#y'know just in case i end up.... not coloring it

[carolmunson]

almost fell into that hole in your life.

orange colored sky set list.

older!modern!eddie x thirties!reader summary: ficlet. you haven't been acting like yourself these days and eddie notices. unfortunately for you, eddie can't help but wanna make you feel better. tw: implied depressed reader, alcohol mention. implied praise kink if you squint really hard? still 18+ tho! songspiration: black balloon | the goo goo dolls

Eddie doesn't like it when things are too quiet, it makes him hear the static in his brain -- gets too aware. He can hear his eyes blink, the sound of his breath, so when you've been clammed up on the couch all night on your phone he can't help but start to make noise.

"Babe," he says from the kitchen, "Do you want me to make quesadillas or something? I have some shredded chicken I wanted to use up."

"Hm," you respond. He barely hears it, padding his way over in his 'house slides' that you like to tease him about. Such an old man.

"I was thinking quesadillas and I can make some margs, would you like that?" he asks, standing at the end of the couch. The way you're laying on your side, eyes glazed over, is enough to let him know that you haven't heard a word he's said for the last hour. Just scrolling with with a glassy look, numbing yourself ten times over.

"Peach," he says, albiet little sharply, "Are you listening to me?"

"Hmm, no way, that's wild," you respond, a zombie in his midst -- replying just to reply, to fake like you're hearing him. Eddie bites his tongue and then his cheeks to sting the frustration out.

"Hey," he says again, ringed hand reaching down to squeeze your chenille blanket covered thigh, "You hearin' me?"

You finally look up and see his face and the world around you comes into view. In your trance, the world outside had become night, the TV was off, you weren't even sure how much time had passed since you plopped yourself under Eddie's blanket on the sectional in his livingroom.

"Yeah," you squeak out, heart racing because you can tell he's disappointed, "Y-yeah I'm hearing you."

"Then what did I just say, huh?" he doesn't sound mad, or accusatory. Worse, he sounds disheartened. And even worse of worse, he sounds worried.

"Um...it was about um, you were asking about food," you try to answer confidently, and you know it was food adjacent, but you aren't sure.

"Do you want me to make quesadillas?" he asks again, "I have some chicken I wanna use up and I got all the stuff for 'em."

"Yeah," you nod, "Yeah that sounds nice."

"You wanna come help me?" he asks, "I can make us some drinks while we work."

"Uh," you start, that familiar pull tugging in your chest -- laying down feels good, getting lost back in your phone will feel better. It's so comfortable to hide under his chenille blanket and tune out. It feels better like that.

"Please?" You hesitate again, but you're not fast enough to redirect Eddie's attention, and it's then that he catches it in your eyes. The ache. He comes around the the front of the couch to sit in the divot of your thighs and chest, hand moving from your thigh to your shoulder. "What's goin' on?" his low voice twangs at your chest.

"Nothing," you urge, but your voice is too high and so are your eye brows. He doesn't believe you for a second.

"I don't like when you lie to me, peach," he confesses, "Don't lie to me, please."

"Psh, okay dad," you tease, trying to lighten the mood while you get up.

"I'm not kidding with you," Eddie's timbre keeps you in place, "I'm not playing around, babe. What's goin' on with you? You've been -- y'know -- you've been really I dunno -- inward this week. I'm missin' you."

"I'm okay," you urge again, but now you're too quiet. You don't mean it. He raises his brows and blinks at you in disbelief.

"I promise, I'm okay," you continue, "I'll be okay. It's fine. I'm fine."

"You're not making a great case for yourself." "Well then it's a good thing I'm not a lawyer," you joke again. He doesn't buy it.

"You're sad, baby," he tells you, reaching up to hold your cheek in his palm, "Why can't you just tell me? It's okay that you're sad."

"I'm not!" you try to say cheerily again, but the words get stuck in yout throat -- eyes stinging with wetness after hours of being open.

"I'm not sad," you say breathlessly, choking on the lie while a tear sneaks its way onto your lash line.

"Oh, sugar," he coos while you try to tread the water of your feelings -- flailing to keep your head above the pain in your chest.

"No, no, I'm okay -- I'm fine!" but you're starting to cry now and it kills him. Before you know it, he's made his way under the chenille blanket with you, nose to nose.

"Hey, hey, it's okay if you're not fine," he coaches you through your deep breaths while you try to guide yourself out of a full blown sob, "You can tell me. I'm here. I'm here, okay?"

"I'm sorry," your voice becoming a wraith of itself.

"Don't be sorry," he presses himself against you, enough so that you can feel the pressure of him and the pressure of the back of the couch on both sides, "Just talk to me."

"I don't..." you shrug, "I don't have anything to say."

"Just sad?" he asks, you feel an arm snake around you between your back and the the couch, pressing your chest to his. You nod, it feels pathetic, but you're cornered now and there's no use in arguing with someone who was born to win every argument he's ever had.

"Yeah," you mumble weakly, "Yeah, I'm sad. Think I'm more than sad."

He nods, his demeanor softening to something gentle -- heart reaching out to yours with caution like you'll run away, "Yeah, honey I can tell. You really haven't been actin' like yourself these days."

"I just don't wanna bother you," you confess, the brick coming off your chest, "I always get over it, I don't wanna like -- bum you out if it's not like...if it's not a big deal."

"I don't care if it's a big deal or a little deal," his heart bleeds for you while he speaks, "I don't care if you're gonna be over it in fiteen minutes. When you're hurtin' like this -- babe you gotta tell me. You gotta talk to me. Or else how're we gonna make this work?"

"It's just not important."

Eddie can tell that you mean it when you say it; he's never felt more frustrated with whoever convinced you that this was true.

"It's super important to me," he encourages, "Your shit is like, top of my list babe."

"Top of your list?" you crack a weak smile.

"You think the first person I think of when I wake up and the last person I think of when I go to sleep isn't on the top of my priority list?"

"Okay, well now you're doing to much, Ed," your face scrunches in the way that he loves, not letting you totally get out of his hold yet while you try to squirm away.

"Hey, look at me, before you get up," he cups your cheek again, gently, your eyes meeting his brown ones. Eddie leans in for a kiss, a soft reminder that he's not going anywhere anytime soon -- not that you'd want him to. Not with lips like that.

When you break away, his nose nuzzles yours, coasting up to press another gentle kiss on the center of your forehead. Long and intentional, warm enough to get you to close your eyes.

"It's gonna be okay," he assures, "It's okay if you're not, but -- I gotcha until you're feelin' better, hm?"

You nod, sniffling snottily and wiping your wet cheek.

"I am ordering us quesadillas," he whispers, stealing another kiss from you, "Because if you're going to rot on my couch, I'm gonna make you rot next to me."

"We're rotting!" you cheer half heartedly, pouting when he gets up to get his phone for take out. When he finishes, he holds his hand out and you sheepishly put your hand in his.

Eddie curls bounce when he shakes his head, "Peach, you know what I'm asking for."

"No," you frown, "I need it to rot."

"Peach...please?" it's more of a warning than a question, and you slide your phone into his hand. He doesn't check it, but he knows that if you don't have it 'locked away' in his sweats pocket for a while you'll just end up zoning out the same way you did before.

"Thanks, sugar," he smirks, "You're so good."

Your cheeks burn at the priase, rolling your eyes with a grin that cracks against your features, "Don't. We're not doing anything sexy."

"Yeah I know," he shrugs innocently, finding his way next to you again, "But when you smile like that, who am I to deny you a lil' somethin'?"

He dims the lights in the open space from the remote on the coffee table, settling in while you make yourself comfortable in his side. Eddie keeps you close on nights like this, when he knows you're on unsteady ground. You're still quiet, but the start of another Twilight Zone marathon keeps you more alert than before. With steady breaths you start to relax in what he'd deem a healthier way than before, and the quiet doesn't make his brain too fuzzy this time around. In the still of the living room and the hum of Rod Serlings voice, he feels you squeeze his hand -- a silent thank you. He doesn't think he could be any more in love.

#orange colored sky #older!eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #older!eddie munson x you #ocs!eddie #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie musnon #eddie munson fanfiction

[donutz]

Poppy Playtime with a twist!!

SUMMARY||So younger you meets you in the present at poopy playhouse, but like it's super cool

EVERYONE THINKS THE STAFF DISSAPPEARED 10 YEARS AGO

WE'RE STILL HERE.

FIND THE FLOWER

ꕤ

“Find the flower?” Is it a pretty flowerrr? Not really..

Playtime Co? Oh. Playtime Co. Uhm. Well everybody who worked there isn't working there, not anymore. I'm not saying they disappeared. I read the letter!!

.

.

.

Hey they spelt disappeared wrong.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

I drive over to Playtime Co in my [any type of car] and end up seeing blocked off doors.

I mean this place is abandoned so what do you expect?

Another warning to not go in. But like, I'm wayyy too bored in life so I'm goin in.

Somebody's at the door?

I wonder who.

After 10 minutes, surprisingly not taking long, I managed to open the doors.

Getting a view of the colorful place that I once worked at, I also see a person.

“Hello! I was waiting for you! Somebody told me you got sent an envelope so I stood here, waiting.”

I stood there, looking at them with a bit of surprise. And being a little bit suspicious.

Are they not gonna talk?

They kind of look like me, as if they were my identical twin. Just born at different times.

.

.

.

I somehow muster the courage to speak up after a moment of awkward silence.

“... Why do you look like me, but older..” I asked with sweat slowly collecting on my face.

I take note of what they said and say, “Hm, come here for a sec”.

I walk over to them and stand there looking at them, looking away from time to time.

“Hm.” I examine the person. “Oh! Because I am you but older”!

“WH— What.” I lowered my volume, just in case something would spawn out of nowhere.

“It looks like you went to the future.” I tell the past me.

“You're me? But older? Coooll.” I drag my words with imaginary stars in my eyes.

“Follow me m'kay?” I command. Sounds kinda fancy, command.

“Kay!”

I was so gullible.

We both go to a colorful room with a few trains that have different colors per train.

“You see those trains right?” I question my younger self.

“Yea”.

“Those colors on each train are for a color code.” I stated.

“Green, pink—”

“Yellow and red”.

“Good. Now we're gonna go to that color pad thing and put in the colors”.

“Can IIIII do that..?” I ask with a smile on my face.

“Sure.”

I put in the colors and the door unlocked. I softly grabbed the handle as I slowly opened the door, observing what's inside the room.

“There's nothing spooky in the room”.

.. Stupidly, I flinched from older me talking because of how focused I was.

“Did you just flinch”?

“No”.

“I don't know what you're talking about”.

“... Sure”.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

After finishing the grabpack tutorial, we go up to the big door and I[past me] scan[scans] with my[their] blue hand.

“This might take a bit so just wait”.

“Okay”.

The door is fully open.

I see, huggy? But he's.. Oh. “Hey young me”.

“Yeeeess?” I ask with curious eyes.

“I think, I went back to the past”.

“You did”?

“Yea”.

“I'm gonna nerd out for a sec”.

“It's okay, I do that too”.

“I think that once you started coming here, maybe the factory was— restarting to the past. Like a process of it. Maybe that's why they were moving around so much. While I was at the front desk it was still happening. But when you entered it finished. Oh and y'know what? Maybe me walking around here was also me going through that time traveling process.” I explained.

I was wide-eyed. Mouth open a little bit even.

Ooo. That's.. Okay..? I mean I hate what's gonna happen but. Whatevs. “Yo, tiny baby”.

“.. Me? Are you seriously talking to me”?

“Mhm. Follow me”.

“Is that Huggy Wuggy”.

“No, it's Gojo— who do you think that is”?

“I—!” I make a click sound with my tongue and look away.

“You suck.” I claim, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Thanks. Anyways, this is my baby, Huggy. Who is going to kill us in the future. Or try to”.

“Hey, I bet you twenty bucks that once we go into a room, after like 30 seconds he'll be gone. But you gotta look away. Anddd, I bet you another 5 bucks that he can hear us, or me, talking right now”!

“That's not fair. You're in the future so you know it's going to happen”.

“Mhm, bet or no bet”?

“No bet”.

“>:/”

I go to the door with a bunch of stuff inside and try to open it.

But I end up hearing a jingle of keys..?

“Thanks Huggy.” I smiled when saying that and walked towards the electronic room. At least that's what I call it.

Unlocking it I go in—

“Don't leave me pretty please”!!!

…I expected younger me to follow but I don't need to worry right now.

Once we were in the room, the door locked. I mean that's what I heard. I'm basically going through my life, again. This is something that would be studied. Old people would kill for something like this.

“Did the door lock”?

“I don't know, try opening it”.

I wandered over to the poles and solved a puzzle while younger me was freaking out over the locked door.

“Uhmmmmm, I think Huggy's gone”!!!

“Wait weally????” I mocked, a small smile creeping up on my face.

“SHUT UP I'M SERIOUS!!!” I yelled, DO THEY.. I. Uhm. DOES OLDER ME NOT UNDERSTAND???

