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slowjamastan · 1 year

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What do you think of sufin and what are your squicks when reading a fic about nordics?

kissing you on the lips im going to rant so much

SuFin is my everything

theyre my bread and butter and toast and jam and all the other things on top idk powdered sugar etc. changed my LIFE that my middle school yaoibait fandom straight up got told by word of god himself that One Guy (who is normal fr this wasn't one of the ones who is always naked or sm) was madly unequivocably and eternally in love with That Other Guy. this was such a big deal for me and still is lbr

SuFin is peak they are my bella and edward this is my thenotebook. AND they are canonically not together and over the years ive seen a pattern of fans who are either familiar with actual swedish-finnish relations or doing research into them concluding over and over that finland would not seriously go for sweden, outside of AUs or jsut bending canon bc they really want them together (valid.......)

i love when fin is holding grudges or uncomfortable with the implications of seriously pursuing a relationship with his former (current, culturally?) oppressor so they try to keep it casual and Fail Severely, OR, my #1 favorite dynamic, Finland is fully a straight man who is like "soz but we can be friends bro lmao" and calls sweden homophobic slurs behind his back (but no one else is allowed to but him, obviously). (this is for my personal funnyvalue and ive rarely rareeeeely seen this. im right tho.)

other than that last thing basically i think its very good if they Are mutually in love but logistics and politics and realism and everything keeps them apart or maybe just closeted about it. but they have shared custody of the dog and the kids etc and have couple fights that are more serious than most but are the most steady and happiest couple on the planet overall. soulmates Real. i love sufin its good in every flavor really ummmmmmmmmmm except hyperukefied finland

thats a good lead in to part 2 of this question actually

Nordic Fic Squicks / please stop doing this, im gonna read it anyway, but still

th's k'nd' typ'ng st'le...... y'kn'w wh't ' m''n

denmark and sweden r always angry and trying to beat each other up... we read the same comic, right? theyre buddies now cmonnn

the dynamic that's like DenNor, SuFin, and Iceland is alone 4evr

WHEN THE DENNOR + SUFIN GROUP DYNAMIC UKEFIES NOR AND FIN UNTIL THEYRE BASICALLY UWU GORLS... stop imposing hetero dynamics on gay ships i will Kill You. at least do it to everyone equally...

somewhat related, my ideal nordic five dynamic is Everyone Is A Divorced Dad and iceland is making fun of them on TikTok. second best dynamic is SuFin real, then Den + Nor are amicably divorced and iceland is their shared custody grown child making fun of them on TikTok

^iceland would not use tiktok he is a euphoric intellectual freak

when they make just norway a girl for no reason. babe, no one even draws nyo!norway that well...you're just projecting your desire to be fought over by hot buff men onto this poor dude. stop making me see this. you fucks have been doing this for over a decade.

ignoring history in canonverse. when ur writing modern present-day anything they have all known each other for like, ever. why would they act like they've just met..??? im not asking for tons of research, just awareness of who these characters are, like, at all

please just write the puffin out. no one rly likes him i prommy

scandinavian trio being Weird and Tense around each other in modern day. i disagree SO much, these guys would be hilarious

not realizing that smack halfway between nor and ice's birthdays is (give or take a few days) denmarks constitution day... himaruya......

overreliance on stereotypes. this is a general hetalia complaint

can we talk about the human names ive been dying to complain about the human names!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just a little bit ill keep it to a minimum

tino isnt a feasible finnish name berwald isnt a good swedish name a lot of the common popular other ones get misspelled or just sound bad, and u cant just give them christian names for their early lives im sooooo serious give them old norse names pre-baptization pleaaaassseeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

somewhere deep in my #post tag i ranted ab my old name timeline for each of them but ive changed my mind a few times since then

for finland im a Timo truther and i have been forever

sweden is such a björn but also i like when his name at least starts with ber- .... but yall r so right when u said bjorn he does deserve that

im also a norway changes his name every few years truther. i think its funny and that he would do that

denmark is a magnus, period, formerly a magni, and this is my hill to die on

iceland makes me insane i change my name hc for him every so often but i have a few first and lasties for him for make me HOUUUGH like SoS turned me on to hrafnsson as a surname which makes me go insane now. im also a changes his name frequently truther for this guy but in a more nuanced way than nor does it

ran out of things to complain about but more will hit me later im sure, thank u for coming to another aphws ted talk by andy. MWAH

#post #aph

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aparticularbandit · 2 years

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so one of the bedtime story fanfics i think about sometimes that i probably won’t actually get around to writing is the one with eve, carla, and lu that i totally blame kathryn for (which of your other characters would eve get along best with, honestly, kathryn).

and since i probably won’t actually get around to writing it, here’s the general gist of the thing for anyone who wants it:

jackson is brendan’s college roommate (maybe they know each other from high school, and brendan just he’s so dumb, mom and eve just you don’t call people dumb, brendan, that’s not nice)

eve and carla meet! and carla is loud and enthusiastic and just “hey, i was planning on going on an i just dropped my kid off at college and now i’m free trip to florida, you wanna go? all of my other friends still have kids and husbands and they just can’t get away, but you seem like you could use a good time, so. come with me.”

and initially eve is like uh we just met i’m gonna take a rain check on that with the implication that she would absolutely never take a rain check on that but then she gets into her porn addiction fantasizing phase and calls carla up like yeah, uh, if you haven’t left yet, i will TOTALLY go with you

and their first night there, despite the fact that eve is totally exhausted because carla is so much (but in a good way! but eve is such an introvert and carla is so not, and eve can only so much before she needs to regroup and recharge), she goes because. it’s a bar, she’ll have fun at a bar, right

and carla takes them to a gay bar because she knows a girl and she maybe wants to see if she’s still around (and eve has never been to a gay bar in her life, so she’s intrigued and unsure and so awkward, eve, i love you, why are you so awkward, babe)

and then carla sees lu and just you ARE still here! and lu turns around like no, fuck, no, i'm hallucinating again, i haven’t even had anything to drink and turns to the bartender and gestures to carla like you can’t see her, right? and the bartender just no, pretty sure she’s there, you okay? and then eve places a comforting hand on lu’s shoulder just to be nice and then lu just there are two now but the bartender nope, they’re still very real

eventually lu takes carla to raf and raf nope. she’s very real. which leads to lu and i wasn’t hallucinating! carla was fucking real!

ANYWAY

lu gets carla and eve set up at the marbella. even though petra owns it and it’s supposed to be a nice kids’ hotel now. it’s still the marbella.

carla wants to go barhopping with lu and eve and lu’s just actually i don’t drink anymore because i’m an alcoholic and carla points out they found her at a bar and lu just yeah, sometimes i go to a bar when i’m not feeling so good so i can make myself feel good about not drinking and carla just that doesn’t sound like a great idea bestie but eve is instantly fond because she gets it, when everything’s going really bad, you hold onto the one thing that’s really good, even if it could hurt you (LOOKING AT YOU, BOOK!JULIAN)

carla wants to go to a strip club and lu has to gently reminder her that she’s a lesbian and not really interested in seeing male strippers and carla’s like female strippers? and eve just - that’s a little far for her, she likes porn and everything, and it’s definitely a habit, but she’s not sure she can strip club

so carla goes out to a strip club and eve and lu stay back and just adult films and occasionally they point out some weird stuff and laugh and eve looks over every so often and lu’s looking at her and eve doesn’t know how she feels about that and sometimes she’s like okay, but is that even possible and lu just yeah, rose and i used to do that all the time and BIG SIGH and eve just who’s rose? and lu is going to say something, but then carla pounds on the door like are y’all here can i bring a guy in and she is SO drunk but nothing happens with the guy because he’s a little overwhelmed with all the logistics of people leaving and we should’ve gone to my place, babe and overthinks it

somewhere along the way, lu and eve end up skinny dipping in the ocean, and it’s not supposed to be a big romantic thing or not, lu just asks if she’s ever done that before, and eve’s never gone skinny dipping before (because she didn’t at the pool because she went on this spontaneous trip with carla instead) so lu just gives her the look and starts stripping and running across the beach to the ocean and eve looks at her and looks at her and then what the fuck just collects all of lu’s clothes and puts them in a pile (while lu is in the ocean staring at her) and she sighs and then strips and joins lu in the ocean and it’s cold as fuck because it’s the fucking ocean but she gets used to it quickly

then they just float on their backs under the moon and stars and stare up at everything and lu starts pointing out constellations - the ones her mom used to point out for her - and some of them eve recognizes because they’re the same ones she used to point out for brendan and some of them she doesn’t because they’re unique to lu (maybe i made some of them up) and then lu’s smile shifts and fades and i used to find constellations on rose’s skin and eve wants to ask but doesn’t and sometimes lu is just so sad and she doesn’t know what to do about that

and eventually they go to collect their clothes and someone’s stolen all of their stuff (because maybe don’t leave your stuff unguarded on the beach after dark while you’re skinny dipping kids, maybe be glad they didn’t steal your CLOTHES) and lu invites eve back to her place and eve thinks about it but says no, not right now, and then overcorrects like i don’t mean no, never, i mean, i just met you, and i don’t, uh and lu gets this sad but also mischievous smile on her face like nah, i get it, you’re just playing hard to get, i knew a girl like that once (and we all know she means susanna!rose but like. eve doesn’t,and it’s so NICE for lu to be around someone who doesn’t know all of the marbella’s - all of her - dirty laundry)

and before she can stop herself, eve kisses lu

and like, she stops herself, just like she did with amanda, and apologizes because that wasn’t very nice of her, and lu just grins and crosses the distance and kisses her

and then they walk back to eve’s marbella hotel room and they can hear how loud carla is having sex with someone from the other end of the hallway and lu invites her back to her place again not for sex but i think you don’t want in there right now and eve agrees

eventually lu decides to take eve up to longbourne and the lake with the glowing fish, and it’s super romantic, and then she finally explains about rose (and maybe accidentally killing her and everything), and then eve tells her it’s okay and they totally make out and have sex at the inn lu used to run up there, which is empty most of the time anyway

and there’s probably more complications and everything - like there’s probably more carla stuff and also brendan and jackson stuff - but that’s usually where the bedtime story i’m telling myself ends.

#musings #bandit writes fic #only not really #luisa alver #eve fletcher #bad moms carla #carla bad moms #how do even tag her idk

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 3 years

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Dean is bi-coded, take 2

I was doing some poking and prodding around the internet for this meta I’m currently working on and sure enough, I came across some blogs, articles, and other things that talk about the queer baiting, Dean’s sexuality, and how Cas’ I love you is platonic (seriously? is this for real? it’s been over 2 months, it’s romantic, it’s been confirmed as that, end of story isn’t it?) and all of that crap. And you know what kills me?

This moment right here.

Plus the writer (Ben Edlund) and the director (Phil Sgriccia) of the episode making this commentary on this scene:

“You’re not sure what it means.” (PS)

“No, I actually like the little mystery. Like sometimes those weird, like, undone, like, sweater, you know, threads to me are like... That’s this, almost the equivalent of the uh, the extension cord on the refrigerator. It’s like, there’s a deeper dimension to the fact that it makes no sense.“ (BE)

“The whole closeup where he pulls the wallet back, that was something he did that we caught with a camera.“ (PS)

“It was so much fun to shoot that because he played it so right down the middle, you know, just more awkward about it.“ (PS)

“Like ‘Wow, somebody likes me.’“ (PS)

“Well, that’s the weird thing is that it reads in this weird way where it does feel like Dean’s a little bit like...It’s almost like a romantic comedy kind of fluster. Which is very interesting for the character Dean, because it just sort of suggests this weird...this potential.“ (BE)

“This potential for love in all places.“ (PS)

Why did Jensen ‘play it down the middle’ if the character is 100% straight and that’s canon? Why did Sgriccia keep it in besides the comedy/awkward factor they mention? Why did Dean not just shoot Aaron down, like we saw him do in season 6 with the vampire who was hitting on him? Why the disappointed expression when Aaron later confirms that the moment, Dean’s “gay thing” was a ruse? (3:25 - x) And for that matter, speaking from a purely logistical standpoint, why would Aaron use that as his way to keep a close eye on the investigation, anyway? Is it possible that he thought he had an in that way because he viewed something that led him to believe he did if he approached it that way? Is it a smart move when Dean calls him out since Aaron was caught watching him? Absolutely. But how does he know that maybe Dean might not have taken him up on his offer? So, logistically, this doesn’t track, not solely for the story. Yes, it’s a comedic scene but Dean didn’t immediately scream “get back! I like chicks only!” or “that’s really nice, I’m flattered, but unfortunately I don’t swing that way” or “nope, nope, nope!”? Why did Edlund say “almost like a romantic comedy kind of fluster”? Never mind all of the other moments in the series that happen where Dean is checking guys out, he’s being flirty, and other men are attracted to him.

So what kills me is the whole “Dean is canonically straight” and “he’s written straight! get it through your head!” debate/argument that happens on this site and other places. It’s mind boggling that people either have a huge issue with Dean being written as anything other than one rigid sexual orientation when the show has suggested time and time again that this may be a possibility, through performances, the writing/story, and the framing/edits. Or it cracks me up when I see certain corners of the fandom thinking Dean’s questioned sexuality/attraction is only a certain section of fans of the show that are projecting their own wishes and headcanons onto the character when, again, it has been shown that this is not them picking up a breadcrumb and baking a whole loaf with it.

