#unfortunately ‘i’d very much like to be equal to you’ DID get me

[avtrbee]

the prince

✢summary: what happens when your husband brings home a son that is not yours?

✢tags: arranged marriage gojo satoru x reader, reader is a clan kid, she’s v traditional, obvious cat and jon snow references

✢tw: implications of cheating, mentioned abuse, misogyny ig

✢ a/n: i’m not gonna lie to you guys, i know i’ve been a while and im really ashamed that i come back with something that i believe this isn’t my best work at all. i had this prompt in my head for a long time and i have wanted to publish this ever since. always love hearing from all of you and i’d like to get some feedback as well <33

You were a clan kid fortunate enough to be born with the clan’s cursed technique but unfortunate enough to be a woman. Your childhood tutors had drilled the duties of wives in your head, and had made you comfortable with the idea of an arranged marriage. You pride yourself as a good traditional daughter, whose greatest honor would be marrying your husband.

Never in your life did you imagine yourself caring for a child that is not yours.

That was, of course, until you met your husband.

You have heard of Gojo Satoru before and fought him a few times during sister-school events, but never in your life did you think he’d be who you were destined for. Still, he surprised you.

“You are my wife, my equal,” he promises you at the night of your wedding. The ceremony was over and the guests have gone home. You have said your vows in front of the gods and they have bounded you to this man.

He drags you off to bed and makes you sit on the floor with him.

Satoru looks at you with the moon shining on him making him look like an ethereal god. And to you, he was. Which is why you tilt your head at his statement. “Gojo-sama, I do not understand-”

“Satoru,” he says. “I am your husband, you should call me by my name y’know.” His voice is light and teasing, underplaying the reality of the situation. “I don’t want a slave. I want a confidant. A partner. I need someone. Do you understand?”

You nod. Strangely you do. “We must protect each other.”

You were both very lonely people thrust into a union none of you asked for. There are targets on your backs for sins you cannot control. You were alone, but not anymore.

Your husband nods and he takes his glasses off. You realize for the nth time that Satoru is a pretty, pretty man. His blue eyes shine and twinkle like the stars above.

He reaches for your hand- a strange gesture but you allow it anyway. “I will do right by you,” he promises. In his mind he remembers his mother, the one who loves too much but is loved so less. Like her, Satoru’s marriage is arranged by the clan. But he will not be his father.

He is a man of his word.

The next morning you find yourself waking to an empty bed with a smell of burning food. You catch your husband defeated before the stove with burnt scrambled egg on the table. “This is what couples do, right?”

You stare at him, simply horrified that you had failed to wake up first. You were supposed to cook him breakfast, not the other way around.

Satoru catches your expression. “Hey! It’s not that bad!” He pokes the pathetic excuse of a scrambled egg. His mother had always cooked for the family, it shouldn’t have been this hard. “…right?”

You ban him from your kitchen.

He takes you to the school next. You walk behind him, as is the norm, but Satoru makes a face that pushes you to stay beside him. His voice echoes in your head, you are my wife, my equal.

The weather was perfect, but he fusses about the fact that you decided to wear a sleeveless sundress that he deems inappropriate for the wind.

“Are you sure you’re not cold?”

“Yes, Satoru.”

Satoru’s eyes narrow suspiciously, like he does not believe you. He reaches over and takes your hand in his. His face morphs to an expression of victory. “Ha! Your hands are cold. You’re such a bad liar, Y/N.” He spits, but his voice lacks venom. You pretend to ignore his poor excuse to hold your hand. Deep inside you like it. Romance is for fiction and some anime you were lucky enough to watch. A distinguished member of your the Gojo clan does not deserve it, but your husband is a romantic.

He stops you from walking out of the shade of the trees and into the sunshine. He opens his tote bag and points to a closed umbrella. “Do you need this? To protect you from- y’know.”

His points up to the sun.

Against your will you find his needless worrying endearing. He does not know his role as a husband well, but he is trying. When you finally arrive inside the Tokyo school, his hand is still clasped in your. Satoru is loud and proud when he introduces you to everyone, even if you have done nothing to deserve such pride. His co-workers pity you for being married to him and offer their condolences. Satoru protests strongly.

“Y/N loves spending time with me!” he says, stomping his feet like a child. He tugs your hand and looks at you in support. “Right?”

You smile and nod. You do. You wonder if you may love him someday.

-

The night is dark, and Satoru is not home yet. It has been a slow 8 months since your marriage. The ladies from your clan were wrong. Your husband is not cruel. He does not scold you if you use your cursed technique even when you accidentally use it on him.

You have never been someone good with words, so you decide to bake him a simple carrot cake. Your husband has a sweet tooth and he has a penchant of liking things better if it came from you.

You had only just finished adding icing the cake when you felt Satoru’s cursed energy through the door. You take a look at your cake one last time before heading towards the door to greet him.

Traditionally a wife must wait for her husband to enter in the middle of the room kneeling for supplication- a tradition most ingrained in your head more than most. As a compromise, Satoru suggested to have you greet him by the door instead because- “The first thing I want to see when I get home is your cute face. Obviously.”

You dust off imaginary crumbs off your hands by wiping it on your pants before sliding the door open.

“Welcome ho-”

In front of you, Satoru looks cold. You wonder if this is how others see him. He looks down at you with a cold gaze, He does not tremble. There is a child in his arms.

Both child and Satoru looks at you with twin cold eyes. You shiver. “He’s mine.”

You hear maids scuffle from behind you, but you do not care. The child innocently rests his cheek on Satoru’s shoulder looking at you.

There is no doubt the child is his. Your husband’s hair is on his head and dear god- their eyes. They have the same eyes.

In your head you hear the ladies of your clan again. Stand tall, Y/N. They may have their mistresses, but you will always be his true wife.

Of course you knew about Satoru’s womanizer past- present. Are you upset? Are you angry? You do not know, truly. You are simply confused.

Your clan’s ladies have prepared you for worst; what to do when your husband brings home another woman, what to say if they came home violent, where to go if you are too broken and beaten to sleep beside him. But what if your husband brings home a son that is not yours?

There is a pain in your chest you do not understand. This is expected! Men cannot be held down by just their wives. Did you expect him to be different? A cold fury washes over you

“Welcome home.” You finish instead.

-

check out my masterlist, and don’t forget to lmk how i can improve this fic <33

#gojo satoru x y/n #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #satoru gojo x reader #gojo satoru imagine #gojo satoru #jujutsu kaisen reader insert #jujutsu kaisen

[pandoraslxna]

⋆｡° ✮ minors dni 🔞

⋆｡° ✮ Kinktober masterlist

⋆｡° ✮ Warnings: dub/con, knife play, brat tamer Miles, implied kidnapping, vaginal fingering, enemies to lovers

"I will slice your throat, demon!"

"Not if I slice yours first, cupcake."

You could barely remember how you came to this, pressed into the dirt, a knife at your neck and a warm body grinding against your own. The demon, Quaritch or whatever his name was, above you, rumbling with laughter at the mere idea that you had any control over your own destiny.

But you did, did you not? You had managed to escape bridgehead, fought your way out. Although you had not made it very far, and had been forced back into the mouth of the very beast you had been fleeing from. But you were trying to take control now.

Unfortunately your anger could not, as every angry person hopes, amplify your strength, and the demon overpowered you easily enough.

You did not call out into the depth of the forest, hoping anyone of your own kind might hear and come to help you, did not make much noise at all. Obedient, that’s what he had called you when he first got rid of the restraints around your wrists and allowed you to walk freely. More or less, as long as you were sticking to him like a leech.

The knife he held against your neck to pin you down was not a threat to your life, at least not from this position, even though you were both aware it could be. Instead it was steel humiliation, cutting away at your resolve.

"You’re a ungrateful little brat, you know that?", the demon huffs, his hot breath just as close to your neck as the knife he was holding. "Letting me chase you through this goddamn forest like I have nothing better to do. After everything I did for you! I fed you, I made sure they keep their filthy hands off of you, kept the cuffs off so you would stop whining around. And this is how you thank me?"

You had never before known terror and arousal to appear hand-in-hand, but there you were, biting back moans, squirming and clenching your thighs together, while every fear you had felt since they took you from the forest and you woke up in that clinically white room drove into your chest like a drill. When his weight pressed down on you, your hips instinctively pushed up against his crotch, trying to release all the pressure that was accumulating just under your skin, making it tight and hot.

"Sla muntxa nga [Go fuck yourself, become self mated]", you hissed in your mother’s tongue, but you might as well have been saying nonsense for all you thought Quaritch could understand.

A soft gasp escapes as the sharp blade suddenly appears in front of your face, lowering until it kisses the skin beneath your collarbone.

The knifepoint traces the line towards your shoulder, scraping the skin, but leaving it intact.

Arousal was a whirlwind inside you, spinning around and around, and you felt lost in the maelstrom, whirling beyond control, beyond need, as the knife glides ever so carefully down the arch of your spine and to the base of your tail.

You felt dizzy, light-headed, and your hips want to ride into the air, back arching, mouth gasping, muscles straining. And then something tears, something cuts, and you feel your loincloth glide over your skin in two equal halves, leaving you bare before the demon.

"Y‘know what?", he chuckles lowly, hands coming to rest at your ass, spreading the cheeks to get a glimpse of your glistening folds.

Oh, you think, but your mouth's suddenly too dry to get the word out. But not too dry to moan so shamelessly, once a single blue finger dips into your dripping entrance and you feel yourself clenching tight around it.

"Oe tup muntxa nga ki. [I’d rather fuck you instead]"

#lunaskinktober2023 #colonel miles quaritch #miles quaritch x reader smut #colonel quaritch x reader smut #quaritch x reader #recom quaritch #miles quaritch #avatar quaritch #quaritch smut #atwow quaritch #miles quaritch smut #avatar miles quaritch #quaritch x you #miles quaritch x reader #colonel miles quaritch x female reader #atwow #avatar 2 #avatar #avatar the way of water

[wildpeachfarm]

Never thought I’d see the day Nick Deorio was fighting in the trenches with us as a drolo. It almost makes me want to reinstall twitter just for that. Almost. Mans was scarred from John Swan and he wants to be on the right side of the argument this time. He’s seen dream come with receipts so he knows. Not an expected soldier, but I’ll take him regardless.

Saw a previous anon post about how Twitter has the mindset of “being a woman means being a perfect person” and how that’s not a good mindset to have; I wholeheartedly agree with that anon.

I’m of the mindset that I will protect all women, but I will not support them. There have been people in my life that are women that have made dumb decisions and have dangerous mindsets and I’ve called them out on it continuously. However, the second they tell me they need my help, I’m there. It doesn’t matter if we haven’t talked in months, or since high school-you ask for my help, you got it. No questions asked. Because like that anon said, we are human first before we’re women and we are going to make mistakes. I want to make mistakes and have the ability to own up to them like anyone else, cause if people protect me from myself, I’ll be a very misguided and disillusioned person.

I also think that mindset stems from many people not knowing what feminism actually is. I’ve seen on TikTok this trend of women going “I’m not a feminist” and then saying some wild ass thing like “I can wear dresses” as if that’s all feminism entails. True feminism is recognizing men and women are equal to each other and deserve to be treated as such. Equal pay, same opportunities corporate-wise, same options to be SAHM or SAHDs, etc. That also means women can be horrible people just as much as men, and they deserve to be held accountable for it.

Twitter thinks women need protecting and we can do no wrong and that’s absolutely dangerous. And I think thats part of why Caiti responded the way she did in her final stream, cause she’s been misguided to believe that she can do no wrong as a woman, hence the angry reaction to people pointing out her inconsistencies. And I feel for her, cause she’s young, and it seems like shes still easily impressionable, which is the perfect combination for Twitter to take over her thinking. I hope she takes a long, indefinite break from the internet and goes to see adults who aren’t chronically online to help her, cause she’s a very unstable person.

Women aren’t perfect, and we shouldn’t be protected from ourselves. But if one of us is in genuine need of help, we rally as a people to be there; that’s the best part of being a woman-the sisterhood and that gets taken away the more people develop the “women are perfect and need to be protected” mindset.

-L :)

oooh very good additions!

One of the worst things to ever happen to the internet is to create a space for words to be watered down to the point that people have completely missed the meaning of the original word and now it's something different.

Which leads people to speak damaging rhetoric in the name of something they /think/ they're representing properly when thats just not the case. (Unfortunately this is how we get radfems and terf rhetoric under "feminism" according to some people on the internet)

#ask #anon #anti drummyache tag

[soulariarym]

Hear me out, hear me out. Pre entity Frank and Joey (separately) Relationship HCs where they become a boyfriend with nerd reader. This idea inspired from the Jock x Nerd movie plot, if you know what I mean 👉👈

Dude I love this idea so much because I know Frank and Joey would be suckers for a nerdy s/o. Mfs wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. But I wrote this in past tense if you don’t mind. My brain was not processing writing in present time.

Joey // Frank // Nerdy S/O

Frank

Now as we know Frank was in high school before he dropped out. While he was still in school he was a very mischievous kid. And part of his mischievousnesses included bullying, unfortunately you were one of his victims. At first

Frank couldn’t admit it but oh boy was he in love with you. His friends could tell, you could tell, everyone could. Every time he’d try to make fun of you or your nerdy hobbies he’d start stuttering on his words. He couldn’t even get out an insult without stuttering on every letter. If he messed up too bad he’d yell and say “f-fuck you and your pretty- agh! Stupid face!”

Obviously he’d feel embarrassed. How could you embarrass him like that? It’s all your fault not his. He’s the victim, Frank is always the victim right? Next time you were alone he’d come up to you, grabbing your shirt tightly causing you to drop anything you were carrying. You were obviously a little nervous but not only the bad kind but the good kind too. You felt the butterflies swarm your stomach when he grabbed you in such ways, with such force. He whisper-yelled in your face not to attract too much attention. “Who the fuck do you think you are you fucking nobody ass nerd” he noticed the blush on your face as you spoke “you do apparently… that’s ok Frank I like you too” you said with a blush on your face. He’ smirked at you as he whispered in your ear “meet me at the abandoned graveyard tomorrow”

It’s almost laughable how quick Frank switched up almost immediately when you told him you love him. Shit if anything he’d been waiting for you to say it first. “Me admitting my feelings for that nerd?! No fucking way”

Once you both got to know each other he’d try his best to be interested in what you did in your free time. If you wanted to take him to do your “nerdy” hobbies he’d groan in annoyance but eventually agreed . During that time you’d see him yawning, distracted by his phone, looking away. If you’d get upset he’d apologize and put his phone away, overall pay attention. “You’re lucky you have a cute face otherwise I’d be doing something fun”

Before Frank dropped out he’d ask you to help with his homework. Well that’s what he said, in all honesty it was a sneak to spend time with you. You’d try to study with him but he’d never pay attention to what you said. All he was focused on was you and your cute face.