“I've been through this already, you baby”.

“...”

I finished the puzzle and then walked towards the kid.

“Move out the way please!!” I said, making my eyes big and sad looking, like a cartoon character.

“>:[”

The door opened, and we both walked out.

“Alright, time to move to the next area”.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

#these tags have spoilers!! #poppy playtime #gn reader #gender neutral reader #gender neutral #not really an x reader #timeline #catnap #dogday #pickypiggy #bubba bubbaphant #kickinchicken #craftycorn #hoppy hopscotch #bobby bearhug #huggy wuggy #mommy long legs #poppy playtime x reader

[silent-raven13]

When Miles rizz Hobie

"Nothing could woo me, mates." Hobie began as his friends were picking on him for turning pink around Miles. "It's merely affection, like how comfortable I'm around with someone I trust." The small group were hanging around Headquarters just to pass the time.

"Huh uh?" Gwen snorted.

Pav nodded having to get on his tippy toes to at least face Hobie on his level, "Dude, you turned pink when Miles even looks at you!"

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about." The punker plays it off still disagreeing.

"Oh yeah! Alright, bet!" Gwen said out loud.

"Hahaha, where's Miles is at?" Pav giggles with sweet delight.

Hobie rolled his eyes, "Miles is just a mate."

"Yet you call him, Sunflower!" Gwen said out loud.

"And luv, darling, dear, Brooklyn, Peter Pan!" Pav uses his fingers to show how many nicknames Hobie used on the young Spider-man. "You like him, huh?"

"Still have no idea what are you two talking about." Hobie pretending he didn't understand what they mean. He's being a cool guy deny their words.

"You always touchy feeling with him!" Gwen throw her hands up in the air, "Do we need to say anymore!"

Miles appeared from the corner of the hallway having to look at his holo-evaluation from Miguel from his watch. The meeting with the older Spider-man ended on a positive note, and it got him super happy. There was progress here!

His honey-brown eyes glanced up to make sure he doesn't bump into anyone, and spotted his friends. "Hey GUYS!" He happily went up toward them with a small jog.

"Ohh, he's here." Gwen whispers to Hobie.

Hobie froze having his eyes on Miles running up to them. Pav said, "Hey, Miles. What are you doing here?" The two saw Hobie turning pink and giggles.

"Oh, I was in a meeting with Miguel! We were talking about my last mission." Miles sounded so happy that it had Hobie's color shit to an awful muted red with murky green and yellow. Is that jealousy colors?

Gwen's eyes widen at the punker's colors being amazed yet not so surprised. Pav being the instigator, "Ohh, you and Miguel, huh? Sounds spicy!"

"Wha?" Miles's being unaware of Hobie's sudden changes in color since he's focus on Pav's questions.

Hobie had newspaper texture with black ink, Gwen leans over to read the fonts, "Fuck you, Pav. Are you going do that in front of me?" Oh. She giggles softly at this.

"You know, Spider-people like to talk." Pav snickers, "So are you and Miguel doing the nasty? Come on, tell us!"

"No! Hell nah, man. He could be the same age as my dad- what the fuck?" Miles quickly held his hands up in defense, "and I'm sixteen years old! Man, you want him to catch a case?"

"I dunno a lot of teenage Spider-heroes would, y'know." Gwen quickly added.

Pav saw Hobie's paper texture changing into a dark red and grey color with aggressive rips and ink marks. Hobie stood with no emotion showing, crazy huh?

"Well, not me! Anyway, my evaluation came out really good. I might go on missions with him. Hopefully." Miles casually said still being naive.

"Solo mission with Miguel?" Hobie thought to himself showing his jealousy, his body went through three different paper textures and turned murky green. Gwen and Pav awed at how fast his reality colors changes.

"Hopefully? That sounds like you're hoping for something, Miles!" Pav giggles having to nudge Hobie, "Huh, Hobie?"

"Not like that." The black Latino Spiderman rub his naked neck being a bit weirded out by his friends' sudden questions. "I see Miguel as a mentor. He's not bad when he's not trying to kill you. Also," Miles went up to Hobie, which causes the punker's color to change with a surprise fonts with a soft purple being surprised by his crush being so close to him.

Miles happily smiled at him, "Hobie, what's up? You been quiet. Something wrong?" His hand touches Hobie's cheek, "Are you sick? Si es así, Puedo prepararte caldo de pollo?"

Hobie turns bright pink staying frozen with his eyes widen. "No. No, luv." he crosses his arms trying to be cool. "I'm only listening."

"Oh," Miles pulls his hand away, "At least you're fine, man." His smile widens showing off his teeth. "I was beginning to worry."

Gwen and Pav look at each other then saw Hobie turning a brighter pink with heart stamps and fonts, a bit of shimmer this time. "Hmm?" They hummed at him.

Hobie scowls a bit at them, "Shut up!" The two laughing out loud.

"What happen?" Miles being so confused.

#punkflower #flowerpunk #miles morales #hobie brown #spiderverse #spider verse #spiderman #spider man #across the spider verse #across the spiderverse #atsv

[bioexorcizm]

sugarplum.

ship: briarbear -> carm/wednesday (s/I) wc: 1376 summary: briar introduces themselves to carm's coworkers for the first time.

Richie barely looked up from his phone when he heard the door, still recouping from lunch rush. 

Probably some straggler, he thinks, and if they can be late to lunch, he can take a fuckin’ minute to take their order --

“Uh, hello?”

“Yo, what can we --” he pauses, chokes on the ice he's chewing as his eyes set upon them.

Their hair is pulled back, dark; this week it's dyed a deep plum color, ombre with peach that sets a highlight just about their cheekbones, where the few bright colored ends of their grown bangs that weren't tied back lay. The light dye popped especially against the minimal but dark makeup accenting their face, and that black sweater they wore…It was strangely familiar, but Richie could scarcely process the fact.

Had he half a mind, he'd ask if they're as sweet as they looked. But fortunately for them both, he was left utterly dumbfounded. 

“How can, uh, I help you?”

“Is Carmy here?”

“...Carmy?”

“Sorry -- Carmen?”

Richie shakes his head, “Nah, I know who you're talkin’ about, it's just --” he sighs, before turning his head towards the kitchen and letting out a very disappointed “Yo, cous!”

It's a moment before the vaguely annoyed “What, Richie?” comes back to him. 

“Got a minute?”

“Uh, not really.”

“Yeah, well, your services are requested at front of house, chef.”

“...What?”

Richie takes the time to let his gaze linger, stuttering a not-so thoughtful “Er --” before moving closer to the kitchen, or at the least out of earshot of the dining room.

“I mean, there's some hot piece of ass askin’ for you out there. Like, by name.”

“What the fuck -- ?” Carm groans, “Fine. I’ll be right there. Shit.”

He finishes dicing the smattering of vegetables on his cutting board and, then with a sigh wipes the sweat from his brow. It's hard to remember how hot the kitchen can get, and this thought is what claws its way to the forefront of his mind as a million other things begin to unfurl in the background of his brain; He's behind on prep, who the fuck could be asking for him? Gas bill’s due tomorrow. Speaking of gas, he needs to stop and get some on the way home. He’ll be late, he should probably take a minute and text --

He mutters a weak “Corner,” in the second it takes him to approach and round the deli bar doorway, and he tosses the towel he's wiping his hands on over his shoulder. When he peers past the counter though, his eyebrows raise, and he lets out an airy chuckle. 

“‘Scuse us for a minute, would you, cousin?”

Richie nods, shrugs, and barely moves an inch into the kitchen doorway. Carmy rolls his eyes and takes another step beyond into the dining room, head slightly hunched as they speak in hushed tones that the rest of the staff one at a time slowly gathers to strain to hear in curiosity. 

“Little busy, sweets.”

“I won't stay long. Just wanted to pop in, ‘sall.”

“No, I mean, I’m not sayin’ that, it's just…” he trails off, shakes his head, and pivots his thoughts, “I thought you had a thing today.”

“A thing? Like, you mean my job? Like, that thing?”

“Well, it's a thing.”

“A thing, yeah I guess it's a thing, but like, I get paid to do it, so…I mean, like --”

“Well, yeah. But I mean, how did it go?”

“Like an everyday kind of thing...It was fine. It was this morning. So, y'know...Now I’m here.”

They stare at each other for another awkward moment, though the embarrassment seems to lie more in Carmy than it does Briar, almost as if they’re reveling in it. Richie stifles a giggle.

“Anyways, you left without your key this morning. I just wanted to drop it off, in case I’m asleep tonight.”

Carm sighs, watching carefully as they dangle the lanyard in front of him, pooling the fabric into his hand when he finally extends it.

“I’ll be late, by the way.”

“Always are.”

“...Sorry.”

He looks at them. He knows that he should be tucking the loose strand of hair away from their face, telling them they look pretty today, especially in the cute outfit they've seemed to fashion out of his old torn black sweatshirt. He knows he should be making excuses, promising to do better but he doesn't, and he hopes that they understand that it's a promise he can't make, and that he'd rather not make it at all than break it. He knows he should be leaning in, and kissing them and reminding them how much he loves them, that he appreciates how patient they are, how attentive and forgiving they are to his appearing distance, perhaps more now that they lived in Chicago than when they had stayed behind in New York. He recounts every single shortcoming he can muster within himself, not of his own accord, and also dinner starts in about three hours, and he hears the ring of the timer he set for himself to do a walkthrough, and he has to temp all the coolers still and don't forget to check Mikey’s office for the address book in case it has anything in it and he should probably call back that guy about getting the lights in the back alley fixed and has anyone checked the chicken in the past thirty minutes? 

The brush of their skin against his draws him back, and in the moment his eyes dart down to where their hands touch, he realizes the weight of the cigarette carton in his other. He should offer to chat with them while he takes a break. He should take the ends of their hair between his fingers and compliment them, he doesn't want them to think he hasn't noticed it's changed color. He was observant, if nothing else. 

In his mind, he offers a plethora of compliments, “You look gorgeous today, sugarplum. Your hair looks great, pumpkin. I miss you, jellybean.”

The last stings all too well, burned into his memory by having typed it so frequently just not so long ago. 

Instead, he wraps his fingers around the house key, and pulls it gently until it's close enough to shove into his pocket. He searches their face for any sign of understanding, and he finds apology and sympathy instead. 

Because they didn't understand, and perhaps they never would. But they would again and again wait up two, three, four hours past midnight until they heard the front door open and shut, until they felt the warmth of him next to themselves in bed or found themselves otherwise chasing him down to the couch and sleeping there next to him -- Just so they could say they wake up to see his smile every morning. 

He looks down to the key, dangling from his pocket, and back to them.

“Thank you.”

“See you at home, teddy.”

“Seeya.”

“Didn't even offer me lunch? Tsk, damn, I see how it is,” his expression falters for a moment, and he almost begins to speak before they cut him off with a chuckle, “I’m fuckin’ with you, Carm.”

He almost smiles. They flick a stray crumb from his shirt with a wink before spinning and heading towards the door. 

They turn, catching one last glance at him.

“This place is homey, by the way. You should let me do a shoot here, sometime…Oh, and you can tell your friends my name is Briar!” 

They wave their fingers one last time before headed out back into the city. 

Carmy moves to retreat to the kitchen, nerves still burning where they'd touched him, the echoing sound of their voice in his mind grounding him before he can get too deep into his thoughts again. But when he looks back, he sees the mass of chefs crowded, peeking from the doorway. 

“The fuck, guys?”

“Briar's a fun name,” Tina smiles, “Caught a good one, Jeff.”

“Shit, yeah, don't let that one go.”

“Richie --”

“Not quite how I pictured them.”

“Syd -- You know, fuck all of you. Back to fucking work, please.”

The resounding chorus of “Yes, chef,” that greets his ears in reply has never sounded sweeter. 

#giggles. or something. #hi been a minute since i wrote #.writing #.carm

[psychwxrdd]

MORE STEP BRO DONNIE IM BEGGINGGGGGG

so sorry for taking long sweetheart, i've been working on a lot of requests but i'm really hating everything i write lately. you guys have so many good ideas i wanna write about all of them, at some point i swear i will, just need to work on this because i want it to be good. donnie makes me so inspired y'all can send any requests about him whenever y'all want to !!

Rumours

Summary: Donnie, your step brother, takes you to Middlesex "most haunted house" on Hallowen's night, where apparently, a terrible case of murder happened. He wants to play with Ouija Board. You always believed in demons and evil itself, but never would've imagine it to come this close to you.

masterlist

Warnings: Horror, Demonic Possession, Supernatural themes, Ouija Board, Domestic Violence, Murder, Non Con, 18+

english is not my first language btw, always apologize for any mistakes!

do not read this if any of the warnings makes you feel uncomfortable or triggered. i explore horror, grotesque and dark themes, if you can't stand it, just don't read PLEASE

"Are you sure this won't get us in trouble?" You hissed, already regretting for even suggesting the house near Donnie. You knew he was a freak, knew he would have some stupid idea and he would persuade you to do it, in one way or another. Hands sweating, heart anxious and a belly ache. Felt like you'd die at any second with so much panic.

