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allthelovehes · 1 month

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Breaking Barriers*

Summary: Y/N is in her mid-twenties and still a virgin, but she decides she no longer wants to wait for marriage as the tension between her and her best friend rises.

Pairing: Bestie!Harry x Virgin!Y/N

Word count: 9.1K

Warnings: Protected sex, smut, p in v, deflowering, virginity talk, first times, oral f receiving.

Taglist: @justmystyles @bitchybabyharry @harrysslut7 @swiftmendeshoran @lucasandharold @harrysbabycherry @htaylor18 @rose-garden-dreamz @myalovesharry @mellamolayla @hsonlyangelxo @yousunshineyoutempter @heartateasee @blueheisenbergtragedy @bikestyles @bohemianrhapsody86 Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist! 🤗

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A/N: Welcome to day 8 of posting daily! Ayooo, this was requested multiple times and I actually think it turned out sooo stinking cute omfg.

Being in her mid-twenties and a virgin is something not many people can say, let alone be proud of. It's something that Y/N chose and could have changed at any time. She could've given it away and tossed it to the next attractive man who looked her way but she didn't. She decided to save herself for marriage, even if it seemed stupid and cliché to some people.

For Y/N, her first time was important. It was a milestone in her life. Her body is a temple. It is to be cherished, worshipped, and honoured. Like most women, she wanted her first time to be something she wouldn't forget. She wanted it to be special and done with someone she loved and trusted.

So, Y/N waited. And if waiting for marriage meant skipping out on hook-ups? Then that was just fine by her. No sweat off her back. It took a while, but she was sure when she met the right guy it'd all be worth it.

Now, she wasn't opposed to making out and getting frisky. Y/N is as attracted to men as the next person and isn't afraid to have some fun with it, it just doesn't go much beyond hands. She sees kissing and touching that isn't penetrative to be healthy and normal.

Getting a partner, however, was the tricky bit. Most of them want to go all the way and have sex before they even get to know each other and the rest either take her for granted or have this kink about it, they like the thought of fucking a 'treasure' that no one's ever had or touched before.

Either way, she usually ends up losing interest in the relationship quickly. It seems the right man to spend the rest of her life with was a rare find. She didn't know if it was possible or if her expectations were too high. Or perhaps, being picky was the problem.

Eventually, she accepted it would take time for her to find someone. A time that she was willing and able to give. And right now, it was just a waiting game. To meet the guy whose arm she'd want to loop with hers for the rest of her life and create a beautiful life together in the process.

Just as Y/N was nodding off to sleep, a series of notifications on her phone rudely interrupted her sleep. Furrowing her brows, she sat up and lifted the device from her bedside table.

The screen lit up and showed who was texting her. It was her best friend, Harry. She slid her finger across the screen and a mess of messages appeared.

Harry Hi! *drunk selfie* So are we playing Scrabble tomorrow? I miss you and want to see you

Y/N If you still remember tomorrow and want to, sure.

Harry Sweet. Whatcha up to?

Y/N At home. About to go to sleep

Harry Oh sorry. You were probably sleeping

Y/N You're fine. I only just got into bed.

Harry What are you wearing, love?

Y/N Don't make me block you

Harry Ow ;( Why?

Y/N I'm too sober to have this conversation with you.

Harry *picture of him and Y/N* Look at us all cute, drunk out of our minds.

Y/N Very cute. Goodnight, Harry.

Harry Hey, one more question before you dooooooze

Y/N Go on.

Harry What are you wearing?

“Idiot.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself. With a few quick button presses, Y/N replied with a picture of her in her silk pyjamas, and then sent an audio message: “I'm fully clothed, in bed, covered with my duvet, about to sleep and dream of ways to torture you.”

She puts her phone down so she can actually catch up on her rest. Just as her head hits the pillow again, she gets another message from Harry. Pouting, she swiftly opens the message and swipes up the audio.

“Aww, you'll dream of me?”

For some reason, Y/N can hear a smug smirk in his voice and decides to just ignore it. Putting her phone on silent and plopping it back down on her bedside table, Y/N yawns and snuggles deeper under the covers.

Just as her eyelids begin to shut for good, something within her is stirring that makes it hard for her to sleep. Y/N feels hot all of a sudden, making her shimmy and pull the duvet up further.

What had happened in those final moments of her text conversation with Harry, who was now busy scrolling through pictures of the two together and rereading their texts? Well, it seemed it's woken up a side of her she wasn't too familiar with. Resting her hand on the front of her silk shorts, Y/N could feel she was wet and aching for some touch.

“For fuck sake.” She cursed and closed her eyes. Why now? She thinks as she pulls her hand away, afraid to do anything. She knows why, but doesn't want to admit it.

It's because of Harry. His ridiculous flirting skills have managed to push a few buttons. This has never happened before. Why is he suddenly affecting her? She blames his goofy but heartfelt selfie. God, those hazel eyes looked perfect paired with that signature golden brown fluffy mop of hair, the stupid look on his face and the two fingers up in the air.

Y/N can't deny she is attracted to Harry. What wasn't to be attracted to? When it came to his personality, she was rather fond. He has always been sensitive, goofy and yet extremely smart and serious when needed. And, of course, she couldn't forget to mention how lucky he is. That boy was drop-dead gorgeous. From his curly locks to his biceps, she can go on and on and on about what she liked about him.

His looks definitely played a factor in his reputation with women and it was no surprise their friendship became somewhat of a hot topic with his fans. If only they knew the truth. There was nothing going on between the two other than a strong friendship.

Harry is an absolute gentleman to her. He took care of her in a way that set her standards very high when it comes to men, maybe that's why she still hasn't found a man. However, the sexual tension that had been building up lately between the two was another story.

It was no secret that Harry is a good kisser. The amount of stories she has heard made her feel a twinge of jealousy every time. She remembered thinking how nice it would be to feel what his lips were like on hers, how soft they would be and how they would taste. He's always bragging about the tongue action that gets women all hot and bothered. Then, she wondered how good he would be using his mouth elsewhere and- No. She can't think like this. Stop. It's creepy and weird. So just, stop.

Then, her phone beeps again in her hand, indicating another message coming from Harry. A rush of warmth spread through her stomach and Y/N noticed she was tense again. Biting down on her bottom lip, she opened the message.

Harry *drunk selfie on the side of his bed* I'm home, goodnight love

She stares at the picture, her stomach dropping. Heat swells through her body and the feeling overwhelms her, making her squirm against the soft sheets. Swallowing, she holds the phone up higher and glares at the picture intensely, the area between her legs clenching. It's not as if he looks amazing. No. He looks grumpy, his brows furrowed and a blank stare in his eyes. He just looks so cute, kissable even.

“Enough.” She whispers under her breath and shoves the device back down onto the nightstand. She gets up and goes to the bathroom, turning the faucet and splashing cold water all over her burning skin.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Seeing him after her fantasies of him invading her thoughts would be an interesting development. Hopefully, it will fizzle away quickly and everything will go back to normal. Y/N thinks, getting back into bed and fixing her pillows just so. With a drawn-out sigh, she puts out the lights and shuts her eyes. ***

In the morning, there was only one thought running through Y/N's mind, and that was seeing Harry. Even after she woke up, went about her day, she couldn't wait to text him to see if he even remembered the arrangement for her to come over and play Scrabble.

With each message sent, she left an expectant eye trained on her screen, waiting for the three little dots to bubble up and indicate a response. Meanwhile, she paced back and forth between her couch and the kitchenette, tidying up without knowing why. Everything was already spotless. She straightened pillows, fluffed rugs, sorted candles, and shuffled trinkets, anything to distract herself and keep from pestering Harry.

After a few hours of constant upkeep, she finally gets a response.

Harry Sorry I missed your messages, kinda had a wild night lol Are we still playing tonight? I have wine, you got the Scrabble?

Y/N We're playing but the question is... will you be in a fit state for it ;)

Harry Ha-ha. Funny.

Y/N Always. See you later. X

Harry See you. I'll leave the front door open for you. Byeeeee

And that was it. The brief conversation between the two fuelled her emotions. On one hand, she was completely thrilled to be seeing her best friend again. To be in his presence and enjoy a wonderful game night is very exciting.

On the other hand, she felt a wave of dread overcome her, her heart racing at the thought. She brushed it off. Ignored it. Why should she be dreading seeing one of her best friends? That's absurd.

Scrapping her plan of getting all dolled up to go visit him, Y/N finds herself only comfortable enough to get changed into leggings and a t-shirt. Although Harry has seen her in her casual attire, she is feeling oddly self-conscious right now. She doesn't know why and it's getting rather irritating.

He is her best friend for God's sake! If anything, she should be feeling as comfortable and confident around him as possible because he will always accept her for the way she is.

Shaking her head, she gets ready to make her way to his house. Despite it being 3 pm, Y/N grabs a bottle of her favourite white and puts it in her bag and with that, she is out the door.

Upon arrival, she reaches for the door and opens it. Peering around the door frame, she manages to catch sight of Harry stepping out of his bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He is humming under his breath as he tousles his damp curls with the towel. Strolling across the room to his bedroom, he disappears behind the door.

“Hey, Harry!” She calls out to him as she enters. Smiling brightly, she drops her bag on his countertop.

“Hey.” He calls back. “Give me a sec. I'll be out in a minute.”

Y/N nods, despite him not being able to see it, and makes her way to his sofa, taking her usual spot at one end. Closing her eyes, she rests her head back and takes a deep breath. She already feels exhausted from the many random things she has done throughout the day.

“Do you want to eat first or play first?” Harry finally walks into the living room, wearing a grey sweatsuit.

Peeking through an eyelid, Y/N says. “I'm not hungry. It's still early“ while her inner-self cheered at his appearance, making her giddy.

With a nod, Harry pulled two glasses from the kitchen cabinet placing them on the coffee table. Sliding down next to her, he opened the bottle and poured their drinks. While he set up the board game, she relaxed and casually looked him over. He looked gorgeous as ever, and always put together even if he was barely dressed.

Green eyes flicking up to catch her gaze, Harry chuckles softly before asking. “Nervous?”

“Huh? Why would I be nervous?” Her mouth corners turn up, her heart fluttering.

“Last time we played you weren't very happy.” He shrugged, reminding her how he completely beat her at the game.

“Right. But this time, I'm going to beat you.” She confidently nods and picks up a bag of letters. Harry leans over with a smug smirk on his face as he pulls his own bag.

“Hmm, so confident.” He snorts, lining up his tiles.

“Mhm.” Y/N straightens out her tiles.

Quirking a brow, Harry wonders “Famous last words?”

With a sharp nod and a cheeky smile, she places her first tiles down on the Scrabble board. “Nah, you're going down.”

Harry chokes on his drink and starts coughing, his eyes burning a hole into hers. Staring back, Y/N raised a curious brow. Once he could speak again, he cleared his throat and let out a hearty laugh.

“Alright, so what if I am?” Harry's thick accent cut through as a deep dimpled grin blossomed on his face. She found her heart rate increasing and had to look away, willing her red cheeks to go away.

Swallowing, she began her game. The opening word of DOUBLE wasn't too promising for Y/N, seeing that that was her highest scoring word but she wasn't giving up just yet.

Over the first few minutes, they managed to put down a few good words and Y/N was ahead with a more than decent lead.

“Shit.” Harry breathed, leaning forward to assess his words. His eyes flickered around the board before sighing and ruffling his tousled mop. “I'm fucked.”

Y/N chuckles and rolls her eyes, taking another sip from her glass. Glancing over to Harry who was deep in thought, Y/N reached up and scratched the nape of her neck with one hand, her gaze drifting around the room. As she turned to face him again, she was caught off guard when their eyes immediately locked. Her heart stuttered.

Tearing her eyes away from his gaze, Y/N shifted uncomfortably, then decided to lean forward to select a letter at random. As she placed it on the board, she looks at him once more to find that the corner of his mouth curled upwards.

'Shit' she thought, Harry wasn't playing fair. Surely, he knew that looking at her like that made her drop focus. Attempting to save her dignity, she bit her bottom lip, suppressing a shy smile before raising an eyebrow.

“Is this your strategy to beat me?” Y/N challenged. “Suck me into your sexiness and take my turn? How lame.”

Harry spluttered, taken aback by her comment. He didn't really know how to respond, seeing his best friend make an unashamedly flirtatious comment for the first time. Looking away, he fiddled with his hoop earring.

“Wait. Was that... was that supposed to fluster me, Y/N?” He playfully scoffed. As Harry turned to look at her, he was surprised to find an amused grin playing on her lips. He thought he would find at least a small glint of guilt in her eyes for her playfulness, and was surprised when he didn't find anything other than playful curiosity.

Y/N crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, it looks like I've got the upper hand now.”

“You wish.” Harry stared back at her for a moment longer, a playful glimmer in his eyes. A mischievous smirk curled up on the corner of his lips. She was aware that the lighthearted banter had led to a bit more, making her senses go crazy.

Y/N decided it's best to end the conversation there and start her round. Scanning the board, she's looking for a spot to place her letters. Wanting to lean a bit into their flirty banter from before, she decides to continue their tension with a bit of teasing.

Sifting her hand into her bag, she pulls out a few letters. Placing them onto the centre of the board where they intersect, she spells out 'erotic' and draws four points from the tile rack.

Erotic was an interesting word to play, for sure. Especially when it's put into the context of the new sexual tension between the two. So far, Harry has been trying to fluster her with his smouldering looks and cheeky grins, but Y/N is unrelenting. She takes pride in her willingness to fight back against the flirting and his attempts to get her distracted.

She sits back in satisfaction, proud at what she has accomplished. Glancing over to Harry, she felt herself swell with self-pride to see his face light up with surprise, making him actually speechless for a change.

Clearing his throat, Harry gathers himself and sits up. “Hmm.” he hummed, rolling the idea around in his head. With a smug grin, Y/N could tell he's thinking of a response; a comeback. After a few seconds of consideration, he moved his body forward and added three letters to the word. Using the letters he had received on the double letter area, he spelled out 'climax' using the c of her word.

A slight shiver went down Y/N's back at the addition to the word. Laughing and rolling her eyes, she fished out a few letters and added another word. Subtly shifting a little closer to him, she placed her letters down on the right-hand side of his spelling, close to his hand. After putting down her 'desire', she snatched her eyes away from the scrabble board and fixed her stare on him.

Both of them stay awfully silent while their bodies are almost touching. Y/N is tense, trying hard not to breathe too heavily. Meanwhile, Harry was in complete silence, not knowing what to say or do. He is aware of the tension between the two of them but he also wants to respect Y/N's boundaries and maybe tone down his feelings a bit. There's an inevitable tension and she's showing no sign of easing off. Harry was only further proven by her gentle voice in his ear.

“Now whose turn is it?”

Unable to meet her eyes just yet, he focuses on the dizzying words on the board and releases a slow, staggered breath. It was so hard not to put his arm around her, tug her in close and inhale her beautiful scent. Or run his hands along her arms, giving them a gentle squeeze, he craved the touch so badly. He finally took a breath and peered down at his letters, trying not to get too distracted by the growing sexual tension.

Y/N couldn't deny the feeling of warmth that had settled in her stomach since their game began, the warmth that made her tingle between her legs. She felt tempted to reach out and touch him, make contact and hopefully send a good buzz all the way down to his lower body.

Harry's fingers fiddle through his letters, barely paying attention to the little pieces in front of him. His eyes glance at Y/N, then move back to the Scrabble board. He thinks of his next word to play, something that is a little more suggestive.

“Umm...” Harry holds up a little tile, rubbing his fingertip over the surface as he thinks, his dimples pushing into his cheeks. Then, they sink right back out. He shakes his head and returns to sifting through the multiple letters in his bag.

Throwing one piece back into the depths of the bag, his index finger picks up another tile. The corner of his mouth turns up and he is finally confident with what he wants to spell out on the Scrabble board, so he gets to work. He needs an outlet from the fluttering of his chest when she's this close.

Quickly placing down the letters, he spells out the word 'horny'. Biting down on his bottom lip, he feels satisfied by the suggestiveness of his word and glances at Y/N.

Pursing her lips, Y/N tilts her head and gives a disbelieving smile. Harry looks taken aback by her quiet response.

“What? Did I read the room wrong?” He chuckles nervously, brows furrowing.

Looking at his face, she has to bite back a grin. She can read the mixed emotions all over his face. He's afraid to scare her away and reveal his true feelings, especially after the intense game of teasing. He's right. But she's also very pleased with the growing tension.

With a cheeky chuckle, she shakes her head. “No, I guess you read the room correctly.” Biting her lip, she quickly leans forward, adding letters next to his word on the right to spell out the word, 'Fuck'. Harry looks from her to the board, biting back a smirk.

“Is this your way of suggesting we play strip Scrabble? Should I get ready to lose my pants?” he jokes, nudging her shoulder, fighting the urge to break his boundaries. Not able to cope, Y/N just lets out a forced chuckle.

“Shut up, H.” Her voice broke. All she wanted was to feel his hands on her and bury herself into his chest.

Neither of them is paying attention to the score or to the other's gaze, they just lock their eyes together and absorb the heat, trying to predict what happens next. Harry didn't know what to say, nor did he think Y/N would, yet again, follow suit and gently lean forward.

After breaking from their little intimate session, Y/N looks at the board, wondering what their next move should be. She has to admit, these last few moves were very suggestive, and she is slowly catching Harry's point of wanting to touch her and have some alone time.

“Are you going to be mad at me if I do this?” Y/N muttered.

“Do what?”

Staring at him, Y/N ignores the thought and puts her tiles in a new spot. Only this time, she's adding all the letters remaining in her tile bag. There is no going back now, considering the board was almost completely filled up now.

She spells out the word 'wet' next to her first word. Shooting Harry a nonchalant, calm expression and staring at him for a reaction, she saw his reaction immediately. His eyes dropped to the board, then shot back up to her face. Heat, lust, and want flashed across his eyes.

An amused, surprised noise escapes his throat, then his lips tilt up into a shit-eating grin. “For real?”

“Yeah.” Y/N laughs in a rush. “I guess my dirty mind kicked in.”

“Your dirty mind, huh?” A glint of excitement flashes through his eyes and he begins to eye her body up and down. He can't deny the growing urge to touch every inch of her but he can't break her boundaries. Trying to erase those thoughts, Harry grins playfully, then adds a few of his own letters alongside her tiles to play a different word even though he knows he already lost the game.

Giving her a mischievous look, he reveals the word 'boner' and Y/N inhales sharply. They sit in silence for a moment, then Y/N cracks and breaks the silence.

“Oh fuck.” She laughs, the deep seated sensation between her legs not fading. Her eyes scan down to Harry's crotch, attempting to see if what he said is true. It's getting increasingly obvious that Y/N and Harry aren't actually playing a game anymore. Harry places his hands on his lap, covering his crotch from her wandering eyes. He laughs nervously, avoiding her gaze.

“I'm sorry.” He mutters, afraid of her response and of what she thinks.