Joey

Unlike Frank Joey never bullied anyone. He saw everyone as equals, including you. Sure he wasn’t a nerdy type but that still didn’t give him an excuse to bully you.

Joey always had interest in you. You were a cute nerd and he loved it.

Every time you were studying in the library or your local coffee shop he’d always swing by where you were located. Is it creepy? Just a little bit. Joey didn’t ever want you to feel too uncomfortable so he didn’t swing by everywhere you went but only occasionally. If you were at a library he’d sit down and scroll through social media, glancing at you every 5 seconds. If you were in a coffee shop he’d order a simple dark caffeinated drink. He’d buy you something sweet and give you a smile and a wave. As he put it on your table he’d say “reminded me of you, call me later” with another smile. And there it was, Joey’s phone number placed on your drink.

Joey would flirt with you like this all the time. Messing up your hair as you walked by him in the halls, putting up the “🤙” sign if you stared at him, waving at you as he passed your class you were in.

Unlike Frank, Joey actually tried to engage himself in your interests. If you were telling him about a game you like or some type of nerdy hobby he’d ask questions like “so how does that work?”, “geez you’re so smart I could never do that”, “you’re such a nerd” of course only in a teasing way, not a rude way.

Now if you were to study with Joey he’d actually pay attention and learn something. He’d never try to distract you with helping him. When he’d come back with a perfect score on a test he’d pick you up and kiss your face everywhere. He’ll be back to study with you again for sure, you’re his nerd after all. “Look at that! perfect A, I knew I could count on you. You and your smarts”

#dead by daylight #x reader #x you #frank morrison #joey dbd #frank dbd #the legion #the legion x reader #dead by daylight x reader

[shostakobitchh]

chapter 51 sneak peek!

sorry its been so long... I forgot how crazy the fall gets at work.

I'm going to try and finish the chapter this weekend; started it about an hour ago and it's storming out so I'm in my element.

Severus invited Dumbledore for a walk the following morning. 

He did not extend the invitation with as much grace as he would have in the past. It simply consisted of Severus snarling through the Floo that he would be conducting surveillance of the grounds and if Dumbledore cared to join him, he wouldn’t stop him. Severus hadn’t even waited to hear his response — which he was certain would have been cheerfully accepted — as he slammed out of his quarters. 

Dumbledore was already waiting for Severus by the main entrance when he got there, hands folded patiently, as if he’d been there for quite some time. Severus felt a twinge of annoyance at Dumbledore's punctuality. He never appreciated when people were too eager to spend time with him, especially when he was in a foul mood, but he kept his expression neutral and pushed past the old man and through the doors. 

Severus began with the castle perimeter, his eyes trained on every corner, every crevice. He knew he’d find nothing, but he’d needed an excuse, and the Dementors would be due back soon. 

He was still angry about the Chamber — about Black, about Lupin — about all of it. He hated that Dumbledore spoke of Miss Evan’s safety being paramount only to leave her to fend for herself when she needed it most, but Severus knew he and Dumbledore were matched evenly, now. Severus had set the Dark Lord upon the girl and allowed her to be taken by Quirrell — he could hold contempt in the tattered remains of his heart for Dumbledore knowing he had failed his daughter equally. They were all to blame. 

The difference was that Severus already knew Lupin was to blame as well. Dumbledore was too trusting — too willing to see a broken man — to blind to see those shattered pieces cutting so deep that he’d allow a child to be in harm’s way. 

They walked in silence for a while, the only sounds being their footfalls. Severus took out his anger on some weeds, cutting through them with sharp flicks of his wand as though he were trying to get a clearer view of the exterior, but he’d known he wouldn’t find anything. He’d already conducted his own search, and for all of Dumbledore’s faults, there was no possible way Black could infiltrate the castle —

“Anything of Black?” Severus asked, his voice sharp as it split through the silence. 

Dumbledore gave him a sidelong glance, studying his face before he answered. “The Muggle women’s claims were regrettably unfounded. I’d imagine Azkaban’s guards will be joining us again by nightfall.” 

I could hear a woman screaming — 

Severus tried to shake the memory off, but tremor in the girl’s voice continued to reverberate in his head. He thought instead of the palm of his hand curled around the base of his wand as he pulled Black’s spine out through his throat. 

“Unfortunate,” Severus muttered. “Yes.” 

Dumbledore gave him another scrutinizing look. The sun had begun its climb up into the sky, though it was still low enough for long shadows to trail behind them. Severus continued walking, his eyes still fixed ahead. The silence stretched on, broken only by the sound of their footsteps. 

Dumbledore looked up at the sky, then, and cleared his throat hesitantly.

"I understand that this is difficult for you,” Dumbledore paused, briefly. “For both of you.” 

Severus stiffened, his jaw clenched. “Leave me out of it.” 

“I would very much like to,” Dumbledore inclined his head. “It would be careless of me, however, to not acknowledge that it is quite clear that you would love nothing more than to join the Dementors in their search.” 

Severus halted in his tracks, glancing sharply at Dumbledore with narrowed eyes. "Is that what you think?" he asked icily.

Dumbledore met his gaze steadily and replied calmly. "It is not a matter of what I think. It is clear that you are struggling to come to terms with the reality of the situation, and it has bled over into Ariel’s… grappling of certain matters.” 

He almost asked what Dumbledore meant by that, but he quickly swallowed his retort. He hadn’t asked Dumbledore out here for wisdom — he’d done what he’d needed to do with the girl, and had righted it. She had accepted the circumstances they’d found themselves under — and would find themselves sometime in the future. Perhaps someday soon. 

"I assure you," he said through gritted teeth, "my feelings towards Black are irrelevant. All that matters is keeping that girl safe — we have failed before, and I worry if this will be the same. Every time I look at her, I am reminded — that no matter how vigilant, how prepared —” 

The wind rustled the bottom of Dumbledore’s robes, a vibrant blue that spilled over his feet like a waterfall. "Nothing is guaranteed, my boy. I have taken responsibility for the fact that I have failed to keep Tom from darkening the halls of Hogwarts in the past, but you know just as well as I that he operates far beyond the limits of most. It was impossible to foresee, but Tom was just as blind as we were. He could not comprehend the protection Ariel carries within her.” 

“A man sentenced to life in Azkaban should have been fucking guaranteed — a man does not escape Azkaban by his own volition and live long enough to hunt down a child.” Severus snarled, his breath coming out in quick, shallow pants. He hadn’t inferred it — not when Lupin had been hired, not when Lupin had arrived back in August, when he’d shown his daughter literature from the War — but he did now. 

And if what Severus suspected was true — all of the Slytherins had suspected — Reg had even inferred it once, but it had been so taboo that even Reg hadn’t dared to speak of it directly — then it was a goddamn miracle the girl was even still alive. Had Lily been in a similar situation, Severus could not see any limit as to what he would’ve done for her, had she asked it of him. The thought of Lupin — of Black — of what could have been and might still be — it terrified Severus. 

Dumbledore’s face hardened, and something was shining in his eyes like a diamond. “Remus has made the same vow to keep the students safe as you did nearly twelve years ago — he agreed at great personal risk, given the Curse, to ensure Ariel is kept safe.” 

“Nothing is guaranteed, Headmaster.” Severus sneered back. “Or have you forgotten that Potter held Black in the same regard? Black, who Potter held above all else — even her — what would you have told Potter, had they discovered the spy, then? Would you have told him the same thing?” 

Dumbledore’s eyes bored into Severus’, and for a moment, he was sure that the old man could see through him, but then his face softened once again, and he let out a tired sigh. 

“Things are different now, Severus,” Dumbledore said wearily. “We cannot change the past — Remus has had an egregiously hard life. He knows that he has not been as present or involved — especially after James and Lily’s passing — but he knew Black well.” 

“So did Potter.” 

“James and Lily understood the risks when they joined the Order.” Dumbledore blue eyes flashed, then, like a bolt of lightning, causing something inside of Severus to go very hot. “They did not know, however, the risk when Lily lay with you.” 

It took Severus several moments to formulate words, his heart beating hard and fast in his chest. “She knew exactly what she was —” 

“You misunderstand,” Dumbledore shook his head. “I’m referring to the blood malediction.” 

Severus just stared. 

“I hadn’t known how to breach it with you,” Dumbledore titled his head upwards, towards the thickening clouds on the horizon. “or if I should at all, really. It could be nothing.”

Nothing. That was how much thought Severus had given it — nothing. It had floated to the surface of his thoughts once — once and only once — days after Miss Evans had shown him Lily’s letter. He’d long buried it, though, because it had been impossible, the girl couldn’t possibly — 

“The Stirring was long before I took the Mark,” Severus heard himself saying, but it sounded far away, almost as though he were hearing someone talking through a wall. “It was — a failure. Lucius had speculated it was simply a way to give Death Eaters reason to pillage, none of the children were viable.”

#aim and ignite #writing until my hands fall off #sneak peek #snape #hp fanfic #snape fic #dumbledore #severitus

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

Gundam: The Witch Witch from Mercury Episode 9 Review

- I’m sorry Shaddiq, you struck out, and you struck out hard. I was right in my assessment that he loved her, but unfortunately he was never honest. If he had trusted Miorine and treated her like an equal, he may have been able to win her heart, but he didn’t. He wants everyone to act on his own terms, so he can be safe and secure in his outcome, but real people don’t work that way. They have their own thoughts and feelings, ones that could come into opposition with his own. However he refused to acknowledge this, unlike Suletta who’s a very open minded person. Suletta gave Miorine support but never coddled her, but Shaddiq only knows how to coddle. That’s why he’ll never be able to come into the greenhouse and why Miorine cut off the green tomato. Their love was unripened and will never come to fruition

- The battle this episode truly showed the definition of a team battle. Shaddiq just used his harem as attack dogs, leaving them to clean up while he takes all the glory of defeating the commander. But Earth House instead works together even after they were torn apart. Each one of them was broken and struggling but they came together to protect Suletta. That’s why she refers to them as “everyone” similarly to her GUND Bits. Earth House is now her family.

- But let’s stop stalling and talk about the elephant, or Aerial, in the room. This episode proves that not only can Aerial communicate with Suletta, there’s more than one being inside it. When I brought up the twelve Eri theory, it was mostly as a joke, but this episode pushes it pretty a bit. The scene where Suletta is talking to the robot while Miorine is confused was pretty terrifying. Hell, even one of Shaddiq’s harem called her a monster for her 360 vision attacks. I hope people start to really question what the fuck is up with this robot, cause so far it seems like the Purple Guy got transported into this universe

- Now let’s talk about the three MVP’s this episode, Chuchu, Till, and Lilique. Chuchu put up the best fight out of the Earth House kids and landed the finishing blow on Shaddiq. I wasn’t sure how good she would do in a sniper suit, but I think it helps reign in some of her more reckless tendencies. Maybe her new suit could be a sniper and up-front melee combination. Till came in super clutch as the one to reassemble the entire squad back together and get Shaddiq. He realized the mistake the harem girls had made in not finishing off the robots and used that to his advantage. Hell, even though he’s a mechanic he did pretty well in the suit. However Lilique once again shows just how perfect she is. Not just a management queen, but a decently talented pilot as well. Also the reveal that she turned down one of Renee’s backup simps boyfriends was hilarious. She has a body type pretty unique in anime but she’s also seen to be very attractive.

- The harem girls got a bit of spotlight this episode, but nothing too important. Renee’s pretty cute, but Felsi is still the best tussle brown haired girl. Sabina has her own lesbian fan club which makes so much sense it’s not even funny. And Henao is flexible as fuck

- Lauda went full psycho this episode, unnerving both Secilia and Rouji who just want to chill. He’s got a serious brother complex, and I’d like to know the backstory between them. He’ll definitely be a villain trying to “save” his big brother from the evil Mercurian witch’s grasp, without realizing Guel’s happier this way. Maybe we’ll get the Guel vs Lauda fight I predicted and a touching reunion between brothers, or most likely Lauda will let revenge cloud over his mind and die for it, possibly by Guel’s hand. I’m emotional either way. Also would be interested in seeing more of his relationship with Secilia since the series seems to be pushing the two sort of as rivals

- Once again, it’s Guel loving hours with me as your host. The moment I saw Suletta in the woods, I knew what was happening but god damn did I love it anyways. Guel calling her “country bumpkin” will always be adorable and I can see it transforming into a fond nickname. Though I was sad Guel didn’t participate in the battle, I think it makes better narrative sense to have Earth House alone work together. But even without a big battle scene, Guel still fucked with my emotions with the talk between him and Suletta. The moment the lights came on was gorgeous, and hopefully indicates that Guel will finally move on from his puppet life. Also once again the show makes the connection between Guel and his father and Suletta and her mother. I think he’ll be the one to support her when she learns the truth about her mother. But his asshole father fucks everything up by stealing away our Guel Camp and getting him unenrolled. Next episode better be him joining Earth House to get away from that shit or else I’m gonna scream. I know I’ve been saying it in every single review but GOD DAMN IT GUEL JUST JOIN!

- Prospera showing some actual emotion this episode with that tear. Her team, her professor, her husband, they were all stolen from her. She‘a been planning this revenge for over 20 years and now she knows nothing can get in her way. Nothing can stop Suletta and Aerial. Now she can put her true plan into motion.

- also finally, Suletta fucking emoted on his ass. If this was to mid 2000’s, you bet she woulda teabagged him

#the childhood friend never wins poor Shaddiq #gundam witch from mercury #gundam #g witch

[no-phrogs-in-hats]

If I Could Turn Back Time

Larissa Weems x fem!reader

A/N: Cross-posted on Wattpad and Ao3

Chapter 8

I had never felt worse anxiety in my life. Teaching high schoolers was hard enough, but teaching Outcast high schoolers would almost certainly be harder. I felt as if I had brushed up enough on my Outcast history, but I never had the opportunity to truly immerse myself in every aspect. It was reassuring that Larissa and I had formed a close bond–knowing that I had at least one person on my side helped.

