#holy shit this was longer than expected

[freakadr0id]

ROTTMNT Character Fight Style Analysis - Part 1: Leonardo

Eeeeyyyy it's finally here. This is my analysis of each character's fight style and role post that I teased about a week ago. This turned out to be a hell of a thing, so this will be split into many posts focusing on each character since I have quite a bit to say (and I think Tumblr might break if I put it all into one post). I plan to release one a day, but we'll see how it works out with school.

[Part 2: Raph] [Part 3: Mikey] [Part 4: Donnie] [Part 5: April]

~-~-~

If there's one thing Rise is known for, it is the show's stellar action animation - it's the reason most people started the show to begin with. The visuals are so strong in these scenes, in fact, that Rise could have easily gotten away with having pointless fights each episode (if the budget allowed that) and still be regarded as a fairly decent show. However, Rise doesn't do that, instead chooses to give its action scenes depth by putting thought into the personality of each character and implementing that into how each of them fights, showing the growth of the protagonists over the course of the show.

After rewatching the show multiple times (seriously, so many times) I began to notice patterns in many of the show's big fights, particularly in how the turtles and April fight and how they cooperate with each other as a team.

I thought it might be fun to categorize and examine how Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and April fight by breaking it down into their unique fighting styles, their roles and strengths in battle, how they apply those roles, and how all of these demonstrate different parts of their character.

BTW: There's a reason for the order in which I examine each character - it will all make sense by the last post. There's also a bit of a TL;DR at the end, but I encourage you read the full thing (or at least skim it)

~-~-~

Let's start with Leo.

Leonardo: The Strategist/Initiator

Leo was one of the easiest characters to analyze since a major focus of his character arc is the development of his fighting skills and his ability to cooperate with his team and act as a leader.

Fight Style:

Balanced/Well-rounded Fighter

Leo is the most balanced fighter on the team. He is a capable offensive and defensive fighter and has enough physical strength and acrobatics to handle many types of fighting styles. We see him fight everything from paper ninjas to the large Foot Brute and Draxum's hired goons (the dog guys) without seeming to be weak against one type of enemy. He may not necessarily be stronger than them but he is very versatile. However, this means that Leo doesn’t have a specific ability that makes him stand out in a fight (mystic and ninpo powers aside) the way his brothers do, and won’t have any inherent advantages that he can utilize when fighting a particular enemy.

Strengths and Roles in a Fight:

The Strategist:

Leo’s role as the team’s strategist is pretty obvious. He may not be given the title of “Leader” until the end of season 2, but we see throughout the show that he is a very quick thinker and is skilled at coming up with clever and effective plans. Of course, each member of the Mad Dogs supplies ideas and plans, but Leo is especially good at developing and implementing them. The most obvious example of this is his fight in the Battle Nexus in 'Many Unhappy Returns, but there are other times when he is the one to put all the pieces together (think of the big attack against Draxum in the Shredder armor in 'End Game').'

The Initiator:

Leo acts as the initiator in battle as he is either one of the first into battle or is the one to start a coordinated attack. This doesn't mean he necessarily has to attack first, but that he is usually the one to put the plan into action. This role relies the most on his mystic powers as his portal and teleportation powers give him the maneuverability needed to accommodate any plan. His abilities allow him to enter and disorient the enemy, or he can portal allies into the fight and create opportunities for a follow-up attack. This plays into his strengths as the Strategist as being the initiator can help him begin a strategic attack by maneuvering people or objects into their needed positions.

Utility:

Leo’s skills truly shine in a fight against a few number of enemies as he can better focus his strategies on a specific enemy and direct the battle in his favor. With less pieces in play, he can properly utilize his mystic powers and act as the initiator instead of bouncing around a battle with no real objective in mind. It becomes easier to coordinate attacks with his brothers and allies since they don't have to spend time fighting different enemies.

However, in a fight with multiple enemies, Leo’s skills can be easily overlooked. Sure, he can direct the fight as the Strategist, but there’s only so much he can do in the middle of the chaos. His role as the initiator isn’t all that effective in a fight with many enemies as well as he and his brothers tend to just rush into battle in those situations. However, Leo’s balanced fighting style means he could theoretically go up against every type of enemy and won’t be at a noticeable disadvantage, which is very useful in a chaotic battle.

How it Plays into His Character:

Admittedly, the show is probably the most direct in using fights to show some of Leo's character traits, since so much of his arc is centered on his fighting and use of mystic powers. However, Rise does use this in enough interesting ways to make it worth mentioning.

While his role as the Strategist plays into Leo’s strengths as a character, it also highlights Leo’s problems with team communication. When Leo plans a strategy, he often fails to inform his allies of his plans, which can result in losing the battle or frustrating those around him. The show demonstrates this by having him make strategies in a fight but leaves his allies in the dark and confusing them. Leo does this, in part, to show off, but also because the plan simply makes sense in his head, so it would be easier for him to just do it instead of having to take the time to tell everybody his plan.

The initiator is a good role for Leo’s powers and fighting style, but also feeds into his cockiness and overconfidence in a fight. Leo has a tendency to play the hero and either overestimate his abilities or underestimate his opponent. He may be the best fit for going first in a fight but Rise uses some fights to show how this can conflict with some of his character flaws. When he goes into battle first overconfident and cocky, it only conflicts with the team, but with his own role as the Strategist. He could, theoretically, bring his teammates into the fight after him, but if he thinks he has an easy win in front of him, all strategy goes out the window.  

His status as a balanced fighter and lack of specialization in battle is a likely source of some of Leo’s insecurities about his place in the group. We see in 'Portal Jacked!' how Leo doesn't feel like he has a proper role on the team - that he's just the face man - which is reinforced by the way he fights in comparison to his team. Leo is well suited to fight a wide range of enemies, but when his brothers have easily identifiable skills that can give them a distinct advantage, it becomes difficult to recognize the advantages he brings to the team as a well-rounded fighter.

Working as a Team:

As mentioned earlier, Leo's strengths as a fighter make him the one best suited for the first attack in a coordinated team strike as it highlights his skills as the Initiator and the Strategist. It shows how well he can fit those roles when he plays to his strengths and overcomes the character flaws that stand in his way. While the others do have skills that may allow them to start the first attack, Leo's abilities and strengths as a fighter give him (and his team) a much stronger advantage in this position.

Leo also does well when he goes second to last in a team attack, as he can finalize a strategy and prepare for a final blow by putting all the pieces into position. However, this is more situational as there are other characters just as well suited for that second-to-last position and can fill that role when Leo needs to be the one to start a team attack.

Leo’s fighting style, however, does make him a poor fit for a follow-up attack or the final attack in a fight. His balanced fighting style means he isn’t suited for a strong final attack. While he is technically fine acting as a follow-up attacker, it doesn’t really play into his strengths and isn’t that effective when fighting with others who are more suited to that role. His balanced fighting style also prevents him from effectively dealing that final blow to an enemy since he doesn't have a specialized strength in this regard. Again, he can do it, he just isn't well suited for it.

The way Rise develops and explores Leo's fight style demonstrates one of my favorite things the show does with his character (in fact, all of its characters). At first glance, he may seem pretty one-note and predictable, but as we go through the show, we see how both his character is actually more complex than we were first led to believe. The fights Leo participates in reflect that, as not only do his skills develop over the course of the show, but we begin to see how it all ties into his personality and growth as a character - making his fights more meaningful than what they may seem.

~-~-~

[Little bit of a TL;DR: Leo is the team's strategist and initiator in fights, supported by his balanced fight style and mystic powers. These roles play into his greatest strengths but they also expose some of his character flaws and insecurities. In team fights Leo is most effective as the first or second to last attacker but isn't well suited for a follow-up or final attack]

Thanks for bearing with me on this stupid long post. They're all going to be like this btw. Next up will be Raph. I plan to get that done and posted tomorrow.

#holy shit this ended up being long #way longer than I expected #I don't expect many people to read the whole thing #hopefully some people do #but this is almost too much #yes actually #it is too much #but I'm too proud of it #and spent too long on it #not too post this #you guys said this is what you wanted #so here it is #sorry not sorry #I hope this is actually coherent to other people #and not just my brain #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt movie #rise of the tmnt movie #rottmnt leo #rise leo #rottmnt leonardo #rise leonardo #I'll update each posts with links to the other ones too in case people are (somehow) still interested after reading this beast of a thing #I updated this to hopefully fix the whole crashing problem when people try to reblog this #Tumblr should pay me to stress test this hellsite #I seem to be very good at it #analysis #rottmnt analysis #character analysis

[amphorographia]

Something interesting about Pathologic that I don't see people talk about very often is the fact that technically none of the protagonists are doctors and, of the three, it's actually Artemy that's the closest to a real physician.

The fact that Daniil is specifically referred to as a "Bachelor" of medicine is something that was always sort of confusing to me but is actually extremely telling when put together with all the other details we get about him.

There's an excellent video essay about Daniil's character by Horror Game Analysis which goes into more detail about this [x], but he points out two things about thanatology that I think are really significant:

It was first conceptualised as a field of study in 1903 by Ilya Mechnikov, a Russian-Ukranian immunologist and microbiologist, who felt that there was not enough known about the phenomenon of death itself; and

Thanatology straddles the line between the humanities and the sciences because it's investigations grapple with the physical, psychological, socio-cultural, philosophical, and spiritual elements of death

With all that in mind and Pathologic's ambiguous time period, Daniil could very much be read as the in-game world's equivalent of Mechnikov. Despite his (sort of) alignment with the philosophically-minded Kains, Daniil is consistently shown to be very much focused on the physical components of death. He came to the town hoping that "[Simon's] tissues will help [him] defeat death." Rubin, Artemy, Victor (and Lara, Yulia, Aspity, Anna, and Clara) all need him to collect and examine blood samples for evidence of the disease. Once the plague begins, his focus in on the creation of a vaccine - a tool for immunisation - instead of a cure.