Y/N bites her lip, unsure of how to respond. He waited anxiously for her reaction. One thing was for certain, the sexual tension has grown to unimaginable levels, the game forgotten. Finally, she glances back up at him, and she couldn't keep herself in control any longer.

Leaning closer, Y/N rests her forehead on his. He is taken aback, not moving a muscle. Shutting her eyes, she leans in to kiss him. Their lips connect and they close their eyes, relishing the moment. After a couple of seconds, they pull back, not sure whether that was the right decision. Her insides tell her to keep going, to taste him more. So with half a mind, her arm reaches forward to grab his shirt, wanting him closer and craving the touch. She looks up at his face and goes in for a much longer, sensual kiss as she straddles his lap.

For a moment, Harry looks at her questioningly before diving back in. Pushing his tongue into her mouth, it deepens the kiss as they feel electricity course through their bodies. His arms make their way down her sides and he squeezes her thighs as she unconsciously grinds on him. One of his hands run up her back, gripping her hair lightly while the other hand grips her waist. A quiet moan escapes Y/N's throat at his grip on her, further adding fuel to his fire. He gives a low growl before breaking the kiss and trailing his lips down her jaw to her neck, leaving love bites down her skin.

“God, you're killing me, Y/N. Do you know that?” He groans into her, making her giggle a bit. Harry's heart burst with joy when he heard her laugh, she's the only person who could make him happy. He pulls back and grins at her then leans back in, kissing her sweetly and lifting her up. Y/N grips his shirt tightly, not wanting to be apart from him. Placing her on her back, he carefully gets on top of her, supporting his weight so he doesn't squish her, and his hands started roaming her body. Suddenly, she pushes him off of her a little and sits back up, feeling dizzy and wanting to gain her composure. Their hearts beat in synchrony and their breaths were heavy.

Harry is concerned by her quick push back, worry in his eyes. “I'm sorry, did I do anything wrong?”

“Are you kidding? That was great. I just... I..” Stuttering over her words, Y/N can't help but giggle as she ruffles her hair and leans against the throw pillow behind her. Harry is now assured that she is okay. Leaning forward, he kisses the side of her head, trying to soothe her so she'd be comfortable enough to tell him. “I want more.” She finally utters.

There was a beat of stunned silence. He shakes his head as his lips curve up into a small smirk. She mimics his expression. Lifting her chin up with his fingers, she meets his gaze. Both of them look down at her plump, red, and wet lips. Then he captures her lips with his, but not with so much restraint as before. He kisses her more passionately, hands cupping her face as he tasted her, kissed her harder, swiped his tongue against hers.

“Are you absolutely sure, Y/N? There's no going back from this.” He breathes against her lips.

Looking into his soft eyes, she can't think about anything else but him and his touch. Deep down, she always knew there was more. As she tilts her head to the side, she bites her lip and runs her hands through his hair. The feeling is a sweet relief, it is exactly how it looked and felt, just like in her dreams.

“I know. I think I've always known it was you. You're too captivating. You make me crazy.” She chuckles, blushing. “Also..” Placing her hands on his chest, she continues. “If I wasn't interested, I wouldn't be doing all this right now.” Y/N breathes, making him grin from ear to ear.

“What about waiting until marriage though? Are you sure you want to do this?”

Giggling, Y/N nods her head and bites her lip, wanting more. “Screw that.”

A shocked expression flickers across his face. Shrugging his shoulders, he leans closer. Y/N's breath hitches as Harry gently pushes her back down on the sofa, propping his forearms on either side of her head to support his weight, and placing his legs between hers. They felt each other's breath as their chests rise and fall with each in-take, anticipating what would happen next.

“Is this okay? Are you really sure, because once we start, I won't be able to stop.” His face inches closer, scanning every inch of her expression, her beautiful eyes and lips before stopping halfway.

Giving him a quick kiss, she nods and runs a hand through his hair again, then bites her lip while gazing at his seductive eyes. Her body trembles with excitement and nervousness. Trying to catch her breath, her mind is drowning in lust. She's just happy that they're alone and, after many years of dreaming about this day, the second it is finally here she is loving it.

“I'm very sure. In fact, why don't we go somewhere more...comfortable?” She whispers into his ear. Dizzy and sweating, Harry feels the bulge in his pants tightening, pressing against the fabric of his boxers as he smirks in agreement. Hastily lifting her in his arms, he crashes his lips to hers, missing their intoxicating touch.

Without pausing for thought, Y/N wraps her legs around Harry's waist as he supports her with his strong arms and makes his way towards his bedroom. Tossing her on the bed, she yelps playfully.

“Are you okay?” Harry's worried face appears in front of her. Shocked and caught off guard, Y/N bites back a smile as she pulls his shirt to collide his lips with hers again. She found herself breathing hard, unable to control it. He pulled back, meeting her eyes.

Y/N sat up slightly, reached down, and began slowly pulling Harry's shirt up his torso. The material bunched up under his arms and she broke the kiss, to slip the material off. With her pulse increasing as the intimacy heightened, she raked her eyes up his smooth, lightly bronzed, chest and torso. It was a beautiful sight. Pulling her eyes back up to his gorgeous eyes, his darkened with desire as he raised his brows in question. Instead of replying, Y/N pushed lightly on his chest, telling him without words to lie back on the bed. With his gaze never leaving hers, he lay back and waited.

Keeping the eye contact, Y/N pushed herself up and straddles over Harry's lap. His hands automatically came to rest on her thighs, the touch sending bolts of energy through her. Harry was such a tease and the way he touched her and glanced up at her was enough to get her off right there. All it would take is one little touch.

With excitement, Y/N pulls her own shirt over her head, exposing her bra for the first time to him. Of course, he had seen her in a bikini before. But the lace see-through fabric of her bra is completely different and it gets him wild. Harry watches carefully as Y/N bites her lip and leans down. Connecting their lips, she can feel his erection pressing against her.

Straddling his hips to meet his arousal, she begins to run her hands down his arms, squeezing firmly and drawing a low sound from his lips. Her body rubs up against Harry's erection and he gives a deep, low groan. Not once breaking the kiss, their hunger intensified for one another.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Y/N presses her chest up against his and his hand slowly roams around to grab her ass, giving it a soft squeeze, making her moan. His hands then reach a bit up, sticking his thumbs into the waistband of her leggings and pulling the fabric over her ass. Y/N arches her hips a bit, allowing her leggings to come off a little further.

Harry lets his hands roam up her back as Y/N nibbles on his bottom lip, slowly grinding her sex into his. His hand nudges against her thigh, motioning for her to get off of him so he can take the leggings all the way down her legs. He slides the fabric down Y/N's thighs and knees and her leggings pool at her ankles. Seeing her bare legs, he can tell just how wet she is right now. She hastily kicks off the leggings, letting them fall to the floor.

Watching her closely, his eyes scan her body, taking in the full view. She can't deny how happy she is to see Harry admiring her, appreciating what he sees, loving all of her. It's exactly what she wanted, a man to worship her, to feel loved. And Harry makes her feel those exact things and so much more.

Pushing his hips up, he quickly gets rid of his own sweatpants before he guides her back to straddle him again. One of Harry's large hands glides along Y/N's thighs to her hips before snaking around to her lower back, where he applies a slight pressure, encouraging her to grind against him.

“You're going to be the end of me.” Harry chuckles, bucking up slightly to meet her grinding hips. The feeling drives her wild as the fabric of his boxers brushes up against her lace panties.

“Harry.” Y/N moans, letting herself move in sync with Harry's perfect thrusts. Feeling Y/N's wetness seeping through her panties and onto his boxers, the friction building between their heat is burning, and he needs more of her. But he wants her to set the pace. His lips part and their eyes stay locked together. Their heart rates are picking up and their movement speeds up. The slow build was like a torture, but Harry looks so damn gorgeous and lustful, making it worth it.

“We're really doing this.” Y/N whispers out with a giggle.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“Yes.” She mumbles, smiling. Y/N pushes herself up a bit, hands bracing on his chest, and spreads her legs a bit more so she can angle her center more. Then she slowly grinds into him. His teeth capture his lip and his eyes shift to take in the movement of their bodies. Harry's hands leave Y/N's hips and he grasps her ass, holding her as she rides him. Grinding harder and faster, Y/N is enjoying the sweet sensation it's giving her. Little sounds leave her mouth as she swivels her hips.

Sitting up and pressing her chest into his, Harry grabs her hips tighter and pulls her down, bucking his hips up for friction and creating a delicious burn. Looking up to her face, she has the hottest expression he has ever seen. If she keeps staring at him like that, he thinks he might burst. There is no way he's going to last much longer, which is why he needs to take care of her first.

Slowing down the pace, Harry slides his fingers up her back and takes a hold of her bra clasp. “May I?” He asks in a hoarse voice. A light glaze shines in his eyes as he keeps the eye contact with her.

“Yes.” Y/N smiles, nuzzling her face into his. Leaning down, she carefully kisses him before sitting back. “I want you so much, Harry.” She admits, to his surprise.

“Oh fuck.” Harry swears, bucking his hips up for friction. Groaning and rubbing his erection as well as he undoes the clasp of her bra and it loosens around her body. Slowly slipping it off, the fabric slides down her arms, exposing her breasts. Harry stops breathing for a moment, admiring the view and absolutely loving it.

“You're absolutely gorgeous, Y/N. I couldn't get you off my mind if I tried.” He confesses, meeting her gaze, causing the girl to blush immensely. Moving his hands up her sides and sliding them up her stomach to her boobs, her mind begins to race as she feels herself getting more and more wet.

Harry's calloused fingertips brush over her hardened nipples, his lustful eyes still gazing into hers as her jaw goes slack. Grinding her hips faster and moving them to a steady rhythm, the both of them pant as their desire grows, aching for more. Throwing her head back with a moan, Harry's lips suddenly latch on to one of her soft nipples. Her hand cups the back of his head, her fingers running through his hair as she sucks.

“Harry, I need you, please.” She whimpers, begging him. The desperate tone of her voice makes Harry shudder, a familiar hot tightness coiling inside him, threatening to unravel as she rides him. He is swift to lay her down on his soft bed, her head on his pillow, then gets back to her breasts, sliding a hand down to her panties. Harry kisses a trail of butterfly kisses down her body, leaving marks down her abdomen as he does so. Her fingers go back to grasping his hair and pulling lightly as he makes it to the top of her panties.

“Can I take these off?” Harry pants, yanking the waistband a bit. He slips his fingers inside and gently strokes her pubic bone over her panties, teasing her. Y/N eagerly nods her head, pulling his hair slightly and guiding him lower. He bites his lip and tugs her underwear down her thighs as she helps kick them off. The sight before Harry made his jaw drop, leaving him breathless.

Y/N is incredibly wet, her fluids are dripping down her thighs, no hair blocking the way for him. Harry inhales sharply, running his finger through her folds and collecting her juice. Raising his hand to her face, he shows her. Feeling incredibly timid all of a sudden, she blushes and squeezes her legs shut.

“Hush now. You're perfect, so beautiful and bare for me.” Harry insists and peppers her knees with kisses. She parts her legs a bit wider for Harry. “Good girl, Y/N.”

Licking his lips, Harry traces his thumbs up her inner thighs and kisses her exposed clit. A spark flows through her body as Harry closes his eyes, getting lost in the exquisite taste of her arousal. The feeling is completely new to Y/N, she's not sure how to respond or what to do. At the same time, everything he does feels so good. Harry licks over her folds, running his tongue from the bottom to the tip. Her hands turn into fists, tugging at his brown hair as she draws a sharp breath.

A little too shy to make any noises as Harry teases Y/N's clit with the tip of his tongue. Her legs start to shake and she quickly covers her mouth with her hand as she lets out a needy moan. Harry grasps her wrist, pulling it away from her mouth.

“Don't be afraid. I want to hear you.” The thought of Y/N covering her mouth or muffling her sounds and keeping quiet bothers him a bit. Y/N lets out a little gasp and nods quickly. Without breaking eye contact, Harry presses his flattened tongue against her clit and licks until Y/N's vision starts to swim.

“Harry.” Y/N moans as Harry flattens his tongue, licking up her slit while he inserts a finger.

“Keep telling me how you feel. It's incredibly sexy.”

“Feels... Incredible.” She manages to get out before she squeezes her eyes shut. Harry responds by wrapping his lips around her clit and sucking gently. Inserting a second finger, he curls them against her G-spot while he twirls and flicks his tongue quickly.

“Y-yes.” Y/N cries out when Harry discovers her sweetest spot. Harry smirks and presses his fingers deeper while he continues using his mouth.

Keeping up with the swift motions of his tongue, his nose rubbing her clit a bit, Y/N's toes begin to curl and her heels dig into his mattress. Harry can't help but let out a low growl as the girl in front of him moans at a high pitch.

“H-Harry.” She whimpers between quick pants. Her stomach suddenly tightens as a ball of warmth spreads, soon making her go weak in the legs. Flicking his eyes up to watch her orgasm, he lets the heat spiral through her. His thrusts slow down as her insides pulsate, and he gets dizzy, feeling pretty smug. It feels like an explosion between her legs, so Y/N can't stop herself from grinding on his face to prolong her pleasure.

“See how gorgeous you are when you come for me?” Harry breathes after she catches her breath, gazing deep into her eyes and rubbing soft circles on her clit with his middle and pointerfinger.

His eyes were soft, but dark with lust, the expression in them shifting slightly as she stared at him. She could see his hardened nipples and defining tent of his boxers. Still on cloud nine, her cheeks feel hot and her body is radiating immense pleasure.

She wants to initiate the next move but she simply doesn't know where to start. Instead, Harry decides for her. Getting rid of his last piece of clothing, Y/N watches closely as he reveals his completely naked self. He kicks off his boxers and climbs back on the bed, hovering over her.

“What do you want to do next?” He asks in between kisses. Biting her lip in nervousness, she places her hands on his chest and kisses him.

“I don't know. Do you want me to return the favour?” She suggests with a sheepish smile, but Harry shakes his head.

“I want you to feel good. No favours you need to return unless you really want to.” He returns her offer with a gentle smile. She feels herself blush as his words run through her.

“Do you think...” She pauses and Harry swallows hard at the sound of her timid voice. “Do you want to try it?”

For a moment Harry is confused before her words begin to sink in. She wasn't very specific but there was no need for that. With his heart about to jump out of his throat, he understands right away and nods.

His eyes catch hers, and they smile in relief, happy to enjoy each other. Her mind runs wild as he kneels up for a moment to retrieve a condom from his nightstand. When he does so, her eyes run down his abs and back to his dark gaze. He tears the foil and puts the condom on his erection, the sight of him doing it making her want him even more.

“Are you absolutely sure?” He wonders, adjusting her on the bed so they're both comfortable. Swallowing hard, she nods, wanting this to happen. He asks her over and over to make sure she's sure of what she wants. She admits she's a bit nervous to do this for the first time, but she's 100% positive she wants to go through with this.

“Tell me to stop and I will, I promise.” Positioning himself, Y/N feels his breath on her lips as she gives him an enthusiastic nod. Smiling down at her, Harry pushes into her tight hole, going at a very slow and gentle speed so he doesn't hurt her. She was nervous, but his touch and actions helped keep her calm. He pushes his hips forward slightly, making Y/N whimper. Reaching up to caress his cheek with a sigh, the intimate contact giving him the strength to push into her as carefully as possible.

Being incredibly gentle with her, he hovers over her, eyes looking deeply into hers and soft sounds coming from his mouth, staying like that for a long time. Burying himself deep within her, Harry is completely still for a moment. The feeling of fullness and the sudden pressure is the best she's ever had. Finally able to fully relax, Y/N presses her lips against Harry's.

“You can move.” She breathes, to his great joy. The feeling of the heat of her pussy enveloping his erection sent a shiver down his spine. Gradually sliding out slowly, she feels her body moving in rhythm. Inch by inch, he eases himself back into her with a low hiss.

Harry clenches the sheets beneath them as he slowly builds his pace to a smooth rocking, groaning with her when his cock hits the end of her, causing little electric sparks up her spine. Harry sits up and grabs hold of her hips, her arms flying up to cover her chest in the process.

“Jesus, your pussy's so tight, feels so good.” Harry comments in a strained voice as he holds her hips tighter and guides her to rock into his thrusts. Y/N moves her arms back down, her hands trying to find something to grip as her walls clench tightly, making Harry thrust a bit harder. Squeezing the sheets, Y/N moans again.

“H-Harry. Oh! Please, faster.” Picking up the speed, Harry begins to shake as he pumps his hips harder. She rolls her head back, mouth wide open as the sweet build of an orgasm starts to rise in the pit of her stomach.

Grasping her hips tighter, he's practically spilling out all kinds of wonderful things as she cries out again and again. The lust takes over, sending overwhelming waves of pleasure through her body.

His hand reaches down to rub her clit. Biting on her lip, her walls convulse and her breathing becomes heavy. They both stop breathing altogether when she arches her back sharply, getting in on their rhythm, pounding harder into her core. The warmth keeps building, coursing through her veins and through every cell.

“Oh, Harry. I'm gonna...”

“I know, baby.” He interjects as she writhes beneath him. Hitting that sacred spot inside her with each thrust, she doesn't think she'll be able to hold it in much longer. She wraps her legs around his waist, creating a deeper angle. It's absolutely amazing. She never wants it to end. Her toes curl and her eyelids flutter, taking it all in.

“I can't... Harry.” She exclaims breathlessly, and then screams out, repeating his name.

“You can, Y/N. Look at me. Let go and come for me.” Hearing his raspy voice and the sound of flesh hitting flesh, combined with the sound of his encouraging words drives her even more crazy, almost at the edge. She knows she'll fall down into a complete state of bliss any minute now. Grinding her hips harder, holding on for dear life and digging her nails into his back. She's squeezing him with her walls, everything seemed to melt together into an incredible cocktail of pleasure as she shouts out his name and comes on his cock. He keeps fucking her, keeping her orgasm going even after it came to an end.

When she regains the control over her body, she lowers her legs from around his body.

“Oh, Harry, that was amazing.” A lazy smile spreads across his face and their eyes lock, the both of them panting from her height.

“Do you want to try another position?” He inquires, leaving Y/N with a curious yet excited look on her face. Y/N nods with a faint “Yeah.” and the corners of his mouth tilt upward. With that, he pulls out, an unexplainable sense of emptiness filling Y/N, and she watches as he pushes her onto her stomach, taking a hold of her legs. Harry nuzzles his face into her neck, whispering sweet praises in her ear as he eases her into their next position.

Leaning up on her hands, he raises her onto her knees and steadies her position. He lines his cock up with her entrance from behind. Harry rubs the tip between her folds, he easily glides into her. Kissing her shoulders and down her spine, he doesn't hold back this time and she didn't mind because his wilder thrusts felt unbelievable, not to mention the sounds he kept making. Pounding his hips up against her ass with determination, his curses get louder and his moans turn into the most beautiful sounds she's ever heard. He's close. Y/N knows it.

