dyer’s guilds, we’ll have the money for an amazing New Year’s ceremony.”

The Jiang sect relied heavily on their dyers’ guild – Jiang Cheng had rebuilt the Lotus Pier in large part with their income and their help. In turn, the dyers had been a little extravagant recently, living a little beyond their means in order to take advantage of the current good times; if their debts were called in, they would turn to the Jiang sect and demand help, and he’d have no choice but to honor that.

His treasury would be emptied, and he might need to call in his own debts, and that would be catastrophic to the Jiang sect’s reputation as a Great Sect.

“Wait,” he said.

Nie Huaisang smiled at him. The smile had teeth.

“…I misspoke,” Jiang Cheng said, teeth gritted together. “Of course we’re friends.”

“Oh? That’s great! Jiang-xiong!”

Jiang Cheng found himself in the uncomfortable position of being hugged by his blackmailer.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re doing this?” he eventually asked.

“Mm,” Nie Huaisang said. He hadn’t let go yet. “I’m lonely.”

Jiang Cheng closed his eyes briefly. “…perhaps it was that decade-long revenge quest that made people wary of you?”

“Maybe? Seems like an overreaction. I’m not that clever, really.”

“You just blackmailed me into being your ‘friend’.”

“Well, yes. But you don’t actually mind because being forced into it is the only way you’d accept that you’re worthy of being someone’s friend.”

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth, affronted.

“Go on, name one person that you’re friends with. Jin Ling doesn’t count.”

Wei Wuxian probably didn’t count either.

“That doesn’t mean I like being blackmailed!”

“No? Wasn’t that the entire basis of your relationship with san-ge?”

It really had been.

“And you mostly liked him.”

…he kind of had.

“So why not me, too?”

Jiang Cheng rubbed his forehead. “First you pick up his scheming, next you pick up blackmail…Do you want to be Chief Cultivator, too?”

“Do you?”

Jiang Cheng scowled at him.

Nie Huaisang arched his eyebrows at him. “I’m serious. Do you want it? You could have it. Jin Ling would back you, and so would I if it was what you wanted. Er-ge is in seclusion, I’m untrustworthy, and Jin Ling is too young – you’re a reasonable choice. The best choice, even.”

Jiang Cheng thought about it.

Then he actually thought about it.

“I would hate it,” he said, suddenly horrified. “I already deal with enough people as it is!”

Nie Huaisang patted him on the shoulder. “There, there. If you don’t want the job, you can support me and I’ll take it. As a favor to a friend.”

Jiang Cheng was pretty sure he’d just been manipulated into supporting Nie Huaisang’s bid to be Chief Cultivator, but he didn’t actually care because Nie Huaisang was right. He really was the most logical option – it was traditional for Chief Cultivator to be the sect leader of one of the Great Sects, and all the others were in fact not appropriate for the reasons Nie Huaisang had listed. If he didn’t get someone else to take the job, he’d be well and truly stuck with it!

“Hey, jiujiu, are you in – hey!” Jin Ling glared at Nie Huaisang. “What are you doing here?”

“Jin Ling!” Jiang Cheng snapped. “Be polite!”

“What? But –”

“Be polite! Sect Leader Nie is a friend of mine, and your elder, even if your social rank is the same. Don’t forget your manners!”

Jin Ling mouthed the word ‘friend’.

“We’re very good friends,” Nie Huaisang said virtuously. “I’m doing Jiang-xiong all sorts of favors.”

Like keeping people away from him.

Jiang Cheng nodded.

Jin Ling looked between them and, for some reason, turned bright red. “Jiujiu!” he exclaimed. “Why him?”

“…who else?” Jiang Cheng asked, slightly bewildered. “He’s the most suitable.”

It wasn’t like Lan Xichen could be Chief Cultivator from seclusion. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian weren’t qualified, not as anything more than a temporary role, and anyway they were too busy rolling around in their sheets to actually take the time to do the job properly. And it would be even more inappropriate for it to be someone from one of the smaller sects!

“But – but – but jiujiu…!”

Nie Huaisang started snickering.

“What is it now?” Jiang Cheng asked him, feeling long-suffering. “Some new way to get me over a barrel?”

“Jiujiu!”

Nie Huaisang was now laughing. “Jiang-xiong,” he said, wiping his eyes. “Jiang-xiong…would you like me to get my birth characters? To do it properly?”

“No!” Jin Ling exclaimed.

“What?” Jiang Cheng asked. “Why would you need –”

Belated understanding arrived.

“I’m not sleeping with him!” he howled. “A-Ling!”

“This will be a very good friendship,” Nie Huaisang said happily. “A very good one.”

#mdzs #jiang cheng #nie huaisang #jin ling #my fic #my fics