“Well,” I sighed, fluffing my hair up as I looked in the mirror. “It’s now or never.”

As I approached the wrought iron gates of Nevermore, my heart was beating out of my chest. I tried convincing myself that I could pull off the broken nose look and opted to not look in the rearview mirror of my car before getting out.

It was eight o’clock in the morning when I wandered through the halls of Nevermore. Students passed me on their way to breakfast, and part of me was hoping I’d run into Larissa. Unfortunately, I found my classroom without a problem. Having never seen it before aside from the door, I was surprised to find how big and spacious it was. It was twice the size of my classroom back at Jericho High School. The desks sat two students per tabletop, and the walls were lined with countless books dating back to periods I had never even studied–or been to, for that matter.

I sat my bag down and began setting up my desk, making sure everything was perfect. 

It felt as if only five minutes had passed when students came flooding into the classroom.  I looked up at the clock. It was already eight-thirty. 

Putting on my best smile, I waited for the students to take their places. “Good morning! I’m Miss Foster. I’m very excited to be teaching your class for the remainder of the school year. I understand it’s kind of weird as you’ve known your previous teacher for a while. But I want to assure you, I will try my very best to live up to your expectations.”

“You used to teach at Jericho High, didn’t you?” One person asked. “My brother goes there–he’s not an outcast. He had you his sophomore year and said you were his favorite teacher.” 

I felt my face flush, happy to think that my previous students truly enjoyed class with me. “Well, I’m glad to hear. Is he doing well?”

“He is,” they responded. “Why did you stop teaching there? I mean…aren’t you a Normie?”

“Umm…” I tried to come up with an answer, not wanting to say,  I got fired because my boss is a bigot. “Well, as much as I loved teaching my past students, I saw that Nevermore had a position open. It’s better pay, but I also wanted the chance to work with Outcasts.”

Another student raised their hand excitedly. “How do you like Principal Weems?”

“Principal Weems is very nice.” I tried to not look too eager at the mention of Larissa. “She was kind enough to show me around the school a few days ago before I arrived.” Before anyone else could plague me with questions, I changed the subject. “Now, I was informed that you’re currently on Unit Two, and on the subject of Outcasts petitioning for equal rights.”

“Yeah,”one girl said. Her smile faded ever so slightly as she continued. “Principal Weems subbed in before you got here. She wasn’t the best at teaching history, so we’re still kind of confused. I think she should stick to English if she’s going back to teaching again.”

“Principal Weems,” I said, “was trying her best.” I turned to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. “So, from my understanding, you didn’t get too far into the unit. Can anyone tell me the basics of what you’ve learned?”

Sheepish looks overtook the faces of the students. 

“That’s alright,” I responded. “We can go over it again.” As the students retrieved their notebooks, I put the chalk to the board and began writing. “The Outcast Equal Rights Riots–or OERR’s–were the necessary foundation for the Outcasts to be seen as equals….”

I sat at my desk, the classroom void of any students. As I typed away on the computer, adding in the attendance for the morning, a light knock sounded on the wall across the room. I looked over and smiled, seeing Larissa’s tall frame in the doorway.

“What can I help you with, Principal Weems?” I asked.

She came over to my desk, smiling down at me. “I see you were fortunate enough to not get lost this morning.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It was a real shame. I was so hoping to see you again.”

The faintest blush grew on Larissa’s cheeks and she cleared her throat. “How was your morning? I expect the students were on their best behavior.”

I giggled and turned my chair to face her. “They were wonderful, but one of them informed me that before I arrived, you had been covering the class for a couple weeks.”

“Oh boy,” Larissa huffed, amused.

“They suggested that you stick to English.” There was a pause before I spoke again. “I didn’t know you were an English teacher before. I’m glad to know someone who knows the difference between ‘their’, ‘there’, and ‘they’re’.”

She laughed at my jest. “It’s quite sad that I would have to take points off from essays written by students old enough to hold jobs just because they didn’t know the proper form of ‘there’ or ‘your’.”

“I’ve seen grown adults use the improper form of those,” I said. “It’s really embarrassing.” There was silence between us while I exited out of the tabs on my computer. If I were with anyone else it would almost certainly be awkward, but with Larissa, it was anything but. There was something about her presence that made it so easy to just…exist–to simply sit there and do nothing as she accompanies you. “Oh, is there anything else you need? I was gonna go to the Weathervane to get some lunch if you wanted to join me.”

Larissa smiled, hesitating before she spoke. “Well…I was just…wondering…the harvest festival is on Friday…and I–I mean you don’t have to say yes–but if you wanted to–I was going to go–and I was–erm–”

“Larissa,” I chuckled, “are you asking me to go to the harvest festival with you?”

She let out a sigh of relief as I put her out of her misery. “Yes, I am.”

“I would love to go to the harvest festival with you.” I leaned back in my chair, looking up at her. “How about…five o’clock?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Larissa smiled. “Oh, and I would love to go to lunch with you, but I have almost no time on my hands. Perhaps we could raincheck?”

I stood in line at the Weathervane, my lips swishing from side to side as I read the menu. Smiling at the woman at the counter I ordered my lunch, and when she asked me if that was all I paused. “No, actually.”

I walked out into the streets of Jericho, bag of food and drink carrier in hand. The drive up to Nevermore felt shorter than usual, and I couldn’t help but feel giddy at the prospect of bringing lunch to Larissa.

I knocked lightly on the large doors, the gold plaque shining in all its glory. When a soft ‘come in’ sounded on the other side I opened the door. 

“Y/N! I thought you were going out.”

As she smiled at me, pausing her work, I set the bag of food down with the cups of hot chocolate and pulled one of the chairs forward to take a seat. “Well, I realized that after I ruined that horrifyingly expensive dress, I never got to take you out as an apology. And, of course, when we went out to dinner, that ended in disaster.”

“You didn’t have to do this,” Larissa chuckled. 

“You may not think so,” I said, shrugging my shoulders and unpacking the bag, “but I do. And, as someone who has lived in Jericho all of her life, I thought I’d share my favorite items from the Weathervane’s menu. I also got you a hot chocolate because I know how much you love it.”

“Alright, these better be good, otherwise I’ll never eat lunch with you again,” Larissa teased.

I giggled. “And we can’t have that. Just trust me.”

“Alright,” Larissa said. “I trust you.”

I pulled out two sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil as Larissa took a sip of her hot chocolate, some of her lipstick transferring to the plastic lid. Unwrapping one of the sandwiches, I tore it in half and handed it to her. “This one is their tomato and pesto grilled cheese. My favorite thing about their sandwiches is that they use sourdough bread–the superior choice.”

“I did not know there was a superior choice of bread,” Larissa scoffed. 

“You learn something new every day,” I grinned. I continued with the other sandwich, explaining the craft of their grilled turkey and cheese sandwich.

After swallowing her bite, Larissa wiped her mouth with a napkin. “I had no idea you were a grilled cheese connoisseur.”

“I kind of have to be,” I said, stuffing a few fries into my mouth. “It’s my favorite food so it’d be kind of embarrassing if I wasn’t an expert.”

“I suppose you have a point.” 

“We should do this more often,” I spoke. “Little lunch dates.” 

Fuck. Did I say ‘dates’?

Larissa raised her eyebrows, a grin forming on her red lips. “Dates?”

I could feel my stomach sink and every single blood cell rush to my cheeks. I struggled to look into her eyes, every part of me wanting to shrivel up and go die in a hole. “Well, not dates–unless you–which you probably don’t–but–do you want it to be…dates?”

“Do you?”

“Only if you do.”

“Well then, I look forward to our next date.”

#gwendoline christie #larissa weems #larissa weems x reader #wednesday

[jessethemonarch]

Long Day at Work | Brian Wilcox x GN!Reader

————————————————————-

Author’s note: So this is my first fic in several years. I know it’s probably extremely cringe,, so I’m sorry ahead of time lmao. I’ll probably post this on ao3 once I actually can make an account. Please give me feedback if you do read it, only if you’re nice ab it though. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcome just no “wow this sucks lmao,” please. Lol. Thank you. Might make a part 2 with smut if this is well received? If even one person wants it, I’m on it.

Summary: This is a Brian from Fast Food Nation fic (because there’s not enough of them so I’m doing the work myself lmao) where he and reader are aged up and work at a restaurant together. You have an abnormal terrible day. A customer sexually harasses you and it’s your final straw before you break during your shift. Brian notices this and tries to comfort you. You end up hanging out after work together, smoke some Mary Jane and truly realize your feelings for each other.

Contains: sexual harassment from customer, only gendered term is ‘waiter’ but I meant it to be gn!, general customer harassment, kinda angsty? idk, minor emetophobia warning (brief mention, no actual 🤢), crying in the walk-in freezer, smoking cigarettes and wēēd lol, definitely some self insert.

Word count: 3,362

————————————————————-

“Ugh.” You sigh while knocking your head against the steering wheel of your car. Dreading to go inside your work at a somewhat fancy restaurant that you’ve been at since it opened about a year ago, you wonder if the tips are worth the day-in-day-out suffering. The hype hasn’t died down since its opening. You live in the middle of nowhere, these people have nothing better to do.

Unfortunately, you need the money and it’s two minutes before your closing shift starts when you finally drag your feet into the flames that swallow you whole every shift in this hell hole. “I’m here..! Did you guys miss your favorite waiter?” You announce sarcastically to all of the kitchen staff as you go to clock in.

Some give you back an enthusiastic “of course!” Or an equally sarcastic “wooo…”

Brian goes “yeah. Right…” whilst scoffing and leaning against the counter basking in the maybe 30 seconds he has until the next ticket comes in for him to cook begrudgingly. Over the years, he’s actually become a pretty decent chef, even if it’s only out of necessity. At very least, it’s multiple steps up from spitting in burgers at Mickey’s.

You get on with your shift as usual… but today is Sunday. Ugh. You always have your worst customers on Sundays. Today is no different.

“Hello sir! My name is y/n and I’ll be your server today!” You smile charmingly as you do to every customer as you hide your utter despair on the inside.

“Oh yes you will, honey…” the man eyes you up and down and gives you that terribly pervy look, smirk and all. It makes you so unbelievably uncomfortable.

“Hah…” you force an awkward chuckle out and try to shift gears. “So can I get anything started for you? Any drinks or appetizers?”

“I’d love a tall glass of water like yourself.” He winks. “And some jalapeño poppers… I like it real spicy.” He continues to flirt and you think you might vomit straight onto him.. ‘god knows he’s probably into that’ you think to yourself and want to shrivel up and die.

“Okay, water and some jalapeño poppers coming up.” You try desperately to ignore all of his advances when you turn and walk away as soon as possible to get that rung in. If he was the only bad customer of the day, maybe this would be easier to deal with, but after many others berating you for no good reason, this is so frustrating and overwhelming today. You had enough going on in your personal life and now all this? Your head is racing with anger and anxiety. You bit your tongue as you went back to the kitchen to bring you back into the moment.

Usually when you go back in there, Brian makes small talk and occasionally ‘jokingly’ flirts with you. This time he notices you’re much more uncomfortable than usual as you stare off, thinking about being anywhere but here. He doesn’t know how to approach you in this state and has never been great at dealing with big emotions in other people. He decides to leave you alone for now, but takes note of your distress and thinks that maybe he’ll text you later.

As you serve the man, he gets more aggressive with his flirting because he doesn’t like that you’re completely ignoring it. When you bring out his steak dinner, he places a hand on your back and slides it down to your ass with absolutely no shame. You instinctively smack his hand away and he immediately yells at you. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! I’m a paying customer and you’ve been so bad at your easy fucking job. Can’t you just service me!? There goes your tip you little bitch!” He spits.

You are so seethingly angry and upset. You can feel tears welling in your eyes. You were harassed AND barated… and he’s probably going to complain to a manager and only say you hit him as if he’s not a worthless piece of shit. “I’m sorry.” You force out as to not to escalate the situation further. You basically run back to the kitchen and then into the walk-in freezer. Immediately you start sobbing loudly and uncontrollably. It’s very muffled by the freezer, but some in the kitchen can still hear your wailing. You don’t even care. You’re so done. You’re at your wits end. You don’t even know how long you’re in there, but you’re now down to a choked sniffle.. though tears were still rolling down your cheeks.

Brian stands outside the freezer door for a couple minutes before swallowing his pride and knocking on it. “Um.. can I come in? I need to um.. get some patties.” He did need some, but he really just wanted to check on you… you were in there for longer than usual.

You try to rid your face of tears and wipe up some of the snot because you didn’t exactly want him to see you like that. You were only somewhat successful. “Uh.. yeah.. sure come on in.” You respond meagerly.

He slowly opens the door. “Woah. Your eyes are like almost swollen shut. You good?” He immediately regrets the words as they come from his mouth. ‘Yeah real smooth, dumbass.’ He thinks.

“Thanks.” You roll your eyes. “I feel just about as good as I look, thank you.”

“Yeah, sorry, that was shitty wording on my part. Can I sit with you?” He gestures to a crate of food that’s unopened and rock solid.. it’s obvious it’s been sat on multiple times.

“Are you really sure you want to be around me when I’m like.. this?” You gesture to your face and sniffle. “But sure, go ahead.”

“Yes, I am sure.” He sighs. “Do you wanna talk about.. it? What’s going on? …Sunday customers?”

You sigh and nod. You tell him all about the customers you’ve had today and briefly mentioning that you have a lot of other stuff going on and finish it off with talking about the customer who sexually harassed you. “I can’t believe he put his fucking hands on me. I feel so gross and dirty.” You begin to softly sob again while explaining the events.

You have never seen Brian look so appalled. Jaw hanging open and all. “Oh my fucking god. You want me to beat his ass? Offer him free cheesecake and spit in the raspberry sauce? What’s the table number.. I’ll fucking do it.”

“Don’t get yourself fired, stupid.” You gently chuckle. His offer did actually make you feel better though. “…then I’d miss you.”

“Or we could both leave this stupid fucking place. What good does it do either of us anyway?” He brushes over that you said you’d miss him cause it makes him feel kinda weird.. in a good way, but he doesn’t know how to deal with that.

“The money. The money is good, Brian. We both have bills to pay.” You roll your eyes, monotone.

“I guess that’s true, you downer.” He sticks his tongue out at you, jokingly.