“Y/N.” He manages in between hot pants and deep groans.

“Yes?” She asks.

“Where do you want me to...” She only had to think about it for half a second and nearly moaned at the mere thought.

“Keep going.” A fierce thud echoes through the room, matching Harry's skin slapping against hers as he rubs her clit once again and gives his final thrusts. Harry tightens his grip and Y/N can feel every muscle in his body get tense as he fills the condom. He's still for a moment, the throbbing of his cock noticeable inside of her.

Leaning up over her, he wraps his arms around her waist and her chin, tilting her head up towards him for a breathtaking kiss. Their tongues slow dance as Harry pulls out, carefully sitting the girl on the bed.

Harry leaves the room to his ensuite to toss the condom and clean up. He brings a damp washcloth and wipes her down, cleaning up the clear mess between her legs. Getting to her chest, he is gently and thoroughly meticulous. Doing everything as painstakingly slow as possible, Y/N closes her eyes in serenity.

While being touched so delicately, she lets out a small sigh and places her hand on his. Bringing her knuckles up to his soft lips, a faint smile plays upon his gorgeous lips. The intensity and lust in Harry's eyes are nowhere to be found, only adoration lingers now. He dresses himself in a clean pair of boxers and turns around to speak up.

“You're staying right?” He questions, slightly chewing his lip as Y/N makes direct eye contact, the thought of staying and sleeping beside him becoming increasingly tempting.

“I'd love to.” She responds hazily, the sleep already starting to take over her body. Harry chuckles at her clear exhaustion.

“I'll get you a shirt and a pair of boxers then. If you want.” He stutters in a nervous way, his confidence fading into a shy demeanor all over again.

“That would be great, thank you.” Sitting up on the bed, she watches as he opens the bottom drawer of his wardrobe, pulling out an oversized Rolling Stones t-shirt and a pair of plain black boxers. Harry hands the garments to her and heads out of the room.

She throws his Rolling Stones shirt over her frame and glances down, making a mental note to take this shirt home tomorrow. After slipping on the boxers, she lets out a heavy sigh, crawling into the bed and plumping the pillows behind her back, getting ready to put in her best effort to stay awake until Harry returned.

Entering the room with two mugs in his hands and a cautious expression, he can't help but smile at the sight of her body so carefully protected by his bedding. The overwhelming joy floods his body as he sits down next to her, gently handing her a mug, full of tea. A sincere smile spreads across her face as she accepts the mug, sipping the warm liquid and pulling the bedsheets up higher.

“Thank you. Do you usually bring tea after sex?” She jokes, Harry letting out a light-hearted giggle and grinning before replying.

“I just thought it could help you relax, or calm you down.” The honesty in his voice catching her off guard for a moment as she quickly recovers.

“Relax or calm me down?” Raising his eyebrows, he nods slowly.

“I know how intense and strong the emotions that are inside of you can get. I wanted you to have a tea that would help soothe your mind know you.” He explains, placing his hand on top of hers, rubbing circles as she nods. Placing the hot tea down on the nightstand, she turns back to him with wide eyes.

“That means a lot, thank you.” She whispers, pressing her lips to his ever so gently. The cup of tea feels like a confirmation that she made the right choice to give herself to Harry. He cares for her, makes her feel cherished and comfortable. That's a great thing in Y/N's opinion.

Snuggling up closer to Harry, they sip their hot tea. Harry asks her if she's feeling alright, to which Y/N answers that she feels fantastic, and Harry can't help but think back to the few hours ago when they danced around eachother, making his heart ache. He kisses the top of her head and caresses her face as he stares into her eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” He voices, cupping her face in his large hands.

“About how I wanna do all of that again with you.” She blurts out innocently, making the man laugh for the umpteenth time tonight and making her wish he would keep laughing forever.

“You're not the only one.” He says, setting his empty mug of tea next to hers. All of that tension, all of the stolen glances and awkward moments leading up to what happened tonight felt completely worth it. They both got some stress out and finally found the right times. Being held by the best person in the world, Y/N finds it easy to shut her mind down. Everything is good and she believes their friendship has grown into something far deeper. Maybe she finally found love, she thought before she surrendered to her heavy eyelids and drifted off, pressed against Harry's warm skin.

Sighing with relief and pure admiration, Harry lets his mind wander as he looks down at the most stunning girl he's ever laid eyes upon. He closes his eyes, pulling the blankets higher so her delicate form won't get cold in the middle of the night and lets himself indulge in the feeling of her soft skin brushing his. Not being able to believe what just happened between them, his body relaxes more than it had in months, maybe even years. Admiring her features and carefully placing a chaste kiss on her temple before he too drifts off to sleep.

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nofomogirl · 5 months

Text

Good Omen's problem with having two canons

They're fundamentally different. That's the problem. That's my point.

For quite a while I focused almost exclusively on the new season of Good Omens, but now I am slowly delving into analysis that takes the entire show into account, and I've encountered a little obstacle. Namely, things from S1 can be really tricky to interpret.

Fair warning: this post is going to zig-zag between various points but I want you to trust me and take this scenic route with me. It will take us somewhere eventually, I promise.

The Arrangement

It's one of the core elements in the Good Omens universe and at the same time a perfect example of the issue I want to discuss. So let's have a closer look together.

In the book, the Arrangement is presented to us in two passages:

the first one, where it is first - very briefly - mentioned:

and the second one, where it is properly introduced and explained:

The Arrangement was very simple, so simple in fact, that it didn't really deserve the capital letter, which it had got for simply being in existence for so long. It was the sort of sensible arrangement that many isolated agents, working in awkward conditions a long way from their superiors, reach with their opposite number when they realize they have more in common with their immediate opponents than their remote allies. It meant a tacit non-interference in certain of each other's activities. It made certain that while neither really won, also neither really lost, and both were able to demonstrate to their masters the great strides they were making against a cunning and well-informed adversary. (...) And then, of course, it had seemed even natural that they should, as it were, hold the fort for one another whenever common sense dictated. Both were of angel stock, after all. If one was going to Hull for a quick temptation, it made sense to nip across the city and carry out a standard brief moment of divine ecstasy. It'd get done anyway, and being sensible about it gave everyone more free time and cut down on expenses.

In the show, the Arrangement is presented to us in two original scenes in the cold opening of S1E3:

(I am quoting most relevant dialogues only)

537 AD, Wessex:

C: So we're both working very hard in damp places and just canceling each other out? A: Well, you could put it like that. It is a bit damp. C: Be easier if we both stayed home. If we just send messages back to our head offices saying we'd done everything they'd asked for, wouldn't it? A: But that would be lying. C: Eh, possibly, but the end result would be the same. Cancel each other out. A: But my dear fellow... well, they'd check. Michael's a bit of a stickler. You don't want to get Gabriel upset with you. C: Oh, our lot have better things to do than verifying compliance reports from Earth. As long as they get paperwork they seem happy enough. As long as you're being seen doing something every now and again. A: No! Absolutely not! I am shocked that you would even imply such a thing. We're not having that conversation, not another word!

1601 AD, The Globe Theatre:

A: I have to be in Edinburgh at the end of the week. A couple of blessings to do. A minor miracle to perform. (...) C: I'm meant to be heading to Edinburgh too this week. Tempting a clan leader to steal some cattle. A: Doesn't sound like hard work. C: That's why I thought we should... Well, bit of a waste of effort, both of us going all the way to Scotland. A: You cannot actually be suggesting what I infer that you are implying. C: Which is? A: That just one of us goes to Edingburgh, does both. The blessing and the tempting. C: We've done it before. Dozens of times now. The Arrangement- A: Don't say that! C: Our respective offices don't actually care how things get done. They just want to know they can cross it off the list.

S2 doesn't actually reference the Arrangement. But it does reuse the dialogue about free will where the 1020 date is dropped. We will get back to it.

The challenge of adapting Good Omens

Good Omens shares a certain characteristic with all of Terry Pratchett's solo books I've read - it couldn't care less about "showing instead of telling". Which I love, just to be clear. A book is a written medium. It's made with words and one of words' major strengths is that you can use them to just tell things point blanc.

Good Omens does it a lot and it's fantastic.

Look at that second passage from the book I quoted earlier.

From just those few sentences we learn a lot about the relationships between:

Heaven and Hell (opponents and competition)

Aziraphale and Crowley (two individuals in the same position and in direct contact with each other)

Aziraphale/Crowley and Heaven/Hell (field agent and a remote HQ that are not in direct contact)

Aziraphale/Crowley and Earth (two individuals and a space they live in)

Heaven/Hell and Earth (a board where the game is played, only winning or losing matters, what actually happens on a board does not)

It's really an extra condensed worldbuilding gem sprinkled with humor, so it's no surprise it's become one of the most iconic passages from the book.

I mean, just browse through some interviews with David and Michael - especially the ones from 2019 - where they explain what Aziraphale and Crowley are about. You'll be hard-pressed to find any where they don't reference that specific paragraph, consciously or otherwise.

But it's only this neat on the pages of the book, where narration like this takes mere seconds to absorb. It's impossible to convey the same information in a visual medium with anywhere near the same efficiency.

The fact that the majority of Good Omens is like this was, in my opinion, a main challenge the adaptation faced. The book is very narration-heavy. It's full of fun facts about characters, side jokes, hilarious comments, etc. Some of that precious material was salvaged by introducing God as a narrator, but there was only so much of it you could squeeze into a TV show. The rest had to either be fit into dialogues or lost in translation from the written medium to the visual one.

Obviously, in the case of the Arrangement, it was the dialogues.

Book canon and show canon

We all know they're not the same. Neil Gaiman also pointed it out several times. But I think our mistake is that we still tend to think about them as complementary.

Look at the Arrangement again. The show canon seems to merely expand on the book canon. Add extra details and fill in the blanks. The Arrangement works the exact same way, except now we also know more about how it started.

If we compile what we know from the book with what we know from the show, we get a more detailed timeline:

Crowley first proposes the Arrangement in 537 (show).

The Arrangement starts in 1020 (book), ie. Aziraphale finally agrees to it (show - deduction); we don't know for sure if it's a "basic version" (not getting in each other's way), or a "full version" (doing each other's jobs) but we can assume it's the former.

In 1601 "full version" of the Arrangement is in place for some time (they've done it dozens of times) but Aziraphale still objects and needs convincing.

But read that description from a book once more.

Does it really fit into the version of events shown in the TV series?

The Arrangement in the book is something that just happened. A natural, and in a way inevitable result of Aziraphale and Crowley's circumstances. We are never told who came up with it first because it doesn't matter. Because it could have been either of them. Because after five millennia on Earth, they were both ready to do it. They were both of the same mind. For all we know it might have been an unspoken agreement all along!

But for the show, the creators had to come up with a good reason for the Arrangement to be discussed out loud. And what could be a more natural situation for someone to describe and explain an idea than trying to sell that idea to someone else?

For that practical reason - among many others, no doubt - the Arrangement is not only explicitly Crowley's idea, but an idea Aziraphale vehemently rejects at first. He needs to be convinced and even when he finally relents he's never entirely comfortable with it. He keeps objecting and it requires Crowley's constant effort for them to keep cooperating in any way.

The fact that Aziraphale is reluctant gives Crowley a perfect reason to keep convincing him ie. talk about the Arrangement. But the fact that he needs to explain and keep convincing Aziraphale means that Aziraphale is no longer a person who understands the same things and feels the same way.

That is a huge change.

Of course, you may say that what I've written about the Arrangement in the book is just my interpretation. It's true that technically there's nothing there that would contradict the events from the show in any way. The thing is, the events in the show aren't very compatible with the overall characterization of the ineffable duo in the book.

Evolution of Aziraphale and Crowley

You might have read that our leading pair was originally conceived as a single character that Neil and Terry eventually decided to split into two separate individuals.

My reaction when I first learned about it was: "Of course they were! That makes so much sense!" Because honestly, as a person who watched the show first and then read the book, I was surprised at how few differences there were between the two in the original text. If you squint your eyes really tight, you can see how book!Aziraphale and book!Crowley are two versions of the same character. They're far more similar than their show versions.

Most importantly, their attitudes toward Heaven and Hell are pretty much identical. Perfectly mirrored in every regard. What Hell is for Crowley, Heaven is for Aziraphale. What Hell is for Aziraphale, Heaven is for Crowley. In. Every. Possible. Way.

Allow me to present some evidence from the book.

Exhibit #1: the end of the scene where Crowley convinces Aziraphale to interfere with Warlock's upbringing

'You're saying the child isn't evil of itself?' he said slowly. 'Potentially evil. Potentially good too, I suppose. Just this huge powerful potentiality, waiting to be shaped,' said Crowley. He shrugged. 'Anyway, why're we talking about this good and evil? They're just names for sides. We know that.' 'I suppose it's got to be worth a try,' said the angel. Crowley nodded encouragingly. 'Agreed?' said the demon, holding out his hand. The angel shook it, cautiously. 'It'll certainly be more interesting than saints,' he said. 'And it'll be for the child's own good, in the long run,' said Crowley. (...)

When Crowley first points out that good and evil are just names for sides, and then insists it's something they both know, Aziraphale doesn't react in any way. That's because these aren't things that book!Aziraphale disagrees with. He does indeed know it and doesn't deny it.

Also, please note just how cynical the angel is here with his comment that influencing the Antichrist would be a more interesting project than influencing saints!

Both would be rather OOC for show!Aziraphale.

Exhibit #2: the scene just after Warlock Dowling's birthday party, when it becomes evident he is not the Antichrist

'You said it was him!' moaned Aziraphale (...) 'It was him,' said Crowley. (...) 'Then someone else must be interfering.' 'There isn't anyone else! There's just us, right? Good and Evil. One side or the other.' He thumped the steering wheel. 'You'll be amazed at the kind of things they can do to you, down there,' he said. 'I imagine they're very similar to the sort of things they can do to you up there,' said Aziraphale. 'Come off it. Your lot get ineffable mercy,' said Crowley sourly. 'Yes? Did you ever visit Gomorrah?' 'Sure' said the demon. 'There was this great little tavern where you could get these terrific fermented date-palm cocktails with nutmeg and crushed lemongrass-' 'I meant afterwards.' 'Oh.'

Can you imagine this kind of exchange in the TV series? Can you imagine show!Aziraphale being this realistic about Heaven, and show!Crowley so naive about it? There's no way.

Show!Aziraphale genuinely believes that Heaven is good at its core.

Book!Aziraphale knows Heaven isn't any different than Hell and would punish him just as ruthlessly and unfairly as Hell would Crowley.

Show!Crowley understands both Heaven and Hell on a very deep level and is highly aware of their true nature.

Book!Crowley buys a piece of celestial propaganda about ineffable mercy and actually expects Heaven to be forgiving.

Let the magnitude of that difference sink.

Exhibit #3: same scene, a bit further

'So all we've got to do is find it,' said Crowley. 'Go through the hospital records.' The Bentley's engine coughed into life and the car leapt forward, forcing Aziraphale back into the seat. 'And then what?' he said. 'And then we find the child.' 'And then what?' The angel shut his eyes as the car crabbed around the corner. 'Don't know.' 'Good grief.' 'I suppose (...) your people wouldn't consider (...) giving me asylum?' 'I was going to ask you the same thing. (...)'

This is just a cherry on top, really.

Yes, in the book, when things go pear-shaped, both Aziraphale and Crowley consider seeking asylum on the opposite side.

Do you need more proof that book canon and show canon really aren't as compatible as they may seem?

Free will

As promised, let's get back to that dialogue because while it may not be obvious at first glance it really illustrates perfectly the problem arising from balancing between two canons.

Here is the full quote from the book:

Aziraphale had tried to explain [free will] to him once. The whole point, he'd said - this was somewhere around 1020, when they'd first reached their little Arrangement - the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be. Whereas people like Crowley and, of course, himself, were set in their ways right from the start. People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. Crowley had thought about it for some time and, around about 1023, had said, Hang on, that only works, right, if you start everyone off equal, OK? You can't start someone off in a muddy shack in the middle of a war zone and expect them to do as well as someone born in a castle. Ah, Aziraphale had said, that's the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. Crowley had said, That's lunatic. No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

And here, for comparison, is how it was reused in S2E3:

A: There is a stolen body in that barrel! This is wicked! C: Oh, I'm down with wicked! Anyway, is it wicked? She needed the money. A: That is irrelevant. Look, I am good. You, I'm afraid, are evil. But people get a choice. You know, they cannot be truly holy unless they also get the opportunity to be wicked. She is wicked. C: Yeah, that only works if you start everyone off equal. You can't start someone off like that and expect her to do as well as someone born in a castle. A: Ah, but no, no. That's the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. So Elspeth here has all the opportunities because she's so poor. C: That's lunacy. A: No, that's ineffable.

I'll be honest with you - I didn't like that scene in the show. It felt jarring and off. Aziraphale was acting like it was his first day on Earth and it was frustrating to watch.

Then, on one of the rewatches, just as I was rolling my eyes at "that's ineffable", a bulb lit in my brain. That line didn't work there because it wasn't created to be there! In the book and in S1 "it's ineffable" was kind of Aziraphale's catchphrase but in S2 it only appears this once. More importantly, in the book and S1, the fact that the angel would say that was all a build-up to the scene when he threw it in Heaven's face at the Tadfield Airbase. Using that word in S2 was like trying to make a running joke that has already reached its destination run again.

And just like that one line the entire dialogue didn't fit because it wasn't meant to be there. It was created for an entirely different context.

What's the difference?

Firstly, book!husbands' conviction was very shallow and it wasn't uncommon for both of them to spout slogans without meaning them. Therefore, book!Aziraphale's words didn't carry that much weight. The very fact that the conversation took place at the same time they formed the Arrangement tells us something about how serious he was. But show!Aziraphale's relationship with his beliefs is different, so when he says things like that it's a much bigger deal.

Secondly, the book explicitly states that Aziraphale and Crowley only developed free will on Earth, due to extended exposure to mankind. The show never really makes a stand on the matter but based on what we've seen so far I think we can safely assume that angels and demons are capable of making their own choices as much as humans do.

In other words, in its original context, the conversation was just Aziraphale talking about a concept he didn't fully grasp, quoting propaganda he didn't fully subscribe to. He was being ignorant and mildly obnoxious in an endearing way.

But using the same dialogue verbatim in the Resurrectionist carried a completely different meaning. Aziraphale who utters it in the show has no reason to be so ignorant about free will. Aziraphale who utters it in the show genuinely tries to defend Heaven. Most importantly, Aziraphale who utters it in the show, doesn't just idly bicker with his friend about general things but is judging an actual human individual that's right in front of them. That, more than anything else, makes it sound heartless and ignorant.

What is the problem with having two canons, exactly?

It's time to wrap things up.

In the opening paragraphs, I've mentioned that I've noticed the issue while interpreting scenes from S1, and yes, that was the case and I do believe that the existence of two canons is especially problematic for S1. That's because pretty much every scene in S1 is potentially like that dialogue about free will in S2, except subtler and harder to spot.