All of the evidence points to Daniil, at his core, being a microbiologist and researcher. His medical knowledge, while far above average, is highly specialised and doesn't indicate that he has any practical experience as a physician. He's not a doctor, he's a bachelor of medicine using his theoretical and academic expertise to fight an impossible disease in the only way he knows.

Now, Artemy does have some practical knowledge. Isidor taught him about the traditional medicine of the town while he was growing up before sending him to "study modern medicine in the academy" when he was 16. However, in his opening description, all we are told is that Artemy is returning from several years of "travelling from town to town learning theoretical and pratical surgery." In Pathologic Classic, Artemy is canonically 26 years old so if he spent 6-7 years travelling, his formal medical education was likely either short or incomplete. Not to mention that the emphasis on Artemy as a surgeon and menkhu (much like Daniil as a bachelor and thanatologist) implies a very specialised area of expertise which, although closely related to practical medicine, is not the same thing.

This is reinforced in a number of ways. For example, while there are multiple dialogue options which let you dismiss the town's local medical practices, they appear mostly (or only) in conversations with outsiders - responding to Daniil's admission of underestimating the value of "steppe medical knowledge" with "there's nothing medical in their knowledge" and telling Block that he has "an education in the civilized world and ha[s] forgotten two thirds of the specific local practices." Ultimately, Artemy is more consistently aligned with the Kin's more bodily approach to medicine. That distinction between Kin and Town is important, since the traditional medicines Artemy makes are not valued or trusted by townspeople and the kin refuse almost all of the modern medicine (specifically antibiotics) sold in the town.

He also seems to be either unfamiliar or seriously out of practice with the more formal language of science and medicine a university-educated physician should know. At several points, Artemy is shown to be dependent on Daniil's medical knowledge, and various members of the town poke fun at him for asking clarifying questions - Boy: "You graduated from a university and this is your question…?" Rubin: "I thought you were [away] studying." Artemy's story is about trying to fill his father's role and, while he succeeds in becoming a menkhu, his position as the town's doctor is less clearly defined even after the plague. While he begins the game with the most practical experience of the three protagonists, the fact that he's not qualified to be a physician but has to act as one is what drives his story forward.

I won't go into Clara since it's obvious she's not a doctor. If anything, she's more like a personification of a cure for this one specific disease (just like her 'twin' is the plague). She couldn't reset a bone or diognose the flu any more than she could synthesise antibiotics or distinguish between bacteria in a blood sample. Still, she's an interesting comparison point and does serve to remind the player that the protagonists don't really represent different approaches to medicine, but different approaches to healing.

The Bachelor is the modern healer of formal scientific practices who sees healing as the result of understanding the body, disease, and their interactions.

The Haruspex is the traditional healer with the spiritual or ancestral right to protected knowledge and practices who sees healing as a reflection of cultural duty, customs, and community.

The Changeling is the divine healer chosen by a Deity (or Deities) to carry out their will on earth who sees healing as an act of religious faith and demonstration of the existence and power of God(s).

#this took way longer to write than I expected holy shit #also can you tell that Daniil is my favourite? #pathologic #pathologic meta #pathologic classic hd #pathologic classic hd meta #daniil dankovsky #artemy burakh #clara saburova #clara changeling #pathologic bachelor #pathologic haruspex #pathologic changeling

[spacewinter]

Ik it's probably been done a million times, but (if you're still taking prompts) I'd love to see your thoughts on the flyboys and/or the daggers finding out that IceMav are together. Like, a lot of the times it's portrayed that all the flyboys knew before IceMav told them, but what if they didn't? What if they were actually FANTASTIC at hiding that they're in a full-on, committed relationship? Or on the opposite end, all the Daggers suspecting IceMav are together, and finally getting confirmation, but in some hilarious way, like walking in on the two mid-makeout session?

As much as Bradley likes to make fun of his Uncles, they're smart and competent men who achieved great things. Sure, Mav may be a reckless idiot sometimes, but he didn't get where he is by being actually stupid. Iceman is a whole new level of brilliant, perfectly controlled and only showing what he wants to show.

They managed to keep their relationship secret from the Navy for years and years, and Bradley is yet to get out of them exactly how much time it took the class of '89 to figure out they're together.

Point is, Iceman and Maverick are good at hiding their relationship, passing their affections as close friendship and long years of knowing each other. They're subtle but smitten, and Bradley's heart skips a beat whenever he sees their smiles. It's cute, as much as two decorated Naval aviators can be cute.

He's reveling in the fact that he's the only one to really know, to see them being silly and in love. Ever since he and Mav reconciled, Bradley has been a frequent guest at their house, and he got to see that their love never weakened. Still, they only for better at hiding (probably out of habit).

This is why Hangman’s teasing remark comes as such a surprise.

They're discussing their plans for the weekend after a whole week of being cooped up doing paperwork. Bradley is ready to tear his hair out, and his friends aren't doing much better. The only one who seems unaffected is Hangman, but Rooster is used to it by now - the blonde is almost annoyingly cool and level-headed at all times.

"What are your plans, old man? Risking your life on a bike instead of a plane?" Payback teases, getting an elbow in the side from Fanboy.

Maverick finishes his beer and stands up with a smile. "Nah, I'm staying inside. An old friend is coming to visit, so no strenuous activities for me this weekend."

It's only because Rooster is so (unfortunately) attituned to Hangman that he hears what the man mutters under his breath.

"Oh, so getting railed by your hunky blonde lover ain't strenuous? I see how it is."

Bradley chokes on his drink, and Mav shoots him a concerned look before finally walking away after Rooster shakes his head. As soon as he calms down, he turns fo glare at Hangman.

"What did you say?" he hisses.

Hangman raises a slow eyebrow. "That...getting railed can be a strenuous activity? If you never took a lover that's on you, Roo, but my partners were always left exhausted."

He forcibly removes all thoughts of Hangman taking a lover (taking him maybe, all golden skin and sharp grins, strong hands on Rooster’s hips-). That's not the point now.

"How- No, I mean, how did you- Hunky?" Rooster ends up squealing. Other Daggers, the traitors, just look on in amusement.

"I mean, I'm not into older blondes but I have eyes, and Kazansky's still got it," Hangman drawls with a smirk. "He was a serious hunk in his younger years, I don't blame Mav."

"No kidding," Fanboy chimes in. "Even the frosted tips were hot, it's unfair."

"He was pretty climable," Coyote agrees. "And they gave that whole opposites attract going on."

Rooster listens as his friends talk about how hot Uncle Ice, the actual Admiral Kazansky used to be, and just tries to understand how he ended up here. Years, decades even without anyone realizing, only for the Daggers to click it immediately.

"Roo, you good?" Hangman asks suddenly, a warm hand on his shoulder snapping Bradley out of it. "Don't tell me you haven't realized. You fucking lived with them, for fuck's sake!"

Rooster takes offense. "Of course I realized! But no one ever did, so how did you-"

"Honestly, Bradshaw," the blonde mutters. "I have a pair of eyes and a working gaydar, it's not like it's hard."

"They're not being super subtle," Payback agrees. "But it's sorta cute."

"They've been going for decades, I bet, and they're still this disgusting," Hangman chuckles. "Makes you hope, ey?"

Rooster locks his gaze with Hangman's, and them immediately looks away when he feels himself blush. There's heavy implication in the man's voice, and he's not sure what to do with it yet. For now, he's too busy wondering if his uncles and the Navy are just that blind and stupid, or are the Daggers that observant and smart.

Neither option is attractive to consider.

Curiously enough, the Daggers don't bring it up with Maverick, but now that he's looking, Rooster can see their smirks and eye rolls whenever Mav smiles at his phone or blushes. Slowly, he has to admit defeat - maybe Mav and Ice aren't being as sneaky as they used to be.

It all comes to a head a few weeks later, when Mav invites them over for barbecue. Iceman isn't due to be back until Wednesday, and Rooster knows that Mav is feeling a bit lonely, which is why they're invited. The older pilot even invites them to an actual house, instead of the hangar, and Rooster had to admit it's not very subtle.

"Damn, this is nice," Payback whistles looking at the huge house. "Must be nice, being a kept man."

Phoenix elbows him in the side, but doesn't deny. "Well, the Admiral sure makes good money."

Rooster rolls his eyes, leading them to the door. He knows it's going to be open because Mav always keeps it open when he invites him over, and so he confidently walks in, the Daggers following after him. He's just about to call out for the older pilot, when a loud moan sounds in the house.

They all freeze.

Then, Hangman smirks like a cat that got the cream and firmly turns around. "Trust me, folks, you don't wanna take a glance at the couch," he whispers. He was the one closest to the entrance of the living room, and the only one with a good view. "I dunno about you, but I don't need to see our Captain getting his back blown out."

That breaks the tension and they spill outside, sniffling their laughter and leaning against each other. Rooster has experience with this, having caught his guardians foing at it multiple times, but it's much funnier with friends.

"My gaydar is never wrong," Hangman announces when they calm down. "Good for them, honestly."

"What, you also wanna rail a mouthy brunette into a couch?" Coyote asks with a shit-eating smirk, throwing an arm around Jake's shoulders.

The blonde shrugs and his eyes meet Rooster’s again.

"If he's willing."

When Maverick finally opens the door with a sheepish smile, Rooster ducks inside immediately if only to hide his furious blush. Hangman's laughter follows him through, and he almost walks into Iceman.

"Hi, Admiral, please say you disinfected the couch," Hangman says immediately, respectful but cheeky. "Or do we have to avoid it?"

Iceman is silent for a long while, before he bursts out laughing. He turns to his blushing husband and smirks.

"Mav, you didn't tell me your Daggers were worse than you."

It's a nice evening. They did disinfect the couch.

#icemav #hangster #sereshaw #iceman x maverick #iceman #maverick #rooster #hangman #my writing #ask #rooster has a crisis #this got way longer than expected holy shit #pardon

[qwoomby]

Wine Valentine - Ammon story pt.1 & pt.2

The day after The Valentine's party ended successfully.

While I was resting in my room I remembered the time I spent with Ammon...

A few days ago a party was held at Grosvenor's house...