I mean, the whole siren episode -- hello. Don’t you think it’s interesting that they chose to have Sam hook up with the doctor and Dean gets a male siren? Where all of the other male victims have fallen in love with female strippers? That Sam and Cara have a talking/bonding moment that leads to sex while Dean is also having a talking/bonding moment with Nick? Yes, the main story line is about the growing chasm between Sam and Dean, Sam’s working with Ruby, Dean feeling like he can’t trust Sam, and there is some obvious jealousy and all of that. But did the siren have to be male for Dean? Nick didn’t go to all of that trouble to talk/bond with Sam when the latter showed up. No, it went after Dean because Dean was more vulnerable, more easily separated, and more likely to do as the siren said once he was poisoned. And again, it could have been a female stripper or Dean could have gotten the doctor (had the siren been Cara). No, instead he gets Nick.

And another interesting thing to me is how when the series starts out, Dean is obviously trying to live up to John, what John expects of him and who he should be. He even admits that in 4x19 to Sam when they are burning Adam’s body. He dressed like John, wanted to be like John (as a hunter), hell he even listened to the same music. In this moment, he understands that he will never be like John, not the same way Sam is. Which we already knew from watching the series, but here is where Dean finally “gets it”. And sure enough, we slowly start to see the parts of John that Dean has imbued himself with stripping away, to reveal who Dean actually is underneath. The leather jacket goes, the behavior (for the most part), and the influence pretty much. Hell, even the Samulet goes at one point. The only thing that remains by the end of the series is the impala and the music, which has become Dean’s own and intrinsic to his character and who he is. Plus, what do we get in 10x16? This moment. This is a man who is realizing things for the first time, realizing that he is starting to want a different ending for himself than the one he’s been made to believe was a certainty before this moment. And then what do we get in season 11, a season that has been proven to be about “heart”?

“I do actually.”

Dean’s character grows as time passes and his outlook on life changes as well. So that brings me to this moment:

This is clearly different to how we’ve seen Dean after losing a loved one, a friend, before (except for Sam obviously, Mary hasn’t died yet, and Jack isn’t in Dean’s story yet). This was clearly meant to contrast those other times before. The narrative called attention to it by showing us the difference in Dean’s mood between 13x05 and 13x06. They even call attention to it in the dialogue! When people call this Dean’s widower arc, it’s not a stretch of imagination.

And do you know what else we see after this arc?

1) Dean and Sam meeting Jesse and Cesar, a pair of hunting husbands and what is the first thing Dean asks them after finding out they’re married? “So, what’s it like settling down with a hunter?” -- again pointing out that Dean had a different desired ending for himself in mind & the eventual partner would have to be someone in the life (which is exactly the sentiment he tells Sam about Eileen in 15x08 when he gives his approval: “She gets it. She gets us. She gets the life.”), especially after what happened with Lisa & Ben in season 6

2) Dean barely hooking up with women as often as we did before. Sure, we see him flirting here and there, like with Lorna in 15x07. And what does Pam say to him in 14x10? “Besides, you don’t want me.You just like to flirt.” Plus, we see the bra on his head when Sam finds him passed out drunk in the morning. But we barely see Dean indulging in casual sex, not as often as we used to earlier in the series. And do you know why? Because Dean’s life is progressing and his wants and needs are changing. I’m talking for everything in his life, like the ending I mentioned above. He’s not a young guy anymore and he’s looking for some sort of permanence that he doesn’t think he deserves, partner wise, life wise, etc. But he wants it. Otherwise, why the line in 15x10 “I always knew I could be a good dancer” while watching Garth and Bess dance through a window? After this dance scene happens, where Garth shows him how to start dancing, and then he is left to his own devices once Garth is done showing him?

It is not uncommon for people’s wants and needs to change as they get older. We all know people change as life progresses, as they age. Who you are in your teens is not necessarily who you are in your twenties, who you are in your twenties is not necessarily who you are in your thirties, and so on and so forth. Someone I’ve worked with in the past only recently discovered their sexuality in their forties. It was something they had always been curious about but had never done anything or said anything about it because of the way they had been raised. They had the whole marriage with kids, white picket fence thing going for years but eventually, they discovered themselves as they got older and now is with their partner, they’re the happiest they’ve ever been, and they wouldn’t change any of it for the world. And that’s just one story of someone discovering who they are, what they want out of life, out of many all over this planet, every day.

So why is it so hard to believe that a character that has had more than ten years of development written for them may ultimately change, too? If Dean is indeed straight and never thinks of men at all, then him being older and more confident in himself, knowing himself better, as we’ve seen...then why is he not declaring that up until the end? Why not get that out quickly as Cas confesses that to him? Why did a female dancer not show up in that montage between he and Garth above? Why was Dean not given his equivalent of Eileen? Why did the narrative not enforce it in season 15 at all? Why did Dean never mention wanting a wife and kids? Why was Cas and Jack being added to their family enough for him? As he mentions to John in 14x13, “I have a family” when John mentions he had wanted Dean to get himself a “normal life, a peaceful life, a family”.

Sure, Dean never thought he deserved the apple pie life with a wife and kids, not like he thought Sam did. We see this reinforced in season 6 when he’s with Lisa and Ben who he ultimately has to give up because of the hunting hurting them and putting them in danger. But again, if his desired ending changed later on in the series, then why is it at least not something he wants, whether he thinks he deserves it or not?

However you view Dean and/or his sexuality is completely up to you. If you don’t want to view him as bisexual or even bi-coded, that’s your choice. If you don’t want to view him as being in love with Cas (a nonbinary angel in a male vessel), that’s your choice. Stories are a form of art. And art is always open to interpretation, eye of the beholder, etc. However, going out of your way to invalidate someone’s view of said art and pointing to the text on the show as your evidence for the invalidation is ludicrous. When the text itself has given many points of evidence to suggest that Dean may not be as rigid in his sexuality as the beginning of the series led you to believe. While the siren episode took place during the Kripke era, the Aaron episode took placed during Carver’s. The widower arc, the found family with Cas and Jack, Cas’ confession took place during Dabb’s. Dabb was still on the writing team during Carver’s, Gamble’s, and Kripke’s eras. When Dean started to want a different ending for himself, it started in Carver’s era and then transferred to Dabb’s. And Dabb didn’t change it, he didn’t get rid of it, instead he took it and sharpened it even further into focus. And Carver and Dabb? Both were with the show long before they became the showrunners for their respective time frames.

Does this show have a queerbaiting legacy? Unfortunately, yes. But other than the eyefucking the actors were directed to do from the scripts, if they never intended for one of their main characters to be seen that way, they would have never done so. If they wanted to bait, they simply could have left it at the whole Dean and Cas topic and kept solely teasing that. Pitch Perfect is the perfect example of queerbaiting. They purposely promoted Becca (Anna) and Chloe (Brittany) acting as if they were going to kiss in the promo in order to get people to the theaters to watch the final film in the trilogy. And if you’ve seen the movies, you know there were moments that happened between the two characters that were...questionable. But it was between the two of them. Because the films knew it was popular after the first one, that it was a selling point that even the studios themselves got in on. SPN and the C*W could have very easily done that with just Dean and Castiel. As a matter of fact, the C*W did:

There was no reason in the story or even from a business standpoint to promote a bi-coded Dean (unless there would be a Destiel endgame at some point which would make some fans question that if hinting hadn’t been there all along). They had already baited the LGBT+ audience with the moments between Dean and Cas. So why all of the moments with Dean and other guys? Think about that.

The answer? Dean is purposely bi-coded.

And on top of that, why is it such a bad thing if some people view Dean’s sexuality as fluid? Why is it such a threat to the Dean Winchester you know and love? Why don’t you just do you, boo, and leave others to do the same? See Dean however you want to see him. Does he have girls on each arm? Cool. Does he have a girl on one arm and a guy on the other? Cool. Two guys on each arm? Cool. No one on either arm but he’s still happy? Cool. Dean as a hunter? Cool. Dean in construction? Cool. Dean married? Cool. Dean single and ready to mingle? Cool. Dean as a dad? Cool. Dean with no kids? Cool. Dean as a Dallas Cowboys fan? Cool. Dean as a hockey fan instead? Cool. Dean likes action movies? Cool. Dean likes to listen to books on tape? Cool. Do you get it yet? View Dean how you want to. And let others do the same. It doesn’t negate Dean’s character or the story the series was telling for 15 years.

So again, see Dean however you want to but for the love of Jack, stop going out of your way to invalidate how other people see him. Especially when the very narrative itself calls this character’s romantic and sexual orientations into question time and time again over the series. It not only makes you look like an intolerant ass but also a very shallow and naive one.

#dean is bi #dean is bi-coded #bi!dean confirmed #bi!dean meta #destiel mention #still beautiful still dean winchester #dean winchester is bi #dean winchester is bisexual #bi!dean #spnposts

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 14

Brennan Says It’s My Turn With The Daddy Issues

So we’re in hell--literally, not emotionally (at least for the moment). We being Fig, Riz, Gilear, the Hangman, and the blood-imp valet that Fig created last week who is ostensibly named Wretchrot but also picks up the nickname Baby this episode because of shenanigans. Wretchrot brings them all to where they’ll be staying, says a bunch of wild stuff in his weird Rita Repulsa voice, and drinks Fig’s blood which is what he is made of. Riz is bullied by the Hangman and misses the other half of his Nerd Squad.

Anyway, Wretchrot takes the group on a little tour of Gorthalax’s stuff starting with the library which includes books that steal souls and also legal texts (redundant). Fig looks for a book on devil dating advice while Riz looks for something on the Hellish legal system On a 17, Fig finds a Manual for Succubi and Incubi about extracting souls via the penis. More helpfully, on a 16, Riz finds out that coups are baked into the ruling system of hell and killing someone to ascend to the throne is pretty par for the course.

Next up is the hall of treasures where there are suits of armor themed to the 7 deadly sins including kinky, gimp, Lust armor they briefly consider equipping either Gilear or Kristen with (Ally breaks at that). There are also these Venitian style masks through which the people who failed to kill Gorthalax to take his place are forced to watch him do his thing.

They pass through a hall of mirrors which they realize is a kind of security system as it shows things as they really are. Wretchrot appears in the mirror as a drop of Fig’s blood. The Hangman appears as a huge puppy!!!! (OK, a hellhound but all canines are puppies). Riz holds up the photo of Kalina to the mirror and, in the mirror, can’t see her in the photo. However, he does she her in the mirror itself. She waves at him and then appears “in person”. Fig doesn’t know this is going on and asks Riz if he’s emotionally OK with the fact that they just whip out the photo of his dead dad on the regular. Riz says it’s fine but he quickly becomes less fine when Kalina asks if he'd like to see his dad. He starts to answer her out loud but she tells him that, by talking out loud, he’s tipped off Fig potentially so he should lose her and then meet her alone. The Hangman guards everyone while Riz and Fig split up, to find stuff to test in front of the mirror. Well, that’s the stated plan anyway.

Back in Arborly, Adaine is getting to check an item off of her Teen Girl Life Experiences checklist: Spilling Tea About Your Friend’s New GF. She gleefully does the whole, “I can’t tell you but I’ll tell you if you guess right,” routine before outright confirming that while crustacean shenanigans were happening in the house Fig and Ayda were sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Everyone in the group goes feral over the news, especially the Gay Squad. She vaguely recalls that Ayda also told her some information about a rune or something but everyone agrees that she retained the most important information.

They decide to call Aguefort about their coins and the rune (Kristen wisely having all the infected people leave the room). Aguefort tells them that the coins that they have comprise Kalvaxus’s hoard but not his original hoard as it has been spent and invested and put into the economy. Classic Ship of Theseus problem (ie: If you have a ship and you start replacing damaged parts of it, by the time you've replaced all the parts, is it even the same ship?). He also reminds them that spending the gold as quickly as possible is a good idea to avoid the dragon madness curse which is on all dragon gold (a weak but very hard to break curse). That prompts Adaine to describe the rune she discovered to him and he tells her basically the same stuff Ayda did last episode. She wonders if dragon madness could be the larger, static curse under which the trojan horse curse (the spellbook) is hiding. Gorgug wants to give all of the gold away and Fabian is not about that life at all.

Back in hell (literally and emotionally now) Riz prepares to meet Kalina. With a 25 Investigation, he finds a sliver of mirror that he can bring with him to keep from being tricked. He’s also mindful of being paralyzed while he’s with Kalina at the edge of a hell cliff so he anchors himself with a rope tied around his waist. Kalina is her usual aloof, darkly charming self when they speak and Riz is pretty flustered, asking if she was his dad’s familiar (no). Kalina says that Riz didn’t really know his dad and the question he isn’t asking but should be is how did his dad meet her in the first place.

She takes him to a little secret passageway which she says goes to a liminal place where he can see between the levels. She gives him the help action to get a good look (which makes Murph extremely nervous) but he only gets an 11 which means all that he sees is a cold, white light coming from the opening. He tries to use his mirror to look inside but on a 13 dex save, his footing is shaky and some rocks fall down the side of the cliff (he’s fine). Kalina says that he’s gonna have to man up and walk down the tunnel if he wants to see what’s going on. She fully reveals that she’s incorporeal and can’t actually touch him to mess with him if that helps at all.