"Trust me, we're gonna have fun, it's much better than if we just went to some boring party, you wouldn't have a story to tell your kids." He tapped the back of your head and you sighed. You were finally in front of the so called haunted house.

It didn't looked awful, not at all, it was pretty preserved. The rumours said the crime happened back in the late 60s or early 70s, a couple used to live there with their only children. Not a child, actually, probably a teenager or a young adult, you weren't quite sure which one was the "true" history - If anything really did in fact happen, so many different versions were told. They were italians apparently, and the dad was an alcoholic, violent man. You even heard a version telling there was a sister but that she had depression and tried to kill herself, so he send her to a mental hospital. Not because he cared, he didn't wanted people to associate her to them.

Then one day, while his wife and son were sleeping, he woke up and shoot them both. He told the authorities it was the house, that "they told him to do it ", and since they moved in his behaviour had changed completely, making him act like a mad man. No one ever told you the end, what could have possibly happened to him; Was he arrested? Checked in a mental hospital for insanity? Did anyone took it seriously, the possibilty of a possession?

But again, it was just a urban legend. Just some history to tell to your friends in school and make them hold their pee because they are too scared to walk to the bathroom alone. It was stupid to consider and fear this.

"You're coming?" Donnie asked and you blinked, realizing you were thinking too much about it, more than you should. At your big age, shouldn't be so scared of ghost stories.

"Yeah."

"Y'know i won't let anything bad happen to you, first noise and we run as fast as we can" He reassured you, cleaning the Ouija Board with a piece of his shirt. You just nod, too nervous to reply. "Hey, look, we can leave if you're really scared"

"No...I'm not a coward." You tried to act confident.

He opened the door, a sharp sound ringing through the empty, big place. It was definetly very old, smelled like something rotting, something left behind for enough time to be forgotten.

"Shit" Donnie muttered. His eyes scanning the whole living room, a bit amazed. If the family stuff was true, then they were surely rich and europeans in fact. He couldn't help but feel disturbed by the slight different tone of colors next to the window, it didn't looked just dirty, it looked like something you can not wash away, something penetrated permanently. Like when you break a glass of grape juice and take too long to clean, like you slept for days and forgot it there.

You were too tense to dive on it, tho. You didn't wanted to think about what was that, maybe just some other dumb teenagers who got inside the house to drink, do drugs or have sex. It could be anything really.

"C'mon, let's do it Donnie"

"What a badass" He smiled, teasing. You just rolled your eyes.

"Should we do it right here or upstairs?"

"I don't know if those stairs are trustable"

"Or are you just scared?"

This time, Donnie stared at you with an annoyed look, making you laugh.

"I don't fear anything."

"Yeah, sure" You crossed your arms. "I wanna see the bedrooms."

Sighing, he just agreed. Very carefully stepping ground by ground, afraid of it might breaking all of sudden. You held his arm, strongly, more scared of falling than of any ghost.

In fact, the house was very big, you would easily live here - if you had the money to afford it in perhaps another life. The first room was probably the guests one. Following to two big bathrooms, one with a bathtub, and more five rooms. It was hard to guess which one could had possibly belonged to any of them. Again, maybe there weren't any of "them".

"Look at this" Donnie grabbed your wrist, and you felt your mouth opening. That room belonged to a teenager, for sure.

Bowie, Morrison, Nick Drake, MLB and Sharon Tate's posters on the wall, cars and trucks miniatures, organized shells of books... Someone surely used to live there.

"You think his ghost will curse us if we steal some...?" He asked, and you tapped his arm.

"Shut up" You were still curious about everything, but mostly, you were paralized by the fear that hit you once you realized maybe the rumours were true after all. "We're playing it here"

He widened his eyes. "...Okay"

"Whats the stare for?"

"I just don't think it's a good idea, you know, if this was really the son's room and if the history is true, we're being hella disrespectful"

You chuckled, sarcastically.

"Are you fucking serious? Donnie this was your idea! It doesn't matter which place from the house, we're already here for only one reason, that would be disrespectful at anywhere!"

He sighed. You wanted to punch him in the face.

"Yeah, but-"

"Cut the "but", don't be a fucking coward!"

Darko's face went to a blank expression. "Okay, i'm not a fucking coward."

You sat on the floor, no longer wasting time. He followed you.

"You know the rules, don't you?" He asked in a serious tone, you nodded. "Answer with words"

"Yes, i know the rules!" You noticed how tense he was by the mood swing.

"Once we start this, you can not leave, not take your finger off of the board, you have to be focused, alright?"

"Alright" you breathed, heavily. You kind of wanted to cry, you didn't even really wanted this in the beggining, Donnie convinced you. Then he gets scared and regret and now he's dead serious, it did something to your brain. You felt like you were about to have a panic attack at any second.

The silence was bothering you, way too much. You wanted to turn your head and stare at the door every 5 seconds, but you couldn't. The only sound in the room was you and Donnie's heavy breath.

"I start" He explained. You just stared at him, your fingers were holding so tight against the board you saw it was white. "Try to control the shaking hands"

You tried your hardest, but it was almost impossible. You were too nervous, even your chin was creaking a bit.

"Dear spirits, we want to talk. Is there any spirit in the room with us right now?"

Nothing.

"Is anyone else here?"

Nothing.

Your hands both stood there, not moving for anything in this world - and out of this world, mostly. Still, nothing happened.

"Is any spirit in the room willing to talk to us right now?"

Then, it moved. It fucking moved. You felt your whole body tingling, your heart beating faster and your hands felt cold. It couldn't be really happenin, could it?

You knew - felt - Donnie was also scared as hell, but he was stronger than you, he tried to be. He wanted to show you he would protect you, that "he had no fear". Fear is not what move us as human beings, he hated that idea.

"Now that you're in the room with us, please, tell us your name"

Your hands both moved to random letters. It didn't made any sense, it seemed like just a bunch of non sense words. You were quick to come with one, it was "bowshed".

You were both paralized in fear, you could feel Donnie's hand sweating.

"How did you died?"

Again, the hands moved to random letters. The same letters. "bowshed".

You could tell Donnie was trying hard to figure out what word was that, what the hell did that meant.

"When did you died?"

The hands moved to the numbers over the board. "31/10/1973"

Your eyes were filled with tears, but you breathed and swallowed, you had to be brave.

"What do you want?" Donnie asked, and you stared at him with wide eyes. The wasn't exactly a proper question to ask to a ghost you invoked, probably.

"Donnie, what are you doing?"

He then took his hands off of the board, all of sudden, standing up, moving towards you so quickly you thought it was inhuman. He grabbed you by the throat.

"Don-" You struggled to finish, chocking on his strong hands "Donnie..."

There was something different about his eyes. It didn't looked dark, or red, or any other color. But it looked like someone else's eyes. It wasn't Donnie, it looked so weird, so disturbing. If it wasn't for his hands on your neck, you would scream in fear.

"Who invited you, bitch?" He hollered, you smelled alcohol and weed on his breath. "Huh?"

His veins were popping out of his forehead in anger, his face looked red.

"Cat got your tongue?" He threw you on the floor and you desperatedly cried and gasped for air, crawling backwards in direction to the door. But before you could get there, you heard it slamming hard.

Donnie, or whoever was that, kept staring at you. He took his belt off, and you frozed, crying hysterically. You were ready to feel the pain against your skin, but then you heard a woman screaming.

You opened your eyes, and the scene in front of you made you feel chills all over your body; Donnie was smiling at you. Not the usual smiles he gave you, this was sinister. You just wanted to run to your mom now, you were in fact a coward, it didn't mattered.

You heard now also the sound of what it seemed to be a boy crying, it was horrible to hear. There was blood all over the floor, you couldn't tell where was it coming from.

Then he suddenly grabbed you, turning you around and pressing your face agaisnt the floor. This couldn't be happening. He sat upon you, lifting your dress up and beating the belt on your ass.

"Gotta teach you some manners, whore. Teach you to not fucking get to whats none of your business"

He hitted, again. Again. Again. Again. The more he hitted you, the more you heard the woman voice's screaming. You never wished so bad to have a nightmare, you wanted this all to be nothing more than a nightmare.

"Please, stop..." You begged, sobbing.

You heard him unzipping his pants. No, no, no, this wasn't happening. You were not there.

"What did you do to Donnie?" you cried, "Where is my brother, what have you done to him?"

He said nothing, only putting your panties to the side and spitting on your clit. He rubbed slowly, and your body reacted slightly, as terrible as it sounds.

He placed himself inside you, and you screamed at his size. "Thats it, my little step sis" You frozed, how the fuck did that thing knew that?

You cried and he held your hair with one hand, pounding into you like you were just as inhuman as him. The pain started to feel like pleasure, somehow, maybe it was just your body protecting you. You never felt so terrified, ever, this was all unreal, this was an horror movie.

It wasn't a movie. It was your life.

"He is dead" He mumbled. "Bloodshed"

Your eyes grew wide. "What...What did you just..."

"Bloodshed. They are all dead."

#donnie darko x reader #donnie darko x yn #donnie darko x you #donnie x reader #donnie x y/n #donnie x you #donnie darko fanfic #donnie darko #jake gyllenhaal #jake gyllenhaal x you #jake gyllenhaal x reader #jake gyllenhaal x y/n #horror #ouija board #dark fanfiction #horror fanfiction #supernatural #stepbro! donnie #stepbro! donnie darko

[jackalopetrope]

I'm experiencing The Locked Tomb again, and the Second Reading (or listening in my case, I'm doing audio books this time), is absolutely DELICIOUS. It's like, a whole different book. Littered with details that couldn't possibly be enjoyed without having read the subsequent story beforehand!!

I've had to pause and jot some things down just because they make me feel ways (this is obviously full of spoilers):

In Chapter 6:

1) Aiglamene is teaching Gideon how to wield a rapier and tells her, her hands "Shouldn't be twins, but sisters", that they have different roles, but should be aware and support each other or something. And I was, Tamsyn are you sending me secret messages about the Third?

2) Harrow is speaking to the congregation and Gideon is thinking about how full of shit she is, but then Harrow says something like how no one will ever love the Ninth like she does, that "her heart is interred here", and Gideon is like well actually that bit sounded sincere. Oh boy. It sure is Harrow. Sounds like Ninth Poetic Gothic Nonsense, but in Hindsight, really quite literal. Well done Muir.

3) This one is a little less direct but when Gideon realizes she may never return to the Ninth and thinking that that somehow makes it seem fragile, that by turning her back on it, not looking at it, it might fall apart. Likes she's destroying it... Omg 😰 Just sort of rang like a precursor to how she felt about Harrow "turning her back on her" with the lobotomy y'know?

4) So Harrow and Gideon are getting on to the shuttle to Canaan and tension is high, they are not happy with each other and Harrow says "I want to watch you die", and Gideon, just super hyped to finally be escaping, smugly saying "Well you won't do it here." (Here being the ninth) 😭 Tamsynnn

Chapter 9:

When Ianthe catches Gideon hiding in dark, listening in on the third, she refers to "the necromancer of the third house", necromancer SINGULAR. Nice little drop there.

Chapter 14:

Harrow says "I'm not equipped to deal with a spirit attached to a live nervous system, you're so noisy!", implying Harrow is equipped to deal with spirits NOT attached to live nervous systems, like say, a bunch of dead kids haunting you???

Chapter 15:

Harrow says "She never liked that cursed thing anyway" in regards to Gideons longsword, said she always felt it was "judging her". Which is a weird thing to say about a sword Harrow

Also my current crazy theories that may debunked during this book or the next two because I don't remember all the lore:

1) Teacher is John? The colorful belts and the bracelets mentioned on Ianthe and Kiriona are like... Control belts or something. John needed a way to "be" on that planet without going to the system. John got hyper paranoid after all his Lyctors betrayed him, and wanted security measures on his Princes?? Like clearly he isn't aware of what they doing all the time, but maybe he can, remote in? Idk. Crazy theory.

2) Cytherea is the only reason Gideon made it through the aversion trial. Or Harrow rather, because I'm not convinced Gideons body didn't die. (Or do her escape death trick). During that sequence Gideon starts throwing up blood and seems like it's going to end very quickly then Dulcinea is like No! And the blood dries up, and the soul sucking pain is described as moving around Gideons body... I don't think Harrow would be experienced enough to adjust her siphoning like that. Also Dulcinea was clearly very intent on that key. At first I thought in half memory of the scene that maybe she was just interested in seeing if Gideon COULD survive the trial. But I don't think she cared who got her that key really.

Idk! I'm only on Chapter 20 of Gideon. I've gone completely nuts about these books.

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #nona the ninth #the locked tomb spoilers

[gooeygoldies]

Y'know what surprise post it's Otacon time he's on my mind rn (I have had some of the songs I've assigned to him on repeat lately) pokemon au is back!! Og mgs, mgs2 and mgs4

BUT YEAH!! POKEMON!!! he's one of my -if not the- most developed character au-wise in regards to pokemon and teams and things so yuh yuh under cut my insane person rambles

Okay SO we are going by game.