I was visiting a party venue that Ammon and the others were preparing.

Ammon: So..! Will the wall decorations look like this?

You: Things are going well, aren't they?

Ammon: That's right. We have also decided on which food and wine will be served.

Ammon: The preparations are almost finished. I'll have some spare time.

You: Right.

Ammon: Ah, also. As we've come to Grosvenor's mansion...

Ammon: Aruji-sama. Should we take a walk in the garden?

You: Eh..?

Ammon: I took a glimpse at it as I was preparing for the party. It was a lovely garden.

Ammon: There aren't many chances to visit Grosvenor's garden. I'll make sure to escort aruji-sama properly♪

Ammon: So, aruji-sama... Will you spend some time with me?

You: That seems a bit intimate...

Ammon: Isn't that good..? There's no one here now.

Hanamaru: ... We are literally here?

Ammon: Oh? If it isn't Hanamaru-san.

Hanamaru: Don't "oh" me. We've been here from the very beginning.

Ammon: Hehe. My bad~

Ammon: There's only lord in my eyes...

Bastien: Hm... That's not good, Ammon-san.

Bastien: As aruji-sama's butler... You should always be aware of your surroundings.

Ammon: Are you serious, Bastien..

Yuhan: Fufu... I also don't think that it's good to keep things all to yourself, Ammon-san.

Lato: Me too... I also want to walk alone with aruji-sama.

Ammon: Hehe. Well, I guess I can't just monopolize aruji-sama~

Ammon: The Valentine's Day is almost there... I feel like spending some romantic time with aruji-sama.

You: "Romantic time" you say...

Ammon: Huh? After all, that's what the Valentine's day is about?

Hanamaru: Oh my... Don't just say that, Ammon. We're all holding back here.

Hanamaru: Isn't this right, everyone? We all want to be romantic with aruji-sama?

Yuhan: Now, what is it? I'm a well-mannered butler.

Hanamaru: Liar. For those who say that, it's better...

Yuhan: ...Better..? What is it?

Hanamaru: Nothing.

You: (I wonder what it was...)

Yuhan: Right. By the way, Ammon-san...

Yuhan: As the food and drinks were decided... How about to choose flowers to decorate the room?

Ammon: Right, flowers...

Ammon: In the eastern land... There's a custom to arrange flowers, right?

Lato: Arranging... flowers?

Ammon: Right. It's a bit different in Central land.

Ammon: Combined with a beautiful vase... A well-thought-out beauty.

Yuhan: Yeah. I think it's suitable for Central land.

Yuhan: Aside from ikebana, I think that "Chabana"(?) would also be good.

You: -Chabana...?

-( There are even tea flowers....)

Bastien: Chabana... That's the first time I heard about it.

Ammon: In short, tea flowers are the flowers that are displayed in the tea room.

Ammon: Rather than ikebana, it puts more emphasis on being natural. Seasonality of flowers is also the key.

Ammon: For example, fresh windflowers picked up in nature.

Hanamaru: Heh, as expected from Ammon. You know everything about flowers.

Ammon: Hehe. Well, not that I've done it myself. I just have this knowledge.

Ammon: But, I see. Chabana...

Ammon: In Grosvenor's garden flowers are grown in flower beds. Besides, there are windflowers...

Ammon: It might be interesting to try.

Ammon: That's why I need everyone to quickly pick up some flowers!

You: Eh, now?

Bastien: Looking for flowers..? I'm not sure which I should choose....

Ammon: That's okay. Even if the flower seems simple, that's its charm.

Bastien: I see. Then, Ammon-san will...?

Ammon: I'll arrange the vase.

Ammon: I'll prepare the vase that perfectly matches the atmosphere of Eastern land.

Ammon: I'll bring the catalog... I'd like to hear aruji-sama's opinion.

You: Mine?

Ammon: Of course. You're the guest at the party, after all.

Ammon: I don't think it'll be too difficult. Don't worry too much♪

You: Understood.

Bastien: I see.. I'll leave it to Ammon-san then.

Yuhan: Then, aruji-sama. Please, excuse me for a moment.

You: Mm, good luck.

The butlers bowed. They left me alone with Ammon as they left to pick up the windflowers.

Ammon: They're gone....

You: Let's choose the vase together.

Ammon: Oh-ho? What did you say, aruji-sama?

Ammon: What vase? I've already put one in another room next to ours. (This dude---)

You: Eh...?

Ammon: Hehe. Which flowers would decorate the venue have been decided in advance.

Ammon: We have arranged the perfect tableware... The only thing to do was to decorate it with flowers.

Ammon: Everyone decided to collect flowers by themselves.. I just went along with that♪

You: But, what for..?

Ammon: Hehe. That would be...

Ammon: I will spend some private time with aruji-sama♪

Ammon: Speaking of The Valentine's day... You need to spend time with your loved ones.

Ammon: And speaking of my loved ones, it's aruji-sama, of course.

Ammon: We have delicious wine here...

Ammon: With important to me person... Drinking wine, while being surrounded by beautiful flowers...

Ammon: Well, the flowers are still to be here. While aruji-sama is here, that's already enough.

Ammon: Hehe. What about aruji-sama?

Ammon: With your loved one... You don't want to loose romantic time, do you..?

You: Teasing me like that again...

Ammon: Teasing..? I'm being honest, aruji-sama.

Ammon: The words of feeling the importance of aruji-sama... There's not even a single lie.

Ammon: Thinking how to spend more alone time with aruji-sama... As a result, I alienated other butlers.

Ammon: Hey... What are the true intentions of aruji-sama..?

Ammon: For someone like me... Is it okay to tell my true feelings..?

You: A-Ammon..

I was fully aware that it was the part of his strategy, but... When I look in those serious eyes... I can't help but speak my true feelings.

Lato: Kufufu... That's it, Ammon-kun.

You: !?

Ammon: Oh? Isn't that Lato-san?

Ammon: And everyone else... Have you already finished picking the flowers up?

Hanamaru: No. Actually, we were interrupted by the guard.

Yuhan: He said that the flowers were needed to decorate the party venue...

Yuhan: "You can't pick these flowers! Go to a flower shop!" is what he said...

Yuhan: Jeez.. That's a real problem for those, who can't understand simple beauty.

Bastien: Since we had no other choice, we decided to come back.

Hanamaru: Hehe. Looks like we made the right decision.

Hanamaru: Had it been a bit later, Ammon would pick the most beautiful flower.

Ammon: No wa~y, Hanamaru-san. Don't say such bad things about me.

Ammon: I just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere of The Valentine's day. Surely, aruji-sama would understand that it's just for fun♪

Hanamaru: However, why is aruji-sama's face so red?

Lato: It's good that there are vases in other room.

You: U-Uhm...

Ammon: Alright, everyone! There's a little time left to prepare for the party.

Ammon: Let's all work hard to collect the most beautiful flowers♪

Hanamaru: Ah. Changing the topic.

Yuhan: Fufu. But Ammon-san is right.

Yuhan: Since we have time... Let's all work hard to make the best pre-party.

Bastien: Yeah.. That's right.

So I watched as Ammon and the others decorated the venue... I wonder whether Ammon was serious or not earlier...

***

"So that's how it is" I thought as I flipped through the wine catalog. Ammon was very hospitable at the pre-party... Now, it's my turn to repay him. I bought him wine from Rosetown... And for Ammon... I prepared his favorite cheese. Being happy with him... I wanted to express it in a gift.

Knock knock.

You: Come in.

Ammon: As I said, I came alone, aruji-sama~

Ammon: I heard that you wanted to do something...

Ammon: Hehe. Maybe it has to do something with The Valentine's day~?

You: I want to give this to you.

Ammon: Eh? This is...

Ammon: Wine..? And, could it be..

Ammon: Really... Could it be a Valentine's gift?

You: - That's right.

- Thank you, Ammon.

Ammon: Hehe. Thank you, aruji-sama.

Ammon: This is... Rosetown's wine, right?

You: Apparently it goes well with cheese.

Ammon: Really? You've adapted it to my taste!

You: If you'd like, you can drink now.

When I said that, Ammon sat at the table I had prepared in advance. He took the empty glass and some cheese.

Ammon: Hehe... I had never thought that I would spend The Valentine's day with aruji-sama...

Ammon: Of course, I'll drink some! Because everything is delicious when I'm with aruji-sama.

Ammon: So, excuse me...

As Ammon pour some wine into the glass, he fully enjoys the scent. As he takes one sip... He takes some time to enjoy the taste.

Ammon: ... It's delicious, aruji-sama.

Ammon: The moment you open the bottle, there's a faint fragrance...

Ammon: It felt like flowers had bloomed in my mouth.

Ammon: Aruji-sama's feelings... They feel like flowers with no thorns.

Ammon: Hehe. I can't believe you gave me such a wonderful present...

Ammon: Really... Aruji-sama likes me♪

As usual, Ammon says something that is hard for me to respond to... But today I was a little braver than usual.

You: I really do.

Ammon: Eh...

You: I want you to continue being by my side.

Ammon: Erm... Aruji-sama...

Ammon: That's... Could it be....

Ammon: The revenge for pre-party time?

You: Did your heart flutter...?

Ammon: Hehe. It pretty much did♪

Ammon: I've never expected it from aruji-sama...

Ammon: But... If you allow me to give you a piece of advice...

Ammon: Don't you think the main part was revealed a little bit too early?~

Ammon: If only you could make me more nervous... It'd be more interesting~

You: I'm nothing like Ammon...

Ammon: Hehe. Well, I'm a pro in this sphere.

Ammon: ( Although, if I was more nervous... I doubt that I'd be able to restrain myself...)

You: What's wrong?

Ammon: N-No... Nothing!

Ammon: Spending The Valentine's day with aruji-sama is the best... I had to clench my teeth.

Ammon: Well then. We have wine and cheese...

Ammon: Just a little bit longer... Is it okay if I spend some more time being happy? Aruji-sama...

You: Of course.