A grand majority of what we see and hear in S1 comes directly from the book. But while words and actions were kept, in some instances things that gave them their original meaning might no longer be valid in the show universe. Sometimes they easily take new meaning, and we don't even notice. But sometimes there's this dissonance that's not as easy to work around.

S1 deviated from the book and created its own canon. But the difference didn't seem to go very deep and it seemed perfectly reasonable to use some trivia from the book to shed some extra light on the content of the show. I used to do it in my head, even though I was aware of the changes that were made.

But S2 expanded the show canon so far beyond what was in the book that I'm really not sure it makes sense to compile them anymore.

There are a lot of things that were only explicitly stated in the book that I keep clinging to. But perhaps it's time to let go...

Thank you for your patience.

I know all of the above isn't exactly a revolutionary discovery, but I needed to get it off my chest before writing anything else.

#good omens #good omens 2 #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #good omens the book #differences between book and show #very long post #things I needed to get off my chest

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adelrambles · 5 months

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Tips on Writing Bishop

I've been asked a couple times for advice on how to write a good (03-style) Bishop, and I'm well-aware he can be a bit tough to get a grasp on. As someone who's studied him specifically to learn how to write him as accurately as possible, I figured I'd compile some thoughts in case it'd be helpful to anyone else. I know a lot of Rise takes on him are basing off the 03 version, so maybe this could help generate ideas, too. SO!

Big Overall Points!

At the core of EVERYTHING Bishop does are two primary motivations. The first: the protection of the earth. What this means to him can get tricky, because it doesn't necessarily mean protecting the people, at least not all of them. But it will be better understood alongside the other:

The second: The protection of his sense of safety. Bishop has been deeply traumatized, and everything he does is born of a want to avoid that pain ever again. In his mind, earth is a safe area, a controllable factor, and anything outside it is a danger that must be eliminated. This is why he will still be willing to put himself and other people on the line in service of this; any sacrifice is worth the greater goal. (It's worth noting, Bishop will claim the first as his motivation freely, but is likely not consciously aware of the second.)

Bishop deals in Big Picture ONLY. Another reason Bishop will willingly throw away anything, including the lives of the people he claims to protect, is that he seems incapable of understanding things on a small, individual basis.

Bishop is a cold personality. He does not have strong displays of emotion. He does emote, but for the most part it's muted, so I recommend using emotional bursts very sparingly. (In my own writing, as an example, I try to limit my use of exclamation marks in his dialogue as much as possible.)

At his core, Bishop is afraid, and his response to fear is aggression. This also makes it particularly difficult to talk him down, if he's put in an emotional state. His response to not being in control is often violent retaliation.

With those basic tenants understood, let's move next to some major personality traits:

Bishop is a controlling personality. This is a direct result of his trauma response. Things that can be controlled are safe, therefore he must control everything. If something cannot be controlled, it's a threat that must be eliminated. If he doesn't know why something happened, he becomes angry (including even when it benefits him.)

Bishop is very low-empathy. When writing him, I try to keep in mind that he cannot put himself in the perspective of others. (Or if he can, he doesn't care to.)

Bishop is a sadist. He gets personal enjoyment from hurting others.

Bishop likes fighting, but only when he's winning. He will quickly leave if he can't see a guaranteed victory.

Bishop is paranoid. This is probably self-evident, but it's the reason he's often so well-prepared even when things don't go to plan.

Bishop genuinely seems to enjoy science. He's shown to be far more lenient with scientist characters than anyone else, and he seems to involve himself in his scientists' projects to a degree. Enough to, at the very least, understand their work. (Given he was the one set to dissect the turtles, it might also be argued he has some medical or biology background, himself.)

Bishop is an opportunist and scavenger. He can roll with failures as long as he can find something to get out of it. If he's presented with an opportunity to stab someone in the back, and he has something to gain? He'll take it without a second thought.

Bishop is deeply self-blind. For all his perceptiveness and strategic prowess, Bishop is not very self-aware in the slightest. He is completely blind to his own hypocrisies, and thoroughly confident in his own righteousness.

Bishop adapts fast. He accepts situations for what they are and acts (Though he may still be angry about them, or what have you.) This is likely a skill developed via longevity; the world around him has changed rapidly, but he doesn't feel out of place at all.

Bishop will take extreme risks and thinks wildly outside the box. Also self-evident, if you're familiar with the plans he enacts throughout the show. He'll put a lot on the line if he thinks the reward is worth enough, and he's willing to go to extreme lengths to get what he wants, even if his plans would be considered crazy by normal standards.

Bishop is persistent. If he wants something, he won't stop until he gets it. If he fails, he'll retreat, make a new plan, and try again. It is very difficult to convince him to back down (and certainly not on moral grounds.)

Habits and triggers I've noted:

Being restrained of any sort puts Bishop in a panic. He is more likely to have an emotional response in these scenarios, and seems to have (an albeit muted) desperation to escape. (See: Leatherhead restraining him in the first encounter; His reaction to being trapped on the surgical table in Head of State.)

When being duplicitous or suppressing a reaction, Bishop will go to adjust his tie. This could possibly be considered his tell.

Bishop seems to have a particular fear of aliens blending in as humans. His slayer project was built around the assumption that this is a common threat. (Worth noting: This makes The Shredder the model of the exact threat Bishop is afraid of. Technically, Bishop himself may also fit the description of a threat shaped like a human.)

Writing considerations:

In 03's narrative, Bishop is EPF and EPF is Bishop. Narratively speaking, any organization Bishop is head of acts as if it is an extension of his will and character.

Bishop is shown to strike fear and/or discomfort into most characters he interacts with. Anything beyond this is an outlier, and will draw a reader's attention.

Dialogue-wise, Bishop is generally succinct and blunt. He does dabble in gloating, though, and especially likes to upset others. If he's given a chance to be mean, he'll usually take it. It can help to consider he has a Mission Mode and a Normal Mode. When it comes to Mission Mode, he gets straight to the point and hates unnecessary talking. Otherwise, he's still not very talkative, but will take the time to make pointed jabs or talk through a plan. A lot of his sense of humor seems to be rooted in how He's Better Than You (And You're Going To Die Painfully.)

It's a common pitfall that Bishop is depicted as seeking out the turtles. In 03, once he gets their DNA, he's done with them. Any encounters after that are incidental. Bishop does not care about anything that won't effect his greater goal. If he's targeting another character, it should have to do with a greater plan.

Bishop is an extremely competent combatant, shown to be able to handle up to 7 opponents at once. For a breakdown on his fighting style check out my other post on that!

Bishop is hard to kill, and oftentimes he accidentally contributes to his own defeat. (The hook from Bishop's Gambit is an example I get a LOT of mileage out of, as a perfect symbol of his self-defeating prophecies.)

We almost only ever see Bishop in the context of his work. While it could be construed that he depersonalizes himself, it's much more clear that the narrative depersonalizes him. As far as we, the audience know, Bishop's work is all that he is.

It's unclear if Bishop was released from his abduction or escaped. Depending on which you ascribe to, this can have ramifications for his mindset on how to deal with the alien threat. (Personally, because so much of his inability to cope hinges on a feeling of helplessness, I believe he was released. If he escaped on his own power, that undercuts it, somewhat.)

Thematically-speaking, Bishop parallels both his own torturers and his own victims at the same time. He has perpetuated the cycle that traumatized him in the first place by trying to fight fire with fire. (In that vein, I don't think he's capable of understanding that, not seeing aliens as people in the first place, just dangers. Considering how deeply ingrained his trauma is in his worldview and actions, it would probably ruin him, if he were ever able to actually grasp it.)

Bishop and EPF are likely a commentary on the military of the time 03 was coming out. This can be something worth keeping in mind, when figuring out his greater themes in your story, though it can just as well be discarded if it doesn't fit.

Adding to that, Bishop has an extensive american military background. His skills and knowledge will reflect that.

Bishop also plays on and references a number of real-life alien conspiracies. It can be worth digging through conspiracy history to drum up ideas and themes, too.

The ethical and philosophical quandaries of Bishop's body-hopping and humanity tend to not hold too much weight, because Bishop, himself, doesn't seem to care.

If I think of more I'll certainly be adding on to the reblogs of this post! Or, if you have more thoughts, please feel free to add! If you're in the mood for more Bishop ramblings, that's practically most of this blog atm, but this post is a particular favorite. If you're interested in Fast Forward!Bishop, specifically, consider this post! (also read Taking Pawns. slipped in that self-promo, nice.)

#agent bishop #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #And man I still gotta make an analysis on 2012 Bishop #my man is so underrated #There are only a handful of fics out there that include him at ALL and for the most part I find he's blended with 03's characterization #Which takes away what makes him fun in his own right and muddies 03 Bishop's character basis imo #anyway I had this post on the backburner for a while and finally got the motivation to finish her up #And of course if ever there are more questions on characterizing him I'd be happy to help! I love rambling about this guy ad nauseum #oooh stray thought I should do one for Rat King too. Went through that guy's episodes recently theyre GREAT #I've also been very tempted to compile most of these posts into a big ol video essay. idk if I could pull it off but it sure is an idea

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ddarker-dreams · 8 months

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under what conditions can blade's dry texting extend beyond an archaic emoji reaction

i've mostly likely answered thousands of asks since i've started this blog four years ago.................... i've had some tricky characters questions that stumped me for a few minutes, but never longer than that. this, however... was my ultimate test. i actually had to think on it for a while 😭

in an ironic twist, the only way you could ever get blade to double text (and beyond) is if you're the one not texting him.

blade isn't the panicking type. if his mara is under control, his composure is second to none. he doesn't jump to crazy conclusions or work himself up if you've gone a few hours without texting him. you have a life of your own you're leading, which he respects, since his line of work frequently requires him to be away for weeks at a time. it'd be hypocritical of him to demand your attention the second he has some downtime.

it does strike him as odd once six or so hours have passed. he takes the area you occupy into consideration, since having consistent time zones across an infinite universe is impossible. he doesn't have to check a convertor. he just knows what hours you'll be awake or asleep, it's built into his circadian rhythm. if it's crickets on your end during the time you should be awake, he starts wondering.

normally, you're texting him selfies and pictures of your meals throughout the day, composing sickeningly sweet lines that almost make him blush from how unabashed they are. not having these silly snapshots of your life to look forward to after his work does a number on his already dour mood. he never really thought about how integral your presence has become to him until you deviated from your normal behavior.

at around the eight hour mark, he gets this sinking feeling in his stomach. he'll text you questions asking if you're okay, if anything's wrong... his eyes remain glued to his screen. any slight vibration that could be a notification from you has him whipping his phone out at inhuman speed. it's at this point that he breaks down and asks silver wolf to do him a favor, starting with checking recent surveillance footage in your area. if she can't find anything, that means you must've stayed in your residence. next up is tracking your location through your phone.

blade's already thinking about how to speed up the process of this world's destruction so he can book it back to you, when a vibration catches his attention. it's an unknown number. when he opens it, he's greeted by a selfie of you beside mechanical parts, with the caption,

'guess who accidentally smashed their phone while trying to kill a bug loooooooooooool'

all he can do is pinch his nose and sigh. if his hair ever grays again, it'll be thanks to you.

#he is my special soggy old man #honkai star rail x reader #blade x reader #blade brainrot #answered #Anonymous

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bethanydelleman · 5 days

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So I asked a while ago about which of our main men would change the most/least of their novels if they went back to the start (and I really loved the answers)…

But how do you think it would work vice versa? If our leading ladies went back to the start who do you think would change the most of their respective novels?

I feel like Marianne and Emma would probably change the most… but most of them would change things quite a bit I think.

Except maybe Fanny not out of lack of want to change things but because she has so much difficulty speaking up. I’ve got to admit I’m swaying back and forth on Lady Susan and Anne though. Bc Lady Susan is just arrogant enough to think that if she knows when/how things are going to go wrong then she can prevent them even when it’s something out of her control or that she doesn’t know the actual cause of. And Anne is quite a lot like Fanny in that she has trouble speaking up and also bc up until Lyme Wentworth is still very angry with her and I’m not sure there’s anything that she could do to mitigate that before then…

Thoughts? 💜

This question is in reference to this question.

I think the person who would change the most is Elizabeth Bennet, she's the only one who has someone she absolutely needs to save. (And Jane Bennet if we are counting her as a heroine.) Fortunately, I think rescuing Lydia would be in their power. Elizabeth would actually flirt with Darcy and she could drop hints about Jane loving Bingley. I think they could prevent Bingley from leaving and through that, prevent Lydia's trip to Brighton (ie take her somewhere else exciting with their wealth, as they take over the care of Kitty in canon). Also, knowing his true nature, they'd likely start some sort of whisper campaign against Wickham.

If only Elinor time travels, she would hopefully be able to inform Colonel Brandon about Willoughby earlier and stop W's romance with Marianne, but I don't think she could stop W&M on her own because she doesn't have any evidence of Willoughby's wrongdoing. She'd at least be prepared for the Lucy reveal and she knows it will turn out okay. I think she'd be intelligent enough to just not touch that and let nature take it's course.

Marianne would go for Colonel Brandon and snub Willoughby, it'd be delightful!. Poor Willoughby would have an ego crisis losing to an "old" man.

Anne Elliot doesn't have trouble speaking up, in my opinion, she just knows it's useless. She's been living with her father and Elizabeth for long enough to know that they won't listen to her. However, she would know the future which would be comforting at least and maybe she could prevent the Lyme fall. I think Wentworth would still wake up to his true feelings even without the fall and Anne is selfless enough to risk it.

Catherine Morland would likely avoid Isabella and her best to keep James from entering into his engagement. She would eagerly look forward to each time she knows that Henry Tilney is coming and would not even accuse General Tilney of being a murderer, not even once!

Fanny Price is actually kind of cruel, because the future would horrify her but I don't think she could do anything to prevent it. Edmund is ineffective, Maria wouldn't listen, and I don't think Fanny would dare approach Sir Thomas. So she'd just be EVEN MORE of a Cassandra and in acute pain the whole time. The fact that she ends up with Edmund would only be a minor consolation, given her personality.

Lady Susan would try again with her better knowledge, she might even succeed 😬 the horror!

Lastly, Emma. She's a tricky one because I don't know what she would do. She knows Elton sucks, she knows Jane and Frank are engaged, she's ashamed of her behaviour... Does she encourage Harriet to accept the first proposal or do the same thing as last time so she can enjoy a year with a friend? I think she would refrain from encouraging Harriet about Elton, and therefore avoid that heartbreak. Could she wiggle out of Elton's proposal? I don't know. It's going to happen eventually. She may discover that without her flirting with Frank, Knightley doesn't discover his feelings, so she's got to stick as close as possible to her original actions to prevent disaster! However, she would avoid the Box Hill debacle and refrain from bringing up Mr. Dixon with Frank.

#question response #emma woodhouse #elizabeth bennet #jane bennet #jane austen #pride and prejudice #mansfield park #fanny price #sense and sensibility #northanger abbey #emma #persuasion #catherine morland #marianne dashwood #elinor dashwood

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ultravhasart · 2 months

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here are my animate-able redesigns for Saiki Kusuo and Teruhashi Kokomi! Lots of talking about design below the cut:

Designing for animation has been a bit tricky since it's less of a fun redesign and way more practical 😂 You want the least amount to draw possible, so all the details need a lot of impact. I was relying a lot on shapes, including the lines "lean" (like inwards, outwards, straight) to communicate character. This was easy enough with Saiki, but Teruhashi is supposed to be really pretty and she kept looking plain, so she took a bit (especially her hair).

SAIKI:

Saiki is designed to look fairly boring, if not for the stuff he can't control, like limiters, glasses, and hair colour. His limiters are also more boring than canon, although they're still designed to cover his vision from all angles.

His hair is a bit stringy because he doesn't know how to take care of it. It's also a bit long since he can't go to the barbers, he cuts it himself. (he also does NOT wash his hair enough. wash your hair saiki)

Overall, he has a lot of sharp angles (i.e. his hair and his side profile nose), because he can be a bit bristly, but it's not overwhelming since he's just a loser struggling teenager, he's not actually mean. Think of him as a wet cat.

TERUHASHI:

Since I don't think I'll draw a Teruhashi headturn, note that her bow is supposed to be visible and on the side no matter her head angle. same with all three tufts of hair (I did the same thing with saiki's tufts).

she has little hearts on her cheeks because I thought they were cute! They're not stickers, they're an artistic representation of blush lol. She has a third heart as the tuft on the top of her head, and a fourth (if you squint) as her bow.

the two hair tufts on the side represent devil horns. My Teruhashi designs will ALWAYS have lil angel / devil themes in her design (because shes awesome).

Teruhashi would also be the only character to have coloured lines in her design, to show she's "prettier" and more special even in the art style of the show.

Her eyes are also unique and have a really high contrast. It looks a bit uncanny compared to the rest of her, and she has an insanely intense glare, though she doesn't use it often.

I didn't include a glow, But I think it'd still appear at certain times (or maybe a halo). I think the coloured lines make her look unique enough as is, and couldn't find an easy way to create a pretty-looking glowing effect.

Overall, she has a lot of rounded edges and lines, because that's how she presents herself. There are still some sharp lines, like in her devil horns, to hint at a more full personality behind her public face.

BOTH:

Saiki's and Teruhashi's eye colour are actually quite close (both are shades of purpley-blue, and in-universe is considered really pretty, which is why Teruhashi has them. It's also why Saiki hides them with his glasses tint.)

After that, Saiki's limiter stems and Teruhashi's iris outline are the same colour. Same with Teruhashi's bow and Saiki's hair.

Their designs are closely linked because they're my favourite narrative foils <33

#fanart #image id in alt text #described #saiki k #saiki kusuo no psi nan #saiki kusuo #the disastrous life of saiki k #teruhashi kokomi #redesign

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weirdmarioenemies · 8 months

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No one stopped me but myself, but I'm back to ranking all the Super Mario Galaxies

Sorry this took so long! Mix of some busy weeks and some low energy. These are long posts! Takes a lot of time to write them.

Hello, everyone! Today we're approaching the top of the mountain. The very best galaxies these games have to offer... at least to me. I know I've stated this a lot but like, opinions are totally subjective, and what appeals to me may not appeal to you and vice versa! But these ones appeal to me and quite a lot.

By the next entry, we will have covered all of the galaxies there are, which is pretty exciting. You can expect it on some Sunday, but given how the last few weeks have gone, I won't make any promises about the specifics of when. And if this is the first time you're seeing one of these posts and want to catch up, I've got you covered. Here's part one, part two, part three, and part four.

With that out of the way, I think we're about good to go! Let's start covering some of the best these games have to offer!

20. Grandmaster Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Grandmaster Galaxy should be grateful we're not ranking the galaxies in the order you play them, or else it'd be dead last.