Riz is clearly struggling with the choice but he ultimately decides that he can’t pass up this chance and that he can trust Fig to rescue him if things go south. He leaves her a note and then steps through. Within the tunnel, he can feel things watching him and hear a chittering that’s weirdly somehow coming from him. In front of him is a smoky room lit by a cone of light--think interrogation room in an old detective show. In a chair, covered in blood and shit and tattered clothes is Pok Gukgak, gagged and chained. Riz reaches for him but, as he tries to step forward, he reaches the end of his rope. Someone unseen splashes Pok with water and tells him to “confess” and “tell us what you know.” Riz pulls out his gun--his dad’s gun--to shoot out the light. As he does, a thought comes unbidden: You know what the kind thing to do with that gun would be. That shakes Riz so he lowers the gun and starts to untie himself. He’s stopped by Kalina (speaking in his mind) who tells him that if he steps in the light, he’ll be on another level of hell in the Iron City of Dis for real. Not just looking in. Riz pulls out his mirror shard and confirms that it really is his dad in there being tortured. He leaves the tunnel.

Kalina says that she knows Riz is all hopped up on doing his quest and stopping the Nightmare King but if he just stops, if they all stop, none of his friends will have to die and, bonus, maybe there will be a little rescue mission for his dad in it for him. Riz wants to know if Pok knew what her true nature was and he seems to think he cheated on his mom with her (“I know what happened between you two. I can do the math.” Which seems logistically improbable but OK). She reminds him that Pok was a spy which means it’s naive to think that every thing he did was good and taunts him about his clue hound nature before vanishing.

Riz meets up back with Gilear and Fig and he spills about everything. Gilear wants Riz to have lunch and drink some water before he does anything rash. Fig says that they don’t need Kalina to rescue Pok. They know crazy-person Bill Seacaster who’s also in hell. She lights a beacon to help him find them (if you remember, the Hangman has been attempting to contact him for Fabian). One thing I didn’t mention before is that Fig brought up the idea of temporarily installing herself as the ruler of Gorthalax's section of hell so she’d be a powerful enough devil (or devil-adjacent entity) to get them into Sylvere. Wretchrot said it was probably a no-go since she’s half mortal but, now, on a 29 Riz re-reads his legal book and realizes that Fig wouldn’t actually have to kill Gorthalax to take his place, she just needs to defeat him, which she technically has by putting him in a gem and they put that together almost before Brennan is done narrating. They have a new plan.

The other Bad Kids are discussing what Arianwyn is up to and Gorgug suggests that maybe she’s not actually working with Kalina. Maybe she’s playing along but actually has ulterior motives. Kristen looks at Arianwyn’s notes and on a 24 “Empath Roll” (Brennan converts this Ally-ism to an Insight check) sees that at a certain point, Arianwyn started making leaps in her research that were too lucky and suggest someone was helping her--possibly the entity she was researching. Adaine thinks about calling her mom using Sending or her new Sinod of Spire spell but Ayda calls Adaine and asks if she can come over. Of course she can. She comes with her recently summoned tropical fish familiar in a bubble of water--it has the very Albus Severus name of “Garthy and Adaine the Fish” which Adaine is thrilled about but also suggests shortening to GAF (and also considering reconstituting it into a cuddlier form--though the image of her dumping Boggy into GAF’s bubble is super adorable). Meanwhile, Kristen is thrilled to welcome her to “the family” because being gay is the same as visiting an Olive Garden (this is a shirt now because Ally said it which is too much power to give to Ally). Ayda kinda sucks some of the fun out of teasing her about her relationship with Fig by being extremely forthright about it but Kristen and Adaine brighten at the thought that Fig will be a lot more fun to tease.

But, back to business. Ayda has not slept because she’s been working on getting to Fig. The whole group is like, “Bitch, are you OK?” and give her an ice cream sandwich which is proper Good Friend Protocol if you have them on hand I think. Ayda is super worried about Fig and is just about ready to unmake everything standing between them (Normal lesbian move according to Kristen). They talk her down for the moment in favor of sending Fig a message: Fig you sneaky bitch. Ayda’s here. She wants to invade hell. You good? PS: OOOOOOOOOOOH. PPS: Ask Kalvaxus about dragon madness. Fig completely misses the fact that they know what’s going on with Ayda (you’d think they’d be more in sync which each others’ texting shorthand) and sends back a message saying she hopes they have fun with her but, “not too much fun,” and also that she, “is king” with no further explanation. Wild.

Ayda, who is still super keyed up to get Fig, thinks she can figure out the Planeshift spell but she needs more time to work on the spell which she could get...if they steal her dad’s time stopping pocketwatch. Considering they watched Aguefort grab the sun out of the sky the other day, they’re not super down to have a possibly adverse encounter with the man but they hear her out. While they do that, Gorgug takes his now working phone and just straight up calls the guy, explaining the situation (including Ayda’s involvement) and asking to borrow the watch. Aguefort is a little taken aback by the fact that Ayda would want any kind of contact with him at all because about 300 years back, she told him to never contact her again and that she would leave notes to her future self detailing why, which is why he hasn’t really been in her life. He lets him borrow the watch for a week (after which time it will return to him) and asks him to tell Ayda what they talked about, leaving the door open for a possible future relationship between them. When Gorgug returns with the watch and the news, Ayda breaks a little and reveals she didn’t even know she was that old. Presumably because her notes start about 150 years ago with an apology that her past self wanted a fresh start and destroyed the last several batches of notes. She hates herself for doing that and Kristen gently tries to get her to cool it with the negative self talk. Then, they hit the button on the watch and they have a week to work.

The Wizards work on Planeshift. Fabian and Kristen go to the shrine and Kristen--mirroring her vision from episode 1--sits down to draw the unknown goddess from the mural. Her Spirit Guardians emerge and start to kinda deride her for the sincerity of her action. She in turn decides that she’s done with this wishy-washy “above it all” attitude and dismisses her Spirit Guardians for good (making her, as far as I can tell, the only cleric in Solace with a 100% turnover rate on her Spirit Guardians). She finishes the picture and it feels somehow significant, to her and to Tracker too (who can look at it without wolf-raging out). Gorgug uses the time to “get smarter” which bumps his score from an 8 to a 9 (which has no mechanical implications). Ayda is also working on a side project but she’s keeping it a secret from Adaine.

In hell, the tribunal is called back in session. Fig comes in ready to claim her hell passport and the throne along with it. On a big ol’ 30 persuasion check--and because the law is on her side--Vrath is reluctantly convinced to confer upon Fig the title of arch-devil (via a full lip kiss which is some Poison Ivy bs) The new title comes with an upside pentagram mark on her forehead, full fire immunity (very convenient considering her new constantly on fire gf), and resistance to poison. However, Vraz is about to force the Hangman to stay in hell due to a legal technicality when who walks in but BILL FORKING SEACASTER, who invokes the law of the blade and immediately starts stabbing their way out of there and hustles the group to his ship (Goldenhoard’s reshaped corpse) which was indirectly named by Fig we learned after the thing that would annoy him the most--The Goldenrod.

Bill gives Fig (who is feeling iffy about her archdevil decision) a pep talk before fully signing up for the rescue mission of the dad of his son’s BFF. We also learn that Alastair Ash is interning on Bill’s ship! He’s pretty happy to see Fig and Riz but if he sees Fabian he’s fully gonna kill him. Right around now, the Bad Kids not in hell remember they can talk to the group via the Hangman and check in since the week of stopped time is up. The Hangman is like, “YOU NEED TO COME HELP US RIGHT AWAY!” They (everyone but the HangVan) Planeshift onto the deck of the Goldenrod which is being targeted by monsters and devils commanded by Vraz. Alastair makes good on his threat and starts trying to shank Fabian immediately (which Bill is hilariously blase about). Ayda opens up a portal to the sea and tries to flood Hell from the top down but Fig stops her, saying that they need to get to the second level to save Pok which seems like it will be quite a task with all the monsters Vraz is throwing at them. Luckily, Bill has money for days (and that money is somehow worth something in hell) and has a whole fleet to back them up for our big Hell Pirate Battle next episode!

Detention

Gorgug for Bad Gossip Etiquette

Look, obviously Kalina was the worst person in this episode. Like, duh. But, also, it feels like cheating to punish the Vader of the series for doing something bad. Like, yeah! That’s what she’s supposed to be doing!

So, instead, today’s dubious honor goes to Gorgug for the much less damning but more relatable sin of making his girlfriend aware of tea but not spilling it. Say it all or say nothing!

Honor Roll

Gorgug for Being More Insightful Than His 8 9 Int Would Suggest

Back to back double awards.

Wisdom is not the same as Intelligence and I actually have no idea what Gorgug’s Wisdom score is on paper but he showed a lot of in this episode.

I think he’s been the first person to suggest that whatever’s going on with Arianwyn might not be as cut and dry as it seems and then, of course, he decided to, instead of trying to Ocean’s 11 Aguefort to just slip out and have a quick heart to heart with him. One that affects him surprisingly deeply. And him bringing up his own experiences with no knowing who his birth dad was was just the chef’s kiss on top of it all.

I don’t think Brennan actually intended them to Oceans 11 Aguefort because that would be crazy, but Gorgug is the one who stepped up to solve the problem for the group with a little compassion and I think that more than earns him the spot.

Random Thoughts

Trailer for Season 5 is dropping Thursday so get hyped!

“Are you looking for the Teen Zone of the bottomless pit?”

“The fief of this dom.”

“You’re a little nerd. Tell the cool girl what you know.”

“If I had new parts, where would they go?”

I love Fabian’s confident assertion that Ayda would “love shrimp river”.

Line of the night goes to Ragh for, “Frankly, bringing up the rune in this context is homophobic.” And Adaine’s followup of, “I apologize. As an ally, I’m always learning,” was also great.

I love that the girls instantly understand Fig’s earlier hot tub comment with the new context but the boys are still clueless.

Watching Emily and Murph have their own little side adventure was so great. They are so fun together and they were clearly having a blast.

I wonder if Gorthalax can tell than Fig just got his title. Either via the title itself or his patron status.

Fig bringing up Riz’s dad to be like, “Are you OK?” caught me so off guard and it seems like it caught Riz off guard too. I hadn’t really thought about it but the fact that Fig had is just another example of her being extremely bighearted and doing a bad job of hiding it.

Emily’s impotent “rage” as all the party members loudly gossiped about her and Ayda and she couldn’t do anything about it because she wasn’t in the scene was *golden*.

Kalina leaves Riz so he can watch his dad but, if you think about it, that’s all placebo because she couldn’t do anything to him whether she’s appearing to him or not and she can watch through his eyes regardless anyway so it’s just like, “Do you want me to be visibly watching you or invisibly watching you?”

Does Kalina have, like, a range? Like, if she can literally just see out of the eyes of people that she’s infected, that limits her to a certain cone of vision and range of movement. But it seems like she can appear to a person and move independently around them to some degree, see things they can’t, point things out, and move away from them. How far away? How independent can she be? What are the logistics here?

Also, on the topic of logistics, it seems extremely hard to know someone for as long as Pok knew Kalina and not realize they’re non-corporeal. Like, even if you’re not a touchy person, eventually you’re gonna bump into them (or, in this case, not bump into them).

Man, the dice really hated Murph this week and, honestly, good. His scenes, imo, work so much better if he doesn’t get to Ally his way out of them with a Nat 20. Him being toyed with by Kalina and unsure and lost is the more interesting version of this sequence of events.

I feel like he made some big swings and misses this ep though. Like, asking if she was Pok’s familiar? Why would that have been a thing? I’m surprised he didn’t ask if he was the goddess’s familiar--though I guess they might not want to let on how much they know but bringing up the concept that she’s anyone’s familliar I think is kinda of giving the game away.

“I have a hard time making conversation with my friends, let alone you” Riiiiiiiiiiz.

Kalina brought up Kristen to Riz specifically, which I find interesting. (She also said that Kristen used to worship Sol which isn’t strictly true, she worshiped Helio, but same family and that was likely just a slip of the tongue from Brennan. Just wanted to point it out).

Who does Kalina even work for? Like, it seems like she’s working with the Nightmare King but if she’s the mystery goddess’s familiar like we all think then that’s weird because it doesn’t seem like the NK and mystery goddess are together. Like, a part of me is just dumping everyone antagonistic to the Bad Kids into the same “Bad” bucket in my head but there’s no way all of these people have totally aligned goals.

“Dragon madness 69”

It’s brought up again in this episode that some of Arianwyn’s research was requisitioned by Pok earlier which I want to ascribe significance to but I’m not in a theorizing headspace right now so I’ll just point it out for anyone who does want to play Gukgak.

I’ve been kinda wondering about the logistics of Aguefort and Ayda and how old that dude is but I totally forgot Chronoancy was a factor which I guess indirectly answers any and all questions about that. It also adds some dimension to his character that time travel is a thing that kinda makes you feel unmoored from time, which I think goes some way (though not all of the way) in explaining why he’s so feral. And, speaking of Aguefort insanity, he was also at the party Zelda was at last episode in the form of an owl as the beer pong mascot. Which Gorgug has Thoughts about.