Although I said something like that to make Ammon's heart flutter, I had to gather all my courage up.... I had to back up... I was more nervous, than I thought I'd be. And now... I wonder if Ammon always harbors feelings like that. While I was thinking about it... I spent some time with Ammon on The Valentine's day.

THE END.

a/n: I really hope you don't mind my adapted translation because holy shit the translation of translator is something. also, please don't mind any grammatical errors, it's literally like midnight and I suck at grammar. hope y'all enjoyed seeing blushing ammon. (because i really did)

#akuneko #aknk #あくねこ #悪魔執事と黒い猫 #holy shit #it took longer than i expected #i love this man so much #i love it when aruji-sama is bold #slay #BLUSHING AMMON>>>> #god it's my favorite card now #i adore yuhan and hanamaru's interactions #more blushing men please #god help me #hope yall enjoy

[cat-mentality]

I wonder how fucking scared Cellbit must be all the time.

How every time anyone on the Island, but mostly his family, go anywhere near any building of the Federation or any close to Cucurucho the only thing going through his mind is the crippling fear that they will not come back.

Or not whole at least.

I wonder if he thinks about Felps. About a body trapped in ice, so cold to the touch that it hurt to hold him but he still pushed through it to hold him to his chest, Felps looking so still, pale and lifeless, breathing so slow he feared for the worst.

I wonder if he thinks about a long corridor and the pain as the chainsaw made contact with his flesh, of the warmth of the blood, if he is haunted by the echo of the mechanical laughter.

I wonder if he thinks about the missing days.

If he keeps awake at night trying to remember anything that happened. Anything he may have done. Wonders in the dark of the nights what was so terrible, so secretive the Federation didn't allow him to remember doing.

I wonder if every time someone is gone for too long Cellbit fears for the worst.

If when Etoiles is gone for some faraway dungeon he worries he will go missing and they wouldn't even know. If when Felps goes mining, deep underground when no one can reach him not even his own memories, Cellbit will sometimes go to his square just to hear the noise, to calm himself.

If he keeps track of when Roier or any of the FavelaFive leave any building, if he pays attention to where they are going and whether or not they are alone because no one really paid attention to Quackity leaving and look at how he is now. I wonder if he checks in the map from time to time just to make sure he knows where they are in case they need help, or even to know where to look if they don't come back when they are supposed to.

I wonder if he feels dread polling in his insides when he can't find their location. I wonder if he tries to keep optimistic, understand that sometimes people just need a bit of privacy and quiet, but another part is dreading the connotations, is wondering if the lack of location was not something forced.

I wonder if he worries about all those people accepting tasks from Cucurucho. I don't think Cellbit is truly angry about it, or at least not angry for the obvious reasons (He tortured me, a voice he tries to bury still screeches somewhere inside, do none of you care about all the pain he caused me? Traitors, traitors) but because he knows what the Federation is capable off, if when he hears Jaiden insist that Cucurucho is not so bad he is terrified they will use her ability to see the good on anyone to hurt her.

I wonder if when he sees what Pac and Mike are building he always keeps an eye on his surroundings, expecting to see a white figure with a gun in hand, if he bites his tongue and only lets the praises out because what right does he have to tell them what to do? How do you explain to them how terrified it makes him when they push the rules? How does he convey his worries when maybe all they will hear are the echoes of a man with a bloodied knife who tried to control them?

I wonder if Cellbit makes an effort to speak lower when Pac is around, if he grips his emotions and pushes them down, down, down, if he screams so loudly inside his own head that the voices are forced to silence themselves. I wonder how he feels when Pac flinches away from his anger even when said anger is on his behalf.

Does Cellbit see too much of himself in Tubbo?

Does he look at this scrappy looking kid, (is he a kid? Cellbit wasn't one, he doesn't know, but Tubbo does not have the soulless eyes he is so familiar with), and is haunted by how familiar it all is? His brashness, his unwillingness to accept things as they are, his determination to mess with the Federation, his bravado when Cucurucho comes to insure a warning, his plans to obtain answers, his curiosity.

Cellbit was like that once.

Before a chainsaw, before a betrayal, before missing days, before he started to fear.

I wonder if Cellbit looks at Tubbo and asks himself how long until he breaks.

Because he will break.

Because that is what the Island does to people- It breaks them, it twists their emotions and their bodies and their minds until they don't know what is right, what is and what isn't.

And this is why Cellbit need to find a way for them to leave this cursed land.

The Island has given him everything he has, Cellbit is nothing without his son, without his husband, without his found family, without his friends.

But he would rather be nothing, than to watch as they get hurt over and over again.

#qsmp #also knows as emotional torture #im in a suffering mood so i though i should share this with the internet void #qsmp analysis #sort of i guess #qsmp cellbit #i started writing this literally the day the eggs went missing but just couldn't find a way to end it #still not happy but eh #it is what is #holy shit did it get longer than i expected

[plusvanity]

I really need to write that one-shot in which Pelle and Varg are chilling in the woods until Pelle finds some shrooms and they decide to eat them.

They obviously start trippin' ballz (Pelle is very used to it since he spends a lot of time in nature, eating whatever shit he finds growing in bushes or around trees, so he's got a tolerance for poisonous crap) but Varg goes absolutely fucking ballistic. Dilated pupils, foaming at the mouth and mumbling about how he sees green goblins coming for his foreskin, so he needs to protect his boyfriend and run for their lives.

Pelle is very chill meanwhile, laughing and following Varg with sticks in their hands as they get lost in the forest at only 5 meters away from the cabin.

They do vomit once (more on their shoes than on the ground), pass out (peacefully), and wake up to run home. The trip takes around 8-10 hours of delusional adventures, schizophrenic conversations, and apocalyptic survival planning, but it doesn't end there.

Øystein comes from work to find his retarded bassist and autistic vocalist trashing out the cabin while running from the foreskin-chewing creatures. He makes the mistake to try and knock some sense in his bandmate's heads only to be jumped by Varg who demands to see his foreskin in order to be trusted. Øystein is fucking baffled and enraged, fighting and trying to get up on his feet only to have Kristi's hands desperately pulling at his bulletbelt while crawling like a half-crushed cockroach on the floor. Pelle's knocked out at his point after Øystein broke his nose in self defence. (even if Pelle didn't actually fight him)

It ends awkwardly with Øystein sitting on his favourite armchair with a steel-like grip on his belt and his shotgun in his hand, frowning at Varg and Pelle who are sitting on the couch looking dishevelled as fuck but sober once again.

The silence is too much to endure, so, Øystein finally asks through his teeth. 'Explain yourself.' He points the gun to Pelle first (naturally), but Pelle chokes on his words. Kristi intervenes, giving Øystein a dirty look, answering 'The goblins want to circumcise us'

#holy shit this is longer than i expected #anyways #my ramblings #the man who loved the corpse #mayhem #burzum #pelle ohlin #varg vikernes #øystein aarseth

[12pt-times-new-roman]

lore! lore! lore!

This thing bears way too many resemblances to both Obann, the Punished and Cognouza for it to be a coincidence. The mini even looks the same. And both of those are directly related to Tharizdun.

For anyone wondering, because I had to look this up -- Imogen has resistance to psychic damage from a 6th level aberrant mind sorcerer ability. It also gives her advantage on saving throws against charm and fear effects.

"I'm gonna cast....... blight." the entire top table immediately looked up at that. they know.

"It's trying to find a form, but can't." Semblances of the party's faces can be seen beneath the skin, like a head under fabric.

ARBY'S: WE READ THE MEATS

A close second to "Arby's: What's in the meats?"

Them not putting out this fire when Matt has given so many hints that they should is legit hurting my rogue-playing soul a little bit

The illusory wall follows the same rules as the doors in Aeor: it requires a certain level (and possibly school) of magic to open. A 3rd level enchantment opened it. Behind it is a little cubby with a leather satchel, and it isn't trapped.

Deanna has a staff of healing!

Holy shit, that wolf king mini is fucking amazing and terrifying and I love him

As Ludinus' tower burns, the Bells Hells flee into the city, then into the forest. They find a large abandoned nest, where they build a fire to camp for the night.

They open the satchel. Inside, it's "empty" -- but it's a bag of holding. Upon asking for "Ludinus' notes," FCG brings out a cluster of vellum and parchment, some sections of half-bound journals.

"Toy transfers out of Rexxentrum"?? Chetney??? Got a bag of holding from a "credible source" within the city?

And he turns the bag inside out. There are coins, gems, a staff, more papers, and half a piece of armor.

All the papers are blank. Using the same technique as before, plus an Investigation check of 22, Chetney can see that these papers have something written on them, but can't make anything out, let alone discern what language it is.

It seems like this satchel was either a rainy-day fund, or "something left behind when the owner left in a rush." The coins and gems together amount to a little less than 3000gp.

There's also a tiny piece of dark burgundy wood. "It's a dildo!" "NO!"

The armor looks like a harness of some kind, like a torso harness. (Matt walked right into that one.) It's mostly dark-stained leather, and it's almost a vest, but it has a brass-gold inlay on it and it looks like where some of that metal is, it continues into an "emerging, arisen portion, almost like a... it rises like a metallic volcano, like an open funnel, but there's an empty space there." They're not sure if it's the front or the back, but it seems like there's space for something to fit in -- a gem (though none of the gems in the bag fit it), a vial, a beacon.

With detect magic, the armor is faint, the burgundy wood is faint, the staff is very strong. The staff is a "staff of dark oddessey," which has 8 charges that can be used to cast a whole bunch of spells. It requires attunement by a spellcaster. It has teleport, which can be cast using 6 charges. It regains 1d4 charges each day at dawn, and when it's used, it deals 1d4 to the user for each charge expended.

All the papers have a script that Deanna can see and read. LORE TIME! LET'S GO!