If I'm not mistaken, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the first game to feature a very long, very difficult gauntlet as a "final test" of sorts, and here it is! This is another of those things that has basically become a series staple of Mario games at this point, with similar levels existing in 3D Land, 3D World, and Odyssey, and given they've latched onto this concept so much, it's probably not controversial to say that the first instance of this probably did something right.

And it did! The Grandmaster Galaxy throws a number of different obstacles at you, from a segment where all you have to get around is those Yoshi Tongue Flower Things, to a segment with electrical mazes, to a segment where you have to dodge Ring Beamers around flip-swap panels and disappearing platforms, to a segment with some tricky pull star timing. I would go ahead and say the segment with the flipswitches and Sentry Beams is on the easy side, but that's towards the start, so it's probably fine.

The first run of the galaxy is challenging, but also feels a bit like a "practice run," giving you room to acquaint yourself with each step of the galaxy before the Perfect Run, where you have to do the whole thing in one go with only one health. This is the time where I admit: I've only ever beaten the Perfect Run with help from a Co-Star Luma. Is that cheating? I dunno. I never promised I was great at video games! Only good enough to 100% most of the game and beat the Grandmaster Galaxy non-perfect run, and still do the Perfect Run with a little help. ...That counts for something, right?

Either way, I think Grandmaster provides more than an adequate challenge, making it succeed as both a test of skill, and as a finale for the rest of the game to build up to.

19. Matter Splatter Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: S

If you exclude boss missions, I'd say Matter Splatter Galaxy is probably the best one-off galaxy in the first game. Actually, the Garden in general is a really good dome. This is the first of its galaxies I'm covering on this list! (As long as you don't look at the Hungry Luma standing outside. I question how much Snow Cap Galaxy single-handedly weighs down this dome if you're willing to include it.)

I've kinda ragged on a lot of the smaller-scale galaxies in the first game, and while the small scale is maybe part of the reason I've been more dismissive of them, as a whole, I think what hurts them more for me is that I rarely find their gimmicks all that unique or interesting. If a gimmicky one-off galaxy has a good enough gimmick? Then yeah, I'll love it to bits! And Matter Splatter Galaxy has that "good enough gimmick".

I touched on this one a bit when talking about Sweet Mystery Galaxy, what with how both make use of the "what you can see is all that's there" concept, but as a whole, I think Matter Splatter does it a bit better, due to the lack of player control. It adds an element where you have to consider when you want to approach, and makes for some fun improvisation when your timing is off. You lose out on some of that improvisation when the location of the ground is something you have more control over, you know?

But what truly escalates Matter Splatter to me is how much variety they get out of its gimmick. For the first half of the galaxy, droplets of matter will "light up" the ground you can walk on, with the ground gradually fading until another drop hits the same spot. It's a fun test of pattern recognition and timing, and it comes with both 2D and 3D segments for a bit of added variety! As a whole, I'd say I generally prefer this half of the galaxy since it feels a bit more distinctive, but it's not like this galaxy suddenly becomes weak in the back half.

The back half switches things up, focusing on large, moving "spotlights" you have to keep yourself in, changing to a bit of an autoscroller, where you have to swiftly adjust to whatever obstacles are coming up ahead, now testing your reflexes and improvisational skills a bit more. Once again, we get both 2D and 3D segments for added variety, and the mix of the galaxy's unique gimmick and autoscrolling format allows for some really fun misdirection in this part. It's a fun switch-up that doesn't depart dramatically from what makes this galaxy so great. All of this comes together to make a one-off gimmick galaxy that feels like it truly gets the most out of a unique concept.

Before I move on, though, I want to talk about the Spring Mushroom. The Spring Mushroom is a weird power-up. It's pretty infamous, and like, for good reason. It's difficult to control, it feels kinda jank to use at times, and most people find it more frustrating than fun and like. I'm not even gonna say I disagree with that sentiment! And yet somehow, against all odds, every galaxy that prominently features the Spring Mushroom has ended up scoring really highly for me. Are these galaxies just great in spite of featuring the Spring Mushroom? Is the Spring Mushroom's jank secretly a good thing? Or is there just something wrong with me? The answer is probably a mix of all three.

18. Bowser's Galaxy Generator

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Oh hey, it's the finale of the main Super Mario Galaxy 2 campaign! These big finale boss missions are always great, and while I think Galaxy 2's doesn't quite stack up to the first game's, I'd still say that I'd consider it a worthy successor. It still absolutely succeeds as one last grand mission to close out the main game.

Like any good boss galaxy, I love Bowser's Galaxy Generator for its length and sense of variety. Possibly even more so than the Galaxy Reactor from the first game, the Galaxy Generator seems to try testing your knowledge on everything you know, featuring most of the game's brand-new power-ups, save for the Rock Mushroom and Bulb Berry. I think this idea of focusing on the game's new content was the right call, since it helps it feel a bit more like a finale to Super Mario Galaxy 2, specifically.

The level is also adequately challenging! I find the Yoshi segments towards the end to be the toughest, with the Dash Pepper segment being tight enough that even the smallest mistakes can be punishing, while the Snake Block section afterwards requiring some pretty tight reflexes to dodge the Magmarrghs.

With that out of the way, while the level is solidly challenging, I do think the final boss fight is a bit on the easy side. Both the asteroids and Bowser are big enough that landing the hits isn't too much of a challenge, even in the second phase. Heck, arguably less so in the second phase, when replaying this level, I always think of that phase of the fight as being sort of a freebie.

But I also wouldn't say it's a bad fight -- it does a good job escalating the game's previous Bowser encounters, and ground pounding asteroids into a massive Bowser while hurtling through space definitely has a sense of grandeur that I really appreciate. Maybe it could've been a little more difficult or a little longer, but it's certainly memorable, and still very fun, so the fact it's not as difficult as it arguably should be doesn't bother me that much, and doesn't hamper the Galaxy Generator from its S-tier position.

17. Flip-Out Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

I find it a little weird that this is the penultimate galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, you know? Between the boss rush and ultimate challenge levels, you have this weird one-off gimmick level that introduces a variant of a gimmick seen back in World 1, just with an added twist. I guess they wanted the final Hungry Luma galaxy to be a parallel to the first one? I'm not really sure. None of this matters of course, because Flip-Out Galaxy is fan-flipping-tastic!

Yeah, I know that doesn't hit as hard as a real F-bomb, but we try to keep the blog at least somewhat family-friendly, you know? And also the pun!

Anyway, as you may remember, I love Flip-Swap Galaxy quite a bit. Top-notch weird gimmick galaxy, always a joy to play. So I think it goes to say that I love this more difficult spin on its gimmick just as much, if not even more, if the rating hasn't spoken for itself already. Flip-Out Galaxy shifts the focus from the red and blue Flip-Swap panels to red and blue walls that pop in and out when you spin. And of course, that means it's time to perform some Wicked Wall Jumps! This is what that weird short mission in Honeybloom Galaxy has been training you for!

Since this is the penultimate galaxy in the game, it's a pretty tricky one, since a poorly-timed spin can take out not just the walls you're jumping on, but the floor underneath as well, and you'll have to spin a lot when alternating between red and blue walls! Timing will also prove important, not just for exiting a wall jump and spinning to give yourself solid ground to stand on, but also for a segment where you have to keep wall jumping until the spikes underneath you recede, which becomes especially difficult when you throw in the Cosmic Clones...

On that note, I love the decision to use specifically the Cosmic Clone mission for the second Green Star here, and putting it towards the end, too. Makes grabbing it a bit trickier, which is nice for a galaxy this late in the game! Flip-Out does pretty much everything I'd want it to -- it brings back a great old gimmick, changes it up in a way that feels unique, and uses it to craft a fun, albeit challenging late-game mission. My only knock against it? It being so late in the game means you have to play a lot to get there, and they crowd so many of the game's worst galaxies before it, just to rub salt in the wound. But hey, if it's for a galaxy this good, it may as well be worth it.

16. Cosmic Cove Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

I know a handful of people have been disappointed by the low rankings I gave to a lot of these games' water galaxies, so consider this an apology. Well, an apology of some sort, it's not like I decided to move up Cosmic Cove a bunch because people were upset that I didn't like some of the water galaxies. It just happens that I felt a lot of them suffered from having weak missions, hampered a bit by somewhat janky underwater controls. Give me a water galaxy that mitigates both these problems, and I'm sure to fall in love with it. "Underwater" is like, a pretty notable part of My Brand! There's a reason I've put three water galaxies on today's list, everyone!

Case in point: Cosmic Cove Galaxy! Cosmic Cove Galaxy is just gorgeous. I'd say that it's aesthetically one of the strongest galaxies in Super Mario Galaxy 2, which definitely counts for something! I mean, have you heard its music? The harps and pianos create such a relaxing atmosphere, and it sort of reminds me of the music in the next entry on our list...

But let's not get ahead of ourselves! Cosmic Cove isn't surviving on looks alone, because it's a pretty fun galaxy to play as well! I think they hit a really nice balance here, where the underwater sections have a somewhat linear path to take, so it doesn't feel like you're wrestling with those Janky Water Controls, but if you decide to go off the beaten path, there's a good bit more to see than you'd expect, which is nice, given this is a very pretty galaxy and one I enjoy spending time to take in! Obviously there's less to do once you've frozen the water, but having a big open plain to skate around on is also pretty fun. And while we're talking about ice skating, the Hungry Luma star is probably the second best bunny chase in the Galaxy games.

And let's not forget the second main mission, either! The underwater sidescroller is really neat, especially when they start having blocks of water floating in space, and even moving on their own. I think this is another of those concepts they brought back in Super Mario 3D World, if I'm not mistaken! It's such a memorable part of the galaxy, that I sorta forget there's that planet with the Spin Drill and the Micro Mecha-Bowsers and the Fizzlits at the end, but that planet is fine too.

Cosmic Cove manages to do a seamless job blending aesthetics and gameplay to create one of the series' most memorable galaxies. And it introduces us to Snoodles and Fizzlits! Those are like, maybe two of my favorite enemies. Bonus points for that!

15. Space Junk Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: S

Can I be honest? Space Junk Galaxy is one of those galaxies that mostly made it this high for the vibes, above all else. Don't get me wrong, I like Space Junk Galaxy a lot. I think all the missions here are fun, if I was rating it on gameplay alone I'd probably still rank it highly. Space Junk on its own is a solid A-tier galaxy, but I think this is one of those galaxies where the atmosphere brings it up a tier higher for me.

While most of the galaxies in these games focus on the grandeur and excitement of exploring the cosmos, Space Junk Galaxy takes a more melancholic approach to the setting, the idea that outer space is mostly, well, space. Space Junk Galaxy isn't really focused on having big, exciting setpieces. Space Junk Galaxy is about everything inbetween, from lost spaceships, to small asteroids, to well... miscellaneous space junk. And I think it works in its favor!

I could make the same argument that I made against Gusty Garden Galaxy, that Space Junk Galaxy feels like it was cobbled together from miscellaneous bits and bobs of larger levels that were getting too big, but in this case, I think that's the point. To the extent that something trying to be a cohesive level design in a 3D platformer can at least, Space Junk does a really good job capturing that feeling of emptiness, in the best possible way. The first mission here, which largely consists of Mario floating through space via a trail of Pull Stars, may not be the most exciting mission, but it has such a specific atmosphere that I can't help but say it may very well be one of my favorites across both games.

Admittedly, this is the part of this review where I have to concede that Space Junk's biggest strength is probably also one of its biggest weaknesses, that a galaxy so focused on all the emptiness and in-betweens of space struggles to find enough content to fill out six missions. The second mission basically has none of the atmosphere, instead being a weird Airship mission with a boss fight at the end, and then the third mission has another boss fight, because what else are you gonna do here? Don't get me wrong, these are still fun missions, but I think they end up working against the general atmosphere and tone that this galaxy sets up in the first mission. I think this is one that would benefit from the sequel's smaller-scale galaxies, with two "main" missions, and a comet or secret star or something.

Still, this is a galaxy that is fun from start to finish, and when it goes for being atmospheric, it nails it. I mean, have you heard the music here? This has easily gotta be a top 5 song across both games for me, I love it so much. While I think having fewer, more focused missions could've benefited it a little, Space Junk Galaxy will always leave such an impression on me that I can't help but feel like it's one of the standouts from these games.

14. Cloudy Court Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

I've mentioned before how a few of the galaxies in Galaxy 2 feel like they're meant to be "sequels" to galaxies from the first game, and Cloudy Court is no exception, feeling like a bit of a follow-up to Gusty Garden Galaxy. I mean, you have the grand orchestral score, you have the "garden in the sky" theming, you have lots of segments where you're riding on wind currents, even the Japanese name, "Cloud Garden Galaxy" ends up harkening back to the first game's "Wind Garden Galaxy". I think there's a reason they showed this one off a lot in the game's earliest trailers.

That being said, while it does feel a bit like an attempt to capitalize on Gusty Garden's success, in many ways to me it also feels like a refinement of Gusty Garden, taking some of the concepts that worked there and expanding on them a bit to make something that, to me at least, feels more interesting and cohesive. In my review of Gusty Garden, I characterized it a bit as a galaxy largely carried by its music, that otherwise felt like it could've been thrown together from leftover assets from galaxies that had gotten too large. Cloudy Court manages to avoid that feeling pretty easily, it was pretty clearly built from the ground up, and given how much it changed from the initial trailer to the final release, it seems like one they spent a lot of time on trying to get just right.

And in that regard, I think they largely succeeded! Cloudy Court manages to hit on the familiar elements we love about Gusty Garden, but also manages to hold strong on its own, with a number of distinct and memorable segments. I don't know why the drum trampolines are here, but I'm not complaining, it's fun to have them! And the combination of the wind currents and the Cloud Flower makes for some very memorable platforming challenges. And some fun secrets, as well! Obviously as a Galaxy 2 entry it's gonna be a bit more linear by default, but even then they manage to hide a lot of 1-Ups here, adding a little extra reward for going off the course, which you know I always appreciate.

While a lot of "sequel" galaxies end up falling flat to me when they struggle to live up to what came before, Cloudy Court is one of the rare exceptions that not only lives up to its predecessor, but in my opinion, surpasses it. I feel like we think of Gusty Garden as a better galaxy than it truly is, but Cloudy Court simply is that good, which to me, makes it a contender for one of the series' very best.

13. Boo Moon Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Man, it's hard to go wrong with ghosts. Nice for an appropriately spooky galaxy to end up at #13, huh? Maybe that was a little deliberate on my part, but it's not like I don't think Boo Moon Galaxy deserves it.

Boo Moon Galaxy is so, so stylish I think. I feel like Super Mario Galaxy 2 goes for a bit of a "storybook" aesthetic, so why not have a galaxy that leans into that a bit? Stuff like the dark maze at the beginning, poison swamp folding up at a 90 degree angle to match the snake blocks, the crescent-moon see-saw planet, and the haunted house pop-up book at the end are all such distinctive visuals with a bit of that Storybook Feel to me, and end up making for a galaxy that manages to provide a very fun twist on an already fun theme.

Not to mention that this is also a decently tricky galaxy! I gotta be grateful for those musical notes that spawn the three 1-Ups during the Snake Block section, because I've fallen into that poison swamp more than a couple times, especially when going for the secret star, and even more so when going for that one Green Star. The second mission, which I believe is the sole appearance of the Boo Mushroom in Galaxy 2, also involves some precise timing as you weave your way through Octoboos, particularly towards the end.

I'm a sucker for a good ghost galaxy, so this one was probably gonna get high marks no matter what, but with a stylish and distinctive aesthetic, that's enough to bring it up to a top-tier with a fittingly spooky number. Happy Halloween, everyone!

I mean, it's September. That's basically Halloween.

12. Tall Trunk Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Really, shoutout to World 3 of Galaxy 2 just giving you a choice between two absolute bangers right off the bat. I think Tall Trunk ends up just barely winning out against Cloudy Court for me, but the two are really close in quality, and no matter which I'm in the mood for, I know I'm in for a great time.

Like Puzzle Plank, this is another galaxy that brings such a high level of unfiltered joy whenever I reach it in a playthrough. Maybe there's something about these big galaxies made of wood, I dunno. Probably also has something to do with the music. Yeah, I know this one just borrows the music from Yoshi Star Galaxy, but I always associate it with Tall Trunk first and foremost. Unlike Puzzle Plank however, I think Tall Trunk feels a bit more fully realized -- I never really feel underwhelmed playing through Tall Trunk, which let it climb a good bit higher on my tier list.

Tall Trunk is a galaxy not only with a great aesthetic, but two very fun and very distinct missions! The first mission is a showcase of the Blimp Fruit, and I love how it gets used in so many different ways, from climbing a tree, to searching for Star Chips around a cylindrical planet (Super Mario Galaxy 2 has a lot of those, huh?), to making your way through a long spiral to grab the Power Star. Then there's the slide, which weeeeeee wheeeeeeeeeee yippeeeeeeeeeee wahoooooo!

It's fun.

This galaxy also has to get bonus points for being the home of the Whittles, arguably the best Galaxy NPCs. Don't get me wrong, the Gearmos offer close competition, but the Whittles are just too adorable. Also, the Tall Trunk Galaxy is a sacred site to the Whittles, giving us one of few glimpses into Religion in the Mario Universe.

I think I have to agree with the Whittles when it comes to this galaxy: "Treetop. Good." Truer words have never been spoken.

11. Flipsville Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Oh hey, I've talked about this one before! I mean, clearly I have to enjoy this one a good bit to give it its own post with some in-depth analysis, though I hate to say, I still have yet to figure out who's selectively breeding Pupdozers, why they'd be doing it, or if that has even happened at all. Sorry. I know you're disappointed in me. Maybe I'll have the answer next time I talk about Flipsville.

I did sort of go over my opinions in that post, though more of it was dedicated to talking about the galaxy itself, so I probably don't have to fear repeating myself too too much. To reiterate: I think this one is great! The gimmick of the grates that reverse the gravity of the galaxy is really really neat, and this galaxy uses it in some interesting ways, particularly during the autoscroller where you have to flip at the right time to avoid running Mario into spikes. (That being said, my favorite usage still gotta be that one Green Star that you can only reach by taking a leap of faith from underneath.)

Also shoutout to the Pupdozers as an enemy design that takes advantage of this gimmick! I'm pretty sure they're only in this galaxy, so I may as well talk about them here. I also have to shoutout this galaxy's distinctive aesthetic, "weird 1950s suburban house" is not really a level theme you see in video games often, and it gives this galaxy more than just a unique gameplay gimmick. I really dig it.

Speaking of digging, I do remain a little iffy on how the second mission shifts focus to the Spin Drill, I feel parts of it end up feeling pretty similar to the Spin-Dig Galaxy, but the gimmick of flipping between the two sides of the planets remains in tact, and the final room with the gravity walls that switch in time with the music where you have to use the drill to grab Silver Stars or Purple Coins is really cool, so I can't complain about it too much. I mean, it's not like it makes this galaxy any less fun, y'know?

Flipsville Galaxy will always stand out to me as one of the most distinctive galaxies in the sequel, both in its theming and in its gameplay, and for that I will always consider it a personal favorite!