I really really want Adaine to talk to her mom in the Synod of Spires. Have you guys realized that, for as much of a driving force Arianwyn’s been this season, she’s had almost no dialogue? She has talked I think 3 times total in all of FH: During Adaine’s intro, Apologizing to her when Aelwen was arrested, and the Message Adaine found from her last episode. That’s it. We know almost nothing about her. What is her deal? Also, Siobhan just always kills during all of her one-on-one scenes and I’m biased.

Love the return of the Bad Kids being unable to make a phone call and stealing the phone from each other to tag in with their own nonsense.

Wild that Gorgug was able to get through to Aguefort since he has a history of pissing that dude off by saying the wrong (well, “wrong”) thing.

Shoutout to Gilear for being the Designated Dad of the Hell Trip and making sure the kids were eating and stuff. That was a very endearing moment.

Also, while we’re on the topic of Gilear, he also cleared up that Sandra-Lynn never seriously propositioned him in an irresponsible, “Let me give you a Magic STD” kinda way which was something I’d been thinking about so I’m glad he said something (though the kids kinda aren’t even though I think we’re way past the point of TMI here).

“Hiss at her litigator.”

Riz, who Fig is Looking to be the Voice of Reason re: Her Arch-Devil Upgrade: This is super rad.

I’m very curious about whether Brennan fully planned for Fig to decide to take Gorthalax’s place because, on the one hand, my brain didn’t go there at all but, on the other, getting Emily Axford to install someone--possibly herself--into a position of power is like getting Siobhan Thompson to steal a book I feel.

Fig Upon Being Told That Ayda Told Everyone About Them: Fuck.

I feel like Kristen is gonna wish she had her big moment of emotional catharsis AFTER this big hell pirate fight and not before when she can’t summon her Spirit Guardians.

Man, we haven’t gotten a big, enthusiastic, “Papa!” from Fabian in a while have we?

No crits in either direction this episode which is wild considering Fig got a THIRTY at one point.

#fantasy high #dimension 20 #fantasy high live #fantasy high spoilers #dimension 20 spoilers

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dlamp-dictator · 4 years

Text

Allen Rambles about Code of Brawl

Man... remind me to never talk about having a future Rambling in the works, it’ll instantly fall into draft-hell. But anyway, I’ve been meaning to talk about Arknights in depth for a while now, but I’ve never had much drive to actually finish the damn draft of my initial thoughts a few months ago. I couldn’t tell you why, I just lost the drive to finish the thing. However, with Code of Brawl coming to a close and my thoughts on the event still lingering I think I can use it as jumping off point to actually talk about the game.

That said, here’s the synopsis.

Arknights is a Tower Defense game for the PC mobile devices placed in the world of Terra, where an infectious disease known as Oripathy ravages the land, slowly turning people to minerals in a slow and painful process. You play as the Doctor, an amnesiac military commander of the Rhodes Island pharmaceutical company who fights against the Infected radicals known as the Reunion.

That’s about as far as I can go in a single paragraph for main story, but Code of Brawl instead focuses on the eccentric adventures of Pengiun Logistics, side faction of the game that’s a seemingly innocent delivery company with quite the ragtag group in it, consisting of the happy-go-lucky gunner Exusiai, the cold and dismissive swordswoman Texas, the excitable and energetic Sora, and the business-savvy Croissant. All led by the charismatic and multi-talented Emperor. However, as their new intern Bison comes into the fold the group is caught in a series of gang wars and organized crime trying to snuff out the company.

And unlike Fire Emblem Three Houses, that really is the basic plot without me sarcastically building anything up. With that all said, I think I can move on and talk about...

The Story

The story of Code of Brawl honestly has the best and worst of Arknights writing. I think having a story that focused on a group outside of Rhodes Island was for the better. For all the lore blurbs and archive notes we get, I think Code of Brawl proves just how little Rhodes Island is involved with the world of Terra at large despite it’s apparent reputation as a weird and quirky company with some terrifyingly powerful Operators and lofty ambitions. And while I’m still only on Chapter 4 since I’m grinding out some E2 before moving on, Rhodes Island really does more reacting to random Reunion plans than anything proactive with their goals of curing Oripathy. They feel more like a counter military force to Reunion, and a barely effective on at that given the point of the story I’m at. Code of Brawl, being focused on another group with a more direct conflict and villains, feels a lot more cohesive and interesting, as Penguin Logistics’s goal is to just get Bison through his first day and take out whatever force is harassing them this week.

Penguin Logistics as a whole is a rather interesting bunch of ruffians and seeing them is gallivant around Lungmen trading blows and bullets with gangsters is a joy to read and see. Seeing some of the inner workings of Lungmen society, seeing a bit of the underbelly, as well as getting to see the cast just have more casual interactions with each other is great. We learn that Sora really is just gay for Texas, and the all of Penguin Logistics has only 3 function braincells with Texas having one and Mostima having the other two. We get to see that Sora has probably beaten someone to death with her microphone at some point given how willing she is to bar fight. A lot of fun stuff.

And then... there’s Mostima.

Look, I like this story, I really do, but Mostima really didn’t need to be here as far as the story is concerned. All she does plot-wise is rile up Exusiai, drop some cryptic advice for Bison, shows she knows more powerful than she leads on, and is a bit of a deus ex machina for the end of the plot, and not even by that much. You could had replaced her with Chen, Swire, Hoshigumi, ShiraYuki, or anyone else that would logically be in Lungmen at the time. Hell, ShiraYuki knowing everything a being cryptic about it would at least be in character for her.

And that’s not to knock Mostima. I actually pulled her in my last ten-pull (didn’t get Waii Fu though, and I’m still salty about that), she’s a pretty good and damn near god-tier once you get her to E2 if some of the guides on her are to be believed, though her kit is a little niche for an AoE caster of her cost. However, as far as the story is concerned she shows a serious issue with Arknights as a whole. That’s its constant need to have half of their characters be mysterious.

Mysterious Characters

So, just to give an example, here is a list of characters in Arknights with a Mysterious Past™. These are characters that either have their archive notes explicitly state their past is unknown, or characters who’s past is implied but but deliberately kept unconfirmed.

With that said...

Mostima

Myrtle

Cuora

Skadi

Specter

Shining

Siege

Projekt Red

Specter

Blue Poison

Lappland

Texas (?)

ShiraYuki

AMIYA

Okay, I’m cheating a little with Texas since she has enough of her past implied, but it’s still technically a mystery as far as the specifics go. But you see my point, right? A lot of characters have a Mysterious Past™, which is a nice shorthand to not go into depth about writing their background. Now, you don’t need to give twenty paragraphs on their backstory, but something would be nice. Keeping things a mystery might be nice for the theory-crafters, but for me it’s annoy as hell to see so many character, so many high-rated that really just have their skills and design to go off of, especially with most the cast overall having a pretty simple background to them that are interesting when you read through the lore blurbs and think about it. Breeze is a former noble that wanted to do more good in the world than throwing money at a problem. Liskarm is a protective friend that joined Rhodes Island to make sure the problematic Franka integrated without problems. Frostleaf is a child soldier that wants to do some good in the world after becoming Infected. Kroos, Beagle, and Fang joined Rhodes Island after getting kicked out of their old jobs. You don’t need to be flashy, but giving answers isn’t an admission of lacking creativity. The hints might be nice for the analysts, but the fans would likely want some answers.

Again, Mostima isn’t a problem, and a lot characters in that list do have some concrete hints about their past. Texas and Lappland are likely a former mafia heiresses and old rivals. Shining was likely a highly skilled mercenary before realizing she could do more good in the world with a healing staff instead of a sword. Siege is likely apart of Londinium royalty, but was either exiled or ran due to political turmoil. But that’s the issue, likely isn’t confirmed. Mostima being a powerful character with a mysterious past just feels like a cop out to me. It’s not bad, but she’s a symptom of what some of the issues of Arknights story is. I’m not asking for AFK Arena-levels of lore, just... an explanation here or there would be nice.

But anyway that’s my main issue, moving on.

General Gushing

Despite that large critique I have, there’s a lot I love about this story. For simplicity sake, because I’m tired of all the editing, I’ll put it into list form:

Penguin Logistics in general was just a joy to see. Watching them in action and just how laissez-faire they are is hilarious, especially when paired with the straightforward and reserved Bison freaking out over the wackiness.

Speaking of, Bison made for a very good straight man to balance out all the wild antics of PL. He really kept things from getting too crazy by at least questioning the zaniness, and the point when he finally stops caring and just charges in with a crazy plan of his own just gave me the giddiest of smiles.

Given how they discuss it, PL apparently trade blows with criminals and thugs on a daily basis, and since they’re just a delivery company this implies they likely deliver drugs or other hot cargo the mafia and gangs want... and given Emperor’s personality, that wouldn’t shock me.

Emperor in general is a delight of a character. He’s about as charismatic and wild as his aesthetic makes him look. I would legit whale for him if he ever become an operator.

Learning a little bit about Lungmen culture was fun as well, as little of it as we see. It’s my personal headcanon now that the mafia and general thugs of Lungmen don’t mess with civilians because they’re either a sleeper agent under the Rat King’s protection or they might be a kung fu master in plain clothes like Waai Fu.

Waai Fu and Texas fist fighting in the streets of Lungmen is just hilarious and awesome. I honestly don’t know what that says about either of them. Texas is holding her own against a martial artist with over 10 years of experience barehanded, meanwhile Waai Fu is holding her own against what lore blurbs have implied is the former heiress/hitman of a mafia. All the while drunkards and Texas’s coworkers are egging them on. This is the dumb content I live for.

Save for some of the absolute bullshit of the challenge maps, I found the actual game content to be pretty fair and interesting. The Bullies required good defender placement, a lot of the ranged units focused on targeting the helpful buildings that buffed your characters and increased the operator deployment count, and maps themselves had a few clever chokepoints to work with... At least until they started spamming Fanatics.

Bison actually has a pretty solid kit for a free Operator. He buffs a lot of adjacent units, has a no real weakness, his tools don’t feel niche like Grani or Celycon, overall a great unit. Once I finish E2-ing all my main Operators I might build him next.

While I have issues with her as a story element, Mostima is a 6-star that has instant utility once you promote her to E2, much like Chen and Siege. This is something I’m relieved to say as a lot of my 6-stars aren’t worth much until you E2 them and I’m still trying to E2 some of my easier units like Cuora and Gavial for Chapter 5 and CC.

That’s really all I have to say on that front. So to close things off...

For the Future

Like I always say in these Ramblings, I don’t like the idea of people prattling on about being able to “fix” or “rewrite” something has already been made. It always comes across as both arrogant and ignorant to me. However, I think it’s completely fair to make requests and suggestions for the future. ‘

That said, I'd like to continue seeing side stories without Rhodes Island’s involvement. Both to see other factions in their natural element and because, frankly, Rhodes Island always feels a little out of place when involved in other stories, or at least more of a distraction than a good element if chapter 2 and 3 are anything to go by. I think a Black Steel side story would be nice. Jessica, Franka, Liskarm, and Vanille getting into shenanigans in Columbia or something sounds like a fun time. Maybe have the leader/high commander of the organization as a new operator and they’re a really powerful Supporter than can buff the party, like a 6-star version of Sora or something that gives operators insane ASPD buffs... I don’t know, something like that anyway. Ideally something a little less wordy than Code of Brawl at least.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. Next time... I’ll talk about something else. Maybe discuss a manga or something.

See you all later.

#arknights #your dictator is speaking

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auntarctica · 4 years

Note

If you were to rank the Devil May Cry series plus the reboot in what order would you place them? Which one have you played the most? Which was your first into the series that started your love of it?