Mgs

- Porygon and Magnemite: Very straightforward the hacker/engineer pokemon duo!! He got them in college. His buddies his pals

- Sobble: actual plot here! It was a gift by Sniper wolf, who had Intelleon as her main pokemon. It is very much like him in the first game (cries and can turn invisible, in this au he got the camo gear idea from Sobble!!) and is perked upon his shoulder always. Also the water type is a sad little connection to the.pool. yeah. Anyways, he leaves it behind after leaving shadow Moses cuz he isn't a crybaby anymore!! Character growth!! The Sobble is okay don't worry about it

- Venonat: in au-lore. Originally assigned cuz I felt they looked alike, also a nocturnal pokemon to accompany him! But it was a pokemon he saved from being attacked by wolf's mightyenas (stand-in for wolves) it helps him sneak around shadow Moses thanks to its enhanced sight!

Mgs2 (now we get more into my own lore)

- Porygon2 and Magneton: Evolved!! Thanks to philanthropy that is, now they battle alongside snake and Otacon and are key helpers in all things electricity. Magneton is especially key in destabilizing electrical power sources

- Patrat (Shiny): Shiny bcs the color scheme felt cuter, but aside from that its here to match the 'eyes in the sky' role Otacon has now. A little sentinel! It keeps guard if accompanying snake or Otacon in missions.

- Swadloon: its all cozy and cooped up like. Like a nerd. But beside that, and it's role in the future (aka MGS4) it's main function is to sew up any torn garments, and helped Otacon make the new sneaking suit.

- Joltik: you know the bug things set to record conversations in spy movies? Make it an actual bug. Also it eats electricity so its a rlly good pal to have on the computer.

- Helioptile: It's actually a power generator!! Solar powered friend and I'd feel it would've been caught while moving around for philanthropy

* Venonat: He's still there!

Mgs4

Porygon2 & Magneton: Same ol' guys

Galvantula, Watchog, Heliolisk, Venomoth: They all evolved! Even if they spend most of their time in the nomad, Otacon took the time to train all of them after Snake's health started deteriorating just in case they needed to protect Sunny.

Leavanny: Honorable and separate mention! The nanny pokemon and it evolves by friendship. Evolved not long after Sunny arrived into his life, as the pokemon category implies, it takes care of Sunny as well!! Main caretaker whenever Snake and Otacon need some backup in that regard

Rotom: you know Rotom dex? Think metal gear Rotom... Rotom gear. But it's the mk.II instead. Rotom powered! The little dude also helps with every day appliances with it's usual forms

Beheeyem: It matches his sleeker, cooler look. That concept art with the coat? It's the cooler nerd pokemon

Porygon-Z: Used to be Emma's, and it ends up being the last puzzle piece in FOXALIVE in this au. She gave it to him before, y'know, spoilers but dying and all dat!

Well that's it!! I love Otacon he's so me I'm so him. Nerds with big glasses... Hopefully if I get the energy I'll do more deep dives like these but tbh for Snake his team is p static. Whatever !!! Ty guys for listening gn !!

#long one #mgs #pokemon #pokemon au #metal gear solid #metal gear pokemon #otacon

[hamofjustice]

I don't want to just painstakingly copypaste my triple-layered self-QRT thread about it on Twitter and any other ones floating around but

I am very emotionally invested in seeing Penny, Arven, and (personally) especially Nemona again in the Scarlet/Violet DLC, after GF followed up the best 3 hours of Pokemon game story ever by having to abruptly cut it off the second these lonely kids finish opening up to you and say you can hang out with them anytime. Which you never do. It was some pretty painful whiplash, and I was sure the main point of the DLC was to relieve that, especially when their arcs don't seem quite complete yet. Very clever, evil marketing! But uh... well... about that...

It is very worrying that aside from a little "the story so far" montage, they have not been seen or mentioned in promotional material/footage whatsoever. Y'know, DLC for the game that's about how the real treasure was the friends you found along the way (literally, in Nemona's case), and even if your family and support systems fail you, you still have each other? Written from the heart by someone who said Arven's story is inspired by their own life? With the sappy Ed Sheeran song about reaching out for connection with others, that also seems to be named after Team Star? The game where one of the features the devs seemed most proud of was going on adventures and into boss fights with 3 of your friends? The game that ended with a fully functional and quite immersive bonding adventure with these characters you'd gotten to know and care about, that basically everyone thought was the best part of the game by a mile, and were left wishing the whole game was like that?

Yeah, I (and everyone else) have been driving around alone in that game for 8 months ever since finishing that story. 8 months of minor updates with a ton of the beloved characters functionally or literally gone, while we go around doing online stuff with nothing else to do in the world, with a single player postgame more barren than we had on Game Boy Color (thank god for mints and bottle caps though). I'm left just... wanting to go back to the way things were before I beat the game. Not to be overly dramatic, but this world I supposedly saved feels like one I failed to save. And I'm getting really frustrated. (The framerate hasn't gotten any better, either, but this isn't about that.)

It's like Game Freak (or whoever forced this thing out a year early, or both) never expected you to boot the game up again once you got bored of the Ace Academy Tournament, which the game acts like is the entire total of what you could want from being friends and "rivals for life" with your squad (I mean I'm the sicko that loves Tera Raids, so I'm not that bored, but still). It makes a bunch of implications that your adventure is just beginning, and then it totally just... isn't. Why is the E4 building closed? Why do you only rematch the gyms once? And most of all, for me personally: Why did we get access to our friends' rooms if there's nothing to do or talk about there? (Besides look for character study clues, which they have lots of)

All they could come up with when asked to write a newsletter email about what you can still do in S/V and why you should still be playing it was Raids. That was it. Remember when you had an endless challenge in the Tower/Maison that you could optionally take on with a bunch of story characters as your partners instead of alone, that motivated you to keep getting stronger bit by bit? Remember rematching gym leaders multiple times and watching their teams grow and evolve each time? Yeah, there's none of that here, because that would take more than a week to implement. If you want friends and you want battles, you'll have to do it yourself online now. They're not allocating any budget for that.

Your rival for life, who's so excited you're on her level now, who seems to have the passion and skill to be the your Battle Tower gameplay loop by herself if she wanted to, who battles you for hours offscreen with multiple teams, whose whole character arc is that she finally has someone she can do this with... is fully static, with one kinda mediocre team that never grows or changes. She can't keep up with you and doesn't know what items or EVs are. You have to get lucky to even see her at all. She is no more your rival than your Home Ec teacher is (no offense Saguaro, you're cool too). I think it's really, really sad.

I'm left nostalgic and pining to go back, having to cope through fanfic because my character can't spend the day with - or even so much as take a new trainer card photo with - the girl who said they might be her greatest treasure, without resetting my save, because she and the others are standing somewhere that the camera and internet features are both disabled.

Like, legitimately, I want to keep being friends with these kids the way we were before, and have the ability to do post-game stuff with them, like being able to go out and adventure together whenever in some basic, non-story capacity, or just, I don't know, maybe give them more than one line of dialogue in their rooms? I don't want a new region or new characters. Not yet, anyway.

I thought I was preordering the continuation of their story and rewarding the company for making me care about Pokemon so much again.

But, uh... I'm really worried that the people who own these characters do not care. And as I said on the trailer's comments before they turned them off (lol), I'll be pissed enough to not buy any more games if I'm right, and we're forced to abandon these poor kids. At the very least, it's some pretty garbage marketing to leave the possibility of that up in the air. If nothing else, that is a frustration that I'm going to keep talking about for a while, even if it ends up being fine.

I thought it was impossible, and I was being silly. Why not have our friends in cute new outfits as promo art when the DLC was first announced, and all they had was promo art? Seems like an easy slam dunk. Oh, they didn't yet? Well, I'm sure it'll happen eventually.

And then they weren't in the trailer either, months later. Are they trying to sell us on it or not?

The whole reason I want the DLCs. Still not a single word acknowledging them, just that little opening montage. Still no hints of how the DLCs have anything to do with Area Zero's ongoing story, either. How is a sea turtle linked with a landlocked crater?

So like... At this point I have to assume both DLCs start with you making your friends cry as they're left alone again, arbitrarily excluded from events they're more than qualified to be invited to, to make room for some new dweebs we don't need, who won't be given nearly enough time to be as compelling as Nemona, Arven, and Penny were, because that makes the trailer look more like a new game, and that's the only way they know how to advertise. More. New. Buy. Consume. Throw away. Buy. Consume. Throw away. I should assume this so that whatever we get can't be worse.

But they're probably not (self-aware enough / allowed / both) to write that. Your lonely / orphaned / anime-binging friends might just cheer you on for getting to go do something cool like being forced to train a new legendary because the story said so, then go back to being statues with as much relevance to your life as an NPC in a third story apartment that tells you what a hold item is.

Can't I just live in Paldea with my friends, in the version of the game we would have gotten if it was finished, instead of being pulled into these adventures for the sake of looking good in a trailer? (which it doesn't btw lol) It's not an unrealistic thing to want when that's what it briefly was, and I was so excited that it would keep being that I've been thinking about it this entire time.

...

I hope I'm wrong about all this, and next year I can look back on this post, happy that the DLC did actually allow us to continue to take care of these characters, conclude Area Zero's mysteries in a satisfying way, fix up some technical issues, let us relive some things that are currently once-only (including letting us see that photo album our character made but we had to screenshot ourselves), and make it fun to keep playing for years afterward, and let that be the model for games going forward, but uh...

They really are not showing me anything I care about in the game I desperately want to care about, that I saw - and wanted to defend - the heart in, despite the circumstances it was produced under, and that really worries and frustrates me. The surprisingly many great things about this game got my hopes up for an awesome postgame full of warm fuzzy feelings and cool things to do 8 months ago that just didn't deliver, and now, I'm not sure if they'll even let me pay for one, at this rate, because they're not advertising one.

Just throw us a scrap. If whoever's in charge here stops caring about this story, I won't care about the next one.

Anyone else feeling this?

#nemona #arven #penny pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sv spoilers #nemona pokemon #arven pokemon #pokemon #pokemon dlc #pokemon sv dlc #uh what else #original content #nemonaposting #this was meant to be shorter than those threads but it wasn't oops #if i wanted to educate people who haven't played the game and add gifs it'd be much worse #before this point i was basically just keeping up with pokemon for the music and the gen-to-gen competitive patch notes #this shit changed everything and i don't want to treat it like it didn't. #this post now features even more complaining in it for the late readers #pokemon sv #pennyposting #arvenposting

[bowcrazy]

Tsurune Character Songs Album Review

We had a lot of thoughts about these songs while working with the lyrics, so we decided to do a mini album review! Please enjoy listening to each songs as we reflect on the lyrics and composition~

Up Stairs

Mod Yumi: A very gentle, comforting song, as expected from a Minato/Seiya duet. The composers did an excellent job capturing the feeling of nostalgia; this somehow feels like a song I've known and loved for years. The lyrics are perfect--I love the references to the bridge scene from s1 ep10. The line "I had a place where my heart could relax" is so precious <3 Overall, I don't think it's the strongest song on the album, but it's definitely one of my top faves!

Mod Optimus Prime: A heartfelt way to start off the album! It's very sweet and mellow, which of course really fits the fact that, y'know, the song is about Minato and Seiya's relationship! It's more or less just a straight callback to all of season one, but it's really touching how (both literally and figuratively) they come together at the end there.

Crossover

Mod Yumi: This song is so excessively dramatic and I kinda love it?? It does NOT sound like a song that ties into a soothing, chill slice of life archery anime and I am here for it. But I'm also weak for synth horns; give me a cheesy overexuberant fake brass section and I'm sold. Bonus points for all of the archery references and unnecessarily homoerotic lyrics. (And special shoutout to Mod Optimus Prime, our resident FukuJun stan, for helping me with the color codes because I was completely lost lmao)

Mod Optimus Prime: Probably the character duo song with the most...attitude to it? And sass, which of course, fits these two incredibly troublesome boys. To me, it's almost like the two are having a back-and-forth with each other while also brazenly admitting to each other just how tangled up they are—admittedly a reoccurring theme for the duet songs, but that doesn't make it any less cute, I think!

Ari no Mama de

Mod Yumi: Very cute and wholesome, doesn't really do it for me in terms of composition though. I do think this is the most well-acted song on the album. Having heard both of these seiyuu sing as other characters (notably Suzuki Ryouta as Bisco from Sabikui Bisco and Yano Shougo as Mafuyu from Given), I was blown away by how different they both managed to sound! Changing your voice to that extent while singing is not an easy thing to do. I was also tickled by the fact that they both noticeably sang less well than I know they're both capable of singing, because it suited the characters better to do so. Listening to this song, you wouldn't think either of these singers are particularly talented, but that fact is proof in and of itself that they ARE talented. Mad respect for the skill displayed here!