"The first bath of notes seem to be revolving around experiments on divine magic. Attempts to distill the base nature of divinity as an energy that can be replicated or destroyed... you also see notes that have designs, sketches, almost engineered blueprints for that strange harness that you saw. This is not in elven -- the text here is specifically arcane glyphs, like it's instructions for an enchantment. There are some notes in elven that follow those initial blueprints that speak of a physical regiment of magical infusion. As you continue on, they note on a synthetic recreation of the powerful natural magics that sustain the venerable wardens of the wilds. Beyond that, there are addition notes on dryads and fey, different fey entities that have locations throughout Wildemount, with eight crossed off... notes about 'feeding the root.'"

A nat20 investigation check to follow Ludinus' shorthand logic. "These notes are definitely batched with this harness. They are the next stage past its design. These are the resources needed for it to function. The dryad and fey entities, the locations that have been crossed out, are probably powerful dryad or fey entities that have, in the past, been discovered and utilized to power whatever this harness was supposed to be... the way it's designed, everything seems to funnel inward, so you imagine whatever resources presented into that portion of the device is funneled into that portion of the device. The last bit of notes speak of expanding his 'restoration sources' into the fey realm." So Ludinus was feeding this harness with fey and dryad magic. Travis clarifies that the elven word for "root" here refers specifically to the root of a plant, not the root of a phenomenon. Keep in mind that this was all written over 300 years ago.

"Oh my god, this Gildamesh motherfucker is grabbin' Smurfs!"

One of the marks delineating a fey-ish fane is "deep in the northeastern part of the Flotket Alps, one is in the lake deep in the Rimeplains, three are in the Savalirwood (though it's referred to here as the Veluthil), one within the Ashkeeper Peaks, and one that exists on an island to the northwest, past the waters." oh I will be COMING BACK TO THIS, JUST YOU WAIT

Best that they can tell, the portion of this chestplate that extends outward has an almost diamond-shaped gap. This probably rules out a Luxon beacon, because each of its sides is a pentagram.

The next cluster of notes is "about Ruidus, the red moon. Studying its curious superstition and religious scripture imploring its curse over Exandrian fanes and magical currents... he makes a lot of assumptions that the great temples fear this moon, and he wishes to know why. He theorizes that the gods continue to push to not even question or look in its direction, and you can see where this study is an obsession... for all the great shadows and villains that have been written about through the scriptures of history, there have been deep understandings to inform the populace of faith that what exists in evil should be understood so it can be avoided. But this is the one thing that exists int he skies of Exandira that the gods just say, 'look away.' That has been something on his mind since Moalesmyr. He notes the odd flares, odd notes mentioning the historical Ruidisborn. He quietly curses that he was not born under, wishing for the gods' fate. He hopes to employ a communion ritual timed under a flare to understand and decipher it. He talks about forgotten gods, about divine unravelling, of an ancient primordial that wasn't sundered after the Founding, all these theories of the red moon trying to ascertain its nature. Another entry complains of the Emerald Cross priests undermining his research, but he still managed to contact something, like reaching into an alien dream. He can't quite reach it yet -- it exists on the peripheries, and needs something stronger to break through."

The third and final batch of notes is "on the slowly expanding chaotic nature of the arcane crystals that form the power well beneath Molaesmyr. It notes of Aramond, who theorized that the well was a gift from the Archeart that was lost in the Calamity and rediscovered in the founding of Molaesmyr. Others believed it to be of Arcanum descent, fallen from one of the floating cities... harnessing this long-buried power source interests Ludinus' endeavor. In his final notes, he theorizes that if this crystal well is focused through his design without them knowing, while Ruidus is above during the solstice, he hopes a channel of consciousness could be opened, and that which is calling his attention to the red moon could be contacted."

Laura connected the dots! Maybe this "well" was a collection of Luxon beacons, or a singular one that was somehow elevated -- whether by unleashing or by malfunction -- beyond the power we've seen so far, or one that was infused with the divine magic of the Archeart, or any number of other things.

End of lore dump

Chetney on Rexxentrum: "there's a king, but we know who's really in charge."

The party contemplates who they should take this information to. The king and queen of Uthodurn, the king of the Dwendalian Empire, the Vellum Steeple, Vasselheim, Ivodel...

And Imogen suggests the Cobalt Soul. (please. i am begging. also, Fearne and Imogen being absolutely enamored and turned on by Beau's abs and ass is absolutely peak)

Goddamn, I thought I would never see the day-- SAM being the voice of reason, and TRAVIS being the lying voice of chaos?? I mean, at least Fjord had some kind of logic to his voice of "fuck it we ball," but Chetney's straight-up lying!

Hey, there we go! Religion check on "emerald cross priests." FCG recognizes that some of the symbology of the Archeart leans on cross designs and verdant colors, so the "Emerald Cross Priests" may have been a faction of their worship. This tracks, since Molaesmyr itself was built on the belief that its location was protected and preserved from the 100-year fire by Corellon themself.

They decide to sleep in the abandon nest instead of teleporting, and Imogen and FCG are set to dive into Frida's mind using a dual detect thoughts.

oh my god Christian had matching sweaters made. he gets one in FCG's colors and gives Sam one in Frida's colors. my heart can't take this. gift giving as a love language is so special to me.

Into Frida's thoughts! (Deanna cries in Chetney's arms.)

First, it's a familiar space for FCG, but for Imogen, it feels like a waiting room. It's different, organized, segmented, separate -- unlike organic minds. Even FCG's mind leans more into the chaotic space of organic brains, while Frida's has a clarity.

The three of them come to rest in a room, and FCG and Imogen see Frida as a mist, standing before a doorway waiting to be opened. Through it, it's like being pulled down a lazy river. It's dreamscape, comfortable -- "a trek through a consciousness where you pick up memories. A waking moment, a hooded figure with a metallic mask rousing them from a dark, closed space. (Imogen recognizes them as D.) Struggle, survival in a harsh wilderness, wandering through unfamiliar streets and fear in the eyes of people as the consciousness of Frida steps, seeking connection but being fled from. You see children, playing, and that protective energy swelling, and that fear fades. You see the laughter and smile on Deanna's face over a cooking fire, the polishing of armor. A smattering of memories, but much like FCG's -- a fresh existence. It's like peering into the memory of a child, though there is a more extended, sourceless confidence and maturity."

Frida focuses on the names that he heard in the tower -- Laerryn, Vatora, Vishtaron, the child that FCG saw -- and (with a straight d20 roll of 5) Frida gets lost in the current. Memories begin to bleed into images of the child from before. "You have images that completely envelop the horizon for just a moment, of warfare. Of weapons, of people being cut down, then back to the river. [Frida] has had these dreams, rarely -- but it couldn't have been you, right?"

When Frida looks down, they see the river of energy that pulls them through the memories, and it obscures the lower part of their body. But they see their spiritual self, a bipedal entity of energy.

FCG and Imogen try to push deeper into Frida's memories.

NAT 20 FROM LAURA, and Matt makes a roll with a glance at Frida. They feel a pain in their mind, like a headache even though they've never had one -- the pain builds, and the others see the image of Frida fold and emit white light.

"That flash of warfare seems to emerge once again. It's less a battlefield -- stone hallways, bodies on the ground. Somebody rushes out of a room, and you watch as they fall to the ground. Standing before them is the spiritual form of Frida. A warrior, cutting through enemies in some sort of a structure. A very beautiful, unrecognizable structure... [Frida pushes forward, not knowing who's a friend, who's an enemy.] Some have brown and gold robes with gentle leather chestplates or armor. Some are preparing to cast spells before a blade catches their throat. A soldier runs up with a spear and shield toward Frida, who takes a hit before grabbing the spear and breaking the soldier's neck before pushing forward... [for Frida], it's an odd experience, like you're riding another person's experience. [Frida feels this is right. They know an objective when they see one. They keep going. They roll a d20, for a 10.] The details are fuzzy, but the people around you -- you begin to realize, it's not you pushing into a stronghold, you're defending. But the people you're fighting at the sides of and the people you're fighting against aren't dressed all that differently, and you feel a sadness at what must be done. You are not fighting an enemy from outside -- you are fighting an enemy from within."

Behind Frida, they see what they're defending: a beautiful structure, long halls, tall arched sealings with pipes or metallic tubes. The floors and walls are metallic, polished. Very much like the description of the A2 crash site, with the metal walls and "plastic" tubes. Frida is defending whatever's behind them, and they turn back toward it. Others go past them -- "what are you doing? Where are you going?" The hallway goes on, and on, and on as individuals walk past. The hall widens, and they see a central, massive chamber where "there is a contraption of such immensity, you've never considered or seen something on this scale. All manner of glowing crystalline devices and whirring mechanical devices, funnels and tubes and glass domes, sparks and dozens upon dozens of architects and engineers and magical practitioners all focused in this space. A voice shouts in Aeorian, 'protect the factorum!'"

The room carries a buzz, a hum that grows to a growl. "An engine of such immensity within this space that the chamber itself, the ground beneath you, vibrates and shakes. Stones and fallen instruments just move and cascade across the ground by the immensity of what is growing. The crystals are alighting. The space itself is preparing for something incredible. Then, it's just white." Everyone takes 8 points of psychic damage (no save, no roll to hit, no nothing) as they are shunted out of the vision.

Chetney puts the dots together, between the malleus factorum and the malleus keys. In Aeor, Frida was defending it from assault. Frida remembers one thing: "when you were discovered by D, you were ruined... he didn't just resuscitate you, he repaired you, brought you back from the brink of annihilation and set you free."

Frida was drawn to Aeor, and Deanna implies that that's why they went to Eiselcross.

Imogen recognizes some similarities between the energy signature, the structure, the vibrations between the malleus factorum and the malleus key -- but the key in Marquet was far smaller, far less powerful, far less immense.

Chetney recognizes that the crystals in the malleus factorum are distinctly different than the arcane batteries on the malleus key.

Facets of the clothing was semi-recognizable to FCG, but nothing about the location or the project rings a bell. Travis and Aabria suggest that FCG was in Avalir, not Aeor, hence why they recognize the clothing but not the location.

"Xhorhassian"? Deanna, where the fuck did that come from??

Deanna and Frida were in Eiselcross because Frida felt drawn to Aeor's central ruins, like Imogen felt drawn to Ruidus.