Oooh, man, okay. Good question. I have a weird feeling we all probably all sort of agree on this taxonomy, but: I played DMC 1, and liked it, but thought of it as just a really cool gothic-themed hack-and-slash - and laughed at the weird incestuous tone-deafness of having Dante obsess over a demon who looks like his dead mom, while killing his twin brother without a second thought or reaction (”It. Never. Gets. Any. Easier! *whistles*”). And of course, over having his brother suddenly be gigantic as Nelo Angelo (sidebar: I *love* how they got around this in 5and made it retroactively sensible by having the Angelos and other beasts be more like massive organic mechs controlled by the captive user) - 2 came out and we played it and it really did, and still does, look absolutely beautiful - but it had no real point and no real soul, (which ultimately and arguably actually kind of makes it work with the full arc of canon, knowing what we know now) but at the time made it feel pretty underwhelming. I mean DMC 1 wasn’t giving us much emotional depth, but at least we got Dante’s wisecracking and general lovable idiocy. DMC 2 took that away and tried to give us more DRAMA, but with zero emotional resonance. I still liked the series, but found myself hoping the next one would be better. But then 3 came out. Everything changed with that one, really. Adding Vergil, as a character, absolutely galvanized fandom, and we all coalesced around that - the passionate story of the star-crossed twins. They added so much nuance and depth to the story, and re-minted a toss-off narrative into a very epic tragedy. In that very first scene and voice over (you know the one), my boyfriend (now husband) turned to me and said, “Is it just me, or is this really really gay?” It was not just him, and it was very, very gay. From there on, I’ve just been all in. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I see 4 as a necessary progression of the story in retrospect, and 5 as the absolutely perfect love letter we long-time fans would never have dreamed of receiving. As far as Reboot goes, I’m probably kind of alone in that loved it for what it really is - an AU fanfic of DMC classic. Are there some misfires? Hell yes. Are there some total incongruencies, brought about by the dev team making random changes to character and canon (mostly to make Dante more EXTREEEEEM) without accounting for their logistic ripple effect? Fuck yes! But can all that be reconciled in fic? Maybe! It’s fun to try, anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But there was stuff I absolutely loved about what they did with that universe’s characterization, and now that it’s no longer a threat to Classic, with reboot becoming the “new canon”, I think it deserves a re-visit by those who were primed to hate it as the presumptive unanointed usurper. It really does have a lot of good points, and without it, I truly believe we never would have gotten 5 in the form that we did, with realistic faces, a deep emotional storyline, lifelike swearing, or Nero in the form he is - pugnacious and irreverent (though they toned down the nihilism and cranked up the sweetness, which was part of where NT misfired). I would say I have definitely played 5 and 3 the most, with Reboot a close third. So to answer your ultimate question, I guess I'd be like: Tied: DMC 5 DMC 3 Then: Reboot DMC 1 DMC 2

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katrinawritesthings · 4 years

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Jonghyun/Taemin; a series of lists (part 24); PG

hey what the fuck is up I started writing this last year when Want came out because Taemin is really hot and then I didn’t finish it until a little while ago but now it’s Wantiversary so now I can post it with a friend’s help hell yeah finger pistols

Masterlist

5 times whatever whatever Want is about being edgy and casting away your catholic guilt but he just looks so soft in everything

It takes Taemin a whole half an hour after Jonghyun wakes up in the morning and starts getting ready for work to wake up himself, grumbling and mumbling under the covers about how loud Jonghyun is being. Jonghyun smiles as he inspects his uniform in his full length mirror on the back of his door.

“I can't have been that loud if you took this long to wake up,” he says. In reply Taemin just grumbles more. Glancing behind him at the bed, he sees him moving around under the blankets, a little wiggly bed worm. The lump of his body crawls down to the end of the bed until his hand appears from under the covers and lifts them up. Under them, his dirty blonde hair is mussed, his eyelids are droopy, his cheeks are round and soft, and his lips are at their puffiest and blobbiest. He looks so delicate and pretty and soft that Jonghyun feels like if he touched him he would come off on his fingers as a fine powder.

“Come snuggle me,” Taemin says. Jonghyun snorts.

“I gotta go to work?” he says pointing at the door with his thumb. It's almost time for his receptionist shift. Taemin’s eyes lower, and the hand that was holding the sheets over his head falls down into his lap, where it starts playing with his other hand. The sheet covers half of his head and Messes his hair up even more.

“Oh, I mean, sure,” he says. His voice is a quiet little mumble. “I guess, yeah, you gotta go to work,” he says. “Work is important I guess, gotta. Gotta do that work. Right now. Immediately. Gotta get right out there. I don't mind. I'll just, you know, wait. Wouldn't want you to miss work. Not like you do enough work already anyway. No big deal.” he mumbles on and on, half of his words barely even comprehensible with how small his voice is as he picks dirt out from under his nails. Jonghyun looks at him, entirely amused, and then shakes his head. Walking over to the bed, he lifts the covers and sits down on the edge of it, crosses his legs, props his elbow on his knee, and then props his chin in his hand.

“You're such a whiny baby,” he says, lifting one hand to fix Taemin’s hair under the sheet. Taemin keeps looking down at his lap, but he lifts one hand as well to hold onto Jonghyun’s.

“You’re a whiny baby,” he says. Jonghyun laughs softly.

“You're a little shit,” he says fondly.

“You’re a little shit,” Taemin says.

“You're real cute.”

“You’re real cute.”

“Your lips look so soft,” Jonghyun says absently. He lifts his free hand to run his thumb over Taemin’s bottom lip. He wants to feel how soft they are for himself. Taemin’s lips move against his thumb when he speaks next.

“Your lips look so soft,” he mumbles without looking up. Jonghyun smiles, enamored inside of his heart.

“Can I kiss you?” he asks. He waits for Taemin to repeat his question so he can say yes and then kiss Taemin himself. Taemin lets go of Jonghyun’s hand, cups his face, and presses their mouths together softly in a warm, slow kiss.

Jonghyun is sure that he was thinking about something else a minute ago, something businesslike and important, seeing as he's sitting at his receptionist desk with a group of bikers about to come in, but he can't remember it because all he's thinking about right now is the jacket that Taemin is wearing.

It's a normal and average leather jacket except for how the left sleeve has its middle section cut out; the fabric ripped in the middle of his bicep, and in the middle of his forearm, held together with a thin string. or maybe that's not the second half of the sleeve and is instead just a really long glove? Or maybe it's both. Jonghyun doesn't know. He doesn't really care, either, about the logistics of this weird jacket, because he's more focused on how just. Incredibly sexy. Taemin's elbow is. His elbow and his arm muscles on either side. It's just. So hot. It's such a hot look. He never thought he would be here, 31 years old, lusting over a daintily exposed elbow, but here he is, and he's not angry about it. He's just horny.

“what the fuck did he do to that jacket?” Key comes to stand next to him behind the counter, looking out of the front window at the jumble of bikers with his nose scrunched in fashion judgment.

“I think it's hot,” Jonghyun says, barely taking the second to glance at Key before looking right back outside. “don't you think it's hot?”

“I think it's a waste of a good leather jacket,” Key says. “also, have you noticed that his hair lately has been, like.” he hesitates, fingernails tapping on the counter as he tries to think of some not rude way to put what he wants to say. Jonghyun takes his eyes away from Taemin's elbow for a moment to look over his hair. Dirty blonde instead of the usual bleach job, straight and hanging into his eyes instead of a little wavy and fanned out around his face, suspiciously wet in a way that can also maybe look greasy, undercut grown out so much that it curls just a little bit around the back of his neck and makes it look almost like a mullet.

“Awful?” Jonghyun asks, grinning. “yeah. I love it.” he loves it a whole lot. He loves his little greasy biker boy.

“is it comfortable living inside of his asshole?” Key asks mildly. He puts his elbow on the counter and props his cheek in his hand, smiling pleasantly at Jonghyun. Jonghyun mirrors him, smiling just as pleasantly back.

“I think you're just bitter because he keeps showing up in all of your high fashion magazines and you're jealous,” he says. Key narrows his eyes.

“maybe so,” he says evenly. Jonghyun smiles wider. He loves Key a lot too.

“say something nice about him,” he demands. Key might be right, but Taemin is still Jonghyun’s boyfriend and Jonghyun is still protective over him. plus he knows that there are definitely things that Key likes about Taemin, so he doesn't have an excuse to not come up with something. And Jonghyun wants to hear him say it. Key looks at Jonghyun, who looks back with his eyebrows raised, and then sighs, looking back outside.

He takes a moment, but then he stands up straight and adjusts his body posture. He puts one foot forward and cocks his hip. He puts one hand on that hip, fingers splayed out, and lifts his other arm to be at a 90 degree angle, wrist hanging down, in a very good impression of how Taemin stands all the time. Turning back to Jonghyun, he says, “his little,” and wiggles the fingers on his hip. “his mannerisms when he stands are cute. I especially like his gay hand.” Key wiggles his dangly hand for good measure.

“Yeah, “ Jonghyun grins, looking back outside. Taemin is standing that exact same way as he waits around for the other bikers to get their shit together. His soft little heart melts just watching him. “It’s real cute.”

“Mhmm,” Key hums, standing normally again. He pets Jonghyun’s hand on the counter gently. “Anyway,” he says as the bikers finally all start filing in, “tell him to keep an eye on that jacket, because I will steal it if he doesn't.” and with that vague threat, he leaves, slipping through the staff room door. Jonghyun shakes his head. He doesn't doubt that at all.

Having a snake slithering slowly around the back of his neck and creeping over his cheeks isn't exactly what Taemin had in mind when Jonghyun said he wanted to go to the pet store. He's pretty sure it's not what Jonghyun had in mind either, because Jonghyun is currently on the other side of the store, cooing over all of the mice and hamsters.

Taemin is having a fun time though, sitting here on the cool tile with his back against bags of reptile bark, chilling with these little Snakey Pals while a pet store employee cleans out their cages. It's pretty rad how he was able to just ask if he could hold a snake and then five minutes later be holding several. One just coils in his lap, drawing heat from his core, another tiny baby twists and plays around his fingers, and the one on his cheek is slowly making progress across his nose. He loves all of them.

“You okay?” the employee asks him, almost sounding concerned. Taemin glances up as much as he can without disturbing his new friends.

“Yeah,” he says. “I'm having fun.” he thinks for a moment about explaining that he doesn't really do the whole Expressions thing and then decides that he doesn't care that much. Instead, he brings both of his hands together so his finger snake can play with all of his fingers instead of just half of them. she slides over, little tongue flitting in and out, and curls around his thumb and wrist.

“Okay, just checking,” the employee says. “Two more cages to clean and then I have to take them back.”

“Mmkay,” Taemin says. That's fine. He should get back to Jonghyun soon anyway. he's pretty sure that this is supposed to be a date.

Before it's time for him to say goodbye to his new friends, though, Jonghyun finds him, peeps into the snake aisle and then brightens, walking towards him. He has a tube of tennis balls under his arm, which is adorable. Maybe they can play catch later.

“Hey,” Jonghyun smiles, crouching down next to him and smooching the side of his head. Taemin assumes that Jonghyun didn't kiss his cheek because there is currently a snake on it. “making friends?” he asks. Then, when Taemin hums yes, Jonghyun looks up at the employee and waves his little cute Square hand. “hey Alice,” he says.

“Hey,” they smile back. “how have you been?”

“oh, you know,” Jonghyun shrugs. He takes a comfy seat next to Taemin, slipping his hand around his arm, and continue s this conversation with this Alice that he apparently knows and is good friends with. it's super extra cute to Taemin that Jonghyun is on a first-name basis with the pet store employees and he looks down, gently tugging one hand free of the tiny snake so he can pet a finger down the smooth scales of the one in his lap. He's glad that the snake currently chilling on his face can at least partially hide the blush that crept into his cheeks when he thought about how intensely adorable his Jonghyun is. he doesn't need to be exposed in front of his new friends.

when Jinki glances through the glass windows of the little convenience store that he's in, he does a double take when he sees that there is a small group of people clustered around his car.

Or, no; around the passenger side door of his car. Around Taemin. A group of people around his child. concerned suddenly, ready to fight, filled with an intense fatherly instinct to protect that he didn't even know that he had , he Squints outside for a closer look. he relaxes when he sees a familiar face at the front of the cluster. It's jonghyun. It's just Taemin’s new boyfriend apparently out with some of his friends, just happening to be in the same place at the same time. Okay. Jinki goes back to waiting patiently in line at the register.

Two other customers later, he buys his stuff and carries his plastic bag over his arm as he walks out and back to his car. Taemin is still talking to Jonghyun and his friends, sitting in the passenger seat sideways with the door open but his arms on top of it and his chin nestled in them. Jonghyun is pink all over, nervous, flustered, cute, and his friends all look very entertained to see him so.

“we had sudden government stuff to do,” Taemin is saying, his voice the usual quiet mumble. “we're on our way back. Jinki wanted to grab snacks.” he nods his head towards Jinki, who's already smiled and waved everyone as he approached his car.

“Hi Jinki,” Jonghyun says, voice tiny but still perceptively pleased.

“Hey,” Jinki says back. “you got the day off?” he asks, happy for the kid. He's always so overworked, so busy trying to run the motel with his sister. It's good that he has some time to just hang out with his friends. Jonghyun nods quietly, nervously. He's always nervous when Jinki talks to him. Extra nervous, Jinki guesses, because he's always nervous about everything. Jinki wishes he knew how to be a more comforting existence for him, but it's not really a problem for right now, so he puts it out of his mind.

“Good, good.” he says, just to acknowledge that Jonghyun answered him. He opens his door and tosses the plastic baggie of stuff in for Taemin to grab. “we gotta get back,” he adds. He feels a little bad about cutting this little meeting short so abruptly, but he knows neither Taemin nor Jonghyun will leave themselves and Jinki isn't about to just sit here in the parking lot for half an hour. “we'll be back at your place in about two or three weeks, though,” depending on whether or not anyone feels like going to the farm or not.

“Oh, okay, yeah,” Jonghyun says. “Umm..” he looks at Taemin and turns, if possible, even Pinker. “Um…” he says again. He shuffles a Little Closer, hands gripping anxiously in his shirt collar as his friends giggle behind him. Taemin extends one hand, cups his cheek, and tugs him down to press a little kiss to his mouth.

“See you around, kid,” he mumbles. Then, as Jinki gets into the driver's seat and shuts his door, Taemin follows his lead and does the same. Jinki drives them away, smiling at how Jonghyun waves very tiny and cute, and stays quiet until they get to the stop light outside the parking lot. Then he turns to cock an eyebrow and smirk at Taemin, who is leaning way back in his seat with his hands over his face.