Mod Optimus Prime: Unsurprisingly, sunshine boy Ryouhei and the other local cheery boy have an easygoing and slow duet! I can't really say too much aside from the fact that the lyrics are both just really cute and earnest—you can see Ryouhei's influence here, haha.

Growing Up

Mod Yumi: Very cute, very catchy! I enjoy this song a lot. As a side note, I find it interesting that besides Minato, Nanao is the only character to be featured in two songs. One of the things I like about Nanao is that he's characterized mainly through his relationships with other characters. Sometimes when we see this happening it's more to do with lazy character writing (and lbr, it usually happens with female characters). But in this case, it actually builds our understanding of the character, rather than just casting him into the side character role of 'only here to develop the MCs'. To me it's always felt like he's the most put-together of the team, watching over everyone else and giving them a nudge in the right direction, while blending in so effortlessly they don't suspect a thing, like the social chameleon he is. Oops, this just turned into me gushing about Tsurune character writing lol. The song's nice idk what else to tell ya

Mod Optimus Prime: Also yet another honest song—a rare thing for Kacchan! It's obviously about Kaito and Nanao's close friendship and the further development during season two, so it's fitting we also get to see more of Nanao's (somewhat hidden) stubborn side here. Not to meme here, but really shows how their relationship fits the, "the more things change, the more things stay the same," aka them supporting ("protecting") each other through thick and thin.

Gekkou

Mod Yumi: I'm not the biggest fan of the composition of this song. I can't put my finger on why, but the main melody isn't working for me (and doesn't work great for Asashin's voice either tbh). That said, the backing track lives rent free in my head, I'm OBSESSED. And I love the dreamy feel of the lyrics! Whereas the others feel more like a dialogue between the singers, this one feels like a poem. The ethereal quality of the music and the lyrics draws me back to Masa-san's introduction, when he was a cryptid/ghost (lmao) appearing in the dead of night to guide Minato back to archery

Mod Optimus Prime: I've only heard Asanuma Shintarou (Masaki's VA) sing in a higher register, so this was both surprising and pleasant—it's quite soothing to hear! It's also fitting that the only Real Adult™️ with bounds of experience compared to these young'uns gets a really poetic and dramatic song with, of course, lots of moon references.

Kyoumei

Mod Yumi: THIS IS THE BEST ONE. This song is a legit bop omg. Leave it to luck life to give us a character song that exceeds typical character songs! I also love the meaning of the lyrics; it almost feels like a new angle on the Shuu/Minato relationship in a way? Of course we know their history and their affectionate rivalry, but we don't really see either of them putting into words how they feel about each other (especially Shuu-- I had to laugh at the line "we didn't need mundane words"; like no dude we could actually use a few more words from you, given your track record of communicating approximately 7% of your thoughts smh). This song puts into words how much they mean to each other and how, despite their complicated history and rivalry, they still care about each other.

Mod Optimus Prime: Luck Life actually composed this song, which really shows in the style (that catchy guitar, anyone?)! I adore the constant references to "sounds"—while a bit cheesy and on those nose, of course, it fits these two to a T and calls back to that season one finale. Again, not that any of the songs are really subtle, but "We might be apart, but I believe we'll someday return / So we didn't need mundane words" really just sums up their unique friendship/rivalry. Also, love how the two only sing together at the end: really fits with the song's whole message/theme about the two being separated, but eventually reuniting! How sweet.

#tsurune #tsurune: kazemai koukou kyuudobu #tsurune character songs album #narumiya minato #takehaya seiya #nikaidou eisuke #fuwa koushirou #yamanouchi ryouhei #kisaragi nanao #onogi kaito #takigawa masaki #fujiwara shuu #uemura yuuto #ichikawa aoi #fukuyama jun #kondou takayuki #suzuki ryouta #yano shougo #ishikawa kaito #asanuma shintarou #ono kenshou

[magnetic-heretic]

Intro Post:

Ello folks! The time has come that I do something in this place that isn't just lurking and doing the occasional commenting/reposting, so yay first post!

I usually post in reddit more, but I'm slowly starting to lean more into posting here as well. Only reason I didn't at first is because I was still trying to get used to tumblr itself.

I still am.

But y'know, the more I lurked here, the more I wanted to join in on the fun, especially oc-wise. I have a couple ocs that I want to share myself, though I'll probably make a separate post dedicated to detailed descriptions of each + ref sheets. But speaking of ocs, those of you that use wattpad or quotev, might recognize this one.

Yep, that's Bell, my main oc. Chances are, you might have heard of him from my fanfic Ship In A Bottle. The gist of his character is: What if there was someone on the good side who can level the playing field LBD created? The black chess pieces against her army of white?

That's where Bell comes in. The person most think to be just the back-up hero that occasionally steps into battle when MK and Mei need an extra hand.

Gee, I wonder what his powers are.

He doesn't come into public eye as often as the M&Ms do, but that's either because he's busy moving the black pieces on the board...

Or he's just lazy.

His dynamic with the main gang boils down to 'older brother who's supposed to keep the two hyperactive siblings from doing anything stupid, but also wants to see what would happen without getting in trouble himself.'

His ref sheet (using the lego art style) will be posted along with my other ocs' refs + a more detailed description of him. You can find more about them yourself by reading Ship In A Bottle in either Wattpad or Quotev. One thing I want to note though, it's written in a reader-insert format that uses she/her pronouns at the beginning chapters.

This is because I only got the idea of making him a guy in the middle of writing, and I didn't want current readers to feel cheated on. You'll notice in later chapters that Bell shifts more into using they/them pronouns. Maybe when I post the fic on Ao3, I'll edit it with he/him pronouns.

OCs and Characters like Bell, MK, and Mei are also written as teens in the fic, just in case that doesn't sit right with you.

Anyway before I end the post, I'll leave you guys with this. If I had to describe Bell (or the fic in general) in one sentence, I'd go with:

Blue is a really funny color.

So that's my introduction post! Don't worry. Chances are, while you're reading this, I'm already working on the ref sheets and descriptions. Don't be scared to ask questions even if I can't figure out how ask boxes work yet but baby steps!

Here's to my first post on tumblr, and thank you for your time!

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lmk #lmk oc #monkie kid oc #lmk oc art #lego monkie kid oc #first post #I am terminally on reddit and need variety #I already have hazbin gnawing on my ankle #Now my other ankle is being pulled by the funny monke show

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The Royal Treatment

Hey, I have a prompt for my favorite writer:) I know you were thinking of taking a bit of a break from writing so many requests so no pressure I just had some inspiration I wanted to share. So, what about a sad twist to Virgil’s changing eyeshadow color? Black often represents evil and sin but it also represents life, immortality, and stability. Meanwhile purple often represents royalty, whimsy, and transition but also penitence, mourning, and artificiality. Black is made of every color and purple from just two. Anyway as anxiety I don’t think Virgil would voluntarily change. – anon

Hey if you feel up to it I have a very sad hurt/comfort request! Purple is the color of royalty right? But roman isn’t purple, Virgil is or at least is becoming purple. Maybe roman can’t carry the crown after all of the stuff that happened and Virgil was forced to take it. Or plot twist, Virgil was the real ‘king’ of the mindscape all along, cause everyone is born with fight or flight but not an imagination. Roman and Virgil are the only ones who know about the situation, and don’t trust the others due to *insert more angst*. Basically they end up comforting each other even as they fall apart. All while continuing to play their roles as if everything is fine. Anyway hope your part of the world isn’t burning to hell :P – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: bruised ego--literal in Roman's case

Pairings: all gen

Word Count: 3304

Virgil sits himself up with a grunt, glancing around to make sure that everyone has stopped gawking over him, and makes eye contact with Roman.

That had been too close.

    "Hey, Virgil, your eyeshadow's a different color."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." Patton leans over, peering at him. "It looks really purple and sparkly. It looks great, kiddo!"

"Uh, thanks."

"I do like the color," Logan agrees, looking up from his notebook. "What made you decide to change it?"

"It's not, uh, it's not something I consciously change." Virgil shifts on the couch. "It's related to, y'know…"

"Ah, it's Trait-based, I see. Well, in that case, I am glad to hear that you are experiencing less Anxiety."

"Thanks, L."

"Oh, kiddo!" Virgil has only a few moments to brace before Patton launches himself over the coffee table to hug him. "I'm so happy!"

"Easy, Pat, you're gonna knock me over."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine, just—you're not a boa constrictor, ease up a bit."

"What's all this about Patton stealing my thunder?"

"Not your thunder, Janus, but rather your snake-like—oh, it was a saying, yes, I see."

Janus rolls his eyes fondly and props two of his hands on his hips, examining the Patton-Virgil pile on the couch. "Might I be enlightened as to why we're tackling Virgil onto the couch?"

"'We are not doing anything, bud, so you can—"

"Look at Virgil's eyeshadow!"

Virgil winces as Janus takes the opportunity to loom so close to his face that it's a wonder he can see anything at all. He screws up his expression and leans as far back as the couch—and Patton—will permit as Janus hums.

"It really is pretty," he says softly, a far cry from the sarcastic tone from earlier, "it looks good, sweetie."

"…thanks."

Seemingly satisfied, Janus pulls away and goes to sit next to Logan, talking about something. Patton gives him one last exuberant squeeze before he too leaves, going back to reading his book on the other half of the couch. Virgil sits himself up with a grunt, glancing around to make sure that everyone has stopped gawking over him, and makes eye contact with Roman.

That had been too close.

***

There's a knock on Virgil's door.

"Come in?"

Roman opens it, glancing over his shoulder and shutting it tightly behind him, fiddling with his hands. Virgil sighs, sitting up, and beckoning him over.

"Hey, Princey."

"Hey." Roman nods jerkily to the spot next to Virgil. "Can I—?"

"Yeah. C'mere."

"Thanks." The bed dips and creaks as Roman sits down, Virgil watching him as he wrestles with the words on his tongue. "I…I didn't know they would notice so quickly."

"Neither did I. But it's my fault, I got careless. You shouldn't be blaming yourself for it." He rests a hand on Roman's shoulder. "I'll just make sure to check before I leave my room going forward."

Roman nods, his gaze still aimed at the floor. Virgil sighs.

"That's not all, is there?"

"I—I don't know how much longer this is going to work," Roman confesses in a whisper, "I just—what if they find out? Then what are we going to do?"

"They're not going to find out, Princey. Not at this point. Hey, listen, listen," he says quickly when Roman opens his mouth to protest, holding up a hand, "at this point, like you said, our roles are pretty well cemented, yeah? You're Creativity, I'm Anxiety. Even if they figure out that you're not the one with the most control of the Imagination and everything, they're not gonna suspect me. They're gonna look at you, and they're gonna look at Remus."

"It is a miracle that Janus hasn't figured it out already," Roman hisses, looking toward the door as if speaking the words would be enough to summon him, "if we keep going—you know we've been looking more into the characters than ever before, if we have to lie more explicitly—"

"Then we'll deal with it."

"He can't find out," Roman stresses, "they can't find out. You know they can't, we have to—"

"I know, Roman. This was mainly my idea in the first place, remember? I know what happens when they get too close to the Imagination's center, I know the risk of letting Janus of all people find something out."

Something dark flickers across his expression and Roman covers the hand on his shoulder with his. "I…I don't regret you coming to stay with us more permanently, even if the way you got here was…"

"Less than ideal, yeah." He shakes off the memory and refocuses. "Look, I know you're nervous. It's going to be okay. Really, I should be thanking you for taking all the heat from this."

Roman shakes his head. "That's just it, though, Virgil, I know I'm supposed to be keeping you safe, and I'll do it for as long as I can, but I—they're starving me, I can't remember the last time they actually had positive feedback, and if I—if I get weaker, I don't—I don't know that I'll be able to hold out."

"They're assholes sometimes, Princey, no bones about it. But you're stronger than you think, and—hey, don't look at me like that. You are. You are," he repeats, softer this time when Roman makes a noise of disbelief, "you have no idea how strong you are."

"I don't feel like it."

"I know, buddy, I know. Hey, look at me—" he reaches out and cups Roman's face in his hands, stroking his cheeks lightly with his thumbs, "hey. You know I think you're the shit, right? You're fucking incredible. Your ability to come up with ideas even out of nothing is unmatched and your work ethic is ungodly."

Roman chuckles, hands coming up to clutch at Virgil's. "Thanks."

"Hey, you look a bit better already."

"Yeah, well…"

"Aww," he teases, ruffling Roman's hair as he blushes, "you're so cute, Princey."

"Hey!" Roman shoves him halfheartedly, only for the blush to get stronger as Virgil coos. "Hey!"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop." He gives Roman a moment to gather himself, leaning forward when the worry begins to show on his face again. "Hey, it's gonna be okay, alright, Princey? Even if this all goes to shit, I've got you."

"I know." Roman looks up at him. "You always do."

***

Unluckily for them, someone does end up figuring it out.