Frida feels a twinge of memory at the back of their head at the names Laerryn, Vishtaron, and Vatora, but they don't know why. But they know they were protecting the creator hammer -- whether it was because they believed in the anti-god sentiment, believed wholeheartedly in Aeor itself, or were going along with their orders.

(Meta note: Aabria says she "saw a room full of people doing what one person did" in relation to Laerryn.)

Chetney gives Frida a little wooden robot! It moves and everything. "A pillar of protection and I feel a connection to you, because you protect children and I bring joy to children with these [toys]." Fearne tries to comfort them too -- "you were being commanded then, but now, you're free to do what you want." The cast makes the connection between "Frida" and "free to."

I'm honestly loving the suggestion that Morri and Ludinus are exes, and that's part of why the Nightmare King hates him so much.

"But wherever we go... what about you two?" FCG.... honey.......

Deanna feels like Frida is moving on, and she's afraid of being left behind again. They have FCG now, and all of them have a mission, and maybe she should go back to Uthodurn -- no. Chetney's with her. They would've been swiss cheese, would've been ground meat without her. "I just don't want anything to happen to you." "I... made something for you, too." It's a little cup, like the ones they used to drink out of on the Menagerie Coast.

"Just-- a real quick question-- is the werewolf thing only for fighting?" "Y'know... there's... only one way to find out." "(full of sarcasm and irony) Help. Chetney has gone feral. Oh no. Anyone. Preferably Fearne, if you're into that. Help. The safe word is parmesan." And Chetney, Deanna, and Fearne run off into the woods.

Oh, how far Travis has come. This is character development. and it's canon now, fuckers!!

Now, they need to find out where to teleport. Uthodurn, Rexxentrum, Jrusar, Whitestone, Bassuras, Zephrah -- they could go anywhere. But they need to find out where the other group would think of to meet up.

FCG casts commune. And Matt does make an interesting point -- "should we go here" is different than "should we go here to accomplish this task."

As they cast the spell, they feel their consciousness rise "to a space within all horizons, at a crossroads, paths spreading out from you in all directions that converge here. There's a sign post, and it's blank. On the sides your vision, you see strands of hair, and you turn, and you see once more a feminine form upon the same horizon. She looks two inches tall, two miles tall, you can't tell -- it's strange. But she's present. [Hi. First of all, thank you, for all your guidance and for sending me Frida. We're trying to find our other friends, and we're wondering if we go to Jrusar, if we would have a chance to find them there at some point.] While previously, there was an inference of an answer, this time you hear a voice on the wind. 'Yes.' [Are they alive, Changebringer? Are they okay?] 'Yes.' [Even if I never know about my past, even if I never find out who made me or why I'm here, will I know Frida for a long time?] The wind picks up, and blows past.. the answer challenging to write, when the future has not been... In an immediate rush, this towering woman appears before you, her dark skin, her light brown hair that entangles around you. Her presence is bold, terirfying in proximity, her eyes these golden, open spaces, an intensity about her presentation as she looks upon you. 'A terrible fate looms for all of Exandria. An alien malice menaces the skies of the Marquesian sands. If you indeed wish to show your faith, to walk my endless paths beyond, then rise to our call. The winds of change blow cold against us all, yet hope remains unmoving in you. Our grace guides those who carry our banner. Hold it high, and traverse the path that I alight with purpose and fated destination. Do not turn from this road, for only shadow and solitude awaits beyond.' The light on the horizon grows cold, she grows more immense, you feel even more insignificant. 'The red end stirs in its slumber. Do not let it wake.' And she looks over her shoulder, and you see the distant gleam of the red moon, before--"

At the same time, the rest of the party watches as a sudden, almost sleepiness comes over Deanna. "Deanna, you sit for a second, before suddenly, this bright light fills your consciousness, the immensity of a star burning before you, something you've not experience at this proximity in some time, and comes with it a strength and a frustration long-felt. You try your best to avert your gaze, but the source of this light burns your retinas, and there you see before you the Dawnfather, encompassing the sky, nothing but his light. 'Mortal arrogance makes union with a forbidden scourge. The ruddy moon beckons over the skies of Marquet. Child, reborn of my grace and my will, I command you: strike out against those who would snuff our light. The gifts I grant you are the sword and shield against the darkness. Forsake these gifts, ignore our charge, and be abandoned... faith needs not logic, nor truth, but unerring conviction... the red end stirs in its slumber. Do not let it wake.'"

There is a warmth to the coin in FCG's hand, and it looks shinier. They identify it as a "coin of the Changebringer," and it... does a lot of things, according to Sam. (I bet it's an improved amulet of the devout +1, which by default gives them an extra use of channel divinity per day.)

Deanna gives Chetney her ring of temporal salvation. This is a ring that, when the wearer would die, instead they're healed for 3d6 hit points.

She also identifies the little piece of wood as a tuning fork for the planeshift spell, which is tuned to the fey realm.

Chetney took orders directly from the Cerberus Assembly. He made enchanted furniture. Allegedly. (This is a reference to C2E48/49, if anyone doesn't know.) Also, "RTA" may or may not stand for "Rexxentrum Toy Authority." Most of them were fine -- Ludinus was an ass, and Traversky was his best customer. This means that Chetney likely knows Delilah Briarwood by name, and knows her...... toy preferences.

Using the rod, they all teleport to Xhadana's house.

#critical role #note watches c3 #critical role spoilers #critical role campaign 3 #critical role c3 #critical role liveblog #holy shit this is so much longer than I expected it to be #I swear I tried to just summarize the lore but I got carried away!! #long post

[eskawrites]

hit the 20k word mark with the flayed!robin au tonight. this was not supposed to go this far

#look i always underestimate word count but i was NOT expecting this #i'm only like halfway through the outline too like #holy shit #flayed!robin #writing things #it's taking so much longer to write than anticipated but hey. bright side. apparently this is a multi-chapter thing now #(unless y'all want like a 35k word one-shot lol)

[rotshop]

hiii welcome to me writing for me myself and i <3 werewolf reader n hank bc i said so <3333 takes place pre-madness for the most part with only a little bit at the end otherwise

[ tw violence , body horror (esp. bone related) , murder talk , references to mp1 (+ other first few episodes) at the end ]

-you two had been partners LONG before the red sky, seemingly always have been by one anothers side. at first, he didn't really see you as much more than 'weird kid who bothers me.' you were just someone in his classes that didn't really talk to anyone or go out of your comfort zone in general- much like himself. they didn't know why you'd initially approached them, only that you'd leaned over their shoulder to look at what they'd been drawing.

"Cat person, huh?" You'd chimed. It was less a question and more of a verbal observation. Just something you'd noticed and decided to speak aloud.

They'd given you a short glance, looking for any sort of mocking or planned malice in your expression. You returned a patient, blank one of your own. They'd shrugged. You smiled at their wordless response, "You're good at drawing them. What's your name?"

There'd been a short pause as he'd considered his options here. He really wasn't planning to get to know anybody, most people were too put off by his lack of speech and he didn't like always having to come up with something to say. You'd never been especially loud, though, only really speaking when called on or otherwise had to. Come to think of it, this was really the first time he could remember seeing you go out of your way to talk to anyone. Why you chose them of all people was beyond them, but they'd grow to appreciate it.

Sure, he could just lie and hope you'd go away. Sure, that would be a guaranteed silence. However, they weren't too sure they entirely wanted you gone. So, rather than go with an easy route out, they'd answered.

"Hank."

-It was a quick friendship that he hadn't been expecting. You weren't constantly together at first, moreso just talking every now and then. It'd started as a comfort when it came to group projects, not having to worry about talking to anyone new or really talk much at all. Then you'd stay with him at lunch, eventually showing him some corner you'd always go hide off at in the past to get away from all the noise.

-They'd found familiarity in most of your mannerisms, making way for some sort of personal connection. You didn't like being looked at, you didn't like loud noises, and you didn't like being around many people. He didn't know when he'd started making some kind of an effort to help you out, only that he'd made a habit of closing doors or setting things down softer. In the same breadth, you would talk or clarify for him when needed, you'd make a point of giving him personal space unless he'd said you could do otherwise, and you did your best to try and make sure your voice was quiet.

-They'd found themself much more comfortable with you than they thought they'd be as the years went on. You'd invite them over to watch horror movies and eat whatever sounded the best, usually ending in one or both of you falling asleep on the couch. (It was rarely ever an issue for them. They'd long since gotten used to you leaning on them and it was all too easy to pick you up. That was something you were particularly sour about, pouting when you could barely get them to budge when you tried to push them. You didn't seem as upset when it'd gotten a chuckle out of him.)

-There'd been no real pattern to the movies you watched, other than that a grand majority were horror related. You'd said you just liked them for how cheesy they could be, offering to change the movie only to get a relatively quick denyal. He'd later admitted he liked the bad jumpscares and the poor practical effects.

You'd been watching some bad film again that night, something about werewolves and a camp. You'd had your head against his shoulder while your eyes focused on the screen. They weren't sure why they'd gotten the urge to look over at you, excusing it as just wanting to see your reaction to whatever happened on screen. They were equally unsure why they'd instinctively tensed up as if to fight a flinch when you looked back at him.

"Something up?" You'd hummed, grinning a bit. They'd held their tongue for a good moment, unintentionally focusing on your teeth for a breath. They'd noticed early on in your friendship that you didn't exactly look like any one else he'd seen in that regard. Obviously, it wasn't something he was going to say anything about, not wanting to risk offense. They were far sharper than most's, your canines were far longer than his, curved outward in a way unique to you.

He'd finally shaken his head, satisfying your question enough that you'd just shrugged and looked back to the screen. He was glad you didn't pry any further than that, he was a little too focused on the teeth of the main monster in the movie. They did look awfully familiar, didn't they?