“I just want to say,” he starts, “that it was really impressive how you spent all that time pretending like you weren't two seconds away from throwing up.” It was honestly one of the most impressive things that Jinki has ever seen Taemin do. The whole reason Jinki went into the store in the first place was because Taemin practically begged him for a break from the car ride. Jinki got him a nice bottle of ginger tea to help with his tummy and everything.

“Thanks,” Taemin groans, “but don’t make me talk.”

“Sorry,” Jinki says. for the rest of the car ride back to Luna's place, Taemin sips his tea extremely slowly.

“Taemin! Taemin! Taemin! Tae! Tae! Taeminnie! Taeminnie! Taemin!”

Taemin hears Jonghyun’s voice, very loud, very excited, before he even registers his hands papping all over him. he only feels all of the touches when he pulls his helmet off of his head and sees Jonghyun doing them, all over his back and his arms and when he turns, his chest and tummy.

“Tae Taem Taemie Taemin Taeminnie!” Jonghyun is still saying. His eyes are wide and bright and his smile is wider and brighter and his hands are still all over Taemin and the overall effect is extremely overwhelming and loud, especially after spending half an hour letting himself zone out on his motorcycle. “Taemin Taemin Taemin--”

“Jonghyun,” Taemin says. Just once. He gets a hold of both of Jonghyun’s wrists, holding them still, holding them down. he holds them both in one hand and lifts his other hand to cup Jonghyun’s jaw, to seal his lips with his thumb for just a second. Jonghyun puckers his lips to kiss his thumb before his dazzling, huge smile returns. he's slightly out of breath, probably because he ran out here to come say Taemin’s name over and over again as soon as the Group all rolled Into the parking lot. Taemin moves his thumb down to the corner of his mouth, across his cheek.

“What?” he asks. “I'm glad to see you,” he adds. It's been over two months and he's glad to be back to his home. Even if his home is suddenly too overwhelming. even if it's still hard for him to admit that he wants a stationary home. Even if it's hard for him to admit to himself that there can be a person other than jinki that feels like home to him. He's glad to be home.

“can I - - oh, thanks.” Jonghyun puts his hand on Taemin’s, which is on his cheek, and leans up on his tippy-toes to give Taemin a quick kiss, right in front of everyone, no anxiety or anything. “can I do something to you that you’ll probably hate?” he asks eagerly, excited, still loud.

“Uh…” Taemin says. He's very aware of everyone in the group looking curiously at them. “depends. Why would I hate it?” there are some hates that he's willing to tolerate for Jonghyun.

“all of your little biker gang friends will tease you,” Jonghyun says. Taemin snorts, looks down, does his very best to not pout.

“They've already been teasing me all morning,” he grumbles. “I spilled my fucking fruit cup on myself at breakfast.” he's never going to hear the end of it. “do the thing.” He's honestly curious as to what Jonghyun could possibly be so eager and excited about. at his consent, Jonghyun grows inexplicably more excited, enough to bounce up and down on his toes, and hold Taemin’s hand so hard it almost hurts.

hissing quiet little “fuck yeah”s to himself, Jonghyun jams his hand into his hoodie pocket and pulls out something fuzzy and white. Taemin barely gets a glimpse of a little bunny face on it before Jonghyun is lifting it up and putting it on his head as a beanie. the flaps on either side extend down to Taemin’s Chest, ending in cute little paws, and before he can even touch them himself to feel, Jonghyun is grabbing his hands and making him hold them.

“Squeeze them,” he whispers, suddenly quiet now in his anticipation, hands over his mouth, eyes locked on a point just above Taemin's head. Taemin, appreciating this new chillness, appreciating instead of just observing how adorable Jonghyun is in this moment, squeezes both hands.

He feels movement on either side of his head; Jonghyun gasps softly; so do several people in the rest of the group. He relaxes his hands and feels that same movement again. confused, trying to piece it together, he thinks. Little paws. Little bunny face. Head stuff. He squeezes his hands opposite each other, feeling each side of his head respond in kind. Jonghyun’s eyes are getting over Bright Now, watery, and Taemin hears quiet giggles from everyone else.

“are they like, floppy bunny ears or something?” he asks.

“you are so. fucking. Cute,” Jonghyun hisses. He Stomps his foot with each word that he says and then surges forward to wrap his arms around Taemin and nuzzle into his neck happily, squeezing him hard. Taemin says “oof” and then slowly brings his arms up to hug Jonghyun back.

He wants to say “you too,” but even as he opens his mouth, he can't make the words come out without feeling a very different kind of overwhelming emotion build up in his chest and his throat , one that threatens to bring heat to his cheeks. that's been happening a lot to him lately and he really doesn't think that he's ready to face it yet, so he just stays silent. it's always nice to just be silent and hug jonghyun anyway, even if it does feel like Jonghyun is trying to snap him in half with how hard he's squeezing him.

Around him, the others all coo and giggle and pet his bunny ears, reach for one of the paws and give it a little squeeze. they're definitely teasing him, Taemin knows, but for once, he doesn't really care.

#jongtae #jonghyun #taemin #jinki #biker au #pg #i don't remember any of the shit i wanted to put in the tags #my typist is more pressed than the album #want taemin is just really really really really hot and soft so that's why I wrote this #you're welcome #I went looking for videos of Idols with snakes and there was this one video #where five girls got to play with snakes and Alice was the only one that was super chill about it #I don't remember what band she's in lamo hellovenus Maybe??#ydw

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firesign23 · 4 years

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I have a great love for Eyes Like Starlight - five head canons, please!

Okay, rather than headcanons, I’m going to give you the abridged “What happens between then and NYE”. Also, funny story, while hoping to fit in the New Year’s followup I had a great line pop into my head and was like “Yes! Perfect!” and then several hours later went “Oh, was that in Alright Outta Sight? I feel like that was in Alright Outta Sight. Fuck.” I… have not been brave enough to double-check.

So, first of all, they don’t meet next at Olenna’s NYE party. Brienne goes back to the house the next day to collect her car (when designated drivers drink, logistics must be considered) and runs into Jaime, who is even more attractive in jeans and a sweater and Brienne would like to die now, thanks. Like, she’s not even attracted to him, per se, he’s just so damn pretty it activates a primal urge to, like, break his face so he will stop looking at her.

She asks him where the best place for coffee is, because seriously she needs a damn coffee. His directions are so convoluted she’s like “Nevermind, I’ll go to Starbucks.”/”Like hell you will, this is the best coffee in King’s Landing. Just, like, follow me in your car, I was heading there anyway.”

This is a bit weird, really, but honestly? Coffee. Coffeecoffeecoffee. He is, appallingly, right--the coffeeshop is this weird little hole in the wall, but the coffee is literally the best she’s ever had. The company… well, she invited him to sit at her table out of politeness, but she finds the conversation as invigorating as it was the night before--they argue, but in a way that feels like they’re both in one some great joke. It’s a nice time. They don’t exchange numbers or anything, but she’s not, like, hating him; if he’s at Olenna’s soiree (because the woman really would NOT be happy to hear it called a party, bless her), she’d talk to him.

There’s still like two weeks to New Year’s Eve, so she pretty much forgets about it--she’s absolutely crushed with work at the clinic, it’s not important, etc. All of which is fine, except...

Margaery and Renly decide that she needs a break and drag her to their favourite gay club. It’s not really her thing, clubbing, but she doesn’t mind it--nobody does a double-take when she walks into the women’s bathroom, people are friendly, she might even dance a little.

Guess who is also at said bar? Jaime Fucking Lannister. (Oberyn absolutely dragged him there) Somehow they end up shout-talking in a corner, and he compliments her in a way that seems genuinely sincere, and she’s having fun, until sloppily drunk Renly needs to be escorted on the walk home. Jaime walks with them, since he was mostly just talking to Brienne anyway, but there’s nothing weird about it, it’s just good to have extra hands while wrangling drunk people, and he leaves them at Renly’s door.

She doesn’t see him again until Olenna’s party. He declines an (alcoholic) drink, makes a joke about needing his wits about him. They are so, so flirty without really realising it. But it’s, like, butterflies in the stomach for Brienne, especially when he wipes a crumb from the corner of her lips with his thumb and looks at her. They sort of meet and part throughout the evening, and even though she knows it is ridiculous, she starts thinking that maybe they’ll kiss at midnight. Not because, like, LOVE AND ROMANCE, but people do that. It could be sweet, and fun, and she’s pretty sure he wouldn’t expect her to go home with him for a fuck in return. (She hates Ron for many, many reasons, but the time he informed her that nobody would ever treat her nicely without wanting “A warm hole to stick it in” is very close to the top of the list; she doesn’t believe it, but she’s always aware that some men think like that.)

Sometime around 11, Jaime makes a comment about knowing where she is for the countdown, and those butterflies go hard. It’s ridiculous, she’s a professional, a grown woman, she doesn’t even like him that much.

Except at ten to midnight she starts looking for him and he’s nowhere. Seven minutes, five, three… She greets the new year alone on a balcony, and hates the fact that a pretty face could make her feel like shit. (It’s not his face, though, though it is very pretty--it’s his sense of humour, and his intelligence, and the way he seems like an asshole but the more she watches him she doesn’t see him being unkind to someone unless they deserve it.)

(Jaime wasn’t drinking that night because he was on-call. Shortly after that comment about the countdown, which was most definitely about wanting to kiss her, he got called into the hospital. He couldn’t see her to let her know, and asked Tyrion to pass the message on. Tyrion entirely failed to do so.)

Send me the title of a fic I’ve written or talked about and I’ll give you five headcanons, or send me 📚 and I’ll pic a random fic I have to give five facts/headcanons about!

#ask meme #headcanon meme #my fanfic

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kinkymagnus · 4 years

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What's your take on omega verse Malec?? Or is it not your thing??

jldkjhflgkhfg oh anon thats like, what some of my first fics were

i used to lowkey (ok, so highkey) basically use it to write trans magnus smut without writing trans magnus smut and Project(TM) because i was too scared to write real trans magnus smut but honestly???? that’s not the only reason i like it

the problem with omegaverse is that like. people tend to write it in a really yikes way. like sometimes it can get pretty transphobic, and also it almost always gets super rapey. not my thing.

also sometimes people like to start trying to get woke and being like “let’s talk about alpha/alpha and omega/omega relationships being the gay relationships of a/b/o and like, trans alphas” or whatever which. i mean if you really want to delve into the logistics and potential societal changes there, you do you, but when i do see it it feels like they’re always ignoring like. real transphobia that exists and sometimes even homophobia and just being like “lmao i made this up and im woke” or like “a straight couple but they’re both alphas so they’re oppressed” or whatever but its like...... ok but....what about the Real issues and like actual trans people and actual queer couples (not that a m/f couple can’t be queer, like if one of them’s queer or trans they’re not a Cishet couple but that’s not the point here) instead of you making up new things..? you know what i mean? idk i feel like i’m not explaining it well but it annoys me. not the idea of it at all. but the way people treat it sometimes.

also just personally i don’t see the point like i write omegaverse for the alpha/omega shenanigans of knotting and heats and shit you know. that’s personal opinion tho so lmao idk

but. oh boy. the POTENTIAL. for fluff, smut, angst? all delicious.

like.... scenting??? can be so fucking sweet and soft ok.

nesting??? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. THAT’S THE SOFTEST CONCEPT EVER. also ive always loved blanket nests id do great here tbh

knotting?? 👀👀👀👀👀👀 what can i say im a whore

heats/ruts? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YES. YES YES YES

there’s more but like the point is, i actually really like playing with omegaverse. even tho i’m now comfortable enough to write trans magnus, i’d still write omegaverse. i think it does feel weird to combine it a little, but just glossing over it works for me like whatever it’s not like it’s that serious

because magnus???? deserves it

obviously im talking omega magnus and alpha alec like i stg omega alec is even more annoying than bottom/sub alec because it’s all the worst traits of those fanon versions of alec mixed together into an even bigger uwu helpless baby mess. same with alpha magnus being a hypermasculine grimdark asshole who literally like owns slaves/omegas/alec, or just being solely a caretaker who never is vulnerable in any way bc he doesn’t have emotions beyond “loves alec” and maybe “is sad for alec” or “angry for alec”

again blah blah blah im sure not every single one is like that but enough of them are that it just squicks me out and i hate it

besides honestly magnus just........fits omega so well to me.... ngl (and alec fits alpha). idk how to explain it tbh its just a Thing

(and no not in some weird “magnus is Submissive” way ok like u can make someone an omega without giving them the fanon alec treatment)

ANYWAY the point is omegaverse good when done right like....... having fun with heats and ruts? knotting? scenting and nesting fluff? mating bonds????? iconic. iconic iconic iconic. just add a huge heaping pile of consent and love and you’ve got some goooooooooood fiction

#omegaverse #trans magnus

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abnormalpsychology · 5 years

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The Bully (part two)

[alternate title: I try to weave an in-depth metaphor abt time and fate using only a swingset and two baby gays with magical birthmarks] [WOW THIS REALLY DOESNT GET ANY EASIER OK SORRY FOR THE SPAM EVERYONE HERES SOME ty🅱️us ] [also I know TJ is a gay nerd I write him as A Very Cool Dude bc I feel like that’s how Cyrus initially sees him] [lol] [Buffy insults TJ that way bc we have to keep our PG Rating Kiddos]

T.J. was the dealbreaker. The one person who if someone liked him, the trio hated them by association.