Luckily, though, that someone turns out to be Remus, who explodes into Virgil's room in a mess of green slime and tentacles and tackles him to the floor with a snarl.

"Remus, get off—!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you," Remus growls, Morningstar shoved under Virgil's chin, "what the fuck is wrong with you, you think this is some kind of game?"

"I have no idea—" Virgil coughs— "what you're talking about, let me up—"

"You think my brother is a toy?"

"What?"

"You thought Janny using him as a little puppet was funny? Decide to get in on the action? Or," and Remus drives the spike against his chest, "are you the one who gave him the idea in the first place?"

Oh. Oh, shit. "Remus—"

"No," Remus thunders, slamming him into the floor, "I don't want to hear your fucking excuses. Whatever hold you've got on Roman, you're going to let him go right the fuck now or you and I are gonna find out how corrosive Kraken digestive enzymes really are."

"I don't—I don't have a hold on Roman—listen," Virgil says, reaching up to shove the Morningstar away when Remus growls, "let me summon him and you can ask him."

"What, so you can give him cues on what to say like a good little prince? I don't fucking think so."

"Remus, I—alright," he growls when Remus tries to slam him again, "that's enough."

Remus yells in surprise when Virgil suddenly flips them, pinning the hand on the Morningstar to the floor, his weight heavily on Remus's hips to keep him still, and his free hand held fast against the floor.

"I am not using Roman as a puppet," he says in a low voice, "and you do not have a monopoly on caring about him. Now, are you going to behave and listen?"

Remus glares up at him but lets the Morningstar go. It clatters to the floor and disappears. "Fine. But I swear—"

"You'll feed me to Oliver if you don't like what I have to say, yeah, yeah, you're very scary, I know." Virgil gives him a look. "Are you gonna attack me again if I let you go?"

"…no."

"Good." Virgil sits up, letting Remus do the same, ignoring the murderous words mumbled under his breath as he runs a hand through his hair. "You can start by explaining why you tackled me to the floor."

"You're a lying liar who lies about things and you're lucky it was me who found out and not Janus."

"Lying about what?"

"You," Remus hisses, hands clenching as if on the Morningstar, "and Roman, everything. You're the one who has the most control over the Imagination and you've been letting everyone else beat Roman up for that shit for years. And you've been the worst!"

"Okay, first off, that's an exaggeration—"

"It fucking is not."

"—and second," Virgil continues, giving Remus a warning look, "most of the things that he receives critiques on are his ideas. You two still have control over the Mindscape and the Imagination, you're still Creativity."

"So fucking what, you're the big man in charge and Roman's your little worker toy? Huh?"

"Roman does his job and I do mine."

"That's fucking bullshit," Remus barks, but he doesn't move to fight him again, "you hurt Roman all the fucking time, you're telling me that's just 'doing your job?' You trying to maintain your cover or are you just taking every little excuse you can to remind him who's really in charge?"

"I'm getting real tired of these accusations that I'm hurting Roman, Remus."

"Yeah, well, I'm getting tired of holding my sobbing and beaten brother when he can't fall asleep because he's in too much pain, but yeah, poor you."

Virgil frowns. "What?"

"Oh, don't fucking pretend you don't know."

"I don't know, Remus, I—hey," he says when Remus growls louder, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never laid a hand on Roman, and neither have any of the others as far as I know, so if you can explain it to me—"

"You don't need to!"

"What do you mean, 'I don't need to?'"

"You don't need to lay a hand on him to hurt him," Remus says through clenched teeth, "you and all the other fuckers have been doing just fine hurling all your fucking insults at him."

"What are you talking about—"

"Roman's the fucking ego, you prick," Remus interrupts, "and you assholes keep bruising him!"

Virgil stops. His eyes widen. His mouth drops open. Remus sneers victoriously as he slumps against the desk. "Roman's—where is Roman right now?"

"Why the fuck would I tell you?"

"Please, Remus."

Remus glares at him for a moment before tucking his knees to his chest. "He's in his room."

"Can I—can we— can we go see him?"

"If you think I'm letting you near him right now—"

"Remus, as hard as this might be for you to believe, I do actually care about Roman. A lot. Please. Let me see him."

Remus eyes him warily for a good twenty seconds before he finally mutters something under his breath. "Fine. But if you think that means I'm going to apologize to you, you'll be waiting a long time."

"Sure."

Remus stalks over and grabs his shoulder much harder than necessary to sink them out.

They appear in Roman's room and Virgil immediately looks around, spotting Roman sitting on the edge of the bed. Remus drops his hand away from him like it burns to touch him and rushes to his side, helping him hold something to his ribs.

"Hey, that was fast, where did you…"

Roman trails off as he looks over his shoulder, spotting Virgil for the first time.

"Virgil? What are you doing here, is something wrong? Did something—"

He winces, breath catching as he turns, and the bandage falls away from his side.

Virgil stares at the giant bruise that covers half of Roman's ribs in horrible purplish, reddish agony. He feels sick.

"Princey," he says quietly, "what…what is that?"

Roman looks down, seemingly realizing that he's uncovered it, and holds his hand over it again. "It's nothing."

"That's not nothing, Roman, what the fuck happened to you?"

Roman mumbles something as Remus's glare resumes and Virgil takes a step closer, stopping when Remus hisses at him.

"Roman, let me help, what is that from?"

"…the meeting."

"The meeting?"

"Yeah. You were there."

"I know I was there, Princey, that's why I'm confused, no one touched you, what could…"

You don't need to lay a hand on him to hurt him, Remus had said, Roman's the fucking ego.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, no.

"Oh, buddy," Virgil murmurs as the truth behind Remus's insults hits him square in the chest, "how long has this been going on?"

"Uh—define 'this.'"

"This," Virgil says, risking another step closer, "you, getting wounded and hurt from the things people say, from the things I've said, from the things I don't mean. How long?"

"Um…"

Fuck. Fuck. Virgil's hand tangles in his hair and he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. Remus was right, he can't blame him for being so angry, not when he thought he was doing this to Roman on purpose.

"Princey, why didn't you tell me?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Like fuck it doesn't—"

"Of course it matters, Princey, you're hurting—"

"No," Roman corrects with a grunt, pushing Remus away, "it doesn't. This is what I'm supposed to do, an ego bruises, that's how it works, and I'm supposed to be taking all the hits anyway, it's my responsibility."

"Oh, yeah? And what's his, then, making sure you get all the heat for the stuff he's really in control of?"

Virgil winces as Roman's eyes widen, staring at Remus with a dawning horror. "You—you know—"

"Yeah, I fucking figured it out, so you—whoa, whoa," he says quickly, reaching out and bundling Roman to his chest when Roman starts to panic, "hey, hey, calm down, Roro, it's okay, I didn't tell anyone else."

"You can't—you can't tell them, you can't—"

"I won't, Roro, I promise, hey, you gotta calm down, you're putting more stress on those ribs."

"Remus is right, buddy," Virgil says softly when Roman won't settle, "hey, shh, calm down, Princey, just let him hold you."

"V-Virgil—"

"I'm right here," Virgil says, glancing at Remus and letting out a sigh of relief when Remus lets him come over, "hey, I'm right here, okay? We're both right here, we've got you. You're okay."

How did this happen? How did I let this happen? How long has he been hurting like this? Why didn't he tell me?

Roman eventually lets out a shaky exhale into Remus's shoulder, slumping down into his brother's hold. Virgil cards a hand through his hair, petting against the grain, and he shudders, a wounded noise escaping his throat.

"Can I tell Remus what's going on?"

"Mhm."

"Alright." He glances over. "You and Roman have control over the surface of the Imagination. That's most of the stuff that can be made in there, the ideas for Thomas, all of that. But the deeper parts of the Imagination, the more…primordial parts, those…those are mine."

"They're tied to things like fear and stuff," Roman mumbles, "more primal. We don't have jurisdiction down there, only Virgil does."

Remus frowns, tightening his grip on Roman. "But then why…why do you only get all the insults and stuff? And why can't we tell anyone that?"

Virgil scoffs. "You think they'd react well to learning that fear is at the root of Thomas's Creativity? It's not just fear, it's any strong emotional instinct, but do you really want Patton, Logan, and Janus down there messing about?"

Remus shudders.

"Exactly."

"But they're hurting Roman. You're hurting Roman."

"I didn't know about this. I swear, I didn't." Virgil's hand pauses. "Princey…why didn't you tell me I was hurting you? I would've stopped."

"They can't find out," Roman mumbles, still half hidden in the crook of Remus's neck, "and you…I don't want anyone else to have to go through this. It was bad enough when we made you duck out—"

"You didn't make me do anything. We…we've always had that kind of relationship," Virgil says softly, "we tease and we throw stuff back and forth but we don't mean it. I never mean it, any of it, you—you gotta know that."

Roman's quiet for a little too long and Virgil bites back a curse.

"Princey, I don't mean it. I don't mean any of it. You're so good, buddy, you're amazing and the others don't give you enough credit for it."

"I'm mean to you too."

"But I know you don't really mean it, and I don't get bruised every time someone says something."

"You gotta be better about it, then," Remus mutters, still cuddling Roman protectively, "because they do mean it and if you keep doing it, they're gonna think it's okay."

"I will. I'll stop, I promise. But you gotta stop hiding when you're hurt, buddy, you gotta let me help."

"…okay."

"Yeah?"

"I'm still gonna go to Remus first."

"As long as you go to someone, I don't care who. But will you tell me if I'm the one that hurts you?" Roman nods and Virgil lets out a sigh. "Thank you, Princey."

"Now go to sleep," Remus orders, "you're all floppy."

"Stay?"

"Yeah, I'll stay." Remus glances up. "Is Tall, Dark, and Stormy staying too?"

"I can stay if you want."

"Yeah."

"Okay, buddy, I'll stay." He resumes petting Roman's hair as he slowly drifts off to sleep, waiting until he's sure Roman's out before lowering his voice to a whisper. "How did you figure it out, Remus?"

"Roro let it slip when he was in a lot of pain a while ago. Don't worry, it's not like he's gonna let himself be vulnerable enough around the others to do the same. I just got lucky." He glances up. "And don't worry. I won't tell them."

"Thanks."

"But I meant it. I will feed you to Oliver if you're hurting him."

Virgil chuckles. "I know you will."

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs @el-does-photography @princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl

#dragonbabbles #sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #sympathetic remus #virgil sanders #fic

[tgrailwar]

Tumblr Holy Grail War, Another End: Night 2 (MASTERS FROM BEYOND/Team Avenger)

Everything felt cold.

The maddening colors and sounds from Foreigner's assault stopped... but so did the sensation of your Servants mana.

They were gone.

The silence permeated for a while longer, before a voice cut through.

???: "Hey. Heeeey. Maaaasters. You alive?"

Two silhouettes, both familiar, stare down at you.

'Masculine Shadow': "Welp. They're dead. I guess Foreigner will grab the Grail instead."

'Feminine Shadow': "No, they're looking at us. Give them another moment..."

Avenger(?): "There you are. Don't freak. This is a… safe zone, from Foreigner. She really did a number on the system."

Ruler(?): "Um… hello. It's been a while."

Avenger(?): "Yo, Masters. Despite the new look, it's still me-- and this is 'Ruler', but also kind of not."

Ruler(?): "I'm just a backup that I made in case the gambling mini-game went wrong, but it seemed like a lot more went wrong instead… maybe one hundred three trillion, seventy-three billion, nine hundred fifty-nine million, nine hundred eighty-nine thousand, four hundred and ninety-five Grail Wars was my limit… I'm sorry Masters, I really biffed this. And now my main body has pushed this war to the limit."

Avenger(?): "Technically, one hundred three trillion, seventy-three billion, nine hundred fifty-nine million, nine hundred eighty-nine thousand, four hundred and ninety-four- considering the Archer debacle. But the Grail is full. Again. Since we're so close to the end. Maybe you should introduce yourself. For real this time."

'Ruler': "…Right. I'm not a Servant… not properly, at least. I'm one of the Overseer's two THGW Terminals, modeled off the Einzbern homunculi, the vessel for the 'Lesser Grail'. I guess you guys can keep calling me 'Ruler'… I've gotten used to it. I'm happy to see you all again... and I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused-- the trouble I am causing. RULER is still out there, after all."

'Avenger': "Same here. I'm the other terminal, modeled off 'All The World's Evils'- or the 'Corrupted Grail'- as a countermeasure to our 'Ruler' here. I'm as close to a recreation of the thing as a digital Grail War can get, so I'm fine if you keep calling me 'Avenger'. Nice to meet you. Again."

'Ruler': "Right now, 'I'... the current version of 'myself' that's still acting as the Adjudicator of the Holy Grail War, is currently on a bit of a rampage, and Foreigner is too. Best case, some of you will need to keep her busy, and the rest of you have to destroy the Simulacrum Greater Grail… the Overseer's main terminal, and the source of Avenger and I's data."