10. Slimy Spring Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Slimy Spring Galaxy is one of the most atmospheric galaxies... well, I was gonna say in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but it's really one of the most atmospheric galaxies in general. I'd say that as a whole, the first game typically wins out on atmosphere, but there's a few places where the sequel really shines, and more than any other, I think Slimy Spring showcases that.

Slimy Spring Galaxy is so, so very claustrophobic. You're given a green shell, and from there, it's a long, linear swim through a narrow underwater cave. Besides the very start, there's hardly any coins or air bubbles to refill your air meter, so you have to rely on what little air you do have to make your way to the end. And believe me when I say that these tunnels are designed to be just long enough to run you to the very end of your air meter. You only really get a brief breather in the middle, and with limited air, mistakes made in this galaxy can be especially punishing.

I love the way Slimy Spring Galaxy puts you in this distinct state of mind. Watching your air slowly run out while making your way through a dark, seemingly unending tunnel can be a bit nerve-wracking, but obviously the game's not gonna present you with a galaxy that's impossible to beat. You just have to trust that the game's gonna take you where you need to go, and try to avoid letting any obstacles this galaxy throws at you trip you up. Admittedly, I still see my fight-or-flight reflex kick in when I reach the Gringills.

Slimy Spring Galaxy is one I've really only grown to appreciate more and more with time. It's not really one of the game's most "fun" galaxies by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn't really feel like it's trying to be -- the rest of the galaxies exist to be fun, so what does it matter if Slimy Spring Galaxy tries to do something else? Slimy Spring Galaxy is pretty much unrivaled in its atmosphere, and for that, it has easily become one of my favorites.

I really love the sunset at the end of Slimy Spring. It sort of feels like the game saying that even in the most uncertain of times, everything's gonna turn out alright at the end. I feel like I'm being a bit wax poetic here, but I dunno. I think Slimy Spring Galaxy just does that to a person.

9. Honeyhive Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: S

So remember how earlier I said this was a top 10 Galaxy? Well how many of you guessed it'd show up at #9? Congratulations if you did! I'm sorry I don't have anything to award you, besides I guess my review of Honeyhive Galaxy, but even people who didn't guess correctly are getting that... Sorry.

Whatever. Honeyhive is great! I mean, you've seen me talk about it when talking about every other bee galaxy. This is the honey-gold standard all other bee galaxies strive for, and few can achieve...

What makes Honeyhive so great to me is its sense of scale. It arguably has the largest starting planet across both games, with lots of little nooks and crannies that all get utilized throughout its many missions. I get the feeling you wouldn't even need to add more to this galaxy to give it a full set of missions, but Honeyhive Galaxy is here to spoil us anyway, because it's Honeyhive Galaxy, and it's great. It does a very nice job making each mission feel familiar, yet distinctive, which I really appreciate.

I also think it does a really good job showing off the Bee Mushroom, with lots of high ground that becomes much more accessible with it, plenty of water to show off its main weakness, lots of flower and cloud platforms you can only access with it, and honey walls to climb up. Not only do you get to spend time among the bees, but you get to join them. Become one with the hive.

Oh, and have I mentioned that the main missions here are all super great too? The first mission is the big showcase for the Bee Mushroom I mentioned above, but the second has some fun platforming through a wooden obstacle course, and the boss fight against Big Bad Bugaboom is always a blast that makes some great usage of the Bee Mushroom. The Purple Coin and Luigi missions are sorta whatever to me, though I appreciate the Cosmic Mario race and the weird shortcuts you can take in it, I think it's nifty.

Really, I think the thing holding back Honeyhive from an even higher spot for me, and this is pretty unfair, is the fact that it's so early in the game, that the novelty of it all has kinda worn off for me. It's hard to get excited about Honeyhive when it's a place you have to go to early in the game, you know? But again, that's a small gripe that ultimately changes nothing about just how good this galaxy is. It's sweet as honey!

8. Deep Dark Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: S

Deep Dark Galaxy is one of those galaxies that always kinda surprises me when I play through the first game. It's one of those galaxies I never really think about all that often, and I'm rarely that excited when I get there, but then I play through it and go "wait a second, this one rules!"

I'm wondering if it's because it's in the Garden, where it has to deal with some serious competition. Being "that water galaxy with the dreary atmosphere in the way of Dreadnought and Melty Molten" isn't exactly the most flattering look, but at the very least it makes for a galaxy that always manages to surpass my expectations. Hopefully, putting this one at #8 will make me stop forgetting how good it is once and for all.

Still, I don't think counting the dreary atmosphere of this galaxy against it is really fair, because that's kinda what it's going for -- it's literally called "Dungeon Cave Galaxy" in Japanese. And you know what? For a Dungeon Cave, I love how silly they still let this Galaxy be! Stuff like the weird inflatable duplicate of the Gateway Planet, the weird floating circus platform, and that planet where you have to ground pound tennis balls into a watermelon to make it grow are such odd things to put in a galaxy like this, but I think they all end up working in its favor. The added surrealism makes this place so much more memorable.

And man oh man, I know I've talked a few times about how I love galaxies that let you goof off and do whatever, and I think no galaxy does that better than Deep Dark. I swear, in my latest playthrough of Galaxy, I spent more time in the spawn beach area than I did playing the rest of the mission. For an area that looks to have so little going on, there's lots of hidden goodies to look for, and shooting yourself out of the cannon at the Gateway and Octoguy planets is so, so fun.

While I'm sort of lukewarm on the mission where you swim through Guppy's eight rings, everything else in this galaxy I think is super fun, from the Kamella rematch on the pirate ship, to the aforementioned weird watermelon planet, to even the untimed Purple Coin mission! Usually those untimed exploration-based Purple Coin missions are never my cup of tea, but in this case, I think the combination of a smaller area to explore, better utilization of the underwater areas, and no places to fall off makes it feel a lot less grueling to me.

Deep Dark Galaxy is a great galaxy that always surpasses my expectations, and for that I think it deserves a spot in my top 10.

7. Freezeflame Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy Tier: S

Freezeflame Galaxy is so cool. And also so hot. That's kind of its whole gimmick. I feel like I made the same joke with Shiverburn Galaxy. Whatever. Freezeflame Galaxy's missions consist of an excellent ice level, a pretty good fire level, and a combination of the two, to make a galaxy that is as varied as it is fun. I will come forwards and say I like the Freeze part of this galaxy a bit more than the Flame part, but again, both are good.

I love the feeling of verticality you get from the ice sections. I love that upwards climb with all the varied obstacles and Ice Flower platforming, followed by a pretty fun boss fight against Baron Brrr. And then you can climb the other side of the mountain too, with its own varied obstacles and platforming challenges! Let's just say this one's good for my inner West Virginian mountaineer, okay? And then you have a Purple Coin mission that makes you climb both sides, which might be a bit much, but I'm glad they were being thorough.

But while the peak of the mountain may be the peak of the mountain here, it's not like the fire mission isn't doing any heavy lifting here, either. It's no Melty Molten, sure, but the Fire Flower gets used for some pretty fun timing puzzles, and I appreciate the use of the Galaxy games' gravity shenanigans halfway through. Really, most of my gripes with this section come from how the Fire Flower is handled in these games. The fact you need to spin to activate it, combined with how it stops you in your tracks when you throw a fireball just doesn't feel very good at all, especially when you throw in the timer. But that's not really this specific galaxy's fault, is it?

Gripes about the Fire Flower aside, I'm happy to say this galaxy's two great tastes taste great together as well! I'm a little bummed it takes until this galaxy's third mission to put the fire and ice together, but when they do, they use it very well, making for fun segments where you switch between the two, followed by a memorable segment where you use the Ice Flower to skate across lava. And on that note, I really enjoy the Cosmic Mario race here. Lots of places where I decide to take a risky shortcut, and it doesn't pay off and I fall in a Black Hole. Classic.

The Freeze and the Flame aren't perfectly balanced, from the levels to the Flowers featured within (no seriously. where was the Ice Flower in Galaxy 2), but both are very enjoyable, and the combination of both in one galaxy makes for a very memorable location. Not surprised at all they decided to revisit this idea in Galaxy 2.

6. Chompworks Galaxy

Game: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Tier: S

Look, I can spend all day talking about the gorgeous atmosphere of Cosmic Cove or Slimy Spring, or the exciting challenges of Grandmaster or Flip-Out, but when you ask me what my favorite galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2 is, I'll probably say it's Chompworks, because I'm only human, and I love Funny Chain Chomp Factory Galaxy. This is literally a place where Mario enemies are made! How can I resist?! There's Star Bits arranged like Chomps in the sky and everything!

I just love everything about Chompworks, from the music, to the theming, to the gameplay itself. It's one of those very unique galaxies that always stands out in my head, and if you know me, that can only be a good thing! I really appreciate the light timing puzzles they incorporate into this galaxy, the balance of needing so set everything up just right so the Chomps can reach their goal, but also not get too close because as you may realize: getting hit by a huge ball of steel rolling at you, even at slow speeds, hurts a lot.

I really like the active role this galaxy gives you in Chomp Production, how even when the Chomps start rolling, you'll need to make some adjustments to its path if you don't want it to crash early. Like, this galaxy has one of the rare inclusions of Flip-Swap panels outside of Flip-Swap Galaxy, just for the purpose of crafting a puzzle that can use them, and I appreciate that! If anything, I feel like there's room to elaborate on this mechanic even further, but I'm not gonna pretend that this galaxy isn't doing more than enough already. I think the Cosmic Clone comet is a fun enough shake-up, since you're gonna need to stay in one place a lot for some of the challenges.

You know, this factory doesn't seem very efficient. All their assembly lines are weird obstacle courses that need manual intervention, and most of the Chomps get destroyed at the end anyway. The Gearmos always chastise you for your poor efficiency, but maybe they wouldn't need Mario if they just built a more efficient factory. You see Gearmos? This is why you're only the second best Mario Galaxy NPC species. If nothing else, feel grateful your horribly-designed factory is a really, really well-designed Video Game Level.

Circling back to what I said about the Spring Mushroom earlier, same sentiment applies here. Not a great power-up on its own, but when I reach the mission that uses it here, I never see myself going "Ugh, the Spring Mushroom?", probably because the level is designed with it in mind, and the trickier control scheme is kinda the point. That being said, if you really don't want to use the Spring Mushroom, know that there's a fun optional challenge in trying to beat the level without it! As far as I'm aware, it's possible, and I know I've had my share of fun backflipping over Chomps in the past.

Is Chompworks Galaxy the best galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2? Maybe not, but since when has this list been about objective quality? I don't want to pretend I'm presenting anything other than my personal opinion here. Chompworks Galaxy appeals to my autism brain in some incredibly specific ways, and with a mix of that and its unique theming and design sensibilities, managed to end up at the top of Galaxy 2 for me. Sorry you couldn't make the top 5!

Speaking of the top five, I think they're all worthy of their own post, as I've hinted to a couple times at this point. It probably shouldn't be too hard to figure out which ones they are via process of elimination, though I do find it fascinating that after Galaxy 2 generally performed better, all the top 5 are from the first game. Again, Galaxy 2 is a remarkably consistent game that clusters around A-tier, while Galaxy 1 has some higher highs and lower lows.

The finale for this series should be ready next week, or the week after, or the week after that, or the week after that. I'm not really sure anymore. There's a Splatfest again next week, so I'll probably want to tune into that (Go Team Frye!) but I also have fewer galaxies to cover in general, so it might not take along as this one. Then again, I probably have more to say about my favorites... Either way, thank you for reading the series up to this point! Nothing matters more to me than knowing that people will listen to my ramblings about 10-to-15 year old Videos Games.

#mod hooligon #super mario galaxy #super mario galaxy 2

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nevadas-night-time-novelist · 9 months

Note

Tricky with a mime!reader? Classic clown and mime but mime!reader has like actual mime powers. Tricky is confused but interested!

Oh this is so cute <3 i love clowns and mimes n stuff

Tricky x Mime!reader

Despite the world being a hellscape, there were pockets of quiet, times of peace tucked away in the briefest of moments, like now, for instance.

A small crowd had formed, a few of them tossing loose monies into your little donation box while you performed for them. A child was in the crowd, front and centre with awe in her eyes, it was incredibly rare to see one. The world just isn't safe enough for them.

Performing was such an art, movements so fluid, as though what you were doing was real, your spectators threw a little more monies as you pretended to get struck by lightning while flying a kite.

Shaking off the sparks in your system, you switched to something more calm for your final performance, it was getting late, and soon this peaceful area would be rife with vamps.

Bending down, you plucked a bouquet of flowers, deeply inhaling their scent, before turning and offering them to the child. She giggled, and reached out for the fake gift, but the moment it left your hands, it took on a physical form. She was holding a handful of varying white flowers, daisies, snowdrops, baby's breath, and a proud white rose in the middle.

Stars filled her eyes. "How'd you dO THAT?" She squealed, clinging tightly to the first flowers she'd seen ever.

A single gloved finger pressed to your lips and you winked at her, mime magic. Taking a bow, you began to mime packing away your things, in actuality putting away some very real items to you.

"KEEP GOING, CLOWN WAS HAVING FUN!" You dropped your money box, scattering a few loose coins and notes onto the ground. Turning to face what you hoped wasn't real, you locked eyes with the mangled zombie clown, shaking in his uncontrollable way as his body tried to get rid of the excess energy pooling from the drive in his brain.

Terror filled your veins, you shook your head, acting out a vampire creeping along, before biting you.

Tricky laughed, enjoying your performance. "CLOWN LOVES SEEING OTHER CLOWNS IN THE WILD. YOU'RE DIFFERENT TO CLOWN, BUT CLOWN LIKES IT." He drove his stop sign into the ground, sitting down crossed legged like a child, ready to watch and learn.

It was going to get very dangerous shortly, judging by the encroaching darkness, on the other hand, in front of you was arguably the biggest threat in Nevada.

You held a hand out, suddenly feeling your clothing get wet, and you pulled an umbrella from your bag, trying to keep yourself dry. Tricky laughed and clapped, he was having fun.

The rain soon stopped, and you picked another item to play with, a tiny tricycle which you struggled to get on, before wheeling around in a few circles, Tricky's laughter getting louder and ... slightly more human sounding, under the screeching chaos, a softer male laugh could be heard. Strange...

"DO THE FLOWER THING, CLOWN LIKED THAT!" He suddenly lunged forward, and you reflexively put your hands up, and Tricky slammed into the wall of your mime box. "OUCH! WHAT IS THIS??" His clawed hands patted on the hard surface.

You took a step back, and mimed being stuck in a box. "THOSE... ARE REAL WALLS???" He tilted his head to the left like a curious dog. "CAN YOU TEACH CLOWN TO DO THAT??" Shaking your head in reply, a firm no. Even if you could talk and tell him how you did it, you doubted it'd work.

"NOT FAIR, CLOWN WANTS TO DO THAT. CLOWN WOULD PUT HANK IN A BOX AND SHAKE HIM!" Tricky laughed again, his body shaking violently as his hysteric giggles took over. "CLOWN WOULD MAKE HANK A PULP!"

You carefully picked up your stuff, including the money you dropped, while Tricky was preoccupied. He was being just a little too unhinged for your liking right now, and it was getting dark fast, vamps would soon flood this area for an easy meal.

"DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO GO? CLOWN WANTS TO HANG OUT MORE." You nodded to him. "...CAN CLOWN SEE YOU AGAIN?" A smile crept over your face, and you nodded, gesturing around at the park, you'll be around here sometime.

"CLOWN LOOKS FORWARD TO IT! CLOWN LIKES OTHER CLOWN!"

Clown likes clown too.

#tricky #madness tricky #tricky the clown #tricky x reader #madness combat tricky #madcom #madness combat #madcom x reader #madness combat x reader #madness combat reader insert #x gon deliver to ya

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yandere-daydreams · 1 year

Note

ok but now you've got me on yandere cowboy as a general concept. keeping you tied up away from prying eyes in some prairie cabin,,,,,,,

tw - prolonged imprisonment, physical abuse, implied non//con.

i think it'd be a little tricky, just because part of being a cowboy is,,, y'know,,, traveling hundreds of miles with a couple thousand cows, but it would be sweet for a particularly obsessive wrangler to have a little spouse locked away somewhere in the countryside; not so far from civilization that their less nomadic friends can't stop by to check on you while they're on the trail, but far enough out of town to mean that you're all-but stranded without a horse, and they just cannot remember to leave you one. it's just so nice to have a cute little thing to visit when they get back from long weeks in the harsh wilderness, and you're the cutest little thing they've ever seen - it can be hard not to tear you apart the moment they see you again, all meek and doe-eyed and pleading not to be on the wrong side of their riding crop again. they know you've tried to run before, heard about all kinds of sprained ankles and snake bites in well-traveled letters, but you wouldn't dare to do so much as raise your lovely voice while they're home, and they know you're not gonna try to slip away when they have you wrapped up in their arms, when they've decided they've gotta make up for all the time they spent away from you. you're their homebound sweetheart, and they have to make sure they take care of you when they can <3

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere theory #general #cowboy fucking hours

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lazodiac · 21 days

Text

It's time again to look at Thunder Junction's cards and try and divine where each and every one of these bad boys are from.

Also just a note in case people are curious; since Tumblr has a 30 image limit per post, I'll be doing all of The Big Score at the end, after all the colours and stuff. It's my prerogative and I'll do as I please. If you missed the first part, you can find it here! So without further ado, it is time for...

BLUE

While I don't think EVERY mount is from Thunder Junction Proper... newts ARE a creature that shows up in the west. I was initially thinking this could be for Eldraine, especially given it belongs to an archmage, but... ultimately, I think this is a native to the plane.

Another native, and dare I say this is a CHARISMATIC crab. I love the crystals on its back! I also love the blue cacti nearby it? Those are real by the way!

There aren't many turtle-men in Magic. Three, in fact, before this one; the Lagoon Sage, a Quandrix student, and a Kappa from Kamigawa. The Kappa has a VERY distinct look, the Quandrix is a sea turtle, and the Lagoon Sage is a snapper just like the Thunder-Thief over here... and I'm gonna make a called shot and say this is from Bloomburrow as a result!

Homarid are a Dominaria specialty, so this racist bastard is absolutely from there.

Djinn of this type are only found on Tarkir, so this one is easy. He's taken a break from his dragon-infested plane to relax under a waterfall martial artist style, and that's just kinda fun.

This is a tricky one, since the ability is pretty plane agnostic, and the design doesn't evoke much in it... but her collar DOES have the typical three-fang Dimir tell, and it'd fit both colour and what she's doing, so lets go with Ravnica.

Sadly a cursory Wiki glance tells me only that this guy is from America.

... okay okay, taking this seriously; the wings and the scroll and the steps, the name, all the flavour suggests this is from Amonkhet for me. It could be from elsewhere, but this feels the most "correct" for lack of a better term. I wish cards like this would get flavor text reprints down the line though...