-Despite the casualness of it all, they were planned out on your part. Less in that you had any real itinerary those nights (you didn't at all, only a few vague ideas of what you could do) and more in that you were specific in when they'd happen. They'd never really noticed at first, helped by your variety of excuses that ranged from being busy with some sort of repetitive task to being sick, as well as the general distance between those restrictions. There was really only a handful of days you had some sort of limit on. He'd only really gotten a picture of it when you'd invited him into your room, you busying yourself with 'getting sorted' (shoving a few discarded shirts under your bed or tossing a water bottle in a random drawer) while he'd studied the calender you had hanging up.

There really wasn't much to note- a few project deadlines, notes here and there, and a few days you had crossed out. Those caught his eye, bearing a similar pattern when he'd glanced at the past month. One or two days were fully crossed out, then a few others had a dash through them.

"Full moon days," You'd spoken up. He'd looked back at you, only really registering you were talking to him when he'd found your gaze on him. You didn't clarify any further, not making any sort of move from where you stood or taking a breath to talk longer. That was all you had to say on the matter. He'd hummed in acknowledgement, straightening back up as he turned away from the calender. You had a curious look, something contemplative as you stared a bit longer. He'd made the move to snap you from your daze this time, walking forward to sit down on your bed.

"You really shouldn't keep so many drinks in here."

He'd leaned back against the wall as any tension disappeared from the moment, watching as you clicked your tongue before making your case. He didn't ask any further about it, even when you cancelled on those days again. You didn't give an excuse, he didn't ask for one.

-Eventually, you both graduated, deciding to move in with one another. You weren't exactly ready to be alone just yet and he could use the company. Nights spent watching slashers continued on, only really broken up by the steadily growing amount of times you'd fall asleep in one another's rooms. It was typically yours he'd fall asleep in after you passed out on top of him in the living room. They'd carry you to your room, you'd tug on their shirt or grab their hand after waking up from being set down, and they'd relent to lay down next to you. It wasn't something they minded, you ran warm and it felt more comfortable in your room anyway (He discarded the fact you had the same kind of mattress).

-it was the first time he'd ever really directly asked about the full moon thing, curious on if you'd go somewhere else for those days or if he should do something for you. You'd given it some thought, going quiet for a good few moments before eventually shrugging and saying you'd be ok, there were just two rules you had on those nights. Keep the curtains shut and give breathing space. They were plain enough, even if he didn't entirely understand it, he didn't want to dig any deeper. You'd never pried into his personal business and they were going to return that kindness. (They'd never said it aloud, but they were afraid to. They didn't want to push you too far and ruin your relationship. They were scared to lose you, and they didn't particularly enjoy the unfamiliar feeling.)

-you typically just stayed in your room those days, not leaving for very long. it could be worrying, but he trusted that you could handle yourself. (You'd always laugh a bit at his visible concern over the next day or so, him hanging around you awkwardly in some sort of silent 'hey im here if you need me.' You appreciated it, even if it could be a funny sight. You'd usually just ask for company.)

-It was less than a total fix for you, but you didn't want to scare him off at this point. Sure, he was an intimidating bastard, but at least he was just an ordinary grunt like everyone else. You didn't let yourself dwell on it too much, not wanting to rile yourself up over something that might never happen (if you were lucky, that is). Besides, it was easy to forget about when you were too busy fighting back sleep as you layed with him. Really, it was unfair just how quickly you'd pass out with the purring and weight of his arms around you combined.

-Of course, though, nobody's that lucky in Nevada. It was a stupid idea in retrospect, but you'd convinced yourself if you let yourself shift just once you could get through the month without feeling like your bones were about ready to rip through your skin. You were impressed by your own ability to stay quiet throughout the whole process, managing to get by with a few strained noises and hisses (sure, you'd done it a million times before, but nothing makes the sensation of bones shifting and skin shredding any easier). You'd been too busy focusing on your voice level to really consider just how loud cracking and popping of joints really would be when echoing in a room.

They'd always told themselves they would stay out of your room during these periods no matter what. They were obviously of great importance to you and you'd made the ground rules clear. However, they also had to make sure you were safe. Past times, you'd always turned out alright, even if you'd been cooped up in your room for a day or two. Those times though, it didn't sound like this. It was faint, just faint enough that he'd only really noticed it when he'd passed by your room. He'd stood there for a moment or two, still as a statue as he considered his options here. There was no clear way out, both having their own risks attributed to them. Eventually, with one last little snap, they threw caution to the wind and opened the door.

It took them a moment to adjust to the darkness in the room, the only real light source being the moonlight through the window. He could make out the outline of your bed and nightstand in it, along with something shuffling on the floor. A grand majority of his mind told him to move towards it, stopped only by the part that knew something wasn't right.

You were too exhausted to move, taking several long moments to notice he'd even entered the room, blood draining from your face when you noticed his gaze on you. Despite your body crying for the opposite, for just a moment longer of rest, you'd pushed yourself up with as much strength as you could muster. It was only enough to back up against the wall, lowering your head as you stared right back at him.

You didn't know what to do, where to even begin. You didn't know if you could find your voice- it was hard enough to speak when you were in this form, but when you were panicking this much? It might've been impossible to make any coherent sound. Maybe you could try and run past him, leave and come back tomorrow and say that a wolf got in your room and you got out through the window- but, he would've noticed the window was shut and that this 'wolf' was awfully big. You didn't know why he hadn't moved, why he hadn't run. You weren't sure if you were more terrified at the prospect of him running from or towards you.

God, he could kill you. Just the thought alone was enough to drum up a cold sweat, if not for your fur it would've been dripping off of you at this point. He could just run at you and slam your head against a sharp corner and you would be done for just like that, if not from the injury then from your reluctance to fight back. You just had to hope and pray this was nothing more than a nightmare that you'd wake up from and go to him for comfort for. You just had to hope you'd wake up on the couch while a movie played and rough hands ghosted your spine. You just had to hope that you would have someone in your life other than your own flesh and blood that bore the same scars that would stay.

You'd flinched as he took a step towards you, back brushing the wall and only serving to make you feel even more cold. He'd hitched in his movements at this, continuing forth while you settled for pressing as much of yourself against the wall, utterly trapped in place. He'd gotten down to his knees, lowering himself to something relative to your level. When his hands finally stretched towards you, you'd jolted from your spot, trying to make some sort of effort to shove past him. It was short lived, him catching your midsection to pull you against him.

It was over. You were stuck and he knew it and he was going to kill you. But his hands didn't move. He didn't make any move to strangle you as you thrashed and kicked at the floor. He didn't make any move to crack your skull open as you'd jerked to try and drag yourself past him. He didn't make any move to crush your ribcage as you choked something akin to a sob out. He just sat there with his arms around you like he always did and pulled you as close as he possibly could. If the moment were any better you could've laughed at how you finally were taller than him.

It was only when you finally stopped struggling that he moved, reaching a hand up to tilt your head towards his. There was a long moment, your eyes finally meeting as he studied yours. You didn't know what to think at that moment, too tired to and too torn up to want to even try to decipher how you felt. He'd stared a moment longer before he finally broke the silence that'd been weighing your chest down.

"Are you hungry?"

You wish you could've laughed in his face. Instead, you'd just nodded.

-There's a long conversation the next morning, one that starts shortly after you wake up in his room again (something he'd insisted on in the hopes you wouldn't make a run for it before there was some sort of closure here). Much to your surprise and relief, he's not too concerned about it. It's something he's willing to brush off for the most part- you've always been weird to him, this is no different (your pout at the sentiment almost makes him smile, you know they mean it affectionately).

-There's not too much change to your routine, only that he's instead the one that lays against you during full moons. Admittedly, it's something they're curious about and ask you about for a good while. They just like knowing little tid-bits that you're comfortable offering up. They're just happy knowing that you're able to confide in him about this now and don't feel the need to hide it anymore (even if he's gotten more than a good few affectionate bites on the arms, he grows fond towards them).

-If anything, it only adds another sort of odd unique layer of connection between the two of you. He smooths your fur while you dig your claws into the sheets and you help wash the blood off him when he gets home. Lucky you, without a sun you don't need to worry about any sort of required shifts now do you?

#your honor they are both autistic #this was a LOT longer than i was expecting it to be uhh holy shit. #rot writes #madness combat x reader #hank j wimbleton x reader #madcom x reader #iff theres any spelling errors lmk im not rereaing this rn <3

[messenger-of-stupidity]

The most angsty part about amnesia trope is when they realize that the person doesn’t remember them so I’m just listening to Avior’s playlist again thinking about him realizing that starlight doesn’t remember him

Avior's playlist really does hit different the second time around. At first he's just a sarcastic ass (hehe same irl) but then knowing the truth of their relationship turns him into a soggy noodle boyo. (No i will not elaborate)

Like, seriously can you imagine? He didn't know for sure if Starlight would remember him. So when they wake up and he calls them Starlight, he's possibly expecting them to recognize the petname and hug him or whatever.

And then they have no idea who he is and he makes the split second decision to go along with it. (Still don't wholly understand his logic in making that decision but whatever.)

One of my favorite things about the amnesia trope is that conflict.

Because you could go the Avior route and just decide to let them build a new life with you (in a sense). Don't try to force them to realize you as their lover/family/friend.

Or you could just try to cope with the fact that you have all these memories of your time with them, meanwhile they share none of these. So you try to help them remember, hoping the memories aren't lost to whatever caused the amnesia.

It's so delicious.

#this was longer than i expected #i really want to write for avior now #holy shit #messenger of answers #anon ask #redacted asmr #redacted audio #redactedverse #redacted avior #redacted starlight

[thethingything]

I was going to do a bunch of little doodles but I got carried away with this one so here it is

#our art #🍬 post #I did this whole thing without a sketch or a reference and holy shit look at it #I wanted to draw stuff based on some of Lucy's descriptions of weirdly specific vibes they enjoy #but then I kept thinking of more little details to add to this drawing and it ended up taking a lot longer than I expected #I'm really proud of it though. it looks a lot better than I thought it would

[orcelito]

Dialing up the pretentious formal speak for this one. I should've seen this coming.