'Avenger': "Y'know, you really screwed things up, 'Ruler'. That's what you get for trying to suddenly take on a whole Servant's duties. Then again, I cheated my way into being a Servant too, so I can't really talk. Still... I would have wanted to avoid killing Foreigner, but it seems inevitable. But she'll make the data unsalvageable..."

'Ruler': "I know, I know... but we have work to do. Masters. Just know that destroying the Grail... that'll end all of this. Completely. The absolute end of this Simulated Holy Grail War."

'Ruler': "I've been a bad Ruler, I'm really not cut out for this job… But even as some pathetic backup data, I still have some authority. You have 5 Command Spells left, right? I think that can get you..."

'Avenger': "Hang on. I've still got all three of mine thanks to my Masters. Can you toss that in, too? Verg Avesta and Unlimited Raise Dead are kind of useless at this point."

'Ruler': "Eight Command Spells... I can really do something with that. I'm in charge of developing Spirit Origins for this Grail War after all."

'Avenger': "Hehehe. Told you there was a plan."

'Ruler': "Rider... I can't salvage his data. I'm so sorry... Still, I can salvage the others. Maybe with their memories intact... we'll have to see."

Avenger: "I'm followin' you. So whichever option is in 1st place generates those two Servants at full power with 3 Command Spells, 2nd place does the same, and then 3rd place summons a pair with reduced power. That way we can split ourselves up. Two groups of Servants go to help me fight Foreigner, and the last group goes to destroy the Grail."

Ruler: "Exactly! So, please choose wisely. This will be your final fight as Masters of this Grail War. So survive. Please. I'll be happy to answer any questions you need. My job is to help, after all!"

'Ruler' is using her authority to bring back Servants at the cost of Command Spells!

The results in 1st and 2nd place (costing 3 Command Spells each) will go to confront Foreigner alongside Avenger!

While 3rd place (costing 2 Command Spells) will accompany Ruler to destroy the Greater Grail!

Avenger's skills have changed!

Servant Skills:

'ANGRA MAINYU' (AVENGER / TGHW GRAIL TERMINAL α)

Zarich: Right Fang Grinder (C) - Reduce enemy Servant boosts by -5%.

Tawrich: Left Fang Grinder (C) - Gain a +5% attack boost.

Annihilation Wish (A) - When fully healed, gain a -20% demerit to his final score. With one wound, the demerit is reduced to -10%. With two wounds, the demerit is changed to a +20% boost.

Grail Simulacrum, All The World's Evils (EX) - When part of a battle that results in a Servant dying, absorb a part of their essence. Take a random one of their combat skills for Avenger's own use and recover one Command Spell. When victorious, inflict wounds equal to the amount of Servants consumed.

[Grail Simulacrum, SABER] Heavenly Demonic Thundering Eye (EX) - When fighting in a free-for-all, gain +10% to your final score, and reduce their scores by -5%. If fighting a Servant one-on-one, if the gap between scores is above 20%, inflict 2 wounds.

[Grail Simulacrum, RIDER] Armor of the Nine Worthies (A) - When attacked, reduces the amount of the Servant's final combat poll result by 10%.

[Grail Simulacrum, ASSASSIN] Man-Slayer (A) - When fighting a Servant that possesses a wound, gain a +3% boost. When fighting a Servant that possesses 2 wounds, gain +5% instead.

[Grail Simulacrum, LANCER] Rune Magecraft (B) - When fighting in a free-for-all, gain a +5% to combat score results. Additionally, any skills that reduce scores against Avenger will have their effectiveness reduced by 1%.

[Grail Simulacrum, ARCHER] Hero of the Endowed (A) - If fighting an enemy Servant, and the difference between scores is within 3%, take the win.

Avenger has 2 wounds! He has a +20% boost!

#tgw: another end #team avenger #ruler adjudication #thgw story

[mysticstarlightduck]

OC Interview Tag!

Thank you so much for the tag, @kaylinalexanderbooks (here)!

I'll go with Masen from Of Starlight and Beasts, since I haven't talked about him much before!

1. Are you named after anyone?

"None that I know of. My name's pretty common where I was born - guess my parents just slapped on the papers the first damn thing that came to mind and never thought about it again, which, knowing them, would be exactly the amount of care they ever really put towards me (or my brothers)."

2. When was the last time you cried?

"Uh... rather not talk about it. Trauma and that whole ordeal, y'know. Next question."

3. Do you have kids?

"No, and I don't plan to! At least not on purpose. This bloodline of frauds and criminals dies with me, as far as I am concerned. But if I ever do end up having a kid, accidentally or not, I would try to be thousands of times better than my parents ever were."

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

"Me? Sarcastic? Oh, you wound me with such absurd accusations upon my character. I would never do such a thing. (winks) I am always such a painfully straightforward person, can't you tell? (In case you really can't, this is sarcasm)"

6. What's your eye color?

"Brown."

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Both! A good tale always has its fair share of twists and turns, at times surely frightening, and humor is certainly a key ingredient to any story worth telling. And I guess I am a sucker for happy endings, I admit, but the world's sucky at best and horrifyingly brutal at worst, so I think we shouldn't deprive our fiction from a bit of happiness in the midst of it all."

8. Any special talents?

"I am an incredible bard, if I may say so myself. But I am also an amazing con artist, and a thief of incredible renown, even if the authorities seem to be rather keen on seeing my head on a pike. I also have sailing talents - as any brother of a Pirate King would - and am quite good with the bow and arrow."

9. Where were you born?

"A filthy bilgewater fishing village west of the kingdom best known as Orloch, to two of the scummiest low lives you could ever hope to meet. Idyllic, I know." (rolls his eyes)

10. Do you have any pets?

"None. Me and my brothers could barely stay alive ourselves for most of our lives, and trusting another life to us would not have been the wisest choice, I will admit."

11. What sort of sports do you play?

"Does shooting people who get too knife-happy, and stealing from the filthy rich count as a sport?"

12. How tall are you?

"Pretty tall, though unfortunately shorter than my twin"

13. What was your favorite subject in school?

"I didn't attend any of the royal academies, so I wouldn't know, but one could technically say I am a connoisseur of economics." (Smirks)

14. What is your dream job?

"My dream job was being a musician amongst the nobility. Now my main concern is just 'do not get killed'"

Tagging (gently): @eccaia, @cowboybrunch, @mk-writes-stuff, @tabswrites, @littleladymab, @little-peril-stories, @oh-no-another-idea, @rickie-the-storyteller, @thepeculiarbird, @cabbojage, @the-ellia-west, @clairelsonao3, @crowandmoonwriting, @lassiesandiego, @forthesanityofstorytellers and OPEN TAG

#oc interview #wip of starlight and beasts #writerblr #writers on tumblr #my wips #character writing #writers #writeblr #writing #my writing #my characters

[thenotsoholyspirit]

✨The Devil’s in the Details✨

(Pt 3/?)

(Matt Murdock x Reader)

AU: Well here's the third chapter, I hope you're liking it so far. I'll try to work on my other story these days so if I don't make an update on this one its just that I may be a bit overwhelmed by Uni Thanks ❤️❤️

(Part two in here

Summary: Trying to makes end meet as a young woman has never been easy, even less living in the turbulent city that is New York. When (y/n) will have to make an impossible choice, she'll have to decide between the ones she cares the most. It's never safe to fall in love, especially with that mysterious lawyer at the bar she's been working at and the secret she guards underneath.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/—/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

I have always hated the smell of Hospitals.

As I enter the long term aisle, the scent of bleach and hand sanitizer already overwhelms my senses. My head is already starting to turn.

Saturdays were my only free day of the week, and visiting my mother in the morning has been my routine for quite a while now.

I finally reach her room as I softly knock at her door frame.

“Is Miss Emmerston here ?”

I smile at her as she’s already awake eating her breakfast. I was happy to see her being able to eat solid food again, even if I knew how tasteless the meals here usually were.

“Honey.” She softly smiles back at me, “You came in early today” 

My mother’s voice has always been so sweet. 

Looking at her, I understand how people so often say I’m her carbon cop, the only difference being the color of my skin that I surely inherited from my father. 

“How are you feeling this morning mom ?”

“Not bad… not bad… Doctors have said my last treatment has been giving good results ”

I’ll never know what triggered it all, but I still have the vivid image of my mother laying on the ground as I had to call the emergency number. A late diagnosis of HF they told me, lucky she even made out at this stage. 

Apparently it was a family issue as they also did some exams on me and discovered I did need a pacemaker. I had to decline it as I couldn’t afford it. 

I’ve been ok for now I'll manage  

Of course the total bill didn’t come in cheap, especially as my mother had to often prolong her stays at the hospital.

“I have a good feeling this time” 

I force myself to smile at her. 

I didn't want to worry her either about my current situation and she seemed to be genuinely happy. 

She suddenly gives me a curious look, a little smirk being visible on her lips.

“What about you honey… any special news ?” She murmured, “Any boyfriend out there ?”

I slightly blush as she asks me so, unwillingly thinking about Matt.

“Mom…y know I ain't got time for that stuff”

My mother gives me a sad smile shaking her head 

“You’re so young and pretty, you also need to enjoy life y'know honey”

I look out the window, thinking about my late night conversation with Fisk. He hasn’t reached for me yet.

“I will… I will… for now I'm here for you”

I take her hand as I hold it with a strong grip, giving her a kiss on her forehead.

I'll get you through this mom. No matter what it may cost me

“Anyways” , I lighten my tone a bit as I get some needles and wool from my bag, “It’s time we continue to knit that scarf.. shall we ?“

……….

She hasn’t called in yet.

Maybe it was a bit rushed, but it's been some days and he hasn’t heard anything from the waitress at Josie’s . Matt has started to question if his idea of leaving a contact card was the correct one.

“Matt,  you stop pacing around the room please ?” Foggy murmurs slightly annoyed “I’m trying to read up some papers here”

Matt shakes his head, he wouldn’t admit he was hoping for her call

“Sorry for that Foggs”, he sits down “I’m just trying to come out with a good opening statement for this case” 

“Bullshit, you’re thinking about that girl aren’t you “

Matt sighs, he wasn’t in the mood to have that conversation. Foggy smiles, taking it as an affirmation of his suspicions.

“You could’ve actually given her your number rather than your lawyer credentials” Foggy couldn’t hide is smirk, “She may have thought you were in search of a client, not a date”

Matt chuckles softly as he can’t help but to be humored by Foggy's remark.

“What about both ?” Matt interjects “I can’t explain it, Foggs.. there’s something about her..”

“So you’re attracted to her?”

“No.. o well yes… o well I meant.. I couldn’t exactly read her…it was intriguing”

Foggy didn’t seem to be fully following.

“She was clearly attracted to you too mate.. especially with you using that charm”

Matt shakes his head, that wasn’t the point he was trying to get across. It was mostly obvious (y/n) was attracted to him, her heartbeats increasing and the temperature of her skin getting hotter too. Yet, she didn’t even dare to take a risk at him that night. Not one word, not even a playful tone, it’s like she is holding herself back. Matt could also sense her being overstimulated by the environment yet did not falter to smile once.

“I’m not sure how to explain it…”

He thinks back at the conversation he couldn’t help but to ear drop, as he learned she was the one taking care of her mother.

“I just feel she may also need our help”. 

Foggy stands up as he lets out a chuckle, patting Matt's shoulder.

“I think you’re just trying to justify yourself in here “, as he’s about to leave the room he gives Matt a look “Just try to drop the virtuous vigilante stuff for once and have some fun all right ?” 

Matt resigns as he simply nods

“I will Foggs I will… see ya tomorrow”

As Matt is now alone in his office, he wonders if he should be the one to call back.

The memory of her sweet perfume, soft voice and nervous chuckles returns to his mind again.

All night he could sense her going back and forth serving clients, as he had hoped he could have talked to her more.

Guess that’ll stay a mystery 

Suddenly the phone rings, and Matt is surprised someone had called in so late

“Nelson and Murdock ?”

“Matt is that you.. I don’t know if you remember but you gave me that card… at Josie’s ?”

It was her voice. He freezes for a second until he continues with a nonchalant tone.

“(y/n) glad to hear you.. listen it's late now but we could continue this conversation tomorrow afternoon if you’re free” 

The voice on the other side of the line hesitates slightly but continues.

“I’ll be working… but I could do a cup of coffee during my lunch break “

“Any place in mind or-

“What about Owls Cafe, its not to far from my  job”

Matt liked her decisiveness

“Works for me… then meet ya there at 12 all right ?”

 “All right… goodnight Matt”

“Goodnight”

He hangs as a little smirk appears on his face.

This girl had piqued his curiosity indeed. 

#daredevil x reader #matt murdock x reader #netflix daredevil #daredevil x reader angst #marvel x reader #matt murdock x reader angst

[thorne1435]

I have been on feminizing HRT for one year.

I mean, as I write this, the anniversary is about 5 days away, but I'm queuing it for the exact day, so you will be reading this on my anniversary at the earliest.