“Anyone who’d spend time with that misogynistic jockwad is no friend of mine,” Buffy would mutter about the basketball team.

There had never been a problem with this rule of the Crew. But as fate often likes to do, to stretch morals and philosophies to their breaking point, to shock a person into seeing from a new perspective like a diver into cold water, perhaps to a way of seeing they had imitated rather than had chosen for themselves, maybe one they had even been predisposed to, a problem soon developed.

The earliest possible source, the inception, of the issue was somewhere in the lunch period Cyrus had briefly met the so-called bully when T.J. had explained chocolate-muffin-getting logistics to Cyrus, giving him both the chance to finally be assertive about something he’d really wanted and to realize that this kid really wasn’t as “Satan incarnate” awful as Buffy had described him to be. He’d dismissed it as a one-time thing, the kind of brush with an athletic bad boy that probably came along to everyone and made adults reflect back on what their life would be like if they’d been friends with kids like that instead. A simple “what if”.

But it was certainly not as rare as he’d thought, Cyrus discovered when the very same jockwad approached him on the swings one day. He was singing his original composition, with his own lyrics to match, mashed together into the piece of artwork known as “the Swing Song”. His relatives had cheered him on at live performances when he was a kid. It was weird. It was the weirdest possible way to meet someone.

Yet somehow he didn’t immediately walk away.

“Nice song,” his acquaintance commented cooly, making him bolt upright and close his mouth fast. “What do you sing when you’re on the slide?”

Cyrus, surprised, complied and tentatively sang its thrilling sequel, “the Slide Song”. “Legs go down, we say yay… we don’t go up… that’s the wrong way…”

“Huh.” He looked as genuinely surprised as Cy felt. “Did not expect you to have a song for that. Chocolate chocolate-chip muffin, right?”

Involuntarily, he felt himself smile. He couldn’t believe that this kind-of-jerky but popular guy remembered him. It was sort of… nice; he didn’t think he was somebody he would remember. Like he’d felt with Jonah. Sort of... special.

“Scary basketball guy.”

The other boy frowned, shifted. “Actually, T.J.”

“I know.” He paused, then offered, “Cyrus.”

T.J. walked past him, keeping distance, almost wary. Weirdly enough, Cyrus didn’t feel awkward. This was revolutionary! He almost always felt awkward when talking to new people! Maybe it was that this kid was being so weirdly, unexpectedly cool.

“So, do you… hang out here a lot?”

“Only when I’m feeling bad about myself,” he replied, uncomfortably aware of the self-consciousness bubbling back up at the truth in his words. “So, fairly often.”

T.J. was quiet as he pondered this. “Does it help?”

“It helps me.”

T.J. was hesitant, looking down at the swing with a self-conscious familiar look.

“Go on,” Cyrus encouraged. “You look like you need it.”

The taller boy obliged, looking somewhat out-of-place in the tiny swing. But he tried it anyway, swinging higher and higher until he felt the anxiety slip away in the wind. Cyrus watched the bully who had made his friend miserable grin like a child, soar into the air. It made him smile in return. The creaking groans of the shiny blue swingset as it shifted under their weight was a steady heartbeat in the pair’s ears, bringing back summer memories and relaxing their worries. It was comfortable and… so unexpectedly nice.

“Wow, this does kinda make me feel better,” T.J. said through his bright, genuine smile.

“What do you need to feel better about? You’re the captain of the basketball team.”

T.J.’s smile melted fast, but he kept swinging. “You don’t know me. I got stuff.”

“Betcha I got more stuff,” Cyrus replied, looking up to where T.J. was, suspended in the spring air.

“Yeah?” A competitive spark shone through in his voice. “Betcha I can swing higher!”

It was like Buffy. It made him really wish that the two basketball players had ended up as friends instead of as determined rivals. He really wasn’t too bad, actually.

“I’m afraid to swing high,” Cyrus admitted from where he was rocking haltingly, inches off the ground. “That’s part of my stuff.”

“Whoo!” T.J. was soaring back and forth now. “I don’t know why I ever stopped swingin’! C’mon, get up here!”

“This is as up as I go,” he responded, expecting the other boy to tease or laugh, but was only met with another whoop and broad smile.

T.J. chuckled at an idea, then sprung effortlessly off to land on his feet on the worn-down, soft mulch in front of Cyrus. The two made eye contact from where he was still swinging carefully, Cyrus’ brow furrowed as he watched the other proceed behind him. He trusted the kid to not to push him off or anything. At least, he thought he did. Should he? Was this just him playing a prank to make fun of him this whole time? Was this all going to go wrong now? Was he gonna—

Then T.J. reached up to give him a gentle push, and Cyrus’ whole back exploded with pain and color. They both screamed, birds fleeing from the echo reverberating through the park. Cyrus fell forward onto the mulch, arms awkwardly flying up to catch himself, hot tears pricking the edges of his blurry vision.

“Holy hell!” T.J. yelled, tripping back to catch himself on one of the cartoonish boulders nearby. “I’m sorry! I don’t know what I did!”

“Ow ow ow ow, why is this happening what’s going on?” Cyrus muttered, voice so hysterical that it bordered on a melody. His breathing was not working right, his brain coming up with all of the different ways he was probably dying.

“Cyrus, what’s wrong?” He could feel T.J. by his side now, could hear the shouts of alarm in the distance as people noticed the pair, could feel how the other boy was frantically trying to keep him conscious. He was conscious. He was fully conscious, his back was keeping him wide awake, so he tried to push T.J. away. “It’s gonna be okay, just listen to me, people are coming over… why is your shirt glowing?”

And then it hit Cyrus Goodman, as the pain in his back swelled to its worst and his eyes snapped open. Oh no. Oh no.

T.J. Kippen was his soulmate.

#my fanfic #andi mack fanfic #ahjdkahs #andi mack #andi mack gift exchange

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lifeofanadultsucks · 5 years

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Fuck.

Hey there my nonexistent readers. I hope all is well in your world. I know I have been off the radar for a while, but I am back. My goal for 2019 is to post more, it is never too late to get started on a goal.

Okay, today’s topic is a topic that comes up quite often in conversations with my friends. The topic for today is DATING! Yup, good old fashion dating. Please do not get confused, this is not about love or relationships, this is about the search in finding that person.

Last week, I was having a conversation with a friend, who happens to be gay, and he said that dating as a gay man is difficult and that women have it easy in the dating. In this conversation, he argued that gay men that do not have the nicest body or this certain “look” then it is harder to find a man. Being gay and single by the time you are 30, just means you are going to end up alone. He is gay and he is 27, so he still has some years. Keep in mind, my friend is not ugly, he has an average body, and in my eyes he is dateable. I understand his pain, and, trust, I know his frustration. I was about to sympathize until he said, “Women have it so much easier when it comes to dating.”

That was my exact face followed by a “bitch what”. That comment alone got me thinking.

I have been single for the past 7 years. My last and only adult relationship happened and ended when I was 21. We were only together for roughly three months and kept in contact for about 6 months. Contact=sex. I am not going to go into the logistics of why we broke up, just know I was really heartbroken when we called it quits. Listen, you cannot be with me and not tell me you have a wife and boyfriend...yeah...broke my damn heart. He was a class A asshole. Anyway, I have been single for quite some YEARS and the older you get, the harder it becomes to find someone.

There are numerous ways to meet people online, there is Tinder, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, Zoosk, Match, Eharmony, FarmersOnly, Black People Meet, Christian Mingle, Grindr, and the list goes on. So you would think with all of these sites meeting someone would come easy right? WRONG!! It is so fucking hard to get a date, I am being dead ass serious. I meet guys online all the time, but our conversation never goes past the second or third day. I can’t even get a guy to go to dinner for conversation and drinks. Fuck dinner, I can't even get drinks. I have been in the dating game for 7 years, I have been on a handful of dates, majority bad, a few okay, and a great deal of no shows. I know all about being single and almost 30.

Let me say this before I proceed, there is nothing wrong with being single. There are times when I enjoy it. I love my freedom. I love just doing what I want when I want. I enjoy discovering who I am and I want I want both in and out of a relationship. I am not going to lie, being single has its perks. It is nice. I know some people in a relationship who loved to be single. I understand that 100%. I enjoy my time, but I wouldn't mind sharing my time with someone.

After that conversation with my male friend, I started talking to another friend of mine who happens to be on an online dating app called Hinge. I told her about the conversation I just had about dating. Like me, she agreed that dating for a female is also difficult. It wasn't until our conversation that I realized, “I am lonely as fuck.” I am serious. I have been single for 7 years. In that time frame, I have had friends have multiple relationships, have a relationship, get engaged, get married, and have children. No focusing on the order, the matter of the fact is they have accomplished. In my love life, I long list of one night stands and random hookups plus one shitty ass two-month relationship. And yeah, I am almost 30. In that area of my life, I have nothing to show for it but some wild stories that will make my mom disown me. I am sorry mom, but thank for reading.

Let me see if I can explain this correctly- it always sounds so good in my mind.

There is this curve or this timeline in which things happen that shows that you are #winning a life. By the age of 25, I should have established a relationship, have my own place, graduated college with a 4-year degree, be supporting myself, working a good job, preparing to be a mom, or having a dream of being a mom. At 25, I accomplished none of those things. Okay, I might have one of those things: a 2-year instead of a 4-year.

By the time I am 30, I should be established in a career, a loving girlfriend or wife, have plans of marriage, have children or desire children, children should be somewhere in my future, have my own place, and support myself.

I am hoping to have at least one of those goals completed by the time I am 30. I cannot begin to tell you my frustration with this curve. I see people on Facebook or Instagram posting their happy relationships and their cute children, and it makes me miserable. I could be okay if I were just casually dating for fun or hell just dating. But I have none of that. I have no boyfriend, no one I am talking to, or hell a “friend” that is a nonsexual partner but there is mad chemistry between us. Hell, it would be easier if I had a strong friend group- I do not even have that.

Am I the only one that feels like this? 27 and lonely. I do not have guys texting me. Oh, and online gets weird as FUCK. I can’t even a guy to grab a drink with me. The act of trying to date is frustrating. I used to have this friend that would tell me, “girl, just play the game”. I would respond with a “no, this is bullshit. If I do not put out right away I am a prude, if I put out too early then I am a hoe.” Sometimes there is no pleasing these men. Wait...do not let me have an opinion and feel strongly about a subject, then I am a bitch who needs to tone it down. I had a female friend of mine tell me that. She told me that I am abrasive and I need to tone it down. If I recall, she is still single.

With all of this being said, I was just wondering if I was the only one feeling like this? Older adults ask me all the time if I am married or dating, and when I tell them no, they say things like, “why are you single, you’re so pretty.” BITCH, I DO NOT KNOW, YOU THINK I WANTED TO BE SINGLE FOR 7 YEARS. Oh, my favorite is the “you’re single, you don’t get it.” I wanted to slap the shit out of that old lady when she said that. Or the question of “where is your ring?”. Shit like that gets under my fucking skin.

You think I want to be single. Wake up alone. Sit around the weekends. Do you think I like going out alone all the time? NO. That shit gets annoying. It does. I would love to take cute couples pictures, go on vacations, or meet the family. Hell, I would like to get cute and go on a date.

See how social media works. People post a photo and it makes 800 people wish they had something of that nature. Oh, online dating does nothing for me. Absolutely nothing. It frustrates me. Dating in general frustrates. How dating is portrayed in movies and mainstream frustrates. No one is offering to hook me up. Or I am not falling for my best friend’s brother--I am taking applications for a best friend, DM for details. I am just saying. Dating is hard as fuck. It does not discriminate if you are gay, straight, or Bi. It does not matter.

Dating fucking sucks! It is the absolute worst. If there was someway to make it easier would be great. Seriously. This curve of accomplishment is bullshit. I mean fuck the system. But can how can you say fuck the system when you’re still lonely. Damn. I just have to know, am I the only one who feels this way?

#dating #single #adulthood #gay #straight #bi #relationships #black girl #alone #lonely #reading #questions #interesting #friendship #goal #system #babies #marriage #7 years

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coffin-flop · 5 years

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Okay, so I just came out as gay this year @ the age of 22. My journey with sexuality has been very long and complicated. I wanted to type it out and I'm on moblie so I don't have below the cut thing. This will deal with sex and sexuality (and touches on substance abuse and abusive relationships in non-graphic manners). And of course homophobia, internalized homophobia, compulsory heterosexuality, etc. And I want to state that this is not a blanket statement abt ppl who are bi and it is only a very personal account of my journey.

I was in middle school when I came out as bi. I believe it was the summer between 7th and 8th grade. I told a close friend of mine that I liked girls, that I was bi. She said she felt the same way. A huge relief was lifted.

I told my cousin later that summer that I had a crush on the girl I came out to. She was so supportive.

During 8th grade, the girl I came out to and I were secretly dating. We texted flirty things (in a very innocent, 13 year old way) and held hands and went on "dates"

Her mom found out via diary snooping. My mom found out via phone snooping. Both were very unhappy. Her mom was much more outwardly mean.