You sigh again at the reality that you really need to get back to your tables… and that you are quite literally freezing in there. At least it was around 8pm and dinner rush had passed. “Time to go back.” You speak in a low, soft voice.

Brian offers to help you up, which you accept. “Y/n. Just know you don’t have to do anything. If you wanted to quit right now, you could. You don’t need to keep serving these assholes.” You end up standing rather close after he helps you up and he stares into your eyes, saying the most serious thing he’s ever said to you. It sends shivers down your spine… or maybe that’s the freezer. But all the sudden you realize that your cheeks do feel hot. You find yourselves just standing there. Do you… want to kiss him? ‘Heh.. couldn’t be? It’s Brian..’ you tell yourself.

After what feels like forever, it hits midnight and you’ve finally wrapped up your closing duties. You take a major sigh of relief. At least you have the next couple days off.

You walk out of the restaurant and find Brian leaning his body back against his car as he lights a cigarette. “I thought you left a while ago.” You call out to him as you're walking to your car that’s parked kitty-corner to his, stopping to talk to him.

“Nah, I like to chill in the parking lot and smoke while no one else is here. Kinda peaceful or something.” He was totally lying. He was waiting for you to get out so he could chat with you again and make sure you’re doing alright… you could never get him to admit it though.

“Yeah I guess that’s true.” You shrug. You believe him enough because that does sound like something he’d do. He was seemingly always out and about.

“You wanna hang for a bit? I know it’s late, but I’m cool if you are…” he shoots. Completely hiding any nerves he has about asking you to hang out for the first time outside of work. “We could even just talk in my car if you want.” He shrugs.

“Why not? Sounds nice after a shitty day.” You smile softly at the man.

“Uh yeah, cool.” He honestly didn’t expect for you to take him up on the offer. He stomps out the butt of his cig and unlocks the passenger side door and motions for you to get in, which you do so. “Do you wanna drive around or just sit in here?” Driving around is a common pastime in small towns like this… when you have nothing else to do and the gas is cheaper than other places, that’s just what you do for fun.

“I’m down to drive around.” You nod. You’ve honestly not hung around with friends in a while since you’ve been so busy with work, college, and your personal life. This was just the change you needed right now. You start flipping through his CD case as he begins to drive with no destination in mind. “System of a Down? Hell yeah!” You make sure there’s no other CDs in the player before inserting this one.

Brian looked at you kinda funny. “I never pinned you as the type to listen to my music.” It’s obvious you surprised him, in a good way.

“Well then you didn’t have me pinned at all I guess.” You giggle. “I like a lot of the stuff in here, my guy!” You nudge and smile at him as he drives.

“Hey! Keep your hands to yourself.” He jokes.

“Yeah.. I’m sure you hate me touching you.” You joke back before realizing how flirty that came out… but you don’t mind… definitely not as much as you usually would.

“Yeah, yeah.” He scoffs.

You’re honestly really surprised when he doesn’t deny it. You think about earlier, in the freezer. Once again, your cheeks warm and you swallow hard. You look out the window of his car, hoping he won’t notice anything. But now you’re thinking of his emerald green eyes looking directly into yours and you can’t get it out of your head and your embarrassment only grows. He obviously just thinks of you as a friend… right?

“Hello? Y/n?” You’re called back to reality to a familiar voice looking at you intently. You hadn’t even realized that the car had stopped.

“Yes- hello… heh. Sorry, I zoned out for a bit.” You rubbed the back of your neck as you look around at where you’ve stopped. It’s a nearby park that is long past close, since all parks close at sun fall.

“Yeah, I noticed.” He laughs. “Thinking about everything that happened?” His voice dropped into a much more serious tone… gosh today is the first time he’s ever talked seriously with you and now again? Weird.

“Uh- yeah. That’s exactly it..” you shook your head quickly as you lied through your teeth. You weren’t going to say ‘no I was daydreaming of you and I.’

He silently nods. “If you need to talk more about it, I’m all ears.”

“No. It’s okay…. Um why did you stop here though?” You quickly subvert the attention away from you.

“I like to come here and hang out after park close because no kids are here….. and smoke weed.” He shrugs. “I don’t know if you’re into that, and if you’re not, that’s cool too.” He pulls out a joint from his bag.

“Ahah.. do you carry that with you everywhere?” You snicker.

“Well yeah… you never know when a good time to smoke will arise.” He nods, looking somewhat proud of himself. “So? You in?”

“Ya know.. fuck it. Why not?” It’s not something you do regularly, but you’ve had a particular hard day.. week.. month… maybe even year? Hard to keep track at this point.

“Sick. I know the perfect spot.” He smiles. He’s never really been this kind to you.. or anyone that you’ve seen for that matter. You find yourself smiling back at him in silence for what feels like at least a minute… but in reality was maybe 10 seconds.

He gets up and out of the car and you follow. He leads you both to these large boulders in the corner of the park. They’re about 5-6 feet tall and 8 feet wide. One has a much flatter top than the others. He helps you up the rocks. It’s obvious he’s done this plenty of times. You guys end up laying down on the flattest rock, looking up at the stars. He puts the joint between his lips and uses one hand to light it and the other to cup the end to protect it from the gentle breeze. You wouldn’t be able to tell with his broody-self, but this is the most fun he’s had in a while. You, on the other hand, are feeling the same but can’t hide it nearly as well.

After a couple hits of the freshly lit spliff, he passes it to you. You deeply inhale the smoke and try to stifle your coughs.

“It’s okay to cough...” He laughs. “I know you don’t got lungs of steel like mine from smoking daily since I was a teenager.”

As much as he was slightly making fun of you, he genuinely did make you feel more comfortable about coughing your lungs out when you take too big of a hit (which is most of them, because you’re not completely sure how to do this yet). You hand it back and really let yourself enjoy just being relaxed. Not something you get to feel very often. “Hey um… thank you.”

“For the weed? It’s fine. I got plent-“

You cut him off “no, idiot. For comforting me earlier and hanging out with me now. I really needed this.” You turn your head to look at him.

“Oh- yeah…. Anytime. I don’t want to ever leave a friend in need hangin-“ he can’t maintain eye contact with you as hard as he tries. It feels too embarrassing. He takes a couple more long drags, hoping this heat in his chest would die down quickly. He doesn’t know how to handle it.

‘A friend…’ before today you’d be surprised that he even called you that but right now… it kinda stings. You can no longer deny your feelings at this point… but the influence of the few hits you did take are starting to take over and your thoughts are overtaken by euphoria and relaxation. “Wow.. this is nice…” each of your words are drawn out.

Brian laughs “y/n, you lightweight! You’re high off that!?”

“Shut upppp.” You groan, but laugh along nonetheless and close your eyes.

-

All the sudden you wake up and Brian has laid his jacket over you. “What? I don’t remember falling asleep? How long was I out?” You question quickly with furrowed brows.

“I dunno. Maybe 30 minutes or so.” He shrugs. He’s now sitting up, looking down at you where you lay.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” You question intently.

“You obviously needed some rest.” He looks down at you with the softest smile you’ve ever seen on him.

“Um….. thanks..” God. There’s that feeling again. The embarrassment. You want him to kiss you right now. More than anything in this moment. You can feel that want grow with the butterflies in your stomach. He must feel this energy because he breaks eye contact and sits up straighter, looking in front of him.

“Yeah. No prob.” He clears his throat. You can tell he’s deep in thought about something. And that something, unknowingly to you, is you. He absolutely feels the same way. He just doesn’t know how to approach it.

You sit up next to him, realizing his jacket is still in your lap. “Oh- here.” You place the jacket over his shoulders, getting much closer to do so.

He turns his face to you as you do this, not realizing how close your face was. Your lips were maybe an inch or two away from each other. You could feel his warm breath on your face. Each of your hearts began racing. As you both sat there, eyes staring into one another’s. You just went for it. Maybe it was the heat of the moment, maybe it was because you were still minorly under the influence… but you leaned in and kissed him.

He was shocked to say the least, so it took him a second but he then returned the kiss. It was soft and slow as you both were still figuring out if this was real life. After a few seconds of this, you pulled away suddenly. “I’m so sorry- I-I don’t know what I was thinking- I-..”

He stops you “no- no. It’s totally okay. I um.. wanted to do that but didn’t have the balls.. so I’m actually really glad you did…” he brings back that cute little smile only you get to see, unlike the broody, couldn’t-care-less personality that you and everyone else had always seen.

“Really?” You responded sounding seriously dumbfounded… which you were. You thought there was no way in hell he felt the same and that you had just ruined your possible friendship.

“Yes, really. What? Do you want me to repeat myself, y/n?” He dipped back into his usual, smug persona.

You roll your eyes. “We were having a moment, ya know?” You flick him on the forehead.

“Hey! Dickwad!” He flicks you back.

You laugh for a while and then settle back down. “Just shut up and kiss me?” You come back closer once more. Without another word, he pulls you into a much more passionate kiss than before, now that he’s more comfortable.

You each respectively kiss the other back harder until you end up straddling his thighs. He pulls away to look at how you’ve repositioned, looking like he doesn’t know where to put his hands. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” He looks up at you with concern. “I don’t want you to regret anything…”

“I could ask you the same.” You place his hands on your hips, and smiling at him softly as you pant a little from the heat of the kiss alone, letting him know that’s okay. “I really like you, Brian.” You try to ease up any worries that he obviously has.

“I….. really like you too, y/n.” He basically whispers, but that’s as loud as he can get himself to respond.

————————————————————-

Thank you so much for reading! Tell me if you want a part 2!

#brian fast food nation #paul dano #paul dano fic #fast food nation #danonation #wrote this instead of sleeping #paul dano brain rot #can’t get Brian out of my head #i love him #brian x reader #brian wilcox #greasy emo boy #my greasy emo boy #mr grease

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Games in 2023: Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (2/2)

I, uh, ended up with a lot to say, and rather than practice restraint and edit it down I decided to just split this in two.  The first part goes over collection features and the three games in Vol. 1.  This one covers the three games in Vol. 2 (and it’s still pretty long).

I’ll also repeat my spoiler-free tl;dr: While these games do show their age, the collection provides excellent ways to mitigate the negatives, plus there are two decades worth of in-depth guides across the internet to help you along.  What holds up is a bundle of very unique and fun mechanics set in a world overflowing with both charm and heart.  I absolutely recommend it.  The collection has two volumes (that line up exactly with a major pivot in the series)—if you only get Vol. 1, I would recommend starting with either BN2 or 3 (BN1 is largely foundational and understandably rough around the edges), and if you only get Vol. 2 I would recommend starting with BN6 (it’s remarkably well-refined and far less divisive than BN4 and 5).

Resuming execution…

So now we come to…BN4.  Right.  Well, first things first: as I’ve said previously, I find it really unfortunate that this game has the reputation that it does considering the vast quantity of work that must have gone into it.  BN4 takes the series in a completely new direction, with a completely overhauled art style, and…how many new systems?  Emotion Window/Full Synchro, Dark Chips/karma, Soul Unison, Operation Battle, Free Tournament, e-Reader functionality…plus they made an entirely new villain who wasn’t even being manipulated by Wily (but still tied back to him through being his son).  Not to mention that Red Sun and Blue Moon feel like equal counterparts, which is one advantage it has over BN3.  They put in WORK, and BN5, BN6, and all of SF exists because of all that work and experimentation.  I’d like to remember BN4 as an ambitious game.  However, that…proves difficult.  Let’s see, what’s a good positive starting point…how about the Emotion Window?  It’s a neat way to add a new layer to the combat, and provides a comeback mechanic as well as rewarding you for skillful play.  While I do miss easy BugFrag grinding, Full Synchro as a reward for countering provides an immediate in-battle reward, letting you push your advantage and inflict some huge damage.  If you do poorly, however, you gain access to Dark Chips, which…are a really interesting concept, if you ask me.  Unfortunately, I think they really erred on the side of caution with balancing them out, and the downsides just don’t seem worth it: get a major bug, lose access to Soul Unison, and PERMANENTLY lose HP??  No single fight justifies all that, let alone a single attack.  Still, I do want to try a Dark run someday just to get firsthand experience with the mechanic…though it’ll probably be in BN5.  Anyway, Soul Unison!  Or Double Soul.  Whichever.  Love it!  Short-lived but big impact transformations based on familiar Navis, really hearkens back to MegaMan’s “Now I’VE got your power!” roots in a unique way!  Where did it come from?  Who knows! (Nobody.  Nobody knows.) Yeah, much as I love Soul Unison, I wish there was some kind of attempt at explaining where it came from, especially for so radical a shift from Style Change, which was already fleshed out and well-liked.  They vary a bit, but some of them are really cool and fun to use, and six is a generous amount of forms to have easy access to…when you eventually get there.  But, uh…let’s see, I talked about Patch Cards earlier, I haven’t tried Operation Battle or Free Tournament…eh, alright.  Let’s really get into it.

Now I love tournaments.  The N1 Grand Prix was great!  But a game structured around 3 tournaments…is a bit much.  It can get very tiring, not helped by the fact that it feels weirdly difficult to get your hands on decent chips.  Maybe to encourage use of your Souls’ chip-charging abilities?  And it tends to feel very disconnected from the “overarching” plot where you fight ShadeMan twice and then have to stop a meteor.  Still, it’s not too big of a chore to fight your way to Duo (who looks WAY cooler than his Classic counterpart, don’t @ me).  But apparently I’m not the only one who really struggled with Duo.  Well, I rarely even made it past Dark Soul tbh.  The point is, things take a turn, you realize you only have half your Soul Unisons, and you see “Start game 2”, and BAM: mandatory new game+!  Where everything has more HP and you realize the tournaments are completely randomized.  Then you get the rug pulled out from under you again when you realize you have to do new game++ just to get that last damn Soul…I’m so glad I knew about this ahead of time.  There’s enough despair in remembering that there are separate achievements for getting all Souls in each version.  Like…why?  Why, when they were making the collection, did they decide this was the game they wanted to require you to play so much more of?  Meh, I shouldn’t complain so much, I already wanted to try out all the Souls, it’s just that feeling like I HAVE to do it kinda…oh, nevermind.  The real problem isn’t even that, it’s that so many of the random scenarios are samey and/or some variety of frustrating.  You have to run through ACDC Area and usually also Town Area for every scenario in the first tournament, and then you have to run through Park Area for every scenario in the second tournament.  There’s a bit more variety in the third since they open the world map, and I do like that they tried again to fill out the world, but there are high odds of the player being checked out by that point.  And the mini-games, my gosh, the mini-games…some aren’t so bad.  But a lot of them are.  Everyone has their own most hated tournament scenario (mine is KendoMan) and it’s in large part due to awful, awful minigames (stop eating mY INPUTS).  It just…the frustration compounds upon itself the more you play, and so very few of the stories you get feel at all worth it.  I don’t want to feel this way about BN4.  I’m honestly trying to be fair.  Everyone always just dunks on BN4 and the last thing I want is to be a part of that.  But it’s such a frustrating experience, man.  Somehow I just keep ending up venting.  Oi.