I feel the need to say something either to inspire other trans women to go get HRT (seriously go to Planned Parenthood they'll just give you hormones, no referrals. it's great. the informed consent model really saved my life), or to document my changes for pseudo-scientific purposes (this isn't a valid scientific source or anything, I just like to be open about it for information's sake). Either way, uh, let's talk about it!

This post isn't going to be strictly not-safe-for-work or anything, but because anatomical topics are often seen as NSFW, I would read this as if it's a smutfic, if I were you.

Obviously the first big change that everyone thinks of is breast development. I'm not gonna lie to you here, it's not like I got D cups, but I started at the age of 19 so it's not going to be phenomenal for me either way. With that knowledge in mind, I'd say I made out pretty well. I don't know exact sizing or anything, but it's noticeable to the point where I actually have to go out of my way to hide them when I am trying to present as a man around people I can't be out to. I can tell you that I was wearing a padded bra to pass better at work when they hadn't grown yet, and I'm at the point now where they are naturally the size that the (relatively dismal) padding had made them. So that's gotta mean something. I still don't have a lot of the vocabulary that a cis woman would have to describe these things yet, so uh...that's all I can do for you, as a description.

The first change that I noticed, though, was actually within the first week or so, which almost makes me think I hallucinated it, but I remember distinctly being shocked that my skin was already way softer and clearer, which is bizarre! I don't actually remember what it felt like before, but obviously I did at the time, and it was rougher, I remember that much. Not the case anymore! It's such a small detail that it can very quickly fade from your memory entirely, and that's kind of inspiring to me, even though I know it won't work that way for everything else, it's just nice that some parts of my boyhood are just gone forever (as long as i stay on the hormones).

The big change that might discourage some women from getting hormones is genital shrinking. And as I understand it there aren't many ways to avoid that, because suppressing testosterone just has that effect on the male body, but based on my early experiences with the reduced sex drive that is also present when you suppress testosterone, ask for Progesterone when you get started, because it helps a lot, especially with some of the more socially-inconvenient aspects of your hormonal change. There are also some T-blockers that supposedly don't have this issue, like for example Bicalutamide, but if you're going to get Bicalutamide, you're going to be on the standard, "years of referral and bureaucracy" tract, so...y'know, don't hold your breath on that one, it'll take you a long time. I'm fine now though. About a month after I added progesterone to my treatment plan I was back to normal sex drive and everything was fine. Of course, what I mean to say is that the shrinkage has stopped because of the return of my sex drive. It doesn't work that way for everybody, and I thought for sure it wouldn't work that way for me, but if you end up being like me, you could probably minimize the collateral by just asking for prog outright instead of waiting like I did.

Smaller change that makes me infinitely less suicidal and demoralized: my body hair has changed colors! That should be enough of a reason for every transfem to go out and get HRT right now, I mean it! It's so relieving. I remember when I was, like, "Officially Trans" (at least at work) but not on HRT, I used to get distracted by how my arms looked, especially when I was sitting in the sunlight and it was obvious, because the darkness of the hair felt so disgustingly masculine to me that it made me think I had no hope of ever passing as feminine to anyone. And obviously that was wrong: I was able to pass as feminine without hiding my arms at least once or twice before HRT (though to be fair I did not try often). But regardless of that, the fact that I don't spiral into anxiety and self-loathing every time I'm in the sunlight without a coat on anymore is probably the best change so far, all things considered. And I grew tits! So that's saying something, I think.

This body-hair change doesn't apply to my beard in quite the same way. I always had a really good beard as a man and a lot of people liked it and thought it looked great (I did not shave often enough I looked terrible, but I did kinda make it work I guess), it was a deep orange-red color which has now brightened out to that vague off-white blonde, pseudo-translucent color that your smaller peach fuzz hairs have. There are a lot of upsides to that, but there are some limitations to the effects. For example, even though I don't have to worry about stubble as much, when I don't shave it's still fairly noticeable if you're looking. The texture also hasn't changed, it's still very coarse. And this is a source of some dysphoria for me personally, because I don't like that I have a beard at all. Nothing to be done about that, of course, and I sort of think that's a "for good" thing? Even if I had the money for hair removal procedures a lot of them only work if you are pale-skinned and dark-haired, just for physical reasons. At least, last I checked. And while I am very pale-skinned I am not dark-haired. And, well...that's fine, it's whatever. It's fine...I'll just shave forever i guess its cool...its...its whatever... no its fine really im fine. its okay. im fine.

its fine.

Another good contender for "best change so far" is the mental and emotional change. I feel feelings now. I haven't done that in a long time. And it's kind of a rough transition to make, actually, because now I'm reacting very emotionally to things and I really haven't figured out how to cope yet. It's like I'm doing everything that I was doing before but now it's not a performance, it's just an actual innate response and honestly, it's really hard to control. I guess I'll have to work that one out over time. But I would take "Emotional" over "Dead inside" any day. I wish I'd done this sooner, for that reason alone.

Fat redistribution is a bit hard to measure because I've never really had much fat in the first place, but my coworkers told me that I was developing a more feminine silhouette, and that was about a month ago, maybe two? So, I guess what I'm saying here is that you should probably get a friend to look you over every month or so if you're really worried about this change, so they can tell you that you've developed child-bearing hips or whatever else you're looking for. This fat redistribution is supposed to apply to your face as well, and that's something that makes you look more feminine when you've been on HRT for a long time, supposedly. I find it really hard to notice, personally, because I always had a really thin face. And since I wore a thick full beard throughout all of my adolescence, I don't actually know what my old facial structure was, that well. I do think it's gotten thinner. But for me personally, I think that's made me look a little worse. Ya win some, ya lose some. Bitches be ugly sometimes, that's fine. beauty is subjective. It probably won't work that way for most anyone else, it's just I always had femboy-face. Too bad about my beard really, I could've tapped into a market there if I weren't so fucking hairy...anyway what were we talking about?

On the subject of hair, something has been happening to me that is not supposed to be happening according to a lot of the research I did before I sought HRT out. I'm noticing that small patches of my beard aren't growing at all, especially on the sides. I've also noticed similar effects on my leg-hair. That is, 100%, not supposed to happen. As I understand it, based on all the information I could find, HRT cannot undo changes. It can cause changes that haven't happened yet, but once something grows in, no matter what it is, it usually can't go away naturally. I'm not complaining. And, transgender HRT is a very sparsely-researched field as of yet, so maybe this is just something we don't know about, or something about my body chemistry in particular, IDK. I'm not a doctor.

Anyway, that's it. That's my little HRT anniversary journal. If I'm still on tumblr on 7/22/24, I guess I'll do this again. But I have no idea where I'll be in a year.

I hope this is insightful for someone. And I hope that when I look back on this, I either cringe or I cry. Because that means I'm growing up still. (see, that line? that's the one i'll cringe at.)

#transfem #trans #transgender #trans pride #hrt #hrt journal

[vickyvicarious]

I feel Phoenix Wright is among the characters who are like,

"If I didn't have constant anxiety, it'd be over for you."

He already seems impossible from the outside in canon when he's often a nervous wreck. Imagine if that anxiety wasn't there.

Take a look at these three sprites for a second. (It takes a little while, but I promise you'll see the relevance.) They're the confident/smiling forward facing for each person. And... there's some interesting similarities, yes? AJ-era Phoenix's sprite is pretty close to being a perfect mix of Godot and Mia's. His hands in his pockets, midway between Mia's crossed arms and Godot's hands on hips. They're all angling their bodies slightly to the side in the same direction. Mia's head is tilted the opposite way and forward a little; Godot's in line with his shoulders and back; Phoenix is in line with his shoulders but closer to Mia's angle. Heck, even color wise - it's definitely more of a stretch but Phoenix has on a dark jacket and necklace like Mia, but his hat is closer in color to Godot's shirt, and it is also noticeable/bright headwear like the mask.

The reason I bring up these sprites is because... well, in AJ we see Phoenix from the outside for the first time and he really does seem very inscrutable. Knowing him, he's definitely still feeling a lot of anxiety over things, but he doesn't show it and thus we the players don't see it, since he's no longer our POV. I think there are a couple factors at play there as well, because Phoenix certainly seems to have gotten better at hiding his flopsweat moments in that game. You could say there's a certain element of detachment, because despite all his machinations, in the end he isn't a lawyer for any part of that game and so ultimately, the responsibility is no longer his. Maybe that's a factor.

But AJ-era Phoenix (or 'Beanix') keeps coming to mind for me. I realized a few months ago that in that game, his relationship to Kristoph (and the plot itself as well as Apollo) strongly mimics Mia's with Dahlia. However, looking at these sprites got me thinking that he also mimics Godot.

AJ-era Phoenix also returns after a long absence from the legal world, which was forced upon him due to the actions of a poisoner who successfully tricked him (Godot actually got poisoned, Phoenix just disbarred). And when he next shows up in court, he is visibly very different (mask and hair vs. beanie/hoodie). He's also a lot more jaded, and takes an interest in a young new attorney closely linked to the poisoner responsible for his absence. He's secretive, often for what seems like no purpose at all, but has a plan that's only revealed in the final case - which itself was a combination of somewhat longterm planning/buildup, and adapting to unexpected situations right at the last minute. He takes risks and works outside the courtroom/sometimes the law to achieve his goal (the bloody ace isn't exactly the same as stabbing Misty Fey, but, y'know), and in general appears quite different from his past self. However, in the end his goals are very sympathetic, and much more than just simple 'revenge', however morally dubious some of his choices have been.

Obviously, Beanix is not one-to-one with Godot. But I can see a rough sketch of similarities there, and certainly in general attitude/vibe they're more similar than Phoenix and Mia seem to be at that point. Even some of the things Godot says seem like they could be a Beanix quote (this came to mind). I think there's at least enough to go on to say that AJ-era Phoenix is once again a mix of Mia and Godot.

I find this interesting because Phoenix looked up to Mia right from the beginning, and modeled so much of his behavior, strategies, and philosophies after her. And yet, she just as obviously learned a lot from Diego, back when she was the inexperienced new lawyer. The most notable being, of course, the quote passed down to Mia and then Phoenix: "A lawyer only cries when it's all over." (Another Godot quote that seems to apply to Beanix is this one.) And the thing is, Phoenix looks up to Mia so much, and she generally seems pretty knowledgeable and unflappable, but once we get inside her head/play a few cases as her we see she has a lot of nervousness hidden behind her facade, much like Phoenix. Of course, those cases were when she was a rookie attorney, but I think the point stands. Godot also reveals a heck of a lot of issues and self-recrimination later on, but for the most part he's really good at seeming very confident. It's another similarity between all of them.

And yet, Godot's problems are more personal. When it comes to the courtroom, he's actually pretty legitimately confident for the most part. At least, I think so. He loses every case we see him try, but it's not for a lack of ability so much as a lack of care. His strategies are good, if unorthodox for a prosecutor (because he's acting more like a defence attorney). He knows what he's doing in court, and although he definitely gets surprised/owned at times, for the most part he's pretty unflappable and fairly quick to recover. Basically, this meta by @theggning is great and I'm trying to restate it briefly, but go read the whole thing. I also think there's a great argument to be made for Mia being quite similar in court. Less cryptic shenanigans, but the same type of underlying confidence in her abilities/craft to back up her determination to protect her clients. Unfortunately, we've never seen her in a case outside of her rookie ones/being a ghost during brief points in Phoenix's trials, so I can't point to specifics as much.

ALL OF THIS TO SAY... as soon as I read your ask, I thought of Godot. I thought of Mia, too. I think that "a more confident Phoenix" would be a lot more similar to the both of them, than to anyone else. You could even say it's a natural extension of his arc, and that it's at least somewhat represented in AJ. In a funny way, you can also read that very same game's events as the reason why he doesn't seem as confident as you might expect him to be once he returns to law in Dual Destinies (his failure with the ace/getting disbarred leading to being somewhat unfamiliar in the courtroom after so long, the pressure of living up to his reputation, the heavy responsibility of protecting his clients again, etc. - you know, vs. the writers just wanting to go back to lawyer!Phoenix and not always thinking too much about his characterization during AJ and how that would develop when they did so). But certainly during AJ, especially from Apollo's outside perspective, I think we get a lot closer to the image of a supremely confident Phoenix Wright.

At least as far as I picture it! I don't think it would make too much difference in terms of him being unstoppable - since like you said, he pretty much already is. But there would be even fewer cracks for his opponents to poke at, and his mistakes wouldn't cut him down as much as they do in trilogy-era. He would inspire the same type of reactions as Godot did when he first appeared... a lot of people feeling intimidated and noticing just how well he seems to know his way around the courtroom, or people getting caught up in his pace and listening to him even sometimes outside their best interests. And, like Mia in the first game with Redd White, he'd scare villains enough to cause issues, probably. But at least he might (also like established lawyer Mia) actually be able to get his clients to pay him well, enough to buy fancy glass lamps if he wanted.

#ace attorney #aa meta #phoenix wright #mia fey #godot #diego armando #my meta #replies #youareshauni #ace attorney meta