#speculation nation #discacc shit #hi im suffering in a creation of my own design #i love how like. ok when writing goro i generally just do my own natural Pretentious Sounding voice. and it just happens #but with yusuke. i have to do that. then actively comb back over dialog to make it Even More formal #it loops around to not pretentious bc this is yusuke we r talking about #but . still. holy shit lmao #oh fuck 50% of dominoes pizzas i just rmemebered this. omfg. omfg. pizza #relevant bc my mind is melting and i was like 'food would be nice' #pizza time... #aka im working on writing but this scene is taking maybe a little longer than expected. im trying tho #still in the Testing The Waters stage of convo. once it gets rolling then it'll hopefully come quickly #im literally so close to finishing writing 😭😭😭😭😭 blocked by yusuke dialog

[yongseungkim]

.

#like i definitely need therapy lol #not that i havent tried in the past nothings just worked/stuck like the therapists werent a good fit for me perhaps #so im trying to reach out again because holy shit #i want to a) get out of my phd and b) have normal fucking friendships #but its so hard right now when anxious thoughts take over SO much some days like i know i cannot do this on my own #i have good friends i know who will hear me out #but man its the same thing over and over again with me but in a new font sometimes i swear #and my friends dont need to hear all those anxious depressive thoughts lol like #once in a while sure esp my closer friends but all the time? nawr #i have been trying to journal but man the emotions just bubble up and i dont feel better until ive like said things out loud #so honestly just having someone to rant about the same issues over and over again might be nice lol . #but i need to find a therapist that fits which is the hardest part #i do think ive made small strides on my own which is nice #but the emotions are just so loud and genuinely affect my day to day like its so hard battling things on my own #im at the point now where im like this cant go on for much longer somethings gotta change #if i want to have a phd in the next year and if i want to maintain friendships normally #and esp if i wanna stay roommates with this girlie cuz holy shit its been a lot harder than i expected maybe #i dont think i can do it on my own without major reprecussions #bro its also been like so long #i feel like ive always had some human i was extremely fond of for the past ?? years albeit most of them were like fake right like in the kp #*kpop world so it was fine when it becomes a real person it is absolutely terrible let me tell u . #but its also been a habit like i didnt realize how terrible my thoughts w ys were until now cuz they really wernet normal thoughts at all #like i want to break free of having these kind of attachments to people in a way cuz the only way i feel like ive been able to deal with bi #feelings is by transferring them to a new subject which isnt what i want anymore #like i just want it all to stop! #i also feel like mentally ive gotten worse ?? than before ?? in some ways like #i dont know if i want to make new friends and connections anymore #the same way i was trying so hard in the previous year which is worse bc now my efforts are like #SOLELY on this one girl in a way which is NOT. GOOD. #ive been trying to have conversations with the third roommate but i have to force myself?

[frogdaqueerfloof]

Deltarambles P.5

He continues to try and break into the mansion, trying to get to the neo robot By that point it was practically religious If he got the neo robot, he would be one step closer to Heaven, one step closer to Mike But, eventually, one day he gets caught when swatch isn't around.

And, to punish him, he gets thrown into the acid It doesn't shrink him or anything [because that theory was debunked], but it sure as hell burns him and makes him wet and vulnerable while living on the streets

This, of course, leads to him getting sick, which corrupts his speech and some of his code

What spamton doesn't know is that by the time he had started to fall, most of his family had started to get over themselves and wasn't entirely that mad at him

And that, by the time he fell, they'dve been more than happy to take him in again after, but by the time they got there he was gone, it was too late eventually chapter 2 happens, and spamton becomes a pair of glasses

I imagine in a happier version of this, spamton is saved and can come back from this, but if we're going to be realistic then yeah no that's where his story ends, i don’t think toby is planning on bringing him or jevil back [then again, deltarune isn’t close to being done, so i could be very wrong]

<><><><><><><>

GOD!!! I knew there was a lot, but i thought it'd be like 3 posts max!!! I autismed a little too close to the sun with this one lol

I apologize to jevil fans for my clear spamton favoritism, maybe one day i'll autism hard over the little jester. for now, please enjoy the spamtonposting!

If anyone has any questions or ideas, please feel free to send them my way! my ask box is always open!!!

#deltarune #long post #ask to tag #part 5 #This ended up being way longer than i expected holy shit #hope yall like to read! #also if you're seeing this hiii i hope you have a good day :]

[steventhusiast]

modern au where eddie and robin are roommates and steve is italian <3

-

eddie has always known that his roommate robin is in the US for college, but grew up in and is from italy. sure, sometimes he forgets, because she somehow has a near-perfect american accent and also speaks two other languages, but he’s always known.

and for the past year and a bit, he’s known how much robin wants her best friend stevie to come visit. she talks about them all the time, and ever since she and eddie moved out of the dorms and into an apartment together for their next year of university a month ago, he’s known stevie is going to come and visit.

he just kind of forgot the exact day stevie would be arriving.

so when he, clad in nothing but his garfield pyjama pants and a metallica t-shirt that’s falling apart, walks into the kitchen one morning and sees someone he doesn’t know at the kitchen counter fiddling with their instant coffee machine, he almost shits himself.

luckily, he doesn’t, because he remembers in that split second that stevie was due to arrive last night. but he still flinches pretty hard at the fright and grabs for the nearest grabbable thing, which turns out to be the doorframe. somehow, he makes a noise loud enough to get the mystery person’s attention, and they turn around.

holy shit. eddie did not know stevie is hot. or that stevie’s actually a guy. he kind of just assumed, with the nickname and all? but the man standing there looks like he could’ve been carved by the gods eddie doesn’t believe in, and- eddie realises he’s been staring at the guy for a few seconds now, and decides to talk like a normal human being. he first adjusts his position so he’s no longer holding onto the archway of the kitchen for support, and smiles at the guy.

“hi, you must be stevie?” he offers, and stevie takes a few seconds to process his words before nodding with a smile.

“my name is steve. robbie just is… hm, silly?”

eddie blinks a couple times, because steve has an accent. a thick one. he should’ve expected that, because- hello? they’re both literally from italy. but it catches him off guard, and adds to steve’s hot factor. why didn’t robin warn him about this.

“yeah, robin is very silly.” he agrees with a chuckle, and then realises steve might not know him, “i’m eddie. robin’s roommate. you probably knew that already though, so now i probably look like an idiot. well- more of an idiot than i already do in these clothes…”

he lets his words trail off as he realises steve is frowning at him in subtle confusion. he’s picked up robin’s rambling-when-nervous habit over their friendship, and hot guys tend to make him pretty nervous. but then he realises maybe steve isn’t as fluent in english as robin is, and even if he is eddie’s a fast talker that doesn’t always pronounce things fully.

“i am sorry,” steve looks embarrassed, “my english is not as good as robin.”

eddie feels so guilty at the pink that’s made itself known on steve’s cheeks, and shakes his head immediately.

“no! you don’t need to be sorry. i just talk a lot when i’m nervous.” he confesses. why did he say that? now steve knows he’s nervous. or does he? maybe he didn’t catch his full sentence.

steve raises one eyebrow at eddie though, and one side of his mouth quirks up into a smile as he turns around to keep trying to make himself a cup of coffee.

“i am making you nervous? why?” steve asks, his back still turned. now eddie’s the one with red cheeks. dammit.

“it’s because eddie here thinks you’re hot, stevie.”

eddie’s flinch at robin’s magical appearance behind him is somehow more spectacular than earlier, and he clutches dramatically at his heart and spins around to glare at robin.

“robin! what the fuck, man!” he yelps when he realises what she’s said. but robin isn’t listening, she’s too busy speaking to steve in italian about who knows what.

probably about how she knows all eddie’s tells for when he finds a guy attractive and how she knows eddie’s type and steve checks every single box. or, eddie squints at the pair as robin tsks at steve and takes over manning the coffee machine, maybe robin’s just telling steve how to make a coffee with the machine?

“you think i am…” steve starts as he spins around to look at eddie, and seems to be searching for a word for a few moments, “attractive?”

eddie’s eyes widen, and then he sighs and fixes a glare on robin. robin just shrugs and makes a very insincere ‘oopsie’ expression, and eddie is about to start denying like his life depends on it, but he looks back at steve.

and steve has that blush back on his face, and a tiny smile, and he’s looking eddie up and down even in his ridiculous outfit.

“um, yes.” eddie practically squeaks, not used to having someone’s eyes on him like this.

steve says something to robin in italian that sounds like it ends with a question mark, and robin rolls her eyes.

“steve wants me to translate a pick up line he wants to use on you, but i literally refuse to do that. google translate is free.”

and with that, she leaves the kitchen.

#steddie #italian steve harrington #steddie drabble #steddie ficlet #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #st #mywriting #robin buckley #steve is so smooth in italian and so not smooth in english #he just lacks confidence #eddie doesnt believe him #thank you to the person who explained how tumblr tagging system works <3

[faytelumos]

NaNoWriMo word count, Day 4

Warmup words: 871

Book words: 874

Total words: 3,469

For my favorite line of the day, here's some context:

MC is a part-time sex worker. His services are particularly expensive. He doesn't pick his own clients and he's not a fan of this one. They're both Usevuth, a species of reptile that stands between 5-9 feet tall. He's on the small, skinny end, he never talks, and he acts especially demure for this client.

---

"I fought to keep their grandparents safe, you know. I didn't have to — I was already old enough to pass down my call to service to a child. And then [humans] treat me like I'm being rude."

I resisted the desire to sigh with a professional practice and stepped over to retrieve the kettle. […] She went on as I poured, and as I set the kettle on its holder, and as I rimmed her bowl with orange zest. She made a good show of complaining about humans. About how weak they were, how small, how fragile, how demure. She could probably save a lot of her disappearing money if she just hired a human to pour her tea.

#Fayte wrote #NaNo accountability report #I really thought my warmup was longer than my book words but I didn't expect the numbers to be so close holy COW #this character gives me a lot of joy because despite being almost mute he is the sassiest little shit in my collection #I don't know if it comes across as funny or zingy as I want but I got a kick out of it