Ah, what else…Regal is kinda nothing in this game, but I like him in BN5 and having the new villain be Wily’s son is interesting.  Also I appreciate the effort to change up the names of the evil organizations: WWW is…whatever that is, Gospel is a NetMafia, and Nebula is the Dark Chip Syndicate.  That’s a neat little detail I like.  I’m also really into the concept of Dark Souls, I think doppelgangers are the shit, the Sonic OC comic I made in my teens had Dark Souls as a recurring plot device because I like it so much.  Uh, having a new method of traversal in the C-Slider is an interesting idea to try out, and it is kinda fun to ride.  I wouldn’t even mind the hunt to put it together if it didn’t reset every cycle.  Oh, and this is where the Boktai crossovers start!  My experience with Boktai is still virtually entirely second-hand through BN and SF, but I dunno, I’ve always really liked the crossovers, I just think it’s cool that they happened.  BN4 starts a bit light with just the Gun del Sol chips and Django and Otenko giving you a fetch quest that ultimately nets you the Nebula Code, plus the attraction in Castillo, but it’s still really cool.  And it leads to even cooler things later!  BN4 really is the BN1 of a new trilogy: it’s foundational, and rough around the edges, but there is still value in seeing it for yourself.  Just, y’know…settle in.  Pace yourself.  I’m gonna move on now.

Okay, BN5!  This is another one I have a lot of nostalgia for, I should probably clarify that right up front.  It’s a divisive game, and I understand why, and I would NOT recommend this as someone’s first Battle Network.  But no matter what, it’s special to me.  Not to say I don’t think it has genuine merit, of course.  Let’s just start with the elephant in the room: Liberation Missions.  Boy can they be tough.  Making an alternate game mode required to progress is always going to rub players the wrong way, I get it.  But it’s kinda difficult to actually outright lose one, really.  Also I like being able to control so many different Navis, and having the structure of recruit, liberate, repeat allows for version exclusive content to be front and center without compromising the entire game’s structure (like BN4’s tournaments do).  It’s a very unique way to try something new with the battle system, and honestly, I think in part it seeks the same thing BN3’s Time Trials did. (I didn’t talk about them before because I still haven’t done them shut up) Battle Network has always considered quick and efficient deletion a key component of mastery—that’s why how long a battle takes is such a big part of your busting level.  Time Trials dial that up a bit with further restrictions: a (soft) time limit and a pre-constructed folder.  Similarly, Liberation Missions encourage quick and efficient deletions with a (hard) time limit, clearing multiple panels if you can win in a single turn, and requiring you to be familiar with several Navis in combat as well as keeping them all well-positioned on the overworld.  Considering this is the fifth game in the series, it makes sense to aim more for experienced players who know their way around a NetBattle and are looking for fresh challenges.  It’s for this same reason I don’t recommend it for newcomers, and for this same reason that kids playing this game would find Liberation Missions particularly vexing.  Of course, in the Legacy Collection, Buster MAX does work with every Navi you control…

Well anyway.  BN5 builds upon BN4’s foundation much the same way BN2 builds upon BN1’s.  Dr. Regal and Nebula are brought back, now as a far more present and serious threat that actually manages to occupy the entire internet within the first hour of gameplay.  Dark Chips are overhauled, now collectible as any other chip and needing to be deliberately put in your folder.  Soul Unison undergoes some minor tweaks, the most significant being that their charge shots now scale with MegaMan’s attack level.  Chaos Unison is also introduced, a way to both get one more turn of access to a Soul’s abilities AND use Dark Chips with relative safety!  While you are still locked into first-tier viruses and chips throughout the main game, you don’t feel nearly as underpowered as in BN4, and higher tiers are unlocked during the post-game (and can be toggled!) rather than needing to replay the whole game.  Even Patch Cards are overhauled.  The Boktai crossover is also expanded, introducing the Otenko chip and giving Django a full series of Navi Chips, as well as introducing Crossover Battle…though, that’s not in the Legacy Collection, unfortunately.  You do get Crossover Points from ranked battles, though, so you can still use the Boktai Trader.  Also…well, first of all.  BN5 actually has another secret transformation system…Cross MegaMan!  Not to be confused with the Cross System from BN6. (You will confuse them.  It is confusing.) There’s a Patch Card that you can use to overwrite MegaMan’s standard form, not unlike Style Change…except this one imbues him with the power of another Navi we know far too well.  That’s right…Bass Cross MegaMan!!  There are actually two slightly different versions of Bass Cross depending on which version of BN5 you’re playing, but they’re both exceptionally powerful and permanent unless you deliberately turn them off. (You can still use Soul Unison, though.) Of course, Patch Cards didn’t make it overseas, so this legendary form was Japan-exclusive…at first.  But that changed when BN5 got an enhanced port on the DS!  If, while playing BN5DS, you had in the DS’s GBA slot a copy of BN5 in which you had earned the Bass icon on the title screen, you unlocked the ability to play as Bass Cross MegaMan!  But the DS version didn’t stop there…it added one more Cross MegaMan form.  A form unlocked by inserting a Boktai game into the GBA slot…a form imbued with the power of the sun!  Sol Cross MegaMan!!  Yes, it was truly an astounding form…but it’s not in the Legacy Collection.  So.  That sucks. (On a related note BN5 also featured a crossover with Duel Masters in the form of a Giga Chip featuring a monster from that series.  Y’know, for completion’s sake.)

It really is too bad that the features from BN5DS didn’t make it into the collection, though I can understand the desire to preserve the original experience of the GBA games.  Come to think of it, the collection also doesn’t include the various things related to the Battle Chip Gates released alongside the second trilogy…that might be more difficult, though Star Force DX found a way to incorporate the Wave Scanner functionality…eh, not a big deal.  Point is, the GBA games are still plenty complete. (Though this is the only entry to not include Mr. Match, and that is unforgivable.) BN5 stands out as a very unique entry in the series, and I hope to see opinions on it improve over time.  Just, be sure to get some experience with one or two other games in the series before giving this one a try.

Finally, we have Battle Network 6.  As BN4 was foundational like BN1, and as BN5 built upward like BN2, BN6 is the culmination of all the work that came before just like BN3.  Even before the collection came around, there was already a dedicated community of players who found a way to battle online using this game, because the BN formula is so well-refined in this entry that they refused to give it up.  Chip restrictions are reworked to a more case-by-case basis, facilitating the demotion of all non-Navi Mega Chips to Standard class—Megas are exclusively summons, and this persists all the way through Star Force.  The game has two separate but compatible transformation systems: Beast Out and the Cross System (not to be confused with Cross MegaMan).  Crosses are the evolution of Souls, giving MegaMan access to another Navi’s powers, but are far more accessible this time around.  Souls required the sacrifice of a compatible chip and lasted only 3 turns, but Crosses can be activated at any time from the Custom Screen, and last indefinitely unless you pick another or are hit by your elemental weakness and knocked out of the form.  These are kinda busted!  I love them!  Beast Out, meanwhile, lets MegaMan control the tremendous power of the Cybeasts the game’s plot centers around, powering him up quite a bit but only lasting 3 turns.  After the form expires, you can try to activate it again if you really want to, but doing so will trigger Beast Over, rendering MegaMan invincible but sending him out of control until the custom gauge fills and the form fades away; if your enemy survived, MegaMan is left crippled, leaving you in an even worse situation than where you began.  The Beast Outs are a lot of fun to use, though the way they move to auto-aim chip attacks can at times put them right in the line of fire.  Personally I’m a huge fan of Beast Over, too, though it’s quite rare I find myself in conditions where it seems worth the risks.  But I have used it, unlike Dark Chips (which are no longer a thing), so I’m inclined to say it’s better balanced.  There’s also one more variation: Beast Cross, performed by either being in Beast Out and activating a Cross, or being in a Cross and Beasting Out.  Each Beast Cross mixes the Cross’s aesthetics with those of your version’s Cybeast, resulting in a variety of really cool designs, and you have access to the abilities of both forms plus a unique attack that replaces Beast Out’s chip-charge claw slash.  If you’re hit by the Cross’s weakness, you revert to normal Beast Out, and if Beast Out’s turn limit runs out, you lose both forms, so you need to be careful not to use up all your options too quickly.  Being able to combine forms like this is really cool, and only serves to deepen this game’s already robust form system; I’m fairly confident in saying that I like it even more than Double Soul, though it’s difficult to compare to Style Change so I can’t yet name an overall favorite.

Something interesting about Crosses is that, after you get your first Cross and the associated tutorial, the other four are completely optional.  In BN6, you gain access to version-exclusive content as you progress through the plot, but that content is entirely removed from the plot (save which Cybeast MegaMan obtains, but that’s a minor enough change that the cutscenes always play out the same).  This gives the plot room to breathe, and allows for the version-exclusive Navis to each have their own unique scenarios tailored to their own theming as opposed to sharing “one-size fits all” scenarios in BN5.  After doing these scenarios, you not only get a new Cross, but you gain that Navi as a Link Navi, meaning you can operate them while exploring the net any time you want!  Having the world open up to your other playable Navis is very freeing, and you’re encouraged to use them through various overworld obstacles that can be cleared with certain Navis’ abilities, though you’re only required to use them during a few parts in the plot where Lan temporarily loses MegaMan.  This is all described as a function of BN6’s new PET model, and I appreciate that there’s something to go off of instead of leaving us scratching our heads like Soul Unison did.  I really appreciate the benefits of this approach, though there is a part of me that wants to give BN5 credit for incorporating version-exclusive Navis into the plot more.

There’s a handful of other mechanical changes.  Side-quests from BN2 and 3 were brought back, though I find their implementation here to be a notable step back (the short version is that Request Points are superfluously restrictive).  The Navi Customizer here is another contender for its best iteration, now giving you a little extra space off the visible grid to better cram more programs into it.  Doing so does cause bugs, but BugStop is very easy to get if you know how, rendering it a moot point and letting focus be on the enhanced freedom of customization.  I also think it’s neat how the internet is designed so that you can access (nearly) every region of it from Central Area 3.  It’s easy to overlook given that Lan can just go to different towns and jack-in from there, but this makes getting around with Link Navis far easier.  Combined with the unlockable links on Lan’s homepage all leading to different regions, the net has never been easier to navigate.  The Boktai crossover is also back, now adding a series of Navi Chips for the Count of Groundsoaking Blood—obtained through a boss battle with the guy!  Of course, the original English release of BN6 cut virtually all of this, even the post-game area and sidequest, which always stung.  Many have said this was due to Boktai’s poor sales overseas, though more recently the developers have laid the blame on limited cartridge space; I do believe the devs, but it also makes sense that when choosing what content to cut during localization, the Boktai content was first in line.  Thankfully, the Legacy Collection is based on the Japanese builds of the games, so all Boktai content is retained and officially translated into English for the first time! (Except for Crossover Battle, of course…also there’s a weird bug regarding Django3, check some guides if you want to complete your Mega Chip library.) I suppose this would also be the time to talk about the successor to the Virus Breeder, the Virus Battler.  After buying a certain item, “rare” variants of viruses will begin to appear, and after defeating them, their data is stored for use in Virus Battles.  Virus Battles are a gauntlet of fights where you select and place the viruses you’ve gathered onto a battlefield in place of MegaMan, and then let them fight the enemy viruses to see who comes out on top.  Again, the inspiration from the Virus Breeder is clear, but the execution is very distinct.  It’s certainly a novel concept, but when I tried to complete them, that novelty quickly wore thin.  You don’t actually control the viruses, they operate on the same AI they use as enemies, which involves a degree of randomness.  What’s worse, these battles are timed.  I found these incredibly frustrating, and for a good while they were the only thing keeping me from finishing the post-game.  At this point the only thing I still like about the Virus Battler is that the final one ends with a fight against BlastMan, proving that he’s so weak that even generic viruses can kick his ass.  I like that.

From what I’ve seen, BN6’s story isn’t regarded quite as highly as BN3’s, but is still generally well-liked.  I enjoy it a good deal, but I think the fact that the whole second trilogy is so cut off from the first unfairly handicaps it.  BN6 is very self-contained, which on the positive side means that you can readily recommend this as someone’s starting point despite it being the final game in the series.  Unfortunately this has a negative impact on its ability to function as a finale, though I will say it does a surprisingly good job of that regardless.  The game starts with Lan and his family leaving ACDC Town, which they’ve lived in since the very beginning, and moving to Central Town in Cyber City.  As a direct result, there are virtually 0 returning characters on-screen for 90% of the game, which is a hard pill to swallow and puts a lot of extra pressure on the new characters and locations.  And it’s not all bad: I really like the way Cyber City and its various towns are structured, each focusing on a different aspect of “next-gen net society” to create a varied yet cohesive whole.  I also appreciate that the villainous operators, annoying as they may be, interact with each other FAR more than in any previous game, having their own group dynamic which actually informs some plot developments later on.  However, the main sticking point for most people comes in the new friend group that forms around Lan at his new school.  The game itself on more than one occasion refers to Mick as the new Dex, and while I can somewhat see the influence, the comparison does feel a bit forced.  Mick certainly has some potential as a character and has a couple of really good moments, but he has to shoulder an unfair amount of emotional weight due to the reduced cast and I just don’t find him up to the task.  Hell, they never even gave his Navi a name.  I’ve never seen a “major character” with bigger NPC vibes.  There’s also Tab, who runs this game’s chip shop.  I literally cannot think of another thing to say about him, because he gets so little focus.  I guess Iris counts, but she only interacts with anyone other than Lan right near the end of the game, and is tied into the game’s plot in a way that sets her apart.  In any event, I like Iris well enough.  She’s sufficiently mysterious to hold the player’s attention, and she gets a bit of character development before the game’s over.  She certainly feels more important than her X series counterpart!  Dex, Maylu, and Yai do all make a return at the end of the game, and that is nice, but man, the entire second trilogy spends so much time putting these characters off-screen or just acting like they don’t exist.  At least BN4 gave battles and Souls to two of their three Navis!  This may be the biggest contributor to making the two trilogies feel disconnected, and it’s a real bummer.