These are some home-grown ghosts, and we know from various other stories (Gideon, Elspeth, etc) that when you die you go to the afterlife of the plane you're on... so these are some newly "born" natives.

These unfortunate individuals are from the dead plane of Oregon.

... what? I already used that joke? Okay fine. There really isn't any actual signifiers here, and the only humanoid in the art is too indistinct to tell. Given the content of the card is trying and failing to ford one of Thunder Junction's mighty rivers, I'm calling this card "native to the plane" for lack of anything else appropriate.

Oh hey it's everyone's favorite running gag from Ravnica. Fblthp is an easy one, so instead of elaborating more on our mono-eyed friend instead I'll bring up a question I want any of you reading this to answer.

Didn't they say during the initial preview teasers that there was an important plot event happening in the background of this card? That never bore fruit and I can't remember the exact preview stream I heard it, but I swear I did. I want someone to confirm this for me. I'm abusing my power.

Regrettably, the flavor text makes this spell be sourced from Oko's Home Plane. I do love this weird tumbleweed creature though!

God I hate Oko he's such a scum bag (derogatory).

A personal favorite character of mine, Geralf is an Innistradi born and raised, here to investigate the Thunder of the plane- as well as test how mana bonds work for planebound folk now that they have access to planar travel. Good luck, sir.

An obvious native of the plane. I quite like the flavor of this card as well by the way, it's just a clever way to incorporate the geysers you would occasionally see in the old west.

Another Thunder Junction native! It's wild how many of these there actually are, but wild animals do make up a bulk of cards in Magic so it's not THAT unreasonable.

Fun lore tidbit; allegedly the Thunder only started after the Omenpaths opened up. No one has lived here before that so no one can confirm that is true, and this flavor text suggests otherwise.

One of the only cards showcasing the least important members of Oko's gang of ruffians! Kaervek and Satoru busting out of jail thanks to the help of Annie Flash. The framing of the card makes it feel more like Kaervek's doing the real world (valid, Satoru is a loser this entire story) so I'm gonna call it for Zhalfir here- and yes even though technically everyone from Zhalfir is from Dominaria, it's a plane all its own now. I make the rules here!

The Fomorian made star-key to open up their vault on Thunder Junction, I feel like it is safe to say this was made here. It's got little arcs of Thunder and even looks like a deputy star, so it fits the vibe.

Fun fact; being a six pointed star, plus the fact that in the story they mentioned the sixth slot started glowing purple, I briefly had the idea that they might be implying the Fomorian's know of Purple magic and we'll get it in the big Space set we're getting down the line. Then I remembered Cosmium is purple and a major energy source for the Fomorion people, so nevermind.

I can't confidently say this is from Bloomburrow, given we don't know how big the people of that plane can get- so far they've maxed out at Badger and Fox- but I really don't know where this guy could be from otherwise! Maybe Ravnica? So lets call this Bloomburrow until corrected otherwise.

Incidentally this is one of my favorite pieces of art in the set. Love this fucking guy.

Beyond all the art signifiers, I believe it was straight up said on twitter this is a Therosian Sphinx, so she's from Theros. Good for her. Why is she wearing spurs...?

I'm fairly confident this is meant to depict Stella Lee, and she's from the Atiin people, so that's where this is from! Rundo meanwhile sounds like a Ravnica, but that's just some trivia.

This one I'm not fully sure on. The little bird like flecks of white in his magic, the watery energy... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before, but I can't quite place it. The red and blue suggests Izzet but then he's a Slickshot, the red-blue faction on Thunder Junction. I'm gonna go with my gut and say Ravnica, though.

Shit like this is why I wish we'd gotten a planeswalker guide...

Blue, so far, has some of the most easy and obvious ones to place, and for this I'm thankfully. This guy is a Stitcher, so he's from Innistrad. Easy as.

She's got some of the Sterling Company aesthetic going on, but I'm a stickler for stupid jokes so I'm gonna say she's from Zendikar. The armor could evoke Sea Gate, and they've always been good with ropes so why NOT translate that to combat?

Like with the earlier ghosts, dead-then-revived means you're native to Thunder Junction... but also this guy is clearly an Obscura from New Capenna, using some of his old magic, so I'mma call it for the big city here.

Oko's big bad gang preparing for the heist of the life-time. Since it's Oko's big idea it's from Oko's stupid plan.

The sort of misty blasts of fire and ice we're seeing here is aesthetically similar to the "gunfire" magic of New Capenna. I love this guy by the way.

Hey wait a second Ashiok can't do stuff like this. They can only read nightmares, not minds!

YEah for those of you who don't know, the Ashiok in this set is actually Jace in disguise! So this is from home-grown celtic Vryn mind-shredding. Our hero(?) ladies and gentlehommes.

An actual Sterling Company goon, though at least this one has a funny joke to his card. I still really like the work they did in making sure every weapon used in the set has the needed arcing loop for Thunder to channel through it.

Oh right the reason why we're here. I'm gonna say New Capenna again, because there's basically no defining traits here. Also god I just realized he's missing the front brim of his hat and it looks terrible. Graywater pay your men properly they can't even afford complete hats!

It took me a bit to realize what was happening in this card. The lady in the back is only choosing the final Spree option here, swapping around the Outcaster and the Hellspur's clothing. Rude!

Clothing swap spells seems like a funny prank to pull at magical college, so Arcavios is where this is going.

I think in cases where I just cannot make any reasonable assumptions based on art, I should look at mechanics. Flashback is usually in Innistrad... but this lady's neckline is WAY too exposed for that Even accounting for the new plane... honestly I give up, the only real identifying factor here is her little lockpick device, which... kinda looks Kamigawan? Lets go with that.

The vibe, the way she wears her hat, and the little phone cord(?) on her belt makes me think of New Capenna. Look some of these are really difficult and I gotta go by vibes!

And that's the 30 card limit, give me a half second for part two!

#outlaws of thunder junction #Magic the Gathering #MTG #OTJ #Planeswalker #blue mana #nerd stuff

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twisted-wonderland-shenanigans · 11 months

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Hello! I've been kinda stalling sending this for absolutely no reason, but I'm gonna do it today because it's going to rot in my brain if I don't. Actually, maybe you've done this ask before? Idk, my brain is all scrambled up rn but I'm gonna ask this anyway cause why not

What would happen if Yuu got their period in the Kaiju!AU? How would the Kaiju react?

I can imagine Grim and Crowley freaking out, trying to figure out what's wrong with Yuu. And all the while, Yuu's like, "What are you guys doing? Hey, stop bombarding me! Personal space! What- why are you guys sniffing me!?" And since Yuu doesn't understand what they're saying, they can't answer them on why they smell like blood. Or it the scenario could work with any other of the Kaiju's, too

Wait, how would Yuu even get menstrual products anyway? Do they get them from Sam?? How would they even get those type of products from Sam??? Maybe he get some of them from that wreck of a lab from the beginning somehow? Idk, but I thought it'd be a fun idea

Yeah, this is all I have rn since my brain is cranked all the way up on slow mode today. I hope you have a good day and goodbye! (Oh, and this can be a gender neutral thing with Yuu just being AFAB)

WARNING: Menstrual cycle discussion under read more! Will be using they/them pronouns since gender neutral/AFAB was requested.

Oh goodness, being in the Kaiju AU is going to be a little more difficult for Yuu whether they’re female or AFAB. 😂 Between staying in Crewel’s den or at Crowley’s nest, it’s tricky to get the supplies that they need or communicate to the Kaiju that this stuff they’ve piled up is necessary. Given that Grim does understand what Yuu is saying though, he is able to help at least get that point across…when it suits him anyway (if Yuu makes even more of a fuss than usual, he’ll translate for the others).

I’ll go ahead and explain that—at first—Yuu had to get a bit creative with their monthly cycle once it actually hit. I’d imagine that their body might temporarily shut down that function due to the stress of their new environment, being surrounded by giant monsters that could literally level mountains with a swipe, and the near constant sense of impending doom—even if they’re safe with the guardian trio. This is good for Yuu as it gives them time to finally venture out of the den with Grim to explore the other facilities as it would take a while before they can get back to the original lab.

Luckily for Yuu, the closest facility—although abandoned—was still in good condition and had most of the supplies that they’ll need. In fact, this is where they found the music player that Grim thought was a chew toy! So imagine the sheer excitement and relief Yuu would have the moment they found not one, not two, but a whole crate full of pads, tampons, period cups, and even extra unopened packages of underwear!

You might be wondering why there was so much. Well, because there are female researchers on the teams and the island is not exactly in the most convenient of places, which means that getting supply drops are far and few. Especially when you have creatures that aren’t the Kaiju who can and will attempt to attack any vehicle that comes near the island. I’ll get a bit more detail on the island’s setup and whatnot, but that’s a bit of context on how Yuu is essentially set when it comes to non-perishable items that could be used for a comfortable existence on the island of behemoths!

Sam may have found a few crates of other supplies that had been washed up, but it’s not like he knows what they’re used for unless he observed the humans using the tools out in the field. Even so, Sam will know when Yuu needs something and will make sure to have them available on his next visit. How else did he know to bring a bed when Yuu wanted something comfortable to sleep on?

Now, as for how the Kaiju would react when Yuu finally starts their cycle. If you were expecting Crowley to be freaking out over Yuu’s health like he did in the Twisted Monsterland AU, you’d be mistaken. He does get flustered, but more like a “my tiny human is too young to mate!!!” sort of way while Crewel just sighs at his theatrics. They would be concerned to notice if Yuu’s cycle causes them a lot of pain and discomfort, but luckily the facilities have plenty of painkillers and antibiotics that are available—all that’s required is MIRA to access the appropriate amount needed to get Yuu through their current cycle!

Surprisingly, Grim becomes more protective over Yuu whenever they’re around the other Kaiju. Whenever he notices that they’re uncomfortable (whether they just took painkillers or they’re exhausted or some other feeling they get during this time), he will pick them up or curl around them to purr up a storm and hiss at whoever comes near too fast.

He’s swatted at the first years more than once. 😆

The other Kaiju boys would be confused as to what’s happening. Sure, they know about cycles on an instinctive level (and they understand what it means), they’re just more confused as to the frequency. Do humans not have specific mating seasons? Eventually it does get to the point where they know to be less rowdy when it’s that time of the month, either bringing Yuu their favorite treats or snacks that they managed to get (and once it became clear that one particular fruit tasted exactly like chocolate pudding to Yuu, it became a staple) or taking naps with them. Yuu is going to be one very comfortable human once they figure out a good rhythm to manage things!

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but there's more than one way to survive in the wild, and with MIRA at Yuu's side, their chances of survival were better than they were before! UvU Also fun fact, there really is a fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding! 0v0

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland kaiju au #twst kaiju au

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otaku-girl-ao3 · 2 months

Text

Otaku_Girl's Fanfic Masterlist

Here is a quick overview of my complete Wonka (2023) fanfic back catalogue (and a few other Mathew Baynton related fandoms). I thought it'd be simpler to have everything in one place to find them more quickly 😊 The easiest way to follow my work and get the latest updates on all of my fics is via Archive Of Our Own - subscribing via my main Otaku_girl or my Wonka specific pseud AHatfulOfDreams.

Personal favourite

➼ Willy Wonka x Felix Fickelgruber

Sugar Daddy? Call Me (Sir)

Used to being in control during his working life, Willy wants (needs) someone to take control of his life outside of the inventing room. But trying to juggle his wants and desires without risking his dream may prove to be more tricky than he had anticipated.

Felix likes to be in control. A man of power, he’s not used to hearing no. Everybody has a price. Everyone. There’s no way some upstart chocolate maker would dare do anything but roll over for Fickelgruber, is there?

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53223310

long fic (150k+) ~ sugar daddy ~ bdsm ~ smut

➼ Dark!Wonka x Felix Fickelgruber

His (Darkness)

“Arthur. You cannot be serious.”

“As you can see, he is mainly housebroken. But he still needs to be put in his place on a regular basis. He needs to be taught a firm lesson, as it were. You can take Felix if you want him. Consider him my little welcoming gift to you. He’s not as pretty or as young as he once was, but at least he’ll keep thin for you. And he’s very obedient when remembers to mind his manners.”

“No, Arthur, please.”

“Do you think that you can handle him, Wonka? He is clearly in need of some remedial lessons.”

“I think I shouldn’t have a problem, Arthur. I thank you for the gift. I shall make sure to use it thoroughly before your return. Perhaps he could do with a reminder of precisely who he deserves to be owned by. Property doesn’t get to choose its master.”

Dark!Wonka. Post-canon. Please read the tags as they are updated. We're in for another long one, folks.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54770731

Dove ~ dark ~ eventual happy ending ~ smut

x Reader fics

➼ Willy Wonka x Reader

(Pure) Imagination

You wouldn't go as far as to say you love your job, but you do love the freedom it gives you. One frozen night, you encounter a customer unlike any other, who seems determined to show you a world beyond your imagination. Wonka hires your services for the night. You end up with more than you bargained for. Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52955674

light-hearted ~ sex work ~ smut

Bitter Choices & Unsweetened Dreams

“I thought she was your sister?” “What’s it to you?” “It’s a great deal to me.” Mister Top Hat says, voice even and calm. “Family is family. But property…” His eyes flick down the length of you once more, as though weighing up his words, before saying, “Well, property can change hands.”

When trying to escape capture, you ask for Mister Wonka's help. Sometimes, it's best to be careful what you wish for.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53109055

Dark!Wonka ~ angst with a happy ending ~ nonsexual

The Most Fearsome Foe Known to Man

Willy accidentally angers the most fearsome of potential foes known to mankind: a librarian. Despite Noodle’s warnings, he doesn’t understand the importance of returning library books both in the state in which they were borrowed and, most importantly, on time.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53069821

light-hearted ~ crack treated seriously ~ nonsexual

➼ Felix Fickelgruber x Reader

Make Me (Break Me)

“I can assure you that it is all there.” He sounds insulted that you would even consider checking that the amount in full is there before things get started. “Just like the first envelope this evening had the exact amount agreed upon.”

You send him a small placating smile. “It is nothing personal, Mister Fickelgruber. It is just business. Now. Strip."

Felix Fickelgruber has a very specific fantasy in mind — one that is perhaps best left in the hands of a professional.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54227971

pro-domme reader ~ SSCK ~ smut

➼Multiple pairings

Forget Me (K)Not

“Please? Please. I need…”

“The boy is clearly a beta, Felix. Use your nose. No self-respecting omega would go around smelling like that. And have you not seen his clothes? The callouses on his hands? I know you have a weakness for pretty little things, Felix, but wake up. This is no more than another pathetic attempt by a money-grubbing, greedy child to get a leg up. So no. Absolutely not. I will not even entertain the thought.”

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54321145

A/B/O ~ first heat ~ omegaverse ~ smut

The Most (Un)Romantic Day of the Year

Arthur did not consider himself to be a romantic man. Yet even he felt it was not too unresonable to expect to spend their anniversary together.

The poly chocolate cartel engagement fic that one person kind-of asked for. Pure fluff.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54916120

Romance ~ established relationship ~ marriage proposal

Dark Deeds and Bitter Choices

What if Mrs Scrubbit decided that they could make more money using Willy's talents elsewhere, outside of the washhouse?

The Arthur/Felix/Willy fic that nobody asked for.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53986543

Dark!Arthur ~ dove ~ non-ssck ~ smut

➼ Willy Wonka x Arthur Slugworth

(A World Of) My Own

Wonka’s store stood, a hollowed-out husk, the remains burned to cinders. When the cartel came, what if Arthur felt a twinge of something he hadn’t felt in years? The pre-slash/ get-together fic that precisely one person asked for.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54184039

Guilt ~ fix-it ~ accidental dating

➼ Willy Wonka x The Chief of Police

Three strikes

Willy thought back to their last meeting, to the freezing cold water, to the sharp whack to the back of his head. It was not a situation he hoped to repeat anytime soon."Officer, I—”

"That's the problem with all of you young upstarts. You never do think.”

While waiting to meet Felix for their date, Willy manages to draw the ire of the Chief of Police.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54115921

misunderstandings ~ dove ~ hurt no comfort

➼ Felix Fickelgruber x Arthur Slugworth

Strength (In Silence)

Arthur is a man who knows his strength all too well. He thought that he was concealing his fears from Felix; yet the other man would never cease to amaze him in the most unexpected of ways.

A soft colleagues-to-lovers bdsm fic with gentle!Dom Felix and Submissive!Arthur, where Arthur is afraid of his own strength (and Felix is determined that isn’t a good enough reason for them not to fuck like bunnies).

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54916276

Kink negotiation ~ submissive Arthur ~ gentle dominant Felix

Empty

There’s no colour in the sky when Felix wakes up. There’s no warmth in his chest, or excitement in his gut. There is nothing but the unwavering certainty: he is not enough.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54447592

depression ~ anxiety ~ hurt no comfort

For a Moment

“I have a spare room. It’s nothin fancy, but it beats any of the shelters I’m meant to recommend in these cases.”

“These cases?”

The chief looked down, before steeling himself and meeting Felix’s gaze once more. “I think we both know what I mean, Mister Fickelgruber, Sir.”

“I do not think that we do. You shall have to spell it out for me.”

It takes an average of seven attempts for a person to leave a domestic violent situation for good.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54618847

domestic abuse ~ hurt no comfort ~ hopeful ending

Pet

“It really is quite simple, Arthur. I have certain…predilections when it comes to my partners. I enjoy a certain, shall we say, power dynamic within the bedroom.”

“You wish to be held down and told what to do? I can do that."

“You misunderstand, darling. I prefer to be the one doing the ‘holding down’ and ‘telling what to do’, as it were."

Arthur Slugworth was not a man who took orders. And yet, for Felix...he could learn to be.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54652468

submissive Arthur ~ dominant Felix ~ BDSM

Things (Best) Left Unsaid

“You’re married, aren’t you?” “Er, yes? Yes I am Mister Fickelgruber.” “Do you ever regret it?”

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54726334

reflection ~ marriage ~ doubt

➼ Felix Fickelgruber x The Chief of Police

Just Give Me A Reason (Just A Little Bit's Enough)

“What brings you to my doorstep this evening, Chief? I do hope that I shall have the opportunity to counter whatever offer Arthur has made you before you proceed.”

The Chief looked at him blankly. He could see the tenseness around Felix’s mouth, the tightness around his eyes. Was that his hands shaking, just visible above his desk? Surely not. Felix didn’t get nervous. Not like that. Unless…His stomach dropped. “Before I—Jesus Christ Felix, I’m not here because Arthur sent me.”

When Felix misses a cartel meeting, The Chief of Police can't help but worry. Shameless smut ensues. Can be read as a stand-alone or a follow-on from Things (Best) Left Unsaid.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55171597

submissive Chief ~ dominant Felix ~ smut

His Jewel

Francis hates the feeling of not being plugged. It had been one of Felix’s first requirements, when they first began their little arrangement. He had thought the other man was joking at first. Until he had seen the look of disappointment in Felix’s eyes when he had slipped a hand beneath his uniform trousers to check, and found his hole clenched tightly shut, not a single sign of use since the last time Felix had deemed him worthy of his time and attention.