But my mom sat me down and asked if I knew what this meant. If I was prepared for the loneliness and bullying, for being called/thought of as a "dyke." She also brought up not getting grandkids from me during this conversation.

She also sat in on a session with my therapist (who I was seeing for unrelated mental health issues) who called my sexuality a phase, even after I said it was not.

I stayed out as bi. The girl and I had to stop being friends, but I made other queer friends as I started high school.

My first boyfriend (who was abusive otherwise) mocked my sexuality and told me we would never see same-sex marriage be legalized.

My sophomore year, I joined gsa. Made even more queer friends. I think this is the year I first went to pride. I was very open about being pro LGBT. My mom had to accept me.

But she accepted me in that toxic Catholic mom of a queer kid way. She told me that she could really only see me ending up with a man (while saying she could see another queer girl we knew ending up with a woman).

When I'm a junior in high school, I date a girl who's made of gold. We made out a lot. We only did something sexual once and I received no pleasure, but holy fuck it was the most fun I've ever had in bed.

This girl's mom is not accepting. My mom is much more so, but she still shows herself in quieter ways. Like reminding me how not accepting the other mom is. How hard the lifestyle I'm choosing is.

Things don't work out, because that's life. My senior year, my mental health goes south. I start to party and my substance abuse issue starts. I start blowing and sleeping with guys because I should. Because it's "fun." Because it gets me attention and is way easier (logistically, being a high schooler in the suburbs in the mid 2010s) than banging girls.

And so, sleeping with dudes becomes part of my personality when I go away to college. At this point in my life, I never came during sex. Or foreplay. I'd only came while masturbating. I thought this was normal.

When away at college, I sleep with quite a few dudes and am completely unsatisfied

I sleep with one girl and fuck. That's what sex feels like!!! For years, I chalked it up to girls knowing girls bodies better, not attraction.

I also entered an open & poly relationship my freshman year. It was me, a dude, and a woman. I came a lot during our threesomes. And whenever the dude gave me molly. Just assumed it had to do with being adventurous. It couldn't have to do with attraction, I was attracted to men too because I was bi, I've been out as bi since I was 12.

I came home from college bc of mental breakdown and almost immediately started to sleep with a friend from high school. We started dating. It wasn't until I fell in love with him that I began to come during sex or foreplay. Assumed it had all to do with him learning my body, nothing to do with attraction.

And then, single, at 22, it hit me. Holy fuck I'm gay. I'm a lesbian. I'm not attracted to dudes!

Little twelve year old me was experiencing compulsory heterosexuality (a word I didn't know until I was 18). Little twelve year old me NOTICED an attraction to girls, but thought attraction to boys was just obviously part of the whole deal.

And then, almost immediately, I was told time and time again (by my mom and that shitty ex but also a lot of media I was exposed to) that being gay was hard and scary and lonely. At least, since I was bi, I'd probably end up happy and married to a dude.

And so, I forced myself into this weird, uncomfortable narrative. I had a lot of sex with a lot of men, not because of the sexual or romantic gratification, but because of the other things you can gain from sex. And I thought this was why everybody had sex.

And all throughout my life, I was more attracted to girls. I was pretty open about that. But I didn't even suspect I was gay. Because I'd been out as bi for so long and I sleep with dudes all the time.

Anyway, it's been a weird, long journey. And sometimes I get embarrassed saying I'm gay and then having this past with men. I feel like I'm not gay enough or that it's a phase or that I'm a bad example for both gay & bi people.

But fuck that noise. This is me. I'm gay. I struggled with it for so many years, I finally get to be happy with the fact that I'm a lesbian.

#personal #like very personal #long post

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thedistrictsleepsalonetonight · 6 years

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How to fall in love the wrong way

Chapter 8: She’s the kind of girl who’s in my thoughts all night

My dearest Cheryl,

I don’t usually do this sort of thing. I am pretty sure that if Sweet Pea and Fogarty ever find out about this, I am doomed. They will tease me to my grave, and their laughter would haunt me forever. And that is why this will probably never see the light of day. I am going to write this letter, and then stuff it into a locked box, and throw it under my bed where it will hopefully never be found by my uncle.

Anyways, I have dithered about long enough. Let’s get down to business. I have never written a love letter before, (or so I’ve mentioned in the previous paragraph), so I am not sure of the logistics, but I assume it includes a flattering description of your love’s physical features, mental faculties, and how it all makes you feel. So let’s start somewhere there.

So, I could write sonnets about your beauty and novels about your face, but thing is, you don’t need to be told that. You know exactly how beautiful you are. I mean, sure your face is perfect, and your nose is the cutest thing I have ever seen, and your eyes are the stars guiding me home and blah, but what’s the need? You could describe your face way better than I ever can. Just know that you are the prettiest person in the world to me. I feel like that’s enough.

But your beauty, while divine, is not all that attracted me to you. There is just something about you, Cheryl. How strong you are, how fiercely independent, how brave. I know you don’t believe it yourself, but there’s a lot of good in you. You try not to show it to people, but you’re amazing. You’re smart, and you’re funny, and I wish other people could see that in you too.

Cheryl Blossom, you’re absolutely sensational.

I suppose that brings us to an end of this section. Now, there is something else I’d like to add. I’d like to add my resume here, to sell myself, so there’s a chance of you choosing me, even If you are way out of my league.

I am a serpent. That ought to say that I am pretty badass. No matter how many stories Fangs tells you of me standing on one chair for an entire day because there was supposedly a rat in the room.

I can play the ukulele. And while my voice is horrible, I suppose it’s a nice thing to have a girlfriend who will serenade you all the time. Because seriously, I will.

I know you. I know about your embarrassing childhood spill-ups and your marks, and that one goth phase in middle school that lasted a month. I know all of these. And I would love to know more.

I am tiny, but I will love you and protect you all the time. That is a promise.

Anyway, I have rambled on long enough. Thank you for bearing with me throughout all this.

Yours, eternally

Toni

“It’s okay, you can come out now,” Cheryl tells her.

She hears it as if from very far away, which she supposes makes sense because her head is buried under two cushions, and her girlfriend’s arm. She slowly takes them off, and, still grimacing from embarrassment, chances a look at Cheryl’s face. Which isn’t so bad. The girl is absolutely glowing; her cheeks are bright red, and she’s wearing the widest smile ever. She slowly shifts onto Cheryl’s lap.

“Okay, now that the torture is over, can I have this back?”

“Absolutely not!” Cheryl tells her, sternly “I’m keeping this till the end of eternity. Which, coincidentally, is the amount of time you’ll be mine. Just saying.”

Toni groans.

“Did you like it, though?” she asks, then.

Cheryl’s expression softens from mirth to something tenderer “I loved it. I love you. Thank you for writing this. It’s amazing.”

Toni ducks her head in an ‘Aw Shucks’, kind of way and waves it away “Eh, it’s……whatever. No big deal.”

“When did you write this, though? There’s no date on it.”

She thinks for a while “Uh, I think it was the first time I serenaded you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, yeah. This one, I definitely wrote right after that.”

Cheryl kisses her cheek, and then frowns at her “Wait, did you say this one?”

Uh oh.

“Toni, are there more!?”

********************

The night of the serenade is a funny story.

Mostly because it also is The night of a Fangs and Sweet Pea and Toni adventure and The night of the human pyramid and The night of Archie doing something stupid and Veronica somehow enabling it even more and Jughead trying to be all brooding and unaffected as always and Betty making everything ten times worse and funnier. Either way, you know, it’s a fun night.

It starts with the jukebox.

Which is ironical, since the jukebox doesn’t start.

********************

“Baby, no.”

“But, Cheryl.”

“No means no, buddy,” Fangs cuts in “We’ve told you multiple times it’s a terrible joke.”

********************

So, the jukebox isn’t starting at the Whyte Wyrm, and they’ve all taken turns smashing on the metal cover but the sound fizzles out after a while, and that’s when Archie has the bright idea of entertaining the patrons by singing some songs.

Veronica joins in and they end up doing a terrible duet of the High School Musical song which only the drunk biker dudes from out of town appreciate. Jughead spends the entire evening roasting them. Finally, Veronica has had enough, and challenges him to sing. Which, obviously, Betty takes over. Then she, does a terrible version of Teenage Dream, and another terrible three way group song with Archie and Veronica. In the end, it’s just Toni and Fangs and Sweet Pea and Jughead staring at each other in despair.

Talk somehow shifts to the topic of music, does a jump to the subject of romantic music, and before she knows it, Toni has, in a weird game of Truth and Dare, somehow agreed to serenade Cheryl Blossom.

Veronica voices the only concern that exists “Isn’t her mom, like legit insane? How the fuck are we supposed to make a ruckus in her house?”

And Cheryl feels relieved for a moment, right until Fogarty opens his big fat mouth “Her mom’s out of town, dude,” he says “Got this thing.”

“How do you know?”

He just looks at Toni and everyone nods in understanding.

********************

“I hope you know that this is ridiculous,” she tells the entire group, half an hour later as she’s sitting on Sweets’ lap, who is stuffed in the middle of Jughead and Veronica. Archie’s driving, and Betty is drifting off to sleep on the passenger’s seat beside him. Fangs is crouched in the back of the van.

“What’s so ridiculous about joining two souls in eternal union?” Veronica asks her.

“Oh my God, is that what it is? Are you……shipping us?” Toni asks her, in utter disbelief, and there are three simultaneous snort, one from Jughead, Sweets and Fangs.

“Everybody in the school ships you, dude,” Fangs tells her.

“It’s true,” Archie chips in “Ever since you’ve started hanging out with her, Cheryl’s mellowed. Like, a lot.”

“And you guys would be so cute together,” Veronica gushes “Like, if this was a TV show, you’d deserve to be the couple in focus, no questions asked. Every scene would be you. Every song would be you. Every duet would be you. Every….”

“We get it, Veronica,” Jughead pipes up, quiet yet amused “They are your babies.”

Veronica agrees, and Toni closes her eyes, wishes for this nightmare to be over.

********************

Of course it isn’t.

Veronica and Archie are still singing their terrible duet, as they cross the garden. Jughead is half-supporting, half-carrying Betty, who’s mostly asleep. Sweet Pea is still nursing his bottle, and they are all so, terribly, terribly drunk. Oh, and Fangs somehow manages to ruin the rose plants growing at the edge of the fence as they are breaking it, but falling on them. Then, he squeals like a little girl who has just discovered that Ken is gay.

********************

“I did not squeal.”

“The thorns are on my butt, guys, help me,” Sweet Pea mimics a high-pitched voice, and all of them laugh.

********************

“Juliet, Juliet, wherefore art thou?” Archie and Veronica shout up at the window, trying to hit it with tiny pebbles (Only one of them hits the mark) “Your Romeo is here to drop a verse.”

There is a sound, then Cheryl is out on the balcony, looking the most confused anyone has ever seen her “Andrews? What the hell?”

(And Toni knows this is totally not the time, that she has to do something potentially very embarrassing and stupid, but Cheryl looks adorable, hair all mussed up, and eyes squinting, wearing a green nightgown that has mice on it)

(Toni has never been more in love)

“My babies!” Veronica sighs, and that’s when Cheryl notices the rest of them.

“What are you people doing here in the middle of the night? Toni?”

She stares at Cheryl for a minute, deciding how to scream her explanation. The, deciding against it, she recruits Fangs (who is still whining about his butt) and Sweet Pea to bend so she can climb up on them. It takes fifteen minutes, one broken wine bottle, and three rounds of exasperated sighs from the rest of the audience before she can finally get up on the balcony.

“Surprise?” she says, feebly.

“Why are you here? What’s going on? Why does Veronica keep staring at us like we’re her long-lost daughters? Why do you have that ukulele with you?”

“Um, truth or dare. A stupid dare. Because she ships us. And” Toni says, concentrating “I have to sing you a song?”

“Um.”

“It’s a dare,” she explains, blushing.

Cheryl keeps staring at her in silence, so she carefully wears the ukulele, and starts playing the opening chords of “Can’t help falling in love with you”. She tries not to look at Cheryl’s face, during, too embarrassed, instead concentrating on the chords and how not to let her voice fade away. Finally ending it, she chances a look up at the other girl.

Cheryl’s mouth is pursed, but Toni can clearly see that it’s an attempt to mask her smile. She looks a little red around the cheeks, and though her arms are crossed, she isn’t angry at all.

“So…..that was it,” Toni breaks the silence that has fallen over them.

“That was it,” Cheryl replies, a slight smile on her lips.

“You’re not, angry?”

The smile widens, and before Toni has time to think, Cheryl is right in front of her. She leans around, and gently kisses Toni on the cheek. There is a loud ‘Whoop’ from down below, and Toni knows they’re being complete idiots right now, but it doesn’t matter, because she is also being a complete idiot right now.

“No, Toni,” Cheryl says “I’m not angry.”

Then she walks back into her own room.

Chapter title from Forever by The Explorer's club

Song mentioned in the chapter: Can't help falling in love with you by Elvis Presley covered by Twenty One Pilots

#riverdale choni #choni #choni fic #choni fanfiction #riverdale #riverdale fanfiction #cheryl x toni #toni topaz #cheryl blossom #romance #fanfiction #tumblr fandom

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