There are some connections, though, and some very interesting ones.  Probably the oddest-looking choice is that the Cybeasts are multibug organisms just like Gospel from BN2—it’s not a problem by any means, it’s just surprising to see the concept suddenly come back, especially since bugs were more or less supplanted by Dark Power during the Nebula duology.  It is kind of nice, though, and others have pointed out that it helps explain why SciLab had some knowledge of multibug organisms in BN2.  One connection I really like is how BN6 ties back into MegaMan’s origin, with the program that allowed Hub’s DNA to be encoded being not only part of why Dr. Hikari was tapped to help out in Central Town, but also the reason MegaMan is able to contain the Cybeast.  And of course, Baryl and Colonel’s involvement is a major plot point, as is the return of Dr. Wily.  Surprisingly, all three of them are fleshed out rather well!  Like I said with Iris, this Colonel is far more interesting than the one in X, and even with BN5 setting up for it I was shocked to see what they were able to do with Wily.  The decision to give him a redemption of some kind is…something to think about, for sure.  But again, the way he’s presented specifically in this game really lends itself to that.  At first glance it can seem like Lan is stupid to offer Wily a chance to reform, but when I got to it in this playthrough, it struck me that Lan was not at all eager in making this offer.  I don’t have the script in front of me right now, but I remember him sounding a bit hesitant, like he was forcing himself to do it out of a sense of principle and not just shrugging off everything the mad doctor’s done over the past six games.  Maybe I’m reading something that isn’t there, I don’t know.  But if it is there, then honestly, it’s enough for me to get behind this development.  I’ve said this before, but one of BN’s most recurring controversial writing choices being how easily some villains are forgiven is almost certainly a facet of the series’ theme of connecting with other people; even if it is a flaw, I think it’s a necessary one.  Morality and redemption are complicated topics, ones I’m not even entirely sure about myself.  If nothing else, these games commit to their stance.

BN3 is peak Battle Network, but so is BN6—for different reasons.  Even with so much working against it, the game still provides a satisfying end to the series, especially with that epilogue.  It’s nice to have a Mega Man series that ends on an ending rather than a cliffhanger!  I’ve always been against the idea of a Battle Network 7, but y’know…after reconnecting with the series like this, after seeing how well the collection is doing and how much passion went into it, after hearing someone propose the next game being more of a spin-off starring Patch…I’ve changed my mind.  I do think the Patch spin-off would be the best way to approach it (and I really, really hope they rename MegaMan Jr, I don’t know what it is but I hate that), but even if we do get a BN7 that adds a new chapter to Lan and MegaMan’s story, I’ll be super-excited about it.  BN7 or not, though, I’m glad we got this series and this collection.  It doesn’t matter if I never try the online features, or if Battle Network remains a closed book, because I got to experience it, and this new outpouring of love for it proves that it’s an experience so many others have shared.  What happens or doesn’t happen next can’t change any of that.  No matter what…we’re always connected.

#Mega Man #Games in 2023 #Game Night

[quarklynx]

Another year another Genshin cake! The Japanese inspiration is impossible to miss, and I can tell the team did their research on this one! Let’s break it down under the cut

So! Starting with our foundation, the cake itself! I’d start off with a nice sponge cake, possibly flavored and colored with Japanese purple sweet potato, or food coloring, whichever you prefer! Finding a good recipe for an Ube sponge cake might serve you well here as the two tubers should be similar enough. Japanese purple sweet potatoes can be a little drier than ube, so you might need to add a little extra liquid if you manage to get your hands on the authentic vegetable.

The filling looks like a coarse Anko, or Red Bean paste made from Azuki beans, though i’ve never personally seen it used on a cake in such a thick layer like it is here. So personally, I would pipe in a ring of red bean paste just around the edge of the cake, and then fill the rest with a stabilized whipped cream, or another frosting of your choice. You can make stabilized whipped cream in a variety of ways, here’s a website with a few of them X. The topmost layer has an elegant pattern decorating its surface, and it reminds me of a mirror glaze pour, except for the fact that it doesn’t go down the sides of the cake at all. A mirror glaze has a very attractive finish when done right, and I do believe it would add to the aesthetic of the cake significantly. In theory it might be possible to do, unfortunately i can’t find any examples of this being done This video X has something close, with gelatine mixtures being poured on top of a cheesecake. So I believe that if you were to bake your layers in a springform pan, level them, then put the top one back in the pan after lining the sides with parchment paper, it could then be possible to pour on a mirror glaze without it dripping down the sides. I’d also suggest adding a very smooth and level barrier of frosting, ganache, cream cheese, or other similar spreadable substance on the cake’s surface, and also using parchment paper as a temporary barrier so you can pour the gold the purple sides without them mixing too much. Gold leaf flecks would be an elegant addition to a mirror glaze if you have access to it. If mirror glazes aren’t for you, frosting or fondant would work just as well. The simplest thing to do with either of those methods would be to do the dark purple and the gold marble sides of the design first, and then create a ribbon of gold and purple to place on top. Whichever method you use to do the design on the top surface of the cake, the cherry blossoms will need to be added on top of that. Whether fondant, gumpaste, or frosting, whether piped, sculpted, or moulded, it’s up to you. Just don’t forget the little yellow centers!  Now for the toppers, let’s start with that fan. This video X demonstrates techniques you could use to create a perfect fan shape. The link i’ve included starts the video at the relevant portion of the video, but I would suggest not cutting out the large triangles on the top that she does, that way you can keep a more round shape like the illustration. Gum paste tends to hold up well when rolled thinly and maintains a very neat look, but you could also use fondant for this. Both are things you can likely purchase at baking or craft supply stores, but if you’d like to make fondant, this recipe here X for marshmallow fondant is serviceable. The gold will likely need to be painted on with a mixture of baking luster dust and alcohol (like vodka, but some people say vanilla or lemon baking extract will also work), or you could cut out thin strips of yellow and adhere it to the fan. Alternatively, you could just use paper, or something equally inedible. It would be much easier though! On to the little circles!  I believe that these are meant to be Wagashi (和菓子, wa-gashi), little traditional Japanese sweets that are often served with tea. There are many different kinds, but i looked around to find examples that I believe would work for the ones shown here. The blue flower balls could be these Hydrangea Wagashi, and the pink flower balls, while they’re clearly sakura blossoms in the official art, could also be made as Hydrangea Jelly Wagashi in pink. A more accurate-looking ball of flowers could be achieved by making Nerikiri (Kneaded Wagashi) in the two colors, but it’s much more complicated X. The large flower in the center of the arrangement is likely also a Nerikiri style of Wagashi, this video also provides a lot of information on Nerikiri, as well as some techniques and recipes that can be adapted to create these designs. X. Nerikiri dough appears to be quite malleable and workable, so if you have a mind for sculpture then it would definitely be possible to create all of the depicted designs, even though i can’t find any good examples that look like the fox or the birds. Information on how to make traditional Wagashi like these is not hard to find, but it’s generally considered quite difficult, and wagashi artisans often train for years before mastering all the techniques required. It also requires a lot of specialty ingredients that may be difficult to get your hands on. So instead, we hobbyist bakers can take shortcuts with moulds and the use of other materials. Again, fondant and gum paste will be your friends here. Brushing on powdered pigments with a fluffy brush could also make those gradients and color changes much easier. Here’s a basic guide to get you started with sculpting fondant X.  Hunting for specific moulds for the fox and birds may be difficult, but a simple google search of “wagashi mould” will turn up plenty of results that may suit your preference for the flowers.

Overall, most Japanese sweets aren’t intended to be as overly-sweet as western ones, Wagashi are just one example of this. When making this cake I’d recommend that you keep your hand light with the sugar, and let the natural flavors of things shine through. But in the end, it’s your cake, make it how you want! and tune in next year for another cake breakdown!

#Genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact birthday cake #genshin impact birthday cake breakdown #genshin impact birthday #my art #lynxinks

[dmclemblems]

"most of Fodlan either needed Rhea or cared about her." While this is 100% true, Hopes would make you believe that SPECIFICALLY LEICESTER, CLAUDE'S TERRITORY, doesn't give too shits about Rhea. Not even anyone from the Eastern Branch of the Church, which was never said to be hostile to the Central Church like the Western one is, cares about Clyde deliberately and explicitly trying to kill Rhea.

Which makes both Clyde's obsession in doing so and the fandom's yippy ki-yay attitude towards him doing so all the more infuriating, because that's DIRECT PROOF that Rhea doesn't need to be killed. But no one in the fandom who likes Clyde will admit that, and everyone in the game who hints towards that being the case is just flatly ignored.

Most Claude fans I see explicitly hate Rhea and want her dead and I just don’t get it. Like... I don’t feel like anything she did was so horrible that she deserves to die. A lot of things that she did were also done out of concern for the last few of her people. Much of it was fear and paranoia, and unfortunately Edelgard is literally her biggest fears actually happening, i.e. a human wanting to kill the dragons simply for being dragons.

When it comes to Claude, I get he doesn’t like her being in power, but I don’t understand why not wanting someone in power has to equal They Must Die. In Hopes, too, he can’t even really give reasons why she supposedly shouldn’t be in power because he doesn’t know anything. Anything he would know in this case is what Edelgard would know, which evidently is not much in Hopes because she doesn’t know in SB that Rhea is the Immaculate One (in the final chapter of SB, she learns it for the first time when you fight Rhea).

In Houses we don’t really know Leicester’s stance on the Church and Rhea that well. Hopes just kind of... threw a bunch of stuff in that we have no real background for. They also make it sound like a super bad thing that most of the people there don’t know what Rhea looks like, but like... duh??? They don’t exactly have cars and planes for Rhea to take trips to Leicester on the regular. She’s at the center of Fodlan, so it’s not like she’s out and about and traveling the continent.

Irl like yeah there are people in power who I think shouldn’t be in power, but I don’t... think they deserve to die because I don’t agree with how they run things? It’s not like every leader is scum of the earth and has to die because you don’t like them. It’s baffling in Hopes how people just go with the idea of killing her because they’ve suddenly decided “down with the Church”. Even if they wanted the dissolution of the church, why does that have to involve killing?

Seeing that kind of thinking in the fandom also feels so weird to me. As in, it’s just very odd to witness it happening in front of me, with people saying how they can’t wait for her to die. There are very few characters that aren’t specifically villains that I’d look at and be like “that one deserves to die for what they’ve done”. When Rhea executed people, it was always when harm was brought to people/an attacked happened, such as the clergy that were executed in Houses. Sometimes yeah I think maybe she jumps to execution a bit fast, but I also understand the people she makes that choice against aren’t exactly innocent people. It’s not like she goes around picking out random people to kill. If they get executed, it’s because the Church found/had some kind of evidence that the person/people in question did something that threatened lives.

As an example of why I think Rhea jumps too fast to execution, when Dimitri is confronted with a man who turned against Lambert and was involved in Duscur, he doesn’t immediately make the decision to kill the man. He has him imprisoned first for his confessed crimes, choosing to think it over before making a decision. Granted, I don’t think Rhea was entirely wrong since she did execute people who knowingly endangered others, so it’s technically not a bad decision, and I think that’s a result of her not wanting to take any chances. More like, there was room for leniency but I don’t think she’s wrong not to have it.

And again, I don’t see why any of that equates to her deserving death. While I understand people don’t think of video games from an irl perspective, to me seeing all these violent reactions to what she does/doesn’t do and wanting her dead simply because they don’t like her in power just doesn’t feel right. Like, it makes me wonder how many of these people would do the same thing if it was a real person.

#DCE Ask

[satellitesoundwave]

9, 11, 23?

9. How do you find new fic to read?

ah well, i used to read fanfic and original fic voraciously, but a few years ago some mental health stuff happened and my capacity for reading got wiped out for the most part (i’m hopeful this will improve. my ability to play videogames took a similar dive, but as i’ve been putting work into rebuilding my wellbeing that has been coming back to me - in related news Rain World is fantastic and i love it to pieces - which seems like a good sign that over time reading will come back to me too. thank god bc i miss reading fic so much ;w; ). so these days i hoard update notifications from writers and fics i’m subscribed to, and pick out one of those when i’m having a particularly good reading day

back when i used to read a lot i my go-tos for finding new fic were; when i really like something i’d check out everything else that author has written, looking through the author’s bookmarks bc if i like their fic there’s good odds we’ll have similar taste, and searching the fandom tag + additional tropes i enjoy to see what’s around

11. Are you partial to a certain character/pairing or are you more equal-opportunity? If you are partial to any character/pairing, why do you think that is?

in terms of reading? well, i’m more likely to give fics a go if one of the main characters is someone i find interesting, but i find a lot of tf characters interesting so it effectively becomes equal opportunity

now in terms of writing i’m more narrow, but i’m not partial to a certain character/pairing so much as to dynamics where the ‘complicated relationships’ tag is applicable. taraprowl needs no explanation here, i like writing jazzwave most when they’re enemies grappling with being unfortunately very compatible as people, and even cdrw has shades of this with the patterns of poor communication and lying. i just really enjoy dynamics that involve strong positive and strong negative feelings simultaneously