Felix gets The Chief a special little something to help him think about him whenever they aren't together.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54257518

butt plugs ~ bdsm ~ smut

➼ Felix Fickelgruber x Gerald Prodnose

Falling In Love (With My Best Friend)

“What happened this time, Felix?”

“I made an utter fool of myself. Again. I thought…” he trailed off. Settling the delicate china down, he allowed his hands to rest in his lap. He turned them over slowly, eyes running over the delicate bones shifting just beneath the surface, the faint calluses that could truly only be felt rather than seen unless you knew to look for them. Nobody ever looked at Felix and thought to look for them.

“Felix?”

“He called me a slut.”

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55776700

friends to lovers ~ smut ~ praise kink

x Crossover fics

➼ Wonka (2023) x You, Me and the Apocalypse

Darling boy

Felix Fickelgruber x Ariel Conroy

"You took something that belongs to me, Mister Conroy. And I shall have you repay that debt. One way or another."

Ariel thought that he was just hacking funds from another wealthy nobody. Too bad that Felix doesn’t take kindly to having his money stolen. Luckily for Ariel, there are other methods of repayment that he is willing to accept.

The Wonka x You, Me and The Apocalypse (crossover) that nobody asked for and like maybe two people will ever read 😂 (Please note: This is primarily set in the Wonka-verse, so you can read Ariel as an OC if you are unfamiliar with YMATA).

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54566395

Kidnapping ~ dove ~ happy ending ~ smut ~ bdsm ~ crossover

You can find me on the Wonka Discord, AO3, or Tumblr

❤️❤️❤️

I do my best to respond to every comment on AO3. Regular updates on WIPs guaranteed 💯

Other Fandoms

Ghosts

Take a chance on me

Pat Butcher x Reader

“Now c'mon then love, let’s see you. Only if you’re sure. I could fetch one of the others if you’d like? Julian’s got a ton of experience if even half of his stories are to be believed. And Thomas…well, if you like that sort of thing. I suppose he’s a good enough looking chap if you can get past his poetry. And all the love confessions about other women. And the moping. And the…general Thomas-ness.”

“I think I’d rather just keep this between the two of us if that’s ok with you, Pat? At least for now? Anything else sounds a little bit advanced for…”

“For your first time as a ghost?” Pat finishes your sentence for you, sending you a reassuring smile, “We’ve all been there."

“Haha. Yes. It will be my first time as a ghost. And also…maybe… my first time…”

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55039954

Gentle dom ~ reader insert ~ pure smut ~ virgin reader

Can't take it back (once it's been set in motion)

Thomas Thorne x Reader; Pat Butcher x Reader; Thomas Thorne x Julian Fawcett

“Patrick tells me that you are inexperienced in the ways of the flesh.”

“Pat said what?”

“Patrick was telling me all about your little…conversation," Thomas said delicately, a small, sly smile curling at the corners of his lips. "And I was wondering if perhaps I might be of some assistance?”

Thomas offers to help you lose your virginity. It would be a far more appealing prospect, if you weren't half convinced you were developing feelings for Pat.

This can be read as a stand-alone, or a sequel to my Pat/Reader fic ‘Take a chance on me’. Shameless smut which developed a little bit of plot.

Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55376755

Misunderstandings ~ cunnilingus ~ smut ~ virgin reader

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void-ink-studios · 6 months

Text

Myth of the Wishmasters - Part 1

Alrighty folks, here we go.

Part 1 of the finale to Wrath of the Wishmaster.

It's been a really wild ride writing this fic for y'all. Honestly, it's the most fun I've had writing fic in a long time. But, I don't want to keep pushing to the point of me hating it. So, I'm going to give this fic the send off it deserves, and let it be my first truly complete work.

Will I come back to this?

Probably.

But I can't keep writing 2,000+ word chapters every day. I'm out of ideas for now, and I'm not going to force it. If I come up with more ideas, I'll happily come back and write them as one-shot accompaniment to this series.

Until then, as always, I hope you enjoy this and the next chapter. It's been a fun go around.

Full credit to @realmofthefirebird for inspiration. Go check out their comics, they're flipping awesome.

Word Count: 3,000

They speak in legends, in tomes, in myths, of the one called the Wishmaster.

At the beginning of it all, in the Age After Nothing, there emerged the one called the Wishmaster.

In the center of everything, in the center of nothing, there is the Time Room, keeper of the one called the Wishmaster.

In a place at the center of time, in a place where time cannot touch, there is the one called the Wishmaster.

It is a god of no equal. It is a god of many names, in many forms. But it is always the one called the Wishmaster.

How one meets the Wishmaster may very. It takes something powerful, something capable of building a bridge into the void. But all require a piece of the Eternal Dream, for it is the Dream that is the threads of the Void. Objects with fragments of the Dream are the most reliable vector to crossing into the Void.

In its current form, it calls itself Prismo. The Almighty Prismo is a kind spirit. An aloof one. He does not exist in the way you or I may think of it. For he is not a being of physical form. No, the Almighty Prismo has no need for physicality. For he is but an extention of the Time Room itself. He is the Time Room, and the Time Room is he.

He is the walls and floors, the ceiling and corners. He is everything, and he is nothing. He is everywhere and nowhere. He is infinite, and he is nothingness.

The Almighty Prismo can almost be mistaken for someone mortal. He does not act with malice to those who seek him, but he will give little favor. Those who do, the most powerful and persistent amongst mortals, might find themselves communing with gods.

The Almighty Prismo, the one called the Wishmaster, offers the same bargain to any who find his domain, his domain of the Time Room.

One wish, anything your heart desires, you may ask of him. And he will make it so.

But do beware, wish makers.

Realities may warp or split or merge, people and objects may shuffle through time and space, memories, lifetimes, erased or rewritten forever. But he will make it so.

For while Almighty Prismo is not a cruel god, he is a tricky one. Any wish lacking detail, he will fill the gaps. And lapse in thinking, and forgotten factor, and unforeseen consequence, he shall consider. To those he favors, he may advise. To those he doesn't?

Well, you will receive what you wish for.

Whether or not you can live with that is not a trouble for the Almighty Prismo.

He is the crossroads, the boundary, the space between it all.

And when the name Prismo grows tiresome, it will be cast away, and the one called the Wismaster will take a new name. For the Wishmaster is eternal. For the Time Room must have a Wishmaster.

The Wishmaster is the era is Prismo.

Who it shall be the next?

Only the Dreamer can decide.

---------------------------------------

Prismo had long ago accepted that he wasn't meant to be a being a wants.

He thought about what it'd be like to want things. It was his job to grant the wants of others, it was only natural to wonder what he would do in their position.

Some wished for power. They wished to be kings or queens or emperors. They wished to be at the top of their pile, unstoppable, unquestioned. They wished to be the one sitting at the top of the tower, smiling down at all the peasants, waving in smug satisfaction.

Prismo had no desire for power. He had everything he'd need right here. He could conjure almost anything he could think of. He was already near the top of the pile if how everyone talked about his was any indication. The only ones who could override him were the Higher Ups, Golb, and the Boss themselves. And well... he had no desire to usurp or overtake them. Just listening to the Organizer describe even a part of her job exhausted him. All powerful Wishmaster or not, he still had a mortal brain. It was incomprehensible to him, to be a Higher Up. Honestly, it was a big mind boggling even being in this position.

So, no, he wouldn't wish for power.

Some wished for wealth. They wished for mountains of gold or jewels. They wished to be head of the greatest company ever conceived. They wished to never have to worry about the cost of life ever again, and then some. Most wanted it as a ticket to power.

Prismo liked gold, that was true. He liked decorating himself with jewelry when he got the opportunity, he liked how it sparkled and glittered. But, he could just conjure it. He had no real need for wealth. Gold was meaningless to him, except in how it was pretty. He knew, even as a mortal, he'd never need the amount of gold that these wish makers were asking for. It was more than could be spent in a lifetime. More than could be spent in several lifetimes, even. And he didn't see the appeal.

So, nope, wealth wasn't it either.

People wished for so many things. Power and wealth were the most common, but they certainly weren't the only things.

People wished for love, they wished for family, they wished for health. Some wished for noble reasons, like Finn, trying correct a great evil, trying to save millions. Some wished for the pettiest things imaginable, like cursing a rival with sickness or pain.

And then there was Prismo.

A god who wanted nothing. Or, did he?

He never dwelled too deeply on the thought. It was a pointless endeavor, after all. His role as Wishmaster excluded him from wanting things.

So, he chose not to think too hard about it.

Until a certain roommate challenged that.

Because Scarab... Scarab made him want things. Prismo wanted Scarab, wanted his affection. Scarab made him think about what he wanted.

Prismo wanted to be friends with good people. He was done with being "everybody's pal." He was only that because he didn't want anything from anyone. But, now he wanted something. He wanted kindness. He wanted compassion. And he found out how little of it there was to go around within the pantheon.

Scarab made him think about what he wanted from his space. The unchanging Time Room had completely transformed with Scarab's help. Prismo felt... good in here. He felt good to call this place home, because now it actually felt like home. Because Scarab made him realize there were things that's make him more comfortable.

Prismo, the person, not the Wishmaster, wanted things.

And he realized he had everything he could want. At least with Scarab there, in his arms, chirping and purring in a warm bundle, in the soft glow of the magic clouds above them.

A small ring interrupted the quiet calm. A familiar sound, of something being conjured.

Prismo cracked an eye open, a single letter on the ground in the center of the Time Room.

"Lovebug" the Wishmaster whined.

"Hmm?"

"There's mail."

"So there is."

"Can you go get it?"

Scarab scoffed, rolling his eyes as he dislodged himself from the blanket pile. He picked the letter up, but froze as he read the address.

Prismo tilted his head.

"Lovebug?"

Scarab was frozen. Eerily still.

Okay, now Prismo was worried.

"Scarab?"

Scarab finally seemed to return to himself, looking at Prismo with wide, uncertain eyes.

"...It's from the Boss."

Prismo felt his stomach drop out from under him.

"...Excuse me?"

"It's from the Boss. Prismo, why are we getting a message from the Boss, what did we do?"

"I-I don't know man! Come here, open it!"

Scarab's hands were shaking, slowly opening the letter, with starkly simple writing.

To Prismo the Wishmaster and Caretaker Scarab,

Caretaker Scarab's position has been altered due to exceptional work and recommendation from a superior.

Caretaker Scarab's title has been updated from Time Room Caretaker, to Assistant Wishmaster. Responsibilities now include occasionally granting wishes under the supervision of Wishmaster Prismo. Continue upkeep of Time Room. Majority of wishes are still expected to be granted by Wishmaster Prismo. As a guide, for every 10 wishes granted, one may be granted by Assistant Wishmaster Scarab.

Assistant Wishmaster Scarab will remain in the Time Room until further notice.

The Organizer has advocated for this position change. While unorthodox, she does not petition me often, so I am inclined to believe it is after thoughtful consideration. I will be surveying your progress.

Do not make me regret this, Scarab. There has never been two Wishmasters at a time. Consider this a trial run.

Good luck,

-The Boss

The two gods stared at the piece of paper.

An unassuming piece of paper that just upgraded Scarab to one of the highest positions in the pantheon.

Granted, it was assistant, not full, but still!

"...Scrabby...?"

Prismo could see Scarab's form shaking, before he let out the loudest, most energetic chirp the Wishmaster had ever heard come from such a small body.

Scarab seemed to be honest to Glob dancing, hugging the piece of paper close to his chest. He turned to Prismo, eyes so wide, to match his smile, before running up and nearly flinging himself into his partner's chest, practically vibrating.

Prismo chuckled, catching the bug and holding him close, smiling and kissing the top of Scarab's head.

"PRISMO! PRISMO, I... I-I...!"

"I know, Lovebug, I know! You earned it, baby, you deserve every bit of it!"

Scarab seemed a bit lost in his own excitement, almost ready to cry, before his shoulders seemed to remind him of humility. He groaned as he rubbed at them, but not even that seemed to put a damper on his good mood.

"I'm so happy for you, Scarab. Two Wishmasters, hmm?"

"I-I know! It's unprecedented! It's never been done before, not even since Time began! I'd know, I checked." Scarab seemed to pace, his shell buzzing with excited energy.

"Tell you what, Lovebug. It said in the letter that in every 10 wishes, you should grant one. So, how about I grant the next nine, just to show you the ropes, and then you grant wish number 10! Give you some time to study, maybe start thinking of your own wish granting style before you give it a go. Sound good?"

Scarab considered before nodding sagely.

"Wish granting style?"

"Well, yeah. How you chose to interpret wishes. Most people who pass through here leave gaps in their wishes. It's up to the Wishmaster to fill in those gaps. How you choose to fill them sets the tone for who you are as a Wishmaster."

Scarab hummed, giving Prismo a studying look.

"Well... What is your style then?"

Prismo scooped Scarab up to let the beetle perch on his shoulder as he flipped on the screen wall.

"Well... I tend to approach it with a Monkey's Paw deal. The example I like to give is... What if you wished for a back rub? Who's giving you this back rub? An actual masseuse, a random sweaty guy, a bear? If the wish maker doesn't specify, I tend to fill in gaps in ways I find funny, mostly. Next question, where does this masseuse come from? Do I just spawn someone out of the either? Do I pull some random dude out of his reality, away from anyone and anything he knew? How is that universe's timeline effected with him gone?"

Prismo flipped through a few realities made from his wishes.

"This Farmworld here. It was made with good intentions. Finn wished for the Lich to have never existed. He didn't specify what exactly that meant for his reality. Did he mean the Mushroom War never happens? Did he mean for the Catalyst Commet containing the Lich to miss Ooo? The way I try to think of it is to preserve as much of the wish maker's original timeline as possible. Something that world altering gets separated and made into its own reality. I interpreted the wish as the Lich never getting to leave the Mushroom Bomb, as that leave most of the timeline intact, up until the 1000 years after the Lich's emergence. Keeps the threads more intact, rather than rewriting 65 million years if the Catalyst Commet missed, or rewriting that realities interaction with the cosmic timeline by deleting Catalyst Commets entirely."

Prismo turned to look at Scarab who was utterly transfixed.

"Make sense?"

"Yes, I think I understand your logic... Interpreting the wish in such a way that makes reality rewrite itself as little as possible."

"Exactly. Even then, it still needed to be isolated into a new reality. A lot of things happened in Ooo over those 1000 years, all of which are because the Lich emerged."

Prismo flicked through a few more timelines, explaining how those wishes were interpreted and the knock on effects they had.

"Prismo. Do you have something you'd consider a perfect wish?"

The Wishmaster thought.

"Hmm... Perfect wish? If it did happen, I wasn't Wishmaster when it did. 99% of the wishes that come through here are too simple. Too filled with gaps to ever go the way the Wish Maker intended."

Prismo thought a bit longer, pausing on Scarab's intense expression.

"I think... the most complete wish I ever granted was... actually a bit sad. They wished to be removed from their reality. Completely. They got pretty much exactly what they wanted. No one in their time line remembered who they were, all of their future accomplishments were distributed to other people, and they ceased to exist as a person, turning into some kind of... non-sentient cosmic wind I think. It was the most specific wording I've never gotten for a wish. Fewest gaps to be filled. But... I'm not sure I'd call it a perfect wish. It just seemed so..."

"...Depressing?"

"Yeah..."

The two sat in silence for a long moment. Scarab seemed to be in deep thought before nodding his head.

"Thank you, Prismo. I hope to learn a lot from you."

Prismo smiled, lightly nuzzling the side of Scarab's waist as the beetle purred.

And so, Prismo carried on, not thinking much of it. A perfect wish? It probably wasn't possible. Not in his tenure as Wishmaster at least.

So, he continued to teach.

He had to admit, Scarab was an avid learner. He took diligent notes, studied through countless realities Prismo had created, breaking down where and how the gaps in wishes were filled.

He watched, carefully, as Prismo granted the first wish since the new change.

The Wishmaster kind of felt bad that Scarab's first real observation was one of the most boring types of wishes. This one wished to be famous. No details on how that fame would be achieved, or if that fame was even positive.

Prismo wasn't malicious as a Wishmaster, but he wouldn't lie and say a little bit of bias didn't slip in depending on the Wish Maker's attitude. This one treated Prismo like an object rather than a person, and was very smug about even making it here.

So, Prismo granted the wish alright. He was certainly famous. Maybe it was for the most embarrassing speech and presentation of all time, but it was fame. His name would live on for a long time, that was for certain.

"I don't like how that one treated you" Scarab chittered from his corner.

"Yeah, well, you get some good ones and some bad ones. The bad ones I just send on their way. No real skin off my nose."

"...Does it not bother you when they don't seem to see... you?"

Prismo shrugged.

"I mean, what am if not the Almighty Prismo, the Wishmaster. No one sticks around long enough to care, so why should I?"

That didn't seem to sit well with Scarab, but the beetle dropped it for the time being.

As time ticked by, more and more wishes poured through.

A wish to make sure their town never went hungry again.

A wish to become king of the solar system.

A wish to make the love of their life never feel despair again.

All had their faults. All were granted accordingly. And Scarab was there, taking notes on it all. He observed, commented when the Wish Maker left, and noted on Prismo's explanations.

A few Wish Makers commented on Scarab's presence. The ones who were nice to the beetle might have found themselves with slightly more favorable interpretations, but no one needed to know that.

A wish to bring back a loved one from the dead.

A wish to be the most irresistible thing on the planet.

A wish to gain all the magical knowledge of the cosmos.

A wish for the ability to turn back time.

All came and left. All decided their own fates. Prismo had eventually forgot about Scarab's inquiry into what he'd consider the perfect wish.

Until the last wish before Scarab's trial run came and went. A bit anticlimactic in his opinion.

A wish to never die. Poor bastard didn't know what he was asking for with that one.

Scarab was quiet, his usual commentary suspiciously absent.

"Well, you think you're ready, Lovebug?"

Scarab hummed, tapping a pen onto the notebook, clearly deep in thought.

"Scarab?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I think so. But... well, I have one more question for you, Prismo."

The beetle was slow to rise, flicking through his notes one more time, before putting it all down.

"You remember, how I asked you if you had ever had a perfect wish?"

"Oh, yeah. Like I said, and like you probably saw, most of the wishes aren't super exciting. Was hoping for something a bit more... I dunno, showy for your first set, but not like I control what other people want."

"Right..."

Scarab seemed to hesitate.

"...You alright, Lovebug? Looks like you're about to pop, you're thinking so hard." Prismo chuckled as he curled around the beetle, nuzzling him softly.

But Scarab had a look. A dead serious one. He looked up at the Wish Master with... a conviction. A scary kind.

"...Prismo. What would you wish for?"

#prohibitedwish #scarab x prismo #scarab the god auditor #prismo the wishmaster #prohibitedwish fanfic #wrath of the wishmaster

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