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

god okay this is very much a ‘no i am not allowed to think about doing anything like this when i already have other big projects going on’ thing but. i’ve been kicking around this idea for like, established relationship Jazz/Soundwave where the war is over and it’s all peace and good times… until Megatron gets assassinated. and the plot is a Soundwave pov where grief and hunger for revenge drive him to investigate who did it - not just who pulled the trigger, but everyone who was involved in forming the plan and making it happen. and of course the crux of the tension is whether or not Jazz was in on the plot. was their whole relationship a calculated distraction to keep Soundwave from seeing this coming and stopping it? i like the idea of there being strong evidence to support Jazz being involved and also strong evidence that he wasn’t, the tension of Soundwave (and also the reader) being genuinely unable to tell which is true is a tension i vibe with. which i think is why trying to cement whether or not he was involved then drains away the things about it i find compelling to write. so i’ve got this neat idea but no ending for it, and leaving it as a vague ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ‘i guess we’ll never know’ isn’t satisfying either

and a separate thing, which also brings me around to the question, is that a concept i’ve never written but would like to is one where Jazz and Soundwave are in love but such a significant personal/philosophical line has been crossed that even that doesn’t stop them from fighting to the death. the energy of that would be electric. except also in a sad way bc wow that would be a downer ending, i'm not too hot on the idea of getting people invested in a story only to do that to them

the breakthrough happened when i was talking to my friends about our yearly tradition of getting together and playing the new Dark Pictures Anthology game when it comes out; more than once during our first playthrough of these games we’ve gotten endings that are ‘bad’ in the sense of how they fit into the established genre schema of Good Endings & Bad Endings in videogames, or lack closure, or are incredibly tragic (thinking about part of the ending we got for The Quarry for this one, which is not a DPA game but is by the same developer) - but the ends never felt unsatisfying to us because we’d gotten there through choices we’d actively made and we knew it was just one ending of several. this conversation later made me realise that hey, i have experience with game programming. if i dust off those rusty skills i could probably make a text based game… and that would sort out the issues i’d been having with the above concepts! my programming knowledge is a bit basic, but using it to make a fanwork is also a concept i’ve always wanted to try since it seems like an interesting challenge 

the really exciting part about this imo is the possibility of having tracked variables. with those i could give the story branching paths based on decisions readers make, something like 1) Jazz is an active participant in the assassination plot, 2) Jazz was involved in the plot but stopped being part of it before the assassination happened (perhaps he opted out of his own accord? or was kicked out bc the others worried his attachment to Soundwave has compromised him?), 3) Jazz was not involved, or 4) Soundwave never uncovers whether Jazz was involved or not. having that branching + something like a loyalty meter for Jazz that tracks how loyal he is to the assassination plot/people involved, and something similar for how dedicated Soundwave is to getting revenge, allows for really interesting variation/directions for the story to take based on reader decisions

all in all this is something i’d really like to do at some point, but it would be a very big project so i’ve firmly parked it behind doing (Re)Experience and Networking first

#ask meme #the greatest struggle of being a slow writer #is the cool ideas you have have to ban yourself from working on rn least you drown in a sea of 10% done wips #satellite speaks

[yesterdayiwrote]

I finally read the interview George did with his father and all I could think about was how his dad said he can only remember the racing side of Georges life and not him growing up. I don't know why but that's just really sad to me, the fact the only thing his dad can remember about george is his career.

I think this is a really interesting topic but it’s such a difficult one to broach because there’s so much nuance behind it. I’m gonna put it behind a cut because it might be a bit psychoanalytical for some…

I think we discuss Jos and his parenting a lot and he’s rightly criticised for things he did and things that have been spoken about, but I think it’s probably overlooked that ‘bad behaviour/parenting’ is probably more prevalent in these circles than people give credit for.

And that’s not to say that George’s dad is anywhere near Jos levels of awful, but I know there was that interview with a kart driver that was less than glowing about him too and there’s been a couple of interviews recently where George has touched on it himself.

I think it’s important to point out that his dad clearly cared very deeply about providing for his family and letting them do the things they wanted. I think it was mentioned his sister did horse riding and obviously both sons karted very seriously and he worked to provide financially to make that happen. Was there possibly an element of living vicariously through his sons that may have led to him being harsh… probably yes? Equally if you’ve busted a gut to raise the money to get there, is it likely to make you more uptight about it going right… probably also yes?

I think there’s a subset of parents of a certain age who subscribe fully to this tough love idea, add in the repressed British nature and there’s a whole generation of fathers who are awkward when it comes to loving their kids. My dad is roughly the same age as George’s and reading some of their comments is like reading about things I’ve gone through with mine.

It’s sad that he can’t remember other aspects, but equally it’s good he was there for the racing side and remembers that. Is it the healthiest way to parent a child? Probably not… Was it done with good intentions? I’d say definitely. Does the end justify the means? Well… George seems to think so and I guess that’s all that matters. I think it’s also really important to remember that his dad acknowledges this, and appears to have changed for the better (as per George’s own words) which is definitely a good thing.

I think it’s so difficult to judge and comment on, because so many people want different things from their parents and have different expectations as to what their relationship with their parents should be. I know I personally wouldn’t be happy putting up with some of the things mentioned, but equally I can understand how they can be seen differently by different people.

The most important thing now is George got where he wanted to go and they’re on the same page about things! I don’t think there’s any doubt his dad was a good parent, even if he may be guilty of doing some potentially unhealthy/toxic/unfortunate things along the way, if that makes sense?

#trying desperately not to project my own daddy issues onto this #it’s such a deep topic #like you can do bad things as a parent #and do bad parenting #without actually being a bad parent #George Russell

[youwantedavillain]

The Hidden Player in all of This (The Stalker)

Though this seems irrelevant it actually is very much important to the whole of my story. It is tied to @felicitythekittycat and her little posse of equally toxic individuals. They all knew about the stalker and how stretched thin I was due to his incessant pestering. To be honest I think my blood was already in the water the moment I was first snapped at by @trainerreva thanks to Kronostitan100.

The best way I can describe how I feel about the guy is: a disgusting combination of repulsion and regret. Like agreeing to a dare of eating your own vomit.

Here is a tidbit of the extent of his stalking:

The best place to start off on this little tale is the day we first met. It was at a game of chess a bit after or before the lunch period in High School. If I remember correctly he was about two years my junior. If I had known that agreeing to that game would lead to around 8 years of madness and abuse I wouldn't have even glanced at his direction but unfortunately hindsight is 20/20 and I don’t have the ability to time travel (if I did though, I’d be more wanted than Rick Sanchez). So unfortunately I sat down that day and played a game with him. I made the joke that my play style could only be described as an “Ice Queen”. He claimed that he was undefeated in his ranks and was often called the “Emperor”. It was rather easy for me to take all his pieces and leave his king to stand alone – I now figure he wasn’t good at chess at all and was probably trying to sound like a big shot when he is more like Andrew Tate’s personality realized into a human person.

In the end we smiled and thanked each other for a good game and left it at that. I’m not sure it was lunch for that day or the day after but I saw him at the cafeteria and welcomed him to sit with me and my friends. I even gave him a hug. Someone please kill me. He was welcomed into the group and little did I know that it would eventually mean I’d have to leave in order to protect myself and my sanity.

I don’t remember the first blow up. I honestly can’t remember what it was about – not because I don’t want to, but rather because there were so many that they all just blend together like trying to navigate Incel forums to see if you can tell the difference between who is who or if they’re all just the same guy. There are only three that I can fully remember because of how… absurd and violent they are. I have no idea if these are in chronological order but since these are how I remember them, I’m taking a shot in the dark with this format.

Musicgeddon:

Oh, the ridiculousness of this situation – if you are eating, please swallow your food and put the rest to the side. Don’t even dare drink water for this tale is so unbelievably stupid that my boyfriend said, and I quote “I am having an actual aneurysm….” after laughing uncontrollably for about a minute. I think it nearly killed him.

So, the story begins over either text messages or over discord voice chat. I tried to look over Discord to see if I can find any messages but that ended up fruitless and since my number changed and so has my cell phones, there is no possible way of getting any messages or screenshots. You will have to rely on scout’s honor for this situation. But please note that I’m going to be using theatrics because it is still so absurd that I have to use them to poke fun of it for my sanity can barely handle it. Plus, it’s fitting.

I was talking to Kronostitain100 about a silly fanfiction idea. It was about Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist being a Professor at Hogwarts with the cover of being the nephew of either Minerva McGonagall or Severus Snape and how I got the idea. I told him how I got the idea and wanted to show him. It was the song “Lollipop Kingdom” by SuG. I had tried to find it on youtube but couldn’t, thus I looked for another method. He claimed that he would find it on youtube. I kept telling him he wouldn’t be able to, but he claimed he did. He sent the link and said that the song fit my idea…. Unsurprisingly the song he found wasn’t the song…. At all. He was so far off that mark that it was just ridiculous – Imagine thinking that a Kingdomhearts AMV with the word “Lolipop” in the title would hit that mark!

I stated that he was incorrect in his assumption and that no, it did not fit what I was thinking. I had even described the song to him and how it sounded before he sent the link. I had stated that the song was rather dark and ominous sounding, it gave off a very spooky and gothic vibe. The song he sent sounded more like the old-school “Lollipop, ba-dum-dum-dum” type of sound mixed with the “Barbie Girl” song.

I had found a website that would show him the song. For some reason or another, I couldn’t send the link. So, I had to spell it out for him which took too long somehow, so we went the convoluted route of having to lead him through the magical world of google. The journey was perilous. Why even our dear friend Kevin – who had been with him the entire way – struggled to help Kronos make the perilous journey that his single stunted brain cell could comprehend the idea of the grand powerful weapon form of the Key Blade that was the mighty Enter Key.

The blizzard was harsh. Snow all around the way. The mountain was so steep. MUSH! MUSH I SAY! MUSH! And then the avalanche with a scream - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Well, that was that day.

I dared to make the comment, “Jeez, your laptop is slow.”

Then it happened.

A horrified shriek that could only be compared to Andrew Tate’s ego daring to hear the word “incel” being used to describe him. Or even the dreaded, “Tiny penis energy lookin potato ass”. He then sprinted out of his house as though running from a rabid hyena. Crying into the snow storm outside – and this… right here…. Is where my theatrics must stop. Because this isn’t theatrics at this point. He did. In fact. Run out of his house, into a snow storm, crying…. Over that comment.

Yeah…

Kevin then barked at me. Telling me that I need to watch what I say. Now mind you… this wasn’t the first time I had been yelled at… over something minor upsetting Kronos. I tried to explain to Kevin that I don’t really know what upset him because I wasn’t trying to insult anyone. I didn’t and still don’t understand the offense. I had stated that I don’t understand how that was a slite towards Kronos and even Kevin admitted that Kronos took anything negative that I said as an insult to him. I stated that I felt like I was walking on eggshells and Kevin didn’t care in the slightest. None of my Irl friends believed that for whatever reason that I can’t understand.

But yeah… that’s this story.

History Lesson from Hell:

This story starts off with me waking up. Yep. Waking up. I checked my phone like always and yep. On the dot. He texts me. He knew when I woke up and when I went to sleep by texting me. Every. Waking. Moment. Every. Single. Day. If I remember correctly he was texting me “Good Morning Beautiful”. Now mind you, we were NOT – I repeat – NOT – N.O.T – NEGATIVE – NOT IN THE FUCKING SLIGHTEST – dating. I had turned him down in High School where he was still going. Yes. He was still in High School. I was a grown ass woman going to Community College. He was doing this to and I quote “try to uplift my confidence”. Yes, that was his excuse. It didn’t do that for me… It disgusted me.

He was overtaking my personal space that I wouldn’t even tolerate my family doing. The only reason why I was ATTEMPTING to tolerate was because his freakouts would get so bad that he would tell others that I was telling him to kill himself and many other things of that nature – mind you… I didn’t ever do such a thing nor would I have ever done such a thing because again… the freak outs, and I was bullied incessantly as a child and now by those I called “friends” and saying that shit to me.

On that day I had to go to my second worst subject of all time, come home, deal with my chores, help my grandmother as I do my homework, deal with my mother bitching to me about her job and how Tiffany is such a bitch, how her boyfiend being an asshole drunk who for some reason is monitoring her facebook account and is upset that she dared to be on facebook while she was at work, and I have to look forward to going to a fastfood joint where I work and get bullied by the boss and her second in command who I honestly thought had a lesbian crush on our boss and thus bullies be to hopefully get a chance with the woman.

Ah… totally not busy and stressed.

And that doesn’t even touch upon the fact I had to also deal with felicitythekittycat and her band of idiots.

Totally.

Not.

Stretched Thin and on the brink of madness.

And violence.

Especially violence.

Now. On that fateful beautiful morning. I was going to that class. I was going to pay attention and take notes. I do not accept failure in college. I am not someone who can afford going into debt trying finish my core classes because some fucker can’t go three seconds without a text. It was an insanity I was not willing to take

I told him I was in class.

He ignored that.

I reiterated that I cannot talk because I’m in class.

He ignored that too.

I told him that if he kept that shit up, I was gonna turn off my phone so I could focus on CLASS.

He ignored that as well.

I turned my phone off.

Once I got home I turned my phone on. And tried to avoid the fucking explosion. But it was so vast. So great. That I could feel the nuclear radiation of my entire friend group’s rage. At that time, I was still fairly catholic and I could’ve sworn I was cursed by Satan himself.

I can’t even remember the number of angry texts I got that day. It was practically infinite. I had almost as many phone calls. I dared my hand to press one of the many voicemail messages I had. And it was like a hot knife to the heart. Sharp. Burning, and chilling all at the exact same time. Like feeling the pulsating pain as you feel all the warmth leaving your body and watching the world slowly turn black as you struggle for your life.

I called Kevin and got an earful. I could almost hear my ears ringing at the sound of his angry voice. I could only do nothing but sit in silence as he let it all out about how I’m a terrible person and should go to hell and rot for what I had apparently said to Kronos. About all the things I never said and how downright cruel I apparently was.

Once I finally got a word in I could only ask “What are you talking about, I’ve been in class for the past hour?...”

It took me about another hour to explain to him that I hadn’t said any of those things because I was in class. I even showed him a screenshot of my message history and my call history to show him that I was not lying.

I didn’t get an apology. Rather I got yelled at some more for not texting Kronos while I was in class. How it didn’t matter and was invalid. It took everything in me… to not kill him.

Verbally that is.

But if I could kill him, and bring him back to life just so I could punch him directly in the balls as an added fuck you. I would have.

Oh how much I would have.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t give him a verbal beatdown that only a future English Major could. I couldn’t because if I did, it would validate the lie that Kronos told them and I could not risk that. These were my first friends and they were my friends first. And I couldn’t lose them. Not this time.

I texted Kronos and told him off for this. He claimed ignorance and said that he was only saying what he felt and that he never meant for any of this to happen. I called bullshit and I apologize to you dear reader for having to smell this bullshit. He got the bright idea of asking me for my college schedule so he could text me without interrupting my classes.

I wonder why I’m suicidally depressed….

I refused obviously.

He didn’t understand.

He wonders why I call him a yandere and a stalker….

I couldn’t bare to lose my friends. We just pretended like that all did happen like we did with the other times this type of thing happened. The hell just continued like normal.

Skeletons in the Closet:

This one is both the most clear and yet blurry memory I have. At this point the texting got worse and worse as time went on and my temperament only worsened as he continued to become worse. I will talk about my temper at a later date because it is extremely relevant. I can’t remember the “True beginning” but what I can remember was that for almost a month he kept texting me a variant of these few messages: “Are you okay?”

“You can tell me anything!”

“I’m always here for you!”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

And the like. It was very much an odd thing and I kept telling him I was fine. I was okay. I wasn’t telling him that I had problems with him because whenever I did, I’d be dogpiled by my IRL “friend group”, so I kept that out of it. So yeah. I was perfectly fine – minus his stalking and pestering. However he persisted like always. And very much like the demon that is my temper, it slowly started build up. He’d ask those questions about three times a day. And I was getting…. Annoyed to say the least.

If I were to describe the amount of anger that slowly built up – it would be like the time Markipler described strangling a tree.

I am very much a terrifying presence when I am angry and I admit that regrettably but it was what protected me as a child and it… kind of did here.

After a certain point I broke. It was around 8-9pm if I remember correctly. He had DEMANDED I tell him what was wrong. Telling me that he had “heard I was going through something big” and that “there was something wrong”.

So… I broke.

Now to describe my anger at that moment as I stormed into my bathroom, cell phone in hand…

I will quote a certain song that really resonates with me and how I’d describe my temper:

“ And all the kids cried out, “Please stop! You’re scaring me!”

I can’t help this awful energy.

“GOD DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULD BE SCARED OF ME!”

Who is in control? “

It is very much something that builds up over time while also being purely instinctual. Like a tiger that has had enough of the circus. A madness that is constantly watching as the class wall that was hiding it, slowly crack and break. A volcano starting to overflow with magma, just ready to explode. Yellowstone if you will.

After months and years of just pure forced silence… it finally erupts in such a magnitude that it’s damn near earth shattering.

I ripped open scars that I had kept sealed away, wide open. I forcefully kicked down the closet door, grabbed my skeletons by their vertebrae and flung them right at Kronos. I screamed so loud that day that I nearly blew out my voice. I screamed about the abuse I suffered as a child, and more. I cried a visceral cry. At the end I screamed something multiple times:

“THERE! ARE YOU HAPPY! YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED! ARE YOU HAPPY? ARE YOU SATISFIED?!” He was silent before repeating one sentence like a broken record: “I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I’m sorry!”

He kept repeating that and I didn’t believe it. At the end of it I hung up, only to get a harrowing text. Him claiming he punched himself at full force over making me cry.

Which he actually did and was confirmed through Discord via a fucking picture of his fist with a chain wrapped around it.

Social Aftermath

To say that I was and still am broken about the aftermath is an understatement. Even my most closest of friends didn’t believe me about him. It was only at the two most closest friends I had’s birthday party that they actually somewhat comprehended exactly what was going on. In which we all had to have a “private group chat” about him, myself, and @felicitythekittycat. However, the Stalker’s idea of private was… the kitchen which connected to the dining room which also connected to the living room – which is about as private as being buck-fucking-naked as a newborn baby in the middle of the most popular shopping district in New York City.

One friend had told him that he better not say the first thing that pops in his head as we talked – now the talk was about something extremely embarrassing and involved fetishes. Now as we were scolding him about how he treated Felicitythekittycat, and how he should’ve kept it to himself, he opened his fucking mouth and claimed something along the lines of an “Interesting bonding experience” from what I remember…. And I lost my goddamn mind to put it lightly.

I was about half a second away from punching him right in the balls, though I didn’t because… Felicity/Tier/whatever her name is at this point of writing, ran off to have what can only be described as a panic attack? I don’t know if it was fake, I doubt it but then again the girl is such a liar that I wouldn’t be surprised if she was trying to win an oscar. After that I was told I needed to go home and that he needed to leave as well. As we were leaving I was screaming bloody murder at the guy while he was yelling back that he didn’t do anything wrong, that he got his social skills from us, etc.

It was horrible.

I was told by one of the closest friends that she finally understood what I meant because of that day. But I now know that she didn’t even understand the half of it. Because after… the blow up between me and @felicitythekittycat, and me finally getting the courage to cut him out – he actually stalked me at my retail job after that, my managers told me that he went there every day, they had to start hiding me everytime he was spotted during my shifts thank god – my so called “friends” would avoid the topic of him. They would avoid me for months, practically years just to avoid the topic because I sometimes dared to bring him up. At… one point I finally got into contact with one of them in the form of a call.

I had told her that I had finally cut him out and about how felicitythekittycat turned me suicidal and how I was now medicated and was going to therapy etc… and she told me this:

“You need to align your chakras.” like it’s a me problem….

That I didn’t need my medication or therapy…

Just… align my charkas….

It took everything in me to not toss that cellphone into the nearest fucking wall. It wasn’t even mine… it was her sister’s because the sister is the other friend.

After a long while I have finally cut them out. I lost all my IRL friends, several online ones, and my sanity to boot.

Because of a stalker, and a lying ass whore.

The thing is, is that I voiced to them how I felt unsafe around him. How he stalked my great aunt’s home and saw that there were supposedly cop cars surrounding her house – he claimed this wasn’t him trying to seek my attention but I did call her and no… there were no cops.

He once claimed that if it took my family to hold a weapon to his head to just talk to me… he’d do it.

I carried pocket knives with me to keep some semblance of safety. He once gave me one… but I gave it away and bought my own because I didn’t want to have anything of his. He gave me a PS3… and I’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

He once gave me… almost $2,000.00 for a laptop and said he was only doing it as a “gift to a friend” – I gave that money to my grandmother for a freezer because I didn’t want to feel like a cheap hooker. He tried to use that against me later on when I finally cut him out.

He had no self respect. He didn’t bathe like a normal human being – I know this because he smelled worse than a wet dog that hadn’t bathed for 3 years and his hair was so greasy that I wondered if he even knew of the concept of shampoo. I doubt he owns a single bar of soap or has the proficiency to use it. He even wore two thick winter jackets in the summer. So for a long time it had been “No. Not interested.” before he even asked me out, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

I honestly don’t think he even understood what “No” meant. He couldn’t comprehend the word. To this day, I’m still scared…

If you want more information as to how creepy of a man this guy is click here!

#tw: stalking #tw: manipulation #tw: abuse #tw: mental health #tw: anger #The Stalker

[veenxys]

OH COME ON- well I thought I’d send you something of mine so you can get a little motivation): it’s a WIP so there’s going to be errors obviously—

— — — — — — — — — — —

You always found yourself peaceful on your own time and behalf, never finding any reason to cause unnecessary fights and when people attempted to start them you'd always stray away or try to oppose them. Your grades were perfect, college was going by fast, and you didn't mind. you had your future life fully planned out. All but one perspective that you never put much thought into.

Love

No one could find your interest so you never thought about it. Your friends all had boyfriends, girlfriends, partners, someone to give their love to and receive it. And you never felt jealousy, just pride for your friends and equal excitement. All of that changed, however.

You were walking to your new business class. You had to be transferred out of your original since there were so few that the class was forced into shutting down. The very few that were in your class, didn't bother trying to transfer. You, however, were determined. The only challenge was no one that you knew was set to go to that class the period you had it, so you'd have to learn to make friends once more or be the quiet student in the back who always somehow got rumours spread about them.

Your confidence before entering the class and after had a significant drop. There were many people older, younger, and just a small group of the same age as you. Leaving you with very little to work with. Sure, there was no huge problem with being friends with someone in a different year than you, but you worried about when graduation hit and you'd be separated and doomed to fall under the unspoken curse of losing contact.

Sighing, you snuck around to an open spot. You didn't want to make such an entrance where people would fear your brashness and energy, but not in such a secretive once where once again, you'd be the quiet, secretive kid in the class who was rumoured to have some form of artillery or such on them.

Once you found a seat to your appeal, you began walking towards it when suddenly a bag was thrown onto it. You, taken back slightly went to check where the bag had been thrown from. Much to your demise, it was from another entering the class. Their hair was messy, looked like bedhead, or perhaps even a rooster. You wanted to step up for yourself by throwing the bag back at them but you didn't want to cause conflict so you gently picked the bag up and placed it in front of the desk and sat down.

"Hey, cmon now you didn't think I threw my bag there for nothin' now did ya, sweetheart?" A voice hummed out from behind you. You didn't know how but the person you had seen throw the bag was now standing behind you, bag now slung over their shoulder. You noticed that their student card was in a clear pocket on the right of their chest.

Kuroo, Tetsuro

21

Male

You sighed and put your own bag down by the seat, turning in your seat which turned with you. (It was one of those chairs that usually teachers only have, the comfy spinning ones) and crossed your arms. "I apologize sir, but I had approached this seat before you'd even entered the room. You threw your bag to deter me but I found myself happy here, there are plenty of other seats, however! I'm sure it wouldn't be too much of a burden to you if you sat there." You calmly explained, gently waving your hand through the classroom where there were indeed multiple other seats around.

"Mmm. But I want that one."

“Well I’m here, so sorry but that, unfortunately, won’t work.”

“You could always move?”

“But I’m already seated. And I don’t want to be pushed over like nothing.”

“I could always push you off”

“That’d be an asshole move.”

“Quite bold language all of a sudden, growing brave are we?”

“I’m simply defending myself”

“Maybe when I turn out to be a successful businessman, I should hire you as a lawyer then. But for the time being, move.”

“Sir, you’re making a small problem bigger than it needs to be.”

“Cmonnnn just move!”

The bickering between the two of you went on for about five minutes before the teacher entered and he eventually gave up and found another seat. You sighed as you knew that somehow he wasn't going to let that go. And how right you were.

The rest of the year he kept bugging you and poking at you. It stopped bothering you eventually. However, you discovered ways to either avoid him or just get him to stop in general.

It wasn’t easy but sure enough, you got through another few months of college without too much more struggles. You were a smart student, but also social enough to not be seen as weird or unsociable. Those were the things that always seemed to make Kuroo struggle the most. There was nothing he could bug you about. You were perfect. He couldn’t name a flaw he could find about you. From your neatly styled hair that always matched your outfit, to just your simple body language. It was eating Kuroo alive. So he quickly would find himself ranting about you over the phone to his closest friend, Kenma Kozume.

You were walking over to your usual friend group when you heard Kuroo over the phone with someone. You were about to simply turn away since it wasn’t any of your business when you heard the person he was on the phone with say something.

“Kuroo, if you keep interrupting my lunches, I’ll just block you during school hours. All because you can’t grow up and confess to this Y/n person. Which being completely honest, I’m starting to feel a little bad for.”

“Kenma cmon! If you know so much about this stuff then help me and don’t talk all proud and stuff!”

“Why do you call me about this stuff anyway?”

“Because everyone else can’t keep their mouth shut.”

“I could just do the job for you–”

“Do that and I’m taking your games for three months.”

“Why three?”

“I don’t know! Just help me out dammit!”

You just stood there in shock, uncertain of what to make of the situation. Sure, his bothering had gotten a bit more flirtatious, but that doesn't excuse the behaviour in general. You just sighed and walked over to your locker. Unfortunately, one of your friends saw you and was grinned widely.

“Y/n! Hey! Hurry up, what’s holdin’ you up?” They had called out, and you knew damned well that Kuroo heard it. He’d had to have been deaf if he hadn’t. You internally cringed as you saw him turn around with wide eyes.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Word count; ~1114

-🫒

#KUROOOOAOAAAKALSLFLLDKGKDKF #ITS SO CUTE I LOVED IT??? HELLO?!:!:!!;!:!(&:@(&@:@( #ITS AMAZING #[🫒] — anon!

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Anyone have kids or grandkids participating in Pizza Hut's BOOK IT program?

Over the weekend, Pizza Hut was trending on Twitter, but the topic wasn’t new toppings or a dinner deal — it involved their stance on Pride Month. Social media users slammed the franchise for recommending a book about a young boy dressing in drag in their children’s book club program BOOK IT.

Since 1984, Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT program has encouraged pre-K children through Grade 6 to read. Parents or teachers set monthly reading goals for their students and record how many hours they read. Once the child meets their reading goal, they are rewarded with a free one-topping personal pan pizza. Heather Smithson, a stay-at-home mom in Newkirk, Oklahoma was first introduced to the program through her local homeschool group.

In an interview with Washington Stand she said, “It was really great to encourage them to do some reading and saying, ‘Okay, if you get this many books or so many hours in, then you get a pizza.’ And so every month it was something that they could look forward to,” Smithson recalled.

Since Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT was such an “enjoyable” literacy program for children, it shocked the mother of four to receive an email from them suggesting LGBT+ books to read during Pride Month.

“Perfectly Pegasus,” “Big Wig,” and “Be Amazing: A History of Pride” are the three books on the reading list. One of the stories, Big Wig, narrates a tale of a young boy dressing in drag, which the BOOK IT website described as “the universal childhood experience of dressing up and the confidence that comes with putting on a costume.”

Smithson said she wishes corporations like Pizza Hut would remain “neutral” on matters of sexuality and allow parents to “determine what is or isn’t appropriate.”

“Children, developmentally, are not prepared to deal with this stuff. Let them be children. Let them dress up because they want to dress up, not because they want to be a boy or a girl,” said Smithson. “It’s like we’re stealing their innocence.”

But the executives at Pizza Hut have a very different view. In a statement on their official website, Project Associate, Danielle Burns wrote, “Pride Month is bold, lively, and colorful — but it’s also about educating others about tolerance, LGBTQ+ history, and continuing to move forward with equality. We invite you to stand together with us as we live out our company value, “Believe in ALL People.”

Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, shared that she participated in Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT program as a child and so did her kids.

“Unfortunately, Pizza Hut now is on the list of people who want to talk to your children about sex. And parents need to be aware that that list is growing by the day,” Kilgannon said. “And it’s, sadly, a statement on the state of our society that this is a problem that requires constant vigilance to protect the innocence of our children.”

While concerned citizens took to social media to declare their boycott of Pizza Hut, Kilgannon hopes their activism also includes a dialogue with corporate. While boycotts are a useful tool, she thinks engaging in conversations is just as important. If you’re a parent, Kilgannon urges, make sure to reach out as Smithson did to voice your disappointment in BOOK IT promoting Pride Month.

“I think it would be better to say, ‘I’d really like to continue eating at Pizza Hut, and I wish that you valued me as much as you seem to value these other communities.’”

#Pizza Hut #pride month #grooming #LGBTQ #BOOK IT #talking about sex with children #boycott